bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of α‐amylase supplementation on energy balance and performance of high‐yielding dairy cows on moderate starch feeding
Authors: Bachmann Martin , Bochnia Mandy , Mielenz Norbert , Spilke Joachim , Souffrant Wolfgang B. , Azem Elisabeth , Schliffka Wolfgang , Zeyner Annette 
Published: October 2017

AbstractIn dairy cows, exogenous α‐amylase is suggested to improve starch utilization and positively affect performance and health traits linked to energy balance and fertility. In a 1‐year feeding experiment, 421 cows were orally supplemented with α‐amylase (treatment: 12.5 g/kg dry matter (DM) addition rate to a concentrated feed) or non‐supplemented (control) on the basis of an ad libitum total mixed ration (TMR). Every cow was allocated to a high‐ (≥32 kg milk/day) or late‐lactation group (<32 kg milk/day), in which the TMR starch content was 220 ± 20.8 g/kg DM and 183 ± 24.8 g/kg DM, respectively. The energetic effect of α‐amylase supplementation seemed to be exclusively related to the high‐lactation stage (5–100 days in milk) in primiparous cows, where the daily milk yield was 32 ± 0.49 versus 31 ± 0.50 kg per cow in the treatment versus control group (P < 0.05). The pluriparous cows did not benefit from the supplementation that way. In neither primiparous nor pluriparous cows, was the milk composition, the fat‐to‐protein ratio, the somatic cell score, the backfat thickness, serum total bilirubin, β‐hydroxybutyrate and the fertility found to be systematically affected by α‐amylase supplementation.
The impact of death awareness on sizes of self‐representational objects
Authors: McCabe Simon , Vail Kenneth E. , Arndt Jamie 
Published: October 2017

People seem to have a tendency to increase the relative size of self‐representational objects. Prior research suggests that motivational factors may fuel that tendency, so the present research built from terror management theory to examine whether existential motivations – engendered by concerns about death – may have similar implications for self‐relevant size biases. Specifically, across two studies (total N = 288), we hypothesized that reminders of death would lead participants to inflate the size of self‐representational objects. Both studies suggested that relative to reminders of pain, mortality salience led participants to construct larger clay sculptures of themselves (vs. others; Study 1) and a larger ostensible video game avatar for the self (vs. others; Study 2).
The internet as a source of support for youth with chronic conditions: A qualitative study
Authors: Ahola Kohut S. , LeBlanc C. , O'Leary K. , McPherson A. C. , McCarthy E. , Nguyen C. , Stinson J. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBackgroundAdolescents living with chronic conditions often portray themselves as “healthy” online, yet use the Internet as one of their top sources of health information and social communication. There is a need to develop online support programs specific to adolescents with chronic conditions in order to provide a private space to discuss concerns. This paper endeavors to increase our understanding of the online support needs and wants of these adolescents and their interest in and preferences for an online support program.MethodsA qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews was completed. Stratified purposive sampling was utilized to ensure a representative sample based on age and diagnosis. English speaking adolescents (aged 12–18 years) diagnosed with a chronic condition were recruited from clinic and inpatient areas across 3 paediatric hospitals in Canada.ResultsThirty‐three participants aged 15.3 ± 1.8 years (64% female) completed the study. The main topics identified were (a) the purpose of current online activity, (b) the benefits and challenges of existing online supports, and (c) a description of ideal online resources. The purpose of online activity was social networking, information, online gaming, and social support. When accessing health information online, participants prioritized websites that were easy to access and understand despite the trustworthiness of the site. The reported benefits and challenges varied across participants with many areas perceived as both a benefit and a challenge. The majority of participants were interested in participating in an online support program that included both accurate disease‐related information and a community of other adolescents to provide social support.ConclusionsAdolescents with chronic conditions are interested in online support that encompasses health information and social support that is flexible and easy to navigate.Findings can be used to develop or adapt existing online support programs for adolescents with chronic conditions to help increase engagement and utilization.
Conservation from the Grave: Human Burials to Fund the Conservation of Threatened Species
Authors: Holden Matthew H. , McDonald‐Madden Eve 
Published: October 2017

AbstractMost conservation scientists and practitioners are unaware that their corpses can transform into protected areas after death. The practice is called a conservation burial, where burial fees fund the acquisition, protection, restoration, and management of new land to benefit human and environmental well‐being. If conservation burials became commonplace, then the revenue generated could exceed the amount of money required to fund the conservation of every threatened species on the planet. The additional human‐health benefits of increased urban greenspace could also be substantial. As Halloween, “the day of the dead,” approaches, we urge governments, NGOs, and the public to contemplate how death can support future life on earth through conservation burials.
Observation versus Perception in the Conceptualization and Measurement of Participation Equality in Computer‐Mediated Communication
Authors: Mejias Roberto J. , Reinig Bruce A. , Dennis Alan R. , MacKenzie Scott B. 
Published: October 2017

ABSTRACTParticipation equality, a prominent construct that has received much attention in group decision‐making research, has been studied with both perceptual and objective measures. Yet, research findings regarding participation equality have been inconsistent and equivocal. We argue that one reason for this inconsistency is how participation equality has been conceptualized and measured. In some studies, researchers have theorized and measured participation equality using observed behavior. In other studies, researchers have theorized and measured participation equality using perceptual measures. We conducted an experiment to investigate the similarities and differences between these two measures. Our results indicate that (1) perceived participation equality (PPE) and observed participation equality (OPE) are theoretically separate and distinct constructs that (2) affect and are affected by other constructs in different ways within their nomological network. OPE and PPE were more different than they were similar, sharing only 10.8% of their variance. In other words, perceptions of participation equality were predominantly influenced by factors other than observed behaviors related to participation equality. We believe that these results call for more theory and research regarding the differences between observed behavior and perceptions of behavior in group decision making. As we move into new computer‐mediated communication technologies such as Web Conferencing, Virtual Reality, and Enterprise Social Media that enable new forms of participation, we need to consider what constitutes participation and how new forms of participation should be measured and evaluated. In the large group environments of Enterprise Social Media, the differences between OPE and PPE are likely to become more pronounced.
Does the sectoral composition of growth affect child stunting reductions?
Authors: Mary Sébastien , Shaw Kelsey , Paloma Sergio Gomez y 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThis article uses a natural experiment based on random and exogenous variations in temperature to examine whether the sectoral composition of growth has an effect on child stunting reductions. Agricultural growth is central to food security strategies in developing countries, as it is often considered the most effective way to fight (child) undernutrition. The evidence base to support the putative superior role of agricultural growth is, however, relatively weak, possibly because studies have ignored growth faltering. Accounting for the latter, we find that while both agricultural and non‐agricultural growth decrease stunting, agricultural growth is significantly superior to non‐agricultural growth in this regard. The estimated impacts are large, in that a 10% increase in agricultural GDP per capita reduces child stunting by 9.6% (as opposed to 8.4% for non‐agricultural).
Analysis of left ventricular fluid dynamics in dilated cardiomyopathy by echocardiographic particle image velocimetry
Authors: Tang Chouchou , Zhu Yizhong , Zhang Jing , Niu Chengcheng , Liu Dan , Liao Yacong , Zhu Lijun , Peng Qinghai 
Published: October 2017

ObjectiveThe aim was to analyze left ventricular (LV) fluid dynamics in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by using echocardiographic particle image velocimetry (E‐PIV).MethodsTwenty patients with DCM and twenty healthy volunteers were examined. LV ultrasound contrast was administered by intravenous bolus injection. At least three dynamic contrast‐enhanced echocardiographic images of cardiac cycles from apical three‐chamber view and four‐chamber view were obtained. The acquired echocardiographic image loops were processed off line by HyperFlow.ResultsIn healthy hearts, the filling flow in the left ventricle finally comes to be a single large clockwise vortex, which smoothly redirects the blood to the outflow tract. Meanwhile, aberrant flow patterns are observed in the patients with DCM. In the DCM group, the vortex area (0.237 ± 0.063 vs 0.196 ± 0.129, P = .029), vortex depth (0.396 ± 0.134 vs 0.293 ± 0.143, P = .025), and vortex length (0.534 ± 0.089 vs 0.435 ± 0.176, P = .004) are significantly higher. The flow force angle (29.979 ± 8.208 vs 35.896 ± 6.044, P = .013) is significantly lower, and energy dissipation (0.975 ± 0.552 vs 0.578 ± 0.295, P = .006) is significantly higher. A negative linear relation is indicated between the following pairs of parameters: vortex depth and LV ejection fraction (EF) (r = −.350, P = .027); vortex length and LV EF (r = −.321, P = .044); energy dissipation and LV EF (r = −.523, P = .001). A positive linear relation is indicated between flow force angle and LV EF (r = .365, P = .021).ConclusionE‐PIV can effectively and quantitatively evaluate LV fluid dynamics in patients with DCM. LV fluid dynamics and LV systolic function interact with and affect each other.
Echocardiographic characteristics in Fontan patients before the onset of protein‐losing enteropathy or plastic bronchitis
Authors: Du Bois Florian , Stiller Brigitte , Borth‐Bruhns Thomas , Unseld Bettina , Kubicki Rouven , Hoehn René , Reineker Katja , Grohmann Jochen , Fleck Thilo 
Published: October 2017

BackgroundIt was this study's objective to evaluate the echocardiographic characteristics and flow patterns in abdominal arteries of Fontan patients before the onset of protein‐losing enteropathy (PLE) or plastic bronchitis (PB).DesignIn this retrospective cohort investigation, we examined 170 Fontan patients from 32 different centers who had undergone echocardiographic and Doppler ultrasound examinations between June 2006 and May 2013. Follow‐up questionnaires were completed by 105 patients a median of 5.3 (1.5–8.5) years later to evaluate whether one of the complications had occurred since the examinations.ResultsA total of 91 patients never developed PLE or PB (“non‐PLE/PB”); they were compared to 14 affected patients. Eight of the 14 patients had already been diagnosed with “present PLE/PB” when examined. Six “future PLE/PB” patients developed those complications later on and were identified on follow‐up. The “future PLE/PB” patients presented significantly slower diastolic flow velocities in the celiac artery (0.1 (0.1–0.5) m/s vs 0.3 (0.1–1.0) m/s (P = .04) and in the superior mesenteric artery (0.0 (0.0–0.2) m/s vs 0.2 (0.0–0.6) m/s, P = .02) than the “non‐PLE/PB” group. Median resistance indices in the celiac artery were significantly higher (0.9 (0.8–0.9) m/s vs 0.8 (0.6–0.9) m/s, (P = .01)) even before the onset of PLE or PB.ConclusionAn elevated flow resistance in the celiac artery may prevail in Fontan patients before the clinical manifestation of PLE or PB.
Ventricular mechanics after repair of subarterial and perimembranous VSDs
Authors: Kwok Sit‐yee , Yeung Susanna So‐shan , Li Vivian Wing‐yi , Cheung Yiu‐fai 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBackgroundEmerging data suggest impaired biventricular function in adults late after repair of ventricular septal defect (VSD). We assessed and compared right (RV) and left ventricular (LV) mechanics in adolescents and adults after surgical closure of doubly committed subarterial and perimembranous VSDs.MethodsA total of 75 subjects were studied: 29 patients after subarterial VSD repair (group I), 17 patients after perimembranous VSD repair (group II) and 29 age‐matched controls (group III). RV and LV mechanics were assessed using tissue Doppler and speckle‐tracking echocardiography, while RV outflow systolic function was quantified by systolic excursion and fractional shortening (FS).ResultsCompared with group III, groups I and II had significantly reduced tricuspid annular systolic and diastolic velocities, isovolumic myocardial acceleration, RV global longitudinal systolic and diastolic deformation parameters and RV outflow systolic excursion (all P < .05). Group I, but not II, had reduced RV outflow FS (P = .008) and the lowest global LV longitudinal systolic strain (P = .008) and systolic strain rate (P = .014). In group I, postoperative aortic regurgitation was associated with lower LV longitudinal systolic strain (P = .009) and early diastolic strain rate (P = .002), while right bundle branch block was associated with lower RV systolic strain rate (P = .048). As a group, RV outflow excursion (P < .001) and FS (P = .001) were correlated with LV global systolic strain.ConclusionAdolescents and adults late after repair of subarterial and perimembranous VSDs show impairment of RV systolic and diastolic myocardial deformation. The RV outflow function and LV systolic deformation appear to be worse after repair of subarterial defects.
National Constitutional Courts in supranational litigation: A contextual analysis
Authors: Dani Marco 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe article examines the role of national constitutional courts in supranational litigation. It firstly illustrates their value and situates well‐known judicial doctrines affecting their jurisdiction in the context of the normative claims, policy agenda and institutional framework promoted by the European Union. Against this background, it gauges the potential of national constitutional courts in countering the process of intergovernmental and technocratic encroachment of national constitutional democracies characterising the most recent evolutionary stages of the European integration process. It is claimed that constitutional courts are in the position of reinforcing, resisting or correcting Union measures with a detrimental impact on national constitutional principles. After having identified in correction the approach more coherent with their constitutional mandate, the article highlights a disturbing paradox: in remaining faithful to their constitutional role, constitutional courts contribute to the sustainability of a comprehensive institutional setting corroding the idea of constitutional democracy on which they are premised.
Misconceiving ‘seasons’ in global food systems: The case of the EU Seasonal Workers Directive
Authors: Medland Lydia 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThis article discusses the EU Seasonal Workers Directive alongside case study data of seasonal agricultural work in Spain. The conceptual contribution is to critically consider ‘seasonality’ and the related assumptions around temporary labour migration for agricultural work. This consideration informs an analysis of the Directive's policy approach alongside its three global objectives. It is argued that this Directive is likely to fail to meet all three of these objectives; the assumed timeframe for labour demands does not correspond with unmet seasonal challenges; the lack of options for undocumented workers already in the EU may compound their marginalisation; the policy approach of circular migration and limited worker protections does not do enough to prevent new seasonal workers from falling into situations of vulnerability and undocumented status.
The Great Recurrence: Karl Polanyi and the crises of the European Union
Authors: Goldmann Matthias 
Published: October 2017

AbstractIn his seminal 1944 book The Great Transformation, Polanyi describes the rise and fall of liberal capitalism during the long nineteenth century. Many have realised that Polanyi has a lot to tell about the European Union in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The paper begins with an overview of Polanyi's historiography of the failure of nineteenth‐century liberal capitalism and his account of the four elements that helped liberal capitalism thrive, while precipitating its collapse—the idea of the self‐regulating market, the gold standard, international peace and liberal constitutionalism. Thereafter, the paper describes the particular transformations that these four elements underwent in the course of European integration and after the financial crisis, with a particular focus on the case law of the Court of Justice. The paper argues that their current constellation has a destructive potential that exceeds the economic dimension of the Union and might pave the way for a much greater failure, one that might defeat Europe's greatest success: the establishment of peace. Ultimately, the paper assesses current reform proposals in light of these insights and makes a number of proposals for re‐embedding the economy in society.
How to enforce European law? A new history of the battle over the direct effect of Directives, 1958–1987
Authors: Rasmussen Morten 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThis article explores the well‐known saga of the European Court of Justice's introduction of direct effect of Council Directives on the basis of new comprehensive archival research. The expansion of the doctrine of direct effect to include Directives was part of a drive of the Legal Service of the European Commission and the ECJ to strengthen the enforcement of European law. This threatened the deeper balance of competences between the European Community and its Member States and consequently led to a sharp response from the national parliaments and courts. The force of these responses and the deep crisis that had evolved in the late 1970s between France and the ECJ, led to a change in the EC's case law that limited the direct effect of Directives to the vertical relation between citizens and the respective Member State and excluded any horizontal effect. The story is an example of how the activist ECJ of the 1970s ran into resistance from the Member States and had to modify its doctrinal advances. It also suggests that the successful acceptance of the constitutionalisation of the Treaties of Rome pursued by the ECJ was by no means secure by the late 1970s.
The molecular structure of the glycoside hydrolase domain of Cwp19 from Clostridium difficile
Authors: Bradshaw William J. , Kirby Jonathan M. , Roberts April K. , Shone Clifford C. , Acharya K. Ravi 
Published: October 2017

Clostridium difficile is a burden to healthcare systems around the world, causing tens of thousands of deaths annually. The S‐layer of the bacterium, a layer of protein found of the surface of cells, has received a significant amount of attention over the past two decades as a potential target to combat the growing threat presented by C. difficile infections. The S‐layer contains a wide range of proteins, each of which possesses three cell wall‐binding domains, while many also possess a “functional” region. Here, we present the high resolution structure of the functional region of one such protein, Cwp19 along with preliminary functional characterisation of the predicted glycoside hydrolase. Cwp19 has a TIM barrel fold and appears to possess a high degree of substrate selectivity. The protein also exhibits peptidoglycan hydrolase activity, an order of magnitude slower than that of lysozyme and is the first member of glycoside hydrolase‐like family 10 to be characterised. This research goes some way to understanding the role of Cwp19 in the S‐layer of C. difficile.DatabaseStructural data are available in the PDB under the accession numbers 5OQ2 and 5OQ3.
Dynamic control of RSK complexes by phosphoswitch‐based regulation
Authors: Gógl Gergő , Biri‐Kovács Beáta , Póti Ádám L. , Vadászi Henrietta , Szeder Bálint , Bodor Andrea , Schlosser Gitta , Ács András , Turiák Lilla , Buday László , Alexa Anita , Nyitray László , Reményi Attila 
Published: October 2017

Assembly and disassembly of protein–protein complexes needs to be dynamically controlled and phosphoswitches based on linear motifs are crucial in this process. Extracellular signal–regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) recognizes a linear‐binding motif at the C‐terminal tail (CTT) of ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (RSK1), leading to phosphorylation and subsequent activation of RSK1. The CTT also contains a classical PDZ domain‐binding motif which binds RSK substrates (e.g. MAGI‐1). We show that autophosphorylation of the disordered CTT promotes the formation of an intramolecular charge clamp, which efficiently masks critical residues and indirectly hinders ERK binding. Thus, RSK1 CTT operates as an autoregulated phosphoswitch: its phosphorylation at specific sites affects its protein‐binding capacity and its conformational dynamics. These biochemical feedbacks, which form the structural basis for the rapid dissociation of ERK2‐RSK1 and RSK1‐PDZ substrate complexes under sustained epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulation, were structurally characterized and validated in living cells. Overall, conformational changes induced by phosphorylation in disordered regions of protein kinases, coupled to allosteric events occurring in the kinase domain cores, may provide mechanisms that contribute to the emergence of complex signaling activities. In addition, we show that phosphoswitches based on linear motifs can be functionally classified as ON and OFF protein–protein interaction switches or dimmers, depending on the specific positioning of phosphorylation target sites in relation to functional linear‐binding motifs. Moreover, interaction of phosphorylated residues with positively charged residues in disordered regions is likely to be a common mechanism of phosphoregulation.DatabaseStructural data are available in the PDB database under the accession numbers 5N7D, 5N7F and 5N7G. NMR spectral assignation data are available in the BMRB database under the accession numbers 27213 and 27214.