bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ultrafast Brain MRI: Clinical Deployment and Comparison to Conventional Brain MRI at 3T
Authors: Prakkamakul Supada , Witzel Thomas , Huang Susie , Boulter Daniel , Borja Maria J. , Schaefer Pamela , Rosen Bruce , Heberlein Keith , Ratai Eva , Gonzalez Gilberto , Rapalino Otto 
Published: June 2016

ABSTRACTBACKGROUND AND PURPOSETo compare an ultrafast brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol to the conventional protocol in motion‐prone inpatient clinical settings.METHODSThis retrospective study was HIPAA compliant and approved by the Institutional Review Board with waived inform consent. Fifty‐nine inpatients (30 males, 29 females; mean age 55.1, range 23–93 years)who underwent 3‐Tesla brain MRI using ultrafast and conventional protocols, both including five sequences, were included in the study. The total scan time for five ultrafast sequences was 4 minutes 59 seconds. The ideal conventional acquisition time was 10 minutes 32 seconds but the actual acquisition took 15–20 minutes. The average scan times for ultrafast localizers, T1‐weighted, T2‐weighted, fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), diffusion‐weighted, T2*‐weighted sequences were 14, 41, 62, 96, 80, 6 seconds, respectively. Two blinded neuroradiologists independently assessed three aspects: (1) image quality, (2) gray‐white matter (GM‐WM) differentiation, and (3) diagnostic concordance for the detection of six clinically relevant imaging findings. Wilcoxon signed‐rank test was used to compare image quality and GM‐WM scores. Interobserver reproducibility was calculated.RESULTSThe ultrafast T1‐weighted sequence demonstrated significantly better image quality (P = .005) and GM‐WM differentiation (P < .001) compared to the conventional sequence. There was high agreement (>85%) between both protocols for the detection of mass‐like lesion, hemorrhage, diffusion restriction, WM FLAIR hyperintensities, subarachnoid FLAIR hyperintensities, and hydrocephalus.CONCLUSIONSThe ultrafast protocol achieved at least comparable image quality and high diagnostic concordance compared to the conventional protocol. This fast protocol can be a viable option to replace the conventional protocol in motion‐prone inpatient clinical settings.
Impact of South Carolina's Medicaid fluoride varnish reimbursement policy on children's receipt of fluoride varnish in medical and dental settings
Authors: Veschusio Christine N. , Probst Janice C. , Martin Amy B. , Hardin James W. , L. Hale Nathan 
Published: June 2016

AbstractObjectiveWe estimated the effect of South Carolina's (SC) Medicaid fluoride varnish (FV) reimbursement policy on children's receipt of fluoride varnish in medical (MFV) and dental (DFV) settings.MethodsWe obtained data from SC Medicaid enrollment and claims files for children ≤ 47 months of age across State Fiscal Years (SFY) 2008–2013 and created a panel dataset of 52,841 children representing 126,464 child‐years of observation. Pooled multivariate logistic regression models were estimated to identify factors associated with a higher likelihood of a child receiving one or more MFV or DFV treatments.ResultsThe FV rates per child‐year were 1 percent for physicians and 23 percent for dentists, respectively. The child‐year rate for receipt of FV from both a physician and a dentist was less than one‐third of one percent.ConclusionsA policy designed to increase access to FV treatments from physicians and dentists for children up to forty‐seven months of age was not successful for physicians; however, the positive findings for dentists were promising.
Passions, Affections, and Emotions: Methodological Difficulties in Reconstructing Aquinas's Philosophical Psychology
Authors: Dryden John 
Published: June 2016

AbstractOne methodological difficulty with studying emotions in medieval culture is that the very category of emotion is a modern one that did not exist until two centuries ago. Medieval affective psychology involved concepts such as passions, affections, sentiments, and appetites. It is not immediately clear whether any of these medieval categories are commensurable with the modern category of emotion. I refer to this problem as the problem of incommensurability. In this paper, I illustrate this methodological issue by focusing on Thomas Aquinas's “Treatise on the Passions” and offer some suggestions for overcoming this difficulty.
Emotional Bodies: Cognitive Neuroscience and Mediaeval Studies
Authors: Blud Victoria 
Published: June 2016

AbstractSurveying the study of mediaeval emotion as a reflex of the interface between neuroscience and the humanities, this essay explores how medico‐philosophical understanding in the late Middle Ages intersects with somatic theories of emotion. The mediaeval emphasis on the faculties and physicality of the soul has the effect of bringing the body to bear on mediaeval representations of profound emotional experiences in a way that might usefully be compared with modern neuroscientific theory; the mediaeval arts and sciences in their turn offer a different take on somatic theory, drawing corporeal, animate and cognitive aspects into one focus.
Personification and Embodied Emotional Practice in Middle English Literature
Authors: Flannery Mary C. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractA pressing question facing literary scholars who are working on emotion is that of what literary analysis and literary history can bring to the history of emotions. While disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, linguistics and various branches of history have made notable contributions to the study of emotions past and present, precisely how imaginative literature might fit into emotion studies remains unclear. This essay suggests that attention to the tropes and forms with which literature performs its imagining may be the best way to incorporate literature into the history of emotions. I focus in particular on how personification in Middle English texts translates abstract emotions into bodily terms in order to represent them as embodied phenomena and to elicit emotional responses. By examining the personification of emotions in these texts, we can see how imaginative literature might both shape and constitute emotional practice.
Romancing Death: The Erotics of Grief in the Old French Philomena
Authors: Moore Megan 
Published: June 2016

AbstractWhereas much medieval literature seems to align courtly love with a joyous celebration of noble life, there is a darker affective narrative of death undergirding medieval texts, one that paradoxically entwines the emotions of love with those surrounding death. The Old French Philomena is an excellent space to explore what I develop here as the medieval erotics of grief: it is a text full of incest, cannibalism, infanticide, and rape and one whose sorrow‐filled pages invite us to reconsider our assumption that love is linked to a desire for life. I instead consider why death is so sexually charged in medieval French literature. In this article, I use a wide range of theories of emotions – from Augustine to Sade to Bataille – to theorize a medieval “erotics of grief” as stemming from the locus of courtly love. Using the doleful rape and mutilation of Philomena, and her subsequent revenge in infanticide and cannibalism as a backdrop to consider taboo, transgression, and death as all constitutive of medieval desire, I propose that we should reconsider our received narratives about courtly love as a romantic pining and instead consider them as intimately entwined with grief and the death that it enshrouds. I propose that this text – and many others like it – suggests that for medieval nobles, there was an association between eroticism and grief, a valence of violent sexuality underpinning much of the dynamics of the medieval court.
Contamination patterns and molluscan and polychaete assemblages in two Persian (Arabian) Gulf oilfields
Authors: Albano Paolo G. , Filippova Nadezhda , Steger Jan , Schmidbaur Hannah , Tomašových Adam , Stachowitsch Michael , Zuschin Martin 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThis study examined two shallow‐water, offshore oil facilities and their surroundings in the Umm Al Dalkh and Zakum oilfields [United Arab Emirates, Persian (Arabian) Gulf]. The focus was on sediment contamination levels and the detection of disturbance based on two representative invertebrate components of the benthos: molluscs and polychaetes. We tested the hypothesis that significant disturbance to the community has occurred, by examining whether distance from the platform or variation in contaminants explains among‐site variation in the composition of benthic communities. Moreover, we also tested the hypothesis that organic enrichment because of oil input has modified the feeding guild structure by examining whether the relative abundances of filter‐feeders, deposit‐feeders and omnivores are correlated with distance from the platform or with contamination by hydrocarbons. The contamination levels and their spatial distribution in the sediments differed significantly between the two fields, as did their mollusc and polychaete communities. The within‐field variability, however, was much lower: no clear structuring of contamination values and species composition and abundance was detectable in relation to distance from the oil platform. Contamination levels were low, often below detection levels or international guideline values. Variation in contaminant concentrations did not explain variation in taxonomic composition and abundance. The relative abundance of the above‐mentioned feeding guilds did not correlate with either distance from the platform or with contaminant concentrations. These patterns may reflect the long time that has elapsed since drilling (15–20 years), which appears to have allowed contaminants to disperse and degrade and assemblages to recover from the impact, if indeed such a disturbance ever occurred. In contrast to low values of barium and total petroleum hydrocarbons, associated with well drilling, some metals were at their highest concentrations beneath the central platforms. This suggests that production‐related activities (including platform cleaning and maintenance) are currently a more relevant contamination source.
A Statistical Equilibrium Approach to the Distribution of Profit Rates
Authors: Scharfenaker Ellis , Semieniuk Gregor 
Published: June 2016

AbstractMotivated by classical political economy we detail a probabilistic, ‘statistical equilibrium’ approach to explaining why even in equilibrium, the equalization of profit rates leads to a non‐degenerate distribution. Based on this approach we investigate the empirical content of the profit rate distribution for previously unexamined annual firm level data comprising over 24,000 publicly listed North American firms for the period 1962–2014. We find strong evidence for a structural organization and equalization of profit rates on a relatively short time scale both at the economy wide and one‐ and two‐digit SIC industry levels into a Laplace or double exponential distribution. We show that the statistical equilibrium approach is consistent with economic theorizing about profit rates and discuss research questions emerging from this novel look at profit rate distributions. We also highlight the applicability of the underlying principle of maximum entropy for inference in a wide range of economic topics.
The crystal structure of the major pneumococcal autolysin LytA in complex with a large peptidoglycan fragment reveals the pivotal role of glycans for lytic activity
Authors: Sandalova Tatyana , Lee Mijoon , Henriques‐Normark Birgitta , Hesek Dusan , Mobashery Shahriar , Mellroth Peter , Achour Adnane 
Published: June 2016

SummaryThe pneumococcal autolysin LytA is a key virulence factor involved in several important functions including DNA competence, immune evasion and biofilm formation. Here, we present the 1.05 Å crystal structure of the catalytic domain of LytA in complex with a synthetic cell‐wall‐based peptidoglycan (PG) ligand that occupies the entire Y‐shaped substrate‐binding crevice. As many as twenty‐one amino‐acid residues are engaged in ligand interactions with a majority of these interactions directed towards the glycan strand. All saccharides are intimately bound through hydrogen bond, van der Waals and CH‐π interactions. Importantly, the structure of LytA is not altered upon ligand binding, whereas the bound ligand assumes a different conformation compared to the unbound NMR‐based solution structure of the same PG‐fragment. Mutational study reveals that several non‐catalytic glycan‐interacting residues, structurally conserved in other amidases from Gram‐positive Firmicutes, are pivotal for enzymatic activity. The three‐dimensional structure of the LytA/PG complex provides a novel structural basis for ligand restriction by the pneumococcal autolysin, revealing for the first time an importance of the multivalent binding to PG saccharides.
Overexpression of SepJ alters septal morphology and heterocyst pattern regulated by diffusible signals in Anabaena
Authors: Mariscal Vicente , Nürnberg Dennis J. , Herrero Antonia , Mullineaux Conrad W. , Flores Enrique 
Published: June 2016

SummaryFilamentous, N2‐fixing, heterocyst‐forming cyanobacteria grow as chains of cells that are connected by septal junctions. In the model organism Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, the septal protein SepJ is required for filament integrity, normal intercellular molecular exchange, heterocyst differentiation, and diazotrophic growth. An Anabaena strain overexpressing SepJ made wider septa between vegetative cells than the wild type, which correlated with a more spread location of SepJ in the septa as observed with a SepJ–GFP fusion, and contained an increased number of nanopores, the septal peptidoglycan perforations that likely accommodate septal junctions. The septa between heterocysts and vegetative cells, which are narrow in wild‐type Anabaena, were notably enlarged in the SepJ‐overexpressing mutant. Intercellular molecular exchange tested with fluorescent tracers was increased for the SepJ‐overexpressing strain specifically in the case of calcein transfer between vegetative cells and heterocysts. These results support an association between calcein transfer, SepJ‐related septal junctions, and septal peptidoglycan nanopores. Under nitrogen deprivation, the SepJ‐overexpressing strain produced an increased number of contiguous heterocysts but a decreased percentage of total heterocysts. These effects were lost or altered in patS and hetN mutant backgrounds, supporting a role of SepJ in the intercellular transfer of regulatory signals for heterocyst differentiation.
Prucalopride induces high‐amplitude propagating contractions in the colon of patients with chronic constipation: a randomized study
Authors: Miner P. B. , Camilleri M. , Burton D. , Achenbach H. , Wan H. , Dragone J. , Mellgard B. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractBackgroundThis study compared prucalopride, a selective, prokinetic, 5‐HT4 receptor agonist, with polyethylene glycol 3350 + electrolytes (PEG3350), an osmotic laxative, on colonic motility parameters, primarily high‐amplitude propagating contractions (HAPCs) in patients with chronic constipation.MethodsThis randomized, cross‐over, reader‐blinded study was conducted at a single site in the USA. The study was open to men and women aged 18–75 years who met study inclusion criteria. Colonic manometry catheters were inserted the day before investigation. On the investigation days, patients received oral 2 mg prucalopride or 2 × 13.8 g PEG3350 in solution. The primary endpoint was HAPC count (threshold: mean amplitude ≥100 mmHg, propagation ≥20 cm [HAPC1]) in the 12 h after treatment administration. Analyses were also conducted at two co‐primary thresholds: mean amplitude ≥75 mmHg, propagation ≥20 cm (HAPC2); and mean amplitude ≥75 mmHg, propagation ≥10 cm (HAPC3). Secondary endpoints included HAPC area under the curve (AUC), contraction force, amplitude, duration, and propagation velocity.Key ResultsThirteen women were enrolled, with 12 completing the study. Significantly more HAPC1 (8.7 ± 2.06 vs 2.9 ± 2.06; p = 0.012) and HAPC2 (9.0 ± 2.11 vs 3.3 ± 2.11; p = 0.017) were observed in the 12‐h periods with prucalopride than with PEG3350. Prucalopride significantly increased mean propagation distance and velocity (HAPC2) and mean AUC, force, and amplitude (HAPC3) compared with PEG3350. Adverse events were mild or moderate.Conclusions & InferencesPrucalopride was superior to PEG3350 in inducing HAPCs in patients with chronic constipation.ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01707667.
Bacteria as food in aquaculture: do they make a difference?
Authors: Nevejan Nancy , De Schryver Peter , Wille Mathieu , Dierckens Kristof , Baruah Kartik , Van Stappen Gilbert 
Published: June 2016

AbstractBacterioplankton is an important component of marine as well as fresh waters and accounts for a large fraction of the production of particulate matter in those ecosystems. The concept of bacteria as providers of essential nutrients in aquatic food webs has been raised most recently in relation to the utilization of bacteria as a food source in aquaculture food chains. This article represents a comprehensive review on the potential role of bacteria as a direct food source for aquaculture organisms. After studying shortly the analytical tools that can be applied to determine the uptake and assimilation of bacteria by higher trophic levels, it describes the bacterial loads that are found in closed and open aquaculture systems and elaborates on the composition of bacteria from a nutritional point of view. Next this study elaborates in more detail on the role of bacteria as food for the zooplankton groups used as live food in aquaculture hatcheries and for various groups of aquaculture target organisms, such as fish, crustaceans and especially bivalves. This includes an assessment of the specific uptake mechanisms of the different taxonomic groups of interest in relation to their efficiency to ingest bacteria. Finally, future research lines are suggested to elucidate the nutritional impact of the bacterial community in aquaculture systems and how to steer this in order to optimize the production.
Risk factor analysis of hepatitis C virus seropositivity in Iranian blood donors: a case‐control study
Authors: Rezaei Negar , Amini‐Kafiabad Sedigheh , Maghsudlu Mahtab , Abolghasemi Hasan 
Published: June 2016

BACKGROUNDDue to blood screening and blood donor selection, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is expected to be lower among blood donors compared to the general population. The effective control of blood‐transmitted infectious diseases should be one of the goals of public health. Thus, this case‐control study was conducted to evaluate the risk factors of HCV in a representative sample of blood donors in Iran.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSA case‐control study was conducted on HCV‐negative and on serologically confirmed HCV‐positive donors across the country from 2009 to 2013. Univariate logistic regression, multiple logistic regression, and subgroup analyses were performed to assess the risk factors in first‐time blood donors (FTs) and repeat blood donors (RDs) independently.RESULTSA total of 970 cases and 1542 controls were selected from the cohort of Iranian blood donors registered in the Iran Blood Transfusion Organization. Intravenous (IV) drug abuse (ORFT, 6.42; 95% CI, 3.34‐12.34; and ORRD, 27.62; 95% CI, 12.58‐60.62), living with an IV drug abuser (ORFT, 3.47; 95% CI, 1.26‐9.55; and ORRD, 6.95; 95% CI, 1.54‐31.34), prison history (ORFT, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.48‐3.88; and ORRD, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.38‐4.27), sharing personal razors (ORFT, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.01‐3.96; and ORRD, 5.62; 95% CI, 2.65‐11.89), and medical exposure (ORFT, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.15‐3.37; and ORRD, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.27‐3.76) were significant independent risk factors in both types of blood donation.CONCLUSIONThe findings of this analytic study on HCV exposure in Iranian blood donors conforms to those of international studies. Behavioral and medical factors should be examined in the donor health screening process.
Experimental Determination of the Tensile Strength of Fused Deposition Modeling Parts
Authors: Savvakis K. , Petousis M. , Vairis A. , Vidakis N. , Bikmeyev A. T. 
Published: June 2016

Acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) is a popular engineering thermoplastic and it is the most common material used in fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. This technology is nowadays used for the production of prototypes and functional parts as well. It is therefore critical to know the mechanical properties of these parts, which, is as expected different from their nominal values.
In this work the tensile strength of parts build with the FDM process is measured. ABS and ABS plus parts were built with different building parameters and were tested according to the ASTM D638-02a standard on a Schenk Trebel Co. tensile test machine. It was found that the building direction does not significantly influence the tensile strength of the parts, although the parts were anisotropic, as expected. Parts build with larger layer thickness showed lower tensile strength. The average deviation between nominal and experimental tensile strength was about 15% for the ABS and about 42% for the ABS plus material. The ABS plus showed on average 9% higher strength than ABS.
Effect of Scratch on the Mechanical Property of Injection Moldings
Authors: Liao Mengyuan , Murakami Masuo , Inoya Hiroyuki , Yang Yuqiu , Hamada Hiroyuki 
Published: June 2016

As well known that material’s scratch behavior/resistance is considering as a kind of surface toughness parameter, which can affect product’s appearance quality and mechanical property reduction. Material’s surface scratch damage may also accelerate critical fracture existence in following mechanical test process.
In this paper, dumbbell and plate samples of neat polycarbonate (PC) and 20wt% of glass fiber (GF) additive corresponding GF/PC composite were fabricated by injection molding technology. Basically, scratch damage performance was investigated by applying various scratch depths in dumbbell sample thickness direction following with tensile property change discussion. Initially, cross-section of scratch path in samples was observed to investigate various scratch parameters’ effect on scratch damage. Afterwards, dumbbell tension, plate’s drop weight impact test and bending test were conducted. Finally, dumbbell sample tension’s brittle fracture and plate’s impact damage tolerance were discussed based on tension strain, impact energy absorption and fractural appearance. The results indicates that material’s critical scratch depth could make sample’s tension fracture change from ductile to brittle, affecting material’s failure early-warming. Additionally, PC material with surface damage would decrease the energy absorption during plate bending process bearing smaller maximum load and deflection.