bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Electronic structure of octagonal boron nitride nanotubes
Authors: Takahashi Lauren , Nakagawa Tessui , Takahashi Keisuke 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe effect of an octagonal lattice configuration on a boron nitride nanotube is explored using first principle calculations. Calculations show that the formational energy of an octagonal boron nitride nanotube (o‐BNNT) is an exothermic reaction. Boron and nitrogen atoms within an o‐BNNT have an average of 2.88 electrons and 9.09 electrons, respectively, indicating ionic‐like bonding. In addition, the electronic structure of the octagonal boron nitride nanotube shows semiconductive properties, while h‐BNNT is reported to be an insulator. Additional o‐BNNTs with varying diameters are calculated where the results suggest that the diameter has an effect on the binding energy and bandgap of the o‐BNNT. The defect sites of the o‐BNNT are reactive against hydrogen where a boron defect is particularly reactive. Thus, this work suggests that physical and chemical properties of a boron nitride nanotube can be tailored and tuned by controlling the lattice configuration of the nanotube.
Glucose Conversion to Furans in Alcohols Catalyzed by Lewis Acidic Beta Zeolites and Brønsted Acidic Resins
Authors: Mahmoud Eyas 
Published: November 2017

AbstractGlucose was converted to 5‐(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) and the potential biodiesel additives 5‐(ethoxymethyl)furfural (EMF) and 5‐(isopropoxymethyl)furfural (IMF) by Lewis acidic zeolites and Brønsted acidic resins. The conversion occured by sequential isomerization and dehydration reactions in semiaqueous mixtures containing ethanol or isopropanol. Sn‐beta and Amberlyst® 15 catalyzed the conversion of glucose to HMF and IMF in 53% yield in isopropanol containing 7.5 weight % water. The yield of undetected byproducts including humins was 7%. The moderate yield is attributed to the increased selectivity of the isomerization reaction and the suppression of further reactions of HMF to byproducts such as levullinic acid, formic acid, and humins in the alcohols.
Teachers' learning to facilitate high‐level student thinking: Impact of a video‐based professional development
Authors: Tekkumru‐Kisa Miray , Stein Mary Kay , Coker Ryan 
Published: November 2017

AbstractAttaining the vision for science teaching and learning emphasized in the Framework for K‐12 Science Education and the next generation science standards (NGSS) will require major shifts in teaching practices in many science classrooms. As NGSS‐inspired cognitively demanding tasks begin to appear in more and more science classrooms, facilitating students' engagement in high‐level thinking as they work on these tasks will become an increasingly important instructional challenge to address. This study reports findings from a video‐based professional development effort (i.e., professional development [PD] that use video‐clips of instruction as the main artifact of practice to support teacher learning) to support teachers' learning to select cognitively demanding tasks and to support students' learning during the enactment of these tasks in ways that are aligned with the NGSS vision. Particularly, we focused on the NGSS's charge to get students to make sense of and deeply think about scientific ideas as students try to explain phenomena. Analyses of teachers' pre‐ and post‐PD instruction indicate that PD‐participants began to adopt instructional practices associated with facilitating these kinds of student thinking in their own classrooms. The study has implications for the design of video‐based professional development for science teachers who are learning to facilitate the NGSS vision in science classrooms.
Rethinking Sight Words
Authors: Miles Katharine Pace , Rubin Gregory B. , Gonzalez‐Frey Selenid 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to rethink how sight words are categorized in early childhood classrooms. Three categories of words (regularly spelled, temporarily irregularly spelled, and permanently irregularly spelled) are presented as a way to think about the orthographic representations of words and how these representations interact with students’ grapheme–phoneme knowledge. Five kindergarten students were trained on explicit grapheme–phoneme mapping of 10 regularly spelled sight words during eight sessions lasting approximately 10 minutes each. Results demonstrated significant improvement from pretest to posttest on reading target words (p = 0.013, Cohen's d = 1.93) and nontarget words (p = 0.005, Cohen's d = 1.93). These preliminary findings indicate that the use of the categorization scheme based on student knowledge coupled with direct and explicit instruction of words that were previously taught as whole units may be an efficient and effective instructional method for securing regularly spelled sight words in memory.
Appendicitis: Rural Patient Status is Associated with Increased Duration of Prehospital Symptoms and Worse Outcomes in High‐ and Low‐Middle‐Income Countries
Authors: Hernandez Matthew C. , Finnesgaard Eric , Aho Johnathon M. , Kong Victor Y. , Bruce John L. , Polites Stephanie F. , Laing Grant L. , Clarke Damian L. , Zielinski Martin D. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractIntroductionAppendicitis is a significant economic and healthcare burden in low‐, middle‐, and high‐income countries. We aimed to determine whether urban and rural patient status would affect outcomes in appendicitis in a combined population regardless of country of economic status. We hypothesize that patients from rural areas and both high‐ and low‐middle‐income countries would have disproportionate outcomes and duration of symptoms compared to their urban counterparts.MethodsAdults (≥18 years) with appendicitis during 2010–2016 in South Africa and USA were reviewed using multi‐institutional data. Baseline demographic, operative details, durations of stay, and complications (Clavien–Dindo index) were collected. AAST grades were assigned by two independent reviewers based on operative findings. Summary, univariate, and multivariable analyses of rural and urban patients in both countries were performed.ResultsThere were 2602 patients with a median interquartile range [IQR] of 26 [18–40] years; 45% were female. Initial management included McBurney incisions (n = 458, 18%), laparotomy (n = 915, 35%), laparoscopic appendectomy (n = 1185, 45%), and laparoscopy converted to laparotomy (n = 44, 2%). Comparing rural versus urban patient status, there were increased overall median [IQR] AAST grades (3 [1–5] vs. 2 [1–3], p = 0.001), prehospital duration of symptoms (2 [1–5] vs. 2 [1–3], p = 0.001), complications (44.3 vs. 23%, p = 0.001), and need for temporary abdominal closure (20.3 vs. 6.9%, p = 0.001).ConclusionDespite socioeconomic status and country of origin, patients from more rural environments demonstrate poorer outcomes notwithstanding significant differences in overall disease severity. The AAST grading system may serve a potential benchmark to recognize areas with disparate disease burdens. This information could be used for strategic improvements for surgeon placement and availability.
Beauty alone is insufficient: female mate choice in the barn swallow
Authors: Hasegawa Masaru 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThe barn swallow,Hirundo rustica, is a model species for studying sexual selection, particularly female mate choice. Although there have already been several reviews of female mate choice and its geographic variation in this species, all of them have focused on secondary sexual characteristics. Here, for better understanding of the general pattern of female mate choice and their influence on male phenotype, I review all of the female mate choice criteria ever reported in the barn swallow, emphasizing the importance of relatively inconspicuous male traits. These include resources defended or provided by males, such as territory and paternal investment. In addition, females prefer a nestling‐like vocalization, enticement call, which is particularly noteworthy because females prefer immature calls. This pattern contrasts with female choice based on secondary sexual characteristics, in which more mature, elaborate male traits are almost always favored. Nestling‐like male traits are widespread, and thus female avoidance of, rather than preference for, mature forms might be common. In addition to selection on the target trait itself, these resources and nestling‐like male traits would also matter in understanding the evolution of the overall male phenotype and its geographic variation, due to the interrelationships among male target traits and those among female mate preferences. Female preferences for inconspicuous traits are highly dependent on ecological factors such as nest predation pressure, and thus overall male phenotype including secondary sexual characteristics might be more predictable than previously thought. Future studies should focus on not only conspicuous secondary sexual characteristics but inconspicuous male traits.
Continuous measurement of object location memory is sensitive to effects of age and mild cognitive impairment and related to medial temporal lobe volume
Authors: Hampstead Benjamin M. , Towler Stephen , Stringer Anthony Y. , Sathian Krishnankutty 
Published: November 2017

AbstractIntroductionWe present findings of a novel and ecologically relevant associative memory test, the Object Location Touchscreen Test (OLTT), which was posited as sensitive to early medial temporal lobe compromise associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).MethodsA total of 114 participants, including healthy young and older controls and patients with MCI, completed the OLTT and standard neuropsychological testing. The OLTT required participants to recall the location of objects under free and cued recall conditions, with accuracy evaluated using distance measures (i.e., a continuous error score), and a standard recognition format. Correlations between performance and volumetric data were evaluated from a subset of 77 participants.ResultsSignificant age effects were dwarfed by MCI effects across all test conditions. OLTT Cued Recall was strongly and specifically related to the volume of disease‐relevant medial temporal lobe regions, generally more than traditional memory tests.DiscussionThe OLTT may be sensitive to early structural compromise in regions affected by Alzheimer's disease.
Effects of an Oral-Pharyngeal Motor Training Programme on Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in Hong Kong: A Retrospective Pilot Study
Authors: Cheng S.Y. , Kwong S.H.W. , Pang W.M. , Wan L.Y. 
Published: November 2017

Background This study aimed to investigate the effects of an oropharyngeal motor training programme on children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) in Hong Kong. Methods In this retrospective study, we reviewed the outcomes of 10 children with OSAS who had received an oropharyngeal motor training programme in Occupational Therapy Department of an acute hospital in Hong Kong over a 1-year programme. Each participant attended an individual oropharyngeal motor training programme plus a follow-up session after 2 months. The training programme consisted of 10 individual mobilization exercises involving the orofacial and pharyngeal area for 45 minutes. Each exercise had to be repeated for 10 times. Three outcome measures were chosen to study the effectiveness of the training programme including tongue strength, tongue endurance level and orofacial function. Tongue strength and tongue endurance level were assessed using the Iowa Oral Pressure Instrument (IOPI). The Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S) Assessment was used to assess the orofacial function. Seven out of 10 participants completed the training programme and attended the follow-up session after two months. Results The tongue strength and the scores of NOT-S of the 7 participants were found to have significant improvement after training. However, there was no significant difference in tongue endurance level. Conclusion The findings of this study support the role of occupational therapist in oromotor training modalities to improve the respiratory function for children with OSAS in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2017, Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association. Published by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).
Opposition multiple objective symbiotic organisms search (OMOSOS) for time, cost, quality and work continuity tradeoff in repetitive projects
Authors: Tran Duc-Hoc , Luong-Duc Long , Duong Minh-Tin , Le Trong-Nhan , Pham Anh-Duc 
Published: November 2017

AbstractConstruction managers often face with projects containing multiple units wherein activities repeat from unit to unit. Therefore effective resource management is crucial in terms of project duration, cost and quality. Accordingly, researchers have developed several models to aid planners in developing practical and near-optimal schedules for repetitive projects. Despite their undeniable benefits, such models lack the ability of pure simultaneous optimization because existing methodologies optimize the schedule with respect to a single factor, to achieve minimum duration, total cost, resource work breaks or various combinations, respectively. This study introduces a novel approach called “opposition multiple objective symbiotic organisms search” (OMOSOS) for scheduling repetitive projects. The proposed algorithm used an opposition-based learning technique for population initialization and for generation jumping. Further, this study integrated a scheduling module (M1) to determine all project objectives including time, cost, quality and interruption. The proposed algorithm was implemented on two application examples in order to demonstrate its capabilities in optimizing the scheduling of repetitive construction projects. The results indicate that the OMOSOS approach is a powerful optimization technique and can assist project managers in selecting appropriate plan for project.Highlights This study presents an advanced multiple optimization algorithm OMOSOS. Opposition technique is utilized to spreading the initial population and generation jumping. OMOSOS is applied to solve time, cost, quality and work continuity tradeoff problem. The model performance is demonstrated in the experimental results.
A Novel Protocol for Contact Isolation for Multidrug‐Resistant Organisms in Children on Inpatient Rehabilitation and Effects on Functional Outcomes: A Noninferiority Study
Authors: Pham Kelly L.D. , Bjornson Kristie F. , Osorio Marisa , Whitlock Kathryn B. , Massagli Teresa L. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractBackgroundThe incidence of contact isolation for multidrug‐resistant organisms is increasing in acute hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation units alike. There is limited evidence on the effect of contact isolation on functional outcomes during inpatient rehabilitation.ObjectiveTo determine whether the use of a modified contact isolation protocol (MCI) resulted in noninferior functional outcomes compared with children without contact isolation (NCI) on inpatient rehabilitation.DesignThis is a retrospective noninferiority study.SettingOne academically affiliated pediatric inpatient rehabilitation unit located in a children's hospital.PatientsAll children with any diagnosis admitted to inpatient rehabilitation from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2014.Methods or InterventionsWe compared functional outcomes for 2 groups of children.Main Outcome MeasurementsPrimary outcome measures included the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM) efficiency and the change in the Developmental Functional Quotient (DFQ) for the WeeFIM. Noninferiority margins of 0.63 for the WeeFIM efficiency and 0.092 for the change in DFQ for the WeeFIM were used.ResultsThere were a total of 949 patients of whom 899 were NCI, 48 MCI, and 2 excluded due to missing information. Patients with MCI had functional outcomes that were noninferior to those with NCI including the WeeFIM efficiency (mean difference 0.002, 95% CI –0.38 to 0.404) and the change in DFQ for the WeeFIM (mean difference –0.05, 95% CI –0.058 to 0.003).ConclusionsThe modified contact isolation protocol, having resulted in noninferior functional outcomes in inpatient rehabilitation may provide adequate contact isolation while allowing for noninferior functional outcomes. This may be a guide in the face of an ever‐increasing need for contact isolation.Level of EvidenceIII
Drug discovery and development: Role of basic biological research
Authors: Mohs Richard C. , Greig Nigel H. 
Published: November 2017

AbstractThis article provides a brief overview of the processes of drug discovery and development. Our aim is to help scientists whose research may be relevant to drug discovery and/or development to frame their research report in a way that appropriately places their findings within the drug discovery and development process and thereby support effective translation of preclinical research to humans. One overall theme of our article is that the process is sufficiently long, complex, and expensive so that many biological targets must be considered for every new medicine eventually approved for clinical use and new research tools may be needed to investigate each new target. Studies that contribute to solving any of the many scientific and operational issues involved in the development process can improve the efficiency of the process. An awareness of these issues allows the early implementation of measures to increase the opportunity for success. As editors of the journal, we encourage submission of research reports that provide data relevant to the issues presented.
Dogs’ reaction to inequity is affected by inhibitory control
Authors: Brucks Désirée , Range Friederike , Marshall-Pescini Sarah 
Published: November 2017

AbstractInequity aversion is thought to act as a mechanism to ensure cooperation and has been studied in many different species, consistently revealing inter-individual variation. Inhibitory control has been proposed to act as one factor responsible for this variation since individuals need to inhibit performing the required action and/or refuse rewards in order to exhibit inequity aversion. Here, we investigated if dogs’ sensitivity to inequity is affected by their capacity for inhibitory control, assessed in a test battery and questionnaire. Overall, dogs showing high compulsivity scores (i.e. repetitive behaviours independent of feedback) were more motivated to participate in the inequity task independent of the rewarding scheme. Dogs were more sensitive to inequity and individual contrast if they exhibited a slower decision speed in the inhibition tasks. Furthermore, less persistent and more impulsive dogs were more sensitive to reward inequity, potentially due to having a lower tolerance level for frustration. Results indicate that aspects of inhibitory control can explain the variation in dogs’ inequity response, highlighting one of the mechanisms underlying responses to inequity. Emphasising the importance to design paradigms, which allow us to disentangle capacities to recognise inequity from the inability to react to it due to poor inhibitory control abilities.
Technique for wireless reading of passive microfluidic sensors
Authors: Henry D. , Aubert H. , Pons P. , Lorenzo J. , Lázaro A. , Girbau D. 
Published: November 2017

The remote reading of high‐resolution microfluidic and passive (i.e. batteryless and chipless) temperature sensors is focused. These sensors are remotely interrogated from a 24 GHz frequency‐modulated continuous‐wave radar performing a mechanical beam scanning for locating the sensors and measuring the variation of sensors electromagnetic echo level due to temperature fluctuation. From radar measurement data, an estimator is proposed here for determining the meniscus position of the fluid inside the sensors microchannel and for deriving the temperature at the sensors location. It is shown that the estimator presents a convenient linear dependence with the meniscus position at the sensor location. The smallest measurable variation of the meniscus position is of 40 µm.
Metabolic Endotoxemia-Activated Macrophages Promote Pancreatic β Cell Death via IFNβ-Xaf1 Pathway
Authors: Tsuruta Mitsudai , Iwashita Misaki , Shinjo Takanori , Matsunaga Hiroaki , Yamashita Akiko , Nishimura Fusanori 
Published: November 2017

AbstractMetabolic endotoxemia has been implicated in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. In addition to adipose tissue inflammation, inflammatory cell infiltration is also observed in islets, although its effect on islets is largely unknown. We hypothesized that macrophage infiltration into islets leads to impairment of α or β cell function, which ultimately act to exacerbate the pathophysiology of diabetes. Gene expression in a murine α cell line, αTC1, and β cell line, βTC6, was investigated by DNA microarray after co-culturing the cells with a murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7, in the presence or absence of bacterial endotoxin. Among the genes showing highly upregulated expression, genes specifically upregulated only in β cells were evaluated to determine the roles of the gene products on the cellular function of β cells. In both α and β cells, expression of type I interferon-responsive genes was highly upregulated upon endotoxin stimulation. Among these genes, expression of the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (Xiap)-associated factor 1 (Xaf1) gene, which is associated with the induction of apoptosis, was specifically enhanced in β cells by endotoxin stimulation. This upregulation appeared to be mediated by macrophage-derived interferon β (IFNβ), as endotoxin-stimulated macrophages produced higher amounts of IFNβ, and exogenous addition of IFNβ into βTC6 cultures resulted in increased Xaf1 protein production and cleaved caspase 3, which accelerated β-cell apoptosis. Macrophages activated by metabolic endotoxemia infiltrated into islets and produced IFNβ, which induced β-cell apoptosis by increasing the expression of Xaf1.
Neurological Sequelae of Adult Meningitis in Africa: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Goldberg Drew W , Tenforde Mark W , Mitchell Hannah K , Jarvis Joseph N 
Published: November 2017

Abstract
The high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa has markedly changed the epidemiology and presentation of adult meningitis. We conducted a systematic review using PubMed, Embase, Ovid, CENTRAL, and African Index Medicus to identify studies in Africa with data on neurological outcomes in adults after meningitis. We found 22 articles meeting inclusion criteria. From 4 studies with predominately pneumococcal meningitis, a median of 19% of survivors experienced hearing loss up to 40 days. Two studies of cryptococcal meningitis evaluated 6- to 12-month outcomes; in one, 41% of survivors had global neurocognitive impairment and 20% severe impairment at 1 year, and in a second 30% of survivors had intermediate disability and 10% severe disability at 6 months. A single small study of patients with tuberculosis/HIV found marked disability in 20% (6 of 30) at 9 months. Despite the high burden of meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about neurological outcomes of patients with HIV-associated meningitides.