bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
One Size May Not Fit All: How Obesity Among Mexican-Origin Youth Varies by Generation, Gender, and Age
Authors: Frisco Michelle L. , Quiros Susana , Van Hook Jennifer 
Published: November 2016

AbstractImmigrants’ health (dis)advantages are increasingly recognized as not being uniform, leading to calls for studies investigating whether immigrant health outcomes are dependent on factors that exacerbate health risks. We answer this call, considering an outcome with competing evidence about immigrants’ vulnerability versus risk: childhood obesity. More specifically, we investigate obesity among three generations of Mexican-origin youth relative to one another and to U.S.-born whites. We posit that risk is dependent on the intersection of generational status, gender, and age, which all influence exposure to U.S. society and weight concerns. Analyses of National Health and Nutrition Examination Studies (NHANES) data suggest that accounting for ethnicity and generation alone misses considerable gender and age heterogeneity in childhood obesity among Mexican-origin and white youth. For example, second-generation boys are vulnerable to obesity, but the odds of obesity for first-generation girls are low and on par with those of white girls. Findings also indicate that age moderates ethnic/generational differences in obesity among boys but not among girls. Overall, ethnic/generational patterns of childhood obesity do not conform to a “one size fits all” theory of immigrant health (dis)advantage, leading us to join calls for more research considering how immigrants’ characteristics and contexts differentially shape vulnerability to disease and death.
Young Children’s Developmental Ecologies and Kindergarten Readiness
Authors: Mollborn Stefanie 
Published: November 2016

AbstractChildren enter the crucial transition to school with sociodemographic disparities firmly established. Domain-specific research (e.g., on poverty and family structure) has shed light on these disparities, but we need broader operationalizations of children’s environments to explain them. Building on existing theory, this study articulates the concept of developmental ecology—those interrelated features of a child’s proximal environment that shape development and health. Developmental ecology links structural and demographic factors with interactional, psychological, and genetic factors. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study conducts latent class analyses to identify how 41 factors from three domains—namely, household resources, health risks, and ecological changes—cluster within children as four overarching developmental ecologies. Because it documents how numerous factors co-occur within children, this method allows an approximation of their lived environments. Findings illuminate powerful relationships between race/ethnicity, parental age, socioeconomic background, and nativity and a child’s developmental ecology, as well as associations between developmental ecology and kindergarten cognition, behavior, and health. Developmental ecology represents a major pathway through which demographic characteristics shape school readiness. Because specific factors have different implications depending on the ecologies in which they are embedded, findings support the usefulness of a broad ecological approach.
Assessment of observed of behavior of Sidi El Barrak Dam (Tunisia)
Authors: Karoui Hatem , Bouassida Mounir 
Published: November 2016

Abstract
Sidi El Barrak is a Tunisian earth dam of height 28 m; it was built in 1999 on a heterogeneous foundation that has a strong dominance of sandy formations. This dam covers an area of 896 km2 and receives about 260 Millions cubic meters of water per year. The foundation of the Sidi El Barrak dam was treated by vibro-compaction over the first 10 meters, to improve the relative density of upper sand layer against the liquefaction risk. Monitoring the behavior of the dam was assured against the hydraulic behavior and topographic auscultation. The recorded peak settlement at the crest level since July 3rd, 2003 until August 2015 was about 18.7 cm. In order to reproduce the behavior of the dam in terms of consolidation, a plane strain numerical model of the dam and soil foundation has been proposed. The simulation of dam behavior using the Mohr–Coulomb model for the material of dike and the sandy layer and by adopting the Soft Soil Model for clay layer led to predicted settlement almost in agreement with measured values. Three options of numerical computation were performed by adopting three constitutive laws of the constitutive materials of the dam and its foundation. The observed behavior of the dam during 15 years (up to date) was successfully predicted by the conducted numerical investigation.
A pulse size estimation method for reduced-order models
Authors: Griffiths L.M. , Gaitonde A.L. , Jones D.P. , Friswell M.I. 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTModel-Order Reduction (MOR) is an important technique that allows Reduced-Order Models (ROMs) of physical systems to be generated that can capture the dominant dynamics, but at lower cost than the full order system. One approach to MOR that has been successfully implemented in fluid dynamics is the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA). This method requires only minimal changes to the inputs and outputs of a CFD code so that the linear responses of the system to unit impulses on each input channel can be extracted. One of the challenges with the method is to specify the size of the input pulse. An inappropriate size may cause a failure of the code to converge due to non-physical behaviour arising during the solution process. This paper addresses this issue by using piston theory to estimate the appropriate input pulse size.
RISK REDISTRIBUTION GAMES WITH DUAL UTILITIES
Authors: Boonen Tim J. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThis paper studies optimal risk redistribution between firms, such as institutional investors, banks or insurance companies. We consider the case where every firm uses dual utility (also called a distortion risk measure) to evaluate risk. We characterize optimal risk redistributions via four properties that need to be satisfied jointly. The characterized risk redistribution is unique under three conditions. Whereas we characterize risk redistributions by means of properties, we can also use some results to study competitive equilibria. We characterize uniqueness of the competitive equilibrium in markets with dual utilities. Finally, we identify two conditions that are jointly necessary and sufficient for the case that there exists a trade that is welfare-improving for all firms.
Why calpain inhibitors are interesting leading compounds to search for new therapeutic options to treat leishmaniasis?
Authors: ENNES-VIDAL VITOR , MENNA-BARRETO RUBEM FIGUEIREDO SADOCK , BRANQUINHA MARTA HELENA , DOS SANTOS ANDRÉ LUIS SOUZA , D'AVILA-LEVY CLAUDIA MASINI 
Published: November 2016

SUMMARYLeishmaniasis is a neglected disease, which needs improvements in drug development, mainly due to the toxicity, parasite resistance and low compliance of patients to treatment. Therefore, the development of new chemotherapeutic compounds is an urgent need. This opinion article will briefly highlight the feasible use of calpain inhibitors as leading compounds to search for new therapeutic options to treat leishmaniasis. The milestone of this approach is to take advantage on the myriad of inhibitors developed against calpains, some of which are in advanced clinical trials. The deregulated activity of these enzymes is associated with several pathologies, such as strokes, diabetes and Parkinson's disease, to name a few. InLeishmania, calpain upregulation has been associated to drug resistance and virulence. Whereas the difficulties in developing new drugs for neglected diseases are more economical than biotechnological, repurposing approach with compounds already approved for clinical use by the regulatory agencies can be an interesting shortcut to a successful chemotherapeutic treatment for leishmaniasis.
Evaluating drug resistance in visceral leishmaniasis: the challenges
Authors: HENDRICKX S , GUERIN PJ , CALJON G , CROFT SL , MAES L 
Published: November 2016

SUMMARYFor decades antimonials were the drugs of choice for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), but the recent emergence of resistance has made them redundant as first-line therapy in the endemic VL region in the Indian subcontinent. The application of other drugs has been limited due to adverse effects, perceived high cost, need for parenteral administration and increasing rate of treatment failures. Liposomal amphotericin B (AmB) and miltefosine (MIL) have been positioned as the effective first-line treatments; however, the number of monotherapy MIL-failures has increased after a decade of use. Since no validated molecular resistance markers are yet available, monitoring and surveillance of changes in drug sensitivity and resistance still depends on standard phenotypicin vitropromastigote or amastigote susceptibility assays. Clinical isolates displaying defined MIL- or AmB-resistance are still fairly scarce and fundamental and applied research on resistance mechanisms and dynamics remains largely dependent on laboratory-generated drug resistant strains. This review addresses the various challenges associated with drug susceptibility and -resistance monitoring in VL, with particular emphasis on the choice of strains, susceptibility model selection and standardization of procedures with specific read-out parameters and well-defined threshold criteria. The latter are essential to support surveillance systems and safeguard the limited number of currently available antileishmanial drugs.
Relationship of amotivation to neurocognition, self-efficacy and functioning in first-episode psychosis: a structural equation modeling approach
Authors: Chang W. C. , Kwong V. W. Y. , Hui C. L. M. , Chan S. K. W. , Lee E. H. M. , Chen E. Y. H. 
Published: November 2016

BackgroundBetter understanding of the complex interplay among key determinants of functional outcome is crucial to promoting recovery in psychotic disorders. However, this is understudied in the early course of illness. We aimed to examine the relationships among negative symptoms, neurocognition, general self-efficacy and global functioning in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients using structural equation modeling (SEM).MethodThree hundred and twenty-one Chinese patients aged 26–55 years presenting with FEP to an early intervention program in Hong Kong were recruited. Assessments encompassing symptom profiles, functioning, perceived general self-efficacy and a battery of neurocognitive tests were conducted. Negative symptom measurement was subdivided into amotivation and diminished expression (DE) domain scores based on the ratings in the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms.ResultsAn initial SEM model showed no significant association between functioning and DE which was removed from further analysis. A final trimmed model yielded very good model fit (χ2= 15.48,p= 0.63; comparative fit index = 1.00; root mean square error of approximation <0.001) and demonstrated that amotivation, neurocognition and general self-efficacy had a direct effect on global functioning. Amotivation was also found to mediate a significant indirect effect of neurocognition and general self-efficacy on functioning. Neurocognition was not significantly related to general self-efficacy.ConclusionOur results indicate a critical intermediary role of amotivation in linking neurocognitive impairment to functioning in FEP. General self-efficacy may represent a promising treatment target for improvement of motivational deficits and functional outcome in the early illness stage.
Structural priming during sentence comprehension in Chinese–English bilinguals
Authors: HSIEH YUFEN 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTCross-linguistic priming in comprehension is understudied, and it remains unclear whether bilinguals have shared abstract syntactic representations during sentence comprehension. This article reports a self-paced reading experiment investigating the influence of Chinese passive relative clauses on the interpretation of English sentences that are temporarily ambiguous between an active main clause and a passive reduced relative (dispreferred) structure. The results showed that reading Chinese passive relative primes reduced processing difficulty in English targets at the dispreferred disambiguation. Chinese-to-English priming in comprehension occurred without lexical and word-order equivalence between primes and targets. In addition, translation-equivalent verbs did not boost cross-linguistic structural priming. The findings support an account under which bilingual sentence processing involves abstract, unordered syntactic representations that are integrated between languages.
Public Goods and Regime Support in Urban China
Authors: Dickson Bruce J. , Landry Pierre F. , Shen Mingming , Yan Jie 
Published: November 2016

AbstractWhy do authoritarian regimes try to improve the quality of their governance? In the absence of democratic institutions to monitor, reward and punish their performance, authoritarian politicians are normally expected to seek their self-interest through corruption and rewards to cronies, rather than providing for the public welfare. However, the Chinese state has actively promoted improved governance in recent years, with greater attention to quality of life issues to balance the primary focus on sustaining rapid economic growth. This paper analyses intra-national variation in the provision of public goods in urban China and the impact of public goods on regime support. Does better governance lead to higher levels of public support for the regime, even in the absence of democratic elections? Our evidence suggests that it does, with a greater impact for the local level than for the centre.
Brucellosis as a neglected disease in a neglected population: a seroepidemiological study of migratory nomads in the Fars province of Iran
Authors: HONARVAR B. , MOGHADAMI M. , LANKARANI K. B. , DAVARPANAH M. A. , ATAOLAHI M. , FARBOD A. , ESKANDARI E. , PANAHI M. , GHORBANI A. , ZAHIRI Z. , TABRIZI R. , POURJAFAR M. , HEIDARI S. M. M. 
Published: November 2016

SUMMARYThis study assessed the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its risk factors in migratory nomads in the Fars province of Iran. Active brucellosis was defined as the combination of clinical symptoms, including fever, chills, night sweats, headache, low back pain, arthralgia, or myalgia, and positive laboratory testing, including either a serum agglutination test (SAT) ⩾1:80 with a 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) test ⩾1:40, or a SAT <1:80 combined with a positive Coombs Wright test (CWT) at a titre of at least threefold higher than SAT titre results. For the 536 participants, the female (316, 59%) to male (220, 41%) ratio was 1·4 and the participants' mean age was 32·4 ± 18·9 (range 1–96) years. Of all participants, 325 (60·6%) showed clinical symptoms; in symptomatic participants, the Rose Bengal plate test was positive in 33 (6·1%) cases, the SAT was positive in 18 (3·3%) cases, and the 2-ME test was positive in 30 (5·5%) cases. Positive SAT and 2-ME results were seen in 18 (3·3%) cases, but a negative SAT and a positive CWT were found in 36 (6·7%) cases. As a result, active brucellosis was detected in 54 cases, indicating a prevalence of 10% (95% confidence interval 8–12). In conclusion, we determined that brucellosis is a prevalent yet neglected disease in this nomadic population. Brucellosis control is not possible as long as these high-risk populations remain neglected.
Altering management decisions with gained anatomical insight from a 3D printed model of a complex ventricular septal defect
Authors: Bhatla Puneet , Mosca Ralph S. , Tretter Justin T. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractRapid prototyping is quickly gaining utility in various complex forms of CHD. In properly selected cases, these printed models provide detailed anatomical understanding that help guide potential surgical and cardiac catheterisation interventions. We present a case of a tunnel-like ventricular septal defect referred for surgical repair, where the decision to obtain a three-dimensional printed model helped in better understanding of the anatomy, leading to delaying, and hopefully avoiding altogether, surgical repair.
Relationship between the home environment and fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged 6–12 years: a systematic review
Authors: Ong Jia Xin , Ullah Shahid , Magarey Anthea , Miller Jacqueline , Leslie Eva 
Published: November 2016

AbstractObjectiveAs numerous factors in the home environment have been related to children’s fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption as a component of a healthy diet, the purpose of the present systematic review was to examine these factors specifically for children aged 6–12 years.DesignRelevant observational studies published in English between January 2007 and December 2015 were obtained through electronic database searches. Studies were included if the researchers reported on a potentially modifiable measure of the home physical, political and sociocultural environment related to child F&V consumption.ResultsOf the thirty-three articles reviewed, overall methodological quality was poor with twenty studies rated as weak, mainly due to cross-sectional design (majority of studies), selection bias, convenience sampling and voluntary participation. Half of the studies had strong–moderate ratings for using valid and/or reliable tools while for the other half, psychometric properties were either not reported or weak. The most consistent evidence for children’s combined F&V consumption was found for availability and accessibility of F&V, parental role modelling of F&V and maternal intake of F&V.ConclusionsA vast array of home environment components and their influence on children’s consumption of fruits and/or vegetables have been studied in recent years. Specific components of the home environment may have more influence than others, but more compelling evidence is needed to draw strong conclusions. Recommendations are made for future studies to be based upon conceptual/theoretical models to provide consistency in defining the home environment and investigation of potential moderators, such as personal or contextual factors.
Natural or Artificial? Multi-Analytical Study of a Scagliola from Estoi Palace Simulating Imperial Red Porphyry
Authors: Freire Maria Teresa , Santos Silva António , Veiga Maria do Rosário , Brito Jorge de , Schlütter Frank 
Published: November 2016

AbstractIn this paper the characterization of a gypsum plaster sample from the end of the 19th century simulating imperial red porphyry using a multi-analytical approach is presented and discussed. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), physical and mechanical properties are summarized. In order to have further insight into the microstructure, polarized light microscopy (PLM), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS), and micro Raman spectroscopy analyzes were also made. They helped to clarify the main issues raised by the other complementary analytical techniques and allowed the establishment of interrelations between the different properties, providing important information about the materials, the skills, and the technological development involved in the art of imitating noble stones with gypsum pastes. This study also contributes to our knowledge concerning the preservation of these types of elements that are important in the context of European decorative arts and rarely reported in the literature.
PROVING UNPROVABILITY
Authors: WHITTLE BRUNO 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThis paper addresses the question: given some theoryTthat we accept, is there some natural, generally applicable way of extendingTto a theorySthat can prove a range of things about what it itself (i.e.,S) can prove, including a range of things about what it cannot prove, such as claims to the effect that it cannot prove certain particular sentences (e.g., 0 = 1), or the claim that it is consistent? Typical characterizations of Gödel’s second incompleteness theorem, and its significance, would lead us to believe that the answer is ‘no’. But the present paper explores a positive answer. The general approach is to follow the lead of recent (and not so recent) approaches to truth and the Liar paradox.
De-novo protein function prediction using DNA binding and RNA binding proteins as a test case
Authors: Peled Sapir , Leiderman Olga , Charar Rotem , Efroni Gilat , Shav-Tal Yaron , Ofran Yanay 
Published: November 2016

AbstractOf the currently identified protein sequences, 99.6% have never been observed in the laboratory as proteins and their molecular function has not been established experimentally. Predicting the function of such proteins relies mostly on annotated homologs. However, this has resulted in some erroneous annotations, and many proteins have no annotated homologs. Here we propose ade-novofunction prediction approach based on identifying biophysical features that underlie function. Using our approach, we discover DNA and RNA binding proteins that cannot be identified based on homology and validate these predictions experimentally. For example, FGF14, which belongs to a family of secreted growth factors was predicted to bind DNA. We verify this experimentally and also show that FGF14 is localized to the nucleus. Mutating the predicted binding site on FGF14 abrogated DNA binding. These results demonstrate the feasibility of automatedde-novofunction prediction based on identifying function-related biophysical features.
Dynamic structure of active nematic shells
Authors: Zhang Rui , Zhou Ye , Rahimi Mohammad , de Pablo Juan J. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractWhen a thin film of active, nematic microtubules and kinesin motor clusters is confined on the surface of a vesicle, four +1/2 topological defects oscillate in a periodic manner between tetrahedral and planar arrangements. Here a theoretical description of nematics, coupled to the relevant hydrodynamic equations, is presented here to explain the dynamics of active nematic shells. In extensile microtubule systems, the defects repel each other due to elasticity, and their collective motion leads to closed trajectories along the edges of a cube. That motion is accompanied by oscillations of their velocities, and the emergence and annihilation of vortices. When the activity increases, the system enters a chaotic regime. In contrast, for contractile systems, which are representative of some bacterial suspensions, a hitherto unknown static structure is predicted, where pairs of defects attract each other and flows arise spontaneously.
Autophagy controls centrosome number by degrading Cep63
Authors: Watanabe Yuichiro , Honda Shinya , Konishi Akimitsu , Arakawa Satoko , Murohashi Michiko , Yamaguchi Hirofumi , Torii Satoru , Tanabe Minoru , Tanaka Shinji , Warabi Eiji , Shimizu Shigeomi 
Published: November 2016

AbstractCentrosome number is associated with the chromosome segregation and genomic stability. The ubiquitin–proteasome system is considered to be the main regulator of centrosome number. However, here we show that autophagy also regulates the number of centrosomes. Autophagy-deficient cells carry extra centrosomes. The autophagic regulation of centrosome number is dependent on a centrosomal protein of 63 (Cep63) given that cells lacking autophagy contain multiple Cep63 dots that are engulfed and digested by autophagy in wild-type cells, and that the upregulation of Cep63 increases centrosome number. Cep63 is recruited to autophagosomes via interaction with p62, a molecule crucial for selective autophagy. In vivo, hematopoietic cells from autophagy-deficient and p62−/− mice also contained multiple centrosomes. These results indicate that autophagy controls centrosome number by degrading Cep63.