bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multicentre cohort study ‘Rehabilitation of Occupational Skin Diseases – Optimization and Quality Assurance of Inpatient Management (ROQ)’: results from a 3‐year follow‐up
Authors: Brans Richard , Skudlik Christoph , Weisshaar Elke , Scheidt Reginald , Ofenloch Robert , Elsner Peter , Wulfhorst Britta , Schönfeld Michael , John Swen M. , Diepgen Thomas L. ,   for the ROQ Study Group
Published: June 2016

SummaryBackgroundA tertiary individual prevention programme (TIP) is offered to patients with severe occupational skin disease (OSD) in Germany. Previously, it was shown that the burden of OSDs is considerably reduced in patients up to 1 year after the TIP.ObjectivesTo evaluate the long‐term effects of the TIP.Patients and methodsIn a prospective multicentre cohort study, the clinical and patient‐reported outcome data 3 years after the TIP were evaluated.ResultsOf the 1788 patients initially included in the study, 1410 were available for the 3‐year follow‐up analysis. The severity of OSD, the use of topical corticosteroids and days of absence from work were significantly reduced 3 years after the TIP, and the quality of life and skin protective behaviour were significantly improved. Of the patients, 96.9% were able to resume work. One thousand one hundred and sixty‐six patients (82.7%) were still working 3 years after the TIP, 874 of them (75.0%) in the same occupational field. Hairdressers had the lowest rate of remaining in their original profession (41.3%).ConclusionsThe follow‐up during 3 years of this unique cohort of patients with OSDs shows that the TIP is associated with sustained improvements in terms of disease severity, ability to work, quality of life, and prognosis.
Allocating Capacity with Demand Competition: Fixed Factor Allocation*
Authors: Li Jianbin , Cai Xueyuan , Liu Zhixin 
Published: June 2016

ABSTRACTWe consider a supply chain consisting of a supplier and two retailers. The supplier sells a single product to the retailers, who, in turn, retail the product to customers. The supplier has limited production capacity, and the retailers compete for the supplier's capacity and are duopolists engaged in Cournot competition for their customers. When the sum of the retailers' orders exceeds the supplier's capacity, the supplier allocates his capacity according to a preannounced allocation rule. We propose a new capacity allocation rule, fixed factor allocation, which incorporates the ideas of proportional and lexicographic allocations: it prioritizes retailers as in lexicographic allocation, but guarantees only a fixed proportion of the total available capacity to the prioritized retailer. We show that (1) the fixed factor allocation rule incorporates lexicographic and proportional allocations from the perspectives of the supplier and the supply chain; (2) under fixed factor allocation, the supply chain profit is not affected by the allocation factor when it is greater than a threshold; (3) the retailers share the supply chain profit with the supplier depending on the value of the allocation factor; and (4) the fixed factor allocation coordinates the supply chain when the market size is sufficiently large. We also compare fixed factor with proportional and lexicographic allocations, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the supplier can optimize his capacity level and wholesale price under fixed factor allocation.
Functional trait differences influence neighbourhood interactions in a hyperdiverse Amazonian forest
Authors: Fortunel Claire , Valencia Renato , Wright S. Joseph , Garwood Nancy C. , Kraft Nathan J. B. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractAs distinct community assembly processes can produce similar community patterns, assessing the ecological mechanisms promoting coexistence in hyperdiverse rainforests remains a considerable challenge. We use spatially explicit neighbourhood models of tree growth to quantify how functional trait and phylogenetic similarities predict variation in growth and crowding effects for the 315 most abundant tree species in a 25‐ha lowland rainforest plot in Ecuador. We find that functional trait differences reflect variation in (1) species maximum potential growth, (2) the intensity of interspecific interactions for some species, and (3) species sensitivity to neighbours. We find that neighbours influenced tree growth in 28% of the 315 focal tree species. Neighbourhood effects are not detected in the remaining 72%, which may reflect the low statistical power to model rare taxa and/or species insensitivity to neighbours. Our results highlight the spectrum of ways in which functional trait differences can shape community dynamics in highly diverse rainforests.
Ecosystem effects of invertebrate fisheries
Authors: Eddy Tyler D , Lotze Heike K , Fulton Elizabeth A , Coll Marta , Ainsworth Cameron H , de Araújo Júlio Neves , Bulman Catherine M , Bundy Alida , Christensen Villy , Field John C , Gribble Neil A , Hasan Mejs , Mackinson Steve , Townsend Howard 
Published: June 2016

AbstractSince the 1950s, invertebrate fisheries catches have rapidly expanded globally to more than 10 million tonnes annually, with twice as many target species, and are now significant contributors to global seafood provision, export, trade and local livelihoods. Invertebrates play important and diverse functional roles in marine ecosystems, yet the ecosystem effects of their exploitation are poorly understood. Using 12 ecosystem models distributed worldwide, we analysed the trade‐offs of various invertebrate fisheries and their ecosystem effects as well as ecological indicators. Although less recognized for their contributions to marine food webs, our results show that the magnitude of trophic impacts of invertebrates on other species of commercial and conservation interest is comparable with those of forage fish. Generally, cephalopods showed the strongest ecosystem effects and were characterized by a strong top‐down predatory role. Lobster, and to a lesser extent, crabs, shrimp and prawns, also showed strong ecosystem effects, but at lower trophic levels. Benthic invertebrates, including epifauna and infauna, also showed considerable ecosystem effects, but with strong bottom‐up characteristics. In contrast, urchins, bivalves, and gastropods showed generally lower ecosystem effects in our simulations. Invertebrates also strongly contributed to benthic–pelagic coupling, with exploitation of benthic invertebrates impacting pelagic fishes and vice versa. Finally, on average, invertebrates produced maximum sustainable yield at lower levels of depletion (~45%) than forage fish (~65%), highlighting the need for management targets that avoid negative consequences for target species and marine ecosystems as a whole.
Fracture toughness prediction using Weibull statistical method for asphalt mixtures containing different air void contents
Authors: Aliha M. R. M. , Fattahi Amirdehi H. R. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractBrittle fracture of asphalt mixtures at low temperatures is one of the main deterioration modes of pavements. Hence as an important design parameter, it is required that a reliable value for fracture toughness of asphalt mixtures is known. However, because of natural inhomogeneity of asphalt mixtures and inherent sources of scatters such as random distribution of ingredients and preparation process, the use of statistical analyses might provide better estimations for the crack growth resistance of asphalt mixtures. In this paper by conducting several low temperature fracture toughness experiments on three types of asphalt mixtures with different air void contents, the effects of air void percentage on mode I fracture toughness are studied statistically. Fifty six edge cracked semi‐circular bend specimens containing 4, 5 and 7% air voids were tested, and the corresponding two and three‐Weibull distribution parameters were determined for each set of data. It was shown that the Weibull model can be used successfully for predicting the statistical nature of tensile cracking phenomenon in asphalt mixtures. The mean fracture toughness values and the Weibull parameters were reduced by increasing the air void content. Furthermore, the distribution parameters obtained experimentally for the mixtures containing 4% and 5% voids were also predicted quite well in terms of the Weibull parameters of a reference mixture containing 7% air void.
Extranasal Staphylococcus aureus colonization predisposes to bloodstream infections in patients on hemodialysis with noncuffed internal jugular vein catheters
Authors: Devraj Anand , Siva Tez Pinnamaneni Venkata , Biswal Manisha , Ramachandran Raja , Jha Vivekanand 
Published: June 2016

AbstractIntroduction: Staphylococcal infection of endogenous origin is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients who receive hemodialysis (HD). The risk of such infections in nasal carriers of the organism is well defined. Extranasal carriage of the organism at extranasal sites may pose similar risks. Methods: A total of 70 patients about to undergo internal jugular vein catheterization for HD were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Swab cultures were obtained from anterior nares, posterior pharynx, axillae, toe web spaces, and vascular access sites at baseline and 1 week later. A patient was defined as a persistent carrier when the same organism was grown in both samples. Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections were assessed by blood and catheter tip cultures over a 90‐day period. Findings: The mean age of the patients was 43.71 ± 16.2 years. Persistent S. aureus carriage at anterior nares, throat, axilla, toe web spaces, vascular access site, and all sites was documented in 27.9%, 11.4%, 40%, 32.9%, 4.3%, and 64.2% of patients, respectively. Fifteen patients developed S. aureus infections. Catheter related S. aureus infections (CRI) were more likely in persistent carriers than nonpersistent carriers with odds ratios (95% CI) of 10.2 (2.8–37.1), 8.6 (1.7–42.2), 17.3 (3.4–86.0), 3.0 (0.9–9.8), and 1.9 (0.2–22.4) for anterior nares, throat, axilla, toe web spaces, and vascular access site carriers, respectively. The probability of developing CRI in persistent S. aureus carriers was 55% compared to none in noncarriers at 90 days (P = 0.04). Discussion: Extranasal S. aureus carriage is as significant a risk factor as nasal carriage for staphylococcal infections in patients on HD through catheters. The study is limited by lack of molecular phenotyping.
Spray drying of a phenolic‐rich membrane filtration fraction of olive mill wastewater: optimisation and dried product quality
Authors: Sedej Ivana , Milczarek Rebecca , Wang Selina C. , Sheng Runqi , de Jesús Avena‐Bustillos Roberto , Dao Lan , Takeoka Gary 
Published: June 2016

SummaryOlive mill wastewater (OMWW) from 3‐ and 2‐phase mills was subjected to a two‐step membrane filtration process. The obtained reverse osmosis retentate (RO‐R) is a phenolic‐rich coproduct stream, and the reverse osmosis permeate is a near‐pure water stream. A pilot‐scale spray dryer was used for the production of RO‐R powder. The optimum temperature/feed pump conditions were obtained for 3‐phase (150°C/4.4 Hz) and for 2‐phase RO‐R (175°C/3.8 Hz). The powders obtained by spray drying under these conditions were analysed for physicochemical properties, including identification and quantification of phenolic compounds. Protocatechuic acid, 3‐hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, vanillic acid and p‐coumaric acid were quantified in both RO‐R powders, which show the possibility to obtain a phenolic‐rich powder from an OMWW filtration fraction. This will lead towards better usage of by‐products from olive oil production.
Statistical Inference, Learning and Models in Big Data
Authors: Franke Beate , Plante Jean‐François , Roscher Ribana , Lee En‐shiun Annie , Smyth Cathal , Hatefi Armin , Chen Fuqi , Gil Einat , Schwing Alexander , Selvitella Alessandro , Hoffman Michael M. , Grosse Roger , Hendricks Dieter , Reid Nancy 
Published: June 2016

SummaryThe need for new methods to deal with big data is a common theme in most scientific fields, although its definition tends to vary with the context. Statistical ideas are an essential part of this, and as a partial response, a thematic program on statistical inference, learning and models in big data was held in 2015 in Canada, under the general direction of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute, with major funding from, and most activities located at, the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences. This paper gives an overview of the topics covered, describing challenges and strategies that seem common to many different areas of application and including some examples of applications to make these challenges and strategies more concrete.
Successful treatment of bullous pemphigoid with omalizumab as corticosteroid‐sparing agent: report of two cases and review of literature
Authors: Balakirski G. , Alkhateeb A. , Merk H.F. , Leverkus M. , Megahed M. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractBackgroundBullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune blistering disease that is characterized by formation of subepidermal bullae due to functional disturbance of the hemidesmosomal proteins on the keratinocytes at the basal membrane zone. In recent years, several studies have emphasized the important role of IgE autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of BP. Consequently, a therapeutic approach using IgE depleting antibodies, such as a humanized monoclonal anti‐IgE antibody (e.g. omalizumab) may represent a new option for treatment of this autoimmune disease.MethodsIn this paper, we report about the successful treatment of BP with omalizumab in two patients and provide a review of the current literature on the relationship between IgE antibodies and this autoimmune blistering disease.ResultsTwo patients with therapy‐resistant BP were treated with humanized monoclonal anti‐IgE antibody omalizumab 300 mg subcutaneously every 3 weeks as corticosteroid‐sparing agent. Under this therapy, both patients experienced a significant improvement of skin condition and almost complete resolution of pruritus. The treatment was well tolerated.ConclusionUntil recently IgG autoantibodies against the basal membrane proteins BP180 und BP230 were considered to be causative in the pathogenesis of BP. However, new in vitro studies as well as data from experimental mouse models have indicated that in addition to specific IgG, also IgE antibodies against BP180 and BP230 play a role in the development of this disease. Based on these new findings, new treatment modalities of BP became possible.
Long‐term clinical safety and efficacy of brodalumab in the treatment of Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis
Authors: Umezawa Y. , Nakagawa H. , Niiro H. , Ootaki K. ,   the Japanese Brodalumab Study Group
Published: June 2016

AbstractBackgroundBrodalumab (KHK4827) is a human anti‐interleukin‐17‐receptor A monoclonal antibody. In Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis, brodalumab showed rapid and robust efficacy and a favourable safety profile in a 12‐week, phase 2, double‐blind, randomized controlled trial.ObjectivesTo evaluate the long‐term safety and efficacy of brodalumab, an extension of a phase 2 trial of Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis was performed.MethodsPatients received open‐label brodalumab 210 or 140 mg subcutaneously every 2 weeks for 52 weeks. Efficacy was measured using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score and the static physician global assessment (sPGA) instrument. The endpoint of psoriatic arthritis was 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology response criteria (ACR 20). The patients were also monitored for treatment‐emergent adverse events (AEs), including serious AEs (SAEs).ResultsOf 145 patients, 133 completed the study. The percentage of patients with ≥75% reduction of PASI scores (PASI 75), ≥90% (PASI 90) and 100% (PASI 100) at Week 52 (the last observation carried forward) were 94.4%, 87.5% and 55.6%, respectively, in the 210‐mg group, and the corresponding values in the 140‐mg group were 78.1%, 71.2% and 43.8%. At Week 52, 75.0% patients in 210‐mg group achieved ACR 20, compared with 37.5% patients in 140‐mg group. The most commonly reported AEs were nasopharyngitis (35.2%), upper respiratory tract inflammation (10.3%) and contact dermatitis (9.7%).ConclusionBrodalumab showed a sustained clinical response and an acceptable safety profile through 52 weeks in Japanese patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis in this open‐label extension study.
Multimorbidity, P4 medicine and holism
Authors: Marcum James A 
Published: June 2016

AbstractRationale, aims and objectivesMultimorbidity is a serious challenge to providing patients with quality health care. Sturmberg et al. propose a P4 or whole‐person medical model based on a holistic approach to deliver such care. The aim of this commentary is to examine critically their P4 model and holistic approach.MethodsThe P4 model and holistic approach of Sturmberg et al. are analysed conceptually in terms of an effective strategy or sequence for framing P4 medicine and with respect to different philosophical notions of holism for grounding it.ResultsInstead of a P4 medicine strategy or sequence that emphasizes the predictive and preventive aspects of health care from a biomedical perspective, as Sturmberg et al. do, a more effective strategy or sequence for framing P4 medicine to deliver quality health care is to accentuate the personalized and participatory aspects from a humanistic perspective. The basis of this proposed strategy for P4 medicine is not a technoscientific holism that emphasizes mechanisms to define the whole utilizing bottom‐up causation, as Sturmberg et al. ground their biomedical P4 model, but rather a phenomenological holism that also incorporates the person's illness experience and top‐down causation.ConclusionsThe proposal of Sturmberg et al. to treat patient multimorbidity through P4 medicine and a holistic approach is certainly a move in the right direction. However, to achieve their goal requires an alternative strategy for P4 medicine and a more robust notion of holism.
Some Engineering Properties of Composite Corn‐Banana Custard Flour
Authors: Alimi B.A. , Sibomana M.S. , Workneh T.S. , Oke M.O. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractEngineering properties of composite corn‐banana custard flour (CF) products developed by incorporating native, heat‐moisture treated or annealed banana starch (BS) as a percentage (15, 25 or 35%) of the composite were determined. Morphological study showed bigger oval BS granules occupying void spaces in the matrix resulting in more compact composite CF structure and in turn, higher bulk density with increasing level of BS inclusion. Experimental variables had marked effect on the pasting properties of the CF samples. Incorporation of BS led to significant (P < 0.05) reduction of the swelling power of the CF samples from 1.85 to 1.16 g/g. Gelling and boiling points varied significantly (P < 0.05) between 73.00–81.67°C and 78.33–88.33°C, respectively. Moisture adsorption isotherm showed a type II sigmoidal shaped curve. Experimental variables and granules orientation in the matrices are suggested to be the major influence on the trends observed in the studied engineering properties.Practical ApplicationsThis study was proposed to enhance the health functionality of corn based custard through the incorporation of native and hydrothermally modified banana starch as a percentage of the resulting composite custard flour. The established health enhancing functionality of unripe green banana and further improvement of its functional properties through hydrothermal modifications could add value to the composite custard flour. It is hoped that the products developed would appeal to health conscious people and be useful for the management of type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases which are normally aggravated by the consumption of energy dense foods.
From cradle to grave via the dissection room: the role of foetal and infant bodies in anatomical education from the late 1700s to early 1900s
Authors: Dittmar Jenna M. , Mitchell Piers D. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe preponderance of men in the narrative of anatomical education during the 1800s has skewed the historical perception of medical cadavers in favour of adult men, and stifled the conversation about the less portrayed individuals, especially children. Although underrepresented in both the historical literature and skeletal remains from archaeological contexts dated to the 1800s, these sources nevertheless illustrate that foetal and infant cadavers were a prized source of knowledge. In the late 1700s and 1800s foetal and infant cadavers were acquired by anatomists following body snatching from graveyards, from the child's death in a charitable hospital, death from infectious disease in large poor families, or following infanticide by desperate unwed mothers. Study of foetal and infant remains from the 1800s in the anatomical collection at the University of Cambridge shows that their bodies were treated differently to adults by anatomists. In contrast to adults it was extremely rare for foetal and infant cadavers to undergo craniotomy, and thoracotomy seems to have been performed through costal cartilages of the chest rather than the ribs themselves. However, many infants and foetuses do show evidence for knife marks on the cranium indicating surgical removal of the scalp by anatomists. These bodies were much more likely to be curated long term in anatomical collections and museums than were adult males who had undergone dissection. They were prized both for demonstrating normal anatomical development, but also congenital abnormalities that led to an early death. The current findings show that the dissection of foetal and infant cadavers was more widespread than previous research on anatomical education suggests. This research details the important role of the youngest members of society in anatomical education during the long 19th century, and how the social identity of individuals in this subgroup affected their acquisition, treatment and disposal by elite medical men of the time.
COMMUNICATION ABOUT FUTURE POLICY RATES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: A SURVEY
Authors: Moessner Richhild , Jansen David‐Jan , de Haan Jakob 
Published: June 2016

AbstractWe discuss the theoretical rationale for central bank communication about future policy rates, either as part of inflation targeting or in the form of forward guidance. We also summarize both actual central bank communication about future policy rates and empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these types of communication. We argue that there is a disconnect between the theory and practice of forward guidance, as theory assumes commitment on the part of the central bank, while in practice central banks generally do not commit. Future theoretical research on forward guidance should therefore take the absence of commitment by central banks into account.