bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Participatory Bioethics Research and its Social Impact: The Case of Coercion Reduction in Psychiatry
Authors: Abma Tineke A. , Voskes Yolande , Widdershoven Guy 
Published: January 2017

AbstractIn this article we address the social value of bioethics research and show how a participatory approach can achieve social impact for a wide audience of stakeholders, involving them in a process of joint moral learning. Participatory bioethics recognizes that research co‐produced with stakeholders is more likely to have impact on healthcare practice. These approaches aim to engage multiple stakeholders and interested partners throughout the whole research process, including the framing of ideas and research questions, so that outcomes are tailored to the interests and context, and the type of impact stakeholders envisage. There is an emphasis on realizing social change through the conduct (not merely the results) of the research, and it is believed that the engagement of stakeholders in the research process will promote their intrinsic motivation to change their practice. Another distinctive feature of participatory bioethics research is that its central normative commitment is to reflection and dialogue, not to a particular substantive ethical approach. In reflection and dialogue there is an emphasis on inclusion and the co‐production of knowledge. Furthermore, empirical and normative research are combined, and there is a deliberate attempt to give voice to otherwise marginalized positions. This provides a model of social impact which is relevant not only for bioethics research, but also for other areas of health care research. We will show the merits of a participatory approach to bioethics research with a case example. It concerns the reduction of coercion and in particular seclusion in Dutch mental healthcare.
The Social Value of Health Research and the Worst Off
Authors: Barsdorf Nicola , Millum Joseph 
Published: January 2017

AbstractIn this article we argue that the social value of health research should be conceptualized as a function of both the expected benefits of the research and the priority that the beneficiaries deserve. People deserve greater priority the worse off they are. This conception of social value can be applied for at least two important purposes: (1) in health research priority setting when research funders, policy‐makers, or researchers decide between alternative research projects; and (2) in evaluating the ethics of proposed research proposals when research ethics committees (RECs) assess whether the social value of the research is sufficient to justify the risks and burdens to research participants and others. In assessing how far a proposed research project will advance the interests of people who are more disadvantaged, research priority setters and RECs should examine (at least) the diseases that the research targets and the type of research. Just as certain diseases impose a greater burden on people who are more disadvantaged, so certain types of intervention and forms of research are more likely to benefit people who are more disadvantaged. We outline which populations are likely to be representative of the global worst off and identify what types of health research, and which disease categories, are priorities for these populations.
Estimation of the Relatedness Coefficients from Biallelic Markers, Application in Plant Mating Designs
Authors: Laporte Fabien , Charcosset Alain , Mary-Huard Tristan 
Published: January 2017

Summary
The problem of inferring the relatedness distribution between two individuals from biallelic marker data is considered. This problem can be cast as an estimation task in a mixture model: at each marker the latent variable is the relatedness state, and the observed variable is the genotype of the two individuals. In this model, only the prior proportions are unknown, and can be obtained via ML estimation using the EM algorithm. When the markers are biallelic and the data unphased, the identifiability of the model is known not to be guaranteed. In this article, model identifiability is investigated in the case of phased data generated from a crossing design, a classical situation in plant genetics. It is shown that identifiability can be guaranteed under some conditions on the crossing design. The adapted ML estimator is implemented in an R package called Relatedness. The performance of the ML estimator is evaluated and compared to that of the benchmark moment estimator, both on simulated and real data. Compared to its competitor, the ML estimator is shown to be more robust and to provide more realistic estimates.
A Space-Time Skew-t Model for Threshold Exceedances
Authors: Morris Samuel A. , Reich Brian J. , Thibaud Emeric , Cooley Daniel 
Published: January 2017

Summary
To assess the compliance of air quality regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must know if a site exceeds a pre-specified level. In the case of ozone, the level for compliance is fixed at 75 parts per billion, which is high, but not extreme at all locations. We present a new space-time model for threshold exceedances based on the skew-t process. Our method incorporates a random partition to permit long-distance asymptotic independence while allowing for sites that are near one another to be asymptotically dependent, and we incorporate thresholding to allow the tails of the data to speak for themselves. We also introduce a transformed AR(1) time-series to allow for temporal dependence. Finally, our model allows for high-dimensional Bayesian inference that is comparable in computation time to traditional geostatistical methods for large data sets. We apply our method to an ozone analysis for July 2005, and find that our model improves over both Gaussian and max-stable methods in terms of predicting exceedances of a high level.
In search of a learning model
Authors: Vihman Marilyn M. 
Published: January 2017

While the four commentaries reflect a range of different perspectives on my target paper (Vihman, 2017), all basically accept the overall approach, which has been central to my research for 30 years. Each commentary proposes ways of deepening aspects of the ideas expressed or points out limitations and potential areas in which elaboration would be useful. This response takes up each commentary in turn.
Boundary between multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica
Authors: Nakashima Ichiro 
Published: January 2017

AbstractMultiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders are often indistinguishable by their clinical features. Recently, anti‐myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody was found in the serum of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders patients without anti‐aquaporin‐4 antibody. This finding suggests a new category of central nervous system demyelinating diseases. However, even with the information provided by these serum antibody results, the diagnoses of some patients remain problematic. In the present article, a case that appeared to be at the boundary between multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica are presented. The patient was a 41‐year‐old woman who developed relapsing myelitis. Spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging showed a relatively long lesion. She had not developed brain lesions on routine magnetic resonance imaging for more than 5 years. She was negative for anti‐aquaporin‐4 antibody, and oral prednisolone could not prevent her relapses. However after fingolimod administration, she became stable and Expanded Disability Status Scale gradually improved.
Remyelination in multiple sclerosis: Pathology and treatment strategies
Authors: Nakahara Jin 
Published: January 2017

AbstractMultiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Remyelination is a remarkable regenerative process that occurs in the central nervous system; in MS patients it explains the spontaneous recovery often observed after relapses, especially in younger patients. For some reason, however, this remyelination capacity decreases with MS duration, leaving denuded axons behind. Myelin is indispensable not only for saltatory conduction, but also for the trophic support of axons, and therefore chronic demyelination might lead to irreversible axonal damage and consequent neurodegeneration. For better prognosis of MS, it is mandatory to elucidate the pathology underlying remyelination failure and to promote remyelination, in addition to identifying optimal disease‐modifying therapies. For future personalized MS treatment, an evaluation of remyelination capacity in individual MS patients will be of great value. For this purpose, a clinically feasible method of assessing remyelination activity will be required, and very recently a new imaging modality named q‐space myelin map imaging has been developed. Together with various candidate remyelination medicines under clinical development, these advances might lead to a novel MS treatment strategy in the near future.
Psychosocial changes as correlates of weight regain vs. continued loss within 2‐year trials of a self‐regulation‐focused community‐based intervention
Authors: Annesi J. J. , Mareno N. 
Published: January 2017

SummaryAlthough health‐enhancing weight reductions are associated with behavioural treatments initially, a trajectory towards full regain typically begins within 6–9 months. Women with obesity (body mass index = 30–40 kg m−2) who lost at least 3% of their baseline weight within two trials of a new cognitive‐behavioural treatment incorporating physical activity prior to changes in eating behaviours, and either regained ≥50% of that weight over 2 years (Regain group, n=32) or continued to lose weight (ContinuedLoss group, n = 34), were assessed from months 6 to 24 on changes in weight‐loss behaviours and psychosocial predictors of those behaviours derived from established behavioural theories. For the Regain group, significant decreases in physical activity and fruit/vegetable intake during months 12–24, from both months 6 to 24 and 12 to 24 in eating‐ and physical activity‐related self‐regulation and from months 6 to 24 in eating‐related self‐efficacy (i.e. feelings of ability), were found. No significant behavioural or psychosocial changes were found over those times in the ContinuedLoss group. Changes in self‐regulation and self‐efficacy completely mediated the relationship between changes in fruit/vegetable intake and group (Regain vs. ContinuedLoss) (McFadden’s R
2 = 0.19 and 0.20, respectively), with self‐regulation independently contributing to the explained variance. Changes over both months 6–24 and 12–24 in self‐regulation significantly mediated the relationship between changes in physical activity and group membership (McFadden's R
2 = 0.24 and 0.27, respectively). Findings suggested that approximately 6 months after treatment initiation would be a suitable time to intervene with some bolstering methods, while approximately 12 months post‐initiation would be most applicable for others.
Rebalancing China's Economy: Domestic and International Implications
Authors: Ma Guonan , Roberts Ivan , Kelly Gerard 
Published: January 2017

AbstractThis paper considers interactions between China's domestic and external imbalances and their global implications. We present scenarios detailing how a rebalancing of China's growth pattern from investment‐driven growth towards more consumption‐driven growth may occur in practice. Using input–output tables for 2012, we illustrate the knife‐edged nature of Chinese rebalancing, the linkages between expenditure‐side and production‐side rebalancing, and how an internal rebalancing could exacerbate external imbalances. A policy implication for China is that for rebalancing to be fast, consumption must be exceptionally resilient and the efficiency of investment must increase sharply. If rebalancing is too slow, the capital‐to‐output ratio will rise to potentially unsustainable levels and consumption will fail to attain levels of contemporary upper middle‐income economies by 2030. Global input–output tables (1995–2011) suggest that the patterns of Chinese rebalancing considered in our scenarios may generate substantial headwinds for exports to China by its trading partners.
Exchange Rate Regime, Financial Market Bubbles and Long‐term Growth in China: Lessons from Japan
Authors: Schnabl Gunther 
Published: January 2017

AbstractSince 2014, capital inflows into China have turned into capital outflows, reversing the gradual appreciation path of the renminbi against the US dollar into an erratic depreciation path. The paper explains the current capital outflows by comparing China and Japan with respect to the impact of exchange rate expectations on speculative capital flows. It is argued that both in China and Japan, given benign liquidity conditions in the USA, policy‐induced appreciation expectations have generated capital inflows that have contributed to overinvestment and financial market bubbles. The current reversal of capital flows is seen as a signal that the bubble in China has burst. To stabilize growth in China and to discourage speculative capital outflows a fixed exchange rate to the dollar is recommended. Given Japan's experience and given that China's foreign assets remain high, the depreciation pressure on the Chinese renminbi can be expected to abate.
Stability of the Gross Motor Function Classification System in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: a retrospective cohort registry study
Authors: Alriksson‐Schmidt Ann , Nordmark Eva , Czuba Tomasz , Westbom Lena 
Published: January 2017

AimTo investigate the stability and to determine factors that affect change in the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) in a sample from the total population with cerebral palsy (CP) in two regions of Sweden.MethodRetrospective cohort registry study based on the follow‐up programme for CP. Children with CP and a minimum of two GMFCS ratings were included. Subtype, sex, ages at GMFCS ratings, time between ratings, number of ratings, assessor change, and birth cohort were analysed in relation to initial GMFCS levels, with descriptive statistics and logistic regression models.ResultsNinety‐three per cent (n=736) of children with CP born between 1990 and 2007 were included, resulting in 7922 assessments between 1995 and 2014. Fifty‐six per cent of the children received the same GMFCS rating at all assessments, with a median of 11 individual GMFCS ratings (range 2–21) and a median of three different assessors (range 1–10). Changes were often transient; downward change (higher performance) was more likely in GMFCS levels II and III than in the other levels. The probability of upward change (lower performance) was lowest in unilateral spastic CP.InterpretationThe results support the stability of the GMFCS shown previously and add new information on the properties of the classification.
Catchment‐scale determinants of nonindigenous minnow richness in the eastern United States
Authors: Peoples Brandon K. , Midway Stephen R. , DeWeber Jefferson T. , Wagner Tyler 
Published: January 2017

AbstractUnderstanding the drivers of biological invasions is critical for preserving aquatic biodiversity. Stream fishes make excellent model taxa for examining mechanisms driving species introduction success because their distributions are naturally limited by catchment boundaries. In this study, we compared the relative importance of catchment‐scale abiotic and biotic predictors of native and nonindigenous minnow (Cyprinidae) richness in 170 catchments throughout the eastern United States. We compared historic and contemporary cyprinid distributional data to determine catchment‐wise native/nonindigenous status for 152 species. Catchment‐scale model predictor variables described natural (elevation, precipitation, flow accumulation) and anthropogenic (developed land cover, number of dams) abiotic features, as well as native congener richness. Native congener richness may represent either biotic resistance via interspecific competition, or trait preadaptation according to Darwin's naturalisation hypothesis. We used generalised linear mixed models to examine evidence supporting the relative roles of abiotic and biotic predictors of cyprinid introduction success. Native congener richness was positively correlated with nonindigenous cyprinid richness and was the most important variable predicting nonindigenous cyprinid richness. Mean elevation had a weak positive effect, and effects of other abiotic factors were insignificant and less important. Our results suggest that at this spatial scale, trait preadaptation may be more important than intrageneric competition for determining richness of nonindigenous fishes.
Bursts of seizures in long‐term recordings of human focal epilepsy
Authors: Karoly Philippa J. , Nurse Ewan S. , Freestone Dean R. , Ung Hoameng , Cook Mark J. , Boston Ray 
Published: January 2017

SummaryObjectiveWe report on temporally clustered seizures detected from continuous long‐term ambulatory human electroencephalographic data. The objective was to investigate short‐term seizure clustering, which we have termed bursting, and consider implications for patient care, seizure prediction, and evaluating therapies.MethodsChronic ambulatory intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) data collected for the purpose of seizure prediction were annotated to identify seizure events. A detection algorithm was used to identify bursts of events. Burst events were compared to nonburst events to evaluate event dispersion, duration and dynamics.ResultsBursts of seizures were present in 6 of 15 subjects, and detections were consistent over long‐term monitoring (>2 years). Subjects with bursts of seizures had highly overdispersed seizure rates, compared to other subjects. There was a complicated relationship between bursts and clinical seizures, although bursts were associated with multimodal distributions of seizure duration, and poorer predictive outcomes. For three subjects, bursts demonstrated distinctive preictal dynamics compared to clinical seizures.SignificanceWe have previously hypothesized that there are distinct physiologic pathways underlying short‐ and long‐duration seizures. Herein we show that burst seizures fall almost exclusively within the short population of seizure durations; however, a short duration event was not sufficient to induce or imply bursting. We can therefore conclude that in addition to distinct mechanisms underlying seizure duration, there are separate factors regulating bursts of seizures. We show that bursts were a robust phenomenon in our patient cohort, which were consistent with overdispersed seizure rates, suggesting long‐memory dynamics.
De novo SCN1A pathogenic variants in the GEFS+ spectrum: Not always a familial syndrome
Authors: Myers Kenneth A. , Burgess Rosemary , Afawi Zaid , Damiano John A. , Berkovic Samuel F. , Hildebrand Michael S. , Scheffer Ingrid E. 
Published: January 2017

SummaryGenetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is a familial epilepsy syndrome characterized by heterogeneous phenotypes ranging from mild disorders such as febrile seizures to epileptic encephalopathies (EEs) such as Dravet syndrome (DS). Although DS often occurs with de novo SCN1A pathogenic variants, milder GEFS+ spectrum phenotypes are associated with inherited pathogenic variants. We identified seven cases with non‐EE GEFS+ phenotypes and de novo SCN1A pathogenic variants, including a monozygotic twin pair. Febrile seizures plus (FS+) occurred in six patients, five of whom had additional seizure types. The remaining case had childhood‐onset temporal lobe epilepsy without known febrile seizures. Although early development was normal in all individuals, three later had learning difficulties, and the twin girls had language impairment and working memory deficits. All cases had SCN1A missense pathogenic variants that were not found in either parent. One pathogenic variant had been reported previously in a case of DS, and the remainder were novel. Our finding of de novo pathogenic variants in mild phenotypes within the GEFS+ spectrum shows that mild GEFS+ is not always inherited. SCN1A screening should be considered in patients with GEFS+ phenotypes because identification of pathogenic variants will influence antiepileptic therapy, and prognostic and genetic counseling.
Modelling the evolution of HIV‐1 virulence in response to imperfect therapy and prophylaxis
Authors: Smith David R. M. , Mideo Nicole 
Published: January 2017

AbstractAverage HIV‐1 virulence appears to have evolved in different directions in different host populations since antiretroviral therapy first became available, and models predict that HIV drugs can select for either higher or lower virulence, depending on how treatment is administered. However, HIV virulence evolution in response to “leaky” therapy (treatment that imperfectly suppresses viral replication) and the use of preventive drugs (pre‐exposure prophylaxis) has not been explored. Using adaptive dynamics, we show that higher virulence can evolve when antiretroviral therapy is imperfectly effective and that this evolution erodes some of the long‐term clinical and epidemiological benefits of HIV treatment. The introduction of pre‐exposure prophylaxis greatly reduces infection prevalence, but can further amplify virulence evolution when it, too, is leaky. Increasing the uptake rate of these imperfect interventions increases selection for higher virulence and can lead to counterintuitive increases in infection prevalence in some scenarios. Although populations almost always fare better with access to interventions than without, untreated individuals could experience particularly poor clinical outcomes when virulence evolves. These findings predict that antiretroviral drugs may have underappreciated evolutionary consequences, but that maximizing drug efficacy can prevent this evolutionary response. We suggest that HIV virulence evolution should be closely monitored as access to interventions continues to improve.
Fallen stock data: An essential source of information for quantitative knowledge of equine mortality in France
Authors: Tapprest J. , Morignat E. , Dornier X. , Borey M. , Hendrikx P. , Ferry B. , Calavas D. , Sala C. 
Published: January 2017

SummaryBackgroundQuantitative information about equine mortality is relatively scarce, yet it could be of great value for epidemiological purposes. In France, data from rendering plants are centralised in the Fallen Stock Data Interchange database (FSDI), managed by the French Ministry of Agriculture, while individual equine data are centralised in the French equine census database,SIRE, managed by the French horse and riding institute (IFCE).ObjectivesTo evaluate whether the combined use of theFSDIandSIREdatabases can provide representative and accurate quantitative information on mortality for the French equine population and to propose enhancements of these databases to improve the quality of the resulting demographic information.Study designDescriptive study.MethodsMortality ratios for the French equine population were calculated per year between 2011 and 2014 and temporal variations in equine mortality modelled during the same period. Survival analyses were performed on a sample of equines traceable in both theFSDIandSIREdatabases.ResultsEstimates of the annual mortality ratios varied from 3.02 to 3.40% depending on the years. Survival rates of equines 2‐years‐old and over differed according to breed categories with the highest median age at death for the ponies. The weekly description of mortality highlighted marked seasonality of deaths whatever the category of equines. Modelling temporal variations in equine mortality also brought to light excess mortality.Main limitationsInsufficient traceability of equines between the two databases.ConclusionTheFSDIdatabase provided an initial approach to equine death ratios on a national scale and an original description of temporal variations in mortality. Improvement in the traceability of equines between theFSDIandSIREdatabases is needed to enable their combined use, providing a representative description of equine longevity and a more detailed description of temporal variations in mortality.