bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Increased male fertility using fertility-related biomarkers
Authors: Kwon Woo-Sung , Rahman Md Saidur , Ryu Do-Yeal , Park Yoo-Jin , Pang Myung-Geol 
Published: October 2015

AbstractConventional semen analyses are used to evaluate male factor fertility/infertility in humans and other animals. However, their clinical value remains controversial. Therefore, new tools that more accurately assess male fertility based on sperm function and fertilization mechanism are of interest worldwide. While protein markers in spermatozoa that might help differentiate fertile and infertile sperm have been identified, studies are in their infancy and the markers require validation in field trials. In the present study, to discover more sensitive biomarkers in spermatozoa for predicting male fertility, we assessed protein expression in capacitated spermatozoa. The results demonstrated that cytochrome b-c1 complex subunit 2 (UQCRC2) was abundantly expressed in high-litter size spermatozoa (>3-fold). On the other hand, equatorin, beta-tubulin, cytochrome b-c1 complex subunit 1 (UQCRC1), speriolin, Ras-related protein Rab-2A (RAB2A), spermadhesin AQN-3 and seminal plasma sperm motility inhibitor were abundantly expressed in low-litter size spermatozoa (>3-fold). Moreover, RAB2A and UQCRC1 expression negatively correlated with litter size, while UQCRC2 expression positively correlated with litter size. Finally, the putative biomarkers predicted litter size in field trials. Our study suggests that biomarkers present in spermatozoa after capacitation can help differentiate superior male fertility from below-average fertility with high sensitivity.
New Insights into the RNA-Binding and E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Activities of Roquins
Authors: Zhang Qi , Fan Lixin , Hou Feng , Dong Aiping , Wang Yun-Xing , Tong Yufeng 
Published: October 2015

AbstractRoquins are a family of highly conserved RNA-binding proteins that also contain a RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase domain. They repress constitutive decay elements containing mRNAs and play a critical role in RNA homeostasis and immunological self-tolerance. Here we present the crystal structures of the RNA-binding region of Roquin paralog RC3H2 in both apo- and RNA-bound forms. The RNA-binding region has a bipartite architecture composed of ROQ and HEPN domains and can bind to stem-loop and double-stranded RNAs simultaneously. The two domains undergo a large orientation change to accommodate RNA duplex binding. We profiled E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes that pair with Roquins and found that RC3H1 and RC3H2 interact with two sets of overlapping but not identical E2 enzymes to drive the assembly of polyubiquitin chains of different linkages. Crystal structures, small-angle X-ray scattering and E2 profiling revealed that while the two paralogs are highly homologous, RC3H2 and RC3H1 are different in their structures and functions. We also demonstrated that RNA duplex binding to RC3H2 cross-talks with its E3 ubiquitin ligase function using an in vitro auto-ubiquitination assay.
Overlapping Habitat Use of Multiple Anadromous Fish Species in a Restricted Coastal Watershed
Authors: Smith M. Chad , Rulifson Roger A. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to document timing and habitat of alosines (Hickory Shad Alosa mediocris, American Shad A. sapidissima, Alewife A. pseudoharengus, and Blueback Herring A. aestivalis) and Striped Bass Morone saxatilis in the lower Tar River, a North Carolina coastal watershed partially restricted by an unused industrial dam. Alosines and Striped Bass are usually separated in time or space during spawning activity but occasionally overlap in some systems. Results show that both eggs and larvae of Hickory Shad and Striped Bass predominated catches, followed by American Shad. Alewife and Blueback Herring had negligible catches of eggs and larvae, but a separate study conducted 48 river kilometers downstream of the study area collected larvae of both species. Eggs and larvae of target species overlapped spatially and were most abundant in downstream tributaries, which seasonally reached hypoxic to anoxic conditions. The origins of spawning are unknown, but the collection of eggs suggests that these low‐velocity tributary habitats are used for spawning and are acceptable for survival, possibly even providing egg and larval refuge from predators. Eggs and larvae of target species, except Blueback Herring, were collected at the furthest upstream sampling location, which suggests that the dam was restricting upstream migration and habitat use. If the dam was to be removed or modified for fish passage, future studies could document how these species utilize and separate into the upstream habitats that once served as historical habitats for these species. Climate change and associated sea level rise, combined with habitat restriction from the dam, may affect how these species utilize the lower Tar River as time moves forward.
Length and Condition of Wild Chinook Salmon Smolts Influence Age at Maturity
Authors: Tattam Ian A. , Ruzycki James R. , McCormick Josh L. , Carmichael Richard W. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractAnadromous Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha commonly mature at 3–5 years of age. Age at maturity is an important measure of population diversity, and has ecological importance. In the John Day River, a northeast Oregon tributary of the Columbia River, we tagged 24,240 wild Chinook Salmon smolts from 10 successive cohorts with passive integrated transponder tags and subsequently monitored their age at maturation. We used multinomial logistic regression and multimodel selection to assess the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on age at maturity. Smolt fork length, condition factor, and day of tagging all had significant associations with age at maturity. Conversely, we found no significant association between ocean conditions and age at maturity. The probability of age‐3 maturation increased concomitant with increased smolt length. In contrast, the probability of maturation at age‐5 was inversely related to smolt condition factor. Day of tagging had a significant effect, indicating that smolts tagged later in the spring had a higher probability of maturing at age 4 than age 3. Our data indicate that mean smolt size was greater when smolt abundance was lower, and larger smolts were ultimately associated with a younger age at maturity. For John Day Chinook Salmon, spawner escapements approaching or exceeding the stock–recruit replacement level appear to favor production of older Chinook Salmon.
The Kierkegaardian Self
Authors: Bernier Mark 
Published: October 2015

AbstractIn chapter two Kierkegaard’s conception of the self is examined. He discusses this in three ways: as a synthesis, a task, and a relation. This examination provides the necessary groundwork for an analysis of despair, faith, and hope. The self as a synthesis refers to the divided nature of the self, where we are torn between two competing natures or factors, unable to bring them into harmony (these factors are explained in three ways: the infinite and finite, the possible and necessary, and the eternal and temporal). The self is also a task that has the task of becoming itself; the end is to secure a meaningful life through a unified identity. Finally, the self is a relation, which he refers to as spirit. This is what is most fundamentally the self, as the freedom to determine itself in the relation between the factors of the synthesis.
The Concept of Hope
Authors: Bernier Mark 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThis chapter reconstructs Kierkegaard’s view of hope, which he defines as an expectancy (watchfulness, openness) for the possibility of the good. There are three senses of the good that can be the object of hope: aesthetic, ethical, and spiritual (the afterlife, the eternal, relating to God). However, there are two forms of hope: mundane and authentic. Mundane hope looks to the good attainable in temporality (aesthetic or ethical), and is consistent with despair. Only authentic hope is inconsistent with despair. Hope, in this authentic sense, requires that we see the good in every possibility (no matter what our circumstances). A further condition of this hope is love: one can only hope for oneself if one hopes for the other, and continually sees the possibility of the good for the other; to give up on the other is to despair, to close oneself off from the possibility of the good.
Infinite Resignation
Authors: Bernier Mark 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThis chapter turns to the nature of Kierkegaardian faith. The analysis revolves primarily around Fear and Trembling, where we see the Kierkegaardian description of faith as a ‘double movement.’ Only the first part of this double movement is explored in this chapter, which is the movement of infinite resignation. The focus is on two figures: the tragic hero and the knight of infinite resignation. Both figures make a movement of resignation, which involves a total commitment to a mundane good, embracing a central task of the self so the meaning of one’s life depends upon this commitment. However, the knight realizes the impossibility for meaning to be ultimately secured in this fashion—the task is impossible—and nonetheless accepts this truth. Thus, one resigns infinitely to the loss of one’s highest mundane, worldly good. But in this, one is still reconciled to pain, and survives the loss.
Epilogue
Authors: Bernier Mark 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThat hope indeed plays a central role in Kierkegaard’s thought has been demonstrated with three primary conclusions: (1) despair can be characterized as an unwillingness to hope in an authentic way; (2) authentic hope constitutes the primary task of the self; and (3) faith is a willingness to hope, wherein the self secures a ground for the possibility of hope. We can perhaps summarize the overall point thus: that hope plays an important role in human flourishing (broadly construed along Kierkegaardian lines), since without hope the self cannot pursue its task of becoming itself. Furthermore, by drawing out Kierkegaard’s theory, we are able to place him in the larger tradition of Christian thought on hope.
Fluid Dynamics
Authors: Ruban Anatoly I. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
The book is the second part in a series which describes fluid dynamics. The book introduces asymptotic methods, and their applications to fluid dynamics. It first discusses the mathematical aspects of the asymptotic theory. This is followed by an exposition of the results of inviscid flow theory, starting with subsonic flows past thin aerofoils. This includes unsteady flow theory and the analysis of separated flows. The book then considers supersonic flow past a thin aerofoil, where the linear approximation leads to the Ackeret formula for the pressure. It also discusses the second-order Buzemann approximation, and the flow behaviour at large distances from the aerofoil. Then the properties of transonic and hypersonic flows are discussed in detail. The book concludes with a discussion of viscous low-Reynolds-number flows. Two classical problems of the low-Reynolds-number flow theory are considered: the flow past a sphere and the flow past a circular cylinder. In both cases the flow analysis leads to a difficulty, known as Stoke’s paradox. The book shows that this paradox can be resolved using the formalism of matched asymptotic expansions.
Asymptotic Problems of Subsonic Flow Theory
Authors: Ruban Anatoly I. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
Chapter 2 is devoted to the thin aerofoil theory for subsonic flows. The chapter first assumes that the free-stream Mach number M∞ is close to zero, and use the Euler equations for an incompressible fluid to describe the flow past an aerofoil. If the aerofoil is thin, then explicit integral formulae can be deduced for the lift force and the pressure distribution on the surface of an arbitrary aerofoil. The chapter then shows that the theory can be easily generalized to subsonic flow with arbitrary M∞ &lt; 1. This is achieved with the help of the so-called Prandtl–Glauert transformation. Chapter 2 also includes a discussion of unsteady flows past thin aerofoils, and the flows with separation. The Chapter concludes with Prandtl’s theory of the flow past a large aspect ratio wing.
Supersonic Flows Past Thin Aerofoils
Authors: Ruban Anatoly I. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
Chapter 3 extends the thin aerofoil theory to supersonic flows. The chapter studies the flow using the full set of compressible Euler equations. Since the perturbations produced by a thin aerofoil are small, the Euler equations can be linearized and reduced to a wave equation. The solution of this equation gives a remarkably simple relationship between the slope of the aerofoil surface and the pressure, known as the Ackeret formula. The chapter then considers the second-order corrections. For this task, it is more convenient to use the equation for the velocity potential. While the second-order equations are more complicated, they also allow for an analytic solution. This gives an improved formula for pressure on the aerofoil surface, known as the Buzemann approximation. The chapter concludes with an analysis of a rather slow process of attenuation of the perturbations in the far field, and formation of the N-wave.
Low-Reynold-Number Flows
Authors: Ruban Anatoly I. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
This chapter uses asymptotic analysis to study low-Reynolds-number viscous flows. It considers two classical problems of low-Reynolds-number flow theory: flow past a sphere and past a circular cylinder. When dealing with the sphere flow, the chapter shows that in the ‘inner region’ the Navier–Stoke’s equations reduce, in the leading order approximation, to Stoke’s equations. These have a solution satisfying the no-slip conditions on the sphere as well as the free-stream conditions. However, when extending the analysis to the second-order approximation, it is found that the second-order equations are incompatible with the corresponding boundary conditions. In order to resolve this difficulty, known as Stoke‘s paradox, one has to introduce a much larger ‘outer region’, where the Navier–Stoke’s equations reduce to the Oseen equations. The problem can then be resolved using the formalism of matched asymptotic expansions. Analysis of the flow past a circular cylinder is conducted in a similar manner.
Web-based Gene Pathogenicity Analysis (WGPA): a web platform to interpret gene pathogenicity from personal genome data
Authors: Diaz-Montana Juan J. , Rackham Owen J.L. , Diaz-Diaz Norberto , Petretto Enrico 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
Summary: As the volume of patient-specific genome sequences increases the focus of biomedical research is switching from the detection of disease-mutations to their interpretation. To this end a number of techniques have been developed that use mutation data collected within a population to predict whether individual genes are likely to be disease-causing or not. As both sequence data and associated analysis tools proliferate, it becomes increasingly difficult for the community to make sense of these data and their implications. Moreover, no single analysis tool is likely to capture all relevant genomic features that contribute to the gene’s pathogenicity. Here, we introduce Web-based Gene Pathogenicity Analysis (WGPA), a web-based tool to analyze genes impacted by mutations and rank them through the integration of existing prioritization tools, which assess different aspects of gene pathogenicity using population-level sequence data. Additionally, to explore the polygenic contribution of mutations to disease, WGPA implements gene set enrichment analysis to prioritize disease-causing genes and gene interaction networks, therefore providing a comprehensive annotation of personal genomes data in disease.
Availability and implementation: wgpa.systems-genetics.net
Contact: enrico.petretto@duke-nus.edu.sg
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
The Unfavorable Economics of Measuring the Returns to Advertising
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Authors: Lewis Randall A. , Rao Justin M. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
Twenty-five large field experiments with major U.S. retailers and brokerages, most reaching millions of customers and collectively representing $2.8 million in digital advertising expenditure, reveal that measuring the returns to advertising is difficult. The median confidence interval on return on investment is over 100 percentage points wide. Detailed sales data show that relative to the per capita cost of the advertising, individual-level sales are very volatile; a coefficient of variation of 10 is common. Hence, informative advertising experiments can easily require more than 10 million person-weeks, making experiments costly and potentially infeasible for many firms. Despite these unfavorable economics, randomized control trials represent progress by injecting new, unbiased information into the market. The inference challenges revealed in the field experiments also show that selection bias, due to the targeted nature of advertising, is a crippling concern for widely employed observational methods.
Risk, Returns, and Multinational Production
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Authors: Fillat José L. , Garetto Stefania 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
This article starts by unveiling a strong empirical regularity: multinational corporations exhibit higher stock market returns and earning yields than nonmultinational firms. Within nonmultinationals, exporters exhibit higher earning yields and returns than firms selling only in their domestic market. To explain this pattern, we develop a real option value model where firms are heterogeneous in productivity and have to decide whether and how to sell in a foreign market where demand is risky. Selling abroad is a source of risk exposure to firms: following a negative shock, they are reluctant to exit the foreign market because they would forgo the sunk cost they paid to enter. Multinational firms are the most exposed because of the higher costs they have to pay to invest. The calibrated model is able to match both aggregate U.S. export and foreign direct investment data, and the observed cross-sectional differences in earning yields and returns.
Reporting Achievement of Medical Student Milestones to Residency Program Directors: An Educational Handover
Authors: Sozener Cemal B. , Lypson Monica L. , House Joseph B. , Hopson Laura R. , Dooley-Hash Suzanne L. , Hauff Samantha , Eddy Mary , Fischer Jonathan P. , Santen Sally A. 
Published: October 2015

Problem
Competency-based education, including assessment of specialty-specific milestones, has become the dominant medical education paradigm; however, how to determine baseline competency of entering interns is unclear—as is to whom this responsibility falls. Medical schools should take responsibility for providing residency programs with accurate, competency-based assessments of their graduates.

Approach
A University of Michigan ad hoc committee developed (spring 2013) a post-Match, milestone-based medical student performance evaluation for seven students matched into emergency medicine (EM) residencies. The committee determined EM milestone levels for each student based on assessments from the EM clerkship, end-of-third-year multistation standardized patient exam, EM boot camp elective, and other medical school data.

Outcomes
In this feasibility study, the committee assessed nearly all 23 EM milestones for all seven graduates, shared these performance evaluations with the program director (PD) where each student matched, and subsequently surveyed the PDs regarding this pilot. Of the five responding PDs, none reported using the traditional medical student performance evaluation to customize training, four (80%) indicated that the proposed assessment provided novel information, and 100% answered that the assessment would be useful for all incoming trainees.

Next Steps
An EM milestone-based, post-Match assessment that uses existing assessment data is feasible and may be effective for communicating competency-based information about medical school graduates to receiving residency programs. Next steps include further aligning assessments with competencies, determining the benefit of such an assessment for other specialties, and articulating the national need for an effective educational handover tool between undergraduate and graduate medical education institutions.
The Pelvis and Beyond
Authors: Sanses Tatiana V. D. , Chelimsky Gisela , McCabe Noel P. , Zolnoun Denniz , Janata Jeffrey , Elston Robert , Buffington C.A. Tony , Simpson Pippa , Zhang Liyun , Chelimsky Thomas 
Published: October 2015

Objective:
To determine the feasibility of a detailed pain sensitivity assessment using body-wide musculoskeletal tender points (TPs) in women with different types of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and compare phenotypic differences.

Materials and Methods:
Seventy women with CPP and 35 pain-free women underwent musculoskeletal evaluation of TPs in the pelvic floor, abdomen, groin, inner thigh, and all 18 fibromyalgia TPs. Patients scored elicited pain on a numeric rating scale. TP pain scores were used for intergroup comparison and intragroup correlation.

Results:
Women with CPP were grouped as having either bladder pain syndrome (BPS, n=24) or myofascial pelvic pain (MPP, n=11) singularly or both concomitantly (BPS+MPP, n=35). TP pain scores for all evaluations were higher in women with CPP compared with healthy women (P<0.001). Women with BPS+MPP had elevated TP pain for each evaluation compared with women with BPS alone. Pelvic floor and fibromyalgia TP scores correlated strongly in the MPP group, moderately in the BPS+MPP group, and weakly in the BPS alone group. Although some moderate and strong correlations between different body locations were present in all 3 groups, only the BPS+MPP group showed moderate to strong correlations between all body TPs.

Conclusions:
Detailed musculoskeletal evaluation of women with CPP is feasible and well tolerated. Careful phenotyping differentiated BPS, MPP, and BPS+MPP groups. Attending to the differences between these groups clinically may lead to more effective treatment strategies and improved outcomes for patients with CPP.
The Course of the Spatial Extent of Pain in Nonspecific Chronic Back Pain
Authors: Tesarz Jonas , Gerhardt Andreas , Hartmann Mechthild , Kohlmann Thomas , Eich Wolfgang 
Published: October 2015

Objectives:
Longitudinal population-based studies on the natural course of nonspecific chronic back pain (nsCBP) concerning the spatial extent of pain are scarce. This study aims to assess the natural course of nsCBP patients concerning their spatial extent of pain and physical impairment over time.

Methods:
Analyses were based on a prospective, population-based survey with clinical evaluation. A representative population-based sample of 4000 German adults was sent a pain questionnaire. Patients mentioning nsCBP in the questionnaire were invited to a comprehensive clinical evaluation, including 1- and 2-year follow-ups. On the basis of pain drawings, the course of the spatial extent of pain over time was classified as “constant-local,” “constant-widespread,” “constant-amelioration,” “constant-spreading,” or “variable.” Physical impairment was assessed by the Back Performance Scale as an objective clinical assessment tool that measures self-reported activity limitation in daily functioning caused by nsCBP.

Results:
Pain drawings and physical assessment from 3 visits were available from 165 patients. The course of the spatial extent of pain was constant-local in 39.4% and constant-widespread in 18.2% of all patients, whereas 11.5% reported a variable course. Constant-amelioration was observed in 18.2% and constant-spreading was observed in 12.7%. Physical impairment remained unchanged over the time in all groups and was worst in the constant-widespread group.

Discussion:
Most nsCBP patients report a stable pain extent over the time of the study, whereas a constant spread of pain is observed only in a minority of nsCBP patients. These findings challenge the concept of a continuous transition from local to widespread pain.