bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The photochemical reflectance index provides an optical indicator of spring photosynthetic activation in evergreen conifers
Authors: Wong Christopher Y. S. , Gamon John A. 
Published: January 2015

Summary

In evergreens, the seasonal down‐regulation and reactivation of photosynthesis is largely invisible and difficult to assess with remote sensing. This invisible phenology may be changing as a result of climate change. To better understand the mechanism and timing of these hidden physiological transitions, we explored several assays and optical indicators of spring photosynthetic activation in conifers exposed to a boreal climate.

The photochemical reflectance index (PRI), chlorophyll fluorescence, and leaf pigments for evergreen conifer seedlings were monitored over 1 yr of a boreal climate with the addition of gas exchange during the spring.

PRI, electron transport rate, pigment levels, light‐use efficiency and photosynthesis all exhibited striking seasonal changes, with varying kinetics and strengths of correlation, which were used to evaluate the mechanisms and timing of spring activation. PRI and pigment pools were closely timed with photosynthetic reactivation measured by gas exchange.

The PRI provided a clear optical indicator of spring photosynthetic activation that was detectable at leaf and stand scales in conifers. We propose that PRI might provide a useful metric of effective growing season length amenable to remote sensing and could improve remote‐sensing‐driven models of carbon uptake in evergreen ecosystems.
Schistosome infection aggravates HCV‐related liver disease and induces changes in the regulatory T‐cell phenotype
Authors: Loffredo‐Verde E. , Abdel‐Aziz I. , Albrecht J. , El‐Guindy N. , Yacob M. , Solieman A. , Protzer U. , Busch D. H. , Layland L. E. , Prazeres da Costa C. U. 
Published: January 2015

SummarySchistosome infections are renowned for their ability to induce regulatory networks such as regulatory T cells (Treg) that control immune responses against homologous and heterologous antigens such as allergies. However, in the case of co‐infections with hepatitis C virus (HCV), schistosomes accentuate disease progression and we hypothesized that expanding schistosome‐induced Treg populations change their phenotype and could thereby suppress beneficial anti‐HCV responses. We therefore analysed effector T cells and n/iTreg subsets applying the markers Granzyme B (GrzB) and Helios in Egyptian cohorts of HCV mono‐infected (HCV), schistosome‐co‐infected (Sm/HCV) and infection‐free individuals. Interestingly, viral load and liver transaminases were significantly elevated in Sm/HCV individuals when compared to HCV patients. Moreover, overall Treg frequencies and HeliosposTreg were not elevated in Sm/HCV individuals, but frequencies of GrzB+Treg were significantly increased. Simultaneously, GrzB+ CD8+ T cells were not suppressed in co‐infected individuals. This study demonstrates that in Sm/HCV co‐infected cohorts, liver disease is aggravated with enhanced virus replication and Treg do not expand but rather change their phenotype with GrzB possibly being a more reliable marker than Helios for iTreg. Therefore, curing concurrent schistosome disease could be an important prerequisite for successful HCV treatment as co‐infected individuals respond poorly to interferon therapy.
Evaluating the relationship between education level and cognitive impairment with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test
Authors: Yancar Demir Esra , Özcan Tuba 
Published: January 2015

AbstractBackgroundMild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined as ‘a cognitive decline greater than that expected for an individual's age and education level but that does not interfere notably with activities of daily life’. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a screening test for MCI.MethodsWe investigated the performance of the Turkish version of the MoCA in detecting MCI among elderly persons in a rural area, the majority of whom have a low level of education. We evaluated 50 consecutive men referred from an outpatient clinic. Educational level was divided into three categories: group 1, less than primary (<5 years); group 2, primary (5 years); group 3, more than primary (>5 years). We evaluated the effect of education on MoCA scores and compared subjects' test performance among the different categories of education level.ResultsA total of 50 male patients with MCI (mean age: 70.74 ± 7.87) met the inclusion criteria. There were no differences in the total scores based on education or in the subscores for visuospatial/executive function, naming, attention, abstraction and delayed recall. Language was the only domain that showed significant differences between the groups. In post‐hoc analysis, differences were found between groups 1 and 3 and between groups 1 and 2. Group 1 had significantly lower scores for language. The repeat subscore for language was significantly lower in group 1 than in group 2. In fluency, there were significant differences between groups 2 and 3 and between group 1 and 3.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the applicability of the Turkish version of MoCA in populations with little education. Our results emphasize the need to adapt the language sections of this test, so it can be easily used in populations with low education levels.
Variable Selection for Support Vector Machines in Moderately High Dimensions
Authors: Zhang Xiang , Wu Yichao , Wang Lan , Li Runze 
Published: January 2015

SummaryThe support vector machine (SVM) is a powerful binary classification tool with high accuracy and great flexibility. It has achieved great success, but its performance can be seriously impaired if many redundant covariates are included. Some efforts have been devoted to studying variable selection for SVMs, but asymptotic properties, such as variable selection consistency, are largely unknown when the number of predictors diverges to ∞. We establish a unified theory for a general class of non-convex penalized SVMs. We first prove that, in ultrahigh dimensions, there is one local minimizer to the objective function of non-convex penalized SVMs having the desired oracle property. We further address the problem of non-unique local minimizers by showing that the local linear approximation algorithm is guaranteed to converge to the oracle estimator even in the ultrahigh dimensional setting if an appropriate initial estimator is available. This condition on the initial estimator is verified to be automatically valid as long as the dimensions are moderately high. Numerical examples provide supportive evidence.
Should we educate care staff to improve the oral health and oral hygiene of people with intellectual disability in residential care? Real world lessons from a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Mac Giolla Phadraig Caoimhin , Guerin Suzanne , Nunn June 
Published: January 2015

ABSTRACTThis study assessed the impact of a multitiered oral health educational program on the oral health and oral hygiene of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). In a controlled pretest, posttest trial, with cluster randomization, a pyramidal training program was delivered to residential staff who cared for a randomly allocated, purposively stratified intervention group of people with ID living in community care homes. A control group lived in centers where staff received no training. Clinical measures were carried out pre‐ and posttest. Difference in Modified Gingival Index (MGI) and Plaque Index (PI) was measured posttest using ANCOVA. Seventy‐six participants took part, representing 49.0% of the invited sample (n = 155). Fourteen did not receive clinical examination. There was one dropout 6–9 months later. A 10.5% and 8.5% reduction in mean MGI and PI was evident at posttest but did not show statistically significant difference, when controlling for baseline covariates (p > 0.05, ANCOVA). Mean MGI and PI scores were not significantly different among people with ID whose care staff had and had not received oral health training. Limitations are discussed. The results indicate that this program failed to significantly improve oral health or oral hygiene, despite the intervention being “educationally” successful. More research is needed.
Middle Childhood Feelings Toward Mothers: Predictions From Maternal Directiveness at the Age of Two and Respect for Autonomy Currently
Authors: Ispa Jean M. , Carlo Gustavo , Palermo Francisco , Su‐Russell Chang , Harmeyer Erin , Streit Cara 
Published: January 2015

AbstractThe goals of this study were to examine (1) stability of maternal directiveness during interactions with their children from toddlerhood to late middle childhood, (2) direct and mediated relations between mothers' directiveness when children were two years old, mothers' respect for autonomy and children's positivity and negativity toward their mothers when children were in late middle childhood, and (3) differences in these paths by ethnoracial group. Participants included 876 European‐American, 789 African‐American, and 411 Mexican‐American mothers and their children from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Maternal respect for autonomy at Time 2 partially mediated an association between Time 1 directiveness and observed child positivity toward mothers at Time 2. There was also a direct inverse link between Time 1 maternal directiveness and children's observed positivity toward mothers at Time 2. Relations were similar across ethnoracial groups and for boys and girls. The discussion focuses on heterotypic stability in directive parenting and its implications for children's feelings toward their mothers.
Effect of mixing soil saprophytic fungi with organic residues on the response of Solanum lycopersicum to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Authors: Almonacid L. , Fuentes A. , Ortiz J. , Salas C. , Garcia‐Romera I. , Ocampo J. , Arriagada C. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractThe effect of the dual inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and saprophytic fungi and a combination of wheat straw and sewage sludge residues were studied by determining their effect on dry weight of tomato and on chemical and biochemical properties of soil. Incubation of organic residue (sewage sludge combined with wheat straw) with saprophytic fungi and plant inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi was essential to study plant growth promotion. Soil application of organic residues increased the dry weight of tomato inoculated with Rhizophagus irregularis. The greatest shoot dry mass was obtained when the organic residues were incubated with Trichoderma harzianum and applied to AM plants. However, the greatest percentage of root length colonized with AM in the presence of the organic residues was obtained with inoculation with Coriolopsis rigida. The relative chlorophyll was greatest in mycorrhizal plants regardless of the presence of either saprophytic fungus. The presence of the saprophytic fungi increased soil pH as the incubation time increased. Soil nitrogen and phosphorus contents and acid phosphatase were stimulated by the addition of organic residues, and contents of N and P. Total N and P content in soil increased when the organic residue was incubated with saprobe fungi, but this effect decreased as the incubation period of the residue with saprobe fungi increased. The same trend was observed for soil β‐glucosidase and fluorescein diacetate activities. The application of organic residues in the presence of AM and saprophytic fungi seems to be an interesting option as a biofertilizer to improve plant growth and biochemical parameters of soils.
Robust primary modulation‐based scatter estimation for cone‐beam CT
Authors: Ritschl Ludwig , Fahrig Rebecca , Knaup Michael , Maier Joscha , Kachelrieß Marc 
Published: January 2015

Purpose:Scattered radiation is one of the major problems facing image quality in flat detector cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT). Previously, a new scatter estimation and correction method using primary beam modulation has been proposed. The original image processing technique used a frequency‐domain‐based analysis, which proved to be sensitive to the accuracy of the modulator pattern both spatially and in amplitude as well as to the frequency of the modulation pattern. In addition, it cannot account for penumbra effects that occur, for example, due to the finite focal spot size and the scatter estimate can be degraded by high‐frequency components of the primary image.Methods:In this paper, the authors present a new way to estimate the scatter using primary modulation. It is less sensitive to modulator nonidealities and most importantly can handle arbitrary modulator shapes and changes in modulator attenuation. The main idea is that the scatter estimation can be expressed as an optimization problem, which yields a separation of the scatter and the primary image. The method is evaluated using simulated and experimental CBCT data. The scattering properties of the modulator itself are analyzed using a Monte Carlo simulation.Results:All reconstructions show strong improvements of image quality. To quantify the results, all images are compared to reference images (ideal simulations and collimated scans).Conclusions:The proposed modulator‐based scatter reduction algorithm may open the field of flat detector‐based imaging to become a quantitative modality. This may have significant impact on C‐arm imaging and on image‐guided radiation therapy.
Performance characterization of high quantum efficiency metal package photomultiplier tubes for time‐of‐flight and high‐resolution PET applications
Authors: Ko Guen Bae , Lee Jae Sung 
Published: January 2015

Purpose:Metal package photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with a metal channel dynode structure have several advanced features for devising such time‐of‐flight (TOF) and high spatial resolution positron emission tomography (PET) detectors, thanks to their high packing density, large effective area ratio, fast time response, and position encoding capability. Here, we report on an investigation of new metal package PMTs with high quantum efficiency (QE) for high‐resolution PET and TOF PET detector modules.Methods:The latest metal package PMT, the Hamamatsu R11265 series, is served with two kinds of photocathodes that have higher quantum efficiency than normal bialkali (typical QE ≈ 25%), super bialkali (SBA; QE ≈ 35%), and ultra bialkali (UBA; QE ≈ 43%). In this study, the authors evaluated the performance of the new PMTs with SBA and UBA photocathodes as a PET detector by coupling various crystal arrays. They also investigated the performance improvements of high QE, focusing in particular on a block detector coupled with a lutetium‐based scintillator. A single 4 × 4 × 10 mm3 LYSO, a 7 × 7 array of 3 × 3 × 20 mm3 LGSO, a 9 × 9 array of 1.2 × 1.2 × 10 mm3 LYSO, and a 6 × 6 array of 1.5 × 1.5 × 7 mm3 LuYAP were used for evaluation. All coincidence data were acquired with a DRS4 based fast digitizer.Results:This new PMT shows promising crystal positioning accuracy, energy and time discrimination performance for TOF, and high‐resolution PET applications. The authors also found that a metal channel PMT with SBA was enough for both TOF and high‐resolution application, although UBA gave a minor improvement to time resolution. However, significant performance improvement was observed in relative low light output crystals (LuYAP) coupled with UBA.Conclusions:The results of this study will be of value as a useful reference to select PMTs for high‐performance PET detectors.
Physical Demands and Salivary Immunoglobulin A Responses of Elite Australian Rules Football Athletes to Match Play
Authors: Coad Sam , Gray Bon , Wehbe George , McLellan Christopher 
Published: January 2015

Purpose:To examine the response or pre- and postmatch salivary immunoglobulin A concentration ([s-IgA]) to Australian Football League (AFL) match play and investigate the acute and cumulative influence of player workload and postmatch [s-IgA] after repeated participation in AFL match play.Methods:Eleven elite AFL athletes (21.8 ± 2.4 y, 186.9 ± 7.9 cm, 87.4 ± 7.5 kg) were monitored throughout 3 matches during the preseason that were separated by 7 d. Saliva samples were collected across each AFL match at 24 h and 1 h prematch and 1, 12, 36, and 60 h postmatch to determine [s-IgA]. Global positioning systems (GPS) with integrated triaxial accelerometers were used to determine total player workload during match play. Hypothesis testing was conducted for time-dependent changes in [s-IgA] and player load using a repeated-measures ANOVA.Results:Player load during match 3 (1266 ± 124.6 AU) was significantly (P < .01) greater than in match 1 (1096 ± 115.1 AU) and match 2 (1082 ± 90.4 AU). Across match 3, [s-IgA] was significantly (P < .01) suppressed at 2 postmatch measures (12 and 36 h) compared with prematch measures (24 and 1 h), which coincided with significantly (P < .01) elevated player load.Conclusion:The findings indicate that an increase in player load during AFL preseason match play resulted in compromised postmatch mucosal immunological function. Longitudinal assessment of AFL-match player load and mucosal immunological function across the first 60 h of recovery may augment monitoring and preparedness strategies for athletes.
An Exploration of Sports Rehabilitators’ and Athletic Rehabilitation Therapists’ Views on Fear of Reinjury After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: McVeigh Fiona , Pack Stephen M. 
Published: January 2015

Background:Research involving long-term follow-up of patients after successful anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) has shown that return-to-sport rates are not as good as would be expected despite many patients’ having normal knee-function scores. The psychological component, specifically fear of reinjury, plays a critical role in determining patients’ return to play and is frequently underestimated. Little is known about the recognition and intervention from the therapist’s perspective.Aim:To gain a greater understanding of the views of sports rehabilitators and athletic rehabilitation therapists on recognition of fear of reinjury in clients after ACLR.Method and Design:A qualitative approach, consisting of semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of 8 participants, sports rehabilitators, or athletic rehabilitation therapists. This population has been largely unexamined in this context in previous research.Main Findings:Thematic analysis yielded 2 main themes: communication and education. Participants discussed the importance of communication in the client–therapist relationship and how it is used in addressing misinformation and fear of reinjury. All participants used education in outlining the rehabilitation pathway and dealing with those providing social support around the client. Issues emerged relating to therapists’ recognition of observable signs of fear of reinjury in the clinical setting. Overall, participants thought that fear of reinjury was not a barrier to return to play after ACLR.Conclusion:There is a need for more education of therapists on recognizing fear of reinjury and the appropriate use of psychological intervention skills as a method for dealing with this throughout the rehabilitation process.
The Effects of Low-Level Laser Therapy on Pain Associated With Tendinopathy: A Critically Appraised Topic
Authors: Doyle Andrew T. , Lauber Christine , Sabine Kendra 
Published: January 2015

Clinical Scenario:Tendinopathies plague many active individuals, causing pain and reducing sport activity by decreasing range of motion and strength. There are many modalities that have been used to treat pain associated with chronic inflammation, such as ultrasound, moist heat packs, and electrical stimulation. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is one such modality. Potential benefits of managing pain associated with tendinopathies have been investigated using LLLT. Cellular respiration and metabolism are thought to be increased by LLLT acting on the mitochondrial cytochromes. The effects LLLT may have on cellular activity could increase blood flow to progress the healing process by reducing the pain-spasm cycle. The purpose of this critically appraised topic is to identify the clinical effectiveness of LLLT on pain associated with tendinopathy and to identify the parameters used to achieve statistically and clinically relevant pain outcomes.Focused Clinical Question:What is the effect of LLLT on pain associated with tendinopathy?Clinical Bottom Line:Although LLLT significantly decreases pain from baseline, its use may be no better than placebo or traditional treatments such as ultrasound, moist heat packs, electrical stimulation, or therapeutic exercise to reduce pain associated with tendinopathy. Total accumulated joules across the treatment sessions may need to be taken into account as a parameter.
A Scalable Lock Manager for Multicores
Authors: Jung Hyungsoo , Han Hyuck , Fekete Alan , Heiser Gernot , Yeom Heon Y. 
Published: January 2015

Modern implementations of DBMS software are intended to take advantage of high core counts that are becoming common in high-end servers. However, we have observed that several database platforms, including MySQL, Shore-MT, and a commercial system, exhibit throughput collapse as load increases into oversaturation (where there are more request threads than cores), even for a workload with little or no logical contention for locks, such as a read-only workload. Our analysis of MySQL identifies latch contention within the lock manager as the bottleneck responsible for this collapse.
We design a lock manager with reduced latching, implement it in MySQL, and show that it avoids the collapse and generally improves performance. Our efficient implementation of a lock manager is enabled by a staged allocation and deallocation of locks. Locks are preallocated in bulk, so that the lock manager only has to perform simple list manipulation operations during the acquire and release phases of a transaction. Deallocation of the lock data structures is also performed in bulk, which enables the use of fast implementations of lock acquisition and release as well as concurrent deadlock checking.
ERD'14
Authors: Carmel David , Chang Ming-Wei , Gabrilovich Evgeniy , Hsu Bo-June (Paul) , Wang Kuansan 
Published: January 2015

In this paper we overview the 2014 Entity Recognition and Disambiguation Challenge (ERD'14), which took place from March to June 2014 and was summarized in a dedicated workshop at SIGIR 2014. The main goal of the ERD challenge was to promote research in recognition and disambiguation of entities in unstructured text. Unlike many past entity linking challenges, no mention segmentations were given to the participating systems for a given document. Participants were asked to implement a web service for their system to minimize human involvement during evaluation and to enable measuring the processing times. The challenge has attracted a lot of interest (over 100 teams registered, and 27 of those submitted final results).
In this paper we cover the task definition, issues encountered during annotation, and provide a detailed analysis of all the participating systems. Specifically, we show how we adapted the pooling technique to address the difficulties of gathering annotations for the entity linking task. We also summarize the ERD workshop that followed the challenge, including the oral and poster presentations as well as the invited talks.