bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A HYBRID DISCRETE CHOICE MODEL OF DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCT DEMAND WITH AN APPLICATION TO PERSONAL COMPUTERS
Authors: Song Minjae 
Published: January 2015

In this article, I consider a new discrete choice model of differentiated product demand that distinguishes a brand‐level differentiation from a product‐level differentiation. The model is a hybrid of the random coefficient logit model of Berry et al. (Econometrica 63 (1995), 841–90) and the pure characteristics model of Berry and Pakes (International Economic Review 48 (2007), 1193–1225) and describes markets where firms offer multiple products of different qualities under the same brand name. I compare the hybrid model with existing models using data on personal computers. Using the estimates of the hybrid model, I also provide empirical evidence that firms reposition their brands in a postmerger market.
Applications for CO2‐Activated Carbon Monoliths: I. Gas Storage
Authors: Kunowsky Mirko , Marco‐Lozar Juan Pablo , Suárez‐García Fabián , Linares‐Solano Ángel , Carruthers James Donald 
Published: January 2015

Carbon monoliths with high densities are studied as adsorbents for the storage of H2, CH4, and CO2 at ambient temperature and high pressures. The starting monolith A3 (produced by ATMI Co.) was activated under a CO2 flow at 1073 K, applying different activation times up to 48 h. Micropore volumes and apparent surface areas were deduced from N2 and CO2 adsorption isotherms at 77 K and 273 K, respectively. CO2 and CH4 isotherms were measured up to 3 MPa and H2 up to 20 MPa. The BET surface area of the starting monolith (941 m2/g) could be significantly increased up to 1586 m2/g, and the developed porosity is almost exclusively comprised of micropores <1 nm. Total storage amounts take into account the compressed gas in the void space of the material, in addition to the adsorbed gas. Remarkably, high total storage amounts are reached for CO2 (482 g/L), CH4 (123 g/L), and H2 (18 g/L). These values are much higher than for other sorbents with similar surface areas, due to the high density of the starting monolith and of the activated ones, for which the density decreases only slightly (from 1.0 g/cm3 to 0.8 g /cm3 upon CO2 activation). The findings reveal the suitability of high density activated carbon monoliths for gas storage application. Thus, the amounts of stored gas can be increased by more than a 70 % in the case of H2 at 20 MPa, almost 5.5 times in the case of CH4 at 3 MPa, and more than 7.5 times in the case of CO2 at 3 MPa when adsorbents are used for gas storage under the investigated conditions rather than simple compression. Furthermore, the obtained results have been recently confirmed by a scale‐up study in which 2.64 kg of high density monolith adsorbent was filled a tank cylinder of 2.5 L (Carbon, 76, 2014, 123).
Performance of fluorescence‐based methods for detecting and quantifying smooth‐surface caries lesions in primary teeth: an in vitro study
Authors: Novaes Tatiane Fernandes , Moriyama Caroline Moraes , De Benedetto Monique Saveriano , Kohara Eduardo Kazuo , Braga Mariana Minatel , Mendes Fausto Medeiros 
Published: January 2015

BackgroundAlthough smooth‐surface caries can be subjectively assessed by visual inspection, quantitative methods would improve the monitoring of these lesions.AimTo evaluate the in vitro performance of laser fluorescence devices, namely DIAGNOdent (LF) and DIAGNOdent pen (LFpen), and a fluorescence camera (VistaProof; FC) in the detection and quantification of smooth‐surface caries in primary teeth.DesignTwo examiners evaluated 99 smooth surfaces of 65 extracted primary molars using FC, LF, and LFpen. As a reference standard, the actual and relative lesion depths were determined using stereomicroscopy and polarized light microscopy. Reproducibilities were assessed, and correlation analyses were performed. The sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies of the methods were calculated and compared.ResultsThere was a significant correlation between the values obtained using the fluorescence‐based devices and the actual and relative lesion depths, although the correlation coefficient values were not higher than 0.7 (LF, 0.673; LFpen, 0.646; FC, 0.663). The sensitivities of the devices were similar for the detection of enamel caries, although LFpen was superior in detecting dentin lesions. The reliabilities of all methods were moderate to low, with similar accuracies at all depths.ConclusionAlthough the fluorescence‐based devices showed similar performance in the detection of enamel and dentin lesions, the reliability of these devices and the correlation of their findings with the actual and relative lesion depths were moderate with regard to smooth‐surface caries in primary molars.
Malaria infection status predicts extra‐pair paternity in the blue tit
Authors: Podmokła Edyta , Dubiec Anna , Arct Aneta , Drobniak Szymon M. , Gustafsson Lars , Cichoń Mariusz 
Published: January 2015

Extra‐pair matings comprise a common reproductive strategy among socially monogamous bird species. However, it remains unclear why females decide to mate with extra‐pair males. Indirect benefits in terms of improving offspring genetic quality are usually invoked to explain this phenomenon. Parasite resistance genes are often considered as a female target of seeking extra‐pair matings, but the direct test of this hypothesis is generally lacking.Here, we report on a relationship between the status of infection with malaria parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) and occurrence of extra‐pair paternity in a wild population of the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus inhabiting Gotland (Sweden). We found that the probability of extra‐pair paternity is significantly related to the infection status of social parents. Infected males showed higher probability of being cuckolded than uninfected ones. However, this was observed only among males mated to uninfected females. Thus, avian malaria may potentially contribute to explanation of extra‐pair mating behaviour.
Latitudinal variation in resistance and tolerance to herbivory in the perennial herb Lythrum salicaria is related to intensity of herbivory and plant phenology
Authors: Lehndal L. , Ågren J. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractBoth the length of the growing season and the intensity of herbivory often vary along climatic gradients, which may result in divergent selection on plant phenology, and on resistance and tolerance to herbivory. In Sweden, the length of the growing season and the number of insect herbivore species feeding on the perennial herb Lythrum salicaria decrease from south to north. Previous common‐garden experiments have shown that northern L. salicaria populations develop aboveground shoots earlier in the summer and finish growth before southern populations do. We tested the hypotheses that resistance and tolerance to damage vary with latitude in L. salicaria and are positively related to the intensity of herbivory in natural populations. We quantified resistance and tolerance of populations sampled along a latitudinal gradient by scoring damage from natural herbivores and fitness in a common‐garden experiment in the field and by documenting oviposition and feeding preference by specialist leaf beetles in a glasshouse experiment. Plant resistance decreased with latitude of origin, whereas plant tolerance increased. Oviposition and feeding preference in the glasshouse and leaf damage in the common‐garden experiment were negatively related to damage in the source populations. The latitudinal variation in resistance was thus consistent with reduced selection from herbivores towards the northern range margin of L. salicaria. Variation in tolerance may be related to differences in the timing of damage in relation to the seasonal pattern of plant growth, as northern genotypes have developed further than southern have when herbivores emerge in early summer.
Parallel chemical switches underlying pollinator isolation in Asian Mitella
Authors: Okamoto T. , Okuyama Y. , Goto R. , Tokoro M. , Kato M. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractFloral scents are among the key signals used by pollinators to navigate to specific flowers. Thus, evolutionary changes in scents should have strong impacts on plant diversification, although scent‐mediated plant speciation through pollinator shifts has rarely been demonstrated, despite being likely. To examine whether and how scent‐mediated plant speciation may have occurred, we investigated the Asimitellaria plant lineage using multidisciplinary approaches including pollinator observations, chemical analyses of the floral scents, electroantennographic analyses and behavioural bioassays with the pollinators. We also performed phylogenetically independent contrast analyses of the pollinator/floral scent associations. First, we confirmed that the pairs of the sympatric, cross‐fertile Asimitellaria species in three study sites consistently attract different pollinators, namely long‐tongued and short‐tongued fungus gnats. We also found that a stereoisomeric set of floral volatiles, the lilac aldehydes, could be responsible for the pollinator specificity. This is because the compounds consistently elicited responses in the antennae of the long‐tongued fungus gnats and had contrasting effects on the two pollinators, that is triggering the nectaring behaviour of long‐tongued fungus gnats while repelling short‐tongued fungus gnats in a laboratory experiment. Moreover, we discovered that volatile composition repeatedly switched in Asimitellaria between species adapted to long‐tongued and short‐tongued fungus gnats. Collectively, our results support the idea that recurrent scent‐mediated speciation has taken place in the Asimitellaria–fungus gnat system.
Self‐fertilization and inbreeding limit the scope for sexually antagonistic polymorphism
Authors: Tazzyman S. J. , Abbott J. K. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractSexual antagonism occurs when there is a positive intersexual genetic correlation in trait expression but opposite fitness effects of the trait(s) in males and females. As such, it constrains the evolution of sexual dimorphism and may therefore have implications for adaptive evolution. There is currently considerable evidence for the existence of sexually antagonistic genetic variation in laboratory and natural populations, but how sexual antagonism interacts with other evolutionary phenomena is still poorly understood in many cases. Here, we explore how self‐fertilization and inbreeding affect the maintenance of polymorphism for sexually antagonistic loci. We expected a priori that selfing should reduce the region of polymorphism, as inbreeding reduces the frequency of heterozygotes and speeds fixation. This expectation was supported, but although previous results suggest that the more an allele that is deleterious to one sex is dominant in that sex, the smaller the region of parameter space that will admit polymorphism, we found that this effect is weakened by self‐fertilization. However, the effect of inbreeding is not strong enough to completely cancel out the effect of dominance: For a given frequency of inbreeding, it will still be the case that the more dominant the alleles are in their deleterious context, the smaller the region of parameter space in which they can exist at polymorphism.
Case series of familial frontal fibrosing alopecia and a review of the literature
Authors: Navarro‐Belmonte María Rogelia , Navarro‐López Vicente , Ramírez‐Boscà Ana , Martínez‐Andrés Mª Asunción , Molina‐Gil Consuelo , González‐Nebreda Miguel , Asín‐Llorca Manuel 
Published: January 2015

SummaryFrontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is a distinctive form of scarring alopecia presenting with partial eyebrow loss and frontal temporal parietal recession of the hairline. Its etiology remains unknown, and there is no definitive treatment. Information in familial cases of FFA is scarce. We conducted a retrospective cohort study describing the mean clinical findings, treatment, and also the mean differences between premenopausal and postmenopausal cases of familiar FFA. Data analysis from case was performed on eight patients with a familiar history and diagnosis of FFA seen at the Alicante Aesthetic Dermatology Centre between January 2009 and June 2014. All patients in this cohort were females. Mean age at onset was 65 year (range 60–75) in the postmenopausal patients and 39 year (range 33–47) in the premenopausal women. All menopausal patients were in an advanced stage when the disease had already developed in the frontal and/or temporal parietal hairline region. However, the daughters, all of them premenopausal age, attended the consultation with mild involvement of the eyebrows in all four cases and mild impairment of the frontal hairline in three of them. Specific clinical findings in familial FFA are poorly communicated until nowadays although the number of familial cases arises until 8% in the main case series published in recent years. Early diagnosis in premenopausal stage is frequent in our case series and allows us to begin the protocol treatment in the first stage of the disease, but long‐term progression will remain uncertain until a definitive treatment could be established by multicenter randomized controlled trials.
The Impact of Playworks on Boys' and Girls' Physical Activity During Recess
Authors: Bleeker Martha , Beyler Nicholas , James‐Burdumy Susanne , Fortson Jane 
Published: January 2015

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDSchool‐based programs, such as Playworks, that guide students in organized activities during recess and make improvements to the recess play yard may lead to significant increases in physical activity—especially for girls. This study builds on past research by investigating the impact of Playworks separately for girls and boys.METHODSTwenty‐nine schools were randomly assigned to receive Playworks for 1 school year or serve as a control group. Postintervention physical activity data were collected via accelerometers and recess observations. Impacts were estimated separately for girls and boys using regression models.RESULTSGirls in Playworks schools had significantly higher accelerometer intensity counts and spent more time in vigorous physical activity than girls in control schools. No significant differences based on accelerometer data were found for boys. A significant impact was also found on the types of activities in which girls engaged during recess; girls in the treatment group were less likely than those in the control group to be sedentary and more likely to engage in jumping, tag, and playground games.CONCLUSIONSThe current findings suggest that Playworks had a significant impact on some measures of girls' physical activity, but no significant impact on measures of boys' physical activity.
Upregulation of P-glycoprotein expression by ophthalmic drugs in different corneal in-vitro models
Authors: Verstraelen Jessica , Reichl Stephan 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
The purpose of this study was to analyse P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression in different human in-vitro cornea models (HCE-T epithelial model and Hemicornea construct) after stimulation with P-gp substrates (rhodamine 123, levofloxacin and acebutolol).

Methods
The influence of P-gp substrates on mRNA expression was analysed using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR. The effect of stimulation on the transporter functionality was estimated with a digoxin efflux assay. The Caco-2 cell line was used as positive control.

Key findings
The reverse transcriptase PCR results showed an increase in band intensity compared with the control medium for all substrates. The real-time PCR for the Caco-2 and HCE-T epithelial model yielded a similar outcome, in which all tested substrates upregulated P-gp. In contrast, the Hemicornea construct showed no significant increase in the mRNA expression after stimulation. Both in-vitro models possessed similar drug transport profiles after stimulation. A significantly increased efflux of digoxin was measured after 24 and 72 h of stimulation with levofloxacin and acebutolol.

Conclusions
The expression and functionality of the P-gp in corneal tissue can be influenced through time exposure with specific substrates. However, the exact mechanism still requires further elucidation.
The modulatory effects of caffeic acid on human monocytes and its involvement in propolis action
Authors: Búfalo Michelle Cristiane , Sforcin José Maurício 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
Researchers have been interested in investigating the mechanisms of action of propolis and the compounds involved in its biological activity; however, the effect of its isolated constituents on human immune cells still deserves investigation. Thus, this study aimed to verify the action of caffeic acid on human monocytes in an attempt to verify its effects on the innate immunity, and to analyse its participation in propolis activity.

Methods
Monocytes viability was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide method after incubation with caffeic acid. Cell markers expression by monocytes (Toll-like receptors (TLR)-2, TLR-4, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR and CD80) was analysed by flow cytometry. TNF-α and IL-10 production was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the activity of monocytes against Candida albicans was investigated after incubation with different concentrations of caffeic acid.

Key findings
Caffeic acid downregulated TLR-2 and HLA-DR expression and inhibited cytokine production whereas it upregulated the fungicidal activity of monocytes, without affecting cell viability.

Conclusions
Caffeic acid exerted an immunomodulatory action in human monocytes in the evaluated parameters depending on concentration, with no cytotoxic effects. Moreover, it was partially involved in propolis action.
A quality by design approach to understand formulation and process variability in pharmaceutical melt extrusion processes
Authors: Patwardhan Ketaki , Asgarzadeh Firouz , Dassinger Thomas , Albers Jessica , Repka Michael A 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
In this study, the principles of quality by design (QbD) have been uniquely applied to a pharmaceutical melt extrusion process for an immediate release formulation with a low melting model drug, ibuprofen.

Methods
Two qualitative risk assessment tools – Fishbone diagram and failure mode effect analysis – were utilized to strategically narrow down the most influential parameters. Selected variables were further assessed using a Plackett-Burman screening study, which was upgraded to a response surface design consisting of the critical factors to study the interactions between the study variables. In process torque, glass transition temperature (Tg) of the extrudates, assay, dissolution and phase change were measured as responses to evaluate the critical quality attributes (CQAs) of the extrudates. The effect of each study variable on the measured responses was analysed using multiple regression for the screening design and partial least squares for the optimization design.

Key findings
Experimental limits for formulation and process parameters to attain optimum processing have been outlined. A design space plot describing the domain of experimental variables within which the CQAs remained unchanged was developed.

Conclusions
A comprehensive approach for melt extrusion product development based on the QbD methodology has been demonstrated. Drug loading concentrations between 40- 48%w/w and extrusion temperature in the range of 90–130°C were found to be the most optimum.
Social and Healthcare Professionals' Experiences of Giving Support to Families Where the Mother Has an Intellectual Disability: Focus on Children
Authors: Weiber Ingrid , Tengland Per‐Anders , Berglund Johan , Eklund Mona 
Published: January 2015

AbstractFamilies where the mother has an intellectual disability need support to counteract possible detrimental life circumstances for the children involved. The aim of this study was to describe social and healthcare professionals' experiences of providing support for families with maternal intellectual disability and specifically focused on if and how they believed the support practices benefited the children. Seven focus group interviews were performed with 29 professional informants. The transcripts were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Three themes were identified: “support practices,” “pedagogical strategies when supporting families with maternal intellectual disability,” and “maintaining the child perspective.” The support practices mainly dealt with parenting skills, which were addressed by a variety of teaching methods and practices, while the children were at risk of not being seen or heard.
Payment and Delivery of Case Management for Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Walker Melissa A. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractIn the United States, Medicaid is the primary source of funding for many services on which individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities depend. Case management, one such service, links individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to community‐based speech and language therapy, adaptive technology, medical care, and other support services. Case management can facilitate navigation in a complex system of care. State and federal concerns about the rising cost of Medicaid and case management have led to changes in payment methodologies. This analysis of one state's case management expenditure during 2007 and 2008 found payment changes were associated with a decrease in the average annual cost per person. Comparing these two years, the largest decrease in cost was found among children and youth, those individuals with less severe disabilities, and persons from ethnic/racial minorities. As such changes could delay early intervention, over time, they could have a negative effect on both cost and outcomes. While this is a case study of a single service in a large urban area of one state, the results may apply to other health and human services and to other locales where fee‐for‐service arrangements are used.
Acoustic radiation force impulse elastography of prostate and testes of healthy dogs: preliminary results
Authors: Feliciano M. A. R. , Maronezi M. C. , Simões A. P. R. , Uscategui R. R. , Maciel G. S. , Carvalho C. F. , Canola J. C. , Vicente W. R. R. 
Published: January 2015

OBJECTIVESTo describe the use of acoustic radiation force impulse elastography to evaluate the prostate and testes in healthy dogs and establish reference values for these organs.METHODSThirty dogs were divided into three groups according to their age: juvenile, adult and senior. Echotexture, size, contours and margins of prostate and testes were assessed via ultrasound. The presence of deformities and tissue stiffness (greyscale and homogeneous or heterogeneous) were evaluated by qualitative acoustic radiation force impulse. The shear velocity was evaluated quantitatively.RESULTSThe B mode findings were normal. The qualitative elastography demonstrated that the testes and prostate tissues were hard, homogeneous and not pliable. The shear velocity values were: left testes – juveniles: 1·28 m/s, adults: 1·23 m/s and seniors: 1·23 m/s; right testes – juveniles: 1·28 m/s, adults: 1·28 m/s and seniors: 1·28 m/s; left prostatic lobe – juveniles: 1·74 m/s, adults: 2·03 m/s and seniors: 1·82 m/s; right prostatic lobe – juvenile: 1·62 m/s, adults: 1·87 m/s and seniors: 1·90 m/s with no significant differences between groups.CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCEAcoustic radiation force impulse elastography of the testes and prostate in dogs was easily implemented. This study provides baseline data for these organs.