bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Drought and societal collapse 3200 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean: a review
Authors: Kaniewski David , Guiot Joël , Van Campo Elise 
Published: May 2015

One of the goals of climate scientists is to understand how climate shifts may have changed the course of history and influenced culture at millennial timescales. Repeatedly, environmental degradation has upset the balance between people, their habitat, and the socioeconomic frameworks in which they live. Among these imbalances, drought, firmly rooted in people's minds as a catalyst of harvest failures and famines, remains a permanent threat because it may trigger or amplify social crises, leading to massive exoduses, conflicts, and political turmoil. The spiral of decline in which the flourishing Eastern Mediterranean civilizations were plunged 3200 years ago, and the ensuing chaos, remains a persistent riddle in Near Eastern history. Scholars tend to believe that this socioeconomic collapse was violent and culturally disruptive. Most of the coastal cities between Pylos and Gaza were destroyed, burned, and often left unoccupied, thereafter, putting an end to the elaborate network of international trade that ensured prosperity in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. The rural settlements that emerged have mainly persisted through adapted agropastoral activities and limited long‐distance trade. At the dusk of this event, regional cultures began to be poorly documented, leading historians to allude to a dark age that lasted for 300 years. Among the roots, tectonic instability and earthquakes, demographic imbalance between social groups, internal collapses, and technological innovations are commonly evoked. However, recent studies have mainly hypothesized about an impact of a centuries‐long drought behind the decline. Drought may have hastened the fall of the Old World by sparking famine, invasions, and conflicts, leading to the political, economic, and cultural chaos termed ‘Late Bronze Age collapse’.WIREs Clim Change2015, 6:369–382. doi: 10.1002/wcc.345This article is categorized under:Climate, History, Society, Culture > Major Historical ErasPaleoclimates and Current Trends > Paleoclimate
Intelligent integrated maintenance for wind power generation
Authors: Pattison D. , Segovia Garcia M. , Xie W. , Quail F. , Revie M. , Whitfield R. I. , Irvine I. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractA novel architecture and system for the provision of Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) for offshore wind power generation is presented. The architecture was developed by conducting a bottom‐up analysis of the data required to support RCM within this specific industry, combined with a top‐down analysis of the required maintenance functionality. The architecture and system consists of three integrated modules for intelligent condition monitoring, reliability and maintenance modelling, and maintenance scheduling that provide a scalable solution for performing dynamic, efficient and cost‐effective preventative maintenance management within this extremely demanding renewable energy generation sector. The system demonstrates for the first time the integration of state‐of‐the‐art advanced mathematical techniques: Random Forests, dynamic Bayesian networks and memetic algorithms in the development of an intelligent autonomous solution. The results from the application of the intelligent integrated system illustrated the automated detection of faults within a wind farm consisting of over 100 turbines, the modelling and updating of the turbines' survivability and creation of a hierarchy of maintenance actions, and the optimizing of the maintenance schedule with a view to maximizing the availability and revenue generation of the turbines. © 2015 The Authors. Wind Energy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Hybrid One‐Dimensional 15‐Crown‐5‐ether‐uranyl‐selenate Polymers in [K@(C10H20O5)][(UO2)(SeO4)(HSeO4)(H2O)]: Synthesis and Characterization
Authors: Gurzhiy Vladislav V. , Tyumentseva Olga S. , Krivovichev Sergey V. , Tananaev Ivan G. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe hybrid organic‐inorganic uranyl selenate, [K@(C10H20O5)][(UO2)(SeO4)(HSeO4)(H2O)] (I), was prepared by isothermal evaporation from aqueous solutions. The crystal structure of I [orthorhombic, Pnma, a = 15.386(3), b = 10.771(2), c = 13.239(3) Å, V = 2194.0(7) Å3, Z = 4, R1 = 0.042] is based upon complex 15‐crown‐5‐ether‐uranyl‐selenate polymeric units consisting of uranyl selenate chains decorated by [K@(15‐crown‐5)]+ complexes via strong ionic K+–O bonds. The 1D hybrid units are packed in a parquetted‐like fashion and connected to each other by hydrogen bonds and residual van der Waals interactions.
Engineering Escherichia coli for high-level production of propionate
Authors: Akawi Lamees , Srirangan Kajan , Liu Xuejia , Moo-Young Murray , Perry Chou C 
Published: May 2015

Abstract
Mounting environmental concerns associated with the use of petroleum-based chemical manufacturing practices has generated significant interest in the development of biological alternatives for the production of propionate. However, biological platforms for propionate production have been limited to strict anaerobes, such as Propionibacteria and select Clostridia. In this work, we demonstrated high-level heterologous production of propionate under microaerobic conditions in engineered Escherichia coli. Activation of the native Sleeping beauty mutase (Sbm) operon not only transformed E. coli to be propionogenic (i.e., propionate-producing) but also introduced an intracellular “flux competition” between the traditional C2-fermentative pathway and the novel C3-fermentative pathway. Dissimilation of the major carbon source of glycerol was identified to critically affect such “flux competition” and, therefore, propionate synthesis. As a result, the propionogenic E. coli was further engineered by inactivation or overexpression of various genes involved in the glycerol dissimilation pathways and their individual genetic effects on propionate production were investigated. Generally, knocking out genes involved in glycerol dissimilation (except glpA) can minimize levels of solventogenesis and shift more dissimilated carbon flux toward the C3-fermentative pathway. For optimal propionate production with high C3:C2-fermentative product ratios, glycerol dissimilation should be channeled through the respiratory pathway and, upon suppressed solventogenesis with minimal production of highly reduced alcohols, the alternative NADH-consuming route associated with propionate synthesis can be critical for more flexible redox balancing. With the implementation of various biochemical and genetic strategies, high propionate titers of more than 11 g/L with high yields up to 0.4 g-propionate/g-glycerol (accounting for ~50 % of dissimilated glycerol) were achieved, demonstrating the potential for industrial application. To our knowledge, this represents the most effective engineered microbial system for propionate production with titers and yields comparable to those achieved by anaerobic batch cultivation of various native propionate-producing strains of Propionibacteria.
Knowledge about, attitudes towards, practices regarding Taenia solium cysticercosis among people attending an epilepsy clinic in India
Authors: Sankhyan Pratyaksha , Gupta Sahil , Singh Gagandeep 
Published: May 2015

AbstractBackground Taenia solium cysticercosis is one of the commonest, but potentially eradicable, causes of seizures in India. Eradication and appropriate control should incorporate educational interventions regarding the infestation and this requires an assessment of knowledge about, attitudes towards and practices (KAP) regarding the disorder.Aim We undertook a KAP survey regarding T. solium cysticercosis in a hospital-based population with seizures in order to determine the existing knowledge and attitudes regarding the disorder and practices regarding its prevention and treatment.Methods One hundred and eighty two people attending an epilepsy clinic were administered a validated 16-item KAP questionnaire, the responses of which were assessed against responses obtained from experienced neurologists.Results Of the 182 respondents, 22 (12%) believed that a worm was responsible for their seizures, while 94 (52%) were aware of the link between worms and epilepsy in general. Despite this 150 (82%) were unsure about the name and nature of the worm. In fact 89 (49%) believed that the worm was acquired by eating cabbages rather than by consuming pork and by poor personal hygiene. Only 14 (8%) had ever consumed pork. Of note, 56 (31%) admitted visiting unqualified quacks who sucked out the worm through the nose.Conclusions In conclusion although the population was highly sensitized to the association between worms and epilepsy they did not appreciate its mode of transmission. Moreover the practice of visiting quacks to remove worms was quite prevalent.
Reliability and validity of a Chinese version of the Modified Body Image Scale in patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse
Authors: Zhu Lan , Wang Xiaoqian , Shi Honghui , Xu Tao , Lang Jinghe , Tang Xiang 
Published: May 2015

AbstractObjectiveTo validate a Chinese version of the Modified Body Image Scale (MBIS) among patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse.MethodsAs part of a validation study at a center in Beijing, China, women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse stage II or greater completed the Chinese version of the MBIS, the 12‐item Short‐Form Health Survey (SF‐12), and the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire (PISQ‐12). A sample of 30 women was randomly chosen to return 2 weeks later to complete the questionnaires again. The reliability and validity of the MBIS were assessed.ResultsOverall, 52 patients participated. A Cronbach α of 0.926 demonstrated adequate internal consistency of the Chinese MBIS. Its reproducibility was demonstrated by intraclass correlation coefficient values of 0.554–0.963 (P < 0.01 for all items). Confirmatory factor analysis supported its construct validity. The MBIS and SF‐12 scores were negatively correlated (r = –0.390; P < 0.001), and the MBIS and PISQ‐12 scores were also negatively correlated (r = –0.709; P < 0.001).ConclusionThe Chinese version of the MBIS is a reliable and valid tool to evaluate body image perception among patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse.
Is Helicobacter pylori infection a risk factor for childhood periodic syndromes?
Authors: Erjaee A. , Haghighat M. , Ataollahi M. , Daneshbod Y. 
Published: May 2015

Background and objectives:

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has been assumed to have roles in various extra-digestive diseases. The current study was designed to evaluate the incidence of H. pylori infection in patients with cyclic vomiting syndrome and its possible role in the etiology of this disease.

Design and setting:
In this case-control study, 120 cases with diagnoses of cyclic vomiting or abdominal migraine who were registered at the Gastroenterology Clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences from 2010 to 2013 were enrolled.

Materials and methods:
Primarily information regarding the patients’ diseases were collected with a data gathering sheet, and fresh morning stool samples were collected from the patients and examined for H. pylori stool antigen with the H. pylori Ag EIA test kit. The results were compared with those of healthy children from the control group.

Results:
A total of 120 patients with cyclic vomiting (47.5%) and abdominal migraine (52.5%) with a mean age of 7.1 ± 3.4 (range 2-16 years) and a male-to-female ratio of 1.6 were included. The HPs Ag tests were positive in only 7 (5.8%) patients in our case group, and the HPs Ag tests were positive in 13 (13%) of the children in the control group; this difference was statistically insignificant.

Conclusion:
Our study did not support H. pylori infection as an etiological factor in CV or AM.
A researcher's guide to regression, discretization, and median splits of continuous variables
Authors: Rucker Derek D. , McShane Blakeley B. , Preacher Kristopher J. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractWe comment on Iacobucci, Posavac, Kardes, Schneider, and Popovich (2015) by evaluating the practice of discretizing continuous variables. We show that dichotomizing a continuous variable via the median split procedure or otherwise and analyzing the resulting data via ANOVA involves a large number of costs that can be avoided by preserving the continuous nature of the variable and analyzing the data via linear regression. As a consequence, we recommend that regression remain the normative procedure both when the statistical assumptions explored by Iacobucci et al. hold and more generally in research involving continuous variables. We also discuss the advantages of preserving the continuous nature of the variable for graphical presentation and provide practical suggestions for such presentations.
Maternal iron status in early pregnancy and birth outcomes: insights from the Baby's Vascular health and Iron in Pregnancy study
Authors: Alwan Nisreen A. , Cade Janet E. , McArdle Harry J. , Greenwood Darren C. , Hayes Helen E. , Simpson Nigel A. B. 
Published: May 2015

Fe deficiency anaemia during early pregnancy has been linked with low birth weight and preterm birth. However, this evidence comes mostly from studies measuring Hb levels rather than specific measures of Fe deficiency. The present study aimed to examine the association between maternal Fe status during the first trimester of pregnancy, as assessed by serum ferritin, transferrin receptor and their ratio, with size at birth and preterm birth. In the Baby VIP (Baby's Vascular health and Iron in Pregnancy) study, we recruited 362 infants and their mothers after delivery in Leeds, UK. Biomarkers were measured in maternal serum samples previously obtained in the first trimester of pregnancy. The cohort included sixty-four (18 %) small for gestational age (SGA) babies. Thirty-three babies were born preterm (9 %; between 34 and 37 weeks). First trimester maternal Fe depletion was associated with a higher risk of SGA (adjusted OR 2·2, 95 % CI 1·1, 4·1). This relationship was attenuated when including early pregnancy Hb in the model, suggesting it as a mediator (adjusted OR 1·6, 95 % CI 0·8, 3·2). For every 10 g/l increase in maternal Hb level in the first half of pregnancy the risk of SGA was reduced by 30 % (adjusted 95 % CI 0, 40 %); levels below 110 g/l were associated with a 3-fold increase in the risk of SGA (95 % CI 1·0, 9·0). There was no evidence of association between maternal Fe depletion and preterm birth (adjusted OR 1·5, 95 % 0·6, 3·8). The present study shows that depleted Fe stores in early pregnancy are associated with higher risk of SGA.
Late Permian mafic rocks identified within the Doba basin of southern Chad and their relationship to the boundary of the Saharan Metacraton
Authors: SHELLNUTT J. GREGORY , LEE TUNG-YI , YANG CHIH-CHENG , HU SHIN-TAI , WU JONG-CHANG , WANG KUO-LUNG , LO CHING-HUA 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe Doba gabbro was collected from an exploration well through the Cretaceous Doba basin of southern Chad. The gabbro is composed mostly of plagioclase, clinopyroxene and Fe–Ti oxide minerals and displays cumulus mineral textures. Whole-rock40Ar–39Ar step-heating geochronology yielded a Late Permian plateau age of 257 ± 1 Ma. The major and trace elemental geochemistry shows that the gabbro is tholeiitic in composition and has trace element ratios (i.e. La/YbN> 7; Sm/YbPM> 3.4; Nb/Y > 1; Zr/Y > 5) indicative of a basaltic melt derived from a garnet-bearing mantle source. The moderately enriched Sr–Nd isotopes (i.e. ISr= 0.70495 to 0.70839; ɛNd(T)= −1.0 to −1.3) fall within the mantle array (i.e. OIB-like) and are similar to other Late Permian plutonic rocks of North-Central Africa (i.e. ISr= 0.7040 to 0.7070). The enriched isotopic composition of the Doba gabbro contrasts with the more depleted compositions of the spatially associated Neoproterozoic post-Pan-African within-plate granites. The contrasting Nd isotope composition between the older within-plate granites and the younger Doba gabbro indicates that different mantle sources produced the rocks and thus may mark the southern boundary of the Saharan Metacraton.
Revisiting Reputation: How Past Actions Matter in International Politics
Authors: Weisiger Alex , Yarhi-Milo Keren 
Published: May 2015

AbstractPolicy-makers and political scientists have long believed that states must make policy with an eye to maintaining a good reputation, especially a good reputation for resolve. Recent work, however, has argued that reputations for resolve do not form, and hence that past actions do not influence observers' behavior in subsequent interactions. This conclusion is theoretically problematic and unsupported by the evidence offered by reputation critics. In particular, juxtaposing reputation for resolve to power and interests is misleading when past actions influence observers' beliefs about interests, while the common approach of looking at crisis decision making misses the impact of reputation on general deterrence. We thus derive hypotheses about conflict onset from both the arguments of reputation critics and the logic of more standard reputation arguments, which we put to statistical test. We find that past action is closely connected to subsequent dispute initiation and that the effects of reputation generalize beyond the immediate circumstances of the past dispute. Although reputation is not all-important, leaders are well advised to consider the reputational implications of policy decisions in international conflict.
Is the Phone Mightier Than the Sword? Cellphones and Insurgent Violence in Iraq
Authors: Shapiro Jacob N. , Weidmann Nils B. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractDoes improved communication provided by modern cellphone technology affect the rise or fall of violence during insurgencies? A priori predictions are ambiguous; introducing cellphones can enhance insurgent communications but can also make it easier for the population to share information with counterinsurgents and creates opportunities for signals intelligence collection. We provide the first systematic micro-level test of the effect of cellphone communication on conflict using data on Iraq's cellphone network (2004–2009) and event data on violence. We show that increased mobile communications reduced insurgent violence in Iraq, both at the district level and for specific local coverage areas. The results provide support for models of insurgency that focus on noncombatants providing information as the key constraint on violent groups and highlight the fact that small changes in the transaction costs of cooperating with the government can have large macro effects on conflict.
Critical periods for the neurodevelopmental processes of externalizing and internalizing
Authors: Tucker Don M. , Poulsen Catherine , Luu Phan 
Published: May 2015

AbstractResearch on neurobiological development is providing insight into the nature and mechanisms of human neural plasticity. These mechanisms appear to support two different forms of developmental learning. One form of learning could be described as externalizing, in which neural representations are highly responsive to environmental influences, as the child typically operates under a mode of hedonic approach. A second form of learning supports internalizing, in which motive control separates attention and self-regulation from the immediate influences of the context, particularly when the child faces conditions of avoidance and threat. The dorsal cortical networks of externalizing are organized around dorsal limbic (cingulate, septal, lateral hypothalamic, hippocampal, and ventral striatal) circuits. In contrast, the ventral cortical networks of internalizing are organized around ventral limbic (anterior temporal and orbital cortex, extended amygdala, dorsal striatal, and mediodorsal thalamic) circuits. These dual divisions of the limbic system in turn self-regulate their arousal levels through different brain stem and forebrain neuromodulator projection systems, with dorsal corticolimbic networks regulated strongly by locus coeruleus norepinephrine and brain stem raphe nucleus serotonin projection systems, and ventral corticolimbic networks regulated by ventral tegmental dopamine and forebrain acetylcholine projections. Because the arousal control systems appear to regulate specific properties of neural plasticity in development, an analysis of these systems explains differences between externalizing and internalizing at multiple levels of neural and psychological self-regulation. In neuroscience, the concept of critical periods has been applied to times when experience is essential for the maturation of sensory systems. In a more general neuropsychological analysis, certain periods of the child's development require successful self-regulation through the differential capacities for externalizing and internalizing.
Using cross-species comparisons and a neurobiological framework to understand early social deprivation effects on behavioral development
Authors: Brett Zoë H. , Humphreys Kathryn L. , Fleming Alison S. , Kraemer Gary W. , Drury Stacy S. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractBuilding upon the transactional model of brain development, we explore the impact of early maternal deprivation on neural development and plasticity in three neural systems: hyperactivity/impulsivity, executive function, and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis functioning across rodent, nonhuman primate, and human studies. Recognizing the complexity of early maternal–infant interactions, we limit our cross-species comparisons to data from rodent models of artificial rearing, nonhuman primate studies of peer rearing, and the relations between these two experimental approaches and human studies of children exposed to the early severe psychosocial deprivation associated with institutional care. In addition to discussing the strengths and limitations of these paradigms, we present the current state of research on the neurobiological impact of early maternal deprivation and the evidence of sensitive periods, noting methodological challenges. Integrating data across preclinical animal models and human studies, we speculate about the underlying biological mechanisms; the differential impact of deprivation due to temporal factors including onset, offset, and duration of the exposure; and the possibility and consequences of reopening of sensitive periods during adolescence.
Early life nutrition and neural plasticity
Authors: Georgieff Michael K. , Brunette Katya E. , Tran Phu V. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe human brain undergoes a remarkable transformation during fetal life and the first postnatal years from a relatively undifferentiated but pluripotent organ to a highly specified and organized one. The outcome of this developmental maturation is highly dependent on a sequence of environmental exposures that can have either positive or negative influences on the ultimate plasticity of the adult brain. Many environmental exposures are beyond the control of the individual, but nutrition is not. An ever-increasing amount of research demonstrates not only that nutrition shapes the brain and affects its function during development but also that several nutrients early in life have profound and long-lasting effects on the brain. Nutrients have been shown to alter opening and closing of critical and sensitive periods of particular brain regions. This paper discusses the roles that various nutrients play in shaping the developing brain, concentrating specifically on recently explicated biological mechanisms by which particularly salient nutrients influence childhood and adult neural plasticity.