bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multicentre evaluation of the Check-Direct CPE® assay for direct screening of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae from rectal swabs
Authors: Huang Te-Din , Bogaerts Pierre , Ghilani Enes , Heinrichs Amélie , Gavage Pierre , Roisin Sandrine , Willems Elise , Verbruggen Anne-Marie , Francart Hugo , Denis Olivier , Senterre Jean-Marc , Glupczynski Youri 
Published: January 2015

Abstract

Objectives
The objective of this study was to evaluate in a multicentre survey the analytical performance of the Check-Direct CPE® assay (CDCPE), a multiplex PCR assay for the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), directly from rectal swabs.

Methods
Adult patients admitted to a high-risk unit in four participating centres were prospectively screened for CPE carriage by rectal swabbing. Samples were cultured on chromogenic CPE-selective media in the local laboratories. All growing Enterobacteriaceae strains were transferred for confirmation of carbapenemase production by multiplex PCR, together with the faecal swabs for CDCPE, to the coordinating laboratory.

Results
Overall, 38 of the 394 samples analysed (9.6%; range 3%–20% per centre) yielded a positive signal for a carbapenemase gene with CDCPE, including 17 samples (4.3%; range 0%–15% per centre) that grew a total of 25 CPE-confirmed isolates (all OXA-48-like producers, including one isolate that simultaneously harboured a VIM-type carbapenemase). No CPE culture-positive samples were missed by CDCPE. Among the 21 samples that were CPE-positive with CDCPE but negative on culture, five were collected from previously known CPE carriers and 6/9 OXA-48-positive signals were detected at one participating centre that was undergoing a hospital-wide outbreak of OXA-48 CPE. When compared with the selective culture, the sensitivity and specificity of CDCPE were 100% and 94%, respectively.

Conclusions
This study showed the value of CDCPE as a tool for screening CPE carriage in an epidemiological setting with a high prevalence of OXA-48 CPE. However, the potential added value for infection control management remains to be demonstrated.
1D accretion discs around eccentric planets: observable near-infrared variability
Authors: Dunhill A. C. 
Published: January 2015

Abstract
I present the results of 1D models of circumplanetary discs around planets on eccentric orbits. I use a classical viscous heating model to calculate emission fluxes at the wavelengths targeted by the NIRCam instrument on JWST, and compare the variability of this signal with the published NIRCam sensitivity specifications. This variability is theoretically detectable by JWST for a sufficiently viscous disc (α ∼ 10−2) around a sufficiently eccentric planet (e ∼ 0.1–0.2) and if the circumplanetary disc accretes material from its parent disc at a rate $\skew4\dot{M} \gtrsim 10^{-7}\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ yr−1. I discuss the limitations of the models used, and the implications of the result for probing the effectiveness of disc interactions for growing a planet's orbital eccentricity.
Education and Human Capital Externalities: Evidence from Colonial Benin
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Authors: Wantchekon Leonard , Klašnja Marko , Novta Natalija 
Published: January 2015

Abstract
Using a unique data set on students from the first regional schools in colonial Benin, we investigate the effect of education on living standards, occupation, and political participation. Since both school locations and student cohorts were selected with very little information, treatment and control groups are balanced on observables. We can therefore estimate the effect of education by comparing the treated to the untreated living in the same village, as well as those living in villages where no schools were set up. We find a significant positive treatment effect of education for the first generation of students, as well as their descendants: they have higher living standards, are less likely to be farmers, and are more likely to be politically active. We find large village-level externalities—descendants of the uneducated in villages with schools do better than those in control villages. We also find extended family externalities—nephews and nieces directly benefit from their uncle’s education—and show that this represents a “family tax,” as educated uncles transfer resources to the extended family.
A New Approach to Assess Early Progressive Loss Across Multiple Visual Channels In the Natural History of Glaucoma
Authors: Mateus Catarina , Raimundo Miguel , Oliveiros Bárbara , Faria Pedro , Reis Aldina , Castelo-Branco Miguel 
Published: January 2015

Purpose:
We aimed to evaluate the ability of new psychophysical discrimination tests, based on readily available hardware, to probe motion, achromatic, and chromatic contrast sensitivity, across the natural history of glaucoma. We assessed the sensitivity of these tests to detect functional damage at ocular hypertension stage, using receiver operating characteristic analysis. We also explored whether eccentricity-related patterns of damage change with disease progression.

Patients and Methods:
We studied a cohort of 43 participants, who were divided between different groups: ocular hypertension (n=16 eyes), glaucoma suspects (n=15), and primary open-angle glaucoma (n=12). These patients were compared with an age-matched control group (n=15 eyes). We tested distinct subsets of retinal ganglion cell populations using 3 novel 2-alternative forced choice psychophysical discrimination tests (independent variables: motion, achromatic, and chromatic L, M, and S-cone contrasts) between 2 separated peripheral, small moving single dots at 4 distinct meridians. Notably these tests were implemented in relatively standard hardware.

Results:
All tests showed significant correlation with disease progression (mean ρ±SD=0.708±0.075; P<0.0001) and had sufficient power to discriminate glaucoma subgroups. Most tests using this design had large sensitivity (above 90% for 80% specificity) to detect functional damage at the ocular hypertensive stage. Disease-related eccentricity patterns of damage were also found, matching the expected pattern of progression.

Conclusions:
Our new psychophysical discrimination tests are capable of probing disease progression and to detect functional damage at ocular hypertension stage. It is therefore possible to customize psychophysical test software to detect early changes and monitor disease progression, including progressive loss of functional reserve, using relatively simple hardware.
Chlorpyrifos Exposure During Perinatal Period Affects Intestinal Microbiota Associated With Delay of Maturation of Digestive Tract in Rats
Authors: Joly Condette Claire , Bach Véronique , Mayeur Camille , Gay‐Quéheillard Jérôme , Khorsi‐Cauet Hafida 
Published: January 2015

ABSTRACTObjectives:Pesticide exposure via residues in food may be especially harmful when it takes place in the developing child. The present study was designed to assess the impact of perinatal exposure to chlorpyrifos (CPF, an insecticide known to cross the placental barrier).Methods:Female rats were exposed to oral CPF (1 or 5 mg kg−1 day−1 vs vehicle controls) from gestation onset up to weaning of the pups that were individually gavaged (CPF or vehicle) thereafter. Two developmental time points were studied: weaning (day 21) and adulthood (day 60). After sacrifice, samples from the intestinal tract and other organs underwent microbiological and histological analyses.Results:Rat pups exposed to 5 mg kg−1 day−1 CPF were both significantly smaller (body length) and lighter than controls. Exposure to CPF was associated with changes in the histological structures (shorter and thinner intestinal villosities), an intestinal microbial dysbiosis, and increased bacterial translocation in the spleen and liver. These significant microbial changes in the gut were associated with impaired epithelium protection (mucin‐2) and microbial pattern recognition receptor (Toll‐like 2 and 4) gene expression.Conclusions:Exposure to CPF during gestation and development affected the pups' intestinal development, with morphological alteration of the structures involved in nutrient absorption, intestinal microbial dysbiosis, alteration of mucosal barrier (mucin‐2), stimulation of the innate immune system, and increased bacterial translocation. Perinatal exposure to CPF may therefore have short‐ and long‐term impacts on the digestive tract.
Lactose‐Free Milk or Soy‐Based Formulas Do Not Improve Caregivers' Distress or Perceptions of Difficult Infant Behavior
Authors: Sherman Amanda L. , Anderson Julia , Rudolph Colin D. , Walker Lynn S. 
Published: January 2015

ABSTRACTObjectives:The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that caregiver‐reported difficulties in infant behavior and caregivers' distress will significantly improve on lactose‐free (LF) milk‐based or LF soy–based formulas compared with a milk‐based, lactose‐containing formula.Methods:In this double‐blind randomized controlled trial, infants (mean age: 4.97 weeks) with caregiver‐reported feeding problems on a milk‐based lactose‐containing formula were randomized to receive either LF milk–based (n = 96), LF soy–based (n = 97), or milk‐based, lactose‐containing (n = 103) formula. Study formula was infants' sole item of diet for 14 days. Infants' caregivers completed measures of infant behavior and caregivers' distress for the week preceding baseline and again for the week preceding the 14‐day follow‐up.Results:Infants who received LF milk or LF soy–based formulas did not significantly differ from those who received milk‐based, lactose‐containing formula on follow‐up caregiver‐reported measures of infant difficultness from the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire, F(2, 277) = 0.83, nor on measures of caregivers' distress, assessed with measures of caregivers' mental health and parenting efficacy, F(2, 285) = 0.73–1.07. Across the 3 formula groups, scores on outcome measures significantly improved from baseline to follow‐up (P < 0.001).Conclusions:Our study does not support LF milk or LF soy–based formulas to alleviate common infant behaviors such as fussiness, crying, or need for attention. Moreover, the data suggest that some difficulties in infant behaviors, as well as caregivers' distress and perceived efficacy in parenting difficult infants, may improve within a couple weeks of reporting difficulties to the pediatrician.
The Evolution of Mechanisms Driving the Stomatal Response to Vapor Pressure Deficit
Authors: McAdam Scott A.M. , Brodribb Timothy J. 
Published: January 2015

Abstract
Stomatal responses to vapor pressure deficit (VPD) are a principal means by which vascular land plants regulate daytime transpiration. While much work has focused on characterizing and modeling this response, there remains no consensus as to the mechanism that drives it. Explanations range from passive regulation by leaf hydration to biochemical regulation by the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). We monitored ABA levels, leaf gas exchange, and water status in a diversity of vascular land plants exposed to a symmetrical, mild transition in VPD. The stomata in basal lineages of vascular plants, including gymnosperms, appeared to respond passively to changes in leaf water status induced by VPD perturbation, with minimal changes in foliar ABA levels and no hysteresis in stomatal action. In contrast, foliar ABA appeared to drive the stomatal response to VPD in our angiosperm samples. Increased foliar ABA level at high VPD in angiosperm species resulted in hysteresis in the recovery of stomatal conductance; this was most pronounced in herbaceous species. Increased levels of ABA in the leaf epidermis were found to originate from sites of synthesis in other parts of the leaf rather than from the guard cells themselves. The transition from a passive regulation to ABA regulation of the stomatal response to VPD in the earliest angiosperms is likely to have had critical implications for the ecological success of this lineage.
Webometrics as a method for identifying the most accredited free electronic journals
Authors: Isfandyari-Moghaddam Alireza , Danesh Farshid , Hadji-Azizi Nadia 
Published: January 2015

Purpose– The present study aims at determining the most accredited free English electronic journals (EJs) in Medical Sciences, as finding free scholarly EJs including medical ones is difficult in the web environment.Design/methodology/approach– The research population consisted of 700 free EJs of Medical Sciences, which were collected from two reputable websites, namely, Directory of Open Access Journals and Free Medical Journals. After first screening, 269 free EJs including 76 journals in health, 4 journals in nursing, 175 journals in medicine and 14 free EJs in dentistry remained for final investigation […].Findings– The most accredited journals in four medical disciplines studied here are health:New South Wales Public Health Bulletin,PLoS BiologyandEnvironmental Health Perspectives – National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; nursing:Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health CareandOnline Journal of Nursing Informatics[…].Originality/value– This research can be treated as an addition to the webometrics literature.
Safeguarding vulnerable adults: learning from the reflective assignments of pre-registration students in the adult field of nursing practice
Authors: Stevens Emma L. , Cook Katie 
Published: January 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper was to identify safeguarding concerns for vulnerable adults, including exploring the implementation of safeguarding policy and procedures into practice. This was achieved by reviewing the content of reflective assignments written by pre-registration student nurses, identifying areas of concerns and proposing action plans.

Design/methodology/approach
– A qualitative approach was initially utilised to scrutinise a random 10 per cent sample of work, which was thematically analysed. From this, an audit tool was devised and then applied to evaluate a 35 per cent sample of work from the following cohort of students. Approval and consent was gained.

Findings
– From the initial 10 per cent sample, themes emerged around: practice issues; areas for student's development and marking or assessment issues. The standardised audit tool was devised and applied to a 35 per cent random sample of work. This determined that students identified local safeguarding policies and procedures were being followed in the majority of placement areas, although application of the Mental Capacity Act remained inconsistent.

Research limitations/implications
– The assessor feedback from the reflective assignments was not available to the reviewers, limiting the reviewers ability to identify if assessors had recognised and corrected any policy or practice issues that the student raised. Only assignments from the adult field of nursing were considered within the scope of this study. The authors recommend further empirical investigation into this area.

Practical implications
– This paper offers knowledge that can be applied in practice within both academic and health care provider services that deliver and facilitate nursing education. It has generated an audit tool that can be utilised to evaluate the knowledge of pre-registration students and has resulted in the implementation of safeguarding adults policies within an academic institution.

Originality/value
– Safeguarding adults concerns may be identified through studying pre-registration student assignments and promptly acting upon any concerns raised. Aspects of good practice can be acknowledged within health care provider services.
Characteristics of referrals and admissions to a medium secure ASD unit
Authors: O' Donoghue Therese , Shine John , Orimalade Olufunto 
Published: January 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary data on a cohort of patients referred to a specialist forensic medium-secure autism spectrum disorder (ASD) service during its first two years of opening and to identify variables associated with admission to the service.

Design/methodology/approach
– Data on all referrals to the service (n=40) was obtained from clinical files on demographics, offending history, psychiatric history and levels of therapeutic engagement. The sample was divided into two groups: referred and admitted (n=23) and referred and not admitted (n=17). Statistical analysis compared the two groups on all variables.

Findings
– Totally, 94 per cent of all individuals assessed had a diagnosis of autism, however, structured diagnostic tools for ASD were used in a small minority of cases. About half the sample had a learning disability, almost four-fifths had at least one additional mental disorder and almost three-quarters had a history of prior supervision failure or non-compliance with treatment. The sample had a wide range of previous offences. No significant differences were found between the groups on any of the variables included in the study.

Research limitations/implications
– The present study presents a starting point to follow up in terms of response to treatment and characteristics associated with treatment outcome.

Practical implications
– The sample had a wide range of clinical and risk-related needs. Both groups shared many similarities.

Originality/value
– This highlights the need for comprehensive assessment looking at risk-related needs so that individuals are referred to an optimal treatment pathway.
The small business dilemma
Authors: Taylor Eunice , Al Yousuf Mariam , Nassar Eyad Saleh , Saleh Mohamed , Philip Jiji 
Published: January 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to explore the particular dilemma of achieving international best practice and regulatory compliance for food safety in small local restaurants with limited resources, low levels of literacy and no common language. It is the fourth article in a Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes theme issue presenting a comprehensive government strategy for improving food safety management standards across the hospitality industry.

Design/methodology/approach
– The article outlines extensive industry fieldwork involving on-site observations and interviews, undertaken by researchers from the relevant cultural backgrounds to identify common practices and specific risks, and facilitate targeted interventions.

Findings
– As expected, the independent restaurant sub-sector in Abu Dhabi is similar to international norms, with the additional challenge of language and literacy. In-depth on-site observations reveal a range of high-risk situations and practices, which require specific solutions from government to raise food safety levels.

Practical implications
– This article clarifies the scale and nature of the independent restaurant sub-sector of hospitality businesses, and uses in-depth, culturally appropriate research to identify the reality of food safety practices, major risks and areas for improvement. It identifies a list of 18 practices found in small hospitality businesses, which if controlled would make a significant difference to food safety.

Originality/value
– The article will be of value to practitioners, researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the food industry.
Fitness consequences of indirect plant defence in the annual weed, Sinapis arvensis
Authors: Gols Rieta , Wagenaar Roel , Poelman Erik H. , Kruidhof H. Marjolein , van Loon Joop J.A. , Harvey Jeffrey A. 
Published: January 2015

Summary

Plant traits that enhance the attraction of the natural enemies of their herbivores have been postulated to function as an ‘indirect defence’. An important underlying assumption is that this enhanced attraction results in increased plant fitness due to reduced herbivory. This assumption has been rarely tested.

We investigated whether there are fitness consequences for the charlock mustard Sinapis arvensis, a short‐lived outcrossing annual weedy plant, when exposed to groups of large cabbage white (Pieris brassicae) caterpillars parasitized by either one of two wasp species, Hyposoter ebeninus and Cotesia glomerata, that allow the host to grow during parasitism. Hyposoter ebeninus is solitary and greatly reduces host growth compared with healthy caterpillars, whereas C. glomerata is gregarious and allows the host to grow approximately as large as unparasitized caterpillars. Both healthy and parasitized P. brassicae caterpillars initially feed on the foliage, but later stages preferentially consume the flowers.

In a garden experiment, plants damaged by parasitized caterpillars produced more seeds than conspecific plants damaged by unparasitized caterpillars. Reproductive potential (germination success multiplied by total seed number) was similar for plants that were not exposed to herbivory and those that were damaged by parasitized caterpillars and lower for plants that were damaged by healthy unparasitized caterpillars. However, these quantitative seed traits negatively correlated with the qualitative seed traits, individual seed size and germination success, suggesting a trade‐off between these two types of traits.

We show that parasitism of insect herbivores that feed on reproductive plant tissues may have positive fitness consequences for S. arvensis. The extent to which plant fitness may benefit depends on parasitoid lifestyle (solitary or gregarious), which is correlated with the amount of damage inflicted on these tissues by the parasitized host.
Ecological opportunity leads to the emergence of an alternative behavioural phenotype in a tropical bird
Authors: Touchton Janeene M. , Wikelski Martin 
Published: January 2015

SummaryLoss of a dominant competitor can open ecological opportunities. Ecological opportunities are considered prerequisites for adaptive radiations. Nonetheless, initiation of diversification in response to ecological opportunity is seldom observed, so we know little about the stages by which behavioural variation either increases or coalesces into distinct phenotypes.Here, a natural experiment showed that in a tropical island's guild of army ant‐following birds, a new behavioural phenotype emerged in subordinate spotted antbirds (Hylophylax naevioides) after the socially dominant ocellated antbird (Phaenostictus mcleannani) died out.Individuals with this behavioural phenotype are less territorial; instead, they roam in search of ant swarms where they feed in locations from which dominant competitors formerly excluded them. Roaming individuals fledge more young than territorial individuals.We conclude that ecological opportunity arising from species loss may enhance the success of alternative behavioural phenotypes and can favour further intraspecific diversification in life‐history traits in surviving species.