bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Congenital hypothyroidism in Northern Ireland: 40 years' experience of national screening programme
Authors: Darrat Milad , Kayes Lucy , Woodside Jayne V. , Mullan Karen , Abid Noina 
Published: June 2023

AbstractObjectiveThe incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CHT) has progressively increased in several regions around the world but has yet to be evaluated in Northern Ireland (NI). CHT screening programme was introduced in NI in 1980 and has had a relatively unchanged protocol since its inception. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the incidence of CHT in NI from 1981 to 2020 and to explore possible contributing factors to any changes seen over the 40‐year period.DesignThis was a retrospective database review of children diagnosed with CHT in NI between 1981 and 2020. Data was collected from the patients' medical (paper and electronic) records, including epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological features as well as outcomes at 3 years.ResultsOf 800,404 new‐borns who were screened for CHT in NI between January 1981 and March 2020, 471 were diagnosed with CHT. There was a steady and significant increase in incidence of CHT over time with an incidence of 26 cases per 100,000 livebirths in 1981 versus 71 cases per 100,000 in 2019 (p < .001). Of these 471, 77 new‐borns (16%) were born preterm. The incidence of CHT was observed twice as much in female compared to male new‐borns. Diagnostic imaging including radioisotope uptake and thyroid ultrasound scans were performed in 143 cases (30%). Of these, 101 (70%) cases had thyroid dysgenesis and 42 (30%) cases had thyroid dyshormonogenesis. There were 293 (62%) of 471 patients had confirmed permanent CHT, and 90 patients (19%) had transient CHT. Over that period at least 95% of the population were recorded as having United Kingdom/Ireland as country of birth.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate a nearly tripling of the CHT incidence observed over the last 40 years. This is against a background of a relatively stable population demographics. Future research should focus on the underlying cause(s) of this condition which may include changing environmental exposures in utero.
Does economic growth benefit the poor? The role of institutions and religions
Authors: Sekkat Khalid 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis paper seeks to explain the difference across countries of the impact of national growth on the growth of the income of the poor. Traditionally, studies attempting to explain such differences investigate only the impact of some additional variables on the income level of the poor. Here, we introduce interaction terms to explain the change in the elasticity of income of the poor to national income. We focus on the role of formal and informal institutions and religions; variables which have rarely been considered in this context. The results show that only formal institutions (i.e.,Resistance to corruption) and, to some extent, informal institutions (i.e.,Trust all) explain the differences. Religion has no impact. The findings also show that improvements in theResistance to corruptionbenefits the extremely poor more than the poor.
Differences in Ia proprioceptive input to spinal motoneurons between male and female rats
Authors: Krutki Piotr , Drzymała‐Celichowska Hanna , Bączyk Marcin , Piotr Magdalena , Celichowski Jan 
Published: June 2023

AbstractMale and female rats differ in muscle fibre composition, related motor unit contractile properties, and muscle spindle density but not number. On the other hand, their motoneurons' intrinsic properties, excitability and firing properties are similar. The aim of this study was to investigate whether apparent sex differences in body mass and muscle force influence the proprioceptive input from muscle spindles to motoneurons. Medial gastrocnemius motoneurons were investigated intracellularly in deeply anaesthetised male and female rats. Monosynaptic Ia excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) were evoked using electrical stimulation of primary afferents from homonymous muscle. Data were analysed using a mixed linear model. The central latencies of EPSPs were 0.38–0.80 ms, with no differences in means between males and females. The maximum EPSP amplitude varied between 2.03 and 8.09 mV in males and 1.24 and 6.79 mV in females. The mean maximum EPSP amplitude was 26% higher in males than in females. The mean EPSP rise time, half‐decay time and total duration did not differ between the sexes. EPSP amplitudes correlated with the resting membrane potential, input resistance and EPSP rise time in both sexes. The observed sex differences in the Ia proprioceptive input may be related either to mechanical loading differences in males and females associated with their different body mass or hormonal differences influencing the levels of neuromodulation in spinal circuits. The results highlight the importance of taking sex into consideration in the studies on the influence of afferent inputs on MN excitability.
Negative effects of urbanisation on diurnal and nocturnal pollen‐transport networks
Authors: Ellis Emilie E. , Edmondson Jill L. , Maher Kathryn H. , Hipperson Helen , Campbell Stuart A. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractPollinating insects are declining due to habitat loss and climate change, and cities with limited habitat and floral resources may be particularly vulnerable. The effects of urban landscapes on pollination networks remain poorly understood, and comparative studies of taxa with divergent niches are lacking. Here, for the first time, we simultaneously compare nocturnal moth and diurnal bee pollen‐transport networks using DNA metabarcoding and ask how pollination networks are affected by increasing urbanisation. Bees and moths exhibited substantial divergence in the communities of plants they interact with. Increasing urbanisation had comparable negative effects on pollen‐transport networks of both taxa, with significant declines in pollen species richness. We show that moths are an important, but overlooked, component of urban pollen‐transport networks for wild flowering plants, horticultural crops, and trees. Our findings highlight the need to include both bee and non‐bee taxa when assessing the status of critical plant‐insect interactions in urbanised landscapes.
Relationship between parental involvement and emotional well‐being in Chinese left‐behind children: A moderated mediation model
Authors: Chen Shi‐Min , Gao Liang , Lin Shi‐Hui , Zhang Ying 
Published: June 2023

AbstractObjectiveThe goal was to examine (a) how parental involvement affects mental health in left‐behind children (LBC), and (b) how the interaction effect of parental involvement and grandparent involvement affects mental health in LBC.BackgroundGiven the rapid industrialization and urbanization in China, a substantial number of rural laborers have migrated to cities to earn a living. However, it is difficult for many children to stay with their parents and they have to be left behind.MethodsThe sample consisted of 309 left‐behind children who had grandparents to care for them. The participants completed the Inventory of Father Involvement, Inventory of Mother Involvement, Inventory of Closest Grandparent Involvement, Needs Satisfaction Questionnaire, and Emotional Experience of Well‐being Questionnaire.ResultsNeeds satisfaction mediated the effect of father involvement on emotional well‐being (EWB) and the effect of mother involvement on EWB in LBC. The closest grandparent involvement of LBC moderated the effect of mother involvement on needs satisfaction, but it did not moderate the effect of father involvement on needs satisfaction. The closest grandparent involvement of LBC moderated the indirect effect of mother involvement on EWB through needs satisfaction.ConclusionsNeeds satisfaction is an essential mediator between parental involvement and EWB. Grandparental involvement of LBC plays a complementary role in mother involvement. Their interaction effect facilitates the fulfilment of needs, and improves their EWB in LBC.ImplicationsThe mental health of LBC can be improved by helping their mothers and grandparents to meet various needs of LBC.
Outsourcing domestic work: A double‐edged sword for marital relations among dual‐earner couples
Authors: Cheung Adam Ka‐Lok , Lui Lake 
Published: June 2023

AbstractObjectiveThis study examines the relationship between domestic outsourcing, housework evaluations, and marital conflict, while also comparing the effects of parents' informal help and paid domestic workers' formal help on marital relations.BackgroundWhereas the role‐strain perspective asserts that shifting the housework burden to a third party can reduce marital conflict arising from housework division, the conflict perspective contends otherwise, especially when an additional family member is involved.MethodsWe analyzed household survey data with a representative sample of full‐time dual‐earning married couples in Hong Kong (N = 1,197). We used bivariate analysis and linear regression models to evaluate the relationship between domestic outsourcing, housework evaluations, and marital conflict.ResultsResults showed that getting help had significant indirect effects on marital conflict through housework evaluations. However, the two types of help were also positively associated with marital conflicts. The two types of help had simultaneously positive direct effects and negative indirect effects on marital conflicts, canceling out the effect of each other.ImplicationsOur study illuminates the positive effect of outsourcing through housework evaluation. However, the benefit of domestic outsourcing cannot be realized if the conflicts induced by domestic outsourcing are not resolved.
Creep mechanical characteristics and nonlinear viscoelastic‐plastic creep model of sandstone after high temperature heat treatment
Authors: Pan Xiaokang , Berto Filippo , Zhou Xiaoping 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis work studies the creep mechanical characteristics and nonlinear viscoelastic‐plastic creep model of sandstone treated at different temperatures. The peak strain, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), and Young's modulus of sandstone treated at different temperatures are discussed as well as creep strain and long‐term strength. The conventional uniaxial compression curves and uniaxial creep curves of sandstone treated at different temperatures are compared. Moreover, a nonlinear generalized Kelvin model is developed to simulate the decay creep deformation; a time‐triggered nonlinear viscoplastic model is proposed to simulate the accelerated creep deformation. By combining the time‐triggered nonlinear viscoplastic model with the nonlinear generalized Kelvin model, plastic element, and viscous element, a nonlinear viscoelastic‐plastic creep model that can well reflect the entire creep process of sandstone treated at different temperatures is established. According to the results of model validation and parameter inversion, the new nonlinear creep model can be employed to predict the creep instability of rocks under high temperature environment.
Impact of liver fibrosis on the relative abundance of a urease‐positive Streptococcus salivarius group from saliva in patients with chronic liver disease
Authors: Také Akira , Uojima Haruki , Sakaguchi Yoshihiko , Gotoh Kazuyoshi , Satoh Takashi , Hidaka Hisashi , Horio Kazue , Mizokami Masashi , Hayashi Shunji , Kusano Chika 
Published: June 2023

AbstractAimWe performed genomic analysis to study the relative abundance of a urease‐positive Streptococcus salivarius group isolated from the saliva of patients with chronic liver disease.MethodsMale and female patients with chronic liver disease aged over 20 years were included. First, we assessed the frequency and type of the S. salivarius group isolated from oral saliva using molecular biology techniques based on 16S rRNA and dephospho‐coenzyme A kinase gene sequencing. Next, we assessed the correlation between the urease positivity rate in the S. salivarius group isolated from oral saliva and liver fibrosis based on chronic liver disease. Urease‐positive strains were identified by the urease test using urea broth (Difco, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA). Liver fibrosis was evaluated by the liver stiffness measurement value based on magnetic resonance elastography.ResultsA total of 45 patients identified using the multiplex polymerase chain reaction for the 16S rRNA gene were tested using the multiplex polymerase chain reaction for the dephospho‐coenzyme A kinase gene. Confirming the strains detected in each of the 45 patients, urease‐positive S. salivarius was detected in 28 patients (62%), urease‐negative S. salivarius in 25 patients (56%), and urease‐positive Streptococcus vestibularis in 12 patients (27%). There was no patient with urease‐negative S. vestibularis. The urease‐positive rate of the S. salivarius group in the cirrhosis and non‐cirrhosis groups were 82.2% and 39.2%, respectively. The liver cirrhosis group had a higher urease positivity rate than the non‐cirrhotic group (p < 0.001).ConclusionsLiver fibrosis influences the frequency of a urease‐positive S. salivarius group isolated from oral saliva.
CREDIT CONSTRAINTS, ENDOGENOUS INNOVATIONS, AND PRICE SETTING IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Authors: Eckel Carsten , Unger Florian 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis article analyzes the role of credit frictions in a trade model where producers differ in their capabilities to conduct process and quality innovations and require external finance for investments. Accounting for cost‐based and quality‐based sorting of firms in a unified framework allows us to demonstrate that the reactions of prices and commonly used productivity measures do not necessarily reflect welfare implications. Credit frictions lead to distortions through aggravated access to finance and endogenous price adjustments so that the responses of quantity‐based and revenue‐based productivity differ substantially. In counterfactual scenarios, we show that these differential effects are quantitatively important.
Challenging transitions? Assessing the occupational mobility patterns of US immigrants by gender
Authors: Lee Annie S. , Rodgers William M. , Breau Sebastien 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis article uses the New Immigrant Survey to assess the occupational mobility of US immigrants. Estimates from OLS and Heckman selection models show the occupational mobility of immigrants follows a U‐shaped pattern: immigrants arriving in the United States see their occupational status decline before it gradually improves. However, even 9 years after coming to the United States, the occupational status of immigrants remains lower than prior to their arrival in the country. Our findings also suggest that immigrant women with higher occupational status tend to move more often to the United States than immigrant men. Conversely, immigrant women are more likely than men to experience career interruptions after migration. Finally, occupational employment growth rates (defined as the growth rate in the number of jobs for an occupation) have a positive impact on both men and women immigrants' ability to recover their occupational status, though the impact appears to be greater for immigrant women.
Reproductive characteristics and gamete development of the soft coral Sclerophytum cf. heterospiculatum in Okinawa Island, Japan
Authors: Jamodiong Emmeline A. , Reimer James Davis 
Published: June 2023

AbstractSexual reproduction data are important to understand how organisms can replenish their populations and proliferate on coral reefs. Despite the importance of such data, the reproductive characteristics of most soft coral species are still unknown. Here, we examined the reproductive strategies of a species from the often‐dominant genus Sclerophytum in a coral reef on subtropical Okinawa Island, Japan. DNA barcoding and histological examinations of the tissues were conducted to confirm colony conspecificity and identify reproductive characteristics, respectively, between March 2020 and March 2021. Results indicated that the studied species, identified as Sclerophytum cf. heterospiculatum, exhibits gonochorism with longer oogenesis and shorter spermatogenesis. Female colonies produced immature oocytes throughout the year, with mature oocytes observed from late July to early September, and thus, extended spawning is likely characteristic of this species. In male colonies, spermatogenesis took place over ~5 months, with spermaries present from April through August. Mature spermaries were noted beginning in July and the inferred peak of sperm release was between late August and early September, which suggests that spermatogenesis duration was ~5 months. The largest mean oocyte and spermary sizes (628.45 ± 61.36 and 240.04 ± 49.49 μm, respectively) were both recorded in August. Gamete spawning presumably occurred during the summer season, which suggests seasonality in reproduction as influenced by changes in seawater temperature. However, the proximate cue for exact dates of spawning could be the lunar period because the inferred release of spawning materials seemed to occur between full moon and last‐quarter moon phases in both the months of August and September. The results of this study represent the first detailed report of reproductive characteristics of the genus Sclerophytum in Japan.
First record of the genus Schizothorax in rivers of the Central Himalayas in China
Authors: Li Xixi , Mu Tong , Wang Ziwang , Qian Jianshuo , Zhu Ren 
Published: June 2023

AbstractA total of 40 specimens of the genus Schizothorax (Cyprinidae: Schizothoracinae), including 10 matured males, 19 matured females and 11 juveniles, were captured from the Kirong Tsangpo River in China, which is located in the southern slope of the Central Himalayas. These specimens are identified as Schizothorax richardsonii (Grey, 1832) based on morphological characters and molecular analyses using mitochondrial Cyt b gene sequences. The Kirong population of S. richardsonii is relatively isolated from other populations in the Himalayas and has low genetic diversity. This is the first record of the genus Schizothorax fish in rivers of the Central Himalayas in China. As S. richardsonii is a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List, a protection plan should be conducted to reduce the impact of anthropogenic disturbance by monitoring the natural population dynamics and assessing the ecological determinants of its distribution.
Genetics of inflammatory bowel disease in East Asia: From population to individual
Authors: Kakuta Yoichi , Kinouchi Yoshitaka , Masamune Atsushi 
Published: June 2023

AbstractGenetic analysis of inflammatory bowel disease has identified many disease susceptibility genes in a large number of cases, mainly in Europe and North America. However, because of the ethnic differences in genetic background, analysis in various ethnic groups is needed. Although genetic analysis in East Asia began at the same time as in the West, the total number of patients analyzed has remained limited in Asia. To address these issues, meta‐analyses across East Asian countries are underway, and the genetic analysis of inflammatory bowel disease in East Asians is entering a new phase. New findings on the genetic background factors associated with inflammatory bowel disease originating from East Asia have also been made, such as the association between chromosomal mosaic alteration and this disease. Genetic analysis has been conducted mainly through studies that consider patients as a group. Some of these results, such as the identified relationship between the NUDT15 gene and thiopurine‐related adverse events, are beginning to be applied to the actual treatment of individuals. Meanwhile, genetic analyses of rare diseases have focused on the development of diagnostic methods and therapies by identifying causative gene mutations. Recently, genetic analysis has been moving from research on populations and pedigrees to the stage of identifying and using personal genetic information of each patient, which is important for personalized medical care. To achieve this, close collaboration between specialists in complex genetic analysis and clinicians will be critical.
The complementary feeding practices of low‐income Black mothers with infants between 6 and 24 months of age: A qualitative study
Authors: Adams Ingrid K. R. , Meshelemiah Jacquelyn C. A. , Noble ShyAnne T. , Piperata Barbara A. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe period from 6 to 24 months in an infant's life presents a critical window for understanding feeding practices and for designing culturally appropriate interventions. However, little is known about the complementary feeding practices of Black mothers and how this period can be used to optimise the long‐term health of their children. The present study aimed to identify factors that influence the complementary feeding practices of low‐income Black mothers with children aged 6–24 months.MethodsParticipants were recruited through Research Match, Facebook advertising, flyers, and snowballing techniques. Low‐income, Black mothers, with a 6–24‐month‐old infant, and who lived in Franklin County, Ohio, USA, were eligible for the study. A cross‐sectional design using in‐depth interviews was used. Reflexive thematic analysis was utilised to analyse and interpret the feeding practices of Black mothers.ResultsMothers (n = 8) were aged between 18 and 30 years old and most completed college or had some college education (n = 6). Half (n = 4) were married, employed, and rated their diet quality and their children's as very good. Three themes emerged: (a) complementary feeding at ≥ 6 months of age; (b) involvement of health care providers and service organisations in feeding decisions; and (c) use of responsive feeding cues.ConclusionsAll mothers breastfed exclusively and most (n = 6) initiated complementary feeding at 6 months. Paediatricians, other health providers and service organisations were instrumental in helping Black mothers adopt complementary feeding practices. Mothers also engaged in responsive feeding practices. These findings point to the critical nature of access and education in helping Black mothers in the study achieve feeding recommendations for their infants.