item spacing and itemize symbols

\usepackage{enumitem}
\setlist[itemize]{noitemsep, topsep=0pt} %spacing settings for enumitem

\begin{itemize}
	\item[--] Dash
    \item[$-$] Dash
    \item[$\ast$] Asterisk
\end{itemize}

=========================

elsarticle natbib issue with author names starting with the initials, followed by surname.
To change this replace the line:

{ s nameptr
"{f.~}{vv~}{ll}{, jj}"
format.name$

with

{ s nameptr
"{vv~}{ll}{, jj}{, f.~}"
format.name$

in the .bst file. For example, elsarticle-num-names.bst, found at C:\Users\~\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX 2.9\bibtex\bst\elsarticle