bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The colorectal surgeon's personality may influence the rectal anastomotic decision
Authors: Moug S. J. , Henderson N. , Tiernan J. , Bisset C. N. , Ferguson E. , Harji D. , Maxwell‐Armstrong C. , MacDermid E. , Acheson A. G. , Steele R. J. C. , Fearnhead N. S. ,   The Edinburgh Delphi Collaborative Group
Published: June 2018

Aim

Colorectal surgeons regularly make the decision to anastomose, defunction or form an end colostomy when performing rectal surgery. This study aimed to define personality traits of colorectal surgeons and explore any influence of such traits on the decision to perform a rectal anastomosis.

Method

Fifty attendees of The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland 2016 Conference participated. After written consent, all underwent personality testing: alexithymia (inability to understand emotions), type of thinking process (intuitive versus rational) and personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, emotional stability, conscientiousness). Questions were answered regarding anastomotic decisions in various clinical scenarios and results analysed to reveal any influence of the surgeon's personality on anastomotic decision.

Results

Participants were: male (86%), consultants (84%) and based in England (68%). Alexithymia was low (4%) with 81% displaying intuitive thinking (reflex, fast). Participants scored higher in emotional stability (ability to remain calm) and conscientiousness (organized, methodical) compared with population norms. Personality traits influenced the next anastomotic decision if: surgeons had recently received criticism at a departmental audit meeting; were operating with an anaesthetist that was not their regular one; or there had been no anastomotic leaks in their patients for over 1 year.

Conclusion

Colorectal surgeons have speciality relevant personalities that potentially influence the important decision to anastomose and could explain the variation in surgical practice across the UK. Future work should explore these findings in other countries and any link of personality traits to patient‐related outcomes.
Impact of insurance type on eligibility for advanced heart failure therapies and survival
Authors: Hutcheson Sarah Streeter , Phillips Victoria , Patzer Rachel , Smith Andrew , Vega J. David , Morris Alanna A.
Published: June 2018

Background

Medicaid insurance in Georgia provides limited reimbursement for heart transplant (HT) and left ventricular assist devices (LVAD). We examined whether insurance type affects eligibility for and survival after receipt of HT or LVAD.

Methods and Results

We retrospectively identified patients evaluated for HT/LVAD from 2012 to 2016. We used multivariable logistic and Cox proportional hazards regression to examine the association of insurance type on treatment eligibility and 1‐year survival. Of 569 patients evaluated, 282 (49.6%) had private, 222 (39.0%) had Medicare, and 65 (11.4%) had Medicaid insurance. Patients with Medicaid were younger, more likely to be Black, with fewer medical comorbidities. In adjusted models, Medicare and Medicaid insurance predicted lower odds of eligibility for HT, but did not affect survival after HT. Among those ineligible for HT, Medicaid patients were less likely to receive destination therapy (DT) LVAD (adj OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01‐0.66; P = .02) and had increased risk of death (adj HR = 2.03, 95% CI 1.13‐3.63; P = .01).

Conclusions

Despite younger age and fewer comorbidities, patients with Medicaid insurance are less likely to receive DT LVAD and have an increased risk of death once deemed ineligible for HT. Medicaid patients in Georgia need improved access to DT LVAD.
Mucormycotic parotitis and otitis causing facial nerve palsy in a diabetic patient
Authors: Gochhait D. , Alexender A. , Dehuri P. , Rangarajan V. , Jacob S. E. , Siddaraju N.
Published: June 2018

Mucormycosis of the parotid with facial nerve palsy is an uncommon manifestation of this fungal infection. Mucor is an angioinvasive and angiodestructive organism which can cause fatal infection in patients with altered immunity like Diabetes Mellitus and Hematological malignancies. It is essential to include it in the differential diagnosis to avoid delays in the treatment.
The eyes don't see what the mind doesn't know: Pleural endometriosis on effusion cytology
Authors: Gupta P. , Gupta N. , Bal A. , Sehgal I. S. , Muthu V. , Rajwanshi A.
Published: June 2018

The authors present a rare case of pleural endometriosis in a young female, presenting with recurrent chest pain, which could be diagnosed on pleural fluid cytology. The present report highlights the significance of correlating the clinical history with the cytomorphological features to reach to an accurate diagnosis.
Optimising management of deferasirox therapy for patients with transfusion‐dependent thalassaemia and lower‐risk myelodysplastic syndromes
Authors: Kattamis Antonis , Aydinok Yesim , Taher Ali
Published: June 2018

Effective iron chelation therapy is an important part of treatment in patients with transfusion‐dependent thalassaemia and lower‐risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Key strategies for optimising iron chelation therapy include ensuring good adherence and preventing and managing adverse events (AEs). Good adherence to iron chelation therapy with deferoxamine and deferasirox has been linked to improved survival and/or reductions in complications related to iron overload; however, maintaining good adherence to iron chelators can be challenging. Patients with transfusion‐dependent thalassaemia or lower‐risk MDS showed better adherence to the deferasirox film‐coated tablet (FCT) formulation than to the deferasirox dispersible tablet formulation in the ECLIPSE trial, reflecting in part the improved palatability and convenience of deferasirox FCT. As well as affecting adherence, AEs may lead to dose reduction, interruption or discontinuation, resulting in suboptimal iron chelation therapy. Preventing and successfully managing AEs may help limit their impact on adherence, and following dosage and administration recommendations for iron chelators such as deferasirox may help minimise AEs and optimise treatment in patients with transfusion‐dependent thalassaemia and lower‐risk MDS.
Effects of DLVO, hydration and osmotic forces among soil particles on water infiltration
Authors: Luo Y. X. , Li H. , Ding W. Q. , Hu F. N. , Li S.
Published: June 2018

Soil water infiltration is closely associated with the transport of nutrients and contaminants in soil. The physical mechanism by which electrolyte concentration influences water infiltration is not clear, however. Recent studies have shown that interaction forces between soil particles play a crucial role in the stability of soil aggregates and pores, which further affects soil water infiltration. In this research, column experiments were used to elucidate the effects of soil particle interaction forces on water infiltration in a permanently charged and a variably charged soil using different concentrations of KNO3 solutions (0.0001, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1 mol l−1), and some interesting results on soil water infiltration were discovered. They indicated that: (i) four forces in soil (long‐range van der Waals attractive, electrostatic repulsive, hydration and osmotic repulsive forces) co‐determined the rate of soil water infiltration for both soil types tested, (ii) at smaller soil water content (large electrolyte concentration) the osmotic repulsive force became more important in soil water infiltration, and yet with a larger water content (small electrolyte concentration) the electrostatic repulsive force became more important, and (iii) the osmotic force affected water infiltration through its effect on particle interaction forces rather than its influence on the osmotic potential of water. This paper presents a quantitative description of how particle interaction forces affect water infiltration into soil.

Highlights

Elucidation of physical mechanisms of effects of clay charge and electrolyte concentration on soil water infiltration.

Quantified effects of interaction forces of soil particles on soil water infiltration.

Electrostatic repulsive and osmotic forces play a critical role in water infiltration.

DLVO, hydration and osmotic forces among soil particles co‐determined soil water infiltration rate.
Experience of a single center in the conservative approach of 20 consecutive cases of asymptomatic extracranial carotid artery aneurysms
Authors: Pourier V. E. C. , Welleweerd J. C. , Kappelle L. J. , Rinkel G. J. E. , Ruigrok Y. M. , van der Worp H. B. , Lo T. H. , Bots M. L. , Moll F. L. , de Borst G. J.
Published: June 2018

Background and purpose

The clinical course and optimal treatment strategy for asymptomatic extracranial carotid artery aneurysms (ECAAs) are unknown. We report our single‐center experience with conservative management of patients with an asymptomatic ECAA.

Methods

A search in our hospital records from 1998 to 2013 revealed 20 patients [mean age 52 (SD 12.5) years] with 23 ECAAs, defined as a 150% or more fusiform dilation or any saccular dilatation compared with the healthy internal carotid artery. None of the aneurysms were treated and we had no pre‐defined follow‐up schedule for these patients. The primary study end‐point was the yearly rate for ipsilateral ischemic stroke. Secondary end‐points were ipsilateral transient ischemic attack, any stroke‐related death, other symptoms related to the aneurysm or growth defined as any diameter increase.

Results

The ECAA was either fusiform (n = 6; mean diameter 10.2 mm) or saccular (n = 17; mean diameter 10.9 mm). Eleven (55%) patients with 13 ECAAs received antithrombotic medication. During follow‐up [median 46.5 (range 1–121) months], one patient died due to ipsilateral stroke and the ipsilateral cerebral stroke rate was 1.1 per 100 patient‐years (95% confidence interval, 0.01–6.3). Three patients had ECAA growth, two of whom were asymptomatic and one was the patient who suffered a stroke.

Conclusions

In this retrospective case series of patients with an asymptomatic ECAA, the risk of cerebral infarction is small but not negligible. Conservative management seems justified, in particular in patients without growth. Large prospective registry data are necessary to assess follow‐up imaging strategies and the role of antiplatelet therapy.
Physiological and proteomic analyses of Fe(III)‐reducing co‐cultures of Desulfotomaculum reducens MI‐1 and Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA
Authors: Otwell Anne E. , Callister Stephen J. , Sherwood Robert W. , Zhang Sheng , Goldman Abby R. , Smith Richard D. , Richardson Ruth E.
Published: June 2018

We established Fe(III)‐reducing co‐cultures of two species of metal‐reducing bacteria, the Gram‐positive Desulfotomaculum reducens MI‐1 and the Gram‐negative Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA. Co‐cultures were given pyruvate, a substrate that D. reducens can ferment and use as electron donor for Fe(III) reduction. G. sulfurreducens relied upon products of pyruvate oxidation by D. reducens (acetate, hydrogen) for use as electron donor in the co‐culture. Co‐cultures reduced Fe(III) to Fe(II) robustly, and Fe(II) was consistently detected earlier in co‐cultures than pure cultures. Notably, faster cell growth, and correspondingly faster pyruvate oxidation, was observed by D. reducens in co‐cultures. Global comparative proteomic analysis was performed to observe differential protein abundance during co‐culture vs. pure culture growth. Proteins previously associated with Fe(III) reduction in G. sulfurreducens, namely c‐type cytochromes and type IV pili proteins, were significantly increased in abundance in co‐cultures relative to pure cultures. D. reducens ribosomal proteins were significantly increased in co‐cultures, likely a reflection of faster growth rates observed for D. reducens cells while in co‐culture. Furthermore, we developed multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) assays to quantitate specific biomarker peptides. The assays were validated in pure and co‐cultures, and protein abundance ratios from targeted MRM and global proteomic analysis correlate significantly.
Enterococcus faecalis induces apoptosis and pyroptosis of human osteoblastic MG63 cells via the NLRP3 inflammasome
Authors: Ran S. , Chu M. , Gu S. , Wang J. , Liang J.
Published: June 2018

Aim

To investigate the ability of E. faecalis to cause apoptosis and pyroptosis of human osteoblastic MG63 cells and whether the inflammasome is involved in this process.

Methodology

MG63 cells were infected with E. faecalis at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 10, 100, 500 and 1000 for 6 and 12 h. The cell proliferation was determined with the Cell Counting Kit‐8. Apoptosis and pyroptosis after E. faecalis infection was evaluated by flow cytometry and a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) cytotoxicity assay kit. Then, MG63 cells transfected with specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the NLR family pyrin domain‐containing 3 (NLRP3) gene were infected with E. faecalis and subjected to the LDH release and apoptotic cell assays. One‐way anova test and Student–Newman–Keuls test were used to evaluate the differences amongst groups in each experiment. An independent sample t‐test was performed to analyse the differences between the 12‐ and 6‐h time‐points. P < 0.05 was regarded as significant.

Results

E. faecalis induced apoptosis and inflammatory cell death (pyroptosis) of MG63 cells in a MOI dose‐dependent manner. The NLRP3 inflammasome and caspase‐1 were activated in E. faecalis‐infected MG63 cells. However, the percentages of induced apoptotic and pyroptic cell death decreased significantly when the NLRP3 inflammasome was downregulated using siRNAs (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

E. faecalis promoted apoptosis and pyroptosis of MG63 cells via the NLRP3 inflammasome. This indicates that E. faecalis infection may result in the delayed reconstruction of periapical lesions, and NLRP3 is the potential target of new intracanal therapeutic agents.
Influenza illness averted by influenza vaccination among school year children in Beijing, 2013‐2016
Authors: Zhang Yi , Cao Zhidong , Costantino Valentina , Muscatello David J. , Chughtai Abrar A. , Yang Peng , Wang Quanyi , MacIntyre C. Raina
Published: June 2018

Background

The benefit of school‐based influenza vaccination policy has not been fully addressed in Beijing.

Objectives

To evaluate the benefit of school‐based influenza vaccination policy launched in Beijing.

Methods

Using existing surveillance and immunization data, we developed a dynamic transmission model to assess the impact of influenza vaccination in school‐going children. The outcome was defined as the averted number of medically attended influenza illnesses and the prevented disease fraction to all children aged 5‐14 years for the 2013/14, 2014/15, and 2015/16 seasons.

Results

We estimated that during the three consecutive influenza seasons, the averted number of medically attended influenza illnesses among children aged 5‐14 years was around 104 000 (95% CI: 101 000‐106 000), 23 000 (95% CI: 22 000‐23 000), and 21 000 (95% CI: 21 000‐22 000), respectively. Corresponding prevented fractions to all children aged 5‐14 years were 76.3%, 38.5%, and 43.9%.

Conclusions

In Beijing, school‐based vaccinations reduced a substantial number of medically attended influenza illnesses despite seasonal variation in the prevented fraction. This is strong supportive evidence for the continuation of school‐based vaccination programs to reduce the influenza burden in this age group.
How students read an e‐textbook in an engineering course
Authors: Gyllen J. , Stahovich T. , Mayer R.
Published: June 2018

Time on task has been recognized as an important variable in academic learning, but self‐report measures of study time are problematic. Therefore, this study employs an automated system for recording time spent reading a course textbook. College students in an introductory engineering course accessed their textbook online. The book contained pages of instructional text, worked examples, homework problems, and answers to homework problems. An instrumented document reader program called “STL Reader” recorded the time each student spent on each page, thus providing detailed measures of reading habits. Across the 10‐week course, students spent an average of 1.9 hr reading instructional text, 1.4 hr on worked examples, 22.1 hr on homework problems, and 0.9 hr on homework answers, indicating a preference for practicing to solve test problems (i.e., self‐testing) rather than being told (i.e., receiving direct instruction). Furthermore, course grade (based largely on solving problems on exams and quizzes) correlated significantly and positively with time viewing homework problems, but not with time viewing either instructional text or worked examples, indicating that achievement was related to time spent practicing for solving test problems but not to time spent being instructed. Results suggest a revision of the time‐on‐task hypothesis to include the value of spending time on tasks aligned to test requirements.
Early caregiving predicts attachment representations in adolescence: findings from two longitudinal studies
Authors: O'Connor Thomas G. , Woolgar Matthew , Humayun Sajid , Briskman Jacqueline A. , Scott Stephen
Published: June 2018

Background

A growing research base demonstrates that adolescents' construction of secure attachment relationships may underlie successful social and personal relationships and healthy behavioral adjustment. Little is known about the early caregiving origins of adolescent attachment security; this study provides some of the first data on this topic.

Method

The relative contribution of early and current caregiving quality to attachment security in adolescence was assessed in two longitudinal studies of a clinic‐referred and an at‐risk community sample using identical measures (n = 209). Quality of early parent–child relationships at age 3–7 years of age and parent–adolescent relationship quality at approximately 12 years were assessed using observational methods; psychosocial risk was derived from extensive interview and questionnaire assessments; adolescent attachment quality was assessed using a standard attachment interview.

Results

Analyses indicated moderate stability in observed parent–child interaction quality from early childhood to adolescence. Observational ratings of both early childhood and current caregiving quality were significantly associated with adolescent attachment security; however, early caregiver sensitivity was more strongly associated with adolescent attachment security and predicted later attachment security independently from current caregiving quality. Follow‐up analyses indicated that this longitudinal prediction was significantly weaker in the clinic than in the at‐risk community sample.

Conclusions

Parental sensitive responding in childhood has enduring effects on attachment representation in adolescence, independent of current parenting relationship quality. These findings provide important new evidence supporting early parenting interventions for promoting youth well‐being and adjustment.
Loose Ties? Determinants of Father–Child Contact After Separation in Germany
Authors: Köppen Katja , Kreyenfeld Michaela , Trappe Heike
Published: June 2018

Objective

This article examines the determinants of father–child contact in Germany after divorce and separation, with a special emphasis on the role of legal child support.

Background

The contact separated fathers have with their children is a policy‐relevant issue that has been intensively addressed in previous research for the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. For continental Europe, there has been far less research on this topic. This article investigated how fathers' union status at childbirth, custody arrangements, and past and present partnership dynamics affect the level of contact they had with their first‐born child from a prior union.

Method

Data were used from Wave 2 (2009–2010) to Wave 8 (2015–2016) of the German Family Panel pairfam (www.pairfam.de). With a final sample size of 285 fathers, population average logistic models were estimated that examined nonresident fathers' probability of having frequent contact versus having little or no contact with their first‐born children.

Results

Whether a nonresident father shared legal custody with the mother was a decisive factor in whether he had regular contact with his minor child, particularly if he was not living with the mother of the child at the time of delivery. There were strong interaction effects between having joint legal custody and the time since the parental separation. Joint legal custody did not have an immediate impact on father–child contact around the time of separation, but as time elapsed, men without joint legal custody were more likely to lose contact with their children than men with joint legal custody.

Conclusion

Joint legal custody may provide an institutional arrangement for separated parents to exercise their responsibility for the well‐being of their children and thus be conducive to regular father–child contact.
Literacy Learning Outcomes in a Longitudinal Study of a Postschool Literacy Education Program for Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities
Authors: Moni Karen , Jobling Anne , Baffour Bernie
Published: June 2018

There is limited research about learning outcomes for young people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in postschool education (PSE). This is a significant issue as PSE is a strong predictor of successful employment for individuals with ID. Tertiary education programs have been developed in several countries, including Australia. These programs remain rare and available to only a minority of young people. For several years, service organizations in the broader community in Australia and overseas have been developing educational programs particularly in literacy to meet the needs of this age group. However, many of these programs have been developed by practitioners with limited access to evidence‐based practice, leading to difficulties in providing evidence of their effectiveness. This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal study of the effects on literacy learning of an evidence‐based 2‐year postschool literacy program for individuals with ID. All students (n = 191) who completed the program from 1998 to 2013 were assessed for their receptive vocabulary, single word reading, and reading comprehension. These assessments were undertaken at entry to the program, the end of the first year, and on graduation. The quantitative analysis used a growth trajectory model to assess students' progress, accounting for age, disability, gender, maturation, and time. The results provide statistically significant (p < .001) evidence that individual students increased their scores in all of the assessments over time. The authors argue that appropriately designed long‐term PSE programs for literacy learning have the potential to enhance the language and literacy development of young adults with intellectual disabilities.
Fruit fossils of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) from the late Pliocene of northwestern Yunnan, Southwest China
Authors: Huang Yong‐Jiang , Zhu Hai , Momohara Arata , Jia Lin‐Bo , Zhou Zhe‐Kun
Published: June 2018

The subfamily Rosoideae Focke (Rosaceae) has a good fossil record in the Northern Hemisphere, but these fossil records are confined mainly to a few genera, whereas the majority, in particular those with herbaceous members, are still under‐represented. In this study, we describe new fruit fossils of Rosoideae, including Fragaria achenes and Rubus endocarps, from the late Pliocene of northwestern Yunnan, Southwest China. These fossils add new accounts to the fossil archive of Rosoideae and provide the first fossil record of Fragaria in East Asia. The new fossil findings provide a historical backdrop for the modern diversity and distribution of the subfamily in northwestern Yunnan, a topographically complex area accommodating a high diversity for many plant groups. Our Rubus fossils, in combination with other nearby coeval occurrences of the genus, suggest that Rubus was already establishing its modern diversity in northwestern Yunnan during the late Pliocene. This finding enriches our knowledge of the post‐Neogene diversification of flowering plants in northwestern Yunnan, which is thought to be largely driven by dramatic mountain uplifts and environmental complications associated with the southeastern extension of the Tibetan Plateau.
Oligocene–Neogene fossil history of Asian endemic conifer genera in Japan and Korea
Authors: Yabe Atsushi , Jeong Eunkyoung , Kim Kyungsik , Uemura Kazuhiko
Published: June 2018

Temporal and spatial changes of ten conifer genera that are endemic to East Asia were analyzed based on fossil data from humid temperate forests in the Japanese Islands and Korean Peninsula to elucidate the phytogeographic history, and to understand differences between those genera eliminated from the Japanese Islands and those that remained extant. All these genera, except for Thujopsis, have existed in the area since the Paleogene and remained in the Japanese islands after initial separation from the continent at the early–middle Miocene. Fossil representatives of locally extinct six genera have tendencies to adapt to wider ranges of climatic conditions than their modern relatives. Metasequoia, Glyptostrobus, and Taiwania began to change their distributions since the late Miocene possibly through habitat partitioning. Keteleeria, Pseudolarix, and Cunninghamia appeared to have expanded their habitat toward warmer conditions during the mid‐Miocene Climatic Optimum and then became restricted to warmer forest vegetation by the end of Pliocene. Overall changes in their distribution can be explained by climatic effects. On the contrary, three genera endemic to Japan (Sciadopitys, Cryptomeria, and Thujopsis) followed clearly different trends from the others. Cryptomeria and Thujopsis were especially adapted to cooler‐temperate climate and they retained their habitat areas in the northern part of Japan. During the late Miocene–Pliocene, the islands connected with the Eurasian continent again, which probably acted as a corridor for warm‐adapted genera to disperse southwest. Current data suggest that ecological requirements of each genus might be essential to determine whether they could survive on the Japanese Islands.
Stomatal behaviour and stem xylem traits are coordinated for woody plant species under exceptional drought conditions
Authors: Pivovaroff Alexandria L. , Cook Victoria M.W. , Santiago Louis S.
Published: June 2018

Isohydry (maintenance of plant water potential at the cost of carbon gain) and anisohydry (gas exchange maintenance at the cost of declining plant water status) make up two ends of a stomatal drought response strategy continuum. However, few studies have merged measures of stomatal regulation with xylem hydraulic safety strategies based on in situ field measurements. The goal of this study was to characterize the stomatal and xylem hydraulic safety strategies of woody species in the biodiverse Mediterranean‐type ecosystem region of California. Measurements were conducted in situ when California was experiencing the most severe drought conditions in the past 1,200 years. We found coordination among stomatal, hydraulic, and standard leaf functional traits. For example, stem xylem vulnerability to cavitation (P50) was correlated with the water potential at stomatal closure (Pclose); more resistant species had a more negative water potential at stomatal closure. The degree of isohydry–anisohydry, defined at Pclose–P50, was correlated with the hydraulic safety margin across species; more isohydric species had a larger hydraulic safety margin. In addition, we report for the first time Pclose values below −10 MPa. Measuring these traits in a biodiverse region under exceptional drought conditions contributes to our understanding of plant drought responses.
Avoiding liver transplantation in post‐treatment extent of disease III and IV hepatoblastoma
Authors: El‐Gendi Ahmed , Fadel Shady , El‐Shafei Mohamed , Shawky Ahmed
Published: June 2018

Background

Primary liver transplantation is recommended for central post‐treatment extent of disease (POST‐TEXT) III and IV hepatoblastoma. The aim of this study was to prospectively assess the safety and oncological efficacy of aggressive non‐transplant extended hepatic resection in these patients.

Methods

A prospective study involved 18 children with central pretreatment extent of disease (PRETEXT) III and IV: three had primary liver transplantation whereas 15 underwent hepatic resection after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Results

Median tumor volume was 317 mL (range, 135–546 mL). After four cycles of chemotherapy, POST‐TEXT stage was III in 12 patients and IV in three patients. There was no perioperative mortality. Postoperative complications consisted of two bile leaks, one temporary decompensation and one sub‐phrenic collection requiring drainage. One and 3 year disease‐free survival was 93.3% and 73.3% respectively. The 3 year overall survival was 86.6%. Four patients developed recurrence, of whom two died. Early recurrence in 1 year occurred in one patient. All recurrences were distant metastases.

Conclusions

Extended major hepatic resection for selected cases of POST‐TEXT III and IV hepatoblastoma is a technically challenging but feasible approach with acceptable morbidity and mortality rates. Oncological outcomes are similar to liver transplantation without the long‐term commitment of immunosuppression or donor risk and morbidity, but a potential donor should always be organized on standby.
Genetic dissection of pre‐anthesis sub‐phase durations during the reproductive spike development of wheat
Authors: Guo Zifeng , Chen Dijun , Röder Marion S. , Ganal Martin W. , Schnurbusch Thorsten
Published: June 2018

Flowering time is an important factor affecting grain yield in wheat. In this study, we divided reproductive spike development into eight sub‐phases. These sub‐phases have the potential to be delicately manipulated to increase grain yield. We measured 36 traits with regard to sub‐phase durations, determined three grain yield‐related traits in eight field environments and mapped 15 696 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, based on 90k Infinium chip and 35k Affymetrix chip) markers in 210 wheat genotypes. Phenotypic and genetic associations between grain yield traits and sub‐phase durations showed significant consistency (Mantel test; r = 0.5377, P < 0.001). The shared quantitative trait loci (QTLs) revealed by the genome‐wide association study suggested a close association between grain yield and sub‐phase duration, which may be attributed to effects on spikelet initiation/spikelet number (double ridge to terminal spikelet stage, DR‐TS) and assimilate accumulation (green anther to anthesis stage, GA‐AN). Moreover, we observed that the photoperiod‐sensitivity allele at the Ppd‐D1 locus on chromosome 2D markedly extended all sub‐phase durations, which may contribute to its positive effects on grain yield traits. The dwarfing allele at the Rht‐D1 (chromosome 4D) locus altered the sub‐phase duration and displayed positive effects on grain yield traits. Data for 30 selected genotypes (from among the original 210 genotypes) in the field displayed a close association with that from the greenhouse. Most importantly, this study demonstrated specific connections to grain yield in narrower time windows (i.e. the eight sub‐phases), rather than the entire stem elongation phase as a whole.
Development of speech rhythm in first language: The role of syllable intensity variability
Authors: He Lei
Published: June 2018

The opening-closing alternations of the mouth were viewed as the articulatory basis of speech rhythm. Such articulatory cycles have been observed to highly correlate with the intensity curve of the speech signal. Analysis of the intensity variability in English monolingual children and adults revealed that (1) adults showed significantly smaller intensity variability than children, and (2) intensity variability decreased from intermediate-aged children to older children. Maturation of articulatory motor control is likely to be the main reason for the reduced variability in articulatory cycles, and hence smaller intensity variability in adults and older children.
Experimental benchmarking of quantum control in zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance
Authors: Jiang Min , Wu Teng , Blanchard John W. , Feng Guanru , Peng Xinhua , Budker Dmitry
Published: June 2018

High-fidelity quantum control of nuclear spins at zero magnetic field.
Microevolution of Streptococcus agalactiae ST-261 from Australia Indicates Dissemination via Imported Tilapia and Ongoing Adaptation to Marine Hosts or Environment
Authors: Kawasaki Minami , Delamare-Deboutteville Jerome , Bowater Rachel O. , Walker Mark J. , Beatson Scott , Ben Zakour Nouri L. , Barnes Andrew C.
Published: June 2018

Streptococcus agalactiae
(GBS) is a significant pathogen of humans and animals. Some lineages have become adapted to particular hosts, and serotype Ib is highly specialized to fish. Here, we show that this lineage is likely to have been distributed widely by the global trade in tilapia for aquaculture, with probable introduction into Australia in the 1970s and subsequent dissemination in wild fish populations. We report here the variability in the polysaccharide capsule among this lineage but identify a cohort of common surface proteins that may be a focus of future vaccine development to reduce the biosecurity risk in international fish trade.
Effectiveness of Acupuncture in Postpartum Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Li Shanshan , Zhong Weiqiang , Peng Wen , Jiang Gaofeng
Published: June 2018

Objective

To assess the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of postpartum depression (PPD).

Methods

The following electronic databases were systematically searched: PubMed, Cochrane Library, SCI, Elsevier SDOL, China National Knowledge, Wan Fang database and Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database. Only randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for PPD were considered. Primary outcomes were the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) or the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores and effective rate. Our secondary outcome was the level of oestradiol. The quality of all included trials was evaluated according to the Cochrane Collaboration. This protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016048528).

Results

Nine trials involving 653 women were selected. The result of this meta-analysis demonstrated that the acupuncture group had a significantly greater overall effective rate compared with the control group (seven trials, n=576, I2=24%; relative risk (RR) 1.15, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.24; P<0.001). Moreover, acupuncture significantly increased oestradiol levels compared with the control group (mean difference (MD) 36.92, 95% CI 23.14 to 50.71, P<0.001). Regarding the HAMD and EPDS scores, no difference was found between the two groups (five trials, n=276, I2=82%; MD−1.38, 95% CI −3.40 to 0.64; P=0.18; two trials, n=60, I2=16%; MD 1.08, 95% CI −1.09 to 3.26; P=0.33).

Conclusions

Acupuncture appears to be effective for postpartum depression with respect to certain outcomes. However, the evidence thus far is inconclusive. Further high-quality RCTs following standardised guidelines with a low risk of bias are needed to confirm the effectiveness of acupuncture for postpartum depression.
Fifteen-minute consultation: Modern-day art and science of managing cerebral palsy
Authors: Cadwgan Jill , Goodwin Jane , Fairhurst Charlie
Published: June 2018

While there remains limited intervention to address the damage to the developing brain, current multidisciplinary management of cerebral palsy (CP) needs to minimise the impact of secondary musculoskeletal complications. A focus on comorbidities to maximise function for activity and participation by supporting the child and family in their environment is required. Comprehensive clinical guidance was published by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) earlier this year. This article aims to provide a practical clinical approach to the child and family based on:(1) art: empathy, listening and weighing up the clinical picture of the child and family in context; diagnosis, the need for support and space; and care coordination at the right time; and (2) science: the current science in CP care is rapidly expanding in terms of plasticity, pathophysiology, functional assessments and treatments.
Mindfulness fostering of interprofessional simulation training for collaborative practice
Authors: Kerry Matthew James , Ander Douglas S
Published: June 2018

Introduction The setting demands imposed by performing in new, interdisciplinary cultures is common for modern healthcare workers. Both health science students and evidence-based workers are required to operate in professional cultures that differ from their own. As health organisations have placed increasing value on mindfulness for improving performance outcomes, so too have educational administrators embraced common, mindful competencies for improving training for improved patient outcomes. The training of future clinicians for diversified care. teams and patient populations has become known as interprofessional education (IPE). Although the goals for IPE suggest that individual differences in trait mindfulness may serve an important determinant for training effectiveness, it has gone unstudied in extant simulation training research.

MethodsTo fill this gap, in this paper, we examine trait mindfulness’ predictive power for training outcomes across two IPE cohort samples using two, prospective observational designs.

Results Study 1’s Findings supported trait mindfulness’ prediction of perceived teamwork behaviours in training simulations between medical and nursing students (n=136). In study 2’s expanded sample to five health professions (n=232), findings extended trait mindfulness’ prediction of team efficacy and skill transfer, assessed 1 month after training.

Conclusion A final, follow-up assessment 16 months later extended mindfulness’ predictive validity to knowledge retention and teamwork attitudes. We discuss the theoretical and practical implication of our findings for advancing mindfulness research and IPE effectiveness assessment.
Systematically Ensuring the Confidence of Real-Time Home Automation IoT Systems
Authors: Bu Lei , Xiong Wen , Liang Chieh-Jan Mike , Han Shi , Zhang Dongmei , Lin Shan , Li Xuandong
Published: June 2018

Recent advances and industry standards in Internet of Things (IoT) have accelerated the real-world adoption of connected devices. To manage this hybrid system of digital real-time devices and analog environments, the industry has pushed several popular home automation IoT (HA-IoT) frameworks, such as If-This-Then-That (IFTTT), Apple HomeKit, and Google Brillo. Typically, users author device interactions by specifying the triggering sensor event and the triggered device command. In this seemingly simple software system, two dominant factors govern the system confidence properties with respect to the physical world. First, IoT users are largely nonexperts who lack the comprehensive consideration regarding potential impact and joint effect with existing rules. Second, while the increasing complexity of IoT devices enables fine-grained control (e.g., heater temperature) of continuous real-time environments, even two simply connected devices can have a huge state space to explore. In fact, bugs that wrongfully control devices and home appliances can have ramifications on system correctness and even user physical safety. It is crucial to help users to make sure the system they created meets their expectation. In this article we introduce how techniques from hybrid automata can be practically applied to assist nonexpert IoT users in the confidence checking of such hybrid HA-IoT systems. We propose an automated framework for end-to-end programming assistance. We build and check the Linear Hybrid Automata (LHA) model of the system automatically. We also present a quantifier elimination-based method to analyze the counterexample found and synthesize fix suggestions. We implemented a platform, MenShen, based on this framework and proposed techniques. We conducted sets of real HA-IoT case studies with up to 46 devices and 65 rules. Empirical results show that MenShen can find violations and generate rule fix suggestions in only 10 seconds.
Better Bounds for Coalescing-Branching Random Walks
Authors: Mitzenmacher Michael , Rajaraman Rajmohan , Roche Scott
Published: June 2018

Coalescing-branching random walks, or
cobra walks
for short, are a natural variant of random walks on graphs that can model the spread of disease through contacts or the spread of information in networks. In a
k
-cobra walk, at each timestep, a subset of the vertices are active; each active vertex chooses
k
random neighbors (sampled independently and uniformly with replacement) that become active at the next step, and these are the only active vertices at the next step. A natural quantity to study for cobra walks is the cover time, which corresponds to the expected time when all nodes have become infected or received the disseminated information.

In this article, we extend previous results for cobra walks in multiple ways. We show that the cover time for the 2-cobra walk on [0,
n
]

d

is
O
(
n
) (where the order notation hides constant factors that depend on
d
); previous work had shown the cover time was
O
(
n
⋅polylog(
n
)). We show that the cover time for a 2-cobra walk on an
n
-vertex
d
-regular graph with conductance φ
G
is
O
(
d
4
φ
−2
G
log
2
n
), significantly generalizing a previous result that held only for expander graphs with sufficiently high expansion. And, finally, we show that the cover time for a 2-cobra walk on a graph with
n
vertices and
m
edges is always
O
(
mn
3/4
log
n
; this is the first result showing that the bound of Θ(
n
3
) for the worst-case cover time for random walks can be beaten using 2-cobra walks.
Randomized Approximate Nearest Neighbor Search with Limited Adaptivity
Authors: Liu Mingmou , Pan Xiaoyin , Yin Yitong
Published: June 2018

We study the complexity of parallel data structures for approximate nearest neighbor search in
d
-dimensional Hamming space {0,1}

d

. A classic model for static data structures is the cell-probe model [27]. We consider a cell-probe model with limited
adaptivity
, where given a
k
≥1, a query is resolved by making at most
k
rounds of parallel memory accesses to the data structure. We give two randomized algorithms that solve the approximate nearest neighbor search using
k
rounds of parallel memory accesses:

—a simple algorithm with
O
(
k
(log
d
)

1/
k

) total number of memory accesses for all
k
≥1;

—an algorithm with
O
(
k
+(1/
k
log
d
)

O
(1/
k
)

) total number of memory accesses for all sufficiently large
k
.

Both algorithms use data structures of polynomial size.

We prove an Ω(1/
k
(log
d
)

1/
k

) lower bound for the total number of memory accesses for any randomized algorithm solving the approximate nearest neighbor search within
k
≤log log
d
/2log log log
d
rounds of parallel memory accesses on any data structures of polynomial size. This lower bound shows that our first algorithm is asymptotically optimal when
k
=
O
(1). And our second algorithm achieves the asymptotically optimal tradeoff between number of rounds and total number of memory accesses. In the extremal case, when
k
=
O
(log log
d
/log log log
d
) is big enough, our second algorithm matches the Θ(log log
d
/log log log
d
) tight bound for fully adaptive algorithms for approximate nearest neighbor search in [11].
The Price of Fragmentation in Mobility-on-Demand Services
Authors: Séjournè Thibault , Samaranayake Samitha , Banerjee Siddhartha
Published: June 2018

Mobility-on-Demand platforms are a fast growing component of the urban transit ecosystem. Though a growing literature addresses the question of how to make individual MoD platforms more efficient, much less is known about the cost of market fragmentation, i.e., the impact on overall welfare due to splitting demand between multiple independent platforms. Our work aims to quantify how much platform fragmentation degrades the efficiency of the system. In particular, we focus on a setting where demand is exogenously split between multiple platforms, and study the increase in supply rebalancing costs incurred by each platform to meet this demand, vis-à-vis the cost incurred by a centralized platform serving the aggregate demand. We show under a large-market scaling, this Price-of-Fragmentation undergoes a phase transition, wherein, depending on the nature of the exogenous demand, the additional cost due to fragmentation either vanishes or grows unbounded. We provide conditions that characterize which regime applies to any given system, and discuss implications of these findings on how such platforms should be regulated.
The Cost of Uncertainty in Curing Epidemics
Authors: Hoffmann Jessica , Caramanis Constantine
Published: June 2018

Motivated by the study of controlling (curing) epidemics, we consider the spread of an SI process on a known graph, where we have a limited budget to use to transition infected nodes back to the susceptible state (i.e., to cure nodes). Recent work has demonstrated that under perfect and instantaneous information (which nodes are/are not infected), the budget required for curing a graph precisely depends on a combinatorial property called the CutWidth. We show that this assumption is in fact necessary: even a minor degradation of perfect information, e.g., a diagnostic test that is 99% accurate, drastically alters the landscape. Infections that could previously be cured in sublinear time now may require exponential time, or orderwise larger budget to cure. The crux of the issue comes down to a tension not present in the full information case: if a node is suspected (but not certain) to be infected, do we risk wasting our budget to try to cure an uninfected node, or increase our certainty by longer observation, at the risk that the infection spreads further? Our results present fundamental, algorithm-independent bounds that tradeoff budget required vs. uncertainty.
Practical Bounds on Optimal Caching with Variable Object Sizes
Authors: Berger Daniel S. , Beckmann Nathan , Harchol-Balter Mor
Published: June 2018

Many recent caching systems aim to improve miss ratios, but there is no good sense among practitioners of how much further miss ratios can be improved. In other words, should the systems community continue working on this problem? Currently, there is no principled answer to this question. In practice, object sizes often vary by several orders of magnitude, where computing the optimal miss ratio (OPT) is known to be NP-hard. The few known results on caching with variable object sizes provide very weak bounds and are impractical to compute on traces of realistic length. We propose a new method to compute upper and lower bounds on OPT. Our key insight is to represent caching as a min-cost flow problem, hence we call our method the flow-based offline optimal (FOO). We prove that, under simple independence assumptions, FOO's bounds become tight as the number of objects goes to infinity. Indeed, FOO's error over 10M requests of production CDN and storage traces is negligible: at most 0.3%. FOO thus reveals, for the first time, the limits of caching with variable object sizes. While FOO is very accurate, it is computationally impractical on traces with hundreds of millions of requests. We therefore extend FOO to obtain more efficient bounds on OPT, which we call practical flow-based offline optimal (PFOO). We evaluate PFOO on several full production traces and use it to compare OPT to prior online policies. This analysis shows that current caching systems are in fact still far from optimal, suffering 11--43% more cache misses than OPT, whereas the best prior offline bounds suggest that there is essentially no room for improvement.