bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Risk of Ovarian Involvement in Advanced Colorectal or Appendiceal Tumors Involving the Peritoneum
Authors: Mehta Akash M. , Bignell Mark B. , Alves Sue , Dayal Sanjeev P. , Mohamed Faheez , Cecil Tom D. , Moran Brendan J.
Published: June 2017

BACKGROUND:

Ovarian metastases of GI tumors grow rapidly and are relatively resistant to systemic chemotherapy. They may be unilateral or bilateral and macroscopic or occult. The risk of macroscopic ovarian involvement or occult involvement of macroscopically normal ovaries is unquantified.

OBJECTIVE:

This study aims to quantify the risks of ovarian involvement in patients with peritoneal malignancy undergoing cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

DESIGN:

This was a retrospective analysis of a dedicated prospective malignancy database.

SETTINGS:

This study was conducted at a high-volume tertiary referral center for peritoneal malignancy.

PATIENTS:

Female patients with at least 1 remaining ovary, undergoing complete cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for appendiceal tumors or colorectal peritoneal metastases between January 2010 and March 2015 were included.

OUTCOME MEASURES:

Data regarding ovarian involvement was extracted from surgical and histological records.

RESULTS:

Two hundred fifty-eight female patients with at least 1 ovary underwent complete cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy during the study period. In total, 141 of 258 (54.7%) patients had ovarian tumor involvement, and 80% with at least 1 macroscopically abnormal ovary had bilateral involvement. Of 40 patients with 1 macroscopic ovarian metastasis, microscopic involvement of the contralateral ovary was found in 18 of 40 (45.0%). Of 141 patients in whom both ovaries were macroscopically normal, 24 of 141 (17.0%) patients had microscopic ovarian involvement.

LIMITATIONS:

The retrospective nature limits the interpretation of these results.

CONCLUSIONS:

Occult malignancy was present in 17% when both ovaries looked macroscopically normal and in 45% of contralateral normal-looking ovaries if the other ovary was macroscopically involved. These results help to inform preoperative consent and intraoperative decision making in patients with advanced appendiceal and colorectal malignancy, and are of benefit in managing advanced lower GI tract malignancy.
Analysis of Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Chronic Ulcerative Colitis: Is It the Disease or the Operation?
Authors: McKenna Nicholas P. , Behm Kevin T. , Ubl Daniel S. , Glasgow Amy E. , Mathis Kellie L. , Pemberton John H. , Habermann Elizabeth B. , Cima Robert R.
Published: June 2017

BACKGROUND:

Patients with IBD have a higher baseline risk of venous thromboembolism, which further increases with surgery. Therefore, extended venous thromboembolism chemoprophylaxis has been suggested in certain high-risk cohorts.

OBJECTIVE:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the underlying diagnosis, operative procedure, or both influence the incidence of postoperative venous thromboembolism.

DESIGN:

This was a retrospective review.

SETTINGS:

The American College of Surgeons–National Surgical Quality Improvement Project database was analyzed.

PATIENTS:

The NSQIP database was queried for patients with chronic ulcerative colitis and non-IBD undergoing colorectal resections using surgical Current Procedural Terminology codes modeled after the 3 stages used for the surgical management of chronic ulcerative colitis from 2005 to 2013.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

We measured 30-day postoperative venous thromboembolism risk in patients with chronic ulcerative colitis based on operative stage and risk factors for development of venous thromboembolism.

RESULTS:

A total of 18,833 patients met inclusion criteria, with an overall rate of venous thromboembolism of 3.8. Among procedure risk groups, venous thromboembolism rates were high risk, 4.4%; intermediate risk, 1.6%; and low risk, 0.7% (across risk groups, p < 0.01). Emergent case subjects exhibited a higher rate of venous thromboembolism than their elective counterparts (6.9% vs 3.1%). Factors significantly associated with venous thromboembolism on adjusted analysis included emergent risk case (adjusted OR = 7.85), high-risk elective case (adjusted OR = 5.07), intermediate-risk elective case (adjusted OR = 2.69), steroid use (adjusted OR = 1.54), and preoperative albumin <3.5 g/dL (adjusted OR = 1.45).

LIMITATIONS:

Because of its retrospective nature, correlation between procedures and venous thromboembolism risk can be demonstrated, but causation cannot be proven. In addition, data on inpatient and extended venous thromboembolism prophylaxis use are not available.

CONCLUSIONS:

Emergent status and operative procedure are the 2 highest risk factors for postoperative venous thromboembolism. Extended venous thromboembolism prophylaxis might be appropriate for patients undergoing these high-risk procedures or any emergent colorectal procedures. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A339.
How to conduct a clinical audit and quality improvement project
Authors: Limb Christopher , Fowler Alex , Gundogan Buket , Koshy Kiron , Agha Riaz
Published: June 2017

Audits and quality improvement projects are vital aspects of clinical governance and continual service improvement in medicine. In this article we describe the process of clinical audit and quality improvement project. Guidance is also provided on how to design an effective audit and bypass barriers encountered during the process.
Current molecular methods for the detection of GB virus C
Authors: Valinciute-Jankauskiene Agne , Mauricas Mykolas
Published: June 2017

The GB virus C (GBV-C), also referred to as hepatitis G virus, is a RNA hepatitis virus, which infects humans naturally and can cause high levels of viremia, which, however, in most cases, does not lead to serious illness. It is not usually routinely screened in clinical laboratories, though its presence in patients infected with other viruses such as hepatitis C virus and HIV has been commonly reported. The virus can be detected in the blood of infected individuals using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) mainly. It is a technique that is commonly used for different RNA material detection and other screening such as gene expression and testing. The method includes several steps, that is, transcription of the RNA into complementary DNA (cDNA) by reverse transcriptase, amplification of the cDNA by PCR using well defined primers that target a particular region of the gene, and detection of the PCR products by various means such as agarose gel electrophoresis or hybridization and immunoassay using, for example, automated detection systems. Several primers targeting different regions of the genome, that is, NS3, NS5, and 5’ NTR, have been developed for the amplification of the specific region and the detection of the virus. Moreover, variants of the RT-PCR have been designed to maximize the identification potential. These include, for example, RT-PCR-ELISA, RT digital-PCR, and SYBR green real-time multiplex RT-PCR. Another type of method used to screen the virus is the detection of the presence of antibodies E2 (anti-E2) produced against the viral glycoprotein E2 in individuals who have been infected with the virus and have recovered or are in the process of recovering. The anti-E2s are detected by radio-immunoprecipitation assay and ELISA. Use of both antibody and RNA detection methods is necessary for a better epidemiological investigation of the prevalence of GBV-C.
Stories and Music for Adolescent/Young Adult Resilience During Transplant Partnerships
Authors: Hendricks-Ferguson Verna L. , Barnes Yvonne J. , Cherven Brooke , Stegenga Kristin , Roll Lona , Docherty Sharon L. , Haase Joan E.
Published: June 2017

Evidence-based nursing is in the forefront of healthcare delivery systems. Federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and healthcare delivery systems recognize the importance of nursing research. This article describes the mechanisms that facilitate nursing partnerships yielding high-level research outcomes in a clinical setting. A phase-II multicenter behavioral intervention study with pediatric stem cell transplant patients was the context of this academic/clinical research partnership. Strategies to develop and maintain this partnership involved a thorough understanding of each nurse’s focus and barriers. A variety of communication plans and training events maximized preexisting professional networks. Academic/clinical nurses’ discussions identified barriers to the research process, the most significant being role conflict. Communication and validation of benefits to each individual and institution facilitated the research process during challenging times. Establishing strong academic/clinical partnerships should lead to evidence-based research outcomes for the nursing profession, healthcare delivery systems, and patients and families.
Psychophysiological Interactions in a Visual Checkerboard Task: Reproducibility, Reliability, and the Effects of Deconvolution
Authors: Di Xin , Biswal Bharat B.
Published: June 2017

Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) is a regression based method to study task modulated brain connectivity. Despite its popularity in functional MRI (fMRI) studies, its reliability and reproducibility have not been evaluated. We investigated reproducibility and reliability of PPI effects during a simple visual task, and examined the effect of deconvolution on the PPI results. A large open-access dataset was analyzed (n = 138), where a visual task was scanned twice with repetition times (TRs) of 645 ms and 1400 ms, respectively. We first replicated our previous results by using the left and right middle occipital gyrus as seeds. Then ROI-wise (regions of interest) analysis was performed among twenty visual-related thalamic and cortical regions, and negative PPI effects were found between many ROIs with the posterior fusiform gyrus as a hub region. Both the seed-based and ROI-wise results were similar between the two runs and between the two PPI methods with and without deconvolution. The non-deconvolution method and the short TR run in general had larger effect sizes and greater extents. However, the deconvolution method performed worse in the 645 ms TR run than the 1400 ms TR run in the voxel-wise analysis. Given the general similar results between the two methods and the uncertainty of deconvolution, we suggest that deconvolution may be not necessary for PPI analysis on block-designed data. Lastly, intraclass correlations between the two runs were much lower for the PPI effects than the activation main effects, which raise cautions on performing inter-subject correlations and group comparisons on PPI effects.
PureCLIP: capturing target-specific protein-RNA interaction footprints from single-nucleotide CLIP-seq data
Authors: Krakau Sabrina , Richard Hugues , Marsico Annalisa
Published: June 2017

iCLIP and eCLIP techniques facilitate the detection of protein-RNA interaction sites at high resolution, based on diagnostic events at crosslink sites. However, previous methods do not explicitly model the specifics of iCLIP and eCLIP truncation patterns and possible biases. We developed PureCLIP, a hidden Markov model based approach, which simultaneously performs peak calling and individual crosslink site detection. It explicitly incorporates RNA abundances and, for the first time, non-specific sequence biases. On both simulated and real data, PureCLIP is more accurate in calling crosslink sites than other state-of-the-art methods and has a higher agreement across replicates. Link:https://github.com/skrakau/PureCLIP.
Resetting the yeast epigenome with human nucleosomes
Authors: Truong David M. , Boeke Jef D.
Published: June 2017

Humans and yeast are separated by a billion years of evolution, yet their conserved core histones retain central roles in gene regulation. Here, we “reset” yeast to use core human nucleosomes in lieu of their own, an exceedingly rare event which initially took twenty days. The cells adapt, however, by acquiring suppressor mutations in cell-division genes, or by acquiring certain aneuploidy states. Robust growth was also restored by converting five histone residues back to their yeast counterparts. We reveal that humanized nucleosomes in yeast are positioned according to endogenous yeast DNA sequence and chromatin-remodeling network, as judged by a yeast-like nucleosome repeat length. However, human nucleosomes have higher DNA occupancy and reduce RNA content. Adaptation to new biological conditions presented a special challenge for these cells due to slower chromatin remodeling. This humanized yeast poses many fundamental new questions about the nature of chromatin and how it is linked to many cell processes, and provides a platform to study histone variants via yeast epigenome reprogramming.

Highlights

- Only 1 in 107yeast survive with fully human nucleosomes, but they rapidly evolve

- Nucleosome positioning and nucleosome repeat length is not influenced by histone type

- Human nucleosomes remodel slowly and delay yeast environmental adaptation

- Human core nucleosomes are more repressive and globally reduce transcription in yeast
Linking knowledge sharing, competency development, and affective commitment: evidence from Indian Gen Y employees
Authors: Naim Mohammad Faraz , Lenka Usha
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The present study aims to explore knowledge sharing to evoke affective commitment of Gen Y employees through competency development.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses cross-sectional survey to collect primary data. A questionnaire is developed based on extensive review of literature. A sample was obtained from Gen Y employees (born between 1980 and 2000) working in software organizations in India. In total, 582 completely filled, usable questionnaires were obtained.

Findings

Results indicate that knowledge sharing has a positive effect on competency development of Gen Y employees, which in turn, positively predicts affective commitment. Furthermore, this would result in the enhancement of employee competencies and eventually, the generation of affective commitment.

Research limitations/implications

This study was limited to the software development professionals working in Indian organizations Therefore, researchers should test the research model further in other industries preferably in a different country.

Practical implications

The more knowledge assets are shared in the organization, the higher the enhancement of employee competencies will become. To evoke emotional attachment of Gen Y employees, an organization must implement learning and development interventions

Originality/value

This study contributes to knowledge management literature, particularly knowledge sharing by exploring its possible linkage with employee attitudinal outcomes through empirical data. This also happens to be an empirical study to investigate Gen Y employees’ commitment in Indian context.
Interview support on perceptions of organizational attractiveness
Authors: Nadler Joel , Gann-Bociek Maya , Skaggs Brian
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine how interview support materials provided on a company’s website would impact potential employees’ perceptions of organizational attractiveness (OA). This study examined the effects of interviewer, interview support and employee variables on employees’ perceptions of OA.

Design/methodology/approach

This study obtained data from 276 working adults. The participants were asked to visualize that they were selected for an interview, then were given one of four manipulations (with interview support, without interview support; informed participant interview would be with a potential peer, or interview would be with a potential supervisor) and post-manipulation measures (OA perception, trait anxiety, demographics).

Findings

This study’s results indicated that interviewer characteristics (peer or supervisor) were not significant; however, women and individuals with a lower socio-economic (SES) status found organizations to be more attractive when provided with interview support. There was an opposite effect on men and those with a higher SES.

Research limitations/implications

This study recognizes that the lack of demographic diversity and realism were limitations that must be considered; however, this study also recognizes that these findings have several practical implications (considering offering interview support, potential ideas to increase OA) and social implications (increasing demographic diversity in the workplace by also aiding historically disadvantaged groups).

Practical implications

Knowledge of who would be conducting the selection interview potential future peer versus a future supervisor did not affect organizational attraction OA ratings. Interview support offered on a company website had a positive impact on perceptions of OA for women and individuals with lower SES; however, the same support had a negative impact on perceptions of OA for men and individuals with higher SES.

Originality/Value

In addition to the social and practical implications this study holds, the authors of this study are not aware of any additional studies that examine gender and SES on organizational attraction.
Impact of non-perfect reference plane on multi-gigabit transmission
Authors: Yee Chang Fei , Bahari Jambek Asral , Abdullah Al-Hadi Azremi
Published: June 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the impact of non-perfect reference plane on the integrity of microstrip differential signals at multi-gigabit transmission on a printed circuit board (PCB). The effects of non-perfect reference contributed by signal crossing over split plane such as impedance discontinuity and crosstalk are investigated by performing analysis in two phases.

Design/methodology/approach

The first phase involves three-dimensional electromagnetic modeling extraction using Keysight EMPro software. Meanwhile, the second phase involves the import of model extracted from EMPro into simulation using Keysight Advanced Design System that covers insertion loss, return loss, crosstalk, time domain reflectometry and eye diagram.

Findings

A non-perfect reference plane has a negative impact on signal reflection, attenuation and crosstalk. The analysis results are presented and discussed in detail in the later section of this paper.

Originality/value

The work that studied the impact of the width and the amount of gaps due to crossing of split planes being experienced on the signal integrity was performed by other researchers. Meanwhile, this paper focused on the impact of length and depth of the gap on signal integrity. These research papers serve as a reference guide for high-speed PCB layout design.
Study on the measurement of paste flow based on the optical fiber system
Authors: Pan Weiwei , Wang Dongsheng
Published: June 2017

Purpose

Flow measurement plays an important role in modern industrial production. Flow measurement methods based on optical fiber systems have become a main research focus.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying flow measurement theory and the structural characteristics of optical fiber, flow measurement of paste can be achieved through a combined laser Doppler and optical fiber sensing system based on the principle of optical fiber grating sensors and flow sensors. The system is developed to include light selection, photoelectric detection, a voltage amplifier circuit and a signal filtering circuit.

Findings

The system is shown, through a comparative experiment, to be of higher accuracy than the traditional ultrasonic method.

Originality/value

A new method for measuring the paste flow is presented, which is based on the principle of optical fiber Doppler. The method has the advantages of convenient installation, high accuracy and low cost. Experiments show that the method is feasible.
Development of a path follower in real-time environment
Authors: Deepak B.B.V.L. , Bahubalendruni M.V.A. Raju
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the path-planning problem of an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) in a predefined, structured environment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this investigation, the environment chosen was the roadmap of the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, obtained from Google maps as reference. An UGV is developed and programmed so as to move autonomously from an indicated source location to the defined destination in the given map following the most optimal path.

Findings

An algorithm based on linear search is implemented to the autonomous robot to generate shortest paths in the environment. The developed algorithm is verified with the simulations as well as in experimental environments.

Originality/value

Unlike the past methodologies, the current investigation deals with the global path-planning strategy as the line following mechanism. Moreover, the proposed technique has been implemented in a real-time environment.
Interleukin‐17‐induced expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 in cardiac myocytes requires nuclear factor κB through the phosphorylation of p65
Authors: Shen Yan , Xie Xin , Li Zhuolun , Huang Yan , Ma Li , Shen Xinhe , Liu Yanyue , Zhao Yuxia
Published: June 2017

IL‐17 plays a key role in a variety of autoimmune diseases. MCP‐1 is involved in the infiltration of mononuclear cells of myocardium in VMC. However, the relationship between IL‐17 and MCP‐1 in myocardial injury remains unclear. In this study, expression of MCP‐1 mRNA and protein in cardiac myocytes was detected with qRT‐PCR and ELISA, respectively. It was found that IL‐17A induced MCP‐1 expression in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner in cardiac myocytes, which could be blocked by IL‐17A and IL‐17RA neutralizing antibodies. NF‐κB p65 and p‐p65 protein expression in cardiac myocytes was studied with western blotting. Rates of p‐p65 in whole lysates and in nuclear lysates all increased in the first 15 min. Meanwhile, the amount of NF‐κB p65 in whole lysates did not change, but the amount of NF‐κB p65 in nuclear lysates increased in the first 15 min. Then the optimal sequence and concentration of NF‐κB p65 siRNAs was selected. After transfection of 10 nM siRNA‐2 of NF‐κB p65 into cardiac myocytes before stimulation by IL‐17A, expression of MCP‐1 mRNA and protein obviously decreased. In conclusion, expression of MCP‐1 induced by IL‐17 requires NF‐κB through the phosphorylation of p65 in cardiac myocytes, which is meaningful to study the onset of chronic viral myocarditis and will provide a new target for the treatment of viral myocarditis.
Soil and vegetation carbon turnover times from tropical to boreal forests
Authors: Wang Jinsong , Sun Jian , Xia Jianyang , He Nianpeng , Li Meiling , Niu Shuli
Published: June 2017

Terrestrial ecosystems currently function as a net carbon (C) sink for atmospheric C dioxide (CO2), but whether this C sink can persist with global climate change is still uncertain. Such uncertainty largely comes from C turnover time in an ecosystem, which is a critical parameter for modelling C cycle and evaluating C sink potential. Our current understanding of how long C can be stored in soils and vegetation and what controls spatial variations in C turnover time on a large scale is still very limited.

We used data on C stocks and C influx from 2,753 plots in vegetation and 1,087 plots in soils and investigated the spatial patterns as well controlling factors of C turnover times across forest ecosystems in eastern China.

Our results showed a clear latitudinal pattern of C turnover times, with the shortest turnover times in the low‐latitude zones and the longest turnover times in the high‐latitude zones. Mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation were the most important controlling factors on soil C turnover times, while forest age accounted for the majority of variations in the vegetation C turnover times. Forest origin (planted or natural forest) was also responsible for the variations in vegetation C turnover times, while forest type and soil properties were not the dominant controlling factors.

Our study highlights the different dominant controlling factors in soil and vegetation C turnover times and different mechanisms underlying above‐ and below‐ground C turnover. These findings are essential to better understand (and reduce uncertainty) in predictive models of coupled C–climate system.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
The impact of even‐aged and uneven‐aged forest management on regional biodiversity of multiple taxa in European beech forests
Authors: Schall Peter , Gossner Martin M. , Heinrichs Steffi , Fischer Markus , Boch Steffen , Prati Daniel , Jung Kirsten , Baumgartner Vanessa , Blaser Stefan , Böhm Stefan , Buscot François , Daniel Rolf , Goldmann Kezia , Kaiser Kristin , Kahl Tiemo , Lange Markus , Müller Jörg , Overmann Jörg , Renner Swen C. , Schulze Ernst‐Detlef , Sikorski Johannes , Tschapka Marco , Türke Manfred , Weisser Wolfgang W. , Wemheuer Bernd , Wubet Tesfaye , Ammer Christian
Published: June 2017

For managed temperate forests, conservationists and policymakers favour fine‐grained uneven‐aged (UEA) management over more traditional coarse‐grained even‐aged (EA) management, based on the assumption that within‐stand habitat heterogeneity enhances biodiversity. There is, however, little empirical evidence to support this assumption. We investigated for the first time how differently grained forest management systems affect the biodiversity of multiple above‐ and below‐ground taxa across spatial scales.

We sampled 15 taxa of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria within the largest contiguous beech forest landscape of Germany and classified them into functional groups. Selected forest stands have been managed for more than a century at different spatial grains. The EA (coarse‐grained management) and UEA (fine‐grained) forests are comparable in spatial arrangement, climate and soil conditions. These were compared to forests of a nearby national park that have been unmanaged for at least 20 years. We used diversity accumulation curves to compare γ‐diversity for Hill numbers 0D (species richness), 1D (Shannon diversity) and 2D (Simpson diversity) between the management systems. Beta diversity was quantified as multiple‐site dissimilarity.

Gamma diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for at least one of the three Hill numbers for six taxa (up to 77%), while eight showed no difference. Only bacteria showed the opposite pattern. Higher γ‐diversity in EA forests was also found for forest specialists and saproxylic beetles.

Between‐stand β‐diversity was higher in EA than in UEA forests for one‐third (all species) and half (forest specialists) of all taxa, driven by environmental heterogeneity between age‐classes, while α‐diversity showed no directional response across taxa or for forest specialists.

Synthesis and applications. Comparing EA and uneven‐aged forest management in Central European beech forests, our results show that a mosaic of different age‐classes is more important for regional biodiversity than high within‐stand heterogeneity. We suggest reconsidering the current trend of replacing even‐aged management in temperate forests. Instead, the variability of stages and stand structures should be increased to promote landscape‐scale biodiversity.
Prepartum Psychosis and Neonaticide: Rare Case Study and Forensic‐Psychiatric Synthesis of Literature
Authors: Karakasi Maria‐Valeria , Markopoulou Maria , Tentes Ioannis K. , Tsikouras Panagiotis N. , Vasilikos Epameinondas , Pavlidis Pavlos
Published: June 2017

Peripartum psychosis is a rare but serious psychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of a mood episode with psychotic features. Although controversy surrounds the nosological status of peripartum mental disorders, these conditions continue to be of exceptional interest to the medical and forensic mental health communities. The aim of this study was to report a rare case of prepartum psychosis which escalated to the endpoint of neonaticide and summarize literature on peripartum mental disorders and infanticide. A 30‐year‐old mother murdered her newborn with the spike of her serum delivery system and planned to commit suicide while in hospital after hallucinating due to an acute puerperal psychotic disorder with a prepartum onset and postpartum deterioration. Her disorder was not managed until neonaticide. Throughout this paper, the significance of a multidisciplinary approach for the optimal management of these incidents is highlighted and diagnostic as well as therapeutic issues are addressed.
Improving postprandial hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes already on basal insulin therapy: Review of current strategies
Authors: Umpierrez Guillermo E. , Bailey Timothy S. , Carcia Danielle , Shaefer Charles , Shubrook Jay H. , Skolnik Neil
Published: June 2017

A large number of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) on basal insulin do not reach their HbA1c goals and require additional therapy to address postprandial hyperglycemia. Guidelines from expert bodies have outlined several approaches to accomplish postprandial glucose (PPG) control, and recent literature suggests several more. This article provides strategies for primary care physicians caring for patients with T2D who do not achieve glycemic control with basal insulin alone. Current treatment guidelines and strategies for improving PPG control are reviewed, including the efficacy, safety, and cost‐effectiveness of rapid‐acting insulin (RAI) analogs, premixed insulin, glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) receptor agonists (RAs), dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors, sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, and α‐glucosidase inhibitors. Other approaches, such as combinations of newer basal insulin plus RAI and a fixed‐ratio combination of basal insulin and a GLP‐1 RA, are also described.
Application of the Acoustic Propagation Model to a deep‐water cross‐shelf curtain
Authors: Huveneers Charlie , Stehfest Kilian M. , Simpfendorfer Colin A. , Semmens Jayson , Hobday Alistair J. , Pederson Hugh , Stieglitz Thomas , Vallee Richard , Webber Dale , Heupel Michelle R. , Harcourt Robert
Published: June 2017

A good understanding of acoustic coverage and temporal variation relative to environmental conditions is crucial for accurate interpretation of results from acoustic tracking studies and ensuing appropriate management recommendations.

In their recent paper, Gjelland & Hedger (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2017) suggest that the general detection probability model proposed by Gjelland & Hedger (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2013, 4, 665–674) was not appropriately used in Huveneers et al. (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2016, 7, 825–835). The intent of the comparison in Huveneers et al. (2016) was to evaluate the Acoustic Propagation Model (APM) in a situation when parameterisation is not logistically feasible. This can be the case when reference tags have not been deployed, or when the distance between tagged animals and receivers cannot be accurately estimated or cannot be obtained under sufficiently varied weather conditions. Even when parameterisation is possible, there will be situations where the APM does not account for all factors affecting detection probability, e.g. deep‐water receivers where density gradients can affect sound propagation.

Re‐parameterisation of the APM based on clarification in Gjelland & Hedger (2017) and application to a deep‐water cross‐shelf receiver array showed similar detection range to a logistic model until about ˜750 m distance, after which the APM resulted in unrealistically high detection probability estimates. The need for large amounts of data to parameterise the APM and achieve good statistical fit negates the value of the theoretical propagation model. Detection range can also be affected by a broad range of factors, many of which are not included within the APM. The complexity of the way different environmental factors can influence acoustic detections and the variability of environments in which acoustic tracking studies are undertaken make it challenging to develop a general model applicable across environments.

We support further improvement of the APM and recommend the use of reference tags to collect necessary data to parameterise the APM and assess factors influencing detection probability.
Soft sweeps and beyond: understanding the patterns and probabilities of selection footprints under rapid adaptation
Authors: Hermisson Joachim , Pennings Pleuni S.
Published: June 2017

The tempo and mode of adaptive evolution determine how natural selection shapes patterns of genetic diversity in DNA polymorphism data. While slow mutation‐limited adaptation leads to classical footprints of ‘hard’ selective sweeps, these patterns are different when adaptation responds quickly to a novel selection pressure, acting either on standing genetic variation or on recurrent new mutation. In the past decade, corresponding footprints of ‘soft’ selective sweeps have been described both in theoretical models and in empirical data.

Here, we summarize the key theoretical concepts and contrast model predictions with observed patterns in Drosophila, humans, and microbes.

Evidence in all cases shows that ‘soft’ patterns of rapid adaptation are frequent. However, theory and data also point to a role of complex adaptive histories in rapid evolution.

While existing theory allows for important implications on the tempo and mode of the adaptive process, complex footprints observed in data are, as yet, insufficiently covered by models. They call for in‐depth empirical study and further model development.
Cervical cancer in women under 25 years of age in Queensland, Australia: To what extent is the diagnosis made by screening cytology?
Authors: Morgan Edwina L. , Sanday Karen , Budd Alison , Hammond Ian G. , Nicklin James
Published: June 2017

Introduction

The current Australian National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) involves biennial, cytology‐based screening of women from the age of 18 years. From December, 2017 this will change to a five‐yearly human papilloma virus‐based screening commencing at age 25. There is some concern that the new program may delay the opportunistic detection of cervical cancers in women under 25 years.

Aim

(1) To review all cases of invasive cervical cancer in Queensland women under the age of 25 over the last 28 years. (2) To determine symptoms and screening history prior to diagnosis.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was undertaken at the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer (QCGC) and the Queensland Cancer Registry (QCR) of all women aged between 13 and 25 years diagnosed with cervical cancer in Queensland between 1984 and 2012. Demographic data and symptoms prior to diagnosis were extracted from the QCGC and QCR databases.

Results

A total of 56 women aged 13–25, were diagnosed with cervical cancer and treated at the QCGC between 1984 and 2012. The commonest reason for the diagnosis of cancer was investigation of abnormal symptoms (n = 22, 39%) rather than routine Pap smear abnormalities (n = 15, 26%).

Conclusions

Consistent with the world literature, there is a very low incidence of cervical cancer in women under 25 years of age, irrespective of the age of commencement of screening, or the screening interval. Our study lends some support to the proposed commencement age of 25 years in the new NCSP.
Comparison of induction of labour regimes for termination of pregnancy, with and without mifepristone, from 20 to 41 weeks gestation
Authors: Fyfe Rina , Murray Henry
Published: June 2017

Aim

To investigate the efficacy of mifepristone for induction of labour in pregnancies at 20–41 weeks’ gestation, by comparing the outcomes of length of labour and duration of admission in women with and without mifepristone pretreatment.

Method

In this retrospective cohort study, all women who underwent a medical termination of a singleton pregnancy between 20 and 41 weeks gestation for either a fetal abnormality or fetal death in utero between 1 January, 2009 and 1 January, 2014 were identified. Women who went into spontaneous labour, required a primary surgical delivery or had a multiple pregnancy were not included.

Results

The total number of women included in the study was 147: 63 in the mifepristone treatment and 84 in the no mifepristone treatment. In the group of women induced after mifepristone pre‐treatment there was a 38% reduction in the median duration of labour, with 2.5 h in the group treated with mifepristone versus 4.0 h in women induced without (P = 0.001). We also found a 50% reduction in the number of days admitted to hospital with the length of admission being 1 day versus 2 days (P = 0.005).

Conclusion

This study supports the hypothesis that in pregnancies greater than 20 weeks, the duration of labour and length of admission are reduced when induction of labour for termination of pregnancy is preceded by treatment with mifepristone.
Maternal near‐misses at a provincial hospital in Papua New Guinea: A prospective observational study
Authors: Bolnga John W. , Morris Marilyn , Totona Catherine , Laman Moses
Published: June 2017

Background

Maternal near‐miss indices are World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised indicators that may improve our understanding of factors associated with maternal morbidity and mortality. In Papua New Guinea (PNG) where maternal mortality is among the highest in the world, only one study has documented near‐miss indices in a tertiary‐level hospital, but none from provincial hospitals where the majority of under‐privileged women access healthcare services.

Aims

To determine the near‐miss ratio, maternal mortality index (MMI), and associated maternal indices for Modilon Hospital in Madang Province ofPNG.

Methods

All women attending Modilon Hospital who met theWHOmaternal near‐miss definition and/or aWHO‐modified (PNG‐specific) near‐miss definition, were prospectively enrolled.

Results

There were 6019 live births during the audit period; 163 women presented with life‐threatening conditions (153 near‐misses and 10 maternal deaths). The maternal near‐miss ratio was 25.4/1000 live births and the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 166/100 000 live births, with a maternal death to near‐miss ratio of 1:15.3. The severe maternal outcome ratio was 27.1/1000 live births and the total mortality index was 6.8%. Higher proportions of near‐miss women were aged ≥30 years, nulliparous, illiterate, from rural communities, lacked formal employment, referred from peripheral health facilities, unbooked, had history of still births and were anaemic.

Conclusion

Sociodemographic factors such as women's rights, education level and status in society, in addition to appropriate health reforms with greater financial and political support are urgently needed to ensure underprivileged women in ruralPNGhave access to family planning, supervised deliveries and skilled emergency obstetric care.
On the reciprocal effects between multiple group identifications and mental health: A longitudinal study of Scottish adolescents
Authors: Miller Kirsty , Wakefield Juliet R. H. , Sani Fabio
Published: June 2017

Objectives

The aim of the study was to investigate the link between social group identification and mental health outcomes in a sample of secondary school pupils. Based on previous work, it was predicted that multiple high group identifications would protect against psychological ill health. Furthermore, it was predicted that better mental health would also predict greater number of group identifications, thus creating a ‘virtuous circle’.

Design

A longitudinal questionnaire design was used.

Methods

A total of 409 Scottish secondary school pupils aged 13–17 completed a questionnaire twice over a year. Pupils’ responses regarding their mental health and the extent of their identification with three groups (the family, school, and friends) were measured.

Results

A path analysis of the data showed that greater number of high group identifications predicted better mental health outcomes amongst participants. However, better mental health also predicted greater number of high group identifications, suggesting that there is a cyclical relationship between both variables.

Conclusions

The findings have both theoretical and practical implications. They highlight the importance of conceptualizing the link between group identification and mental health as cyclical, rather than unidirectional. This reconceptualization has implications for mental health promotion strategies, as it highlights the importance of attempting to turn a potentially ‘vicious cycle’ of social disidentification and mental ill health into a ‘virtuous cycle’ of social identification and mental health.

Practitioner points

Results showed that in a population of 409 high school pupils, the more high group identifications pupils had, the better their mental health outcomes.

Better mental health also predicted a greater number of high group identifications over time.

The findings suggest that we would benefit from conceptualizing the relationship between group identification and mental outcomes as being cyclical rather than unidirectional.

Viewing the relationship between group identification and mental health in this way enables us to consider interventions which help turn a ‘vicious cycle’ into a ‘virtuous cycle’.

Limitations

A potential limitation of the work relates to the use of self‐report questionnaires which may elicit socially desirable responses.

The sample only consists of high school pupils from mainstream public schools within Scotland.
Platelets stored at 4°C contribute to superior clot properties compared to current standard‐of‐care through fibrin‐crosslinking
Authors: Nair Prajeeda M. , Pandya Shaunak G. , Dallo Shatha F. , Reddoch Kristin M. , Montgomery Robbie K. , Pidcoke Heather F. , Cap Andrew P. , Ramasubramanian Anand K.
Published: June 2017

Currently, platelets for transfusion are stored at room temperature (RT) for 5–7 days with gentle agitation, but this is less than optimal because of loss of function and risk of bacterial contamination. We have previously demonstrated that cold (4°C) storage is an attractive alternative because it preserves platelet metabolic reserves, in vitro responses to agonists of activation, aggregation and physiological inhibitors, as well as adhesion to thrombogenic surfaces better than RT storage. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration clarified that apheresis platelets stored at 4°C for up to 72 h may be used for treating active haemorrhage. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that cold‐stored platelets contribute to generating clots with superior mechanical properties compared to RT‐stored platelets. Rheological studies demonstrate that the clots formed from platelets stored at 4°C for 5 days are significantly stiffer (higher elastic modulus) and stronger (higher critical stress) than those formed from RT‐stored platelets. Morphological analysis shows that clot fibres from cold‐stored platelets were denser, thinner, straighter and with more branch points or crosslinks than those from RT‐stored platelets. Our results also show that the enhanced clot strength and packed structure is due to cold‐induced plasma factor XIII binding to platelet surfaces, and the consequent increase in crosslinking.
Relationship between co‐morbidities at diagnosis, survival and ultimate cause of death in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL): a prospective cohort study
Authors: Strati Paolo , Parikh Sameer A. , Chaffee Kari G. , Kay Neil E. , Call Timothy G. , Achenbach Sara J. , Cerhan James R. , Slager Susan L. , Shanafelt Tait D.
Published: June 2017

The ultimate cause of death for most patients with newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and its relationship to co‐morbid health conditions is poorly defined. We conducted a prospective cohort study that systematically followed 1143 patients diagnosed with CLL between June 2002 and November 2014. Comorbid health conditions at the time of CLL diagnosis and their relationship to survival and cause of death were evaluated. Collectively, 1061 (93%) patients had at least one co‐morbid health condition at the time of CLL diagnosis (median number 3). Despite this, 89% of patients had a low‐intermediate Charlson Comorbidity Index score (CCI) at diagnosis. After a median follow‐up of 6 years, 225 patients have died. Death was due to CLL progression in 85 (46%) patients, infection in 14 (8%) patients, other cancer in 35 (19%) patients and comorbid health conditions in 50 (27%) patients. Higher CCI score and a greater number of major comorbid health conditions at the time of CLL diagnosis was associated with shorter non‐CLL specific survival, but not with shorter CLL‐specific survival on multivariate analysis. In conclusion, CLL and CLL‐related complications (infections and second cancers) are the overwhelming cause of death in patients with CLL, regardless of CCI score and number of comorbid health conditions at diagnosis.
When You're Happy and I Know It: Four‐Year‐Olds’ Emotional Perspective Taking During Online Language Comprehension
Authors: Khu Melanie , Chambers Craig , Graham Susan A.
Published: June 2017

Using a novel emotional perspective‐taking task, this study investigated 4‐year‐olds’ (n = 97) use of a speaker's emotional prosody to make inferences about the speaker's emotional state and, correspondingly, their communicative intent. Eye gaze measures indicated preschoolers used emotional perspective inferences to guide their real‐time interpretation of ambiguous statements. However, these sensitivities were less apparent in overt responses, suggesting preschoolers’ ability to integrate emotional perspective cues is at an emergent state. Perspective taking during online language processing was positively correlated with receptive vocabulary and an offline measure of emotional perspective taking, but not with cognitive perspective taking, conflict or delay inhibitory control, or working memory. Together, the results underscore how children's emerging communicative competence involves different kinds of perspective inferences with distinct cognitive underpinnings.
The Story of Tapyo: The Alkaline Salt Substitute of the Apatanis of Arunachal Pradesh, India
Authors: Sarma Rashmirekha
Published: June 2017

Salt was once the most valuable product in Arunachal Pradesh, a hill state of India, because of its scarcity in this high altitude region. The state is inhabited by almost 31 indigenous groups, among which only the Apatanis have the knowledge of making tapyo, a traditional alkaline product that is a substitute for salt. Tapyo has become nearly a lost culinary tradition because of the rapidly changing lifestyle of the Apatanis. This report focuses on the traditional preparation style of tapyo, how changing lifestyles have affected it, and its future survival.