bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lung carcinoma within a lung bulla wall: literature review and case report
Authors: Aljehani Yasser , Almutairi Mutlaq , Alreshaid Farouk , El-Bawab Hatem
Published: December 2019

Pulmonary emphysema is a common pulmonary disease encountered in daily medical practice. Its management follows specific guidelines but lacks standardized screening for the development of lung cancer. The precancerous theory of emphysematous bulla/cyst is not well described in the literature, with only a few reports of malignancy within an emphysematous bulla wall. We report the case of a 46-year-old man with productive cough and hemoptysis. A chest radiograph showed multiple irregular radiolucencies in both lung apices. Computed tomography revealed bilateral emphysema with a left apical emphysematous bulla that showed a thickened wall and accumulation of fluid within the bullous cavity. Due to life-threatening hemoptysis, a left upper lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node sampling were performed. The pathology report showed pleomorphic carcinoma within the emphysematous cystic wall. Postoperative computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis showed focal thickening in the left adrenal gland, and adrenal metastatic carcinoma was confirmed. Brain magnetic resonance imaging also showed metastasis. The patient was started on chemotherapy. He died 2 years postoperatively. Twenty-three cases have been reported from 1989 to 2016, but there was no case of metastatic disease within the wall of an emphysematous bulla. Lung emphysema is not routinely screened for cancer development because it is not cost-effective and does not seem to improve patient outcome, but should this practice be reviewed?
Rare case of uterine neoplasm: cervical sarcoma with endometrial carcinoma
Authors: Ma Ying , Cao Jie-Qiong , Yin Yan , Yao Li-Ting , Han Xiao , Wang Qiu-Man , Zhao Ye
Published: December 2019

Multiple primary malignant tumors (MPMTs) refer to two or more primary malignant neoplasms that simultaneously or successively occur in one or more organs in the same individual. Cervical sarcoma concomitant with endometrial carcinoma is rare. A 46-year-old woman was admitted because of increased menstrual volume for 4 years and irregular vaginal bleeding with discharge for 6 months. The diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma at stage II was made on the basis of results of ultrasound, pelvic magnetic resonance imaging, and hysteroscopic curettage. Extensive total abdominal hysterectomy + bilateral adnexectomy + bilateral ovarian arteriovenous high ligation + pelvic adhesion separation + pelvic lymphadenectomy +abdominal aortic lymphadenectomy via the abdomen were performed. Postoperative diagnosis of cervical sarcomas with endometrial carcinoma in stage IIIC1 was made according to the results of pathology and immunohistochemistry. Six cycles of cisplatin-epirubicin-isocyclophosphamide treatment were provided after the operation. Most clinical manifestations of cervical sarcomas are abnormal vaginal bleeding. Use of preoperative imaging and hysteroscopy is difficult for diagnosing cervical sarcomas, and postoperative pathological examinations and immunohistochemical diagnosis are mainly used instead. The possibility of MPMTs should be considered for endometrial carcinoma, especially if the cervical lesion is larger than that of the uterine cavity.
Penetrating transorbital injury by a coloring pencil in a 3-year-old child: A case report
Authors: Huang Tengyue , Ling Jun , Liu Ming , Qiu Chuanzhen , Ding Guanfu , Huang Jun , Krischek Boris , Yang Shaochun , Zheng Feng
Published: December 2019

A transorbital penetrating injury by a foreign body is an extremely rare type of injury, and its severity is often difficult to estimate by examination of the superficial wound alone. Thus, such injuries are challenging for neurosurgeons to investigate and manage. We herein present a peculiar case involving a 3-year-old girl with a penetrating transorbital skull-base injury caused by a coloring pencil and discuss the anatomical location of the foreign body, radiological examination findings, diagnosis, and treatment strategy. The pencil was completely removed by manual extraction. Follow-up investigations confirmed a good outcome. Multidisciplinary cooperation, radiological examination, correct diagnosis, timely treatment, and detailed follow-up studies are necessary to manage penetrating transorbital skull-base injuries caused by foreign bodies. The orbital walls are very thin in children, and the orbital roof and superior orbital fissure are often penetrated by foreign bodies in cases such as that described herein. The anatomical location of the foreign body influences the clinical management strategy.
Early detection of recurrent laryngeal nerve damage using intraoperative nerve monitoring during thyroidectomy
Authors: Yu Tian , Wang Fei-liang , Meng Ling-bing , Li Jian-kun , Miao Gang
Published: December 2019

Objective

This study aimed to investigate risk factors for early recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) damage during thyroid surgery with intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) technology to avoid RLN damage during surgery.

Methods

Data were retrospectively collected from 93 patients who underwent thyroidectomy at Beijing Hospital. All operations were performed by the same surgeon. A four-step procedure of IONM was used during the operation to determine the amplitude and latency of the RLN.

Results

The majority (51.6%) of patients who underwent surgery had thyroid carcinoma. Lymphadenectomy was carried out in 55 (59.1%) patients. A strong association was observed between temporary injury of the RLN and the extent of resection. The risk of temporary injury of the RLN during total thyroidectomy was three times that during right thyroid lobectomy (odds ratio = 3.13). The results of left lobectomy were also different from those of right lobectomy because the RLN was more likely to be damaged during left lobectomy.

Conclusions

Assessment of the amplitude and latency of the RLN can help to assess the integrity of the RLN. The extent of resection affects the functional integrity of the RLN.
Following the blueprint I: Niccacci’s Biblical Hebrew syntax in view of Harald Weinrich’s Tempus
Authors: Condrea Vasile A
Published: December 2019

Alviero Niccacci proposed a Biblical Hebrew syntax based on Harald Weinrich’s text-linguistic framework. I argue Niccacci’s methodology deviates substantially from Weinrich’s proposition. This article critiques Niccacci’s theoretical assumptions about the oppositions between foreground and background and that of comment and narrative. While considering these issues in view of Weinrich’s method, I also suggest that the alternative source of inspiration for Niccacci was the work of Hans J. Polotsky.
Expansion and exile in the Chronicler’s narrative of the two and a half tribes (1 Chr. 5.1-26)
Authors: Amar Itzhak
Published: December 2019

Discussion of Exile in the book of Chronicles is generally limited to questions regarding its duration, scope, and comparisons of its portrayal in Chronicles with that in parallel books (Kings and Jeremiah). The prevalent approach to these questions in scholarship is that the Chronicler does not perceive this exile as a permanent state and usually downplays its duration or the number of people exiled. This is not the case, however, in regard to the two and a half tribes in 1 Chr. 5. Their exile is mentioned no fewer than three times in the genealogical lists of these tribes. I will attempt to explore why the exile of these tribes is relatively prominent in the text and how this contributes to the Chronicler’s perception of ‘all of Israel’.
The tribological and corrosion behavior of TiO2 coatings deposited by the electrophoretic deposition process
Authors: Dhiflaoui Hafedh , Khlifi Kaouther , Barhoumi Najoua , Ben Cheikh Larbi Ahmed
Published: December 2019

TiO2 coatings have recently been used as corrosion resistant materials to protect metals in several environments. In this study, the microstructure, phase composition and morphology under different voltages (20, 30 and 40 V) were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The coating corrosion performance was examined by potentiodynamic polarization in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. Experimental findings indicate that the thickness and cracks of the coating rise by increasing voltage. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy results show that the atomic ratio Ti/O of the coating has an almost constant ratio. Obviously, the defects and cracks on the deposited coatings resulted in corrosive attack due to a considerable increase of the corrosion current density noticed during potentiodynamic polarization experiments. The film produced under 30 V exhibited the lowest corrosion current density [Formula: see text] value of 0.21 µA cm−2 as well as the lowest corrosion potential ([Formula: see text] value of −111.89 mV, which was attributed mainly to the significant decrease of micro-pore density in the coating.
Simulation of shape memory cycle of a polymeric beam undergoing large deflection using a simple incremental approach
Authors: Pandit Debojyoti , Srinivasan Sivakumar M
Published: December 2019

Shape memory polymers are a group of polymers which can store a temporary shape at a relatively cold temperature and recover when heated above its glass transition temperature. Various constitutive models exist in literature to simulate the uniaxial shape memory cycle. One such popular model is based on the concept of multiple natural configurations. In the present work, the stress-strain-based model is adapted for bending application by converting it into a scalar moment-curvature-based relationship. The adapted model is used in a numerical framework for large deflection of beams to simulate the shape memory cycle. The employed numerical framework is based on linearising the non-linear governing differential equation and subsequently solving it in steps by numerical integration. The results are presented in suitable non-dimensional form for generality. Since coefficient of thermal expansion plays a minimal role in bending, it is found that the bending results are considerably different from their uniaxial counterpart. The approach may be claimed to be computationally economic as compared to finite element method because here large matrix inversion is avoided.
Dynamic-free robust adaptive intelligent fault-tolerant controller design with prescribed performance for stable motion of quadruped robots
Authors: Farid Yousef , Majd Vahid Johari , Ehsani-Seresht Abbas
Published: December 2019

In this article, a robust adaptive intelligent fault-tolerant controller with prescribed performance is proposed for an uncertain quadruped robot with actuator fault. The control system comprised of three terms: (1) a full-state feedback controller which includes the prescribed performance function, (2) an adaptive intelligent wavelet-based Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy network (TSFN), and (3) a robust control term. The proposed controller does not utilize the robot dynamic model. A wavelet-based TSFN is utilized to approximate adaptively the lumped nonlinear terms, parameter uncertainties, and defective torque signal. The wavelet block acts as a feature extractor, reduces the number of fuzzy rules, and also acts as a normalization function. The parameters of TSFN are tuned online by an adaptive law based on Lyapunov stability theory. The proposed controller guarantees the desired specification such as minimum speed of convergence, maximum steady-state error, overshoot concerning the position tracking error, and also bounded closed-loop signals. Numerical simulations on MATLAB/SimMechanics environment demonstrate the stable walking of the quadruped robot in the presence of the actuator faults and parameter uncertainties.
Fridays of Revolution: Focal Days and Mass Protest in Egypt and Tunisia
Authors: Ketchley Neil , Barrie Christopher
Published: December 2019

Focal days of protest are increasingly common to episodes of revolutionary mobilization. This paper explores the significance of focal days in patterning sustained protest in Egypt and Tunisia from 2011 to 2012. In Egypt, resource-poor activists exploited the confluence of worshippers on Fridays to mobilize mass transitory protest. This reliance on ritualized action hindered cross-sectoral coordination and meant mass protest often failed to inflict a direct economic cost. In Tunisia, there was no focal day of protest, in large part due to the coordinating hand of trade unions. In consequence, mass protest was more likely to span multiple sites, sectors, and tactics. These results suggest that oppositions can sustain mass mobilization even absent organizational capacity, but a reliance on a focal day limits the potential of protest over a political transition. Supplementary analyses point to the applicability of our findings to a number of other Arab Spring countries.
Accurate, Fast, But Not Always Cheap: Evaluating “Crowdcoding” as an Alternative Approach to Analyze Social Media Data
Authors: Guo Lei , Mays Kate , Lai Sha , Jalal Mona , Ishwar Prakash , Betke Margrit
Published: December 2019

Crowdcoding, a method that outsources “coding” tasks to numerous people on the internet, has emerged as a popular approach for annotating texts and visuals. However, the performance of this approach for analyzing social media data in the context of journalism and mass communication research has not been systematically assessed. This study evaluated the validity and efficiency of crowdcoding based on the analysis of 4,000 tweets about the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The results show that compared with the traditional quantitative content analysis, crowdcoding yielded comparably valid results and was superior in efficiency, but was more expensive under most circumstances.
Engaging Restaurant Customers on Facebook: The Power of Belongingness Appeals on Social Media
Authors: Gruss Richard , Kim Eojina , Abrahams Alan
Published: December 2019

The hospitality and tourism industries now acknowledge that engaging with customers via social media is an essential element of marketing strategy. Given the high variability of success with which firms have been attracting customer interest online, however, it is clear that businesses are having a difficult time determining the best way to use these emerging technologies. This study investigates the impact of certain social media post attributes on customer engagement, using restaurants on Facebook as an example. We introduce a novel set of text analytic features that positively affect customer engagement and test them against a big data set (174,000 posts). Findings indicate that appeals to a feeling of belonging to the community have a significant positive effect on engagement. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on customer engagement and offers concrete recommendations for how restaurants can interact with customers online.
Implanting totally implantable venous access ports in the upper arm is feasible and safe for patients with early breast cancer
Authors: Xu Haiping , Chen Rui , Jiang Chaojun , You Sainan , Zhu Qiannan , Li Yan , Li Shuo , Zha Xiaoming , Wang Jue
Published: December 2019

Purpose:

Totally implantable venous access ports are widely used in chemotherapy for malignant tumors. This retrospective study investigated the safety, technical feasibility, and device-related complications of totally implantable venous access ports implanted in the upper arm.

Methods:

Between May 2016 and June 2018, 570 women with early breast cancer received chemotherapy and were successfully implanted with a totally implantable venous access port in the upper arm. Device-related complications were collected and influencing factors were analyzed for major complications.

Results:

Only one case underwent premature port removal before the end of chemotherapy. Device-related complications were observed in 32 cases, including 31 late complications. The rate of complications was 0.263/1000 catheter-days. Infection and thrombosis were the most common complications, occurring in 13 and 8 cases, respectively. Other complications were catheter occlusion, catheter dislocation, arrhythmia, and so on. Patients with higher body mass index were significantly more prone to infection and those who experienced catheter-related thrombosis had longer implantation times and higher body mass indices.

Conclusion:

Implanting totally implantable venous access ports in the upper arm is feasible and safe for patients with early breast cancer, with a low rate of complications, providing good alternative to central venous ports.
Gender in the gig economy: Men and women using digital platforms to secure work in Australia
Authors: Churchill Brendan , Craig Lyn
Published: December 2019

This article explores the characteristics, experiences, and motivations of men and women who secure work through digital platforms. Drawing on quantitative survey data – the first of its kind – of Australian men (n = 251) and women (n = 253) it finds that the gig economy, much like the wider economy, is highly gender-segregated. Men dominate platforms which specialise in what might be considered traditionally male tasks like transport and women dominate platforms which specialise in more traditional female tasks like caring. The results suggest that the gig economy may be an alternative for women in the creative industries. Men and women are both drawn to the gig economy for income-related reasons, despite a significant proportion of them holding a job outside the gig economy. Flexibility was an important motivator for both genders, but women were more likely than men to report that they did gig work because it ‘fitted with their schedule’, indicating that non-work commitments such as family constrain women more than men. More men than women reported that gig work was effective in generating income.
Health condition identification for rolling bearing using a multi-domain indicator-based optimized stacked denoising autoencoder
Authors: Yan Xiaoan , Liu Ying , Jia Minping
Published: December 2019

Stacked denoising autoencoder is one of the most classic models of deep learning. However, there are two problems in the traditional stacked denoising autoencoder: (1) the parameter selection of stacked denoising autoencoder mainly depends on expert experience and (2) stacked denoising autoencoder is mainly restricted to learn automatically single-domain features from raw vibration signals while identifying the fault type, which implies that no linear mapping relationship located in other domains of vibration data is neglected, which may lead to the imperfect diagnostic results. Consequently, to address these issues, learn the well-rounded feature representation, and improve recognition accuracy, this article presents a novel approach called multi-domain indicator-based optimized stacked denoising autoencoder for automatic fault identification of rolling bearing. First, multi-domain indicator of the original vibration signal is constructed through calculating the expression of different domains (e.g. time frequency domain, and time frequency domain). Second, the constructed multi-domain indicator is regarded as the input dataset to train stacked denoising autoencoder architecture containing three hidden layers, and a recently reported nature-inspired algorithm named grasshopper optimization algorithm is employed to synchronously determine the model parameters of stacked denoising autoencoder, which is aimed at learning more robust and reliable feature representation. Finally, the feature representation learned in the testing set is fed into the trained stacked denoising autoencoder model containing softmax classifier for identifying bearing health conditions. The presented method is evaluated using two bearing vibration datasets. Experimental results indicate that our approach can provide high-accuracy recognition over 99% for bearing health condition, and it achieves more decent and precise classification results compared with some shallow learning model and standard deep learning architecture.
Perfluoroalkyl substances and likelihood of stroke in persons with and without diabetes
Authors: Hutcheson Robert , Innes Kim , Conway Baqiyyah
Published: December 2019

Objective:

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship of perfluoroalkyl substances with stroke and any modifying influence of diabetes.

Methods:

Data on 3921 adults aged ⩾20 years with and 44,285 without diabetes were drawn from the C8 Health Project. Four perfluoroalkyl substances were investigated: perfluorohexane sulphate, C8 – perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluoroctane sulfonate and perfluorononaoic acid.

Results:

There were 238 cases of stroke among those with and 643 among those without diabetes. In analyses controlled for age, sex, race, diabetes duration, body mass index, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, C-reactive protein, kidney function and a history of smoking, a history of stroke was significantly inversely associated with serum perfluorohexane sulphate (odds ratio = 0.75, 0.64–0.88) and perfluoroctane sulfonate (odds ratio = 0.81, 0.70–0.90), but not perfluorooctanoic acid (odds ratio = 1.04, 0.94–1.15) or perfluorononaoic acid (odds ratio = 0.89, 0.70–1.14) among those with diabetes. Perfluoroalkyl substances demonstrated no association with stroke among those without diabetes ( p interaction = 0.006 and 0.01 for perfluorohexane sulphate and perfluorooctanoic acid, respectively).

Conclusion:

In this large cross-sectional study, serum levels of perfluorohexane sulphate and perfluoroctane sulfonate were inversely associated with stroke among those with diabetes. Although mechanisms and implications for this diabetes-specific inverse relationship need to be further explored, our data suggest that perfluoroalkyl substances do not increase risk of stroke among persons with or without diabetes.
Optimal design of a global force-balanced polycrystalline diamond compact bit considering wear condition
Authors: Ma Yachao , Lian Zhanghua , Huang Zhiqiang , Zhang Wenlin , Xie Dou
Published: December 2019

Polycrystalline diamond compact bits are one of the most widely used oil and gas drilling tools in the world. With wear, a large unbalanced lateral force and bending moment exist. These force and moment contribute not only to bit lateral vibration and whirl but also to wellbore tilt and enlargement, which will then cause early bit failure and low drilling efficiency. In this article, considering wear condition, a single cutter force model is proposed. Lateral force and bending moment models are constructed based on space-force theory. An optimal cutter layout model considering cutter wear is established. The matching approach for the optimal model is discussed based on Kriging surrogate model and genetic algorithm. Then, an optimization case is presented. The results show that the bit force models are in line with the actual drilling condition. The optimal approach is efficient. After optimization, the lateral force to weight on bit ratio is reduced by 10.99%, and the bending moment to torque on bit ratio is reduced by 30.43%. This result is a significant improvement in the force condition and stability of the polycrystalline diamond compact bit; ultimately, the whirl and tilt motion can be reduced, and the drilling efficiency can be improved.
Primary conservative treatment for peritonitis-absent symptomatic isolated dissection of the superior mesenteric artery with severely compressed true lumen
Authors: Fang Gang , Xu Genying , Fang Yuan , Yang Jue , Pan Tianyue , Jiang Xiaolang , Dong Zhihui , Fu Weiguo
Published: December 2019

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of primary conservative treatment (PCT) for peritonitis-absent symptomatic spontaneous isolated dissection of the superior mesenteric artery (S-SIDSMA) with severely compressed true lumen.

Methods

From January 2013 to December 2018, PCT was used in 26 cases of peritonitis-absent S-SIDSMA with severely compressed true lumen in our center based on our previous proposed treatment algorithm for S-SIDSMA. The demographics, duration from the onset to the admission, duration from the start of the conservative treatment to the alleviation of the symptoms, and in-hospital and follow-up clinical and angiographic outcomes were prospectively recorded and then analyzed.

Results

Among the 26 included patients, 84.6% were male. The mean age of the patients was 54.7 years. The mean duration from the onset to the admission was 3.1 days (range, 1–14 days). Symptoms in 22 patients were markedly or completely relieved during the first five-day medical treatment. Endovascular stent placement was attempted in the remaining four patients, which was successfully performed in three (75%) of them. The technical failure occurred in a patient whose compressed true lumen failed to be cannulated. Medical treatment was then continued in this patient, and his symptoms were relieved after a two-day medical treatment. During the mean follow-up period of 14.3 months, endovascular stent placement was performed in three patients due to the recurrence of the abdominal pain and the chronic intestinal ischemia. No patient showed dissection progression during the follow-up. The complete remodeling rate of the stent group was significantly higher than that of the medical group (83.3% vs. 25%, P = 0.021).

Conclusions

Based on our previous proposed treatment algorithm for S-SIDSMA, PCT could achieve satisfactory results both clinically and morphologically in peritonitis-absent S-SIDSMA with severely compressed true lumen.
The study buddy effect: studying abroad with a close friend and the development of cultural agility
Authors: Traylor Allison , Caligiuri Paula
Published: December 2019

This study examines whether preexisting close friendships facilitate students’ cultural agility development during short-term international study abroad experiences. Using a longitudinal design, we found that study abroad students who had a close friend accompanying them on the experience (i.e., an “international study buddy”) had lower cultural agility at the onset of the experience but had a higher level of cultural agility development upon return, compared with those without a friend on the trip. Those who did not travel with friends demonstrated no significant cross-cultural competency development. Our findings suggest that contextual novelty is independently determined, and the presence of a trusted friend may help reduce the novelty enough such that students with lower predeparture cultural agility can comfortably gain from the experience. At the same time, for development to occur, students with higher cultural agility may need more contextual novelty than the short-term study abroad experience provides.
Synthesis of new phenolic compounds and biological evaluation as antiproliferative agents
Authors: Ibrahim Marwa A , George Riham F , Abou-Seri Sahar M , El-Moghazy Samir M
Published: December 2019

New series of phenolic azomethine compounds in addition to 5-arylidene thiazolidinones are synthesized and screened for their anticancer activity against the brain cancer cell line SNB-75 and non-small lung cancer cells HOP-92. The azomethine derivative 12b is the most active compound against SNB-75 displaying an IC50 value of 0.14 μM. Compounds 7b, 16a and 27d display submicromolar activity against the HOP-92 cell line with IC50 values of 0.73, 0.74 and 0.81 μM, respectively. Moreover, studying the cytotoxic effects of the most active compounds against normal lung cells WI-38 revealed that compounds 7b, 16a and 27d showed high safety profiles as anticancer agents.
Chronic progressive pulmonary paracoccidioidomycosis in a female immigrant from Venezuela
Authors: Kayser Moritz , Rickerts Volker , Drick Nora , Gerkrath Jasmin , Kreipe Hans , Soudah Bisharah , Welte Tobias , Suhling Hendrik
Published: December 2019

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a fungal infection caused by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and P. lutzii. It is endemic to South and Central America. While PCM frequently remains latent, the disease can reactivate years after the initial infection. As the disease is rare outside the endemic area, and symptoms can mimic other pulmonary diseases, correct diagnosis can be challenging for clinicians in developed countries. In this report, we present the case of a 57-year-old female Venezuelan immigrant with PCM. She was initially misdiagnosed with sarcoidosis and treated with corticosteroids, leading to an exacerbation of the infection requiring intensive care. Because cultivation of Paracoccidioides sp. is slow and unsensitive, we opted for microscopic observation of fungal elements and molecular testing on a tissue biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) together with antibody detection. This allowed the diagnosis of PCM, enabling specific management. PCM and other imported mycoses should be considered as a differential diagnosis in patients originating from South and Central America displaying symptoms suggestive of sarcoidosis.

The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.
Clinical relevance of neutralizing antibodies in botulinum toxin long-term treated still-responding patients with cervical dystonia
Authors: Hefter Harald , Rosenthal Dietmar , Bigalke Hans , Moll Marek
Published: December 2019

Background:

The aim of the study was to test the clinical relevance of neutralizing antibodies (NABs) in patients with cervical dystonia (CD) still responding to repeat injections with botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A).

Methods:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-test evidence from a cross-sectional study on 221 CD-patients with treatment durations of between 2 and 21 years and still responding to repeat BoNT/A-injections showed the presence of antibodies against BoNT/A in 39 patients. A mouse hemi-diaphragm (MHDA) confirmation test was performed in these 39 ELISA-positive patients, and demographic (age, sex, age at onset of CD) and treatment-related (duration of treatment, mean dose of the last 10 injections, TSUI-score, patient’s subjective scoring of the treatment effect, patient’s scoring of quality of life by means of the CDQ24-questionnaire) data from these 39 patients were compared with data from ELISA-negative patients. Paralysis time, the MHDA outcome measure, was correlated with clinical data.

Results:

The ELISA-positive CD-patients had significantly higher TSUI-scores ( p < 0.015), and had been treated for significant longer ( p < 0.022) and with significantly higher doses ( p < 0.001). Patient’s rating of BoNT/A-treatment effect and quality of life tended to be worse in ELISA-positive compared with ELISA-negative patients. The paralysis time of ELISA-positive patients was significantly correlated with the mean dose of the last 10 injections ( p < 0.027) and the pain subscore of the CDQ24 ( p < 0.012).

Conclusions:

Presence of NABs is clinically relevant in CD, leading to a significantly worse head position, therapy with significantly higher BoNT/A doses, and a correlation between the CDQ24 pain-subscore and antibody titers.
Assessing impairment using a configural measure
Authors: Fuller Jordan S , Young Michael A
Published: December 2019

Assessing impairment in daily functioning is an important part of a mental health evaluation and of monitoring progress in treatment. The Seasonality Assessment Form includes five yes/no impairment items written to reflect the ways that patients intuitively describe their levels of impairment. However, the items are not mutually exclusive and are not summative so that impairment severity is represented by the configural pattern of responses. This article used configural and graphical methods to examine the nature of response patterns and how to use them to generate an impairment severity score.
Book review: Nalin Abeysekera. Marketing Sinhalen
Authors: Dewasiri N. J. , Samarasinghe G. D.
Published: December 2019

Nalin Abeysekera. Marketing Sinhalen, 2019, Sri Lanka: Sadeepa Publishers (Pvt.) Limited, pp. 1–51, `200 (paperback), ISBN: 978-955-661-965-2
Swelling characteristics of bentonite after long-term dissolution in alkaline solution
Authors: Xiang Guo-sheng , Ye Wei-min , Lv Li-yong
Published: December 2019

In a high-level radioactive waste repository, bentonite may react with the alkaline solution produced by cement degradation. In this study, bentonite was mixed with alkaline solution in a closed system and reacted for 3–24 months. Furthermore, swelling tests were conducted on the alkaline-dissolved bentonite immersed in distilled water. The swelling deformation decreased significantly with increases in the concentration of NaOH solution and reaction time, and this was mainly due to montmorillonite dissolution. The fractal e–p relationship (e is the void ratio and p is the vertical pressure) with two calculation coefficients (the swelling coefficient and the fractal dimension) was employed to determine the swelling of alkaline-dissolved bentonite. The fractal dimension increased slightly with increasing reaction time or concentration of NaOH solution, as the dissolution traces caused by the alkaline solution favoured an increase in the irregularity and fractality of the bentonite surface. The swelling coefficient decreased linearly with decreasing montmorillonite content. In addition, the swelling coefficient and the fractal dimension were related exponentially to the reaction time in alkaline solution. A relationship between the swelling of alkaline-dissolved samples and the reaction time was proposed, which might be used to assess the swelling properties of bentonite barriers that would be affected by long-term dissolution of the alkaline solution in a closed repository.
TRPM8 genetic variant is associated with chronic migraine and allodynia
Authors: Ling Yu-Hsiang , Chen Shih-Pin , Fann Cathy Shen-Jang , Wang Shuu-Jiun , Wang Yen-Feng
Published: December 2019

Background

Many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been reported to be associated with migraine susceptibility. However, evidences for their associations with migraine endophenotypes or subtypes are scarce. We aimed to investigate the associations of pre-identified migraine susceptibility loci in Taiwanese with migraine endophenotypes or subtypes, including chronic migraine and allodynia.

Methods

The associations of six SNPs identified from our previous study, including TRPM8 rs10166942, LRP1 rs1172113, DLG2 rs655484, GFRA1 rs3781545, UPP2 rs7565931, and GPR39 rs10803531, and migraine endophenotypes, including chronic migraine and allodynia were tested. Significant associations in the discovery cohort were validated in the replication cohort. The adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were calculated after controlling for confounders.

Results

In total, 1904 patients (mean age 37.5 ± 12.2 years old, female ratio: 77.7%) including 1077 in the discovery cohort and 827 in the replication cohort were recruited. Of them, 584 (30.7%) had chronic migraine. Of the 6 investigated SNPs, TRPM8 rs10166942 T allele-carrying patients were more likely to have chronic migraine than non-T allele carriers in both discovery and replication cohorts and combined samples (33.7% vs. 25.8%, p = 0.004, aOR = 1.62). In addition, T allele carriers reported more allodynic symptoms than non-T allele carriers (3.5 ± 3.7 vs. 2.6 ± 2.8, p < 0.001). However, allodynia severity did not differ between episodic and chronic migraine patients. No further correlations between genetic variants and endophenotypes were noted for the other SNPs.

Conclusions

TRPM8 may contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic migraine. However, our study did not support allodynia as a link between them. The underlying mechanisms deserve further investigations.
The long noncoding RNA LINC00483 promotes lung adenocarcinoma progression by sponging miR-204-3p
Authors: Yang Shengzhuang , Liu Tao , Sun Yu , Liang Xiangsen
Published: December 2019

Background

The expression of the long noncoding RNA LINC00483 is upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, its role in the progression of LUAD and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive.

Methods

The expressions of LINC00483 and miR-204-3p were determined using quantitative real-time PCR. The correlation between the clinicopathological characteristics of LUAD patients and LINC00483 expression was analyzed using Pearson’s χ2 test. A549 and PC-9 cells were transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) that specially targeting LINC00483 to assess the impact of its knockdown. Cell proliferation was assessed using the Cell Counting Kit-8 and clone forming assays. Cell migration and cell invasion were evaluated using a transwell assay. The levels of Snail, E-cadherin, N-cadherin and ETS1 proteins were determined via western blotting. The interaction between LINC00483 and miR-204-3p was analyzed using dual-luciferase, fluorescence in situ hybridization and RNA immunoprecipitation.

Results

LINC00483 was upregulated in LUAD tissues and cell lines. Higher LINC00483 levels closely correlated to shorter survival times, advanced TNM stage, larger tumor size and positive lymph node metastasis. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were suppressed after LINC00483 knockdown. LINC00483 mainly localized in the cytoplasm, where it acted as a sponge of miR-204-3p. ETS1 was validated as a downstream target of miR-204-3p and is thus regulated by LINC00483.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that LINC00483 facilitates the proliferation, migration and invasion of LUAD cells by acting as a sponge for miR-204-3p, which in turn regulates ETS1.
The Study of Enhanced High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy by Sonodynamic N2O Microbubbles
Authors: Zhong Xiaowen , Zhang Mei , Tian Zedan , Wang Qi , Wang Zhigang
Published: December 2019

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a representative non-invasive method of cancer therapy, but its low therapeutic efficacy and risk of damage to surrounding normal tissue hinder its further clinical development and application. Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) kills tumor cells through reactive oxygen molecules produced by sonosensitizers during ultrasound treatment. SDT can enhance HIFU efficacy like microbubbles. In this work, we developed nanoscale N2O microbubbles (N2O-mbs) by an improved mechanical oscillation method. These microbubbles showed good biocompatibility and tumor cell binding. The sonosensitivity of the N2O-mbs was detected both extracellularly and intracellularly through the detection of reactive oxygen species generation. The toxic effects of these sonodynamic microbubbles on tumor cells and the synergistic effect on HIFU treatment were evaluated. Significant apoptosis was caused by reactive oxygen species produced by N2O-mbs under ultrasound irradiation. N2O-mbs combined with HIFU increased tumor cell necrosis and apoptosis in vitro and the coagulative necrotic volume and echo intensity in the bovine liver target area ex vivo. These sonodynamic microbubbles have been also demonstrated to efficiently inhibit tumor growth in vivo. N2O-mbs have a significant impact on the treatment and ablation effect of HIFU due to the advantages of microbubble and extraordinary sonosensitivity. This finding suggests that N2O-mbs may be a novel auxiliary agent for ultrasound that can be used to promote HIFU tumor thermal ablation.
Photogalvanic Effect in Nitrogen-Doped Monolayer MoS2 from First Principles
Authors: Luo Wen-Ming , Shao Zhi-Gang , Yang Mou
Published: December 2019

We investigate the photogalvanic effect in nitrogen-doped monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) under the perpendicular irradiation, using first-principles calculations combined with non-equilibrium Green function formalism. We provide a detailed analysis on the behavior of photoresponse based on the band structure and in particular the joint density of states. We thereby identify different mechanisms leading to the existence of zero points, where the photocurrent vanishes. In particular, while the zero point in the linear photovoltaic effect is due to forbidden transition, their appearance in the circular photovoltaic effect results from the identical intensity splitting of the valance band and the conduction band in the presence of Rashba and Dresslhaus spin-orbit coupling. Furthermore, our results reveal a strong circular photogalvanic effect of nitrogen-doped monolayer MoS2, which is two orders of magnitude larger than that induced by the linearly polarized light.
Lithia-Based Nanocomposites Activated by Li2RuO3 for New Cathode Materials Rooted in the Oxygen Redox Reaction
Authors: Lee Byeong Gwan , Park Yong Joon
Published: December 2019

Lithia-based materials are promising cathodes based on an anionic (oxygen) redox reaction for lithium ion batteries due to their high capacity and stable cyclic performance. In this study, the properties of a lithia-based cathode activated by Li2RuO3 were characterized. Ru-based oxides are expected to act as good catalysts because they can play a role in stabilizing the anion redox reaction. Their high electronic conductivity is also attractive because it can compensate for the low conductivity of lithia. The lithia/Li2RuO3 nanocomposites show stable cyclic performance until a capacity limit of 500 mAh g−1 is reached, which is below the theoretical capacity (897 mAh g−1) but superior to other lithia-based cathodes. In the XPS analysis, while the Ru 3d peaks in the spectra barely changed, peroxo-like (O2)n− species reversibly formed and dissociated during cycling. This clearly confirms that the capacity of the lithia/Li2RuO3 nanocomposites can mostly be attributed to the anionic (oxygen) redox reaction.
The influence of past experiences on future willingness to perform bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Authors: Chew Keng Sheng , Ahmad Razali Shazrina , Wong Shirly Siew Ling , Azizul Aisyah , Ismail Nurul Faizah , Robert Sharoon Juliet Kun Chyee Ak , Jayaveeran Yegharaj A/L
Published: December 2019

Background

The influence of past familial experiences of receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and medical help in various cardiac arrest and nonfatal cardiac events toward willingness to “pay it forward” by helping the next cardiac arrest victim was explored.

Methods

Using a validated questionnaire, 6248 participants were asked to rate their willingness to perform bystander chest compression with mouth-to-mouth ventilation and chest compression-only CPR. Their past familial experiences of receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and medical help in various cardiac arrest and nonfatal cardiac events were also recorded.

Results

Kruskal-Wallis test with post hoc Dunn’s pairwise comparisons showed that the following were significantly more willing to perform CPR with mouth-to-mouth ventilation: familial experience of “nonfatal cardiac events” (mean rank = 447) vs “out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with no CPR” (mean rank = 177), U = 35442.5, z = −2.055, p = 0.04; “in-hospital cardiac arrest and successful CPR” (mean rank = 2955.79) vs “none of these experiences” (mean rank = 2468.38), U = 111903, z = −2.60, p = 0.01; and “in-hospital cardiac arrest with successful CPR” (mean rank = 133.45) vs “out-of-hospital arrest with no CPR” (mean rank = 112.36), U = 4135.5, z = −2.06, p = 0.04. For compression-only CPR, Kruskal-Wallis test with multiple runs of Mann-Whitney U tests showed that “nonfatal cardiac events” group was statistically higher than the group with “none of these experiences” (mean rank = 3061.43 vs 2859.91), U = 1194658, z = −2.588, p = 0.01. The groups of “in-hospital cardiac arrest with successful CPR” and “in-hospital cardiac arrest with transient return of spontaneous circulation” were the most willing groups to perform compression-only CPR.

Conclusion

Prior familial experiences of receiving CPR and medical help, particularly among those with successful outcomes in a hospital setting, seem to increase the willingness to perform bystander CPR.
shinyBN: an online application for interactive Bayesian network inference and visualization
Authors: Chen Jiajin , Zhang Ruyang , Dong Xuesi , Lin Lijuan , Zhu Ying , He Jieyu , Christiani David C. , Wei Yongyue , Chen Feng
Published: December 2019

Background

High-throughput technologies have brought tremendous changes to biological domains, and the resulting high-dimensional data has also posed enormous challenges to computational science. A Bayesian network is a probabilistic graphical model represented by a directed acyclic graph, which provides concise semantics to describe the relationship between entities and has an independence assumption that is suitable for sparse omics data. Bayesian networks have been broadly used in biomedical research fields, including disease risk assessment and prognostic prediction. However, the inference and visualization of Bayesian networks are unfriendly to the users lacking programming skills.

Results

We developed an R/Shiny application, shinyBN, which is an online graphical user interface to facilitate the inference and visualization of Bayesian networks. shinyBN supports multiple types of input and provides flexible settings for network rendering and inference. For output, users can download network plots, prediction results and external validation results in publication-ready high-resolution figures.

Conclusion

Our user-friendly application (shinyBN) provides users with an easy method for Bayesian network modeling, inference and visualization via mouse clicks. shinyBN can be used in the R environment or online and is compatible with three major operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS. shinyBN is deployed at https://jiajin.shinyapps.io/shinyBN/. Source codes and the manual are freely available at https://github.com/JiajinChen/shinyBN.
Correction to: Multiple selective sweeps of ancient polymorphisms in and around LTα located in the MHC class III region on chromosome 6
Authors: Campbell Michael C. , Ashong Bryan , Teng Shaolei , Harvey Jayla , Cross Christopher N.
Published: December 2019

After publication of our article [1] we were notified that a few duplicate sentences were included on Figure 3 and Figure 4 legends.
Myocardial characterization in pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease: a study of prevalence, patterns and outcomes
Authors: Price Anna M. , Hayer Manvir K. , Vijapurapu Ravi , Fyyaz Saad A. , Moody William E. , Ferro Charles J. , Townend Jonathan N. , Steeds Richard P. , Edwards Nicola C.
Published: December 2019

Background

Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) characterizes myocardial disease and predicts an adverse cardiovascular (CV) prognosis. Myocardial abnormalities, are present in early chronic kidney disease (CKD). To date there are no data defining prevalence, pattern and clinical implications of LGE-CMR in CKD.

Methods

Patients with pre-dialysis CKD (stage 2–5) attending specialist renal clinics at University Hospital Birmingham (UK) who underwent gadolinium enhanced CMR (1.5 T) between 2005 and 2017 were included. The patterns and presence (LGEpos) / absence (LGEneg) of LGE were assessed by two blinded observers. Association between LGE and CV outcomes were assessed.

Results

In total, 159 patients received gadolinium (male 61%, mean age 55 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 69%, left ventricular hypertrophy 5%) with a median follow up period of 3.8 years [1.04–11.59]. LGEpos was present in 55 (34%) subjects; the patterns were: right ventricular insertion point n = 28 (51%), mid wall n = 18 (33%), sub-endocardial n = 5 (9%) and sub-epicardial n = 4 (7%). There were no differences in left ventricular structural or functional parameters with LGEpos. There were 12 adverse CV outcomes over follow up; 7 of 55 with LGEpos and 5 of 104 LGEneg. LGEpos was not predicted by age, gender, glomerular filtration rate or electrocardiographic abnormalities.

Conclusions

In a selected cohort of subjects with moderate CKD but low CV risk, LGE was present in approximately a third of patients. LGE was not associated with adverse CV outcomes. Further studies in high risk CKD cohorts are required to assess the role of LGE with multiplicative risk factors.