bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictors of selective laser trabeculoplasty success in open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension: does baseline tonography have a predictive role?
Authors: Alaghband Pouya , Galvis Elizabeth Angela , Daas Arij , Nagar Anindyt , Beltran-Agulló Laura , Khawaja Anthony P , Goyal Saurabh , Lim Kin Sheng
Published: January 2020

Background

The determinants of success of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) in treatment-naïve patients with open angle glaucoma (OAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT) have not been understood fully. Therefore, we have conducted this study to explore the predictors of success.

Methods

This is a retrospective review of a pre-existing database of patients who had received primary SLT at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK. Patients with OAG and OHT who had received primary 360° SLT treatment and had reliable baseline tonographic outflow facility (TOF) with minimum of 1 year of follow-up were included. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to find the determinants of success.

Results

One hundred and seventy-four patients between August 2006 and February 2010 had received primary 360° SLT treatment and had baseline TOF measurement. Of these, 72 subjects fulfilled the eligibility criteria. In multivariate regression analysis, the only variable associated with success was baseline intraocular pressure (IOP) (R2=0.32, beta=−0.51, p<0.001, 95% CI −2.02 to −0.74).

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the only study investigating the pretreatment TOF (measured with electronic Shiøtz tonography) and IOP as determinants of success 12 month’s post-360° SLT in treatment-naïve patients with OAG and OHT. This study demonstrated that pretreatment IOP (and not TOF) is the only determinant of success after primary SLT therapy.
Superior socioeconomic status in patients with type 2 diabetes having gastric bypass surgery: a case-control analysis of 10 642 individuals
Authors: Sundbom Magnus , Franzén Stefan , Ottosson Johan , Svensson Ann-Marie
Published: January 2020

Introduction

The incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing, in parallel with the epidemic of obesity. Although bariatric surgery, which profoundly affects T2DM, has increased 10-fold since the millennium, only a fraction of diabetics is offered this treatment option.

Objective

To investigate the association between clinical and socioeconomic factors in selecting patients with T2DM for bariatric surgery in a publicly financed healthcare system.

Research design and methods

Cohort study using prospectively registered data from two nationwide quality registers, the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Registry (SOReg) and the Swedish National Diabetes Register (NDR), and data from two government agencies. An age, gender and body mass index-matched case-control analysis containing 10 642 patients with T2DM was performed.

Results

Patients with T2DM having bariatric surgery had a higher education level (upper secondary school or college level, OR 1.42% and 95% CI (1.29 to 1.57) and 1.33 (1.18 to 1.51), respectively) as well as a higher income (OR 1.37 (1.22 to 1.53) to 1.94 (1.72 to 2.18) for quartile 2–4) than non-operated patients. Operated patients were more often married or had been married (OR 1.51 (1.37 to 1.66) and 1.65 (1.46 to 1.86), respectively) as well as natives (OR 0.84 (0.73 to 0.95) if born in the rest of Europe). Groups did not differ regarding relevant laboratory data and present medication, nor in former in-patient diagnoses.

Conclusion

Despite similar clinical data, superior socioeconomic status was associated with increased rate of bariatric surgery in patients with T2DM. We believe that this warrants actions, for example concerning referral patterns.
Effect of a dementia education intervention on the confidence and attitudes of general practitioners in Australia: a pretest post-test study
Authors: Mason Ron , Doherty Kathleen , Eccleston Claire , Winbolt Margaret , Long Marita , Robinson Andrew
Published: January 2020

Objectives

This study assessed the impact of a Dementia Education Workshop on the confidence and attitudes of general practitioner (GP) registrars (GPR) and GP supervisors (GPS) in relation to the early diagnosis and management of dementia.

Design

Pretest post-test research design.

Setting

Continuing medical education in Australia.

Participants

332 GPR and 114 GPS.

Interventions

Registrars participated in a 3-hour face-to-face workshop while supervisors participated in a 2-hour-modified version designed to assist with the education and supervision of registrars.

Main outcome measures

The General Practitioners Confidence and Attitude Scale for Dementia was used to assess overall confidence, attitude to care and engagement. A t-test for paired samples was used to identify differences from preworkshop (T1) to postworkshop (T2) for each GP group. A t-test for independent samples was undertaken to ascertain differences between each workshop group. A Cohen’s d was calculated to measure the effect size of any difference between T1 and T2 scores.

Results

Significant increases in scores were recorded forConfidence in Clinical Abilities,Attitude to CareandEngagementbetween pretest and post-test periods. GPR exhibited the greatest increase in scores forConfidence in Clinical AbilitiesandEngagement.

Conclusions

Targeted educational interventions can improve attitude, increase confidence and reduce negative attitudes towards engagement of participating GPs.
Early-life social and health determinants of adult socioeconomic position: associations and trends across generations
Authors: Hossin Muhammad Zakir , Björk Jonas , Koupil Ilona
Published: January 2020

Background

Social and biological circumstances at birth are established predictors of adult socioeconomic position (SEP). This study aims to assess the trends in these associations across two generations and examine the effects of parental early-life characteristics on descendants’ adult SEP.

Methods

We studied men and women born in the Uppsala University Hospital 1915–1929 (G1) and their offspring born 1932–1960 (G2). Data were collected in archives and routine registers. Adult SEP was assessed as an aggregate measure combining education and occupation. The exposures were family SEP, mother’s marital status, mother’s parity, mother’s age, standardised birth weight, gestational length and birth multiplicity. Linear regression was used to examine the associations across generations.

Results

The difference in adult SEP between low and high family SEP at birth was 15.8 (95% CI: 13.3 to 18.3) percentage points smaller in G2 compared with G1, although a considerable difference was still evident in G2. The associations of adult SEP with small birth weight for gestational age, post-term birth and high parity were stable between the generations: the generational differences in adjusted coefficients were 1.5 (95% CI: −1.1 to 4.1), 0.6 (–1.7 to 2.9) and 1.8 (–0.2 to 3.8) percentage points, respectively. The association between grandparental and grandchildren’s SEPs was largely explained by parental socioeconomic conditions. Father’s preterm birth was independently associated with offspring’s SEP.

Conclusion

The stability of the associations between early-life biological disadvantages and adult SEP and the persistent, although attenuated, association between early-life and adult SEPs necessitates increased policy attention to both social and health conditions at birth.
The new physics reach of null tests with $$D \rightarrow \pi \ell \ell $$ and $$D_s \rightarrow K \ell \ell $$ decays
Authors: Bause Rigo , Golz Marcel , Hiller Gudrun , Tayduganov Andrey
Published: January 2020

$$|\Delta c|=|\Delta u|=1$$

|
Δ
c
|
=
|
Δ
u
|
=
1

processes are unique probes of flavor physics in the up-sector within and beyond the Standard Model (SM). SM tests with rare semileptonic charm meson decays are based on an approximate CP–symmetry, a superior GIM–mechanism, angular distributions, lepton-universality and lepton flavor conservation. We analyze the complete set of null test observables in $$D \rightarrow \pi \ell \ell ^{(\prime )}$$

D
→
π
ℓ

ℓ

(
′
)

and $$D_s \rightarrow K \ell \ell ^{(\prime )}$$

D
s

→
K
ℓ

ℓ

(
′
)

decays, $$\ell ^{(\prime )}=e, \mu $$

ℓ

(
′
)

=
e
,
μ

, and find large room for new physics safely above the SM contribution. We identify signatures of supersymmetry, leptoquarks and anomaly-free $$U(1)^\prime $$

U

(
1
)

′

–models with generation-dependent charges, for which we provide explicit examples. $$Z^\prime $$

Z
′

–effects in $$c \rightarrow u \ell \ell ^{(\prime )}$$

c
→
u
ℓ

ℓ

(
′
)

transitions can be sizable if both left-handed and right-handed couplings to quarks are present.
Sedimentary and tectonic controls on Lower Carboniferous (Visean) mixed carbonate–siliciclastic deposition in NE England and the Southern North Sea: implications for reservoir architecture
Authors: Booth Matthew G. , Underhill John R. , Gardiner Andy , McLean Duncan
Published: January 2020

Discovery of the Breagh gas field in the Southern North Sea (SNS) has demonstrated the potential that the Lower Carboniferous (Visean, 346.7–330.9 Ma) Farne Group reservoirs have to contribute to the UK's future energy mix. New biostratigraphic correlations provide a basis to compare Asbian and Brigantian sedimentary cores from the Breagh Field and age-equivalent sediments exposed on the Northumberland Coast, which has proved critical in gaining an understanding of exploration and development opportunities. Thirteen facies associations characterize the mixed carbonate–siliciclastic system, grouped into: marine, delta front, delta shoreface, lower delta plain and upper delta plain gross depositional environments. The facies associations are interpreted as depositing in a mixed carbonate and siliciclastic fluvio-deltaic environment, and are arranged into coarsening- and cleaning-upward cycles (parasequences) bounded by flooding surfaces. Most cycles are characterized by mouth bars, distributary channels, interdistributary bays and common braided rivers, interpreted as river-dominated deltaic deposits. Some cycles include rare shoreface and tidally-influenced deposits, interpreted as river-dominated and wave- or tide-influenced deltaic deposits. The depositional processes that formed each cycle have important implications for the reservoir net/gross ratio (where this ratio indicates the proportion of sandstone beds in a cycle), thickness and lateral extent. The deltaic deposits were controlled by a combination of tectonic and eustatic (allocyclic) events and delta avulsion (autocyclic) processes, and are likely to reflect a changing tectonic regime, from extension within elongate fault-bounded basins (synrift) to passive regional thermal subsidence (post-rift). Deep incision by the Base Permian Unconformity across the Breagh Field has removed the Westphalian, Namurian and upper Visean, to leave the more prospective thicker clastic reservoirs within closure.

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Under-explored plays and frontier basins of the UK continental shelf collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/under-explored-plays-and-frontier-basins-of-the-uk-continental-shelf
A Price-per-attention Auction Scheme Using Mouse Cursor Information
Authors: Arapakis Ioannis , Penta Antonio , Joho Hideo , Leiva Luis A.
Published: January 2020

Payments in online ad auctions are typically derived from click-through rates, so that advertisers do not pay for ineffective ads. But advertisers often care about more than just clicks. That is, for example, if they aim to raise brand awareness or visibility. There is thus an opportunity to devise a more effective ad pricing paradigm, in which ads are paid only if they are actually noticed. This article contributes a novel auction format based on a pay-per-attention (PPA) scheme. We show that the PPA auction inherits the desirable properties (strategy-proofness and efficiency) as its pay-per-impression and pay-per-click counterparts, and that it also compares favourably in terms of revenues. To make the PPA format feasible, we also contribute a scalable diagnostic technology to predict user attention to ads in sponsored search using raw mouse cursor coordinates only, regardless of the page content and structure. We use the user attention predictions in numerical simulations to evaluate the PPA auction scheme. Our results show that, in relevant economic settings, the PPA revenues would be strictly higher than the existing auction payment schemes.
Advances in Paper-Based Analytical Devices
Authors: Ozer Tugba , McMahon Catherine , Henry Charles S.
Published: January 2020

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) are the newest generation of lab-on-a-chip devices and have made significant strides in both our understanding of fundamental behavior and performance characteristics and expansion of their applications. μPADs have become useful analytical techniques for environmental analysis in addition to their more common application as medical point-of-care devices. Although the most common method for device fabrication is wax printing, numerous other techniques exist and have helped address factors ranging from solvent compatibility to improved device function. This review highlights recent reports of fabrication and design, modes of detection, and broad applications of μPADs. Such advances have enabled μPADs to be used in field and laboratory studies to address critical needs in fast, cheaper measurement technologies.
Enhanced Diffusion and Chemotaxis of Enzymes
Authors: Feng Mudong , Gilson Michael K.
Published: January 2020

Many enzymes appear to diffuse faster in the presence of substrate and to drift either up or down a concentration gradient of their substrate. Observations of these phenomena, termed enhanced enzyme diffusion (EED) and enzyme chemotaxis, respectively, lead to a novel view of enzymes as active matter. Enzyme chemotaxis and EED may be important in biology and could have practical applications in biotechnology and nanotechnology. They are also of considerable biophysical interest; indeed, their physical mechanisms are still quite uncertain. This review provides an analytic summary of experimental studies of these phenomena and of the mechanisms that have been proposed to explain them and offers a perspective on future directions for the field.
Age-Associated B Cells
Authors: Cancro Michael P.
Published: January 2020

The age-associated B cell subset has been the focus of increasing interest over the last decade. These cells have a unique cell surface phenotype and transcriptional signature, and they rely on TLR7 or TLR9 signals in the context of Th1 cytokines for their formation and activation. Most are antigen-experienced memory B cells that arise during responses to microbial infections and are key to pathogen clearance and control. Their increasing prevalence with age contributes to several well-established features of immunosenescence, including reduced B cell genesis and damped immune responses. In addition, they are elevated in autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, and in these settings they are enriched for characteristic autoantibody specificities. Together, these features identify age-associated B cells as a subset with pivotal roles in immunological health, disease, and aging. Accordingly, a detailed understanding of their origins, functions, and physiology should make them tractable translational targets in each of these settings.
Omics and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk Prediction
Authors: Tahir Usman A. , Gerszten Robert E.
Published: January 2020

Risk assessments are integral for the prevention and management of cardiometabolic disease (CMD). However, individuals may develop CMD without traditional risk factors, necessitating the development of novel biomarkers to aid risk prediction. The emergence of omic technologies, including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, has allowed for assessment of orthogonal measures of cardiometabolic risk, potentially improving the ability for novel biomarkers to refine disease risk assessments. While omics has shed light on novel mechanisms for the development of CMD, its adoption in clinical practice faces significant challenges. We review select omic technologies and cardiometabolic investigations for risk prediction, while highlighting challenges and opportunities for translating findings to clinical practice.
Microbiome Anomalies in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Authors: Schwabkey Zaker I. , Jenq Robert R.
Published: January 2020

The microbiome is an integrated part of the human body that can modulate a variety of disease processes and affect prognosis, treatment response, complications, and outcomes. The importance of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in cancer treatment has resulted in extensive investigations on the interaction between the microbiome and this treatment modality. These investigations are beginning to lead to clinical trials of microbiome-targeted interventions. Here we review some of these discoveries and describe strategies being investigated to manipulate the microbiome for favorable outcomes, such as the proper selection and timing of antibiotics, type of diet and route of administration, probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation.
Perspective—Electrochemical Sensors for Soil Quality Assessment
Authors: Ali Md. Azahar , Dong Liang , Dhau Jaspreet , Khosla Ajit , Kaushik Ajeet
Published: January 2020

Soil monitoring is emerging as a key factor to manage smart farming which has been recommended to have economical food safety and security. Among various development for example internet of things assisted farming, electrochemical sensing system are getting popularity via detecting one or multiple soil component effectively, efficiently, and selectively for soil quality assessment remotely via data sharing and site of location just like point-of-care soil heath care. Considering scenarios, this perspective is designed to describe state-of-the art electrochemical sensing technology developed for soil quality. The associated challenges, possible alternatives, and potential prospects are also discussed in this perspective.
Piperidinium-Based Ionic Liquids as an Electrolyte Solvent for Li-Ion Batteries: Effect of Number and Position of Oxygen Atom in Cation Side Chain on Electrolyte Property
Authors: Shimizu Masahiro , Yamaguchi Kazuki , Usui Hiroyuki , Ieuji Naoya , Yamashita Takuya , Komura Takuro , Domi Yasuhiro , Nokami Toshiki , Itoh Toshiyuki , Sakaguchi Hiroki
Published: January 2020

In the pursuit of developing reliable Li-ion batteries with high performance and safety, the use of ionic liquids is one of the most promising approaches due to its high thermal stability. There is, however, the critical issue concerning the significantly low Li-ion diffusion in an electrolyte solution, which is directly linked to the degradation of their rapid charge−discharge properties. Ionic liquids with ether-substituted cation have generated much interest as electrolyte solvents for Li-ion batteries because the ether group functions to reduce the coordination number and increase ionic conductivity. In the present study, we synthesized six types of ionic liquids consisting of bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TFSA) anions and piperidinium-based cations in which the attached side chains are 1-((2-methoxyethoxy)methyl)-1-methylpiperidinium (PP1MEM), 1-butoxymethyl-1-methylpiperidinium (PP1BM), 1-methyl-(2-propoxyethyl)piperidinium (PP1PE), 1-(3-ethoxypropyl)-1-methylpiperidinium (PP1EP), 1-(4-methoxybutyl)-1-methylpiperidinium (PP1MB), and 1-hexyl-1-methylpiperidinium (PP16). It was found that the ionic liquid with PP1MEM cations with two oxygen atoms in the side chain exhibited the lowest solvation number of TFSA anions (1.56), whereas PP1BM (1.78), PP1PE (1.86), PP1EP (2.08), and PP1MB-TFSA (2.07) resulted in a larger number, as the oxygen atoms in the alkyl side chain are located far from the positively charged nitrogen atoms. PP1MEM-TFSA with small solvation numbers enhanced the ionic conductivity and thereby achieved high electrode performance.
Vitamin D signaling maintains intestinal innate immunity and gut microbiota: potential intervention for metabolic syndrome and NAFLD
Authors: Zeng Yilan , Luo Mei , Pan Liwei , Chen Yuan , Guo Siqi , Luo Dongxia , Zhu Li , Liu Yong , Pan Lisha , Xu Siya , Zhang Ruofei , Zhang Chunyan , Wu Pengfei , Ge Liangpeng , Noureddin Mazen , Pandol Stephen J. , Han Yuan-Ping
Published: January 2020

A lack of sunlight exposure, residence in the northern latitudes, and dietary vitamin D insufficiency are coprevalent with metabolic syndrome (MetS), Type 2 diabetes (T2D), and nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD), implying a potential causality and underlying mechanism. Whether vitamin D supplementation or treatment can improve these disorders is controversial, in part, because of the absence of large-scale trials. Experimental investigations, on the other hand, have uncovered novel biological functions of vitamin D in development, tumor suppression, and immune regulation, far beyond its original role as a vitamin that maintained calcium homeostasis. While the large intestine harbors massive numbers of microbes, the small intestine has a minimal quantity of bacteria, indicating the existence of a gating system located in the distal region of the small intestine that may restrain bacterial translocation to the small intestine. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) was found to be highly expressed at the distal region of small intestine, where the vitamin D signaling promotes innate immunity, including the expression of α-defensins by Paneth cells, and maintains the intestinal tight junctions. Thus, a new hypothesis is emerging, indicating that vitamin D deficiency may impair the intestinal innate immunity, including downregulation of Paneth cell defensins, leading to bacterial translocation, endotoxemia, systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and hepatic steatosis. Here, we review the studies for vitamin D for innate immunity and metabolic homeostasis, and we outline the clinical trials of vitamin D for mitigating MetS, T2D, and NAFLD.
Influence of connexin45 on renal autoregulation
Authors: Møller Sophie , Jacobsen Jens Christian Brings , Braunstein Thomas H. , Holstein-Rathlou Niels-Henrik , Sorensen Charlotte M.
Published: January 2020

Renal autoregulation is mediated by the myogenic response and tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) working in concert to maintain renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate despite fluctuations in renal perfusion pressure. Intercellular communication through gap junctions may play a role in renal autoregulation. We examine if one of the building blocks in gap junctions, connexin45 (Cx45), which is expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells, has an influence on renal autoregulatory efficiency. The isolated perfused juxtamedullary nephron preparation was used to measure afferent arteriolar diameter changes in response to acute changes in renal perfusion pressure. In segmental arteries, pressure myography was used to study diameter changes in response to pressure changes. Wire myography was used to study vasoconstrictor and vasodilator responses. A mathematical model of the vascular wall was applied to interpret experimental data. We found a significant reduction in the afferent arteriolar constriction in response to acute pressure increases in Cx45 knockout (KO) mice compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Abolition of TGF caused a parallel upward shift in the autoregulation curve of WT animals but had no effect in KO animals, which is compatible with TGF providing a basal tonic contribution in afferent arterioles whereas Cx45 KO animals were functionally papillectomized. Analysis showed a shift toward lower stress sensitivity in afferent arterioles from Cx45 KO animals, indicating that the absence of Cx45 may also affect myogenic properties. Finally, loss of Cx45 in vascular smooth muscle cells appeared to associate with a change in both structure and passive properties of the vascular wall.
Inflammatory macrophages in the kidney contribute to salt-sensitive hypertension
Authors: Fehrenbach Daniel J. , Mattson David L.
Published: January 2020

This review will highlight recent studies that have investigated the relationship between Na+, renal macrophage polarization, and renal damage. A hyperosmotic environment drives the macrophage toward a proinflammatory phenotype and away from an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Animal models of salt-sensitive hypertension demonstrate a characteristic infiltration of macrophages into the kidney that is greatly reduced when blood pressure is lowered. Because general immunosuppression or macrophage depletion leads to a host of adverse side effects, more recent studies have modulated the interaction of specific signaling molecules, including NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 16, and VEGF, to prevent the end-organ renal damage that accumulates in salt-sensitive disease.
New roles of the Na+/H+ exchange regulatory factor 1 scaffolding protein: a review
Authors: Bushau-Sprinkle Adrienne M. , Lederer Eleanor D.
Published: January 2020

Na+/H+ exchange regulatory factor 1 (NHERF1), a member of a PDZ scaffolding protein family, was first identified as an organizer of membrane-bound protein complexes composed of hormone receptors, signal transduction pathways, and electrolyte and mineral transporters and channels. NHERF1 is involved in the regulation of Na+/H+ exchanger 3, Na+-dependent phosphate transporter 2a, and Na+-K+-ATPase through its ability to scaffold these transporters to the plasma membrane, allowing regulation of these protein complexes with their associated hormone receptors. Recently, NHERF1 has received increased interest in its involvement in a variety of functions, including cell structure and trafficking, tumorigenesis and tumor behavior, inflammatory responses, and tissue injury. In this review, we highlight the evidence for the expansive role of NHERF1 in cell biology and speculate on the implications for renal physiology and pathophysiology.
Control Strategy of Signal Transition after Emergency Vehicle Signal Preemption
Authors: Mu Haibo , Liu Linzhong , Song Yubo , Wang Na
Published: January 2020

Emergency vehicle (EV) plays an important role in evacuations or rescues when emergencies occur. To insure that an EV can transfer people in danger to emergency shelters or medical assistance organizations as soon as possible, EV signal preemption (EVSP) strategy is usually adopted. After EV has passed through the intersection, traffic signal has to transfer back to normal signal timing scheme. This paper focuses on the control strategy of EV signal transitioning from EVSP back to normal operation. Considering both efficiency and fairness, the maximum vehicles passing through in per unit time during the transition period and the minimum difference between the maximum and the minimum queue length after transition are selected as objectives, and a multi-objective optimization model is presented. A nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is designed to solve the optimization model and unique encoding and decoding methods are presented. The established model and designed algorithm are verified and the control effect is analyzed. Simulation results indicate that by adopting the control strategy obtained by the presented model, the number of vehicles passing through in per unit time during the transition period is increased and the difference of vehicle length in different directions is reduced significantly, from which we can conclude that the control method proposed in this paper has good performance.
Learning to Make Document Context-Aware Recommendation with Joint Convolutional Matrix Factorization
Authors: Guo Lei , Han Yu , Jiang Haoran , Yang Xinxin , Wang Xinhua , Liu Xiyu
Published: January 2020

Context-aware recommendation (CR) is the task of recommending relevant items by exploring the context information in online systems to alleviate the data sparsity issue of the user-item data. Prior methods mainly studied CR by document-based modeling approaches, that is, making recommendations by additionally utilizing textual data such as reviews, abstracts, or synopses. However, due to the inherent limitation of the bag-of-words model, they cannot effectively utilize contextual information of the documents, which results in a shallow understanding of the documents. Recent works argued that the understanding of document context can be improved by the convolutional neural network (CNN) and proposed the convolutional matrix factorization (ConvMF) to leverage the contextual information of documents to enhance the rating prediction accuracy. However, ConvMF only models the document content context from an item view and assumes users are independent and identically distributed (i.i.d). But in reality, as we often turn to our friends for recommendations, the social relationship and social reviews are two important factors that can change our mind most. Moreover, users are more inclined to interact (buy or click) with the items that they have bought (or clicked). The relationships among items are also important factors that can impact the user’s final decision. Based on the above observations, in this work, we target CR and propose a joint convolutional matrix factorization (JCMF) method to tackle the encountered challenges, which jointly considers the item’s reviews, item’s relationships, user’s social influence, and user’s reviews in a unified framework. More specifically, to explore items’ relationships, we introduce a predefined item relation network into ConvMF by a shared item latent factor and propose a method called convolutional matrix factorization with item relations (CMF-I). To consider user’s social influence, we further integrate the user’s social network into CMF-I by sharing the user latent factor between user’s social network and user-item rating matrix, which can be treated as a regularization term to constrain the recommendation process. Finally, to model the document contextual information of user’s reviews, we exploit another CNN to learn user’s content representations and achieve our final model JCMF. We conduct extensive experiments on the real-world dataset from Yelp. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of JCMF compared to several state-of-the-art methods in terms of root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean average error (MAE).
Lichen Striatus with Nail Involvement in a 6-Year-Old Boy
Authors: Leung Alexander K. C. , Leong Kin Fon , Barankin Benjamin
Published: January 2020

We describe a 6-year-old boy with an asymptomatic linear eruption on the left index finger with mild erythema of the proximal nail fold, nail dystrophy, and subungual hyperkeratosis of the nail. A diagnosis of nail lichen striatus was made. The child was successfully treated with a topical corticosteroid. Because of its rarity, nail lichen striatus is often under-recognized. Physicians should be familiar with the nail involvement in individuals with lichen striatus so that an accurate diagnosis can be made and unnecessary investigations and treatment avoided.
Bilateral Bochdalek Hernias Associated with Arnold-Chiari I Malformation
Authors: Fazi Julian , Patel Visad , Bryan Cara
Published: January 2020

A Bochdalek hernia is a posterolateral diaphragmatic defect that is either congenital or acquired. The contents of the hernia range from fat to intra-abdominal organs. They are primarily pathologies of neonates and most commonly occur unilaterally. These hernias have been described in isolation and as one part of a group of malformations. There have been reports of Bochdalek hernias in association with myelomeningocele and other neural tube defects. We present a unique case of bilateral Bochdalek hernias in a 35-year-old female with an Arnold-Chiari I malformation.
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Its Potential Therapeutic Role in Stroke Comorbidities
Authors: Liu Wei , Wang Xiaohui , O’Connor Margaret , Wang Guan , Han Fang
Published: January 2020

With the rise in the aging global population, stroke comorbidities have become a serious health threat and a tremendous economic burden on human society. Current therapeutic strategies mainly focus on protecting neurons from cytotoxic damage at the acute phase upon stroke onset, which not only is a difficult way to ameliorate stroke symptoms but also presents a challenge for the patients to receive effective treatment in time. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the most abundant neurotrophin in the adult brain, which possesses a remarkable capability to repair brain damage. Recent promising preclinical outcomes have made BDNF a popular late-stage target in the development of novel stroke treatments. In this review, we aim to summarize the latest progress in the understanding of the cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying stroke pathogenesis, current strategies and difficulties in drug development, the mechanism of BDNF action in poststroke neurorehabilitation and neuroplasticity, and recent updates in novel therapeutic methods.
Clinical Profile and Predictors of Outcome in Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage from a Tertiary Care Centre in South India
Authors: Hegde Ajay , Menon Girish , Kumar Vinod , Lakshmi Prasad G. , Kongwad Lakshman I. , Nair Rajesh , Nayak Raghavendra
Published: January 2020

Background. This article attempts to evaluate the clinical profile and outcome determinants following hypertensive SICH in a South Indian population. The study represents the largest series of SICH reported from a single centre in India. Materials and Methods. Prospective data collection and analysis of patients with SICH admitted to our centre between 1st January 2015 and 31st December 2018. The variables analysed include: age, sex, comorbidities, Glasgow coma score (GCS) on admission, radiological features, treatment modality, and outcome at three months. Modified Rankin score (mRS) was used to assess the outcome at discharge and three months. Results. Our study group of 905 patients included 638 males and 267 females and the mean age at presentation was 58.10 ± 12.76 years. The study group included 523 patients (57.8%) previously diagnosed hypertensive, of whom 36.3% (n=190) were on irregular medication. The most frequent locations of hematoma were basal ganglia (478), thalamus (202), lobar (106), cerebellar (61), brainstem (31), and primary intraventricular haemorrhage (27). Secondary intraventricular extension was seen in 425 (47%) patients on admission. The mean volume of the clot on admission was 23.45 ± 19.79 ml, and clot progression was seen in only 46 (5.08%) cases. Surgical evacuation through craniotomy was done in 147 (16.8%) patients, and external ventricular drainage (EVD) was placed in 56 (6.2%) patients. Overall 3−month mortality was 30.1% (266 patients). On the last follow up a favorable outcome (mRS 0−3) was observed in 412 (45.53%) patients and a poor outcome (mRS 4−5) in 207 patients (22.87%). Independent predictors of mortality are Age >70 (p=<0.001, OR 4.806, 95% CI 3.064–7.54), admission GCS <8 (p=<0.001, OR7.684, 95% CI 5.055#x2013;11.68), and Hematoma volume >30 ml (p=<0.001, OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.626–3.691). Intraventricular haemorrhage was an additional poor outcome predictor (p<0.015, CI 1.105–2.585). Surgical evacuation reduced mortality in the group, but morbidity rates remained the same. Conclusions. SICH predominantly affects a younger population in India in comparison to the Western society. Elderly age, poor GCS on admission, clot volume above 30 ml and intraventricular extension remain the most consistent predictors of death and poor outcome. Further studies are needed to assess the risk of SICH among hypertensive patients and to prognosticate the outcome after SICH using novel predictors, including biomarkers.
Association of Genetic Polymorphisms in FOXA1 with the Progression of Genetic Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer
Authors: Ding Guo-wen , Gu Xu-yu , Dai Zhe , Pan Hui-wen , Wang Xiao-yan , Zhang Heng , Fan Yu
Published: January 2020

Objective. To investigate the relationship between polymorphism of FOXA1 gene rs12894364 and rs7144658 and susceptibility to gastric cancer. Methods. A case-control study was conducted to select 577 cases of primary gastric cancer and 678 cases of normal control. We extracted whole blood genomic DNA and amplified the target gene fragment by PCR. The genotyping and allele was tested through a snapshot method. Results. There was no significant difference in the frequency distribution of genotype between the case group and control group (P>0.05). Stratified analyses showed the SNPs were not correlated with the susceptibility of GC according to different age, gender, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking status. Conclusion. There is no significant correlation between the polymorphisms of FOXA1 gene rs12894364 and rs7144658 and the risk of gastric cancer.
Recombinant Lactococcus lactis Expressing Ling Zhi 8 Protein Ameliorates Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver and Early Atherogenesis in Cholesterol‐Fed Rabbits
Authors: Lee Mey-Fann , Chiang Chu-Hui , Lin Shyh-Jye , Song Pei-Pong , Liu Hsin-Chun , Wu Tsu-Juey , Lin Wei-Wen
Published: January 2020

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease characterized by lipid deposits in the subendothelial space leading to severe inflammation. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) shares several risk factors with atherosclerosis, including dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, all of which lead to lipid deposition in the liver causing inflammation and fibrosis. Several clinical trials have shown that certain Chinese herbal medicines with anti‐inflammatory effects can be used as adjuvant therapy to prevent the development of cardiovascular events and liver disease. Ling Zhi 8 (LZ8) is an immunomodulatory protein isolated from a medicinal mushroom and has been well documented to possess a broad range of pharmacological properties. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of recombinant Lactococcus lactis expressing LZ8 protein on NAFLD and atherogenesis in a cholesterol‐fed rabbit model. Twelve rabbits were divided into three groups and fed with syrup only, L. lactis vehicle, or recombinant L. lactis‐LZ8 once a day on weekdays for five weeks, respectively. The gene expression of IL‐1β in the aorta was significantly suppressed after oral administration of L. lactis‐LZ8. Moreover, in hematoxylin and eosin staining of the aorta, the intima‐medial thickness was decreased, and foam cells were significantly reduced in the subendothelial space. LZ8 also inhibited the expression of IL‐1β in the liver, decreased fat droplet deposits and infiltration of inflammatory cells, and improved liver function by decreasing liver enzymes in an animal model. Our results suggest that the Lactococcus‐expressing LZ8 appears to be a promising medicine for improving both NAFLD and early atherogenesis owing to its anti‐inflammatory effect. Furthermore, it is available as a low‐cost food‐grade product.
Management of Iron Overload in Resource Poor Nations: A Systematic Review of Phlebotomy and Natural Chelators
Authors: Orisakwe Orish Ebere , Amadi Cecilia Nwadiuto , Frazzoli Chiara
Published: January 2020

Iron is an essential element and the most abundant trace metal in the body involved in oxygen transport and oxygen sensing, electron transfer, energy metabolism, and DNA synthesis. Excess labile and unchelated iron can catalyze the formation of tissue-damaging radicals and induce oxidative stress. English abstracts were identified in PubMed and Google Scholar using multiple and various search terms based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Full-length articles were selected for systematic review, and secondary and tertiary references were developed. Although bloodletting or phlebotomy remains the gold standard in the management of iron overload, this systematic review is an updated account of the pitfalls of phlebotomy and classical synthetic chelators with scientific justification for the use of natural iron chelators of dietary origin in resource-poor nations.
Identity-Based Public Auditing Scheme for Cloud Storage with Strong Key-Exposure Resilience
Authors: Nithya S. Mary Virgil , Uthariaraj V. Rhymend
Published: January 2020

Secured storage system is a critical component in cloud computing. Cloud clients use cloud auditing schemes to verify the integrity of data stored in the cloud. But with the exposure of the auditing secret key to the Cloud Service Provider, cloud auditing becomes unsuccessful, however strong the auditing schemes may be. Therefore, it is essential to prevent the exposure of auditing secret keys, and even if it happens, it is necessary to minimize the damage caused. The existing cloud auditing schemes that are strongly resilient to key exposure are based on Public Key Infrastructure and so have challenges of certificate management/verification. These schemes also incur high computation time during integrity verification of the data blocks. The Identity-based schemes eliminate the usage of certificates but limit the damage due to key exposure, only in time periods earlier to the time period of the exposed key. Some of the key exposure resilient schemes do not provide support for batch auditing. In this paper, an Identity-based Provable Data Possession scheme is proposed. It protects the security of Identity-based cloud storage auditing in time periods both earlier and later to the time period of the exposed key. It also provides support for batch auditing. Analysis shows that the proposed scheme is resistant to the replace attack of the Cloud Service Provider, preserves the data privacy against the Third Party Auditor, and can efficiently verify the correctness of data.
Block-Constraint Laplacian-Regularized Low-Rank Representation and Its Application for Cancer Sample Clustering Based on Integrated TCGA Data
Authors: Wang Juan , Liu Jin-Xing , Zheng Chun-Hou , Lu Cong-Hai , Dai Ling-Yun , Kong Xiang-Zhen
Published: January 2020

Low-Rank Representation (LRR) is a powerful subspace clustering method because of its successful learning of low-dimensional subspace of data. With the breakthrough of “OMics” technology, many LRR-based methods have been proposed and used to cancer clustering based on gene expression data. Moreover, studies have shown that besides gene expression data, some other genomic data in TCGA also contain important information for cancer research. Therefore, these genomic data can be integrated as a comprehensive feature source for cancer clustering. How to establish an effective clustering model for comprehensive analysis of integrated TCGA data has become a key issue. In this paper, we develop the traditional LRR method and propose a novel method named Block-constraint Laplacian-Regularized Low-Rank Representation (BLLRR) to model multigenome data for cancer sample clustering. The proposed method is dedicated to extracting more abundant subspace structure information from multiple genomic data to improve the accuracy of cancer sample clustering. Considering the heterogeneity of different genome data, we introduce the block-constraint idea into our method. In BLLRR decomposition, we treat each genome data as a data block and impose different constraints on different data blocks. In addition, graph Laplacian is also introduced into our method to better learn the topological structure of data by preserving the local geometric information. The experiments demonstrate that the BLLRR method can effectively analyze integrated TCGA data and extract more subspace structure information from multigenome data. It is a reliable and efficient clustering algorithm for cancer sample clustering.
A Convection Nowcasting Method Based on Machine Learning
Authors: Su Aifang , Li Han , Cui Liman , Chen Yungang
Published: January 2020

In this study, a convection nowcasting method based on machine learning was proposed. First, the historical data were back-calculated using the pyramid optical flow method. Next, the generated optical flow field information of each pixel and the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) image information were input into the Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (ConvLSTM) algorithm for training purposes. During the extrapolation process, dynamic characteristics such as the rotation, convergence, and divergence in the optical flow field were also used as predictors to form an optimal nowcasting model. The test analysis demonstrated that the algorithm combined the image feature extraction ability of the convolutional neural network (CNN) and the sequential learning ability of the long short-term memory network (LSTM) model to establish an end-to-end deep learning network, which could deeply extract high-order features of radar echoes such as structural texture, spatial correlation, and temporal evolution compared with the traditional algorithm. Based on learning through the above features, this algorithm can forecast the generation and dissipation trends of convective cells to some extent. The addition of the optical flow information can more accurately simulate nonlinear trends such as the rotation, or merging, or separation of radar echoes. The trajectories of radar echoes obtained through nowcasting are closer to their actual movements, which prolongs the valid forecasting period and improves forecast accuracy.
Factors Associated with Antenatal Influenza Vaccination in a Medically Underserved Population
Authors: Adams Jenna C. , Biswas Hope H. , Boulet Sheree L. , Doraivelu Kamini , Saums Michele K. , Haddad Lisa , Jamieson Denise J.
Published: January 2020

Influenza infection in pregnant women is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Despite recommendations for all women to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine during pregnancy, vaccination rates among pregnant women in the U.S. have remained around 50%. The objective of this study was to evaluate clinical and demographic factors associated with antenatal influenza vaccination in a medically underserved population of women. We conducted a retrospective cohort study at Grady Memorial Hospital, a large safety-net hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2018. Demographic and clinical characteristics were abstracted from the electronic medical record. The Kotelchuck index was used to assess prenatal care adequacy. Relative risks and 95% confidence intervals for associations between receipt of influenza vaccine and prenatal care adequacy, demographic characteristics, and clinical characteristics were calculated using multivariable log-binominal models. Among 3723 pregnant women with deliveries, women were primarily non-Hispanic black (68.4%) and had Medicaid as their primary insurance type (87.9%). The overall vaccination rate was 49.8% (1853/3723). Inadequate prenatal care adequacy was associated with a lower antenatal influenza vaccination rate (43.5%), while intermediate and higher levels of prenatal care adequacy were associated with higher vaccination rates (66.9–68.3%). Hispanic ethnicity, non-Hispanic other race/ethnicity, interpreter use for a language other than Spanish, and preexisting diabetes mellitus were associated with higher vaccination coverage in multivariable analyses. Among medically underserved pregnant women, inadequate prenatal care utilization was associated with a lower rate of antenatal influenza vaccination. Socially disadvantaged women may face individual and structural barriers when accessing prenatal care, suggesting that evidenced-based, tailored approaches may be needed to improve prenatal care utilization and antenatal influenza vaccination rates.