bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pain severity and e-cigarette health literacy: the moderating role of sex
Authors: Smit Tanya , Olofsson Hannah , Nizio Pamella , Garey Lorra , Zvolensky Michael J
Published: December 2019

Although electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has increased among adults in the United States, there is still little knowledge of factors that may influence e-cigarette use or beliefs about use. Prior research suggests that health literacy plays an important role in e-cigarette beliefs, including perceived benefits and risks of e-cigarette use, as well as e-cigarette dependence. Yet, limited work has examined risk factors of poor e-cigarette health literacy. From a biopsychological perspective, sex and pain severity represent two constructs that may impact e-cigarette health literacy. To date, however, no research has investigated differences in e-cigarette health literacy across pain, sex, or their interrelation. Thus, the present study was conducted to evaluate the interactive effect of pain severity and sex on e-cigarette health literacy. Participants included 319 current, adult e-cigarette users (60.5% female, Mage = 36.82 years, SD = 10.62). Findings supported a significant pain by sex interaction, such that pain related to e-cigarette health literacy among women ( b = .10, SE = .03, P < .001), but not men ( b = .01, SE = .03, P = .60). The present findings suggest that pain may uniquely impact the degree to which women, but not men, seek and understand information on e-cigarettes.
Pathogens Causing Respiratory Tract Infections in Children Less Than 5 Years of Age in Senegal
Authors: Knobbe Rebecca B , Diallo Abdallah , Fall Amary , Gueye Aida D , Dieng Assane , van Immerzeel Tabitha D , Ba Abou , Diop Amadou , Diop Abdoulaye , Niang Mbayame , Boye Cheikh SB
Published: December 2019

Introduction:

While acute respiratory tract infections are the main cause of paediatric mortality and morbidity worldwide, pathogen patterns shift due to factors such as hygiene, vaccinations, and antibiotic resistance. Knowledge about current cause of respiratory infections is lacking, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to identity the various respiratory pathogens causing acute respiratory tract infections in children below 5 years of age visiting a sub-urban primary care clinic in Senegal.

Methods:

A case-control study was performed in September and October 2018. Oropharyngeal swabs were collected from cases; infants with fever and respiratory symptoms, and controls; children involved in the vaccination programme. Viral identification was conducted by polymerase chain reaction for 21 different viruses; bacteria were identified by culture studies. Associations between microorganisms, acute respiratory infection and severity of disease were calculated by multivariate regression adjusting for confounders such as age, sex, and living area.

Results:

Overall, 102 cases and 96 controls were included. Microorganisms were detected in 90.1% of cases and 53.7% of controls ( P < .001). Influenza virus A (including H1N1), influenza virus B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and Streptococcus pneumoniae were independently associated with acute respiratory tract infections. Co-detection of two or more pathogens was present in 49.5% of cases; 31.7% of cases had a pneumonia and 90.2% was treated with antibiotics.

Conclusions:

This case-control study in a primary care setting in sub-Saharan Africa found influenza virus A and B, RSV, and S pneumoniae to be the main causes of acute respiratory tract infections in children below 5 years of age. We recommend evaluation of antibiotics prescription behaviour in this setting.
Delirium Assessment in Acute Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Incidence, Assessment Tools, and Assessment Frequencies
Authors: Stokholm Jannik , Steenholt Janni Vagner , Csilag Claudio , Kjær Troels Wesenberg , Christensen Thomas
Published: December 2019

Purpose:

The purpose of this systematic literature review was to examine whether different assessment methods contribute to the variance in delirium incidence detected in populations of patients with acute stroke. Specifically, the aim was to address the influence of (1) choice of assessment tool, (2) frequency of assessment, and (3) type of health professional doing the assessment.

Methods:

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO and included pro- and retrospective cohort studies assessing delirium during hospitalization of adult acute stroke patients.

Results:

In 30 articles, 24 unique populations were identified and included in the review. Delirium incidence ranged from 1.4% to 75.6% in total and a chi-square test showed a significant heterogeneity across studies (χ2 = 536.5, df = 23, P < .0001). No studies had an assessment for delirium before a patient entered the study. No specific patterns regarding the influence of tool, assessment frequency or health professional were discernible.

Discussion:

Subgroups analyses were not conducted due to the heterogeneity across studies. Studies comparing delirium assessment tools directly with each other are needed.

Conclusions:

Delirium is a common complication in acute stroke. No firm conclusions about a possible correlation of choice of tool, assessment frequency, and delirium incidence could be made due to the great heterogeneity of the study populations. Only 1 study compared 2 tools directly with each other. Further studies comparing delirium assessment tools directly with each other are needed.
Family functioning and quality of life in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: The role of dissimilarity in illness representations and school support
Authors: Almeida Ana C , Leandro M Engrácia , Pereira M Graça
Published: December 2019

This study analyzed the impact of dissimilarities in illness perceptions between parents and adolescents, school support, and family functioning on quality of life of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). A total of 100 adolescents diagnosed with T1D for at least 1 year and a primary caregiver participated in the study (N=200). Adolescents answered the Diabetes Quality of Life and the School Support Questionnaire, and parents answered the general functioning subscale of the Family Assessment Device. Both answered the Brief-Illness Perception Questionnaire, regarding the adolescents’ diabetes. The interception effect of dissimilarities regarding identity and concerns perceptions toward diabetes, between parents and adolescents, and school support in the relationship between family functioning and quality of life was significant and explained 27% and 32% of the variance, respectively. The results showed a negative relationship between family functioning and quality of life when school support was low and dissimilarities in identity and concerns perceptions were high. Therefore, to increase quality of life of adolescents with T1D, intervention programs should include family, teachers, school staff, and peers to improve their knowledge of diabetes and support to adolescents.
Persuasion architectures: Consumer spaces, affective engineering and (criminal) harm
Authors: Kindynis Theo
Published: December 2019

Drawing together recent theoretical work from both within and beyond criminology, this article considers the role of strategically designed consumer spaces in eliciting potentially criminogenic and harmful dispositions and behaviours. First, the article introduces recent work in cultural geography and urban studies, which has drawn attention to the manipulation of affect through spatial design. Second, by way of example, the article considers how such strategies are deployed in three types of consumer environments: shopping malls and retail spaces; casinos and other gambling environments; and the so-called night time economy. Third, the article engages such developments theoretically. It is suggested we rethink the distinctions and interrelationships between human subjectivity and agency and the built environment. The implications of this proposed conceptual reorientation are explored—first, for our understandings of agency, intentionality, moral responsibility and political accountability; and second, for criminological thinking around embodied difference, power and exclusion.
Experimental and numerical investigation of wave-current forces on coastal bridge superstructures with box girders
Authors: Zhang Jiawei , Zhu Bing , Kang Azhen , Yin Ruitao , Li Xin , Huang Bo
Published: December 2019

Coastal bridges are exposed to hurricane waves and storm surges during hurricanes, which threaten the safety of the superstructures. Since waves and ocean currents coexist in the natural marine environment and the action of currents leads to changes in wave parameters and thus affects wave loads, considering their interaction is necessary for the study of wave forces on coastal bridges. In this study, hydrodynamic loads on a box girder with the joint action of regular waves and currents are investigated with both experiments and numerical models. A series of experiments of wave forces that include conditions with different wave heights, current velocities, wave periods and submergence depths are conducted in a wave flume. Two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to further investigate the mechanics of wave-current forces on box girder bridges. The wave parameters and wave forces of the numerical simulations are compared with the experimental results. The results indicate that a following current usually leads to higher maximum horizontal forces and lower maximum vertical forces. The opposing current results in a higher maximum hydrodynamic vertical force than following current with a low submergence depth. However, due to the joint effect of the wave parameters and structure position relationships, the behaviours of wave forces in other situations become complicated. It is anticipated that this study can provide experimental data of wave-current forces for the superstructures of box girder bridges and enhance the understanding of the mechanism of bridge damage by waves and currents.
Four Fanatical Friends and Other Alliterative Allegories
Authors: Joubert Alison M. , Coffin Jack
Published: December 2019

Elizabeth thinks of herself as a true fan of the Kerrigan Brown book series. Usually pursuing this passion privately, she is challenged when a friend claims that authentic fans always display their devotion through public consumption. Fortunately, Elizabeth’s grandfather finds a fable of Four Fanatical Friends, who were also challenged to rethink the meaning of fandom after an encounter with a mysterious Genius Fanum. But will our protagonist realise the moral of the story in a journey of self-discovery? Through this fictional short story, the concept of private fandom is implicitly introduced to marketing theory. To date, collective and public expressions of fandom have been the focus of marketing and consumer research. These lines of inquiry have greatly advanced understandings of fans and their consumption. However, private pursuits have been largely overlooked. This short story serves as a fictive framing for future research in this area.
The Voice Inside
Authors: Takhar Jennifer
Published: December 2019

This in utero tale deconstructs the consumption and marketing of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). It aims to highlight the deep ambivalence and phantasmagoria that accompany such transbiological procedures which, though undertheorised by marketing scholars, especially through an introspective lens, are reshaping markets and fundamental understanding of life, death, health, kin, progress, hope, sex, capital and cure. The story also advances extant marketing research on autobiography and consumer introspection theory (CIT) by introducing ‘autobiological writing’, a genre of self-reflexive, creative life writing which foregrounds lived, biological and medicalised experiences, therefore exposing the emotional ‘truths’, ‘authentic voices’, volatile bodies and experiential insights that often prove difficult to access and capture for consumer researchers. As liberatory narratives for the writers themselves and the researchers who extrapolate meaning from them, autobiological accounts offer unique critical cultural perspectives, in this case, on complex reprogenetic consumption.
Fast unsupervised learning methods for structural health monitoring with large vibration data from dense sensor networks
Authors: Entezami Alireza , Shariatmadar Hashem , Mariani Stefano
Published: December 2019

Data-driven damage localization is an important step of vibration-based structural health monitoring. Statistical pattern recognition based on the prominent steps of feature extraction and statistical decision-making provides an effective and efficient framework for structural health monitoring. However, these steps may become time-consuming or complex when there are large volumes of vibration measurements acquired by dense sensor networks. To deal with this issue, this study proposes fast unsupervised learning methods for feature extraction through autoregressive modeling and damage localization through a new distance measure called Kullback–Leibler divergence with empirical probability measure. The feature extraction approach consists of an iterative algorithm for order selection and parameter estimation aiming to extract residuals in the training phase and another iterative process aiming to extract residuals only in the monitoring phase. The key feature of the proposed approach is the use of correlated residual samples of the autoregressive model as a new time series at each iteration, rather than handling the measured vibration response of the structure. This is shown to highly reduce the computational burden of order selection and feature extraction; moreover, it effectively provides low-order autoregressive models with uncorrelated residuals. The Kullback–Leibler divergence with empirical probability measure method exploits a segmentation technique to subdivide random data into independent sets and provides a distance metric based on the theory of empirical probability measure with no need to explicitly compute the actual probability distributions at the training and monitoring stages. Numerical and experimental benchmarks are then used to assess accuracy and performance of the proposed methods and compare them with some state-of-the-art approaches. Results show that the proposed approaches are successful in feature extraction and damage localization, with a reduced computational burden.
Comparing the impact of different exercise interventions on fatigue in individuals with COPD: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Li Lok Sze Katrina , Butler Stacey , Goldstein Roger , Brooks Dina
Published: December 2019

To systematically review randomized controlled trials that compared the effectiveness of different types of exercise on the symptom of fatigue in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MEDLINE, EMBASE, EMcare, PsychINFO, and Cochrane library were searched from inception to October 2018. Studies were included if individuals with COPD were randomized into two or more physical exercise interventions that reported fatigue. Of the 395 full-texts reviewed, 17 studies were included. Fifteen studies reported the impact of exercise on health-related quality of life with fatigue as a subdomain. Reduction in fatigue was observed following endurance, resistance, or a combination of both exercises. There was no significant difference between continuous and interval training ( n = 3 studies, pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) = −0.17, 95% CI = −0.47, 0.12, p = 0.25) or between endurance and resistance training ( n = 3 studies, SMD = −0.35, 95% CI = −0.72, 0.01, p = 0.07) on fatigue in people with COPD. Fatigue reduction is not usually a primary outcome of exercise interventions, but it is frequently a secondary domain. The type of exercise did not influence the impact of exercise on fatigue, which was reduced in endurance, resistance, or a combination of both exercises, enabling clinicians to personalize training to match targeted outcomes.
SUDEP: The Worst in Epilepsy and the Hardest to Image
Authors: Englot Dario J.
Published: December 2019

[Box: see text]
Optimized Sleep After Brain Injury (OSABI): A Pilot Study of a Sleep Hygiene Intervention for Individuals With Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Makley Michael J. , Gerber Don , Newman Jody K. , Philippus Angie , Monden Kimberley R. , Biggs Jennifer , Spier Eric , Tarwater Patrick , Weintraub Alan
Published: December 2019

Background. Disrupted sleep is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI) particularly in the inpatient rehabilitation setting where it may affect participation in therapy and outcomes. Treatment of sleep disruption in this setting is varied and largely unexamined. Objective. To study the feasibility of instituting a sleep hygiene intervention on a rehabilitation unit. Methods. Twenty-two individuals admitted to a brain injury unit were enrolled and allocated, using minimization, to either a sleep hygiene protocol (SHP) or standard of care (SOC). All participants wore actigraphs, underwent serial cognitive testing, and had light monitors placed in their hospital rooms for 4 weeks. Additionally, participants in the SHP received 30 minutes of blue-light therapy each morning, had restricted caffeine intake after noon, and were limited to 30-minute naps during the day. SHP participants had their lights out time set according to preinjury sleep time preference. Both groups were treated with the same restricted formulary of centrally acting medications. Results. Of 258 patients screened, 27 met all study inclusion criteria of whom 22 were enrolled. Nine participants in each group who had at least 21 days of treatment were retained for analysis. The protocol was rated favorably by participants, families, and staff. Actigraph sleep metrics improved in both groups during the 4-week intervention; however, only in the SHP was the change significant. Conclusions. Sleep hygiene is a feasible, nonpharmacologic intervention to treat disrupted sleep in a TBI inpatient rehabilitation setting. A larger study is warranted to examine treatment efficacy. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02838082.
The Significance of Interictal Spike Frequency in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Authors: Asadollahi Marjan , Noorbakhsh Mahyar , Salehifar Vahid , Simani Leila
Published: December 2019

Purpose. In this study, the frequency of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was measured to determine its correlation with epilepsy duration, seizure frequency, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, and recent occurrence of focal to bilateral tonic clonic seizures (FBTCS). Methods. Our study was performed on TLE patients, who admitted to epilepsy monitoring unit of Loghman-Hakim hospital, Tehran, from 2016 to 2018. The patients’ IEDs frequency were measured from their scalp EEG recording during no–rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. The IEDs frequency was classified into 3 groups of rare, occasional, and frequent. Results. A total of 142 patients, with the mean age of 33.95 ± 12.73 years, were included in the study. The patients’ mean epilepsy duration was 17.27 ± 12.19 years and the mean seizure frequency was 10.56 ± 12.95 attacks per month. The mean IEDs frequency was 123.48 ± 513.01 per hour. Thirty-five (24.6%) patients had history of FBTCS in the past year. Our findings revealed no significant association between IEDs frequency with epilepsy duration ( P = .22), the recent occurrence of FBTCS ( P = .42), and the type of MRI abnormalities ( P = .66). There was only a weak positive correlation between seizure frequency and interictal spike density ( r = 0.2, P = .007). Conclusions. In patients with TLE, standard EEG recording may not be a reliable method to predict the probability of occurring future seizures.
Model-free optimal decentralized sliding mode control for modular and reconfigurable robots based on adaptive dynamic programming
Authors: Dong Bo , An Tianjiao , Zhou Fan , Yu Weibo
Published: December 2019

In this article, a model-free decentralized sliding mode control method is proposed based on adaptive dynamic programming algorithm to solve the problem of optimal trajectory tracking control of modular and reconfigurable robots. The dynamic model of modular and reconfigurable robot is formulated by a synthesis of joint subsystems with interconnected dynamic couplings. Based on sliding mode control technique, the optimal control problem of the modular and reconfigurable robot systems is transformed into an optimal compensation issue of unknown dynamics of each joint subsystems, in which the interconnected dynamic couplings effects among the subsystems are approximated by using the developed neural network identifier. Based on policy iteration scheme and the adaptive dynamic programming algorithm, the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation can be solved by using the critic neural network, so that optimal control policy can be obtained. The closed-loop system is proved to be asymptotically stable by using the Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.
Deep transfer learning for rolling bearing fault diagnosis under variable operating conditions
Authors: Che Changchang , Wang Huawei , Fu Qiang , Ni Xiaomei
Published: December 2019

Rolling bearings are the vital components of rotary machines. The collected data of rolling bearing have strong noise interference, massive unlabeled samples, and different fault features. Thus, a deep transfer learning method is proposed for rolling bearings fault diagnosis under variable operating conditions. To obtain robust feature representation, the denoising autoencoder is used to denoise and reduce dimension of unlabeled rolling bearing signals. For those unlabeled target domain signals, a feature matching method based on multi-kernel maximum mean discrepancies between source domain and target domain is adopted to get enough labeled target domain samples. Then, these rolling bearing signals are converted to multi-dimensional graph samples and fed into a convolutional neural network model for fault diagnosis. To improve the generalization of convolutional neural network under variable operating conditions, we combine model-based transfer learning with feature-based transfer learning to initialize and optimize the convolutional neural network parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through several comparative experiments of Case Western Reserve University data. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can learn features adaptively from noisy data and increase the accuracy rate by 2%–8% comparing with other models.
A meta-heuristic algorithm for integrated optimization of dynamic resource allocation planning and production scheduling in parallel machine system
Authors: Wang Na , Fu Yaping , Wang Hongfeng
Published: December 2019

With the wide application of advanced information technology and intelligent equipment in the manufacturing system, the decisions of design and operation have become more interdependent and their integration optimization has gained great concerns from the community of operational research recently. This article investigates an optimization problem of integrating dynamic resource allocation and production schedule in a parallel machine environment. A meta-heuristic algorithm, in which heuristic-based partition, genetic-based sampling, promising index calculation, and backtracking strategies are employed, is proposed for solving the investigated integration problem in order to minimize the makespan of the manufacturing system. The experimental results on a set of random-generated test instances indicate that the presented model is effective and the proposed algorithm exhibits the satisfactory performance that outperforms two state-of-the-art algorithms from literature.
AXL signaling in primary sensory neurons contributes to chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion-induced neuropathic pain in rats
Authors: Liang Lingli , Zhang Jun , Tian Lixia , Wang Shuo , Xu Linping , Wang Yingxuan , Guo-Shuai Qingying , Dong Yue , Chen Yu , Jia Hong , Yang Xuewei , Yuan Chunmei
Published: December 2019

Low back pain is a chronic, highly prevalent, and hard-to-treat condition in the elderly. Clinical studies indicate that AXL, which belongs to the tyrosine kinase receptor subfamily, mediates pathological pain. However, it is not clear exactly how AXL regulates pain behaviors. In this study, we used a model of chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion-induced neuropathic pain to recreate clinical intervertebral foramen stenosis and related lumbocrural pain to explore whether AXL in primary sensory neurons contributes to this neuropathic pain in rats. Using double-labeling immunofluorescence, we observed that both phosphorylated AXL and AXL were localized primarily on isolectin B4-positive and calcitonin gene-related peptide-positive neurons, while AXL was also localized in neurofilament-200-positive neurons. Chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion-induced pain was associated with the upregulation of AXL mRNA and protein in injured dorsal root ganglia. Repeated intrathecal administration of the AXL inhibitor, TP0903, or the AXL small interfering RNA effectively alleviated chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion-induced pain hypersensitivities. Moreover, repeated intrathecal administration of either TP0903 or AXL small interfering RNA reduced the expression of mammalian target of rapamycin in injured dorsal root ganglia, suggesting that mammalian target of rapamycin may mediate AXL’s actions. These results indicate that the upregulation of dorsal root ganglion AXL may be part of a peripheral mechanism of neuropathic pain via an intracellular mammalian target of rapamycin-signaling pathway. Thus, while AXL inhibitors have so far primarily shown clinical efficacy in tumor treatment, AXL intervention could also serve as a potential target for the treatment of neuropathic pain.
Hidradenitis suppurativa: infection, autoimmunity, or both?
Authors: Constantinou Costas A , Fragoulis George E , Nikiphorou Elena
Published: December 2019

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease mainly affecting areas rich in apocrine glands. Clinically, is characterized by painful subcutaneous nodules and if left untreated to pus secretion, abscess and fistula formation. Its frequency is estimated to be 0.5–4% of the general population, affecting women more often. Pathogenesis of HS is still not clearly defined. It seems to be a combination of genetic factors with alterations in the skin microbiome. Furthermore, at tissue (i.e. skin) as well as at serum level, several inflammatory cytokines are upregulated. The most important of the latter are tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-17, and IL-23. Adding another level of complexity, it has been suggested that keratinocytes might be intrinsically activated, contributing also to the observed inflammation. Interestingly, it has been noted that frequency of HS is increased in some autoimmune rheumatic diseases, such as spondyloarthropathies (SpA). Of note, both HS and SpA have relatively strong association with metabolic diseases and obesity implying that there are indeed some common underlying pathophysiological pathways. Although no specific microbe has been identified, alterations in the microbiome of the skin of these patients have been reported. Of note, microbes with a capability for biofilm formation are abundant. Treatment of HS among others, include antibiotics as well as biologic drugs targeting TNF and other cytokines and used for autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Herein, we review the current evidence on links between HS and autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases with a focus on epidemiology and pathophysiology.
A Delayed Modified ICH Score Outperforms Baseline Scoring in Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Authors: Lun Ronda , Yogendrakumar Vignan , Blacquiere Dylan , Shamy Michel , Stotts Grant , Dowlatshahi Dar
Published: December 2019

The Modified Intracerebral Hemorrhage (MICH) score is a simple tool created to provide prognostication in basal ganglia hemorrhages. Current prognostic scores, including the MICH, are based on the assessment of baseline patient characteristics, failing to account for significant developments, such as intraventricular extension and clinical deterioration, which may occur over the first 72 hours. We propose to validate the MICH in all hemorrhage locations and hypothesize that its calculation at 72 hours will outperform its baseline counterpart with respect to predicting mortality and functional outcome. We performed a retrospective analysis of collated data from the Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive database. Primary outcome was 90-day mortality. Secondary outcome was poor outcome (modified Rankin Scale 4-6) at 90 days. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated looking at the predictive ability of the MICH score for mortality and poor outcome, at baseline and at 72 hours. Competing curves were assessed with nonparametric methods. A total of 226 patients were included, with a 90-day mortality of 22.5%. The MICH scores calculated at 72 hours were more predictive of mortality than at baseline (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.89 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.83-0.94] vs 0.78 [95% CI: 0.70-0.85]), P < .01. The MICH scores at 72 hours similarly better predicted functional outcome (AUC: 0.78 [95% CI: 0.72-0.84] vs AUC: 0.72 [95% CI: 0.66-0.78]), P = .047. The MICH score has positive prognostic value for mortality and poor functional outcome in all hemorrhage locations. Delaying its calculation resulted in higher predictive values for both and suggests that delaying discussions around withdrawal of care may result in more accurate prognostication in acute intracerebral hemorrhage.
Effects of PM2.5 and PM10 on congenital hypothyroidism in Qingdao, China, 2014–2017: a quantitative analysis
Authors: Pan Silin , Ni Wei , Li Wenjie , Li Guoju , Xing Quansheng
Published: December 2019

Background:

We aimed to quantify the impact of PM2.5 and PM10 pollution on congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in Qingdao in the period 2014–2017.

Methods:

A generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) with time-series Poisson regression was conducted to quantify the association between PM2.5 and PM10 variables in the month when cases of CH were born or in the two preceding the months (lag0, lag1 and lag2) and monthly morbidity of people with CH across different populations.

Results:

A total of 480,633 newborns were screened for CH during 2014–2017 in Qingdao, and there were 268 cases of CH diagnosed. The count of days per month for which average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 exceed legal limits were positively associated with monthly CH morbidity at lag1 month among all the populations, and the adjusted relative risks (RRs) with exposure per 10 μg/m3 were close among different populations. However, the number of days per month of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations exceeding limits were negatively associated with CH morbidity. Additionally, the RRs of CH increase with worsening air pollution.

Conclusions:

Concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 exceeding the legal limits are significantly associated with CH in Qingdao. Moreover, it suggests that sudden and short-term particulate matter pollution events with high levels of particulates exceeding the legal limits may be related to risk of CH.
Alliance Politics Amid the BJP’s Rise: More Continuity than Change in 2019
Authors: Ziegfeld Adam
Published: December 2019

Pre-election alliances have long figured prominently in Indian elections. Has the politics surrounding pre-election alliances changed with the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)? This article analyzes patterns of election alliance formation across India’s states and examines the extent to which these alliances affected the outcome of the 2019 election. It finds that patterns of alliance formation in the run-up to the 2019 election did not, on the whole, differ noticeably from prior elections. Though the BJP’s strong performance muted the impact of some key alliances, election alliances nevertheless had a perceptible impact on the final allocation of seats and appear to have influenced voting behaviour largely as anticipated.
The Modi Factor in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election: How Critical Was It to the BJP Victory?
Authors: Shastri Sandeep
Published: December 2019

The BJP victory in the 2019 elections is attributed to a range of factors. This article examines the role of the leadership factor in propelling the BJP to victory in this election. While the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP/NDA was clearly the preferred choice, the National Election Study 2019, undertaken by Lokniti–CSDS, indicates that one-thirds of those who supported the BJP would have altered their voting preference if Modi were not to be the Prime Ministerial candidate of the party. The article explores the leadership factor in the 2019 election and concludes that it was a major factor that influenced voter choice.
Book review: Devesh Kapur, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Milan Vaishnav, eds. Rethinking Public Institutions in India
Authors: Mehra Ajay K.
Published: December 2019

Devesh Kapur, Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Milan Vaishnav, editors. Rethinking Public Institutions in India. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press. 2017. 527 pages. ₹995.
Book review: Tarangini Sriraman. In Pursuit of Proof
Authors: Thachil Tariq
Published: December 2019

Tarangini Sriraman. In Pursuit of Proof. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2018. 323 pages. ₹850. ISBN: 978-0199463510 (Hardback).
Organizing a Victory: A Review Essay on the BJP’s 2014 Electoral Success
Authors: Singh Rajkamal , Goel Garima
Published: December 2019

Suhas Palshikar, Sanjay Kumar and Sanjay Lodha (Eds.), Electoral Politics in India: The Resurgence of the Bharatiya Janata Party. London and New York: Routledge. 2017. 312 pages. ₹995.

Ashutosh Kumar and Yatindra Singh Sisodia (Eds.), How India Votes: A State-by-State Look. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. 2019. 443 pages. ₹1395.

Prashant Jha, How the BJP Wins: Inside India’s Greatest Election Machine. New Delhi: Juggernaut Books. 2017. 235 pages. ₹399.

Rajdeep Sardesai, ‘2014: The Election that Changed India’. Gurgaon: Penguin Books India. 378 pages. ₹399.
High Tibial Osteotomy Survivorship: A Population-Based Study
Authors: Pannell William C. , Heidari Keemia Soraya , Mayer Erik Norman , Zimmerman Kathrin , Heckmann Nathanael , McKnight Braden , Hill Jeffrey Ryan , Vangsness Carleton Thomas , Hatch George Frederick , Weber Alexander Evan
Published: December 2019

Background:

High tibial osteotomy (HTO) was developed to treat early medial compartment osteoarthritis in varus knees.

Purpose:

To evaluate the midterm and long-term outcomes of HTO in a large population-based cohort of patients.

Study Design:

Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

Data from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development were used to identify patients undergoing HTO from 2000 to 2014. Patients with infectious arthritis, rheumatological disease, congenital deformities, malignancy, concurrent arthroplasty, or skeletal trauma were excluded. Demographic information was assessed for every patient. Failure was defined as conversion to total or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Differences between patients requiring arthroplasty and those who did not were identified using univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was performed, and Kaplan-Meier survivorship estimates for 5- and 10-year survival were computed.

Results:

A total of 1576 procedures were identified between 2000 and 2014; of these, 358 procedures were converted to arthroplasty within 10 years. Patients who went on to arthroplasty after HTO were older (48.23 ± 6.76 vs 42.66 ± 9.80 years, respectively; P < .001), had a higher incidence of hypertension (25.42% vs 17.82%, respectively; P = .001), and had a higher likelihood of having ≥1 comorbidity (38.0% vs 31.4%, respectively; P = .044). Patients were 8% more likely to require arthroplasty for each additional year in age (relative risk [RR], 1.08). Female patients were also at an increased risk of conversion to arthroplasty compared with male patients (RR, 1.38). Survivorship at 5 and 10 years was 80% and 56%, respectively, and the median time to failure was 5.1 years.

Conclusion:

HTO may provide long-term survival in select patients. Careful consideration should be given to patient age, sex, and osteoarthritis of the knee when selecting patients for this procedure.
How Much of Children’s Time in Nonparental Care Coincides with Their Parents’ Time at Work?
Authors: Gennetian Lisa A. , Datta A. Rupa , Goerge Robert , Zanoni Wladimir , Brandon Richard , Witte Ann , Krishnamurty Parvati
Published: December 2019

Nonparental care (NPC) for children before they enter kindergarten has had two primary purposes for American families since the start of the twentieth century: supporting parental employment and providing children developmentally enriching out-of-home experiences. Today’s policy makers are increasingly expanding publicly funded opportunities for children in low-income families to experience center-based care. Yet parents’ work commitments often occur on evenings, weekends, and other times outside of the traditional school day. Understanding parental work schedules vis-à-vis NPC timing is essential to informing public expansions of accessible and affordable nonparental care options. Using a 7-day calendar from the 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education, the authors uncover new patterns in the temporal synchronization of parental work and children’s time in various NPC settings and for households of varying incomes. Across all income groups and types of care, center-based care overlaps least with parental work hours. Children living in poverty have the lowest rates of NPC occurring during parental work time. The uncoupling of parental work status from children’s time in nonparental care suggests potential shifts in parents’ choices to expose children to care settings for the purpose of children’s development.
No Time-Dependent Effects of Psychosocial Stress on Fear Contextualization and Generalization: A Randomized-Controlled Study With Healthy Participants
Authors: Sep Milou S. C. , Gorter Rosalie , van Ast Vanessa A. , Joëls Marian , Geuze Elbert
Published: December 2019

The formation of context-dependent fear memories (fear contextualization) can aid the recognition of danger in new, similar, situations. Overgeneralization of fear is often seen as hallmark of anxiety and trauma-related disorders. In this randomized-controlled study, we investigated whether exposure to a psychosocial stressor influences retention of fear contextualization and generalization in a time-dependent manner. The Trier Social Stress Test was used to induce psychosocial stress. Healthy male participants (n = 117) were randomly divided into three experimental groups that were subjected to the acquisition phase of the Fear Generalization Task: (1) without stress, (2) immediately after acute stress, or (3) 2 h after acute stress. In this task, a male with neutral facial expression (conditioned stimuli) was depicted in two different contexts that modulated the conditioned stimuli–unconditioned stimuli (=shock) association (threat, safe). Salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol levels were measured throughout the experiment. After a 24-h delay, context-dependency of fear memory was investigated with an unannounced memory test consisting of the threat and safe contexts alternated with a novel context (the generalization context). Multilevel analyses revealed that participants showed increased fear-potentiated startle responses to the conditioned stimuli in the threat compared to the safe context, at the end of the acquisition phase, indicating adequate fear contextualization. Directly after acquisition, there were no time-dependent effects of psychosocial stress on fear contextualization. Context-dependency of fear memories was retained 24 h later, as fear-potentiated startle responding was modulated by context (threat > safe or novel). At that time, the context-dependency of fear memories was also not influenced by the early or late effects of the endogenous stress response during acquisition. These results with experimental stress deviate in some aspects from those earlier obtained with exogenous hydrocortisone administration, suggesting a distinct role for stress mediators other than cortisol.
Biomarkers of meat and seafood intake: an extensive literature review
Authors: Cuparencu Cătălina , Praticó Giulia , Hemeryck Lieselot Y. , Sri Harsha Pedapati S. C. , Noerman Stefania , Rombouts Caroline , Xi Muyao , Vanhaecke Lynn , Hanhineva Kati , Brennan Lorraine , Dragsted Lars O.
Published: December 2019

Meat, including fish and shellfish, represents a valuable constituent of most balanced diets. Consumption of different types of meat and fish has been associated with both beneficial and adverse health effects. While white meats and fish are generally associated with positive health outcomes, red and especially processed meats have been associated with colorectal cancer and other diseases.The contribution of these foods to the development or prevention of chronic diseases is still not fully elucidated. One of the main problems is the difficulty in properly evaluating meat intake, as the existing self-reporting tools for dietary assessment may be imprecise and therefore affected by systematic and random errors. Dietary biomarkers measured in biological fluids have been proposed as possible objective measurements of the actual intake of specific foods and as a support for classical assessment methods. Good biomarkers for meat intake should reflect total dietary intake of meat, independent of source or processing and should be able to differentiate meat consumption from that of other protein-rich foods; alternatively, meat intake biomarkers should be specific to each of the different meat sources (e.g., red vs. white; fish, bird, or mammal) and/or cooking methods. In this paper, we present a systematic investigation of the scientific literature while providing a comprehensive overview of the possible biomarker(s) for the intake of different types of meat, including fish and shellfish, and processed and heated meats according to published guidelines for biomarker reviews (BFIrev). The most promising biomarkers are further validated for their usefulness for dietary assessment by published validation criteria.
The exploration of disease-specific gene regulatory networks in esophageal carcinoma and stomach adenocarcinoma
Authors: Qin Guimin , Yang Luqiong , Ma Yuying , Liu Jiayan , Huo Qiuyan
Published: December 2019

Background

Feed-forward loops (FFLs), consisting of miRNAs, transcription factors (TFs) and their common target genes, have been validated to be important for the initialization and development of complex diseases, including cancer. Esophageal Carcinoma (ESCA) and Stomach Adenocarcinoma (STAD) are two types of malignant tumors in the digestive tract. Understanding common and distinct molecular mechanisms of ESCA and STAD is extremely crucial.

Results

In this paper, we presented a computational framework to explore common and distinct FFLs, and molecular biomarkers for ESCA and STAD. We identified FFLs by combining regulation pairs and RNA-seq data. Then we constructed disease-specific co-expression networks based on the FFLs identified. We also used random walk with restart (RWR) on disease-specific co-expression networks to prioritize candidate molecules. We identified 148 and 242 FFLs for these two types of cancer, respectively. And we found that one TF, E2F3 was related to ESCA, two genes, DTNA and KCNMA1 were related to STAD, while one TF ESR1 and one gene KIT were associated with both of the two types of cancer.

Conclusions

This proposed computational framework predicted disease-related biomolecules effectively and discovered the correlation between two types of cancers, which helped develop the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies of Esophageal Carcinoma and Stomach Adenocarcinoma.
Modelling TERT regulation across 19 different cancer types based on the MIPRIP 2.0 gene regulatory network approach
Authors: Poos Alexandra M. , Kordaß Theresa , Kolte Amol , Ast Volker , Oswald Marcus , Rippe Karsten , König Rainer
Published: December 2019

Background

Reactivation of the telomerase reverse transcriptase geneTERTis a central feature for unlimited proliferation of the majority of cancers. However, the underlying regulatory processes are only partly understood.

Results

We assembled regulator binding information from serveral sources to construct a generic human and mouse gene regulatory network. Advancing our “Mixed Integer linear Programming based Regulatory Interaction Predictor” (MIPRIP) approach, we identified the most common and cancer-type specific regulators ofTERTacross 19 different human cancers. The results were validated by using the well-knownTERTregulation by the ETS1 transcription factor in a subset of melanomas with mutations in theTERTpromoter.

Our improved MIPRIP2 R-package and the associated generic regulatory networks are freely available athttps://github.com/KoenigLabNM/MIPRIP.

Conclusion

MIPRIP 2.0 identified common as well as tumor type specific regulators ofTERT. The software can be easily applied to transcriptome datasets to predict gene regulation for any gene and disease/condition under investigation.
ZDOG: zooming in on dominating genes with mutations in cancer pathways
Authors: Alberts Rudi , Chen Jinyu , Zhang Louxin
Published: December 2019

Background

Inference of cancer-causing genes and their biological functions are crucial but challenging due to the heterogeneity of somatic mutations. The heterogeneity of somatic mutations reveals that only a handful of oncogenes mutate frequently and a number of cancer-causing genes mutate rarely.

Results

We develop a Cytoscape app, named ZDOG, for visualization of the extent to which mutated genes may affect cancer pathways using the dominating tree model. The dominator tree model allows us to examine conveniently the positional importance of a gene in cancer signalling pathways. This tool facilitates the identification of mutated “master” regulators even with low mutation frequency in deregulated signalling pathways.

Conclusions

We have presented a model for facilitating the examination of the extent to which mutation in a gene may affect downstream components in a signalling pathway through its positional information. The model is implemented in a user-friendly Cytoscape app which will be freely available upon publication.

Availability

Together with a user manual, the ZDOG app is freely available at GitHub (https://github.com/rudi2013/ZDOG). It is also available in the Cytoscape app store (http://apps.cytoscape.org/apps/ZDOG) and users can easily install it using the Cytoscape App Manager.
Detection and application of genome-wide variations in peach for association and genetic relationship analysis
Authors: Guan Liping , Cao Ke , Li Yong , Guo Jian , Xu Qiang , Wang Lirong
Published: December 2019

Background

Peach (Prunus persica L.) is a diploid species and model plant of the Rosaceae family. In the past decade, significant progress has been made in peach genetic research via DNA markers, but the number of these markers remains limited.

Results

In this study, we performed a genome-wide DNA markers detection based on sequencing data of six distantly related peach accessions. A total of 650,693~1,053,547 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 114,227~178,968 small insertion/deletions (InDels), 8386~12,298 structure variants (SVs), 2111~2581 copy number variants (CNVs) and 229,357~346,940 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were detected and annotated. To demonstrate the application of DNA markers, 944 SNPs were filtered for association study of fruit ripening time and 15 highly polymorphic SSRs were selected to analyze the genetic relationship among 221 accessions.

Conclusions

The results showed that the use of high-throughput sequencing to develop DNA markers is fast and effective. Comprehensive identification of DNA markers, including SVs and SSRs, would be of benefit to genetic diversity evaluation, genetic mapping, and molecular breeding of peach.