bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preserved Expression of Skin Neurotrophic Factors in Advanced Diabetic Neuropathy Does Not Lead to Neural Regeneration despite Pancreas and Kidney Transplantation
Authors: Saudek František , Cahová Monika , Havrdová Terezie , Zacharovová Klára , Daňková Helena , Voska Luděk , Lánská Věra , Üçeyler Nurcan , Sommer Claudia
Published: December 2018

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common complication of diabetes with potential severe consequences. Its pathogenesis involves hyperglycemia-linked mechanisms, which may include changes in the expression of neurotrophic growth factors. We analyzed the expression of 29 factors potentially related to nerve degeneration and regeneration in skin biopsies from 13 type 1 diabetic pancreas and kidney recipients with severe DPN including severe depletion of intraepidermal nerve fibers (IENF) in lower limb skin biopsies (group Tx1 1st examination). The investigation was repeated after a median 28-month period of normoglycemia achieved by pancreas transplantation (group Tx1 2nd examination). The same tests were performed in 13 stable normoglycemic pancreas and kidney recipients 6–12 years posttransplantation (group Tx2), in 12 matched healthy controls (group HC), and in 12 type 1 diabetic subjects without severe DPN (group DM). Compared to DM and HC groups, we found a significantly higher (p < 0.05–0.001) expression of NGF (nerve growth factor), NGFR (NGF receptor), NTRK1 (neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase 1), GDNF (glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor), GFRA1 (GDNF family receptor alpha 1), and GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) in both transplant groups (Tx1 and Tx2). Enhanced expression of these factors was not normalized following the median 28-month period of normoglycemia (Tx1 2nd examination) and negatively correlated with IENF density and with electrophysiological indices of DPN (vibration perception threshold, electromyography, and autonomic tests). In contrast to our expectation, the expression of most of 29 selected factors related to neural regeneration was comparable in subjects with severe peripheral nerve fiber depletion and healthy controls and the expression of six factors was significantly upregulated. These findings may be important for better understanding the pathophysiology of nerve regeneration and for the development of intervention strategies.
Metabolism Plays a Key Role during Macrophage Activation
Authors: Stunault Marion I. , Bories Gaël , Guinamard Rodolphe R. , Ivanov Stoyan
Published: December 2018

Monocyte and macrophage diversity is evidenced by the modulation of cell surface markers and differential production of soluble mediators. These immune cells play key roles in controlling tissue homeostasis, infections, and excessive inflammation. Macrophages remove dead cells in a process named efferocytosis, contributing to the healthy tissue maintenance. Recently, it became clear that the main macrophage functions are under metabolic control. Modulation of glucose, fatty acid, and amino acid metabolism is associated with various macrophage activations in response to external stimuli. Deciphering these metabolic pathways provided critical information about macrophage functions.
Factors That Affect Oral Care Outcomes for Institutionalized Elderly
Authors: Nomura Yoshiaki , Takei Noriko , Ishii Takanori , Takada Koji , Amitani Yasuharu , Koganezawa Hitomi , Fukuhara Shizuko , Asai Keita , Uozumi Ryuji , Bessho Kazuhisa
Published: December 2018

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an oral care intervention program on the incidence of pneumonia and fever as a surrogate endpoint. In addition, we tried to determine the oral care risk factors for the incidence of fever. We provided an oral care program for the elderly at one private nursing home in July 2013. The maximum capacity of the nursing home was 60 residents. The body temperatures of all residents were measured twice a day and were summarized as the incidence of fever over a one-month period, which was used as the dependent variable. The residents’ life conditions, number of teeth, and prescribed diet were used as independent variables. The factors that affected the incidence of fever were the number of remaining teeth, a prescribed diet of sliced food, the meal care level, and the oralCandidalevels. These risk factors affected the incidence of fever independently or interactively with oral care. Some risk factors for the incidence of fever were enhanced by the oral care program. It is important to evaluate and control these factors before the implementation of an oral care program.
A Novel Ensemble Wind Speed Forecasting Model in the Longdong Area of Loess Plateau in China
Authors: Fu Tonglin , Wang Chen
Published: December 2018

Energy is the lifeline and the base of development of social economy in every country or area. However, with the increasing depletion of fossil energy, it is imperative for business managers and government policy makers to seek and utilize new energy resources for keeping the national economy development sustained, rapid, and healthy. As a new energy resource, wind energy is developing with a high speed in the world for the reasons that it is an abundant natural resource with the characteristics of renewable, low cost, and no pollution. But in reality, forecasting wind speed accurately is continuously a challenging subject in the field of the wind energy development for a long time. In this paper, a novel ensemble wind speed forecasting model based on machine leaning models and hybrid models with data preprocessing technology is proposed to forecast the wind speed effectively in the Longdong area of Loess Plateau in China; numerical results show that the ensemble model has better precision, adaptability, and robustness.
Prospective Evaluation of Unprocessed Core Needle Biopsy DNA and RNA Yield from Lung, Liver, and Kidney Tumors: Implications for Cancer Genomics
Authors: Silk Mikhail T. , Mikkilineni Nina , Silk Tarik C. , Zabor Emily C. , Ostrovnaya Irina , Hakimi Ari A. , Hsieh James J. , Ziv Etay , Rekhtman Natasha , Solomon Stephen B. , Durack Jeremy C.
Published: December 2018

Context. Targeted needle biopsies are increasingly performed for the genetic characterization of cancer. While the nucleic acid content of core needle biopsies after standard pathology processing (i.e., formalin fixation and paraffin embedding (FFPE)) has been previously reported, little is known about the potential yield for molecular analysis at the time of biopsy sample acquisition. Objectives. Our objective was to improve the understanding of DNA and RNA yields from commonly used core needle biopsy techniques prior to sample processing. Methods. We performed 552 ex vivo 18 and 20G core biopsies in the lungs, liver, and kidneys. DNA and RNA were extracted from fresh-frozen core samples and quantified for statistical comparisons based on needle gauge, biopsy site, and tissue type. Results. Median tumor DNA yields from all 18G and 20G samples were 5880 ng and 2710 ng, respectively. Median tumor RNA yields from all 18G and 20G samples were 1100 ng and 230 ng, respectively. A wide range of DNA and RNA quantities (1060–13,390 ng and 370–6280 ng, respectively) were acquired. Median DNA and RNA yields from 18G needles were significantly greater than those from 20G needles across all organs (p<0.001). Conclusions. Core needle biopsy techniques for cancer diagnostics yield a broad range of DNA and RNA for molecular pathology, though quantities are greater than what has been reported for FFPE processed material. Since non-formalin-fixed DNA is advantageous for molecular studies, workflows that optimize core needle biopsy yield for molecular characterization should be explored.
Confirmed Mechanism for 1,8-Diaminonaphthalene and Ethyl Aroylpyrovate Derivatives Reaction, DFT/B3LYP, and Antimicrobial Activity of the Products
Authors: Abu-Melha Sraa
Published: December 2018

Two new series of perimidine derivatives were prepared from the reaction of 1,8-diaminonaphthalene with ethyl aroylpyrovate followed by coupling for the products. The structures, the mechanism, and the tautomeric forms of the products have been discussed on the basis of spectral data aided with the computational study. Applying Guassian09 software, the reaction mechanism was assured. The energy contents were computed after optimization for all proposed structures. The likely extracted compound has a reduced heat during formation and internal energy which coincides with experimental outcomes. The antimicrobial activity of all products was screened, and their results indicated the presence of five derivatives more potent than the reference drugs used. The simulation procedure was executed by Autodock 4.2 tools over the expected compounds yielded (12 and 21). This computational technique asserts on the drug behavior inside the causative organism proteins. The organisms here match with that used in the antimicrobial and antifungal study.
Predicting Protein Interactions Using a Deep Learning Method‐Stacked Sparse Autoencoder Combined with a Probabilistic Classification Vector Machine
Authors: Wang Yanbin , You Zhuhong , Li Liping , Cheng Li , Zhou Xi , Zhang Libo , Li Xiao , Jiang Tonghai
Published: December 2018

Protein‐protein interactions (PPIs), as an important molecular process within cells, are of pivotal importance in the biochemical function of cells. Although high‐throughput experimental techniques have matured, enabling researchers to detect large amounts of PPIs, it has unavoidable disadvantages, such as having a high cost and being time consuming. Recent studies have demonstrated that PPIs can be efficiently detected by computational methods. Therefore, in this study, we propose a novel computational method to predict PPIs using only protein sequence information. This method was developed based on a deep learning algorithm‐stacked sparse autoencoder (SSAE) combined with a Legendre moment (LM) feature extraction technique. Finally, a probabilistic classification vector machine (PCVM) classifier is used to implement PPI prediction. The proposed method was performed on human, unbalanced‐human, H. pylori, and S. cerevisiae datasets with 5‐fold cross‐validation and yielded very high predictive accuracies of 98.58%, 97.71%, 93.76%, and 96.55%, respectively. To further evaluate the performance of our method, we compare it with the support vector machine‐ (SVM‐) based method. The experimental results indicate that the PCVM‐based method is obviously preferable to the SVM‐based method. Our results have proven that the proposed method is practical, effective, and robust.
Creep Strain and Permeability Evolution in Cracked Granite Subjected to Triaxial Stress and Reactive Flow
Authors: Zhang Fan , Zhao Jianjian , Hu Dawei , Sheng Qian , Shao Jianfu
Published: December 2018

Fluid flow and fluid-rock interaction mainly take place in fracture network, consequently resulting in deformation and permeability variation of rock and deterioration of the wellbore performance. Mechanical-reactive flow coupling creep tests are performed on cracked granite under various confining pressures and acid and alkaline solution flows. The testing results show that the confining pressure and solution pH significantly influence the creep deformation, creep strain rate, and permeability. A primary creep stage and secondary creep stage are observed in all creep tests in this study; notably, the sample under a confining pressure of 10 MPa and acid solution injection undergoes creep failure for over 2700 hours. The acid solution has a more obvious influence on the creep behavior than that of the alkaline solution. With an increase in confining pressure, the total creep strain and creep strain rate in the samples gradually decrease during the injection of either solution. The permeability of the samples injected with either solution gradually deceases during the testing process, and this deceasing rate increases with the confining pressure. The scanning electron microscopy observations on the crack surfaces after the creep tests show that the surfaces of the fractures injected with the acid solution are smooth due to the dissolution of the matrix, while those injected with the alkaline solution include voids due to the dissolution of quartz. These experimental results could improve the understanding of the long-term transport and mechanical behaviors of wellbore.
Corneal Cross-Linking Window Absorption (CXL-WA) as an Adjuvant Therapy in the Management of Aspergillus niger Keratitis
Authors: Rosetta Pietro , Legrottaglie Emanuela F. , Pagano Luca , Vinciguerra Paolo
Published: December 2018

Purpose. To evaluate the effectiveness of corneal cross-linking window absorption (CXL-WA) as an adjuvant therapy for Aspergillus keratitis. Methods. A 90-year-old male came to our clinic complaining of hyperemic conjunctivitis and progressive visual loss in the right eye. Slit-lamp examination showed keratic precipitates, severe corneal opacity, and stromal edema. Corneal scraping culture was positive for Aspergillus niger. Because the clinical condition did not sufficiently improve with antifungal therapy, the patient underwent CXL-WA as an adjuvant therapy. Results. During the first week after treatment, the Tyndall effect, corneal edema, and signs of ocular inflammation progressively lessened. At the third postoperative month, the cornea was stable without signs of fungal keratitis. However, after this period, a descemetocele appeared in the cornea (2 × 2 mm in diameter), so the patient underwent a corneal penetrating keratoplasty. Histological evaluation of the removed corneal tissue revealed the presence of hyphae and fungal infection. Conclusions. We reported a case of in vivo CXL-WA used as an adjuvant therapy for deep stromal Aspergillus keratitis. CXL did not completely eradicate the fungal infection which caused perforation 4 months after treatment and it still cannot be considered a definitive solution to mycotic keratitis, which maintains a poor long-term prognosis.
Oxidative Stress in Poultry: Lessons from the Viral Infections
Authors: Rehman Zaib Ur , Meng Chunchun , Sun Yingjie , Safdar Anum , Pasha Riaz Hussain , Munir Muhammad , Ding Chan
Published: December 2018

Reactive species (RS), generally known as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), are produced during regular metabolism in the host and are required for many cellular processes such as cytokine transcription, immunomodulation, ion transport, and apoptosis. Intriguingly, both RNS and ROS are commonly triggered by the pathogenic viruses and are famous for their dual roles in the clearance of viruses and pathological implications. Uncontrolled production of reactive species results in oxidative stress and causes damage in proteins, lipids, DNA, and cellular structures. In this review, we describe the production of RS, their detoxification by a cellular antioxidant system, and how these RS damage the proteins, lipids, and DNA. Given the widespread importance of RS in avian viral diseases, oxidative stress pathways are of utmost importance for targeted therapeutics. Therefore, a special focus is provided on avian virus‐mediated oxidative stresses. Finally, future research perspectives are discussed on the exploitation of these pathways to treat viral diseases of poultry.
Historical Spatiotemporal Trends in Snowfall Extremes over the Canadian Domain of the Great Lakes Basin
Authors: Baijnath-Rodino Janine A. , Duguay Claude R.
Published: December 2018

The Laurentian Great Lakes Basin (GLB) is prone to snowfall events developed from extratropical cyclones or lake-effect processes. Monitoring extreme snowfall trends in response to climate change is essential for sustainability and adaptation studies because climate change could significantly influence variability in precipitation during the 21st century. Many studies investigating snowfall within the GLB have focused on specific case study events with apparent under examinations of regional extreme snowfall trends. The current research explores the historical extremes in snowfall by assessing the intensity, frequency, and duration of snowfall within Ontario’s GLB. Spatiotemporal snowfall and precipitation trends are computed for the 1980 to 2015 period using Daymet (Version 3) monthly gridded interpolated datasets from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Results show that extreme snowfall intensity, frequency, and duration have significantly decreased, at the 90% confidence level, more so for the Canadian leeward shores of Lake Superior than that of Lake Huron, for the months of December and January. To help discern the spatiotemporal trends is snowfall extremes, several trend analyses for lake-induced predictor variables were analysed for two cities, Wawa and Wiarton, along the snowbelts of Lakes Superior and Huron, respectively. These variables include monthly maximum and minimum air temperature, maximum wind gust velocity, lake surface temperature, and maximum annual ice cover concentration. Resultant significant increase in December’s maximum and minimum air temperature for the city of Wawa may be a potential reason for the decreased extreme snowfall trends.
Successful Elimination of Gallbladder Ascariasis by Conservative Therapy, Followed by Cholecystectomy due to Developing Cholecystitis
Authors: Alhamid Ahmad , Aljarad Ziad , Ghazal Ahmad , Mouakeh Ahmad , Sankari Tarabishi Ahmad , Joudeh Majed , Mohammad Mohammad , Alhamid Aos , Aljarad Jawhar , Mousa Maen
Published: December 2018

Background. Ascaris lumbricoides is the most common parasitic infection in human. The worm is usually located in the small intestine, but may invade into the pancreatic or biliary tree, but rarely into gallbladder because of the anatomic features of the cystic duct. Case Presentation. We report a case of gallbladder ascariasis that was diagnosed incidentally in a 70-year-old man, with negative ova and parasite test and no eosinophilia. We also compared echography and computerizied tomograph as diagnostic tools for gallbladder ascariasis. The patient was managed conservatively, but he underwent cholecyctectomy later because of developing cholecystitis. Conclusion. Depending on this case, we suggest cholecyctectomy as an initial management of gallbladder ascariasis.
Deep Image Understanding Using Multilayered Contexts
Authors: Shin Donghyeop , Kim Incheol
Published: December 2018

Generation of scene graphs and natural language captions from images for deep image understanding is an ongoing research problem. Scene graphs and natural language captions have a common characteristic in that they are generated by considering the objects in the images and the relationships between the objects. This study proposes a deep neural network model named the Context-based Captioning and Scene Graph Generation Network (C2SGNet), which simultaneously generates scene graphs and natural language captions from images. The proposed model generates results through communication of context information between these two tasks. For effective communication of context information, the two tasks are structured into three layers: the object detection, relationship detection, and caption generation layers. Each layer receives related context information from the lower layer. In this study, the proposed model was experimentally assessed using the Visual Genome benchmark data set. The performance improvement effect of the context information was verified through various experiments. Further, the high performance of the proposed model was confirmed through performance comparison with existing models.
BPS Equations of Monopole and Dyon in SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs Model, Nakamula-Shiraishi Models, and Their Generalized Versions from the BPS Lagrangian Method
Authors: Atmaja Ardian Nata , Prasetyo Ilham
Published: December 2018

We apply the BPS Lagrangian method to derive BPS equations of monopole and dyon in the SU2 Yang-Mills-Higgs model, Nakamula-Shiraishi models, and their generalized versions. We argue that, by identifying the effective fields of scalar field, f, and of time-component gauge field, j, explicitly by j=βf with β being a real constant, the usual BPS equations for dyon can be obtained naturally. We validate this identification by showing that both Euler-Lagrange equations for f and j are identical in the BPS limit. The value of β is bounded to β<1 due to reality condition on the resulting BPS equations. In the Born-Infeld type of actions, namely, Nakamula-Shiraishi models and their generalized versions, we find a new feature that, by adding infinitesimally the energy density up to a constant 4b2, with b being the Born-Infeld parameter, it might turn monopole (dyon) to antimonopole (antidyon) and vice versa. In all generalized versions there are additional constraint equations that relate the scalar-dependent couplings of scalar and of gauge kinetic terms or G and w, respectively. For monopole the constraint equation is G=w-1, while for dyon it is wG-β2w=1-β2 which further gives lower bound to G as such G≥2β1-β2. We also write down the complete square-forms of all effective Lagrangians.
Fuzzy Weighted Least Squares Support Vector Regression with Data Reduction for Nonlinear System Modeling
Authors: Liu Xiaoyong , Ouyang Aijia , Yun Zhonghua
Published: December 2018

This paper proposes a fuzzy weighted least squares support vector regression (FW-LSSVR) with data reduction for nonlinear system modeling based only on the measured data. The proposed method combines the advantages of data reduction with some ideas of fuzzy weighted mechanism. It not only possesses the capability of illuminating local characteristic of the modeled plant but also can deal with the problem of boundary effects resulted from local LSSVR method when the modeled data is at the boundary of whole data subset. Furthermore, in comparison of the SVR, the proposed method only utilizes fewer hyperparameters to construct model, and the overlap factor λ can be chosen in relatively smaller value than SVR to further reduce more computational time. First of all, distilling the original input space into several regions with fuzzy partition by applying Gustafson-Kessel clustering algorithm (GKCA) is a foundation for data reduction and the overlap factor is introduced to reduce the size of subsets. Following that, those subset regression models (SRMs) which can be simultaneously solved by LSSVR are integrated into an overall output of the estimated nonlinear system by fuzzy weighted. Finally, the proposed method is demonstrated by experimental analysis and compared with local LSSVR, weighted SVR, and global LSSVR methods by using the index of computational time and root-mean-square error (RMSE).
Plant Location Selection for Food Production by Considering the Regional and Seasonal Supply Vulnerability of Raw Materials
Authors: Park Jin Woo , Oh Ha Young , Kim Duck Young , Cho Yong Ju
Published: December 2018

A production capacity analysis considering market demand and raw materials is very important to design a new plant. However, in the food processing industry, the supply uncertainty of raw materials is very high, depending on the production site and the harvest season, and further, it is not straightforward to analyze too complex food production systems by using an analytical optimization model. For these reasons, this study presents a simulation-based decision support model to select the right location for a new food processing plant. We first define three supply vulnerability factors from the standpoint of regional as well as seasonal instability and present an assessment method for supply vulnerability based on fuzzy quantification. The evaluated vulnerability scores are then converted into raw material supply variations for food production simulation to predict the quarterly production volume of a new food processing plant. The proposed selection procedure is illustrated using a case study of semiprocessed kimchi production. The best plant location is proposed where we can reduce and mitigate risks when supplying raw material, thereby producing a target production volume steadily.
Cost Analysis and Supply Utilization of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy
Authors: Kapoor Trishul , Wrenn Sean M. , Callas Peter W. , Abu-Jaish Wasef
Published: December 2018

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is one of the highest volume surgeries performed annually. We hypothesized that there is a statistically significant intradepartmental cost variance with supply utilization variability amongst surgeons of different subspecialty. This study sought to describe laparoscopic cholecystectomy cost of care among three subspecialties of surgeons. This retrospective observational cohort study captured 372 laparoscopic cholecystectomy cases performed between June 2015 and June 2016 by 12 surgeons divided into three subspecialties: 2 in bariatric surgery (BS), 5 in acute care surgery (ACS), and 5 in general surgery (GS). The study utilized a third-party software, Surgical Profitability Compass Procedure Cost Manager and Crimson System (SPCMCS) (The Advisory Board Company, Washington, DC), to stratify case volume, supply cost, case duration, case severity level, and patient length of stay intradepartmentally. Statistical methods included the Kruskal-Wallis test. Average composite supply cost per case was $569 and median supply cost per case was $554. The case volume was 133 (BS), 109 (ACS), and 130 (GS). The median intradepartmental total supply cost was $674.5 (BS), $534 (ACS), and $564 (GS) (P<0.005). ACS and GS presented with a higher standard deviation of cost, $98 (ACS) and $110 (GS) versus $26 (BS). The median case duration was 70 min (BS), 107 min (ACS), and 78 min (GS) (P<0.02). The average patient length of stay was 1.15 (BS), 3.10 (ACS), and 1.17 (GS) (P<0.005). Overall, there was a statistically significant difference in median supply cost (highest in BS; lowest in ACS and GS). However, the higher supply costs may be attenuated by decreased operative time and patient length of stay. Strategies to reduce total supply cost per case include mandating exchange of expensive items, standardization of supply sets, increased price transparency, and education to surgeons.
Clinical Diagnosis of X-Linked Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia Tarda and a Novel Missense Mutation in the Sedlin Gene (SEDL)
Authors: Kong Lei , Wang Dongxu , Li Shanshan , Zhang Chengsheng , Jiang Xiuyun , Guan Qingbo , Zhang Zhenlin , Jing Fei , Xu Jin
Published: December 2018

Objective. Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda (SEDT) is a rare hereditary bone disease characterized by spinal and epiphyseal anomalies. We identified the disease by gene sequencing in a Chinese pedigree with SEDT. Methods. We extracted genomic DNA from five members of a four-generation Chinese SEDT kindred with three affected males and then analyzed the genetic mutation by PCR and DNA sequencing. Results. DNA sequencing showed that the genetic missense mutation occurred one bp upstream of exon 6 in the SEDL gene in two families, and a heterozygous mutation was found in a female carrier. In addition, no mutation was found in the other members of the family. Conclusion. SEDT in this family was caused by a G/C missense mutation in exon 6 of the SEDL gene, previously not shown to be associated with X-linked SEDT.
Modelling In Vivo HIV Dynamics under Combined Antiretroviral Treatment
Authors: Mobisa B. , Lawi G. O. , Nthiiri J. K.
Published: December 2018

In this paper a within host mathematical model for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission incorporating treatment is formulated. The model takes into account the efficacy of combined antiretroviral treatment on viral growth and T cell population in the human blood. The existence of an infection free and positive endemic equilibrium is established. The basic reproduction number R0 is derived using the method of next generation matrix. We perform local and global stability analysis of the equilibria points and show that if R0<1, then the infection free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and theoretically the virus is cleared and the disease dies out and if R0>1, then the endemic equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable implying that the virus persists within the host. Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of treatment on the within host infection dynamics.
Anterior Chamber Angle and Volume Do Not Change after Myopic Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis in Young Patients
Authors: Yassa Ertuğrul Tan , Ünlü Cihan
Published: December 2018

Purpose. We aimed to investigate whether anterior chamber angle, depth, and volume change after myopic laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in young patients. Methods. This retrospective study included 29 eyes of 29 patients (15 females and 14 males) between the ages of 18 and 39 years who underwent LASIK for the treatment of myopia. In addition to complete ophthalmic examination, anterior chamber angle (ACA), central anterior chamber depth (ACD), and anterior chamber volume (ACV) were measured by using a Sirius rotating Scheimpflug camera combined with Placido disc corneal topography (CSO, Florence, Italy). Preoperative and postoperative values were compared using paired t-tests. Linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship between changes in refraction and changes in ACA, ACD, and ACV as well as between attempted maximum ablation depth and changes in ACA, ACD, and ACV. Results. The mean age of the study population was 25.5 ± 6.2 years. The mean preoperative and postoperative spherical equivalent values were −3.30 ± 1.92 D and −0.18 ± 0.29 D, respectively. ACV and ACA were not significantly changed after surgery; however, central ACD was significantly decreased (preoperatively = 3.366 ± 0.316 mm vs postoperatively = 3.3 ± 0.298 mm) with a mean difference of 0.066 ± 1.121 mm. There were no significant relationships between changes in refraction and anterior segment dimensions or between attempted maximum ablation depth and anterior segment dimensions. Conclusion. Measurements with Sirius showed that ACA and ACV did not change; however, central ACD significantly decreased after myopic LASIK in young patients, indicating that the preoperative central ACD value should not be used interchangeably with the postoperative central ACD value.
Intercondylar Notch Impingement of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament: A Cadaveric In Vitro Study Using Robots
Authors: Wilson Ross , Barhorst Alan A.
Published: December 2018

Background. Research has indicated that a smaller intercondylar notch could cause contact between the anterior cruciate ligament and the femoral notch, which may predispose individuals to an increased rate of anterior cruciate ligament injury.Hypothesis. Contact between the lateral notch wall and the anterior cruciate ligament does increase the strain past the structural integrity of the ligament.Study Design. A descriptive laboratory study.Methods. A biomechanical study using robotic manipulators was conducted to investigate the occurrence of impingement in human cadaver specimens. Six cadaveric knees from six donors (three male and three female) were instrumented with a thin force sensor, placed on the lateral wall of the femoral condyle, and a differential variable reluctance transducer (DVRT) was attached to the middle section of the anterior medial bundle of the ACL. The knees were then moved through a series of flexion (5° to 90°), valgus (0 to 7.5°), and external rotation (0 to 7.5°) movements using two interacting robots.Results. The results revealed that impingement occurred in both male and female specimens with a maximum impingement force of 28 N. Impingement occurred more prominently in female knees and in the combination loading of valgus and external rotation for both genders. The corresponding strain due to impingement was small or compressive, with the male knee maximum strain less than 1.28% and the female knee strain less than 7.1% in the worse case conditions.Conclusion. The lack of increased force or strain when impingement occurred indicates that impingement may not affect the healthy function of the knee with a nonstenotic notch. Additionally, the analysis shows that impingement may not be a major contributing factor to anterior cruciate ligament injury, but rather a common occurrence in healthy knees.Clinical Relevance. Impingement within the femoral notch does not appear to be a major contributory factor to ACL injury. Other more severe injuries to the knee would occur before ACL impingement with the femoral notch becoming a contributing factor to ACL injury. The small sample size limits the conclusivity of the results presented in this research; thus, additional large sample size studies are warranted.
The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Gastric Polyp in Asymptomatic Patients Receiving Health Examination
Authors: Wang Fu-Wei , Young Su-Chi , Chen Ru-Yih , Lin Kung-Hung , Chen Yan-Hua , Hsu Ping-I , Yu Hsien-Chung
Published: December 2018

Background. To determine the risk factors and prevalence of asymptomatic gastric polyps in the general population of Taiwan. Methods. Consecutive asymptomatic individuals completing a health examination during October 2015–March 2016 were enrolled in the study and subjected to upper GI endoscopy. Their demographic data and medical history were collected, and the prevalence of gastric polyps was calculated. The risk factors of gastric polyps were identified by analyzing these data through univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results. Gastric polyp prevalence in the study population was 29.8%. Age range of 45–60 years, current smoking, and lack of regular exercise were found to be significantly associated with gastric polyps, whereas age range of 45–60 years (relative risk [RR], 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–2.40) and current smoking (RR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.04–2.55) were found to be independent predictors for gastric polyps. Conclusions. In Taiwan, asymptomatic gastric polyps have a prevalence of 29.8%. Age range of 45–60 years and current smoking may increase the risk of asymptomatic gastric polyps.
Multiple Hidden Markov Model for Pathological Vessel Segmentation
Authors: Hu Xin , Ding Deqiong , Chu Dianhui
Published: December 2018

One of the obstacles that prevent the accurate delineation of vessel boundaries is the presence of pathologies, which results in obscure boundaries and vessel-like structures. Targeting this limitation, we present a novel segmentation method based on multiple Hidden Markov Models. This method works with a vessel axis + cross-section model, which constrains the classifier around the vessel. The vessel axis constraint gives our method the potential to be both physiologically accurate and computationally effective. Focusing on pathological vessels, we reap the benefits of the redundant information embedded in multiple vessel-specific features and the good statistical properties coming with Hidden Markov Model, to cover the widest possible spectrum of complex situations. The performance of our method is evaluated on synthetic complex-structured datasets, where we achieve a 91% high overlap ratio. We also validate the proposed method on a real challenging case, segmentation of pathological abdominal arteries. The performance of our method is promising, since our method yields better results than two state-of-the-art methods on both synthetic datasets and real clinical datasets.
Do cosmos ao chão
Authors: Azul Carolina Serra , Nuernberger Renan
Published: December 2018

Este artigo recupera a reflexão crítica de Mário Pedrosa sobre a arte moderna em plano internacional, discutindo as estratégias de constituição de sua perspectiva acerca da arte concreta e neoconcreta em contexto brasileiro. Além disso, o texto pretende assinalar a articulação que Pedrosa estabelece entre forma artística e matéria social, comentando sua posição em relação à pop art norte-americana e seu correlato nacional após o golpe de 1964.
Configurações Paulistas: operando a saga bandeirante
Authors: Rahme Anna Maria Abrão Khoury
Published: December 2018

O artigo procura sustentar a existência de operações que, por meio de tramas impositivas, criam mitos nacionais ou regionais, procurando estabelecer uma dada ordem identitária. Em particular, analisa as representações sobre a figura do Bandeirante, o paulista, e percorre alguns dos significados a ele atrelados desde o Brasil Colônia, para deflagrar os conjuntos de atos que se combinam para a obtenção de determinados objetivos ainda considerados ativos, mesmo em tempos de multiculturalismo e transnacionalismo, na busca em ressuscitar modelos e comportamentos, claramente estabelecidos anteriormente, para cunhar dado caráter de ser paulista.
Sex Disparities in Authorship Order of Cardiology Scientific Publications
Authors: Ouyang David , Sing David , Shah Sonia , Hu Jiaqi , Duvernoy Claire , Harrington Robert A. , Rodriguez Fatima
Published: December 2018

Background:

Despite advances in the representation of women in medical training, women continue to be underrepresented in cardiology, academic medicine, and more specifically, in senior positions within academic medicine. Identifying disparities in research productivity and acknowledgment can highlight barriers to female representation in academic cardiology leadership, as well as in academic promotion.

Methods and Results:

This bibliometric analysis included all authors of original research articles between 1980 and 2017 from 3 high-impact cardiology journals (
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
,
Circulation
, and
European Heart Journal
). We identified 71 345 unique authors of 55 085 primary research articles during our study period. Female authors accounted for 33.1% of all authors; however, they represented only 26.7% of first authors and 19.7% of senior authors. Looking at the most prolific authors within this time period, female authors were not well represented, accounting for only 5% of the top 100 authors. Articles with a female senior author had more female middle authors than articles with a male senior author (mean 1.41 versus 0.97,
P
<0.001) and were more likely to have a female first author (0.37 versus 0.18,
P
<0.001). There was an increased representation of female authors as first and senior authors compared with the total number of articles with female authors over time (
P
<0.001 for trend); however, female senior authorship rates continued to lag first authorship rates.

Conclusions:

Using a large database of published manuscripts, we found that female representation in published cardiology research has increased over the past 4 decades. However, women continue to be not well represented as first authors, senior authors, and in the number of publications. When women were senior authors, they published more articles with female first authors and had more female authors. In addition to recruiting more women into the field of cardiology, additional work is needed to identify and address barriers to academic advancement for female physician-scientists.
Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction in the Young
Authors: Tromp Jasper , MacDonald Michael R. , Tay Wan Ting , Teng Tiew-Hwa K. , Hung Chung-Lieh , Narasimhan Calambur , Shimizu Wataru , Ling Lieng Hsi , Ng Tze Pin , Yap Jonathan , McMurray John J.V. , Zile Michael R. , Richards A. Mark , Anand Inder S. , Lam Carolyn S.P.
Published: December 2018

Background:

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), traditionally considered a disease of the elderly, may also affect younger patients. However, little is known about HFpEF in the young.

Methods:

We prospectively enrolled 1203 patients with HFpEF (left ventricular ejection fraction ≥50%) from 11 Asian regions. We grouped HFpEF patients into very young (<55 years of age; n=157), young (55–64 years of age; n=284), older (65–74 years of age; n=355), and elderly (≥75 years of age; n=407) and compared clinical and echocardiographic characteristics, quality of life, and outcomes across age groups and between very young individuals with HFpEF and age- and sex-matched control subjects without heart failure.

Results:

Thirty-seven percent of our HFpEF population was <65 years of age. Younger age was associated with male preponderance and a higher prevalence of obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m
2
; 36% in very young HFpEF versus 16% in elderly) together with less renal impairment, atrial fibrillation, and hypertension (all
P
<0.001). Left ventricular filling pressures and prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy were similar in very young and elderly HFpEF. Quality of life was better and death and heart failure hospitalization at 1 year occurred less frequently (
P
<0.001) in the very young (7%) compared with elderly (21%) HFpEF. Compared with control subjects, very young HFpEF had a 3-fold higher death rate and twice the prevalence of hypertrophy.

Conclusions:

Young and very young patients with HFpEF display similar adverse cardiac remodeling compared with their older counterparts and very poor outcomes compared with control subjects without heart failure. Obesity may be a major driver of HFpEF in a high proportion of HFpEF in the young and very young.
Left Ventricular Assist Devices
Authors: Han Jason J. , Acker Michael A. , Atluri Pavan
Published: December 2018

Ventricular assist device has rapidly emerged as a durable and safe therapy for end-stage heart failure patients with >22 000 implantations to date. Though originally conceived for bridge-to-transplant indication, significant advancements in medical management as well as technology with arrivals of newer generation devices have improved patient outcomes, leading to increasing use as destination therapy. Despite such improvement, however, the burden of adverse events remains significant and defines the most pressing issue in the current state of ventricular assist device therapy. Eventual use of ventricular assist device technology as a comparable alternative to heart transplantation will ultimately rely on our ability to mitigate these risks. Therefore, this review article provides the narrative surrounding the rapid integration of this technology into the heart failure paradigm, specifically in the context of the most recent data on its outcomes and adverse event profiles. It describes ongoing investigations and general trends that may have significant implications for future improvements in device-related outcomes, as the field continues to grow as the epitome of synergy between advancements in engineering and clinical medicine.
Gender Differences in Patient‐Reported Outcomes Among Adults With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Okunrintemi Victor , Valero‐Elizondo Javier , Patrick Benjamin , Salami Joseph , Tibuakuu Martin , Ahmad Saba , Ogunmoroti Oluseye , Mahajan Shiwani , Khan Safi U. , Gulati Martha , Nasir Khurram , Michos Erin D.
Published: December 2018

Background

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (
ASCVD
) accounts for approximately one third of deaths in women. Although there is an established relationship between positive patient experiences, health‐related quality of life, and improved health outcomes, little is known about gender differences in patient‐reported outcomes among
ASCVD
patients. We therefore compared gender differences in patient‐centered outcomes among individuals with
ASCVD
.

Methods and Results

Data from the 2006 to 2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative US sample, were used for this study. Adults ≥18 years with a diagnosis of
ASCVD
, ascertained by
International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision
(
ICD‐9)
codes and/or self‐reported data, were included. Linear and logistic regression were used to compare self‐reported patient experience, perception of health, and health‐related quality of life by gender. Models adjusted for demographics, socioeconomic status, and comorbidities. There were 21 353 participants included, with >10 000 (47%‐weighted) of the participants being women, representing ≈11 million female adults with
ASCVD
nationwide. Compared with men, women with
ASCVD
were more likely to experience poor patient–provider communication (odds ratio 1.25 [95% confidence interval 1.11–1.41]), lower healthcare satisfaction (1.12 [1.02–1.24]), poor perception of health status (1.15 [1.04–1.28]), and lower health‐related quality of life scores. Women with
ASCVD
also had lower use of aspirin and statins, and greater odds of ≥2 Emergency Department visits/y.

Conclusions

Women with
ASCVD
were more likely to report poorer patient experience, lower health‐related quality of life, and poorer perception of their health when compared with men. These findings have important public health implications and require more research towards understanding the gender‐specific differences in healthcare quality, delivery, and ultimately health outcomes among individuals with
ASCVD
.
Lung Function in Young Adults and Risk of Cardiovascular Events Over 29 Years: The CARDIA Study
Authors: Cuttica Michael J. , Colangelo Laura A. , Dransfield Mark T. , Bhatt Surya P. , Rana Jamal S. , Jacobs David R. , Thyagarajan Bharat , Sidney Stephen , Lewis Cora E. , Liu Kiang , Lloyd‐Jones Donald , Washko George , Kalhan Ravi
Published: December 2018

Background

Diminished peak lung function in young adulthood is a risk factor for future chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The association between lung disease and cardiovascular disease later in life is well documented. Whether peak lung function measured in young adulthood is associated with risk of future cardiovascular events is unknown.

Methods and Results

CARDIA (The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) study is a prospective, multicenter, community‐based, longitudinal cohort study including 4761 participants aged 18 to 30 years with lung function testing we investigated the association between lung health in young adulthood and risk of subsequent cardiovascular events. We performed Cox proportional hazards regression to test the association between baseline and years 10 and 20 pulmonary function with incident cardiovascular events. Linear and logistic regression was performed to explore the associations of lung function with development of risk factors for cardiovascular disease as well as carotid intima‐media thickness and coronary artery calcified plaque. At baseline, mean age (±
SD
) was 24.9±3.6 years. Baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 second (hazard ratio) per −10‐unit decrement in percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (hazard ratio, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.06–1.31 [
P
=0.002]) and
FVC
per −10‐unit decrement in percent predicted
FVC
(hazard ratio, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06–1.33 [
P
=0.003]) were associated with future cardiovascular events independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Baseline lung function was associated with heart failure and cerebrovascular events but not coronary artery disease events.

Conclusions

Lung function in young adulthood is independently associated with cardiovascular events into middle age. This association appears to be driven by heart failure and cerebrovascular events rather than coronary heart disease.

Clinical Trial Registration

URL
:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier:
NCT
00005130.
Multiple Instance Learning Networks for Fine-Grained Sentiment Analysis
Authors: Angelidis Stefanos , Lapata Mirella
Published: December 2018

We consider the task of fine-grained sentiment analysis from the perspective of multiple instance learning (MIL). Our neural model is trained on document sentiment labels, and learns to predict the sentiment of text segments, i.e. sentences or elementary discourse units (EDUs), without segment-level supervision. We introduce an attention-based polarity scoring method for identifying positive and negative text snippets and a new dataset which we call SpoT (as shorthand for Segment-level POlariTy annotations) for evaluating MIL-style sentiment models like ours. Experimental results demonstrate superior performance against multiple baselines, whereas a judgement elicitation study shows that EDU-level opinion extraction produces more informative summaries than sentence-based alternatives.