bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evidence-based practice: What do undergraduate health students think it means?
Authors: Murphy Kylie Ann , Guisard Yann , Curtin Michael , Biles Jessica , Thomas Catherine , Parnell Tracey
Published: December 2019

Introduction: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a client-centred, collaborative process of enquiry, evidence gathering and critical reasoning to facilitate defensible healthcare decisions. Developing EBP competence in health students starts with ensuring that they understand what EBP means. This study explored the meanings undergraduate health students ascribe to EBP and investigated whether their understandings differ based on year level or discipline. Methods: An online survey of undergraduate students in 20 health degree courses included the open-ended question “What does EBP mean to you?” Druckman’s (2005) method of content analysis, using both etic and emic categories, was used to analyse the students’ responses. Results: Only 377 (two thirds) of the 584 students who submitted the survey provided an answer to the question; approximately half of those in their first year and three quarters of those in their final year answered the question. Most responses demonstrated a very limited understanding of the meaning of EBP. Differences in EBP conceptualisations based on year level and discipline were negligible. Conclusions: Across the sample subgroups, the majority of students in this study demonstrated a narrow understanding of EBP, largely devoid of the processes or principles that EBP scholars espouse. For EBP to achieve its full potential, undergraduate health students may require frequent and explicit exposure to all five steps of the EBP process. If new graduates do not understand EBP to be a contextualised, collaborative process, there is a risk that the potential value of EBP will continue to be compromised.
Physiotherapy new graduate self-efficacy and readiness to engage in pain assessment and management: A mixed-methods study
Authors: Ingram Meg , Forbes Roma , Jones Abraham
Published: December 2019

Introduction: The competent assessment and management of pain is a requirement of all new graduate physiotherapists, however the readiness of new graduates in this area of practice is unknown. Understanding self-efficacy and readiness of new graduates is important in informing curricula. Methods: A sequential mixed-methods design was used. On completion of their professional education, new graduate physiotherapists completed a survey (n = 150, 90.9% response rate) measuring their self-efficacy for established competencies for pain assessment and management. Six months later, a randomised sample of respondents (n = 15) participated in a semi-structured interview to further explore self-efficacy and readiness for practice. Results: Competency items with the highest self-efficacy scores were Demonstrate empathic and compassionate communication and Assess patient preferences. The item with the lowest self-efficacy score was Differentiate physical dependence, substance use disorder, misuse, tolerance, addiction and nonadherence and how these affect pain and function. Six themes emerged from the semi-structured interviews: (1) understanding and explaining pain, (2) striving for patient-centred practice, (3) incomplete mastery of outcome measures, (4) chronic pain management is challenging (5) facing patient conflict and complexity and (6) direct mastery is most influential. Conclusions: New graduate physiotherapists demonstrated high self-efficacy for engaging in patient-centred practice but low self-efficacy for using pain outcome measures, managing chronic pain and substance use. The interview findings corroborated these results and highlighted the role of direct practice for pain assessment and management, self-efficacy and readiness for practice. Identifying the implications for improving professional pain curricula and new graduate workplace support in these domains are recommended.
Focus on Methodology: Eliciting rich data: A practical approach to writing semi-structured interview schedules
Authors: Bearman Margaret
Published: December 2019

One of the aims of qualitative research is to seek deeper understandings of the human experience. Semi-structured interviews are one of the most common methods used to achieve this purpose. However, novices may find it difficult to write interview schedules that elicit the type of thick, rich description that forms the foundation of qualitative inquiry. This paper provides a practical approach to writing semi-structured interview schedules that use events as the basic building blocks of the interview. This approach suggests three steps: (1) considering which core event or series of events illustrate phenomena of interest, (2) ordering questions to optimise an intuitive and conversational flow and (3) refining the schedule through a series of review and piloting.
Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection of Rhesus Macaques Results in Delayed Zika Virus Clearance
Authors: Vinton Carol L. , Magaziner Samuel J. , Dowd Kimberly A. , Robertson Shelly J. , Amaro-Carambot Emerito , Karmele Erik P. , Ortiz Alexandra M. , Starke Carly E. , Mudd Joseph C. , Whitehead Stephen S. , Best Sonja M. , Pierson Theodore C. , Hickman Heather D. , Brenchley Jason M.
Published: December 2019

Immunocompromised individuals often become symptomatic with infections which are normally fairly asymptomatic in healthy individuals. The particular mechanisms that underlie susceptibility to coinfections in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals are multifaceted. ZIKV and other flaviviruses are sensitive to neutralizing antibodies, whose production can be limited in HIV-infected individuals but are also sensitive to type I interferons, which are expressed at high levels in HIV-infected individuals. Data in this study highlight how individual components of the innate and adaptive immune responses which become perturbed in HIV-infected individuals influence ZIKV infection.
Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis presenting as fixed drug eruption
Authors: Bhardwaj Nancy , Jindal Rashmi , Chauhan Payal
Published: December 2019

Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis (APD) is a rare disorder that presents as recurrent cyclical cutaneous eruptions during the premenstrual period when progesterone level is elevated. It does not have a specific cutaneous manifestation of its own and presents with a multitude of common cutaneous conditions, thus making it a diagnostic challenge. We describe the case of a young woman who presented with a hyperpigmented patch on her left thigh, over which she developed recurrent erythema, pain and itching, starting 2 days before her menstrual cycle and resolving within 2 days after menstruation. Intradermal progesterone sensitivity test was positive. Histopathology of hyperpigmented patch showed features of fixed drug eruption. A diagnosis of APD presenting as fixed drug eruption was made. She was treated with oral contraceptive pills with significant improvement. This case has been reported because of its rarity and to highlight the clinical implications this condition can pose if diagnosis is not sought timely.
Azacitidine-induced hyperglycaemia
Authors: Morton Adam
Published: December 2019

A case illustrating significant hyperglycaemia with azacitidine therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome is presented. The significance of treatment-induced hyperglycaemia with regard to increased risk of infection, and possible mechanisms of azacitidine-induced hyperglycaemia are discussed.
Statin-induced anti-HMGCR antibody-related immune-mediated necrotising myositis achieving complete remission with rituximab
Authors: Zhang Wenwen , Prince Henry Miles , Reardon Katrina
Published: December 2019

Statin-induced immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM) is a rare but increasingly recognised myositis. Many cases have positive antibodies to 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (anti-HMGCR). The current treatment is ceasing the statin, but often immunosuppressive therapy is required as the antibodies persist, causing muscle necrosis. Despite the use of immunosuppressive medications, most commonly prednisolone, methotrexate, plasma exchange and/or intravenous immunoglobulin, some patients do not respond. We report the successful treatment with rituximab therapy for three patients with IMNM with positive anti-HMGCR antibodies. All three patients with statin-induced IMNM were elderly, with a disease history of 7–9 years, and had failed several immunosuppressive agents. They responded well to rituximab (induction and maintenance) therapy. They remain in remission with no symptoms and normal creatine kinase. One patient had normalisation of anti-HMGCR antibody level, and one patient’s antibody level reduced significantly. Rituximab is an effective immunosuppressive treatment for patients with refractory IMNM.
#SafeSport: safeguarding initiatives at the Youth Olympic Games 2018
Authors: Mountjoy Margo , Vertommen Tine , Burrows Kirsty , Greinig Susan
Published: December 2019

Background

Little is known about athletes’ understanding of safe sport and occurrence of harassment and abuse in elite youth sport.

Objective

To evaluate the IOC Safe Sport educational experience at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires and to ascertain the athletes’ (1) understanding of what constitutes harassment and abuse, (2) perception of the occurrence in their sport, and (3) knowledge of where to report.

Methods

Athletes visiting the IOC Safe Sport Booth answered a survey related to athletes’ (1) understanding of harassment and abuse in sport, (2) perception of the occurrence of harassment and abuse in their sport, and (3) knowledge of where to report. Experts and volunteers answered an email survey on their experience.

Results

The response rate was 71.8%. When asked to define ‘safe sport’, the athletes mainly relate the concept to general physical and environmental safety, fair play and clean sport, rather than sport free from harassment and abuse. Almost half (46%) of the athletes expressed surprise by the definition of behaviours of harassment and abuse within sport. When asked if harassment and/or abuse occur in their sport, 47.5% reported ‘no’ or ‘not likely’, while 34% stated ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’; 19% were ‘unsure’. The majority (63%) of athletes knew where to seek help. Three quarters (71%) of the athletes rated the educational materials as ‘good’ to ‘excellent’. The experts and volunteers believed the intervention would result in change in athletes’ awareness, knowledge and behaviour.

Conclusions

This multinational cohort of elite youth athletes is not knowledgeable of the concept of harassment and abuse in sport, despite there being a significant perception of occurrence of harassment and abuse in their sports.
Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community: an abridged Cochrane systematic review
Authors: Sherrington Cathie , Fairhall Nicola , Wallbank Geraldine , Tiedemann Anne , Michaleff Zoe A , Howard Kirsten , Clemson Lindy , Hopewell Sally , Lamb Sarah
Published: December 2019

Objectives

To assess the effects of exercise interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community.

Selection criteria

We included randomised controlled trials evaluating the effects of any form of exercise as a single intervention on falls in people aged 60+years living in the community.

Results

Exercise reduces the rate of falls by 23% (rate ratio (RaR) 0.77, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.83; 12 981 participants, 59 studies; high-certainty evidence). Subgroup analyses showed no evidence of a difference in effect on falls on the basis of risk of falling as a trial inclusion criterion, participant age 75 years+ or group versus individual exercise but revealed a larger effect of exercise in trials where interventions were delivered by a health professional (usually a physiotherapist). Different forms of exercise had different impacts on falls. Compared with control, balance and functional exercises reduce the rate of falls by 24% (RaR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.81; 7920 participants, 39 studies; high-certainty evidence). Multiple types of exercise (commonly balance and functional exercises plus resistance exercises) probably reduce the rate of falls by 34% (RaR 0.66, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.88; 1374 participants, 11 studies; moderate-certainty evidence). Tai Chi may reduce the rate of falls by 19% (RaR 0.81, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.99; 2655 participants, 7 studies; low-certainty evidence). We are uncertain of the effects of programmes that primarily involve resistance training, dance or walking.

Conclusions and implications

Given the certainty of evidence, effective programmes should now be implemented.
Management of severe acute pancreatitis
Authors: Hines O Joe , Pandol Stephen J
Published: December 2019

The risks, measurements of severity, and management of severe acute pancreatitis and its complications have evolved rapidly over the past decade. Evidence suggests that initial goal directed therapy, nutritional support, and vigilance for pancreatic complications are best practice. Patients can develop pancreatic fluid collections including acute pancreatic fluid collections, pancreatic pseudocysts, acute necrotic collections, and walled-off necrosis. Several randomized controlled trials and cohort studies have recently highlighted the advantage of managing these conditions with a progressive approach, with initial draining for infection followed by less invasive techniques. Surgery is no longer an early intervention and may not be needed. Instead, interventional radiologic and endoscopic methods seem to be safer with at least as good survival outcomes. Newly developed evidence based quality indicators are available to assess and improve performance. Development and clinical testing of drugs to target the mechanisms of disease are necessary for further advancements.
Occupational radiation exposure and excess additive risk of cataract incidence in a cohort of US radiologic technologists
Authors: Little Mark P , Cahoon Elizabeth K , Kitahara Cari M , Simon Steven L , Hamada Nobuyuki , Linet Martha S
Published: December 2019

Objectives

Previous analyses of cataract in radiation-exposed populations have assessed relative risk; radiogenic excess additive risk (EAR), arguably of more public health importance, has not been estimated. Previous analysis of a large prospective cohort of US radiologic technologists (USRT) quantified excess relative risk of cataract in relation to occupational radiation dose. We aim to assess EARs of cataract.

Methods

We estimated EARs of cataract/cataract surgery in the USRT cohort using generalised additive models in relation to occupational radiation exposure, and assessed risk modification by a priori-selected cataract risk factors (diabetes, body mass index, smoking, race, sex, birth-year, ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation exposure).

Results

There were 11 345 cataract diagnoses and 5440 of cataract surgery during 832 462 and 888 402 person-years of follow-up, respectively. Cumulative occupational radiation exposure was associated with self-reported cataract, but not with cataract surgery, with EAR/104person-year Gy=94 (95% CI: 47 to 143, p<0.001) and EAR/104person-year Gy=13 (95% CI: <0 to 57, p=0.551), respectively. There was marked (p<0.001) variation of EAR by age and by diabetes status, with risk higher among persons ≥75 years and diabetics. There were indications of elevated risk among those with higher UVB radiation (p=0.045), whites (p=0.056) and among those with higher levels of cigarette smoking (p=0.062). Elevated additive risk was observed for estimated occupational radiation eye-lens doses <100 mGy (p=0.004) with no dose–response curvature (p=0.903).

Conclusions

The elevated additive risks associated with low-dose radiation, if confirmed elsewhere, have important public health and clinical implications for radiation workers as well as regulatory measures.
United void index for normalizing virgin compression of reconstituted clays
Authors: Zeng Ling-Ling , Hong Zhen-Shun , Cui Yu-Jun
Published: December 2019

The intrinsic compression framework that uses the void index for normalizing the virgin compression of reconstituted clays has been widely applied for academic and practical purposes. Past studies have shown that the data of void index are scattered when the stress is out of the range from 100 to 1000 kPa. In this study, the key cause responsible for the scatter problem in the existing intrinsic compression framework is identified. A united void index is introduced for normalizing the compression curves of reconstituted clays over a wide stress range starting from the remoulded yield stress to 1000 kPa. The normalized unique line is termed the unified normalized compression line (UNCL). Its constitutive equation is established in terms of the united void index versus the effective vertical stress. The uniqueness of the UNCL is validated based on independent data from the literature and the data from the research team. It is suggested that the UNCL should be directly measured from the virgin compression. In the case without conducting consolidation tests, the correlations between the intrinsic parameters in the UNCL’s equation and two physical parameters are proposed for indirectly determining the UNCL. The accuracy of the empirical correlations is investigated via the comparisons between the calculated intrinsic parameters and the measurements.
Berry-phase blockade and oscillations in single-molecule magnets Mn12 and Fe8 coupled to polarized leads
Authors: Yao Haiyan , Chi Feng , Liu Liming
Published: December 2019

We have studied the Berry-phase interference in single-molecule magnets [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] coupled to polarized electrodes in the Coulomb blockade regime under external magnetic field. We show that for the oppositely fully polarized leads, the current is completely blockaded as a consequence of the topologically quenched tunnel splitting, which is called as Berry-phase blockade; whereas for the partially polarized leads, the current oscillates periodically with increasing external transverse magnetic field (Berry-phase oscillations). The reason is that different quantum spin tunneling trajectories can combine and give rise to either constructive or destructive interference effects.
Induced gravity effect on inflationary parameters in a holographic cosmology
Authors: Bargach Aatifa , Bargach Farida , Errahmani Ahmed , Ouali Taoufik
Published: December 2019

We investigate the observational constraints on inflationary parameters in the context of a holographic cosmology with an induced gravity correction. We consider two situations where a universe is first filled with a scalar field and second with a tachyon field. Both cases are investigated in a slow-roll regime. We adopt a quadratic potential and an exponential potential for the scalar and the tachyon inflation, respectively. In this regard, the standard background and perturbative parameters characterizing the inflationary era are modified by correction terms. We show a good agreement between theoretical model parameters and Planck2018 observational data for both scalar and tachyon fields.
A Benchmarking of DCM-Based Architectures for Position, Velocity and Torque-Controlled Humanoid Robots
Authors: Romualdi Giulio , Dafarra Stefano , Hu Yue , Ramadoss Prashanth , Chavez Francisco Javier Andrade , Traversaro Silvio , Pucci Daniele
Published: December 2019

This paper contributes toward the benchmarking of control architectures for bipedal robot locomotion. It considers architectures that are based on the Divergent Component of Motion (DCM) and composed of three main layers: trajectory optimization, simplified model control, and whole-body quadratic programming (QP) control layer. While the first two layers use simplified robot models, the whole-body QP control layer uses a complete robot model to produce either desired positions, velocities, or torques inputs at the joint-level. This paper then compares two implementations of the simplified model control layer, which are tested with position, velocity, and torque control modes for the whole-body QP control layer. In particular, both an instantaneous and a Receding Horizon controller are presented for the simplified model control layer. We show also that one of the proposed architectures allows the humanoid robot iCub to achieve a forward walking velocity of 0.3372[Formula: see text]m/s, which is the highest walking velocity achieved by the iCub robot.
Walking Stability of a Variable Length Inverted Pendulum Controlled with Virtual Constraints
Authors: Luo Qiuyue , Chevallereau Christine , Aoustin Yannick
Published: December 2019

Bipedal walking is a complex phenomenon that is not fully understood. Simplified models make it easier to highlight the important features. Here, the variable length inverted pendulum (VLIP) model is used, which has the particularity of taking into account the vertical oscillations of the center of mass (CoM). When the desired walking gait is defined as virtual constraints, i.e., as functions of a phasing variable and not on time, for the evolution of the swing foot and the vertical oscillation of the CoM, the walk will asymptotically converge to the periodic motion under disturbance with proper choice of the virtual constraints, thus a self-stabilization is obtained. It is shown that the vertical CoM oscillation, positions of the swing foot and the choice of the switching condition play crucial roles in stability. Moreover, a PI controller of the CoM velocity along the sagittal axis is also proposed such that the walking speed of the robot can converge to another periodic motion with a different walking speed. In this way, a natural walking gait is illustrated as well as the possibility of velocity adaptation as observed in human walking.
Dynamics of Binding of Lysozyme with Gold Nanoparticles: Corona Formation and its Correlation with a Naked-Eye-Based Colorimetric Approach
Authors: Aich D. , Saha S. , Mondal R. N. , Kamilya T.
Published: December 2019

The interaction between colloidal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and lysozyme (Lyz) has been studied through spectroscopic and microscopic measurements, molecular docking simulation and colorimetric measurements to investigate corona formation and the mechanism, affinity, number of sites and stoichiometry of binding. Molecular docking simulation endorses that, at physiological pH, the interaction between basic NH2group of arginine and citrate ions is predominant than the interaction between citrate ions and the positive surface charge of the bare AuNPs that result in the desorption of citrate ions from Au surfaces and finally, electrostatic interaction between [Formula: see text] group of arginine and positive charge surface of AuNPs results in the adsorption of Lyz on Au surfaces. As observed from Benesi–Hildebrand and fluorescence analyses, the ground state complex formation between Lyz and AuNPs requires several minutes, which is approximately 11 min in the present work to attain stoichiometric ratio 1:1. CD spectra indicate insignificant or no conformational change in the secondary structure of Lyz in the presence of AuNPs. The time variation of LSPR peak position and peak height in the presence of Lyz have been studied extensively through spectroscopic and microscopic measurements. Detailed discussion on the probable time-specific roles of change in local dielectric constant, plasmon coupling and electrostatic interaction on these variations has been presented. Colorimetric change of the AuNPs-Lyz system with time has been analyzed by measuring the red, blue and green color fractions as well as its correlation with the process of corona formation and aggregation has been investigated to propose a novel naked eye colorimetric approach of studying these processes in AuNPs-Lyz system.
EfficientIn VitroDifferentiation of Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Into the Cardiomyocyte Using Plant-Derived Natural Compounds
Authors: Azadian Zahra , Shafiei Masoomeh , Hosseini Saadi , Kazemi Javad , Alipour Atefeh , Shahsavarani Hosein
Published: December 2019

Various degenerative diseases, traumatic injuries and cancers are almost hard to treat with conventional therapies, causing death or at least permanent disability. The use of multipotent adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) for cell-based therapeutic applications has lately drawn elevated attention primarily due to their potential for differentiation into mesodermal lineages, which can finally be converted into cardiomyocytes to replace present invasive methods used to treat cardiac diseases. However, some reports hindered their clinical implementation due to concerns about efficacy scalability and reproducibility. In this research, we tested the impacts of using multiple natural small molecules and plant extract on the effectiveness of differentiating human ADMSCs into the definitive mesoderm lineage and cardiac progenitors. First, mesenchymal stem cells separated from human adult fat tissue, are propagated and characterized using flow cytometry and appropriate markers for this purpose. Second, passage cells are transferred to 24 well plates and treated with various plant-derived small molecules — primarily one of the most preserved intracellular signals, WNT/[Formula: see text]-catenin stimulators including resveratrol, stilbene, and multiple plant extracts — and assessed their impacts on differentiation into the definitive mesoderm and cardiac lineages. Obtained results revealed that our suggested strategy to differentiation is more viable and safer than present approaches. Taken together, data presented here showed that in vitro differentiation using plant-derived small molecules could be a potential way to improve the effectiveness of their final differentiation into definitive cardiomyocytes for in vivo applications.
LARGE-SCALE AIR POLLUTION MODELING IN EUROPE UNDER DIFFERENT CLIMATIC SCENARIOS
Authors: ZLATEV ZAHARI , DIMOV IVAN , FARAGÓ ISTVÁN , GEORGIEV KRASSIMIR , HAVASI ÁGNES
Published: December 2019

The treatment of large-scale air pollution models is not only important for modern society, but also an extremely difficult task. Five important physical and chemical processes: (1) horizontal advection, (2) horizontal diffusion, (3) vertical exchange, (4) emission of different pollutants and (5) dry and wet deposition have to be united and handled together. This leads to huge computational problems which have to be treated on modern high-speed parallel architectures by using advanced numerical methods. The computational difficulties are vastly increased when such models are used in the investigation of the impact of climatic changes on high pollution levels that are often exceeding certain critical concentrations and, therefore, are becoming harmful for plants, animals and human beings. There are two major reasons for the great increase in computational difficulties: (a) it is necessary to run the discretized data on fine spatial grid models over very long time-periods consisting of many consecutive years and (b) different scenarios are to be used in order to investigate the sensitivity of the pollution levels to systematic variations of several carefully selected key parameters. How the major difficulties can be resolved is explained here. Furthermore, many results are presented in order to demonstrate the ability of the model to handle successfully the huge computational tasks by using fine space and time discretization and by applying a chemical scheme with many chemical species participating in several hundred chemical reactions. Our results indicate that the climatic changes will often lead to some increases in the pollution levels.
The Development of Cumulative Cultural Learning
Authors: Legare Cristine H.
Published: December 2019

Human culture is unique among animals in its complexity, variability, and cumulative quality. This article describes the development and diversity of cumulative cultural learning. Children inhabit cultural ecologies that consist of group-specific knowledge, practices, and technologies that are inherited and modified over generations. The learning processes that enable cultural acquisition and transmission are universal but are sufficiently flexible to accommodate the highly diverse cultural repertoires of human populations. Children learn culture in several complementary ways, including through exploration, observation, participation, imitation, and instruction. These methods of learning vary in frequency and kind within and between populations due to variation in socialization values and practices associated with specific educational institutions, skill sets, and knowledge systems. The processes by which children acquire and transmit the cumulative culture of their communities provide unique insight into the evolution and ontogeny of human cognition and culture.
IFN-γ and IL-17A regulate intestinal crypt production of CXCL10 in the healthy and inflamed colon
Authors: Walrath Travis , Malizia Robert A. , Zhu Xinjun , Sharp Stephen P. , D'Souza Shanti S. , Lopez-Soler Reynold , Parr Brian , Kartchner Brittany , Lee Edward C. , Stain Steven C. , Iwakura Yoichiro , O'Connor William
Published: December 2019

During intestinal inflammation, immature cells within the intestinal crypt are called upon to replenish lost epithelial cell populations, promote tissue regeneration, and restore barrier integrity. Inflammatory mediators including TH1/TH17-associated cytokines influence tissue health and regenerative processes, yet how these cytokines directly influence the colon crypt epithelium and whether the crypt remains responsive to these cytokines during active damage and repair, remain unclear. Here, using laser-capture microdissection and primary colon organoid culture, we show that the cytokine milieu regulates the ability of the colonic crypt epithelium to participate in proinflammatory signaling. IFN-γ induces the TH1-recruiting, proinflammatory chemokine CXCL10/IP10 in primary murine intestinal crypt epithelium. CXCL10 was also induced in colonic organoids derived from mice with active, experimentally induced colitis, suggesting that the crypt can actively secrete CXCL10 in select cytokine environments during colitis. Colon expression of cxcl10 further increased during infectious and noninfectious colitis in Il17a−/−mice, demonstrating that IL-17A exerts a negative effect on CXCL10 in vivo. Furthermore, IL-17A directly antagonized CXCL10 production in ex vivo organoid cultures derived from healthy murine colons. Interestingly, direct antagonism of CXCL10 was not observed in organoids derived from colitic mouse colons bearing active lesions. These data, highlighting the complex interplay between the cytokine milieu and crypt epithelia, demonstrate proinflammatory chemokines can be induced within the colonic crypt and suggest the crypt remains responsive to cytokine modulation during inflammation.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Upon damage, the intestinal epithelium regenerates to restore barrier function. Here we observe that the local colonic cytokine milieu controls the production of procolitic chemokines within the crypt base and colon crypts remain responsive to cytokines during inflammation. IFN-γ promotes, while IL-17 antagonizes, CXCL10 production in healthy colonic crypts, while responses to cytokines differ in inflamed colon epithelium. These data reveal novel insight into colon crypt responses and inflammation-relevant alterations in signaling.
Histamine induces peripheral and central hypersensitivity to bladder distension via the histamine H1receptor and TRPV1
Authors: Grundy Luke , Caldwell Ashlee , Garcia Caraballo Sonia , Erickson Andelain , Schober Gudrun , Castro Joel , Harrington Andrea M. , Brierley Stuart M.
Published: December 2019

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a common chronic pelvic disorder with sensory symptoms of urinary urgency, frequency, and pain, indicating a key role for hypersensitivity of bladder-innervating sensory neurons. The inflammatory mast cell mediator histamine has long been implicated in IC/BPS, yet the direct interactions between histamine and bladder afferents remain unclear. In the present study, we show, using a mouse ex vivo bladder afferent preparation, that intravesical histamine enhanced the mechanosensitivity of subpopulations of afferents to bladder distension. Histamine also recruited “silent afferents” that were previously unresponsive to bladder distension. Furthermore, in vivo intravesical histamine enhanced activation of dorsal horn neurons within the lumbosacral spinal cord, indicating increased afferent signaling in the central nervous system. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed significant expression of histamine receptor subtypes ( Hrh1– Hrh3) in mouse lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG), bladder detrusor smooth muscle, mucosa, and isolated urothelial cells. In DRG, Hrh1 was the most abundantly expressed. Acute histamine exposure evoked Ca2+influx in select populations of DRG neurons but did not elicit calcium transients in isolated primary urothelial cells. Histamine-induced mechanical hypersensitivity ex vivo was abolished in the presence of the histamine H1receptor antagonist pyrilamine and was not present in preparations from mice lacking transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1). Together, these results indicate that histamine enhances the sensitivity of bladder afferents to distension via interactions with histamine H1receptor and TRPV1. This hypersensitivity translates to increased sensory input and activation in the spinal cord, which may underlie the symptoms of bladder hypersensitivity and pain experienced in IC/BPS.
A Novel Adjuvant “Sublancin” Enhances Immune Response in Specific Pathogen-Free Broiler Chickens Inoculated with Newcastle Disease Vaccine
Authors: Liu Yangke , Zhang Jiang , Wang Shuai , Guo Yong , He Tao , Zhou Rui
Published: December 2019

Sublancin is a glycosylated antimicrobial peptide produced by Bacillus subtilis 168 possessing antibacterial and immunomodulatory activities. This study was aimed at investigating the effects of sublancin on immune functions and serum antibody titer in specific pathogen-free (SPF) broiler chickens vaccinated with Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine. For this purpose, 3 experiments were performed. Experiment 1: SPF broiler chicks (14 days old) were randomly allotted to 1 of 7 groups including a blank control (BC), vaccine control (VC), and 5 (3-7) vaccinated and sublancin supplemented at 5, 15, 30, 45, and 60 mg activity/L of water, respectively. Vaccinated groups (2-7) were vaccinated with ND vaccine by intranasal and intraocular routes at the 14th day. On 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post vaccination (dpv), the blood samples were collected for the determination of serum hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titer. Experiment 2: SPF broiler chicks were divided into 1 of 3 groups, i.e., blank control (BC), vaccine control (VC), and sublancin treatment (ST). On 7, 14, and 21 dpv, the blood samples were collected for measuring HI antibody titer by micromethod. Experiment 3: the design of this experiment was the same as that of experiment 2. On 7 and 21 dpv, pinocytosis of peritoneal macrophages, B lymphocyte proliferation assay, measurement of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and serum cytokine quantitation were carried out. It was noted that sublancin promoted B lymphocyte proliferation, increased the proportion of CD8+ T lymphocyte subpopulations, and enhanced the antibody titer in broiler chickens. In addition, it was also observed that sublancin has the potential to induce the secretion of IFN-γ, IL-10, and IL-4. In conclusion, these findings suggested that sublancin could promote both humoral and cellular immune responses and has the potential to be a promising vaccine adjuvant.
Serum Sulphate Levels in Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Yildirim Ibrahim , Hur Ender , Magden Kemal , İlikhan Sevil , Engin Hüseyin , Can Murat , Yıldız Gürsel , Özer İsmail
Published: December 2019

Objective. Sulphur, similar to phosphorus, is easily attached to organic compounds. The inadequate elimination of sulphate may cause high sulphate concentrations in hemodialysis (HD) patients because sulphate is low in free form in plasma. Although we are well aware of the accumulation of phosphorus in chronic dialysis patients, we do not have an adequate knowledge database about the sulphur compounds. This study was designed to determine the level of sulphate in hemodialysis patients.Materials and Methods. Ninety-four prevalent HD patients and 33 patients without renal failure were included in the study. The serum inorganic sulphate levels were measured by turbidimetric technique. Moreover, the serum level of urea, creatinine, albumin, calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone concentrations was simultaneously recorded.Results. Mean levels of plasma sulphate were significantly higher (0.56 ± 0.17 mM vs 0.31 ± 0.13 mM,p<0.001) in HD patients. Serum sulphate level correlated with patient’s age, serum albumin, serum BUN and creatinine, and serum phosphorus level in HD patients. Serum sulphate levels were not associated with serum parathyroid hormone levels.Conclusion. Serum sulphate levels were approximately twofold higher in HD patients than in the normal control group. Inorganic sulphate does not seem to accumulate in long-term dialysis patients, and mild increased serum levels of sulphate has no poor clinical outcome in these patients.
ABCB1 Polymorphisms and Drug-Resistant Epilepsy in a Tunisian Population
Authors: Chouchi Malek , Klaa Hedia , Ben-Youssef Turki Ilhem , Hila Lamia
Published: December 2019

Background. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders with about 30% treatment failure rate. An interindividual variations in efficacy of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) make the treatment of epilepsy challenging, which can be attributed to genetic factors such as ATP-Binding Cassette sub-family B, member1 (ABCB1) gene polymorphisms. Objective. The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the association of ABCB1 C1236T, G2677T, and C3435T polymorphisms with treatment response among Tunisian epileptic patients. Materials and Methods. One hundred epileptic patients, originated from north of Tunisia, were recruited and categorized into 50 drug-resistant and 50 drug-responsive patients treated with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) as per the International League Against Epilepsy. DNA of patients was extracted and ABCB1 gene polymorphisms studied using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Results. The C1236T, G2677T, and C3435T polymorphisms were involved into AED resistance. Significant genotypic (C1236T TT (p≤0.001); G2677T TT (p=0.001); C3435T TT (p≤0.001)) and allelic associations (C1236T T (3.650, p≤0.001); G2677TT (1.801, p=0.044); C3435T T (4.730, p≤0.001)) with drug resistance epilepsy (DRE) were observed. A significant level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) was also noted between ABCB1 polymorphisms. Patients with the haplotypes CT and TT (C1236T-G2677T); GT, TC, and TT (G2677T-C3435T); CT and TT (C1236T-C3435T); CTT, TTC, TGT, and TTT (C1236T-G2677T-C3435T) were also significantly associated to AED resistance. Conclusions. The response to antiepileptics seems to be modulated by TT genotypes, T alleles, and the predicted haplotypes for the tested SNPs in our population. Genetic analysis is a valuable tool for predicting treatment response and thus will contribute to personalized medicine for Tunisian epileptic patients.
Transcriptomic Evidence of Adaptive Evolution of the Epiphytic Fern Asplenium nidus
Authors: Zhang Jiao , Liu Li , Shu Jiang-Ping , Jin Dong-Mei , Shen Hui , Chen Hong-Feng , Zhang Rui , Yan Yue-Hong
Published: December 2019

Epiphytic ferns have been found to flourish after angiosperms dominated forest communities, and they play important roles in rainforest canopies. How do epiphytic ferns adapt to tropical rainforest canopy habitats? At present, we know little about the molecular mechanism underlying this adaptation. Asplenium nidus is a well-known epiphytic fern that is closely related to the terrestrial species Asplenium komarovii. Here, RNA-seq and comparative transcriptomic analyses were performed to explore the underlying basis of the adaptation of A. nidus to extreme environments. A total of 44.04 and 44.57 Mb clean reads were obtained from A. nidus and A. komarovii, respectively, and they were assembled into 89,741 and 77,912 unigenes. Functional annotation showed that 52,305 (58.28% of the total genes for A. nidus) and 45,938 (58.96% of the total genes for A. komarovii) unigenes were annotated in public databases. Genes involved in stress responses and photosynthesis were found to have undergone positive selection in A. nidus. Compared to A. komarovii, transcription factors related to stress response, leaf development, and root development were found to be considerably expanded in A. nidus, especially in the ANR1 subclade of MADS-box family genes which played roles in lateral root development. This study improves our understanding of the adaptation of A. nidus to epiphytic habitats by forming unique strategies.
Interventional Protocol for Treatment of Complications after Esophagojejunostomy for Esophagogastric Carcinoma
Authors: Bi Yonghua , Li Jindong , Yi Mengfei , Yu Zepeng , Han Xinwei , Ren Jianzhuang
Published: December 2019

Background. Anastomotic stenosis and leakage are rare complications after esophagojejunostomy. The management of complications after esophagojejunostomy remains a challenge. We evaluated the outcomes and clinical effectiveness of an alternative interventional protocol. Objectives. To determine the safety and efficacy of interventional treatment for the management of complications after esophagojejunostomy. Methods. This study included 24 consecutive patients with complications after esophagojejunostomy treated using interventional protocol. Patients received balloon dilation or stenting for anastomotic stenosis. Patients with anastomotic leakage received three-tube placement or retrievable covered esophageal stent placement, followed by abscess drainage, nutritional support, and anti-inflammatory treatment. The three tubes and esophageal stents were removed after leakage healing and stenosis ceased. Results. Thirteen patients received three-tube method, and 16 patients received covered stent placement. All procedures were technically successful, except for a failure of Y-type esophageal stent placement in one patient. The median retention time of stent and abscess drainage tube was 67.5 days and 87 days, respectively. No perioperative death, esophageal rupture, or massive hemorrhage was found during procedures. During follow-up, 14 patients died of cancer recurrence, and one died of severe pulmonary infection. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates were 39.5%, 23.7%, and 23.7%, respectively. Conclusion. Interventional protocol is safe, feasible, and efficacious for treatment of complications after esophagojejunostomy.
A Circulating miRNA-Based Scoring System Established by WGCNA to Predict Colon Cancer
Authors: Qin Da , Wei Rui , Liu Si , Zhu Shengtao , Zhang Shutian , Min Li
Published: December 2019

Introduction. Circulation microRNAs (miRNAs) perform as potential diagnostic biomarkers of many kinds of cancers. This study is aimed at identifying circulation miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers in colon cancer. Methods. We conducted a weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) in miRNAs to find out the expression pattern among circulation miRNAs by using a “WGCNA” package in R. Correlation analysis was performed to find cancer-related modules. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs) in colon cancer were identified by a “limma” package in R. Hub gene analysis was conducted for these DEmiRs in the cancer-related modules by the “closeness” method in cytoscape software. Then, logistic regression was performed to identify the independent risk factors, and a scoring system was constructed based on these independent risk factors. Then, we use data from the GEO database to confirm the reliability of this scoring system. Results. A total of 9 independent coexpression modules were constructed based on the expression levels of 848 miRNAs by WGCNA. After correlation analysis, green (cor=0.77, p=3×10‐25) and yellow (cor=0.65, p=6×10‐16) modules were strongly correlated with cancer development. 20 hub genes were found after hub gene analysis in these DEmiRs by cytoscape. Among all these hub genes, hsa-miR-23a-3p (OR=2.6391, p=6.23×10‐5) and hsa-miR-663a (OR=1.4220, p=0.0069) were identified as an independent risk factor of colon cancer by multivariate regression. Furthermore, a scoring system was built to predict the probability of colon cancer based on both of these miRNAs, the area under the curve (AUC) of which was 0.828. Data from GSE106817 and GSE112264 was used to confirm this scoring system. And the AUC of them was 0.980 and 0.917, respectively. Conclusion. We built a scoring system based on circulation hub miRNAs found by WGCNA to predict the development of colon cancer.
Application of Complex Network Principles to Key Station Identification in Railway Network Efficiency Analysis
Authors: Wang Li , An Min , Jia Limin , Qin Yong
Published: December 2019

Network efficiency analysis becomes important in railways in order to contribute towards improving the safety and capacity of the rail network, making rail travel more attractive for passengers, and improving industry practice and informing policy development. However, a physical railway network structure is a complicated system, and the operation, maintenance, and management of such a network is a difficult task which may be affected by many influential factors. By using efficiency analysis technology for a railway network, combining physical structure with operation functions can help railway industry to optimize the railway network while improving its efficiency and reliability. This paper presents a new methodology based on complex network principles that combines the physical railway structure with railway operation strategy for a railway network efficiency analysis. In this method, two network models of railway physical and train flow networks are developed for the identification of key stations in the railway network based on network efficiency contribution in which the terms of degree, strength, betweenness, clustering coefficient, and a comprehensive factor are taken into consideration. Once the key stations have been identified and analysed, the railway network efficiency is then studied on the basis of selective and random modes of the station failures. A case study is presented in this paper to demonstrate the application of the proposed methodology. The results show that the identified key stations in the railway network play an important role in improving the overall railway network efficiency, which can provide useful information to railway designers, engineers, operators and maintainers to operate and maintain railway network effectively and efficiently.