bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Increased choroidal thickness: a new indicator for monitoring diabetic macular oedema recurrence
Authors: Mathis Thibaud , Mendes Maud , Dot Corinne , Bouteleux Victor , Machkour‐Bentaleb Zainab , El Chehab Hussam , Agard Emilie , Denis Philippe , Kodjikian Laurent 
Published: April 2020

AbstractPurposeThe aim of this study was to determine whether choroidal thickness (CT) increases at the time of exudative recurrence in diabetic patients with unilateral diabetic macular oedema (DME) treated with intravitreal injections of anti‐VEGF or dexamethasone.MethodsA real‐life, prospective, two‐centre study was conducted over a 9‐month period investigating diabetic patients presenting with unilateral DME treated with anti‐VEGF or dexamethasone intravitreal injections, and CT was measured manually, using the enhanced depth imaging module of the spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Choroidal thickness (CT) was measured in the morning, in both the affected and healthy eye of each patient at two timepoints: when the macula was ‘dry’ (T0) and at the time of exudative recurrence (T1).ResultsA total of 51 patients with unilateral DME were included. Mean CT in the affected eye was significantly thicker at the time of exudative recurrence (210.8 ± 44.1 μm at T0 versus 238.0 ± 49.0 μm at T1, p < 0.001). There was no significant variation in CT in the fellow eye (214.4 ± 52.3 µm at T0 versus 218.9 ± 53.4 µm at T1, p = 0.53). The type of intravitreal injection, the number of injections and the CT at T0 had no influence on the change in CT.ConclusionThis study found that CT increased significantly in the affected eye at the time of recurrence of DME treated with anti‐VEGF or dexamethasone injections. Choroidal thickness (CT) could constitute an interesting new indicator for monitoring patients with DME.
Risk of colorectal cancer following CT‐verified acute diverticulitis: a nationwide population‐based cohort study
Authors: Azhar N. , Buchwald P. , Ansari H. Z. , Schyman T. , Yaqub S. , Øresland T. , Schultz J. K. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractAimRoutine colonoscopy to exclude colorectal cancer (CRC) after CT‐verified acute diverticulitis is controversial. This study aimed to compare the incidence of CRC in patients with acute diverticulitis with that in the general population.MethodPatients with an emergency admission for diverticular disease to any Norwegian hospital between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2010 were included through identification in the Norwegian Patient Registry using International Classification of Diseases (ICD‐10) codes K57.1‐9. To estimate the age‐specific distribution of CT‐verified acute uncomplicated diverticulitis (AUD) and acute complicated diverticulitis (ACD) in this nationwide study population, numbers from the largest Norwegian emergency hospital were used. Patients diagnosed with CRC within 1 year following their admission for acute diverticulitis were detected through cross‐matching with the Cancer Registry of Norway. Based on both Norwegian age‐specific incidence of CRC and estimated age‐specific distribution of CT‐verified diverticulitis, standard morbidity ratios (SMRs) were calculated.ResultsA total of 7473 patients with emergency admissions for diverticular disease were identified (estimated CT‐verified AUD n = 3523, ACD n = 1206); of these 155 patients were diagnosed with CRC within 1 year. Eighty had a CT‐verified diverticulitis at index admission [41 AUD (51.3%); 39 ACD (49.7%)]. Compared with the general population, the SMR was 6.6 following CT‐verified AUD and 16.3 following ACD, respectively.ConclusionIn the first year after CT‐verified acute diverticulitis, especially after ACD, the risk of CRC is higher than in the general population. This probably represents misdiagnosis of CRC as acute diverticulitis. Follow‐up colonoscopy should be recommended to all patients admitted with acute diverticulitis.
Interacting With Multiple Partners Improves Communication Skills
Authors: Lev‐Ari Shiri , Sebanz Natalie 
Published: April 2020

AbstractSuccessful communication is important for both society and people’s personal life. Here we show that people can improve their communication skills by interacting with multiple others, and that this improvement seems to come about by a greater tendency to take the addressee’s perspective when there are multiple partners. In Experiment 1, during a training phase, participants described figures to a new partner in each round or to the same partner in all rounds. Then all participants interacted with a new partner and their recordings from that round were presented to naïve listeners. Participants who had interacted with multiple partners during training were better understood. This occurred despite the fact that the partners had not provided the participants with any input other than feedback on comprehension during the interaction. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to provide descriptions to a different future participant in each round or to the same future participant in all rounds. Next they performed a surprise memory test designed to tap memory for global details, in line with the addressee’s perspective. Those who had provided descriptions for multiple future participants performed better. These results indicate that people can improve their communication skills by interacting with multiple people, and that this advantage might be due to a greater tendency to take the addressee’s perspective in such cases. Our findings thus show how the social environment can influence our communication skills by shaping our own behavior during interaction in a manner that promotes the development of our communication skills.
The early detection of cervical cancer. The current and changing landscape of cervical disease detection
Authors: Shiraz Aslam , Crawford Robin , Egawa Nagayasu , Griffin Heather , Doorbar John 
Published: April 2020

AbstractCervical cancer prevention has undergone dramatic changes over the past decade. With the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, some countries have seen a dramatic decline in HPV‐mediated cervical disease. However, widespread implementation has been limited by economic considerations and the varying healthcare priorities of different countries, as well as by vaccine availability and, in some instances, vaccine hesitancy amongst the population/government. In this environment, it is clear that cervical screening will retain a critical role in the prevention of cervical cancer and will in due course need to adapt to the changing incidence of HPV‐associated neoplasia. Cervical screening has, for many years, been performed using Papanicolaou staining of cytology samples. As our understanding of the role of HPV in cervical cancer progression has advanced, and with the availability of sensitive detection systems, cervical screening now incorporates HPV testing. Although such tests improve disease detection, they are not specific, and cannot discriminate high‐grade from low‐grade disease. This has necessitated the development of effective triage approaches to stratify HPV‐positive women according to their risk of cancer progression. Although cytology triage remains the mainstay of screening, novel strategies under evaluation include DNA methylation, biomarker detection and the incorporation of artificial intelligence systems to detect cervical abnormalities. These tests, which can be partially anchored in a molecular understanding of HPV pathogenesis, will enhance the sensitivity of disease detection and improve patient outcomes. This review will provide insight on these innovative methodologies while explaining their scientific basis drawing from our understanding of HPV tumour biology.
Enhancing export competitiveness by deeper integration: The case of the East African Community
Authors: Si Tou Wai Kit 
Published: April 2020

AbstractMotivationMany African countries experience persistent trade deficits and are in need of better export strategy. While the East African Community (EAC) performs best in regional integration among the Regional Economic Communities of Africa, it is important to formulate a comprehensive export strategy that harnesses the benefits of deeper regional integration.PurposeThis article analyses the productive capabilities of the five Partner States of the EAC to investigate the potential benefits of greater economic integration. It identifies products that have potential to boost economic development and suggests a regional export strategy.Approach and MethodsThe product space framework is used to analyse national productive capabilities. In particular, the trade‐off between the potential benefit of developing a complex product and the difficulty to do so is considered.FindingsDeeper regional integration in the EAC would create opportunities to develop new products and to enhance the competitiveness of existing industries. The bloc could produce more diverse and more sophisticated products. Specifically, the analysis highlights the potential of agro‐processing and chemicals, which is generally in line with the strategic regional industries stated in the EAC Industrialisation Strategy 2012–2032.Policy ImplicationsDeeper regional integration can help develop products. EAC countries should strengthen co‐operation and leverage their expertise to develop products in clusters of related goods, rather than adopting a scattershot approach, thereby reaping economies of scale.
What’s wrong with the striatal cholinergic interneurons in Parkinson’s disease? Focus on intrinsic excitability
Authors: Tubert Cecilia , Murer Mario Gustavo 
Published: April 2020

AbstractParkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by a degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons that results in a hypercholinergic state in the striatum. This hypercholinergic state contributes to the clinical signs of PD. However, the mechanisms that underlie this state remain unknown. Cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) are the main source of acetylcholine in the striatum. Many studies have highlighted the importance of their normal physiological activity to guarantee a normal motor control and goal‐directed behaviour. Moreover, recent studies with optogenetic and chemogenetic approaches have shown that reducing ChIs activity ameliorates parkinsonian symptoms and modifies L‐dopa induced dyskinesia in PD animal models. Here, we review the described alterations in ChIs physiology that may contribute to a hypercholinergic state in PD. The best‐established finding is an increase of ChIs intrinsic membrane excitability after dopaminergic denervation of striatum. Understanding the molecular basis of ChIs dysfunction in PD could help to develop new therapeutic tools to restore their normal activity and decrease parkinsonian symptoms, improving life quality of PD patients.
Zinc modulates synaptic transmission by differentially regulating synaptic glutamate homeostasis in hippocampus
Authors: Shen Zhijun , Haragopal Hariprakash , Li Yang V. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractA subset of presynaptic glutamatergic vesicles in the brain co‐releases zinc (Zn2+) with glutamate into the synapse. However, the role of synaptically released Zn2+ is still under investigation. Here, we studied the effect of Zn2+ on glutamate homeostasis by measuring the evoked extracellular glutamate level (EGL) and the probability of evoked action potential (PEAP) at the Zn2+‐containing or zincergic mossy fiber–CA3 synapses of the rat hippocampus. We found that the application of Zn2+ (ZnCl2) exerted bidirectional effects on both EGL and PEAP: facilitatory at low concentration (~1 µM) while repressive at high concentration (~50 µM). To determine the action of endogenous Zn2+, we also used extracellular Zn2+ chelator to remove the synaptically released Zn2+. Zn2+ chelation reduced both EGL and PEAP, suggesting that endogenous Zn2+ has mainly a facilitative role in glutamate secretion on physiological condition. We revealed that calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II was integral to the mechanism by which Zn2+ facilitated the release of glutamate. Moreover, a glutamate transporter was the molecular entity for the action of Zn2+ on glutamate uptake by which Zn2+ decreases glutamate availability. Taken together, we show a novel action of Zn2+, which is to biphasically regulate glutamate homeostasis via Zn2+ concentration‐dependent synaptic facilitation and depression. Thus, co‐released Zn2+ is physiologically important for enhancing weak stimulation, but potentially mitigates excessive stimulation to keep synaptic transmission within optimal physiological range.
Prevalence and factors associated with motoric cognitive risk syndrome in community‐dwelling older Chinese: a cross‐sectional study
Authors: Zhang L. , Feng B. L. , Wang C. Y. , Zhang Y. , Lin P. , Zhang Y. L. , He N. N. , Wang D. J. , Jiang L. F. , Ye H. H. 
Published: April 2020

Background and purposeA recently proposed pre‐dementia syndrome, motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome, is characterized by cognitive complaints and slow gait, and increases the risk of dementia and mortality. The aim of the present study was to explore the prevalence of and factors associated with MCR syndrome in elderly community‐dwelling Chinese subjects.MethodsThe Ningbo Community Study on Aging recruited 953 Chinese community‐dwelling participants aged ≥ 65 years from November 2016 to March 2017. Handgrip, Five‐Times‐Sit‐to‐Stand (FTSS) test time and body composition, as well as comprehensive geriatric evaluation, were measured as potentially independent factors associated with MCR syndrome.ResultsThe prevalence of MCR syndrome was 12.8% in men and 12.6% in women, and high prevalence of MCR syndrome was not associated with age or sex. Multiple logistic regression analysis by sex showed that a 1‐SD increase in FTSS test time in males and females was associated with 45% (95% confidence intervals, 19–76; P < 0.01) and 20% (95% confidence intervals, 9–33; P < 0.01) higher risk of having MCR syndrome, respectively, whereas handgrip strength was inversely correlated with MCR syndrome in males [odds ratio (OR), 0.91; P = 0.02] but not females (P = 0.06). Moreover, the relationship of arm fat mass and MCR syndrome was statistically significant in both sexes (OR, 1.69–1.77), but leg fat mass was only associated with MCR syndrome (OR, 1.56; P = 0.02) in men.ConclusionsHandgrip, FTSS test time and body composition were associated in a sex‐specific manner with MCR syndrome in elderly community‐dwelling Chinese subjects. Our results on MCR syndrome are novel and should be considered as important information in future studies.
Autophagy is responsible for the accumulation of proteogenic dipeptides in response to heat stress in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Thirumalaikumar Venkatesh P. , Wagner Mateusz , Balazadeh Salma , Skirycz Aleksandra 
Published: April 2020

Proteogenic dipeptides are intermediates of proteolysis as well as an emerging class of small‐molecule regulators with diverse and often dipeptide‐specific functions. Herein, prompted by differential accumulation of dipeptides in a high‐density Arabidopsis thaliana time‐course stress experiment, we decided to pursue an identity of the proteolytic pathway responsible for the buildup of dipeptides under heat conditions. By querying dipeptide accumulation versus available transcript data, autophagy emerged as a top hit. To examine whether autophagy indeed contributes to the accumulation of dipeptides measured in response to heat stress, we characterized the loss‐of‐function mutants of crucial autophagy proteins to test whether interfering with autophagy would affect dipeptide accumulation in response to the heat treatment. This was indeed the case. This work implicates the involvement of autophagy in the accumulation of proteogenic dipeptides in response to heat stress in Arabidopsis.
Requirements for stress gradient‐based fatigue assessment of notched structures according to theory of critical distance
Authors: Braun Moritz , Müller André Mischa , Milaković Aleksandar‐Saša , Fricke Wolfgang , Ehlers Sören 
Published: April 2020

AbstractNotches, local stress raisers within structural components, are one of the most important locations for fatigue crack initiation. It is well known that fatigue is governed by the effective stresses in the vicinity of notches. Within this study, differences in prediction accuracy between different types of theory of critical distance methods, that is, point and line methods, are systematically investigated in conjunction with a sensitivity study regarding mesh refinement, assumed strength hypothesis and material behaviour. For this purpose, a finite element analysis parameter study on notched structures is performed and recommendations for the application of stress gradient methods are presented. Difference in effective stress of up to 30%, and hence a significant difference in fatigue life (e.g., 185% for a slope of S‐N curve of k = 4), is found for typical notch shapes, for example, in welded joints.
Climate change causes critical transitions and irreversible alterations of mountain forests
Authors: Albrich Katharina , Rammer Werner , Seidl Rupert 
Published: April 2020

AbstractMountain forests are at particular risk of climate change impacts due to their temperature limitation and high exposure to warming. At the same time, their complex topography may help to buffer the effects of climate change and create climate refugia. Whether climate change can lead to critical transitions of mountain forest ecosystems and whether such transitions are reversible remain incompletely understood. We investigated the resilience of forest composition and size structure to climate change, focusing on a mountain forest landscape in the Eastern Alps. Using the individual‐based forest landscape model iLand, we simulated ecosystem responses to a wide range of climatic changes (up to a 6°C increase in mean annual temperature and a 30% reduction in mean annual precipitation), testing for tipping points in vegetation size structure and composition under different topography scenarios. We found that at warming levels above +2°C a threshold was crossed, with the system tipping into an alternative state. The system shifted from a conifer‐dominated landscape characterized by large trees to a landscape dominated by smaller, predominantly broadleaved trees. Topographic complexity moderated climate change impacts, smoothing and delaying the transitions between alternative vegetation states. We subsequently reversed the simulated climate forcing to assess the ability of the landscape to recover from climate change impacts. The forest landscape showed hysteresis, particularly in scenarios with lower precipitation. At the same mean annual temperature, equilibrium vegetation size structure and species composition differed between warming and cooling trajectories. Here we show that even moderate warming corresponding to current policy targets could result in critical transitions of forest ecosystems and highlight the importance of topographic complexity as a buffering agent. Furthermore, our results show that overshooting ambitious climate mitigation targets could be dangerous, as ecological impacts can be irreversible at millennial time scales once a tipping point has been crossed.
The use of ingenol mebutate to treat actinic keratosis in standard clinical practice: a prospective phase IV multicenter observational cohort study
Authors: Platsidaki Eftychia , Kostopoulos Nikolaos , Panagakis Pantelis , Cheliotis George , Antoniou Christina , Kontochristopoulos Georgios 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundActinic keratosis (AK) is a chronic, precancerous skin disease. Various treatments options exist, including ingenol mebutate gel. The aim of this study was to compare its effectiveness and tolerability as well as the impact of therapy on patients’ quality of life in standard clinical practice.MethodsA multicenter study was carried out involving a 12‐month follow‐up period. A sample of 440 patients was included. Medical history details were recorded. Effectiveness, compliance to treatment, quality of life (EQ‐5D‐5L), and treatment satisfaction questionnaire for medication (TSQM‐9) at week 8 were assessed.ResultsOf the total 440 patients, 428 (97.3%) attended at 8 weeks assessment. The number of patients with complete clearance was 337 (78.7%). EQ VAS score was significantly increased (P < 0.001). As far as TSQM‐9 is concerned, patients with complete clearance reported statistically significantly higher satisfaction in effectiveness, convenience, and global satisfaction. At the 12‐month follow‐up visit, 323 patients (95.8%) retained their clearance status. Nineteen patients did not apply the ingenol mebutate gel on consecutive days. For these patients, the complete clearance rate was 42.1%, while for those who were treated on consecutive days, the complete clearance rate was 80.6%. None of our patients developed skin cancer.ConclusionsThis study supports that ingenol mebutate is effective for the treatment of AK with a good safety profile. It significantly improves quality of life. Limited adherence to treatment might be associated with reduced effectiveness.
Good jobs and bad jobs for Indonesia's informal workers
Authors: ABLAZA Christine , WESTERN Mark , TOMASZEWSKI Wojtek 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIn contrast to the majority of studies that have treated informal workers as a single homogeneous group, this article accounts for the possibility of “winners” and “losers” among informal workers. Applying unconditional quantile regressions to data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey, the authors are able to estimate the formal–informal wage gaps for different segments of the earnings distribution. Although the evidence confirms the existence of a substantial earnings penalty for many informal workers, there is also a group who earn roughly similar incomes to formal workers. The findings are consistent with Fields's (1990 and 2005) model of heterogeneous informal employment.
From bulk to porous structures: Tailoring monoclinic SrAl2Si2O8 ceramic by geopolymer precursor technique
Authors: Zhao Shengjian , Qin Shaohua , Jia Zhanlin , Fu Shuai , He Peigang , Duan Xiaoming , Yang Zhihua , Li Daxin , Jia Dechang , Zhang Jie , Zhou Yu 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIn this paper, monoclinic SrAl2Si2O8 ceramics with porous structures were prepared based on ion‐exchanged geopolymer precursor technique. Micron‐level pores with a homogeneous pore‐size distribution were introduced into the inorganic framework using foaming agents. The results demonstrated that the apparent density, pore‐size distribution and specific surface area of porous geopolymer precursors can be well‐engineered via tailoring the category and concentration of the foaming agent. After being treated at 900°C, hexagonal SrAl2Si2O8 first‐crystallized from the amorphous geopolymer matrix and then gradually converted into monoclinic SrAl2Si2O8 between 1100°C and 1200°C. The resulting monoclinic SrAl2Si2O8 ceramics maintained the porous structures during high‐temperature treatments and exhibited high porosity, specific surface area, and compressive strength. The aforementioned strategy not only achieves monoclinic SrAl2Si2O8 ceramics with well‐defined and robust microstructures, but also provides an alternative route to prepare other porous ceramics, with potential applications in fields of high‐temperature filters, adsorbents, and heterogeneous catalysis.