bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Shaeer’s Punch Technique: Transcorporeal Peyronie’s Plaque Surgery and Penile Prosthesis Implantation
Authors: Shaeer Osama , Soliman Abdelrahman Islam Fathy , Mansour Mohamed , Shaeer Kamal 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Background
Penile prosthesis implantation in cases of severe Peyronie’s disease may require plaque excision/incision and grafting, which may require mobilization of the neurovascular bundle or urethra, posing the risks of penile hyposensitivity or urethral injury, and is time-consuming, possibly increasing infection risk.

Aim
Evaluating transcorporeal debulking of Peyronie’s plaques by “Shaeer’s punch technique.”

Methods
Penile prosthesis implantation and punch technique (PPI-Punch) was performed for 26 patients. After corporotomy and dilatation, Peyronie’s plaques were punched out from within the corpora cavernosa using the punch forceps, and then a penile prosthesis was implanted. Comparison to a matching retrospective group of 18 patients operated upon by plaque excision-grafting and penile prosthesis implantation was performed.

Outcomes
The study outcomes were straightness of the erect penis, complication, satisfaction with length on a 5-point scale, the International Index of Erectile Function-5, and the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction questionnaire.

Results
Average preoperative curvature angle was 58.1 ± 11.7 in the Punch group and 58 ± 14.8 in the excision-grafting group, p=0.99. After surgery, all patients had a straight penis. No tunical perforations, urethral injuries, or extrusions were noted. Average additional operative time for Punch technique ranged from 5 to 10 minutes (7.3 ± 1.7), in contrast to the excision-grafting group where plaque surgery duration was 50.8 minutes ± 11.1, an 85% difference, p &lt; 0.0001. Septal plaques in the latter group could not be removed. In the PPI-Punch group, penile sensitivity was preserved in all patients, compared with the excision/grafting group, with 7 of 18 patients reporting hyposthesia of the glans. Infection occurred in 1 of 26 patients in the PPI-Punch group, compared with 2 of 18 patients in the excision/grafting group. Satisfaction with length on a 5-point scale was 3.8 ± 0.9 in the punch group, versus 3.1 ± 1.1 in the excision-grafting group, p=0.009.

Clinical Implications
The proposed technique is minimally invasive and prompt, possibly decreasing the known complications of plaque surgery and PPI including sensory loss.

Strengths & Limitations
One limitation is the inability to accurately measure preoperative erect length in patients with erectile dysfunction with poor response to intracavernous injections.

Conclusion
Shaeer’s punch technique is a minimally invasive procedure for transcorporeal excavation of Peyronie’s plaques before penile prosthesis implantation, omitting the need for mobilization of the neurovascular bundle or spongiosum, and hence, there is low or no risk for nerve or urethral injury and brief plaque surgery time.
Study on Plate Straightening Process Based on Elastic-Plastic B Spline Finite Strip Method
Authors: Sun Jianliang , Sun Mengqian , Jiao Yunjing , Gao Yanan 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTAn elastic-plastic B spline finite strip method is proposed to investigate the continuous plate straightening process in this paper. First, the B spline displacement function that satisfies the boundary conditions of simply supported end and free end of the strip element is established, and then the stress-strain matrix is established. Second, the set method of total stiffness matrix based on B spline finite strip method for plate straightening problem is proposed, and the influence of nodal line number and strip elements number on the sparsity of total stiffness matrix is analyzed. Third, the loads on the strip elements are taken as linear uniform distribution, and the transformation matrix between the equivalent linear load and the actual load of the strip element is established. At last, the plate straightening simulation of 11 rolls straightening machine is made based on the elastic-plastic B spline finite strip method, the calculated results agree with the measured results, which approves that the elastic-plastic B spline finite strip method established can be applied to the plate straightening process.
Reconstructing Mousterian landscapes in the southeastern Pyrenees (Roca dels Bous site, Pre-Pyrenees ranges, Spain)
Authors: Benito-Calvo Alfonso , Arnold Lee J. , Mora Rafael , Martínez-Moreno Jorge , Demuro Martina 
Published: May 2020

AbstractLandscape evolution studies enable us to understand site formation processes affecting past hunter-gatherer settlements. This work presents a landscape reconstruction of Roca dels Bous site (RB), which is a reference site for the Late Mousterian occupation of the incised valleys of the southeastern Pyrenees. For this purpose, we combined geomorphological studies, stratigraphic descriptions, new single-grain optically stimulated luminescence datasets, statistical methods, and geophysical surveys. RB formed by gravitational processes induced by fluvial undermining of the Segre River during changing late Pleistocene climatic conditions. Geomorphological and chronological data combined with fluvial age-incision models suggest that, during Late Mousterian occupation, RB was located very near the Segre floodplain level and closer to water and raw material natural resources than at present. The accumulation of gravitational deposits associated with the archaeological levels occurred at rates of 0.16–0.44 m ka-1, between 55 and 47 ka, coinciding with Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3). More detailed comparison with available climatic curves suggests that the dated RB layers were potentially deposited during cold phases within MIS3. This work provides new landscape-based evidence to examine the paleoenvironmental context of Neanderthal presence in the southeastern Pre-Pyrenees, an important region in the debate regarding Neanderthal demise in Western Europe around 40 ka.
Dietary calcium and vitamin K are associated with osteoporotic fracture risk in middle-aged and elderly Japanese women, but not men: the Murakami Cohort Study
Authors: Platonova Kseniia , Kitamura Kaori , Watanabe Yumi , Takachi Ribeka , Saito Toshiko , Kabasawa Keiko , Takahashi Akemi , Kobayashi Ryosaku , Oshiki Rieko , Solovev Aleksandr , Iki Masayuki , Tsugane Shoichiro , Sasaki Ayako , Yamazaki Osamu , Watanabe Kei , Nakamura Kazutoshi 
Published: May 2020

AbstractAlthough dietary Ca, vitamin D and vitamin K are nutritional factors associated with osteoporosis, little is known about their effects on incident osteoporotic fractures in East Asian populations. This study aimed to determine whether intakes of these nutrients predict incident osteoporotic fractures. We adopted a cohort study design with a 5-year follow-up. Subjects were 12 794 community-dwelling individuals (6301 men and 6493 women) aged 40–74 years. Dietary intakes of Ca, vitamin D and vitamin K were assessed with a validated FFQ. Covariates were demographic and lifestyle factors. All incident cases of major osteoporotic limb fractures, including those of the distal forearm, neck of humerus, neck or trochanter of femur and lumbar or thoracic spine were collected. Hazard ratios (HR) for energy-adjusted Ca, vitamin D and vitamin K were calculated with the residual method. Mean age was 58·8 (sd 9·3) years. Lower energy-adjusted intakes of Ca and vitamin K in women were associated with higher adjusted HR of total fractures (Pfor trend = 0·005 and 0·08, respectively). When vertebral fracture was the outcome, Pfor trend values for Ca and vitamin K were 0·03 and 0·006, respectively, and HR of the lowest and highest (reference) intake groups were 2·03 (95 % CI 1·08, 3·82) and 2·26 (95 % CI 1·19, 4·26), respectively. In men, there were null associations between incident fractures and each of the three nutrient intakes. Lower intakes of dietary Ca and vitamin K were independent lifestyle-related risk factors for osteoporotic fracture in women but not men. These associations were robust for vertebral fractures, but not for limb fractures.
Effects of different delivering matrices of β-glucan on lipids in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
Authors: Xu Dengfeng , Liu Hechun , Yang Chao , Xia Hui , Pan Da , Yang Xian , Yang Ligang , Wang Shaokang , Sun Guiju 
Published: May 2020

Abstractβ-Glucan has been reported for its health benefits on blood lipids in hypercholesterolaemic individuals for years. However, people have paid little attention to the effects of β-glucan in populations with mild hypercholesterolaemia as well as the various delivering matrices. Our objective was to perform a meta-analysis to analyse the effects of β-glucan with different delivering matrices in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals. After conducting a comprehensive search in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library, a total of twenty-one randomised controlled trials involving 1120 participants were identified to measure the pooled effect. The overall results indicated that consuming a dose of ≥3 g/d of β-glucan for at least 3 weeks could significantly reduce total cholesterol (TC) (−0·27 mmol/l, 95 % CI −0·33, −0·21,P< 0·001) and LDL-cholesterol (−0·26 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·32, −0·20,P< 0·001) compared with the control group in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals, while no significant difference was observed in TAG (−0·03 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·11, 0·06,P= 0·521) and HDL-cholesterol (0·01 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·03, 0·04,P= 0·777). There was evidence for modest unexplained heterogeneity in the meta-analysis. In conclusion, β-glucan can significantly reduce risk factors like TC and LDL-cholesterol for CVD in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals; furthermore, it appears that the effects of food matrices with both ‘solid products’ and ‘liquid products’ where β-glucan was incorporated into were ranked as the best way to exert its beneficial properties, while ‘liquid’ and ‘solid’ products were ranked as the second and third positions, respectively.
Examination of methionine stimulation of gene expression in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells using RNA-sequencing
Authors: Hou Xiaoming , Jiang Minghui , Zhou Jinyu , Song Shuyuan , Zhao Feng , Lin Ye 
Published: May 2020

AbstractIn this research communication, a cell model with elevated β-CASEIN synthesis was established by stimulating bovine mammary epithelial cells with 0.6 mM methionine, and the genome-wide gene expression profiles of methionine-stimulated cells and untreated cells were investigated by RNA sequencing. A total of 458 differentially expressed genes (DEGs; 219 upregulated and 239 downregulated) were identified between the two groups. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that the two highest-ranked GO terms in ‘molecular function’ category were ‘binding’ and ‘catalytic activity’, suggesting that milk protein synthesis in methionine-stimulated cells requires induction of gene expression to increase metabolic activity. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed that within the ‘environmental information processing’ category, the subcategory that is most highly enriched for DEGs was ‘signal transduction’. cGMP-PKG, Rap1, calcium, cAMP, PI3K-AKT, MAPK, and JAK-STAT are the pathways with the highest number of DEGs, suggesting that these signaling pathways have potential roles in mediating methionine-induced milk protein synthesis in bovine mammary epithelial cells. This study provides valuable insights into the physiological and metabolic adaptations in cells stimulated with methionine. Understanding the regulation of this transition is essential for effective intervention in the lactation process.
Changes in visual memory in mild cognitive impairment: a longitudinal study with CANTAB
Authors: Campos-Magdaleno María , Leiva David , Pereiro Arturo X. , Lojo-Seoane Cristina , Mallo Sabela C. , Facal David , Juncos-Rabadán Onésimo 
Published: May 2020

AbstractBackgroundMild cognitive impairment (MCI), as a stage in the cognitive continuum between normal ageing and dementia, is mainly characterized by memory impairment. The aims of this study were to examine CANTAB measures of temporal changes of visual memory in MCI and to evaluate the usefulness of the baseline scores for predicting changes in cognitive status.MethodsThe study included 201 participants aged over 50 years with subjective cognitive complaints. Visual memory was assessed with four CANTAB tests [paired associates learning (PAL), delayed matching to sample (DMS), pattern recognition memory (PRM) and spatial span (SSP)] administered at baseline and on two further occasions, with a follow-up interval of 18–24 months. Participants were divided into three groups according to the change in their cognitive status: participants with subjective cognitive complaints who remained stable, MCI participants who remained stable (MCI-Stable) and MCI participants whose cognitive deterioration continued (MCI-Worsened). Linear mixed models were used to model longitudinal changes, with evaluation time as a fixed variable, and multinomial regression models were used to predict changes in cognitive status.ResultsIsolated significant effects were obtained for age and group with all CANTAB tests used. Interactions between evaluation time and group were identified in the PAL and DMS tests, indicating different temporal patterns depending on the changes in cognitive status. Regression models also indicated that CANTAB scores were good predictors of changes in cognitive status.ConclusionsDecline in visual memory measured by PAL and DMS tests can successfully distinguish different types of MCI, and considered together PAL, DMS, PRM and SSP can predict changes in cognitive status.
Fault-tolerant functional reactive programming (extended version)
Authors: PEREZ IVAN , GOODLOE ALWYN E. 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Highly critical application domains, like medicine and aerospace, require the use of strict design, implementation, and validation techniques. Functional languages have been used in these domains to develop synchronous dataflow programming languages for reactive systems. Causal stream functions and functional reactive programming (FRP) capture the essence of those languages in a way that is both elegant and robust. To guarantee that critical systems can operate under high stress over long periods of time, these applications require clear specifications of possible faults and hazards, and how they are being handled. Modeling failure is straightforward in functional languages, and many functional reactive abstractions incorporate support for failure or termination. However, handling unknown types of faults, and incorporating fault tolerance into FRP, requires a different construction and remains an open problem. This work demonstrates how to extend an existing functional reactive framework with fault tolerance features. At value level, we tag faulty signals with reliability and probability information and use random testing to inject faults and validate system properties encoded in temporal logic. At type level, we tag components with the kinds of faults they may exhibit and use type-level programming to obtain compile-time guarantees of key aspects of fault tolerance. Our approach is powerful enough to be used in systems with realistic complexity, and flexible enough to be used to guide system analysis and design, validate system properties in the presence of faults, perform runtime monitoring, and study the effects of different fault tolerance mechanisms.
“Everybody in this community is at risk of dying”: An ethnographic exploration on the potential of integrating a palliative approach to care among workers in inner-city settings
Authors: Stajduhar Kelli I. , Giesbrecht Melissa , Mollison Ashley , d'Archangelo Margo 
Published: May 2020

AbstractObjectiveAt the end of life, the need for care increases. Yet, for structurally vulnerable populations (i.e., people experiencing homelessness and poverty, racism, criminalization of illicit drug use, stigma associated with mental health), access to care remains highly inaccessible. Emerging research suggests that enhancing access to palliative care for these populations requires moving care from traditional settings, such as the hospital, into community settings, like shelters and onto the street. Thus, inner-city workers (ICWs) (e.g., housing support and community outreach) have the potential to play pivotal roles in improving access to care by integrating a “palliative approach to care” in their work.MethodDrawing upon observational field notes and interview data collected for a larger critical ethnographic study, this secondary thematic analysis examines ICWs’ (n = 31) experiences providing care for dying clients and garners their perspectives regarding the constraints and facilitators that exist in successfully integrating a palliative approach to care in their work.ResultsFindings reveal three themes: (1) Approaches, awareness, and training; (2) Workplace policies and filling in the gaps; and (3) Grief, bereavement, and access to supports. In brief, ICWs who draw upon harm reduction strategies strongly parallel palliative approaches to care, although more knowledge/training on palliative approaches was desired. In their continuous work with structurally vulnerable clients, ICWs have the opportunity to build trusting relationships, and over time, are able to identify those in need and assist in providing palliative support. However, despite death and dying is an everyday reality of ICWs, many described a lack of formal acknowledgement by employers and workplace support as limitations.Significance of resultsFindings contribute promising practices for enhancing equitable access to palliative care for society's most vulnerable populations by prioritizing front-line workers’ perspectives on how best to integrate a palliative approach to care where structurally vulnerable populations live and die.
Pertinence of exotic and local green manures for sustainable maize polyculture in Oaxaca, Mexico
Authors: Beaupré Alexandre , Vega Jaime Ruiz , Castañeda H. Ernesto , Benítez Mariana , Van Cauwelaert Emilio Mora , González González Cecilia 
Published: May 2020

AbstractGreen manures are a promising alternative for achieving the sustainable production of maize in the face of low soil fertility and increasingly long canicule periods, particularly in rainfed systems associated with the reproduction of local agrobiodiversity. However, it is necessary to investigate what are the advantages and disadvantages associated with different species of native and exotic pulse, as well as their overall contribution to the sustainable production of maize landraces. In order to do so, we followed the MESMIS method to assess five species of pulse (three native and two exotic) grown with maize in two plots with different soil conditions. This was done in the seasons of 2017 and 2018 the municipality of Villa de Zaachila, Oaxaca, a site with remarkable biological, agricultural and cultural diversity. A fully randomized complete block design was implemented with 11 treatments and three repetitions in the two plots. The output variables of the experiment were: land equivalence ratio, interspecific aggressiveness, content of soil organic matter, decomposition rate, plant survival rate and plant dry biomass. We also evaluated quantitative or qualitative indicators of cost, adaptability and contribution to food security. For all the possible maize-pulse combinations, except for one, polyculture outperformed maize and pulse monocultures. Exotic pulses (Crotalaria junscens spp. and Dolicho lablab) had a better performance in biomass, reincorporation of organic matter and possible nitrogen fixation, as well as greater resistance to drought in the second cycle. The native pulses (Phaseolus vulgaris and Phaseolus coccineus), however, had a greater acceptance and economic output and are important for the food security in our study site. Our results provide quantitative and qualitative elements to design combined schemes of green manures associated with maize that would help tackle current challenges regarding maize productivity, food security and response to climate change.
Diversion of Flow and Sediment Toward a Side Channel Separated From a River by a Longitudinal Training Dam
Authors: de Ruijsscher T. V. , Vermeulen B. , Hoitink A. J. F. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractA human‐made entrance to a side channel separated from the river by a longitudinal training dam can be considered a new, emergent type of river bifurcation. To understand the processes controlling the diversion of flow and sediment toward the side channel at such bifurcations, a comprehensive field monitoring program was performed in the Waal River, which is the main branch of the Rhine River in the Netherlands. Local processes govern the flow field in the bifurcation region. The angle between the main river flow and the flow into the side channel increases with decreasing lateral and longitudinal distance to the bifurcation point, which corresponds to the head of the training dam. The general flow pattern can be well reproduced with a uniform depth, potential flow model consisting of a superposition of main channel flow and lateral outflow. For submerged flow conditions over the sill, the side channel hydraulic conditions influence the exchange processes, yet free flow side weir theory describes the flow field at this bifurcation type qualitatively well. The vertical flow structure in the side channel, which governs the sediment exchange between the main channel and the side channel, is steered by the geometrical details of the sill. The presence of the sill structure is key to controlling the morphological stability of this type of bifurcation given its primary influence on bed load sediment import and exerts an indirect impact on suspended sediment exchange.
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound with sub-micron sized contrast agents detects insulitis in mouse models of type1 diabetes
Authors: Ramirez David G. , Abenojar Eric , Hernandez Christopher , Lorberbaum David S. , Papazian Lucine A. , Passman Samantha , Pham Vinh , Exner Agata A. , Benninger Richard K. P. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractIn type1 diabetes (T1D) autoreactive T-cells infiltrate the islets of Langerhans, depleting insulin-secreting β-cells (insulitis). Insulitis arises during an asymptomatic phase, prior to clinical diagnosis of T1D. Methods to diagnose insulitis and β-cell mass changes during this asymptomatic phase are limited, precluding early therapeutic intervention. During T1D the islet microvasculature increases permeability, allowing nanoparticles to access the microenvironment. Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) uses shell-stabilized gas bubbles to provide acoustic backscatter in vasculature. Here, we report that sub-micron sized ‘nanobubble’ ultrasound contrast agents can be used to measure increased islet microvasculature permeability and indicate asymptomatic T1D. Through CEUS and histological analysis, pre-clinical models of T1D show accumulation of nanobubbles specifically within pancreatic islets, correlating with insulitis. Importantly, accumulation is detected early in disease progression and decreases with successful therapeutic intervention. Thus, sub-micron sized nanobubble ultrasound contrast agents provide a predicative marker for disease progression and therapeutic reversal early in asymptomatic T1D.