bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of dietary pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium in sows on intestinal health of the offspring
Authors: Wang Chenxi , Zhang Boru , Zhang Hongyun , Yang Wei , Meng Qingwei , Shi Baoming , Shan Anshan 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background: Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a putative essential nutrient and redox modulator in microorganisms, cell and animal models. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium (PQQ·Na2) in sows during gestation and lactation on intestinal health in the offspring.Results: The activities of SOD and GSH-Px were significantly (P<0.05) increased by PQQ·Na2 supplementation, and MDA activity was decreased (P<0.05) in the plasma of piglets. CAT, SOD and GSH-Px activities were significantly (P<0.05) increased, and MDA activity was decreased (P<0.05) in the small intestine of piglets. The mRNA expression levels of SOD1, CAT and MGST1 in the jejunum were increased in newborn piglets (P<0.05), and the mRNA expression levels of HO1, SOD1, CAT, SOD2, GPX4, GPX1 and GCLC in the jejunum were increased in weaned piglets (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of ZO-1 was increased (P<0.05) in the jejunum of newborn piglets, and the mRNA expression of Occludin and ZO-1 was increased (P<0.05) in the jejunum of weaned piglets. The villous height of the duodenum and jejunum of weaned piglets was increased (P<0.05) by dietary PQQ·Na2. In weaned piglets, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the most prevalent phyla in both the Con and PQQ·Na2 treatment groups, and the most prevalent genera were Alloprevotella and Bacteroides. At the phylum level, the abundance of Firmicutes was significantly increased (P<0.05), and the abundance of Proteobacteria was significantly decreased (P<0.05). At the genus level, the abundance of Alloprevotella was significantly increased (P<0.05), and the abundance of Actinobacillus and Escherichia was decreased (P<0.05).Conclusions: In conclusion, dietary supplementation with PQQ·Na2 in sows during gestation and lactation had positive effects on intestinal health in offspring.
Socioeconomic inequalities in women´s access to health care: has Ecuadorian health reform succeeded?
Authors: Quizhpe Edy , Sebastian Miguel San , Teran Enrique , Pulkki-Brännström Anni-Maria 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background Over the last twelve years, Ecuador has implemented a comprehensive health sector reform to ensure equitable access to health care services according to health needs. While there have been important achievements in terms of health care coverage, the effects of these reforms on socioeconomic inequalities in health care have not been analysed. This study assessed whether the health care reform implemented in the 2007 - 2017 decade contributed to reducing the socioeconomic inequalities in women´s health care access. Methods This study was based on two waves of the Living Standards Measurement Survey conducted in Ecuador in 2006 and 2014. Data from women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years) was analysed to evaluate health care coverage in three indicators: skilled birth attendance, cervical cancer screening and the use of modern contraceptives. Absolute risk differences were calculated between the heath care indicators and the socioeconomic variables using binomial regression analysis for each time period. The Slope Index of Inequality (SII) was also calculated for each socioeconomic variable and period. A multiplicative interaction term between the socioeconomic variables and period was included to assess the changes in socioeconomic inequalities in health care over time. Results Access to health care increased in the three studied outcomes during the health sector reform. Significant inequality reductions in skilled birth attendants were observed in all socioeconomic variables except in the occupational class. Cervical cancer screening inequalities increased according to education and occupation, but decreased by wealth. Only a decrease by education was observed for modern contraceptive use. Conclusions While most socioeconomic inequalities in skilled birth attendance decreased during the reform, this was not the case for inequalities in cervical cancer screening or the use of modern contraceptives. Further work is needed to address the social determinants of these health inequalities.
Frequency and Clinical Association of NY-ESO-1 Gene Expression in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma.
Authors: Carrilo Irma Olarte , Peñafiel Christian Ramos , Peralta Enrique Miranda , Guerrero Efrain Garrido , JALOMA JUAN COLAZO , Tovar Adolfo Martinez 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background

Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma, a heterogeneous disease, is influenced by complex network of gene interactions. In current study, we aimed to evaluate the frequency of expression and determine the expression levels of the NY-ESO-1 gene in patients with DLBCL, as well as to examine its relationship with clinical parameters and survival.

Methods

We analyzed NY-ESO-1 gene expression levels using real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) in 112 patients with DLBCL. The associations between the expression of the NY-ESO-1 gene and the clinical variables were evaluated using the chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. Overall survival (OS) was determined using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Result

The results showed that the NY-ESO-1 gene was expressed in 46.4% (52/112) of patients with DLBCL, and NY-ESO-1 gene expression was associated with clinical parameters such as LDH, clinical stage, international prognostic index (IPI) (p≤0.05). High levels of NY-ESO-1 gene expression were correlated with advanced disease stages, and the survival rates after 5.3 years of tracking were lower in the patients expressing the NY-ESO-1 gene (66.4%) than in those not expressing the gene (23.1%).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the expression levels of the NY-ESO-1 gene in patients with DLBCL may be of great utility for diagnosing and determining the prognosis of this disease.
Proteomic and structural heart changes in obese rats are incompletely restored after weight loss
Authors: Liśkiewicz Arkadiusz , Marczak Łukasz , Bogus Katarzyna , Liśkiewicz Daniela , Przybyła Marta , Lewin-Kowalik Joanna 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background As a systemic disorder, obesity strongly affects the cardiovascular system, inducing cardiac overgrowth, which increases the risk of heart failure and death. Moreover, obesity is potentially curable, leading to the restoration of the heart phenotype, but it is not clear if all of the after-effects are reversed after weight loss. of the heart phenotype, but it is not clear if all of the after-effects are reversed after weight loss. Here we describe the proteomic and morphologic phenotype of the heart in a rat model of developmental obesity with an evaluation of whether the observed effects are persistent in spite of weight loss. Methods Developmental obesity with hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance was induced in young rats by exposure to a Western diet composed of human snacks. An histologic evaluation of the heart was performed to measure the size of the cardiomyocytes and amount of connective tissue discriminating the phenotype of obesity cardiomyopathy. The cardiac tissue and plasma were analyzed by global proteomic profiling. Based on these data, we targeted proteins for evaluation with the western blot. The histological and proteomic measurements were performed after weight loss to validate which features of obesity cardiomyopathy were persistent. Results Obesity cardiomyopathy was determined as cardiac hypertrophy associated with fibrosis, oversized myocytes, and mTOR upregulation. A plethora of molecular changes were observed, suggesting an effect on the utilization of metabolic substrates in the hearts of obese animals. This was confirmed by increased levels of ACSL-1, a key enzyme for fatty acid degradation and decreased GLUT-1, a glucose transporter. Immunological processes and lipid metabolism were also affected in the cardiac tissue and plasma. Weight loss led to the normalization of the heart’s size, but some after-effects of obesity such as connective tissue abundance and abnormal proteomic composition were still persistent. Conclusion In addition to morphological consequences, obesity cardiomyopathy involves many proteomic changes. Obesity treatment and weight loss provides for a partial repair of the heart’s architecture, but cardiac fibrosis and some proteomic alterations persist.
Separating Overlapping Bat Calls with a Bi-directional Long Short-term Memory Network
Authors: Zhang Kangkang , Liu Tong , Song Shengjing , Zhao Xin , Sun Shijun , Metzner Walter , Feng Jiang , Liu Ying 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background: Acquiring clear and usable audio recordings is critical for acoustic analysis of animal vocalizations. Bioacoustics studies commonly face the problem of overlapping signals, which can impede the structural identification of vocal units, but the issue is often ignored, as there is currently no satisfactory solution. This study presents a bi-directional long short-term memory (BLSTM) network to separate overlapping bat calls and reconstruct waveforms. The separation quality was evaluated using seven temporal-spectrum parameters. The applicability of this method for bat calls was assessed using six different species. In addition, clustering analysis was conducted with separated echolocation calls from each bat species. Results: All syllables in the overlapping calls were separated with high robustness across species. A comparison between the seven temporal-spectrum parameters showed no significant difference and negligible deviation between the extracted and original calls, indicating high separation quality. Clustering analysis also produced an accuracy of 93.8%, suggesting the reconstructed waveforms could be reliably used. Conclusions: The study extends the application of deep neural network to separate overlapping animal sound. These results suggest the proposed technique is a convenient and automated approach for separating overlapping calls using a BLSTM network. This powerful deep neural network approach has the potential to solve complex problems in bioacoustics.
Incorporation of InSAR and LandSat ETM+ with CGPS and SVM to assess the subsidence of Mexico City
Authors: Poreh Davod , Pirasteh Saied , Cabral-Cano Enrique 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
This study presents an enhanced analysis of the subsidence rates and their effects on Mexico City. As a result of excess water withdrawal, Mexico City is experiencing subsidence. To analyze this subsidence of Mexico City, we integrated and analyzed Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), Continuous Global Positioning Systems (CGPS), and optical remote sensing data. This study utilized 52 ENVISAT-ASAR, nine GPS stations, and one Landsat ETM+ image from the Mexico City area to gather a better understanding of the subsidence rates and its effects on Mexico City’s community The InSAR data covers the period between March 2002 until June 2010, and the GPS data span the period from 1998 until 2012. We find that the maximum of 352-mm change in Line Of Sight (LOS) direction supports the outcomes from previous studies. This study shows that the maximum rate of subsidence in Mexico City is 352 mm/yr. The finding of this study reveals a high amount of correlation (up to 0.98) between two independent geodetic methods. We also implemented the Support Vector Machine (SVM) analysis method based on Landsat ETM+ image to classify Mexico City’s population density. We used SVM to compare Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) subsidence rates with the buildings’ distribution densities. This study improves the existing method by incorporating 52 ENVISAT images, ETM+, SVM classification, and 9 CGPs. This integrated study shows that the fastest subsidence zone (i.e. areas greater than 100 mm/yr), which falls into the above-mentioned temporal baseline, occurs in the areas of high and moderate building distribution density.
Magnetic resonance imaging parameters of the greater tuberosity morphology in different types of chronic rotator cuff tears
Authors: Wang Anqi , Lu Hongzhang 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the distinction and relation among different types of chronic rotator cuff tears, in terms of some magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters that reflected the greater tuberosity morphology.Methods: This study retrospectively assessed 160 patients diagnosedwith chronic rotator cuff tears (including bursal-side, articular-side and full-thickness rotator cuff tears) and 48 controls diagnosed without rotator cuff tears by MRI. The types of rotator cuff tear were confirmed by shoulder MRI and arthroscopy. Oblique coronal sections of MRI were used to measure the parameters including greater tuberosity abduction angle(GTAA), greater tuberosity width index (GTWI), and greater tuberosity height index(GTHI).Results: GTAA in patients with articular-side and full-thicknessrotator cuff tearswere smaller than those in patients with bursal-side rotator cuff tears and in controls.GTWI and GTHI were present in greater proportions in patients with articular-side and full-thickness rotator cuff tearsthan in patients with bursal-side rotator cuff tears and in controls.There was no significant difference between the articular-side and full-thickness cuff tears regarding GTAA, GTWI, or GTHI. The same was true between bursal-side rotator cuff tears and the controls.Conclusions: The greater tuberosity abduction angles are smaller, and greater tuberosity are more convex outward and upwardin patients with articular-side or full-thickness rotator cuff tears, than those in patients with bursal-side rotator cuff tears or in controls.
Repurposing of Anti-malarial SynriamTM and testing its efficacy against Egyptian strain of Schistosoma hematobium
Authors: Yousof Hebat-Allah S. A. , El-Sayed Shaimaa H. , Elfar Eman , Khater Mona 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background: Trials for discovering an anti-malarial drug, which can compete Schistosomal infection in co-endemic areas, are ongoing. Some preliminary studies were done on Synriam (SYN), anti-malarial drug combination (arterolane maleate and piperaquine phosphate) released from Ranbaxy, to test its anti-schistosomal effect. However, in vitro incubation of SYN with different Schistosoma hematobium stages was not fully assessed. The aim of this study is to determine the anti-schistosomal in vitro effect of SYN on adult and juvenile stages of Schistosoma hematobium- Egyptian strain.Methods: The adult and juvenile worms were incubated with ascending concentrations of SYN and with praziquantel as positive control. Viability, survival, morphological and ultrastructural changes were assessed at different time points.Results: Higher concentrations of 60, 80 µg/ml showed rapid and lethal effects on adult and juvenile stages of both species, with prominent ultrastructural alterations. Concentrations of (10, 20, 40 µg/ml) showed mild to moderate effect on adult schistosomes. However, contrarily to praziquantel, larval immature stages responded significantly and rapidly to low concentration of SYN with 100% death rate.Conclusion: The present findings are consistent with the evaluation of anti-schistosomal therapeutic effect of SYN to be utilized in malaria co-endemic areas.
Construction of a Semi-automatic ICD-10 Coding System
Authors: Zhou Lingling , Cheng Cheng , Ou Dong , Huang Hao 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background The International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) has been widely used to describe the diagnosis information of patients. Automatic ICD-10 coding is important because manually assigning codes is expensive, time consuming and error prone. Although numerous approaches have been developed to explore automatic coding, few of them have been applied in practice. Our aim is to construct a practical, automatic ICD-10 coding machine to improve coding efficiency and quality in daily work. Methods In this study, we propose the use of regular expressions (regexps) to establish a correspondence between diagnosis codes and diagnosis descriptions in outpatient settings and at admission and discharge. The description models of the regexps were embedded in our upgraded coding system, which queries a diagnosis description and assigns a unique diagnosis code. Like most studies, the precision (P), recall (R), F-measure (F) and overall accuracy (A) were used to evaluate the system performance. Our study had two stages. The datasets were obtained from the diagnosis information on the homepage of the discharge medical record. The testing sets were from October 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018 and from July 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019. Results The values of P were 89.27% and 88.38% in the first testing phase and the second testing phase, respectively, which demonstrate high precision. The automatic ICD-10 coding system completed more than 160,000 codes in 16 months, which reduced the workload of the coders. In addition, a comparison between the amount of time needed for manual coding and automatic coding indicated the effectiveness of the system-the time needed for automatic coding takes nearly 100 times less than manual coding. Conclusions Our automatic coding system is well suited for the coding task. Further studies are warranted to perfect the description models of the regexps and to develop synthetic approaches to improve system performance.
The Implementation &amp; Sustainment Facilitation Strategy improved implementation effectiveness and intervention effectiveness: Results from a cluster-randomized type 2 hybrid trial
Authors: Garner Bryan , Gotham Heather , Chaple Michael , Martino Steve , Ford James , Roosa Mathew , Speck Kathryn , Vandersloot Denna , Bradshaw Michael , Ball Elizabeth , Toro Alyssa , Griggs Christopher , Tueller Stephen 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background Substance use disorders (SUD) among people with HIV are both prevalent and problematic. In 2014, the Substance Abuse Treatment to HIV care (SAT2HIV) Project was funded to test the team-focused Implementation & Sustainment Facilitation (ISF) strategy as an adjunct to the staff-focused Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) strategy for integrating a motivational interviewing-based brief intervention (MIBI) for SUD within HIV community-based organizations (CBOs). This article presents the main findings from the project. Methods Using a cluster-randomized, type 2 hybrid trial design, 39 HIV-CBOs were randomized to either: 1) ATTC (n = 19); or 2) ATTC+ISF (n = 20). HIV-CBOs identified two staff to be prepared to implement the MIBI (N = 78 MIBI staff). Subsequently, during the implementation phase, HIV-CBOs in each condition randomized client participants (N = 824 client participants) to one of two intervention conditions: 1) usual care (UC; n = 415); or 2) UC+MIBI (n = 409). Both staff-level outcomes and client-level outcomes were examined. Results The ISF strategy had a significant impact on implementation effectiveness (i.e., the consistency and quality of implementation; β = 0.65, p = 01), but not on time-to-proficiency (β = - 0.02) or level-of-sustainment (β = 0.09). Additionally, the ISF strategy was found to have a significant impact on intervention effectiveness (i.e., the effectiveness of the MIBI), at least in terms of significantly decreasing the odds (odds ratio = 0.11, p = .02) of clients using their primary substance daily during follow-up. Conclusions The ATTC strategy was sufficient for the preparation of HIV-CBO staff to implement a MIBI for SUDs, yet the ISF strategy was found to be an effective adjunct to the ATTC strategy in terms of implementation effectiveness and intervention effectiveness. Based on these findings, it is recommended future efforts to integrate the project’s MIBI for SUD within HIV-CBOs use the ATTC+ISF strategy. However, given the ISF strategy did not have a significant impact on level-of-sustainment, which was similarly low in both implementation conditions, implementation research testing the extent to which the ATTC+ISF strategy can be significantly enhanced via effective sustainment strategies is warranted.
Immune modulation effects and safety of Lactobacillus casei variety rhamnosus in a chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis mouse model
Authors: Yeung Chun-Yan , Chiau Jen-Shiu Chiang , Cheng Mei-Lein , Chan Wai-Tao , Chang Szu-Wen , Jiang Chuen-Bin , Lee Hung-Chang 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background Intestinal mucositis remained one of the most deleterious side effects in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment was reported to affect the abundance of gut microbiota. In this study, we hypothesize that the probiotics could preserve gut ecology, ameliorate inflammation and protect epithelium by maintaining the tight junction integrity via immune modulations of enterocytes and intestinal stem cells. Our aim is to characterize these changes and to investigate the immune modulation effects and safety of probiotic via a 5-FU-induced intestinal mucositis mouse model.Methods 5-FU-injected BALB/c mice were used. They were either orally administrated saline or probiotic suspension of Lactobacillus casei variety rhamnosus (Lcr35). Diarrhea score, serum pro-nflammatory cytokines, intestinal histology and T-cells subtypes were assessed. Immunostaining analysis for intestinal stem cells CD44 and Ki67 proliferation were processed. Samples of blood and internal organs were investigated for bacteria translocation.Results Diarrhea was attenuated significantly after oral Lcr35 administration. Serum pro-inflammatory cytokines were significantly increased in 5-FU group and were reversed by Lcr35. There was a tremendous rise of CD3+/CD8+ count in the 5-FU group. The CD8+ count was reversed in the 5-FU+Lcr35 group. 5-FU caused a significant decrease of CD3+CD4+/CD3+CD8+ ratio and was reversed by Lcr35. 5-FU significantly stimulated the expression of CD44 stem cells and was restored by Lcr35. We also found 5-FU could increase the number of Ki67 proliferative cells. No bacterial translocation was found in this study.Conclusions Our results showed 5-FU caused intestinal inflammation via Th1 and Th17 responses. 5-FU could stimulate stem cells and proliferation cells in a mouse model. We demonstrated chemotherapy could decrease immune competence. Probiotics were shown to modulate immune response. This is the first study to analyze the immune modulation effects and safety of Lactobacillus strains on enterocytes and intestinal stem cells in a 5-FU-induced mucositis mouse model. The model therefore seems well suited to study the effects of different probiotics on chemotherapy-induced mucositis, prior to performing clinical human studies.