bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Changes in Predictive Performance of a Frailty Index with Availability of Clinical Domains
Authors: Shi Sandra M. , McCarthy Ellen P. , Mitchell Susan , Kim Dae Hyun 
Published: April 2020

OBJECTIVESDetermine the effects of missing data in frailty identification and risk prediction.DESIGNAnalysis of the National Health in Aging Trends Study.SETTINGCommunity.PARTICIPANTSAbout 6206 older adults.MEASUREMENTSA 41‐variable frailty index (FI) was constructed with the following domains: comorbidities, activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living, self‐reported physical limitations, physical performance, and neuropsychiatric tests. We evaluated discrimination after removing single and multiple domains, comparing C‐statistics for predicting 5‐year risk of mortality and 1‐year risks of disability and falls.RESULTSThe full FI yielded a mean of .18 and C‐statistics of .72 (95% confidence interval, .70‐.74) for mortality, .80 (.77‐.82) for disability, and .66 (.64‐.68) for falls. Removal of any single domain shifted the FI distribution, resulting in a mean FI ranging from .13 (removing comorbidities) to .20 (removing ADLs) and frailty prevalence (FI ≥ .25) from 16.0% to 28.7%. Among robust participants models missing ADLs misclassified most often, (19% as pre‐frail). Among pre‐frail and frail participants missing comorbidities misclassified most often(69.2% from pre‐frail to robust, 24% from frail to pre‐frail, and 4.9% from frail to robust). Removal of any single domain minimally changed C‐statistics: mortality, .71‐.73; disability, .79‐.80; and falls, .64‐.66. Removing neuropsychiatric testing and physical performance yielded comparable C‐statistics of .70, .78, and .66 for mortality, ADLs, and falls, respectively. However, removal of three or four domains based on likely availability decreased C‐statistics for mortality (.69, .66),disability (.75, .70), and falls (.64, .63), respectively.CONCLUSIONWhile FI discrimination is robust to missing information in any single domain, risk prediction is affected by absence of multiple domains. This work informs the application of FI as a clinical and research tool. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1771‐1777, 2020.
The Mediterranean in check: Biological invasions in a changing sea
Authors: Giangrande Adriana , Pierri Cataldo , Del Pasqua Michela , Gravili Cinzia , Gambi Maria Cristina , Gravina Maria Flavia 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIn recent decades, the high introduction rate of alien species (AS) has been mainly due to the increasingly widespread human movements, which often compromise natural barriers, facilitating the invasion of new geographic areas and environments. Being completely new in the recipient habitat, alien invasive species can often have strongly negative impacts on native communities, sometimes causing substantial and irreversible ecological and economic damage. Thus, AS have been branded as “negative” and are often targeted for eradication. However, an accurate assessment of ecological and economic impacts of alien taxa is still lacking in many species, and this is particularly true in marine environments. We focused on the Mediterranean Sea, a very important marine biodiversity “hot spot,” which is among the areas that have been most influenced by the arrival of non‐native species, a process also linked to global warming, leading to a deep transformation of this basin. We describe both negative and positive aspects of some well‐known introductions, assuming a different view of conservation. Biological invasions are, in fact, a fundamental and integral aspect of nature that has always been present in the history of life on Earth. Imagining that nature is static and needs to be restored to a particular state is not a reasonable way of looking at the processes of life. With this in mind, we argue that defining priorities in management and conservation is a prerogative that should not be based on the containment/eradication of one or another species, but on the conservation of those environmental conditions that are essential for the proper functioning of ecosystems. In other words, native versus non‐native species distinction cannot be the main guiding principle in conservation and restoration. For this reason, great attention must be paid to the containment of those human activities that cause greater pollution and rapid changes, and therefore threaten the habitats and biodiversity that we care about most.
Drought and heat wave impacts on grassland carbon cycling across hierarchical levels
Authors: Li Linfeng , Zheng Zhenzhen , Biederman Joel A. , Qian Ruyan , Ran Qinwei , Zhang Biao , Xu Cong , Wang Fang , Zhou Shutong , Che Rongxiao , Dong Junfu , Xu Zhihong , Cui Xiaoyong , Hao Yanbin , Wang Yanfen 
Published: April 2020

AbstractDroughts and heat waves are increasing in magnitude and frequency, altering the carbon cycle. However, understanding of the underlying response mechanisms remains poor, especially for the combination (hot drought). We conducted a 4‐year field experiment to examine both individual and interactive effects of drought and heat wave on carbon cycling of a semiarid grassland across individual, functional group, community and ecosystem levels. Drought did not change below‐ground biomass (BGB) or above‐ground biomass (AGB) due to compensation effects between grass and non‐grass functional groups. However, consistently decreased BGB under heat waves limited such compensation effects, resulting in reduced AGB. Ecosystem CO2 fluxes were suppressed by droughts, attributed to stomatal closure‐induced reductions in leaf photosynthesis and decreased AGB of grasses, while CO2 fluxes were little affected by heat waves. Overall the hot drought produced the lowest leaf photosynthesis, AGB and ecosystem CO2 fluxes although the interactions between heat wave and drought were usually not significant. Our results highlight that the functional group compensatory effects that maintain community‐level AGB rely on feedback of root system responses, and that plant adjustments at the individual level, together with shifts in composition at the functional group level, co‐regulate ecosystem carbon sink strength under climate extremes.
Emerging strategies to treat rare and intractable subtypes of melanoma
Authors: Alicea Gretchen M. , Rebecca Vito W. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractMelanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, possessing a diverse landscape of subtypes with distinct molecular signatures and levels of aggressiveness. Although immense progress has been achieved therapeutically for patients with the most common forms of this disease, little is known of how to effectively treat patients with rarer subtypes of melanoma. These subtypes include acral lentiginous (the rarest form of cutaneous melanoma; AL), uveal, and mucosal melanomas, which display variations in distribution across (a) the world, (b) patient age‐groups, and (c) anatomic sites. Unfortunately, patients with these relatively rare subtypes of melanoma typically respond worse to therapies approved for the more common, non‐AL cutaneous melanoma and do not have effective alternatives, and thus consequently have worse overall survival rates. Achieving durable therapeutic responses in these high‐risk melanoma subtypes represents one of the greatest challenges of the field. This review aims to collate and highlight effective preclinical and/or clinical strategies against these rare forms of melanoma.
A nosocomial scabies outbreak originating from immunocompromised transplant patients in Turkey: Upholstery as a possible cause
Authors: Ozdamar Melda , Turkoglu Salih 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundInpatients with crusted scabies represent an important source of nosocomial transmission with consequent outbreaks among patients and healthcare workers. This study aimed to report the course of an institutional scabies outbreak, which progressed with infestation of immunosuppressed transplant patients, health care workers, and caregivers.MethodsPatients diagnosed with scabies in a nosocomial outbreak in a 200‐bed, tertiary hospital were included. Following a diagnosis of scabies in the index patient, strict contact isolation measures were implemented. During the outbreak, a root cause analysis (RCA) was carried out by an infection prevention and control team.ResultsForty‐two individuals were affected (7 patients, 25 health care workers, and 10 family members of the patients) during the outbreak consisting of three attacks. Index case was a multiple myeloma patient who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and presented with crusted scabies. A RCA suggested that upholstery could serve as a means of reservoir. All upholstery of the sofa and armchairs in patient rooms as well as in lounge areas were replaced by wipeable leather material. After the 19‐week course of the outbreak, no additional cases of scabies have been observed until now.ConclusionA high index of suspicion should be maintained, particularly in immunocompromised patients, in order to achieve rapid diagnosis of scabies and to implement institutional infection control measures. It should also be borne in mind that the transmission may occur through direct contact as well as fomites, such as upholstery.
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and risk of asthma in offspring: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Li Ping , Xiong Tao , Hu Yong 
Published: April 2020

IntroductionHypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), one of the most common obstetrical complications, has been reported to have a controversial relationship with the increased risk of asthma in offspring. No systematic review of this topic has been performed. The aim of this systematic review will be to summarise the available evidence examining the association between HDP and the risk of asthma in offspring.Methods and analysisWe will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. A systematic search of the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Web of Science databases will be performed using a detailed search strategy from database inception through 31 December 2019. Cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies that report a diagnosis of maternal HDP and asthma in offspring will be included. Studies will be limited to the English language and include only human participants. Two independent reviewers will conduct the study selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessments using a standardised data extraction form. A meta-analysis will be performed to calculate overall pooled estimates using the generic inverse variance method. The data will be synthesised by either fixed-effect or random effects models according to heterogeneity tests. All analyses will be performed in Stata 14 and RevMan 5.3. High-quality evidence of the relationship between HDP and the risk of asthma in exposed offspring will be identified through the synthesis of current studies. In addition, the results of subgroup analyses and related secondary outcomes will be reported. The following will be concluded: (i) whether HDP increases the risk of asthma in offspring, (ii) whether HDP affects the severity of asthma in exposed offspring and (iii) whether possible differences in the risk of asthma among different HDP subgroups exist.Ethics and disseminationThere is no requirement for ethics approval because the meta-analysis and systematic review will be based on published data. It is anticipated that the dissemination of results will take place at conferences and through publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Translating the Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi) into French and among French-speaking children receiving cancer treatments, evaluating understandability and cultural relevance in a multiple-phase descriptive study
Authors: Larouche Valérie , Revon-Rivière Gabriel , Johnston Donna , Adeniyi Oluwatoni , Giannakouros Panagiota , Loves Robyn , Tremblay Jenna-Lee , Plenert Erin , Dupuis Lee , Sung Lillian 
Published: April 2020

ObjectivesSymptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi) is a validated approach to measuring bothersome symptoms for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking children with cancer and paediatric haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. Objectives were to translate SSPedi into French, and among French-speaking children receiving cancer treatments, to evaluate understandability and cultural relevance.MethodsWe conducted a multiphase, descriptive study to translate SSPedi into French. Forward translation was performed by four medical translators. After confirming that back translation was satisfactory, we enrolled French-speaking children with cancer and paediatric HSCT recipients at four centres in France and Canada.Primary and secondary outcome measuresUnderstandability was evaluated by children themselves who self-reported degree of difficulty, and by two adjudicators who rated incorrectness. Assessment of cultural relevance was qualitative. Participants were enrolled in cohorts of 10.ResultsThere were 30 children enrolled. Participants were enrolled from Marseille (n=10, 33%), Ottawa (n=1, 3%), Quebec City (n=11, 37%) and Toronto (n=8, 27%). No child reported that it was hard or very hard to complete French SSPedi in the last cohort of 10 participants. Changes to the instrument itself were not required. After enrolment of 30 respondents, the French translation of SSPedi was considered finalised based on self-reported difficulty with understanding, adjudicated incorrect understanding and cultural relevance.ConclusionsWe translated and finalised SSPedi for use by French-speaking children and adolescents receiving cancer treatments. Future work should begin to use the translated version to conduct research and to facilitate clinical care.
Summarising and synthesising regression coefficients through systematic review and meta-analysis for improving hypertension prediction using metamodelling: protocol
Authors: Chowdhury Mohammad Ziaul Islam , Naeem Iffat , Quan Hude , Leung Alexander A , Sikdar Khokan C , O'Beirne Maeve , Turin Tanvir C 
Published: April 2020

IntroductionHypertension is one of the most common medical conditions and represents a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and mortality. The risk of progression to hypertension depends on several factors, and combining these risk factors into a multivariable model for risk stratification would help to identify high-risk individuals who should be targeted for healthy behavioural changes and/or medical treatment to prevent the development of hypertension. The risk prediction models can be further improved in terms of accuracy by using a metamodel updating technique where existing hypertension prediction models can be updated by combining information available in existing models with new data. A systematic review and meta-analysis will be performed of hypertension prediction models in order to identify known risk factors for high blood pressure and to summarise the magnitude of their association with hypertension.Methods and analysisMEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and grey literature will be systematically searched for studies predicting the risk of hypertension among the general population. The search will be based on two key concepts: hypertension and risk prediction. The summary statistics from the individual studies will be the regression coefficients of the hypertension risk prediction models, and random-effect meta-analysis will be used to obtain pooled estimates. Heterogeneity and publication bias will be assessed, along with study quality, which will be assessed using the Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool checklist.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required for this systematic review and meta-analysis. We plan to disseminate the results of our review through journal publications and presentations at applicable platforms.
Progression of carotid near-occlusion to complete occlusion: related factors and clinical implications
Authors: García-Pastor Andrés , Gil-Núñez Antonio , Ramírez-Moreno José María , González-Nafría Noelia , Tejada Javier , Moniche Francisco , Portilla-Cuenca Juan Carlos , Martínez-Sánchez Patricia , Fuentes Blanca , Gamero-García Miguel Ángel , Alonso de Leciñana María , Masjuan Jaime , Cánovas David , Aladro Yolanda , Parkhutik Vera , Lago Aida , De Arce Ana María , Usero-Ruiz María , Delgado-Mederos Raquel , Pampliega Ana , Ximénez-Carrillo Álvaro , Bártulos-Iglesias Mónica , Castro-Reyes Enrique 
Published: April 2020

BackgroundThe clinical consequences and factors related to the progression from a carotid near-occlusion (CNO) to a complete occlusion are not well established. Our aim is to describe the rate, predictive factors and clinical implications of the progression to complete carotid occlusion (PCCO) in a population of patients with symptomatic CNO.MethodsWe conducted a multicenter, nationwide, prospective study from January 2010 to May 2016. Patients with angiography-confirmed CNO were included. We collected information on demographic data, clinical manifestations, radiological and hemodynamic findings, and treatment modalities. A 24 month carotid-imaging follow-up of the CNO was performed.Results141 patients were included in the study, and carotid-imaging follow-up was performed in 122 patients. PCCO occurred in 40 patients (32.8%), and was more frequent in medically-treated patients (34 out of 61; 55.7%) compared with patients treated with revascularization (6 out of 61; 9.8%) (p<0.001). 7 of the 40 patients with PCCO (17.5%) suffered ipsilateral symptoms. Factors independently related with PCCO in the multivariate analysis were: age ≥75 years (OR 2.93, 95% CI 1.05 to 8.13), revascularization (OR 0.07, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.20), and collateral circulation through the ipsilateral ophthalmic artery (OR 3.25, 95% CI 1.01 to 10.48).ConclusionsPCCO occurred within 24 months in more than half of the patients under medical treatment. Most episodes of PCCO were not associated with ipsilateral symptoms. Revascularization reduces the risk of PCCO.
The conformal anomaly and a new exact RG
Authors: Rosten Oliver J. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractFor scalar field theory, a new generalization of the Exact RG to curved space is proposed, in which the conformal anomaly is explicitly present. Vacuum terms require regularization beyond that present in the canonical formulation of the Exact RG, which can be accomplished by adding certain free fields, each at a non-critical fixed-point. Taking the Legendre transform, the sole effect of the regulator fields is to remove a divergent vacuum term and they do not explicitly appear in the effective average action. As an illustration, both the integrated conformal anomaly and Polyakov action are recovered for the Gaussian theory in $$d=2$$d=2.
A new set of cluster driven composite development indicators
Authors: Verma Anshul , Angelini Orazio , Di Matteo Tiziana 
Published: April 2020

AbstractComposite development indicators used in policy making often subjectively aggregate a restricted set of indicators. We show, using dimensionality reduction techniques, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and for the first time information filtering and hierarchical clustering, that these composite indicators miss key information on the relationship between different indicators. In particular, the grouping of indicators via topics is not reflected in the data at a global and local level. We overcome these issues by using the clustering of indicators to build a new set of cluster driven composite development indicators that are objective, data driven, comparable between countries, and retain interpretabilty. We discuss their consequences on informing policy makers about country development, comparing them with the top PageRank indicators as a benchmark. Finally, we demonstrate that our new set of composite development indicators outperforms the benchmark on a dataset reconstruction task.
Effects of Weight Loss and Weight Regain on Circulating Biomarkers in Overweight/Obese Breast Cancer Survivors Enrolled in a Weight Loss Trial in the Rural Midwest
Authors: Befort Christie A. , Kimler Bruce F. , Bantis Leonidas E. , Phillips Teresa A. , Fabian Carol J. 
Published: April 2020

Abstract

Background:
Obesity is associated with worse breast cancer prognosis, however little is known about the level of weight loss required to improve pathway biomarkers. The effects of weight regain on biomarkers are also largely unknown.

Methods:
Overweight/obese breast cancer survivors enrolled in an 18-month behavioral weight loss trial provided weight and serum biomarkers [leptin, adiponectin, insulin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), IL-6, TNFα, and hepatocyte growth factor HGF] at baseline, 6, and 18 months (n = 138). Change in biomarkers over time and by weight loss thresholds were examined.

Results:
Mean weight loss at 6 months was 13.3 ± 5.0 kg; from 6 to 18 months, mean regain was 4.0 ± 5.2 kg. Favorable biomarker modulations were observed at 6 months for leptin, adiponectin, insulin, PAI-1, IL-6, and HGF (P &lt; 0.006 to P &lt; 0.0001). These changes remained significant overall at 18 months despite attenuation in some. Women who lost &lt;10% of baseline weight showed significantly smaller modulation effects for leptin (P &lt; 0.0001), adiponectin:leptin (A/L) ratio (P &lt; 0.0001), PAI-1 (P &lt; 0.001), and insulin (P = 0.003) compared with women who lost &gt;10%. Women who lost &gt;10% observed a significant increase in adiponectin (P &lt; 0.0001), and these women continued to show improved adiponectin from 6 to 18 months despite weight regain. Physical activity contributed additional effects on biomarker change for leptin, A/L ratio, and PAI-1.

Conclusions:
These findings are consistent with a clinical target of 10% weight.

Impact:
Sustained increases in adiponectin likely confer benefits for breast cancer prognosis even with weight regain.
Cytomegalovirus Encephalopathy during Brain Tumor Irradiation
Authors: Lawler Sean E. , Chiocca E. Antonio , Cook Charles H. 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Some patients with brain cancer show extremely short survival postradiochemotherapy treatment for unknown reasons. Recent work shows that this is closely linked to encephalopathy associated with reactivation of latent cytomegalovirus in the host. Importantly, survival can be enhanced by treatment with antiviral drugs.
See related article by Goerig et al., p. 3259
Iron Regulatory Protein 2 Exerts its Oncogenic Activities by Suppressing TAp63 Expression
Authors: Zhang Yanhong , Feng Xiuli , Zhang Jin , Chen Xinbin 
Published: April 2020

Abstract

Iron regulatory protein 2 (IRP2) is a key regulator of iron homeostasis and is found to be altered in several types of human cancer. However, how IRP2 contributes to tumorigenesis remains to be elucidated. In this study, we sought to investigate the role of IRP2 in tumorigenesis and found that IRP2 promotes cell growth by repressing TAp63, a member of p53 tumor suppressor family. Specifically, we found that IRP2 overexpression decreased, whereas IRP2 deficiency increased, TAp63 expression. We also showed that the repression of TAp63 by IRP2 was independent of tumor suppressor p53. To uncover the molecular basis, we found that IRP2 stabilized TAp63 mRNA by binding to an iron response element in the 3′UTR of p63 mRNA. To determine the biological significance of this regulation, we showed that IRP2 facilitates cell proliferation, at least in part, via repressing TAp63 expression. Moreover, we found that IRP2 deficiency markedly alleviated cellular senescence in TAp63-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts. Together, we have uncovered a novel regulation of TAp63 by IRP2 and our data suggest that IRP2 exerts its oncogenic activities at least in part by repressing TAp63 expression.

Implications:
We have revealed a novel regulation of TAp63 by IRP2 and our data suggest that IRP2 exerts its oncogenic activities, at least in part, by repressing TAp63 expression.