bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sporadic hereditary neuropathies misdiagnosed as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy: Pitfalls and red flags
Authors: Campagnolo Marta , Taioli Federica , Cacciavillani Mario , Ruiz Marta , Luigetti Marco , Salvalaggio Alessandro , Castellani Francesca , Testi Silvia , Ferrarini Moreno , Cavallaro Tiziana , Gasparotti Roberto , Fabrizi Gian Maria , Briani Chiara 
Published: January 2020

AbstractHereditary neuropathies may be misdiagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). A correct diagnosis is crucial for avoiding unnecessary therapies and access genetic counseling. We report on nine patients (seven men, mean age 49.2 ± 16.1) diagnosed with and treated as CIDP, in whom mutations or variants of unknown significance (VUS) in genes associated with hereditary neuropathies were reported. All underwent neurological and neurophysiological examination, eight also cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. In 4/9, nerve ultrasound and/or MR‐neurography were performed. All the patients complained of progressive upper or lower limbs sensory‐motor symptoms, with heterogeneous disease duration (1‐34 years, mean 8.6 ± 10.8). Neurophysiology showed demyelinating signs in seven patients, mixed findings with predominant axonal damage in two patients. Neuroimaging disclosed diffuse abnormalities at proximal and distal segments. Molecular screening showed PMP22 duplication in two patients, mutations in the MPZ, EGR2, and GJB1 genes were reported in each of the remaining patients. The two patients with mixed neurophysiological findings had p.Val30Met mutation in the transthyretin gene. Two patients had VUS in the MARS and HSPB1 genes. Four patients had partial response to immunomodulant therapies, and CSF and neurophysiological features suggesting an inflammatory condition concomitant with the hereditary neuropathy. Hereditary neuropathy may be misdiagnosed with CIDP. The most common pitfalls are CSF (high protein levels and oligoclonal bands), incorrect interpretation of neurophysiology, and transient benefit from therapies. Neuroimaging may be helpful in cases with atypical presentations or when severe axonal damage complicate the neurophysiological interpretation.
Comparative study of low‐dose versus standard single‐dose methotrexate: A novel approach for medical treatment of ectopic pregnancy
Authors: Aydın Gültekin A. , Özgen Gülten , Yavuz Arzu 
Published: January 2020

AbstractAimMethotrexate (MTX) treatment at a dose of 50 mg/m2 of body surface area (BSA) is an effective and widely used treatment method in ectopic pregnancy. However, there is a limited number of studies investigating lower MTX doses. In this study, we aimed to investigate the efficacy of lower MTX doses in the treatment of ectopic pregnancy.MethodsThis retrospective study included a total of 112 patients who were hospitalized due to ectopic pregnancy and administered single‐dose MTX. The patients were divided into three groups according to the dose given as 22–40 mg/m2 of BSA (n = 17), 41–49 mg/m2 of BSA (n = 81) and ≥ 50 mg/m2 of BSA (n = 14). Data including demographic characteristics of the patients, previous history of ectopic pregnancy, previous gynecological surgeries, the use of in vitro fertilization techniques, ultrasonographic findings, beta‐human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (β‐hCG) levels, pre‐treatment endometrial sampling, MTX doses applied, and the need for a surgical intervention during follow‐up were retrieved from the hospital records.ResultsOf the patients, 16.96% (n = 19) were operated at the end of treatment, irrespective of the pre‐treatment β‐hCG levels with a success rate of 83% (n = 93). Fourteen (12.5%) of the patients received the second dose of MTX. The overall success rate was 89.2% in patients with a β‐hCG level of ≤5000 mIU/mL.ConclusionThis study shows that lower MTX doses than 50 mg/m2, which has been considered standard treatment and widely used in the treatment of ectopic pregnancy for nearly three decades, are effective with similar success rates.
Yawning while scrolling? Examining gender differences in the association between smartphone use and sleep quality
Authors: Amez Simon , Vujić Sunčica , Soffers Pieter , Baert Stijn 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe negative consequences of deteriorated sleep have been widely acknowledged. Therefore, research on the determinants of poor sleep is crucial. A factor potentially contributing to poor sleep is the use of a smartphone. This study aims to measure the association between overall daily smartphone use and both sleep quality and sleep duration. To this end, we exploit data on 1,889 first‐year university students. Compared with previous research we control for a large set of observed confounding factors. Higher overall smartphone use is associated with lower odds of experiencing a good sleep. In addition, we explore heterogeneous differences by socioeconomic factors not yet investigated. We find that the negative association between smartphone use and sleep quality is mainly driven by female participants.
Domain‐General Learning and Memory Substrates of Reading Acquisition
Authors: Earle F. Sayako , Del Tufo Stephanie N. , Evans Tanya M. , Lum Jarrad A. G. , Cutting Laurie E. , Ullman Michael T. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTPrior research has demonstrated that linguistic skills and knowledge contribute to successful reading acquisition. In contrast, little is known about the influence of domain‐general learning abilities on reading. To investigate associations between general memory functions and reading during the early stages of learning to read, performance measures of word‐level reading and of declarative and procedural learning were obtained in a cohort of 140 children, annually during their first 4 years of school. We hypothesized that differences in learning task performance would relate to reading ability in the early years, when children are first learning to read. We employed a series of linear mixed effects models to test the relationships between learning abilities and reading across time. Declarative learning performance predicted reading ability in first grade, while procedural learning performance predicted reading ability in second grade. Our findings suggest that reading acquisition may depend in part on general capacities for learning.
Biogeography, habitat transitions and hybridization in a radiation of South American silverside fishes revealed by mitochondrial and genomic RAD data
Authors: Hughes Lily C. , Cardoso Yamila P. , Sommer Julie A. , Cifuentes Roberto , Cuello Mariela , Somoza Gustavo M. , González‐Castro Mariano , Malabarba Luiz R. , Cussac Victor , Habit Evelyn M. , Betancur‐R. Ricardo , Ortí Guillermo 
Published: January 2020

AbstractRivers and lake systems in the southern cone of South America have been widely influenced by historical glaciations, carrying important implications for the evolution of aquatic organisms, including prompting transitions between marine and freshwater habitats and by triggering hybridization among incipient species via waterway connectivity and stream capture events. Silverside fishes (Odontesthes) in the region comprise a radiation of 19 marine and freshwater species that have been hypothesized on the basis of morphological or mitochondrial DNA data to have either transitioned repeatedly into continental waters from the sea or colonized marine habitats following freshwater diversification. New double digest restriction‐site associated DNA data presented here provide a robust framework to investigate the biogeographical history of and habitat transitions inOdontesthes. We show thatOdontesthessilversides originally diversified in the Pacific but independently colonized the Atlantic three times, producing three independent marine‐to‐freshwater transitions. Our results also indicate recent introgression of marine mitochondrial haplotypes into two freshwater clades, with more recurring instances of hybridization among Atlantic‐ versus Pacific‐slope species. In Pacific freshwater drainages, hybridization with a marine species appears to be geographically isolated and may be related to glaciation events. Substantial structural differences of estuarine gradients between these two geographical areas may have influenced the frequency, intensity and evolutionary effects of hybridization events.
Ethnography in health professions education: Slowing down and thinking deeply
Authors: Bressers Guusje , Brydges Madison , Paradis Elise 
Published: January 2020

AbstractContextEthnography has been gaining appreciation in the field of health professions education (HPE) research, yet it remains misunderstood. Our article contributes to this growing literature by describing some of the key tensions with which both aspiring and seasoned ethnographers should productively struggle.MethodsWe respond to the injunction made by Varpio et al (2017) that HPE researchers should ground their methodological ventures in their historical and philosophical tenets. To do so, we first review core ethnographic texts that provide a background for ethnographic research in HPE, then provide an orienting definition to bind the specificities of ethnographic research. Finally, we review core theoretical and practical considerations for ethnographic research.ResultsEthnography is a slow and deep approach to knowledge production, and as such it requires careful engagement with theory and deliberate choice of methods. Core theoretical tensions include the ontological, epistemological and axiological dimensions of ethnography, and concerns with quality and rigour. Practical tensions include the scope and remit of ethnography, the importance of observing naturally occurring behaviour and the crafting of rich field notes.ConclusionsWe encourage ethnographers to pursue scholarship that challenges the status quo. Ethnographers should favour deep encounters with research participants, dig deep into the cultural and structural aspects of HPE and be reflexive about knowledge outputs. At a time in HPE when the pressures to publish are high, using ethnography as a research methodology offers an opportunity to slow down and think deeply.
Xanthomonas campestris sensor kinase HpaS co‐opts the orphan response regulator VemR to form a branched two‐component system that regulates motility
Authors: Li Rui‐Fang , Wang Xin‐Xin , Wu Liu , Huang Li , Qin Qi‐Jian , Yao Jia‐Li , Lu Guang‐Tao , Tang Ji‐Liang 
Published: January 2020

AbstractXanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) controls virulence and plant infection mechanisms via the activity of the sensor kinase and response regulator pair HpaS/hypersensitive response and pathogenicity G (HrpG). Detailed analysis of the regulatory role of HpaS has suggested the occurrence of further regulators besides HrpG. Here we used in vitro and in vivo approaches to identify the orphan response regulator VemR as another partner of HpaS and to characterize relevant interactions between components of this signalling system. Bacterial two‐hybrid and protein pull‐down assays revealed that HpaS physically interacts with VemR. Phos‐tag SDS‐PAGE analysis showed that mutation in hpaS reduced markedly the phosphorylation of VemR in vivo. Mutation analysis reveals that HpaS and VemR contribute to the regulation of motility and this relationship appears to be epistatic. Additionally, we show that VemR control of Xcc motility is due in part to its ability to interact and bind to the flagellum rotor protein FliM. Taken together, the findings describe the unrecognized regulatory role of sensor kinase HpaS and orphan response regulator VemR in the control of motility in Xcc and contribute to the understanding of the complex regulatory mechanisms used by Xcc during plant infection.
Critical perspectives on brand culture in the era of participatory and algorithmic media
Authors: Carah Nicholas , Brodmerkel Sven 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBrands have become a ubiquitous feature of life in market‐based consumer societies. While marketers aim to establish brands as efficient devices for guiding purchase decisions, critical scholarship investigates how branding functions as a mode of exercising power by shaping consumers' identities and consumer culture more broadly. Beginning in the 1950s as a predominantly semiotic critique of advertising, critical research into branding has over the decades developed a more complex conceptualisation of brands and their interrelationship with “active” audiences and the cultural environment in which they operate. The first part of this essay summarises this conceptual evolution. It provides the necessary background for interrogating how brands engage with, shape, and capitalise on “algorithmic culture”. Recent dramatic changes in the data‐processing power of the developing algorithmic, platform‐dominated media environment is significantly altering the way brands operate and capitalise on consumer participation and popular culture. The present moment is therefore a crucial one to survey and evaluate emerging critical perspectives on brands and branding. By engaging with the current scholarship on social media, algorithms, and platforms, the second part of this essay outlines a number of novel and distinctive critiques emerging from this literature, which can help inform further research.
Refined Invariantism
Authors: Vollet Jacques‐Henri 
Published: January 2020

AbstractA certain number of cases suggest that our willingness to ascribe “knowledge” can be influenced by practical factors. For revisionary proposals, they indicate that the truth‐values of “knowledge” ascriptions vary with practical factors. For conservative proposals, on the contrary, nothing surprising is happening. Standard pragmatic approaches appeal to pragmatic implicatures and psychological approaches to the idea that belief formation is influenced by practical factors. Conservative proposals have not yet offered a fully satisfactory explanation, though. In this article, I introduce and defend a third conservative proposal which I call “Refined Invariantism”. The two main claims of this proposal are that (1) we should distinguish between high stakes cases in which the subject does not believe (that he knows) the target proposition and those in which he believes (that he knows) the target proposition and that (2) we should adopt a psychological treatment for the first kind of case and a pragmatic treatment based on the epistemic standards for appropriate assertion and action for the second kind of case. I argue that this new combined approach avoids the main pitfalls of its two conservative rivals and that it gives new life to the generality objection levelled against revisionary views.
Association between muscle strength and health-related quality of life in a Chinese rural elderly population: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Yang Shanshan , Li Tianzhi , Yang Hongbing , Wang Jianhua , Liu Miao , Wang Shengshu , He Yao , Jiang Bin 
Published: January 2020

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between upper and lower limb muscle strength and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of a Chinese rural, elderly population.DesignA population-based, cross-sectional study.SettingMiyun, Beijing, China.ParticipantsThe participants of this study were 2083 (834 men and 1249 women) older adults from a rural area, (average age of ≥60 years), living in Miyun county, located on the outskirts of Beijing. Data were collected between May and October 2014. Handgrip strength and timed up and go tests (TUGT) were conducted to measure the muscle strength of their upper and lower limbs, respectively. The Euro Quality of Life (Euroqol) (EQ-5D)-Visual Analogue Scale was used to evaluate participants’ HRQoL.ResultsA significant association between handgrip strength and the EQ-5D index (β=0.015 per SD, 95% CI: 0.008 to 0.023, p<0.001) was discovered, following adjustments. The association between handgrip strength and the EQ-5D index in the ≥80 years group was found to be stronger than that of the 60–79 years group, following adjustment (β per SD: 0.013 vs 0.035). Similar results were observed when comparing the non-chronic disease group, in terms of TUGT time, against those with chronic diseases.ConclusionsThere was a significant relationship between muscle strength (measured via handgrip strength and TUGT time) and HRQoL (measured via EQ-5D index and VAS score) in the Chinese rural elderly population. Furthermore, this relationship was stronger in the older population (aged ≥80 years), and in those participants diagnosed with chronic diseases.
Evaluation of the WHO/CDC Syphilis Serology Proficiency Programme to support the global elimination of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis: an observational cross-sectional study, 2008–2015
Authors: Hopkins André O , Trinh Thuy , Fakile Yetunde F , Pillay Allan , Taylor Melanie M , Kersh Ellen , Kamb Mary 
Published: January 2020

ObjectivesSyphilis morbidity is high among pregnant women in lower income countries with limited laboratory capacity. We evaluated a long-standing global Syphilis Serology Proficiency Programme (SSPP) that supports testing quality in national reference laboratories to determine if participation affects congenital syphilis elimination strategies.DesignIn this observational cross-sectional study, we calculated coverage on type, frequency and quality of syphilis testing reported by laboratories enrolled in the SSPP from 2008 to 2015. We used country-reported data to WHO on four congenital syphilis (CS) indicators and World Bank country economic data to compare coverage and completeness of reporting of indicators in lower income countries with and without an SSPP-enrolled laboratory.ParticipantsFrom 2008–2015, 78 laboratories from 51 countries participated in>1 SSPP evaluation; 56% were national reference laboratories, of which most (93%) participated for>3 years and 11 (22%) in all 24 cycles.ResultsMedian proficiency performance score was >95% regardless of test conducted. Of the 51 countries with an SSPP-enrolled laboratory, 22 (43%) were lower-income countries, of which 21 reported CS data during 2008–2015. Comparing CS data from 87 (90% of total) lower income countries with and without an SSPP-enrolled laboratory, countries with an SSPP-laboratory had stronger reporting on antenatal syphilis testing (p=0.04). For 2015, an estimated 74% of prenatal syphilis tests and 63% of positive tests reported to WHO from countries with an SSPP-enrolled laboratory.ConclusionThe SSPP has focused well on national reference laboratories, but has been only partially successful in recruiting laboratories from lower income countries. The finding that over half of syphilis infections in pregnant women living in countries with SSPP-enrolled laboratories suggests wide reach of the current quality assurance programme. However, reach could expand with focussed recruitment of laboratories from lower income countries.
‘Not clinically effective but cost-effective’ - paradoxical conclusions in randomised controlled trials with ‘doubly null’ results: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Raftery James , Williams HC , Clarke Aileen , Thornton Jim , Norrie John , Snooks Helen , Stein Ken 
Published: January 2020

ObjectivesRandomised controlled trials in healthcare increasingly include economic evaluations. Some show small differences which are not statistically significant. Yet these sometimes come to paradoxical conclusions such as: ‘the intervention is not clinically effective’ but ‘is probably cost-effective’. This study aims to quantify the extent of non-significant results and the types of conclusions drawn from them.DesignCross-sectional retrospective analysis of randomised trials published by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme. We defined as ‘doubly null’ those trials that found non-statistically significant differences in both primary outcome and cost per patient. Paradoxical was defined as concluding in favour of an intervention, usually compared with placebo or usual care. No human participants were involved. Our sample was 226 randomised trial projects published by the Health Technology Assessment programme 2004 to 2017. All are available free online.ResultsThe 226 projects contained 193 trials with a full economic evaluation. Of these 76 (39%) had at least one ‘doubly null’ comparison. These 76 trials contained 94 comparisons. In these 30 (32%) drew economic conclusions in favour of an intervention. Overall report conclusions split roughly equally between those favouring the intervention (14), and those favouring either the control (7) or uncertainty (9).DiscussionTrials with ‘doubly null’ results and paradoxical conclusions are not uncommon. The differences observed in cost and quality-adjustedlife year were small and non-statistically significant. Almost all these trials were also published in leading peer-reviewed journals. Although some guidelines for reporting economic results require cost-effectiveness estimates regardless of statistical significance, the interpretability of paradoxical results has nowhere been addressed.ConclusionsReconsideration is required of the interpretation of cost-effectiveness analyses in randomised controlled trials with ‘doubly null’ results, particularly when economics favours a novel intervention.
Protocol for a prospective evaluation of postpartum engagement in HIV care among women living with HIV in South Africa
Authors: Psaros Christina , Stanton Amelia M , Bedoya C Andres , Mosery Nzwakie , Evans Shannon , Matthews Lynn Turner , Haberer Jessica , Vangel Mark , Safren Steven , Smit Jennifer A 
Published: January 2020

IntroductionKwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa (SA) has the highest prevalence of pregnant women living with HIV in the world. Pregnancy and the postpartum period offer opportunities to engage women in HIV care, to prevent perinatal transmission and to optimise maternal and infant well-being. However, research suggests that remaining engaged in HIV care during this time can be challenging.Methods and analysisWe are conducting a 5-year prospective cohort study among pregnant women living with HIV in KZN to estimate the rates and factors associated with attrition from HIV care during this critical period. To determine who is most likely to fall out of care, we are examining a range of relevant variables informed by a socioecological model of HIV care, including individual, relational, community and healthcare system variables. We are enrolling 18–45-year-old women, at 28 weeks or more of pregnancy, who are living with HIV and currently taking antiretroviral therapies. Participants complete quantitative assessments at baseline (pregnancy) and at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months postpartum. A subset of women and their partners are invited to complete qualitative interviews to further explore their experiences in HIV care. The main study outcomes are suppressed HIV RNA and retention in care at each study assessment. Our understanding of the factors that drive postpartum attrition from HIV care will ultimately inform the development of interventions to facilitate continued engagement in postpartum HIV care.Ethics and disseminationThis protocol has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee (Medical) at The University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, SA) and the Partners Human Research Committee at Partners HealthCare (Boston, Massachusetts, USA). Site support and approval were obtained from the District Hospital and the KZN Provincial Department of Health. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed manuscripts, reports and both local and international presentations (Ethics Registration #170 212).