bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lifting of level-1 states in the D1D5 CFT
Authors: Guo Bin , Mathur Samir D. 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
The D1D5 CFT has a large set of states that are supersymmetric at the ‘free’ orbifold point in moduli space. When we perturb away from this point, some of these states join into long multiplets and lift in energy, while others remain supersymmetric. The count of unlifted states can be bounded below by an index, but the index does not yield the pattern of lifting; i.e., which states join into a long multiplet and how much this multiplet lifts. In this paper we consider the simple case of the D1D5 CFT where the orbifold CFT is a sigma model with targets space (T4)2/S2 and consider states at energy level 1. There are 2688 states at this level. The lifted states form a triplet of long multiplets, and we compute their lift at second order in perturbation theory. Half the members of the long multiplet are in the untwisted sector and half are in the twisted sector. This and other similar studies should help in the understanding of fuzzball states that describe extremal holes, since CFT sectors with low twist describe shallow throats in the dual gravity solution while sectors with high twist describe deep throats.
Epidemiology of complex hand injuries treated in the Plastic Surgery Department of a tertiary referral hospital in Warsaw
Authors: Dębski Tomasz , Noszczyk Bartłomiej Henryk 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background
Trauma to the hand is common and potentially serious, impairing daily living and general quality of life. Patients are often unable to work for several months, with hand function improving only gradually. Here, we review the epidemiology of hand injuries treated at a tertiary referral hospital in Warsaw, Poland.

Material and methods
In this single-centre, retrospective study, we reviewed medical records of patients presenting to the A&E Unit of the Plastic Surgery Department, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education in Warsaw, Poland, between January 2001 and December 2005. We assessed a number of patient and injury characteristics, including severity, scored with the Hand Injury Severity Scoring System (HISS), and time off work.

Results
Of 1091 patients with a hand injury, 84% were male and over half were under the age of 40 years. Hand injury commonly resulted in tendon damage (56.1%), especially to finger flexors (79%), and in skin loss (37.8%). Amputations occurred in 24.1% of cases, while fractures (9.6%) and nerve (6.1%) or joint (5.5%) damage were less common. HISS-graded injury severity was moderate in 28.6% of cases, over half of the patients suffered severe (25.5%) or major (26.5%) injuries, and minor injuries were relatively uncommon (19.4%).

Conclusions
Amongst patients admitted to our Department, the most common injuries were tendon damage, skin loss, and amputations. Over half of the patients presented with severe or major injuries and took six months or longer to return to work, suggesting they were likely to face substantial social and economic consequences of their injury.

Level of evidence
IV: retrospective series.
Jungen sterben häufiger an nekrotisierender Enterokolitis
Authors: Schröder A. , Muensterer O. J. , Oetzmann von Sochaczewski C. 
Published: March 2020

Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund
In den letzten Jahren verringerte sich die frühgeburtliche Morbidität und Mortalität über Ländergrenzen hinweg deutlich. Allen Untersuchungen gemeinsam ist aber eine höhere Betroffenheit und Sterblichkeit von Jungen gegenüber Mädchen, insbesondere bei der nekrotisierenden Enterokolitis.

Fragestellung
Besteht in Deutschland auf Basis der amtlichen Krankenhausstatistik eine höhere Inzidenz oder Sterblichkeit von Jungen an nekrotisierender Enterokolitis?

Material und Methoden
Die Autoren werteten die Diagnosedaten der amtlichen Krankenhausstatistik für die Jahre 2000–2017 für die Hauptdiagnose P77 – nekrotisierende Enterokolitis –, getrennt nach Geschlechtern und Überleben, aus. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Geschlecht und Versterben resp. Erkrankungshäufigkeit wurde mittels einseitigem χ2-Test auf ein höheres Risiko für Jungen untersucht.

Ergebnisse
Zwischen 2000 und 2017 hatten 3119 Frühgeborene die Hauptdiagnose nekrotisierende Enterokolitis, davon 1769 Jungen (0,27 ‰ der männlichen Lebendgeburten) und 1350 Mädchen (0,22 ‰ der weiblichen Lebendgeburten). Jungen haben ein höheres Risiko, an nekrotisierender Enterokolitis zu erkranken (relatives Risiko 1,24, 95 %-Konfidenzintervall: 1,17–∞, p < 0,001) und zu versterben (relatives Risiko 1,25, 95 %-Konfidenzintervall: 1,02–∞, p = 0,036).

Diskussion
Jungen erkranken und sterben häufiger an nekrotisierender Enterokolitis als Mädchen. Allerdings erfasst die amtliche Statistik nicht die leichteren Fälle einer nekrotisierenden Enterokolitis, da nur die Hauptdiagnose erfasst wird. Überdies ermöglicht die amtliche Statistik keine Adjustierung für verzerrende Faktoren. Die sekundäre Datennutzung der Qualitätssicherungsdaten der Neonatalerhebung könnte eine detailliertere Untersuchung dieser Fragestellung ermöglichen.
Using formal verification to evaluate theexecution time of Spark applications
Authors: Baresi L. , Bersani M. M. , Marconi F. , Quattrocchi G. , Rossi M. 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Apache Spark is probably the most widely adopted framework for developing big-data batch applications and for executing them on a
cluster of (virtual) machines. In general, the more resources
(machines) one uses, the faster applications execute, but there is
currently no adequate means to determine the proper size of a Spark
cluster given time constraints, or to foresee execution times given
the number of employed machines. One can only run these applications
and use her/his experience to size the cluster and predict expected
execution times. Wrong estimation of execution times can lead to
costly overruns and overly long executions, thus calling for
analytic sizing/prediction techniques that provide precise time
guarantees. This paper addresses this problem by proposing a
solution based on model-checking. The approach exploits a directed
acyclic graph (DAG) to abstract the structure of the execution flows
of Spark programs, annotates each node (Spark stage) with
execution-related data, and formulates the identification of the
global execution time as a reachability problem. To avoid the
well-known state space explosion problem, the paper also proposes a
technique to reduce the size of generated abstract models. This
results in a significant decrease in used memory and/or verification
time making our approach feasible for predicting the execution time
of Spark applications given the resources available. The benefits of
the proposed reduction technique are evaluated by using both timed
automata and constraint LTL over clocks logic to formally
encode and analyze generated models. The approach is also
successfully validated on some realistic case studies. Since the
optimization is not Spark-specific, we claim that it can be applied
to a wide range of applications whose underlying model can be
abstracted as a DAG.
Effect of oestrogen therapy on faecal incontinence in postmenopausal women: a systematic review
Authors: Bach Fiona L. , Sairally B. Zeyah F. , Latthe Pallavi 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Introduction and hypothesis
Faecal incontinence (FI) is prevalent in postmenopausal women. Oestrogen receptors have been identified in the anal sphincter and have been implicated in the pathogenesis and potential treatment. We sought to evaluate the literature regarding the impact of local and systemic oestrogen therapy on FI in postmenopausal women.

Methods
A systematic review of all studies in postmenopausal women was performed to establish how oestrogen therapy affects FI. Eight articles were deemed eligible for inclusion following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Their quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB-2) and Newcastle–Ottawa quality assessment scale.

Results
One randomised controlled trial (RCT), two cohort studies, one observational and four cross-sectional studies were identified. The RCT showed an improvement in FI with anal oestrogen (p = 0.002), but this improvement was also observed in the placebo arm (p = 0.013) and no difference was seen between these groups. A prospective observational study demonstrated significant improvement with an oestrogen patch (p = 0.004), but had no control group. Conversely, a large prospective cohort study demonstrated an increased hazard ratio of FI with current (1.32; 95% CI, 1.20–1.45) and previous oestrogen use (1.26; 95% CI, 1.18–1.34) compared with non-users.

Conclusion
All studies had a high risk of bias and had conflicting views on the effects of oestrogen on FI in postmenopausal women. This review has identified the need for further research in this area by highlighting the paucity of good research for evidence-based practice. We believe that a further RCT of local oestrogen is mandated to draw a valid conclusion.
An unusual metal-bound 4-fluorothreonine transaldolase from Streptomyces sp. MA37 catalyses promiscuous transaldol reactions
Authors: Wu Linrui , Tong Ming Him , Raab Andrea , Fang Qing , Wang Shan , Kyeremeh Kwaku , Yu Yi , Deng Hai 
Published: March 2020

Abstractβ-Hydroxy-α-amino acids (βH-AAs) are key components of many bioactive molecules as well as exist as specialised metabolites. Among these βH-AAs, 4-fluorothreonine (4-FT) is the only naturally occurring fluorinated AA discovered thus far. Here we report overexpression and biochemical characterisation of 4-fluorothreonine transaldolase from Streptomyces sp. MA37 (FTaseMA), a homologue of FTase previously identified in the biosynthesis of 4-FT in S. cattleya. FTaseMA displays considerable substrate plasticity to generate 4-FT as well as other β-hydroxy-α-amino acids with various functionalities at C4 position, giving the prospect of new chemo-enzymatic applications. The enzyme has a hybrid of two catalytic domains, serine hydroxymethyltransferase (S) and aldolase (A). Site-directed mutagenesis allowed the identification of the key residues of FTases, suggesting that the active site of A domain has a historical reminiscent feature in metal-dependent aldolases. Elemental analysis demonstrated that FTaseMA is indeed a Zn2+-dependent enzyme, the first example of pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) enzyme family fused with a metal-binding domain carrying out a distinct catalytic role. Finally, FTaseMA showed divergent evolutionary origin with other PLP dependent enzymes.
Patterns of tined lead migration in sacral nerve modulation
Authors: Ezra Emmanuel , Siilin A. M. Helene , Gulobovic Milan , Graf J. Wilhelm R. 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Aim
Lead migration is a common cause of loss of efficacy in sacral nerve modulation. Our aim was to systematically study the migration pattern of tined leads in sacral nerve modulation. Our hypothesis was that tined leads may promote forward migration because of their configuration.

Method
Consecutive patients treated with sacral nerve modulation with a tined lead electrode, who had experienced loss of efficacy and had radiographs both at baseline and after loss of efficacy between 2005 and 2016 were eligible for inclusion.

Results
Twenty-five patients out of 70 with loss of efficacy were studied. Lead migration was measured as percent electrode movement in relation to sacral cortex at lateral projection. All had some degree of lead migration, ranging from 35% backward to 74% forward migration. Sixteen (64%) had forward migration while nine (36%) had backward migration. In seven patients (28%), loss of efficacy was associated with an episode of perceived mechanical strain on the electrode. Fifty percent (4/8) who associated their loss of efficacy with an adverse event had forward migration of the electrode.

Conclusions
Forward lead migration with concomitant loss of efficacy seems to be a common event in patients with tined leads, hence supporting our hypothesis. The retrospective design and that some of the patients with loss of efficacy could not be included because of incomplete data, which is a limitation to the study. Further studies are needed to confirm to what extent the direction and magnitude of the migration relate to loss of efficacy.

Trial registration
The distribution and evolution of fungal symbioses in ancient lineages of land plants
Authors: Rimington William R. , Duckett Jeffrey G. , Field Katie J. , Bidartondo Martin I. , Pressel Silvia 
Published: March 2020

AbstractAn accurate understanding of the diversity and distribution of fungal symbioses in land plants is essential for mycorrhizal research. Here we update the seminal work of Wang and Qiu (Mycorrhiza 16:299-363, 2006) with a long-overdue focus on early-diverging land plant lineages, which were considerably under-represented in their survey, by examining the published literature to compile data on the status of fungal symbioses in liverworts, hornworts and lycophytes. Our survey combines data from 84 publications, including recent, post-2006, reports of Mucoromycotina associations in these lineages, to produce a list of at least 591 species with known fungal symbiosis status, 180 of which were included in Wang and Qiu (Mycorrhiza 16:299-363, 2006). Using this up-to-date compilation, we estimate that fewer than 30% of liverwort species engage in symbiosis with fungi belonging to all three mycorrhizal phyla, Mucoromycota, Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, with the last being the most widespread (17%). Fungal symbioses in hornworts (78%) and lycophytes (up to 100%) appear to be more common but involve only members of the two Mucoromycota subphyla Mucoromycotina and Glomeromycotina, with Glomeromycotina prevailing in both plant groups. Our fungal symbiosis occurrence estimates are considerably more conservative than those published previously, but they too may represent overestimates due to currently unavoidable assumptions.
Variation in ligamentous laxity in well-functioning total knee arthroplasty is not associated with clinical outcomes or functional ability
Authors: Hamilton David F. , Mandziak Daniel , Sehgal Alexandria , Howie Colin R. , Burnett Richard 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background
Around 20% of revision knee arthroplasty procedures are carried out for a diagnosis of instability. Clinical evaluation of instability is primarily through physical stress testing of knee ligamentous laxity and joint space opening. It is assumed that increased knee ligament laxity is associated with instability of the knee and, by association, reduced physical function. The range of knee ligament laxity in asymptomatic patients with total knee arthroplasty has however not been reported, nor has the association with measures of physical outcomes.

Methods
Patients who reported being happy with the outcomes of TKA and denied any feelings of knee instability were evaluated at routine follow-up clinicas. Knee ligamentous stability was evaluated seperately by 2 blinded assessors in both coronal and saggital planes. Assessors classified the ligamentous stability as ‘tight’, ‘neutrol’ or ‘loose’. Clinical outcome was evaluated by Oxford Knee Score, patient satisfaction metric, timed performance test, range of motion and lower limb power. Analysis of variance was employed to evaluate variables between groups with post hoc pairwise comparisons.

Results
In total, 42 patients were evaluated. Mean time since index surgery was 46 (SD 8) months. In the coronal plane, 11 (26.2%) were categorised as ‘tight’, 22 (52.4%) as ‘neutral’ and 9 (21.4%) as ‘loose’. In the sagittal plane, 15 (35.7%) were categorised as ‘tight’, 17 (40.5%) as ‘neutral’ and 10 (23.8%) as ‘loose’. There were no between-group differences in outcomes: Oxford Knee Score, range of motion, lower limb power, timed functional assessment score or in satisfaction response in either plane (p = 0.05).

Conclusions
We found a range of ligamentous laxity in asymptomatic patients satisfied with the outcome of their knee arthroplasty, and no association between knee laxity and physical ability.
Trends of incidence and prognosis of gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms: a study based on SEER and our multicenter research
Authors: Hu Ping , Bai Jian’an , Liu Min , Xue Jingwen , Chen Tiaotiao , Li Rui , Kuai Xiaoling , Zhao Haijian , Li Xiaolin , Tian Ye , Sun Wei , Xiong Yujia , Tang Qiyun 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background
To investigate the recent epidemiological trends of gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (GNENs) and establish a new tool to estimate the prognosis of gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma (GNEC) and gastric neuroendocrine tumor (GNET).

Methods
Nomograms were established based on a retrospective study on patients diagnosed with GNENs from 1975 to 2016 in Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. External validation was performed among 246 GNENs patients in Jiangsu province to verify the discrimination and calibration of the nomograms.

Results
The age-adjusted incidence of GNENs has increased from 0.309 to 6.149 per 1,000,000 persons in the past 4 decades. Multivariate analysis indicated independent prognostic factors for both GNEC and GNET including age, distant metastasis and surgical intervention (P < 0.05). In addition, T, N staging and grade were significantly associated with survival of GNEC, while size was a predictor for GNET (P < 0.05). The C-indexes of the nomograms were 0.840 for GNEC and 0.718 for GNET, which were higher than those of the 8th AJCC staging system (0.773 and 0.599). Excellent discrimination was observed in the validation cohorts (C-index of nomogram vs AJCC staging for GNEC: 0.743 vs 0.714; GNET: 0.945 vs 0.927). Survival rates predicted by nomograms were close to the actual survival rates in the calibration plots in both training and validation sets.

Conclusions
The incidence of the GNENs is increasing steadily in the past 40 years. We established more excellent nomograms to predict the prognosis of GNENs than traditional staging system, helping clinicians to make tailored decisions.
Worst-case optimal approximation with increasingly flat Gaussian kernels
Authors: Karvonen Toni , Särkkä Simo 
Published: March 2020

AbstractWe study worst-case optimal approximation of positive linear functionals in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces induced by increasingly flat Gaussian kernels. This provides a new perspective and some generalisations to the problem of interpolation with increasingly flat radial basis functions. When the evaluation points are fixed and unisolvent, we show that the worst-case optimal method converges to a polynomial method. In an additional one-dimensional extension, we allow also the points to be selected optimally and show that in this case convergence is to the unique Gaussian quadrature–type method that achieves the maximal polynomial degree of exactness. The proofs are based on an explicit characterisation of the reproducing kernel Hilbert space of the Gaussian kernel in terms of exponentially damped polynomials.
Inhibitory effects of msFGFR2c on the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of AE2 cells in pulmonary fibrosis
Authors: Jieming Guo , Liu Chuan , Yang Yin , Mo Shanyi , Yang Xuesong , Wang Ju 
Published: March 2020

AbstractIn interstitial fibrosis, alveolar epithelial type II (AE2) cells fail to repair damaged epithelium. However, whether this dysfunction is related to fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signal pathway and how it affects the fibrotic process remains unclear. In our study, the medium of the human foetal lung fibroblast cell line MRC-5 (Med) can induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in AE2 cells, we also found that TGF-β in Med can induce FGF-2 and CTGF expression in AE2 cells. TGF-β or CTGF exposure trigger a FGFR2 subtype b to c transition which can be supressed by siRNA-CTGF. All together, since FGFR2IIIc have the highest affinity with FGF-2 in all of the FGFRs, we indicate the activation of FGF2 signal pathway was induced by TGF-β, which is the key component of Med Here, we also find the inhibitory effect of msFGFR2c (S252W mutant of soluble FGFR2IIIc extracellular domain) on EMT of mouse primary AE2 cells in pulmonary fibrotic process. In a bleomycin-induced mouse pulmonary fibrosis model, msFGFR2c alleviate pulmonary fibrosis and suppress the decrease in pro-SPC levels. Thus, msFGFR2c can inhibit EMT-induced fibrosis of AE2 cells via FGF-2 signal and AE2 cells is suggested to play an important role in the lung fibrotic process.
The impact of lifestyle and reproductive factors on the risk of a second new primary cancer in the contralateral breast: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Akdeniz Delal , Klaver M. Maria , Smith Chloé Z. A. , Koppert Linetta B. , Hooning Maartje J. 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Purpose
The risk of being diagnosed with contralateral breast cancer (CBC) is an important health issue among breast cancer survivors. There is an increasing interest in the effect of lifestyle and reproductive factors on CBC risk, since these factors may partly be modifiable. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis and aimed to evaluate the impact of lifestyle and reproductive factors on CBC risk in population-based breast cancer studies.

Methods
The PubMed electronic database was searched up to 2nd November 2019, for relevant publications. Of the included studies, a meta-analysis per lifestyle or reproductive factor was performed.

Results
Thirteen out of 784 publications were used for the meta-analysis. Body mass index (≥ 25 vs. < 25 kg/m2; RR = 1.22; 95% CI 1.01–1.47) was associated with increased CBC risk. The estimates for alcohol use (ever vs. never; RR = 1.15; 95% CI 1.02–1.31) and age at primiparity (≥ 25 vs. < 25 years; RR = 1.06; 95% CI 1.02–1.10) also showed an association with increased CBC risk. For parity (≥ 4 vs. nulliparous; RR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.42–0.76) and age at menopause (< 45 vs ≥ 45 years; RR = 0.79; 95% CI 0.67–0.93), results from two studies suggested a decreased CBC risk. We observed no association between CBC and smoking, age at menarche, oral contraceptive use, gravidity, breastfeeding, or menopausal status. Overall, the number of studies per risk factor was limited (n = 2–5).

Conclusions
BMI is a modifiable risk factor for CBC. Data on the effect of other modifiable lifestyle and reproductive factors are limited. For better counseling of patients on lifestyle effects, more studies are urgently needed.
On the Methodological Restriction of the Principle of Characterization
Authors: Sendłak Maciej 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe subject of this article is the Principle of Characterization—the most controversial principle of Alexius Meinong’s Theory of Objects. The aim of this text is twofold. First of all, to show that Bertrand Russell’s well-known objection to the Principle of Characterization can be reformulated against contemporary unrestricted interpretations of it. Second, to propose an alternative formulation of this principle. This refers to the methodology of metaphysics and is based on the distinction between pre-theoretical and theoretical languages. The proposed formulation fits well with every type of contemporary interpretation of the Theory of Objects and helps to overcome Russell’s criticism.