bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Computed tomographic findings, surgical management and postoperative outcomes of large intermuscular lipomas in the hindlimb of 11 dogs
Authors: Crowley JD , Hosgood G , Crawford NV , Richardson JL 
Published: December 2019

ObjectiveLipomas are benign adipose tissue tumours of mesenchymal origin and can originate in various locations. Intermuscular lipomas in the thigh can cause substantial hindlimb expansion in the dog. We describe the computed tomography findings, surgical management and the outcomes of 11 dogs with large intermuscular lipomas of the hindlimb.DesignRetrospective case series.MethodsMedical records between 2009 and 2019 of dogs presenting to The Animal Hospital at Murdoch University were reviewed. Inclusion criteria included dogs with a histologically confirmed, large hindlimb lipoma that was surgically excised following preoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging.ResultsCT with intravenous contrast revealed a well‐defined, smoothly marginated, fat attenuating mass with minimal vascularity, separating the muscle bellies of the caudal hindlimb. The mass was often in close proximity to the femoral artery and vein. All lipomas were marginally excised. At surgery, some lipomas were intimately associated with the sciatic nerve and some showed infiltration of, or attachment to, neighbouring muscle that could be excised en bloc with the lipoma. Postoperative closed‐suction wound drainage was used in 6 of 11 dogs. One dog required revision surgery due to partial wound dehiscence. Long‐term follow‐up with owners reported good postoperative function of the affected hindlimb in all dogs. One dog developed an infiltrative lipoma in the same location 22 months post‐excision.ConclusionPreoperative CT allowed a presumptive diagnosis of intermuscular lipoma and facilitated surgical planning for marginal excision. Large intermuscular lipomas of the hindlimb can be safely excised with minimal short‐term complications, good long‐term functional outcome and low likelihood of recurrence.
The impairment argument for the immorality of abortion revisited
Authors: Blackshaw Bruce P. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractPerry Hendricks has recently presented the impairment argument for the immorality of abortion, to which I responded and he has now replied. The argument is based on the premise that impairing a fetus with fetal alcohol syndrome is immoral, and on the principle that if impairing an organism is immoral, impairing it to a higher degree is also—the impairment principle. If abortion impairs a fetus to a higher degree, then this principle entails abortion is immoral. In my reply, I argued that abortion does not impair an organism in the way fetal alcohol syndrome does, and showed that interest theorists can avoid the argument. Hendricks has responded to my criticisms by demonstrating how abortion does impair an organism. In this reply, I acknowledge Hendricks’ point, but proceed to criticize the application of the impairment principle to abortion, showing that it is invalid if we accept his explanation for why inflicting fetal alcohol syndrome is immoral. I also argue that counter‐examples show the impairment principle itself to be dubitable, concluding that the impairment argument remains unpersuasive.
What do patients want? Surgical informed‐consent and patient‐centered care – An augmented model of information disclosure
Authors: Gabay Gillie , Bokek‐Cohen Yaarit 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThe ideal moral standard for surgical informed‐consent calls upon surgeons to carry out a disclosure dialogue with patients so they have as full as possible an understanding of the procedure before they sign the informed‐consent form. This study is the first to empirically explore patient preferences regarding disclosure dialogue. Twelve Israelis who underwent life‐saving surgeries participated in a narrative study. Three themes emerged from the analysis: objectification of patients, anxiety provoking processes and information, and lack of information that was essential for patients. Findings contribute to existing debates among surgeons regarding the scope and importance of some disclosure components. Analysis led to our formulation of an augmented subjective model of information disclosure that participants prefer, which extends beyond the immediate present of the surgery to the period after discharge, and until return to routine. Surgeons should be aware of patient preferences in disclosure, and gaps between perceptions of surgeons, and preferences and needs of patients.
Censored linear regression in the presence or absence of auxiliary survival information
Authors: Sheng Ying , Sun Yifei , Deng Detian , Huang Chiung‐Yu 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThere has been a rising interest in better exploiting auxiliary summary information from large databases in the analysis of smaller‐scale studies that collect more comprehensive patient‐level information. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, we propose a novel approach to synthesize information from both the aggregate summary statistics and the individual‐level data in censored linear regression. We show that the auxiliary information amounts to a system of nonsmooth estimating equations and thus can be combined with the conventional weighted log‐rank estimating equations by using the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach. The proposed methodology can be further extended to account for the potential inconsistency in information from different sources. Second, in the absence of auxiliary information, we propose to improve estimation efficiency by combining the overidentified weighted log‐rank estimating equations with different weight functions via the GMM framework. To deal with the nonsmooth GMM‐type objective functions, we develop an asymptotics‐guided algorithm for parameter and variance estimation. We establish the asymptotic normality of the proposed GMM‐type estimators. Simulation studies show that the proposed estimators can yield substantial efficiency gain over the conventional weighted log‐rank estimators. The proposed methods are applied to a pancreatic cancer study for illustration.
Estimating overdispersion in sparse multinomial data
Authors: Afroz Farzana , Parry Matt , Fletcher David 
Published: December 2019

AbstractMultinomial data arise in many areas of the life sciences, such as mark‐recapture studies and phylogenetics, and will often by overdispersed, with the variance being higher than predicted by a multinomial model. The quasi‐likelihood approach to modeling this overdispersion involves the assumption that the variance is proportional to that specified by the multinomial model. As this approach does not require specification of the full distribution of the response variable, it can be more robust than fitting a Dirichlet‐multinomial model or adding a random effect to the linear predictor. Estimation of the amount of overdispersion is often based on Pearson's statistic X2 or the deviance D. For many types of study, such as mark‐recapture, the data will be sparse. The estimator based on X2 can then be highly variable, and that based on D can have a large negative bias. We derive a new estimator, which has a smaller asymptotic variance than that based on X2, the difference being most marked for sparse data. We illustrate the numerical difference between the three estimators using a mark‐recapture study of swifts and compare their performance via a simulation study. The new estimator has the lowest root mean squared error across a range of scenarios, especially when the data are very sparse.
Improved breastfeeding duration with Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative implementation in a diverse and underserved population
Authors: Kivlighan Katie T. , Murray‐Krezan Cristina , Schwartz Thais , Shuster Geoff , Cox Kim 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBackgroundFew studies have evaluated the impact of Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) implementation on underserved populations in the United States. We undertook this study in New Mexico, a large southwestern state with a diverse population and limited health care access.MethodsA quasi‐experimental, retrospective cohort design was used to compare short‐term breastfeeding duration between a pre‐BFHI and a post‐BFHI cohort. Among the post‐BFHI cohort, logistic regression models were fitted to predict short‐term breastfeeding duration from both individual and cumulative exposure to inpatient maternity care practices (Steps 4 to 9).ResultsImplementation of the BFHI and cumulative exposure to the Ten Steps increased short‐term duration of any breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding at 2‐6 weeks postpartum. Exposure to all six of the inpatient Ten Steps increased the odds of any breastfeeding by 34 times and exclusive breastfeeding by 24 times. Exposure to Step 9 (“Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples”) uniquely increased the likelihood of any breastfeeding at 2‐6 weeks postpartum by 5.7 times, whereas Step 6 (“Give infants no food or drink other than breastmilk”) increased the rate of exclusive breastfeeding by 4.4 times at 2‐6 weeks postpartum.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative can have a positive impact on breastfeeding among underserved populations.
Patient survival following renal transplantation in Indigenous populations: A systematic review
Authors: McGuire Connor , Kannathasan Sreedharan , Lowe Matthew , Dow Todd , Bezuhly Michael 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBackgroundInequities in health care predispose Indigenous populations to poor health outcomes. The objective of this study was to examine patient survival and other post‐transplant outcomes of kidney transplantation among Indigenous patients compared with non‐Indigenous populations.MethodsA systematic review of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar was undertaken from inception to September 30, 2019, using a computerized search. Publication descriptors and methodological and statistical details were extracted. Articles were assessed using the methodological index for non‐randomized studies (MINORS) scale.ResultsTwelve studies were included. All studies were retrospective and published between 2004 and 2018. Mean Indigenous patient age was 40 (range: 8‐76), while non‐Indigenous was 41 (range: 6‐74). Mean sample size for Indigenous populations was 398 (range: 24‐1459), while for non‐Indigenous patients was 1102 (range: 53‐7555). Eight studies examined indigenous populations in Australia, two in Canada, one in the United States, and one in New Zealand. All studies were considered of high methodological quality and clinically homogenous. Results indicated that patient survival, graft survival, and delayed graft function were significantly reduced among Indigenous populations compared with non‐Indigenous populations.ConclusionsPost‐transplant outcomes among various Indigenous populations are significantly worse compared with non‐Indigenous populations. The reasons for poor outcomes are likely multifactorial. Improved standardized reporting of transplant outcomes of Indigenous patients is necessary to better inform healthcare services and improve clinical outcomes.
Differences between patients with type 1 diabetes with optimal and suboptimal glycaemic control: A real‐world study of more than 30 000 patients in a US electronic health record database
Authors: Pettus Jeremy H. , Zhou Fang Liz , Shepherd Leah , Mercaldi Katie , Preblick Ronald , Hunt Phillip R. , Paranjape Sachin , Miller Kellee M. , Edelman Steven V. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractAimsTo use electronic health record data from real‐world clinical practice to assess demographics, clinical characteristics and disease burden of adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the United States.Materials and methodsRetrospective observational study of adults with T1D for ≥24 months at their first visit with a T1D diagnosis code (“index date”) between July 2014 and June 2016 in the Optum Humedica database. Demographic characteristics, acute complications (severe hypoglycaemia [SH], diabetic ketoacidosis [DKA]), microvascular complications, cardiovascular (CV) events and health care resource utilization during the 12 months before the index date (“baseline period”) were compared between patients with optimal versus suboptimal glycaemic control (glycated haemoglobin [HbA1c] <7.0% vs. ≥7.0% [53 mmol/mol]) at the closest measurement to the index date.ResultsOf 31 430 adults with T1D, 79.9% had suboptimal glycaemic control (mean HbA1c 8.8% [73 mmol/mol]). These patients were more likely to be younger, African American, uninsured or on Medicaid, obese, smokers, have uncontrolled hypertension and have depression. Despite worse glycaemic control and increased CV risk factors of uncontrolled hypertension, obesity and smoking, rates of coronary heart disease and stroke were not higher in these patients. Patients with suboptimal glycaemic control also experienced more diabetes complications (including SH, DKA and microvascular disease) and utilized more emergency care, with more emergency department visits and inpatient stays.ConclusionThis real‐world study of >30 000 adults with T1D showed that individuals with suboptimal versus optimal glycaemic control differed significantly in terms of health care coverage, comorbidities, diabetes‐related complications, health care utilization and CV risk factors. However, suboptimal control was not associated with increased risk of CV outcomes.
Tomato variety affects larval survival but not female preference of the generalist moth Trichoplusia ni
Authors: Meneses‐Arias María Guadalupe , Solis‐Montero Lislie , Malo Edi A. , Rojas Julio C. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractIn herbivorous insects, the choice that females make for a suitable host plant is crucial for survival of its offspring because the neonate larvae are generally not capable of moving great distances. The preference‐performance hypothesis states that herbivore females will choose to oviposit on hosts on which their offspring will have better performance. In this study, we investigated whether Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) females are able to discriminate among a weedy race, a landrace, and a commercial cultivar of tomato plants, Solanum lycopersicum L. (Solanaceae), and how their choice affects the offspring performance. Additionally, we identified the volatile compounds and recorded the density of glandular trichomes of the tomato plants. Females did not show a preference for any of the three types of tomato plants. Females oviposited more on the adaxial surface of leaves of commercial cultivar plants than on (any surface of) leaves of weedy‐race plants. The relative abundance of volatiles varied quantitatively among the three types of tomato plants. Commercial cultivar plants released a higher abundance of volatiles than weedy race and landrace plants. Weedy‐race plants had a higher density of glandular trichomes types I and VI than the commercial cultivar. More neonate larvae died if fed on the weedy race and landrace plants than when reared on commercial cultivar plants. Results suggested that the higher mortality of T. ni larvae may be related to a higher density of glandular trichomes on landrace and weedy‐race plants than on commercial cultivar plants, although other constitutive and induced defenses may be involved. Our results do not support the preference‐performance hypothesis.
Ecological divergence among morphologically and genetically related Asphondylia species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), with new life history data for three congeners including the Alpinia fruit gall midge
Authors: Yukawa Junichi , Tokuda Makoto , Uechi Nami , Yasuda Keiji , Ganaha‐Kikumura Tomoko , Matsuo Kazunori , Shimizu Yuko , Yamaguchi Daisuke 
Published: December 2019

AbstractEcological data is crucial for determining the degree of reproductive isolation among closely related species, and in identifying the factors that have produced this divergence. We studied life history traits for three Asphondylia (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) species that induce fruit galls either on Alpinia, Ligustrum or Aucuba, and we compared the traits with those published for three other closely related Japanese Asphondylia species. We found that the six species were significantly differentiated in important life history traits, such as host range, voltinism, lower developmental threshold temperature, thermal constant and diapausing season. The data indicate that divergence in the assessed life history traits evolves before morphological divergence, and such ecological divergence could strengthen isolating barriers among the taxa. We present scenarios on how host range expansion, host plant shift and host organ shift for galling initiate the early stages of speciation. We also highlight the importance of ecological data in identifying cryptic species. Specifically, we confirm that Alpinia intermedia (Zingiberaceae) is not an autumn–spring host of the soybean pod gall midge Asphondylia yushimai based on many differences in the life history traits between the Alpinia fruit gall midge Asphondylia sp. and A. yushimai.
Prospective validation of a machine learning model that uses provider notes to identify candidates for resective epilepsy surgery
Authors: Wissel Benjamin D. , Greiner Hansel M. , Glauser Tracy A. , Holland‐Bouley Katherine D. , Mangano Francesco T. , Santel Daniel , Faist Robert , Zhang Nanhua , Pestian John P. , Szczesniak Rhonda D. , Dexheimer Judith W. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractObjectiveDelay to resective epilepsy surgery results in avoidable disease burden and increased risk of mortality. The objective was to prospectively validate a natural language processing (NLP) application that uses provider notes to assign epilepsy surgery candidacy scores.MethodsThe application was trained on notes from (1) patients with a diagnosis of epilepsy and a history of resective epilepsy surgery and (2) patients who were seizure‐free without surgery. The testing set included all patients with unknown surgical candidacy status and an upcoming neurology visit. Training and testing sets were updated weekly for 1 year. One‐ to three‐word phrases contained in patients’ notes were used as features. Patients prospectively identified by the application as candidates for surgery were manually reviewed by two epileptologists. Performance metrics were defined by comparing NLP‐derived surgical candidacy scores with surgical candidacy status from expert chart review.ResultsThe training set was updated weekly and included notes from a mean of 519 ± 67 patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) from 10‐fold cross‐validation was 0.90 ± 0.04 (range = 0.83‐0.96) and improved by 0.002 per week (P < .001) as new patients were added to the training set. Of the 6395 patients who visited the neurology clinic, 4211 (67%) were evaluated by the model. The prospective AUC on this test set was 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.62‐0.96). Using the optimal surgical candidacy score threshold, sensitivity was 0.80 (95% CI = 0.29‐0.99), specificity was 0.77 (95% CI = 0.64‐0.88), positive predictive value was 0.25 (95% CI = 0.07‐0.52), and negative predictive value was 0.98 (95% CI = 0.87‐1.00). The number needed to screen was 5.6.SignificanceAn electronic health record–integrated NLP application can accurately assign surgical candidacy scores to patients in a clinical setting.
Isoliquiritigenin inhibits melanogenesis, melanocyte dendricity and melanosome transport by regulating ERK‐mediated MITF degradation
Authors: Lv Jinpeng , Fu Ying , Cao Yan , Jiang Songzhou , Yang Ying , Song Guoqiang , Yun Changjun , Gao Rongyin 
Published: December 2019

AbstractIsoliquiritigenin (ISL), a flavonoid component from the hydrolysis products of licorice root. It has been reported that ISL inhibited melanogenesis by suppressing the tyrosinase activity in human melanocytes. Recently, ISL was found to induce melanin degradation in human epidermal keratinocytes. However, the role of ISL in pigmentation is not fully understood. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effects of ISL on pigmentation, and further explored the underlying mechanism. Our results suggested that ISL suppressed basal and α‐MSH‐, ACTH‐ and UV‐induced melanin synthesis, in addition to inhibiting melanocyte dendricity and melanosome transport. ISL played these roles mainly by activating the extracellular signal‐regulated protein kinase pathway. Once activated, it induced microphthalmia‐associated transcription factor degradation and decreased the expression of tyrosinase, TRP‐1, DCT, Rab27a and Cdc42, finally inhibited melanogenesis, melanocyte dendricity and melanosome transport. Our findings suggested that ISL exhibited no cytotoxicity in our research, it may prove quite useful as a safer natural skin‐whitening agent.
Different thermal conditions of lakes affect host–parasite systems: A case study of Viviparus contectus (Millet, 1813) and digenean trematodes
Authors: Cichy Anna , Marszewska Anna , Ciapka Przemysław , Żbikowska Elżbieta 
Published: December 2019

Abstract

Thermal disturbance of aquatic ecosystems directly and/or indirectly affects interspecific interactions, including parasitism. Both hosts and parasites respond differently to environmental changes, thus, predicting how host–parasite systems behave under the influence of disturbance remains a challenge. The aim of the study was to check how the differences in thermal conditions of lakes affect life‐history traits of hosts and the level of parasitism, using a Viviparus contectus–digenean trematodes model.

Overall, we examined 480 individuals of V. contectus collected from a thermally polluted lake (TPL) and a natural lake (NL). Host features, including body size and fecundity, as well as the prevalence and species richness of digenean trematodes in snail populations were investigated.

We found that V. contectus from the TPL were significantly larger, heavier, and females were more fertile than snails collected from the NL. A total of 20.4% of the collected snails were infected with digenean larvae. The species richness of parasites was twice as high in the NL compared to the TPL (six and three species, respectively). A significant difference in the percentage of snails infected with parasites was identified between both types of lakes, with a higher prevalence of V. contectus in the NL (31.3%) compared to the TPL (7.3%).

These results indicate that host–parasite systems follow the environmental changes in lakes due to thermal pollution by increasing fertility and metabolism rate of viviparid hosts and by decreasing the prevalence and diversity of digenean trematodes.