bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Patient dissatisfaction with medical therapy for chronic constipation or irritable bowel syndrome with constipation: analysis of N‐of‐1 prospective trials in 81 patients
Authors: Basilisco Guido ,   the Italian Society of Neurogastroenterology Motility (SINGEM) Study Group
Published: February 2020

SummaryBackgroundPatients with chronic constipation (CC) or with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation are often dissatisfied about their medical therapy, but their condition remains poorly defined.AimTo evaluate the patients’ satisfaction rates and which factors predict favourable outcomes through the aggregate analysis of N‐of‐1 trials.MethodsEighty‐one outpatients with CC or with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation underwent N‐of‐1 trials with at least a one‐month cycle of effective treatment. Three primary endpoints (satisfaction with therapy, improvement after treatment and an extended satisfaction criterion including both endpoints) were adopted to define satisfaction with therapy. Dyssynergia, resting anal pressure, colonic transit time and somatisation were assessed. The Patient Assessment of Constipation‐Symptoms (PAC‐SYM) questionnaire and its Modified version (M‐PAC‐SYM) measured constipation severity. Straining at defecation, stool frequency and form were daily recorded. K statistics for agreement and logistic regression were used at statistical analysis.ResultsSatisfaction with therapy was not achieved by 43% of patients, who had a significantly lower Body Mass Index (BMI) and more severe constipation at baseline. Only the change in constipation severity according to M‐PAC‐SYM remained significantly associated with satisfaction with therapy (OR = 4.3; P < 0.001) at multivariate analysis.ConclusionsSatisfaction with therapy is often an unmet need for patients with CC or with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. Lower BMI and more severe constipation are associated with worse outcome. Changes in M‐PAC‐SYM reflect satisfaction with therapy. ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT02813616.
Gamma delta+ intraepithelial lymphocytes and coeliac lymphogram in a diagnostic approach to coeliac disease in patients with seronegative villous atrophy
Authors: Fernández‐Bañares Fernando , Crespo Laura , Núñez Concepción , López‐Palacios Natalia , Tristán Eva , Vivas Santiago , Farrais Sergio , Arau Beatriz , Vidal Judith , Roy Garbiñe , Esteve Maria 
Published: February 2020

SummaryBackgroundThe causes of seronegative villous atrophy can be grouped as coeliac or noncoeliac related. There is no consensus on how to approach subjects with seronegative coeliac disease.AimTo evaluate the accuracy of both an increase in CD3+ T‐cell receptor gamma delta+ (TCRγδ+) intraepithelial lymphocytes and coeliac lymphogram for the diagnosis of coeliac disease in patients with seronegative villous atrophy.MethodsSixty‐seven consecutive patients with seronegative villous atrophy were included. Duodenal biopsies to assess TCRγδ+ and CD3− by flow cytometry were performed at the index endoscopy. Coeliac lymphogram was defined as an increase in TCRγδ+ plus a decrease in CD3− intraepithelial lymphocytes. Sensitivity, specificity and Fagan's nomogram were calculated.ResultsCoeliac disease was diagnosed in 37 patients and noncoeliac villous atrophy in 30. Coeliac patients were younger (39 ± 3 vs 55 ± 3 years; P = 0.001), more often showed HLA‐DQ2/8 (97.6% vs 61%; P = 0.002) and had a more severe histology (61% vs 32% Marsh 3b‐c; P = 0.055), as compared to noncoeliac ones. Coeliac lymphogram was associated with a sensitivity of 87% (CI, 73.7‐95) and specificity of 96.7% (82.7‐99.9), whereas evaluating only TCRγδ+ yielded a sensitivity of 91.3% (79.2‐97.6) and specificity of 83.3% (65.3‐94.3). Among patients with a pre‐test coeliac disease probability of 30%, post‐test probabilities were 92% and 5% for positive and negative coeliac lymphogram, and 70% and 4% for positive and negative TCRγδ+.ConclusionsCoeliac lymphogram was associated with a high level of diagnostic evidence either against or in favour of coeliac disease in patients with seronegative villous atrophy.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in children with sickle cell disease: A simple modified technique
Authors: Al Hindi Saeed , Al Aradi Husain , Mubarak Mohamed 
Published: February 2020

AbstractIntroductionSickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies are prevalent in Bahrain. In our hospital, we often encounter children with gallstones; sometimes gallstones are discovered on routine abdominal ultrasound, and in other cases, patients present with symptoms. Elective cholecystectomy has been controversial in patients with sickle cell disease and cholelithiasis because surgery can be a challenge. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the safety of elective cholecystectomy in children with sickle cell disease with cholelithiasis, as well as the safety and efficacy of a simple modification to the conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy technique using two natural creases in the skin.MethodsThe modified technique employs four ports, two of which were placed in natural crease lines, specifically the umbilicus and the groin crease. The procedure was elective for patients with sickle cell disease with gallstones. All patients received either a preoperative blood transfusion or an exchange transfusion to reduce the risk of postoperative sickle cell complications.ResultsEighty‐one patients with sickle cell disease with gallstones underwent our simple modified laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure. The mean ± SD operative time was 58.43 ± 8.02 minutes (range, 45‐80 minutes). Only eight patients (9.9%) experienced postoperative complications; six had fever, and two had a sickle cell crisis. None of the patients required conversion to open cholecystectomy or intensive care management.ConclusionOur simple modified laparoscopic cholecystectomy using two skin creases is a safe and feasible elective procedure in children with sickle cell disease that provides excellent cosmesis.
Superficial ingroup love? Collective narcissism predicts ingroup image defense, outgroup prejudice, and lower ingroup loyalty
Authors: Marchlewska Marta , Cichocka Aleksandra , Jaworska Manana , Golec de Zavala Agnieszka , Bilewicz Michal 
Published: February 2020

We examined the associations between the need for personal control, different types of ingroup commitment, and group‐related outcomes: (1) defensive responses to ingroup criticism, (2) ingroup disloyalty, and (3) outgroup attitudes. We assumed that collective narcissism (i.e., a belief in ingroup’s greatness which is contingent on external validation and stems from frustrated individual needs) should be concerned with defending the ingroup image and derogating outgroups, but not necessarily with being loyal to the ingroup. Secure ingroup identification (i.e., a confidently held ingroup evaluation, which stems from satisfied needs), in contrast, should predict greater ingroup loyalty and positive outgroup attitudes. We expected these effects to be especially strong once we account for the overlap between collective narcissism and group‐level self‐investment – a key component of ingroup identification. In a nationally representative sample of Polish adults (n = 1,007), collective narcissism (net of group‐level self‐investment) mediated between low personal control and ingroup image defense, lower group loyalty, and less positive outgroup attitudes. Secure ingroup identification (group‐level self‐investment net of collective narcissism) mediated between high personal control and ingroup loyalty and positive outgroup attitudes. It was not associated with ingroup image defense. Implications for understanding the role of identification in inter‐ and intra‐group relations are discussed.
Number of mesothelial cells as a measure of adequacy criteria for pleural effusions: A multi‐institutional study
Authors: Rodriguez Erika F. , Morris Paul C. , Calsavara Vinicius , Pastorello Ricardo G. , Saieg Mauro 
Published: February 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe development of a terminology system is essential to allow uniformity in reporting serous fluid specimens. An important topic to cover is the issue of specimen adequacy. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate whether there is a correlation between number of mesothelial cells and overall improved sensitivity and adequacy control of tests.MethodsCases of negative pleural fluids with concomitant positive pleural biopsies were selected from two referral institutions, with observation of the number of mesothelial cells in 10 high‐power fields, comparing the results with a control group (cases with negative biopsies, ie, true negatives). Comparisons were conducted using the nonparametric Mann‐Whitney U test. Data were analysed for sensitivity and specificity derived from the receiver operating characteristics curve. For the choice of an optimal cut‐off of mesothelial cells, receiver operating curve analysis was constructed and the Youden index was calculated.ResultsA total of 112 pleural effusions with paired pleural biopsies were studied. There was no difference in distributions of the number of mesothelial cells between cases with a positive biopsy (false negatives) and the control group (median = 39 vs median = 30, respectively, P‐value = .974). However, simple logistic regression found a cut‐off of 750 cells per 10 high‐power fields as an optimal number for improved sensitivity (72.7%), with fair discriminatory power.ConclusionsEnumeration of mesothelial cells may improve the sensitivity of the cytological diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion, serving as an internal quality control for the test's overall accuracy.
Functional near‐infrared spectroscopy in toddlers: Neural differentiation of communicative cues and relation to future language abilities
Authors: Smith Elizabeth G. , Condy Emma , Anderson Afrouz , Thurm Audrey , Manwaring Stacy S. , Swineford Lauren , Gandjbakhche Amir , Redcay Elizabeth 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe toddler and preschool years are a time of significant development in both expressive and receptive communication abilities. However, little is known about the neurobiological underpinnings of language development during this period, likely due to difficulties acquiring functional neuroimaging data. Functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a motion‐tolerant neuroimaging technique that assesses cortical brain activity and can be used in very young children. Here, we use fNIRS during perception of communicative and noncommunicative speech and gestures in typically developing 2‐ and 3‐year‐olds (Study 1, n = 15, n = 12 respectively) and in a sample of 2‐year‐olds with both fNIRS data collected at age 2 and language outcome data at age 3 (Study 2, n = 18). In Study 1, 2‐ and 3‐year‐olds differentiated between communicative and noncommunicative stimuli as well as between speech and gestures in the left lateral frontal region. However, 2‐year‐olds showed different patterns of activation from 3‐year‐olds in right medial frontal regions. In Study 2, which included two toddlers identified with early language delays along with 16 typically developing toddlers, neural differentiation of communicative stimuli in the right medial frontal region at age 2 predicted receptive language at age 3. Specifically, after accounting for variance related to verbal ability at age 2, increased neural activation for communicative gestures (vs. both communicative speech and noncommunicative gestures) at age 2 predicted higher receptive language scores at age 3. These results are discussed in the context of the underlying mechanisms of toddler language development and use of fNIRS in prediction of language outcomes.
Attraction of the potential biocontrol agent Altica cyanea by volatile compounds of three species of Ludwigia weeds from rice fields
Authors: Mitra Saubhik , Karmakar Amarnath , Das Swati , Barik Anandamay 
Published: February 2020

AbstractLudwigia adscendens (L.) Hara, Ludwigia parviflora Roxb., and Ludwigia octovalvis (Jacq.) Raven (Onagraceae) are abundant weeds in rice fields in India. These weeds compete with rice for resources in fields and this results in reduction of grain yield. Altica cyanea (Weber) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a biocontrol agent of the three rice‐field weeds. Hence, it is relevant to study host preference of A. cyanea using volatile cues of these three weeds. Therefore, we attempted to identify volatiles from leaves of the three Ludwigia species attracting A. cyanea, which could be used as an attractant during early emergence of the weeds in rice fields. In Y‐tube olfactometer assays, A. cyanea females were more attracted to natural volatiles of plants after 48 h of feeding by adults than to volatiles of undamaged plants. The volatile organic compounds from undamaged plants, and plants after 6 and 48 h of feeding by A. cyanea were identified and quantified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and GC‐flame ionization detection (FID), respectively. In total, 25, 29, and 29 volatile compounds were detected in headspaces of undamaged L. adscendens, L. parviflora, and L. octovalvis, respectively, whereas 32, 35, and 34 compounds, respectively, were detected after 48 h of feeding by A. cyanea. Methyl jasmonate predominated among the volatile compounds in all treatments, but this compound was not attractive to A. cyanea. Females were attracted by synthetic blends of 3‐hexanol, α‐pinene, linalool oxide, and phytol in amounts mimicking those in each of the three Ludwigia species after 48 h of feeding by A. cyanea. The blends mimicking L. adscendens and L. parviflora included geraniol, whereas the blend mimicking L. parviflora also included 1‐tridecanol. These synthetic blends may be helpful to monitor A. cyanea in biocontrol programmes.
Sensory discrimination between aversive salty and bitter tastes in an haematophagous insect
Authors: Masagué Santiago , Cano Agustina , Asparch Yamila , Barrozo Romina B. , Minoli Sebastian 
Published: February 2020

AbstractSensory aversion is essential for avoiding prospective dangers. We studied the chemical perception of aversive compounds of different gustatory modalities (salty, bitter) in the haematophagous bug, Rhodnius prolixus. Over a walking arena, insects avoided a substrate embedded with 1M NaCl or KCl if provided with water as an alternative. However, no preferences were expressed when both salts were opposed to each other. A pre‐exposure to amiloride interfered with the repellency of NaCl and KCl equally, suggesting that amiloride‐sensitive receptors are involved in the detection of both salts. Discriminative experiments were then performed to determine whether R. prolixus can distinguish between these salts. An aversive operant conditioning involving either NaCl or KCl modulated the repellency of the conditioned salt, but also of the novel salt. Repellency levels of both salts were rigid to a chemical pre‐exposure to any of both salts. When gustatory modalities were crossed by presenting as a choice NaCl and a bitter molecule as caffeine (Caf), no innate preferences were expressed. Aversive operant conditionings with either NaCl or Caf rendered unspecific changes in the repellency of both compounds. A chemical pre‐exposure to Caf modulated the response to Caf but not to NaCl, suggesting the existence of two independent neural pathways for the detection of salts and bitter compounds. Overall results suggest that R. prolixus cannot discriminate molecules of the same gustatory modality (i.e. salty), but can distinguish between salty and bitter tastes. The potential use of aversive gustatory stimuli as a complement of commercially available olfactory repellents is discussed.
Sex frailty differences in ageing mice: Neuropathologies and therapeutic projections
Authors: Herrera Macarena Lorena , Basmadjian Osvaldo Martin , Falomir‐Lockhart Eugenia , Dolcetti Franco Juan‐Cruz , Hereñú Claudia Beatriz , Bellini María José 
Published: February 2020

AbstractIt is well‐established that females live longer than males. Paradoxically, women tend to have poorer health, a condition often named sex frailty. The aim of this study was to evaluate possible frailty predictors in older mice in a sex‐specific manner, in order to employ these predictors to follow‐up therapy efficiency. To further evaluate therapy effects, we also investigated the use of neurotrophic insulin‐like growth factor 1 (IGF‐1) gene therapy and its correlation with the expression of this frailty and emotional behaviour. In order to evaluate frailty, we employed two different approaches. We performed a frailty assessment through a 31‐Item Clinical Frailty Index and through a Performance‐Based 8‐Item Frailty Index. Our results show that both indexes are in concordance to evaluate sex differences, but they do not correlate when evaluating IGF‐1 therapy effects. Moreover, in order to reduce test‐to‐test variability for measures of dependent variables, we compared open field results across studies assessing sex and treatment by means of the z‐score normalization. The data show that regular open field parameters submitted to z‐score normalization analysis could be a useful tool to identify sex differences in ageing mice after growth factor therapies. Taking this into account, sex is a factor that influences the incidence and/or nature of all major complex diseases; the main outcome of our investigation is the development of an efficient tool that compares the use of different frailty index calculations. This represents an important strategy in order to identify sex differences and therapy efficiency in ageing models.
Proinflammatory and regulatory mechanisms in allergic contact dermatitis caused by methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone
Authors: Goes Heliana Freitas de Oliveira , Virgens Anangelica Rodrigues , de Carvalho Gabriel Costa , Pietrobon Anna Julia , Branco Anna Cláudia Calvielli Castelo , Oliveira Luanda Mara da Silva , Fernandes Iara G. , Pereira Naiura Vieira , Sotto Mírian Nacagami , dos Reis Vitor Manoel Silva , Sato Maria Notomi 
Published: February 2020

AbstractBackgroundMethylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI) and methylisothiazolinone (MI) are the cause of an increasing number of contact allergies. Understanding the mechanisms by which MCI/MI induces proinflammatory and regulatory factors production is necessary to understand the outcome of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD).ObjectivesTo evaluate the dysfunction of proinflammatory cytokines and regulatory factors in the positive MCI/MI patch test at the transcriptional and protein expression levels. Moreover, to analyse the cytokines production induced by MI in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).Materials and MethodsThe selected patients had positive MCI/MI patch test results. The expression of proinflammatory factors was evaluated by q‐PCR and immunochemistry at 48 hours of positive MCI/MI patch test. The MCI/MI‐ or MI‐ induced secretion of IL‐1β, TNF and IL‐6 by PBMC was analysed by flow cytometry.ResultsThe results showed a decreased TLR4 expression with upregulated IL6, FOXP3, IL10 and TGFβ mRNA expression as assessed by q‐PCR at the site of the MCI/MI skin reaction. We detected increased protein levels of TLR4, FOXP3 and IL‐10 in the dermis layer in the ACD reaction by immunocitochemistry. Moreover, MCI/MI induced proinflammatory cytokine production by PBMC through the NF‐κB signalling pathway.ConclusionConsidering the altered innate immune response triggered by MCI/MI sensitization, these findings indicate that the regulatory process at the induction phase of ACD is a crucial mechanism. Given the increase in occupational and domestic exposure to MCI/MI, the underlying immunological mechanisms should be understood.
An intelligent hybrid approach for task scheduling in cluster computing environments as an infrastructure for biomedical applications
Authors: Boveiri Hamid Reza , Javidan Reza , Khayami Raouf 
Published: February 2020

AbstractNowadays, increase in time complexity of applications and decrease in hardware costs are two major contributing drivers for the utilization of high‐performance architectures such as cluster computing systems. Actually, cluster computing environments, in the contemporary sophisticated data centres, provide the main infrastructure to process various data, where the biomedical one is not an exception. Indeed, optimized task scheduling is key to achieve high performance in such computing environments. The most distractive assumption about the problem of task scheduling, made by the state‐of‐the‐art approaches, is to assume the problem as a whole and try to enhance the overall performance, while the problem is actually consisted of two disparate‐in‐nature subproblems, that is, sequencing subproblem and assigning one, each of which needs some special considerations. In this paper, an efficient hybrid approach named ACO‐CLA is proposed to solve task scheduling problem in the mesh‐topology cluster computing environments. In the proposed approach, an enhanced ant colony optimization (ACO) is developed to solve the sequence subproblem, whereas a cellular learning automata (CLA) machine tackles the assigning subproblem. The utilization of background knowledge about the problem (i.e., tasks' priorities) has made the proposed approach very robust and efficient. A randomly generated data set consisting of 125 different random task graphs with various shape parameters, like the ones frequently encountered in the biomedicine, has been utilized for the evaluation of the proposed approach. The conducted comparison study clearly shows the efficiency and superiority of the proposed approach versus traditional counterparts in terms of the performance. From our first metric, that is, the NSL (normalized schedule length) point of view, the proposed ACO‐CLA is 2.48% and 5.55% better than the ETF (earliest time first), which is the second‐best approach, and the average performance of all other competing methods. On the other hand, from our second metric, that is, the speedup perspective, the proposed ACO‐CLA is 2.66% and 5.15% better than the ETF (the second‐best approach) and the average performance of all the other competitors.
Multiple nuclear localization sequences in SRSF4 protein
Authors: Masaki So , Kabuto Takafumi , Suzuki Kenji , Kataoka Naoyuki 
Published: February 2020

AbstractSRSF4 is one of the members of serine‐/arginine (SR)‐rich protein family involved in both constitutive and alternative splicing. SRSF4 is localized in the nucleus with speckled pattern, but its nuclear localization signal was not determined. Here, we have identified nuclear localization signals (NLSs) of SRSF4 by using a pyruvate kinase fusion system. As expected, arginine‐/serine (RS)‐rich domain of SRSF4 confers nuclear localization activity when it is fused to PK protein. We then further delineated the minimum sequences for nuclear localization in RS domain of SRSF4. Surprisingly, RS‐rich region does not always have a nuclear localization activity. In addition, basic amino acid stretches that resemble to classical‐type NLSs were identified. These results strongly suggest that SRSF4 protein uses two different nuclear import pathways with multiple NLSs in RS domain.