bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reliability of optic disc edema area in estimating the severity of papilledema in patients with POEMS syndrome
Authors: Liu Ling-shan , Zhang Xiao , Zhao Hao , Gao Xue-min , Zhou Dao-bin , Dai Rong-ping , Li Jian 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Background
Polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome involving multisystem. Optic disc edema (ODE) is the most common ocular manifestation in patients with POEMS syndrome and serves as an independent prognostic factor. However, parameters previously used to estimate its severity were inconvenient and costly. This study was designed to bring forward a novel and practical parameter, optic disc edema area, to evaluate ODE in patients with this disease and applied it to assess effectiveness of lenalidomide combined with dexamethasone in respect of ODE.

Results
Forty-one treatment-naive patients with POEMS syndrome were enrolled in this single-center prospective study and treated with lenalidomide combined with dexamethasone. They received ocular examination to determine optic disc edema (ODE) area and other optic manifestations. Meanwhile, serum VEGF was measured before and after treatment. Among 41 enrolled patients, 38 received complete ocular examinations, and 25 of which had ODE at initial visit. Binocular mean ODE area of patients with ODE was significantly related to ODE grade (r = 0.620, p = 0.003) and peripapillary retinal thickness (r = 0.760, p < 0.001) before treatment. Serum VEGF was significantly higher in patients with ODE than their counterparts (p = 0.025) and positively correlated with binocular mean ODE area (r = 0.460, p = 0.036). After treatment, ODE area, along with serum VEGF, decreased markedly (p < 0.001).

Conclusion
ODE area was a reliable index to evaluate ODE severity and could precisely reflect ODE improvement through systemic treatment. Additionally, it was related to serum VEGF, a key factor in disease pathogenesis, suggesting its potential as an indicator of the overall severity of this disease.

Trial registration
Clinicaltrials, NCT01816620. Registered March 222,013.
Gastrointestinal manifestations in Satoyoshi syndrome: a systematic review
Authors: Solís-García del Pozo Julián , de Cabo Carlos , Solera Javier 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Background
Satoyoshi syndrome (SS) [OMIM 600705; ORFHA 3130] is a multisystemic disease with a probable autoimmune basis, whose main symptoms are muscle spasms, alopecia, diarrhea and skeletal alterations. Chronic diarrhea may be severe and result in malnutrition, anemia, growth retardation, cachexia, disability and even death. However, to date, no review of the digestive symptoms has been carried out.

Methods
A search was performed in MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science databases. Cases of SS, without language or date restrictions, were recorded. Sixty-seven cases of SS were found up until December 2019. Thirty-nine cases described gastrointestinal manifestations.

Results
Chronic diarrhea was the main digestive symptom (92.3%). Other symptoms such as abdominal pain (15.4%), nausea (7.7%) and vomiting (7.7%), were less frequent. The D-xylose test was positive in 10 out of 12 patients, and 9 out of 13 cases showed a flattened oral glucose tolerance test suggesting carbohydrate malabsorption. Antinuclear antibodies were detected in 8 out of 16 cases. Antibodies to stomach or duodenum tissue lysates were also detected by Western blot. Histological data revealed predominantly lymphoplasmacytic inflammatory infiltrate that can affect any section of the digestive tract. In 6 out of 10 patients, diarrhea improved with a treatment regimen that included corticosteroids. Other treatments, such as methotrexate, carbohydrate restricted diets or otilonium bromide, improved digestive symptoms in isolated patients. Improvement of symptoms up to three years of follow-up has been described. None of the three patients who died had received corticosteroids or immunosuppressants.

Conclusion
Chronic diarrhea with malabsorption is one of the most disabling symptoms in SS. The early recognition of this disease is essential for immunosuppressive treatment and a better outcome.
Ideas for how informaticians can get involved with COVID-19 research
Authors: Moore Jason H. , Barnett Ian , Boland Mary Regina , Chen Yong , Demiris George , Gonzalez-Hernandez Graciela , Herman Daniel S. , Himes Blanca E. , Hubbard Rebecca A. , Kim Dokyoon , Morris Jeffrey S. , Mowery Danielle L. , Ritchie Marylyn D. , Shen Li , Urbanowicz Ryan , Holmes John H. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on population health and wellbeing. Biomedical informatics is central to COVID-19 research efforts and for the delivery of healthcare for COVID-19 patients. Critical to this effort is the participation of informaticians who typically work on other basic science or clinical problems. The goal of this editorial is to highlight some examples of COVID-19 research areas that could benefit from informatics expertise. Each research idea summarizes the COVID-19 application area, followed by an informatics methodology, approach, or technology that could make a contribution. It is our hope that this piece will motivate and make it easy for some informaticians to adopt COVID-19 research projects.
Supervised exercise protocol for lower limbs in subjects with chronic venous disease: an evaluator-blinded, randomized clinical trial
Authors: Volpe Esther Fernandes Tinoco , Resqueti Vanessa R. , da Silva Ana Aline Marcelino , Gualdi Lucien Peroni , Fregonezi Guilherme A. F. 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Background
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) causes pathophysiological changes in the lower-limb muscles, particularly the calf muscles, and limits ankle range of motion (ROM). These changes reduce functional activities and decrease quality of life (QOL). Although several studies have shown the benefits of exercise (strengthening the calf muscles to improve calf-muscle pumping and QOL) in patients with CVI, few studies are randomized controlled trials. This has led to a weak indication of exercise for the treatment of patients with CVI. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of a supervised exercise program to improve calf-muscle endurance as well as QOL in patients with CVI.

Methods/design
This is an evaluator-blind, randomized clinical trial with an 8-week duration and a follow-up evaluation at week 16. A pilot study with subjects with a CVI diagnosis will be performed to calculate sample size. The participants will be randomly allocated (1:1) into a treatment or a control group (usual care/no intervention). The treatment intervention consists of a bi-weekly supervised exercise program of the lower limbs that will include aerobic training, strengthening and cardiovascular exercises. The participants from both groups will participate in a health education lecture. Primary outcomes are changes in calf-muscle endurance and QOL score. Secondary outcomes are changes in exercise capacity, ankle ROM, electrical muscle activity and cardiac output. The first statistical comparison will be performed after 8 weeks’ intervention.

Discussion
Patients with CVI may have an impaired calf-muscle pump and decreased exercise capacity. A randomized controlled trial evaluating a supervised exercise program should provide much needed information on the management of CVI to promote health and independence.

Trial registration
This study was registered on the Brazilian Clinical Trials Database (REBEC) (RBR-57xtk7). The results will be disseminated at scientific events, presentations, and publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Spectrum of imaging findings in AIDS-related diffuse large B cell lymphoma
Authors: Nganga Edward Chege , Gitau Samuel 
Published: May 2020

AbstractLymphoma in HIV-infected patients is AIDS defining. This is the second most common AIDS defining malignancy after Kaposi’s sarcoma. Development of lymphoma in HIV patients is related to immunosuppression and high viral load. Co-infection with other lymphotrophic viruses especially EBV is also strongly associated with development of lymphoma in HIV patients. Despite advances in HAART therapy, incidence of diffuse large B cell lymphoma in HIV-infected patients remains significantly higher than in the general population.Early diagnosis is challenging due to presence of opportunistic infections and atypical presentation of the lymphoma in this subset of patients. Atypical imaging findings are not unusual, and the diagnosis of lymphoma on imaging is on many occasions unexpected as the patient would ideally be initially investigated for presumed opportunistic infection.Lymphoma treatment approaches in HIV patients are complicated by comorbidity with opportunistic infections and performance status of the patients. Treatment failure and early relapse are also common in AIDS-related lymphoma. This review article highlights the common and unusual multimodality imaging findings in HIV-associated lymphoma.
Role of MRI as first-line modality in the detection of previously undiagnosed otosclerosis: a single tertiary institute experience
Authors: Purohit Bela , Op de beeck Katya , Hermans Robert 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Background
Otosclerosis causes conductive, sensorineural and mixed hearing loss (CHL, SNHL, MHL) and tinnitus in young adults. It is best diagnosed on high-resolution CT (HRCT). Occasionally, patients presenting with SNHL and/or tinnitus may undergo temporal bone MRI as the first investigation. In this study, we have described the role of MRI as the first-line modality in the detection of previously undiagnosed otosclerosis.
Using search words ‘MRI otosclerosis’ we found 15 cases in the PACS of our institute, (University Hospitals, KU Leuven, Belgium) from 2003 to 2018. Of these, 2 were known cases of otosclerosis, hence excluded from the study. The remaining 13 patients underwent MRI as first-line investigation for unilateral SNHL (8/13), bilateral SNHL (3/13), unilateral MHL (1/13) and bilateral pulsatile tinnitus (1/13). All MRI studies were reported by the same senior radiologist.

Results
Of these 13 cases, 12 were reported as showing MRI features suspicious for otosclerosis. The typical positive findings in these cases were intermediate T1 signal and post-contrast enhancement in the perilabyrinthine/pericochlear regions. Out of 13 patients, 9 underwent subsequent HRCT, confirming otosclerosis in all. The single MRI which was reported as normal initially showed otosclerosis on HRCT. Retrospective evaluation of this MRI study showed subtle positive findings of otosclerosis.

Conclusion
The end point of this study was to validate the subtle findings of otosclerosis on MRI, by comparison to the gold-standard modality HRCT. Our hypothesis is that in the appropriate clinical setting, familiarity with MRI features of otosclerosis would increase the diagnostic ‘catch’ in the first ‘net’ itself i.e. first-line MRI.
Existence of solutions of infinite system of nonlinear sequential fractional differential equations
Authors: Ahmadi Zahra , Lashkaripour Rahmatollah , Baghani Hamid , Heidarkhani Shapour , Caristi Giuseppe 
Published: May 2020

AbstractIn a recent paper (Filomat 32:4577–4586, 2018) the authors have investigated the existence and uniqueness of a solution for a nonlinear sequential fractional differential equation. To present an analytical improvement for Fazli–Nieto’s results with some conditions removed based on a new technique is the main objective of this paper. In addition, we introduce an infinite system of nonlinear sequential fractional differential equations and discuss the existence of a solution for them in the classical Banach sequence spaces$c_{0}$c0and$\ell_{p}$ℓpby applying the Darbo fixed point theorem. Moreover, the proposed method is applied to several examples to show the clarity and effectiveness.
CNN based lane detection with instance segmentation in edge-cloud computing
Authors: Wang Wei , Lin Hui , Wang Junshu 
Published: May 2020

AbstractAt present, the number of vehicle owners is increasing, and the cars with autonomous driving functions have attracted more and more attention. The lane detection combined with cloud computing can effectively solve the drawbacks of traditional lane detection relying on feature extraction and high definition, but it also faces the problem of excessive calculation. At the same time, cloud data processing combined with edge computing can effectively reduce the computing load of the central nodes. The traditional lane detection method is improved, and the current popular convolutional neural network (CNN) is used to build a dual model based on instance segmentation. In the image acquisition and processing processes, the distributed computing architecture provided by edge-cloud computing is used to improve data processing efficiency. The lane fitting process generates a variable matrix to achieve effective detection in the scenario of slope change, which improves the real-time performance of lane detection. The method proposed in this paper has achieved good recognition results for lanes in different scenarios, and the lane recognition efficiency is much better than other lane recognition models.
Evaluation of PET quantitation accuracy among multiple discovery IQ PET/CT systems via NEMA image quality test
Authors: Vallot Delphine , De Ponti Elena , Morzenti Sabrina , Gramek Anna , Pieczonka Anna , Llompart Gabriel Reynés , Siennicki Jakub , Deak Paul , Dutta Chiranjib , Uribe Jorge , Caselles Olivier 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Introduction
Quantitative imaging biomarkers are becoming usual in oncology for assessing therapy response. The harmonization of image quantitation reporting has become of utmost importance due to the multi-center trials increase. The NEMA image quality test is often considered for the evaluation of quantitation and is more accurate with a radioactive solid phantom that reduces variability. The goal of this project is to determine the level of variability among imaging centers if acquisition and imaging protocol parameters are left to the center’s preference while all other parameters are fixed including the scanner type.

Methods
A NEMA-IQ phantom filled with radioactive 68Ge solid resin was imaged in five clinical sites throughout Europe. Sites reconstructed data with OSEM and BSREM algorithms applying the sites’ clinical parameters. Images were analyzed according with the NEMA-NU2-2012 standard using the manufacturer-provided NEMA tools to calculate contrast recovery (CR) and background variability (BV) for each sphere and the lung error (LE) estimation. In addition, a 18F-filled NEMA-IQ phantom was also evaluated to obtain a gauge for variability among centers when the sites were provided with identical specific instructions for acquisition and reconstruction protocol (the aggregate of data from 12 additional sites is presented).

Results
The data using the 68Ge solid phantom showed no statistical differences among different sites, proving a very good reproducibility among the PET center models even if dispersion of data is higher with OSEM compared to BSREM. Furthermore, BSREM shows better CR and comparable BV, while LE is slightly reduced. Two centers exhibit significant differences in CR and BV values for the 18F NEMA NU2-2012 experiments; these outlier results are explained.

Conclusion
The same PET system type from the various sites produced similar quantitative results, despite allowing each site to choose their clinical protocols with no restriction on data acquisition and reconstruction parameters. BSREM leads to lower dispersion of quantitative data among different sites. A solid radioactive phantom may be recommended to qualify the sites to perform quantitative imaging.
Species richness, forest types and regeneration of Schima in the subtropical forest ecosystem of Yunnan, southwestern China
Authors: Tang Cindy Q. , Han Peng-Bin , Li Shuaifeng , Shen Li-Qin , Huang Diao-Shun , Li Yun-Fang , Peng Ming-Chun , Wang Chong-Yun , Li Xiao-Shuang , Li Wei , Wang Wei , Zhang Zhi-Ying 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Background
Schima genus of Theaceae is confined to subtropics and tropics of South, East and Southeast Asia. Thirteen species of Schima are distributed in subtropical China. Many of them appear as dominant canopy species in the subtropical forests. To date, Schima species richness distribution patterns of China have remained unknown. Meanwhile, there has been a longtime debate as to whether forests dominated by Schima species are early or late successional forests. We aim to clarify Schima species richness patterns and these species’ roles in the forest succession and regeneration dynamics of the subtropical ecosystem in Yunnan Province, China.

Method
We mapped Schima species richness distribution patterns in China. Based on 71 vegetation plots, we analyzed forest characteristics, population structure, and regeneration dynamics of Schima species in Yunnan.

Results
Yunnan was found to harbor the greatest richness and the highest rarity-weighted richness of Schima species in the subtropical regions of China. We classified five primary and six secondary forest types containing Schima species as one of dominants. Yunnan had the high floristic diversity and varying stand structure of forests containing Schima species. The Schima species studied generally had a sporadic regeneration type and a long life-span. Four species (Schima argentea, Schima villosa, Schima sinensis, Schima sericans) were shade-intolerant. But three species (Schima noronhae, Schima khasiana and Schima wallichii) were considered as bi-modal type species having shade-intolerant and shade-tolerant traits. Schima noronhae was seen to be a top dominant in late successional forests, while S. wallichii was found as a top-dominant in early or middle or late successional forests. S. khasiana, Schima villosa, Schima sinensis usually appeared as a top dominant in early or middle successional secondary forests, though they also presented as a second dominant in late-successional forests. Schima argentea and Schima sericans dominated only in the early or middle/seral successional forests. Schima species’ regeneration establishment depended mainly on forest canopy gap formation through moderate human and natural disturbances.

Conclusions
Yunnan has high species richness and rarity-weighted richness of Schima. Both moderate human and natural disturbances have provided regeneration niches for Schima species. Some of the Schima species studied as a second dominant (rare as the top-dominant) present in the late-successional forests. Some of them are more often as the top-dominant in early or middle successional forests, where as time goes by the dominance of Schima species would be replaced by their associated dominant taxa such as Castanopsis species.
A patient with post-Fontan operation underwent left hepatectomy and caudate lobectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report
Authors: Nemoto Satoshi , Ariizumi Shun-ichi , Kotera Yoshihito , Omori Akiko , Yamashita Shingo , Kato Taka-aki , Egawa Hiroto , Yamamoto Masakazu 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Background
The Fontan procedure has been widely accepted for children with single ventricle physiology and guarantees survival rates of approximately 80% at age 20 years. However, there have been cases of Fontan-associated liver disease (FALD) caused due to congestion, along with recent reports of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in younger patients with FALD. The literature consists of only five previous case reports of patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC due to poorer cardiac function and liver cirrhosis caused due to congestion.

Case presentation
The patient was a 37-year-old woman who presented with epigastralgia. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a liver tumor, 8 cm in diameter, in the caudate lobe. Liver damage was A, with an indocyanine green retention rate of 6% at 15 min. The levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and protein induced by vitamin K antagonists-II (PIVKA-II) were elevated to 81,663 ng/ml (normal < 10 ng/ml) and 238 mAU/ml (normal < 40 mAU/ml), respectively. Left ventricular ejection fraction was 56%, and central venous pressure (CVP) was 12 mmHg. Left hepatectomy and caudate lobe resection were successfully performed in the reverse Trendelenburg position which reduced the CVP. The total operation duration was 450 min, with a total blood loss of 3200 ml. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful, and she is still alive 16 months after surgery.

Conclusions
First left hepatectomy with caudate lobectomy during reverse Trendelenburg position which reduced the CVP was performed in a patient with HCC and FALD.
The HOME FAST BRAZIL self-report version: translation and transcultural adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese
Authors: Melo Filho Jarbas , Bazanella Natacha Verônica , Vojciechowski Audrin Said , Costa Elisiê Rossi Ribeiro , Mackenzie Lynette , Gomes Anna Raquel Silveira 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Objective
To translate and cross-culturally adapt the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool Self-report into Brazilian Portuguese and to correlate with the history of falls.

Methods
The translation and transcultural adaptation process followed international parameters. The Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool Brazil Self-report, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the history of falls were applied to 10 elderly in the pre-test and to 41 in the final. Demographic and anthropometric data were also evaluated. Spearman correlation coefficient was performed.

Results
The participants considered the questionnaire easy to understand and did not report any doubts to answer the final version. There was significant correlation between: Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool Brazil Self-report score and number of falls (ρ = 0.31, p = 0.02) and the lighting and bathroom domains with presence of falls at home (ρ = 0.44, p = 0.00 and ρ = 0.33, p = 0.02, respectively). The questionnaire indicated fall’s risk scoring, 10(±2).

Conclusion
The Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool Brazil Self-report showed to be comprehensible and feasible tool for self-assessment of domiciliary falls risk in Brazilian older people. The scores indicated fall’s risk and were associated with the history of falls.