bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Structural validity of the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire and its short version, the 6-Item CTS Symptoms Scale: A Rasch analysis one year after surgery
Authors: Multanen Juhani , Ylinen Jari , Karjalainen Teemu , Ikonen Joona , Häkkinen Arja , Repo Jussi P. 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background: The Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) and its shorter version, the Six-Item Carpal Tunnel Symptoms Scale (CTS-6), are widely used for assessing function and/or symptoms in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. This study examined the structural validity of the BCTQ and CTS-6 among patients who had undergone surgery for treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. Methods: The data for this cross-sectional analysis were obtained from 217 adult patients who had undergone carpal tunnel release surgery one year earlier. All patients completed the CTS-6, Symptom Severity Scale (SSS) and Functional Status Scale (FSS) of the BCTQ at 12 months after surgery. The Rasch Measurement Theory (RMT) was applied to investigate the unidimensionality, residual correlation, differential item functioning, scale coverage/targeting, and person separation of the CTS-6, SSS and FSS of the BCTQ.Results: The FSS showed unidimensionality and good scale and item fit. All items showed ordered response category thresholds. Eight of the FSS items displayed differential item functioning favoring age or gender. The multidimensional structure of the CTS-6 was absorbed by creating a testlet for frequency of symptoms or testlets for pain and numbness. The testlets supported unidimensionality in the BCTQ SSS. One item in the CTS-6 and two items in the BCTQ SSS showed differential item functioning favoring age or gender. Four items in the BCTQ SSS and two items in the CTS-6 exhibited disordered response category thresholds. Merging of the relevant response categories led to ordered response category thresholds. The person separation indices were 0.73, 0.86 and 0.77 for the CTS-6, BCTQ SSS and FSS, respectively.Conclusions: Based on the RMT analysis, the CTS-6 has superior psychometric properties compared to the BCTQ SSS in surgically treated patients. The CTS-6 might be more accurate when separated into item sets measuring pain or numbness. The FSS of the BCTQ has acceptable construct validity, although gender differences at some ages were observed in responses.
Factors associated with conducting planning for secondary oral health care services in Brazil
Authors: de Lucena Edson Hilan Gomes , Silva Rênnis Oliveira da , de Lucena Carolina Dantas Rocha Xavier , Mepatia Amalia Issufo , Cavalcanti Yuri Wanderley , de Goes Paulo Savio Angeiras , de Sousa Maria Fátima 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background: Planning in health services specifically aims to improve the health status of a given population, guaranteeing access with equity and justice, as well as streamlining the response of the health system to the needs perceived by the community. This research aims to identify the factors associated with planning Specialized Dental Clinics (SDCs). Methods: Secondary data were used from the external evaluation of the database of the first National Program for Access and Quality Improvement of SDCs (NPAQI–SDCs) and the informed Outpatient Information System of the Unified Health System (OIS/UHS), which contains data on the specialized dental procedures performed at SDCs. It consisted of a quantitative study in which Pearson chi-square statistical tests (p ˂ 0.05) and a multivariate logistic regression were applied with odds ratio (OR) estimate. Results: The results indicated that the realization of planning in SDCs was associated with lower coverage of the Oral Health Team of the Familiy Health Strategy in a municipality (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0-1.9, p = 0.049), additional training for managers (p = 0.038), the practice of self-assessment (OR = 8.2; 95% CI: 5.8-11.6; p = 0.000) and meeting service production targets (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.2-3.2; p = 0.011). Conclusion: The results indicate that the work processes of the SDCs, especially with regard to service management, are essential to the proper functioning of the service and the practice of planning is linked to the technical capacity and commitment of service managers.
LINC00649 underexpression is an adverse prognostic marker in acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Guo Chao , Gao Ya-yue , Ju Qian-qian , Zhang Chun-xia , Gong Ming , Li Zhen-ling 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) play a role in leukemogenesis, maintenance, development, and therapeutic resistance of AML. While few studies have focused on the prognostic significance of LINC00649 in AML, which we aim to investigate in this present study.
Methods We compared the expression level of LINC00649 between AML patients and healthy controls. The Kaplan-Meier curves of AML patients expressing high versus low level of LINC00649 was performed. The LINC00649 correlated genes/miRNAs/lncRNAs and methylation CpG sites were screened by Pearson correlation analysis with R (version 3.6.0), using TCGA-LAML database. The LINC00649 associated ceRNA network was established using lncBase 2.0 and miRWalk 2.0 online tools, combining results from correlation analysis. Finally, a prediction model was constructed using LASSO-Cox regression.
Results LINC00649 was underexpressed in bone marrow of AML group than that in healthy control group. The patients of LINC00649-low group have significantly inferior PFS and OS. A total of 154 mRNAs, 31 miRNAs, 28 lncRNAs and 1590 methylated CpG sites were identified to be significantly correlated with LINC00649. Furthermore, the network of ceRNA was established with 6 miRNAs and 122 mRNAs. The Lasso-Cox model fitted OS/PFS to novel prediction models, which integrated clinical factors, ELN risk stratification, mRNA/miRNA expression and methylation profiles. The analysis of time-dependent ROC for our model showed a superior AUC (AUC = 0.916 at 1 year, AUC = 0.916 at 3 years, and AUC = 0.891 at 5 years).
Conclusions Low expression of LINC00649 is a potential unfavorable prognostic marker for AML patients, which requires the further validation. The analysis by LASSO-COX regression identified a novel comprehensive model with a superior diagnostic utility, which integrated clinical and genetic variables.
Effect of Bacillus velezensis to substitute in-feed antibiotics on the production, blood biochemistry and egg quality indices of laying hens
Authors: Ye Miao , Wei Chunjie , Khalid Anam , Hu Qian , Yang Ru , Dai Binghong , Cheng Hengwei , Wang Zaigui 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background The excessive use of antibiotics in the livestock feed industry caused inevitable side effects of microbial resistance. Besides this residual antibiotics in animal-derived foodstuff imposed serious health problems for humans. So this study aimed to investigate the potential use of Bacillus velezensis to substitute antibiotics for poultry production. A total of 468, 49-week-old Hy-Line Brown chickens, were randomly divided into four groups; the control group (regular diet), experiment group I (0.1% B. veleznesis), experiment group II (0.2% B. veleznesis), and antibiotic group (50 mg/kg flavomycin), with three replicates per group and trial period consisted on 42 days. Results The results showed that, compared with the control group, the average egg production rate and daily feed intake of experimental groups I and II increased significantly (P < 0.05), while the average egg weight was increased in experimental group II as compared to I. (P < 0.01). The feed conversion ratio was decreased (P > 0.05) in group II. Egg quality parameters such as yolk weight of the experimental group II was increased, but that of the antibiotic group and experiment group I was decreased, neither significant (P > 0.05). Moreover, the eggshell strength, yolk color, albumen height, and Haugh unit were significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, probiotic groups can increase the progesterone and motilin (P > 0.05) but decrease the secretin and cholecystokinin in the blood plasma (P > 0.05). Conclusions This study suggested that B. velezensis can substitute in-feed-antibiotics and improved most of the study parameters significantly. Which suggested that B. velezensis has potential future application value to replace the feed antibiotics.
Atherogenic index of plasma is associated with the severity of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: a case-control study
Authors: Hernández José Luis , Baldeón Cristina , López-Sundh Ana Elísabet , Ocejo-Vinyals J Gonzalo , Blanco Ricardo , González-López Marcos Antonio 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background. Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with several comorbidities and vascular risk factors, such as dyslipidemia. The present study aimed to assess the possible associations between the lipid profile and atherogenic indexes and the severity of HS. Methods . This case-control study enrolled 78 HS patients and 62 healthy controls. Classic lipid profile and lipoprotein ratios, including the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), were evaluated. The severity of HS was measured by the HS Physician Global Assessment (PGA). Results . HS-patients had lower serum total cholesterol and HDL-C levels and higher AIP than the control group. AIP was positively correlated to BMI, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, LDL-C, triglycerides, non-HDL-C, ApoB, HOMA, and hs-CRP and negatively to HDL-C and ApoA1. For the overall lipid profile, only AIP was related to a more severe HS (PGA≥3) after controlling for age, sex, BMI, insulin resistance (IR), active smoking, and statin use (r=0.268; p=0.023). Multiple logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, BMI, IR, smoking status and statin use, showed that AIP≥0.11 was significantly associated with the severity of HS (OR, 4.38; CI 95%, 1.09-17.50; p=0.037). Conclusions . In conclusion, these results showed that AIP is significantly and independently associated with HS severity.
Design, Synthesis, in Vitro Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory and Antidiabetic Evaluation of New N-Substitutedbenzylidene-5-(4-Formylphenyl)-(3-Hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-Dihydropyrazole-1-Carbothioamide Derivatives
Authors: Singh Sucheta Singh , Tehlan sumit Tehlan , verma prabhakar kumar 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
A series of N-substitutedbenzylidene-5-(4-formylphenyl)-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydropyrazole-1-carbothioamide derivatives was designed, synthesized and examined for their therapeutical potential against prooxidant (oxidative stress), inflammation and diabetes. Biological results showed antioxidant activity with IC50 value 37.68 mol/L, anti-inflammatory activity with IC50 value 26.40 mol/L and antidiabetic activity with IC50 value 17.12 mol/L. The results of antioxidant activity showed that compounds Y9 and Y17 exhibited excellent antioxidant activity with IC50 values 17.43 mol/L and 18.98 mol/L, results of anti-inflammatory activity showed that compounds Y2, Y3 and Y7 exhibited excellent anti-inflammatory activity with IC50 values 23.23 mol/L, 22.09 mol/L and 19.05 mol/L respectively and results of antidiabetic activity showed that compounds Y1, Y5and Y6 exhibited excellent antidiabetic activity with IC50 values 17.08 mol/L, 8.36 mol/L and 13.50 mol/L. When compared with ascorbic acid, aspirin and acarbose as standard drug respectively. Heterocyclic compounds have diversity in their structure which makes them broad and economical therapeutic agents. Pyrazole is a five membered ring containing three carbon and two neighboring nitrogen atoms. Pyrazole and its derivatives have various biological as well as clinical potential thus considered for further research. Due to wide range of therapeutical activities pyrazole makes interest among researcher to explore it further for more activities. Pyrazole is present in various biological moieties eg. antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral, anticonvulsant, anticancer, anti-HIVand anti-tuberculosis agents.
WITHDRAWN: Landslides Articulation in Wadi Hof Area Southeast of Cairo, Egypt,&nbsp;Based on Geological and Geophysical Investigations
Authors: El-Gawad Ahmed M Abd 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Detailed field geological, geoelectrical, hydrochemical, and microbiological studies were executed in Wadi Hof area, southeastern Cairo, Egypt to delineate the causes of landslides along the train pathway between the eastern Wadi Hof camp and the western clay quarry. The area under consideration is of low relief and gentle slope from east to west, the rock sloping is unstable and represent potential areas of rock failure in several locations. The Eocene limestone rocks constitute the most common outcrops. Structurally, the investigated area was affected by faulting. Geophysically, vertical electrical soundings in addition to horizontal profiling techniques were surveyed to know the shallow subsurface implications. Moreover, Hydrochemical and microbiological investigations in the form of water samples analysis east and west to the train pathway. The integrated interpretations exhibited that, the study area consists of three main units; surface marl; calcareous sand, and finally clay to sandy clay units. The water originates from the Eocene limestone aquifer east of the train route directed to the clay quarry west of the train path. Added, the landslides are resulted due to the clay swelling followed by railway destruction in a short time due to the large clay thicknesses.
NOX5 is Expressed Aberrantly but Not a Critical Pathogenetic Gene in Hirschsprung Disease
Authors: Wang Jing , Xiao Jun , Meng Xinyao , Chu Xufeng , Zhuansun DiDi , Xiong Bo , Feng Jiexiong 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background:Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a congenital disorder characterized by the absence of intramural ganglion cells in the distal gastrointestinal tract (GI), which results in tonic contraction of the aganglionic gut segment and functional intestinal obstruction. Recent studies have suggested NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5) as a candidate risk gene for HSCR. In this study, we examined the function of NOX5 to verify its role in the development of enteric nervous system (ENS).Methods: HSCR tissue specimens (n = 10) were collected at the time of pull-through surgery and control specimens (n = 10) were obtained at the time of colostomy closure in patients. The NOX5 expression in aganglionic and ganglionic segments of HSCR colon and normal colon were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blot and RT-qPCR. The gene expression levels and spatiotemporal expression spectrum of NOX5 in different development stages of zebrafish embryo were investigated using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and in-situ hybridization (ISH). The enteric nervous system in NOX5 Morpholino (MO) knockdown and wild type (WT) zebrafish embryo was analyzed by whole-mount immunofluorescence (IF). Intestinal transit assay was performed to analyze the gastrointestinal motility in NOX5 knockdown and control larvae.ResultsNOX5 is strongly expressed in the ganglion cells in the proximal segment of HSCR colons and all segments of normal colons. Moreover, the expression of NOX5 is markedly decreased in the aganglionic segment of HSCR colon compared to the ganglionic segment. In zebrafish, NOX5 mRNA level is the highest in one cell stage embryos and it is decreased by the development of the embryos. Interestingly, the expression of NOX5 appears to be enriched in the nervous system. However, the number of neurons in the GI tract and the GI motility were not affected upon NOX5 knockdown.ConclusionsNOX5 may play a role in the early development of zebrafish embryo, but not required for the ENS development and loss of NOX5 didn’t affect the GI motility in zebrafish. Nevertheless, we demonstrated that NOX5 specifically expressed in the ganglionic cell in colon tissue and markedly decreased in the aganglionic segment.
Retrospective accuracy analysis of MRI based lesion size measurement in neuroblastic tumors: which sequence should we choose?
Authors: Gassenmaier Sebastian , Tsiflikas Ilias , Maennlin Simon , Urla Cristian , Warmann Steven W. , Schaefer Juergen F. 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background: MR imaging of neuroblastic tumors is widely used for assessing the effect of chemotherapy on tumor size. However, there are some concerns that MRI might falsely estimate lesion diameters due to calcification and fibrosis. Therefore, the aim of our study was to compare neuroblastic tumor size based on MRI measurements to histopathology measurements of the resected specimens as standard of reference.Methods: Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of a neuroblastic tumor, MR imaging within 100 days to surgery and gross total resection without fragmentation of the tumor between 2008-2019. Lesion diameters were measured by two radiologists according to RECIST 1.1 in axial plane in T2w turbo spin echo (TSE), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and in T1w pre- and postcontrast sequences. Furthermore, the largest lesion size in three-dimensions was noted. The largest diameter of histopathology measurements of each specimen was used for comparison with MRI.Results: Thirty-seven patients (mean age: 5±4 years) with 38 lesions (neuroblastoma: n=17; ganglioneuroblastoma: n=11; ganglioneuroma: n=10) were included in this retrospective study. There was excellent intra-class correlation coefficient between both readers for all sequences (>0.9) Tumor dimensions of reader 1 based on axial MRI measurements were significantly smaller with the following median differences (cm): T1w precontrast -1.4 (interquartile range (IQR): 1.8 ), T1w postcontrast -1.0 (IQR: 1.9), T2w TSE: -1.0 (IQR: 1.6), and DWI -1.3 (IQR: 2.2) (p<0.001 for all sequences). However, the evaluation revealed no significant differences between the three-dimensional measurements and histopathology measurements of the resected specimens regardless of the applied MRI sequence.Conclusions: Axial MRI based lesion size measurements are significantly smaller than histopathological measurements. However, there was no significant difference between three-dimensional measurements and histopathology measurements of the resected specimens. T2w TSE and T1w postcontrast images provided the lowest deviation and might consequently be preferred for measurements.
LncRNA HOTAIR Increases Inflammatory Responses by Activating NF-κB Pathway in LPS-Induced Acute Lung Injury
Authors: Huang XiaoMei , Mo ZeXun , Li YuJun , He Hua , Wang KangWei , Xu NingNing , Guo WeiHong , Tang WanNa , Wei Shuquan 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background Nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) activation increased the expression of cytokines and further lead to lung injury was considered the main mechanism of acute lung injury (ALI). Here, we focus on exploring the potential regulatory mechanism between long noncoding RNA (LncRNA) HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) and NF-κB on LPS-induced ALI. Methods A549 cells were then divided into 4 groups: HOTAIR group, NC group, si-HOTAIR group and si-NC group. These 4 groups were then treated with 1μg/mL lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or without LPS at 37°C for 24 h. The expression level of cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6) and LncRNA HOTAIR were evaluated by quantitative Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Western Blot analysis was adopted for evaluating the level of p-IκBα/IκBα and p-p65/p65. Nuclear translocation of p65 was observed by immunofluorescence staining. Results qRT-PCR and ELISA assay showed that the expression of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) and inflammatory gene HOTAIR was remarkably increased with LPS treatment (p < 0.01). Over-expression of HOTAIR significantly increased the expression of cytokines (including IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) and NF-κB pathway associated proteins (including p-IκBα/IκBα and p-p65/p65), while knockdown of HOTAIR had the opposite effect (p < 0.01). The immunofluorescence assay showed that the level of p65 in the nucleus was significantly higher in the HOTAIR group and significantly lowers in the si-HOTAIR group (p < 0.01). Conclusion HOTAIR may play a pro-inflammatory response through NF-κB pathway in LPS-induced ALI, which may provide a perspective for further understanding the pathogenic mechanism of ALI.
Dictionary-based Classification of Tweets About Environment
Authors: Cameletti Michela , Fabris Silvia , Schlosser Stephan , Toninelli Daniele 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
In the era of social media, the huge availability of digital data (e.g. posts sent through social networks or unstructured data scraped from websites) allows to develop new types of research in a wide range of fields. These types of data are characterized by some advantages such as reduced collection costs, short retrieval times and production of almost real-time outputs. Nevertheless, their collection and analysis can be challenging. For example, particular approaches are required for the selection of posts related to specific topics; moreover, retrieving the information we are interested in inside Twitter posts can be a difficult task.The main aim of this paper is to propose an unsupervised dictionary-based method to filter tweets related to a specific topic, i.e. environment. We start from the tweets sent by a selection of Official Social Accounts clearly linked with the subject of interest. Then, a list of keywords is identified in order to set a topic-oriented dictionary. We test the performance of our method by applying the dictionary to more than 54 million geolocated tweets posted in Great Britain between January and May 2019.
Magnitude of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and associated factors among adult diabetic patients attending Madda Walabu University Goba referral hospital, south east Ethiopia, 2019
Authors: Gemechu Tadele Regasa , Baye Minale Fekadie , Awgichew Gesese Bogale , Chekole Behonegn Birhan , Gemechu Zegeye Regassa , Mulugeta Habtamu Gezehagn , Shiferaw Damtew Solomon , Damtew Tesaka Wondimnew 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
Background: Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders which is characterized by increased blood glucose level. It causes a lot of systemic complications including pancreatic atrophy that leads to pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. It is more common among type 1 diabetic than type 2 diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to assess magnitude of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and associated factors among diabetic patients attending Madda Walabu University Goba referral hospital, 2019.Materials and method: An institution based cross sectional study was conducted on 286 diabetic patients during study period. The study participants were selected by systematic random sampling technique among diabetic patients attending Madda Walabu University Goba referral hospital internal medicine department. The demographic data of the study participants were collected by face to face interview. Serum and urine samples were collected from each patient and analyzed to check pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and factors associated with it. The raw data were entered in to Epi Data V 3.0.2 and exported in to SPSS V 25 for analysis. Descriptive analysis and multiple logistic regression was done and variables with 95% confidence interval and p-value less than 0.05 were used to declare statistical significance. Results: The study participants were 250 (87.4%) type 2 diabetic and 36 (12.6%) type 1 diabetic patients. Among them 21.3% suffered from pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. Amylase insufficiency found in 44.4% of type 1 and 16.0% in type 2 diabetics. But, lipase insufficiency was seen in 41.7% of type 1 and 16.0% in type 2 diabetics. The pancreatic exocrine insufficiency was higher among type 1 (44.44%) than type 2 (18.0%). Smoking habit, alcohol consumption, duration of disease, usage of hypoglycemic agents, ketosuria and type of diabetics were significantly associated with pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. Conclusion: There was an alteration of pancreatic exocrine enzyme secretion among both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. The habit of alcohol consumption, smoking and increase in the duration of the disease intensify the pancreatic insufficiency.