bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Retracted: Misoprostol versus expectant management in women with incomplete first‐trimester miscarriage after failed primary misoprostol treatment: A randomized clinical trial
Authors: Ali Mohammed K. , Emam Samar M. , Abdel‐Aleem Mahmoud A. , Sobh Ahmed M.A. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness and safety of repeat misoprostol versus expectant management in women with first‐trimester incomplete miscarriage who have been initially treated with misoprostol.MethodsThe study was an open‐labeled randomized controlled trial including women with an incomplete first‐trimester miscarriage after administration of misoprostol. The participants were randomly assigned to vaginal misoprostol or expectant management using a computer‐generated table of random numbers. The primary outcome was the number of women with a complete miscarriage at 1 week.ResultsEighty‐eight women (44 women in each group) were analyzed. The rate of complete miscarriage at 1 week was significantly higher in the misoprostol group than the expectant management group—29 (69.0%) versus 7 (16.7%) (P < 0.001), respectively. Women in the misoprostol group were more satisfied (7.00 ± 0.77 vs 4.57 ± 1.61, P < 0.001) but reported more pain (7.95 ± 1.85 vs 5.26 ± 1.08, P < 0.001) than women in the expectant group. The misoprostol group reported more adverse effects than the expectant management group (P < 0.001).ConclusionIn women with an incomplete first‐trimester miscarriage who were initially treated with misoprostol, repeat administration of misoprostol was more effective than expectant management for achieving complete miscarriage at 1 week. However, misoprostol was associated with more adverse effects.Registration site and numberClinicaltrials.gov: NCT03148561.
Putting the social back into physical distancing: The role of digital connections in a pandemic crisis
Authors: Kluck Jan P. , Stoyanova Filipa , Krämer Nicole C. 
Published: February 2021

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, physical distancing is necessary to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. To compensate for the lack of social encounters, people have been advised to connect with others via digital communication channels. Drawing on a psychological framework combined with assumptions from communication science, we therefore investigated whether technology‐mediated communication can actually meet individuals' social needs to foster compliance with distancing measures and whether there are differences between distinct communication channels. Based on an online survey (N = 301) during the first national lockdown in Germany, we found that the impact of audio‐visual communication is limited. Instead, the data showed that text‐based communication indirectly fostered willingness to adhere to physical distancing through the pathway of increased feelings of social support and life satisfaction. Three follow‐up surveys (N = 180) revealed that while feelings of social support increased, people's technology‐based communication and willingness to adhere to distancing measures decreased. Our results challenge the assumption that audio‐visual communication compensates for lack of physical contact more effectively than text‐based communication. This study highlights the potential of text‐based communication to increase feelings of social support, which may be particularly important during a pandemic.
A semantic contour based segmentation of lungs from chest x‐rays for the classification of tuberculosis using Naïve Bayes classifier
Authors: Geetha Pavani P. , Biswal Birendra , Sairam M. V. S. , Bala Subrahmanyam N. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractTuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that primarily affects the lungs. If the TB is left undiagnosed in its early stage, it may affect other body parts leading to sudden death. A posterior anterior chest radiographs are used to diagnose pulmonary TB. This work presents a novel automatic system for the early detection of pulmonary TB. Initially, the Chan‐Vese active contour model is generated to segment the lung region from the preprocessed chest x‐rays. Different textural, statistical, and morphological features are extracted from the segmented lungs. Finally, the pertinent feature vector is considered for the classification of chest x‐rays using the Naïve Bayes classifier (NBC). The NBC is trained using 10‐fold cross validation technique. The proposed method achieves an average accuracy, the area under the curve, specificity, and sensitivity as 95.5%, 98%, 93.3%, and 94.6% respectively, when tested on different available datasets. Comparison results reveals that the Naïve Bayes classifier outperforms than the multinomial Naïve Bayes classifier and Bernoulli's Naïve Bayes classifier in classifying the chest x‐rays into healthy and TB.
The mechanism of sitagliptin inhibition of colorectal cancer cell lines' metastatic functionalities
Authors: Varela‐Calviño Rubén , Rodríguez‐Quiroga Marta , Dias Carvalho Patrícia , Martins Flavia , Serra‐Roma André , Vázquez‐Iglesias Lorena , Páez de la Cadena María , Velho Sérgia , Cordero Oscar J. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe cell membrane glycoprotein CD26 with peptidase activity (DPP4) and/or its soluble CD26/DPP4 counterpart expression and/or activity are altered in several cancers. Its role in metastasis development was recently highlighted by the discovery of CD26+ cancer stem cell subsets and the fact that clinical DPP4 inhibitors showed antimetastatic effects in animal models. Also, diabetic patients treated with the DPP4 inhibitor sitagliptin showed greater overall survival after colorectal or lung cancer surgery than patients under other diabetic therapies. However, the mechanism of action of these inhibitors in this context is unclear. We studied the role of CD26 and its DPP4 enzymatic activity in malignant cell features such as cell‐to‐cell homotypic aggregation, cancer cell motility, and invasion in a panel of human colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines, avoiding models that include the physiological role of DPP4 in chemotaxis. Present results indicate that CD26 participates in the induction of cell invasion, motility, and aggregation of CD26‐positive CRC cell lines. Moreover, only invasion and motility assays, which are collagen matrix‐dependent, showed a decrease upon treatment with the DPP4 inhibitor sitagliptin. Sitagliptin showed opposite effects to those of transforming growth factor‐β1 on epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition and cell cycle, but this result does not explain its CD26/DPP4‐dependent effect. These results contribute to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms behind sitagliptin inhibition of metastatic traits. At the same time, this role of sitagliptin may help to define areas of medicine where DPP4 inhibitors might be introduced. However, they also suggest that additional tools against CD26 as a target might be used or developed for metastasis prevention in addition to gliptins.
Increase in C‐Reactive Protein Predicts Increase in Rate of Bone Mineral Density Loss: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation
Authors: Greendale Gail A , Jackson Nicholas J , Han Weijuan , Huang MeiHua , Cauley Jane A , Karvonen‐Gutierrez Carrie , Karlamangla Arun S 
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACTThis longitudinal cohort study's aim was to detect whether larger increases in C‐reactive protein (CRP) predict greater amounts of subsequent bone loss in women transitioning from premenopause to postmenopause. Participants were initially 42 to 52 years of age and premenopausal or early perimenopausal. The sample included 1431 women who were not using hormone therapy and whose CRP values were not consistent with acute inflammation. Individual fixed effects (IFE) models estimated the association of log2 CRP with subsequent bone mineral density (BMD) decline rate, adjusted for menopause transition (MT) stage (1: premenopausal or early perimenopausal; 2: late perimenopausal or early postmenopausal; or 3: late postmenopausal), body mass index, diabetes, smoking, alcohol, bone active medications, and anti‐inflammatory medications. BMD decline at both the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) was faster for observations made in MT stage 2 than that during other stages (all p < .001). In adjusted IFE models, MT stage modified the relation between increase in CRP and BMD decline rate (interaction p values <.05). Each within‐woman doubling of CRP was associated with a 0.09% faster yearly decline in FN BMD in MT stages 1 (p = .006) and 3 (p = .03), and 0.10% faster decline in LS BMD in MT stage 3 only (p = .007). Within‐woman increases in CRP in premenopause and early perimenopause and in late postmenopause predict faster BMD decline in the next ~2 years, but the magnitude of CRP's effect is small. © 2021 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Height Loss in Old Age and Fracture Risk Among Men in Late Life: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Ensrud Kristine E , Schousboe John T , Kats Allyson M , Vo Tien N , Taylor Brent C , Cawthon Peggy M , Cauley Jane A , Lane Nancy E , Hoffman Andrew R , Langsetmo Lisa ,   for the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Research Group
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACT
To assess the association of height loss in old age with subsequent risk of hip and any clinical fracture in men late in life while accounting for the competing risk of mortality, we used data from 3491 community-dwelling men (mean age 79.2 years). Height loss between baseline and follow-up (mean 7.0 years between examinations) was categorized as &lt;1 cm (referent group), ≥1 to &lt;2 cm, ≥2 to &lt;3 cm, and ≥3 cm. Men were contacted every 4 months after the follow-up examination to ask about fractures (confirmed by radiographic reports) and ascertain vital status (deaths verified by death certificates). Competing risk methods were used to estimate absolute probabilities of fracture outcomes by height loss category and calculate adjusted risks of fracture outcomes by height loss. During an average of 7.8 years, 158 (4.5%) men experienced a hip fracture and 1414 (40.5%) died before experiencing this event. The absolute 10-year probability of fracture events accounting for the competing risk of death increased with greater height loss. For example, the hip fracture probability was 2.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9–3.8%) among men with height loss &lt;1 cm increasing to 11.6% (95% CI 8.0–16.0%) among men with height loss ≥3 cm. After adjustment for demographics, fall history, multimorbidity, baseline height, weight change, and femoral neck bone mineral density and considering competing mortality risk, men with height loss ≥3 cm versus &lt;1 cm had a nearly twofold (subdistribution hazard ratio [HR] = 1.94, 95% CI 1.06–3.55) higher risk of hip fracture and a 1.4-fold (subdistribution HR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.05–1.91) increased risk of any clinical fracture. Height loss ≥3 cm in men during old age was associated with higher subsequent risk of clinical fractures, especially hip fractures, even after accounting for the competing risk of death and traditional skeletal and non-skeletal risk factors. © 2021 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)
“The worst time of my life”: Treatment‐related stress and unmet needs of women living with infertility
Authors: Öztürk Ruşen , Herbell Kayla , Morton Jamie , Bloom Tina 
Published: February 2021

AbstractApproximately 12% of women in the United States have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term (i.e., infertility). Infertility permeates women's lives and is psychologically, socially and financially burdensome. This study aimed to describe women's experiences regarding infertility and explore factors that women find helpful to alleviate their fertility‐related stressors. Using purposive sample, we conducted in‐depth qualitative interviews with infertile women. Participants reported multiple infertility treatment‐related stressors including (a) difficulty accessing infertility treatment due to financial issues, geographic disparities, and healthcare provider factors; (b) challenges during infertility treatment related to painful, embarrassing, confusing treatments, side effects, and healthcare providers' failures to fully address women's needs. The stories and findings add to a body of literature that elucidate significant stressors that women encounter in their fertility journey including a desire for empathetic, understandable, and effective treatment and support, and the crucial role of healthcare providers.
Impact of changes in the topographic classification of Klatskin tumor on incidence of intra‐ and extrahepatic bile duct cancer: A population‐based national cancer registry study
Authors: Kang Mee Joo , Lim Jiwon , Han Sung‐Sik , Park Hyeong Min , Kim Sun‐Whe , Won Young‐Joo , Park Sang‐Jae 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBackgroundMisclassification of Klatskin tumor as intrahepatic rather than extrahepatic bile duct cancer (eBDC) may overestimate the incidence of intrahepatic BDC (iBDC). This study aimed to investigate the impact of misclassified Klatskin tumor on iBDC and eBDC incidences in Korea, where BDC is highly endemic.MethodsThe data of incidence, topography and morphology code of BDC from 1999 to 2017 were obtained from the Korea Central Cancer Registry, which covers the entire 51.6 million Korean population. For misclassification analysis, all Klatskin tumors were reclassified as eBDC.ResultsKlatskin tumors accounted for 13.5% of all 81 414 BDC cases. In the registry, an average of 59.7% of Klatskin tumors were classified as iBDC, gradually decreasing from 95.5% to 16.9%. Misclassification led to a 17.3% overestimation of iBDC cases and a 15.0% underestimation of eBDC cases on average. After reclassification, age standardized rate (ASR) of incidence per 100 000 population decreased in iBDC from 3.4 to 2.9 and increased in eBDC from 2.8 to 3.2. Average annual percentage change of iBDC and eBDC incidences were 2.0% and 1.2%, respectively, but ASR of iBDC significantly decreased since 2012 (P < 0.0001).ConclusionsMisclassification of Klatskin tumors has remarkable impact on the incidence of iBDC and eBDC in a highly endemic country.
Microbial biofilm: A matter of grave concern for human health and food industry
Authors: Rather Muzamil A. , Gupta Kuldeep , Bardhan Pritam , Borah Munmi , Sarkar Anupama , Eldiehy Khalifa S. H. , Bhuyan Shuvam , Mandal Manabendra 
Published: February 2021

AbstractPathogenic microorganisms have adapted different strategies during the course of time to invade host defense mechanisms and overcome the effect of potent antibiotics. The formation of biofilm on both biotic and abiotic surfaces by microorganisms is one such strategy to resist and survive even in presence of antibiotics and other adverse environmental conditions. Biofilm is a safe home of microorganisms embedded within self‐produced extracellular polymeric substances comprising of polysaccharides, extracellular proteins, nucleic acid, and water. It is because of this adaptation strategy that pathogenic microorganisms are taking a heavy toll on the health and life of organisms. In this review, we discuss the colonization of pathogenic microorganisms on tissues and medically implanted devices in human beings. We also focus on food spoilage, disease outbreaks, biofilm‐associated deaths, burden on economy, and other major concerns of biofilm‐forming pathogenic microorganisms in food industries like dairy, poultry, ready‐to‐eat food, meat, and aquaculture.
Radiomics Analysis Based on Ultrasound Images to Distinguish the Tumor Stage and Pathological Grade of Bladder Cancer
Authors: Gao Rui‐zhi , Wen Rong , Wen Dong‐yue , Huang Jing , Qin Hui , Li Xin , Wang Xin‐rong , He Yun , Yang Hong 
Published: February 2021

ObjectivesTo identify the clinical value of ultrasound radiomic features in the preoperative prediction of tumor stage and pathological grade of bladder cancer (BLCA) patients.MethodsWe retrospectively collected patients who had been diagnosed with BLCA by pathology. Ultrasound‐based radiomic features were extracted from manually segmented regions of interest. Participants were randomly assigned to a training cohort and a validation cohort at a ratio of 7:3. Radiomic features were Z‐score normalized and submitted to dimensional reduction analysis (including Spearman's correlation coefficient analysis, the random forest algorithm, and statistical testing) for core feature selection. Classifiers for tumor stage and pathological grade prediction were then constructed. Prediction performance was estimated by the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve and was verified by the validation cohort.ResultsA total of 5936 radiomic features were extracted from each of the ultrasound images obtained from 157 patients. The BLCA tumor stage and pathological grade prediction models were developed based on 30 and 35 features, respectively. Both models showed good predictive ability. For the tumor stage prediction model, the AUC was 0.94 in the training cohort and 0.84 in the validation cohort. For the pathological grade model, the AUCs obtained were 0.84 in the training cohort and 0.75 in the validation cohort.ConclusionsThe ultrasound‐based radiomics models performed well in the preoperative tumor staging and pathological grading of BLCA. These findings should be applied clinically to optimize treatment and to assess prognoses for BLCA.
Relationships among Amphibian Assemblage Structure, Wetland pH, and Forest Cover
Authors: Simpson Duncan S. , Forester Don C. , Snodgrass Joel W. , Smith Scott A. 
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACTA common mesofilter approach to conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem function used in agricultural and urban landscapes is maintenance of wetlands and an undisturbed terrestrial buffer surrounding wetlands. Although it is generally accepted that forest buffers protect wetland‐associated biological diversity and ecosystem function, the effectiveness and optimal spatial extent of buffers is still an area of debate. During 2007 and 2008 we surveyed amphibians and environmental conditions associated with 54 depression wetlands on the Delmarva Peninsula of Maryland, USA, to examine the role of forest buffers and wetland characteristics in structuring amphibian communities. Forest cover within a 50‐m buffer surrounding wetlands was correlated (r = −0.81) with wetland pH but no other wetland characteristics. Wetland pH, canopy cover, hydroperiod, and adjacent forest cover were important predictors of wetland use by individual amphibian species, with many species more likely to occur at wetlands that dried late in the hydrological year and with open canopies. At least one common species preferred circumneutral pH and several restricted‐distribution species preferred lower pH (<5). Contrary to expectations, relationships between species occurrence and adjacent forest cover were negative. Our results suggest that current regulations that provide buffers of 30 m or less do not provide adequate protection of wetland water chemistry but that forest encroachment into wetlands may be a threat to the integrity of amphibian communities and should be the target of monitoring, future research, and management efforts. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.
Efficacy of Transnasal Endoscopic Fine‐Needle Aspiration Biopsy in Diagnosing Submucosal Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Authors: Tang Qing‐Nan , Tang Lin‐Quan , Liu Li‐Ting , Wen Dong‐Xiang , Lu Zi‐Jian , Ou Guo‐Ping , Yan Jin‐Jie , Yang Jin‐Hao , Li Ji‐Bin , Wen Yue‐Feng , Guo Shan‐Shan , Liu Sai‐Lan , Xie Hao‐Jun , Sun Xue‐Song , Li Xiao‐Yun , Chen Qiu‐Yan , Mai Hai‐Qiang 
Published: February 2021

Objectives/HypothesisThe routine practices of examining submucosal lesions are not suitable for deep lesions. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of non‐real‐time image‐guided transnasal endoscopic fine‐needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in diagnosing nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with submucosal lesions.Study DesignThe effectiveness evaluation of diagnostic methods.MethodsFifty suspected NPC patients who failed in conventional biopsies were enrolled in this study. The efficacy, maneuverability, and safety of FNAB in diagnosing these intractable cases were evaluated.ResultsThe definitive diagnostic results of these 50 patients were NPC (34/50, 68.0%), nasopharyngeal necrosis (1/50, 2.0%), nasopharyngeal mucositis (12/50, 24.0%), and other cancers (3/50, 6.0%), respectively. The results of the diagnostic efficacy of FNAB were sensitivity, 89.2%; specificity, 100.0%; positive predictive value, 100.0%; negative predictive value, 76.5%; and accuracy, 92.0%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves was 0.946 (95% confidence interval = 0.884–1.00, P < .001). No severe complications occurred after FNAB.ConclusionsFNAB can improve the diagnostic efficiency of NPC occurring in the submucosal space. It can be an additional option for routine nasopharyngeal biopsy and is worthy of clinical application.Level of Evidence4 Laryngoscope, 131:1798–1804, 2021
Biomaterial Properties Modulating Bone Regeneration
Authors: Zhu Yi , Goh Cynthia , Shrestha Annie 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBiomaterial scaffolds have been gaining momentum in the past several decades for their potential applications in the area of tissue engineering. They function as three‐dimensional porous constructs to temporarily support the attachment of cells, subsequently influencing cell behaviors such as proliferation and differentiation to repair or regenerate defective tissues. In addition, scaffolds can also serve as delivery vehicles to achieve sustained release of encapsulated growth factors or therapeutic agents to further modulate the regeneration process. Given the limitations of current bone grafts used clinically in bone repair, alternatives such as biomaterial scaffolds have emerged as potential bone graft substitutes. This review summarizes how physicochemical properties of biomaterial scaffolds can influence cell behavior and its downstream effect, particularly in its application to bone regeneration.
Mannosylated Cationic Copolymers for Gene Delivery to Macrophages
Authors: Lopukhov Anton V. , Yang Zigang , Haney Matthew J. , Bronich Tatiana K. , Sokolsky‐Papkov Marina , Batrakova Elena V. , Klyachko Natalia L. , Kabanov Alexander V. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractMacrophages are desirable targets for gene therapy of cancer and other diseases. Cationic diblock copolymers of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and poly‐L‐lysine (PLL) or poly{N‐[N‐(2‐aminoethyl)‐2‐aminoethyl]aspartamide} (pAsp(DET)) are synthesized and used to form polyplexes with a plasmid DNA (pDNA) that are decorated with mannose moieties, serving as the targeting ligands for the C type lectin receptors displayed at the surface of macrophages. The PEG‐b‐PLL copolymers are known for its cytotoxicity, so PEG‐b‐PLL‐based polyplexes are cross‐linked using reducible reagent dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) (DSP). The cross‐linked polyplexes display low toxicity to both mouse embryonic fibroblasts NIH/3T3 cell line and mouse bone marrow‐derived macrophages (BMMΦ). In macrophages mannose‐decorated polyplexes demonstrate an ≈8 times higher transfection efficiency. The cross‐linking of the polyplexes decrease the toxicity, but the transfection enhancement is moderate. The PEG‐b‐pAsp(DET) copolymers display low toxicity with respect to the IC‐21 murine macrophage cell line and are used for the production of non‐cross‐linked pDNA‐contained polyplexes. The obtained mannose modified polyplexes exhibit ca. 500‐times greater transfection activity in IC‐21 macrophages compared to the mannose‐free polyplexes. This result greatly exceeds the targeting gene transfer effects previously described using mannose receptor targeted non‐viral gene delivery systems. These results suggest that Man‐PEG‐b‐pAsp(DET)/pDNA polyplex is a potential vector for immune cells‐based gene therapy.