bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Incidence and predictors of new persistent opioid use following inflammatory bowel disease flares treated with oral corticosteroids
Authors: Noureldin Mohamed , Higgins Peter D. R. , Govani Shail M. , Cohen‐Mekelburg Shirley , Kenney Brooke C. , Stidham Ryan W. , Waljee Jennifer F. , Waljee Akbar K. 
Published: November 2018

SummaryBackgroundOpioids are commonly prescribed to manage pain associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is unknown what percentage of patients develop new persistent opioid use following a steroid‐treated IBD flare.AimTo identify the incidence and the predictors of new persistent opioid use following an IBD flare.MethodsWe used a national insurance claim dataset to identify patients with IBD who received an opioid medication around the time of a corticosteroid‐treated IBD flare. Patients were stratified as previously opioid naïve, intermittent users, or chronic users. The incidence of persistent opioid use among the opioid‐naïve cohort was evaluated along with associated predictors.ResultsWe identified 15 119 IBD patients who received opioids around the time of a flare. 5411 (35.8%) were opioid‐naïve patients of which 35.0% developed persistent opioid use after the flare. Factors associated with new persistent opioid use include a history of depression (hazard ratio [HR] 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13‐1.47), substance abuse (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.2‐1.54), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.04‐1.3), as well as, Crohn's disease (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.14‐1.4) or indeterminate colitis (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.36‐1.88).ConclusionsNew persistent opioid use is common in IBD patients who experience a flare, especially among those with mental health disorders, COPD, and Crohn's disease or indeterminate colitis. These findings can be helpful in risk‐stratifying patients when choosing an acute pain therapy and providing counselling before choosing to prescribe opioids to opioid‐naïve patients experiencing an IBD flare.
Is postponed laparoscopic appendectomy justified for patients with acute appendicitis?
Authors: Kohga Atsushi , Yajima Kiyoshige , Okumura Takuya , Yamashita Kimihiro , Isogaki Jun , Suzuki Kenji , Muramatsu Katsuaki , Komiyama Akira , Kawabe Akihiro 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIntroductionRecent meta‐analyses revealed that laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) is a feasible procedure even for patients with complicated appendicitis. More than a few patients with acute appendicitis arrive at the hospital during night shifts and have their operation postponed for various reasons. However, the feasibility and disadvantages of this so‐called “postponed laparoscopic appendectomy” (PLA) remain controversial.MethodsWe included 149 patients who underwent LA for acute appendicitis within 48 h of diagnosis between January 2013 and May 2018. Patients were divided into an immediate LA group (patients who underwent LA within 4 h of diagnosis, n = 84) and a PLA group (patients who underwent LA 4–48 h after diagnosis, n = 65). Comparisons were made between these groups.ResultsThe preoperative characteristics of the patients in the immediate LA and PLA groups were not significantly different. Operative time was significantly longer in the PLA group than in the LA group (92.5 ± 40.8 vs 78.1 ± 29.7 min, P = 0.012). The incidence of postoperative complications (grade II or higher) was significantly greater in the PLA group than in the LA group (32.3% vs 17.8%, P = 0.041). Multivariate analysis revealed that a preoperative CT finding of periappendiceal fluid (P = 0.005, odds ratio = 4.71) and surgery 4–48 h after diagnosis (P = 0.005, odds ratio = 4.425) were independent risk factors of postoperative complications (grade II or higher).ConclusionsFor patients with acute appendicitis, surgeons should perform immediate LA, if that is the patient's preferred surgical treatment, as long as there is no special reason to postpone surgery.
Affective temperaments are associated with the white matter microstructure in healthy participants
Authors: Hatano Koji , Terao Takeshi , Hayashi Takuya , Hirakawa Hirofumi , Makino Mayu , Mizokami Yoshinori , Fujiki Minoru , Shimomura Tsuyoshi 
Published: November 2018

ObjectivesFive affective temperaments are regarded as potential precursors of bipolar disorder. These are depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, and anxious temperaments. However, the neural substrates underlying these temperaments have not been identified. The aim of this study was to determine whether these temperaments are associated with specific neural substrates related to the brain white matter integrity in healthy participants.MethodsWe conducted a cross‐sectional neuroimaging study of 71 healthy participants (38 males and 33 females) with affective temperaments. All participants screened for past and present psychiatric disorders. The scores of the five affective temperaments were measured by the temperament scale of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego‐autoquestionnaire. We analyzed the association between the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) of the brain white matter and these affective temperaments using tract‐based spatial statistics (TBSS).ResultsThe cyclothymic temperament score had a significant positive association with the FA and a significant negative association with the MD in the white matter in the right frontal part of brain. The hyperthymic temperament score was negatively associated with the MD in a wide area of the brain white matter. The anxious temperament score was positively associated with the FA in the bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal regions of the brain white matter. The depressive and irritable temperament scores were not associated with either the FA or the MD.ConclusionThe present findings suggest that cyclothymic, hyperthymic, and anxious temperaments are associated with brain white matter integrity in healthy participants.
Exact Inference on the Random-Effects Model for Meta-Analyses With Few Studies
Authors: Michael Haben , Thornton Suzanne , Xie Minge , Tian Lu 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
We describe an exact, unconditional, non-randomized procedure for producing confidence intervals for the grand mean in a normal-normal random effects meta-analysis. The procedure targets meta-analyses based on too few primary studies, , say, to allow for the conventional asymptotic estimators, e.g., DerSimonian and Laird (1986), or non-parametric resampling-based procedures, e.g., Liu et al. (2017). Meta-analyses with such few studies are common, with one recent sample of 22,453 heath-related meta-analyses finding a median of 3 primary studies per meta-analysis (Davey et al., 2011). Reliable and efficient inference procedures are therefore needed to address this setting. The coverage level of the resulting CI is guaranteed to be above the nominal level, up to Monte Carlo error, provided the meta-analysis contains more than 1 study and the model assumptions are met. After employing several techniques to accelerate computation, the new CI can be easily constructed on a personal computer. Simulations suggest that the proposed CI typically is not overly conservative. We illustrate the approach on several contrasting examples of meta-analyses investigating the effect of calcium intake on bone mineral density.
The Single-Index/Cox Mixture Cure Model
Authors: Amico Maïlis , Van Keilegom Ingrid , Legrand Catherine 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn survival analysis, it often happens that a certain fraction of the subjects under study never experience the event of interest, that is, they are considered “cured.” In the presence of covariates, a common model for this type of data is the mixture cure model, which assumes that the population consists of two subpopulations, namely the cured and the non-cured ones, and it writes the survival function of the whole population given a set of covariates as a mixture of the survival function of the cured subjects (which equals one), and the survival function of the non-cured ones. In the literature, one usually assumes that the mixing probabilities follow a logistic model. This is, however, a strong modeling assumption, which might not be met in practice. Therefore, in order to have a flexible model which at the same time does not suffer from curse-of-dimensionality problems, we propose in this paper a single-index model for the mixing probabilities. For the survival function of the non-cured subjects we assume a Cox proportional hazards model. We estimate this model using a maximum likelihood approach. We also carry out a simulation study, in which we compare the estimators under the single-index model and under the logistic model for various model settings, and we apply the new model and estimation method on a breast cancer data set.
Composite Kernel Machine Regression Based on Likelihood Ratio Test for Joint Testing of Genetic and Gene–Environment Interaction Effect
Authors: Zhao Ni , Zhang Haoyu , Clark Jennifer J. , Maity Arnab , Wu Michael C. 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
Most common human diseases are a result from the combined effect of genes, the environmental factors, and their interactions such that including gene–environment (GE) interactions can improve power in gene mapping studies. The standard strategy is to test the SNPs, one-by-one, using a regression model that includes both the SNP effect and the GE interaction. However, the SNP-by-SNP approach has serious limitations, such as the inability to model epistatic SNP effects, biased estimation, and reduced power. Thus, in this article, we develop a kernel machine regression framework to model the overall genetic effect of a SNP-set, considering the possible GE interaction. Specifically, we use a composite kernel to specify the overall genetic effect via a nonparametric function andwe model additional covariates parametrically within the regression framework. The composite kernel is constructed as a weighted average of two kernels, one corresponding to the genetic main effect and one corresponding to the GE interaction effect. We propose a likelihood ratio test (LRT) and a restricted likelihood ratio test (RLRT) for statistical significance. We derive a Monte Carlo approach for the finite sample distributions of LRT and RLRT statistics. Extensive simulations and real data analysis show that our proposed method has correct type I error and can have higher power than score-based approaches under many situations.
Variation of vibrational communication signals in animals depends on trait duration
Authors: Eberhard Monika J. B. , Treschnak Dominique 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn the recent years, vibrational communication signals have become more and more prominent in research—often, characteristics of signals are described for several closely related species or populations of the same species, using means and standard deviations. Phenotypic variation in vibratory communication signals can be measured and compared using the coefficient of variation, which is supposed to be independent of trait size. However, it has been shown that the coefficients of variation of acoustic (airborne sound) male courtship signals in insects and anurans increase with signal duration in accordance with a power law. To examine whether this pattern is also true for vibrational communication signals, we used original data for Mantophasmatodea and reviewed the literature for published data on arthropods, anurans and mammals. The relationship between trait variability and duration is surprisingly stable for all investigated biotremology data and similar to the relationships found for airborne sound courtship signals. This study adds towards our knowledge about a general pattern for temporal variability of communication signals.
Weather effects on birds of different size are mediated by long‐term climate and vegetation type in endangered temperate woodlands
Authors: Lindenmayer David B. , Lane Peter , Crane Mason , Florance Daniel , Foster Claire N. , Ikin Karen , Michael Damian , Sato Chloe F. , Scheele Ben C. , Westgate Martin J. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractSpecies occurrence is influenced by a range of factors including habitat attributes, climate, weather, and human landscape modification. These drivers are likely to interact, but their effects are frequently quantified independently. Here, we report the results of a 13‐year study of temperate woodland birds in south‐eastern Australia to quantify how different‐sized birds respond to the interacting effects of: (a) short‐term weather (rainfall and temperature in the 12 months preceding our surveys), (b) long‐term climate (average rainfall and maximum and minimum temperatures over the period 1970–2014), and (c) broad structural forms of vegetation (old‐growth woodland, regrowth woodland, and restoration plantings). We uncovered significant interactions between bird body size, vegetation type, climate, and weather. High short‐term rainfall was associated with decreased occurrence of large birds in old‐growth and regrowth woodland, but not in restoration plantings. Conversely, small bird occurrence peaked in wet years, but this effect was most pronounced in locations with a history of high rainfall, and was actually reversed (peak occurrence in dry years) in restoration plantings in dry climates. The occurrence of small birds was depressed—and large birds elevated—in hot years, except in restoration plantings which supported few large birds under these circumstances. Our investigation suggests that different mechanisms may underpin contrasting responses of small and large birds to the interacting effects of climate, weather, and vegetation type. A diversity of vegetation cover is needed across a landscape to promote the occurrence of different‐sized bird species in agriculture‐dominated landscapes, particularly under variable weather conditions. Climate change is predicted to lead to widespread drying of our study region, and restoration plantings—especially currently climatically wet areas—may become critically important for conserving bird species, particularly small‐bodied taxa.
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among junior high school students in Grudziadz, Poland
Authors: Szaflarska‐Popławska Anna , Soroczyńska‐Wrzyszcz Anetta 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBackgroundThe purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among the junior high school students in city Grudziądz, Poland.Materials and methodsA prospective cross‐sectional study among second junior high school students was conducted from September 2008 to June 2015 during seven consecutive school years. The studied group was 3241 students 13‐17 years old. The 13C‐urea breath test (UBT) was administered to all participants for current H. pylori infection. Clinical, sociodemographic, and hygienic risk factors for H. pylori positivity were analyzed in children with positive and negative UBT.ResultsUrea breath test was performed and results were obtained for 3067 of 3241 children, including 723 children (23.6%) with positive result (group 1) and 2344 children (76.4%) with negative result (group 2). The prevalence of H. pylori infection was not different in subsequent seven school years (P = 0.06) and depending on the gender (P = 0.57). In group 1 the cough and in group 2 the epigastric discomfort occurred more frequent (P = 0.04 and P = 0.002, respectively). In multivariate analysis, factors positively associated with prevalence of H. pylori were age >16 years (OR = 2.556; 95%CI 1.293‐5.025), living in old town district (OR = 1.374; 95%CI 1.097‐1.723), consumption of raw vegetables (OR 1.305; 95%CI 1.038‐1.642) or unboiled water (OR = 1.444; 95%CI 1.138‐1.832) and using collective catering facilities (OR 1.338; 95%CI 1.039‐1.724). Having a cat was protective against H. pylori (OR 0.78; 95%CI 0.614‐0.991).ConclusionsOver the past 10 years, the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Polish adolescents has decreased. H. pylori infection remains problem closely associated with socioeconomic and sanitary conditions. Our results are important to develop prevention strategies for H. pylori‐related diseases.
Helicobacter pylori infection and prevalence of stroke
Authors: Shindler‐Itskovitch Tali , Chodick Gabriel , Shalev Varda , Muhsen Khitam 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBackgroundHelicobacter pylori causes peptic ulcer disease; however, conflicting evidence exists regarding its role in extragastric conditions. We aimed to examine associations of H pylori infection and peptic ulcer disease with stroke.MethodsA cross‐sectional study was undertaken using data of 147 936 individuals aged 25‐95 years who underwent the urea breath test during 2002‐2012, based on the computerized database of the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel. Logistic regression models were fitted to control for potential confounders.ResultsOverall, 1397 (0.9%) patients had stroke and 76 965 (52.0%) had a H pylori positive test. The likelihood of prevalent stroke increased in relation to H pylori infection: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.16 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.04‐1.29), gastric ulcer: aOR 1.50 (95% CI: 1.18‐1.91), and duodenal ulcer: aOR 1.25 (95% CI: 1.07‐1.46).ConclusionsThe results support the premise that stroke may be associated with a history of H pylori infection.
Review of antimicrobial peptides with anti‐Helicobacter pylori activity
Authors: Neshani Alireza , Zare Hosna , Akbari Eidgahi Mohammad Reza , Hooshyar Chichaklu Amin , Movaqar Aref , Ghazvini Kiarash 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBackgroundThe emergence of antibiotic‐resistant Helicobacter pylori strains in recent years has increased the need for finding an alternative in the post‐antibiotic era. One of the fields being considered for this purpose is antimicrobial peptides. The aim of this review was to provide an obvious scheme from the studied anti‐H. pylori peptides and to investigate their common features.MethodFirst, all of the antimicrobial peptides with their anti‐H. pylori effects have been proved up to September 2018 were selected and their information including structure, mechanism of action, and function was reviewed. To achieve this, three databases of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of science were used.ResultsA total of 9 groups containing 22 antimicrobial peptides were found with demonstrated anti‐H. pylori effects. The nine groups included pexiganan, tilapia piscidins, epinecidin‐1, cathelicidins, defensins, bicarinalin, odorranain‐HP, PGLa‐AM1, and bacteriocins. Most of the antimicrobial peptides, not all, had common features such as the ability to kill antibiotic‐resistant strains, having α‐helical structure, being cationic, with high positive charge and isoelectric point.ConclusionAntimicrobial peptides with anti‐H. pylori effects have the potential to replace the antibiotics, especially in the post‐antibiotic era, if a rapid and low‐cost production method would be found.
Interleukin10 gene promoter polymorphisms (rs1800896, rs1800871 and rs1800872) and haplotypes are associated with the activity of systemic lupus erythematosus and IL10 levels in an Iranian population
Authors: Mohammadi Saeed , Saghaeian Jazi Marie , Zare Ebrahimabad Mojtaba , Eghbalpour Farnaz , Abdolahi Nafiseh , Tabarraei Alijan , Yazdani Yaghoub 
Published: November 2018

AbstractSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with unknown aetiology. According to the role of interleukin 10 (IL10) in SLE pathogenesis, the genetic alterations in its promoter region could be associated with elevated IL10 levels and exacerbated disease. Here, we investigated the association of genotype and haplotype frequencies of three IL10 gene promoter polymorphisms with susceptibility to SLE, IL10 plasma levels and disease activity of patients in an Iranian population. A total of 116 SLE patients and 131 healthy subjects were enrolled. The PCR‐RFLP technique was used to detect IL10 promoter genotypes at the positions of −1082 (G/A), −819 (C/T) and −592 (C/A) in association with IL10 plasma levels and SLEDAI scores. The GG genotype of −1082 polymorphism was associated with the increased risk of SLE [OR = 2.65, 95% CI (1.21–5.82), p‐value = 0.046]. The CC genotype in −819 region was associated with SLE susceptibility [OR = 3.38, 95% CI (1.26–9.07), p‐value = 0.034] and C allele was introduced as risk allele [OR = 1.86, 95% CI (1.15–3.01), p‐value = 0.009] in this region. IL10 plasma levels were overexpressed in CC genotype carriers of −592 SNP and decreased in AA genotype carriers of −1082. IL10 was also increased in SLE patients with CGT (−592/−1082/−819) haplotype. The SLEDAI score was higher among CC genotype carriers at the position of −592 and TT genotype carriers at the region of −819. SLEDAI was also elevated among patients with CGC (−592/−1082/−819) and CAC (p = 0.011) haplotypes. The present study suggests that the IL10 –819(C/T), −1082(G/A) and −592(C/A) polymorphisms and the haplotypes are associated with SLE susceptibility, increased disease activity and elevated IL10 levels. While this is the first time to report such an association in an Iranian population, further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Effectiveness of non‐pharmacological nursing interventions to improve the quality of life of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review
Authors: Igai Yasuko 
Published: November 2018

AbstractAimTo evaluate whether non‐pharmacological nursing interventions improve the quality of life, including both physical and psychosocial states, for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, compared to patients receiving the usual care visit or not receiving routine nursing.MethodsA comprehensive search was conducted of the following electronic databases in English and Japanese: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Central Register Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), NPO Japan Medical Abstracts Society's Ichushi – Web database, National Institute of Informatics’ Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator (CiNii) database, Grants‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research (KAKEN) database, and Database of Health Labor Sciences Research Grants. The keywords were as follows: [interstitial lung disease], [interstitial pulmonary fibrosis], [idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis] AND [nurse OR nurses’ role OR nursing]. A search method was used based on the eligibility criteria without including words, such as “randomized controlled trial” (RCT). Three categories defined the search parameters: (i) patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; (ii) non‐pharmacological nursing interventions; and (iii) RCT.ResultsThree‐hundred‐and‐ninety‐four articles were reviewed. Two articles met all the eligibility criteria. The nursing interventions were “disease management program” and “community case conference,” both involving nurse specialists. The quality‐of‐life scores decreased after 6 weeks of intervention with the disease management program. The quality‐of‐life scores improved after 4 weeks of intervention with the community case conferences. The risk of bias for these two studies was high.ConclusionThere was limited evidence of non‐pharmacological nursing interventions improving the quality of life of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.