bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Recommended pre‐analytical plasma glucose sampling methodology may distort gestational diabetes mellitus prevalence: implications for diagnostic thresholds
Authors: Song D. , Lia M. , Hurley J. C. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractAimCurrent International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups/World Health Organization gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) diagnostic thresholds are based on a landmark study in which the pre‐analytical plasma glucose sampling methodology is unclear. Worldwide, plasma glucose pre‐analytical sampling methodology practices are divergent. We considered the effects of pre‐analytical plasma glucose sampling methodology on GDM prevalence and gestational outcomes.MethodsThis is a retrospective observational cohort study of 1178 pregnant women undergoing an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Of the 1178 pregnant women, a subset of 892 non‐GDM women with singleton births undergoing OGTT between 24 and 28 weeks’ gestation were investigated for large for gestation age (LGA) outcomes. OGTT were determined using traditional methods (sodium fluoride tubes batched at roomed temperature). We modelled the potential effects of using a recommended pre‐analytical plasma glucose methodology (lyophilized citrate tubes) on GDM prevalence.ResultsThe GDM prevalence in our cohort was 13.5%. The incidence of LGA showed a linear association with maternal plasma glucose that was similar to the association observed in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome study. Frequency of LGA exceeded 10% at HAPO glucose category 4 (fasting, 4.8 to 4.9 mmol/l; 1‐h, 8.7 to 9.5 mmol/l) for fasting and 1‐h plasma glucose. The use of a recommended pre‐analytical method is projected to increase the prevalence of GDM to 39.2%.ConclusionWe challenge the consensus that recommended pre‐analytical plasma glucose methodologies are optimal for the accurate diagnosis of GDM. Recommended pre‐analytical plasma glucose methods may profoundly over‐diagnose GDM. Centres using recommended pre‐analytical plasma glucose methodologies may need to reappraise their diagnostic thresholds.
Cost‐effectiveness analysis of empagliflozin treatment in people with Type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease in the EMPA‐REG OUTCOME trial
Authors: Kansal A. , Reifsnider O. S. , Proskorovsky I. , Zheng Y. , Pfarr E. , George J. T. , Kandaswamy P. , Ruffolo A. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractAimIn the EMPA‐REG OUTCOME trial, empagliflozin therapy reduced cardiovascular death by 38% compared with placebo when added to standard of care. Using the trial results, we created a discrete‐event simulation model to assess lifetime health economic outcomes in people with Type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease.MethodsTime‐dependent survival regression analysis was performed on data from EMPA‐REG OUTCOME for 10 cardiovascular and renal events (e.g. stroke, heart failure hospitalization, macroalbuminuria, cardiovascular mortality) to capture event rates over time, and interaction between events. Model performance was assessed by comparing predicted and observed outcomes at 3 years. Costs in the United Kingdom (UK) and health utilities were obtained from published literature. Outcomes included cumulative event rates, life‐years, costs and quality‐adjusted life‐years (QALYs).ResultsThe model predicted an 18% relative increase (by 2.1 life‐years) in survival for empagliflozin (14.0 life‐years) vs. standard of care (11.9 life‐years), attributable to direct treatment effect on cardiovascular mortality, and to indirect effect via reductions in other events. Participants treated with empagliflozin may experience improved quality of life (1.0 QALY) and higher costs (£3737/participant), yielding an incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) of £4083/QALY. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these results to changes in input parameters.ConclusionsBased on extrapolation of EMPA‐REG OUTCOME trial data using a participant‐level simulation model, empagliflozin in addition to standard of care is projected to be highly cost‐effective using UK healthcare costs. The impact in other countries will vary due to differences in drug pricing and accrual of other costs. (Clinical Trial Registry No: NCT01131676)
Uric acid level, gout and bone mineral density: A Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Lee Young Ho , Song Gwan Gyu 
Published: July 2019

AbstractObjectiveThis study aimed to examine whether the uric acid level or gout is causally associated with bone mineral density (BMD).MethodWe performed a two‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. The statistics dataset, we used was from a meta‐analysis of genome‐wide association studies (GWASs) on uric acid levels from 14 studies with a total of 28 141 participants of European descent, and the dataset for gout from the United Kingdom (UK) Biobank (4807 cases and 3 32 352 controls). We further used the summary statistics dataset of a GWAS on lumbar spine and femur neck (FN) BMDs of individuals of European ancestry (up to 32 735).ResultsThe instrumental variables (IVs) selected were six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the uric acid level GWAS data and 19 SNPs from the gout GWAS data. The inverse‐variance weighted (IVW) method yielded no evidence to support a causal association between the uric acid level or gout and lumbar spine BMD (β = −.002, standard error (SE) = 0.035, P = .951; β = –.700, SE = 0.672, P = .297). MR‐Egger regression revealed no causality between uric acid level, gout and lumbar spine. Similarly, the weighted median approach provided no evidence of causality between uric acid level, gout and lumbar spine BMD. The MR results on FN BMD showed similar patterns with those of the lumbar spine BMD.ConclusionsMendelian randomization analysis did not support a causal association between uric acid level, gout and lumbar spine or FN BMD.
Neuronal chemo‐architecture of the entorhinal cortex: A comparative review
Authors: Kobro‐Flatmoen Asgeir , Witter Menno P. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe identification of neuronal markers, that is, molecules selectively present in subsets of neurons, contributes to our understanding of brain areas and the networks within them. Specifically, recognizing the distribution of different neuronal markers facilitates the identification of borders between functionally distinct brain areas. Detailed knowledge about the localization and physiological significance of neuronal markers may also provide clues to generate new hypotheses concerning aspects of normal and abnormal brain functioning. Here, we provide a comprehensive review on the distribution within the entorhinal cortex of neuronal markers and the morphology of the neurons they reveal. Emphasis is on the comparative distribution of several markers, with a focus on, but not restricted to rodent, monkey and human data, allowing to infer connectional features, across species, associated with these markers, based on what is revealed by mainly rodent data. The overall conclusion from this review is that there is an emerging pattern in the distribution of neuronal markers in the entorhinal cortex when aligning data along a comparable coordinate system in various species.
The value of cerebrospinal fluid α‐synuclein and the tau/α‐synuclein ratio for diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders with Lewy pathology
Authors: Førland M. G. , Tysnes O.‐B. , Aarsland D. , Maple‐Grødem J. , Pedersen K. F. , Alves G. , Lange J. 
Published: July 2019

Background and purposeParkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are three of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. Up to 20% of these patients have the wrong diagnosis, due to overlapping symptoms and shared pathologies. A cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker panel for AD is making its way into the clinic, but an equivalent panel for PD and DLB and for improved differential diagnoses is still lacking. Using well‐defined, community‐based cohorts and validated analytical methods, the diagnostic value of CSF total‐α‐synuclein (t‐α‐syn) alone and in combination with total tau (t‐tau) in newly diagnosed patients with PD, DLB and AD was determined.MethodsCerebrospinal fluid concentrations of t‐α‐syn were assessed using our validated in‐house enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in 78 PD patients, 20 AD patients, 19 DLB patients and 32 controls. t‐tau was measured using a commercial assay. Diagnostic performance was assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.ResultsCompared to controls (mean 517 pg/ml), significantly lower levels of CSF t‐α‐syn in patients with PD (434 pg/ml, 16% reduction, P = 0.036), DLB (398 pg/ml, 23% reduction, P = 0.009) and AD (383 pg/ml, 26% reduction, P = 0.014) were found. t‐α‐syn levels did not differ significantly between PD, DLB and AD. The t‐tau/t‐α‐syn ratio showed an improved performance compared to the single markers.ConclusionThis is the first study to compare patients with PD, DLB and AD at the time of diagnosis. It was found that t‐α‐syn can contribute as a teammate with tau in a CSF biomarker panel for PD and DLB, and strengthen the existing biomarker panel for AD.
Fracture load and chewing simulation of zirconia and stainless‐steel crowns for primary molars
Authors: Kist Stefan , Stawarczyk Bogna , Kollmuss Maximilian , Hickel Reinhard , Huth Karin C. 
Published: July 2019

Aesthetic alternatives to stainless‐steel crowns for restoring primary molars attain growing interest. We studied the mechanical properties of prefabricated zirconia crowns and conventional crowns. Three brands of prefabricated zirconia crowns were compared with computer‐aided design/computer‐aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) zirconia crowns, preveneered stainless‐steel crowns, and conventional stainless‐steel crowns regarding: (i) fracture load under each of three conditions [no pretreatment, artificial aging in saliva for 12 wk, and after chewing simulation/thermocycling (1.68 × 106 cycles/5–55°C)]; and (ii) survival rate during chewing simulation, considering decementation, fracture, chipping, fatigue cracks, and occlusal holes. Without pretreatment, the prefabricated zirconia crowns showed mean fracture load values between 893 N and 1,582 N, while the corresponding values for CAD/CAM zirconia crowns and preveneered stainless‐steel crowns were 2,444 N and 6,251 N. Preveneered stainless‐steel crowns showed significantly lower fracture loads after artificial aging (5,348 N after saliva aging; 3,778 N after chewing simulation) than without artificial aging, whereas the fracture load of zirconia crowns was not influenced negatively. The survival rate of the different groups of zirconia crowns and preveneered stainless‐steel crowns during chewing simulation was 100%, but only 41.7% for the stainless‐steel crowns. These in‐vitro data suggest that prefabricated zirconia crowns are aesthetically and durable alternatives to stainless‐steel crowns for primary molars.
Implications of existing local (mal)adaptations for ecological forecasting under environmental change
Authors: Walters Richard J. , Berger David 
Published: July 2019

AbstractStanding genetic variation represents a genetic load on population fitness but can also support a rapid response to short‐term environmental change, and the greatest potential source of such standing genetic variation typically exists among locally adapted populations living along an environmental gradient. Here, we develop a spatially explicit simulation model to quantify the contribution of existing genetic variation arising from migration–mutation–selection–drift balance to time to extinction under environmental change. Simulations reveal that local adaptation across a species range associated with an underlying environmental gradient could extend time to extinction by nearly threefold irrespective of the rate of environmental change. The potential for preadapted alleles to increase the rate of adaptation changes the relative importance of established extinction risk factors; in particular, it reduced the importance of the breadth of environmental tolerance and it increased the relative importance of fecundity. Although migration of preadapted alleles generally increased persistence time, it decreased it at rates of environmental change close to the critical rate of change by creating a population bottleneck, which ultimately limited the rate at which de novo mutations could arise. An analysis of the extinction dynamics further revealed that one consequence of gene flow is the potential to maximize population growth rate in at least part of the species range, which is likely to have consequences for forecasting the consequences of ecological interactions. Our study shows that predictions of persistence time change fundamentally when existing local adaptations are explicitly taken into account, underscoring the need to preserve and manage genetic diversity.
Increasing antimicrobial resistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole in pediatric Helicobacter pylori infection in southern Taiwan: A comparison between two decades
Authors: Lu Hsiao‐Han , Lai Fu‐Ping , Lo Hsiao‐Yu , Sheu Bor‐Shyang , Yang Yao‐Jong 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBackgroundAntimicrobial resistance of Helicobacter pylori reduces the eradication rate. This study aimed to investigate changes in antimicrobial susceptibility of H pylori isolated from children in Taiwan in the past two decades.MethodsThis study enrolled children receiving esophagogastroduodenoscopy for upper gastrointestinal diseases in a national tertiary referring hospital from 1998 to 2018. H pylori infection was diagnosed by culture. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antibiotics were tested using the E test. The antibiotic resistance rates and MICs of amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, levofloxacin, and tetracycline were compared between 1998‐2008 and 2009‐2018.ResultsA total of 70 Helicobacter pylori isolates (29 from 1998 to 2008 and 41 from 2009 to 2018) were identified. The esophagogastroduodenoscopy findings included duodenal ulcers (n = 31), gastric ulcers (n = 9), and gastritis (n = 30). The overall antimicrobial resistance rates of clarithromycin and metronidazole were 22.9% and 21.4%, respectively. The dual resistance rate of clarithromycin and metronidazole was 10%. Resistance rates of levofloxacin and amoxicillin were 8.3% and 2.9%, respectively. None of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline. Compared with the isolates from 1998 to 2008, those from 2009 to 2018 had higher MICs and resistance rates of clarithromycin (26.8% vs 17.2%, P = 0.35) and metronidazole (26.8% vs 13.8%, P = 0.19), but not levofloxacin (9.8% vs 5.3%, P = 1.0) or coresistance to clarithromycin and metronidazole (12.2% vs 6.9%, P = 0.69).ConclusionsThe antimicrobial resistance rates of pediatric H pylori isolates to clarithromycin and metronidazole increased during the past decade. The selection of antimicrobial agents other than clarithromycin and metronidazole is crucial to increase pediatric H pylori eradication rates.
Trabajar o no trabajar: evolución del compromiso no económico con el empleo y sus determinantes
Authors: SHARABI Moshe , HARPAZ Itzhak 
Published: July 2019

ResumenA partir de datos transversales relativos a Israel de 1981, 1993 y 2006, basados en respuestas a la pregunta de si se seguiría trabajando tras ganar la lotería, se investiga el compromiso no económico con el trabajo (NFEC), tratando de identificar las variables demográficas y las dimensiones del «significado del trabajo» que funcionan como predictores, sobre la base de estudios previos en todo el mundo. Se observa un marcado descenso del NFEC y un cambio en sus determinantes en el nuevo milenio. Los autores lo relacionan con la evolución económica y social reciente, tendiente a un mayor individualismo.
Migrants’ Descendants and New Mobilities between China and Spain
Authors: Masdeu Torruella Irene 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe economic rise of China and the financial crises in Spain have transformed transnational practices between the two countries and have boosted new strategies of mobility among Spanish of Chinese descent. This article examines the relationship that migrants’ descendants establish with their parents’ country of origin from their childhood, and analyses emerging new mobilities towards China undertaken by migrants’ descendants who have attained high degrees of formal education and are looking for a better professional future. The article argues that migrants’ descendants are reshaping the transnational space between the two countries and re‐evaluating their transnational training in order to apply their Spanish and Chinese socio‐cultural skills in their professional careers. The research reveals how migrants’ descendants undertake a migration journey to secure upward social mobility, just as their parents did when migrating to Europe. Hence, social and geographical mobility intersect in opposite directions over time and across generations.
Electronic informed consent: the need to redesign the consent process for the digital age
Authors: Lunt Helen , Connor Saxon , Skinner Helen , Brogden Greg 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe delivery of healthcare, which includes the informed consent process, is moving to a digital environment. This change in informed consent delivery will be associated with opportunities, risks and also unintentional consequences. Physicians are well placed to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about what is needed to make the informed consent process fit for purpose, in the digital age.
Anomalies of the 1919 influenza pandemic remain unexplained after 100 years
Authors: Shanks G. Dennis 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe modern world's most lethal single event, the 1918–1921 influenza pandemic, remains an anomaly which is still unexplained. The pandemic's unprecedented mortality was very unevenly distributed with young adults and isolated populations worst affected. Australia was the last continent involved with about 12 000 influenza deaths in 1919. Most cases were clinically unremarkable and recovered quickly, but a small minority developed severe tracheobronchitis compromising oxygenation and immune defences usually dying in the second week of illness. Histopathology showed massive destruction of the respiratory epithelium with evidence of secondary bacterial invasion. No simple explanation (e.g. hypervirulent virus) is consistent with these observations.
Giving and receiving: Exploring the predictive causality between oil prices and exchange rates
Authors: Gomez‐Gonzalez Jose E. , Hirs‐Garzon Jorge , Uribe Jorge M. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractWe study the dynamic connectedness and predictive causality between oil prices and exchange rates. Our sample includes six important oil‐producing and six net importing countries. Our results show that for the first set of countries, oil prices are net spillover receivers from exchange rate markets. Similarly, there is evidence of bidirectional Granger causality, which is detected for longer time periods from these countries’ exchange rates to oil prices. In contrast, for the second set of countries, oil prices are net spillover transmitters, and the causality is stronger from oil prices to exchange rates, mainly in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis. However, even for this group of countries, there are long periods of time for which exchange‐rate markets transmit spillovers to oil markets. Overall, oil markets are net receivers of shocks during most of the sample period, thus providing evidence in favor of the oil‐financialization hypothesis.
Into the deep: science, politics and law in conflicts over marine dumping of mine waste
Authors: Coumans Catherine 
Published: July 2019

AbstractNational and international deliberations about whether the global mining industry should be permitted to use the earth's seas as mine waste dumps are not decided on the basis of independent scientific data from past or existing sites. Nor is a critical lack of scientific knowledge about the deep sea environment and about the long‐term consequences of marine dumping triggering the precautionary principle for proposed projects. Rather, governments make decisions on submarine tailings disposal (STD) on a mine‐by‐mine basis, in a context of contested scientific claims, considerable political and economic pressure, and, sometimes, contravening or amending existing legislation to allow a project to proceed. These decisions provoke complex social processes that commonly involve: local opposition; political conflict; regulatory and legal challenges; powerful industry lobbies; international financial institutions, and resource‐hungry states. STD projects engender controversy in developing countries, such as Papua New Guinea (Divecha 2002; Shearman 2002a), Indonesia (Edinger 2012; Glynn 2002) and the Philippines (Coumans et al. 2002; Coumans and MaCEC 2002), but also in Canada (Cultural Survival 1982) and Norway (Kvassness et al. 2009). This paper examines cases drawn from the Philippines, Canada and Papua New Guinea to illustrate common themes that arise in conflicts surrounding STD mine projects.
Phase and microstructural evolution in lithium silicate glass‐ceramics with externally added nucleating agent
Authors: Kolay Santa , Bhargava Parag 
Published: July 2019

AbstractDevelopment of lithium disilicate‐based glass‐ceramics critically depends on use of nucleating agent in the glass matrix. The present study reports the effect of externally added nucleating agent Li3PO4 in Li2O–K2O–MgO–ZnO–ZrO2–Al2O3–SiO2 system which is compared with a reference composition (GC1) (SiO2:Li2O = 2.16:1) prepared with in situ formed Li3PO4. For externally added Li3PO4, two compositions were studied. In one case (GC2) before addition of Li3PO4, SiO2:Li2O ratio in glass was maintained as 2.87:1 and in another case (GC3) SiO2:Li2O ratio in glass was maintained same as reference GC1 that is, 2.16:1. The glasses were characterized by using MAS‐NMR spectroscopy. Sintering and crystallization behavior of the glass‐ceramics was characterized by using XRD, SEM, DTA. Due to in situ formation of Li3PO4, GC1 resulted in a dense sample with finer crystals of lithium disilicate. In GC2 and GC3, externally added lithium phosphate, which was in the form of ultrafine aggregated particles, formed flower‐like colonies of radially outward crystals. Higher SiO2:Li2O ratio in GC2 resulted in lithium disilicate crystals and high viscous glass causing large air entrapment and so less densification. GC3 with higher lithia in glass showed higher densification than GC2 but only lithium metasilicate crystals were formed.