bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Radiotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Results in Comparable Survival to Radiofrequency Ablation: A Propensity Score Analysis
Authors: Hara Koji , Takeda Atsuya , Tsurugai Yuichiro , Saigusa Yusuke , Sanuki Naoko , Eriguchi Takahisa , Maeda Shin , Tanaka Katsuaki , Numata Kazushi 
Published: February 2019

Potentially curative treatments for early‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have drawbacks and contraindications. Recently, radiotherapy has achieved good outcomes. We compared the outcomes of radiotherapy and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for early‐stage HCC. Consecutive patients with ≤3 early‐stage HCC lesions and tumor diameters ≤3 cm treated with RFA or radiotherapy were reviewed. RFA was the first choice for HCC unsuitable for surgery. Otherwise, stereotactic body radiotherapy in five fractions was mainly performed. For HCC adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract, radiotherapy with mild hypofractionation was performed. Propensity score matching was performed to reduce the selection bias between the RFA and radiotherapy groups. Between 2012 and 2016, a total of 231 patients with 474 tumors and 143 patients with 221 tumors were eligible and were treated with RFA and radiotherapy, respectively. In an unmatched comparison, the 3‐year local recurrence rate was significantly lower for radiotherapy than for RFA (5.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7‐9.2; versus 12.9%, 95% CI, 9.9‐16.2) (P < 0.01). A propensity score matching analysis of 106 patients in each group successfully matched the two treatment groups with regard to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging, T stage, and tumor size but not the adjacency of the tumor to risk organs or first or salvage treatment. The 3‐year overall survival rates for RFA and radiotherapy patients were comparable (69.1%; 95% CI, 58.2‐77.7; and 70.4%; 95% CI, 58.5‐79.4, respectively; P = 0.86). Conclusion: Radiotherapy has excellent local control and comparable overall survival in patients with well‐compensated liver function, exhibiting advantageous characteristics and compensating for the deficiencies of other treatment modalities; radiotherapy appears to be an acceptable alternative treatment option for patients who are not candidates for RFA.
Evaluating the effectiveness of a website about masculinity and suicide to prompt help‐seeking
Authors: King Kylie , Schlichthorst Marisa , Turnure Jackie , Phelps Andrea , Spittal Matthew J. , Pirkis Jane 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIssue addressedA website was designed to form the core of a multimedia strategy surrounding the Man Up documentary – a three‐part documentary that aimed to address the problem of male suicide in Australia. Together these formed a media‐based, public health intervention that explored the link between masculinity and suicide and promoted help‐seeking. This is of great importance given the demonstrated link between masculine norms, men's reduced help‐seeking and suicidal thinking. This study assesses the website's effectiveness in facilitating help‐seeking and fostering conversations about suicide, mental health and help‐seeking. Help‐seeking indicators included website clicks to helping organisations, downloads of health information from the website and request for help received via emails.MethodsGoogle Analytics data, emails to the Man Up team received through the website and open‐ended responses to an online survey were analysed.ResultsThe website reached 43 140 users. Indictors of help‐seeking activity on the website included 307 outbound clicks to helping organisations and 802 downloads of health information. Qualitative analysis of emails received and responses to the survey demonstrated that Man Up's messages resonated with viewers and provided further evidence of help‐seeking.ConclusionThe findings demonstrate that the website provided an important opportunity for people to engage with Man Up and seek help.So what?Media‐based public health interventions offer enormous potential to provide suicide prevention interventions and promote help‐seeking. The website evaluation findings provide insight into the ways in which websites can be used as part of a multimedia strategy to address the problem of male suicide.
Numerical estimation of pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics in annular‐finned channel heat exchangers with different channel configurations
Authors: Al Doori Wadhah H. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn this numerical investigation, three‐dimensional analysis has been used to study the effect of finned channels configuration of (circular, square, and triangular shape) and fin spacing with four rows in staggered arrangements. The finite volume method with k‐
ω turbulent model is applied to estimate the heat transfer and flow characteristics. The results illustrate that the development of the boundary layer between the fins surfaces is credited to the finned channels configuration, fin spacing, and Reynolds number. Moreover, the results of pressure drop and heat transfer with various channel configuration and different fin spacings (1.6, 2, and 4 mm) are presented and validated with the available correlations. The triangular‐finned channel with 1.6 mm fin spacing offered higher heat transfer enhancement followed by square‐ and circular‐finned channels. A considerable agreement was observed when the current findings and the existing correlations were compared, with a maximum deviation of 15% for all the cases.
Natural convective flow of a chemically reacting fluid in an annulus
Authors: Roy Nepal C. , Hossain Anwar , Gorla Rama S. R. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractWe examine the heat transfer and flow properties induced by natural convection in an annulus between a square enclosure and a circular cylinder filled with a chemically reacting fluid. During the exothermic reaction process in the reacting fluid, there generates heat that induces natural convection in the annulus. The problem is developed defining the vorticity‐stream function. We solve it with the use of the finite difference method. The results show that two counter‐rotating vortices generate in each half about the vertical symmetry line through the center of the inner cylinder. The lower eddies of the inner vortices get closer and closer with the decrease of the aspect ratio and the increase of the Rayleigh number, Frank‐Kamenetskii number, buoyancy force parameter, and Lewis number. Besides this, the eyes of the outer vortices expose similar characteristics for increasing values of the Rayleigh number and buoyancy force parameter, and for decreasing values of the aspect ratio and the Lewis number. It is remarkable that the flow field and the Nusselt number demonstrate completely distinct characteristics for the Lewis number unity, the aspect ratio equal to 0.1, and in the absence of the buoyancy force parameter.
Advancing Theoretical Frameworks for Intersectional Research on Women in STEM
Authors: Gaston Gayles Joy , Smith Katie N. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractResearch on women in STEM often silences the voices of minoritized populations, such as women of color, in
part because the most commonly used theoretical frameworks do not center or contextualize their experiences. This chapter highlights the importance of critical perspectives and methodologies such as intersectionality in research design. We conclude with implications for using critical approaches to disrupt the status quo and advance minoritized populations in STEM.
Institutional Practices and Policies for Recruiting and Supporting Undergraduate Women in Engineering Across Four‐Year Institutions
Authors: Trautvetter Lois Calian 
Published: February 2019

AbstractHow do undergraduate student experiences and STEM gender gaps differ across diverse postsecondary sectors and programmatic contexts? The research presented uses mixed methods to examine how institutional cultures, practices, and policies play roles in both recruiting and retaining undergraduate women in engineering. Practical examples are provided. Furthermore, challenges for supporting faculty/staff who provide outreach and advice to students regarding academic and professional careers as well as future research directions are discussed.
Biochemical properties and oxalate‐degrading activity of oxalate decarboxylase from bacillus subtilis at neutral pH
Authors: Conter Carolina , Oppici Elisa , Dindo Mirco , Rossi Luigia , Magnani Mauro , Cellini Barbara 
Published: February 2019

AbstractOxalate decarboxylase (OxDC) from Bacillus subtilis is a Mn‐dependent hexameric enzyme that converts oxalate to carbon dioxide and formate. OxDC has greatly attracted the interest of the scientific community, mainly due to its biotechnological and medical applications in particular for the treatment of hyperoxaluria, a group of pathologic conditions caused by oxalate accumulation. The enzyme has an acidic optimum pH, but most of its applications involve processes occurring at neutral pH. Nevertheless, a detailed biochemical characterization of the enzyme at neutral pH is lacking. Here, we compared the structural–functional properties at acidic and neutral pH of wild‐type OxDC and of a mutant form, called OxDC‐DSSN, bearing four amino acid substitutions in the lid (Ser161‐to‐Asp, Glu162‐to‐Ser, Asn163‐toSer, and Ser164‐to‐Asn) that improve the oxalate oxidase activity and almost abolish the decarboxylase activity. We found that both enzymatic forms do not undergo major structural changes as a function of pH, although OxDC‐DSSN displays an increased tendency to aggregation, which is counteracted by the presence of an active‐site ligand. Notably, OxDC and OxDC‐DSSN at pH 7.2 retain 7 and 15% activity, respectively, which is sufficient to degrade oxalate in a cellular model of primary hyperoxaluria type I, a rare inherited disease caused by excessive endogenous oxalate production. The significance of the data in the light of the possible use of OxDC as biological drug is discussed. © 2019 IUBMB Life, 1–11, 2019
Impact of professional continuous glucose monitoring by clinical pharmacists in an ambulatory care setting
Authors: Van Dril Elizabeth , Schumacher Christie 
Published: February 2019

IntroductionUse of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in the management of diabetes continues to grow. Despite professional‐use CGM serving as an opportunity for clinical pharmacists to improve care and generate revenue for managing patients with diabetes, there is limited literature describing their involvement with this technology.ObjectivesThe primary objective was to determine if professional CGM improves measures of glycemic control including percentage of time in target glycemic range, change in estimated average interstitial glucose, and change in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from baseline to postintervention. Secondary objectives were to evaluate revenue generation measured by reimbursement rates for Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes 95250 and 95251 and utilization of clinical pharmacist services related to professional CGM.MethodsThis was a quasi‐experimental, retrospective, pre‐post intervention analysis. Patients that had a professional CGM placed and more than 24 hours of data interpreted by a clinical pharmacist were included for analysis. All clinical data were extracted from patients' electronic medical records, while reimbursement data were provided by the organization's billing department.ResultsTwenty‐nine patients that received professional CGM were included for analysis. Patients' mean baseline and post‐intervention HbA1c were 9.0% and 8.3%, respectively (P = 0.156). There was no difference in the mean percentage of time in target glycemic range (P = 0.966) or mean estimated average interstitial glucose (P = 0.779) from baseline to post‐intervention. Patients met with clinical pharmacists for a total of 68 follow‐up visits during their individual 14‐day wear periods, 14 of which were unanticipated visits. The mean payment amount for CPT code 95250 was $126.87, while $39.17 was received for 95251.ConclusionsClinical pharmacist‐led professional CGM did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference in measures of glycemic control; however, the 14‐day device wear period provided opportunities for optimization of antihyperglycemic therapy that resulted in a clinically significant reduction in HbA1c and reimbursement for clinical pharmacy services.
Value of a clinical pharmacy on‐call program on postgraduate year one pharmacy residents
Authors: Coglianese Nicole M. , Jarrett Jennie B. 
Published: February 2019

IntroductionOn‐call programs are innovative learning opportunities within pharmacy residencies to assist residents in fostering critical thinking skills, communication skills, and clinical autonomy. The objective of this study is to determine the perceived educational and professional value of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) on‐call program on postgraduate year one (PGY1) pharmacy residency alumni.MethodsA prospective, cross‐sectional survey was conducted from 1 March 2018 to 1 April 2018 among pharmacy residency alumni who participated in the UIC pharmacy residency on‐call program between 2000 and 2017. The primary outcome of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of the value of the on‐call program from pharmacy residents relating to pharmacotherapeutic areas strengthened and professional skill development. The secondary outcomes of this study were to evaluate how pharmacy residents perceived the on‐call program to affect their interprofessional outcomes and utilization in their current professional role. Quantitative results were analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsNinety‐five PGY1 pharmacy residency alumni responded to the electronic survey about the on‐call program; response rate of 58.6%. Overall, alumni reported a high satisfaction (93/94; 98.9%) and positive perception (93/94; 98.9%) of the on‐call program as a highly valuable component of the PGY1 residency program. PGY1 pharmacy residents reported participating in a variety of clinical practice activities across many specialties (infectious diseases, critical care, emergency medicine, and general medicine) while on call. Lastly, the on‐call program is a highly interprofessional experience allowing interactions with a variety of health care providers (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and advanced practice providers).DiscussionThe UIC on‐call program provided an overall positive experience for PGY1 pharmacy residents that felt that the experience exposed them to a variety of pharmacotherapeutic knowledge areas and strengthened their clinical skills. Furthermore, the UIC on‐call program is perceived to be a highly interprofessional experience.
Schizandrin protects H9c2 cells against lipopolysaccharide‐induced injury by downregulating Smad3
Authors: Zhang Xuehua , Zhao Yanyan , Bai Dong , Yuan Xiutai , Cong Shan 
Published: February 2019

AbstractSchizandrin is a major bioactive constituent of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill with antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory properties. The objective of this study was to explore the potential effects of schizandrin on a cell model of myocarditis. The H9c2 cells were treated with schizandrin alone or in combination with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), after which, cell survival, migration, and the release of inflammatory cytokines were assessed. Moreover, downstream effectors and signaling pathways were studied to reveal the possible underlying mechanism. As a result, LPS stimulation induced significant cell damage as cell viability was repressed and the apoptosis was induced. In the meantime, LPS promoted the release of proinflammatory cytokines including interleukin 1β (IL‐1β), IL‐8, IL‐6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF‐α) while repressing the release of the anti‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐10. Schizandrin could promote H9c2 cell migration and long‐term treatment (7 days) enhanced cell viability. More interestingly, pretreatment with schizandrin attenuated LPS‐induced cell loss and inflammatory response. Besides this, Smad3 was a downstream effector of schizandrin. The beneficial effects of schizandrin on the H9c2 cells were attenuated when Smad3 was overexpressed. Moreover, the silencing of Smad3 deactivated c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) and nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) pathways. This study preliminarily demonstrated that schizandrin prevented LPS‐induced injury in the H9c2 cells and promoted the recovery of myocardial tissues by enhancing cell viability and migration. Schizandrin conferred its beneficial effects possibly by downregulating Smad3 and inhibiting the activation of JNK and NF‐κB pathways.
Changing expression profiles of mRNA, lncRNA, circRNA, and miRNA in lung tissue reveal the pathophysiological of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in mouse model
Authors: Wang Juan , Yin Jing , Wang Xingyun , Liu Heng , Hu Yin , Yan Xiangyun , Zhuang Bin , Yu Zhangbin , Han Shuping 
Published: February 2019

AbstractNew perinatal care technologies have improved the survival rate of preterm neonates, but the prevalence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), one of the most intractable problems in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), remains unchanged. In present study, high‐throughput sequencing (HTS) was performed to detect the expression profiles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and microRNAs (miRNAs) in hyperoxia‐induced BPD mouse model. Significant differentially expressed RNAs were selected and clustered between the BPD group and the control group. The results revealed that expressions of 1778 lncRNAs, 1240 mRNAs, 97 circRNAs, and 201 miRNAs were significantly altered in the BPD group. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were performed to predict the potential functions of differentially expressed RNAs. lncRNA‐mRNA and circRNA‐miRNA coexpression networks were constructed to detect their association with the pathogenesis of BPD. Our study provides a systematic perspective on the potential function of RNAs during BPD.
Inhibition of TREM‐1 attenuates inflammation and lipid accumulation in diet‐induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Authors: Rao Shenzong , Huang Jingsong , Shen Zhijun , Xiang Changgang , Zhang Min , Lu Xueliang 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn the liver tissues of obese diabetic or nondiabetic patients, triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells‐1 (TREM‐1) is usually found to be upregulated, thus leading to upregulation of various inflammatory cytokines and lipid accumulation. On the other hand, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by excess lipid accumulation, and inflammatory injury in liver, is becoming an epidemic disease, globally. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the biological role and the underlying mechanisms of TREM‐1 in NAFLD. upregulation of TREM‐1 occurred in high‐fat diet (HFD)‐induced mice NAFLD model and oleic acid‐treated HepG2 and primary mouse hepatocytes cell model at messenger RNA and protein levels. Functional studies established that overexpression of TREM‐1 displayed hyperlipidemia, and increased in inflammatory indicators and lipid accumulation‐related genes, which was ameliorated by knockdown of TREM‐1. Our results also showed that obvious lipid accumulation and inflammatory injury occurred in the liver tissue of HFD‐fed mice, while treatment with lentiviral vector short hairpin TREM showed marked improvement in tissue morphology and architecture and less lipid accumulation, thus deciphering the mechanism through which knockdown of TREM‐1 ameliorated the inflammatory response and lipid accumulation of NAFLD mice through inactivation of the nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) and PI3K/AKT signal pathways, respectively. In conclusion, TREM‐1/NF‐κB and TREM‐1/PI3K/AKT axis could be an important mechanism in ameliorating the inflammatory response and lipid accumulation, respectively, thus shedding light on the development of novel therapeutics to the treatment of NAFLD.
Genetic association study of promoter variation rs3761549 in the FOXP3 gene of Iranian patients diagnosed with brain tumour
Authors: Moradi Mehdi , Naeimi Sirous , Asadzade Shekofeh , Rahi Azar 
Published: February 2019

AbstractForkhead box P3 (FOXP3) gene (Gene ID: 50943, Xp11.23) is an X‐linked gene that encodes FOXP3 protein, an essential transcription factor in CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3 regulatory T (Treg) cells. FOXP3 mutation has been linked with the pathogenesis of several tumours; however, little is known about the role of single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in its promoter region and its correlation with brain tumour. In the present study, we have investigated the association between SNPs in the promoter region of FOXP3 gene, a promoter SNP, −2383 C/T (rs3761549) with susceptibility to brain cancer in a population of Iran. The distribution of case, control, age and sex was balanced and with rs3761549 C/T allele frequencies distribution also falling in Hardy‐Weinberg equilibrium (P = 0.053 and 0.062). The allele C of rs3761549 is lower in the brain tumour cases when compared with the controls (364 vs 392, P = 0.005). The frequency of combined T variant genotype (TT + CT) was significantly higher in the brain cancer cases compared with the controls (28 vs 8, P = 0.001), which was consistent with the T allele distribution. When we used the CC genotype as a reference, we found that both CT and TT genotypes were associated with a higher risk of developing brain tumour (odds ratio [OR], 0.3583; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.164‐0.8197 and OR, 0; 95% CI, 0‐0.4118, respectively).
Integration of metabolomic and transcriptomic profiles to identify biomarkers in serum of lung cancer
Authors: Sun Quan , Zhao Wei , Wang Lei , Guo Fei , Song Dongjian , Zhang Qian , Zhang Da , Fan Yingzhong , Wang Jiaxiang 
Published: February 2019

AbstractWe used blood serum samples collected from 31 lung cancer (LC) patients and 29 healthy volunteers in this study. Levels of serum metabolites were qualitative quantified with gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), and the data were analyzed by partial least‐squares discrimination analysis (PLS‐DA). Based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database, we performed pathway‐based analysis utilizing metabolites presented at differential abundance between the LC serum samples and the normal healthy serum samples for systematical investigation on the metabolic alterations associated with LC pathogenesis. Finally, we analyzed the significantly enriched pathways as well as their relevant differentially expressed messenger RNAs, and drawn a correlation network plot to identify the serum metabolic biomarkers and the significantly altered metabolic pathways for LC. GC‐MS analysis showed that 23 of the 169 metabolites identified were significantly different. PLS‐DA model revealed that 13 of these metabolites were with variable importance > 1, and particularly five were with area under curve > 0.9. Pathway‐based analysis demonstrated that five of eight enriched metabolic pathways were statistically significant with false discovery rate < 0.05. Lastly, the correlation networks between these pathways and their related genes suggested that 29 genes had correlation degree > 10, which were mainly engaged in the purine metabolism. In conclusion, we identified indole‐3‐lactate, erythritol, adenosine‐5‐phosphate, paracetamol and threitol as serum metabolic biomarkers for LC through metabolomics analysis. Besides, we identified the purine metabolism as the significantly altered metabolic pathway in LC with the help of transcriptomics analysis.