bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Why the long face? Static allometry in the sexually dimorphic phenotypes of Neotropical electric fishes
Authors: Evans Kory M , Bernt Maxwell J , Kolmann Matthew A , Ford Kassandra L , Albert James S 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
The evolution of sexually dimorphic traits is thought to have marked effects on underlying patterns of static allometry. These traits can negatively affect organismal survivability by creating trade-offs between trait size and performance. Here we use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to study the static allometry of two species of sexually dimorphic electric fishes (Apteronotus rostratus and Compsaraia samueli) in which mature males grow elongate jaws used in agonistic male–male interactions. We also estimate jaw-closing performance between the sexes of both species to track changes in kinematic transmission associated with the development of sexual weaponry. We find significantly different patterns of static allometry between the sexes of both species, with males exhibiting more positive allometric slopes relative to females. We also find a negative relationship between skull shape and mandibular kinematic transmission in C. samueli, suggesting a trade-off where males with longer faces exhibit lower mechanical advantages, suggesting weaker jaw leverage. In contrast, males and females of A. rostratus exhibit no difference between sexes in mechanical advantage associated with facial elongation.
Poor Sleep Quality in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis at the Time of Diagnosis
Authors: Diaz-Abad Montserrat , Buczyner Jennifer R. , Venza Brigit R. , Scharf Steven M. , Kwan Justin Y. , Lubinski Brooke , Russell James W. 
Published: November 2018

Objectives:
Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have poor sleep quality, but little is known about which factors affect sleep at time of diagnosis.

Methods:
Patients with newly diagnosed ALS were administered the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Beck Depression Inventory–Revised, and ALS Functional Rating Scale and were compared with controls.

Results:
Forty-three patients, age 63.8 ± 11.5 years, ALS Functional Rating Scale 30.7 ± 5.0. Poor sleep quality was frequent: 27 (63%) patients had PSQI >5 compared with 16 (37%) controls (P = 0.031); with higher PSQI (7.1 ± 4.1 vs. 4.7 ± 2.8, P = 0.003). PSQI correlated with Beck Depression Inventory–Revised (r = 0.344, P = 0.024) and inability to turn in bed (r = −0.335, P = 0.033).

Conclusions:
Patients with newly diagnosed ALS have poor sleep quality, which is associated with depression and difficulty turning in bed. Longitudinal studies to examine the evolution of sleep quality and the effectiveness of individualized interventions are needed in patients with ALS.
The Case–Crossover Design for Drug–Drug Interactions
Authors: Bykov Katsiaryna , Mittleman Murray A. , Glynn Robert J. , Schneeweiss Sebastian , Gagne Joshua J. 
Published: November 2018

Background:
The case–crossover design may be useful for evaluating the clinical impact of drug–drug interactions in electronic healthcare data; however, experience with the design in this context is limited.

Methods:
Using US healthcare claims data (1994–2013), we evaluated two examples of interacting drugs with prior evidence of harm: (1) cytochrome P450 (CYP)3A4-metabolized statins + clarithromycin or erythromycin and rhabdomyolysis; and (2) clopidogrel + fluoxetine or fluvoxamine and ischemic events. We conducted case–crossover analyses with (1) a three-parameter model with a product term and a six-parameter saturated model that distinguished initiation order of the two drugs; and (2) with or without active comparators.

Results:
In the statin example, the three-parameter model produced estimates consistent with prior evidence with the active comparator (product term odds ratio [OR] = 2.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00, 4.23) and without (OR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.04, 3.81). In the clopidogrel example, this model produced results opposite of expectation (OR = 0.78, 95% = 0.68, 0.89), but closer to what was observed in prior studies when active comparator was used (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.90, 1.19). The saturated model revealed heterogeneity of estimates across strata and considerable confounding; strata with concordant clopidogrel exposure likely produced the least biased estimates.

Conclusion:
The three-parameter model assumes a common drug–drug interaction effect, whereas the saturated model is useful for identifying potential effect heterogeneity or differential confounding across strata. Restriction to certain strata or use of an active comparator may be necessary in the presence of within-person confounding.
Nursing Interventions to Reduce Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Occlusion for Cancer Patients
Authors: Pan Mengting , Meng Aifeng , Yin Rong , Zhi Xiaoxu , Du Shizheng , Shi Ruchu , Zhu Ping , Cheng Fang , Sun Mengqing , Li Cheng , Fang Hong 
Published: November 2018

Background
Cancer patients are considered the most at risk of the consequences of catheter occlusion. Therefore, nursing interventions that can effectively reduce the occlusion of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) lines must be identified to ensure a smooth treatment.

Objective
This study aimed to evaluate nursing interventions to minimize PICC line occlusion and make recommended measures for preventing or decreasing occlusion and abnormal extubation.

Methods
Studies about PICC occlusion that were published up to January 2017 were searched and screened in PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct (Elsevier), EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Chinese databases CNKI and Wanfang. Two independent reviewers screened the literature in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, assessed the quality of the included studies, and extracted the data. Further meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3.

Results
Thirteen trials were included. Meta-analysis revealed that education for nurses (relative risk, 0.31; 95% confidence interval, 0.19–0.51; P < .00001) was significantly associated with PICC occlusion, whereas PICC type (relative risk, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.32–1.15; P = .12) was not significantly associated with PICC occlusion. The solution to washing pipes and the PICC insertion techniques were descriptively analyzed to reach statistical significance.

Conclusion
This study determined the correlation of PICC occlusion with the nurses’ knowledge and skills, PICC types, flushing liquid and methods, and insertion techniques.

Implications for Practice
The findings of this study can serve as a guide for clinical work and for developing targeted measures to reduce occlusion.
The Effect of Psychoeducation on Anxiety in Women Undergoing Their Initial Breast Cancer Screening Mammography
Authors: Lungulescu Cristian Virgil , Lungulescu Cristina , Lungulescu Livia Teodora , Artene Stefan-Alexandru , Cazacu Irina Mihaela , Varju Peter , Dinescu Sorin , Danciulescu Mihaela , Gheorman Victor 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
We conducted a prospective, randomized, single-blinded study to determine whether a psychoeducational intervention for patients undergoing screening mammography could influence the level of anxiety related to the procedure. Fifty women undergoing mammography for the first time were included in the study and randomized to two groups. In the study group, patients received a psychoeducational session before mammography. In the control group, psychoeducation was not applied. To evaluate the level of anxiety, we used the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. State Anxiety Scale (S-Anxiety) score and Trait Anxiety Scale (T-Anxiety) scores were assessed before and after mammography in both groups. After evaluating the S-Anxiety score in the study group before mammography and after the procedure, a statistically significant difference (p = 0.043) was observed. In contrast, no statistically significant changes were noticed in the control group (p = 0.886). Our study showed that psychoeducation reduced state anxiety among the participants of a breast cancer screening.
Early Heart Rate Variability and Electroencephalographic Abnormalities in Acutely Brain-Injured Children Who Progress to Brain Death*
Authors: Piantino Juan A. , Lin Amber , Crowder Daniel , Williams Cydni N. , Perez-Alday Erick , Tereshchenko Larisa G. , Newgard Craig D. 
Published: November 2018

Objectives:
Heart rate variability is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. After brain death, this autonomic control stops, and heart rate variability is significantly decreased. However, it is unknown if early changes in heart rate variability are predictive of progression to brain death. We hypothesized that in brain-injured children, lower heart rate variability is an early indicator of autonomic system failure, and it predicts progression to brain death. We additionally explored the association between heart rate variability and markers of brain dysfunction such as electroencephalogram and neurologic examination between brain-injured children who progressed to brain death and those who survived.

Design:
Retrospective case-control study.

Setting:
PICU, single institution.

Patients:
Children up to 18 years with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of less than 8 admitted between August of 2016 and December of 2017, who had electrocardiographic data available for heart rate variability analysis, were included. Exclusion criteria: patients who died of causes other than brain death. Twenty-three patients met inclusion criteria: six progressed to brain death (cases), and 17 survived (controls). Five-minute electrocardiogram segments were used to estimate heart rate variability in the time domain (sd of normal-normal intervals, root mean square successive differences), frequency domain (low frequency, high frequency, low frequency/high frequency ratio), Poincaré plots, and approximate entropy.

Interventions:
None.

Measurements and Main Results:
Patients who progressed to brain death exhibited significantly lower heart rate variability in the time domain, frequency domain, and Poincaré plots (p < 0.01). The odds of death increased with decreasing low frequency (odds ratio, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.2–13.6) and high frequency (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.2–5.4) heart rate variability power (p < 0.03). Heart rate variability was significantly lower in those with discontinuous or attenuated/featureless electroencephalogram versus those with slow/disorganized background (p < 0.03).

Conclusions:
These results support the concept of autonomic system failure as an early indicator of impending brain death in brain-injured children. Furthermore, decreased heart rate variability is associated with markers of CNS dysfunction such as electroencephalogram abnormalities.
Cardiac Arrest in the Pediatric Cardiac ICU: Is Medical Congenital Heart Disease a Predictor of Survival?*
Authors: Dhillon Gurpreet S. , Lasa Javier J. , Aggarwal Varun , Checchia Paul A. , Bavare Aarti C. 
Published: November 2018

Objectives:
Children with medical cardiac disease experience poorer survival to hospital discharge after cardiopulmonary arrest compared with children with surgical cardiac disease. Limited literature exists describing epidemiology and factors associated with mortality in this heterogeneous population. We aim to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes after cardiopulmonary arrest in medical cardiac patients.

Design:
We performed a retrospective review of pediatric cardiac patients who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a tertiary care cardiac ICU. Surgical cardiac patients underwent cardiac surgery immediately prior to ICU admission. Nonsurgical cardiac patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of congenital heart disease: congenital heart disease medical or noncongenital heart disease medical. Clinical and outcome variables were collected. Primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge.

Settings:
Texas Children’s Hospital cardiac ICU.

Patients:
Patients admitted to Texas Children’s Hospital cardiac ICU between January 2011 and December 2016.

Interventions:
None.

Measurements and Main Results:
Of 150 cardiopulmonary arrest events reviewed, 90 index events were included (46 surgical, 26 congenital heart disease medical, and 18 noncongenital heart disease medical). There was no difference in primary outcome among the three groups. The absence of an epinephrine infusion precardiopulmonary arrest was associated with increased odds of survival in the congenital heart disease medical group (p = 0.03). Noncongenital heart disease medical patients experienced pulseless ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation more frequently than congenital heart disease medical patients (p = 0.02). Congenital heart disease medical patients had trends toward longer cardiac arrest durations, higher prevalence of neurologic sequelae postcardiopulmonary arrest, and higher mortality when extracorporeal support at cardiopulmonary resuscitation was employed.

Conclusions:
Although trends in first documented rhythm, neurologic sequelae, and inotropic support prior to cardiopulmonary arrest were noted between groups, no significant differences in survival after cardiac arrest were seen. Larger scale studies are needed to better describe factors associated with cardiopulmonary arrest as well as survival in heterogeneous medical cardiac populations.
Hidden in plain sight: What remains to be discovered in the eukaryotic proteome?
Authors: Wood Valerie , Lock Antonia , Harris Midori A. , Rutherford Kim , Bähler Jürg , Oliver Stephen G. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe first decade of genome sequencing stimulated an explosion in the characterization of unknown proteins. More recently, the pace of functional discovery has slowed, leaving around 20% of the proteins even in well-studied model organisms without informative descriptions of their biological roles. Remarkably, many uncharacterized proteins are conserved from yeasts to human, suggesting that they contribute to fundamental biological processes. To fully understand biological systems in health and disease, we need to account for every part of the system. Unstudied proteins thus represent a collective blind spot that limits the progress of both basic and applied biosciences.We use a simple yet powerful metric based on Gene Ontology (GO) biological process terms to define characterized and uncharacterized proteins for human, budding yeast, and fission yeast. We then identify a set of conserved but unstudied proteins in S. pombe, and classify them based on a combination of orthogonal attributes determined by large-scale experimental and comparative methods. Finally, we explore possible reasons why these proteins remain neglected, and propose courses of action to raise their profile and thereby reap the benefits of completing the catalog of proteins’ biological roles.
Deep Residual Learning for Neuroimaging: An application to Predict Progression to Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Abrol Anees , Bhattarai Manish , Fedorov Alex , Du Yuhui , Plis Sergey , Calhoun Vince D. ,   for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTThis work investigates the suitability of deep residual neural networks (ResNets) for studying neuroimaging data in the specific application of predicting progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We focus on predicting the subset of MCI individuals that would progress to AD within three years (progressive MCI) and the subset of MCI individuals that do not progress to AD within this period (stable MCI). This prediction was conducted first as a standard binary classification task by training a ResNet architecture using MCI individuals only, followed by a modified domain transfer learning version that additionally trained on the AD and cognitively normal (CN) individuals. For this modified inter-MCI classification task, the ResNet architecture achieved a significant performance improvement over the classical support vector machine and the stacked autoencoder machine learning frameworks (p< 0.005), numerically better than state-of-the-art performance in predicting progression to AD using structural MRI data alone (> 7% than the second-best performing method) and within 1% of the state-of-the-art performance considering learning using multiple structural modalities as well. The learnt predictive models in this modified classification task showed highly similar peak activations, significant correspondence of which in the medial temporal lobe and other areas could be established with previous reports in AD literature, thus further validating our findings. Our results highlight the possibility of early identification of modifiable risk factors for understanding progression to AD using similar advanced deep learning architectures.
Genomic signatures of evolutionary rescue in bats surviving white-nose syndrome
Authors: Gignoux-Wolfsohn Sarah A. , Pinsky Malin L. , Kerwin Kathleen , Herzog Carl , Hall MacKenzie , Bennett Alyssa B. , Fefferman Nina H. , Maslo Brooke 
Published: November 2018

AbstractRapid evolution of advantageous traits following abrupt environmental change can help populations grow and avoid extinction through evolutionary rescue. Here, we provide the first genetic evidence for rapid evolution in bat populations affected by white-nose syndrome (WNS). By comparing genetic samples from before and after little brown bat populations were decimated by WNS, we identified signatures of soft selection on standing genetic variation. This selection occurred at multiple loci in genes linked to hibernation behavior rather than immune function, suggesting that differences in hibernation strategy have allowed these bats to survive infection with WNS. Through these findings, we suggest that evolutionary rescue can be a conservationrelevant process even in slowly reproducing taxa threatened with extinction.
Macrophages utilize a bet-hedging strategy for antimicrobial activity in phagolysosomal acidification
Authors: Dragotakes Quigly , Stouffer Kaitlin , Fu Man Shun , Sella Yehonatan , Youn Christine , Yoon Insun , De Leon-Rodriguez Carlos M. , Freij Joudeh B. , Bergman Aviv , Casadevall Arturo 
Published: November 2018

AbstractMicrobial ingestion by a macrophage results in the formation of an acidic phagolysosome but the host cell has no information on the pH susceptibility of the ingested organism. This poses a problem for the macrophage and raises the fundamental question of how the phagocytic cell optimizes the acidification process to prevail. We analyzed the dynamical distribution of phagolysosomal pH in murine and human macrophages that had ingested live or dead Cryptococcus neoformans cells, or inert beads. Phagolysosomal acidification produced a range of pH values that approximated normal distributions, but these differed from normality depending on ingested particle type. Analysis of the increments of pH reduction revealed no forbidden ordinal patterns, implying that phagosomal acidification process was a stochastic dynamical system. Using simulation modeling, we determined that by stochastically acidifying a phagolysosome to a pH within the observed distribution, macrophages sacrificed a small amount of overall fitness to gain the benefit of reduced variation in fitness. Hence, chance in the final phagosomal pH introduces unpredictability to the outcome of the macrophage-microbe, which implies a bet-hedging strategy that benefits the macrophage. While bet hedging is common in biological systems at the organism level, our results show its use at the organelle and cellular level.
Augmenting cognitive load during split-belt walking increases the generalization of motor memories across walking contexts
Authors: Mariscal Dulce M. , Iturralde Pablo A. , Torres-Oviedo Gelsy 
Published: November 2018

AbstractCognitive load plays a role on the movement recalibration induced by sensorimotor adaptation, but little is known about its impact on the generalization of movements from trained to untrained situations. We hypothesized that altering cognitive load by distracting subjects during sensorimotor adaptation would facilitate the generalization of recalibrated movements beyond the training condition. We reasoned that awareness of the novel condition inducing adaptation could be used to consciously contextualize movements to that particular situation. To test this hypothesis, young adults adapted their gait on a split-belt treadmill (moving their legs at different speeds) while they observed visual information that either distracted them or made them aware of the speed difference between their feet. We assessed the adaptation and aftereffects of spatial and temporal gait features known to adapt and generalize differently when walking on the treadmill or overground. We found similar adaptation and aftereffects on the treadmill across all groups. In contrast, both groups with altered cognitive load (i.e., distraction and awareness groups) generalized their movements from the treadmill to overground more than controls, who walked without altered cognitive load. Of note, this effect was only observed in temporal gait features, which are less susceptible to online motor adjustments, and were eliminated upon experiencing large errors by briefly removing the split perturbation during adaptation (i.e., catch trial). Taken together, increasing cognitive demands during sensorimotor adaptation facilitates the generalization of movement recalibration, but this cognitive-mediated effect cannot eliminate the specificity of actions due to context-specific errors.New and NoteworthyLittle is known about how cognition affects the generalization of motor recalibration induced by sensorimotor adaptation paradigms. We showed that augmenting cognitive load during adaptation on a split-belt treadmill led to greater recalibration of movements without the training device. However, this effect was eliminated when unusual motor errors were experienced on the treadmill. Thus, cognition can influence the generalization of sensorimotor adaptation, but it cannot suppress the context-specificity originated by the errors that one feels.
Single Agent and Synergistic Activity of Maritoclax with ABT-263 in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) Cell Lines
Authors: Xiang Lian Benedict Shi , Lo Kwok-Wai , Soo-Beng Khoo Alan , Mohana-Kumaran Nethia 
Published: November 2018

AbstractObjectiveThe BCL-2 anti-apoptotic proteins are over-expressed in many cancers and hence are attractive therapeutic targets. In this study we tested the sensitivity of two NPC cell lines HK1 and C6661-1 to Maritoclax which is reported to repress anti-apoptotic protein MCL-1 and BH3 mimetic ABT-263 which selectively inhibits anti-apoptotic proteins BCL-2, BCL-XL and BCL-w. We investigated the sensitization of the NPC cell lines to these drugs using the SYBR Green I assay and 3D NPC spheroids.ResultsWe report that Maritoclax repressed MCL-1, BCL-2, and BCL-XL in a dose- and time-dependent manner and displayed a single agent activity in inhibiting cell proliferation of the NPC cell lines. Moreover, combination of Maritoclax and ABT-263 exhibited synergistic cell proliferation effect in the HK1 cell line. Similar results were obtained in the 3D spheroids. More notably, 3D spheroids either treated with single agent Maritoclax or combination with ABT-263 over 10 days did not develop resistance to the treatment rapidly. Collectively, the findings illustrate that Maritoclax as a single agent or combination with BH3 mimetics could be a potential treatment strategy for NPC but further studies in preclinical models are warranted to fully unravel the prospects of these drugs.