bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fibrosis in ulcerative colitis is directly linked to severity and chronicity of mucosal inflammation
Authors: Gordon I. O. , Agrawal N. , Willis E. , Goldblum J. R. , Lopez R. , Allende D. , Liu X. , Patil D. Y. , Yerian L. , El‐Khider F. , Fiocchi C. , Rieder F. 
Published: February 2018

SummaryBackgroundFibrosis in ulcerative colitis has remained largely unexplored despite its clinical implications.AimsThis cross‐sectional study was aimed at characterising the presence, anatomical location and degree of ulcerative colitis‐associated fibrosis and its possible link to clinical parameters.MethodsSeven hundred and six individual tissue cross‐sections derived every 10 cm along the length of 89 consecutive Ulcerative colitis colectomy specimens were examined and compared to Crohn's disease colitis, diverticular disease and uninvolved areas from colorectal cancer patients. Degree of inflammation, fibrosis and morphometric measurements of all layers of the intestinal wall were evaluated. Three gastrointestinal pathologists independently assessed colon sections stained with haematoxylin and eosin, Masson trichrome and Sirius red. Clinical data were collected prospectively.ResultsSubmucosal fibrosis was detected in 100% of ulcerative colitis colectomy specimens, but only in areas affected by inflammation. Submucosal fibrosis was associated with the severity of intestinal inflammation (Spearman correlations rho (95% confidence interval): 0.58 (P < 0.001) and histopathological changes of chronic mucosal injury, but not active inflammation. Colectomy for refractory disease rather than presence of dysplasia was associated with increased fibrosis and a thicker muscularis mucosae, whereas a thinner muscularis mucosae was associated with anti‐tumour necrosis factor therapy. No feature on endoscopic mucosal biopsies could predict the underlying amount of fibrosis or the thickness of the muscularis mucosae.ConclusionsA significant degree of fibrosis and muscularis mucosae thickening should be considered as common complications of chronic progressive ulcerative colitis. These features may have clinical consequences such as motility abnormalities and increased wall stiffness.
Review article: the evidence that vancomycin is a therapeutic option for primary sclerosing cholangitis
Authors: Damman J. L. , Rodriguez E. A. , Ali A. H. , Buness C. W. , Cox K. L. , Carey E. J. , Lindor K. D. 
Published: February 2018

SummaryBackground and AimsPSC is an autoimmune biliary inflammatory disorder that is often associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with 50%‐75% of patients with PSC having coexisting IBD, most commonly ulcerative colitis. Currently, no medical therapies have been shown to improve the disease course or slow its progression. However, ongoing research has resulted in a growing interest in the use of antibiotics for treatment of PSC, of which vancomycin is the most studied. In this review, we summarise the current evidence on the use of vancomycin in PSC and comment on future research areas of interest.MethodsA comprehensive PUBMED and EMBASE literature search for articles on vancomycin, PSC, therapeutic options and microbiome was performed.ResultsTwo randomised clinical trials, three case series and two case reports were included in the study. These include uncontrolled data from at least 98 patients that include promising improvements in biochemistry and imaging. Optimal dosing regimens are unclear.ConclusionVancomycin is one of the most studied antibiotics used in the treatment of PSC with promising results. There is not currently sufficient evidence to support treatment recommendations. Further research is needed to establish if vancomycin is a PSC treatment.
Emergency department utilisation for inflammatory bowel disease in the United States from 2006 to 2014
Authors: Ballou S. , Hirsch W. , Singh P. , Rangan V. , Nee J. , Iturrino J. , Sommers T. , Zubiago J. , Sengupta N. , Bollom A. , Jones M. , Moss A. C. , Flier S. N. , Cheifetz A. S. , Lembo A. 
Published: February 2018

SummaryBackgroundDespite advances in treatment, patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) frequently require emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalisations.AimsTo analyse trends in ED visits and subsequent hospitalisations for IBD in the United States (US).MethodsData were analysed from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) years 2006‐2014. The NEDS is the largest all‐payer ED database in the US, weighted to represent 135 million visits/year. IBD was identified using ICD‐9 codes for Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Surgeries were identified using procedure codes.ResultsThe frequency of IBD‐ED visits increased 51.8%, from 90 846 visits in 2006 to 137 946 in 2014, which was statistically significant in linear regression. For comparison, all‐case ED use between 2006 and 2014 increased 14.8%. In‐patient hospitalisations from the ED decreased 12.1% for IBD (from 64.7% rate of hospitalisation from the ED in 2006 to 52.6% in 2014), with a UC:CD ratio of 1.2:1 in 2006 and 1.3:1 in 2014. Chi‐square analysis revealed that this was a significant decrease. Surgery rates also showed a statistically significant decrease. The mean ED charge per patient rose 102.5% and the aggregate national cost of IBD‐ED visits increased 207.5%. CD accounted for over twice as many visits as UC in both years. UC, age, male gender, highest income quartile, private insurance, Medicaid/Medicare, and tobacco use were associated with in‐patient admissions.ConclusionsThe number of ED visits due to IBD and associated charges have continued to rise, while the rates of in‐patient hospitalisations referred from the ED and surgeries have decreased.
Breastfeeding and the substance‐exposed mother and baby
Authors: MacVicar Sonya , Humphrey Tracy , Forbes‐McKay Katrina E. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractBackgroundBreastfeeding rates are typically low for women with a substance‐use disorder. This is despite the specific benefits of breastfeeding to alleviate the severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome and the well‐documented generic advantages. This study explored the feasibility of in‐hospital, tailored breastfeeding support for the substance‐exposed mother and baby.MethodsThis was a mixed‐methods feasibility study undertaken in Scotland from April 2014 to May 2015. Women with a substance‐use disorder either received standard Baby‐Friendly Initiative care only or were given additional support which included a dedicated breastfeeding support worker, personalized capacity‐building approach, and a low‐stimuli environment for 5 days. Feasibility outcome measures were maternal recruitment, satisfaction and acceptability of support, breastfeeding on fifth postnatal day, and severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome.ResultsFourteen mother‐infant dyads participated. Intervention participants demonstrated higher rates of continued breastfeeding and reported a greater degree of satisfaction with support and confidence in their breastfeeding ability. Maternal experience of health care practices, attitudes, and postnatal environment influenced their perceptions of breastfeeding support. Breastfed infants were less likely to require pharmacotherapy for neonatal withdrawal and had a shorter hospital stay.ConclusionsThe findings highlight the feasibility of tailored breastfeeding support for the substance‐exposed mother and baby and endorse the promotion and support of breastfeeding for this group. Future research should include a statistically powered randomized controlled trial to evaluate clinical efficacy.
Perpetrators of domestic violence abuse within Intellectual Disability services: A hidden population?
Authors: Swift Charlotte , Waites Erin , Goodman Wendy 
Published: February 2018

Accessible Summary

Domestic violence abuse is when people hurt family members or partners with their words or actions, take their money or try to control them. It is against the law to do this.

We wanted to know more about how many people with intellectual disabilities are being violent in their relationships.

Forensic Community Learning Disabilities Team (CLDT) noticed more people were being referred to the team because they had been violent in their relationships.

The Forensic CLDT looked at their referrals to see how many people were violent in their relationships. They also looked at referrals for their local Community Learning Disabilities Teams to see how many people were violent in their relationships.

The research showed that more people who were referred to the Forensic CLDT needed help for violence in their relationships in 2015. The CLDTs also had referrals for people who were violent in their relationships. It is important to understand more about people with intellectual disabilities who are abusive in their relationships so we can help them.

AbstractBackgroundDomestic violence abuse (DVA) has been identified by the UK Government as a priority to address. Whilst there is a growing body of research into perpetrators of DVA from the mainstream population, there is scant research into perpetrators of DVA who have an intellectual disability. This lack of an evidence base suggests there may be a group of individuals for whom there is no suitable treatment approach. A Forensic Community Learning Disabilities Team (FCLDT) completed a multiservice evaluation of their service and sector CLDTs to obtain a measure of local unmet need.Materials and methodsA retrospective review was completed for referrals to the FCLDT and four of their sector CLDTs for 2014 and 2015. A record sheet was designed for the process of data collection and the analysis of referrals.ResultsIn regard to the FCLDT, 14% of the total referrals made to the FCLDT in 2014 referenced DVA perpetration and the figure rose to 26% in 2015. For CLDTs, 1.9% of the total referrals made to the CLDT in 2014 and 3.18% in 2015 referenced DVA perpetration.ConclusionsA significant proportion of referrals to the Forensic CLDT relate to the perpetration of domestic violence abuse. A proportion of Sector CLDT referrals made reference to behaviours that, according to the Home Office definition, would be classified as domestic violence abuse, but was infrequently referred to as such. The paper considers these findings in the light of the Home Office definition and its application to people with intellectual disabilities.
New thiophene–acridine compounds: Synthesis, antileishmanial activity, DNA binding, chemometric, and molecular docking studies
Authors: de Lima Serafim Vanessa , Félix Mayara Barbalho , Frade Silva Daiana Karla , Rodrigues Klinger Antônio da Franca , Andrade Patrícia Néris , de Almeida Sinara Mônica Vitalino , de Albuquerque dos Santos Sanderssonilo , de Oliveira Jamerson Ferreira , de Lima Maria do Carmo Alves , Mendonça‐Junior Francisco Jaime Bezerra , Scotti Marcus Tullius , de Oliveira Márcia Rosa , de Moura Ricardo Olímpio 
Published: February 2018

In this study, we synthesized eight new compounds containing the 2‐amino‐cycloalkyl[b]thiophene and acridine moieties (ACT01 and ACS01‐ACS07). None tested compounds presented human erythrocyte cytotoxicity. The new compounds presented antipromastigote activity, where ACS01 and ACS02 derivatives presented significant antileishmanial activity, with better performance than the reference drugs (tri and pentavalent antimonials), with respective IC50 values of 9.60 ± 3.19 and 10.95 ± 3.96 μm. Additionally, these two derivatives were effective against antimony‐resistant Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis strains. In addition, binding and fragmentation DNA assays were performed. It was observed that the antileishmanial activity of ACS01 is not associated with DNA fragmentation of the promastigote forms. However, it interacted with DNA with a binding constant of 104 m−1. In partial least‐squares studies, it was observed that the most active compounds (ACS01 and ACS02) showed lower values of amphiphilic moment descriptor, but there was a correlation between the lipophilicity of the molecules and antileishmanial activity. Furthermore, the docking molecular studies showed interactions between thiophene–acridine derivatives and the active site of pyruvate kinase enzyme with the major contribution of asparagine 152 residue for the interaction with thiophene moiety. Thus, the results suggested that the new thiophene–acridine derivatives are promising molecules as potential drug candidates.
Establishment of magnetic resonance imaging 3D reconstruction technology of orbital soft tissue and its preliminary application in patients with thyroid‐associated ophthalmopathy
Authors: Shen Jie , Jiang Wei , Luo Yaosheng , Cai Qiuyue , Li Zhangfang , Chen Zhiyi , Hu Shidi , Tang Lei 
Published: February 2018

SummaryObjectiveEffective management of thyroid‐associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) requires precise identification of the disease activity period as it is responsive to immunosuppressive treatment. Quantitative evaluations of orbital soft tissue are useful for analysing disease stages. We aimed to establish a method for orbital soft tissue volume calculation based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data using 3D reconstruction technology. Furthermore, we validated the accuracy and precision of this method and investigated volume differences between patients with TAO and healthy individuals.Materials and MethodsUsing Mimics software for 3D reconstruction based on orbital MRI data, we quantitatively measured orbital fat volume (FV) and extraocular muscle volume (MV) using a manual phantom, and in patients with TAO and healthy volunteers (n = 10 each). The phantom was made using a combination of butter and chicken muscle and 2 observers measured its volume. Volume calculations were compared to a previously established standard volume. One observer measured a typical TAO case 10 times to calculate intra‐observer variability while 3 observers independently measured 10 patients with TAO each to calculate interobserver variability. Orbital soft tissue volumes between 10 patients with TAO and 10 healthy individuals were compared.ResultsThe precision of calculations for the phantom between the 2 observers varied from −4.60% to −2.78% for FV and between −4.13% to 0.71% for MV. Mean differences among repetitive calculations were lower than 4%, except during measurement of MV, which was 5.84%. The intraclass correlation coefficient varied from 0.976 to 0.996. FV was 15.53 ± 3.06 mL in patients with TAO and 11.32 ± 1.68 mL(P = .001)in healthy individuals, while MV was 3.19 ± 0.82 mL in patients with TAO and 2.45 ± 0.57 mL(P = .030)in healthy individuals.ConclusionsThis method of calculating orbital soft tissue volumes based on MRI data and 3D reconstruction is both reliable and accurate as it yielded significant differences in tissue volume between patients with TAO and healthy individuals.
Semitendinosus and patellar tendons shear modulus evaluation by supersonic shearwave imaging elastography
Authors: Fontenelle C. R. C. , Mannarino P. , Ribeiro F. B. D. O. , Milito M. A. , Carvalho A. C. P. , Menegaldo L. L. , Oliveira L. F. 
Published: February 2018

SummaryPurposeShear modulus (μ) is directly correlated to the tissue stiffness and can predict the tendon ultimate force to failure. With the knee extended 0° (K0), semitendinosus tendon (ST) is tensioned while patellar tendon (PT) is relaxed. At 80o, knee flexion (K80) tendons present an opposite stress pattern; however, the relation between ST and PT μ in both situations was not studied yet.MethodWe accessed the μ of the ST and PT at 0o and 80o knee flexion by supersonic shear wave imaging (SSI) elastography from 18 healthy males. Relative μ indexes were calculated for relaxed and tensioned conditions.ResultThe average μ for ST was μST‐K0 = 197·62 ± 31·93 kPa and μST‐K80 = 77·76 ± 30·08. For TP, values were μTP‐K0 = 23·45 ± 5·89 and μTP‐K80 = 113·92 ± 57·23 kPa. Relative μ indexes were calculated for relaxed (IR = μST‐K80/μTP‐K0) and tensioned conditions (IT = μST‐K0/μPT‐K80). The relative μ indexes were IR = 3·63 ± 1·50 and IT = 2·00 ± 0·96 (P<0·05).ConclusionSemitendinosus tendon μ was significantly higher than PT μ in both tensioned and relaxed positions. This can predict a higher ultimate force to failure and a less elastic behaviour in ST grafts when compared to PT grafts. This new parameter could aid physicians in graft choice previous to anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
Maria Montessori's metaphysics of life
Authors: Frierson Patrick 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThis paper elucidates the core principles of Maria Montessori's metaphysics. Her attention to embryological, evolutionary, and educational development led to her teleological metaphysics of life. Individual organisms are governed by internally driven, perfectionist, discontinuous teleology. And this individual teleology is integrated into a holistic, ecological context whereby individuals' striving towards perfection works for the increased ordered complexity of the systems of which they are parts. Moreover, Montessori extends this metaphysics of life to include nonliving components of nature, such that atoms, planets, and inorganic molecules are governed by the same general teleological structure.
Organic imagination as intuitive intellect: Self‐knowledge and self‐constitution in Hegel's early critique of Kant
Authors: Wretzel Joshua 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThis paper concerns Hegel's early treatment of the productive imagination in his 1803–1804 Faith and Knowledge. I show how he articulates that activity in terms of a pair of speculative unities, which solve lingering problems of self‐knowledge and self‐constitution from Kant's B‐deduction. On the one hand, I argue that the familiar unity of spontaneity and receptivity makes possible knowledge of the moment of self‐positing. On the other hand, I contend that Hegel's talk of imagination as both an “organic idea” and an “intuitive intellect” refers to a self‐constituting capacity that intellects like ours possess. I show that self‐constitution is possible, for Hegel, only in so far as intellects like ours possess a capacity to unify possibility and actuality in thought, or to think themselves into being.
Genotyping‐by‐sequencing of genome‐wide microsatellite loci reveals fine‐scale harvest composition in a coastal Atlantic salmon fishery
Authors: Bradbury Ian R. , Wringe Brendan F. , Watson Beth , Paterson Ian , Horne John , Beiko Robert , Lehnert Sarah J. , Clément Marie , Anderson Eric C. , Jeffery Nicholas W. , Duffy Steven , Sylvester Emma , Robertson Martha , Bentzen Paul 
Published: February 2018

AbstractIndividual assignment and genetic mixture analysis are commonly utilized in contemporary wildlife and fisheries management. Although microsatellite loci provide unparalleled numbers of alleles per locus, their use in assignment applications is increasingly limited. However, next‐generation sequencing, in conjunction with novel bioinformatic tools, allows large numbers of microsatellite loci to be simultaneously genotyped, presenting new opportunities for individual assignment and genetic mixture analysis. Here, we scanned the published Atlantic salmon genome to identify 706 microsatellite loci, from which we developed a final panel of 101 microsatellites distributed across the genome (average 3.4 loci per chromosome). Using samples from 35 Atlantic salmon populations (n = 1,485 individuals) from coastal Labrador, Canada, a region characterized by low levels of differentiation in this species, this panel identified 844 alleles (average of 8.4 alleles per locus). Simulation‐based evaluations of assignment and mixture identification accuracy revealed unprecedented resolution, clearly identifying 26 rivers or groups of rivers spanning 500 km of coastline. This baseline was used to examine the stock composition of 696 individuals harvested in the Labrador Atlantic salmon fishery and revealed that coastal fisheries largely targeted regional groups (<300 km). This work suggests that the development and application of large sequenced microsatellite panels presents great potential for stock resolution in Atlantic salmon and more broadly in other exploited anadromous and marine species.
Revisiting the Wang–Mendel algorithm for fuzzy classification
Authors: Alvarez‐Estevez D. , Moret‐Bonillo V. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractIn this paper, we review the Wang–Mendel algorithm for the induction of fuzzy IF‐THEN rules in the context of classification problems. A general fuzzy inference architecture for classification is proposed with the aim of studying the influence of alternative configurations of the learning model. Specifically, we analyse the effects of changing the aggregation strategy, and we explore the use of different rule definitions, including or not the possibility to assign weighting factors to the generated rules. We test different rule weighting heuristics at this respect. The notion of rule conflict introduced in earlier versions of the algorithm is also reviewed in the context of the various resulting configurations of the fuzzy inference engine. A generalized version of the algorithm therefore results, bringing more flexibility to the configuration of the fuzzy inference engine, and improving the performance for certain problems. The main objective is to complement the results of previous approaches by offering a comprehensive overview of this popular algorithm for fuzzy rule induction in the context of classification problems. Several well‐known machine learning classification benchmarks are analysed and compared looking for the best possible model configuration.
Improving the retention of women in the IT workforce: An investigation of gender diversity interventions in the USA
Authors: Annabi Hala , Lebovitz Sarah 
Published: February 2018

AbstractTo meet the high demand for information technology (IT) professionals, organizations must become more effective at attracting and retaining women. Ninety‐seven percent of companies surveyed by Forbes in 2011 had implemented diversity and inclusion interventions. Despite these efforts, the percentage of women working in IT continues to decline, raising questions about the effectiveness of current organizational interventions aimed at increasing gender diversity. This study sought to gain a better understanding of these organizational interventions by developing a comprehensive framework based on comparative case studies of 9 organizations. The framework integrates intervention characteristics and barriers IT women experience and the coping methods they use to address barriers. This paper presents propositions based on this theoretical framework to guide further research on the effectiveness of gender diversity and inclusion interventions in IT.