bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Children and adolescents with sickle cell disease have worse cold and mechanical hypersensitivity during acute painful events
Authors: Brandow Amanda M. , Hansen Karla , Nugent Melodee , Pan Amy , Panepinto Julie A. , Stucky Cheryl L. 
Published: September 2018

Abstract
Sickle cell disease (SCD) pain associates with cold temperature and touch. Patients and murine models with SCD have baseline thermal and mechanical pain. In SCD mice, the baseline hypersensitivity is exacerbated by experimental vaso-occlusive crises. We hypothesized that patients with SCD will similarly experience increased hypersensitivity to thermal and mechanical stimuli during acute painful events compared with baseline health. We conducted a prospective study of 24 patients with SCD aged 7 to 19 years. Patients underwent quantitative sensory testing to thermal (cold/heat) and mechanical stimuli on the thenar eminence of the nondominant hand (glabrous skin) and the lateral dorsum of the foot (hairy skin) during baseline health and within 48 hours of hospitalization for acute pain. Primary outcomes were changes in: (1) cold pain threshold (°C), (2) heat pain threshold (°C), and (3) mechanical pain threshold (g). Median age was 10.5 (interquartile range [IQR] 9-14.8) years, 67% were females, and 92% were on hydroxyurea. Patients with SCD had increased cold pain sensitivity in the hand during hospitalization compared with baseline (25.2°C [IQR 18.4-27.5°C] vs 21.3°C [IQR 4.9-26.2°C]; P = 0.011) and increased mechanical pain sensitivity in the foot during hospitalization (0.32 g [IQR 0.09-1.1 g] vs 1.7 g [IQR 0.4-8.3 g]; P = 0.003). There were no differences in heat pain sensitivity. The increased cold (P = 0.02) and mechanical (P = 0.0016) pain sensitivity during hospitalization persisted after adjusting for age, sex, hydroxyurea use, opioid consumption, and numeric pain score. Thus, cold and mechanical pain is significantly worse during an acute SCD painful event as compared to baseline health in patients with SCD.
Cervical Cancer Screening Beliefs and Prevalence of LSIL/HSIL Among a University-Based Population in Cameroon
Authors: Eakin Cortney , Ekollo Rodrigue , Nembulefack Derick , Halle-Ekane Gregory , Tangui Gracious , Brady Robert , Bhattarai Bikash , Orock George Enow , Greenspan David 
Published: September 2018

Objective
The aim of the study was to determine beliefs and utilization of cervical cancer screening and prevalence of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion/high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion among a university-based population in the Southwest region of Cameroon.

Materials and Methods
A public-private partnership was established between the University of Arizona, University of Buea, and the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services. A single-day screening clinic using visual inspection with acetic acid and Lugol's iodine solution (VILI) was provided at the University of Buea. Screening results were documented as negative, low-grade, high-grade, or suspicious for cancer. Thermocoagulation and loop electrosurgical excisional procedure was available for low- and high-grade lesions, respectively. A survey was conducted before screening and factors associated with screening practices were evaluated.

Results
Of 120 clinic participants, 107 (89.2%) believed that treatment of precancerous lesions helped prevent cervical cancer, but most (67.5%) had never been screened. Eighty women (66.7%) were aware of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, and only 2 had received vaccination. Among 115 patients screened, the prevalence of abnormal screening was 6.09%. Low-grade lesions were treated with thermocoagulation and high-grade lesions were treated with loop electrosurgical excisional procedure.

Conclusions
Despite knowledge of cervical cancer screening benefits, the majority had not been screened or vaccinated. This study suggests a desire for additional screening services in this population and validates the utility of public-private partnerships in low-income regions.
Identifying Clusters of Recent and Rapid HIV Transmission Through Analysis of Molecular Surveillance Data
Authors: Oster Alexandra M. , France Anne Marie , Panneer Nivedha , Bañez Ocfemia M. Cheryl , Campbell Ellsworth , Dasgupta Sharoda , Switzer William M. , Wertheim Joel O. , Hernandez Angela L. 
Published: September 2018

Background:
Detecting recent and rapid spread of HIV can help prioritize prevention and early treatment for those at highest risk of transmission. HIV genetic sequence data can identify transmission clusters, but previous approaches have not distinguished clusters of recent, rapid transmission. We assessed an analytic approach to identify such clusters in the United States.

Methods:
We analyzed 156,553 partial HIV-1 polymerase sequences reported to the National HIV Surveillance System and inferred transmission clusters using 2 genetic distance thresholds (0.5% and 1.5%) and 2 periods for diagnoses (all years and 2013–2015, ie, recent diagnoses). For rapidly growing clusters (with ≥5 diagnoses during 2015), molecular clock phylogenetic analysis estimated the time to most recent common ancestor for all divergence events within the cluster. Cluster transmission rates were estimated using these phylogenies.

Results:
A distance threshold of 1.5% identified 103 rapidly growing clusters using all diagnoses and 73 using recent diagnoses; at 0.5%, 15 clusters were identified using all diagnoses and 13 using recent diagnoses. Molecular clock analysis estimated that the 13 clusters identified at 0.5% using recent diagnoses had been diversifying for a median of 4.7 years, compared with 6.5–13.2 years using other approaches. The 13 clusters at 0.5% had a transmission rate of 33/100 person-years, compared with previous national estimates of 4/100 person-years.

Conclusions:
Our approach identified clusters with transmission rates 8 times those of previous national estimates. This method can identify groups involved in rapid transmission and help programs effectively direct and prioritize limited public health resources.
A Pilot Study Exploring Treatment Burden in a Skilled Nursing Population
Authors: Schreiner Nathanial , Daly Barbara 
Published: September 2018

Abstract

Purpose
This study aimed to measure treatment burden in adults diagnosed with multiple chronic conditions transitioning from a skilled nursing facility to home.

Design
Prospective, two-time point, cohort design utilizing convenience sampling from one skilled nursing facility in Northeast, Ohio.

Methods
Seventy-four men and women participated answering self-report questions measuring treatment burden at two time points: prior to discharge and 30 days after discharge.

Results

t-test analysis determined treatment burden was not statistically different between time points (p > .05). Multivariate analysis explained 23% of treatment burden’s variance, with the severity of multiple chronic conditions and the presence of a caregiver predicting treatment burden (p < .05).

Conclusion
Findings were contrary to our hypothesis of this population being at risk for high treatment burden.

Clinical Relevance
Moderate, fluctuating levels of treatment burden suggest that it is possible to estimate demands of treatment prior to discharge from the skilled nursing facility to better inform discharge planning.
The Changing Face of Emergency General Surgery
Authors: Wohlgemut Jared M. , Ramsay George , Jansen Jan O. 
Published: September 2018

Objective:
The aim of the study was to evaluate secular trends in the epidemiology of emergency general surgery (EGS), by analyzing changes in demographics, diagnoses, operations, and outcomes between 1997 and 2016.

Summary Background Data:
The provision and delivery of EGS services is a globally and regionally important issue. The impact of changing demographics and surgical disease incidence on EGS services is not well understood.

Methods:
Data from all EGS hospital episodes of adults (aged >15) in Scotland between 1997 and 2016 were prospectively collected, including ICD-10 diagnostic codes and OPCS-4 procedure codes. The number and age- and sex-standardized rates per 100,000 population, per year, of the most common diagnoses and operations were calculated. We analyzed demographic changes over time using linear regression, and changes in characteristics, diagnoses, operations, and outcomes using Poisson analysis.

Results:
Data included 1,484,116 EGS hospital episodes. The number and age- and sex-standardized rate, per 100,000 population, of EGS admissions have increased over time, whereas that of EGS operations have decreased over time. Male admissions were unchanged, but with fewer operations over time, whereas female admissions increased significantly over time with no change in the operation rate. Poisson analysis demonstrated secular trends in demographics, admissions, operations, and outcomes in depth.

Conclusions:
This 20-year epidemiological study of all EGS hospital episodes in Scotland has enhanced our understanding of secular trends of EGS, including demographics, diagnoses, operations, and outcomes. These data will help inform stakeholders in EGS service planning and delivery, as well as in surgical training, what has occurred in recent history.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES OF CHLAMYDIA AND GONORRHEA DETECTION WHEN NOT USING EXTRA GENITAL SCREENING AMONG MALES
Authors: Schafer Chelsea , Prado Belinda , Barin Nora , Gama Leslie 
Published: September 2018

AbstractBackgroundThrough extra genital screening methods, Health Departments and community clinics can increase detection of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) through the application of urethral testing. The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (LBDHHS) works on preventing cases of chlamydia (CT) and gonorrhea (GC) from being undiagnosed, by providing extra genital screening.MethodsRetrospective medical review of 1,571 patient health records, who received CT/GC testing, based on at least 1-visit to the Long Beach Department of Health & Human Services, STD Clinic, between 2012 to 2015. All male patients ages 18 years or older with positive CT/GC results (242 cases) for any of the three sites (e.g. urethral, rectal, and pharyngeal); regardless of their sexual behaviors, were included in the study. Females, those under the age of 18, and patients who tested negative for all three anatomical sites were excluded (1,412 controls).ResultsAt time of collection, study participants had a mean age of 37 years. Reported ethnicity indicated 56% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic or Latino, 9% Asian or Pacific Islander, 7% Other, 5% Black, and 2% More than one race. The use of extra genital screening detected 15% (242) of the 1,571 patients tested positive for at least 1-type of CT/GC infection. Our findings demonstrated that if urine was the only specimen collected, then over 29.7% of CT and 46.8% of GC cases would have been missed.ConclusionsTesting of all three anatomical sites should continue to be performed for CT/GC detection. Cases of CT/GC are underreported if performing urethral screening alone. These results highlight the need for clinicians to perform extra genital screening among male patients for prevention and control. These testing measures may reduce the potential for missing a diagnosis and mitigating transmission.Short SummaryThe number of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) infections missed were determined using extra genital screening procedures among male patients from the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (LBDHHS), STD/Family Planning Clinic. This method tests urethral, pharyngeal, and rectal sites for CT and GC infection. In this retrospective review of 1,571 patient files, of which 242 tested positive, we determined the proportion of cases that would have remained undetected if only using urethral screening.
The ecology of sexual conflict: behaviorally plastic responses to temperature variation in the social environment can drastically modulate male harm to females
Authors: García-Roa Roberto , Chirinos Valeria , Pau Carazo 
Published: September 2018

AbstractSexual conflict is a fundamental driver of male/female adaptations, an engine of biodiversity, and a crucial determinant of population viability. For example, sexual conflict frequently leads to behavioural adaptations that allow males to displace their rivals, but in doing so harm those same females they are competing to access. Sexual conflict via male harm hence not only deviates females from their fitness optimum, but can decrease population viability and facilitate extinction. Despite this prominent role, we are far from understanding what factors modulate the intensity of sexual conflict, and particularly the role of ecology in mediating underlying behavioural adaptations. In this study we show that, in Drosophila melanogaster, variations in environmental temperature of ±4C (within the natural range in the wild) decrease male harm impact on female fitness by between 45–73%. Rate-sensitive fitness estimates indicate that such modulation results in an average rescue of population productivity of 7% at colder temperatures and 23% at hotter temperatures. Our results: a) show that the thermal ecology of social interactions can drastically modulate male harm via behaviourally plasticity, b) identify a potentially crucial ecological factor to understand how sexual conflict operates in nature, and c) suggest that behaviourally plastic responses can lessen the negative effect of sexual conflict on population viability in the face of rapid environmental temperature changes.
In model-based fMRI significant is less than specific
Authors: Peterson Erik J , Seger Carol A 
Published: September 2018

AbstractBy comparing computational model output to BOLD signal changes model-based fMRI has the potential to offer profound insight into what neural computations occur when. If this potential is to be fully realized, statistically significant outcomes must imply specific outcomes. That is, we must have a clear idea of how often a model not present in the BOLD signal but present in the predictor set will reach significance. We ran Monte Carlo simulations of reinforcement learning to examine this kind of specificity, focusing in on two aspects. One, to what degree can we tell related but theoretically distinct predictors apart. About 40% of the time the studied predictors were indistinguishable. Two, how well can we separate out different parameterizations of the same reinforcement learning terms. Nearly all parameter settings were indistinguishable. The lack of specificity between models and between parameters suggests a uncertain relation between significance and specificity. Follow up analyses suggest the temporally slow and prototyped nature of the haemodynamic response (HRF) can substantially increase correlations, ranging from −0.16 to 0.73 with an average of 0.27. Though we focused on a single case study, i.e., reinforcement learning, specificity concerns are potentially present in any design which does not account for the slow prototyped nature of the HRF. We suggest more specific conclusions can be reached by moving from null hypothesis testing approach to a model selection or model comparison framework.
Conserved patterns of alternative splicing in response to cold acclimation in fish
Authors: Healy Timothy M. , Schulte Patricia M. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractPhenotypic plasticity is an important aspect of an organism’s response to environmental change that often requires the modulation of gene expression. These changes in gene expression can be quantitative as a result of increases or decreases in the amounts of specific transcripts, or qualitative as a result of the expression of alternative transcripts from the same gene (e.g., via alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs). Although the role of quantitative changes in gene expression in phenotypic plasticity is well known, relatively few studies have examined the role of qualitative changes. Here, we use skeletal muscle RNA-seq data from Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus), threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and zebrafish (Danio rerio) to investigate the extent of qualitative changes in gene expression in response to cold. Fewer genes demonstrated alternative splicing than differential expression as a result of cold acclimation; however, differences in splicing were detected for between 426 and 866 genes depending on species, indicating that large numbers of qualitative changes in gene expression are associated with cold acclimation. Many of these alternatively spliced genes were also differentially expressed, and there was functional enrichment for involvement in muscle contraction among the genes demonstrating qualitative changes in response to cold acclimation. Additionally, there was a common group of 29 genes with cold-acclimation-mediated changes in splicing in all three species, suggesting that there may be a conserved set of genes with expression patterns that respond qualitatively to prolonged cold temperatures across fishes.Summary statementQualitative changes in gene expression, such as those mediated by alternative splicing of mRNAs, are involved in phenotypic plasticity in response to prolonged cold acclimation in ectothermic animals
Protein Disulfide Isomerases Control the Secretion of Wnt proteins
Authors: Torpe Nanna , Gopal Sandeep , Baltaci Oguzhan , Rella Lorenzo , Handley Ava , Korswagen Hendrik C. , Pocock Roger 
Published: September 2018

SummaryAppropriate Wnt morphogen secretion is required to control animal development and homeostasis. Although correct Wnt globular structure is essential for secretion, proteins that directly mediate Wnt folding and maturation are incompletely characterized. Here, we report that protein disulfide isomerase-1 (PDI-1), a protein folding catalyst and chaperone, controls secretion of theCaenorhabditis elegansWnt ortholog EGL-20. We find that PDI-1 function is required to correctly form an anteroposterior EGL-20/Wnt gradient during embryonic development. Further, PDI-1 performs this role in EGL-20/Wnt-producing epidermal cells to cell-non-autonomously control EGL-20/Wnt-dependent neuronal migration. Using pharmacological inhibition, we further show that PDI function is required in human cells for Wnt3a secretion, revealing a conserved role for disulfide isomerases. Together, these results demonstrate a critical role for PDIs within Wnt-producing cells to control long-range developmental events that are dependent on Wnt secretion.
Enhanced population coding for rewarded choices in the medial frontal cortex of the mouse
Authors: Siniscalchi Michael J. , Wang Hongli , Kwan Alex C. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractInstrumental behavior is characterized by the selection of actions based on the degree to which they lead to a desired outcome. However, we lack a detailed understanding of how rewarded actions are reinforced and preferentially implemented. In rodents, the medial frontal cortex is hypothesized to play an important role in this process, based in part on its capacity to encode chosen actions and their outcomes. We therefore asked how neural representations of choice and outcome might interact to facilitate instrumental behavior. To investigate this question, we imaged neural ensemble activity in layer 2/3 of the secondary motor region (M2) while mice engaged in a two-choice auditory discrimination task with probabilistic outcomes. Correct choices could result in one of three reward amounts (single-, double-, or omitted-reward), which allowed us to measure neural and behavioral effects of reward magnitude, as well as its categorical presence or absence. Single-unit and population decoding analyses revealed a consistent influence of outcome on choice signals in M2. Specifically, rewarded choices were more robustly encoded relative to unrewarded choices, with little dependence on the exact magnitude of reinforcement. Our results provide insight into the integration of past choices and outcomes in the rodent brain during instrumental behavior.
Effect of mutually orthogonal heated plates on buoyancy convection flow of micropolar fluid in a cavity
Authors: Muthtamilselvan M. , Periyadurai K. , Doh Deog Hee 
Published: September 2018

Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the natural convection of micropolar fluid in a square cavity with two orthogonal heaters placed inside. The study of natural convection in a two-dimensional enclosure determines the effect of non-uniform heated plate on certain micropolar fluid flows which are found in many engineering applications. Therefore, because of its practical interest in the engineering fields such as building design, cooling of electronic components, melting and solidification process, solar energy systems, solar collectors, liquid crystals, animal blood, colloidal fluids and polymeric fluids, the topic needs to be further explored.

Design/methodology/approach
The dimensionless governing equations have been solved by finite volume method of the second-order central difference and upwind scheme.

Findings
The effects of the Rayleigh number, nonuniformity parameter and vortex viscosity parameter on fluid flow and heat transfer have been analyzed. The rate of heat transfer increases with an increase in the aspect ratio of the heated plates for all the values of Rayleigh number and vortex viscosity parameter. The heat transfer rate is reduced with an increase in the vortex viscosity parameter. It is predicted that the non-uniform of the baffle gives better heat transfer than uniform heating.

Originality/value
The present numerical results were tested against the experimental work. The present results have an excellent agreement with the results obtained by the previous experimental work.