bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Predictive factors for neurological deficit in patients with spinal tuberculosis
Authors: Sae-Jung Surachai , Wongba Nattamon , Leurmprasert Kriwut 
Published: August 2019

Background: Spinal tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of damage to the spine and associated neural structures. Purpose: This study aims to identify the risk factors for neurological deterioration in spinal TB patients to promptly care for the patients before paralysis develops. Methods: The demographics, clinical characteristics, laboratory results, and radiographic findings of spinal TB patients were collected between 1993 and 2016. The data were analyzed using logistic regression methods. The predictive factors for neurological deficit were identified. Results: There were 125 spinal TB patients (70 men and 55 women). The average age ± standard deviation was 55.7 ± 2.0 and 52.3 ± 2.4=years, respectively. According to the univariate analysis, the significant risk factors associated with neurological deterioration were signal cord changes, notable Cobb angle (>30°), radiating pain, and epidural abscess. The multivariate analysis revealed that only signal cord change and notable Cobb angle significantly influenced neurological status. Conclusion: The predictive factors for neurological deterioration in spinal TB patients are signal cord change and notable Cobb angle. Surgery should be considered in patients who present with these factors before the development of neurological deterioration.
Treatment of irreducible atlantoaxial dislocation using one-stage retropharyngeal release and posterior reduction
Authors: Ren Xianfeng , Gao Feng , Li Siyuan , Yang Jiankun , Xi Yongming 
Published: August 2019

Introduction: Irreducible atlantoaxial dislocation (IAAD) has been challenging for spine surgeons. Various methods have been used to treat IAAD, but no consensus has been reached. This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the efficacy of anterior submandibular retropharyngeal release and posterior reduction and fixation for IAAD. Methods: From March 2007 to May 2015, 13 patients diagnosed with IAAD underwent anterior submandibular retropharyngeal release and sequential posterior reduction and fixation. The operation time, blood loss, postoperative complications, and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores were retrospectively recorded. Results: The surgeries were accomplished successfully. The mean operative time was about 3.8 h. The mean estimated blood loss was about 130 mL. The patients experienced postoperative pharyngeal pain. Only one patient had a vague voice and increased oral discharge postoperatively. At the final follow-up, JOA scores had significantly increased ( p < 0.05), and all the patients had solid bony fusion. Conclusion: The present study reinforces the efficacy and safety of anterior submandibular retropharyngeal release and posterior reduction and fixation for IAAD. It can achieve satisfactory clinical outcomes and is safe for experienced spine surgeons.
Do Professional Baseball Players With a Higher Valgus Carrying Angle Have an Increased Risk of Shoulder and Elbow Injuries?
Authors: Erickson Brandon J. , Chalmers Peter N. , Zajac John , Sgroi Terrance , Eno Jonathan James , Altchek David W. , Dines Joshua S. , Coleman Struan H. 
Published: August 2019

Background: There are many risk factors for shoulder and elbow injuries in professional baseball pitchers. The elbow carrying angle has not been studied as a potential risk factor. Purpose/Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to determine whether elbow carrying angle is a risk factor for shoulder or elbow injuries in professional baseball pitchers. We hypothesized that pitchers with a higher elbow carrying angle would be less likely to sustain an injury during the season than pitchers with a lower elbow carrying angle. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: All professional pitchers for a single baseball club during the 2018 season had the carrying angle of both elbows measured at spring training by a single examiner. The pitchers were followed prospectively throughout the season. Shoulder and elbow injuries were recorded prospectively. Results: A total of 52 pitchers (21 [40%] Major League Baseball and 31 [60%] Minor League Baseball) were included. During the season, 23 (44%) pitchers became injured. The mean carrying angle in the throwing arm was 12.5° ± 4.2° versus 9.9° ± 2.8° in the nonthrowing arm ( P < .001). Comparing the injured and noninjured groups, there were no differences in level of play ( P = .870), throwing hand dominance ( P = .683), batting hand dominance ( P = .554), throwing-side carrying angle ( P = .373), nonthrowing-side carrying angle ( P = .773), or side-to-side difference in carrying angle ( P = .481). Conclusion: The elbow carrying angle was not associated with an injury risk during a single season in professional baseball pitchers.
Zfp281 (ZBP-99) plays a functionally redundant role with Zfp148 (ZBP-89) during erythroid development
Authors: Woo Andrew J. , Patry Chelsea-Ann A. , Ghamari Alireza , Pregernig Gabriela , Yuan Daniel , Zheng Kangni , Piers Taylor , Hibbs Moira , Li Ji , Fidalgo Miguel , Wang Jenny Y. , Lee Joo-Hyeon , Leedman Peter J. , Wang Jianlong , Fraenkel Ernest , Cantor Alan B. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractErythroid maturation requires the concerted action of a core set of transcription factors. We previously identified the Krüppel-type zinc finger transcription factor Zfp148 (also called ZBP-89) as an interacting partner of the master erythroid transcription factor GATA1. Here we report the conditional knockout of Zfp148 in mice. Global loss of Zfp148 results in perinatal lethality from nonhematologic causes. Selective Zfp148 loss within the hematopoietic system results in a mild microcytic and hypochromic anemia, mildly impaired erythroid maturation, and delayed recovery from phenylhydrazine-induced hemolysis. Based on the mild erythroid phenotype of these mice compared with GATA1-deficient mice, we hypothesized that additional factor(s) may complement Zfp148 function during erythropoiesis. We show that Zfp281 (also called ZBP-99), another member of the Zfp148 transcription factor family, is highly expressed in murine and human erythroid cells. Zfp281 knockdown by itself results in partial erythroid defects. However, combined deficiency of Zfp148 and Zfp281 causes a marked erythroid maturation block. Zfp281 physically associates with GATA1, occupies many common chromatin sites with GATA1 and Zfp148, and regulates a common set of genes required for erythroid cell differentiation. These findings uncover a previously unknown role for Zfp281 in erythroid development and suggest that it functionally overlaps with that of Zfp148 during erythropoiesis.
Multiple functional variants in the IL1RL1 region are pretransplant markers for risk of GVHD and infection deaths
Authors: Karaesmen Ezgi , Hahn Theresa , Dile Alexander James , Rizvi Abbas A. , Wang Junke , Wang Tao , Haagenson Michael D. , Preus Leah , Zhu Qianqian , Liu Qian , Yan Li , Liu Song , Haiman Christopher A. , Stram Daniel , Pooler Loreall , Sheng Xin , Van Den Berg David , Brock Guy , Webb Amy , McCarthy Philip L. , Pasquini Marcelo C. , Spellman Stephen R. , Lee Stephanie J. , Paczesny Sophie , Sucheston-Campbell Lara E. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractGraft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and infections are the 2 main causes of death without relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Elevated soluble serum simulation-2 (sST2), the product of IL1RL1 in plasma/serum post-HCT, is a validated GVHD biomarker. Hundreds of SNPs at 2q12.1 have been shown to be strongly associated with sST2 concentrations in healthy populations. We therefore hypothesized that the donor genetic variants in IL1RL1 correlate with sST2 protein levels associated with patient survival outcomes after HCT. We used DISCOVeRY-BMT (Determining the Influence of Susceptibility Conveying Variants Related to 1-Year Mortality after Blood and Marrow Transplantation), a genomic study of &gt;3000 donor–recipient pairs, to inform our hypothesis. We first measured pre-HCT plasma/serum sST2 levels in a subset of DISCOVeRY-BMT donors (n = 757) and tested the association of donor sST2 levels with donor single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 2q12.1 region. Donor SNPs associated with sST2 levels were then tested for association with recipient death caused by acute GVHD (aGVHD)–, infection-, and transplant-related mortality in cohorts 1 and 2. Meta-analyses of cohorts 1 and 2 were performed using fixed-effects inverse variance weighting, and P values were corrected for multiple comparisons. Donor risk alleles in rs22441131 (Pmeta = .00026) and rs2310241 (Pmeta = .00033) increased the cumulative incidence of aGVHD death up to fourfold and were associated with high sST2 levels. Donor risk alleles at rs4851601 (Pmeta = 9.7 × 10−7), rs13019803 (Pmeta = 8.9 × 10−6), and rs13015714 (Pmeta = 5.3 × 10−4) increased cumulative incidence of infection death to almost sevenfold and were associated with low sST2 levels. These functional variants are biomarkers of infection or aGVHD death and could facilitate donor selection, prophylaxis, and a conditioning regimen to reduce post-HCT mortality.
An effective image retrieval based on optimized genetic algorithm utilized a novel SVM-based convolutional neural network classifier
Authors: Ghrabat Mudhafar Jalil Jassim , Ma Guangzhi , Maolood Ismail Yaqub , Alresheedi Shayem Saleh , Abduljabbar Zaid Ameen 
Published: August 2019

Abstract
Image retrieval is the process of retrieving images from a database. Certain algorithms have been used for traditional image retrieval. However, such retrieval involves certain limitations, such as manual image annotation, ineffective feature extraction, inability capability to handle complex queries, increased time required, and production of less accurate results. To overcome these issues, an effective image retrieval method is proposed in this study. This work intends to effectively retrieve images using a best feature extraction process. In the preprocessing of this study, a Gaussian filtering technique is used to remove the unwanted data present in the dataset. After preprocessing, feature extraction is applied to extract features, such as texture and color. Here, the texture feature is categorized as a gray level cooccurrence matrix, whereas the novel statistical and color features are considered image intensity-based color features. These features are clustered by k-means clustering for label formation. A modified genetic algorithm is used to optimize the features, and these features are classified using a novel SVM-based convolutional neural network (NSVMBCNN). Then, the performance is evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, precision, recall, retrieval and recognition rate. The proposed feature extraction and modified genetic algorithm-based optimization technique outperforms existing techniques in experiments, with four different datasets used to test the proposed model. The performance of the proposed method is also better than those of the existing (RVM) regression vector machine, DSCOP, as well as the local directional order pattern (LDOP) and color co-occurrence feature + bit pattern feature (CCF + BPF) methods, in terms of the precision, recall, accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the NSVMBCNN.
Trends in Solid Tumor Incidence in Ukraine 30 Years After Chernobyl
Authors: Leung Krystle M. , Shabat Galyna , Lu Pamela , Fields Adam C. , Lukashenko Andrey , Davids Jennifer S. , Melnitchouk Nelya 
Published: August 2019

PURPOSE There is limited knowledge of the long-term health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident that occurred more than 30 years ago in Ukraine. This study describes trends in the incidence of solid organ malignancy in Ukraine and the five regions most affected by the radioactive fallout. METHODS The National Cancer Registry of Ukraine was queried for age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) of solid organ malignancy in Ukraine and the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Volyn covering the period of 1999 to 2016. Joinpoint analysis was used to calculate the average annual percentage of change. RESULTS The highest burdens of cancer incidence in Ukraine were seen in the lung, stomach, breast, and prostate. We observed significant increases in the ASIRs of colon (average annual percentage of change, 1.5 [95% CI, 1.3 to 1.7]), rectal (0.9 [95% CI, 0.6 to 1.2]), kidney (2.3 [95% CI, 1.8 to 2.9]), thyroid (4.2 [95% CI, 3.1 to 5.3]), breast (1 [95% CI, 0.6 to 1.4]), cervical (0.7 [95% CI, 0.3 to 1.2]), and prostate (3.9 [95% CI, 3.6 to 4.2]) cancers, with decreases in stomach (−2.4 [95% CI, −2.5 to −2.3]) and lung (−1.8 [95% CI, −2.1 to −1.5]) cancers. ASIRs in the affected regions were similar to nationwide rates, with the exception of those for Kyiv. CONCLUSION The incidence rates of many solid organ malignancies in Ukraine are rising. However, the rates of solid organ malignancy in the five regions most affected by fallout did not substantially differ from national patterns, with the exception of those for Kyiv. Ongoing monitoring of cancer incidence in Ukraine is necessary to understand how best to decrease disease burden nationwide and to elucidate the causes of regional variations in ASIRs, such as access to diagnostics and environmental exposures.
Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Detection Globally: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Sood Rupali , Rositch Anne F. , Shakoor Delaram , Ambinder Emily , Pool Kara-Lee , Pollack Erica , Mollura Daniel J. , Mullen Lisa A. , Harvey Susan C. 
Published: August 2019

PURPOSEMammography is not always available or feasible. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the diagnostic performance of ultrasound as a primary tool for early detection of breast cancer.MATERIALS AND METHODSFor this systematic review and meta-analysis, we comprehensively searched PubMed and SCOPUS to identify articles from January 2000 to December 2018 that included data on the performance of ultrasound for detection of breast cancer. Studies evaluating portable, handheld ultrasound as an independent detection modality for breast cancer were included. Quality assessment and bias analysis were performed with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. Sensitivity analyses and meta-regression were used to explore heterogeneity. The study protocol has been registered with the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO identifier: CRD42019127752).RESULTSOf the 526 identified studies, 26 were eligible for inclusion. Ultrasound had an overall pooled sensitivity and specificity of 80.1% (95% CI, 72.2% to 86.3%) and 88.4% (95% CI, 79.8% to 93.6%), respectively. When only low- and middle-income country data were considered, ultrasound maintained a diagnostic sensitivity of 89.2% and specificity of 99.1%. Meta-analysis of the included studies revealed heterogeneity. The high sensitivity of ultrasound for the detection of breast cancer was not statistically significantly different in subgroup analyses on the basis of mean age, risk, symptoms, study design, bias level, and study setting.CONCLUSIONGiven the increasing burden of breast cancer and infeasibility of mammography in certain settings, we believe these results support the potential use of ultrasound as an effective primary detection tool for breast cancer, which may be beneficial in low-resource settings where mammography is unavailable.
Tissue-Specific Ablation of ACSL4 Results in Disturbed Steroidogenesis
Authors: Wang Wei , Hao Xiao , Han Lina , Yan Zhe , Shen Wen-Jun , Dong Dachuan , Hasbargen Kathrin , Bittner Stefanie , Cortez Yuan , Greenberg Andrew S , Azhar Salman , Kraemer Fredric B 
Published: August 2019

AbstractACSL4 is a member of the ACSL family that catalyzes the conversion of long-chain fatty acids to acyl-coenzyme As, which are essential for fatty-acid incorporation and utilization in diverse metabolic pathways, including cholesteryl ester synthesis. Steroidogenic tissues such as the adrenal gland are particularly enriched in cholesteryl esters of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which constitute an important pool supplying cholesterol for steroid synthesis. The current studies addressed whether ACSL4 is required for normal steroidogenesis. CYP11A1 promoter‒mediated Cre was used to generate steroid tissue‒specific ACSL4 knockout (KO) mice. Results demonstrated that ACSL4 plays an important role in adrenal cholesteryl ester formation, as well as in determining the fatty acyl composition of adrenal cholesteryl esters, with ACSL4 deficiency leading to reductions in cholesteryl ester storage and alterations in cholesteryl ester composition. Statistically significant reductions in corticosterone and testosterone production, but not progesterone production, were observed in vivo, and these deficits were accentuated in ex vivo and in vitro studies of isolated steroid tissues and cells from ACSL4-deficient mice. However, these effects on steroid production appear to be due to reductions in cholesteryl ester stores rather than disturbances in signaling pathways. We conclude that ACSL4 is dispensable for normal steroidogenesis.
Toll-Like Receptor-4 Antagonist (+)-Naloxone Confers Sexually Dimorphic Protection From Inflammation-Induced Fetal Programming in Mice
Authors: Chin Peck Yin , Dorian Camilla , Sharkey David J , Hutchinson Mark R , Rice Kenner C , Moldenhauer Lachlan M , Robertson Sarah A 
Published: August 2019

AbstractInflammation elicited by infection or noninfectious insults during gestation induces proinflammatory cytokines that can shift the trajectory of development to alter offspring phenotype, promote adiposity, and increase susceptibility to metabolic disease in later life. In this study, we use mice to investigate the utility of a small molecule Toll-like receptor (TLR)4 antagonist (+)-naloxone, the nonopioid isomer of the opioid receptor antagonist (−)-naloxone, for mitigating altered fetal metabolic programming induced by a modest systemic inflammatory challenge in late gestation. In adult progeny exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge in utero, male but not female offspring exhibited elevated adipose tissue, reduced muscle mass, and elevated plasma leptin at 20 weeks of age. Effects were largely reversed by coadministration of (+)-naloxone following LPS. When given alone without LPS, (+)-naloxone elicited accelerated postweaning growth and elevated muscle and fat mass in adult male but not female offspring. LPS induced expression of inflammatory cytokines Il1a, Il1b, Il6, Tnf, and Il10 in fetal brain, placental, and uterine tissues, and (+)-naloxone suppressed LPS-induced cytokine expression. Fetal sex-specific regulation of cytokine expression was evident, with higher Il1a, Il1b, Il6, and Il10 induced by LPS in tissues associated with male fetuses, and greater suppression by (+)-naloxone of Il6 in females. These data demonstrate that modulating TLR4 signaling with (+)-naloxone provides protection from inflammatory diversion of fetal developmental programming in utero, associated with attenuation of gestational tissue cytokine expression in a fetal sex-specific manner. The results suggest that pharmacologic interventions targeting TLR4 warrant evaluation for attenuating developmental programming effects of fetal exposure to maternal inflammatory mediators.
Textiloma-Induced 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D–Mediated Hypercalcemia: A Case Report and Literature Study
Authors: de Bellefroid Julie , Vandecasteele Stefaan , Van Cauwenberge Sebastiaan , Bouillon Roger , Van den Bruel Annick 
Published: August 2019

Abstract
Foreign body causing 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D]-induced hypercalcemia is an uncommon yet clinically significant cause of hypercalcemia. We report an unusual case of hypercalcemia due to a textiloma (a surgical gauze inadvertently left in place during surgery). A PubMed search for (HYPERCALCEMIA) and (FOREIGN BODY) was performed. A foreign body (surgical gauze) left over after removal of a kidney transplant caused 1,25(OH)2D-induced hypercalcemia. The diagnosis was complicated by end-stage renal disease, low PTH, and high 1,25(OH)2D.
Transforming Geographies of Black Time: How the Free Southern Theater Used the Plantation for Civil Rights Activism
Authors: Fleming Julius B. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractThis essay examines the cultural and political work of the Free Southern Theater, specifically how this company used plantations, porches, and cotton fields in order to build a radical black southern theater in the civil rights movement. Staging plays like Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot for black southern audiences, the theater challenged a violent structure of time at the heart of global modernity that I call black patience. By this I mean an abiding historical demand for black people to wait: whether in the hold of the slave ship, on the auction block, or for emancipation from slavery. Focusing on the centrality of the plantation to the spatializing logics of black patience, I consider how the Free Southern Theater used performance to demand “freedom now” and to revise the oppressive histories of time rooted in the material geographies of the US South. Mounting time-conscious plays, the theater used temporal aesthetics to transform the region’s historical geographies of black time (e.g., the labor time of black slaves and sharecroppers working in cotton fields) into radical sites of black political action, aesthetic innovation, and embodied performance. Engaging and reinvesting the meanings of the South’s plantation geographies, the theater revealed how one hundred years after emancipation, time remained essential to procuring the afterlives of slavery and colonialism and to shoring up the region’s necropolitical attachments. Examining these aesthetic and political experiments illuminates the importance of time to the emerging field of black geographies and to the field of black studies more broadly.
Multi-modal and multiscale imaging approaches reveal novel cardiovascular pathophysiology in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Weismann Constance G. , Blice-Baum Anna , Tong Tangji , Li Joyce , Huang Brendan K. , Jonas Stephan M. , Cammarato Anthony , Choma Michael A. 
Published: August 2019

ABSTRACT
Establishing connections between changes in linear DNA sequences and complex downstream mesoscopic pathology remains a major challenge in biology. Herein, we report a novel, multi-modal and multiscale imaging approach for comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular physiology in Drosophila melanogaster. We employed high-speed angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and confocal microscopy to reveal functional and structural abnormalities in the hdp2 mutant, pre-pupal heart tube and aorta relative to controls. hdp2 harbor a mutation in wupA, which encodes an ortholog of human troponin I (TNNI3). TNNI3 variants frequently engender cardiomyopathy. We demonstrate that the hdp2 aortic and cardiac muscle walls are disrupted and that shorter sarcomeres are associated with smaller, stiffer aortas, which consequently result in increased flow and pulse wave velocities. The mutant hearts also displayed diastolic and latent systolic dysfunction. We conclude that hdp2 pre-pupal hearts are exposed to increased afterload due to aortic hypoplasia. This may in turn contribute to diastolic and subtle systolic dysfunction via vascular-heart tube interaction, which describes the effect of the arterial loading system on cardiac function. Ultimately, the cardiovascular pathophysiology caused by a point mutation in a sarcomeric protein demonstrates that complex and dynamic micro- and mesoscopic phenotypes can be mechanistically explained in a gene sequence- and molecular-specific manner.