bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Daily remote ischaemic conditioning following acute myocardial infarction: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Vanezis Andrew Peter , Arnold Jayanth Ranjit , Rodrigo Glenn , Lai Florence Y , Debiec Radek , Nazir Sheraz , Khan Jamal Nasir , Ng Leong L , Chitkara Kamal , Coghlan John G , Hetherington Simon Lee , McCann Gerry P , Samani Nilesh J 
Published: November 2018

BackgroundRemote ischaemic conditioning (rIC) is a cardioprotective tool which has shown promise in preclinical and clinical trials in the context of acute ischaemia. Repeated rIC post myocardial infarction may provide additional benefits which have not previously been tested clinically.MethodsThe trial assessed the role of daily rIC in enhancing left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) recovery in patients with impaired LVEF (<45%) after ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (P-PCI). Patients were recruited from four UK hospitals and randomised to receive either 4 weeks of daily rIC or sham conditioning using the autoRIC Device (CellAegis) starting on day 3 post P-PCI. The primary endpoint was the improvement in LVEF over 4 months assessed by cardiac MRI (CMR). Seventy-three patients (38 cases, 35 controls) completed the study.ResultsThe treatment and control groups were well matched at baseline including for mean LVEF (42.8% vs 44.3% respectively, p=0.952). There was no difference in the improvement in LVEF over 4 months between the treatment and control groups (4.8%±7.8% vs 4.6%±5.9% respectively, p=0.924). No differences were seen in the secondary outcome measures including changes in infarct size and left ventricular end-diastolic and systolic volumes, major adverse cardiac and cerebral event, mean Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire score and change in N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels.ConclusionsDaily rIC starting on day 3 and continued for 4 weeks following successful P-PCI for STEMI did not improve LVEF as assessed by CMR after 4 months when compared with a matched control group.Trial registration numberNCT0166461.
Hispanic Families’ Action Plans for a Healthier Lifestyle for Diabetes Management
Authors: Amirehsani Karen A. , Hu Jie , Wallace Debra C. , Silva Zulema A. , Dick Sarah 
Published: November 2018

Purpose The purpose of this study was to conduct focus groups with Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes and their family members who participated in a culturally tailored, family-based diabetes intervention about their action plans for a healthier lifestyle. Methods Five separate focus groups were led in Spanish by an experienced bicultural/bilingual moderator. The audiotaped sessions occurred at the end of the 8-week diabetes educational program. Data were transcribed in Spanish and translated into English. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the findings. Results Eighty-four Hispanic adults participated with an equal representation of patients with diabetes and family members. Most persons were female (63.1%) and the majority of persons were born in Mexico. The mean (SD) age of participants was 44.2 (14.3) years. Six themes emerged from the data: healthier eating habits, increasing physical activity, taking care of my sugar, coping with emotions, for the family, and empowerment and increased self-efficacy. Conclusions Hispanics created action plans that promoted healthier lifestyle behaviors individually and as a family. This type of behavior change may result in better diabetes management and fewer complications. Research studies are needed to assess the sustainability of action plans and their impact on glycemic control and diabetes risk factors. Additional studies are needed to address emotional eating and mental health factors.
Pulmonary vascular pruning in smokers with bronchiectasis
Authors: Diaz Alejandro A. , Maselli Diego J. , Rahaghi Farbod , Come Carolyn E. , Yen Andrew , Maclean Erick S. , Okajima Yuka , Martinez Carlos H. , Yamashiro Tsuneo , Lynch David A. , Wang Wei , Kinney Gregory L. , Washko George R. , San José Estépar Raúl 
Published: November 2018

There are few studies looking at the pulmonary circulation in subjects with bronchiectasis. We aimed to evaluate the intraparenchymal pulmonary vascular structure, using noncontrast chest computed tomography (CT), and its clinical implications in smokers with radiographic bronchiectasis.Visual bronchiectasis scoring and quantitative assessment of the intraparenchymal pulmonary vasculature were performed on CT scans from 486 smokers. Clinical, lung function and 6-min walk test (6MWT) data were also collected. The ratio of blood vessel volume in vessels <5 mm2in cross-section (BV5) to total blood vessel volume (TBV) was used as measure of vascular pruning, with lower values indicating more pruning. Whole-lung and lobar BV5/TBV values were determined, and regression analyses were used to assess the differences in BV5/TBV between subjects with and without bronchiectasis.155 (31.9%) smokers had bronchiectasis, which was, on average, mild in severity. Compared to subjects without bronchiectasis, those with lower-lobe bronchiectasis had greater vascular pruning in adjusted models. Among subjects with bronchiectasis, those with vascular pruning had lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s and 6MWT distance compared to those without vascular pruning.Smokers with mild radiographic bronchiectasis appear to have pruning of the distal pulmonary vasculature and this pruning is associated with measures of disease severity.
A modified clinicopathological tumor staging system for survival prediction of patients with penile cancer
Authors: Li Zai‐Shang , Ornellas Antonio Augusto , Schwentner Christian , Li Xiang , Chaux Alcides , Netto Georges , Burnett Arthur L. , Tang Yong , Geng JiunHung , Yao Kai , Chen Xiao‐Feng , Wang Bin , Liao Hong , Liu Nan , Chen Peng , Lei Yong‐Hong , Mi Qi‐Wu , Rao Hui‐Lan , Xiao Ying‐Ming , Wang Qi‐Lin , Qin Zi‐Ke , Liu Zhuo‐Wei , Li Yong‐Hong , Zou Zi‐Jun , Luo Jun‐Hang , Li Hui , Han Hui , Zhou Fang‐Jian 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBackgroundThe 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer tumor–node–metastasis (AJCC‐TNM) staging system is based on a few retrospective single‐center studies. We aimed to test the prognostic validity of the staging system and to determine whether a modified clinicopathological tumor staging system that includes lymphovascular embolization could increase the accuracy of prognostic prediction for patients with stage T2–3 penile cancer.MethodsA training cohort of 411 patients who were treated at 2 centers in China and Brazil between 2000 and 2015 were staged according to the 8th AJCC‐TNM staging system. The internal validation was analyzed by bootstrap‐corrected C‐indexes (resampled 1000 times). Data from 436 patients who were treated at 15 centers over four continents were used for external validation.ResultsA survivorship overlap was observed between T2 and T3 patients (P = 0.587) classified according to the 8th AJCC‐TNM staging system. Lymphovascular embolization was a significant prognostic factor for metastasis and survival (all P < 0.001). Based on the multivariate analysis, only lymphovascular embolization showed a significant influence on cancer‐specific survival (CSS) (hazard ratio = 1.587, 95% confidence interval = 1.253–2.011; P = 0.001). T2 and T3 patients with lymphovascular embolization showed significantly shorter CSS than did those without lymphovascular embolization (P < 0.001). Therefore, a modified clinicopathological staging system was proposed, with the T2 and T3 categories of the 8th AJCC‐TNM staging system being subdivided into two new categories as follows: t2 tumors invade the corpus spongiosum and/or corpora cavernosa and/or urethra without lymphovascular invasion, and t3 tumors invade the corpus spongiosum and/or corpora cavernosa and/or urethra with lymphovascular invasion. The modified staging system involving lymphovascular embolization showed improved prognostic stratification with significant differences in CSS among all categories (all P < 0.005) and exhibited higher accuracy in predicting patient prognoses than did the 8th AJCC‐TNM staging system (C‐index, 0.739 vs. 0.696). These results were confirmed in the external validation cohort.ConclusionsT2–3 penile cancers are heterogeneous, and a modified clinicopathological staging system that incorporates lymphovascular embolization may better predict the prognosis of patients with penile cancer than does the 8th AJCC‐TNM staging system.Trial registration This study was retrospectively registered on Chinese Clinical Trail Registry: ChiCTR16008041 (2016‐03‐02). http://www.chictr.org.cn
Optical tomography based on shortest-path model for diffuse surface object
Authors: Iwaguchi Takafumi , Funatomi Takuya , Aoto Takahito , Kubo Hiroyuki , Mukaigawa Yasuhiro 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
We tackle an optical measurement of the internal structure of a diffuse surface object—we define as an object that has a diffuse surface and its interior is transparent, like grapes or hollow plastic bottles. Our approach is based on optical tomography that reconstructs the interior from observations of absorption of light rays from various views, under the projection of the light. The difficulty lies in the fact that a light ray that enters changes its direction at the interaction of the surface, unlike X-ray that travels straight through the object. We introduce a model of light path in the object called shortest-path model. We acquire the absorption of light rays through the object by the measurement upon the assumption of the model. Since this measurement acquires insufficient observation to reconstruct the interior by conventional reconstruction algorithms, we also introduce a reconstruction method based on a numerical optimization that a physical requirement of the absorption is taken into account. Our method is confirmed successful to measure the interior in a real-world experiment.
NG-Tax, a highly accurate and validated pipeline for analysis of 16S rRNA amplicons from complex biomes
Authors: Ramiro-Garcia Javier , Hermes Gerben D. A. , Giatsis Christos , Sipkema Detmer , Zoetendal Erwin G. , Schaap Peter J. , Smidt Hauke 
Published: November 2018

Background: Massive high-throughput sequencing of short, hypervariable segments of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene has transformed the methodological landscape describing microbial diversity within and across complex biomes. However, several studies have shown that the methodology rather than the biological variation is responsible for the observed sample composition and distribution. This compromises meta-analyses, although this fact is often disregarded. Results: To facilitate true meta-analysis of microbiome studies, we developed NG-Tax, a pipeline for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence analysis that was validated with different mock communities and benchmarked against QIIME as a frequently used pipeline. The microbial composition of 49 independently amplified mock samples was characterized by sequencing two variable 16S rRNA gene regions, V4 and V5-V6, in three separate sequencing runs on Illumina’s HiSeq2000 platform. This allowed for the evaluation of important causes of technical bias in taxonomic classification: 1) run-to-run sequencing variation, 2) PCR–error, and 3) region/primer specific amplification bias. Despite the short read length (~140 nt) and all technical biases, the average specificity of the taxonomic assignment for the phylotypes included in the mock communities was 97.78%. On average 99.95% and 88.43% of the reads could be assigned to at least family or genus level, respectively, while assignment to ‘spurious genera’ represented on average only 0.21% of the reads per sample. Analysis of α- and β-diversity confirmed conclusions guided by biology rather than the aforementioned methodological aspects, which was not achieved with QIIME. Conclusions: Different biological outcomes are commonly observed due to 16S rRNA region-specific performance. NG-Tax demonstrated high robustness against choice of region and other technical biases associated with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing studies, diminishing their impact and providing accurate qualitative and quantitative representation of the true sample composition. This will improve comparability between studies and facilitate efforts towards standardization.
Polish version of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS)
Authors: Wójciak Paweł , Górna Krystyna , Domowicz Klaudia , Jaracz Krystyna , Gołębiewska Katarzyna , Michalak Michał , Rybakowski Janusz 
Published: November 2018

Cel pracyUtworzenie polskiej adaptacji Krótkiej Skali Objawów Negatywnych (Brief Negative Symptom Scale – BNSS), ocena zgodności wewnętrznej polskiej wersji skali BNSS oraz przeprowadzenie korelacji między oceną w skali BNSS, a oceną w Skali Zespołów Pozytywnego i Negatywnego schizofrenii (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale – PANSS) w grupie chorych na schizofrenię.MetodaPrzeprowadzono procedurę polskiej adaptacji formularza oceny (Scoresheet), obejmującego 13 punktów zorganizowanych w 6 podskal (anhedonia, brak prawidłowego dystresu, asocjalność, awolicja, blady afekt i alogia), podręcznika (Manual) oraz zeszytu szkoleniowego (Workbook) skali BNSS. Badania psychometryczne wykonano u 40 chorych na schizofrenię paranoidalną (20 mężczyzn i 20 kobiet), w wieku 44+13 lat, o długości choroby 17+10 lat i nasileniu objawów w skali PANSS 56+16 punktów, otrzymujących niezmienione leczenie farmakologiczne w okresie ostatnich 3 miesięcy.WynikiPolska wersja została zaakceptowana przez twórców skali. Analiza rzetelności wykazała wysokie wyniki wskaźnika alfa-Cronbacha zarówno dla całej skali (0,97), jak i dla poszczególnych podskal (0,74-0,93). Skala BNSS i jej podskale wykazywały wysoką istotną korelację z całkowitym wynikiem PANSS oraz z podskalą objawów negatywnych PANSS zarówno oryginalną, jak i zmodyfikowaną.WnioskiUzyskane wyniki wskazują na dobre własności psychometryczne polskiej wersji skali BNSS i na jej możliwą przydatność w badaniach objawów negatywnych schizofrenii prowadzonych w naszym kraju.
Skype sessions as a way to provide additional oral practice of English university students
Authors: García Trejos Sergio Ramiro , Diaz Pascuas Rolney Leonardo , Artunduaga Cuellar Marco Tulio 
Published: November 2018

english teachers frequently find students with a low level of oral proficiency but who want to put the language they are learning into practice. The lack of opportunities to use the language inside the classroom added to the lack of time and spaces to interact with others outside the classroom make the situation even more complex. This article contains the results of an Action Research study which aimed at exploring the impact of using Skype as a complementary tool to foster oral production in a group of students in a private university in Neiva, Colombia. Four students from the first level of English with a basic command of the language took part in this study. Theoretical constructs such the use of Skype in EFL, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), social networking, cooperative learning and oral production in CMC were taken into account. The pedagogical interventions in the study consisted of six Skype video- conferences between a teacher-researcher and the four participants. To collect data, video-conference transcripts, field notes and students’ journals were used. The data were analyzed using qualitative methods. Findings evidence that Skype impacts the EFL context in areas like language learning, social interaction and emotional influences.key words: Skype, CMC, oral production, social networking, cooperative learning.
Narrative representation and fictionality in performative media
Authors: Horstmann Jan 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
The transmedial discussion in this article shows that the terms narrative mediation and representation should be carefully distinguished from fiction or fictionality. The constitutive use of ‘real’ (or factual) artifacts in performative media (i. e. media which present embodied events, such as theater or film) provides a good example for the necessity of this distinction. Frequently these artifacts serve the purpose of a fictional discourse and certain definitions of fictionality (cf. Walton 1990) can be said to be fulfilled. However, a real-world artifact can by no means become itself fictive, but is rather used to represent a fictive entity. By focusing on representation and mediation instead, it becomes possible to compare theater with other performative media in terms of narrative representation: even though it is sense-physiologically unmediated, the functions of narrative mediation (i. e. selecting, ordering, presenting, commenting; cf. e. g. Chatman 1990) apply. The article establishes a dynamic system of representation that can be used for the analysis of all kinds of multichannel narrative media and thus rests the ongoing scholarly discussions of transmedial narrative representation on a much sounder theoretical basis. It distinguishes representation clearly from fictionality, and highlights the significance of theater in this discussion.
Language choice and code-switching among Hong Kong’s Hakka speakers
Authors: Lee Sherman 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
This paper examines the language practices among speakers of Hakka in Hong Kong, a minority Chinese variety still found in the territory. These speakers were largely monolingual a few decades ago but are now primarily bilingual in Hakka and Cantonese as the community shifts towards the latter, the dominant societal language. To explore the process and dynamics of this language shift, the present study adopted an ethnographic approach for observing the actual bilingual behaviours of individuals and families in the community. The informant sample comprised 32 speakers aged between 9 and 82 from nine separate families across Hong Kong. Data was collected through a combination of participant observation, informal interviews and conversational exchanges in the informants’ homes. Examination of their patterns of language choice and language use shows that most of the speakers use Cantonese-dominant patterns, and are ‘shifters’ rather than ‘maintainers’ of the Hakka language; the shift is clearly generation and age-related. The paper also illustrates how bilingual speakers make use of code-switching between Hakka and Cantonese to achieve various discourse purposes in their everyday conversations, suggesting that even among the ‘language shifters’, Hakka remains an important linguistic resource.
‘Chinese English or English Chinese?’
Authors: Kirkpatrick Andy 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
A question which is frequently asked in discussions about the future roles of English and Chinese (Modern Standard Chinese or Putonghua and often also referred to as Mandarin) in the Asia-Pacific region is whether Chinese will replace English as the primary regional language or lingua franca. In this article, I shall first consider the roles that each language is playing in China itself and within the Asia-Pacific region. I shall argue that it is important to take these languages together, as the combination of Modern Standard Chinese and English is threatening regional languages, including other major Chinese languages such as Cantonese. In dealing with these two major languages in combination, I shall also consider how each language has influenced and continues to influence the other linguistically, illustrating this with examples at the levels of lexis, syntax, rhetoric and pragmatic norms. I shall conclude by tentatively suggesting how the roles of these two languages may develop in future, and the potential sociolinguistic consequences of this.
The Rise of Chinese Internet Language: Product and Agent of Globalization from Below
Authors: Xiao Yun 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
As globalization presses on in China a market economy and democracy have been developed, and ordinary people obtained opportunities at many levels. One of them is their tangible access to media networks, computer facilities, online technologies, and global information exchange, which leads to the rise and expansion of Chinese Internet Language (CIL). Drawing on theoretical perspectives from globalization research, such as globalization and transformation (Steger 2009), as well as globalization and language (Fairclough 2006, 2009), this study intends to examine the emerging CIL and its role in social change. Taking a globalization and language approach, this study seeks to answer questions such as: What characterizes the CIL? How does the CIL reflect the changing social conditions in contemporary China? And how does the cyber community generate new public discourse that drives the changing China?
Data used for this study are from three major sources: (1) The corpus-based annual national reports entitled The Language Situation in China《中国语言生活状况报告》Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao from 2005 to 2013 (English version in Volumes 1 and 2 of Language Policies and Practices in China, Yuming Li and Wei Li, 2013, 2014), (2) the Semi-Annual Report on International Development in China by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), and (3) recent Chinese publications, online or printed. Collectively, the data indicate that, with globalization rapidly changing and seriously challenging China, its social conditions and people’s life chances are radically changing, which are measured, evaluated, and reflected on by the language use of grassroots people that is marked with innovations, catch words, and novel forms. Officially branded as low standard and crude, CIL binds together a Chinese-speaking cyber community that generates new public discourse as the pushing hand and uncompromising challenger of the social change “from below.”
Activity in Czech and Russian Nineteenth-century Sonnets: A Contrastive Study
Authors: Andreev Sergey , Místecký Michal 
Published: November 2018

Abstract
The article focuses on analysing activity in the selected sonnets of the Czech and Russian nineteenth-century literatures (100 poems per each). Busemann Coefficient (Q) is counted for the samples, and the individual authors are tested on statistical significance by means of the nonparametric Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon test. Another product of the research is a scatter plot, where the counts of the significant MWW test values for the poets and their average Q’s are compared; these figures are clustered according to the k-means method, and interpretations are formulated on the basis of the groupings. Both microanalyses penetrating into an author’s production, and literary-movement investigations are provided, so as to make the research of use for literary criticism, too. Finally, two ways of comparing the Czech and Russian data are sketched, with the outcomes being commented upon.
Are Languages like Atoms? On Modelling Language Spread as a Physicist
Authors: Prochazka Katharina , Vogl Gero 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn physics, the spread of particles such as atoms is called diffusion. The same term is employed in linguistics to describe the spread of language features or languages as a whole. In this paper, we investigate how models for physical diffusion can be transferred to linguistics to study language spread. We review the different ways of describing physical diffusion and then look at two types of models to study language spread. By examining the differences and similarities between speakers, languages and atoms, we show that it is important to be clear about what is being modelled: languages or speakers, as these are quite different but cannot be completely separated—languages cannot exist without speakers and vice versa.