bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Simulation Modeling and Metamodeling to Inform National and International HIV Policies for Children and Adolescents
Authors: Ciaranello Andrea , Sohn Annette H. , Collins Intira Jeannie , Rothery Claire , Abrams Elaine J. , Woods Beth , Pei Pamela , Penazzato Martina , Mahy Mary 
Published: July 2018

Objective and Approach:
Computer-based simulation models serve an important purpose in informing HIV care for children and adolescents. We review current model-based approaches to informing pediatric and adolescent HIV estimates and guidelines.

Findings:
Clinical disease simulation models and epidemiologic models are used to inform global and regional estimates of numbers of children and adolescents living with HIV and in need of antiretroviral therapy, to develop normative guidelines addressing strategies for diagnosis and treatment of HIV in children, and to forecast future need for pediatric and adolescent antiretroviral therapy formulations and commodities. To improve current model-generated estimates and policy recommendations, better country-level and regional-level data are needed about children living with HIV, as are improved data about survival and treatment outcomes for children with perinatal HIV infection as they age into adolescence and adulthood. In addition, novel metamodeling and value of information methods are being developed to improve the transparency of model methods and results, as well as to allow users to more easily tailor model-based analyses to their own settings.

Conclusions:
Substantial progress has been made in using models to estimate the size of the pediatric and adolescent HIV epidemic, to inform the development of guidelines for children and adolescents affected by HIV, and to support targeted implementation of policy recommendations to maximize impact. Ongoing work will address key limitations and further improve these model-based projections.
Making Implementation Science Work for Children and Adolescents Living With HIV
Authors: Mark Daniella , Geng Elvin , Vorkoper Susan , Essajee Shaffiq , Bloch Kim , Willis Nicola , Stewart Bethany , Bakeera-Kitaka Sabrina , Sugandhi Nandita , Sturke Rachel , Achebe Kechi , Ferguson B. Jane , Vicari Marissa , Luo Chewe , Putta Nande , John-Stewart Grace , Guay Laura , Mushavi Angela , Muhammad Imran , Ross David A. 
Published: July 2018

Abstract:
The global HIV response is leaving children and adolescents behind. Because of a paucity of studies on treatment and care models for these age groups, there are gaps in our understanding of how best to implement services to improve their health outcomes. Without this evidence, policymakers are left to extrapolate from adult studies, which may not be appropriate, and can lead to inefficiencies in service delivery, hampered uptake, and ineffective mechanisms to support optimal outcomes. Implementation science research seeks to investigate how interventions known to be efficacious in study settings are, or are not, routinely implemented within real-world programmes. Effective implementation science research must be a collaborative effort between government, funding agencies, investigators, and implementers, each playing a key role. Successful implementation science research in children and adolescents requires clearer policies about age of consent for services and research that conform to ethical standards but allow for rational modifications. Implementation research in these age groups also necessitates age-appropriate consultation and engagement of children, adolescents, and their caregivers. Finally, resource, systems, technology, and training must be prioritized to improve the availability and quality of age-/sex-disaggregated data. Implementation science has a clear role to play in facilitating understanding of how the multiple complex barriers to HIV services for children and adolescents prevent effective interventions from reaching more children and adolescents living with HIV, and is well positioned to redress gaps in the HIV response for these age groups. This is truer now more than ever, with urgent and ambitious 2020 global targets on the horizon and insufficient progress in these age groups to date.
A Pilot Randomized Controlled Double-Blind Trial of High- Versus Low-Dose Weekly Folic Acid in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis Receiving Methotrexate
Authors: Stamp Lisa K. , O'Donnell John L. , Frampton Christopher , Drake Jill , Zhang Mei , Barclay Murray , Chapman Peter T. 
Published: July 2018

Background/Objective
The aim of this study was to determine whether reducing the dose of supplemental folic acid used in conjunction with methotrexate (MTX) therapy in people with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) improved disease control and/or increased MTX-related adverse effects.

Methods
A randomized double-blind randomized controlled trial comparing 5 mg/wk and 0.8 mg/wk folic acid was undertaken. Rheumatoid arthritis patients on MTX for 3 months or more at a stable dose for 1 month or more were recruited. All participants had DAS28 of 3.2 or greater or required a change in therapy determined by the treating clinician. Disease activity, full blood count, liver function tests, red blood cell (RBC) folate, and RBC MTX polyglutamates were assessed at weeks 0, 4, 8, 16, and 24 along with reports of adverse events.

Results
Forty participants were recruited. The mean (SD) change in RBC folate between week 0 and 24 was +87.9 (57.4) nmol/L in the high-dose group and −113.3 (65.7) nmol/L in the low-dose group (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the change in DAS28 between the high- and low-dose groups at 24 weeks (−0.13 [95% confidence interval, −0.69 to 0.43] vs −0.25 [−0.87 to 0.37], respectively [p = 0.78]). There was no significant difference in MTX-related adverse effects between the 2 groups.

Conclusions
A reduction in RBC folate secondary to reduction in folic acid dose was not associated with a change in RA disease activity or MTX-related adverse effects. The prevention of MTX-related adverse effects remains the primary reason for coprescribing folic acid with MTX.

Trial Registration
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR12610000739011).
Efficacy of Repeat Midurethral Sling for Persistent or Recurrent Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Fellows Pelvic Research Network Study
Authors: Smithling Katelyn R. , Adams-Piper Emily E. , Tran Alexis M. , Davé Bhumy A. , Chu Christine M. , Chan Robert C. , Antosh Danielle D. , Gutman Robert E. 
Published: July 2018

Objective
The objective of this study is to compare quality of life and success rates of repeat midurethral slings (RMUS) using retropubic (RP) and transobturator (TO) routes.

Materials and Methods
Multicenter retrospective cohort with prospective follow-up of patients undergoing RMUS from 2003 to 2016. Prospective Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI-6) and Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) were collected by phone. Primary outcome was success of repeat sling by approach (RP vs TO), defined as responses of no to UDI-6 number 3 and very much better or much better on PGI-I.

Results
A total of 122 patients prospectively completed UDI-6. Average ± SD time to failure after initial sling was 51.6 ± 56.1 months; mean follow-up after repeat sling was 30.7 months. Route of initial sling was RP 30.3%, TO 49.2%, and minisling 16.4%. Of the patients, 55.8% met our success definition following RMUS. About 71.3% were very much better or much better on PGI-I, and 30.3% reported stress urinary incontinence (SUI) on UDI-6. Of the RMUS, 73.8% were RP versus 26.2% TO.
There was no difference in success between repeat RP and TO routes (53.3% versus 63.3%, P = 0.34), nor for individual components: PGI-I response of very much better or much better (68.9% vs 78.1%), UDI-6 total score (25.9 vs 22.7, P = 0.29), or SUI on UDI-6 number 3 (32.2% vs 25.0%, P = 0.45), although the predetermined sample size was not met. No predictors of success or failure of RMUS were identified.

Conclusions
Majority of patients are very much better or much better after RMUS, although 30% still report bothersome SUI. No difference in success was observed between RP and TO RMUS.
Cold Storage Injury to Rat Small-bowel Transplants—Beneficial Effect of a Modified HTK Solution
Authors: Lautenschläger Ingmar , Pless-Petig Gesine , Middel Peter , de Groot Herbert , Rauen Ursula , Stojanovic Tomislav 
Published: July 2018

Background
The small bowel is prone to ischemic injury during transport before transplantation, an injury that endangers the recipient patient. The small-bowel mucosal microcirculation in particular appears to be highly sensitive to injury. Current preservation solutions such as histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solution provide some protection to the graft. However, these were developed decades ago and do not address several critical processes, such as hypoxia-induced membrane pores and free radical-mediated hypothermic injury.

Methods
To protect the graft from cold ischemic injury, we implemented a modified HTK solution here, including glycine, alanine, and iron chelators in a heterotopic, syngeneic small-bowel transplantation model of the rat. The effects of the modified solution and its major components were compared against the conventional HTK solution using intravital microscopy in the early reperfusion period.

Results
The amino acid glycine, added to HTK solution, slightly improved mucosal perfusion. Both, the modified base solution (without iron chelators) and iron chelators increased functional capillary density of the mucosa during the early reperfusion period. The complete modified solution (with glycine, alanine, and iron chelators) significantly increased the perfusion index, functional capillary density of the mucosa, and red blood cell velocity in the grafts after reperfusion in comparison with the grafts preserved with HTK.

Conclusions
The modified preservation solution improved the microcirculation of the transplants and needs detailed evaluation in further models of small-bowel transplantation.
Incontinence, Incontinence-Associated Dermatitis, and Pressure Injuries in a Health District in Australia
Authors: Barakat-Johnson Michelle , Barnett Catherine , Lai Michelle , Wand Timothy , White Kathryn 
Published: July 2018

PURPOSE:
This purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of incontinence, incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD), and pressure injuries (PIs) in a local health district in Australia. We also aimed to determine associated evidence-into-practice gaps.

DESIGN:
Multisite mixed-methods study.

SUBJECTS AND SETTINGS:
The sample comprised 250 adult patients in 12 units across 4 hospitals; their mean age was 73 years. Nurses caring for the patient at the time of the audit were questioned on nursing practice for patients with incontinence.

METHODS:
A 2-page audit tool was developed and used to capture demographic data, continence and mobility status, IAD and PI, incontinence products, nursing practice observations, and nurses' comments. Each patient was assessed by 2 senior nurses. Quantitative analysis included descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis using a χ2 test to examine the association between mobility and incontinence and a Fisher exact test to examine the association between IAD and PI. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data and develop themes.

RESULTS:
Almost half of patients had incontinence (n = 111/250), 20.7% of patients with incontinence (n = 23/111) had IAD, and 6.3% (n = 7/111) had hospital-acquired PI. There was a significant association between incontinence and mobility, and between IAD and PIs. In addition, 22.3% of patients who were continent (31/139) were wearing an incontinence product. Analysis of qualitative data found that both incontinence management and language used to refer to incontinence pads were incompatible with current best practices.

CONCLUSION:
The prevalence of incontinence among patients observed in this study was similar to rates reported internationally, but the prevalence of IAD was slightly lower. The association between IAD and PIs, as well as incontinence and mobility, was statistically and clinically significant. Nurses commonly used interventions with little or no evidence. Hospitals should put measures in place to improve nurses' knowledge of incontinence, IAD, and PI practices.
Microglia Regulate Neuroglia Remodeling in Various Ocular and Retinal Injuries
Authors: Paschalis Eleftherios I. , Lei Dylan , Zhou Chengxin , Chen Xiaohong Nancy , Kapoulea Vassiliki , Hui Pui-Chuen , Dana Reza , Chodosh James , Vavvas Demetrios , Dohlman Claes H. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractReactive microglia and infiltrating peripheral monocytes have been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases of the retina and central nervous system (CNS). However, their specific contribution in retinal degeneration remains unclear. We recently showed that peripheral monocytes that infiltrate the retina after ocular injury in mice become permanently engrafted into the tissue, establishing a pro-inflammatory phenotype that promotes neurodegeneration. Here, we show in mice that microglia regulate the process of neuroglia remodeling during ocular injury, and their depletion results in marked upregulation of inflammatory markers, such as Il17f, Tnfsf11, Ccl4, Il1a, Ccr2, Il4, Il5, and Csf2 in the retina, abnormal engraftment of peripheral CCR2+ CX3CR1+ monocytes into the retina and is associated with increased retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss, retinal nerve fiber layer thinning, and RPE65+ cell migration onto the retinal surface. Furthermore, we show that other types of ocular injuries, such as penetrating corneal trauma and ocular hypertension, also cause similar changes. However, optic nerve crush injury mediated RGC loss evokes neither peripheral monocyte response in the retina, nor RPE65+ cell migration, although peripheral CX3CR1+ and CCR2+ monocytes infiltrate the optic nerve injury site and remain present for months. Our study suggests that microglia are key regulators of peripheral monocyte infiltration and RPE migration and their depletion results in abnormal neuroglia remodeling that exacerbates neuroretinal tissue damage. This mechanism of retinal damage through neuroglia remodeling may be clinically important for the treatment of patients with ocular injuries, including surgical traumas.
Listeria monocytogenescell-to-cell spread in epithelia is heterogeneous and dominated by rare pioneer bacteria
Authors: Ortega Fabian E. , Koslover Elena F. , Theriot Julie A. 
Published: July 2018

ABSTRACTL. monocytogeneshijacks host actin to promote its intracellular motility and intercellular spread. WhileL. monocytogenesvirulence hinges on cell-to-cell spread, little is known about the dynamics of bacterial spread in epithelia at a population level. Here, we use live microscopy and statistical modeling to demonstrate thatL. monocytogenescell-to-cell spread proceeds anisotropically in an epithelial monolayer in culture. We show that boundaries of infection foci are irregular and dominated by rare pioneer bacteria that spread farther than the rest. We extend our quantitative model for bacterial spread to show that heterogeneous spreading behavior can improve the chances of creating a persistentL. monocytogenesinfection in an actively extruding epithelium. Thus, our results indicate thatL. monocytogenescell-to-cell spread is heterogeneous, and that rare pioneer bacteria determine the frontier of infection foci and may promote bacterial infection persistence in dynamic epithelia.
OLGA: fast computation of generation probabilities of B- and T-cell receptor amino acid sequences and motifs
Authors: Sethna Zachary , Elhanati Yuval , Callan Curtis G. , Walczak Aleksandra M. , Mora Thierry 
Published: July 2018

MotivationHigh-throughput sequencing of large immune repertoires has enabled the development of methods to predict the probability of generation by V(D)J recombination of T- and B-cell receptors of any specific nucleotide sequence. These generation probabilities are very non-homogeneous, ranging over 20 orders of magnitude in real repertoires. Since the function of a receptor really depends on its protein sequence, it is important to be able to predict this probability of generation at the amino acid level. However, brute-force summation over all the nucleotide sequences with the correct amino acid translation is computationally intractable. The purpose of this paper is to present a solution to this problem.ResultsWe use dynamic programming to construct an efficient and flexible algorithm, called OLGA (Optimized Likelihood estimate of immunoGlobulin Amino-acid sequences), for calculating the probability of generating a given CDR3 amino acid sequence or motif, with or without V/J restriction, as a result of V(D)J recombination in B or T cells. We apply it to databases of epitope-specific T-cell receptors to evaluate the probability that a typical human subject will possess T cells responsive to specific disease-associated epitopes. The model prediction shows an excellent agreement with published data. We suggest that OLGA may be a useful tool to guide vaccine design.AvailabilitySource code is available at https://github.com/zsethna/OLGA
Leveraging customer knowledge to enhance process innovation
Authors: Nguyen Hung , Harrison Norma 
Published: July 2018

Purpose
Nowadays, companies compete and win based on the capabilities they can leverage across their supply chains. With unpredictable and turbulent business environment, supply chains are seeking to customer knowledge as sources of competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a conceptual framework to investigate the roles of customer leverage (CL) on process innovation and the relationships to performance.

Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon the knowledge-based view, this study argues that CL is the sources of firms’ process innovation. This study also posits that process innovation mediates the relationship between CL and performance based on transaction cost economics. This empirical study employed 650 manufacturers across different regions.

Findings
This study showed that strong association exists between a manufacturing firm’s CL capability and its process innovation and performances. Process innovation play critical mediating roles in absorbing and transforming customer knowledge in supply chains. In a more dynamic market, CL strengthens the positive impacts on process innovation.

Research limitations/implications
This study further highlights the need to emphasize both strategic and CL capability in dynamic environments as these may be needed to enable the firm to seize market niches that may open up in such environments. Similarly, managers should emphasize CL capability and process changes in competitive environments as they are more difficult to imitate from competitors in regards of new product or services.

Practical implications
These results extend the limited existing research on global manufacturing context that the customer knowledge are effective sources for increasing innovative processes. The higher the market turbulence, the stronger the pressures for CL demanded by process innovation. The findings also confirm that process innovation plays a mediating role in absorbing and transforming customer knowledge in improving costs and financial measures. This is an important result that highlights the mechanism by which customer knowledge can influence a firm’s bottom line.

Originality/value
This study examined the linkages between a marketing concept and operations and supply chain management.
The effect of digital technologies adoption in healthcare industry: a case based analysis
Authors: Laurenza Elena , Quintano Michele , Schiavone Francesco , Vrontis Demetris 
Published: July 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the extant literature regarding the exploitation of digital technologies by illustrating how this type of IT can influence business process improvements in the healthcare industry.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports an illustrative case study for MSD Italy, the Italian subsidiary of the USA-based company Merck & Co., Inc. The group sells drugs for human use in Italy but is also active in the veterinary (MSD Animal Health) industry, with Vree Health, and in solutions and software-based services for the healthcare industry.FindingsThe results show that the adoption of digital technologies could improve the performance of main healthcare business processes, particularly those processes that can be simplified with the adoption of information technology. More specifically, digital technologies could increase efficiency and, at the same time, allow for the delivery of better quality and reduced response times, with many benefits for several stakeholders, such as national health systems, clinicians and patients.Originality/valueAlthough some studies report the need for effective business processes for sustainable healthcare systems, there is a lack of literature regarding the specific implications of the adoption of such digital technologies for the business process management of healthcare firms. This paper attempts to fill in this gap.
The curve of knowledge transfer: a theoretical model
Authors: De Luca Pasquale , Cano Rubio Mirian 
Published: July 2018

PurposeThe knowledge transfer plays a key role in the firm’s capability to develop and to maintain a strategic competitive advantage over time. The capability of the firm to develop an efficient and effective process of knowledge transfer increases the internal skills and then the capability to compete in the business with positive effects on the performance. In order to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the knowledge transfer process it must be consider two main variables: the amount of knowledge to be transferred and the speed of the process. In this contest, the purpose of this paper is to developed a theoretical model, defined the knowledge transfer curve, able to evaluate the knowledge transfer process on the basis of its speed.Design/methodology/approachThe curve of the knowledge transfer is based on the methodology of the learning curve. The curve of the knowledge transfer process can be evaluated on the basis of two main variables: the first is the content of knowledge to be transferred. It refers to the quality and quantity of the information to be transferred within the firm; and the second is the speed of the knowledge transfer process. It refers to the time in which the knowledge transfer can be realized. The function of the knowledge transfer is defined using ordinary differential equation.FindingsThere is an inverse relationship between timetand the variation rater. The higher the variabler, the faster the knowledge transfer toward the levelK. Therefore, the variablermeasures the efficiency and effectiveness of the knowledge transfer process. On the basis of these considerations, manager must evaluate their policies about the knowledge transfer on the basis of their effects on the variabler: only the policy that increases its value can be considered effective for the knowledge transfer process.Originality/valueThe originality resides in the development of a theoretical model that is able to capture and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the knowledge transfer. It is possible to define a curve of knowledge transfer on the basis of these two variables: content of the knowledge to be transferred and the time of the transfer process, by using an ordinary differential equation.