bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How effective is adjunctive antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in treating deep periodontal pockets in periodontal disease? A systematic review
Authors: Akram Zohaib 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThe aim of the present systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) that is used as an adjunctive therapy with scaling and root planing (SRP) in deep periodontal pockets (≥5 mm). The addressed Patients, Intervention, Comparators, Outcomes, and Study design question was: In patients with advanced periodontitis (population), what is the effect of aPDT as adjunct to SRP (intervention) in comparison to SRP alone (comparison) on deep probing depths (outcome)? Electronic and manual literature searches were conducted using the following databases: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register, up to and including February 2018. Six randomized trials were included. All studies used the combined approach aPDT+SRP and SRP in the test and control groups, respectively. The follow‐up period ranged from 12 to 48 weeks. Wavelengths, power density, and duration of irradiation used were 670 nm, 500 mW cm−2, and 60 seconds, respectively. All studies showed significant reduction of probing depth (PD) ≥5 mm with aPDT at follow up. Considering the effects of adjunctive aPDT compared to SRP, only two studies showed additional benefit of adjunctive aPDT in reducing PD ≥5 mm compared to SRP alone at follow up. The overall mean difference for PD reduction (weighted mean difference = 0.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.03 to −0.66, P = .08) was also not significant between the aPDT and SRP groups at follow up. Whether aPDT as an adjunct to SRP is efficacious in the reduction of PD ≥5 mm compared to SRP alone in periodontal disease remains debatable, given that the available scientific evidence is weak.
The Axes of Debt: A Preface to Three Essays
Authors: Bretherton Luke , Singh Devin 
Published: May 2018

AbstractThis is a preface to three essays on different aspects of ontological and economic debt as themes in religious ethics. It frames their contribution by arguing that debt is central to traditions of philosophical and religious ethics yet is woefully neglected as a thematic problem and problematic in contemporary iterations of these traditions. In order to situate debt as a central moral concern, it is argued that any consideration of debt must wrestle with how debt exists on two axes. One is the axis of ontological and economic debt. The other is the axis of debt as an expression of mutuality and debt as a mode of domination. These axes generate deep ambiguities regarding the moral status of debt. But contemporary religious and philosophical ethics struggles to articulate, let alone address, this ambiguity due to being wedded to modern conceptions of the autonomous subject. The essay closes by setting out the themes of the three essays, the connections between them, and how they can be a catalyst for further reflection on this vital but under‐researched topic.
Sovereign Debt
Authors: Singh Devin 
Published: May 2018

AbstractThis essay examines the concept of sovereign debt in both political‐economic and theological registers. Elaborating the dynamics of monetary economy, I demonstrate how postures of indebtedness characterize the relationship between sovereign power and the governed. While taxation signals the debt of obedience and fealty owed to sovereignty, the monetary circuit reveals that sovereign power exists in a state of indebtedness to the governed. The morally valenced proximity between debt and guilt helps to perpetuate such relations. Tracing these resonances and resemblances in the theological realm, I consider the centrality of debt as a structuring principle in key soteriological traditions within Christian thought. Not only does God appear to uphold debt logic, but God, I claim, becomes identified with debt and marked as a debtor. The divine sovereign as debtor and as enforcing debt provides cues for earthly sovereigns and legitimates cultures of debt. In light of the theopolitical legacy in the West, the mutual influence between theology and the political realm, refiguring this set of influential theological concepts may prove helpful in decentering debt as a governing principle in modern life.
Francisco de Vitoria and Francisco Suárez on Religious Authority and Cause for Justified War: The Centrality of Religious War in the Christian Just War Tradition
Authors: Endy Melvin 
Published: May 2018

AbstractContrary to the received understanding that Francisco de Vitoria and Francisco Suárez ruled out religious war by grounding just cause in natural law, they supported a robust view of papal authority for war when necessary for the defense of the church against heretics, schismatics, and pagans as well as for the spread of Christianity and Christendom throughout the world. They believed that religious wars were in accord with natural law as a means to its fulfillment in Christianity, as a justification for the defense of the church as the one true faith, and as a moral obligation to provide all of humanity with the opportunity to receive Christian truth and grace. The neo‐Thomists' vigorous support for religious war was in the mainstream of the Christian just war tradition from the time of the wars against pagans in the early middle ages through their own time. This finding and the continuation into the modern era of sanctified patriotism stemming from the mixing of church and state especially during war that began in early Middle Ages, along with the historic roots of the recently prominent presumption against war, argue for a more complex understanding of the normative Christian just war tradition than that found among supporters of the classic interpretation of that tradition.
Religion and the Human Rights Idea
Authors: Johnson James Turner 
Published: May 2018

AbstractThree recent books focus, in different ways, on the idea of human rights and its relation to religion and religious ethics. All three books discussed here address criticisms of the human rights idea and seek to establish the relationship of religion and human rights with regard to the field of policy. The present discussion begins with an overview that places these three books in the larger context of the development of the human rights idea and its historical relationship with religion. It then turns to Little's book, next to the collection of essays edited by Twiss, Simion, and Petersen, which is described internally as aFestschriftfor Little, and then to Hogan's book, and in the final section it explores comparisons among the books.
MicroRNA‐543 functions as an osteogenesis promoter in human periodontal ligament‐derived stem cells by inhibiting transducer of ERBB2, 2
Authors: Ge Y. , Li J. , Hao Y. , Hu Y. , Chen D. , Wu B. , Fang F. 
Published: May 2018

Background and ObjectivePrevious research has indicated that altered expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is in connection with osteogenesis of human periodontal ligament‐derived stem cells (hPDLSCs). We investigated the mechanisms by which miR‐543 promotes osteogenic differentiation of hPDLSCs.Material and MethodsFirst, the expression of miR‐543 in hPDLSCs cultured with or without an osteogenic inductive cocktail was explored. Then, the function of miR‐543 during osteogenesis of hPDLSCs was investigated by overexpressing and inhibiting miR‐543. Next, 3 databases were used to predict target genes of miR‐543 and a luciferase report was used to validate the direct regulation of miR‐543 on the target gene. Further, a rescue experiment using co‐transfection of miR‐543 mimic and target mimic was performed to evaluate whether overexpressing the target gene could partly rescue the efficiency of overexpressing miR‐543 on osteogenesis in hPDLSCs.ResultsmiR‐543 was upregulated during osteogenic differentiation of hPDLSCs. Functional experiments showed that overexpressing miR‐543 could enhance osteogenesis, while inhibiting miR‐543 resulted in reduced formation of mineralized nodules. The transducer of ERBB2, 2 (TOB2) was identified as a target gene of miR‐543 and luciferase report revealed that miR‐543 interacts directly with the 3′‐untranslated repeat sequence of TOB2 mRNA. Overexpression of miR‐543 inhibited the expression of TOB2 in both mRNA and protein levels while inhibiting miR‐543 increased. Furthermore, the rescue experiment confirmed the promotional role of miR‐543 TOB2 expression could be abrogated by overexpressing TOB2, which also had the effect of reducing osteogenic differentiation.ConclusionOur research confirmed that miR‐543 is a promoter of osteogenesis in hPDLSCs, acting by inhibiting its target gene TOB2, which suggests that miR‐543 may be a potential therapy for bone loss in periodontitis.
Restoration Doctrine Rebooted: Codifying Continuity in the Estonian Data Embassy Initiative
Authors: Kaljund A. Lorraine 
Published: May 2018

AbstractIn the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, the semantic and legal terms of Estonia's emergence as an independent state were dictated by what scholars have called the “restoration doctrine.” This doctrine held that Estonia was not a newly independent state, but a restored version of the same republic that was founded in 1918. The highly politicized “restorationist geopolitics” that followed had profound effects on Estonian statecraft and policy in the early 1990s. Recently, Estonia announced plans to store backups of key information systems in “data embassies,” or computer servers, outside of Estonian territory; one goal of the initiative is to ensure that in the event Estonia is reoccupied and then later liberated, it will be possible to easily retrieve and restore the state's legitimate “unoccupied” data and information systems. In this article, I draw on participant‐observation and interviews with the team that is building Estonia's data embassies. I argue that this initiative is an attempt to codify and materialize the restoration doctrine in software, code, and policy planning, thereby ensuring that the termination of any future occupation brings not independence but (re‐)independence, and not only liberation but also restoration.
Modern sedimentation processes in Lake Towuti, Indonesia, revealed by the composition of surface sediments
Authors: Hasberg Ascelina K. M. , Bijaksana Satria , Held Peter , Just Janna , Melles Martin , Morlock Marina A. , Opitz Stephan , Russell James M. , Vogel Hendrik , Wennrich Volker 
Published: June 2018

AbstractLake Towuti on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, is located within the heart of the Indo‐Pacific Warm Pool. This tropical lake is surrounded by ultramafic (ophiolitic) rocks and lateritic soils that create a unique ferruginous depositional setting. In order to understand modern sediment deposition in Lake Towuti, a set of 84 lake surface sediment samples was collected from across the entirety of the lake and samples were analyzed for their physical, chemical, mineralogical and biological constituents. End‐member analyses were carried out to elucidate modern sediment origin, transport and depositional processes. This study found that allochthonous sediment, characterized by the concentrations of the elements Mg, Fe, Si and Al, as well as the clay and serpentine minerals, is dominated by fluvial supply from five distinct source areas. Granulometric data and the occurrence of organic matter of a terrestrial origin suggest that, in the southern and north‐eastern parts of the lake the near‐shore sediments may additionally be influenced by mass wasting. This is due at least partly to the particularly steep slopes in these areas. Furthermore, sediment composition suggests that sediment transport into deeper parts of the lake, particularly in the northern basin, is partly controlled by gravitational and density‐driven processes such as turbidity currents. Directional sediment transport by persistent lake currents, in contrast, appears to be less important. Organic matter deposition in the ultra‐oligotrophic lake, albeit limited, is dominated by autochthonous production, but with some contribution of fluvial and gravitational supply. Biogenic silica deposition, primarily from diatom frustules and sponge spicules, is very limited and is concentrated in only a few areas close to the shoreline that are characterized by shallow waters, but away from the areas of high suspension loads at the mouths of the major inlets. The results of this study build upon current and published work on short piston cores from Lake Towuti. Conversely, the results will support the interpretation of the depositional history and past climatic and environmental conditions derived from the composition of much longer records, which were obtained by the Towuti Drilling Project in May 2015 and are currently under investigation.
Evaluation of the SD bioline cholera rapid diagnostic test during the 2016 cholera outbreak in Lusaka, Zambia
Authors: Mwaba John , Ferreras Eva , Chizema‐Kawesa Elizabeth , Mwimbe Daniel , Tafirenyika Francis , Rauzier Jean , Blake Alexandre , Rakesh Ankur , Poncin Marc , Stoitsova Savina , Kwenda Geoffrey , Azman Andrew S. , Chewe Orbrie , Serafini Micaela , Lukwesa‐Musyani Chileshe , Cohuet Sandra , Quilici Marie‐Laure , Luquero Francisco J. , Page Anne‐Laure 
Published: May 2018

AbstractObjectiveTo assess the performance of the SD Bioline Cholera Ag O1/O139 rapid diagnostic test (RDT) compared to a reference standard combining culture and PCR for the diagnosis of cholera cases during an outbreak.MethodsRDT and bacterial culture were performed on site using fresh stools collected from cholera suspected cases, and from stools enriched in alkaline peptone water. Dried stool samples on filter paper were tested for V. cholerae by PCR in Lusaka (as part of a laboratory technology transfer project) and at a reference laboratory in Paris, France. A sample was considered positive for cholera by the reference standard if any of the culture or PCR tests was positive for V. cholerae O1 or O139.ResultsAmong the 170 samples tested with SD Bioline and compared to the reference standard, the RDT showed a sensitivity of 90.9% (95% CI: 81.3–96.6) and specificity of 95.2% (95% CI: 89.1–98.4). After enrichment, the sensitivity was 95.5% (95% CI: 87.3–99.1) and specificity 100% (95% CI: 96.5–100).ConclusionThe observed sensitivity and specificity were within recommendations set by the Global Task Force for Cholera Control on the use of cholera RDT (sensitivity = 90%; specificity = 85%). Although the sample size was small, our findings suggest that the SD Bioline RDT could be used in the field to rapidly alert public health officials to the likely presence of cholera cases when an outbreak is suspected.
Early changes in intervention coverage and mortality rates following the implementation of an integrated health system intervention in Madagascar
Authors: Garchitorena Andres , Miller Ann C , Cordier Laura F , Rabeza Victor R , Randriamanambintsoa Marius , Razanadrakato Hery-Tiana R , Hall Lara , Gikic Djordje , Haruna Justin , McCarty Meg , Randrianambinina Andriamihaja , Thomson Dana R , Atwood Sidney , Rich Michael L , Murray Megan B , Ratsirarson Josea , Ouenzar Mohammed Ali , Bonds Matthew H 
Published: June 2018

IntroductionThe Sustainable Development Goals framed an unprecedented commitment to achieve global convergence in child and maternal mortality rates through 2030. To meet those targets, essential health services must be scaled via integration with strengthened health systems. This is especially urgent in Madagascar, the country with the lowest level of financing for health in the world. Here, we present an interim evaluation of the first 2 years of a district-level health system strengthening (HSS) initiative in rural Madagascar, using estimates of intervention coverage and mortality rates from a district-wide longitudinal cohort.MethodsWe carried out a district representative household survey at baseline of the HSS intervention in over 1500 households in Ifanadiana district. The first follow-up was after the first 2 years of the initiative. For each survey, we estimated maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) coverage, healthcare inequalities and child mortality rates both in the initial intervention catchment area and in the rest of the district. We evaluated changes between the two areas through difference-in-differences analyses. We estimated annual changes in health centre per capita utilisation from 2013 to 2016.ResultsThe intervention was associated with 19.1% and 36.4% decreases in under-five and neonatal mortality, respectively, although these were not statistically significant. The composite coverage index (a summary measure of MNCH coverage) increased by 30.1%, with a notable 63% increase in deliveries in health facilities. Improvements in coverage were substantially larger in the HSS catchment area and led to an overall reduction in healthcare inequalities. Health centre utilisation rates in the catchment tripled for most types of care during the study period.ConclusionAt the earliest stages of an HSS intervention, the rapid improvements observed for Ifanadiana add to preliminary evidence supporting the untapped and poorly understood potential of integrated HSS interventions on population health.
Initiation, scale-up and outcomes of the Cambodian National MDR-TB programme 2006–2016: hospital and community-based treatment through an NGO–NTP partnership
Authors: Sam Sophan , Shapiro Adrienne E , Sok Thim , Khann Sokhan , So Rassi , Khem Sopheap , Chhun Sokhem , Noun Sarith , Koy Bonamy , Sayouen Prum Chhom , Im Sin Chun , Bunsieth Heng , Mao Tan Eang , Goldfeld Anne E 
Published: June 2018

IntroductionProlonged inpatient multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment for all patients is not sustainable for high-burden settings, but there is limited information on community-based treatment programme outcomes for MDR-TB.MethodsThe Cambodian Health Committee, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), launched the Cambodian MDR-TB programme in 2006 in cooperation with the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) including a community-based treatment option as a key programme component. The programme was transferred to NTP oversight in 2011 with NGO clinical management continuing. Patients electing to receive home-based treatment were followed by a dedicated adherence supporter and a multidisciplinary outpatient team of nurses, physicians and community health workers. Patients hospitalised for >1 month of treatment (hospital based) received similar management after discharge. All patients received a standardised second-line MDR-TB regimen and were provided nutritional and adherence support. Outcomes were reviewed for patients completing 24 months of treatment and predictors of treatment success were evaluated using logistic regression.ResultsOf 582 patients with MDR-TB who initiated treatment between September 2006 and June 2016, 20% were HIV coinfected, 288 (49%) initiated community-based treatment and 294 (51%) received hospital-based treatment. Of 486 patients with outcomes available, 364 (75%) were cured, 10 (2%) completed, 28 (6%) were lost to follow-up, 3 (0.6%) failed and 77 (16%) died. There was no difference between treatment success in community versus hospital-based groups (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.0, p=0.99). HIV infection, older age and body mass index <16 were strongly associated with decreased treatment success (aOR 0.33, p<0.001; aOR 0.40, p<0.001; aOR 0.40; p<0.001).ConclusionsCambodia’s NGO–NTP partnership successfully developed and scaled up a model MDR-TB treatment programme. The first large-scale MDR-TB programme in Asia with a significant community-based component, the programme achieved equally high treatment success in patients with community-based compared with hospital-based initiation of MDR treatment.
Serum antigliadin antibodies in cerebellar ataxias: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Lin Chi-Ying , Wang Min-Jung , Tse Winona , Pinotti Rachel , Alaedini Armin , Green Peter H R , Kuo Sheng-Han 
Published: June 2018

BackgroundGluten sensitivity refers to prominent immunological responses to gluten, usually in conjunction with elevated levels of serum antigliadin antibody (AGA). The association between AGA and cerebellar ataxias has been inconsistently reported.MethodsWe performed a systematic literature search and a meta-analysis to study the weighted pooled OR of idiopathic cerebellar ataxia (IDCA) cases to controls or to hereditary ataxia (HA) for AGA seropositivity using fixed effect model.ResultsEleven studies were included, with a total of 847 IDCA cases, 1654 controls and 445 HA cases. IDCA cases had fourfold higher odds than controls (OR 4.28, 95% CI 3.10 to 5.90) and twofold higher odds than HA cases (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.45 to 3.44) of having AGA seropositivity. Sensitivity analysis excluding the most weighted study, which accounted for 69% of the total weight, still showed similar associations (IDCA vs controls, OR 3.18, 95% CI 1.79 to 5.67 and IDCA vs HA, OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.86, respectively). The subgroup analysis showed that, when compared with controls, IDCA cases of both East Asian and Western countries had approximately threefold to fourfold higher odds to have AGA seropositivity (OR 3.41, 95% CI 1.67 to 6.97 and OR 4.53, 95% CI 3.16 to 6.49, respectively), suggesting the lack of ethnic heterogeneity. The odds of AGA seropositivity for HA cases was not significantly higher than controls (OR 1.41, 95% CI 0.82 to 2.44).ConclusionOur study indicates the association between AGA and IDCA, across different geographic regions.
TNF-α and plasma albumin as biomarkers of disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Idborg Helena , Eketjäll Susanna , Pettersson Susanne , Gustafsson Johanna T , Zickert Agneta , Kvarnström Marika , Oke Vilija , Jakobsson Per-Johan , Gunnarsson Iva , Svenungsson Elisabet 
Published: June 2018

ObjectivesComposite criteria/indices are presently used to diagnose and monitor patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Biomarkers for these purposes would be helpful in clinical practice. We therefore evaluated a large panel of cytokines and basic laboratory tests and investigated their performance as discriminators versus controls and as biomarkers of disease activity (DA).MethodsWe examined 437 patients with SLE, fulfilling American College of Rheumatology-82 criteria, and 322 matched controls. DA was assessed according to both SLE DA Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) and SLE Activity Measure (SLAM). British Isles Lupus Activity Group (BILAG) was used to assess renal DA. Additionally, 132 patients self-assessed their Global Disease Activity (PtGDA). Mesoscale Discovery 30-plex cytokine assay and routine blood chemistry was performed on fasting EDTA-plasma.ResultsOf 26 tested biomarkers, we identified TNF-α as the superior discriminator between patients with SLE and controls (median=4.5 pg/mL, IQR=3.1–6.2 vs median=2.3 pg/mL, IQR=2.0–2.8). The strongest correlations to SLEDAI-2K and SLAM were obtained with TNF-α (Spearman rho (ρ)=0.32 and ρ=0.34, respectively), partly driven by the nephritis subgroup, and with p-albumin (ρ=−0.33 and ρ=−0.31, respectively). P-albumin was decreased and TNF-α was increased in patients with kidney involvement (renal BILAG A/B vs C/D/E, p=4×10–16 and p=6×10–9 respectively). IP-10 was increased in patients with joint involvement (SLAM item 24≥2 vs ≤1, p=0.0005) but did not differ when comparing patients with active/inactive kidney involvement. The most powerful correlations to PtGDA was observed with p-albumin (ρ=−0.42), IL-6 (ρ=0.30) and TNF-α (ρ=0.29).ConclusionTNF-α and p-albumin both performed well as discriminators between patients with SLE and controls and as proxies for DA according to both rheumatologists’ and patients’ assessments. In particular, renal DA was well reflected by TNF-α. We propose that the TNF-α and p-albumin merit further investigations as clinically useful biomarkers in SLE. We also observed that the pattern of activated cytokines varies with organ involvement.