bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Time to thrombectomy is associated with increased risk for dialysis catheter placement
Authors: Hall Damian , Shaughnessy Daniel , Drawz Paul , Akkina Sunil , Esten Andrew , Foley Robert N. , Reule Scott 
Published: August 2019

SUMMARYBackgroundArteriovenous dialysis access, fistulae (AVF) or grafts (AVG), are associated with significant rates of thrombosis. Timely thrombectomy may have a significant impact on immediate and long‐term access survival. However, switching to a catheter is associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality compared with those who have an AVF or AVG.ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to evaluate whether time to thrombectomy increases the risk for loss of dialysis access and subsequent placement of a dialysis catheter at hospital discharge, at 6 months, 12 months, and data at any time after discharge.MethodsUsing retrospective data, 444 patients were identified as having undergone thrombectomy for dialysis access dysfunction between January 2008 and April 2015, with 122 hospital admissions primarily for thrombectomy.ResultsThe mean age was 60.4 years, 65% were male, and 44.3% had an arteriovenous fistula as their dialysis access. The mean time to thrombectomy was 10.8 hours, and 14 patients utilised a catheter for haemodialysis as primary access upon discharge. After adjustment for prior access intervention, access type, and time to thrombectomy, the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) of a one‐day delay in thrombectomy was associated with a twofold increase in requirement for catheter at discharge and at 6 months. This association remained present at any time after discharge.ConclusionIn this study of patients cared for within an academic health system, a single day delay in thrombectomy nearly doubled the risk of needing a dialysis catheter at hospital discharge, 6 months, or any time after discharge.
The population level care cascade for hepatitis C in British Columbia, Canada as of 2018: Impact of direct acting antivirals
Authors: Bartlett Sofia R. , Yu Amanda , Chapinal Nuria , Rossi Carmine , Butt Zahid , Wong Stanley , Darvishian Maryam , Gilbert Mark , Wong Jason , Binka Mawuena , Alvarez Maria , Tyndall Mark , Krajden Mel , Janjua Naveed Z. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractBackgroundPopulation‐level monitoring of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected people across cascades of care identifies gaps in access and engagement in care and treatment. We characterized the population‐level care cascade for HCV in British Columbia (BC), Canada before and after introduction of Direct Acting Antiviral (DAA) treatment.MethodsBC Hepatitis Testers Cohort (BC‐HTC) includes 1.7 million individuals tested for HCV, HIV, reported cases of hepatitis B, and active tuberculosis in BC from 1990 to 2018 linked to medical visits, hospitalizations, cancers, prescription drugs and mortality data. We defined six HCV care cascade stages: (a) antibody diagnosed; (b) RNA tested; (c) RNA positive; (d) genotyped; (e) initiated treatment; and (f) achieved sustained virologic response (SVR).ResultsWe estimated 61 127 people were HCV antibody positive in BC in 2018 (undiagnosed: 7686, 13%; diagnosed: 53 441, 87%). Of those diagnosed, 83% (44 507) had HCV RNA testing, and of those RNA positive, 90% (28 716) were genotyped. Of those genotyped, 61% (17 441) received therapy, with 90% (15 672) reaching SVR. Individuals from older birth cohorts had lower progression to HCV RNA testing. While people who currently inject drugs had the highest proportional progression to RNA testing, this group had the lowest proportional treatment uptake.ConclusionsAlthough gaps in HCV RNA and genotype testing after antibody diagnosis exist, the largest gap in the care cascade is treatment initiation, despite introduction of DAA treatment and removal of treatment eligibility restrictions. Further interventions are required to ensure testing and treatment is equitably accessible in BC.
Prevalence of and risk factors for anaemia in patients with advanced chronic liver disease
Authors: Scheiner Bernhard , Semmler Georg , Maurer Florian , Schwabl Philipp , Bucsics Theresa A. , Paternostro Rafael , Bauer David , Simbrunner Benedikt , Trauner Michael , Mandorfer Mattias , Reiberger Thomas 
Published: August 2019

AbstractBackgroundAnaemia is common in advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) as a result of various risk factors.Aims & MethodsWe evaluated the prevalence and severity of anaemia as well as the impact of anaemia on clinical outcomes in consecutive patients with ACLD and portal hypertension.ResultsAmong 494 patients, 324 (66%) patients had anaemia. Anaemic patients showed higher MELD (12 ± 4 vs 9 ± 3; P < .001), lower albumin (34 ± 6 vs 39 ± 5 g/dL; P < .001) and more often Child‐Pugh B/C stage (56% vs 17%; P < .001). The prevalence of moderate‐severe anaemia (haemoglobin <10 g/dL) increased with the degree of portal hypertension (HVPG: 6‐9 mm Hg: 22% vs HVPG: 10‐19 mm Hg: 24% vs HVPG ≥ 20 mm Hg: 36%; P = .031). The most common aetiologies of anaemia were gastrointestinal bleeding (25%) and iron deficiency (9%), while reason for anaemia remained unclear in 53% of cases. Male gender (odds ratio [OR]: 1.94 [95% CI: 1.09‐3.47]; P = .025), MELD (OR: 1.20 [95% CI: 1.09‐1.32]; P < .001), hepatic decompensation (OR: 4.40 [95% CI: 2.48‐7.82]; P < .001) and HVPG (OR per mm Hg: 1.07 [95% CI: 1.02‐1.13]; P = .004) were independent risk factors for anaemia. Anaemia was associated with hepatic decompensation (1 year: 25.1% vs 8.1%; 5 years: 60.3% vs 32.9%; P < .0001), hospitalization (73% vs 57%; P < .001) and a higher incidence rate of acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (0.05 [95% CI: 0.04‐0.07] vs 0.03 [95% CI: 0.01‐0.04]). Anaemic patients had worse overall survival (1 year: 87.1% vs 93.7%, 5 year survival: 50.5% vs 68.6%; P < .0001) and increased liver‐related mortality (1 year mortality: 9.7% vs 5.7%, 5 year mortality: 38.0% vs 26.9%; P = .003).ConclusionTwo‐thirds of patients with ACLD suffer from anaemia. The degree of hepatic dysfunction and of portal hypertension correlate with severity of anaemia. Anaemia is associated with decompensation, ACLF and increased mortality in patients with ACLD.
An amino‐terminal threonine/serine motif is necessary for activity of the Crp/Fnr homolog, MrpC and forMyxococcus xanthusdevelopmental robustness
Authors: Feeley Brooke E. , Bhardwaj Vidhi , McLaughlin Maeve , Diggs Stephen , Blaha Gregor M. , Higgs Penelope I. 
Published: August 2019

SummaryThe Crp/Fnr family of transcriptional regulators play central roles in transcriptional control of diverse physiological responses, and are activated by a surprising diversity of mechanisms. MrpC is a Crp/Fnr homolog that controls theMyxococcus xanthusdevelopmental program. A long‐standing model proposed that MrpC activity is controlled by the Pkn8/Pkn14 serine/threonine kinase cascade, which phosphorylates MrpC on threonine residue(s) located in its extreme amino‐terminus. In this study, we demonstrate that a stretch of consecutive threonine and serine residues, T21T22S23S24,is necessary for MrpC activity by promoting efficient DNA binding. Mass spectrometry analysis indicated the TTSS motif is not directly phosphorylated by Pkn14in vitrobut is necessary for efficient Pkn14‐dependent phosphorylation on several residues in the remainder of the protein. In an important correction to a long‐standing model, we show Pkn8 and Pkn14 kinase activities do not play obvious roles in controlling MrpC activity in wild‐typeM. xanthusunder laboratory conditions. Instead, we propose Pkn14 modulates MrpC DNA binding in response to unknown environmental conditions. Interestingly, substitutions in the TTSS motif caused developmental defects that varied between biological replicates, revealing that MrpC plays a role in promoting a robust developmental phenotype.
An atypical case of KMT2B‐related dystonia manifesting asterixis and effect of deep brain stimulation of the globus pallidus
Authors: Miyata Yohane , Hamanaka Kohei , Kumada Satoko , Uchino Shumpei , Yokochi Fusako , Taniguchi Makoto , Miyatake Satoko , Matsumoto Naomichi 
Published: August 2019

AbstractWe present a boy with KMT2B‐related dystonia (DYT‐KMT2B), a recently identified early‐onset generalized dystonia. He manifested prominent asterixis, which improved following bilateral globus pallidus interna deep brain stimulation (GPi‐DBS). Although variable involuntary movements, including myoclonus and tremor, can be seen in patients with DYT‐KMT2B, asterixis has not been reported. This is also the first report which shows the beneficial effect of bilateral GPi‐DBS for asterixis, suggesting that dysfunction of the cortico‐basal ganglia‐thalamo‐cortical circuit may be involved in its pathomechanism.
The Effect of Interfirm Financial Transactions on the Credit Risk of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Authors: Vinciotti Veronica , Tosetti Elisa , Moscone Francesco , Lycett Mark 
Published: August 2019

SummaryDespite the recognized importance of interfirm financial links in determining a company’s performance, only a few studies have incorporated proxies for interfirm links in credit risk models, and none of these use real financial transactions. We estimate a credit risk model for small and medium-sized enterprises, augmented with information on observed interfirm financial transactions. We exploit a novel data set on about 60000 companies based in the UK and their financial transactions over the years 2015 and 2016. We develop several network-augmented credit risk models and compare their prediction performance with that of a conventional credit risk model that includes only a set of financial ratios. We find that augmenting a default risk model with information on the transaction network makes a significant contribution to increasing the default prediction power of risk models built specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises. Our results may help bankers and credit scoring agencies to improve the credit scoring of these companies, ultimately reducing their propensity to apply excessive lending restrictions.
Epidemiological characteristics of elevated blood pressure among middle and high school students aged 12–17 years: a cross-sectional study in Jiangsu Province, China, 2017–2018
Authors: Zhang Xiyan , Yang Jie , Wang Yan , Liu Weina , Yang Wenyi , Gao Liuwei , Schwertz Rainer , Welker Andreas , Zhang Fengyun , Zhou Yonglin 
Published: August 2019

ObjectiveIn this study, we aimed to present the epidemiological characteristics of elevated blood pressure among middle and high school students aged 12–17 years in Jiangsu Province.SettingHypertension, which is considered a rare disease in children, is an important early precursor to long-term cardiovascular damage, and elevated blood pressure in childhood is a strong predictor of hypertension in adulthood.ParticipantsPhysical examination and questionnaire investigation among children aged 12–17 years in Jiangsu Province were conducted from 2017 to 2018.Main outcome measuresPhysical measurements included height, weight, blood pressure and history of menarche/first spermatorrhoea. Questionnaire investigation included family type, delivery mode, lifestyle habits and psychological test.ResultsIn our study we investigated 17 791 middle and high school students, consisting of 8701 female students and 9090 male students. The prevalence of screening elevated blood pressure among students aged 12–17 years was 20.0% (95% CI 19.2% to 20.9%) for female students and 22.3% (95% CI 21.5% to 23.2%) for male students. The prevalence of screening elevated blood pressure for urban male middle and high school students was higher than that of elevated blood pressure for rural male middle and high school students. However, similar phenomenon cannot be observed among female students. For both male and female students, body mass index (BMI), obesity/overweight and menarche/first spermatorrhoea can be a risk factor contributing to elevated blood pressure, and sleep time and regional distribution might be important factors that need to be investigated in depth.ConclusionWe found a relatively high prevalence of screening elevated blood pressure among students aged 12–17 years for both female and male students in Jiangsu Province. The risk factors can be BMI, obesity/overweight and menarche/first spermatorrhoea.
Falls and Cognitive Training 2 (FaCT2) study protocol: a randomised controlled trial exploring cognitive training to reduce risk of falls in at-risk older adults
Authors: Thompson Hilaire J , McGough Ellen , Demiris George 
Published: August 2019

BackgroundThe primary cause of traumatic injury in older adults is fall. Recent reports suggest that cognitive function contributes significantly to fall risk. Therefore, by targeting cognitive function for intervention, we could potentially reduce the incidence of fall and injury.Primary objectiveTo explore the effectiveness of a 16-week cognitive training (CT) intervention to reduce risk and incidence of fall in community-dwelling older adults at risk for fall.OutcomesPrimary outcome is number of falls over a 16-week period (ascertained by fall calendar method). Secondary outcomes include: change fall risk as indicated by improvement in 10 m walk and 90 s balance tests.Design/methodsThe design is a two-group randomised controlled trial. Eligible participants are older adults (aged 65–85) residing in the community who are at risk for fall based on physical performance testing. Following completion of 1-week run-in phase, participants are randomly allocated (1:2) to either a group that is assigned to attention control or to the group that receives CT intervention for a total of 16 weeks. Participants are followed for an additional 4 weeks after intervention. Mann-Whitney U test and Student’s t-test will be used to examine between-group differences using intention-to-treat analyses.DiscussionLimited evidence supports the potential of CT to improve cognition and gait, but no published study has evaluated whether such an intervention would reduce incidence of fall. The present trial is designed to provide initial answers to this question. CT may also improve functioning important in other activities (eg, driving), reducing overall risk of injury in elders.Trial registration numberNCT03190460.
Design of the Baseband Physical Layer of NarrowBand IoT LTE Uplink Digital Transmitter
Authors: Mohamed Basma H. , Taha Ahmed , Shawky Ahmed , Ahmed Essraa , Mohamed Ali , Mohsen Manar , Samy Rodina , ELHosiny Amr , Ibrahim Ahmed , Mostafa Hassan 
Published: August 2019

With the new age of technology and the release of the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution, there is a need to connect a wide range of devices with varying throughput and performance requirements. In this paper, a digital transmitter of NarrowBand Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is proposed targeting very low power and delay-insensitive IoT applications with low throughput requirements. NB-IoT is a new cellular technology introduced by 3GPP in release 13 to provide wide-area coverage for the IoT. The low-cost receivers for such devices should have very low complexity, consume low power and hence run for several years. In this paper, the implementation of the data path chain of digital uplink transmitter is presented. The standard specifications are studied carefully to determine the required design parameters for each block. And the design is synthesized in UMC 130-nm technology.
Microvesicle-Mediated Delivery of Minicircle DNA Results in Effective Gene-Directed Enzyme Prodrug Cancer Therapy
Authors: Kanada Masamitsu , Kim Bryan D. , Hardy Jonathan W. , Ronald John A. , Bachmann Michael H. , Bernard Matthew P. , Perez Gloria I. , Zarea Ahmed A. , Ge T. Jessie , Withrow Alicia , Ibrahim Sherif A. , Toomajian Victoria , Gambhir Sanjiv S. , Paulmurugan Ramasamy , Contag Christopher H. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractAn emerging approach for cancer treatment employs the use of extracellular vesicles, specifically exosomes and microvesicles, as delivery vehicles. We previously demonstrated that microvesicles can functionally deliver plasmid DNA to cells and showed that plasmid size and sequence, in part, determine the delivery efficiency. In this study, delivery vehicles comprised of microvesicles loaded with engineered minicircle (MC) DNA that encodes prodrug converting enzymes developed as a cancer therapy in mammary carcinoma models. We demonstrated that MCs can be loaded into shed microvesicles with greater efficiency than their parental plasmid counterparts and that microvesicle-mediated MC delivery led to significantly higher and more prolonged transgene expression in recipient cells than microvesicles loaded with the parental plasmid. Microvesicles loaded with MCs encoding a thymidine kinase (TK)/nitroreductase (NTR) fusion protein produced prolonged TK-NTR expression in mammary carcinoma cells. In vivo delivery of TK-NTR and administration of prodrugs led to the effective killing of both targeted cells and surrounding tumor cells via TK-NTR–mediated conversion of codelivered prodrugs into active cytotoxic agents. In vivo evaluation of the bystander effect in mouse models demonstrated that for effective therapy, at least 1% of tumor cells need to be delivered with TK-NTR–encoding MCs. These results suggest that MC delivery via microvesicles can mediate gene transfer to an extent that enables effective prodrug conversion and tumor cell death such that it comprises a promising approach to cancer therapy.
The NCCN Criterion “Young Age at Onset” Alone is Not an Indicator of Hereditary Breast Cancer in Iranian Population
Authors: Ebrahimi Elmira , Sellars Erin , Shirkoohi Reza , Harirchi Iraj , Ghiasvand Reza , Mohebbi Elham , Zendehdel Kazem , Akbari Mohammad R. 
Published: August 2019

AbstractBecause the contribution of genetic factors to the burden of breast cancer is not well investigated in Iran, we aimed to examine the prevalence of mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1/2 and PALB2, and to investigate the predictive potential of hereditary breast cancer risk criteria for genetic testing in Iranian population. Next-generation sequencing was conducted on a population consisting of 299 and 125 patients with breast cancer, with and without hereditary cancer risk criteria for genetic testing, respectively. The pathogenic mutation frequency rate was 10.7% in patients with hereditary cancer criteria versus 1.6% in no criteria group (P = 0.0017). None of the 107 tested patients with only young age at onset (&lt;40) criterion had a pathogenic mutation. Patients who had only a single heritable risk criterion [OR, 6.15; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.26–58.59; P = 0.009] and patients with multiple heritable risk criteria (OR, 22.5; 95% CI, 5.19–201.31; P &lt; 0.0001) had higher probabilities of carrying a mutation compared with no criteria group. Our results showed that young age at onset alone is not an indicator of hereditary breast cancer at least in the Iranian population. This is while women with multiple hereditary breast cancer risk criteria were enriched for BRCA1/2 mutations. Given such high risk of identification of a disease-causing mutation, multiple hereditary criteria should be regarded as a strong predictor for a hereditary breast cancer syndrome. These findings are important concerning the optimization of genetic counseling and furthermore establishing criteria for BRCA1/2 testing of the Iranian population.
Impact of Spacing and Orientation on the Scar Threshold With a High-Density Grid Catheter
Authors: Takigawa Masateru , Relan Jatin , Kitamura Takeshi , Martin Claire A. , Kim Steven , Martin Ruairidh , Cheniti Ghassen , Vlachos Konstantinos , Massoullié Grégoire , Frontera Antonio , Thompson Nathaniel , Wolf Michael , Bourier Felix , Lam Anna , Duchateau Josselin , Pambrun Thomas , Denis Arnaud , Derval Nicolas , Pillois Xavier , Magat Julie , Naulin Jerome , Merle Mathilde , Collot Florent , Quesson Bruno , Cochet Hubert , Hocini Mélèze , Haïssaguerre Michel , Sacher Frederic , Jaïs Pierre 
Published: August 2019

Background:
Multipolar catheters are increasingly used for high-density mapping. However, the threshold to define scar areas has not been well described for each configuration. We sought to elucidate the impact of bipolar spacing and orientation on the optimal threshold to match magnetic resonance imaging-defined scar.

Method:
The HD-Grid catheter uniquely allows for different spatially stable bipolar configurations to be tested. We analyzed the electrograms with settings of HD-16 (3 mm spacing in both along and across bipoles) and HD-32 (1 mm spacing in along bipoles and 3 mm spacing in across bipoles) and determined the optimal cutoff for scar detection in 6 infarcted sheep.

Results:

From 456 total acquisition sites (mean 76±12 per case), 14 750 points with the HD-16 and 32286 points with the HD-32 configuration for bipolar electrograms were analyzed. For bipolar voltages, the optimal cutoff value to detect the magnetic resonance imaging-defined scar based on the Youden’s Index, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) differed depending on the spacing and orientation of bipoles; across 0.84 mV (AUROC, 0.920; 95% CI, 0.911–0.928), along 0.76 mV (AUROC, 0.903; 95% CI, 0.893–0.912), north-east direction 0.95 mV (AUROC, 0.923; 95% CI, 0.913–0.932), and south-east direction, 0.87 mV (AUROC, 0.906; 95% CI, 0.895–0.917) in HD-16; and across 0.83 mV (AUROC, 0.917; 95% CI, 0.911–0.924), along 0.46 mV (AUROC, 0.890; 95% CI, 0.883–0.897), north-east direction 0.89 mV (AUROC, 0.923; 95% CI, 0.917–0.929), and south-east direction 0.83 mV (AUROC, 0.913; 95% CI, 0.906–0.920) in HD-32. Significant differences in AUROC were seen between HD-16 along versus across (
P
=0.002), HD-16 north-east direction versus south-east direction (
P
=0.01), HD-32 north-east direction versus south-east direction (
P
<0.0001), and HD-16 along versus HD-32 along (
P
=0.006). The AUROC was significantly larger (
P
<0.01) when only the best points on each given site were selected for analysis, compared with when all points were used.

Conclusions:
Spacing and orientation of bipoles impacts the accuracy of scar detection. Optimal threshold specific to each bipolar configuration should be determined. Selecting one best voltage point among multiple points projected on the same surface is also critical on the Ensite-system to increase the accuracy of scar-mapping.