bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Is trans‐anal total mesorectal excision really safe and better than laparoscopic total mesorectal excision with a perineal approach first in patients with low rectal cancer? A learning curve with case‐matched study in 68 patients
Authors: Mege D. , Hain E. , Lakkis Z. , Maggiori L. , Prost à la Denise J. , Panis Y. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAimTo compare the learning curve for trans‐anal total mesorectal excision (TATME) with laparoscopic TME started by a perineal approach (LTME).MethodThe first 34 consecutive patients who underwent TATME for low rectal cancer were matched with LTME (performed by the same surgeon) for gender, body mass index and chemoradiation.ResultsThirty‐four patients undergoing TATME (23 men; 58 ± 14 years) were matched with 34 undergoing LTME (23 men; 59 ± 13 years). Intra‐operative complications occurred more frequently during TATME (21%) than LTME (6%), but this difference was not significant (P = 0.07). The complications of TATME included rectal (n = 4), bladder (n = 1) and vaginal (n = 1) injury and bleeding (n = 1). Length of stay and postoperative overall and major morbidities were similar between groups. Early symptomatic anastomotic leakage (AL) occurred in 1/34 TATME and 5/34 LTME (15%; P = 0.02) procedures. Asymptomatic AL occurred in four TATME (12%) and four LTME (12%, P = 1). Thus, the overall rate of AL was 5/34 (15%) for TATME vs 9/34 (26%) for LTME (P = 0.4). No significant difference between the two groups was noted with regard to tumour, number of harvested and positive lymph nodes, R1 resection rate or completeness of the mesorectum. Metastatic recurrence was similar between groups (15% vs 18%, P = 0.7), but follow‐up was shorter after TATME (13 ± 6 months) than after LTME (25 ± 14 months; P < 0.0001).ConclusionThe TATME learning curve seems to be associated with a significant rate of intra‐operative complications. Because no significant benefit has been reported to date, more evidence is needed before TATME can be considered as a better approach than laparoscopic TME with a perineal approach first in patients with low rectal cancer.
Droplet digital PCR for BCR/ABL(P210) detection of chronic myeloid leukemia: A high sensitive method of the minimal residual disease and disease progression
Authors: Wang Wen‐Jun , Zheng Chao‐Feng , Liu Zhuang , Tan Yan‐Hong , Chen Xiu‐Hua , Zhao Bin‐Liang , Li Guo‐Xia , Xu Zhi‐Fang , Ren Fang‐Gang , Zhang Yao‐Fang , Chang Jian‐Mei , Wang Hong‐Wei 
Published: April 2018

AbstractObjectiveThis study intended to establish a droplet digital PCR (dd‐PCR) for monitoring minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with BCR/ABL (P210)‐positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), thereby achieving deep‐level monitoring of tumor load and determining the efficacy for guided clinically individualized treatment.MethodsUsing dd‐PCR and RT‐qPCR, two cell suspensions were obtained from K562 cells and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells by gradient dilution and were measured at the cellular level. At peripheral blood (PB) level, 61 cases with CML‐chronic phase (CML‐CP) were obtained after tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment and regular follow‐ups. By RT‐qPCR, BCR/ABL (P210) fusion gene was undetectable in PB after three successive analyses, which were performed once every 3 months. At the same time, dd‐PCR was performed simultaneously with the last equal amount of cDNA. Ten CML patients with MR4.5 were followed up by the two methods.ResultsAt the cellular level, consistency of results of dd‐PCR and RT‐qPCR reached R2 ≥ 0.99, with conversion equation of Y = 33.148X1.222 (Y: dd‐PCR results; X: RT‐qPCR results). In the dd‐PCR test, 11 of the 61 patients with CML (18.03%) tested positive and showed statistically significant difference (P < .01). In the follow‐up of 10 CML patients who were in MR4.5. All patients were loss of MR4.0, and 4 were tested positive by dd‐PCR 3 months earlier than by RT‐qPCR.ConclusionIn contrast with RT‐qPCR, dd‐PCR is more sensitive, thus enabling accurate conversion of dd‐PCR results into internationally standard RT‐qPCR results by conversion equation, to achieve a deeper molecular biology‐based stratification of BCR/ABL(P210) MRD. It has some reference value to monitor disease progression in clinic.
Rationale for treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in end‐stage renal disease patients who are not kidney transplant candidates
Authors: Al‐Rabadi Laith , Box Terry , Singhania Girish , Al‐Marji Catreena , Agarwal Adhish , Hall Isaac , Gordon Craig E. , Tran Huy 
Published: April 2018

AbstractHepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a common problem in patients treated with maintenance hemodialysis (HD) and is associated with an increased morbidity and mortality and lower quality of life. The major causes of HCV‐associated mortality are liver and cardiovascular‐related death. HCV‐infected HD patients have a higher prevalence of inflammation‐related metabolic and vascular diseases, leading to high rates of cardiovascular mortality in patients with end‐stage renal disease. In the current era of highly effective direct‐acting antiviral regimens, HCV treatment may also confer hepatic, cardiovascular and other morbidity and mortality benefits even to dialysis‐dependent patients who do not qualify for kidney transplantation. Currently, the most accepted regimens in this patient population include elbasvir/grazoprevir and glecaprevir/pibrentasvir
Comparative study of β‐catenin and CD44 immunoexpression in oral lichen planus and squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Zargaran Massoumeh , Baghaei Fahimeh , Moghimbeigi Abbas 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBackgroundDysfunction of adhesion molecules is believed to play an early and important role in developing cancer. Accordingly, this study aims to compare beta‐catenin (β‐catenin) and CD44 expression in oral lichen planus (OLP) as a condition with malignant potential and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).Methodsβ‐Catenin and CD44 expression were evaluated in 15 patients with epithelial hyperplasia (group A), 20 OLP (group B), and 20 OSCC (group C) by immunohistochemistry.ResultsQuantitative and semi‐quantitative evaluations revealed β‐catenin, and CD44 membranous expression had significant differences among the three groups. Expression of these markers in the OSCC group decreased significantly compared to that of the OLP. Also, nuclear/cytoplasmic expression of β‐catenin was significantly different among the three groups, considering that nuclear expression was not observed in any of the epithelial hyperplasia and OLP samples.ConclusionsAccording to the findings of this study, β‐catenin and CD44 can differentiate between behavior of OLP and OSCC, while the precancerous nature of OLP and malignant transformation potential of it are not suggested.
Prospective associations of age at complementary feeding and exclusive breastfeeding duration with body mass index at 5–6 years within different risk groups
Authors: Sirkka O. , Vrijkotte T. , Halberstadt J. , Abrahamse‐Berkeveld M. , Hoekstra T. , Seidell J. , Olthof M. 
Published: April 2018

SummaryBackgroundChildren with overweight or obesity are at risk for developing obesity in adulthood. Certain maternal characteristics, such as ethnicity, education, body mass index (BMI) or neighbourhood, are determinants for childhood overweight risk. There are large variations in how mothers differing in these characteristics feed their infants. Therefore, associations of age at complementary feeding, exclusive breast feeding duration with childhood overweight may differ in these groups. Understanding these associations would be essential to develop overweight prevention strategies.ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to study the associations of age at complementary feeding, exclusive breastfeeding duration with BMI‐standard deviation score (SDS) at 5–6 years within risk groups.MethodsUsing data from the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development study, a population‐based birth cohort (n = 4495), we formed groups of children at varying risk of overweight according to maternal characteristics of ethnicity, education, pre‐pregnancy BMI and neighbourhood. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted.ResultsComplementary feeding after 5 months of age was associated with lower BMI‐SDS in children of mothers of Dutch ethnicity (B: −0.12; 95% CI: −0.21, −0.04), medium‐level education (−0.19; −0.30, −0.08), normal BMI (−0.08; −0.16, −0.01) and high‐risk neighbourhood (−0.16; −0.29, −0.02). Compared with exclusive breastfeeding for <3 months, exclusive breastfeeding for ≥6 months was associated with lower BMI‐SDS in groups of medium‐level education (−0.28; 0.44, −0.11), normal BMI (−0.18; −0.29, −0.08) and medium‐risk (−0.18; −0.33, −0.04) and high‐risk (−0.22; −0.42, −0.02) neighbourhoods.ConclusionsAssociations between infant feeding practices and childhood BMI may differ between risk groups, implying that overweight prevention strategies should be group‐specific.
A Method for Testing Additivity in Unreplicated Two‐Way Layouts Based on Combining Multiple Interaction Tests
Authors: Shenavari Zahra , Kharrati‐Kopaei Mahmood 
Published: April 2018

SummaryThere are several non‐functional‐form‐based interaction tests for testing additivity in unreplicated two‐way layouts. The distinctness of the various tests in this setting is somewhat unfortunate, as no single test can detect all patterns of possible interaction, and the tests are sensitive to a particular pattern of interaction. Therefore, it is reasonable to combine multiple interaction tests for testing additivity. The main problem is how we can combine multipledependenttests into a single test such that it has an acceptable performance in terms of controlling the type I error rate and maximizing the power. In this paper, we review six methods for combining interaction tests which utilize six different non‐functional‐form‐based interaction tests. We also propose two novel combination methods based on the Jacobi polynomial expansion and the Gaussian copula. We first compare these eight combination methods in terms of controlling the type I error rate via a simulation study. We then compare the six interaction tests and four combination methods in terms of power. The simulation results show that our proposed combination method that is based on the Jacobi polynomial expansion has the best performance in terms of controlling the type I error rate and maximizing the power. Therefore, we recommend this combination method as a test procedure for testing additivity. The major contribution of this work is to provide researchers with a testing approach which leverages many existing methods to detect disparate forms of non‐additivity. This alleviates the need for researchers to naively choose among highly specialized methods by instead allowing for a general approach that captures a number of interaction effects with reasonable power.
Strong and super tough: Layered ceramic‐polymer composites with bio‐inspired morphology
Authors: Pogorelov Evgeny , Tushtev Kamen , Arnebold Andre , Koschek Katharina , Hartwig Andreas , Rezwan Kurosch 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBio‐inspired layered ceramic‐polymer composites with high strength and toughness were prepared from sintered aluminum oxide ceramic sheets and cationically curing epoxy resins toughened with poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL). The architecture of the composite is inspired by nacre but is arranged on a larger scale. Ceramic sheets with a nominal thickness of 250 μm were assembled into composite plates by adhesive layers with a nominal thickness of 20 μm. Before the manufacturing of the composites, the stress‐strain properties of the polymer component were tailored by the variation in the PCL content between 0 and 39 wt%. For composites with 4 and 15 ceramic layers, the bending strengths achieved 327 MPa and 376 MPa, which are higher than that of pure ceramic sheets. Moreover, composites with 15 ceramic layers show a 16 times higher toughness compared to that of the pure ceramic sheets. The results indicate that the toughness of the layered composites increases significantly with the number of layers. Inspired by the geometrical ratio of the natural sheet composite nacre, we have achieved a similar strength but a 2 times higher toughness than nacre by only adding up to 6 vol% of the polymer.
Dementia care mapping to support staff in the care of people with intellectual disability and dementia: a feasibility study
Authors: Schaap Feija D. , Fokkens Andrea S. , Dijkstra Geke J. , Reijneveld Sijmen A. , Finnema Evelyn J. 
Published: April 2018

BackgroundThe number of people with intellectual disability and dementia increases; this combination causes behavioural changes. Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) supports staff in dementia care in nursing homes and may be useful in intellectual disability‐care. This qualitative study examines the feasibility of DCM for older people with intellectual disability and dementia.MethodsThe present authors obtained data in focus groups and interviews with professional users and analysed using a framework for feasibility studies. With experts in dementia and intellectual disability researches, the present authors determined the overall feasibility.ResultsDCM was found to be feasible in intellectual disability‐care, regarding five domains of feasibility. Staff reported DCM to be useful and valuable and addresses to their demand for skills and knowledge. All professional users found DCM feasible in intellectual disability‐care, which was confirmed by experts.ConclusionsDCM is feasible in intellectual disability‐care. When fully tailored to intellectual disability‐care, DCM is useful and provides opportunities to assess its effectiveness.
Disentangling the processes driving the biogeography of freshwater diatoms: A multiscale approach
Authors: Keck François , Franc Alain , Kahlert Maria 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAim1. To disentangle the effects of local environmental conditions and space at multiple scales in order to uncover and explain biogeographical signals in microbial communities of freshwater diatoms. 2. To assess the role of species traits related to dispersal capacities in diatom biogeography.LocationRivers and streams of Sweden sampled over a total area of 450,000 km2.MethodsWe used partial redundancy analyses and variation partitioning coupled with spatial eigenfunctions analyses to separate the effects of environment and space at three different scales on diatoms community structure. As community analyses might give limited insight into species‐specific mechanisms, we also performed species by species variation partitioning and the amount of variance explained by each fraction was related to species cell length and attachment to the substrate.ResultsWe found a strong effect of environment and space at a large scale suggesting environmental filtering and dispersal limitation over large distances. Additionally, species‐based analyses uncovered an effect of space at fine scale suggesting possible species‐specific mass effect dynamic or species sorting driven by missing environmental factors varying at fine scale. Environmental and spatial effects varied strongly among species, but this variation was not explained by cell length and attachment to the substrate.Main conclusionsOur results confirm the importance of both environment and dispersal‐related processes in controlling diatom community structure and bring new perspectives on the role of dispersal in shaping microbial communities at biogeographical scale. Dispersal being a species‐specific mechanism, species associations are not necessarily conserved from site to site and species‐based approaches can detect different spatial patterns than those derived from traditional community analyses. Contrary to the conclusions of small‐scale analysis of connected metacommunities, interspecific trait variation seems to be of limited importance for long‐distance overland dispersal in diatoms.
Does leisure‐time physical activity attenuate or eliminate the positive association between obesity and high blood pressure?
Authors: Werneck André O , Oyeyemi Adewale L , Gerage Aline M , Cyrino Edilson S , Szwarcwald Célia L , Sardinha Luís B , Silva Danilo R 
Published: April 2018

We examine the joint association of weight status and leisure‐time physical activity on high blood pressure in a nationally representative sample of adults and older adults in Brazil. This was a national cross‐sectional survey conducted in Brazil in 2013 (Brazilian Health Survey). The sample consisted of 59 402 participants (56% women, aged 18 to 100 years). Outcome was objectively assessed blood pressure. Body mass index (BMI) was objectively measured, while self‐reported information on leisure‐time physical activity, TV viewing, chronological age, race, educational status, tobacco smoking, sodium consumption, and hypertension medication was obtained using questionnaires. Logistic regression analysis with adjusted odds ratio was conducted to test the joint association of BMI and leisure‐time physical activity categories on high blood pressure. Overall, compared to normal weight (NW) and physically active group, the NW/inactive (OR = 1.28; 1.04 to 1.58), overweight/active (OR = 1.38; 1.08 to 1.78), overweight/inactive (OR = 1.89; 1.53 to 2.33), obese/active (OR = 2.19; 1.59 to 3.01) and obese/inactive (OR = 2.54; 2.05 to 3.15) groups were 28% to 254% more likely to have high blood pressure. The attenuation and high blood pressure was greater for women and adults than for men and older adults. Thus, leisure‐time physical inactivity and being overweight and obesity were associated with high blood pressure in Brazilian population. Engaging in sufficient level of physical activity during leisure could attenuate, but not eliminate, the negative influence of obesity on high blood pressure in Brazilian adults and older adults.
Chemical, biochemical, preclinical and clinical studies of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide as an approved drug for treating myopathy and other diseases in China
Authors: Zeng Pengjiao , Guo Zhihua , Zeng Xuan , Hao Cui , Zhang Yiran , Zhang Meng , Liu Yong , Li Hui , Li Juan , Zhang Lijuan 
Published: April 2018

AbstractGanoderma lucidum is an edible medicinal mushroom known as “Lingzhi” in China and “Reishi or Manetake” in Japan. It is a highly prized vitality‐enhancing herb for more than 2000 years. G. lucidum polysaccharide (GLPS) has been identified as one of the major bioactive components and developed into a drug named “Ji 731 Injection” in China since 1973. The large‐scale production of the drug began in 1985 and approved by the Chinese FDA as “Polysaccharidum of G. lucidum Karst Injection” (Ling Bao Duo Tang Zhu She Ye) in 2000, which is applied intramuscularly. After more than forty years of clinical use, its efficacy, safety and long‐term tolerability have been recognized by neurologists. It is one of a few non‐hormonal drugs used for treating refractory myopathy. It is also used for combination therapy, which reduces the amount of glucocorticoid required for myopathy patient who is in remission. In addition, it reduces adverse reactions and improves the quality of life for cancer patients during chemotherapy. We found 81 qualified chemical, biochemical, preclinical and clinical studies of GLPS both in English and in Chinese spanning from 1973 to 2017 by searching CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), Wanfang database and PubMed. The molecular mechanisms underlying GLPS's antioxidant, anti‐tumour, immune‐modulatory, hypoglycaemic, hypolipidaemic and other activities are discussed. Both preclinical and clinical studies are either deliberated or indexed in the current article. We aimed at providing a molecular picture as well as a clinical basis to comprehend GLPS as one of few polysaccharide‐based modern medicines with complicated chemical and pharmacological properties that prevent it from entering the world's market.
Up‐regulation of miR‐10b‐3p promotes the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via targeting CMTM5
Authors: Guan Lianyue , Ji Degang , Liang Na , Li Shuo , Sun Baozhen 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIn this study, we investigated how miR‐10b‐3p regulated the proliferation, migration, invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at both in vitro and in vivo levels. CMTM5 was among the differentially expressed genes (data from TCGA). The expression of miR‐10b‐3p and CMTM5 was detected by qRT‐PCR and Western blot (WB). TargetScan was used to acquire the binding sites. Dual‐luciferase reporter gene assay was used to verify the direct target relationship between miR‐10b‐3p and CMTM5. WB analysis proved that miR‐10b‐3p suppressed CMTM5 expression. Furthermore, proliferation, invasion and migration of HCC cells were measured by MTT assay, colony formation assay, transwell assay and wound‐healing assay, respectively. Kaplan‐Meier plotter valued the overall survival of CMTM5. Finally, xenograft assay was also conducted to verify the effects of miR‐10b‐3p/CMTM5 axis in vivo. Up‐regulation of miR‐10b‐3p and down‐regulation of CMTM5 were detected in HCC tissues and cell lines. CMTM5 was verified as a target gene of miR‐10b‐3p. The overexpression of CMTM5 contributed to the suppression of the proliferative, migratory and invasive abilities of HCC cells. Moreover, the up‐regulation of miR‐10b‐3p and down‐regulation of CMTM5 were observed to be associated with worse overall survival. Lastly, we have confirmed the carcinogenesis‐related roles of miR‐10b‐3p and CMTM5 in vivo. We concluded that the up‐regulation of miR‐10b‐3p promoted the progression of HCC cells via targeting CMTM5.
Brain‐based treatment—A new approach or a well‐forgotten old one?
Authors: Matanova Vanya , Kostova Zlatomira , Kolev Martin 
Published: April 2018

AbstractFor a relatively long period of time, mental functioning was mainly associated with personal profile while brain functioning went by the wayside. After the 90s of the 20th century, or the so called “Decade of the Brain”, today, contemporary specialists work on the boundary between fundamental science and medicine. This brings neuroscience, neuropsychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy closer to each other.Today, we definitely know that brain structures are being built and altered thanks to experience. Psychotherapy can be more effective when based on a neuropsychological approach—this implies identification of the neural foundations of various disorders and will lead to specific psychotherapeutic conclusions. The knowledge about the brain is continually enriched, which leads to periodic rethinking and updating of the therapeutic approaches to various diseases of the nervous system and brain dysfunctions.The aim of translational studies is to match and combine scientific areas, resources, experience and techniques to improve prevention, diagnosis and therapies, and “transformation” of scientific discoveries into potential treatments of various diseases done in laboratory conditions.Neuropsychological studies prove that cognition is a key element that links together brain functioning and behaviour. According to Dr. Kandel, all experimental events, including psychotherapeutic interventions, affect the structure and function of neuronal synapses.The story of why psychotherapy works is a story of understanding the brain mechanisms of psychic processes, a story of how the brain has been evolving to ensure learning, forgetting, and the mechanisms of permanent psychological change.The new evidence on brain functioning necessitates the integration of neuropsychological achievements in the psychotherapeutic process. An integrative approach is needed to take into account the dynamic interaction between brain functioning, psyche, soul, spirit, and social interaction, ie, development of a model of psychotherapeutic work based on cerebral plasticity!Brain‐based psychotherapy aims at changing brain functioning not directly, but through experiences. This is neuro‐psychologically informed psychotherapy.