bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effects of indoor and outdoor sports participation and seasonal changes on vitamin D levels in athletes
Authors: Aydın Canan Gönen , Dinçel Yaşar Mahsut , Arıkan Yavuz , Taş Süleyman Kasım , Deniz Serdar 
Published: March 2019

Objective: Nowadays, people tend to spend more time in the closed areas and benefit less from sunlight. In this study, we examined the results of vitamin D measurements of athletes from different disciplines in different months and aimed to determine if the synthesis of vitamin D decreases or not according to exercise environment and month. Methods: The study was conducted in participants aged 5–52 years. A total of 555 elite-level sportsmen who were admitted to our Sports Medicine Clinic in the study participated in this study. Indoor and outdoor environmental and seasonal effects on the measurements in different months were statistically evaluated. Independent-samples test and definitive statistics were used for statistical analyses and a p-value less than 0.05 has been considered significant. Results: The study group consisted of 229 male and 326 female athletes. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was observed; 120 (21.6%) athletes have severe serum vitamin D deficiency (<11–20 ng/mL). Vitamin D levels were not significantly different from outdoor athletes (393; 70.8%). Winter measurements of vitamin D levels were significantly lower than those measured in autumn (p = 0.000). Conclusion: Increasing vitamin D levels are very important especially in participating athletes and additional supplements are recommended whenever necessary. Gender and indoor/outdoor sports participation showed no statistically significant outcomes on vitamin D levels. However, winter season had a negative effect on vitamin D levels. Therefore, adequate precautions should be taken to increase vitamin D, especially during winter, to maintain the best performance of the athletes.
Evaluating Occupational Health Nursing Units in Bangkok Textile Factories
Authors: Silpasuwan Pimpan , Viwatwongkasem Chukiat , Phalee Piangjai , Kalampakorn Surintorn 
Published: March 2019

The next International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) Congress will be a celebration of its 100th anniversary, held in Milan, Italy from June 11 to 16, 2006. With significant improvements in the understanding of occupational health at the international level, it is hoped that all occupational health professionals throughout the world can celebrate 100 years of progress and accomplishments at this Congress. With this goal, the AAOHN Journal has been running a special series of articles focusing on “ Exploring the World Through International Occupational Health Programs” organized by OiSaeng Hong, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor and Director, Occupational Health Nursing Program, Division of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is the fourth article in the series. The purpose of this study was to examine the service quality of nursing units in Bangkok textile factories. Descriptive survey research was combined with a qualitative design using participative observation. The sample consisted of factory managers, nurses, and employees. Data were collected between November 2001 and February 2002 using questionnaires, observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. Nurses' education levels and quality of design and arrangement of nursing units explained 15.7% of the variance in service quality. Furthermore, qualitative data supported clients' satisfaction with service quality, except for the tangibility of the service. These findings suggest that the quality of nursing service units could be improved by management's attention to unit design, arrangement of nursing units, and nurses' education levels. Hiring registered nurses and restructuring nursing units are recommended.
Differences in lower quarter Y-balance test with player position and ankle injuries in professional baseball players
Authors: Ryu Chang Hyun , Park Jungu , Kang Mina , Oh Joo Han , Kim You Keun , Kim Yong Il , Lee Ho Seong , Seo Sang Gyo 
Published: March 2019

Purpose: Although there has been research about the correlation between ankle injury and Y-balance test (YBT) conducted in other sports, there has been a lack of research on the correlation between ankle injury among baseball players and YBT scores or on differences in scores according to baseball positions. This study focused on professional baseball players as its subjects with the aims of analyzing the correlation between YBT and ankle injury and assessing differences in YBT between baseball positions. Methods: Age, height, weight, body mass index, and spine malleolar distance of 42 professional baseball players were measured. YBT measurements were performed using each foot in three distinct directions. YBT normalized reach distances, composite score, and reach asymmetry were analyzed. Results: The mean right posteromedial normalized reach distances for the player positions were significantly different between the pitchers (107.7%) and infielders (113.7%) ( p = 0.028). For the composite score, the difference between the pitchers (92.3%) and infielders (95.0%) was statistically significant ( p = 0.048). The anterior reach asymmetry was larger in the injured group than in the noninjured group ( p = 0.041). Conclusion: This study shows that YBT can be used as a way of evaluating the injury of baseball players. It also shows the reference value of YBT according to position in professional baseball players. This study could be useful for the treatment of ankle injury of baseball players. Level of evidence: Level 3.
Utility of a Clinical Decision Support System in Weight Loss Prediction After Head and Neck Cancer Radiotherapy
Authors: Cheng Zhi , Nakatsugawa Minoru , Zhou Xian Chong , Hu Chen , Greco Stephen , Kiess Ana , Page Brandi , Alcorn Sara , Haller John , Utsunomiya Kazuki , Sugiyama Shinya , Fu Wei , Wong John , Lee Junghoon , McNutt Todd , Quon Harry 
Published: March 2019

PURPOSE To evaluate the utility of a clinical decision support system (CDSS) using a weight loss prediction model. METHODS A prediction model for significant weight loss (loss of greater than or equal to 7.5% of body mass at 3-month post radiotherapy) was created with clinical, dosimetric, and radiomics predictors from 63 patients in an independent training data set (accuracy, 0.78; area under the curve [AUC], 0.81) using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator logistic regression. Four physicians with varying experience levels were then recruited to evaluate 100 patients in an independent validation data set of head and neck cancer twice (ie, a pre-post design): first without and then with the aid of a CDSS derived from the prediction model. At both evaluations, physicians were asked to predict the development (yes/no) and probability of significant weight loss for each patient on the basis of patient characteristics, including pretreatment dysphagia and weight loss and information from the treatment plan. At the second evaluation, physicians were also provided with the prediction model’s results for weight loss probability. Physicians’ predictions were compared with actual weight loss, and accuracy and AUC were investigated between the two evaluations. RESULTS The mean accuracy of the physicians’ ability to identify patients who will experience significant weight loss (yes/no) increased from 0.58 (range, 0.47 to 0.63) to 0.63 (range, 0.58 to 0.72) with the CDSS ( P = .06). The AUC of weight loss probability predicted by physicians significantly increased from 0.56 (range, 0.46 to 0.64) to 0.69 (range, 0.63 to 0.73) with the aid of the CDSS ( P < .05). Specifically, more improvement was observed among less-experienced physicians ( P < .01). CONCLUSION Our preliminary results demonstrate that physicians’ decisions may be improved by a weight loss CDSS model, especially among less-experienced physicians. Additional study with a larger cohort of patients and more participating physicians is thus warranted for understanding the usefulness of CDSSs.
Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Tumor Board Connecting Eight General Hospitals in Japan via a High-Security Communication Line
Authors: Takeda Takayuki , Takeda Sorou , Uryu Kiyoaki , Ichihashi Yoshio , Harada Hiromasa , Iwase Akihiko , Tamura Yukihiro , Hibino Makoto , Horiuchi Shigeto , Kani Hisanori 
Published: March 2019

PURPOSE The complexity of lung cancer treatment is rapidly increasing, necessitating the use of multidisciplinary approaches for improving outcomes. Although it is common for institutions to have their own tumor boards, tumor boards connecting several general hospitals, and therefore allowing for more diverse opinions, are not prevalent. MATERIALS AND METHODS A tumor board connecting eight hospitals was formed to discuss patients for whom formulating a treatment strategy was difficult. Physicians and hospital staff accessed a high-security communication line via LiveOn ( Japan Media Systems Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), which is completely isolated from the Internet and password protected, that enables each hospital to share the electronic medical records and images of relevant patients at other hospitals on desktop computers in real time. The lung cancer tumor board began in April 2017 and has since been held every Tuesday evening for 1 hour. Preparatory records containing the age, sex, histology, TNM classification, background, and discussion points for each patient are created before each tumor board meeting. After the tumor board discussion, all conclusions and related articles used in the board are added to the minutes, which are finalized as Microsoft Word files, consolidated, and archived. These files can be retrieved later using key words. RESULTS From April 2017 to June 2018, 202 patients were discussed. Although TNM classification was not changed for any patient, diverse opinions led to a change in the proposed strategy for 49 of 202 patients. CONCLUSION The multidisciplinary tumor board was useful in obtaining various opinions from the perspectives of different experts. This should be evaluated in a prospective study.
Effect of Chemotherapy With Docetaxel With Androgen Suppression and Radiotherapy for Localized High-Risk Prostate Cancer: The Randomized Phase III NRG Oncology RTOG 0521 Trial
Authors: Rosenthal Seth A. , Hu Chen , Sartor Oliver , Gomella Leonard G. , Amin Mahul B. , Purdy James , Michalski Jeff M. , Garzotto Mark G. , Pervez Nadeem , Balogh Alexander G. , Rodrigues George B. , Souhami Luis , Reaume M. Neil , Williams Scott G. , Hannan Raquibul , Horwitz Eric M. , Raben Adam , Peters Christopher A. , Feng Felix Y. , Shipley William U. , Sandler Howard M. 
Published: March 2019

PURPOSE Radiotherapy (RT) plus long-term androgen suppression (AS) are a standard treatment option for patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer. We hypothesized that docetaxel chemotherapy (CT) could improve overall survival (OS) and clinical outcomes among patients with high-risk prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS The multicenter randomized NRG Oncology RTOG 0521 study enrolled patients with high-risk nonmetastatic disease between 2005 and 2009. Patients were randomly assigned to receive standard long-term AS plus RT with or without adjuvant CT. RESULTS A total of 612 patients were enrolled; 563 were evaluable. Median prostate-specific antigen was 15.1 ng/mL; 53% had a Gleason score 9 to 10 cancer; 27% had cT3 to cT4 disease. Median follow-up was 5.7 years. Treatment was well tolerated in both arms. Four-year OS rate was 89% (95% CI, 84% to 92%) for AS + RT and 93% (95% CI, 90% to 96%) for AS + RT + CT (hazard ratio [HR], 0.69; 90% CI, 0.49 to 0.97; one-sided P = .034). There were 59 deaths in the AS + RT arm and 43 in the AS + RT + CT arm, with fewer deaths resulting from prostate cancer in the AS + RT + CT arm versus AS + RT (23 v 16 deaths, respectively). Six-year rate of distant metastasis was 14% for AS + RT and 9.1% for AS + RT + CT, (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.99; two-sided P = .044). Six-year disease-free survival rate was 55% for AS + RT and 65% for AS + RT + CT (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.00; two-sided P = .053). CONCLUSION For patients with high-risk nonmetastatic prostate cancer, CT with docetaxel improved OS from 89% to 93% at 4 years, with improved disease-free survival and reduction in the rate of distant metastasis. The trial suggests that docetaxel CT may be an option to be discussed with selected men with high-risk prostate cancer.
Impact of Medical Cannabis on Patient-Reported Symptoms for Patients With Cancer Enrolled in Minnesota’s Medical Cannabis Program
Authors: Anderson Susan P. , Zylla Dylan M. , McGriff Deepa M. , Arneson Tom J. 
Published: March 2019

PURPOSE: Minnesota’s medical cannabis program is unique, in that it routinely collects patient-reported scores on symptoms. This article focuses on changes in symptom severity reported by patients with cancer during their first 4 months of program participation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with cancer in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program reported symptoms (anxiety, lack of appetite, depression, disturbed sleep, fatigue, nausea, pain, and vomiting) at their worst over the last 24 hours before each medical cannabis purchase. Baseline scores on each of the eight symptoms were statistically compared with the average symptom scores reported in the first 4 months of program participation. Symptom scores were also calculated as percent change from baseline, with patients achieving and maintaining at least a 30% reduction in symptoms reported in this article. Patients also reported intensity of adverse effects. RESULTS: A significant reduction in scores was found across all symptoms when comparing baseline scores with the average score submitted within the first 4 months of program participation (all Ps < .001). The proportion of patients achieving 30% or greater symptom reduction within the first 4 months of program participation varied from 27% (fatigue) to 50% (vomiting), with a smaller proportion both achieving and maintaining those improvements. Adverse effects were reported in a small proportion of patients (10.5%). CONCLUSION: Patients with cancer enrolled in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program showed significant reduction across all eight symptoms assessed within 4 months of program participation. Medical cannabis was well tolerated, and some patients attained clinically meaningful and lasting levels of improvement.
Reconhecendo analogias e precedentes a partir de decisões da justiça do trabalho: dois esquemas de argumentação caso a caso
Authors: Andrade Mário Cesar da Silva , Lucas Daniel De Souza 
Published: March 2019

O presente artigo destaca as diferenças entre a argumentação que apela ao precedente para decidir e aquela que justifi ca a decisão tendo por base uma analogia. Compreender as diferenças é relevante, pois é a partir da argumentação que as instâncias superiores uniformizam os entendimentos que serão percebidos como vinculantes pelas instâncias inferiores. Metodologicamente, a pesquisa qualitativa bibliográfica utiliza as contribuições teóricas no tema, em especial, as de Katharina Stevens e Trudy Govier, para, de forma hipotético-dedutiva, reconstruir argumentos judiciais que problematizam os efeitos do precedente e da analogia no direito. A pesquisa vale-se de fontes doutrinárias, legislativas e jurisprudenciais. Em conclusão, a aceitação da tese de que existem duas versões do princípio de acordo com o qual casos semelhantes devem ser tratados igualmente permite diferenciar objetivamente os casos de analogia e os de precedente. As estruturas e as perguntas críticas propostas por Stevens conseguem dar suporte à avaliação do contexto e da intenção do autor do argumento, o que é fundamental para perceber uma decisão anterior como vinculante.
An HPLC Ultraviolet Method Using Low Sample Volume and Protein Precipitation for the Measurement of Retinol in Human Serum Suitable for Laboratories in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Authors: Chaudhary-Webb Madhulika , Schleicher Rosemary L , Erhardt Juergen G , Pendergrast Elizabeth C , Pfeiffer Christine M 
Published: March 2019

Abstract

Background
Assessing vitamin A status in populations remains a high public health priority for low- and middle-income countries. However, analytical difficulties with serum retinol measurements persist in international laboratories. Nearly all participants in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention external quality assessment program use HPLC to measure serum retinol, but round-to-round results failing to meet acceptable criteria suggest the need to provide a straightforward stable HPLC ultraviolet (UV) method that can be adopted by these laboratories to improve performance. We present a protein precipitation HPLC-UV method that measures serum retinol below the deficiency cutoff value (&lt;0.7 μmol/L or 20 μg/dL) that is suitable for low- and middle-income countries and uses commercially available materials.

Methods
Serum (25 μL) added to retinyl acetate was precipitated with acetonitrile (125 μL) to extract retinol. Solvent-based calibration solutions required no extraction. Calibration used either single-point (50 μg/dL) or multipoint solutions (0.52–100 μg/dL). C18 column (4.6 × 100 mm) and acetonitrile with 0.1% triethylamine/water (83/17, v/v) as isocratic mobile phase (1.1 mL/min), achieved baseline separation (7 minutes).

Results
With only 25 μL of serum, the limit of detection was 0.52 μg/dL. Single- and multipoint calibration generated equivalent results. Over several years, between-run imprecision was ≤7.1% in multiple quality-control materials. Overall mean (CV) method bias for NIST-certified reference materials (e-series) was −0.2% (5.8%). Maximally, 180 samples were processed within 24 h.

Conclusions
This method was robust and stable over years and accurately measured serum retinol with low-volume samples. Thus, it may be of interest to low- and middle-income countries and to pediatric and finger stick applications.
Interaction between HFE and haptoglobin polymorphisms and its relation with plasma glutathione levels in obese children
Authors: Aguiar Laura , Marinho Cláudia , Martins Rute , Alho Irina , Ferreira Joana , Levy Pilar , Faustino Paula , Bicho Manuel , Inacio Angela 
Published: March 2019

Obesity among children has emerged as a serious public health problem. The growing prevalence of childhood obesity has led to the appearance of serious complications, including a chronic systemic inflammation associated with oxidative stress. In the present study, we analysed the interaction between two genes related with iron metabolism - HFE and haptoglobin – and the plasmatic concentration of glutathione, as a way to evaluate the antioxidant response capacity in obesity. To achieve this, 118 obese children and 89 eutrophic children were recruited for the study. Results showed that although obese children present a significantly decreased tGSH levels, once we analysed separately children based on their haptoglobin phenotype, the decreased tGSH levels is significant only for the Hp 2 allele. Additionally, Hp 2.2 obese children carrying H63D polymorphism show significantly lower tGSH/GSSG values. Our results found an association of haptoglobin and HFE with oxidative stress in childhood obesity.
Elucidation of stability profiles of common chemistry analytes in serum stored at six graded temperatures
Authors: Shimizu Yoshihisa , Ichihara Kiyoshi 
Published: March 2019

Abstract

Background
Many reports address the stability of biochemical analytes in serum. However, studies covering a wide range of storage temperatures are unavailable. Using equipment enabling precise temperature control, we investigated the effect of six different storage temperatures on serum analytes.

Methods
Serum specimens from seven healthy volunteers were obtained and divided into multiple aliquots for storage at −30, −20, −10, 0, 4, and 25 °C. On days 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 56, the aliquots stored at each temperature were relocated to a deep freezer maintained at −80 °C. On day 60, all aliquots were measured collectively for 13 major chemistry analytes.

Results
(1) At 25 °C, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBil) were very unstable especially on day 7 and later. (2) At ≤4 °C, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), amylase (AMY), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), TBil and complement component-4 (C4) were generally stable and were very stable at 25 °C until day 14. (3) Between −20 and 4 °C, especially at −10 °C, test results of ALT, AST and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) showed prominent decreases, but their stability was greatly improved at −30 °C. (4) In contrast, the value of complement component-3 (C3) increased at ≥− 20 °C. (5) At −30 °C, test results of all analytes were generally very stable except for ALT and CK, which showed noticeable reductions in activity after 14 days.

Conclusions
This is the first study to assess the stability of serum analytes at six graded temperatures simultaneously. Each analyte has a unique stability pattern for a range of temperatures.
Incomplete Iterative Implicit Schemes
Authors: Vabishchevich Petr N. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractIn numerical solving boundary value problems for parabolic equations, two- or three-level implicit schemes are in common use. Their computational implementation is based on solving a discrete elliptic problem at a new time level. For this purpose, various iterative methods are applied to multidimensional problems evaluating an approximate solution with some error. It is necessary to ensure that these errors do not violate the stability of the approximate solution, i.e., the approximate solution must converge to the exact one. In the present paper, these questions are investigated in numerical solving a Cauchy problem for a linear evolutionary equation of first order, which is considered in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. The study is based on the general theory of stability (well-posedness) of operator-difference schemes developed by Samarskii. The iterative methods used in the study are considered from the same general positions.
Association study of the CTH 1364 G>T polymorphism with coronary artery disease in the Greek population
Authors: Giannakopoulou Efstathia , Konstantinou Fotios , Ragia Georgia , Gerontitis Zisis , Tavridou Anna , Papapetropoulos Andreas , Mikroulis Dimitrios , Manolopoulos Vangelis G. 
Published: March 2019

AbstractBackgroundCystathionine γ-lyase enzyme, which is encoded by theCTHgene, is responsible for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production in the endothelium. TheCTH1364 G>T polymorphism may alter theCTHexpression and H2S bioavailability, thus leading to atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). We examined the potential association of theCTH1364 G>T polymorphism with CAD.MethodsTheCTH1364 G>T polymorphism was determined in 178 coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients and 156 non-atherosclerotic controls of Greek Caucasian origin using the PCR–RFLP method.ResultsNo significant difference in the frequency of theCTH1364 G>T genotypes (p = 0.281) and alleles (p = 0.265) was found between the CABG patients and controls. After conducting stratification according to sex, analysis showed a numerical difference in theCTH1364 TT genotype frequency in female participants that did not reach statistical significance (16.3% and 8.5% in the CABG and controls, respectively, p = 0.26). The frequency of theCTH1364 TT genotype between the male CABG patients and controls did not differ (p = 0.507).ConclusionsTheCTH1364 G>T polymorphism was not associated with CAD in the studied population. However, interestingly, a higher – if not significantly so –CTH1364 TT genotype frequency was present in female CABG patients compared with female controls. Larger studies are necessary to conclude on the potential overall or gender-driven association betweenCTH1364 G>T gene polymorphism and CAD.