bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Inflammatory leucocyte infiltrates are associated with recovery in biopsy-proven acute interstitial nephritis: a 20-year registry-based case series
Authors: Wendt Ralph , Schliecker Jennifer , Beige Joachim 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBackgroundAcute interstitial nephritis (AIN) is a renal injury causing renal function deterioration and requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) in a substantial number of cases. Therapy is based on withdrawal of suspicious causative drugs or the underlying diseases and/or steroid application if renal function is not restored after cessation of the underlying condition. Hard clinical evidence for augmenting steroid therapy is not available.MethodsWe reviewed the course and diagnosis for &gt;20 years among all 1126 biopsied samples of our tertiary renal centre.Results49 (4.4%) were diagnosed with primary AIN, corresponding to an annual incidence of 1/100 000 population; 17 out of 49 biopsy-proven AIN patients required short-term or long-term (n = 5) RRT. According to a combined outcome criterion of coming off dialysis and/or reaching serum creatinine &lt;200 µmol/L, 19 patients reached recovery whereas 20 did not. Among 39 patients with a comprehensive clinical and histopathological data set, presence of cortical scars, AIN histological activity (acute leucocyte infiltrates) and proteinuria were baseline parameters discriminating significantly between groups with or without recovery. No associations with the presence of specific drugs were found. Therapeutic use of steroids was associated with a lower probability of recovery (P = 0.008), presumably due to inclusion bias.ConclusionsFollowing our basic finding of the importance of histopathological parameters of acuity associated with recovery, we argue for the inauguration of grading measures to characterize this issue quantitatively and make it usable for future controlled investigations. Finally, we provide a suggestion for a therapeutic algorithm in the management of AIN.
Education level and hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions: an education approach is required
Authors: Buja Alessandra , Fonzo Marco , Sperotto Milena , De Battisti Elisa , Baldovin Tatjana , Cocchio Silvia , Furlan Patrizia , Saia Mario , Scapellato Maria Luisa , Viel Guido , Baldo Vincenzo , Bertoncello Chiara 
Published: July 2019

Abstract

Background
Studies in several different countries and settings suggest that ambulatory care–sensitive conditions (ACSCs)-related hospitalizations could be associated more with socioeconomic variables than with the quality of primary healthcare services. The aim of the present study was to analyze the potential links between education levels or other social determinants and ACSC-related hospitalization rates.

Methods
We analyzed a total of 467 504 records of ordinary discharges after acute hospitalization in 2015–16 for patients 20–74 years old residing in the Veneto Region. We calculated the prevention quality indicators (PQIs) developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated with a set of Poisson regressions to measure the relative risk by sociodemographic level.

Results
Hospitalizations for ACSCs accounted for 3.9% of all hospital admissions (18 436 discharges), and the crude hospitalization rate for ACSCs among 20- to 74-year-olds was 26.6 per 10 000 inhabitants (95% CI, 25.8–27.4). For all conditions, we found a significant association with formal education. In the case of the overall composite PQI#90, e.g. poorly educated people (primary school or no schooling) were at significantly higher risk of hospitalization for ACSCs than the better educated (RR, 4.50; 95% CI, 4.13–4.91).

Conclusions
Currently available administrative data regarding ACSCs may be used effectively for reveal equity issues in the provision of health care. Our results indicate that an educational approach inside Primary Health Care could address the extra risk for preventable healthcare demands associated with poorly educated patients.
A Comprehensive Survey on the Terpene Synthase Gene Family Provides New Insight into Its Evolutionary Patterns
Authors: Jiang Shu-Ye , Jin Jingjing , Sarojam Rajani , Ramachandran Srinivasan 
Published: July 2019

AbstractTerpenes are organic compounds and play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in mediating interactions of plants with the environment. Terpene synthases (TPSs) are the key enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of terpenes. Although some species were employed for the genome-wide identification and characterization of the TPS family, limited information is available regarding the evolution, expansion, and retention mechanisms occurring in this gene family. We performed a genome-wide identification of the TPS family members in 50 sequenced genomes. Additionally, we also characterized the TPS family from aromatic spearmint and basil plants using RNA-Seq data. No TPSs were identified in algae genomes but the remaining plant species encoded various numbers of the family members ranging from 2 to 79 full-length TPSs. Some species showed lineage-specific expansion of certain subfamilies, which might have contributed toward species or ecotype divergence or environmental adaptation. A large-scale family expansion was observed mainly in dicot and monocot plants, which was accompanied by frequent domain loss. Both tandem and segmental duplication significantly contributed toward family expansion and expression divergence and played important roles in the survival of these expanded genes. Our data provide new insight into the TPS family expansion and evolution and suggest that TPSs might have originated from isoprenyl diphosphate synthase genes.
Patients’ Perceive Biologics to Be Riskier and More Dreadful Than Other IBD Medications
Authors: Koliani-Pace Jenna L , Haron Anna M , Zisman-Ilani Yaara , Thompson Kimberly D , Siegel Corey A 
Published: July 2019

Abstract

Background
Biologic medications have advanced the management of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) but are underutilized in the treatment algorithm. One reason may be related to patients’ concerns about adverse events and their perceptions of risk. The aim of this study was to compare patients’ perceptions of risk of IBD treatment with their perceived risk of everyday occurrences and other medications and how these perceptions may be influenced by personality traits.

Methods
A cross-sectional study of consecutive IBD patients was conducted at a single tertiary care center. Participants were asked to report about their perception of risk of IBD medications, non-IBD medications, invasive procedures, and everyday life occurrences. Participants responded also to the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale to characterize beliefs about control over health outcomes.

Results
A total of 130 patients with IBD completed the questionnaires. There was a broad range of disease severity and prior medication use. Biologics elicited the highest dread of all IBD medications, but this was still lower than their fear of surgery. Patients believed that biologics were of higher benefit than immunomodulators and mesalamines, but riskier. Having the personality trait of an internally developed locus of control was associated with the perception that biologics are less dreadful.

Conclusions
Patients with IBD perceive biologics to be of higher benefit but riskier and more dreadful as compared with immunomodulators. Risk perception may be about more than their knowledge base but also about how much control patients typically believe they have over their daily lives.
Drones, Surveillance, and Violence: Theory and Evidence from a US Drone Program
Authors: Mir Asfandyar , Moore Dylan 
Published: July 2019

AbstractWe investigate the impact of the US drone program in Pakistan on insurgent violence. Using details about US-Pakistan counterterrorism cooperation and geocoded violence data, we show that the program was associated with monthly reductions of around nine to thirteen insurgent attacks and fifty-one to eighty-six casualties in the area affected by the program. This change was sizable, as in the year before the program, the affected area experienced around twenty-one attacks and one hundred casualties per month. Additional quantitative and qualitative evidence suggests that this drop is attributable to the drone program. However, the damage caused in strikes during the program cannot fully account for the reduction. Instead, anticipatory effects induced by the program played a prominent role in subduing violence. These effects stemmed from the insurgents’ perception of the risk of being targeted in drone strikes; their efforts to avoid targeting severely compromised their movement and communication abilities, in addition to eroding within-group trust. These findings contrast with prominent perspectives on air-power, counterinsurgency, and US counterterrorism, suggesting select drone deployments can be an effective tool of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism.
Modelling subsurface geologic structures at the Ikogosi geothermal field, southwestern Nigeria, using gravity, magnetics and seismic interferometry techniques
Authors: Abraham Ema M , Alile Owens M 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
We present results and a technique for imaging the subsurface structures of a geothermal field with particular focus on the Ikogosi geothermal field in Nigeria. The intent was to provide an understanding of the subsurface structural setup in the region and assess its viability for further geothermal resources exploitation. High-resolution aeromagnetic and gravity data were used for the study. A constrained 2D forward modelling technique was applied to these datasets to map the shape and corresponding depths of geologic structures in the region. This study has gone deeper to ascertain the basement structure and configurations and how it influences the heat source of the Ikogosi Warm Spring (IWS) region. The dominant host quartzite rock unit at the IWS location reaches average depths of 2.5–3.0 km and is located directly on an intruded high-density geologic formation in the subsurface. Fault structures traversing the IWS source have also been uncovered. We infer that these structural setups are central to the geothermal system of the IWS. Valid reflection responses from the profile model have been retrieved from randomly induced noise sources, using a passive seismic interferometry technique. Pre-stack depth migration of the reflected responses suitably imaged the reflectors within the subsurface of the IWS region, tracing fault boundaries and delineating intruded geological structures. This has provided pre-survey insights into the subsurface seismic imagery of the region. Results derived from this study could assist informed decision making regarding geothermal exploration and exploitation in the region.
The heterogeneity and electro-mechanical characteristics of coal at the micro- and nanoscale
Authors: Wang Weixiang , Song Dazhao , He Xueqiu , Liu Xianfeng , Li Zhenlei , Tian Xianghui 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
With regard to the mechanism of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) excited by deformation and failure of coal and rock, the present study employed the optical microscope, digital microhardness tester and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure surface morphology, surface microhardness and electro-mechanical characteristics, including elastic modulus and surface potential of coal. The results show that micro-mineral composition and micro-mechanical properties of coal are clearly heterogeneous. The elastic modulus values measured are 62.3 MPa–4.0 GPa and the surface potential values tested are 21.2–166.2 mV. The proportion distributions of the two parameters mentioned follow the normal distribution, which indicates the electro-mechanical characteristics of coal are clearly inhomogeneous at the micro- and nanoscales. Finally, the effects of the inhomogeneous elastic modulus and surface potential on the EMR from the microscopic perspective were analyzed. In this experiment, the change of the micro-elastic modulus and the existence of the surface potential on the coal surface were directly observed. The findings reveal the mechanism of EMR induced by deformation and failure of coal and rock.
The Struggle Against Torture: Challenges, Assumptions and New Directions
Authors: Kelly Tobias 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
This short essay offers a broad and necessarily incomplete review of the current state of the human rights struggle against torture and ill-treatment. It sketches four widespread assumptions in that struggle: 1) that torture is an issue of detention and interrogation; 2) that political or security detainees are archetypal victims of torture; 3) that legal reform is one of the best ways to fight torture; and 4) that human rights monitoring helps to stamp out violence. These four assumptions have all played an important role in the history of the human rights fight against torture, but also resulted in limitations in terms of the interventions that are used, the forms of violence that human rights practitioners respond to, and the types of survivors they seek to protect. Taken together, these four assumptions have created challenges for the human rights community in confronting the multiple forms of torture rooted in the deep and widespread inequality experienced by many poor and marginalized groups. The essay ends by pointing to some emerging themes in the fight against torture, such as a focus on inequality, extra-custodial violence, and the role of corruption.
Clinical Utility of GlioSeq Next-Generation Sequencing Test in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients With Brain Tumors
Authors: Roy Somak , Agnihotri Sameer , El Hallani Soufiane , Ernst Wayne L , Wald Abigail I , Santana dos Santos Lucas , Hamilton Ronald L , Horbinski Craig M , Wadhwani Nitin R , Born Donald E , Pollack Ian F , Nikiforov Yuri E , Nikiforova Marina N 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
Brain tumors are the leading cause of death in children. Establishing an accurate diagnosis and therapy is critical for patient management. This study evaluated the clinical utility of GlioSeq, a next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay, for the diagnosis and management of pediatric and young adult patients with brain tumors. Between May 2015 and March 2017, 142 consecutive brain tumors were tested using GlioSeq v1 and subset using GlioSeq v2. Out of 142 samples, 63% were resection specimens and 37% were small stereotactic biopsies. GlioSeq sequencing was successful in 100% and 98.6% of the cases for the detection of mutations and copy number changes, and gene fusions, respectively. Average turnaround time was 8.7 days. Clinically significant genetic alterations were detected in 95%, 66.6%, and 66.1% of high-grade gliomas, medulloblastomas, and low-grade gliomas, respectively. GlioSeq enabled molecular-based stratification in 92 (65%) cases by specific molecular subtype assignment (70, 76.1%), substantiating a neuropathologic diagnosis (18, 19.6%), and diagnostic recategorization (4, 4.3%). Fifty-seven percent of the cases harbored therapeutically actionable findings. GlioSeq NGS analysis offers rapid detection of a wide range of genetic alterations across a spectrum of pediatric brain tumors using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens and facilitates integrated molecular-morphologic classification and personalized management of pediatric brain tumors.
Written by the Body: Evolutions of Embodiment in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior and I Love a Broad Margin to My Life
Authors: Ng Audrey 
Published: July 2019

AbstractWhile much has been written on embodiment and autobiographical narrative strategies in Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior (1975), little critical attention has been given to these aspects in her latest foray into poetry, I Love a Broad Margin to My Life (2011). The materiality of bodies in her characters No Name Woman and Fa Mu Lan are altered across the two works in ways that reflect and engender a change in cultural necessities for peace. The female avenger's body evolves from a weapon that addresses wrongs through violence to the embodiment of Kingston's striving for a happy ending, on the page and also in reality, thus implicating her work with war veterans. No Name Woman's suicide changes from an embodiment of vengeful female subjectivity that is concomitant with biological destiny to an occasion of communal reconciliation. In tandem, Kingston's reappropriation of her portrayal of the swordswoman Fa Mu Lan in The Woman Warrior shows a progression from a soldier's aggressive filiality to patriarchal norms to a woman's act of self-violence that addresses the reality of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalent among war veterans. If life writing, as narrative psychologist Jerome Bruner argues, is capable of constituting identity and shaping future reality, Kingston's work of intersubjective remembering and community building through autobiographical narratives that constantly position the body at the intersection of public and personal identities has positive implications for her peace project.
Migrant votes ‘here’ and ‘there’: Transnational electoral behavior of Turks in the Netherlands
Authors: Mügge Liza , Kranendonk Maria , Vermeulen Floris , Aydemir Nermin 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
Whether there is a trade-off between ‘here’ (country of settlement) and ‘there’ (the country of origin) is one of the key political questions and concerns regarding political attitudes and behaviors of immigrant minorities. We take this issue by the horns and study three components of political attitudes and behavior within a transnational framework among Dutch-Turkish citizens in the Netherlands: turnout, political trust and interest, and party choice. The empirical data draws on original exit polls held during the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections at a polling station in 2014 (n = 791) and in 2015 (n = 456). We find that that gender and country of birth influence electoral participation; social class (working class background as labor migrants) influences voting behavior. While there is a trade-off for political trust and voting behavior, there is no trade-off for political interest. These findings call for a more nuanced approach to transnational political behavior that is attentive to processes of convergence between ‘here’ and ‘there’ and the diversity within migrant groups.
Single-molecule visualization reveals the damage search mechanism for the human NER protein XPC-RAD23B
Authors: Cheon Na Young , Kim Hyun-Suk , Yeo Jung-Eun , Schärer Orlando D , Lee Ja Yil 
Published: July 2019

Abstract
DNA repair is critical for maintaining genomic integrity. Finding DNA lesions initiates the entire repair process. In human nucleotide excision repair (NER), XPC-RAD23B recognizes DNA lesions and recruits downstream factors. Although previous studies revealed the molecular features of damage identification by the yeast orthologs Rad4-Rad23, the dynamic mechanisms by which human XPC-RAD23B recognizes DNA defects have remained elusive. Here, we directly visualized the motion of XPC-RAD23B on undamaged and lesion-containing DNA using high-throughput single-molecule imaging. We observed three types of one-dimensional motion of XPC-RAD23B along DNA: diffusive, immobile and constrained. We found that consecutive AT-tracks led to increase in proteins with constrained motion. The diffusion coefficient dramatically increased according to ionic strength, suggesting that XPC-RAD23B diffuses along DNA via hopping, allowing XPC-RAD23B to bypass protein obstacles during the search for DNA damage. We also examined how XPC-RAD23B identifies cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) during diffusion. XPC-RAD23B makes futile attempts to bind to CPDs, consistent with low CPD recognition efficiency. Moreover, XPC-RAD23B binds CPDs in biphasic states, stable for lesion recognition and transient for lesion interrogation. Taken together, our results provide new insight into how XPC-RAD23B searches for DNA lesions in billions of base pairs in human genome.
Kidney transplant outcomes in recipients with visual, hearing, physical and walking impairments: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Thomas Alvin G , Ruck Jessica M , Chu Nadia M , Agoons Dayawa , Shaffer Ashton A , Haugen Christine E , Swenor Bonnielin , Norman Silas P , Garonzik-Wang Jacqueline , Segev Dorry L , McAdams-DeMarco Mara 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBackgroundDisability in general has been associated with poor outcomes in kidney transplant (KT) recipients. However, disability can be derived from various components, specifically visual, hearing, physical and walking impairments. Different impairments may compromise the patient through different mechanisms and might impact different aspects of KT outcomes.MethodsIn our prospective cohort study (June 2013–June 2017), 465 recipients reported hearing, visual, physical and walking impairments before KT. We used hybrid registry-augmented Cox regression, adjusting for confounders using the US KT population (Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, N = 66 891), to assess the independent association between impairments and post-KT outcomes [death-censored graft failure (DCGF) and mortality].ResultsIn our cohort of 465 recipients, 31.6% reported one or more impairments (hearing 9.3%, visual 16.6%, physical 9.1%, walking 12.1%). Visual impairment was associated with a 3.36-fold [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17–9.65] higher DCGF risk, however, hearing [2.77 (95% CI 0.78–9.82)], physical [0.67 (95% CI 0.08–3.35)] and walking [0.50 (95% CI 0.06–3.89)] impairments were not. Walking impairment was associated with a 3.13-fold (95% CI 1.32–7.48) higher mortality risk, however, visual [1.20 (95% CI 0.48–2.98)], hearing [1.01 (95% CI 0.29–3.47)] and physical [1.16 (95% CI 0.34–3.94)] impairments were not.ConclusionsImpairments are common among KT recipients, yet only visual impairment and walking impairment are associated with adverse post-KT outcomes. Referring nephrologists and KT centers should identify recipients with visual and walking impairments who might benefit from targeted interventions pre-KT, additional supportive care and close post-KT monitoring.