bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Safety of Ticagrelor Compared to Clopidogrel after Prehospital Initiation of Treatment
Authors: Bergmeijer Thomas , van Oevelen Mathijs , Janssen Paul , Godschalk Thea , Lichtveld Robert , Kelder Johannes , Voskuil Michiel , Mosterd Arend , Montalescot Gilles , ten Berg Jurriën 
Published: October 2018

Objectives The objective of this registry was to study the safety of prehospital initiation of ticagrelor compared with clopidogrel.
Background Ticagrelor has replaced clopidogrel in many hospitals as the routinely used antiplatelet drug in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Nevertheless, in the PLATelet inhibition and patient Outcomes (PLATO) trial, ticagrelor was associated with an increase in non-CABG (non–coronary artery bypass grafting)-related major bleeding. Data comparing the safety of ticagrelor and clopidogrel after prehospital initiation of treatment are not available.
Methods A retrospective, multicenter registry was performed. Selection criteria were the administration of a prehospital loading dose of ticagrelor or clopidogrel according to the ambulance STEMI treatment protocol and the presentation to a percutaneous coronary intervention–capable hospital in our region between January 2011 and December 2012. Follow-up was performed using the electronic patient files for the time period between the antiplatelet loading dose and hospital discharge. The data were analyzed using a primary bleeding end point (any bleeding) and a secondary thrombotic end point (all-cause mortality, spontaneous myocardial infarction, definite stent thrombosis, stroke, or transient ischemic attack).
Results Data of 304 clopidogrel-treated and 309 ticagrelor-treated patients were available for analysis. No significant difference in bleeding rate was observed between both groups, using univariate (17.8 vs. 20.1%; p = 0.47; odds ratio, 1.16 [95% confidence interval, 0.78–1.74]) and multivariate (p = 0.42) analysis. Also for the secondary thrombotic end point (6.3 vs. 4.9%, p = 0.45), no significant differences were observed.
Conclusion In this real-world registry, no significant differences in bleeding or thrombotic event rate were found between ticagrelor and clopidogrel after prehospital initiation of treatment.
Obstetric Outcomes among Syrian Refugees: A Comparative Study at a Tertiary Care Maternity Hospital in Turkey
Authors: Ozel Sule , Yaman Selen , Kansu-Celik Hatice , Hancerliogullari Necati , Balci Nurgul , Engin-Ustun Yaprak 
Published: October 2018

Objective The aim of this study was to analyze and compare obstetric and neonatal outcomes between Syrian refugees and ethnic Turkish women.
Methods Retrospective, observational study. A total of 576 Syrian refugees and 576 ethnic Turkish women were included in this study, which was conducted between January 2015 and December 2015 at a tertiary maternity training hospital in Ankara, Turkey. The demographic characteristics, obstetric and neonatal outcomes were compared. The primary outcomes were pregnancy outcomes and cesarean rates between the groups
Results The mean age was significantly lower in the refugee group (p < 0.001). Mean gravidity, proportion of adolescent pregnancies, proportion of pregnant women aged 12 to 19 years, and number of pregnancies at < 18 years were significantly higher among the refugee women (p < 0.001). Rates of antenatal follow-up, double testing, triple testing, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) screening, and iron replacement therapy were significantly lower in the refugee group (p < 0.001). The primary Cesarean section rate was significantly lower in the refugee group (p = 0.034). Pregnancies in the refugee group were more complicated, with higher rates of preterm delivery (< 37 weeks), preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and low birth weight (< 2,500 g) when compared with the control group (4.2% versus 0.7%, p < 0.001; 1.6% versus 0.2%, p = 0.011; and 12% versus 5.8%, p < 0.001, respectively). Low education level (odds ratio [OR] = 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.5–0.1), and weight gain during pregnancy (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 0.5–0.1) were found to be significant indicators for preterm birth/PPROM and low birthweight.
Conclusion Syrian refugees had increased risks of certain adverse obstetric outcomes, including preterm delivery, PPROM, lower birth weight, and anemia. Several factors may influence these findings; thus, refugee women would benefit from more targeted care during pregnancy and childbirth.
ABC random forests for Bayesian parameter inference
Authors: Raynal Louis , Marin Jean-Michel , Pudlo Pierre , Ribatet Mathieu , Robert Christian P , Estoup Arnaud 
Published: October 2018

Abstract

Motivation
Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) has grown into a standard methodology that manages Bayesian inference for models associated with intractable likelihood functions. Most ABC implementations require the preliminary selection of a vector of informative statistics summarizing raw data. Furthermore, in almost all existing implementations, the tolerance level that separates acceptance from rejection of simulated parameter values needs to be calibrated.

Results
We propose to conduct likelihood-free Bayesian inferences about parameters with no prior selection of the relevant components of the summary statistics and bypassing the derivation of the associated tolerance level. The approach relies on the random forest (RF) methodology of Breiman (2001) applied in a (non-parametric) regression setting. We advocate the derivation of a new RF for each component of the parameter vector of interest. When compared with earlier ABC solutions, this method offers significant gains in terms of robustness to the choice of the summary statistics, does not depend on any type of tolerance level, and is a good trade-off in term of quality of point estimator precision and credible interval estimations for a given computing time. We illustrate the performance of our methodological proposal and compare it with earlier ABC methods on a Normal toy example and a population genetics example dealing with human population evolution.

Availability and implementation
All methods designed here have been incorporated in the R package abcrf (version 1.7.1) available on CRAN.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Neutral technical progress and the measure of value: along the Kaldor–Kennedy line
Authors: Nukulkit Up Sira 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
In this paper, I investigate the question of ‘the effect of progress upon distribution’ based on the analyses of Hicks, Robinson, Harrod, Salter, Kaldor, Samuelson and Kennedy. The paper aims to address a neglected and controversial theoretical argument on neutral technical progress related to the measure of value that preceded and then continued to the period of the Cambridge Capital Theory Controversy. I focus on Kennedy’s writings and his solutions to the complications between the measure of value and technical progress. Important intuitions behind the measure of value are crucial to the formulation of neutral technical progress in both the post-Keynesian and the neoclassical-Keynesian endogenous growth models. The paper concludes with mathematical illustrations of neutral technical progress theories.
Perceptions of Seasonal Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccines Among Older Chinese Adults
Authors: Siu Judy Yuen-man 
Published: October 2018

Abstract

Background and Objectives
Seasonal influenza can lead to pneumonia. In Hong Kong, deaths from pneumonia increased steadily from 2001 to 2015, and pneumonia was the second most common cause of death between 2012 and 2015. The seasonal influenza vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine have been clinically proven as effective measures against these two diseases among older adults, who are at particularly high risk. Despite the availability of vaccine subsidies, however, more than 60% of older adults in Hong Kong remain unvaccinated against pneumococcal diseases and seasonal influenza. The objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions and barriers associated with the seasonal influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations among older adults in Hong Kong.

Research Design and Methods
A qualitative approach of individual semistructured interviews was adopted; 40 adults aged 65 years and older were interviewed between September and November 2016.

Results
The intersecting influences of belief of vaccines as harmful, low perceived risk of contracting the diseases, negative rumors about the vaccines, lack of promotion by health care providers, the perceived risk posed by the vaccinating locations, and the preference of using traditional Chinese medicine were discovered to prevent the participants from receiving the two vaccinations.

Discussion and Implications
Perceptions and cultural factors should be considered in future vaccination promotion among older adults. This study found that, in particular, the participants’ cultural associations and stereotypes of hospitals and clinics and health care providers’ lack of perceived need to vaccinate older adults contributed to low vaccine acceptance among the participants.
Unravelling the baffling mystery of the ultrahot wind phenomenon in white dwarfs
Authors: Reindl Nicole , Bainbridge M , Przybilla N , Geier S , Prvák M , Krtička J , Østensen R H , Telting J , Werner K 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACT
The presence of ultrahigh excitation (UHE) absorption lines (e.g. O VIII) in the optical spectra of several of the hottest white dwarfs poses a decades-long mystery and is something that has never been observed in any other astrophysical object. The occurrence of such features requires a dense environment with temperatures near 106 K, by far exceeding the stellar effective temperature. Here we report the discovery of a new hot wind white dwarf, GALEX J014636.8+323615. Astonishingly, we found for the first time rapid changes of the equivalent widths of the UHE features, which are correlated to the rotational period of the star (P = 0.242035 d). We explain this with the presence of a wind-fed circumstellar magnetosphere in which magnetically confined wind shocks heat up the material to the high temperatures required for the creation of the UHE lines. The photometric and spectroscopic variability of GALEX J014636.8+323615 can then be understood as consequence of the obliquity of the magnetic axis with respect to the rotation axis of the white dwarf. This is the first time a wind-fed circumstellar magnetosphere around an apparently isolated white dwarf has been discovered and finally offers a plausible explanation of the ultrahot wind phenomenon.
An International Radiosurgery Research Foundation Multicenter Retrospective Study of Gamma Ventral Capsulotomy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Authors: Gupta Amitabh , Shepard Matthew J , Xu Zhiyuan , Maiti Tanmoy , Martinez-Moreno Nuria , Silverman Joshua , Iorio-Morin Christian , Martinez-Alvarez Roberto , Barnett Gene , Mathieu David , Borghei-Razavi Hamid , Kondziolka Douglas , Sheehan Jason P 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) across its full spectrum of severity is a psychiatric illness affecting ∼2% to 3% of the general population and results in significant functional impairment. There are few large patient series regarding Gamma ventral capsulotomy (GVC).

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate clinical outcomes of severe medically refractory OCD treated with GVC.

METHODS
This is an international, multicenter, retrospective cohort study. Forty patients with pre-GVC Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) scores ≥ 24 (indicating severe OCD) were included. GVC was performed with 1 or 2 isocenters with a median maximum dose of 135 Gy (range, 120-180 Gy). Patients were deemed “responders” to GVC if there was ≥35% reduction of follow-up Y-BOCS scores, and considered in remission if their Y-BOCS scores were ≤16. The median follow-up was 36 mo (range, 6-96 mo).

RESULTS
The median pre-SRS Y-BOCS score was 35 (range, 24-40). Eighteen patients (45%) were considered “responders,” and 16 (40%) of them were in remission at their last follow-up. Nineteen patients (47.5%) remained stable with Y-BOCS of 33 (range, 26-36) following GVC, whereas 3 patients (7.5%) experienced worsening in Y-BOCS scores. Patients treated with 2 isocenters were more likely to have improvement in Y-BOCS score at 3 and 5 yr (P < .0005). Ten patients (25%) experienced post-GVC mood disturbance and neurological complications in 3 patients (7.5%). One patient developed radiation necrosis with edema that improved with steroids.

CONCLUSION
GVC serves as a reasonable treatment strategy for severe medical refractory OCD. Patients treated with 2 isocenters were more likely to have substantial improvement in OCD.
Complementary and alternative medicine use by glioma patients in Switzerland
Authors: Eisele Günter , Roelcke Ulrich , Conen Katrin , Huber Fabienne , Weiss Tobias , Hofer Silvia , Heese Oliver , Westphal Manfred , Hertler Caroline , Roth Patrick , Weller Michael 
Published: October 2018

Abstract

Background
During the course of disease, most glioma patients learn that there is no cure for their tumor. It is therefore not uncommon for patients or caregivers to seek complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments. Patterns of CAM use vary across the globe, but little is known about the type of, and motivation for, CAM use in most countries.

Methods
Here we conducted a cross-sectional survey of CAM use in patients harboring gliomas of World Health Organization (WHO) grades II to IV at 3 specialized neuro-oncology centers in Switzerland.

Results
Of 208 patients who returned the survey, approximately half reported having used or using CAM. CAM use was associated with younger age. Patients suffering from WHO grade II gliomas were less likely to indicate CAM use. The leading motivation for CAM use was to contribute actively to the treatment of the disease. CAM use was commonly not counseled or supervised by a health care professional. Cost and issues of reimbursement were not an important factor in the decision against or for CAM use.

Conclusions
Physicians caring for glioma patients should be aware of and explore CAM use to better understand patients’ attitudes toward their disease, to provide counseling, and to identify potential interactions of CAM with standard treatments for gliomas.
Language Policy and Girls’ Education in Francophone West and Central Africa
Authors: Angrist Michele Penner 
Published: October 2018

AbstractAcross Africa, weak states, poverty, high fertility, and early marriage pose barriers to girls’ schooling. Francophone West and Central Africa registers the continent’s lowest female literacy rates, in part because it inherited a weak educational infrastructure at independence, and is home to Muslim communities that initially rejected schools of Christian origin. Policies insisting on exclusively French-medium instruction have also been an obstacle to girls’ schooling. Such schooling was perceived as preparation for state employment not expected of females. Moreover, French-medium schools were perceived as a cultural threat even as girls were central to communities’ efforts to resist assimilation.
A Strategy for Risk-adjusted Ranking of Surgeons and Practices Based on Patient-reported Outcomes After Elective Lumbar Surgery
Authors: Sivaganesan Ahilan , Asher Anthony L. , Bydon Mohamad , Khan Inamullah , Kerezoudis Panagoitis , Foley Kevin T. , Nian Hui , Harrell Frank E. , Archer Kristin R. , Devin Clinton J. 
Published: October 2018

Study Design.
This study retrospectively analyzes prospectively collected data.

Objective.
The primary aim of this study is to present a scheme for patient-reported outcome (PRO)-based, risk-adjusted rankings of spine surgeons and sites that perform elective lumbar surgery, using the Quality and Outcomes Database (QOD).

Summary of Background Data.
There is currently no means of determining which spine surgeons or centers are positive or negative outliers with respect to PROs for elective lumbar surgery. This is a critical gap as we move toward a value-based model of health care in which providers assume more accountability for the effectiveness of their treatments.

Methods.
Random effects regression models were fit for the following outcomes, with QOD site as a fixed effect but surgeon ID as a random effect: Oswestry Disability Index, EQ-5D, back pain and leg pain, and satisfaction. Hierarchical Bayesian models were also fit for each outcome, with QOD site as a random effect and surgeon as a nested random effect.

Results.
Our study cohort consists of 8834 patients who underwent surgery by 124 QOD surgeons, for the degenerative lumbar diseases. Nonoverlapping Bayesian credible intervals demonstrate that the variance attributed to QOD site was greater than the nested variance attributed to surgeon ID for the included PROs.

Conclusion.
This study presents a novel strategy for the risk-adjusted, PRO-based ranking of spine surgeons and practices. This can help identify positive and negative outliers, thereby forming the basis for large-scale quality improvement. Assuming adequate coverage of baseline risk adjustment, the choice of surgeon matters when considering PROs after lumbar surgery; however, the choice of site appears to matter more.

Level of Evidence: 3
Quantifying point-mutations in shotgun metagenomic data
Authors: Magesh Shruthi , Jonsson Viktor , Bengtsson-Palme Johan 
Published: October 2018

AbstractMetagenomics has emerged as a central technique for studying the structure and function of microbial communities. Often the functional analysis is restricted to classification into broad functional categories. However, important phenotypic differences, such as resistance to antibiotics, are often the result of just one or a few point mutations in otherwise identical sequences. Bioinformatic methods for metagenomic analysis have generally been poor at accounting for this fact, resulting in a somewhat limited picture of important aspects of microbial communities. Here, we address this problem by providing a software tool called Mumame, which can distinguish between wildtype and mutated sequences in shotgun metagenomic data and quantify their relative abundances. We demonstrate the utility of the tool by quantifying antibiotic resistance mutations in several publicly available metagenomic data sets. We also identified that sequencing depth is a key factor to detect rare mutations. Therefore, much larger numbers of sequences may be required for reliable detection of mutations than for most other applications of shotgun metagenomics. Mumame is freely available from http://microbiology.se/software/mumame
Positive feedback and feedforward loops between PERIANTHIA, WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX5 and GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR 1 modulate gene expression and function in the Arabidopsis root
Authors: Fisher Adam Paul , Clark Natalie Minako , Sozzani Rosangela 
Published: October 2018

AbstractThe Arabidopsis root meristem consists of populations of stem cells that surround the mitotically less active cells known as the Quiescent Center (QC). The QC maintains the stem cells in a non-cell-autonomous manner through the function of the transcription factor (TF) WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX5 (WOX5), which is required for columella stem cell (CSC) maintenance. However, whether WOX5 has a regulatory role in any other adjacent stem cells is less understood. To this end, we identified a set of TFs downstream of WOX5 in both QC and Cortex Endodermis Initial (CEI) cells. We then utilized Gene Regulatory Network (GRN) inference to identify GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR 1 (GIF1) as a key gene involved in positive feedback and feedforward loops with WOX5 as well as another stem cell regulator, PERIANTHIA (PAN). Finally, we constructed an ordinary differential equation model based on this inferred GRN to simulate GIF1, PAN, and WOX5 expression over time, which suggests the precise temporal expression of WOX5 and GIF1 is important to sustain QC function.
Bromodomain Protein, BRD4, Contributes to the Regulation of Alternative Splicing
Authors: Uppal Sheetal , Chen Qingrong , Meerzaman Daoud , Gegonne Anne , Singer Dinah S. 
Published: October 2018

AbstractBromodomain protein 4 (BRD4) is an atypical kinase and a histone acetyl transferase (HAT) which plays an important role in chromatin remodeling and early transcriptional elongation. During transcription elongation, BRD4 travels with the elongation complex. Since most of the alternative splicing events take place co-transcriptionally, we asked if BRD4 plays a role in regulation of alternative splicing. We find that distinct patterns of alternative splicing are associated with conditional deletion of BRD4 during thymocyte differentiation in vivo. Similarly, depletion of BRD4 in T-ALL cells alters patterns of splicing. Most of the alternatively spliced events affected by BRD4 are usage of exon skipping. In an established insulin receptor minigene model of splicing, BRD4 over expression modulates alternative splicing. Importantly, as assessed by both immunoprecipitation (IP) and proximity ligation (PLA) assays, BRD4 interacts with components of the splicing machinery. BRD4 also co-localizes on chromatin with one of the splicing regulators. We propose that BRD4 contributes to patterns of alternative splicing through its interaction with the splicing machinery during transcription elongation.Significance StatementThe bromodomain protein, BRD4, is a transcriptional and epigenetic regulator that plays a critical role in both cancer and inflammation. It has pleiotropic activities, including chromatin organization, transcriptional pause release and initiation. We now report that it also contributes to the regulation of alternative splicing. Taken together, these findings indicate that BRD4 functions to coordinate the various steps in gene expression.