bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology and Outcome of Microbial Keratitis: Private University Versus Urban Public Hospital Care
Authors: Truong David T. , Bui Minh-Thuy , Cavanagh H. Dwight 
Published: October 2016

Purpose:
To review the epidemiology, risk factors, microbiologic spectrum, and treatment of microbial keratitis during a 5-year period at an urban public hospital in comparison with an adjacent private university practice.

Methods:
Retrospective chart review in the 5-year interval, 2009 through 2014. Primary outcome measures included patient age at presentation, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), risk factors, culture and sensitivities, treatment, and complication occurrence.

Results:
A total of 528 eyes with microbial keratitis were identified, 318 in the public cohort and 210 in the private cohort. Contact lens wear was the most common risk factor in the public cohort, whereas ocular surface disease was the most common risk factor in the private cohort. Gram-positive organisms represented 47.3%, gram-negative organisms 32.1%, fungal organisms 13.6%, and Acanthamoeba 6.4% of corneal isolates. Gentamicin resistance was 4.4% and tobramycin resistance was 2.9%. The inpatient treatment rate of the public cohort was 40% compared with 4% in the private cohort. In the public cohort, average BCVA at resolution was 20/82 (log of minimal angle of resolution [logMAR] 0.61). For the private cohort, average BCVA at resolution was 20/73 [logMAR, 0.56]. The perforation rate was 8% in the public cohort compared with 4% in the private cohort. Six percent of cases underwent urgent penetrating keratoplasty in the public cohort versus 2% in the private cohort.

Conclusions:
Microbial keratitis remains a clinical challenge in the urban public hospital setting. The risk profile of patients presenting in the public hospital setting may be different from patients presenting in a private care setting. Public hospital patients may present later in the course of their infection and thus have a higher rate of complications regardless of effective antimicrobial therapy.
Reversibility of Gland Dropout and Significance of Eyelid Hygiene Treatment in Meibomian Gland Dysfunction
Authors: Yin Yue , Gong Lan 
Published: October 2016

Purpose:
To observe reversibility of meibomian gland (MG) dropout and analyze correlated factors and to compare the treatment efficiency with and without eyelid hygiene in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).

Methods:
Consecutive 78 eyes of 78 MGD (stage 2–3) patients who finished follow-up examination after 1-month of treatment were recruited in this retrospective study. All patients were treated with artificial lubricant and eyelid hygiene. Related ocular surface evaluation and meibomian gland assessment were examined.

Results:
There were 26 (33%) patients (included in group 1) who ignored doctors' order for eyelid hygiene, and 52 (67%) patients (included in group 2) were compliant. There was no statistical difference between group 1 (age, 44.4 ± 12.2) and group 2 (age, 38.9 ± 16.6) in characteristics and pretreatment clinical indexes. However, after 1-month of treatment, only the ocular surface disease index of group 1 improved (P = 0.048), whereas all clinical indexes of group 2, except the Schirmer test result, improved (including expressibility, all P < 0.05). A 5% decrease in MG dropout of both upper (5.4%) and lower (4.6%) eyelids in group 2 was observed. Improvement in upper-eyelid dropout and expressibility were the predictors of lower-eyelid dropout improvement. The reversibility had no correlation with age, sex, pretreatment MGD stage, disease duration, and use of topical antiinflammation medication.

Conclusions:
With expressibility-improving treatment, MG dropout was reversible to some extent. Eyelid hygiene is an efficient treatment of MGD; however, there is a need for ophthalmologists to instruct patients on conduct and supervise patients' compliance.
How Often the Goldmann Applanation Tonometer Should be Checked for Calibration Error?
Authors: Choudhari Nikhil S. , Rao Harsha L. , Ramavath Suresh , Rekha Gunturu , Rao Aparna , Senthil Sirisha , Garudadri Chandra S. 
Published: October 2016

Purpose:
To evaluate the frequency of Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT) calibration error (CE) check.

Methods:
One observer at each of the 3 tertiary care ophthalmic centers was involved. The tonometers were checked at baseline for CE. A tonometer was defined as faulty when CE exceeded 2 mm Hg at any testing level. Faulty GATs were repaired in-house. Subsequent CE check was done once per month for 6 months. GATs were divided into 3 groups: group 1 (G1)≤1 year, group 2 (G2)>1 to 10 years, and group 3 (G3)>10 years of usage.

Results:
In total, 76 slit-lamp mounted GATs were included. The number of GATs in groups 1 to 3 was 19, 36, and 21, respectively. Seven (9.2%) tonometers were faulty at the baseline. None in G1, 5 in G2, and 16 in G3 demonstrated unacceptable CE over the study course (P<0.01). The survival function of G1 tonometers was 1.0 throughout, whereas that (95% confidence interval) of the G2 and G3 tonometers were 0.97 (0.81-0.99) and 0.76 (0.51-0.89) at 1 month, and 0.86 (0.69-0.93) and 0.23 (0.08-0.43) at 6 months, respectively. The probability of CE development increased with increasing age of the tonometer. The frequency of use of the tonometer was not associated with the development of CE (odds ratio=1.00).

Conclusions:
CE occurs more frequently in older tonometers. Although newer GATs (<1 y old) can be checked twice yearly, GATs older than a year should be checked at least monthly.
Optic Disc Characteristics and Visual Field Progression in Normal Tension Glaucoma Patients With Tilted Optic Discs
Authors: Kwun Youngkyo , Han Gyule , Choy Yoon-Jung , Han Jong Chul , Kee Changwon 
Published: October 2016

Purpose of the Study:
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the optic disc characteristics associated with visual field (VF) progression in normal tension glaucoma (NTG) eyes with tilted optic discs.

Methods:
Sixty-six eyes of 66 NTG patients with tilted optic disc were included in this cross-sectional study, who were examined by at least 5 Humphrey 30-2 VFs. Glaucomatous VF progression was evaluated using pointwise linear regression. Optic nerve heads were scanned with enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), and evaluated for the focal lamina cribrosa (LC) defects and LC thicknesses. Optic disc torsion degrees and tilt ratios were measured from disc photographs. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the risk factors for VF progression and focal LC defects.

Results:
Multivariate analysis showed that VF progression was associated with the presence of focal LC defects and greater number of VFs. The eyes with focal LC defects were associated with greater torsion degree and tilt ratio in multivariate analysis. The VF mean deviation slopes and localized VF progression rates in eyes with focal LC defects were greater than those without defects.

Conclusions:
The greater optic disc tilt and torsion in NTG eyes with tilted optic disc were associated with focal LC defects, but not with VF progression. The focal LC defects were associated with VF progression. This study suggests that the focal LC defects in NTG patients with tilted optic disc may be an independent risk factor for glaucomatous VF progression, and the development of focal LC defects could be influenced by optic disc torsion or tilt.
A Novel Method of Extending Glaucoma Drainage Tube: “Tube-in-Tube” Technique
Authors: Chiang Mark Yu-Ming , Camuglia Jayne E. , Khaw Peng Tee 
Published: October 2016

Purpose:
To describe a new and simple technique of glaucoma tube extension that carries several advantages over previously described techniques.

Patients and Methods:
A retrospective noncomparative case series of 3 patients (1 adult and 2 pediatric cases) with glaucoma tube retraction managed by the “tube-in-tube” technique. The follow-up duration ranges from 1 month to 3 years.

Results:
Adequate tube position and length were seen in all cases throughout the follow-up period. No tube migration was seen. The intraocular pressures were significantly reduced and maintained in all cases. There was no visual loss as a result of the procedure.

Conclusions:
This new “tube-in-tube” glaucoma drainage device tube extension technique is safe and simple to perform, and has many advantages over previously reported techniques. It can be used in both the adult and pediatric glaucoma population, and is not limited to the type of drainage implants.
Effect of Head Position and Weight Loss on Intraocular Pressure in Obese Subjects
Authors: Lam Cindy T.Y. , Trope Graham E. , Buys Yvonne M. 
Published: October 2016

Purpose:
To measure the influence of body weight on postural intraocular pressure (IOP) changes and to determine if significant weight loss effects IOP.

Patients and Methods:
In this prospective case-control study 25 morbidly obese subjects scheduled for bariatric surgery and 25 age-matched and sex-matched normal weight controls were recruited. Subjects had tonometry performed in 7 positions with the order randomized: sitting with the neck in neutral position, neck flexion at 30 degrees, extension at 30 degrees, supine, right, and left lateral decubitus, and with the head and upper body elevated at 30 degrees. The obese subjects were reassessed 1 to 2 years after bariatric surgery.

Results:
Mean IOP in the obese group was significantly higher than the control group across all positions by a mean of 2.5±0.4 mm Hg (P<0.02). There was no significant difference in the magnitude of postural IOP change between obese and control subjects. In total, 19 obese subjects completed follow-up after bariatric surgery. Mean weight loss was 49.1±17.2 kg, 36% of total body weight. Mean IOP was significantly lower after bariatric surgery by 1.6±0.5 mm Hg (P<0.001). Linear regression demonstrated that every 10% body weight loss was correlated with 1.4 mm Hg decrease in IOP (r=−0.46).

Conclusions:
Obesity is associated with increased IOP compared with normal weight controls, but not with the magnitude of postural IOP change across different seated and supine positions. Significant weight loss after bariatric surgery is weakly associated with IOP lowering. The relationship between IOP, glaucoma, and obesity deserves further study.
Discharge of Non–Acute Coronary Syndrome Chest Pain Patients From Emergency Care to an Advanced Nurse Practitioner–Led Chest Pain Clinic
Authors: Ingram Shirley J. , McKee Gabrielle , Quirke Mary B. , Kelly Niamh , Moloney Ashling 
Published: October 2016

Background:
Chest pain is a common presentation to emergency departments (EDs). Pathways for patients with non–acute coronary syndrome (ACS) chest pain are not optimal. An advanced cardiology nurse–led chest pain service was commenced to address this. The aim of the study was to assess the outcomes of non-ACS patients discharged from ED to an advanced cardiology nurse–led chest pain clinic and compare by referral type (nurse or ED physician).

Methods:
The service consisted of advanced cardiology nurse or ED physician consultation in the ED and discharge to advanced nurse–led chest pain clinic review less than 72 hours after discharge. Referrals were by the advanced nurses during consult hours and out-of-hours were by the ED physicians. Data were extracted from case notes. This was a 1-site cross-sectional study of patients attending the chest pain clinic over 2 years.

Results:
Confirmed coronary disease was diagnosed in 24% of patients. Of the 1041 patients, 45% were referred by the advanced nurses, who referred significantly more patients who were older (56.5 years/52.3 years), had positive exercise stress test results (21%/12%), and were diagnosed with stable coronary artery disease (19%/11%) and less patients with musculoskeletal diagnosis (5%/13%) and other noncardiac pain (36%/45%).

Conclusions:
The study fills a gap in the literature on the follow up of non-ACS patients who present to ED and used advanced cardiology nursing expertise in the ED and chest pain clinic. The advanced nurse referred more patients who were diagnosed with coronary disease, reflecting the expertise, experience, and efficiency of the advanced cardiology nurse–led service.
Prescriber Continuity and Disease Control of Older Adults
Authors: Maciejewski Matthew L. , Hammill Bradley G. , Bayliss Elizabeth A. , Ding Laura , Voils Corrine I. , Curtis Lesley H. , Wang Virginia 
Published: October 2016

Background:
Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions are typically seen by multiple providers, particularly specialists. Clinically appropriate referrals to multiple specialists may compromise the continuity of care for multiple chronic condition beneficiaries and create care plans that patients may find challenging to reconcile, which may impact patient outcomes.

Objective:
The objective was to examine whether glycemic control or lipid control was associated with the number of prescribers of cardiometabolic medications.

Research Design, Subjects, and Measures:
A retrospective cross-sectional cohort analysis of 51,879 elderly Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with diabetes and 129,762 beneficiaries with dyslipidemia living in 10 east coast states. Glycemic control was defined as having an HbA1c<7.5. Lipid control was defined as an low-density lipoprotein<100 for beneficiaries with heart disease or diabetes or an low-density lipoprotein<130 for all other beneficiaries. We examined the association between the number of prescribers of cardiometabolic medications and disease or lipid control in 2011 through logistic regression, controlling for age, sex, race, Medicaid enrollment, 17 chronic conditions and state-fixed effects.

Results:
Among beneficiaries with diabetes, 76% with one prescriber had well-controlled diabetes in 2011, which decreased to 65% for beneficiaries with 5+ prescribers. In adjusted analyses, Medicare beneficiaries with 3 or more prescribers were less likely to have glycemic control than beneficiaries with a single prescriber. Among those with dyslipidemia, nearly all (91%–92%) beneficiaries had lipid control. After adjustment for demographics and comorbidity burden, beneficiaries with 3 prescribers were less likely to have lipid control than beneficiaries with a single prescriber.

Conclusions:
Multiple prescribers were associated with worse disease control, possibly because patients with more severe diabetes or dyslipidemia have multiple prescribers or because care fragmentation is associated with worse disease control.
Becoming a Baby Friendly Hospital
Authors: Tran Andrea 
Published: October 2016

Abstract
The purpose of the Baby-Friendly hospital initiative is to encourage hospitals to use best practices to support infant feeding, as demonstrated by implementing the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding recommended by the World Health Organization. The journey to becoming a Baby-Friendly designated hospital is challenging but ultimately rewarding. In October 2015, Boulder Community Foothills Hospital, a community hospital with a strong breastfeeding culture and a 98% rate of women who initiate breastfeeding postpartum, became one of the approximately 300 Baby-Friendly designated hospitals in the United States. Significant challenges and how we succeeded each step of the way are included. Even when a hospital is breastfeeding friendly, becoming Baby-Friendly is never a mere formality. Nursing leadership teams in other hospitals may find value in the details of our successful efforts to become a Baby-Friendly designated hospital.
Dynamics of the bacterial community associated withPhaeodactylum tricornutumcultures
Authors: Moejes Fiona Wanjiku , Popa Ovidiu , Succurro Antonella , Maguire Julie , Ebenhöh Oliver 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe pennate diatomPhaeodactylum tricornutumis a model organism able to synthesise industrially-relevant molecules. Large-scale monocultures are prone to bio-contamination, however, little is known about the identity of the invading organisms. To gain insight into the bacterial community associated with diatoms, we translated the complexity of a natural system into reproducible experiments where we investigated the microbiome ofP. tricornutumcultures. The results revealed a dynamic bacterial community that changed over time and in differing media conditions. We propose a network of putative interactions betweenP. tricornutumand the main bacterial factions, which is translated into a set of ordinary differential equations constituting a computational dynamic model. The proposed mathematical model is able to capture the population dynamics, further supporting the hypothesised interactions. The interdisciplinary approach implemented provides a framework for understanding the dynamics of diatom-associated microbial communities, and provides a foundation for further systematic investigations of host-microbe interactions.
The Coevolution of Social Learning and Sensitivity to Changing Environments
Authors: McElreath Richard 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThere is widespread agreement that social and individual learning are adaptations to varying environments. However, existing theory assumes that organisms cannot detect changes in the environment and instead adapt to averages. This paper develops the first analytical model that allows for the simultaneous coevolution of socially learned traditions, reliance on social learning, and signal detection for environmental change. There are numerous conditions under which detection can be stable once common but cannot invade the population when rare. When signal detection is maintained by selection, it always leads to pure separating equilibria at which organisms always learn individually when they believe the environment has recently changed and otherwise always learn socially. Detection can increase mean fitness at equilibrium, but it may also reduce it.
Proteus: A Random Forest Classifier to Predict Disorder-to-Order Transitioning Binding Regions in Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
Authors: Basu Sankar , Söderquist Fredrik , Wallner Björn 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe focus of the computational structural biology community has taken a dramatic shift over the past one-and-a-half decades from the classical protein structure prediction problem to the possible understanding of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) or proteins containing regions of disorder (IDPR). The current interest lies in the unraveling of a disorder-to-order transitioning code embedded in the amino acid sequences of IDPs / IDPRs. Disordered proteins are characterized by an enormous amount of structural plasticity which makes them promiscuous in binding to different partners, multi-functional in cellular activity and atypical in folding energy landscapes resembling partially folded molten globules. Also, their involvement in several deadly human diseases (e.g. cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases) makes them attractive drug targets, and important for a biochemical understanding of the disease(s). The study of the structural ensemble of IDPs is rather difficult, in particular for transient interactions. When bound to a structured partner, an IDPR adapts an ordered conformation in the complex. The residues that undergo this disorder-to-order transition are called protean residues, generally found in short contiguous stretches and the first step in understanding the modus operandi of an IDP / IDPR would be to predict these residues. There are a few available methods which predict these protean segments from their amino acid sequences; however, their performance reported in the literature leaves clear room for improvement. With this background, the current study presents 'Proteus', a random forest classifier that predicts the likelihood of a residue undergoing a disorder-to-order transition upon binding to a potential partner protein. The prediction is based on features that can be calculated using the amino acid sequence alone. Proteus compares favorably with existing methods predicting twice as many true positives as the second best method (55% vs. 27%) with a much higher precision on an independent data set. The current study also sheds some light on a possible 'disorder-to-order' transitioning consensus, untangled, yet embedded in the amino acid sequence of IDPs. Some guidelines have also been suggested for proceeding with a real-life structural modeling involving an IDPR using Proteus.Software Availabilityhttps://github.com/bjornwallner/proteus
Conservation of EMT transcription factor function in controlling pluripotent adult stem cell migrationin vivoin planarians
Authors: Abnave Prasad , Aboukhatwa Ellen , Kosaka Nobuyoshi , Thompson James , Hill Mark A. , Aziz Aboobaker A. 
Published: October 2016

SUMMARYMigration of stem cells underpins the physiology of metazoan animals. For tissues to be maintained, stem cells and their progeny must migrate and differentiate in the correct positions. This need is even more acute after tissue damage by wounding or pathogenic infections. Inappropriate migration also underpins the formation of metastasis. Despite this, few mechanistic studies address stem cell migration during repair or homeostasis in adult tissues. Here, we present a shielded X-ray irradiation assay that allows us to follow stem cell migration in the planarians. We demonstrate that we can use this system to study the molecular control of stem cell migration and show thatsnailandzeb-1EMT transcription factors homologs are necessary for cell migration to wound sites and for the establishment of migratory cell morphology. Our work establishes planarians as a suitable model for further in depth study of the processes controlling stem cell migration in vivo.
Mcmdc2, a minichromosome maintenance (MCM) paralog, is required for repair of meiotic DNA breaks and homolog pairing in mouse meiosis
Authors: McNairn Adrian J. , Rinaldi Vera D. , Schimenti John C. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe mammalianMcm-domain containing 2(Mcmdc2) gene encodes a protein of unknown function that is homologous to the mini-chromosome maintenance family of DNA replication licensing and helicase factors.Drosophila melanogastercontains two separate genes, the “Mei-MCMs,” that appear to have arisen from a single ancestralMcmdc2gene. The Mei-MCMs are involved in promoting meiotic crossovers by blocking the anti-crossover activity of BLM helicase, a function performed by MSH4 and MSH5 in metazoans. Here, we report that MCMDC2-deficient mice of both sexes are viable but sterile. Males fail to produce spermatozoa, and formation of primordial follicles is disrupted in females. Histology and immunocytological analyses of mutant testes revealed that meiosis is arrested in Prophase I, and is characterized by persistent meiotic double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs), failure of homologous chromosome synapsis and XY body formation, and an absence of crossing over. These phenotypes essentially phenocopy those of MSH4/5 deficient meiocytes. The data indicate that MCMDC2 is essential for invasion of homologous sequences by RAD51- and DMC1-coated ssDNA filaments, or stabilization of recombination intermediates following strand invasion, both of which are needed to drive stable homolog pairing and DSB repair via recombination in mice.
Measurements of morphological and biochemical alterations in individual neuron cells associated with early neurotoxic effects in Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Yang Su-A , Yoon Jonghee , Kim Kyoohyun , Park YongKeun 
Published: October 2016

AbstractParkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease. However, therapeutic methods of PD are still limited due to complex pathophysiology in PD. Here, we present optical measurements of individual neurons fromin vitroPD model using optical diffraction tomography (ODT). By measuring 3-D refractive index distribution of neurons, morphological and biochemical alterations inin-vitroPD model are quantitatively investigated. We found that neurons show apoptotic features in early PD progression. The present approach will open up new opportunities for quantitative investigation of the pathophysiology of various neurodegenerative diseases.