bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The 12‐month effects of structured lifestyle advice and pelvic floor muscle training for pelvic organ prolapse
Authors: Due Ulla , Brostrøm Søren , Lose Gunnar 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIntroductionWe evaluated the 12‐month effects of adding pelvic floor muscle training to a lifestyle advice program in women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse stage II–III and the number of women who had sought further treatment.Material and methodsThis study was a 12‐month follow up of a randomized controlled trial comparing a structured lifestyle advice program alone (lifestyle group) or in combination with pelvic floor muscle training (training and lifestyle group). Both programs consisted of six separate group sessions within 12 weeks.ResultsData were available from 83 (76%) of the 109 originally included women. At the 12‐month follow up, 34/83 (41%) had not sought further treatment, 13/43 (30%) in the lifestyle group and 21/40 (52%) in the training and lifestyle group, and these could be included for analysis. The lifestyle group had significantly improved bladder symptoms compared with baseline on single‐item analysis (p = 0.01). The training and lifestyle group had significantly improved pelvic organ prolapse symptoms on single‐item analysis (p = 0.02) and of bowel‐related quality of life (p = 0.04). No significant between‐group differences were found in the symptom and quality of life scores. All together 49 women (59%) had sought further treatment, 70% in the lifestyle group, and 48% in the training and lifestyle group (p = 0.05). Twenty‐six in the lifestyle group, and 15 in the training and lifestyle group had sought conservative treatment. Four women in each group had received surgery. More severe anterior prolapse and more bladder symptoms at the 3‐month follow up were significantly associated with having sought further treatment in both groups.ConclusionsAt 12‐month follow up, the effects of adding pelvic floor muscle training to a structured lifestyle advice program were limited.
Randomised clinical trial: alginate (Gaviscon Advance) vs. placebo as add‐on therapy in reflux patients with inadequate response to a once daily proton pump inhibitor
Authors: Reimer C. , Lødrup A. B. , Smith G. , Wilkinson J. , Bytzer P. 
Published: February 2016

SummaryBackgroundMany reflux patients remain symptomatic on a standard dose of proton pump inhibitor (PPI). Alginates decrease the number of reflux events by forming a raft on top of the stomach content and thus offer a supplemental mechanism of action to acid suppression.AimTo assess the efficacy of an alginate (Gaviscon Advance, Reckitt Benckiser, Slough, UK) on reflux symptoms in patients with persistent symptoms despite once daily PPI.MethodsThis was a multicentre, randomised, placebo‐controlled, 7‐day double‐blind trial preceded by a 7‐day run‐in period. Reflux symptoms were assessed using the Heartburn Reflux Dyspepsia Questionnaire (HRDQ). Based on symptom score during run‐in, eligible patients were randomised to Gaviscon Advance 10 mL four times a day or placebo in addition to a once daily PPI. The primary endpoint was change in HRDQ score post‐treatment compared to baseline.ResultsOne hundred and thirty‐six patients were randomised. Change in HRDQ reflux score was significantly greater for Gaviscon Advance (mean: −5.0, s.d.: 4.7) than for placebo (mean: −3.5, s.d.: 5.5) with an LS mean difference of 1.6 [95% CI −3.1 to −0.1], P = 0.03. A decrease in the mean (s.d.) number of nights with symptoms was observed from 3.6 (2.8) to 3.0 (3.0) in the placebo group and from 3.9 (2.8) to 2.2 (2.7) for the Gaviscon Advance group. This reduction was significantly greater in the Gaviscon Advance group than in the placebo group [LS mean difference = −0.9, 95% CI (−1.6 to −0.2), P < 0.01].ConclusionIn patients with residual reflux symptoms despite PPI treatment, adding an alginate offers additional decrease in the burden of reflux symptoms (EudraCT/IND Number: 2011‐005486‐21).
Estimation and Testing for Multiple Regulation of Multivariate Mixed Outcomes
Authors: Agniel Denis , Liao Katherine P. , Cai Tianxi 
Published: February 2016

Summary
Considerable interest has recently been focused on studying multiple phenotypes simultaneously in both epidemiological and genomic studies, either to capture the multidimensionality of complex disorders or to understand shared etiology of related disorders. We seek to identify multiple regulators or predictors that are associated with multiple outcomes when these outcomes may be measured on very different scales or composed of a mixture of continuous, binary, and not-fully observed elements. We first propose an estimation technique to put all effects on similar scales, and we induce sparsity on the estimated effects. We provide standard asymptotic results for this estimator and show that resampling can be used to quantify uncertainty in finite samples. We finally provide a multiple testing procedure which can be geared specifically to the types of multiple regulators of interest, and we establish that, under standard regularity conditions, the familywise error rate will approach 0 as sample size diverges. Simulation results indicate that our approach can improve over unregularized methods both in reducing bias in estimation and improving power for testing.
Meta-Analysis Framework for Exact Inferences with Application to the Analysis of Rare Events
Authors: Yang Guang , Liu Dungang , Wang Junyuan , Xie Min-ge 
Published: February 2016

Summary
The usefulness of meta-analysis has been recognized in the evaluation of drug safety, as a single trial usually yields few adverse events and offers limited information. For rare events, conventional meta-analysis methods may yield an invalid inference, as they often rely on large sample theories and require empirical corrections for zero events. These problems motivate research in developing exact methods, including Tian et al.'s method of combining confidence intervals (2009, Biostatistics, 10, 275–281) and Liu et al.'s method of combining p-value functions (2014, JASA, 109, 1450–1465). This article shows that these two exact methods can be unified under the framework of combining confidence distributions (CDs). Furthermore, we show that the CD method generalizes Tian et al.'s method in several aspects. Given that the CD framework also subsumes the Mantel–Haenszel and Peto methods, we conclude that the CD method offers a general framework for meta-analysis of rare events. We illustrate the CD framework using two real data sets collected for the safety analysis of diabetes drugs.
Survival Impact Index and Ultrahigh-Dimensional Model-Free Screening with Survival Outcomes
Authors: Li Jialiang , Zheng Qi , Peng Limin , Huang Zhipeng 
Published: February 2016

SummaryMotivated by ultrahigh-dimensional biomarkers screening studies, we propose a model-free screening approach tailored to censored lifetime outcomes. Our proposal is built upon the introduction of a new measure, survival impact index (SII). By its design, SII sensibly captures the overall influence of a covariate on the outcome distribution, and can be estimated with familiar nonparametric procedures that do not require smoothing and are readily adaptable to handle lifetime outcomes under various censoring and truncation mechanisms. We provide large sample distributional results that facilitate the inference on SII in classical multivariate settings. More importantly, we investigate SII as an effective screener for ultrahigh-dimensional data, not relying on rigid regression model assumptions for real applications. We establish the sure screening property of the proposed SII-based screener. Extensive numerical studies are carried out to assess the performance of our method compared with other existing screening methods. A lung cancer microarray data is analyzed to demonstrate the practical utility of our proposals.
Physical abuse, psychological abuse and neglect: Evidence of alcohol‐related harm to children in five states of India
Authors: Esser Marissa B. , Rao Girish N. , Gururaj Gopalkrishna , Murthy Pratima , Jayarajan Deepak , Sethu Lakshmanan , Jernigan David H. , Benegal Vivek ,   Collaborators Group on Epidemiological Study of Patterns and Consequences of Alcohol Misuse in India
Published: February 2016

AbstractIntroduction and AimsIn India, alcohol consumption per capita has increased in recent years, and child maltreatment is highly prevalent. We assess alcohol‐related harms to children, including physical abuse, psychological abuse and neglect, and correlates for men reporting these harms.Design and MethodsWe analysed data from household interviews collected in a cross‐sectional, case–control study in five Indian states (n = 5026). Data were collected from October 2011 to May 2012. Using multilevel mixed‐effects logistic regression, we examined male adult's reports of five types of alcohol‐related harm to children (respondents were not necessarily the perpetrators of the harms) and respondents' drinking patterns and socio‐demographic characteristics associated with the reporting of these harms.ResultsIn this sample, 43.2% of the men reported at least one alcohol‐related harm to children in the past year; among them, 61.6% reported multiple. Among all men, 15.7% reported that a child experienced physical abuse from adults' drinking. Adjusting for respondents' drinking pattern and socio‐demographics, multilevel mixed‐effects logistic regression showed that living in a rural area was associated with greater odds of reporting alcohol‐related physical abuse, psychological harm and neglect to children. Compared with past‐year abstainers, both non‐heavy episodic and heavy episodic drinkers had significantly greater odds of reporting these harms. We found significant differences in the reporting of harms by location.Discussion and ConclusionsThis study suggests that adults' drinking is associated with physical and psychological abuse and neglect to children. Greater use of evidence‐based alcohol policy interventions may help reduce alcohol‐related harms to children in India. [Esser MB, Rao GN, Gururaj G, Murthy P, Jayarajan D, Sethu L, Jernigan DH, Benegal V, Collaborators Group on Epidemiological Study of Patterns and Consequences of Alcohol Misuse in India. Physical abuse, psychological abuse and neglect: Evidence of alcohol‐related harm to children in five states of India. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:530–538]
Morphological variation in salamanders and their potential response to climate change
Authors: Ficetola Gentile Francesco , Colleoni Emiliano , Renaud Julien , Scali Stefano , Padoa‐Schioppa Emilio , Thuiller Wilfried 
Published: February 2016

AbstractDespite the recognition that some species might quickly adapt to new conditions under climate change, demonstrating and predicting such a fundamental response is challenging. Morphological variations in response to climate may be caused by evolutionary changes or phenotypic plasticity, or both, but teasing apart these processes is difficult. Here, we built on the number of thoracic vertebrae (NTV) in ectothermic vertebrates, a known genetically based feature, to establish a link with body size and evaluate how climate change might affect the future morphological response of this group of species. First, we show that in old‐world salamanders, NTV variation is strongly related to changes in body size. Secondly, using 22 salamander species as a case study, we found support for relationships between the spatial variation in selected bioclimatic variables and NTV for most of species. For 44% of species, precipitation and aridity were the predominant drivers of geographical variation of the NTV. Temperature features were dominant for 31% of species, while for 19% temperature and precipitation played a comparable role. This two‐step analysis demonstrates that ectothermic vertebrates may evolve in response to climate change by modifying the number of thoracic vertebrae. These findings allow to develop scenarios for potential morphological evolution under future climate change and to identify areas and species in which the most marked evolutionary responses are expected. Resistance to climate change estimated from species distribution models was positively related to present‐day species morphological response, suggesting that the ability of morphological evolution may play a role for species’ persistence under climate change. The possibility that present‐day capacity for local adaptation might help the resistance response to climate change can be integrated into analyses of the impact of global changes and should also be considered when planning management actions favouring species persistence.
Awareness and Knowledge of Child and Adolescent Risky Behaviors: A Parent's Perspective
Authors: Ahern Nancy R. , Kemppainen Jeanne , Thacker Paige 
Published: February 2016

PROBLEMAdolescence is a developmental stage marked by risk‐taking and limited comprehension of dangers of risky behaviors. Previous research has focused on adolescents’ perspective of risk with little evidence on parents’ knowledge regarding risk.METHODSThis qualitative study examined parental knowledge and perspectives of child/teen risk behaviors associated with salvia, sexting, inhalant use/abuse, and self/participant‐assisted choking. A sample of 30 parents of children/teens aged 10–17 completed a self‐administered survey based on Flanagan's critical incident technique.FINDINGSData were analyzed according to Flanagan's guidelines. Two advanced practice nurses determined category reliability with 95% agreement. The survey yielded five categories of parental responses to potential risky behaviors in their child/teen including the following: talking to my children, setting up consequences, confronting the child, seeking help, and talking to others. Although the majority of the parents were aware of newer behaviors, less than one half of the participants reported discussing risks with their child/teen. One third reported that their child knew a friend who was thinking about/tried sexting. One quarter of parents reported that they were not monitoring their child/teen's media use.CONCLUSIONSStudy findings provide important implications for developing an evidence‐based education intervention to improve parents’ awareness, knowledge, and identification of risk behaviors in their children/teens.
MicroRNAs as serum biomarkers for periodontitis
Authors: Tomofuji Takaaki , Yoneda Toshiki , Machida Tatsuya , Ekuni Daisuke , Azuma Tetsuji , Kataoka Kota , Maruyama Takayuki , Morita Manabu 
Published: February 2016

AbstractAimStudies demonstrated that periodontitis modulates microRNA (miRNAs) expression rates in periodontal tissue. However, the relationship between periodontitis and miRNAs profile in circulation remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of periodontitis on serum miRNAs profile in a rat model.Material and MethodsMale Wistar rats (n = 32, 8 weeks old) were divided into four groups of eight rats each. The control groups received no treatment for 2 or 4 weeks. In the other two groups, periodontitis was ligature induced for 2 or 4 weeks. Serum miRNAs expression profiles of each group were compared.ResultsLigation around teeth induced periodontal inflammation at 2 weeks and periodontal tissue destruction at 4 weeks. Microarray results showed that 25 miRNAs were expressed with a <0.5 or >2 difference between the control and periodontitis groups at 4 weeks. Results of real‐time PCR revealed that the periodontitis group up‐regulated expression rates of serum miR‐207 and miR‐495 at 2 weeks, and miR‐376b‐3p at 4 weeks (p < 0.05).ConclusionSerum miRNAs (miR‐207, miR‐495, and miR‐376b‐3p) could be valuable biomarkers for periodontitis.
Biorhythms, deciduous enamel thickness, and primary bone growth: a test of the Havers‐Halberg Oscillation hypothesis
Authors: Mahoney Patrick , Miszkiewicz Justyna J. , Pitfield Rosie , Schlecht Stephen H. , Deter Chris , Guatelli‐Steinberg Debbie 
Published: February 2016

AbstractAcross mammalian species, the periodicity with which enamel layers form (Retzius periodicity) in permanent teeth corresponds with average body mass and the pace of life history. According to the Havers–Halberg Oscillation hypothesis (HHO), Retzius periodicity (RP) is a manifestation of a biorhythm that is also expressed in lamellar bone. Potentially, these links provide a basis for investigating aspects of a species’ biology from fossilized teeth. Here, we tested intra‐specific predictions of this hypothesis on skeletal samples of human juveniles. We measured daily enamel growth increments to calculate RP in deciduous molars (n = 25). Correlations were sought between RP, molar average and relative enamel thickness (AET, RET), and the average amount of primary bone growth (n = 7) in humeri of age‐matched juveniles. Results show a previously undescribed relationship between RP and enamel thickness. Reduced major axis regression reveals RP is significantly and positively correlated with AET and RET, and scales isometrically. The direction of the correlation was opposite to HHO predictions as currently understood for human adults. Juveniles with higher RPs and thicker enamel had increased primary bone formation, which suggests a coordinating biorhythm. However, the direction of the correspondence was, again, opposite to predictions. Next, we compared RP from deciduous molars with new data for permanent molars, and with previously published values. The lowermost RP of 4 and 5 days in deciduous enamel extends below the lowermost RP of 6 days in permanent enamel. A lowered range of RP values in deciduous enamel implies that the underlying biorhythm might change with age. Our results develop the intra‐specific HHO hypothesis.
Improved vigilance after sodium oxybate treatment in narcolepsy: a comparison between in‐field and in‐laboratory measurements
Authors: van Schie Mojca K. M. , Werth Esther , Lammers Gert Jan , Overeem Sebastiaan , Baumann Christian R. , Fronczek Rolf 
Published: February 2016

SummaryThis two‐centre observational study of vigilance measurements assessed the feasibility of vigilance measurements on multiple days using the Sustained Attention to Response Task and the Psychomotor Vigilance Test with portable task equipment, and subsequently assessed the effect of sodium oxybate treatment on vigilance in patients with narcolepsy. Twenty‐six patients with narcolepsy and 15 healthy controls were included. The study comprised two in‐laboratory days for the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test and the Oxford Sleep Resistance test, followed by 7‐day portable vigilance battery measurements. This procedure was repeated for patients with narcolepsy after at least 3 months of stable treatment with sodium oxybate. Patients with narcolepsy had a higher Sustained Attention to Response Task error count, lower Psychomotor Vigilance Test reciprocal reaction time, higher Oxford Sleep Resistance test omission error count adjusted for test duration (Oxford Sleep Resistance testOMIS/MIN), and lower Oxford Sleep Resistance test and Maintenance of Wakefulness Test sleep latency compared with controls (all P < 0.01). Treatment with sodium oxybate was associated with a longer Maintenance of Wakefulness Test sleep latency (P < 0.01), lower Oxford Sleep Resistance testOMIS/MIN (P = 0.01) and a lower Sustained Attention to Response Task error count (P = 0.01) in patients with narcolepsy, but not with absolute changes in Oxford Sleep Resistance test sleep latency or Psychomotor Vigilance Test reciprocal reaction time. It was concluded that portable measurements of sustained attention as well as in‐laboratory Oxford Sleep Resistance test and Maintenance of Wakefulness Test measurements revealed worse performance for narcoleptic patients compared with controls, and that sodium oxybate was associated with an improvement of sustained attention and a better resistance to sleep.
Effects of NRG1 genotypes on orbitofrontal sulcogyral patterns in Japanese patients diagnosed with schizophrenia
Authors: Yoshimi Asuka , Suda Akira , Hayano Fumi , Nakamura Motoaki , Aoyama‐Uehara Kumi , Konishi Jun , Asami Takeshi , Kishida Ikuko , Kawanishi Chiaki , Inoue Tomio , McCarley Robert W. , Shenton Martha E. , Hirayasu Yoshio 
Published: February 2016

AimNumerous reports have described differences in the distribution of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) sulcogyral patterns between patients with schizophrenia (SZ patients) and healthy controls (HC). Alterations in OFC morphology are also observed in those at high risk for developing SZ and in first‐episode SZ, suggesting that genetic associations may be extant in determining OFC sulcogyral patterns. We investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in NRG1 and OFC sulcogyral patterns.MethodsA total of 59 Japanese patients diagnosed with SZ and 60 HC were scanned on a 1.5‐T magnet. Patients were also assessed clinically. OFC sulcogyral patterns were evaluated for each participant, and genotyping was performed for four SNP in NRG1 (SNP8NRG243177, SNP8NRG221533, SNP8NRG241930, and rs1081062).ResultsThere were significant differences in the distribution of OFC sulcogyral patterns between SZ patients and HC (χ2 = 6.52, P = 0.038). SZ patients showed an increase in the frequency of Type III expression, which was associated with an earlier age of disease onset (β = −0.302, F = 4.948, P = 0.030). Although no difference was found in genotype frequencies between SZ patients and HC, an NRG1 SNP, SNP8NRG243177, was associated with Type II expression in SZ patients (β = 0.237, F = 4.120, P = 0.047).ConclusionOur results suggest that OFC sulcogyral pattern formation in schizophrenia may be associated with NRG1 allele frequency, which is closely related to neurodevelopment.
AGE‐induced keratinocyte MMP‐9 expression is linked to TET2‐mediated CpG demethylation
Authors: Zhang Jinglu , Yang Chuan , Wang Chuan , Liu Dan , Lao Guojuan , Liang Ying , Sun Kan , Luo Hengcong , Tan Qin , Ren Meng , Yan Li 
Published: February 2016

AbstractStudies have documented that unusually high expression of matrix metalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9) suppresses wound healing during the late stages of diabetic foot ulcers. Recently, it has been reported that the presence of advanced glycation end products‐bovine serum albumin (AGE‐BSA) resulted in a higher expression of MMP‐9 in skin primary keratinocytes. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the molecular machinery that is responsible for the inappropriately high AGE‐BSA–induced expression of MMP‐9. It has been demonstrated that site‐specific DNA demethylation played an important role in MMP‐9 expression in AGE‐BSA–stimulated keratinocytes. Ten–eleven translocation‐2 (TET2) was up‐regulated, whereas the percentage of methylation in the MMP‐9 promoter was reduced. Furthermore, TET2 directly bound to a fragment surrounding the transcriptional start site in the MMP‐9 promoter region, contributing to the regulation of MMP‐9 expression. In addition, evidence indicated that TET2 affected the migration and proliferation in vitro of cultured skin primary keratinocytes. These findings indicated that TET2 directly interacted with the promoter region of MMP‐9 in diabetic tissues and may be a novel master regulator of wound healing.