bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Heterogeneous survival between stage IIA and stage IIIA colon cancer when different numbers of lymph nodes are harvested
Authors: Huang Ben , Feng Yang , Ni Mengdong , Chen Chen , Cai Guoxiang 
Published: September 2016

BackgroundWe aim to compare the prognosis between patients with stage IIA and stage IIIA colon cancer.MethodsWe analysed patients with stage IIA or stage IIIA colon cancer based on data from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Survival data were generated as Kaplan–Meier curves and were compared by log‐rank tests. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the risk factors.ResultsIn total, 43 379 patients (38 784 stage IIA and 4595 stage IIIA) were included from the SEER database. A Kaplan–Meier analysis showed no significant difference between patients with stage IIA and IIIA colon cancer (P = 0.547). In the subgroup of patients with number of lymph nodes harvested (LNH) ≥12, a multivariate analysis showed that compared with stage IIA patients, stage IIIA patients were more likely to have a poorer cancer‐specific survival (CSS) (hazard ratio (HR) 1.252, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.095–1.431, P = 0.001). In the subgroup of patients with LNH <12, a multivariate analysis showed that compared with stage IIA patients, stage IIIA patients were more likely to have a better CSS (HR 0.820, 95% CI 0.731–0.919, P = 0.001).ConclusionsPatients with stage IIA colon cancer had a CSS comparable with that of patients with stage IIIA disease. When adequate lymph nodes were retrieved (LNH ≥12), stage IIA patients had a greater CSS than stage IIIA patients. On the contrary, when inadequate lymph nodes were retrieved (LNH <12), stage IIA patients had a poorer CSS than stage IIIA patients.
Functional insulin‐like factor 3 (INSL3) hormone‐receptor system in the testes and spermatozoa of domestic ruminants and its potential as a predictor of sire fertility
Authors: Pitia Ali M. , Uchiyama Kyoko , Sano Hiroaki , Kinukawa Masashi , Minato Yoshiaki , Sasada Hiroshi , Kohsaka Tetsuya 
Published: September 2016

AbstractInsulin‐like factor 3 (INSL3) is essential for fetal testis descent, and has been implicated in the testicular and sperm functions in adult males; however, similar functions in domestic ruminants remain largely unknown. This study investigated the functional INSL3 hormone‐receptor system in adult ruminant testes and spermatozoa, and explored its potential to diagnose the fertility of sires. Testes and spermatozoa were obtained from fertile bulls, rams and he‐goats, whereas subfertile testes and spermatozoa were obtained only from bulls. As expected, INSL3 was visualized in Leydig cells, while we clearly demonstrated that the functional receptor, relaxin family peptide receptor 2 (RXFP2), enabling INSL3 to bind was identified in testicular germ cells and in the sperm equatorial segment of bulls, rams and he‐goats. In comparison to fertile bulls, the percentage of INSL3‐ and RXFP2‐expressing cells and their expression levels per cell were significantly reduced in the testes of subfertile bulls. In addition, the population of INSL3‐binding spermatozoa was also significantly reduced in the semen of subfertile bulls. These results provide evidence for a functional INSL3 hormone‐receptor system operating in ruminant testes and spermatozoa, and its potential to predict subfertility in sires.
Adenosine A2A receptor promotes collagen type III synthesis via β‐catenin activation in human dermal fibroblasts
Authors: Shaikh Gibran , Zhang Jin , Perez‐Aso Miguel , Mediero Aranzazu , Cronstein Bruce 
Published: September 2016

Background and PurposeAdenosine A2A receptor stimulation promotes the synthesis of collagen type I and type III (Col1 and Col3), mediators of fibrosis and scarring. The A2A receptor modulates collagen balance via cAMP/PKA/p38‐MAPK/Akt pathways. Wnt signalling is important in fibrosis and the cAMP and Wnt pathways converge. Because the A2A receptor is Gs‐linked and increases cAMP, we determined whether A2A receptors and Wnt signalling interact.Experimental ApproachTotal β‐catenin, de‐phosphorylated β‐catenin (canonical activation, de‐phospho β‐catenin) and phosphorylated β‐catenin at Ser552 (non‐canonical activation, p‐Ser552 β‐catenin) levels were determined in primary human dermal fibroblasts, cytosol and nucleus, by western blot analysis and fluorescence microscopy, before and after stimulation by A2A receptor‐selective agonist CGS21680, with/without A2A receptor‐selective antagonist (SCH56261) pretreatment. β‐Catenin was knocked down by transfection with scrambled‐siRNA or specific‐siRNA, and Col1 and Col3 levels determined by western blots.Key ResultsCGS21680 stimulation rapidly (15 min) increased cellular β‐catenin levels. Both de‐phospho β‐catenin and p‐Ser552 β‐catenin levels were also increased. CGS21680 stimulated the translocation of total de‐phospho and p‐Ser552 β‐catenin to the nucleus. A2A receptor‐stimulation increased Col1 synthesis similarly in β‐catenin knockeddown and scrambled cells. However, β‐catenin knockdown abolished the increase in Col3 synthesis induced in A2A receptor‐stimulated fibroblasts.Conclusions and ImplicationsA2A receptor stimulation promotes Col3 synthesis via the activation of canonical and non‐canonical β‐catenin, consistent with a role for A2A receptors in dermal fibrosis and scarring.
Fisheries, invasive species, and the formation and fracturing of the Great Lakes system
Authors: Knight William , Bocking Stephen 
Published: September 2016

Key MessagesInvasive and introduced fish species highlight tensions between systemic and jurisdictional visions of the Great Lakes during the 20th century.Different jurisdictions shared the Great Lakes and acknowledged its status as a single biological and hydrological system, yet often took divergent approaches to managing their fisheries.Alewife and splake demonstrate how Ontario and Michigan differed in their respective approaches to fisheries management on Lake Huron.
Reassessment of the cosyntropin stimulation test in the confirmatory diagnosis and subtype classification of primary aldosteronism
Authors: Umakoshi Hironobu , Xiaomei Yang , Ichijo Takamasa , Kamemura Kohei , Matsuda Yuichi , Fujii Yuichi , Kai Tatsuya , Fukuoka Tomikazu , Sakamoto Ryuichi , Ogo Atsushi , Suzuki Tomoko , Ogasawara Tatsuki , Tsuiki Mika , Naruse Mitsuhide ,   WAVES‐J Study Group
Published: September 2016

SummaryObjectiveAlthough corticotropin is a representative secretagogue of aldosterone, the utility of the cosyntropin stimulation test (C‐ST) in diagnosing primary aldosteronism (PA) has not been elucidated. Aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical utility of C‐ST for confirmatory testing and subtype classification of PA.Design, Setting and PatientsIn this retrospective study, we identified patients with hypertension and positive case‐detection results for PA who underwent C‐ST and saline infusion testing (SIT) between 2006 and 2013 at eight referral centres in Japan. PA and essential hypertension (EH) were distinguished based on SIT results. PA subtype classification was determined by adrenal venous sampling (AVS). Plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) was measured before and 30 and 60 min after intravenous cosyntropin administration. The ability of C‐ST to distinguish PA from EH and to distinguish unilateral from bilateral disease was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.ResultsOf 205 patients with hypertension and positive case‐detection results, 139 (68%) had PA based on SIT results. Eighteen patients in whom AVS was unsuccessful were excluded from analysis. The baseline PAC before C‐ST was significantly higher (P < 0·01) in patients with PA than in those with EH. However, the degree of difference in PAC between patients with PA and EH was not enhanced by the administration of cosyntropin. In addition, the administration of cosyntropin did not improve the distinction between bilateral and unilateral PA subtypes.ConclusionsC‐ST has no utility as a confirmatory and subtype testing of PA when the diagnosis of PA is based on the positive results in SIT.
Investigation of brain GABA+ in primary hypothyroidism using edited proton MR spectroscopy
Authors: Liu Bo , Yang Huan , Gao Fei , Wang Qing , Zhao Bin , Gong Tao , Wang Zhensong , Chen Weibo , Wang Guangbin , Edden Richard A.E. 
Published: September 2016

SummaryObjectiveEvidence indicates that thyroid hormones have effects on the inhibitory GABAergic system. The aim of this study was to investigate whether brain GABA levels are altered in patients with hypothyroidism compared with healthy controls.Design/MethodsFifteen patients with primary hypothyroidism and 15 matched healthy controls underwent single‐voxel MEGA‐PRESS magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3T, to quantify GABA levels in the median prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). All participants underwent thyroid function test. Neuropsychological performances were evaluated by administration of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the 21‐item Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II).ResultsThe patients with hypothyroidism had significantly lower GABA+ levels in the mPFC compared with healthy controls (P = 0·016), whereas no significant difference (P = 0·214) was observed in the PCC. Exploratory analyses revealed that mPFC GABA+ levels were negatively correlated with the BDI‐II scores in patient group (r = −0·60, P = 0·018). No correlations were found between GABA+ levels and TSH or fT3 or fT4 levels in either region (all P > 0·05).ConclusionThis study suggests that alteration of GABAergic neurotransmission may play an important role in the pathophysiology of primary hypothyroidism, providing intriguing neurochemical clues to understand thyroid–brain interactions.
Impact of comorbid cannabis use on outcome in first episode psychosis
Authors: Hadden Kellie L. , LeDrew Kellie , Hogan Kevin , Thomas Barbara 
Published: September 2016

AbstractAimComorbid cannabis abuse is common in patients with early psychosis. Little is known about the effect of stopping cannabis use on positive, negative and depressive symptoms. Few studies have controlled for multiple substance use that may mask the specific role that cannabis plays in symptom outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether course and level of cannabis use negatively impacted early psychosis patient symptom profiles (positive, negative and depressive symptoms) over 24 months.MethodsOne hundred and ninety‐two patients admitted to an early psychosis intervention programme in a naturalistic setting were followed across three time periods: initial presentation, 12 and 24 months. Patients’ clinical characteristics (substance use, positive/negative symptoms and depressive symptoms) were assessed at each time period.ResultsThere were no significant associations found between cannabis abuse and positive and negative symptoms. Continuation and discontinuation of cannabis use were not significant for cannabis or any other substance when compared to positive and negative symptoms. There was a significant interaction between cannabis and alcohol for depressive symptoms, where depressive symptoms were significantly higher in patients who abused cannabis without co‐occurring alcohol abuse when compared to non‐cannabis using patients.ConclusionThe current study findings indicate a complex interaction between cannabis and alcohol use in a sample of early psychosis patients across 24 months. More research is needed into the association between ceasing cannabis use and long‐term outcome for early psychosis patients. Of particular importance is the interaction between level of cannabis and alcohol use as it is related to symptom outcome in early psychosis patients.
Postures of Empowerment: Cultivating Aspirant Feminism in a Ugandan NGO
Authors: Moore Erin V. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThe Kampala Programme for Empowering Girls, a Ugandan NGO, is part of a much larger transnational movement that aims to psychologically, economically, and politically empower adolescent girls around the world. Global girls’ empowerment advocates draw from the convergence of two lines of research: long‐standing demographic studies that correlate girls’ schooling with fewer and healthier pregnancies and western developmental psychology's concern with the adolescent girl's presumed crisis of self‐esteem. Yet, as anthropologists have long shown, the ways people grow up are culturally and historically specific. In order to “empower” young women in urban Uganda, the internationally educated, elite women running the NGO had to persuade their participants to articulate low self‐esteem, even as these young women claimed complete confidence. To do so, elite NGO officers entwined explicit feminist pedagogy with tastes for foreign foods, fashion, and travel, cultivating what I call “aspirant feminism”—a desire for membership in the transnational feminist movement because it offers pathways to social mobility that are both desirable and difficult to obtain for young Ugandan women. Paradoxically, the workshop became both the grounds for developing new aspirational capacities as well as an arena for the reproduction of class difference.
How Do Children Become Workers? Making Sense of Conflicting Accounts of Cultural Transmission in Anthropology and Psychology
Authors: Little Christopher A. J. L. , Lancy David F. 
Published: September 2016

AbstractThis article uses children's work as a lens to examine methodological concerns in the study of cultural transmission. At present, scholars remain divided between two positions with regards to the processes of cultural transmission. The first perspective places the burden of skill acquisition on the child who “picks up” skills and ideas through exploration, observation, imitation, play, interaction with peers, participation with others in carrying out routine tasks, and other voluntary, self‐initiated activities. A second position assigns great importance to parents as teachers who transmit essential skills and knowledge to their children. We illustrate that this debate may not be strictly empirical. Instead, these perspectives emerge from the contrasting methodologies that are largely associated with different disciplines: interviews in psychology and ethnography in anthropology. Drawing upon a review of the literature as well as a case study concerning the Asabano of Papua New Guinea, this article problematizes the sole reliance upon decontextualized self report data. Instead, we call for interviews to be situated within an ethnographic framework which not only involves observation, but also considers local models of cultural transmission, local communicative practices, and sociocultural change.
Semi‐automated International Cartilage Repair Society scoring of equine articular cartilage lesions in optical coherence tomography images
Authors: te Moller N. C. R. , Pitkänen M. , Sarin J. K. , Väänänen S. , Liukkonen J. , Afara I. O. , Puhakka P. H. , Brommer H. , Niemelä T. , Tulamo R.‐M. , Argüelles Capilla D. , Töyräs J. 
Published: September 2016

SummaryBackgroundArthroscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising tool for the detailed evaluation of articular cartilage injuries. However, OCT‐based articular cartilage scoring still relies on the operator's visual estimation.ObjectivesTo test the hypothesis that semi‐automated International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) scoring of chondral lesions seen in OCT images could enhance intra‐ and interobserver agreement of scoring and its accuracy.Study designValidation study using equine cadaver tissue.MethodsOsteochondral samples (n = 99) were prepared from 18 equine metacarpophalangeal joints and imaged using OCT. Custom‐made software was developed for semi‐automated ICRS scoring of cartilage lesions on OCT images. Scoring was performed visually and semi‐automatically by five observers, and levels of inter‐ and intraobserver agreement were calculated. Subsequently, OCT‐based scores were compared with ICRS scores based on light microscopy images of the histological sections of matching locations (n = 82).ResultsWhen semi‐automated scoring of the OCT images was performed by multiple observers, mean levels of intraobserver and interobserver agreement were higher than those achieved with visual OCT scoring (83% vs. 77% and 74% vs. 33%, respectively). Histology‐based scores from matching regions of interest agreed better with visual OCT‐based scoring than with semi‐automated OCT scoring; however, the accuracy of the software was improved by optimising the threshold combinations used to determine the ICRS score.Main limitationsImages were obtained from cadavers.ConclusionsSemi‐automated scoring software improved the reproducibility of ICRS scoring of chondral lesions in OCT images and made scoring less observer‐dependent. The image analysis and segmentation techniques adopted in this study warrant further optimisation to achieve better accuracy with semi‐automated ICRS scoring. In addition, studies on in vivo applications are required.
Lessons from the macroinvertebrates: species‐genetic diversity correlations highlight important dissimilar relationships
Authors: Seymour Mathew , Seppälä Katri , Mächler Elvira , Altermatt Florian 
Published: September 2016

Summary

Species and genetic diversity patterns are predicted to co‐vary due to similar mechanistic processes. Previous studies assessing species and genetic diversity correlations (SGDCs) have focused primarily on local diversity patterns or island‐like systems and ignore the underlying dispersal network. Here we assessed local and regional SGDCs using freshwater macroinvertebrates sampled across the Rhine river network, a spatially large and highly connected system, in Switzerland.

We utilised a set of polymorphic microsatellite markers to assess the genetic diversity of two amphipod species of the Gammarus fossarum complex, which were compared to species level diversities of Amphipoda, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and family level macroinvertebrate diversity across 217 randomly selected sites. All sites were selected based on a representative and standardised species‐sampling scheme. We analysed within site (α‐SGDC) and between‐site SGDC (β‐SGDC).

Against our expectation, we generally found negative or null α‐SGDCs and β‐SGDCs. However, we did find genetic diversity to be spatially structured, whereas species richness was related to local environmental factors.

These findings suggest that the genetic and species levels of diversity observed are driven by different mechanisms (e.g., environment versus demography), or operate across different temporal or spatial scales (e.g., colonisation history or dendritic river network structure), and may be attributed to differences in the species' ecology or life history. Overall, conservation measures in riverine systems aiming at only one level of diversity may not necessarily benefit other levels of diversity.
Signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 plays a crucial role in hepatic lipid metabolism through regulation of CD36 expression
Authors: Hosui Atsushi , Tatsumi Tomohide , Hikita Hayato , Saito Yoshinobu , Hiramatsu Naoki , Tsujii Masahiko , Hennighausen Lothar , Takehara Tetsuo 
Published: September 2016

AimLiver‐specific signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)5‐deficient mice (STAT5KO) show lipid accumulation in the liver. We investigated the role of hepatic STAT5 in lipid metabolism in vitro and in vivo.Methods and ResultsHigh expression of CD36, one of the receptors for free fatty acids, is associated with a high concentration of hepatic triglyceride (TG) in STAT5KO mice. Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (PPAR)γ, one of the regulatory factors of CD36, was upregulated and microRNA (miR)‐20b was downregulated in STAT5KO mice. Reporter assays revealed direct regulation involving miR‐20b and the 3′‐untranslated region of CD36 mRNA. Treatment with free fatty acids enhanced accumulation of TG in STAT5‐deleted hepatoma cells, and this was partially canceled by introduction of siRNA for PPARγ and/or pre‐miR‐20b through inhibition of CD36 expression. In vivo, STAT5/CD36 double knockout mice displayed hepatic TG was decreased compared to STAT5KO mice and it was also reduced by treatment with PPARγ antagonists, GW9662, and/or pre‐miR‐20b.ConclusionsSignal transducer and activator of transcription 5 plays an important role in hepatic fat metabolism through regulation of CD36, and is a potential therapeutic candidate for liver steatosis.
Ultra‐deep sequencing analysis of resistance‐associated variants during retreatment with simeprevir‐based triple therapy after failure of telaprevir‐based triple therapy in patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus infection
Authors: Morishita Naoki , Hiramatsu Naoki , Oze Tsugiko , Urabe Ayako , Tahata Yuki , Yamada Ryoko , Yakushijin Takayuki , Hosui Atsushi , Iio Sadaharu , Yamada Akira , Hagiwara Hideki , Mita Eiji , Yamada Yukinori , Ito Toshifumi , Inada Masami , Katayama Kazuhiro , Yabuuchi Iwao , Imai Yasuharu , Hikita Hayato , Sakamori Ryotaro , Yoshida Yuichi , Tatsumi Tomohide , Hayashi Norio , Takehara Tetsuo 
Published: September 2016

AimSimeprevir (SMV)‐based triple therapy is an effective retreatment option following failure of telaprevir (TVR)‐based triple therapy. However, it is unclear whether the persistence of resistance‐associated variants (RAVs) induced by TVR‐based therapy may reduce the treatment effect of SMV‐based therapy.MethodsThe factors associated with the treatment effect, including RAVs in the NS3 region, were examined in 21 patients with genotype 1b HCV infection who were treated with SMV‐based therapy after failure of TVR‐based therapy. Ultra‐deep sequencing was carried out to detect RAVs.ResultsWith the exception of one patient who discontinued treatment owing to adverse events, the sustained virologic response (SVR) rate was 50% (10/20). Ultra‐deep sequencing at the start of SMV‐based therapy revealed that TVR‐resistant variants were detected in six patients (29%), and no variants were observed at position 168. Cross‐resistance between TVR and SMV with low frequency was detected in only one patient, and this patient achieved SVR. Higher SVRs for SMV‐based therapy were attained in patients who discontinued treatment owing to the adverse effects of prior TVR‐based therapy (discontinuation 100% vs. non‐discontinuation 29%, P = 0.005), and patients who relapsed following prior pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy (relapse 100% vs. non‐response 20%, P = 0.007).ConclusionsIn this study, ultra‐deep sequencing analysis revealed that TVR and/or SMV‐resistant variants may have no influence on the effect of SMV‐based therapy after failure of TVR‐based therapy. Patients who discontinued treatment owing to adverse effects of TVR‐based therapy and relapsers to previous pegylated interferon/ribavirin therapy would be good candidates for retreatment with SMV‐based therapy.