bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Outcome predictors of radical cystectomy in patients with cT4 prostate cancer: a multi‐institutional study of 62 patients
Authors: Spahn Martin , Morlacco Alessandro , Boxler Silvan , Joniau Steven , Briganti Alberto , Montorsi Francesco , Gontero Paolo , Bader Pia , Frohneberg Detlef , van Poppel Hein , Karnes Robert Jeffrey ,   the European Multicenter Prostate Cancer Clinical and Translational Research Group (EMPAcT)
Published: February 2017

ObjectivesTo identify which patients with macroscopic bladder‐infiltrating T4 prostate cancer (PCa) might have favourable outcomes when treated with radical cystectomy (RC).Materials and MethodsWe evaluated 62 patients with cT4cN0–1 cM0 PCa treated with RC and pelvic lymph node dissection between 1972 and 2011. In addition to descriptive statistics, the Kaplan–Meier method and log‐rank tests were used to depict survival rates. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis tested the association between predictors and progression‐free, PCa‐specific and overall survival.ResultsOf the 62 patients, 19 (30.6%) did not have clinical progression during follow‐up, two (3.2%) had local recurrence, and 32 (51.6%) had haematogenous and nine (14.5%) combined pelvic and distant metastasis. Forty patients (64.5%) died, 34 (54.8%) from PCa and six (9.7%) from other causes. The median (range) survival time of the 19 patients who were metastasis‐free at last follow‐up was 86 (1–314) months, 8/19 patients had a follow‐up of >5 years, and five patients survived metastasis‐free for >15 years. Patients without seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) had the best outcomes, with an estimated 10‐year PCa‐specific survival of 75% compared with 24% for patients with SVI.ConclusionFor cT4 PCa RC can be an appropriate treatment for local control and part of a multimodality‐treatment approach. Although recurrences are probable, these do not necessarily translate into cancer‐specific death. Men without SVI had a 75% 10‐year PCa‐specific survival. Although outcomes for patients with SVI are not as favourable, there can be good local control; however, these patients are at higher risk of progression and may need more aggressive systemic treatment.
Systematic review of the oncological and functional outcomes of pelvic organ‐preserving radical cystectomy (RC) compared with standard RC in women who undergo curative surgery and orthotopic neobladder substitution for bladder cancer
Authors: Veskimäe Erik , Neuzillet Yann , Rouanne Mathieu , MacLennan Steven , Lam Thomas B. L. , Yuan Yuhong , Compérat Eva , Cowan Nigel C. , Gakis Georgios , van der Heijden Antoine G. , Ribal Maria J. , Witjes Johannes Alfred , Lebrét Thierry 
Published: February 2017

ContextPelvic organ‐preserving radical cystectomy (POPRC) for women may improve postoperative sexual and urinary functions without compromising the oncological outcome compared with standard radical cystectomy (RC).ObjectiveTo determine the effect of POPRC on sexual, oncological and urinary outcomes compared with RC in women who undergo standard curative surgery and orthotopic neobladder substitution for bladder cancer.Evidence acquisitionMedline, Embase, Cochrane controlled trials databases and clinicaltrial.gov were systematically searched for all relevant publications. Women with bladder cancer who underwent POPRC or standard RC and orthotopic neobladder substitution with curative intent were included. Prospective and retrospective comparative studies and single‐arm case series were included. The primary outcomes were sexual function at 6–12 months after surgery and oncological outcomes including disease recurrence and overall survival (OS) at >2 years. Secondary outcomes included urinary continence at 6–12 months. Risk of bias (RoB) assessment was performed using standard Cochrane review methodology including additional domains based on confounder assessment.Evidence synthesisThe searches yielded 11 941 discrete articles, of which 15 articles reporting on 15 studies recruiting a total of 874 patients were eligible for inclusion. Three papers had a matched‐pair study design and the rest of the studies were mainly small, retrospective case series. Sexual outcomes were reported in seven studies with 167/194 patients (86%) having resumed sexual activity within 6 months postoperatively, with median (range) patients’ sexual satisfaction score of 88.5 (80–100)%. Survival outcomes were reported in seven studies on 197 patients, with a mean follow‐up of between 12 and 132 months. At 3 and 5 years, cancer‐specific survival was 70–100% and OS was 65–100%. In all, 11 studies reported continence outcomes. Overall, the daytime and night‐time continence rates were 58–100% and 42–100%, respectively. Overall, the self‐catheterisation rate was 9.5–78%. Due to poor reporting and large heterogeneity between studies, instead of subgroup‐analysis, a narrative synthesis approach was used. The overall RoB was high across all studies.ConclusionFor well‐selected patients, POPRC with orthotopic neobladder may potentially be comparable to standard RC for oncological outcomes, whilst improving sexual and urinary function outcomes. However, in women undergoing RC, oncological and functional data regarding POPRC remain immature and require further evaluation in a prospective comparative setting.
Robot‐assisted approach to ‘W’‐configuration urinary diversion: a step‐by‐step technique
Authors: Hussein Ahmed A. , Ahmed Youssef E. , Kozlowski Justen D. , May Paul R. , Nyquist John , Sexton Sandra , Curtin Leslie , Peabody James O. , Abol‐Enein Hassan , Guru Khurshid A. 
Published: February 2017

ObjectiveTo describe a detailed step‐by‐step approach of our technique for robot‐assisted intracorporeal ‘W’‐configuration orthotopic ileal neobladder.Patients and MethodsFive patients underwent robot‐assisted radical cystectomy (RARC), extended pelvic lymph node dissection and intracorporeal neobladder (ICNB). ICNB was divided into six key steps to facilitate and enable a detailed analysis and auditing of the technique. No conversion to open surgery was required. Timing for each step was noted. All patients had at least 3 months of follow‐up.ResultsThe mean age was 57 years. The mean overall console and diversion times were 357 and 193 min, respectively. None of the patients had any evidence of residual disease after RARC. Four of the five patients had complications; three developed fevers due to urinary tract infections (one required readmission), and one developed myocardial infarction and required coronary angiography and stenting. Looking at the timing for the individual steps, bowel detubularisation and construction of the posterior plate were consistently the longest among the key steps (average 46 min, 13% of the overall operative time), followed by uretero‐ileal anastomosis (37 min, 10%), neobladder–urethral anastomosis (23 min, 6%), and identification and fixation of the bowel (26 min, 7%).ConclusionWe described our step‐by‐step technique and initial perioperative outcomes of our first five ICNBs with ‘W’ configuration.
Representation of critical natural capital in China
Authors: Lü Yihe , Zhang Liwei , Zeng Yuan , Fu Bojie , Whitham Charlotte , Liu Shuguang , Wu Bingfang 
Published: February 2017

AbstractTraditional means of assessing representativeness of conservation value in protected areas depend on measures of structural biodiversity. The effectiveness of priority conservation areas at representing critical natural capital (CNC) (i.e., an essential and renewable subset of natural capital) remains largely unknown. We analyzed the representativeness of CNC‐conservation priority areas in national nature reserves (i.e., nature reserves under jurisdiction of the central government with large spatial distribution across the provinces) in China with a new biophysical‐based composite indicator approach. With this approach, we integrated the net primary production of vegetation, topography, soil, and climate variables to map and rank terrestrial ecosystems capacities to generate CNC. National nature reserves accounted for 6.7% of CNC‐conservation priority areas across China. Considerable gaps (35.2%) existed between overall (or potential) CNC representativeness nationally and CNC representation in national reserves, and there was significant spatial heterogeneity of representativeness in CNC‐conservation priority areas at the regional and provincial levels. For example, the best and worst representations were, respectively, 13.0% and 1.6% regionally and 28.9% and 0.0% provincially. Policy in China is transitioning toward the goal of an ecologically sustainable civilization. We identified CNC‐conservation priority areas and conservation gaps and thus contribute to the policy goals of optimization of the national nature reserve network and the demarcation of areas critical to improving the representativeness and conservation of highly functioning areas of natural capital. Moreover, our method for assessing representation of CNC can be easily adapted to other large‐scale networks of conservation areas because few data are needed, and our model is relatively simple.
Do natural resource revenues lower government reliance on seigniorage? The role of exchange rate policy
Authors: Ellis Michael A. , Elbahnasawy Nasr G. 
Published: February 2017

AbstractThe study investigates how the degree of exchange rate management conditions the relationship between seigniorage and governments’ natural resource revenues using a sample of 140 countries over the period from 1971 to 2012. It also disaggregates natural resource revenues to investigate if this relationship holds across the various types of natural resources. The main approach is to estimate dynamic panel data interaction models. The study finds that under exchange rate regimes characterized as fixed or of limited flexibility an increase in natural resource rents is associated with an increase in seigniorage. Under crawling currency bands and managed floating, an increase in natural resource rents has little association with seigniorage. Under exchange rate regimes permitting greater exchange rate flexibility, greater natural resource rents allow less reliance on seigniorage. Additionally, the direct relationship between natural resource rents and seigniorage is driven mostly by oil and natural gas.
Strong Competition Does Not Always Predict Play Asymmetry: The Case of South American Sea Lions (Otaria flavescens)
Authors: Llamazares‐Martín Clara , Scopa Chiara , Guillén‐Salazar Federico , Palagi Elisabetta 
Published: February 2017

AbstractAlthough play fighting has been studied for over a century in both human and non‐human animals, quantitative data on marine mammals are still scarce. Here, we investigated play fighting in South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens), one of the most sexually dimorphic species with an extreme polygynous mating system, high levels of both intra‐ and inter‐sexual competition. All these features make South American sea lions a good model species to test some predictions on play fighting. Our results indicate play is restricted to juveniles, being inhibited among adults, and as to be expected in a species that shows a high degree of sexual dimorphism, it is mainly expressed in males. Even though playful interactions were punctuated by competitive behaviours, animals played in a highly symmetric way and were able to adjust their competitive playful interactions in a flexible manner and so reduce the risk of escalation to a minimum level. They were highly selective in their choice of playmates by limiting the number of players per session and playing more with age‐matched companions and friends. All these factors taken together are probably at the basis of the low risk of escalation recorded during the study. This result is predictive of a high ability and motivation of these animals to engage in play behaviour which can have a possible role not only in the acquisition of dominance status, but also in establishing and maintaining social relationships, an unexpected role in a so highly competitive species.
Human‐mediated evolution in a threatened species? Juvenile life‐history changes in Snake River salmon
Authors: Waples Robin S. , Elz Anna , Arnsberg Billy D. , Faulkner James R. , Hard Jeffrey J. , Timmins‐Schiffman Emma , Park Linda K. 
Published: February 2017

AbstractEvaluations of human impacts on Earth's ecosystems often ignore evolutionary changes in response to altered selective regimes. Freshwater habitats for Snake River fall Chinook salmon (SRFCS), a threatened species in the US, have been dramatically changed by hydropower development and other watershed modifications. Associated biological changes include a shift in juvenile life history: Historically essentially 100% of juveniles migrated to sea as subyearlings, but a substantial fraction have migrated as yearlings in recent years. In contemplating future management actions for this species should major Snake River dams ever be removed (as many have proposed), it will be important to understand whether evolution is at least partially responsible for this life‐history change. We hypothesized that if this trait is genetically based, parents who migrated to sea as subyearlings should produce faster‐growing offspring that would be more likely to reach a size threshold to migrate to sea in their first year. We tested this with phenotypic data for over 2,600 juvenile SRFCS that were genetically matched to parents of hatchery and natural origin. Three lines of evidence supported our hypothesis: (i) the animal model estimated substantial heritability for juvenile growth rate for three consecutive cohorts; (ii) linear modeling showed an association between juvenile life history of parents and offspring growth rate; and (iii) faster‐growing juveniles migrated at greater speeds, as expected if they were more likely to be heading to sea. Surprisingly, we also found that parents reared a full year in a hatchery produced the fastest growing offspring of all—apparently an example of cross‐generational plasticity associated with artificial propagation. We suggest that SRFCS is an example of a potentially large class of species that can be considered to be “anthro‐evolutionary”—signifying those whose evolutionary trajectories have been profoundly shaped by altered selective regimes in human‐dominated landscapes.
Methane yield of biomass from extensive grassland is affected by compositional changes induced by order of arrival
Authors: Popp Denny , von Gillhaussen Philipp , Weidlich Emanuela W. A. , Sträuber Heike , Harms Hauke , Temperton Vicky M. 
Published: February 2017

AbstractLow‐input grassland biomass from marginal and other slightly more fertile sites can be used for energy production without competing with food or fodder production. The effect of grassland diversity on methane yield has received some attention, but we do not know how community assembly may affect methane yield from grassland biomass. However, methane yields determine the potential economic value of a bioenergy substrate. Hence, a better understanding of how plant community assembly affects methane yield would be important. We measured biomass production and methane yield in the second year of a grassland field experiment which manipulated the order of arrival of different plant functional groups (forbs, grasses or legumes sown first and all sown simultaneously) and sown diversity (9 vs. 21 species). The order of arrival of the plant functional groups significantly determined the relative dominance of each group which in turn mainly explained the variance in aboveground biomass production. Differences in area‐specific methane yields were driven by differences in biomass production and which plant functional groups dominated a plot. When grasses were sown first, legumes and grasses codominated a plot and the highest area‐specific methane yield was obtained. Overall, the results indicate that altering the order of arrival affected the community functional and species composition (and hence methane yields) much more than sown diversity. Our study shows that a combined use of positive biodiversity effects and guided plant community assembly may be able to optimize methane yields under field conditions. This may allow a guided, sustainable, and lucrative use of grassland biomass for biogas production in the future.
Identification of core gene networks and hub genes associated with progression of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease by RNA sequencing
Authors: Hotta Kikuko , Kikuchi Masataka , Kitamoto Takuya , Kitamoto Aya , Ogawa Yuji , Honda Yasushi , Kessoku Takaomi , Kobayashi Kaori , Yoneda Masato , Imajo Kento , Tomeno Wataru , Nakaya Akihiro , Suzuki Yutaka , Saito Satoru , Nakajima Atsushi 
Published: February 2017

AimNon‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progresses because of the interaction between numerous genes. Thus, we carried out a weighted gene coexpression network analysis to identify core gene networks and key genes associated with NAFLD progression.MethodsWe enrolled 39 patients with mild NAFLD (fibrosis stages 0–2) and 21 with advanced NAFLD (fibrosis stages 3–4). Total RNA was extracted from frozen liver biopsies, and sequenced to capture a large dynamic range of expression levels.ResultsA total of 1777 genes differentially expressed between mild and advanced NAFLD (q‐value <0.05) clustered into four modules. One module was enriched for genes that encode cell surface or extracellular matrix proteins, and are involved in cell adhesion, proliferation, and signaling. This module formed a scale‐free network containing four hub genes (PAPLN, LBH, DPYSL3, and JAG1) overexpressed in advanced NAFLD. PAPLN is a component of the extracellular matrix, LBH and DPYSL3 are reported to be tumor suppressors, and JAG1 is tumorigenic. Another module formed a random network, and was enriched for genes that accumulate in the mitochondria. These genes were downregulated in advanced NAFLD, reflecting impaired mitochondrial function. However, the other two modules did not form unambiguous networks. KEGG analysis indicated that 71 differentially expressed genes were involved in “pathways in cancer”. Strikingly, expression of half of all differentially expressed genes was inversely correlated with methylation of CpG sites (q‐value <0.05). Among clinical parameters, serum type IV collagen 7 s was most strongly associated with the epigenetic status in NAFLD.ConclusionsNewly identified core gene networks suggest that the NAFLD liver undergoes mitochondrial dysfunction and fibrosis, and acquires tumorigenic potential epigenetically. Our data provide novel insights into the pathology and etiology of NAFLD progression, and identify potential targets for diagnosis and treatment.
Closing the patient experience chasm: A two‐level validation of the Consumer Quality Index Inpatient Hospital Care
Authors: Smirnova Alina , Lombarts Kiki M. J. M. H. , Arah Onyebuchi A. , van der Vleuten Cees P. M. 
Published: February 2017

AbstractBackgroundEvaluation of patients’ health care experiences is central to measuring patient‐centred care. However, different instruments tend to be used at the hospital or departmental level but rarely both, leading to a lack of standardization of patient experience measures.ObjectiveTo validate the Consumer Quality Index (CQI) Inpatient Hospital Care for use on both department and hospital levels.DesignUsing cross‐sectional observational data, we investigated the internal validity of the questionnaire using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), and the generalizability of the questionnaire for use at the department and hospital levels using generalizability theory.Setting and participants22924 adults hospitalized for ≥24 hours between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2014 in 23 Dutch hospitals (515 department evaluations).Main variableCQIInpatient Hospital Care questionnaire.ResultsCFAresults showed a good fit on individual level (CFI=0.96,TLI=0.95,RMSEA=0.04), which was comparable between specialties. When scores were aggregated to the department level, the fit was less desirable (CFI=0.83,TLI=0.81,RMSEA=0.06), and there was a significant overlap betweencommunication with doctorsandexplanation of treatmentsubscales. Departments and hospitals explained ≤5% of total variance in subscale scores. In total, 4‐8 departments and 50 respondents per department are needed to reliably evaluate subscales rated on a 4‐point scale, and 10 departments with 100‐150 respondents per department for binary subscales.Discussion and conclusionsTheCQIInpatient Hospital Care is a valid and reliable questionnaire to evaluate inpatient experiences in Dutch hospitals provided sufficient sampling is done. Results can facilitate meaningful comparisons and guide quality improvement activities in individual departments and hospitals.
Human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐DQB1*03:02 and HLA‐A*02:01 have opposite patterns in their effects on susceptibility to HIV infection
Authors: Rallón N , Restrepo C , Vicario JL , del Romero J , Rodríguez C , García‐Samaniego J , García M , Cabello A , Górgolas M , Benito JM 
Published: February 2017

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to seek correlates of immune protection in HIV infection. We sought to elucidate the association between the presence of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) alleles, as well as killer immunoglobulin receptor (KIR) genotypes, and the susceptibility to HIV infection in a Spanish cohort of HIV‐exposed seronegative (HESN) individuals.MethodsA total of 152 individuals were evaluated: 29 HESN individuals in stable heterosexual relationships with an HIV‐infected partner admitting high‐risk sexual intercourse for at least 12 months prior to inclusion in the study, 61 HIV‐infected patients and 62 healthy controls. HLA class I and II alleles and KIR genotypes were assessed in genomic DNA from all individuals in the study by polymerase chain reaction−sequence‐specific oligonucleotide (PCR‐SSO) using bead array technology.ResultsHESN individuals showed a higher prevalence of HLA‐A3 (62%) and HLA‐B44 (83%) supertypes compared with HIV‐infected individuals (42% and 66%, respectively). Regarding specific HLA alleles, HESN individuals had a higher prevalence of HLA‐A*33:01, DRB1*04 and DQB1*03:02 alleles (14%, 34% and 31%, respectively) and a lower prevalence of the HLA‐A*02:01 allele (27%) than HIV‐infected patients (3%, 15%, 11% and 52%, respectively; P < 0.05). Interestingly, in a multivariate analysis, only the presence of DQB1*03:02 and the absence of A*02:01 alleles were independently associated with HESN status [odds ratio (OR) 3.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–10.5) and 0.4 (95% CI: 0.1–0.9), respectively; P < 0.05]. No KIR genotype was associated with susceptibility to HIV infection.ConclusionsOur data showed that the presence of the HLA class II allele DQB1*03:02 was a correlate of immune protection against HIV infection, while the presence of the HLA class I allele A*02:01 was associated with being infected with HIV.