bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Volar Plate Fixation in Patients Older Than 70 Years with AO Type C Distal Radial Fractures: Clinical and Radiologic Outcomes
Authors: Zaidenberg Ezequiel , Duarte Matias , Boretto Jorge , Donndorff Agustin , Gallucci Gerardo , De Carli Pablo , Piuzzi Nicolas 
Published: January 2017

Introduction Treatment of unstable distal radial fractures (DRFs) in elderly patients is controversial, and considering the increasing life expectancy, their appropriate treatment is of growing importance. Our aim was to analyze the clinical and radiologic outcomes in the elderly patients with AO type C DRF treated with volar locking plate (VLP).
Materials and Methods Between 2007 and 2011, 572 DRFs were operated on in our hospital with open reduction and internal fixation with VLP. Of these, only 64 patients (66 DRFs) met the selection criteria (AO type C DRF, age > 70 years, minimum 12-month follow-up). Mean follow-up was 28 months. Outcome assessment included range of motion, grip strength, VAS pain, Mayo Clinic Score, and DASH score. Analysis of pre- and postoperative radiographs was performed. Complications were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed comparing the results with the contralateral side.
Results Mean postoperative range of motion of the injured wrist compared with the control contralateral side was 86% for flexion (p < 0.001), 92% for extension (p < 0.001). The average DASH was 12. Mayo Clinic Wrist Score showed 43 excellent results, 15 good, 4 satisfactory, and 4 poor. Articular step-offs were reduced in 34 of 38 wrists. Five (7%) patients required plate removal.
Conclusion The treatment of articular DRF (AO type C) with VLP in the elderly patients achieved greater than 90% of the wrist range of motion and grip strength with no residual pain in greater than 90% of the patients.
Level of Evidence Therapeutic IV, case series.
Contribution of canonical nonhomologous end joining to chromosomal rearrangements is enhanced by ATM kinase deficiency
Authors: Bhargava Ragini , Carson Caree R. , Lee Gabriella , Stark Jeremy M. 
Published: January 2017

Significance
Chromosomal rearrangements, such as large deletions, can cause loss of tumor suppressor genes. Rearrangements can be formed by aberrant end-joining (EJ) repair that ligates ends from different double-strand breaks. Two distinct EJ pathways could potentially cause rearrangements [canonical nonhomologous end joining (C-NHEJ) and alternative EJ], which are mediated by different factors and cause distinct repair junction patterns. Using a reporter for a 0.4-Mbp deletion rearrangement, we found that cells deficient in the Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) signaling pathway show an increase in the frequency of this rearrangement and a shift toward C-NHEJ–mediated rearrangements. Thus, the relative contribution of distinct EJ pathways to rearrangement formation is affected by ATM signaling, which provides insight into the tumor suppressor function of ATM.
Cocapture of cognate and bystander antigens can activate autoreactive B cells
Authors: Sanderson Nicholas S. R. , Zimmermann Maria , Eilinger Luca , Gubser Céline , Schaeren-Wiemers Nicole , Lindberg Raija L. P. , Dougan Stephanie K. , Ploegh Hidde L. , Kappos Ludwig , Derfuss Tobias 
Published: January 2017

Significance
The immune system normally produces antibodies against pathogens and avoids making antibodies against self-proteins. In some individuals, antibodies against self-proteins (autoantibodies) are made and can cause debilitating disease, but the reasons for this failure of self-tolerance are not known. The experiments described test the following hypothesis linking viral infections and production of autoantibodies: A B cell whose immunoglobulin receptor recognizes a self-membrane protein can capture that protein from the membrane of a virus-infected cell and simultaneously cocapture viral proteins; fragments of the viral protein can then be presented to antiviral T cells and qualify for the positive signals for proliferation and antibody production known as T-cell help. We observed this phenomenon in vitro and in vivo.
Place satisfaction, place attachment and quality of life: development of a conceptual framework for island destinations.
Authors: Ramkissoon H. 
Published: January 2017

Abstract

This chapter can be perceived as the first step in the development of a conceptual framework contributing to our understanding of how visitor experiences are shaped by environmental psychological constructs. It develops and proposes a conceptual framework for island destinations, extending the theoretical interrelationships between local visitors' place satisfaction, place attachment (affect, identity, dependence, and social bonding), pro-environmental behaviour and their overall quality of life in island economies.
Alarming Prevalence of Emergency Hypertension Levels in the General Public Identified by a Hypertension Awareness Campaign
Authors: Caligiuri Stephanie P. B. , Austria Jose Alejandro , Pierce Grant N. 
Published: January 2017

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Hypertension is a major cause of mortality and morbidity today. The “silent” nature of hypertension makes it critical to determine its prevalence and its severity in the general public and to identify strategies to identify people unaware of its presence. A mobile hypertension awareness campaign was created to: (i) determine the prevalence and types of hypertension in an urban North American center, (ii) increase hypertension awareness, and (iii) identify reasons for lack of therapy adherence.

METHODS
Mobile clinics were provided at shopping malls, workplaces, hospitals, and community centres to measure blood pressure in the public. Blood pressure recordings were done on a voluntary basis.

RESULTS
Of 1097 participants, 50% presented with high blood pressure which was higher than expected. Of particular clinical significance, an unexpectedly large number of participants (2%) exhibited a hypertensive urgency/emergency. Most of these people were not adherent to medications (if their hypertension was detected previously), were unaware of their hypertensive state, and/or unwilling to acknowledge or ignored the clinical significance of the extremely high blood pressure readings. Reasons for lack of adherence included: denial, being unaware of health consequences, and proper management of hypertension.

CONCLUSIONS
A relatively large segment of an urban population lives unaware of severe emergency levels of hypertension. A public mobile hypertension clinic provides a valuable strategy for identifying hypertension in the general public and for knowledge translation of hypertension management.
Malignant Hypertension Revisited—Does This Still Exist?
Authors: Shantsila Alena , Lip Gregory Y.H. 
Published: January 2017

Abstract
Malignant or accelerated hypertension is the most severe form of hypertension, defined clinically by very high blood pressure (diastolic above 130 mm Hg) accompanied by bilateral retinal hemorrhages and/or exudates, with or without papilledema. The aim of this review is to discuss if malignant hypertension still poses a clinically relevant entity and to highlight the diagnostic challenges of this form of hypertension. The substantial improvement in prognosis in patients with malignant hypertension over the last decades is well documented, but there is no strong evidence to suggest a significant change in its incidence. In fact, with the growing population and improving life expectancy, malignant hypertension is likely to become even more prevalent worldwide, especially in the developing countries with less advanced health care services. Despite simple diagnostic criteria of malignant hypertension, the diagnoses may be difficult in many patients. Malignant hypertension patients often have the diagnosis established only when the target organ damage occur. Furthermore, retrospective diagnosis is problematic, as malignant hypertensive retinopathy gradually resolves over a relatively short period of time, while persistent target organ damage will, however, lead to the development of complications and much poorer prognosis than in nonmalignant hypertension patients. Certainly, malignant hypertension still poses a clinically relevant and challenging form of hypertension and its possibility should be always considered during the assessment of patients with poorly controlled hypertension.
AFS: identification and quantification of species composition by metagenomic sequencing
Authors: Liu Yongchao , Ripp Fabian , Koeppel Rene , Schmidt Hanno , Hellmann Sören Lukas , Weber Mathias , Krombholz Christopher Felix , Schmidt Bertil , Hankeln Thomas 
Published: January 2017

Abstract

Summary
DNA-based methods to detect and quantify taxon composition in biological materials are often based on species-specific polymerase chain reaction, limited to detecting species targeted by the assay. Next-generation sequencing overcomes this drawback by untargeted shotgun sequencing of whole metagenomes at affordable cost. Here we present AFS, a software pipeline for quantification of species composition in food. AFS uses metagenomic shotgun sequencing and sequence read counting to infer species proportions. Using Illumina data from a reference sausage comprising four species, we reveal that AFS is independent of the sequencing assay and library preparation protocol. Cost-saving short (50-bp) single-end reads and Nextera® library preparation yield reliable results.

Availability and Implementation
Datasets, binaries and usage instructions are available under http://all-food-seq.sourceforge.net. Raw data is available at NCBI’s SRA with accession number PRJNA271645.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
SPOT-ligand 2: improving structure-based virtual screening by binding-homology search on an expanded structural template library
Authors: Litfin Thomas , Zhou Yaoqi , Yang Yuedong 
Published: January 2017

AbstractMotivationThe high cost of drug discovery motivates the development of accurate virtual screening tools. Binding-homology, which takes advantage of known protein–ligand binding pairs, has emerged as a powerful discrimination technique. In order to exploit all available binding data, modelled structures of ligand-binding sequences may be used to create an expanded structural binding template library.ResultsSPOT-Ligand 2 has demonstrated significantly improved screening performance over its previous version by expanding the template library 15 times over the previous one. It also performed better than or similar to other binding-homology approaches on the DUD and DUD-E benchmarks.Availability and ImplementationThe server is available online at http://sparks-lab.org.Supplementary informationSupplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Seeing the trees through the forest: sequence-based homo- and heteromeric protein-protein interaction sites prediction using random forest
Authors: Hou Qingzhen , De Geest Paul F G , Vranken Wim F , Heringa Jaap , Feenstra K Anton 
Published: January 2017

Abstract

Motivation
Genome sequencing is producing an ever-increasing amount of associated protein sequences. Few of these sequences have experimentally validated annotations, however, and computational predictions are becoming increasingly successful in producing such annotations. One key challenge remains the prediction of the amino acids in a given protein sequence that are involved in protein–protein interactions. Such predictions are typically based on machine learning methods that take advantage of the properties and sequence positions of amino acids that are known to be involved in interaction. In this paper, we evaluate the importance of various features using Random Forest (RF), and include as a novel feature backbone flexibility predicted from sequences to further optimise protein interface prediction.

Results
We observe that there is no single sequence feature that enables pinpointing interacting sites in our Random Forest models. However, combining different properties does increase the performance of interface prediction. Our homomeric-trained RF interface predictor is able to distinguish interface from non-interface residues with an area under the ROC curve of 0.72 in a homomeric test-set. The heteromeric-trained RF interface predictor performs better than existing predictors on a independent heteromeric test-set. We trained a more general predictor on the combined homomeric and heteromeric dataset, and show that in addition to predicting homomeric interfaces, it is also able to pinpoint interface residues in heterodimers. This suggests that our random forest model and the features included capture common properties of both homodimer and heterodimer interfaces.

Availability and Implementation
The predictors and test datasets used in our analyses are freely available (http://www.ibi.vu.nl/downloads/RF_PPI/).

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Cyst Fluid From Cystic, Malignant Brain Tumors: A Reservoir of Nutrients, Including Growth Factor-Like Nutrients, for Tumor Cells
Authors: Dahlberg Daniel , Struys Eduard A. , Jansen Erwin E. , Mørkrid Lars , Midttun Øivind , Hassel Bjørnar 
Published: January 2017

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Brain tumors may have cysts, whose content of nutrients could influence tumor cell microenvironment and growth.

OBJECTIVE: To measure nutrients in cyst fluid from glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and metastatic brain tumors.

METHODS: Quantification of nutrients in cyst fluid from 12 to 18 GBMs and 4 to 10 metastatic brain tumors.

RESULTS: GBM cysts contained glucose at 2.2 mmol/L (median value; range <0.8-3.5) and glutamine at 1.04 mmol/L (0.17-4.2). Lactate was 7.1 mmol/L (2.4-12.5) and correlated inversely with glucose level (r = –0.77; P < .001). Amino acids, including glutamate, varied greatly, but median values were similar to previously published serum values. Ammonia was 75 μmol/L (11-241). B vitamins were present at previously published serum values, and riboflavin, nicotinamide, pyridoxal 5΄-phosphate, and cobalamin were higher in cyst fluid than in cerebrospinal fluid. Inorganic phosphate was 1.25 mmol/L (0.34-3.44), which was >3 times higher than in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid: 0.35 mmol/L (0.22-0.66; P < .001). Tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates were in the low micromolar range, except for citrate, which was 240 μmol/L (140-590). In cystic metastatic malignant melanomas and lung tumors values were similar to those in GBMs.

CONCLUSION: Tumor cysts may be a nutrient reservoir for brain tumors, securing tumor energy metabolism and synthesis of cell constituents. Serum is one likely source of cyst fluid nutrients. Nutrient levels in tumor cyst fluid are highly variable, which could differentially stimulate tumor growth. Cyst fluid glutamate, lactate, and phosphate may act as tumor growth factors; these compounds have previously been shown to stimulate tumor growth at concentrations found in tumor cyst fluid.
A measurement of interstellar polarization and an estimation of Galactic extinction for the direction of the X-ray black hole binary V404 Cygni
Authors: Itoh Ryosuke , Tanaka Yasuyuki T. , Kawabata Koji S. , Uemura Makoto , Watanabe Makoto , Fukazawa Yasushi , Kanda Yuka , Akitaya Hiroshi , Moritani Yuki , Nakaoka Tatsuya , Kawabata Miho , Shiki Kensei , Yoshida Michitoshi , Oasa Yumiko , Takahashi Jun 
Published: January 2017

Abstract
V404 Cygni is a well-known candidate for the black hole binary thought to have relativistic jets. It showed extreme outbursts in 2015 June, characterized by a large amplitude and short time variation of flux in the radio, optical, and X-ray bands. Not only disk emission but also synchrotron radiation from the relativistic jets was suggested by radio observations. However, it is difficult to measure the accurate spectral shape in the optical/near-infrared band because there are uncertainties of interstellar extinction. To estimate the extinction value for V404 Cygni, we performed photopolarimetric and spectroscopic observations of V404 Cygni and nearby field stars. Here, we estimate the Galactic extinction using interstellar polarization based on the observation that the origin of the optical polarization is the interstellar medium, and investigate the properties of interstellar polarization around V404 Cygni. We found a good correlation between the color excess and polarization degree in the field stars. We also confirmed that the wavelength dependence of the polarization degree in the highly polarized field stars was similar to that of V404 Cygni. Using the highly polarized field stars, we estimated the color excess for the (B − V) color and the extinction in the V band to be E(B − V) = 1.2 ± 0.2 and 3.0 &lt; A(V) &lt; 3.6, respectively. A tendency for a bluer peak of polarization (λmax &lt; 5500 Å) was commonly seen in the highly polarized field stars, suggesting that the dust grains toward this region are generally smaller than the Galactic average. The corrected spectral energy distribution of V404 Cygni in the near-infrared and optical bands in our results indicated a spectral break between 2.5 × 1014 Hz and 3.7 × 1014 Hz, which might originate in the synchrotron self-absorption.
Coronary Plaque Progression and Regression in Asymptomatic African American Chronic Cocaine Users With Obstructive Coronary Stenoses: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Sandfort Veit , Bluemke David A. , Vargas Jose , Brinker Jeffrey A. , Gerstenblith Gary , Kickler Thomas , Zheng Gang , Li Ji , Chen Shaoguang , Lai Hong , Fishman Elliot K. , Lai Shenghan 
Published: January 2017

Objective:
Although rapid progression of coronary atherosclerosis was observed in chronic cocaine users, it is unknown whether reduced cocaine use retards the progression of atherosclerosis. We investigated whether reduced cocaine use over a 12-month period was associated with coronary plaque regression in cocaine users.

Methods:
Fifteen African American chronic cocaine users with previously coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)-confirmed >50% coronary stenosis in Baltimore, Maryland, were enrolled in a study to investigate whether reduced cocaine use is associated with changes in coronary plaque burden over a 12-month period of cash-based incentive intervention, which was implemented to systematically reinforce cocaine abstinence. In addition to previous CCTA (preintervention), CCTA was performed at the intervention baseline and at postintervention. Plaque analyses were performed to determine the trajectory of plaque changes in the absence of intervention by comparing the preintervention with the intervention baseline studies; the trajectory of plaque changes associated with the intervention by comparing the intervention baseline with the postintervention studies; and (3) whether reduced cocaine use was independently associated with changes in coronary plaque burden.

Results:
During the 12-month cash-based incentive intervention period, cocaine use in participants was lower. The medians of noncalcified plaque indices were 37.8 (interquartile range [IQR] 29.3–44.0), 43.1 (IQR 38.3–49.0), and 38.7 (IQR 31.2–46.8) mm2 at preintervention, intervention baseline, and postintervention, respectively. Multivariable generalized estimating equation analysis showed that both total plaque and noncalcified plaque indices at preintervention were significantly lowered as compared with intervention baseline levels; both total plaque and noncalcified plaque indices after intervention were significantly lowered as compared with intervention baseline levels; and reduced cocaine use was independently associated with lower total plaque volume index (P < 0.0001) and noncalcified plaque volume index (P = 0.010).

Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that continued cocaine use may be associated with noncalcified plaque progression, whereas reduced cocaine use may be associated with noncalcified plaque regression. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Comparison of the Prognostic Significance of Initial Blood Lactate and Base Deficit in Trauma Patients
Authors: Raux Mathieu , Le Manach Yannick , Gauss Tobias , Baumgarten Romain , Hamada Sophie , Harrois Anatole , Riou Bruno ,   for the TRAUMABASE® Group
Published: January 2017

Abstract

Background
Initial blood lactate and base deficit have been shown to be prognostic biomarkers in trauma, but their respective performances have not been compared.

Methods
Blood lactate levels and base deficit were measured at admission in trauma patients in three level 1 trauma centers. This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively acquired data. The association of initial blood lactate and base deficit with mortality was tested using receiver operating characteristics curve, logistic regression using triage scores (Revised Trauma Score and Mechanism Glasgow scale and Arterial Pressure score), and Trauma Related Injury Severity Score as a reference standard. The authors also used a reclassification method.

Results
The authors evaluated 1,075 trauma patients (mean age, 39 ± 18 yr, with 90% blunt and 10% penetrating injuries and a mortality of 13%). At admission, blood lactate was elevated in 425 (39%) patients and base deficit was elevated in 725 (67%) patients. Blood lactate was correlated with base deficit (R
2 = 0.54; P < 0.001). Using logistic regression, blood lactate was a better predictor of death than base deficit when considering its additional predictive value to triage scores and Trauma Related Injury Severity Score. This result was confirmed using a reclassification method but only in the subgroup of normotensive patients (n = 745).

Conclusions
Initial blood lactate should be preferred to base deficit as a biologic variable in scoring systems built to assess the initial severity of trauma patients.