bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Use of a novel statistical technique to examine the delivery of breast cancer follow‐up care by different types of oncology providers
Authors: Neuman Heather B. , Rathouz Paul J. , Winslow Emily , Weiss Jennifer M. , LoConte Noelle K. , Lin Chee Paul , Wurm Mike , Smith Maureen A. , Schrag Deborah , Greenberg Caprice C. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractRationale, aims and objectivesFrequent follow‐up is recommended for the more than 3 million breast cancer survivors living in the USA. Given the multidisciplinary nature of breast cancer treatment, follow‐up may be provided by medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons and primary care providers. This creates the potential for significant redundancy as well as gaps in care. The objective was to examine patterns of breast cancer follow‐up provided by different types of oncologists and develop a statistical means of quantifying visit distribution over time.MethodsWe identified stage I–III breast cancer patients who underwent breast conservation from 2000 to 2006 (n = 12 139) within the SEER‐Medicare linked database. Provider type was defined using Medicare specialty provider codes and AMA Masterfile. The coefficient of variation (CV) for time between oncologist follow‐up visits was calculated. Ordinal logistic regression assessed factors associated with CV.ResultsSubstantial variation in CV was observed. Sixty‐seven per cent of patients with low CV (high visit regularity) received follow‐up from a single oncologist type, versus 8% with high CV (low visit regularity). The number of oncologist types participating in follow‐up had the greatest association with high CV (odds ratio 7.4 [6.7–8.3] and 15.4 [13.6–17.6] for two and three oncologist types).ConclusionsUsing a novel means of quantifying follow‐up visit regularity, we determined that breast cancer patients with dispersed follow‐up with more than one oncologist have more disordered care. The CV could be used in electronic medical records to identify cancer survivors with more disordered.
A Viscosity Model for Soy White Flakes‐Based Aquafeed Dough in a Single Screw Extruder
Authors: Singh Sushil K. , Muthukumarappan Kasiviswanathan 
Published: March 2016

AbstractA viscosity model was developed to study the influence of soy white flakes during extrusion of fish feed and the effect of extrusion processing parameters on mass flow rate, torque, specific mechanical energy and viscosity of dough inside a single screw extruder were evaluated. Full factorial design was used for three variables each at three levels which generated total 27 experimental runs. Round capillary die rheometer was used to determine the rheological data of the dough within the extruder. It was observed that increase in the soy white flakes content resulted in a higher mass flow rate, torque and specific mechanical energy and a decrease in the apparent viscosity. The specific mechanical energy, mass flow rate increased and viscosity decreased with increase in screw speed. Higher barrel and die temperature led to decrease in the apparent viscosity of the dough, torque and specific mechanical energy. The viscosity model developed in this study can be applied to develop large‐scale extrusion models to determine the effect of soy white flakes on the feed material extrudates.Practical ApplicationsDuring extrusion, the shearing effects of screws with thermal energy generated by viscous dissipation modifies the rheological properties of raw materials due to the physical and chemical changes of biopolymers. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the rheological properties of dough during extrusion. In the present study the viscosity of dough within the extruder was analyzed and the effect of extrusion processing parameters on the viscosity was evaluated. This study provides new experimental data of viscosity of soy white flakes‐based aquafeed dough during extrusion processing. The viscosity models developed will be of great significance for aquafeed manufacturing industry mainly to produce low cost soy white flakes‐based fish feed.
Effects of Probiotic Lactobacillus Rhamnosus LOCK900 on the Staphylococcus Aureus Survival in Carrot Juice
Authors: Trząskowska Monika , Gasentzer Paulina 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe objective of this study was to assess the effects of Lb. rhamnosus LOCK900 probiotic additive, lactic acid and incubation process, i.e., the moment of S. aureus contamination on the growth and survival rate of the pathogen in carrot juice. Both the Lb. rhamnosus LOCK900 additive and the incubation process (32C) had an impact on the number of S aureus in the carrot juice (P < 0.05) whereas the lactic acid additive did not cause any significant change in the number of S. aureus (P > 0.05). Lactic acid, particularly in the product inoculated with the pathogen and incubated was not sufficient to hinder the development of S. aureus. The increase of S. aureus number in carrot juice with lactic acid indicates its acid resistance. The adaptation mechanism was observed also in sample inoculated with pathogen before fermentation. Gradually increasing acidity did not inhibit S. aureus proliferation. Inhibitory effect of Lb. rhamnosus LOCK900 was revealed during storage of P1 sample but the highest suppress was observed when pathogen's inoculation occurred after fermentation.Practical ApplicationsIn recent years, an increasing interest has developed in functional foods, including food with probiotics. The basic requirement that has to be fulfilled during the food production and turnover process is to ensure that food will not do any harm to the consumer (CAC/RCP ). The results obtained in this work help in understanding the situation of using contaminated raw materials or cross contamination that may happen during the production of probiotic food. In particular mechanisms of S. aureus survival during food fermentation. The outcome might be taken into account for the development and optimization of functional food preservation processes.
Applicability of albumin‐bilirubin‐based Japan integrated staging score in hepatitis B‐associated hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Chan Anthony W H , Chong Charing C N , Mo Frankie K F , Wong John , Yeo Winnie , Johnson Philip J , Yu Shuangni , Lai Paul B S , Chan Anthony T C , To Ka‐Fai , Chan Stephen L 
Published: March 2016

AbstractBackground and AimThe Japan Integrated Staging (JIS) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been extensively studied in hepatitis virus C‐endemic Japanese population but seldom evaluated outside Japan, while albumin‐bilirubin (ALBI)‐based JIS (ALBI‐T) has never been externally validated. We evaluate the prognostic significance of the ALBI‐T score among Chinese patients with hepatitis virus B (HBV)‐related HCC, and to explore its potential therapeutic application in selecting patients for appropriate treatments in addition to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) recommendation.MethodsA cohort of 1222 HBV‐associated HCC patients was evaluated to compare the prognostic performance of JIS and ALBI‐T scores by homogeneity likelihood chi‐square and corrected Akaike information criterion. In the subgroup analysis of each BCLC stage, Kaplan–Meier method and log‐rank statistics were used to compare overall survival of patients undergoing different treatment options.ResultsThe ALBI‐T score showed better prognostic performance than the JIS score, which were indicated by homogeneity likelihood chi‐squares (ALBI‐T 580.12 vs JIS 536.35) and Akaike information criteria (ALBI‐T 9836.57 vs JIS 9880.23). Treatment options significantly influenced prognosis among patients of the same BCLC stage. With the use of ALBI‐T score 4 as the cutoff, the current study identified that a portion of patients (14.7%, 25.2% and 28.6% of BCLC stage B, C and D, respectively) undergoing unnecessary therapy without survival advantage.ConclusionsThe ALBI‐T score is applicable to Chinese patients with HBV‐related HCC to provide reasonable prognostic information as well as potentially helping clinicians to avoid offering non‐beneficial aggressive treatments.
Cost‐effectiveness of strategy‐based approach to treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C
Authors: Zhao Ying Jiao , Khoo Ai Leng , Lin Liang , Teng Monica , Koh Calvin J , Lim Seng Gee , Lim Boon Peng , Dan Yock Young 
Published: March 2016

AbstractBackground and AimThe high cost of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) direct‐acting antivirals (DAAs) poses significant financial challenges for health payers, especially in Asia. A personalized treatment strategy based on individualized probability of virological response using oral DAAs as second‐line therapy would seem practical but has not been studied.MethodsWe performed a Markov model to project health outcomes and costs for patients with genotype 1 HCV through 10 treatment strategies over a lifetime period. The implication of retreatment was also incorporated to reflect real‐life situation.ResultsUsing boceprevir and peginterferon/ribavirin (BOC/PR, the least costly treatment) as a base case, the all‐oral therapies such as ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir‐dasabuvir are cost‐effective with an incremental cost‐effective ratio of $US50 828. However, the all‐oral DAAs would no longer be cost‐effective compared with conventional therapies if retreatment were taken into account. A road map strategy using rapid virological response to guide use of BOC/PR and sofosbuvir/PR had the most favorable incremental cost‐effective ratio ($US27 782) relative to BOC/PR. Nevertheless, the trade‐off with the cost‐effectiveness of the road map strategy is an increased number of liver‐related deaths compared with all‐oral DAAs (52 vs 10–20 per 10 000 patients) by incorporating retreatment.ConclusionsThe 12‐week all‐oral DAAs were cost‐effective options using conventional drug‐to‐drug comparison. However, they cease to be cost‐effective when treatment strategies incorporating DAA retreatment for interferon failures are incorporated. HCV management can be optimized by adopting individualized treatment algorithm providing a practical solution to health payers to make oral DAAs accessible to those who need them most.
The ABCD's of 5′‐adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase and adrenoleukodystrophy
Authors: Weidling Ian , Swerdlow Russell H. 
Published: March 2016

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This Editorial highlights a study by Singh and coworkers in the current issue of Journal of Neurochemistry, in which the authors present additional evidence that AMPKα1 is reduced in X‐linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X‐ALD). They make a case for increasing AMPKα1 activity for therapeutic purposes in this disease, and indicate how this goal may be achieved.Read the highlighted article ‘Metformin‐induced mitochondrial function and ABCD2 up regulation in X‐linked adrenoleukodystrophy involves AMP activated protein kinase’ on page 86.
Neuroinflammation: the devil is in the details
Authors: DiSabato Damon J. , Quan Ning , Godbout Jonathan P. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThere is significant interest in understanding inflammatory responses within the brain and spinal cord. Inflammatory responses that are centralized within the brain and spinal cord are generally referred to as ‘neuroinflammatory’. Aspects of neuroinflammation vary within the context of disease, injury, infection, or stress. The context, course, and duration of these inflammatory responses are all critical aspects in the understanding of these processes and their corresponding physiological, biochemical, and behavioral consequences. Microglia, innate immune cells of the CNS, play key roles in mediating these neuroinflammatory responses. Because the connotation of neuroinflammation is inherently negative and maladaptive, the majority of research focus is on the pathological aspects of neuroinflammation. There are, however, several degrees of neuroinflammatory responses, some of which are positive. In many circumstances including CNS injury, there is a balance of inflammatory and intrinsic repair processes that influences functional recovery. In addition, there are several other examples where communication between the brain and immune system involves neuroinflammatory processes that are beneficial and adaptive. The purpose of this review is to distinguish different variations of neuroinflammation in a context‐specific manner and detail both positive and negative aspects of neuroinflammatory processes.
imageIn this review, we will use brain and spinal cord injury, stress, aging, and other inflammatory events to illustrate the potential harm and benefits inherent to neuroinflammation. Context, course, and duration of the inflammation are highly important to the interpretation of these events, and we aim to provide insight into this by detailing several commonly studied insults.This article is part of the 60th anniversary supplemental issue.
Neuroprotective Effects of Endurance Exercise Against High‐Fat Diet‐Induced Hippocampal Neuroinflammation
Authors: Kang E.‐B. , Koo J.‐H. , Jang Y.‐C. , Yang C.‐H. , Lee Y. , Cosio‐Lima L. M. , Cho J.‐Y. 
Published: March 2016

Obesity contributes to systemic inflammation, which is associated with the varied pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Growing evidence has demonstrated that endurance exercise (EE) mitigates obesity‐induced brain inflammation. However, exercise‐mediated anti‐inflammatory mechanisms remain largely unknown. We investigated how treadmill exercise (TE) reverses obesity‐induced brain inflammation, mainly focusing on toll‐like receptor‐4 (TLR‐4)‐dependent neuroinflammation in the obese rat brain after 20 weeks of a high‐fat diet (HFD). TE in HFD‐fed rats resulted in a significant lowering in the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index, the area under the curve for glucose and abdominal visceral fat, and also improved working memory ability in a passive avoidance task relative to sedentary behaviour in HFD‐fed rats, with the exception of body weight. More importantly, TE revoked the increase in HFD‐induced proinflammatory cytokines (tumour necrosis factor α and interleukin‐1β) and cyclooxygenase‐2, which is in parallel with a reduction in TLR‐4 and its downstream proteins, myeloid differentiation 88 and tumour necrosis factor receptor associated factor 6, and phosphorylation of transforming growth factor β‐activated kinase 1, IkBα and nuclear factor‐κB. Moreover, TE reduced an indicator of microglia activation, ionised calcium‐binding adapter molecule‐1, and also decreased glial fibrillary acidic protein, an indicator of gliosis formed by activated astrocytes in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampal dentate gyrus, compared to HFD‐fed sedentary rats. Finally, EE up‐regulated the expression of anti‐apoptotic protein, Bcl‐2, and suppressed the expression of pro‐apoptotic protein, Bax, in the hippocampus compared to HFD‐fed sedentary rats. Taken together, these data suggest that TE may exert neuroprotective effects as a result of mitigating the production of proinflammatory cytokines by inhibiting the TLR4 signalling pathways. The results of the present study suggest that the unique combination of the beneficial effects of TE on the restoration of the blood profile and the anti‐inflammatory and anti‐apoptotic effects on cognitive function should inspire further investigations into its therapeutic potential for metabolic disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
Cardiomyocyte loss is not required for the progression of left ventricular hypertrophy induced by pressure overload in female mice
Authors: Schipke Julia , Grimm Clara , Arnstein Georg , Kockskämper Jens , Sedej Simon , Mühlfeld Christian 
Published: March 2016

AbstractLeft ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in response to hypertension and increased afterload frequently progresses to heart failure. It is under debate whether the loss of cardiomyocytes contributes to this transition. To address this question, female C57BL/6 wild‐type mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) and developed compensated LV hypertrophy after 1 week, which progressed to heart failure characterized by reduced ejection fraction and pulmonary congestion 4 weeks post‐TAC. Quantitative, design‐based stereology methods were used to estimate number and mean volume of LV cardiomyocytes. DNA strand breaks were visualized using the TUNEL method 6 weeks post‐TAC to quantify the number of apoptotic cell nuclei. The volume of the LV myocardium as well as the cardiomyocyte mean volume increased progressively after TAC. In contrast, the number of LV cardiomyocytes remained constant 1 and 4 weeks post‐TAC in comparison to sham‐operated mice. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the number of cardiomyocyte nuclei stained for DNA strand breaks at 6 weeks post‐TAC. It was concluded that the loss of cardiomyocytes is not required for the transition from compensated hypertrophy to heart failure induced by TAC in the female murine heart.
Concealing emotions: nurses' experiences with induced abortion care
Authors: Yang Cheng‐Fang , Che Hui‐Lian , Hsieh Hsin‐Wan , Wu Shu‐Mei 
Published: March 2016

Aims and ObjectivesTo explore the experiences of nurses involved with induced abortion care in the delivery room in Taiwan.BackgroundInduced abortion has emotional, ethical and legal facets. In Taiwan, several studies have addressed the ethical issues, abortion methods and women's experiences with abortion care. Although abortion rates have increased, there has been insufficient attention on the views and experiences of nurses working in the delivery room who are involved with induced abortion care.DesignQualitative, semistructured interviews.MethodsThis study used a purposive sampling method. In total, 22 nurses involved with induced abortion care were selected. Semistructured interviews with guidelines were conducted, and the content analysis method was used to analyse the data.ResultsOur study identified one main theme and five associated subthemes: concealing emotions, which included the inability to refuse, contradictory emotions, mental unease, respect for life and self‐protection.ConclusionThis is the first specific qualitative study performed in Taiwan to explore nurses' experiences, and this study also sought to address the concealing of emotions by nurses when they perform induced abortion care, which causes moral distress and creates ethical dilemmas. The findings of this study showed that social‐cultural beliefs profoundly influence nurses' values and that the rights of nurses are neglected.Relevance to clinical practiceThe profession should promote small‐group and case‐study discussions, the clarification of values and reflective thinking among nurses. Continued professional education that provides stress relief will allow nurses to develop self‐healing and self‐care behaviours, which will enable them to overcome the fear of death while strengthening pregnancy termination counselling, leading to better quality professional care.
A qualitative study of experienced nurses' voluntary turnover: learning from their perspectives
Authors: Hayward Dana , Bungay Vicky , Wolff Angela C , MacDonald Valerie 
Published: March 2016

Aims and objectivesThe purpose of this research was to critically examine the factors that contribute to turnover of experienced nurses' including their decision to leave practice settings and seek alternate nursing employment. In this study, we explore experienced nurses' decision‐making processes and examine the personal and environmental factors that influenced their decision to leave.BackgroundNursing turnover remains a pressing problem for healthcare delivery. Turnover contributes to increased recruitment and orientation cost, reduced quality patient care and the loss of mentorship for new nurses.DesignA qualitative, interpretive descriptive approach was used to guide the study.MethodsInterviews were conducted with 12 registered nurses, averaging 16 years in practice. Participants were equally represented from an array of acute care inpatient settings. The sample drew on perspectives from point‐of‐care nurses and nurses in leadership roles, primarily charge nurses and clinical nurse educators.ResultsNurses' decisions to leave practice were influenced by several interrelated work environment and personal factors: higher patient acuity, increased workload demands, ineffective working relationships among nurses and with physicians, gaps in leadership support and negative impacts on nurses' health and well‐being. Ineffective working relationships with other nurses and lack of leadership support led nurses to feel dissatisfied and ill equipped to perform their job. The impact of high stress was evident on the health and emotional well‐being of nurses.ConclusionsIt is vital that healthcare organisations learn to minimise turnover and retain the wealth of experienced nurses in acute care settings to maintain quality patient care and contain costs.Relevance to clinical practiceThis study highlights the need for healthcare leaders to re‐examine how they promote collaborative practice, enhance supportive leadership behaviours, and reduce nurses' workplace stressors to retain the skills and knowledge of experienced nurses at the point‐of‐care.
Computer technology for self‐management: a scoping review
Authors: Jacelon Cynthia S , Gibbs Molly A , Ridgway John VE 
Published: March 2016

Aims and objectivesThe purpose of this scoping review of literature is to explore the types of computer‐based systems used for self‐management of chronic disease, the goals and success of these systems, the value added by technology integration and the target audience for these systems.BackgroundTechnology is changing the way health care is provided and the way that individuals manage their health. Individuals with chronic diseases are now able to use computer‐based systems to self‐manage their health. These systems have the ability to remind users of daily activities, and to help them recognise when symptoms are worsening and intervention is indicated. However, there are many questions about the types of systems available, the goals of these systems and the success with which individuals with chronic illness are using them.DesignThis is a scoping review in which the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed and IEEE Xplore databases were searched. A total of 303 articles were reviewed, 89 articles were read in‐depth and 30 were included in the scoping review. The Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition model was used to evaluate the value added by the technology integration.FindingsResearch on technology for self‐management was conducted in 13 countries. Data analysis identified five kinds of platforms on which the systems were based, some systems were focused on a specific disease management processes, others were not.ConclusionsFor individuals to effectively use systems to maintain maximum wellness, the systems must have a strong component of self‐management and provide the user with meaningful information regarding their health states.Relevance to clinical practiceClinicians should choose systems for their clients based on the design, components and goals of the systems.