bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Alcohol use, viral hepatitis and liver fibrosis among HIV‐positive persons in West Africa: a cross‐sectional study
Authors: Jaquet Antoine , Wandeler Gilles , Nouaman Marcellin , Ekouevi Didier K , Tine Judicaël , Patassi Akouda , Coffie Patrick A , Tanon Aristophane , Seydi Moussa , Attia Alain , Dabis François 
Published: March 2017

AbstractIntroduction: Liver fibrosis is often the first stage of liver disease in people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in industrialized countries. However, little is known about liver fibrosis and its correlates among PLWHIV in sub‐Saharan Africa.Methods: The study was undertaken in three HIV referral clinics in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo. Enrolled PLWHIV underwent a non‐invasive assessment of liver fibrosis combining liver stiffness measure (LSM) with transient elastography and the aspartate aminotransferase‐to‐platelet ratio index (APRI). Significant liver fibrosis was defined as LSM ≥7.1 kPa. Patients were screened for alcohol use (alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT)‐C questionnaire), hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigen, hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) antibody and anti‐hepatitis C (HCV) antibody. A logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with significant liver fibrosis.Results: A total of 807 PLWHIV were screened at a median age of 43 years (interquartile range (IQR): 36–50). Their median CD4 count was 393 cells/mm3 (IQR: 234–563) and 682 (84.5%) were on antiretroviral therapy (ART). The prevalence of significant fibrosis was 5.3% (3.8–6.7). Infections with HBV and HCV were identified in 74 (9.2%) and nine (1.1%) participants. Main factors associated with liver fibrosis were alcohol use (AUDIT‐C >6): (odds ratio (OR) = 4.0, confidence interval (CI): 1.2–14.0), (Ref. AUDIT‐C <4) and HBV infection (OR = 2.9, CI: 1.2–7.2). Of the 74 patients positively screened for HBV, 50.0% were on a tenofovir‐based ART regimen. Overall, 10% of HIV/HBV coinfected patients were detected with a positive HDV antibody with a higher prevalence in patients with a significant liver fibrosis (43.0%) compared to others (6.3%) (p = 0.01).Conclusions: Considering the WHO recommendations to screen for HBV infection and treat co‐infected patients with tenofovir‐based ART, screening of alcohol use and brief interventions to prevent alcohol abuse should be implemented in West Africa, especially in HBV/HIV co‐infected patients.
Client uptake of safer conception strategies: implementation outcomes from the Sakh'umndeni Safer Conception Clinic in South Africa
Authors: Schwartz Sheree R , Bassett Jean , Holmes Charles B , Yende Nompumelelo , Phofa Rebecca , Sanne Ian , Van Rie Annelies 
Published: March 2017

AbstractIntroduction: Implementation of safer conception services for HIV‐affected couples within primary healthcare clinics in resource‐limited settings remains limited. We review service utilization and safer conception strategy uptake during the first three years of Sakh'umndeni, which is a safer conception clinic in South Africa.Methods: Sakh'umndeni is located at Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre, a high‐volume primary healthcare clinic in northern Johannesburg. Men and women desiring to conceive in less than or equal to six months and in relationships in which one or both partners are living with HIV are eligible for safer conception services. Clients receive a baseline health assessment and counselling around periconception HIV risk reduction strategies and choose which strategies they plan to use. Clients are followed‐up monthly. We describe client service utilization and uptake and continuation of safer conception methods. Factors associated with male partner attendance are assessed using robust Poisson regression.Results: Overall 440 individuals utilized the service including 157 couples in which both partners attended (55%) and 126 unaccompanied female partners. Over half of the couples (55%) represented were in serodiscordant/unknown status relationships. Higher economic status and HIV‐negative status of the women increased male partner involvement, while HIV‐negative status of the men decreased male involvement. Regarding safer conception strategies, uptake of antiretroviral therapy initiation (90%), vaginal self‐insemination among partnerships with HIV‐negative men (75%) and timed condomless intercourse strategies (48%) were variable, but generally high. Overall uptake of pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was 23% and was lower among HIV‐negative men than women (7% vs. 44%, p < 0.001). Male medical circumcision (MMC) was used by 28% of HIV‐negative men. Over 80% of clients took up at least one recommended safer conception strategy. Continuation of selected strategies over attempted conception attempts was >60%.Conclusions: Safer conception strategies are generally used by clients per recommendations. High uptake of strategies suggests that the proposed combination prevention methods are acceptable to clients and appropriate for scale‐up; however, low uptake of PrEP and MMC among HIV‐negative men needs improvement. Targeted community‐based efforts to reach men unlinked to safer conception services are needed, alongside streamlined approaches for service scale‐up within existing HIV and non‐HIV service delivery platforms.
Achieving pregnancy safely for HIV‐serodiscordant couples: a social ecological approach
Authors: Saleem Haneefa T , Narasimhan Manjulaa , Denison Julie A , Kennedy Caitlin E 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe recognition and fulfilment of the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of all individuals and couples affected by HIV, including HIV‐serodiscordant couples, requires intervention strategies aimed at achieving safe and healthy pregnancies and preventing undesired pregnancies. Reducing risk of horizontal and vertical transmission and addressing HIV‐related infertility are key components of such interventions. In this commentary, we present challenges and opportunities for achieving safe pregnancies for serodiscordant couples through a social ecological lens. At the individual level, knowledge (e.g. of HIV status, assisted reproductive technologies) and skills (e.g. adhering to antiretroviral therapy or pre‐exposure prophylaxis) are important. At the couple level, communication between partners around HIV status disclosure, fertility desires and safer pregnancy is required. Within the structural domain, social norms, stigma and discrimination from families, community and social networks influence individual and couple experiences. The availability and quality of safer conception and fertility support services within the healthcare system remains essential, including training for healthcare providers and strengthening integration of SRHR and HIV services. Policies, legislation and funding can improve access to SRHR services. A social ecological framework allows us to examine interactions between levels and how interventions at multiple levels can better support HIV‐serodiscordant couples to achieve safe pregnancies. Strategies to achieve safer pregnancies should consider interrelated challenges at different levels of a social ecological framework. Interventions across multiple levels, implemented concurrently, have the potential to maximize impact and ensure the full SRHR of HIV‐serodiscordant couples.
From big data to diagnosis and prognosis: gene expression signatures in liver hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Yang Hong , Zhang Xin , Cai Xiao-yong , Wen Dong-yue , Ye Zhi-hua , Liang Liang , Zhang Lu , Wang Han-lin , Chen Gang , Feng Zhen-bo 
Published: March 2017

BackgroundLiver hepatocellular carcinoma accounts for the overwhelming majority of primary liver cancers and its belated diagnosis and poor prognosis call for novel biomarkers to be discovered, which, in the era of big data, innovative bioinformatics and computational techniques can prove to be highly helpful in.MethodsBig data aggregated from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Natural Language Processing were integrated to generate differentially expressed genes. Relevant signaling pathways of differentially expressed genes went through Gene Ontology enrichment analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Panther pathway enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction network. The pathway ranked high in the enrichment analysis was further investigated, and selected genes with top priority were evaluated and assessed in terms of their diagnostic and prognostic values.ResultsA list of 389 genes was generated by overlapping genes from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Natural Language Processing. Three pathways demonstrated top priorities, and the one with specific associations with cancers, ‘pathways in cancer,’ was analyzed with its four highlighted genes, namely, BIRC5, E2F1, CCNE1, and CDKN2A, which were validated using Oncomine. The detection pool composed of the four genes presented satisfactory diagnostic power with an outstanding integrated AUC of 0.990 (95% CI [0.982–0.998],P < 0.001, sensitivity: 96.0%, specificity: 96.5%). BIRC5 (P = 0.021) and CCNE1 (P = 0.027) were associated with poor prognosis, while CDKN2A (P = 0.066) and E2F1 (P = 0.088) demonstrated no statistically significant differences.DiscussionThe study illustrates liver hepatocellular carcinoma gene signatures, related pathways and networks from the perspective of big data, featuring the cancer-specific pathway with priority, ‘pathways in cancer.’ The detection pool of the four highlighted genes, namely BIRC5, E2F1, CCNE1 and CDKN2A, should be further investigated given its high evidence level of diagnosis, whereas the prognostic powers of BIRC5 and CCNE1 are equally attractive and worthy of attention.
Impact of eliminating fracture intersection nodes in multiphase compositional flow simulation
Authors: Walton Kenneth M. , Unger Andre J. A. , Ioannidis Marios A. , Parker Beth L. 
Published: March 2017

AbstractAlgebraic elimination of nodes at discrete fracture intersections via the star‐delta technique has proven to be a valuable tool for making multiphase numerical simulations more tractable and efficient. This study examines the assumptions of the star‐delta technique and exposes its effects in a 3‐D, multiphase context for advective and dispersive/diffusive fluxes. Key issues of relative permeability‐saturation‐capillary pressure (kr‐S‐Pc) and capillary barriers at fracture‐fracture intersections are discussed. This study uses a multiphase compositional, finite difference numerical model in discrete fracture network (DFN) and discrete fracture‐matrix (DFM) modes. It verifies that the numerical model replicates analytical solutions and performs adequately in convergence exercises (conservative and decaying tracer, one and two‐phase flow, DFM and DFN domains). The study culminates in simulations of a two‐phase laboratory experiment in which a fluid invades a simple fracture intersection. The experiment and simulations evoke different invading fluid flow paths by varying fracture apertures as oil invades water‐filled fractures and as water invades air‐filled fractures. Results indicate that the node elimination technique as implemented in numerical model correctly reproduces the long‐term flow path of the invading fluid, but that short‐term temporal effects of the capillary traps and barriers arising from the intersection node are lost.
Tsunamigenic potential of a newly discovered active fault zone in the outer Messina Strait, Southern Italy
Authors: Fu Lili , Heidarzadeh Mohammad , Cukur Deniz , Chiocci Francesco L. , Ridente Domenico , Gross Felix , Bialas Jörg , Krastel Sebastian 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe 1908 Messina tsunami was the most catastrophic tsunami hitting the coastline of Southern Italy in the younger past. The source of this tsunami, however, is still heavily debated, and both rupture along a fault and a slope failure have been postulated as potential origin of the tsunami. Here we report a newly discovered active Fiumefreddo‐Melito di Porto Salvo Fault Zone (F‐MPS_FZ), which is located in the outer Messina Strait in a proposed landslide source area of the 1908 Messina tsunami. Tsunami modeling showed that this fault zone would produce devastating tsunamis by assuming slip amounts of ≥5 m. An assumed slip of up to 17 m could even generate a tsunami comparable to the 1908 Messina tsunami, but we do not consider the F‐MPS_FZ as a source for the 1908 Messina tsunami because its E‐W strike contradicts seismological observations of the 1908 Messina earthquake. Future researches on the F‐MPS_FZ, however, may contribute to the tsunami risk assessment in the Messina Strait.
L
utispora
Authors: Shiratori‐Takano Hatsumi , Ueda Kenji 
Published: March 2017

Lu.ti.spo'ra. L. n.
lutum
mud, sludge; Gr. fem. n.
spora
a seed and, in biology, a spore; N.L. fem. n.
Lutispora
a spore‐forming organism that lives in anaerobic sludge.

Firmicutes / Clostridia / Clostridiales / Gracilibacteraceae / Lutispora
Straight or slightly curved rods, about 0.6–0.8 × 5.0–8.5 µm. Gram‐stain negative, but Gram‐positive cell‐wall structure. Weakly motile due to laterally inserted flagella. Spores are oval and subterminal. Obligately anaerobic. Colonies are pale yellow, round, and 1.0–1.5 mm in diameter.

DNA G
+
C content (mol%)
: 36.2 (HPLC).

Type species
:
Lutispora thermophila
Shiratrori, Ohiwa, Ikeno, Ayame, Kataoka, Miya, Beppu and Ueda 2008, 968
VP
.
Internal dosimetry for radioembolization therapy with Yttrium‐90 microspheres
Authors: Fallahpoor Maryam , Abbasi Mehrshad , Parach Ali Asghar , Kalantari Faraz 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe absorbed doses in the liver and adjacent viscera in Yttrium‐90 radioembolization therapy for metastatic liver lesions are not well‐documented. We sought for a clinically practical way to determine the dosimetry of this advent treatment. Six different female XCAT BMIs and seven different male XCAT BMIs were generated. Using Monte Carlo GATE code simulation, the total of 100MBq 90Y was deposited uniformly in the source organ, liver. Self‐irradiation and absorbed doses in lung, kidney and bone marrow were calculated. The mean energy of Yittrium‐90 (i.e., 0.937 MeV) was used. The S‐values and equivalent doses in target organs were estimated. The dose absorbed in the liver was between 84 and 53 Gy and below the target of 80 to 150 Gy. The absorbed dose in the bone marrow, lungs, and kidneys are very low and below 0.1 , 0.4, and 0.5 Gy respectively. Our study indicates that larger activities than the conventional dose of 3 GBq may be both required and safe. Further confirmations in clinical settings are needed.
PMP22 exon 4 deletion causes ER retention of PMP22 and a gain‐of‐function allele in CMT1E
Authors: Wang David S. , Wu Xingyao , Bai Yunhong , Zaidman Craig , Grider Tiffany , Kamholz John , Lupski James R. , Connolly Anne M. , Shy Michael E. 
Published: March 2017

AbstractObjectiveTo determine whether predicted fork stalling and template switching (FoSTeS) during mitosis deletes exon 4 in peripheral myelin protein 22 KD (PMP22) and causes gain‐of‐function mutation associated with peripheral neuropathy in a family with Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease type 1E.MethodsTwo siblings previously reported to have genomic rearrangements predicted to involve exon 4 of PMP22 were evaluated clinically and by electrophysiology. Skin biopsies from the proband were studied by RT‐PCR to determine the effects of the exon 4 rearrangements on exon 4 mRNA expression in myelinating Schwann cells. Transient transfection studies with wild‐type and mutant PMP22 were performed in Cos7 and RT4 cells to determine the fate of the resultant mutant protein.ResultsBoth affected siblings had a sensorimotor dysmyelinating neuropathy with severely slow nerve conduction velocities (<10 m/sec). RT‐PCR studies of Schwann cell RNA from one of the siblings demonstrated a complete in‐frame deletion of PMP22 exon 4 (PMP22Δ4). Transfection studies demonstrated that PMP22Δ4 protein is retained within the endoplasmic reticulum and not transported to the plasma membrane.ConclusionsOur results confirm that that FoSTeS‐mediated genomic rearrangement produced a deletion of exon 4 of PMP22, resulting in expression of both PMP22 mRNA and protein lacking this sequence. In addition, we provide experimental evidence for endoplasmic reticulum retention of the mutant protein suggesting a gain‐of‐function mutational mechanism consistent with the observed CMT1E in this family. PMP22Δ4 is another example of a mutated myelin protein that is misfolded and contributes to the pathogenesis of the neuropathy.
Asymmetric Strecker Reactions Catalyzed by Thiourea Phosphonium and Ammonium Salts
Authors: Wang Hongyu , Wang Kaiye , Ren Yanfei , Li Na , Tang Bo , Zhao Gang 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe application of asymmetric phase‐transfer catalysis to the Strecker reaction of ketimines was realized utilizing bifunctional thiourea‐phosphonium salts. The asymmetric Strecker reaction of aldimines was also realized utilizing quaternary ammonium salts derived from amino acids.magnified image
Access to Fluorescent Azines from N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Precursors and N‐Tosylhydrazones
Authors: Wei Siping , Li Shuangxun , Chen Changyou , He Zhonghong , Du Xi , Wang Li , Zhang Chun , Wang Qin , Pu Lin 
Published: March 2017

AbstractAn efficient synthesis of azines from the reaction of N‐heterocyclic carbene precursors with N‐tosylhydrazones has been developed. This method avoids the direct use of diazo compounds and allows the synthesis of structurally diverse azines. An azine was further found to exhibit strong yellow fluorescence and shows promise as a reagent for biological imaging.magnified image
Police work stressors and cardiac vagal control
Authors: Andrew Michael E. , Violanti John M. , Gu Ja K. , Fekedulegn Desta , Li Shengqiao , Hartley Tara A. , Charles Luenda E. , Mnatsakanova Anna , Miller Diane B. , Burchfiel Cecil M. 
Published: March 2017

AbstractObjectivesThis study examines relationships between the frequency and intensity of police work stressors and cardiac vagal control, estimated using the high frequency component of heart rate variability (HRV).METHODSThis is a cross‐sectional study of 360 officers from the Buffalo New York Police Department. Police stress was measured using the Spielberger police stress survey, which includes exposure indices created as the product of the self‐evaluation of how stressful certain events were and the self‐reported frequency with which they occurred. Vagal control was estimated using the high frequency component of resting HRV calculated in units of milliseconds squared and reported in natural log scale. Associations between police work stressors and vagal control were examined using linear regression for significance testing and analysis of covariance for descriptive purposes, stratified by gender, and adjusted for age and race/ethnicity.RESULTSThere were no significant associations between police work stressor exposure indices and vagal control among men. Among women, the inverse associations between the lack of support stressor exposure and vagal control were statistically significant in adjusted models for indices of exposure over the past year (lowest stressor quartile: M = 5.57, 95% CI 5.07 to 6.08, and highest stressor quartile: M = 5.02, 95% CI 4.54 to 5.51, test of association from continuous linear regression of vagal control on lack of support stressor β = −0.273, P = .04).CONCLUSIONSThis study supports an inverse association between lack of organizational support and vagal control among female but not male police officers.
Lewis‐Base‐Catalyzed Alkylation Reaction of 4‐Hydroxycoumarins with Allenoates: Regioselective Synthesis of 2H‐[3,2‐c] Furocoumarins and 4‐Hydroxycoumarin Vinyl Ether Derivatives
Authors: Su Qiuling , Qian Houjun , Li Zhengyi , Sun Xiaoqiang , Wang Zhiming 
Published: March 2017

AbstractA milder, more regioselective and practical approach to C3 or O‐alkylation reaction of 4‐hydroxycoumarins has been established. Both 2H‐[3,2‐c] furocoumarins and 4‐hydroxycoumarin vinyl ether derivatives could be efficiently prepared by alkylating 4‐hydroxycoumarins with electron‐deficient allenoates catalyzed by PPh3 and DBU, respectively. The reaction outcomes can be controlled by changing the catalysts, starting with the same reaction substrates. Possible reaction mechanisms have also been proposed
Unexpected Photodegradation of a Phosphaketenyl‐Substituted Germyliumylidene Borate Complex
Authors: Xiong Yun , Yao Shenglai , Szilvási Tibor , Ballestero‐Martínez Ernesto , Grützmacher Hansjörg , Driess Matthias 
Published: March 2017

AbstractThe first zwitterionic borata‐bis(NHC)‐stabilized phosphaketenyl germyliumylidene [(L2(O=C=P)Ge:] 2 (L2=(p‐tolyl)2B[1‐(1‐adamantyl)‐3‐yl‐2‐ylidene]2) has been synthesized by salt‐metathesis reaction of [L2(Cl)Ge:] 1 with sodium phosphaethynolate [(dioxane)nNaOCP]. Unexpectedly, its exposure to UV light affords, after reductive elimination of the entire PCO group, the unprecedented [L2Ge‐GeL2] complex 3 in 54 % yields bearing the Ge22+ ion with Ge in the oxidation state +1. In addition, the 1,3‐digermylium‐2,4‐diphosphacyclobutadiene [L2Ge(μ‐P)2GeL2] 4 and bis(germyliumylidenyl)‐substituted diphosphene [(L2Ge‐P=P‐GeL2)] 5 could also be obtained in moderate yields. The formation of 3–5 and their electronic structures have been elucidated with DFT calculations.
Synthesis of graphene nanosheets modified with the Fe3O4@ phenol formaldehyde resin or PFR nanoparticles for their application in bio‐imagine and thermal treatment
Authors: Yang Ping , Hu Jun , Zhou Xing‐Fu , Xia Jun , Shi Jian‐Jun , He Jie 
Published: March 2017

ABSTRACTTwo different types of graphene‐based composites have been synthesized with simple assays. The multifunctional composites were obtained through loading Fe3O4@phenol formaldehyde resin (PFR) nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized with Fe3O4 NPs, hexamethylene‐tetramine, and phenol onto the surface of graphene oxide sheets in the presence of coupling agent. The Fe3O4@PFR loaded graphene oxide composites bring several merits. It prevents PFR NPs aggregation due to the existed graphene oxide but also endows the composites photothermal conversion property. Furthermore, the graphene‐wrapped PFR composites were prepared by mixing oxide graphene and PFR NPs at 110 °C by means of the good reduction of the hydroxyl group on the surface of PFR NPs to graphene. Under the assistance of chitosan, a building block consists of graphene‐wrapped PFR composites could be obtained. Thus, an ideal method may be developed to synthesize graphene‐wrapped PFR composites for constructing building blocks. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45007.
Development of phase morphology in immiscible poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile)/poly(butylene terephthalate) nanoblends: Mechanical properties and effect of the compatibilizer
Authors: Costa Lidiane Cristina , Ambrósio José Donato , Chinelatto Marcelo Aparecido , Junior Elias Hage 
Published: March 2017

ABSTRACTNanoblends were obtained from poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (SAN) as a matrix, and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) was used as a nanodispersed phase. Compatibilized SAN/PBT blends were prepared by reactive extrusion, and the PBT concentrations ranged between 3 and 30 wt %. Nanoblends were obtained for up to 10 wt % PBT concentrations in the presence of the compatibilizer. With 20 and 30 wt % PBT, the extruded material presented a droplet dispersed phase. The same blends were subjected to an injection‐molding process, which provided a cocontinuous phase morphology. The influence of the concentration of the dispersed phase and the type of morphology on the mechanical behavior of tensile test, flexural test, impact test, and deflection temperature of the blends was analyzed. The results show an important reduction in the particle size of the dispersed phase, which was due to the presence of the compatibilizer. Furthermore, the type of morphology and an excess of compatibilizer exerted a stronger influence on the mechanical properties than the particle size of the dispersed phase. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45030.