bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Serum Visfatin Levels in Ulcerative Colitis
Authors: Dogan Serkan , Guven Kadri , Celikbilek Mehmet , Deniz Kemal , Saraymen Berkay , Gursoy Sebnem 
Published: December 2015

BackgroundPrevious studies have suggested that adipokines play a role in inflammatory bowel disease by inducing proinflammatory cytokines, but it is uncertain whether visfatin is causally involved in ulcerative colitis (UC). We evaluated visfatin levels in patients who presented with UC flares before and after treatment.MethodsIn this cohort study, we assessed 31 patients with UC in the activation period and remission in the same patients after treatment, and a healthy control group, consisting of 29 persons, at a single academic medical centre between 2010 and 2013. Disease severity was evaluated clinically using Trulove and Witt's criteria.ResultsSerum visfatin levels did not vary according to the extent of disease and were significantly higher in patients in the activation period (7.77 ± 2.41 ng/ml) than in remission (6.18 ± 2.04 ng/ml) and the healthy controls (6.54 ± 2.20 ng/ml; P < 0.01 and < 0.05, respectively). In a comparison of patients in the inactive period with the control group, there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05). To assess activation of the disease, a visfatin cut‐off point for active UC was determined as 6.40, with sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of 72%, 52%, 66.7% (43.0–85.4) and 50.0% (29.1–70.9), respectively.ConclusionsThe visfatin level was higher in the active group than in post‐treatment remission and the healthy control group. Sensitivity and specificity were similar to other inflammatory markers for assessing clinical activity, which did not improve clinical outcomes in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). These findings did not provide a rationale for assessment of UC activation.
The Value of Serum Prolidase Activity in Progression of Microalbuminuria in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Sabuncu Tevfik , Boduroglu Omer , Eren Mehmet Ali , Torun Ayse Nur , Aksoy Nurten 
Published: December 2015

BackgroundProlidase is a cytosolic exopeptidase that plays a pivotal role in collagen turnover. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is associated with structural changes in glomerular basement membrane accompanied with increased amounts of collagen. Prolidase is known to be abundant in kidney and collagen accumulation is increased in DN, so we aimed to determine the value of serum prolidase activity (SPA) in predicting the progression of nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).MethodsThirty type 2 DM patients having microalbuminuria (microalbuminuric group), 30 type 2 DM patients without albuminuria (normoalbuminuric group), and 28 healthy controls (control group) were enrolled. Study groups had similar age, sex distribution, and body mass index (BMI).ResultsMetabolic parameters, SPA and urinary microalbumin were determined. SPA was significantly higher in microalbuminuric group when compared with normoalbuminuric and control groups (P = 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively). Triglyceride levels were significantly higher and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) levels were significantly lower in microalbuminuric group compared to control group (Both P < 0.05). SPA showed a negative correlation with HDL‐C level and a positive correlation with urinary albumin excretion (r = –0.219, P < 0.05 and r = 0.39, P < 0.001 respectively). In regression analysis, albumin excretion was the sole parameter influencing SPA.ConclusionSPA appears to be higher in type 2 DM patients having microalbuminuria compared to patients without microalbuminuria and healthy controls. The pathophysiological role and the significance of SPA in predicting DN need to be further evaluated.
Diffusion‐weighted imaging: Apparent diffusion coefficient histogram analysis for detecting pathologic complete response to chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer
Authors: Choi Moon Hyung , Oh Soon Nam , Rha Sung Eun , Choi Joon‐Il , Lee Sung Hak , Jang Hong Seok , Kim Jun‐Gi , Grimm Robert , Son Yohan 
Published: December 2015

PurposeTo investigate the usefulness of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values derived from histogram analysis of the whole rectal cancer as a quantitative parameter to evaluate pathologic complete response (pCR) on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Materials and MethodsWe enrolled a total of 86 consecutive patients who had undergone surgery for rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) at our institution between July 2012 and November 2014. Two radiologists who were blinded to the final pathological results reviewed post‐CRT MRI to evaluate tumor stage. Quantitative image analysis was performed using T2‐weighted and diffusion‐weighted images independently by two radiologists using dedicated software that performed histogram analysis to assess the distribution of ADC in the whole tumor.ResultsAfter surgery, 16 patients were confirmed to have achieved pCR (18.6%). All parameters from pre‐ and post‐CRT ADC histogram showed good or excellent agreement between two readers. The minimum, 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile and mean ADC from post‐CRT ADC histogram were significantly higher in the pCR group than in the non‐pCR group for both readers. The 25th percentile value from ADC histogram in post‐CRT MRI had the best diagnostic performance for detecting pCR, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.796.ConclusionLow percentile values derived from the ADC histogram analysis of rectal cancer on MRI after CRT showed a significant difference between pCR and non‐pCR groups, demonstrating the utility of the ADC value as a quantitative and objective marker to evaluate complete pathologic response to preoperative CRT in rectal cancer. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:212–220.
Analysis of ERA‐Interim‐driven COSMO‐CLM simulations over Middle East – North Africa domain at different spatial resolutions
Authors: Bucchignani E. , Mercogliano P. , Rianna G. , Panitz H.‐J. 
Published: December 2015

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to assess the capabilities of the regional climate model (RCM) COSMO‐CLM in reproducing the main climate features of the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) domain. Two ERA‐Interim‐driven simulations were performed at 0.44° and 0.22° spatial resolution for the period 1979–2011 with an optimized model configuration. Model response has been analysed in terms of low level circulation, 2‐m temperature, precipitation and cloud cover. Evaluation was conducted with respect to a combination of available ground observations, satellite products and reanalysis. Results reveal a good accuracy of the model in reproducing the circulation and a satisfactory representation of temperature, compared with other state‐of‐art RCMs, confirming that the albedo and aerosol parameterization schemes adopted lead to a remarkable improvement in model performances. The effects of increasing spatial resolution on the quality of the results have also been investigated. A comparison between the two simulations revealed that improvements with the resolution increase have been achieved for the temperature interannual variability, for monthly precipitation mean values, for cloud cover and for the representation of extreme precipitation events.
Prospective study of vocal fold function after loss of the neuromonitoring signal in thyroid surgery: The International Neural Monitoring Study Group's POLT study
Authors: Schneider Rick , Randolph Gregory , Dionigi Gianlorenzo , Barczyński Marcin , Chiang Feng‐Yu , Triponez Frédéric , Vamvakidis Kyriakos , Brauckhoff Katrin , Musholt Thomas J. , Almquist Martin , Innaro Nadia , Jimenez‐Garcia Antonio , Kraimps Jean‐Louis , Miyauchi Akira , Wojtczak Beata , Donatini Gianluca , Lombardi Davide , Müller Uwe , Pezzullo Luciano , Ratia Tomas , Van Slycke Sam , Nguyen Thanh Phuong , Lorenz Kerstin , Sekulla Carsten , Machens Andreas , Dralle Henning 
Published: December 2015

Objectives/HypothesisIntraoperative neuromonitoring identifies recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury and gives prognostic information regarding postoperative glottic function. Loss of the neuromonitoring signal (LOS) signifies segmental type 1 or global type 2 RLN injury. This study aimed at identifying risk factors for RLN injury and determining vocal fold (VF) function initially and 6 months after definitive LOS.Study DesignProspective study encompassing 21 hospitals from 13 countries.MethodsIncluded in this study were patients with persistent intraoperative LOS.ResultsAt first postoperative laryngoscopy, early VF palsy was present in 94 of all 115 patients with LOS (81.7%): in 53 of 56 patients (94.6%) with type 1 injury and 41 of 59 patients (69.5%) with type 2 injury. In LOS type 1, women outnumbered men >5‐fold. Traction produced LOS type 1 in 38 of 56 patients (67.9%) and LOS type 2 in 54 of 59 patients (91.5%). Course of the RLN posterior and/or anterior to the inferior thyroid artery, extralaryngeal branching, or tuberculum of Zuckerkandl did not increase VF palsy rates. Permanent VF palsy rates were also lower (P = .661) after LOS type 2 than after LOS type 1: 6.8% (four of 59 patients) versus 10.7% (six of 56 patients). Intraoperative administration of steroids did not diminish postoperative VF palsy rates.ConclusionsLOS type 1 entails more severe nerve damage than LOS type 2, affecting women disproportionately. Both LOS types, being primarily associated with traction injury, are unaffected by variant neck anatomy in expert hands and unresponsive to steroids.Level of Evidence2b Laryngoscope, 126:1260–1266, 2016
Automatic digitization of pluviograph strip charts
Authors: Jaklič Aleš , Šajn Luka , Derganc Gašper , Peer Peter 
Published: December 2015

ABSTRACTAn algorithm for automatic digitization of pluviograph strip charts is presented. The rainfall signal is incrementally extracted from the scanned image of a strip chart by combining the moving average method and the curve edge following method. The mechanical properties of float‐based rain gauge were used as constraints in the algorithm design. The algorithm was tested on 58 strip chart images. The comparison between the data derived from the algorithm and the data from the Slovenian Environment Agency shows that the algorithm produces an accurate rainfall time series except for the charts that contain ink smudges. Thus, the algorithm is well suited as a main component of an interactive system that would enable visual inspection of the detected rainfall curve and its possible adjustment.
Passive radiofrequency shimming in the thighs at 3 Tesla using high permittivity materials and body coil receive uniformity correction
Authors: Brink Wyger M. , Versluis Maarten J. , Peeters Johannes M. , Börnert Peter , Webb Andrew G. 
Published: December 2015

PurposeTo explore the effects of high permittivity dielectric pads on the transmit and receive characteristics of a 3 Tesla body coil centered at the thighs, and their implications on image uniformity in receive array applications.Theory and MethodsTransmit and receive profiles of the body coil with and without dielectric pads were simulated and measured in healthy volunteers. Parallel imaging was performed using sensitivity encoding (SENSE) with and without pads. An intensity correction filter was constructed from the measured receive profile of the body coil.ResultsMeasured and simulated data show that the dielectric pads improve the transmit homogeneity of the body coil in the thighs, but decrease its receive homogeneity, which propagates into reconstruction algorithms in which the body coil is used as a reference. However, by correcting for the body coil reception profile this effect can be mitigated.ConclusionCombining high permittivity dielectric pads with an appropriate body coil receive sensitivity filter improves the image uniformity substantially compared with the situation without pads. Magn Reson Med 76:1951–1956, 2016. © 2015 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
Pregnancy with hypoplastic left lung complicated by pneumothorax and pulmonary embolism
Authors: Zainudin Lily D. , Abdul Hafidz Muhammad I. , Zakaria Ahmad F. , Mohd Zim Mohd A. , Ismail Ahmad I. , Abdul Rani Mohammed F. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractWe report a case of a 34‐year‐old lady with past history of asthma and pulmonary tuberculosis, who presented 5 weeks pregnant with acute dyspnea. Her chest X‐ray showed left‐sided complete lung collapse and concomitant right‐sided pneumothorax. The pneumothorax was initially managed conservatively with a chest tube but due to its persistence despite suction, was subsequently changed to a PneumostatTM, with which she was later discharged. She had a normal echocardiography (ejection fraction [EF] 67%) at 5 weeks of gestation but developed pulmonary hypertension (EF 55%, pulmonary arterial pressure 40.7 mmHg) as the pregnancy progressed. She delivered a healthy baby at 35 weeks via elective lower section caesarean section with spinal anesthesia. We followed her up postnatally and noted the presence of left‐sided pulmonary embolism, hypoplastic left lung, and left pulmonary artery. The management of this complex case involved a multidisciplinary effort between general medical, respiratory, obstetric, and cardiothoracic teams.
Economic Valuation of the Global Burden of Cleft Disease Averted by a Large Cleft Charity
Authors: Poenaru Dan , Lin Dan , Corlew Scott 
Published: December 2015

AbstractBackgroundThis study attempts to quantify the burden of disease averted through the global surgical work of a large cleft charity, and estimate the economic impact of this effort over a 10‐year period.MethodsAnonymized data of all primary cleft lip and cleft palate procedures in the Smile Train database were analyzed and disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) calculated using country‐specific life expectancy tables, established disability weights, and estimated success of surgery and residual disability probabilities; multiple age weighting and discounting permutations were included. Averted DALYs were calculated and gross national income (GNI) per capita was then multiplied by averted DALYs to estimate economic gains.Results548,147 primary cleft procedures were performed in 83 countries between 2001 and 2011. 547,769 records contained complete data available for the study; 58 % were cleft lip and 42 % cleft palate. Averted DALYs ranged between 1.46 and 4.95 M. The mean economic impact ranged between USD 5510 and 50,634 per person. This corresponded to a global economic impact of between USD 3.0B and 27.7B USD, depending on the DALY and GNI values used. The estimated cost of providing these procedures based on an average reimbursement rate was USD 197M (0.7–6.6 % of the estimated impact).ConclusionsThe immense economic gain realized through procedures focused on a small proportion of the surgical burden of disease highlights the importance and cost‐effectiveness of surgical treatment globally. This methodology can be applied to evaluate interventions for other conditions, and for evidence‐based health care resource allocation.
Demystifying the Sundarban tiger: novel application of conventional population estimation methods in a unique ecosystem
Authors: Roy Manjari , Qureshi Qamar , Naha Dipanjan , Sankar Kalyanasundaram , Gopal Rajesh , Jhala Yadvendradev Vikramsinh 
Published: December 2015

AbstractConserving large populations with unique adaptations is essential for minimizing extinction risks. Sundarban mangroves (>10,000 km2) are the only mangrove inhabited by tigers. Baseline information about this tiger population is lacking due to its man‐eating reputation and logistic difficulties of sampling. Herein, we adapt photographic capture‐mark‐recapture (CMR) and distance sampling to estimate tiger and prey densities. We placed baited camera stations in a typical mangrove in 2010 and 2012. We used telemetry based tiger home‐range radius (5.73 km, SE 0.72 km) to estimate effective trapping area (ETA). An effort of 407 and 1073 trap nights were exerted to photocapture 10 and 22 unique tigers in 2010 and 2012. We accounted for use of bait by modelling behaviour and heterogeneity effects in program MARK and secr package in program R. Using traditional CMR, tiger number was estimated at 11 (SE 2) and density at 4.07 (SE range 3.09–5.17) in 2010 while in 2012, tiger number was 24 (SE 3) and density 4.63 (SE range 3.92–5.40) tigers/100 km2. With likelihood based spatially explicit CMR, tiger densities were estimated at 4.08 (SE 1.51) in 2010 and 5.81 (SE 1.24) tigers/100 km2 in 2012. Using distance sampling along water channels, we estimated chital density at 5.24/km2, SE 1.23 which could potentially support 4.68 tigers/100 km2 [95 % CI (3.92, 5.57)]. Our estimates suggest that Sundarban tiger population is one of the largest in the world and therefore merits high conservation status.
Discovery and development of surotomycin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile
Authors: Knight-Connoni Victoria , Mascio Carmela , Chesnel Laurent , Silverman Jared 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
The primary challenge for treating Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) is maintenance of clinical response after the end of treatment (sustained clinical response). Disease recurrence following a positive clinical response occurs in approximately 6–25 % of patients after the first episode and in up to 65 % for subsequent recurrences. Surotomycin, a novel cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic with a core derived by Streptomyces roseosporus fermentation, disrupts C. difficile cellular membrane activity in both logarithmic and stationary phases and minimally disturbs normal gastrointestinal microbiota because of its lack of activity against Gram-negative anaerobes and facultative anaerobes. Preclinical and clinical evidence indicate that surotomycin has low oral bioavailability, allowing gastrointestinal tract concentrations to greatly exceed its minimum inhibitory concentration for C. difficile. Surotomycin is well tolerated and effective in hamster models of CDI. Phase 2 clinical evidence suggests that surotomycin (250 mg twice daily) is an effective CDI treatment, with statistically lower recurrence rates than vancomycin.
Analysis of wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) movement patterns to explain the spatial structure of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) populations
Authors: Elza Michael C. , Slover Christina , McGraw James B. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractAmerican ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is America's premier wild‐harvested, medicinal plant that inhabits the forest understory of eastern deciduous forests. Recent research revealed that birds, particularly wood thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina), disperse ginseng seeds by regurgitating viable seeds 15–37 min after consuming the berries. We carried out two studies to examine the potential effect of thrushes on spatial dispersion patterns of ginseng. First, to analyze how far wood thrushes could disperse seeds, two wood thrushes were outfitted with radio transmitters and tracked for multiple days. Second, for 28 natural populations of ginseng, we created a clustering index to quantify to what degree populations were structured into spatially separated units. To further detect spatial impacts of thrushes, we analyzed inter‐cluster distances and the overall spread of ginseng populations. Over the time period in which wood thrushes retain ginseng in their guts, the seeds would be dispersed a mean distance of 15.2–21.7 m. The observed distances ranged from 0–96.6 m. These distances were comparable to the overall spread metric for ginseng populations with wood thrushes, which had increased spacing in comparison to those without wood thrushes. The mean dispersion index differed for populations with and without wood thrushes. It is imperative to understand the interaction between wood thrushes and ginseng to facilitate conservation, as both species are experiencing population declines. Dispersal of seeds by wood thrushes could play an important role in allowing species such as ginseng to respond to climate change, deer browse, overharvesting, and other environmental stresses.
Legislating for Otherness: Proscription powers and parliamentary discourse
Authors: Jarvis Lee , Legrand Tim 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThis article offers a discursive analysis of UK Parliamentary debate on the proscription of terrorist organisations between 2002 and 2014. It argues that these debates play an important constitutive role in the (re)production of national Self and terrorist Other that remains largely overlooked in existing work on this counter-terrorism mechanism. The article begins with an overview of this literature, arguing it is overwhelmingly oriented around questions of efficacy and ethics. While important, this focus has concentrated academic attention on the causal question of what proscriptiondoes, rather than the constitutive question of what ismade possibleby proscription. The article’s second section situates our analysis within discursive work in International Relations, upon which we investigate three pervasive themes in Parliamentary debate: (i) Constructions of terrorism and its threat; (ii) Constructions of specific groups being proscribed; and, (iii) Constructions of the UK Self. We argue that these debates (re)produce an antagonistic relationship between a liberal, open, and responsible UK mindful of cultural and religious difference, on the one hand. And, on the other, its illiberal, irrational terrorist Others conducting immoral violences on behalf of particularistic identity claims. This analysis, we conclude, has significance for contemporary debate on security politics, as well as for studies of counter-terrorism and international politics more generally.
Genetic diversity of theMycobacterium tuberculosisBeijing family based on multiple genotyping profiles
Authors: LIU Y. , WANG S. , LU H. , CHEN W. , WANG W. 
Published: December 2015

SUMMARYAmong the most prevalentMycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb) strains worldwide is the Beijing genotype, which has caused large outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB). Characteristics facilitating the dissemination of Beijing family strains remain unknown, but they are presumed to have been acquired through evolution of the lineage. To explore the genetic diversity of the Beijing family Mtb and explore the discriminatory ability of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) loci in several regions of East Asia, a cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 163 Beijing strains collected from registered TB patients between 1 June 2009 and 31 November 2010 in Funing County, China. The isolated strains were analysed by 15-MIRU-VNTR loci typing and compared with published MIRU-VNTR profiles of Beijing strains. Synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms at 10 chromosomal positions were also analysed. The combination of SNP and MIRU-VNTR typing may be used to assess Mtb genotypes in areas dominated by Beijing strains. The modern subfamily in Shanghai overlapped with strains from other countries, whereas the ancient subfamily was genetically differentiated across several countries. Modern subfamilies, especially ST10, were prevalent. Qub11b and four other loci (MIRU 26, Mtub21, Qub26, Mtub04) could be used to discriminate Beijing strains.