bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies for multiple myeloma
Authors: Mikkilineni Lekha , Kochenderfer James N. 
Published: September 2017

AbstractMultiple myeloma (MM) is a nearly always incurable malignancy of plasma cells, so new approaches to treatment are needed. T-cell therapies are a promising approach for treating MM, with a mechanism of action different than those of standard MM treatments. Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are fusion proteins incorporating antigen-recognition domains and T-cell signaling domains. T cells genetically engineered to express CARs can specifically recognize antigens. Success of CAR-T cells (CAR-Ts) against leukemia and lymphoma has encouraged development of CAR-T therapies for MM. Target antigens for CARs must be expressed on malignant cells, but expression on normal cells must be absent or limited. B-cell maturation antigen is expressed by normal and malignant plasma cells. CAR-Ts targeting B-cell maturation antigen have demonstrated significant antimyeloma activity in early clinical trials. Toxicities in these trials, including cytokine release syndrome, have been similar to toxicities observed in CAR-T trials for leukemia. Targeting postulated CD19+ myeloma stem cells with anti-CD19 CAR-Ts is a novel approach to MM therapy. MM antigens including CD138, CD38, signaling lymphocyte–activating molecule 7, and κ light chain are under investigation as CAR targets. MM is genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous, so targeting of >1 antigen might often be required for effective treatment of MM with CAR-Ts. Integration of CAR-Ts with other myeloma therapies is an important area of future research. CAR-T therapies for MM are at an early stage of development but have great promise to improve MM treatment.
Effect of Comorbidity on Prostate Cancer–Specific Mortality: A Prospective Observational Study
Authors: Rajan Prabhakar , Sooriakumaran Prasanna , Nyberg Tommy , Akre Olof , Carlsson Stefan , Egevad Lars , Steineck Gunnar , Wiklund N. Peter 
Published: September 2017

Purpose To determine the effect of comorbidity on prostate cancer (PCa)–specific mortality across treatment types. Patients and Methods These are the results of a population-based observational study in Sweden from 1998 to 2012 of 118,543 men who were diagnosed with PCa with a median follow-up of 8.3 years (interquartile range, 5.2 to 11.5 years) until death from PCa or other causes. Patients were categorized by patient characteristics (marital status, educational level) and tumor characteristics (serum prostate-specific antigen, tumor grade and clinical stage) and by treatment type (radical prostatectomy, radical radiotherapy, androgen deprivation therapy, and watchful waiting). Data were stratified by Charlson comorbidity index (0, 1, 2, or ≥ 3). Mortality from PCa and other causes and after stabilized inverse probability weighting adjustments for clinical patient and tumor characteristics and treatment type was determined. Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios. Results In the complete unadjusted data set, we observed an effect of increased comorbidity on PCa-specific and other-cause mortality. After adjustments for patient and tumor characteristics, the effect of comorbidity on PCa-specific mortality was lost but maintained for other-cause mortality. After additional adjustment for treatment type, we again failed to observe an effect for comorbidity on PCa-specific mortality, although it was maintained for other-cause mortality. Conclusion This large observational study suggests that comorbidity affects other cause–mortality but not PCa-specific– mortality after accounting for patient and tumor characteristics and treatment type. Regardless of radical treatment type (radical prostatectomy or radical radiotherapy), increasing comorbidity does not seem to significantly affect the risk of dying from PCa. Consequently, differences in oncologic outcomes that were observed in population-based comparative effectiveness studies of PCa treatments may not be a result of the varying distribution of comorbidity among treatment groups.
Preventing Mistransfusions: An Evaluation of Institutional Knowledge and a Response
Authors: MacDougall Nickolas , Dong Fanglong , Broussard Latoya , Comunale Mark E. 
Published: September 2017

BACKGROUND:
Blood product mistransfusions occur when a process error causes transfusion of incompatible blood products. These events are known sources of negative patient outcomes. One such event demonstrated an institutional knowledge gap and an opportunity to reduce this source of transfusion errors. The focus of this study was to evaluate the application of point of care cognitive aids to bridge potentially lethal knowledge gaps in blood product to patient compatibility.

METHODS:
A patient-donor ABO antigen compatibility grid for red blood cells (RBC) and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) was developed for creation of a cognitive aid and a blood product safety quiz. Participants included 117 registered nurses and postgraduate medical interns who were given 2 minutes to complete the quiz for establishing institutional controls. A separate group of 111 registered nurses and interns were given the same timed quiz twice, without and then with a blood product compatibility cognitive aid. An analysis of covariance was used to evaluate without cognitive aid versus with cognitive aid quiz results while taking the specialty (nurse versus interns) and baseline score into consideration. The blood bank adopted the grid as a forcing function to be completed before release of blood products.

RESULTS:
The correct RBC answer percentage increased from 84.7% to 98.3% without and with cognitive aid (average improvement 13.6%, standard deviation [SD] = 18.3%, 95% confidence interval, 10.1%–17.1%, P < .0001, Figure 3); the correct FFP answer percentage increased from 54.2% to 99.6% without and with cognitive aid (average improvement 45.4%, SD = 20.1%, 95% confidence interval, 41.7%–49.2%, P < .0001). Participants with lower baseline RBC and FFP score showed better improvement in the correct answer percentage for RBC and FFP (P < .001), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:
The use of a cognitive aid for determining blood product ABO compatibility may improve performance during a time-limited test for matching correct patient and blood product ABO type. The use of the cognitive aid as a “forcing function” before the release of blood from the blood bank and before transfusion at the bedside may reduce transfusion mismatch associated with gaps in ABO compatibility knowledge.
Field swimming behavior in largemouth bass deviates from predictions based on economy and propulsive efficiency
Authors: Han Angela X. , Berlin Caroline , Ellerby David J. 
Published: September 2017

ABSTRACTLocomotion is energetically expensive. This may create selection pressures that favor economical locomotor strategies, such as the adoption of low-cost speeds and efficient propulsive movements. For swimming fish, the energy expended to travel a unit distance, or cost of transport (COT), has a U-shaped relationship to speed. The relationship between propulsive kinematics and speed, summarized by the Strouhal number (St=fA/U, where f is tail beat frequency, A is tail tip amplitude in m and U is swimming speed in m s−1), allows for maximal propulsive efficiency where 0.2&lt;St&lt;0.4. Largemouth bass adopted field speeds that were generally below the range predicted to minimize their COT. This may reflect speed modulation to meet competing functional demands such as enabling effective prey detection and capture. St exceeded the optimal range for the lowest observed swimming speeds. Mechanical and physiological constraints may prevent adoption of efficient St during low-speed swimming.
Innate colour preference, individual learning and memory retention in the ant Camponotus blandus
Authors: Yilmaz Ayse , Dyer Adrian G. , Rössler Wolfgang , Spaethe Johannes 
Published: September 2017

ABSTRACT
Ants are a well-characterized insect model for the study of visual learning and orientation, but the extent to which colour vision is involved in these tasks remains unknown. We investigated the colour preference, learning and memory retention of Camponotus blandus foragers under controlled laboratory conditions. Our results show that C. blandus foragers exhibit a strong innate preference for ultraviolet (UV, 365 nm) over blue (450 nm) and green (528 nm) wavelengths. The ants can learn to discriminate 365 nm from either 528 nm or 450 nm, independent of intensity changes. However, they fail to discriminate between 450 nm and 528 nm. Modelling of putative colour spaces involving different numbers of photoreceptor types revealed that colour discrimination performance of individual ants is best explained by dichromacy, comprising a short-wavelength (UV) receptor with peak sensitivity at about 360 nm, and a long-wavelength receptor with peak sensitivity between 470 nm and 560 nm. Foragers trained to discriminate blue or green from UV light are able to retain the learned colour information in an early mid-term (e-MTM), late mid-term (l-MTM), early long-term (e-LTM) and late long-term (l-LTM) memory from where it can be retrieved after 1 h, 12 h, 24 h, 3 days and 7 days after training, indicating that colour learning may induce different memory phases in ants. Overall, our results show that ants can use chromatic information in a way that should promote efficient foraging in complex natural environments.
pH control in the midgut of Aedes
aegypti under different nutritional conditions
Authors: Nepomuceno Denise Barguil , Santos Vânia Cristina , Araújo Ricardo Nascimento , Pereira Marcos Horácio , Sant'Anna Maurício Roberto , Moreira Luciano Andrade , Gontijo Nelder Figueiredo 
Published: September 2017

ABSTRACT
Aedes aegypti is one of the most important disease vectors in the world. Because their gut is the first site of interaction with pathogens, it is important to understand A. aegypti gut physiology. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of pH control in the midgut of A. aegypti females under different nutritional conditions. We found that unfed females have an acidic midgut (pH ∼6). The midgut of unfed insects is actively maintained at pH 6 regardless of the ingestion of either alkaline or acidic buffered solutions. V-ATPases are responsible for acidification after ingestion of alkaline solutions. In blood-fed females, the abdominal midgut becomes alkaline (pH 7.54), and the luminal pH decreases slightly throughout blood digestion. Only ingested proteins were able to trigger this abrupt increase in abdominal pH. The ingestion of amino acids, even at high concentrations, did not induce alkalinisation. During blood digestion, the thoracic midgut remains acidic, becoming a suitable compartment for carbohydrate digestion, which is in accordance with the higher alpha-glucolytic activity detected in this compartment. Ingestion of blood releases alkalising hormones in the haemolymph, which induce alkalinisation in ex vivo preparations. This study shows that adult A. aegypti females have a very similar gut physiology to that previously described for Lutzomyia longipalpis. It is likely that all haematophagous Nematocera exhibit the same type of physiological behaviour.
Solar-powered ventilation of African termite mounds
Authors: Ocko Samuel A. , King Hunter , Andreen David , Bardunias Paul , Turner J. Scott , Soar Rupert , Mahadevan L. 
Published: September 2017

ABSTRACT
How termite mounds function to facilitate climate control is still only partially understood. Recent experimental evidence in the mounds of a single species, the south Asian termite Odontotermes obesus, suggests that the daily oscillations of radiant heating associated with diurnal insolation patterns drive convective flow within them. How general this mechanism is remains unknown. To probe this, we consider the mounds of the African termite Macrotermes michaelseni, which thrives in a very different environment. By directly measuring air velocities and temperatures within the mound, we see that the overall mechanisms and patterns involved are similar to that in the south Asian species. However, there are also some notable differences between the physiology of these mounds associated with the temporal variations in radiant heating patterns and CO2 dynamics. Because of the difference between direct radiant heating driven by the position of the sun in African conditions, and the more shaded south Asian environments, we see changes in the convective flows in the two types of mounds. Furthermore, we also see that the south Asian mounds show a significant overturning of stratified gases, once a day, while the African mounds have a relatively uniform concentration of CO2. Overall, our observations show that despite these differences, termite architectures can harness periodic solar heating to drive ventilation inside them in very different environments, functioning as an external lung, with clear implications for human engineering.
Improving HIV Early Infant Diagnosis Supply Chains in Sub-Saharan Africa: Models and Application to Mozambique
Authors: Jónasson Jónas Oddur , Deo Sarang , Gallien Jérémie 
Published: September 2017

Early diagnosis of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among infants born to HIV-infected mothers is critical because roughly 50% of untreated infected infants die before the age of two years. Yet most countries in sub-Saharan Africa experience significant delays in diagnosis because of operational inefficiencies in early infant diagnosis (EID) networks. We develop a two-part modeling framework relying on optimization and simulation to generate operational improvements in the assignment of clinics to laboratories and the allocation of capacity across laboratories, and to evaluate the associated impact on the number of infants initiating treatment. Applying our methodology to EID program data from Mozambique, we validate our simulation model and estimate that optimally reassigning clinics to labs would decrease the average sample turnaround time (TAT) by 11% and increase the number of infected infants starting treatment by about 4% relative to the current system. Furthermore, consolidating all diagnostic capacity in one centralized lab would decrease average TATs by an estimated 22% and increase the number of infected infants initiating treatment by 7%. Our sensitivity analysis suggests that the consolidation of capacity in a single location would remain near optimal across a wide range of laboratory utilization levels in Mozambique. However, this full consolidation solution is dominated by configurations with two or more labs for EID networks with average transportation times larger than those currently observed in Mozambique by at least 15%. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.2017.1646 .
Pirates, Captives, and Conversions: Rereading British Stories of White Slavery in the Early Modern Mediterranean
Authors: Hartner Marcus 
Published: September 2017

AbstractWhile captivity narratives have long been recognized as an important field of research in American Studies, the substantial body of autobiographical tales portraying captivity in the Muslim world published in England between the late sixteenth and early eighteenth century has only recently begun to attract the attention of literary scholars. Despite a number of important pioneering works, however, British captivity narratives have not only remained at the margins of early modern studies, but even where they have received attention they have mainly been treated as historical source material. In other words, there has hardly been any interest in the genre of captivity narratives as a textual and literary phenomenon in its own right. As a consequence, most of the published stories in question lack thorough narrative analysis, although the genre is situated at the intriguing intersection of travel literature, religious writing (e. g. tales of martyrdom), and prose fiction, and arguably constitutes one of the forerunners of the early novel. This paper proposes that we need to go beyond the limits of current research by rereading British tales of captivity with a stronger interest in their narrative composition, their discursive and generic contexts, and the pragmatics of publishing. Only in this way it will be possible to both do justice and draw more sustained attention to this highly fascinating and yet still understudied genre of literary texts.
Effects of different dietary n-6:n-3 PUFA ratios on growth performance, blood lipid profiles, fatty acid composition of pork, carcass traits and meat quality in finishing pigs
Authors: Liu Wen Chao , Kim In Ho 
Published: September 2017

Abstract
A total of 72 crossbred pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an average initial BW of 51.59±1.59 kg were used in this 10-wk feeding trial to investigate the effects of different dietary n-6:n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) ratios in finishing pigs. Pigs were randomly allotted to 3 dietary treatments (each n=24) with 6 replications and 4 pigs per pen (2 barrows and 2 gilts). Pigs were fed a corn-soybean meal-based diets formulated by replacing soybean oil with linseed oil to achieve n-6:n-3 close to 5:1, 10:1 and 15:1, respectively. The growth performance, carcass traits and meat quality parameters (meat color, sensory evaluation, cooking loss, drip loss, pH, longissimus muscle area and water holding capacity) were not influenced (P>0.10) by various dietary n-6:n-3 ratios. Pigs fed dietary n-6:n-3 PUFA ratios of 5:1 had a lower (P<0.05) serum total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The concentrations of n-3 PUFA , including C18:3n-3, C22:5n-3 and C22:6n-3 were improved (P<0.05) in the longissimus dorsi muscles of pigs fed dietary n-6:n-3 PUFA ratios of 5:1. Furthermore, pigs fed dietary n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio of 5:1 decreased (P<0.05) the n-6 concentrations (C18:2n-6 and C20:4n-6) of longissimus dorsi muscles. In conclusion, lowering the dietary n-6:n-3 ratios to 5:1 could be beneficial for the blood lipid profiles, and improve the nutritional value of pork, without adverse effect on growth performance and meat quality parameters that are related to the consumer acceptance.
Insulin autoimmune syndrome (Hirata’s disease) in an Italian patient: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Censi Simona , Albergoni Maria Paola , Gallo Nicoletta , Plebani Mario , Boscaro Marco , Betterle Corrado 
Published: September 2017

Abstract
We describe the case of a 54-year-old Caucasian Italian male experiencing episodes of hypoglycemia, occurring mainly after meals. He had never been exposed to insulin and was taking ramipril, flecainide and acetylsalicylic acid. An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) showed high blood glucose levels diagnostic for diabetes mellitus at 120 min and hypoglycemia with inappropriately high insulin levels at 240 min. The 72-h fasting test, abdominal computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography-CT were normal. Insulin autoantibodies were positive at high titers, prompting a diagnosis of insulin autoimmune syndrome (IAS). The patient was advised to take frequent, small meals and thus achieved a good control of his hypoglycemic symptoms. After 18 months of this dietary management, his insulin autoantibody levels decreased considerably but remained detectable. During an OGTT, his blood glucose levels at 120 min were now indicative of an impaired glucose tolerance rather than diabetes, and there was improvement in the glucose nadir. The patient had no other clinical or latent autoimmune diseases. Here we discuss the main features of IAS (also known as Hirata’s disease) and review the cases of IAS reported in Italy to date.
Pilot study: whole body manual subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) therapy improved pain and SAT structure in women with lipedema
Authors: Herbst Karen L. , Ussery Christopher , Eekema Alyna 
Published: September 2017

Abstract

Background
Lipedema is a common painful subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) disorder in women affecting the limbs. SAT therapy is a manual therapy to improve soft tissue quality.

Objective
Determine if SAT therapy improves pain and structure of lipedema SAT.

Design
Single arm prospective pilot study.

Setting
Academic medical center.

Patients
Seven women, 46 ± 5 years, weight 90 ± 19 kg, with lipedema.

Intervention
Twelve 90-min SAT therapy sessions over 4 weeks.

Outcomes
Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans, SAT ultrasound (Vevo 2100), leg volumetrics, skin caliper assessment, tissue exam, weight, resting metabolic rate, pain assessment, lower extremity functional scale (LEFS) and body shape questionnaire (BSQ) at baseline and end of study.

Results
Weight, resting metabolic rate and BSQ did not change significantly. Limb fat over total body fat mass (p = 0.08) and trunk fat over total body mass trended down from baseline (p = 0.08) by DXA. Leg volume and caliper assessments in eight of nine areas (p < 0.007), LEFS (p = 0.002) and average pain (p = 0.007) significantly decreased from baseline. Fibrosis significantly decreased in the nodules, hips and groin. Ultrasound showed improved SAT structure in some subjects. Side effects included pain, bruising, itching, swelling and gastroesophageal reflux disease. All women said they would recommend SAT therapy to other women with lipedema.

Limitations
Small number of subjects.

Conclusion
SAT therapy in 4 weeks improved tissue structure, perceived leg function, and volume although shape was not affected. While side effects of SAT therapy were common, all women felt the therapy was beneficial.
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: Variation of Co/ ${{\gamma}}$ γ -Al2O3 catalyst performance due to changing dispersion, reducibility, acidity and strong metal-support interaction by Ru, Zr and Ce promoters
Authors: Amin Moradian , Farzad Bahadoran , Laleh Shirazi , Yahya Zamani 
Published: September 2017

AbstractIn this study the effect of (0.1 %Ru, 0–10 % Zr) and (0.1 %Ru, 0–10 % Ce) promoters on dispersion, strong metal-support interaction and reduction behavior of cobalt-supported alumina catalyst in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was investigated. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, ICP, TPR, XPS, and TEM techniques. The results show that addition of Ce to the catalyst leads to the shift of the TPR peaks to lower temperatures which expected that shows higher activity due to higher reducibility, but surprisingly due to SMSI effect results in the lower catalyst activity compared with the unpromoted catalyst. Also, there was a synergistic effect between Ce and Ru in the reduction behavior of Ru-Ce promoted catalyst. The other notable finding of this study was the improvement in the catalyst reducibility in the presence of Zr compared with the unpromoted one that equivalently means the higher catalyst activity. Comparison of the Zr-promoted with the Ce-promoted catalysts show that the former have higher catalyst activity than the latter due to higher acidity and SMSI effect in the presence of the Zr promoter. The C5selectivity of the 0.1Ru10Zr/15Co and 3Ce/15Co catalysts at low pressure have shown more than 50 % improvement compared to the unpromoted one. Based on the activity at atmospheric pressure; the unpromoted, 0.1Ru/15Co, 0.1Ru3Ce/15Co and 0.1Ru10Zr/15Co catalysts were selected for high pressure condition tests, in which the 0.1Ru10Zr/15Co catalyst shows the highest catalyst activity and heavier hydrocarbon selectivity.