bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First Come, First Served in the Intensive Care Unit: Always?
Authors: FLECK LEONARD M. , MURPHY TIMOTHY F. 
Published: December 2017

Abstract:Because the demand for intensive care unit (ICU) beds exceeds the supply in general, and because of the formidable costs of that level of care, clinicians face ethical issues when rationing this kind of care not only at the point of admission to the ICU, but also after the fact. Under what conditions—if any—may patients be denied admission to the ICU or removed after admission? One professional medical group has defended a rule of “first come, first served” in ICU admissions, and this approach has numerous moral considerations in its favor. We show, however, that admission to the ICU is not in and of itself guaranteed; we also show that as a matter of principle, it can be morally permissible to remove certain patients from the ICU, contrary to the idea that because they were admitted first, they are entitled to stay indefinitely through the point of recovery, death, or voluntary withdrawal. What remains necessary to help guide these kinds of decisions is the articulation of clear standards for discontinuing intensive care, and the articulation of these standards in a way consistent with not only fiduciary and legal duties that attach to clinical care but also with democratic decision making processes.
Count Nouns and Mass Nouns: Crops, Produce, and the Plural of Seed
Authors: Mohler Charles L. , Heyne Linda A. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe distinction between count nouns and mass nouns affects thinking and writing about various types of crops and produce. Count nouns are words that indicate discrete, countable objects (e.g., forks, viewpoints), whereas mass nouns are words that indicate some relatively undifferentiated substance (e.g., water, energy). We explain the grammar of these two forms and point out some writing pitfalls to avoid. The word seed is one of the few English nouns that is both a count noun and a mass noun. An argument is presented for using seeds as the plural when several individuals are counted and for using seed as the singular when referring to seeds in the aggregate.
Molecular basis of differential 3′ splice site sensitivity to anti-tumor drugs targeting U2 snRNP
Authors: Vigevani Luisa , Gohr André , Webb Thomas , Irimia Manuel , Valcárcel Juan 
Published: December 2017

AbstractSeveral splicing-modulating compounds, including Sudemycins and Spliceostatin A, display anti-tumor properties. Combining transcriptome, bioinformatic and mutagenesis analyses, we delineate sequence determinants of the differential sensitivity of 3′ splice sites to these drugs. Sequences 5′ from the branch point (BP) region strongly influence drug sensitivity, with additional functional BPs reducing, and BP-like sequences allowing, drug responses. Drug-induced retained introns are typically shorter, displaying higher GC content and weaker polypyrimidine-tracts and BPs. Drug-induced exon skipping preferentially affects shorter alternatively spliced regions with weaker BPs. Remarkably, structurally similar drugs display both common and differential effects on splicing regulation, SSA generally displaying stronger effects on intron retention, and Sudemycins more acute effects on exon skipping. Collectively, our results illustrate how splicing modulation is exquisitely sensitive to the sequence context of 3′ splice sites and to small structural differences between drugs.
Serum Metabolic Profile Alteration Reveals Response to Platinum-Based Combination Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer: Sensitive Patients Distinguished from Insensitive ones
Authors: Xu Shan , Zhou Yanping , Geng Hui , Song Dandan , Tang Jing , Zhu Xianmin , Yu Di , Hu Sheng , Cui Yanfang 
Published: December 2017

AbstractMost lung cancers are diagnosed at fairly advanced stages due to limited clinical symptoms. Platinum-based chemotherapy, either as single regimen or in combination with radiation, is one of the major recommendations for the patients. Earlier evaluation of the effectiveness of the chemotherapies is critical for developing better treatment plan given the toxicity of the chemotherapeutic reagents. Drug efficacy could be reflected in the systemic metabolism characteristics though knowledge about which remains scarce. In this study, serum metabolism influence of three types of commonly used platinum-based combination chemotherapy regimens, namely cisplatin with gemcitabine, vinorelbine or docetaxel, were studied using pattern recognition coupled with nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. The treated patients were divided into sensitive or insensitive subgroups according to their response to the treatments. We found that insensitive subjects can be identified from the sensitive ones with up-regulation of glucose and taurine but reduced alanine and lactate concentrations in serum. The combination chemotherapy of lung cancer is accompanied by disturbances of multiple metabolic pathways such as energy metabolism, phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, so that the treated patients were marginally discriminated from the untreated. Serum metabolic profile of patients shows potential as an indicator of their response to platinum-based combination chemotherapy.
Computational exploration of the chemical structure space of possible reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle constituents
Authors: Meringer Markus , Cleaves H. James 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe reverse tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle has been explored from various standpoints as an idealized primordial metabolic cycle. Its simplicity and apparent ubiquity in diverse organisms across the tree of life have been used to argue for its antiquity and its optimality. In 2000 it was proposed that chemoinformatics approaches support some of these views. Specifically, defined queries of the Beilstein database showed that the molecules of the rTCA are heavily represented in such compound databases. We explore here the chemical structure “space,” e.g. the set of organic compounds which possesses some minimal set of defining characteristics, of the rTCA cycle’s intermediates using an exhaustive structure generation method. The rTCA’s chemical space as defined by the original criteria and explored by our method is some six to seven times larger than originally considered. Acknowledging that each assumption in what is a defining criterion making the rTCA cycle special limits possible generative outcomes, there are many unrealized compounds which fulfill these criteria. That these compounds are unrealized could be due to evolutionary frozen accidents or optimization, though this optimization may also be for systems-level reasons, e.g., the way the pathway and its elements interface with other aspects of metabolism.
Novel fabrication of a robust superhydrophobic PU@ZnO@Fe3O4@SA sponge and its application in oil-water separations
Authors: Tran Viet-Ha Thi , Lee Byeong-Kyu 
Published: December 2017

AbstractWe report a novel superhydrophobic material based on commercially available polyurethane (PU) sponge with high porosity, low density and good elasticity. The fabrication of a superhydrophobic sponge capable of efficiently separating oil from water was achieved by imitating or mimicking nature’s designs. The original PU sponge was coated with zinc oxide (ZnO), stearic acid (SA) and iron oxide particles (Fe3O4) via a facile and environmentally friendly method. After each treatment, the properties of the modified sponge were characterized, and the changes in wettability were examined. Water contact angle (WCA) measurements confirmed the excellent superhydrophobicity of the material withhigh static WCA of 161° andlow dynamic WCA (sliding WCA of 7° and shedding WCA of 8°). The fabricated sponge showed high efficiency in separation (over 99%) of different oils from water. Additionally, the fabricated PU@ZnO@Fe3O4@SA sponge could be magnetically guided to quickly absorb oil floating on the water surface. Moreover, the fabricated sponge showed excellent stability and reusability in terms of superhydrophobicity and oil absorption capacity. The durable, magnetic and superhydrophobic properties of the fabricated sponge render it applicable to the cleanup of marine oil spills and other oil-water separation issues, with eco-friendly recovery of the oil by simple squeezing process.
First-principle study of structural, electronic and magnetic properties of (FeC)n (n = 1–8) and (FeC)8TM (TM = V, Cr, Mn and Co) clusters
Authors: Li Cheng-Gang , Zhang Jie , Zhang Wu-Qin , Tang Ya-Nan , Ren Bao-Zeng , Hu Yan-Fei 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the (FeC)n (n = 1–8) clusters are studied using the unbiased CALYPSO structure search method and density functional theory. A combination of the PBE functional and 6–311 + G* basis set is used for determining global minima on potential energy surfaces of (FeC)n clusters. Relatively stabilities are analyzed via computing their binding energies, second order difference and HOMO-LUMO gaps. In addition, the origin of magnetic properties, spin density and density of states are discussed in detail, respectively. At last, based on the same computational method, the structures, magnetic properties and density of states are systemically investigated for the 3d (V, Cr, Mn and Co) atom doped (FeC)8 cluster.
Preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and tumor-related factors to predict lymph node metastasis in nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
Authors: Zhou Bo , Deng Junfang , Chen Lifeng , Zheng Shusen 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe lymph node (LN) status is very important for the survival in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs). Therefore, the investigation of factors related to LN metastases has a great clinical significance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and possible clinical parameters on the LN metastases in nonfunctional PNETs (NF-PNETs). A retrospective review of 101 NF-PNET patients following curative resection and lymphadenectomy was conducted. The associations between clinicopathological factors and LN metastases and prognosis were determined. Twenty-seven (26.7%) patients had LN metastases. LN metastases was independently associated with disease-free survival (P = 0.009). Ideal cutoff values for predicting LN metastases were 1.80 for NLR, 168.25 for PLR and 2.5 cm for tumor size according to the receiver operating characteristic curve. On multivariable analysis, NLR (P = 0.017), symptomatic diagnosis (P = 0.028) and tumor size (P = 0.020) were associated with LN metastases. These results indicate that preoperative NLR ≥ 1.80, tumor size ≥2.5 cm and symptomatic diagnosis are independently associated with LN metastases for patients undergoing resection of NF-PNETs. It is anticipated that these findings are useful for further planning of lymphadenectomy before surgery.
Enhanced Removal of Arsenic from Water by Synthetic Nanocrystalline Iowaite
Authors: Guo Qinghai , Cao Yaowu , Yin Zuowei , Yu Zhengyan , Zhao Qian , Shu Zhu 
Published: December 2017

AbstractNanocrystalline iowaite, a Mg/Fe-based layered double hydroxide (LDH) intercalated with chloride, was synthesized to evaluate its performance for arsenic removal from water and to investigate the contributing dearsenication mechanisms. It is characterized by fast arsenic sorption rates and has a much higher arsenic uptake capacity than other LDHs that are commonly used for water dearsenication. The surface adsorption of the solution arsenic onto the iowaite samples and the anion exchange of the arsenic in solution with chloride, which is originally in the iowaite interlayers, are the primary mechanisms for the uptake of arsenic by iowaite. In addition to the Coulombic attraction between arsenate/arsenite and positively charged layers of iowaite, the inner-sphere complexation of arsenic with Fe (instead of Mg) in the iowaite layers is responsible for the formation of more stable and stronger arsenic bonds, as indicated by both XPS and EXAFS analyses. Specifically, bidentate-binuclear and monodentate-mononuclear As-Fe complexes were detected in the arsenate removal experiments, whereas bidentate-mononuclear, bidentate-binuclear, and monodentate-mononuclear As-Fe complexes were present for the arsenite-treated iowaite samples. This study shows that nanocrystalline iowaite is a promising, low-cost material for arsenic removal from natural arsenic-rich waters or contaminated high-arsenic waters.
The distribution of stars around the Milky Way’s central black hole
Authors: Baumgardt H. , Amaro-Seoane P. , Schödel R. 
Published: December 2017

Context. The distribution of stars around a massive black hole (MBH) has been addressed in stellar dynamics for the last four decades by a number of authors. Because of its proximity, the centre of the Milky Way is the only observational test case where the stellar distribution can be accurately tested. Past observational work indicated that the brightest giants in the Galactic centre (GC) may show a density deficit around the central black hole, not a cusp-like distribution, while we theoretically expect the presence of a stellar cusp.
Aims. We here present a solution to this long-standing problem.
Methods. We performed direct-summation N-body simulations of star clusters around massive black holes and compared the results of our simulations with new observational data of the GC’s nuclear cluster.
Results. We find that after a Hubble time, the distribution of bright stars as well as the diffuse light follow power-law distributions in projection with slopes of Γ ≈ 0.3 in our simulations. This is in excellent agreement with what is seen in star counts and in the distribution of the diffuse stellar light extracted from adaptive-optics (AO) assisted near-infrared observations of the GC.
Conclusions. Our simulations also confirm that there exists a missing giant star population within a projected radius of a few arcsec around Sgr A*. Such a depletion of giant stars in the innermost 0.1 pc could be explained by a previously present gaseous disc and collisions, which means that a stellar cusp would also be present at the innermost radii, but in the form of degenerate compact cores.
Validation of a New Web-Based System for Point-of-Care Implant Documentation in Total Knee Arthroplasty
Authors: Ramanathan Deepak , Gad Bishoy , Luckett Matthew , Klika Alison , Spindler Kurt , Higuera Carlos 
Published: December 2017

AbstractImplant documentation in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) must be both accurate and comprehensive. A new system enables surgeons to complete a secure, web-based operative report for each surgery. This study evaluated implant documentation using this system and hypothesized that it would be as reliable as the current standard. This was a retrospective study of all primary and revision TKA performed at a single academic institution from January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2015, by eight adult reconstruction surgeons who used the web-based system. Electronic medical records and implant logbooks were chosen as a composite standard reference for implant documentation. Cohen's kappa statistic and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to determine agreement between the system and the standard reference. Mean kappa value for entire system was 0.916 ± 0.152 (p = 0.015) indicating “almost perfect” agreement (as per Landis and Koch's method) with standard reference. Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.926 ± 0.147 (p = 0.021) further corroborating this excellent agreement. There was “substantial” or “fair” agreement for items pertaining to cement and augments. Overall, sensitivity was 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.71–0.98) and specificity 0.93 (95% confidence interval: 0.53–0.98) indicating that the system was very effective at documenting whether or not an implant was placed. The system exhibited significantly greater sensitivity than specificity (p = 0.027). This study demonstrated excellent performance of this novel system in point-of-care TKA implant documentation. Further research is needed to validate its use in arthroplasty of other joints and its potential for documentation of biomedical device implantation in other fields such as cardiothoracic surgery and gastroenterology.
Predicting Vaginal Delivery in Nulliparous Women Undergoing Induction of Labor at Term
Authors: Reddy U. M. , Huang C. C. , Auguste T. C. , Bauer D. , Overcash R. T. , Kawakita T. 
Published: December 2017

Objective We sought to develop a model to calculate the likelihood of vaginal delivery in nulliparous women undergoing induction at term.
Study Design We obtained data from the Consortium on Safe Labor by including nulliparous women with term singleton pregnancies undergoing induction of labor at term. Women with contraindications for vaginal delivery were excluded. A stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictors associated with vaginal delivery by considering maternal characteristics and comorbidities and fetal conditions. The receiver operating characteristic curve, with an area under the curve (AUC) was used to assess the accuracy of the model.
Results Of 10,591 nulliparous women who underwent induction of labor, 8,202 (77.4%) women had vaginal delivery. Our model identified maternal age, gestational age at delivery, race, maternal height, prepregnancy weight, gestational weight gain, cervical exam on admission (dilation, effacement, and station), chronic hypertension, gestational diabetes, pregestational diabetes, and abruption as significant predictors for successful vaginal delivery. The overall predictive ability of the final model, as measured by the AUC was 0.759 (95% confidence interval, 0.749–0.770).
Conclusion We identified independent risk factors that can be used to predict vaginal delivery among nulliparas undergoing induction at term. Our predictor provides women with additional information when considering induction.
Radiographic Morphology and Method for Localization of the Adductor Tubercle on Anterior–Posterior Knee Radiographs
Authors: Liu Kuan-Lin , Wang Chen-Chie , Chen Ing-Ho , Chang Chia-Ming , Wu Wen-Tien , Yeh Kuang-Ting 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe adductor tubercle (AT) is a landmark for joint line identification in knee arthroplasty. Up to now, there has not been a dedicated study to define its morphology on an anterior–posterior (AP) radiograph. As a result, radiographic localization of the AT has been inconsistent and confusing. Ten bone specimens, each with the AT labeled with a metal marker, were radiographed to demonstrate the AT appearance on AP radiographs. Based on this knowledge, a method to locate the AT was developed. A total of 200 clinical radiographs were examined to further confirm the observed radiographic morphology with emphasis on the visibility of the AT and its association with the rotational status of the knee on radiographs. One hundred of them were used to test the reliability of this method of AT identification. Of the 200 ATs, 153 (76%) were clearly visible on radiographs as a faint pyramid-shaped shadow protruding outward from the inflexion point of the concave–convex silhouette over the femoral shaft-condylar junction, allowing direct identification. For invisible ATs (24%), this inflexion point was found to be a useful surrogate landmark for their identification. Locating the AT using this technique showed a good intra- and interobserver reliabilities. The proposed method may be valuable for the consistent use of this landmark in joint line identification on radiographs.
Kryptogener Schlaganfall: Rhythmusdetektion versus pragmatische orale Antikoagulation
Authors: Jilek Clemens , Lewalter Thorsten 
Published: December 2017

ZusammenfassungDer kryptogene Schlaganfall betrifft 20 – 25% der ischämischen Schlaganfälle und wird vom Mechanismus als embolisch angesehen. Zur Identifikation von rhythmogenen Ursachen stehen implantierbare Event-Recorder zur Verfügung, die in der CRYSTAL-AF-Studie bei bis zu 30% der Patienten mit kryptogenem Schlaganfall innerhalb von 3 Jahren Vorhofflimmern nachweisen konnten. Event-Recorder sind effektiv und im britischen Gesundheitssystem kostendeckend. Studien zur pragmatischen oralen Antikoagulation mit Warfarin konnten dagegen keinen Vorteil bez. Verhinderung ischämischer Schlaganfälle zeigen und gingen überwiegend mit hohem Blutungsrisiko einher. Lediglich Sub-Subgruppen zeigten einen geringen Vorteil. Nicht-Vitamin-K-abhängige orale Antikoagulanzien (nOAK) zeigen im Vergleich zu Vitamin-K-Antagonisten ein besseres Effektivitäts- und Sicherheitsprofil. Drei randomisierte Studien rekrutieren aktuell Patienten, um den Wert der pragmatischen oralen Antikoagulation in der Vermeidung von Schlaganfällen bei Patienten mit stattgehabtem kryptogenem Schlaganfall zu evaluieren. Zusammengefasst liegt eine Klasse-IB-Indikation für das Rhythmusmonitoring nach kryptogenem Schlaganfall vor. Für eine pragmatische orale Antikoagulation fehlen bisher überzeugende Daten. Ergebnisse der nOAK-Studien sollten ab Ende 2018 verfügbar sein.
Strain Elastography - How To Do It?
Authors: Dietrich Christoph , Barr Richard , Farrokh André , Dighe Manjiri , Hocke Michael , Jenssen Christian , Dong Yi , Saftoiu Adrian , Havre Roald 
Published: December 2017

AbstractTissue stiffness assessed by palpation for diagnosing pathology has been used for thousands of years. Ultrasound elastography has been developed more recently to display similar information on tissue stiffness as an image. There are two main types of ultrasound elastography, strain and shear wave. Strain elastography is a qualitative technique and provides information on the relative stiffness between one tissue and another. Shear wave elastography is a quantitative method and provides an estimated value of the tissue stiffness that can be expressed in either the shear wave speed through the tissues in meters/second, or converted to the Young’s modulus making some assumptions and expressed in kPa. Each technique has its advantages and disadvantages and they are often complimentary to each other in clinical practice. This article reviews the principles, technique, and interpretation of strain elastography in various organs. It describes how to optimize technique, while pitfalls and artifacts are also discussed.