bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Decreased Acute Rejection and Improved Renal Allograft Survival Using Sirolimus and Low-Dose Calcineurin Inhibitors without Induction Therapy
Authors: Tsai Meng-Kun , Wu FE-LIN LIN , Lai l-RUE , Lee Chih-Yuan , Hu Rey-Heng , Lee PO-HUANG 
Published: January 2018

Background Chronic nephrotoxicity of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) causes irreversible renal dysfunction and shortens renal transplant survival. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to test a hypothesis that de novo CNI minimization combined with sirolimus (SRL) improves graft survival in renal transplant patients without antibody induction therapy. Methods Between October 2000 and August 2007, we performed 100 cases of renal transplantation with de novo CNI (either cyclosporine or tacrolimus) minimization combined with sirolimus (SRL group). The initial target trough levels were 100–200 ng/ml for cyclosporine (CsA) and 4–8 ng/mL for tacrolimus (TAC). SRL was given at a loading dose of 6 mg plus 2 mg/day for maintenance. The results for the SRL group were compared to those of 104 transplant recipients given standard CNI- (CsA- or TAC-) based immunosuppressive regimens including mycophenolate mofetil (MMF group) during the same period. Results The 1-year rejection-free survival (94.8%) and 5-year graft survival (87.7%) rates of the SRL group were significantly better than those of the MMF group (85.5% and 75.2%, respectively). On univariate analyses, 6-month estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), acute rejection and SRL therapy had a significant impact on graft survival, and SRL therapy and tacrolimus therapy had a significant impact on rejection-free survival. Multivariate analyses identified 6-month eGFR as the only prognostic factor for graft survival. Acute rejection and SRL therapy were significant for post-transplant renal function. Conclusions De novo CNI minimization combined with SRL could decrease acute rejection and improve renal function and graft survival after renal transplantation without the use of antibody induction therapy.
Dialysis Initiation and Survival in Patients with Refractory Congestive Heart Failure
Authors: Fabbian Fabio , Cantelli Stefano , Molino Christian , Pala Marco , Longhini Carlo 
Published: January 2018

Background It has been reported that more than 30% of patients present with congestive heart failure at the initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT). We followed up a cohort of patients with refractory congestive heart failure (RCHF) who started dialysis between 2005 and 2006 and conducted an observational cohort study in order to evaluate the clinical features at the time RRT was started, and the survival rate of patients with RCHF. Methods Data were collected on 33 uremic subjects (24 male) with RCHF, referred by cardiologists, who started dialysis between 2005 and 2006 and were followed-up for 42 months. The following parameters were derived from clinical records: age, sex, history of ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebro-vascular disease (CVD), peripheral vascular disease (PVD), diabetes, smoking, hypertension, myeloma or malignancies, the cause for dialysis and procedure used to initiate treatment. Results RCHF was the cause of initial RRT in 15 patients in 2005 and in 18 the following year, with an incidence of 27 out of 100 patients per year. Diabetes was diagnosed in 51% (n=17) of cases. More than 80% of patients with RCHF had histories of hypertension and smoking. IHD, CVD and PVD were present in 66%, 30% and 54% of cases, respectively. Cancers were recorded in 36% of subjects. Fluid overload was the cause of urgent dialysis in 73% of cases; a central venous catheter (CVC) was placed in 75% of patients. Mean survival of patients with RCHF was 23 months. Eighteen patients died because of cardiovascular events after a mean follow-up of 365±387 days; they had higher prevalence of a smoking history (100% vs. 73%, p=0.02) and CVD (44% vs. 13%, p=0.05) than the survivors. Conclusions In uremic patients starting dialysis, RCHF appears to be a frequent condition, comorbidity is high and they require urgent treatment by CVC because of fluid overload. Since RCHF is time- and resource-consuming, nephrologists need to ameliorate its management.
Pulmonary Tissue Engineering using Dual-Compartment Polymer Scaffolds with Integrated Vascular Tree
Authors: Fritsche Clemens S. , Simsch Oliver , Weinberg Eli J. , Orrick Brian , Stamm Christof , Kaazempur-Mofrad Mohammad R. , Borenstein Jeffrey T. , Hetzer Roland , Vacanti Joseph P. 
Published: January 2018

Objectives The persistent shortage of donor organs for lung transplantation illustrates the need for new strategies in organ replacement therapy. Pulmonary tissue engineering aims at developing viable hybrid tissue for patients with chronic respiratory failure. Methods Dual-chamber polymer constructs that mimic the characteristics of the pulmonary air-blood interface were fabricated by microfabrication techniques using the biocompatible polymer polydimethylsiloxane. One compartment (“vascular chamber”) was designed as a capillary network to mimic the pulmonary microvasculature. The other compartment (“parenchymal chamber”) was designed to permit gas exchange. Immortalized mouse lung epithelium cells (MLE-12) were cultured on the surface of polystyrene microcarrier beads. These beads were subsequently injected into the parenchymal chamber of the dual-chamber microsystems. The vascular compartment was perfused with cell culture medium in a bioreactor and the construct was maintained in culture for 1 week. Results The microcarriers evenly distributed MLE-12 cells on the parenchymal compartment surface. Confluent cell layers were confirmed by fluorescent and electron microscopy. Adequate proliferation of MLE-12 cells within the construct was monitored via the DNA content. Viability of the cells was maintained over 1 week. Finally, cellular specificity and functional capacity in situ were demonstrated by immunostaining for proSP-B and proSP-C (alveolar epithelium), and by using MLE-12 cells transfected to overexpress green fluorescent protein. Conclusion We conclude that functional hybrid microsystems mimicking the basic building plan of alveolar tissue can be engineered in vitro.
Primary and secondary factors in language maintenance in a medium-sized community language: Catalan in Spain
Authors: Casesnoves Raquel , Mas Josep-Àngel , Tudela Anna 
Published: January 2018

Aims and objectives: The main aim of this study is to find out which social and ideological factors determine the maintenance of Catalan language in public contexts, and particularly the relative weight each factor contributes to the choice. The question is which of the socio-demographic and ideological factors determines to a greater extent the use of Catalan. Methodology: Participants completed a survey, which consisted of a sociolinguistic questionnaire and an attitudinal test based on the matched-guise technique. Sociolinguistic inferences concerning the relationship between different factors and language use were made using statistical methods. Data: Six hundred university students from the cities of Valencia, Palma and Barcelona answered the same survey. University students are a very interesting research group, since they are going to become part of the most influential social groups. Findings: Results from the analysis support the importance of social networks in understanding language maintenance, apart from making some differences between the territories clearer: this relative importance of social networks is very high in Valencia and Palma, but not in Barcelona. Originality: This study shows the first comparison between the influence of different kinds of factors in the use of the Catalan language, as well as the comparison between the behaviour of the three major Catalan-speaking cities. Furthermore, the focus on the factors related to university students’ language use is not a much-visited field. Significance and implications: The use of Catalan seems to be naturalized in Barcelona, whereas in Palma and Valencia the use of this language is more ideologized – and minor. The coincidence in the same territory, Catalonia, of the major language use in all situations and the more incisive and inclusive language policy should point out the direction that campaigns to promote Catalan in the other two regions should take.
Leptin/adiponectin ratio in overweight patients – gender differences
Authors: K Selthofer-Relatić , R Radić , A Stupin , V Šišljagić , I Bošnjak , N Bulj , R Selthofer , D Delić Brkljačić 
Published: January 2018

Objective: Obesity-related atherosclerosis is a systemic disease with a background connected to multiple metabolic-neurohumoral pathways. The leptin/adiponectin ratio has been suggested as an atherosclerotic marker in obese patients. The aim of this study was to assess (1) the significance of the L/A ratio in overweight subjects, (2) the relation with anthropometric/metabolic parameters and (3) gender difference. Method: The study included 80 adult males and females, overweight, non-diabetic patients. Biochemical blood analysis and anthropometric and cardiovascular measurements were performed. Serum leptin levels were measured with a radioimmunoassay test and total adiponectin levels with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Leptin/adiponectin ratios were calculated as ratios between total serum concentrations of leptin and adiponectin. Results: Differences between leptin, adiponectin serum levels and leptin/adiponectin ratios are presented in overweight persons, where females have a significantly higher leptin/adiponectin ratio than men ( p < 0.001). In men, the leptin/adiponectin ratio showed a positive correlation with total cholesterol levels ( p = 0.011), low-density lipoprotein ( p = 0.013) and triglycerides ( p = 0.032). In females, the leptin/adiponectin ratio correlated with anthropometric parameters of visceral obesity: waist circumference ( p = 0.001) and waist-to-hip ratio ( p = 0.025). Conclusion: The leptin/adiponectin ratio could represent an atherosclerotic risk marker of the early stage of obesity. Gender plays a significant role in pathophysiological changes, with different clinical manifestations, where sex hormones have a crucial effect on neurohumoral adipose tissue activity.
Topographical Variation of Human Femoral Articular Cartilage Thickness, T1rho and T2 Relaxation Times Is Related to Local Loading during Walking
Authors: Van Rossom Sam , Wesseling Mariska , Van Assche Dieter , Jonkers Ilse 
Published: January 2018

Objective Early detection of degenerative changes in the cartilage matrix composition is essential for evaluating early interventions that slow down osteoarthritis (OA) initiation. T1rho and T2 relaxation times were found to be effective for detecting early changes in proteoglycan and collagen content. To use these magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, it is important to document the topographical variation in cartilage thickness, T1rho and T2 relaxation times in a healthy population. As OA is partially mechanically driven, the relation between these MRI-based parameters and localized mechanical loading during walking was investigated. Design MR images were acquired in 14 healthy adults and cartilage thickness and T1rho and T2 relaxation times were determined. Experimental gait data was collected and processed using musculoskeletal modeling to identify weight-bearing zones and estimate the contact force impulse during gait. Variation of the cartilage properties (i.e., thickness, T1rho, and T2) over the femoral cartilage was analyzed and compared between the weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing zone of the medial and lateral condyle as well as the trochlea. Results Medial condyle cartilage thickness was correlated to the contact force impulse ( r = 0.78). Lower T1rho, indicating increased proteoglycan content, was found in the medial weight-bearing zone. T2 was higher in all weight-bearing zones compared with the non-weight-bearing zones, indicating lower relative collagen content. Conclusions The current results suggest that medial condyle cartilage is adapted as a long-term protective response to localized loading during a frequently performed task and that the weight-bearing zone of the medial condyle has superior weight bearing capacities compared with the non-weight-bearing zones.
Psychiatry and the geriatric syndromes – creating constructive interfaces
Authors: Thacker Simon , Skelton Mike , Harwood Rowan 
Published: January 2018

SummaryIntegrating mental and physical healthcare is difficult to achieve because of professional and organisational barriers. Psychiatrists recognise the problems resulting from fragmentation of services and want continuity of care for patients, but commissioning and service structures perpetuate these problems. One way forward may be to follow the syndromic model employed by geriatricians as a means of avoiding over-emphasis on diagnosis above the pragmatics of implementing multi-component, coordinated care. Commissioners need to be made aware of the overlap and complementarity of skills possessed by old age psychiatry and geriatric medicine to create joint services for people vulnerable to dementia and delirium. A re-forged alliance between the two specialties will be necessary to turn integrated care for frail, elderly people from rhetoric into reality.
Online media reporting of suicides: Analysis of adherence to existing guidelines
Authors: Utterson Michael , Daoud Jason , Dutta Rina 
Published: January 2018

Aims and methodTo assess the compliance of contemporary online media output with guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicidal acts. A search engine was used to identify online media reports of suicide from UK sources over the course of 1 month. Each article was assessed against guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide produced by the Samaritans, a UK mental health charity.ResultsWe identified 229 articles, of which 199 failed to comply with at least one of the Samaritans' guidelines. Failure to mention support sources, excessive detail about the method used and undue speculation about the trigger for suicide were the most commonly breached guidelines. Significant differences were found between the quality of local and national media sources, with local media sources being broadly more compliant with guidelines.Clinical implicationsThis study highlights the urgent need for the implementation of responsible reporting guidelines in online media articles as a component of suicide prevention efforts.
Biomechanics of swimming in developing larval fish
Authors: Voesenek Cees J. , Muijres Florian T. , van Leeuwen Johan L. 
Published: January 2018

ABSTRACTMost larvae of bony fish are able to swim almost immediately after hatching. Their locomotory system supports several vital functions: fish larvae make fast manoeuvres to escape from predators, aim accurately during suction feeding and may migrate towards suitable future habitats. Owing to their small size and low swimming speed, larval fish operate in the intermediate hydrodynamic regime, which connects the viscous and inertial flow regimes. They experience relatively strong viscous effects at low swimming speeds, and relatively strong inertial effects at their highest speeds. As the larvae grow and increase swimming speed, a shift occurs towards the inertial flow regime. To compensate for size-related limitations on swimming speed, fish larvae exploit high tail beat frequencies at their highest speeds, made possible by their low body inertia and fast neuromuscular system. The shifts in flow regime and body inertia lead to changing functional demands on the locomotory system during larval growth. To reach the reproductive adult stage, the developing larvae need to adjust to and perform the functions necessary for survival. Just after hatching, many fish larvae rely on yolk and need to develop their feeding systems before the yolk is exhausted. Furthermore, the larvae need to develop and continuously adjust their sensory, neural and muscular systems to catch prey and avoid predation. This Review discusses the hydrodynamics of swimming in the intermediate flow regime, the changing functional demands on the locomotory system of the growing and developing larval fish, and the solutions that have evolved to accommodate these demands.
Η εφαρμογή του μετασχηματιστικού μοντέλου ηγεσίας στο σύγχρονο σχολικό περιβάλλον
Authors: Φάσουρα Αργυρώ , Αντωνίου Αλέξανδρος - Σταμάτιο� 
Published: January 2018

Από πολλούς ερευνητές τα τελευταία χρόνια τονίζεται η ανάγκη για την υιοθέτηση μετασχηματιστικού τύπου ηγεσίας στην εκπαίδευση. Πρωτίστως, το έργο του μετασχηματιστικού ηγέτη είναι να ευθυγραμμίσει τα συμφέροντα του οργανισμού με αυτά των μελών του με τον εμπνέει, να διεγείρει πνευματικά και να παρέχει εξατομικευμένη φροντίδα στους οπαδούς του. Η μετασχηματιστική ηγεσία στην εκπαίδευση επικεντρώνεται στην ανάπτυξη ενός κοινού οράματος και μιας συλλογικής δέσμευσης για την αλλαγή του σχολείου. Σκοπός της ανακοίνωσης αυτής είναι η παρουσίαση των αποτελεσμάτων σχετικά με την υιοθέτηση αυτού του τύπου ηγεσίας στα σχολεία. Τα αποτελέσματα θα εξεταστούν ως προς το αντίκτυπο που έχουν στον ίδιο τον οργανισμό/σχολείο, στους δασκάλους, και τους μαθητές. Όσο αφορά το σχολείο, η μετασχηματιστική ηγεσία έχει επίδραση στις συνθήκες του σχολείου (π.χ στόχους, σχεδιασμό, δομή) αντανακλώντας τις συνθήκες που επικρατούν στην τάξη όπως οδηγίες, πολιτική και εκπαιδευτικές διαδικασίες. Άλλα ερευνητικά αποτελέσματα υποστηρίζουν ότι αυτού του είδους ηγεσία ασκεί επίδραση σε ευρύτερες σχολικές συνθήκες (π.χ εργασιακό κλίμα). Ως προς τους δασκάλους, έχει επιπτώσεις στις αντιλήψεις τους σχετικά με τις συνθήκες στο σχολείο, την δέσμευση τους για αλλαγή και την οργανωσιακή μάθηση, καθώς και στην επαγγελματική τους ικανοποίηση. Το άμεσο αποτέλεσμα της μετασχηματιστικής ηγεσίας στην επίδοση των μαθητών, ως δέσμευση στο σχολείο και συμμετοχή, δεν καταγράφεται ως στατιστικά σημαντικό. ‘Ωστόσο, η ευρύτερη αλλαγή του σχολικού κλίματος καθώς και η ικανοποίηση που λαμβάνουν οι δάσκαλοι από την εργασία τους φαίνεται να έχει αντίκτυπο στη μάθηση και την επίδοση των μαθητών.
Digital Mediation, Soft Cabs, and Spatial Labour
Authors: Anderson Donald N. 
Published: January 2018

Abstract
Critics of digitally mediated labour platforms (often called the “sharing” or “gig economy”) have focused on the character and extent of the control exerted by these platforms over both workers and customers, and in particular on the precarizing impact on the workers on whose labor the services depend. Less attention has been paid to the specifically spatial character of the forms of work targeted by mobile digital platforms. The production and maintenance of urban social space has always been dependent, to a large degree, on work that involves the crossing of spatial boundaries - particularly between public and private spaces, but also crossing spaces segregated by class, race, and gender. Delivery workers, cabdrivers, day labourers, home care providers, and similar boundary-crossers all perform spatial work: the work of moving between and connecting spaces physically, experientially, and through representation. Spatial work contributes to the production and reproduction of social space; it is also productive of three specific, though interrelated, products: physical movement from one place to another; the experience of this movement; and the articulation of these places, experiences, and movements with visions of society and of the social. Significantly, it is precisely such spatial work, and its products, which mobile digital platforms seek most urgently to transform. Drawing on several recent studies of “ridesharing” (or soft cab) labour platforms, I interrogate the impact of digital mediation on the actual practices involved in spatial work. I argue that the roll-out of digital labour platforms needs to be understood in terms of a struggle over the production of social space.
Effects of Raster Orientation, Infill Rate and Infill Pattern on the Mechanical Properties of 3D Printed Materials
Authors: Dudescu Cristian , Racz Laszlo 
Published: January 2018

Abstract
Three-dimensional printing is an additive manufacturing process that allows rapid design and manufacture of complex component based on computer-aided design models. Compared with some conventional manufacturing processes, additive manufacturing part properties can depend on structural and process parameters rather than purely on material properties. The objectives of the paper are to evaluate the tensile properties of 3D printed components produced using a commercial 3D printer by performing standard tensile tests and to assess the influence of the technological parameters upon mechanical proprieties of printed specimens, considering different printing directions, infill rates and infill patterns. The influence of raster angles is tested through the designed specimens with different transverse plane, they are printed by placing in different angle, including 0°, 30°, 45° and 90°. Specimens with an infill rate varying from 20% to 100% and six different infill patterns has been tested.
Forecasting global coal consumption: An artificial neural network approach
Authors: Benalcazar Pablo , Krawczyk Małgorzata , Kamiński Jacek 
Published: January 2018

Abstract
In the 21st century, energy has become an integral part of our society and of global economic development. Although the world has experienced tremendous technological advancements, fossil fuels (including coal, natural gas, and oil) continue to be the world’s primary energy source. At the current production level, it has been estimated that coal reserves (economically recoverable) would last approximately 130 years (with the biggest reserves found in the USA, Russia, China, and India). The intricate relationship between economic growth, demographics and energy consumption (particularly in countries with coal intensive industries and heavy reliance on fossil fuels), along with the elevated amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, have raised serious concerns within the scientific community about the future of coal. Thus, various studies have focused on the development and application of forecasting methods to predict the economic prospects of coal, future levels of reserves, production, consumption, and its environmental impact. With this scope in mind, the goal of this article is to contribute to the scarce literature on global coal consumption forecasting with the aid of an artificial neural network method. This paper proposes a Multilayer Perceptron neural network (MLP) for the prediction of global coal consumption for the years 2020-2030. The MLP-based model is trained with historical data sets gathered from financial institutions, global energy authorities, and energy statistic agencies, covering the years 1970 through 2016. The results of this study show a deceleration in global coal consumption for the years 2020 (3 932 Mtoe), 2025 (4 069 Mtoe) and 2030 (4 182 Mtoe).