bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Managing pregnancy of unknown location based on initial serum progesterone and serial serum hCG levels: development and validation of a two‐step triage protocol
Authors: Van Calster B. , Bobdiwala S. , Guha S. , Van Hoorde K. , Al‐Memar M. , Harvey R. , Farren J. , Kirk E. , Condous G. , Sur S. , Stalder C. , Timmerman D. , Bourne T. 
Published: January 2016

ABSTRACTObjectivesA uniform rationalized management protocol for pregnancies of unknown location (PUL) is lacking. We developed a two‐step triage protocol to select PUL at high risk of ectopic pregnancy (EP), based on serum progesterone level at presentation (step 1) and the serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) ratio, defined as the ratio of hCG at 48 h to hCG at presentation (step 2).MethodsThis was a cohort study of 2753 PUL (301 EP), involving a secondary analysis of prospectively and consecutively collected PUL data from two London‐based university teaching hospitals. Using a chronological split we used 1449 PUL for development and 1304 for validation. We aimed to assign PUL as low risk with high confidence (high negative predictive value (NPV)) while classifying most EP as high risk (high sensitivity). The first triage step assigned PUL as low risk using a threshold of serum progesterone at presentation. The remaining PUL were triaged using a novel logistic regression risk model based on hCG ratio and initial serum progesterone (second step), defining low risk as an estimated EP risk of < 5%.ResultsOn validation, initial serum progesterone ≤ 2 nmol/L (step 1) classified 16.1% PUL as low risk. Second‐step classification with the risk model selected an additional 46.0% of all PUL as low risk. Overall, the two‐step protocol classified 62.1% of PUL as low risk, with an NPV of 98.6% and a sensitivity of 92.0%. When the risk model was used in isolation (i.e. without the first step), 60.5% of PUL were classified as low risk with 99.1% NPV and 94.9% sensitivity.ConclusionPUL can be classified efficiently into being either high or low risk for complications using a two‐step protocol involving initial progesterone and hCG levels and the hCG ratio. Copyright © 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Evaluation of the kinetics of anti‐NP and anti‐HA antibody after infection of Pekin ducks with low pathogenic avian influenza virus
Authors: Marché Sylvie , van den Berg Thierry , Lambrecht Bénédicte 
Published: January 2016

AbstractSerological monitoring is a feature of surveillance programmes for the detection of the circulation of notifiable low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses in commercial poultry holdings. Commercial multispecies nucleoprotein (NP) enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) have been replacing the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test as pre‐screening tools. Few comparative studies have been conducted to test sera from domestic ducks for diagnostic purposes. Therefore, we evaluated the correlation between commercial NP ELISAs and the HI test. Anti‐NP and anti‐haemagglutinin (HA) antibodies were measured in sera from domestic ducks that had undergone serological screening and from juvenile domestic Pekin ducks that were experimentally infected with LPAI viruses. The findings highlight an absence of a correlation between NP ELISA and HI results with both field and experimental duck sera. Dissimilar kinetics of the antibodies detected during the follow‐up evaluation of the humoral immune responses in experimentally infected ducks may explain this lack of correlation. Indeed, anti‐NP titres decreased over time, whereas anti‐HA titres remained unchanged after inoculation with the H3N1 LPAI virus isolated from domestic duck or the H7N1 LPAI virus isolated from chicken. Despite these differences, the NP ELISA may serve as a valid pre‐screening tool to detect circulating LPAI viruses in domestic duck populations at the flock level.
Management of antithrombotic therapy during cardiac implantable device surgery
Authors: AlTurki Ahmed , Proietti Riccardo , Birnie David H. , Essebag Vidal 
Published: January 2016

AbstractAnticoagulants are commonly used drugs that are frequently encountered during device placement. Deciding when to halt or continue the use of anticoagulants is a balance between the risks of thromboembolism versus bleeding. Patients taking warfarin with a high risk of thromboembolism should continue to take their warfarin without interruption during device placement while ensuring their international normalized ratio remains below 3. For patients who are taking warfarin and have low risk of thromboembolism, either interrupted or continued warfarin may be used, with no evidence to clearly support either strategy. There is little evidence to support continuing direct acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for device implantation. The timing of halting these medications depends largely on renal function. If bleeding occurs, warfarin's anticoagulation effect is reversible with vitamin K and activated prothrombin complex concentrate. There are no DOAC reversal agents currently available, but some are under development. Regarding antiplatelet agents, aspirin alone can be safely continued while clopidogrel alone may also be continued, but with a slightly higher bleeding risk. Dual antiplatelet therapy for bare‐metal stent/drug‐eluting stent implanted within 4 weeks/6 months, respectively, should be continued due to high risk of stent thrombosis; however, if they are implanted after this period, then clopidogrel can be halted 5 days before the procedure and resumed soon after, while aspirin is continued. If the patient is taking both aspirin and warfarin, aspirin should be halted 5 days prior to the procedure, while warfarin is continued.
Potential Misclassification of Urinary Tract–Related Bacteremia Upon Applying the 2015 Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Surveillance Definition From the National Healthcare Safety Network
Authors: Greene M. Todd , Ratz David , Meddings Jennifer , Fakih Mohamad G. , Saint Sanjay 
Published: January 2016

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated the surveillance definition of catheter-associated urinary tract infection to include only urine culture bacteria of at least 1×105 colony-forming units/mL. Our findings suggest that the new surveillance definition may fail to capture clinically meaningful catheter-associated urinary tract infections.Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2016;37(4):469–471
The effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy for pain in childhood and adolescence: a meta-analytic review
Authors: Lonergan A. 
Published: January 2016

ObjectivesA variety of chronic painful conditions are present in the paediatric population. Patients with chronic pain often experience considerable scepticism and avoidance by health care providers. This meta-analytic review aimed to utilise well-designed studies, in examining the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in the treatment of chronic pain in children and adolescents.MethodsNine randomized controlled trial studies examining CBT for chronic pain were reviewed. Outcome measures were child reported pain intensity, pain duration and functional disability.ResultsCBT had a large effect on pain intensity for recurrent abdominal pain (RAP), a small effect on headaches, and a medium effect on fibromyalgia. CBT had a medium effect on pain duration across pain types. CBT had a large effect on functional disability for RAP, a small effect on fibromyalgia and a moderate effect on headaches. Findings are limited by the small number of studies and varied control conditions.ConclusionsCBT may be effective in reducing child reported pain symptomology. Future studies using a larger sample and examining the differential impact of varied control conditions are needed.
Review of international clinical guidelines for adolescents on transition to Adult Mental Health Services and adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their application to an irish context
Authors: Hughes G. C. , O’Hanrahan S. , Kavanagh G. , McNicholas F. 
Published: January 2016

ObjectivesTo review the available clinical guidelines from Canada, North America, Europe and the United Kingdom for the diagnosis and management of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for adolescents previously diagnosed in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) on transition to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) and for adults presenting with a diagnostic query re-ADHD. This article seeks to apply the available guidelines to an Irish context.MethodVarious clinical guidelines and consensus statements were identified by a literature search of PubMed, incorporating literature from the past 10 years from English speaking countries and inclusion of any additional guidelines of clinical relevance. A clinical guideline with specific reference for Irish clinicians was proposed for the diagnosis and management of adults presenting for the first time with a diagnostic query re-ADHD and also to include those young adults previously diagnosed in CAMHS on transition to AMHS.ConclusionsADHD is a lifelong disorder, which if undiagnosed or untreated can lead to significant impairment resulting in a high economic cost for society. Stimulant medication is a first-line treatment option for adults with ADHD; however, some formulations are unlicensed in Ireland. Recent licensing of Atomoxetine, for both adolescents on transition and for adults with newly diagnosed ADHD is a welcome development. Third-line agents are rarely prescribed due to their side effect profiles and are prescribed off-label:It is important to establish clinical guidelines for an Irish context incorporating a biopsychosocial approach. Further discussion amongst clinicians and stakeholders is needed to plan service development.
Relative Manin–Mumford for Semi-Abelian Surfaces
Authors: Bertrand D. , Masser D. , Pillay A. , Zannier U. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractWe show that Ribet sections are the only obstruction to the validity of the relative Manin–Mumford conjecture for one-dimensional families of semi-abelian surfaces. Applications include special cases of the Zilber–Pink conjecture for curves in a mixed Shimura variety of dimension 4, as well as the study of polynomial Pell equations with non-separable discriminants.
Take the Money and Run: The Determinants of Compliance with Aid Agreements
Authors: Girod Desha M. , Tobin Jennifer L. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractConditions on aid agreements aim to increase aid effectiveness, and are, therefore, an important component of aid agreements. Yet little is known about why aid-recipient governments comply with these conditions. Some scholars have suggested a strategic-importance hypothesis: recipients comply when donors enforce conditions—and donors enforce conditions when recipients are not strategically important. However, there are many cases where strategically important countries comply with conditions and strategically unimportant countries fail to do so. We argue that to explain compliance, we must also understand how the desire to maximize revenue from major income sources, such as FDI and natural resource rents, changes the recipient's incentive to comply. Using data on World Bank records of compliance from 1964 to 2010, we find strong support for our hypotheses even after accounting for different model specifications and potential endogeneity. Paradoxically, donors can secure compliance from recipients for reasons unrelated to the promise of additional aid.
BEFORE-AND-AFTER STUDY: DOES BARIATRIC SURGERY REDUCE HEALTHCARE UTILIZATION AND RELATED COSTS AMONG OPERATED PATIENTS?
Authors: Bruschi Kelles Silvana Marcia , Machado Carla Jorge , Barreto Sandhi Maria 
Published: January 2016

Background: Healthcare use and costs are about 81% higher for morbidly obese individuals compared to non-obese persons, and 47% higher compared to the non-morbidly obese population. The benefits of bariatric surgery for health are well established, but its mid-term impact on healthcare use and costs remains controversial.Methods: This study examines the trends in healthcare use and costs in a Brazilian cohort during a 4-year period before and after surgery. Healthcare use and direct costs related to inpatients and outpatients were retrieved from a healthcare insurance company database from which all cohort members were selected.Results: Between 2004 and 2010, 4,006 individuals underwent bariatric surgery. Most patients were female (80%) with a mean age of 36.2 years and a mean body mass index of 42.8 kg/m2. Elevated blood pressure was present in 38% of cases and diabetes was found in 12.5% of subjects. Hospital admissions increased consistently after surgery, even after excluding hospitalizations for esthetic surgery and pregnancy-related care. The most prevalent conditions in this group were gastrointestinal diseases. Emergency department visits increased after bariatric procedures, in particular for genitourinary and hematologic problems. Adjusted costs were higher after surgery as assessed during a 4-year follow-up period.Conclusion: Results indicate that costs and hospital admissions after bariatric surgery increase following this procedure, even when elective interventions are excluded. Healthcare providers and policy makers need to be aware that a decrease in obesity-related diseases following bariatric surgery does not reduce healthcare use and costs.
Relationships of wood density and wood chemical traits between stems and coarse roots across 53 Bornean tropical tree species
Authors: Nakagawa Michiko , Hori Megumi , Umemura Mitsutoshi , Ishida Takuya 
Published: January 2016

Abstract:Wood density and wood chemical traits are strong predictors of tree performance, carbon stock, and wood decomposition, which play important roles in ecosystem processes and carbon and nutrient cycling in forests. However, it remains unknown how root wood traits are related to stem wood traits. We examined the relationships of wood density and wood chemical traits (lignin and nitrogen concentrations, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio) between the stems and coarse roots of 90 individuals representing 53 tropical tree species in Malaysian Borneo. We developed regression equations of each wood trait using the standardized major axis method. Each root wood trait was highly correlated with the corresponding stem wood trait, and most regression equations fitted well (R2 > 0.5). The lignin concentration of roots was significantly greater than that of stems. We conclude that root wood traits can be estimated from the corresponding stem wood traits in South-East Asian tropical trees. Further analysis of coarse root decomposability will provide more accurate estimates of carbon and nutrient fluxes in tropical forest ecosystems.
Relationship between Sloan-Kettering virus expression and mammalian follicular development-RETRACTION
Authors: Kim Hyun , Cho Young Moo , Ko Yeoung-Gyu , Choe Changyong , Seong Hwan-Hoo 
Published: January 2016

Zygotewishes to inform its readers that its Editor-in-Chief has decided to retract the above article after an investigation carried out in compliance with the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines found that the authors duplicated substantial parts of the following two articles:1.Kim H, Yamanouchi K, Nishihara M. (2006) Expression of ski in the granulosa cells of atretic follicles in the rat ovary.J. Reprod. Dev.52, 715–7212.Kim H, Yamanouchi K, Matsuwaki T, Nishihara M. (2012) Induction of Ski protein expression upon luteinization in rat granulosa cells without a change in its mRNA expression.J. Reprod. Dev.58, 254–259
THE ARITHMETIC OF THE EVEN AND THE ODD
Authors: PAMBUCCIAN VICTOR 
Published: January 2016

AbstractWe present several formal theories for the arithmetic of the even and the odd, show that the irrationality of$\sqrt 2$can be proved in one of them, that the proof must involve contradiction, and prove that the irrationality of$\sqrt {17}$cannot be proved inside any formal theory of the even and the odd.
Citizens’ Classics for the 21st Century
Authors: Hall Edith 
Published: January 2016

The recent general election has exposed the danger inherent in vote-based democracies – that they inevitably entail large disaffected minorities being excluded from executive power. The ancient Greek inventors of democracy vigorously debated this issue, having painful historical experience of it (recorded by Thucydides) and theoretical solutions (discussed by Aristotle). Yet our state educational system almost completely deprives our secondary-school children of the opportunity to think about democracy afforded by the dazzling thought-world of the ancient Greeks. This is despite the availability of excellent translations of all their writings – free online – into modern English.
P53 functional abnormality in mesenchymal stem cells promotes osteosarcoma development
Authors: Velletri T , Xie N , Wang Y , Huang Y , Yang Q , Chen X , Chen Q , Shou P , Gan Y , Cao G , Melino G , Shi Y 
Published: January 2016

AbstractIt has been shown that p53 has a critical role in the differentiation and functionality of various multipotent progenitor cells. P53 mutations can lead to genome instability and subsequent functional alterations and aberrant transformation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The significance of p53 in safeguarding our body from developing osteosarcoma (OS) is well recognized. During bone remodeling, p53 has a key role in negatively regulating key factors orchestrating the early stages of osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Interestingly, changes in the p53 status can compromise bone homeostasis and affect the tumor microenvironment. This review aims to provide a unique opportunity to study the p53 function in MSCs and OS. In the context of loss of function of p53, we provide a model for two sources of OS: MSCs as progenitor cells of osteoblasts and bone tumor microenvironment components. Standing at the bone remodeling point of view, in this review we will first explain the determinant function of p53 in OS development. We will then summarize the role of p53 in monitoring MSC fidelity and in regulating MSC differentiation programs during osteogenesis. Finally, we will discuss the importance of loss of p53 function in tissue microenvironment. We expect that the information provided herein could lead to better understanding and treatment of OS.
Intrinsic and chemo-sensitizing activity of SMAC-mimetics on high-risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Schirmer M , Trentin L , Queudeville M , Seyfried F , Demir S , Tausch E , Stilgenbauer S , Eckhoff S M , Meyer L H , Debatin K-M 
Published: January 2016

AbstractSMAC-mimetics represent a targeted therapy approach to overcome apoptosis resistance in many tumors. Here, we investigated the efficacy of the SMAC-mimetic BV6 in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). In ALL cell lines, intrinsic apoptosis sensitivity was associated with rapid cIAP degradation, NF-κB activation, TNF-α secretion and induction of an autocrine TNF-α-dependent cell death loop. This pattern of responsiveness was also observed upon ex vivo analysis of 40 primograft BCP-ALL samples. Treatment with BV6 induced cell death in the majority of ALL primografts including leukemias with high-risk and poor-prognosis features. Inhibition of cell death by the TNF receptor fusion protein etanercept demonstrated that BV6 activity is dependent on TNF-α. In a preclinical NOD/SCID/huALL model of high-risk ALL, marked anti-leukemia effectivity and significantly prolonged survival were observed upon BV6 treatment. Interestingly, also in vivo, intrinsic SMAC-mimetic activity was mediated by TNF-α. Importantly, BV6 increased the effectivity of conventional induction therapy including vincristine, dexamethasone and asparaginase leading to prolonged remission induction. These data suggest SMAC-mimetics as an important addendum to efficient therapy of pediatric BCP-ALL.
Survivin, a novel target of the Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway in human tumor cells
Authors: Vlčková K , Ondrušová L , Vachtenheim J , Réda J , Dundr P , Zadinová M , Žáková P , Poučková P 
Published: January 2016

AbstractSurvivin, an important antiapoptotic protein, is expressed in tumors, whereas in normal tissues the expression of this protein is extremely low, defining a role for survivin as a cancer gene. Survivin exhibits multifunctional activity in tumor cells. However, why survivin expression is sharply and invariably restricted to tumor tissue remains unclear. Here, we identified 11 putative consensus binding sites for GLI transcription factors in the survivin promoter and characterized the promoter activity. Inhibitors of the Hedgehog/GLI pathway, cyclopamine and GANT61, decreased the promoter activity in reporter assays. ΔNGLI2 (which lacks the repressor domain) was the most potent vector in activating the survivin promoter–reporter. Moreover, GANT61, a GLI1/2 inhibitor, repressed endogenous survivin protein and mRNA expression in most cells across a large panel of tumor cell lines. Chromatin immunoprecipitation showed GLI2 binding to the survivin promoter. The ectopic GLI2-evoked expression of endogenous survivin was observed in normal human fibroblasts. GANT61 decreased survivin level in nude mice tumors, mimicking the activity of GANT61 in cultured cells. The immunohistochemistry and double immunofluorescence of human tumors revealed a correlation between the tissue regions showing high GLI2 and survivin positivity. Thus, these results demonstrated that survivin is a classical transcriptional target of GLI2, a Hedgehog pathway signaling effector. This potentially reflects the high expression of survivin in human tumor cells. As the Hedgehog pathway is upregulated in virtually all types of cancer cells, these findings substantially contribute to the explanation of uniform survivin expression in tumors as a potential target for the development of a more effective treatment of cancers through the inhibition of GLI2 to restrain survivin activity.
Prediction of disease–gene–drug relationships following a differential network analysis
Authors: Zickenrott S , Angarica V E , Upadhyaya B B , del Sol A 
Published: January 2016

AbstractGreat efforts are being devoted to get a deeper understanding of disease-related dysregulations, which is central for introducing novel and more effective therapeutics in the clinics. However, most human diseases are highly multifactorial at the molecular level, involving dysregulation of multiple genes and interactions in gene regulatory networks. This issue hinders the elucidation of disease mechanism, including the identification of disease-causing genes and regulatory interactions. Most of current network-based approaches for the study of disease mechanisms do not take into account significant differences in gene regulatory network topology between healthy and disease phenotypes. Moreover, these approaches are not able to efficiently guide database search for connections between drugs, genes and diseases. We propose a differential network-based methodology for identifying candidate target genes and chemical compounds for reverting disease phenotypes. Our method relies on transcriptomics data to reconstruct gene regulatory networks corresponding to healthy and disease states separately. Further, it identifies candidate genes essential for triggering the reversion of the disease phenotype based on network stability determinants underlying differential gene expression. In addition, our method selects and ranks chemical compounds targeting these genes, which could be used as therapeutic interventions for complex diseases.