bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TOMOGRAPHIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN RETINAL NEOVASCULARIZATION AND THE POSTERIOR VITREOUS IN PROLIFERATIVE DIABETIC RETINOPATHY
Authors: Vaz-Pereira Sara , Dansingani Kunal K. , Chen Kevin C. , Cooney Michael J. , Klancnik James M. , Engelbert Michael 
Published: October 2016

Purpose:
To describe anatomical relationships of retinal neovascular complexes (NVCs) and the posterior vitreous in proliferative diabetic retinopathy using spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Methods:
Cross-sectional study. Neovascular complexes were imaged using spectral domain optical coherence tomography in 51 eyes of 37 patients. The relationship of NVCs to the posterior vitreous cortex and posterior vitreous spaces, such as the premacular bursa, prevascular vitreous fissures, and perimacular cisterns, was analyzed.

Results:
In the 77 NVCs evaluated, 61 (79%) had grown along the outer surface of the posterior hyaloid face, and vitreoschisis was present in 37 (48%). The “wolf's jaw” configuration was present in 9% and resulted from NVC arising from the arcades and proliferating along the posterior hyaloid face. By contrast, NVCs that invaded the bursa originated from smaller venous tributaries more distant from the arcades. The premacular bursa and prevascular vitreous fissure/perimacular cistern were invaded infrequently, respectively, in 15% and 38% (P = 0.137).

Conclusion:
Tomographic analysis of diabetic NVCs showed that most NVCs arise and grow along the posterior hyaloid face and that vitreoschisis is more prevalent than what has been found in ultrasound studies. The wolf's jaw configuration does not seem to result from the invasion of the bursa, as previously suggested.
Higher-Order Aberrations After Cyclopentolate, Tropicamide, and Artificial Tear Drops Application in Normal Eyes
Authors: Amirshekarizadeh Negin , Hashemi Hassan , Jafarzadehpur Ebrahim , Mirzajani Ali , Yekta Abbasali , Khabazkhoob Mehdi 
Published: October 2016

Purpose:
To determine the effect of cyclopentolate, tropicamide, and artificial tear drops on higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in normal eyes with OPD-Scan III (Nidek Inc., Tokyo, Japan).

Methods:
In this study, 189 eyes of individuals aged 20 to 35 years were selected as samples. Inclusion criteria were a corrected visual acuity of 20/20 or better, a minimum size of about 5 mm for the pupil in the dark, hyperopia and myopia less than 5 D, and astigmatism less than 2 D. Moreover, participants with pathological eye problems, a history of intraocular surgery, and ocular diseases affecting the accommodation, pupil size, and corneal surface were excluded. Higher-order aberrations of the participants were assessed by the OPD-Scan III before and after cyclopentolate (Colircuss), tropicamide (Mydrax 0.5%), and artificial tears (Tearlose) drop instillation.

Results:
After instilling cyclopentolate drops, the mean of the total root mean square (RMS) increased from 4.580 to 6.335 D, total spherical aberration increased from 0.155 to 0.381 D, and total coma increased from 0.195 to 0.369 D; the increases were significant for total RMS and total spherical aberration, but a significant relationship was not seen with total coma. After tropicamide, the mean aberrations of total RMS increased from 4.301 to 4.568 D, total spherical aberration increased from 0.146 to 0.160 D, and total coma increased from 0.213 to 0.230 D; the increase was only significant for total coma. On the other hand, after artificial tears, the average of all aberrations decreased in a nonsignificant manner.

Conclusion:
Most changes of mean aberrations were related to cyclopentolate drops. Tropicamide and artificial tears had the second and third rank according to their effect on mean errors. As a result, it seems that ocular accommodation is the most important impact on HOA than pupil size. However, the pupil size is the second factor for HOAs.
High Levels of Decisional Conflict and Decision Regret When Making Decisions About Biologics
Authors: Lipstein Ellen A. , Lovell Daniel J. , Denson Lee A. , Kim Sandra C. , Spencer Charles , Ittenbach Richard F. , Britto Maria T. 
Published: October 2016

ABSTRACTObjectives:The aim of the study was to understand the association between parents’ perceptions of the decision process and the decision outcomes in decisions about the use of biologics in pediatric chronic conditions.Methods:We mailed surveys to parents of children with inflammatory bowel disease or juvenile idiopathic arthritis who had started treatment with biologics in the prior 2 years and were treated at either of 2 children's hospitals. The survey included measures of the decision process, including decision control and physician engagement, and decision outcomes, including conflict and regret. We used means and frequencies to assess the response distributions. General linear models were used to test the associations between decision process and decision outcomes.Results:We had 201 respondents (response rate 54.9%). Approximately 47.0% reported using shared decision making. Each physician engagement behavior was experienced by the majority of parents, with the highest percentage reporting that their child's physician used language they understood and listened to them. Approximately 48.5% of parents had decisional conflict scores of 25 or greater, indicating high levels of conflict. Approximately 28.2% had no regret, 31.8% had mild regret, and the remaining 40.0% had moderate to severe regret. Shared decision making was not associated with improved decisional conflict, but physician engagement behaviors were associated with both decisional conflict and regret.Conclusions:Improving decision outcomes will require more than just focusing on who parents perceive as controlling the final decision. Developing interventions that facilitate specific physician engagement behaviors may decrease parents’ distress around decision making and improve decision outcomes.
Ultrasound‐Guided Liver Biopsy With Gelatin Sponge Pledget Tract Embolization in Infants Weighing Less Than 10 kg
Authors: Lungren Matthew P. , Lindquester Will S. , Seidel Frank Glen , Kothary Nishita , Monroe Eric J. , Shivaram Giri , Gill Anne E. , Hawkins Matthew C. 
Published: October 2016

ABSTRACTObjectives:The aim of the study was to describe and assess the technical success and safety of ultrasound‐guided liver biopsy with gelatin sponge pledget tract embolization technique in infants <10 kg across 3 tertiary pediatric hospitals.Materials and Methods:There were 67 pediatric patients weighing <10 kg (36 boys; 31 girls; average age 202 days; average weight 6 kg, range 1.5–9.9 kg) referred for liver biopsy performed with ultrasound guidance and gelatin sponge pledget tract embolization during a 2‐year period. Patient history, procedural records, and clinical follow‐up documents were retrospectively reviewed.Results:A total of 67 procedures were included. There was 100% technical success rate and all samples obtained provided adequate tissue for histological assessment. Average number of 18 G biopsy passes was 3 (range 1–6). There were no procedure‐related deaths. There was 1 complication (1%) in a 5‐kg infant who was readmitted 36 hours after biopsy with a fever and fully recovered after antibiotics were administered. Biliary atresia was the most common underlying diagnosis (20%), whereas others included acute rejection (16%) and biliary obstruction (7%).Conclusions:Ultrasound‐guided percutaneous liver biopsy with gelatin sponge pledget tract embolization technique in children weighing <10 kg is safe, effective, and use of this technique may lead to a reduction in rates of adverse events reported in other pediatric series.
Bottle Tongue Entrapment
Authors: Long Michael T. , Murray Matthew P. 
Published: October 2016

Abstract
Tongue entrapments within bottles are very rare childhood mishaps. The most immediate hazard in a tongue entrapment is airway obstruction. Tongue entrapment is an airway emergency; contingency planning to maintain airway patency, oxygenation, and ventilation is critical. Here, we report the case of a 5-year-old girl presenting to a pediatric emergency department with an increasingly popular novelty soda bottle, featuring a unique and dangerous design, entrapped on her tongue. Operative removal was anticipated. Although initially stable, she became agitated and developed retching while awaiting transfer to the operating room. Symptoms were managed medically after careful consideration of the risks and benefits of drug adverse effects while airway contingencies were planned. Fortunately, airway interventions were not necessary in the emergency department. The child was transferred to and intubated in the operating room where the bottle was removed uneventfully. This case demonstrates our approach to an evolving difficult airway in our pediatric emergency department. We review the available literature on similar presentations.
Acute Liver Failure
Authors: Núñez-Ramos Raquel , Montoro Soledad , Bellusci Marcello , del Fresno-Valencia María Rosa , Germán-Díaz Marta , Urruzuno Pedro , Medina Enrique , Manzanares Javier 
Published: October 2016

Purpose
The aims of this study were to analyze the characteristics of patients with acute liver failure (ALF) in our center and evaluate the prognostic value of the Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) score calculated at admission.

Methods
A retrospective analysis of patients with ALF younger than 15 years between 2005 and 2013 was performed. Information collected included age, sex, etiology of ALF, laboratory tests, PELD score, stage of encephalopathy, and need for liver support devices such as MARS and/or liver transplant (LT) and survival. A poor prognosis was defined as the need for LT or death.

Results
Twenty patients (10 male patients, 50%) with a median age of 2.6 years (3 days-14.5 y old) were included. Acute liver failure was of indeterminate cause in 5 cases (25%). Within the recognized causes, the most frequent were viral hepatitis (herpes simplex virus, adenovirus, influenza B, Epstein-Barr virus), autoimmune hepatitis, and metabolopathies. Sixty percent presented with encephalopathy at diagnosis. Four patients were aided by a MARS liver support device. Six patients received a total of 7 transplants, all from deceased donors. The rate of spontaneous recovery was 45%. Currently 13 patients (65%) are living, 4 of them with an LT. Six patients died because of ALF. The mean PELD score of patients with spontaneous recovery was 15.31 (5.3–27.6) compared with a mean of 29.5 (17.2–39.4) in LT patients and 31.55 (15.8–52.4) for nonsurvivors (P = 0.013).

Conclusions
High PELD scores at diagnosis were accurate predictors of a poor prognosis in our patients with ALF. This model may help in the clinical management of this entity, although prospective validation is needed.
Etiology and Outcome of Severe Apparent Life-Threatening Events in Infants
Authors: Radovanovic Tanja , Spasojevic Slobodan , Stojanovic Vesna , Doronjski Aleksandra 
Published: October 2016

Introduction
An apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) is defined as “an episode that is frightening to the observer and is characterized by some combination of apnea, color change, marked change of muscle tone, choking, or gagging.”

Objective
The aims of this study were to determine etiology and outcome of severe ALTE (requiring resuscitation measures) and to review diagnostic approaches in infants hospitalized after such an episode of ALTE.

Methods
Retrospective analysis included patients hospitalized at the Intensive Care Unit, Institute of Child and Youth Healthcare of Vojvodina, after an episode of severe ALTE over a 4-year period.

Results
The study included 23 infants, 18 male (78.3%), and 5 female (21.7%). The average age at presentation was 78 days (1 day to 11 months). In 8 infants (34.7%), ALTE resulted in death. The most frequent conditions after diagnostic evaluation were lower respiratory tract infections (39.1%), intracranial and extracranial hemorrhages (13.0%), and central nervous system infections (8.6%). The cause remained unknown in 8.7% of cases. Initial investigations included complete blood cell count, C-reactive protein or procalcitonin, blood gasses, lactate, electrolytes, glucose, blood culture, urinalysis, and chest x-ray.

Conclusions
Apparent life-threatening event represents a diverse disorder. Lower respiratory tract infections and neurological disorders were the most common established etiology. Prematurity and congenital heart diseases stood out as important risk factors. Diagnostic evaluation varied according to suspected cause and trigger factors.
The Beef Jerky Blues
Authors: Theobald Jillian L. , Spoelhof Rachel , Pallasch Erin M. , Mycyk Mark B. 
Published: October 2016

Abstract
Methemoglobinemia can result from ingestion of nitrite- or nitrate-containing foods. Here, we report a case where an adolescent girl and her father developed clinically significant methemoglobinemia after ingestion of “homemade” beef jerky prepared with sodium nitrate salt purchased at a local grocery store. Both had palpitations, dyspnea, and visible mucosal cyanosis. The daughter had a methemoglobin level of 44.2% and the father's methemoglobin level was 34.2%. Prompt recognition of methemoglobinemia is important for initiating antidotal therapy with methylene blue.
Mito-nuclear Incompatibilities and Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy
Authors: Eyre-Walker Adam 
Published: October 2016

AbstractMitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) is a human reproductive technology by which the mitochondria of a recipient’s eggs are effectively replaced by those of a donor, potentially eliminating harmful mitochondrial mutations carried by the recipient. However, concerns have been raised that MRT may lead to problems due to incompatibilities between the nuclear genome of the recipient and mitochondrial genome of the donor. Whether this is likely to be a problem is investigated using 226 estimates, taken from the literature, of the effect of replacing the “native” by a “foreign” mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the same species in a variety of animals. In approximately half of the cases (45%), strains with the foreign mtDNA have higher fitness than those with the native mtDNA, and on average the native strains are only 3% fitter. Based on these results it is argued that incompatibilities between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes are not likely to be a problem for MRT.
Comparative analysis of variation and selection in the HCV genome
Authors: Patiño-Galindo Juan Ángel , González-Candelas Fernando 
Published: October 2016

AbstractGenotype 1 of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most prevalent of the variants of this virus. Its two main subtypes, HCV-1a and HCV-1b, are associated to differences in epidemic features and risk groups, despite sharing similar features in most biological properties. We have analyzed the impact of positive selection on the evolution of these variants using complete genome coding regions, and compared the levels of genetic variability and the distribution of positively selected sites. We have also compared the distributions of positively selected and conserved sites considering different factors such as RNA secondary structure, the presence of different epitopes (antibody, CD4 and CD8), and secondary protein structure. Less than 10% of the genome was found to be under positive selection, and purifying selection was the main evolutionary force in both subtypes. We found differences in the number of positively selected sites between subtypes in several genes (Core, HVR2 inE2, P7, helicase inNS3andNS4a).Heterozygosity values in positively selected sites and the rate of non-synonymous substitutions were significantly higher in subtype HCV-1b. Logistic regression analyses revealed that similar selective forces act at the genome level in both subtypes: RNA secondary structure and CD4 T-cell epitopes are associated with conservation, while CD8 T-cell epitopes are associated with positive selection in both subtypes. These results indicate that similar selective constraints are acting along HCV-1a and HCV-1b genomes, despite some differences in the distribution of positively selected sites at independent genes.
Kinematics of the Lever Arm Swing in Myosin VI
Authors: Mugnai M. L. , Thirumalai D. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractMyosin VI (MVI) is the only known member of the myosin superfamily that, upon dimerization, walks processively towards the pointed end of the actin filament. The leading head of the dimer directs the trailing head forward with a power stroke, a conformational change of the motor domain exaggerated by the lever arm. Using a new coarse-grained model for the power stroke of a single MVI, we provide the molecular basis for its motility. We show that the power stroke occurs in two major steps: first, the motor domain attains the post-stroke conformation without directing the lever arm forward; second, the lever arm reaches the post-stroke orientation by undergoing a rotational diffusion. From the analysis of the trajectories, we discover that the potential that directs the rotating lever arm towards the post-stroke conformation is almost flat, implying that the lever arm rotation is mostly un-coupled from the motor domain. Because a backward load comparable with the largest inter-head tension in a MVI dimer prevents the rotation of the lever arm, our model suggests that the leading-head lever arm of a MVI dimer is uncoupled, in accord with the inference drawn from polarized Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (polTIRF) experiments. Our simulations are in quantitative agreement with polTIRF experiments, which validates our structural insights. Finally, we discuss the implications of our model in explaining the broad step-size distribution of MVI stepping pattern, and we make testable predictions.
Quantifying the regulatory effect size of cis-acting genetic variation using allelic fold change
Authors: Mohammadi Pejman , Castel Stephane E , Brown Andrew A , Lappalainen Tuuli 
Published: October 2016

AbstractMappingcis-acting expression quantitative trait loci (cis-eQTL) has become a popular approach for characterizing proximal genetic regulatory variants. However, measures used for quantifying the effect size ofcis-eQTLs have been inconsistent and poorly defined. In this paper, we describe log allelic fold change (aFC) as a biologically interpretable and mathematically convenient unit that represents the magnitude of expression change associated with a given genetic variant. This measure is mathematically independent from expression level and allele frequency, applicable to multi-allelic variants, and generalizable to multiple independent variants. We provide tools and guidelines for estimating aFC from eQTL and allelic expression data sets, and apply it to GTEx data. We show that aFC estimates independently derived from eQTL and allelic expression data are highly consistent, and identify technical and biological correlates of eQTL effect size. We generalize aFC to analyze genes with two eQTLs in GTEx, and show that in nearly all cases these eQTLs are independent in their regulatory activity. In summary, aFC is a solid measure ofcis-regulatory effect size that allows quantitative interpretation of cellular regulatory events from population data, and it is a valuable approach for investigating novel aspects of eQTL data sets.
Combining Multiscale Diffusion Kernels for Learning the Structural and Functional Brain Connectivity
Authors: Surampudi Sriniwas G. , Naik Shruti , Sharma Avinash , Bapi Raju Surampudi , Roy Dipanjan 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe activation of the brain at rest is thought to be at the core of cognitive functions. There have been many attempts at characterizing the functional connectivity at rest from the structure. Recent attempts with diffusion kernel models point to the possibility of a single diffusion kernel that can give a good estimate of the functional connectivity. But our empirical investigations revealed that the hypothesis of a single scale best-fitting kernel across subjects is not tenable. Further, our experiments demonstrate that structure-function relationship across subjects seems to obey a multi-scale diffusion phenomenon. Based on this insight, we propose a multiple diffusion kernel model (MKL) along with a learning framework for estimating the optimal model parameters. We tested our hypothesis on 124 subjects’ data from publicly available NKI_Rockland database. The results establish the viability of the proposed model and also demonstrate several promising features as compared to the single kernel approach. One of the key strengths of the proposed approach is that it does not require hand-tuning of model parameters but actually learns them as part of the optimization process. The learned parameters may be suitable candidates for future investigation of their role in distinguishing health and disease.
Fine mapping ofUr-3, a historically important rust resistance locus in common bean
Authors: Hurtado-Gonzales O.P. , Valentini G. , Gilio T.A.S , Martins A.M. , Song Q. , Pastor-Corrales M.A. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractBean rust is a devastating disease of common bean in the Americas and Africa. The historically importantUr-3gene confers resistance to many races of the highly variable bean rust pathogen that overcome all known rust resistance genes. Existing molecular markers taggingUr-3for use in marker assisted selection produce false results. We described here the fine mapping ofUr-3for the development of highly accurate markers linked to this gene. An F2population from Pinto 114 × Aurora was evaluated for its reaction to four different races of the bean rust pathogen. A bulked segregant analysis using the SNP chip BARCBEAN6K_3 positioned the approximate location of theUr-3locus to the lower arm of chromosome Pv11. Specific SSR and SNP markers and haplotype analysis of 18 sequenced bean lines led to position theUr-3locus to a 46.5 Kb genomic region. We discovered a KASP marker, SS68 that was tightly linked to theUr-3locus. Validation of SS68 on a panel of 130 diverse common bean lines and varieties containing all known rust resistance genes revealed that it was highly accurate producing no false results. The SS68 marker will be of great value to pyramidUr-3with other rust resistance genes. It will also reduce significantly time and labor associated with the current phenotypic detection ofUr-3. This is the first utilization of fine mapping to discover markers linked to a rust resistance in common bean.