bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cortical thickness is associated with altered autonomic function in cognitively impaired and non‐impaired older adults
Authors: Lin Feng , Ren Ping , Wang Xixi , Anthony Mia , Tadin Duje , Heffner Kathi L. 
Published: September 2017

Key points
The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is critical for adaptation to environment demands.
Alzheimer's disease (AD), via frontal compensatory processes, may affect PNS regulation, thereby compromising older adults’ capacity for adaptation, and increasing morbidity and mortality risk.
Here we found that AD‐associated neurodegeneration accompanied an overactive anterior cingulate cortex, which in turn resulted in a high level of PNS activity at rest, as well as strong PNS activity withdrawal in response to the mental effort.
This discovery provides the first line of evidence to suggest that AD‐associated neurodegeneration links to altered PNS regulation during mental effort in older adults, and that the compensatory processes accompanying frontal hyperactivation appear to be responsible for these alterations.
AbstractThe parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is critical for adaptation to environment demands. PNS can reflect an individual's regulatory capacity of frontal brain regions and has been linked to cognitive capacity. Yet, the relationship of PNS function to cognitive decline and abnormal frontal function that characterize preclinical progression toward Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unclear. Here, we aimed to elucidate the relationship between PNS function and AD‐associated neurodegeneration by testing two competing hypotheses involving frontal regions’ activity (neurodegeneration vs. compensation). In 38 older human adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) or normative cognition, we measured AD‐associated neurodegeneration (AD signature cortical thickness; ADSCT), resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging of frontal regions’ spontaneous activation, and an electrocardiography measure of PNS (high frequency heart rate variability; HF‐HRV). HF‐HRV was assessed at rest and during a cognitive task protocol designed to capture HF‐HRV reactivity. Higher HF‐HRV at rest was significantly related to both more severe AD‐associated neurodegeneration (lower ADSCT scores) and worse cognitive ability. Cognitive impairments were also related to greater suppression of HF‐HRV reactivity. High activities of the anterior cingulate cortex significantly mediated relationships between ADSCT and both HF‐HRV at rest and HF‐HRV reactivity. Notably, these relationships were not affected by the clinical phenotype. We show that AD‐associated neurodegeneration is associated with altered PNS regulation and that compensatory processes linked to frontal overactivation might be responsible for those alterations. This finding provides the first line of evidence in a new framework for understanding how early‐stage AD‐associated neurodegeneration affects autonomic regulation.
Sensorimotor control of breathing in the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Authors: Burns David P. , Roy Arijit , Lucking Eric F. , McDonald Fiona B. , Gray Sam , Wilson Richard J. , Edge Deirdre , O'Halloran Ken D. 
Published: September 2017

Key points
Respiratory failure is a leading cause of mortality in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), but little is known about the control of breathing in DMD and animal models.
We show that young (8 weeks of age) mdx mice hypoventilate during basal breathing due to reduced tidal volume. Basal CO2 production is equivalent in wild‐type and mdx mice.
We show that carotid bodies from mdx mice have blunted responses to hyperoxia, revealing hypoactivity in normoxia. However, carotid body, ventilatory and metabolic responses to hypoxia are equivalent in wild‐type and mdx mice.
Our study revealed profound muscle weakness and muscle fibre remodelling in young mdx diaphragm, suggesting severe mechanical disadvantage in mdx mice at an early age.
Our novel finding of potentiated neural motor drive to breathe in mdx mice during maximal chemoactivation suggests compensatory neuroplasticity enhancing respiratory motor output to the diaphragm and probably other accessory muscles.
AbstractPatients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) hypoventilate with consequential arterial blood gas derangement relevant to disease progression. Whereas deficits in DMD diaphragm are recognized, there is a paucity of knowledge in respect of the neural control of breathing in dystrophinopathies. We sought to perform an analysis of respiratory control in a model of DMD, the mdx mouse. In 8‐week‐old male wild‐type and mdx mice, ventilation and metabolism, carotid body afferent activity, diaphragm muscle force‐generating capacity, and muscle fibre size, distribution and centronucleation were determined. Diaphragm EMG activity and responsiveness to chemostimulation was determined. During normoxia, mdx mice hypoventilated, owing to a reduction in tidal volume. Basal CO2 production was not different between wild‐type and mdx mice. Carotid sinus nerve responses to hyperoxia were blunted in mdx, suggesting hypoactivity. However, carotid body, ventilatory and metabolic responses to hypoxia were equivalent in wild‐type and mdx mice. Diaphragm force was severely depressed in mdx mice, with evidence of fibre remodelling and damage. Diaphragm EMG responses to chemoactivation were enhanced in mdx mice. We conclude that there is evidence of chronic hypoventilation in young mdx mice. Diaphragm dysfunction confers mechanical deficiency in mdx resulting in impaired capacity to generate normal tidal volume at rest and decreased absolute ventilation during chemoactivation. Enhanced mdx diaphragm EMG responsiveness suggests compensatory neuroplasticity facilitating respiratory motor output, which may extend to accessory muscles of breathing. Our results may have relevance to emerging treatments for human DMD aiming to preserve ventilatory capacity.
Driving Performance Deficits Despite Concussion Symptom Resolution: A Case Report
Authors: Hoffman Nicole L. , Devos Hannes , Schmidt Julianne D. 
Published: September 2017

Driving performance prior to concussion is not commonly available to help clinicians identify when deficits return to a preinjury status. This case report examines driving performance prior to and following concussion in a 20-year-old male college student. He initially volunteered as a control for a separate driving performance study. He sustained a concussion 18 months later, and was asked to complete the same driving tasks as previous testing once he was asymptomatic. Poor driving simulator performance and subtle cognitive deficits in complex attention and processing speed were evident despite being symptom-free. Our findings may be useful when considering readiness to drive postconcussion.
Locomotor and Heart Rate Responses of Floaters During Small-Sided Games in Elite Soccer Players: Effect of Pitch Size and Inclusion of Goalkeepers
Authors: Lacome Mathieu , Simpson Ben M. , Cholley Yannick , Buchheit Martin 
Published: September 2017

Purpose: To (1) compare the locomotor and heart rate responses between floaters and regular players during both small and large small-sided games (SSGs) and (2) examine whether the type of game (ie, game simulation [GS] vs possession game [PO]) affects the magnitude of the difference between floaters and regular players. Methods: Data were collected in 41 players belonging to an elite French football team during 3 consecutive seasons (2014–2017). A 5-Hz global positionning system was used to collect all training data, with the Athletic Data Innovation analyzer (v5.4.1.514) used to derive total distance (m), high-speed distance (>14.4 km·h−1, m), and external mechanical load (MechL, a.u.). All SSGs included exclusively 1 floater and were divided into 2 main categories, according to the participation of goalkeepers (GS) or not (PO) and then further divided into small and large (>100 m2per player) SSGs based on the area per player ratio. Results: Locomotor activity and MechL performed were likely-to-most likely lower (moderate to large magnitude) in floaters compared with regular players, whereas differences in heart rate responses were unclear to possibly higher (small) in floaters. The magnitude of the difference in locomotor activity and MechL between floaters and regular players was substantially greater during GS compared with PO. Conclusions: Compared with regular players, floaters present decreased external load (both locomotor and MechL) despite unclear to possibly slightly higher heart rate responses during SSGs. Moreover, the responses of floaters compared with regular players are not consistent across different sizes of SSGs, with greater differences during GS than PO.
Gait Coordination Deteriorates in Independent Old-Old Adults
Authors: Gimmon Yoav , Rashad Hisham , Kurz Ilan , Plotnik Meir , Riemer Raziel , Debi Ronen , Shapiro Amir , Melzer Itshak 
Published: September 2017

Human gait is symmetric and bilaterally coordinated in young healthy persons. In this study, we aimed to explore the differences in bilateral coordination of gait as measured by the phase coordination index (PCI), gait asymmetry, and stride time variability of gait between four age groups. A total of 44 older adults were recruited: nine young-old (age 70–74 years), 26 old (age 75–84 years), nine old-old (>85 years and older), and 13 young adults (age 20–30 years). Subjects walked on a treadmill; walking speed was systematically increased from 0.5 to 0.9 m/s in steps of 0.1 m/s. There were marginal effects of age on PCI, significant main effects of walking speeds without interaction between walking speeds and age group. A difference in PCI could distinguish between young’s and late aging group, and only during their preferred treadmills walking speed. This study explicitly shows that bilateral coordination of walking is modified by gait speed, and deteriorates only at a very old age.
Bacterial Whack-a-Mole: Reconsidering the Public Health Relevance of Using Carbadox in Food Animals
Authors: Price Lance B. 
Published: September 2017

ABSTRACT

Carbadox is an antibiotic used to control dysentery and promote growth in swine in the United States; however, the drug also causes tumors and birth defects in laboratory animals. Despite this and because the drug has no analogs in human medicine, it is not considered “medically important” and can be used in livestock without veterinarian oversight. In their recent study, T. A. Johnson et al. (mBio 8:e00709-17, 2017,
https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00709-17
) demonstrated that carbadox has profound effects on the swine gut microbiome, including the induction of transducing phage carrying tetracycline, aminoglycoside, and beta-lactam resistance genes. In swine production, carbadox can be used in conjunction with other antibiotics (e.g., oxytetracycline) that could fuel the emergence of strains carrying phage-encoded resistance determinants. Johnson et al.’s findings underscore the potential unforeseen consequences of using antibiotics in livestock production and call into question our current methods for classifying whether or not a veterinary drug has relevance to human health.
Clinical characteristics of antimitochondrial antibody-positive patients at a safety net health care system in Arizona
Authors: Tan Susanna , Ayutyanont Napatkamon , Bhattarai Bikash , Movahedi Zohreh , Jayaram Lakshmi , Gish Robert , Nadir Abdul 
Published: September 2017

Background and aimsTo assess whether aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) levels can predict the diagnosis of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) or any other diagnoses and whether PBC occurs either simultaneously or independently of other liver diseases among antimitochondrial antibody (AMA)-positive patients.MethodsDemographic and clinical variables were assessed in 90 AMA-positive patients with and without liver biopsies. These patients were further categorised as having a diagnosis of PBC, overlap syndrome or ‘not established with a diagnosis of PBC’. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to determine the thresholds of liver enzymes that predict these three diagnoses.ResultsThe 48 patients with liver biopsies were more frequently female and had significantly higher AP levels compared with the non-liver biopsy group. Based on liver biopsy findings, 12, 12 and 22 patients were assigned a diagnosis of PBC, overlap syndrome with autoimmune hepatitis and PBC and ‘not established diagnosis of PBC’, respectively. Seven of 12 patients classified as PBC had AP level of ˂200 IU. AST, ALT and AP levels were significant predictors of a diagnosis of overlap syndrome compared with the rest of the patients; however, these tests were not discriminatory between diagnoses of PBC and ‘not established with PBC’. Findings of fatty liver and bile duct injury on liver biopsies were not significantly associated with any liver test pattern.ConclusionsAs the liver test pattern did not correlate with the liver biopsy findings of PBC or other non-PBC diagnoses in AMA-positive patients at risk for other disease, a liver biopsy and/or non-invasive liver assessment along with serum liver tests should be interpreted to complete liver evaluation.
Sex practices and awareness of Ebola virus disease among male survivors and their partners in Guinea
Authors: Kondé Mandy Kader , Diop Moustapha Keita , Curtis Marie Yvonne, , Barry Abdoulaye , Kouyaté Saidou , Ghilardi Ludovica , Kouyaté Sékou , Diallo Aissatou Malal , Magassouba N’faly , Quick Isadora , Keïta Mory , Carroll Miles W , Jansa Josep , Subissi Lorenzo 
Published: September 2017

IntroductionTowards the end of the 2013–2016 West African outbreak, sexually-transmitted Ebola virus re-emerged from Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors in all three hardest hit countries. We explore sex practices and awareness of the risk of Ebola virus transmission among EVD survivors and their partners.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we recruited a convenience sample of study participants aged >15 years who were male EVD survivors, their sexual partners and a comparison group. We administered a questionnaire to all respondents, estimated self-reported sexual practices and risk awareness and conducted in-depth interviews.ResultsWe recruited 234 EVD survivors, 256 sexual partners of survivors and 65 individuals in the comparison group from five prefectures in Guinea. The prevalence of safe sexual behaviour (regular condom use or sexual abstinence >12 months) and regular condom use in EVD survivors was 38% (95% CI 31% to 44%) and 21% (95% CI 16% to 27%), respectively. Among partners, these prevalences were lower (11%, 95% CI 7% to 15% and 9%, 95% CI 5% to 12%, respectively). EVD survivors were more than five times as likely to engage in safe sexual behaviour compared with the comparison group (aOR 5.59, 95% CI 2.36 to 13.2). One-hundred and thirty one EVD survivors (57%) and 94 partners (37%) were aware of the risk of Ebola virus re-emergence associated with having unsafe sex. Partners who reported not being informed by their husband/boyfriend (EVD survivor) were more likely to be unaware of this risk (aOR 20.5, 95% CI 8.92 to 47.4).ConclusionsWe disclose here a need to improve knowledge of the disease and close the gap between knowledge and practice found in EVD survivors and their partners. Current and future survivors’ follow-up programmes should include partners and be more effective at communicating sex-related risks. Community-level fears and attitudes that enable stigmatisation should be addressed. Safe sex interventions targeting EVD survivors and their partners should be prioritised.
Initial assessment of device mechanism of action and patient acceptance of a novel medical device: feasibility study of vaginal bowel control therapy for the treatment of faecal incontinence
Authors: Sokol Eric R 
Published: September 2017

BackgroundSuccessful development of a novel medical device requires an early understanding of anatomical feasibility and acceptance by both patient and clinician. In the absence of acceptable artificial anatomical test models, short-term evaluation with controlled observation in a small number of patients can be pursued to demonstrate initial feasibility. The vaginal bowel control (VBC) system, a non-surgical device for faecal incontinence (FI), is difficult to evaluate in artificial models. In-person usage was required to understand the potential for a vaginal insert to provide comfortable, dynamic rectal occlusion.MethodsThis prospective, open-label study was conducted at a single urogynaecology practice at an academic medical centre with 13 female subjects ≥18 years with self-reported FI. The VBC therapy consists of a vaginal insert and pressure-regulated pump. The vaginal insert includes a balloon that, when inflated, creates an occlusion of the rectum. Subjects’ FI symptoms were collected in a baseline questionnaire. The investigator fitted subjects with multiple sizes of VBC inserts and evaluated the fit, position and degree of rectal occlusion. Subject comfort levels were assessed throughout the fitting process with a verbal response and on a subject questionnaire using a 10-point scale (1=no discomfort, 10=extremely uncomfortable). The insert was returned at the end of the study visit.ResultsThe majority of the rectum was occluded in 77% of patients. Furthermore, comfort scores during insertion (2.1±2.0), inflation (3.3±2.6) and ambulation (2.6±2.0) states indicated minor discomfort with 42% of women indicating no discomfort in any states. No adverse events were reported.ConclusionsPilot evaluation of an early VBC system design and its delivery during a single study visit provided evidence for effectiveness, patient comfort and ease of use of a novel VBC for FI in women. This first-in-woman study confirmed feasibility of VBC and informed continued product development and subsequent clinical research.
Suitability of a three-dimensional model to measure empathy and its relationship with social and normative adjustment in Spanish adolescents: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Herrera-López Mauricio , Gómez-Ortiz Olga , Ortega-Ruiz Rosario , Jolliffe Darrick , Romera Eva M. 
Published: September 2017

Objectives(1) To examine the psychometric properties of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) with Spanish adolescents, comparing a two and a three-dimensional structure;(2) To analyse the relationship between the three-dimensional empathy and social and normative adjustment in school.DesignTransversal and ex post facto retrospective study. Confirmatory factorial analysis, multifactorial invariance analysis and structural equations models were used.Participants747 students (51.3% girls) from Cordoba, Spain, aged 12–17 years (M=13.8; SD=1.21).ResultsThe original two-dimensional structure was confirmed (cognitive empathy, affective empathy), but a three-dimensional structure showed better psychometric properties, highlighting the good fit found in confirmatory factorial analysis and adequate internal consistent valued, measured with Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega. Composite reliability and average variance extracted showed better indices for a three-factor model. The research also showed evidence of measurement invariance across gender. All the factors of the final three-dimensional BES model were direct and significantly associated with social and normative adjustment, being most strongly related to cognitive empathy.ConclusionsThis research supports the advances in neuroscience, developmental psychology and psychopathology through a three-dimensional version of the BES, which represents an improvement in the original two-factorial model. The organisation of empathy in three factors benefits the understanding of social and normative adjustment in adolescents, in which emotional disengagement favours adjusted peer relationships. Psychoeducational interventions aimed at improving the quality of social life in schools should target these components of empathy.
When is a randomised controlled trial health equity relevant? Development and validation of a conceptual framework
Authors: Jull J , Whitehead M , Petticrew M , Kristjansson E , Gough D , Petkovic J , Volmink J , Weijer C , Taljaard M , Edwards S , Mbuagbaw L , Cookson R , McGowan J , Lyddiatt A , Boyer Y , Cuervo L G , Armstrong R , White H , Yoganathan M , Pantoja T , Shea B , Pottie K , Norheim O , Baird S , Robberstad B , Sommerfelt H , Asada Y , Wells G , Tugwell P , Welch V 
Published: September 2017

BackgroundRandomised controlled trials can provide evidence relevant to assessing the equity impact of an intervention, but such information is often poorly reported. We describe a conceptual framework to identify health equity-relevant randomised trials with the aim of improving the design and reporting of such trials.MethodsAn interdisciplinary and international research team engaged in an iterative consensus building process to develop and refine the conceptual framework via face-to-face meetings, teleconferences and email correspondence, including findings from a validation exercise whereby two independent reviewers used the emerging framework to classify a sample of randomised trials.ResultsA randomised trial can usefully be classified as ‘health equity relevant’ if it assesses the effects of an intervention on the health or its determinants of either individuals or a population who experience ill health due to disadvantage defined across one or more social determinants of health. Health equity-relevant randomised trials can either exclusively focus on a single population or collect data potentially useful for assessing differential effects of the intervention across multiple populations experiencing different levels or types of social disadvantage. Trials that are not classified as ‘health equity relevant’ may nevertheless provide information that is indirectly relevant to assessing equity impact, including information about individual level variation unrelated to social disadvantage and potentially useful in secondary modelling studies.ConclusionThe conceptual framework may be used to design and report randomised trials. The framework could also be used for other study designs to contribute to the evidence base for improved health equity.