bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Outcomes of Patellofemoral Osteochondral Lesions Treated With Structural Grafts in Patients Older Than 40 Years
Authors: Degen Ryan M. , Coleman Nathan W. , Tetreault Danielle , Chang Brenda , Mahony Greg T. , Camp Christopher L. , Anthony Shawn G. , Williams Riley J. 
Published: August 2016

Background Chondral lesions in the patellofemoral compartment represent a difficult entity to treat among active patients, with no clear consensus on the optimal treatment strategy. The purpose of this study was to review the functional outcomes of patients >40 years old with primary patellofemoral osteochondral lesions who underwent a cartilage restoration procedure with a structural graft. Methods Following institutional review board approval, 35 patients >40 years treated for patellofemoral chondral or osteochondral injuries were retrospectively identified. Seventeen (47%) had prior surgery (mean 1.4 procedures, range 1-4). Average follow-up was 3.6 ± 1.6 years. Average patient age was 51.5 years (range 40-72 years); 54% were male. Twenty-six (74%) had isolated trochlear lesions, 7 had isolated patellar lesions (20%), while 2 (6%) had bipolar lesions. Twenty patients (57%) were treated with synthetic biphasic scaffold plugs (SS), 9 (26%) with fresh osteochondral allograft (OCA) and 6 (17%) with osteochondral autograft transfer (OAT). Outcomes were measured with validated measures: Activity of Daily Living Score (ADL), International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Subjective Evaluation form, and Marx Activity Scale (MAS). Results The average lesion size for the entire cohort was 3.1 ± 1.7 cm2. Average defect size was 2.6 ± 1.7 cm2 for the SS group, 4.3±1.5 cm2 for the OCA group, and 2.9 ± 0.8 cm2 for the OAT group ( P > 0.051). Outcome scores for the entire population demonstrated significant improvement in ADL ( P = 0.002) and IKDC scores ( P = 0.004) between baseline and final follow-up, while MAS scores were maintained ( P = 0.51). Conclusion Structural grafts are a viable treatment option for symptomatic focal osteochondral lesions of the patellofemoral joint in patients 40 years and older, with anticipated improvements in pain and function and maintenance of preoperative activity levels.
A feasibility study to determine the benefits of upper extremity virtual rehabilitation therapy for coping with chronic pain post-cancer surgery
Authors: House Gregory , Burdea Grigore , Grampurohit Namrata , Polistico Kevin , Roll Doru , Damiani Frank , Hundal Jasdeep , Demesmin Didier 
Published: August 2016

Background: Persistent pain in shoulder and arm following post-surgical breast cancer treatment can lead to cognitive and physical deficits. Depression is also common in breast cancer survivors. Virtual reality therapy with integrative cognitive and physical rehabilitation has not been clinically trialed for this population. The novel BrightArm Duo technology improved cognition and upper extremity (UE) function for other diagnoses and has great potential to benefit individuals coping with post-surgical breast cancer pain. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of BrightArm Duo therapy for coping with post-surgical chronic pain and associated disability in breast cancer survivors with depression. Methods: BrightArm Duo is a robotic rehabilitation table modulating gravity loading on supported forearms. It tracks arm position and grasping strength while patients play three-dimensional (3D) custom integrative rehabilitation games. Community-dwelling women (N = 6) with post-surgical breast cancer pain in the upper arm trained on the system twice a week for 8 weeks. Training difficulty increased progressively in game complexity, table tilt and session length (20–50 minutes). Standardized assessments were performed before and after therapy for pain, cognition, emotion, UE function and activities of daily living. Results: Subjects averaged upwards of 1300 arm repetitions and 850 hand grasps per session. Pain intensity showed a 20% downward trend (p = 0.1) that was corroborated by therapist observations and participant feedback. A total of 10 out of 11 cognitive metrics improved post-training (p = 0.01) with a significant 8.3-point reduction in depression severity (p = 0.04). A total of 17 of 18 range of motion metrics increased (p < 0.01), with five affected-side shoulder improvements above the Minimal Clinically Important Difference (8°). In all, 13 out of 15 strength and function metrics improved (p = 0.02) with lateral deltoid strength increasing 7.4 N on the affected side (p = 0.05). Conclusion: This pilot study demonstrated feasibility of using the BrightArm Duo Rehabilitation System to treat cancer survivors coping with upper body chronic pain. Outcomes indicate improvement in cognition, shoulder range, strength, function and depression.
Ethnic variations in the occurrence of colonic neoplasms
Authors: Sonnenberg Amnon , Turner Kevin O , Genta Robert M 
Published: August 2016

Background and aimsWith the exception of African Americans and Hispanics, few studies have dealt with the influence of other types of ethnicity on the prevalence of colon polyps and colorectal cancer. The present study was undertaken to compare the ethnic and socioeconomic distributions of colonic neoplasms among different ethnic groups in the United States.MethodsA total of 813,057 patients, who underwent colonoscopy during 2008–2014, were recruited from an electronic database of histopathology reports (Miraca Life Sciences) for a cross‐sectional study. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, the presence of hyperplastic polyps, serrated adenomas, tubular adenomas, or adenocarcinomas each served as separate outcome variables. Patient ethnicity was determined using a name‐based computer algorithm. Demographic (age, sex, ethnicity) and a variety of socioeconomic risk factors (associated with patients’ ZIP code) served as predictor variables.ResultsAbout 50% of the study population harbored adenomatous polyps, 25% hyperplastic polyps, 8% serrated adenomas, and 1.4% adenocarcinomas. Tubular adenomas and adenocarcinomas showed similar ethnic distributions, being slightly more common among Hispanics and East Asians. All four types of colonic neoplasm were relatively rare among patients of Asian‐Indian descent and relatively common among patients of Japanese descent. Except for Japanese patients, serrated adenomas tended to be less prevalent among East Asians. In general, markers of high socioeconomic status showed a tendency to be negatively associated with the presence of tubular adenoma and adenocarcinoma, but positively with the presence of serrated adenoma.ConclusionEthnicity and socioeconomic factors affect different histology types of polyps differently. Genetic as well as environmental factors interact in the development of colorectal cancer and its precursor lesions.
Combining surface-wave phase-velocity dispersion curves and full microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio for subsurface sedimentary site characterization
Authors: Lontsi Agostiny Marrios , Ohrnberger Matthias , Krüger Frank , Sánchez-Sesma Francisco José 
Published: August 2016

We compute seismic velocity profiles by a combined inversion of surface-wave phase-velocity dispersion curves together with the full spectrum of the microtremor horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratio at two sediment-covered sites in Germany. The sediment deposits are approximately 100 m thick at the first test site and approximately 400 m thick at the second test site. We have used an extended physical model based on the diffuse wavefield assumption for the interpretation of the observed microtremor H/V spectral ratio. The extension includes the interpretation of the microtremor H/V spectral ratio observed at depth (in boreholes). This full-wavefield approach accounts for the energy contribution from the body and surface waves, and thus it allows for inverting the properties of the shallow subsurface. We have obtained the multimode phase velocity dispersion curves from an independent study, and a description of the extracted branches and their interpretation was developed. The inversion results indicate that the combined approach using seismic ambient noise and actively generated surface-wave data will improve the accuracy of the reconstructed near-surface velocity model, a key step in microzonation, geotechnical engineering, seismic statics corrections, and reservoir imaging.
A Fast Convergent Simulated Annealing Algorithm for Protein-Folding: Simulated Annealing Outlier FLOODing (SA-OFLOOD) Method
Authors: Harada Ryuhei , Nakamura Tomotake , Shigeta Yasuteru 
Published: August 2016

Abstract
A Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm is combined with our recently developed conformational search technique, Outlier FLOODding (OFLOOD) method [J. Comput. Chem. 2015, 36, 97], to avoid a slow convergence in finding a global minimum by the conventional SA (CSA). This method is referred to as SA-OFLOOD and designed for an efficient SA algorithm that robustly detects global minimum states in the protein-folding problems. As a demonstration, SA-OFLOOD was applied to reproduce the folding process of Trp-cage from a fully extended to the native states in implicit solvent. Through the demonstration, SA-OFLOOD successfully predicted the native state of Trp-cage within errors of 0.6 ± 0.2 Å Cα root mean square deviation (RMSD) with only 200 ns simulation time. In contrast, both CSA with sufficiently slow temperature scheduling and canonical MD simulations at room temperature (300 K) failed to find the native state (more than 3.0 Å Cα RMSD), indicating the strength of SA-OFLOOD on the protein-folding problem. As an application to a realistic system, SA-OFLOOD was applied to the folding of Trp-cage in explicit solvent, and the native state was also sampled within Cα RMSD of 1.0 Å through a nanosecond-order simulation time.
Controlled Generation of Singlet Oxygen by Porphyrin-Appended Gold Nanoparticles
Authors: Shinohara Akira , Shinmori Hideyuki 
Published: August 2016

Abstract
Porphyrin-appended gold nanoparticles with different chain lengths were synthesized to examine the control over photosensitization. The efficiencies evaluated by singlet-oxygen generation were adjusted by the average number of porphyrins on one gold nanoparticle and the particle size regardless of the linker chain length between porphyrin site and gold core.
The invariances of power law size distributions
Authors: Frank Steven A. 
Published: August 2016

Size varies. Small things are typically more frequent than large things. The logarithm of frequency often declines linearly with the logarithm of size. That power law relation forms one of the common patterns of nature. Why does the complexity of nature reduce to such a simple pattern? Why do things as different as tree size and enzyme rate follow similarly simple patterns? Here I analyze such patterns by their invariant properties. For example, a common pattern should not change when adding a constant value to all observations. That shift is essentially the renumbering of the points on a ruler without changing the metric information provided by the ruler. A ruler is shift invariant only when its scale is properly calibrated to the pattern being measured. Stretch invariance corresponds to the conservation of the total amount of something, such as the total biomass and consequently the average size. Rotational invariance corresponds to pattern that does not depend on the order in which underlying processes occur, for example, a scale that additively combines the component processes leading to observed values. I use tree size as an example to illustrate how the key invariances shape pattern. A simple interpretation of common pattern follows. That simple interpretation connects the normal distribution to a wide variety of other common patterns through the transformations of scale set by the fundamental invariances.
Knowledge in practice: the specialist nurse role in Huntington's disease
Authors: Wilson Eleanor , Aubeeluck Aimee 
Published: August 2016

Background: There are challenges in providing care for individuals living with Huntington's disease and specialist nurses need a broad range of knowledge and skills. Method: Interviews and observations with 33 individuals living with Huntington's disease, their family members and key healthcare staff were conducted over 3 years. Data were collected to explore the lived experience of patients and how their lives had been affected by Huntington's disease. For the study, 68 interviews were undertaken face to face in the patient's own home; 47 observation sessions were also conducted to complement and inform interviews. Findings: Patients and carers described the importance of specialist nurses, in particular their knowledge of the disease. They recognised that HD was a rare, complex condition about which generalists often knew little. In addition, the specialist nurses also had person-and service-specific knowledge and advice that was highly prized and considered to be an essential aspect of care by participants. Conclusion: Specialist nurses appear to be a vital resource for people with HD. Their disease-specific, person-centred and service-specific knowledge can be used to enhance the provision of care in Huntington's disease.
Language learning, polylanguaging and speaker perspectives
Authors: Ritzau Ursula , Madsen Lian Malai 
Published: August 2016

AbstractSociolinguists have recently suggested a range of new terms to re-conceptualise language and language use. Most of these are based on the empirical documentation of speakers using linguistically hybrid constructions which are understood as reflecting speakers’ orientation to norms of linguistic hybridity. In this article we bring data typical of SLA research and sociolinguistic theorisation together by discussing data collected among Swiss German university students learning Danish in the light of such sociolinguistic concepts. We show how in some cases, the students signal investment in and alignment with hybrid language use, but in others the students “polylanguage” from a form-analytic point of view, while the co- and context suggest they orient strongly to an idea of “pure” Danish. In these cases their hybrid linguistic productions are more likely to be explained by their status as language learners. We argue that these observations point to the need for a closer consideration of speaker stances towards language forms as well as a need for considering repertoire restrictions and learner ambitions in current sociolinguistic conceptualisations of linguistic hybridity.
Evaluation of cell inkjet printing technique for biofabrication
Authors: Detsch Rainer , Blob Sebastian , Zehnder Tobias , Boccaccini Aldo R. 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe main goal in biofabrication approach is to build living tissue substitutes on demand. In order to create functional tissue structures, additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are being increasingly considered. They allow generating functional structures created out of CAD models within a short period of time and with a very high precision. Different techniques are already established to build three-dimensional (3D) complex cell-loaded structures. One of these robotic additive fabrication techniques is the ink jet technology which is highly promising for biofabrication. This technique allows to process very small amounts of liquids or low-viscous polymer solutions e.g. to set biomolecules and cells in a suitable structure. The aim of this study is to evaluate a piezo inkjet printing device which is integrated in a commercial modular instrument platform together with a bioplotting system for biofabrication. The inkjet device is able to print single ink droplets of different volumes by controlling the applied voltage and the number of drops released to the spot. In this work different selective sets of parameters influencing the droplet formation and the spot size have been investigated. It has been proven that inkjet printing process in combination with fibrin hydrogel and bone marrow stromal cells is cytocompatible. In summary, the applied piezo inkjet printing is shown to be completely programmable, accurate and the resolution of the device allowed printing of various patterns with biomaterials and vital cells.
Next-generation osmotic gradient ektacytometry for the diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis: interlaboratory method validation and experience
Authors: Lazarova Elena , Gulbis Béatrice , Oirschot Brigitte van , van Wijk Richard 
Published: August 2016

AbstractBackground:Osmotic gradient ektacytometry is part of the laboratory diagnosis process of hereditary spherocytosis (HS) and other red blood cell (RBC) membrane disorders. We here present the experience of two independent institutions with a next-generation ektacytometer, the LoRRca MaxSis analyzer, in HS diagnostic settings.Methods:Inter- and intra-assay variability and sample stability were analyzed. Samples from patients with HS (n=40), probable HS (n=21), auto-immune hemolytic anemia (n=7), and other pathologies (n=37) were studied. Daily controls were run in parallel with patient samples. Results were expressed as percent of change compared to mean of controls.Results:Analytical performances showed an inter-assay variability between 0.2% and 3%. Samples were stable for 48–72 h depending of temperature storage and anticoagulant used. The following diagnostic cut-offs were established for HS: an increase of more than 21.5% for the osmolality point at the minimal elongation index (O min), a decrease of more than 8.5% for the maximal elongation index (EI max), and a decreased area under the curve (AUC) of more than 18.5% compared to the mean of controls.Conclusions:As the previous instrument, the next-generation ektacytometer is an efficient tool for laboratory diagnosis of HS. Sample stability and standardized reporting of results allow inter-laboratory exchange and comparison. The most useful parameters for HS diagnosis were AUC, EI max, and O min; unfortunately, this method does not differentiate between HS and auto-immune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), but it distinguishes HS from other hereditary membrane pathologies. It can thus be considered as an intermediate step between screening and diagnostic tests.
Climate Change and Conflict: Taking Stock
Authors: Buhaug Halvard 
Published: August 2016

Abstract
Is climate change a major security threat? How has research on climate and conflict progressed in recent years? And where should it move forward? This brief essay reflects on some ways in which climatic changes could constitute a threat to peace and stability. Rather than assuming a direct causal link, the essay argues that climate change may exert an indirect and conditional effect on conflict risk, increasing the security gap between affluent societies well able to cope with climate change and societies already suffering from violence and instability, who are unlikely to achieve successful adaptation on their own. For this reason, peace building is quite possibly the most effective climate resilience policy in unstable corners of the world.
Sub-national constitutional politics: contesting or complementing, replicating or innovating, traditional constitutionalism?
Authors: Blokker Paul , Reutter Werner 
Published: August 2016

Abstract
This special issue of Perspectives on Federalism collects papers mostly presented at the General Conference of the European Consortium of Political Research in September 2014. The issue contains five papers dealing with the role, the status, the dynamics, and the functions of sub-national constitutional politics and sub-national constitutionalism in a number of member states of the EU as well as in a comparative, non-EU perspective. Even though the papers take different perspectives on the topic at hand, they all engage with the contribution sub-national constitutions can make to democracy and the nationstate within as well as outside of Europe.
Rights of Minors and Constitutional Politics in the German Länder. Legal Framework, Party Strategies, and Constitutional Amendments
Authors: Lorenz Astrid 
Published: August 2016

Abstract
The article analyses constitutional politics in the German Länder in the field of minors’ rights. Since this issue seems a purely legal matter dealt with at the federal, European and international level, we should expect similar, almost identically shaped policies at the Länder level. However, the analysis brings considerable variations of constitutional activities in this field to the fore: time, frequency, and contents of respective initiatives vary significantly in the period from 1999 to 2014. These variations were due to different party strategies, diverging party platforms and majority constellations in the Länder. The analysis also shows that the public arguments brought forward in favour of constitutional amendments refer only weakly and randomly to legal provisions and processes at other levels. The political debate supporting extended children's rights rather refers to general observations, to the specific regional context, and constitutional provisions in other Länder. At least with regard to this issue, the multi-level system did not systematically impact on constitutional politics in the Länder. It rather can be understood as an opportunity structure providing parties with multiple realms in which they can pursue their goals. Thus the study shows that federal and regional party strategies are key factors in explaining policy diffusion in multilevel systems.
Sub-national Constitutionalism in Austria: a Historical Institutionalist Perspective
Authors: Karlhofer Ferdinand 
Published: August 2016

AbstractAustria’s federal system is determined by an apparent contrast between formal and real constitution having its roots in foundational defects shaping the system to the present day. As for the formal dimension, Austria has a rather uneven balance with regard to powersharing. No wonder that, given the structural bias between central state and substates, informal forces are at work in order to make up for the shortcomings of the federal architecture. In this context, sub-national constitutionalism at first sight appears to be marginal. Astoundingly, though, in recent time a lot of constitutional changes and amendments, quite possibly paving the way for a sustainable redesign of the federation as a whole have taken place.The article starts with a historical outline of the Austrian federation’s origins. In chapter 2, the interplay of formal and informal rules and practices is discussed. Chapter 3 deals with scope, contents and dynamics of sub-national constitutionalism under the given framework. The article concludes with assessing the efficacy of subconstitutional politics in relation to the capacities of the federal constitution.
Federalism in Pakistan: Of Promises and Perils
Authors: Shahid Zubair 
Published: August 2016

Abstract
This paper presents the case of Pakistan, which is also broadly illustrative of the issues concerning federalism and subnational empowerment in developing countries characterized by unconsolidated political systems and enhanced constitutionalism. In the course of the analysis, this paper examines the dynamics and determinants of federalist/subnational politics in Pakistan, the formal constitutional and ordinance frameworks stipulated in support of federalism and subnational governance. The analysis shall be focused on the Local Governments Ordinance of 2001 and the 18th Constitutional Amendment, as these have been the most substantive attempts at subnational constitutionalism that were instituted under opposing political systems, and the extent to which they have enabled greater prospects for a stable federation while also examining the challenges that the radical departure under the 18th Constitutional Amendment put forth.