bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Alabama Veterans Rural Health Initiative: A Pilot Study of Enhanced Community Outreach in Rural Areas
Authors: Hilgeman Michelle M. , Mahaney‐Price Ann F. , Stanton Marietta P. , McNeal Sandre F. , Pettey Kristin M. , Tabb Kroshona D. , Litaker Mark S. , Parmelee Patricia , Hamner Karl , Martin Michelle Y. , Hawn Mary T. , Kertesz Stefan G. , Davis Lori L. ,   the Alabama Veterans Rural Health Initiative (AVRHI) Steering Committee
Published: December 2013

AbstractPurposeAccess, enrollment, and engagement with primary and specialty health care services present significant challenges for rural populations worldwide. The Alabama Veterans Rural Health Initiative evaluated an innovative outreach intervention combining motivational interviewing, patient navigation, and health services education to promote utilization of the United States Veterans Administration Healthcare System (VA) by veterans who live in rural locations.MethodsCommunity outreach workers completed the intervention and assessment, enrolling veterans from 31 counties in a southern state. A total 203 participants were randomized to either an enhanced enrollment and engagement outreach condition (EEE, n = 101) or an administrative outreach (AO, n = 102) condition.FindingsEEE participants enrolled and attended VA appointments at higher rates and within fewer days than those who received AO. Eighty‐seven percent of EEE veterans attended an appointment within 6 months, compared to 58% of AO veterans (P < .0001). The median time to first appointment was 12 days for the EEE group and 98 days for the AO group (P < .0001). Additionally, a race by outreach group interaction emerged: black and white individuals benefited equally from the EEE intervention; however, black individuals who received AO took significantly longer to attend appointments than their white counterparts.ConclusionsResults provide needed empirical support for a specific outreach intervention that speeds enrollment and engagement for rural individuals in VA services. Planned interventions to improve service utilization should ameliorate ambivalence about accessing health care in addition to addressing traditional systems or environmental‐level barriers.
Predictors associated with treatment initiation and switch in a real‐world chronic hepatitis B population from five European countries
Authors: Leblebicioglu H. , Arama V. , Causse X. , Marcellin P. , Ozaras R. , Postawa‐Klozinska B. , Simon K. , Suceveanu A. I. , Wiese M. , Zeuzem S. , Klauck I. , Morais E. , Bjork S. , Lescrauwaet B. , Kamar D. , Zarski J. P. ,   The AI463‐121 European Longitudinal Chronic Hepatitis B Study Group
Published: December 2013

SummaryIn Europe, healthcare systems differ between countries and different factors may influence Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment choices in different counties. This analysis from a prospective, longitudinal, non‐interventional study in five EU countries aimed to explore determinants associated with treatment initiation or switch in patients with CHB. A total of 1267 adult patients with compensated CHB in Germany, France, Poland, Romania and Turkey were prospectively followed for up to 2 years (March 2008–December 2010). Determinants of treatment initiation or switch were analysed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression. Median time since CHB diagnosis was 2.6 (0–37.7) years. Among 646 treatment‐naïve patients, the probability of treatment initiation during follow‐up was higher: in Germany (P = 0.0006), Poland (P < 0.0001) and Romania (P = 0.0004) compared with Turkey; in patients with alanine transaminase (ALT) 1–2 × upper limit of normal (ULN) (P = 0.0580) or >2 × ULN (P = 0.0523) compared with ALT ≤1 × ULN; and in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA ≥2000 IU/mL (P < 0.0001) compared with HBV DNA <2000 IU/mL or undetectable. Among 567 treated patients, 87 switched treatment during follow‐up. The probability of treatment switch was higher: in France (P = 0.0029), Germany (P = 0.0078) and Poland (P = 0.0329) compared with Turkey; and in patients with HBV DNA <2000 (P < 0.0001) or ≥2000 IU/mL (P < 0.0001), compared with undetectable. Viral load and ALT level were identified as the major drivers of treatment initiation. HBV DNA level was also a significant determinant of treatment switch. Results were statistically different across EU countries.
β‐Amyloid precursor protein staining of the brain in sudden infant and early childhood death
Authors: Jensen Lisbeth Lund , Banner Jytte , Ulhøi Benedicte Parm , Byard Roger W 
Published: December 2013

AimsTo develop and validate a scoring method for assessing β‐amyloid precursor protein (APP) staining in cerebral white matter and to investigate the occurrence, amount and deposition pattern based on the cause of death in infants and young children.MethodsArchival cerebral tissue was examined from a total of 176 cases (0 to 3 years of age). Each of the APP‐stained sections was graded according to a simple scoring system based on the number and type of changes in eight anatomical regions.ResultsExamination of the sections revealed some degree of APP staining in 95% of the cases. The highest mean APP scores were found in cases of head trauma, and the lowest scores were found in the cases of drowning. APP staining, although sometimes minimal, was found in all 48 cases of and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Patterns of APP staining (the amount and distribution) were different in cases of head trauma, infection and SIDS but were similar in the SIDS and asphyxia groups.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the use of an integrated scoring system that was developed to assess APP staining in the brain. APP staining was seen in a high proportion of cases, including relatively sudden deaths. The amount of APP was significantly higher in cases of trauma than in nontraumatic deaths. However, APP was detected within all groups. The pattern of APP staining was similar in infants who had died of SIDS and from mechanical asphyxia.
The China Health and Nutrition Survey, 1989–2011
Authors: Zhang B. , Zhai F. Y. , Du S. F. , Popkin B. M. 
Published: December 2013

SummaryThe China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) began in 1989 with the goal of creating a multilevel method of data collection from individuals and households and their communities to understand how the wide‐ranging social and economic changes in China affect a wide array of nutrition and health‐related outcomes. Initiated with a partial sample in 1989, the full survey runs from 1991 to 2011, and this issue documents the CHNS history. The CHNS cohort includes new household formation and replacement communities and households; all household members are studied. Furthermore, in‐depth community data are collected. The sample began with eight provinces and added a ninth, Heilongjiang, in 1997 and three autonomous cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing, in 2011. The in‐depth community contextual measures have allowed us to create a unique measure of urbanicity that captures major dimensions of modernization across all 288 communities currently in the CHNS sample. The standardized, validated urbanicity measure captures the changes in 12 dimensions: population density; economic activity; traditional markets; modern markets; transportation infrastructure; sanitation; communications; housing; education; diversity; health infrastructure; and social services. Each is based on numerous measures applicable to each dimension. They are used jointly and separately in hundreds of studies.
Synthesis and implications: China's nutrition transition in the context of changes across other low‐ and middle‐income countries
Authors: Popkin B. M. 
Published: December 2013

SummaryThe China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) is important for its insights into current and future diet, physical activity, and obesity‐related changes in China and for understanding underlying processes common across low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). While China modernized later than Latin American countries, many changes seen in China echo those in Latin America and in other LMICs. In general, changes in physical activity and diet behaviours in China have occurred at a faster pace relative to other LMICs. Modernization of the overall Chinese food system has lagged behind most other LMICs, yet the now‐rapid changes in the Chinese food system are similar to what has been seen in other LMICs. Further, there is variation in these changes across social and geographic space. The incidence of obesity and non‐communicable diseases has increased as the major health burden has shifted towards the poor. This paper examines changes in China and addresses the literature and issues that link these changes with those in other LMICs. In many ways, the detailed 20‐year CHNS, with nine repeated measures, provides a remarkable window through which to understand nutrition‐related changes in other LMICs.
China in the period of transition from scarcity and extensive undernutrition to emerging nutrition‐related non‐communicable diseases, 1949–1992
Authors: Du S. F. , Wang H. J. , Zhang B. , Zhai F. Y. , Popkin B. M. 
Published: December 2013

SummaryThis study uses unique official data to document nutritional changes in the 1949–1992 period. In 1949, widespread famine, high mortality and low life expectancy dominated. Economic progress was uneven; however, the longer term food supply changed greatly, and hunger was conquered. Diet composition shifted greatly over this period. Cereal consumption, already high, increased from 541.2 g d−1 (70.0% coarse grains) in 1952 to 645.9 g d−1 (15.9% coarse grains) in 1992. Consumption of animal‐source foods, half of which were pork and pork products, tripled from 30.0 to 103.0 g d−1. The proportion of energy intake from fat tripled from 7.6% to 22.5%, and that from carbohydrates decreased from 83.0% to 65.8% over the same period. Physical activity was high in all domains, but shifts were beginning to occur (e.g. the initial mechanization of work and the expansion of biking). Nutritional improvement was uneven, including increased undernutrition in the 1959–1962 period and a remarkable rebound and continued improvement thereafter. Overweight emerged only after 1982. Shifts in diet, activity and body composition in 1949–1992 set the stage for major shifts in nutrition in the subsequent decades.
Metabolic diversity in apple germplasm
Authors: Khan Sabaz A. , Tikunov Yury , Chibon Pierre‐Yves , Maliepaard Chris , Beekwilder Jules , Jacobsen Evert , Schouten Henk J. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractWe analysed metabolic diversity in apples from wild species, elite material and a F1 population, using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF‐MS). The evaluated elite material appeared to have strongly reduced levels of phenolic compounds, down to 1% of the concentrations in the investigated wild germplasm. In one quarter of the F1 population, the concentrations of phenolic compounds such as quercetin derivatives, procyanidin, catechin and epicatechin were further significantly reduced, due to accumulation of recessive alleles of putatively leucoanthocyanidin reductase, a structural gene that is located at the top of LG16. In another part of F1 progeny, putatively glycosylated forms of β‐glycols were up to 50 times more abundant compared to both parents. These metabolites were mapped with high logarithm of odds (LOD) scores at the top of LG8, and progeny that was homozygous recessive for the candidate gene showed the elevated levels. We hypothesize that this was caused by inheritance of non‐functional alleles of enoyl‐CoA hydratase gene. Both examples of transgressive segregation, where some progeny significantly deviated from both parents, were caused by accumulation of recessive alleles.
The Income Gradient in Childhood Mental Health: All in the Eye of the Beholder?
Authors: Johnston David W. , Propper Carol , Pudney Stephen E. , Shields Michael A. 
Published: December 2013

SummaryWe undertake a detailed statistical investigation of the sensitivity of estimates of the prevalence of childhood mental health problems to the provider of the health assessment, with particular focus on the implications for the estimates of the income gradient in childhood mental health. We directly compare evaluations from children, their parents and teachers and test whether these differences are systematically related to family income. We then examine the implications for the estimated income gradient. We find that respondents frequently identify different children as having a mental health problem. Teachers appear to rate the health of poor children consistently worse than do children or their parents. Systematic differences in evaluations by assessor by income mean that the estimated magnitude and significance of the income–health gradient is highly dependent on the choice of assessor.
Double Recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG Strain for Screening of Primary and Rationale-Based Antimycobacterial Compounds
Authors: Singh Vandana , Biswas Rajesh Kumar , Singh Bhupendra N. 
Published: December 2013

ABSTRACT

Conventional antimycobacterial screening involves CFU analysis, which poses a great challenge due to slow growth of mycobacteria. Recombinant strains carrying reporter genes under the influence of constitutive promoters allow rapid and wide screening of compounds but without revealing their modes of action. Reporter strains using pathway-specific promoters provide a better alternative but allow a limited screening of compounds interfering with only a particular metabolic pathway. This reduces these strains to merely a second-line screening system, as they fail to identify even the more potent compounds if they are not inhibiting the pathway of interest. In this study, we have generated a double recombinant
Mycobacterium bovis
BCG strain carrying firefly and
Renilla
luciferase genes as two reporters under the control of a constitutive and an inducible mycobacterial promoter. The presence of dual reporters allows simultaneous expression and analysis of two reporter enzymes within a single system. The expression profile of the firefly luciferase gene, rendered by a constitutive mycobacterial promoter, coincides with the decline in bacterial growth in response to a wide range of antimycobacterial drugs, while the enhanced expression of
Renilla
luciferase mirrors the selective induction of the reporter gene expression as a result of pathway-specific inhibition. Thus, the double recombinant strain allows the screening of both primary and rationally synthesized antimycobacterial compounds in a single assay. The inhibiting response of drugs was monitored with a dual-luciferase reporter assay which can be easily adapted in high-throughput mode.
Efficacies of Ceftazidime-Avibactam and Ceftazidime against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Murine Lung Infection Model
Authors: Housman Seth T. , Crandon Jared L. , Nichols Wright W. , Nicolau David P. 
Published: December 2013

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of human-simulated plasma exposures of 2 g ceftazidime plus 0.5 g avibactam every 8 h administered as a 2-h infusion or a ceftazidime regimen that produced a specific epithelial lining fluid (ELF) percentage of the dosing interval in which serum free drug concentrations remain above the MIC (
fT
>MIC) against 28
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
isolates within a neutropenic murine pneumonia model and to assess the impact of host infection on pulmonary pharmacokinetics. The
fT
>MIC was calculated as the mean and upper end of the 95% confidence limit. Against the 28
P. aeruginosa
strains used, the ceftazidime-avibactam MICs were 4 to 64 μg/ml, and those of ceftazidime were 8 to >128 μg/ml. The change in log
10
CFU after 24 h of treatment was analyzed relative to that of 0-h controls. Pharmacokinetic studies in serum and ELF were conducted using ceftazidime-avibactam in infected and uninfected mice. Humanized ceftazidime-avibactam doses resulted in significant exposures in the lung, producing reductions of >1 log
10
CFU against
P. aeruginosa
with ceftazidime-avibactam MICs of ≤32 μg/ml (ELF upper 95% confidence limit for
fT
>MIC [ELF
fT
>MIC] of ≥19%), except for one isolate with a ceftazidime-avibactam MIC of 16 μg/ml. No efficacy was observed against the isolate with a ceftazidime-avibactam MIC of 64 μg/ml (ELF
fT
>MIC of 0%). Bacterial reductions were observed with ceftazidime against isolates with ceftazidime MICs of 32 μg/ml (ELF
fT
>MIC of ≥12%), variable efficacy at ceftazidime MICs of 64 μg/ml (ELF
fT
>MIC of ≥0%), and no activity at a ceftazidime MIC of 128 μg/ml, where the ELF
fT
>MIC was 0%. ELF
fT
>MICs were similar between infected and uninfected mice. Ceftazidime-avibactam was effective against
P. aeruginosa
, with MICs of up to 32 μg/ml with an ELF
fT
>MIC of ≥19%. The data suggest the potential utility of ceftazidime-avibactam for treatment of lung infections caused by
P. aeruginosa
.
Cooperation, Quorum Sensing, and Evolution of Virulence in Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Pollitt Eric J. G. , West Stuart A. , Crusz Shanika A. , Burton-Chellew Maxwell N. , Diggle Stephen P. 
Published: December 2013

ABSTRACT

The virulence and fitness
in vivo
of the major human pathogen
Staphylococcus aureus
are associated with a cell-to-cell signaling mechanism known as quorum sensing (QS). QS coordinates the production of virulence factors via the production and sensing of autoinducing peptide (AIP) signal molecules by the
agr
locus. Here we show, in a wax moth larva virulence model, that (i) QS in
S. aureus
is a cooperative social trait that provides a benefit to the local population of cells, (ii)
agr
mutants, which do not produce or respond to QS signal, are able to exploit the benefits provided by the QS of others (“cheat”), allowing them to increase in frequency when in mixed populations with cooperators, (iii) these social interactions between cells determine virulence, with the host mortality rate being negatively correlated to the percentage of
agr
mutants (“cheats”) in a population, and (iv) a higher within-host relatedness (lower strain diversity) selects for QS and hence higher virulence. Our results provide an explanation for why
agr
mutants show reduced virulence in animal models but can be isolated from infections of humans. More generally, by providing the first evidence that QS is a cooperative social behavior in a Gram-positive bacterium, our results suggest convergent, and potentially widespread, evolution for signaling to coordinate cooperation in bacteria.
Biofilm Matrix Exoproteins Induce a Protective Immune Response against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Infection
Authors: Gil Carmen , Solano Cristina , Burgui Saioa , Latasa Cristina , García Begoña , Toledo-Arana Alejandro , Lasa Iñigo , Valle Jaione 
Published: December 2013

ABSTRACTTheStaphylococcus aureusbiofilm mode of growth is associated with several chronic infections that are very difficult to treat due to the recalcitrant nature of biofilms to clearance by antimicrobials. Accordingly, there is an increasing interest in preventing the formation ofS. aureusbiofilms and developing efficient antibiofilm vaccines. Given the fact that during a biofilm-associated infection, the first primary interface between the host and the bacteria is the self-produced extracellular matrix, in this study we analyzed the potential of extracellular proteins found in the biofilm matrix to induce a protective immune response againstS. aureusinfections. By using proteomic approaches, we characterized the exoproteomes of exopolysaccharide-based and protein-based biofilm matrices produced by two clinicalS. aureusstrains. Remarkably, results showed that independently of the nature of the biofilm matrix, a common core of secreted proteins is contained in both types of exoproteomes. Intradermal administration of an exoproteome extract of an exopolysaccharide-dependent biofilm induced a humoral immune response and elicited the production of interleukin 10 (IL-10) and IL-17 in mice. Antibodies against such an extract promoted opsonophagocytosis and killing ofS. aureus. Immunization with the biofilm matrix exoproteome significantly reduced the number of bacterial cells inside a biofilm and on the surrounding tissue, using anin vivomodel of mesh-associated biofilm infection. Furthermore, immunized mice also showed limited organ colonization by bacteria released from the matrix at the dispersive stage of the biofilm cycle. Altogether, these data illustrate the potential of biofilm matrix exoproteins as a promising candidate multivalent vaccine againstS. aureusbiofilm-associated infections.
Inside Scoop on Outside Proteins
Authors: Dvorin Jeffrey D. 
Published: December 2013

ABSTRACT

Invasion into red blood cells is an essential step in the life cycle of parasites that cause human malaria. Antibodies targeting the key parasite proteins in this process are important for developing a protective immune response. In the current issue, Boyle and colleagues provide a detailed examination of
Plasmodium falciparum
invasion and specifically illuminate the fate of surface-exposed parasite proteins during and immediately after invasion.
The Need for Axillary Lymph Node Dissection in T1/T2 Breast Cancer Surgery—Counterpoint
Authors: Sabel Michael S. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
For breast cancer patients, the role of the axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in the management of clinically node negative breast cancer patient has shifted from routine, to selective, to increasingly rare. With the publication of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) Z0011 trial results, some are ready to announce the time of death of this procedure. However, many questions remain regarding the design and statistical interpretation of the study, the treatments the patients actually received, and its applicability in clinical practice in light of other studies concerning regional management. Thus, the reports of the ALND's death may be greatly exaggerated. Careful acknowledgement of the study's strengths and shortcomings, and more recent trial data, suggest that although ALND may be safely avoided in a subset of sentinel lymph node positive, Z0011-eligible patients, others may require multidisciplinary review and consensus, and a careful conversation with the patient, before deciding it is not necessary. Cancer Res; 73(24); 7156–60. ©2013 AACR.
PD-1 and Tim-3 Regulate the Expansion of Tumor Antigen–Specific CD8+ T Cells Induced by Melanoma Vaccines
Authors: Fourcade Julien , Sun Zhaojun , Pagliano Ornella , Chauvin Joe-Marc , Sander Cindy , Janjic Bratislav , Tarhini Ahmad A. , Tawbi Hussein A. , Kirkwood John M. , Moschos Stergios , Wang Hong , Guillaume Philippe , Luescher Immanuel F. , Krieg Arthur , Anderson Ana C. , Kuchroo Vijay K. , Zarour Hassane M. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
Although melanoma vaccines stimulate tumor antigen–specific CD8+ T cells, objective clinical responses are rarely observed. To investigate this discrepancy, we evaluated the character of vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells with regard to the inhibitory T-cell coreceptors PD-1 and Tim-3 in patients with metastatic melanoma who were administered tumor vaccines. The vaccines included incomplete Freund's adjuvant, CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG), and the HLA-A2–restricted analog peptide NY-ESO-1 157-165V, either by itself or in combination with the pan-DR epitope NY-ESO-1 119-143. Both vaccines stimulated rapid tumor antigen–specific CD8+ T-cell responses detected ex vivo, however, tumor antigen–specific CD8+ T cells produced more IFN-γ and exhibited higher lytic function upon immunization with MHC class I and class II epitopes. Notably, the vast majority of vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells upregulated PD-1 and a minority also upregulated Tim-3. Levels of PD-1 and Tim-3 expression by vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells at the time of vaccine administration correlated inversely with their expansion in vivo. Dual blockade of PD-1 and Tim-3 enhanced the expansion and cytokine production of vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells in vitro. Collectively, our findings support the use of PD-1 and Tim-3 blockades with cancer vaccines to stimulate potent antitumor T-cell responses and increase the likelihood of clinical responses in patients with advanced melanoma. Cancer Res; 74(4); 1045–55. ©2013 AACR.