bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Meta‐Analysis of Efficacy and Safety of Fast‐Track Surgery in Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer
Authors: Li Yuan‐jun , Huo Ting‐ting , Xing Juan , An Jia‐ze , Han Zhe‐yi , Liu Xiao‐nan , Zhao Qing‐chuan 
Published: September 2014

AbstractBackgroundFast‐track surgery (FTS) is a promising program for surgical patients and has been applied to several surgical diseases. FTS is much superior to conventional perioperative care. Our aim was to evaluate and compare the safety and efficacy of FTS and conventional perioperative care for patients undergoing gastrectomy using a systematic review.MethodsWe searched the literature in PubMed, SCOPUS, and EMBASE up to November 2013. No language restriction was applied. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and odds ratios (ORs) with their 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were used for analysis by a fixed or a random effects model according to the heterogeneity assumption.ResultsIn the present meta‐analysis, we included five randomized controlled trials and one controlled clinical trial from five studies. Compared with conventional care, FTS shortened the duration of flatus (WMD −21.08; 95 % CI −27.46 to −14.71, z = 6.48, p < 0.00001 in the open surgery group; WMD −8.20; 95 % CI −12.87 to −3.53, z = 3.44, p = 0.0006 in the laparoscopic surgery group), accelerated the decrease in C‐reactive protein (WMD −15.56; 95 % CI 21.28 to 9.83, z = 5.33, p < 0.00001), shortened the postoperative stay (WMD −2.00; 95 % CI −2.69 to −1.30, z = 5.64, p < 0.00001), and reduced hospitalization costs (WMD −447.72; 95 % CI −615.92 to −279.51, z = 5.22, p < 0.00001). FTS made no significant difference in operation times (p = 0.93), intraoperative blood loss (p = 0.79), or postoperative complications (p = 0.07).ConclusionsBased on current evidence, the FTS protocol was feasible for gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy (distal subtotal gastrectomy, proximal subtotal gastrectomy, or radical total gastrectomy) via open or laparoscopic surgery. Larger studies are needed to validate our findings.
Evaluation of the Open Abdomen Classification System: A Validity and Reliability Analysis
Authors: Bjarnason Thordur , Montgomery Agneta , Acosta Stefan , Petersson Ulf 
Published: September 2014

AbstractBackgroundClassification of the open abdomen (OA) status is essential for clinical studies on the subject and may help to improve OA therapy. This is a validity and reliability analysis of the OA classification proposed by the World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in 2013.MethodsProspective data on 111 consecutive OA patients treated with vacuum‐assisted wound closure and mesh‐mediated fascial traction (VAWCM) was used. For validity analysis, OA grades were compared with fascial closure and mortality. For reliability analysis, operative reports were graded by three external raters on two different occasions and the results compared. Instructions for use of the classification were constructed and studied by the external raters beforehand.ResultsThe in‐hospital mortality rate was 30 % (33/111). The delayed primary fascial closure rate was 89 % (85/95). Most complex grade (p = 0.033), deteriorating grade (p = 0.045), enteric leak (p = 0.001), and enteroatmospheric fistula (p = 0001) were associated with worse clinical outcomes, while initial grade, grade 1A only, contamination, fixation, and frozen abdomen were not. A floor effect was observed, with 20 % of patients receiving the lowest grade throughout OA period. Inter‐rater reliability, expressed as intra‐class correlation coefficient (ICC), was 0.77, 0.76, and 0.88 (95 % confidence interval 0.66–0.84, 0.65–0.84, and 0.81–0.92, respectively) and test–retest reliability 1.0, 0.99, and 0.95, respectively.ConclusionsMore complex OA grades were associated with worse clinical outcomes. However, favorable clinical results with the VAWCM technique caused many patients to receive the lowest grade, thus causing a floor effect and lower validity. Inter‐rater and test–retest reliability was ‘good’ to ‘very good’.
Thoracoscopic Aortopexy for Tracheomalacia
Authors: van der Zee David C. , Straver Marieke 
Published: September 2014

AbstractBackgroundTracheomalacia is a condition that may result in acute life‐threatening events. Aortopexy has become a generally accepted mode of treatment, although the impact of a thoracotomy is considerable. With the advent of minimal invasive surgery the impact of such a procedure may be greatly reduced. This study evaluates the outcome of thoracoscopic aortopexy for tracheomalacia.MethodsRetrospective analysis of a database containing all patients with thoracoscopic aortopexy. Based on symptomatology, on indication 24 h pH study and/or rigid tracheo‐bronchoscopy were carried out to confirm the diagnosis. A three‐trocar technique was used on the left side together with intra‐operative flexible tracheoscopy through the tube. Follow‐up continued for the duration of the study.ResultsBetween January 2002 and December 2012, 16 patients presented with severe tracheomalacia. Fourteen of them had a history of esophageal atresia. Age at time of aortopexy varied from 2 weeks to 12 months. All procedures were performed thoracoscopically without intra‐operative complications. In five children, there was a recurrence of symptoms within 2–4 weeks for which a re‐thoracoscopic aortopexy was carried out successfully. With a follow‐up of 6 months to 10 years all patients are thriving and are without incidents.ConclusionThis is the largest single‐center series of thoracoscopic aortopexy for tracheomalacia so far. All procedures were completed successfully without complications. Although recurrences occur, as in open surgery, the ultimate results are satisfactory. In an era of minimal invasive surgery the thoracoscopic approach is feasible and safe, even in redo‐procedures.
A test of the effect of testosterone on a sexually selected carotenoid trait in a cardueline finch
Authors: Trigo Sandra , Mota Paulo Gama 
Published: September 2014

AbstractA great number of secondary sexual traits are assumed to have evolved as honest signals of individual quality. It is known that androgens regulate many male secondary traits as well as reproductive behavior. The expression of melanin‐based coloration is modulated by androgens, particularly testosterone, and there is some evidence that carotenoid‐based coloration may also be under androgen control. In the European serin, Serinus serinus, male carotenoid‐based plumage coloration is a sexually selected trait, subjected to female choice. In this experiment, we investigated if testosterone influences the expression of this trait by manipulating testosterone levels during molt and assessing how it affected plumage color expression after molt. We found that testosterone had only a negative effect on the size of the yellow ornament. Our experiment shows that testosterone had a limited effect on carotenoid‐based coloration of a cardueline finch.
Frequent use of opioids in patients with dementia and nursing home residents: A study of the entire elderly population of Denmark
Authors: Jensen-Dahm Christina , Gasse Christiane , Astrup Aske , Mortensen Preben Bo , Waldemar Gunhild 
Published: September 2014

AbstractBackgroundPain is believed to be undertreated in patients with dementia; however, no larger studies have been conducted. The aim was to investigate prevalent use of opioids in elderly with and without dementia in the entire elderly population of Denmark.MethodA register‐based cross‐sectional study in the entire elderly (≥65 years) population in 2010 was conducted. Opioid use among elderly with dementia (N = 35,455) was compared with elderly without (N = 870,645), taking age, sex, comorbidity, and living status into account.ResultsNursing home residents (NHRs) used opioids most frequently (41%), followed by home‐living patients with dementia (27.5%) and home‐living patients without dementia (16.9%). Buprenorphine and fentanyl (primarily patches) were commonly used among NHRs (18.7%) and home‐living patients with dementia (10.7%) but less often by home‐living patients without dementia (2.4%).ConclusionsOpioid use in the elderly Danish population was frequent but particularly in patients with dementia and NHR, which may challenge patient safety and needs further investigation.
Triassic limestone, turbidites and serpentinite–the Cimmeride orogeny in the Central Pontides
Authors: OKAY ARAL I. , ALTINER DEMİR , KILIÇ ALİ MURAT 
Published: September 2014

AbstractThe basement of the Central Pontides, and by implication that of Crimea, consists of pre-Permian low-grade metaclastic rocks intruded by latest Permian – Early Carboniferous (305–290 Ma) granitoids. Further up in the stratigraphic sequence are Triassic limestones, which are now preserved as olistoliths in the deformed Upper Triassic turbidites. New conodont and foraminifera data indicate an Anisian to Carnian (Middle to Late Triassic) age for these hemi-pelagic Hallstatt-type limestones. The siliciclastic turbidites surrounding the Triassic limestone contain the Norian (Late Triassic) bivalveMonotis salinaria; the same species is also found in the Tauric series in Crimea. The Upper Triassic flysch in the Central Pontides is locally underlain by basaltic pillow lavas and includes kilometre-size tectonic slices of serpentinite. Both the flysch and the serpentinite are cut by an undeformed acidic intrusion with an Ar–Ar biotite age of 162 ± 4 Ma (Callovian–Oxfordian). This indicates that the serpentinite was emplaced into the turbidites before Middle Jurassic time, most probably during latest Triassic or Early Jurassic time, and that the deformation of the Triassic sequence pre-dates the Middle Jurassic. Regional geological data from the circum-Black Sea region, including widespread Upper Triassic flysch, Upper Triassic eclogites and blueschists of oceanic crustal affinity, and apparent absence of a ‘Cimmerian continent’ between the Cretaceous and Triassic accretionary complexes indicate that the latest Triassic Cimmeride orogeny was accretionary rather than collisional and is probably related to the collision and accretion of an oceanic plateau to the southern active margin of Laurasia.
FROM SPECIALITY TO A CONSTITUTIONAL SENSE OF PURPOSE: ON THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Authors: Larik Joris 
Published: September 2014

AbstractAfter the Lisbon Treaty, the objectives of the European Union are more numerous and ambitious than ever. But what is their importance and function within the ‘thickening’ legal order of the EU? Combining insights from both the law of international organizations and comparative constitutional law, the article traces the diverging role of objectives for, on the one hand, a traditional international organization marked by the principle of ‘speciality’ and, on the other, a maturing legal order increasingly exhibiting ‘constitutional’ traits. It argues that in the case of the EU, objectives and competences have developed into two related but distinct norm categories. While objectives serve to bolster arguments to shape such powers, they no longer represent a rationale in their own right for founding competences. The EU no longer justifies its existence solely by striving for a particular set of goals. Rather, these norms represent an entrenched duty to pursue these objectives through the actors, structures and procedures available, regardless of the Union's ultimate form (finalité). Today, the EU stands for certain values and has been endowed with powers, the exercise of which is guided by promoting these various aspects of the ‘common good’.
Expression of acute phase proteins and inflammatory cytokines in mouse mammary gland followingStaphylococcus aureuschallenge and in response to milk accumulation
Authors: Nazemi Sasan , Aalbæk Bent , Kjelgaard-Hansen Mads , Safayi Sina , Klærke Dan Arne , Knight Christopher H 
Published: September 2014

We used a mouse model of pathogenic (Staphylococcus aureus) and non-pathogenic (teat sealing) mammary inflammation to investigate mRNA expression of several inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins (APP) in mammary tissue and liver, and the appearance of some of these factors in plasma and milk. The expression levels of IL1β and TNFα were markedly up-regulated inStaph. aureus-inoculated mammary tissue at 72 h, whilst IL6 was up-regulated to a lesser extent in a way which was not confined to the inoculated glands. APP expression was up-regulated at 48 and 72 h in bothStaph. aureus-inoculated and teat-sealedmammaryglands. These differences between cytokine and APP expression provide additional support for the contention that APPs are produced within the mammary tissue itself during inflammation, rather than in associated immune cells. We propose that measurement of cytokines and APP in combination might provide a tool for diagnostic discrimination between mastitis caused by pathogenic invasion and milk accumulation, and hence allow for better targeting of antibiotic therapy. In comparison with mammary expression, expression of cytokines in liver tissue was up-regulated to a similar or lesser extent, whilst expression of APP was up-regulated to a much greater extent. The first appearance of increased cytokine and APP concentrations in plasma and of milk amyloid A (MAA) in milk occurred in advance of the measurable up-regulation of expression, hence their origin cannot be stated with certainty.
Helpful Allies, Interfering Neighbours: World opinion and China in the 1950s
Authors: PANG YANG HUEI 
Published: September 2014

AbstractIn the aftermath of the Korean War, the People's Republic of China was effectively an international pariah. Accounts of this period in Chinese textbooks emphasize how the Chinese turned this around, either during the Geneva Conference or the Bandung Conference, through deft planning and enterprise. Yet few pay any attention to how such manipulation of world opinion became increasingly difficult for Beijing after that initial success. One outcome of China's public relations campaign meant friendly Afro-Asia leaders voiced their opinions, in alarming numbers, to their Chinese counterparts regarding issues such as Asian security, mainland China's economic development, and the Taiwan problem. Indeed, recently declassified Chinese Foreign Affairs archive documents demonstrate that China tried to marshal such non-Soviet bloc opinions to its advantage during the first Taiwan Strait crisis (1955). Chinese efforts were successful in that there was no lack of volunteers to air dissent with American foreign policy. But these new allies also wished to mediate between the United States and the Republic of China, on the one side, and mainland China on the other. Moreover, such efforts were often at variance with China's domestic and strategic outlook in the region. China thus had to embark upon an active ‘management’ of disparate world opinions, which was an entirely new endeavour. Although China tried to provide a sanitized ‘script’ for its new friends, most had their own ideas. By the time of the second Taiwan Strait crisis (1958), the volume of third party interference had grown. Overwhelmed by such international attention, China responded by openly rejecting unwelcome mediation efforts and demanded outright condemnation of the United States. Thus, ironically, with its growing prominence on the international stage, China found itself unbearably weighted down by the burden of world opinion, a position previously occupied by the United States.
Disorder-specific grey matter deficits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder relative to autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Lim L. , Chantiluke K. , Cubillo A. I. , Smith A. B. , Simmons A. , Mehta M. A. , Rubia K. 
Published: September 2014

Background.Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are two common childhood disorders that exhibit genetic and behavioural overlap and have abnormalities in similar brain systems, in particular in frontal and cerebellar regions. This study compared the two neurodevelopmental disorders to investigate shared and disorder-specific structural brain abnormalities.Method.Forty-four predominantly medication-naïve male adolescents with ADHD, 19 medication-naïve male adolescents with ASD and 33 age-matched healthy male controls were scanned using high-resolution T1-weighted volumetric imaging in a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to test for group-level differences in structural grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes.Results.There was a significant group difference in the GM of the right posterior cerebellum and left middle/superior temporal gyrus (MTG/STG).Post-hocanalyses revealed that this was due to ADHD boys having a significantly smaller right posterior cerebellar GM volume compared to healthy controls and ASD boys, who did not differ from each other. ASD boys had a larger left MTG/STG GM volume relative to healthy controls and at a more lenient threshold relative to ADHD boys.Conclusions.The study shows for the first time that the GM reduction in the cerebellum in ADHD is disorder specific relative to ASD whereas GM enlargement in the MTG/STG in ASD may be disorder specific relative to ADHD. This study is a first step towards elucidating disorder-specific structural biomarkers for these two related childhood disorders.
Dysfunction of emotional brain systems in individuals at high risk of mood disorder with depression and predictive features prior to illness
Authors: Whalley H. C. , Sussmann J. E. , Romaniuk L. , Stewart T. , Kielty S. , Lawrie S. M. , Hall J. , McIntosh A. M. 
Published: September 2014

Background.Abnormalities of emotion-related brain circuitry, including cortico-thalamic-limbic regions underpin core symptoms of bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). It is unclear whether these abnormalities relate to symptoms of the disorder, are present in unaffected relatives, or whether they can predict future illness.Method.The Bipolar Family Study (BFS) is a prospective longitudinal study that has examined individuals at familial risk of mood disorder and healthy controls on three occasions, 2 years apart. The current study concerns imaging data from the second assessment; 51 controls and 81 high-risk (HR) individuals performing an emotional memory task. The latter group was divided into 61 HR individuals who were well, and 20 who met diagnostic criteria for MDD. At the time of the third assessment a further 11 HR individuals (from the Well group) had developed MDD. The current analyses focused on (i) differences between groups based on diagnostic status at the time of the scan, and (ii) predictors of future illness, comparing the 11 HR individuals who became unwell after the second scanning assessment to those who remained well.Results.All groups demonstrated typical emotional modulation of memory and associated brain activations. For analysis (i) the HR MDD group demonstrated increased thalamic activation v. HR Well. (ii) HR Well individuals who subsequently became ill showed increased activation of thalamus, insula and anterior cingulate compared to those who remained well.Conclusions.These findings suggest evidence for specific changes related to the presence of illness and evidence that changes in brain function in cortico-thalamic-limbic regions precede clinical illness.
A Swedish population-based study of the mechanisms of parent–offspring transmission of criminal behavior
Authors: Kendler K. S. , Ohlsson H. , Morris N. A. , Sundquist J. , Sundquist K. 
Published: September 2014

Background.While children of parents with criminal behavior (CB) are at increased risk for CB, we have limited knowledge about the causes of this cross-generational transmission.Method.We examined intergenerational continuity in CB in the Swedish population ascertained from the national conviction registers in three family types: intact (n= 21 11 074), ‘not-lived-with’ (n= 16 53 15 where biological parents never lived with their offspring) and ‘step’ (n= 1 24 800 offspring) which reflected, respectively, the effects of genes + rearing, genes only and rearing only. We also examined three criminal conviction subtypes: violent CB (VCB), property CB (PCB) and white-collar CB (WCCB).Results.Combined across mothers and fathers, the hazard ratio (HR) for CB in offspring given parental CB was 1.95 in intact, 1.56 in ‘not-lived-with’ and 1.28 in stepfamilies. In all three family types, all forms of CB in parents (VCB, PCB and WCCB) significantly predicted risk for all forms of CB in offspring. However, VCB in offspring was most strongly predicted by VCB in parents in intact, not-lived-with and stepfamilies. In intact families only, some specific parent–offspring transmission was also seen for WCCB.Conclusions.Both genetic and environmental factors contribute substantially to parent–offspring resemblance for CB. With respect to criminal subtypes, much of parent–offspring transmission appears to be non-specific. However, specific genetic and environmental risk factors for VCB are transmitted across generations. A limitation of these analyses is that CB was assessed only via official criminal convictions.
Interlocked DNA nanostructures controlled by a reversible logic circuit
Authors: Li Tao , Lohmann Finn , Famulok Michael 
Published: September 2014

AbstractDNA nanostructures constitute attractive devices for logic computing and nanomechanics. An emerging interest is to integrate these two fields and devise intelligent DNA nanorobots. Here we report a reversible logic circuit built on the programmable assembly of a double-stranded (ds) DNA [3]pseudocatenane that serves as a rigid scaffold to position two separate branched-out head-motifs, a bimolecular i-motif and a G-quadruplex. The G-quadruplex only forms when preceded by the assembly of the i-motif. The formation of the latter, in turn, requires acidic pH and unhindered mobility of the head-motif containing dsDNA nanorings with respect to the central ring to which they are interlocked, triggered by release oligodeoxynucleotides. We employ these features to convert the structural changes into Boolean operations with fluorescence labelling. The nanostructure behaves as a reversible logic circuit consisting of tandem YES and AND gates. Such reversible logic circuits integrated into functional nanodevices may guide future intelligent DNA nanorobots to manipulate cascade reactions in biological systems.
Cavity-free plasmonic nanolasing enabled by dispersionless stopped light
Authors: Pickering Tim , Hamm Joachim M. , Page A. Freddie , Wuestner Sebastian , Hess Ortwin 
Published: September 2014

AbstractWhen light is brought to a standstill, its interaction with gain media increases dramatically due to a singularity in the density of optical states. Concurrently, stopped light engenders an inherent and cavity-free feedback mechanism, similar in effect to the feedback that has been demonstrated and exploited in large-scale disordered media and random lasers. Here we study the spatial, temporal and spectral signatures of lasing in planar gain-enhanced nanoplasmonic structures at near-infrared frequencies and show that the stopped-light feedback mechanism allows for nanolasing without a cavity. We reveal that in the absence of cavity-induced feedback, the subwavelength lasing mode forms dynamically as a phase-locked superposition of quasi dispersion-free waveguide modes. This mechanism proves remarkably robust against interface roughness and offers a new route towards nanolasing, the experimental realization of ultra-thin surface emitting lasers, and cavity-free active quantum plasmonics.