bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Bioengineered Hydrogel System Enables Targeted and Sustained Intramyocardial Delivery of Neuregulin, Activating the Cardiomyocyte Cell Cycle and Enhancing Ventricular Function in a Murine Model of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Cohen Jeffrey E. , Purcell Brendan P. , MacArthur John W. , Mu Anbin , Shudo Yasuhiro , Patel Jay B. , Brusalis Christopher M. , Trubelja Alen , Fairman Alexander S. , Edwards Bryan B. , Davis Mollie S. , Hung George , Hiesinger William , Atluri Pavan , Margulies Kenneth B. , Burdick Jason A. , Woo Y. Joseph 
Published: June 2014

Background—
Neuregulin-1β (NRG) is a member of the epidermal growth factor family possessing a critical role in cardiomyocyte development and proliferation. Systemic administration of NRG demonstrated efficacy in cardiomyopathy animal models, leading to clinical trials using daily NRG infusions. This approach is hindered by requiring daily infusions and off-target exposure. Therefore, this study aimed to encapsulate NRG in a hydrogel to be directly delivered to the myocardium, accomplishing sustained localized NRG delivery.

Methods and Results—
NRG was encapsulated in hydrogel, and release over 14 days was confirmed by ELISA in vitro. Sprague-Dawley rats were used for cardiomyocyte isolation. Cells were stimulated by PBS, NRG, hydrogel, or NRG-hydrogel (NRG-HG) and evaluated for proliferation. Cardiomyocytes demonstrated EdU (5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine) and phosphorylated histone H3 positivity in the NRG-HG group only. For in vivo studies, 2-month-old mice (n=60) underwent left anterior descending coronary artery ligation and were randomized to the 4 treatment groups mentioned. Only NRG-HG–treated mice demonstrated phosphorylated histone H3 and Ki67 positivity along with decreased caspase-3 activity compared with all controls. NRG was detected in myocardium 6 days after injection without evidence of off-target exposure in NRG-HG animals. At 2 weeks, the NRG-HG group exhibited enhanced left ventricular ejection fraction, decreased left ventricular area, and augmented borderzone thickness.

Conclusions—
Targeted and sustained delivery of NRG directly to the myocardial borderzone augments cardiomyocyte mitotic activity, decreases apoptosis, and greatly enhances left ventricular function in a model of ischemic cardiomyopathy. This novel approach to NRG administration avoids off-target exposure and represents a clinically translatable strategy in myocardial regenerative therapeutics.
Cognitive Deterioration in Bilateral Asymptomatic Severe Carotid Stenosis
Authors: Buratti Laura , Balucani Clotilde , Viticchi Giovanna , Falsetti Lorenzo , Altamura Claudia , Avitabile Emma , Provinciali Leandro , Vernieri Fabrizio , Silvestrini Mauro 
Published: June 2014

Background and Purpose—
This study aimed to monitor cognitive performance during a 3-year period in subjects with bilateral asymptomatic severe internal carotid artery stenosis and to explore the role of cerebral hemodynamics and atherosclerotic disease in the development of cognitive dysfunction.

Methods—
One hundred fifty-nine subjects with bilateral asymptomatic severe internal carotid artery stenosis were included and prospectively evaluated for a 3-year period. At entry, demographics, vascular risk profile, and pharmacological treatments were defined. Cognitive status was evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination at baseline and at follow-up. Cerebral hemodynamics was assessed by transcranial Doppler–based breath-holding index test. As a measure of the extent of systemic atherosclerotic disease, common carotid artery intima-media thickness was measured. A cutoff for pathological values was set at 0.69 for breath-holding index and 1.0 mm for intima-media thickness.

Results—

The risk of decreasing in Mini-Mental State Examination score increased progressively from patients with bilaterally normal to those with unilaterally abnormal breath-holding index, reaching the highest probability in patients with bilaterally abnormal breath-holding index (
P
<0.0001). Pathological values of intima-media thickness did not influence the risk of Mini-Mental State Examination score change.

Conclusions—
Our findings suggest that patients with asymptomatic bilateral severe internal carotid artery stenosis may be at risk of developing cognitive impairment. The evaluation of the hemodynamic status, besides providing insights about the possible mechanism behind the cognitive dysfunction present in carotid atherosclerotic disease, may be of help for the individuation of subjects deserving earlier and more aggressive treatments.
Youth Social Capital Formation in Nicaragua
Authors: Maclure Richard , Sotelo Melvin 
Published: June 2014

In many Latin American countries, stringent crime control measures have failed to stem high levels of youth crime and violence. As a consequence, there is burgeoning interest in the notion of youth social capital as a basis for policies and programmes designed to enhance the rights of young people living in circumstances of poverty and risk. Yet there is little knowledge of existing sources of youth social capital in poor urban communities in Latin America. To address this gap, the authors conducted an inquiry into the sources and aspects of youth social capital in one low-income urban neighbourhood in Nicaragua.
The study revealed that despite a local context fraught with the effects of poverty, youth experienced varying benefits from family and peer relationships, and from their differentiated associations with school, church, and places of work. In recognition of these existing sources of local support, we argue that youth social capital formation, particularly through family assistance and investments in schooling, has considerable merit as both a means and an end of community development strategies in low-income neighbourhoods. We acknowledge, however, that social capital formation as a basis of youth policies and programmes must be founded on a broad civic and political commitment to children’s rights which, as yet, is far from evident in Nicaragua.
Do the various categories of somatoform disorders differ from each other in symptom profile and psychological correlates
Authors: Grover Sandeep , Aneja Jitender , Sharma Akhilesh , Malhotra Rama , Varma Sannidhya , Basu Debasish , Avasthi Ajit 
Published: June 2014

Background: In routine clinical practice, the subcategories of various somatoform disorders are rarely used by the primary care physicians and there is lack of data to suggest any difference in the clinical manifestations of these subcategories. Aim: To compare the symptom profile, anxiety, depression, alexithymia, somato-sensory amplification and hypochondriasis of patients with persistent somatoform pain disorder with other subtypes of somatoform disorder. Method: A total of 119 patients diagnosed with somatoform disorders according to the International Classification of Diseases–10th Revision (ICD-10) were evaluated for prevalence of somatic symptoms, anxiety, depression, alexithymia, hypochondriacal worry and somato-sensory amplification. Results: No significant differences were found in the prevalence of various somatic complaints between those with persistent somatoform pain disorder group and those diagnosed with other somatoform disorders. Co-morbid anxiety and depression were seen in two-thirds of the patients, but again there was no difference in the prevalence of the same between the two groups. Similarly, no significant differences were found on alexithymia, hypochondriasis and somato-sensory amplification scales between the persistent somatoform pain disorder group and the group with other somatoform disorders. Conclusion: There are no significant differences between the various subcategories of somatoform disorders with regard to the prevalence of somatic symptoms, anxiety or depression and psychological correlates of alexithymia, hypochondriasis and somato-sensory amplification.
Mining and Women: The Case of the Maria of Chhattisgarh
Authors: Mukherjee Sonali 
Published: June 2014

This paper attempts to understand the changes that have been ushered in the lives of the Maria tribal community of Chhattisgarh due to mining, industrialisation and other development activities. The repercussions of these activities on the tribal society have been differential as various sections of a community respond to development initiatives in variety of ways. The Maria are also no different. In this work, focus has been laid on the lives of the Maria with special reference to their women, how they have undergone transformation due to mining and other allied activities. This study argues that the impact of mining and industrialisation on the Maria community is multifarious. Perceptible differences are observed in men and women in their responses to development. This study takes a position that lack of control over reproductive, productive, domestic and political resources is mediated through existing cultural norms and ideologies. Notions of patriarchy, cultural perception of sexual division of labour, ritual and religious prohibitions associated with women are all instrumental in perpetuating their subordination and exclusion. This is not to argue that development has adverse affects on women’s lives but to point out that gender insensitivity at the level of planners and administrators has its own fallouts.
Clinical Value of Visually Identifiable 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake in Primary Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma
Authors: Hwang Seung Ook , Lee Sang‐Woo , Kang Jin Koo , Choi Hyang Hee , Kim Wan Wook , Park Ho Yong , Jung Jin Hyang 
Published: June 2014

ObjectiveThis study evaluates the relationship between visually identifiable 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in primary papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) and tumor aggressiveness.Study DesignHistorical cohort study.SettingTertiary care center.MethodsClinicopathological factors and PET/CT findings of 219 PTMC surgical patients who underwent preoperative 18F‐FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) were retrospectively reviewed.Results18F‐FDG uptake was observed in the tumors of 124 (56.6%) patients. Tumor size (odds ratio [OR] = 1.774; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.416‐2.223; P <. 0001) and Hashimoto thyroiditis (OR = 2.815; CI, 1.237‐6.404; P =. 014) independently predicted 18F‐FDG uptake. Tumor size (OR = 1.495; CI, 1.217‐1.835; P <. 0001) and BRAFV600E mutation (OR = 3.320; CI, 1.056‐10.432; P =. 040) independently predicted extrathyroidal invasion. Multiplicity (OR = 2.375; CI, 1.278‐4.415; P =. 006) independently predicted central lymph node metastasis.Conclusion18F‐FDG uptake in PTMC depends on tumor size and Hashimoto thyroiditis. Therefore, preoperative PET/CT for PTMC may not help in evaluating tumor aggressiveness.
Adherence to imatinib among patients attending Saskatchewan Cancer Agency Pharmacies
Authors: Dicus Melissa , Lyons Barry , Olson Colleen , Tran David A , Blackburn David F 
Published: June 2014

Rationale Chronic use of imatinib confers an important survival benefit for individuals with chronic myeloid leukemia. In Saskatchewan, the provincial cancer agency addresses important barriers to adherence by providing imatinib at no cost through specialized cancer centers. Objective To describe adherence to imatinib dispensed through the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency. Study design and methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic pharmacy dispensation records from the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency. All dispensations for imatinib classified for hematologic malignancies were electronically abstracted by cancer center personnel and securely forwarded to investigators with all meaningful patient identifiers removed. All subjects receiving a new dispensation (i.e. using a 6-month washout period) for imatinib between 1 June 2004 and 31 December 2011 were included. The primary endpoint was optimal adherence to imatinib during the first year of therapy, defined as a medication possession ratio ≥ 80%. Results Ninety-one subjects were started on imatinib during the observation period. During the first year of therapy, 82.4% (75/91) maintained a medication possession ratio ≥ 80%. The percentage of individuals maintaining optimal adherence decreased only slightly when the observation period was extended to 2 (78.4%) or 3 years (78.8%). Conclusions Non-adherence to imatinib is relatively infrequent when provided by the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
Attention during visual search: The benefit of bilingualism
Authors: Friesen Deanna C. , Latman Vered , Calvo Alejandra , Bialystok Ellen 
Published: June 2014

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: Following reports showing bilingual advantages in executive control (EC) performance, the current study investigated the role of selective attention as a foundational skill that might underlie these advantages. Design/Methodology/Approach: Bilingual and monolingual young adults performed a visual search task by determining whether a target shape was present amid distractor shapes. Task difficulty was manipulated by search type (feature or conjunction) and by the number and discriminability of the distractors. In feature searches, the target (e.g., green triangle) differed on a single dimension (e.g., color) from the distractors (e.g., yellow triangles); in conjunction searches, two types of distractors (e.g., pink circles and turquoise squares) each differed from the target (e.g., turquoise circle) on a single but different dimension (e.g., color or shape). Data and Analysis: Reaction time and accuracy data from 109 young adults (53 monolinguals and 56 bilinguals) were analyzed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance. Group membership, search type, number and discriminability of distractors were the independent variables. Findings/Conclusions: Participants identified the target more quickly in the feature searches, when the target was highly discriminable from the distractors and when there were fewer distractors. Importantly, although monolinguals and bilinguals performed equivalently on the feature searches, bilinguals were significantly faster than monolinguals in identifying the target in the more difficult conjunction search, providing evidence for better control of visual attention in bilinguals. Originality: Unlike previous studies on bilingual visual attention, the current study found a bilingual attention advantage in a paradigm that did not include a Stroop-like manipulation to set up false expectations. Significance/Implications: Thus, our findings indicate that the need to resolve explicit conflict or overcome false expectations is unnecessary for observing a bilingual advantage in selective attention. Observing this advantage in a fundamental skill suggests that it may underlie higher order bilingual advantages in EC.
Blinding strategies in the conduct and reporting of a randomized placebo-controlled device trial
Authors: Houweling Adrielle H , Shapiro Stan , Cohen Jacqueline M , Kahn Susan R 
Published: June 2014

Background: Blinding is a fundamental design strengthening feature in randomized clinical trials. Blinding is particularly important in trials whose outcome measures include subjective assessment of signs and symptoms, such as trials investigating the post-thrombotic syndrome, a frequent chronic complication of deep vein thrombosis. Purpose: To determine whether strategies used to blind site investigators, research coordinators and patients were successful in a specific device trial, a multicenter trial of active versus placebo elastic compression stockings worn for 2 years to prevent post-thrombotic syndrome in patients with a first deep vein thrombosis (the SOX Trial). Methods: Patients were randomized to the active or placebo stocking intervention, which were indistinguishable in appearance at baseline. Replacement stockings were shipped directly to patients’ homes and were not worn to any of the study visits during the study. Guesstimates of treatment group assignment were completed by site investigators, research coordinators and patients at the end of study follow-up. Statistical assessments of blinding were performed using the James and Bang blinding indices. Results: Overall rates of correct responses were 10.4% for site investigators, 17.8% for research coordinators and 29.4% for patients. James blinding index values suggest that blinding was achieved for site investigators, research coordinators and patients. The treatment specific Bang blinding index values suggest that blinding was achieved for site investigators and research coordinators, but detected possible unblinding and opposite guess for patients in the active and placebo elastic compression stocking groups, respectively. Limitations: Post-study assessment of blinding, as was done for the SOX Trial, cannot distinguish between degree of blinding and hunches about an intervention’s efficacy. However, as rates of post-thrombotic syndrome along with adverse events in the SOX Trial were similar between treatment groups, it is unlikely that hunches would have interfered with our end-of-trial assessment for blinding. Conclusion: Blinding strategies used in our trial were successful overall and appeared to be most effective for site investigators and research coordinators. For patients, there may have been some degree of unblinding in the active stocking group. However, as the trial results were negative with active elastic compression stocking showing no benefit over placebo elastic compression stocking, this potential unblinding has minimal impact on the overall conclusions of the trial.
Are missing data adequately handled in cluster randomised trials? A systematic review and guidelines
Authors: Díaz-Ordaz Karla , Kenward Michael G , Cohen Abie , Coleman Claire L , Eldridge Sandra 
Published: June 2014

Background Missing data are a potential source of bias, and their handling in the statistical analysis can have an important impact on both the likelihood and degree of such bias. Inadequate handling of the missing data may also result in invalid variance estimation. The handling of missing values is more complex in cluster randomised trials, but there are no reviews of practice in this field. Objectives A systematic review of published trials was conducted to examine how missing data are reported and handled in cluster randomised trials. Methods We systematically identified cluster randomised trials, published in English in 2011, using the National Library of Medicine (MEDLINE) via PubMed. Non-randomised and pilot/feasibility trials were excluded, as were reports of secondary analyses, interim analyses, and economic evaluations and those where no data were at the individual level. We extracted information on missing data and the statistical methods used to deal with them from a random sample of the identified studies. Results We included 132 trials. There was evidence of missing data in 95 (72%). Only 32 trials reported handling missing data, 22 of them using a variety of single imputation techniques, 8 using multiple imputation without accommodating the clustering and 2 stating that their likelihood-based complete case analysis accounted for missing values because the data were assumed Missing-at-Random. Limitations The results presented in this study are based on a large random sample of cluster randomised trials published in 2011, identified in electronic searches and therefore possibly missing some trials, most likely of poorer quality. Also, our results are based on information in the main publication for each trial. These reports may omit some important information on the presence of, and reasons for, missing data and on the statistical methods used to handle them. Our extraction methods, based on published reports, could not distinguish between missing data in outcomes and missing data in covariates. This distinction may be important in determining the assumptions about the missing data mechanism necessary for complete case analyses to be valid. Conclusions Missing data are present in the majority of cluster randomised trials. However, they are poorly reported, and most authors give little consideration to the assumptions under which their analysis will be valid. The majority of the methods currently used are valid under very strong assumptions about the missing data, whose plausibility is rarely discussed in the corresponding reports. This may have important consequences for the validity of inferences in some trials. Methods which result in valid inferences under general Missing-at-Random assumptions are available and should be made more accessible.
Phase 1 study of weekly dosing with the investigational oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
Authors: Kumar Shaji K. , Bensinger William I. , Zimmerman Todd M. , Reeder Craig B. , Berenson James R. , Berg Deborah , Hui Ai-Min , Gupta Neeraj , Di Bacco Alessandra , Yu Jiang , Shou Yaping , Niesvizky Ruben 
Published: June 2014

Key Points
Weekly oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib appears generally well tolerated with manageable toxicity, limited grade 1/2 neuropathy. Data show that more than 25% of 30 evaluable relapsed/refractory myeloma patients who received the MTD had clinically meaningful responses.
HFE interacts with the BMP type I receptor ALK3 to regulate hepcidin expression
Authors: Wu Xing-gang , Wang Yang , Wu Qian , Cheng Wai-Hang , Liu Wenjing , Zhao Yueshui , Mayeur Claire , Schmidt Paul J. , Yu Paul B. , Wang Fudi , Xia Yin 
Published: June 2014

Key Points
HFE increases Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation and hepcidin expression, and inhibition of BMP signaling abolishes HFE-induced hepcidin expression. HFE interacts with ALK3, inhibits ALK3 ubiquitination-proteasomal degradation, and increases ALK3 cell-surface expression.
Infection-related mortality in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: an analysis of infectious deaths on UKALL2003
Authors: O’Connor David , Bate Jessica , Wade Rachel , Clack Rachel , Dhir Sunita , Hough Rachael , Vora Ajay , Goulden Nick , Samarasinghe Sujith 
Published: June 2014

Key Points
Infection is the major cause of treatment-related mortality in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is greatest during the induction phase. Children with Down syndrome are at high risk for infection-related mortality throughout all treatment phases, including the low-intensity maintenance phase.
A tour through the transcriptional landscape of platelets
Authors: Schubert Sebastian , Weyrich Andrew S. , Rowley Jesse W. 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThe RNA code found within a platelet and alterations of that code continue to shed light onto the mechanistic underpinnings of platelet function and dysfunction. It is now known that features of messenger RNA (mRNA) in platelets mirror those of nucleated cells. This review serves as a tour guide for readers interested in developing a greater understanding of platelet mRNA. The tour provides an in-depth and interactive examination of platelet mRNA, especially in the context of next-generation RNA sequencing. At the end of the expedition, the reader will have a better grasp of the topography of platelet mRNA and how it impacts platelet function in health and disease.