bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
FDG‐PET predicts outcomes of treated bone metastasis following palliative radiotherapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Choi Seo Hee , Chang Jee Suk , Jeong Yong Hyu , Lee Youngin , Yun Mijin , Seong Jinsil 
Published: February 2014

AbstractAimsTo determine the utility of FDG‐PET in predicting long‐term infield tumour control after RT in patients with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to bone.MethodsAmong 223 patients with HCC skeletal metastases diagnosed, we reviewed 22 patients with 45 total sites treated with RT who had at least two FDG‐PETs prior to and after RT. The median RT dose was 42 Gy (range, 22–48) with a median fraction of 3 Gy (range, 2–8). Helical tomotherapy was generally offered for lesions that received higher RT dose (36%). The intrahepatic control rate in all patients was 73% at the time of referral. The ratio of tumour SUV to blood‐pool activity SUV (SUV‐ratio) was calculated. The primary end‐points were infield progression‐free survival (infield‐PFS) and infield event‐free survival (infield‐EFS; recurrent and intractable pain or skeletal‐related events).ResultsAmong 45 sites, 20 had tumour progression and 21 developed events in the previously treated area. A higher SUV‐ratio before RT, SUV‐ratio decline and higher radiation dose were independently and significantly correlated with better infield‐PFS (both P < 0.05). The tumours with a pre‐RT SUV‐ratio ≥3.0 and SUV‐ratio decline ≥40% had significantly better infield‐PFS and EFS than those with either a pre‐RT SUV‐ratio <3.0 or SUV‐ratio decline <40% (both P < 0.05).ConclusionsFDG‐PET may help to predict outcomes of infield tumour control following palliative RT for treatment of HCC bone metastases. Tumours with low metabolic uptake before RT or with a minor decline in post‐RT SUV‐ratio showed poor long‐term infield tumour control.
Re‐appraisal of old and new diagnostic tools in the current management of chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Bessone Fernando 
Published: February 2014

AbstractHepatitis B virus (HBV) is a very complex and intricate DNA structure associated with a particular genomic organization and replication cycle. However, many years of investigations allowed clarification of the real HBV natural history, through a deeper knowledge of the behavior of HBV antigens and viral structures.Several of the old diagnostic tools, such as HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV e antigen (HBeAg) determinations, gained prominence now, since the variation of both HBsAg and HBeAg plasma levels was shown to predict treatment response. In addition, the availability of more sensitive methods, such as HBV DNA detection by real‐time PCR, has improved the current knowledge of the relationships between HBV replication levels and the natural history of the disease.It is now well established that some HBV genotypes are associated with a better response to treatment with pegylated interferon.Despite the widely accepted value of liver biopsy as a staging tool, transient elastography is being increasingly acknowledged as a non‐invasive method to assess liver stiffness, chiefly for detection of advanced fibrosis.Current international guidelines for the management of chronic hepatitis B have provided several accurate biochemical and serological criteria for selecting patients for treatment, allowing a higher number of cases to be enrolled into antiviral therapy.This review describes the different serological markers used for the study of HBV and their clinical significance. It also deals with methods used for detection of genotypes and HBV DNA, emphasizing the effectiveness of such determinations for both patient selection and chronic hepatitis B therapy/monitoring.
Molecular and distribution data on the poorly known, elusive, cave mysid Harmelinella mariannae (Crustacea: Mysida)
Authors: Chevaldonné Pierre , Rastorgueff Pierre‐Alexandre , Arslan Defne , Lejeusne Christophe 
Published: February 2014

AbstractMediterranean underwater marine caves harbour abundant populations of several species of mysids that are increasingly used as biological models in ecological and evolutionary studies. One exception is the species Harmelinella mariannae, described in 1989 and then hardly ever again reported in the literature. We here provide the first data on the distribution of this poorly known taxon that, contrary to expectations for a rare brooding cave dweller, we now report from Madeira Island in the nearby Atlantic, to the easternmost parts of the Mediterranean. Brief behavioural observations are added, particularly its atypical solitary habits and its feeding behaviour as a high trophic level carnivore. Molecular characterization of the different specimens captured provided three sorts of information. Mitochondrial COI and 16S haplotypes suggest different colonization waves in the Mediterranean, with one group in the Eastern Basin, two in the Marseille region in the NW part of this sea, and another group with a very wide extension from Madeira to Liguria and Malta. Mitochondrial data also support that one of the groups in Marseille might have diverged as a cryptic species of Harmelinella. 18S rRNA gene displays a single common sequence to all specimens from the four groups, and seems to confirm the original proposed placement of this taxon within the subfamily Heteromysinae, not Leptomysinae.
Reproductive resilience of ice‐dependent Antarctic silverfish in a rapidly changing system along the Western Antarctic Peninsula
Authors: La Mesa Mario , Riginella Emilio , Mazzoldi Carlotta , Ashford Julian 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe Western Antarctic Peninsula (wAP) is globally one of the systems most heavily impacted by climate change, notably steep declines in sea ice extent. In forage species, reproductive resilience to change is particularly important because population fluctuations are rapidly communicated through the system via trophic interactions. The reproductive traits of the ice‐dependent forage species Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica) from different areas along the wAP and at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula were investigated through macroscopic and histological analyses of gonads, with the aim to assess its reproductive potential and to test for spatial differences in fecundity and spawning season. Fish samples were collected in late summer off Charcot Island, in Marguerite Bay and off Joinville Island; no fish were caught in the central wAP. Samples from Charcot Island and Marguerite Bay consisted of adults in developing gonad stage, whereas those from Joinville consisted almost exclusively of juveniles. Mean GSI was relatively low (2–3%) and similar in both sexes, as specimens were still far from being actively reproducing. Developing females exhibited two discrete, though partially overlapping modes of oocytes of different size, with vitellogenic oocytes measuring 0.5–1.0 mm. Absolute and relative fecundity ranged between 3000 and 12,000 eggs per female and between 80 and 190 eggs·g−1, with a strong relationship between absolute fecundity and body size. These results were consistent with a single population at Charcot Island and Marguerite Bay and indicated substantial reproductive potential, which may mitigate population isolation and reductions in habitat availability but cannot ultimately offset catastrophic loss of spawning habitat linked to sea‐ice retreat.
Successful pod infections by Moniliophthora roreri result in differential Theobroma cacao gene expression depending on the clone's level of tolerance
Authors: Ali Shahin S. , Melnick Rachel L. , Crozier Jayne , Phillips‐Mora Wilberth , Strem Mary D. , Shao Jonathan , Zhang Dapeng , Sicher Richard , Meinhardt Lyndel , Bailey Bryan A. 
Published: February 2014

SummaryAn understanding of the tolerance mechanisms of Theobroma cacao used against Moniliophthora roreri, the causal agent of frosty pod rot, is important for the generation of stable disease‐tolerant clones. A comparative view was obtained of transcript populations of infected pods from two susceptible and two tolerant clones using RNA sequence (RNA‐Seq) analysis. A total of 3009 transcripts showed differential expression among clones. KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway analysis of differentially expressed genes indicated shifts in 152 different metabolic pathways between the tolerant and susceptible clones. Real‐time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real‐time qRT‐PCR) analyses of 36 genes verified the differential expression. Regression analysis validated a uniform progression in gene expression in association with infection levels and fungal loads in the susceptible clones. Expression patterns observed in the susceptible clones diverged in tolerant clones, with many genes showing higher expression at a low level of infection and fungal load. Principal coordinate analyses of real‐time qRT‐PCR data separated the gene expression patterns between susceptible and tolerant clones for pods showing malformation. Although some genes were constitutively differentially expressed between clones, most results suggested that defence responses were induced at low fungal load in the tolerant clones. Several elicitor‐responsive genes were highly expressed in tolerant clones, suggesting rapid recognition of the pathogen and induction of defence genes. Expression patterns suggested that the jasmonic acid–ethylene‐ and/or salicylic acid‐mediated defence pathways were activated in the tolerant clones, being enhanced by reduced brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis and catabolic inactivation of both BR and abscisic acids. Finally, several genes associated with hypersensitive response‐like cell death were also induced in tolerant clones.
Analysis of parkinsonian tremor and rigidity relying on peripheral and central intensifying mechanisms through thalamic activities
Authors: Narabayashi Yohsuke , Oshima Tomokazu 
Published: February 2014

AbstractBackground and AimPassive and active muscle manipulations modify parkinsonian tremor and rigidity. We hypothesized that these outer maneuvers provoke thalamic 3 to 7‐Hz (τ‐range) and 13 to 27‐Hz (β‐band) activities, which in turn act to develop and maintain the symptoms. To test the hypothesis, we examined the temporal and quantitative relationships of the thalamic activities with the symptoms in conditions under the outer maneuvers.MethodsIn thalamotomy for 20 patients with Parkinson's disease, we monitored thalamic local field potentials and multiple unit spikes with surface electromyograms of neck and limb muscles.ResultsTremor is intensified in postural and kinetic modes with higher amplitude and faster frequency than the resting state, and in tremor rhythms on the cogwheel rigidity with accelerated muscle tone. Exaggerated thalamic τ‐range activities always led to tremor of those intensified modes. The τ‐range activities developed and maintained tremor in keeping a quantitative relationship in amplitude. Both the passive and active muscle manipulations transiently abolished the β‐band activities, and then made them relapse to lead to rigidity in a waning and waxing fashion. Because of these changes of β‐band activities, the patient's active effort to move or hold postures caused a state in conflict between voluntary and involuntary contractions.ConclusionTogether, the results suggest that passively activated peripheral kinesthetic afferents, and actively triggered central motor initiatives act to develop and maintain tremor and rigidity through the thalamic motor nuclei as the crucial relay stations.
Identifying novel interruption motifs in spinocerebellar ataxia type 10 expansions
Authors: Liu Jilin , McFarland Karen N , Landrian Ivette , Wu Samuel S , Bower Matthew , Hutter Diane , Bushara Khalaf , Teive Hélio A G , Ashizawa Tetsuo 
Published: February 2014

AbstractBackground and AimSpinocerebellar ataxia type 10 (SCA10) is caused by an expansion of a normally polymorphic ATTCT repeat within intron 9 of the ATXN10 gene. Interrupting sequences in the expanded ATTCT repeat track are postulated to be a disease modifier, but are not fully characterized in SCA10 patients. As the large size and repetitive nature of the SCA10 expansion does not make it amenable for Sanger or next‐generation sequencing, we require an alternative approach to determine whether there are interrupted repeat motifs within the SCA10 expansion.MethodsWe developed a strategy that combines long‐range polymerase chain reaction and shot‐gun sequencing to characterize interruption sequences without full assembly of the entire disease allele. We chose three SCA10‐positive individuals with disparate clinical presentations and examined the resulting sequences for interrupting motifs.ResultsWith this strategy, we found known heptanucleotide (ATTTTCT and ATATTCT) and pentanucleotide (ATCCC and ATCCT) interruption sequences in one allele. Additionally, we found novel pentanucleotide (ACTCT, ATTCA, ATTCC) and heptanucleotide (ATTCTCT) repeat interruption motifs in two additional samples.ConclusionThe present results show the utility of this approach for determining the internal repeat structure of difficult to sequence repeat expansions. Furthermore, we find that the extent and type of interrupting sequences varies dramatically between these three SCA10‐positive individuals.
Clinical spectrum of neuromyelitis optica 2013
Authors: Weinshenker Brian G 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe spectrum of presentation of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is now recognized as being more diverse than defined by current diagnostic criteria, and includes limited forms of optic neuritis and transverse myelitis, as well as other brain syndromes. Discovery of a specific biomarker, autoantibodies targeting aquaporin‐4, facilitated the recognition of this broader spectrum of disease. Brain magnetic resonance imaging lesions in NMO might be relatively specific or entirely non‐specific. The most specific lesions are lesions of the area postrema or hypothalamus, longitudinally extensive corpus callosum lesions, and long corticospinal tract lesions in the corona radiata and brainstem. Although the full spectrum of aquaporin‐4‐associated disease based on population‐based serological studies remains undefined, studies from service testing laboratories show that the vast majority of patients have had optic neuritis and myelitis or one of the now well‐accepted signature syndromes of NMO, such as intractable vomiting or hiccough, although ascertainment bias undoubtedly influences this conclusion. New diagnostic criteria based on deliberations of an international panel of experts are anticipated shortly. Almost certainly, new criteria will allow for diagnosis of NMO based on a single episode of a “signature” syndrome of NMO. Nevertheless, in the face of a syndrome that is less characteristic and less well associated with NMO, especially if associated with other disease entities, caution is necessary.
Using human intestinal biopsies to study the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome
Authors: Nasser Y. , Boeckxstaens G. E. , Wouters M. M. , Schemann M. , Vanner S. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractBackgroundAlthough animal models of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have provided important insights, there are no models that fully express the features of this complex condition. One alternative approach is the use of human intestinal biopsies obtained during endoscopic procedures to examine peripheral mechanisms in this disorder. These studies have served to confirm the existence of peripheral pathways in humans with IBS and have provided many new mechanistic insights. Two general approaches have been employed; one approach has been to examine the biological activity of mediators within the mucosal tissue of IBS patients and the other has been to examine changes in the structural properties of key signaling pathways contained within the biopsies. Using these approaches, important changes have been discovered involving the enteric nervous system and the extrinsic sensory pathway (dorsal root ganglia neurons), the immune system, and epithelial signaling in IBS patients compared to healthy subjects.PurposeThis review will systematically explore these mechanistic pathways, highlight the implications of these novel findings and discuss some of the important limitations of this approach.
In search of salience: phenomenological analysis of moral distress
Authors: Manara Duilio F. , Villa Giulia , Moranda Dina 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe nurse's moral competences in the management of situations which present ethical implications are less investigated in literature than other ethical problems related to clinical nursing. Phenomenology affirms that emotional warmth is the first fundamental attitude as well as the premise of any ethical reasoning. Nevertheless, it is not clear how and when this could be confirmed in situations where the effect of emotions on the nurse's decisional process is undiscovered. To explore the processes through which situations of moral distress are determined for the nurses involved in nursing situations, a phenomenological–hermeneutic analysis of a nurse's report of an experience lived by her as a moral distress situation has been conducted. Nursing emerges as a relational doctrine that requires the nurse to have different degrees of personal involvement, the integration between logical–formal thinking and narrative thinking, the perception of the salience of the given situation also through the interpretation and management of one's own emotions, and the capacity to undergo a process of co‐construction of shared meanings that the others might consider adequate for the resolution of her problem. Moral action requires the nurse to think constantly about the important things that are happening in a nursing situation. Commitment towards practical situations is directed to training in order to promote the nurse's reflective ability towards finding salience in nursing situations, but it is also directed to the management of nursing assistance and human resources for the initial impact that this reflexive ability has on patients' and their families' lives and on their need to be heard and assisted. The only case analysed does not allow generalizations. Further research is needed to investigate how feelings generated by emotional acceptance influence ethical decision making and moral distress in nursing situations.
Slavery and jouissance: analysing complaints of suffering in UK and Australian nurses' talk about their work
Authors: Traynor Michael , Evans Alicia 
Published: February 2014

AbstractNursing has a gendered and religious history where ideas of duty and servitude are present and shape its professional identity. The profession also promotes idealized notions of relationships with patients and of professional autonomy both of which are, in practice, highly constrained or even impossible. This paper draws on psychoanalytic concepts in order to reconsider nursing's professional identity. It does this by presenting an analysis of data from two focus group studies involving nurses in England and Australia held between 2010 and 2012. The studies gave rise to data where extremely negative talk about nursing work seemed to produce, or to be expressed with, a high degree of energy, and a particular kind of enjoyment. In our analysis, we focus on the nurses' apparent enjoyment derived from their expression of a position of powerlessness in which they describe themselves as ‘slaves’ or ‘martyrs’ in the health care system. We interpret this as jouissance and suggest that the positions of slave or martyr provide a possible response to what we argue is the impossibility of the nurse's role. We argue that a remnant of a quasi‐religious ethic within the profession makes it acceptable for nurses to talk about self‐sacrifice and powerlessness as part of their working subjectivity. We further argue that this analysis offers a new consideration of the issue of power and professional identity in nursing that goes beyond seeing nurses as simply overpowered by, or engaged in, a gendered power struggle with other professional groups. We suggest that powerlessness and victimhood hold particular attractions and advantages for nurses and are positions that are more available to nurses than to other occupational groups. This research shows how psychoanalytic theory can help produce new insights into the problems and complexity of nursing and extend existing study of the professions.
Vitamin D supplementation and body weight status: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Pathak K. , Soares M. J. , Calton E. K. , Zhao Y. , Hallett J. 
Published: February 2014

SummaryVitamin D is anticipated to have many extra‐skeletal health benefits. We questioned whether supplementation with the vitamin influenced body weight and composition. A systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted on high‐quality, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that had supplemented vitamin D without imposing any caloric restriction. Eighteen trials reporting either body weight, body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM), percentage fat mass (%FM) or lean body mass (LBM) met our criteria. Twelve studies provided the required data for the meta‐analysis. Vitamin D supplementation did not influence the standardized mean difference (SMD) for body weight, FM, %FM or LBM. A small but non‐significant decrease in BMI (SMD = −0.097, 95% confidence interval: [−0.210, 0.016], P = 0.092) was observed. Meta‐regression confirmed that neither the absolute vitamin D status achieved nor its change from baseline influenced the SMD of any obesity measure. However, increasing age of the subjects predicted a shift in the SMD for FM towards the placebo treatment, whereas a greater percentage of women in these studies favoured a decrease in FM following vitamin D. Vitamin D supplementation did not decrease measures of adiposity in the absence of caloric restriction. A potential confounding by age and gender was encountered.
Gender Differences in Psychological Distress and Quality of Life in Patients with an ICD 1‐Year Postimplant
Authors: STARRENBURG ANNEMIEKE , PEDERSEN SUSANNE , van den BROEK KRISTA , KRAAIER KARIN , SCHOLTEN MARCOEN , VAN DER PALEN JOB 
Published: February 2014

BackgroundGender differences in patient‐reported outcomes in patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) have been researched, but findings are inconclusive and mostly based on cross‐sectional study designs. To gain a better insight into potential determinants of psychological distress and health‐related quality of life (HQOL), we examined the relationship between gender and patient‐reported outcomes in patients with an ICD in the first year after ICD implantation.MethodsConsecutive patients (N = 300) receiving an ICD between September 2007 and February 2010 at Medisch Spectrum Twente hospital, the Netherlands, completed several questionnaires to assess psychological distress and HQOL prior to ICD implantation and at 2 months, 5 months, 8 months, and 12 months postimplantation.ResultsCorrecting for clinical confounders (e.g., left ventricular ejection fraction, ICD indication, comorbidities, ICD shocks), women reported higher levels of anxiety (P = 0.021) and shock‐related anxiety (P = 0.047) than men in the course of a year. On most HQOL subscales, no gender differences were found, except for subscale Physical functioning, where women reported higher levels of improvement compared to men (P = 0.008). Gender was independently associated with poorer device‐related acceptance, but only on the Florida Patient Acceptance Scale domain Body image concerns (P = 0.043), with women expressing higher levels of concerns about their body image compared to men.ConclusionsWomen report higher levels of general and shock‐related anxiety, and higher levels of body image concerns than men. Women showed more improvement in physical functioning. Screening patients before and after ICD implantation for general and shock anxiety may help determine patients who could benefit from psychological counseling.