bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
H2S, a novel gasotransmitter, involves in gastric accommodation
Authors: Xiao Ailin , Wang Hongjuan , Lu Xin , Zhu Jianchun , Huang Di , Xu Tonghui , Guo Jianqiang , Liu Chuanyong , Li Jingxin 
Published: November 2015

AbstractH2S is produced mainly by two enzymes:cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE), using L-cysteine (L-Cys) as the substrate. In this study, we investigated the role of H2S in gastric accommodation using CBS+/− mice, immunohistochemistry, immunoblot, methylene blue assay, intragastric pressure (IGP) recording and electrical field stimulation (EFS). Mouse gastric fundus expressed H2S-generating enzymes (CBS and CSE) and generated detectable amounts of H2S. The H2S donor, NaHS or L-Cys, caused a relaxation in either gastric fundus or body. The gastric compliance was significantly increased in the presence of L-Cys (1 mM). On the contrary, AOAA, an inhibitor for CBS, largely inhibited gastric compliance. Consistently, CBS+/− mice shows a lower gastric compliance. However, PAG, a CSE inhibitor, had no effect on gastric compliances. L-Cys enhances the non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (NANC) relaxation of fundus strips, but AOAA reduces the magnitude of relaxations to EFS. Notably, the expression level of CBS but not CSE protein was elevated after feeding. Consistently, the production of H2S was also increased after feeding in mice gastric fundus. In addition, AOAA largely reduced food intake and body weight in mice. Furthermore, a metabolic aberration of H2S was found in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). In conclusion, endogenous H2S, a novel gasotransmitter, involves in gastric accommodation.
Administration of defined microbiota is protective in a murine Salmonella infection model
Authors: Martz Sarah-Lynn E. , McDonald Julie A. K. , Sun Jun , Zhang Yong-guo , Gloor Gregory B. , Noordhof Curtis , He Shu-Mei , Gerbaba Teklu K. , Blennerhassett Michael , Hurlbut David J. , Allen-Vercoe Emma , Claud Erika C. , Petrof Elaine O. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractSalmonella typhimurium is a major cause of diarrhea and causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide and perturbations of the gut microbiota are known to increase susceptibility to enteric infections. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a Microbial Ecosystem Therapeutic (MET-1) consisting of 33 bacterial strains, isolated from human stool and previously used to cure patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, could also protect against S. typhimurium disease. C57BL/6 mice were pretreated with streptomycin prior to receiving MET-1 or control, then gavaged with S. typhimurium. Weight loss, serum cytokine levels and S. typhimurium splenic translocation were measured. NF-κB nuclear staining, neutrophil accumulation and localization of tight junction proteins (claudin-1, ZO-1) were visualized by immunofluorescence. Infected mice receiving MET-1 lost less weight, had reduced serum cytokines, reduced NF-κB nuclear staining and decreased neutrophil infiltration in the cecum. MET-1 also preserved cecum tight junction protein expression and reduced S. typhimurium translocation to the spleen. Notably, MET-1 did not decrease CFUs of Salmonella in the intestine. MET-1 may attenuate systemic infection by preserving tight junctions, thereby inhibiting S. typhimurium from gaining access to the systemic circulation. We conclude that MET-1 may be protective against enteric infections besides C. difficile infection.
Circulating miR-106a is a Novel Prognostic and Lymph Node Metastasis Indicator for Cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Cheng Qingbao , Feng Feiling , Zhu Lumin , Zheng Yanhua , Luo Xiangji , Liu Chen , Yi Bin , Jiang Xiaoqing 
Published: November 2015

AbstractCholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a common biliary malignancy. Despite continuing advances, novel indicators are urgently needed to identify patients with a poor prognosis. Several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be dysregulated in CCA tissues. The purpose of the current study was to explore the potential use of certain miRNAs as serum indicators. A total of 157 individuals, including103 CCA patients, were recruited into this study. We first used qRT-PCR to evaluate 5 CCA-related miRNAs in the serum of 95 individuals to identify significantly deregulated miRNAs. A logistic regression was used to analyse the potential variables influencing lymph node metastasis. Cox proportional hazards regression models were applied to determine the association between possible prognostic variables and overall survival (OS). We observed that decreased serum miR-106a confers a higher likelihood of lymph node metastasis [hazard ratio (HR) 18.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.9–56.4, p < 0.01]. Additionally, lower circulating miR-106a levels (HR 5.1; 95% CI 2.2–11.8; p < 0.01) and non-radical surgery (HR 4.2; 95% CI 2.3–7.7; p < 0.01) were independent predictors for poor prognosis. Together, reduced expression of serum miR-106a is a powerful prognostic indicator for CCA patients. The dismal outcome of these CCA patients might correlate with a higher risk of lymph node metastasis.
Statistical Approach to Decreasing the Error Rate of Noninvasive Prenatal Aneuploid Detection caused by Maternal Copy Number Variation
Authors: Zhang Han , Zhao Yang-Yu , Song Jing , Zhu Qi-Ying , Yang Hua , Zheng Mei-Ling , Xuan Zhao-Ling , Wei Yuan , Chen Yang , Yuan Peng-Bo , Yu Yang , Li Da-Wei , Liang Jun-Bin , Fan Ling , Chen Chong-Jian , Qiao Jie 
Published: November 2015

AbstractAnalyses of cell-free fetal DNA (cff-DNA) from maternal plasma using massively parallel sequencing enable the noninvasive detection of feto-placental chromosome aneuploidy; this technique has been widely used in clinics worldwide. Noninvasive prenatal tests (NIPT) based on cff-DNA have achieved very high accuracy; however, they suffer from maternal copy-number variations (CNV) that may cause false positives and false negatives. In this study, we developed an algorithm to exclude the effect of maternal CNV and refined the Z-score that is used to determine fetal aneuploidy. The simulation results showed that the algorithm is robust against variations of fetal concentration and maternal CNV size. We also introduced a method based on the discrepancy between feto-placental concentrations to help reduce the false-positive ratio. A total of 6615 pregnant women were enrolled in a prospective study to validate the accuracy of our method. All 106 fetuses with T21, 20 with T18 and three with T13 were tested using our method, with sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99.97%. In the results, two cases with maternal duplications in chromosome 21, which were falsely predicted as T21 by the previous NIPT method, were correctly classified as normal by our algorithm, which demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach.
Isolation of Rhp-PSP, a member of YER057c/YjgF/UK114 protein family with antiviral properties, from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris strain JSC-3b
Authors: Su Pin , Feng Tuizi , Zhou Xuguo , Zhang Songbai , Zhang Yu , Cheng Ju’e , Luo Yuanhua , Peng Jing , Zhang Zhuo , Lu Xiangyang , Zhang Deyong , Liu Yong 
Published: November 2015

AbstractRhodopseudomonas palustris strain JSC-3b isolated from a water canal adjacent to a vegetable field produces a protein that was purified by bioactivity-guided fractionation based on ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion-exchange absorption and size exclusion. The protein was further identified as an endoribonuclease L-PSP (Liver-Perchloric acid-soluble protein) by shotgun mass spectrometry analysis and gene identification and it is member of YER057c/YjgF/UK114 protein family. Herein, this protein is designated Rhp-PSP. Rhp-PSP exhibited significant inhibitory activities against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in vivo and in vitro. To our knowledge, this represents the first report on the antiviral activity of a protein of the YER057c/YjgF/UK114 family and also the first antiviral protein isolated from R. palustris. Our research provides insight into the potential of photosynthetic bacterial resources in biological control of plant virus diseases and sustainable agriculture.
Neuromuscular regulation in zebrafish by a large AAA+ ATPase/ubiquitin ligase, mysterin/RNF213
Authors: Kotani Yuri , Morito Daisuke , Yamazaki Satoru , Ogino Kazutoyo , Kawakami Koichi , Takashima Seiji , Hirata Hiromi , Nagata Kazuhiro 
Published: November 2015

AbstractMysterin (also known as RNF213) is a huge intracellular protein with two AAA+ ATPase modules and a RING finger ubiquitin ligase domain. Mysterin was originally isolated as a significant risk factor for the cryptogenic cerebrovascular disorder moyamoya disease and was found to be involved in physiological angiogenesis in zebrafish. However, the function and the physiological significance of mysterin in other than blood vessels remain largely unknown, although mysterin is ubiquitously expressed in animal tissues. In this study, we performed antisense-mediated suppression of a mysterin orthologue in zebrafish larvae and revealed that mysterin-deficient larvae showed significant reduction in fast myofibrils and immature projection of primary motoneurons, leading to severe motor deficits. Fast muscle-specific restoration of mysterin expression cancelled these phenotypes and interestingly both AAA+ ATPase and ubiquitin ligase activities of mysterin were indispensable for proper fast muscle formation, demonstrating an essential role of mysterin and its enzymatic activities in the neuromuscular regulation in zebrafish.
Self-regulated oscillation of transport and topology of magnetic islands in toroidal plasmas
Authors: Ida K. , Kobayashi T. , Evans T. E. , Inagaki S. , Austin M. E. , Shafer M. W. , Ohdachi S. , Suzuki Y. , Itoh S.-I. , Itoh K. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThe coupling between the transport and magnetic topology is an important issue because the structure of magnetic islands, embedded in a toroidal equilibrium field, depends on the nature of the transport at the edge of the islands. Measurements of modulated heat pulse propagation in the DIII-D tokamak have revealed the existence of self-regulated oscillations in the radial energy transport into magnetic islands that are indicative of bifurcations in the island structure and transport near the q = 2 surface. Large amplitude heat pulses are seen in one state followed by small amplitude pulses later in the discharge resulting in a repeating cycle of island states. These two states are interpreted as a bifurcation of magnetic island with high and low heat pulse accessibility. This report describes the discovery of a bifurcation in the coupled dynamics between the transport and topology of magnetic islands in tokamak plasmas.
Integration of Partial Information Within and Across Modalities: Contributions to Spoken and Written Sentence Recognition
Authors: Smith Kimberly G. , Fogerty Daniel 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
This study evaluated the extent to which partial spoken or written information facilitates sentence recognition under degraded unimodal and multimodal conditions.

Method
Twenty young adults with typical hearing completed sentence recognition tasks in unimodal and multimodal conditions across 3 proportions of preservation. In the unimodal condition, performance was examined when only interrupted text or interrupted speech stimuli were available. In the multimodal condition, performance was examined when both interrupted text and interrupted speech stimuli were concurrently presented. Sentence recognition scores were obtained from simultaneous and delayed response conditions.

Results
Significantly better performance was obtained for unimodal speech-only compared with text-only conditions across all proportions preserved. The multimodal condition revealed better performance when responses were delayed. During simultaneous responses, participants received equal benefit from speech information when the text was moderately and significantly degraded. The benefit from text in degraded auditory environments occurred only when speech was highly degraded.

Conclusions
The speech signal, compared with text, is robust against degradation likely due to its continuous, versus discrete, features. Allowing time for offline linguistic processing is beneficial for the recognition of partial sensory information in unimodal and multimodal conditions. Despite the perceptual differences between the 2 modalities, the results highlight the utility of multimodal speech + text signals.
‘Troubling’ moments in health promotion: unpacking the ethics of empowerment
Authors: Spencer Grace 
Published: November 2015

Issue addressedConcepts of empowerment feature strongly in global health discourses. Empowerment is frequently advocated as a positive approach to addressing individual and community‐level health needs. Despite its popularity, relatively little has been said about the unintended consequences of empowerment, which may give rise to some troubling ethical issues or, indeed, result in outcomes that may not be considered health promoting.MethodsDrawing on current uses of empowerment within health promotion, along with insights from an ethnographic study on young people's health, this paper raises some critical questions about the ethics of empowerment. By doing so, the paper troubles the idea that empowerment is a ‘good thing’ without some careful attention to the varying ways in which the ethics of empowerment may unfold in practice.ResultsFindings revealed young people's different perspectives on health and priorities for health promotion. The present analysis highlights how these alternative framings prompt a number of ethical tensions for understanding and operationalising empowerment.ConclusionsIn conclusion, the findings underscore the importance of promoting ethical reflexivity in health promotion and, crucially, attending to the unintended and potentially ethically problematic consequences of empowerment.
Phase I Safety Study of Ranolazine in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Authors: Gomberg‐Maitland Mardi , Schilz Robert , Mediratta Anuj , Addetia Karima , Coslet Sandra , Thomeas Vasiliki , Gillies Hunter , Oudiz Ronald J. 
Published: November 2015

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) causes right ventricular ischemia, dysfunction, and failure. PAH patients may benefit from antianginal agents based on a shared pathophysiology with left ventricular ischemia. A single‐center, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial (1 : 1) to assess the acute vasoreactivity and safety of ranolazine in PAH was conducted. Plasma samples for pharmacokinetic (PK) studies were drawn during hemodynamic measurements at 0, 60, 90, 120, 240, and 360 minutes from a Swan‐Ganz catheter. All patients received 500‐mg doses, uptitrated to 1,000 mg at week 4, monthly evaluations, and a complete objective assessment after 12 weeks, followed by an open‐label extension. Thirteen patients were randomized and 12 enrolled (6 ranolazine, 6 placebo). All patients completed the acute phase; 10 completed the 12‐week study. There were no acute changes in invasive hemodynamics. At 12 weeks ranolazine was well tolerated. Only 1 of the 5 patients on ranolazine had a serum concentration considered to be in the therapeutic range. Two serious adverse events required early withdrawal (both in the ranolazine group); gastrointestinal complaints were the most common adverse event. Efficacy measures did not demonstrate any differences between treatment groups. During the open‐label trial, 2 additional patients reached a therapeutic concentration. Ranolazine in PAH appears safe, without acute hemodynamic effects after a 500‐mg dose. Ranolazine administrated to PAH patients receiving background PAH therapies did not consistently reach therapeutic levels. Future studies should first perform PK analysis in PAH patients receiving PAH therapies and explore the safety and tolerability of the higher doses perhaps necessary to achieve therapeutic levels in PAH patients. (Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01757808.)
A Downward Trend of the Ratio of Influenza RNA Copy Number to Infectious Viral Titer in Hospitalized Influenza A-Infected Patients
Authors: Van Wesenbeeck Liesbeth , D'Haese David , Tolboom Jeroen , Meeuws Hanne , Dwyer Dominic E. , Holmes Mark , Ison Michael G. , Katz Kevin , McGeer Allison , Sadoff Jerald , Weverling Gerrit Jan , Stuyver Lieven 
Published: November 2015

Abstract
Background.  Efficacy endpoints in influenza clinical trials may include clinical symptoms and virological measurements, although virology cannot serve as the primary endpoint. We investigated the relationship between influenza A RNA copy number and quantity of infectious viruses in hospitalized influenza patients.
Methods.  One hundred fifty influenza-infected, hospitalized patients were included in this prospective cohort study spanning the 2012–2013 influenza season. Daily nasopharyngeal samples were collected during hospitalization, and influenza A RNA copy number and infectious viral titer were monitored.
Results.  The decay rate for 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) was 0.51 ± 0.14 log10 TCID50/mL per day, whereas the RNA copy number decreased at a rate of 0.41 ± 0.04 log10 copies/mL per day (n = 433). The log ratio of the RNA copy number to the infectious viral titer within patient changes significantly with −0.25 ± 0.09 units per day (P = .0069). For a 12-day observation period, the decay corresponds to a decline of this ratio of 3 log influenza RNA copies.
Conclusions.  Influenza RNA copy number in nasal swabs is co-linear with culture, although the rate of decay of cell culture-based viral titers was faster than that observed with molecular methods. The study documented a clear decreasing log ratio of the RNA copy number to the infectious viral titer of the patients over time.
The Effects of Resident Peer- and Self-Chart Review on Outpatient Laboratory Result Follow-up
Authors: Hale Andrew J. , Nall Ryan W. , Mukamal Kenneth J. , Libman Howard , Smith C. Christopher , Sternberg Scot B. , Kim Hans S. , Kriegel Gila 
Published: November 2015

Purpose
Performing and teaching appropriate follow-up of outpatient laboratory results (LRs) is a challenge. The authors tested peer-review among residents as a potentially valuable intervention.

Method
Investigators assigned residents to perform self-review (n = 27), peer-review (n = 21), or self- + peer-review (n = 30) of outpatient charts. They also compared residence performance with that of historical controls (n = 20). In September 2012, residents examined 10 LRs from April 2012 onward. A second review in November 2012 ascertained whether performing chart review improved residents’ practice behaviors.

Results
Initially, the least-square (LS) mean number of LRs without documentation of follow-up per resident in the self-, peer-, and self- + peer-review group was, respectively, 0.5 (SD 1.0), 1.0 (SD 1.7), and 0.9 (SD 1.3), and post intervention, this was 1.0 (SD 0.2), 0.3 (SD 0.2), and 0.6 (SD 0.2) (self- versus peer-review P = .03). Initially the LS mean follow-up time per resident in the self-, peer-, and self- + peer-review group was, respectively, 4.2 (SD 1.2), 6.9 (SD 1.4), and 5.9 (SD 1.2) days, and after the intervention, LS mean time was 5.0 (SD 0.5), 2.5 (SD 0.6), and 3.9 (SD 0.5) days (self- versus peer-review P < .01). Self-review was not associated with significant improvements in practice.

Conclusions
In this comparison of self- and peer-review, only residents who performed peer-review demonstrated significant improvements in their documentation practices. These findings support the use of resident peer-review in improving LR follow-up, and potentially, in other, broader resident quality improvement initiatives.
Electronic Medical Record Adoption: The Effect on Efficiency, Completeness, and Accuracy in an Academic Orthopaedic Practice
Authors: Hollenbeck S. Matthew , Bomar James D. , Wenger Dennis R. , Yaszay Burt 
Published: November 2015

Introduction:
The electronic medical record (EMR) is the new platform for documenting health information. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the EMR on efficiency, completeness, accuracy, and surgeon attitude in the orthopaedic program of a training hospital.

Methods:
Sixty paper charts were compared with 60 EMRs. Pre-EMR and post-EMR billing data was used to determine outpatient clinic volume and the number of providers seeing patients per month. Completeness was evaluated by noting the presence of items from a predetermined list of clinical information pertinent to each diagnosis. Age and side of injury was used to evaluate note accuracy. A survey was used to evaluate surgeon’s attitudes regarding the EMR.

Results:
There was no difference in monthly volume pre-EMR and post-EMR. There was an increase in the number of providers needed to see patients, equating to a 19% reduction in the number of patient visits per provider. The EMR was 1.3 times more likely to include pertinent clinical information. Both paper charts and the EMR were highly accurate. The surgeon attitude survey revealed concerns regarding clinic efficiency, increased “off-hours” record keeping, and decreased clinic teaching.

Discussion:
EMR is an important and essential component of medical care delivery. Record completion and accuracy were similar across medical record types. The use of EMR led to a 19% reduction in patients per provider. Creating the record in the clinic setting appears to detract from patient interaction, and resident/fellow education time. A more focused, specialty designed, EMR may be more efficient for an orthopaedic practice. Future EMR technology should allow a focused EMR designed for specialties that is efficient to create but that can be electronically converted into a “master record” that meets the needs of an associated larger organization.

Level of Evidence:
Level III—retrospective comparative study.
Structural and Functional Changes in the Tight Junctions of Asymptomatic and Serology-negative First-degree Relatives of Patients With Celiac Disease
Authors: Mishra Asha , Prakash Shyam , Sreenivas Vishnubhatla , Das Taposh K. , Ahuja Vineet , Gupta Siddhartha D. , Makharia Govind K. 
Published: November 2015

Background:
Ten to 15% of first-degree relatives (FDRs) of celiac disease (CeD) patients develop CeD. Although intestinal barrier functions (intestinal permeability) are abnormal in the subset of serology-negative FDRs, what leads to the abnormal barrier function is not known.

Goals:
To study the ultrastructure and functions of tight junctions in serology-negative FDRs of CeD patients.

Study:
The intestinal permeability was measured in 97 asymptomatic and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody (anti-tTG Ab)-negative FDRs (using the lactulose mannitol ratio) and in 75 controls. The ultrastructure of tight junctions using transmission electron microscopy, and the expression of key tight junction proteins (claudin-2, claudin-3, occludin, JAM-A, and ZO-1) and zonulin using real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were assessed in anti-tTG Ab-negative, HLA-DQ2/-DQ8-positive FDRs having normal villi and in disease controls. In addition, the serum zonulin level was measured in 172 anti-tTG Ab-negative FDRs and 198 controls.

Results:
The intestinal permeability was significantly increased in FDRs than in controls. Ultrastructural abnormalities such as dilatation of the tight junction (P=0.004) and loss of the pentalaminar structure (P=0.001) were more common in FDRs than in disease controls. There was significant underexpression of tight junction proteins ZO-1 (P=0.040) and occludin (P=0.041) in FDRs. There was no significant difference in the serum zonulin level between FDRs and controls (P=0.154).

Conclusions:
Even asymptomatic, anti-tTG-Ab-negative FDRs with a normal villous histology have both ultrastructural and functional abnormalities in tight junctions. These findings are indirect evidence of the presence of tight junction abnormalities before the onset of the disease and may have therapeutic implications.