bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neck circumference as a measure of neck fat and abdominal visceral fat in Chinese adults
Authors: Li Hong-Xing , Zhang Fen , Zhao Dong , Xin Zhong , Guo Shu-Qin , Wang Shu-Mei , Zhang Jian-Jun , Wang Jun , Li Yan , Yang Guang-Ran , Yang Jin-Kui 
Published: April 2014

Abstract

Background
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is a unique pathogenic fatty deposit, in that it is closely correlated with risk of cardiovascular diseases. The present study is to investigate the usefulness of neck circumference (NC) to indicate VAT.

Methods
Participants aged 35 to 75 years who had taken abdomen and neck computer tomography (CT) examination were included in this study. Neck adipose tissue, abdominal VAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) areas, as well as sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) were measured by CT. Body anthropometrics and metabolic parameters including blood glucose, lipid profiles and blood pressure were also measured.

Results
A lower abdomen CT examination was carried out on a total of 177 patients (87 male and 90 female) with a mean age of 59 years. Of the 177 participants, 15 men and 15 women also took a neck CT examination. With a comparable age and BMI, neck adipose area was correlated with abdominal VAT area significantly in men (r = 0.57, p = 0.028) and women (r = 0.53, p = 0.041). NC is positively correlated with VAT both in men (r = 0.49, p < 0.001) and women (r = 0.25, p = 0.012). Meanwhile, SAD is the best predictor for visceral fat both in men (r = 0.83, p < 0.001) and women (r = 0.73, p < 0.001). Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist to height ratio (WHtR) correlated significantly with VAT both in men and women (r = 0.68, 0.42, 0.46 in men and 0.50, 0.23, 0.39 in women, p < 0.001), while waist hip ratio (WHR) displayed the weakest least correlation in men (r = 0.32, p = 0.001) and no correlation in women (r = 0.08, p = 0.442). Additionally, BMI was more strongly correlated with VAT than NC in both sexes (both p < 0.01).

Conclusion
Significant correlation between NC and VAT was present in Chinese men and women, which may be accounted by the fact that neck fat area is significantly correlated with abdominal VAT. Meanwhile, SAD is the best predictor for visceral fat in the Chinese population.
Electroacupuncture improves recovery after hemorrhagic brain injury by inducing the expression of angiopoietin-1 and -2 in rats
Authors: Zhou Hua-Jun , Tang Tao , Zhong Jian-Hua , Luo Jie-Kun , Cui Han-Jin , Zhang Qi-Mei , Zhou Jing-Hua , Zhang Qiang 
Published: April 2014

AbstractBackgroundAngiopoietin (Ang) is one of the major effectors of angiogenesis, playing a critical role in neurovascular remodeling after stroke. Acupuncture has been widely used for treating stroke in China for a long time. Recently, we have demonstrated that electroacupuncture (EA) can accelerate intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)-induced angiogenesis in rats. In the present study, we investigated the effect of EA on the expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2 in the brain after ICH.MethodsICH was induced by stereotactic injection of collagenase type VII into the right globus pallidus. Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomized into the following four groups: sham-operation (SHAM), stroke-no electroacupuncture (SNE), stroke-EA at the Zusanli acupoint (SEZ), and stroke-EA at a nonacupoint (SEN). EA was applied to the bilateral Zusanli (ST36) acupoint in the SEZ group and a nonacupoint in the SEN group. The expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).ResultsSome Ang-1 and Ang-2 immunoreactive microvessels with a dilated outline were detected in the perihematomal tissues after ICH, and the vessels extended into the clot from the surrounding area since day 7. The expression of Ang-1 increased notably as long as 2 weeks after ICH, while Ang-2 immunoreactivity declined at about 7 days following a striking upregulation at 3 days. EA at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint upregulated the expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2 at both the protein and mRNA levels. However, EA at a nonacupoint had little effect on the expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2.ConclusionsOur data suggest that EA at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint exerts neuroprotective effects on hemorrhagic stroke by upregulation of Ang-1 and Ang-2.
It takes patience and persistence to get negative feedback about patients’ experiences: a secondary analysis of national inpatient survey data
Authors: Barron David N , West Elizabeth , Reeves Rachel , Hawkes Denise 
Published: April 2014

Abstract

Background
Patient experience surveys are increasingly used to gain information about the quality of healthcare. This paper investigates whether patients who respond before and after reminders to a large national survey of inpatient experience differ in systematic ways in how they evaluate the care they received.

Methods
The English national inpatient survey of 2009 obtained data from just under 70,000 patients. We used ordinal logistic regression to analyse their evaluations of the quality of their care in relation to whether or not they had received a reminder before they responded.

Results
33% of patients responded after the first questionnaire, a further 9% after the first reminder, and a further 10% after the second reminder. Evaluations were less positive among people who responded only after a reminder and lower still among those who needed a second reminder.

Conclusions
Quality improvement efforts depend on having accurate data and negative evaluations of care received in healthcare settings are particularly valuable. This study shows that there is a relationship between the time taken to respond and patients’ evaluations of the care they received, with early responders being more likely to give positive evaluations. This suggests that bias towards positive evaluations could be introduced if the time allowed for patients to respond is truncated or if reminders are omitted.
General composite implicit iteration process for a finite family of asymptotically pseudo-contractive mappings
Authors: Thakur Balwant Singh , Dewangan Rajshree , Postolache Mihai 
Published: April 2014

Abstract
In this paper, a modified general composite implicit iteration process is used to study the convergence of a finite family of asymptotically nonexpansive mappings. Weak and strong convergence theorems have been proved, in the framework of a Banach space.

MSC:47H09, 47H10.
All meromorphic solutions of some algebraic differential equations and their applications
Authors: Yuan Wenjun , Li Yezhou , Qi Jianming 
Published: April 2014

Abstract
In this paper, we employ Nevanlinna’s value distribution theory to investigate the existence of meromorphic solutions of some algebraic differential equations. We obtain the representations of all meromorphic solutions of certain algebraic differential equations with constant coefficients and dominant term. Many results are the corollaries of our result, and we will give the complex method to find all traveling wave exact solutions of corresponding partial differential equations. As an example, we obtain all meromorphic solutions of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation by using our complex method. Our results show that the complex method provides a powerful mathematical tool for solving great many nonlinear partial differential equations in mathematical physics.

MSC:30D35, 34A05.
An Assessment of Dialysis Provider's Attitudes towards Timing of Dialysis Initiation in Canada
Authors: Mann Bikaramjit S , Manns Braden J , Dart Allison , Kappel Joanne , Molzahn Anita , Naimark David , Nessim Sharon J , Soroka Steven , Zappitelli Michael , Sood Manish M 
Published: April 2014

Background: Physicians' perceptions and opinions may influence when to initiate dialysis. Objective: To examine providers' perspectives and opinions regarding the timing of dialysis initiation. Design: Online survey. Setting: Community and academic dialysis practices in Canada. Participants: A nationally-representative sample of dialysis providers. Measurements and Methods: Dialysis providers opinions assessing reasons to initiate dialysis at low or high eGFR. Responses were obtained using a 9-point Likert scale. Early dialysis was defined as initiation of dialysis in an individual with an eGFR greater than or equal to 10.5 ml/min/m2. A detailed survey was emailed to all members of the Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN) in February 2013. The survey was designed and pre-tested to evaluate duration and ease of administration. Results: One hundred and forty one (25% response rate) physicians participated in the survey. The majority were from urban, academic centres and practiced in regionally administered renal programs. Very few respondents had a formal policy regarding the timing of dialysis initiation or formally reviewed new dialysis starts (N = 4, 3.1%). The majority of respondents were either neutral or disagreed that late compared to early dialysis initiation improved outcomes (85–88%), had a negative impact on quality of life (89%), worsened AVF or PD use (84–90%), led to sicker patients (83%) or was cost effective (61%). Fifty-seven percent of respondents felt uremic symptoms occurred earlier in patients with advancing age or co-morbid illness. Half (51.8%) of the respondents felt there was an absolute eGFR at which they would initiate dialysis in an asymptomatic patient. The majority of respondents would initiate dialysis for classic indications for dialysis, such as volume overload (90.1%) and cachexia (83.7%) however a significant number chose other factors that may lead them to early dialysis initiation including avoiding an emergency (28.4%), patient preference (21.3%) and non-compliance (8.5%). Limitations: 25% response rate. Conclusions: Although the majority of nephrologists in Canada who responded followed evidence-based practice regarding the timing of dialysis initiation, knowledge gaps and areas of clinical uncertainty exist. The implementation and evaluation of formal policies and knowledge translation activities may limit potentially unnecessary early dialysis initiation.
Exploration of data science techniques to predict fatigue strength of steel from composition and processing parameters
Authors: Agrawal Ankit , Deshpande Parijat D , Cecen Ahmet , Basavarsu Gautham P , Choudhary Alok N , Kalidindi Surya R 
Published: April 2014

AbstractThis paper describes the use of data analytics tools for predicting the fatigue strength of steels. Several physics-based as well as data-driven approaches have been used to arrive at correlations between various properties of alloys and their compositions and manufacturing process parameters. Data-driven approaches are of significant interest to materials engineers especially in arriving at extreme value properties such as cyclic fatigue, where the current state-of-the-art physics based models have severe limitations. Unfortunately, there is limited amount of documented success in these efforts. In this paper, we explore the application of different data science techniques, including feature selection and predictive modeling, to the fatigue properties of steels, utilizing the data from the National Institute for Material Science (NIMS) public domain database, and present a systematic end-to-end framework for exploring materials informatics. Results demonstrate that several advanced data analytics techniques such as neural networks, decision trees, and multivariate polynomial regression can achieve significant improvement in the prediction accuracy over previous efforts, withR2values over 0.97. The results have successfully demonstrated the utility of such data mining tools for ranking the composition and process parameters in the order of their potential for predicting fatigue strength of steels, and actually develop predictive models for the same.
Glycated albumin: an overview of the In Vitro models of an In Vivo potential disease marker
Authors: Arasteh Amir , Farahi Sara , Habibi-Rezaei Mehran , Moosavi-Movahedi Ali Akbar 
Published: April 2014

AbstractGlycation is a general spontaneous process in proteins which has significant impact on their physical and functional properties. These changes in protein properties could be related to several pathological consequences such as cataract, arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Among the proteins, glycation of Human serum albumin (HSA) is of special interest. Human serum albumin is the most abundant protein in the plasma and because of its high sensitivity for glycation, undergoes structural and functional changes due to binding of reducing sugars in vitro. The glycation process occurs by plasma glucose in vivo which has great impacts on the three dimensional structure of protein. These changes are efficient and stable enough which makes the protein to be considered as a new special disease marker instead of HbA1C for diabetes. In some cases, glycated albumin was used as an alternative marker for glycemic control. Glycated albumin reacts with glucose ten times more rapidly than HbA1C and has shorter half-life which makes it more reliable for indicating glycemic states. In this review, glycation of Human Serum Albumin has been overviewed, starting from overall concepts of glycation, followed by some Examples of pathological consequences of protein glycation. The BSA aggregation was reviewed in terms of structural and biological impacts of glycation on the protein followed by reporting documents which indicate possibility of glycated albumin to be used as specific marker for diabetes. Finally, some of the studies related to the models of glycated albumin have been briefly described, with an emphasis on In vitro studies. It is interesting to note the relationship found between in vitro glycation experiments and the propensity of proteins to form amyloid structures, a point that could be further explored as to its significance in hyperglycemic states.
ETS1 variants confer susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis in Han Chinese
Authors: Shan Shan , Dang Jie , Li Jiangxia , Yang Ze , Zhao Hailing , Xin Qian , Ma Xiaochun , Liu Yongchao , Bian Xianli , Gong Yaoqin , Liu Qiji 
Published: April 2014

Abstract
Introduction
ETS1 is a negative regulator of the Th17 differentiation gene and plays a central role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. We aimed to investigate whether polymorphisms in ETS1 confer susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Han Chinese.

Methods
We selected seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within ETS1 based on HapMap data and previous genome-wide association study. Genotyping involved the TaqMan method in 1,015 patients with AS and 1,132 healthy controls from Shandong Province, and 352 AS patients and 400 healthy controls from Ningxia, a northwest region in China. Gene expression was determined by real-time PCR.

Results
The SNP rs1128334 was strongly associated with AS (odds ratio 1.204, 95% confidence interval 1.06-1.37; P = 0.005). This association was confiexrmed in the Ningxia population (P = 0.015). Carriers of the haplotype TAT for rs12574073, rs1128334 and rs4937333 were associated with increased risk of AS and haplotype CGC with reduced risk as compared to controls. In addition, ETS1 expression was lower in AS patients than controls. The risk allele A of rs1128334 and haplotype A-T of rs1128334 and rs4937333 were associated with decreased expression of ETS1.

Conclusions
Common variants in ETS1 may contribute to AS susceptibility in Han Chinese people.
Post-diagnostic prescriptions for low-dose aspirin and breast cancer-specific survival: a nested case-control study in a breast cancer cohort from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink
Authors: Murray Liam J , Cooper Janine A , Hughes Carmel M , Powe Des G , Cardwell Chris R 
Published: April 2014

Abstract
Introduction
Recent observational studies indicate that post-diagnostic use of aspirin in breast cancer patients may protect against cancer progression perhaps by inhibiting cyclooxygenase-2 dependent mechanisms. Evidence also supports a crucial role for interactions between tumour cells and circulating platelets in cancer growth and dissemination, therefore, use of low-dose aspirin may reduce the risk of death from cancer in breast cancer patients.

Methods
A cohort of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (1998 to 2006) were identified in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (and confirmed by cancer registry linkage). Cancer-specific deaths were identified up to 2011 from Office for National Statistics mortality data. A nested case-control analysis was conducted using conditional logistic regression to compare post-diagnostic aspirin exposure using General Practice prescription data in 1,435 cases (breast cancer deaths) with 5,697 controls (matched by age and year of diagnosis).

Results
After breast cancer diagnosis, 18.3% of cancer-specific deaths and 18.5% of matched controls received at least one prescription for low-dose aspirin, corresponding to an odds ratio (OR) of 0.98 (95% CI 0.83, 1.15). Adjustment for potential confounders (including stage and grade) had little impact on this estimate. No dose response relationship was observed when the number of tablets was investigated and no associations were seen when analyses were stratified by receipt of prescriptions for aspirin in the pre-diagnostic period, by stage at diagnosis or by receipt of prescriptions for hormone therapy.

Conclusions
Overall, in this large population-based cohort of breast cancer patients, there was little evidence of an association between receipt of post-diagnostic prescriptions for low-dose aspirin and breast cancer-specific death. However, information was not available on medication compliance or over-the-counter use of aspirin, which may have contributed to the null findings.
Acidosis in the critically ill - balancing risks and benefits to optimize outcome
Authors: Curley Gerard F , Laffey John G 
Published: April 2014

AbstractAcidosis is associated with poor outcome in critical illness. However, acidosis - both hypercapnic and metabolic - has direct effects that can limit tissue injury induced by many causes. There is also a clear potential for off-target harm with acute exposure (for example, raised intracranial pressure, pulmonary hypertension), and with exposure for prolonged periods (for example, increased risk of infection) or at high doses. Ongoing comprehensive determination of molecular, cellular and physiologic impact across a range of representative pathologies will allow us to understand better the risks and benefits of hypercapnia and acidosis during critical illness.
Evidence for the biogenesis of more than 1,000 novel human microRNAs
Authors: Friedländer Marc R , Lizano Esther , Houben Anna JS , Bezdan Daniela , Báñez-Coronel Mónica , Kudla Grzegorz , Mateu-Huertas Elisabet , Kagerbauer Birgit , González Justo , Chen Kevin C , LeProust Emily M , Martí Eulàlia , Estivill Xavier 
Published: April 2014

Abstract
Background
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are established regulators of development, cell identity and disease. Although nearly two thousand human miRNA genes are known and new ones are continuously discovered, no attempt has been made to gauge the total miRNA content of the human genome.

Results
Employing an innovative computational method on massively pooled small RNA sequencing data, we report 2,469 novel human miRNA candidates of which 1,098 are validated by in-house and published experiments. Almost 300 candidates are robustly expressed in a neuronal cell system and are regulated during differentiation or when biogenesis factors Dicer, Drosha, DGCR8 or Ago2 are silenced. To improve expression profiling, we devised a quantitative miRNA capture system. In a kidney cell system, 400 candidates interact with DGCR8 at transcript positions that suggest miRNA hairpin recognition, and 1,000 of the new miRNA candidates interact with Ago1 or Ago2, indicating that they are directly bound by miRNA effector proteins. From kidney cell CLASH experiments, in which miRNA-target pairs are ligated and sequenced, we observe hundreds of interactions between novel miRNAs and mRNA targets. The novel miRNA candidates are specifically but lowly expressed, raising the possibility that not all may be functional. Interestingly, the majority are evolutionarily young and overrepresented in the human brain.

Conclusions
In summary, we present evidence that the complement of human miRNA genes is substantially larger than anticipated, and that more are likely to be discovered in the future as more tissues and experimental conditions are sequenced to greater depth.
Arabidopsisreplacement histone variant H3.3 occupies promoters of regulated genes
Authors: Shu Huan , Nakamura Miyuki , Siretskiy Alexey , Borghi Lorenzo , Moraes Izabel , Wildhaber Thomas , Gruissem Wilhelm , Hennig Lars 
Published: April 2014

Abstract
Background
Histone variants establish structural and functional diversity of chromatin by affecting nucleosome stability and histone-protein interactions. H3.3 is an H3 histone variant that is incorporated into chromatin outside of S-phase in various eukaryotes. In animals, H3.3 is associated with active transcription and possibly maintenance of transcriptional memory. Plant H3 variants, which evolved independently of their animal counterparts, are much less well understood.

Results
We profile the H3.3 distribution in Arabidopsis at mono-nucleosomal resolution using native chromatin immunoprecipitation. This results in the precise mapping of H3.3-containing nucleosomes, which are not only enriched in gene bodies as previously reported, but also at a subset of promoter regions and downstream of the 3′ ends of active genes. While H3.3 presence within transcribed regions is strongly associated with transcriptional activity, H3.3 at promoters is often independent of transcription. In particular, promoters with GA motifs carry H3.3 regardless of the gene expression levels. H3.3 on promoters of inactive genes is associated with H3K27me3 at gene bodies. In addition, H3.3-enriched plant promoters often contain RNA Pol II considerably upstream of the transcriptional start site. H3.3 and RNA Pol II are found on active as well as on inactive promoters and are enriched at strongly regulated genes.

Conclusions
In animals and plants, H3.3 organizes chromatin in transcribed regions and in promoters. The results suggest a function of H3.3 in transcriptional regulation and support a model that a single ancestral H3 evolved into H3 variants with similar sub-functionalization patterns in plants and animals.
mfSBA: Multifractal analysis of spatial patterns in ecological communities
Authors: Saravia Leonardo A. 
Published: April 2014

Multifractals have been applied to characterize complex communities in a spatial context. They were developed for nonlinear systems and are particularly suited to capture multiplicative processes observed in ecological systems. Multifractals characterize variability in a scale-independent way within an experimental range. I have developed an open-source software package to estimate multifractals using a box-counting algorithm (available from https://github.com/lsaravia/mfsba and permanently available at doi: 10.5281/zenodo.8481). The software is specially designed for two dimensional (2D) images such as the ones obtained from remote sensing, but other 2D data types can also be analyzed. Additionally I developed a new metric to analyzemultispecies spatial patterns with multifractals: spatial rank surface, which is included in the software.