bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Risk Score for Predicting Long-Term Mortality After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
Authors: Wu Chuntao , Camacho Fabian T. , Wechsler Andrew S. , Lahey Stephen , Culliford Alfred T. , Jordan Desmond , Gold Jeffrey P. , Higgins Robert S.D. , Smith Craig R. , Hannan Edward L. 
Published: May 2012

Background—
No simplified bedside risk scores have been created to predict long-term mortality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Methods and Results—
The New York State Cardiac Surgery Reporting System was used to identify 8597 patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery in July through December 2000. The National Death Index was used to ascertain patients' vital statuses through December 31, 2007. A Cox proportional hazards model was fit to predict death after CABG surgery using preprocedural risk factors. Then, points were assigned to significant predictors of death on the basis of the values of their regression coefficients. For each possible point total, the predicted risks of death at years 1, 3, 5, and 7 were calculated. It was found that the 7-year mortality rate was 24.2 in the study population. Significant predictors of death included age, body mass index, ejection fraction, unstable hemodynamic state or shock, left main coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, congestive heart failure, malignant ventricular arrhythmia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, renal failure, and history of open heart surgery. The points assigned to these risk factors ranged from 1 to 7; possible point totals for each patient ranged from 0 to 28. The observed and predicted risks of death at years 1, 3, 5, and 7 across patient groups stratified by point totals were highly correlated.

Conclusion—
The simplified risk score accurately predicted the risk of mortality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery and can be used for informed consent and as an aid in determining treatment choice.
The Spatial Meaning of διά with the Accusative in Homeric Greek
Authors: Luraghi Silvia 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThe semantic difference between spatial usages of διά with the accusative and with the genitive in Homeric Greek is not clearly described in reference works. The available literature leaves readers the feeling that there is wide overlap between the two cases, possibly to be explained through metrical factors. This paper is an attempt to shed light on the issue, through a careful scrutiny of all passages in which the preposition occurs. It turns out that, if the analysis is extended to a large enough context, semantic motivations for the occurrence of either case can be detected, which lead to a distinction between the genitive on the one hand, and the non-directional and directional accusative on the other. While the genitive occurs in passages in which a unidirectional path or a simple location are indicated, the non-directional accusative indicates multidirectional path or multiple location. Finally, the directional accusative indicates that an entity is crossed over. The semantic description makes use of concepts and terminology common in cognitive grammar.
Analysis of Water Vapor over Nigeria Using Radiosonde and Satellite Data
Authors: Adeyemi Babatunde , Joerg Schulz 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThe Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM-SAF) focuses on retrieving geophysical parameters from satellite data by using inversion schemes that are based on radiative transfer theory. In this study, the focus is on the daily mean vertically integrated water vapor [i.e., total precipitable water vapor (TPW)] and the monthly mean layered vertically integrated water vapor [i.e., low-level precipitable water vapor (LPW), midlevel precipitable water vapor (MPW), and upper-level precipitable water vapor] obtained from CM-SAF Germany for the 2004–08 period and for 20 radiosonde stations distributed over Nigeria. The mean annual cycle shows a structure with two maxima, in May and September, respectively, for all low- and midlevel water vapor in the coastal and Guinea savannah regions, whereas at the midland and Sahelian regions, an almost constant maximum lasting between May and September occurs. The two-maxima structure manifested by TPW, LPW, and MPW at the coastal and Guinea savannah regions and the single maximum exhibited by them at the midland and the Sahelian regions are in synchronism with the movement of the intertropical discontinuity. In addition, comparisons have been made between the precipitable water from CM-SAF (CM-SAF PWV) and precipitable water from radiosonde (RS-PWV). Comparisons of the products at the seasonal scale show that CM-SAF PWV at all levels is larger than that of RS-PWV. In addition, a seasonal intercomparison between them shows that CM-SAF PWV and RS-PWV agree significantly at all of the stations that were investigated.
RETRACTED: “Boom, Headshot!”
Authors: Whitaker Jodi L. , Bushman Brad J. 
Published: May 2012

The editors of Communication Research, Drs. Gibbs and Knobloch-Westerwick, wish to issue a retraction of the article entitled ““Boom, Headshot!?”: Effect of Video Game Play and Controller Type on Firing Aim and Accuracy” by Jodi L. Whitaker and Brad J. Bushman. This article was first published online on April 30, 2012 and in print in the October 2014 issue of Communication Research (issue 41, pp. 879-891) as doi:10.1177/0093650212446622. It should be noted that, to ensure impartiality, Dr. Knobloch-Westerwick was not involved in the preparation of this decision, because she is on the faculty at the same institution as the corresponding author. This retraction is in response to inquiries from Drs. Markey (Villanova U) and Elson (Ruhr U Bochum), in agreement with the corresponding author Dr. Bushman. A Committee of Initial Inquiry at Ohio State University recommended retracting this article after being alerted to irregularities in some variables of the data set by Drs. Markey and Elson in January 2015. Unfortunately, the values of the questioned variables could not be confirmed because the original research records were unavailable. In 2016, Drs. Markey and Elson sent their report to Dr. Gibbs, one of the editors of Communication Research, who decided that a retraction was warranted. A replication of the study by Dr. Bushman is in review.
Involvement of Minor Salivary Glands in the Pathogenesis of Peritonsillar Abscess
Authors: El‐Saied Sabri , Puterman Marc , Kaplan Daniel M. , Cohen‐Lahav Merav , Joshua Ben‐Zion 
Published: May 2012

ObjectivesTo study the relationship between peritonsillar abscess (PTA) and minor salivary glands surrounding the palatine tonsils.Study DesignProspective population‐based study.SettingsTertiary care university hospital.Subjects and MethodProspective study including 41 patients with PTA and 6 patients with a neck abscess. Amylase levels of the pus and serum were measured and compared between the 2 groups. Clinical data regarding hospitalization length and recurrence rate were also collected.ResultsOf the 41 patients with PTA, 7 suffered from recurrent PTA. Average level of amylase in the pus of the PTA group was 3841 U/L versus 7.7 U/L in the neck abscess group (P <. 001; median, 62 vs 9.5). Serum amylase was higher in the PTA group (49.3 U/L vs 37.3 U/L; P =. 008). There were no recurrences in PTA patients with amylase greater than 65 U/dL in the pus in 0 of 20 (0%) versus 7 of 21 (33%) for amylase lower than 65 U/L (P =. 01).ConclusionHigh amylase in the pus lends further support for involvement of minor salivary glands. However, high recurrence rates related to low amylase in the pus imply an additional pathogenesis possibly related to tonsillar infection. It is possible that both minor salivary glands as well as tonsillar infection play a role in the pathogenesis of peritonsillar infections.
Influence of gilaburu (Viburnum opulus) juice on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon cancer
Authors: Ulger Harun , Ertekin Tolga , Karaca Omur , Canoz Ozlem , Nisari Mehtap , Unur Erdoğan , Elmalı Ferhan 
Published: May 2012

In this study, the effects of gilaburu ( Viburnum opulus) juice on colon tumorogenesis were investigated. Eight weeks old Balb-C male mice received subcutaneous injections of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) (20 mg/kg body weight) once a week for 12 weeks. Both the sham control (group 1) and the DMH control (group 2) groups received drinking water alone, whereas the mice of groups 3 and 4 received gilaburu juice for 30 weeks (started with first DMH injection) and for 18 weeks (started after last DMH injection), respectively. Eighteen weeks after the last DMH injection, all mice were killed and the histogenesis of colon tumors was investigated from the paraffin-embedded sections of colon, which were stained with hematoxylin–eosin. The sites and incidences of tumoral lesions (low-grade dysplasia, high-grade dysplasia, intramucosal carcinoma and invasive carcinoma) were analyzed and compared with control. The results showed that the body weights of the mice were similar in all the groups. No tumoral lesions were found in group 1. Colon tumors developed in all DMH-treated mice (groups 2, 3 and 4). In these groups, the greatest numbers of tumor lesions were detected in the distal colon, followed by the mid-colon and only a few in the proximal colon. There was a reduction in the mean total number of tumor lesion in groups 3 (8.5) and 4 (8.3), when compared to group 2 (11.3). The incidence of invasive carcinoma in group 3 was significantly lower than group 2 ( p < 0.05). On the basis of these results, we conclude that gilaburu juice may be useful for the prevention of colon cancer at the initiation stage.
Properties of clay nanocomposites based on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co- hexafluoropropylene)
Authors: Atanassov Atanas , Kostov George , Kiryakova Dimitrina , Borisova-Koleva Ljudmila 
Published: May 2012

Poly(vinylidene fluoride- co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) nanocomposites with different contents of nanoclays were prepared by melt mixing. The clays used included unmodified clays, a commercially available hydrophilic nanoclay based on bentonite (nanoclay 1) and organically modified clay based on montmorillonite (nanoclay 2). The nanocomposites obtained were analyzed by x-ray diffraction, differential thermal and differential scanning calorimetry analyses and their basic tensile and other characteristics were determined. The distribution of the filler throughout the matrix was found to be good for both the types of nanocomposite materials. Nanoclay 1 induced slight increase in the β-phase and higher deviation of the main diffractions (2 θ = 18.6° and 20.1° at 10 mass% filler). The degree of crystallinity of the materials containing nanoclay 2 decreased from 26.4 to 20.5% and from 23.9 to 18.7%, respectively, for the first and second heating. The tensile strength of the materials based on PVDF-HFP with nanoclays 1 and 2 was close to that of the initial copolymer or slightly increased with the addition of nanoclay 2. Young’s modulus was in the range of 215–265 MPa. The heat resistance by Vicat increased by 7°C compared with the initial copolymer.
Cognitive reserve and patient-reported outcomes in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Schwartz Carolyn E , Snook Erin , Quaranto Brian , Benedict Ralph HB , Vollmer Timothy 
Published: May 2012

Background: Adaptation and compensation in the face of changing pathology may be better understood by considering the concept of cognitive reserve, which may protect against disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). Objectives: The present work investigates the relationship between cognitive reserve and demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Methods: Cross-sectional data ( n=1142) were drawn from the North American Research Committee on MS (NARCOMS) Registry, from whom additional survey data were collected. Cognitive reserve was measured using the Stern and Sole-Padulles measures, the O*NET occupational classification system, and the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire. PROs were assessed using generic (SF -12v2, Perceived Deficits Questionnaire, Ryff Psychological Well-Being, Diener Satisfaction with Life Scale) and disease-specific (Patient-Determined Disease Steps, Performance Scales) measures. Psychometric analysis created unidimensional cognitive reserve subscales. Regression models examined relationships between cognitive reserve, demographic characteristics, and PROs. Results: The cognitive reserve measures assessed distinct but related constructs. Individuals with high cognitive reserve were more likely to report lower levels of perceived disability and perceived cognitive deficits, and higher levels of physical health, mental health, and well-being. Both active and passive reserve are associated with better outcomes, independent of demographic factors, and these associations apply to both generic and disease-specific outcomes. Conclusions: This expanded measurement of cognitive reserve captures both the passive and active aspects of the construct, and there is a consistent and substantial relationship with PROs. Individuals with high passive and/or active reserve are healthier and experience higher levels of well-being.
Dose-finding clinical trial design for ordinal toxicity grades using the continuation ratio model: an extension of the continual reassessment method
Authors: Van Meter Emily M , Garrett-Mayer Elizabeth , Bandyopadhyay Dipankar 
Published: May 2012

Background Various dose-finding clinical trial designs, including the continual reassessment method (CRM), dichotomize toxicity outcomes based on prespecified dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) criteria. This loss of toxicity information is particularly inefficient due to the small sample sizes in phase I trials, especially when Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v4.0) are an established ordinal toxicity grading classification already used in the clinical practice. Purpose The purpose of this simulation study is to incorporate ordinal toxicity grades as specified by CTCAE v4.0 using a continuation ratio (CR) model in the likelihood-based CRM. Methods This simulation study compares the CR model design to the dichotomous CRM as well as an ordinal CRM that implements the proportional odds (PO) model. We compare six scenarios for model performance based on various safety and efficiency criteria and consider a range of dose–toxicity relationship models, including CR models, PO models, and models that violate the PO assumption. Results The ordinal CRM performs as well as the dichotomous CRM in all scenarios considered, especially in situations where the starting dose is overly toxic, the ordinal designs show slight improvement in the estimation of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and fewer median patients exposed to excessively toxic dose levels as compared to the binary CRM. We also find slight discrepancies in the performance between the PO model and CR model; however, the differences were not substantial enough to strongly recommend one model over the other. Limitations The CR model design does require slightly more input from clinical investigators prior to the start of the trial as compared to the dichotomous CRM. Investigators must specify the distribution of toxicity grades at the expected dose levels for a 10% and 90% DLT rate in this CR design. However, an R package will help with the implementation of this ordinal design. Conclusions While the ordinal designs did not perform significantly better than the binary counterpart, we were able to incorporate maximal toxicity information available into a feasible dose-finding design without compromising overall design performance.
Aberrant mural cell recruitment to lymphatic vessels and impaired lymphatic drainage in a murine model of pulmonary fibrosis
Authors: Meinecke Anna-Katharina , Nagy Nadine , Lago Gabriela D'Amico , Kirmse Santina , Klose Ralph , Schrödter Katrin , Zimmermann Annika , Helfrich Iris , Rundqvist Helene , Theegarten Dirk , Anhenn Olaf , Orian-Rousseau Véronique , Johnson Randall S. , Alitalo Kari , Fischer Jens W. , Fandrey Joachim , Stockmann Christian 
Published: May 2012

AbstractPulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disease with unknown etiology that is characterized by extensive remodeling of the lung parenchyma, ultimately resulting in respiratory failure. Lymphatic vessels have been implicated with the development of pulmonary fibrosis, but the role of the lymphatic vasculature in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis remains enigmatic. Here we show in a murine model of pulmonary fibrosis that lymphatic vessels exhibit ectopic mural coverage and that this occurs early during the disease. The abnormal lymphatic vascular patterning in fibrotic lungs was driven by expression of platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGF-B) in lymphatic endothelial cells and signaling through platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)–β in associated mural cells. Because of impaired lymphatic drainage, aberrant mural cell coverage fostered the accumulation of fibrogenic molecules and the attraction of fibroblasts to the perilymphatic space. Pharmacologic inhibition of the PDGF-B/PDGFR-β signaling axis disrupted the association of mural cells and lymphatic vessels, improved lymphatic drainage of the lung, and prevented the attraction of fibroblasts to the perilymphatic space. Our results implicate aberrant mural cell recruitment to lymphatic vessels in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis and that the drainage capacity of pulmonary lymphatics is a critical mediator of fibroproliferative changes.
Unexpected frequency of Upshaw-Schulman syndrome in pregnancy-onset thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
Authors: Moatti-Cohen Marie , Garrec Céline , Wolf Martine , Boisseau Pierre , Galicier Lionel , Azoulay Elie , Stepanian Alain , Delmas Yahsou , Rondeau Eric , Bezieau Stéphane , Coppo Paul , Veyradier Agnès 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
Pregnancy may be complicated by a rare but life-threatening disease called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Most cases of TTP are due to an acquired autoimmune or hereditary (Upshaw-Schulman syndrome [USS]) severe deficiency of a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 repeats, member 13 (ADAMTS13). In the present study, we performed a cross-sectional analysis of the national registry of the French Reference Center for Thrombotic Microangiopathies from 2000-2010 to identify all women who were pregnant at their initial TTP presentation. Among 592 adulthood-onset TTP patients with a severe ADAMTS13 deficiency, 42 patients with a pregnancy-onset TTP were included. Surprisingly, the proportion of USS patients (n = 10 of 42 patients [24%]; confidence interval, 13%-39%) with pregnancy-onset TTP was much higher than that in adulthood-onset TTP in general (less than 5%) and was mostly related to a cluster of ADAMTS13 variants. In the present study, subsequent pregnancies in USS patients not given prophylaxis were associated with very high TTP relapse and abortion rates, whereas prophylactic plasmatherapy was beneficial for both the mother and the baby. Pregnancy-onset TTP defines a specific subgroup of patients with a strong genetic background. This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as number NCT00426686 and at the Health Authority, French Ministry of Health, as number P051064.
Efficient use of unlabeled data for protein sequence classification: a comparative study
Authors: Kuksa Pavel , Huang Pai-Hsi , Pavlovic Vladimir 
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Background
Recent studies in computational primary protein sequence analysis have leveraged the power of unlabeled data. For example, predictive models based on string kernels trained on sequences known to belong to particular folds or superfamilies, the so-called labeled data set, can attain significantly improved accuracy if this data is supplemented with protein sequences that lack any class tags–the unlabeled data. In this study, we present a principled and biologically motivated computational framework that more effectively exploits the unlabeled data by only using the sequence regions that are more likely to be biologically relevant for better prediction accuracy. As overly-represented sequences in large uncurated databases may bias the estimation of computational models that rely on unlabeled data, we also propose a method to remove this bias and improve performance of the resulting classifiers.

Results
Combined with state-of-the-art string kernels, our proposed computational framework achieves very accurate semi-supervised protein remote fold and homology detection on three large unlabeled databases. It outperforms current state-of-the-art methods and exhibits significant reduction in running time.

Conclusion
The unlabeled sequences used under the semi-supervised setting resemble the unpolished gemstones; when used as-is, they may carry unnecessary features and hence compromise the classification accuracy but once cut and polished, they improve the accuracy of the classifiers considerably.
Assessing reliability of protein-protein interactions by integrative analysis of data in model organisms
Authors: Lin Xiaotong , Liu Mei , Chen Xue-wen 
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Background
Protein-protein interactions play vital roles in nearly all cellular processes and are involved in the construction of biological pathways such as metabolic and signal transduction pathways. Although large-scale experiments have enabled the discovery of thousands of previously unknown linkages among proteins in many organisms, the high-throughput interaction data is often associated with high error rates. Since protein interaction networks have been utilized in numerous biological inferences, the inclusive experimental errors inevitably affect the quality of such prediction. Thus, it is essential to assess the quality of the protein interaction data.

Results
In this paper, a novel Bayesian network-based integrative framework is proposed to assess the reliability of protein-protein interactions. We develop a cross-species in silico model that assigns likelihood scores to individual protein pairs based on the information entirely extracted from model organisms. Our proposed approach integrates multiple microarray datasets and novel features derived from gene ontology. Furthermore, the confidence scores for cross-species protein mappings are explicitly incorporated into our model. Applying our model to predict protein interactions in the human genome, we are able to achieve 80% in sensitivity and 70% in specificity. Finally, we assess the overall quality of the experimentally determined yeast protein-protein interaction dataset. We observe that the more high-throughput experiments confirming an interaction, the higher the likelihood score, which confirms the effectiveness of our approach.

Conclusion
This study demonstrates that model organisms certainly provide important information for protein-protein interaction inference and assessment. The proposed method is able to assess not only the overall quality of an interaction dataset, but also the quality of individual protein-protein interactions. We expect the method to continually improve as more high quality interaction data from more model organisms becomes available and is readily scalable to a genome-wide application.