bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Determination of the best method to estimate glomerular filtration rate from serum creatinine in adult patients with sickle cell disease: a prospective observational cohort study
Authors: Arlet Jean-Benoît , Ribeil Jean-Antoine , Chatellier Gilles , Eladari Dominique , De Seigneux Sophie , Souberbielle Jean-Claude , Friedlander Gérard , de Montalembert Marianne , Pouchot Jacques , Prié Dominique , Courbebaisse Marie 
Published: August 2012

AbstractBackgroundSickle cell disease (SCD) leads to tissue hypoxia resulting in chronic organ dysfunction including SCD associated nephropathy. The goal of our study was to determine the best equation to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in SCD adult patients.MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational cohort study. Since 2007, all adult SCD patients in steady state, followed in two medical departments, have had their GFR measured using iohexol plasma clearance (gold standard). The Cockcroft-Gault, MDRD-v4, CKP-EPI and finally, MDRD and CKD-EPI equations without adjustment for ethnicity were tested to estimate GFR from serum creatinine. Estimated GFRs were compared to measured GFRs according to the graphical Bland and Altman method.ResultsSixty-four SCD patients (16 men, median age 27.5 years [range 18.0-67.5], 41 with SS-genotype were studied. They were Sub-Saharan Africa and French West Indies natives and predominantly lean (median body mass index: 22 kg/m2[16-33]). Hyperfiltration (defined as measured GFR >110 mL/min/1.73 m2) was detected in 53.1% of patients. Urinary albumin/creatinine ratio was higher in patients with hyperfiltration than in patients with normal GFR (4.05 mg/mmol [0.14-60]versus0.4 mg/mmol [0.7-81], p = 0.01). The CKD-EPI equation without adjustment for ethnicity had both the lowest bias and the greatest precision. Differences between estimated GFRs using the CKP-EPI equation and measured GFRs decreased with increasing GFR values, whereas it increased with the Cockcroft-Gault and MDRD-v4 equations.ConclusionsWe confirm that SCD patients have a high rate of glomerular hyperfiltration, which is frequently associated with microalbuminuria or macroalbuminuria. In non-Afro-American SCD patients, the best method for estimating GFR from serum creatinine is the CKD-EPI equation without adjustment for ethnicity. This equation is particularly accurate to estimate high GFR values, including glomerular hyperfiltration, and thus should be recommended to screen SCD adult patients at high risk for SCD nephropathy.
Patient access to complex chronic disease records on the Internet
Authors: Bartlett Cherry , Simpson Keith , Turner A Neil 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
Access to medical records on the Internet has been reported to be acceptable and popular with patients, although most published evaluations have been of primary care or office-based practice. We tested the feasibility and acceptability of making unscreened results and data from a complex chronic disease pathway (renal medicine) available to patients over the Internet in a project involving more than half of renal units in the UK.

Methods
Content and presentation of the Renal PatientView (RPV) system was developed with patient groups. It was designed to receive information from multiple local information systems and to require minimal extra work in units. After piloting in 4 centres in 2005 it was made available more widely. Opinions were sought from both patients who enrolled and from those who did not in a paper survey, and from staff in an electronic survey. Anonymous data on enrolments and usage were extracted from the webserver.

Results
By mid 2011 over 17,000 patients from 47 of the 75 renal units in the UK had registered. Users had a wide age range (<10 to >90 yrs) but were younger and had more years of education than non-users. They were enthusiastic about the concept, found it easy to use, and 80% felt it gave them a better understanding of their disease. The most common reason for not enrolling was being unaware of the system. A minority of patients had security concerns, and these were reduced after enrolling.
Staff responses were also strongly positive. They reported that it aided patient concordance and disease management, and increased the quality of consultations with a neutral effect on consultation length. Neither patient nor staff responses suggested that RPV led to an overall increase in patient anxiety or to an increased burden on renal units beyond the time required to enrol each patient.

Conclusions
Patient Internet access to secondary care records concerning a complex chronic disease is feasible and popular, providing an increased sense of empowerment and understanding, with no serious identified negative consequences. Security concerns were present but rarely prevented participation. These are powerful reasons to make this type of access more widely available.
Enhanced thermostability of a Rhizopus chinensis lipase by in vivo recombination in Pichia pastoris
Authors: Yu Xiao-Wei , Wang Rui , Zhang Meng , Xu Yan , Xiao Rong 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
Lipase from Rhizopus chinensis is a versatile biocatalyst for various bioconversions and has been expressed at high-level in Pichia pastoris. However, the use of R. chinensis lipase in industrial applications is restricted by its low thermostability. Directed evolution has been proven to be a powerful and efficient protein engineering tool for improvement of biocatalysts. The present work describes improvement of the thermostability of R. chinensis lipase by directed evolution using P. pastoris as the host.

Results
An efficient, fast and highly simplified method was developed to create a mutant gene library in P. pastoris based on in vivo recombination, whose recombination efficiency could reach 2.3 × 105 /μg DNA. The thermostability of r27RCL was improved significantly by two rounds of error-prone PCR and two rounds of DNA shuffling in P. pastoris. The S4-3 variant was found to be the most thermostable lipase, under the conditions tested. Compared with the parent, the optimum temperature of S4-3 was two degrees higher, T
m was 22 degrees higher and half-lives at 60°C and 65°C were 46- and 23- times longer. Moreover, the catalytic efficiency k
cat/K
m of S4-3 was comparable to the parent. Stabilizing mutations probably increased thermostability by increasing the hydrophilicity and polarity of the protein surface and creating hydrophobic contacts inside the protein.

Conclusions

P. pastoris was shown to be a valuable cell factory to improve thermostability of enzymes by directed evolution and it also could be used for improving other properties of enzymes. In this study, by using P. pastoris as a host to build mutant pool, we succeeded in obtaining a thermostable variant S4-3 without compromising enzyme activity and making it a highly promising candidate for future applications at high temperatures.
The effects of four hypocaloric diets containing different levels of sucrose or high fructose corn syrup on weight loss and related parameters
Authors: Lowndes Joshua , Kawiecki Diana , Pardo Sabrina , Nguyen Von , Melanson Kathleen J , Yu Zhiping , Rippe James M 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
The replacement of sucrose with HFCS in food products has been suggested as playing a role in the development of obesity as a public health issue. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of four equally hypocaloric diets containing different levels of sucrose or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Methods
This was a randomized, prospective, double blind trial, with overweight/obese participants measured for body composition and blood chemistry before and after the completion of 12 weeks following a hypocaloric diet. The average caloric deficit achieved on the hypocaloric diets was 309 kcal.

Results
Reductions were observed in all measures of adiposity including body mass, BMI,% body fat, waist circumference and fat mass for all four hypocaloric groups, as well as reductions in the exercise only group for body mass, BMI and waist circumference.

Conclusions
Similar decreases in weight and indices of adiposity are observed when overweight or obese individuals are fed hypocaloric diets containing levels of sucrose or high fructose corn syrup typically consumed by adults in the United States.
MicroRNA-98 and microRNA-214 post-transcriptionally regulate enhancer of zeste homolog 2 and inhibit migration and invasion in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Huang Sheng-Dong , Yuan Yang , Zhuang Chong-Wen , Li Bai-Ling , Gong De-Jun , Wang Shu-Gang , Zeng Zhi-Yong , Cheng He-Zhong 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
The enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) was found to be overexpressed and associated with tumor metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). On the other hand, it was reported that miR-26a, miR-98, miR-101, miR-124, miR-138 and miR-214 could inhibit the expression of EZH2 in some tumors. However, the role of miRNAs in the regulation of EZH2 expression in human ESCC has not been documented. The aim of this study was to determine the role of these miRNAs in the regulation of tumor metastasis via EZH2 overexpression in human ESCC.

Methods and results
The expression of these miRNAs and EZH2 mRNA were examined by qPCR and the expression of EZH2 protein was detected by western blot. The role of these miRNAs in migration and invasion was studied in ESCC cell line (Eca109) transfected with miRNA mimics or cotransfected with miRNA mimics and pcDNA-EZH2 plasmid (without the 3’-UTR of EZH2). Through clinical investigation, we found that miR-98 and miR-214 expression was significantly lower in ESCC tissues than in matched normal tissues, and the expression level of miR-98 and miR-214 was inversely correlated to EZH2 protein expression and the clinical features such as pathological grade, tumor stage and lymph node metastasis in ESCC. In Eca109 cells, overexpression of miR-98 and miR-214 significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of ESCC cells, which was reversed by transfection of EZH2.

Conclusions
These findings suggest that decreased expression of miR-98 and miR-214 might promote metastasis of human ESCC by inducing accumulation of EZH2 protein.
Reducing harm from HIV/AIDS misconceptions among female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: A cross sectional analysis
Authors: Robertson Angela M , Ojeda Victoria D , Nguyen Lucie , Lozada Remedios , Martínez Gustavo A , Strathdee Steffanie A , Patterson Thomas L 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
HIV prevalence is increasing among female sex workers (FSWs) in Mexico’s Northern border region, who experience multiple occupational risks. Improving vulnerable populations’ education, empowerment, and access to preventive services are important components of harm reduction strategies. Given the increasing interest in adapting harm reduction principles from drug use to sex work and other public health responses to the HIV epidemic, we used a sex work harm reduction framework to guide our investigation of FSWs’ HIV knowledge.

Methods
From 2004–2006, FSWs aged ≥18 years in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez participated in a behavioral intervention study and completed structured interviews. Measures included HIV knowledge assessment and factors within each domain of our theoretical framework for sex work harms: (1) socio-demographic factors that may lead to sex work, (2) sex work characteristics and behaviors that may lead to harm, and (3) mutually reinforcing harms that lead to sex work and result from it (e.g., drug abuse). Negative binomial regression identified factors independently associated with suboptimal HIV knowledge (i.e., incorrect responses during the HIV knowledge assessment).

Results
Among 924 FSWs, the median proportion of incorrect responses was nearly one third (28% incorrect). Examination of item responses revealed misconceptions regarding specific transmission and prevention mechanisms, including prevention of mother to child transmission. Suboptimal HIV knowledge was independently associated with older age, lower education, living in Tijuana (vs. Ciudad Juarez), inconsistent condom use for vaginal sex with male clients, and lacking prior HIV testing.

Conclusions
Our application of a sex work harm reduction framework to the study of FSWs’ HIV knowledge is an important first step in enhancing HIV prevention efforts in Northern Mexican border cities. Our findings imply that interventions should identify and discredit local HIV misconceptions to improve knowledge of specific HIV transmission routes and self-protective strategies (e.g., condom negotiation). Interventions will require materials appropriate for women from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and may benefit from innovative harm reduction approaches such as peer education and outreach.
A cross sectional assessment of health related quality of life among patients with Hepatitis-B in Pakistan
Authors: ul Haq Noman , Hassali Mohamed Azmi , Shafie Asrul A , Saleem Fahad , Aljadhey Hisham 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Objective
The study aims to assess Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among Hepatitis B (HB) patients and to identify significant predictors of the HRQoL in HB patients of Quetta, Pakistan.

Methods
A cross sectional study by adopting European Quality of Life scale (EQ-5D) for the assessment of HRQoL was conducted. All registered HB patients attending two public hospitals in Quetta, Pakistan were approached for study. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic and disease related characteristics of the patients. HRQoL was scored using values adapted from the United Kingdom general population survey. EQ-5D scale scores were compared with Mann–Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test. Standard multiple regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of HRQoL. All analyses were performed using SPSS v 16.0.

Results
Three hundred and ninety HB patients were enrolled in the study. Majority of the participants (n = 126, 32.3%) were categorized in the age group of 18-27 years (36.07 ± 9.23). HRQoL was measured as poor in the current study patients (0.3498 ± 0.31785). The multivariate analysis revealed a significant model (F10, 380 = 40.04, P < 0.001, adjusted r2 = 0.401). Educational level (β = 0.399, p = 0.025) emerged as a positive predictor of HRQoL. Age, gender, occupation, income and locality were not predictive of better quality of life in HB patients.

Conclusions
Hepatitis B has an adverse affect on patients’ well-being and over all HRQoL. The study findings implicate the need of health promotion among HB patients. Improving the educational status and imparting disease related information for the local population can results in better control and management of HB.
The tumor suppressor gene RBM5 inhibits lung adenocarcinoma cell growth and induces apoptosis
Authors: Shao Chen , Zhao Lijing , Wang Ke , Xu Wei , Zhang Jie , Yang Baoxue 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
The loss of tumor suppressor gene (TSG) function is a critical step in the pathogenesis of human lung cancer. RBM5 (RNA-binding motif protein 5, also named H37/LUCA-15) gene from chromosome 3p21.3 demonstrated tumor suppressor activity. However, the role of RBM5 played in the occurrence and development of lung cancer is still not well understood.

Method
Paired non-tumor and tumor tissues were obtained from 30 adenocarcinomas. The expression of RBM5 mRNA and protein was examined by RT-PCR and Western blot. A549 cell line was used to determine the apoptotic function of RBM5 in vitro. A549 cells were transiently transfected with pcDNA3.1-RBM5. AnnexinV analysis was performed by flow cytometry. Expression of Bcl-2, cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and PAPP proteins in A549 lung cancer cells and the A549 xenograft BALB/c nude mice model was determined by Western blot. Tumor suppressor activity of RBM5 was also examined in the A549 xenograft model treated with pcDNA3.1-RBM5 plasmid carried by attenuated Salmonella typhi Ty21a.

Result
The expression of RBM5 mRNA and protein was decreased significantly in adenocarcinoma tissues compared to that in the non-tumor tissues. In addition, as compared to the vector control, a significant growth inhibition of A549 lung cancer cells was observed when transfected with pcDNA3.1-RBM5 as determined by cell proliferation assay. We also found that overexpression of RBM5 induced both early and late apoptosis in A549 cells using AnnexinV/PI staining as determined by flow cytometry. Furthermore, the expression of Bcl-2 protein was decreased, whereas the expression of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and PARP proteins was significantly increased in the RBM5 transfected cells; similarly, expression of decreased Bcl-2 and increased cleaved caspase-3 proteins was also examined in the A549 xenograft model. More importantly, we showed that accumulative and stable overexpression of RBM5 in the A549 xenograft BALB/c nude mice model significantly inhibited the tumor growth rate in vivo as compared to that in the control.

Conclusion
Our study demonstrates that RBM5 can inhibit the growth of lung cancer cells and induce apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo, which suggests that RBM5 might be used as a potential biomarker or target for lung cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy. Moreover, we propose a novel animal model set up in BALB/c nude mice treated with attenuated Salmonella as a vector carrying plasmids to determine RBM5 function in vivo.
Shape of snack foods does not predict snack intake in a sample of preschoolers: a cross-over study
Authors: Boyer Lauren E , Laurentz Sara , McCabe George P , Kranz Sibylle 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
In the past decade, the proportion snacking has increased. Snack foods consumed are predominantly not nutritious foods. One potential venue to increase children’s diet quality is to offer healthy snack foods and we explored if shaped snack foods would lead to increased consumption.

Methods
We investigated the consumption of high-fiber snacks (banana bread, pancakes, and sandwiches) served either in normal (round, square) or shaped (heart, hands, animals) form to preschoolers 2–5 years old attending a local child care center (n = 21). The 9 weeks long, prospective, cross-over intervention study was designed to expose each child repeatedly to each snack in each shape (4 times per snack). Snacks were served as morning or afternoon snack and caretakers’ reports were used to account for the child’s consumption of a meal preceding the study snack (breakfast or lunch).

Results
There was no significant difference in snack consumption between the shaped and normal snacks. However, the mean energy intake from snacks was significantly greater for Caucasian children compared with Asian children. Further, Asian children consumed much less banana bread than the other two snacks. Overall, children who had not eaten breakfast or lunch prior to the morning or afternoon snack ate significantly more calories from the snacks (84.1 kcal, p-value < 0.0001).

Conclusion
Findings of this study confirm previous research that the shape of the foods does not affect snack consumption in children. However, we also report two unexpected findings: a) the strong interaction between ethnicity and snack consumption and b) that Asian children consumed much less banana bread than Caucasian children. The role of children’s ethnic background profoundly affects snack preference and must be considered in the study of children’s eating behaviors and in interventions to promote healthy eating habits.
Providing perfect forward secrecy for location-aware wireless sensor networks
Authors: Chen Chi-Tung , Huang Shu-Yan , Lin Iuon-Chang 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
Sensor nodes are resource-constrained, such as low battery life, computation, bandwidth and memory, so traditional public key schemes are impractical in wireless sensor networks. In the previous schemes, symmetric cryptography is the most common method used in sensor nodes. How to distribute keys into every sensor node is an important issue in many applications for hierarchical sensor networks. Once adversaries compromise a sensor node, they can obtain all information from the sensor’s memory, such as keying material. The revocation of compromised sensor nodes is also a necessary but troublesome operation. These compromised sensor nodes may lead to the compromise of the entire network. In this article, we present an efficient approach to establish security links between each sensor node/cluster head and its neighbor/member. Our scheme only requires small memory size for each cluster head and sensor node, and it can also ensure perfect forward secrecy via changing session key in every transmission.
The random access NUM with multiclass traffic
Authors: Vo Phuong L , Lee Sungwon , Hong Choong Seon 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
In this article, we consider the network utility maximization (NUM) problem for the random access network with multiclass traffic. The utilities associated with the users are not only concave, but also nonconcave functions. Consequently, the random access NUM problem becomes more difficult to solve. Based on the successive approximation method, we propose an algorithm that jointly controls the rate and the persistent probability of the users. The proposed algorithm converges to a suboptimal solution to the original problem which also satisfies the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions. We also generalize the framework so that a broader choice of utility functions can be applied.
Power spectrum optimization for interference mitigation via iterative function evaluation
Authors: Dahrouj Hayssam , Yu Wei , Tang Taiwen 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
Power spectrum optimization is a well-known difficult nonconvex optimization problem for which only local optimality can typically be assured. This paper unifies several classes of local optimization methods and proposes efficient and new methods for power spectrum optimization by observing that methods for reaching the local optimal points can often be expressed in the form of an iterative function evaluation. This proposed new approach is based on the fact that the gradient of the objective function is zero at a local optimum, and that different manipulations of the optimality condition can then lead to different power update equations. As a practical application, this paper examines the benefit of dynamic power spectrum optimization for interference mitigation in a wireless backhaul network in which remote radio units are deployed to serve mobile users in areas with high data traffic demand. The remote radio units, called remote terminals (RT), are connected to access nodes (AN) via orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) over a fixed bandwidth with one RT active in each frequency tone. The system performance is thus limited by internode interference solely, and no intranode interference. This paper shows that iterative function evaluation based methods provide a significant improvement in the overall network throughput in this setting as compared to a conventional network with fixed transmit power spectrum. The proposed methods have computationally fast convergence and can be implemented in a distributed fashion assuming reasonable amount of internode information exchange. Further, some of the proposed methods can be implemented asynchronously at each AN, which makes them amenable to practical utilization.
Existence and uniqueness of solution for a class of nonlinear fractional differential equations
Authors: Ma Shichang , Xu Yufeng , Yue Wei 
Published: August 2012

AbstractIn this paper, we present some new existence and uniqueness results for nonlinear fractional differential equations with a kind of general irregular boundary condition in Banach space by using a fixed-point theorem and contraction mapping principle. Moreover, the boundary condition is extended, therefore, some conclusions from other references are special cases of our results.MSC:26A33, 34A08.