| 31. |
- Dahal, Prabin, et al.
(author)
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Temporal distribution of Plasmodium falciparum recrudescence following artemisinin-based combination therapy : an individual participant data meta-analysis
- 2022
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In: Malaria Journal. - : Springer Nature. - 1475-2875. ; 21
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The duration of trial follow-up affects the ability to detect recrudescent infections following anti-malarial treatment. The aim of this study was to explore the proportions of recrudescent parasitaemia as ascribed by genotyping captured at various follow-up time-points in treatment efficacy trials for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.Methods: Individual patient data from 83 anti-malarial efficacy studies collated in the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) repository with at least 28 days follow-up were available. The temporal and cumulative distributions of recrudescence were characterized using a Cox regression model with shared frailty on study-sites. Fractional polynomials were used to capture non-linear instantaneous hazard. The area under the density curve (AUC) of the constructed distribution was used to estimate the optimal follow-up period for capturing a P. falciparum malaria recrudescence. Simulation studies were conducted based on the constructed distributions to quantify the absolute overestimation in efficacy due to sub-optimal follow-up.Results: Overall, 3703 recurrent infections were detected in 60 studies conducted in Africa (15,512 children aged < 5 years) and 23 studies conducted in Asia and South America (5272 patients of all ages). Using molecular genotyping, 519 (14.0%) recurrences were ascribed as recrudescent infections. A 28 day artemether-lumefantrine (AL) efficacy trial would not have detected 58% [95% confidence interval (CI) 47-74%] of recrudescences in African children and 32% [95% CI 15-45%] in patients of all ages in Asia/South America. The corresponding estimate following a 42 day dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) efficacy trial in Africa was 47% [95% CI 19-90%] in children under 5 years old treated with > 48 mg/kg total piperaquine (PIP) dose and 9% [95% CI 0-22%] in those treated with <= 48 mg/kg PIP dose. In absolute terms, the simulation study found that trials limited to 28 days follow-up following AL underestimated the risk of recrudescence by a median of 2.8 percentage points compared to day 63 estimates and those limited to 42 days following DP underestimated the risk of recrudescence by a median of 2.0 percentage points compared to day 42 estimates. The analysis was limited by few clinical trials following patients for longer than 42 days (9 out of 83 trials) and the imprecision of PCR genotyping which overcalls recrudescence in areas of higher transmission biasing the later distribution.Conclusions: Restricting follow-up of clinical efficacy trials to day 28 for AL and day 42 for DP will miss a proportion of late recrudescent treatment failures but will have a modest impact in derived efficacy. The results highlight that as genotyping methods improve consideration should be given for trials with longer duration of follow-up to detect early indications of emerging drug resistance.
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| 32. |
- Elsik, Christine G., et al.
(author)
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The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle : A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution
- 2009
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 324:5926, s. 522-528
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.
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| 33. |
- Gao, Tao, et al.
(author)
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Pdx1 Maintains beta Cell Identity and Function by Repressing an alpha Cell Program
- 2014
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In: Cell Metabolism. - : Elsevier BV. - 1550-4131 .- 1932-7420. ; 19:2, s. 259-271
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pdx1 is a homeobox-containing transcription factor that plays a key role in pancreatic development and adult beta cell function. In this study, we traced the fate of adult beta cells after Pdx1 deletion. As expected, beta-cell-specific removal of Pdx1 resulted in severe hyperglycemia within days. Surprisingly, a large fraction of Pdx1-deleted cells rapidly acquired ultrastructural and physiological features of a cells, indicating that a robust cellular reprogramming had occurred. Reprogrammed cells exhibited a global transcriptional shift that included derepression of the alpha cell transcription factor MafB, resulting in a transcriptional profile that closely resembled that of alpha cells. These findings indicate that Pdx1 acts as a master regulator of beta cell fate by simultaneously activating genes essential for beta cell identity and repressing those associated with alpha cell identity. We discuss the significance of these findings in the context of the emerging notion that loss of beta cell identity contributes to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Hedman, Linnea, et al.
(author)
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Receiving support to quit smoking and quit attempts among smokers with and without smoking related diseases : Findings from the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys
- 2018
-
In: Tobacco Induced Diseases. - Heraklion : European Publishing. - 1617-9625. ; 16
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION Having a chronic disease either caused or worsened by tobacco smoking does not always translate into quitting smoking. Although smoking cessation is one of the most cost-effective medical interventions, it remains poorly implemented in healthcare settings. The aim was to examine whether smokers with chronic and respiratory diseases were more likely to receive support to quit smoking by a healthcare provider or make a quit attempt than smokers without these diseases.METHODS This population-based study included a sample of 6011 adult smokers in six European countries. The participants were interviewed face-to-face and asked questions on sociodemographic characteristics, current diagnoses for chronic diseases, healthcare visits in the last 12 months and, if so, whether they had received any support to quit smoking. Questions on smoking behavior included nicotine dependence, motivation to quit smoking and quit attempts in the last 12 months. The results are presented as weighted percentages with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and as adjusted odds ratios with 95% CI based on logistic regression analyses.RESULTS Smokers with chronic respiratory disease, those aged 55 years and older, as well as those with one or more chronic diseases were more likely to receive smoking cessation advice from a healthcare professional. Making a quit attempt in the last year was related to younger age, high educational level, higher motivation to quit, lower nicotine dependence and having received advice to quit from a healthcare professional but not with having chronic diseases. There were significant differences between countries with smokers in Romania consistently reporting more support to quit as well as quit attempts.CONCLUSIONS Although smokers with respiratory disease did indeed receive smoking cessation support more often than smokers without disease, many smokers did not receive any advice or support to quit during a healthcare visit.
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| 36. |
- Inyang, Alero, et al.
(author)
-
Primary Pseudomyogenic Hemangioendothelioma of Bone.
- 2016
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In: American Journal of Surgical Pathology. - 1532-0979. ; 40:5, s. 587-598
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pseudomyogenic hemangioendothelioma (PMH) is a well-recognized neoplasm that usually arises in the soft tissue; concurrent bone involvement occurs in 24% of cases. PMH of bone without soft tissue involvement is rare. We describe the clinicopathologic findings of 10 such cases, the largest series reported to date. The study included 9 male and 1 female patient; their ages ranged from 12 to 74 years (mean 36.7 y). All patients had multiple tumors with a distinct regional distribution: 45% restricted to the lower extremity; 25% to the spine and pelvis; and 15% to the upper extremity. On imaging studies the tumors were well circumscribed and lytic. The neoplasms were composed of spindled cells arranged in intersecting fascicles with scattered epithelioid cells; epithelioid cells predominated in 3 cases. The neoplastic cells contained abundant densely eosinophilic cytoplasm and vesicular nuclei. There was limited cytologic atypia and necrosis, few mitoses (0 to 2/10 high-power fields), and inconspicuous stroma. Unique findings included abundant intratumoral reactive woven bone and hemorrhage with numerous osteoclast-like giant cells. Immunohistochemically, most tumors were positive for keratin, ERG, and CD31; CD34 was negative. The balanced t(7:19)(q22;13) translocation was documented in 3 cases. Follow-up is limited, but no patient developed documented visceral dissemination, and all have stable or progressive osseous disease. PMH exclusively involving bone is rare. It is multicentric, often involves the lower extremity, and has unusual morphology. The differential diagnosis includes epithelioid vascular neoplasms, giant cell tumor, bone forming neoplasms, and metastatic carcinoma. Because of its rarity, unusual presentation, and morphology, accurate diagnosis can be challenging.
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| 37. |
- Kõljalg, Urmas, et al.
(author)
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Towards a unified paradigm for sequence-based identification of fungi.
- 2013
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In: Molecular ecology. - : Wiley. - 1365-294X .- 0962-1083. ; 22:21, s. 5271-7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region is the formal fungal barcode and in most cases the marker of choice for the exploration of fungal diversity in environmental samples. Two problems are particularly acute in the pursuit of satisfactory taxonomic assignment of newly generated ITS sequences: (i) the lack of an inclusive, reliable public reference data set and (ii) the lack of means to refer to fungal species, for which no Latin name is available in a standardized stable way. Here, we report on progress in these regards through further development of the UNITE database (http://unite.ut.ee) for molecular identification of fungi. All fungal species represented by at least two ITS sequences in the international nucleotide sequence databases are now given a unique, stable name of the accession number type (e.g. Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus|GU586904|SH133781.05FU), and their taxonomic and ecological annotations were corrected as far as possible through a distributed, third-party annotation effort. We introduce the term 'species hypothesis' (SH) for the taxa discovered in clustering on different similarity thresholds (97-99%). An automatically or manually designated sequence is chosen to represent each such SH. These reference sequences are released (http://unite.ut.ee/repository.php) for use by the scientific community in, for example, local sequence similarity searches and in the QIIME pipeline. The system and the data will be updated automatically as the number of public fungal ITS sequences grows. We invite everybody in the position to improve the annotation or metadata associated with their particular fungal lineages of expertise to do so through the new Web-based sequence management system in UNITE.
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| 38. |
- McCauley, Brian, et al.
(author)
-
Digital gaming culture in Vietnam : an exploratory study
- 2020
-
In: Leisure Studies. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0261-4367 .- 1466-4496. ; 39:3, s. 372-386
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- New information and communication technologies continue to spread rapidly into the Asian marketplace, which has led to new patterns of leisure consumption, one of the most popular being digital gaming. However, in Vietnam there is limited research on gaming as a leisure activity. The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of digital gaming in Vietnam to better understand how it is practiced in this culture. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-five gaming industry figures and gamers. Thematic analysis was used to guide data collection and analysis. The findings indicate that glocalisation, socialised gaming practices and competitiveness characterise the Vietnamese gaming experience. The distinct culture of Vietnam combined with globalised gaming consumption habits has created new modes of play culture, and hence leisure experiences that are growing in pervasive and influential ways.
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| 39. |
- McCauley, Brian, et al.
(author)
-
Understanding the motivations of Vietnamese millennial mobile gamers : A pilot study
- 2016
-
In: Handbook on Emerging Trends in Business, Economics and Management. - Punjab, Pakistan : Academic Research Publishing Group. - 9789697678006 ; , s. 1-8
-
Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper uses the results of a short online survey and several qualitative interviews to investigate the motivations for mobile gaming among Millenials in Vietnam. The findings of the study revealed some key aspects of mobile gaming in Vietnam that may be unique to the cultural context. As a result, this study offers insights that can provide a basis for future investigations into a large and growing population that has received little attention in the literature to date. Findings and implications are discussed and situated within important contexts such as gamification and education.
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| 40. |
- McCauley, Brian, et al.
(author)
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Vietnam Run : An alternative approach to mobile learning
- 2017
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In: Proceedings of the Informing Science and Information Technology Education Conference. - Santa Rosa, CA : Informing Science Institute. ; , s. 159-169
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim/Purpose: How to spread an anti-littering message amongst Vietnamese youth. Background: We outline the design of a mobile game aimed at educating the target audience on the value of not littering. Methodology: We use key theory from the literature to inform the design of the game. Contribution: This paper outlines an approach to education that could provide value in re-conceptualizing mobile learning in future. A unique mobile game, Vietnam Run, was designed and developed for the Vietnamese audience, and its game design considerations outlined. There is a lack of studies conducted in the area of mobile serious games within the context of Vietnam. This paper addresses the existing gap in the present literature from that perspective. The game design considerations outlined in this paper could be adapted and applied to the future development of similar mobile serious games in Vietnam. Findings: Localization as a starting point increases value when a key problem and target audience has been identified. Social cognitive theory and elaboration likelihood model forms the overarching theory that defines game design to sustain player interest and engagement. Recommendations for Practitioners: Academic theory can provide a conceptual starting point for designing educational tools. Recommendation for Researchers: Application of theory in real world applications lends credence and delivers measurable impact in order to demonstrate value of previous work. Impact on Society: It is anticipated that Vietnam Run will have value in spreading positive anti-littering message within Vietnam and provide a starting point for future projects that can expand the aims of this project further. Future Research: The future success of the game will be analyzed through media reach, game downloads and in-game analytics in order to provide a strong conceptual basis for future work in this area.
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