bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Porcine Small Intestinal Submucosa Mesh to Treat Inguinal Hernia in Young Adults Using Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair: A Retrospective Controlled Study
Authors: Liu Yuchen , Cao Zhen , Yang Huiqi , Shen Yingmo , Chen Jie
Published: May 2020

Background:

The authors evaluated the effects and clinical value of small intestinal submucosa (SIS) mesh to treat inguinal hernia in young adults by the laparoscopic method.

Methods:

The clinical data of 357 cases with inguinal hernia using SIS mesh in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively from June 2014 to June 2018. All cases were divided into 2 groups according to the surgical method. Operation time, hospital stay, cost, postoperative complications, and complications during follow-up were analyzed.

Results:

Of the 357 patients, 202 (56.6%) underwent Lichtenstein repair and 155 (43.4%) underwent transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) repair. Operation time and hospital costs of the Lichtenstein group were significantly lower compared with the TAPP group (P<0.05). The incidence of seroma in the Lichtenstein group was lower than that in the TAPP group at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively with significant differences (P<0.05). Perioperative pain scores in the Lichtenstein group were higher than the TAPP group (P<0.05). No statistical difference was observed for hospital stay between 2 groups (P>0.05). In the Lichtenstein group, 1 case recurred during the follow-up period (0.5%). No intestinal obstruction or intestinal fistula occurred in any patient during the follow-up period.

Conclusion:

The effect of SIS mesh was positive whether the patient underwent a Lichtenstein or TAPP method. Seroma was more common in the TAPP method that may cause lower postoperative pain. Therefore, we recommend individualized treatment.
Nationwide analysis of cryopreserved packed red blood cell transfusion in civilian trauma
Authors: Hanna Kamil , Chehab Mohamad , Bible Letitia , Castanon Lourdes , Douglas Molly , Asmar Samer , Ditillo Michael , Tang Andrew , Joseph Bellal
Published: May 2020

BACKGROUND

Liquid packed red blood cells (LPRBCs) have a limited shelf life and worsening quality with age. Cryopreserved packed red blood cells (CPRBCs) can be stored up to 10 years with no quality deterioration. The effect of CPRBCs on outcomes in civilian trauma is less explored. This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CPRBCs in civilian trauma patients.

METHODS

We analyzed the (2015–2016) Trauma Quality Improvement Program, including adult (age, ≥18 years) patients who received a RBC transfusion within 4 hours of admission. Patients were stratified, those who received LPRBC and those who received CPRBC. Primary outcomes were 24-hour and in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were major complications. Propensity matching was performed adjusting for demographics, vitals, blood components, injury parameters, comorbidities, and center parameters.

RESULTS

A total of 39,975 patients were identified, and a matched cohort of 483 was obtained. A total of 161 received CPRBC (CPRBC, 2 [2–4]; plasma, 2 [0–5]; platelets, 1 [0–2]) and 322 received LPRBC (LPRBC, 3 [2–6]; plasma, 3 [0–6]; platelets, 1 [0–2]). The mean age was 43 ± 22 years, 62% were men, Injury Severity Score was 18 (12–27), and 65% had a blunt injury. Patients who received CPRBC had similar 24-hour mortality (1.8% vs. 2.3%;p= 0.82) and in-hospital mortality (4.9% vs. 5.2%;p= 0.88). No difference was found in terms of complications (15.3% vs. 17.2%;p= 0.21) between the two groups.

CONCLUSION

Transfusion of CPRBCs may be as safe and effective as transfusion of LPRBCs in moderately injured trauma patients. Cryopreservation has the potential to expand our transfusion armamentarium in diverse settings, such as periods of increased usage, disaster scenarios, and rural areas.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic study, level III.
Comparison of 10- versus 14-gauge angiocatheter for treatment of tension pneumothorax and tension-induced pulseless electrical activity with hemorrhagic shock: Bigger is still better
Authors: Norris Emily A. , McEvoy Christian S. , Leatherman Matthew L. , Boboc Michael R. , Fitch Jamie L. , Jensen Shane D. , Polk Travis M.
Published: May 2020

BACKGROUND

Little is known regarding the effect of hemorrhagic shock on the diagnosis and treatment of tension pneumothorax (tPTX). Recently, the Tactical Combat Casualty Care guidelines included the 10-gauge angiocatheter (10-g AC) as an acceptable alternative to the 14-g AC. This study sought to compare these two devices for decompression of tPTX and rescue from tension-induced pulseless electric activity (tPEA) in the setting of a concomitant 30% estimated blood volume hemorrhage.

METHODS

Following a controlled hemorrhage, carbon dioxide was insufflated into the chest to induce either tPTX or tPEA. Tension pneumothorax was defined as a reduction in cardiac output by 50%, and tPEA was defined as a loss of arterial waveform with mean arterial pressure less than 20 mm Hg. The affected hemithorax was decompressed using a randomized 14-g AC or 10-g AC while a persistent air leak was maintained after decompression. Successful rescue from tPTX was defined as 80% recovery of baseline systolic blood pressure, while successful return of spontaneous circulation following tPEA was defined as a mean arterial pressure greater than 20 mm Hg. Primary outcome was success of device.

RESULTS

Eighty tPTX and 50 tPEA events were conducted in 38 adult Yorkshire swine. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between animals or devices. In the tPTX model, the 10-g AC successfully rescued 90% of events, while 14-g AC rescued 80% of events (p = 0.350). In the tPEA model, the 10-g AC rescued 87% of events while the 14 AC rescued only 48% of events (p = 0.006).

CONCLUSION

The 10-g AC was vastly superior to the 14-g AC for return of spontaneous circulation following tPEA in the setting of 30% hemorrhage. These findings further support the importance of larger caliber devices that facilitate rapid recovery from tPTX, particularly in the setting of polytrauma.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic, level II.
Vascular Dementia, Depression, and Financial Capacity Assessment
Authors: Giannouli Vaitsa , Tsolaki Magda
Published: May 2020

We still know little about financial capacity, which consists of multiple cognitive domains as well as specific skills, and the influence of depression in patients with vascular dementia (VaD). Participants were divided into 4 groups: (1) VaD with and (2) without depressive symptoms, (3) nondemented elders with and (4) without depression. The participants were examined with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and the Legal Capacity for Property Law Transactions Assessment Scale (LCPLTAS). The findings extend earlier work in other groups of older patients and indicate that VaD patients’ performance in cognitive functioning and financial capacity is severely impaired, while there is a statistically significant difference between depressed and nondepressed VaD patients. Thus, depression negatively influences financial capacity. Depression and mood disorders should be considered in future capacity research with older adults and with larger VaD populations.
Preliminary evidence from a multicenter prospective observational study of the safety and efficacy of chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19
Authors: Huang Mingxing , Li Man , Xiao Fei , Liang Jiabi , Pang Pengfei , Tang Tiantian , Liu Shaoxuan , Chen Binghui , Shu Jingxian , You Yingying , Li Yang , Tang Meiwen , Zhou Jianhui , Jiang Guanmin , Xiang Jingfen , Hong Wenxin , He Songmei , Wang Zhaoqin , Feng Jianhua , Lin Changqing , Ye Yinong , Wu Zhilong , Li Yaocai , Zhong Bei , Sun Ruilin , Hong Zhongsi , Liu Jing , Chen Huili , Wang Xiaohua , Li Zhonghe , Pei Duanqing , Tian Lin , Xia Jinyu , Jiang Shanping , Zhong Nanshan , Shan Hong
Published: May 2020

Background

Effective therapies are urgently needed for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Chloroquine has been proved to have antiviral effect against coronavirus in vitro. In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of chloroquine with different doses in COVID-19.

Method

In this multicenter prospective observational study, we enrolled patients older than 18 years old with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection excluding critical cases from 12 hospitals in Guangdong and Hubei Provinces. Eligible patients received chloroquine phosphate 500mg, orally, once (half dose) or twice (full dose) daily. Patients treated with non-chloroquine therapy were included as historical controls. The primary endpoint is the time to undetectable viral RNA. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of patients with undetectable viral RNA by day 10 and 14, hospitalization time, duration of fever, and adverse events.

Results

A total of 197 patients completed chloroquine treatment, and 176 patients were included as historical controls. The median time to achieve an undetectable viral RNA was shorter in chloroquine than in non-chloroquine (absolute difference in medians −6.0 days; 95% CI −6.0 to −4.0). The duration of fever is shorter in chloroquine (geometric mean ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.5 to 0.8). No serious adverse events were observed in the chloroquine group. Patients treated with half dose experienced lower rate of adverse events than with full dose.

Conclusions

Although randomised trials are needed for further evaluation, this study provides evidence for safety and efficacy of chloroquine in COVID-19 and suggests that chloroquine can be a cost-effective therapy for combating 102 the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full-spectrum dynamics of the coronavirus disease outbreak in Wuhan, China: a modeling study of 32,583 laboratory-confirmed cases
Authors: Hao Xingjie , Cheng Shanshan , Wu Degang , Wu Tangchun , Lin Xihong , Wang Chaolong
Published: May 2020

Vigorous non-pharmaceutical interventions have largely suppressed the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. We developed a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered model to study the transmission dynamics and evaluate the impact of interventions using 32,583 laboratory-confirmed cases from December 8, 2019 till March 8, 2020, accounting for time-varying ascertainment rates, transmission rates, and population movements. The effective reproductive number R0 dropped from 3.89 (95% credible interval: 3.79-4.00) before intervention to 0.14 (0.11-0.28) after full-scale multi-8 pronged interventions. By projection, the interventions reduced the total infections in Wuhan by 96.5% till March 8. Furthermore, we estimated that 79% (lower bound: 60%) of the total infections were unascertained, potentially including asymptomatic and mild-symptomatic cases. The probability of resurgence was 0.22 and 0.10 based on models with 79% and 60% infections unascertained, respectively, assuming interventions were lifted after a 14-day period of no new ascertained infections. These results provide important implications for continuing surveillance and interventions to eventually contain the outbreak.
Do professional fights go too long?: A video review of concussions and their consequences in professional boxing and MMA matches
Authors: Bernick Charles , Hansen Tucker , Ng Winnie , Williams Vernon , Goodman Margaret , Nalepa Bryce , Shan Guogen , Seifert Tad
Published: May 2020

Objectives

Determine, through video reviews, how often concussions occur in combat sport matches, how well non-medical personnel can be trained to recognize concussions and how often fights are judged to continue too long.

Methods

This is a retrospective video analysis by an 8 person panel of 60 professional fights (30 boxing and 30 mixed martial arts). Through video review, medical and non-medical personnel recorded details about each probable concussion and determined if and when they would have stopped the fight compared to the official stoppage time.

Results

A concussion was recorded in 47/60 fights. The fighter that sustained the first concussion ultimately lost 98% of the time. The physician and non-physician raters had 86% agreement regarding the number of concussions that occurred to each fighter per match. The mean number of concussions per minute of fight time was 0.08 (0.06 for boxers and 0.10 for MMA). When stratifying by outcome of the bout, the mean number of concussion per minute for the winner was 0.01 compared to the loser at 0.15 concussions per minute. The physician raters judged that 24 of the 60 fights (11 boxing [37%]; 13 MMA [43 %]) should have been stopped sooner than what occurred.

Conclusion

Recognizing that the losing fighter almost always is concussed first and tends to sustain more concussions during the fight, along with the demonstration that non-physician personnel can be taught to recognize concussion, may guide policy changes that improve brain health in combat sports.
Structure of anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the Russian-speaking sample: results from on-line survey
Authors: Sorokin M.Yu. , Kasyanov E.D. , Rukavishnikov G.V. , Makarevich O.V. , Neznanov N.G. , Lutova N.B. , Mazo G.E.
Published: May 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed not only serious threats to the physical health of the population, but also provoked a wide range of psychological problems.

Objective

To identify the most vulnerable populations during the epidemic period (including individuals with affective disorders) who are most in need of psychological and / or psychiatric help.

Material and methods

On-line survey of 1957 Russian-speaking respondents over 18 years old from March 30 to April 5, 2020. The level of anxiety distress was verified with the psychological stress scale (PSM-25). Stigmatization of individuals experiencing respiratory symptoms was assessed with modified devaluation / discrimination questionnaire (PDD; Cronbach’s α = 0.707).

Results

99.8% of respondents had variable concerns associated with COVID-19. Their mean scores of psychological stress were increased to moderate levels (104.9 ± 34.4 points), and the stigmatization scores exceeded the value of the whole sample median (19.5 ± 3.4; Me = 19). 35% of respondents had concerns about COVID-19 associated with anxiety distress (Cohen’s d = 0.16–0.39): these were “risk of isolation” and “possible lack of medication for daily use”. The most prone to concerns were respondents’ groups with affective disorders, young people (≤20 years old), unemployed, single, those without higher education and women.

Conclusions

Large sub-cohorts of the Russian-speaking sample need correction of anxiety distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of such measures should be targeted and oriented in terms of coverage and content to identified vulnerable social groups.
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Human Breast Milk
Authors: Groß Rüdiger , Conzelmann Carina , Müller Janis A. , Stenger Steffen , Steinhart Karin , Kirchhoff Frank , Münch Jan
Published: May 2020

SARS-CoV-2 (CoV-2) is mainly transmitted in the human population during close contact and respiratory droplets. It is currently unclear, however, whether CoV-2 is shed into milk and may also be transmitted from infected mothers to newborns trough breast feeding. Two recent reviews on the topic (1,2) did not find evidence for CoV-2 in human milk. However, the number of breast milk samples analyzed so far is small and samples were taken only once from each mother (2).
Commercial stocks of SARS-CoV-2 RNA may report low concentration values, leading to artificially increased apparent sensitivity of diagnostic assays
Authors: Jue Erik , Ismagilov Rustem F.
Published: May 2020

In response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rapidly issued 49 emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for SARS-CoV-2 in vitro diagnostic test-kits. A critical metric in the performance evaluation for a diagnostic test kit is the analytical sensitivity, which is measured by the limit of detection (LOD). Commercial RNA stocks with known titers are used to determine LOD. We identified a problem with the titer reported for the commercial stocks when examining the analytical sensitivity of the reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) protocol that is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) using plasmid DNA from Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), synthetic RNA from BEI Resources (BEI), and extracted genomic RNA from BEI. We detected 3/3 positives for reactions containing synthetic RNA at a concentration of 0.1 copies/reaction (based on the supplier’s label concentration). The apparent better-than-single-molecule performance is a statistically highly unlikely event, indicating a potential inaccuracy in the supplier’s quantification of the stock material. Using an ultrasensitive and precise assay, reverse transcription digital PCR (RT-dPCR), we independently quantified concentrations of commercial SARS-CoV-2 plasmid DNA and SARS-CoV-2 RNA stocks. For plasmid DNA, the actual concentration measured by RT-dPCR was 11% of the nominal label concentration. For synthetic RNA, the actual concentration measured by RT-dPCR for one lot was 770% of the label concentration and for a different lot was 57% of the label concentration. For genomic RNA, the concentration measured by RT-dPCR for one lot was 240% of the label concentration and for a different lot it was 300% of the label concentration. This SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA from BEI Resources has been used in at least 11 approved FDA Emergency Use Authorizations as of April 27, 2020. Such deviations of reported RNA or DNA stock concentrations from true concentrations can result in inaccurate quantification and calculation of LOD. Precise and accurate reporting of DNA and RNA stock concentrations by commercial suppliers will enable accurate quantification of assay performance, which is urgently needed to improve evaluation of different assays by diagnostic developers and regulatory bodies.
Periodic COVID-19 Testing in Emergency Department Staff
Authors: Zhang Yuemei , Cheng Sheng-Ru
Published: May 2020

Background: As the number of COVID-19 cases in the US continues to rise and hospitals are experiencing personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, healthcare workers have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 infection. Since COVID-19 testing is now available, some have raised the question of whether we should be routinely testing asymptomatic healthcare workers.
Methods: Using publicly available data on COVID-19 infections and emergency department visits, as well as internal hospital staffing information, we generated a mathematical model to predict the impact of periodic COVID-19 testing in asymptomatic members of the emergency department staff in regions affected by COVID-19 infection. We calculated various transmission constants based on the Diamond Princess cruise ship data, used a logistic model to calculate new infections, and we created a Markov model according to average COVID-19 incubation time.
Results: Our model predicts that after 30 days, with a transmission constant of 1.219e-4 new infections per person2, weekly COVID-19 testing of healthcare workers (HCW) would reduce new HCW and patient infections by 5.1% and bi-weekly testing would reduce both by 2.3%. At a transmission constant of 3.660e-4 new infections per person,2 weekly testing would reduce infections by 21.1% and bi-weekly testing would reduce infections by 9.7-9.8%. For a lower transmission constant of 4.067e-5 new infections per person2, weekly and biweekly HCW testing would result in a 1.54% and 0.7% reduction in infections respectively.
Conclusion: Periodic COVID-19 testing for emergency department staff in regions that are heavily-affected by COVID-19 and/or facing resource constraints may reduce COVID-19 transmission significantly among healthcare workers and previously-uninfected patients.
Hippocampal Avoidance Whole-brain Radiotherapy in Preservation of Neurocognitive Function for Brain Metastases: A Phase II Blinded Randomized Trial
Authors: Yang Wen-Chi , Chen Ya-Fang , Yang Chi-Cheng , Wu Pei-Fang , Chan Hsing-Min , Chen Jenny Ling-Yu , Chen Guann-Yiing , Cheng Jason Chia-Hsien , Kuo Sung-Hsin , Hsu Feng-Ming
Published: May 2020

Background

Hippocampal avoidance whole-brain radiotherapy (HA-WBRT) shows potential for neurocognitive preservation. This study aimed to evaluate whether HA-WBRT or conformal WBRT is better for preserving neurocognitive function.

Methods

This single-blinded randomized phase II trial enrolled patients with brain metastases and randomly assigned to receive HA-WBRT or conformal WBRT. Primary end point is the decline of Hopkins Verbal Learning Test–Revised (HVLT-R) Delayed Recall at 4 months after treatment. Neurocognitive function tests were analyzed with a mixed effect model. Brain progression free survival (BPFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method.

Results

Patients were enrolled from March 2015 to December 2018 with a median follow-up of 12.4 months. A total of 70 patients were randomized. No differences in baseline neurocognitive function existed between the two arms. There were no differences in any neurocognitive assessments at four months. At six months, patients receiving HA-WBRT showed favorable perpetuation of HVLT-R total recall (mean difference = 2.60, p = 0.079) and significantly better preservation of the HVLT-R recognition-discrimination index (mean difference = 1.78, p = 0.019) and memory score (mean difference = 4.38, p = 0.020) compared with patients undergoing conformal WBRT. There were no differences in TMT part A, part B, or the COWA test between the two arms at any time point. There were no differences in BPFS or OS between arms as well.

Conclusions

Patients receiving HA-WBRT without Memantine showed better preservation in late verbal memory, but not in verbal fluency or executive function.
A cohort of patients with COVID-19 in a major teaching hospital in Europe
Authors: Borobia Alberto M. , Carcas Antonio J. , Arnalich Francisco , Álvarez-Sala Rodolfo , Montserrat Jaime , Quintana Manuel , Figueira Juan Carlos , Santos-Olmo Rosario M. Torres , García-Rodríguez Julio , Martín-Vega Alberto , Buño Antonio , Ramírez Elena , Martínez-Alés Gonzalo , Les Nicolás García-Arenzana , Núñez M. Concepción , Martí-de-Gracia Milagros , Ramos Francisco Moreno , Reinoso-Barbero Francisco , Martin-Quiros Alejandro , Núñez Angélica Rivera , Mingorance Jesús , Segura Carlos J Carpio , Arribas Daniel Prieto , Cuevas Esther Rey , Sánchez Concepción Prados , Rios Juan J. , Hernán Miguel A. , Frías Jesús , Arribas José R ,   for the COVID@HULP Working Group
Published: May 2020

BACKGROUND

Since the confirmation of the first patient infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Spain in January 2020, the epidemic has grown rapidly, with the greatest impact on the Madrid region. This article describes the first 2226 consecutive adult patients with COVID-19 admitted to the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid.

METHODS

Our cohort included all consecutively admitted patients who were hospitalized and who had a final outcome (death or discharge) in a 1286-bed hospital of Madrid (Spain) from February 25th (first case admitted) to April 19th, 2020. Data was entered manually into an electronic case report form, which was monitored prior to the analysis.

RESULTS

We consecutively included 2226 adult patients admitted to the hospital who either died (460) or were discharged (1766). The patients’ median age was 61 years; 51.8% were women. The most common comorbidity was arterial hypertension (41.3%). The most common symptom on admission were fever (71.2%). The median time from disease onset to hospital admission was 6 days. Overall mortality was 20.7% and was higher in men (26.6% vs 15.1%). Seventy-five patients with a final outcome were transferred to the ICU (3.4%). Most patients admitted to the ICU were men, and the median age was 64 years. Baseline laboratory values on admission were consistent with an impaired immune-inflammatory profile.

CONCLUSIONS

We provide a description of the first large cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Europe. Advanced age, male gender, the presence of comorbidities and abnormal laboratory values were more common among the patients with fatal outcomes.
Principal component analysis reveals multiple consistent responses to naturalistic stimuli in children and adults
Authors: Di Xin , Biswal Bharat B.
Published: May 2020

Functional MRI (fMRI) study of naturalistic conditions, e.g. movie watching, usually focuses on shared responses across subjects. However, individual differences have been attracting increasing attention in search of group differences or associations with behavioral outcomes. Individual differences are typically studied by directly modeling the pair-wise intersubject correlation matrix or projecting the relations onto a single dimension. We contend that it is critical to examine whether there are one or more consistent responses underlying the whole sample, because multiple components, if exist, may undermine the intersubject relations using the previous methods. We propose to use principal component analysis (PCA) to examine the heterogeneity of brain responses across subjects and project the individual variability into higher dimensions. By analyzing an fMRI dataset of children and adults watching a cartoon movie, we showed evidence of two consistent responses in the supramarginal gyrus and other regions. While the first components in many regions represented a response pattern mostly in older children and adults, the second components mainly represented the younger children. The second components in the supramarginal network resembled a delayed version of the first PCs for 4 seconds (2 TR), indicating slower responses in the younger children than the older children and adults. The analyses highlight the importance of identifying multiple consistent responses in responses to naturalistic stimuli. This PCA-based approach could be complementary to the commonly used intersubject correlation to analyze movie watching data.
Spatiotemporal single-cell RNA sequencing of developing hearts reveals interplay between cellular differentiation and morphogenesis
Authors: Mantri Madhav , Scuderi Gaetano J. , Nassab Roozbeh Abedini , Wang Michael F.Z. , McKellar David , Butcher Jonathan T. , De Vlaminck Iwijn
Published: May 2020

Single-cell RNA sequencing is a powerful tool to study developmental biology but does not preserve spatial information about cellular interactions and tissue morphology. Here, we combined single-cell and spatial transcriptomics with new algorithms for data integration to study the early development of the chicken heart. We collected data from four key ventricular development stages, ranging from the early chamber formation stage to the late four-chambered stage. We created an atlas of the diverse cellular lineages in developing hearts, their spatial organization, and their interactions during development. Spatial mapping of differentiation transitions revealed the intricate interplay between cellular differentiation and morphogenesis in cardiac cellular lineages. Using spatially resolved expression analysis, we identified anatomically restricted gene expression programs. Last, we discovered a stage-dependent role for the small secreted peptide, thymosin beta-4, in the coordination of multi-lineage cellular populations. Overall, our study identifies key stage-specific regulatory programs that govern cardiac development.
Crystallographic and cryogenic electron microscopic structures and enzymatic characterization of sulfur oxygenase reductase fromSulfurisphaera tokodaii
Authors: Sato Yuta , Yabuki Takashi , Adachi Naruhiko , Moriya Toshio , Arakawa Takatoshi , Kawasaki Masato , Yamada Chihaya , Senda Toshiya , Fushinobu Shinya , Wakagi Takayoshi
Published: May 2020

Sulfur oxygenase reductases (SORs) are present in thermophilic and mesophilic archaea and bacteria, and catalyze oxygen-dependent oxygenation and disproportionation of elemental sulfur. SOR has a hollow, spherical homo-24-mer structure and reactions take place at active sites inside the chamber. The crystal structures of SORs from twoAcidianusspecies have been reported. However, the states of the active site components (mononuclear iron and cysteines) and the entry and exit paths of the substrate and products are still in dispute. Here, we report the biochemical and structural characterizations of SORs from the thermoacidophilic archaeonSulfurisphaera tokodaii(StSOR) and present high-resolution structures determined by X-ray crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The crystal structure of StSOR was determined at 1.73 Å resolution. At the catalytic center, iron is ligated to His86, His90, Glu114, and two water molecules. Three conserved cysteines in the cavity are located 9.5∼13 Å from the iron and were observed as free thiol forms. A mutational analysis indicated that the iron and one of the cysteines (Cys31) were essential for both activities and the other two cysteines (Cys101 and Cys104) had a supportive role. The cryo-EM structure was determined at 2.24 Å resolution using an instrument operating at 200 kV. The two structures determined by different methodologies showed similar main chain traces, but the maps exhibited different features at catalytically important components. Given the high resolution achieved in this study, StSOR was shown to be a good benchmark sample for cryo-EM measurements.

Highlights

Sulfur oxygenase reductase (SOR) was biochemically and structurally characterized.

High resolution structures of SOR were determined by crystallography and cryo-EM.

Twenty-four identical subunits of SOR form a hollow sphere.

Catalytic components exhibited different features in the crystal and cryo-EM structures.
Large CRISPR-Cas-induced deletions in the oxamniquine resistance locus of the human parasiteSchistosoma mansoni
Authors: Sankaranarayanan Geetha , Coghlan Avril , Driguez Patrick , Lotkowska Magda E. , Sanders Mandy , Holroyd Nancy , Tracey Alan , Berriman Matthew , Rinaldi Gabriel
Published: May 2020

At least 250 million people worldwide suffer from schistosomiasis, caused bySchistosomaworms. Genome sequences for severalSchistosomaspecies are available, including a high-quality annotated reference forSchistosoma mansoni. There is a pressing need to develop a reliable functional toolkit to translate these data into new biological insights and targets for intervention. CRISPR-Cas9 was recently demonstrated for the first time inS. mansoni, to produce somatic mutations in theomega-1(ω1) gene. Here, we employed CRISPR-Cas9 to introduce somatic mutations in a second gene,SULT-OR, a sulfotransferase expressed in the parasitic stages ofS. mansoni, in which mutations confer resistance to the drug oxamniquine. A 262-bp PCR product spanning the region targeted by the gRNA againstSULT-ORwas amplified, and mutations identified in it by high-throughput sequencing. We found that 0.3-2.0% of aligned reads from CRISPR-Cas9-treated adult worms showed deletions spanning the predicted Cas9 cut site, compared to 0.1-0.2% for sporocysts, while deletions were extremely rare in eggs. The most common deletion observed in adults and sporocysts was a 34 bp-deletion directly upstream of the predicted cut site, but rarer deletions reaching as far as 102 bp upstream of the cut site were also detected. The CRISPR-Cas9-induced deletions, if homozygous, are predicted to cause resistance to oxamniquine by producing frameshifts, ablatingSULT-ORtranscription, or leading to mRNA degradationviathe nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway. However, noSULT-ORknock down at the mRNA level was observed, presumably because the cells in which CRISPR-Cas9 did induce mutations represented a small fraction of all cells expressingSULT-OR. Further optimisation of CRISPR-Cas protocols for different developmental stages and particular cell types, including germline cells, will contribute to the generation of a homozygous knock-out in any gene of interest, and in particular theSULT-ORgene to derive an oxamniquine-resistant stable transgenic line.
Heterologous expression and cell membrane localization of dinoflagellate rhodopsins in mammalian cells
Authors: Ma Minglei , Shi Xinguo , Lin Senjie
Published: May 2020

Rhodopsins are now found in all domains of life, and are classified into two large groups: type II, found in animals and type I found in microbes including Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. While type II rhodopsin functions in many photodependent signaling processes including vision, type I among others contains rhodopsins that function as a light-driven proton pump to convert light into ATP as in proteobacteria (named proteorhodopsin). Proteorhodopsin homologs have been documented in dinoflagellates, but their subcellular localizations and functions are still poorly understood. Even though sequence analyses suggest that it is a membrane protein, experimental evidence that dinoflagellate rhodopsins are localized on the plasma membrane or endomembranes is still lacking. As no robust dinoflagellate gene transformation tool is available, we used HEK 293T cells to construct a mammalian expression system for two dinoflagellate rhodopsin genes. The success of expressing these genes in the system shows that this mammalian cell type is suitable for expressing dinoflagellate genes. Immunofluorescence of the expressed protein locates these dinoflagellate rhodopsins on the cell membrane. This result indicates that the protein codons and membrane targeting signal of the dinoflagellate genes are compatible with the mammalian cells, and the proteins’ subcellular localization is consistent with proton pump rhodopsins.
Synchrotron multimodal imaging in a whole cell reveals lipid droplet core organization
Authors: Jamme Frédéric , Cinquin Bertrand , Gohon Yann , Pereiro Eva , Réfrégiers Matthieu , Froissard Marine
Published: May 2020

A lipid droplet (LD) core of a cell consists mainly of neutral lipids, triacylglycerols and/or steryl esters (SEs). The structuration of these lipids inside the core is still under debate. Lipid segregation inside LDs has been observed but is sometimes suggested to be an artefact of LD isolation and chemical fixation. LD imaging in their native state and in unaltered cellular environments appears essential to overcome these possible technical pitfalls. Here, imaging techniques for ultrastructural study of native LDs in cellulo are provided and it is shown that LDs are organized structures. Cryo soft X-ray tomography and deep-ultraviolet (DUV) transmittance imaging are showing a partitioning of SEs at the periphery of the LD core. Furthermore, DUV transmittance and tryptophan/tyrosine auto-fluorescence imaging on living cells are combined to obtain complementary information on cell chemical contents. This multimodal approach paves the way for a new label-free organelle imaging technique in living cells.
What you see depends on where you look: performance measurement of Australian accounting academics
Authors: Martin-Sardesai Ann , Guthrie James , Tucker Basil P.
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This paper explores the impact of contemporary calculative practices, termed “accountingisation”, on Australian accounting academics' values. Also, it seeks to understand the rationale underlying the development of various university performance measurement systems (PMSs), and their implementation and evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach uses accounting academics' responses to an online survey and also semi-structured interviews with senior research-related leaders in a group of Australian universities. This is supplemented by document analysis. A narrative story-telling approach explores and presents the combined data observations, over the period 2010–2018, of two characters: a “typical” accounting academic and a “typical” vice-chancellor.

Findings

The study contributes to the literature on PMSs in understanding “accountingisation”, the rationale behind the development, implementation and evaluation of performance metrics by senior management and its impact on accounting academics. It juxtaposes and unpacks the complexities and nuances of PMSs and provides empirical evidence by highlighting the perceptions of both the Australian accounting academics and senior university management. The findings demonstrate a level of discontent among accounting academics in reconciling the expectations of increased “accountingisation” within university PMSs. These are juxtaposed against the views of senior university leaders who are influential in determining PMSs.

Originality/value

This paper is novel in considering the implications of “accountingisation” in a contemporary setting, focusing on accounting academics, values and individual PMSs within business schools.
Soundbeam imitation intervention: Training children with autism to imitate meaningless body gestures through music
Authors: Forti Sara , Colombo Barbara , Clark John , Bonfanti Arianna , Molteni Stefania , Crippa Alessandro , Antonietti Alessandro , Molteni Massimo
Published: May 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to present the application and critical reflection on the effects of a intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): the Soundbeam Imitation Intervention (SII). The intervention is based on the imitation of meaningless body gestures supported by a musical feedback. The rationale underlying SII is that mirror neurons deficit may represent the cause for the incomplete development of social and motor functioning in children with ASD. Following this assumption, it is possible to hypothesise that a systematic activation of this a system through the simultaneous observation-execution of meaningless body gestures may affect functional changes of mirror-related functions.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 14 children, who were between 5 and 9 years of age, with a diagnosis of ASD were involved in a six weeks’ SII programme. The programme is designed as a three-step progression, where each step includes exercises that focus on an activity: synchronous/one arm imitation, synchronous/two arms imitation and delayed imitation. Exercises are based on repeated movements-melodies associations of increasing difficulty. Motor imitation and social attention were assessed using a synchronous video-modelling task pre and post intervention.

Findings

Data highlight significant improvements in imitation accuracy and duration of social sustained attention were achieved.

Originality/value

Data reported in this paper provide preliminary and promising evidence that imitation and social attention skills acquired through SII can be generalised to a video-modelling imitation setting. The SII ordinal execution has included meaningless gestures, usually excluded from previous interventions, and this adds further validity to the training.
Internal remittances and employment choices in rural Ghana
Authors: Dary Stanley Kojo , Ustarz Yazidu
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The paper examines the effect of internal remittances on the employment choices of household heads in rural Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 6) of the Ghana Statistical Service. Due to issues of endogeneity of remittances in relation to labor supply, the paper adopts an instrumental variable approach in the analysis. First, employment choices are categorized into three: (1) wage/salary employment, (2) self-employment and (3) domestic/family employment. The relationship is then modeled as instrumental variable multinomial probit (IV-MNP). Secondly, employment choices are recategorized into two: farm employment and otherwise and modeled as instrumental variable probit (IV-PROBIT). The models are estimated via the conditional mixed process (CMP) estimation technique.

Findings

The results indicate that remittances have a negative effect on self-employment and a positive effect on domestic/family employment. Thus, remittances reduce participation in self-employment but increase participation in domestic/family employment. Furthermore, remittances have a negative effect on participation in farm employment. The results are robust to different measures of remittances: receipt of remittances (dummy) and remittance income.

Practical implications

The results suggest that remittances are used for consumption rather than investing in earning activities. In general, engaging in earning type of employment, whether farm and nonfarm employment will decline with receipt of remittances in rural Ghana. There is a need for policy attention with the increasing migration of people out of rural areas.

Originality/value

Prior to this study, little was known on the effect of internal remittances on labor supply decisions of remittance recipients in Ghana, particularly rural Ghana. This paper contributes significantly to filling this knowledge gap.
Social media exploration for understanding food product attributes perception: the case of coffee and health with Twitter data
Authors: Samoggia Antonella , Riedel Bettina , Ruggeri Arianna
Published: May 2020

Purpose

Food companies and consumers are increasingly interested in healthy food and beverages. Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. There is increasing consensus that coffee consumption can have beneficial effects on human body. This paper aims at exploring Twitter messages' content and sentiment towards health attributes of coffee.

Design/methodology/approach

The research adopted a utilitarian and hedonic consumer behaviour perspective to analyse online community messages. A sample of 13,000 tweets, from around 4,800 users, that mentions keywords coffee and health was collected on a daily basis for a month in mid-2017. The tweets were categorized with a term frequency analysis, keyword-in-context analysis and sentiment analysis.

Findings

Results showed that the majority of tweets are neutral or slightly positive towards coffee’s effects on health. Media and consumers are dynamic Twitter users. Findings support that coffee consumption brings favourable emotions, wellness, energy, positive state of mind and an enjoyable and trendy lifestyle. Many tweets have a positive perception of coffee health benefits, especially relating to mental and physical well-being.

Research limitations/implications

The high number of users and tweets analysed compensates the limited amount of time of data collection, Twitter messages' restricted number of characters and quantitative software analysis limitations.

Practical implications

The research provides valuable suggestions for food and beverage industry managers.

Originality/value

This work adds value to the literature by expanding scholars' research on food product attributes perception analysis by using social media as a source of information. Moreover, it provides valuable information on marketable coffee attributes.
Readiness for lean procurement in construction projects
Authors: Suresh M. , Arun Ram Nathan R.B.
Published: May 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyse and categorize the major factors affecting lean procurement (LP) in a construction project of a company in India using total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) approach. The readiness factors identified help the managers to recognize the areas that lack, i.e. purchase, stocks and receipts, and provide importance to the successful implementation of LP in those areas. This study further intends to examine the hierarchical interrelationships among the factors identified using dependence and driving power.

Design/methodology/approach

Ten factors were identified from literature review, and expert opinions were collected from the organization which is in construction phase in India. Scheduled interviews were conducted based on questionnaire survey in the organizations to identify the relevance of the relations among the factors. Matrix impact cross-multiplication applied to classification analysis uses dependence and driving power to understand the hierarchical relationship among the factors identified.

Findings

Results indicate that supplier selection is the key readiness factor for LP. The manager needs to concentrate more on readiness factors to formulate execution process of LP for the betterment of the construction project undergoing organization in India. The readiness factors help the manager to identify the target area for LP execution.

Practical implications

This study would be useful for researchers and practitioners to understand the readiness factors before starting the implementation process of LP in construction projects. The managers of companies undergoing construction project can use the outcome of the present study to implement LP in a competent way. Basing the priorities of attention on the ten readiness LP factors in the appropriate order of importance, as suggested by this study, can give project managers a more scientific basis in which to specify the level of attention required for each of the factors to implement readiness in LP.

Originality/value

The present study identifies the readiness factors related to LP, especially for construction project. None of the researchers have studied readiness factors of LP for organizations undergoing construction projects. This is the first attempt made to analyze the relationship between LP readiness factors and TISM approach in construction project organization.
Nexus of financial inclusion, competition, concentration and financial stability
Authors: Saha Mallika , Dutta Kumar Debasis
Published: May 2020

Purpose

Since the strike of the 2007-2008 global financial crises, financial stability has been discussed with immense interest in academic and policy circles. Following this essence, this paper aims to investigate the nexus of financial inclusion, competition concentration and financial stability.

Design/methodology/approach

To analyze this relationship, this study uses different inclusion indices constructed by principle component analysis, Boon indicator, different concentration measures and Z-score, for a sample of 92 countries and subsamples based on income and economic grouping of those countries as well as for pre- and post-crisis episodes over the period of 2004-2014. This study also investigates the variation in inclusion–stability relationships in the presence of competition and concentration. This study uses two-step system-generalized method of moments (GMM) and two-stage least square to address the endogeneity.

Findings

The study finds that competition contributes to stability; however, there is evidence of fragility in the presence of concentration in the banking industry. Moreover, this study finds a U-shaped inclusion–stability relationship. The overall results of this study support the competition–stability view and a trade-off between inclusion and stability, which are consistent and robust to alternative econometric tests.

Research limitations/implications

Financial inclusion should be endorsed with caution in low-income, middle-income and emerging countries, and prudent policies should be taken to govern the market concentration to maintain financial stability.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explain the impact of financial inclusion on financial stability in the presence of market heterogeneity.