bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Development of a Low-Shear Valve Suitable for Polymer Flooding
Authors: Husveg Trygve , Stokka Mari , Husveg Rune , Jouenne Stephane
Published: June 2020

Hydrolyzed polyacrylamides (HPAMs) are used as mobility-control agents to improve the macroscopic sweep efficiency of oil reservoirs. To maximize their viscosifying power, very-high-molecular-weight (MW) polymers are preferred, which in turn make them very sensitive to shear degradation. Shear degradation originates from chain stretching and breaking when the solution is subjected to a sudden acceleration.

Fundamental development work is presented, where polymer degradation is studied in flow through reducers and expanders of various geometrical shapes, as well as through straight pipes and pipe coils of various diameters and lengths. The work also demonstrates that the creation of pressure drop through viscous pipe friction is very ineffective with regular tubes, most likely because of the drag-reducing effect of polymer. In addition, the arrangement of very long, straight, or coiled pipes in parallel is impractical and bulky.

This paper further presents the development of a novel valve technology that solves these challenges. First, through the unique use of spiraling flow channels with optimally designed reducer and expansion zones, machined on the surface of disks, shear forces and thereby polymer degradation is controlled. Second, by arranging numerous such disks to form a disk stack, any target capacity can be met efficiently. Third, the disk-stack concept enables an easy and reliable plug-based solution for flow regulation and control. The performance of the new valve technology is demonstrated through small- and large-scale prototype tests. At very-shear-sensitive test conditions, it is demonstrated that polymer degradation of the new valve is less than 10% at 40- to 45-bar pressure drop, compared with 60 to 80% for a standard valve.
Liquid Nitrogen Fracturing in Boreholes under True Triaxial Stresses: Laboratory Investigation on Fractures Initiation and Morphology
Authors: Yang Ruiyue , Hong Chunyang , Huang Zhongwei , Wen Haitao , Li Xiaojiang , Huang Pengpeng , Liu Wei , Chen Jianxiang
Published: June 2020

Multistage hydraulic fracturing is widely used in developing tight reservoirs. However, the economic and environmental burden of freshwater souring, transportation, treatment, and disposal in hydraulic fracturing operations has been a topic of great importance to the energy industry and public alike. Waterless fracturing is one possible method of solving these water-related issues. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is considered a promising alternate fracturing fluid that can create fractures by coupled hydraulic/thermal loadings and, more importantly, pose no threats to the environment. However, there are few laboratory experiments that use LN2 directly as a fracturing fluid. In this work, we examine the performance of LN2 fracturing based on a newly developed cryogenic-fracturing system under true-triaxial loadings. The breakdown pressure and fracture morphologies are compared with water fracturing. Moreover, fracture-initiation behavior under cryogenic in-situ conditions revealed by cryo-scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) is presented, and the role of thermal stress is quantified by a coupled thermoporoelastic-damage numerical simulation. Finally, the potential application considerations of LN2 fracturing in the field site are discussed. The results demonstrate that LN2 fracturing can lower fracture initiation and propagation pressure and generate higher conductive fractures with numerous thermally induced cracks in the vicinity of the wellbore. Thermal gradient could generate enormously high-tensile hoop stress and bring about extensive rock damage. Fracture-propagation direction is inclined to be influenced by the thermal stress. Furthermore, phase transition during the fracturing process and low fluid viscosity of LN2 can also facilitate the fracture propagation and network generation. The key findings obtained in this work are expected to provide a viable alternative for the sustainable development of tight-reservoir resources in an efficient and environmentally acceptable way.
Assessment of weight and height of patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders and group of children with recurrent respiratory tract infections.
Authors: Pieniawska-Śmiech Karolina , Bar Kamil , Babicki Mateusz , Śmiech Karol , Lewandowicz-Uszyńska Aleksandra
Published: June 2020

Background: Primary immunodeficiences (PIDs) are a group of chronic, serious disorders in which the immune response is insufficient. In consequence, it leads to an increased susceptibility to infections. Up to date, there are about 350 different disorders classified in that group. There are also patients suffering from recurrent respiratory tract infections (RRTI), however that group doesn't present any abnormalities in terms of conducted immunological tests. Many factors, including medical, can have an impact on physical development of a child. Data such as birth weight and length, also weight, height, BMI during admission to the hospital were collected from 195 patients' medical histories from their hospitalization at Clinical Immunology and Paediatrics Ward of J.Gromkowski Hospital in Wrocław. Investigated groups included patients with PIDs, RRTI and a control group of healthy children. Our purpose was to evaluate the physical growth of children with PID and children with RRTI by assessment of their height and weight. All of parameters were evaluated using centile charts, suitable best for the Polish population. Results: The lowest mean birth weight and height was found among the PIDs patients group. Children with PIDs during hospitalization had statistically relevant lower mean weight than the control group and almost 18% of them had their height situated below 3rd percentile. The statistically relevant differences have been found between them and RRTI group in terms of weight, height and nutritional status. The statistically significant difference was detected between the nutritional status of PID and control group. Conclusions: There is a higher percentage of PID patients with physical growth abnormalities in comparison to healthy children. Our findings indicate a need for further investigation of immune system irregularities and their influence on physical growth of children.
Transcriptome analysis of activated charcoal-induced growth promotion of wheat seedlings in tissue culture
Authors: Dong Fu-shaung , lv Meng-yu , Wang Jin-ping , Shi Xue-ping , Liang Xinxia , Liu Yong-wei , Yang Fan , zhao He , Chai Jian-Fang , Zhou Shou
Published: June 2020

Background: Activated charcoal (AC) is highly adsorbent and is often used to promote seedling growth in plant tissue culture; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, root and leaf tissues of 10-day-old seedlings grown via immature embryo culture in the presence or absence of AC in the culture medium were subjected to global transcriptome analysis by RNA sequencing to provide insights into the effects of AC on seedling growth. Results: In total, we identified 18,555 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Of these, 11,182 were detected in the roots and 7,373 in the leaves. In seedlings grown in the presence of AC, 9,460 DEGs were upregulated and 7,483 DEGs were downregulated in the presence of AC as compared to the control. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed 254 DEG-enriched pathways, 226 of which were common between roots and leaves. Further analysis of the major metabolic pathways revealed that AC stimulated the expression of nine genes in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, including PLA, CYP73A, COMT, CYP84A, and 4CL , the protein products of which promote cell differentiation and seedling growth. Further, AC upregulated genes involved in plant hormone signaling related to stress resistance and disease resistance, including EIN3, BZR1, JAR1, JAZ , and PR1 , and downregulated genes related to plant growth inhibition, including BKI1, ARR-B , DELLA , and ABF . Conclusions: Growth medium containing AC promotes seedling growth by increasing the expression of certain genes in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, which are related to cell differentiation and seedling growth, as well as genes involved in plant hormone signaling, which is related to resistance.
Cold priming uncouples light- and cold-regulation of gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Bittner Andras , Buer Jörn van , Baier Margarete
Published: June 2020

Background: The majority of stress-sensitive genes responds to cold and high light in the same direction, if plants face the stresses for the first time. As shown recently for a small selection of genes of the core environmental stress response cluster, pre-treatment of Arabidopsis thaliana with a 24 h long 4 °C cold stimulus modifies cold regulation of gene expression for up to a week at 20 °C, although the primary cold effects are reverted within the first 24 h. Such memory-based regulation is called priming. Here, we analyse the effect of 24 h cold priming on cold regulation of gene expression on a transcriptome-wide scale and investigate if and how cold priming affects light regulation of gene expression.Results: Cold-priming affected cold and excess light regulation of a small subset of genes. In contrast to the strong gene co-regulation observed upon cold and light stress in not-primed plants, most priming-sensitive genes were regulated in a stressor-specific manner in cold-primed plant. Furthermore, almost as much genes were inversely regulated as co-regulated by a 24 h long 4 °C cold treatment and exposure to heat-filtered high light (800 µmol quanta m-2 s-1). Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that cold priming preferentially supports expression of genes involved in the defence against plant pathogens upon cold triggering. The regulation took place on the cost of the expression of genes involved in growth regulation and transport. On the contrary, cold priming resulted in stronger expression of genes regulating metabolism and development and weaker expression of defence genes in response to high light triggering. qPCR with independently cultivated and treated replicates confirmed the trends observed in the RNASeq guide experiment.Conclusion: A 24 h long priming cold stimulus activates a several days lasting stress memory that controls cold and light regulation of gene expression and adjusts growth and defence regulation in a stressor-specific manner.
How gender-specific are predictors of post-MI HRQoL? A longitudinal study
Authors: Wlodarczyk Dorota , Ziętalewicz Urszula
Published: June 2020

Purpose: Extant research shows that health-related quality of life (HRQoL) differs between female and male survivors of myocardial infarction (MI), but the reasons for this are not fully understood. We aimed to examine the predictors of HRQoL in female and male survivors during the first year after MI. Methods: At timepoints 1 and 2, the sample comprised 222 MI survivors (59 women and 163 men; mean age 53.84 years, range 24–65) referred for in-patient cardiac rehabilitation. This number dropped to 140 participants (42 women and 98 men) at the third timepoint, approximately one year after the MI. We examined the gender differences in various predictors of physical and mental HRQoL: demographic factors (e.g., age, education, marital status), disease-related factors (pre- and post-MI), personality and coping with stress. Results: Initially, both physical and mental HRQoL were lower in women than men, but the differences disappeared at timepoint 3. Stepwise regressions performed separately for men and women revealed that the factors shaping HRQoL were different in both genders; they also changed over time. Substantially fewer factors predicted physical HRQoL in women than in men. Trait anxiety seems to play a similarly negative role in both genders. Conclusions: The psychosocial resources that influence HRQoL were different for women and men. There were also differences concerning predictors of HRQoL dimensions. Further studies with a different or broader range of predictors are needed, especially among women.
A programmable CRISPR/Cas9-based phage defense system for Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)
Authors: Liu Li , Zhao Dongdong , Ye Lijun , Zhan Tao , Xiong Bin , Hu Muzi , Bi Changhao , Zhang Xueli
Published: June 2020

Escherichia coli BL21 is arguably the most popular host for industrial production of proteins, and industrial fermentations are often plagued by phage infections. The CRISPR/Cas system is guided by a gRNA to cleave a specific DNA cassette, which can be developed into a highly efficient programable phage defense system. In this work, we constructed a CRISPR/Cas system targeting multiple positions on the genome of T7 phage and found that the system increased the BL21’s defense ability against phage infection. Furthermore, the targeted loci on phage genome played a critical role. For better control of expression of CRISPR/Cas9, various modes were tested, and the OD of the optimized strain BL21(pT7cas9, pT7-3gRNA, prfp) after 4 hours of phage infection was significantly improved, reaching 2.0, which was similar to the control culture without phage infection. Although at later time points, the defensive ability of CRISPR/Cas9 systems were not as obvious as that at early time points. The viable cell count of the engineered strain in the presence of phage was only one order of magnitude lower than that of the strain with no infection, which further demonstrated the effectiveness of the CRISPR/Cas9 phage defense system. Finally, the engineered BL21 strain under phage attack expressed RFP protein at about 60% of the un-infected control, which was significantly higher than the parent BL21. In this work, we successfully constructed a programable CRISPR/Cas9 system to increase the ability of E. coli BL21’s to defend against phage infection, and created a resistant protein expression host. This work provides a simple and feasible strategy for protecting industrial E. coli strains against phage infection.
Comprehensive analysis of LDHAP5 pseudogene expression and potential pathogenesis in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma
Authors: Lin Shitong , Meng Yifan , Cao Canhui , Wu Ping , Gao Peipei , Zhi Wenhua , Peng Ting , Wu Peng
Published: June 2020

Background: We aimed to identify differentially expressed pseudogenes and explore their potential functions in four types of common gynecological malignancies (e.g., cervical squamous cell carcinoma, ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma, uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma, and uterine carcinosarcoma) using bioinformatics technology. Materials & methods: We identified up-regulated and down-regulated pseudogenes and built a pseudogene-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network through public datasets to explore their potential functions in carcinogenesis and cancer prognosis. Results: Among the 63 up-regulated pseudogenes identified, LDHAP5 demonstrated the greatest potential as a candidate pseudogene due to its significant association with poor overall survival in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that LDHAP5 showed significant enrichment in MicroRNAs in cancer, Pathway in cancer and PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Further analysis revealed that EGFR was the potential target mRNA of LDHAP5, which may play an important role in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. Conclusions: LDHAP5 was associated with the occurrence and prognosis of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma, and thus shows potential as a novel therapeutic target against such cancer.
Detecting fitness epistasis in recent admixed populations with genome-wide data
Authors: Ni Xumin , Zhou Mengshi , Wang Heming , He Karen , Broeckel Uli , Hanis Craig , Kardia Sharon , Redline Susan , Cooper Richard , Tang Hua , Zhu Xiaofeng
Published: June 2020

Background: Fitness epistasis, the interaction effect of genes at different loci on fitness, has an important contribution for adaptive evolution. Although fitness interaction evidence has been observed in model organisms, it is less detectable and remains poorly understood in human populations owing to the limited statistical power and experimental constraints. Fitness epistasis is inferred from non-independence between unlinked loci. We previously observed ancestral block correlation between chromosomes 4 and 6 in African Americans. The same approach fails when examining ancestral blocks on the same chromosome due to strong confounding effect in a recently admixed population.Results: We developed a novel approach to eliminate the bias caused by admixture linkage disequilibrium when searching for fitness epistasis on the same chromosome. We applied this approach in 16,252 unrelated African Americans and identified significant ancestral correlations in two pairs of genomic regions (P-value<8.11×10-7) on chromosomes 1 and 10. The ancestral correlations were not explained by population admixture. Historical African-European crossover events are reduced between pair of epistatic regions. We observed multiple pairs of co-expressed genes between the two regions on each chromosome, including ADAR being co-expressed with IFI44 in almost all tissues and DARC being co-expressed with VCAM1, S1PR1 and ELTD1 in multiple tissues in The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) data. Moreover, the co-expressed gene pairs are associated with the same diseases/traits in the GWAS Catalog, such as white blood cell count, blood pressure, lung function, inflammatory bowel disease and educational attainment.Conclusions: Our analyses revealed two instances of fitness epistasis on chromosomes 1 and 10, and the findings suggest a potential approach to better understand adaptive evolution.
Improving the production of AHL lactonase AiiO-AIO6 from Ochrobactrum sp. M231 in intracellular protease-deficient Bacillus subtilis
Authors: Xia Rui , Yang Yalin , Pan Xingliang , Gao Chenchen , Yao Yuanyuan , Liu Xuewei , Teame Tsegay , Zhang Fengli , Hu Juan , Ran Chao , Zhang Zhen , Liu-Clarke Jihong , Zhou Zhigang
Published: June 2020

Quorum quenching (QQ) blocks bacterial cell-to-cell communication (i.e., quorum sensing), and is a promising antipathogenic strategy to control bacterial infection via inhibition of virulence factor expression and biofilm formation. QQ enzyme AiiO-AIO6 from Ochrobactrum sp. M231 has several excellent properties and shows biotherapeutic potential against important bacterial pathogens of aquatic species. AiiO-AIO6 can be secretory expressed in Bacillus subtilis via a non-classical secretion pathway. To improve AiiO-AIO6 production, four intracellular protease-deletion mutants of B. subtilis 1A751 were constructed by individually knocking out the intracellular protease-encoding genes ( tepA, ymfH, yrrN and ywpE ). The AiiO-AIO6 expression plasmid pWB-AIO6BS was transformed into the B. subtilis 1A751 and its four intracellular protease-deletion derivatives. Results showed that all recombinant intracellular protease-deletion derivatives (BSΔ tepA , BSΔ ymfH , BSΔ yrrN and BSΔ ywpE ) had a positive impact on AiiO-AIO6 production. The highest amount of AiiO-AIO6 extracellular production of BSΔ ywpE in shake flask reached 3530 U/mL, which was about 62% higher than that of the wild-type strain. Furthermore, LC-MS/MS analysis of the degrading products of 3-oxo-C8-HSL by purification of AiiO-AIO6 indicated that AiiO-AIO6 was an AHL-lactonase which hydrolyzes the lactone ring of AHLs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AiiO-AIO6 was classified as a member of the α/β hydrolase family with a conserved “nucleophile-acid-histidine” catalytic triad. In summary, this study showed that intracellular proteases were responsible for the reduced yields of heterologous proteins and provided an efficient strategy to enhance the extracellular production of AHL lactonase AiiO-AIO6.
Assessing the acceptability of a text messaging service and smartphone app to support patient adherence to medications prescribed for high blood pressure: a pilot study.
Authors: Kassavou Aikaterini , Court Charlotte A , Chauhan Jagmohan , Brimicombe James , Bhattacharya Debbi , Naughton Felix , Hardeman Wendy , Mascolo Cecilia , Sutton Stephen
Published: June 2020

Aims and objectives. This paper describes the a pilot non-randomised controlled study of a highly tailored 56-days text message and smartphone app prototype intervention to increase adherence to anti-hypertensive medication in primary care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptability of the intervention and obtain patients views about the intervention content, the delivery mode, and the mechanisms by which the intervention supported medication adherence. Methods. Patients diagnosed with hypertension were invited to the study via general practice text messages invitation and were recruited face to face by the researcher team. Participants were asked to tested the text message intervention for 28 consecutive days and switch to or the text message followed by the smartphone app for 56 28 more days. Participants completed baseline and follow up questionnaires and took part in a semi-structured weekly or end of intervention telephone interviews. Digital log files captured patients’ usage of the intervention. Participant transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data from questionnaires and log files. A mixed methods analysis generated data to respond to the research questions. Results. 79 patients expressed their interest to participate in this study, of whom and 23 (64% male, 82% above 60 years old) of these patients were recruited to take part. With one drop-out, 22 participants tested the text message delivery mode (with 20 being interviewed) and four of them (17%) requested to switched to the app (with 3 being interviewed). All participants used and engaged and interacted with the text message and app notifications, and most participants found the intervention content and delivery mode acceptable. They also self-reported that the interactive elements of the intervention supported motivated them to take their medications as prescribed. Conclusion. This study provides evidence that the digital intervention is acceptable by hypertensive patients recruited in primary care. Future research could usefully, thus it should investigatebe its tested for its feasibility and effectiveness using rigorous research methods.
Investigation of early and lifetime clinical features and comorbidities for the risk of developing treatment-resistance depression in a 13-year nationwide cohort study
Authors: Huang Shiau-Shian , Chen Hsi-Han , Wang Jui , Chen Wei J. , Chen Hsi-Chung , Kuo Po-Hsiu
Published: June 2020

Background
To investigate the risk of developing treatment-resistant depression among depressive patients by examining clinical features, early prescription patterns, and early and lifetime comorbidities.
Methods
A total of 31,422 depressive inpatients were followed from diagnostic onset to more than ten-years. treatment-resistant depression was defined by altered antidepressant treatment regimens more than twice or being admitted after received at least two antidepressant treatments. Multiple regression and Cox regression models were used to examine the effects of physical and psychiatric comorbidities, psychosis, and early prescription patterns on the risk of developing treatment-resistant depression.
Results
Female depressive patients (21.24%) were more likely to become treatment-resistant depression than males (14.02%). Early anxiety disorder was commonly observed in the treatment-resistant depression comparing with non-treatment-resistant depression groups (81.48 vs. 58.96%, p < 0.0001). Lifetime anxiety disorder exhibited the highest population attributable fraction (43.1%). 70% of patients with multiple psychiatric comorbidities developed treatment-resistant depression during follow-up. Results in Cox regression further identified that functional gastrointestinal disorders significantly increased the risk of treatment-resistant depression (aHR = 1.18). A higher dose of antidepressants in early disease course exhibited increased risk for treatment-resistant depression (p < 0.0001).
Conclusion
Our findings indicate the need to monitor early comorbidities and polypharmacy patterns in patients with major depressive disorder that are associated with an elevated risk for treatment-resistant depression.
The Association of Food Insecurity With Diabetes Control and Self-care in Diabetes Type 2 Patients
Authors: mohammadi marjan , Djazayeri Seyyed Abolghasem , Ataie-Jafari Asal
Published: June 2020

Background: Food insecurity can increase risks of health and nutritional problems, leading to difficulties in self-care and poor glycemic control in diabetic patients. Purpose: This study assessed food insecurity and its association with diabetes control and self-care in type 2 diabetes patients.Methods: In this cross sectional study, 148 adults with type 2 diabetes participated. Food insecurity and self-care were determined using the 18-item USDA household food security status questionnaire and self-care (SDSCA) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using logistic and linear regression tests (SPSS 20 software).Results: Thirty-seven percent of the participants were food-insecure and significantly more likely than food-secure participants to have poor glycemic control (OR=3.02; CI: 1.45-2.65). No significant association was found between food-insecurity and overall self-care score.Conclusion: Food-insecurity was directly associated with poor glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients. Since economic status was significantly better in the food-secure group, it can be postulated that financial problems will eventually lead to poor glycemic control.Policy strategies to increaseaccess to diabetes-appropriate foods mayreduce socioeconomic inequalities in glycemiccontrol.
Using Behaviour Change Theories to Understand Pediatric Emergency Discharge Communication Interventions
Authors: Gallant Allyson J , Bishop Andrea , Cassidy Christine , Egar Jeanne , Curran Janet
Published: June 2020

Background Interventions to improve discharge communication in emergency practice settings are inherently complex and incorporate multiple strategies aimed at patient, caregiver and healthcare provider behaviours. Behaviour change theories, including the capability-opportunity-motivation-behaviour (COM-B) model and Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy version 1 (BCTTv1), provide consistent language for identifying and evaluating the active components of interventions. The objectives of this study were to: (1) identify common barriers and enablers to discharge communication interventions and (2) describe behaviour change techniques (BCTs) present in pediatric emergency discharge communication interventions aimed at patients, caregivers and health care providers. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of 35 experimental and quasi-experimental studies included in a narrative synthesis of discharge communication interventions in pediatric emergency care. Included studies were reviewed to identify reported barriers and enablers to implementation and intervention effectiveness, which were then mapped to the COM-B model. Trained BCT coders independently coded intervention descriptions using the BCTTv1 as a coding framework. Consensus was used to resolve any discrepancies. BCTs were analyzed using descriptive statistics to determine the frequency of the 93 individual BCTs and 16 BCT categories for patient/caregiver and health care provider interventions. Results Barriers and enablers were identified at the patient/caregiver, health care provider, intervention and health system levels. Psychological capability was the most frequently coded COM-B component. Of the 33 studies that included BCTs, 29 interventions targeted patients or caregivers. A total of 20 different individual BCTs were identified across the interventions in the 33 studies. The number of BCTs identified in each study ranged from 1-9 BCTs, with most (n=14, 42%) interventions containing one BCT. Reporting deficiencies were noted related to adequate details of intervention components and implementation fidelity.Conclusions The COM-B model and BCTTv1 proved to be useful tools to provide a foundational understanding of the common mechanisms used in pediatric discharge communication interventions. With only a fraction of the available BCTs were used in the included studies, future research is needed to explore the utility of other BCTs to address common implementation barriers and improve the effectiveness of discharge communication interventions.
Diagnostic delay in rare diseases: a documented list of (296) rare diseases for which delayed diagnosis would be especially detrimental, based on the French situation
Authors: CHAZAL Pierre-Etienne , CHALANDON Anne-Sophie , AYMÉ Ségolène , DELEUZE Christian
Published: June 2020

BackgroundA timely diagnosis is a critical step to ensure a proper access to expert clinical management for patients. However, diagnosing rare diseases (RD) is a major challenge, as these diseases are extremely diverse in their expression, cause, semiology and nosology. Today, the development of digital technologies offers genuine opportunities for improving diagnosis and care in a sector with urgent needs. However, developing and testing digital solutions would only be possible for a limited number of Rare Diseases (RD). ResultsThe approach presented in this article aims at proposing an ethical and rational way of defining a subset of “priority” rare diseases to focus on, based on pathologies for which an established and effective standard of care management is defined. Two types of management were considered: the existence of a medicinal product specifically targeting the disease; and / or the existence of authoritative clinical guidelines in France. Our work led to the establishment of a list of 251 RD for which a delayed diagnosis would be especially detrimental. ConclusionIt remains now to establish whether the diagnosis of these RD is especially delayed, or not, before setting up targeted initiatives to reverse the situation. Clarifying choices when taking initiatives to develop solution in a field with so many unmet needs is an element of an ethical approach.
Comparison of HIF1 Gene Polymorphism (Rs11549465) Among Elite and Amateur Power Athletes Versus Non-athletes
Authors: Batavani Mohammad Reza , Kamran Ghaedi
Published: June 2020

Background: One of the major energy systems for power performance in muscles is glycolysis that is regulated by the levels of Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (Hif1) which in response to hypoxia act as a transcription factor. The goal of this survey was the comparison of HIF1 gene polymorphism (rs11549465) among elite and amateur power karate-kas versus non-athletes. Methods and Results: The C/T polymorphism allelic and genotypic's distribution of Hif1 rs11549465 gene was determined in this survey throughout 550 healthy Iranian subjects that divided in power karate-kas groups that sub-divided into elite (86 male and 86 female) and amateur karate-kas (100 male and 72 female) versus 206 individuals in non-athlete group (100 male and 106 female). After obtaining the written consent of all participants in the study, in seated mode, at a given time and in the diagnostic-laboratory, the amount of 5cc blood from brachiocephalic vein was taken. The Hif1 gene T/C polymorphism was assessed with PCR by using the forward and the overturn primers. Amplicons, the length were treated with the restriction endonuclease Hph I (Enzyme). Also RFLP were analyzed by electrophoresis separation on 1% agarose gel. Non–parametric Chi-Square and multinomial regression tests were used for assess the differences through the SPSS software and the P value less than 0.05 was considered as a significant different. Chi-square test showed genotype frequencies of Hif1 TC rs11549465 (TC genotype: 25.6% vs. TT genotype: 11.4%; CC genotype: 63%) were significantly different in these population (χ2= 99.889, P=0.000). Furthermore, the results of multiple regressions demonstrated that there isn’t general linear relationship between Hif1 gene expression and power ability of karate-kas. Conclusions: From the genetic talent aspect, there wasn't any correlation between Hif1 gene expressions with Iranian karate competitor’s levels.Key Points: Genetic and environmental factors have a great influence over components of the athletic performance such as power/ strength traits. Genetic markers may increase comprehension of athlete talent. There wasn't any correlation between Hif1 gene expressions with Iranian karate competitor’s levels.
Comparison of different approaches to combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSEA) under the guidance of ultrasound in cesarean delivery obese patients: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Zhou Yilu , Xu Zhendong , Liu Zhiqiang
Published: June 2020

Background: Combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSEA) is commonly performed in cesarean deliveries. However, it is difficult to perform in obese parturients because of positioning challenges. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of different approaches to CSEA under the guidance of ultrasound.Methods: One hundred obese patients (BMI≧30 kg/m2) who underwent elective cesarean section were randomly enrolled. Patients were assigned to a median approach group and a paramedian approach group randomly. Clinical characteristics were compared between groups. First puncture success rate, ultrasonic time needed for positioning and puncture time, ultrasonic predicted anesthesia puncture depth, actual puncture depth, adverse reactions to anesthesia, complications after anesthesia, and patient satisfaction with the epidural puncture were recorded.Results: The first puncture success rate was significantly different between the two groups (92% vs 86%, P <0.05). The positioning time and total puncture time in the paramedian approach group were higher than those in the median approach group (217.7 s vs 201.6 s, P <0.05; 251.3 s vs 247.4 s, P＞0.05). The incidence of postanesthesia complications in the paramedian approach group was significantly lower than that in the median approach group (2% vs 12%, P <0.05), and patient satisfaction was higher in the paramedian approach group than in the median approach group (P <0.05).Conclusion: The ultrasound-guided paracentesis approach for intrauterine spinal anesthesia for cesarean section patients is time-consuming, but it can effectively improve the success rate of the first puncture, reduce the incidence of anesthesia-related adverse reactions, and improve patient satisfaction.Trial registration: This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900024722) on July 24, 2019.
Tumor infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) as a biomarker for prognosis benefits in patients with osteosarcoma
Authors: Zhao Bo , Wang Xiaohu
Published: June 2020

Background: Osteosarcoma is a rare malignant bone tumor in adolescents and children. Poor prognosis has always been a difficult problem for patients with osteosarcoma. Recent studies have shown that Tumor infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) are associated with the clinical outcome of osteosarcoma patients. The aim of our research was to construct a risk score model based on TIICs to predict the prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma. Methods: CIBERSORT algorithm was used to calculate the proportion of 22 TIICs in osteosarcoma samples. Kaplan-Meier curves were drawn to investigate the prognostic value of 22 TIICs. Forward stepwise approach was used to screen a minimal set of immune cells. Multivariate Cox PHR analysis was performed to construct an immune risk score model. Results: Osteosarcoma samples with CIBERSORT output p value less than 0.05 were selected for research. Kaplan-Meier curves indicated that naive B cells (p=0.047) and Monocytes (p=0.03) in osteosarcoma are associated with poor prognosis. An immune risk score model was constructed base on eight immune cells, and the ROC curve showed that the immune risk score model is reliable in predicting the prognosis of patients with osteosarcoma (AUC=0.724). Besides, a nomogram model base on eight immune cells was constructed to predict the survival rate of patients with osteosarcoma.Conclusions: TIICs are closely related to the prognosis of osteosarcoma. The immune risk score model based on TIICs is reliable in predicting the prognosis of osteosarcoma.
Land Use Land Cover Change Analysis in Fagge Local Government, Kano State from 1991-2019
Authors: Ahmad Al-amin Abbas
Published: June 2020

Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) are important components of the environmental system and changes in it mirror the impacts of human activities on the environment. These impacts needed to be determined in order to get a clear picture of the extent at which different land use practices change over time. This study focused on the Land use and land cover changes of Fagge local government Kano state between 1991 and 2019 and also identify the driving forces of such changes. The data for the study two 30m x 30m Landsat images (Landsat 4&8) of the two years i.e. 2019 and 1991. The two images undergo series of image analysis and classification using ArcGIS 10.7 and ENVI 5.1 and the result where presented in form of maps, charts and tables. The result also shows that the changes that occurred from 1991 to 2019 in Fagge local government to be positive and negative changes. There happen to be a positive in the size of built-up areas in Fagge from 1991 – 2019 with a change of +4.678km2. The vegetation cover experienced a negative change of -8.87km2 while the barren land also had an increase in size with a positive change of +4.199. The data collected from previous studies indicated that the main driving behind the various changes may include; urban expansion, population growth, commercial and economic activities, security, and Government law and policies. It was recommended that Sufficient land use/land cover information should be acquired, Sensitization programs on land use / land cover, Geospatial techniques should be adopted by Government and NGO’s and lastly Government policies should geared to ensuring that there is balance in the utilization of the available land in the country
The Impact of Age and Receipt Antihypertensives to Systolic Blood Pressure and Shock Index at Injury Scene and in the Emergency Department to Predict Massive Transfusion in Trauma Patients
Authors: Park Se Jin , Lee Mi Jin , Kim Changho , Jung Haewon , Kim Seong Hun , Nho Wooyoung , Seo Kang Suk , Park Jungbae , Ryoo Hyun Wook , Ahn Jae Yun , Moon Sungbae , Cho Jae Wan , Son Shin-ah
Published: June 2020

Background : Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and shock index (SI) are accurate indicators of hemodynamic instability and the need for transfusion in trauma patients. We aimed to determine whether the utility and cutoff point for SBP and SI are affected by age or antihypertensives. Methods : This was a retrospective observational study of a level 1 trauma center between January 2017 and December 2018. We analyzed the utility and cutoff points of SBP and SI for predicting massive transfusion (MT) and 30-day mortality according to patients’ age and whether they were taking antihypertensives. Results : We analyzed 4681 trauma cases. There were 1949 patients aged 65 years or older (41.6%), and 1375 (29.4%) hypertensive patients. MT was given to 137 patients (2.9%). The 30-day mortality rate was 6.3% (n = 294). In geriatric trauma patients taking antihypertensives, prehospital SBP less than 110 mmHg was the cutoff value for predicting MT in multivariate logistic regression analyses; packed red blood cell transfusion volume decreased abruptly based on prehospital SBP of 110 mmHg. Emergency Department SI greater than 1.0 was the cutoff value for the prediction of MT in patients who were older than 65 years who were not taking antihypertensives. Conclusions : The triage of trauma patients is based on the identification of clinical features that are readily identifiable by first responders. However, age and medications may also affect accurate evaluation. In initial trauma management, we must apply SBP and SI differently depending on age, whether a patient is taking antihypertensives, and the time at which the indicators are measured.
DeepBiome: a phylogenetic tree informed deep neural network for microbiome data analysis
Authors: Zhai Jing , Choi Youngwon , Chen Yin , Knox Kenneth , III Homer Twigg , Joong-Ho Won , Zhou Hua , Zhou Jin
Published: June 2020

Background: Evidence linking microbiome and human health is rapidly growing. Microbiome profile can be a novel predictive biomarker for many diseases. However, bacteria count tables are typically sparse and bacteria are classified at a hierarchy of taxonomic levels, ranging from species to phylum. Existing analysis tools focus on identifying microbiome associations either at the community level or at a specific pre-defined taxonomic level. They fail to incorporate the evolutionary relationship between bacteria and cannot learn from the data to aggregate microbiome contribution, thus leading to less accurate and less interpretable results in prediction, classification or selection. Results: We present DeepBiome, a phylogney-informed neural network architecture for predicting phenotypes from microbiome counts and uncovering the microbiome-phenotype association network. It takes microbiome abundance as the input and let the phylogenetic taxonomy guide the neural network architecture. Commonly used neural network architectures are targeted towards image and text analysis and typically require huge amount of training data, which is scarce in biomedical applications. By leveraging the phylogenetic information, DeepBiome relieves the heavy burden of tuning for the optimal deep learning architecture, avoids overfitting, and more importantly enables visualizing the path from microbiome counts to disease. It is applicable to both regression and classification problems. The simulation study and real-life data analysis demonstrate that DeepBiome is highly accurate and efficient and and provides a deep understanding of complex microbiome-phenotype associations even using small to moderate training sample sizes. Conclusions: In practice, it is unknown at which taxonomic level that microbiome clusters tag the association. Therefore, the central advantage of the presented method over other analytical methods is that it offers an ecological and evolutionary understanding of host-microbe interactions which is important for microbiome-based medicine. DeepBiome is implemented using Python packages Keras and the Tensorflow. It is an open-source tool available at (https://github.com/Young-won/DeepBiome).
Metadichol ® a novel nano lipid formulation that inhibits In Vitro, SARS-COV-2 and a multitude of pathological viruses
Authors: Raghavan Palayakotai R
Published: June 2020

New pathogenic virus outbreaks with increasing regularity are leading us to explore novel approaches, which will reduce the reliance on a time-consuming vaccine mode to halt the strike. The requirement is to find a universal approach to disarm any new and as yet unknown viruses as they appear. A promising approach could be by targeting the lipids membranes, common to all viruses and bacteria. The ongoing pandemic of the SARS-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has restated the importance of interactions between components of the host cell plasma membrane and the virus envelope as a critical mechanism of infection. Metadichol ®, a nano lipid emulsion, has been examined and shown to be a strong candidate to help stop the proliferation of the SARS-COV-2.Naturally derived substances, such as Cyclodextrin and sterols, reduce the infectivity of various types of viruses, including the coronavirus like SARS-COV-2, by modifying the lipid-dependent attachment to human host cells. SARS-COV-2 uses the receptor ACE2 for entry and the serine protease TMPRSS2 for S protein priming. Metadichol®, a nano lipid formulation of long-chain alcohols, has been shown to inhibit TMPRSS2 (EC50 of 96 ng/ml). Compared to the inhibitor Camostat Mesylate (26000 ng/ml), it is 270 times more potent. Also, Metadichol ® is a moderate inhibitor of ACE2 @ 31 µg/ml. In the SARS-COV2 anti-viral assay using CACO2 cells, it has an EC90 of 0.16 µg/ml.
Comparing the Monetary Value of a Quality-Adjusted Life Year from the Payment Card and the Open-Ended Format
Authors: Ye Ziping , Liu Fuyao , Ma Jia , Zhou Ziyang , Wang Chen , Sun Lihua
Published: June 2020

Background: The payment card (PC) format and the open-ended (OE) format are common methods in eliciting willing-to-pay (WTP) of one additional quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The aim of this research is to compare these two formats in eliciting the monetary value of a QALY.Methods: A contingent valuation survey was carried out using a pre-designed questionnaire with various hypothetical scenarios. The difference between the PC and the OE formats was evaluated by a two-sample equality test. Furthermore, regression analysis was carried out to control observed heterogeneity and to test theoretical validity.Results: In total, 461 individuals were involved, among whom 235 (51%) answered the PC question, while 226 (49%) answered the OE question. No significant difference was observed between the median of these two methods. However, in the subgroup analysis, noteworthy differences were noticed in the median for these two formats in all scenarios. Both formats were proved to be theoretically valid, whereas the OE technique was found to have a stronger association with all variables in the regression model than that of the PC format. Moreover, joint estimation indicated a positive but not significant effect on the OE results.Conclusions: This research indicated that there was no statistical difference between the PC format and OE format and proved the validity of both, which justified the combined use of these two methods in eliciting monetary value of QALY. More research about the difference and the validity of various WTP eliciting methods would be needed for a robust estimation of WTP/QALY.
Fear of COVID-19 Scale for Hospital Staff in Regional Hospitals in Mexico: A Survey Study
Authors: García-Reyna Benjamín , Castillo-García Gilberto Daniel , Barbosa-Camacho Francisco José , Cervantes-Cardona Guillermo Alonso , Cervantes-Pérez Enrique , Torres-Mendoza Blanca Miriam , Fuentes-Orozco Clotilde , Pintor-Belmontes Kevin Josue , Guzmán-Ramírez Bertha Georgina , Hernández-Bernal Aldo , González-Ojeda Alejandro , Cervantes-Guevara Gabino
Published: June 2020

The presence of COVID-19 has had psychological consequences among health personnel; these include fear, anxiety, and depression. In the current study, we used the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to assess the response to fear within health staff in Mexico. This was a cross-sectional survey study in which we administered the FCV-19S to hospital staff. A total of 2,860 participants—1,641 female and 1,218 male personnel from three hospitals—were included in the study. We found a global FCV-19S mean score of 19.3 ± 6.9, with a significant difference in scores for women and men. There was a high correlation between items 3, 5, 6, and 7, suggesting that these items could indicate the physiological responses to fear, and a high correlation between items 1, 2, and 4, suggesting these items could represent the emotional responses to fear. Our survey shows a significantly higher level of fear in nursing and administrative personnel, which may be explained by the nursing staff being in close contact with infected patients and the administrative staff lacking understanding of the possible implications of the infection, compared with non-clinical hospital personnel. The FCV-19S showed validity and reliability in our population to assess fear in response to COVID-19. Our results are consistent with those of other researchers.