bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vibration transmission in bone-anchored prosthesis under vertical load. Cadaver study
Authors: Gainutdinovs Oskars , Gaynutdinov Oleg , Jevstignejevs Vladislavs , Studers Peteris
Published: April 2022

Background:

Sensory feedback between a device and its user helps to improve the effectiveness of control and training processes. These improvements involve corrective actions and the accumulation of experience to accelerate patient training in device control.

Objectives:

Vibrations from rehabilitation devices are used as sensory feedback signals for improving rehabilitation outcomes.

Study design:

Variations in the bone-anchored prosthesis frequency responses and vibration transmissibility under compressive loading were studied.

Methods:

Five laboratory samples consisting of the above-knee prosthesis, custom-made implant, and cadaver bone were first axially compressed using universal testing machine; preloaded construction vibrations were generated with a shaker to imitate external forces acting on these samples. The oscillations at the sample surface control points were tested with a laser vibrometer. For different values of axial loading, the frequency responses of the samples and indexes of vibration attenuation were obtained to examine the correlations between vibration transmissibility in the samples and axial loads.

Results:

Increase in axial loading caused an increase in the resonance frequency and a simultaneous decrease in vibratory displacement within the sample. At low frequencies (40–80 Hz), increasing the axial load degraded transmissibility; at medium and high frequencies, transmissibility changes were unstable on increasing the axial load.

Conclusions:

The osseoperception phenomenon is because of perceived prosthesis vibration analysis by the user. Vibration transmissibility of a prosthesis sample depends on the axial compression and frequency of excitation. Decreasing the vibration amplitude while increasing axial load is the primary reason for reduced perception of vibration.
Transcriptomic profiling of cardiac tissues from SARS-CoV-2 patients identifies DNA damage
Authors: Kulasinghe Arutha , Liu Ning , Tan Chin Wee , Monkman James , Sinclair Jane E , Bhuva Dharmesh D , Godbolt David , Pan Liuliu , Nam Andy , Sadeghirad Habib , Sato Kei , Bassi Gianluigi Li , O’Byrne Ken , Hartmann Camila , dos Santo Miggiolaro Anna Flavia Ribeiro , Marques Gustavo Lenci , Moura Lidia Zytynski , Richard Derek , Adams Mark , de Noronha Lucia , Baena Cristina Pellegrino , Suen Jacky Y , Arora Rakesh , Belz Gabrielle T. , Short Kirsty R , Davis Melissa J , Souza-FonsecaGuimaraes Fernando , Fraser John F
Published: April 2022

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is known to present with pulmonary and extra-pulmonary organ complications. In comparison with the 2009 pandemic (pH1N1), SARS-CoV-2 infection is likely to lead to more severe disease, with multi-organ effects, including cardiovascular disease. SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with acute and long-term cardiovascular disease, but the molecular changes govern this remain unknown.

In this study, we investigated the landscape of cardiac tissues collected at rapid autopsy from SARS-CoV-2, pH1N1, and control patients using targeted spatial transcriptomics approaches. Although SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in cardiac tissue, host transcriptomics showed upregulation of genes associated with DNA damage and repair, heat shock, and M1-like macrophage infiltration in the cardiac tissues of COVID-19 patients. The DNA damage present in the SARS-CoV-2 patient samples, were further confirmed by γ−H2Ax immunohistochemistry. In comparison, pH1N1 showed upregulation of Interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), in particular interferon and complement pathways, when compared with COVID-19 patients.

These data demonstrate the emergence of distinct transcriptomic profiles in cardiac tissues of SARS-CoV-2 and pH1N1 influenza infection supporting the need for a greater understanding of the effects on extra-pulmonary organs, including the cardiovascular system of COVID-19 patients, to delineate the immunopathobiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and long term impact on health.
A Bayesian hierarchical framework to integrate dietary exposure and biomarker measurements into aetiological models
Authors: Pittavino M. , Plummer M. , Johansson M. , Ferrari P.
Published: April 2022

In nutritional epidemiology, self-reported assessments of dietary exposure are prone to measurement errors, which is responsible for bias in the association between dietary factors and risk of disease. In this study, self-reported dietary assessments were complemented by biomarkers of dietary intake. Dietary and serum measurements of folate and vitamin-B6 from two nested case-control studies within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study were integrated in a Bayesian model to explore the measurement error structure of the data, and relate dietary exposures to risk of site-specific cancer. A Bayesian hierarchical model was developed, which included: 1) an exposure model, to define the distribution of unknown true exposure (X); 2) a measurement model, to relate observed assessments, in turn, dietary questionnaires (Q), 24-hour recalls (R) and biomarkers (M) to X measurements; 3) a disease model, to estimate exposures/cancer relationships. The marginal posterior distribution of model parameters was obtained from the joint posterior distribution, using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling techniques in JAGS. The study included 554 and 882 case/control pairs for kidney and lung cancer, respectively. In the measurement error component, the error correlation between Q measurements of vitamin-B6 and folate was estimated to be equal to 0.82 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.87). After adjustment for age, center, sex, BMI and smoking status, the kidney cancer odds ratios (OR) were 0.55 (0.16, 1.31) and 1.07 (0.33, 3.44) for one standard deviation increase of vitamin-B6 and folate, respectively. For lung cancer ORs were 0.85 (0.27, 2.42) for vitamin-B6 and 0.55 (0.14, 1.39) for folate. Bayesian models offer powerful solutions to handle complex data structures. After accounting for the role of measurement error, folate and vitamin-B6 were not associated to the risk of kidney and lung cancer.
Novel discoveries and enhanced genomic prediction from modelling genetic risk of cancer age-at-onset
Authors: Maksimova Ekaterina S. , Ojavee Sven E. , Läll Kristi , Sadler Marie C. , Mägi Reedik , Kutalik Zoltan , Robinson Matthew R.
Published: April 2022

Genome-wide association studies seek to attribute disease risk to DNA regions and facilitate subject-specific prediction and patient stratification. For later-life diseases, inference from case-control studies is hampered by the uncertainty that control group subjects might later be diagnosed. Time-to-event analysis treats controls as right-censored, making no additional assumptions about future disease occurrence and represents a more sound conceptual alternative for more accurate inference. Here, using data on 11 common cancers from the UK and Estonian Biobank studies, we provide empirical evidence that discovery and genomic prediction are greatly improved by analysing age-at-diagnosis, compared to a case-control model of association. We replicate previous findings from large-scale case-control studies and find an additional 7 previously unreported independent genomic regions, out of which 3 replicated in independent data. Our novel discoveries provide new insights into underlying cancer pathways, and our model yields a better understanding of the polygenicity and genetic architecture of the 11 tumours. We find that heritable germline genetic variation plays a vital role in cancer occurrence, with risk attributable to many thousands of underlying genomic regions. Finally, we show that Bayesian modelling strategies utilising time-to-event data increase prediction accuracy by an average of 20% compared to a recent summary statistic approach (LDpred-funct). As sample sizes increase, incorporating time-to-event data should be commonplace, improving case-control studies by using richer information about the disease process.
Genetically personalised organ-specific metabolic models in health and disease
Authors: Foguet Carles , Xu Yu , Ritchie Scott C. , Lambert Samuel A. , Persyn Elodie , Nath Artika P. , Davenport Emma E. , Roberts David J. , Paul Dirk S. , Angelantonio Emanuele Di , Danesh John , Butterworth Adam S. , Yau Christopher , Inouye Michael
Published: April 2022

Understanding how genetic variants influence disease risk and complex traits (variant-to-function) is one of the major challenges in human genetics. Here we present a model-driven framework to leverage human genome-scale metabolic networks to define how genetic variants affect biochemical reaction fluxes across major human tissues, including skeletal muscle, adipose, liver, brain and heart. As proof of concept, we build personalised organ-specific metabolic flux models for 524,615 individuals of the INTERVAL and UK Biobank cohorts and perform a fluxome-wide association study (FWAS) to identify 4,411 associations between personalised flux values and the concentration of metabolites in blood. Furthermore, we apply FWAS to identify 97 metabolic fluxes associated with the risk of developing coronary artery disease, many of which are linked to processes previously described to play in role in the disease. Our work demonstrates that genetically personalised metabolic models can elucidate the downstream effects of genetic variants on biochemical reactions involved in common human diseases.
Serum DNA methylome of the colorectal cancer serrated pathway
Authors: Gallardo-Gómez María , Costas-Ríos Lara , Garcia-Prieto Carlos A. , Álvarez-Rodríguez Lara , Bujanda Luis , Barrero Maialen , Castells Antoni , Balaguer Francesc , Jover Rodrigo , Esteller Manel , Baiges Antoni Tardío , Fojón Joaquín González-Carreró , Cubiella Joaquín , De Chiara Loretta
Published: April 2022

Objective

The clinical relevance of the serrated pathway of colorectal carcinogenesis is evident but the screening of serrated lesions remains challenging. We aimed to characterize the serum methylome of the serrated pathway, and to evaluate circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation as a source of biomarkers for the non-invasive screening and diagnosis of serrated lesions.

Design

We collected serum samples from individuals with serrated adenocarcinoma (SAC), traditional serrated adenomas, sessile serrated lesions, hyperplastic polyps and with no colorectal findings. First, epigenome-wide methylation was quantified in cfDNA pooled samples with the MethylationEPIC array. Then, methylation profiles were compared to tissue and serum cfDNA datasets. Finally, biomarker utility of serum cfDNA methylation was evaluated.

Results

We identified a differential methylation profile that can distinguish high-risk serrated lesions from the absence of serrated neoplasia, showing concordance with tissue methylation from SAC and sessile serrated lesions (external datasets). We report that the methylation profiles in serum cfDNA are pathway-specific, clearly separating serrated lesions from conventional adenomas. Among the differentially methylated regions (DMR) we report, the combination of two DMRs within the genes NINJ2 and ERICH1 discriminated high-risk serrated lesions and SAC with 91.4% sensitivity and 64.4% specificity, while methylation from a DMR within ZNF718 reported 100% sensitivity for the detection of SAC at 96% specificity.

Conclusion

This is the only study available to date exploring the serum methylome of serrated lesions. We have identified a differential methylation profile in serum specific to the serrated pathway. The serum methylome may serve as a source of non-invasive biomarkers for screening and detection of high-risk serrated lesions.
Evaluation of cold pain tolerance in patients with fibromyalgia and opioid use by survival analysis
Authors: Deng Eden Z. , Weikel Daniel P. , Martucci Katherine T.
Published: April 2022

Purpose

Cold pain tolerance is traditionally measured using the cold pressor test (CPT), a clinical pain research method in which participants immerse an extremity (i.e., hand or foot) into cold water for as long as tolerable. Prior research studies have investigated cold pain tolerance in patients with chronic pain, yet few have used survival analysis, which allows for proper handling of data censoring and therefore, the optimal statistical method for CPT data analysis. The goal of the present study was to use survival analysis to evaluate cold pain tolerance in patients with fibromyalgia. Furthermore, we aimed to model relationships between psychological and clinical variables as well as opioid medication use and cold pain tolerance.

Patients and Methods

A total of 85 patients with fibromyalgia (42 who were taking opioids) and 47 healthy pain-free controls were involved in two studies that provided CPT and questionnaire data. Survival analysis using Cox regression models evaluated group effects (patients vs. controls) and effects of psychological, clinical, and medication factors on cold pain tolerance.

Results

Patients with fibromyalgia, as compared to healthy controls, exhibited significantly lower CPT survival (HR = 2.17, 95% CI: [1.42, 3.31], p = 0.00035). Cox regression models indicated that the psychological and clinical measures included did not strongly mediate this relationship (p > 0.05). When comparing across patient cohorts (Study 1 vs. Study 2), results were consistent across non-opioid-taking patient and healthy control groups, while differences in CPT survival were observed across the groups of patients taking opioid pain medications.

Conclusion

Reduced cold pain tolerance in patients with fibromyalgia is identified by survival analysis, an optimal method for time-to-event pain measures. While our selected psychological and clinical measures do not appear to be significantly associated with cold pain tolerance, opioid medication use may impart greater cold pain tolerance among some patients.
Strain-stream model of epidemic spread in application to COVID-19
Authors: Trigger S.A. , Ignatov A.M.
Published: April 2022

The recently developed model of the epidemic spread of two virus stains in a closed population is generalized for situation typical for the couple of strains delta and omicron, when there is high probability for omicron infection enough soon after recovering from delta infection. This model can be considered as some kind of weave of SIR and SIS models for the case of competition of two strains of the same virus having different contagiousness in a population.

PACS number(s)

02.50.-r, 05.60.-k, 82.39.-k, 87.19.Xx
A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF NON-INCISED PAPILLAE AND ENTIRE PAPILLA PRESERVATION SURGICAL APPROACHES IN TREATMENT OF INTRABONY DEFECTS – A CLINICAL AND RADIOGRAPHIC STUDY
Authors: Elenora Martina Bandi Divya , Chandra Rampalli Viswa , Santosh Vallabhdas , Reddy Gollapalle Prabhandh , Reddy Aileni Amarender
Published: April 2022

Aim & Objectives

The aim of the present study was to clinically and radiographically compare and evaluate the NIPSA (Non-Incised Papillae Surgical Approach) and EPP (Entire Papilla Preservation) techniques in the treatment of intra bony defects.

Patients and methods

From this initial patient pool of 156 patients, 44 individuals satisfying the inclusion criteria were selected. One site in each subject was assigned into each of the following experimental groups which were treated with the relevant procedure; NIPSA and EPP groups. Clinical parameters included the recording of pocket probing depths (PPD), clinical attachment levels (CAL) and papilla loss. The evaluation of bone fill was performed at the end of 3 & 6-months by using Image J® software.

Results

NIPSA and EPP resulted in highly significant CAL gains(4.00±1.00vs5.25 ± 1.47mm;p≤0.001)and PPD reductions(3.352±0.70vs3.625±1.024mm;p≤0.001)at 6-months post-surgery. From the start to the end of study period, NIPSA resulted in almost no papilla loss (1.71±0.47 to 1.73±0.77mm) while EPP technique showed minimal and insignificant(1.57±0.52 to 1.48±0.71mm;p≥0.05)papilla loss. The EPP group revealed a highly significant(0.459±0.16vs0.269±0.16cm2;p≤0.001)bone fill over NIPSA group at 6-months.

Conclusion

From this trial conducted over a period of 6-months, NIPSA and EPP both resulted in significant improvements in clinical outcomes. NIPSA and EPP showed favourable outcomes in terms papilla loss and bone fill respectively. Both the techniques achieve the aims outlined earlier and broaden the choice available to a periodontist in the management of intrabony defects.
Global Reports of Myocarditis Following COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Ahmed Sirwan Khalid , Mohamed Mona Gamal , Essa Rawand Abdulrahman , Ahmed Rashad Eman Abdelaziz , Ibrahim Peshraw Khdir , Khdir Awat Alla , Wsu Zhiar Hussen
Published: April 2022

In December 2020, the FDA granted emergency approval to Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) and Moderna (mRNA-1273) COVID-19 vaccines. There have been recent media reports of myocarditis after receiving COVID-19 vaccines, particularly the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, causing public concern. This review summarizes information from published case series and case reports, with a strong emphasis on reporting patient and disease characteristics, investigation, and clinical outcome, to provide a comprehensive picture of the condition. Forty studies, including 147 cases, participated in this systematic review. The median age was 28.9 years; 93.9% were male and 6.1% were female. 72.1% of patients received the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine, 24.5% of patients received the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA-1273), and the rest of the 3.3% received other types of vaccines. Furthermore, most myocarditis cases (87.1%) occurred after the second vaccine dose, after a median time interval of 3.3 days. The most frequently reported symptoms were chest pain, myalgia/body aches and fever. Troponin levels were consistently elevated in 98.6%. The admission ECG was abnormal in 88.5% of cases, and the left LVEF was lower than 50% in 26.5% of cases. The vast majority of patients (93.2%) resolved symptoms and recovered, and only 3 patients died. These findings may help public health policy to consider myocarditis in the context of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination as well as to assess the cardiac condition before the choice of vaccine, which is offered to male adults. In addition, it must be carefully weighed against the very substantial benefit of vaccination.
Comparison of procedures performed and costs between an outsourced dental health plan with fee-for-service payment and an evidence-based, in-house dental health service with salaried professionals
Authors: Da Costa Filho Luiz Cesar , Da Costa Carolina Covolo , Polanczyk Carisi Anne , Duncan Bruce Bartholow
Published: April 2022

It was evaluated a dental care services provided to almost 4,000 users (employees and their families) of a company (Moinhos de Vento Hospital, Brazil). The analysis was divided into two periods of time: from January 2000 to December 2002, during which time the dental care provided to employees (and families) was outsourced to a dental plan which operates with an accredited network, and from March 2003 to June 2005, when the dental care was provided by an in-house dental care service with preventive and evidence-based dentistry guidelines. Economic data were collected, as well as the type and number of procedures performed.

Conclusions

An in-house service with evidence-based clinical protocols, as compared with an accredited network, decreased costs and also increased the number of procedures done, changed the profile of care for a less invasive dentistry and one more geared toward the causes of diseases, while still preserving the customers’ satisfaction.
Statins and antidepressants induce similar in vitro gene expression responses
Authors: Jiang Jiayue-Clara , Hu Chenwen , McIntosh Andrew M , Shah Sonia
Published: April 2022

Background

Based on observational studies and small-scale randomized controlled trials, it is uncertain whether cholesterol-lowering statins have any beneficial or adverse effects on depressive symptoms. In this study we investigate this question using a genomics approach.

Methods

To compare the pharmacological effects of statin and antidepressant exposure and identify commonly perturbed biological pathways, we interrogated Connectivity Map (CMap), a database of gene expression signatures from drug-treated human cell lines. We used Mendelian randomization, a statistical genomics approach, to investigate the potential causal on-target (HMGCR inhibition) and off-target effects of statin exposure on depression, depressive symptoms, and traits related to the shared pathways identified from CMap analysis.

Results

Compounds inducing highly similar gene expression responses to statins (as indicated by an average CMap connectivity score with statins > 90) were enriched for antidepressants (12 out of 38 antidepressants; p < 1E-05). Genes perturbed in the same direction by both statins and antidepressants were significantly enriched for diverse cellular and metabolic pathways, and various immune activation, development and response processes. Genetically proxied HMGCR inhibition was significantly associated with monocyte and platelet-related metrics.

Conclusions

Our study is the first to directly compare gene expression responses to statins and antidepressants, demonstrating perturbation of shared immune pathways. We further show that statin exposure is strongly associated with alterations in monocyte and platelet measures, both of which have previously been implicated in depression. Our findings warrant further investigation into the use of statins for treating depression, particularly in patients with raised blood biomarkers of inflammation.
Ensuring a successful transition from Pap to HPV-based primary screening in Canada: a study protocol to investigate the psychosocial correlates of women’s screening intentions
Authors: Griffin-Mathieu Gabrielle , Haward Ben , Tatar Ovidiu , Zhu Patricia , Perez Samara , Shapiro Gilla K. , McBride Emily , Thompson Erika L. , Smith Laurie W. , Lofters Aisha K. , Daley Ellen M. , Guichon Juliet R. , Waller Jo , Steben Marc , Decker Kathleen M. , Mayrand Marie-Hélène , Brotherton Julia M. L. , Ogilvie Gina S. , Zimet Gregory D. , Norris Teresa , Rosberger Zeev
Published: April 2022

Introduction

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) test has emerged as a significant improvement over cytology for primary cervical cancer screening. In Canada, provinces and territories are moving towards implementing HPV testing in cervical cancer screening programs. While an abundance of research exists on the benefits of HPV-based screening, there is a dearth of research examining women’s understanding of HPV testing. In other countries, failure to adequately address women’s concerns about changes has disrupted implementation of HPV-based screening. This study protocol describes a multi-step approach to develop psychometrically valid measures and to investigate psychosocial correlates of women’s intentions to participate in HPV-based cervical cancer screening.

Materials and Methods

We conducted a web-based survey of Canadian women to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a questionnaire, including validation of scales examining: cervical cancer knowledge, HPV testing knowledge, HPV testing attitudes and beliefs, and HPV test self-sampling attitudes and beliefs. Preferences for cervical cancer screening were assessed using Best-Worst Scaling methodology.

A second web-based survey will be administered to a national sample of Canadian women in June-July of 2022 using the validated scales. Differences in the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and preferences of women who are currently either underscreened or adequately screened for cervical cancer will be examined through bivariate analyses. Multinomial logistic regression will be used to estimate the associations between psychosocial and sociodemographic factors and intentions to screen using HPV-based screening.

Study Impact and Dissemination

Findings will provide direction for Canadian public health authorities to align guidelines to address women’s concerns and optimize acceptability and uptake of HPV-based primary screening. Validated scales can be used by other researchers to improve and standardize measurement of psychosocial factors impacting HPV test acceptability. Study results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal articles, conference presentations, and direct communication with researchers, clinicians, policymakers, media, and specialty organizations.
A 21L/BA.2-21K/BA.1 “MixOmicron” SARS-CoV-2 hybrid undetected by qPCR that screen for variant in routine diagnosis
Authors: Colson Philippe , Delerce Jeremy , Marion-Paris Elise , Lagier Jean-Christophe , Levasseur Anthony , Fournier Pierre-Edouard , La Scola Bernard , Raoult Didier
Published: April 2022

Among the multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants identified since summer 2020, several have co-circulated, creating opportunities for coinfections and potentially genetic recombinations that are common in coronaviruses. Viral recombinants are indeed beginning to be reported more frequently. Here, we describe a new SARS-CoV-2 recombinant genome that is mostly that of a Omicron 21L/BA.2 variant but with a 3’ tip originating from a Omicron 21K/BA.1 variant. Two such genomes were obtained in our institute from adults sampled in February 2022 in university hospitals of Marseille, southern France, by next-generation sequencing carried out with the Illumina or Nanopore technologies. The recombination site was located between nucleotides 26,858-27,382. In the two genomic assemblies, mean sequencing depth at mutation-harboring positions was 271 and 1,362 reads and mean prevalence of the majoritary nucleotide was 99.3±2.2% and 98.8±1.6%, respectively. Phylogeny generated trees with slightly different topologies according to whether genomes were depleted or not of the 3’ tip. This 3’ terminal end brought in the Omicron 21L/BA.2 genome a short transposable element of 41 nucleotides named S2m that is present in most SARS-CoV-2 except a few variants among which the Omicron 21L/BA.2 variant and may be involved in virulence. Importantly, this recombinant is not detected by currently used qPCR that screen for variants in routine diagnosis. The present observation emphasizes the need to survey closely the genetic pathways of SARS-CoV-2 variability by whole genome sequencing, and it could contribute to gain a better understanding of factors that lead to observed differences between epidemic potentials of the different variants.
Weakly supervised learning for multi-organ adenocarcinoma classification in whole slide images
Authors: Tsuneki Masayuki , Kanavati Fahdi
Published: April 2022

The primary screening by automated computational pathology algorithms of the presence or absence of adenocarcinoma in biopsy specimens (e.g., endoscopic biopsy, transbronchial lung biopsy, and needle biopsy) of possible primary organs (e.g., stomach, colon, lung, and breast) and radical lymph node dissection specimen is very useful and should be a powerful tool to assist surgical pathologists in routine histopathological diagnostic workflow. In this paper, we trained multi-organ deep learning models to classify adenocarcinoma in biopsy and radical lymph node dissection specimens whole slide images (WSIs). We evaluated the models on seven independent test sets (stomach, colon, lung, breast, lymph nodes) to demonstrate the feasibility in multiorgan and lymph nodes specimens from different medical institutions and international public datasets, achieving receiver operating characteristic areas under the curves (ROC-AUCs) in the range of 0.91-0.99.
Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) Method for Midwives Planning and Estimation at Asrade Zewude Memorial Primary Hospital, North west Ethiopia
Authors: Asres Gizew Dessie
Published: April 2022

Background

Work force is a crucial component of health services delivery system. Ethiopia faces health workforce challenges with regard to evidence based health work force planning. First the health worker to population ratio was used and later standard staffing schedule for each health facility level was used. Both of these methods did not address the issue of evidence based workload variation between the same levels of facilities at different locations within a country. A workload indicator of staffing need method (WISN) addresses these variations. Therefore this study was assumed for recommendation on use of WISN for health facilities based on WISN results of midwives at Asrade Zewude memorial Hospital.

Methods

Cross sectional study using WISN model was used to determine the gaps or excess and workload pressure in midwives at Asrade Zewude Memorial primary hospital, North West Ethiopia.

Results

The finding showed that there was five working days with 1030 hrs actual working time per year for midwives. This working time was spent on health service activities (58.4%), additional activities (36.6%) and support activities (5%). WISN calculation showed that a shortage of five midwives with WISN ratio of 0.8 at Asrade Zewude Memorial primary hospital North West Ethiopia.

Conclusion

Midwives at the study area were doing their routine work with 20% under staffed by covering the additional five midwives’ position. With this working condition, it may be hard to achieve universal health coverage goals of the facility. Therefore the hospital should institutionalize WISN method to objectively employ midwifery professionals.
The responsiveness of health service provider and quality of services when provided at three selected urban primary health care sites in Dhaka city, Bangladesh: A cross–sectional study
Authors: Gautam Abhiyan , Bhandari Bandana , Hassan Chungano , Hassan Fatiha , Mehjabeen Saima , Ahmed Syed Masud , Islam Kuhel Faizul , Naher Nahitun , Haque Roksana
Published: April 2022

1

Introduction

Responsiveness of Health Service Provider (HSP) and quality of services when provided resembles basic professional and social duties of HSP towards their clients. Because of poor responsiveness and quality of services when provided, clients lose their trust towards HSP. These factors are very important to improve relationship between HSP and clients, clients’ satisfaction, quality of care and finally increase utilization of Urban Primary Health Care Centre services (UPHC).

Objectives

This study was done to determine the responsiveness of health service provider and quality of services when provided at selected UPHCs in Dhaka city.

Methodology

A cross sectional quantitative study was conducted in three UPHCs in Dhaka city from November to December 2017. 257 exit interviews were conducted by systematic random sampling for responsiveness and quality of services when provided. 49 observations of client-provider interactions were conducted using Responsiveness of Physician (ROP) scale. For exit interview, dichotomous variable was used. Descriptive analysis was done using Stata v 12.1.

Findings

Majority (90%) of HSP listen carefully, explained about the diseases, facilitated about follow-up, and client understood information clearly. More than 70% of the clients found the providers approach were friendly though only 37% had social talk with the clients. 41% of the clients reported that the providers shared emergency contact number. Around 67% of clients were not asked allergic history and in 47% case consent was not taken before procedure. Being urban area, for more than 39% clients services were not given similar in terms of social status like gender, ethnicity, economic and social status.

For tangible items like gloves (80%) and thermometer (55%) were mostly missing in all UPHCs. 88% of the HSP were reliable, 93% assured the client and 91% showed empathy in all facilities. Clients were mostly satisfied with doctor’s behaviour and dissatisfied about the long waiting time (average 37 minutes) in all UPHCs.

Conclusion

This study has highlighted some important gaps in responsiveness of HSP which translate into the quality of care being provided to clients seeking care from UPHC. Friendliness of HSP should be increased and services should be provided with respect.
Multimodal neuroimaging correlates of physical-cognitive covariation in Chilean adolescents. The Cogni-Action Project
Authors: Cristi-Montero Carlos , Johansen-Berg Heidi , Salvan Piergiorgio
Published: April 2022

Health-related behaviours have been related to brain structural features; however, most literature in this domain comes from developed countries. In developing settings, such as Latin America, high social inequality is associated inversely with several health-related behaviours affecting brain development. Understanding the relationship between health behaviours and brain structure in such settings is particularly important during adolescence when key habits are acquired and ingrained. In this cross-sectional study, we carry out a multimodal analysis identifying a brain region associated with health-related behaviours (i.e., fatness, fitness, sleep problems and others) and cognitive/academic performance independent of socioeconomic status in a large sample of Chilean adolescents. Our findings suggest that the relationship between health behaviours and cognitive/academic performance involves a particular brain phenotype that could play a mediator role. These findings raise the possibility of promoting healthy behaviours in adolescence as a means to influence brain structure and thereby cognitive/academic achievement, independently of socioeconomic factors.
A Sex-Specific Genome-Wide Association Study of Depression Phenotypes in UK Biobank
Authors: Silveira Patrícia Pelufo , Pokhvisneva Irina , Howard David M , Meaney Michael J.
Published: April 2022

Background

There are marked sex differences in the prevalence, phenotypic presentation and treatment response for major depression. While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) adjust for sex differences, to date no studies seek to identify sex-specific markers and pathways. In this study we performed a sex-stratified genome-wide association analysis for broad depression.

Methods

A genome-wide association study for broad depression was performed in the UK Biobank total participants (N=274,141), including only non-related participants, as well as separately in males (N=127,867) and females (N=146,274). Bioinformatics analyses were performed to characterize common and sex-specific markers and associated processes/pathways.

Results

We identified 11 loci passing genome level significance (P < 5* 10−8) in females and one in males. In both males and females, genetic correlations were significant between the broad depression GWA and other psychopathologies, however, correlations with educational attainment and metabolic features including body fat, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and triglycerides were significant only in females. Gene-based analysis showed 147 genes significantly associated with broad depression in the total sample, 64 in the females and 53 in males. Gene-based analysis revealed “Regulation of Gene Expression” as a common biological process, but suggested sex-specific molecular mechanisms. Finally, sex-specific PRSs for broad depression outperformed total and the opposite sex PRSs in the prediction of broad MDD.

Conclusions

These findings provide evidence for sex-dependent genetic pathways for clinical depression as well as for health conditions comorbid with depression.
Climate adaptation and vulnerability of foundation species in a global change hotspot
Authors: Gallegos Cristóbal , Hodgins Kathryn A. , Monro Keyne
Published: April 2022

Climate change is altering species ranges, and abundances within ranges, as populations become differentially adapted and vulnerable to the climates they face. Hence, characterising current ranges, whether species harbour and exchange adaptive genetic variants, and how variants are distributed across landscapes undergoing rapid change, is crucial to predicting responses to future climates and informing conservation strategies. Such insights are nonetheless lacking for most species of conservation concern. We characterise genomic patterns of neutral variation, climate adaptation, and climate vulnerability (the amount of genomic change needed to track climate change by adaptation) in sister foundation species, the endemic marine tubewormsGaleolaria caespitosaandGaleolaria gemineoa, across a sentinel region for climate change impacts. First, species are shown to be partly sympatric despite previous support for non-overlapping ranges, and genetically isolated despite known capacity for hybrid crosses to yield viable early offspring. Second, species show signals of polygenic adaptation, but to differing components of temperature and involving mostly different loci. Last, species are predicted to be differentially vulnerable to climate change, withG. gemineoa— the less genetically diverse species — needing double the adaptation to track projected changes in temperature compared to its sister species. Together, our findings provide new insights into climate adaptation and its potential disruption by climate change for foundation species that enhance local biodiversity, with implications for evolutionarily-enlightened management of coastal ecosystems.
Multi-omic profiling of the leukemic microenvironment shows bone marrow interstitial fluid is distinct from peripheral blood plasma
Authors: Nierves Lorenz , Guo Jian , Chen Siyuan , Tsui Janice , Uzozie Anuli , Bush Jonathan W. , Huan Tao , Lange Philipp F.
Published: April 2022

The bone marrow is the place of hematopoiesis with a microenvironment that supports lifelong maintenance of stem cells and high proliferation. It is not surprising that this environment is also favourable for malignant cells emerging in the bone marrow or metastasizing to it. While the cellular composition of the bone marrow microenvironment has been extensively studied, the extracellular matrix and interstitial fluid components have received little attention. Since the sinusoids connect the bone marrow interstitial fluid to the circulation, it is often considered to have the same composition as peripheral blood plasma. Stark differences in the cellular composition of the bone marrow and peripheral blood with different secretory capacities would however suggest profound differences.

In this study we set out to better define if and how the bone marrow interstitial fluid (BMIF) compares to the peripheral blood plasma (PBP) and how both are remodeled during chemotherapy. We applied a multi-omic strategy to quantify the metabolite, lipid and protein components as well as the proteolytic modification of proteins to gain a comprehensive understanding of the two compartments. We found that the bone marrow interstitial fluid is clearly distinct from peripheral blood plasma, both during active pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and following induction chemotherapy. Either compartment was shaped differently by active leukemia, with the bone marrow interstitial fluid being rich in extracellular vesicle components and showing protease dysregulation while the peripheral blood plasma showed elevation of immune regulatory proteins. Following chemotherapy, the BMIF showed signs of cellular remodeling and impaired innate immune activation while the peripheral blood plasma was characterized by restored lipid homeostasis.
Correlation and Path Coefficient Analyses in Hot Pepper (Capsicum annum L.)
Authors: Bekele Bantayehu , Petros Yohanes , Oljira Tamiru , Andargie Mebeaselassie
Published: April 2022

To assess the correlation and find out the direct and indirect effect of yield attributing traits on yield, twenty six accessions and four varieties during the off-season period from November 2016 to May 2017 under irrigation. at Dire dawa, Ethiopia. The experiment was conducted using RCBD design with three replications. Plant height, primary branch per plot, days to fifty percent flowering, stem width, number of fruit per plant, fruit length, days to maturity and number of fruit per plant were positive and highly significantly correlated with dry fruit yield per plot at both genotypic and phenotypic correlation. Plant height (0.1081), number of fruit per plant (0.2610), fruit length (0.4293), stem width (0.4059), pedicel length (0.0122), days to maturity (0.0401) and internode length (0.0227) exerted positive direct effect on dry fruit yield per plot at phenotypic level. Genotypic path analysis showed that days to fifty percent flowering (0.0956), stem width (0.5867), fruit length (0.3671), plant height (0.0754), number of fruit per plant (0.2673) and internode length (0.0079)had positive direct effect. The direct effect of these characters on dry fruit yield per plot indicates that improvement on these traits may increase yield.
Hypoxia-induced tracheal elasticity in vector beetle facilitates the loading of pinewood nematode
Authors: Tang Xuan , Zhou Jiao , Koski Tuuli-Marjaana , Liu Shiyao , Zhao Lilin , Sun Jianghua
Published: April 2022

Many pathogens rely on their insect vectors for transmission. Such pathogens are under selection to improve vector competence for their transmission by employing various tissue or cellular responses of vectors. However, whether pathogens can actively cause hypoxia in vectors and exploit hypoxia responses to promote their vector competence is still unknown. Fast dispersal of pinewood nematode (PWN), the causal agent for the destructive pine wilt disease and subsequent infection of pine trees is characterized by the high vector competence of pine sawyer beetles (Monochamus spp.), and a single beetle can harbor over 200,000 PWNs in its tracheal system. Here, we demonstrate that PWN loading activates hypoxia in tracheal system of the vector beetles. Both PWN loading and hypoxia enhanced tracheal elasticity and thickened the apical extracellular matrix (aECM) of the tracheal tubes while a notable upregulated expression of a resilin-like mucin protein Muc91C was observed at the aECM layer of PWN-loaded and hypoxic tracheal tubes. RNAi knockdown ofMuc91Creduced tracheal elasticity and aECM thickness under hypoxia conditions and thus decreasing PWN loading. Our study suggests a crucial role of hypoxia-induced developmental responses in shaping vector tolerance to the pathogen and provides clues for potential molecular targets to control pathogen dissemination.
Hypercaloric diet triggers transient molecular rearrangements of astrocytes selectively in the arcuate nucleus
Authors: Lutomska Luiza Maria , Miok Viktorian , Krahmer Natalie , García Ismael González , Gruber Tim , Le Thuc Ophélia , De Bernardis Murat Cahuê , Legutko Beata , Sterr Michael , Saher Gesine , Lickert Heiko , Müller Timo D. , Ussar Siegfried , Tschöp Matthias H. , Lutter Dominik , García-Cáceres Cristina
Published: April 2022

Hypothalamic astrocytes are particularly affected by energy-dense food consumption. How the anatomical location of these glial cells and their spatial molecular distribution in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC) determine the cellular response to a high caloric diet remains unclear. In this study, we investigated their distinctive molecular responses following the exposure to a high-fat high-sugar (HFHS) diet, specifically in the ARC. Using RNA sequencing and proteomics, we showed that astrocytes have a distinct transcriptomic and proteomic profile dependent on their anatomical location, with a major proteomic reprogramming in hypothalamic astrocytes. By ARC single-cell sequencing, we observed that a HFHS diet dictates time- and cell-specific transcriptomic responses, revealing that astrocytes have the most distinct regulatory pattern compared to other cell types. Lastly, we topographically and molecularly characterized astrocytes expressing glial fibrillary acidic protein and/or aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member L1 in the ARC, of which the abundance was significantly increased, as well as the alteration in their spatial and molecular profiles, with a HFHS diet. Together, our results provide a detailed multi-omics view on the spatial and temporal changes of astrocytes particularly in the ARC during different time points of adaptation to a high caloric diet.
CUT&Tag recovers up to half of ENCODE ChIP-seq histone acetylation peaks
Authors: Abbasova Leyla , Urbanaviciute Paulina , Hu Di , Ismail Joy N. , Schilder Brian M. , Nott Alexi , Skene Nathan G. , Marzi Sarah J.
Published: April 2022

Techniques for genome-wide epigenetic profiling have been undergoing accelerated development toward recovery of high-quality data from bulk and single cell samples. DNA-protein interactions have traditionally been profiled via chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by next generation sequencing (ChIP-seq), which has become the gold standard for studying histone modifications or transcription factor binding. Cleavage Under Targets & Tagmentation (CUT&Tag) is a rapidly expanding new technique that enables profiling of such interactionsin situat high sensitivity and is adaptable to single cell applications. However, thorough evaluation and benchmarking against established ChIP-seq datasets are lacking. Here, we comprehensively benchmarked CUT&Tag for H3K27ac and H3K27me3 against published ChIP-seq profiles from ENCODE in K562 cells. Combining multiple new and published CUT&Tag datasets, there was an average recall of 54% known ENCODE peaks for both histone modifications. To optimize data analysis steps, we tested peak callers MACS2 and SEACR and identified optimal peak calling parameters. Considering both precision and recall of known ENCODE peaks, the peak callers were comparable in their performance, although peaks produced by MACS2 match ENCODE peak width distributions more closely. We found that reducing PCR cycles during library preparation lowered duplication rates at the expense of ENCODE peak recovery. Despite the moderate ENCODE peak recovery, peaks identified by CUT&Tag represent the strongest ENCODE peaks and show the same functional and biological enrichments as ChIP-seq peaks identified by ENCODE. Our workflow systematically evaluates the merits of methodological adjustments, providing a benchmarking framework for the experimental design and analysis of CUT&Tag studies, and will facilitate future efforts to apply CUT&Tag in human tissues and single cells.
Effects of organic fertilizer digestate on the growth of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill)
Authors: Effa Effa Branly Wilfrid , Demikoyo Dick Sadler , Mibemu Guibinga Stéphane , Nguema Ndong Martin , Bagafou Yves Anaclet
Published: April 2022

Tomatoes are known for their human health benefits. Tomato producers use chemical fertilizers to increase tomato production levels. However, the use of organic fertilizers such as digestate can achieve satisfactory yields while sustaining the soil environment. In this tomato study, the effect of three dilutions of digestate (25%, 50% and 75%) on plant height, leaf area and fruit number were compared to NPK 15 15 15. The 50% dilution of digestate had the most beneficial effect on the plants at the end of the experiment.