bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Concordance and test-retest consistency of sleep biomarker-based neurodegenerative disorder profiling
Authors: Levendowski Daniel J. , Tsuang Debby , Chahine Lana M. , Walsh Christine M. , Berka Chris , Lee-Iannotti Joyce K. , Salat David , Fischer Corrine , Mazeika Gandis , Boeve Bradley F. , Strambi Luigi Ferini , Lewis Simon J. G. , Neylan Thomas C. , Louis Erik K. St.
Published: December 2024

Biomarkers that aid in early detection of neurodegeneration are needed to enable early symptomatic treatment and enable identification of people who may benefit from neuroprotective interventions. Increasing evidence suggests that sleep biomarkers may be useful, given the bi-directional relationship between sleep and neurodegeneration and the prominence of sleep disturbances and altered sleep architectural characteristics in several neurodegenerative disorders. This study aimed to demonstrate that sleep can accurately characterize specific neurodegenerative disorders (NDD). A four-class machine-learning algorithm was trained using age and nine sleep biomarkers from patients with clinically-diagnosed manifest and prodromal NDDs, including Alzheimer’s disease dementia (AD = 27), Lewy body dementia (LBD = 18), and isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD = 15), as well as a control group (CG = 58). The algorithm was validated in a total of 381 recordings, which included the training data set plus an additional AD = 10, iRBD = 18, Parkinson disease without dementia (PD = 29), mild cognitive impairment (MCI = 78) and CG = 128. Test–retest consistency was then assessed in LBD = 10, AD = 9, and CG = 46. The agreement between the NDD profiles and their respective clinical diagnoses exceeded 75% for the AD, LBD, and CG, and improved when NDD participants classified Likely Normal with NDD indications consistent with their clinical diagnosis were considered. Profiles for iRBD, PD and MCI participants were consistent with the heterogeneity of disease severities, with the majority of overt disagreements explained by normal sleep characterization in 27% of iRBD, 21% of PD, and 26% of MCI participants. For test–retest assignments, the same or similar NDD profiles were obtained for 88% of LBD, 86% in AD, and 98% of CG participants. The potential utility for NDD subtyping based on sleep biomarkers demonstrates promise and requires further prospective development and validation in larger NDD cohorts.
Lightweight tea bud detection method based on improved YOLOv5
Authors: Zhang Kun , Yuan Bohan , Cui Jingying , Liu Yuyang , Zhao Long , Zhao Hua , Chen Shuangchen
Published: December 2024

Tea bud detection technology is of great significance in realizing automated and intelligent plucking of tea buds. This study proposes a lightweight tea bud identification model based on modified Yolov5 to increase the picking accuracy and labor efficiency of intelligent tea bud picking while lowering the deployment pressure of mobile terminals. The following methods are used to make improvements: the backbone network CSPDarknet-53 of YOLOv5 is replaced with the EfficientNetV2 feature extraction network to reduce the number of parameters and floating-point operations of the model; the neck network of YOLOv5, the Ghost module is introduced to construct the ghost convolution and C3ghost module to further reduce the number of parameters and floating-point operations of the model; replacing the upsampling module of the neck network with the CARAFE upsampling module can aggregate the contextual tea bud feature information within a larger sensory field and improve the mean average precision of the model in detecting tea buds. The results show that the improved tea bud detection model has a mean average precision of 85.79%, only 4.14 M parameters, and only 5.02G of floating-point operations. The number of parameters and floating-point operations is reduced by 40.94% and 68.15%, respectively, when compared to the original Yolov5 model, but the mean average precision is raised by 1.67% points. The advantages of this paper’s algorithm in tea shot detection can be noticed by comparing it to other YOLO series detection algorithms. The improved YOLOv5 algorithm in this paper can effectively detect tea buds based on lightweight, and provide corresponding theoretical research for intelligent tea-picking robots.
Coupled echosounder and Doppler profiler measurements in the Strait of Gibraltar
Authors: Sammartino Simone , García-Lafuente Jesús , Nadal Irene , Sánchez-Leal Ricardo F.
Published: December 2024

Long time series of velocity profiles collected by up-looking acoustic profilers in the westernmost sill of the Strait of Gibraltar show an unexpected pattern in the deepest ∼80 m of the water column, consisting in an appreciable diurnal weakening of the measured horizontal velocity. A harmonic analysis performed on long time series reveals a surprising magnitude of S1 constituent (exactly 1 cpd of frequency) in the horizontal velocity and echo amplitude, which prevails over the rest of diurnal constituents within this depth range, including K1, despite being around 200 times smaller than it in the tide generating potential. High resolution echograms collected by a new instrument recently installed in the mooring line, point at the diel vertical migration of living acoustic scatterers (zooplankton) as the most reasonable cause. It provokes a nightly depletion of scatterers availability near the bottom, which is registered by the instrument as a nighttime weakening of the velocity, as well as an increase of its uncertainty, at the deepest part of the profile. Newly acquired high spatial resolution measurements of the velocity near the seafloor report intense currents which are incompatible with the ones produced by the scatterers scarceness. This result indicates an overall underestimation of the Mediterranean current in previous works of approximately 17% within the depth range of 280–360 m, which in turn translates into an underestimation of previously computed outflow of ∼5%. These new findings make it necessary the re-computation of all the near-20-year long (to date) series of Mediterranean outflow based on the observations collected at this sill of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Plasma metabolomics profiles indicate sex differences of lipid metabolism in patients with Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Hu Ling , Huang Yuan-Jun , Wei You-Dong , Li Tao , Ke Wei , Chen Guang-Hui , Dong Mei-Xue
Published: December 2024

The effect of sexual dimorphism on the metabolism of patients with Parkinson’s disease has not been clarified. A group of patients with Parkinson’s disease and healthy controls were recruited, and their clinical characteristics and plasma were collected. Untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based plasma metabolomics profiling was performed. Differentially expressed metabolites between patients and healthy controls were respectively identified in the male and female participants and metabolite set enrichment analyses were further employed. A total of 75 patients with Parkinson’s disease (37 males and 38 females) and 31 healthy controls (16 males and 15 females) were enrolled while no significant differences can be discovered in clinical characteristics. The constructed male-specific metabolic model from orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis can’t well recognize female patients and the female-specific model also can’t accurately identify male patients. There were 55 differentially expressed metabolites in the male participants, and fatty acids and conjugates and eicosanoids were the significantly enriched metabolite sets. Meanwhile, 86 metabolites were differentially expressed in the female participants while fatty acids and conjugates and glycerophosphocholines were enriched. Only 17 metabolites were simultaneously changed in both male and female patients. Significant sex differences of lipid metabolism were found in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Comprehension of acoustically degraded emotional prosody in Alzheimer’s disease and primary progressive aphasia
Authors: Jiang Jessica , Johnson Jeremy C. S. , Requena-Komuro Maï-Carmen , Benhamou Elia , Sivasathiaseelan Harri , Chokesuwattanaskul Anthipa , Nelson Annabel , Nortley Ross , Weil Rimona S. , Volkmer Anna , Marshall Charles R. , Bamiou Doris-Eva , Warren Jason D. , Hardy Chris J. D.
Published: December 2024

Previous research suggests that emotional prosody perception is impaired in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and primary progressive aphasia (PPA). However, no previous research has investigated emotional prosody perception in these diseases under non-ideal listening conditions. We recruited 18 patients with AD, and 31 with PPA (nine logopenic (lvPPA); 11 nonfluent/agrammatic (nfvPPA) and 11 semantic (svPPA)), together with 24 healthy age-matched individuals. Participants listened to speech stimuli conveying three emotions in clear and noise-vocoded forms and had to identify the emotion being conveyed. We then conducted correlation analyses between task performance and measures of socio-emotional functioning. All patient groups showed significant impairments in identifying clear emotional prosody compared to healthy individuals. These deficits were exacerbated under noise-vocoded conditions, with all patient groups performing significantly worse than healthy individuals and patients with lvPPA performing significantly worse than those with svPPA. Significant correlations with social cognition measures were observed more consistently for noise-vocoded than clear emotional prosody comprehension. These findings open a window on a dimension of real-world emotional communication that has often been overlooked in dementia, with particular relevance to social cognition, and begin to suggest a novel candidate paradigm for investigating and quantifying this systematically.
High-throughput gene expression analysis with TempO-LINC sensitively resolves complex brain, lung and kidney heterogeneity at single-cell resolution
Authors: Eastburn Dennis J. , White Kevin S. , Jayne Nathan D. , Camiolo Salvatore , Montis Gioele , Ha Seungeun , Watson Kendall G. , Yeakley Joanne M. , McComb Joel , Seligmann Bruce
Published: December 2024

We report the development and performance of a novel genomics platform, TempO-LINC, for conducting high-throughput transcriptomic analysis on single cells and nuclei. TempO-LINC works by adding cell-identifying molecular barcodes onto highly selective and high-sensitivity gene expression probes within fixed cells, without having to first generate cDNA. Using an instrument-free combinatorial indexing approach, all probes within the same fixed cell receive an identical barcode, enabling the reconstruction of single-cell gene expression profiles across as few as several hundred cells and up to 100,000 + cells per sample. The TempO-LINC approach is easily scalable based on the number of barcodes and rounds of barcoding performed; however, for the experiments reported in this study, the assay utilized over 5.3 million unique barcodes. TempO-LINC offers a robust protocol for fixing and banking cells and displays high-sensitivity gene detection from multiple diverse sample types. We show that TempO-LINC has a multiplet rate of less than 1.1% and a cell capture rate of ~ 50%. Although the assay can accurately profile the whole transcriptome (19,683 human, 21,400 mouse and 21,119 rat genes), it can be targeted to measure only actionable/informative genes and molecular pathways of interest – thereby reducing sequencing requirements. In this study, we applied TempO-LINC to profile the transcriptomes of more than 90,000 cells across multiple species and sample types, including nuclei from mouse lung, kidney and brain tissues. The data demonstrated the ability to identify and annotate more than 50 unique cell populations and positively correlate expression of cell type-specific molecular markers within them. TempO-LINC is a robust new single-cell technology that is ideal for large-scale applications/studies with high data quality.
A ridge-loaded staggered double-vane slow wave structure for terahertz radiation sources
Authors: Latif Jibran , Wang Zhanliang , Jameel Atif , Ali Bilawal , Nadeem Muhammad Khawar , Gong Yubin
Published: December 2024

A ridge-loaded staggered double-vane slow-wave structure is proposed for terahertz radiation sources employing a sheet electron beam. This slow-wave structure has the advantages of enhanced electric field and energy density distribution and improved interaction impedance in the beam-wave interaction region. High-frequency characteristics are investigated for the proposed slow wave structure and compared with those of the staggered double-vane slow wave structure. The slow wave structure is fabricated and experimentally tested for transmission and reflection properties, revealing $$S_{21}$$ above -2 dB and $$S_{11}$$ below -17 dB at 0.34 THz for a backward wave oscillator. Steady transmission of the 21.7 kV sheet electron beam is achieved by designing a periodic cusped magnetic system (0.2 T) along with a sheet electron beam gun (50 mA). Beam-wave interaction simulations utilizing 100 periods demonstrate a peak power of 14 W and continuous frequency tuning from 0.295-0.375 THz for the proposed slow wave structure, whereas the staggered double-vane slow wave structure achieves 8.5 W peak power and frequency tuning from 0.308-0.366 THz. The sensitivity of the output power to the added ridge geometry is also analyzed. These findings indicate that the novel ridge-loaded staggered double vane slow-wave structure is promising for developing high-power broad frequency tunable terahertz radiation sources.
Effect of exogenous treatment with zaxinone and its mimics on rice root microbiota across different growth stages
Authors: Mazzarella Teresa , Chialva Matteo , de Souza Leonardo Perez , Wang Jian You , Votta Cristina , Tiozon Rhowell , Vaccino Patrizia , Salvioli di Fossalunga Alessandra , Sreenivasulu Nese , Asami Tadao , Fernie Alisdair R. , Al-Babili Salim , Lanfranco Luisa , Fiorilli Valentina
Published: December 2024

Enhancing crops productivity to ensure food security is one of the major challenges encountering agriculture today. A promising solution is the use of biostimulants, which encompass molecules that enhance plant fitness, growth, and productivity. The regulatory metabolite zaxinone and its mimics (MiZax3 and MiZax5) showed promising results in improving the growth and yield of several crops. Here, the impact of their exogenous application on soil and rice root microbiota was investigated. Plants grown in native paddy soil were treated with zaxinone, MiZax3, and MiZax5 and the composition of bacterial and fungal communities in soil, rhizosphere, and endosphere at the tillering and the milky stage was assessed. Furthermore, shoot metabolome profile and nutrient content of the seeds were evaluated. Results show that treatment with zaxinone and its mimics predominantly influenced the root endosphere prokaryotic community, causing a partial depletion of plant-beneficial microbes at the tillering stage, followed by a recovery of the prokaryotic community structure during the milky stage. Our study provides new insights into the role of zaxinone and MiZax in the interplay between rice and its root-associated microbiota and paves the way for their practical application in the field as ecologically friendly biostimulants to enhance crop productivity.
A new diminutive species of bohaiornithid enantiornithine (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group, northern China
Authors: Shen Caizhi , Clark Alexander D. , Fang Hui , Chen Shaokun , Jiang Hongxia , Ji Qiang , O’Connor Jingmai K.
Published: December 2024

Enantiornithes are the most successful early-diverging avian clade, their fossils revealing important information regarding the structure of Cretaceous avifaunas and the parallel refinement of flight alongside the ornithuromorph lineage that includes modern birds. The most diverse recognized family of Early Cretaceous enantiornithines is the Bohaiornithidae, known from the Jehol Biota in northeastern China. Members of this clade enhance our understanding of intraclade morphological diversity and elucidate the independent evolution of this unique lineage. Here, we report on a new specimen of bohaiornithid, Neobohaiornis lamadongensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in western Liaoning, China. The holotype specimen is considerably smaller than all other known bohaiornithids (roughly half the size of Bohaiornis). The presence of complete fusion in compound elements strongly suggests it represents a mature or nearly mature individual, and therefore substantially increases the known size range of this clade. This specimen further differs from known bohaiornithids in that it exhibits reduced manual unguals and an increased number of sacral vertebrae, which indicates bohaiornithids evolved increased flight capabilities in parallel to other enantiornithine lineages, such as the Longipterygidae. Traces of the plumage, which are rarely preserved in bohaiornithids, reveal the presence of remiges with rounded distal margins and short crural feathers.
Predictive nomogram of ultrasound indicators for the termination outcome of caesarean scar pregnancy
Authors: Xiao Xiaoyi , Feng Zhichao , Li Ting , Qiao Hong , Zhu Yun
Published: December 2024

To develop and validate a nomogram for predicting the risk of adverse events (intraoperative massive haemorrhage or retained products of conception) associated with the termination of Caesarean scar pregnancy (CSP). Data were retrospectively collected from patients diagnosed with CSP who underwent Dilation and Curettage (D&C) at two hospitals. This data was divided into internal and external cohorts for analysis. The internal cohort was randomly split, with 70% of the data designated for a training set and 30% for an internal validation set. The external cohort served exclusively as the external validation set. LASSO and logistic regression techniques were employed to select variables and construct the nomogram. The performance of the nomogram was evaluated using various methods, including C-index, calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA), and clinical impact curve analysis (CICA), to assess its identification, calibration, and clinical effectiveness. The prediction nomogram included several predictors, such as scar thickness, type of CSP, gestational sac diameter, and blood flow. It demonstrated strong discrimination, with a C-index of 0.83 (95% confidence interval: 0.77–0.89). Furthermore, in the internal validation set, a high C-index of 0.78 was achieved, while in the external validation set, it reached 0.83. Additional assessments using calibration curve analysis, DCA, and CICA indicated robust agreement between the nomogram’s predictions and actual observations, highlighting its utility and reliability. The developed nomogram shows excellent discriminative ability and calibration, with the potential for effective local prediction of adverse events in CSP.
Biopreservation and reversal of oxidative injury during blood storage by a novel curcumin-based gel formulation
Authors: Hicks Wayne , Jana Sirsendu , Kassa Tigist , Prince Richard , Cabrales Pedro , Friedman Joel , Alayash Abdu I.
Published: December 2024

Blood storage lesion induces cytosolic and membrane changes driven in part by hemoglobin (Hb) oxidation reactions within red blood cells (RBCs). A novel gel formulation containing the antioxidant curcuminoids in a biocompatible solvent system was used to deliver curcumin into RBCs. Incubation of peroxide treated RBCs stored in PBS with curcumin gel led to a reduction in prooxidant ferrylHb and recovery in ATP. Curcumin treatment prevented band 3 tyrosine (Y359 and Y21) phosphorylation. RBCs stored in AS-3 solutions for 28, 35, 42 and 49 days, following a single-dose of 100µM curcuminoids at each time points, caused reduction in protein carbonylation and considerable recovery in ATP levels. Proteomic analysis revealed minimal changes in the proteomic landscape in 35 days. However, a downregulation in fibrinogen was observed in the treated samples which may reduce RBC aggregation. Additionally, we used a guinea pig model where the circulation of infused aged RBCs can be extended (approximately 10%) when treated with curcumin gel at the start of storage. Our data therefore provide mechanistic insights and supportive animal data into benefits of treating stored RBCs with a novel curcuminoid formulation based on the biopreservation of RBC membrane integrity, redox balance, and increased longevity in circulation.
New-onset cardiovascular diseases post SARS-CoV-2 infection in an urban population in the Bronx
Authors: Lu Jason Y. , Lu Justin Y. , Wang Stephen H. , Duong Katie S. , Hou Wei , Duong Tim Q.
Published: December 2024

This study investigated the incidence of new-onset cardiovascular disorders up to 3.5 years post SARS-CoV-2 infection for 56,400 individuals with COVID-19 and 1,093,904 contemporary controls without COVID-19 in the Montefiore Health System (03/11/2020 to 07/01/2023). Outcomes were new incidence of major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), arrhythmias, inflammatory heart disease, thrombosis, cerebrovascular disorders, ischemic heart disease and other cardiac disorders between 30 days and (up to) 3.5 years post index date. Results were also compared with a pre-pandemic cohort over similar observation duration (N = 64,541). Cumulative incidence and hazard ratios adjusted for competitive risks were analyzed. Compared to contemporary controls, hospitalized COVID-19 patients had significantly higher risk of developing MACE (aHR = 2.29, 95% confidence interval [2.27, 2.31], p < 0.001), arrhythmias (aHR = 2.54[2.50, 2.58], p < 0.001), inflammatory heart disease (aHR = 5.34[4.79, 5.96], p < 0.001), cerebrovascular (aHR = 2.05[2.00, 2.11], p < 0.001), other cardiac disorders (aHR = 2.31[2.26, 2.35], p < 0.001), thrombosis (aHR = 4.25[4.15, 4.36], p < 0.001), and ischemic heart disease (aHR = 1.89[1.86, 1.92], p < 0.001). Non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients had slightly higher risk of developing MACE (aHR = 1.04[1.03, 1.06], p < 0.001), arrhythmias (aHR = 1.10[1.08, 1.12], p < 0.001), inflammatory heart disease (aHR = 2.29 [2.03, 2.59], p < 0.001), cerebrovascular (aHR = 1.11[1.07, 1.15], p < 0.001), and ischemic heart disease (aHR = 1.10[1.08, 1.13], p < 0.001). Race and ethnicity were mostly not associated with increased risks (p > 0.05). aHRs with contemporary controls as a reference were similar to those with pre-pandemic cohort as a reference. We concluded that new incident cardiovascular disorders in COVID-19 patients, especially those hospitalized for COVID-19, were higher than those in controls. Identifying risk factors for developing new-onset cardiovascular disorders may draw clinical attention for the need for careful follow-up in at-risk individuals.
Exploiting full-duplex opportunities in WLANs via a reinforcement learning-based medium access control protocol
Authors: Liu Song , Wei Peng
Published: December 2024

In-band full-duplex communication has the potential to double the wireless channel capacity. However, how to efficiently transform the full-duplex gain at the physical layer into network throughput improvement is still a challenge, especially in dynamic communication environments. This paper presents a reinforcement learning-based full-duplex (RLFD) medium access control (MAC) protocol for wireless local-area networks (WLANs) with full-duplex access points. To solve the channel contention problem and fully utilize the full-duplex transmission opportunities, we first design a two-way handshake transmission mechanism and make an investigation on the effects of transmission scheduling in full-duplex transmission. Then the transmission scheduling problem is theoretically formulated as a non-stationary multi-armed bandit problem in which our objective is to maximize the network throughput. Thus, we develop a Window-Constraint Bayesian (WCB) algorithm to generate optimized scheduling policies online. And full-duplex opportunities are fully utilized by transmitting packets according to the optimized scheduling policies. Besides, an analytical model is developed to characterize the performance of RLFD. The performance of RLFD is evaluated by simulation. And the results show that RLFD can improve the network throughput by 80% compared with the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function with Request-To-Send/Clear-To-Send. Moreover, with the proposed WCB algorithm, the network throughput can remain steady as the communication environment dynamically changes.
Metabolic profiling reveals altered amino acid and fatty acid metabolism in children with Williams Syndrome
Authors: Chen Weijun , Yang Yang , Zhang Yu , Sun Changxuan , Ji Chai , Shen Jiyang , Li Fangfang , Xiao Yingping , Wen Yang , Liu Qian , Zou Chaochun
Published: December 2024

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder with a prevalence of 1 in 7500 to 1 in 20,000 individuals, caused by a microdeletion in chromosome 7q11.23. Despite its distinctive clinical features, the underlying metabolic alterations remain largely unexplored. This study employs targeted metabolomics to investigate the metabolic characteristics of children with WS. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), we identified significant dysregulation of 15 metabolites, with 11 upregulated and 4 downregulated. Notably, amino acids such as alanine, proline, and arginine were significantly elevated. Fatty acid metabolism showed pronounced upregulation of long-chain saturated fatty acids (C18:0, C20:0, C22:0, C24:0, C26:0, and C28:0) and downregulation of long-chain unsaturated fatty acids (C18:2 LA, C22:6 DHA, C16:1 PLA, and t-C18:1 EA), except for upregulated nervonic acid (C24:1) and arachidonic acid (C20:4). Metabolic pathway analysis highlighted disruptions in arginine synthesis, arginine/proline metabolism, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of amino acid and fatty acid metabolism in children with WS, offering insights into the disorder’s complex metabolic landscape. Further validation in larger cohorts is essential to confirm these findings and their potential as biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
405 nm violet-blue light inactivates hepatitis C cell culture virus (HCVcc) in ex vivo human platelet concentrates and plasma
Authors: Jackson Joseph W. , Kaldhone Pravin R. , Stewart Caitlin , Anderson John , MacGregor Scott , Maclean Michelle , Major Marian , Atreya Chintamani D.
Published: December 2024

Added safety measures coupled with the development and use of pathogen reduction technologies (PRT) significantly reduces the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) from blood products. Current approved PRTs utilize chemical and/or UV-light based inactivation methods. While the effectiveness of these PRTs in reducing pathogens are well documented, these can cause tolerable yet unintended consequences on the quality and efficacy of the transfusion products. As an alternative to UV-based approaches, we have previously demonstrated that 405 nm violet-blue light exposure successfully inactivates a variety of pathogens, including bacteria, parasites, and viruses, in both platelet concentrates (PCs) and plasma. Herein, we show that 405 nm light treatment effectively inactivates hepatitis C cell culture virus (HCVcc) by up to ~ 3.8 log10 in small volumes of a variety of matrices, such as cell culture media, PBS, plasma, and PCs with 27 J/cm2 of light exposure, and total inactivation of HCVcc after 162 J/cm2 light exposure. Furthermore, we demonstrate that carry-over of media supplemented with fetal bovine serum enhances the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), providing mechanistic insights to 405 nm light-mediated viral inactivation. Overall, 405 nm light successfully inactivates HCVcc, further strengthening this method as a novel PRT for platelets and plasma.
A novel sweat sensor detects inflammatory differential rhythmicity patterns in inpatients and outpatients with cirrhosis
Authors: Davis Brian C. , Lin Kai-Chun , Shahub Sarah , Ramasubramanya Annapoorna , Fagan Andrew , Muthukumar Sriram , Prasad Shalini , Bajaj Jasmohan S.
Published: December 2024

Patients with cirrhosis have high systemic inflammation (TNFα, CRP, and IL-6) that is associated with poor outcomes. These biomarkers need continuous non-invasive monitoring, which is difficult with blood. We studied the AWARE sweat-sensor to measure these in passively expressed sweat in healthy people (N = 12) and cirrhosis (N = 32, 10 outpatients/22 inpatients) for 3 days. Blood CRP, TNFα, IL6, levels, and liver function and quality of life were measured. We found that CRP, TNFα, and IL6 were correlated in sweat and serum among both groups and were evaluated in inpatients versus outpatients/controls. IL6 is associated with lower transplant-free survival. Sweat monitoring nocturnal CRP/IL6 elevations in cirrhosis versus controls. Outpatients with cirrhosis had inflammation levels that elevated during the evening and peaked towards the early night periods. The levels start to fall much later at night and early morning. These data suggest that further investigation of continuous measurement of sweat biomarkers in cirrhosis is warranted.
Simple one-step hydrothermal preparation of Mn–NiS2 for hydrogen evolution in alkaline environments
Authors: Zhang Junde , Xu Xuejiao , Liu Dandan , Wang Aoze , Zhu Shunyi , Nie Guangming
Published: December 2024

Hydrothermal synthesis of Mn-doped NiS2 in 1 M KOH shows relatively good hydrogen precipitation properties for the production of clean energy.
An Online Tool for Correcting Performance Measures of Electronic Phenotyping Algorithms for Verification Bias
Authors: Bhasin Ajay , Bielinski Sue , Kho Abel N. , Larson Nicholas , Rasmussen-Torvik Laura J.
Published: December 2024

Objectives Computable or electronic phenotypes of patient conditions are becoming more commonplace in quality improvement and clinical research. During phenotyping algorithm validation, standard classification performance measures (i.e., sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy) are often employed. When validation is performed on a randomly sampled patient population, direct estimates of these measures are valid. However, studies will commonly sample patients conditional on the algorithm result prior to validation, leading to a form of bias known as verification bias.

Methods We illustrate validation study sampling design and naïve and bias-corrected validation performance through both a concrete example (1,000 cases, 100 noncases, 1:1 sampling on predicted status) and a more thorough simulation study under varied realistic scenarios. We additionally describe the development of a free web calculator to adjust estimates for people validating phenotyping algorithms.

Results In our illustrative example, naïve performance estimates corresponded to 0.942 sensitivity, 0.979 specificity, and 0.960 accuracy; these contrast proper estimates of 0.620 sensitivity, 0.999 specificity, and 0.944 accuracy after adjusting for verification bias using our free calculator. Our simulation results demonstrate increasing positive bias for sensitivity and negative bias for specificity as the disease prevalence approaches zero, with decreasing positive predictive value moderately exacerbating these biases.

Conclusion Novel computable phenotypes of patient conditions must account for verification bias when calculating performance measures of the algorithm. The performance measures may vary significantly based on disease prevalence in the source population so use of a free web calculator to adjust these measures is desirable.
Vascular Air Embolism in Neonates: A Literature Review
Authors: Zhou Qi , Lee Shoo K.
Published: December 2024

Neonatal vascular air embolism is a rare but often fatal condition. The literature comprises mostly case reports and a few dated systematic reviews. Our objective was to review all case reports of neonatal vascular air embolism to date and provide up-to-date information about patient characteristics, clinical presentations, outcomes, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and prognosis. We searched the literature for case reports of neonatal vascular air embolism, using MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE, and the keywords “neonates” and “vascular air embolism.” Results were summarized. There were 117 cases of neonatal vascular air embolism, with a mean gestational age of 30.4 weeks (range: 23–40), mean birth weight of 1,422 g (range 830–3,844), and median age of occurrence of 2 days (range: 1–540) after birth. The majority were preterm (75.2%), male (62.7%), on assisted respiratory support (90.5%), and had air leak syndrome (52.9%). The most common clinical presentation was sudden acute clinical deterioration, sometimes accompanied by crying, cardiac rhythm abnormalities, skin discoloration, and a decrease in end-tidal carbon dioxide concentration. Incidence of mortality and adverse neurological sequelae among survivors was 73.9 and 16.6%, respectively, overall, but significantly (p < 0.05) higher among preterm infants (81.8 and 31.2%, respectively) and lower among surgical infants (23.8 and 0%, respectively). Diagnosis included visualizing air in infusion lines or retinal vessels, a decrease in the end-tidal carbon dioxide levels, and radiographic, doppler ultrasound, transesophageal echocardiography, or computed tomography (CT) imaging. The prognosis for neonatal air embolism is poor, especially for preterm infants requiring mechanical ventilation. Prevention is key and treatment is supportive.

Key Points
Neurite braquial bilateral pós-COVID-19: Relato de caso
Authors: Abdouni Yussef Ali , Viamont-Guerra Maria-Roxana
Published: December 2024

A neurite braquial, ou síndrome de Parsonage-Turner, é uma doença rara caracterizada por quadro doloroso e súbito no membro superior, autolimitado, seguido de fraqueza e atrofia da musculatura da cintura escapular. Ocorre envolvimento bilateral do plexo braquial em de 10 a 30% dos pacientes, porém os sintomas geralmente são assimétricos. Infecção viral (25 a 55%) e alterações autoimunes têm sido descritas como os fatores causais mais comuns. Uma nova variante do coronavírus (SARS-CoV2) provocou uma pandemia e complicações neuromusculares em pacientes infectados podem chegar a até 16% dos casos. Apresentamos o caso de um paciente com Síndrome de Parsonage-Turner com comprometimento bilateral logo após quadro de COVID-19 grave.
Paralisia do nervo fibular comum em um ciclista após cirurgia bariátrica – Relato de caso
Authors: Nakamoto João Carlos , Althoff Bernardo Figueira , Escudero Ricardo Boso , Dinato Mauro Cesar Mattos e
Published: December 2024

A paralisia do nervo fibular comum (NFC) é a mononeuropatia mais comum no membro inferior, e várias etiologias são descritas. O NFC é a divisão menor e lateral do nervo ciático; ele se origina da divisão sacral lombar, e muitos riscos de compressão foram descritos: o comportamento de cruzar e agachar as pernas, compressões extra e intraneural, traumas locais e perda de peso vêm aparecendo como causas importantes de serem lembradas. O tratamento é baseado na gravidade da condição do nervo. No caso de os prejuízos neurológicos serem persistentes, a descompressão cirúrgica é indicada. Quando se trata de uma paralisia não traumática, a compressão do pescoço fibular é a causa mais importante. Este artigo apresenta o caso de um ciclista amador de 39 anos que foi submetido a cirurgia bariátrica e perdeu mais de 30% da massa corporal inicial. Onze meses após a cirurgia, ele fez uma sessão de exercício extenuante na bicicleta e evoluiu com parestesia no pé esquerdo dorsal e comprometimento da dorsiflexão. O exame eletromiográfico mostrou paralisia do NFC. Ele foi submetido a descompressão cirúrgica do nervo, com bons resultados até dez meses de seguimento. Atividade física extenuante após cirurgia bariátrica com perda substancial de peso pode evoluir com paralisia de NFC. Esta etiologia deve ser considerada no raciocínio clínico em tal apresentação clínica.
Apresentação muito rara de luxação aberta do cotovelo em criança: Um caso de secção total da artéria braquial e presença de pulso distal com revisão de literatura
Authors: Hind Cherrabi , Kharroubib Abdelkarim , Oukhouyab Mohamed Amine , Smahia Fatima , Elkassimi Badr
Published: December 2024

A luxação aberta do cotovelo é uma emergência rara em crianças. Sua associação à lesão da artéria braquial é ainda mais rara. Relatamos o caso de uma criança atendida por secção total da artéria braquial decorrente de uma luxação aberta do cotovelo antes da ausência de sinais de isquemia do membro superior em questão. Também realizamos uma revisão da literatura, que é escassa.
Luxação acromioclavicular associada a fratura da extremidade lateral da clavícula: Relato de caso
Authors: Grossi Evander Azevedo , Silveira Gustavo Heringer Cezar Fortes , Borges Alessandra Bastos
Published: December 2024

O presente trabalho é uma pesquisa com delineamento observacional do tipo relato de caso, com revisão de literatura. A apresentação deste caso justifica-se por tratar-se de uma patologia com apresentação rara quanto à localização e manifestação clínica. É descrito um caso raro de um paciente masculino de meia idade que sofreu fratura da extremidade acromial da clavícula associada a luxação do fragmento lateral após queda de bicicleta. A literatura cita apenas um caso semelhante, mas não foi possível o acesso ao artigo completo. O caso foi discutido, tratado, e obteve resultado satisfatório.
Epifisiólise proximal do úmero como causa rara de fratura no parto – Relato de caso
Authors: Teles Bárbara Noronha , Castro João Carlos , Ovídeo Joana
Published: December 2024

A epifisiólise proximal do úmero (EPU) é rara, presente em 10,1/100.000 nascimentos e há poucos casos descritos na literatura. Apresentamos o caso de um recém-nascido com diagnóstico de EPU submetido a tratamento conservador. Em seis semanas apresentava mobilidade completa e extenso calo ósseo. Sendo uma situação muito rara, é imperativo um diagnóstico rápido, para o qual a ecografia é decisiva e a abordagem deve ser conservadora e expectante, dada uma evolução muito rápida e esperada no sentido da consolidação para a função normal. Este caso reforça o conhecimento prévio de que essas lesões normalmente evoluem favoravelmente e não são esperadas sequelas pós-traumáticas.
Síndrome de Reichel em crianças: Relato de caso
Authors: Ferjani Hanene Lassoued , Bettaib Hiba , Dorra Ben Nessib , Maatallah Kaouther , Jenzri Mourad , Hamdi Wafa
Published: December 2024

A síndrome de Reichel ou condromatose sinovial primária (CSP) é uma metaplasia benigna incomum geralmente observada em grandes articulações. O acometimento do ombro é raro e há apenas alguns casos na população pediátrica. Um menino de 14 anos foi atendido no departamento de Ortopedia Pediátrica com dor no ombro direito há 14 meses. Os exames de imagem revelaram múltiplos corpos livres distribuídos por toda a articulação glenoumeral. À abordagem artroscópica, removemos todos os nódulos cartilaginosos no interior do espaço glenoumeral e tendão abarticular. O exame histopatológico confirmou o diagnóstico de CSP. Ao acompanhamento, o paciente não apresenta sintomas e as radiografias do ombro não mostraram recidiva da calcificação. Este caso ilustra os padrões clínicos, as características em técnicas de diagnóstico por imagem, os achados histológicos e o manejo terapêutico da CSP no ombro de um paciente pediátrico.
Revisão em um estágio de uma infecção protética da articulação do quadril por Brucella com apresentação tardia: Um relato de caso
Authors: Gupta Sandeep , Sharma Anmol , Singh Jagseer , Aggarwal Jatin
Published: December 2024

Uma paciente do sexo feminino, de 69 anos, operada havia 20 anos (prótese unipolar de quadril), apresentou queixa de dor na coxa e claudicação havia 1 ano. A radiografia revelou subsidência da haste e colapso em varo. A artroplastia do quadril de revisão em um estágio foi realizada devido ao mau estado cardíaco da paciente, e a cultura de tecidos revelou a presença de Brucella melitensis. Doxiciclina e rifampicina foram administradas por via oral por seis semanas. A paciente permaneceu assintomática até o último acompanhamento. A infecção da prótese articular por B. melitensis deve ser considerada em casos de apresentação tardia e insidiosa em um país endêmico. A artroplastia de revisão e a administração de antibióticos sistêmicos levaram a um bom desfecho.
Minimizing Surgical Margins in Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Single Institution's Experience with Excision and Reconstruction Methods
Authors: Lee Sang-Oh , Kim Tae Gon , Chung Kyu Jin
Published: December 2024

Background Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the predominant nonmelanocytic skin cancer, with preservation of both function and aesthetics being essential during tumor removal. Existing surgical margin guidelines primarily target ill-defined BCCs prevalent in Western countries. Therefore, this study aims to demonstrate the efficacy of surgical removal, propose modified guidelines for wide excision tailored to Asian patients, and share experiences with various reconstruction methods.

Methods This study encompasses 418 patients (447 cases) who underwent BCC excision from March 2015 to June 2023 at our institution. Wide excision extended 2 mm beyond the tumor edge universally, with an additional 2 mm resected if tumor cells persisted in the frozen biopsy, followed by appropriate reconstruction. Patient demographics, tumor features, reconstruction methods, complications, and recurrence rates were analyzed.

Results Predominantly, reconstructions involved local flaps (244), skin grafts (102), and direct closure (72). Significant differences were noted in age, location, and tumor size among these groups. The rate of second resection increased from upper to lower facial subunits, peaking at 11.1% in the lower subunit, with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.024). Additional resection was required in 5.50% of cases, with a significantly higher incidence of ill-defined borders, pigmentation, and the infiltrative subtype compared with others. Complications were minor; recurrence occurred in only one case, 6 months postinitial nasal dorsum surgery.

Conclusion Surgical excision is highly effective, supported by various reconstruction options. We propose narrower guidelines for wide excision considering tumor characteristics and recurrence locations, resulting in smaller defects addressed with simpler reconstruction methods.
Osteotomia metatarsal diafisária distal minimamente invasiva no tratamento de úlcera plantar no pé diabético: Um relato de caso
Authors: Moreira Fernando Delmonte , Jambeiro Jorge Eduardo de Schoucair , Cordeiro Neto Antero Tavares , Dourado Roger Carneiro , Padula Eduardo Carrilho , Guedes Alex
Published: December 2024

O pé diabético consome grande quantidade de recursos e tem profundo impacto negativo sobre a qualidade de vida, pois representa a principal causa não traumática de amputação dos membros inferiores em adultos. Este relato apresenta um paciente diabético, portador de úlcera plantar recidivante na topografia das cabeças do segundo, terceiro e quarto metatarsos. O paciente foi tratado mediante a técnica de osteotomia metatarsal diafisária distal (distal metatarsal diaphyseal osteotomy, DMDO, em inglês) nesses ossos, associada à osteotomia percutânea tipo Akin na falange proximal do hálux e desbridamento. No seguimento pós-operatório de 5 anos, o paciente apresentou resultados bons no que diz respeito à cicatrização e à prevenção de novos episódios.
Fratura-luxação radiocárpica: Tratamento minimamente invasivo assistido por artroscopia – Relato de caso
Authors: Aita Marcio Aurelio , Oliveira Ricardo Kaempf de , Biondi Bruno Gianordoli , Gómez Gustavo Luis Rodriguez , Tamura Marcos Jun , Ruggiero Gustavo Mantovani
Published: December 2024

Este estudo mediu a qualidade de vida e os desfechos clínicos e funcionais de um paciente com fratura-luxação radiocárpica submetido a reconstrução aguda dos ligamentos radioescafocapitato (REC) e radiosemilunar (RSL) usando o tendão braquiorradial. O paciente era um homem de 21 anos com fratura-luxação radiocárpica no punho esquerdo após acidente de moto. A fixação percutânea foi realizada com parafuso no rádio distal e reconstrução aguda assistida por artroscopia do REC e RSL. Um ano depois, o paciente apresentou boa avaliação. A amplitude de movimento era completa e a força de preensão era de 96% em comparação ao lado não acometido. Os aspectos radiográficos do punho mostraram a fratura consolidada e congruência da articulação radiocárpica. A boa estabilidade e congruência da articulação radiocárpica melhoraram a qualidade de vida do paciente. O tratamento da fratura-luxação radiocárpica é difícil e complicado. Não há consenso. Como ainda não há resultados em longo prazo, as indicações para cirurgia e opções terapêutica têm sido motivo de controvérsia na literatura. A articulação radiocárpica (RC) seria estável após a reconstrução dos ligamentos radiocárpicos usando o tendão braquiorradial? Seria possível reduzir e manter a articulação radiocárpica estável com esta técnica? A relevância clínica deste trabalho é a nossa sugestão de reconstrução do ligamento RC para melhorar este tratamento. Acreditamos que manteremos o punho estável e funcional. Concordamos que o melhor momento para realizar as correções é o mais breve possível e preferimos reconstruir o ligamento RC com sutura ou artrodese radioescafosemilunar temporária ou definitiva.
Excisão cirúrgica de um pseudotumor hemofílico causando impacto vascular em um paciente com hemofilia A grave: Relato de caso
Authors: Pradilla Juan Manuel , Tinoco Abelardo , Cely Luis Miguel , Buitrago Martha Paola
Published: December 2024

Pacientes com doença hemofílica apresentam alto risco de hemorragia. A maioria das hemorragias pode ocorrer no sistema musculoesquelético, apresentando-se como hematomas ou, raramente, como pseudotumores hemofílicos, uma doença incomum e muitas vezes diagnosticada de forma errônea como tumores musculoesqueléticos devido ao seu comportamento clínico e a características em exames de diagnóstico por imagem. Apesar das muitas opções terapêuticas, a excisão cirúrgica é o tratamento de escolha. Este artigo descreve um caso de um paciente com hemofilia A que apresentou aumento de volume progressivo da coxa direita por 12 meses. Os exames de imagem sugeriram um pseudotumor hemofílico com pinçamento do feixe vascular. A excisão cirúrgica foi bem-sucedida.
Perda visual após cirurgia de escoliose: O que o cirurgião e os pacientes precisam saber? Relato de três casos
Authors: Barros Alderico Girão Campos de , Oliveira Augusto Ribeiro de Jesus , Cavalvanti Lucas Rocha , Silva Luis Eduardo Carelli Teixeira da , Guimarães João Antonio Matheus
Published: December 2024

Déficit visual após à cirurgia da coluna vertebral é raro, porém trágico. As principais causas incluem lesão ocular externa, cegueira cortical, oclusão da artéria central da retina e neuropatia óptica isquêmica. Na cirurgia de escoliose, o tempo prolongado, as grandes perdas sanguíneas, a posição em decúbito ventral, o desequilíbrio hidroeletrolítico e a perda de liquor estão associados a essa complicação.

Em 849 cirurgias de correção de escoliose, 3 pacientes evoluíram com déficit visual no pós-operatório, e 2 obtiveram recuperação completa da acuidade visual, mas 1 permaneceu com sequela parcial.

Existem quatro causas de amaurose pós-cirúrgica: neuropatia óptica isquêmica, oclusão da artéria central da retina, lesão ocular externa e cegueira de origem cortical. Como a prevenção dessa complicação não pode ser garantida, é fundamental que se esclareça o risco de déficit visual para os pacientes que serão submetidos à cirurgia de escoliose, que devem assinar o termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido.

A perda visual após cirurgia da coluna vertebral para correção de escoliose é uma complicação rara, porém grave e, por vezes, irreversível. É fundamental que a equipe cirúrgica saiba de sua existência para adotar medidas preventivas e, consequentemente, reduzir a sua incidência.