bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Isolated Medial Longitudinal Fasciculus Midbrain Infarction Mimicking Medial Rectus Paralysis
Authors: Yan Minli , Liu Jiayi , Zhang Zhengxiang
Published: March 2021

Introduction:

Medial longitudinal fasciculus infarction is rare in clinical practice and generally accompanied by brain tissue damage around the medial longitudinal fasciculus. Isolated medial longitudinal fasciculus midbrain infarction was seldom reported.

Case Report:

An 81-year-old man with hypertension was admitted to our hospital because of sudden onset diplopia. A neurological examination revealed right adduction paresis without abducting nystagmus in the left eye, whereas the convergence reflex was normal. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a small acute lacunar medial longitudinal fasciculus infarction in the right midbrain at the level of the inferior colliculus. Diffusion-tensor imaging showed a reduction of the right medial longitudinal fasciculus. Medial longitudinal fasciculus infarction is rare and occurs most commonly in the pons. The authors report on a case of isolated medial longitudinal fasciculus infarction that was diagnosed because of sudden diplopia and manifested as simple internal rectus paralysis with no abducting nystagmus on the contralateral side of the lesion.

Conclusion:

Isolated midbrain-medial longitudinal fasciculus infarction without contralateral abducting nystagmus is a rare occurrence. It can be differentiated from partial oculomotor palsy by assessing the convergence reflex, primary gaze, and diffusion-tensor imaging.
Review: Can temperature be used to inform changes to flood extremes with global warming?
Authors: Wasko Conrad
Published: March 2021

As climate change alters flood risk, there is a need to project changes in flooding for water resource management, infrastructure design and planning. The use of observed temperature relationships for informing changes in hydrologic extremes takes many forms, from simple proportional change approaches to conditioning stochastic rainfall generation on observed temperatures. Although generally focused on understanding changes to precipitation, there is an implied transfer of information gained from precipitation-temperature sensitivities to flooding as extreme precipitation is often responsible for flooding. While reviews of precipitation-temperature sensitivities and the non-stationarity of flooding exist, little attention has been given to the intersection of these two topics. Models which use temperature as a covariate to assess the non-stationarity of extreme precipitation outperform both stationary models and those using a temporal trend as a covariate. But care must be taken when projecting changes in flooding on the basis on precipitation-temperature sensitivities, as antecedent conditions modify the runoff response. Although good agreement is found between peak flow-temperature sensitivities and historical trends across Australia, there remains little evaluation of flood projections using temperature sensitivities globally. Significant work needs to be done before the use of temperature as a covariate for flood projection can be adopted with confidence.

This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes and implications for flash flood risks’.
Storm types in India: linking rainfall duration, spatial extent and intensity
Authors: Moron Vincent , Barbero Renaud , Fowler Hayley J. , Mishra Vimal
Published: March 2021

We examine wet events (WEs) defined from an hourly rainfall dataset based on 64 gauged observations across India (1969–2016). More than 90% of the WEs (accounting for nearly 60% of total rainfall) are found to last less than or equal to 5 h. WEs are then clustered into six canonical local-scale storm profiles (CanWE). The most frequent canonical type (CanWE#1 and #2) are associated with very short and nominal rainfall. The remaining canonical WEs can be grouped into two broad families: (i) CanWE#3 and #5 with short (usually less than or equal to 3–4 h), but very intense rainfall strongly phase-locked onto the diurnal cycle (initiation peaks in mid-afternoon) and probably related to isolated thunderstorms or small mesoscale convective clusters (MCS), and (ii) CanWE#4 and #6 with longer and lighter rainfall in mean (but not necessarily for their maximum) and more independent of the diurnal cycle, thus probably related to larger MCSs or tropical lows. The spatial extent of the total rainfall received during each CanWE, as shown by IMERG gridded rainfall, is indeed smaller for CanWE#3 and #5 than for CanWE#4 and especially #6. Most of the annual maximum 1 hour rainfalls occur during CanWE#5. Long-term trend analysis of the June–September canonical WEs across boreal monsoonal India reveals an increase in the relative frequency of the convective storm types CanWE#3 and #5 in recent years, as expected from global warming and thermodynamic considerations.

This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes and implications for flash flood risks’.
Reclassification of 15 Streptomyces species as synonyms of Streptomyces albogriseolus, Streptomyces althioticus, Streptomyces anthocyanicus, Streptomyces calvus, Streptomyces griseoincarnatus, Streptomyces mutabilis, Streptomyces pilosus or Streptomyces rochei
Authors: Komaki Hisayuki
Published: March 2021

Taxonomic relationships in eight sets of

Streptomyces

species, (1a) Streptomyces enissocaesilis, Streptomyces plicatus, Streptomyces rochei and

Streptomyces vinaceusdrappus

, (1b) Streptomyces geysiriensis, (2)

Streptomyces luteus

and Streptomyces mutabilis, (3)

Streptomyces flavoviridis

and Streptomyces pilosus, (4)

Streptomyces asterosporus

and Streptomyces calvus, (5) Streptomyces erythrogriseus, Streptomyces griseoincarnatus, Streptomyces labedae and

Streptomyces variabilis

, (6a) Streptomyces griseorubens, (6b) Streptomyces matensis, (6c) Streptomyces althioticus, (7)

Streptomyces albogriseolus

and

Streptomyces viridodiastaticus

, (8a)

Streptomyces humiferus

and Streptomyces violaceolatus, (8b) Streptomyces anthocyanicus, Streptomyces coelescens and Streptomyces violaceoruber, were investigated. Type strains within each subset of 1a to 8b shared completely identical 16S rRNA gene sequences. In MLSA, subsets 1a and 1b, 6a to 6c, and 8a and 8b formed an independent clade, respectively, but the evolutionary distances between

S. violaceoruber

and the other members in set 8 and between

S. griseorubens

and those in set 6 were 0.022–0.023 and 0.0064–0.0076, respectively. Members in each of the other sets, except for

S. labedae

, formed an independent clade. In each clade, evolutionary distances between/among the members were <0.007 except for that between

S. griseorubens

and

S. matensis

in set 6, suggesting the same species. Digital DNA–DNA relatedness using whole genome sequences and phenotypic similarities supported the synonymies of sets 1 to 3, set 4 except for

S. labedae

, sets 5 to 7, and set 8 except for

S. violaceoruber

, respectively. Therefore, S. enissocaesilis, S. geysiriensis, S. plicatus and

S. vinaceusdrappus

were considered as later heterotypic synonyms of S. rochei; S. luteus as that of S. mutabilis; S. flavoviridis as that of S. pilosus; S. asterosporus as that of S. calvus; S. erythrogriseus and

S. variabilis

as those of S. griseoincarnatus; S. griseorubens and

S. matensis

as that of S. althioticus; S. viridodiastaticus as that of S. albogriseolus; S. coelescens, S. humiferus and

S. violaceolatus

as those of

S. anthocyanicus

.
Synthetic protein antigens for COVID-19 diagnostics
Authors: Schein Catherine H. , Levine Corri B. , McLellan Susan L F , Negi Surendra S. , Braun Werner , Dreskin Stephen C. , Anaya Elizabeth S. , Schmidt Jurgen
Published: March 2021

There is an urgent need for inexpensive, rapid and specific antigen-based assays to test for infection with SARS-CoV-2 and distinguish variants arising as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads. We have identified a small, synthetic protein (JS7), representing a region of maximum variability within the receptor binding domain (RBD), which binds antibodies in sera from nine patients with PCR-verified COVID-19 of varying severity. Antibodies binding to either JS7 or the SARS-CoV-2 recombinant RBD, as well as those that disrupt binding between a fragment of the ACE2 receptor and the RBD, are proportional to disease severity and clinical outcome. Binding to JS7 was inhibited by linear peptides from the RBD interface with ACE2. Variants of JS7, such as N501Y, can be quickly synthesized in a pure form in large quantities by automated methods. JS7 and related synthetic antigens can provide a basis for specific diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Remdesivir as a tool to relieve hospital care systems stressed by COVID-19: A modelling study on bed resources and budget impact
Authors: Béraud Guillaume , Timsit Jean-François , Leleu Henri
Published: March 2021

Remdesivir and dexamethasone are the only drugs providing reductions in the lengths of hospital stays for COVID-19 patients. We assessed the impacts of remdesivir on hospital-bed resources and budgets affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. A stochastic agent-based model was combined with epidemiological data available on the COVID-19 outbreak in France and data from two randomized control trials. Strategies involving treating with remdesivir only patients with low-flow oxygen and patients with low-flow and high-flow oxygen were examined. Treating all eligible low-flow oxygen patients during the entirety of the second wave would have decreased hospital-bed occupancy in conventional wards by 4% [2%; 7%] and intensive care unit (ICU)-bed occupancy by 9% [6%; 13%]. Extending remdesivir use to high-flow-oxygen patients would have amplified reductions in ICU-bed occupancy by up to 14% [18%; 11%]. A minimum remdesivir uptake of 20% was required to observe decreases in bed occupancy. Dexamethasone had effects of similar amplitude. Depending on the treatment strategy, using remdesivir would, in most cases, generate savings (up to 722€) or at least be cost neutral (an extra cost of 34€). Treating eligible patients could significantly limit the saturation of hospital capacities, particularly in ICUs. The generated savings would exceed the costs of medications.
Characterization of the indoor near-field and far-field aerosol transmission in a model commercial office building
Authors: Chien Chih-Hsiang , Cheng Mengdawn , Piljae Im , Nawaz Kashif , Fricke Brian , Armstrong Anthony
Published: March 2021

To simulate the exposure potential of infectious aerosol such as SARS-CoV-2 in an office building setting, experimental studies for airborne particle transmission have been conducted in a model commercial office building at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The synthetic test aerosol particles had diameters similar to that of viral particles, in the nanometer size range of genetic fragments. Thus, the test aerosol provided a realistic representation of SARS-CoV-2 viral particle transmission. The study results, which are still being analyzed carefully at the present, suggest that in a door-closed single room setting, the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system can facilitate aerosol transmission, and 10 measuring points in a single room report the normalized concentration ranged from 0.45 – 0.66. Additionally, at a measuring point 6 feet away from the source, the aerosol concentration can reach a plateau normalized concentration of about 0.6 within 30 minutes. When interior doors were closed, aerosol particle transmission into adjacent rooms occurred through the building HVAC system, at a lower rate compared to the open-door scenario. If the interior doors were open, however, then the transmission into adjacent rooms depends on building indoor air movement and distance from the source. The building HVAC system provided an approximately less than 10% aerosol transmission rate, while transmission through a door opening can add up to 40% of transmission into adjacent rooms from the source location.

Footnote

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).
Consistency of performance of adverse outcome prediction models for hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Authors: Castro Victor M. , McCoy Thomas H. , Perlis Roy H.
Published: March 2021

Background

We previously reported and validated a risk prediction tool based on COVID-19 hospitalizations prior to June 2020. Here, we report performance of that model on subsequent data from 6 hospitals and among individual patient subgroups.

Method

We included individuals age 18 or older hospitalized at one of 2 academic medical centers and 4 community hospitals from 6/7/2020 through 1/22/2021 with positive PCR test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) within 5 days of admission. Coefficients from our previously reported least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) risk models were applied to estimate probability of a mortality, as well as a composite severe illness outcome, including admission to the ICU, mechanical ventilation or mortality.

Results

Overall model performance for mortality included AUC of 0.83 (95% CI:0.80-0.87) for mortality, with a PPV 0.55 and NPV of 0.95 when using a cutoff corresponding to the highest 20% of predicted risk derived in the training set. For all adverse outcomes, AUC was 0.79 (95% CI:0.75-0.81) and PPV 0.48 and NPV 0.98 in the top 20% risk group. Model discrimination was generally similar between genders and race/ethnicity groups, but markedly poorer for younger age groups.

Conclusion

Although the population of individuals hospitalized for COVID-19 has shifted and outcomes have improved overall, prediction models derived earlier in the pandemic may maintain utility.
A qualitative study on cultural determinants for breastfeeding cessation and their association with child diarrhoea in the rural Peruvian Andes
Authors: Martínez Néstor Nuño , Wallenborn Jordyn , Mäusezahl Daniel , Hartinger Stella M. , Ribera Joan Muela
Published: March 2021

Background

In some parts of the world, breast milk is seen as a potential source of child diarrhoea. While this belief has been explored in African and Southeast Asian countries, it remains vastly understudied in Latin American contexts. We investigate cultural factors contributing to breastfeeding cessation in rural high-altitude populations of the Peruvian Andes. The role of cultural factors in the local explanatory model of child diarrhoea, and whether these perceptions are integrated in the local healthcare system were assessed.

Methods

We carried out semi-structured interviews with mothers (n=40) from 29 communities participating in a large community-randomised controlled trial and health personnel (n=15). We used trial’s baseline information to describe characteristics of women participants.

Results

Cultural beliefs for breastfeeding cessation included the perception that breast milk turned into “blood” after six months and that breastfeeding caused child diarrhoea. We identified eight local types of child diarrhoea, and women associated six of them with breastfeeding practices. “Infection” was the only diarrhoea mothers linked to hygiene and the germ disease concept and perceived as treatable through drug therapy. Women believed that other types of diarrhoea could not be treated within the formal healthcare sector. Interviews with health personnel revealed no protocol for, or consensus about, the integration of the local explanatory model for child diarrhoea in local healthcare and service provision.

Conclusion

The local explanatory model in rural Andean Peru associated breastfeeding with child diarrhoeas. Cultural beliefs regarding diarrhoea management may increase home treatments, even in cases of severe diarrhoeal episodes. Future breastfeeding interventions should promote peer-counselling approaches to reduce negative attitudes towards breastfeeding and health practitioners. Local explanatory models should be incorporated into provincial and regional strategies for child diarrhoea management to promote equity in health and improve provider-patient relationships.
Povidone iodine, hydrogen peroxide and chlorhexidine mouthwashes reduce SARS-CoV2 burden in whole mouth fluid and respiratory droplets
Authors: Jayaraman Bagavad Gita , Rajan Gunaseelan , Kannian Priya , Lavanya Chandra , Ravichandran Krittika , Kumarasamy Nagalingeswaran , Ranganathan Kannan , Aswini Veeraraghavan , Mahanathi Pasuvaraj , Challacombe Stephen , Webster-Cyriaque Jennifer , Johnson Newell W
Published: March 2021

SARS-CoV2 is transmitted primarily through oral mouth secretions and respiratory droplets. Commercial mouthwashes, povidone iodine (PI), hydrogen peroxide (HP) and chlorhexidine (CHX) have been tested in cell culture and RT-PCR studies for their efficacy to reduce SARS-CoV2 burden. Here, we evaluated SARS-CoV2 burden in whole mouth fluid (WMF) and respiratory droplets (RD) samples before and after the use of PI, HP or CHX mouthwashes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients using RT-PCR and rapid antigen test (RAT). Thirty-six SARS-CoV2 RT-PCR-positive in-patients were randomly assigned to one of the four groups: 20 and 60 minutes after 1% w/v PI or 1.5% HP; 90 and 180 minutes after 1.5% HP or 0.2% w/v CHX. WMF and RD samples were collected concurrently at baseline and after the two different time points. RD (92%) showed a higher reduction in SARS-CoV2 burden than WMF samples (50%; p=0.008). SARS-CoV2 burden was statistically lower at both 20 minutes (p=0.02) and 60 minutes (p=0.03) with PI; at 20 minutes with HP (p=0.0001); and 90 minutes with CHX (p=0.04). The overall and individual mean logarithmic reductions in the WMF and RD samples were greater than 1.0 at 20, 60 and 90 minutes after PI, HP or CHX. RAT-positive patients at 90 minutes post-treatment (n=3) demonstrated a one log increase in virus copies. Among the three RAT-negative post-treatment patients, SARS-CoV2 burden declined by one log in two while the third patient had a slight increase in RNA copies. In conclusion, we have shown for the first time that the mouthwashes, PI, HP and CHX can reduce the SARS-CoV2 burden in the concurrently collected RD and WMF samples. RAT is more appropriate than RT-PCR to evaluate the efficacy of the mouthwashes.
Study on horizon-scanning with a focus on the development of AI-based medical products: citation network analysis
Authors: Takata Takuya , Sasaki Hajime , Yamano Hiroko , Honma Masashi , Shikano Mayumi
Published: March 2021

Objectives

Horizon-scanning for innovative technologies that might be applied to medical products and require new assessment approaches/regulations will help to prepare regulators, allowing earlier access to the product for patients and an improved benefit/risk ratio. In this study, we focused on the field of AI-based medical image analysis as a retrospective example of medical devices, where many products have recently been developed and applied. We proposed and validated horizon-scanning using citation network analysis and text mining for bibliographic information analysis.

Methods and analysis

Research papers for citation network analysis which contain “convolutional*” OR “machine-learning” OR “deep-learning” were obtained from Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-expanded) in the Web of Science (WoS). The citation network among those papers was converted into an unweighted network with papers as nodes and citation relationships as links. The network was then divided into clusters using the topological clustering method and the characteristics of each cluster were confirmed by extracting a summary of frequently cited academic papers, and the characteristic keywords, in the cluster.

Results

We classified 119,553 publications obtained from SCI and grouped them into 36 clusters. Hence, it was possible to understand the academic landscape of AI applications. The key articles on AI-based medical image analysis were included in one or two clusters, suggesting that clusters specific to the technology were appropriately formed. Based on the average publication year of the constituent papers of each cluster, we tracked recent research trends. It was also suggested that significant research progress would be detected as a quick increase in constituent papers and the number of citations of hub papers in the cluster.

Conclusion

We validated that citation network analysis applies to the horizon-scanning of innovative medical devices and demonstrated that AI-based electrocardiograms and electroencephalograms can lead to the development of innovative products.

Article Summary

Strengths and limitations of this study

Citation network analysis can provide an academic landscape in the investigated research field, based on the citation relationship of research papers and objective information, such as characteristic keywords and publication year.

It might be possible to detect possible significant research progress and the emergence of new research areas through analysis every several months.

It is important to confirm the opinions of experts in this area when evaluating the results of the analysis.

Information on patents and clinical trials for this analysis is currently unavailable.
Topographic volume-standardization atlas of the human brain
Authors: Akeret Kevin , Bas van Niftrik Christiaan Hendrik , Sebök Martina , Muscas Giovanni , Visser Thomas , Staartjes Victor E. , Marinoni Federica , Serra Carlo , Regli Luca , Krayenbühl Niklaus , Piccirelli Marco , Fierstra Jorn
Published: March 2021

Objective

Specific anatomical patterns are seen in various diseases affecting the brain. Clinical studies on the topography of pathologies are often limited by the absence of a normalization of the prevalence of pathologies to the relative volume of the affected anatomical structures. A comprehensive reference on the relative volumes of clinically relevant anatomical structures serving for such a normalization, is currently lacking.

Methods

The analyses are based on anatomical high-resolution three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data of 30 healthy Caucasian volunteers, including 14 females (mean age 37.79 years, SD 13.04) and 16 males (mean age 38.31 years, SD 16.91). Semi-automated anatomical segmentation was used, guided by a neuroanatomical parcellation algorithm differentiating 96 structures. Relative volumes were derived by normalizing parenchymal structures to the total individual encephalic volume and ventricular segments to the total individual ventricular volume.

Results

The present investigation provides the absolute and relative volumes of 96 anatomical parcellation units of the human encephalon. A larger absolute volume in males than in females is found for almost all parcellation units. While parenchymal structures display a trend towards decreasing volumes with increasing age, a significant inverse effect is seen with the ventricular system. The variances in volumes as well as the effects of gender and age are given for each structure before and after normalization.

Conclusion

The provided atlas constitutes an anatomically detailed and comprehensive analysis of the absolute and relative volumes of the human encephalic structures using a clinically oriented parcellation algorithm. It is intended to serve as a reference for volume-standardization in clinical studies on the topographic prevalence of pathologies.
Screening for SARS-CoV-2 infections in daycare facilities for children in a large city in Germany
Authors: Lübke Nadine , Schupp Anna-Kathrin , Bredahl Renate , Kraus Ursula , Hauka Sandra , Andrée Marcel , Ehlkes Lutz , Klein Thomas , Graupner Alexandra , Horn Johannes , Brinks Ralph , Göbels Klaus , Adams Ortwin , Timm Jörg
Published: March 2021

Background

The role of pre-school children as a source and distributor of SARS-CoV-2 infections is still unclear. Daycare facilities that care particularly for young children with limited hygiene measures may contribute to the infection dynamics during the pandemic. The aim of this study was to implement and evaluate a voluntary SARS-CoV-2 screening program in daycare facilities.

Methods

The study was conducted over a period of 4 weeks, from June 10th to July 7th 2020. The aim was to screen a representative group of 5000 individuals (children and staff at a ratio 3:1) attending daycare facilities in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. Tests were performed twice per week with oral rinsing water as sample material for the detection of SARS-CoV-2-RNA by molecular pool testing.

Results

A total number of 5210 participants (75.9% children and 24.1% staff) from 115 day care centers participated in the study. Of a total of 34,068 returned samples (81.7%) during the study period, only one SARS-CoV-2 infection of a child was detected in the study cohort with one likely secondary infection within the daycare facility. Of note, during the study phase, no increase of SARS- CoV-2 infections was observed in daycare center compared to the overall incidence in Düsseldorf.

Conclusions

A voluntary screening program for SARS-CoV-2 infections could successfully be implemented in daycare facilities. Although the low overall incidence during the study period precludes firm conclusions, there was no evidence for increased transmission in children attending daycare facilities compared to the general population of Düsseldorf.

SARS-CoV-2 screening programs in daycare facilities may help to detect asymptomatic infections at an early stage and thereby support containment. Here, a large screening study was evaluated suggesting similar infection rates in daycare facilities compared to the general population.
Olanzapine inhibits hepatic apolipoprotein A5 secretion inducing hypertriglyceridemia in schizophrenia patients and mice
Authors: Huang Xiansheng , Zhang Yiqi , Zhu Wenqiang , Huang Piaopiao , Xiao Jingmei , Yang Yang , Shen Li , Luo Fei , Dai Wen , Li Rong , Wu Renrong
Published: March 2021

Olanzapine, an antipsychotic drug, was reported to induce hypertriglyceridemia, whereas the underlying mechanism remains incompletely understood. This study was to determine the role of apolipoprotein A5 (apoA5) in olanzapine-induced hypertriglyceridemia. In this study, 36 drug-naive and first-episode schizophrenic adult patients (aged 18–60 years) in a multi-center clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03451734) were enrolled. Before and after olanzapine treatment, plasma lipid and apoA5 levels were detected. Moreover, 21 female C57BL/6 J mice (8 weeks old) were divided into 3 groups (n = 7/each group): low-dose olanzapine (3 mg/kg/day), high-dose olanzapine (6 mg/kg/day) and control group. After 6 weeks, plasma glucose, lipids and apoA5 as well as hepatic apoA5 protein and mRNA expression in these animals were detected. In our study in vitro, primary mouse hepatocytes and HepG2 cells were treated with olanzapine of 25, 50, 100 μmol/L, respectively. After 24 hours, apoA5 protein and mRNA levels in hepatocytes were detected. Our study showed that olanzapine treatment significantly increased plasma triglyceride levels and decreased plasma apoA5 levels in these schizophrenic patients. A significant negative correlation was indicated between plasma triglyceride and apoA5 levels in these patients. Consistently, olanzapine dose-dependently increased plasma triglyceride levels and decreased plasma apoA5 levels in mice. Surprisingly, an elevation of hepatic apoA5 protein levels was detected in mice after olanzapine treatment, with no changes of APOA5 mRNA expression. Likewise, olanzapine increased apoA5 protein levels in hepatocytes in vitro, without changes of hepatocyte APOA5 mRNA. Therefore, our study provides the first evidence about the role of apoA5 in olanzapine-induced hypertriglyceridemia. Furthermore, plasma apoA5 reduction, resulting in hypertriglyceridemia, could be attributed to olanzapine-induced inhibition of hepatic apoA5 secretion.
Machine Learning for Mechanical Ventilation Control
Authors: Suo Daniel , Zhang Cyril , Gradu Paula , Ghai Udaya , Chen Xinyi , Minasyan Edgar , Agarwal Naman , Singh Karan , LaChance Julienne , Zajdel Tom , Schottdorf Manuel , Cohen Daniel , Hazan Elad
Published: March 2021

Abstract

We consider the problem of controlling an invasive mechanical ventilator for pressure-controlled ventilation: a controller must let air in and out of a sedated patient’s lungs according to a trajectory of airway pressures specified by a clinician.

Hand-tuned PID controllers and similar variants have comprised the industry standard for decades, yet can behave poorly by over- or under-shooting their target or oscillating rapidly.

We consider a data-driven machine learning approach: First, we train a simulator based on data we collect from an artificial lung. Then, we train deep neural network controllers on these simulators. We show that our controllers are able to track target pressure waveforms significantly better than PID controllers.

We further show that a learned controller generalizes across lungs with varying characteristics much more readily than PID controllers do.
Vaccination and herd immunity thresholds in heterogeneous populations
Authors: Elbasha Elamin H. , Gumel Abba B.
Published: March 2021

It has been suggested, without rigorous mathematical analysis, that the classical vaccine-induced herd immunity threshold (HIT) assuming a homogeneous population can be substantially higher than the minimum HIT obtained when considering population heterogeneities. We investigated this claim by developing, and rigorously analyzing, a vaccination model that incorporates various forms of heterogeneity and compared it with a model of a homogeneous population. By employing a two-group vaccination model in heterogeneous populations, we theoretically established conditions under which heterogeneity leads to different HIT values, depending on the relative values of the contact rates for each group, the type of mixing between groups, relative vaccine efficacy, and the relative population size of each group. For example, under biased random mixing and when vaccinating a given group results in disproportionate prevention of higher transmission per capita, it is optimal to vaccinate that group before vaccinating other groups. We also found situations, under biased assortative mixing assumption, where it is optimal to vaccinate more than one group. We show that regardless of the form of mixing between groups, the HIT values assuming a heterogeneous population are always lower than the HIT values obtained from a corresponding model with a homogeneous population. Using realistic numerical examples and parametrization (e.g., assuming assortative mixing together with vaccine efficacy of 95% and basic reproduction number of 2.5), we demonstrate that the HIT value considering heterogeneity (e.g., biased assortative mixing) is significantly lower (40%) compared with a HIT value of (63%) assuming a homogeneous population.
Confirmation bias optimizes reward learning
Authors: Tarantola Tor , Folke Tomas , Boldt Annika , Pérez Omar D. , Martino Benedetto De
Published: March 2021

Confirmation bias—the tendency to overweight information that matches prior beliefs or choices—has been shown to manifest even in simple reinforcement learning. In line with recent work, we find that participants learned significantly more from choice-confirming outcomes in a reward-learning task. What is less clear is whether asymmetric learning rates somehow benefit the learner. Here, we combine data from human participants and artificial agents to examine how confirmation-biased learning might improve performance by counteracting decisional and environmental noise. We evaluate one potential mechanism for such noise reduction: visual attention—a demonstrated driver of both value-based choice and predictive learning. Surprisingly, visual attention showed the opposite pattern to confirmation bias, as participants were most likely to fixate on “missed opportunities”, slightly dampening the effects of the confirmation bias we observed. Several million simulated experiments with artificial agents showed this bias to be a reward-maximizing strategy compared to several alternatives, but only if disconfirming feedback is not completely ignored—a condition that visual attention may help to enforce.
Informative Regions In Viral Genomes
Authors: Moreno-Gallego J. Leonardo , Reyes Alejandro
Published: March 2021

Viruses, far from being just parasites affecting hosts’ fitness are major players in any microbial ecosystem. In spite of their broad abundance, viruses, in particular bacteriophages remain largely unknown since only about 20% of sequences obtained from viral community DNA surveys could be annotated by comparison to public databases. In order to shed some light into this genetic dark matter we expanded the search of orthologous groups as potential markers to viral taxonomy from bacteriophages and included eukaryotic viruses, establishing a set of 31,150 ViPhOGs. To this, we examine the non-redundant viral diversity stored in public databases, predict proteins in genomes lacking such information and all annotated and predicted proteins were used to identify potential protein domains. Clustering of domains and unannotated regions into orthologous groups was done using cogSoft. Finally, we employed a supervised classification method by using a Random Forest implementation to classify genomes into their taxonomy and found that the presence/absence of ViPhOGs is significantly associated with their taxonomy. Furthermore, we established a set of 1,457 ViPhOGs that given their importance for the classification could be considered as markers/signatures for the different taxonomic groups defined by the ICTV at the Order, Family, and Genus levels. Both, the ViPhOGs and informative ViPhOGs sets are available at the Open Science Framwork (OSF) under the ViPhOGs project (https://osf.io/2zd9r/).
Novel newt regeneration genes regulate Wingless signaling to restore patterning inDrosophilaeye
Authors: Mehta Abijeet Singh , Deshpande Prajakta , Chimata Anuradha Venkatakrishnan , Tsonis Panagiotis A. , Singh Amit
Published: March 2021

A fundamental process of regeneration, which varies among animals, recruits conserved signaling pathways to restore missing parts. Only a few animals like newts can repeatedly regenerate lost body parts throughout their lifespan that can be attributed to strategic regulation of conserved signaling pathways by newt’s regeneration tool-kit genes. Here we report use of genetically tractableDrosophilaeye model to demonstrate the regeneration potential of a group of unique protein(s) from newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), which when ectopically expressed can significantly rescue missing photoreceptor cells in aDrosophilaeye mutant. These newt proteins with signal peptides motifs exhibit non-cell-autonomous rescue properties and their regeneration potential even extends into later stages of fly development. Ectopic expression of these newt genes can rescue eye mutant phenotype by promoting cell proliferation and blocking cell death. These novel newt genes downregulate evolutionarily conserved Wingless (Wg)/Wnt signaling pathway to promote rescue. Modulation of Wg/Wnt signaling levels by using antagonists or agonists of Wg/Wnt signaling pathway in eye mutant background where newt gene(s) is ectopically expressed suggests that Wg signaling acts downstream of newt genes. Our data highlights the regeneration potential of novel newt proteins that regulate conserved pathways to trigger a robust regeneration response inDrosophilamodel with weak regeneration capability.
Bayesian MEG time courses with fMRI priors
Authors: Wang Yingying , Holland Scott K.
Published: March 2021

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) records brain activity with excellent temporal and good spatial resolution, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) offers good temporal and excellent spatial resolution. The aim of this study is to implement a Bayesian framework to use fMRI data as spatial priors for MEG inverse solutions. We used simulated MEG data with both evoked and induced activity and experimental MEG data from sixteen participants to examine the effectiveness of using fMRI spatial priors in MEG source reconstruction. Our results provide empirical evidence that the use of fMRI spatial priors improves the accuracy of MEG source reconstruction.
MXtrodes: MXene-infused bioelectronic interfaces for multiscale electrophysiology and stimulation
Authors: Driscoll Nicolette , Erickson Brian , Murphy Brendan B. , Richardson Andrew G. , Robbins Gregory , Apollo Nicholas V. , Mathis Tyler , Hantanasirisakul Kanit , Bagga Puneet , Gullbrand Sarah E. , Sergison Matthew , Reddy Ravinder , Wolf John A. , Chen H. Isaac , Lucas Timothy H. , Dillingham Timothy , Davis Kathryn A. , Gogotsi Yury , Medaglia John D. , Vitale Flavia
Published: March 2021

Soft bioelectronic interfaces for mapping and modulating excitable networks at high resolution and at large scale can enable paradigm-shifting diagnostics, monitoring, and treatment strategies. Yet, current technologies largely rely on materials and fabrication schemes that are expensive, do not scale, and critically limit the maximum attainable resolution and coverage. Solution processing is a cost-effective manufacturing alternative, but biocompatible conductive inks matching the performance of conventional metals are lacking. Here, we introduce MXtrodes, a novel class of soft, high-resolution, large-scale bioelectronic interfaces enabled by Ti3C2MXene and scalable solution processing. We show that the electrochemical properties of MXtrodes exceed those of conventional materials, and do not require conductive gels when used in epidermal electronics. Furthermore, we validate MXtrodes in a number of applications ranging from mapping large scale neuromuscular networks in humans to delivering cortical microstimulation in small animal models. Finally, we demonstrate that MXtrodes are compatible with standard clinical neuroimaging modalities.
Serotonin signaling modulates aging-associated metabolic network integrity in response to nutrient choice
Authors: Lyu Yang , Promislow Daniel E.L. , Pletcher Scott D.
Published: March 2021

Aging arises from complex interactions among multiple biochemical and metabolic products. Systems-level analyses of biological networks may provide insights into the causes and consequences of aging that evade single-gene or single-pathway studies. We have shown that dietary choiceper seis sufficient to modulate aging and metabolic health in the vinegar fly,Drosophila melanogaster. In other words, how each meal is presented, or the way in which it is eaten, is influential, independent of the amount or type of nutrients that are consumed. For example, when major macronutrients were presented separately, male flies exhibited a rapid and significant increase in mortality rate and a reduced overall lifespan relative to those fed a single medium containing both sugar and yeast. These effects are mediated by specific components of serotonin signaling, as a mutation in serotonin receptor 2A (5-HT2A) eliminated the effects of dietary choice. Here we show that dietary choice influenced several measures of metabolic network integrity, including connectivity, average shortest distance, community structure, and robustness, with the effects of the latter two restricted to tissues in the head. These changes in network structure were associated with organism resilience and increased susceptibility to genetic perturbation, as measured by starvation survival. Our data suggest that the behavioral or perceptual consequences of exposure to individual macronutrients, involving serotonin signaling through 5-HT2A, qualitatively change the state of metabolic networks throughout the organism from one that is highly connected and robust to one that is fragmented, fragile, and vulnerable to perturbations.
A Universal Chemical Method for Rational Design of Protein-based Nanoreactors
Authors: Reddy Mullapudi Mohan , Bathla Punita , Sandanaraj Britto S.
Published: March 2021

Self-assembly of a monomeric protease to form a multi-subunit protein complex “proteasome” enables targeted protein degradation in living cells. The naturally occurring proteasomes serve as an inspiration and blueprint for the design of artificial protein-based nanoreactors. Here we disclose a general chemical strategy for the design of proteasome-like nanoreactors. Micelle-assisted protein labeling (MAPLab) technology along with the N-terminal bioconjugation strategy is utilized for the synthesis of a well-defined monodisperse self-assembling semi-synthetic protease. The designer protein is programmed to self-assemble into a proteasome-like nanostructure which preserves the functional properties of native protease.
Savings in human force field learning supported by feedback adaptation
Authors: Mathew James , Lefèvre Philippe , Crevecoeur Frederic
Published: March 2021

Savings have been described as the ability of healthy humans to relearn a previously acquired motor skill faster than the first time, which in the context of motor adaptation suggests that the learning rate in the brain could be adjusted when a perturbation is recognized. Alternatively, it has been argued that apparent savings were the consequence of a distinct process that instead of reflecting a change in the learning rate, revealed an explicit re-aiming strategy. Based on recent evidence that feedback adaptation may be central to both planning and control, we hypothesized that this component could genuinely accelerate relearning in human adaptation to force fields during reaching. Consistent with our hypothesis, we observed that upon re-exposure to a previously learned force field, the very first movement performed by healthy volunteers in the relearning context was better adapted to the external disturbance, and this occurred without any anticipation or cognitive strategy because the relearning session was started unexpectedly. We conclude that feedback adaptation is a medium by which the nervous system can genuinely accelerate learning across movements.

Significance Statement

Savings describe the ability of healthy humans to faster relearn a previously acquired motor skill. It is debated whether savings result from implicit changes in the learning rate or an explicit strategy. Given recent evidence that feedback control plays a key role in movement adaptation, we hypothesized that this component also contributed to savings in the context of force field adaptation. We confirm that relearning was faster and demonstrate that the very first relearning movement was better adapted to the external disturbance, i.e., the online corrections in the first re-exposure trial carried imprints of feedback adaptation from the previous sessions in the absence of any explicit strategy. We conclude that this non-explicit feedback component can genuinely accelerate motor learning.
Obtaining Xenopus laevis Eggs
Authors: Shaidani Nikko-Ideen , McNamara Sean , Wlizla Marcin , Horb Marko E.
Published: March 2021

Nearly a century ago, studies by Lancelot Hogben and others demonstrated that ovulation in female Xenopus laevis can be induced via injection of mammalian gonadotropins into the dorsal lymph sac, allowing for egg production throughout the year independent of the normal reproductive cycles. Hormonally induced females are capable of producing thousands of eggs in a single spawning, which can then be fertilized to generate embryos or used as a substrate for generation of egg extracts. The protocol for induction of ovulation and subsequent egg collection is straightforward and robust, yet some of its details may vary among laboratories based on prior training, availability of necessary reagents, or the experimental objectives. As the goal of this protocol is not to describe every single variation possible for acquiring eggs but to provide a simple and clear description that can be easily applied by researchers with no prior working experience with X. laevis, we focus on describing the method we use at the National Xenopus Resource—that is, inducing ovulation in X. laevis via dorsal lymph sac injection of gonadotropic hormones and the stimulation of egg laying through application of gentle pressure to the females.
Minimizing path loss and improving security in wireless body area networks
Authors: Anguraj Dinesh Kumar , Bashar Abul , Nidhya R. , Shimna P.K. , Ravi Renjith V.
Published: March 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is energy consumption and security. To extend the sensor’s life span, saving the energy in a sensor is important. In this paper, biosensors are implanted or suited on the human body, and then, transposition has been applied for biosensors for reducing the sensor distance from the sink node. After transposition path loss has been calculated, security is maintained and also compared the results with the existing strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

Nowadays, one of the most emergent technologies is wireless body area network (WBAN), which represents to improve the quality of life and also allow for monitoring the remote patient and other health-care applications. Traffic routing plays a main role together with the relay nodes, which is used to collect the biosensor’s information and send it towards the sink.

Findings

To calculate the distance and observe the position, Euclidean distance technique is used. Path loss is the main parameter, which is needed to reduce for making better data transmission and to make the network stability. Routing protocols can be designed, with the help of proposed values of sensors locations in the human body, which gives good stability of network and lifetime. It helps to achieve as the less deplete energy.

Originality/value

This scheme is compared with the two existing schemes and shows the result in terms of parameter path loss. Moreover, this paper evaluated a new method for improving the security in WBAN. The main goal of this research is to find the optimal sensor location on the body and select the biosensor positions where they can get less energy while transmitting the data to the sink node, increasing the life span in biosensors, decreasing memory space, giving security, controlling the packet complexity and buffer overflow and also fixing the damages in the existing system.