bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Risk of hepato‐pancreato‐biliary cancer is increased by primary sclerosing cholangitis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A population‐based cohort study
Authors: Yu Jingru , Refsum Erle , Helsingen Lise M. , Folseraas Trine , Ploner Alexander , Wieszczy Paulina , Barua Ishita , Jodal Henriette C. , Melum Espen , Løberg Magnus , Blom Johannes , Bretthauer Michael , Adami Hans‐Olov , Kalager Mette , Ye Weimin
Published: February 2022

Background

There is continued uncertainty regarding the risks of hepato‐pancreato‐biliary cancers in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with or without concomitant primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Objective

To give updated estimates on risk of hepato‐pancreato‐biliary cancers in patients with IBD, including pancreatic cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, gall bladder cancer, and intra – and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods

In a population‐based cohort study, we included all patients diagnosed with IBD in Norway and Sweden from 1987 to 2016. The cohort comprised of 141,960 patients, identified through hospital databases and the National Patient Register. Participants were followed through linkage to national cancer, cause of death, and population registries. We calculated absolute risk and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of hepato‐pancreato‐biliary cancers by PSC and other clinical characteristics.

Results

Of the 141,960 IBD patients, 3.2% were diagnosed with PSC. During a median follow‐up of 10.0 years, we identified 443 biliary tract cancers (SIR 5.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.8–5.7), 161 hepatocellular carcinomas (SIR 2.4, 95% CI 2.0–2.7) and 282 pancreatic cancers (SIR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2–1.5). The relative risks were considerably higher in PSC‐IBD patients, with SIR of 140 (95% CI 123–159) for biliary tract, 38.6 (95% CI 29.2–50.0) for hepatocellular, and 9.0 (95% CI 6.3–12.6) for pancreatic cancer. The SIRs were still slightly increased in non‐PSC‐IBD patients, compared to the general population. For biliary tract cancer, the cumulative probability at 25 years was 15.6% in PSC‐IBD patients, and 0.4% in non‐PSC‐IBD patients.

Conclusions

The dramatically increased risks of hepato‐pancreato‐biliary cancers in PSC‐IBD patients support periodic surveillance for these malignancies. While much lower, the excess relative risks in non‐PSC‐IBD patients were not trivial compared to non‐IBD related risk factors.
Experiential motivation and the linguistics of sitting, standing, and lying
Authors: Newman John
Published: February 2022

The three human at‐rest postures of sitting, standing, and lying are basic, recurring features of human behavior and may reasonably be called primary postures. The three postures share the property of being stable through time, but they are also differentiated in terms of their overall shape, their physiological properties, and typical associated behaviors such as the association of sitting with social interaction, and lying with sleeping. The experiential realities of the three postures underlie and motivate a range of cross‐linguistic phenomena involving morphemes with meanings of “sit”, “stand,” and “lie”. The relevant linguistic phenomena include higher frequencies of occurrence compared with other kinds of posture verbs and differential behavior with respect to some morphosyntactic patterns involving notions such as agentivity. The posture morphemes can also be the source for a variety of semantic extensions reflecting experiential realities of the postures, such as the extension of “lie” to mean “sleep” in some languages. Extensions also include grammaticalizations of the posture morphemes to locative and aspectual markers which reflect the temporal stability and spatial fixedness of the postures themselves.

This article is categorized under:

Linguistics > Cognitive Linguistics

Linguistics > Language in Mind and Brain
Red blood cells membrane‐derived nanoparticles: Applications and key challenges in their clinical translation
Authors: Malhotra Sahil , Dumoga Shweta , Singh Neetu
Published: February 2022

Cellular membrane‐derived nanoparticles, particularly of red blood cells (RBCs), represent an emerging class of drug delivery systems. The lack of nucleus and organelles in these cells makes them easy to process and empty out intracellular contents. The empty vesicle membranes can then be either used as a coating on nanoparticles or can be reassembled into a nanovesicle. Engineered RBCs membrane has unique ability to retain its lipid bilayer architecture with host's proteins during top‐down approach, thus allowing it to form stable nanoformulations mimicking RBCs stealth properties. In addition, its core–shell structure allows loading of different drug molecules, and its surface chemistry can be manipulated by facile conjugation with ligands on the shell. The remarkable ability of RBCs membrane to fuse with membranes of other cells enables the formation of hybrid nanovesicles. In this review, we highlight the biomedical applications of such vesicles and discuss the potential challenges related to its clinical translation. Although nano‐RBCs retain much of the host's proteins, which may give an edge over synthetic nanoparticles in terms of lower immunogenicity, its production at industrial level is more challenging. This review gives the critical analysis of barriers involved in the translation of RBCs‐derived nanoparticles from preclinical to clinical level.

This article is categorized under:

Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies

Biology‐Inspired Nanomaterials > Lipid‐Based Structures

Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Regulatory and Policy Issues in Nanomedicine
Zero-Waste: A New Sustainability Paradigm for Addressing the Global Waste Problem
Authors: Zaman Atiq
Published: February 2022

There is a growing interest in addressing global waste problems by applying innovative ideas and philosophies such as zero-waste and circular economy. As a new sustainability paradigm, zero-waste challenges the common assumption of waste as a valueless and unavoidable by-product created at the end of the product’s life phase. Instead, it acknowledges that waste is a “misallocated resource” or “resource in transition”; produced during the intermediate phases of production and consumption activities. Waste should be recirculated to production and consumption processes. Therefore, zero waste means no “waste” would be wasted under the circular economy system. This chapter presents various examples of zero-waste practices derived from family, community, business, and city levels. In addition, zero-waste implementation strategies and actions are also discussed in the chapter. Despite its potential, the visionary zero-waste goals cannot be achieved without responsible global stewardship and active citizens’ role.
The Time Derivative
Authors: Seifert Christian , Trostorff Sascha , Waurick Marcus
Published: February 2022

It is the aim of this chapter to define a derivative operator on a suitable L2-space, which will be used as the derivative with respect to the temporal variable in our applications. As we want to deal with Hilbert space-valued functions, we start by introducing the concept of Bochner–Lebesgue spaces, which generalises the classical scalar-valued Lp-spaces to the Banach space-valued case.
Ordinary Differential Equations
Authors: Seifert Christian , Trostorff Sascha , Waurick Marcus
Published: February 2022

In this chapter, we discuss a first application of the time derivative operator constructed in the previous chapter. More precisely, we analyse well-posedness of ordinary differential equations and will at the same time provide a Hilbert space proof of the classical Picard–Lindelöf theorem (There are different notions for this theorem. It is also called existence and uniqueness theorem for initial value problems for ordinary differential equations as well as Cauchy–Lipschitz theorem). We shall furthermore see that the abstract theory developed here also allows for more general differential equations to be considered. In particular, we will have a look at so-called delay differential equations with finite or infinite delay; neutral differential equations are considered in the exercises section.
The Fourier–Laplace Transformation and Material Law Operators
Authors: Seifert Christian , Trostorff Sascha , Waurick Marcus
Published: February 2022

In this chapter we introduce the Fourier–Laplace transformation and use it to define operator-valued functions of ∂t,ν; the so-called material law operators. These operators will play a crucial role when we deal with partial differential equations. In the equations of classical mathematical physics, like the heat equation, wave equation or Maxwell’s equation, the involved material parameters, such as heat conductivity or permeability of the underlying medium, are incorporated within these operators. Hence, these operators are also called “material law operators”. We start our chapter by defining the Fourier transformation and proving Plancherel’s theorem in the Hilbert space-valued case, which states that the Fourier transformation defines a unitary operator on
$$L_2(\mathbb {R};H)$$

L

2

(
ℝ
;
H
)
.
Causality and a Theorem of Paley and Wiener
Authors: Seifert Christian , Trostorff Sascha , Waurick Marcus
Published: February 2022

In this chapter we turn our focus back to causal operators. In Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-89397-2_5 we found out that material laws provide a class of causal and autonomous bounded operators. In this chapter we will present another proof of this fact, which rests on a result which characterises functions in
$$L_2(\mathbb {R};H)$$

L

2

(
ℝ
;
H
)
with support contained in the non-negative reals; the celebrated Theorem of Paley and Wiener. With the help of this theorem, which is interesting in its own right, the proof of causality for material laws becomes very easy. At a first glance it seems that holomorphy of a material law is a rather strong assumption. In the second part of this chapter, however, we shall see that in designing autonomous and causal solution operators, there is no way of circumventing holomorphy.
Initial Value Problems and Extrapolation Spaces
Authors: Seifert Christian , Trostorff Sascha , Waurick Marcus
Published: February 2022

Up until now we have dealt with evolutionary equations of the form
$$\displaystyle \big (\overline {\partial _{t,\nu }M(\partial _{t,\nu })+A}\big )U=F $$

(

∂

t
,
ν

M
(

∂

t
,
ν

)
+
A

¯

)

U
=
F
for some given
$$F\in L_{2,\nu }(\mathbb {R};H)$$

F
∈

L

2
,
ν

(
ℝ
;
H
)
for some Hilbert space H, a skew-selfadjoint operator A in H and a material law M defined on a suitable half-plane satisfying an appropriate positive definiteness condition with
$$\nu \in \mathbb {R}$$

ν
∈
ℝ
chosen suitably large. Under these conditions, we established that the solution operator, "Equation missing", is eventually independent of ν and causal; that is, if F = 0 on
$$\left (-\infty ,a\right ]$$

−
∞
,
a

for some
$$a\in \mathbb {R}$$

a
∈
ℝ
, then so too is U.
Kinematic singularities of Feynman integrals and principal A-determinants
Authors: Klausen René Pascal
Published: February 2022

We consider the analytic properties of Feynman integrals from the perspective of general A-discriminants and $$ \mathcal{A} $$
A
-hypergeometric functions introduced by Gelfand, Kapranov and Zelevinsky (GKZ). This enables us, to give a clear and mathematically rigorous description of the singular locus, also known as Landau variety, via principal A-determinants. We also comprise a description of the various second type singularities. Moreover, by the Horn-Kapranov-parametrization we give a very efficient way to calculate a parametrization of Landau varieties. We furthermore present a new approach to study the sheet structure of multivalued Feynman integrals by the use of coamoebas.
Global Wave Front Sets in Ultradifferentiable Classes
Authors: Asensio Vicente , Boiti Chiara , Jornet David , Oliaro Alessandro
Published: February 2022

We introduce a global wave front set using Weyl quantizations of pseudodifferential operators of infinite order in the ultradifferentiable setting. We see that in many cases it coincides with the Gabor wave front set already studied by the last three authors of the present work. In this sense, we also extend, to the ultradifferentiable setting, previous work by Rodino and Wahlberg. Finally, we give applications to the study of propagation of singularities of pseudodifferential operators.
Reopening schools in a context of low COVID-19 contagion: consequences for teachers, students and their parents
Authors: Godøy Anna , Grøtting Maja Weemes , Hart Rannveig Kaldager
Published: February 2022

Knowing how school reopenings affect the spread of COVID-19 is crucial when balancing children’s right to schooling with contagion management. This paper considers the effects on COVID-19 testing prevalence and the positive test rate of reopening Norwegian schools after a 6-week closure aimed at reducing contagion. We estimate the effects of school reopening on teachers, parents and students using an event study/difference-in-differences design that incorporates comparison groups with minimal exposure to in-person schooling. We find no evidence that COVID-19 incidence increased following reopening among students, parents or teachers pooled across grade levels. We find some suggestive evidence that infection rates among upper secondary school teachers increased; however, the effects are small and transitory. At low levels of contagion, schools can safely be reopened when other social distancing policies remain in place.
Posteriorly positioned femoral grafts decrease long-term failure in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, femoral and tibial graft positions did not affect long-term reported outcome
Authors: de Mees Tim T. C. R. , Reijman Max , Waarsing Jan Hendrik , Meuffels Duncan E.
Published: February 2022

Purpose

To investigate the effect that femoral and tibial tunnel positions have on long-term reported and clinical outcome and to identify a safe zone based on favourable outcome.

Methods

Seventy-eight patients from a previous randomised controlled trial were included and were followed with a mean follow-up of 11.4 years. All patients had primary trans-tibial anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction performed. The femoral and tibial tunnel positions were visualised and translated in percentages with three-dimensional computed tomography post-operatively. There were 3 separate outcome variables: patient-reported outcome measured with the IKDC Subjective Knee Form, overall failure, and radiographic osteoarthritis. The correlation between tunnel aperture positions and outcome was determined with multivariate regression. The area with best outcome was defined as the safe zone and was determined with Youden’s index in conjunction with receiver operating characteristics.

Results

No significant relationship was found between tunnel aperture positions and IKDC Subjective Knee Form at 10-year follow-up. The posterior-to-anterior femoral tunnel aperture position parallel to Blumensaat line showed a significant relationship (p = 0.03) to overall failure at 10-year follow-up. The mean posterior-to-anterior tunnel position of the group that did not fail was 37.7% compared to 44.1% in the overall failure group. Femoral tunnel apertures placed further anteriorly had more overall failures at long-term. The cut-off point lies at 35.0% from posterior-to-anterior parallel to Blumensaat. Of the 16 overall failures, 15 (93.8%) were placed further anteriorly than the cut-off point. No significant relationship was found between tunnel aperture positions and radiographic osteoarthritis.

Conclusion

Femoral and tibial tunnel positions were not associated with long-term patient-reported outcome and radiographic osteoarthritis. Long-term overall failure was more frequently seen in patients with a more anteriorly placed femoral tunnel. This study identified a safe zone located at the most posterior 35% of the femoral condyle parallel to Blumensaat. This knowledge offers guidance to surgeons to operate more precisely and accurately and reconstruct a long-lasting graft.

Level of evidence

Level III.
A combined analytical-chemometric approach for the in vitro determination of polyphenol bioaccessibility by simulated gastrointestinal digestion
Authors: Gómez-Mejía Esther , Rosales-Conrado Noelia , León-González María Eugenia , Valverde Alejandro , Madrid Yolanda
Published: February 2022

In this study, an integrated characterisation through polyphenol and caffeine content and antioxidant activity was combined with chemometric analysis to assess the effects of simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the bioaccessibility of these bioactive compounds from nine different tea infusions. Tea infusions were characterised based on total flavonoids, total polyphenols and antioxidant activity, together with the determination of individual polyphenol content. Fourteen phenolic compounds, including phenolic acids, stilbenes and flavonoids, were selected based on their reported bioactivity and high accessibility, attributed to their low molecular weight. Both polyphenols and caffeine were initially monitored in raw tea infusions and through the different digestion stages (salivary, gastric and duodenal) by capillary high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection (cHPLC-DAD) and/or HPLC coupled to a triple quadrupole mass analyser (HPLC–MS/MS). Multivariate analysis of the studied bioactives, using principal component analysis and cluster analysis, revealed that the decaffeination process seems to increase the stability and concentration of the compounds evaluated during digestion. The greatest transformations occurred mainly in the gastric and duodenal stages, where low bioactivity indices (IVBA) were shown for resveratrol and caffeic acid (IVBA = 0%). In contrast, the polyphenols gallic acid, chlorogenic acid and quercetin gave rise to their availability in white, green and oolong infusion teas (IVBA > 90%). Furthermore, highly fermented black and pu-erh varieties could be designated as less bioaccessible environments in the duodenum with respect to the tested compounds.
Functional Correlation Bounds and Optimal Iterated Moment Bounds for Slowly-Mixing Nonuniformly Hyperbolic Maps
Authors: Fleming-Vázquez Nicholas
Published: February 2022

Consider a nonuniformly hyperbolic map $$ T:M\rightarrow M $$

T
:
M
→
M

modelled by a Young tower with tails of the form $$ O(n^{-\beta }) $$

O
(

n

-
β

)

, $$ \beta >2 $$

β
>
2

. We prove optimal moment bounds for Birkhoff sums $$ \sum _{i=0}^{n-1}v\circ T^i $$

∑

i
=
0

n
-
1

v
∘

T
i

and iterated sums $$ \sum _{0\le i<j<n}v\circ T^i\, w\circ T^j $$

∑

0
≤
i
<
j
<
n

v
∘

T
i

w
∘

T
j

, where $$ v,w:M\rightarrow {{\mathbb {R}}} $$

v
,
w
:
M
→
R

are (dynamically) Hölder observables. Previously iterated moment bounds were only known for $$ \beta >5$$

β
>
5

. Our method of proof is as follows; (i) prove that $$ T$$
T
satisfies an abstract functional correlation bound, (ii) use a weak dependence argument to show that the functional correlation bound implies moment estimates. Such iterated moment bounds arise when using rough path theory to prove deterministic homogenisation results. Indeed, by a recent result of Chevyrev, Friz, Korepanov, Melbourne & Zhang we have convergence to an Itô diffusion for fast-slow systems of the form $$\begin{aligned} x^{(n)}_{k+1}=x_k^{(n)}+n^{-1}a(x_k^{(n)},y_k)+n^{-1/2}b(x_k^{(n)},y_k) , \quad y_{k+1}=Ty_k \end{aligned}$$

x

k
+
1

(
n
)

=

x
k

(
n
)

+

n

-
1

a

(

x
k

(
n
)

,

y
k

)

+

n

-
1
/
2

b

(

x
k

(
n
)

,

y
k

)

,

y

k
+
1

=
T

y
k

in the optimal range $$ \beta >2$$

β
>
2

.
Automated segmentation of magnetic resonance bone marrow signal: a feasibility study
Authors: von Brandis Elisabeth , Jenssen Håvard B. , Avenarius Derk F. M. , Bjørnerud Atle , Flatø Berit , Tomterstad Anders H. , Lilleby Vibke , Rosendahl Karen , Sakinis Tomas , Zadig Pia K. K. , Müller Lil-Sofie Ording
Published: February 2022

Background

Manual assessment of bone marrow signal is time-consuming and requires meticulous standardisation to secure adequate precision of findings.

Objective

We examined the feasibility of using deep learning for automated segmentation of bone marrow signal in children and adolescents.

Materials and methods

We selected knee images from 95 whole-body MRI examinations of healthy individuals and of children with chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis, ages 6–18 years, in a longitudinal prospective multi-centre study cohort. Bone marrow signal on T2-weighted Dixon water-only images was divided into three color-coded intensity-levels: 1 = slightly increased; 2 = mildly increased; 3 = moderately to highly increased, up to fluid-like signal. We trained a convolutional neural network on 85 examinations to perform bone marrow segmentation. Four readers manually segmented a test set of 10 examinations and calculated ground truth using simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE). We evaluated model and rater performance through Dice similarity coefficient and in consensus.

Results

Consensus score of model performance showed acceptable results for all but one examination. Model performance and reader agreement had highest scores for level-1 signal (median Dice 0.68) and lowest scores for level-3 signal (median Dice 0.40), particularly in examinations where this signal was sparse.

Conclusion

It is feasible to develop a deep-learning-based model for automated segmentation of bone marrow signal in children and adolescents. Our model performed poorest for the highest signal intensity in examinations where this signal was sparse. Further improvement requires training on larger and more balanced datasets and validation against ground truth, which should be established by radiologists from several institutions in consensus.
Unboxing the black box—one step forward to understand the soil microbiome: A systematic review
Authors: Mishra Apurva , Singh Lal , Singh Dharmesh
Published: February 2022

Soil is one of the most important assets of the planet Earth, responsible for maintaining the biodiversity and managing the ecosystem services for both managed and natural ecosystems. It encompasses large proportion of microscopic biodiversity, including prokaryotes and the microscopic eukaryotes. Soil microbiome is critical in managing the soil functions, but their activities have diminutive recognition in few systems like desert land and forest ecosystems. Soil microbiome is highly dependent on abiotic and biotic factors like pH, carbon content, soil structure, texture, and vegetation, but it can notably vary with ecosystems and the respective inhabitants. Thus, unboxing this black box is essential to comprehend the basic components adding to the soil systems and supported ecosystem services. Recent advancements in the field of molecular microbial ecology have delivered commanding tools to examine this genetic trove of soil biodiversity. Objective of this review is to provide a critical evaluation of the work on the soil microbiome, especially since the advent of the NGS techniques. The review also focuses on advances in our understanding of soil communities, their interactions, and functional capabilities along with understanding their role in maneuvering the biogeochemical cycle while underlining and tapping the unprecedented metagenomics data to infer the ecological attributes of yet undiscovered soil microbiome. This review focuses key research directions that could shape the future of basic and applied research into the soil microbiome. This review has led us to understand that it is difficult to generalize that soil microbiome plays a substantiated role in shaping the soil networks and it is indeed a vital resource for sustaining the ecosystem functioning. Exploring soil microbiome will help in unlocking their roles in various soil network. It could be resourceful in exploring and forecasting its impacts on soil systems and for dealing with alleviating problems like rapid climate change.
Occupancy times for time-dependent stage-structured models
Authors: Chappelle George , Hastings Alan , Rasmussen Martin
Published: February 2022

During their lifetimes, individuals in populations pass through different states, and the notion of an occupancy time describes the amount of time an individual spends in a given set of states. Questions related to this idea were studied in a recent paper by Roth and Caswell for cases where the environmental conditions are constant. However, it is truly important to consider the case where environments are changing randomly or in directional way through time, so the transition probabilities between different states change over time, motivating the use of time-dependent stage-structured models. Using absorbing inhomogenous Markov chains and the discrete-time McKendrick–von Foerster equation, we derive explicit formulas for the occupancy time, its expectation, and its higher-order moments for stage-structured models with time-dependent transition rates. The results provide insights into the dynamics of long lived plant or animal populations where individuals transition in both directions between reproductive and non reproductive stages. We apply our approach to study a specific time-dependent model of the Southern Fulmar, and obtain insights into how the number of breeding attempts depends on external conditions that vary through time.
Depressive symptoms in youth with ADHD: the role of impairments in cognitive emotion regulation
Authors: Mayer Jutta S. , Brandt Geva A. , Medda Juliane , Basten Ulrike , Grimm Oliver , Reif Andreas , Freitag Christine M.
Published: February 2022

Youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk to develop co-morbid depression. Identifying factors that contribute to depression risk may allow early intervention and prevention. Poor emotion regulation, which is common in adolescents, is a candidate risk factor. Impaired cognitive emotion regulation is a fundamental characteristic of depression and depression risk in the general population. However, little is known about cognitive emotion regulation in youth with ADHD and its link to depression and depression risk. Using explicit and implicit measures, this study assessed cognitive emotion regulation in youth with ADHD (N = 40) compared to demographically matched healthy controls (N = 40) and determined the association with depressive symptomatology. As explicit measure, we assessed the use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies via self-report. As implicit measure, performance in an ambiguous cue-conditioning task was assessed as indicator of affective bias in the processing of information. Compared to controls, patients reported more frequent use of maladaptive (i.e., self-blame, catastrophizing, and rumination) and less frequent use of adaptive (i.e., positive reappraisal) emotion regulation strategies. This pattern was associated with the severity of current depressive symptoms in patients. In the implicit measure of cognitive bias, there was no significant difference in response of patients and controls and no association with depression. Our findings point to depression-related alterations in the use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in youth with ADHD. The study suggests those alterations as a candidate risk factor for ADHD-depression comorbidity that may be used for risk assessment and prevention strategies.
Morphological characterization and clinical effects of stromal alterations after intracorneal ring segment implantation in keratoconus
Authors: Hamon Loïc , Schlötzer-Schrehardt Ursula , Flockerzi Fidelis A. , Seitz Berthold , Daas Loay
Published: February 2022

Purpose

To analyze the histological and (ultra)structural stromal tissue changes after femtosecond (Fs) laser–assisted intracorneal ring segment (ICRS) implantation and their refractive and topographic effects in patients with keratoconus.

Methods

This monocentric retrospective case series included 15 consecutive patients with clinical peri-segmental lamellar channel deposits after treatment with Fs-ICRS implantation for keratoconus. The stromal changes were investigated using in vivo confocal microscopy. Two patients underwent a penetrating keratoplasty after the Fs-ICRS implantation; the explanted corneas were processed for histopathology and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Refractive and topographic effects were investigated comparing the uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected (CDVA) distance visual acuity, spherical equivalent (SE), flat (K1), steep (K2), and steepest (Kmax) keratometry before and after detection of lamellar channel deposits.

Results

In vivo confocal microscopy revealed diffuse linear and focal granular hyperreflective structures. Histologically, there was mild proliferation of fibroblasts and fibrosis. TEM demonstrated focal accumulations of degenerated keratocytes with cytoplasmic lipid inclusions. There were no significant changes for UDVA (Δ = 0.0 ± 0.2 logMAR; p = 0.67), CDVA (Δ = 0.0 ± 0.1 logMAR; p = 0.32), SE (Δ 0.1 ± 0.9 D; p = 0.22), K1 (Δ = 0.3 ± 1.0 D; p = 0.28), K2 (Δ = 0.1 ± 0.9 D; p = 0.51), and Kmax (Δ = 0.3 ± 1.5 D; p = 0.17).

Conclusions

Two types of structural stromal changes were identified: (1) diffuse peri-segmental fibrosis and (2) lamellar channel deposits. These structural changes showed no evidence of a relevant refractive or topographic effect.
Limitations of laparoscopy to assess the peritoneal cancer index and eligibility for cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC in peritoneal metastasis
Authors: Yurttas Can , Überrück Lisa , Nadiradze Giorgi , Königsrainer Alfred , Horvath Philipp
Published: February 2022

Purpose

We aimed to determine the value of laparoscopy to assess the intra-abdominal tumor extent and predict complete cytoreduction.

Methods

All patients at our department in the period from 2017 to 2021 that underwent laparoscopy to assess peritoneal metastasis and subsequent open exploration with the intention to perform cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with HIPEC were retrospectively identified in a continuously maintained database.

Results

Forty-three patients were analyzed. Peritoneal cancer index (PCI) determination by laparoscopy compared to open surgery was overestimated in five patients (11.6%), identical in eleven patients (25.6%), and underestimated in 27 patients (62.8%). PCI differences were independent of surgeons, tumor entities, and prior chemotherapy. Thirty-four patients (79.1%) were determined eligible for CRS with HIPEC during open exploration, whereas nine patients (20.9%) underwent a non-therapeutic laparotomy. Complete or almost complete cytoreduction was achieved in 33 patients (76.7%). In one patient, completeness of cytoreduction was not documented.

Conclusions

We demonstrate a moderate agreement according to weighted Cohen’s kappa analysis of PCI values calculated during laparoscopy and subsequent open exploration for CRS with HIPEC. Uncertainty of PCI assessment should therefore be kept in mind when performing laparoscopy in patients with peritoneal metastasis.
What does the evidence tell us? Revisiting optimal cord management at the time of birth
Authors: Rabe Heike , Mercer Judith , Erickson-Owens Debra
Published: February 2022

A newborn who receives a placental transfusion at birth from delayed cord clamping (DCC) obtains about 30% more blood volume than those with immediate cord clamping (ICC). Benefits for term neonates include higher hemoglobin levels, less iron deficiency in infancy, improved myelination out to 12 months, and better motor and social development at 4 years of age especially in boys. For preterm infants, benefits include less intraventricular hemorrhage, fewer gastrointestinal issues, lower transfusion requirements, and less mortality in the neonatal intensive care unit by 30%. Ventilation before clamping the umbilical cord can reduce large swings in cardiovascular function and help to stabilize the neonate. Hypovolemia, often associated with nuchal cord or shoulder dystocia, may lead to an inflammatory cascade and subsequent ischemic injury. A sudden unexpected neonatal asystole at birth may occur from severe hypovolemia. The restoration of blood volume is an important action to protect the hearts and brains of neonates. Currently, protocols for resuscitation call for ICC. However, receiving an adequate blood volume via placental transfusion may be protective for distressed neonates as it prevents hypovolemia and supports optimal perfusion to all organs. Bringing the resuscitation to the mother’s bedside is a novel concept and supports an intact umbilical cord. When one cannot wait, cord milking several times can be done quickly within the resuscitation guidelines. Cord blood gases can be collected with optimal cord management. 

  Conclusion: Adopting a policy for resuscitation with an intact cord in a hospital setting takes a coordinated effort and requires teamwork by obstetrics, pediatrics, midwifery, and nursing.

What is Known:• Placental transfusion through optimal cord management benefits morbidity and mortality of newborn infants.• The World Health Organisation has recommended placental transfusion in their guidance.

What is New:• Improved understanding of transitioning to extrauterine life has been described.• Resuscitation of newborn infants whilst the umbilical cord remains intact could improve the postpartum adaptation.
Protective effect of alogliptin against cyclophosphamide-induced lung toxicity in rats: Impact on PI3K/Akt/FoxO1 pathway and downstream inflammatory cascades
Authors: Alsemeh Amira Ebrahim , Abdullah Doaa M.
Published: February 2022

Cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced lung toxicity is a remaining obstacle against the beneficial use of this chemotherapeutic agent. More considerations were given to the role of Alogliptin (ALO) in ameliorating CP-induced toxicities in many tissues. We designed this study to clarify the protective potential of ALO against CP-induced lung toxicity in rats. ALO was administered for 7 days. Single-dose CP was injected on the 2nd day (200 mg/kg: i.p.) to induce lung toxicity. Rats were divided into four groups: control, ALO-treated, CP-treated and ALO + CP-treated group. Leucocytic count, total proteins, LDH activity, TNF-α, and IL-6 were estimated in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). The oxidative/antioxidants (MDA, Nrf2, TAO and GSH), inflammatory (NFκB), fibrotic (TGF-β1) and apoptotic (PI3K/Akt/FoxO1) markers in pulmonary homogenates were biochemically evaluated. Rat lung sections were examined histologically (light and electron microscopic examination) and immunohistochemically (for iNOS and CD68 positive alveolar macrophages). CP significantly increased oxidative stress, inflammation, fibrosis, and apoptosis markers as well as deteriorated the histopathological pulmonary architecture. These hazardous effects were significantly ameliorated by ALO treatment. ALO protected against CP-induced lung toxicity by mitigating the oxidative, inflammatory and fibrotic impacts making it a promising pharmacological therapy for mitigating CP-induced lung toxicity.

Graphical abstract
Efficient Computation of Sequence Mappability
Authors: Charalampopoulos Panagiotis , Iliopoulos Costas S. , Kociumaka Tomasz , Pissis Solon P. , Radoszewski Jakub , Straszyński Juliusz
Published: February 2022

Sequence mappability is an important task in genome resequencing. In the (k, m)-mappability problem, for a given sequence T of length n, the goal is to compute a table whose ith entry is the number of indices $$j \ne i$$

j
≠
i

such that the length-m substrings of T starting at positions i and j have at most k mismatches. Previous works on this problem focused on heuristics computing a rough approximation of the result or on the case of $$k=1$$

k
=
1

. We present several efficient algorithms for the general case of the problem. Our main result is an algorithm that, for $$k=O(1)$$

k
=
O
(
1
)

, works in $$O(n)$$

O
(
n
)

space and, with high probability, in $$O(n \cdot \min \{m^k,\log ^k n\})$$

O
(
n
·
min

{

m
k

,

log
k

n
}

)

time. Our algorithm requires a careful adaptation of the k-errata trees of Cole et al. [STOC 2004] to avoid multiple counting of pairs of substrings. Our technique can also be applied to solve the all-pairs Hamming distance problem introduced by Crochemore et al. [WABI 2017]. We further develop $$O(n^2)$$

O
(

n
2

)

-time algorithms to compute all (k, m)-mappability tables for a fixed m and all $$k\in \{0,\ldots ,m\}$$

k
∈
{
0
,
…
,
m
}

or a fixed k and all $$m\in \{k,\ldots ,n\}$$

m
∈
{
k
,
…
,
n
}

. Finally, we show that, for $$k,m = \Theta (\log n)$$

k
,
m
=
Θ
(
log
n
)

, the (k, m)-mappability problem cannot be solved in strongly subquadratic time unless the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis fails. This is an improved and extended version of a paper presented at SPIRE 2018.
Astrocytes mediate analogous memory in a multi-layer neuron–astrocyte network
Authors: Tsybina Yuliya , Kastalskiy Innokentiy , Krivonosov Mikhail , Zaikin Alexey , Kazantsev Victor , Gorban Alexander N. , Gordleeva Susanna
Published: February 2022

Modeling the neuronal processes underlying short-term working memory remains the focus of many theoretical studies in neuroscience. In this paper, we propose a mathematical model of a spiking neural network (SNN) which simulates the way a fragment of information is maintained as a robust activity pattern for several seconds and the way it completely disappears if no other stimuli are fed to the system. Such short-term memory traces are preserved due to the activation of astrocytes accompanying the SNN. The astrocytes exhibit calcium transients at a time scale of seconds. These transients further modulate the efficiency of synaptic transmission and, hence, the firing rate of neighboring neurons at diverse timescales through gliotransmitter release. We demonstrate how such transients continuously encode frequencies of neuronal discharges and provide robust short-term storage of analogous information. This kind of short-term memory can store relevant information for seconds and then completely forget it to avoid overlapping with forthcoming patterns. The SNN is inter-connected with the astrocytic layer by local inter-cellular diffusive connections. The astrocytes are activated only when the neighboring neurons fire synchronously, e.g., when an information pattern is loaded. For illustration, we took grayscale photographs of people’s faces where the shades of gray correspond to the level of applied current which stimulates the neurons. The astrocyte feedback modulates (facilitates) synaptic transmission by varying the frequency of neuronal firing. We show how arbitrary patterns can be loaded, then stored for a certain interval of time, and retrieved if the appropriate clue pattern is applied to the input.
Brain retraction injury after elective aneurysm clipping: a retrospective single-center cohort study
Authors: Konya B. , Dankbaar J. W. , van der Zwan A.
Published: February 2022

Background

BRI is estimated to occur in 10% of skull-base surgery and 5% of aneurysm surgery. These estimates are based on a few studies with unclear methodology. The purpose of this study is to assess the rate of BRI occurrence, its risk factors, and the association between BRI and postoperative focal neurological deficit in patients that underwent elective aneurysm surgery in a single institution.

Methods

All patients that underwent elective aneurysm surgery in a single tertiary center in the Netherlands were included. BRI was defined as cortical hypodensities in the surgical trajectory not matching areas of large arterial infarction. Risk ratios were calculated between BRI and (a) the use of temporary parent artery occlusion during clipping, (b) anterior communicating artery (ACom), and (c) middle cerebral artery (MCA) location of the aneurysm, (d) presence of mentioned CVA risk factors, (e) the clipping of > 1 aneurysm during the same procedure, and (f) new focal neurological deficit. Statistical analysis further included t-tests and binary logistical regression analysis on the correlation between age and BRI.

Results

BRI was identified postoperatively in 42 of the 94 patients included in this study. A new focal neurological deficit was found in 7 patients in the BRI group. A total of 5 patients had persisting symptoms at 3-month follow-up, of which 2 were caused by BRI. Increasing age is a risk factor for developing BRI.

Conclusions

The high rate of BRI and significant risk of new postoperative focal neurological deficit in our patients should be considered when counseling patients for elective aneurysm surgery.
Trends in heart disease mortality among breast cancer survivors in the US, 1975–2017
Authors: Vo Jacqueline B. , Ramin Cody , Barac Ana , Berrington de Gonzalez Amy , Veiga Lene
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Heart disease is a significant concern among breast cancer survivors, in part due to cardiotoxic treatments including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Long-term trends in heart disease mortality have not been well characterized. We examined heart disease mortality trends among US breast cancer survivors by treatment type.

Methods

We included first primary invasive breast cancer survivors diagnosed between 1975 and 2016 (aged 18–84; survived 12 + months; received initial chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery) in the SEER-9 Database. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and 10-year cumulative heart disease mortality estimates accounting for competing events were calculated by calendar year of diagnosis and initial treatment regimen. Ptrends were assessed using Poisson regression. All statistical tests were 2-sided.

Results

Of 516,916 breast cancer survivors, 40,812 died of heart disease through 2017. Heart disease SMRs declined overall from 1975–1979 to 2010–2016 (SMR 1.01 [95%CI: 0.98, 1.03] to 0.74 [0.69, 0.79], ptrend < 0.001). This decline was also observed for survivors treated with radiotherapy alone and chemotherapy plus radiotherapy. A sharper decline in heart disease SMRs was observed from 1975 to 1989 for left-sided radiotherapy, compared to right-sided. In contrast, there was a non-significant increasing trend in SMRs for chemotherapy alone, and significant by regional stage (ptrend = 0.036). Largest declines in 10-year cumulative mortality were observed from 1975–1984 to 2005–2016 among surgery only: 7.02% (95%CI: 6.80%, 7.23%) to 4.68% (95%CI: 4.39%, 4.99%) and radiotherapy alone: 6.35% (95%CI: 5.95%, 6.77%) to 2.94% (95%CI: 2.73%, 3.16%).

Conclusions

We observed declining heart disease mortality trends by most treatment types yet increasing for regional stage patients treated with chemotherapy alone, highlighting a need for additional studies with detailed treatment data and cardiovascular management throughout cancer survivorship.
The ParlaMint corpora of parliamentary proceedings
Authors: Erjavec Tomaž , Ogrodniczuk Maciej , Osenova Petya , Ljubešić Nikola , Simov Kiril , Pančur Andrej , Rudolf Michał , Kopp Matyáš , Barkarson Starkaður , Steingrímsson Steinþór , Çöltekin Çağrı , de Does Jesse , Depuydt Katrien , Agnoloni Tommaso , Venturi Giulia , Pérez María Calzada , de Macedo Luciana D. , Navarretta Costanza , Luxardo Giancarlo , Coole Matthew , Rayson Paul , Morkevičius Vaidas , Krilavičius Tomas , Darǵis Roberts , Ring Orsolya , van Heusden Ruben , Marx Maarten , Fišer Darja
Published: February 2022

This paper presents the ParlaMint corpora containing transcriptions of the sessions of the 17 European national parliaments with half a billion words. The corpora are uniformly encoded, contain rich meta-data about 11 thousand speakers, and are linguistically annotated following the Universal Dependencies formalism and with named entities. Samples of the corpora and conversion scripts are available from the project’s GitHub repository, and the complete corpora are openly available via the CLARIN.SI repository for download, as well as through the NoSketch Engine and KonText concordancers and the Parlameter interface for on-line exploration and analysis.
Sketching Motherhood. Maternal Representation in Contemporary Picturebooks: The Case of Spain
Authors: De Sarlo Giulia , Guichot-Muñoz Elena , Hunt-Gómez Coral I.
Published: February 2022

Although gender-role stereotypes in children’s literature have been widely explored, the study of the role of mothers and their representation in picturebooks has not received much attention from the academic world, especially as far as Spain is concerned. This paper analyses a sample of seven picturebooks published in Spain over the last 7 years -all by awarded authors and widely reviewed in some of the most popular Spanish blogs on Children’s and Youth Literature (CYL)-and focused on the maternal figure. It aims to provide a panoramic view of the representations of the role of the mother as a paradigm of the changes seen in Spanish society, studying the representation of her voice, emotions, and ties to other members of her family through a systemic functional-multimodal discourse analysis applied to picturebooks. The results reveal that, for the first time, the mother’s voice and her right to explore her own feelings are included in her characterisation, and also, that her relationship with the rest of the family includes different aspects—children, society, work, partner, and self-care. In conclusion, the conception of motherhood as proposed to Spanish families through picturebooks seems to be finally changing, evolving from fixed stereotypes and allowing the expression of contradictory feelings related to maternity.
Perioperative complications after pacemaker implantation: higher complication rates with subclavian vein puncture than with cephalic vein cutdown
Authors: Hasan Fuad , Nedios Sotirios , Karosiene Zana , Scholten Marvin , Lemke Bernd , Tulka Sabrina , Knippschild Stephanie , Macher-Heidrich Susanne , Adomeit Heinz Jürgen , Zarse Markus , Bogossian Harilaos
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The cephalic vein cutdown (CVC) and the subclavian puncture (SP) is the most common access for pacemaker implantation. The purpose of this study was to compare the peri-/postoperative complications of these approaches.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of the quality assurance data of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia was performed to evaluate the peri-/postoperative complications of first pacemaker implantation according to the venous access. The primary endpoint was defined as the occurrence of one of the following: asystole, ventricular fibrillation, pneumothorax, hemothorax, pericardial effusion, pocket hematoma, lead dislocation, lead dysfunction, postoperative wound infection or other complication requiring intervention. Descriptive analysis was done via absolute, relative frequencies and Odds Ratio. Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of the both study groups.

Results

From 139,176 pacemaker implantations from 2010 to 2014, 15,483 cases were excluded due to other/double access. The median age was 78 years and the access used was CVC for 75,251 cases (60.8%) and SP for 48,442 cases (39.2%). The implanted devices were mainly dual-chamber pacemakers (73.9% in the CVC group and 78.4% in the SP group), followed by single-chamber pacemakers VVI (24.9% and 19.9% in the CVC and SP group respectively). There were significantly fewer peri/postoperative complications in the CVC group compared to the SP group (2.49% vs. 3.64%, p = 0.0001, OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.38–1.57).

Conclusions

CVC as venous access for pacemaker implantation has significantly fewer peri/postoperative complications than SP and appears to be an advantageous technique.