bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between the Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care and Emotionally Intelligent Leadership Style
Authors: Blizzard Linda , Woods Stephanie L.
Published: November 2020

OBJECTIVE

The study examined relationships between nurses' perceptions of implicit rationing of nursing care and leadership style in the nursing work environment.

BACKGROUND

Nurses' perceptions of higher amounts of implicit rationing of nursing care relate to perceptions of lower quality of care and poorer patient outcomes. This study was the 1st to examine leadership style and implicit rationing of nursing care.

METHODS

Using a cross-sectional survey study design, 35 039 RNs were randomly sampled during September 2017 to March 2018.

RESULTS

Findings support an association between nurses' perceptions of an emotionally intelligent leadership style and lower amounts of implicit rationing of nursing care.

CONCLUSION

Implicit rationing of nursing care in the nursing work environment is significantly associated with emotionally intelligent leadership style. Nurse executives, and nursing faculty in administrative-focused graduate programs, can provide development and education in emotionally intelligent leadership skills.
Primary Intrathoracic Sarcomas: A Review of Cross-sectional Imaging and Pathology
Authors: Chahal Anurag , Manapragada Padma Priya , Singh Satinder Pal , Winokur Thomas S. , Sonavane Sushilkumar K.
Published: November 2020

The most common sarcomas in the thorax are metastasis from an extrathoracic primary malignancy. Primary intrathoracic sarcomas are rare albeit aggressive malignancies that are diagnosed on histopathology. Although a few imaging characteristics have been described that are common to sarcomas, it is still a diagnosis of exclusion as other tumors are much more common. Like elsewhere, primary thoracic sarcomas are also classified according to their histologic features. They are a rare group of tumors that can arise from the mediastinal structures, lung, pleura, or chest wall. On imaging, differentiating these from more common malignancies like lung cancer is difficult and often requires multimodality workup and tissue sampling. A few sarcomas are very specific to their locations, such as angiosarcoma in the right atrium, leiomyosarcoma in the pulmonary artery, where imaging has high accuracy for the diagnosis. Despite being nonspecific in a majority of cases, imaging plays a pivotal role in determining the organ of origin, tumor extent, invasion of adjacent structures, and thus help to assess the surgical resectability. Although sarcomas arising from chest wall are the most common primary sarcomas in the chest, they are excluded from this review to focus only on primary intrathoracic sarcomas. The article provides a comprehensive imaging and pathology review of the rare primary intrathoracic sarcomas, including but not limited to angiosarcoma, Kaposi sarcoma, fibrosarcoma, malignant transformation of fibrous tumor of pleura, sarcomatoid mesothelioma, leiomyosarcoma, and malignant small round blue cell tumors.

Key points:

Primary intrathoracic sarcomas are rare but clinically important.

Imaging helps to determine local extent, invasion, metastases and appropriate site/mode of biopsy.

Role of pathology is paramount in diagnosis and guiding treatment based on immunogenetic/molecular typing.
Feasibility and Safety of Laparoscopic Complete Mesocolic Excision (CME) for Right-sided Colon Cancer
Authors: Di Buono Giuseppe , Buscemi Salvatore , Cocorullo Gianfranco , Sorce Vincenzo , Amato Giuseppe , Bonventre Giulia , Maienza Elisa , Galia Massimo , Gulotta Leonardo , Romano Giorgio , Agrusa Antonino
Published: November 2020

Objective:

The aim of this prospective clinical study is to compare short-term outcome of laparoscopic right hemicolectomy using the Complete Mesocolic Excision (CME group) with patients who underwent conventional right-sided colonic resection (NCME group).

Summary Background Data:

Although CME with central vascular ligation in laparoscopic right hemicolectomy is associated with a significant decrease in local recurrence rates and improvements in cancer-related 5-year survival, there may be additional risks associated with this technique because of increased surgical complications. As a result, there is controversy surrounding its use.

Methods:

In this randomized controlled trial, several primary endpoints (operative time, intraoperative blood loss, other complications, conversion rate, and anastomotic leak) and secondary endpoints (overall postoperative complications) were evaluated. In addition, we evaluated histopathologic data, including specimen length and the number of lymph nodes harvested, as objective signs of the quality of CME, related to oncological outcomes.

Results:

The CME group had a significantly longer mean operative time than the NCME group (216.3 minutes vs 191.5 minutes, P = 0.005). However, the CME group had a higher number of lymph nodes (23.8 vs 16.6; P < 0.001) and larger surgical specimens (34.3 cm vs 29.3 cm; P = 0.002). No differences were reported with respect to intraoperative blood loss, conversion rate, leakage, or other postoperative complications.

Conclusions:

In this study laparoscopic CME were a safe and feasible technique with improvement in lymph nodes harvesting and length of surgical specimens with no increase of surgical intraoperative and postoperative complications.
Wound Pain and Wound Healing Biomarkers From Wound Exudate
Authors: Goto Taichi , Saligan Leorey N.
Published: November 2020

PURPOSE:

Effective management of wound pain is essential for optimal wound healing. Nevertheless, the outcomes of wound pain interventions are based on subjective measures, which can prove problematic in patients with cognitive impairment. Identification of biomarkers associated with wound pain and wound healing can be used to more objectively estimate wound pain and contribute to the development of precise management options to reduce wound pain and promote wound healing. This scoping review aimed to identify wound pain and wound healing biomarkers from wound exudates and to describe different wound collection methods to identify these biomarkers.

METHODS:

We searched the literature (PROSPERO database registration number: CRD42018103843) via a scoping review.

SEARCH STRATEGY:

The PubMed database was searched for articles that explored relationships between cutaneous wound pain, wound healing, and biomolecules. Inclusion criteria were articles that reported original data, used adult human samples, and were published in English.

FINDINGS:

Twenty-one articles were retrieved: 17 investigated molecules from wound exudate associated with wound healing status, and 4 reported molecules associated with wound pain. The most frequently observed wound pain biomarkers were proinflammatory cytokines; the most frequently observed wound healing biomarkers were proteases including those in the matrix metalloproteinase family. Six wound exudate collection methods were identified to extract potential wound pain and wound healing biomarkers from wound exudate.

IMPLICATIONS:

The results can guide future wound exudate research to validate these wound pain and wound healing biomarkers and to develop therapies targeting these biomarkers to reduce wound pain and promote wound healing.
Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression in Persons With Ostomies
Authors: Moraes Juliano Teixeira , Borges Eline Lima , Santos Carolina Fernandes , da Silva Magda Eva , de Sá Francisco dos Santos
Published: November 2020

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of anxiety and depression in adults with ostomies and to identify associated factors.

DESIGN:

A descriptive cross-sectional study.

SUBJECTS AND SETTING:

The sample comprised 120 adults; all reside in a health region in the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil.

METHODS:

Participants responded to a questionnaire designed for purposes of this study. The questionnaire included 2 validated instruments—the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. In addition to measuring the prevalence of depression and anxiety, we used logistic regression models to identify factors associated with depression and anxiety. A backward method was adopted and the goodness-of-fit of the model was evaluated through the Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. An odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was used to measure the effect size of these associations.

RESULTS:

The prevalence of depression in our sample was 26.7% (n = 32; 95% CI, 18.6-34.6). Slightly more than half of respondents (53.1%, n = 17) had mild depression, 34.3% (n = 11) had moderate depression, and 12.6% (n = 4) had had severe depression. The prevalence of anxiety in our sample was 52.5% (n = 63; 95% CI, 43.4-61.5). Slightly less than half 47.6% (n = 30) had mild anxiety; 36.5% (n = 23) reported moderate and 15.9% (n = 10) reported severe anxiety. The final multiple logistic regression model indicated that respondents with less supportive family relationships were more likely to have depression than respondents with greater family support (OR, 3.83; 95% CI, 1.30-11.25). Similarly, respondents with anxiety were more likely to experience depression when compared to individuals reporting no anxiety (OR, 6.32; 95% CI, 2.26-17.65).

CONCLUSIONS:

Anxiety and depression are prevalent in adults living with an ostomy; anxiety was more prevalent than depression. Respondents with less support from their family and those with anxiety were more likely to experience depression.
Judging meaning: A domain-level difference between autistic and non-autistic adults
Authors: Wilson A. C. , Bishop D. V. M.
Published: November 2020

We tested whether autistic adults would show selective difficulties across several tests of inferencing and social understanding in the context of average-range core language ability. One-hundred and ninety-one participants completed an online battery, and data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis. Results showed that vocabulary knowledge was separate from other measures, which collectively formed a ‘receptive communication' factor. Autistic people underperformed on the ‘receptive communication' factor but showed more advanced vocabulary knowledge than non-autistic participants. Lower performance among autistic adults on the test battery predicted face-to-face communication difficulties measured by self-report and researcher ratings, with moderate effect sizes. Follow-up analysis indicated three further findings. We hypothesized that differences would arise from an isolated ‘theory of mind' difficulty in autistic people, but instead the data suggested more general information-processing differences when making judgements about communicative stimuli. Second, substantial group differences on a test of implied meaning were only partly explained at the factor level, suggesting that multiple cognitive influences underpinned these differences. Finally, autistic women tended to perform better than autistic men. Our results support the idea of a subtle domain-level difference in pragmatics in autistic people, while questioning the basis of this difference and highlighting substantial variability in skills across groups.
Ab initio
electronic stopping power for protons in Ga
0.5
In
0.5
P/GaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells for space applications
Authors: Koval Natalia E. , Da Pieve Fabiana , Artacho Emilio
Published: November 2020

Motivated by the radiation damage of solar panels in space, firstly, the results of Monte Carlo particle transport simulations are presented for proton impact on triple-junction Ga
0.5
In
0.5
P/GaAs/Ge solar cells, showing the proton projectile penetration in the cells as a function of energy. It is followed by a systematic
ab initio
investigation of the electronic stopping power (ESP) for protons in different layers of the cell at the relevant velocities via real-time time-dependent density functional theory calculations. The ESP is found to depend significantly on different channelling conditions, which should affect the low-velocity damage predictions, and which are understood in terms of impact parameter and electron density along the path. Additionally, we explore the effect of the interface between the layers of the multilayer structure on the energy loss of a proton, along with the effect of strain in the lattice-matched solar cell. Both effects are found to be small compared with the main bulk effect. The interface energy loss has been found to increase with decreasing proton velocity, and in one case, there is an effective interface energy gain.
A new large-bodied Pliocene seal with unusual cutting teeth
Authors: Rule James P. , Adams Justin W. , Rovinsky Douglass S. , Hocking David P. , Evans Alistair R. , Fitzgerald Erich M. G.
Published: November 2020

Today, monachine seals display the largest body sizes in pinnipeds. However, the evolution of larger body sizes has been difficult to assess due to the murky taxonomic status of fossil seals, including fossils referred toCallophoca obscura, a species thought to be present on both sides of the North Atlantic during the Neogene. Several studies have recently called into question the taxonomic validity of these fossils, especially those from the USA, as the fragmentary lectotype specimen from Belgium is of dubious diagnostic value. We find that the lectotype isolated humerus ofC. obscurais too uninformative; thus, we designateC. obscuraas a nomen dubium. More complete cranial and postcranial specimens from the Pliocene Yorktown Formation are described as a new taxon,Sarcodectes magnus. The cranial specimens display adaptations towards an enhanced ability to cut or chew prey that are unique within Phocidae, and estimates indicateS. magnusto be around 2.83 m in length. A parsimony phylogenetic analysis foundS. magnusis a crown monachine. An ancestral state estimation of body length indicates that monachines did not have a remarkable size increase until the evolution of the lobodontins and miroungins.
The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation
Authors: Chira A. M. , Cooney C. R. , Bright J. A. , Capp E. J. R. , Hughes E. C. , Moody C. J. A. , Nouri L. O. , Varley Z. K. , Thomas G. H.
Published: November 2020

Competition for shared resources represents a fundamental driver of biological diversity. However, the tempo and mode of phenotypic evolution in deep-time has been predominantly investigated using trait evolutionary models which assume that lineages evolve independently from each other. Consequently, the role of species interactions in driving macroevolutionary dynamics remains poorly understood. Here, we quantify the prevalence for signatures of competition between related species in the evolution of ecomorphological traits across the bird radiation. We find that mechanistic trait models accounting for the effect of species interactions on phenotypic divergence provide the best fit for the data on at least one trait axis in 27 out of 59 clades ranging between 21 and 195 species. Where it occurs, the signature of competition generally coincides with positive species diversity-dependence, driven by the accumulation of lineages with similar ecologies, and we find scarce evidence for trait-dependent or negative diversity-dependent phenotypic evolution. Overall, our results suggest that the footprint of interspecific competition is often eroded in long-term patterns of phenotypic diversification, and that other selection pressures may predominantly shape ecomorphological diversity among extant species at macroevolutionary scales.
Microgeographic divergence of functional responses among salamanders under antagonistic selection from apex predators
Authors: Urban Mark C. , Freidenfelds Nicole A. , Richardson Jonathan L.
Published: November 2020

A predator's functional response determines predator–prey interactions by describing the relationship between the number of prey available and the number eaten. Its shape and parameters fundamentally govern the dynamic equilibrium of predator–prey interactions and their joint abundances. Yet, estimates of these key parameters generally assume stasis in space and time and ignore the potential for local adaptation to alter feeding responses and the stability of trophic dynamics. Here, we evaluate if functional responses diverge among populations of spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) larvae that face antagonistic selection on feeding strategies based on their own risk of predation. Common garden experiments revealed that spotted salamander from ponds with varying predation risks differed in their functional responses, suggesting an evolutionary response. Applying mechanistic equations, we discovered that the combined changes in attack rates, handling times and shape of the functional response enhanced feeding rate in environments with high densities of gape-limited predators. We suggest how these parameter changes could alter community equilibria and other emergent properties of food webs. Community ecologists might often need to consider how local evolution at fine scales alters key relationships in ways that alter local diversity patterns, food web dynamics, resource gradients and community responses to disturbance.
Contrasted histories of organelle and nuclear genomes underlying physiological diversification in a grass species
Authors: Bianconi Matheus E. , Dunning Luke T. , Curran Emma V. , Hidalgo Oriane , Powell Robyn F. , Mian Sahr , Leitch Ilia J. , Lundgren Marjorie R. , Manzi Sophie , Vorontsova Maria S. , Besnard Guillaume , Osborne Colin P. , Olofsson Jill K. , Christin Pascal-Antoine
Published: November 2020

C
4
photosynthesis evolved multiple times independently in angiosperms, but most origins are relatively old so that the early events linked to photosynthetic diversification are blurred. The grass
Alloteropsis semialata
is an exception, as this species encompasses C
4
and non-C
4
populations. Using phylogenomics and population genomics, we infer the history of dispersal and secondary gene flow before, during and after photosynthetic divergence in
A. semialata
. We further analyse the genome composition of individuals with varied ploidy levels to establish the origins of polyploids in this species. Detailed organelle phylogenies indicate limited seed dispersal within the mountainous region of origin and the emergence of a C
4
lineage after dispersal to warmer areas of lower elevation. Nuclear genome analyses highlight repeated secondary gene flow. In particular, the nuclear genome associated with the C
4
phenotype was swept into a distantly related maternal lineage probably via unidirectional pollen flow. Multiple intraspecific allopolyploidy events mediated additional secondary genetic exchanges between photosynthetic types. Overall, our results show that limited dispersal and isolation allowed lineage divergence, with photosynthetic innovation happening after migration to new environments, and pollen-mediated gene flow led to the rapid spread of the derived C
4
physiology away from its region of origin.
Post-ejaculation thermal stress causes changes to the RNA profile of sperm in an external fertilizer
Authors: Lymbery Rowan A. , Evans Jonathan P. , Kennington W. Jason
Published: November 2020

Sperm cells experience considerable post-ejaculation environmental variation. However, little is known about whether this affects their molecular composition, probably owing to the assumption that sperm are transcriptionally quiescent. Nevertheless, recent evidence shows sperm have distinct RNA profiles that affect fertilization and embryo viability. Moreover, RNAs are expected to be highly sensitive to extracellular changes. One such group of RNAs are heat shock protein (hsp) transcripts, which function in stress responses and are enriched in sperm. Here, we exploit the experimental tractability of the musselMytilus galloprovincialisby exposing paired samples of ejaculated sperm to ambient (19°C) and increased (25°C) temperatures, then measure (i) sperm motility phenotypes, and (ii) messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of two target genes (hsp70andhsp90) and several putative reference genes. We find no phenotypic changes in motility, but reduced mRNA levels forhsp90and the putative reference genegapdhat 25°C. This could reflect either decay of specific RNAs, or changes in translation and degradation rates of transcripts to maintain sperm function under stress. These findings represent, to our knowledge, the first evidence for changes in sperm RNA profiles owing to post-ejaculation environments, and suggest that sperm may be more vulnerable to stress from rising temperatures than currently thought.
Nocardioides convexus sp. nov. and Nocardioides anomalus sp. nov., isolated from soil and mineral water
Authors: Park Yuna , Liu Qingzhen , Maeng Soohyun , Choi Won Jung , Chang Yoonjee , Im Wan-Taek
Published: November 2020

Two bacterial strains designated as W3-2-3T and HKS04T were isolated from mineral water and a soil sample, respectively, in the Republic of Korea. The 16S rRNA genes of the two strains shared a sequence similarity of 93.5 %. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strains W3-2-3T and HKS04T formed a distinct lineage within the genus

Nocardioides

of the family

Nocardioidaceae

(order

Propionibacteriales

). The closely related species of strain W3-2-3T were

Nocardioides albidus

(98.9 %),

Nocardioides caeni

(98.8 %),

Nocardioides kongjuensis

(98.6 %),

Nocardioides aromaticivorans

(98.5 %),

Nocardioides nitrophenolicus

(98.4 %),

Nocardioides flava

(98.2 %) and

Nocardioides ginsengisoli

(98.1 %). The closest species of strain HKS04T was

Nocardioides halotolerans

(98.7 %). The genome sizes of strains W3-2-3T and HKS04T were 4741198 and 5 120341 bp, respectively. The genomic DNA G+C contents of strains W3-2-3T and HKS04T were 73.3 and 72.1 mol%, respectively. The main fatty acids of strain W3-2-3T were C17:1
ω6c and iso-C16:0 and those of strain HKS04T were iso-C16:0 and iso-C16:0 H. The main polar lipids of both strains were diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol and the predominant respiratory quinone was MK-8(H4), supporting the affiliation of these strains with the genus

Nocardioides

. Based on the results of biochemical, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, two novel species, Nocardioides convexus W3-2-3T (KACC 21211T=LMG 31251T) and Nocardioides anomalus HKS04T (KACC 18879T=LMG 31249T), are proposed.
Outcomes of a Smartphone-based Application with Live Health-Coaching Post-Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Authors: Paruchuri Kaavya , Finneran Phoebe , Marston Nicholas A , Healy Emma W , Andreo John , Lynch Ryan , Blood Alexander J , Jones-O’Connor Maeve , Lander Bradley , Kelly Noreen , Vivaldi Maria T. , Traynor Kate , Wiviott Stephen , Natarajan Pradeep
Published: November 2020

Background

The interval between inpatient hospitalization for symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD) and post-discharge office consultation is a vulnerable period for adverse events.

Methods

Content was customized on a smartphone app-based platform for hospitalized patients receiving PCI which included education, tracking, reminders and live health coaches. We conducted a single-arm open-label pilot study of the app at two academic medical centers in a single health system, with subjects enrolled 02/2018-05/2019 and 1:3 propensity-matched historical controls from 01/2015-12/2017. To evaluate feasibility and efficacy, we assessed 30-day hospital readmission (primary), outpatient cardiovascular follow-up, and cardiac rehabilitation (CR) enrollment as recorded in the health system. Outcomes were assessed by Cox Proportional Hazards model.

Findings

118 of 324 eligible (36·4%) 21-85 year-old patients who underwent PCI for symptomatic CAD who owned a smartphone or tablet enrolled. Mean age was 62.5 (9·7) years, 87 (73·7%) were male, 40 of 118 (33·9%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus, 68 (57·6%) enrolled underwent PCI for MI and 59 (50·0%) had previously known CAD; demographics were similar among matched historical controls. No significant difference existed in all-cause readmission within 30 days (8·5% app vs 9·6% control, ARR -1.1% absolute difference, 95% CI -7·1-4·8, p=0·699) or 90 days (16·1% app vs 19·5% control, p=0.394). Rates of both 90-day CR enrollment (HR 1·99, 95% CI 1·30-3·06) and 1-month cardiovascular follow up (HR 1·83, 95% CI 1·43-2·34) were greater with the app. Weekly engagement at 30- and 90-days, as measured by percentage of weeks with at least one day of completion of tasks, was mean (SD) 73·5% (33·9%) and 63·5% (40·3%). Spearman correlation analyses indicated similar engagement across age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors.

Interpretations

A post-PCI smartphone app with live health coaches yielded similarly high engagement across demographics and safely increased attendance in cardiac rehabilitation. Larger prospective randomized controlled trials are necessary to test whether this app improves cardiovascular outcomes following PCI.

Funding

National Institutes of Health, Boston Scientific.

Clinical Trial Registration

NCT03416920 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03416920).
Detection of COVID-19 Disease from Chest X-Ray Images: A Deep Transfer Learning Framework
Authors: Sakib Shadman , Siddique Md. Abu Bakr , Rahman Khan Mohammad Mahmudur , Yasmin Nowrin , Aziz Anas , Chowdhury Madiha , Tasawar Ihtyaz Kader
Published: November 2020

World economy as well as public health have been facing a devastating effect caused by the disease termed as Coronavirus (COVID-19). A significant step of COVID-19 affected patient’s treatment is the faster and accurate detection of the disease which is the motivation of this study. In this paper, implementation of a deep transfer learning-based framework using a pre-trained network (ResNet-50) for detecting COVID-19 from the chest X-rays was done. Our dataset consists of 2905 chest X-ray images of three categories: COVID-19 affected (219 cases), Viral Pneumonia affected (1345 cases), and Normal Chest X-rays (1341 cases). The implemented neural network demonstrates significant performance in classifying the cases with an overall accuracy of 96%. Most importantly, the model has shown a significantly good performance over the current research-based methods in detecting the COVID-19 cases in the test dataset (Precision = 1.00, Recall = 1.00, F1-score = 1.00 and Specificity = 1.00). Therefore, our proposed approach can be adapted as a reliable method for faster and accurate COVID-19 affected case detection.
Risk Score Stratification of Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment using Deep Learning
Authors: Nagaraj Sanjay , Duong Tim Q
Published: November 2020

Alzheimer Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that can significantly impair cognition and memory. AD is the leading cause of dementia and affects one in ten people age 65 and older. Current diagnoses methods of AD heavily rely on the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) since non-imaging methods can vary widely leading to inaccurate diagnoses. Furthermore, recent research has revealed a substage of AD, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), that is characterized by symptoms between normal cognition and dementia which makes it more prone to misdiagnosis.

A large battery of clinical variables are currently used to detect cognitive impairment and classify early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI), late mild cognitive impairment (LMCI), and AD from cognitive normal (CN) patients. The goal of this study was to derive a simplified risk-stratification algorithm for diagnosis and identify a few significant clinical variables that can accurately classify these four groups using an empirical deep learning approach. Over 100 variables that included neuropsychological/neurocognitive tests, demographics, genetic factors, and blood biomarkers were collected from EMCI, LMCI, AD, and CN patients from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Feature engineering was performed with 5 different methods and a neural network was trained on 90% of the data and tested on 10% using 10-fold cross validation. Prediction performance used area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic analysis.

The five different feature selection methods consistently yielded the top classifiers to be the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale - Sum of Boxes (CDRSB), Delayed total recall (LDELTOTAL), Modified Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite with Trails test (mPACCtrailsB), the Modified Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite with Digit test (mPACCdigit), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The best classification model yielded an AUC of 0.984, and the simplified risk-stratification score yielded an AUC of 0.963 on the test dataset.

Our results show that this deep-learning algorithm and simplified risk score derived from our deep-learning algorithm accurately diagnose EMCI, LMCI, AD and CN patients using a few commonly available neurocognitive tests. The project was successful in creating an accurate, clinically translatable risk-stratified scoring aid for primary care providers to diagnose AD in a fast and inexpensive manner.
Characterizing the genetic architecture of Parkinson’s disease in Latinos
Authors: Loesch Douglas , Horimoto Andrea R. V. R. , Heilbron Karl , Sarihan Elif Irem , Inca-Martinez Miguel , Mason Emily , Cornejo-Olivas Mario , Torres Luis , Mazzetti Pilar , Cosentino Carlos , Sarapura-Castro Elison , Rivera-Valdivia Andrea , Medina Angel C. , Dieguez Elena , Raggio Victor , Lescano Andres , Tumas Vitor , Borges Vanderci , Ferraz Henrique B. , Rieder Carlos R. , Schumacher-Schuh Artur , Santos-Lobato Bruno L. , Velez-Pardo Carlos , Jimenez-Del-Rio Marlene , Lopera Francisco , Moreno Sonia , Chana-Cuevas Pedro , Fernandez William , Arboleda Gonzalo , Arboleda Humberto , Arboleda-Bustos Carlos E. , Yearout Dora , Zabetian Cyrus P. ,   the 23andMe Research Team, Cannon Paul , Thornton Timothy A. , O’Connor Timothy D. , Mata Ignacio F.
Published: November 2020

To date, over 90 Parkinson’s disease (PD) risk variants have been reported from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, these GWAS efforts have been limited to individuals of European and East Asian ancestry. We performed the first GWAS of Latino PD patients from South America, comparing 807 cases against 690 controls followed by association testing of suggestive loci in a replication cohort of 1,234 cases and 439,522 controls. We demonstrated that SNCA plays a significant role in PD etiology in a Latino cohort and identified a suggestive locus near NRROS on chromosome 3 that appeared to be driven by Peruvian subjects. We also characterized the overlap of PD genetic architecture between Europeans and Latinos with a replication of significant variants identified by Nalls et al. in their 2019 GWAS1, finding 80% concordance in direction of effect. We then leveraged the population history of Latinos via admixture mapping, identifying a significant locus on chromosome 14 in a joint test of ancestries, driven by the Native American ancestral background, and a significant locus on chromosome 6 in our test of African ancestry, containing the genes STXBP6 and RPS6KA2, respectively. Ultimately, our work reflects the most comprehensive characterization of PD genetic architecture in Latinos to date.
Prevalence and Relationship of Rest Tremor and Action Tremor in Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Gupta Deepak K. , Marano Massimo , Zweber Cole , Boyd James T. , Kuo Sheng-Han
Published: November 2020

Background

Despite the significance of tremor in Parkinson’s disease (PD) diagnosis, classification, and patient’s quality of life, there is a relative lack of data on prevalence and relationship of different tremor types in PD.

Methods

The presence of rest tremor (RT) and action tremor (AT; defined as combination of both postural and kinetic tremor) was determined and RT severity was defined using the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) at baseline in the Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI, n=423), the Fox Investigation for New Discovery of Biomarkers (BioFIND, n=118) and the Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP, n=873) cohorts.

Results

Across baseline data of all three cohorts, RT prevalence (58.2%) was higher than AT prevalence (39.0%). Patients with RT had significantly higher (Chi-square test, p<0.05) prevalence of AT compared to patients without RT in the PPMI (40.0% versus 30.1%), BioFIND (48.0% versus 40.0%) and PDBP (49.9% versus 21.0%) cohorts. Furthermore, patients with AT had significantly (Student t-test, p<0.05) higher RT severity that those without AT in PPMI (5.7 ± 5.4 versus 3.9 ± 3.3), BioFIND, 6.4 ± 6.3 versus 3.8 ± 4.4) and PDBP (6.4 ± 6.6 versus 3.7 ± 4.4) cohorts.

Discussion

The RT is the most frequent tremor type and present in more than half of the PD patients. However, AT is also present in nearly one-third of the PD patients. Our results also indicate that RT and AT may have cross-interactions in PD.
Strengthening government’s response to COVID-19 in Indonesia: a modified Delphi study of medical and health academics
Authors: Mahendradhata Yodi , Lestari Trisasi , Djalante Riyanti
Published: November 2020

The Indonesian government has issued various policies to control COVID-19. However, COVID-19 new cases continued to increase and there remains uncertainties as to the future trajectory. We aimed to investigate how do medical and health academics view the Indonesian government’s handling of the COVID-19 and which area of health systems that need to be prioritized to improve government’s response to COVID-19. We conducted a modified Delphi study adapting the COVID-19 assessment score card (COVID-SCORE) as the measurement criteria. We invited medical and health academics from ten universities across Indonesia to take part in the Delphi study. In the first round, participants were presented with 20 statements of COVID-SCORE and asked to rate their agreement with each statement using five-point Likert scale. All participants who have completed the first cycle were invited to participate in the second cycle in which they had the opportunity to revise their answer based on results of previous cycle and to rank a priority of actions to improve government response. We achieved consensus for 5 statements, majority agreements for 13 statements and no consensus for 2 statements. The prioritization suggested that top priorities for improving government’s response to COVID-19 in Indonesia, according to medical and health academics, encompass: (1) The authorities communicate clearly and consistently about COVID-19 and provide public health grounds for their decisions; (2) Everyone can get a free, reliable COVID-19 test quickly and receive the results promptly; (3) Contact tracing is implemented for positive cases; (4) Public health experts, government officials, and academic researchers agree on COVID-19 nomenclature and clearly explain the reasons for public health measures; and (5) Government communications target the entire diverse population. Ultimately, our study highlights the importance of strengthening health system functions during the pandemic and to improve health system resilience for dealing with future public health emergencies.
Versatile and flexible microfluidic qPCR test for high-throughput SARS-CoV-2 and cellular response detection in nasopharyngeal swab samples
Authors: Fassy Julien , Lacoux Caroline , Leroy Sylvie , Noussair Latifa , Hubac Sylvain , Degoutte Aurélien , Vassaux Georges , Leclercq Vianney , Rouquié David , Marquette Charles-Hugo , Rottman Martin , Touron Patrick , Corbel Antoinette Lemoine , Herrmann Jean-Louis , Barbry Pascal , Nahon Jean-Louis , Zaragosi Laure-Emmanuelle , Mari Bernard
Published: November 2020

The emergence and quick spread of SARS-CoV-2 has pointed at a low capacity response for testing large populations in many countries, in line of material, technical and staff limitations. The traditional RT-qPCR diagnostic test remains the reference method and is by far the most widely used test. These assays are limited to a couple of probe sets, require large sample PCR reaction volumes, along with an expensive and time-consuming RNA extraction steps. Here we describe a quantitative nanofluidic assay that overcomes some of these shortcomings, based on the Biomark instrument from Fluidigm. This system offers the possibility of performing 4608 qPCR end-points in a single run, equivalent to 192 clinical samples combined with 12 pairs of primers/probe sets in duplicate, thus allowing the monitoring in addition to SARS-CoV-2 probes of other pathogens and/or host cellular responses (virus receptors, response markers, microRNAs). Its 10 nL range volume is compatible with sensitive and reproducible reactions that can be easily and cost-effectively adapted to various RT-qPCR configurations and sets of primers/probe. Finally, we also evaluated the use of inactivating lysis buffers composed of various detergents in the presence or absence of proteinase K to assess the compatibility of these buffers with a direct reverse transcription enzymatic step and we propose several procedures, bypassing the need for RNA purification. We advocate that the combined utilization of an optimized processing buffer and a high-throughput real-time PCR device would contribute to improve the turn-around-time to deliver the test results to patients and increase the SARS-CoV-2 testing capacities.
Google Searches for Taste and Smell Loss Anticipate Covid-19 Epidemiology
Authors: Lippi Giuseppe , Henry Brandon M. , Mattiuzzi Camilla , Sanchis-Gomar Fabian
Published: November 2020

Background

As evidence emerged that loss of taste and/or loss of smell is frequently triggered by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, we investigated whether Google searches volume for these two disease-specific symptoms could be associated with disease epidemiology in United States (US).

Materials and Methods

We performed an electronic search in Google Trends using the keywords “taste loss” and “smell loss” within the US. The Google searches volume was correlated with the number of new weekly cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.

Results

The weekly Google searches for taste and smell loss exhibited a trend similar to that of new weekly SARS-CoV-2 infections in the US. A nearly perfect correlation was found between Google Trends scores of taste and smell loss (r=0.98; 95% CI, 0.97-0.99; p<0.001). Although a significant association was found between Google searches for the two symptoms and the concomitant number of new weekly SARS-CoV-2 infections reported during the same week, the correlation improved over time. The highest correlation was found comparing Google Trends scores for taste or smell loss and the number of new weekly SARS-CoV-2 infections two weeks later. The correlation coefficient of summing Google Trends scores for the two symptoms and the number of new weekly SARS-CoV-2 infections two weeks later was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.68-0.90; p<0.001), and was associated 0.89 diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that Google searches numbers for olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions may help predicting the epidemiological trajectory of COVID-19 early before official reporting.
Movement disorders ontology for clinically oriented and clinicians-driven data mining of multi-center cohorts in Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Gupta Deepak K. , Marano Massimo , Aurora Raj , Boyd James , Sahoo Satya S.
Published: November 2020

Parkinsonian disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonian disorders (APD), are characterized by shared clinical features of parkinsonism and although there are distinct clinical and pathological diagnostic criterion for PD and APD, patients present in the clinic with overlapping clinical features, which evolve with a great deal of variability and complexity over time. This leads to high level of uncertainty in the prediction of diagnosis and progression for an individual patient on clinical grounds. There have been recent initiatives to make available large-scale datasets from multiple research studies such as Accelerating Medicines Partnership for Parkinson’s Disease (AMP PD). However, these is a clear lack of a common terminological system or ontology that can support query analysis of datasets in AMP PD and map across multiple instruments used in the assessment of PD as well as APD. To address these challenges, we developed the Movement Disorder Ontology (MDO) that used a systematic analysis of movement disorder instruments, extensive review of literature led by a movement disorder specialists, and the AMP PD knowledge portal with an iterative ontology engineering process. The current version of MDO is focused on parkinsonian disorders with 203 concepts modeled in three broad categories of: (1) neurological findings, (2) treatment plans, and (3) instruments used to evaluate various traits of PD. MDO holds potential for use in clinical research especially in the context of large-scale phenotypic data available in public repositories such AMP PD with support for concept-based data analysis and potentially correlating with genotypic data.
Diverse chemotypes drive biased signaling by cannabinoid receptors
Authors: Miljuš Tamara , Heydenreich Franziska M. , Gazzi Thais , Kimbara Atsushi , Rogers-Evans Mark , Nettekoven Matthias , Zirwes Elisabeth , Osterwald Anja , Rufer Arne C. , Ullmer Christoph , Guba Wolfgang , Le Gouill Christian , Fingerle Jürgen , Nazaré Marc , Grether Uwe , Bouvier Michel , Veprintsev Dmitry B.
Published: November 2020

Cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors are members of the G protein-coupled receptor family, which is the largest class of membrane proteins in the human genome. As part of the endocannabinoid system, they have many regulatory functions in the human body. Their malfunction therefore triggers a diverse set of undesired conditions, such as pain, neuropathy, nephropathy, pruritus, osteoporosis, cachexia and Alzheimer’s disease. Although drugs targeting the system exist, the molecular and functional mechanisms involved are still poorly understood, preventing the development of better therapeutics with fewer undesired effects. One path toward the development of better and safer medicines targeting cannabinoid receptors relies on the ability of some compounds to activate a subset of pathways engaged by the receptor while sparing or even inhibiting the others, a phenomenon known as biased signaling. To take advantage of this phenomenon for drug development, a better profiling of the pathways engaged by the receptors is required. Using a BRET-based signaling detection platform, we systematically analyzed the primary signaling cascades activated by CB1 and CB2 receptors, including 9 G protein and 2 β-arrestin subtypes. Given that biased signaling is driven by ligand-specific distinct active conformations of the receptor, establishing a link between the signaling profiles elicited by different drugs and their chemotypes may help designing compounds that selectively activate beneficial pathways while avoiding those leading to undesired effects. We screened a selection of 35 structurally diverse ligands, including endocannabinoids, phytocannabinoids and synthetic compounds structurally similar or significantly different from natural cannabinoids. Our data show that biased signaling is a prominent feature of the cannabinoid receptor system and that, as predicted, ligands with different chemotypes have distinct signaling profiles. The study therefore allows for better understanding of cannabinoid receptors signaling and provides the information about tool compounds that can now be used to link signaling pathways to biological outcomes, aiding the design of improved therapeutics.
Ultraconserved elements help resolve the phylogeny of an ancient radiation of venomous flies (Diptera: Asilidae)
Authors: Cohen Chris M. , Noble Katherine , Cole T. Jeffrey , Brewer Michael S.
Published: November 2020

Robber flies or assassin flies (Diptera: Asilidae) are a diverse family of venomous predators. The most recent classification organizes Asilidae into 14 subfamilies based on a comprehensive morphological phylogeny, but many of these have not been supported in a subsequent molecular study using traditional molecular markers. To address questions of monophyly in Asilidae, we leveraged the recently developed Diptera-wide UCE baitset to compile seven datasets comprising 151 robber flies and 146 - 2,508 loci, varying in the extent of missing data. We also studied the behavior of different nodal support metrics, as the non-parametric bootstrap is known to perform poorly with large genomic datasets. Our ML phylogeny was fully resolved and well-supported, but partially incongruent with the coalescent phylogeny. Further examination of the datasets suggested the possibility that GC bias had influenced gene tree inference and subsequent species tree analysis. The subfamilies Brachyrhopalinae, Dasypogoninae, Dioctriinae, Stenopogoninae, Tillobromatinae, Trigonomiminae, and Willistonininae were not recovered as monophyletic in either analysis, consistent with a previous molecular study. The inter-subfamily relationships are summarized as follows: Laphriinae and Dioctriinae (in part) are successively sister to the remaining subfamilies, which form two clades; the first consists of a grade of Stenopogoninae (in part), Willistonininae (in part), Bathypogoninae+Phellinae, Stichopogoninae, Leptogastrinae, Ommatiinae, and Asilinae; the second clade consists of a thoroughly paraphyletic assemblage of genera from Dioctriinae (in part), Trigonomiminae, Stenopogoninae (in part), Tillobromatinae, Brachyrhopalinae, and Dasypogoninae. We find that nodal support does not significantly vary with missing data. Furthermore, the bootstrap appears to overestimate nodal support, as has been reported from many recent studies. Gene concordance and site concordance factors seem to perform better, but may actually underestimate support. We instead recommend quartet concordance as a more appropriate estimator of nodal support. Our comprehensive phylogeny demonstrates that the higher classification of Asilidae is far from settled, and it will provide a much-needed foundation for a thorough revision of the subfamily classification.
iSMNN: Batch Effect Correction for Single-cell RNA-seq data via Iterative Supervised Mutual Nearest Neighbor Refinement
Authors: Yang Yuchen , Li Gang , Xie Yifang , Wang Li , Yang Yingxi , Liu Jiandong , Qian Li , Li Yun
Published: November 2020

Batch effect correction is an essential step in the integrative analysis of multiple single cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data. One state-of-the-art strategy for batch effect correction is via unsupervised or supervised detection of mutual nearest neighbors (MNNs). However, both two kinds of methods only detect MNNs across batches on the top of uncorrected data, where the large batch effect may affect the MNN search. To address this issue, we presented iSMNN, a batch effect correction approach via iterative supervised MNN refinement across data after correction. Our benchmarking on both simulation and real datasets showed the advantages of the iterative refinement of MNNs on the performance of correction. Compared to popular alternative methods, our iSMNN is able to better mix the cells of the same cell type across batches. In addition, iSMNN can also facilitate the identification of differentially expression genes (DEGs) relevant to the biological function of certain cell types. These results indicated that iSMNN will be a valuable method for integrating multiple scRNA-seq datasets that can facilitate biological and medical studies at single-cell level.