bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Elasmobranch diversity across a remote coral reef atoll revealed through environmental DNA metabarcoding
Authors: Dunn Nicholas , Savolainen Vincent , Weber Sam , Andrzejaczek Samantha , Carbone Chris , Curnick David
Published: February 2022

As elasmobranchs are becoming increasingly threatened, efficient methods for monitoring the distribution and diversity of elasmobranch populations are required. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a progressively applied technique that enables mass identification of entire communities and is an effective method for the detection of rare and elusive species. We performed an eDNA metabarcoding survey for fish communities around a coral reef atoll in the Chagos Archipelago (Central Indian Ocean) and assessed the diversity and distribution of elasmobranch species detected within these communities. Our eDNA survey detected 353 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) attributed to fishes, 12 of which were elasmobranchs. There were no differences in fish communities based on the presence and absence of ASVs between sample depth (surface and 40 m) or sampling habitat, but communities based on read abundance were significantly different between habitats. The dominant elasmobranch species were grey reef (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) and silvertip (C. albimarginatus) sharks, and elasmobranch communities were significantly different between sampling depth and habitat. Overall, we find that eDNA metabarcoding can be used to reveal the diversity of elasmobranchs within broader taxonomic assays, but further research and development of targeted metabarcoding primers may be required before it can be integrated into a toolkit for monitoring these species.
Genetically Dissecting the Novel Powdery Mildew Resistance Gene in Wheat Breeding Line PBDH1607
Authors: Liang Xiao , Xu Hongxing , Zhu Shanying , Zheng Yongshen , Zhong Wen , Li Haosheng , Niu Liping , Wu Liru , Zhang Lipei , Song Jiancheng , He Huagang , Liu Cheng , Ma Pengtao
Published: February 2022

Powdery mildew is one of the most destructive diseases in wheat production. Identifying novel resistance genes and deploying them in new cultivars is the most effective approach to minimize wheat losses caused by powdery mildew. In this study, wheat breeding line PBDH1607 showed high resistance to powdery mildew at both the seedling and adult plant stages. Genetic analysis of the seedling data demonstrated that the resistance was controlled by a single dominant gene, tentatively designated PmPBDH. The ΔSNP index based on bulked segregant RNA sequencing indicated that PmPBDH was associated with an interval of about 30.8 Mb (713.5 to 744.3 Mb) on chromosome arm 4AL. Using newly developed markers, we mapped PmPBDH to a 3.2-cM interval covering 7.1 Mb (719,055,516 to 726,215,121 bp). This interval differed from those of Pm61 (717,963,176 to 719,260,469 bp), MlIW30 (732,769,506 to 732,790,522 bp), and MlNSF10 (729,275,816 to 731,365,462 bp) reported on the same chromosome arm. PmPBDH also differed from Pm61, MlIW30, and MlNSF10 by its response spectrum, origin, or inheritance mode, suggesting that PmPBDH should be a new Pm gene. In the candidate interval, five genes were found to be associated with PmPBDH via time course gene expression analysis, and thus they are candidate genes of PmPBDH. Six closely linked markers, including two kompetitive allele-specific PCR markers, were confirmed to be applicable for tracking PmPBDH in marker-assisted breeding.
Diversifying Faculty Leadership in Academic Medicine: The Program to Launch Underrepresented in Medicine Success (PLUS)
Authors: Tucker Edmonds Brownsyne , Tori Alvaro J. , Ribera Amy K. , Allen Matthew R. , Dankoski Mary E. , Rucker Sydney Y.
Published: February 2022

PLUS (Program to Launch Underrepresented in Medicine Success) is a 2-year cohort program at Indiana University School of Medicine providing professional development, funding and skills to produce scholarship, and a community to mitigate social and/or professional isolation for underrepresented in medicine (URiM) faculty. In year 1, scholars participate in leadership and professional development seminars and regular meetings with their mentor(s). They are assigned a PLUS Advisory Council advisor with whom they meet 2 to 3 times annually. In year 2, scholars participate in monthly seminars focused on research methods, writing productivity, and wellness. Additionally, scholars engage in a writing accountability group and practice reflective writing. Connections events, designed to combat isolation and cultivate community, occur monthly. At program completion, scholars complete a project resulting in a scholarly product for submission and dissemination in a peer-reviewed forum. To date, 3 cohorts, totaling 24 people, have participated: 20 (83%) Black, 4 (17%) Latinx; 12 (50%) females. Five scholars have completed the full program, whose pre- and postsurvey results are described. Program surveys demonstrate significant gains in scholars’ confidence to secure leadership opportunities, connect with colleagues, and advocate for themselves and others. Scholars reported statistically significant increases in confidence to pursue leadership roles (t = −3.67, P = .02) and intent to submit their dossier for promotion (t = −6.50, P = .003). They were less likely to leave academic medicine (t = 2.75, P = .05) or pursue another academic appointment (t = 2.75, P = .05) after PLUS completion than at baseline. All scholars adequately met requirements for their third-year review (tenure track only), were promoted, or achieved tenure in less than 3 years since program completion. This article describes PLUS program objectives, evaluative components, and lessons learned during implementation, as a model to support URiM faculty at other institutions.
Complications in Elbow Arthroscopy: Management and Prevention
Authors: Batko Brian D. , Hakakian Daniel , Norin Jorden L. , Tauro Joseph C.
Published: February 2022

With advances in the understanding of elbow anatomy, pathologies of the elbow, arthroscopic instrumentation, and surgical techniques over recent decades, elbow arthroscopy has become a valuable treatment modality for a variety of conditions. Elbow arthroscopy has gained utility for treating problems such as septic arthritis, osteoarthritis, synovitis, osteophyte and loose body excision, contracture release, osteochondral defects, select fractures, instability, and lateral epicondylitis. Accordingly, precise knowledge of the neurovascular anatomy, safe arthroscopic portal placement, indications, and potential complications are required to maximize patient outcomes and assist in educating patients. This comprehensive review provides the reader an understanding of the potential complications associated with arthroscopic procedures of the elbow and to describe strategies for prevention and management.
Incidence and Prevention of Thromboembolic Complications for Sports and Arthroscopic-related Surgery: Evidence-based Recommendations
Authors: Bradsell Hannah L. , Lencioni Alex , Frank Rachel M.
Published: February 2022

The incidence of thromboembolic events following arthroscopic surgery is relatively rare. Despite this, these are important complications to be aware of, as arthroscopic procedures are performed in high frequency each year and can lead to a substantial burden within health care. Over the past several decades, pharmacologic antithrombotic prevention strategies following knee arthroscopy have been extensively studied; however, their efficacy remains controversial, and there is a lack of consensus regarding a standard prevention protocol, with the exception of the established benefits of early mobilization. Several surgical and medical risk factors have been established and are important to consider as they specifically relate to each individual patient’s risk of thromboembolic disease. Based on the best available evidence, chemical thromboprophylaxis appears to be unnecessary among healthy patients but may be beneficial for higher risk patients, especially those with a prior history of venous thromboembolism. A standard screening tool for risk factors in arthroscopy patients may be a cost-effective and safe solution for implementing preventative efforts.
A multi-tasking stomach: functional coexistence of acid–peptic digestion and defensive body inflation in three distantly related vertebrate lineages
Authors: Ferreira P. , Kwan G. T. , Haldorson S. , Rummer J. L. , Tashiro F. , Castro L. F. C. , Tresguerres M. , Wilson J. M.
Published: February 2022

Puffer and porcupine fishes (families Diodontidae and Tetraodontidae, order Tetradontiformes) are known for their extraordinary ability to triple their body size by swallowing and retaining large amounts of seawater in their accommodating stomachs. This inflation mechanism provides a defence to predation; however, it is associated with the secondary loss of the stomach's digestive function. Ingestion of alkaline seawater during inflation would make acidification inefficient (a potential driver for the loss of gastric digestion), paralleled by the loss of acid–peptic genes. We tested the hypothesis of stomach inflation as a driver for the convergent evolution of stomach loss by investigating the gastric phenotype and genotype of four distantly related stomach inflating gnathostomes: sargassum fish, swellshark, bearded goby and the pygmy leatherjacket. Strikingly, unlike in the puffer/porcupine fishes, we found no evidence for the loss of stomach function in sargassum fish, swellshark and bearded goby. Only the pygmy leatherjacket (Monochanthidae, Tetraodontiformes) lacked the gastric phenotype and genotype. In conclusion, ingestion of seawater for inflation, associated with loss of gastric acid secretion, is restricted to the Tetraodontiformes and is not a selective pressure for gastric loss in other reported gastric inflating fishes.
Is depression associated with reduced optimistic belief updating?
Authors: Hobbs Catherine , Vozarova Petra , Sabharwal Aarushi , Shah Punit , Button Katherine
Published: February 2022

When asked to evaluate their probability of experiencing a negative life event, healthy individuals update their beliefs more following good news than bad. This is referred to as optimistic belief updating. By contrast, individuals with depression update their beliefs by a similar amount, showing reduced optimism. We conducted the first independent replication of this effect and extended this work to examine whether reduced optimistic belief updating in depression also occurs for positive life events. Replicating previous research, healthy and depression groups differed in belief updating for negative events (β= 0.71, 95% CI: 0.24, 1.18). Whereas healthy participants updated their beliefs more following good news than bad, individuals experiencing depression lacked this bias. However, our findings for positive events were inconclusive. While we did not find statistical evidence that patterns of belief updating between groups varied by valence (β= −0.51, 95% CI: −1.16, 0.15), mean update scores suggested that both groups showed largely similar updating for positive life events. Our results add confidence to previous findings that depression is characterized by negative future expectations maintained by reduced updating in response to good news. However, further research is required to understand the specificity of this to negative events, and into refining methods for quantifying belief updating in clinical and non-clinical research.
The positive–negative mode link between brain connectivity, demographics and behaviour: a pre-registered replication of Smith
et al
. (2015)
Authors: Goyal Nikhil , Moraczewski Dustin , Bandettini Peter A. , Finn Emily S. , Thomas Adam G.
Published: February 2022

In mental health research, it has proven difficult to find measures of brain function that provide reliable indicators of mental health and well-being, including susceptibility to mental health disorders. Recently, a family of data-driven analyses have provided such reliable measures when applied to large, population-level datasets. In the current pre-registered replication study, we show that the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) methods previously developed using resting-state magnetic resonance imaging functional connectivity and subject measures (SMs) of cognition and behaviour from healthy adults are also effective in measuring well-being (a ‘positive–negative axis') in an independent developmental dataset. Our replication was successful in two out of three of our pre-registered criteria, such that a primary CCA mode's weights displayed a significant positive relationship and explained a significant amount of variance in both functional connectivity and SMs. The only criterion that was not successful was that compared to other modes the magnitude of variance explained by the primary CCA mode was smaller than predicted, a result that could indicate a developmental trajectory of a primary mode. This replication establishes a signature neurotypical relationship between connectivity and phenotype, opening new avenues of research in neuroscience with clear clinical applications.
A non-parametric model: free analysis of actigraphic recordings of acute insomnia patients
Authors: Marín-García Arlex , Fossion Ruben , Müller Markus F. , Ríos-Herrera Wady , Rivera Ana Leonor
Published: February 2022

Both parametric and non-parametric approaches to time-series analysis have advantages and drawbacks. Parametric methods, although powerful and widely used, can yield inconsistent results due to the oversimplification of the observed phenomena. They require the setting of arbitrary constants for their creation and refinement, and, although these constants relate to assumptions about the observed systems, it can lead to erroneous results when treating a very complex problem with a sizable list of unknowns. Their non-parametric counterparts, instead, are more widely applicable but present a higher detrimental sensitivity to noise and low density in the data. For the case of approximately periodic phenomena, such as human actigraphic time series, parametric methods are widely used and concepts such asacrophaseare key in chronobiology, especially when studying healthy and diseased human populations. In this work, we present a non-parametric method of analysis of actigraphic time series from insomniac patients and healthy age-matched controls. The method is fully data-driven, reproduces previous results in the context of activity offset delay and, crucially, extends the concept ofacrophasenot only tocircadianbut also forultradianspectral components.
Resveratrol-loaded chitosan–pectin core–shell nanoparticles as novel drug delivery vehicle for sustained release and improved antioxidant activities
Authors: Sarma Shruti , Agarwal Sangeeta , Bhuyan Pranjal , Hazarika Jnyandeep , Ganguly Mausumi
Published: February 2022

Resveratrol, chemically known as 3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene, is a natural polyphenol with promising multi-targeted health benefits. The optimal therapeutic uses of resveratrol are limited due to its poor solubility, rapid metabolism and low bioavailability. To address the issues, we have encapsulated resveratrol inside the nanosized core made of chitosan and coated this core with pectin-shell in order to fabricate a drug delivery vehicle which can entrap resveratrol for a longer period of time. The core–shell nanoparticles fabricated in this way were characterized with the help of Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, field-emission scanning electron microscope, field-emission transmission electron microscopy/selected area electron diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements.In vitrodrug release study showed the ability of the core–shell nanoparticles to provide sustained release of resveratrol for almost 30 h. The release efficiency of the drug was found to be pH dependent, and a sequential control over drug release can be obtained by varying the shell thickness. The resveratrol encapsulated in a nanocarrier was found to have a betterin vitroantioxidant activity than free resveratrol as determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method. This work finally offers a novel nano-based drug delivery system.
Misuse of Beer–Lambert Law and other calibration curves
Authors: Delgado Rosario
Published: February 2022

Calibration curves allow instrument calibration by predicting the concentration of an analyte in a sample from the reading of the instrument. This curve is constructed as the regression straight line that best fits the relationship between some known concentration standards and their respective instrument readings. An example is the Beer–Lambert Law, used to predict the concentration of a new sample from its absorbance obtained by spectrometry. The issue is that usually this methodology is misapplied. In this paper, we want to clarify this point, explaining what the error consists of and how (easily) to fix it, with the intention of ensuring that it does not continue to be reproduced in the experimental scientific work.
Sunflower pollen reduces a gut pathogen in the model bee species,
Bombus impatiens
, but has weaker effects in three wild congeners
Authors: Fowler Alison E. , Giacomini Jonathan J. , Connon Sara June , Irwin Rebecca E. , Adler Lynn S.
Published: February 2022

Commercial bumblebees have become popular models to understand stressors and solutions for pollinator health, but few studies test whether results translate to other pollinators. Consuming sunflower pollen dramatically reduces infection by the gut parasite
Crithidia bombi
in commercially reared
Bombus impatiens
. We assessed the effect of sunflower pollen on infection in wild
B. impatiens
,
Bombus griseocollis, Bombus bimaculatus
and
Bombus vagans
. We also asked how pollen diet (50% sunflower pollen versus wildflower pollen) and infection (yes/no) affected performance in wild
B. impatiens
microcolonies. Compared to controls, sunflower pollen dramatically reduced
Crithidia
infection in commercial and wild
B. impatiens,
had similar but less dramatic effects in
B. bimaculatus
and
B. vagans
, and no effect in
B. griseocollis
.
Bombus impatiens, B. bimaculatus
and
B. vagans
are in the same subgenus, suggesting that responses to sunflower pollen may be phylogenetically conserved. In microcolonies, 50% sunflower pollen reduced infection compared to wildflower pollen, but also reduced reproduction. Sunflower pollen could control
Crithidia
infections in
B. impatiens
and potentially close relatives, but may hinder reproduction if other resources are scarce. We caution that research using managed bee species, such as
B. impatiens
, be interpreted carefully as findings may not relate to all bee species.
Drosophila
female reproductive glands contribute to mating plug composition and the timing of sperm ejection
Authors: McDonough-Goldstein Caitlin E. , Pitnick Scott , Dorus Steve
Published: February 2022

Reproductive traits that influence female remating and competitive fertilization rapidly evolve in response to sexual selection and sexual conflict. One such trait, observed across diverse animal taxa, is the formation of a structural plug inside the female reproductive tract (FRT), either during or shortly after mating. In
Drosophila melanogaster
, male seminal fluid forms a mating plug inside the female bursa, which has been demonstrated to influence sperm entry into storage and latency of female remating. Processing of the plug, including its eventual ejection from the female's reproductive tract, influences the competitive fertilization success of her mates and is mediated by female × male genotypic interactions. However, female contributions to plug formation and processing have received limited attention. Using developmental mutants that lack glandular FRT tissues, we reveal that these tissues are essential for mating plug ejection. We further use proteomics to demonstrate that female glandular proteins, and especially proteolytic enzymes, contribute to mating plug composition and have a widespread impact on plug formation and composition. Together, these phenotypic and molecular data identify female contributions to intersexual interactions that are a potential mechanism of post-copulatory sexual selection.
Early life adversity has long-term effects on sociality and interaction style in female baboons
Authors: Patterson Sam K. , Strum Shirley C. , Silk Joan B.
Published: February 2022

Social bonds enhance fitness in many group-living animals, generating interest in the processes that create individual variation in sociality. Previous work on female baboons shows that early life adversity and temperament both influence social connectedness in adulthood. Early life adversity might shape sociality by reducing ability to invest in social relationships or through effects on attractiveness as a social partner. We examine how females’ early life adversity predicts sociality and temperament in wild olive baboons, and evaluate whether temperament mediates the relationship between early life adversity and sociality. We use behavioural data on 31 females to quantify sociality. We measure interaction style as the tendency to produce grunts (signals of benign intent) in contexts in which the vocalization does not produce immediate benefits to the actor. Early life adversity was negatively correlated with overall sociality, but was a stronger predictor of social behaviours received than behaviours initiated. Females who experienced less early life adversity had more benign interaction styles and benign interaction styles were associated with receiving more social behaviours. Interaction style may partially mediate the association between early life adversity and sociality. These analyses add to our growing understanding of the processes connecting early life experiences to adult sociality.
Terminology use in animal personality research: a self-report questionnaire and a systematic review
Authors: Sánchez-Tójar Alfredo , Moiron Maria , Niemelä Petri T.
Published: February 2022

Whether animal personality studies provide insights of broader evolutionary and ecological relevance to the field of behavioural ecology is frequently questioned. One of the sources of controversy is the vast, but often vague terminology present in the field. From a statistical perspective, animal personality is defined as among-individual variance in behaviour. However, numerous conceptual definitions of animal personality are available in the literature. Here, we performed (i) a self-report questionnaire and (ii) a systematic literature review to quantify how researchers interpreted conceptual and statistical definitions commonly used in animal personality research. We also compared whether data obtained from the questionnaire matched with data from the literature review. Among the 430 self-reported researchers that participated in our questionnaire, we observed discrepancies in key questions such as the conceptual definition of animal personality or the interpretation of repeatability. Furthermore, our literature review generally confirmed the global patterns revealed by the questionnaire. Overall, we identified common disagreements within the field of animal personality and discussed potential solutions. We advocate for adopting a terminology that avoids ambiguous interpretations and helps to make more explicit the widespread connotations implicit in the label ‘animal personality’.
Addition of daptomycin to levofloxacin increased the efficacy of levofloxacin monotherapy against a methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strain in experimental meningitis and prevented development of resistance in vitro
Authors: Cottagnoud Philippe , Sprenker Frederike , Cottagnoud Marianne , Collaud Alexandra , Ashkbus Reza , Perreten Vincent
Published: February 2022

Introduction. Daptomycin and levofloxacin were tested as monotherapies and in combination against the antibiotic-susceptible

S. aureus

strain MSSA 1112 in a rabbit meningitis model and the effect of the combination on induction of resistance was determined in vitro.

Hypothesis/Gap Statement. Treatment combination might be more efficacious than the monotherapies regarding antibacterial efficacy in vivo and development of resistance.

Aim. To demonstrate a synergy of the antibiotic combination daptomycin and levofloxacin in experimental meningitis, and also its ability to reduce the emergence of resistance against the antibiotics in vitro.

Methodology. Changes of the susceptibility to fluoroquinolones and daptomycin were determined by the measurement of the MIC and mutations were detected by whole genome sequence comparison of the mutants with the parent strain MSSA 1112. Meningitis was induced by intracisternal inoculation of 105 c.f.u. (colony forming unit) of MSSA 1112 and treatment was started 10 h later by injection of daptomycin (15 mg kg−1) and levofloxacin (10 mg kg−1) standard doses. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were repeatedly collected during therapy in order to determine killing rates and results of bactericidal activity were expressed in Δlog10c.f.u. ml-1 over 8 h.

Results. The combination of daptomycin with levofloxacin was significantly (P<0.001) superior to levofloxacin monotherapy and increased the antibacterial activity of daptomycin. In vitro, MSSA 1112 was cycled over 6 days with either increasing concentrations of levofloxacin or daptomycin or with a combination of levofloxacin with half of the MIC of daptomycin or daptomycin with half of the MIC of levofloxacin leading to mutations in target genes as identified by whole genome sequence analysis. Addition of low concentration of daptomycin (0.25 mg l−1) reduced levofloxacin-induced resistance in vitro. Addition of levofloxacin in low concentration (0.125 mg l−1) did not influence daptomycin-induced resistance.

Conclusion. These findings highlight the lack of reciprocal interference of antibiotics in combination with regard to the development of resistance.
Non-targeted metabolomics analysis reveals distinct metabolic profiles between positive and negative emotional tears of humans
Authors: Liang Hao , Wu Songye , Yang Duo , Huang Jianhua , Yao Xiaolei , Gong Jingbo , Liu Pei , Duan Lunhui , Yang Liu , Xu Qingwen , Huang Rujia , Maimaitituersun Meiheriayi , Tao Lijuan , Peng Qinghua
Published: February 2022

BACKGROUND

Although the chemical components of basal, reflex, and emotional tears are different, the presence of distinctions in the tears of different emotions is still unknown. The present study aimed to address the biochemical basis behind emotional tears through non-targeted metabolomics analysis between positive and negative emotional tears of humans.

METHODS

Samples of reflex (C), negative (S), and positive (M) emotional tears were collected from healthy college participants. Untargeted metabolomics was performed to identify the metabolites in the different types of tears. The differentially altered metabolites were screened and assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

The global metabolomics signatures classified the C, S, and M emotional tears. A total of 133 significantly differential metabolites of ESI-mode were identified between negative and positive emotional tears. The top 50 differential metabolites between S and M were highly correlated. The significantly altered pathways included porphyrin & chlorophyll metabolism, bile secretion, biotin metabolism, arginine & proline metabolism and among others.

CONCLUSION

The metabolic profiles between reflex, positive, and negative emotional tears of humans are distinct. Secretion of positive and negative emotional tears are distinctive biological activities. Therefore, the present study provides a chemical method to detect human emotions which may become a powerful tool for diagnosis of mental disease and identification of fake tears.
Environmental pollutants and essential elements as regulators of miR-30b, miR-223 and Let-7a microRNAs expression in maternal sera from the NEHO cohort
Authors: Longo Valeria , Drago Gaspare , Longo Alessandra , Ruggieri Silvia , Sprovieri Mario , Cibella Fabio , Colombo Paolo
Published: February 2022

Background

Birth cohorts of women living in highly industrialized areas provide an ideal setting for studying the correlation between environmental exposure and health.

Objectives

To evaluate serum microRNA expression in response to environmental contaminants in 68 healthy pregnant women from the NEHO birth cohort.

Methods

Serum contaminants were determined by GC-MS/MS and ICP-MS/MS. Serum microRNA expression was determined by qPCR. Associations between miRNA ΔCTs and single serum element levels were tested by linear regression models, while whole mixture effect was studied by WQS regression analysis.

Results

In separate regression models, a positive association was found between miR-223 ΔCT and concentrations of Se and Zn, while a negative association between miR-30b and Hg levels was observed. Similar regression models were also conducted using tertiles of each chemical as independent variables. In this setting, the Let-7a ΔCT was decreased in the comparison between medium and low tertiles of Se. The highest tertiles of Zn and p,p’-DDE showed a significant association with increasing levels of miR-223 ΔCT with respect to the lower tertile; moreover, miR-30b ΔCT was reduced in the comparison between high and low tertiles of Hg. The observed data were confirmed by fold-change analysis. A WQS analysis built on tertiles of contaminant distribution revealed a significant mixture effect on the expression of the analyzed miRNAs. The inverse association between Let-7a ΔCT and the WQS index was dominated by Zn, Se, Cu, Hg and HCB. Moreover, miR-223 ΔCT was positively associated with the WQS index, where p,p’-DDE, Zn and Se showed the greatest contributions to the association. Conversely, the reduction of miR-30b ΔCT was mainly driven by Hg and Se.

Discussion

This study allowed us to characterize the role of prolonged exposure to environmental contaminants influencing the expression of circulating miRNAs in the serum of women in the last trimester of pregnancy.
Telemedicine for surgical site infection diagnosis: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Lathan Ross , Sidapra Misha , Yiasemidou Marina , Long Judith , Totty Joshua , Smith George , Chetter Ian
Published: February 2022

1

Since the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a rapid uptake and utilisation of telemedicine in all aspects of healthcare. This presents a key opportunity in surgical site infection surveillance. Remote follow up methods have been used via telephone, with photographs and questionnaires for post-operative reviews with varying results.

This review therefore aims to comprehensively synthesise available evidence for the diagnostic accuracy of all forms of SSI telemedicine monitoring. The protocol has been established as per both PRISMA-P and the Cochrane handbook for reviews of diagnostic test accuracy.

Medline, Embase, CENTRAL and CINAHL will be searched using a complete search strategy developed with librarian input, in addition to google scholar and hand searching. All study designs with patients over 18 and undergone a primarily closed surgical procedure will be eligible. Index tests will include all forms of telemedicine and a subgroup analysis performed for each of these. Comparative tests must include face to face review, and all reference standards will be included again for sub-group analyses. Search results will be screened by two investigators independently with a third providing consensus review on disagreements. Methodological quality will be assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool, first validated by two investigators as per the Cochrane handbook.

Exploratory analysis will formulate summary receiver operating characteristic curves and forest plots with estimates of sensitivity and specificity of the included studies. Sources of heterogeneity will be identifying and investigated through further analysis.

Potential benefits of telemedicine integration in surgical practice will reduce cost and travel time to patients in addition to avoiding wasted clinic appointments, important considerations in a peri-pandemic era. To avoid missed or further complications, there must be confidence in the ability to diagnose infection. This review will systematically determine whether telemedicine is accurate for surgical site infection diagnosis, which methods are well established and if further research is indicated.

Amendments

Protocol version number will be annotated on the title page and thereby footer of each page. A list of major amendment changes to the protocol will be kept in the table below.

Important Dates

Definitions

Surgical Site Infection An infection occurring after surgery in the part of the body where surgery took place

Telemedicine The remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of communications technology

Telehealth The delivery of healthcare services, where patients and providers are separated by distance.

eHealth The use of information communication technology for health.

mHealth A component of eHealth where medical and public health practices are supported by mobile devices.

Virtual Care All the ways healthcare providers remotely interact with their patients
SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in cancer patients on systemic antineoplastic treatment in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
Authors: Fernandes Gonçalo , Paixão Paulo , Brum Laura , Padrão Teresa , Correia Jorge , Albuquerque Joana , Pulido Catarina , Nave Mónica , Timóteo Teresa , Rodrigues Tânia , Costa Filipe , Passos Coelho José Luís
Published: February 2022

At the time of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic cancer patients were considered to be at high risk of serious illness and had a higher exposure risk since they needed frequent and non- deferrable hospital visits. Serologic tests were not routinely used and seroprevalence in this population was unknown.

A single-center cross-sectional study was developed to determine the seroprevalence of anti- SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (Abs) in cancer patients undergoing systemic antineoplastic treatment. One hundred patients were consecutively recruited in a two-week period (6th to 20th May, 2020) and serum samples were tested for the presence of IgM and IgG Abs directed against both spike and nucleocapsid SARS-CoV-2 proteins in two distinct timepoints (at recruitment and four to eight weeks later). IgG positive results were subject to confirmation, in the same serum sample, using two distinct assays.

At the time of the first study visit, no patient had a previously confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, one reported previous contact with a COVID-19 patient and all had a baseline SARS-CoV-2 negative RT-PCR. Two patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgG in the first study visit, which was not confirmed in either of the two confirmatory assays. Seventy-two patients were tested at the second study visit, all with negative IgG test. IgM was persistently positive at both study visits in one patient and was positive in another patient at the second study visit, both with negative RT-PCR and serum IgG. No patient tested RT-PCR positive within the study timeframe.

No evidence of prior or acute SARS-CoV-2 infection was documented in this cohort of cancer patients undergoing systemic treatment and no additional exposure risk was documented compared to general population seroprevalence studies. The study was inconclusive regarding the role of SARS-CoV-2 serology in cancer patients in the early phase of the pandemic. This study did show that, with adherence to recommended preventive measures, it was safe to maintain systemic cancer therapy.
Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Liu Yu , Fan Hua-ying , Hu Jin-qun , Chen Ming , Chen Jiao
Published: February 2022

Objective

To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate acupuncture’s clinical effect of on insulin resistance (IR) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Methods

PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase databases, and Chinese databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Technology Journal Database (VIP), and Wanfang Database, were searched without language restrictions from inception to 20 December 2021. Only RCTs in which acupuncture had been examined as the sole or adjunctive PCOS-IR treatment were included. Additionally, only studies in Chinese databases that had been published in core journals of Peking University were included. Our primary endpoint was homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). The secondary outcomes were fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-h postprandial blood glucose (2h-PBG), fasting insulin (FINS), body mass index (BMI), and adverse events. A random-effects model enabled reporting of differences between groups as mean differences, thus minimizing the effects of uncertainty associated with inter-study variability on the effects of different interventions.

Results

Our analysis included seven eligible RCTs (N=728 participants). Compared with other treatments, acupuncture therapy yielded a greater mean reduction in BMI (−1.21; 95% CI, −2.41 to −0.02; P=0.05). No significant differences existed between acupuncture and other studied treatments for changes in HOMA-IR (−0.33; 95% CI, −0.87 to 0.22; P>0.05), FBG (−0.43; 95% CI, −0.88 to 0.03; P=0.07), 2h-PBG (−0.40;95% CI, −0.90 to 0.10; P>0.05), and FINS (−0.65; 95% CI, −2.18 to 0.89; P>0.05). Furthermore, compared with medication alone, a combination of acupuncture and medication yielded a mean reduction in HOMA-IR of −0.63 (95% CI, −1.12 to −0.14; P=0.01) and BMI of −1.36 (95% CI, −2.07 to −0.66; P<0.01).

Conclusion

Although acupuncture is not more effective than metformin, the former could be an adjuvant strategy for improving PCOS-IR. Further large-scale, long-term RCTs with strict methodological standards are justified.
Predictors of mortality, ICU admission and intubation among hospitalized COVD-19 patients in Jordan
Authors: Al Oweidat Khaled , Albtoosh Asma S. , Toubasi Ahmad A. , Ribie Mona Khaled , Hasuneh Manar M. , Alfaqheri Daniah L. , Alshurafa Abdullah H. , Ribie Mohammad , Obeidat Nathir
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Several studies characterized COVID-19 patients and revealed the factors associated with COVID-19 mortality and severity. However, few studies were conducted in the Middle East, hence we decided to conduct this study to characterize COVID-19 patients, identify the factors associated with COVID-19 mortality and severity and to compare the patients’ outcomes in the two waves of the pandemic.

Method

We conducted a retrospective single center cohort study among COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospital. The primary outcomes were COVID-19 related death, ICU admission and invasive intubation. Whereas, the secondary outcome was the length of hospital stay. In addition, the patients were divided into two cohorts to represent the two waves of the pandemic, to compare between them based on the outcomes.

Results

The total number of COVID-19 patients included in our study was 745. The overall rates of COVID-19 related mortality, ICU admission and invasive intubation were 23.0%, 28.3% and 10.8%, respectively. CKD, troponin, LDH and O2 saturation <90% were significant predictors for mortality. Moreover, the significant predictors for ICU admission were HF and remdesivir use. Whereas, O2 saturation<90% and GI symptoms were the only significant predictors for invasive intubation. Additionally, the second wave had significantly higher rates of ICU admission compared to the first one.

Conclusion

Our study showed that several factors predicted COVID-19 mortality, ICU admission and invasive intubation. Additionally, our study revealed that the second wave of the pandemic had significantly higher rates of ICU admission but not mortality or invasive intubation compared to the first wave.
Clinical Time-to-Event Prediction Enhanced by Incorporating Compatible Related Outcomes
Authors: Gao Yan , Cui Yan
Published: February 2022

Accurate time-to-event (TTE) prediction of clinical outcomes from personal biomedical data is essential for precision medicine. It has become increasingly common that clinical datasets contain information for multiple related patient outcomes from comorbid diseases or multifaceted endpoints of a single disease. Various TTE models have been developed to handle competing risks that are related to mutually exclusive events. However, clinical outcomes are often non-competing and can occur at the same time or sequentially. Here we develop TTE prediction models with the capacity of incorporating data of compatible related clinical outcomes. We test our method on real and synthetic data and find that the incorporation of related auxiliary clinical outcomes can: 1) significantly improve the TTE prediction performance of convention Cox model while maintaining its interpretability; 2) further improve the performance of the state-of-the-art deep learning based models. While the auxiliary outcomes are utilized for model training, the model deployment is not limited by the availability of the auxiliary outcome data because the auxiliary outcome information is not required for the prediction of the primary outcome once the model is trained.
DeCalciOn: A hardware system for real-time decoding ofin-vivocalcium imaging data
Authors: Chen Zhe , Blair Garrett J. , Guo Changliang , Zhou Jim , Izquierdo Alicia , Golshani Peyman , Cong Jason , Aharoni Daniel , Blair Hugh T.
Published: February 2022

Epifluorescence miniature microscopes (“miniscopes”) are widely used forin vivocalcium imaging of neural population activity. Imaging data is usually collected while subjects are engaged in a task and stored for later offline analysis, but emerging techniques for online imaging offer potential for novel real-time experiments in which closed-loop interventions (such as neurostimulation or sensory feedback) are triggered at short latencies in response to neural population activity. Here we introduceDeCalciOn, a plug-and-play hardware device for online population decoding ofin vivocalcium signals that can trigger closed-loop feedback at millisecond latencies, and is compatible with miniscopes that use the UCLA Data Acquisition (DAQ) interface. In performance tests, the position of rats (n=13) on a linear track was decoded in real time from hippocampal CA1 population activity by 24 linear classifiers. DeCalciOn required <2.5 ms after each end-of-frame to decode up to 1,024 calcium traces and trigger TTL control outputs. Decoding was most efficient using a ‘contour-free’ method of extracting traces from ROIs that were unaligned with neurons in the image, but ‘contour-based’ extraction from neuronal ROIs is also supported. DeCalciOn is an easy-to-use system for real-time decoding of calcium fluorescence that enables closed-loop feedback experiments in behaving animals.
Mesenchymal stem cells support human vascular endothelial cells to form vascular sprouts in human platelet lysate-based matrices
Authors: Rossmanith Eva , Summer Sabrina , Pasztorek Markus , Fiedler Constantin , Gröger Marion , Rauscher Sabine , Weber Viktoria , Fischer Michael B.
Published: February 2022

During tissue regeneration, mesenchymal stem cells can support endothelial cells in the process of new vessel formation. For a functional interaction of endothelial cells with mesenchymal stem cells a vascular inductive microenvironment is required. Using a cellular model for neo-vessel formation, we could show that newly formed vascular structures emanated from the embedded aggregates, consisting of mesenchymal stem cells co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells, into the avascular HPL-based matrices bridging distances up to 5 mm to join with adjacent aggregates with the same morphology forming an interconnected network. These newly formed vascular sprouts showed branch points and generated a lumen as sign of mature vascular development. Mesenchymal stem cells in fluid phase could bind to and interact with adherent human umbilical vein endothelial cells when a shear-force of 2 dyne/mm2 was applied in the flow chamber using a Bioflux®200 device. Under these conditions, mesenchymal stem cells bind to human umbilical vein endothelial cells previously damaged by laser beam irradiation to interact and shed particles.

In conclusion, we observed that mesenchymal stem cells support human umbilical vein endothelial cells to form new vessels in HPL-based matrices when co-cultured in spherical aggregates to generate complex vascular networks in a primarily avascular scaffold and bind to the damaged cells under shear-force to eventually aid in their regeneration.
QSMRim-Net: Imbalance-Aware Learning for Identification of Chronic Active Multiple Sclerosis Lesions on Quantitative Susceptibility Maps
Authors: Zhang Hang , Nguyen Thanh D. , Zhang Jinwei , Marcille Melanie , Spincemaille Pascal , Wang Yi , Gauthier Susan A. , Sweeney Elizabeth M.
Published: February 2022

Background and Purpose

Chronic active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions are characterized by a paramagnetic rim at the edge of the lesion and are associated with increased disability in patients. Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is an MRI technique that is sensitive to chronic active lesions, termed rim+ lesions on the QSM. We present QSMRim-Net, a data imbalance-aware deep neural network that fuses lesion-level radiomic and convolutional image features for automated identification of rim+ lesions on QSM.

Methods

QSM and T2-weighted-Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery (T2-FLAIR) MRI of the brain were collected at 3T for 172 MS patients. Rim+ lesions were manually annotated by two human experts, followed by consensus from a third expert, for a total of 177 rim+ and 3986 rim negative (rim-) lesions. Our automated rim+ detection algorithm, QSMRim-Net, consists of a two-branch feature extraction network and a synthetic minority oversampling network to classify rim+ lesions. The first network branch is for image feature extraction from the QSM and T2-FLAIR, and the second network branch is a fully connected network for QSM lesion-level radiomic feature extraction. The oversampling network is designed to increase classification performance with imbalanced data.

Results

On a lesion-level, in a five-fold cross validation framework, the proposed QSMRim-Net detected rim+ lesions with a partial area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (pROC AUC) of 0.760, where clinically relevant false positive rates of less than 0.1 were considered. The method attained an area under the precision recall curve (PR AUC) of 0.704. QSMRim-Net out-performed other state-of-the-art methods applied to the QSM on both pROC AUC and PR AUC. On a subject-level, comparing the predicted rim+ lesion count and the human expert annotated count, QSMRim-Net achieved the lowest mean square error of 0.98 and the highest correlation of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.86, 0.92).

Conclusion

This study develops a novel automated deep neural network for rim+ MS lesion identification using T2-FLAIR and QSM images.