bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conceptos básicos y rendimiento escolar en niñas de primer grado de primaria de clase socioeconómica baja
Authors: La Rosa Cormack María Isabel
Published: September 2020

La finalidad de este trabajo fue resolver la interrogante acerca de la relación entre el conocimiento de conceptos básicos de espacio, tiempo, cantidad y número, y el rendimiento escolar, a partir de un diseño de tipo correlacional. Para ello se tomó una muestra compuesta por treinta niñas de seis años de edad que cursaban el primer grado de primaria, pertenecientes a la clase socioeconómica baja. Como instrumentos se utilizaron el Test Boehm de Conceptos Básicos y una Prueba de Pedagógica que evaluaría el desempeño tanto en lenguaje como en matemáticas. Los resultados mostraron una correlación significativa entre las variables del estudio siendo mayor, la correlación entre conceptos y lenguaje, que entre conceptos y matemáticas.
25 años de la Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología
Authors: Vargas López Marco
Published: September 2020

El artículo no presenta resumen.
Série de Casos de 103 Crianças com Infeção por SARS-CoV-2 em Portugal
Authors: Picão de Carvalho Clara , Castro Carolina , Sampaio Graça Isabel , Lorenzo Cristina , Barbosa Rodrigues Ana , Inácio Rafael , Prata Filipa , Mouzinho Ana , Pinto Sara , Marques José Gonçalo
Published: September 2020

Introdução: O Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte foi ativado para referência de doentes com infeção SARS-CoV-2 em 11 de março de 2020. O objetivo deste estudo é descrever a experiência do Departamento de Pediatria na abordagem e evolução clínica de crianças infetadas.Material e Métodos: Realizámos um estudo observacional descritivo. Incluímos as crianças e adolescentes (0 aos 18 anos) com infeção por SARS-CoV-2 diagnosticados na urgência e internamento do nosso departamento entre 11 de março e 18 de junho de 2020. Consultámos registos internos e a plataforma Trace COVID-19 e contactámos os cuidadores para avaliação de seguimento.Resultados: De 103 crianças diagnosticadas, 83% tiveram contacto prévio identificado com doente infetado, 43% doentes apresentaram febre e 42% sintomas respiratórios. Em 10% havia fatores de risco; 21% tinham idade inferior a um ano. Foram internadas 10% das crianças, uma em cuidados intensivos com síndrome inflamatória multissistémica pediátrica. Foi efetuada avaliação laboratorial em 9%, radiografia torácica em 7%. Nenhum recebeu suporte ventilatório, terapêutica antiviral ou realizou tomografia computorizada torácica. Foram reobservadas em serviço de urgência 8% das crianças, sendo internada uma. A evolução foi conhecida em 101 casos sendo favorável em todos.Discussão: A maioria dos doentes tinha link epidemiológico familiar e pouca repercussão clínica, mesmo no primeiro ano de vida. A menor gravidade esperada na criança motivou a adoção de critérios habituais noutros quadros clínicos semelhantes para a realização de exames complementares de diagnóstico e internamento hospitalar. Não foi administrada terapêutica antiviral em nenhum doente por se considerar haver pouca evidência de benefício.Conclusão: Esta estratégia traduziu-se num baixo consumo de recursos hospitalares e revelou-se segura nesta série.
Bartter-like Syndrome In a Patient Receiving Capreomycin For The Treatment Of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis
Authors: Aminy Rusdi Zakki , Mardiana Nunuk
Published: September 2020

Bartter syndrome is inherited tubulopathy caused by mutations in several genes causing hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hypocalcemia with hypercalciuria, and metabolic alkalosis. Beside from inherited disorder, Bartter syndrome can be caused by the use of aminoglycosides, so it is called Bartter-like syndrome. Hypokalemia has been reported as a side effect of aminoglycosides in many studies, but Bartter-like syndrome due to aminoglycosides has only been reported in a few case reports. We report a 43 years old female patient who developed muscle weakness due to hypokalemia. We found the patient’s laboratory results was consistent with Bartter syndrome. The patient had MDR-TB and received combination therapy with capreomycin for two months. We diagnosed a patient with Bartter-like syndrome due to capreomycin. Following diagnosis, we discontinued capreomycin and started potassium, magnesium and calcium therapy. After electrolyte imbalances improved, capreomycin was given three times per week and the patient was no longer experiencing the same condition.
Adrenal Incidentaloma In Patient with Bilateral Nephrolithiasis and Infectef Right Kidney Cyst
Authors: Husna Kholidatul , Novida Hermina
Published: September 2020

Adrenal incidentaloma (AI) is a rare case, with a prevalence of 3-7% in the general population. We report a case of a 66 year old female, presented with the history of bilateral flank pain. The patient was performed urologic evaluation due to suspicion of right perirenal abscess and left kidney tumor, and from abdominal CT scan it was found suprarenal mass. There were no signs and symptoms of hormonal hyperfunction. Radiological evaluation in the patient showed the present of malignant lesion. Therefore, adrenalectomy was planned. Before undergoing adrenalectomy, the patient had passed away 6 days after first surgery (right pyelolitotomy and unroofing cyst), with septic shock suspected as cause of death due to hospital-acquired pneumonia.
Intelligence artificielle et santé animale
Authors: EZANNO Pauline , PICAULT Sébastien , WINTER Nathalie , BEAUNÉE Gaël , MONOD Hervé , GUÉGAN Jean-François
Published: September 2020

Mobiliser les approches issues de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) en santé animale (SA) permet d’aborder des problèmes de forte complexité logique ou algorithmique tels que rencontrés en épidémiologie quantitative et prédictive, en médecine de précision, ou dans l’étude des relations hôtes × pathogènes. L’IA peut dans certaines situations faciliter le diagnostic et la détection de cas, fiabiliser les prédictions et réduire les erreurs, permettre des représentations plus réalistes et lisibles par des non informaticiens de systèmes biologiques complexes, accélérer les décisions, améliorer la précision des analyses de risque et permettre de mieux cibler les interventions et d’en anticiper les effets. De plus, les fronts de science en SA engendrent de nouveaux challenges pour l’IA, du fait de la spécificité des systèmes, des données, des contraintes, et des objectifs d’analyse. Sur la base d’une revue de la littérature à l’interface entre IA et SA couvrant la période 2009-2019, et d’entretiens conduits avec des chercheurs français positionnés à cette interface, cette synthèse explicite les grands domaines de recherche en SA dans lesquels l’IA est actuellement mobilisée, comment elle contribue à revisiter les questions de recherche en SA et lever des verrous méthodologiques, et comment des questions de SA stimulent de nouveaux travaux en IA. Après avoir présenté les freins et leviers possibles, nous proposons des recommandations pour se saisir au mieux de l’enjeu que représente cette interface SA/IA.
La dépendance de l’Afrique de l’Ouest aux importations de produits laitiers
Authors: CHATELLIER Vincent
Published: September 2020

Le secteur laitier mondial connaît un développement soutenu en raison de l’augmentation des besoins en produits laitiers d’une population en croissance et d’un changement progressif des régimes alimentaires. Cet article s’intéresse à la place des pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest dans la « planète laitière ». L’analyse mobilise pour ce faire, d’une part, les données statistiques de la FAO sur une longue période (1961 à 2017) et, d’autre part, les statistiques des douanes de 2000 à 2018 pour les données mondiales (base de données « BACI ») et de 2000 à 2019 pour les données européennes (base de données « COMEXT »). Si la consommation de produits laitiers par habitant et par an est encore faible dans de nombreux pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, comparativement aux pays industrialisés, les besoins globaux en produits laitiers augmentent rapidement sous l’effet de la croissance démographique. En raison de nombreuses difficultés (climat, qualité des sols, faible productivité des animaux, manque d’investissement...), le développement de la production laitière en Afrique de l’Ouest (5,8 milliards de litres en 2017 pour seize pays, soit l’équivalent de la production de la Bretagne) n’est pas suffisant pour faire face aux besoins locaux. Les importations de cette zone en produits laitiers se font pour un peu plus des deux tiers en provenance de l’UE, dont les exportations ont fortement augmenté depuis une dizaine d’années (fin des quotas de production). Ces importations concernent à 40 % des mélanges de lait écrémé et de matière grasse végétale en poudre (à base d’huile de palme), un produit qui bénéficie d’un prix compétitif et qui n’est que très faiblement taxé à l’entrée dans les pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest.
LE NUOVE SFIDE DELL’UMANITÀ E DEL DIRITTO NELL’ERA DELL’INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE
Authors: Tomasevicius Filho Eduardo , Ferraro Angelo Viglianisi
Published: September 2020

Neste paper, discutem-se os efeitos do uso da inteligência artificial na sociedade pós-moderna. Curiosamente, a inteligência artificial começou a desenvolver-se desde o início dessa nova era. Nos últimos anos, tornou-se cada vez mais usada em diversos tipos de aplicações, trazendo benefícios, o que permitiu chegar-se a uma quarta revolução industrial. Porém, seu uso tem causado problemas diretos, como o potencial aumento do desemprego e violações do direito à privacidade, e outros prejuízos indiretos, como a disseminação de fake news. Dessa forma, existem riscos para os direitos humanos, em especial, a possiblidade do estabelecimento de novos tipos de controle social. A União Europeia e a comunidade acadêmica têm demonstrado preocupação para com o uso dessas tecnologias, por meio de relatórios e pesquisas. Assim, o objetivo desse texto é o de demostrar brevemente os tipos de inteligência artificial, seus benefícios e prejuízos, o risco de danos aos direitos fundamentais, para chegar-se à conclusão de que é imprescindível a intervenção normativa nesse tema.
Platelet Function and Microvesicles Generation in Patients with Hemophilia A
Authors: Melero-Amor Antonia , Romecín Paola , Iyú David , García-Bernal David , García Navarro Esther , Moraleda José M. , Garcia-Estañ Joaquin , García-Candel Faustino , Atucha Noemí M.
Published: September 2020

Aim: In the present work we have studied the role of platelets and microvesicles in patients with severe hemophilia A (HA) treated under the regimen of prophylaxis. We have analyzed whether the administration of coagulation factor FVIII modifies this hemorrhagic phenotype in a cohort of 16 patients with diagnosis of severe HA, who were on prophylactic treatment with recombinant FVIII. Methods: Blood tests were performed before (72h without FVIII, baseline sample) and after 15 minutes of FVIII infusion. As a control group, 15 healthy subjects were studied. Platelet aggregation was determined by closure time, optical aggregation, impedance aggregation and flow cytometry. We also studied the expression of the platelet activation markers P-selectin, CD63, platelet-tissue factor, formation of platelet-leukocyte aggregates and tissue factor exposure. The total number of platelet and endothelial microvesicles were also analyzed by flow cytometry, as well as platelet cytosolic Ca2+ mobilization. Results: We found no significant differences in platelet function in patients with severe HA in prophylactic treatment before and after FVIII infusion. After FVIII administration, patients presented fewer endothelial microvesicles, indicating that the treatment does not increase one of the possible thrombotic risk markers of these patients. The total amount of plasma microvesicles and the platelet microvesicles were decreased in patients with HA compared to the control group. Conclusions: Our results do not support any effect of FVIII on platelet function in patients with severe HA treated under the regime of prophylaxis.
A Proposed Method Using Deep Learning from Unseen to Seen Anxieties of Children during COVID-19
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Samir Kumar , Dutta Shawni , Goyel Vishal
Published: September 2020

COVID-19 and new concept, lockdown, change social life of all classes of humans. Children partially feel the changes of daily life and this situation has been children’s free mind. Children are under a new type of restriction imposed on them by their parents. Normally they prefer play with their their friends than study and always waiting for holidays. They heard a new jargon i.e. lockdown where everything stands still. Very often they see peoples in the roads and few vehicles are moving in the roads. However, a peculiar thing happens now that they sit in front of computer to hear the virtual classes that are taken by the teachers. This also happens when there is no lockdown since COVID-19 still affects people. The environment is totally changed and they do not find any proper answers from the parents about the scenario.This study has been made an attempt to carry out the mental affairs of children in West Bengal, India. Several families are surveyed for collecting responses mostly from rural areas as well as urban areas for the time-period from April, 2020 to July, 2020. An effort has been given in this paper to predict the stress, depression and anxiety faced by children during the COVID-19. A Deep Learning Neural Network (DLNN) based method is applied to understand the stress level, depression level and anxiety level amongst the children. A hybrid DLNN has been presented in this research that combines both Convolutional Layer and Gated-Recurrent Unit (GRU) for obtaining the prediction of the mental health of children. The model obtains an accuracy of 89.57% for defeminizing mental anxiety of children.
Inline Milk Lactose Concentration as Biomarker of the Health Status in Fresh Dairy Cows
Authors: Televičius Mindaugas , Juozaitiene Vida , Malašauskienė Dovilė , Antanaitis Ramūnas , Rutkauskas Arūnas , Urbutis Mingaudas , Baumgartner Walter
Published: September 2020

In this study pH, temperature of the contents of the forestomach of cows and cow activity were measured using specific smaXtec boluses manufactured for animal care. Rumination time, body weight, milk yield, milk fat/protein ratio, milk lactose, milk somatic cell count, milk electrical conductivity and conception of concentrates were registered with the help of Lely Astronaut® A3 milking robots. The following parameters were obtained: base excess in blood, partial carbon dioxide pressure, partial oxygen pressure, bicarbonate, hydrogen potential, total carbon dioxide carbon, base excess in extracellular fluid, sodium, calcium, potassium, packed cell volume, chlorides, hemoglobin concentration and lactate. According to the concentration of lactose in milk, cows were grouped into two groups: group 1 - milk lactose <4.70% (n = 20), group 2 - milk lactose ≥ 4.70% (n = 15). Data of cows were also divided by milk fat and protein ratio: F/P<1.2 (class 1), F/P=1.2 (class 2) and F/P>1.2 (class 3). According our results we can conclude that inline registered milk lactose concentration can be used as indicator for the health status of fresh dairy cows. Cows with higher lactose concentration (≥ 4.70%) developed more activity (54.47%) and had less risk of mastitis (lover milk EC, and SCC) and metabolic disorders according to F/P. Cows with higher lactose concentration showed higher glucose concentrations. Low level of lactose can be used as indicator of mastitis (milk SCC ≥ 100 thousand/ml) and metabolic disorders according to F/P.
Ten Tips for Blended Practicals
Authors: Garrard Andrew , Beck Stephen , Di Benedetti Matteo , Funnell Adam
Published: September 2020

At the start of 2020 the rapid onset of the coronavirus pandemic forced higher education institutions across the world to pivot from face to face to remote teaching. For teaching methods that involve the transmission and dissemination of verbal/visual information between academic staff and students, video technologies provided immediate methods to respond to the restricted access to campus. Practical activities, that usually involve interaction with equipment, presented a greater challenge to adapt for remote delivery. With restrictions on higher education being partially lifted, many institutions worldwide intend to offer blended learning, prioritizing in-person activities that are troublesome to deliver online, such as practicals. Social distancing measures are reducing capacity and placing increased pressure on space, creating a need to optimise limited time students have in the lab and strategies to determine which activities can best utilize this limited resource. Time is constrained, leaving little opportunity to make radical changes to learning and teaching structures. In this publication, The department of Mulicdipalnary Engineering Education (MEE) at the University of Sheffield, utilise their experiences in practical teaching to provide simple, implementable ideas for blended practicals which maximize students’ learning and experiences within the envelope of available resources.
POTENSI PEMANFAATAN DAUN PEGAGAN DAN PATI JAGUNG MENJADI BEDAK DINGIN
Authors: Nuryati Nuryati , Lestari Ema , Ludiah Naca Susana
Published: September 2020

Pegagan plant (Centella asiatica (L) Urban) is one of the medicinal plant that has many benefits, so it attracts the attention of experts to research and develop it in the context of exploring new drugs that come from nature. The porpose of researc was to formulate between  pegagan leaves and corn patch in the manufacture of cold flour and characterize pegagan leaves and corn patch. The research of method was carried out, making corn starch, making cold powder, and the tests carried out were hedonic tests, irritation tests and adhesion tes,. The results obtained from the Hedonic power test from the best treatment are the colors for F1 treatment which is 3.87, F1 texture which is 4.20 and aroma at F3 which is 5. Adhesion test results obtained are 182.49 seconds of F1 action, and irritation test in F1 treatment, it was found to be negative (-) or no irritation.
KAJIAN TEKANAN PADA ISOLASI BEBERAPA SENYAWA MINYAK NILAM (Pogostemon cablin Benth) DENGAN METODE DISTILASI FRAKSINASI
Authors: Arpima Zahrah Eza , Nurjanah Sarifah , Widyasanti Asri , Nurhadi Bambang , Rialita Tita , Lembong Elazmanawati
Published: September 2020

In the fractional distillation process, the pressure that used is one of the important factors determining the operating conditions to obtain optimal product. This research aims to determine the effect of pressure on the fractinal distillation process of patchouli oil. The research method that used in this research was an experimental method with descriptive analysis. This research was conducted with three treatments that is different pressure treatments and repeated twice. The pressure treatments that used in the fractional distillation process are A = 5 mmHg, B = 10 mmHg, and C = 15 mmHg and arranged to produce five (5) fractions of each treatment. The parameters that measured including the yield of fractional distillation, distillation process time, specific gravity, and refractive index. The lower the pressure used in the distillation process, the greater the yield and the faster the distillation process time. The results of this research indicate that the variation of pressure that used does not have a significant effect on the characteristics of patchouli oil such as specific gravity and refractive index. The application of 5 mmHg pressure is good enough to separate the distillate yield into 5 fractions and is more efficient because it obtains the highest total yield of 93.5% with a distillation process time of 18.16 hours.
EXPLORATORY STUDY OF NEAR AND SUPERCRITICAL CARBONDIOXIDE WARM PASTEURIZATION ON NILE TILAPIA
Authors: Sugiharto Sugeng Pondang , Bintoro Nursigit , Karyadi Joko Nugroho Wahyu , Pranoto Yudi
Published: September 2020

Effects of both near critical and supercritical CO2 pasteurization on inactivation of muscle protease and lipase of red tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were investigated along with its impact on microbial reduction and physical appearance. Near critical phase was designed at 70 bar and supercritical phases were designed at 80 and 90 bar.  It was found that CO2 pressure had greater effect on protease inactivation  than on lipase inactivation. Temperature increase did not improve both protease and lipase inactivation while fillet texture was adversely affected. The fillet color experienced color changes significantly.
Ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran: challenges and signs of concern with under-reporting of prevalence and deaths
Authors: Ghafari Mahan , Hejazi Bardia , Karshenas Arman , Dascalu Stefan , Ferretti Luca , Ledda Alice , Khosravi Mohammad Ali , Abbasalipour Maryam , Zeinali Sirous , Katzourakis Aris
Published: September 2020

Many countries with an early outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 struggled to gauge the size and start date of the epidemic mainly due to limited testing capacities and a large proportion of undetected asymptomatic and mild infections. Iran was among the first countries with a major outbreak outside China. Using all genomic sequences collected from patients with a travel link to Iran, we estimate that the epidemic started on 21/01/2020 (95% HPD: 05/12/2019 – 14/02/2020) with a doubling time of 3 days (95% HPD: 1.68 – 16.27). We also show, using air travel data from confirmed exported cases, that from late February to early March the number of active cases across the country were more than a hundred times higher than the reported cases at the time. A detailed province-level analysis of all-cause mortality shows 20,718 (CI 95%: 18,859 – 22,576) excess deaths during winter and spring 2020 compared to previous years, almost twice the number of reported COVID-19-related deaths at the time. Correcting for under-reporting of prevalence and deaths, we use an SEIR model to reconstruct the outbreak dynamics in Iran. Our model forecasted the second epidemic peak and suggests that by 14/07/2020 a total of 9M (CI 95%: 118K – 44M) have recovered from the disease across the country. These findings have profound implications for assessing the stage of the epidemic in Iran and shed light on the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 transmissions in Iran and central Asia despite significant levels of under-reporting.
A mix methods evaluation of the effectiveness of a group-based prenatal yoga programme on perceived stress in pregnant women
Authors: Akmese Zehra Baykal , Güneri Sezer Er
Published: September 2020

Background

Yoga is recommended as a behavioural self-management strategy for stress. However, the evidence of how it affects women's stress perception is not much studied. Hence the present study was taken to assess the perceived stress score and to explore the experiences of pregnant women of stress management before and after prenatal yoga programme according to Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome Theory.
Methods

This study was made using concurrent triangulation mixed method design. Quantitative part of the study was made pretest-posttest with control group experimental study, qualitative part of the study was made phenomenological method. Quantitative data were gathered from 31 pregnant women in both yoga and control groups. As for qualitative data, 21 and 15 pregnant women were interviewed in the first and second interviews, respectively. Pregnant Woman Description Form was used as a data collection tool; a visual analogue scale was used for measuring stress score; and the interviews were made through Semi-Structured Interview Form. The themes were determined according to the stages of Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome Theory. Thematic approach was used to assess the data.
Results

The difference among the first, second and third visual analogue scale stress perception mean scores of pregnant women in the prenatal yoga programme and control groups was statistically significant. The women mostly used the expressions relaxation, decrease in stress perception and learning to cope with stress to describe stress perception after prenatal yoga programme. All women told that their stress perception decreased, and they learned how to cope with stress in pregnancy.
Discussion

This study demonstrated yoga was acceptable to stressed pregnant women. There was a significant decrease in stress perception of pregnant women. The women had a chance to express the physical and mental effects of yoga on stress management.
How do demographic variables affect pregnant women’s perceptions of obstetrics forceps: a cross sectional study
Authors: Hitt Jasmine M , Martin Angela S. , Dietrich Jordan E. , Ahmed Natasha , Gene Lee
Published: September 2020

Background

Women’s attitudes towards obstetric forceps likely contribute to declining use and opportunities for residency training, but formal documentation of women’s attitudes towards obstetric forceps is currently limited. A clearer understanding should help guide our attempts to preserve its use in modern obstetrics and to improve residency training. Our objective is to document women’s attitudes towards obstetric forceps and the influence basic demographic variables have on those attitudes.
Methods

A cross sectional study was performed. We developed a one-time anonymous structured 5-question survey that was given to all low-risk patients presenting to our medical center for prenatal care between October 2018 - December 2018. The questionnaire asked for the patient’s self-reported age, race, education level, and insurance type. The five questions were as follows: (1) Do you think forceps should be use to deliver babies, (2) Are forceps safe for the baby, (3) Are forceps safe for the mother, (4) Do you think forceps can help to lower the cesarean section rate, (5) Do you think training physicians should learn to place forceps on a live-model. We calculated the means and proportions for the responses according to the overall group and various subgroups. Statistical analysis included Kruskall Wallis, Mann-Whitney tests as appropriate. Results were also adjusted by regression using a Generalized Linear Model. The power calculation showed the sample size required was 384.
Results

A total of 499 patients returned the questionnaire. The response rate was 56.8% (499/878). The findings suggest that patient perceptions towards forceps are generally negative. Women with white ethnicity, college education or higher, and private insurance did have more favorable views than their counterparts, but the majority still had unfavorable views. Age was not shown to have a significant effect on maternal attitude.
Conclusion

Women’s views towards forcep use at the University of Kansas Medical Center are negative and may be contributing to the decline of forcep use. Improving patient perception of forceps would require multiple different strategies rather than a single focused easily-implemented message. If forceps training continues, such training will rely on a minority of women who will accept forceps use in their delivery.
Modeling COVID-19 with Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cells Reveals Synergistic Effects of Anti-inflammatory Macrophages with ACE2 Inhibition Against SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Duan Fuyu , Guo Liyan , Yang Liuliu , Han Yuling , Thakur Abhimanyu , Nilsson-Payant Benjamin E. , Wang Pengfei , Zhang Zhao , Ma Chui Yan , Zhou Xiaoya , Han Teng , Zhang Tuo , Wang Xing , Xu Dong , Duan Xiaohua , Xiang Jenny , Tse Hung-fat , Liao Can , Luo Weiren , Huang Fang-Ping , Chen Ya-Wen , Evans Todd , Schwartz Robert E. , tenOever Benjamin , Ho David D. , Chen Shuibing , Na Jie , Lian Qizhou , Chen Huanhuan Joyce
Published: September 2020

Dysfunctional immune responses contribute critically to the progression of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) from mild to severe stages including fatality, with pro-inflammatory macrophages as one of the main mediators of lung hyper-inflammation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to better understand the interactions among SARS-CoV-2 permissive cells, macrophage, and the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thereby offering important insights into new therapeutic strategies. Here, we used directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to establish a lung and macrophage co-culture system and model the host-pathogen interaction and immune response caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among the hPSC-derived lung cells, alveolar type II and ciliated cells are the major cell populations expressing the viral receptor ACE2 and co-effector TMPRSS2, and both were highly permissive to viral infection. We found that alternatively polarized macrophages (M2) and classically polarized macrophages (M1) had similar inhibitory effects on SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, only M1 macrophages significantly up-regulated inflammatory factors including IL-6 and IL-18, inhibiting growth and enhancing apoptosis of lung cells. Inhibiting viral entry into target cells using an ACE2 blocking antibody enhanced the activity of M2 macrophages, resulting in nearly complete clearance of virus and protection of lung cells. These results suggest a potential therapeutic strategy, in that by blocking viral entrance to target cells while boosting anti-inflammatory action of macrophages at an early stage of infection, M2 macrophages can eliminate SARS-CoV-2, while sparing lung cells and suppressing the dysfunctional hyper-inflammatory response mediated by M1 macrophages.
Quantum restricted Boltzmann machine is universal for quantum computation
Authors: Wu Yusen , Wei Chunyan , Qin Su-Juan , Wen Qiaoyan , Gao Fei
Published: September 2020

The challenge posed by the many-body problem in quantum physics originates from the difficulty of describing the nontrivial correlations encoded in the many-body wave functions with high complexity. Quantum neural network provides a powerful tool to represent the large-scale wave function, which has aroused widespread concerns in the quantum superiority era. A significant open problem is what exactly the representational power boundary of the single-layer quantum neural network is. In this paper, we design a 2-local Hamiltonian and then give a kind of Quantum Restricted Boltzmann Machine (QRBM, i.e. single-layer quantum neural network) based on it. The proposed QRBM has the following two salient features. (1) It is proved universal for implementing quantum computation tasks. (2) It can be efficiently implemented on the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. We successfully utilize the proposed QRBM to compute the wave functions for the notable cases of physical interest including the ground state as well as the Gibbs state (thermal state) of molecules on the superconducting quantum chip. The experimental results illustrate the proposed QRBM can compute the above wave functions with an acceptable error.
Cardiomegaly found in the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Analysis of 115 Patients
Authors: Shankayi Zeinab , Bahrami Farideh , Mohammadzadeh Tahereh , Anvar Amineh Ghafari , Amini Hosein , Asadi M. Mehdi , Mirasheh M.Hossein , Sharti Mojtaba
Published: September 2020

Objectives

There is much evidence showing that most of the mortality and morbidity cases are observed in COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular diseases. Thus, the study on COVID 19 patients with cardiovascular diseases is required for their optimum management. The present study presents a preliminary report on the cardiomegaly of laboratory and CT findings of COVID-19 pneumonia in Iran. A total of 115 Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia hospitalized in (confirmed by CT scan and RT-PCR) Baghiyatallah hospital participated in the present study.
Results

Thirty-three of these patients (26.8%) had cardiomegaly detected by chest CT scan. Creatinine, Urea and CRP levels of patients significantly increased based on cardiovascular disease detection. In contrast, Sodium levels reduced to below the normal in patients with cardiomegaly. Despite respiratory illness as the first symptom of COVID-19, the role of other diseases such as cardiovascular disease requires further investigation.
The Angle of Trunk Rotation in Children With Growth Hormone Deficiency
Authors: Kobylińska Magdalena , Malak Roksana Ewa , Majewska Katarzyna , Samborski Włodzimierz , Kędzia Andrzej
Published: September 2020

Background. Growth hormone plays a vital role in the human body. Its deficiency can lead to numerous disorders, including musculoskeletal system defects. Treatment with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in children suffering from growth hormone deficiency (GHD) increases muscle mass and improves bone structure.Aim. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the angle of trunk rotation (ATR) in patients diagnosed with GHD treated with rhGH and to observe the incidence of scoliosis.Material and Methods. The study was conducted among 50 children diagnosed with GHD. The group consisted of 11 girls and 39 boys aged 6-16. The study group included 50 children: 10 children just qualified for rhGH treatment and 40 patients undergoing this treatment, with different therapy duration. ATR was measured using a Bunnell scoliometer on five levels of the spine: cervical 7 / thoracic 1, thoracic 6, thoracic 12 / lumbar 1, lumbar 3, lumbar 5 / sacral 1.Results. The most numerous asymmetries among the examined group were in the thoracolumbar segment and at the thoracic 6 level. Girls had greater asymmetries compared to boys especially at thoraco – lumbar and lumbar 3 level. There were no statistically significant differences in ATR at any level comparing patients before hormonal treatment and patients undergoing rhGH treatment. The age of the beginning of the therapy, the duration of rhGH therapy, and body mass index (BMI) also had no effect on ATR. Sport activities had a positive impact on the results obtained by scoliometer assessment.Conclusions. The angle of trunk rotation is higher in growth hormone-deficient females than in males. Weight, height, BMI, the time of growth hormone therapy beginning and the duration of this therapy do not influence ATR. The more sport activities, the lower value of the angle of trunk rotation, especially in male patients. Obtained results support the thesis, that treatment with recombinant human growth hormone does not increase the incidence of scoliosis.
Novel Strategy for Isolation of Mice Bone Marrow –Derived Endothelial Cells (BMECs)
Authors: Smith Alhaji Osman , Adzraku Seyram Yao , Ju Wen , Qiao Jianlin , Xu Kailin , Zeng Lingyu
Published: September 2020

Background: In the bone marrow microenvironment, endothelial cells (ECs) are individual cells that form part of the sinusoidal blood vessels called "bone marrow endothelial niche." They account for less than two percent of the bone marrow cells. They may play critical functions in generating growth and inhibitory factors that promote the recovery of the hematopoietic stem cells. Methods: Two steps approach for isolation of bone marrow endothelial cells from mice. In brief, the bone marrow extracted from the mice long bones and culture overnight with DMEM supplemented with 20% FBS and antibiotics. The floating cells discarded, and the adhered section detaches with accutase and bone marrow endothelial cells selected using CD31 microbeads. The isolated bone marrow endothelial cells were cultured in dish pre-coated with rat-tail collagen type 1 with endothelial growth factor media. The cells were verified by confocal microscopy for morphology and tube formation by matrigel assay. We validate the purity of the cells by flow cytometry, RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence staining, and immunoblotting. Finally, we induced the bone marrow endothelial cells with recombinant tumor necrosis factor-alpha.Results: Our findings prove that the cell isolated are characteristic of bone marrow endothelial cells and response to tumor necrosis factor-alpha by an increase in proliferation and enhance the expression of adhesion molecules.Conclusions: This method simplifies the extraction of primary bone marrow endothelial cells for in vitro studies. The significance of this method will provide an excellent opportunity for stem cell research of endothelial cells function and dysregulation in vitro studies of mice model.
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease in School-Age Children and Adolescents in Shenyang, China
Authors: Lin Guan , Xinhe Zhang , Haoyu Tian , Xing Jin , Dan Li , Ningning Wang , Jing Sun , Wang Xue , Zilu Zeng , Li Yiling
Published: September 2020

Background: Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) refers to abnormal accumulation of fat in the liver for metabolic dysfunction. With modern socioeconomic conditions and changes in dietary patterns, the prevalence of MAFLD is increasing, to the detrimental of children’s learning and quality of life. We investigated the prevalence and influencing factors of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in school-aged children and adolescents in Shenyang, China. Methods: In 2019, we collected demographic, anthropometric and liver health assessments from a random sample of Shenyang’ s school-aged children (7-12 years old) and adolescents (13-18 years old). Experienced hepatologists used transient elastography to diagnose the presence of fatty liver in the students. A random subsample was selected to complete a questionnaire to explore the impact of lifestyle habits on fatty liver disease.Results: The overall prevalence of MAFLD in these students was 23.83%, with a non-significant difference between children (22.73%) and adolescents (24.43%). The prevalence of MAFLD was significantly higher among boys than among girls. Compared with non-overweight students, a significantly higher proportion of the overweight group had fatty liver. Moreover, questionnaire responses on exercise habits, normal diet, and parental factors were associated with fatty liver.Conclusions: MAFLD is very prevalent in children and adolescents in Shenyang city. Due to the close relationship between MAFLD and obesity, lifestyle plays a major role in the occurrence of MAFLD.Trial registration: the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, [2020]2020-258-2. Registered 6 June 2020 - Retrospectively registered.
Correlations Between Morphine Use and Adverse Outcomes in Acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction with Acute Heart Failure: A Retrospective Study
Authors: lin yaowang , yuan jie , zhu yong , Liu Huadong , pang xinli , Dong Shaohong
Published: September 2020

Background: The available data regarding the safety of morphine use in cases of STEMI with AHF (Killip ≥2) remain insufficient. The aim of the study was to further examine the safety of intravenous morphine in patients with STEMI and AHF over 1 year of follow-up after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).Methods: 275 consecutive patients with STEMI and AHF were included and divided into groups that did or did not receive in-hospital intravenous morphine. Endpoints included major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and the need for invasive mechanical ventilation during hospitalization and 1 year of follow-up. Results: The in-hospital occurrences of cardiac death and cardiogenic shock were much higher in patients who received morphine than that those who did not (15.20% vs 6.67%, p=0.035; odds ratio [OR]=2.509, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.121–5.620, and 14.40% vs 6.00%, p=0.033; OR=2.636, 95% CI 1.139-6.097, respectively). Additionally, more patients in the group treated with morphine experienced the secondary outcome of in-hospital invasive mechanical ventilation compared with the group not treated with morphine (19.20% vs 10.67%, p=0.031; OR=2.308, 95% CI 1.138–4.684). However, no difference between-group differences were observed for the incidence of MACEs, cardiac death, or all-cause death over 1 year of follow-up.Conclusions: Intravenous morphine administration is highly correlated with in-hospital MACEs and the need for additional invasive mechanical ventilation in STEMI patients with AHF after PPCI, but not for long-time adverse outcomes.
Contextual Factors and Mechanisms that Influence Sustainability: A Realist Evaluation of Two Provincially Scaled Evidence-Based Initiatives
Authors: Flynn Rachel , Mrklas Kelly , Campbell Alyson , Wasylak Tracy , Scott Shannon D
Published: September 2020

Background: In 2012, Alberta Health Services created Strategic Clinical NetworksTM (SCNs) to develop and implement evidence-informed, clinician-led and team-delivered health system improvement in Alberta, Canada. SCNs have had several provincial successes in improving health outcomes. Little research has been done on the sustainability of these efforts. Methods: We conducted a qualitative realist evaluation using a case study approach to identify and explain the contextual factors and mechanisms perceived to influence the sustainability of two provincial SCN initiatives. The context (C) + mechanism (M) = outcome (O) configurations (CMOcs) heuristic guided our research. Results: We conducted thirty realist interviews in two cases and found four important mechanisms facilitating sustainability: the use of a collaborative approach audit & feedback, the informal leadership role, and patient stories. Informal leaders were often hands-on and influential to front-line staff. Learning collaboratives broke down professional and organizational silos and encouraged collective sharing and learning, motivating participants to continue with the initiative. Continual audit-feedback interventions motivated participants to want to perform and improve on a long-term basis, increasing the likelihood of initiative sustainability. Patient stories demonstrated the initiatives’ impact on patient outcomes, motivating staff to want to continue doing the initiative, and increasing the likelihood of its sustainability. Conclusions: There are important contextual factors and mechanisms within sustainment processes that may apply to systems change implementers. Our research revealed the causal relationship between implementation and sustainability and how outcomes from implementation shape sustainability contexts. Future work is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of informal leadership, learning collaboratives, audit-feedback, and patient stories as sustainability interventions, to generate better guidance on planning sustainable improvements with long term impact.
Vitamin D Deficiency is Associated With Higher Level of High Sensitivity C-reactive Protein (Hs-crp) in Patients Undergoing Elective Coronary Stenting
Authors: foroughinia farzaneh , Mottaghi Shaghayegh , Alimardani Mohammad Reza
Published: September 2020

Background: Vitamin D deficiency, a prevalent worldwide concern, has been reported to have a pivotal role in many cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a therapeutic approach that may have several short-term and long-term cardiovascular complications, supposing to be mediated with high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), an inflammatory marker. This study aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D status and hs-CRP level, as a prognostic marker, in patients undergoing elective PCI. Methods: The study population comprised of 150 patients who underwent elective coronary angioplasty. In order to measure vitamin D and hs-CRP levels, venous blood samples were obtained at baseline and 24 hours after PCI. Results: Our results showed a significant inverse relationship between post-PCI hs-CRP and also pre-post hs-CRP difference levels and vitamin D status. Conclusion: Hs-CRP content is higher in vitamin D deficient patients. Therefore, these patients, especially severely-deficient ones (25(OH)D<10ng/ml), may benefit from supplementation with vitamin D prior to PCI.
Novel Germline Mutation in BCAR1 in Two Siblings With Lung Cancer: a Possible Susceptibility Gene
Authors: Kuikui Zhu , Yangchao Zhao , Lu Wu , Sijia Zhang , Yan Zong , Zhenyu Li , Qianwen Li , Fang Cheng , Meng Rui
Published: September 2020

Background: Lung cancer is the most prevalent malignancy worldwide. Most patients were sporadic and carried somatic mutations in hotspot genes. At present, accumulating researches had identified several germline mutations that predispose patients to lung cancer. In this report, two siblings were diagnosed as lung squamous cell carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma, respectively. Results: The two siblings shared similar features of a germline insertion of 11 bp (GCCCTGGCATT) in BCAR1 producing a frameshift at codon 314 which is located at the substrate domain. The BCAR1 was previously demonstrated to be associated with lung cancer. The variant detected in this report would impair the regulation and functions of BRCA1 in some extent, thus may promote lung cancer tumorigenesis. Our findings suggest that BCAR1 is a possible susceptibility gene for lung cancer, and its functional analyses in lung cancer need further investigation.Conclusions: In this study, we first reported a novel causative mechanism of Lung cancer: an insertion of 11 bp in BCAR1 gene, which can be helpful in the genetic diagnosis of this disease.
Identification of Hub Genes and Key Pathways of Paraquat Induced Human Embryonic Pulmonary Fibrosis by Bioinformatics Analysis and Vitro Experiments
Authors: Fu Yue , Zeng Xiang Xia , Hu Jin Lun , Yan Mei , Xie CHun Ming , XU Wei Gan , Gu Zi Cong
Published: September 2020

Background: Paraquat is highly toxic pesticide, which usually led to acute lung injury and subsequently develop pulmonary fibrosis, the exact mechanisms of PQ-induced lung fibrosis remain largely unclear and no specific drugs for this disease have been approved. Methods: Our study aimed to identify its potential mechanism though modeling study in vitro and bioinformatics analysis. Gene expression datasets associated with PQ-induced lung fibrosis were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using GEO2R. Functional enrichment analyses were performed using the Database for Annotation. Results: The DEGs in the two datasets, of which 92 overlapping genes were found in two microarray datasets. Functional analysis demonstrated that the 92 DEGs were enriched in the ‘TNF signaling pathway’, ‘CXCR chemokine receptor binding’, and ‘core promoter binding’. Moreover, nine hub genes were identified from a protein‑protein interaction network. Conclusions: This integrative analysis firstly identified candidate genes and pathways in PQ-induced lung fibrosis, as well as benefit to research novel approaches for treating for control of PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis.
A Precursor to HPV-Independent VSCC : Differentiated Exophytic Vulvar Intraepithelial Lesion - A Case Report
Authors: Zheng Weiping , Li Minhua
Published: September 2020

Background: Vulvar cancer is a relatively rare gynecologic malignant disease. The majority of these tumors are vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC). There are two distinct aetiopathogenic pathways leading to VSCC: human papillomavirus (HPV)-dependent and HPV-independent. The precursor lesions of HPV-independent VSCC include differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia(VIN), vulvar acanthosis with altered differentiation(VAAD) and differentiated exophytic vulvar intraepithelial lesion(DE-VIL) . To date, the report of DE-VIL has not been found after this term was proposed in 2017. So it usually has been under-recognised by pathologists in the past owing to the incidence of DE-VIL is relatively small.Case presentation: Here, we report a typical case of DE-VIL, which exhibits the absence of HPV infection and mutations in TP53. Interesting, a small lesion showed similar morphologic feature to HSIL nearby the lesion of DE-VIL.However, it showed same immunochemical patterns with DE-VIL. To date, no other study has reported this phenomenon. Whether it is a rare subtype of DE-VIL or only a accompanying status is still unclear.Conclusions: As the precursor lesions of HPV-independent VSCC, DE-VIL was too difficult to diagnosis due to the lack of sufficient evidence. Therefore, we should pay more and more attention for DE-VIL.