bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Site-specific differences in survival among upper and lower tract urothelial carcinoma patients treated with radical surgery
Authors: Anno Tadatsugu , Kikuchi Eiji , Shigeta Keisuke , Ogihara Koichiro , Watanabe Keitaro , Yanai Yoshinori , Takamatsu Kimiharu , Hasegawa Shintaro , Masuda Takeshi , Oyama Masafumi , Mizuno Ryuichi , Oya Mototsugu
Published: January 2021

Background

It currently remains unclear whether the location of primary tumours affects the clinical outcomes of patients with locally advanced urothelial carcinoma in the urinary tract. The aim of the present study was to compare prognostic differences between bladder urothelial carcinoma and upper tract urothelial carcinoma, particularly pT3 or higher tumours.

Methods

In total, 307 patients with pT3 or higher urothelial carcinoma without distant metastasis who underwent radical cystectomy for bladder urothelial carcinoma (N = 127, 41.4%) or radical nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (N = 180, 58.6%) at Keio University Hospital and three affiliated hospitals between 1994 and 2017 were enrolled. Oncological outcomes were compared between bladder urothelial carcinoma and upper tract urothelial carcinoma using Cox regression analysis.

Results

Significantly higher rates of male patients, smokers, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, lymph node involvement and lymphovascular invasion were observed in the bladder urothelial carcinoma group. The incidence of regional lymph node or local recurrence was higher in patients with bladder urothelial carcinoma than in those with upper tract urothelial carcinoma, while that of lung metastasis was lower. In all patients, bladder urothelial carcinoma was independently associated with disease recurrence (hazard ratio (HR) 1.504, P = 0.035) in addition to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and lymphovascular invasion. Bladder urothelial carcinoma was also independently associated with cancer death (HR = 1.998, P = 0.002) as well as lymphovascular invasion. Following the exclusion of patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, bladder urothelial carcinoma remained an independent risk factor for disease recurrence and cancer death (HR = 1.702, P = 0.010 and HR = 1.888, P = 0.013, respectively).

Conclusions

Bladder urothelial carcinoma may follow worse prognosis compared to upper tract urothelial carcinoma, particularly that with a high pathological stage.
Management and Outcomes in Children with Third-Generation Cephalosporin-Resistant Urinary Tract Infections
Authors: Wang Marie E , Greenhow Tara L , Lee Vivian , Beck Jimmy , Bendel-Stenzel Michael , Hames Nicole , McDaniel Corrie E , King Erin E , Sherry Whitney , Parmar Deepika , Patrizi Sara T , Srinivas Nivedita , Schroeder Alan R
Published: January 2021

Background

Third-generation cephalosporin-resistant urinary tract infections (UTIs) often have limited oral antibiotic options with some children receiving prolonged parenteral courses. Our objectives were to determine predictors of long parenteral therapy and the association between parenteral therapy duration and UTI relapse in children with third-generation cephalosporin-resistant UTIs.

Methods

We conducted a multisite retrospective cohort study of children <18 years presenting to acute care at 5 children’s hospitals and a large managed care organization from 2012 to 2017 with a third-generation cephalosporin-resistant UTI from Escherichia coli or Klebsiella spp. Long parenteral therapy was ≥3 days and short/no parenteral therapy was 0–2 days of concordant parenteral antibiotics. Discordant therapy was antibiotics to which the pathogen was non-susceptible. Relapse was a UTI from the same organism within 30 days.

Results

Of the 482 children included, 81% were female and the median age was 3.3 years (interquartile range: 0.8-8). Fifty-four children (11.2%) received long parenteral therapy (median duration: 7 days). Predictors of long parenteral therapy included age <2 months (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 67.3; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.4-275.7), limited oral antibiotic options (aOR 5.9; 95% CI: 2.8-12.3), and genitourinary abnormalities (aOR 5.4; 95% CI: 1.8-15.9). UTI relapse occurred in 1 of the 54 (1.9%) children treated with long parenteral therapy and in 6 of the 428 (1.5%) children treated with short/no parenteral therapy (P = .57). Of the 105 children treated exclusively with discordant antibiotics, 3 (2.9%, 95% CI: 0.6%-8.1%) experienced UTI relapse.

Conclusions

Long parenteral therapy was associated with age <2 months, limited oral antibiotic options, and genitourinary abnormalities. UTI relapse was rare and not associated with duration of parenteral therapy. For UTIs with limited oral options, further research is needed on the effectiveness of continued discordant therapy.
A systems-level gene regulatory network model for Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Neal Maxwell L , Wei Ling , Peterson Eliza , Arrieta-Ortiz Mario L , Danziger Samuel A , Baliga Nitin S , Kaushansky Alexis , Aitchison John D
Published: January 2021

Many of the gene regulatory processes of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite, remain poorly understood. To develop a comprehensive guide for exploring this organism's gene regulatory network, we generated a systems-level model of P. falciparum gene regulation using a well-validated, machine-learning approach for predicting interactions between transcription regulators and their targets. The resulting network accurately predicts expression levels of transcriptionally coherent gene regulatory programs in independent transcriptomic data sets from parasites collected by different research groups in diverse laboratory and field settings. Thus, our results indicate that our gene regulatory model has predictive power and utility as a hypothesis-generating tool for illuminating clinically relevant gene regulatory mechanisms within P. falciparum. Using the set of regulatory programs we identified, we also investigated correlates of artemisinin resistance based on gene expression coherence. We report that resistance is associated with incoherent expression across many regulatory programs, including those controlling genes associated with erythrocyte-host engagement. These results suggest that parasite populations with reduced artemisinin sensitivity are more transcriptionally heterogenous. This pattern is consistent with a model where the parasite utilizes bet-hedging strategies to diversify the population, rendering a subpopulation more able to navigate drug treatment.
LIG1 syndrome mutations remodel a cooperative network of ligand binding interactions to compromise ligation efficiency
Authors: Jurkiw Thomas J , Tumbale Percy P , Schellenberg Matthew J , Cunningham-Rundles Charlotte , Williams R Scott , O’Brien Patrick J
Published: January 2021

Human DNA ligase I (LIG1) is the main replicative ligase and it also seals DNA breaks to complete DNA repair and recombination pathways. Immune compromised patients harbor hypomorphic LIG1 alleles encoding substitutions of conserved arginine residues, R771W and R641L, that compromise LIG1 activity through poorly defined mechanisms. To understand the molecular basis of LIG1 syndrome mutations, we determined high resolution X-ray structures and performed systematic biochemical characterization of LIG1 mutants using steady-state and pre-steady state kinetic approaches. Our results unveil a cooperative network of plastic DNA-LIG1 interactions that connect DNA substrate engagement with productive binding of Mg2+ cofactors for catalysis. LIG1 syndrome mutations destabilize this network, compromising Mg2+ binding affinity, decreasing ligation efficiency, and leading to elevated abortive ligation that may underlie the disease pathology. These findings provide novel insights into the fundamental mechanism by which DNA ligases engage with a nicked DNA substrate, and they suggest that disease pathology of LIG1 syndrome could be modulated by Mg2+ levels.
A benchmark and an algorithm for detecting germline transposon insertions and measuring de novo transposon insertion frequencies
Authors: Yu Tianxiong , Huang Xiao , Dou Shengqian , Tang Xiaolu , Luo Shiqi , Theurkauf William E , Lu Jian , Weng Zhiping
Published: January 2021

Transposons are genomic parasites, and their new insertions can cause instability and spur the evolution of their host genomes. Rapid accumulation of short-read whole-genome sequencing data provides a great opportunity for studying new transposon insertions and their impacts on the host genome. Although many algorithms are available for detecting transposon insertions, the task remains challenging and existing tools are not designed for identifying de novo insertions. Here, we present a new benchmark fly dataset based on PacBio long-read sequencing and a new method TEMP2 for detecting germline insertions and measuring de novo ‘singleton’ insertion frequencies in eukaryotic genomes. TEMP2 achieves high sensitivity and precision for detecting germline insertions when compared with existing tools using both simulated data in fly and experimental data in fly and human. Furthermore, TEMP2 can accurately assess the frequencies of de novo transposon insertions even with high levels of chimeric reads in simulated datasets; such chimeric reads often occur during the construction of short-read sequencing libraries. By applying TEMP2 to published data on hybrid dysgenic flies inflicted by de-repressed P-elements, we confirmed the continuous new insertions of P-elements in dysgenic offspring before they regain piRNAs for P-element repression. TEMP2 is freely available at Github: https://github.com/weng-lab/TEMP2.
Dietary sodium intake does not alter renal potassium handling and blood pressure in healthy young males
Authors: Pechère-Bertschi Antoinette , Olivier Valérie , Burnier Michel , Udwan Khalil , de Seigneux Sophie , Ponte Belén , Maillard Marc , Martin Pierre-Yves , Feraille Eric
Published: January 2021

Background

The effects of sodium (Na+) intakes on renal handling of potassium (K+) are insufficiently studied.

Methods

We assessed the effect of Na+ on renal K+ handling in 16 healthy males assigned to three 7-day periods on low salt diet [LSD, 3 g sodium chloride (NaCl)/day], normal salt diet (NSD, 6 g NaCl/day) and high salt diet (HSD, 15 g NaCl/day), with constant K+ intake. Contributions of distal NaCl co-transporter and epithelial Na+ channel in the collecting system on K+ and Na+ handling were assessed at steady state by acute response to 100 mg oral hydrochlorothiazide and with addition of 10 mg of amiloride to hydrochlorothiazide, respectively.

Results

Diurnal blood pressure slightly increased from 119.30 ± 7.95 mmHg under LSD to 123.00 ± 7.50 mmHg (P = 0.02) under HSD, while estimated glomerular filtration rate increased from 133.20 ± 34.68 mL/min under LSD to 187.00 ± 49.10 under HSD (P = 0.005). The 24-h K+ excretion remained stable on all Na+ intakes (66.28 ± 19.12 mmol/24 h under LSD; 55.91 ± 21.17 mmol/24 h under NSD; and 66.81 ± 20.72 under HSD, P = 0.9). The hydrochlorothiazide-induced natriuresis was the highest under HSD (30.22 ± 12.53 mmol/h) and the lowest under LSD (15.38 ± 8.94 mmol/h, P = 0.02). Hydrochlorothiazide increased kaliuresis and amiloride decreased kaliuresis similarly on all three diets.

Conclusions

Neither spontaneous nor diuretic-induced K+ excretion was influenced by Na+ intake in healthy male subjects. However, the respective contribution of the distal convoluted tubule and the collecting duct to renal Na+ handling was dependent on dietary Na+ intake.
Who on Earth Can Work from Home?
Authors: Garrote Sanchez Daniel , Gomez Parra Nicolas , Ozden Caglar , Rijkers Bob , Viollaz Mariana , Winkler Hernan
Published: January 2021

This paper reviews the emerging literature on which jobs can be performed from home and presents new estimates of the prevalence of such jobs based on the task content of occupations, their technology requirements and the availability of internet access by country and income groupings. Globally, one of every five jobs can be performed from home. In low-income countries, this ratio drops to one of every 26 jobs. Failing to account for internet access yields upward biased estimates of the resilience of poor countries, lagging regions, and poor workers. Since better paid workers are more likely to be able to work from home, COVID-19 is likely to exacerbate inequality, especially in richer countries where better paid and educated workers are insulated from the shock. The overall labor market burden of COVID-19 is bound to be larger in poor countries, where only a small share of workers can work from home and social protection systems are weaker. Across the globe, young, poorly educated workers and those on temporary contracts are least likely to be able to work from home and more vulnerable to the labor market shocks from COVID-19.
Site-Specific Conjugation of Cell Wall Polyrhamnose to Protein SpyAD Envisioning a Safe Universal Group A Streptococcal Vaccine
Authors: Gao Nina J. , Uchiyama Satoshi , Pill Lucy , Dahesh Samira , Olson Joshua , Bautista Leslie , Maroju Shilpa , Berges Aym , Liu Janet Z. , Zurich Raymond H. , van Sorge Nina M. , Fairman Jeff , Kapoor Neeraj , Nizet Victor
Published: January 2021

Development of an effective vaccine against the leading human bacterial pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a public health priority. The species defining group A cell wall carbohydrate (GAC, Lancefield antigen) can be engineered to remove its immunodominant N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) side chain, implicated in provoking autoimmune cross-reactivity in rheumatic heart disease, leaving its polyrhamnose core (GACPR). Here we generate a novel protein conjugate of the GACPR and test the utility of this conjugate antigen in active immunization. Instead of conjugation to a standard carrier protein, we selected SpyAD, a highly conserved GAS surface protein containing both B-cell and T-cell epitopes relevant to the bacterium that itself shows promise as a vaccine antigen. SpyAD was synthesized using the XpressTM cell-free protein expression system, incorporating a non-natural amino acid to which GACPR was conjugated by site-specific click chemistry to yield high molecular mass SpyAD-GACPR conjugates and avoid disruption of important T-cell and B-cell immunological epitopes. The conjugated SpyAD-GACPR elicited antibodies that bound the surface of multiple GAS strains of diverse M types and promoted opsonophagocytic killing by human neutrophils. Active immunization of mice with a multivalent vaccine consisting of SpyAD-GACPR, together with candidate vaccine antigens streptolysin O and C5a peptidase, protected against GAS challenge in a systemic infection model and localized skin infection model, without evidence of cross reactivity to human heart or brain tissue epitopes. This general approach may allow GAC to be safely and effectively included in future GAS subunit vaccine formulations with the goal of broad protection without autoreactivity.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Testing in Children in a Large Regional US Health System During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic
Authors: Peaper David R. , Murdzek Christina , Oliveira Carlos R. , Murray Thomas S.
Published: January 2021

Background:

The objective was to evaluate patterns of pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 testing in a large health system throughout the pandemic, before and after school reopening.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional time-series study of clinical virology results from children tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Southern Connecticut and areas of New York and Rhode Island. Data collected include demographics, hospital admission, changes in percent positive tests over time, detection intervals in persistently positive children and cycle threshold values. The setting was the Yale New Haven Health System has 6 hospitals at 4 Connecticut locations, 1 hospital in Rhode Island and ambulatory locations in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. Participants included twenty-three–thousand one-hundred thirty-seven children ≤ 18 years of age, tested for coronavirus disease 2019 at an ambulatory testing site, the emergency department or on an inpatient unit within the Yale New Haven Health System.

Results:

Among all tests, 3.2% were positive. Older children consistently made up the larger portion of positive pediatric cases, regardless of community prevalence. Increased pediatric cases later in the pandemic when prevalence in adults was relatively low correlates with a higher number of tests performed in children and not with an increased positivity rate. No significant changes in trends of positivity were detected after the reopening of schools. Symptomatic and asymptomatic children had similar cycle threshold values regardless of age, and a subset of children demonstrated persistent viral detection, some for as long as 6 weeks.

Conclusion:

An increase in pediatric cases documented in the late summer was predominately due to increased access to testing for children. The percent positivity in children did not change in the first 3 weeks after school opened. A subset of children has detectable severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA in the upper respiratory tract for weeks after the initial infection.
Pseudomonas nicosulfuronedens sp. nov., a nicosulfuron degrading bacterium, isolated from a microbial consortium
Authors: Li Miaomiao , Ma Qingyun , Kong Delong , Han Xiaoyan , Che Juan , Zhou Yiqing , Jiang Xu , Ruan Zhiyong , Zhang Qinghua
Published: January 2021

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile, short-rod-shaped bacterium with nicosulfuron-degrading ability, designated strain LAM1902T, was isolated from a microbial consortium enriched with nicosulfuron as a sole nitrogen and energy source. The optimal temperature and pH for growth of strain LAM1902T were 30 °C and pH 6.0, respectively. Strain LAM1902T could grow in the presence of NaCl with concentration up to 4.0 % (w/v). Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that LAM1902T was closely related to the members of the family

Pseudomonadaceae

to the genus

Pseudomonas

, with the highest similarity to

Pseudomonas nitroreducens

DSM 14399T (99.6 %),

Pseudomonas nitritireducens

WZBFD3-5A2T (99.3 %) and

Pseudomonas panipatensis

Esp-1T (98.8 %). Multi-locus sequence analysis based on both concatenated sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and three housekeeping genes (gyrB, rpoB and rpoD) further confirmed the intrageneric phylogenetic position of strain LAM1902T. The genomic DNA G+C content of LAM1902T was 64.8 mol%. The low values of in silico DNA–DNA hybridization (less than 43.7 %) and average nucleotide identity (less than 90.9 %) also showed that the strain was distinctly different from known species of the genus

Pseudomonas

. The major fatty acids were C16 : 0, C17 : 0 cyclo and anteiso C15 : 0. Ubiquinone Q-9 was detected as the predorminant respiratory quinone. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and aminophospholipid. Based on phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic analyses and genome comparisons, we conclude that strain LAM1902T represents a novel species, for which the name Pseudomonas nicosulfuronedens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is LAM1902T (=JCM 33860T=KCTC 72830T).
RNA-protein interaction analysis of SARS-CoV-2 5’- and 3’-untranslated regions identifies an antiviral role of lysosome-associated membrane protein-2
Authors: Verma Rohit , Saha Sandhini , Kumar Shiv , Mani Shailendra , Maiti Tushar Kanti , Surjit Milan
Published: January 2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-strand RNA virus. Viral genome is capped at the 5’-end, followed by an untranslated region (UTR). There is poly-A tail at 3’-end, preceded by an UTR. Self-interaction between the RNA regulatory elements present within 5’- and 3’-UTRs as well as their interaction with host/virus-encoded proteins mediate the function of 5’- and 3’-UTRs. Using RNA-protein interaction detection (RaPID) assay coupled to liquid chromatography with tandem mass-spectrometry, we identified host interaction partners of SARS-CoV-2 5’- and 3’-UTRs and generated an RNA-protein interaction network. By combining these data with the previously known protein-protein interaction data proposed to be involved in virus replication, we generated the RNA-protein-protein interaction (RPPI) network, likely to be essential for controlling SARS-CoV-2 replication. Notably, bioinformatics analysis of the RPPI network revealed the enrichment of factors involved in translation initiation and RNA metabolism. Lysosome-associated membrane protein-2a (Lamp2a) was one of the host proteins that interact with the 5’-UTR. Further studies showed that Lamp2 level is upregulated in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells and overexpression of Lamp2a and Lamp2b variants reduced viral RNA level in infected cells and vice versa. In summary, our study provides an useful resource of SARS-CoV-2 5’- and 3’-UTR binding proteins and reveal the antiviral function of host Lamp2 protein.

Importance

Replication of a positive-strand RNA virus involves an RNA-protein complex consisting of viral genomic RNA, host RNA(s), virus-encoded proteins and host proteins. Dissecting out individual components of the replication complex will help decode the mechanism of viral replication. 5’- and 3’-UTRs in positive-strand RNA viruses play essential regulatory roles in virus replication. Here, we identified the host proteins that associate with the UTRs of SARS-CoV-2, combined those data with the previously known protein-protein interaction data (expected to be involved in virus replication) and generated the RNA-protein-protein interaction (RPPI) network. Analysis of the RPPI network revealed the enrichment of factors involved in translation initiation and RNA metabolism, which are important for virus replication. Analysis of one of the interaction partners of the 5’-UTR (Lamp2a) demonstrated its antiviral role in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells. Collectively, our study provides a resource of SARS-CoV-2 UTR-binding proteins and identifies an antiviral role of host Lamp2a protein.
An analysis of multidimensional poverty and its determinants in the public university host communities in Ondo State, Nigeria
Authors: Babalola Sikiru Jimoh , Mohd Saidatulakmal
Published: January 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse the influence of household and community characteristics on multidimensional poverty in communities hosting public universities in Ondo state, Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

The study constructs Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) using Alkire-Foster methodology and uses logistic regression to analyse the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional poverty.

Findings

Findings from the study suggest that child schooling attendance, child mortality and asset ownership are the indicators in which households are mostly deprived in education, health and living standards consecutively. In addition, using logistic regression, the study finds multidimensional poverty reducing effects of education, age (before old), household size (having more economically active members), income and residing in urban areas. The study, however, documents that living far away from the universities increases the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional poverty in those communities.

Research limitations/implications

To reduce multidimensional poverty in the communities of study, there is need to implement policies that will improve child schooling, reduce infant mortality, increase gainful employment and create enabling environment for asset ownership. This is in addition to upgrading infrastructure in those communities especially in their fringe areas so that development can spread, and multidimensional poverty reduction can follow in no distant future.

Originality/value

Unlike capturing the effect of location on possibility of experiencing poverty using rural or urban dummy, the authors, in addition to that, incorporate distance to university variable on the premise of distance decay mechanism.
Vitiligo: A focus on pathogenesis and its therapeutic implications
Authors: Bergqvist Christina , Ezzedine Khaled
Published: January 2021

Vitiligo is the most common depigmenting disorder affecting 0.1%–2% of the population worldwide. The characteristic white patches result from the selective loss of melanocytes. Sustained recent efforts have resulted in a detailed understanding of the genetic architecture of vitiligo. About 80% of vitiligo risk is attributable to genetic factors; and the rest (20%) is attributable to the environment. Over the past decade, substantial progress has been made in our understanding of the pathogenesis of vitiligo which is now clearly classified as an autoimmune disease. Melanocytes from patients with vitiligo are more susceptible to oxidative stress which begets the release of exosomes and inflammatory cytokines that will lead to activation of the innate immune response and subsequently to adaptive immune response through activation of autoreactive cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. These produce interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) which promotes disease progression through IFN‐γ‐induced chemokine secretion from surrounding keratinocytes to further recruit T cells to the skin through a positive feedback loop. CD8 tissue‐resident memory T cells are in turn responsible for long‐term maintenance and potential relapse of vitiligo in human patients through cytokine‐mediated recruitment of T cells from the circulation. This review summarizes the current knowledge on vitiligo and attempt to give an overview of the future in vitiligo treatment.
Children with atopic eczema experiencing increased disease severity in the pollen season more often have hay fever at a young age and a dark skin type
Authors: Bosma Angela Leigh‐Ann , Ouwerkerk Wouter , Middelkamp‐Hup Maritza Albertina
Published: January 2021

Children with atopic eczema are known to experience seasonal variations in disease severity, with winter being the season in which severity generally increases. There is a lack of knowledge about the subgroup of children that experiences increased severity in spring and summer months. We aimed to investigate which phenotype characteristics best describe children flaring in the pollen season. A retrospective database analysis was conducted, including 110 children with difficult‐to‐treat atopic eczema aged 0–17 years. Relevant outcome parameters were extracted from medical records. In our population, 36% (n = 40/110) of children reported flares of atopic eczema in the pollen season. These children were more often sensitized to one or more types of pollen (73% [n = 29/40] vs. 28% [n = 10/36], p < 0.0001) and had more patient‐reported hay fever (70% [n = 28/40] vs. 19% [n = 7/36], p < 0.0001), compared with children who do not flare in the pollen season. Moreover, children flaring in the pollen season more often had a dark skin type (78% [n = 31/40] vs. 44% [n = 16/36], p = 0.003). Based on stepwise multivariable analyses, children flaring in the pollen season were characterized by the combination of younger age, hay fever, and dark skin type (C‐statistic: 0.86). In conclusion, patient‐reported flares in spring and summer are experienced by one‐third of children with difficult‐to‐treat atopic eczema. This phenotype can be characterized as young children having hay fever and a dark skin type and can be identified based on clinical parameters alone without the need to perform immunoglobulin E blood testing or skin prick tests.
An initial evaluation of expanded hemodialysis on hospitalizations, drug utilization, costs, and patient utility in Colombia
Authors: Ariza Juan G. , Walton Surrey M. , Suarez Adriana M. , Sanabria Mauricio , Vesga Jasmin I.
Published: January 2021

To examine new evidence linking expanded hemodialysis (HDx) using a medium cut‐off (MCO) membrane with hospitalizations, hospital days, medication use, costs, and patient utility. This retrospective study utilized data from Renal Care Services medical records database in Colombia from 2017 to 2019. Clinics included had switched all patients from high flux hemodialysis (HD HF) to HDx and had at least a year of data on HD HF and HDx. Data included demographic characteristics, comorbidities, years on dialysis, hospitalizations, medication use, and quality of life measured by the 36 item and Short Form versions of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life survey at the start of HDx, and 1 year after HDx, which were mapped to EQ‐5D utilities. Generalized linear models were run on the outcomes of interest with an indicator for being on HDx. Annual cost estimates were also constructed. The study included 81 patients. HDx was significantly associated with lower dosing of erythropoietin stimulating agents, iron, hypertension medications, and insulin. HDx was also significantly associated with lower hospital days per year (5.94 on HD vs. 4.41 on HDx) although not with the number of hospitalizations. Estimates of annual hospitalization costs were 23.9% lower using HDx and patient utilities did not appear to decline. HDx was statistically significantly associated with reduced hospitalization days and lower medication dosages. Furthermore, this preliminary analysis suggested potential for HDx being a dominant strategy in terms of costs and utility and should motivate future work with larger samples and better controls.
Implied volatility smirk in the Australian dollar market
Authors: Stuart Connor J.A. , Gehricke Sebastian A. , Zhang Jin E. , Ruan Xinfeng
Published: January 2021

This is the first paper to study the options written on the Invesco Currency Shares Australian Dollar Trust (FXA) exchange‐traded fund (ETF). We quantify the empirical characteristics of the FXA option implied volatility (IV) curve showing that it exhibits a smirk shape, as in US equity options, and the curves become more negatively sloped and exhibit more convexity as the time to maturity increases. During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) period and a bullish period, IV dramatically increased and the slope became even steeper across all maturities indicating that downside insurance is relatively expensive. Further, the information in the quantified IV curve factors has some predictive power for monthly FXA returns.
Maxillofacial reconstruction with prefabricated prelaminated osseous free flaps
Authors: Diab Jason , Leinkram David , Wykes James , Cheng Kai , Wallace Christine , Howes Dale , Singh Jasvir , Palme Carsten , Clark Jonathan
Published: January 2021

Background

The prefabricated fibula flap is an advanced method of occlusal‐based reconstruction that combines placement of osseointegrated dental implants with prelamination, using a split skin graft on the fibula, weeks prior to the definitive reconstruction. This approach is resource intensive but has several advantages including eliminating the delay from reconstruction to dental rehabilitation.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study of all prefabricated fibula flaps used for mandible and maxillary reconstruction from 2012 to 2020 was performed. Outcome measures were implant survival, implant utilization and functional dental rehabilitation.

Results

A total of 17 prefabricated fibula flaps were performed including two analogue and 15 digital plans. There were nine maxillary and eight mandibular reconstructions, of which 11 were primary and seven were secondary. There were no free flap failures. A total of 65 implants were placed (average 3.8, median 3 implants). There was one implant failure at 6 years giving a 1.5% failure rate. There was 91% implant utilization and 94% functional dental rehabilitation.

Conclusion

The prefabricated fibula flap provides outstanding dental rehabilitation in well‐selected patients.
Next‐generation sequencing improves BCR‐ABL1 mutation detection in Philadelphia chromosome‐positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
Authors: Soverini Simona , Martelli Margherita , Bavaro Luana , De Benedittis Caterina , Papayannidis Cristina , Sartor Chiara , Sorà Federica , Albano Francesco , Galimberti Sara , Abruzzese Elisabetta , Annunziata Mario , Russo Sabina , Stulle Manuela , Imovilli Annalisa , Bonifacio Massimiliano , Maino Elena , Stagno Fabio , Maria Basilico Claudia , Borlenghi Erika , Fozza Claudio , Mignone Flavio , Minari Roberta , Stella Stefania , Baccarani Michele , Cavo Michele , Martinelli Giovanni
Published: January 2021

BCR‐ABL1 kinase domain mutation testing in tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)‐resistant Philadelphia chromosome‐positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) patients is routinely performed by Sanger sequencing (SS). Recently, next‐generation sequencing (NGS)‐based approaches have been developed that afford greater sensitivity and straightforward discrimination between compound and polyclonal mutations. We performed a study to compare the results of SS and NGS in a consecutive cohort of 171 Ph+ ALL patients. At diagnosis, 0/44 and 3/44 patients were positive for mutations by SS and NGS respectively. Out of 47 patients with haematologic resistance, 45 had mutations according to both methods, but in 25 patients NGS revealed additional mutations undetectable by SS. Out of 80 patients in complete haematologic response but with BCR‐ABL1 ≥0·1%, 28 (35%) and 52 (65%) were positive by SS and NGS respectively. Moreover, in 12 patients positive by SS, NGS detected additional mutations. NGS resolved clonal complexity in 34 patients with multiple mutations at the same or different codons and identified 35 compound mutations. Our study demonstrates that, in Ph+ ALL on TKI therapy, NGS enables more accurate assessment of mutation status both in patients who fail therapy and in patients with minimal residual disease above 0·1%.
Core‐marginal dynamics interact with sex and temperature to influence morphology of the rapidly expanding invasive kudzu bug (Megacopta cribraria)
Authors: Lovejoy Riley T. , Lozier Jeffrey D.
Published: January 2021

1. Invasive species present unique natural experiments through which to study evolutionary processes associated with spatial spread, especially with respect to rapid morphological evolution of dispersal‐related traits.

2. The kudzu bug,Megacopta cribraria(Fabricius), established and expanded radially across the southeastern United States beginning in 2009. Here,M. cribrariais used as a model for studying rapid morphological change across an introduced range.

3. Kudzu bugs were collected throughout the invasive range to test the hypothesis that body and wing size would increase with greater distance from the invasion source owing to dispersal‐related selection. The effects of sex, local temperature, and latitude were also evaluated to investigate how such factors might influence body and wing size across this range expansion.

4. Females were significantly larger than males across all traits. Distance from the invasion core, temperature, and their interaction significantly influenced body size and wing length, suggesting thatM. cribrariawere larger near the invasion periphery. This was especially pronounced at cooler sites. Sex and distance were found to both weakly influence wing length after removing the effect of body size, suggesting that wing size may be disproportionally larger along the invasion front.

5. The combined results indicate that a combination of spatial, environmental, and sexual factors must be considered when examining or predicting invasive species responses to new selective pressures and environments.
A Grounded Theory Exploration of the Stages of Relationship Development in Marriages of Convenience in China
Authors: Ren Zhengjia , Qu Wei , Guo Zibin
Published: January 2021

A marriage of convenience has been defined as a reciprocal relationship between a gay man and a lesbian that provides a way to cope with social, cultural, family, and political stress, but this definition may be oversimplified in explaining this type of reciprocal relationship in a guanxi (the system of social networks and influential relationships that facilitate business and other dealings) society such as China. Such relationships are undergoing a process of development and change rather than remaining stable in Chinese guanxi society. This paper explores the nature and process of the development of marriages of convenience between gay men and lesbians in China. The data were collected and analyzed according to the grounded theory method. A theoretical sampling strategy was employed, and a sample of 15 people involved in so‐called marriages of convenience was recruited from gay and lesbian communities in China. In our research, we found that the marriage relationships documented in this study included four stages: (1) men dang hu dui (being matched for marriage), (2) partnership, (3) friendship, and (4) kinship. Building a suitable relationship in a marriage of convenience can help gay men and lesbians meet social expectations while simultaneously retaining a degree of autonomy for their own homosexual identities. Maintaining and developing guanxi is a basic method of conflict resolution in Chinese society. Meanwhile, the ambiguity of the relationship within a marriage of convenience may cause conflict in these marriages. Treatment modalities are recommended to reorganize the system structuring these marriages and clarify ambiguous family boundaries by redefining who is in the family unit and his and her associated roles and responsibilities in the marriage of convenience. We conclude that more research is warranted to investigate how family therapy can be adapted for Chinese gay and lesbian individuals.
Rock glaciers and related cold rocky landforms: Overlooked climate refugia for mountain biodiversity
Authors: Brighenti Stefano , Hotaling Scott , Finn Debra S. , Fountain Andrew G. , Hayashi Masaki , Herbst David , Saros Jasmine E. , Tronstad Lusha M. , Millar Constance I.
Published: January 2021

Mountains are global biodiversity hotspots where cold environments and their associated ecological communities are threatened by climate warming. Considerable research attention has been devoted to understanding the ecological effects of alpine glacier and snowfield recession. However, much less attention has been given to identifying climate refugia in mountain ecosystems where present‐day environmental conditions will be maintained, at least in the near‐term, as other habitats change. Around the world, montane communities of microbes, animals, and plants live on, adjacent to, and downstream of rock glaciers and related cold rocky landforms (CRL). These geomorphological features have been overlooked in the ecological literature despite being extremely common in mountain ranges worldwide with a propensity to support cold and stable habitats for aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. CRLs are less responsive to atmospheric warming than alpine glaciers and snowfields due to the insulating nature and thermal inertia of their debris cover paired with their internal ventilation patterns. Thus, CRLs are likely to remain on the landscape after adjacent glaciers and snowfields have melted, thereby providing longer‐term cold habitat for biodiversity living on and downstream of them. Here, we show that CRLs will likely act as key climate refugia for terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity in mountain ecosystems, offer guidelines for incorporating CRLs into conservation practices, and identify areas for future research.
When does the multiple principals hypothesis hold? The politics of U.S. agency policymaking autonomy
Authors: Palus Christine K. , Yackee Susan W.
Published: January 2021

When the bureaucracy's political principals hold different preferences for policy, does this increase the bureaucracy's policymaking autonomy? Existing theory strongly suggests “yes.” We, however, argue that this pattern will materialize only when the bureaucracy's principals are all on the same side of the political divide. (i.e., unified government). Using data gathered from the American states at two time points, we capture preference divergence by measuring the ideological distance between the bureaucracy's key political principals—legislators, governors, and courts—on the common left–right dimension. We measure policymaking autonomy through multi‐faceted surveys of state agency leaders. In keeping with our argument, we demonstrate that greater preference divergence across the bureaucracy's principals is associated with increased agency policymaking autonomy under unified—but not under divided—government. The results shed new light on when, and why, the bureaucracy's political principals may provide an oversight check on the policymaking power of the modern administrative state.
A sociodemographic, anthropometric and lifestyle‐based prediction score for screening children with overweight and obesity for hepatic steatosis: The HEPAKID index
Authors: Oses Maddi , Medrano María , Galbete Arkaitz , Arenaza Lide , Ruiz Jonatan R. , Sánchez‐Valverde Felix , Ortega Francisco B. , Labayen Idoia
Published: January 2021

Background

Hepatic steatosis (HS) is currently the most prevalent hepatic disease in paediatric population and a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The proper identification of children with HS is therefore of great public health interest.

Objective

To develop a new prediction score using anthropometric, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors to identify children with HS (the HEPAKID index). Previously published biochemical paediatric screening tools were validated in the same cohort.

Methods

A total of 115 pre‐adolescent children aged 8 to 12 years with overweight/obesity, recruited at hospital paediatric units were enrolled in this cross‐sectional study. HS (≥5.5% hepatic fat) was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Anthropometric, sociodemographic and lifestyle variables were collected by validated tests/questionnaires.

Results

Forty‐one children had MRI‐diagnosed HS (35.6%, 49% girls). These children had (P < .01) a higher waist‐height ratio, a lower cardiorespiratory fitness, a younger gestational age, and consumed more sugar‐sweetened beverages than their HS‐free peers. Children with HS were more likely to belong to an ethnic minority (P < .01) and to spend longer viewing screens than recommended (P < .05). The addition of these variables to the multivariate logistic regression model afforded a HEPAKID index with high discriminatory capacity (area under the receiver‐operating characteristic curve: 0.808, 95% CI 0.715‐0.901), and score of ≥25.0 was associated with high sensitivity (82%, 95% CI 68%‐96%). Biochemical biomarker‐based paediatric tools for identifying HS showed only moderate discriminatory capacity and low sensitivity (5%‐41%) in this cohort.

Conclusions

The HEPAKID index is the first simple, non‐invasive, sensitive, inexpensive and easy‐to‐perform screening that can identify children with overweight or obesity who have HS.
Effects of a Comprehensive School Health Program on Elementary Student Academic Achievement
Authors: Centeio Erin E. , Somers Cheryl , Moore E. Whitney G. , Kulik Noel , Garn Alex , McCaughtry Nate
Published: January 2021

BACKGROUND

Improving the academic achievement of youth in the United States is an area of interest and a critical indicator of the future success of the youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a comprehensive school physical activity and healthy eating program on 5th‐grade students' academic achievement, specifically reading and math.

METHODS

Overall, 628 (intervention: 377, 54% girls; comparison: 251, 49% girls) 5th‐grade children participated across the 6 schools in a year‐long comprehensive health intervention, completing curriculum‐based academic achievement measures at 2 time‐points.

RESULTS

Results showed that even after controlling for class clustering, age, sex, race, and T1 reading and math variables, students' T2 reading and math achievement were significantly higher in the intervention group than the comparison group.

CONCLUSIONS

Comprehensive health programming can enhance the health and academic achievement of youth.
Ecology and spatial distribution of sand fly species in low endemic areas for American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis in the municipality of Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Authors: Senne N. A. , Vilela T. S. , Sanavria A. , Santos H. A. , Rabello R. S. , Angelo I. C.
Published: January 2021

Due to the fundamental role that sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) have in Leishmania spp. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) transmission, the objective of this study was to evaluate the ecology and spatial distribution of species circulating in the municipality of Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total of 17 371 specimens were collected between August 2016 and July 2017, and five species were identified: Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva, 1912), Migonemyia migonei (França, 1920), Nyssomyia whitmani (Antunes & Coutinho, 1939), Pintomyia pessoai (Coutinho & Barretto, 1940), and Pintomyia fischeri (Pinto, 1926). In relation to the number of sand flies collected, we observed a significant difference between rural and periurban areas and between the neighbourhoods. We observed that N. intermedia has a relatively greater adaptation to the peridomiciliary environment. This is the first report of Pi. pessoai and Pi. fischeri (only females) in Seropédica as well as the first record of the frequency of phlebotomine species focusing on some ecological indices and the spatial distribution of sand flies. The results presented here aimed to provide an insight into the spatial population dynamics of phlebotomine species in low endemic areas of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (ATL) in Seropédica, highlighting important areas for entomological surveillance.