bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictors for oral and general health outcomes and quality of life among older people attending general practice (GP) clinics in South Australia
Authors: Balasubramanian Madhan , Keuskamp Dominic , Amarasena Najith , Brennan David
Published: December 2020

Background: As the proportion and number of older people in Australia continue to grow, innovative means to tackle primary care and prevention are necessary to combat the individual, social and economic challenges of non-communicable diseases.Objective: To assess risk factors (or predictors) for oral and general health outcomes and quality of life of older people (75+ yrs.) attending general practice (GP) clinics in South Australia.Methods: Data were collected from older people attending 48 GP clinics in metropolitan South Australia. Age, sex, education, living arrangement, material standards, chronic conditions and nutrition were assessed as risk factors. Global self-rated oral and general health and quality of life (OHIP Severity and EQ-5D Utility) were included as outcome measures.Results: A total of 459 participants completed the study; response rate was 78%. In the adjusted models, high satisfaction with material standards and good nutritional health were positively associated with all four oral and general health measures. Sex (β=-0.07), age (β=-0.09) and number of chronic conditions (β=-0.13) were negatively associated with EQ-5D, while living arrangement (β=0.06) was positively associated. Further, education level (PR:0.78), living arrangement (PR:0.75) and chronic conditions (PR:1.54) were significantly associated with self-rated general health.Conclusion: Satisfaction with material standards and nutritional risk were consistent predictors for oral and general health outcomes and quality of life of older people visiting GP clinics. Primary care teams involving general practitioners, nurses and allied health practitioners are well poised to assess risk factors for older people, and work alongside the dental team.
In Vitro: Natural Compounds (Thymol, Carvacrol, Hesperidine, And Thymoquinone) Against Sars-Cov2 Strain Isolated From Egyptian Patients
Authors: Seadawy Mohamed G , Gad Ahmed F. , Shamel Mohamed , Elharty Bassem , Mohamed Mostfa F. , Elfiky Abdo A. , Ahmed Aya , Zekri Abdel Rahman N.
Published: December 2020

Background: The current pandemic of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has badly affected our life during the year 2020. SARS-CoV-2 is the primary causative agent of the newly emerged pandemic. Natural flavonoids, Terpenoid and Thymoquinone are tested against different viral and host-cell protein targets. These natural compounds have a good history in treating Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Methods: Molecular docking combined with cytotoxicity and plaque reduction assay is used to test the natural compounds against different viral (Spike, RdRp, and Mpro) and host-cell (TMPRSS II, keap 1, and ACE2) targets. Results: The results demonstrate the binding possibility of the natural compounds (Thymol, Carvacrol, Hesperidine, and Thymoquinone) to the viral main protease (Mpro). Some of these natural compounds were approved to start clinical trail from Egypt Center for Research and Regenerative Medicine ECRRM IRB (Certificate No.IRB00012517)Conclusion: Development of an effective anti-viral for SARS-CoV-2 could help to limit the viral load. Benchmarking testing of those natural compounds against other potential antivirals for SARS-CoV-2 with alternative mechanisms of action would thus be important as soon as practicable.
Association between social trust and the risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults in Korea: a nationwide retrospective cohort study
Authors: Hwang Seo Eun , Choi Seulggie , Kim Kyuwoong , Lee Jong-Koo , Oh Juhwan , Park Sang Min
Published: December 2020

Background: Although social capital has been shown to be one of the important social determinants of health, the association between social trust and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not clear yet. We aimed to investigate the association of social trust with CVD risk using a large Korean population based data.Methods: The data of this study was derived from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. Community-level social trust was determined from the Korean Community Health Survey. The study population consisted of 2,156,829 participants. According to social trust index measured in the area of residence during 2011, participants were followed-up from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine the adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CVD risk according to quintiles of social trust.Results: Compared to participants with the lowest quintile of social trust, those within the highest quintile had lower risk for CVD (aHR 0.91, 95% CI=0.89 to 0.93), CHD (aHR 0.92, 95% CI=0.89 to 0.95), and stroke (aHR 0.90, 95% CI=0.87 to 0.93). The risk-reducing association of high social trust on CVD risk was preserved after additional adjustments for lifestyle behaviors including smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity.Conclusion: Higher social trust was associated with reduced risk of CVD even after considering lifestyle behaviors. Social trust in a community level is an important determinant of CVD and enhancing social trust may lead to reduced risk of CVD.
Induction of autophagy mitigates TDP-43 pathology and translational repression of neurofilament mRNAs in mouse models of ALS/FTD 
Authors: Kumar Sunny , Phaneuf Daniel , Cordeau Pierre , Boutej Hejer , Kriz Jasna , Julien Jean-Pierre
Published: December 2020

Background:TDP-43 proteinopathy is a pathological hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). So far, there is no therapy available for these neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, the impact of TDP-43 proteinopathy on neuronal translational profile also remains unknown. Methods:Biochemical, immunohistology and assay-based studies were done with cell cultures and transgenic mice models. We also used Ribotag with microarray and proteomic analysis to determine the neuronal translational profile in the mice model of ALS/FTD.Results:Here, we report that oral administration of a novel analog (IMS-088) of withaferin-A, an antagonist of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-ĸB) essential modulator (NEMO), induced autophagy and reduced TDP-43 proteinopathy in the brain and spinal cord of transgenic mice expressing human TDP-43 mutants, models of ALS/FTD. Treatment with IMS-088 ameliorated cognitive impairment, reduced gliosis in the brain of ALS/FTD mouse models. With the Ribotrap method, we investigated the impact of TDP-43 proteinopathy and IMS-088 treatment on the translation profile of neurons of one-year old hTDP-43A315T mice. TDP-43 proteinopathy caused translational dysregulation of specific mRNAs including translational suppression of neurofilament mRNAs resulting in 3 to 4-fold decrease in levels type IV neurofilament proteins. Oral administration of IMS-088 rescued the translational defects associated with TDP-43 proteinopathy and restored the synthesis of neurofilament proteins, which are essential for axon integrity and synaptic function. Conclusions:Our study revealed that induction of autophagy reduces TDP-43 pathology and ameliorates the translational defect seen in mice models of ALS/FTD. Based on these results, we suggest IMS-088 and perhaps other inducers of autophagy should be considered as potential therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders with TDP-43 proteinopathies.
A tail of two pandas— Whole Genome K-mer Signature Analysis of the Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) 
Authors: Cserhati Matyas
Published: December 2020

Background: The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a riddle of morphology, making it hard to tell whether it is an ursid, a procyonid, a mustelid, or a member of its own family. Previous genetic studies have given quite contradictory results as to its phylogenetic placement. Results: A recently developed whole genome-based algorithm, the Whole Genome K-mer Signature algorithm was used to analyze the genomes of 28 species of Carnivora, including A. fulgens and several felid, ursid, mustelid, one mephitid species. This algorithm has the advantage of holistically using all the information in the genomes of these species. Being a genomics-based algorithm, it also reduces stochastic error to a minimum. Besides the whole genome, the mitochondrial DNA from 52 mustelids, mephitids, ursids, procyonids as well as A. fulgens were also aligned to draw further phylogenetic inferences. The results from the whole genome study show that A. fulgens is a member of the mustelid clade (p = 9·10-97). A. fulgens also separates from the mephitid Spilogala gracilis. The giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca also clusters away from A. fulgens, together with other ursids (p = 1.2·10-62). This could be due to the geographic isolation of A. fulgens from other mustelid species. However, results from the mitochondrial study based on the sequence identity matrix seem to place A. fulgens into its own group.Conclusions: The main conclusion that we can draw from this study is that on a whole genome level A. fulgens belongs to the mustelid clade, and not an ursid or a mephitid. This despite the fact that previously some researchers classified A. fulgens and A. melanoleuca as relatives. Since the genotype determines the phenotype, molecular-based classification takes precedence over morphological classifications. This affirms the results of some previous studies, which studied smaller portions of the genome. The mitochondrial results could be due to differing mutational pressures compared to the nucleus. It cannot be said for sure, but it is likely that A. fulgens belongs to the mustelid clade.
The Herbst appliance and its modifications - prevalence and individuality
Authors: Karbach Mareike , Zöller Claudia , Zöller Georg , Wehrbein Heinrich , Erbe Christina
Published: December 2020

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the use of modified, cast splint Herbst appliances for the treatment of skeletal class II and as an alternative to surgical bite correction over a period of five years. Materials and methods: The patient cases all originate from the patients of the Department of Orthodontics at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany and the orthodontic practice Dres. Zöller, Kaiserslautern, Germany. Inclusion criteria were orthodontic treatment with the Herbst appliance and its modifications. The type of modification, number and frequency of the different modifications were determined on the basis of patient files, X-ray documents, photos and models. Results: Of a total of 2881 new admissions over a period of five years, 1751 patients came from the Department of Orthodontics at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and 1130 from the orthodontic practice in Kaiserslautern. A total of 336 patients were treated with a Herbst appliance during the period mentioned. 14 (13 %) of the cases from the Herbst patient collective of the University Medical Center and 45 (19 %) of the cases from the orthodontic practice were classified as modifications. The following modifications could be determined in descending order: University Medical Center Mainz: Herbst for anchorage during space closure (65 %) > distalization (14 %) ≥ bar construction as a space maintainer (14 %) > Herbst applicance for anchoring for the adjustment of impacted teeth (7 %); orthodontic practice Kaiserslautern: Herbst appliance with quadhelix in the maxilla (42 %) > distalization (27 %) > space closure (15 %) > bar construction as a space maintainer (9 %) > adjustment of impacted teeth (7 %), multiple modifications occurred at 11 %. The combination of quadhelix and Herbst appliance as well as multiple modifications have not yet been used in the University Medical Center Mainz. As an alternative to dysgnathia surgery, 23 adult patients (> 18 years) from the University Medical Center and 22 from the orthodontic practice were treated with a Herbst appliance. Conclusion: Nearly 12 % of Herbst appliances are used in everyday orthodontic practice and almost 18 % of these are used with modification(s). The high anchoring quality and force-effect geometry of the Herbst appliance is suitable for combining and treating various other treatment tasks in addition to the classical treatment task of class II therapy.
Fast deep learning computer-aided diagnosis of COVID-19 based on digital chest x-ray images
Authors: Al-antari Mugahed A. , Hua Cam-Hao , Lee Sungyoung , Bang Jaehun
Published: December 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel harmful respiratory disease that has rapidly spread worldwide. At the end of 2019, COVID-19 emerged as a previously unknown respiratory disease in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The world health organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic in the second week of March 2020. Simultaneous deep learning detection and classification of COVID-19 based on the full resolution of digital X-ray images is the key to efficiently assisting patients by enabling physicians to reach a fast and accurate diagnosis decision. In this paper, a simultaneous deep learning computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system based on the YOLO predictor is proposed that can detect and diagnose COVID-19, differentiating it from eight other respiratory diseases: atelectasis, infiltration, pneumothorax, masses, effusion, pneumonia, cardiomegaly, and nodules. The proposed CAD system was assessed via five-fold tests for the multi-class prediction problem using two different databases of chest X-ray images: COVID-19 and ChestX-ray8. The proposed CAD system was trained with an annotated training set of 50,490 chest X-ray images. The regions on the entire X-ray images with lesions suspected of being due to COVID-19 were simultaneously detected and classified end-to-end via the proposed CAD predictor, achieving overall detection and classification accuracies of 96.31% and 97.40%, respectively. Most test images from patients with confirmed COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases were correctly predicted, achieving average intersection over union (IoU) greater than 90%. Applying deep learning regularizers of data balancing and augmentation improved the COVID-19 diagnostic performance by 6.64% and 12.17% in terms of the overall accuracy and the F1-score, respectively. It is feasible to achieve a diagnosis based on individual chest X-ray images with the proposed CAD system within 0.0093 s. Thus, the CAD system presented in this paper can make a prediction at the rate of 108 frames/s (FPS), which is close to real-time. The proposed deep learning CAD system can reliably differentiate COVID-19 from other respiratory diseases. The proposed deep learning model seems to be a reliable tool that can be used to practically assist health care systems, patients, and physicians.
gCAnno: a graph-based single cell type annotation method
Authors: Yang Xiaofei , Gao Shenghan , Wang Tingjie , Yang Boyu , Dang Ningxin , Ye Kai
Published: December 2020

BackgroundCurrent single cell analysis methods annotate cell types at cluster-level rather than ideally at single cell level. Multiple exchangeable clustering methods and many tunable parameters have a substantial impact on the clustering outcome, often leading to incorrect cluster-level annotation or multiple runs of subsequent clustering steps. To address these limitations, methods based on well-annotated reference atlas has been proposed. However, these methods are currently not robust enough to handle datasets with different noise levels or from different platforms. ResultsHere, we present gCAnno, a graph-based Cell type Annotation method. First, gCAnno constructs cell type-gene bipartite graph and adopts graph embedding to obtain cell type specific genes. Then, naïve Bayes (gCAnno-Bayes) and SVM (gCAnno-SVM) classifiers are built for annotation. We compared the performance of gCAnno to other state-of-art methods on multiple single cell datasets, either with various noise levels or from different platforms. The results showed that gCAnno outperforms other state-of-art methods with higher accuracy and robustness. ConclusionsgCAnno is a robust and accurate cell type annotation tool for single cell RNA analysis. The source code of gCAnno is publicly available at https://github.com/xjtu-omics/gCAnno.
The Prevalence Rate of Sexual Violence Worldwide: A Trend Analysis
Authors: Borumandnia Nasrin , Khadembashi Naghmeh , Tabatabaei Mohammad , Majd Hamid Alavi
Published: December 2020

Background: The purpose of the present study is to showcase the image of Sexual Violence (SV) temporal trends through exploring differences in its prevalence rates during 1990-2017 across 195 countries and territories.Methods: The SV prevalence rates were derived from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database during 1990-2017, worldwide. First, the Latent Growth Model (LGM) was employed for assessing the change in SV prevalence rate over time in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Australia & Oceania, for men and women separately. Then, the change in SV prevalence rate over time was determined within countries with high and low Human Development Index (HDI). Finally, the Latent Growth Mixture Models (LGMM) were applied for identifying classes where countries within each class have similar trend of SV prevalence rate over time.Results: The SV prevalence was higher among women than men and decreased in both genders over time across the world. The declining trend in SV prevalence against men is visible in both countries with high and low HDI, but SV prevalence against women in countries with low HDI shows an increase. The findings of LGMM identified six classes of SV prevalence trajectories. LGMM allocated Bermuda into the class with the highest decrease in SV prevalence against men, and Equatorial Guinea and Luxembourg into the class with the highest increase. Other countries had very slow declining trends. In terms of SV prevalence against women, LGMM allocated China, North Korea, and Taiwan into the class with the most increase among the countries in the world. Bermuda, Guyana, Mexico, Nigeria, and Saint Lucia were placed into the class which witnessed the largest decline and Angola, Congo, and Equatorial Guinea were ranked next. The trend in other countries was mostly decreasing.Conclusion: Given the high economic and social burden that SV has on victims and societies, the rate of SV in most countries does not seem to have dropped remarkably and requires special attention by relevant policymakers. The SV prevalence rate is highly heterogeneous among world countries which may be due to the definitions and tools used, and more importantly, the culture norms.
A Comprehensive Performance Analysis of Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark for Large Scale Data Sets Using HiBench
Authors: Ahmed Nasim , Barczak Andre L. C. , Susnjak Teo , Rashid Mohammad
Published: December 2020

Big Data analytics for storing, processing, and analyzing large-scale datasets has become an essential tool for the industry. The advent of distributed computing frameworks such as Hadoop and Spark oﬀers eﬃcient solutions to analyze vast amounts of data. Due to the application programming interface (API) availability and its performance, Spark becomes very popular, even more popular than the MapReduce framework. Both these frameworks have more than 150 parameters, and the combination of these parameters has a massive impact on cluster performance. The default system parameters help the system administrator deploy their system applications without much eﬀort, and they can measure their speciﬁc cluster performance with factory-set parameters. However, an open question remains: can new parameter selection improve cluster performance for large datasets? In this regard, this study investigates the most impacting parameters, under resource utilization, input splits, and shuﬄe, to compare the performance between Hadoop and Spark, using an implemented cluster in our laboratory. We used a trial-and-error approach for tuning these parameters based on a large number of experiments. In order to evaluate the frameworks of comparative analysis, we select two workloads: WordCount and TeraSort. The performance metrics are carried out based on three criteria: execution time, throughput, and speedup. Our experimental results revealed that both system performances heavily depends on input data size and correct parameter selection. The analysis of the results shows that Spark has better performance as compared to Hadoop when data sets are small, achieving up to 2 times speedup in WordCount workloads and up to 14 times in TeraSort workloads when default parameter values are reconfigured.
Chromatin loop anchors contain core structural components of the gene expression machinery in maize
Authors: Deschamps Stephane , Crow John A , Chaidir Nadia , Peterson-Burch Brooke , Kumar Sunil , Lin Haining , Zastrow-Hayes Gina , May Gregory D.
Published: December 2020

BackgroundThree-dimensional chromatin loop structures connect regulatory elements to their target genes in regions known as anchors. In complex plant genomes, such as maize, it has been proposed that loops span heterochromatic regions marked by higher repeat content, but little is known on their spatial organization and genome-wide occurrence in relation to transcriptional activity. ResultsHere, ultra-deep Hi-C sequencing of maize B73 leaf tissue was combined with gene expression and open chromatin sequencing for chromatin loop discovery and correlation with hierarchical topologically-associating domains (TADs) and transcriptional activity. A majority of all anchors are shared between multiple loops from previous public maize high-resolution interactome datasets, suggesting a highly dynamic environment, with a conserved set of anchors involved in multiple interaction networks. Chromatin loop interiors are marked by higher repeat contents than the anchors flanking them. A small fraction of high-resolution interaction anchors, fully embedded in larger chromatin loops, co-locate with active genes and putative protein-binding sites. Combinatorial analyses indicate that all anchors studied here co-locate with at least 81.5% of expressed genes and 74% of open chromatin regions. Approximately 38% of all Hi-C chromatin loops are fully embedded within hierarchical TAD-like domains, while the remaining ones share anchors with domain boundaries or with distinct domains. Those various loop types exhibit specific patterns of overlap for open chromatin regions and expressed genes, but no apparent pattern of gene expression. In addition, up to 63% of all unique variants derived from a prior public maize eQTL dataset overlap with Hi-C loop anchors. Anchor annotation suggests that <7% of all loops detected here are potentially devoid of any genes or regulatory elements. The overall organization of chromatin loop anchors in the maize genome suggest a loop modeling system hypothesized to resemble phase separation of repeat-rich regions. ConclusionsSets of conserved chromatin loop anchors mapping to hierarchical domains contains core structural components of the gene expression machinery in maize. The data presented here will be a useful reference to further investigate their function in regard to the formation of transcriptional complexes and the regulation of transcriptional activity in the maize genome.
Association between Colic and sleep problems in infancy and subsequent development, emotional and behavioral problems: A Longitudinal study
Authors: Valla Lisbeth , Småstuen Milada Cvancarova , Andenæs Randi , Misvær Nina , Olbjørn Christine , Helseth Sølvi
Published: December 2020

Background: Sleep and colic problems in infancy have been linked to adverse health outcome, but there is limited knowledge of the association between sleep and colic problems in infancy and subsequent development, emotional and behavior problems in young children. The aim of the present study was to examine whether there is an associations between infants’ crying and sleep problems at 6 months and behavioral and development problems at 18 months, 3 and 5 years Methods: This study is based on the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa),conducted at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health from June 1999 to December 2008. A total of 86,724 children were included. Colic and sleep (sleep duration, nocturnal awakenings and easy to put to bed) was assessed by mother-reports. Z-scores were used to assess differences between groups of children (e.g. having colic or not, having a sleep problem or not). Emotional and behavioral problems were measured with items from the Child Behavior Checklist. Development problems were measured with items from The Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Results: Infants with colic scored significantly lower on development at 5 years (B=-0.10, CI [-0.14-; - 0.06]) and higher on internalizing problems both at 3years ( B=-0.15 .CI [0.11-; 0.18] ) and 5 years ( B=-0.17 .CI [0.12-; 0.21] ) than the reference population. Children who awoke frequently (≥ 3 times) and were more difficult to put to bed at 6 months scored significantly lower on development at 18 months and 3 and 5 years, and higher on internalizing behavior problems at 3 and 5 years (B=0.18 and B=0.16).Children with shorter sleep duration (≤ 10 hours) at 6 months had more internalizing behavior problems at 3 years (B=-0.14. CI [0.07; - 0.02]) and 5 years (B=-0.15 .CI [0.05-; - 0.25]) than the reference population.Conclusions: Colic and disruptive sleep early in life are risk factors for development, emotional and behavioral problems within the first five years of a child’s life. It is important to be aware that disruptive sleep and colic in infancy may have long-term negative consequences.
Genome-wide identification, characterization, and expression analysis of tea plant autophagy-related genes (CsARGs) demonstrates that they play diverse roles during development and under abiotic stress
Authors: Wang Huan , Ding ZhaoTang , Gou Mengjie , Hu Jianhui , Wang Yu , Wang Lu , Wang Yuchun , Di Taimei , Zhang Xinfu , Hao Xinyuan , Wang Xinchao , Yang Yajun , Qian Wenjun
Published: December 2020

Background: Autophagy, meaning ‘self-eating’, is required for the degradation and recycling of cytoplasmic constituents under stressful and non-stressful conditions, which helps to maintain cellular homeostasis and delay aging and longevity in eukaryotes. To date, the functions of autophagy have been heavily studied in yeast, mammals and model plants, but few studies have focused on economically important crops, especially tea plants (Camellia sinensis). The roles played by autophagy in coping with various environmental stimuli have not been fully elucidated to date. Therefore, investigating the functions of autophagy-related genes in tea plants may help to elucidate the mechanism governing autophagy in response to stresses in woody plants.Results: In this study, we identified 35 C. sinensis autophagy-related genes (CsARGs). Each CsARG is highly conserved with its homologues from other plant species, except for CsATG14. Tissue-specific expression analysis demonstrated that the abundances of CsARGs varied across different tissues, but CsATG8c/i showed a degree of tissue specificity. Under hormone and abiotic stress conditions, most CsARGs were upregulated at different time points during the treatment. In addition, the expression levels of 10 CsARGs were higher in the cold-resistant cultivar ‘Longjing43’ than in the cold-susceptible cultivar ‘Damianbai’ during the CA period; however, the expression of CsATG101 showed the opposite tendency.Conclusions: We performed a comprehensive bioinformatic and physiological analysis of CsARGs in tea plants, and these results may help to establish a foundation for further research investigating the molecular mechanisms governing autophagy in tea plant growth, development and response to stress. Meanwhile, some CsARGs could serve as putative molecular markers for the breeding of cold-resistant tea plants in future research.
A retrospective observational study of anesthesia management during the flexible or rigid bronchoscopy in patients with central airway obstruction: Safety application of muscle relaxants and the traditional Low-frequency ventilation
Authors: Li Jing-Jin , Li Nan , Ma Wei-Jia , Bao Ming-Xue , Chen Zi-Yang , Ding Zheng-Nian
Published: December 2020

Background: Bronchoscopy treatments of central airway obstruction (CAO) under general anesthesia are high-risky procedures, and posing a giant challenge to the anesthesiologists. We summarized and analyzed our clinical experience in anesthesia management in patients with CAO undergoing flexible or rigid bronchoscopy, including the use of muscle relaxants , the traditional Low-frequency ventilation.Methods: Clinical data of 375 patients with CAO who underwent urgent endoscopic treatments in general anesthesia from January 2016 to October 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The use ratio of skeletal muscle relaxants, dose of skeletal muscle relaxants used, the incidence of perioperative adverse events, adequacy of ventilation and gas exchange, post-operative recovery between rigid bronchoscopy and flexible bronchoscopy therapy, and risk factors for postoperative ICU admission were evaluated.Results: There was a high usage rate (96.5%) of skeletal muscle relaxants in patients with CAO who underwent either flexible bronchoscopy or rigid bronchoscopy therapy and a higher dosage of skeletal muscle relaxants used in rigid bronchoscopy compared with flexible bronchoscopy therapy. This procedure had a low incidence of perioperative adverse events, with no significant difference between flexible and rigid bronchoscopy therapy. Sufficient ventilation was successfully established using the traditional Low-frequency ventilation both in flexible and rigid bronchoscopy group. There was a low mortality (0.8%) during the post-operative recovery, and the higher grade of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and obvious dyspnea or orthopnea were the independent risk factors for postoperative ICU admission.Conclusion: The muscle relaxants and low-frequency traditional ventilation can be safely used both in flexible and rigid bronchoscopy treatments in patients with CAO These results may provide strong clinical evidence for optimizing the anesthesia management of bronchoscopy for such patients.
The transverse diameter of right common femoral vein by ultrasound in the supine position for predicting post-spinal hypotension during cesarean delivery.
Authors: Yao Shi-Fa , Zhao Yan-Hong , Zheng Jing , Qian Jie-Yan , Zhang Chen , Xu Zifeng , Xu Tao
Published: December 2020

Background: Post-spinal anesthesia hypotension during cesarean delivery is caused by decreased systemic vascular resistance due to the blockage of autonomic nerves, which is further worsened by inferior vena cava (IVC) compression by the gravid uterus. The aim of this study was to assess whether peak velocity and diameter of IVC below the xiphoid or the right common femoral vein (RCFV) in the inguinal region, as measured on ultrasound, could reflect the degree of IVC compression and further identify parturients at risk of post-spinal hypotension.Methods: After 56 parturients underwent elective cesarean section with spinal anesthesia were included in this study, peak velocities and anteroposterior diameters of the IVC and peak velocities and transverse diameters of the RCFV were measured by ultrasound before anesthesia. The primary outcome was ultrasound measurements of IVC and RCFV, and their association with post-spinal hypotension during cesarean delivery. Hypotension was defined as having a drop of systolic arterial pressure >20% from the baseline. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to identify the association between the measurements of IVC, RCFV and post-spinal hypotension during cesarean delivery. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to test the abilities of the identified parameters to predict post-spinal hypotension, and the areas under the curve and the optimum cut-off values for the predictive parameters were calculated.Results: Longer transverse diameter of the RCFV was associated with the occurrence of post-spinal hypotension (odds ratio = 2.022, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.261–3.243). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the prediction of post-spinal hypotension was 0.759 (0.628–0.890; P = 0.001). A transverse diameter of the RCFV >12.2 mm could predict post-spinal hypotension during cesarean delivery.Conclusions: We demonstrated a longer transverse diameter of RCFV was associated with hypotension and it could predict parturients at major risk of hypotension before anesthesia.Trial Registration: This study was registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn on 16, May, 2018. No. ChiCTR1800016163
Effects of a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Brief, Student-Nurse Led, Parent-Based Sexual Health Intervention on Parental Protective Factors and HPV Vaccination Uptake
Authors: Maria Diane Santa , Markham Christine , Sanghamitra Misra M. , Coleman Deidra C. , Lyons Mandi , Desormeaux Christina , Cron Stanley , Guilamo-Ramos Vincent
Published: December 2020

Background: Parents play a pivotal role in adolescent sexual health and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Nurses are on the frontlines of healthcare and play a critical role in promoting HPV vaccination and parent-child sexual health communication. We enhanced the Families Talking Together (FTT) parent-based sexual health curriculum to include adolescent vaccinations herein, FTT+HPV, and trained student nurses to provide a strong HPV vaccination and parent-child sexual health communication endorsement. Methods: Using a randomized attention-controlled trial design, we examined the efficacy of FTT+HPV among 519 parents and their 11-14 year old youth recruited from medically underserved communities between 2015 and 2018. Participants were recruited from 22 after-school programs (e.g., Boys and Girls Clubs) and 19 charter schools. For parents, we examined protective factors including parent-child sexual health communication and parental involvement. For youth, we examined sexual health knowledge, parent-child sexual health communication, and parent-child connectedness. To assess HPV vaccination initiation and completion, we searched IMMTRAC immunization registry records for 85% of youth and used parental report for youth without registry records. Group differences were calculated using the estimated mean difference at one- and six months post-intervention with significance set at the p< 0.05 level. Results: Baseline rates of HPV vaccination were low at 55.7%. No significant difference between the groups was seen in vaccination initiation or completion rates by one-month post-intervention. However, by six-months post intervention, there was a significant difference between the groups with 70.3% of the intervention group initiating the HPV vaccination series vs. 60.6% for the control group (p = 0.02). No difference between the groups was found for HPV series completion at six-months. There were significant differences in condom knowledge (p = 0.04), parent-child connectedness (p = 0.04), and communication frequency (p = 0.001) with greater improvement in the intervention vs. the control group. Rates of sexual activity remained low in both groups throughout the six-month follow-up period. Conclusion: A brief parent-based adolescent sexual health and HPV vaccination intervention delivered by student nurses can improve sexual health outcomes including protective parental factors, adolescent sexual health knowledge, and HPV vaccination initiation rates.
Parathyroid carcinoma with sarcomatoid differentiation: A case report and literature review
Authors: Hu Liang , Xie Xiaojun
Published: December 2020

BackgroundParathyroid carcinoma (PC) is a rare thyroid tumor. PC with sarcomatoid differentiation(PCSD) is even rarer and its exact etiology remains unclear. We here report a case of PCSD, and present the clinicopathological features and pathological diagnosis and review the literature.Case presentationA 71-year-old man presented with a mass of 4.5 cm × 3.5 cm in the right neck. The tumor was composed of nest-like transparent cells, and the septum had heterotypic rhabdoid cells with sarcomatoid differentiation. Immunophenotype was as follows: myogenic differentiation 1(MyoD1), myogenin and desmin were positive; clear cells were positive for chromogranin A(CGA), synaptophysin(Syn) and GATA-3; and Ki-67 proliferation index was 40%. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were performed. The patient was diagnosed with PCSD, and died 6 months after surgery.ConclusionsPCSD is a rare type of primary parathyroid tumor with high malignancy and poor prognosis. Definitive diagnosis should be based on histopathological morphology and immunophenotype, and surgical treatment should be performed as soon as possible.
Perceptions, emotional reactions and needs of adolescent psychiatric inpatients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews
Authors: Giannakopoulos George , Mylona Savvina , Zisimopoulou Anastasia , Belivanaki Maria , Charitaki Stella , Kolaitis Gerasimos
Published: December 2020

Background: The new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has been accompanied by severe psychological pressure on the entire population. However, little is known about how this pandemic could affect the more vulnerable population with severe mental illness.Aims: To explore adolescent psychiatric inpatients' perceptions, emotional reactions and needs during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with nine psychiatric inpatients aged 12-17 years. Through open-ended questions, interviewers initiated five themes: (1) knowledge about the coronavirus pandemic, (2) changes in everyday routine, (3) pandemic-related emotions, (4) helpful thoughts and attitudes and (5) practices for helping adolescents deal with the hardships brought about by the pandemic. A thematic analysis was conducted using line-by-line open coding.Results: With regard to their knowledge of the impact of the current pandemic, almost all adolescents focused on information about the nature of coronavirus and also on existing crisis management practices. Almost all patients identified predominantly negative changes due to the quarantine state, including restrictions on both social life and personal freedom as well as excessive contact with family members during home isolation. As far as their emotions was concerned, adolescents did acknowledge anxiety about self-harm and harming their loved ones as well as mood swings within the family nucleus; anxiety was also manifested about the unknown and the management of the pandemic in other countries. Avoidance of thought rumination about the coronavirus and its consequences, positive thinking and looking towards the future were reported as constructive strategies for coping with challenging emotions. Additionally, a sense of belongingness (provided that they are not alone and share a common experience) seems to have been playing a pivotal role in the adolescents coping strategies. Trust in the authorities and the community was another quite noteworthy point that emerged during the interviews. Lastly, our findings indicated adolescents' benefit from receiving balanced health messaging coupled with balanced thinking within both their social and family environment.Conclusions: Enhanced comprehension of possible mediating psychological pathways is needed to help clinicians, researchers and decision-makers to avert the deterioration of mental disorders and overall functioning, as well as additional stress-related disorders.
Mixing of cogenetic magmas in the Cretaceous Zhangzhou calc-alkaline granite from southeast China recorded by in-situ apatite geochemistry
Authors: Zhang Xiaobing , Guo Feng , Zhang Bo , Zhao Liang , Wang Guoqing
Published: December 2020

Mixing of cogenetic magmas represents an important process in granite petrogenesis but is difficult to identify and is consequently often overlooked due to the absence of obvious isotopic distinctions between the mixed melts. We have conducted in situ elemental and O isotope analyses on apatite from Cretaceous Zhangzhou calc-alkaline granite in southeast China. We integrated these data with micro-analyses on other minerals (plagioclase, zircon, and titanite) as well as whole-rock geochemistry to decipher the mixing history of this granitic complex. The apatite occurs as an early crystallizing phase forming inclusions in biotite, plagioclase, and titanite, and is characterized by core-rim zonation textures with a dark core and bright rims in backscattered images. The core domains have remarkably higher SO3 and Li concentrations but much lower SiO2, REE, and Y concentrations than the rim domains. However, both the cores and rims show geochemical compositions similar to that from typical I-type granite and also have mantle-like O isotope compositions (the core has δ18O = 5.3–6.8‰ and the rim has δ18O = 5.2–6.4‰, respectively), indicating crystallization from granitic melts derived from newly accreted crust. The combined major and trace element and O isotope compositions of apatite and whole-rock geochemistry suggest that compositional evolution of the Zhangzhou granite involved mixing between two cogenetic magma batches, with variable degrees of subsequent differentiation. Batch I magma was a low-SiO2 and high-SO3 melt, whereas Batch II magma was a high-SiO2 and low-SO3 melt that experienced devolatilization. The high-S content in apatite cores further suggests the parental magma of the Zhangzhou granite likely originated from a sulfur-rich source comprising mainly newly accreted arc crust in response to subduction of the paleo-Pacific Ocean. The geochemical records of these magmatic processes are rarely observed in coeval zircon, titanite, and plagioclase. Our study, therefore, demonstrates that apatite geochemistry is potentially a more suitable monitor of complex magmatic evolution, including devolatilization and mixing of isotopically indistinguishable magmas.
Reflexões acerca da questão dos resíduos sólidos em territórios indígenas
Authors: Silva Lucas Braga da , Benini Édi Augusto
Published: December 2020

A Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos apresenta o respeito às diversidades locais e regionais como um de seus princípios norteadores para a gestão integrada por todo o território brasileiro. Aponta ainda a elaboração de planos de gestão integrada como instrumento para a gestão e o gerenciamento neste contexto. A partir disso, a pesquisa objetiva discutir a respeito da gestão de resíduos sólidos em territórios indígenas brasileiros. Como procedimentos metodológicos, adotou-se a pesquisa documental e análise de conteúdo. Os dados revelam que a diversidade cultural e ambiental dos povos indígenas nem sempre é levada em consideração no contexto da gestão de resíduos sólidos em seus territórios. Conclui-se que é dado maior atenção aos resíduos sólidos produzidos em centros urbanos do que àqueles produzidos em territórios indígenas, no entanto, ambos carecem de uma efetiva política sustentável de ocupação, uso e gestão dos diversos espaços.
Removal of chromium VI and others metals from wastewater treatment by modification of macrophytes and magnetite: A review
Authors: Nogueira Márcio da Costa , Santos Edson Rodrigo Fernandes dos , Pal Kaushik , Souza Júnior Fernando Gomes de
Published: December 2020

One of the problems that affect the environment is the chemical pollution of the nature of the water, mainly by the presence of toxic metals, among them the chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, among others. Numerous studies report the application of biosorption with the use of Eichhornia crassipes for the treatment of effluents from diverse origins, with very satisfactory results. However, several factors influence biosorption, such as pH, temperature, and contact time, and, therefore, cannot be neglected. Submerged macrophytes have important prospective to bioconcentrate heavy metals due to their larger surface area compared to non-submerged plants. On the other hand, the magnetite nanoparticles also present good results for the treatment of aqueous solutions contaminated by chromium and by other metal ions. The adsorption capacity of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles is high for various metal cations. Besides, these nanoparticles, which constitute polymer nanocomposites, are of particular interest because they combine excellent magnetic properties, greater stability of magnetic nanoparticles, and have higher biocompatibility, allowing more excellent suitability with biological materials involved in the removal of metallic cations. Therefore, the treatments described in this study are of great relevance as excellent alternatives in the treatment of several types of effluents.
Detect axial gauge fields with a calorimeter
Authors: Baggioli matteo , Chernodub Maxim N. , Landsteiner Karl , Vozmediano Maria
Published: December 2020

Torsional strain in Weyl semimetals excites a unidirectional chiral density wave propagating in the direction of the torsional vector. This gapless excitation, named the chiral sound wave, is generated by a particular realization of the axial anomaly via the triple-axial (AAA) anomalous diagram. We show that the presence of the torsion-generated chiral sound leads to a linear behavior of the specific heat of a Weyl semimetal and to an enhancement of the thermal conductivty at experimentally accessible temperatures. We also demonstrate that such an elastic twist lowers the temperature of the sample, thus generating a new, anomalous type of elasto-calorific effect. Measurements of these thermodynamical effects will provide experimental verification of the exotic triple-axial anomaly as well as the reality of the elastic pseudomagnetic fields in Weyl semimetals.
Bazı Badem Çeşitlerinin Adaptasyon Performansları Üzerine Yürütülen Çalışmaların Karşılaştırılması
Authors: DENİZHAN Hasan , İKİNCİ Ali , AÇAR İzzet , KARAAT Fırat
Published: December 2020

Bu çalışmada, ülkemiz ve yurt dışında bazı badem çeşitleri üzerine yapılan adaptasyon denemeleri sonucu elde edilen veriler karşılaştırılarak çeşitlerin potansiyellerinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada Ferragnes, Ferraduel, Lauranne, Tuono, Nonpareil, Texas ve Guara çeşitleri üzerine yapılan çalışmalarda, dikim sıklığı, ağaç yaşına göre verim değerleri ve bazı meyve özellikleri karşılaştırılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda Ferragnes, Ferraduel, Lauranne, Nonpareil ve Guara çeşitlerinin Türkiye koşullarına uyumlu olduğu, Texas çeşidinin kısmi uyum sağladığı ancak Tuono çeşidinin uyum sağlamadığı sonucuna varılmıştır. Ferragnes ve Lauranne çeşitlerinde en yüksek verimin GF 677 anacı üzerine, 6 × 6 m dikim aralığı ve 250 m3 da-1 kısıtlı sulama koşullarında yetiştiriciliğin yapıldığı İspanya’nın Lleida bölgesinden alındığı saptanmıştır. Ülkemizde badem çeşitlerinin performansları üzerine gerçekleştirilmiş olan çalışmalarda Kahramanmaraş ilinde Ferragnes ve Ferraduel, Gaziantep ilinde Guara ve Nonpareil, Manisa ilinde ise Texas çeşidinin daha iyi performans gösterdiği sonucuna varılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda ülkemizde badem yetiştiriciliğinde tercih edilen Ferragnes ve Ferraduel çeşitlerine alternatif olarak Guara, Nonpareil ve Lauranne çeşitlerinin yetiştirilebileceği belirlenmiştir.