bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The incidence of geriatric trauma is increasing and comparison of different scoring tools for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients
Authors: Jiang Libing , Zheng Zhongjun , Zhang Mao
Published: October 2020

Purpose: The study aimed to test the incidence of geriatric trauma is increasing and evaluate different scoring tools for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients.Methods: Part 1: Annual reports released by the National Trauma Database (NTDB) in the United States from 2005 to 2015 and the Trauma Register DGU® in Germany from 1994 to 2012 were analyzed to test the incidence of geriatric trauma is increasing. Part 2: Secondary analysis of a single-center cohort study conducted among 311 severely injured geriatric trauma patients in a level Ⅰ trauma center in Switzerland was completed. According to the in-hospital survival status, patients were divided into the survival and non-survival group. The differences of the ISS (injury severity score), NISS (new injury severity score), TRISS (Trauma and Injury Severity Score), APACHE Ⅱ (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ) and SPAS Ⅱ (simplified acute physiology score Ⅱ) between two groups were evaluated. Then, the areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of different scoring tools for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients were calculated.Results: Part 1: The analysis of the NTDB showed that the increase in the number of geriatric trauma ranged from 18% to 30% between 2005 and 2015. The analysis of the DGU® showed that the mean age of trauma patients rose from 39.11 in 1993 to 51.10 in 2013, and the proportion of patients aged ≥60 years rose from 16.5% to 37.5%. Part 2: The findings from the secondary analysis showed that 164 (52.73%) patients died in the hospital. The ISS, NISS, APACHE Ⅱ, and SAPS Ⅱ in the death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group, and the TRISS in the death group was significantly lower than those in the survival group. The AUCs of the ISS, NISS, TRISS, APACHE Ⅱ, and SAPS Ⅱ for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients were 0.807, 0.850, 0.828, 0.715 and 0.725, respectively.Conclusion: The total number of geriatric trauma is increasing as the population ages. The accuracy of ISS, NISS and TRISS was higher than the APACHE Ⅱ and SAPS Ⅱ for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in geriatric trauma patients.
Gut Microbiota: Effect of Pubertal Status
Authors: Yuan Xin , Chen Ruimin , Zhang Ying , Lin Xiangquan , Yang Xiaohong
Published: October 2020

Background: The make-up of gut microbiota at different puberty stages has not been reported. This cross-sectional study analyzed the bio-diversity of gut microbiota at different puberty stages. Methods: The fecal microbiome was determined in 89 Chinese subjects aged 5-15 years. Subjects were grouped as non-pubertal (n=42) or pubertal (n=47) according to Tanner stages. Gut colonization patterns were determined by 16S rRNA microbiome profiling.Results: The subjects were divided into non-pubertal (n=42, male%: 66.7%) or pubertal groups (n=47, male%:44.68); in both groups, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phylum. There was no difference of alpha- and beta-diversity among disparate puberty stages. Non-pubertal subjects had members of the order Clostridiales, family Clostridiaceae, genus Coprobacillus which were significantly more prevalent than puberty subjects. Also, the pubertal subjects had members of class Betaproteobacteria, order Burkholderiales which were significantly more prevalent than the non-pubertal subjects. Their relative abundance were independent of BMI-Z. In the pubertal subjects, the abundance of genus Adlercreutzia, Ruminococcus, Dorea, Clostridium and Parabacteroides was associated with the level of testosterone.Conclusion: This is the first report of the diversity of gut microbiota at different puberty stages. The various species of gut microbiota changed gradually associated with puberty stages. Differences in gut microflora at different pubertal status may be related to androgen levels.
Patterns of flea infestation in rodents and insectivores from intensified agro-ecosystems, NW Spain
Authors: Herrero-Cófreces Silvia , Flechoso Manuel Fabio , Rodríguez-Pastor Ruth , Luque-Larena Juan José , Mougeot Francois
Published: October 2020

Background

Fleas frequently infest small mammals and play important vectoring roles in the epidemiology of (re)emerging zoonotic disease. Rodent outbreaks in intensified agro-ecosystems of NW Spain have been recently linked to periodic zoonotic disease spillover to local human populations. Obtaining qualitative and quantitative information about the composition and structure of the whole flea and small mammal host coexisting communities is paramount to understand disease transmission cycles and to dilucidate the disease-vectoring role of flea species. The aims of this research were to: i) characterise and quantify the flea community parasiting a small mammal guild in intensive farmlands in NW Spain, and ii) determine and evaluate patterns of co-infection and the variables that may influence parasitological parameters.

Methods

We conducted a large scale survey stratified by season and habitat of fleas parasitizing the small mammal host guild. We report on the prevalence, mean intensity, and mean abundance of flea species parasitizing Microtus arvalis, Apodemus sylvaticus, Mus spretus and Crocidura russula. We also report on aggregation patterns (variance-to-mean ratio and Discrepancy index), co-infection by different flea species in hosts (Fager Index), and used Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) to study flea parameter variation according to season, habitat and host sex.

Results

Three flea species dominated the system (99.4%), namely: Ctenophthalmus apertus gilcolladoi, Leptopsylla taschenbergi and Nosopsyllus fasciatus. Results showed a high aggregation pattern of fleas in all hosts. All host species in the guild shared C. a. gilcolladoi and N. fasciatus, but L. taschenbergi mainly parasitized mice (M. spretus and A. sylvaticus). We found significant male-biased infestation patterns in mice, seasonal variations in flea abundances for all rodent hosts (M. arvalis, M. spretus and A. sylvaticus), and relatively lower infestation values for voles inhabiting alfalfas. Simultaneous infections by two or three flea species occurred in 36.8% of all hosts, and N. fasciatus was the commonest flea co-infecting small mammal hosts.

Conclusions

The generalist N. fasciatus and C. a. gilcolladoi dominated the flea community, and a high percentage of co-infections with both species occurred within the small mammal guild. Nosopsyllus fasciatus may show higher competence of inter-specific transmission, and future research should unravel its role in the circulation of rodent-borne zoonoses.
A new candidate vaccine for human brucellosis based on influenza viral vectors: development of immunization schedule in guinea pig model
Authors: Bugybayeva Dina , Kydyrbayev Zhailaubay , Zinina Nadezhda , Assanzhanova Nurika , Yespembetov Bolat , Kozhamkulov Yerken , Zakarya Kunsulu , Ryskeldinova Sholpan , Tabynov Kaissar
Published: October 2020

Background: A new candidate vector vaccine against human brucellosis based on recombinant influenza viral vectors (rIVV) subtypes H5N1 expressing Brucella Omp16, L7/L12, Omp19 or Cu-Zn SOD proteins has been developed. This paper presents the results of the study of the safety and protective properties of the vaccine with various options of administering, dosing and frequency of use on guinea pigs.Methods: The safety of the vaccine was assessed based on the general condition, behavior and dynamics of a guinea pig weight-gain test. The effectiveness of the new anti-brucellosis vector vaccine was determined by studying its protective effect after conjunctival, intranasal and sublingual administration in doses 105 EID50, 106 EID50 and 107 EID50 during prime and boost vaccinations of animals, followed by challenge with a virulent strain of B. mellitensis 16M infection. For sake of comparison, the commercial B. melitensis Rev.1 vaccine was used as a control. The protective properties of vaccines were assessed by quantitation of Brucella colonization in organs and tissues of infected animals and compared to the control groups.Results: It was found that the vaccine after prime and booster immunization using conjunctival, intranasal and sublingual routes of administration, as well as after using various doses of vaccine were safe for guinea pigs. The most optimal way of using the vaccine has been established: double intranasal immunization of guinea pigs at a dose of 106 EID50, which provides 80% protection of guinea pigs from B. melitensis 16M infection (P < 0.05), which is comparable to the results of the effectiveness of the commercial B. melitensis Rev.1 vaccine.Conclusions: We developed effective vaccine candidate against brucellosis and developed its immunization protocol in guinea pig model. We believe that this study is a substantial step for using the vaccine for future pre-clinical and clinical trials in human.
An improved method for in vitro feeding of adult female Dermanyssus gallinae (poultry red mite) using Baudruche membrane (goldbeater’s skin).
Authors: Nunn Francesca G , Baganz Jessica , Bartley Kathryn , Hall Sarah , Burgess Stewart , Nisbet Alasdair J.
Published: October 2020

Background

Dermanyssus gallinae , or poultry red mite (PRM), is an important ectoparasite in laying hens, having a significant welfare and economic impact. Testing novel control compounds typically involves in vitro methodologies before in vivo assessments. Historically, in vitro methods have involved PRM feeding on hen blood through a membrane. The use of hen blood requires multiple procedures (bleeds) to provide sufficient material and the use of a larger species (e.g. geese), could serve as a refinement in the use of animals in research.

Methods

The existing in vitro feeding device, employing a Parafilm™ M membrane [1] and adult females was used to investigate any differences in mite feeding, egg laying and mortality when fed goose or hen blood. Effects on these parameters when PRM were fed through either; Parafilm™ M, Baudruche membrane, and a combination of these with an overlaid polyester mesh were then tested using goose blood.

Results

PRM fed equally well on goose or hen blood through a Parafilm™ M membrane, no significant differences in mortality of PRM fed with either blood type was demonstrated. A significant increase (t-test: t =3.467, df =4, P = 0.03). in eggs laid per fed mite when using goose blood was demonstrated. A 70% increase in PRM feeding was observed when mites were fed on goose blood through a Baudruche membrane when compared to the Parafilm™ M membrane. Addition of an overlaid polyester mesh did not improve feeding rates. A significant increase (ANOVA: F (3, 20) =3.193, P = 0.04) in PRM egg laying was observed in mites fed on goose blood through Baudruche membrane, compared to those fed through Parafilm™ M. A mean of 1.22 (SEM ± 0.04) eggs per fed mite was obtained using the Baudruche feeding device compared to only 0.87 (SEM ±0.3) eggs per fed mite using the Parafilm™ M device when neither had a polyester mesh overlay.

Conclusion

The in vitro feeding of adult female poultry red mite can be readily facilitated through the use of goose blood in feeding devices with Baudruche membrane.
Pneumocystis pneumonia in patients with primary nephrotic syndrome: analysis of 18 cases
Authors: You Xiaohan , Zhang Ji , Zhou Qiongxiu , Zhang Jianna
Published: October 2020

Background: The aim of this study was to analysis the clinical features, risk factors and outcomes of patients with primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS) who developed pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP).Methods: We systematically reviewed medical records from 18 PNS patients with PCP admitted to our hospital from April 2007 to April 2019. A total of 180 cases were randomly selected as controls from PNS inpatients without infection. Results: In PCP patients, the mean age at presentation was 48.5 years, mean duration of prednisone treatment was 3.7 months and mean prednisone dose on admission was 31.3 mg/d, the most common clinical manifestation was fever (100%) and average PaO2 on admission was 59.5 mmHg. Eight patients (44.4%) had coexisting infections, most often was cytomegalovirus (4 patients), 11 patients (61.1%) had ICU admission and 9 patients (50%) had mechanical ventilation. PCP patients had more prednisone, more immunosuppressive therapy, lower CD4+ cell counts and hemoglobin, and higher serum creatinine than those without infections (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that PNS patients with prednisone usage and lower CD4+ cell counts were independent risk factors of more likely to have PCP compared to controls (OR =3.39, p=0.002; OR =0.64, p=0.021p<0.05). All patients survived after treatment. Conclusion: PCP was not unusual in PNS patients, and the most important risk factors were prednisone usage and a lower CD4+ cell count, but however, these patients had a good outcome after enough treatments.
Adherence to veterinary recommendations for ectoparasiticides purchased by cat owners in the United States of America.
Authors: Lavan Robert Philip , Armstrong Rob , Normile Dorothy , Vaala Wendy
Published: October 2020

Background: Safe and effective flea and tick treatment options for cats are important in companion animal practice because of feline ectoparasite infestation prevalence and the potential for parasitic disease transmission. Retrospective cat owner purchasing transactions at United States of America (U.S.) veterinary clinics were obtained for three topical feline flea and tick ectoparasiticides. One medication, fluralaner, had a 12-week redosing interval, while two other medications (fipronil/s-methoprene/pyriproxyfen ;imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen ) were approved for monthly redosing. The annual number of doses purchased by cat owners was determined for each of the three medications and then compared between medications. The objective was to evaluate whether 12-week retreatment intervals resulted in a different duration of coverage compared to monthly treatments for ectoparasiticide products.Methods: Study results were obtained by analyzing the transactional records from a commercial database derived from veterinary practice management software. The study database consisted of cat owner purchasing records from January 2017 through June 2019 from 671 veterinary practices representing 41,630 cats.Results: Cat owners purchased an average of 1.5 doses of fluralaner per year which, based on a 12-week redosing interval, provides 4.2 months of treatment coverage. Cat owners who used monthly flea and tick medications respectively purchased 3.6 months (fipronil/s-methoprene/pyriproxyfen combination) and 2.8 months (imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen) annually of each of the two medications. Average yearly cat owner purchases of fluralaner provide a significantly longer duration of coverage than for cat owners purchasing fipronil/s-methoprene/pyriproxyfen (17% more) or imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen (50% more). Conclusion: Cat owners who obtained a flea and tick treatment with a 12-week redosing interval (fluralaner) protected their cats for up to 17% or 50% longer duration each year compared to the duration of protection obtained by cat owners who used a medication re-dosed monthly. Cat owners should increase their duration of flea and tick coverage to come closer to achieving veterinary recommendations.
Association between the non-HDL-cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol ratio and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese children and adolescents: a large single-center cross-sectional study
Authors: Yang Shouxing , Zhong Jinwei , Ye Mengsi , Miao Lei , Lu Guangrong , Xu Changlong , Xue Zhanxiong , Zhou Xinhe
Published: October 2020

Background: The non-HDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol (NHDLC/HDLC) ratio is closely related to a variety of dyslipidemia-related disease. This study aimed to inspect the relationship between the NHDLC/HDLC ratio and non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) in childhood and adolescence. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, a total of 7,759 eligible Chinese children and adolescents (5,692 boys and 2,067 girls) were received routine medical examinations. The anthropometric and laboratory data of the subjects were collected. NAFLD was diagnosed by liver ultrasonography. The binary logistics regression analysis was performed on NHDLC/HDLC ratio, NHDLC and HDLC and NAFLD. ROC curve analysis was exploited to compare the diagnostic significance of the above parameters for NAFLD. Results: The total prevalence of NAFLD was 4.36%, and the prevalence of boys was higher than that of girls (5.61% vs. 1.9%, P < 0.001). The prevalence of NAFLD was positively correlated with the NHDLC/HDLC ratio (P < 0.001). The binary logistics regression analysis demonstrated that the OR was 8.61 (95% CI, 5.90-12.57, P < 0.001) in the tertile 3 (highest NHDLC/HDLC ratio) compared with the tertile 1 (lowest NHDLC/HDLC ratio). When potential confounders (age, sex, BMI, ALT, UA, TB, FPG and HOMA-IR) were adjusted, the OR for the tertile3 (OR=1.83, 95% CI, 1.04-3.22, P = 0.035) was still drastically higher than that of the tertile 1. The AUC of the NHDLC/HDLC ratio of boys was 0.787, which was significantly greater than that of NHDLC and HDLC (0.719 and 0.726, P < 0.001). For girls, the AUC of NHDLC/ HDLC ratio was 0.763, which was also significantly greater than that of NHDLC (0.661, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the cutoff points of NHDLC/HDLC ratio were 2.475 in boys and 2.695 in girls. Conclusions: The NHDLC/HDLC ratio was positively correlated with NALFD in Chinese children and adolescents. It may serve as an effective indicator to help identify NALFD in children and adolescents.
Sub-micro droplet reactors: Green synthesis of Li3VO4 anode materials for lithium ion batteries
Authors: Ha Tran , Vu Ngoc Hung , Ha Hyunwoo , Moon Joonhee , Kim Hyun You , Im Won Bin
Published: October 2020

A new green-chemistry strategy, based on modified solid-state reaction with the addition of water vapor to accelerate acid-base reactions (ABR) at low temperature, was developed along with Ca-doping to synthesize electrode material for lithium-ion batteries. The new method which helps in control the particles size and saving energy in synthesis has been developed. To explain this process, we proposed a mechanism in which water droplets play a key role as sub-micro reactors, calculated as few tens of nanometers, to ensure proper reaction conditions and confine crystal growth to nano-dimensions. The synergic effect of the proposed ABR method and Ca-doping is discussed to further explain the increase in the specific surface area and electrochemical performance of the anode material. The optimized material, Ca-doped Li3VO4, delivers a superior specific capacity of 543.1 mAh⸳g-1 after 200 cycles at a current density of 100 mA⸳g-1, which could be attributed to the contribution of pseudocapacitance.
A Synthetic Acetyl-CoA Bi-cycle Synergizes the Wood-Ljungdahl Pathway for Efficient Carbon Conversion in Syngas Fermentation
Authors: Wu Chao , Lo Jonathan , Urban Chris , Gao Xiang , Humphreys Jonathan , Shinde Shrameeta , Wang Xin , Chou Katherine , Maness PinChing , Tsesmetzis Nicolas , Parker David , Xiong Wei
Published: October 2020

The Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP) is a natural carbon fixation pathway capable of converting one-carbon (C1) compounds (CO2, CO, formate) to two-carbon (C2) metabolite acetyl-CoA or coordinating with canonical glycolysis to convert sugar feedstocks to acetyl-CoA with high carbon yield. The catalytic inefficiency and engineering difficulty in key enzymes, however, limit the biosynthetic potential of this pathway. Here we design a synthetic acetyl-CoA bi-cycle to synergize the WLP for efficient C2 metabolite synthesis. This pathway produces an acetyl-CoA by fixation of two CO2 equivalents via three functional modules acting in series: carbon fixation, gluconeogenesis, and non-oxidative glycolysis. We examine the pathway through comprehensive in silico thermodynamic and kinetic analyses. The prototypic pathway is implemented in a syngas-fermenting Clostridium ljungdahlii DSM 13528 by expressing a heterologous phosphoketolase and coordinating with native enzymes in the host acetogen. We demonstrated the effectiveness of this synthetic pathway in carbon conversion under various growth conditions, which complements the WLP for valorization of syngas as well as sugar feedstocks with high catalytic efficiency. This study underscores the reductive acetyl-CoA bi-cycle as a practical strategy to improve carbon conversion and redox homeostasis in the acetogenic host.
Analysis and Prediction of COVID-19 using SIR, SEIR, and Machine Learning Models: Australia, Italy, and UK Cases
Authors: Rahimi Iman , Gandomi Amir H , Chen Fang
Published: October 2020

The novel Coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, is an outbreak that started in Wuhan, one of the Central Chinese cities. In this report, a short analysis focusing on Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom has been conducted. The analysis includes confirmed and recovered cases and deaths, the growth rate in Australia as compared with Italy and the United Kingdom, and the outbreak in different Australian cities. Mathematical approaches based on the susceptible, infected, and recovered case (SIR) and susceptible, exposed, infected, and recovered (SEIR) models were proposed to predict the epidemiology in the countries. Since the performance of the classic form of SIR and SEIR depends on parameter settings, some optimization algorithms, namely, the Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS), conjugate gradients (CG), L-BFGS-B, and Nelder-Mead are proposed to optimize the parameters of SIR and SEIR models and improve its predictive capabilities. The results of optimized SIR and SEIR models are compared with the Prophet algorithm and logistic function as two known ML algorithms. The results show that different algorithms display different behaviours in different countries. However, the improved version of the SIR and SEIR models have a better performance compared with other mentioned algorithms described in this study. Moreover, the Prophet algorithm works better for Italy and the United Kingdom cases than for Australian cases and Logistic function compared with Prophet algorithm has a better performance in these cases. It seems that Prophet algorithm is suitable for data with increasing trend in pandemic situations. Optimization of the SIR and SEIR models parameters has yielded a significant improvement in the prediction accuracy of the models. Although there are several algorithms for prediction of this Pandemic, there is no certain algorithm that would be the best one for all cases.
Photocatalytic selective oxidation of methane by quantum sized bismuth vanadate
Authors: Fan Yingying , Zhou Wencai , Qiu Xueying , Li Hongdong , Jiang Yuheng , Sun Zhonghui , Han Dongxue , Niu Li , Tang Zhiyong
Published: October 2020

Selective oxidation of methane to desirable C1 oxygenates has long been the major challenge in catalysis. Here we report photocatalytic oxidation of methane by using quantum-sized bismuth vanadate nanoparticles as catalyst and oxygen as mild oxidant. A high selectivity towards methanol (1.1 mmol g-1 yield and 96.6% selectivity) and formaldehyde (13.1 mmol g-1 yield and 86.7% selectivity) products is successfully realized by simply controlling the light wavelength, light energy, reaction time and the amount of water solvent. Comprehensive characterizations disclose that the radical reaction mechanism is responsible for this efficient photocatalytic methane conversion.
Transcriptome Analysis Revealed The Mechanism of Exogenous ABA Increasing Anthocyanins in Blueberry Fruit During Veraison
Authors: Han Tianyu , Yan Zhixiang , Wu Wenlong , Li Weilin
Published: October 2020

Background: Blueberry（Vaccinium Spp）is a popular healthy fruit all over the world. The health value of blueberry is mainly due to the fact that blueberry is rich in anthocyanins, which have a strong antioxidant capacity. However, due to the fact that blueberry is a non model plant, little is known about the structural genes and regulatory genes involved in the anthocyanin synthesis of blueberries. Previous studies have found that spraying abscisic acid at the late green stage of blueberry fruit can increase the content of anthocyanins. Based on the former results, the anthocyanin accumulation process of blueberry can be divided into six stages from late green stage to mature stage to analyze the anthocyanin synthesis mechanism. In order to identify the important genes in the anthocyanin synthesis process of blueberry, the transcriptome analysis was conducted to explore the key genes in blueberry anthocyanin synthesis process.Results: The results showed that ABA could increase the anthocyanin content of blueberry fruits during the veraison. The effect of ABA on blueberry fruit development was systematically analyzed by KEGG and GO. All structural genes and transcription factors (MYB, bHLH and WD40) involved in anthocyanin pathway were identified and their spatiotemporal expression patterns were analyzed. The expression of CHS, CHI, DFR and LDOX / ANS in ABA treated fruits was higher in S5-S6, which was consistent with the change of anthocyanins in fruits.In general, six MYB transcription factors, one bHLH transcription factor and four WD40 transcription factors under treatment were found to have significant changes in transcripts during fruit ripening. Conclusions: Our results suggest that VcMYBA should play a major role in the regulation of anthocyanin synthesis in ABA signaling. This result preliminarily explained the mechanism of ABA increasing anthocyanin content and improves the efficiency of industrial use of blueberry anthocyanins.
Effects of Amyloid Light-Chain Amyloidosis on Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis in Multiple Myeloma: A Single-Center Retrospective Study
Authors: Xu Junhui , Wang Mangju , Shen Ye , Yan Miao , Xie Weiwei , Wang Bingjie , Song Zhengyang , Liu Huihui , Cen Xinan
Published: October 2020

Background: Amyloid light-chain amyloidosis (AL amyloidosis) is commonly associated with multiple myeloma. However, the clinical characteristics and prognosis of symptomatic and smoldering multiple myeloma with AL amyloidosis is not particularly clear.Methods: Patients with symptomatic and smoldering multiple myeloma in the Peking University First Hospital registry from 2010 to 2018 were studied. The clinical and laboratory information were collected from first presentation to death or until the last available clinical follow-up. The patients’ survival and outcomes were analyzed, and the relationships between the clinical parameters and survival were also assessed.Results: Compared with symptomatic multiple myeloma patients without AL amyloidosis, patients with AL amyloidosis had higher incidence of BNP≧700pg/ml (P<0.001), ALP>187.5IU/L (P=0.032) and ALB<25g/L (P<0.001). Similarly, compared with smoldering multiple myeloma patients without AL amyloidosis, patients with AL amyloidosis had higher incidence of BNP≧700pg/ml (P=0.030) and Alb<25g/L (P=0.024). The existence of AL amyloidosis especially the heart involvement was related to shorter long-term survival of symptomatic and smoldering multiple myeloma according to univariate analyses. Renal involvement and gastrointestinal tract involvement had an impact on the prognosis of smoldering multiple myeloma but not on symptomatic multiple myeloma. Cox regression model for overall survival detected BNP≧700pg/ml in symptomatic multiple myeloma having independent prognostic significance (RR=2.455, P=0.004). Interestingly, BNP at diagnosis was significantly correlated with cardiac amyloidosis (r=0.496, P<0.001).Cox regression model for overall survival detected the presence of AL amyloidosis in smoldering multiple myeloma having independent prognostic significance (RR=8.741, P=0.002).Conclusions: AL amyloidosis is an independent poor prognostic factor for not only symptomatic multiple myeloma but also smoldering multiple myeloma is mainly because involvements of important organs especially the heart. AL amyloidosis probablely has a greater impact on the prognosis of smoldering multiple myeloma than symptomatic multiple myeloma.
Sex-Specific Cross Tissue Meta-Analysis Identifies Immune Dysregulation in Women with Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Paranjpe Manish D , Belonwu Stella , Wang Jason K , Oskotsky Tomiko , Gupta Aarzu , Taubes Alice , Zalokusky Kelly , Paranjpe Ishan , Glicksberg Benjamin S , Huang Yadong , Sirota Marina
Published: October 2020

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common cause of dementia in the United States. In spite of evidence of females having a greater lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and greater apolipoprotein E4-related (apoE4) AD risk compared to males, molecular signatures underlying these findings remain elusive. Methods: We took a meta-analysis approach to study gene expression in the brains of 1,084 AD patients and age-matched controls and whole blood from 645 AD patients and age-matched controls in seven independent datasets. Sex-specific gene expression patterns were investigated through use of gene-based, pathway-based and network-based approaches. The ability of a sex-specific AD gene expression signature to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from healthy controls was assessed using a linear support vector machine model. Cell type deconvolution from whole blood gene expression data was performed to identify differentially regulated cells in males and females with AD.Results: Strikingly gene-expression, network-based analysis and cell type deconvolution approaches revealed a consistent immune signature in the brain and blood of female AD patients that was absent in males. In females, network-based analysis revealed a coordinated program of gene expression involving several zinc finger nuclease genes related to Herpes simplex viral infection whose expression was modulated by the presence of the apolipoprotein ε4 allele. Interestingly, this gene expression program was missing in the brains of male AD signature. Cell type deconvolution identified an increase in neutrophils and naïve B cells and a decrease in M2 macrophages, memory B cells, and CD8+ T cells in AD samples compared to controls in females. Interestingly, among males with AD, no significant differences in immune cell proportions compared to controls were observed. Machine learning-based classification of AD using gene expression from whole blood in addition to clinical features produced an improvement in classification accuracy upon stratifying by sex, achieving an AUROC of 0.91 for females and 0.80 for males. Conclusions: These results help identify sex and apoE4 genotype-specific transcriptomic signatures of AD and underscore the importance of considering sex in the development of biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for AD.
Transmissible plasma-evolved suspended graphene near room temperature
Authors: Sharma Kamal , Sharma Aliza Khaniya , Asaka Toru , Maruyama Takahiro
Published: October 2020

Top-down and bottom-up approaches are widely adopted to synthesize graphene from different carbon sources with the help of catalysts. The chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of carbon feedstock onto a catalyst surface, carbon species that are excited by a plasma, and high-energy laser irradiation of carbon surfaces are important methods for graphene production. However, for most techniques, high processing temperatures and time-consuming transfer and chemical treatment processes are essential to produce graphene for subsequent applications; therefore, a simple and straightforward alternative process is highly desirable. Here, we report a simple technique to produce suspended graphene with a short processing time and low temperature by employing a pulsed arc plasma. The catalytically active metal plasma is revealed to be transmissible through a suspended amorphous carbon (a-C) membrane, and the a-C evolves into highly graphitized C (sp2-C). The produced sp2-C is referred to as transmissible plasma-evolved graphene (TPEG). In this process, a pulsed arc plasma is generated from negatively biased metal electrodes, where each pulse lasts a fraction of a second, and the catalytic activity of the plasma is tuned by both the applied bias voltage and the number of pulses (not more than 10). Furthermore, TPEG with nanoparticles (NPs) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are successfully produced by employing a dual pulsed arc plasma source, indicating that TPEG could be utilized for the characterization of zero-dimensional (0D) and one-dimensional (1D) materials, such as graphene synthesized by CVD. It is very surprising that even a-C on a polymer support is successfully transformed into graphene by the TPEG technique without sacrificing the polymer support, which confirmed that TPEG is formed near room temperature.
Vincristine Leads to Colonic Myenteric Neurons Injury via Stimulating M1 Macrophages Polarization
Authors: Gao Yifei , Tang Yan , Zhang Haojie , Chu Xili , Yan Bing , Li Jingxin , Liu Chuanyong
Published: October 2020

BackgroundVincristine is widely used in treatment of various malignant tumors. The clinical application of vincristine is accompanied by peripheral neurotoxicity. The effect of vincristine on enteric neurons and the underlying mechanism are still unclear. MethodsC57BL6/J mice were systematically treated with vincristine for 10 days, and macrophages were depleted using clodronate liposomes. The colonic myenteric plexus neurons were extracted. Macrophages from different parts were extracted in an improved way.ResultsIn the current study, we demonstrated that system treatment of vincristine resulted in colonic myenteric neurons injury, proinflammatory factors increase and total gastrointestinal transport time increase. Vincristine promoted the M1-type macrophages polarization individually or in coordination with LPS and increased proinflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α via increasing the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38. In addition, these proinflammatory factors led to colonic myenteric neurons apoptosis targeting on SGK1-FOXO3 pathway. Importantly, macrophage depletion alleviated colonic myenteric neurons injury and the increase of proinflammatory factors caused by system treatment of vincristine.ConclusionsSystem treatment of vincristine led to colonic myenteric neurons injury via stimulating M1 macrophages polarization which was alleviated by depletion of macrophages.
Effects of Sensory Distraction and Salience Priming on Emotion Identification in Autism: An fmri Study
Authors: Patterson Genevieve , Cummings Kaitlin K. , Jung Jiwon , Okada Nana J. , Tottenham Nim , Bookheimer Susan Y. , Dapretto Mirella , Green Shulamite A.
Published: October 2020

BackgroundSocial interaction often occurs in noisy environments with many extraneous sensory stimuli. This is especially relevant for youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who commonly experience sensory over-responsivity (SOR) in addition to social impairment. However, the relationship between these symptoms is still poorly understood and thus rarely addressed in interventions. This study investigated the effect of auditory sensory distracters on neural processing of emotion identification in youth with ASD and the effects of increasing attention to social cues by priming participants with their own emotional faces.MethodsWhile undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 30 youth with ASD and 24 typically developing (TD) age-matched controls (ages 8-17 years) identified faces as happy or angry with and without simultaneously hearing aversive environmental noises. Halfway through the task, participants also viewed videos of their own emotional faces. The relationship between parent-rated auditory SOR and brain responses during the task was also examined.ResultsDespite showing comparable behavioral performance on the task, ASD and TD youth demonstrated distinct patterns of neural activity. Compared to TD, ASD youth showed greater increases in amygdala, insula and primary sensory regions when identifying emotions with noises compared to no sounds. After viewing videos of their own emotion faces, ASD youth showed greater increases in medial prefrontal cortex activation compared to TD youth. Within ASD youth, lower SOR was associated with reduced increased activity in subcortical regions after the prime and greater increased activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex after the prime, particularly in trials with noises. ConclusionsThe results suggest that the sensory environment plays an important role in how ASD youth process social information. Additionally, we demonstrated that increasing attention to relevant social cues helps ASD youth engage frontal regions involved in higher-order social cognition, a mechanism that could be targeted in interventions. Importantly, the effect of the intervention may depend on individual differences in SOR, supporting the importance of pre-screening youth for sensory challenges prior to social interventions.
Sex Differences in The Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Metabolic Syndrome in Rural China: An Updated Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Ying Xuhua , Yang Shuyue , Li Songtao , Su Meifang , Wang Na , Chen Yue , Jiang Qingwu , Fu Chaowei
Published: October 2020

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and MS components as well as their association with socioeconomic status among rural Chinese adults.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 26836 participants aged 20 years and older was conducted from June to December 2012 in Yuhuan City, Zhejiang Province, China, which is located on Yuhuan Island. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors for MS and their possible interactions.Results: Among 26836 subjects with an average age of 53.4±14.0 years, 59% were female. The overall prevalence of MS was 20.5%, and there was a significant sex difference in the prevalence (15.1% for males vs. 24.2% for females, p<0.001). Compared with males, females also showed a significantly higher proportion of most MS components. A significantly higher prevalence of MS was found among subjects who were elderly, had a lower income level, had a lower level of education, or were unemployed. Multiple significant interactions were observed between the prevalence of MS and sex, age or socioeconomic status (p<0.001). The risk of MS increased significantly with age in females but not in males. Additionally, a lower income level and a lower level of education were significantly related to an increased risk only in females, and unemployed males had a higher risk of MS than unemployed females.Conclusions: The prevalence of MS and its components was relatively high in a rural island Chinese population with rapid urbanization, and sex-specific associations between socioeconomic factors and MS were found. Targeted preventive interventions should be developed and implemented to prevent and control MS among those with a low socioeconomic status, especially females.
Discriminative Center Loss for Face Photo-Sketch Recognition
Authors: cao lin , huo xibao , guo yanan , shao yuying , du kangning
Published: October 2020

Face photo-sketch recognition refers to the process of matching sketches to photos. Recently, there has been a growing interest in using a convolutional neural network to learn discriminatively deep features. However, due to the large domain discrepancy and the high cost of acquiring sketches, the discriminative power of the deeply learned features will be inevitably reduced. In this paper, we propose a discriminative center loss to learn domain invariant features for face photo-sketch recognition. Specifically, two Mahalanobis distance matrices are proposed to enhance the intra-class compactness during inter-class separability. Moreover, a regularization technique is adopted on the Mahalanobis matrices to alleviate the small sample problem. Extensive experimental results on the e-PRIP dataset verified the effectiveness of the proposed discriminative center loss.
Association Between Dexamethasone and Delirium in Critically ill Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study of a Large Clinical Database
Authors: Wu Zehao , Li Huili , Liao Kaihua , Wang Yun
Published: October 2020

BackgroundDelirium is a common complication in ICU patients, and it can significantly increase the length of hospital stay and cost. Dexamethasone is widely used in various inflammatory diseases and is a glucocorticoid commonly used in critically ill patients. There are no studies on the effect of dexamethasone on the development of delirium in critically ill patients, therefore, this study aimed to confirm the effect of dexamethasone use and the dose on the incidence of delirium and patient prognosis in critically ill patients through a large cohort study.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted using data extracted from the MIMIC III database, and the primary outcome was the development of delirium, using multivariate logistic regression analysis to reveal the relationship between dexamethasone and delirium. Secondary endpoints were in-hospital mortality, total length of stay and length of ICU stay, and the relationship between dexamethasone and prognosis was assessed with Cox proportional hazards models. The Lowess smoothing technique was used to investigate the dose correlation between dexamethasone and outcomes, subgroup analysis was used to account for heterogeneity, and different correction models and propensity matching analysis were used to eliminate potential confounders.ResultsFinally, 38,509 patients were included, and 2,204 (5.7%) used dexamethasone. A significantly higher incidence of delirium (5.0% vs. 3.4%, P < 0.001), increased in-hospital mortality (15.0% vs. 11.3%, P < 0.001), and longer length of stay and ICU stay were observed in patients taking dexamethasone compared with those not taking dexamethasone. Multivariate logistic and Cox regression analyses confirmed that dexamethasone was significantly associated with delirium (adjusted OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.08-1.95, P = 0.014) and in-hospital mortality (adjusted HR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.02-1.40, P = 0.032). The risk of delirium and in-hospital death was lower with dexamethasone less than 10 mg, and subjects with 10-14 mg had the shortest length of hospital stay.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that the use of dexamethasone in critically ill patients exacerbated the occurrence of delirium, while increasing the risk of in-hospital death and length of stay, and the use of low-dose dexamethasone had a lower risk of delirium and death, which appeared to be safer.
The Prevalence and Course of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Partners of Burn Survivors
Authors: Dam Elise Boersma-van , Schoot Rens van de , Geenen Rinie , Engelhard Iris M. , Loey Nancy E. Van
Published: October 2020

BackgroundPartners of burn survivors may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in the aftermath of the burn event. This longitudinal study examined the prevalence, course and potential predictors of partners’ PTSD symptoms up to 18 months postburn.MethodsParticipants were 111 partners of adult burn survivors. In a multicenter study, PTSD symptoms were assessed with the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) during hospitalization of the burn survivor, and subsequently at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months postburn. Partners’ appraisal of threat to the burn survivor’s life, anger, guilt and level of rumination were assessed in the hospital as potential predictors of (long-term) PTSD symptoms in an exploratory piecewise latent growth model.ResultsAt the time of hospitalisation, 30% of the partners reported acute PTSD symptoms in the clinical range, which decreased to 4% at 18 months postburn. Higher acute PTSD symptoms were related to the presence of perceived life threat and higher levels of anger, guilt, and rumination. Over time, mean levels of PTSD symptoms decreased, especially in partners with high levels of acute PTSD symptoms, perceived life threat and rumination. From 3 months onward, PTSD symptoms decreased less in partners of more severely burned survivors. At 18 months postburn, higher levels of PTSD symptoms were related to more severe burn injuries and initial perception of life threat.ConclusionsOne in three partners of burn survivors reported clinical levels of acute PTSD symptoms shortly after the hospital admission, of which the majority recovered over time. This study showed that perceived life threat, feelings of anger and guilt, and rumination may indicate the presence of acute PTSD symptoms, whereas more severe burns and initial perception of life threat predict long-term PTSD symptom levels. The results highlight the need to offer psychological help to partners to alleviate acute elevated stress levels, which in turn may enhance the quality of support partners can provide to the burn survivor.
Healthcare Providers’ Implementation of Patient-Centred Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) in Practice: A Protocol for a Mixed Method Systematic Review
Authors: Wolff Angela C , Dresselhuis Andrea , Hejazi Samar , Dixon Duncan , Gibson Deborah , Howard A. Fuchsia , Liva Sarah , Astle Barbara , Reimer-Kirkham Sheryl , Noonan Vanessa K , Edwards Lisa
Published: October 2020

Background: Substantial literature has highlighted the importance of patient-reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs, respectively) to collect clinically relevant information to better understand and address what matters to patients. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the evidence about strategies for implementing individual-level PROMs and PREMs data by healthcare providers in their everyday practice.Methods: This mixed method systematic review protocol describes the design of our synthesis of the peer-reviewed research evidence (i.e., qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods), systematic reviews, organizational implementation projects, expert opinion, and grey literature. Keyword synonyms for “PROMs,” PREMs,” and “implementation” will be used to search eight databases with limiters of English from 2009 to 2019. Study selection criteria includes implementation at the point-of-care by healthcare providers in any practice setting. Eligible studies will be critically appraised using validated tools (e.g., Joanna Briggs Institute). Guided by the review questions, data extraction and synthesis will occur simultaneously to identify biographical information and methodological characteristics as well as classify study findings related to implementation processes and strategies. As part of the narrative synthesis approach, two frameworks will be utilized: (a) Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to identify influential factors of PROMs and PREMs Implementation and (b) Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) to illicit strategies. Data management will be undertaken using NVivo 12TM. Discussion: Data from PROMs and PREMs are critical to adopt a person-centred approach to healthcare. Findings from this review will guide subsequent phases of a larger project that includes interviews and a consensus-building forum with end users to create guidelines for implementing PROMs and PREMs at the point of care. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO protocol registration number (42013005938).