bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical and genetic characteristics of 42 Chinese paediatric patients with X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita
Authors: Zheng Wanqi , Duan Ying , Xia Yu , Liang Lili , Gong Zhuwen , Wang Ruifang , Lu Deyun , Zhang Kaichuang , Yang Yi , Sun Yuning , Zhang Huiwen , Han Lianshu , Gong Zizhen , Xiao Bing , Qiu Wenjuan
Published: May 2023

Background

X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita (AHC) is a rare disorder characterized by primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), with limited clinical and genetic characterization.

Methods

The clinical, biochemical, genetic, therapeutic, and follow-up data of 42 patients diagnosed with X-linked AHC were retrospectively analysed.

Results

Hyperpigmentation (38/42, 90%), vomiting/diarrhoea (20/42, 48%), failure to thrive (13/42, 31%), and convulsions (7/42, 17%) were the most common symptoms of X-linked AHC at onset. Increased adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) (42/42, 100%) and decreased cortisol (37/42, 88%) were the most common laboratory findings, followed by hyponatremia (32/42, 76%) and hyperkalaemia (29/42, 69%). Thirty-one patients presented with PAI within the first year of life, and 11 presented after three years of age. Three of the thirteen patients over the age of 14 exhibited spontaneous pubertal development, and ten of them experienced delayed puberty due to HH. Six patients receiving human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) therapy exhibited a slight increase in testicular size and had rising testosterone levels (both P < 0.05). The testicular volumes of the three patients with pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) therapy were larger than those of the six patients undergoing hCG therapy (P < 0.05), and they also exhibited some growth in terms of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone. Of the 42 patients, three had an Xp21 deletion, and 39 had an isolated DAX1 defect. Most patients (9/10) with entire DAX1 deletion accounting for 23.8% (10/42) of the total variants had early onset age of less than one year.

Conclusions

This study details the clinical features and genetic spectra of X-linked AHC. Patients with X-linked AHC show a bimodal distribution of the age of onset, with approximately 70% presenting within the first year of life. Pulsatile GnRH may be recommended for HH when hCG therapy is not satisfactory, although it is difficult to achieve normal testicular volume. The combination of clinical features and molecular tests provides information for an accurate diagnosis.
Preparing for the unexpected: a comparative study of policies addressing post-terror health reactions in Norway and France
Authors: Nilsen Lisa Govasli , Stene Lise Eilin
Published: May 2023

Background

In the wake of terrorist attacks, protecting the health and psychosocial wellbeing of those affected and the general population, are important tasks for the healthcare system. The responses to such emergencies are often complex, including different phases and many actors, and may unveil insufficiencies that incite reforms to existing systems. Recently, initiatives have been promoted to strengthen cooperation and coordination regarding the governance of health threats in Europe. Comparative research is requested on how states prepare for health emergencies such as terrorist attacks. This study investigated how governments in two European countries with universal health coverage prepared to address the civilian population’s health needs after terrorist attacks, and the factors that contributed to shaping their chosen approach.

Methods

Utilizing document analysis and Walt and Gilson’s model for the analysis of health policy, national plans for post-terror health responses in Norway and France were studied with a focus on context, process, content, and actors.

Results

Whereas target groups for psychosocial care and certain measures were similar in both cases, the contents of prescribed policies and the actors responsible for enacting them differed. One of the most distinct differences was to what extent specialized mental healthcare was relied upon to provide psychosocial follow-up in the emergency phase. In the French approach, specialized mental healthcare practitioners, such as psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurses, provided early psychosocial support. In contrast, the Norwegian approach relied on interdisciplinary primary care crisis teams in the local municipalities to provide early psychosocial support, with further involvement of specialized mental healthcare if this was considered necessary. Historical, political, and systemic differences contributed to the variation in the countries’ responses.

Conclusions

This comparative study highlights the complexity and diversity of health policy responses to terrorist attacks across countries. Moreover, challenges and opportunities for research and health management in response to such disasters, including possibilities and potential pitfalls for the coordination of this work across Europe. An important first step could be to map out existing services and practices across countries to better understand if and how common core elements for psychosocial follow-up might be implemented internationally.
Non-invasive investigation of Polychromophilus parasite infections in bat populations in Serbia using bat flies
Authors: Bajić Branka , Werb Oskar , Budinski Ivana , Blagojević Jelena , Schaer Juliane , van Schaik Jaap
Published: May 2023

Background

Haemosporidian parasites of the genus Polychromophilus infect bats worldwide. They are vectored by obligate ectoparasitic bat flies of the family Nycteribiidae. Despite their global distribution, only five Polychromophilus morphospecies have been described to date. The two predominant species, Polychromophilus melanipherus and Polychromophilus murinus, are broadly distributed and mainly infect miniopterid and vespertilionid bats, respectively. In areas where species from different bat families aggregate together, the infection dynamics and ability of either Polychromophilus species to infect other host families is poorly characterized.

Methods

We collected 215 bat flies from two bat species, Miniopterus schreibersii and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, which sometimes form mixed clusters in Serbia. Miniopterus schreibersii is known to be frequently infected with P. melanipherus, whereas R. ferrumequinum has been observed to be incidentally infected with both Polychromophilus species. All flies were screened for Polychromophilus infections using a PCR targeting the haemosporidian cytb gene. Positive samples were subsequently sequenced for 579 bp of cytochrome b (cytb) and 945 bp of cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (cox1).

Results

Polychromophilus melanipherus DNA was detected at six out of nine sampling locations and in all three examined bat fly species collected from M. schreibersii (Nycteribia schmidlii, n = 21; Penicillidia conspicua, n = 8; Penicillidia dufourii, n = 3). Four and five haplotypes were found for cytb and cox1, respectively. Evidence for multiple Polychromophilus haplotypes was found in 15 individual flies. These results point to a high diversity of P. melanipherus parasites in Miniopterus hosts and efficient transmission throughout the study area. A single Phthiridium biarticulatum bat fly collected from R. ferrumequinum screened positive for P. melanipherus, but only yielded a partial cox1 sequence fragment. Nevertheless, this result suggests that secondary hosts (both bat and fly species) are regularly confronted with this parasite.

Conclusions

The results of this study provide new insights into the prevalence and distribution of Polychromophilus parasites in European bats and their nycteribiid vectors. The use of bat flies for the non-invasive investigation of Polychromophilus infections in bat populations has proven to be efficient and thus represents an alternative for large-scale studies of infections in bat populations without the need to invasively collect blood from bats.

Graphical Abstract
Dopamine D2 receptor on CD4+ T cells is protective against inflammatory responses and signs in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Wang Xiao-Qin , Cai Huan-Huan , Deng Qiao-Wen , Chang Ya-Zhou , Peng Yu-Ping , Qiu Yi-Hua
Published: May 2023

Background

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and has been found to regulate lymphocytes by acting on dopamine receptors (DRs). CD4+T cells express all the five subtypes of DRs, D1R to D5R. Although CD4+T cells have been involved in pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), roles of DRs expressed on these cells in RA are poorly understood. This study determined whether D2R expressed on CD4+T cells regulates inflammatory responses and signs in collagen type II (CII)-induced arthritis (CIA), a mouse model of RA.

Methods

DBA/1 mice and C57BL/6 mice with globalD1rorD2rdeficiency (D1r–/–orD2r–/–) or CD4+T cell-specificD2rdeletion (D2rfl/fl/CD4Cre) were used to prepare CIA model by intradermal injection of CII. D2R agonist sumanirole was intraperitoneally administered in CIA mice. CD4+T cells obtained from CIA mice were exposed to sumanirole or/and D2R antagonist L-741,626 in vitro. Arthritic symptoms were assessed by clinical arthritis scores. Flow cytometric assay measured frequencies of CD4+T cell subsets (Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg cells). Expression of specific transcription factors for the CD4+T cell subsets was tested by Western blot. Cytokine production was estimated by quantitative PCR and ELISA.

Results

CIA mice manifested a bias of CD4+T cells towards Th1 and Th17 cells.D2r–/–CIA mice showed a stronger bias towards Th1 and Th17 phenotypes than CIA mice, whileD1r–/–CIA mice did not show the changes. CD4+T cell-specificD2rdeletion exacerbated both the polarization towards Th1 and Th17 cells and the symptoms of arthritis. Sumanirole administration in CIA mice ameliorated the bias of CD4+T cells towards Th1 and Th17 phenotypes as well as arthritic symptoms. Sumanirole treatment of in vitro CD4+T cells obtained from CIA mice promoted the shift to Treg cells, and the effect of sumanirole was blocked by L-741,626.

Conclusions

D2R expressed on CD4+T cells is protective against imbalance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory T cells and arthritic symptoms in CIA.
Host range of strand-biased circularizing integrative elements: a new class of mobile DNA elements nesting in Gammaproteobacteria
Authors: Idola Desmila , Mori Hiroshi , Nagata Yuji , Nonaka Lisa , Yano Hirokazu
Published: May 2023

Background

The strand-biased circularizing integrative elements (SEs) are putatively non-mobilizable integrative elements for transmitting antimicrobial resistance genes. The transposition mode and the prevalence of SEs in prokaryotes remain vague.

Results

To corroborate the transposition mode and the prevalence of SEs, hypothetical transposition intermediates of an SE were searched for in genomic DNA fractions of an SE host. Then, the SE core genes were defined based on gene knockout experiments, and the synteny blocks of their distant homologs were searched for in the RefSeq complete genome sequence database using PSI-BLAST. A genomic DNA fractionation experiment revealed that SE copies are present in a double-stranded nicked circular form in vivo. Operonic structure of three conserved coding sequences (intA, tfp, intB) and srap located at the left end of SEs were identified as essential for attL × attR recombination. The synteny blocks of tfp and srap homologs were detected in 3.6% of the replicons of Gammaproteobacteria but not in other taxa, implying that SE movement is host-dependent. SEs have been discovered most frequently in the orders Vibrionales (19% of replicons), Pseudomonadales (18%), Alteromonadales (17%), and Aeromonadales (12%). Genomic comparisons revealed 35 new SE members with identifiable termini. SEs are present at 1 to 2 copies per replicon and have a median length of 15.7 kb. Three newly identified SE members carry antimicrobial resistance genes, like tmexCD-toprJ, mcr-9, and blaGMA-1. Further experiments validated that three new SE members possess the strand-biased attL × attR recombination activity.

Conclusions

This study suggested that transposition intermediates of SEs are double-stranded circular DNA. The main hosts of SEs are a subset of free-living Gammaproteobacteria; this represents a rather narrow host range compared to those of mobile DNA element groups discovered to date. As the host range, genetic organization, and movements are unique among the mobile DNA elements, SEs provide a new model system for host-mobile DNA element coevolution studies.
Reference intervals for plasma amyloid-β, total tau, and phosphorylated tau181 in healthy elderly Chinese individuals without cognitive impairment
Authors: Chen Jingshan , Zhao Xue , Zhang Wenyan , Zhang Tianxiang , Wu Siting , Shao Jinghao , Shi Fu-Dong
Published: May 2023

Background

Plasma amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides and tau proteins are promising biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), not only for predicting Aβ and tau pathology but also for differentiating AD from other neurodegenerative diseases. However, reference intervals for plasma biomarkers of AD in healthy elderly Chinese individuals have not yet been established.

Methods

Biomarkers of AD were measured using single-molecule array (Simoa) assays in plasma samples from 193 healthy, cognitively unimpaired Chinese individuals aged 50–89 years. The 95% reference intervals for plasma Aβ42, Aβ40, t-tau, p-tau181, and derived ratios were calculated by using log-transformed parametric methods.

Results

Plasma Aβ42, Aβ40, and p-tau181 levels were positively correlated with age, while the Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio was negatively correlated with age. The 95% reference intervals for plasma Aβ42 and Aβ40 were 2.72–11.09 pg/mL and 61.4–303.9 pg/mL, respectively, and the 95% reference intervals for plasma t-tau and p-tau181 were 0.20–3.12 pg/mL and 0.49–3.29 pg/mL, respectively. The 95% reference intervals for the Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, p-tau181/t-tau ratio, and p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio were 0.022–0.064, 0.38–6.34, and 0.05–0.55, respectively.

Conclusion

Reference intervals for plasma biomarkers of AD may assist clinicians in making accurate clinical decisions.
Rapid evidence assessment on women’s empowerment interventions within the food system: a meta-analysis
Authors: Berretta Miriam , Kupfer Meital , Shisler Shannon , Lane Charlotte
Published: May 2023

Background

Women’s empowerment interventions represent a key opportunity to improve nutrition-related outcomes. Still, cross-contextual evidence on the factors that cause poorer nutrition outcomes for women and girls and how women’s empowerment can improve nutrition outcomes is scant. We rapidly synthesized the available evidence regarding the impacts of interventions that attempt to empower women and/or girls to access, participate in and take control of components of the food system.

Methodology

We considered outcomes related to food security; food affordability and availability; dietary quality and adequacy; anthropometrics; iron, zinc, vitamin A, and iodine status; and measures of wellbeing. We also sought to understand factors affecting implementation and sustainability, including equity. We conducted a rapid evidence assessment, based on the systematic literature search of key academic databases and gray literature sources from the regular maintenance of the living Food System and Nutrition Evidence Gap Map. We included impact evaluations and systematic reviews of impact evaluations that considered the women’s empowerment interventions in food systems and food security and nutrition outcomes. We conducted an additional search for supplementary, qualitative data related to included studies.

Conclusion

Overall, women’s empowerment interventions improve nutrition-related outcomes, with the largest effects on food security and food affordability and availability. Diet quality and adequacy, anthropometrics, effects were smaller, and we found no effects on wellbeing. Insights from the qualitative evidence suggest that women’s empowerment interventions best influenced nutritional outcomes when addressing characteristics of gender-transformative approaches, such as considering gender and social norms. Policy-makers should consider improving women’s social capital so they can better control and decide how to feed their families. Qualitative evidence suggests that multi-component interventions seem to be more sustainable than single-focus interventions, combining a livelihoods component with behavioral change communication. Researchers should consider issues with inconsistent data and reporting, particularly relating to seasonal changes, social norms, and time between rounds of data collection. Future studies on gender-transformative approaches should carefully consider contextual norms and avoid stereotyping women into pre-decided roles, which may perpetuate social norms.
The impact of physical incivility signs on perceived safety in informal settlements in Jordan
Authors: Abed Amal , Aljibarat Samah
Published: May 2023

Feeling safe is essential to improve the social and psychological well-being of residents. Safety is often associated with various signs of incivility in neighborhoods in general and in informal settlements in specific; the latter has been rarely studied in the context of Jordan. Thus, the present research aims to identify physical incivility signs in informal settlements and explore their impact on perceived safety. To address this aim, the study utilized a mixed-method approach that included a content analysis of textual and oral documents, a qualitative analysis of 18 interviews, and a spatial analysis of field observations of the selected research setting (Janna’ah neighborhood in Zarqa, Jordan). The goal was to verify forms of physical incivility signs, including abandoned buildings, narrow alleys, poor lighting, litter, vandalism, graffiti, and abandoned cars. Moreover, a quantitative analysis of (487) responses obtained through structured questionnaires was conducted. The results showed that abandoned buildings, alleys, and poor lighting are significant physical incivility signs affecting perceived safety. feeling safe was also associated with residents’ socio-economic attributes such as age, gender, and occupation.
No difference in load to failure or stiffness between transosseous tunnels, suture anchors, and cortical buttons for pectoralis major tendon repair: a systematic review & meta‐analysis
Authors: Sequeira Sean B. , Sequeira Lynette M. , Wieland Mark D. , Imbergamo Casey M. , Tepper Kenneth
Published: May 2023

Purpose

Surgical options for pectoralis major tendon tears include primary repair, though there is no consensus as to which constructs are biomechanically superior for repair.

Methods

A systematic review was performed by searching PubMed, the Cochrane library, and Embase using PRISMA guidelines to identify studies that analyzed the biomechanical properties of bone tunnels (BT), cortical buttons (CB) and suture anchors (SA) techniques for pectoralis major tendon repair. The search phrase implemented was ‘pectoralis major tendon repair biomechanics’. Studies that did not evaluate biomechanical outcome data, evaluated partial pectoralis major tendon tears, and non‐English articles were excluded. Evaluated outcomes included ultimate load to failure (N) and stiffness (N/mm).

Results

Six studies met inclusion criteria, including a total of 124 cadaveric specimens, for pectoralis major tendon repair comparing BT with SA and CB. Pooled analysis from four studies reporting on ultimate load to failure between BT and SA failed to reveal a difference between BT and SA (p = 0.489). Pooled analysis from two studies reporting on stiffness failed to reveal a difference in favor of BT compared to SA (p = 0.705). Pooled analysis from four studies reporting on ultimate load to failure between BT and CB failed to reveal a difference between BT and CB (p = 0.567). Pooled analysis from two studies reporting on stiffness failed to reveal a difference in favor of BT compared to CB (p = 0.701).

Conclusions

There was no difference in load to failure or stiffness when using BT, CB, or SA in pectoralis major tendon repairs. This review reveals that clinical outcomes may better inform which fixation construct to implement in pectoralis major tendon repairs.

Level of evidence

I.
Failure mechanism, existing constitutive models and numerical modeling of landslides in sensitive clay: a review
Authors: Urmi Zinan Ara , Saeidi Ali , Chavali Rama Vara Prasad , Yerro Alba
Published: May 2023

Landslides involving sensitive clays are recurrent events in the world's northern regions and are especially notorious in eastern Canada. The two critical factors that separate sensitive clay landslides from traditional slope stability analysis are the highly brittle behavior in undrained conditions (strain-softening) characteristic of progressive or retrogressive failures and the large deformations associated with them. Conventional limit equilibrium analysis has numerous shortcomings in incorporating these characteristics when assessing landslides in sensitive clays. This paper presents an extensive literature review of the failure mechanics characteristics of landslides in sensitive clays and the existing constitutive models and numerical tools to analyze such slopes' stability and post-failure behavior. The advantages and shortcomings of the different techniques to incorporate strain-softening and large deformation in the numerical modeling of sensitive clay landslides are assessed. The literature review depicts that elastoviscoplastic soil models with non-linear strain-softening laws and rate effects represent the material behavior of sensitive clays. Though several numerical models have been proposed to analyze post-failure runouts, the amount of work performed in line with sensitive clay landslides is very scarce. That creates an urgent need to apply and further develop advanced numerical tools for better understanding and predicting these catastrophic events.
Bacteriological quality and safety of bottle food and associated factors among bottle-fed babies attending pediatric outpatient clinics of Government Health Institutions in Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia
Authors: Marege Alebachew , Regassa Belayneh , Seid Mohammed , Tadesse Dagimawie , Siraj Munira , Manilal Aseer
Published: May 2023

Background

Microbial contamination of baby bottle food has been identified as a significant public health concern, especially in developing countries, but it remains overlooked. Therefore, this study aimed to determine microbiological hazards, compliance with hygiene practices, and critical control points of contamination in baby bottle food in Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia.

Objective

To evaluate the bacteriological quality and prevalence of foodborne pathogens in baby bottle food and to identify associated factors among bottle-fed babies attending three government health institutions in Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted between February 24 and March 30, 2022. A total of 220 food samples, comprising four types prepared with different sources of materials, were collected from systematically selected bottle-fed babies attending health facilities. The data on sociodemographic characteristics, food hygiene, and handling practices were solicited by face-to-face interview using a semi-structured questionnaire. Food samples (10 mL) were quantitatively analyzed for total viable counts (TVC) and total coliform count (TCC) and qualitatively for the presence of common foodborne bacterial pathogens. Data were analyzed using SPSS; ANOVA and multiple linear regression analyses were done to identify factors influencing microbial counts.

Results

Results revealed that the means and standard deviations of TVC and TCC were 5.3 ± 2.3 log10 colony forming units (CFU)/mL and 4.1 ± 2.6 log10 CFU/mL, respectively. Of the various food samples analyzed, 57.3 and 60.5% had a TVC and TCC above the maximum acceptable limits, respectively. The result of the ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference in the mean score of TCV and TCC among the four types of food samples (p < 0.001). Enterobacteriaceae were found in the majority of positive food samples (79.13%), followed by Gram-positive cocci (20.8%). Salmonella spp., diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus were the common foodborne pathogens detected in 8.6% of tested foods. The regression result revealed that the type of baby food, hand washing practices of mothers or caregivers, and sterilizing and disinfecting procedures of feeding bottles are independent determinants of bacterial contamination (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The high microbial load and the presence of potential foodborne bacterial pathogens in the bottle food samples analyzed indicate unsanitary practices and the potential risk of exposure to foodborne pathogens in bottle-fed babies. Thus, interventions such as educating parents about proper hygiene practices, sterilizing feeding bottles and limiting bottle feeding practices are critical to reducing the risk of foodborne to bottle-fed infants.
Optimization of 177Lu-labelling of DOTA-TOC, PSMA-I&T and FAPI-46 for clinical application
Authors: Cankaya Aylin , Balzer Matthias , Amthauer Holger , Brenner Winfried , Spreckelmeyer Sarah
Published: May 2023

Background

177Lu-radiopharmaceuticals are routinely used for the treatment of various tumor entities. The productions of radiopharmaceuticals follow strict good-manufacturing practice guidelines and synthesis optimizations thereof have a strong impact on e.g. the quality of the product, radiation safety and costs. The purpose of this study is to optimize the precursor load of three radiopharmaceuticals. For that, different precursor loads were evaluated and compared to previously reported findings.

Results

All three radiopharmaceuticals were successfully synthesized in high radiochemical purities and yields on the ML Eazy. The precursor load was optimized for [177Lu]Lu-FAPI-46 from 27.0 to 9.7 µg/GBq, for [177Lu]Lu-DOTATOC from 11 to 10 µg/GBq and for [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-I&T from 16.3 to 11.6 µg/GBq.

Conclusions

We successfully reduced the precursor load for all three radiopharmaceuticals while maintaining their quality.
Measuring symptom burden in patients with cancer during a pandemic: the MD Anderson symptom inventory for COVID-19 (MDASI-COVID)
Authors: Williams Loretta A. , Whisenant Meagan S. , Mendoza Tito R. , Peek Angela E. , Malveaux Donna , Griffin Donna K. , Ponce Darcy A. , Granwehr Bruno Palma , Sheshadri Ajay , Hutcheson Katherine A. , Ali Sara M. , Peterson Susan K. , Heymach John V. , Cleeland Charles S. , Subbiah Ishwaria M.
Published: May 2023

Background

Symptom expression in SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) may affect patients already symptomatic with cancer. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) can describe symptom burden during the acute and postacute stages of COVID-19 and support risk stratification for levels of care. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our purpose was to rapidly develop, launch through an electronic patient portal, and provide initial validation for a PRO measure of COVID-19 symptom burden in patients with cancer.

Methods

We conducted a CDC/WHO web-based scan for COVID-19 symptoms and a relevance review of symptoms by an expert panel of clinicians treating cancer patients with COVID-19 to create a provisional MD Anderson Symptom Inventory for COVID-19 (MDASI-COVID). English-speaking adults with cancer who tested positive for COVID-19 participated in the psychometric testing phase. Patients completed longitudinal assessments of the MDASI-COVID and the EuroQOL 5 Dimensions 5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L) utility index and visual analog scale, which were presented through an electronic health record patient portal. To test the validity of the MDASI-COVID to distinguish between known groups of patients, we hypothesized that patients hospitalized, including having a hospitalization extended, for COVID-19 versus those not hospitalized would experience higher symptom burden. Correlation of mean symptom severity and interference scores with relevant EQ-5D-5L scores tested concurrent validity. The reliability of the MDASI-COVID was evaluated by calculating Cronbach alpha coefficients and test-retest reliability was evaluated by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients between the initial assessment and a second assessment no more than 14 days later.

Results

The web-based scan found 31 COVID-19-related symptoms; rankings of a 14-clinician expert panel reduced this list to 11 COVID-specific items to be added to the core MDASI. Time from literature scan start in March 2020 to instrument launch in May 2020 was 2 months. Psychometric analysis established the MDASI-COVID’s reliability, known-group validity, and concurrent validity.

Conclusions

We were able to rapidly develop and electronically launch a PRO measure of COVID-19 symptom burden in patients with cancer. Additional research is needed to confirm the content domain and predictive validity of the MDASI-COVID and define the symptom burden trajectory of COVID-19.
Psychological complications of the children exposed to domestic violence: a systematic review
Authors: Doroudchi Alireza , Zarenezhad Mohammad , Hosseininezhad Homayoun , Malekpour Abdorrasoul , Ehsaei Zahra , Kaboodkhani Reza , Valiei Maryam
Published: May 2023

Background

Domestic violence (DV) is one of the major concerning health problems worldwide, and individuals who experienced domestic violence, may suffer physical or psychological consequences.

Main body

Children as a major part of the family and society are usually involved in familial challenging events such as domestic violence, and suffer several major complications. This review aimed to explore the psychological consequences of child exposure to domestic violence. A systematic search in four databases yielded 18 peer-reviewed original studies that met the inclusion criteria. Selected studies highlighted the psychological consequences of domestic violence in witnessing and exposed children. The findings of the present study revealed that children exposed to DV suffer various psychological, mental, and behavioral complications which may be short and long-lasting, and moderate or severe. Children exposed to domestic violence may show declined educational performance and social abilities. Internalization problems, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders symptoms, and externalization symptoms such as aggressive behaviors and even lower levels of IQ are of most important reported complications of domestic violence in children. Educational programs for parents as well as trained school caregivers and health policy-makers can diminish and prevent the complications of domestic violence in children.

Conclusion

Considering the importance of children mental hygiene, health policymakers should consider facilities to screen and detect children with signs of maltreatment and exposed to domestic violence. In this regard, trained teachers or school counselors will be helpful, as social supports and therapies may be more effective by early detection affairs.
Exploring interrelationships of COVID-19 dimensions in Saudi Arabia: a systematic review
Authors: Aldossari Hamad Mansur
Published: May 2023

Background

COVID-19 affected the world threatening medical, social, economic and community dimensions. Along with the other countries of the world, Saudi Arabia also witnessed critical emergencies leading to serious disaster due mainly to the overcrowding at certain urban residential localities. Nevertheless, the situation handled meticulously not only with measures and combating strategies but also with documentations and researches to build sustainable confrontation systems and lateral programs.

Main body of abstract

This attempt is a consolidation of the academic efforts on COVID-19 in the country aiming to contribute to the knowledge base aiding to future planning on preparedness. An online survey of published academic research from peer reviewed journals were carried out during August-December 2022, using COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia as search criteria. Many areas of concern are assessed in the context which are classified into spread and burden, patient statistics, symptoms and other clinical dimensions, vaccinations and vaccine acceptance/hesitance, psychosocial impact, impact on education, impact on health staff, impact on migration, impact on nutrition, and control measures adopted.

Short conclusions

A consolidation of these research findings explains the scientific academic community alertness in raising up to the emergency pandemic situation, which facilitated strategy and policy formulations by the Government ministries and other governing bodies. These researches are linked to stagewise programmatic efforts to curtail the epidemic as a mode of accomplishments.
Geochemistry and assessment of groundwater resource in coastal arid region aquifer (Dahab delta, South Sinai, Egypt)
Authors: Samy Amira , Eissa Mustafa , Shahen Seham , Said Moustafa M. , Abou Shahaba Rabab M.
Published: May 2023

Dahab is a tourist city located in the Sinai Peninsula, downstream of the Dahab watershed, as a part of the arid coastal region. Groundwater samples have been collected from the Dahab delta and were tested for salinity, major ions, minor elements, and heavy metals to investigate the geochemical processes deteriorating the groundwater quality. The spatial distribution of major, minor, and trace elements integrated with the geochemical interrelationships using the cumulative salinity bases mixing curves have been utilized to investigate the main source(s) of groundwater recharge and salinization origin in Dahab delta aquifer. The groundwater salinity ranges from 339 upstream of Dahab watershed to 53,216 mg/L downstream in the delta area. The groundwater varies from fresh, brackish, and saline water. The spatial distributions of major ions, minor elements (Si, and Br), and heavy metals (B and Sr) confirm that the recharge comes from the upstream watershed. According to the mixing model curves, groundwater quality has declined due to interactions with the aquifer matrix, mixing with seawater, and rejected brine from the reverse osmosis desalination plants. The fresh/brackish groundwater classes have been recorded in the northwestern part of the study area close to the basement rocks, where the Quaternary aquifer receives considerable recharge through the underneath fractures, joints, and faults that enhance the subsurface recharge. The samples with a high saline groundwater class have been recorded in the eastern and southern parts of the delta, demonstrating the effects of seawater intrusion. Based on WHO guideline criteria, the assessment of groundwater for various uses has determined that most groundwater samples from the alluvial aquifer (91%) are unfit for human consumption. The Water Quality Index indicates that the groundwater in the southern part of the delta is not suitable for all uses due to mixing with the seawater, and injection of rejected brine water from the desalination plants. In the north, groundwater is unfit for drinking and aquatics, excellent for recreation, marginal for irrigation, and fair for livestock. The groundwater in coastal arid region aquifers has deteriorated due to seawater intrusion.
Anticancer potential of algae-derived metabolites: recent updates and breakthroughs
Authors: Sharma Ritu , Mondal Arijit Sankar , Trivedi Nitin
Published: May 2023

Background

Cancer is an increasing medical condition that poses a threat to worldwide populations, despite improvements in scientific research. For normal cancer treatment, a variety of chemotherapeutics, radiation, and medications are available; however, recurrent side effects and multi-drug resistance have limited treatment options and harmed our immune system. Marine algae are a promising source of novel components for the development of new complementary and alternative medications with anti-carcinogenic properties.

Results

In this review, we discussed several breakthrough studies on the anti-carcinogenic effects of several macro- and micro-algal components, demonstrating the inhibition of cancer cell development via multiple mechanisms. These components, often referred to as algal biopolymers, have been demonstrated to exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions and physical properties; as a result, they are used in pharmacological, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and microbiological applications in different sectors. Moreover, treatment of antimicrobial-resistant Helicobacter pylori infection-derived gastric cancer prevention may benefit from the use of algae in addition to standard antibiotics. Additionally, in recent years, it has been shown that algae have incredibly promising low-cost biomedical potentials as therapeutic applications for the treatment of cancer.

Conclusion

In recent years, several preclinical studies with the algal bioactive components in the field of novel drug discovery substituting synthetic drugs have been conducted. To demonstrate their potential anticancer actions on various cancerous signaling pathways and consequently reduce cancer, the enormous plasticity of these algae biopolymers has been intensively explored.
Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Oncology: From Data to Digital Pathology and Treatment
Authors: Senthil Kumar Kirthika , Miskovic Vanja , Blasiak Agata , Sundar Raghav , Pedrocchi Alessandra Laura Giulia , Pearson Alexander T. , Prelaj Arsela , Ho Dean
Published: May 2023

Recently, a wide spectrum of artificial intelligence (AI)–based applications in the broader categories of digital pathology, biomarker development, and treatment have been explored. In the domain of digital pathology, these have included novel analytical strategies for realizing new information derived from standard histology to guide treatment selection and biomarker development to predict treatment selection and response. In therapeutics, these have included AI-driven drug target discovery, drug design and repurposing, combination regimen optimization, modulated dosing, and beyond. Given the continued advances that are emerging, it is important to develop workflows that seamlessly combine the various segments of AI innovation to comprehensively augment the diagnostic and interventional arsenal of the clinical oncology community. To overcome challenges that remain with regard to the ideation, validation, and deployment of AI in clinical oncology, recommendations toward bringing this workflow to fruition are also provided from clinical, engineering, implementation, and health care economics considerations. Ultimately, this work proposes frameworks that can potentially integrate these domains toward the sustainable adoption of practice-changing AI by the clinical oncology community to drive improved patient outcomes.
Rare Heterozygous Loss-of-Function Variants in the Human GLP-1 Receptor Are Not Associated With Cardiometabolic Phenotypes
Authors: Melchiorsen Josefine U , Sørensen Kimmie V , Bork-Jensen Jette , Kizilkaya Hüsün S , Gasbjerg Lærke S , Hauser Alexander S , Rungby Jørgen , Sørensen Henrik T , Vaag Allan , Nielsen Jens S , Pedersen Oluf , Linneberg Allan , Hartmann Bolette , Gjesing Anette P , Holst Jens J , Hansen Torben , Rosenkilde Mette M , Grarup Niels
Published: May 2023

Context

Lost glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) function affects human physiology.

Objective

This work aimed to identify coding nonsynonymous GLP1R variants in Danish individuals to link their in vitro phenotypes and clinical phenotypic associations.

Methods

We sequenced GLP1R in 8642 Danish individuals with type 2 diabetes or normal glucose tolerance and examined the ability of nonsynonymous variants to bind GLP-1 and to signal in transfected cells via cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) formation and β-arrestin recruitment. We performed a cross-sectional study between the burden of loss-of-signaling (LoS) variants and cardiometabolic phenotypes in 2930 patients with type 2 diabetes and 5712 participants in a population-based cohort. Furthermore, we studied the association between cardiometabolic phenotypes and the burden of the LoS variants and 60 partly overlapping predicted loss-of-function (pLoF) GLP1R variants found in 330 566 unrelated White exome-sequenced participants in the UK Biobank cohort.

Results

We identified 36 nonsynonymous variants in GLP1R, of which 10 had a statistically significant loss in GLP-1–induced cAMP signaling compared to wild-type. However, no association was observed between the LoS variants and type 2 diabetes, although LoS variant carriers had a minor increased fasting plasma glucose level. Moreover, pLoF variants from the UK Biobank also did not reveal substantial cardiometabolic associations, despite a small effect on glycated hemoglobin A1c.

Conclusion

Since no homozygous LoS nor pLoF variants were identified and heterozygous carriers had similar cardiometabolic phenotype as noncarriers, we conclude that GLP-1R may be of particular importance in human physiology, due to a potential evolutionary intolerance of harmful homozygous GLP1R variants.
Serum Insulin-like Factor 3, Testosterone, and LH in Experimental and Therapeutic Testicular Suppression
Authors: Albrethsen Jakob , Østergren Peter Busch , Norup Pernille Badsberg , Sønksen Jens , Fode Mikkel , Kistorp Caroline , Nordsborg Nikolai B , Solheim Sara Amalie , Mørkeberg Jakob , Main Katharina M , Juul Anders
Published: May 2023

Background

Serum insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3) is a Leydig cell biomarker, but little is known about the circulating concentration of INSL3 during hypothalamus-pituitary-testicular suppression.

Aim

To study the concomitant changes in serum concentrations of INSL3, testosterone, and LH during experimental and therapeutic testicular suppression.

Methods

We included serum samples from 3 different cohorts comprising subjects before and after testicular suppression: (1) 6 healthy young men who were treated with androgens (Sustanon, Aspen Pharma, Dublin, Ireland); 2) 10 transgender girls (male sex assigned at birth) who were treated with 3-monthly GnRH agonist injections (Leuprorelinacetat, Abacus Medicine, Copenhagen, Denmark); and (3) 55 patients with prostate cancer who were randomized to surgical castration (bilateral subcapsular orchiectomy) or treatment with GnRH agonist (Triptorelin, Ipsen Pharma, Kista, Sweden). Serum INSL3 and testosterone concentrations were quantified in stored serum samples using validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methodologies, and LH was measured by an ultrasensitive immunoassay.

Results

The circulating concentrations of INSL3, testosterone, and LH decreased during experimental testicular suppression in healthy young men by Sustanon injections and subsequently returned to baseline levels after release of suppression. All 3 hormones decreased during therapeutic hormonal hypothalamus-pituitary-testicular suppression in transgender girls and in patients with prostate cancer.

Conclusion

INSL3 resembles testosterone as a sensitive marker of testicular suppression and reflects Leydig cell function, also during exposure to exogenous testosterone. Serum INSL3 measurements may complement testosterone as a Leydig cell marker in male reproductive disorders, during therapeutic testicular suppression as well as in surveillance of illicit use of androgens.
The Racial Economy of Perception: Reading Black Sociality in the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Moskowitz Alex
Published: May 2023

This article investigates a central problem for literary aesthetics in the nineteenth century: why literature won't directly represent Black revolution. It argues that in Blake; or, The Huts of America, Martin Delany thinks through the structural impossibility of conceptualizing a specifically Black sociality by continually refusing to depict Black revolution at the level of the plot. Instead, Blake ties together Black labor with revolution to suggest that within the context of the system of capital in the nineteenth century, Black labor's central role in the world economy renders the social nature of Black revolution similarly imperceptible. Blake reproduces this imperceptibility and unthinkability through its structure. The book, which is famously incomplete, ends just as a violent revolution is about to erupt in Cuba. Whether the final chapters were lost or never written in the first place, this article tracks how this same anticlimactic and nonrepresentational narrative mode is repeated throughout the novel. It suggests that these conspicuous absences serve as formal literary interventions that point toward the impossibility of thinking, sensing, and thereby representing a specifically Black sociality. The article explores how Delany adopts the literary technique of withholding used in the slave narrative to actively play with the formal and generic bounds of the novel and the slave narrative alike. By adopting this familiar technique, Delany asks what role the novel has within the African American literary tradition and what role fiction can play in interrogating the limits of a mode of political thought hemmed in by a racialized political economy.
The Edges of Fiction: Dostoevsky, Merezhkovsky, and the Birth of Novel Theory
Authors: Kitzinger Chloë
Published: May 2023

This article argues that the early twentieth-century Dostoevsky criticism of Russian Symbolist thinkers, roughly contemporaneous with Henry James's New York Edition prefaces, laid the foundation for an alternative line of novel theory, engaged not with the novel's claim to the status of high art but with the possibility of an unmediated exchange between literature and life. Interpreting Dostoevsky as a precursor to their own ideal of “life-creation,” Symbolist writers like Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Viacheslav Ivanov formulated the influential cultural construct called here the liminal Dostoevsky: Dostoevsky as a novelist who not only represents characters at the extremes of human being but also transgresses the conventional boundaries of literary texts. The liminal Dostoevsky became vital to two foundational works of novel theory, Georg Lukács's The Theory of the Novel (1916) and Mikhail Bakhtin's Problems of Dostoevsky's Creative Art (1929). While Lukács's later conversion to Marxism led him away from the ideal of erasing the boundary between art and life, Bakhtin pursued it throughout his writings, smuggling the logic of Symbolist life-creation into the language of modern literary theory. Now is an apt moment to revisit this genealogy. As writers and theorists of autofiction and the contemporary novel renew the dream of transcending aesthetic representation, it is crucial to historicize and interrogate our tendency to privilege the novel's capacity for dialogue with the reader over its capacity to weave immersive fictional illusions. Dostoevsky's example suggests, instead, that these two sides of novelistic creation exist in productive and perpetual tension.