bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Influence of Sex and Age on Ratings of Confidence and Relevance in Continuing Certification Longitudinal Assessment
Authors: Kinney Carolyn L. , Raddatz Mikaela M. , Robinson Lawrence R. 
Published: November 2020

Objective
Longitudinal assessments use spaced repetition of items to facilitate learning. Algorithms selecting repetition items can prioritize various properties for future presentation. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the relationship between participant ratings of item-specific confidence and/or practice relevance and participant age, sex, and response correctness.

Design
This is a prospective quality improvement study of 403 American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation diplomates with time-limited certificates. Participants answered 20 items quarterly over four quarters, rating each item on its relevance to their practice and their confidence in their response.

Results
The relationship between sex and ratings of response confidence was significant, with women less likely than men to be confident in their responses, regardless of correctness. Younger physicians were significantly more confident in their responses and rated items as more practice relevant.

Conclusions
Women physicians were less confident than men in their item-specific confidence ratings, regardless of correctness, on the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation continuing certification longitudinal knowledge assessment. Older physicians were less confident in their responses than younger physicians. The findings supported the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation prioritization of response correctness and practice relevance, rather than response confidence, to select items for spaced repetition in American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation’s continuing certification longitudinal assessment.
Metformin Inhibits Transforming Growth Factor β–Induced Fibrogenic Response of Human Dermal Fibroblasts and Suppresses Fibrosis in Keloid Spheroids
Authors: Jeon Hong Bae , Roh Hyun , Ahn Hyo Min , Lee Ju Hee , Yun Chae Ok , Roh Tai Suk , Lee Won Jai 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Accumulation of excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) and aberrant transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling pathway function can be potential therapeutic targets for keloid treatment. In this study, we examined the antifibrotic effect of metformin as a suppressor of TGF-β signaling pathways in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and keloid spheroids. Human dermal fibroblasts were stimulated with TGF-β (10 ng/mL) and treated with metformin (10 mM). The mRNA and protein expression of ECM components were evaluated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blot, and immunofluorescence assay. In addition, we immunohistochemically examined the expression levels of ECM proteins in keloid spheroids. After addition of metformin (10 mM), collagen types I and III and elastin mRNA levels were significantly decreased in HDFs, and collagen type I protein level was significantly decreased. In addition, the expression levels of collagen types I and III, fibronectin, and elastin were significantly reduced in keloid spheroids after treatment with metformin (100 mM). Collagen types I and III and p-Smad2/3 complex proteins were decreased in metformin-treated keloid spheroids. These findings indicated that metformin inhibits the expression of ECM components in TGF-β–stimulated HDFs and keloid spheroids. Therefore, we suggest the potential of metformin as an effective agent for the treatment of keloids.
COVID-19 in Lung Transplant Recipients
Authors: Messika Jonathan , Eloy Philippine , Roux Antoine , Hirschi Sandrine , Nieves Ana , Le Pavec Jérôme , Sénéchal Agathe , Saint Raymond Christel , Carlier Nicolas , Demant Xavier , Le Borgne Aurélie , Tissot Adrien , Debray Marie-Pierre , Beaumont Laurence , Renaud-Picard Benjamin , Reynaud-Gaubert Martine , Mornex Jean-François , Falque Loïc , Boussaud Véronique , Jougon Jacques , Mussot Sacha , Mal Hervé ,   for the French Group of Lung Transplantation
Published: November 2020

Background.
A concern about the susceptibility of immunocompromised patients to the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been raised. We aimed at describing COVID-19 infections in the French cohort of lung transplant (LT) patients.

Methods.
Multicenter nationwide cohort study of all LT recipients with COVID-19 diagnosed from March 1 to May 19, 2020. Recipient main characteristics and their management were retrieved. Hospitalization characteristics, occurrence of complications and survival were analyzed.

Results.
Thirty-five LT patients with a COVID-19 infection were included. Median age was 50.4 (40.6–62.9) years, 16 (45.7%) were female, and 80% were double-LT recipients. Infection was community-acquired in 25 (71.4%). Thirty-one (88.6%) required hospitalization, including 13 (41.9%) in the intensive care unit. The main symptoms of COVID-19 were fever, cough, and diarrhea, present in 71.4%, 54.3%, and 31.4% of cases, respectively. Extension of pneumonia on chest CT was moderate to severe in 51.4% of cases. Among the 13 critically ill patients, 7 (53.9%) received invasive mechanical ventilation. Thrombotic events occurred in 4 patients. Overall survival rate was 85.7% after a median follow-up of 50 days (41.0–56.5). Four of 5 nonsurvivors had had bronchial complications or intensification of immunosuppression in the previous weeks. On univariate analysis, overweight was significantly associated with risk of death (odds ratio, 16.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-170.6; P = 0.02).

Conclusions.
For the 35 LT recipients with COVID-19, the presentation was severe, requiring hospitalization in most cases, with a survival rate of 85.7%.
Unraveling the Crucial Roles of FoxP3+ Regulatory T Cells in Vascularized Composite Allograft Tolerance Induction and Maintenance
Authors: Anggelia Madonna Rica , Cheng Hui-Yun , Chuang Wen-Yu , Hsieh Yun-Huan , Wang Aline Yen Ling , Lin Chih-Hung , Wei Fu-Chan , Brandacher Gerald , Lin Cheng-Hung 
Published: November 2020

Background.
The role of regulatory T cells (Treg) in tolerance induction of vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) remains unclear. This study was designed to examine characteristics of Treg after VCA and their capacity to rescue allografts from rejection.

Methods.
Osteomyocutaneous allografts were transplanted from Balb/c to C57BL/6 mice. All mice received costimulatory blockade and a short course of rapamycin. To elucidate the role of Treg for tolerance induction, Treg depletion was performed at postoperative day (POD) 0, 30, or 90. To assess capacity of Treg to rescue allografts from rejection, an injection of 2 × 106 Treg isolated from tolerant mice was applied.

Results.
Eighty percent of VCA recipient mice using costimulatory blockade and rapamycin regimen developed tolerance. The tolerant recipients had a higher ratio of circulating Treg to effector T cells and elevated interleukin-10 at POD 30. A significantly higher rejection rate was observed when Treg were depleted at POD 30. But Treg depletion at POD 90 had no effect on tolerance. Treg from tolerant recipients showed stronger suppressive potential and the ability to rescue allografts from rejection. Furthermore, transplanted Treg-containing skin grafts from tolerant mice delayed rejection elicited by adoptively transferred effector T cells to Rag2–/– mice.

Conclusions.
Circulating Treg are crucial for inducing VCA tolerance in the early posttransplant phase, and allograft-residing Treg may maintain tolerance. Treg may, therefore, serve as a potential cellular therapeutic to improve VCA outcomes.
Summary of International Recommendations for Donation and Transplantation Programs During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
Authors: Weiss Matthew J. , Lalani Jehan , Patriquin-Stoner Chelsea , Dieudé Mélanie , Hartell David , Hornby Laura , Shemie Sam D. , Wilson Lindsay , Mah Allison 
Published: November 2020

Background.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of the international organ donation and transplantation (ODT) system. Multiple organizations have developed guidance, but to date, no comparative summary has emerged to understand differences in existing recommendations.

Methods.
We developed and applied a comparative methodology to a convenience sample of recommendations available on The Transplantation Society website. Document types were classified according to characteristics such as type of organization (eg, governing body or professional society) and geographic region. Recommendations were grouped according to content, and summaries were posted on a public website. This process is ongoing and will be updated as new recommendations become available.

Results.
Eighteen documents were extracted in the initial review. All documents were based on expert opinion, and none described a formal literature review or adherence with clinical guideline development processes. Recommendation categories included screening of potential donors, risk assessment of potential recipients, posttransplant risk, living/paired donation, protection of ODT professionals, and ethics/logistics. While many documents included similar recommendations, such as the need to screen and test patients who are potential donors, there was variation on some topics. Type of recommended laboratory testing varied with 64% recommending nasopharyngeal swabs, 43% oropharyngeal, and 24% bronchial aspirates. Updated results are available at https://cdtrp.ca/en/covid-19-international-recommendations-for-odt/

Conclusions.
The current state of COVID-19 ODT recommendations is limited to expert opinion. Substantial variation exists regarding recommendations, which are based on emerging but currently low-quality evidence. This summary of existing recommendations will serve to inform priorities for evidence-based recommendations.
Central and peripheral stress-induced epigenetic mechanisms of resilience
Authors: Dudek Katarzyna Anna , Kaufmann Fernanda Neutzling , Lavoie Olivier , Menard Caroline 
Published: November 2020

Purpose of review
Resilience is an adaptation process presented by an individual despite facing adversities. Epigenetic changes, such as histone acetylation/methylation and DNA methylation, have been demonstrated to mediate stress response. In this review, we summarize recent findings on epigenetic mechanisms contributing to stress resilience.

Recent findings
: Epigenetic modifications of genes involved in synaptic plasticity, endocrine, immune, and vascular systems are linked to resilience. For instance, increased DNA methylation of the nonneuronal growth factor Gdnf in specific brain regions promotes stress resilience. Additionally, high DNA methylation at the glucocorticoid receptor gene was associated with resilience in both rodents and humans. At the immune level, chronic stress induces increased DNA methylation at IL6 gene, a mediator of stress vulnerability. Moreover, epigenetic adaptations of the blood--brain barrier have been recently associated with stress resilience, which could lead to innovative therapeutic approaches to treat depression.

Summary
Identification of both central and peripheral epigenetic changes promoting stress resilience represent promising novel targets in the development of preventive and personalized medicine. Nevertheless, more research is needed to establish sex specific differences and to identify novel epigenetic mechanisms, such as serotonylation and dopaminylation, that hold great promises for the field of psychiatry.
COVID-19 Active Surveillance Simulation Case Study - Health and Economic Impacts of Active Surveillance in a School Environment
Authors: Saad Ali A. , Saad Malak , Boctor Emad M. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of almost all human beings and has forced stay-at-home mandates across the world. Government and school officials are facing challenging decisions on how to start the new 2020/2021 school year. Almost every school system has chosen a remote learning model for the Fall of 2020 while many are facing financial and logistical challenges.In this study, we explore the efficacy of an Active Surveillance testing model where a random number of students are tested daily for early detection of asymptomatic patients and for prevention of the infection among the student population. In addition to health impacts, we also analyze the financial impact of deploying the Active Surveillance system in schools while taking into consideration lost workdays of parents, hospitalization costs, and testing costs.Under the given assumptions, initial modeling results indicate that low Active Surveillance testing rates (between 6-10% daily testing of student population) can help achieve low infection rates (≤10%) among students along with enforcing mitigation procedures, such as wearing masks and social distancing. Without enforcing mitigation procedures, the optimal Active Surveillance rate of 8-10% can also achieve (≤10%) infection rates among student population. The results also demonstrate that Active Surveillance can lower the financial burden of the pandemic by proactively lowering the infection rates among student populations.
Impacts of teaching modality on U.S. COVID-19 spread in fall 2020 semester
Authors: Badruddoza Syed , Amin Modhurima Dey 
Published: November 2020

AbstractWe study the impact of college reopening in Fall 2020 on county-level COVID-19 cases and deaths using the information of 1,076 randomly chosen four- and two-year undergraduate degree-granting colleges from the National Center for Education Statistics. These institutions include public, private nonprofit, and for profit schools from 50 US states and the District of Columbia. We match college and county characteristics using several methods and calculate the average treatment effects of three teaching modalities: in-person, online, and hybrid on COVID-19 outcomes up to two months after college reopening. In pairwise comparison, colleges reopened with in-person teaching mode were found to have about 35 percentage points more cases within 15 days of reopening, compared to those that reopened online, and the gap widens over time at a decreasing rate. Death rates follow the pattern with a time lag. However, colleges with hybrid mode reach up to the rates of in-person mode after some time. We also find that greater endowment and student population, bigger class size, and fewer Republican voters in the county are major predictors of choosing remote teaching modes over in-person.
Acquisition and carriage dynamics of fluoroquinolone resistant Enterobacteriaceae at individual and household levels
Authors: Musicha Patrick , Stewardson Andrew J. , Mo Yin , Vervoort Jascha , Adriaenssens Niels , Coenen Samuel , Godycki-Cwirko Maciek , Kowalczyk Anna , Lammens Christine , Malhotra-Kumar Surbhi , Goossens Herman , Harbarth Stephan , Cooper Ben S. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractCarriage dynamics of drug-resistant bacteria, especially within households, are poorly understood. This limits the ability to develop effective interventions for controlling the spread of antimicrobial resistance in the community. Two groups consisting of: (i) patients with urinary tract infection requiring antimicrobial treatment; and (ii) patients who were not prescribed antimicrobial treatment were prospectively recruited at three European sites: Antwerp (Belgium), Geneva (Switzerland) and Lodz (Poland). Each index patient and up to three additional household members provided faecal samples at baseline, completion of antimicrobial therapy (or 7-10 days after the first sample for the non-exposed) and 28 days after the second sample. We analysed household-level and individual-level fluoroquinolone resistant Enterobacteriaceae (FQR-E) acquisition and carriage data using Bayesian multi-state Markov models. At the individual level, we estimated a median baseline FQR-E acquisition rate of 0.006 (95%CrI = [0.004, 0.01]) per day, and a median duration of carriage of 24.4 days (95% CrI=[15.23,41.38]). Nitrofurantoin exposure was associated with a reduced rate of FQR-E acquisition (HR=0.28, 95%CrI=[0.14,0.56]), while fluoroquinolone exposure had no clear association with rates of FQR-E acquisition (HR=1.43, 95% CrI=[0.81,2.53]) at individual level. There was evidence that rates of FQR-E acquisition varied by site, and coming from Lodz was associated with a higher acquisition rate (HR=3.56, 95% CrI=[1.92, 6.34]). Prolonged duration of carriage was associated with exposure to fluoroquinolone or nitrofurantoin during the study, use of any antimicrobial agent in the prior 12 months and travel to endemic regions. At household level, we found strong evidence of positive association between FQR-E acquisition and fluoroquinolone exposure (HR=3.43, 95% CrI=[1.51,7.74]). There was weak evidence of negative association between FQR-E acquisition and nitrofurantoin exposure (HR=0.42, 95%CrI=[0.12, 1.24]. Similar to the individual level, carriage duration was also associated with antimicrobial exposure at the household level. Our study has identified within household contacts as an important route for FQR-E transmission and highlights the need for prioritising household focused interventions to control FQR-E spread.
A Novel 3-Dimensional technique in measuring pericoronary epicardial adipose tissue radiodensity
Authors: Xu Lingyu , Hrybouski Stanislau , Xu Yuancheng , Coulden Richard , Sonnex Emer , Paterson D. Ian , Butler Craig 
Published: November 2020

ABSTRACTObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate a novel semi-automated three-dimensional (3D) quantification of the pericoronary epicardial adipose tissue radiodensity (PCATrd).MethodsTwenty-four subjects who previously underwent contrast-enhanced cardiac CT scans were retrospectively identified. The PCATrd was measured in ITK-SNAP imaging software using a Hounsfield unit threshold (−190,-3) to define epicardial adipose tissue (EAT). A spherical 3D brush tool was used on multiplanar reformatted images to segment the PCAT. We defined the PCATrd as EAT within the orthogonal distance from the coronary artery (CA) outer wall equal to the diameter of the corresponding CA segment. The segmentation followed the path of major CAs. Additionally, the PCAT of twenty-five calcified segments were segmented. Reliability of this novel segmentation protocol was assessed using Dice Similarity Coefficients (DSCs) and intraclass coefficient (ICC).ResultsThe segmentation reproducibility for the PCAT was high, with intraobserver DSC 0.86±0.04 for the full length of major CAs and 0.85±0.07 for the calcified segments, and interobserver DSC 0.84±0.04 for the full length of major CAs and 0.83±0.05 for the calcified segments. The reproducibility of the PCATrd value assessed by ICC was also excellent, with intraobserver ICC 0.99 for the full length of major CAs and 0.99 for the calcified segments, and interobserver ICC 0.99 for the full length of major CAs and 0.99 for the calcified segments.ConclusionsOur novel 3D PCATrd quantification technique is reliable and reproducible. The availability of the open source software and detailed image analysis pipeline will enable reliable replications and broad uptake of our technique.Key pointsWe have produced a novel, semiautomated technique to comprehensively quantify pericoronary epicardial adipose tissue radiodensity (PCATrd) which is a novel imaging biomarker of coronary inflammation.Our method of PCAT segmentation has excellent reproducibility.We use open source software and provide detailed image analysis pipeline of quantifying PCATrd, which will allow easy replication and broad uptake of our technique.
Transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers of a French university hospital in Paris, France: a case-control study
Authors: Contejean Adrien , Leporrier Jérémie , Canouï Etienne , Fourgeaud Jacques , Mariaggi Alice-Andrée , Alby-Laurent Fanny , Lafont Emmanuel , Beaudeau Lauren , Rouzaud Claire , Lecieux Fabienne , Greffet Agnès , L’Honneur Anne-Sophie , Tréluyer Jean-Marc , Lanternier Fanny , Casetta Anne , Frange Pierre , Leruez-Ville Marianne , Rozenberg Flore , Lortholary Olivier , Kernéis Solen 
Published: November 2020

AbstractIn this case-control study on 564 healthcare workers of a university hospital in Paris (France), contacts without protection with COVID-19 patients or with colleagues were associated with infection with SARS-CoV-2, while working in a COVID-dedicated unit, using public transportation and having children kept in childcare facilities were not.
Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant
Authors: Nuiten Stijn A. , Canales-Johnson Andrés , Beerendonk Lola , Nanuashvili Nutsa , Fahrenfort Johannes J. , Bekinschtein Tristan , van Gaal Simon 
Published: November 2020

AbstractConflict detection in sensory input is central to adaptive human behavior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, past research has shown that conflict may even be detected in absence of conflict awareness, suggesting that conflict detection is an automatic process that does not require attention. To test the possibility of conflict processing in the absence of attention, we manipulated task relevance and response overlap of potentially conflicting stimulus features across six behavioral tasks. Multivariate analyses on human electroencephalographic data revealed neural signatures of conflict only when at least one feature of a conflicting stimulus was attended, regardless of whether that feature was part of the conflict, or overlaps with the response. In contrast, neural signatures of basic sensory processes were present even when a stimulus was completely unattended. These data reveal an attentional bottleneck at the level of objects, suggesting that object-based attention is a prerequisite for cognitive control operations involved in conflict detection.