bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Collecting Duct NOS1 is Necessary to Maintain Sodium Balance in Male, But Not Female Mice
Authors: Sedaka Randee S. , Dunaway Luke S , Allan J. Miller , Holliday Alexis D. , Almutlaq Rawan , Hyndman Kelly A. , Pollock Jennifer S. 
Published: April 2020

Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1) is a well‐established regulator of fluid and electrolyte balance in the collecting duct (CD). We previously reported that a loss of CDNOS1 in male mice results in reduced sodium excretion, urine volume, and nitric oxide (NO) excretion as well as increased plasma sodium compared to flox control mice after being challenged with 1 day of high salt diet. However, it is not yet known if this genotype difference is conserved in female mice. Therefore, we investigated whether collecting duct NOS1 is critical in maintaining homeostasis in female mice. Female CDNOS1KO and flox control mice were acclimated to metabolic cages and placed on a sodium deficient (LS, 1 week) then challenged with a high sodium (HS, 1 day) diet and urine collected. Female CDNOS1KO mice and flox control mice had similar sodium excretion (Flox: 3.24±0.32, KO: 2.62±0.31mmol/day; n=8–12/group, p>0.05), urine volume (Flox: 7.69±0.75, KO: 6.42±0.82mL/day; n=8–12/group, p>0.05), and NOx excretion (Flox: 1099±205, KO: 1339±389 μmol/day; n=8–12/group, p>0.05) in addition to comparable plasma sodium levels (Flox: 146±1.0, KO: 147±0.5mmol/L; n=6/group, p>0.05) after one day of a high salt challenge. Furthermore, urinary prostaglandin E metabolite excretion was similar between genotypes after a high salt challenge (Flox: 3187±382, KO: 2744±291pg/day; n=8–10/group, p>0.05), suggesting that female mice are able to compensate for a loss of NOS1‐derived NO in the collecting duct. Additionally, we performed RT‐PCR on male and female renal vessels and found that unlike males, female CDNOS1KO mice have significantly elevated vascular endothelin 1 mRNA expression (Male‐ flox: 1.00±0.09, KO: 0.98±0.03; n=6/group, p>0.05; Female‐ flox: 1.00±0.18, KO: 1.75±0.24; n=5–6/group, p=0.03). In conclusion, female mice do not rely on collecting duct NOS1‐derived NO to maintain fluid‐electrolyte balance. We propose that female mice utilize endothelin‐1 and/or NO production in other renal segments.Support or Funding InformationF31DK111067 to RSS, F31HL149235 to LSD, and P01HL136267, AHA 19SRG34930023 to JSP
Survival After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest In Critically Ill Patients Implications For The Covid-19 Pandemic?
Authors: Girotra Saket , Tang Yuanyuan , Chan Paul S. , Nallamothu Brahmajee K. 
Published: April 2020

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is placing a considerable strain on U.S. healthcare systems. Due to presumptions of poor outcomes in such critically ill patients, many hospitals have started considering a universal do-not-resuscitate order in patients with confirmed Covid-19 given a limited supply of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and the potential risk of transmission of infection to healthcare workers during resuscitation. However, empirical data on survival of cardiac arrest in Covid-19 patients are unavailable at this time.To inform this debate, we report survival outcomes following cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a cohort of similar critically ill patients with pneumonia or sepsis who were receiving mechanical ventilation in an ICU at the time of arrest. The probability of survival without severe neurological disability (CPC of 1 or 2) ranged from less than 3% to over 22% across key patient subgroups, For patients with an initial rhythm of asystole or PEA, who were also receiving vasopressors at the time of arrest, fewer than 10% were discharged without severe neurological disability (CPC of 1 or 2), and this number dropped to less than 3% in patients over 80 years old. In contrast, survival rates were much higher in younger patients, patients with an initial rhythm of VF or pulseless VT, and in patients receiving ventilatory support without vasopressors.Our findings suggest caution in universal resuscitation policies. Even in a cohort of critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation, survival outcomes following in-hospital resuscitation were not uniformly poor and varied markedly depending on age, co-morbidities and illness severity. We believe that these data can help inform discussions among patients, providers and hospital leaders regarding resuscitation policies and goals of care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An experimental trial of recombinant human interferon alpha nasal drops to prevent COVID-19 in medical staff in an epidemic area
Authors: Meng Zhongji , Wang Tongyu , Chen Li , Chen Xinhe , Li Longti , Qin Xueqin , Li Hai , Luo Jie 
Published: April 2020

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy and safety of recombinant human interferon alpha (rhIFN-α) nasal drops in healthy medical staff to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).MethodsA prospective, open-label study was conducted in January 21, 2020at Taihe Hospital in Shiyan City, Hubei Province. Totally, 2944 medical staff members were recruited and allocated into low-risk group or high-risk group according to whether they were directly exposed to COVID-19 patients. Participants in the low-risk group received rhIFN-α nasal drops (2–3 drops/nostril/time, 4 times/day) for 28 days with first-level protection; those in the high-risk group received identical rhIFN-α nasal drops combined with thymosin-α1 (1.6 mg, hypodermic injection, once a week) along with secondary-level or third-level protection. The primary outcome was new-onset COVID-19 over 28 days. The secondary outcome was new-onset fever or respiratory symptoms but with negative pulmonary images. The results were compared with new-onset COVID-19 in medical staff in Hubei Province (including Wuhan) during the same period. Adverse reactions to interferon nasal drops were also observed.ResultsAmong the 2944 subjects in our study, 2415 were included in the low-risk group, including 997 doctors and 1418 nurses with average ages of 37.38 and 33.56 years, respectively; 529 were included in the high-risk group, including 122 doctors and 407 nurses with average ages of 35.24 and 32.16 years, respectively. The 28-day incidence of COVID-19 was zero in both the high and low-risk groups. The 28-day incidence of new-onset clinical symptoms with negative images for pneumonia was also zero in both the high and low-risk groups. As control, a total of 2035 medical personnel with confirmed COVID-19 from the same area (Hubei Province) was observed between January 21 to February 23, 2020. No serious adverse events were observed in our trial during the intervention period.ConclusionIn this investigator-initiated open-label study, we observed that rhIFN-α nasal drops may effectively prevent COVID-19 in medical staff, as an enhancement protection on the basis of standard physical isolation. Our results also indicate that rhIFN-α nasal drops have potential promise for protecting susceptible healthy people during the coronavirus pandemic.
Learning as We Go: An Examination of the Statistical Accuracy of COVID19 Daily Death Count Predictions
Authors: Marchant Roman , Samia Noelle I. , Rosen Ori , Tanner Martin A. , Cripps Sally 
Published: April 2020

A recent model developed at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) provides forecasts for ventilator use and hospital beds required for the care of COVID19 patients on a state-by-state basis throughout the United States over the period March 2020 through August 2020 (See the related website https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections for interactive data visualizations). In addition, the manuscript and associated website provide projections of deaths per day and total deaths throughout this period for the entire US, as well as for the District of Columbia. This research has received extensive attention in social media, as well as in the mass media. Moreover, this work has influenced policy makers at the highest levels of the United States government, having been mentioned at White House Press conferences, including March 31, 2020.In this paper, we evaluate the predictive validity of model forecasts for COVID19 outcomes as data become sequentially available, using the IHME prediction of daily deaths. We have found that the predictions for daily number of deaths provided by the IHME model have been highly inaccurate. The model has been found to perform poorly even when attempting to predict the number of next day deaths. In particular, the true number of next day deaths has been outside the IHME prediction intervals as much as 70% of the time.
Modelling and analysis of COVID-19 epidemic in India
Authors: Tiwari Alok 
Published: April 2020

ABSTRACTCOVID-19 epidemic is declared as the public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation in the second week of March 2020. This disease originated from China in December 2019 has already caused havoc around the world, including India. The first case in India was reported on 30thJanuary 2020, with the cases crossing 6000 on the day paper was written. Complete lockdown of the nation for 21 days and immediate isolation of infected cases are the proactive steps taken by the authorities. For a better understanding of the evolution of COVID-19 in the country, Susceptible-Infectious-Quarantined-Recovered (SIQR) model is used in this paper. It is predicted that actual infectious population is ten times the reported positive case (quarantined) in the country. Also, a single case can infect 1.55 more individuals of the population. Epidemic doubling time is estimated to be around 4.1 days. All indicators are compared with Brazil and Italy as well. SIQR model has also predicted that India will see the peak with 22,000 active cases during the last week of April followed by reduction in active cases. It may take complete July for India to get over with COVID-19.
Social decision making is influenced by size of shoal but not personality or familiarity in Deccan Mahseer (Tor khudree)
Authors: Varma Vishwanath , Singh Abhishek , Vijayan Jintu , Binoy VV 
Published: April 2020

AbstractShoals formed by many piscine species are fission-fusion societies where decisions to leave or join a group can have consequences on the fitness of individuals. Some important factors that determine shoal choice are shoal size, familiarity and species composition. However, individuals and species often exhibit distinct shoaling preferences. Individual differences in shoaling preferences may also be related to personality traits such as boldness and sociability. In this study, we examined the link between shoaling decisions and personality traits in a hatchery reared population of an endangered megafish, the Deccan Mahseer (Tor khudree). We found that this fish exhibits a distinct preference for larger shoals at ratios of 1:2 or greater. However, they did not prefer to associate with an isolated familiar individual over unfamiliar ones or with a member of their own species over an invasive species. Moreover, shoaling preferences in individuals did not correlate with their boldness or sociability. These results suggest that hatchery reared mahseers which are reintroduced into natural habitats may shoal with invasive species, negatively affecting their viability. Modifying social behaviour of mahseers by amending rearing practices may be a useful strategy to improve outcomes of restocking interventions.
Machine Learning Analysis of Chest CT Scan Images as a Complementary Digital Test of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Patients
Authors: Al-Karawi Dhurgham , Al-Zaidi Shakir , Polus Nisreen , Jassim Sabah 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThis paper reports on the development and performance of machine learning schemes for the analysis of Chest CT Scan images of Coronavirus COVID-19 patients and demonstrates significant success in efficiently and automatically testing for COVID-19 infection. In particular, an innovative frequency domain algorithm, to be called FFT-Gabor scheme, will be shown to predict in almost real-time the state of the patient with an average accuracy of 95.37%, sensitivity 95.99% and specificity 94.76%. The FFT-Gabor scheme is adequately informative in that clinicians can visually examine the FFT-Gabor feature to support their final diagnostic.Key StrengthsThe proposed FFT-Gabor scheme is an automatic machine learning scheme that works in real time and achieves significantly high accuracy with very low false negative, and can provide supporting evidences of the predicted decision by visually displaying the final features upon which decision is made. This scheme will be most beneficial when used in addition to the RT-PCR swab test of non-symptomatic cases.
Sample-Efficient Deep Learning for COVID-19 Diagnosis Based on CT Scans
Authors: He Xuehai , Yang Xingyi , Zhang Shanghang , Zhao Jinyu , Zhang Yichen , Xing Eric , Xie Pengtao 
Published: April 2020

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected more than 1.3 million individuals all over the world and caused more than 106,000 deaths. One major hurdle in controlling the spreading of this disease is the inefficiency and shortage of medical tests. There have been increasing efforts on developing deep learning methods to diagnose COVID-19 based on CT scans. However, these works are difficult to reproduce and adopt since the CT data used in their studies are not publicly available. Besides, these works require a large number of CTs to train accurate diagnosis models, which are difficult to obtain. In this paper, we aim to address these two problems. We build a publicly-available dataset containing hundreds of CT scans positive for COVID-19 and develop sample-efficient deep learning methods that can achieve high diagnosis accuracy of COVID-19 from CT scans even when the number of training CT images are limited. Specifically, we propose a Self-Trans approach, which synergistically integrates contrastive self-supervised learning with transfer learning to learn powerful and unbiased feature representations for reducing the risk of overfitting. Extensive experiments demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed Self-Trans approach compared with several state-of-the-art baselines. Our approach achieves an F1 of 0.85 and an AUC of 0.94 in diagnosing COVID-19 from CT scans, even though the number of training CTs is just a few hundred.
Single-cell transcriptomics predicts relapse in MLL-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia in infants
Authors: Candelli Tito , Schneider Pauline , Castro Patricia Garrido , Jones Luke A. , Pieters Rob , Margaritis Thanasis , Stam Ronald W. , Holstege Frank C.P. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractInfants with MLL-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) undergo intense therapy to counter a highly aggressive leukemia with survival rates of only 30-40%. The majority of patients initially show therapy response, but in two-thirds of cases the leukemia returns, typically during treatment. Accurate relapse prediction would enable treatment strategies that take relapse risk into account, with potential benefits for all patients. Through analysis of diagnostic bone marrow biopsies, we show that single-cell RNA sequencing can predict future relapse occurrence. By analysing gene modules derived from an independent study of the gene expression response to the key drug prednisone, individual leukemic cells are predicted to be either resistant or sensitive to treatment. Quantification of the proportion of cells classified by single-cell transcriptomics as resistant or sensitive, accurately predicts the occurrence of future relapse in individual patients. Strikingly, the single-cell based classification is even consistent with the order of relapse timing. These results lay the foundation for risk-based treatment of MLL-rearranged infant ALL, through single-cell classification. This work also sheds light on the subpopulation of cells from which leukemic relapse arises. Leukemic cells associated with high relapse risk are characterized by a smaller size and a quiescent gene expression program. These cells have significantly fewer transcripts, thereby also demonstrating why single-cell analyses may outperform bulk mRNA studies for risk stratification. This study indicates that single-cell RNA sequencing will be a valuable tool for risk stratification of MLL-rearranged infant ALL, and shows how clinically relevant information can be derived from single-cell genomics.Key PointsSingle-cell RNA sequencing accurately predicts relapse in MLL-rearranged infant ALLIdentification of cells from which MLL-rearranged infant ALL relapses occur
Analyzing the effects of altitudes on the metabolic diversity and forskolin content inColeus forskohliiroots by HPTLC and HPLC
Authors: Rana Pawan Singh , Saklani Pooja , Chandel Chandresh 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIntroductionColeus forskohliiis an important medicinal plant native to India. It grows wild in a wide range of altitude in the Indian Himalayan region and contains some important phytochcemicals which possess remarkable medicinal properties. The plant contains terpenoid like Forskolin in its roots.ObjectiveConsidering the medicinal importance ofC. forskohlii, being the only source of Forskolinand its availability over a wide altitude range, the effect of altitude on the metabolic diversity and forskolin content was assessed using the HPTLC and HPLC.MethodsFive populations ofColeus forskohliicollected from five locations of varying altitude from Uttarakhand, India. The plant roots were extracted with methanol by soxhlet extraction. The metabolic diversity was analyzed by employing HPTLC fingerprinting while forskolin was extracted and quantified by HPLC.ResultsSignificant differences were observed in the phytochemical composition through the HPTLC chromatograms among the studied population across the altitudes. The Gopeshwar population (1488m) showed highest number of bands on HPTLC chromatogram each of which corresponds to acompound. Results of HPLC shows differences in forskolin quantity in studied populations and the Piaplkoti population(1339m) showed highest forskolin accumulation.ConclusionThe present study confirms that altitude and changing environment affects the nature and quantity of secondary metabolites inC. forskohliiand the environmental conditions might be instrumental factor for intraspecific metabolic diversity. The Pipalkoti (1339m) and Gopeshwar (1488m) populations were found suitable for the forskolin production as well as other metabolites and these two populations can be propagated for commercial use.
scSTATseq: Diminishing Technical Dropout Enables Core Transcriptome Recovery and Comprehensive Single-cell Trajectory Mapping
Authors: Zheng Zihan , Tang Xiangyu , Qiu Xin , Xu Hao , Wu Haiyang , Yu Haili , Wen Xingzhao , Peng Zhou , Xu Fa , Zhou Yiwen , Ni Qingshan , Zhou Jianzhi , Zou Liyun , Chen Gang , Wan Ying 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThe advent of single-cell RNA sequencing has provided illuminating information on complex systems. However, large numbers of genes tend to be scarcely detected in common scRNAseq approaches due to technical dropout. Although bioinformatics approaches have been developed to approximate true expression profiles, assess the dropout events on single-cell transcriptomes is still consequently challenging. In this report, we present a new plate-based method for scRNAseq that relies on Tn5 transposase to tagment cDNA following second strand synthesis. By utilizing pre-amplification tagmentation step, scSTATseq libraries are insulated against technical dropout, allowing for detailed analysis of gene-gene co-expression relationships and mapping of pathway trajectories. The entire scSTATseq library construction workflow can be completed in 7 hours, and recover transcriptome information on up to 8,000 protein-coding genes. Investigation of osteoclast differentiation using this workflow allowed us to identify novel markers of interest such as Rab15. Overall, scSTATseq is an efficient and economical method for scRNAseq that compares favorably with existing workflows.
Iceberg or cut off – how adults who stutter articulate fluent-sounding utterances
Authors: Leha Andreas , Dickhut Susanne , Ponssen Daniela , Primassin Annika , Korzeczek Alexandra , Joseph Arun A. , Paulus Walter , Frahm Jens , Sommer Martin 
Published: April 2020

AbstractWhether fluent-sounding utterances of adults who stutter (AWS) are normally articulated is unclear. We asked 15 AWS and 17 matched adults who do not stutter (ANS) to utter the pseudoword “natscheitideut” 15 times in a 3 T MRI scanner while recording real-time MRI videos at 55 frames per per second in a mid-sagittal plane. All stuttered or otherwise dysfluent runs were discarded. We used sophisticated analyses to model the movement of the tip of the tongue, lips and velum.We observed reproducible movement patterns of the inner and outer articulators which were similar in both groups. Speech duration was similar in both groups and decreased over repetitions, more so in ANS than in AWS. The variability of the movement patterns of tongue, lips and velum decreased over repetitions. The extent of variability decrease was similar in both groups. Across all participants, this repetition effect on movement variability for the lips and the tip of the tongue was less pronounced in severely as compared to mildly stuttering individuals.We conclude that there is no major difference in the movement patterns of a fluent-sounding utterance in both groups. This encourages studies looking at state rather than trait markers of speech dysfluency.
Optogenetic stimulation of the basolateral amygdala-medial entorhinal cortex pathway after spatial training has sex-specific effects on downstream activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein expression
Authors: Wahlstrom Krista L. , Alvarez-Dieppa Amanda , McIntyre Christa K. , LaLumiere Ryan T. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractPrevious work from our laboratory suggests that projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) to the medial entorhinal cortex (mEC) are a critical pathway by which the BLA modulates the consolidation of spatial learning. Posttraining optogenetic stimulation of this pathway enhances retention of spatial memories. Evidence also indicates that intra-BLA administration of memory-enhancing drugs increases protein levels of activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (ARC) in the dorsal hippocampus (DH) and that blocking ARC in the DH impairs spatial memory consolidation. Yet, whether optical manipulations of the BLA-mEC pathway after spatial training also alter ARC in the DH is unknown. To address this question, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats received optogenetic stimulation of the BLA-mEC pathway immediately after spatial training using a Barnes maze and, 45 min later, were sacrificed for ARC analysis. Initial experiments found that spatial training increased ARC levels in the DH of rats above those observed in control rats and rats that underwent a cued-response version of the task. Optogenetic stimulation of the BLA-mEC pathway following spatial training, using parameters effective at enhancing spatial memory consolidation, enhanced ARC protein levels in the DH of male rats without affecting ARC levels in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) or somatosensory cortex. In contrast, similar optical stimulation decreased ARC protein levels in the DLS of female rats without altering ARC in the DH or somatosensory cortex. Together, the present findings suggest a mechanism by which BLA-mEC stimulation enhances spatial memory consolidation in rats and reveals a possible sex-difference in this mechanism.