bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Excitatory-Inhibitory Balance within EEG Microstates and Resting-state fMRI Networks: Assessed via Simultaneous PET-MR-EEG Imaging
Authors: Rajkumar R , Régio Brambilla C , Veselinović T , Bierbrier J , Wyss C , Ramkiran S , Orth L , Lang M , Rota Kops E , Mauler J , Scheins J , Neumaier B , Ermert J , Herzog H , Langen KJ , Binkofski F , Lerche C , Shah NJ , Neuner I 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThe symbiosis of neuronal activities and glucose energy metabolism is reflected in the generation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) signals. However, their association with the balance between neuronal excitation and inhibition (E/I-B), which is closely related to the activities of glutamate and GABA (γ -aminobutyric acid) and the receptor availability (RA) of GABAAand mGluR5, remains unexplored. This study investigates these associations during the resting state (RS) condition using simultaneously recorded PET/MR/EEG (trimodal) data. Glucose metabolism and neuroreceptor binding availability (non-displaceable binding potential (BPND)) of GABAAand mGluR5 were found to be significantly higher and closely linked within core resting-state networks (RSNs). The neuronal generators of EEG microstates and the fMRI measures were most tightly associated with the BPNDof GABAArelative to mGluR5 BPNDand the glucose metabolism, emphasising a predominance of inhibitory processes within in the core RSNs at rest.
Clinical and molecular characterization of COVID-19 hospitalized patients
Authors: Benetti Elisa , Giliberti Annarita , Emiliozzi Arianna , Valentino Floriana , Bergantini Laura , Fallerini Chiara , Anedda Federico , Amitrano Sara , Conticini Edoardo , Tita Rossella , d’Alessandro Miriana , Fava Francesca , Marcantonio Simona , Baldassarri Margherita , Bruttini Mirella , Mazzei Maria Antonietta , Montagnani Francesca , Mandalà Marco , Bargagli Elena , Furini Simone ,   COVID-19 MULTICENTER STUDY, Renieri Alessandra , Mari Francesca 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTClinical and molecular characterization by Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) is reported in 35 COVID-19 patients attending the University Hospital in Siena, Italy, from April 7 to May 7, 2020. Eighty percent of patients required respiratory assistance, half of them being on mechanical ventilation. Fiftyone percent had hepatic involvement and hyposmia was ascertained in 3 patients. Searching for common genes by collapsing methods against 150 WES of controls of the Italian population failed to give straightforward statistically significant results with the exception of two genes. This result is not unexpected since we are facing the most challenging common disorder triggered by environmental factors with a strong underlying heritability (50%). The lesson learned from Autism-Spectrum-Disorders prompted us to re-analyse the cohort treating each patient as an independent case, following a Mendelian-like model. We identified for each patient an average of 2.5 pathogenic mutations involved in virus infection susceptibility and pinpointing to one or more rare disorder(s). To our knowledge, this is the first report on WES and COVID-19. Our results suggest a combined model for COVID-19 susceptibility with a number of common susceptibility genes which represent the favorite background in which additional host private mutations may determine disease progression.
Sensory stimulation enhances phantom limb perception and movement decoding
Authors: Osborn Luke E. , Ding Keqin , Hays Mark A. , Bose Rohit , Iskarous Mark M. , Dragomir Andrei , Tayeb Zied , Lévay György M. , Hunt Christopher L. , Cheng Gordon , Armiger Robert S. , Bezerianos Anastasios , Fifer Matthew S. , Thakor Nitish V. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractObjectiveA major challenge for controlling a prosthetic arm is communication between the device and the user’s phantom limb. We show the ability to enhance amputees’ phantom limb perception and improve movement decoding through targeted transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (tTENS).ApproachTranscutaneous nerve stimulation experiments were performed with four amputee participants to map phantom limb perception. We measured myoelectric signals during phantom hand movements before and after amputees received sensory stimulation. Using electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring, we measure the neural activity in sensorimotor regions during phantom movements and stimulation. In one participant, we also tracked sensory mapping over 2 years and movement decoding performance over 1 year.Main resultsResults show improvements in the amputees’ ability to perceive and move the phantom hand as a result of sensory stimulation, which leads to improved movement decoding. In the extended study with one amputee, we found that sensory mapping remains stable over 2 years. Remarkably, sensory stimulation improves within-day movement decoding while performance remains stable over 1 year. From the EEG, we observed cortical correlates of sensorimotor integration and increased motor-related neural activity as a result of enhanced phantom limb perception.SignificanceThis work demonstrates that phantom limb perception influences prosthesis control and can benefit from targeted nerve stimulation. These findings have implications for improving prosthesis usability and function due to a heightened sense of the phantom hand.
Analysis of the increase in cross-sectional area of the median nerve and its relation to age in neonates, infants and children using high-resolution ultrasound imaging
Authors: Jenny Carole , Lütschg Jürg , Broser Philip J. 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTAIMTo analyze the increase in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve during early childhood.METHODThis prospective, cross-sectional study used high-resolution ultrasound images of the median nerve from three locations (wrist, forearm and upper arm). A total of 43 participants (32 of whom were children younger than 2 years) were included in the study.RESULTSA strong and highly significant correlation was found between age and CSA (r = 0.8, p < 0.0001). The growth rate of CSA decreases with age. The increase in CSA follows a logarithmic growth curve (p < 0.0001). Based on the regression analysis, an age-synchronous increase in CSA for all three locations was found. The nerve reaches 70% of its final CSA by 2 years of age.INTERPRETATIONSimilar to the nerve conduction speed, the increase in CSA is greatest during the first 2 years of life. Then, the rate gradually and synchronously slows at the proximal and distal locations.What this paper adds-Normative values for increased cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve.-Standardized locations and image procedures outlined for the clinical setting.-Growth dynamic of the CSA of the median nerve in children.-Normative data for development of the median nerve in children.-High resolution ultrasound images of the maturating median nerve in neonates, infants and children.
Low Covid-19 hospitalisation in Dumfries and Galloway: comparison with other Scottish health boards
Authors: Rideout Andrew , Murray Calum , Isles Chris 
Published: May 2020

AbstractBackgroundCovid-19 virus activity appears to have affected some parts of the United Kingdom more than others. Dumfries and Galloway (D&G) has seen fewer hospitalised cases than predicted. We wondered whether this might be related at least in part to population density.MethodsWe compared Covid-19 hospitalisation rates/100,000 population in D&G with those of the other 10 mainland Scottish health boards. We chose two time points: 19th April which was the peak of the pandemic in Scotland and 15th May, seven and a half weeks after lockdown. We used chi square and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals to test for differences in hospitalisation rates and Pearson’s correlation coefficient to examine the relation between hospitalisation rates and population density. Population density for each health board was provided by National Records of Scotland.ResultsHospitalisation in D&G was 13.4/100,000 on 19th April, falling to 1.3/100,000 by 15th May. Corresponding hospitalisation rates in Greater Glasgow & Clyde (GGC) were 50.1/100,000 and 38.9/100,000. Compared to GGC, hospitalisation rates in D&G were 3 times lower at peak (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.17, 0.42) and 30 times lower by 15th May (OR 0.03, 95% CI 0.01, 0.14). Hospitalisation rates for the other health boards lay in between values recorded for D&G and GGC and fell in 10 of the 11 boards between these two dates. There was a positive association between hospitalisation rate and population density (r=0.756, p=0.007 on 19th April and r=0.840, p<0.001 for 15th May).ConclusionWe have confirmed there are large differences in Covid-19 hospitalisation rates across the 11 mainland Scottish health boards, that are in part related to population density. These data support a regional rather than one nation approach to easing Covid-19 restrictions.
A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol to compare the risk of attrition among prenatal vitamin D supplemented gestational diabetes mellitus patients with its non-recipients
Authors: Saha Sumanta 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTAimRecently, several clinical trials have tested the effect of prenatal vitamin D supplementation in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) patients and their newborns. However, their participant attrition, an important determinant of the internal validity, remains poorly explored. Therefore, this review protocol is proposed, which aims to compare it between prenatal vitamin D supplemented and not supplemented GDM patients.MethodRandomized clinical trials studying the above will be searched mainly in different electronic databases. It will search for the English language articles irrespective of publication date. Data concerning the reviewed trials’ design, population, interventions, and outcome of interest will be extracted. Subsequently, their risk of bias will be assessed. Outcome data between the interventions will be juxtaposed meta-analytically to estimate the risk ratio. Next, the statistical heterogeneity (by Chi2 and I2 statistics) and publication bias (using funnel plot and Eggers test) among the trials will be evaluated. Subgroup analysis will follow if the heterogeneity is high. Finally, a sensitivity analysis will iterate the meta-analysis using an alternative model and by eliminating a trial every time. Statistical significance will be determined at p<0.05 and 95% CI. All analyses will be done in Stata. If a meta-analysis is not possible, a narrative reporting will ensue.ResultsThe review will follow the PRISMA reporting guideline. Any statistically significant finding’s evidence quality will be graded by the GRADE approach.ConclusionThe proposed review will compare the risk of loss to follow up among GDM patients complemented and not complemented with prenatal vitamin D.
Acute Pulmonary Embolism in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19
Authors: Manjunath Madhura , Miranda Julio , Fraenkel Liana , Johansen Paul Mange , Phinney Blessing , Valli-Harwood Georgianne , Callahan Cynthia , Alsmaan Hafez , Oelberg David 
Published: May 2020

AbstractSince the discovery of the novel coronavirus (SARS-Co-V-2) in December 2019, multiple characteristics have been reported, as our understanding of this new disease unfolds. One such association is its tendency to cause thromboembolic events, particularly venous thromboembolism1,2. In a four-week period during the initial spread of COVID-19 at a 300 bed community hospital in western Massachusetts, 23 patients who were PCR positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA required treatment in either the intensive care unit (ICU) or intermediate/step-down unit (SDU). All patients were treated with standard DVT prophylaxis from the time of admission, except for two patients who were on full anticoagulation for chronic atrial fibrillation. Of the 23 patients, 7 (30%) were diagnosed with acute, clinically significant, pulmonary embolism (PE). Four of the 7 manifested evidence of acute cor pulmonale, one of whom succumbed as a direct consequence of a massive PE. Other markers were reviewed in the 7 patients to identify trends that could allow for early suspicion of PE in COVID-19 patients. Although D-dimer tended to rise during the hospitalization relative to the control group, the results were inconsistent, and there were no other meaningful distinguishing features between the groups at the time of admission.
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies are associated with reduced viral load
Authors: Bryan Andrew , Fink Susan L. , Gattuso Meghan A. , Pepper Gregory , Chaudhary Anu , Wener Mark H. , Morishima Chihiro , Jerome Keith R. , Mathias Patrick C. , Greninger Alexander L. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractAnti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies have been described, but correlation with virologic outcomes is limited. Here, we find anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG to be associated with reduced viral load. High viral loads were rare in individuals who had seroconverted. Higher viral load on admission was associated with increased 30-day mortality (OR 4.20 [95% CI: 1.62-10.86]).
Occupational Exposures and Programmatic Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: An Emergency Medical Services Experience
Authors: Murphy David L. , Barnard Leslie M. , Drucker Christopher J. , Yang Betty Y. , Emert Jamie M. , Schwarcz Leilani , Counts Catherine R. , Jacinto Tracie Y. , McCoy Andrew M. , Morgan Tyler A. , Whitney Jim E. , Bodenman Joel V. , Duchin Jeffrey S. , Sayre Michael R. , Rea Thomas D. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractBackgroundRigorous assessment of occupational COVID-19 risk and personal protective equipment (PPE) use are not well-described. We evaluated 9-1-1 emergency medical services (EMS) encounters for patients with COVID-19 to assess occupational exposure, programmatic strategies to reduce exposure, and PPE use.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort investigation of lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients in King County, WA who received 9-1-1 EMS responses from February 14, 2020 to March 26, 2020. We reviewed dispatch, EMS, and public health surveillance records to evaluate the temporal relationship between exposure and programmatic changes to EMS operations designed to identify high-risk patients, protect the workforce, and conserve PPE.ResultsThere were 274 EMS encounters for 220 unique COVID-19 patients involving 700 unique EMS providers with 988 EMS person-encounters. Use of “full” PPE including mask, eye protection, gown and gloves (MEGG) was 67%. There were 151 person-exposures among 129 individuals, who required 981 quarantine days. Of the 700 EMS providers, 3 (0.4%) tested positive within 14 days of encounter. Programmatic changes were associated with a temporal reduction in exposures. When stratified at the study encounters midpoint, 94% (142/151) of exposures occurred during the first 137 EMS encounters compared to 6% (9/151) during the second 137 EMS encounters (p<0.01). By the investigation’s final week, EMS deployed MEGG PPE in 34% (3579/10,468) of all EMS person-encounters.ConclusionLess than 0.5% of EMS providers experienced COVID-19 illness within 14 days of occupational encounter. Programmatic strategies were associated with a reduction in exposures, while achieving a measured use of PPE.
COVID-19 detection from chest X-Ray images using Deep Learning and Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Makris Antonios , Kontopoulos Ioannis , Tserpes Konstantinos 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has highlighted the need to pull all available resources towards the mitigation of the devastating effects of such “Black Swan” events. Towards that end, we investigated the option to employ technology in order to assist the diagnosis of patients infected by the virus. As such, several state-of-the-art pre-trained convolutional neural networks were evaluated as of their ability to detect infected patients from chest X-Ray images. A dataset was created as a mix of publicly available X-ray images from patients with confirmed COVID-19 disease, common bacterial pneumonia and healthy individuals. To mitigate the small number of samples, we employed transfer learning, which transfers knowledge extracted by pre-trained models to the model to be trained. The experimental results demonstrate that the classification performance can reach an accuracy of 95% for the best two models.
COVID-19 pandemic brings a sedentary lifestyle: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study
Authors: Zheng Chen , Huang Wendy Yajun , Sheridan Sinead , Sit Cindy Hui-Ping , Chen Xiang-Ke , Wong Stephen Heung-Sang 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTObjectivesThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to pose profound challenges on society. Governments around the world have managed to mitigate its spread through strategies including social distancing; however, this may result in the adoption of sedentary lifestyle. This study aimed to investigate: 1) physical activity (PA) levels, sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep among young adults during COVID-19 epidemic, and 2) the change in these behaviors before and during the pandemic.MethodsA total of 631 young adults (38.8% males) participated in the cross-sectional study and completed an online survey that included five components: general information, COVID-19 related issues, PA, SB, and sleep. For longitudinal study, PA, SB, and sleep data collected from 70 participants before and during COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed.ResultsParticipants reported engaging in low PA, high SB and long sleep duration during COVID-19 pandemic. Females had greater concern for COVID-19 related issues and engaged in more prevention strategies than males. Moreover, a significant decline in PA while increase in both times spent in SB and sleep were determined after COVID-19 outbreak.ConclusionThe results of this study demonstrated a sedentary lifestyle in young adults in responses to social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will assist health policy makers and practitioners in the development of population specific health education and behavior interventions during this pandemic and for other future events.What are the new findings?This is the first study to investigate lifestyle behaviors in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes in these behaviors after its outbreak.Low physical activity (PA) level, high sedentary behavior (SB) and long sleep duration were found in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.All types of PA and both time spent in SB and sleep significantly decreased and increased after COVID-19 outbreak, respectively.How might it impact on clinical practice in the future?The current study provided evidences that young adults engaged in sedentary lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may assist in the development and provision of appropriate and tailored health education and behavior interventions during and after this or other future global pandemics.
Frizzled-dependent Planar Cell Polarity without Wnt Ligands
Authors: Yu Joyce J.S. , Maugarny-Calès Aude , Pelletier Stéphane , Alexandre Cyrille , Bellaiche Yohanns , Vincent Jean-Paul , McGough Ian J. 
Published: May 2020

SummaryPlanar cell polarity (PCP) organizes the orientation of cellular protrusions and migratory activity within the tissue plane. PCP establishment involves the subcellular polarization of core PCP components. It has been suggested Wnt gradients could provide a global cue that coordinates local PCP with tissue axes. Here we dissect the role of Wnt ligands in the orientation of hairs of Drosophila wings, an established system for study of PCP. We found that PCP was normal in quintuple mutant wings that rely solely on membrane-tethered Wingless for Wnt signaling, suggesting that a Wnt gradient is not required. We then used a nanobody-based approach to trap Wntless in the endoplasmic reticulum, and hence prevent all Wnt secretion, specifically during the period of PCP establishment. PCP was still established. We conclude that, even though Wnt ligands could contribute to PCP, they are not essential, and another global cue must exist for tissue-wide polarization.
Arterial endoglin does not protect against arteriovenous malformations
Authors: Singh Esha , Redgrave Rachael E. , Phillips Helen , Arthur Helen M. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractEndoglin (ENG) forms a receptor complex with ALK1 in endothelial cells (ECs) to promote BMP9/10 signalling. Loss of function mutations in eitherENGorALK1genes lead to the inherited vascular disorder Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT), characterised by arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). However, the vessel-specific role of ENG and ALK1 proteins in protecting against AVMs is unclear. For example, AVMs have been described to initiate in arterioles, whereas ENG is predominantly expressed in venous ECs. To investigate whether ENG has any arterial involvement in protecting against AVM formation we specifically depleted theEnggene in venous and capillary endothelium whilst maintaining arterial expression, and investigated how this affected the incidence and location of AVMs in comparison with pan-endothelialEngknockdown.MethodsUsing the mouse neonatal retinal model of angiogenesis, we first established the earliest time point at which Apj-Cre-ERT2 activity was present in venous and capillary ECs but absent from arterial ECs. We then compared the incidence of AVMs following pan-endothelial or venous/capillary-specific ENG knockout.ResultsActivation of Apj-Cre-ERT2 with tamoxifen from postnatal day (P) 5 ensured preservation of arterial ENG protein expression. Specific loss of ENG expression in ECs of veins and capillaries led to retinal AVMs at a similar frequency to pan-endothelial loss of ENG. AVMs occurred in the proximal as well as the distal part of the retina consistent with a defect in vascular remodelling during maturation of the vasculature.ConclusionExpression of ENG is not required in arterial ECs to protect against AVM formation.
Inferring the Allelic Series at QTL in Multiparental Populations
Authors: Crouse Wesley L. , Kelada Samir N.P. , Valdar William 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTMultiparental populations (MPPs) are experimental populations in which the genome of every individual is a mosaic of known founder haplotypes. These populations are useful for detecting quantitative trait loci (QTL) because tests of association can leverage inferred founder haplotype descent. It is difficult, however, to determine how haplotypes at a locus group into distinct functional alleles, termed the allelic series. The allelic series is important because it provides information about the number of causal variants at a QTL and their combined effects. In this study, we introduce a fully-Bayesian model selection framework for inferring the allelic series. This framework accounts for sources of uncertainty found in typical MPPs, including the number and composition of functional alleles. Our prior distribution for the allelic series is based on the Chinese restaurant process, a relative of the Dirichlet process, and we leverage its connection to the coalescent to introduce additional prior information about haplotype relatedness via a phylogenetic tree. We evaluate our approach via simulation and apply it to QTL from two MPPs: the Collaborative Cross (CC) and the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource (DSPR). We find that, although posterior inference of the exact allelic series is often uncertain, we are able to distinguish biallelic QTL from more complex multiallelic cases. Additionally, our allele-based approach improves haplotype effect estimation when the true number of functional alleles is small. Our method, Tree-Based Inference of Multiallelism via Bayesian Regression (TIMBR), provides new insight into the genetic architecture of QTL in MPPs.