bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
In search of “hepatic factor:” Lack of evidence for ALK1 ligands BMP9 and BMP10
Authors: Capasso Teresa L. , Trucco Sara M. , Hindes Morgan , Schwartze Tristin , Bloch Jamie L. , Kreutzer Jacqueline , Cook Stephen C. , Hinck Cynthia S. , Treggiari Davide , Feingold Brian , Hinck Andrew P. , Roman Beth L. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractIn children with single ventricle physiology, the Glenn procedure is performed to redirect venous return from the superior vena cava directly to the pulmonary arteries and route venous return from the inferior vena cava exclusively to the systemic circulation. Although this surgery successfully palliates the hemodynamic stress experienced by the single ventricle, patients frequently develop pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs). Interestingly, PAVMs may regress upon rerouting of hepatic venous effluent to the pulmonary vasculature, suggesting the presence of a circulating “hepatic factor” that is required to prevent PAVMs. Here, we test the hypothesis that hepatic factor is bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) and/or BMP10. These circulating ligands are produced by the liver and activate endothelial endoglin (ENG)/ALK1 signaling, and mutations in ENG and ALK1 cause hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, a genetic disease associated with AVM development. However, we found no within-subject variation in BMP9, BMP10, or BMP9/10 plasma concentrations when sampled from five cardiovascular sites, failing to support the idea that the Glenn would limit access of these ligands to the lung vasculature. Unexpectedly, however, we found a significant decrease in all three ligand concentrations in Glenn cases versus controls. Our findings suggest that BMP9/BMP10/ENG/ALK1 signaling may be decreased in the Glenn vasculature but fail to implicate these ligands as hepatic factor.
Lockdown measures in response to COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: A rapid study of nine countries
Authors: Haider Najmul , Osman Abdinasir Yusuf , Gadzekpo Audrey , Akpede George O. , Asogun Danny , Ansumana Rashid , Lessells Richard , Khan Palwasha , Hamid Muzamil Mahdi Abdel , Yeboah-Manu Dorothy , Mboera Leonard , Shayo Elizabeth H , Mbaga Blandina T , Urassa Mark , Musoke David , Kapata Nathan , Ferrand Rashida Abbas , Chanda-Kapata Pascalina , Stigler Florian , Czypionka Thomas , Kock Richard , McCoy David 
Published: July 2020

AbstractLockdown measures have been introduced worldwide to contain the transmission of COVID-19. This paper defines the term lockdown and describes the design, timing and implementation of lockdown in nine countries in Sub Saharan Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It also discusses the manner in which lockdown is enforced, the need to mitigate the harms of lockdown, and the association between lockdown and the reported number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. While there are some commonalities in the implementation of lockdown, a more notable finding is the variation in the design, timing and implementation of lockdown measures across the nine countries. We found that the number of reported cases is heavily dependent on the number of tests done, and that testing rates ranged from 9 to 21,261 per million population. The reported number of COVID-19 deaths per million population also varies, but is generally low when compared to countries in Europe and North America. While lockdown measures may have helped inhibit some community transmission, the pattern and nature of the epidemic remains unclear. Of concern are signs of lockdown harming health by affecting the functioning of the health system and causing social and economic harms. This paper highlights the need for inter-sectoral and trans-disciplinary research capable of providing a rigorous and holistic assessment of the harms and benefits of lockdown.
Negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep quantitative parameters, quality, and circadian alignment: Implications for psychological well-being and emotional regulation
Authors: Salehinejad Mohammad Ali , Majidinezhad Maryam , Ghanavati Elham , Kouestanian Sahar , Vicario Carmelo M. , Nitsche Michael A. , Nejati Vahid 
Published: July 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has spread worldwide, affecting millions of people and exposing them to home quarantine, isolation, and social distancing. While recent reports showed increased distress and depressive/anxiety state related to COVID-19 crisis, we investigated how home quarantine affected sleep parameters in healthy individuals.Methods160 healthy individuals who were in home quarantine in April 2020 for at least one month participated in this study. Participants rated and compared their quantitative sleep parameters (time to go to bed, sleep duration, getting-up time) and sleep quality factors, pre-and during home quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, participants’ chronotype was determined to see if sleep parameters are differentially affected in different chronotypes.ResultsThe time to fall asleep and get-up in the morning were significantly delayed in all participants, indicating a significant circadian misalignment. Sleep quality was reported to be significantly poorer in all participants and chronotypes, and included more daily disturbances (more sleep disturbances, higher daily dysfunctions due to low quality of sleep) and less perceived sleep quality (lower subjective sleep quality, longer time taken to fall asleep at night, more use of sleep medication for improving sleep quality) during home quarantine.ConclusionsHome quarantine due to COVID-19 pandemic has a detrimental impact on sleep quality. Online interventions including self-help sleep programs, stress management, relaxation practices, stimulus control, sleep hygiene, and mindfulness training are available interventions in the current situation.
Dynamics of RT-qPCR SARS-CoV-2 Detection Rates Prior to and After Symptom Onset
Authors: Sherrill-Mix Scott 
Published: July 2020

AbstractEffective RT-qPCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 is essential for treatment, surveillance and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent meta-analysis 1 suggested that testing prior to the onset of symptoms is likely to miss the majority of infected individuals. These findings cast severe doubts on the effectiveness of mass screening efforts intended to detect SARS-CoV-2 prior to the onset of symptoms and decrease community transmissions from pre-/asymptomatic individuals2–4. However, alternative analyses and additional data described herein refine these estimates and suggest that many SARS-CoV-2 infections could potentially be detected prior to symptom onset.
Health coverage for people without social security in Mexico: a retrospective cohort to assess childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia survival
Authors: Muñoz-Aguirre P , Huerta-Gutierrez R , Zamora S , Mohar A , Vega-Vega L , Hernández-Ávila JE , Morales-Carmona E , Zapata-Tarres M , Bautista-Arredondo S , Perez-Cuevas R , Rivera-Luna R , Reich MR , Lajous M 
Published: July 2020

ABSTRACTWe aimed to measure survival of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) under Mexico’s public health insurance for the population without social security, and explore patient groups that may be at risk for increased mortality.We conducted a retrospective cohort study using claims data from Mexico’s Seguro Popular program, covering cancer treatment in people without social security, 2005-15. We estimated 5-year national and state-specific survival for children with ALL across Mexico who initiated cancer treatment under this public healthcare insurance scheme.8,977 children with ALL were treated under Seguro Popular in 2005-15. Under this financing scheme, treated children doubled from 535 in 2005 to 1,070 in 2015, and their 5-year survival was 61.8% (95%CI 60.8, 62.9). Estimates for 5-year survival remained constant over time. We observed wide gaps in risk-standardized 5-year survival among states ranging from 74.7% to 43.7%. We found a higher risk of mortality for children who received treatment in a non-paediatric specialty hospital (Hazards Ratio, HR=1.18; 95%CI 1.09, 1.26), facilities without a paediatric oncology/haematology specialist (HR=2.17; 95%CI 1.62, 2.90), and hospitals with low patient volume (HR=1.22; 95%CI 1.13, 1.32).In a decade Mexico’s Seguro Popular doubled access to ALL treatment for children without social security and by 2015 financed the vast majority of estimated ALL cases for that population. While some progress in ALL survival may have been achieved, nationwide 5-year survival was unsatisfactory and did not improve over time.Our results provide lessons for Mexico’s evolving health system and for countries moving towards universal health coverage.Novelty and impactThere has been no comprehensive assessment of the health outcomes of Mexico’s policy for financing high-cost cancer treatments that was part of Seguro Popular, health reform aimed at providing care to the population without social security. The study identified several factors amenable to intervention that could improve survival for childhood ALL in Mexico and reduce the observed disparities.Decision could consider administrative databases as a source of clinical outcomes to ensure the quality their systems.
Pre-diagnostic circulating concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-1 and risk of COVID-19 mortality: results from UK Biobank
Authors: Fan Xikang , Yin Cheng , Wang Jiayu , Yang Mingjia , Ma Hongxia , Jin Guangfu , Song Mingyang , Hu Zhibin , Shen Hongbing , Hang Dong 
Published: July 2020

AbstractBackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deteriorates suddenly primarily due to excessive inflammatory injury, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is implicated in endocrine control of the immune system. However, the effect of IGF-1 levels on COVID-19 prognosis remains unknown.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between circulating IGF-1 concentrations and mortality risk among COVID-19 patients.DesignProspective analysis.SettingUK Biobank.Participants1425 COVID-19 patients who had pre-diagnostic serum IGF-1 measurements at baseline (2006-2010).Main outcome measuresCOVID-19 mortality (available death data updated to 22 May 2020). Unconditional logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of mortality across the IGF-1 quartiles.ResultsAmong 1425 COVID-19 patients, 365 deaths occurred due to COVID-19. Compared to the lowest quartile of IGF-1 concentrations, the highest quartile was associated with a 37% lower risk of mortality (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43-0.93, P-trend=0.03). The association was stronger in women and nonsmokers (both P-interaction=0.01).ConclusionsHigher IGF-1 concentrations are associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 mortality. Further studies are required to determine whether and how targeting IGF-1 pathway might improve COVID-19 prognosis.
Bibliometric Analysis of COVID-19 in the Context of Migration Health: A Study Protocol
Authors: Pernitez-Agan Sweetmavourneen , Bautista Mary Ann , Lopez Janice , Sampson Margaret , Wickramage Kolitha 
Published: July 2020

ABSTRACTIntroductionHuman mobility has been pivotal to the spread of COVID-19 through travel and migration. To mitigate the spread, most countries have imposed strict travel restrictions that have severely affected both the wellbeing and livelihoods of many migrant and mobile populations (both internally and internationally), particularly those from impoverished communities, those affected by humanitarian crises, including populations displaced and/or living in camps and camp-like settings. The need to include migrants (both regular and irregular or ‘undocumented’) in national strategic response plans for disease prevention and control has been increasingly recognized. Better understanding of the existing scientific evidence in migration health is crucial in designing effective response measures. In this paper, we present a protocol for a bibliometric analysis of scientific publications on COVID-19 and migration health. Expected study findings aim to provide valuable information to support evidence mapping on COVID-19 and migration health, particularly the identification of important research gaps.Methods and analysisUsing Elsevier’s Scopus abstract and citation database, a comprehensive search strategy will be applied to map scientific publications on COVID-19 and migration health. The current analysis will focus on research published from 1 January 2020 to 4 May 2020. The search query on migration health will largely focus on migration, migrant and human mobility-related terms. Three reviewers will screen publications for eligibility. The extracted bibliographic information will be analysed to determine the dominant research themes, country coverage and migrant groups. Collaboration networks will be analysed using VosViewer, a network analysis software. A deep dive on dominant research themes or migrant health-related topics will be done by creating visualization network maps of keywords from the retrieved publications.Ethics and disseminationThis analysis will draw on publicly available data and does not directly involve human participants; ethics review is not required.
Daily Salt Intake, its Discretionary Use and Validation of Methods for Estimation using Spot Urine – Findings from Islamabad, Pakistan
Authors: Nadeem Saqib Muhammad Arif , Rafique Ibrar , Ansar Muhammad , Rahat Tayyaba 
Published: July 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe study was designed to estimate daily salt intake, its discretionary use in healthy individuals and to validate three common methods for salt estimation in Pakistani population.MethodsInformation on demography and discretionary salt use was collected healthy adults (>18 years) along with a blood sample, spot urine sample and 24 hours urine samples. Sodium, chloride, potassium levels and serum creatinine were measured using standard methods. For daily salt estimation, three common methods i.e. INTERSALT, Tanaka and Kawasaki were validated for their applicability in local settings.ResultsOverall 24 h sodium excretion was 158 mmol/l indicating intake of 8.64 (±4.43) grams salt per day which was significantly associated with male gender (p. <0.004) and adding salt during cooking (p. <0.0001). Most (73%) of the participants know about hazardous effects of high salt intake, however, only 25% consider important to lower salt intake. Although, there is insignificant difference (p. 0.09) between measured and estimated 24 hour urine however none of three methods i.e. INTERSALT(bias: -19.64; CCC -0.79), Tanaka(bias: 167.35; CCC -0.37) and Kawasaki (bias: -42.49, CCC -0.79) showed any agreement between measured and estimated 24 hour sodium.ConclusionDaily intake of salt was high than recommended by the WHO. Findings showed that none of the three methods could be used for estimating daily intake of salt in local settings of Pakistan.
Saliva offers a sensitive, specific and non-invasive alternative to upper respiratory swabs for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis
Authors: Byrne Rachel L , Kay Grant A , Kontogianni Konstantina , Brown Lottie , Collins Andrea M , Cuevas Luis E. , Ferreira Daniela M , Fraser Alice J , Garrod Gala , Hill Helen , Menzies Stefanie , Mitsi Elena , Owen Sophie I , Williams Christopher T , Hyder-Wright Angela , Adams Emily R , Cubas-Atienzar Ana I 
Published: July 2020

AbstractRT-qPCR utilising upper respiratory swabs are the diagnostic gold standard for SARS-CoV-2 despite reported low sensitivity and limited scale up due to global shortages. Saliva is a non-invasive, equipment independent alternative to swabs.We collected 145 paired saliva and nasal/throat (NT) swabs at diagnosis (day 0) and repeated on day 2 and day 7 dependent on inpatient care and day 28 for study follow up. Laboratory cultured virus was used to determine the analytical sensitivity of spiked saliva and swabs containing amies preservation media.Self-collected saliva samples were found to be consistent, and in some cases superior when compared to healthcare worker collected NT swabs from COVID-19 suspected participants. We report for the first time the analytical limit of detection of 10−2and 100 pfu/ml for saliva and swabs respectively.Saliva is a easily self-collected, highly sensitive specimen for the detection of SARS-CoV-2.
Undocumented infectives in the Covid-19 pandemic
Authors: Melis Maurizio , Littera Roberto 
Published: July 2020

AbstractBackgroundA crucial role in epidemics is played by the number of undetected infective individuals who continue to circulate and spread the disease. Epidemiological investigations and mathematical models have revealed that the rapid diffusion of Covid-19 can mostly be attributed to the large percentage of undocumented infective individuals who escape testing.MethodsThe dynamics of an infection can be described by the SIR model, which divides the population into susceptible (S), infective (I) and removed (R) subjects. In particular, we exploited the Kermack and McKendrick epidemic model which can be applied when the population is much larger than the fraction of infected subjects.ResultsWe proved that the fraction of undocumented infectives, in comparison to the total number of infected subjects, is given by , where R0 is the basic reproduction number. The mean value R0 = 2.10 (2.09 − 2.11) for the Covid-19 epidemic in three Italian regions yielded a percentage of undetected infectives of 52.4% (52.2% - 52.6%) compared to the total number of infectives.ConclusionsOur results, straightforwardly obtained from the SIR model, highlight the role played by undetected carriers in the transmission and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Such evidence strongly recommends careful monitoring of the infective population and ongoing adjustment of preventive measures for disease control until a vaccine becomes available.
Development of a Notch pathway assay and quantification of functional Notch pathway activity in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Canté-Barrett Kirsten , Holtzer Laurent , van Ooijen Henk , Hagelaar Rico , Cordo Valentina , Verhaegh Wim , van de Stolpe Anja , Meijerink Jules P.P. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThe Notch signal transduction pathway is pivotal for various physiological processes including immune responses, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases including T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Various targeted drugs are available that inhibit Notch pathway signaling, but their effectiveness varies due to variable Notch pathway activity among individual patients. Quantitative measurement of Notch pathway activity is therefore essential to identify patients who could benefit from targeted treatment. We here describe a new assay that infers a quantitative Notch pathway activity score from mRNA levels of conserved direct NOTCH target genes. Following biological validation, we assessed Notch pathway activity in a cohort of TALL patient samples and related it to biological and clinical parameters including outcome. High Notch pathway activity was not limited to T-ALL samples harbouring strongNOTCH1mutations, including juxtamembrane domain mutations or hetero-dimerization combined with PEST-domain orFBXW7mutations, indicating that additional mechanisms may activate NOTCH signaling. The measured Notch pathway activity related to intracellular NOTCH levels, indicating that the pathway activity score more accurately reflects Notch pathway activity than predicted on the basis ofNOTCH1mutations. Importantly, patients with low Notch pathway activity had a significantly shorter event-free survival compared to patients showing higher activity.
Interest of circulating tumor DNA as a biomarker for canine cancers: illustration in histiocytic sarcoma, oral malignant melanoma and multicentric lymphoma
Authors: Prouteau Anaïs , Denis Jérôme Alexandre , De Fornel Pauline , Cadieu Edouard , Derrien Thomas , Kergal Camille , Botherel Nadine , Ulvé Ronan , Rault Mélanie , Bouzidi Amira , François Romain , Dorso Laetitia , Lespagnol Alexandra , Devauchelle Patrick , Abadie Jérôme , André Catherine , Hédan Benoît 
Published: July 2020

AbstractCirculating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has become an attractive biomarker in human oncology and may be informative in cancer-affected dogs. By performing ddPCR or PARR methods, we detected tumor-specific point mutations, copy number alterations and chromosomal rearrangements in the plasma of cancer-affected dogs. It allowed the detection of ctDNA in 2/8 (25%) oral malignant melanoma cases, 12/13 (92.3%) lymphoma cases and 21/23 (91.3%) histiocytic sarcoma (HS) cases. The value of ctDNA to diagnose HS was explored in 133 dogs including 49 with HS. In this cohort, screening recurrentPTPN11mutations in plasma had a specificity of 98.8%, and a sensitivity between 42.8-77% according to HS clinical presentation, being higher in internal forms, especially with pulmonary location. Regarding lymphoma, the follow-up of four dogs showed that the minimal residual disease detection by targeting lymphoma-specific antigen receptor rearrangement in the plasma was concordant with the clinical evaluation. Moreover, ctDNA analysis appeared interesting to assess treatment response and to predict relapse.This study shows that ctDNA is detectable in the plasma of cancer-affected dogs and is a relevant biomarker for diagnosis and clinical follow-up. With a growing interest in integrating natural canine tumors to explore new therapies, this biomarker appears promising in comparative oncology research.
JAK/STAT pathway promotesDrosophilaneuroblast proliferation via the directCycEregulation
Authors: Du Lijuan , Wang Jian 
Published: July 2020

AbstractHow neural stem cells regulate their proliferative potential and lineage diversity is a central problem in developmental neurobiology.DrosophilaMushroom bodies (MBs), centers of olfactory learning and memory, are generated by a specific set of neuroblasts (Nbs) that are born in the embryonic stage and continuously proliferate till the end of the pupal stage. Although MB presents an excellent model for studying neural stem cell proliferation, the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control the unique proliferative characteristics of the MB Nbs are largely unknown. Further, the signaling cues controlling cell cycle regulators to promote cell cycle progression in MB Nbs remain poorly understood. Here, we report that JAK/STAT signaling pathway is required for the proliferation activity and maintenance of MB Nbs. Loss of JAK/STAT activity severely reduces the later-born MB neuron types and leads to premature neuroblast termination, which can be rescued by tissue-specific overexpression ofCycEanddiap1. Higher JAK/STAT pathway activity in MB results in more neurons, without producing supernumerary Nbs. Furthermore, we show that JAK/STAT signaling effector Stat92E directly regulatesCycEtranscription in MB Nbs. Finally, MB Nb clones of loss or excessCycEphenocopy those of decreased or increased JAK/STAT signaling pathway activities. We conclude that JAK/STAT signaling controls MB Nb proliferative activity through directly regulatingCycEexpression to control cell cycle progression.