bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ophthalmic findings in neonates receiving sildenafil
Authors: Dunn Hamish P , Kim Leah N , Popat Himanshu , Walker Karen , Lock Jane , Smith James 
Published: January 2020

AimTo determine the risk of ocular complications of sildenafil therapy in neonates.MethodsRetrospective case review of neonates with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn who received sildenafil therapy between 2010 and 2015 in a single, tertiary surgical neonatal intensive care unit in Australia. Ophthalmic examination findings in the neonatal intensive care unit and follow‐up were examined.ResultsTwenty‐seven neonates with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn received sildenafil. The median gestational age (GA) was 38 weeks (range 24–41 weeks), and median birthweight was 2690 g (range 454–4270 g). Ophthalmic review was undertaken in 23 neonates, and 16 neonates were term or near‐term infants (GA 31–40 weeks). All of them had a normal initial ophthalmic examination; one child was later diagnosed with hypermetropia and another with infantile esotropia. Amongst the seven premature infants (GA 24–30 weeks), three had retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) diagnosed at the first ophthalmic review and the other four had normal initial examinations. Two patients later developed ROP, one of whom was also diagnosed with congenital motor nystagmus. All five patients diagnosed with ROP were extremely preterm (<28 weeks) with low birthweight (454–635 g).ConclusionsThere were no short‐term complications attributable to sildenafil therapy identified in term or near‐term neonates (GA ≥31 weeks). This cohort of neonates does not typically undergo ophthalmic review as part of the ROP screening protocol in our institution. Routine ophthalmic review of neonates on sildenafil therapy, who are not at risk of ROP, is therefore unlikely to be warranted. Further research is required to clarify the relationship between sildenafil and ROP.
Human uniqueness explored from the uniquely human perspective: Epistemological and methodological challenges
Authors: Uher Jana 
Published: January 2020

AbstractExploring human uniqueness encounters fundamental challenges because we can approach this endeavour only from within our uniquely human perspective. The intrinsic presumptions that this involves may entail two types of anthropocentric, ethnocentric, and egocentric biases, which can influence research on both epistemological and methodological levels. Their impact may be particularly pronounced if quests for the origins of human sociality are based only on our knowledge about humans. Tomasello's (2019) research demonstrates that the comparative study of humans and nonhuman species offers unique opportunities to explore forms of social cooperation, underlying cognitive and meta‐cognitive abilities as well as pathways in their ontological and (possible) phylogenetic development. It also shows that comparative approaches are essential to unravel the ways in which humans are indeed unique. But species comparisons are challenged by the need to consider inherent trade‐offs between achieving operational comparability in empirical studies and establishing ecological validity for the species compared—challenges, which analogously occur in comparisons across human cultures as well. This shows that comparative research can also contribute meaningfully to methodology development in psychology.
Baveno VI and Expanded Baveno VI criteria successfully predicts the absence of high‐risk gastro‐oesophageal varices in a Chilean cohort
Authors: Gaete María I. , Díaz Luis A. , Arenas Alex , González Katherine , Cattaneo Máximo , Fuster Francisco , Henríquez Romina , Soza Alejandro , Arrese Marco , Barrera Francisco , Arab Juan P. , Benítez Carlos 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBackgroundBaveno VI and expanded Baveno VI criteria have been recommended to circumvent the need for endoscopy screening in patients with a very low probability of varices needing treatment (VNT).AimTo validate these criteria in a Latin American population.MethodsThe ability of Baveno VI criteria (liver stiffness measurement (LSM) <20 kPa and platelet count >150 × 103/μL) and expanded Baveno VI criteria (LSM < 25kPa and platelet count >110 × 103/μL) to exclude the presence of VNT was tested in a prospectively recruited cohort of patients with Child‐Pugh A liver cirrhosis and with no previous variceal haemorrhage who attended the liver clinics of three major hospitals in Chile.ResultsThree hundred patients were included. The median (IQR) age was 61 [18‐86] years, median MELD was 8.0 (6‐17), median LSM was 17.2 (10.2‐77) kPa and median platelet count was 137 (23‐464) × 103/μL. The main aetiology was non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (67.3%). VNT were present in 18% of patients. The Baveno VI criteria had a sensitivity of 98.1% and a specificity of 38.2%, potentially sparing 31.3% of upper endoscopies with a very low risk of missing VNT (1.1%). The expanded Baveno VI criteria had a sensitivity of 90.7% and a specificity of 61%, potentially sparing 51.3% of upper endoscopies with a risk of missing VNT of 3.6%. Both criteria were independently associated with the absence of VNT.ConclusionWe validated the Baveno VI and expanded Baveno VI criteria in Chilean population, potentially sparing 31.3% and 51.3% of endoscopies, respectively, with a very low risk of missing VNT. Fondecyt 1191183.
Pyloric distensibility measurement after gastric surgery: Which surgeries are associated with pylorospasm?
Authors: Desprez Charlotte , Melchior Chloé , Wuestenberghs Fabien , Huet Emmanuel , Zalar Alberto , Jacques Jérémie , Leroi Anne-Marie , Gourcerol Guillaume 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBackground and study aimsHistory of gastric surgery is found in 10% of patients with gastroparesis, and vagal lesion is often suspected to be the cause of pylorospasm. Recently, pyloric distensibility measurement using the EndoFLIP® system showed that pylorospasm was present in 30%‐50% of gastroparetic patients. Our objective was to assess whether pylorospasm, diagnosed using EndoFLIP® system was observed in three different types of gastric surgeries: antireflux surgery, sleeve gastrectomy, and esophagectomy.Patients and MethodsPyloric distensibility and pressure were measured using the EndoFLIP® system in 43 patients from two centers (18 antireflux surgery, 16 sleeve gastrectomy, and nine esophagectomy) with dyspeptic symptoms after gastric surgery, and in 21 healthy volunteers. Altered pyloric distensibility was defined as distensibility below 10 mm2/mm Hg as previously reported.ResultsCompared to healthy volunteers (distensibility: 25.2 ± 2.4 mm2/mm Hg; pressure: 9.7 ± 4.4 mm Hg), pyloric distensibility was decreased in 61.1% of patients in the antireflux surgery group (14.5 ± 3.4 mm2/mm Hg; P < .01) and 75.0% of patients in the esophagectomy group (10.8 ± 2.1 mm2/mm Hg; P < .05), while pyloric pressure was only increased in the antireflux surgery group (18.9 ± 2.2 mm Hg; P < .01). Pyloric distensibility and pressure were similar in healthy volunteers and in sleeve gastrectomy (distensibility: 20.3 ± 3.8 mm2/mm Hg; pressure: 15.8 ± 1.6 mm Hg) groups, with decreased pyloric distensibility affecting 18.7% of sleeve gastrectomy patients.ConclusionAntireflux surgery and esophagectomy were associated with pylorospasm although pylorospasm was not found in all patients. Sleeve gastrectomy was not associated with altered pyloric distensibility nor altered pyloric pressure.
Related plants tend to share pollinators and herbivores, but strength of phylogenetic signal varies among plant families
Authors: Cirtwill Alyssa R. , Dalla Riva Giulio V. , Baker Nick J. , Ohlsson Mikael , Norström Isabelle , Wohlfarth Inger‐Marie , Thia Joshua A. , Stouffer Daniel B. 
Published: January 2020

SummaryRelated plants are often hypothesized to interact with similar sets of pollinators and herbivores, but this idea has only mixed empirical support. This may be because plant families vary in their tendency to share interaction partners.We quantify overlap of interaction partners for all pairs of plants in 59 pollination and 11 herbivory networks based on the numbers of shared and unshared interaction partners (thereby capturing both proportional and absolute overlap). We test for relationships between phylogenetic distance and partner overlap within each network; whether these relationships varied with the composition of the plant community; and whether well‐represented plant families showed different relationships.Across all networks, more closely related plants tended to have greater overlap. The strength of this relationship within a network was unrelated to the composition of the network's plant component, but, when considered separately, different plant families showed different relationships between phylogenetic distance and overlap of interaction partners.The variety of relationships between phylogenetic distance and partner overlap in different plant families probably reflects a comparable variety of ecological and evolutionary processes. Considering factors affecting particular species‐rich groups within a community could be the key to understanding the distribution of interactions at the network level.
Observational Study of Total Knee Arthroplasty in Aseptic Revision Surgery: Clinical Results
Authors: Oliver Gabriel , Jaldin Luis , Camprubí Eric , Cortés Guillermo 
Published: January 2020

ObjectiveTo review the long‐term clinical results after revision surgery and the relationship between the different clinical variables involved with a failed total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and its evolution to provide a better understanding of the current treatment methods.MethodsThe present study involved 89 subjects with a failed knee arthroplasty that ended up requiring revision surgery and component replacement between 2011 and 2015. The study included patients with pain remaining after TKA and indication from the knee unit surgeon to review the implant, without presenting with thromboembolic or neurological changes that could bias the results. The demographic data, surgical information, type of implant, and causes of failure were analyzed. The patients subjected to replacement surgery were specifically asked to fill out clinical and satisfaction questionnaires (Lysholm and KOOS). The mean follow‐up was 5.6 years (range, 3–11 years) and the analysis was divided into early revision (<5 years) and late revision (>5 years). The R statistical package version 3.2.5 for Windows was used, with significance less than 0.05 Cohort observational study.ResultsThe results indicated that implant revisions accounted for 5.57% of total primary implants, with a mean survival of 6 years for primary prosthesis failure. The mean revision surgery result on the Lysholm knee scoring scale was 68.73 out of 100 points. A better score was obtained for revisions undertaken on TKA with over 5 years' survival and there were no significant differences in terms of the type of implant used. The causes of TKA failure were aseptic loosening (77.38%), instability (9.52%), and painful prosthesis (13.10%). The results were statistically significant when isolated revisions were performed on one component. Rating worse on most of the questionnaire subscales.ConclusionThe clinical results were better in primary implant replacements with at least 5 years' survival. The replacement of only one of the components (tibial or femoral) provided worse clinical results than total replacement.
HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 confer drought tolerance in barley through enhanced leaf mesophyll H+ homoeostasis
Authors: Feng Xue , Liu Wenxing , Qiu Cheng‐Wei , Zeng Fanrong , Wang Yizhou , Zhang Guoping , Chen Zhong‐Hua , Wu Feibo 
Published: January 2020

SummaryPlant K+ uptake typically consists low—affinity mechanisms mediated by Shaker K+ channels (AKT/KAT/KC) and high‐affinity mechanisms regulated by HAK/KUP/KT transporters, which are extensively studied. However, the evolutionary and genetic roles of both K+ uptake mechanisms for drought tolerance are not fully explored in crops adapted to dryland agriculture. Here, we employed evolutionary bioinformatics, biotechnological and electrophysiological approaches to determine the role of two important K+ transporters HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 in drought tolerance in barley. HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 were cloned and functionally characterized using barley stripe mosaic virus‐induced gene silencing (BSMV‐VIGS) in drought‐tolerant wild barley XZ5 and agrobacterium‐mediated gene transfer in the barley cultivar Golden Promise. The hallmarks of the K+ selective filters of AKT2 and HAK1 are both found in homologues from strepotophyte algae, and they are evolutionarily conserved in strepotophyte algae and land plants. HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 are both localized to the plasma membrane and have high selectivity to K+ and Rb+ over other tested cations. Overexpression of HvAKT2 and HvHAK1 enhanced K+ uptake and H+ homoeostasis leading to drought tolerance in these transgenic lines. Moreover, HvAKT2‐ and HvHAK1‐overexpressing lines showed distinct response of K+, H+ and Ca2+ fluxes across plasma membrane and production of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide in leaves as compared to the wild type and silenced lines. High‐ and low‐affinity K+ uptake mechanisms and their coordination with H+ homoeostasis play essential roles in drought adaptation of wild barley. These findings can potentially facilitate future breeding programs for resilient cereal crops in a changing global climate.
Acetaminophen use during pregnancy and the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A causal association or bias?
Authors: Masarwa Reem , Platt Robert W. , Filion Kristian B. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and the development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the offspring may be due to bias.ObjectivesThe primary objective was to assess the role of potential unmeasured confounding in the estimation of the association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and the risk of ADHD, through bias analysis. The secondary objective was to assess the roles of selection bias and exposure misclassification.Data sourcesWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library up to December 2018.Study selection and data extractionWe included observational studies examining the association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and the risk of ADHD.SynthesisWe meta‐analysed data across studies, using random‐effects model. We conducted a bias analysis to studies that did not adjust for important confounders, to explore systematic errors related to unmeasured confounding, selection bias, and exposure misclassification.ResultsThe search resulted in seven studies included in our meta‐analysis. When adjusted estimates were pooled across all studies, the risk ratio (RR) for ADHD was 1.35 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25, 1.46; I2 = 48%). Sensitivity analysis for unmeasured confounding in this meta‐analysis showed that a confounder of 1.69 on the RR scale would reduce to 10% the proportion of studies with a true effect size of RR >1.10. Unmeasured confounding bias analysis decreased the point estimate in five of the seven studies and increased in two studies, suggesting that the observed association could be confounded by parental ADHD. Unadjusted and bias‐corrected risk ratios (bcRRs) were: RR = 1.34, bcRR = 1.13; RR = 1.51, bcRR = 1.17; RR = 1.63, bcRR = 1.38; RR = 1.44, bcRR = 1.17; RR = 1.16, bcRR = 1.18; RR = 1.25, bcRR = 1.05; and RR = 0.99, bcRR = 1.18.ConclusionsBias analysis suggests that the previously reported association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and an increased risk of ADHD in the offspring may be due to unmeasured confounding. Our ability to conclude a causal association is limited.
Silicon and nitric oxide‐mediated mechanisms of cadmium toxicity alleviation in wheat seedlings
Authors: Singh Swati , Prasad Sheo Mohan , Sharma Shivesh , Dubey Nawal Kishore , Ramawat Naleeni , Prasad Rajendra , Singh Vijay Pratap , Tripathi Durgesh Kumar , Chauhan Devendra Kumar 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe individual impact of silicon (Si) and nitric oxide (NO, as sodium nitroprusside) on metal toxicity in various plant species has been well documented; however, their combined action in the regulation of metal stress has never been tested yet. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of the combined application of Si and NO in the mitigation of Cd toxicity in wheat seedlings. Seedlings grown on Cd has a significantly declined growth due to an increased accumulation of Cd and oxidative stress markers (due to downregulation of antioxidant defense system particularly ascorbate‐glutathione cycle) and a decreased accumulation of NO and Si. Additionally, the altered leaf and root structures resulted into a declined photosynthetic efficiency. However, the addition of Si and NO alone as well as combined significantly alleviated Cd toxicity in wheat seedlings by lowering the accumulation of Cd and oxidative stress markers and improving leaf and root structures, which are collectively responsible for a better photosynthetic rate under Cd toxicity, and hence an improved growth was noticed. Particularly, the application of Si and NO in combination lowered the oxidative stress markers via upregulating the antioxidant defense system (particularly AsA‐GSH cycle) suggesting the increased efficacy of Si + NO against the Cd toxicity in wheat seedlings as compared to their alone treatments.
Pregnancy loss due to amnionitis in anglo‐arabian mare—Case report
Authors: Campos Isabela , Batista Barbara , Matos Ana Carina , Dutra Fernanda , Gomes Gustavo , Pinna Aline , Leite Juliana , Ferreira Ana 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe amnion is a layer of the foetal membrane that has mechanical protection function and allows expansion and growth. The diseases that affect amnion have rarely been reported in horses. Amnionitis and funiculitis have been implicated as components of abortions as observed in abortions caused by the mare reproductive loss syndrome. Here, we report an abortion at 240‐day gestation of a 7‐year‐old Anglo‐Arabian mare with a history of previous stillbirth. Blood samples from both mare and foetus were collected for serological testing. Fragments from the placenta were taken for macroscopic and histopathological examinations. The results of these tests ruled out leptospirosis and concluded that the cause of the abortion was non‐infectious chronic amnionitis. Moreover, the decreased vascularization in the placenta was consistent with placental insufficiency. This case highlights the importance of monthly ultrasound monitoring in equine pregnancy in order to diagnose placental insufficiency. The study also confirmed the efficiency of the histopathological examination for the definitive diagnosis of placental inflammation and for the study of foetal vascularization to rule out placental insufficiency in equine reproduction.
Bayesian Protein Sequence and Structure Alignment
Authors: Fallaize Christopher J. , Green Peter J. , Mardia Kanti V. , Barber Stuart 
Published: January 2020

SummaryThe structure of a protein is crucial in determining its functionality and is much more conserved than sequence during evolution. A key task in structural biology is to compare protein structures to determine evolutionary relationships, to estimate the function of newly discovered structures and to predict unknown structures. We propose a Bayesian method for protein structure alignment, with the prior on alignments based on functions which penalize ‘gaps’ in the aligned sequences. We show how a broad class of penalty functions fits into this framework, and how the resulting posterior distribution can be efficiently sampled. A commonly used gap penalty function is shown to be a special case, and we propose a new penalty function which alleviates an undesirable feature of the commonly used penalty. We illustrate our method on benchmark data sets and find that it competes well with popular tools from computational biology. Our method has the benefit of being able potentially to explore multiple competing alignments and to quantify their merits probabilistically. The framework naturally enables further information such as amino acid sequence to be included and could be adapted to other situations such as flexible proteins or domain swaps.
Coefficients of Wronskian Hermite polynomials
Authors: Bonneux Niels , Dunning Clare , Stevens Marco 
Published: January 2020

AbstractWe study Wronskians of Hermite polynomials labeled by partitions and use the combinatorial concepts of cores and quotients to derive explicit expressions for their coefficients. These coefficients can be expressed in terms of the characters of irreducible representations of the symmetric group, and also in terms of hook lengths. Further, we derive the asymptotic behavior of the Wronskian Hermite polynomials when the length of the core tends to infinity, while fixing the quotient. Via this combinatorial setting, we obtain in a natural way the generalization of the correspondence between Hermite and Laguerre polynomials to Wronskian Hermite polynomials and Wronskians involving Laguerre polynomials. Lastly, we generalize most of our results to polynomials that have zeros on thep‐star.
Classification and characteristics of periorbital hyperpigmentation
Authors: Fatin Amira M. , Mathana Sundram Thavin K. , Tan Sin Sing E. , Seghayat Marjan Sadat , Lee Chew Kek , Rehman Navedur , Tan Chung Keat 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIntroductionPeriorbital hyperpigmentation (POH) is among the commonest esthetic and dermatological complaints. Despite its frequency, there are inadequate information detailing its incidence and prevalence. This subsequently leads to lack of comprehensive POH classification and stratification of impact on an individual's general well'being. Malaysia, a multiracial country with an expansive expatriate population, provides a unique opportunity to identify demographics of POH and subsequently attempts to group this esthetic and dermatological entity.ObjectiveThis study aims to develop a new and clinically relevant POH classification system and to measure impact on quality of life of POH individuals.MethodsOne hundred patients with POH were enrolled, of which all underwent clinical assessment by a clinician. Objective assessment with mexameter and digital analysis were performed. All recruited patients also completed a questionnaire based on dermatology life quality index (DLQI).ResultsAssessments noted the commonest type of POH among the subjects was vascular (51%) with the least being pigmentary (6%). The location of POH majority involved both the upper and lower eyelids (65%). DLQI scoring shows that a majority (58%) did not disrupt their quality of life.ConclusionVascular type POH was the frequent most form observed, and involvement tends to occur on both eyelids. A majority of noted that POH does not affect they QOL, but the due consideration must be given in those whom are moderately and minimally affected. A thorough and comprehensive holistic approach is required in managing POH despite its focal presentation as it does affect a patient's quality of life.