bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antibiotic prescriptions in children with COVID-19 and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome: a multinational experience in 990 cases from Latin America
Authors: Yock-Corrales Adriana , Lenzi Jacopo , Ulloa-Gutiérrez Rolando , Gómez-Vargas Jessica , Yassef Antúnez-Montes Omar , Rios Aida Jorge Alberto , del Aguila Olguita , Arteaga-Menchaca Erick , Campos Francisco , Uribe Fadia , Buitrago Andrea Parra , Betancur Londoño Lina Maria , Brizuela Martin , Buonsenso Danilo 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundTo date, there are no comprehensive data on antibiotic use in children with COVID-19 and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C).MethodsMulticenter cohort study from 5 Latin American countries. Children 17 years of age or younger with microbiologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or fulfilling MIS-C definition were included. Antibiotic prescriptions were collected and factors associated with their use were calculated.Findings990 children were included, with a median age of 3 years (interquartile range 1–9). Of these, 69 (7.0%) were diagnosed with MIS-C. The prevalence of antibiotic use was 24.5% (n = 243). MIS-C with (OR = 45.48) or without (OR = 10.35) cardiac involvement, provision of intensive care (OR = 9.60), need for hospital care (OR = 6.87), pneumonia and/or ARDS detected through chest X-rays (OR = 4.40), administration of systemic corticosteroids (OR = 4.39), oxygen support, mechanical ventilation or CPAP (OR = 2.21), pyrexia (OR = 1.84), and female sex (OR = 1.50) were independently associated with increased use of antibiotics. On the contrary, lower respiratory tract infections without radiologic evidence of pneumonia/ARDS and not requiring respiratory support (OR = 0.34) were independently associated with decreased use of antibiotics. There was significant variation in antibiotic use across the hospitals.ConclusionsOur study showed a relatively high rate of antibiotic prescriptions in children with COVID-19 and in particular in those with severe disease or MIS-C. Importantly, we found a significant variation in reasons for prescriptions of antibiotics and type of chosen therapies, as well in hospital practices, highlighting current uncertainties and lack of guidelines for the recognition of bacterial infections in children with COVID-19. Prospective studies are needed to provide better evidence on the recognition and management of bacterial infections in COVID-19 children.What is knownCOVID-19 may worsen antibiotic prescription practicesWhat this newCOVID-19 and MIS-C children frequently received antibioticsThere was a wide variation in antibiotic prescriptions among institutions, highlighting the lack of practicle guidelines in the use of antibiotics in children with COVID-19
Rt2: computing and visualising COVID-19 epidemics temporal reproduction number
Authors: Reyné Bastien , Danesh Gonché , Alizon Samuel , Sofonea Mircea T. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractAnalysing the spread of COVID-19 epidemics in a timely manner is essential for public health authorities. However, raw numbers may be misleading because of spatial and temporal variations. We introduce Rt2, an R-program with a shiny interface, which uses incidence data, i.e. number of new cases per day, to compute variations in the temporal reproduction number (ℛt), which corresponds to the average number of secondary infections caused by an infected person. This number is computed with theR0package, which better captures past variations, and theEpiEstimpackage, which provides a more accurate estimate of current values. ℛtcan be computed in different countries using either the daily number of new cases or of deaths. For France, these numbers can also be computed at the regional and departmental level using also daily numbers of hospital and ICU admissions. Finally, in addition to ℛt, we represent the incidence using a one-week sliding window to buffer daily variations. Overall, Rt2 provides an accurate and timely overview of the state and speed of spread of COVID-19 epidemics at different scales, using different metrics.
Does higher BMI increase COVID-19 severity?: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Chowdhury Akibul Islam , Rabbi Md. Fazley , Rahman Tanjina , Reza Sompa , Alam Mohammad Rahanur 
Published: December 2020

AbstractIntroductionCOVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc worldwide, and different comorbidities have been seen to exacerbate the condition. Obesity is one of the leading comorbidities, which is associated with many other diseases. In this paper, we present a systematic review and meta-analysis estimating the effects of overweight and obesity on COVID-19 disease severity.MethodologyTwo electronic databases (Medline and Cochrane library) and one grey literature database (Grey Literature Report) were searched using the following keywords: overweight, obesity, body mass index, respiratory disease, coronavirus, COVID-19. The risks of bias of the selected studies were assessed by using the Navigation Guide method for human data. Both random and fixed effect meta-analysis were determined using Review Manager (RevMan) software version 5.4.ResultsAfter initial screening, 12 studies (7 cohort studies, four case-control studies, and one cross-sectional study) were fulfilled the eligibility criteria, comprising a total of 405359 patients and included in the systematic review. The pooled risk of disease severity was 1.31 times higher based on both fixed and random effect model among those overweight patients,I20% and 2.09 and 2.41 times higher based on fixed and random effect respectively among obese patients,I242% compared to healthy individuals.ConclusionOverweight and obesity are common risk factors for disease severity of COVID-19 patients. However, further assessment of metabolic parameters included BMI, waist-hip ratio, and insulin levels, are required to estimate the risk factors of COVID-19 patients and understanding the mechanism between COVID-19 and body mass index.
Aripiprazole as a candidate treatment of COVID-19 identified through genomic analysis
Authors: Crespo-Facorro Benedicto , Ruiz-Veguilla Miguel , Vázquez-Bourgon Javier , Sánchez-Hidalgo Ana C. , Garrido-Torres Nathalia , Cisneros Jose M. , Prieto Carlos , Sainz Jesus 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundAntipsychotics suppress expression of inflammatory cytokines and inducible inflammatory enzymes. Elopiprazole (a phenylpiperazine antipsychotic drug in phase 1) has been characterized as a therapeutic drug to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection in a repurposing study. We aim to investigate the potential effects of aripiprazole (an FDA approved phenylpiperazine) on COVID19-related immunological parameters.MethodsDifferential gene expression profiles of non-COVID versus COVID RNA-Seq samples (CRA002390 project in GSA database) and drug-naïve patients with psychosis at baseline and after three months of aripiprazole treatment was identified. An integrative analysis between COVID and aripiprazole immunomodulatory antagonist effects was performed.Findings82 out the 377 genes (21.7%) with expression significantly altered by aripiprazole have also their expression altered in COVID-19 patients and in 93.9% of these genes their expression is reverted by aripiprazole. The number of common genes with expression altered in both analyses is significantly higher than expected (Fisher’s Exact Test, two tail; P value=3.2e-11). 11 KEGG pathways were significantly enriched with genes with altered expression both in COVID-19 patients and aripiprazole medicated schizophrenia patients (P adj<0.05). The most significant pathways were associated to the immune system such as the “inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)” (the most significant pathway with a P adj of 0.00021), “Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation” and “B cell receptor signaling pathway”, all three related to the defense against infections.InterpretationThis exploratory investigation may provide further support to the notion that protective effect is exerted by phenylpiperazine by modulating the immunological dysregulation associated to COVID-19. Along with many ongoing studies and clinical trials, repurposing available medications could be of use in countering SARS-CoV-2 infection, but require further studies and trials.
Attention-dependent physiological correlates in sleep deprived healthy humans
Authors: Cesari Valentina , Marinari Elena , Laurino Marco , Gemignani Angelo , Menicucci Danilo 
Published: December 2020

AbstractDistinct cognitive functions are based on specific brain networks, but they are also affected by workload. The workload is a common factor affecting cognitive functioning that, by activating the Central Autonomic Network, modulates heart rate peripheral correlates of cognitive functioning. Based on these premises, we expected that the peripheral patterns associated with different attentional systems would have common (workload-related) and specific (task-dependent) components. To disentangling the components, a profile of peripheral physiological correlates of cognitive functioning was derived by studying healthy volunteers while performing different cognitive tasks during baseline and post-sleep deprivation conditions. Post-sleep deprivation condition was introduced to increase workload during tasks, allowing the investigation of the same participant at different levels of workload in different conditions. We performed, in each condition, physiological recordings of heart pulse, facial temperature and head movements during tasks assessing attentional networks efficiency (ANT - Attentional Network Task; CCT - Continuous Compensatory Tracker). We assessed perceived workload after the execution of these tasks. Physiological correlates of cognitive performance were identified by associating changes of task indices with the corresponding changes in physiological measures from baseline to post-sleep deprivation condition. Correlation analyses were performed after correction for the between-conditions workload changes: indeed, mental and physical demands of perceived workload increased after sleep deprivation. We found that alerting/vigilance has specific physiological correlates as indicated by the negative correlation between changes in ANT-alerting score and changes in amplitude of head movements and the positive one between changes in CCT-visuomotor speed indexing alertness and changes in facial temperature.
Attentional Modulation of Hierarchical Speech Representations in a Multitalker Environment
Authors: Kiremitçi Ibrahim , Yilmaz Özgür , Çelik Emin , Shahdloo Mo , Huth Alexander G , Çukur Tolga 
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACTHumans are remarkably adept in listening to a desired speaker in a crowded environment, while filtering out non-target speakers in the background. Attention is key to solving this difficult cocktail-party task, yet a detailed characterization of attentional effects on speech representations is lacking. It remains unclear across what levels of speech features and how much attentional modulation occurs in each brain area during the cocktail-party task. To address these questions, we recorded whole-brain BOLD responses while subjects either passively listened to single-speaker stories, or selectively attended to a male or a female speaker in temporally-overlaid stories in separate experiments. Spectral, articulatory, and semantic models of the natural stories were constructed. Intrinsic selectivity profiles were identified via voxelwise models fit to passive listening responses. Attentional modulations were then quantified based on model predictions for attended and unattended stories in the cocktail-party task. We find that attention causes broad modulations at multiple levels of speech representations while growing stronger towards later stages of processing, and that unattended speech is represented up to the semantic level in parabelt auditory cortex. These results provide insights on attentional mechanisms that underlie the ability to selectively listen to a desired speaker in noisy multi-speaker environments.
Causal relations between cortical network oscillations and breathing frequency
Authors: Tort Adriano BL , Hammer Maximilian , Zhang Jiaojiao , Brankačk Jurij , Draguhn Andreas 
Published: December 2020

AbstractNasal breathing generates a rhythmic signal which entrains cortical network oscillations in widespread brain regions on a cycle-to-cycle time scale. It is unknown, however, how respiration and neuronal network activity interact on a larger time scale: are breathing frequency and typical neuronal oscillation patterns correlated? Is there any directionality or causal relationship? To address these questions, we recorded field potentials from the posterior parietal cortex of mice together with respiration during REM sleep. In this state, the parietal cortex exhibits prominent theta and gamma oscillations while behavioral activity is minimal, reducing confounding signals. We found that the instantaneous breathing rate strongly correlates with the instantaneous frequency and amplitude of both theta and gamma oscillations. Granger causality analysis revealed specific directionalities for different rhythms: changes in theta activity precede and cause changes in breathing rate, suggesting control of breathing frequency by the functional state of the brain. On the other hand, the instantaneous breathing rate Granger-causes changes in gamma oscillations, suggesting that gamma is influenced by a peripheral reafference signal. These findings show that breathing causally relates to different patterns of rhythmic brain activity, revealing new and complex interactions between elementary physiological functions and neuronal information processing.Significance StatementThe study of the interactions between respiration and brain activity has been focused on phase-entrainment relations, in which cortical networks oscillate phase-locked to breathing cycles. Here we discovered new and much broader interactions which link respiration rate (frequency) to different patterns of oscillatory brain activity. Specifically, we show that the instantaneous breathing rate strongly correlates with the instantaneous frequency and amplitude of theta and gamma oscillations, two major network patterns associated with cognitive functions. Interestingly, causality analyses reveal that changes in breathing rate follow theta, suggesting a central drive, while in contrast, gamma activity follows changes in breathing rate, suggesting the role of a reafferent signal. Our results reveal new mechanisms by which nasal breathing patterns may influence brain functions.
The Quercetin and Quercetin Derivatives Interaction With Cyclooxygenase-1 and Cyclooxygenase-2
Authors: Manukyan A.E. , Hovhannisyan A.A. 
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACTThe cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes are tumor markers, the inhibition of which can be used in the prevention and therapy of carcinogenesis. It was found that COX-1 and COX-2 are considered as targets for tumor inhibition. In anticancer therapy, plant compounds are considered that can inhibit their activity. Modeling of the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes was carried out on the basis of molecular models of three-dimensional structures from the PDB database [PDB ID: 3KK6, 5f19] RCSB. For docking analysis, 3D ligand models were created using MarvinSketch based on the PubChem database [CID: 5280343, 5281654].In silicoexperiments, for the first time, revealed the possible interaction and inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 by quercetin and quercetin derivatives. Aspirin and Celecoxib [CID: 2244, 2662] were taken to compare the results. Possible biological activities and possible side effects of the ligands have been identified. It is noteworthy that Celecoxib is not active on the studied cell lines, while quercetin and quercetin derivatives are more active than Aspirin.
The social shape of sperm: Using an integrative machine-learning approach to examine sperm ultrastructure and collective motility
Authors: Hook Kristin A. , Yang Qixin , Campanello Leonard , Losert Wolfgang , Fisher Heidi S. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractSperm are one of the most morphologically diverse cell types in nature, yet they also exhibit remarkable behavioral variation, including the formation of collective groups of cells that swim together for motility or transport through the female reproductive tract. Here we take advantage of the natural variation in sperm traits observed acrossPeromyscusmice to test the hypothesis that the morphology of the rodent sperm head influences their sperm aggregation behavior. Using machine learning and traditional morphometric approaches to quantify and analyze their complex shapes, we show that the elongation of the sperm head is the most distinguishing morphological trait in these rodents and, as predicted, significantly associates with collective sperm movements obtained fromin vitroobservations. We then successfully use neural network analysis to predict the size and proportion of sperm aggregates from sperm head morphology and show that species whose sperm feature relatively wider heads aggregate more often and form larger groups, providing support for the theoretical prediction that an adhesive region around the equatorial region of the sperm head mediates these unique gametic interactions. Together these findings advance our understanding of how even subtle variation in sperm design can drive differences in sperm function and performance.Subject AreasEvolution, Cellular Biology, Behavior
The cost of attentional reorienting on conscious visual perception: an MEG study
Authors: Spagna Alfredo , Bayle Dimitri J. , Romeo Zaira , Seidel-Malkinson Tal , Liu Jianghao , Yahia-Cherif Lydia , Chica Ana B. , Bartolomeo Paolo 
Published: December 2020

AbstractHow do attentional networks influence conscious perception? To answer this question, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) in human participants, and assessed the effects of spatially nonpredictive or predictive supra-threshold peripheral cues on the conscious perception of near-threshold Gabors. Three main results emerged. (1) As compared with invalid cues, both nonpredictive and predictive valid cues increased conscious detection. Yet, only predictive cues shifted the response criterion towards a more liberal decision (i.e., willingness to report the presence of a target under conditions of greater perceptual uncertainty) and affected target contrast leading to 50% detections. (2) Conscious perception following valid predictive cues was associated to enhanced activity in frontoparietal networks. These responses were lateralized to the left hemisphere during attentional orienting, and to the right hemisphere during target processing. The involvement of frontoparietal networks occurred earlier in valid than in invalid trials, a possible neural marker of the cost of re-orienting attention. (3) When detected targets were preceded by invalid predictive cues, and thus reorienting to the target was required, neural responses occurred in left hemisphere temporo-occipital regions during attentional orienting, and in right hemisphere anterior insular and temporo-occipital regions during target processing. These results confirm and specify the role of frontoparietal networks in modulating conscious processing, and detail how invalid orienting of spatial attention disrupts conscious processing.Significance StatementDo we need to pay attention to external objects in order to become aware of them? Characterizing the spatiotemporal dynamics of attentional effects on visual perception is critical to understand how humans process and select relevant information. Participants detected near-threshold visual targets preceded by supra-threshold spatial cues with varying degrees of predictivity, while their brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography. Results demonstrated that valid predictive cues biased participants’ conscious perception through an early recruitment of frontoparietal regions, and that attentional costs associated to invalid predictive cues were related to activation of the right hemisphere ventral network. This work characterizes the neural dynamics associated with the cost of attentional reorienting on conscious processing.
Patient-Derived Orthotopic Xenografts and Cell Lines from Pediatric High-Grade Glioma Recapitulate the Heterogeneity of Histopathology, Molecular Signatures, and Drug Response
Authors: He Chen , Xu Ke , Zhu Xiaoyan , Dunphy Paige S. , Gudenas Brian , Lin Wenwei , Twarog Nathaniel , Hover Laura D. , Kwon Chang-Hyuk , Kasper Lawryn H. , Zhang Junyuan , Li Xiaoyu , Dalton James , Jonchere Barbara , Mercer Kimberly S. , Currier Duane G. , Caufield William , Wang Yingzhe , Broniscer Alberto , Wetmore Cynthia , Upadhyaya Santhosh A. , Qaddoumi Ibrahim , Klimo Paul , Boop Frederick , Gajjar Amar , Zhang Jinghui , Orr Brent A. , Robinson Giles W. , Monje Michelle , Freeman Burgess B. , Roussel Martine F. , Northcott Paul A. , Chen Taosheng , Rankovic Zoran , Wu Gang , Chiang Jason , Tinkle Christopher L. , Shelat Anang A. , Baker Suzanne J. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractPediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) is a major contributor to cancer-related death in children.In vitroandin vivodisease models reflecting the intimate connection between developmental context and pathogenesis of pHGG are essential to advance understanding and identify therapeutic vulnerabilities. We established 21 patient-derived pHGG orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) models and eight matched cell lines from diverse groups of pHGG. These models recapitulated histopathology, DNA methylation signatures, mutations and gene expression patterns of the patient tumors from which they were derived, and included rare subgroups not well-represented by existing models. We deployed 16 new and existing cell lines for high-throughput screening (HTS).In vitroHTS results predicted variablein vivoresponse to inhibitors of PI3K/mTOR and MEK signaling pathways. These unique new models and an online interactive data portal to enable exploration of associated detailed molecular characterization and HTS chemical sensitivity data provide a rich resource for pediatric brain tumor research.