bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
‘Stop sign’ position for subclavian ultrasound: a single-blinded observational study of subclavian vein dimensions
Authors: Lister Rachel B. , Welfare Oliver W.d’A. , Cheri Thomas , Park Michael A.J. 
Published: February 2020

Objective
Right subclavian vein (SCV) dimensions were evaluated on ultrasound and whether these change when the right upper limb is in a neutral position compared with the ‘stop sign’ position (shoulder abducted and externally rotated to 90°, elbow flexed to 90°), and when patients were positioned 30° head-up compared with lying supine.

Methods
Images of transverse and longitudinal views of the right SCV in patients ≥18 years, presenting with a range of conditions to a Regional Hospital Emergency Department, were recorded by two physicians in a randomly assigned, nonsequential order and measured blinded. Data were analysed with paired Student’s t tests. N = 62.

Results
Primary outcome: cross-sectional area (CSA) of the right SCV in transverse images. Secondary outcomes: depth of SCV to skin and diameter of SCV on longitudinal images. There was no significant difference in CSA of the SCV in supine patients when the arm was in the stop sign position compared with neutral (mean CSA: 1.20 ± 0.42 and 1.15 ± 0.39 cm2, respectively; P = 0.3). In patients positioned 30° head-up, the stop sign position significantly increased CSA from 0.65 ± 0.33 to 1.00 ± 0.38 cm2 (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions
Utilizing the stop sign position does not change SVC dimensions when patients are supine, however, may improve dimensions when lying supine is contraindicated.
Protein-losing enteropathy
Authors: Elli Luca , Topa Matilde , Rimondi Alessandro 
Published: February 2020

Purpose of review
The present review offers its readers a practical overview of protein-losing enteropathy, particularly with regard to diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The aim is to support clinicians in their daily practice with a practical tool to deal with protein-losing enteropathy.

Recent findings
The literature covering protein-losing enteropathy does not appear to be quite recent and also guidelines are scanty. The main innovations during the last decade probably regard the introduction of enteroscopic techniques in the diagnostic flowchart. The use of video-capsule and device-assisted enteroscopy has enabled the direct exploration of the small bowel and the identification of the damage causing the loss of proteins from the gastrointestinal tract. Other innovations are to do with the therapies of the disorder underlying protein-losing enteropathy, although the support with nutritional supplementation are the direct remedies to tackle the protein loss.

Summary
Protein-losing enteropathy represents an important clinical aspect of different gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal diseases. An established flowchart is still unavailable, but the use of enteroscopy has deeply changed the modern diagnostic approach. Nutritional support and therapy of the underlying disease are pivotal to patients’ management.
Current status of pediatric intestinal transplant in Europe
Authors: Andres Ane M. , Ramos Esther , Hernandez Francisco 
Published: February 2020

Purpose of review
This review features articles published during 2018 and 2019 regarding pediatric visceral transplantation in Europe. In this biannual review, the authors identify and summarize key articles pertinent to clinical and research areas.

Recent findings
There is a trend to a lower use of intestinal transplantation in pediatric population in Europe. Most articles were focused in long-term follow-up. The burden of the disease 10 years after intestinal transplantation is still significant, including the need of several medications, readmissions, and the need of specific follow-up, mostly because of psychiatric problems. Regarding eating behaviors, promoting eating pretransplant may be protective and there may be eating difficulty predictors that could be used to facilitate targeted interventions. Two different articles were consistent in the identification of C1q-fixing DSA as a marker of poor outcome, and capillaritis was identified as a predictor of C4d positivity in intestinal graft biopsies. The inclusion of the liver emerged as the main protective factor against dnDSA development. The incidence of PTLD (specially the monomorphic type) was significantly higher following ITx than after LTx (14.9 vs. 2.8%). The European societies and the EU have made an effort to promote networking, collaborative registries, and sharing of knowledge in pediatric transplantation.

Summary
Recent articles focused mostly on long-term follow-up issues, although translational research has also been sustained by some groups.
Tolerance studies in liver transplantation: are we fooling ourselves?
Authors: Tran Lillian , Humar Abhinav 
Published: February 2020

Purpose of review
This article will summarize outcomes of prior immunosuppression withdrawal trials in pediatric and adult liver transplantation and provide updates on the current status of ongoing clinical tolerance studies including evolving strategies, such as identification of reliable biomarkers or immunomodulation to achieve an earlier onset and more robust level of operational tolerance.

Recent findings
Clinical tolerance studies in liver transplantation have previously been limited by inconsistent and delayed success of immunosuppressive withdrawal, lack of substantial histological analysis from liver tissue biopsy, and the inability to translate mechanistic studies to reproducible clinical outcomes. Current clinical trials are attempting to overcome these hurdles through more comprehensive and guided immunosuppression withdrawal protocols. Novel and emerging technologies are enabling investigators to identify and validate potential biomarkers of tolerance in order to predict patient subpopulations disposed towards operational tolerance. Immune cell therapy using the adoptive transfer of various cell products have been shown to be feasible and well tolerated in early phase clinical trials and ongoing.

Summary
Tolerance studies in liver transplantation are evolving and substantial progress has been made in overcoming the challenges that have prevented the widespread implementation of immunosuppression withdrawal protocols in the clinic. Identifying more sensitive and specific predictors of immunosuppression withdrawal success and tolerance induction strategies that will allow for early tolerance will advance the field tremendously towards the goal of promoting long-term allograft survival without immunosuppression.
Hospital admissions in individuals with HTLV-1 infection in Spain
Authors: Ramos José-Manuel , de Mendoza Carmen , Aguilera Antonio , Barreiro Pablo , Benito Rafael , Eiros Jose M. , Soriano Vicente 
Published: February 2020

Objective:
To examine the clinical burden and disease spectrum, as well as time trends for human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and HTLV type 2 (HTLV-2) hospital admissions.

Design:
Retrospective, observational study using the Spanish National Hospital Discharge Database.

Methods:
Information for the diagnostic codes HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) was retrieved from the national public registry since 1997--2015.

Results:
From a total of 66 462 136 nationwide hospital admissions recorded during the study period, 135 included HTLV diagnosis, being HTLV-1 in 115 (85.2%) and HTLV-2 in 20 (14.8%). The overall hospital admission rate because of HTLV was 2.03 per million, without significant yearly changes. First admissions represented 104 (77%) whereas 31 (23%) were re-admissions. The median in-hospital stay for HTLV patients was 9 days. In-hospital death occurred in 11 (8.1%). The median age of individuals with HTLV admission was 48 years and 60 (44.4%) were women. HTLV was recorded as the main diagnosis in 20%. The most frequent clinical conditions recorded alongside HTLV diagnosis were myelopathy (61; 45.2%), leukemia/lymphoma (30; 22.2%), solid organ transplantation (14; 10.4%) and child delivery (7; 5.2%).

Conclusion:
The rate of HTLV diagnosis in hospitalized patients in Spain is low, roughly of two per million admissions. Despite continuous large immigrant flows from HTLV-1 endemic areas, no significant rising in hospitalizations because of HTLV-1 associated illnesses were noticed during the last two decades. Classical clinical complications of HTLV-1 infection, such as myelopathy and lymphoma account for more than two-thirds of cases.
Epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs and dementia
Authors: Beghi Ettore , Beghi Massimiliano 
Published: February 2020

Purpose of review
To illustrate the frequency and trends of the comorbidity of epilepsy and dementia and the effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on cognitive functions.

Recent findings
Although the mortality and incidence of epilepsy are decreasing overall, they are increasing in the elderly as a result of population growth and increased life expectancy. Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are among the commonest causes of seizures and epilepsy. Epilepsy can be also complicated by cognitive impairment, suggesting a bidirectional association. Although epilepsy with onset in the elderly can be the manifestation of a CNS disease/injury, the cause of cognitive impairment is multifactorial and includes static (genetic background, age at seizure onset, developmental and acquired cerebral lesions) and dynamic factors [recurrent seizures, epileptiform discharges, type and number of AEDs and psychiatric comorbidities]. Most AEDs, with special reference to first-generation drugs, have negative effects on cognitive functions; however, none was found to increase the risk of dementia.

Summary
A net increase in the burden of epilepsy, dementia and epilepsy-dementia comorbidity is expected. The growing use of second-generation AEDs might help reducing adverse cognitive effects. However, the fairly high cost of these drugs might delay their widespread use in resource-poor countries.

Video abstract

http://links.lww.com/CONR/A49.
Sleep disruption after brain injury is associated with worse motor outcomes and slower functional recovery
Authors: Fleming Melanie K , Smejka Tom , Slater David Henderson , van Gils Veerle , Garratt Emma , Kara Ece Yilmaz , Johansen-Berg Heidi 
Published: February 2020

AbstractBackground and AimsSleep is important for consolidation of motor learning, but brain injury may affect sleep continuity and therefore rehabilitation outcomes. This study aims to assess the relationship between sleep quality and motor recovery in brain injury patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation.Methods59 patients with brain injury were recruited from two specialist inpatient rehabilitation units. Sleep quality was assessed (up to 3 times) objectively using actigraphy (7 nights) and subjectively using the Sleep Condition Indicator. Motor outcome assessments included: Action Research Arm test (upper limb function), Fugl Meyer assessment (motor impairment) and the Rivermead Mobility Index. The functional independence measure (FIM) was assessed at admission and discharge by the clinical team. 55 age and gender matched healthy controls completed one assessment.ResultsInpatients demonstrated lower self-reported sleep quality (p<0.001) and more fragmented sleep (p<0.001) than controls. For inpatients, sleep fragmentation explained significant additional variance in motor outcomes, over and above that explained by admission FIM score (p<0.017), such that more disrupted sleep was associated with poorer motor outcomes. Using stepwise linear regression, sleep fragmentation was the only variable found to explain variance in rate of change in FIM (R2adj= 0.12, p = 0.03), whereby more disrupted sleep was associated with slower recovery.ConclusionsInpatients with brain injury demonstrate impaired sleep quality, and this is associated with poorer motor outcomes and slower functional recovery. Further investigation is needed to determine how sleep quality can be improved and whether this affects outcome.
When will the battle against novel coronavirus end in Wuhan: a SEIR modeling analysis
Authors: Wan Kangkang , Chen Jing , Lu Changming , Dong Lanlan , Wu Zhicheng , Zhang Lianglu 
Published: February 2020

AbstractRecent outbreak of 2019-nCoV in Wuhan raised serious public health concerns. By February 15, 2020 in Wuhan, the total number of confirmed infection cases has reached 37,914, and the number of deaths has reached 1123, accounting for 56.9% of the total confirmed cases and 73.7% of the total deaths in China. People are eager to know when the epidemic will be completely controlled and when people’s work and life will be on the right track. In this study we analyzed the epidemic dynamics and trend of 2019-nCoV in Wuhan by using the data after the closure of Wuhan city till February 12, 2020 based on the SEIR modeling method. The optimal parameters were estimated as R0=1.44 (interquartile range: 1.40-1.47),TI=14 (interquartile range: 14-14) and TE=3.0 (interquartile range: 2.8-3.1). Based on these parameters, the number of infected individuals in Wuhan city may reach the peak around February 19 at about 45,000 people. Once entering March, the epidemic would gradually decline, and end around the late March. It is worth noting that the above prediction is based on the assumption that the number of susceptible population N = 200,000 will not increase. If the epidemic situation is not properly controlled, the peak of infected number can be further increased and the peak time will be a little postponed. It was expected that the epidemic would subside in early March, and disappear gradually towards the late March.
Rapid learning of the 5-choice serial reaction time task in an automated rodent training system
Authors: Birtalan Eszter , Bánhidi Anita , Sanders Joshua I. , Balázsfi Diána , Hangya Balázs 
Published: February 2020

AbstractExperiments aiming to understand sensory-motor systems, cognition and behavior often require animals trained to perform complex tasks. Traditional training protocols require lab personnel to move the animals between home cages and training chambers, to start and end training sessions, and in some cases, to hand-control each training trial. Human labor not only limits the amount of training per day, but also introduces several sources of variability and may increase animal stress. Here we present an automated training system for the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT), a classic rodent task often used to test sensory detection, sustained attention and impulsivity. We found that fully automated training without human intervention greatly increased the speed and efficiency of learning, and decreased stress as measured by corticosterone levels. Introducing training breaks did not cancel these beneficial effects of automated training, and mice readily generalized across training systems when transferred from automated to manual protocols. Additionally, we validated our automated training system with mice implanted with wireless optogenetic stimulators, expanding the breadth of experimental needs our system may fulfill. Our automated 5CSRTT system can serve as a prototype for fully automated behavioral training, with methods and principles transferrable to a range of rodent tasks.
Epidemic Situation of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia in China mainland
Authors: Liu Youbin , Gong Liming , Li Baohong 
Published: February 2020

AbstractObjectiveAnalyze the occurrence of novel coronavirus pneumonia(NCP) in China mainland, explore the epidemiological rules, and evaluate the effect of prevention and control.MethodsFrom December 1, 2019 to March 4, 2020, Analysis of 80,409 confirmed cases of NCP in China mainland.ResultsFrom December 1, 2019 to March 4, 2020, a total of 80,409 cases of NCP were confirmed in China mainland, a total of 67,466 cases were confirmed in Hubei Province, a total of 49,671 cases were confirmed in Wuhan city. From December 1, 2019 to March 4, 2020, a total of 3,012 cases of NCP deaths in China mainland, the mortality was 3.75% (3012/80,409); A total of 52045 cases of cured in China mainland; The turning point of the epidemic have been reached since February 18.2020 in China mainland; The spread index of NCP gradually declined since January 27. 2020, and the extinction index of NCP rose little by little since January 29, 2020.ConclusionFrom December 1, 2019 to March 4, 2020, NCP is under control, and the trend of the epidemic will eventually disappear; The turning point of an epidemic that I’ve created is a great indicator that can calculate the turning date of an outbreak and provide a basis for scientific prevention.
Microbial Stimulation Reverses the Age-Related Decline in M Cells in Aged Mice
Authors: Donaldson David S. , Pollock Jolinda , Vohra Prerna , Stevens Mark P. , Mabbott Neil A. 
Published: February 2020

SUMMARYAgeing has a profound effect on the immune system, termed immunosenescence, resulting in increased incidence and severity of infections and decreased efficacy of vaccinations. We previously showed that immunosurveillance in the intestine, achieved primarily through antigen sampling M cells in the follicle associated epithelium (FAE) of Peyer’s patches, was compromised during ageing due to a decline in M cell functional maturation. The intestinal microbiota also changes significantly with age, but whether this affects M cell maturation was not known. We show that housing of aged mice on used bedding from young mice, or treatment with bacterial flagellin, were each sufficient to enhance the functional maturation of M cells in Peyer’s patches. An understanding of the mechanisms underlying the influence of the intestinal microbiota on M cells has the potential to lead to new methods to enhance the efficacy of oral vaccination in aged individuals.
Generation and application of river network analogues for use in ecology and evolution
Authors: Carraro Luca , Bertuzzo Enrico , Fronhofer Emanuel A. , Furrer Reinhard , Gounand Isabelle , Rinaldo Andrea , Altermatt Florian 
Published: February 2020

AbstractSeveral key processes in freshwater ecology and evolution are governed by the connectivity inherent to dendritic river networks. These networks have extensively been analyzed from a geomorphological and hydrological viewpoint, yet network structures classically used in modelling have only been partially representative of the structure of real river basins, and have often failed to capture well known scaling features of real river networks. Pioneering work has identified optimal channel networks (OCNs) as spanning trees that reproduce all scaling features characteristic of real, natural stream networks worldwide. While these networks have been used to generate landscapes for studies on metapopulations, biodiversity and epidemiology, their generation has not been generally accessible.Given the increasing interest in dendritic riverine networks by ecologists and evolutionary biologists, we here present a method to generate OCNs and, to facilitate its application, we also provide the R-package OCNet. Owing to the random search process that generates OCNs, multiple network replicas spanning the same surface can be built, allowing one to perform computational experiments whose results do not depend on the particular shape of a single river network. The OCN construct also enables the generation of elevational gradients derived from the optimal network configuration, which can constitute three-dimensional landscapes for spatial studies in both terrestrial and freshwater realms. Moreover, the OCNet package provides functions that aggregate the OCN into an arbitrary number of nodes, calculate several metrics and descriptors of river networks, and draw relevant features of the network.We describe the main functionalities of the package and present how it can be integrated into other R-packages commonly used in spatial ecology. Moreover, we exemplify the generation of OCNs and discuss an application to a metapopulation model for an invasive riverine species.In conclusion, OCNet provides a powerful tool to generate and use realistic river network analogues for various applications. It thereby allows the design of spatially realistic studies in increasingly impacted ecosystems, and enhances our knowledge on spatial processes in freshwater ecology in general.
Building a high-quality reference genome assembly for the the eastern Mediterranean Sea invasive sprinterLagocephalus sceleratus(Tetraodontiformes, Tetraodontidae)
Authors: Danis Theodoros , Tsakogiannis Alexandros , Kristoffersen Jon B. , Golani Daniel , Tsaparis Dimitris , Kasapidis Panagiotis , Kotoulas Georgios , Magoulas Antonios , Tsigenopoulos Costas S. , Manousaki Tereza 
Published: February 2020

ABSTRACTThe Tetraodontidae family encompasses several species which attract scientific interest in terms of their ecology and evolution. However, the genomic resources and especially reference assemblies are sparse for the members of the family. In this study, we focus on the silver-cheeked toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus) a well-known ‘invasive sprinter’ that has invaded and spread throughout the Eastern and part of the Western Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal within a decade. We sequenced the genome ofL. sceleratususing a single MinION flow cell for the main assembly, and Illumina reads for polishing the assembly. The resulted assembly consisted of 241 contigs (N50 = 11,3 Mb) with a total size of 360 Mb and yielded 98% BUSCO completeness. The high-quality genome assembly built here is expected to set the ground for future studies on this focal species’ invasive biology.
Altered patterning of trisomy 21 interneuron progenitors
Authors: Giffin-Rao Yathindar , Sheng Jie , Strand Bennett , Xu Ke , Huang Leslie , Medo Margaret , Risgaard Kirstin A. , Dantinne Samuel , Mohan Sruti , Keshan Aratrika , Daley Roger A. , Levesque Bradley , Amundson Lindsey , Reese Rebecca , Sousa André M.M. , Tao Yunlong , Wang Daifeng , Zhang Su-Chun , Bhattacharyya Anita 
Published: February 2020

SUMMARYIndividuals with Down syndrome (DS, Ts21), the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, have smaller brains that reflect fewer neurons at pre- and post-natal stages, implicating impaired neurogenesis during development. Our stereological analysis of adult DS cortex indicates a reduction of calretinin expressing interneurons. Using Ts21 human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and isogenic controls, we find Ts21 progenitors generate fewer COUP-TFII+ progenitors with reduced proliferation. Single cell RNA-sequencing of Ts21 progenitors confirms the altered specification of progenitor subpopulations and identifies reduced WNT signaling. Activation of WNT signaling partially restores the COUP-TFII+ progenitor population in Ts21, suggesting that altered WNT signaling contributes to the defective development of cortical interneurons in DS.