bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mortality After Extrahepatic Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Wall Surgery in Patients With Alcoholic Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Adiamah Alfred , Ban Lu , Hammond John , Jepsen Peter , West Joe , Humes David J 
Published: May 2020

AbstractAimsThis meta-analysis aimed to define the perioperative risk of mortality in patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) undergoing extrahepatic gastrointestinal surgery.MethodsSystematic searches of Embase, Medline and CENTRAL were undertaken to identify studies reporting about patients with ALD undergoing extrahepatic gastrointestinal surgery published since database inception to January 2019. Studies were only considered if they reported on mortality as an outcome. Pooled analysis of mortality was stratified as benign and malignant surgery and specific operative procedures where feasible.ResultsOf the 2899 studies identified, only five studies met inclusion criteria, representing cholecystectomy (one study), umbilical hernia repair surgery (one study) and oesophagectomy (three studies). The total number of patients with ALD in these studies was 172. Therefore, any study on liver disease patients undergoing extrahepatic surgery that crucially included a subset with alcohol aetiology was included as a secondary analysis even though they failed to stratify mortality by underlying aetiology. The total number of studies that met this expanded inclusion criteria was 62, reporting on 37,703 patients with liver disease of which 1735 (4.5%) had a definite diagnosis of ALD. Meta-analysis of proportions of in-hospital mortality in patients with ALD undergoing upper gastrointestinal cancer surgery (oesophagectomy) was 23% [95% confidence interval (CI) 14–35%, I2 = 0%]. In-hospital mortality following oesophagectomy in liver disease patients of all aetiologies was lower, 14% (95% CI 9–21%, I2 = 41.1%).ConclusionPostoperative in-hospital mortality is high in patients with liver disease and ALD in particular. However, the currently available evidence on ALD is limited and precludes definitive conclusions on postoperative mortality risk.
Is Alcohol in Hand Sanitizers Absorbed Through the Skin or Lungs? Implications for Disulfiram Treatment
Authors: Brewer Colin , Streel Emmanuel 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACT

Aim
In view of the increase in the use of ethanol-containing hand sanitizers throughout the world due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we wished to review the possible risks to patients treated with disulfiram, following a case report in which an apparent DER (disulfiram–ethanol reaction) was attributed to the cutaneous absorption of alcohol from hand sanitizers as well as by inhalation of vapour.

Method
Simple experiments to assess the levels of absorption by each route separately.

Results
Our results strongly suggest that while amounts of alcohol sufficient to cause a DER may be inhaled when hand sanitizers are used in confined spaces, absorption can be avoided by dispersal of the fumes, and absorption from the skin alone does not occur in pharmacologically significant quantities.

Conclusion
Warnings about absorption of alcohol through the skin from hand sanitizers and products such as perfumes, deodorants and after-shave (whose use is often warned against when disulfiram is prescribed) should be modified accordingly.
Why Is Per Capita Consumption Underestimated in Alcohol Surveys? Results from 39 Surveys in 23 European Countries
Authors: Kilian Carolin , Manthey Jakob , Probst Charlotte , Brunborg Geir S , Bye Elin K , Ekholm Ola , Kraus Ludwig , Moskalewicz Jacek , Sieroslawski Janusz , Rehm Jürgen 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Aims
The aims of the article are (a) to estimate coverage rates (i.e. the proportion of ‘real consumption’ accounted for by a survey compared with more reliable aggregate consumption data) of the total, the recorded and the beverage-specific annual per capita consumption in 23 European countries, and (b) to investigate differences between regions, and other factors which might be associated with low coverage (prevalence of heavy episodic drinking [HED], survey methodology).

Methods
Survey data were derived from the Standardised European Alcohol Survey and Harmonising Alcohol-related Measures in European Surveys (number of surveys: 39, years of survey: 2008–2015, adults aged 20–64 years). Coverage rates were calculated at the aggregated level by dividing consumption estimates derived from the surveys by alcohol per capita estimates from a recent global modelling study. Fractional response regression models were used to examine the relative importance of the predictors.

Results
Large variation in coverage across European countries was observed (average total coverage: 36.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] [33.2; 39.8]), with lowest coverage found for spirits consumption (26.3, 95% CI [21.4; 31.3]). Regarding the second aim, the prevalence of HED was associated with wine- and spirits-specific coverage, explaining 10% in the respective variance. However, neither the consideration of regions nor survey methodology explained much of the variance in coverage estimates, regardless of the scenario.

Conclusion
The results reiterate that alcohol survey data should not be used to compare or estimate aggregate consumption levels, which may be better reflected by statistics on recorded or total per capita consumption.
What Do Occupational Hygienists Really Know About Skin Exposure?
Authors: Gaskin Sharyn , Currie Naomi , Cherrie John W 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
This article describes responses to a questionnaire on current work practices and understanding of the management of dermal exposure issues in the workplace from members of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) and the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH). The survey comprised questions in four key areas: employment demographics, experience managing dermal exposure, knowledge of dermal exposure management, and opinions on professional knowledge gaps and preferred training methods. The survey was disseminated in 2016 in the UK and 2018 in Australia, with 116 and 114 responses from each jurisdiction, respectively. The majority of respondents had personally evaluated the risks of dermal exposure to chemicals (BOHS 92%; AIOH 86%), albeit infrequently (less than a few times per year). Occupational Hygienists reportedly adopted a range of strategies to control dermal exposure problems, including chemical elimination/substitution (BOHS 68%; AIOH 68%), changing work practices (BOHS 79%; AIOH 75%), and education (BOHS 77%; AIOH 83%). The use of gloves or other personal protective equipment remained the most commonly cited exposure control measure (BOHS 99%; AIOH 97%). While there appeared to be a good understanding of common dermal exposure workplace scenarios (e.g. isocyanate exposure in motor vehicle repair, solvent exposure during spray painting), the overwhelming majority of respondents wished to find out more about assessing the risks from dermal exposure to chemicals (BOHS 89%; AIOH 88%). The outcomes suggest ways to increase the competence of professionals in dealing with dermal exposure matters in the workplace, through mechanisms such as web-based guidance, interactive educational materials and webinars, as well as workshops and seminars.
Dynamic Usage-based Principles in the Development of L2 Finnish Evaluative Constructions
Authors: Lesonen Sirkku , Steinkrauss Rasmus , Suni Minna , Verspoor Marjolijn 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThis study investigates the formal verbalizations of evaluation used by four beginning L2 learners of Finnish from a dynamic usage-based perspective. Longitudinal data collected weekly were used to investigate what kind of constructions learners use to express evaluation and how these interact and develop over time. The results show that when a new construction is acquired in the L2, another related construction might regress. The results also point to increased variability in the construction during a phase of rapid development and reduced variability in the phases of regression or slower progress. These findings add to our understanding of a developing L2 as a system in which changes in one aspect have the potential to bring about changes in interconnected aspects. The variability patterns found in the learners’ developmental trajectories add to the growing body of research that proposes variability as meaningful in the learning process.
Deep4mC: systematic assessment and computational prediction for DNA N4-methylcytosine sites by deep learning
Authors: Xu Haodong , Jia Peilin , Zhao Zhongming 
Published: May 2020

AbstractDNA N4-methylcytosine (4mC) modification represents a novel epigenetic regulation. It involves in various cellular processes, including DNA replication, cell cycle and gene expression, among others. In addition to experimental identification of 4mC sites, in silico prediction of 4mC sites in the genome has emerged as an alternative and promising approach. In this study, we first reviewed the current progress in the computational prediction of 4mC sites and systematically evaluated the predictive capacity of eight conventional machine learning algorithms as well as 12 feature types commonly used in previous studies in six species. Using a representative benchmark dataset, we investigated the contribution of feature selection and stacking approach to the model construction, and found that feature optimization and proper reinforcement learning could improve the performance. We next recollected newly added 4mC sites in the six species’ genomes and developed a novel deep learning-based 4mC site predictor, namely Deep4mC. Deep4mC applies convolutional neural networks with four representative features. For species with small numbers of samples, we extended our deep learning framework with a bootstrapping method. Our evaluation indicated that Deep4mC could obtain high accuracy and robust performance with the average area under curve (AUC) values greater than 0.9 in all species (range: 0.9005–0.9722). In comparison, Deep4mC achieved an AUC value improvement from 10.14 to 46.21% when compared to previous tools in these six species. A user-friendly web server (https://bioinfo.uth.edu/Deep4mC) was built for predicting putative 4mC sites in a genome.
Boosting predictabilities of agronomic traits in rice using bivariate genomic selection
Authors: Wang Shibo , Xu Yang , Qu Han , Cui Yanru , Li Ruidong , Chater John M , Yu Lei , Zhou Rui , Ma Renyuan , Huang Yuhan , Qiao Yiru , Hu Xuehai , Xie Weibo , Jia Zhenyu 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThe multivariate genomic selection (GS) models have not been adequately studied and their potential remains unclear. In this study, we developed a highly efficient bivariate (2D) GS method and demonstrated its significant advantages over the univariate (1D) rival methods using a rice dataset, where four traditional traits (i.e. yield, 1000-grain weight, grain number and tiller number) as well as 1000 metabolomic traits were analyzed. The novelty of the method is the incorporation of the HAT methodology in the 2D BLUP GS model such that the computational efficiency has been dramatically increased by avoiding the conventional cross-validation. The results indicated that (1) the 2D BLUP-HAT GS analysis generally produces higher predictabilities for two traits than those achieved by the analysis of individual traits using 1D GS model, and (2) selected metabolites may be utilized as ancillary traits in the new 2D BLUP-HAT GS method to further boost the predictability of traditional traits, especially for agronomically important traits with low 1D predictabilities.
COMUNET: a tool to explore and visualize intercellular communication
Authors: Solovey Maria , Scialdone Antonio 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Motivation
Intercellular communication plays an essential role in multicellular organisms and several algorithms to analyze it from single-cell transcriptional data have been recently published, but the results are often hard to visualize and interpret.

Results
We developed Cell cOmmunication exploration with MUltiplex NETworks (COMUNET), a tool that streamlines the interpretation of the results from cell–cell communication analyses. COMUNET uses multiplex networks to represent and cluster all potential communication patterns between cell types. The algorithm also enables the search for specific patterns of communication and can perform comparative analysis between two biological conditions. To exemplify its use, here we apply COMUNET to investigate cell communication patterns in single-cell transcriptomic datasets from mouse embryos and from an acute myeloid leukemia patient at diagnosis and after treatment.

Availability and implementation
Our algorithm is implemented in an R package available from https://github.com/ScialdoneLab/COMUNET, along with all the code to perform the analyses reported here.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Genetic structure of the long-snouted seahorse,Hippocampus guttulatus, in the Central–Western Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Lazic Tamara , Pierri Cataldo , Cardone Frine , Cariani Alessia , Colangelo Paolo , Corriero Giuseppe , Ferrari Alice , Marzano Marinella , Messinetti Silvia , Pesole Graziano , Senczuk Gabriele , Santamaria Monica , Tinti Fausto , Gristina Michele 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThe seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus reaches its highest abundance in confined environments, where it has unique biological and ecological traits that suggest significant genetic differentiation among populations. In the present study, we aimed to reveal the genetic structure of this species by analysing eight microsatellite loci and a mitochondrial DNA region (cytochrome b) of eight populations from the Central–Western Mediterranean Sea, including lagoon sites. Levels of genetic diversity, as measured by the total number of alleles, number of private alleles, allelic richness and heterozygosity, ranged from low to moderate. The overall value of inbreeding was high, indicating a deficiency in heterozygotes. The haplotype network had a star-like construction, with the most common haplotype present in all populations. Data from the two molecular markers congruently displayed a similar pattern and revealed low genetic differentiation, notwithstanding predictions based on species traits. The observed genetic structure is probably the result of both historical population demographic events and current gene flow. The investigated lagoons, however, revealed a unique genetic profile, which is especially highlighted by the Taranto population. At this site, the results also showed altered values of observed/expected heterozygosity and allelic richness, a characteristic of marginal populations. Our study suggests that lagoon populations should be managed as distinct genetic units.
Accounting for total variation and robustness in profiling health care providers
Authors: Xia Lu , He Kevin , Li Yanming , Kalbfleisch John 
Published: May 2020

Summary
Monitoring outcomes of health care providers, such as patient deaths, hospitalizations, and hospital readmissions, helps in assessing the quality of health care. We consider a large database on patients being treated at dialysis facilities in the United States, and the problem of identifying facilities with outcomes that are better than or worse than expected. Analyses of such data have been commonly based on random or fixed facility effects, which have shortcomings that can lead to unfair assessments. A primary issue is that they do not appropriately account for variation between providers that is outside the providers’ control due, for example, to unobserved patient characteristics that vary between providers. In this article, we propose a smoothed empirical null approach that accounts for the total variation and adapts to different provider sizes. The linear model provides an illustration that extends easily to other non-linear models for survival or binary outcomes, for example. The empirical null method is generalized to allow for some variation being due to quality of care. These methods are examined with numerical simulations and applied to the monitoring of survival in the dialysis facility data.
Evaluating the Sensitivity of Resting-State BOLD Variability to Age and Cognition after Controlling for Motion and Cardiovascular Influences: A Network-Based Approach
Authors: Millar Peter R , Petersen Steven E , Ances Beau M , Gordon Brian A , Benzinger Tammie L S , Morris John C , Balota David A 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies report that moment-to-moment variability in the BOLD signal is related to differences in age and cognition and, thus, may be sensitive to age-dependent decline. However, head motion and/or cardiovascular health (CVH) may contaminate these relationships. We evaluated relationships between resting-state BOLD variability, age, and cognition, after characterizing and controlling for motion-related and cardiovascular influences, including pulse, blood pressure, BMI, and white matter hyperintensities (WMH), in a large (N = 422) resting-state fMRI sample of cognitively normal individuals (age 43–89). We found that resting-state BOLD variability was negatively related to age and positively related to cognition after maximally controlling for head motion. Age relationships also survived correction for CVH, but were greatly reduced when correcting for WMH alone. Our results suggest that network-based machine learning analyses of resting-state BOLD variability might yield reliable, sensitive measures to characterize age-related decline across a broad range of networks. Age-related differences in resting-state BOLD variability may be largely sensitive to processes related to WMH burden.
Stimulating pro-reparative immune responses to prevent adverse cardiac remodelling: consensus document from the joint 2019 meeting of the ESC Working Groups of cellular biology of the heart and myocardial function
Authors: Steffens Sabine , Van Linthout Sophie , Sluijter Joost P G , Tocchetti Carlo Gabriele , Thum Thomas , Madonna Rosalinda 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Cardiac injury may have multiple causes, including ischaemic, non-ischaemic, autoimmune, and infectious triggers. Independent of the underlying pathophysiology, cardiac tissue damage induces an inflammatory response to initiate repair processes. Immune cells are recruited to the heart to remove dead cardiomyocytes, which is essential for cardiac healing. Insufficient clearance of dying cardiomyocytes after myocardial infarction (MI) has been shown to promote unfavourable cardiac remodelling, which may result in heart failure (HF). Although immune cells are integral key players of cardiac healing, an unbalanced or unresolved immune reaction aggravates tissue damage that triggers maladaptive remodelling and HF. Neutrophils and macrophages are involved in both, inflammatory as well as reparative processes. Stimulating the resolution of cardiac inflammation seems to be an attractive therapeutic strategy to prevent adverse remodelling. Along with numerous experimental studies, the promising outcomes from recent clinical trials testing canakinumab or colchicine in patients with MI are boosting the interest in novel therapies targeting inflammation in cardiovascular disease patients. The aim of this review is to discuss recent experimental studies that provide new insights into the signalling pathways and local regulators within the cardiac microenvironment promoting the resolution of inflammation and tissue regeneration. We will cover ischaemia- and non-ischaemic-induced as well as infection-related cardiac remodelling and address potential targets to prevent adverse cardiac remodelling.
Valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement in a young patient with a suspected COVID-19 infection: a surgical dilemma in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Bauernschmitt Robert , Gabriel Philip , Gottardi Roman , Sodian Ralf 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
We report on a case of a 57-year-old male patient, who underwent full root replacement in 2005 and now presented with high grade aortic insufficiency. On admission, the patient underwent a computed tomography scan which demonstrated interstitial infiltration in the left lung, highly suspicious for a COVID-19 infection that could not be confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. As there usually is a delay between infection and positive RT-PCR test results, the initial decision was to perform additional testing. However, the patient deteriorated quickly in spite of optimal medical therapy making urgent aortic valve replacement necessary. We decided to perform transcatheter aortic valve replacement to avoid cardiopulmonary bypass with shorter operative times, presumably shorter ventilation times and duration of intensive care unit stay, and thus a lesser risk for pulmonary complications.
Addressing financial strain through a peer-to-peer intervention in primary care
Authors: Pinto Andrew D , Da Ponte Monica , Bondy Madeleine , Craig-Neil Amy , Murphy Kathleen , Ahmed Suhal , Nair Pratik , Swartz Alyssa , Green Samantha 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Background
Financial strain is a key social determinant of health. As primary care organizations begin to explore ways to address social determinants, peer-to-peer interventions hold promise.

Objective
Our objective was to evaluate a peer-to-peer intervention focussed on financial empowerment delivered in primary care, in partnership with a social enterprise.

Methods
This intervention was hosted by a large primary care organization in Toronto, Canada. Participants were recruited within the organization and from local services. We organized three separate groups who met over 10 weekly in-person, facilitated sessions: millennials (age 19–29) no longer in school, precariously employed adults (age 30–55) and older adults near retirement (age 55–64). We applied principles of adult education and peer-to-peer learning. We administered surveys at intake, at exit and at 3 months after the intervention, and conducted three focus groups.

Results
Fifty-nine people took part. At 3 months, participants had sustained higher rates of optimism about their financial situation (54% improved from baseline), their degree of control (55% improved) and stress around finances (50% improved). In focus groups, participants reported greater understanding of their finances, that they were not alone in struggling with finances, and that it was useful to meet with others. One group continued to meet for several months after the intervention.

Conclusions
In this study, a peer-to-peer intervention helped address a key social determinant of health, likely through reducing stigma, providing group support and creating a space to discuss solutions. Primary care can host these interventions and help engage potential participants.