bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association between Clinical, Laboratory and CT Characteristics and RT-PCR Results in the Follow-up of COVID-19 patients
Authors: Fu Hang , Xu Huayan , Zhang Na , Xu Hong , Li Zhenlin , Chen Huizhu , Xu Rong , Sun Ran , Wen Lingyi , Xie Linjun , Liu Hui , Zhang Kun , Fu Chuan , Hou Keke , Yang Zhigang , Yang Ming , Guo Yingkun 
Published: March 2020

AbstractBackgroundSince December 2019, more than 100,000 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have been confirmed globally based on positive viral nucleic acids with real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). However, the association between clinical, laboratory and CT characteristics and RT-PCR results is still unclear. We sought to examine this association in detail, especially in recovered patients.MethodsWe analysed data from 52 confirmed patients who had been discharged with COVID-19. The clinical, laboratory, and radiological data were dynamically recorded and compared with the admission and follow-up RT-PCR results.ResultsIn this cohort, 52 admitted COVID-19 patients who had confirmed positive RT-PCR results were discharged after 2 rounds of consecutively negative RT-PCR results. Compared with admission levels, CRP levels (median 4.93 mg/L [IQR: 1.78-10.20]) decreased significantly (p<0.001). and lymphocyte counts (median 1.50×109/L [IQR: 1.11-1.88]) increased obviously after obtaining negative RT-PCR results (p<0.001). Additionally, substantially improved inflammatory exudation was observed on chest CT except for 2 progressed patients. At the two-week follow-up after discharge, 7 patients had re-positive RT-PCR results, including the abovementioned 2 progressed patients. Among the 7 patients, new GGO was demonstrated in 2 patients. There were no significant differences in CPR levels or lymphocyte counts when comparing the negative and re-positive PCT results (all p >0.05).ConclusionHeterogeneity between CT features and RT-PCR results was found in COVID-19, especially in some recovered patients with negative RT-PCR results. Our study highlights that both RT-PCR and chest CT should be considered as the key determinants for the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 patients.
State Laws and Regulations Addressing Nurse-Initiated Protocols and Use of Nurse-Initiated Protocols in Emergency Departments: A Mixed-methods Cross-sectional Survey Study
Authors: Castner Jessica , Boris Lenore 
Published: March 2020

AbstractIntroductionState regulations may impede the use of nurse-initiated protocols to begin life-saving treatments when patients arrive to the emergency department. In crowding and small-scale disaster events, this could translate to life and death practice differences. Nevertheless, research demonstrates nurses do utilize nurse-initiated protocols despite legal prohibitions. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of the state regulatory environment as expressed in nurse practice acts and interpretive statements prohibiting the use of nurse-initiated protocols with hospital use of nurse-initiated protocols in emergency departments.MethodsA mixed-methods approach was used with a cross-sectional nationwide survey. The independent variable categorized the location of the hospital in states that have a protocol prohibition. Outcomes included protocols for blood laboratory tests, x-rays, over the counter medication, and electrocardiograms. A second analysis was completed with New York State alone because this state has the strongest language prohibiting nurse-initiated protocols.Results350 surveys from 48 states and the District of Columbia were received. A hospital was more likely to have policies supporting nurse-initiated protocols if they were not in a state with scope of practice prohibitions. Four qualitative categories emerged: advantages, approval, prohibition, and conditions under which protocols can be used. Prohibitive language was associated with less protocol use for emergency care.ConclusionState scope of practice inconsistencies create misalignment with emergency nurse education and training, which may impede timely care and contribute to inequalities and inefficiencies in emergency care. In addition, prohibitive language places practicing nurses responding to emergencies in crowded work environments at risk.
A model for COVID-19 prediction in Iran based on China parameters
Authors: Zareie Bushra , Roshani Amin , Mansournia Mohammad Ali , Rasouli Mohammad Aziz , Moradi Ghobad 
Published: March 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe rapid spread of COVID-19 virus from China to other countries and outbreaks of disease require an epidemiological analysis of the disease in the shortest time and an increased awareness of effective interventions. The purpose of this study was to estimate the COVID-19 epidemic in Iran based on the SIR model. The results of the analysis of the epidemiological data of Iran from January 22 to March 8, 2020 were investigated and the prediction was made until March 29, 2020.MethodsBy estimating the three parameters of time-dependent transmission rate, time-dependent recovery rate, and time-dependent mortality rate from Covid-19 outbreak in China, and using the number of Covid-19 infections in Iran, we predicted the number of patients for the next month in Iran. Each of these parameters was estimated using GAM models. All analyses were conducted in R software using the mgcv package.FindingsOn average, 925 people with COVID-19 are expected to be infected daily in Iran. The epidemic peaks within one week (15.03.2020 to 03.21.2020) and reaches its highest point on 03.18.2020 with 1126 infected cases.ConclusionThe most important point is to emphasize the timing of the epidemic peak, hospital readiness, government measures and public readiness to reduce social contact.
Integrating Wikipedia editing into health professions education: A curricular inventory and review of the literature
Authors: Maggio Lauren A. , Willinsky John M. , Costello Joseph A. , Skinner Nadine A. , Martin Paolo C. , Dawson Jennifer E. 
Published: March 2020

AbstractIntroductionWikipedia is an online encyclopedia read by millions seeking medical information. To provide health professions students with skills to critically assess, edit, and improve Wikipedia’s medical content, a skillset aligned with evidence-based medicine (EBM), Wikipedia courses have been integrated into health professions schools’ curriculum. This study describes a literature review and curricular inventory of Wikipedia educational initiatives to provide an overview of current approaches and identify directions for future initiatives and research.MethodsFive databases were searched for articles describing educational interventions to train health professional students to edit Wikipedia. Course dashboards, maintained by Wiki Education (WikiEdu), were searched for curricular materials. From these sources, key details were extracted and synthesized, including student and instructor type, course content, educational methods, and student outcomes.ResultsSix articles and 27 dashboards reported on courses offered between 2015-2019. Courses were predominantly offered to medical and nursing students. Instructors delivered content via videos, live lectures, and online interactive modules. Course content included logistics of Wikipedia editing, EBM skills, and health literacy. All courses included assignments requiring students to edit Wikipedia independently or in groups. Limited details of student evaluation were available.DiscussionA small but growing number of schools are training HPE students to improve Wikipedia’s medical content. Course details are available on WikiEdu dashboards and, to a lesser extent, in peer-reviewed publications. There is limited evidence of the initiatives’ impacts on student learning, however, integrating Wikipedia into health professions education has potential to facilitate learning of EBM and communication skills, improve Wikipedia’s online content, and engage students with an autonomous environment while learning. Future considerations should include a thorough assessment of student learning and practices, a final review of student edits to ensure they follow Wikipedia’s Guidelines and are written in clear language, and improved sharing of teaching resources by instructors.
Chinese and Italian COVID-19 outbreaks can be correctly described by a modified SIRD model
Authors: Caccavo Diego 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe COVID-19 disease is rapidly spreading in whole globe, affecting millions of people and pushing governments to take drastic measures to contain the outbreaks. The understanding of the dynamics of the epidemic is of great interest for the governments and health authorities that are facing COVID-19 outbreaks. The scarce presence of epidemiologic data, due to the still ongoing outbreaks, makes prediction difficult and mainly based on heuristic (fitting) models. However, these models with non-physical based parameters, can only give limited insight in the evolution of the outbreaks. In this work a SIRD compartmental model was developed to describe and predict the evolution of the Chinese and Italian outbreaks. Exploiting the similarities of the measures taken by the governments to contain the virus and of the total population number of Hubei province and Italy, the model was tuned on the Chinese outbreak (almost extinguished) and by perturbation the Italian outbreak was describe and predicted.
Projected geographic disparities in healthcare worker absenteeism from COVID-19 school closures and the economic feasibility of child care subsidies: a simulation study
Authors: Chin Elizabeth T , Huynh Benjamin Q , Lo Nathan C , Hastie Trevor , Basu Sanjay 
Published: March 2020

ABSTRACTBackgroundSchool closures have been enacted as a measure of mitigation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It has been shown that school closures could cause absenteeism amongst healthcare workers with dependent children, but there remains a need for spatially granular analyses of the relationship between school closures and healthcare worker absenteeism to inform local community preparedness.MethodsWe provide national- and county-level simulations of school closures and unmet child care needs across the United States. We develop individual simulations using county-level demographic and occupational data, and model school closure effectiveness with age-structured compartmental models. We perform multivariate quasi-Poisson ecological regressions to find associations between unmet child care needs and COVID-19 vulnerability factors.ResultsAt the national level, we estimate the projected rate of unmet child care needs for healthcare worker households to range from 7.5% to 8.6%, and the effectiveness of school closures to range from 3.2% (R0 = 4) to 7.2% (R0 = 2) reduction in fewer ICU beds at peak demand. At the county-level, we find substantial variations of projected unmet child care needs and school closure effects, ranging from 1.9% to 18.3% of healthcare worker households and 5.7% to 8.8% reduction in fewer ICU beds at peak demand (R0 = 2). We find significant positive associations between estimated levels of unmet child care needs and diabetes prevalence, county rurality, and race (p < 0.05). We estimate costs of absenteeism and child care and observe from our models that an estimated 71.1% to 98.8% of counties would find it less expensive to provide child care to all healthcare workers with children than to bear the costs of healthcare worker absenteeism during school closures.ConclusionsSchool closures are projected to reduce peak ICU bed demand, but could disrupt healthcare systems through absenteeism, especially in counties that are already particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Child care subsidies could help circumvent the ostensible tradeoff between school closures and healthcare worker absenteeism.
State Dependent Beta Oscillations in the Cortico-Basal Ganglia Circuit and their Neuromodulation under Phase-Locked Inputs
Authors: West Timothy O. , Farmer Simon F. , Magill Peter J. , Sharott Andrew , Litvak Vladimir , Cagnan Hayriye 
Published: March 2020

AbstractState-of-the-art therapeutic brain stimulation strategies are delivered open loop, using fixed parameters. However, brain states exhibit spontaneous fluctuations dependent upon different behavioural or disease states. Here, we use a model of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic circuit to demonstrate how connectivity underpins changes in subcortical beta oscillations – a commonly used control parameter for deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. We show that recurrent cortical-subcortical loops involving either the cortico-subthalamic or pallido-subthalamic pathways can act in antagonism to modulate the expression of beta band activity (14-30 Hz). These pathways alter the relative timing of intermittent activity across the network, with increased pallido-subthalamic connectivity increasing the propensity of the circuit to enter a state of autonomous oscillation. We demonstrate that phase-locked stimulation can modulate these oscillations, with an efficacy that ultimately depends upon the connectivity across the circuit. This work outlines critical factors required to implement state-adaptive closed-loop brain stimulation.HighlightsConverging inputs to the subthalamic nucleus arriving via the external segment of globus pallidus and cortex act in antagonism and promote different beta rhythms.Phase locked stimulation has the capacity to selectively enhance or suppress a brain rhythm depending on the stimulation timing.The efficacy of stimulation and the parameters required to deliver it, e.g. stimulation timing, effective sensing and stimulation locations, are functions of network state.
Glucose extends lifespan through enhanced intestinal barrier integrity inDrosophila
Authors: Galenza Anthony , Foley Edan 
Published: March 2020

SUMMARYDietary intervention has received considerable attention as an approach to extend lifespan and improve aging. However, questions remain regarding optimal dietary regime and underlying mechanism of lifespan extension. Here, we asked how glucose-enriched food extends the lifespan ofDrosophila. We showed that glucose-dependent lifespan extension is independent of caloric restriction, or insulin activity, two established mechanisms of lifespan extension. Instead, we found that flies raised on glucose-enriched food increased the expression of cell junction proteins, and extended intestinal barrier integrity with age. Furthermore, chemical disruption of the intestinal barrier removed the lifespan extension associated with glucose-treatment, suggesting that glucose-enriched food prolongs adult viability by enhancing the intestinal barrier. We believe our data contribute to our understanding of intestinal health and may help efforts to develop preventative measures to limit the effects of aging and disease.
The Effectiveness of Social Distancing in Mitigating COVID-19 Spread: a modelling analysis
Authors: Milne George J , Xie Simon 
Published: March 2020

SummaryBackgroundThe novel coronavirus COVID-19 has been classified by the World Health Organisation as a pandemic due to its worldwide spread. The ability of countries to contain and control transmission is critical in the absence of a vaccine. We evaluated a range of social distancing measures to determine which strategies are most effective in reducing the peak daily infection rate, and consequential pressure on the health care system.MethodsUsing COVID-19 transmission data from the outbreak source in Hubei Province, China, collected prior to activation of containment measures, we adapted an established individual based simulation model of the city of Newcastle, Australia, population 272,409. Simulation of virus transmission in this community model without interventions provided a baseline from which to compare alternative social distancing strategies. The infection history of each individual was determined, as was the time infected. From this model-generated data, the rate of growth in cases, the magnitude of the epidemic peak, and the outbreak duration were obtained.FindingsThe application of all four social distancing interventions: school closure, workplace non-attendance, increased case isolation, and community contact reduction is highly effective in flattening the epidemic curve, reducing the maximum daily case numbers, and lengthening outbreak duration. These were also found to be effective even after 10 weeks delay from index case arrivals. The most effective single intervention was found to be increasing case isolation, to 100% of children and 90% of adults.InterpretationAs strong social distancing intervention strategies had the most effect in reducing the epidemic peak, this strategy may be considered when weaker strategies are first tried and found to be less effective. Questions arise as to the duration of strong social distancing measures, given they are highly disruptive to society. Tradeoffs may need to be made between the effectiveness of social distancing strategies and population willingness to adhere to them.
Identification of antiviral drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2 from FDA-approved drugs
Authors: Jeon Sangeun , Ko Meehyun , Lee Jihye , Choi Inhee , Byun Soo Young , Park Soonju , Shum David , Kim Seungtaek 
Published: March 2020

AbstractCOVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease and was recently declared as a pandemic by WHO. Currently, there is no vaccine or therapeutic available for this disease. Drug repositioning represents the only feasible option to address this global challenge and a panel of 48 FDA-approved drugs that have been pre-selected by an assay of SARS-CoV was screened to identify potential antiviral drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2 infection. We found a total of 24 drugs which exhibited antiviral efficacy (0.1 μM < IC50< 10 μM) against SARS-CoV-2. In particular, two FDA-approved drugs - niclosamide and ciclesonide – were notable in some respects. These drugs will be tested in an appropriate animal model for their antiviral activities. In near future, these already FDA-approved drugs could be further developed following clinical trials in order to provide additional therapeutic options for patients with COVID-19.
Prostatic Peripheral Zone Thickness: What is Normal on Magnetic Resonance Imaging?
Authors: Wasserman Neil F. , Spilseth Benjamin , Sanghvi Tina 
Published: March 2020

AbstractPurposeTo report the precision of a technique of measuring the PZ thickness on T2-weighted MRI and report normal parameters in patients with normal-sized prostates. We also wanted to establish the mean and second standard deviations (2SD) above and below the mean as criteria for abnormally narrow or expanded PZ thickness.MethodsOf the initial 1566 consecutive cohort referred for evaluation for carcinoma based on elevated PSA (prostate specific antibody) or DRE (digital rectal examination), 132 separate subjects with normal-sized prostates were selected for this study. Mean age was 58.2 years (15-82). Median serum PSA was 6.2ng/ML (range, 0.3-145). Most were asymptomatic for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Inclusion criteria in this study required technically adequate T2-weighted MRI and total prostatic volume (TPV) ≤ 25 cc. Exclusion criteria included post prostatic surgical and radiation patients, patients having had medical management or minimally invasive therapy for BPH, those being treated for prostatitis. Patients with suspected tumor expanding or obscuring measurement boundaries were also not considered. Transition zone (TZ) and peripheral zone (PZ) volumes were determined using the prolate ellipsoid model. Postero-lateral measurement of the PZ was obtained at the axial level of maximal transverse diameter of the prostate on a line drawn from the outer boundary of the TZ to the inner boundary of the external prostatic capsule. The data was normally distributed. Therefore, it was analyzed using the 2-sided student t-test and Pearson produce correlation statistic.ResultsMean pooled (composite) measurement for the postero-lateral PZ (PLPZ) was 10 mm (CI= 9.5-10.5 mm) with SD of 2.87 mm. Means were statistically the same for the 2 observers (p=0.75). Pearson correlation between the two observers was 0.63.ConclusionsIn a prostate ≤ 25 cc volume the postero-lateral PZ should be no thicker than 15.8 mm and averages 10.0 mm. when measured in the maximal axial plane on MRI. These norms were independent of age or use of endorectal coil. The technique measurement demonstrated clinically useful precision.
Genetic analyses identify widespread sex-differential participation bias
Authors: Pirastu Nicola , Cordioli Mattia , Nandakumar Priyanka , Mignogna Gianmarco , Abdellaoui Abdel , Hollis Benjamin , Kanai Masahiro , Rajagopal Veera M. , Parolo Pietro Della Briotta , Baya Nikolas , Carey Caitlin , Karjalainen Juha , Als Thomas D. , Van der Zee Matthijs D. , Day Felix R. , Ong Ken K. ,   Finngen Study,   23andMe Research Team,   iPSYCH Consortium, Morisaki Takayuki , de Geus Eco , Bellocco Rino , Okada Yukinori , Børglum Anders D. , Joshi Peter , Auton Adam , Hinds David , Neale Benjamin M. , Walters Raymond K. , Nivard Michel G. , Perry John R.B. , Ganna Andrea 
Published: March 2020

AbstractGenetic association results are often interpreted with the assumption that study participation does not affect downstream analyses. Understanding the genetic basis of this participation bias is challenging as it requires the genotypes of unseen individuals. However, we demonstrate that it is possible to estimate comparative biases by performing GWAS contrasting one subgroup versus another. For example, we show that sex exhibits autosomal heritability in the presence of sex-differential participation bias. By performing a GWAS of sex in ~3.3 million males and females, we identify over 158 autosomal loci significantly associated with sex and highlight complex traits underpinning differences in study participation between sexes. For example, the body mass index (BMI) increasing allele at the FTO locus was observed at higher frequency in males compared to females (OR 1.02 [1.02-1.03], P=4.4×10−36). Finally, we demonstrate how these biases can potentially lead to incorrect inferences in downstream analyses and propose a conceptual framework for addressing such biases. Our findings highlight a new challenge that genetic studies may face as sample sizes continue to grow.
EAT-UpTF: Enrichment Analysis Tool for Upstream Transcription Fctors of a gene group
Authors: Shim Sangrea , Seo Pil Joon 
Published: March 2020

SummaryEAT-UpTF (EnrichmentAnalysisTool forUpstreamTranscriptionFactors of a gene group) is an open-source Python script that analyzes the enrichment of upstream transcription factors (TFs) in a group of genes-of-interest (GOIs). EAT-UpTF utilizes genome-wide lists of TF-target genes generated by DNA affinity purification followed by sequencing (DAP-seq) or chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq). Unlike previous methods based on the two-step prediction ofcis-motifs and DNA-element-binding TFs, our EAT-UpTF analysis enabled a one-step identification of enriched upstream TFs in a set of GOIs using lists of empirically determined TF-target genes.Contactsangreashim@gmail.comorpjseo1@snu.ac.krAvailabilityhttps://github.com/sangreashim/EAT-UpTF