bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Novel Local Cancellous Autograft Source for Anterior Cervical Discectomy With Fusion
Authors: O’Neill Conor N. , Walterscheid Zakk J. , Carmouche Jonathan J. 
Published: September 2020

Study Design: Case series. Objectives: Successful clinical outcome scores following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) have been correlated with high fusion rate. Published fusion rates using iliac crest bone graft (ICBG) have been shown to be as high as 100% for single-level fusions in some studies; however, there is potential associated morbidity with ICBG harvest. This technical description and preliminary case series assessed the clinical efficacy and results of a novel grafting technique for ACDF. Methods: Twelve patients underwent novel grafting technique for ACDF in which autograft was procured from the cervical vertebra adjacent to the operative disk. Patients were followed for 2 years using visual analogue pain scale (VAS) and radiological assessment of fusion. Results: Patients experienced clinically meaningful reduction of radicular symptoms in the affected arm(s) with an average preoperative VAS score of 5.0 ± 0.8 and an average 2-year postoperative score of 1.108 ± 0.475 ( P = .0013). Patients also experienced significant resolution of neck pain with an average preoperative VAS score of 7.1 ± 0.5 and average 2-year postoperative score of 2.708 ± 0.861 ( P = .0018). All patients achieved solid fusion by 1 year. There were no major or minor complications noted during follow-up. Conclusions: This procedure allows for both autograft harvest and cervical decompression to be performed through a single incision. In this series, this technique eliminated the morbidity associated with autograft harvest from the iliac crest while achieving high fusion rates and without additional technique-related complications.
Preliminary Results From a US Clinical Trial of a Novel Synthetic Polymer Meniscal Implant
Authors: McKeon Brian P. , Zaslav Kenneth R. , Alfred Richard H. , Alley R. Maxwell , Edelson Richard H. , Gersoff Wayne K. , Greenleaf Jonathan E. , Kaeding Christopher C. 
Published: September 2020

Background: At least 760,000 outpatient meniscectomies are performed in the United States each year, making this the most common musculoskeletal procedure. However, meniscal resection can alter the joint biomechanics and overload the articular cartilage, which may contribute to degenerative changes and the need for knee replacement. Avoiding or delaying knee replacement is particularly important in younger or more active patients. Synthetic meniscal implants have been developed in an attempt to restore the natural joint biomechanics, alleviate pain and disability, and potentially minimize degenerative changes in patients who require meniscectomy. Purpose To evaluate the preliminary results from 2 ongoing trials that are evaluating the safety and effectiveness of a synthetic polymer meniscal implant (NUsurface; Active Implants, LLC). Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: This was a preliminary analysis of the first 100 patients enrolled across 2 studies for 12 months: a single-arm, intervention-only study and a randomized controlled trial comparing the investigational meniscal implant with nonsurgical therapy. There were 65 patients in the implant group (30 randomized) and 35 in the control group. Outcomes included Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and adverse events (AEs) collected at baseline and follow-up visits of 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. Results: No statistically significant differences were found in baseline characteristics between the implant and control groups. At 12 months, follow-up KOOS data were available for 87% of the 100 included patients. Significantly greater improvements from baseline were observed in the implant group compared with controls in all KOOS subcomponents, except for symptoms (119%-177% greater improvement at 12 months). AEs were reported at similar rates between the 2 groups, with 12 AEs among 11 patients in the implant group (16.9%) versus 5 AEs among 5 patients (14.3%) in the control group ( P = .99). Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest significant improvements in pain and function scores with the implant over nonsurgical therapy and a similar adverse event rate.
Machine Learning Approach to Predict Risk of 90-Day Hospital Readmissions in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: Implications for Quality Improvement in Healthcare
Authors: Hung Man , Hon Eric S. , Lauren Evelyn , Xu Julie , Judd Gary , Su Weicong 
Published: September 2020

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) in the elderly population is projected to increase over the next several decades. Catheter ablation shows promise as a treatment option and is becoming increasingly available. We examined 90-day hospital readmission for AF patients undergoing catheter ablation and utilized machine learning methods to explore the risk factors associated with these readmission trends. Methods: Data from the 2013 Nationwide Readmissions Database on AF cases were used to predict 90-day readmissions for AF with catheter ablation. Multiple machine learning methods such as k-Nearest Neighbors, Decision Tree, and Support Vector Machine were employed to determine variable importance and build risk prediction models. Accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve were compared for each model. Results: The 90-day hospital readmission rate was 17.6%; the average age of the patients was 64.9 years; 62.9% of patients were male. Important variables in predicting 90-day hospital readmissions in patients with AF undergoing catheter ablation included the age of the patient, number of diagnoses on the patient’s record, and the total number of discharges from a hospital. The k-Nearest Neighbor had the best performance with a prediction accuracy of 85%. This was closely followed by Decision Tree, but Support Vector Machine was less ideal. Conclusions: Machine learning methods can produce accurate models in predicting hospital readmissions for patients with AF. The likelihood of readmission to the hospital increases as the patient age, total number of hospital discharges, and total number of patient diagnoses increase. Findings from this study can inform quality improvement in healthcare and in achieving patient-centered care.
VFFVA: dynamic load balancing enables large-scale flux variability analysis
Authors: Guebila Marouen Ben 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundGenome-scale metabolic models are increasingly employed to predict the phenotype of various biological systems pertaining to healthcare and bioengineering. To characterize the full metabolic spectrum of such systems, Fast Flux Variability Analysis (FFVA) is commonly used in parallel with static load balancing. This approach assigns to each core an equal number of biochemical reactions without consideration of their solution complexity.ResultsHere, we present Very Fast Flux Variability Analysis (VFFVA) as a parallel implementation that dynamically balances the computation load between the cores in runtime which guarantees equal convergence time between them. VFFVA allowed to gain a threefold speedup factor with coupled models and up to 100 with ill-conditioned models along with a 14-fold decrease in memory usage.ConclusionsVFFVA exploits the parallel capabilities of modern machines to enable biological insights through optimizing systems biology modeling. VFFVA is available in C, MATLAB, and Python athttps://github.com/marouenbg/VFFVA.
pmTM-align: scalable pairwise and multiple structure alignment with Apache Spark and OpenMP
Authors: Chen Weiya , Yao Chun , Guo Yingzhong , Wang Yan , Xue Zhidong 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundStructure comparison can provide useful information to identify functional and evolutionary relationship between proteins. With the dramatic increase of protein structure data in the Protein Data Bank, computation time quickly becomes the bottleneck for large scale structure comparisons. To more efficiently deal with informative multiple structure alignment tasks, we propose pmTM-align, a parallel protein structure alignment approach based on mTM-align/TM-align. pmTM-align contains two stages to handle pairwise structure alignments with Spark and the phylogenetic tree-based multiple structure alignment task on a single computer with OpenMP.ResultsExperiments with the SABmark dataset showed that parallelization along with data structure optimization provided considerable speedup for mTM-align. The Spark-based structure alignments achieved near ideal scalability with large datasets, and the OpenMP-based construction of the phylogenetic tree accelerated the incremental alignment of multiple structures and metrics computation by a factor of about 2–5.ConclusionspmTM-align enables scalable pairwise and multiple structure alignment computing and offers more timely responses for medium to large-sized input data than existing alignment tools such as mTM-align.
Identification of Y chromosome markers in the eastern three-lined skink (Bassiana duperreyi) using in silico whole genome subtraction
Authors: Dissanayake Duminda Sampath Bandara , Holleley Clare Ellen , Hill Laura Kate , O’Meally Denis , Deakin Janine Eileen , Georges Arthur 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundHomologous sex chromosomes can differentiate over time because recombination is suppressed in the region of the sex determining locus, leading to the accumulation of repeats, progressive loss of genes that lack differential influence on the sexes and sequence divergence on the hemizygous homolog. Divergence in the non-recombining regions leads to the accumulation of Y or W specific sequence useful for developing sex-linked markers. Here we use in silico whole-genome subtraction to identify putative sex-linked sequences in the scincid lizardBassiana duperreyiwhich has heteromorphic XY sex chromosomes.ResultsWe generated 96.7 × 109150 bp paired-end genomic sequence reads from a XY male and 81.4 × 109paired-end reads from an XX female for in silico whole genome subtraction to yield Y enriched contigs. We identified 7 reliable markers which were validated as Y chromosome specific by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) against a panel of 20 males and 20 females.ConclusionsThe sex ofB. duperreyican be reversed by low temperatures (XX genotype reversed to a male phenotype). We have developed sex-specific markers to identify the underlying genotypic sex and its concordance or discordance with phenotypic sex in wild populations ofB. duperreyi. Our pipeline can be applied to isolate Y or W chromosome-specific sequences of any organism and is not restricted to sequence residing within single-copy genes. This study greatly improves our knowledge of the Y chromosome inB. duperreyiand will enhance future studies of reptile sex determination and sex chromosome evolution.
A WRKY transcription factor, TaWRKY42-B, facilitates initiation of leaf senescence by promoting jasmonic acid biosynthesis
Authors: Zhao Ming-Ming , Zhang Xiao-Wen , Liu Yong-Wei , Li Ke , Tan Qi , Zhou Shuo , Wang Geng , Zhou Chun-Jiang 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
Leaf senescence comprises numerous cooperative events, integrates environmental signals with age-dependent developmental cues, and coordinates the multifaceted deterioration and source-to-sink allocation of nutrients. In crops, leaf senescence has long been regarded as an essential developmental stage for productivity and quality, whereas functional characterization of candidate genes involved in the regulation of leaf senescence has, thus far, been limited in wheat.

Results
In this study, we analyzed the expression profiles of 97 WRKY transcription factors (TFs) throughout the progression of leaf senescence in wheat and subsequently isolated a potential regulator of leaf senescence, TaWRKY42-B, for further functional investigation. By phenotypic and physiological analyses in TaWRKY42-B-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants and TaWRKY42-B-silenced wheat plants, we confirmed the positive role of TaWRKY42-B in the initiation of developmental and dark-induced leaf senescence. Furthermore, our results revealed that TaWRKY42-B promotes leaf senescence mainly by interacting with a JA biosynthesis gene, AtLOX3, and its ortholog, TaLOX3, which consequently contributes to the accumulation of JA content. In the present study, we also demonstrated that TaWRKY42-B was functionally conserved with AtWRKY53 in the initiation of age-dependent leaf senescence.

Conclusion
Our results revealed a novel positive regulator of leaf senescence, TaWRKY42-B, which mediates JA-related leaf senescence via activation of JA biosynthesis and has the potential to be a target gene for molecular breeding in wheat.
Sevoflurane modulates breast cancer cell survival via modulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis
Authors: Deng Xiaoqian , Vipani Megha , Liang Ge , Gouda Divakara , Wang Beibei , Wei Huafeng 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
Some retrospective and in vitro studies suggest that general anesthetics influence breast cancer recurrence and metastasis. We compared the effects of general anesthetics sevoflurane versus propofol on breast cancer cell survival, proliferation and invasion in vitro. The investigation focused on effects in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis as a mechanism for general anesthetic-mediated effects on breast cancer cell survival and metastasis.

Methods
Estrogen receptor-positive (MCF7) and estrogen receptor-negative (MDA-MB-436) human breast cancer cell lines along with normal breast tissue (MCF10A) were used. Cells were exposed to sevoflurane or propofol at clinically relevant and extreme doses and durations for dose- and time-dependence studies. Cell survival, proliferation and migration following anesthetic exposure were assessed. Intracellular and extracellular Ca2+ concentrations were modulated using Ca2+ chelation and a TRPV1 Ca2+ channel antagonist to examine the role of Ca2+ in mediating anesthetic effects.

Results
Sevoflurane affected breast cancer cell survival in dose-, time- and cell type-dependent manners. Sevoflurane, but not propofol, at equipotent and clinically relevant doses (2% vs. 2 μM) for 6 h significantly promoted breast cell survival in all three types of cells. Paradoxically, extreme exposure to sevoflurane (4%, 24 h) decreased survival in all three cell lines. Chelation of cytosolic Ca2+ dramatically decreased cell survival in both breast cancer lines but not control cells. Inhibition of TRPV1 receptors significantly reduced cell survival in all cell types, an effect that was partially reversed by equipotent sevoflurane but not propofol. Six-hour exposure to sevoflurane or propofol did not affect cell proliferation, metastasis or TRPV1 protein expression in any type of cell.

Conclusion
Sevoflurane, but not propofol, at clinically relevant concentrations and durations, increased survival of breast cancer cells in vitro but had no effect on cell proliferation, migration or TRPV1 expression. Breast cancer cells require higher cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels for survival than normal breast tissue. Sevoflurane affects breast cancer cell survival via modulation of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis.
Associations of multiple serum biomarkers and the risk of cardiovascular disease in China
Authors: Yao Huichen , Hou Chenyang , Liu Weihua , Yi Jihu , Su Wencong , Hou Qingzhi 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
Previous studies focus on one or several serum biomarkers and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aims to investigate the association of multiple serum biomarkers and the risk of CVD and evaluate the dose-relationship between a single serum metabolite and CVD.

Methods
Our case-control study included 161 CVD and 160 non-CVD patients who had a physical examination in the same hospital. We used stratified analysis and cubic restricted analysis to investigate the dose-response relationship of individual serum biomarkers and the CVD incident. Moreover, to investigate serum biomarkers and CVD, we used elastic net regression and logistic regression to build a multi-biomarker model.

Results
In a single serum biomarker model, we found serum FT4, T4. GLU, CREA, TG and LDL-c were positively associated with CVD. In the male group, serum T4, GLU and LDL-c were positively associated with CVD; and serum TG was positively associated with CVD in the female group. When patients ≤63 years old, serum T4, GLU, CREA and TG were positively associated with CVD, and serum TG and LDL-c were positively associated with CVD when patients > 63 years old. Moreover, serum GLU had nonlinearity relationship with CVD and serum TG and LDL-c had linearity association with CVD. Furthermore, we used elastic regression selecting 5 serum biomarkers (GLU, FT4, TG, HDL-c, LDL-c) which were independently associated with CVD incident and built multi-biomarker model. And the multi-biomarker model had much better sensitivity than single biomarker model.

Conclusion
The multi-biomarker model had much higher sensitivity than a single biomarker model for the prediction of CVD. Serum FT4, TG and LDL-c were positively associated with the risk of CVD in single and multiple serum biomarkers models, and serum TG and LDL-c had linearity relationship with CVD.
Adequacy of risk of bias assessment in surgical vs non-surgical trials in Cochrane reviews: a methodological study
Authors: Barcot Ognjen , Boric Matija , Dosenovic Svjetlana , Cavar Marija , Jelicic Kadic Antonia , Poklepovic Pericic Tina , Vukicevic Ivana , Vuka Ivana , Puljak Livia 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
Bias in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can lead to underestimation or overestimation of the true effects of interventions. Surgical RCTs may suffer from the risk of bias (RoB) that is avoidable in trials of other interventions, and vice versa. We aimed to compare the adequacy of RoB assessments in surgical versus non-surgical RCTs included in Cochrane reviews and to assess the most common differences in those RoB assessments. Due to specificities of surgical trials, i.e. difficulties associated with blinding of surgical interventions, we hypothesized that assessments of surgical trials may be more adequate, compared to RCTs of non-surgical interventions.

Methods
This was a methodological study, analyzing methods of published Cochrane systematic reviews. Data were extracted from RoB tables in Cochrane reviews (judgments and accompanying explanatory comment) for the following four RoB domains used in the 2011 Cochrane RoB tool: randomization, allocation concealment, blinding of participants and personnel, and blinding of outcome assessors. We defined adequate assessments as those that were in line with instructions from the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The prevalence of adequate assessments was compared in surgical versus non-surgical trials. The most common differences in both groups of reviews were presented.

Results
In 729 analyzed Cochrane reviews, there were 10,537 included trials. The prevalence of adequate RoB judgments made by Cochrane authors ranged from 87.9, 95%CI (87.3 to 88.6%) for randomization to 70.7, 95%CI (69.8 to 71.5%) for blinding of participants and personnel. For all analyzed RoB domains, the prevalence of adequate RoB domains was higher in surgical trials than in non-surgical trials. For two RoB domains assessing blinding, this difference between surgical and non-surgical trials was statistically significant (P < 0.001), while the difference was not significant for the RoB domain regarding randomization (P = 0.124) and allocation concealment (P = 0.039, β < 0.8).

Conclusions
RoB judgments were more in line with instructions from the Cochrane Handbook when Cochrane reviews assessed surgical trials, compared to those that analyzed non-surgical interventions. However, further steps are warranted to scrutinize RoB assessment in trials of both surgical and non-surgical interventions.
A severe coronavirus disease 2019 patient with high-risk predisposing factors died from massive gastrointestinal bleeding: a case report
Authors: Chen Taojiang , Yang Qin , Duan Hongyu 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and has been a significant public health threat. Despite typical manifestations of illness are dominated by respiratory symptom, some patients have concurrent gastrointestinal manifestations, including nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. Massive gastrointestinal bleeding, however, has rarely been reported.

Case presentation
We herein described a case of severe SARS-CoV-2 infected patient with several risk factors for poor prognosis, including male, hypertension, old age, mixed bacterial infection and multilobular infiltration on radiological imaging. After improvement of respiratory status, the onset of gastrointestinal bleeding occurred, probably resulting from direct viral invasion as evidenced by the positive findings for SARS-CoV-2 in the repeat stool specimens. Although aggressive resuscitation was administered, hematochezia was uncontrolled. The patient rapidly deteriorated, suffered from cardiac arrest, and expired.

Conclusions
Digestive symptoms could be severe in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, especially for the high-risk individuals with predisposing conditions. A more thorough protocol for preventing cross-infection through faecal-oral transmission should be implemented in the process of patient care and infection control.
Age sequences of the elderly’ social network and its efficacies on well-being: an urban-rural comparison in China
Authors: Zheng Zhenhua , Chen Hong 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
Although social network is a known determinant of the elderly’s well-being, it is not clear, in urban-rural and age-comparison, what its structural characteristics are and how it works for well-being. The research aims to discuss the features of the elderly’s social network and the social network efficacies on the well-being of older adults in China’s urban and rural areas as well as revealing the urban-rural disparities among the elderly of different age groups.

Methods
In this study, descriptive statistical analysis and structural equation Modeling (SEM) were used to make a group comparison between the urban and rural elderly of different age groups. All data are quoted from 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS). The survey adopted the multi-stage probability sampling method, targeting Chinese senior citizens aged 60 and above, the ultimate samples totaled 11,511.

Results
The social network of the elderly in China feature a “reverse structure” in age sequences: with ageing, family network of the elderly expand while their friend network shrink; also, the expansion scale of the rural elderly’s family network is significantly larger than that of the city’s while the shrinkage scale of their friend network is smaller compared with its urban counterpart. The effect of family network on the rural elderly’s well-being shows a remarkable increase with age. However, there is no noticeable change in urban elderly groups of different ages.

Conclusion
The social network characteristics of the Chinese elderly are different between different age stages. Namely, the family network and the friend network have the “reverse structure “ in age sequences. Meanwhile, the family network and the friend network have different efficacies on the well-being of the elderly in China, and the differences between urban and rural areas are even more obvious. For rural elderly, family network has very important effects on their well-being. Moreover, With the increase of age, family network’s efficacies increase gradually. For urban elderly, comparatively, family network is just as important as friend network.