bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical Course And Risk Factors For In-hospital Death In Critical COVID-19 In Wuhan, China
Authors: Li Fei , Cai Yue , Gao Chao , Zhou Lei , Chen Renjuan , Zhang Kan , Li Weiqin , Zhang Ruining , Zhang Xijing , Wang Duolao , Liu Yi , Tao Ling 
Published: September 2020

BACKGROUNDThe risk factors for mortality of COVID-19 classified as critical type have not been well described.OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to described the clinical outcomes and further explored risk factors of in-hospital death for COVID-19 classified as critical type.METHODSThis was a single-center retrospective cohort study. From February 5, 2020 to March 4, 2020, 98 consecutive patients classified as critical COVID-19 were included in Huo Shen Shan Hospital. The final date of follow-up was March 29, 2020. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality during hospitalization. Multivariable Cox regression model was used to explore the risk factors associated with in-hospital death.RESULTSOf the 98 patients, 43 (43.9%) died in hospital, 37(37.8%) discharged, and 18(18.4%) remained in hospital. The mean age was 68.5 (63, 75) years, and 57 (58.2%) were female. The most common comorbidity was hypertension (68.4%), followed by diabetes (17.3%), angina pectoris (13.3%). Except the sex (Female: 68.8% vs 49.1%, P=0.039) and angina pectoris (20.9% vs 7.3%, P = 0.048), there was no difference in other demographics and comorbidities between non-survivor and survivor groups. The proportion of elevated alanine aminotransferase, creatinine, D-dimer and cardiac injury marker were 59.4%, 35.7%, 87.5% and 42.9%, respectively, and all showed the significant difference between two groups. The acute cardiac injury, acute kidney injury (AKI), and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) were observed in 42.9%, 27.8% and 26.5% of the patients. Compared with survivor group, non-survivor group had more acute cardiac injury (79.1% vs 14.5%, P<0.0001), AKI (50.0% vs 10.9%, P<0.0001), and ARDS (37.2% vs 18.2%, P=0.034). Multivariable Cox regression showed increasing hazard ratio of in-hospital death associated with acute cardiac injury (HR, 6.57 [95% CI, 1.89-22.79]) and AKI (HR, 2.60 [95% CI, 1.15-5.86]).CONCLUSIONSCOVID-19 classified as critical type had a high prevalence of acute cardiac and kidney injury, which were associated with a higher risk of in-hospital mortality.
Estimation of the fraction of COVID-19 infected people in U.S. states and countries worldwide
Authors: Noh Jungsik , Danuser Gaudenz 
Published: September 2020

AbstractSince the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, daily counts of confirmed cases and deaths have been publicly reported in real-time to control the virus spread. However, substantial undocumented infections have obscured the true prevalence of the virus. A machine learning framework was developed to estimate time courses of actual new COVID-19 cases and current infections in 50 countries and 50 U.S. states from reported test results and deaths, as well as published epidemiological parameters. Severe under-reporting of cases was found to be universal. Our framework projects for countries like Belgium, Brazil, and the U.S. ∼10% of the population has been once infected. In the U.S. states like Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida, more than 4% of the population is estimated to be currently infected, as of September 3, 2020, while in New York the fraction is 0.12%. The estimation of the actual fraction of currently infected people is crucial for any definition of public health policies, which up to this point may have been misguided by the reliance on confirmed cases.
Development of the Brain Functional Connectome Follows Puberty-Dependent Nonlinear Trajectories
Authors: Gracia-Tabuenca Zeus , Moreno Martha Beatriz , Barrios Fernando , Alcauter Sarael 
Published: September 2020

AbstractAdolescence is a developmental period that dramatically impacts body and behavior, with pubertal hormones playing an important role not only in the morphological changes in the body but also in brain structure and function. Understanding brain development during adolescence has become a priority in neuroscience because it coincides with the onset of many psychiatric and behavioral disorders. However, little is known about how puberty influences the brain functional connectome. In this study, taking a longitudinal human sample of typically developing children and adolescents (of both sexes), we demonstrate that the development of the brain functional connectome better fits pubertal status than chronological age. In particular, centrality, segregation, efficiency, and integration of the brain functional connectome increase after the onset of the pubertal markers. We found that these effects are stronger in attention and task control networks. Lastly, after controlling for this effect, we showed that functional connectivity between these networks is related to better performance in cognitive flexibility. This study points out the importance of considering longitudinal nonlinear trends when exploring developmental trajectories, and emphasizes the impact of puberty on the functional organization of the brain in adolescence.Significance StatementUnderstanding the brain organization along development is a crucial challenge for Neuroscience. In particular, during adolescence there is a great impact in body and cognitive functions as well as substantial incidence of mental health disruptions. Here, we tested how brain organization changes along this period based on the properties of the functional connectome in a longitudinal pediatric sample. We found a nonlinear increase in the connectivity and the brain network efficiency, particularly after the onset of puberty. These effects were more prominent in association networks. In addition, higher connectivity in those areas was associated with better performance in cognitive flexibility. These results demonstrate the importance of considering pubertal assessment as well as nonlinear trends in developmental studies.
Comparing Theories for the Maintenance of Late LTP and Long-Term Memory: Computational Analysis of the Roles of Kinase Feedback Pathways and Synaptic Reactivation
Authors: Smolen Paul , Baxter Douglas A. , Byrne John H. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractA fundamental problem in neuroscience is how memories are maintained from days to a lifetime, given turnover of proteins that underlie expression of long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) or ‘tag’ synapses as eligible for LTP. One likely solution relies on synaptic positive feedback loops, prominently including persistent activation of Ca2+/calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) and self-activated synthesis of protein kinase M ζ (PKMζ). Recent studies also suggest positive feedback based on recurrent synaptic reactivation within neuron assemblies, or engrams, is necessary to maintain memories. The relative importance of these feedback mechanisms is controversial. To explore the likelihood that each mechanism is necessary or sufficient to maintain memory, we simulated maintenance of LTP with a simplified model incorporating persistent kinase activation, synaptic tagging, and preferential reactivation of strong synapses, and analyzed implications of recent data. We simulated three model variants, each maintaining LTP with one feedback loop: autonomous, self-activated PKMζ synthesis (model variant I); self-activated CamKII (model variant II); and recurrent reactivation of strengthened synapses (model variant III). Variant I requires and predicts that, for successful maintenance, PKMζ must contribute to synaptic tagging. Variant II maintains LTP and suggests persistent CaMKII activation could maintain PKMζ activity, a feedforward interaction not previously considered. However we note data challenging this feedback loop. In Variant III synaptic reactivation drives, and thus predicts, recurrent or persistent activity elevations of CamKII and other necessary kinases, plausibly contributing to empirically persistent elevation of PKMζ levels. Reactivation is thus predicted to sustain recurrent rounds of synaptic tagging and incorporation of plasticity-related proteins. We also suggest (model variant IV) that synaptic reactivation and autonomous kinase activation could synergistically maintain LTP. We propose experiments that could discriminate these maintenance mechanisms.
Excess Risk of COVID-19 to University Populations Resulting from In-Person Sporting Events
Authors: Johnson Stephanie S. , Jackson Katelin C. , Mietchen Matthew S. , Sbai Samir , Schwartz Elissa J. , Lofgren Eric T. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundOne of the consequences of COVID-19 has been the cancelation of in-person collegiate sporting events. We explore the impact of having in-person sports on COVID-19 transmission on a college campus, specifically the excess cases within the campus community can be anticipated.MethodsUsing a stochastic compartmental model representing the interactions between the university community, we model the impact of transient influxes of visitors attending sporting events and ancillary activities (bars, dining out, etc.). We consider a number of scenarios, varying the extent to which visitors interact with the campus, the number of infectious visitors, and the extent to which the campus has controlled COVID-19 absent events. We also conducted a sensitivity analysis, exploring the model’s outcomes over a wide range of uncertainty.ResultsEvents caused an increase in the number of cases among the campus community, ranging from a 25% increase in a scenario where the campus already had an uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak and visitors had a low prevalence of COVID-19 and mixed lightly with the campus community to an 822% increase where the campus had controlled their COVID-19 outbreak and visitors had both a high prevalence of COVID-19 and mixed heavily with the campus community. The model was insensitive to parameter uncertainty, save for the duration a symptomatic individual was infectious.ConclusionIn-person sporting events represent a threat to the health of the campus community. This is the case even in circumstances where COVID-19 seems controlled both on-campus and among the larger population visitors are drawn from.
Scrutinizing the Spread of Covid-19 in Madagascar
Authors: Narison S. , Maltezos S. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractWe scrutinize the evolution of Covid-19 in Madagascar by comparing results from three approaches (cubic polynomial, semi-gaussian and gaussian-like models) which we use to provide an analytical form of the spread of the pandemic. In so doing, we introduce (for the first time) the ratio of the cumulative and daily numbers of infected persons over the corresponding one of tests which are expected to be less sensitive to the number of the tests because the credibility of the results based only on the absolute numbers often raises some criticisms. We also give and compare the reproduction number Reff from different approaches and with the ones with the ones of some European countries with a small number of population (Greece, Switzerland) and some other African countries. Finally, we show and comment the evolution of the total number of deaths and of the per cent number of cured persons and discuss the performance of the medical care.
Dorsal and ventral mossy cells differ in their long-range axonal projections throughout the dentate gyrus of the mouse hippocampus
Authors: Botterill Justin J. , Gerencer Kathleen J. , Vinod K. Yaragudri , Alcantara-Gonzalez David , Scharfman Helen E. 
Published: September 2020

ABSTRACTGlutamatergic hilar mossy cells (MCs) have axons that terminate both near and far from their cell body but stay within the DG, making synapses in the inner molecular layer primarily. The long-range axons are considered the primary projection, and extend throughout the DG ipsilateral to the soma, and project to the contralateral DG. The specificity of long-range MC axons for the inner molecular layer (IML) has been considered to be a key characteristic of the DG. In the present study we made the surprising finding that dorsal MC axons are an exception to this rule. We used two mouse lines that allow for Cre-dependent viral labeling of MCs and their axons: dopamine receptor d2 (Drd2-Cre) and calcitonin receptor-like receptor (Crlr-Cre). A single viral injection into the dorsal DG to label dorsal MCs resulted in labeling of MC axons in both the IML and middle molecular layer (MML). Interestingly, this broad termination of MC axons applied to all long-range axons. In contrast, long-range axons of ventral MCs mainly terminated in the IML, consistent with the literature. Taken together, these results suggest that dorsal and ventral MCs differ significantly in their axonal projections, and the difference is primarily in their long-range projections. Since those projections are thought to terminate primarily on GCs, the results suggest a dorsal-ventral difference in MC activation of GCs. The surprising difference in dorsal and ventral MC projections should therefore be considered when evaluating dorsal-ventral differences in DG function.
Organization of Peptidoglycan Synthesis in Nodes and Separate Rings at Different Stages of Cell Division ofStreptococcus pneumoniae
Authors: Perez Amilcar J. , Boersma Michael J. , Bruce Kevin E. , Lamanna Melissa M. , Shaw Sidney L. , Tsui Ho-Ching T. , Taguchi Atsushi , Carlson Erin E. , VanNieuwenhze Michael S. , Winkler Malcolm E. 
Published: September 2020

ABSTRACTBacterial peptidoglycan (PG) synthesis requires strict spatial and temporal organization to reproduce specific cell shapes. In the ovoid-shaped, pathogenic bacteriumStreptococcus pneumoniae(Spn), septal and peripheral (sidewall-like) PG synthesis occur simultaneously at midcell. To uncover the organization of proteins and activities that carry out these two modes of PG synthesis, we examinedSpncells vertically oriented onto their poles to image the division plane at the high lateral resolution of 3D-SIM (structured-illumination microscopy). Using fluorescent D-amino acid (FDAA) probes, we show that areas of new transpeptidase (TP) activity catalyzed by penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) separate into a pair of concentric rings early in division, representing peripheral PG (pPG) synthesis (outer ring) and the leading-edge (inner ring) of septal PG (sPG) synthesis. Fluorescently tagged PBP2x or FtsZ locate primarily to the inner FDAA-marked ring, whereas PBP2b and FtsX remain in the outer ring, suggesting roles in sPG or pPG synthesis, respectively. Short pulses of FDAA labeling revealed an arrangement of separate regularly spaced “nodes” of TP activity around the division site of predivisional cells. Control experiments in wild-type and mutant strains support the interpretation of nodal spacing of TP activity, and statistical analysis confirmed that the number of nodes correlates with different ring diameters. This nodal pattern of FDAA labeling is conserved in other ovoid-shaped species. Tagged PBP2x, PBP2b, and FtsX proteins also exhibited nodal patterns with spacing comparable to that of FDAA labeling. Together, these results reveal a highly ordered PG synthesis apparatus in ovococcal bacteria at different stages of division.SIGNIFICANCEThe spatial organization of PBPs and their TP activity at division septa is not well understood. In some bacteria, TP activity and PBP localization seem to be nodal (also called punctate), whereas in other bacteria, discrete foci of PBP activity are infrequently or not observed. Here we report two basic properties of the organization of PBPs and TP activity in the ovoid-shaped bacteriumSpn. First, there is distinct spatial separation of the sPG machine, including FtsZ, from the pPG synthesis machine at the midcell of dividingSpncells. Second, in predivisional cells, PBPs and TP activity are organized heterogeneously into regularly spaced nodes, whose number and dynamic distribution are likely driven by the PG synthesis of PBP:SEDS complexes.
An endoplasmic reticulum (ER) ATPase safeguards ER identity by removing ectopically localized mitochondrial proteins
Authors: Qin Qing , Zhao Ting , Zou Wei , Shen Kang , Wang Xiangming 
Published: September 2020

SUMMARYStringent targeting of membrane proteins to corresponding organelles is essential for organelle identity and functions. In addition to molecular pathways that target proteins to appropriate organelles, surveillance mechanisms clear mistargeted proteins from undesired destinations. While Msp1 functions on mitochondrial membrane to remove mistargeted proteins, the surveillance mechanism for the ER is not well understood. Here, we show that mitochondrial tail-anchored (TA) and signal-anchored (SA) proteins mislocalize to ER membrane in neurons and muscles inC. elegans catp-8mutants.catp-8encodes a conserved P5A type ATPase, which localizes to ER and removes ectopic mitochondrial TA/SA proteins from ER. Incatp-8mutant, mitochondria fission protein FIS-1 mislocalizes to ER membrane. Together with another mitochondria fission protein MFF-2, FIS-1 causes ER fragmentation in a Dynamin related protein (DRP-1) dependent manner. Additionally, CATP-8 is essential for dendrite development.catp-8mutant dramatically reduces the level of the dendrite guidance receptor DMA-1, leading to diminished dendritic arbors. Hence, P5A ATPase safeguards ER morphology and functions by preventing mitochondrial proteins mislocalization.HIGHLIGHTSCATP-8, a P5A type ATPase, localizes to ER and functions as a surveillance mechanism to remove mistargeted mitochondrial proteins.Multiple mitochondria proteins are mistargeted to ER incatp-8mutants.Ectopic recruitment of mitochondria fission mechinary to ER causes ER fragmentation incatp-8mutants.CATP-8 is essential for PVD dendrite morphogenesis through modulating the level of transmembrane receptor DMA-1.
Encoding of environmental cues in central amygdala neurons during foraging
Authors: Ponserre Marion , Fermani Federica , Klein Rüdiger 
Published: September 2020

SUMMARYIn order to successfully forage in an environment filled with rewards and threats, animals need to rely on familiar structures of their environment that signal food availability. The central amygdala (CeA) is known to mediate a panoply of consummatory and defensive behaviors, yet how specific activity patterns within CeA subpopulations guide optimal choices is incompletely understood. In a paradigm of appetitive conditioning in which mice freely forage for food across a continuum of cues, we find that two major subpopulations of CeA neurons, Somatostatin-positive (CeASst) and protein kinase Cδ-positive (CeAPKCδ) neurons can assign motivational properties to environmental cues and encode memory of goal location. While the proportion of food responsive cells was higher within CeASstthan CeAPKCδneurons, only the activities of CeAPKCδ, but not CeASst, neurons were required for learning of contextual food cues. Since CeAPKCδneurons are known to promote a range of defensive behaviors, our findings point to a model in which CeA circuit components are not organized in specialized functional units but can process both aversive and rewarding information in a context and experience dependent manner.HIGHLIGHTSTwo populations of central amygdala (CeA) neurons, CeAPKCδand CeASstneurons can assign motivational properties to environmental cues and encode memory of goal location.The proportion of food responsive cells was higher among CeASst, than CeAPKCδneurons.The activities of CeAPKCδ, but not CeASst, neurons are required for learning of contextual food cues. CeAPKCδneurons represent a “general encoding” population selecting defensive and appetitive responses depending on context.
Lyl-1 regulates primitive macrophages and microglia development
Authors: Wang Shoutang , Ren Deshan , Kaushik Anna-Lila , Matherat Gabriel , Lécluse Yann , Filipp Dominik , Vainchenker William , Raslova Hana , Plo Isabelle , Godin Isabelle 
Published: September 2020

AbstractDuring ontogeny, macrophages (MΦ) populations emerge in the Yolk Sac (YS) via two distinct progenitor waves, prior to hematopoietic stem cell development. MΦ-progenitors from the primitive/”early EMP” and transient-definitive/”late EMP” waves both contribute to various resident-MΦ populations in the developing embryonic organs. Identifying factors that modulates early stages of MΦ-progenitor development may lead to a better understanding of defective function of specific resident-MΦ subsets.Here we show that primitive macrophage (MΦPrim) progenitors in the YS express Lyl-1, a bHLH transcription factor related to SCL/Tal-1. Transcriptomic analysis of YS MΦ-progenitors indicated that MΦPrimprogenitors present at embryonic day (E) 9 are clearly distinct from those present at later stages. Disruption of Lyl-1 basic helix-loop-helix domain led initially to an early increased emergence of MΦPrimprogenitors, and later to their defective differentiation. These defects were associated with a disrupted expression of gene sets related to embryonic patterning and neurodevelopment. Lyl-1-deficiency also induced a reduced production of mature MΦ/microglia in the early brain, as well as a transient reduction of the microglia pool at midgestation and in the newborn.We thus identify Lyl-1 as a critical regulator of MΦPrimand microglia development, which disruption may impair resident-MΦ function during organogenesis.Key points1- Yolk sac primitive macrophage progenitors and microglia/Border Associated macrophages express Lyl-1.2- Lyl-1-deficiency impairs primitive macrophage and microglia development and leads to the up-regulation of gene sets related to embryo patterning and neuro-development.
A methodology for classification and validation of customer datasets
Authors: Nie Dongyun , Cappellari Paolo , Roantree Mark 
Published: September 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a method to classify customers according to their value to an organization. This process is complicated by the disconnected nature of a customer record in an industry such as insurance. With large numbers of customers, it is of significant benefit to managers and company analysts to create a broad classification for all customers.Design/methodology/approachThe initial step is to construct a full customer history and extract a feature set suited to customer lifetime value calculations. This feature set must then be validated to determine its ability to classify customers in broad terms.FindingsThe method successfully classifies customer data sets with an accuracy of 90%. This study also discovered that by examining the average value for key variables in each customer segment, an algorithm can label the group of clusters with an accuracy of 99.3%.Research limitations/implicationsWorking with a real-world data set, it is always the case that some features are unavailable as they were never recorded. This can impair the algorithm’s ability to make good classifications in all cases.Originality/valueThis study believes that this research makes a novel contribution as it automates the classification of customers but in addition, the approach provides a high-level classification result (recall and precision identify the best cluster configuration) and detailed insights into how each customer is classified by two validation metrics. This supports managers in terms of market spend on new and existing customers.