bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Use of Ketamine Infusions for Treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Systematic Review
Authors: Patil Anand S. , Chitneni Ahish , Dalal Suhani , Ghorayeb Joe , Pham Yolanda , Grigoropoulos Gregory 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundThis systematic review aims to review clinical studies on the use of ketamine infusion for patients with treatment-resistant Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).MethodsThe following systematic review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021228470). Studies for the systematic review were identified through 3 databases; PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane Review. Inclusion criteria for studies consisted of randomized clinical trials or cohort studies that conducted trials on the use of ketamine infusion for pain relief in patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Exclusion criteria for studies included any studies that were systematic review, meta-analyses, case reports, literature reviews, or animal studies. In the included studies, the primary outcome of interest was post drug administration pain score.ResultsIn this systematic review, 14 studies met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. In these studies, the dosage of ketamine infusion used ranged from 0.15 mg/kg to 7mg/kg with primary indication being treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). In 13 of the studies, ketamine infusion resulted in a decrease in pain scores and relief of symptoms.ConclusionsPatients who received Ketamine infusion for treatment-resistant CRPS self-reported adequate pain relief with treatment. This suggests that ketamine infusion may be a useful form of treatment for patients with no significant pain relief with other conservative measures. Future large-scale studies, including randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials on the use of ketamine infusion for CRPS must be conducted in a large-scale population to further assess the effectiveness of ketamine infusion in these populations.
Brain disconnectome mapping and serum neurofilament light levels in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Rise Henning H. , Brune Synne , Chien Claudia , Berge Tone , Bos Steffan D. , Andorra Magi , Valdeolivas Irene Pulido , Beyer Mona K. , Sowa Piotr , Scheel Michael , Brandt Alexander U. , Asseyer Susanna , Blennow Kaj , Pedersen Mads L. , Zetterberg Henrik , de Schotten Michel Thiebaut , Cellerino Maria , Uccelli Antonio , Paul Friedemann , Villoslada Pablo , Harbo Hanne F. , Westlye Lars T. , Høgestøl Einar A. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe pathophysiological mechanisms for classical plaque characteristics and their predictive value for clinical course and outcome in multiple sclerosis is unclear. Connectivity-based approaches incorporating the distribution and magnitude of the extended brain network aberrations caused by lesions may offer higher sensitivity for axonal damage. Using individual brain disconnectome mapping, we tested the longitudinal associations between putative brain network aberrations and levels of serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) as a neuroaxonal injury biomarker.Multiple sclerosis patients (n= 328, mean age 42.9 years, 71 % female) were prospectively enrolled at four European multiple sclerosis centres, and reassessed after two years (n = 280). Post-processing of 3 Tesla (3T) MRI data was performed at one centre using a harmonized pipeline, and disconnectome maps were calculated using BCBtoolkit based on individual lesion maps. Global disconnectivity (GD) was defined as the average disconnectome probability in each patient’s white matter. Serum NfL concentrations were measured by single molecule array (Simoa). Robust linear mixed models (rLMM) with GD or T2-lesion volume (T2LV) as dependent variables, patient and centre as a random factor, sNfL, age, sex, timepoint for visit, diagnosis, and treatment as fixed factors were run.Robust LMM revealed significant associations between higher levels of GD and increased sNfL (t= 2.30,β= 0.03,p= 0.02), age (t= 5.01,β= 0.32,p< 5.5 × 10−7), and diagnosis progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS);t= 1.97,β= 1.06,p= 0.05), but not for sex (t= 0.78,p= 0.43), treatments (effective;t= 0.85,p= 0.39, highly-effective;t= 0.86,p= 0.39) or sNfL change between base line and two-year follow up (t= −1.65,p= 0.10). Voxel-wise analyses revealed distributed associations in cerebellar and brainstem regions.In our prospective multi-site multiple sclerosis cohort, rLMMs demonstrated that the extent of global brain disconnectivity is sensitive to a systemic biomarker of axonal damage, sNfL, in patients with multiple sclerosis. These findings provide a neuropathological correlate of advanced disconnectome mapping and provide a platform for further investigations of the functional and clinical relevance in patients with brain disorders.
VGsim: scalable viral genealogy simulator for global pandemic
Authors: Shchur Vladimir , Spirin Vadim , Sirotkin Dmitry , Burovski Evgeni , De Maio Nicola , Corbett-Detig Russell 
Published: April 2021

AbstractAccurate simulation of complex biological processes is an essential component of developing and validating new technologies and inference approaches. As an effort to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, large numbers of SARS-CoV-2 genomes have been sequenced from most regions in the world. More than 5.5 million viral sequences are publicly available as of November 2021. Many studies estimate viral genealogies from these sequences, as these can provide valuable information about the spread of the pandemic across time and space. Additionally such data are a rich source of information about molecular evolutionary processes including natural selection, for example allowing the identification of new variants with transmissibility and immunity evasion advantages. To our knowledge, there is no framework that is both efficient and flexible enough to simulate the pandemic to approximate world-scale scenarios and generate viral genealogies of millions of samples. Here, we introduce a new fast simulator VGsim which addresses the problem of simulation genealogies under epidemiological models. The simulation process is split into two phases. During the forward run the algorithm generates a chain of population-level events reflecting the dynamics of the pandemic using an hierarchical version of the Gillespie algorithm. During the backward run a coalescent-like approach generates a tree genealogy of samples conditioning on the population-level events chain generated during the forward run. Our software can model complex population structure, epistasis and immunity escape. The code is freely available at https://github.com/Genomics-HSE/VGsim.
Practical Indicators for Risk of Airborne Transmission in Shared Indoor Environments and their Application to COVID-19 Outbreaks
Authors: Peng Z. , Pineda Rojas A.L. , Kropff E. , Bahnfleth W. , Buonanno G. , Dancer S.J. , Kurnitski J. , Li Y. , Loomans M.G.L.C. , Marr L.C. , Morawska L. , Nazaroff W. , Noakes C. , Querol X. , Sekhar C. , Tellier R. , Greenhalgh T. , Bourouiba L. , Boerstra A. , Tang J.W. , Miller S.L. , Jimenez J.L. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractSome infectious diseases, including COVID-19, can be transmitted via aerosols that are emitted by an infectious person and inhaled by susceptible individuals. Most airborne transmission occurs at close proximity and is effectively reduced by physical distancing, but as time indoors increases, infections occur in those sharing room air despite maintaining distancing. There have been calls for quantified models to estimate the absolute and relative contribution of these different factors to infection risk. We propose two indicators of infection risk for this situation, i.e., relative risk parameter (Hr) and risk parameter (H). They combine the key factors that control airborne disease transmission indoors: virus-containing aerosol generation rate, breathing flow rate, masking and its quality, ventilation and particulate air cleaning rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure. COVID-19 outbreaks show a clear trend in relation to these factors that is consistent with airborne infection The observed trends of outbreak size (attack rate) vs. H (Hr) allow us to recommend values of these parameters to minimize COVID-19 indoor infection risk. Transmission in typical pre-pandemic indoor spaces is highly sensitive to mitigation efforts. Previous outbreaks of measles, flu, and tuberculosis were assessed along with recently reported COVID-19 outbreaks. Measles outbreaks occur at much lower risk parameter values than COVID-19, while tuberculosis outbreaks are observed at much higher risk parameter values. Since both diseases are accepted as airborne, the fact that COVID-19 is less contagious than measles does not rule out airborne transmission. It is important that future outbreak reports include information on the nature and type of masking, ventilation and particulate-air cleaning rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure, to allow us to understand the circumstances conducive to airborne transmission of different diseases.SynopsisWe propose two infection risk indicators for indoor spaces and apply them to COVID-19 outbreaks analysis and mitigation.
The Impact of Face Masks on Performance and Physiological Outcomes during Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Shaw Keely A. , Zello Gordon A. , Butcher Scotty J. , Ko Jong Bum , Bertrand Leandy , Chilibeck Philip D. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractFace masks are promoted for preventing spread of viruses; however, wearing a mask during exercise might increase CO2 rebreathing, decrease arterial oxygenation, and decrease exercise performance. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on the impact of wearing a mask during exercise. Data sources included SPORTDiscus, PubMed, and Medline. Eligibility criteria included all study designs comparing surgical, N95, or cloth masks to a no mask condition during any type of exercise where exercise performance and/or physiological parameters were evaluated. Healthy and clinical participants were included. Mean differences (MD) or standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated and pooled effects assessed. Twenty-two studies involving 1,573 participants (620 females, 953 males) were included. Surgical, or N95 masks did not impact exercise performance (SMD −0.05 [-0.16,0.07] and −0.16 [-0.54,0.22], respectively) but increased ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) (SMD 0.33 [0.09,0.58] and 0.61 [0.23,0.99]) and dyspnea (SMD 0.6 [0.3,0.9] for all masks). End-tidal CO2 (MD 3.3 [1.0, 5.6] and 3.7 [3.0,4.4] mmHg), and heart rate (MD 2 [0,4] beats/min with N95 masks) slightly increased. Face masks can be worn during exercise with no influences on performance and minimal impacts on physiological variables.PROSPERO RegistrationCRD42020224988Novelty PointsFace masks can be worn during exercise with no impacts on performance and minimal impacts on physiological variables.
The Barrier to Vaccination Is Not Vaccine Hesitancy: Patterns of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance over the Course of the Pandemic in 23 Countries
Authors: Kothari Ammina , Pfuhl Gerit , Schieferdecker David , Harris Casey Taggart , Tidwell Caitlin , Fitzpatrick Kevin M , Godleski Stephanie , Sanjay Saurabh 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundAt present, evidence is inconclusive regarding what factors influence vaccine intent, and whether there are widespread disparities across populations and time. The current study provides new insights regarding vaccine intent and potential differences across 23 countries and over time.MethodsOur data come from a unique longitudinal survey that contains responses from Facebook users (N=1,425,172) from the 23 countries from four continents collected in 18 waves from July 2020 through March 2021.ResultsWe find that vaccine intent varies significantly across countries and over time. Across countries, there are notable disparities in intent to vaccinate. Regarding time, intent has recently reached an all-time high. Our data demonstrates that intent to vaccinate has increased as countries have deployed vaccines on larger scales with undecidedness declining. However, there are some countries where vaccine intent is stagnant and in one country – Egypt – where it seems to have declined.InterpretationsLarge numbers of citizens across the world are willing to get vaccinated. In the vast majority of countries in our sample, these were high enough to reach more conservative levels of herd immunity1 if combined with numbers of persons already infected. As such, the main barrier to vaccination is not vaccine hesitancy, but the shortage of vaccines. This sends a clear message to politicians who need to work on a quick and fair distribution of vaccine; and to scientists who need to focus their attention on understanding remaining pockets of vaccine skepticism or undecidedness and on factors that explain actual vaccine behavior, rather than intent.
Cognitive training in Parkinson’s disease induces local, not global, changes in white matter microstructure
Authors: Vriend Chris , van Balkom Tim D. , Berendse Henk W. , van der Werf Ysbrand D. , van den Heuvel Odile A. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have shown that cognitive training can improve cognitive performance in various neurodegenerative diseases but relatively little is known about the effects of cognitive training on the brain. Here we investigated the effects of our cognitive training paradigm, COGTIPS, on regional white matter microstructure and topology of the structural network. We previously showed that COGTIPS has small, positive effects on processing speed. A subsample of 79 PD patients (N=40 cognitive training group, N=39 active control group) underwent multi-shell diffusion weighted imaging pre- and post-intervention. Our pre-registered analysis plan (osf.io/cht6g) entailed calculating white matter microstructural integrity in five tracts of interest, including the anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) and calculating the topology of the structural connectome. Training-induced changes were analyzed with linear mixed-models. Relative to the active control condition, cognitive training had no effect on network topology. Cognitive training did lead to a reduction in fractional anisotropy in the ATR (B[SE]: -0.32 [0.12], p=0.01). This reduction was associated with faster responses on the ToL task (r = 0.42, P = 0.007), but this just fell short of our statistical threshold (P<0.006). Post-hoc analyses showed that this was not due to changes in fiber density and cross-section, suggesting that that the observed effect in the ATR are due to training-induced alterations in neighboring fibers running through the same voxels, such as intra-striatal and thalamo-striatal fibers. These results indicate that eight weeks of cognitive training do not alter network topology, but can have subtle local effects on structural connectivity.
A new Far-UVC based method for germ free hospitals and travel: Initus-V
Authors: Olcay Ayhan , Albayrak Serdar Baki , Aktürk İbrahim Faruk , Akbülbül Mehmet Cengiz , Yolay Onur , İkitimur Hande , Çetin Bayer Mehmet 
Published: April 2021

AbstractDirect contact and airborne spread are main mechanisms of transmission for SARS-CoV-2, and virus can stay viable for at least 3 hours in aerosols. Initus-V system uses a Far-ultraviolet C (UVC) system, UVC resistant textile and googles to provide virus, bacteria and spore free environments in hospitals, crowded public places and travel environments. Initus-V system may help in prevention of epidemic diseases such as Coronavirus disease-19 (Covid-19), influenza, treatment of airborne viral diseases and spread of hospital-borne resistant infections.
Paradox of Predictors in Critically ill COVID-19 Patients: Outcome of a COVID-dedicated Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Nasir Morshed , Perveen Rawshan Ara , Nazneen Rumana , Zahan Tahmina , Ahmad Sonia Nasreen , Chowdhury ASM Salauddin 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundThe study aimed to analyze the demographic, comorbidities, biomarkers, pharmacotherapy, and ICU-stay with the mortality outcome of COVID-19 patients admitted in the intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital in a low-middle income country, Bangladesh.MethodsThe retrospective cohort study was done in Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital from May to September 2020. All 112 patients who were admitted to ICU as COVID-19 cases (confirmed by RT-PCR of the nasopharyngeal swab) were included in the study. Demographic data, laboratory reports of predictive biomarkers, treatment schedule, and duration of ICU-stay of 99 patients were available and obtained from hospital records (non-electronic) and treatment sheets, and compared between the survived and deceased patients.ResultsOut of 99 patients admitted in ICU with COVID-19, 72 were male and 27 were female. The mean age was 61.08 years. Most of the ICU patients were in the 60 - 69 years of age group and the highest mortality rates (35.89%) were observed in this age range. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension were the predominant comorbidities in the deceased group of patients. A significant difference was observed in neutrophil count, creatinine and, NLR, d-NLR levels that raised in deceased patients. There was no significant difference as a survival outcome of antiviral drugs remdesivir or favipiravir, while the use of cephalosporin was found much higher in the survived group than the deceased group (46.66% vs 20.51%) in ICU.ConclusionsSusceptibility to developing critical illness due to COVID-19 was found more in comorbid males aged more than 60 years. There were wide variations of the biomarkers in critical COVID-19 patients in a different population, which put the healthcare workers into far more challenge to minimize the mortality in ICU in Bangladesh and around the globe during the peak of the pandemic.
Punishment insensitivity in humans is due to failures in instrumental contingency learning
Authors: Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel Philip , Lee Jessica C. , Liew Shi Xian , Weidemann Gabrielle , Lovibond Peter F. , McNally Gavan P. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractPunishment maximises the probability of our individual survival by reducing behaviours that cause us harm, and also sustains trust and fairness in groups essential for social cohesion. However, some individuals are more sensitive to punishment than others and these differences in punishment sensitivity have been linked to a variety of decision-making deficits and psychopathologies. The mechanisms for why individuals differ in punishment sensitivity are poorly understood, although recent studies of conditioned punishment in rodents highlight a key role for punishment contingency detection (Jean-Richard-dit-Bressel et al., 2019). Here we applied a novel “Planets & Pirates” conditioned punishment task in humans, allowing us to identify the mechanisms for why individuals differ in their sensitivity to punishment. We show that punishment sensitivity is bimodally distributed in a large sample of normal participants. Sensitive and insensitive individuals equally liked reward and showed similar rates of reward-seeking. They also equally disliked punishment and did not differ in their valuation of cues that signalled punishment. However, sensitive and insensitive individuals differed profoundly in their capacity to detect and learn volitional control over aversive outcomes. Punishment insensitive individuals did not learn the instrumental contingencies, so they could not withhold behaviour that caused punishment and could not generate appropriately selective behaviours to prevent impending punishment. These differences in punishment sensitivity could not be explained by individual differences in behavioural inhibition, impulsivity, or anxiety. This bimodal punishment sensitivity and these deficits in instrumental contingency learning are identical to those dictating punishment sensitivity in non-human animals, suggesting that they are general properties of aversive learning and decision making.
Dental-Facial Midline: An Esthetic Based Classification
Authors: Niraula Nischal , Acharya Reecha , Humagain Manoj , Khurshid Zohaib , Adanir Necdet , Rokaya Dinesh 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundThe facial midline and dental midline play an important role in facial esthetics, cosmetic dentistry, facial plastic surgery, and anthropologic studies.ObjectivesThis study studied the dental-facial midline in Nepalese subjects and to classify the midline.MethodsThe study was done in 150 Nepalese subjects, mostly consisting of University students (80 males and 70 females). After obtaining ethical approval, facial and dental midlines were analyzed using a scale.ResultsIt showed 26 (18%) study subjects showed the coincidence of the facial midline with the maxillary and mandibular dental midlines. It showed that only 44 (30%) subjects showed the coincidence of facial midline with only maxillary dental midline, and 26 (17%) subjects showed the facial midline coincidence with only mandibular dental midline. The dental midline discrepancy was more prevalent in the maxillary arch and more prevalent on the right side. Midline discrepancy is seen more in males compared to females. The majority of the deviation showed 1 mm, followed by 2 mm, and 3 mm.ConclusionsThe coincidence of the facial midline with both the maxillary and mandibular dental midlines is uncommon. Midline discrepancy is seen more in males compared to females. The majority of the subjects show a mild discrepancy of 1 mm. The midline discrepancy was more seen on the right side and in the maxillary arch.
Contrasting epidemiology and population genetics of COVID-19 infections defined with 74 polymorphic loci in SARS-CoV-2 genomes sampled globally
Authors: Chan Felicia , Ataide Ricardo , Richards Jack S. , Narh Charles A. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractSARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing COVID-19, has infected and killed several millions of people worldwide. Since the first COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved with a few genetic variants associated with higher infectivity. We aimed to identify polymorphic loci in SARS-CoV-2 that can be used to define and monitor the viral epidemiology and population genetics in different geographical regions. Between December 2019 and September 2020, we sampled 5,959 SARS-CoV-2 genomes. More than 80% of the genomes sampled in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America were reportedly isolated from clinical infections in older patients, ≥ 20 years. We used the first indexed genome (NC_045512.2) as a reference and constructed multilocus genotypes (MLGs) for each sampled genome based on amino acids detected at 74 polymorphic loci located in ORF1ab, ORF3a, ORF8, matrix (M), nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) genes. Eight of the 74 loci were informative in estimating the risk of carrying infections with mutant alleles among different age groups, gender and geographical regions. Four mutant alleles - ORF1ab L4715, S G614, and N K203 and R204 reached 90% prevalence globally, coinciding with peaks in transmission but not COVID-19 severity, from March to August 2020. During this period, the MLG genetic diversity was moderate in Asia, Oceania and North America; in contrast to Africa, Europe and South America, where lower genetic diversity and absence of linkage disequilibrium indicated clonal SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Despite close relatedness to Asian MLGs, MLGs in the global population were genetically differentiated by geographic region, suggesting structure in SARS-CoV-2 populations. Our findings demonstrate the utility of the 74 loci as a genetic tool to study and monitor SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics and evolution, which can inform future control interventions.