bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Volume Difference Along the External Surface of the Zygomatic Bone: A Novel Method of Measuring Zygomatic Bone Asymmetry
Authors: Rahbin Samin , Toufani Tina , Al-Khabbaz Anna-Maria , Lindblom Julius , Sunnergren Ola , Darabi Hatef , Qureshi Abdul Rashid , Alinasab Babak 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
This study introduced the volume difference along the external surface (VDAES) of the zygomatic bone as a novel approach to assess zygomatic bone asymmetry and was the first to describe a distinctive, 4-step method of measuring it. VDAES has a potential to be used as an objective tool to evaluate dislocation and can assist surgeons in predicting risks of long-term cosmetic complications in patients with zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures. After having measured 100 healthy study participants, the observed median VDAES was 1.48 cm3 for all study participants, 2.02 cm3 for males, and 1.09 cm3 for females, with the gender difference being significant (P = 0.003). Additional studies are needed to test the hypothesis of whether VDAES is more relevant than conventional methods of clinically evaluating zygomatic bone asymmetry.
Clinical Features and the Use of Three-Dimensional Imaging for Unilateral Lambdoid Synostosis
Authors: Diab Jason , Fowler Adam , Gates Robert , Marucci Damian D. 
Published: September 2021

Introduction:
True isolated lambdoid craniosynostosis is rare. It requires corrective surgery to prevent intracranial pressure and aesthetic stigma by significant dyscrania. We summarize our case series for lambdoid craniosynostosis outlining the pathophysiology, clinical findings and surgical approaches and outcomes.

Methodology:
A retrospective analysis of our data from 2010 to 2020 summarized our cases of true lambdoid synostosis. We have used the medical notes and the radiological findings from computed tomography scans to summarize a case series of isolated lambdoid synostosis.

Results:
Our case series demonstrated 7 patients with true isolated lambdoid craniosynostosis. In most cases surgical intervention in the form of posterior cranial vault remodeling utilizing a bandeau, based on occipital advancement techniques, has demonstrated the most consistently favorable aesthetic outcome.

Conclusions:
Surgical referral to a craniofacial center should be sought early in difficult to diagnose cases. Although rare, surgical intervention is indicated to correct potentially increased intracranial pressure and to ameliorate cranial dyscrania.
Performance of Dual-tracer PET-CT for Staging Post–Liver Transplant Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recurrence
Authors: Au Kin-Pan , Dai Wing-Chiu , Chi-Yan Chan Albert , Cheung Tan-To , Lo Chung-Mau , Chok Kenneth Siu-Ho 
Published: September 2021

Background.
Precise staging is essential in the management of patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation. There is no current consensus on the optimal staging strategy. We conducted this study to evaluate the performance of dual-tracer positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) for this purpose and to investigate whether the results of dual-tracer PET-CT affected patient management.

Methods.
A retrospective study was conducted. Patients who underwent dual-tracer PET-CT for suspected or confirmed HCC recurrence after liver transplant were included. The lesion-based sensitivity and positive predictive value of dual-tracer PET-CT were determined.

Results.
Fifty-six patients and 189 recurrent tumors were included. The lesion-based sensitivity and positive predictive value of dual-tracer PET-CT were 94.7% and 90.4%, respectively. The sensitivity of dual-tracer PET-CT was better than the standard imaging in the surveillance protocol (82.5% versus 94.7%, P < 0.001), especially for detecting liver recurrence (71.0% versus 96.8%, P < 0.001). Half of the dual-tracer PET-CT detected additional recurrence (n = 26, 46.4%) and one-third led to a change in management (n = 19, 33.9%). Ten patients (17.9%) with inconclusive standard imaging had metabolic recurrence confirmed on PET-CT and treatment was commenced early. Four patients (7.1%) had revised locoregional treatment, and 5 (8.9%) had to withdraw from locoregional treatment after the detection of additional metastatic disease.

Conclusions.
Dual-tracer PET-CT is effective for staging posttransplant HCC recurrence. It often provides valuable information to guide clinical management.
Behavioral and Cognitive Response to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Nisar Maheen , Abubaker Zohaib Jawed , Nizam Muhammad Abdullah , Shaikh Hafsa Tahir , Abbasi Iqra , Rehman Mohammad Obaid Ur , Sarfaraz Munira , Shah Asim 
Published: September 2021

Objective
This article systematically reviews current literature on the efficacy and efficiency of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the treatment of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), with a particular focus on behavior and cognitive functions.

Methods
A search was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines using CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library databases. Eleven randomized controlled trials and open-label studies looking at the effects of SSRIs on FTLD patients were included. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed, consisting of 3 randomized and controlled studies that used the neuropsychiatric inventory to assess SSRI intervention.

Results
The meta-analysis shows a combined mean reduction of 10.17 points (95% confidence interval, 18.14–2.19; P = 0.01) on the neuropsychiatric inventory with SSRI treatment in FTLD patients. The I
2 calculated for this study was 62% (P = 0.07), which represents moderate heterogeneity among the studies. The Egger regression test (P = 0.526) did not show a publication bias. Sensitivity analysis showed no significant change.

Conclusions
The current meta-analysis supports SSRIs as an intervention for management of behavioral symptoms of FTLD. Marked improvements were seen in disinhibition, irritability, aggression, and aberrant motor activity across studies. However, apathy/loss of empathy did not show similarly promising results. A deteriorative effect on cognition was seen associated with SSRI use.
Identifying co-phylogenetic hotspots for zoonotic disease
Authors: Pfenning-Butterworth Alaina C. , Davies T. Jonathan , Cressler Clayton E. 
Published: September 2021

The incidence of zoonotic diseases is increasing worldwide, which makes identifying parasites likely to become zoonotic and hosts likely to harbour zoonotic parasites a critical concern. Prior work indicates that there is a higher risk of zoonotic spillover accruing from closely related hosts and from hosts that are infected with a high phylogenetic diversity of parasites. This suggests that host and parasite evolutionary history may be important drivers of spillover, but identifying whether host–parasite associations are more strongly structured by the host, parasite or both requires co-phylogenetic analyses that combine host–parasite association data with host and parasite phylogenies. Here, we use host–parasite datasets containing associations between helminth taxa and free-range mammals in combination with phylogenetic models to explore whether host, parasite, or both host and parasite evolutionary history influences host–parasite associations. We find that host phylogenetic history is most important for driving patterns of helminth-mammal association, indicating that zoonoses are most likely to come from a host's close relatives. More broadly, our results suggest that co-phylogenetic analyses across broad taxonomic scales can provide a novel perspective for surveying potential emerging infectious diseases.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe’.
Drivers of parasite β-diversity among anuran hosts depend on scale, realm and parasite group
Authors: Martins Paulo Mateus , Poulin Robert , Gonçalves-Souza Thiago 
Published: September 2021

A robust understanding of what drives parasite β-diversity is an essential step towards explaining what limits pathogens' geographical spread. We used a novel global dataset (latitude −39.8 to 61.05 and longitude −117.84 to 151.49) on helminths of anurans to investigate how the relative roles of climate, host composition and spatial distance to parasite β-diversity vary with spatial scale (global, Nearctic and Neotropical), parasite group (nematodes and trematodes) and host taxonomic subset (family). We found that spatial distance is the most important driver of parasite β-diversity at the global scale. Additionally, we showed that the relative effects of climate concerning distance increase at the regional scale when compared with the global scale and that trematodes are generally more responsive to climate than nematodes. Unlike previous studies done at the regional scale, we did not find an effect of host composition on parasite β-diversity. Our study presents a new contribution to parasite macroecological theory, evidencing spatial and taxonomic contingencies of parasite β-diversity patterns, which are related to the zoogeographical realm and host taxonomic subset, respectively.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe’.
Large herbivore impact on plant biomass along multiple resource gradients in the Serengeti
Authors: Mohanbabu Neha , Ritchie Mark E. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractHerbivores form an important link in the transfer of energy within a food web and are strongly influenced by bottom-up trophic cascades. Current hypotheses suggest that herbivore consumption and impact on plants should scale positively with plant resource availability. However, depending on the effect of resources on plant quantity and quality, herbivore impact may vary with different types of resources. We test four alternative hypotheses for the relationship between plant biomass, herbivore impact on plant biomass, and plant resource gradients, each based on how resources might affect plant abundance and quality to herbivores. We measured plant biomass for four non-consecutive years in a long-term grazing exclosure experiment in the Serengeti National Park that includes seven sites that vary substantially in rainfall and soil and plant nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Our data supported the hypothesis that herbivore impact is controlled by plant quality, in this case driven by plant P, as herbivore effects on biomass decreased with higher rainfall but increased with greater plant P, but not N content. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental study to indicate that wild mammalian herbivory is associated with P availability rather than N. Our results suggest that P, in addition to water and N, may play a more important role in driving trophic interactions in terrestrial systems than previously realized.
The evolutionary pathways for local adaptation in mountain hares
Authors: Giska Iwona , Pimenta João , Farelo Liliana , Boursot Pierre , Hackländer Klaus , Jenny Hannes , Reid Neil , Montgomery W. Ian , Prodöhl Paulo A. , Alves Paulo C. , Melo-Ferreira José 
Published: September 2021

AbstractUnderstanding the evolution of local adaptations is a central aim of evolutionary biology and key for the identification of unique populations and lineages of conservation relevance. By combining RAD sequencing and whole-genome sequencing, we identify genetic signatures of local adaptation in mountain hares (Lepus timidus) from isolated and distinctive habitats of its wide distribution: Ireland, the Alps and Fennoscandia. Demographic modelling suggested that the split of these mountain hares occurred around 20 thousand years ago, providing the opportunity to study adaptive evolution over a short timescale. Using genome-wide scans, we identified signatures of extreme differentiation among hares from distinct geographic areas that overlap with area-specific selective sweeps, suggesting targets for local adaptation. Several identified candidate genes are associated with traits related to the uniqueness of the different environments inhabited by the three groups of mountain hares, including coat colour, ability to live at high altitudes and variation in body size. In Irish mountain hares, a variant ofASIP, a gene previously implicated in introgression-driven winter coat colour variation in mountain and snowshoe hares (L. americanus), may underlie brown winter coats, reinforcing the repeated nature of evolution atASIPmoulding adaptive seasonal colouration. Comparative genomic analyses across several hare species suggested that mountain hares’ adaptive variants appear predominantly species-specific. However, using coalescent simulations we also show instances where the candidate adaptive variants have been introduced via introgressive hybridization. Our work shows that standing adaptive variation, including that introgressed from other species, was a crucial component of the post-glacial dynamics of species.
Hybrid EEG-EMG system to detect steering actions in car driving settings
Authors: Vecchiato Giovanni , Del Vecchio Maria , Ambeck-Madsen Jonas , Ascari Luca , Avanzini Pietro 
Published: September 2021

AbstractUnderstanding mental processes in complex human behaviour is a key issue in the context of driving, representing a milestone for developing user-centred assistive driving devices. Here we propose a hybrid method based on electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) signatures to distinguish left from right steering in driving scenarios. Twenty-four participants took part in the experiment consisting of recordings 128-channel EEG as well as EMG activity from deltoids and forearm extensors in non-ecological and ecological steering tasks. Specifically, we identified the EEG mu rhythm modulation correlates with motor preparation of self-paced steering actions in the non-ecological task, while the concurrent EMG activity of the left (right) deltoids correlates with right (left) steering. Consequently, we exploited the mu rhythm de-synchronization resulting from the non-ecological task to detect the steering side by means of a cross-correlation analysis with the ecological EMG signals. Results returned significant cross-correlation values showing the coupling between the non-ecological EEG feature and the muscular activity collected in ecological driving conditions. Moreover, such cross-correlation patterns discriminate left from right steering with an earlier dynamic with respect to the single EMG signal. This hybrid system overcomes the limitation of the EEG signals collected in ecological settings such as low reliability, accuracy and adaptability, thus adding to the EMG the characteristic predictive power of the cerebral data. These results are a proof of concept of how it is possible to complement different physiological signals to control the level of assistance needed by the driver.
RECIPROCALLY INHIBITORY CIRCUITS OPERATING WITH DISTINCT MECHANISMS ARE DIFFERENTLY ROBUST TO PERTURBATION AND MODULATION
Authors: Morozova Ekaterina O. , Newstein Peter , Marder Eve 
Published: September 2021

AbstractWhat features are important for circuit robustness? Reciprocal inhibition is a building block in many circuits. We used dynamic clamp to create reciprocally inhibitory circuits from pharmacologically isolated neurons of the crab stomatogastric ganglion by injecting artificial synaptic (ISyn) and hyperpolarization-activated inward (IH) currents. There are two mechanisms of antiphase oscillations in these circuits: “escape” and “release”. In release, the active neuron primarily controls the off/on transitions. In escape, the inhibited neuron controls the transitions. We characterized the robustness of escape and release circuits to alterations in circuit parameters, temperature, and neuromodulation. We found that escape circuits rely on tight correlations between synaptic and H conductances to generate bursting but are resilient to temperature increase. Release circuits are robust to variations in synaptic and H conductances but fragile to temperature increase. The modulatory current (IMI) restores oscillations in release circuits but has little effect in escape circuits. Thus, the same perturbation can have dramatically different effects depending on the circuits’ mechanism of operation that may not be observable from basal circuit activity.
Deciphering PD1 activation mechanism from molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations
Authors: Ponce Luis F. , Ramirez-Echemendia Daniel P. , Leon Kalet , Valiente Pedro A. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractThe activation of T cells is normally accompanied by inhibitory mechanisms within which the PD1 receptor stands out. Upon binding the ligands PDL1 and PDL2, PD1 drives T cells to an unresponsive state called exhaustion characterized by a markedly decreased capacity to exert effector functions. For this reason, PD1 has become one of the most important targets in cancer immunotherapy. Despite the numerous studies about PD1 signaling modulation, how the PD1 signaling is activated upon the ligands’ binding remains an open question. Several experimental facts suggest that the activation of the PD1-PLD1 pathway depends on the interaction with an unknown partner at the cellular membrane. In this work, we investigate the possibility that the target of PD1-PDL1 is the same PD1-PDL1 complex. We combined molecular docking to explore different binding modes with molecular dynamics and umbrella sampling simulations to assess the complexes’ stability. We found a high molecular weight complex that explains the activation of PD1 upon PDL1 binding. This complex has an affinity comparable to the PD1-PDL1 interaction and resembles the form of a linear lattice.
Sensorimotor feedback loops are selectively sensitive to reward
Authors: Codol Olivier , Kashefi Mehrdad , Forgaard Christopher J. , Galea Joseph M. , Pruszynski J. Andrew , Gribble Paul L. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractAlthough it is well established that motivational factors such as earning more money for performing well improve motor performance, how the motor system implements this improvement remains unclear. For instance, feedback-based control, which uses sensory feedback from the body to correct for errors in movement, improves with greater reward. But feedback control encompasses many feedback loops with diverse characteristics such as the brain regions involved and their response time. Which specific loops drive these performance improvements with reward is unknown, even though their diversity makes it unlikely that they are contributing uniformly. We systematically tested the effect of reward on the latency (how long for a corrective response to arise?) and gain (how large is the corrective response?) of seven distinct sensorimotor feedback loops in humans. Only the fastest feedback loops were insensitive to reward, and the earliest reward-driven changes were consistently an increase in feedback gains, not a reduction in latency. Rather, a reduction of response latencies only tended to occur in slower feedback loops. These observations were similar across sensory modalities (vision and proprioception). Our results may have implications regarding feedback control performance in athletic coaching. For instance, coaching methodologies that rely on reinforcement or “reward shaping” may need to specifically target aspects of movement that rely on reward-sensitive feedback responses.
Behavioral prioritization enhances working memory precision and neural population gain
Authors: Yoo Aspen H. , Bolaños Alfredo , Hallenbeck Grace E. , Rahmati Masih , Sprague Thomas C. , Curtis Clayton E. 
Published: September 2021

ABSTRACTHumans allocate visual working memory (WM) resource according to behavioral relevance, resulting in more precise memories for more important items. Theoretically, items may be maintained by feature-tuned neural populations, where the relative gain of the populations encoding each item determines precision. To test this hypothesis, we compared the amplitudes of delay-period activity in the different parts of retinotopic maps representing each of several WM items, predicting amplitude would track with behavioral priority. Using fMRI, we scanned participants while they remembered the location of multiple items over a WM delay, then reported the location of one probed item using a memory-guided saccade. Importantly, items were not equally probable to be probed (0.6, 0.3, 0.1, 0.0), which was indicated with a pre-cue. We analyzed fMRI activity in ten visual field maps in occipital, parietal, and frontal cortex known to be important for visual WM. In early visual cortex, but not association cortex, the amplitude of BOLD activation within voxels corresponding to the retinotopic location of visual WM items increased with the priority of the item. Interestingly, these results were contrasted with a common finding that higher-level brain regions had greater delay-period activity, demonstrating a dissociation between the absolute amount of activity in a brain area, and the activity of different spatially-selective populations within it. These results suggest that the distribution of WM resources according to priority sculpts the relative gains of neural populations that encode items, offering a neural mechanism for how prioritization impacts memory precision.
Benchmarking statistical methods for analyzing parent-child dyads in genetic association studies
Authors: Ray Debashree , Vergara Candelaria , Taub Margaret A. , Wojcik Genevieve , Ladd-Acosta Christine , Beaty Terri H. , Duggal Priya 
Published: September 2021

AbstractGenetic association studies of child health outcomes often employ family-based designs. One of the most popular family-based designs is the case-parent trio design that considers the smallest possible nuclear family consisting of two parents and their affected child. This trio design is particularly advantageous for studying relatively rare disorders because it is less prone to type 1 error inflation due to population stratification compared to population-based study designs (e.g., case-control studies). However, obtaining genetic data from both parents is difficult, from a practical perspective, and many large studies predominantly measure genetic variants in mother-child dyads. While some statistical methods for analyzing parent-child dyad data (most commonly involving mother-child pairs) exist, it is not clear if they provide the same advantage as trio methods in protecting against population stratification, or if a specific dyad design (e.g., case-mother dyads vs. case-mother/control-mother dyads) is more advantageous. In this article, we review existing statistical methods for analyzing genome-wide data on dyads and perform extensive simulation experiments to benchmark their type I errors and statistical power under different scenarios. We extend our evaluation to existing methods for analyzing a combination of case-parent trios and dyads together. We apply these methods on genotyped and imputed data from multi-ethnic mother-child pairs only, case-parent trios only or combinations of both dyads and trios from the Gene, Environment Association Studies consortium (GENEVA), where each family was ascertained through a child affected by nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Results from the GENEVA study corroborate the findings from our simulation experiments. Finally, we provide recommendations for using statistical genetic association methods for dyads.