bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sero-epidemiology and associated risk factors of brucellosis among sheep and goat population in the south western Nepal: A comparative study
Authors: Gompo Tulsi Ram , Shah Rubina , Tiwari Ishwari , Gurung Yam Bahadur 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
BackgroundBrucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella spp. In Nepal, the presence of brucellosis in small ruminants, namely sheep and goats, has impacted farmers' livelihood and the food safety of consumers. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Rupandehi district of Nepal during January to March 2020 to investigate the seroepidemiology and associated risk factors of brucellosis in the sheep and goat population. Altogether, 19 sheep and 60 goat farms in the district were visited. Owners were interviewed to get information on animals, including their management and movement patterns. Three hundred fifty-seven samples (80 sheep and 277 goat samples) were collected proportionately based on farm sizes. Each serum sample was tested with Rose Bengal Test and ELISA to estimate the seropositivity of brucellosis. Logistic regression was carried out to calculate corresponding odds ratios of each variable associated with detection of brucellosis.Results At the farm level, 31.6% (6/19; 95% CI: 12%, 54%) of sheep farms and 3.3% (2/60, 95% CI: 0.9%, 11.4 %) of goat farms were seropositive to brucellosis. Out of 80 sheep serum samples, 12 (15%; 95% CI: 8.79%-24.41%) and out of 277 goat serum samples, three (1.1%; 95% CI: 0.37%-3.14%) were seropositive to brucellosis. Age greater than 1.5 years (OR= 5.56, 95% CI: 1.39, 29.38; p = 0.02) and herd size of greater than 100 (OR= 4.74, 95% CI: 1.23, 20.32, p = 0.03) were identified as significant risk factors for seropositivity of brucellosis in the sheep population. While in the goat population, none of the variables was identified as a significant risk factor.ConclusionThe study provides evidence that the older sheep and the sheep from the large herds were at higher risk of brucellosis. A control program should be put in place immediately in the sheep population because they may transmit infections to other livestock as they were regularly moved for grazing and selling purposes. Also, strict biosecurity measures should be implemented among pastoralists to prevent brucellosis transmission in them. We suggest further one health-based study to reveal the transmission dynamics of brucellosis between animals and humans.
Repeat to gene expression ratios in leukemic blast cells can stratify risk prediction in acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Onishi-Seebacher Megumi , Erikson Galina , Sawitzki Zoe , Ryan Devon , Greve Gabriele , Lübbert Michael , Jenuwein Thomas 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
BackgroundRepeat elements constitute a large proportion of the human genome and recent evidence indicates that repeat element expression has functional roles in both physiological and pathological states. Specifically for cancer, transcription of endogenous retrotransposons is often suppressed in order to attenuate an anti-tumor immune response, whereas aberrant expression of heterochromatin-derived satellite RNA has been identified as a tumor driver. These insights demonstrate separate functions for the dysregulation of distinct repeat subclasses in either the attenuation or progression of human solid tumors. For hematopoietic malignancies, such as Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), only very few studies on the expression/dysregulation of repeat elements were done. MethodsTo study the expression of repeat elements in AML, we performed total-RNA sequencing of healthy CD34+ cells and of leukemic blast cells from primary AML patient material. We also developed an integrative bioinformatic approach that can quantify the expression of repeat transcripts from all repeat subclasses (SINE/ALU, LINE and ERV elements and satellite repeats) in relation to the expression of gene and other non-repeat transcripts. This novel approach can be used as an instructive signature (R/G ratio) for repeat element expression and has been extended to the analysis of poly(A)-RNA sequencing datasets from Blueprint and TCGA consortia that together comprise 120 AML patient samples. ResultsWe identified that repeat element expression is generally down-regulated during hematopoietic differentiation and that relative changes in repeat to gene expression (i.e. R/G ratios) can stratify risk prediction of AML patients and correlate with overall survival probabilities. A high repeat to gene expression ratio identifies AML patient subgroups with a favorable prognosis, whereas a low repeat to gene expression is prevalent in AML patient subgroups with a poor prognosis. ConclusionsWe developed an integrative bioinformatic approach that defines a general model for the analysis of repeat element dysregulation in physiological and pathological development. We find that changes in repeat to gene expression (R/G ratios) correlate with hematopoietic differentiation and can sub-stratify AML patients into low-risk and high-risk subgroups. Thus, the definition of a R/G ratio can serve as a valuable biomarker for AML and could also provide insights into differential patient response to epigenetic drug treatment.
Risk factors associated with failure of high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy in patients with severe COVID-19 in Wuhan, China
Authors: Ma Xiao-Huan , An Meng-Meng , Yin Fang , Zhang Jie , Peng Meng-Yun , Guan Hong , Gong Ping 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure is prevalent in severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). High-flow nasal canula oxygen therapy (HFNC) is currently one of the most common ventilation strategies for COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure. This study is to analyze the risk factors associated with HFNC failure in patients with severe COVID-19.Methods: In this single-center, retrospective, observational study, we enrolled patients with confirmed severe COVID-19 admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan university (Wuhan, China) from 1 February 2020 to 26 March 26 2020. Epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory data, and treatments and outcomes upon hospital admission, were obtained from electronic medical records. Sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores were calculated.Results: Of 54 patients with severe COVID-19, HFNC was successful in 28 (51.9%) and unsuccessful in 26 (48.1%). HFNC failure was seen more commonly in patients aged ≥60 years and in men. In addition, compared with patients successfully treated with HFNC, patients with HFNC failure had the following characteristics: higher percentage of fatigue and anorexia as well as cardiovascular disease; increased time from onset to diagnosis and SOFA scores; elevated body temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate; more complications including ARDS, septic shock, myocardial damage, and acute kidney injury; increased C-reactive protein, neutrophil counts and prothrombin time; and decreased arterial partial pressure of oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) (all P < 0.05). However, binary logistic regression analysis showed that only male, PaO2/FiO2 and SOFA scores were independent risk factors significantly associated with HFNC failure (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Patients with severe COVID-19 had a high HFNC treatment failure rate. Male, low PaO2/FiO2 and SOFA scores were independent risk factors associated with HFNC failure in severe COVID-19 patients. However, studies with larger sample sizes or multi-center studies are warranted.
A Cross-Sectional Study On The Practice Of Wet Nursing Among Muslim Mothers
Authors: Rahim Norsyamlina Che Abdul , Hamjah Salasiah Hanin , Majid Latifah Abdul , Kusrin Zuliza , Hashim Nurhidayah Muhammad , Saidon Rafeah , Bahari Nora’inan , Ilias Muhamad Zariff , Ahmad Noor Ani 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding and wet nursing have been synonymous since ancient times. The practice of wet nursing of another woman’s child in Malaysia is on the rise due to the emergence of awareness among the public about the importance and advantages of breast milk. However, problems arise when there is no systematic system to record and trace the milk mother and milk child data, especially for Muslim participants as milk kinship could affect their relationship status in Islam. Therefore, this study aims to determine the practice of wet nursing among Muslim mothers in Selangor. Simultaneously, this study intends to provide the authorities with an accurate picture of the more aggressive compilation of steps to prevent duplication of consanguinity in wet nursing. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 women who had breastfed another child in Selangor. Data were obtained using a validated questionnaire (Cronbach alpha=0.8) and processed using the SPSS software. Results: Results showed 43.0% of respondents had at least breastfed one someone else’s child. Meanwhile, there were 3.0% of the respondents were nursing seven to ten other children. A total of 237 children have been breastfed by the respondents (n = 100). Of these, 21.5% children were breastfed less than five times, while 78.5% children were breastfed less than five times. Most mothers recorded their milk child background data, and this shows that the community is aware of the importance of data documentation and it indirectly proves that the authorities should act on these current needs. Conclusions: This study shows that there is a wet nursing practice in the society. Obviously, a phenomenon, trend and practice in the society has the ground and basis as to why it existed and is upheld. Researches related to wet nursing and matters connected to it should continue so as to bring about much good to society.
A comparison of methods for interpreting random forest models of genetic association in the presence of non-additive interactions.
Authors: Orlenko Alena , Moore Jason H 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Non-additive interactions among genes are frequently associated with a number of phenotypes, including known complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Detecting interactions requires careful selection of analytical methods, and some machine learning algorithms are unable or underpowered to detect or model feature interactions that exhibit non-additivity. The Random Forest method is often employed in these efforts due to its ability to detect and model non-additive interactions. In addition, Random Forest has the built-in ability to estimate feature importance scores, a characteristic that allows the model to be interpreted with the order and effect size of the feature association with the outcome. This characteristic is very important for epidemiological and clinical studies where results of predictive modeling could be used to define the future direction of the research efforts. An alternative way to interpret the model is with a permutation feature importance metric which employs a permutation approach to calculate a feature contribution coefficient in units of the decrease in the model’s performance and with the Shapely additive explanations which employ cooperative game theory approach. Currently, it is unclear which Random Forest feature importance metric provides a superior estimation of the true informative contribution of features in genetic association analysis. Results: To address this issue, and to improve interpretability of Random Forest predictions, we compared different methods for feature importance estimation in real and simulated datasets with non-additive interactions. As a result, we detected a discrepancy between the metrics for the real-world datasets and further established that the permutation feature importance metric provides more precise feature importance rank estimation for the simulated datasets with non-additive interactions. Conclusions: By analyzing both real and simulated data, we established that the permutation feature importance metric provides more precise feature importance rank estimation in the presence of non-additive interactions.
How does area-level deprivation depress an individual’s self-rated health and life satisfaction? Evidence from a nationwide population-based survey in Japan
Authors: Oshio Takashi , Kimura Hiromi , Nishizaki Toshimi , Omori Takashi 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Area-level deprivation is well known to have an adverse impact on mortality, morbidity, or other specific health outcomes. This study examined how area-level deprivation may affect self-rated health (SRH) and life satisfaction (LS), an issue that is largely understudied. Methods: We used individual-level data obtained from a nationwide population-based internet survey conducted between 2019–2020, as well as municipality-level data obtained from a Japanese government database (N=12,461 living in 366 municipalities). We developed multilevel regression models to explain an individual’s SRH and LS scores using four alternative measures of municipality-level deprivation, controlling for individual-level deprivation and covariates. We also examined how health behavior and interactions with others mediated the impact of area-level deprivation on SRH and LS. Results. Participants in highly deprived municipalities tended to report poorer SRH and lower LS. For example, when living in municipalities falling in the highest tertile of municipality-level deprivation as measured by the z-scoring method, SRH and LS scores worsened by a standard deviation of 0.05 (p<0.05) when compared with those living in municipalities falling in the lowest tertile of deprivation. In addition, health behavior mediated between 17.6% and 33.1% of the impact of municipality-level deprivation on SRH and LS, depending on model specifications.Conclusion. Results showed that area-level deprivation modestly decreased an individual’s general health conditions and subjective well-being, underscoring the need for public health policies to improve area-level socioeconomic conditions.
A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol examining the clinical characteristics and epidemiological features of olfactory dysfunction (OD) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Authors: Tan Rosemond Qian-Xiu , Li Wai Tak Victor , Shum Wing-Zi , Chu Sheung Chit , Li Hang-Long , Shea Yat-Fung , Chung Tom Wai-Hin 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused recurring and major outbreaks in multiple human populations around the world. The plethora of clinical presentations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been described extensively, of which olfactory dysfunction (OD) was established as an important and common extrapulmonary manifestation of COVID-19 infection. The aim of this protocol is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on peer-reviewed articles which described clinical data of OD in COVID-19 patients. MethodsThis research protocol has been prospectively registered with the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42020196202). CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PubMed, as well as Chinese medical databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP and WANFANG will be searched using keywords including “COVID-19”, “coronavirus disease”, “2019-nCoV”, “SARS-CoV-2”, “novel coronavirus”, “anosmia”, “hyposmia”, “loss of smell”, and “olfactory dysfunction”. Systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and the Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines. Articles will be screened according to pre-specified inclusion and exclusion criteria to extract studies that include new clinical data investigating the effect of COVID-19 on olfactory dysfunction. Included articles will be reviewed in full; data including patient demographics, clinical characteristics of COVID-19-related OD, methods of olfactory assessment, and relevant clinical outcomes will be extracted. Statistical analyses will be performed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3. DiscussionThis systematic review and meta-analysis protocol will aim to collate and synthesise all available clinical evidence regarding COVID-19-related OD as an important neurosensory dysfunction of COVID-19 infection. A comprehensive search strategy and screening process will be conducted to incorporate comprehensive clinical data for robust statistical analyses and representation. The outcome of this study will aim to improve our understanding of the symptomatology and clinical characteristics of COVID-19-related OD and identify knowledge gaps in its disease process, which will guide future research in this specific neurosensory defect.Systematic Review registration: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020196202
The effect of alcohol strength on alcohol consumption: findings from a randomised controlled cross-over pilot trial.
Authors: Perman-Howe Parvati Rose , Davies Emma L , Foxcroft David R 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background Reducing the alcohol content of drinks has the potential to reduce alcohol consumption. Aims: (1) test the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effect of alcohol strength on alcohol consumption within licensed premises in the United Kingdom (UK), (2) provide data to estimate key parameters for a RCT. Methods Double-blind randomised controlled cross-over pilot trial based within four licensed premises in the UK. Participants (n=36) purchased and consumed ad libitum a 3.5% lager and a 4.8% lager during two separate study sessions. Descriptive statistics reported the efficacy and efficiency of the study processes, and the rates of licensed premises recruitment, and participant recruitment and attrition. Mean and the 95% confidence interval (CI) compared alcohol consumption between conditions. The mean, standard deviation (SD) and CI of UK units of alcohol consumed were used to calculate a sample size for a RCT. Responses to participant questionnaires and duration of participation in study sessions between conditions were analysed.Results Components of the study protocol were effective and efficient. The venue recruitment rate was less than anticipated. The participant recruitment rate was greater than anticipated. The rate of attrition was 23% and varied by less than 1% according to the arm of the trial. There was a reduction of alcohol consumed under the intervention conditions. Estimated mean difference, and 95% CI (UK units): -3.76 (-5.01 to -2.52).The sample size required for a RCT is 53. Participants did not find one lager more pleasant in taste: (on a scale of one to 10) -0.95 (-2.11 to 0.21). Participants found the reduced-strength lager less enjoyable: (on a scale of one to 10) -1.44 (-2.64 to -0.24) and they perceived themselves to be less intoxicated after consuming it: (on a scale of one to 10) -1.00 (-1.61 to -0.40).Conclusion A RCT is feasible with minor alterations to the study protocol and scoping work to establish different brands of alcohol that are more alike and more enjoyable than the products used in the pilot trial. Trial registration Registered in the American Economic Association (AEA) Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) Registry as of 16 June 2017: https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2266. Unique identifying number: AEARCTR-0002266.
A potential role for insulin treatment during pregnancy in reducing postpartum psychological distress in maternal obesity: An administrative population health study
Authors: Jarmasz Jessica Stawski , ANDERSON Alexandrea , Bock Margaret E. , Jin Yan , Cattini Peter A. , Ruth Chelsea 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Studies have found an association between obesity and an increased risk for peripartum depression, which has also been linked to decreased placental lactogen levels. In addition, women with obesity treated for gestational diabetes with insulin were found to have increased levels of placental lactogen. Treatment options exist for perinatal and postpartum depression however, they pose a risk to the developing offspring. Thus, prevention as well as markers for early identification of peripartum depression are needed. Therefore, our study objective is to identify the association between insulin treatment in pregnancy and the risk of postpartum psychological distress (abbreviated here as PPD) among cohorts of women with and without obesity. Methods: Administrative health data (2002/03-2018/19) were used to identify a cohort of women (age 15+ years) who gave birth (N=250,746) and had no pre-existing mood/anxiety disorders or diabetes (N=222,863 excluded). Women were then divided into two groups: lean (N=17,975) and with obesity (N=9,908), which was identified by a recorded maternal weight of >38 - <65.6 kg and ≥85 - <186 kg (respectively). The risk of PPD within one year after delivery with and without insulin treatment was assessed by Poisson regression analysis. Models were adjusted for maternal age group (at pregnancy start date) and area-level income (at delivery). Results: The unadjusted risk of PPD was higher in the obesity group (8.56%; 95% CI 8.00 - 9.15) than in the lean group (6.93%; 95% CI 6.56 - 7.33). When no insulin treatment was given during pregnancy, mothers with obesity had a significantly higher risk of PPD than the lean group (aRR 1.27; 95% CI 1.17-1.39; p<0.0001). However, when women with obesity and insulin treatment were compared to the lean group with no insulin treatment, no significant difference in the risk of PPD was observed between the groups (aRR 1.30; 95% CI 0.83-2.02; p=0.248). Conclusion: This is the first study to demonstrate a positive association between insulin treatment in pregnancy among women with obesity and reduced PPD rates, suggesting insulin as a possible preventative measure. However, the biological mechanism behind the observed positive effect of insulin on PPD rates remains to be investigated.