bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Personal Protective Equipment Practices and Preferences of Craniofacial Surgeons
Authors: Lee James C. , Ozaki Ashley , Ozaki Wayne 
Published: June 2021

Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concern about healthcare worker exposure risk. Surgeons operating near the aerodigestive tract are at particularly high risk, given the respiratory spread of SARS-CoV-2. This study examines the practices and opinions of craniofacial surgeons as they adapt to a worldwide epidemic.

Methods:
An electronic survey study was conducted on practicing craniomaxillofacial surgeons regarding their preference of personal protective equipment use before, during, and after the pandemic in patients with or without COVID-19 infection, as well as demographic data. Statistical analysis was performed to compare changes in behaviors and preferences and differences across demographic groups.

Results:
Craniofacial surgeons changed their behaviors significantly during the pandemic, with 91.5% of respondents wearing N95 masks or powered air purifying respirators for operations involving exposure of the nasal or oral airways on untested patients, compared with 4.3% before the pandemic (P < 0.001). For examinations in the clinic, 100% reported wearing a mask during the pandemic compared with 40.3% before the pandemic (P < 0.001). After the pandemic is over, 31.9% of surgeons planned to continue using an N95 mask or powered air purifying respirator for craniomaxillofacial cases and 80.9% planned to continue using masks in clinic. Overall, 46.8% of respondents believed that N95 masks should be the standard for craniofacial surgery.

Conclusions:
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly shifted the practices and opinion of craniofacial surgeons toward more protective personal protective equipment. These results indicate that this is likely to persist after the pandemic is over, which may limit surgeon exposure to airborne disease and help the field withstand future epidemic outbreaks.
Methods to assess advanced glycation end-products
Authors: Jaisson Stéphane , Gillery Philippe 
Published: June 2021

Purpose of review
Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) resulting from protein glycoxidation constitute biomarkers of interest in different pathological situations. Several methods for quantifying AGEs in biological fluids or tissues have been developed without any real consensus on a gold standard method. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of recent publications in the field helping to decide if these markers could find their place as diagnostic tools in clinical practice.

Recent findings
This update shows that new AGEs are regularly discovered and new analytical methods (especially mass spectrometry-based methods) regularly described. Skin autofluorescence measurement is increasingly performed due to the practicability of the dedicated devices, in spite of its questionable specificity. In biological fluids, carboxymethyllysine remains the most frequently measured AGE. However, to date, it is still difficult to compare results obtained from different studies because measured AGEs and modes of expression are different and because no method standardization has been initiated.

Summary
Despite their potential interest as biomarkers and the availability of unfortunately non-standardized assay methods, AGEs remain confined to clinical research studies without really being used in daily clinical practice. These challenges must be addressed in order to allow their implementation.
Consortium for the study of chronic pancreatitis, diabetes, and pancreatic cancer: achievements and future directions
Authors: Pandol Stephen J. , Forsmark Chris E. 
Published: June 2021

Purpose of review
To answer several important clinical questions, the Consortium for the study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, and Pancreatic Cancer (CPDPC) research consortium has established several ongoing clinical cohort studies focused on pancreatitis in adults and children, pancreatic cancer, and diabetes associated with pancreatic disease. These will provide a unique resource for clinical and basic science research into these hard-to-treat diseases.

Recent findings
The cause, natural history, and prognosis of acute relapsing and chronic pancreatitis in adults and children are being delineated. The mechanisms of diabetes associated with chronic pancreatitis, acute pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer are being defined. The ability to predict the presence of early-stage pancreatic cancer, thought the presence of new-onset diabetes, is being explored as a strategy to improve survival. The CPDPC is now also turning to developing clinically useful biomarkers, and initiating clinical trials in these difficult to treat pancreatic diseases.

Summary
These large prospective patient cohorts, established and followed up by the CPDPC, provide a unique resource to improve the care of patients of all ages with pancreatitis, and to allow earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Update on female urethral reconstruction
Authors: Gomez Reynaldo G. , Pfeifer Jessica 
Published: June 2021

Purpose of review
Female urethral stricture (FUS) is not frequent but can be the cause of significant morbidity. A somewhat overlooked condition for years, it has received significant attention in recent times. In this review, we update the current evidence surrounding FUS management.

Recent findings
It is estimated that FUS is present in about 1% of all women having check-ups for lower urinary tract symptoms. Etiology is considered as idiopathic in half of the cases, iatrogenic in one-third, whereas infection/inflammation and trauma account for the rest. Symptoms presented are usually nonspecific and nondiagnostic. Pelvic examination, uroflowmetry, endoscopy, and urethrography are the most frequently employed diagnostic tools. Urodynamics/video-urodynamics can be used to document obstruction and to differentiate true anatomic strictures from functional disorders. Urethral dilation (UD) is the most frequent management procedure, sometimes followed by self-dilation, but recurrence is high, at over 50%. By contrast, reconstructive surgery is far more efficient, with overall curative rates of around 90%.

Summary
A high index of suspicion is required to identify FUS patients. UD is advised as a first approach but after one or two failed attempts, reconstruction at a referral center should be considered.
An EEG Voyage in Search of Triphasic Waves—The Sirens and Corsairs on the Encephalopathy/EEG Horizon: A Survey of Triphasic Waves
Authors: Kaplan Peter W. , Gélisse Philippe , Sutter Raoul 
Published: June 2021

Summary:
Generalized periodic discharges with triphasic wave (TW) morphology, long referred to as TWs, are typical of many toxic, metabolic, infectious, and cerebral structural problems, often in concert. Identifying TWs has been challenging for the electroencephalographer and clinician, as has been their cause, significance, prognosis, and treatment. This review highlights the many different patterns of TWs with commentary on their various causes and etiologies, characteristics, different morbidities, differentiation from nonconvulsive status epilepticus, and their prognosis. The articles in this Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology special issue on TWs will review the many challenges the clinician face when TWs are sighted.
Clinical Significance of a combination of Biochemical Indexes and Immunity Indexes for hepatitis B disease Prediction
Authors: Zhang Wenyan , Chen Shan , Yang Junzheng 
Published: June 2021

AbstractObjectivesTo explore the clinical significance of the detection of biochemical indexes and immune indexes in the prediction of hepatitis B (HBV) disease.Methods150 patients with HBV disease who were treated in our hospital from 2018 to 2020 were selected and divided into acute HBV group (group A), chronic HBV group (group B) and Cirrhosis group (C group), every group included 50 cases, and 50 healthy people were selected as the control group. Peripheral venous blood was collected from subjects from 4 groups, and immune indexes (plasma immunoglobulin G (IgG), plasma immunoglobulin A (IgA), plasma immunoglobulin M (IgM)) of HBV were measured by immune nephelometry, and biochemical indexes (alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and amino acid transaminase (AST)) of HBV were measured by fasting rate method.ResultsCompared with the control group, the immune nephelometry results and fasting rate method showed that the expression of immune indexes (IgG, IgA and IgM) and the expression of biochemical indexes (ALT and AST)in group A, B and C patients were increased significantly (P <0.05), and both of the expression of immune indexes and the biochemical indexes in HBV patients showed an increasing trend accompanied with the aggravation of HBV patients (A<B <C) (P<0.05).ConclusionThe detection of immune indexes and biochemical indexes has important clinical significance in prediction of HBV patients’ condition, and detect a combination of biochemical indexes and immune indexes can be used to make a comprehensive judgment to provide a reliable laboratory basis for diagnosis of HBV patients’ condition.
Using deep learning to analyze the compositeness of musculoskeletal aging reveals that spine, hip and knee age at different rates, and are associated with different genetic and non-genetic factors
Authors: Goallec Alan Le , Diai Samuel , Collin Sasha , Vincent Théo , Patel Chirag J. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractWith age, the musculoskeletal system undergoes significant changes, leading to diseases such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Due to the aging of the world population, the prevalence of such diseases is therefore expected to starkly increase in the coming decades. While numerous biological age predictors have been developed to assess musculoskeletal aging, it remains unclear whether these different approaches and data capture a single aging process, or if the diverse joints and bones in the body age at different rates. In the following, we leverage 42,000 full body, spine, hip and knee X-ray images and musculoskeletal biomarkers from the UK Biobank and use artificial intelligence to build the most accurate musculoskeletal aging predictor to date (RMSE=2.65±0.01 years; R-Squared=87.6±0.1%). Our predictor is composite and can be used to assess spine age, hip age and knee age, in addition to general musculoskeletal aging. We find that accelerated musculoskeletal aging is moderately correlated between these different musculoskeletal dimensions (e.g hip vs. knee: Pearson correlation=.351±.004). Musculoskeletal aging is heritable at more than 35%, and the genetic factors are partially shared between joints (e.g hip vs. knee: genetic correlation=.52±.04). We identified single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with accelerated musculoskeletal aging in approximately ten genes for each musculoskeletal dimension. General musculoskeletal aging is for example associated with a TBX15 variant linked to Cousin syndrome and acromegaloid facial appearance syndrome. Finally, we identified biomarkers, clinical phenotypes, diseases, environmental and socioeconomic variables associated with accelerated musculoskeletal aging in each dimension. We conclude that, while the aging of the different components of the musculoskeletal system is connected, each bone and joint can age at significantly different rates.
Nusinersen in adult patients with 5q spinal muscular atrophy: a multicenter observational cohorts’ study
Authors: Vázquez-Costa Juan F , Povedano Mónica , Nascimiento-Osorio Andrés E , Escribano Antonio Moreno , Garcia Solange Kapetanovic , Dominguez Raul , Exposito Jessica M , González Laura , Marco Carla , Castillo Julita Medina , Muelas Nuria , de Benito Daniel Natera , Ñungo Garzón Nancy Carolina , Castellano Inmaculada Pitarch , Sevilla Teresa , Hervás David 
Published: June 2021

ABSTRACTObjectiveTo assess safety and efficacy of nusinersen in adult 5q spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) patients.MethodsPatients older than 15 years and followed at least for 6 months with one motor scale (Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale Expanded, HFMSE; Revised Upper Limb module, RULM) in five referral centers were included. Clinical and patients’ global impression of change (CGI-C and PGI-C) were recorded in treated patients at the last visit. Functional scales (Egen Klassification, EK2; Revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale, ALSFRS-R) and the percent-predicted forced vital capacity were collected when available.ResultsSeventy-nine SMA patients (39 treated with nusinersen) were included. Compared with untreated patients, treated patients showed a significant improvement of 2 points (±0.46) in RULM (p<0.001) after six months. After a mean follow-up of 16 months, nusinersen treatment was associated with a significant improvement in HFMSE (OR=1.15, p=0.006), 6MWT (OR=1.07, p<0.001), and EK2 (OR=0.81, p=0.001).Compared with untreated patients, more treated patients experienced clinically meaningful improvements in all scales, but these differences were statistically significant only for RULM (p=0.033), ALSFRS-R (p=0.005), and EK2 (p<0.001). According to the CGI-C and PGI-C, 64.1% and 61.5% of treated patients improved with treatment. Being non-sitter was associated with less response to treatment, while longer time of treatment was associated with better response. Most treated patients (77%) presented at least one adverse event, mostly mild.ConclusionsNusinersen treatment associates to some improvements in adult SMA patients. Most severely affected patients with complex spines are probably those with the most unfavorable risk-benefit ratio.
Effectiveness of Tocilizumab, Sarilumab, and Anakinra for critically ill patients with COVID-19 The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Immune Modulation Therapy Domain Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors:   The REMAP-CAP Investigators, Derde Lennie P.G. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe interleukin-6 receptor antagonist tocilizumab improves outcomes in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the effectiveness of other immune modulating agents is unclear.METHODSWe evaluated four immunomodulatory agents in an ongoing international, multifactorial, adaptive platform trial. Adult participants with COVID-19 were randomized to receive tocilizumab, sarilumab, anakinra, or standard care (control). In addition, a small group (n=21) of participants were randomized to interferon-β1a. The primary outcome was an ordinal scale combining in-hospital mortality (assigned -1) and days free of organ support to day 21. The trial used a Bayesian statistical model with pre-defined triggers for superiority, equivalence or futility.RESULTSStatistical triggers for equivalence between tocilizumab and sarilumab; and for inferiority of anakinra to the other active interventions were met at a planned adaptive analysis. Of the 2274 critically ill participants enrolled, 972 were assigned to tocilizumab, 485 to sarilumab, 378 to anakinra and 418 to control. Median organ support-free days were 7 (interquartile range [IQR] –1, 16), 9 (IQR –1, 17), 0 (IQR –1, 15) and 0 (IQR –1, 15) for tocilizumab, sarilumab, anakinra and control, respectively. Median adjusted odds ratios were 1.46 (95%CrI 1.13, 1.87), 1.50 (95%CrI 1.13, 2.00), and 0.99 (95%CrI 0.74, 1.35) for tocilizumab, sarilumab and anakinra, yielding 99.8%, 99.8% and 46.6% posterior probabilities of superiority, respectively, compared to control. Median adjusted odds ratios for hospital survival were 1.42 (95%CrI 1.05,1.93), 1.51 (95%CrI 1.06, 2.20) and 0.97 (95%CrI 0.66, 1.40) for tocilizumab, sarilumab and anakinra respectively, compared to control, yielding 98.8%, 98.8% and 43.6% posterior probabilities of superiority, respectively, compared to control. All treatments appeared safe.CONCLUSIONSIn patients with severe COVID-19 receiving organ support, tocilizumab and sarilumab are similarly effective at improving survival and reducing duration of organ support. Anakinra is not effective in this population. (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02735707)
Breastfeeding mother-child clinical outcomes after COVID-19 vaccination
Authors: Low Jia Ming , Lee Le Ye , Mei Ng Yvonne Peng , Zhong Youjia , Amin Zubair 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThis is a prospective cohort study of 88 lactating women in Singapore who received two doses of BNT162b2 vaccination (Pfizer/BioNTech), whereby outcomes of mother-child dyads within 28 days after the second vaccine dose were determined through a structured questionnaire. Minimal effects related to breastfeeding were reported in this cohort; 3 of 88 (3.4%) women had mastitis with 1 of 88 (1.1%) women experiencing breast engorgement. We report an incidence of lymphadenopathy in our cohort at 5 of 88 (5.7%). Reassuringly, there was no change in reported breastmilk supply after vaccination. The most common side effect was pain/redness/swelling at the injection site, which was experienced by 57 of 88 (64.8%) women. There were no serious adverse events of anaphylaxis and hospital admissions. No adverse symptoms were reported in 67 of 88 (76.1%) breastfed children.What’s known on this subjectTwo studies reported no serious adverse effects in both mother-child dyads after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in mothers. Up to 61.9-67% lactating women experienced minor side effects.What this study addsWe report an incidence of lymphadenopathy in our cohort at 5.7% as opposed to 0.3% from the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 trial. Reassuringly, there was no change in reported milk supply after vaccination. Minimal effects related to breastfeeding were reported in this cohort; 3 (3.4%) women had mastitis with 1 person experiencing breast engorgement. The most common side effect was pain/redness/swelling at the injection site at 64.8%, which was experienced by 57 of 88 (65%) women. No adverse symptoms were reported in the breastfed children.
Did social factors buffer against the effect of adversities on self-harm during the COVID-19 pandemic? A longitudinal analysis of 49,227 UK adults
Authors: Paul Elise , Fancourt Daisy 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBackgroundLittle is known about which factors exacerbate and buffer the impact of COVID-19 -related adversities on changes in thinking about and engaging in self-harm over time.AimsTo examine how changes in four social factors contribute to changes in self-harm thoughts and behaviours over time and how these factors in turn interact with adversities and worries about adversities to increase risk for these outcomes.MethodData from 49,227 UK adults in the UCL COVID-19 Social Study were analysed across the first 59 weeks of the pandemic. Fixed effects logistic regressions examined time-varying associations between social support quality, loneliness, number of days of face-to-face contact for ≥15 minutes, and number of days phoning/video calling for ≥15 minutes with self-harm thoughts and behaviours. We then examined how these four factors in turn interacted with the total number of adversities and worries about adversity on outcomes.ResultsIncreases in the quality of social support decreased the likelihood of both outcomes, whilst greater loneliness increased their likelihood. Associations were inconsistent for telephone/video contact and face-to-face contact with outcomes. Social support buffered and loneliness exacerbated the impact of adversity experiences with self-harm behaviours. Other interactions were inconsistent, and some were in the unexpected direction.ConclusionsThese findings suggest the importance of the quality of one’s social support network, rather than the mere presence of contact, is important for reducing the likelihood of self-harm behaviours in the context of COVID-19 pandemic-related adversity and worry.
Predicting the mutational drivers of future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern
Authors: Maher M. Cyrus , Bartha Istvan , Weaver Steven , di Iulio Julia , Ferri Elena , Soriaga Leah , Lempp Florian A. , Hie Brian L. , Bryson Bryan , Berger Bonnie , Robertson David L. , Snell Gyorgy , Corti Davide , Virgin Herbert W. , Kosakovsky Pond Sergei L. , Telenti Amalio 
Published: June 2021

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 evolution threatens vaccine- and natural infection-derived immunity, and the efficacy of therapeutic antibodies. Herein we sought to predict Spike amino acid changes that could contribute to future variants of concern. We tested the importance of features comprising epidemiology, evolution, immunology, and neural network-based protein sequence modeling. This resulted in identification of the primary biological drivers of SARS-CoV-2 intra-pandemic evolution. We found evidence that resistance to population-level host immunity has increasingly shaped SARS-CoV-2 evolution over time. We identified with high accuracy mutations that will spread, at up to four months in advance, across different phases of the pandemic. Behavior of the model was consistent with a plausible causal structure wherein epidemiological variables integrate the effects of diverse and shifting drivers of viral fitness. We applied our model to forecast mutations that will spread in the future, and characterize how these mutations affect the binding of therapeutic antibodies. These findings demonstrate that it is possible to forecast the driver mutations that could appear in emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. This modeling approach may be applied to any pathogen with genomic surveillance data, and so may address other rapidly evolving pathogens such as influenza, and unknown future pandemic viruses.
Tau assemblies enter the cytosol in a cholesterol sensitive process essential to seeded aggregation
Authors: Tuck Benjamin J. , Miller Lauren V. C. , Wilson Emma L. , Katsinelos Taxiarchis , Cheng Shi , Vaysburd Marina , Knox Claire , Tredgett Lucy , Metzakopian Emmanouil , James Leo C. , McEwan William A. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractAccumulating evidence supports a prion-like mechanism in the spread of assembled tau in neurodegenerative diseases. Prion-like spread is proposed to require the transit of tau assemblies to the interior of neurons in order to seed aggregation of native, cytosolic tau. This process is poorly understood and remains largely hypothetical. Here, we develop sensitive techniques to quantify the cytosolic entry of tau in real-time. We find that tau does not promote its own entry but, rather, is wholly dependent on cellular machinery. We find that entry to the widely used reporter cell line HEK293 requires clathrin whereas entry to neurons does not. Cholesterol depletion or knockdown of cholesterol transport protein Niemann-Pick type C1 in neurons renders cells highly vulnerable to cytosolic entry and seeded aggregation. Our findings establish entry as the rate-limiting step in seeded aggregation and demonstrate that dysregulated cholesterol, a feature of several neurodegenerative diseases, potentiates tau aggregation.
Graphical Abstract