bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pancreaticobiliary Cancers and Aeromonas Isolates Carrying Type Ⅲ Secretion System Genes ascF-ascG Are Associated With Increased Mortality: An Analysis of 164 Aeromonas Infection Episodes in Southern Taiwan
Authors: Chen Ying-Wen , Su Shu-Li , Li Chia-Wen , Tsai Chin-Shiang , Lo Ching-Lung , Syue Ling-Shan , Li Min-Chi , Lee Ching-Chi , Lee Nan-Yao , Ko Wen-Chien , Chen Po-Lin 
Published: October 2021

This prospective study aimed to investigate the clinical and microbiological characteristics of different Aeromonas species. Clinical isolates of Aeromonas species between 2016 to 2018 were collected in a university hospital in southern Taiwan. The species was determined by rpoD or gyrB sequencing. A total of 222 Aeromonas isolates from 160 patients in 164 episodes were identified. The crude in-hospital mortality was 17.2%. The most frequently isolated species was Aeromonas veronii (30.6%), followed by A. caviae (24.8%), A. hydrophila (23%), and A. dhakensis (16.7%). The major clinical manifestations were primary bacteremia (31.1%), skin and soft tissue infection (22.6%), and biliary tract infection (18.3%). The most common underlying diseases were malignancy (45.1%), diabetes mellitus (27.4%), and liver cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis (26.2%). A. hydrophila and A. dhakensis predominated in the skin and soft tissue infection (p&lt;0.0001), whereas A. vernoii and A. caviae prevailed in primary bacteremia and biliary tract infections (p=0.012). Pneumonia, malignancy, and ascF-ascG genotype were independent factors associated with mortality. Ertapenem susceptibility was decreased in A. sobria (42.9%), A. veronii (66.7%), A. dhakensis (73%), and A. hydrophila (84.3%). Cefotaxime resistance was found in 30.9% of A. caviae and 18.9% of A. dhakensis isolates, much more prevalent than the other species. The metallo-β-lactamase blaCphA was almost invariably present in A. dhakensis, A. hydrophila, and A. veronii (100%, 100% and 89.9%, respectively). Amp-C β-lactamases such as blaMOX and blaAQU-1 were identified in all A. caviae and 91.9% of A. dhakensis isolates. Cefepime, fluoroquinolones and tigecycline showed good in vitro activity against aeromonads.
Assessment of High-Power Catheter Ablation in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Mao Zhi-Jie , Pei Yan , Lin Hui , Xiang Yin , Huang Zhou-Qing , Xiao Fang-Yi , Chen Yi-He 
Published: October 2021

Background: High-power radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation was considered as a promising alternative strategy to conventional-power ablation in the treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This study sought to compare the efficacy and safety of high-power energy delivery to that of conventional-power setting in AF catheter ablation.Methods: We performed a systematic review of relevant literature in Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Google Scholar database. Sixteen eligible studies totaling 3,307 patients (1,929 for high-power ablation; 1,378 for conventional-power ablation) met inclusion criteria.Results: During a median 12 month follow-up, high-power ablation showed a significantly higher AF/atrial tachycardia-free survival rate in comparison with conventional-power ablation (risk ratio [RR] 1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.15, p = 0.008). Notably, a high-power strategy convincingly decreased the procedure time (weighted mean difference [WMD] −46.11 min, 95% CI −59.15 to −33.07, p &lt; 0.001) and RF ablation time (WMD −19.19 min, 95% CI −24.47 to −13.90, p &lt; 0.001), along with reduced fluoroscopy time (WMD −7.82 min, 95% CI −15.13 to −0.68, p = 0.036). In addition, there was no perceptible difference in the potential risk of procedure-related complications between these two approaches (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.37, p = 0.428).Conclusions: High-power RF catheter ablation was associated with an improvement in long-term sinus rhythm maintenance for treatment of AF, without exacerbating the risk of adverse events during the procedure. Impressively, high-power pulmonary vein isolation had the potential to shorten the application duration and minimize fluoroscopic exposure.
Relationship Between Low Skeletal Muscle Mass and Arteriosclerosis in Western China: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Li Zhenzhen , Tong Xiang , Ma Yao , Bao Ting , Yue Jirong 
Published: October 2021

Objectives: This study explored the prevalence and the correlation between low muscle mass and arteriosclerosis in different gender and age groups, to increase the attention paid to the risk factors of arteriosclerosis in the young and middle-aged population.Methods: This was an analytical, cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from healthy individuals recruited from the Health Management Center of W Hospital. The brachial-ankle pulse-wave velocity was used as an indicator of arteriosclerosis, and a bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to assess the body composition.Results: A total of 36,374 subjects (men, 58.4%; women, 41.6%; mean age, 43.74 ± 12.34 years [range, 18–80 years]) participated in this study. The prevalence of low skeletal muscle mass and arteriosclerosis was 17.7 and 53.1%, respectively, in all subjects. Low skeletal muscle mass was significantly associated with arteriosclerosis (OR: 1.435, 95% CI: 1.343–1.533, P &lt; 0.001) in all subjects, and the association remained significant in young age (OR: 1.506, 95% CI: 1.353–1.678, P &lt; 0.001), middle-age (OR: 1.329, 95% CI: 1.195–1.479, P &lt; 0.001), and old age (OR: 1.676, 95% CI: 1.191–2.358, P = 0.003), and also significant in men (OR: 1.559, 95% CI: 1.396–1.740, P &lt; 0.001) and women (OR: 1.266, 95% CI: 1.143–1.401, P &lt; 0.001).Conclusions and Implications: Our results show that the prevalence of low muscle mass and arteriosclerosis is high in the general population, even among middle-aged people and young people, and confirmed that there is a significant independent association between low skeletal muscle mass and arteriosclerosis in all subjects and in different age and gender subgroups.
A Cost Analysis of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnostic Pathway of Patients Presenting With Unexplained Acute Myocardial Injury and Culprit-Free Coronary Angiography
Authors: Murphy Theodore , Jones Daniel A. , Friebel Rocco , Uchegbu Ijeoma , Mohiddin Saidi A. , Petersen Steffen E. 
Published: October 2021

Aims: To determine financial implications of implementing cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in the diagnostic pathway of a population with unexplained acute myocardial injury and normal coronary angiography.Methods and Results: We performed a focused cost-benefit analysis using a hypothetical population of 2,000 patients with unexplained acute myocardial injury and normal coronary angiography divided into two groups to receive either standard or CMR guided management over a 10-year period. As healthcare practice and costs considerably vary geographically and over time, an algorithm with 15 key variables was developed to permit user-defined calculations of cost-benefit and other analyses. Using current UK costs, routine use of CMR increases healthcare spending by 14% per patient in the first year. After 7 years, CMR guided practice is cost neutral, reducing cost by 3% per patient 10 years following presentation. In addition, CMR -guided therapy results in 7 fewer myocardial infarctions and 14 fewer major bleeding events per 1,000 patients over a 10-year period. The three most sensitive variables were, in decreasing order, the cost of CMR, the cost of ticagrelor and the percentage of the population with MI requiring DAPT.Conclusion: Routine use of CMR in patients with unexplained acute myocardial injury and normal coronary angiography is associated with cost reductions in the medium to long term. The initial higher cost of CMR is offset over time and delivers a more personalized and higher quality of care.
On-Site Measurement on Compaction Characteristics of Coal Gangue and Surface Subsidence Disaster in Deep Backfilling Mining
Authors: Wang Jiaqi , Zhang Qiang , Yin Wei , Qi Shengming , Gao Difa , Ma Dan 
Published: October 2021

Gangue is the main backfilling material in solid backfilling mining, and its compaction characteristics determine the overburden control effect and surface subsidence. Under the action of compaction force and overburden pressure, the gangue will be broken, rotated and occluded, resulting in different compaction characteristics of gangue in the field and laboratory. To this end, a laboratory gangue compaction test system was established to test the compaction characteristics of gangue in the laboratory, such as stress-strain, stress bulk density and stress deformation modulus. Based on actual geological conditions of backfilling mining in the Tangshan coal mine, the characteristics of stress deformation modulus of gangue under different inclination angles and mining heights were tested on-site. Through the Beidou satellite CORS system, the surface subsidence of working face F5001was monitored. The research results show that the stress deformation modulus of gangue measured in the field is slightly less than that measured in the laboratory, and it is maintained at about 27 MPa under the overburden pressure in the on-site measurement. Backfilling technology with an initial compaction force of 2.5MPa can be used to effectively control the surface subsidence, and the maximum subsidence value is only 61 mm.
Sex-Specific Limitations in Physical Health in Primary Adrenal Insufficiency
Authors: Didriksen Nora Møller , Sævik Åse Bjorvatn , Sortland Linn Solveig , Øksnes Marianne , Husebye Eystein Sverre 
Published: October 2021

BackgroundPatients with primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) suffer reduced quality of life (QoL), but comparisons with large-scale normative data are scarce. The clinical characteristics associated with reduced QoL are largely unknown.MethodsCross-sectional data on clinical characteristics and QoL scores from 494 patients were included. QoL was measured using RAND-36 (generic) and AddiQoL (-30 and -8, disease-specific). RAND-36 is reported as subdomain scores as well as physical (PCS) and metal (MCS) summary scores and compared with normative data.ResultsPerception of physical role was consistently decreased across age groups in patients with PAI compared with normative data [75 (0-100) vs. 100 (50-100), p&lt;0.001]. Men with PAI reported significantly lower scores for social functioning [88 (75-100) vs. 100 (75-100), p&lt;0.001], as well as for vitality and physical role. In women, the greatest impairment was seen in physical role [50 (0-100) vs. 100 (50-100), p&lt;0.001], followed by social functioning, vitality, physical function, general health, mental health, and emotional role. Overall, better QoL was associated with male sex (AddiQoL-30: 89 ± 13 vs. 82 ± 13, p&lt;0.002), younger age (e.g. 20-29 vs. 80-89 years: PCS 59 [50-62] vs. 46 [37-53], p&lt;0.001), autoimmune etiology [PCS: 53 (45-59) vs.. 45 (38-54), p&lt;0.001], and absence of autoimmune comorbidity [PCS: 54 (45-59) vs. 50 (43-58), p&lt;0.001]. There were no significant differences in QoL scores between different doses or dosing regimens of glucocorticoid or mineralocorticoid replacement.ConclusionQoL is reduced in patients with PAI, especially perception of physical role in women and social functioning in men. Among patients with PAI, female sex, higher age, non-autoimmune etiology, and autoimmune comorbidity was associated with lower QoL-scores.
Lifetime Study of Organic Solar Cells with O-IDTBR as Non-Fullerene Acceptor
Authors: López-Vicente R. , Fernández-Castro M. , Abad J. , Mazzolini E. , Andreasen J. W. , Espindola-Rodriguez M. , Urbina A. 
Published: October 2021

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have increased their power conversion efficiency above 18% thanks to the use of non-fullerene acceptors in binary or ternary blends or in tandem configurations. In this article, a study on the lifetime of P3HT:O-IDTBR bulk heterojunction OSCs on ITO-free flexible substrates is presented. A direct comparison of glass–glass and plastic–plastic encapsulation performance, with a special focus on its effect on the lifetime of the devices after degradation procedures, has been carried out complying with the ISOS protocols for organic photovoltaic devices. The manufactured OSCs with 1 cm2 active layer have power conversion efficiencies ranging from 1.9 to 3.4% depending on the encapsulant material, encapsulation process, and substrate. An exponential degradation rate has been found, with a similar functional behavior for glass and plastic differing in the degradation constants, which ranges from k = 0.01 to 0.002 h−1. Only in one case, the ISOS-T3 essay for plastic encapsulation, a double exponential process, was observed with degradation rates of k1 = 0.03 h−1 and a second slower process with k2 = 0.001 h−1. The longest achieved T80 lifetime is 86 h for glass-encapsulated devices under an accelerated ISOS-T3 protocol.
Investigating Causal Relationships Between Psychiatric Traits and Intracranial Aneurysms: A Bi-directional Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study
Authors: Peng Peng , Chen Zirong , Zhang Xiaolin , Guo Zhongyin , Dong Fangyong , Xu Yu , He Yue , Guo Dongsheng , Wan Feng 
Published: October 2021

Background Despite psychiatric traits were associated with intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in observational studies, their causal relationships remain largely undefined. We aimed to assess the causality between psychiatric traits and IAs.Methods We firstly collected the genome-wide association statistics of IAs (sample size, n = 79,429) and ten psychiatric traits from Europeans, including insomnia (n = 1,331,010), mood instability (n = 363,705), anxiety disorder (n = 83,566), major depressive disorder (MDD) (n = 480,359), subjective wellbeing (n = 388,538), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 53,293), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n = 46,350), bipolar disorder (BIP) (n = 51,710), schizophrenia (SCZ) (n = 105,318), and neuroticism (n = 168,105). We then conducted a series of bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses, of which the Robust Adjusted Profile Score (RAPS) was the primary method to estimate the causal effects between these psychiatric traits and IAs.Results We found that insomnia exhibited a significant risk effect on IAs with the odds ratio (OR) being 1.22 (95% CI: 1.11–1.34, p = 4.61 × 10–5) from the RAPS method. There was suggestive evidence for risk effect of mood instability on IAs (RAPS, OR = 4.16, 95% CI: 1.02–17.00, p = 0.047). However, no clear evidence of causal effects on IAs for the rest eight psychiatric traits (anxiety disorder, MDD, subjective wellbeing, ADHD, ASD, BIP, SCZ, and neuroticism) was identified. In the reverse MR analyses, no causal effects of IAs on psychiatric traits were found.Conclusions Our findings provide strong evidence for a causal risk effect of insomnia on IAs and suggestive evidence for mood instability as a causal risk effect on IAs. These results could inform the prevention and clinical intervention of IAs.
Myeloperoxidase and Other Markers of Neutrophil Activation Associate With Malaria and Malaria/HIV Coinfection in the Human Placenta
Authors: Sarr Demba , Oliveira Lilian J. , Russ Brittany N. , Owino Simon O. , Middii Joab D. , Mwalimu Stephen , Ambasa Linda , Almutairi Faris , Vulule John , Rada Balázs , Moore Julie M. 
Published: October 2021

IntroductionPlacental malaria (PM) is characterized by accumulation of inflammatory leukocytes in the placenta, leading to poor pregnancy outcomes. Understanding of the underlying mechanisms remains incomplete. Neutrophils respond to malaria parasites by phagocytosis, generation of oxidants, and externalization of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs). NETs drive inflammation in malaria but evidence of NETosis in PM has not been reported. Neutrophil activity in the placenta has not been directly investigated in the context of PM and PM/HIV-co-infection.MethodsUsing peripheral and placental plasma samples and placental tissue collected from Kenyan women at risk for malaria and HIV infections, we assessed granulocyte levels across all gravidities and markers of neutrophil activation, including NET formation, in primi- and secundigravid women, by ELISA, western blot, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence.ResultsReduced peripheral blood granulocyte numbers are observed with PM and PM/HIV co-infection in association with increasing parasite density and placental leukocyte hemozoin accumulation. In contrast, placental granulocyte levels are unchanged across infection groups, resulting in enhanced placental: peripheral count ratios with PM. Within individuals, PM- women have reduced granulocyte counts in placental relative to peripheral blood; in contrast, PM stabilizes these relative counts, with HIV coinfection tending to elevate placental counts relative to the periphery. In placental blood, indicators of neutrophil activation, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and proteinase 3 (PRTN3), are significantly elevated with PM and, more profoundly, with PM/HIV co-infection, in association with placental parasite density and hemozoin-bearing leukocyte accumulation. Another neutrophil marker, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP9), together with MPO and PRTN3, is elevated with self-reported fever. None of these factors, including the neutrophil chemoattractant, CXCL8, differs in relation to infant birth weight or gestational age. CXCL8 and MPO levels in the peripheral blood do not differ with infection status nor associate with birth outcomes. Indicators of NETosis in the placental plasma do not vary with infection, and while structures consistent with NETs are observed in placental tissue, the results do not support an association with PM.ConclusionsGranulocyte levels are differentially regulated in the peripheral and placental blood in the presence and absence of PM. PM, both with and without pre-existing HIV infection, enhances neutrophil activation in the placenta. The impact of local neutrophil activation on placental function and maternal and fetal health remains unclear. Additional investigations exploring how neutrophil activation and NETosis participate in the pathogenesis of malaria in pregnant women are needed.
To bnAb or Not to bnAb: Defining Broadly Neutralising Antibodies Against HIV-1
Authors: Griffith Sarah A. , McCoy Laura E. 
Published: October 2021

Since their discovery, antibodies capable of broad neutralisation have been at the forefront of HIV-1 research and are of particular interest due to in vivo passive transfer studies demonstrating their potential to provide protection. Currently an exact definition of what is required for a monoclonal antibody to be classed as a broadly neutralising antibody (bnAb) has not yet been established. This has led to hundreds of antibodies with varying neutralisation breadth being studied and has given insight into antibody maturation pathways and epitopes targeted. However, even with this knowledge, immunisation studies and vaccination trials to date have had limited success in eliciting antibodies with neutralisation breadth. For this reason there is a growing need to identify factors specifically associated with bnAb development, yet to do this a set of criteria is necessary to distinguish bnAbs from non-bnAbs. This review aims to define what it means to be a HIV-1 bnAb by comparing neutralisation breadth, genetic features and epitopes of bnAbs, and in the process highlights the challenges of comparing the array of antibodies that have been isolated over the years.
Frequency-Diverse Holographic Metasurface Antenna for Near-Field Microwave Computational Imaging
Authors: Han Jiaqi , Li Long , Tian Shuncheng , Ma Xiangjin , Feng Qiang , Liu Haixia , Zhao Yu , Liao Guisheng 
Published: October 2021

This article presents a holographic metasurface antenna with stochastically distributed surface impedance, which produces randomly frequency-diverse radiation patterns. Low mutual coherence electric field patterns generated by the holographic metasurface antenna can cover the K-band from 18 to 26 GHz with 0.1 GHz intervals. By utilizing the frequency-diverse holographic metasurface (FDHM) antenna, we build a near-field microwave computational imaging system based on reflected signals in the frequency domain. A standard horn antenna is adopted to acquire frequency domain signals radiated from the proposed FDHM antenna. A detail imaging restoration process is presented, and the desired targets are correctly reconstructed using the 81 frequency-diverse patterns through full-wave simulation studies. Compressed sensing technique and iterative shrinkage/thresholding algorithms are applied for the imaging reconstruction. The achieved compressive ratio of this computational imaging system on the physical layer is 30:1.
Comparison of the IOLMaster 700 and the Pentacam in the Analysis of the Lens Nuclear Density Before the Cataract Surgery
Authors: Li Bowen , Liu Yuqi , Hu Yiping , Shi Mingyu 
Published: October 2021

Purpose: To evaluate the difference of the lens nuclear density measured before and after mydriasis by using the IOLMaster 700 (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena, Germany) and the Pentacam Scheimpflug imaging (Pentacam HR, Oculus Incorporation, Wetzlar, Germany) and investigate the relationship between the measurement data and the phacoemulsification parameters.Methods: Patients with age-related nuclear cataracts diagnosed on the slit-lamp examination were enrolled in the age range of 53–76 years. No patient had a history of ocular surgery, laser treatment, or general disorders affecting vision. The mean optical density (OD) was measured by the IOLMaster 700 by using the Image-Pro® Plus software before and after mydriasis. The Pentacam nucleus densitometry (PND) was obtained automatically from the Pentacam Scheimpflug imaging and compared with OD. The correlation between OD and effective phacoemulsification time (EPT), PND, and EPT were analyzed, respectively.Results: In this study, 53 eyes of 52 patients were evaluated. Before and after mydriasis, the mean OD values were 64.34 ± 23.31 and 63.81 ± 23.21 pixel units, respectively; the mean PND values were 28.51 ± 11.42 and 25.41 ± 11.31, respectively; and the mean EPT value was 6.24 ± 3.49. The Bland–Altman analysis showed that the lens nuclear densities of the two devices were highly consistent. There was no significant difference in the OD values (t = 0.455, p &gt; 0.05) before and after mydriasis, but the difference has existed in the PND values (t = 2.509, p &lt; 0.05). The OD and PND values were positively correlated with EPT before and after mydriasis (rOD−Before = 0.604, rOD−After = 0.593, rPND−Before = 0.701, and rPND−After = 0.891, p &lt; 0.01).Conclusion: The combination of the IOLMaster 700 and the Image-Pro® Plus software can quantitatively evaluate the degree of the cataract lens opacification. It has good consistency with the Pentacam and is positively correlated with the phacoemulsification parameters. It is expected to become a new method to predict the phacoemulsification parameters before and during cataract surgery.