bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Low diversity, little genetic structure but no inbreeding in a high-density island endemic pit-viperGloydius shedaoensis
Authors: Wen Guannan , Jin Long , Wu Yayong , Wang Xiaoping , Fu Jinzhong , Qi Yin 
Published: October 2021

AbstractIsland species and their ecosystems play an important role in global biodiversity preservation, and many vulnerable island species are conservation priorities. Although insular habitat likely facilitates the species diversification process, it may also aggravate the fragility of these species with high risk of inbreeding. The Shedao pit-viper Gloydius shedaoensis is an island endemic species with an extremely high population density, which has been categorized as vulnerable in the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List. We collected 13,148 SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) from across its genome and examined its genetic diversity and demographic history. The Shedao pit-viper has a low genetic diversity but shows no sign of inbreeding. Furthermore, population genetic structure analysis, including the neighbor-joining tree, principal coordinate analysis, clustering, and spatial autocorrelation, revealed a general lack of spatial structure. Only the isolation by distance residues suggested a weak patchiness. Overall, the population is nearly panmictic and gene flow is evenly distributed across the island. A large number of individuals, small size of the island, and the lack of population structure likely all contribute to the lack of inbreeding in this species. We also detected signs of male-biased dispersal, which likely is another inbreeding avoidance strategy. Historical demographic analysis suggested that the historical population size and distribution of the species are much larger than their current ones. The multiple transgressive–regressive events since the Late Pleistocene are likely the main cause of the population size changes. Taken together, our results provide a basic scientific foundation for the conservation of this interesting and important species.
How effective is cryoablation in the treatment of atrial fibrillation?
Authors: Penela Diego , Cappato Riccardo 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Pulmonary vein isolation is the standard for atrial fibrillation ablation. Although the most commonly applied energy source is radiofrequency (RF), cryoablation has rapidly evolved as a powerful one-shot tool, particularly after the introduction of the second-generation catheter, gaining widespread use in recent years. The efficacy in maintaining sinus rhythm after a first ablative procedure is ∼70–80%, and the randomization studies comparing cryoablation to RF have not been able to reveal significant differences up to now. Although different baseline characteristics may influence the efficacy of cryoablation, we are not yet able to distinguish which patients may benefit from a personalized choice of ablative source. Regarding safety, cryoballoon ablation appears to be associated with a lower rate of pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade, mainly due to the lack of risk of overheating. The other side of the coin is a higher incidence of phrenic nerve damage, which occurs in 1–2% of procedures. In conclusion, we do not yet have definitive data to affirm the superiority of the RF technique over that of cryoablation. The choice of energy source currently depends on the availability of the centre and on the experience of the operator.
New players in the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia: focus on bempedoic acid and inclisiran
Authors: Ruscica Massimiliano , Sirtori Cesare Riccardo , Ferri Nicola , Corsini Alberto 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Dyslipidaemias and in particular elevated plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels are major risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Indeed, the more LDL-C is reduced the larger will be the ASCVD risk reduction. Although statins represent the first-line intervention to reduce the atherosclerotic burden driven by raised levels of LDL-C, adherence is not optimal and most patients do not follow guidelines and recommended doses. Thus, to achieve optimal LDL-C goals, especially in very high-risk patients, there is a need for new and safe agents, more tolerable than statins with low risk of myalgia. Thus, the present review will address the most recent clinical trials with bempedoic acid and inclisiran. Bempedoic acid is an oral drug acting at a biochemical step preceding hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase and not associated with muscular side effects. Inclisiran, the first-in-class small interfering RNA-based approach, has the ability to effectively reduce LDL-C by inhibiting the hepatic synthesis of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, with the advantage of requiring subcutaneous of a single dose on Day 1, Day 90, and every 6 months thereafter.
Prevention of ischaemic events in subjects with polydistrict vascular disease
Authors: Patti Giuseppe , Ghiglieno Chiara 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
The incidence of new cardiovascular events in patients with chronic coronary syndrome remains high, particularly in the presence of concomitant high thrombotic risk factors (diabetes mellitus, renal failure, multivessel coronary artery disease, multiple district atherosclerosis, recurrent events, heart failure). The risk of such recurrent events can be reduced by implementing various strategies, which include careful individual stratification of ischaemic and haemorrhagic risk and the choice of the most appropriate antithrombotic therapy for the individual patient, also by combining aspirin with a second antiplatelet agent/a low-dose anticoagulant, in order to achieve the maximum net clinical benefit.
Clinical utility of non-contact charge density ‘SuperMap’ algorithm for the mapping and ablation of organized atrial arrhythmias
Authors: Pope Michael T B , Leo Milena , Briosa e Gala Andre , Betts Timothy R 
Published: October 2021

Abstract

Aims
SuperMap is a novel non-contact algorithm for the mapping of organized atrial arrhythmias. We prospectively evaluated SuperMap during mapping and ablation of atrial tachycardias (ATs) and paced rhythms and compared to conventional high-density contact mapping.

Methods and results
Consecutive patients undergoing SuperMap guided ablation of pre-existing ATs or AT developed during atrial fibrillation ablation procedures were included together with maps obtained during pacing to assess block in linear lesions. The time taken to obtain diagnostic maps was measured together with the number of electrogram (EGM) points and accuracy compared to the arrhythmia diagnosis confirmed using a combination of map findings, entrainment, and response to ablation. In a subgroup of patients, concurrent contact mapping was performed with contact and SuperMap analysed by separate operators blinded to the other technique. The time taken to generate a diagnostic map, EGM number, and map accuracy was compared. Thirty-one patients (62 maps) were included with contact mapping performed in 19 [39 maps (33 for AT)]. SuperMap acquisition time was 314 s [interquartile range (IQR) 239–436]. The median number of EGM points used per map was 5399 (IQR 3279–8677). SuperMap was faster than contact mapping [394 ± 219 s vs. 611 ± 331 s; difference 217 s, 95% confidence interval (CI) 116–318, P &lt; 0.0005]. The number of EGM points used per map was higher for SuperMap (7351 ± 5054 vs. 3620 ± 3211; difference 3731, 95% CI 2073–5388, P &lt; 0.0005). SuperMap and contact mapping were accurate in 92% and 85% of maps, respectively, P = 0.4805.

Conclusion
SuperMap non-contact charge density mapping is a rapid and reliable approach to guide the ablation of complex atrial arrhythmias.
Spatially resolved assembly, connectivity and structure of particle-associated and free-living bacterial communities in a high Arctic fjord
Authors: Jain Anand , Balmonte John Paul , Singh Richa , Bhaskar Parli Venkateswaran , Krishnan Kottekkatu Padinchati 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTThe assembly processes that underlie the composition and connectivity of free-living (FL) and particle-associated (PA) bacterial communities from surface to deep waters remain little understood. Here, using phylogenetic null modeling, we quantify the relative influence of selective and stochastic mechanisms that assemble FL and PA bacterial communities throughout the water column in a high Arctic fjord. We demonstrate that assembly processes acting on FL and PA bacterial communities are similar in surface waters, but become increasingly distinct in deep waters. As depth increases, the relative influence of homogeneous selection increases for FL but decreases for PA communities. In addition, dispersal limitation and variable selection increase with depth for PA, but not for FL communities, indicating increased residence time of taxa on particles and less frequent decolonization. As a consequence, beta diversity of PA communities is greater in bottom than in surface waters. The limited connectivity between these communities with increasing depth leads to highly distinct FL and PA bacterial communities in bottom waters. Finally, depth-related trends for FL and PA beta diversity and connectivity in this study are consistent with previous observations in the open ocean, suggesting that assembly processes for FL and PA bacterial communities may also be distinct in other aquatic environments.
Fire impacts bacterial composition in Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences
Authors: Human Zander R , Roets Francois , Crous Casparus J , Wingfield Michael J , de Beer Z Wilhelm , Venter Stephanus N 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The diverse bacterial communities in and around plants provide important benefits, such as protection against pathogens and cycling of essential minerals through decomposition of moribund plant biomass. Biodiverse fynbos landscapes generally have limited deadwood habitats due to the absence of large trees and frequent fire. In this study, we determined the effect of a fire disturbance on the bacterial communities in a fynbos landscape dominated by the shrub Protea repens using 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing. The bacterial community composition in newly formed fruiting structures (infructescences) and soil at a recently burnt site was different from that in an unburnt site. Bacteria inhabiting P. repens infructescences were similar to well-known taxa from decomposing wood and litter. This suggests a putative role for these aboveground plant structures as reservoirs for postfire decomposer bacteria. The results imply that inordinately frequent fires, which are commonplace in the Anthropocene, are a significant disturbance to bacterial communities and could affect the diversity of potentially important microbes from these landscapes.
Building capacity of community health centers to overcome data challenges with the development of an agile COVID-19 public health registry: a multistate quality improvement effort
Authors: Romero Lisa , Carneiro Pedro B , Riley Catharine , Clark Hollie , Uy Raymonde , Park Michael , Mawokomatanda Tebitha , Bombard Jennifer M , Hinckley Alison , Skapik Julia 
Published: October 2021

Abstract

Objective
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, federally qualified health centers rapidly mobilized to provide SARS-CoV-2 testing, COVID-19 care, and vaccination to populations at increased risk for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. We describe the development of a reusable public health data analytics system for reuse of clinical data to evaluate the health burden, disparities, and impact of COVID-19 on populations served by health centers.

Materials and Methods
The Multistate Data Strategy engaged project partners to assess public health readiness and COVID-19 data challenges. An infrastructure for data capture and sharing procedures between health centers and public health agencies was developed to support existing capabilities and data capacities to respond to the pandemic.

Results
Between August 2020 and March 2021, project partners evaluated their data capture and sharing capabilities and reported challenges and preliminary data. Major interoperability challenges included poorly aligned federal, state, and local reporting requirements, lack of unique patient identifiers, lack of access to pharmacy, claims and laboratory data, missing data, and proprietary data standards and extraction methods.

Discussion
Efforts to access and align project partners’ existing health systems data infrastructure in the context of the pandemic highlighted complex interoperability challenges. These challenges remain significant barriers to real-time data analytics and efforts to improve health outcomes and mitigate inequities through data-driven responses.

Conclusion
The reusable public health data analytics system created in the Multistate Data Strategy can be adapted and scaled for other health center networks to facilitate data aggregation and dashboards for public health, organizational planning, and quality improvement and can inform local, state, and national COVID-19 response efforts.
4 Engineered Resilience in Livestock for Improved Animal Welfare
Authors: Williams Tawni N , Green-Miller Angela R 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Welfare status for any species is dependent upon an animal’s ability to cope with its environment. Environmental conditions, animal husbandry, and overall health are major components that contribute to managing livestock species with quality animal welfare. Previous approaches intending to create more robust animals have applied genetic selection, nutritional programming, or advancements in facilities. Engineered resilience, the approach explored here, represents: (a) the ability to identify certain physiological biomarkers, behaviors, and environmental stressors that contribute to the individual’s response to a challenge; and (b) manipulate them in a targeted way with well-timed and controlled exposure to improve outcomes of a challenge to homeostasis (i.e. improve fitness with prior conditioning). Foundational understanding of natural adaptation in response to challenge reveals that some animals emerge from a challenge with greater coping abilities and others fail to thrive. By determining which animals have natural resilience and exploring the factors that created desired outcomes, scenarios can be identified to initiate resilience in susceptible animals. Such responses can then be stimulated through the development of managerial techniques. This project was conducted by reviewing published literature with the goal of identifying more refined areas of study for future research in engineered resilience in livestock species. Potential for application of this concept includes building thermal resilience, social resilience, and disease resilience.
24 The Effects of Vaginal pH on Fertility of Beef Cows and Heifers Enrolled in the 7-d Co-synch + Controlled Internal Drug Release (CIDR) Protocol
Authors: Wege Dias Nicholas W , Pancini Stefania , Haines Hannah , Rodrigues Gomes Mercadante Vitor R G 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of vaginal pH on fertility of beef cows and heifers enrolled in a fixed-time artificial insemination (TAI) protocol. Year 1, 40 multiparous cows; and year 2, 48 multiparous cows and 41 heifers with no signs of vaginitis were enrolled. Vaginal flushes were collected for all females on D0, D7 and D10 and immediately analyzed for pH with a pH meter. As evidence of vaginitis, CIDR score was determined at CIDR removal (D7) following a 1 to 4 scoring system: 1=no secretion; 2=clear secretion; 3=purulent secretion; 4=purulent secretion and blood. Pregnancy status was determined by transrectal ultrasonography approximately 40 days after TAI. No animals had CIDR scores 1, whereas 23.7% of animals had a score 2, 69.6% a score 3, and 6.6% a score of 4. There was no effect of CIDR score on pregnancy outcome (P = 0.697). However, vaginal pH on D7, differed according to CIDR score (P = 0.045), where score 2 had greater pH (7.32±0.04) than score 4 (7.09±0.08), and score 3 were intermediate (7.25±0.02). No effect (P = 0.307) of CIDR score on vaginal pH on D10 was observed. There were no differences (P &gt; 0.01) between vaginal pH of pregnant and open animals on D0 (7.06±0.05); D7 (7.26±0.03); and D10 (7.21±0.04). Nonetheless, on D10 females with vaginal pH 7.1 &lt; pH ≤ 7.34 had greater (P = 0.005) PR (n=56; 66.1%) than cows with pH &gt; 7.35 (n=33; 45.5%), and pH &lt; 7.09 (n = 39; 33.3%). We conclude that vaginitis caused by the CIDR changes vaginal pH on D7, which is not carried on to D10. In addition, there is indication of an optimal vaginal pH range at the day of TAI for maximum PR to the protocol.
32 A Bayesian Hierarchical Model to Integrate Growth Models into Genomic Evaluation of Pigs
Authors: Yu Haipeng , Milgen Jaap , Knol Egbert , Fernando Rohan , Dekkers Jack C 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Genomic prediction has advanced genetic improvement by enabling more accurate estimates of breeding values at an early age. Although genomic prediction is efficient in predicting traits dominated by additive genetic effects within common settings, prediction in the presence of non-additive genetic effects and genotype by environmental interactions (GxE) remains a challenge. Previous studies have attempted to address these challenges by statistical modeling, while the augmentation of statistical models with biological information has received relatively little attention. A pig growth model assumes growth performance is a nonlinear functional interaction between the animal’s genetic potential for underlying latent growth traits and environmental factors and has the potential to capture GxE and non-additive genetic effects. The objective of this study was to integrate a nonlinear stable Gompertz function of three latent growth traits and age into genomic prediction models using Bayesian hierarchical modeling. The three latent growth traits were modeled as a linear combination of systematic environmental, marker, and residual effects. The model was applied to daily body weight data from ~83 to ~186 days of age on 4,039 purebred boars that were genotyped for 24K markers. Bias and prediction accuracy of genomic predictions of selection candidates were assessed by extending the linear regression method of predictions based on part and whole data to a non-linear setting. The accuracy (bias) of genomic predictions was 0.58 (0.82), 0.46 (0.90), 0.54 (0.78), and 0.60 (0.84) for the three latent growth traits and average daily gain derived from integrated nonlinear model, respectively, compared to 0.58 (0.87) for genomic predictions of average daily gain using standard linear models. In subsequent work, the growth model will be extended to include daily feed intake and carcass composition data. Resulting models are expected to substantially advance genetic improvement in pigs across environments. Funded by USDA-NIFA grant # 2020-67015-31031.
83 Mapping Resilience Indicators and Measuring Emotions of Farm Animals Using Sensor Data
Authors: Neethirajan Suresh 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
More often sensor and the data analytical tools are established for human biomedical applications before it finds ways in solving farm animal problems. Resilience is a type of toughness or resistance against degrading forces and the capacity to recover or endure from potentially harmful dynamics. For moment-by-moment quantification of the individual farm animal’s cardiovascular functioning, physiological functioning indices sensor-based data becomes paramount. With much emphasis being given currently on the animal welfare, especially the cognitive, emotional, and psychological aspects of livestock, creating scientifically meaningful information from the sensor data becomes important. In this invited talk, I will be sharing results on measuring emotions, evaluating the indicators of resilience in farm animals, and developing solutions for livestock digital phenotyping through data analytics. I will walk you through some examples of how the data analytics was handled, and sensor-based data were collected, assimilated, integrated, and the insights were developed based on machine learning approaches.
112 Modulating Effects of Miscanthus Grass and Prebiotic Blends on Canine Fecal Microbiota, Metabolites, and Digestibility
Authors: Finet Shannon E , He Fei , Clark Lindsay V , de Godoy Maria R 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Dietary fiber plays an important role in gastrointestinal health as it modulates the gut environment and promotes microbiome homeostasis. However, dietary fiber sources vary in composition, physico-chemical properties, and physiological effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of miscanthus grass fiber and prebiotic fiber blends on fecal microbiota, fecal metabolites, and apparent total tract digestibility in comparison to traditional dietary fiber sources. Animal procedures were approved by the University of Illinois Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Six dietary treatments were formulated to meet or exceed AAFCO nutrient profile (2018) and included either cellulose, beet pulp, miscanthus fiber, or a blend of miscanthus fiber and tomato pomace, miscanthus fiber and resistant starch, or miscanthus fiber and fructooligosaccharide. Twelve female adult beagles were randomly assigned one of the six treatments in a replicated 6x6 Latin square design and fed for 21 d including 17 d of diet adaptation followed by 4 d of total and fresh fecal collection. All diets were well digested by the animals. Dogs fed beet pulp had greater fecal total short-chain fatty acid concentration than the cellulose treatment (P &lt; 0.05), while the dogs fed diets containing miscanthus fiber were intermediate. No difference in the α-diversity of fecal microbial communities was observed among treatments (P &gt;0.05), while β-diversity of dogs fed the beet pulp treatment differed from the other treatment groups. Miscanthus grass can be utilized successfully in diets for adult dogs with tomato pomace and resistant starch blends resulting in similar physiological effects to cellulose.