bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Root Coverage Predictability in the Treatment of Gingival Recessions on Mandibular Anterior Teeth
Authors: Agusto M. , Salman A. , Parker D. , Choi D. , Schincaglia G.P. 
Published: April 2021

Introduction: Mandibular anterior teeth are most frequently affected by gingival recession. However, data regarding mucogingival treatment aimed at root coverage in this specific location are limited. Objective: The purpose of this study was to systematically review the scientific literature and to use the meta-analytic approach to address the following focused question: “What is the effectiveness of different surgical approaches on clinical and patient-related outcomes in the treatment of buccal gingival recessions on mandibular anterior teeth?” Methods: Studies were located by searching 3 electronic databases (Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane databases) and cross-referencing. Randomized and nonrandomized studies including at least 1 arm involving the use of pedicle flaps and/or free soft tissue grafts in the treatment of gingival recessions (recession type [RT] 1 and RT2) located on the buccal aspects of mandibular centrals, laterals and canines, were included in the analysis. Primary outcome was mean root coverage (mRC), expressed in percentage, based on a 3- to 12-mo follow-up observation. A Bayesian single-arm network meta-analysis was performed to identify a treatment hierarchy of the different surgical techniques. Results: Sixteen studies, with a total of 23 arms, were included in the quantitative analysis. The greatest mRC is associated with laterally positioned flap (LPF) + connective tissue graft (CTG) (91.2%) and tunnel (TUN) + CTG (89.4%), whereas LPF alone, coronally advanced flap (CAF) + CTG, and free gingival graft (FGG) showed lower mRC (79.1%, 78.9%, and 68.5% respectively). TUN + CTG provides significantly greater mRC compared to CAF+CTG. No difference among the procedures could be observed in terms of keratinized tissue width gain. Conclusions: Treatment hierarchy generated by an arm-based network meta-analysis model suggested that tunnel and laterally positioned flap, both in combination with connective tissue graft, may provide the greatest mean root coverage in the treatment of mandibular anterior recessions. Knowledge Transfer Statement: The results of the present systematic review can be used by clinicians when deciding which approach to adopt when treating buccal gingival recessions on mandibular anterior teeth. In particular, procedures based on a laterally positioned flap or a tunneling technique, both in combination with connective tissue graft, seem to be the most predictable therapeutic decision.
Implementation and effectiveness of drive-through medication pick-up and home delivery services. A patient safety initiative during COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: AlAbbasi Haneen K , Thorakkattil Shabeer A , Mohiuddin Syed I , Nemr Habib S , Jabbour Rita , Al-Ghamdi Fuad 
Published: April 2021

Introduction With the emergence of the first COVID-19 case in Saudi Arabia, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare has immediately executed the appropriate protocols in response to this severe global crisis. The pharmacy department at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare continues to play an essential role in providing the safest, efficient, and effective service to its eligible patients. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmacy department acted by implementing a drive-through pharmacy and home delivery services as new person-centered services to ensure patient safety. These two new services were initiated to protect both the pharmacist and the patient from COVID-19 infections as they ensure social distancing and reduce patients’ visits to the walk-in pharmacies, hence providing valuable and convenient services during this pandemic. Objective This article aims to describe the implementation processes and effectiveness of drive-through medication pick-up and home-delivery services as a patient safety initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method The implementation process of the drive-through and home delivery services are explained in detail. The utilization of these two services is evaluated by measuring the number of patients and prescriptions between April 2020 and August 2020. Result The increased utilization of drive-through medication pick-up and home delivery services in terms of the number of patients and prescriptions ensures patient safety by minimizing infection risk. Conclusion The increase in the utilization of drive-through medication pick-up and home delivery services reflects its successful implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both services meet the pandemic’s social-distancing requirements and minimize risks of infections, which will ensure patient safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highly efficient generation of bacterial leaf blight-resistant and transgene-free rice using a genome editing and multiplexed selection system
Authors: Yu Kun , Liu Zhiqiang , Gui Huaping , Geng Lizhao , Wei Juan , Liang Dawei , Lv Jian , Xu Jianping , Chen Xi 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background
Rice leaf blight, which is a devastating disease worldwide, is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). The upregulated by transcription activator-like 1 (UPT) effector box in the promoter region of the rice Xa13 gene plays a key role in Xoo pathogenicity. Mutation of a key bacterial protein-binding site in the UPT box of Xa13 to abolish PXO99-induced Xa13 expression is a way to improve rice resistance to bacteria.
Highly efficient generation and selection of transgene-free edited plants are helpful to shorten and simplify the gene editing-based breeding process. Selective elimination of transgenic pollen of T0 plants can enrich the proportion of T1 transgene-free offspring, and expression of a color marker gene in seeds makes the selection of T2 plants very convenient and efficient. In this study, a genome editing and multiplexed selection system was used to generate bacterial leaf blight-resistant and transgene-free rice plants.

Results
We introduced site-specific mutations into the UPT box using CRISPR/Cas12a technology to hamper with transcription-activator-like effector (TAL) protein binding and gene activation and generated genome-edited rice with improved bacterial blight resistance. Transgenic pollen of T0 plants was eliminated by pollen-specific expression of the α-amylase gene Zmaa1, and the proportion of transgene-free plants increased from 25 to 50% among single T-DNA insertion events in the T1 generation. Transgenic seeds were visually identified and discarded by specific aleuronic expression of DsRed, which reduced the cost by 50% and led to up to 98.64% accuracy for the selection of transgene-free edited plants.

Conclusion
We demonstrated that core nucleotide deletion in the UPT box of the Xa13 promoter conferred resistance to rice blight, and selection of transgene-free plants was boosted by introducing multiplexed selection. The combination of genome editing and transgene-free selection is an efficient strategy to accelerate functional genomic research and plant breeding.
The impact of left ventricular geometry on left atrium phasic function in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a multimodal echocardiography investigation
Authors: Zhang Yong , Shui Wen , Tian Yun , Zhang Zhenxia , Li Juan , Wang Jian 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background
Left ventricular geometry and left atrium (LA) enlargement are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, reports on the relationship between left ventricular geometry and LA volume yielded contradictory findings, and LA phasic function remains unclear. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the influence of left ventricular geometry on LA volume and phasic function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) via a multimodal echocardiographic approach.

Methods
In this cross-sectional study, 221 patients with OSAS (age 20–68 years, mean age 45.27 ± 12.50 years) underwent clinical evaluation, polysomnography, and multimodal echocardiographic examination with two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE), two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) and three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE). Based on conventional classification of left ventricular geometry, patients with OSAS were divided into four groups: normal geometry (NG), concentric remodeling (CR), concentric hypertrophy (CH), and eccentric hypertrophy (EH).

Results
Based on 2DE and 3DE, the LA volumes and indices gradually increased from NG to CH. Additionally, 2DE and 3DE LA maximum volume index (LAVImax) were higher in patients with CH and EH than in patients with NG and CR (P < 0.05). The reservoir function, estimated by LA total emptying fraction (LA TotEF) was lower in patients with CH than in patients with NG in 2DE and 3DE (both, P < 0.05). Also, LA conduit function, evaluated by LA passive emptying fraction (LA PassEF) was lower in patients with CH than in patients with NG and CR, and in patients with EH than in those with NG in 2DE and 3DE (all, P < 0.05). The LA booster pump function, evaluated by LA active emptying fraction (LA ActEF) showed no statistically significant difference in 2DE; however, it was greater in patients with CH than in those with NG in 3DE. Similar results were obtained by 2D-STE, and CH was significantly associated with LA strain during systole (LAS-S, β = − 0.546, 95%CI: − 6.371–(− 3.444); P < 0.001), early diastole (LAS-E, β = − 0.636, 95%CI: − 9.532–(− 5.710); P < 0.001), and late diastole (LAS-A, β = − 0.450, 95%CI: 1.518–3.909; P < 0.001) in multiple linear regression.

Conclusions
The LA phasic function changed with left ventricular geometry via multimodal echocardiography. CH had the most notable negative effect on the maximum volume and phasic function of the LA.
LASSO type penalized spline regression for binary data
Authors: Mullah Muhammad Abu Shadeque , Hanley James A. , Benedetti Andrea 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundGeneralized linear mixed models (GLMMs), typically used for analyzing correlated data, can also be used for smoothing by considering the knot coefficients from a regression spline as random effects. The resulting models are called semiparametric mixed models (SPMMs). Allowing the random knot coefficients to follow a normal distribution with mean zero and a constant variance is equivalent to using a penalized spline with a ridge regression type penalty. We introduce the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) type penalty in the SPMM setting by considering the coefficients at the knots to follow a Laplace double exponential distribution with mean zero.MethodsWe adopt a Bayesian approach and use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm for model fitting. Through simulations, we compare the performance of curve fitting in a SPMM using a LASSO type penalty to that of using ridge penalty for binary data. We apply the proposed method to obtain smooth curves from data on the relationship between the amount of pack years of smoking and the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).ResultsThe LASSO penalty performs as well as ridge penalty for simple shapes of association and outperforms the ridge penalty when the shape of association is complex or linear.ConclusionWe demonstrated that LASSO penalty captured complex dose-response association better than the Ridge penalty in a SPMM.
Isolation of non-tuberculous mycobacteria among tuberculosis patients, a study from a tertiary care hospital in Lahore, Pakistan
Authors: Karamat Asifa , Ambreen Atiqa , Ishtiaq Aamira , Tahseen Sabira , Rahman Muhammad Aqeelur , Mustafa Tehmina 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background
There is scarce knowledge on the prevalence of diseases caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in Pakistan. In the absence of culture and identification, acid-fast bacilli (AFB) causing NTM disease are liable to be misinterpreted as tuberculosis (TB). Introduction of nucleic acid amplification testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) offers improved diagnostic accuracy, compared with smear microscopy, and also assists in differentiating MTBC from other mycobacteria. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of NTM among patients investigated for TB and describe NTM disease and treatment outcomes at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.

Methods
This is a retrospective study, data on NTM isolates among culture-positive clinical samples over 4 years (2016–19) was retrieved from laboratory records. Information on clinical specimens processed, AFB smear results, and for the AFB positive isolates, results of species identification for MTBC, and for NTM isolates, results of species characterization and drug susceptibility testing was collected. Additional clinical data including patient characteristics, treatment regimens, and outcomes were collected for patients with NTM disease treated at Gulab Devi Hospital, Lahore.

Results
During the study period, 12,561 clinical specimens were processed for mycobacterial culture and 3673 (29%) were reported positive for AFB. Among these 3482 (95%) were identified as MTBC and 191 (5%) as NTM. Among NTM, 169 (88%) were isolated from pulmonary and 22 (12%) from extrapulmonary specimens. Results of NTM speciation were available for 60 isolates and included 55% (n = 33) M. avium complex and 25% (n = 15) M. abscesses. Among these patients, complete clinical records were retrieved for 12 patients with pulmonary disease including nine infected with M. avium complex and three with M. abscessus. All 12 patients had a history of poor response to standard first-line anti-TB treatment. Ten patients were cured after 18 months of treatment, whereas, one with M. abscessus infection died and another was lost to follow up.

Conclusion
In TB endemic areas, NTM can be misdiagnosed as pulmonary TB leading to repeated failed anti-TB treatment and increased morbidity, emphasizing the need for improved diagnosis.
Comparison of 5-year outcomes between trabeculectomy combined with phacoemulsification and trabeculectomy followed by phacoemulsification: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Arimura Shogo , Iwasaki Kentaro , Orii Yusuke , Takamura Yoshihiro , Inatani Masaru 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background
We aimed to compare the outcomes of trabeculectomy combined with phacoemulsification and those of trabeculectomy followed by phacoemulsification.

Methods
A total of 141 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, exfoliation glaucoma, and glaucoma secondary to uveitis glaucoma who underwent trabeculectomy followed by (n = 48) or combined with (n = 93) phacoemulsification were included. We analyzed data collected from the Collaborative Bleb-Related Infection Incidence and Treatment Study, a prospective cohort study conducted in 34 clinical centers that included 1249 eyes. The main outcome was the cumulative probability of success based on intraocular pressure (IOP) within 5 years. Surgical failure was defined as a case in which additional glaucoma surgery is required or one of the following criteria are met: preoperative IOP > 21 (A), > 18 (B), or > 15 mmHg (C). The secondary outcomes were cumulative probability of success, risk factors of surgical failure, and Δ visual acuity. However, the data on phacoemulsification during the 5-year follow-up were censored.

Results
No significant difference was found in the cumulative probability of success as the main outcome. When the data on phacoemulsification during the 5-year follow-up were censored, the probabilities of success of trabeculectomy followed by phacoemulsification were significantly higher for criteria A (p = 0.02), B (p <  0.01), and C (p <  0.01). Lower preoperative IOP, younger age, and trabeculectomy combined with phacoemulsification were associated with poorer outcome. Trabeculectomy followed by phacoemulsification had significantly worse Δ logMAR visual acuity at 6 and 12 months (p <  0.01).

Conclusion
The cumulative probability of success after trabeculectomy combined with or followed by phacoemulsification remained unchanged. Combining phacoemulsification with trabeculectomy adversely affected the cumulative probability of success after trabeculectomy. The visual acuity improvements observed in the early postoperative period after combining phacoemulsification with trabeculectomy disappeared within 5 years.
A longitudinal and geospatial analysis of COVID-19 tweets during the early outbreak period in the United States
Authors: Cuomo Raphael E. , Purushothaman Vidya , Li Jiawei , Cai Mingxiang , Mackey Tim K. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractIntroductionEarly reports of COVID-19 cases and deaths may not accurately convey community-level concern about the pandemic during early stages, particularly in the United States where testing capacity was initially limited. Social media interaction may elucidate public reaction and communication dynamics about COVID-19 in this critical period, during which communities may have formulated initial conceptions about the perceived severity of the pandemic.MethodsTweets were collected from the Twitter public API stream filtered for keywords related to COVID-19. Using a pre-existing training set, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used to obtain a larger set of geocoded tweets with characteristics of user self-reporting COVID-19 symptoms, concerns, and experiences. We then assessed the longitudinal relationship between identified tweets and the number of officially reported COVID-19 cases using linear and exponential regression at the U.S. county level. Changes in tweets that included geospatial clustering were also assessed for the top five most populous U.S. cities.ResultsFrom an initial dataset of 60 million tweets, we analyzed 459,937 tweets that contained COVID-19-related keywords that were also geolocated to U.S. counties. We observed an increasing number of tweets throughout the study period, although there was variation between city centers and residential areas. Tweets identified as COVID-19 symptoms or concerns appeared to be more predictive of active COVID-19 cases as temporal distance increased.ConclusionResults from this study suggest that social media communication dynamics during the early stages of a global pandemic may exhibit a number of geospatial-specific variations among different communities and that targeted pandemic communication is warranted. User engagement on COVID-19 topics may also be predictive of future confirmed case counts, though further studies to validate these findings are needed.
Nutritional status of children and adolescents in three Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija
Authors: Fabiano Valentina , Barcellini Lucia , Sartorio Marco Ugo Andrea , Pendezza Erica , Leone Alessandro , Meneghin Fabio , Dilillo Dario , Zuccotti Gian Vincenzo 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Objective
To evaluate nutritional status of children and adolescents living in three Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija.

Methods
We conducted an observational cross-sectional, population-based study, enrolling children and adolescents who underwent a pediatric screening performed in the three Serbian enclaves of Gračanica, Gornje Kusce and Velika Hoča in Kosovo and Metohija. Children and adolescents (5–19 years) of all ethnic groups were evaluated in one of the three free outpatient medical facilities in rural villages in Kosovo. Body weight and height were measured, height-for-age z- scores (HAZ) and BMI-for-age z-scores (BAZ) indicators were analyzed. The anthropometric indicators HAZ and BAZ distributions were compared between sex and ages using Fisher’s exact test. A two-sample Z-test for proportions was used to detect differences in individual categories of height- and BMI-for-age categories across sexes and age classes.

Results
Three hundred twenty-eight children and adolescents (184 females, 56.1% and 144 males, 43.9%) aged between 5 and 19 years were enrolled in the study. 241/328 participants showed a normal linear growth; with significantly more girls (78.3%) than boys (67.4%) being in the normal category. Similarly, a significant difference in BAZ distribution between sexes was noted, with more females being in the normal BMI category compared to males (63.0% vs 50.0%, respectively). Underweight and severe underweight subjects showed a prevalence of 1.5 and 0.6%, respectively. Overweight and obesity prevalence was 19.5 and 9.1%, respectively, which was comparable to World Health Organization overweight and obesity prevalence data for Serbia.

Conclusions
Prevalence of undernutrition and severe undernutrition in children and adolescents living in three Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija is small. By contrast, a tendency to an increase in overweight and obesity, especially in the male population, was noted.
Survival rate in patients with ICU-acquired infections and its related factors in Iran’s hospitals
Authors: Etemad MEDSKorosh , Khani Yousef , Hashemi-Nazari Seyed-Saeed , Izadi Neda , Eshrati Babak , Mehrabi Yadollah 
Published: April 2021

Abstract
Background
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a well-known cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. This study aimed at investigating the survival rate in patients with ICU-acquired infections (ICU-AIs) and its related factors in Iran’s hospitals.

Methods
Data were obtained from the Iranian Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (INIS), which registers all necessary information on the main types of infection from different units of each included hospital. One thousand one hundred thirty-four duplicate cases were removed from the analysis using the variables of name, father’s name, age, hospital code, infection code, and bedridden date. From 2016 to 2019, 32,998 patients diagnosed with ICU-AI from about 547 hospitals. All patients were followed up to February 29, 2020.

Results
The median age of patients with ICU-AIs was 61 (IQR = 46) years. 45.5, 20.69, 17.63, 12.08, and 4.09% of infections were observed in general, surgical, internal, neonatal and pediatric ICUs, respectively. Acinetobacter (16.52%), E.coli (12.01%), and Klebsiella (9.93%) were the major types of microorganisms. From total, 40.76% of infected patients (13,449 patients) died. The 1, 3, 6-months and overall survival rate was 70, 25.72, 8.21 1.48% in ICU-AI patients, respectively. The overall survival rate was 5.12, 1.34, 0.0, 51.65, and 31.08% for surgical, general, internal, neonatal and pediatric ICU, respectively. Hazard ratio shows a significant relationship between age, hospitalization-infection length, infection type, and microorganism and risk of death in patients with ICU-AI.

Conclusions
Based on the results, it seems that the nosocomial infections surveillance system should be more intelligent. This intelligence should act differently based on related factors such as the age of patients, hospitalization-infection length, infection type, microorganism and type of ward. In other words, this system should be able to dynamically provide the necessary and timely warnings based on the factors affecting the survival rate of infection due to the identification, intervention and measures to prevent the spread of HAIs based on a risk severity system.