bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The microbiological and physical properties of catheters for intermittent catheterization: A systematic review on the impact of reuse and cleaning methods
Authors: Grasdal Mark , Walter Matthias , Krassioukov Andrei V. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThis systematic review provides an up to date and comprehensive summary of the clinical evidence of the effectiveness of various cleaning methods of intermittent catheterization that have been proposed to prepare catheters for reuse. This systematic review is registered at PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42020176065). A key word search of Medline (OVID), Excerpta Medica dataBASE (EMBASE, OVID), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), in addition to manual searches of retrieved articles, was undertaken to identify all English, Russian and German language literature evaluating the effectiveness of various cleaning methods of intermittent catheterization. Studies selected for review included analytical experimental, prospective cohort, cross-sectional and case series study designs. Prospective cleaning methods analyzed included heat-based sterilization, chemical cleaning solutions, mechanical abrasion, photocatalytic sterilization, and combined methods. Studies that failed to assess the bacterial colonization or physical properties of catheters following cleaning were excluded. In total, 12 studies (i.e. 9 analytical experimental, 1 cohort study, 1 cross-sectional and 1 case series) were included. Two cleaning methods were identified as likely being most promising: five-minute submersion in 70% alcohol and the “Milton method”. Each eliminated bacterial colonization without affecting the physical properties of the catheters. All other cleaning methods were either non-bactericidal or caused gross visual or microscopic damage to the catheters, rendering their reuse unsafe. Additional higher-powered studies confirming the safety and efficacy of these cleaning methods must be obtained before we would feel comfortable challenging current clinical recommendations.
Oxymatrine Induces Autophagy and Apoptosis in Human Poorly Differentiated Gastric Adenocarcinoma Cells via Slit2/Robo1 Signals
Authors: He Mao-Tao , Zhang Ting , Hei Jing-ya , Ma Li-qiong 
Published: May 2021

AbstractOxymatrine (OMT), is a natural quinoxaline alkaloid from the traditional Chinese medicine herb and has been shown to exhibit anticancer properties on various types of cancer cells. Poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma is a common malignancy of gastric cancer that is more aggressive and has a poor prognosis. In the present study, we investigate the effects of Slit2/Robo1 signals in poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma and adjacent tissues, and the anticancer properties of OMT on human poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma BGC-823 cells and evaluate their underlying mechanisms. The expression levels of Slit2 and Robo1 proteins were measured in 20 pairs of human poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma tissues and adjacent normal tissues using western blot. The expression of apoptosis related proteins and autophagy-related proteins was detected by western blot. The cells viability was detected by CCK-8 assay. The migration of BGC-823 cells was detected by transwell experiments. The expression of related proteins was detected by western blot. The result shows that Slit2 and Robo1 are significantly increased in poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma. The apoptosis and autophagy are inhibited in poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma. OMT inhibits the growth and migration of BGC-823 cells in vitro. OMT inhibits the activation of Slit2/Robo1 signals and induces apoptosis and autophagy in BGC-823 cells. These findings suggest that the antitumor effects of OMT may be the result of inhibition of cell growth and migration, and inhibits the activation of Slit2/Robo1 signals pathway and induces apoptosis and autophagy. OMT may represent a novel anticancer therapy for the treatment of poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma.
Cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in low- and middle-income countries
Authors: Siedner Mark J. , Alba Christopher , Fitzmaurice Kieran P. , Gilbert Rebecca F. , Scott Justine A. , Shebl Fatma M. , Ciaranello Andrea , Reddy Krishna P. , Freedberg Kenneth A. 
Published: May 2021

SummaryDespite the advent of safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccines1–4, pervasive inequities in global distribution persist5. In response, multinational partners have proposed programs to allocate vaccines to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)6. Yet, there remains a substantial funding gap for such programs7. Further, the optimal vaccine supply is unknown and the cost-effectiveness of investments into global vaccination programs has not been described. We used a validated COVID-19 simulation model8 to project the health benefits and costs of reaching 20%-70% vaccine coverage in 91 LMICs. We show that funding 20% vaccine coverage over one year among 91 LMICs would prevent 294 million infections and 2 million deaths, with 26 million years of life saved at a cost of US$6.4 billion, for an incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) of US$250/year of life saved (YLS). Increasing vaccine coverage up to 50% would prevent millions more infections and save hundreds of thousands of additional lives, with ICERs below US$8,000/YLS. Results were robust to variations in vaccine efficacy and hesitancy, but were more sensitive to assumptions about epidemic pace and vaccination costs. These results support efforts to fund vaccination programs in LMICs and complement arguments about health equity9, economic benefits10, and pandemic control11.
The Impact of Past Pandemics on Economic and Gender Inequalities
Authors: Brzezinski Michal 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThis paper estimates how previous major pandemic events affected economic and gender inequalities in the short- to medium run. We consider the impact of six major pandemic episodes – H3N2 Flu (1968), SARS (2003), H1N1 Swine Flu (2009), MERS (2012), Ebola (2014), and Zika (2016) – on cross-country inequalities in a sample of up to 180 countries observed over 1950-2019. Results show that the past pandemics have moderately increased income inequality in the affected countries in the period of four to five years after the pandemic’s start. On the other hand, we do not find any robust negative impacts on wealth inequality. The results concerning gender inequality are less consistent, but we find some evidence of declining gender equality among the hardest hit countries, as well as of growing gender gaps in unemployment within the four years after the onset of the pandemic.
Pre-pandemic SARS-CoV-2 potential natural immunity among population of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Souris Marc , Tshilolo Léon , Parzy Daniel , Kamgaing Rachel , Mbongi Destin , Phoba Baltazar , Tshilolo Marie-Anasthasie , Mbungu René , Morand Pierre , Gonzalez Jean-Paul 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACTMore than a year after the emergence of COVID-19, significant regional differences in terms of morbidity persist, showing lower incidence rates in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Like SARS-CoV-1 and MERS viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is monophyletically positioned with parental species of chiropteran coronavirus. Furthermore, we observe that the spatial distribution of several targeted bat species (i.e., Coronavirus species hosts) overlaps the distribution of countries with low COVID-19 incidence.The work presented here aims to test the presence of natural immunity among population with a low COVD-19 prevalence, potentially due to a previous exposure to coronavirus antigens of a virus close related to SARS-CoV-2. To identify such pre-existing immunity, an ELISA serological test was used to detect IgG antibodies targeting main SARS-CoV-2 proteins including: the N-protein, the Spike 1 (S1) protein, the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the S1 protein, the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the S1 protein, and the S2 protein.A total of 574 sera samples collected before 2019 in the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were tested). 189 control sera from blood donors in France were used as control samples.The results showed a statistically significant difference between the DRC samples and control samples for all antigens (N, S1, S2, NTD) except for RBD. The percentage of positive samples presenting reactive antibodies for S1 antigen was respectively of 19.2% for RDC versus 2.11% for the control, and of 9.3% versus 1.6% for the S2 antigen.In conclusion, our data showed that the study population has been potentially exposed to a SARS-CoV-2-like virus antigen before the pandemic in the Central African sub-region. Therefore, it is quite legitimate to think that this prior immunity may be protective and responsible for the observed low prevalence of COVID-19. Moreover, we can assume that this not yet identified SARS-CoV-2-like could be associated to a chiropteran species in close contact with the studied population. In order to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2-like virus antibodies and ultimately identify the neutralizing potential for the detected antibodies, our study is underway in other African and Asian countries, where the COVID-19 prevalence is limited.
Investigating the causal relationship between allergic disease and mental health
Authors: Budu-Aggrey Ashley , Joyce Sally , Davies Neil M , Paternoster Lavinia , Munafò Marcus R. , Brown Sara J , Evans Jonathan , Sallis Hannah M. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractBackgroundObservational studies have reported an association between allergic disease and mental health, but a causal relationship has not been established.ObjectiveTo use Mendelian Randomization (MR) to investigate a possible causal relationship between atopic disease and mental health phenotypes.MethodsThe observational relationship between allergic disease and mental health was investigated in UK Biobank. The direction of causality was investigated with bidirectional two-sample MR using summary-level data from published genome-wide association studies. A genetic instrument was derived from associated variants for a broad allergic disease phenotype to test for causal relationships with various mental health outcomes. Genetic instruments were also derived for mental health conditions to assess causality in the reverse direction. We also investigated if these relationships were specific to atopic dermatitis (AD), asthma or hay fever.ResultsThe broad allergic disease phenotype was phenotypically associated with most measures of mental health, but we found little evidence of causality in either direction. However, we did find evidence of genetic liability for bipolar disorder causally influencing hay fever risk (OR=0.94 per doubling odds of bipolar disorder risk; 95%CI=0.90-0.99;P-value=0.02), but evidence of a phenotypic association was weak.ConclusionsFew of the phenotypic associations between allergic disease and mental health were replicated. Any causal effects we detected were considerably attenuated compared to the phenotypic association. This suggests that most co-morbidity observed clinically is unlikely to be causal.Clinical ImplicationWe found little evidence that genetic predisposition to allergic diseasecausesmental ill-health, andvice versa, which suggests that intervening to prevent onset of allergic disease is unlikely to directly prevent the onset of mental ill-health.Key MessagesMendelian randomization effect estimates suggest that the phenotypic association between allergic disease and mental health is likely to be inflatedCausal analysis was unable to corroborate the phenotypic associations observed between allergic disease and mental health phenotypesIntervening on an individual’s allergic disease is not likely to directly improve their mental healthCapsule summaryMendelian Randomization suggests that evidence of a causal relationship between allergic disease and mental health phenotypes is weak. It is unlikely that intervening to prevent onset of allergic disease will prevent poor mental health.
Aspirin and NSAID use and the risk of COVID-19
Authors: Drew David A. , Guo Chuan-Guo , Lee Karla A. , Nguyen Long H. , Joshi Amit D. , Lo Chun-Han , Ma Wenjie , Mehta Raaj S. , Kwon Sohee , Astley Christina M. , Song Mingyang , Davies Richard , Capdevila Joan , Lochlainn Mary Ni , Sudre Carole H. , Graham Mark S. , Varsavsky Thomas , Gomez Maria F. , Kennedy Beatrice , Fitipaldi Hugo , Wolf Jonathan , Spector Tim D. , Ourselin Sebastien , Steves Claire J. , Chan Andrew T. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractEarly reports raised concern that use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may increase risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19). Users of the COVID Symptom Study smartphone application reported use of aspirin and other NSAIDs between March 24 and May 8, 2020. Users were queried daily about symptoms, COVID-19 testing, and healthcare seeking behavior. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine the risk of COVID-19 among according to aspirin or non-aspirin NSAID users. Among 2,736,091 individuals in the U.S., U.K., and Sweden, we documented 8,966 incident reports of a positive COVID-19 test over 60,817,043 person-days of follow-up. Compared to non-users and after stratifying by age, sex, country, day of study entry, and race/ethnicity, non-aspirin NSAID use was associated with a modest risk for testing COVID-19 positive (HR 1.23 [1.09, 1.32]), but no significant association was observed among aspirin users (HR 1.13 [0.92, 1.38]). After adjustment for lifestyle factors, comorbidities and baseline symptoms, any NSAID use was not associated with risk (HR 1.02 [0.94, 1.10]). Results were similar for those seeking healthcare for COVID-19 and were not substantially different according to lifestyle and sociodemographic factors or after accounting for propensity to receive testing. Our results do not support an association of NSAID use, including aspirin, with COVID-19 infection. Previous reports of a potential association may be due to higher rates of comorbidities or use of NSAIDs to treat symptoms associated with COVID-19.One Sentence SummaryNSAID use is not associated with COVID-19 risk.
Opioids, Needle Exchange, and Barriers to Care in the Rural Context: Interviews with Law Enforcement and Emergency Medical Personnel
Authors: Lawton Ralph , Leland John , Leland William 
Published: May 2021

AbstractBackgroundThe large increase in opioid use, subsequent addiction and related death has come to be known as a national epidemic in the United States, particularly affecting rural areas. The crisis has been met with an increase in attempts to address the large overdose rates. In many of these strategies, first responders such as police and emergency services personnel are placed on the front lines. The input and opinions of these individuals, and the communication with them from agency leadership during program implementation can dramatically affect the success of drug related policies. However, there is a paucity of research focused on the attitudes of primary responders, particularly in rural settings. This study conducts a geographically-focused investigation into the attitudes of rural EMS and law enforcement personnel in regards to opioid treatment in a location that was currently implementing a major substance use policy.MethodsQualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 members of law enforcement and 22 emergency medical providers within a single rural county in North Carolina. Interviews spanned three sections: demographics, barriers to opioid treatment and county-specific programs.ResultsThe largest barriers to care cited were lack of local treatment resources, the stigma against drug use and a perception that people who use opioids did not want to change. A multi-agency approach to the crisis was supported by EMS personnel and law enforcement. However, first responders’ awareness of an active multiagency county-wide initiative was very limited. This was very surprising, as first responders were expected to implement the program, and this phenomena resulted in very low program efficacy to that point. This result underscored the importance of communication between and within agencies, particularly in environments that are resource-constrained.ConclusionsThis study is unique in comparing attitudes of rural EMS and law enforcement regarding substance use treatment. This paper provides insight into the viewpoints of rural first responders, with clear implications for rural drug policy. This paper further underscores opportunities for maximizing effective opioid policy in rural settings, particularly emphasizing clear communication between agencies.
Serum Neurofilament Light is Elevated in COVID-19 Positive Adults in the ICU and is Associated with Co-Morbid Cardiovascular Disease, Neurological Complications, and Acuity of Illness
Authors: Hay Meredith , Ryan Lee , Huentelman Matthew , Konhilas John , Hoyer-Kimura Christina , Beach Thomas G. , Serrano Geidy E. , Reiman Eric M. , Blennow Kaj , Henrik Zetterberg , Parthasarathy Sairam 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIn critically ill COVID-19 patients, the risk of long-term neurological consequences is just beginning to be appreciated. While recent studies have identified that there is an increase in structural injury to the nervous system in critically ill COVID-19 patients, there is little known about the relationship of COVID-19 neurological damage to the systemic inflammatory diseases also observed in COVID-19 patients. The purpose of this pilot observational study was to examine the relationships between serum neurofilament light protein (NfL, a measure of neuronal injury) and co-morbid cardiovascular disease (CVD) and neurological complications in COVID-19 positive patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). In this observational study of one-hundred patients who were admitted to the ICU in Tucson, Arizona between April and August 2020, 89 were positive for COVID-19 (COVID-pos) and 11 were COVID-negative (COVID-neg). A healthy control group (n=8) was examined for comparison. The primary outcomes and measures were subject demographics, serum NfL, presence and extent of CVD, diabetes, sequential organ failure assessment score (SOFA), presence of neurological complications, and blood chemistry panel data. COVID-pos patients in the ICU had significantly higher mean levels of Nfl (229.6±163 pg/ml) compared to COVID-neg ICU patients (19.3±5.6 pg/ml), Welch’s t-test, p =.01 and healthy controls (12.3±3.1 pg/ml), Welch’s t-test p =.005. Levels of Nfl in COVID-pos ICU patients were significantly higher in patients with concomitant CVD and diabetes (n=35, log Nfl 1.6±.09), and correlated with higher SOFA scores (r=.5, p =.001). These findings suggest that in severe COVID-19 disease, the central neuronal and axonal damage in these patients may be driven, in part, by the level of systemic cardiovascular disease and peripheral inflammation. Understanding the contributions of systemic inflammatory disease to central neurological degeneration in these COVID-19 survivors will be important to the design of interventional therapies to prevent long-term neurological and cognitive dysfunction.
Top-down inhibition of irrelevant information indexed by alpha rhythms is disrupted in migraine
Authors: Masson Rémy , ElShafei Hesham A. , Demarquay Geneviève , Fornoni Lesly , Lévêque Yohana , Caclin Anne , Bidet-Caulet Aurélie 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThere is growing evidence that migraine is associated with attentional abnormalities, both during and outside migraine attacks, which would impact the cognitive processing of sensory stimulation. However, these attention alterations are poorly characterized and their neurophysiological basis is still unclear. Nineteen migraineurs without aura and nineteen healthy participants were recruited to perform a task which used visually-cued auditory targets and distracting sounds to evaluate conjointly top-down and bottom-up attention mechanisms. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals were recorded. We investigated anticipatory alpha activity (power increase and decrease) and distractor-induced gamma activity as markers for top-down (inhibition and facilitation) and bottom-up attention, respectively. Compared to healthy participants, migraineurs presented a significantly less prominent alpha power increase in visual areas in anticipation of the auditory target, indexing a reduced inhibition of task-irrelevant visual areas. However, there was no significant group difference regarding the alpha power decrease in the relevant auditory cortices in anticipation of the target, nor regarding the distractor-induced gamma power increase in the ventral attention network. These results in the alpha band suggest that top-down inhibitory processes in the visual cortices are deficient in migraine but there is no clear evidence supporting a disruption of top-down facilitatory attentional processes. This relative inability to suppress irrelevant sensory information may be underlying the self-reported increased distractibility and contribute to sensory disturbances in migraine.
Evidence for the utility of cfDNA plasma concentrations to predict disease severity in COVID-19
Authors: Hoeter Katharina , Neuberger Elmo , Fischer Susanne , Herbst Manuel , Juškevičiūtė Ema , Rossmann Heidi , Sprinzl Martin F. , Simon Perikles , Bodenstein Marc , Schäfer Michael K.E. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractCOVID-19 is a pandemic caused by the highly infective SARS-CoV-2. There is a need for biomarkers not only for overall prognosis but also for predicting the response to treatments and thus for improvements in the clinical management of patients with COVID-19. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has emerged as a promising biomarker in the assessment of various disease conditions. The aim of this retrospective and observational pilot study was to examine the potential value of cfDNA plasma concentrations as a correlative biomarker in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Lithium-Heparin plasma samples were obtained from twenty-one COVID-19 patients during hospitalization in the University Medical Center of Mainz, Germany, and the cfDNA concentrations were determined by quantitative PCR yielding amplicons of long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE-1). cfDNA plasma concentrations of COVID-19 patients ranged between 247.5 and 6346.25 ng/ml and the mean concentrations were 1831 ± 1388 ng/ml (± standard deviation). Correlations were found between cfDNA levels and the occurrence of acute respiratory distress symptom (ARDS), acute kidney injury (AKI), myositis, neurological complications, bacterial superinfection and disease severity as defined by sepsis-related organ failure assessment score (SOFA) score. D-Dimer and C-reactive-protein (CRP), determined by clinical laboratory analysis, showed the highest correlations with cfDNA levels. The results of this observational study suggest that cfDNA plasma concentrations may serve as a predictive biomarker of disease severity in COVID-19. Prospective studies enrolling larger patient cohorts are ongoing to test this hypothesis.