bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Analysis of CcGASA family members in Citrus clementina (Hort. ex Tan.) by a genome-wide approach
Authors: Wu Tianli , Zhong Yun , Chen Min , Wu Bo , Wang Ting , Jiang Bo , Zhong Guangyan 
Published: December 2021

AbstractThe Gibberellic Acid Stimulated Arabidopsis (GASA) proteins were investigated in the study to help understand their possible roles in fruit trees, particularly inCitrus. A total of 18 CcGASA proteins were identified and characterized inCitrus clementinavia a genome-wide approach. It was shown that the CcGASA proteins structurally shared a conserved GASA domain but varied considerably in primary sequences and motif compositions. Thus, they could be classified into three major phylogenetic groups, G1~G3, and two groups, G1 and G3 could be further classified into subgroups. The cis- elements on allCcGASApromoters were identified and categorized, and the associated transcription factors were predicted. In addition, the possible interactions between the CcGASA proteins and other proteins were predicted. All the clues suggested that these genes should be involved in defense against biotic and abiotic stresses and in growth and development. The notion was further supported by gene expression analysis that showed these genes were more or less responsive to the treatments of plant hormones (GA3, SA, ABA and IAA), and infections of citrus canker pathogenXanthomonas citri.It was noted that both the segmental and the tandem duplications had played a role in the expansion of theCcGASAgene family inCitrus.Our results showed that the members of theCcGASAgene family should have structurally and functionally diverged to different degrees, and hence, the representative group members should be individually investigated to dissect their specific roles.
Type of anesthesia and quality of recovery in male patients undergoing lumbar surgery: a randomized trial comparing propofol-remifentanil total i.v. anesthesia with sevoflurane anesthesia
Authors: Meng Wenjun , Yang Chengwei , Wei Xin , Wang Sheng , Kang Fang , Huang Xiang , Li Juan 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
Previous studies have shown that women achieve a better quality of postoperative recovery from total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) than from inhalation anesthesia, but the effect of anesthesia type on recovery in male patients is unclear. This study therefore compared patient recovery between males undergoing lumbar surgery who received TIVA and those who received sevoflurane anesthesia.

Methods
Eighty male patients undergoing elective one- or two-level primary transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) were randomly divided into two groups: the TIVA group (maintenance was achieved with propofol and remifentanil) or sevoflurane group (SEVO group: maintenance was achieved with sevoflurane and remifentanil). The quality of recovery-40 questionnaire (QoR-40) was administered before surgery and on postoperative days 1 and 2 (POD1 and POD2). Pain scores, postoperative nausea and vomiting, postoperative hospital stay, anesthesia consumption, and adverse effects were recorded.

Results
The QoR-40 scores were similar on the three points (Preoperative, POD1 and POD2). Pain scores were significantly lower in the SEVO group than in the TIVA group on POD1 (30.6 vs 31.4; P = 0.01) and POD2 (32 vs 33; P = 0.002). There was no significant difference in the postoperative hospital stay or complications in the postanesthesia care unit between the TIVA group and the SEVO group.

Conclusions
This study demonstrates that the quality of recovery is not significantly different between male TLIF surgery patients who receive TIVA and those who receive sevoflurane anesthesia. Patients in the TIVA group had better postoperative analgesic effect on POD2.

Trial registration
This was registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn (registration number ChiCTR-IOR-16007987, registration date: 24/02/2016).
The optimal WC cut-off points for the prediction of subclinical CVD as measured by carotid intima-media thickness among African adults: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Ringane M. C. , Choma S. S. R. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
Increased waist circumference (WC) is one of the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors used to predict cardiovascular events. Waist circumference cut-off values for predicting metabolic syndrome and other cardiovascular risks have been previously studied. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is one of the cardiovascular risk factor recently described and reported to be suitable as it is a direct measurement of vascular quality. Hence the aim of the present study was to determine the optimal WC cut-off point for the prediction of subclinical CVD.

Methods
The study was a cross-sectional study using quantitative methods, conducted among 1318 adults aged between 40 and 60 years old, residing in a rural Black population in Limpopo province. Carotid Intima-Media Thickness measurements were performed using a LOGIQ ultrasound system (GE Healthcare, CT, USA). Waist Circumference (WC) (cm) was measured to the nearest 0.1 cm. Bivariate correlation, logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic were analysed using the statistical package for social sciences version 26.0 software.

Results
Among the total population, 69% were women and 31% men with a mean age of 53 ± 7 years. Among women, WC at a cut-off value of 95 cm gave the highest sensitivity of 57%, the specificity of 55% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.588. In men, an optimum WC cut-off point of 82 cm yielded the highest sensitivity and specificity at 72% and 70% respectively, with an AUC of 0.767 p < 0.001.

Conclusion
The traditional waist circumference cut-off points (94 cm for women and 80 cm for men) that are currently used for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome might not be suitable in the prediction of an increased CIMT.
New adaptive lasso approaches for variable selection in automated pharmacovigilance signal detection
Authors: Courtois Émeline , Tubert-Bitter Pascale , Ahmed Ismaïl 
Published: December 2021

AbstractBackgroundAdverse effects of drugs are often identified after market introduction. Post-marketing pharmacovigilance aims to detect them as early as possible and relies on spontaneous reporting systems collecting suspicious cases. Signal detection tools have been developed to mine these large databases and counts of reports are analysed with disproportionality methods. To address disproportionality method biases, recent methods apply to individual observations taking into account all exposures for the same patient. In particular, the logistic lasso provides an efficient variable selection framework, yet the choice of the regularization parameter is a challenging issue and the lasso variable selection may give inconsistent results.MethodsWe propose a new signal detection methodology based on the adaptive lasso. We derived two new adaptive weights from (i) a lasso regression using the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), and (ii) the class-imbalanced subsampling lasso (CISL), an extension of stability selection. The BIC is used in the adaptive lasso stage for variable selection. We performed an extensive simulation study and an application to real data, where we compared our methods to the existing adaptive lasso, and recent detection approaches based on lasso regression or propensity scores in high dimension. For both studies, we evaluate the methods in terms of false discoveries and sensitivity.ResultsIn the simulations and the application, both proposed adaptive weights show equivalent or better performances than the other competitors, with an advantage for the CISL-based adaptive weights. CISL and lasso regression using BIC are solid alternatives.ConclusionOur proposed adaptive lasso is an appealing methodology for signal detection in pharmacovigilance. Although we cannot rely on test theory, our approaches show a low and stable False Discovery Rate in all simulation settings. All methods evaluated in this work are implemented in the adapt4pv R package.
Ultrasound-guided supra-inguinal fascia Iliaca compartment block for older adults admitted to the emergency department with hip fracture: a randomized controlled, double-blind clinical trial
Authors: Chen Liang , Shen Yang , Liu Shuangmei , Cao Yanyan , Zhu Zhe 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
Hip fracture is common in older adults, and can cause severe post-fracture pain. Fascia iliaca nerve block has consequently been used for preoperative analgesia.

Methods
We performed a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial and recruited older patients with hip fractures. These patients were randomized into two groups and received ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca compartment block using either the supra-inguinal approach (group F) or the classical approach (group C). Heart rate, blood pressure, and resting and exercising visual analog scales were recorded before the procedure and at 30 min, and 6, 12, and 24 h after completion of the procedure. We recorded the duration of the procedure—as well as complications such as bleeding, hypotension, and intractable vomiting; the sleep duration in a 24 h period was also documented.

Results
A total of 38 patients completed the trial, and we observed no differences in the baseline characteristics or pre-procedural measurements between the two groups. Compared with the patients in group C, patients in group F exhibited significantly lower exercising VAS scores at 6 and 12 h after the procedure, faster heart rates at 6 and 24 h after the procedure, a longer procedural duration, and a longer sleep duration. There were no differences in the frequencies of complications between the two groups. The percentages of patients who took oral analgesics and the numbers of medications consumed were also not different between the two groups.

Conclusions
The supra-inguinal FICB provided effective analgesia and improved exercise tolerance compared with the classical approach.

Trial registration
The trial was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR2100045644, registration date: 2021 April 20).
Finnish late adolescents’ physical activity during COVID-19 spring 2020 lockdown
Authors: Ng Kwok , Koski Pasi , Lyyra Nelli , Palomaki Sanna , Mononen Kaisu , Blomqvist Minna , Vasankari Tommi , Kokko Sami 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
Physical activity (PA) is recognised as one of the leading and effective strategies to prevent non-communicable diseases that boosts the immune system to fight against diseases. Closures of schools, sport clubs and facilities because of COVID-19 reduced the opportunities to participate in PA. We aimed to examine physical activity levels of late adolescents, the contexts to be physical active and its changes during the spring 2020 lockdown.

Methods
A national representative sample of late adolescents in general upper secondary school (n = 2408, females = 64%, mean age = 17.2y, SD = 0.63) completed self-report online surveys on PA behaviours between March and June 2020. Multinominal logistic regression analyses were performed to identify correlates with PA, and decision tree analyses to ascertain the perceived changes on PA during lockdown based on sport club aspirations and levels of PA.

Results
Among the late adolescents, the distribution of PA frequency was 23% (0-2 days/week), 35% (3-4 days/week), 30% (5–6 days/week) and 12% (7 days/week), and differences between males and females were not statistically significant. Participation in both indoor and outdoor PA were 50 times more likely to report daily PA (OR = 54.28, CI = 15.16–194.37) than non-participation. A quarter of late adolescents were not part of a sports club, yet their PA levels increased. Although sports club members generally perceived they did less PA during lockdown, over a third of sport club members with competitive aspirations reported daily PA.

Conclusions
Overall, most late adolescents reported their PA levels decreased during lockdown. Findings from this study continue to demonstrate factors associated with PA in the context of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Hypha essential genes in Candida albicans pathogenesis of oral lichen planus: an in-vitro study
Authors: He Hong , Wang Ying , Fan Yan , Li Congcong , Han Jianxin 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
Hypha essential genes (HEGs) of Candida Albicans have been emerging into scholar’s attention, little known about their functions in oral lichen planus (OLP) with an uncovered etiology. This research aimed to observe necessary genes in biphasic C. albicans from OLP and study their relevance in pathogenesis, so as to evaluate possible roles of morphologic switching in etiology of OLP.

Methods
Samples were collected from OLP lesions of patients, mycelia were cultured and total RNA was extracted then subjected to reverse transcription-PCR and real-time PCR.

Results
HWP1 and HGC1 were significantly expressed in hyphae phase and weakly detected in yeast phase, while there was no significant difference of EFG1, ALS3, and ECE1 between in yeast and mycelia.

Conclusion
HGC1 and HWP1 were confirmed to be hypha essential genes, with HGC1 for hypha morphogenesis and HWP1 for adhesion invasion in pathogenesis of C. albicans in OLP. ALS3, ECE1 and EFG1 played minor roles in hyphae maintenance and adhesion for hyphae. These might be deemed as hints for the etiology of OLP and indicate HGC1 and HWP1 to be a priority of potential drug target.
Identification of nutritional risk in the acute care setting: progress towards a practice and evidence informed systems level approach
Authors: Chamberlain Diane , Doeltgen Sebastian , Knowles Reegan , Yaxley Alison , Miller Michelle 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
To improve nutritional assessment and care pathways in the acute care setting, it is important to understand the indicators that may predict nutritional risk. Informed by a review of systematic reviews, this project engaged stakeholders to prioritise and reach consensus on a list of evidence based and clinically contextualised indicators for identifying malnutrition risk in the acute care setting.

Methods
A modified Delphi approach was employed which consisted of four rounds of consultation with 54 stakeholders and 10 experts to reach consensus and refine a list of 57 risk indicators identified from a review of systematic reviews. Weighted mean and variance scores for each indicator were evaluated. Consistency was tested with intra class correlation coefficient. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the reliability of the indicators. The final list of indicators was subject to Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory principal component analysis.

Results
Fifteen indicators were considered to be the most important in identifying nutritional risk. These included difficulty self-feeding, polypharmacy, surgery and impaired gastro-intestinal function. There was 82% agreement for the final 15 indicators that they collectively would predict malnutrition risk in hospital inpatients.

Conclusion
The 15 indicators identified are supported by evidence and are clinically informed. This represents an opportunity for translation into a novel and automated systems level approach for identifying malnutrition risk in the acute care setting.
Dose-response association between device-measured physical activity and incident dementia: a prospective study from UK Biobank
Authors: Petermann-Rocha Fanny , Lyall Donald M. , Gray Stuart R. , Gill Jason M. R. , Sattar Naveed , Welsh Paul , Quinn Terence J. , Stewart William , Pell Jill P. , Ho Frederick K. , Celis-Morales Carlos 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
Previous cohort studies have investigated the relationship between self-reported physical activity (PA) and dementia. Evidence from objective device-measured PA data is lacking. This study aimed to explore the association of device-measured PA with the risk of dementia incidence and common subtypes (Alzheimer’s disease [AD] and vascular dementia) using the UK Biobank study.

Methods
84,854 participants (55.8% women), invited to participate in the device-measured PA between 2013 and 2015, were included in this prospective cohort study. Wrist accelerometers were used to measure light, moderate, vigorous, moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and total PA intensity and duration (MET/min/week). Incident dementia (fatal and non-fatal) was extracted from hospital episodes records for incidence and death register for mortality. Incidence follow-up was carried out until the end of March 2021in England and Scotland and the end of March 2018 in Wales. Mortality data were available until February 2021. Nonlinear associations were first investigated using penalised cubic splines fitted in the Cox proportional hazard models. In addition, using MVPA, five categories were created. Associations of these categories with the outcomes were investigated using Cox proportional hazard models. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle and health-related factors.

Results
After a median follow-up of 6.3 years, 678 individuals were diagnosed with dementia. Evidence of nonlinearity was observed for all PA modes and all-cause dementia. For categories of MVPA, there was a significant trend towards a low risk of overall dementia when higher levels of MVPA were achieved (HRtrend 0.66 [95% CI 0.62 to 0.70]. The lowest risk was identified in individuals who performed more than 1200 MET/min/week, those who had 84% (95% CI 0.12 to 0.21) lower risk of incident dementia compared to those who performed < 300 MET/min/week.

Conclusions
Participants with higher PA levels had a lower risk of incident dementia than those less active, independently of sociodemographic, lifestyle factors and comorbidity. Considering that the majority of previous studies have reported this association using self-reported data, our findings highlight the strong inverse association between PA objectively measured and incident dementia.
Localized alopecia and suppression of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in dogs following treatment with difluprednate 0.05% ophthalmic emulsion (Durezol®)
Authors: Quantz Katelin , Anderson Amanda L. , Harman Christine D. , Noland Erica L. , Del Valle Jacquelyn M. , Occelli Laurence M. , Burn Jessica B. , Petersen-Jones Simon M. , Langlois Daniel K. , Pirie Chris G. , Petersen Annette D. , Komáromy András M. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
Despite the common use of topical ophthalmic corticosteroids in dogs, detailed reports on systemic and dermatologic adverse effects are limited.

Results
Nine purpose-bred research Beagles were treated with difluprednate 0.05% ophthalmic emulsion in one or both eyes 2–3 times daily. Some difluprednate treated dogs developed mild to severe alopecia of the periocular region, face, and distal pinna (5/9). The median duration of treatment prior to onset of dermatologic signs for difluprednate treated dogs was 550 days (453–1160 days). Diagnostic testing included complete blood count (CBC) and serum biochemistry, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation testing combined with endogenous ACTH measurement, and skin biopsy. The CBC and chemistry were within normal limits for all dogs. There were varying degrees of suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis with difluprednate treatment. Dogs with the most profound alopecic changes had less pronounced HPA axis suppression compared to dogs with no integumentary changes. Skin biopsies demonstrated follicular atrophy and follicular keratosis. When topical difluprednate was reduced to unilateral therapy, the hair regrew on the untreated side of the face. In addition to the affected research dogs, a 7-year old female spayed Chihuahua that was being treated as a clinical patient with long-term difluprednate 0.05% ophthalmic emulsion developed generalized hypotrichosis on the head and body and a potbellied appearance. ACTH stimulation testing revealed suppression of the HPA axis with a mild increase in serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and a urine specific gravity of 1.016. The combination of clinical signs and laboratory abnormalities was supportive of iatrogenic hyperadrenocorticism.

Conclusions
In dogs long-term use of difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion results in HPA axis suppression and in some cases iatrogenic hyperadrenocorticism. A novel pattern of localized alopecia is suspected to be related to dermal absorption and local action due to superior potency and penetration compared to other commonly utilized ophthalmic corticosteroids.
A nuanced role of the small loop of hepatitis B virus small envelope protein in virion morphogenesis and secretion
Authors: Chang Chih-Hsu , Chou Shu-Fan , Shih Chiaho 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
The virion secretion mechanism of human hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains to be investigated. In our current study, we characterized a reverse transcriptase mutant, which changed from the YMDD motif to YMHA. We noted that this mutant YMHA secreted no virions in the medium. Because of the overlapping open reading frame (ORF) between the polymerase and the envelope genes, the lack of virion secretion is likely due to corresponding concurrent mutations in a small loop of the envelope protein (HBsAg, HBV surface antigen). In literature, small loop mutations are thought to affect virion secretion of hepatitis delta virus (HDV), but not HBV.

Methods
Here, we revisited the relationship between the small loop and virion secretion by site-directed mutagenesis and native agarose gel electrophoresis.

Results
A proline substitution at residue 196 or 198 in the small loop blocked both HBV genome-containing and genome-free virion secretion, but not the secretion of 22-nm HBsAg subviral particles. Surprisingly, a leucine substitution at residue 196 enhanced genome-containing virion secretion. It is also intriguing that a proline-197, sandwiched by residue 196 and 198, exhibited no apparent defect in secreted virions, with or without containing an HBV genome. By complementation assay, we demonstrated that the wild type small envelope protein alone is sufficient to rescue the virion secretion defect of a small loop mutant M198P.

Conclusions
The effect of the small loop mutation of HBV small envelope protein on virion secretion is position-dependent. It warrants further investigation how the small loop of HBsAg plays a subtle role in HBV morphogenesis and secretion of virions with or without containing an HBV genome.