bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sex Differences in Ischemic Stroke Outcomes in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension
Authors: Pana Tiberiu A. , Dawson Dana K. , Mohamed Mohamed O. , Murray Fiona , Fischman David L. , Savage Michael P. , Mamas Mamas A. , Myint Phyo K. 
Published: March 2021

Background
The association between systemic hypertension and cerebrovascular disease is well documented. However, the impact of pulmonary hypertension (PH) on acute ischemic stroke outcomes is unknown despite PH being recognized as a risk factor for acute ischemic stroke. We aimed to determine the association between PH and adverse in‐hospital outcomes after acute ischemic stroke, as well as whether there are sex differences in this association.

Methods and Results

Acute ischemic stroke admissions from the US National Inpatient Sample between October 2015 and December 2017 were included. The relationship between PH and outcomes (mortality, prolonged hospitalization >4 days, and routine home discharge) was analyzed using logistic regressions adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and revascularization therapies. Interaction terms between PH and sex and age groups were also included. A total of 221 249 records representative of 1 106 045 admissions were included; 2.9% of patients had co‐morbid PH, and 35.34% of those were male. PH was not associated with in‐hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% CI, 0.86–1.09) but was associated with increased odds of prolonged hospitalization (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.09–1.22) and decreased odds of routine discharge (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.81–0.94) for both sexes. Older patients with PH were significantly less likely to be discharged routinely (
P
=0.028) than their younger counterparts. Compared with female patients with PH, men were 31% more likely to die in hospital (
P
=0.024).

Conclusions
PH was not significantly associated with in‐hospital mortality but was associated with prolonged hospitalization and adverse discharge status. Male patients with PH were more likely to die in hospital than female patients.
Meta‐Analysis of Stroke and Mortality Rates in Patients Undergoing Valve‐in‐Valve Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement
Authors: Macherey Sascha , Meertens Max , Mauri Victor , Frerker Christian , Adam Matti , Baldus Stephan , Schmidt Tobias 
Published: March 2021

Background
During the past decade, the use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) was extended beyond treatment‐naïve patients and implemented for treatment of degenerated surgical bioprosthetic valves. Selection criteria for either valve‐in‐valve (viv) TAVR or redo surgical aortic valve replacement are not well established, and decision making on the operative approach still remains challenging for the interdisciplinary heart team.

Methods and Results
This review was intended to analyze all studies on viv‐TAVR focusing on short‐ and mid‐term stroke and mortality rates compared with redo surgical aortic valve replacement or native TAVR procedures. A structured literature search and review process led to 1667 potentially relevant studies on July 1, 2020. Finally, 23 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria for qualitative analysis. All references were case series either with or without propensity score matching and registry analyses. Quantitative synthesis of data from 8509 patients revealed that viv‐TAVR is associated with mean 30‐day stroke and mortality rates of 2.2% and 4.2%, respectively. Pooled data analysis showed no significant differences in 30‐day stroke rate, 30‐day mortality, and 1‐year mortality between viv‐TAVR and comparator treatment (native TAVR [n=11 804 patients] or redo surgical aortic valve replacement [n=498 patients]).

Conclusions
This review is the first one comparing the risk for stroke and mortality rates in viv‐TAVR procedures with native TAVR approach and contributes substantial data for the clinical routine. Moreover, this systematic review is the most comprehensive analysis on ischemic cerebrovascular events and early mortality in patients undergoing viv‐TAVR. In this era with increasing numbers of bioprosthetic valves used in younger patients, viv‐TAVR is a suitable option for the treatment of degenerated bioprostheses.
First documented record of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 from the southwestern Mediterranean coasts
Authors: Hamida Chafia , Hichem Kara M. 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
A previous record of the alien crab Callinectes sapidus from the Algerian coasts was based on a photograph provided by a fisherman showing the dorsal side of a single individual. In this contribution, we confirm this presence in the mouth of the Mafragh Estuary in eastern Algeria, where four individuals of this species were found on 19 November 2019. The specimens examined are one female (60 mm CL, 125.9 g) and three males (60-66 mm CL, 120.4-176.8 g). This discovery confirms the presence of this species in the southwestern Mediterranean Basin where it could become invasive in suitable habitats.
A new and a known species of Taeniacanthus Sumpf, 1871 (Copepoda, Cyclopoida, Taeniacanthidae) parasitic on Japanese fishes
Authors: Izawa Kunihiko 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Taeniacanthus aulacocephali sp. nov. recovered from Aulacocephalus temminckii Bleeker, 1855 (Serranidae) is described and T. sebastichthydis Yamaguti, 1939 collected from Sebastiscus marmoratus (Cuvier, 1829) and Sebastes inermis Cuvier, 1829 (Sebastidae) is redescribed. The male, copepodid V male, both sexes of copepodid IV, and copepodid II of the latter species are herein described for the first time.
The Dynamics of Security Sector Reform in Liberia
Authors: Islam Mohammad Tarequl 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Security Sector Reform (ssr) is one of the key mechanisms of the UN norms of liberal peacebuilding. After the end of a 14-year-long civil war, ssr in Liberia has faced enormous challenges but opened a new space for peace and democracy for the people. Under the comprehensive supervision of the USA, two private military companies, DynCorp International and Pacific Architects and Engineers (pae), have played a pivotal role in army reform. Alternatively, unmil has been involved in police reform, which has not been considered successful enough. Furthermore, this study has observed that before ssr, disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (ddr) was not properly managed, which has had a pessimistic impact on ssr. The study has also found that the reformed army and police have been strongly criticised due to a lack of local ownership and citizen oversight, gender inequality, and poor democratic control. Nevertheless, beyond its limitations, the study shows that ssr has achieved a mixture of success in the current security, stability and peace in Liberia.
Analyzing the Diurnal Cycle by Bayesian Interpolation on a Sphere for Mapping GNSS Radio Occultation Data
Authors: Leroy Stephen S. , Ao Chi O. , Verkhoglyadova Olga P. , Oyola Mayra I. 
Published: March 2021

AbstractBayesian interpolation has previously been proposed as a strategy to construct maps of radio occultation (RO) data, but that proposition did not consider the diurnal dimension of RO data. In this work, the basis functions of Bayesian interpolation are extended into the domain of the diurnal cycle, thus enabling monthly mapping of radio occultation data in synoptic time and analysis of the atmospheric tides. The basis functions are spherical harmonics multiplied by sinusoids in the diurnal cycle up to arbitrary spherical harmonic degree and diurnal cycle harmonic. Bayesian interpolation requires a regularizer to impose smoothness on the fits it produces, thereby preventing the overfitting of data. In this work, a formulation for the regularizer is proposed and the most probable values of the parameters of the regularizer determined. Special care is required when obvious gaps in the sampling of the diurnal cycle are known to occur in order to prevent the false detection of statistically significant high-degree harmonics of the diurnal cycle in the atmosphere. Finally, this work probes the ability of Bayesian interpolation to generate a valid uncertainty analysis of the fit. The postfit residuals of Bayesian interpolation are dominated not by measurement noise but by unresolved variability in the atmosphere, which is statistically nonuniform across the globe, thus violating the central assumption of Bayesian interpolation. The problem is ameliorated by constructing maps of RO data using Bayesian interpolation that partially resolve the temporal variability of the atmosphere, constructing maps for approximately every 3 days of RO data.
Prediction of residual tumor and overall survival after first-line surgery in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma using preoperative magnetic resonance imaging findings
Authors: Bae Jae Seok , Kim Jung Hoon , Kang Hyo-Jin , Han Joon Koo 
Published: March 2021

Background Complete resection is the only potentially curative treatment in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) and is associated with a longer overall survival (OS) than incomplete resection of tumor. Hence, prediction of the resection status after surgery would help predict the prognosis of patients with PDA. Purpose To predict residual tumor (R) classification and OS in patients who underwent first-line surgery for PDA using preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Material and Methods In this study, 210 patients with PDA who underwent MRI and first-line surgery were randomly categorized into a test group (n=150) and a validation group (n=60). The R classification was divided into R0 (no residual tumor) and R1/R2 (microscopic/macroscopic residual tumor). Preoperative MRI findings associated with R classification and OS were assessed by using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models. In addition, the prediction models for the R classification and OS were validated using calibration plots and C statistics. Results On preoperative MRI, portal vein encasement (odds ratio 4.755) was an independent predictor for R1/R2 resection ( P=0.040). Tumor size measured on MRI (hazard ratio [HR] per centimeter 1.539) was a predictor of OS, along with pathologic N1 and N2 stage (HR 1.944 and 3.243, respectively), R1/R2 resection (HR 3.273), and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy (HR 0.250) ( P<0.050). Calibration plots demonstrated satisfactory predictive performance. Conclusion Preoperative MRI was valuable for predicting R1/R2 resection using portal vein encasement. Tumor size measured on MRI was useful for the prediction of OS after first-line surgery for PDA.
Anesthetic management of precise radiotherapy under apnea-like condition
Authors: Zhang Shilong , Zhao Bin , Chen Dongji , Qi Ying , Ma Youguo , Ma Juan , Xie Wenjuan , Guo Haiyan 
Published: March 2021

Objective To study the safety and feasibility of implementation of precise radiotherapy with inducement of an apnea-like condition. Methods Two patients with lung tumors underwent precise radiotherapy under an apnea-like condition. The apnea-like condition was induced 11 times between the two patients for tumor localization and treatment. The changes in the blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, heart rate, and end-tidal carbon dioxide during the apnea-like periods were observed, and the incidence of adverse reactions was recorded. Results The average apnea-like time was 6.2 minutes (range, 3–9 minutes), and the average radiotherapy time was 4.6 minutes (range, 1–7 minutes). The lowest blood oxygen saturation level was 97%, with a change of <1%. The heart rate and average arterial blood pressure increased during the apnea-like periods. Contact sores appeared on the patients’ posterior pharyngeal wall after the first apnea-like period; no other adverse events occurred. Conclusion Precise radiotherapy under an apnea-like condition is safe and feasible for patients with lung tumors.
Surgical treatment for insertional Achilles tendinopathy and retrocalcaneal bursitis: more than 1 year of follow-up
Authors: Zhang Changgui , Cao Jin , Yang Liu , Duan Xiaojun 
Published: March 2021

Objective To analyse the imaging changes in bone marrow oedema of the calcaneal prominence, retrocalcaneal bursa and degenerative Achilles tendon after the surgical treatment of insertional Achilles tendinopathy (IAT). Methods This retrospective study analysed patients with IAT and retrocalcaneal bursitis that were diagnosed based on their symptoms and radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. For patients that had received 3 months of conservative treatment but still presented with symptoms, arthroscopic debridement of the retrocalcaneal bursa and resection of calcaneal prominence were undertaken. Patients with degeneration of the Achilles tendon underwent debridement of Achilles tendon calcification with an open incision. The last follow-up included radiographic and MRI imaging, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain scores and American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS)-Ankle and Hindfoot scores. Results Thirty patients were included (mean ± SD follow-up, 3.1 ± 0.5 years). The VAS pain and AOFAS-Ankle and Hindfoot scores were significantly improved after surgery. MRI showed that bone marrow oedema of the calcaneal prominence and the retrocalcaneal bursa was significantly reduced compared with preoperative values. There was no significant change in the high signal area of the IAT. Conclusion Surgical treatment of IAT and retrocalcaneal bursitis effectively alleviated local pain and restored function.
Value of HMGB1 expression for assessing gastric cancer severity: a systematic meta-analysis
Authors: Zhou Chunxiang , Yang Qun 
Published: March 2021

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) expression levels in patients with gastric cancer. Methods Articles published from January 2000 to August 2022 were searched using PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct, Springer, Wiley and NIH to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of HMGB1 expression in gastric cancer. Results A total of 156 publications were selected, of which six studies, comprising 846 patients, met the criteria for inclusion in this study. Forest plots of clinicopathological characteristics indicated that HMGB1 expression was not associated with age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89–1.28), sex (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.81–1.00), TNM (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 0.82–2.37), N stage (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 0.97–2.07), or tumor differentiation (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.71–1.29), but was highly correlated with pT stage (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.17–2.07). Funnel plots showed no significant publication bias in the included studies in terms of age, sex, TNM, pT stage, N stage, or tumor differentiation. Conclusion HMGB1 expression was significantly correlated with tumor pT stage, but not with age, sex, TNM stage, tumor N stage, tumor differentiation, or lymphatic metastasis in patients with GC.
Bilirubin adsorption for the treatment of severe hyperbilirubinemia after cardiac surgery: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Chen Xiaolan , Li Lu , Bai Ming , Sun Shiren , Chen Xiangmei 
Published: March 2021

Objective: Severe hyperbilirubinemia after cardiac surgery increases in-hospital and 1-year mortality. Our present study aimed to analyze the safety and efficacy of bilirubin adsorption (BA) in patients with post-cardiac-surgery severe hyperbilirubinemia. Methods: We retrospectively included patients who underwent BA due to severe hyperbilirubinemia after cardiac surgery in our center between January 2015 and December 2018. The change of serum bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and 30-day and 1-year mortality were assessed as endpoints. Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to identify the risk factors of patient 30-day mortality. Result: A total of 25 patients with 44 BA treatments were included. One BA treatment reduced total bilirubin (TB) concentration from 431.65 ± 136.34 to 324.83 ± 129.44 µmol/L ( p < 0.001), with a reduction rate of 24.8%. No clinically relevant thrombosis of the extracorporeal circuit occurred during the BA treatment. The 30-day and 1-year mortality rates were 68% ( n = 18) and 84% ( n = 21), respectively. Multivariate analysis identified that TB level before BA treatment (odds ratio [OR] 1.010, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.000–1.019; p = 0.043) was an independent risk factor of 30-day mortality. Conclusions: BA treatment should be considered as an effective and safe method for the reduction of serum bilirubin in patients with post-cardiac-surgery severe hyperbilirubinemia. Patients with higher TB level before BA treatment had a relatively increased risk of 30-day mortality. Further studies are needed to evaluate the timing of BA for severe hyperbilirubinemia after cardiac surgery.
Impact of Surgery for Velopharyngeal Insufficiency on Eustachian Tube Function in Children: Pharyngeal Flap Versus Sphincter Pharyngoplasty
Authors: Fuller Colin , Brown Kesley , Speed Olivia , Gardner James , Thomason Ashlen , Dornhoffer John , Johnson Adam B , Hartzell Larry 
Published: March 2021

Objective: Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) is a common speech disorder in patients with a history of cleft palate (CP) or 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Pharyngeal flap (PF) and sphincter pharyngoplasty (SP) are 2 common surgeries to treat this disorder by decreasing unwanted nasal air emission and hypernasal resonance. Because Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) in patients with CP may be more frequent after surgery for VPI, we examined whether ETD was associated with either type of surgery. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Children’s hospital-based tertiary referral center. Patients: A total of 225 children with VPI who underwent primary PF (201) or SP (24) between 2006 and 2017. Outcome measures: We examined differences in risk of ETD according to both surgical groups and proxies for postoperative nasal obstruction. These proxies included postoperative resonance measures and development of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Results: Both surgical groups had similar preoperative measures, except the PF group had higher hypernasality by PSA. Postoperatively, the PF group demonstrated lower hypernasal resonance by nasometry and PSA. There were no differences between PF and SP groups with regard to ETD. Proxies for postoperative nasal obstruction also were not predictive of postoperative ETD. Degree of CP and younger age were found to be risk factors for ETD. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the effects of PF and SP on ETD in this study. Neither lower hypernasality nor incidence of OSA had any impact on ETD. Degree of CP and younger age were the only significant risk factors for ETD that this study identified.
Malaria parasite detection in thick blood smear microscopic images using modified YOLOV3 and YOLOV4 models
Authors: Abdurahman Fetulhak , Fante Kinde Anlay , Aliy Mohammed 
Published: March 2021

AbstractBackgroundManual microscopic examination of Leishman/Giemsa stained thin and thick blood smear is still the “gold standard” for malaria diagnosis. One of the drawbacks of this method is that its accuracy, consistency, and diagnosis speed depend on microscopists’ diagnostic and technical skills. It is difficult to get highly skilled microscopists in remote areas of developing countries. To alleviate this problem, in this paper, we propose to investigate state-of-the-art one-stage and two-stage object detection algorithms for automated malaria parasite screening from microscopic image of thick blood slides.ResultsYOLOV3 and YOLOV4 models, which are state-of-the-art object detectors in accuracy and speed, are not optimized for detecting small objects such as malaria parasites in microscopic images. We modify these models by increasing feature scale and adding more detection layers to enhance their capability of detecting small objects without notably decreasing detection speed. We propose one modified YOLOV4 model, called YOLOV4-MOD and two modified models of YOLOV3, which are called YOLOV3-MOD1 and YOLOV3-MOD2. Besides, new anchor box sizes are generated using K-means clustering algorithm to exploit the potential of these models in small object detection. The performance of the modified YOLOV3 and YOLOV4 models were evaluated on a publicly available malaria dataset. These models have achieved state-of-the-art accuracy by exceeding performance of their original versions, Faster R-CNN, and SSD in terms of mean average precision (mAP), recall, precision, F1 score, and average IOU. YOLOV4-MOD has achieved the best detection accuracy among all the other models with a mAP of 96.32%. YOLOV3-MOD2 and YOLOV3-MOD1 have achieved mAP of 96.14% and 95.46%, respectively.ConclusionsThe experimental results of this study demonstrate that performance of modified YOLOV3 and YOLOV4 models are highly promising for detecting malaria parasites from images captured by a smartphone camera over the microscope eyepiece. The proposed system is suitable for deployment in low-resource setting areas.
An intriguing characteristic of enhancer-promoter interactions
Authors: Talukder Amlan , Hu Haiyan , Li Xiaoman 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Background
It is still challenging to predict interacting enhancer-promoter pairs (IEPs), partially because of our limited understanding of their characteristics. To understand IEPs better, here we studied the IEPs in nine cell lines and nine primary cell types.

Results
By measuring the bipartite clustering coefficient of the graphs constructed from these experimentally supported IEPs, we observed that one enhancer is likely to interact with either none or all of the target genes of another enhancer. This observation implies that enhancers form clusters, and every enhancer in the same cluster synchronously interact with almost every member of a set of genes and only this set of genes. We perceived that an enhancer can be up to two megabase pairs away from other enhancers in the same cluster. We also noticed that although a fraction of these clusters of enhancers do overlap with super-enhancers, the majority of the enhancer clusters are different from the known super-enhancers.

Conclusions
Our study showed a new characteristic of IEPs, which may shed new light on distal gene regulation and the identification of IEPs.