bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
COVID-19 Researches: Where India Stands So Far?
Authors: Srivastava Nikhil , Chaubey Gyaneshwer 
Published: March 2021

By the end of the year 2019, in the month of November first pneumonia-like case of COVID-19 was detected in an individual aged 55 years in the Hubei Province of Central China. However the ‘patient zero’ or the first patient contracted with the disease is still unknown, but it is speculated that first contraction with virus occurred in Wuhan province of China. The rate by which the number of cases of the disease surged in China was remarkable and by the mid of January 2020 cases begin to appear in different parts of the world. WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the end of January 2020. Researchers from different parts of the world continue to study the pathogenesis and spread pattern of this disease. This chapter emphasizes upon some of the prominent studies in the field of COVID-19 researches from India. It also focuses upon the ACE2 gene polymorphism which has decreased the susceptibility against the virus amongst human population, and explains how at the molecular level ACE2 receptor concentration may affect the entry of the virus into the host cell. It also highlights the impact of the viral RNA on mitochondrial machinery of the host cell and how it instigates a pro-inflammatory response by declining the efficiency of immune system in whole. We also aim to highlight two potential drug candidates of COVID-19 and how these are performing against the virus according to several studies.
Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts (GUMBOS): A Review of Their Solid State Properties and Applications
Authors: L. Pérez Rocío , E. Ayala Caitlan , M. Warner Isiah 
Published: March 2021

Ionic liquids (ILs) are defined as organic salts with melting points below 100 °C. Such ionic compounds are typically formed using bulky cations and/or bulky anions in order to produce liquids or lower melting solids. ILs have been widely explored in several research areas including catalysis, remediation, solvents, separations, and many others. The utility of such compounds has also been recently broadened to include solid phase ionic materials. Thus, researchers have pushed the boundaries of ILs chemistry toward the solid state and have hypothesized that valuable properties of ILs can be preserved and fine-tuned to achieve comparable properties in the solid state. In addition, as with ILs, tunability of these solid-phase materials can be achieved through simple counterion metathesis reactions. These solid-state forms of ILs have been designated as a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS). In contrast to ILs, these materials have an expanded melting point range of 25 to 250 °C. In this chapter, we focus on recent developments and studies from the literature that provide for fine tuning and enhancing properties through transformation and recycling of diverse ionic compounds such as dyes, antibiotics, and others into solid state ionic materials of greater utility.
Detection of Benzo[a]Pyrene Diol Epoxide-DNA Adducts in White Blood Cells of Asphalt Plant Workers in Syria
Authors: Zohairee Razan 
Published: March 2021

Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) is a major polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), it can bind the DNA to produce DNA-adducts, which has major carcinogenic potential. Enzyme-linked immunosorbet assay (ELISA) is the method used to detect these DNA adducts of B[a] P diolepoxide (BPDE) within the living cells. The aim of this study is to evaluate exposure to bitumen fumes, and to B[a]P in asphalt plant workers by measuring the BPDE-DNA adducts in their peripheral white blood cells (WBC), which are considered biological markers for exposure risk assessment.In this study, Hemostatic blood (CBC, AST) were measured, and the levels of BPDE-DNA adducts were measured in DNA samples of WBC obtained from asphalt plant workers in Syria and compared to those measured from a control group. The measurement was performed using BPDE-DNA Adducts ELISA.kit. The sample size was determined to be 50 with 25 asphalt plant workers and 25 healthy volunteers with no occupational exposure to PAHs. The results showed some diseases associated with exposure to asphalt fumes among the workers in the study group and a statistically significant difference in the values of (CBC; WBC, leukocytes, HCT, MCHC and AST) between the study group and the control group. BPDE-DNA adducts were detected in WBC of 11 asphalt plant workers with concentrations ranging between 0 and 2.75 ng/ml and only one individual in the control group with concentration of 0.75 ng/ml. These results indicate significant positive relationship between exposure to the bitumen fumes and formation of BPDE-DNA adducts. BPDE-DNA adducts is potential biomarker for PAHs exposure and likely helpful indicator of PAH-induced DNA damage and possibly carcinogenesis.
Integrated analysis of immune-related long noncoding RNAs as diagnostic biomarkers in psoriasis
Authors: Fan Feixiang , Huang Zhen , Chen Yongfeng 
Published: March 2021

Background
Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory dermatosis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in immune-related diseases. This study aimed to identify potential immune-related lncRNA biomarkers for psoriasis.

Methods
We screened differentially expressed immune-related lncRNAs biomarkers using GSE13355 (skin biopsy samples of 180 cases) from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Moreover, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were performed to explore biological mechanisms in psoriasis. In addition, we performed LASSO logistic regression to identify potential diagnostic lncRNAs and further verify the diagnostic value and relationship with drug response using two validation sets: GSE30999 (skin biopsy samples of 170 cases) and GSE106992 (skin biopsy samples of 192 cases). Furthermore, we estimated the degree of infiltrated immune cells and investigated the correlation between infiltrated immune cells and diagnostic lncRNA biomarkers.

Results
A total of 394 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were extracted from gene expression profile. GO and KEGG analysis of target genes found that immune-related lncRNAs were primarily associated with epidermis development, skin development, collagen-containing extracellular matrix, and glycosaminoglycan binding and mainly enriched in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and influenza A and chemokine signaling pathway. We found that LINC01137, LINC01215, MAPKAPK5-AS1, TPT1-AS1, CARMN, CCDC18-AS1, EPB41L4A-AS, and LINC01214 exhibited well diagnostic efficacy. The ROC and ROC CI were 0.944 (0.907–0.982), 0.953 (0.919–0.987), 0.822 (0.758–0.887), 0.854 (0.797–0.911), 0.957(0.929–0.985), 0.894 (0.846–0.942), and 0.964 (0.937–0.991) for LINC01137, LINC01215, MAPKAPK5-AS1, TPT1-AS1,CARMN, CCDC18-AS1, EPB41L4A-AS1, and LINC01214. LINC01137, LINC01215, and LINC01214 were correlated with drug response. LINC01137, CCDC18-AS1, and CARMN were positively correlated with activated memory CD4 T cell, activated myeloid dendritic cell (DC), neutrophils, macrophage M1, and T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, while negatively correlated with T regulatory cell (Treg). LINC01215, MAPKAPK5-AS1, TPT1-AS1, EPB41L4A-AS, and LINC01214 were negatively correlated with activated memory CD4 T cell, activated myeloid DC, neutrophils, macrophage M1, and Tfh, while positively correlated with Treg.

Conclusions
These findings indicated that these immune-related lncRNAs may be used as potential diagnostic and predictive biomarkers for psoriasis.
Study of Platelet Parameters with Different Isolated Organism in Neonatal Bacterial Sepsis
Authors: Prasad Rajiv Kumar , Surana Amita Uday , Chovatiya Chetan , Iyer Radhika , Modi Nidhi 
Published: March 2021

Background: Thrombocytopenia is a common hematological abnormality observed in neonatal sepsis and considered as early, nonspecific marker of sepsis. The studies related to organism specific platelet response are few.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of thrombocytopenia and to study changes in various platelet parameters in relation to different isolated organism.
Methods: A prospective observational study involving neonates with 1st episode of culture positive sepsis was done over a period of 18 months. The platelet parameters studied were incidence, degree, duration of thrombocytopenia; mean platelet volume and platelet nadir among neonate with specific organism isolated.
Results: Out of 114 culture positive sepsis 31% Klebsiella, 30% Pseudomonas, 13% Citrobacter, 18% CONS, 4% Staphylococcus Aureus (S Aureus) and 3% had Acinetobacter sepsis. Overall prevalence of thrombocytopenia was 88%, of which klebsiella and S. Aureus sepsis observed 100% prevalence of thrombocytopenia followed by 88% pseudomonas, 80% coagulase negative staphylococci (CONS), 75% Acinetobacter and 66% Citrobacter sepsis. The proportion of severe degree of thrombocytopenia (18% Vs 4%), higher MPV (61% Vs 54%) and longer duration of thrombocytopenia (3.63 ± 0.49 Vs 2.95 ± 0.52) was observed more with Gram negative sepsis than with Gram positive sepsis and statistically significant difference in platelet nadir was observed with Gram negative sepsis. Severe degree of thrombocytopenia was seen in 50% neonates with Acinetobacter and 23% with Klebsiella sepsis. Acinetobacter, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas sepsis had higher mean MPV value, longer duration of thrombocytopenia and lowest platelet nadir. The platelet parameters were less affected with Gram positive organism.
Conclusion: Thrombocytopenia is a frequent occurrence in neonates with sepsis especially with Gram negative organism. Sepsis with Acinetobacter, Klebsiella & Pseudomonas organism was associated with prolonged duration, higher MPV and lower platelet count as compared to other isolated organisms.
Direct Saliva versus Conventional Nasopharyngeal Swab qRT-PCR to Diagnose SARS – CoV2: Validity Study
Authors: Tee Michael L. , Ubial Paulyn Jean R. , Ranoa Diana Rose E. , Tee Cherica A. , Abrilla Aedrian A. , Trinidad Lawrence John Paulo L. , Chiong Charlotte M. , Berba Regina P. , Carrillo Ryner Jose D. , Lim Maria Cecilia F. , Dalmacio Leslie Michelle M. 
Published: March 2021

Background: Saliva has been demonstrated as a feasible alternative specimen to nasopharyngeal swab for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 using real-time or quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) method that bypasses the need for explicit viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) extraction.
Aim: To assess the diagnostic validity of direct saliva-to-qRT-PCR in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 compared to conventional nasopharyngeal swab qRT-PCR.
Methodology: Self-collected saliva samples were processed by heating at 95oC for 30 minutes followed by addition of buffer and detergent while viral RNA from nasopharyngeal swabs were extracted using the Sansure Biotech sample release reagent. Paired samples were used as templates for qRT-PCR using the Sansure Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Nucleic Acid Diagnostic Kit and Sansure Biotech MA6000 Real-Time Quantitative PCR System. Direct saliva-to-qRT-PCR was compared to nasopharyngeal swab qRT-PCR in terms of diagnostic validity and agreement parameters, and both platforms were compared separately in terms of similar parameters with a composite reference standard (CRS) wherein the criteria for a positive result is SARS-CoV-2 detection in at least either nasopharyngeal swab or saliva.
Results: Of the 238 nasopharyngeal swab-saliva pairs tested, 20 (8.4%) nasopharyngeal swab and 24 (10.1%) saliva specimens tested positive. We documented a sensitivity of 85.0% (95% CI: 62.1%, 96.8%), specificity of 96.8% (95% CI: 93.5%, 98.7%), accuracy of 95.8% (95% CI: 92.4%, 98.0%) and Cohen Kappa of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.60, 0.90) when direct saliva-to-qRT-PCR was compared to the conventional platform. When the two platforms were individually compared to the CRS, numerically higher but not statistically significant sensitivity and accuracy were noted for direct saliva-to-qRT-PCR than for nasopharyngeal swab qRT-PCR.
Conclusion: Direct saliva-to-qRT-PCR is non-inferior to nasopharyngeal swab qRT-PCR for detecting SARS-CoV-2 using the Sansure Novel Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Diagnostic Kit.
Infertility and Its Associated Factors among Women Attending Selected Health Facilities in Boripe Local Government Osun State
Authors: Olarinmoye Abayomi , Ajao Olayinka , Eniade Olanrewaju Davies , Ekwonwa Chinonso Esther , Olasunkanmi Yusuff Akinkunmi , Ogenma Ugushida 
Published: March 2021

The extent to which women of reproductive age (15-49 years) experience infertility have not been fully explored in developing countries including Nigeria. Assessing the factors associated with infertility among infertile women can inform interventions to support their needs. This study was conducted to investigate the risk-factors of infertility among women in Boripe local government area (BLGA) of Osun State.
A matched case-control study was conducted among infertile women attending the infertility clinic and fertile women attending ante-natal clinic in three health facilities namely: Ada health facility, Isale Oyo health facility and MDGs Oloti health facility in Boripe local government area in Osun state, Nigeria. Cases (n=135) were gotten from the infertility clinic across the three study facilities and controls (n=135) were the pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic in the three health facilities.
Mean age was 29 ± 6.7 years, ranging from 16 to 47 years. Higher proportion of the infertile women (72.6%) had primary infertility, and a lot (35.9%) were not on treatment. Associated factors were partners’ age (p=0.007), income (p=0.067), age at menstrual debut (p=0.049), mental wellbeing (p=0.006). Factors associated with the likelihood of infertility were age at menstrual debut (>=15 years) (OR: 2.69, 95%CI: 1.07-6.75) in relative to age at menstrual debut (< 15 years).
This study revealed a high prevalence of primary infertility, income, dietary habit and age at menstrual debut were associated with the likelihood of infertility. Much attention towards improving knowledge about factors influencing infertility such as dietary habit and early treatment for teenagers who have late menstrual debut will be helpful in reducing burden of infertility. Also, this study revealed that majority of the infertile women was not on treatments. This suggests that, it is likely that most of them were not seeing a pregnancy counselor. The role of pregnancy counseling on infertility should be appropriately explored in further studies.
Otorhinolaryngological Trauma in Some Private Health Facilities in Benin City
Authors: Akpalaba I. O. , Ogisi F. O. , Momoh R. O. 
Published: March 2021

Background: Otorhinolaryngological trauma is common in clinical practice. The disaster caused by otorhinolaryngological trauma arises from its morbidity and mortality. This is due to increased cost of care and varying degree of physical, cosmetic and functional disfigurements.
Aim: This study was conducted to determine the causes, mechanisms of trauma and outcomes of these injuries in private setting; and to profer possible preventive measures.
Methods: This study was a one-year descriptive prospective study on patients with otorhinolaryngological trauma managed at three private health settings in Benin City, Nigeria. All consecutive trauma patients seen from May 2016 to April 2017 constituted the sample size. Total population sampling technique was used. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0.
Results: A total of 31 patients were studied. Age ranged from 1 to 80 years. Median age was 35 years. Male to female ratio was 1.1:1. The commonest cause of trauma was use of cotton buds to clean the ears in 48.4% patients. This was followed by foreign bodies in the ear in 12.9% of the patients. This was not statistically significant as p>0.05. The commonest mechanism of trauma was from Tympanic membrane perforation, canal laceration and ear canal inflammation in 48.4% of patients. The ear was the most affected region in 80.6% of the patients. The greatest complain at presentation was ear discharge in 38.7% of the patients, followed by hearing loss in 35.5% patients. The commonest complication was tympanic membrane perforation noted in 48.4% of the study population followed by chronic suppurative otitis media in 35.5% of them. Majority of the subjects (87.1%) were treated as outpatients. Only 12.9% of the subjects required admission to the ward. The most common treatment modalities used were ‘keeping the ear dry’ protocol, ear toileting and daily ear dressing in 80.6%, 41.9% and 38.7% of the patients respectively. The median length of hospital stay for in-patients was 7 days (range 3 to 11 days). There was no mortality. Majority of the patients (77.4%) had full recovery. Tympanic membrane perforation was persistent in 22.6% of the patients.
Conclusion: Otorhinolaryngological trauma constitutes a significant cause of morbidity in private hospital setting. Majority of these trauma are both preventable and treatable through public enlightenment programmes and early presentation to Otorhinolaryngologists respectively.
Exploration of Perception, Need and Barriers against Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reactions Reporting: Healthcare Professionals’ Insight
Authors: Leghari Qurratul-ain , Chand Soraj Kishan , Bushra Rabia , Rizvi Mehwish , Khan Maria , Shahnaz Saira , Naseem Rida , Masood Shaheryar , Ali Imran , Munawar Rabya , Bawani Sharmeen 
Published: March 2021

Objective: The present study was designed to assess the perception, need and the barriers of PV and ADRs reporting in the hospital settings of Karachi, Pakistan.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from October 2019 to February 2020 by the random sampling in the healthcare professionals including physicians, pharmacists and nurses. Questionnaire was distributed to 525 participants (n=175 from each group) being serving for one or more year in hospitals and clinics. Overall, 425 participants were responded having 138 physicians, 143 pharmacists and 145 nurses.
Results: Perception of pharmacovigilance was found to be 81.02%, 73.40% and 35.17% respectively in physicians, pharmacists and nurses. Overall, 80.70% of respondents were felt the need of drug monitoring system in each hospital to improve patients’ responses against treatment. The main hindrance for PV in our society was the lacking/ absence of the ADRs monitoring and reporting system marked by the physicians and pharmacists.
Conclusion: ADRs reporting and pharmacovigilance are not practiced properly in our region. It’s a time to pay attention to this neglected area not only to strengthen the infra structure of healthcare units but also to increase the patient compliance and to avoid any drug associated disaster in future.
Close encounters of the three morphs: Does color affect aggression in a polymorphic lizard?
Authors: Scali Stefano , Mangiacotti Marco , Sacchi Roberto , Coladonato Alan Jioele , Falaschi Mattia , Saviano Luca , Rampoldi Marina Giulia , Crozi Matteo , Perotti Cesare , Zucca Francesco , Gozzo Elisabetta , Zuffi Marco Alberto Luca 
Published: March 2021

AbstractColor polymorphism is genetically controlled, and the process generating and maintaining morphs can affect speciation/extinction rates. Color badges are useful signals in intraspecific communication because they convey information about alternative strategies and can potentially decrease unnecessary conflicts among different color morphs. Competition and aggressive interactions among color morphs can contribute to polymorphism maintenance. This could lead to an uneven spatial distribution of morphs in a population because the local frequency of each morph establishes the intensity of the competition and the fitness of each male. We used a polymorphic lizard, Podarcis muralis, to assess if aggression varies among morphs under two contrasting hypotheses: a heteromorphic versus homomorphic aggression. We used laboratory mirror tests after lizard color manipulation, and we verified the consistency of results with an analysis of the spatial distribution of morphs in a wild population. Both the experiments confirmed that aggression is more common during homomorphic than heteromorphic contests. The adoption of alternative behavioral strategies that minimize risks and costs could facilitate the stable coexistence of the phenotypes and reduce competition. A bias in aggression would advantage rarer morph, which would suffer less harassment by common morphs obtaining a fitness advantage. This process would be negatively‐frequency‐dependent and would stabilize polymorphism, possibly contributing to sympatric speciation.
Does the beta regularization parameter of bayesian penalized likelihood reconstruction always affect the quantification accuracy and image quality of positron emission tomography computed tomography?
Authors: Wu Zhifang , Guo Binwei , Huang Bin , Zhao Bin , Qin Zhixing , Hao Xinzhong , Liang Meng , Xie Jun , Li Sijin 
Published: March 2021

AbstractPurposeThis study aims to provide a detailed investigation on the noise penalization factor in Bayesian penalized likelihood (BPL)‐based algorithm, with the utilization of partial volume effect correction (PVC), so as to offer the suitable beta value and optimum standardized uptake value (SUV) parameters in clinical practice for small pulmonary nodules.MethodsA National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) image‐quality phantom was scanned and images were reconstructed using BPL with beta values ranged from 100 to 1000. The recovery coefficient (RC), contrast recovery (CR), and background variability (BV) were measured to assess the quantification accuracy and image quality. In the clinical assessment, lesions were categorized into sub‐centimeter (<10 mm, n = 7) group and medium size (10–30 mm, n = 16) group. Signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) were measured to evaluate the image quality and lesion detectability. With PVC was performed, the impact of beta values on SUVs (SUVmax, SUVmean, SUVpeak) of small pulmonary nodules was evaluated. Subjective image analysis was performed by two experienced readers.ResultsWith the increasing of beta values, RC, CR, and BV decreased gradually in the phantom work. In the clinical study, SNR and CNR of both groups increased with the beta values (P < 0.001), although the sub‐centimeter group showed increases after the beta value reached over 700. In addition, highly significant negative correlations were observed between SUVs and beta values for both lesion‐size groups before the PVC (P < 0.001 for all). After the PVC, SUVpeak measured from the sub‐centimeter group was no significantly different among different beta values (P = 0.830).ConclusionOur study suggests using SUVpeak as the quantification parameter with PVC performed to mitigate the effects of beta regularization. Beta values between 300 and 400 were preferred for pulmonary nodules smaller than 30 mm.