bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association of Neuroimaging Markers of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease With Short-Term Outcomes in Patients With Minor Cerebrovascular Events
Authors: Chen Xuemei , Wang Lin , Jiang Junying , Gao Yuanyuan , Zhang Rui , Zhao Xiaoyuan , Shen Tingwen , Dai Qi , Li Junrong 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Increasing evidences have showed that neuroimaging markers of SVD can predict the short-term outcome of acute ischemic stroke (AIS).It is unclear that whether neuroimaging markers of SVD are also associated with short-term outcomes of minor cerebrovascular events. In the present study, we investigate neuroimaging markers of SVD in order to explore their roles in prediction of short-term outcome in patients with minor cerebrovascular events. Methods: Consecutive first-ever stroke patients (n=546) from the Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were enrolled. A total of 388 patients were enrolled according to minor cerebrovascular events definition（National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Score≤3）and exclusion criteria. MRI scans were performed within seven days of stroke onset, and then neuroimaging markers of SVD including WMH, lacunes, cerebral microbleeds (CMB), and perivascular spaces (PVS) , SVD burden scores were assessed. We completed baseline characteristics and evaluated the relationships of short-term outcomes to SVD neuroimaging markers and SVD scores. The 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was thought as primary outcome and was dichotomized as good functional outcome (mRS 0-1) and poor outcome (mRS 2-6). Secondary outcomes were stroke progression and stroke recurrence. Results: Higher age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) upon admission, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (LP-PLA2) and lacunes, Fazekas score were correlated with poor functional outcome (P<0.05), But after adjusting for confounding variables, among the neuroimaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease, only Fazekas score (OR, 1.343; 95% confidence interval, 1.020-1.770; P=0.036) was found to be associated with poor outcome at 90 days. Higher Fazekas and SVD scores were not associated with stroke progression or stroke recurrence. Conclusion: WMH can predict the poor functional outcome of minor cerebrovascular events. Adding other neuroimaging markers of SVD and total SVD burden score, however, does not improve the prediction, which indicated WMH can as neuroimaging markers for guiding the treatment of minor cerebrovascular events.
Biofilm reduction potential of 0.02% polyhexanide irrigation solution in several types of urethral catheters
Authors: Brill Florian H. H. , Hambach Julia , Utpatel Christian , Mogrovejo Diana , Gabriel Henrik , Klock Jan-Hendrik , Steinmann Joerg , Arndt Andreas 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background Long-term use of urethral catheters is associated with high risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) and blockage. Microbial biofilms are a common cause of catheter blockage, reducing their lifetime and significantly increasing morbidity of UTIs. A 0.02% polyhexanide irrigation solution developed for routine mechanical rinsing shows potential for bacterial decolonization of urethral catheters and has the potential to reduce or prevent biofilm formation.Methods Using an in vitro assay with standard market-leading types of catheters artificially contaminated with clinically relevant bacteria, assays were carried out to evaluate the biofilm reduction and prevention potential of a 0.02% polyhexanide solution vs. no intervention (standard approach) and irrigation with saline solution (NaCl 0.9%). The efficiency of decolonization was measured through microbial plate count and membrane filtration.Results Irrigation using a 0.02% polyhexanide solution is suitable for the decolonization of a variety of transurethral catheters. The effect observed is significant compared to irrigation with 0.9% saline solution (p = 0.001) or no treatment (p = 0.018). No significant difference was found between irrigation with 0.9% saline solution and no treatment (p = 0.94). Conclusions The polyhexanide and standard saline solutions are able to reduce bacterial biofilm from urinary catheters, showing a combination of mechanical and antibacterial effects. The data supports a prevention strategy to reduce thick biofilms, which are characteristically difficult to be efficiently removed. Further research is required to evaluate the long-term tolerability and efficacy of polyhexanide in clinical practice.
Text Classification Models for the Automatic Detection of Nonmedical Prescription Medication Use from Social Media
Authors: Al-Garadi Mohammed , Yang Yuan-Chi , Cai Haitao , Ruan Yucheng , O’Connor Karen , Graciela Gonzalez-Hernandez , Perrone Jeanmarie , Sarker Abeed 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
BackgroundPrescription medication (PM) misuse/abuse has emerged as a national crisis in the United States, and social media has been suggested as a potential resource for performing active monitoring. However, automating a social media-based monitoring system is challenging—requiring advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning methods. In this paper, we describe the development and evaluation of automatic text classification models for detecting self-reports of PM abuse from Twitter.MethodsWe experimented with state-of-the-art bi-directional transformer-based language models, which utilize tweet-level representations that enable transfer learning (e.g., BERT, RoBERTa, XLNet, AlBERT, and DistilBERT), proposed fusion-based approaches, and compared the developed models with several traditional machine learning, including deep learning, approaches. Using a public dataset, we evaluated the performances of the classifiers on their abilities to classify the non-majority “abuse/misuse” class.ResultsOur proposed fusion-based model performs significantly better than the best traditional model (F1-score [95% CI]: 0.67 [0.64-0.69] vs. 0.45 [0.42-0.48]). We illustrate, via experimentation using differing training set sizes, that the transformer-based models are more stable and require less annotated data compared to the other models. The significant improvements achieved by our best-performing classification model over past approaches makes it suitable for automated continuous monitoring of nonmedical PM use from Twitter.ConclusionsBERT, BERT-like and fusion-based models not only outperform traditional machine learning and deep learning models, but also show substantial improvements over many years of past research on the topic of prescription medication misuse/abuse classification from social media, which had been shown to be a complex task due to the unique ways in which information about nonmedical use is presented. Several challenges, such as lack of complete context and the nature of social media language, need to be overcome to further improve BERT and BERT-like models. These experimental driven challenges are represented as potential future research directions.
Effects of immediate and delayed loading protocols on marginal bone loss around implants in unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Liu Wei , Cai He , Zhang Junjiang , Wang Jian , Sui Lei 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Immediate loading has recently been introduced into unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures for the management of edentulous patients due to their increasing demand on immediate aesthetics and function. However, there is still a scarcity of meta-analytical evidence on the efficacy of immediate loading compared to delayed loading in unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures. The purpose of this study was to compare the marginal bone loss (MBL) around implants between immediate and delayed loading of unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures.Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials (CCTs), and cohort studies quantitatively comparing the MBL around implants between immediate loading protocol (ILP) and delayed loading protocol (DLP) of unsplinted mandibular overdentures were included. A systematic search was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases on December 02, 2020. “Grey” literature was also searched. A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the pooled MBL of two different loading protocols of unsplinted mandibular overdentures through weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The subgroup analysis was performed between different attachment types (i.e. Locator attachment vs. ball anchor). The risk of bias within and across studies were assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool, the Newcastle-Ottawa scale, and Egger’s test. Results: Of 328 records, five RCTs and two cohort studies were included and evaluated, which totally contained 191 participants with a follow-up of no less than 12 months. The MBL of ILP group showed no significant difference with that of DLP group (WMD 0.04, CI -0.13 to 0.21, P > .05). The subgroup analysis revealed similar results with Locator attachments or ball anchors (P > .05). Apart from one RCT (20%) with a high risk of bias, four RCTs (80%) showed a moderate risk of bias. Two prospective cohort studies were proved with acceptable quality. Seven included studies have reported ten implant failures in ILP groups and two implant failures in DLP groups in total.Conclusions: For unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures, the MBL around implants after ILP seems comparable to that of implants after DLP. Immediate loading may be a promising alternative to delayed loading for the management of unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020159124
Pattern of cortical thinning in logopenic progressive aphasia patients in Thailand
Authors: Thanprasertsuk Sekh , Likitjaroen Yuttachai 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: Logopenic progressive aphasia (LPA) is an uncommon neurodegenerative disorder primarily characterized by word-finding difficulties and sentence repetition impairment. Prominent cortical atrophy around left temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is a classical imaging feature of LPA. This study investigated cortical thinning pattern in clinically diagnosed LPA patients using non-demented subjects as a control group. We also aimed to explore whether there was prominent thinning of other cortical area additional to the well-recognized left TPJ.Methods: Thicknesses of all cortical regions were measured from brain magnetic resonance images using an automated command on Freesurfer software. Cortical thickness of the LPA and control groups were compared by two methods: 1) using a general linear model (GLM) in SPSS software; and 2) using a vertex-by-vertex GLM, performed with Freesurfer’s QDEC interface. Results: Besides the well-recognized left TPJ, cortical regions that were significantly thinner in the LPA group by both comparison methods included left caudal middle frontal gyrus (CMFG) (p=0.006 by SPSS, p=0.0003 by QDEC), left rostral middle frontal gyrus (p=0.001 by SPSS, p=0.0001 by QDEC), left parahippocampal gyrus (p=0.008 by SPSS, p=0.005 by QDEC) and right CMFG (p=0.005 by SPSS, p=0.0001 by QDEC).Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that thinning of middle frontal gyri may be an additional feature in clinically diagnosed LPA patients. Involvement of left parahippocampal gyrus may reflect the underlying neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease in majority of the LPA patients.
Advanced care planning during the COVID-19 pandemic: ceiling of care decisions and their implications for observational data
Authors: Straw Sam , McGinlay Melanie , Drozd Michael , Slater Thomas A , Cowley Alice , Kamalathasan Stephe , Maxwell Nicholas , Bird Rory , Koshy Aaron O , Prica Milos , Patel Peysh A , Relton Samuel D , Gierula John , Cubbon Richard M , Kearney Mark T , Witte Klaus K 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
BackgroundObservational studies investigating risk factors in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have not considered the confounding effects of advanced care planning, such that a valid picture of risk for elderly, frail and multi-morbid patients is unknown. We aimed to report ceiling of care and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) decisions and their association with demographic and clinical characteristics as well as outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsRetrospective, observational study conducted between 5th March and 7th May 2020 of all hospitalised patients with COVID-19. Ceiling of care and CPR decisions were documented using the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) process. Unadjusted and multivariable regression analyses were used to determine factors associated with ceiling of care decisions and death during hospitalisation.ResultsA total of 485 patients were included, of whom 409 (84·3%) had a documented ceiling of care; level one for 208 (50·9%), level two for 75 (18·3%) and level three for 126 (30·8%). CPR decisions were documented for 451 (93·0%) of whom 336 (74·5%) were ‘not for resuscitation’. Advanced age, frailty, White-European ethnicity, a diagnosis of any co-morbidity and receipt of cardiovascular medications were associated with ceiling of care decisions. In a multivariable model only advanced age (odds 0·89, 0·86-0·93 p<0·001), frailty (odds 0·48, 0·38-0·60, p<0·001) and the cumulative number of co-morbidities (odds 0·72, 0·52-1·0, p=0·048) were independently associated. Death during hospitalisation was independently associated with age, frailty and requirement for level two or three care.ConclusionCeiling of care decisions were made for the majority of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, broadly in line with known predictors of poor outcomes in COVID-19, but with a focus on co-morbidities suggesting ICU admission might not be a reliable end-point for observational studies where advanced care planning is routine.
Chinese forest fire occurrence prediction based on machine learning methods
Authors: Li yudong , Feng Zhongke , Zhao Ziyu , Ma Wenyuan , Chen Shilin , Zhang Hanyue 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Forest fires can cause serious harm. Scientifically predicting forest fires is an important basis for preventing them. Currently, there is little research on the prediction of long time-series forest fires in China. Choosing a suitable forest fire prediction model and predicting the probability of Chinese forest fire occurrence are of great importance to China’s forest fire prevention and control work. Based on fire hotspot, meteorological, terrain, vegetation, infrastructure, and socioeconomic data collected from 2003 to 2016, we used a random forest model as a feature-selection method to identify 13 major drivers of forest fires in China. The forest fire prediction models developed in this study are based on four machine-learning algorithms: an artificial neural network, a radial basis function network, a support-vector machine, and a random forest. The models were evaluated using the five performance indicators of accuracy, precision, recall, f1 value, and area under the curve. We used the optimal model to obtain the probability of forest fire occurrence in various provinces in China and created a spatial distribution map of the areas with high incidences of forest fires. The results showed that the prediction accuracy of the four forest fire prediction models was between 75.8% and 89.2%, and the area under the curve value was between 0.840 and 0.960. The random forest model had the highest accuracy (89.2%) and area under the curve value (0.96); thus, it was used as the optimal model to predict the probability of forest fire occurrence in China. The prediction results indicate that the areas with high incidences of forest fires are mainly concentrated in north-eastern China (Heilongjiang Province and northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) and south-eastern China (including Fujian Province and Jiangxi Province). In areas at high risk of forest fire, management departments can improve forest fire prevention and control by establishing watch towers and using other monitoring equipment. This study helps in understanding the main drivers of forest fires in China, provides a reference for the selection of high-precision forest fire prediction models, and provides a scientific basis for China’s forest fire prevention and control work.
Posterior fixation can further improve the segmental alignment of lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis with Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion
Authors: WU JINGYE , Ge Tenghui , Zhang Ning , Li Jianing , Tian Wei , Sun Yuqing 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: For patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis, whether additional posterior fixation can further improve segmental alignment is unknown, compared with stand-alone cage insertion in oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) procedure. The aim of this study was to compare changes of the radiographical segmental alignment following stand-alone cage insertion and additional posterior fixation in the same procedure setting of OLIF for patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis.Methods: A retrospective observational study. Selected consecutive patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis underwent OLIF procedure from July 2017 to August 2019. Five radiographic parameters of disc height (DH), DH-Anterior, DH-Posterior, slip ratio and segmental lordosis (SL) were measured on preoperative CT scans and intraoperative fluoroscopic images. Comparisons of those radiographic parameters prior to cage insertion, following cage insertion and following posterior fixation were performed.Results: A total of thirty-three patients including six males and twenty-seven females, with an average age of 66.9±8.7 years, were reviewed. Totally thirty-six slipped levels were assessed with thirty levels at L4/5, four at L3/4 and two at L2/3. Intraoperatively, with only anterior cage support, DH was increased from 8.2±1.6mm to 11.8±1.7mm (p<0.001), DH-Anterior was increased from 9.6±2.3mm to 13.4±2.1mm (p<0.001), DH-Posterior was increased from 6.1±1.9mm to 9.1±2.1mm (p<0.001), the slip ratio was reduced from 11.1±4.6% to 8.3±4.4% (p=0.020) with the slip reduction ratio 25.6±32.3%, and SL was slightly changed from 8.7±3.7° to 8.3±3.0°(p=1.000). Following posterior fixation, the DH was unchanged (from 11.8±1.7mm to 11.8±2.3mm, p=1.000), DH-Anterior and DH-Posterior were slightly changed from 13.4±2.1mm and 9.1±2.1mm to 13.7±2.3mm and 8.4±1.8mm respectively (P=0.861, P=0.254), the slip ratio was reduced from 8.3±4.4% to 2.1±3.6 % (p<0.001) with the slip reduction ratio 57.9±43.9%, and the SL was increased from 8.3±3.0° to 10.7±3.6° (p=0.008). Conclusions: Compared with stand-alone cage insertion, additional posterior fixation provides better segmental alignment improvement in terms of slip reduction and segmental lordosis in OLIF procedures in the treatment of lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis.
HDL-Cholesterol Efflux Capacity and Lipid Profile in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis.
Authors: Ferraz-Amaro Iván , Delgado-Frías Esmeralda , Hernández-Hernández Vanesa , Sánchez-Pérez Hiurma , de Armas-Rillo Laura , Armas-González Estefanía , Machado José David , Diaz-Gonzalez Federico 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Objective. It is well established that patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have a disrupted lipid profile and an increased cardiovascular risk. Cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC), the ability of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol to accept cholesterol from macrophages has been linked to cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to establish whether CEC and lipid profile were impaired in SSc patients respect to controls and whether these changes were associated with disease-related data.Methods. Cross-sectional study encompassed 188 individuals: 73 SSc patients and 115 controls. CEC, using an in vitro assay, and lipoprotein serum concentrations were assessed in patients and controls. A multivariable analysis was performed to study the differences in CEC between patients and controls, and if SSc-related data could explain such differences. Results. The multivariable analysis adjusted for demographic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors and lipid-related molecules showed that total cholesterol (beta coefficient: -22 [95%CI -37- -7], p=0.004), triglycerides (beta coefficient: 24 [95%CI 2-47], p=0.033), lipoprotein A (beta coefficient: 22 [95%CI 2-43], p=0.033) and CEC (beta coefficient: -6 [95%CI -10- -2]%,p=0.002) were significantly differences between patients and controls. Skin thickness, as assessed by modified Rodnan skin score, was independently associated with a lower CEC (beta coefficient: -0.21 [95%CI -0.37- -0.05]%, p=0.011) after multivariable adjustment.Conclusion: SSc patients show an abnormal lipid profile with respect to controls including CEC. Skin thickness is independent and inversely associated with CEC in SSc patients.
Genome evolution during bread wheat formation unveiled by the distribution dynamics of SSR sequences on chromosomes using FISH
Authors: Zhang Yingxin , Fan Chengming , Chen Yuhong , Wang Richard R.-C. , Zhang Xiangqi , Han Fangpu , Hu Zanmin 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background: During the bread wheat speciation by polyploidization, a series of genome rearrangement and sequence recombination occurred. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) sequences, predominately located in heterochromatic regions of chromosomes, are the effective marker for tracing the genomic DNA sequence variations. However, to date the distribution dynamics of SSRs on chromosomes of bread wheat and its donors, including diploid and tetraploid Triticum urartu, Aegilops speltoides, Ae. tauschii, T. turgidum ssp. dicocoides, reflecting the genome evolution events during bread wheat formation had not been comprehensively investigated.Results: The genome evolution was studied by comprehensively comparing the distribution patterns of (AAC)n, (AAG)n, (AGC)n and (AG)n in bread wheat Triticum aestivum var. Chinese Spring and its progenitors T. urartu, A. speltoides, Ae. tauschii, wild tetroploid emmer wheat T. dicocoides, and cultivated emmer wheat T. dicoccum. Results indicated that there are specific distribution patterns in different chromosomes from different species for each SSRs. They provided efficient visible markers for identification of some individual chromosomes and SSR sequence evolution tracing from the diploid progenitors to hexaploid wheat. During wheat speciation, the SSR sequence expansion occurred predominately in the centromeric and pericentromeric regions of B genome chromosomes accompanied by little expansion and elimination on other chromosomes. This result indicated that the B genome might be more sensitive to the “genome shock” and more changeable during wheat polyplodization.Conclusions: During the bread wheat evolution, SSRs including (AAC)n, (AAG)n, (AGC)n and (AG)n in B genome displayed the greatest changes (sequence expansion) especially in centromeric and pericentromeric regions during the polyploidization from Ae. speltoides S genome, the most likely donor of B genome. This work would enable a better understanding of the wheat genome formation and evolution and reinforce the viewpoint that B genome was originated from S genome.