bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the early cardiac electromechanical remodeling following transcatheter and surgical secundum atrial septal defect closure in adults
Authors: Mansour Amr , Gamal Noha M. , Alaa Nady M. , Demitry Salwa R. , Shams-Eddin H. , El-maghraby Khaled M. 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Background
Secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) closure leads to electrical and mechanical remodeling that occurs early after shunt disappearance. The relationship between electromechanical remodeling using electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) after percutaneous and surgical closure has not yet been recorded in prospective studies.

Objective
We thought to study right atrium (RA) and right ventricle (RV) changes by CMR 3 months after transcatheter and surgical closure and their comparison with electrical remodeling by ECG.

Results
We prospectively evaluated 30 consecutive adult patients with isolated secundum ASD who were referred for (transcatheter and surgical) ASD closure.
There was significant reduction in all of the electrical parameters within the same group as compared to the baseline values, except P wave dispersion (Pd). (P max was 97.33 ± 16.67 (pre closure) to 76 ± 15.49 (post closure) in the device group and 97.33 ± 12.79 (preclosure) to 73.33 ± 16.32 (post closure) in the surgical group, QRS complex was 104 ± 18.82 (preclosure) to 80 ± 18.51 (post closure) in the device group and 106.67 ± 14.47 (preclosure) to 86.67 ± 17.99 (post closure) in the surgical group. QTc maximum was 478.53 ± 36.79 (preclosure) to 412.53 ± 38.03 (post closure) in the device group and 470.53 ± 65.70 (preclosure) to 405.93 ± 63.08 (post closure) in the surgical group, and QTc dispersion was 70.33 ± 24.04 (preclosure) to 60.26 ± 28.56 (post closure) in the device group and 80.73 ± 30.38 (preclosure) to 60.27 ± 28.57 (post closure) in the surgical group).There was no significant difference between two groups indicating that transcatheter and surgical closure had led to equivalent value of electrical remodeling.
In CMR study, we measured RA maximal volume and right ventricle end diastolic volume (RVEDV), RA maximal volume decreased significantly as compared to the base line values post closure in both groups (P value < 0.001). The reduction in RA max volume was more in the transcatheter closure group; however, this difference was not statistically significant when compared with the surgical arm (P value = 0.5).RVEDV decreased significantly in both groups as compared to the baseline values (P value < 0.001). Transcatheter closure resulted in more significant reduction in the RVEDV than the surgical closure (P value = 0.03).

Conclusion
Our study showed early significant electromechanical reverse remodeling in most of the study parameters from the baseline values after ASD closure. We found no significant differences in all of the electrical and RA mechanical remodeling parameters with significantly better mechanical remodeling of RV in the device group.
Multigene Panel Testing in Individuals With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Identifies Pathogenic Germline Variants
Authors: Mezina Anya , Philips Neil , Bogus Zoe , Erez Noam , Xiao Rui , Fan Ruoming , Olthoff Kim M. , Reddy K. Rajender , Samadder N. Jewel , Nielsen Sarah M. , Hatchell Kathryn E. , Esplin Edward D. , Rustgi Anil K. , Katona Bryson W. , Hoteit Maarouf A. , Nathanson Katherine L. , Wangensteen Kirk J. 
Published: June 2021

PURPOSEHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has well-defined environmental risk factors. In addition, epidemiologic studies have suggested hereditary risk factors. The goals of this study were to determine the rate of pathogenic and likely pathogenic (P/LP) germline variants in cancer predisposition genes in patients with HCC, possible enrichment of P/LP variants in particular genes, and potential impact on clinical management.MATERIALS AND METHODSA prospective study at a tertiary medical center enrolled 217 patients with a personal history of HCC. Multigene panel testing was performed for 134 cancer predisposition genes in all patients. The rate of P/LP variants was compared with population rates. A separate retrospective cohort included 219 patients with HCC who underwent testing at a commercial laboratory.RESULTSIn the prospective cohort, P/LP germline variants were identified in 25 of 217 patients with HCC (11.5%). Four patients (1.8%) had P/LP variants in the highly penetrant cancer genes BRCA2 (n = 2), MSH6 (n = 1), and PMS2 (n = 1). In addition, multiple patients had P/LP variants in FANCA (n = 5) and BRIP1 (n = 4), which were significantly enriched in HCC compared with the general population. Detection of P/LP variants led to changes in clinical management in regard to therapy selection, screening recommendations, and cascade testing of relatives. In a separate retrospective analysis of 219 patients with HCC, 30 (13.7%) were positive for P/LP variants including 13 (5.9%) with highly penetrant genes APC (n = 2), BRCA1 (n = 1), BRCA2 (n = 6), MSH2 (n = 2), or TP53 (n = 2).CONCLUSIONP/LP germline variants in cancer predisposition genes were detected in 11%-14% of patients with HCC. Inherited genetics should not be overlooked in HCC as there are important implications for precision treatment, future risk of cancers, and familial cancer risk.
Pubarche and Gonadarche Onset and Progression Are Differently Associated With Birth Weight and Infancy Growth Patterns
Authors: Wohlfahrt-Veje Christine , Tinggaard Jeanette , Juul Anders , Toppari Jorma , Skakkebæk Niels E , Main Katharina M 
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Context
Controversy exists regarding associations between early-life growth patterns and timing of puberty.

Objective
This work aims to investigate associations between birth anthropometry, early growth patterns, and onset/progression of pubertal milestones in boys and girls.

Methods
Among children examined at birth (1997-2003) and at age 36 months in a mother-child cohort, pubertal Tanner stages (B1-5, PH1-5, G1-5) and testicular volume were examined by trained physicians at 1 to 5 follow-up examinations during childhood and adolescence (672 girls and 846 boys, 2006-2013).
With parametric survival models we analyzed associations between birth weight, changes in SD scores (SDS) from birth to 36 months (ΔSDS 0-36 &gt; 0.67 SD defining catch-up growth), and age at pubertal onset/attainment of late pubertal stages/menarche.

Results
A 1-kg higher birth weight was associated with earlier onset of B2+ (thelarche): –3.9 months (CI, –6.7 to –1.1 months), G2+ (gonadarche): –2.7 months (–5.3 to –0.1 months), Tvol3+ (testis size &gt; 3 mL): –2.8 months (CI, –4.9 to –0.7 months), but with later G4+ and PH4+ in boys, and a slower progression from B2 to menarche (5.3 months [CI, 1.2 to 9.4 months]) in girls. Catch-up growth was associated with earlier PH2+ (pubarche) in girls (–4.1 months [CI, –7.6 to –0.6 months]), earlier PH2+ in boys (–3.4 months [CI, –6.6 to –0.2 months]), faster progression from B2 to menarche in girls (–9.1 months [CI, 14.6 to 3.5 months]), and earlier G4+ and PH4+ in boys.

Conclusion
Associations between birthweight and infancy catch-up growth differed for gonadarche and pubarche, and for early and late pubertal markers, with similar patterns in both sexes.
Deep Dreaming
Authors: Chávez Courtright Nicola 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe Salvadoran postwar, animated by both Cold War detritus and a nascent neoliberalism, engendered a fragmented queer experientiality for emerging lesbian politics. This essay frames the work of early Salvadoran lesbian organizers as deep dreaming, denoting the profound reflection and imagination which broadened feminist horizons in neoliberal democracy. However, this essay also points to the uneven terrain in the global political economy of stillness associated with concerted reflection, as lesbians reconfigured social and political imaginaries in post-conflict Central America. In attending to contingency, this essay hints at the necessary work of political erotics and the imagination in renegotiating otherwise fraught social movement histories and epistemologies. Considering this moment, like any queer isthmian temporality, rife with dogged hope in the unknown, also presents a challenge to approach queer life oriented from positions of precarity with greater seriousness, opening space for generative seepages between modes of past and present isthmian sapphic living.
The role of Mfn2 in the structure and function of endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondrial tethering in vivo
Authors: Han Song , Zhao Fanpeng , Hsia Jeffrey , Ma Xiaopin , Liu Yi , Torres Sandy , Fujioka Hisashi , Zhu Xiongwei 
Published: June 2021

ABSTRACT
Mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum contacts (MERCs) play an essential role in multiple cell physiological processes. Although Mfn2 was the first protein implicated in the formation of MERCs, there is debate as to whether it acts as a tether or antagonizer, largely based on in vitro studies. To understand the role of Mfn2 in MERCs in vivo, we characterized ultrastructural and biochemical changes of MERCs in pyramidal neurons of hippocampus in Mfn2 conditional knockout mice and in Mfn2 overexpressing mice, and found that Mfn2 ablation caused reduced close contacts, whereas Mfn2 overexpression caused increased close contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria in vivo. Functional studies on SH-SY5Y cells with Mfn2 knockout or overexpression demonstrating similar biochemical changes found that mitochondrial calcium uptake along with IP3R3-Grp75 interaction was decreased in Mfn2 knockout cells but increased in Mfn2 overexpressing cells. Lastly, we found Mfn2 knockout decreased and Mfn2 overexpression increased the interaction between the ER-mitochondria tethering pair of VAPB-PTPIP51. In conclusion, our study supports the notion that Mfn2 plays a critical role in ER-mitochondrial tethering and the formation of close contacts in neuronal cells in vivo.
JIP4 is recruited by the phosphoinositide-binding protein Phafin2 to promote recycling tubules on macropinosomes
Authors: Tan Kia Wee , Nähse Viola , Campsteijn Coen , Brech Andreas , Schink Kay Oliver , Stenmark Harald 
Published: June 2021

ABSTRACT
Macropinocytosis allows cells to take up extracellular material in a non-selective manner into large vesicles called macropinosomes. After internalization, macropinosomes acquire phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns3P) on their limiting membrane as they mature into endosomal-like vesicles. The molecular mechanisms that underlie recycling of membranes and transmembrane proteins from these macropinosomes still need to be defined. Here, we report that JIP4 (officially known as SPAG9), a protein previously described to bind to microtubule motors, is recruited to tubulating subdomains on macropinosomes by the PtdIns3P-binding protein Phafin2 (officially known as PLEKHF2). These JIP4-positive tubulating subdomains on macropinosomes contain F-actin, the retromer recycling complex and the retromer cargo VAMP3. Disruption of the JIP4–Phafin2 interaction, deletion of Phafin2 or inhibition of PtdIns3P production by VPS34 impairs JIP4 recruitment to macropinosomes. Whereas knockout of JIP4 suppresses tubulation, its overexpression enhances tubulation from macropinosomes. JIP4-knockout cells display increased retention of macropinocytic cargo in both early and late macropinosomes. Collectively, these data identify JIP4 and Phafin2 as components of a tubular recycling pathway that operates from macropinosomes.
This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
An initiative to develop a public engagement ecosystem in Ghana: a case of WACCBIP’s High Schools’ Engagement Programme
Authors: Danquah Stefan , Donkoh Simon , Akuamoah Boateng Kyerewaa , Menka Sika , Katachie Solomon , Arthur Patrick Kobina , Quaye Osbourne , Awandare Gordon 
Published: June 2021

Background: The High Schools Engagement Programme (HSEP), is a West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) public engagement initiative that targets students in under-resourced high schools in Ghana. Annual programmes are directed towards providing information on prospective careers in Science and discussing the causes of and preventive measures against endemic infectious diseases. Using peer-learning strategies, post-undergraduate research trainees (graduate interns) encourage collective action against the diseases and work to inspire high school students to consider scientific research as a career, either directly or in support roles. The objective of this study was to explore the outcomes of the HSEP, specifically revealing how it met its initial objectives, and other relevant unintended outcomes. Methods: An evaluation design, which relied on a survey and interviews of 138 high school students, 9 graduate interns, and 3 teachers who participated in the 2019 edition of the HSEP, was employed. Results: The HSEP presented a likelihood of improving the academic performance of high school students and provided motivation for them to pursue careers in scientific research. The programme also equipped the students with requisite knowledge to contribute to the prevention of infectious diseases prevalent in their communities. As trainee scientists, graduate interns also developed awareness on the need for public engagement, the challenges of STEM education in Ghana and the need to make efforts to address these challenges, and also developed key leadership and soft skills. Conclusions: Overall, the HSEP could potentially be a model for developing a public engagement ecosystem in Ghana. It is recommended that the programme is scaled up to include master’s degree and PhD researchers as facilitators to further widen the favorable impacts.
Identification of thresholds for accuracy comparisons of heart rate and respiratory rate in neonates
Authors: Coleman Jesse , Ginsburg Amy Sarah , Macharia William M. , Ochieng Roseline , Zhou Guohai , Dunsmuir Dustin , Karlen Walter , Ansermino J. Mark 
Published: June 2021

Background: Heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) can be challenging to measure accurately and reliably in neonates. The introduction of innovative, non-invasive measurement technologies suitable for resource-constrained settings is limited by the lack of appropriate clinical thresholds for accuracy comparison studies. Methods: We collected measurements of photoplethysmography-recorded HR and capnography-recorded exhaled carbon dioxide across multiple 60-second epochs (observations) in enrolled neonates admitted to the neonatal care unit at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Trained study nurses manually recorded HR, and the study team manually counted individual breaths from capnograms. For comparison, HR and RR also were measured using an automated signal detection algorithm. Clinical measurements were analyzed for repeatability. Results: A total of 297 epochs across 35 neonates were recorded. Manual HR showed a bias of -2.4 (-1.8%) and a spread between the 95% limits of agreement (LOA) of 40.3 (29.6%) compared to the algorithm-derived median HR. Manual RR showed a bias of -3.2 (-6.6%) and a spread between the 95% LOA of 17.9 (37.3%) compared to the algorithm-derived median RR, and a bias of -0.5 (1.1%) and a spread between the 95% LOA of 4.4 (9.1%) compared to the algorithm-derived RR count. Manual HR and RR showed repeatability of 0.6 (interquartile range (IQR) 0.5-0.7), and 0.7 (IQR 0.5-0.8), respectively. Conclusions: Appropriate clinical thresholds should be selected a priori when performing accuracy comparisons for HR and RR. Automated measurement technologies typically use median values rather than counts, which significantly impacts accuracy. A wider spread between the LOA, as much as 30%, should be considered to account for the observed physiological nuances and within- and between-neonate variability and different averaging methods. Wider adoption of thresholds by data standards organizations and technology developers and manufacturers will increase the robustness of clinical comparison studies.
Soft female leadership (SFL) framework for driving the gender equality change in engineering education: learning outcomes of leader and leadership development
Authors: Zabaniotou Anastasia 
Published: June 2021

The foundation of gender equality was built some decades ago, but higher education institutions are far from achieving it. Perhaps the leadership needs to integrate new narratives for a greater commitment especially, in engineering and new tools for the existing toolbox. This study aims to share the outcomes of soft female leadership (SFL) development for gender equality at the RMEI network, entailing the commitment of top-managers from engineering schools, creation of new leaders to lead the change at their institutions, students acting as change-agents, and an active community of practice. The SFL toolbox comprises self-awareness, humanistic care, intuition, creativity, and trust. The transformation of mindset, skillset, and culture entails using Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ‘Systemic View of Life’ arguments, and drawing knowledge from organizational learning frameworks, scientific phenomena, and mechanisms, such as a) The 4I-Intuiting-Interpreting-Integrating-Institutionalizing organizational learning process starting from intuition to achieve an institutional change; b) The ‘Stigmergy’ scientific mechanism of self-organized collective schemes with coordinated actions and interactions, in which the action performed by an agent leaves a trace in the environment that stimulates subsequent actions; c) The ‘Spillover’ phenomenon advocating that the behavior of an agent can bring the adoption of related behaviors by other agents. RMEI gender equality plan was evaluated by the HORIZON2020 TARGET project consortium. The SFL excelled as successful in setting goals, articulating a policy that integrates systems approach frameworks, insights from science and technology, innovation, ecology, philosophy, self-awareness, ethics, and values. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted physical meetings, but the process of change was not ceased at the network because we disrupted the disruption by boosting collaborative knowledge consolidation and dissemination processes. The SFL framework integrates context, regional, and temporal characteristics, alongside cognitive, affective, and motivational outcomes over behavioral outcomes, new mindsets beyond organizational skills, and collaborative learning over individual learning.
Ethnic differences in the incidence of clinically diagnosed influenza: an England population-based cohort study 2008-2018
Authors: Davidson Jennifer , Banerjee Amitava , Mathur Rohini , Ramsay Mary , Smeeth Liam , Walker Jemma , McDonald Helen , Warren-Gash Charlotte 
Published: June 2021

Background: People of non-White ethnicity have a higher risk of severe outcomes following influenza infection. It is unclear whether this is driven by an increased risk of infection or complications. We therefore aimed to investigate the incidence of clinically diagnosed influenza/influenza-like illness (ILI) by ethnicity in England from 2008-2018. Methods: We used linked primary and secondary healthcare data (from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink [CPRD] GOLD and Aurum databases and Hospital Episodes Statistics Admitted Patient Care [HES APC]). We included patients with recorded ethnicity who were aged 40-64 years and did not have a chronic health condition that would render them eligible for influenza vaccination. ILI infection was identified from diagnostic codes in CPRD and HES APC. We calculated crude annual infection incidence rates by ethnic group. Multivariable Poisson regression models with random effects were used to estimate any ethnic disparities in infection risk. Our main analysis adjusted for age, sex, and influenza year. Results: A total of 3,735,308 adults aged 40-64 years were included in the study; 87.6% White, 5.2% South Asian, 4.2% Black, 1.9% Other, and 1.1% Mixed. We identified 102,316 ILI episodes recorded among 94,623 patients. The rate of ILI was highest in the South Asian (9.6 per 1,000 person-years), Black (8.4 per 1,000 person-years) and Mixed (6.9 per 1,000 person-years) ethnic groups. The ILI rate in the White ethnic group was 5.7 per 1,000 person-years. After adjustment for age sex and influenza year, higher incidence rate ratios (IRR) for ILI were seen for South Asian (1.70, 95% CI 1.66-1.75), Black (1.48, 1.44-1.53) and Mixed (1.22, 1.15-1.30) groups compared to White ethnicity. Conclusions: Our results suggest that influenza infection risk differs between White and non-White groups who are not eligible for routine influenza vaccination.
Schreibcoaching als Begleitinstrument im Promotionsprozess – Konzeptualisierung eines komplexen Interventionsformats
Authors: Geuen Vanessa , Henning Ute 
Published: June 2021

ZusammenfassungWas heißt und umfasst Schreibcoaching für Promovierende und welchen Beitrag kann es leisten, um den Promotionsprozess zielführend zu begleiten? Obwohl Schreibberatung und/oder Schreibcoaching für Promovierende an zahlreichen Universitäten im deutschsprachigen Raum seit Jahren praktiziert wird, liegt bislang kein umfassendes Konzept hierfür vor. In diesem Beitrag wird auf Basis einer Darstellung der wesentlichen Herausforderungen Promovierender beim Schreiben das Schreibcoaching als Begleitinstrument im Promotionsprozess theoretisch fundiert und konzeptionell reflektiert. Dazu werden verschiedene Beratungsansätze für Schreibberatung/-coaching vorgestellt, zueinander in Beziehung gesetzt und in Bezug auf das Schreibcoaching für die Zielgruppe der Promovierenden kritisch reflektiert. Die bislang weitgehend synonyme oder undifferenzierte Verwendung der Begriffe Schreibberatung und Schreibcoaching wird adressiert. Schreibcoaching wird als angemessenes Format der Begleitung Promovierender beim Schreiben vorgestellt.
Personalized tumor-specific DNA junctions to detect circulating tumor in patients with endometrial cancer
Authors: Grassi Tommaso , Harris Faye R. , Smadbeck James B. , Murphy Stephen J. , Block Matthew S. , Multinu Francesco , Schaefer Klein Janet L. , Zhang Piyan , Karagouga Giannoula , Liu Minetta C. , Larish Alyssa , Lemens Maureen A. , Sommerfield Marla Kay S. , Cappuccio Serena , Cheville John C. , Vasmatzis George , Mariani Andrea 
Published: June 2021

Introduction
There are no reliable blood biomarkers for monitoring endometrial cancer patients in the current clinical practice. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is emerging as a promising non-invasive method to measure tumor burden, define prognosis and monitor disease status in many solid cancers. In this pilot study, we investigated if unique tumor-specific DNA junctions can be used to detect ctDNA levels in patients with endometrial cancer.

Methods
Chromosomal rearrangements in primary tumors of eleven patients with high-grade or advanced stage endometrial cancer were determined by whole-genome Mate-Pair sequencing. Identified unique tumor-specific junctions were evaluated in pre- and six-week post-surgery patient plasma using individualized quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays. The relationship between clinicopathological features and detection of ctDNA was investigated.

Results
CtDNA was detected in 60% (6/10) of cases pre-surgery and in 27% (3/11) post-surgery. The detection of ctDNA pre-surgery was consistent with clinical indicators of aggressive disease such as advanced stage (80% - 4/5), lymphatic spread of disease (100% - 3/3), serous histology (80% - 4/5), deep myometrial invasion (100% - 3/3), lympho-vascular space invasion (75% - 3/4). All patients in which ctDNA was detected post-surgically had type II endometrial cancer.

Discussion
This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of using personalized tumor-specific junction panels for detecting ctDNA in the plasma of endometrial cancer patients. Larger studies and longer follow-up are needed to validate the potential association between pre-surgical ctDNA detection and the presence of cancers with aggressive pathologic tumor characteristics or advanced stage observed in this study.