bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Guide for Cortical Electrical Stimulation Mapping
Authors: So Elson L. , Alwaki Abdulrahman 
Published: March 2018

Summary:
Electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) of the brain remains a major procedure for guiding epilepsy and tumor surgeries. This article collates available experiences and data in ESM to develop a guide for conducting the procedure. There are many factors that influence the yield of ESM. The stimulation parameters offered in this article need to be adjusted within safe limits to address the factors. Each ESM procedure should be tailored to the patient's age and baseline mental or psychological capacity. Stimulation-induced seizures and EEG afterdischarges disrupt ESM procedure and render the interpretation of the results difficult. There are specific measures that can lessen the risk of seizures and afterdischarges during ESM. Electrical stimulation mapping procedure requires several tasks on the part of those conducting the procedure, such as operating the stimulator and the EEG recording equipment, administering behavioral or language tests and observing both patient and EEG responses to the stimulation. A team of experienced staff is necessary for individual assumption of each task. Knowledge of the spatial relationship between electrode contacts and underlying normal or abnormal brain structures is essential for interpreting ESM results. When testing for motor or sensory response, be aware of the distinction between responses at the primary motor area and responses at the supplementary sensorimotor area. The anatomy of supplementary sensorimotor area is more variable and functional than it is fixed and structural, although its general confines and somatotopic organization are known. In addition, negative motor responses to stimulation must be recognized to avoid misinterpretation of ESM results, especially in language mapping.
Electrical Stimulation Mapping of the Brain: Basic Principles and Emerging Alternatives
Authors: Ritaccio Anthony L. , Brunner Peter , Schalk Gerwin 
Published: March 2018

Summary:The application of electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) of the brain for clinical use is approximating a century. Despite this long-standing history, the value of ESM for guiding surgical resections and sparing eloquent cortex is documented largely by small retrospective studies, and ESM protocols are largely inherited and lack standardization. Although models are imperfect and mechanisms are complex, the probabilistic causality of ESM has guaranteed its perpetuation into the 21st century. At present, electrical stimulation of cortical tissue is being revisited for network connectivity. In addition, noninvasive and passive mapping techniques are rapidly evolving to complement and potentially replace ESM in specific clinical situations. Lesional and epilepsy neurosurgery cases now offer different opportunities for multimodal functional assessments.
Electrical Stimulation Mapping With Stereo-EEG Electrodes
Authors: Britton Jeffrey W. 
Published: March 2018

Summary:The practice of stereo-EEG (SEEG) is expanding. Electrical stimulation mapping remains an important part of the surgical evaluation process in SEEG, as it is in subdural electrocorticography cases. Because the technique and electrodes used in SEEG and electrocorticography are distinct, the clinician needs to be aware of the important differences between these techniques when performing electrical stimulation mapping. In this review, the advantages, disadvantages, and potential safety concerns related to electrical stimulation mapping in SEEG are discussed. A case is presented illustrating the utility of SEEG cortical stimulation and safety concerns that need to be considered when performing these evaluations.
Cortical Electrical Stimulation Mapping: Special Considerations in Children
Authors: Jayakar Prasanna 
Published: March 2018

Summary:
Cortical electrical stimulation mapping is often required to accurately delineate eloquent function before resective surgery for tumors or epilepsy. Although the technique is well established in adults, mapping poses special challenges in children that are addressed in this article. The concept of what constitutes a critical cortex is more difficult to assess, given the implications of plasticity and impact of deficits. Developmental factors affect the underlying neurophysiologic bases of responses to electrical stimulation, and evolving maturation requires adaptation of methodology. Furthermore, malformative substrates are the commonest substrate and often lead to aberrant representations of eloquent function.
Differences in the Transcranial Motor Evoked Potentials Between Proximal and Distal Lower Extremity Muscles
Authors: Parikh Pooja , Cheongsiatmoy Justin , Shilian Parastou , Gonzalez Andres A. 
Published: March 2018

Purpose:
Transcranial motor evoked potentials (TcMEPs) are the preferred modality to monitor the integrity of motor pathways during surgery. Recently, it has also been used as a method to help with detection of nerve roots injuries. Adequate baseline muscle responses are vital to detect nerve injury. We have observed that TcMEP responses are not homogeneous across multiple myotomes, but this has not been studied systematically. Our objective is to determine whether there are any relative differences in amplitude or morphology of TcMEPs across various lower extremity muscles.

Methods:
Clinical and neurophysiological monitoring data from patients who had lumbar spine surgery were obtained retrospectively. Transcranial motor evoked potential responses were evaluated for each limb in the quadriceps, tibialis anterior, and intrinsic foot muscles. We compared TcMEP responses between these muscle groups using paired t-test statistical analysis. Each limb was analyzed separately. Only limbs without deficit in the interested muscle groups were included for analysis.

Results:
A total of 40 patients and 69 limbs were included for analysis. The mean TcMEP amplitude difference between the tibialis anterior and quadriceps muscles was 458 µV (P < 0.0001), and between intrinsic feet and quadriceps muscles was 541 µV (P < 0.0001). Proximal muscles also demonstrated a significantly smaller number of TcMEP phases than their distal counterparts.

Conclusions:
Transcranial motor evoked potential amplitudes are significantly smaller in proximal lower extremity muscles compared with distal lower extremity muscles. The observed difference might be due to cortical representation or higher subcutaneous tissue in thigh muscles.
Predictors of Pressure Injuries in a Critical Care Unit in Lebanon
Authors: El-Marsi Jihad , Zein-El-Dine Salah , Zein Bana , Doumit Rita , Kurdahi Badr Lina 
Published: March 2018

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with pressure injury in a medical-surgical intensive care unit (MSICU).

DESIGN:
Retrospective review of medical records.

SUBJECTS AND SETTING:
We reviewed the medical records of 145 patients who developed a new pressure injury in the MSICU of a 420-bed university medical center in Lebanon.

METHODS:
Medical records of all patients cared for in the MSICU from December 2014 to June 2017 were reviewed by a research assistant using a standardized form. We extracted potential risk factors for pressure injury including sex, age, weight upon admission, weight at discharge, length of MSICU stay, episodes of hypotension, administration of inotropes/vasopressors, admitting diagnosis, comorbid conditions, and cumulative scores on the Braden Scale for Pressure Sore Risk. The outcome variable was development of any new pressure injury during their stay in our intensive care unit.

RESULTS:
Forty-nine patents (33.7%) developed a new pressure injury. Bivariate analysis found statistically significant associations between pressure injury occurrences and administration of vasopressors (odds ratio [OR] = 0.42; 95% confidence interval = 0.29-0.87; P = .02), the administration of dopamine (OR = 0.20; 95% confidence interval = 0.04-0.94; P = .04), and hospital-acquired pressure injury. Among the continuous variables, analysis revealed significant relationships between weight at discharge (t = 2.31, P = .02), MSICU length of stay (t = 5.30; P = .000), cumulative Braden Scale score (t = 3.06; P = .002), hypotension (t =−2.74; P = .007), and development a new pressure injury. Multivariate analysis indicated that length of stay (β= −.110; P = .002), administration of vasopressors (β=−.266; P = .029), and total hours of hypotension (β=−.53; P = .041) were significant predictors of pressure injury.

CONCLUSIONS:
Vasopressor use, hypotension, and length of stay were associated with an increased likelihood of pressure injury in adults managed in an MSICU. None of these factors is specifically evaluated during completion of the Braden Scale for Pressure Sore Risk. Based on these findings we recommend development of a pressure injury scale specific to critically ill adults.
Relationships Among Use of Complementary and Alternative Interventions, Urinary Incontinence, Quality of Life, and Self-esteem in Women With Urinary Incontinence
Authors: Öz Özge , Altay Birsen 
Published: March 2018

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this study was to examine associations among sociodemographic characteristics, urinary incontinence (UI) characteristics, UI-specific quality of life and self-esteem, and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) interventions for UI.

DESIGN:
Correlational-descriptive research.

SUBJECTS AND SETTING:
This sample comprised 394 female patients 18 years or older cared for in the urology and gynecology outpatient clinics of a university hospital in Samsun, Turkey.

METHODS:
Participants completed an investigator-developed questionnaire that included 2 validated instruments, King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. Descriptive statistics were used for demographic data and use of CAM interventions. Variables associated with CAM use were assessed using χ2 analysis. The differences between using CAM and scales points of the KHQ and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale were assessed using the t test, and the relationship between the KHQ and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale was assessed using correlation analysis.

RESULTS:
Thirty-three percent (n = 130) of women indicated using CAM interventions to manage their UI. The most common CAM intervention, reported by 52.6% of respondents, was prayer. Women with lower UI-specific quality of life and self-esteem scores were more likely to report using CAM interventions (P < .05). Women with lower education level used CAM more frequently than others (P < .05). Analysis revealed weak but statistically significant positive correlations for role limitations, physical limitations, social limitations, emotions, sleep/energy level and the symptom severity (P < .001), and personal relationships (P < .01) subdimensions of the KHQ.

CONCLUSIONS:
One-third of women indicated using CAM methods to manage their UI; the most commonly used intervention was prayer. Women using CAM reported both higher self-esteem and condition-specific health-related quality of life than women who did not use these interventions.
A critical role for miR-142 in alveolar epithelial lineage formation
Authors: Shrestha Amit , Carraro Gianni , Nottet Nicolas , Vazquez-Armendariz Ana Ivonne , Herold Susanne , Cordero Julio , Singh Indra Bahadur , Wilhelm Jochen , Barreto Guillermo , Chao Cho-Ming , Agha Elie El , Mari Bernard , Zhang Jin San , Bellusci Saverio 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThe development of a functional lung, capable of gas exchange, requires proper alveologenesis. Mechanisms regulating AT1 and AT2 cell maturation are poorly defined. We report the activation of the glucocorticoid pathway in an in vitro alveolar epithelial lineage differentiation assay led to increased AT2 marker Sftpc and decreased miR-142 expression. Using a constitutive KO mouse model, we further demonstrate a relative increase of AT2 and a decrease in AT1 cell number with a global decrease of AT2 gene profile signature in miR-142 KO AT2 cells. Over-expression of miR-142 in alveolar progenitor cells in vivo led to an opposite effect. Examination of the KO lungs at E18.5, revealed enhanced expression miR-142 targets like Apc, Ep300 and Kras associated with increased Ctnnb1 and p-Erk signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of Ep300-Ctnnb1 in vitro prevented an increase in Sftpc expression triggered by loss of miR-142. These results together suggest glucocorticoid-miR-142-p300 signaling axis controls pneumocyte maturation.
FastSpar: Rapid and scalable correlation estimation for compositional data
Authors: Watts Stephen C. , Ritchie Scott C. , Inouye Michael , Holt Kathryn E. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractA common goal of microbiome studies is the elucidation of community composition and member interactions using counts of taxonomic units extracted from sequence data. Inference of interaction networks from sparse and compositional data requires specialised statistical approaches. A popular solution is SparCC, however its performance limits the calculation of interaction networks for very high-dimensional datasets. Here we introduce FastSpar, an efficient and parallelisable implementation of the SparCC algorithm which rapidly infers correlation networks and calculatesp-values using an unbiased estimator. We further demonstrate that FastSpar reduces network inference wall time by 2-3 orders of magnitude compared to SparCC. FastSpar source code, precompiled binaries, and platform packages are freely available on GitHub: github.com/scwatts/FastSpar
Nonnegligible role of warming-induced soil drying in regulating warming effect on soil respiration
Authors: Du Enzai 
Published: March 2018

AbstractBased on results of a 26-year soil warming experiment (soil temperature being elevated by 5 °C) in a Harvard hardwood forest, Melillo et al. demonstrated a four-phase pattern of long-term warming effect on soil respiration, while the mechanisms were not fully elucidated because they neglected the indirect effect due to warming-induced soil drying. By showing a significant correlation between precipitation anomaly and inter-annual variation of warming effect on soil respiration, we suggest a nonnegligible role of warming-induced soil drying in regulating the long-term warming effect on soil respiration. Our analysis recommends further efforts to consider both the direct and indirect (i.e., warming-induced soil drying) warming effects to gain more in-depth understanding of the long-term soil C dynamics.
Perivascular signals alter global gene expression profile of glioblastoma and response to temozolomide in a gelatin hydrogel
Authors: Ngo Mai T. , Harley Brendan A.C. 
Published: March 2018

ABSTRACTGlioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor, with patients exhibiting poor survival (median survival time: 15 months). Difficulties in treating GBM include not only the inability to resect the diffusively-invading tumor cells but also therapeutic resistance. The perivascular niche (PVN) within the GBM tumor microenvironment contributes significantly to tumor cell invasion, cancer stem cell maintenance, and has been shown to protect tumor cells from radiation and chemotherapy. In this study, we examine how the inclusion of non-tumor cells in culture with tumor cells within a hydrogel impacts the overall gene expression profile of anin vitroartificial perivascular niche (PVN) comprised of endothelial and stromal cells directly cultured with GBM tumor cells within a methacrylamide-functionalized gelatin hydrogel. Using RNA-seq, we demonstrate that genes related to angiogenesis and remodeling are upregulated in the PVN model compared to hydrogels containing only tumor or perivascular niche cells, while downregulated genes are related to cell cycle and DNA damage repair. Signaling pathways and genes commonly implicated in GBM malignancy, such asMGMT, EGFR, PI3K-Akt signaling, and Ras/MAPK signaling are also upregulated in the PVN model. We describe the kinetics of gene expression within the PVN hydrogels over a course of 14 days, observing the patterns associated with tumor cell-mediated endothelial network co-option and regression. We finally examine the effect of temozolomide, a frontline chemotherapy used clinically against GBM, on the PVN culture. Notably, the PVN model is less responsive to TMZ compared to hydrogels containing only tumor cells. Overall, these results demonstrate that inclusion of cellular and matrix-associated elements of the PVN within anin vitromodel of GBM allows for the development of gene expression patterns and therapeutic response relevant to GBM.
Humidity as a non-pharmaceutical intervention for influenza A
Authors: Reiman Jennifer M. , Das Biswadeep , Sindberg Gregory M. , Urban Mark D. , Hammerlund Madeleine E.M. , Lee Han B. , Spring Katie M. , Lyman-Gingerich Jamie , Generous Alex R. , Koep Tyler H. , Ewing Kevin , Lilja Phil , Enders Felicity T. , Ekker Stephen C. , Huskins W. Charles , Fadel Hind J. , Pierret Chris 
Published: March 2018

AbstractInfluenza is a global problem infecting 5-10 % of adults and 20-30 % of children annually. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are attractive approaches to complement vaccination in the prevention and reduction of influenza. Strong cyclical reduction of absolute humidity has been associated with influenza outbreaks in temperate climates. This study tested the hypothesis that raising absolute humidity above seasonal lows would impact influenza virus survival and transmission in a key source of influenza distribution, a community school. Air samples and objects handled by students (e.g. blocks and markers) were collected from preschool classrooms. All samples were processed and PCR used to determine the presence of influenza and its amount. Additionally samples were tested for their ability to infect cells in cultures. Deliberate classroom humidification (with commercial steam humidifiers) resulted in a significant reduction of the total number of influenza positive samples (air and fomite), viral copy number, and efficiency of viral infectivity. This is the first prospective study suggesting that exogenous humidification could serve as a scalable NPI for influenza or other viral outbreaks.Author summaryHuman influenza infections have a substantial impact on society (including lost productivity and medical costs). Children, 3-4 years of age are the main introducers and spreaders of influenza within a household and community. There is evidence from laboratory and epidemiological studies that suggests that low humidity in winter (in temperate climates) may increase the ability of influenza virus to survive and spread between individuals. We wanted to know if added in humidity (through steam humidifiers) could reduce the amount of influenza present and its spread within preschool classrooms (students aged 3-4 years)? Additionally, we looked at the infectivity of the influenza isolated and if there were differences in the number of students with influenza-like illnesses during our study. We show that humidification can reduce the amount of influenza present within samples from preschool classrooms and that there were fewer infectious samples compared to non-humidified rooms. There were small numbers of students ill with influenza like illnesses during our study so additional studies will need to look further at humidification as a way to reduce influenza infection and transmission.
Pleiotropic effects drive correlation between body mass index and cortical myelination
Authors: Ronan Lisa , Medic Nenad , Fletcher Paul C 
Published: March 2018

AbstractBackgroundEpidemiological studies have reported significant associations between obesity and neurocognitive decline. Understanding these associations will require deeper analyses of how body mass index (BMI) and brain structure are related. Here we explore the extent to which shared genetic factors (pleiotropy) govern the association between BMI and cortical myelination.MethodsStatistical models of bivariate heritability were applied to structural MR image data from a cohort of monozyogotic and dizygotic twins. Estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlation between BMI and cortical myelination were derived. A co-twin control design based on monozygotic twins was used to test the hypothesis of a causal relationship between BMI and myelination. The variation in the genetic correlation across the cortex was compared with the average statistical enrichment of genes associated with obesity derived from data from the Allen brain atlas.ResultsStatistically significant phenotypic and genetic correlation between BMI and cortical myelination was observed across the cortex. Taking the heritability of each trait into account, approximately 80% of the phenotypic correlation between the traits was accounted for by shared genetic factors.Intra-pair differences between traits in monozygotic twins failed to support a causal relationship. Moreover, variation in genetic correlation across the cortex was significantly associated with the statistical enrichment of genes related to obesity.ConclusionsThese results support the hypothesis that pleiotropic effects drive the association between BMI and cortical myelination. This observation may help to explain the co-occurrence of obesity in neurocognitive decline and mental health disorders characterized by changes in myelination and oligodendrocyte function.
Quantifying cell densities and biovolumes of phytoplankton communities and functional groups using scanning flow cytometry, machine learning and unsupervised clustering
Authors: Thomas Mridul K. , Fontana Simone , Reyes Marta , Pomati Francesco 
Published: March 2018

AbstractScanning flow cytometry (SFCM) is characterized by the measurement of time-resolved pulses of fluorescence and scattering, enabling the high-throughput quantification of phytoplankton morphology and pigmentation. Quantifying variation at the single cell and colony level improves our ability to understand dynamics in natural communities. Automated high-frequency monitoring of these communities is presently limited by the absence of repeatable, rapid protocols to analyse SFCM datasets, where images of individual particles are not available. Here we demonstrate a repeatable, semi-automated method to (1) rapidly clean SFCM data from a phytoplankton community by removing signals that do not belong to live phytoplankton cells, (2) classify individual cells into trait clusters that correspond to functional groups, and (3) quantify the biovolumes of individual cells, the total biovolume of the whole community and the total biovolumes of the major functional groups. Our method involves the development of training datasets using lab cultures, the use of an unsupervised clustering algorithm to identify trait clusters, and machine learning tools (random forests) to (1) evaluate variable importance, (2) classify data points, and (3) estimate biovolumes of individual cells. We provide example datasets and R code for our analytical approach that can be adapted for analysis of datasets from other flow cytometers or scanning flow cytometers.