bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bone Allograft Pedicle Screw Augmentation
Authors: Lauren Bould , Paul Kooner , Lorne Beckman , Rizkallah Maroun , Steffen Thomas , Loon Jan van , Aoude Ahmed , Ouellet Jean , Kroeze Robert-Jan , Spruit Maarten 
Published: May 2024

Study Design:
We performed a comprehensive cadaveric biomechanical study to compare the fixation strength of primary screws, screws augmented with bone allograft, and screws augmented with polymethylmethacrylate cement.

Objective:
To evaluate a novel technique for screw augmentation using morselized cortico-cancellous bone allograft to fill the widened screw track of failed pedicle screws.

Background:
To date, there are no known biological methods available for failed pedicle screw augmentation or fixation.

Materials and Methods:
Biomechanical tests were performed using 2 different testing modalities to quantify fixation strength including axial screw pullout and progressive cyclic displacement tests.

Results:
Fifty vertebrae were instrumented with pedicle screws. Our study showed that bone allograft augmentation using the same diameter screw was noninferior to the fixation strength of the initial screw. In the axial pullout test, screws undergoing bone allograft repair failed at 25% lower loads compared with native screws, and screws augmented with cement showed approximately twice as much strength compared with native screws. In the cyclic displacement test, screws fixed with cement resisted loosening the best of all the groups tested. However, screws augmented with bone graft were found to have an equal strength to native screw purchase. our study did not find a correlation with bone mineral density as a predictor for failure in axial pullout or cyclic displacement tests.

Conclusion:
Bone allograft augmentation for pedicle screw fixation was noninferior to the initial screw purchase in this biomechanical study. This bone allograft technique is a viable option for screw fixation in the revision setting when there is significant bone loss in the screw track.
Effects of a Single Dose of Ayahuasca in College Students With Harmful Alcohol Use
Authors: Rodrigues Lucas Silva , Reis José Augusto Silva , Rossi Giordano Novak , Guerra Lorena T. L. , Maekawa Renan Massanobu , de Lima Osório Flávia , Bouso José Carlos , Santos Fabiana Pereira , Paranhos Beatriz Aparecida Passos Bismara , Yonamine Mauricio , Hallak Jaime Eduardo Cecilio , dos Santos Rafael Guimarães 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Background
Ayahuasca is a South American plant hallucinogen rich in the psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine and β-carbolines (mainly harmine). Preclinical and observational studies suggest that ayahuasca exerts beneficial effects in substance use disorders, but these potentials were never assessed in a clinical trial.

Methods
Single-center, single-blind, feasibility, proof-of-concept study, assessing the effects of one dose of ayahuasca accompanied by psychological support (without psychotherapy) on the drinking patterns (primary variable) of 11 college students with harmful alcohol consumption. Secondary variables included safety and tolerability, craving, personality, anxiety, impulsivity, self-esteem, and social cognition.

Findings
Ayahuasca was well tolerated (no serious adverse reactions were observed), while producing significant psychoactive effects. Significant reductions in days per week of alcohol consumption were found between weeks 2 and 3 (2.90 ± 0.28 vs 2.09 ± 0.41; P < 0.05, uncorrected), which were not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. There were no statistically significant effects for other variables, except for a significant reduction in reaction time in an empathy task.

Conclusions
A significant reduction in days of alcohol consumption was observed 2–3 weeks after ayahuasca intake, but this effect did not survive after Bonferroni correction. The lack of significant effects in alcohol use and other variables may be related to the small sample size and mild/moderate alcohol use at baseline. The present study shows the feasibility of our protocol, paving the way for future larger, controlled studies.
Comparison of patency rates and complications with or without antithrombotic therapy following portal vein stent placement after pancreatic surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Chen Lin , Wang Ziyan , Dong Liangbo , Wang Zhiwei , Li Zehui , Wang Weibin 
Published: May 2024

Background:
Portal vein stent placement is used for portal vein stenosis. However, reports on postpancreatic surgery cases are rare. Whether antithrombotic therapy should be administered remains controversial. In this paper, the authors reviewed current data to evaluate the influence of antithrombosis on stent patency after pancreatic surgery.

Materials and methods:
This systematic review and meta-analysis compared studies in which patients did or did not receive antithrombotic therapy after portal vein stent placement. The authors compared patency after stent placement and complication rate.

Results:
There were 22 (n=207) studies in which patients received antithrombotic therapy and 8 (n=61) in which patients did not receive therapy. Antithrombotic agents, such as aspirin, clopidogrel, heparin, and warfarin, were used. The overall patency rates were similar between the groups (79.2% in the antithrombosis group vs. 88.0% in the nonantithrombosis group). Subgroup analyses included those for the etiology of stenosis, types of antithrombotic agents, acute or chronic stenosis, and causes of stent stenosis. None revealed a significant difference between the patency rates in the antithrombosis and nonantithrombosis groups. However, bleeding complications only occurred in patients who received antithrombotic therapy.

Conclusion:
There is no significant benefit of antithrombotic therapy after portal vein stent placement following pancreatic surgery. Antithrombotic therapy should be performed with caution because it may cause complications, such as bleeding.
Characterization of the gut butyrate-producing bacteria and lipid metabolism in African green monkey as a natural host of simian immunodeficiency virus infection
Authors: Zhao Jingjing , Zhou Xiaojun , Qiu Yefeng , Jia Rui 
Published: May 2024

Objective:
Natural hosts of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), such as the African green monkey (AGM), possess the ability to avoid acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) despite lifelong infection. The underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. This study aimed to characterize the gut microbiome and metabolite profiles of different nonhuman primates (NHPs) to provide potential insight into AIDS resistance.

Design and methods:
Fresh feces from Cynomolgus macaques (CMs), and Rhesus macaques (RMs), SIV− AGMs (AGM_N), and SIV+ AGMs (AGM_P) were collected and used for metagenomic sequencing and metabonomic analysis.

Results:
Compared with CMs and RMs, significant decreases in the abundances of Streptococcus, Alistipes, Treponema, Bacteroides, and Methanobrevibacter (P < 0.01), and significant increases in the abundances of Clostridium, Eubacterium, Blautia, Roseburia, Faecalibacterium, and Dialister (P < 0.01) were detected in AGM_N. Compared with AGM_N, a trend toward increased abundances of Streptococcus and Roseburia were found in AGM_P. The levels of metabolites involved in lipid metabolism and butanoate metabolism significantly differed among AGM_P, AGM_N and CM (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:
Our data, for the first time, demonstrated distinguishing features in the abundances of butyrate-producing bacteria and lipid metabolism capacities between different NHP hosts of SIV infection. These findings may correlate with the different characteristics observed among these hosts in the maintenance of intestinal epithelial barrier integrity, regulation of inflammation, and provide insights into AIDS resistance in AGMs.
Interferon-signaling pathways are upregulated in people with HIV with abnormal pulmonary diffusing capacity (DLCO)
Authors: Zhang Michelle , Dai Guorui , Smith Dana L. , Zacco Emanuela , Shimoda Michiko , Kumar Nitasha , Girling Valerie , Gardner Kendall , Hunt Peter W. , Huang Laurence , Lin Jue 
Published: May 2024

Objective:
People with HIV (PWH) are at greater risk of developing lung diseases even when they are antiretroviral therapy (ART)-adherent and virally suppressed. The most common pulmonary function abnormality in PWH is that of impaired diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO), which is an independent risk factor for increased mortality in PWH. Earlier work has identified several plasma biomarkers of inflammation and immune activation to be associated with decreased DLCO. However, the underpinning molecular mechanisms of HIV-associated impaired DLCO are largely unknown.

Design:
Cross-sectional pilot study with PWH with normal DLCO (values greater than or equal to the lower limit of normal, DLCO ≥ LLN, N = 9) or abnormal DLCO (DLCO < LLN, N = 9).

Methods:
We compared the gene expression levels of over 900 inflammation and immune exhaustion genes in PBMCs from PWH with normal vs. abnormal DLCO using the NanoString technology.

Results:
We found that 26 genes were differentially expressed in the impaired DLCO group. These genes belong to 4 categories: 1. Nine genes in inflammation and immune activation pathways, 2. seven upregulated genes that are direct targets of the interferon signaling pathway, 3. seven B-cell specific genes that are downregulated, and 4. three miscellaneous genes. These results were corroborated using the bioinformatics tools DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery) and GSEA (Gene Sets Enrichment Analysis).

Conclusion:
The data provides preliminary evidence for the involvement of sustained interferon signaling as a molecular mechanism for impaired DLCO in PWH.
The impact of financial incentives on mental health among adults in HIV care in Lake Zone, Tanzania
Authors: Chitle Pooja , Sheira Lila A. , Katabaro Emmanuel , Winters Solis , Njau Prosper F. , Sabasaba Amon , McCoy Sandra I. 
Published: May 2024

Objective:
Depression and anxiety are prevalent among people with HIV (PWH), hindering retention in care. Though economic interventions can improve care engagement and mental health in the general population, this remains understudied among PWH. This study assessed whether financial incentives improve mental health among adult antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiates in Lake Zone, Tanzania.

Design:
Two-arm randomized controlled trial.

Methods:
From 2021 to 2023, 32 clinics were randomized to offer patients monthly financial incentives (22 500 TSH/US$ 10) for ≤six months (conditional on visit attendance) or standard-of-care (SoC) services. We assessed changes in depression (PHQ-2 scores) and anxiety (GAD-2 scores) symptoms at baseline, six, and 12 months. Difference-in-differences effects were used to estimate changes over time by arm using inverse probability of censoring sample weights (IPCW).

Results:
Participants (n = 1990) were 57.3% female; median age was 35.0. Baseline prevalences of depression and anxiety symptoms were 66.2% and 60.4%, respectively, and endline prevalences were 7.8% and 7.6% in the intervention and SoC arms, respectively, with no differences by arm. Using IPCW, the differences in the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms in the intervention arm compared to the SoC arm were 2.5 percentage points [95% confidence interval (CI): −3.0, 8.0) and 2.3 percentage points (95% CI: −3.2, 7.9) respectively after six months, and 5.5 percentage points (95% CI: −0.20, 10.8) and 3.8 percentage points (95% CI: −1.5, 9.2) respectively after 12 months.

Conclusion:
Both study arms experienced substantial reductions in poor mental health, primarily within the first six months of care. Financial incentives provided in this study did not significantly augment these downward trends but may improve engagement in care, indirectly improving mental health.
Surgical Outcomes of Revision Orbital Reconstruction in Patients With Inadequate Primary Orbital Fracture Repair
Authors: Choi Yeong A. , Yang Min Kyu , Sa Ho-Seok 
Published: May 2024

Objective:
This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with complications following inadequate primary orbital fracture repair and to evaluate surgical outcomes of secondary revision orbital reconstruction.

Methods:
The authors retrospectively reviewed data from 41 patients who underwent revision orbital reconstruction by a single surgeon following complications from primary orbital fracture repair performed elsewhere. Clinical characteristics, including enophthalmos, exophthalmos, diplopia, ocular motility limitation, epiphora, infraorbital hypoesthesia, infection, eyelid malposition, lagophthalmos, hypoglobus, and compressive optic neuropathy, were assessed. Surgical outcomes of revision surgery were evaluated to determine improvements in clinical deficits and postoperative patient satisfaction.

Results:
The most common postoperative complications of primary orbital fracture repair were enophthalmos (n=20/41) and diplopia (n=20/41). The mean time between primary and revision surgeries was 67.2 months (range: 1–276 mo). Revision surgery significantly improved enophthalmos, diplopia (Hess area ratio), epiphora (Munk score), periorbital pain, and exophthalmos (P=0.003, P=0.001, P<0.001, P<0.001, and P=0.007, respectively) compared to the pre-revision state. In addition, 6 patients experienced improved infraorbital hypoesthesia. Among the 41 patients, 23 were very satisfied, 17 were satisfied, and 1 was neutral after revision orbital reconstruction.

Conclusions:
Our study highlights the positive impact of revision orbital reconstruction in addressing complications from inadequate primary orbital fracture repair. Surgeons should consider revision surgery to address clinical deficits following prior surgery, especially when anatomic abnormalities are evident in imaging studies, regardless of the time lapse since the initial surgery or concerns about tissue fibrosis and fat atrophy.
Impaired hippocampal functions underlying memory encoding and consolidation precede robust Aβ deposition in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Li Hanyan , Zhao Zhuoyang , Fassini Aline , Lee Han K. , Green Reese J. , Gomperts Stephen N. 
Published: May 2024

AbstractCurrent therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) target amyloid-beta (Aβ) fibrils and high molecular weight protofibrils associated with plaques, but molecular cascades associated with AD may drive neural systems failure before Aβ plaque deposition in AD. Employing hippocampal electrophysiological recordings and dynamic calcium imaging across the sleep-wake cycle in the APP/PS1 mouse model of AD before Aβ plaques accumulated, we detected marked impairments of hippocampal systems function: In a spatial behavioral task, but not REM sleep, phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) of the hippocampal theta and gamma oscillations was impaired and place cell calcium fluctuations were hyper-synchronized with the theta oscillation. In subsequent slow wave sleep (SWS), place cell reactivation was reduced. These degraded neural functions underlying memory encoding and consolidation support targeting pathological processes of the pre-plaque phase of AD to treat and prevent hippocampal impairments.
Addressing Distribution Mismatch for Effective Semi-Supervised Neuron Segmentation
Authors: Zhang Yanchao , Zhai Hao , Guo Jinyue , Liu Jing , Xie Qiwei , Han Hua 
Published: May 2024

ABSTRACTSemi-supervised learning offers a cost-effective approach for neuron segmentation in electron microscopy (EM) volumes. This technique leverages extensive unlabeled data to regularize supervised training for more robust predictions of neuron affinities. However, the distribution mismatch between labeled and unlabeled datasets, arising from limited annotations and the diversity of neuronal patterns, impedes the generalization of semi-supervised models. In this paper, we develop a dual-level pipeline to address the inherent mismatch issue and enhance semi-supervised neuron segmentation. At the data level, we propose an unsupervised heuristic to select valuable sub-volumes as labeled data based on distribution similarity in a pretrained feature space, ensuring a representative coverage of neuronal structures. At the model level, we introduce an axial-through mixing strategy into anisotropic neuron segmentation and integrate it into a semi-supervised framework. Building on this, we establish cross-view consistency constraints through intra- and inter-mixing of labeled and unlabeled datasets, which facilitates the learning of shared semantics across distributions while avoiding ambiguity in neuron affinities. Extensive comparative experiments and ablation studies on publicly available datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method across different EM modalities and spatial resolutions.
BOLD Contrast Response Characteristics of Aberrant Voxels with Bilateral Visual Population Receptive Fields in Human Albinism
Authors: Duwell Ethan J. , Woertz Erica N. , Mathis Jedidiah , Carroll Joseph , DeYoe Edgar A. 
Published: May 2024

ABSTRACTAlbinism is an inherited disorder characterized by disrupted melanin production in the eye, and often in the skin and hair. This retinal hypopigmentation is accompanied by pathological decussation of many temporal retinal afferents at the optic chiasm during development, ultimately resulting in partially superimposed representations of opposite visual hemifields in each cortical hemisphere. Within these aberrant regions of hemifield overlap, individual voxels have been shown to have bilateral, dual population receptive fields (pRFs) responding to roughly mirror-image locations across the vertical meridian. Nonetheless, how these two conflicting inputs combine to determine a voxel’s response to image contrast is still unknown. To address this, we stimulated the right and left hemifields with separately controlled sinusoidal gratings, each having a variety of contrasts (0, 8, 20, 45, 100%), and extracted voxel-wise BOLD response amplitudes to each contrast combination in visual areas V1-V3. We then compared voxels’ responses to each hemifield stimulated individually with conditions when both hemifields were stimulated simultaneously. We hypothesized that simultaneous stimulation of the two pRF components will result in either a suppressive or facilitative interaction. However, we found that BOLD responses to simultaneous stimulation appeared to reflect simple summation of the neural activity from the individual hemifield conditions. This suggests that the superimposed opposite hemifield representations do not interact. Thus, dual pRFs in albinism likely reflect two co-localized, but functionally independent populations of neurons each of which respond to a single hemifield. This finding is commensurate with psychophysical studies which have shown no clear perceptual interaction between opposite visual hemifields in human albinism.
High refresh rate display for natural monocular viewing in AOSLO psychophysics experiments
Authors: Moon Benjamin , Linebach Glory , Yang Angelina , Jenks Samantha K. , Rucci Michele , Poletti Martina , Rolland Jannick P. 
Published: May 2024

AbstractBy combining an external display operating at 360 frames per second with an Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) for human foveal imaging, we demonstrate color stimulus delivery at high spatial and temporal resolution in AOSLO psychophysics experiments. A custom pupil relay enables viewing of the stimulus through a 3-mm effective pupil diameter and provides refractive error correction from -8 to +4 diopters. Performance of the assembled and aligned pupil relay was validated by measuring the wavefront error across the field of view and correction range, and the as-built Strehl ratio was 0.64 or better. High-acuity stimuli were rendered on the external display and imaged through the pupil relay to demonstrate that spatial frequencies up to 54 cycles per degree, corresponding to 20/11 visual acuity, are resolved. The completed external display was then used to render fixation markers across the field of view of the monitor, and a continuous retinal montage spanning 9.4 by 5.4 degrees of visual angle was acquired with the AOSLO. We conducted eye-tracking experiments during free-viewing and high-acuity tasks with polychromatic images presented on the external display. Sub-arcminute eye position uncertainty was achieved, enabling precise localization of the line of sight on the monitor while simultaneously imaging the fine structure of the human central fovea. This high refresh rate display overcomes the temporal, spectral, and field of view limitations of AOSLO-based stimulus presentation, enabling natural monocular viewing of stimuli in psychophysics experiments conducted with AOSLO.
Protective Effect of 2-Hydroxyestrone and 2-Hydroxyestradiol Against Chemically-Induced HepatotoxicityIn VitroandIn Vivo
Authors: Sun Xi , Hao Xiangyu , Jia Yichen , Zhang Qi , Zhu Yanyin , Yang Yong Xiao , Zhu Bao Ting 
Published: May 2024

ABSTRACTFerroptosis is a form of regulated cell death closely associated with glutathione depletion and accumulation of reactive lipid peroxides. In the present study, we seek to determine whether 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OH-E1) and 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OH-E2), two major metabolites of endogenous estrone and 17β-estradiol formed in liver by cytochrome P450 enzymes, can strongly protect against erastin– and RSL3-induced ferroptosis in hepatoma cells (H-4-II-E and HuH-7)in vitroand acetaminophen-induced mouse liver injuryin vivo. We find that 2-OH-E1and 2-OH-E2can protect, in a dose-dependent manner, H-4-II-E hepatoma cells against erastin/RSL3-induced ferroptosis. Similar protective effect of 2-OH-E1and 2-OH-E2against RSL3-induced ferroptosis is also observed in HuH-7 hepatoma cells. These two estrogen metabolites strongly reduce the levels of erastin– and/or RSL3-induced accumulation of cellular NO, ROS and lipid-ROS. Mechanistically, 2-OH-E1and 2-OH-E2protect cells against chemically-induced ferroptosis mainly by binding to cellular protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), and then inhibit its catalytic activity and reduce PDI-catalyzed formation of iNOS dimer, thereby abrogating cellular NO, ROS and lipid-ROS accumulation. Animal studies show that 2-OH-E1and 2-OH-E2can also exert a strong protection against acetaminophen-induced liver injury in mice. Interestingly, while estrone and 17β-estradiol display a very weak protective effect in cultured hepatoma cells, they exert a similarly-strong protective effect as 2-OH-E1and 2-OH-E2in vivo, suggesting that the metabolic conversion of estrone and 17β-estradiol to 2-OH-E1and 2-OH-E2contributes importantly to their hepatoprotective effect. The results of this study reveal that 2-OH-E1and 2-OH-E2are important endogenous factors for protection against chemically-induced liver injuryin vivo.