bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Patient-Specific Pessaries for Pelvic Organ Prolapse Using Three-Dimensional Printing: A Pilot Study
Authors: Hong Christopher X. , Zhang Shufei , Eltahawi Ahmed , Borazjani Ali , Kalami Hamed , San Aye Nyein , Sham Derek , Ameri Golafsoun , McDermott Colleen D. 
Published: August 2023

Importance
Vaginal pessaries are an effective nonsurgical treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) when properly fitted. However, pessary fitting and use are often unsuccessful or imperfect.

Objective
The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of using patient-specific pessaries fabricated from three-dimensional (3D)-printed molds to improve POP symptoms and increase overall satisfaction of pessary treatment in patients using standard vaginal pessaries.

Study Design
Patients undergoing POP treatment with standard vaginal pessaries were enrolled in this pilot prospective study. Patient-specific pessaries were designed and fabricated for each patient using patient input, physician input, and anatomic measurements from clinical assessment. Pessary fabrication involved injection of biocompatible liquid silicone rubber into 3D-printed molds followed by a biocompatible silicone coating. Pelvic organ prolapse symptomatic distress and pessary treatment satisfaction were evaluated before and after a 3-week patient-specific pessary home trial using the validated Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 form and a visual analog scale, respectively.

Results
Eight women were included in this study. Changing from standard pessary to patient-specific pessary treatment was associated with an improvement in prolapse symptoms on the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (median change, −3.5; interquartile range, −5 to −2.5; P = 0.02) and an increase in overall pessary satisfaction on a visual analog scale (median change, +2.0; interquartile range, +1.0 to +3.0; P = 0.02). All patients reported either an improvement or no change in pessary ease of use, comfort, and the feeling of support provided by the pessary.

Conclusion
Patient-specific vaginal pessaries are a promising alternative to standard pessaries for alleviating POP symptoms and improving patient satisfaction with pessary use.
Combining Serum miR-144-3p and miR-652-3p as Potential Biomarkers for the Early Diagnosis and Stratification of Acute Cellular Rejection in Heart Transplantation Patients
Authors: Pérez-Carrillo Lorena , Sánchez-Lázaro Ignacio , Triviño Juan Carlos , Feijóo-Bandín Sandra , Lago Francisca , González-Juanatey José Ramón , Martínez-Dolz Luis , Portolés Manuel , Tarazón Estefanía , Roselló-Lletí Esther 
Published: August 2023

Background.
There is a dire need for specific, noninvasive biomarkers that can accurately detect cardiac acute cellular rejection (ACR) early. Previously, we described miR-144-3p as an excellent candidate for detecting grade ≥2R ACR. Now, we investigated the combination of miR-144-3p with miR-652-3p, other differentially expressed serum miRNA we previously described, to improve diagnostic accuracy mainly in mild rejection to avoid reaching severe stages.

Methods.
We selected miR-652-3p from a preliminary RNA-seq study to be validated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction on 212 consecutive serum samples from transplantation recipients undergoing routine endomyocardial biopsies to subsequently combine them with miR-144-3p results and investigate their diagnostic capability.

Results.
We confirmed the miR-652-3p overexpression (P < 0.0001) and its capability to discriminate between patients with and without ACR of any grade (P < 0.0001). The combined serum levels of miR-144-3p and miR-652-3p were significantly higher in patients with rejection regardless of posttransplantation time (P < 0.0001). This combination resulted in a diagnostic efficacy for 1R (area under the curve = 0.794) and ≥2R (area under the curve = 0.892; P < 0.0001) that was superior to each biomarker alone. Furthermore, it was a strong independent predictor of ACR for 1R (odds ratio of 10.950; P < 0.0001) and ≥2R (odds ratio of 14.289; P < 0.01).

Conclusions.
We demonstrated that an appropriate combination of blood-based biomarkers could exhibit greater efficiency for cardiac rejection diagnosis. The combined detection of abnormal expression of miR-144-3p and miR-652-3p in the serum of ACR patients can improve the diagnostic sensitivity of rejection at an early stage and contribute to increasing the diagnostic accuracy, mainly in the lower rejection grades.
Cellular dynamics in the maize leaf growth zone during recovery from chilling depends on the leaf developmental stage
Authors: Lainé Cindy M.S. , AbdElgawad Hamada , Beemster Gerrit T.S. 
Published: August 2023

SummaryZea mays, a major crop, is highly sensitive to chilling which frequently occurs during its seedling stage and negatively affects yields. Although the direct effect of chilling is well-studied, the mechanisms determining the subsequent recovery are still unknown. Our goal is to determine the cellular basis of the dynamic leaf growth response to chilling and during recovery of leaves exposed before or after their emergence. We first studied the effect of a 3-day cold spell on leaf growth at the plant level. Then, we performed a kinematic analysis to analyse the dynamics of cell division and elongation during recovery of the 4thleaf after exposure to cold before or after emergence. Our results demonstrate that cold more strongly reduced the final length of non-emerged than emerged leaves (-13 vs -18%). This was not related to growth differences during cold, but a faster and more complete recovery of the growth of emerged leaves. Kinematic analysis showed that this difference was due to a higher cell division rate on the 1stand a higher cell elongation rate on the 2nd-day of recovery, respectively. The dynamics of cell division and expansion during recovery determine developmental stage-specific differences in cold tolerance of maize leaves.
Study of the protectiveOAS1rs10774671-G allele against severe COVID-19 in Moroccans suggests a North African origin for Neanderthals
Authors: Youssfi Fatima Zohra El , Haroun Abbas Ermilo , Nebhani Chaimae , Belayachi Jihane , Askander Omar , Fahime Elmostafa El , Fares Hakima , Ennibi Khalid , Abouqal Redouane , Razine Rachid , Bouhouche Ahmed 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe clinical presentation of COVID-19 has shown high variability between individuals, which is partly due to genetic factors. The OAS1/2/3 cluster was found to be strongly associated with COVID-19 severity. We aimed to examine this locus for the occurrence of the critical variant, rs10774671, and its respective haplotype blocks within the Moroccan population.MethodsThe frequency of SNPs at the cluster of OAS immunity genes was assessed from an in-house database in 157 unrelated individuals of Moroccan origin. TheOAS1exon 6 was sequenced by Sanger’s method in 71 asymptomatic/mild and 74 moderate/severe individuals positive for SARS-CoV-2. Genotypic, allelic, and haplotype frequencies of three SNPs were compared between the two groups. Finally, males in our COVID-19 series were genotyped for the Berber-specific marker E-M81.ResultsThe prevalence of theOAS1rs10774671-G allele in present-day Moroccans was 40.4%, close to that of Europeans. However, it was found equally on both the Neanderthal GGG haplotype and the African GAC haplotype with a frequency of 20% each. These two haplotypes, and hence the rs10774671-G allele, were significantly associated with the protection against severe COVID-19 (p= 0.034,p= 0.041, andp= 0.008 respectively). Surprisingly, among Berber men, the African haplotype was absent while the prevalence of the Neanderthal haplotype was close to that of Europeans.ConclusionThe protective rs10774671-G allele ofOAS1was found only in the Neanderthal haplotype in Berbers, the indigenous people of North Africa, suggesting that this region may have served as the stepping-stone for the passage of the hominids to the other continents.
H3-OPT: Accurate prediction of CDR-H3 loop structures of antibodies with deep learning
Authors: Chen Hedi , Fan Xiaoyu , Zhu Shuqian , Pei Yuchan , Zhang Xiaochun , Zhang Xiaonan , Liu Lihang , Qian Feng , Tian Boxue 
Published: August 2023

AbstractAccurate prediction of the structurally diverse complementarity determining region heavy chain 3 (CDR-H3) loop structure remains a primary and long-standing challenge for antibody modeling. Here, we present the H3-OPT toolkit for predicting the 3D structures of monoclonal antibodies and nanobodies. H3-OPT combines the strengths of AlphaFold2 with a pre-trained protein language model, and provides a 2.24 Å average RMSDCαbetween predicted and experimentally determined CDR-H3 loops, thus outperforming other current computational methods in our non-redundant high-quality dataset. The model was validated by experimentally solving three structures of anti-VEGF nanobodies predicted by H3-OPT. We examined the potential applications of H3-OPT through analyzing antibody surface properties and antibody-antigen interactions. This structural prediction tool can be used to optimize antibody-antigen binding, and to engineer therapeutic antibodies with biophysical properties for specialized drug administration route.
Single-dose epidural bupivacaine vs placebo after lumbar decompression surgery: A Randomized controlled trial
Authors: Hermans Sem M. M. , Lantinga-Zee Aniek A. G. , Droeghaag Ruud , van Santbrink Henk , van Hemert Wouter L. W. , Reinders Mattheus K. , Hoofwijk Daisy M. N. , van Kuijk Sander M. J. , Rijkers Kim , Curfs Inez 
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACTIntroductionAdequate postoperative pain management following lumbar spinal decompression surgery is important as it will lead to early mobilization, less complications and shorter hospital stay. Opioid consumption should be limited due to their frequently accompanied side effects and their addictive nature. During the final phase of lumbar decompression surgery, the epidural space becomes easily accessible. This might be an ideal moment for surgeons to administer an epidural bolus of analgesia, as a safe and effective method for post-operative pain relief.MethodsThis is a double blind randomized controlled trial comparing a single intraoperative bolus of epidural analgesia using bupivacaine 0.25% to placebo (NaCl 0,9%) and its effect on postoperative pain following lumbar spinal decompression surgery. The primary outcome was the difference in NRS pain between the intervention and placebo groups during the first 48h after surgery. It was hypothesized that the intervention group will have lower postoperative NRS pain scores.ResultsBoth the intervention group and the placebo group consisted of 20 randomized patients (N=40). We observed statistically significant lower NRS pain scores in the intervention group in comparison with the control group, with a difference of −1.9 (±1.1). The average pain score was lower in the intervention group at all postoperative time-points. Opioid consumption, quality of life and satisfaction were similar between study groups. No study related complications occurred, and complications rate did not differ between study groups.ConclusionThis randomized controlled trial shows that administrating a bolus of intraoperative epidural bupivacaine is a safe and effective method in reducing early postoperative pain following lumbar decompression surgery.
Computer vision detects inflammatory arthritis in standardized smartphone photographs in an Indian patient cohort
Authors: Phatak Sanat , Chakraborty Somashree , Goel Pranay 
Published: August 2023

AbstractIntroductionComputer vision extracts meaning from pixelated images and holds promise in automating clinical tasks. Convolutional neural networks (CNN), deep learning networks used therein, have shown promise in X-ray images as well as joint photographs. We studied the performance of a CNN on standardized smartphone photographs in detecting inflammation in three hand joints.MethodsWe enrolled consecutive patients with inflammatory arthritis of less than two years duration and excluded those with deformities. Each patient was examined by a rheumatologist and the presence of synovitis in each joint was recorded. Hand photographs were taken in a standardized manner and anonymized. Images were cropped to include joints of interest. A reNrt-101 backbone modified for two class outputs (inflamed or not) was used for training. We also tested a hue augmented dataset. We report accuracy, sensitivity and specificity for three joints: wrist, index finger proximal interphalangeal (IFPIP), middle finger interphalangeal (MFPIP).ResultsThe cohort had a mean age of 49.7 years; most had rheumatoid arthritis(n=68). The wrist (62.5%), MFPIP (47%) and IFPIP (41.5%) were the three most commonly inflamed joints. The CNN achieved the highest accuracy in being able to detect synovitis in the MFPIP (83%) followed by the IFPIP (74%) and the wrist (65%).DiscussionWe show that computer vision was able to detect inflammation in three joints of the hand with reasonable accuracy on standardized photographs despite a small dataset. Feature engineering was not required, and the CNN worked despite a diversity in clinical diagnosis. Larger datasets are likely to improve accuracy and help explain the basis of classification. These data suggest a potential use of computer vision in screening and follow-up of inflammatory arthritis.
Episodic boundaries affect neural features of representational drift in humans
Authors: Kulkarni Nimay , Lega Bradley C. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractA core feature of episodic memory is representational drift, the gradual change in aggregate oscillatory features that supports temporal association of memory items. However, models of drift overlook the role of episodic boundaries, which indicate a shift from prior to current context states. Our study focuses on the impact of task boundaries on representational drift in the parietal and temporal lobes in 99 subjects during a free recall task. Using intracranial EEG recordings, we show boundary representations reset gamma band drift in the medial parietal lobe, selectively enhancing the recall of early list (primacy) items. Conversely, the lateral temporal cortex shows increased drift for recalled items but lacked sensitivity to task boundaries. Our results suggest regional sensitivity to varied contextual features: the lateral temporal cortex uses drift to differentiate items, while the medial parietal lobe uses drift-resets to associate items with the current context. We propose drift represents relational information tailored to a region’s sensitivity to unique contextual elements. Our findings offer a mechanism to integrate models of temporal association by drift with event segmentation by episodic boundaries.
The “motive cocktail” in altruistic behaviors
Authors: Wu Xiaoyan , Ren Xiangjuan , Liu Chao , Zhang Hang 
Published: August 2023

AbstractProsocial motives such as social equality and efficiency are key to altruistic behaviors. However, predicting the range of altruistic behaviors in varying contexts and among different individuals proves challenging if we limit ourselves to one or two motives, as most previous studies have done. Here we demonstrate the numerous, interdependent motives in altruistic behaviors and the possibility to disentangle them through behavioral experimental data and computational modeling. In one laboratory experiment (N=157) and one pre-registered online replication (N=1258) across 100 different situations, we found that both third-party punishment and helping behaviors aligned best with a model of seven socioeconomic motives, referred to as a “motive cocktail”, including two compound motives. For instance, the “inequality discounting” motives imply that individuals, when confronted with costly interventions, behave as if the inequality between others barely exists. The motive cocktail model also provides a unified explanation for a range of phenomena in the literature.
Fgf signalling is required for gill slit formation in the skate,Leucoraja erinacea
Authors: Rees Jenaid M. , Palmer Michael A. , Gillis J. Andrew 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe gill slits of fishes develop from an iterative series of pharyngeal endodermal pouches that contact and fuse with surface ectoderm on either side of the embryonic head. We find in the skate (Leucoraja erinacea) that all gill slits form via a stereotypical sequence of epithelial interactions:1)endodermal pouches approach overlying surface ectoderm, with2)focal degradation of ectodermal basement membranes preceding endoderm–ectoderm contact;3)endodermal pouches contact and intercalate with overlying surface ectoderm, and finally4)perforation of a gill slit occurs by epithelial remodelling, without programmed cell death, at the site of endoderm– ectoderm intercalation. Skate embryos expressFgf8andFgf3within developing pharyngeal epithelia during gill slit formation. When we inhibit Fgf signalling by treating skate embryos with the Fgf receptor inhibitor SU5402 we find that endodermal pouch formation, basement membrane degradation and endodermal–ectodermal intercalation are unaffected, but that epithelial remodelling and gill slit perforation fail to occur. These findings point to a role for Fgf signalling in epithelial remodelling during gill slit formation in the skate and, more broadly, to an ancestral role for Fgf signalling during pharyngeal pouch epithelial morphogenesis in vertebrate embryos.
KinCytE- a Kinase to Cytokine Explorer to Identify Molecular Regulators and Potential Therapeutic Opportunities
Authors: Chan Marina , Kang Yuqi , Osborne Shannon , Zager Michael , Gujral Taranjit S 
Published: August 2023

ABSTRACTCytokines and chemokines are secreted proteins that regulate various biological processes, such as inflammation, immune response, and cell differentiation. Therefore, disruption of signaling pathways involving these proteins has been linked to a range of diseases, including cancer. However, targeting individual cytokines, chemokines, or their receptors is challenging due to their regulatory redundancy and incomplete understanding of their signaling networks. To transform these difficult-to-drug targets into a pharmacologically manageable class, we developed a web-based platform called KinCytE. This platform was designed to link the effects of kinase inhibitors, a well-established class of drugs, with cytokine and chemokine release and signaling networks. The resulting KinCytE platform enables users to investigate protein kinases that regulate specific cytokines or chemokines, generate a ranked list of FDA-approved kinase inhibitors that affect cytokine/chemokine activity, and explore and visualize cytokine signaling network thus facilitating drugging this challenging target class. KinCytE is freely accessible viahttps://atlas.fredhutch.org/kincyte.
Drivers and impact of the early silent invasion of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha
Authors: Faucher Benjamin , Sabbatini Chiara E. , Czuppon Peter , Kraemer Moritz U.G. , Lemey Philippe , Colizza Vittoria , Blanquart Francois , Boëlle Pierre-Yves , Poletto Chiara 
Published: August 2023

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) circulated cryptically before being identified as a threat, delaying interventions. Here we studied the drivers of such silent spread and its epidemic impact to inform future response planning. We focused on Alpha spread out of the UK. We integrated spatio-temporal records of international mobility, local epidemic growth and genomic surveillance into a Bayesian framework to reconstruct the first three months after Alpha emergence. We found that silent circulation lasted from days to months and decreased with the logarithm of sequencing coverage. Social restrictions in some countries likely delayed the establishment of local transmission, mitigating the negative consequences of late detection. Revisiting the initial spread of Alpha supports local mitigation at the destination in case of emerging events.
Current and lagged associations of meteorological variables andAedesmosquito indices with dengue incidence in the Philippines
Authors: Cruz Estrella I. , Salazar Ferdinand V. , Aguila Ariza , Ramos Jennifer , Paul Richard E. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackgroundDengue is an increasing health burden that has spread throughout the tropics and sub-tropics. There is currently no effective vaccine and control is only possible through integrated vector management. Early warning systems to alert potential dengue outbreaks are currently being explored but despite showing promise are yet to come to fruition. This study addresses the use of meteorological variables for predicting both entomological indices and dengue incidences and assesses the added value of additionally using entomological indices for predicting dengue incidences.Methodology/Principal FindingsEntomological surveys were carried out monthly for 14 months in six sites spread across three environmentally different cities of the Philippines. Meteorological and dengue data were acquired. Non-linear generalized additive models were fitted to test associations with the meteorological variables and both entomological indices and dengue cases. Rain and the diurnal temperature range (DTR) contributed most to explaining the variation in both entomological indices and number of dengue cases. DTR and minimum temperature also explained variation in dengue cases occurring one and two months later. The number of adult mosquitoes did associate with the number of dengue cases, but contributed no additional value for predicting dengue cases.Conclusions/SignificanceThe use of meteorological variables to predict future risk of dengue holds promise. The lack of added value of using entomological indices confirms several previous studies and given the onerous nature of obtaining such information, more effort should be placed on improving meteorological information at a finer scale to evaluate efficacy in early warning of dengue outbreaks.Author summaryDengue is a widespread mosquito-borne disease. Mosquitoes are sensitive to temperature and rainfall and hence there have been efforts to identify such variables for predicting dengue outbreaks. Several mosquito indices are measured routinely by national surveillance systems, but which vary considerably in their success of predicting dengue outbreaks. This study explored the current and lagged associations of meteorological variables with mosquito indices and dengue incidence. Associations of mosquito indices with dengue were also explored. Rain and the diurnal temperature range (DTR) contributed most to explaining the variation in both entomological indices and number of dengue cases. DTR and minimum temperature also explained variation in dengue cases occurring one and two months later. Mosquito indices did not provide any additional predictive power of dengue incidences. Given the onerous nature of measuring mosquito indices, advanced warning systems might be improved using meteorological variables measured at finer scales than that traditionally available.