bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety testing of a COVID-19 era emergency ventilator in a healthy rabbit lung model
Authors: White Luke A. , Maxey Benjamin S. , Solitro Giovanni F. , Takei Hidehiro , Conrad Steven A. , Alexander J. Steven 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a substantial and unmet need for low-cost, easily accessible mechanical ventilation strategies for use in medical resource-challenged areas. Internationally, several groups developed non-conventional COVID-19 era emergency ventilator strategies as a stopgap measure when conventional ventilators were unavailable. Here, we compared our FALCON emergency ventilator in a rabbit model and compared its safety and functionality to conventional mechanical ventilation.

Methods
New Zealand white rabbits (n = 5) received mechanical ventilation from both the FALCON and a conventional mechanical ventilator (Engström Carestation™) for 1 h each. Airflow and pressure, blood O2 saturation, end tidal CO2, and arterial blood gas measurements were measured. Additionally, gross and histological lung samples were compared to spontaneously breathing rabbits (n = 3) to assess signs of ventilator induced lung injury.

Results
All rabbits were successfully ventilated with the FALCON. At identical ventilator settings, tidal volumes, pressures, and respiratory rates were similar between both ventilators, but the inspiratory to expiratory ratio was lower using the FALCON. End tidal CO2 was significantly higher on the FALCON, and arterial blood gas measurements demonstrated lower arterial partial pressure of O2 at 30 min and higher arterial partial pressure of CO2 at 30 and 60 min using the FALCON. However, when ventilated at higher respiratory rates, we observed a stepwise decrease in end tidal CO2. Poincaré plot analysis demonstrated small but significant increases in short-term and long-term variation of peak inspiratory pressure generation from the FALCON. Wet to dry lung weight and lung injury scoring between the mechanically ventilated and spontaneously breathing rabbits were similar.

Conclusions
Although conventional ventilators are always preferable outside of emergency use, the FALCON ventilator safely and effectively ventilated healthy rabbits without lung injury. Emergency ventilation using accessible and inexpensive strategies like the FALCON may be useful for communities with low access to medical resources and as a backup form of emergency ventilation.
Microbial community composition, dynamics, and biogeochemistry during the start-up of a partial nitritation-anammox pathway in an upflow reactor
Authors: Ribeiro Hugo , Wijaya I. Made W. , Soares-Santos Verónica , Soedjono Eddy Setiadi , Slamet Agus , Teixeira Catarina , Bordalo Adriano A. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe dynamics of the microbial community and functional taxa related to nitrogen (N) removal biogeochemical processes can be important to the development of new cost-effective processes in wastewater treatment. This work consisted of the start-up of an upflow reactor for N-removal by partial nitritation/anammox pathway, working at ambient temperature, during 397 d. After an adaptation to the reactor operational conditions, a stable total N-removal (52% efficiency) was linked to ammonium deletion. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons analysis revealed a relative abundance of about 1% of anammox genus Candidatus Brocadia after 397 d. Nitrosomonas, a nitrifying bacterium also increased the relative abundance, together with the accretion of relative numbers of Denitratisoma and Thiobacillus, recognized as heterotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic denitrifying bacteria, respectively. These findings provide a better understanding of the N-removal by key microbial groups that may be useful to optimize future field application of systems working at ambient temperature.
Agreement and accuracy of radiographic assessment using a decision aid for medial Oxford partial knee replacement: multicentre study
Authors: Hiranaka Takafumi , Furuhashi Ryosuke , Takashiba Kenichiro , Kodama Takao , Michishita Kazuhiko , Inui Hiroshi , Togashi Eita 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Background
Indication for mobile-bearing partial knee replacement (PKR) is made on the basis of a radiological decision aid. This study aimed to reveal the inter-rater reproducibility and accuracy of the decision aid when used by experienced surgeons.

Patients and methods
Anonymised radiographic image sets (anteroposterior, lateral, varus/valgus stress in 20° knee flexion, and skyline views) from 20 consecutive patients who underwent knee replacement were assessed by 12 experienced surgeons. Agreements of each section and accuracy were compared by intra-operative inspection of the status of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial and lateral cartilage according to the protocol of Radiographic Assessment for Medial Oxford PKR. Fleiss’ kappa (κ) values were used as a statistical measure.

Results
Full-thickness medial cartilage had the best agreement between the surgeons (κ = 94.7%) and best accuracy (94.2%). Although functioning ACL (90.8%), intact cartilage (91.7%) and full-thickness lateral cartilage defects (86.1%) were accurately diagnosed, diagnoses of deficient ACL (up to 42.5%) and partial-thickness lateral cartilage defects (11.7%) were poor; they were sometimes misdiagnosed as being intact. Moreover, agreement of lateral and valgus stress radiographs regarding intact MCL function, as well as the overall decision, was considered to be inadequate (κ = 0.47, 0.58 and 0.51, respectively).

Conclusions
Although the radiological aid is useful for selection of patients who are likely to be suitable for PKR, surgeons should still carefully assess the lateral weight-bearing area for partial-thickness loss and deficiency of the ACL because they were sometimes overlooked by surgeons using radiographs. MRI will be helpful to improve the accuracy of determination of Oxford PKR indication.
Association of CDKN2A/B gene polymorphisms (rs10811661 and rs2383208) with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a sample of Iraqi population
Authors: Fadheel Hussein K. , Kaftan Ahmed N. , Naser Farah H. , Hussain Majid K. , Algenabi Abdul Hussein A. , Mohammad Hamza J. , Al-Kashwan Thekra A. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Background
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is chronic metabolic disorder manifested by increased blood glucose (hyperglycemia) due to pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and/or decreased sensitivity of peripheral tissue to insulin. T2DM is a multifactorial disease that may results from interaction of environmental and genetic factors.

Methods
A case–control study consisting of 400 T2DM patients in addition to 400 as control. Phenotyping as well as anthropometric data included body mass index BMI, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum total cholesterol, serum triglyceride, VLDL, LDL, HDL insulin levels and Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance HOMA-IR were estimated for the two groups. PCR–RFLP was used to carry out genotyping of CDKN2A/B gene (rs10811661 T>C and rs2383208 A>G) SNPs.

Results
For rs10811661 SNP the genotype and allele frequencies of CDKN2A/B gene for T2DM and control subjects showed that the co-dominant model in patients with the homozygous (TT) was found to be significantly (OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.47–4.24, P 0.004) higher than those in control group. In contrast, the heterozygous genotype (TC) did not reveal this significance (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.77–2.62, P = 0.13), ANOVA test for mean comparison of biochemical markers under the co-dominant model of rs10811661 SNP genotype in CDKN2A/B gene, revealed a significant difference for insulin (P < 0.0001) and HOMA-IR (P < 0.0001) in T2DM group as compared to control one; However (rs2383208) SNP did not show any significant association with T2DM and with the measured biochemical marker at any model.

Conclusions
CDKN2A/B gene rs10811661 SNP was implicated in T2DM pathogenesis in this sample of Iraqi population also it affects insulin level in those patients, whereas the rs2383208 SNP did not impact the disease.
A softened membrane model for single-box multi-cell composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs under pure torsion
Authors: Shen Kongjian , Wan Shui , Zhu Yingbo , Lyu Debao , Wu Zhiqiang 
Published: March 2022

AbstractTo analyze the nonlinear torsional behavior of single-box multi-cell prestressed concrete (PC) or reinforced concrete (RC) composite box-girders with corrugated steel webs (BGCSWs), a new theoretical model called unified softened membrane model for torsion (USMMT) is proposed in this study. It is developed from the softened membrane model for torsion which was formerly proposed for the torsional analysis of single-box single-cell PC/RC composite BGCSWs. This proposed model incorporates the different contributions of inner and outer corrugated steel webs (CSWs) in the multi-cell BGCSW to the torsional capacity by introducing a rational relationship of shear strains between inner CSWs and outer CSWs. The satisfactory accuracy of the proposed model is obtained when comparing with the experimental and the finite element analysis results, including the torque-twist curves and the smeared shear strains in concrete slabs and CSWs in the full-range torsional analysis. The comparison indicates that the proposed model is capable of predicting the overall torsional behavior of single-box multi-cell BGCSWs.
A Data-Driven Approach to Predicting 5-Aminolevulinic Acid–Induced Fluorescence and World Health Organization Grade in Newly Diagnosed Diffuse Gliomas
Authors: Müther Michael , Jaber Mohammed , Johnson Timothy D. , Orringer Daniel A. , Stummer Walter 
Published: March 2022

BACKGROUND:
A growing body of evidence has revealed the potential utility of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) as a surgical adjunct in selected lower-grade gliomas. However, a reliable means of identifying which lower-grade gliomas will fluoresce has not been established.

OBJECTIVE:
To identify clinical and radiological factors predictive of intraoperative fluorescence in intermediate-grade gliomas. In addition, given that higher-grade gliomas are more likely to fluoresce than lower-grade gliomas, we also sought to develop a means of predicting glioma grade.

METHODS:
We investigated a cohort of patients with grade II and grade III gliomas who received 5-ALA before resection at a single institution. Using a logistic regression-based model, we evaluated 14 clinical and molecular variables considered plausible determinants of fluorescence. We then distilled the most predictive features to develop a model for predicting both fluorescence and tumor grade. We also explored the relationship between intraoperative fluorescence and diagnostic molecular markers.

RESULTS:
One hundered seventy-nine subjects were eligible for inclusion. Our logistic regression classifier accurately predicted intraoperative fluorescence in our cohort with 91.9% accuracy and revealed enhancement as the singular variable in determining intraoperative fluorescence. There was a direct relationship between enhancement on MRI and the likelihood of observed fluorescence. Observed fluorescence correlated with MIB-1 index but not with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status, 1p19q codeletion, or methylguanine DNA methyltransferase promoter methylation.

CONCLUSION:
We demonstrate a strong correlation between enhancement on preoperative MRI and the likelihood of visible fluorescence during surgery in patients with intermediate-grade glioma. Our analysis provides a robust method for predicting 5-ALA–induced fluorescence in patients with grade II and grade III gliomas.
Role of visceral fat areas defined by thoracic CT in acute pulmonary embolism
Authors: Meyer Hans-Jonas , Benkert Franz , Bailis Nikolaos , Lerche Marianne , Surov Alexey 
Published: March 2022

Objective:
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) has been established as an important parameter of body composition. It can be assessed by imaging modalities like computed tomography (CT). The purpose of the present study was to analyse the prognostic role of VAT derived from thoracic CT in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE).

Methods:
The clinical database of our center was retrospectively screened for patients with acute PE between 2014 and 2017. Overall, 184 patients were included into the analysis. VAT was assessed on axial slices of the thoracic CT at the level of the first lumbar vertebra. Clinical scores, serological parameters, need for intubation, ICU admission and 30 days mortality were assessed.

Results:
Using the previously reported threshold of 100 cm² for visceral obesity definition 136 (73.9%), patients were considered as visceral obese. There was a moderate correlation between VAT and BMI (r = 0.56, p &lt; 0.0001). There was also a moderate correlation between VAT and body height (r = 0.41, p =&lt; 0.0001). Of all investigated clinical scores relating to acute PE, only the GENEVA score correlated weakly with VAT (r = 0.15, p = 0.04). There were significant correlations between VAT and creatinine (r = 0.38, p &lt; 0.0001) and Glomerular filtration rate (r = −0.21, p = 0.005). No associations were identified for VAT and mortality or visceral obesity and mortality.

Conclusion:
VAT was not associated with mortality in patients with acute pulmonary embolism.

Advances in knowledge:
Visceral obesity is frequent in patients with acute pulmonary embolism but it is not associated with mortality.
The Effects of COVID-19 on U.S. Small Businesses: Evidence from Owners, Managers, and Employees
Authors: Alekseev Georgij , Amer Safaa , Gopal Manasa , Kuchler Theresa , Schneider J. W. , Stroebel Johannes , Wernerfelt Nils 
Published: March 2022

We analyze a large-scale survey of small business owners, managers, and employees in the United States to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on those businesses. We explore two waves of the survey that were fielded on Facebook in April 2020 and December 2020. We document five facts about the impact of the pandemic on small businesses. (1) Larger firms, older firms, and male-owned firms were more likely to remain open during the early stages of the pandemic with many of these heterogeneities persisting through the end of 2020. (2) At businesses that remained open, concerns about demand shocks outweighed concerns about supply shocks though the relative importance of supply shocks grew over time. (3) In response to the pandemic, almost a quarter of the firms reduced their prices with price reductions concentrated among businesses facing financial constraints and demand shocks; almost no firms raised prices. (4) Only a quarter of small businesses had access to formal sources of financing at the start of the pandemic, and access to formal financing affected how firms responded to the pandemic. (5) Increased household responsibilities affected the ability of managers and employees to focus on their work, whereas increased business responsibilities impacted their ability to take care of their household members. This effect persisted through December 2020 and was particularly strong for women and parents of school-aged children. We discuss how these facts inform our understanding of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they can help design policy responses to similar shocks. This paper was accepted by Tomasz Piskorski, finance. Funding: The authors thank the Norges Bank Investment Management for funding through a grant to the Volatility and Risk Institute atNew York University, Stern School of Business. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4327 .
Organização da atenção ao câncer de boca nas unidades de saúde do estado da Bahia
Authors: Amorim Marília de Matos , Vinhas Brenda Queiroz , Pimenta Rodolfo Macedo Cruz , Santos Lília Paula de Souza 
Published: March 2022

Introdução: No Brasil, o câncer de boca é a quinta neoplasia mais frequente no sexo masculino e décima terceira, no sexo feminino, possuindo elevadas taxas de mortalidade. Assim, a Política Nacional de Saúde Bucal preconiza a sua prevenção e controle na atenção básica. Objetivo: Descrever a organização da atenção ao câncer de boca nas unidades de saúde do estado da Bahia. Método: Estudo descritivo com análise de dados secundários provenientes do terceiro ciclo de avaliação externa do PMAQ-AB 2017. Os dados foram processados e analisados com o auxílio do programa Microsoft Excel 2010 e do Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), versão 22.0. Resultados: Foram analisadas 2.338 Equipes de Saúde Bucal, em 403 municípios da Bahia. A maior parte das equipes realiza ações voltadas para a prevenção e diagnóstico (94,4%), não realiza biópsias (87,4%), mas possui referência para solicitação (79,0%), realiza o registro dos pacientes com suspeita e diagnóstico de câncer de boca e possui uma rede de referência para o tratamento (63,3%). Conclusão: As Equipes de Saúde Bucal da Bahia desenvolvem um trabalho pautado na Política Nacional de Saúde Bucal, no entanto, o estado apresenta alta incidência e mortalidade por câncer de boca.
Biopsychosocial approach to understanding determinants of depression among men who have sex with men living with HIV: A systematic review
Authors: Mohamad Fisal Zul Aizat , Minhat Halimatus Sakdiah , Mohd Zulkefli Nor Afiah , Ahmad Norliza 
Published: March 2022

Introduction
Men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV are more likely to be depressed than MSM without HIV. The AIDS epidemic will not end if the needs of people living with HIV and the determinants of health are not being addressed. Compared to HIV individuals without depression, depressed HIV individuals have worse clinical outcomes and higher mortality risk. Depression is caused by a complex combination of social, psychological, and biological variables. This systematic review, thereby motivated by the need to address this gap in the literature, aims to articulate determinants of depression among MSM living with HIV according to the biopsychosocial approach.

Methodology
We systematically searched four databases from 2011 to 2021. We searched for observational studies on determinants of depression among MSM living with HIV. The outcome is depression based on the categorical or numerical outcome. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed study risks of bias. Any disagreements are consulted with the third reviewer.

Results
We identified 533 articles, of which only eight studies are included. A total of 3,172 MSMs are included in the studies. We found the determinants of depression and categorized them according to biological, psychological, and social approaches.

Conclusion
The determinants of depression with the strongest evidence across studies were enacted HIV-related stigma, unemployment, sleep disturbance, current smoker, black ethnicity, born overseas, ART initiation, and access to mental health care. Despite weaker evidence, the other relevant determinants to be included were older age, internalized stigma, self-efficacy, and social support. Efforts to improve or prevent depression among MSM living with HIV could benefit from addressing the determinants of depression based on the biopsychosocial approach immediately after HIV diagnosis. Integrating mental health screening and care into HIV treatment settings would strengthen HIV prevention and care outcomes and improve access to mental healthcare.
Dietary Vitamin E Intake Is Associated With a Reduced Risk of Developing Digestive Diseases and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Authors: Scorletti Eleonora , Creasy Kate Townsend , Vujkovic Marijana , Vell Mara , Zandvakili Inuk , Rader Daniel J. , Schneider Kai Markus , Schneider Carolin V. 
Published: March 2022

INTRODUCTION:
Vitamin E supplementation is recommended for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) for nondiabetic patients, but its preventative effects are unclear.

METHODS:
We assessed dietary vitamin E intake with disease phenotypes and evaluated vitamin E levels with the development of NAFLD.

RESULTS:
Data from >210,000 participants demonstrate that increased dietary vitamin E associates with reduced rates of several gastrointestinal diseases and reduced overall mortality. Diabetic and overweight subjects with increased vitamin E intake have fewer NAFLD diagnoses.

DISCUSSION:
Our findings reveal the relevance of vitamin E consumption for several gastrointestinal diseases and warrant further mechanistic and therapeutic investigations.
Functional conservation and divergence in plant-specific GRF gene family revealed by sequences and expression analysis
Authors: Meng Lingyan , Li Xiaomeng , Hou Yue , Li Yaxuan , Hu Yingkao 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Unique to plants, growth regulatory factors (GRFs) play important roles in plant growth and reproduction. This study investigated the evolutionary and functional characteristics associated with plant growth. Using genome-wide analysis of 15 plant species, 173 members of the GRF family were identified and phylogenetically categorized into six groups. All members contained WRC and QLQ conserved domains, and the family’s expansion largely depended on segmental duplication. The promoter region of the GRF gene family mainly contained four types of cis-acting elements (light-responsive elements, development-related elements, hormone-responsive elements, and environmental stress-related elements) that are mainly related to gene expression levels. Functional divergence analysis revealed that changes in amino acid site evolution rate played a major role in the differentiation of the GRF gene family, with ten significant sites identified. Six significant sites were identified for positive selection. Moreover, the four groups of coevolutionary sites identified may play a key role in regulating the transcriptional activation of the GRF protein. Expression profiles revealed that GRF genes were generally highly expressed in young plant tissues and had tissue or organ expression specificity, demonstrating their functional conservation with distinct divergence. The results of these sequence and expression analyses are expected to provide molecular evolutionary and functional references for the plant GRF gene family.
Application of the FLP/LoxP-FRT recombination system to switch the eGFP expression in a model prokaryote
Authors: Dan Junhao , Deng Huafeng , Xia Yumei , Zhan Yijie , Tang Ning , Wang Yao , Cao Mengliang 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
In prokaryotes, few studies have applied the flippase (FLP)/P1-flippase recombination target (LoxP-FRT) recombination system to switch gene expression. This study developed a new method for switching gene expression by constructing an FLP/LoxP-FRT site-specific recombination system in Escherichia coli. To this end, we placed the Nos terminator flanked by a pair of LoxP-FRT in front of enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP). The Nos terminator was used to block the expression of the eGFP. When a plasmid expressing FLP was available, deletion of the Nos terminator would allow expression of eGFP. The regulatory effect was demonstrated by eGFP expression. The efficiency of the gene switch was calculated as high as 89.67%. The results showed that the FLP/LoxP-FRT recombinase system could be used as a gene switch to regulate gene expression in prokaryotes. This new method for switching gene expression could simplify the gene function analysis in E. coli and other prokaryotes, as well as eukaryotes.