bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Angular deformities after percutaneous epiphysiodesis for leg length discrepancy
Authors: Weinmayer Hannah , Breen Anne B , Steen Harald , Horn Joachim 
Published: August 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to systematically analyze the presence of secondary angular deformities after percutaneous epiphysiodesis based on long-standing radiographs, and to see if the occurrence and magnitude of angular deformities after percutaneous epiphysiodesis correlated with the amount of remaining growth at the time of surgery. Methods: From a local Health Register consisting of patients investigated using the Moseley Straight-Line Graph, we identified 269 patients who had undergone percutaneous epiphysiodesis from 2002 until 2020. Radiographic analysis included the measurement of mechanical axis and joint orientation angles on long-standing anterior–posterior radiographs. Remaining growth was analyzed based on the Menelaus method. Results: One hundred and forty epiphysiodeses (71 femurs and 69 tibiae) in 88 patients (39 girls and 49 boys) could be included in the study. Mean age at surgery was 13.2 (10–16.8) years, and mean skeletal age at surgery was 13.0 (9.8–15.7) years. A change of the MA (Mechanical axis) ≥10 mm was found in eight patients (9%). Secondary frontal plane deformities after percutaneous epiphysiodesis correlated significantly with the remaining growth at the time of surgery (p = 0.003). Conclusion: We found a high rate of secondary angular deformities after percutaneous epiphysiodesis, and the magnitude of the deformities correlated with the amount of remaining growth at the time of surgery. A modification of the original surgical method for percutaneous epiphysiodesis to also include ablation of central parts of the growth plate might be considered. Patients should be enrolled in a systematic follow-up scheme which allows for the early detection of possible angular deformities. Level of evidence: level III study.
Diagnostic value of reflux episodes in gastroesophageal reflux-induced chronic cough: a novel predictive indicator
Authors: Wang Shengyuan , Wen Siwan , Bai Xiao , Zhang Mengru , Zhu Yiqing , Wu Mingyan , Lu Lihua , Shi Cuiqin , Yu Li , Xu Xianghuai 
Published: August 2022

Background: Multichannel intraluminal impedance and pH-monitoring (MII-pH) is an essential testing modality for gastroesophageal reflux-induced chronic cough (GERC), while the existing diagnostic criteria still have some inherent defects. This study aimed to explore the diagnostic value of a direct and objective index, reflux episodes, and related parameters in MII-pH in different types of GERC. Methods: Patients with chronic cough suspected of gastroesophageal reflux disease who successfully received MII-pH were enrolled. The differences in MII-pH parameters were analyzed among patients with different etiologies and the predictive diagnostic value of reflux episodes and related parameters were analyzed in patients with GERC, acid GERC, and non-acid GERC, and compared with existing diagnostic criteria. Results: A total of 190 patients with suspected GERC who underwent MII-pH were enrolled; 131 of these patients were finally diagnosed with GERC. When the reflux episodes were used to diagnose GERC, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.684; when the acid reflux episodes and the ratio of acid reflux episodes were used to diagnose acid GERC, the AUCs were 0.769 and 0.854; when the non-acid reflux episodes and the ratio of non-acid reflux episodes were used to diagnose non-acid GERC, the AUCs were 0.735 and 0.705, respectively. When the non-acid reflux episodes > 58 and the proportion of non-acid reflux episodes > 68.18% were used alone or in combination to diagnose non-acid GERC, their diagnostic value was significantly better than SAP or SI (all ps < 0.05). Conclusion: The number of reflux episodes has a good diagnostic value for GERC, especially in the diagnosis of non-acid GERC.
Characteristics of Facebook’s third-party medical fact checkers
Authors: Haslam Alyson , Prasad Vinay 
Published: August 2022

Introduction Social media websites, such as Facebook, have made an effort to monitor and label news stories and op-eds that could be false or misleading. As such, we sought to evaluate fact checkers for news stories and op-eds that circulate on Facebook. Methods We searched all articles on HealthFeedback.org for names of reviewers and other quoted individuals cited in the article and their professional titles. We searched Twitter on March 10, 2021, to see whether the reviewers and quoted individuals had an account and noted the number of Twitter followers. Results The median number of followers on Twitter for reviewers was 10,000 (since January 2020) versus 1012 (prior to January 2020; p = 0.007). The median number of followers on Twitter for quoted individuals was 153,050 (since January 2020) versus 314 (prior to January 2020; p = 0.04). Conclusion Current fact-checking processes appear to be strongly associated with large Twitter followings. Greater transparency in the process of determining misinformation is needed.
New arsenate minerals from the Arsenatnaya fumarole, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. XVIII. Khrenovite, Na3Fe3+2(AsO4)3, the member with the highest sodium in the alluaudite supergroup
Authors: Pekov Igor V. , Koshlyakova Natalia N. , Belakovskiy Dmitry I. , Vigasina Marina F. , Zubkova Natalia V. , Agakhanov Atali A. , Britvin Sergey N. , Sidorov Evgeny G. , Pushcharovsky Dmitry Yu. 
Published: August 2022

AbstractThe new alluaudite-group mineral khrenovite with the ideal, end-member formula Na3Fe3+2(AsO4)3 was found in the Arsenatnaya fumarole, Second scoria cone of the Northern Breakthrough of the Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. It is associated with aphthitalite-group sulfates, badalovite, calciojohillerite, nickenichite, johillerite, tilasite, svabite, achyrophanite, ozerovaite, pansnerite, arsenatrotitanite, anhydrite, sanidine, hematite, cassiterite, rutile and pseudobrookite. Khrenovite occurs as coarse prismatic crystals up to 0.2 × 0.3 × 0.8 mm and their clusters up to 1 mm across. It is transparent, honey-coloured, red-, orange- or yellow-brown, with vitreous lustre. Khrenovite is brittle, cleavage was not observed. Dcalc is 4.257 g cm–3. Khrenovite is optically biaxial (+), α = 1.825(7), β = 1.834(7), γ = 1.845(7) and 2Vmeas. = 80(10)°. The chemical composition (wt.%, electron-microprobe) is: Na2O 11.47, K2O 1.23, CaO 0.18, MgO 0.01, MnO 4.10, CuO 4.27, ZnO 1.99, Al2O3 0.17, Fe2O3 21.12, SiO2 0.08, P2O5 0.01, V2O5 0.10, As2O5 56.03, SO3 0.02, total 100.78. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 12 O apfu is (Na2.26K0.16Ca0.02Mn0.35Cu0.33Zn0.15Al0.02Fe3+1.62)Σ4.91(As2.98Si0.01V0.01)Σ3.00O12. Khrenovite is monoclinic, C2/c, a = 12.2394(7), b = 12.7967(5), c = 6.6589(4) Å, β = 112.953(7)°, V = 960.37(10) Å3 and Z = 4. The crystal structure was solved from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data with R1 = 0.0287. Khrenovite is isostructural with other alluaudite-group minerals. Its structural formula simplified to the species-defining constituents is A(1)NaA(2)’NaM(1)NaM(2)Fe3+2(TAsO4)3. The mineral is named in honour of the Russian volcanologist and geologist Anatoly Petrovich Khrenov (1946–2016).
Associations of influenza vaccination with severity of immune-related adverse events in patients with advanced thoracic cancers on immune checkpoint inhibitors
Authors: Lin Emily Pei-Ying , Huang Li-Ching , Whisenant Jennifer , York Sally , Osterman Travis , Lewis Jennifer , Iams Wade , Skotte Emily , Cass Amanda , Hsu Chih-Yuan , Shyr Yu , Horn Leora 
Published: August 2022

BackgroundWhether influenza vaccination (FV) is associated with the severity of immune-related adverse events (IRAEs) in patients with advanced thoracic cancer on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is not fully understood.MethodsPatients enrolled in this retrospective cohort study were identified from the Vanderbilt BioVU database and their medical records were reviewed. Patients with advanced thoracic cancer who received FV within 3 months prior to or during their ICI treatment period were enrolled in the FV-positive cohort and those who did not were enrolled in the FV-negative cohort. The primary objective was to detect whether FV is associated with decreased IRAE severity. The secondary objectives were to evaluate whether FV is associated with a decreased risk for grade 3–5 IRAEs and better survival times. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression was used for the primary analysis.ResultsA total of 142 and 105 patients were enrolled in the FV-positive and FV-negative cohorts, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in patient demographics or cumulative incidences of IRAEs between the two cohorts. In the primary analysis, FV was inversely associated with the severity of IRAEs (OR 0.63; p=0.046). In the secondary analysis, FV was associated with a decreased risk for grade 3–5 IRAEs (OR 0.42; p=0.005). Multivariable Cox regression showed that FV was not associated with survival times.ConclusionsOur study showed that FV does not increase toxicity for patients with advanced thoracic cancer on ICIs and is associated with a decreased risk for grade 3–5 IRAEs. No statistically significant survival differences were found between patients with and without FV.
Genetic control of neuronal activity enhances axonal growth only on permissive substrates
Authors: Mesquida-Veny Francina , Martínez-Torres Sara , Del Río José Antonio , Hervera Arnau 
Published: August 2022

AbstractBackgroundNeural tissue has limited regenerative ability. To cope with that, in recent years a diverse set of novel tools has been used to tailor neurostimulation therapies and promote functional regeneration after axonal injuries.MethodIn this report, we explore cell-specific methods to modulate neuronal activity, including opto- and chemogenetics to assess the effect of specific neuronal stimulation in the promotion of axonal regeneration after injury.ResultsOpto- and chemogenetic stimulations of neuronal activity elicited increased in vitro neurite outgrowth in both sensory and cortical neurons, as well as in vivo regeneration in the sciatic nerve, but not after spinal cord injury. Mechanistically, inhibitory substrates such as chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans block the activity induced increase in axonal growth.ConclusionsWe found that genetic modulations of neuronal activity on both dorsal root ganglia and corticospinal motor neurons increase their axonal growth capacity but only on permissive environments.
Suitability of aquatic mosses for biomonitoring micro/meso plastics in freshwater ecosystems
Authors: Carrieri V. , Varela Z. , Aboal J. R. , De Nicola F. , Fernández J. A. 
Published: August 2022

Abstract
Background
Mesoplastics (5–25 mm) and microplastics (0.001–5 mm) are emerging pollutants of great concern. However, reliable methods of monitoring these types of plastic in river ecosystems have not yet been established. The goal of this work was to evaluate, for the first time, the suitability of Fontinalis antipyretica as a biomonitor of meso- and micro-plastics in rivers. With this aim, native samples of the moss and devitalized moss clones, held inside the bags, were compared for the uptake of fluorescent polystyrene particles under laboratory conditions, and for retention of plastic debris in the field, in sites close to wastewater treatment plants.

Results
In the laboratory experiment, the moss retained smaller microplastics, and a higher number of polystyrene meso and microplastics was counted in the moss bags than in the native moss.
In the field study, the moss retained plastic debris chiefly in the form of fibres regardless of the capacity and flow rate of the wastewater treatment plants affecting each sampling site. The uniform morphology of moss clone seems to affect the retention of this type of pollutant. The FTIR analysis confirmed the particles entrapped by the moss bags as plastic, specifically polyethylene and polyamide type 6, among the most common plastic polymers detected in rivers.

Conclusions
The study findings highlighted the value of using uniform material, as the clone exhibited a greater accumulation efficiency with respect to the native moss. The mesh bags could act as selective filters and/or prevent the loss of adhering plastics. In the field, the bags favour plastic fibres retention despite the river flow. Finally, although FTIR is useful for the identification of plastic type, it is not very sensitive when small quantities of ground samples are used.
Semi-supervised COVID-19 CT image segmentation using deep generative models
Authors: Zammit Judah , Fung Daryl L. X. , Liu Qian , Leung Carson Kai-Sang , Hu Pingzhao 
Published: August 2022

Abstract
Background
A recurring problem in image segmentation is a lack of labelled data. This problem is especially acute in the segmentation of lung computed tomography (CT) of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The reason for this is simple: the disease has not been prevalent long enough to generate a great number of labels. Semi-supervised learning promises a way to learn from data that is unlabelled and has seen tremendous advancements in recent years. However, due to the complexity of its label space, those advancements cannot be applied to image segmentation. That being said, it is this same complexity that makes it extremely expensive to obtain pixel-level labels, making semi-supervised learning all the more appealing. This study seeks to bridge this gap by proposing a novel model that utilizes the image segmentation abilities of deep convolution networks and the semi-supervised learning abilities of generative models for chest CT images of patients with the COVID-19.

Results
We propose a novel generative model called the shared variational autoencoder (SVAE). The SVAE utilizes a five-layer deep hierarchy of latent variables and deep convolutional mappings between them, resulting in a generative model that is well suited for lung CT images. Then, we add a novel component to the final layer of the SVAE which forces the model to reconstruct the input image using a segmentation that must match the ground truth segmentation whenever it is present. We name this final model StitchNet.

Conclusion
We compare StitchNet to other image segmentation models on a high-quality dataset of CT images from COVID-19 patients. We show that our model has comparable performance to the other segmentation models. We also explore the potential limitations and advantages in our proposed algorithm and propose some potential future research directions for this challenging issue.
Low-cost and clinically applicable copy number profiling using repeat DNA
Authors: Abujudeh Sam , Zeki Sebastian S. , van Lanschot Meta C.J. , Pusung Mark , Weaver Jamie M.J. , Li Xiaodun , Noorani Ayesha , Metz Andrew J. , Bornschein Jan , Bower Lawrence , Miremadi Ahmad , Fitzgerald Rebecca C. , Morrissey Edward R. , Lynch Andy G. 
Published: August 2022

Abstract
Background
Somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) are an important class of genomic alteration in cancer. They are frequently observed in cancer samples, with studies showing that, on average, SCNAs affect 34% of a cancer cell’s genome. Furthermore, SCNAs have been shown to be major drivers of tumour development and have been associated with response to therapy and prognosis. Large-scale cancer genome studies suggest that tumours are driven by somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) or single-nucleotide variants (SNVs). Despite the frequency of SCNAs and their clinical relevance, the use of genomics assays in the clinic is biased towards targeted gene panels, which identify SNVs but provide limited scope to detect SCNAs throughout the genome. There is a need for a comparably low-cost and simple method for high-resolution SCNA profiling.

Results
We present conliga, a fully probabilistic method that infers SCNA profiles from a low-cost, simple, and clinically-relevant assay (FAST-SeqS). When applied to 11 high-purity oesophageal adenocarcinoma samples, we obtain good agreement (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, rs=0.94) between conliga’s inferred SCNA profiles using FAST-SeqS data (approximately £14 per sample) and those inferred by ASCAT using high-coverage WGS (gold-standard). We find that conliga outperforms CNVkit (rs=0.89), also applied to FAST-SeqS data, and is comparable to QDNAseq (rs=0.96) applied to low-coverage WGS, which is approximately four-fold more expensive, more laborious and less clinically-relevant. By performing an in silico dilution series experiment, we find that conliga is particularly suited to detecting SCNAs in low tumour purity samples. At two million reads per sample, conliga is able to detect SCNAs in all nine samples at 3% tumour purity and as low as 0.5% purity in one sample. Crucially, we show that conliga’s hidden state information can be used to decide when a sample is abnormal or normal, whereas CNVkit and QDNAseq cannot provide this critical information.

Conclusions
We show that conliga provides high-resolution SCNA profiles using a convenient, low-cost assay. We believe conliga makes FAST-SeqS a more clinically valuable assay as well as a useful research tool, enabling inexpensive and fast copy number profiling of pre-malignant and cancer samples.
Fungal diversity in the gut microbiome of young South African children
Authors: Nel Van Zyl K , Whitelaw A. C. , Hesseling A. C. , Seddon J. A. , Demers A-M , Newton-Foot M. 
Published: August 2022

Abstract
Background
The fungal microbiome, or mycobiome, is a poorly described component of the gut ecosystem and little is known about its structure and development in children. In South Africa, there have been no culture-independent evaluations of the child gut mycobiota. This study aimed to characterise the gut mycobiota and explore the relationships between fungi and bacteria in the gut microbiome of children from Cape Town communities.

Methods
Stool samples were collected from children enrolled in the TB-CHAMP clinical trial. Internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) gene sequencing was performed on a total of 115 stool samples using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Differences in fungal diversity and composition in relation to demographic, clinical, and environmental factors were investigated, and correlations between fungi and previously described bacterial populations in the same samples were described.

Results
Taxa from the genera Candida and Saccharomyces were detected in all participants. Differential abundance analysis showed that Candida spp. were significantly more abundant in children younger than 2 years compared to older children. The gut mycobiota was less diverse than the bacterial microbiota of the same participants, consistent with the findings of other human microbiome studies. The variation in richness and evenness of fungi was substantial, even between individuals of the same age. There was significant association between vitamin A supplementation and higher fungal alpha diversity (p = 0.047), and girls were shown to have lower fungal alpha diversity (p = 0.003). Co-occurrence between several bacterial taxa and Candida albicans was observed.

Conclusions
The dominant fungal taxa in our study population were similar to those reported in other paediatric studies; however, it remains difficult to identify the true core gut mycobiota due to the challenges set by the low abundance of gut fungi and the lack of true gut colonising species. The connection between the microbiota, vitamin A supplementation, and growth and immunity warrants exploration, especially in populations at risk for micronutrient deficiencies. While we were able to provide insight into the gut mycobiota of young South African children, further functional studies are necessary to explain the role of the mycobiota and the correlations between bacteria and fungi in human health.
The constricting effect of reduced coronary artery compliance on the left ventricle is an important cause of reduced diastolic function in patients with coronary heart disease
Authors: Lv Liang , Ma Xianghe , Xu Yannan , Zhang Qiong , Kan Shanshan , Chen Xiaoming , Liu Huajin , Wang Hongwei , Wang Changhua , Ma Jiangwei 
Published: August 2022

Abstract
Background
Previous studies of left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF) have focused on the decrease in active and passive diastolic function due to ischemic factors but have not investigated if the decrease in compliance of the coronary arteries that bypass the surface of the heart and travel between the myocardium could cause a constricting effect on the ventricular wall like that caused by myocardial fibrosis.

Methods and Results
581 patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CHD) were divided into A group (patients are the control group), B group (patients with less than 50% coronary artery stenosis), C group (patients with coronary artery stenosis between 50 and 75%), D group (patients with coronary artery stenosis greater than 75%) according to the degree of coronary stenosis. The diastolic function of the ventricle is reflected by applying the relaxation time constant T value, which refers to the time between peak dp/dt and end-diastolic pressure in the left ventricle. It was concluded that there was a statistical difference in Gensini scores between patients in groups B, C and D (P < 0.001). And multiple linear regression analysis showed that T was correlated with Gensini score and C-dp/dtmax (R = 0.711, P < 0.001). Grouping according to the site of stent implantation and the number of stents implanted, it was found out that the changes in T values before and after left anterior descending artery (LAD) stent implantation were greater than left circumflex artery (LCX) and right coronary artery (RCA) (P < 0.001). And multiple linear regression revealed a correlation between T values and stent length, ventricular stiffness, and C-dp/dtmax (P = 0.001).

Conclusions
The decrease in compliance of the coronary arteries bypassing the surface of the heart and travelling between the myocardium would cause a constricting effect on the ventricular wall like that caused by myocardial fibrosis.