bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
#22 Does Cranial Ultrasound Differentiate Asymptomatic Congenital CMV (cCMV) Infection from cCMV with Central Nervous System Disease in Infants? Results from a Universal Screening Study in Minnesota, USA
Authors: Kruc Rebecca 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

Background
Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common infectious cause of neurodevelopmental deficits, including sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). With the passage of a universal cCMV screening bill by the Minnesota legislature in 2021, it is imperative to define the optimal diagnostic approach for identified cases, particularly for asymptomatic infants. Cerebral ultrasound (US) is a safe, non-invasive technique to examine neonatal brains, and has been advocated by an international consensus panel as a modality for cCMV disease classification. This analysis described clinical manifestations of cCMV in infants identified by universal screening and characterized cranial US findings obtained during diagnostic evaluation. We correlated viral load in the newborn CMV screening saliva samples with clinical and US findings.

Method
Newborns were screened for cCMV at six Twin Cities nurseries by PCR of dried blood spots (DBS) obtained for routine newborn screening, and saliva collected 1-2 days after birth. Screen-positive infants had a confirmatory urine PCR test within 3 weeks of birth, and clinical evaluation that included cranial US.

Results
Through September 1, 2021, 19,017 newborns were screened for cCMV. 76 cases were identified (prevalence of 0.4%) by saliva or DBS, confirmed by urine CMV PCR testing. 76% (58/76) had asymptomatic cCMV; the remaining 24% were infants with cCMV disease. Nine had congenital or delayed-onset SNHL, of which 7 had abnormal US; 1 had normal US, and 1 did not have US performed. Median saliva viral load differed between infants with cCMV disease (3.3×104 IU/ml) and asymptomatic infants (8.6×106 IU/ml; p&lt; 0.05, Fig. 1). Cranial US exams were available for 68 infants (51 asymptomatic, 17 with cCMV disease). 50 (74%) infants had normal US; 18 infants had abnormal US (Table 1). Of the 17 infants with cCMV disease, 12 had abnormal US, of which 4 showed cCMV disease-defining lesions. Of 51 asymptomatic infants, 6 had abnormal, and 45 normal, cranial US. Saliva viral loads did not vary between infants with normal vs. abnormal US (p=0.7).

Conclusion
PCR of newborn DBS and/or saliva revealed a prevalence of 4.0 per 1000 in a universal cCMV screening study. Surprisingly, an inverse relationship was observed between saliva viral load at birth and cCMV disease classification. Among babies with cCMV, the majority had normal cranial US, and most abnormalities were not pathognomonic for cCMV disease. Clarification is needed regarding which cranial US findings require detailed follow-up, including MRI, as universal cCMV screening programs move forward in clinical practice.
#73 Single Cell RNA Sequencing of Zika Infection in Neural Tissues Reveals an Astrocyte-Driven Innate Immune Response Governed by Interferon Beta.
Authors: Stokes Caleb 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

Background
Congenital infection with Zika virus (ZIKV) has been linked to severe of fetal brain disruption and other developmental anomalies referred to collectively as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Long-term follow up of ZIKV-exposed infants has shown that even those without overt findings of CZS can have significant cognitive and developmental difficulties. However, the pathogenesis of ZIKV-related microcephaly and cognitive dysfunction remain poorly understood. To begin answering these questions, we sought to define the consequences of ZIKV infection on specific cell types in the developing brain.

Method
We have used primary human fetal brain cultures and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural progenitor cell lines to probe innate immune signaling to ZIVK infection in vitro. We used single-cell RNA sequencing (10x Genomics) to identify the cell type-specific transcriptional changes induced by ZIKV infection.

Results
We found that neural progenitor cells (NPCs) support higher ZIKV RNA copy number than do differentiated neural cells. Moreover, while IFN-β is the predominant cytokine released by differentiated cells in response to ZIKV infection, NPCs do not produce IFN-β. By additionally characterizing the transcriptional response to IFN-β treatment, we have been able to distinguish virus-stimulated genes (VSGs) from interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) across cell types. We find extensive heterogeneity in cell type-specific VSG and ISG profiles. Astrocytes undergo the largest transcriptional changes in response to infection and are the main producers of IFN-β. Our findings also identify genes whose expression is altered during viral infection specifically in NPCs and neurons, providing candidate pathways that may underlie neural dysfunction.

Conclusion
Across cell types, the response to Zika infection closely matches the response to IFN-β, arguing that astrocyte-derived IFN-β is the main driver of the innate immune response to ZIKV in the developing brain. Our findings provide insight into the pathogenesis of CZS and offer novel targets for improving developmental outcomes after fetal ZIKV infection.
#59 Efficacy of Oral Cryotherapy in the Prevention of Oral Mucositis during high dose chemotherapy infusion for children with autologous stem cell transplant
Authors: Hoa Nguyen Thi Kim 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

Background
Oral mucositis is one of the most common and distressing side effects of cancer therapy, especially high dose chemotherapy. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of oral cryotherapy in prevention oral mucositis in children with autologous stem cell transplant

Method
A prospective study was carried out in children receiving autologous stem cell transplant since December, 2019 to December, 2021 at Hue Central hospital in Vietnam. All patient were received oral cryotherapy during chemotherapeutic agents infusion. The way to measure oral mucositis with specific scale based on WHO grading system for oral mucositis. Data was abstracted from patient medical records and analyzed in SPSS v.18.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).

Results
From December, 2019 to December, 2021, a total of 20 patients receiving autologous stem cell transplantation, with a median age of 3.75 years (range: 2.5 years to 8 years). Of these patients, 18 patients (90%) was diagnosed high risk neuroblastoma and treated with regimen conditioning: Busulfan and melphalan; 1 patient (5%) was diagnosed relapsed Burkitt lymphoma and used high dose chemotherapy with carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine and melphalan; 1 patient was diagnosed metastatic retinoblastoma and treated with carboplatin, etoposide and thiotepa. During oral cryotherapy, all the patients tolerated well and had no side effect. 15% patients did not have any signs of oral mucositis, 85% of patients had oral mucositis, in which grade I mucositis accounted for 70% and grade II mucositis accounted for 15%. The median time for oral mucositis recovery was 5 days (range: 4 days to 11 days).

Conclusion
Oral cryotherapy is effective in preventing oral mucositis in patients undergoing high dose chemotherapy for the autologous stem cell transplantation. However, we need to implement and evaluate in the larger number of patients.
#60 TWO MONTH FOLLOW-UP OF PATIENTS WITH ACUTE COVID-19 AND MULTISYSTEM INFLAMMATORY SYNDROME IN CHILDREN
Authors: Racko I 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

Background
Children infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are usually asymptomatic or have mild coronavirus disease (COVID) with low rates of hospitalization. Two long-term consequences have been described after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The first is multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and the second is “long COVID”. Data on long COVID in pediatric patients has increasingly been published, giving new insights into the ways this phenomenon affects children. This study aimed to describe the persistent symptom spectrum of patients with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and MIS-C two months after the diagnosis.

Method
This was a prospective cohort study conducted at the Children's Clinical University Hospital in Latvia. The study population of pediatric COVID-19 and MIS-C patients were invited to participate between December 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021. The study included children with moderate and severe acute SARS-CoV-2 infection who required hospitalization and MIS-C. Overall, 53 acute Covid-19 and 22 MIS-C patients were enrolled in the study. All patients were evaluated by specially designed assessment protocols. The Ethics Committee of Riga Stradins University reviewed and approved the study protocol questionnaire and informed consent forms (approval No. 6-1/07/35). Descriptive statistics were used to present the data.

Results
Data showed that two months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection 84% (n=45) of patients had at least one persistent symptom. In addition, 73% (n=16) of MIS-C patients reported at least one persistent symptom. Generally, the most commonly reported complaints among COVID-19 patients included rhinorrhea (41%), cognitive sequelae such as mood swings (38%) and irritability (36%), prolonged cough (30%), anxiety (19%), night sweats (15%), sore throat and shortness of breath (13%). In the MIS-C patient group - body weight changes and mood swings (36%), irritability (27%), poor attention (23%), fatigue (18%), and in 14% of cases were observed myalgia, night sweats, difficulties concentrating and anxiety. There were other similar but less common complaints in both groups, such as prolonged fever, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness and memory impairment.

Conclusion
We found that at the time of interview more than half of COVID-19 and MIS-C patients reported at least one persistent symptom. Symptoms including rhinorrhea, mood swings, irritability, prolonged cough, poor attention and fatigue were the most frequently reported complaints of long COVID-19 after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and MIS-C, representing the wide range of symptoms affecting children.
Comparison of PneumID real-time PCR assay with Amplex eazyplex LAMP assay for laboratory diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia
Authors: Ng Willy W Y , Ho Yolanda I I , Wong Ann H , Leung Eddie C M , Lee Alfred L H , Chow Viola C Y 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

We compared PneumID PCR with Amplex eazyplex LAMP assay for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP). Both assays enable the accurate diagnosis of definite PJP. Cut-off cycle threshold of the PneumID assay was &lt;26.68 while the cut-off time-to-positivity of the eazyplex assay was 16:02 (minutes:seconds). The positive and negative percentage agreement of eazyplex assay with PneumID assay was 75% and 100% respectively, while the overall agreement was substantial with kappa = 0.80. For both assays, the establishment of cut-off values to differentiate probable PJP from colonization was not feasible as results overlapped.

Lay Summary
Both PneumID PCR and Amplex eazyplex LAMP assay enable accurate diagnosis of definite Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP). PneumID assay was more sensitive than eazyplex assay for detection of P. jirovecii. However, differentiation between probable PJP from colonization was not feasible.
Spatial regularity of the young stellar population in spiral arms of late-type galaxies NGC 895, NGC 5474, and NGC 6946
Authors: Gusev A S , Shimanovskaya E V , Zaitseva N A 
Published: June 2022

ABSTRACT
We investigate the spatial regularity in the distribution of the young stellar population along spiral arms of three late-type spiral galaxies: NGC 895, NGC 5474, and NGC 6946. This study is based on an analysis of photometric properties of spiral arms using Galaxy Evolution Explorer ultraviolet, optical UBVRI, H α, and 8 μm IRAC infrared surface photometry data. Using the Fourier analysis approach, we found features of spatial regularity or quasi-regularity in the distribution of the young stellar population or (and) regular chains of star formation regions in all arms of NGC 895, NGC 5474, and NGC 6946 with characteristic scales of spacing from 350 to 500 pc in different arms, and (or) scales that are multiples of them. These characteristic scales are close to those found earlier in NGC 628, NGC 6217, and M100.
First characterization of a new high-mass X-ray binary in LMC eRASSU J050810.4−660653 with SRG/ART-XC, NuSTAR, and Swift
Authors: Salganik Alexander , Tsygankov Sergey S , Lutovinov Alexander A , Mushtukov Alexander A , Mereminskiy Ilya A , Molkov Sergey V , Semena Andrei N 
Published: June 2022

ABSTRACT
We report results of the first detailed spectral and temporal studies of the recently discovered Be/X-ray binary eRASSU J050810.4−660653 in Large Magellanic Cloud based on the data from the SRG/ART-XC, NuSTAR and Swift/XRT instruments obtained in 2021 December–2022 May in a wide energy range of 0.5–79 keV. Pulsations with the period of 40.5781 ± 0.0004 s were found in the source light curve with the pulsed fraction monotonically increasing with the energy. An estimate of the orbital period of ∼38 d was obtained based on the long-term monitoring of the system. The source spectrum can be well approximated with a power-law model modified by an exponential cutoff at high energies. The pulse phase-resolved spectroscopy shows a strong variation of spectral parameters depending on the phase of a neutron star rotation. We have not found any features connected with the cyclotron absorption line both in the phase-averaged and phase-resolved spectra of eRASSU J050810.4−660653. However, the neutron star magnetic field was estimated around several 1013 G using different indirect methods. Discovered variations of the hardness ratio over the pulse phase is discussed in terms of physical and geometrical properties of the emitting region.
Estimating atmospheric parameters from LAMOST low-resolution spectra with low SNR
Authors: Li Xiangru , Zeng Si , Wang Zhu , Du Bing , Kong Xiao , Liao Caixiu 
Published: June 2022

ABSTRACTLarge Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) acquired tens of millions of low-resolution stellar spectra. The large amount of the spectra result in the urgency to explore automatic atmospheric parameter estimation methods. There are lots of LAMOST spectra with low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), which result in a sharp degradation on the accuracy of their estimations. Therefore, it is necessary to explore better estimation methods for low-SNR spectra. This paper proposed a neural network-based scheme to deliver atmospheric parameters, LASSO-MLPNet. Firstly, we adopt a polynomial fitting method to obtain pseudo-continuum and remove it. Then, some parameter-sensitive features in the existence of high noises were detected using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). Finally, LASSO-MLPNet used a Multilayer Perceptron network (MLPNet) to estimate atmospheric parameters Teff, log g, and [Fe/H]. The effectiveness of the LASSO-MLPNet was evaluated on some LAMOST stellar spectra of the common star between the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) and LAMOST. It is shown that the estimation accuracy is significantly improved on the stellar spectra with 10 &lt; SNR ≤ 80. Especially, LASSO-MLPNet reduces the mean absolute error (MAE) of the estimation of Teff, log g, and [Fe/H] from [144.59 K, 0.236 dex, 0.108 dex; LAMOST Stellar Parameter Pipeline (LASP)] to (90.29 K, 0.152 dex, 0.064 dex; LASSO-MLPNet) on the stellar spectra with 10 &lt; SNR ≤ 20. To facilitate reference, we release the estimates of the LASSO-MLPNet from more than 4.82 million stellar spectra with 10 &lt; SNR ≤ 80 and 3500 &lt; SNRg ≤ 6500 as a value-added output.
Pulsar emission patterns seen as evidence for magnetospheric interactions
Authors: Wright Geoff 
Published: June 2022

ABSTRACT
This paper seeks to understand the origin of the multiple complex patterns present in the emission of many pulsars. Previous attempts have often required the observed signal to be aliased, especially in pulsars exhibiting stationary subpulses or drift-mode changes. However, such mathematics places the observer in an improbably special position. It is therefore proposed that patterns are intrinsic to the magnetosphere and arise through beats between the magnetospheric drift and the time-delayed interaction of widely separated regions of the magnetosphere. The beat equation is modelled geometrically by two turning carousels of ‘footprints’ linked by a time-delay of approximately a pulse period, with the carousels adopting different speeds according to the number of footprints. Comparison with observed drift-changing modes suggests that footprints are separated at a minimum distance of about 95m on polar caps wider than those conventionally defined by the last closed fieldline touching the light cylinder. Applying this picture to a pulsar lifetime defines three stages: (1) young pulsars whose magnetosphere drift is only slightly slower than the pulsar but generating footprints rotating slowly in space; (2) a Nyquist stage where the magnetosphere and footprints rotate in tandem, observed as on-off pulses; and (3) older pulsars with relatively wide polar caps on which footprints are near-stationary. Explanations for chaotic mode-switching, nulling, and pulsar death are offered in the same context. A physical interpretation of the model is kept to a minimum, although it clearly suggests that pulsar emission is driven by magnetospheric rather than polar cap effects.
Interstitial lung disease in ANCA-associated vasculitis: associated factors, radiographic features and mortality
Authors: Doliner Brett , Rodriguez Karen , Montesi Sydney B , Fu Xiaoqing , Sharma Amita , Wallace Zachary S 
Published: June 2022

Abstract

Objective
To evaluate the prevalence, clinical and radiographic features, and long-term outcomes of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in a United States-based ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) cohort.

Methods
In this retrospective cohort study, we identified cases of ILD within the 2002–2019 Mass General Brigham AAV Cohort, a consecutive inception cohort of PR3- or MPO-ANCA+ AAV patients. ILD diagnosis and classification as fibrotic or non-fibrotic were confirmed by review of available chest imaging by two board-certified radiologists. Cox proportional hazard models, with age as the time scale, were used to estimate the association of AAV-ILD with all-cause mortality.

Results
Of 684 patients in the MGB AAV Cohort, 91 (13%) had ILD which preceded the diagnosis of AAV by a mean of 2.2 years. AAV-ILD patients were older (67 vs 60 years, P &lt; 0.001) than patients without ILD but the distribution of sex and race was similar. AAV-ILD patients were more often MPO-ANCA+ (93% vs 65%, P &lt; 0.001); among MPO-ANCA+ patients (n = 470), 85 (18%) had ILD. The majority of ILD was fibrotic (76%) and UIP was the most common ILD pattern (42%). The baseline forced vital capacity (FVC) % predicted among ILD patients was 81 ± 20%. Fibrotic AAV-ILD was associated with a 58% higher risk of death (aHR 1.58, 95% CI 1.06, 2.37) compared with AAV patients without ILD.

Conclusion
ILD is a frequent complication of AAV, especially MPO-ANCA+ AAV, often preceding recognition of AAV. Fibrotic AAV-ILD is associated with a higher risk of death than AAV without ILD.
Resting state functional connectivity in SLE patients and association with cognitive impairment and blood–brain barrier permeability
Authors: Hanly John G , Robertson Jason W , Legge Alexandra , Kamintsky Lyna , Aristi Guillermo , Friedman Alon , Beyea Steven D , Fisk John D , Omisade Antonina , Calkin Cynthia , Bardouille Tim , Bowen Chris , Matheson Kara , Hashmi Javeria A 
Published: June 2022

AbstractObjectiveExtensive blood–brain barrier (BBB) leakage has been linked to cognitive impairment in SLE. This study aimed to examine the associations of brain functional connectivity (FC) with cognitive impairment and BBB dysfunction among patients with SLE.MethodsCognitive function was assessed by neuropsychological testing (n = 77). Resting-state FC (rsFC) between brain regions, measured by functional MRI (n = 78), assessed coordinated neural activation in 131 regions across five canonical brain networks. BBB permeability was measured by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (n = 61). Differences in rsFC were compared between SLE patients with cognitive impairment (SLE-CI) and those with normal cognition (SLE-NC), between SLE patients with and without extensive BBB leakage, and with healthy controls.ResultsA whole-brain rsFC comparison found significant differences in intra-network and inter-network FC in SLE-CI vs SLE-NC patients. The affected connections showed a reduced negative rsFC in SLE-CI compared with SLE-NC and healthy controls. Similarly, a reduced number of brain-wide connections was found in SLE-CI patients compared with SLE-NC (P = 0.030) and healthy controls (P = 0.006). Specific brain regions had a lower total number of brain-wide connections in association with extensive BBB leakage (P = 0.011). Causal mediation analysis revealed that 64% of the association between BBB leakage and cognitive impairment in SLE patients was mediated by alterations in FC.ConclusionSLE patients with cognitive impairment had abnormalities in brain rsFC which accounted for most of the association between extensive BBB leakage and cognitive impairment.
Protracted Speciation under the State-Dependent Speciation and Extinction Approach
Authors: Hua Xia , Herdha Tyara , Burden Conrad J 
Published: June 2022

Abstract
How long does speciation take? The answer to this important question in evolutionary biology lies in the genetic difference not only among species, but also among lineages within each species. With the advance of genome sequencing in non-model organisms and the statistical tools to improve accuracy in inferring evolutionary histories among recently diverged lineages, we now have the lineage-level trees to answer these questions. However, we do not yet have an analytical tool for inferring speciation processes from these trees. What is needed is a model of speciation processes that generates both the trees and species identities of extant lineages. The model should allow calculation of the probability that certain lineages belong to certain species and have an evolutionary history consistent with the tree. Here, we propose such a model and test the model performance on both simulated data and real data. We show that maximum-likelihood estimates of the model are highly accurate and give estimates from real data that generate patterns consistent with observations. We discuss how to extend the model to account for different rates and types of speciation processes across lineages in a species group. By linking evolutionary processes on lineage level to species level, the model provides a new phylogenetic approach to study not just when speciation happened, but how speciation happened. [Micro–macro evolution; Protracted birth–death process; speciation completion rate; SSE approach.]