bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Value of Eccentric Infrared Photorefraction in Evaluating Keratoconus
Authors: Patel Avina M. , Kumar Preetam , Vaddavalli Pravin K. , Bharadwaj Shrikant R. 
Published: September 2022

ABSTRACT

Significance
Non-linearity in the luminance profile of eccentric, infrared photorefraction may be used to differentiate corneal diseases like keratoconus that distort the cornea, relative to regular refractive errors.

Purpose
To determine the profile of eccentric, infrared, photorefraction in keratoconus as a prototypical disease model for distorted corneas and identify a parameter in this profile for differentiating such disease conditions from healthy controls.

Methods
Photorefraction reflex of 75 eyes with forme-fruste to advanced keratoconic cases and 75 eyes of controls with regular refractive errors (spherical equivalent: +0.50 to -11.75D; astigmatism: -0.50 to -4.50D across 0 to 180° axes) were obtained over their natural pupils under unaided viewing using a custom-designed photorefractor placed at 1 m from the subject. The test was repeated in 10 controls with 4D and 6D of trial-lens induced myopia and myopic astigmatism at 0°, 90°, 45° and 135°. Linear regression was performed on the luminance profile across the pupil and the departure of the data from linearity was estimated using the average residual error of the fit (Resavg).

Results
Photorefraction profiles varied linearly across the pupil in controls, with slopes increasing with refractive error (r = 0.87; P < .001) and Resavg remaining invariant of refractive error (r = -0.29; P > .4). Corresponding profiles in keratoconus significantly departed from linearity, with Resavg progressively increasing with disease severity (r = 0.66; P < .001). Resavg of 0.03 grayscale units/pixel distinguished keratoconus from controls with sensitivity increasing from 66.7% to 100% for mild to advanced keratoconus and specificity remaining ≥97.1% across disease severity. Induced myopia and myopic astigmatism produced predictable changes in luminance profile slopes, but with no change in Resavg values.

Conclusions
Unlike regular myopia and astigmatism, the photorefraction reflex is significantly non-linear in keratoconus owing to the distorted cornea. Measures of non-linearity in luminance profile may be incorporated in commercial photorefractors for differentiating such disease conditions from regular refractive errors.
Case Report: Asymptomatic Skew Deviation Secondary to Chronic Ischemic Infarction of the Cerebellum
Authors: Borgman Christopher J. , Krug Casey 
Published: September 2022

SIGNIFICANCE
Skew deviation is likely encountered clinically more often than previously thought. Cerebellar causes of skew deviation appear to be the rarest cause and should be considered by clinicians when encountering patients with findings consistent with skew deviation.

PURPOSE
This case report describes an undiagnosed, asymptomatic skew deviation in an established glaucoma patient returning for routine follow-up. Appropriate diagnosis and subsequent neuroimaging identified a chronic ischemic cerebellar infarction.

CASE REPORT
A 72-year-old man presented for a routine glaucoma follow-up examination. Cover test revealed a 10–prism diopter left hypertropia, which worsened in right gaze and left head tilt. Double Maddox rod testing showed 5° excyclotorsion of the right eye and no torsion in the left eye. Upright-supine testing was positive. Given the patient's noticeable right head tilt, left hypertropia, increased excyclotorsion of his lower eye, and positive-upright test, the patient was diagnosed with a skew deviation. Brain MRI revealed a chronic, undiagnosed cerebellar ischemic infarction, a known cause of skew deviation and the associated ocular tilt reaction.

CONCLUSIONS
It can be challenging to identify skew deviations and their underlying causes. When clinically encountering a vertical deviation, appropriate tests (cover-uncover test, Parks-Bielschowsky three-step test, ocular torsion testing, and upright-supine test) are imperative to help make the correct diagnosis. Neuroimaging can then be pursued in hopes of identifying the underlying cause.
Case Report: Choriocapillaris Flow Voids in Acute Syphilitic Posterior Placoid Chorioretinitis
Authors: Crist Andrew J. 
Published: September 2022

SIGNIFICANCE
Acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) is a rare clinical presentation of ocular syphilis. The worldwide incidence of syphilis has recently increased. Clinicians should be familiar with the distinct appearance and imaging findings of ASPPC and promptly initiate antibiotic treatment to limit functional vision loss and systemic complications of neurosyphilis.

PURPOSE
This case demonstrates the utility of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) imaging to further understand the pathophysiology and visual prognosis of ASPPC.

CASE REPORT
A 75-year-old man presented with 7 days of decreased vision in his left eye. His visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/200 in the left eye. Fundus examination revealed placoid lesions in the superior and inferotemporal aspects of the posterior pole in the right eye and a large placoid macular lesion in the left eye. Optical coherence tomography imaging revealed disruption and loss of the ellipsoid zone and external limiting membrane, nodular elevations on the retinal pigment epithelium, and choroidal hyperreflective punctate lesions in the left eye. Optical coherence tomography angiography displayed choriocapillaris perfusion flow voids greater in the left eye than in the right eye. Two months after penicillin treatment, the placoid lesions resolved in both eyes with an improvement in outer retinal structural abnormalities on optical coherence tomography imaging and visual acuity to 20/25 in the left eye. Eleven months after presentation, the OCT-A choriocapillaris flow voids had improved without complete restoration.

CONCLUSIONS
The flow voids seen on OCT-A imaging in this case of ASPPC suggest a possible inflammatory process with a primary location in the choriocapillaris.
Case Report: Optic Nerve Atrophy Secondary to Sjögren Syndrome
Authors: Remolí-Sargues Lidia , García-Villanueva Carolina , Monferrer-Adsuara Clara , Gracia-García Alicia , López-Salvador Belén , Cervera-Taulet Enrique 
Published: September 2022

SIGNIFICANCE
Optic neuropathy associated with Sjögren syndrome is rare and usually has an acute onset.

PURPOSE
This study aimed to report a case of asymmetric optic nerve atrophy attributed to Sjögren syndrome.

CASE REPORT
A 37-year-old woman was referred to neuro-ophthalmology service because of right optic nerve atrophy of unknown etiology. The patient was asymptomatic. Best-corrected visual acuity was 20/200 Snellen equivalent in the right eye and 20/20 Snellen equivalent in the left eye. The right eye had a relative afferent pupillary defect. Visual field demonstrated dense temporal loss, superior arcuate involvement, and an inferior paracentral defect in the right eye. Slit-lamp examination showed mild fluorescein staining of the cornea, moderate lissamine green staining of the conjunctiva, and abnormal tear breakup time in both eyes. Fundus examination revealed diffuse pallor of the right optic disc and a normal left optic disc. Optical coherence tomography showed inferior and superior retinal nerve fiber layer atrophy in the right eye and inferior retinal nerve fiber layer atrophy in the left eye. A diagnosis of right optic nerve atrophy was made. Immunologic studies were significant for positive anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies. MRI of the brain and orbit ruled out any intracranial or white-matter pathology. A diagnosis of optic nerve atrophy secondary to Sjögren syndrome was suspected, so corticosteroid treatment was started.

CONCLUSIONS
Optic nerve atrophy may be the initial manifestation of Sjögren syndrome. Therefore, optic neuropathy associated with Sjögren syndrome remains a diagnostic challenge. In these cases, specific antibodies such as anti-Ro and anti-La facilitate early diagnosis and can prevent vision-threatening complications.
Surgeon gender-related differences in operative coding in plastic surgery
Authors: Kalliainen Loree K. , Chambers Alison B. , Crozier Joseph , Conrad Heidi , Iozzio Mary Jo , Lipa Joan E. , Johnson Debra , Hansen Juliana E. 
Published: September 2022

Background:
Numerous studies in the medical and surgical literature have discussed the income gap between male and female physicians but none have adequately accounted for the disparity.

Methods:
This study was performed to determine whether gender-related billing and coding differences may be related to the income gap. A 10% minimum difference was set a priori as statistically significant. A cohort of 1036 candidates’ nine-month case lists for the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) over a five year span (2014-2018) was evaluated for relationships between surgeon gender and work RVUs, coding information, major and minor cases performed and work setting. Data was de-identified by the ABPS prior to evaluation. We hypothesized that wRVUS, average codes per case, major cases, and minor cases would be at least 10% higher for male than female physicians.

Results:
Significant differences were found between males and females in wRVUs billed, wRVUs billed per case, and the numbers of major cases performed. The average total wRVUs for male surgeons was 19.34% higher than female surgeons (3253.2 [3090.5, 3425.8] versus 2624.1 [2435.2, 2829.6]. Male surgeons performed 14.28% more major cases than females (77.6 [72.7, 82.7] vs 90.5 [86.3, 94.9], p = 0.0002).

Conclusions:
Our findings support the hypothesis that billing and coding practices can, in part, account for income differences between male and female plastic surgeons. Potential explanations include practices focusing on larger and more complex operative cases and differences in coding practices.
Revisiting the Role of Occipital Artery Resection in Greater Occipital Nerve Decompression
Authors: Janis Jeffrey E. , ElHawary Hassan , Schoenbrunner Anna , Salimi Ali , Packowski Kathryn , Kavanag Kaitlin , Gfrerer Lisa , Austen William G. 
Published: September 2022

Introduction:
Greater occipital nerve (GON) surgery has been shown to improve headaches caused by nerve compression. There is a paucity in data, however, specifically regarding the efficacy of concomitant occipital artery resection. To that end, the goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of greater occipital nerve decompression with and without occipital artery resection.

Methods:
This multi-center retrospective cohort study consisted of two groups: the occipital artery resection group (the artery was identified and resected) and the control group (no occipital artery resection). Preoperative, 3 months’ and 12 months’ migraine frequency, duration, intensity, Migraine Headache Index (MHI), and complications were extracted and analyzed.

Results:
A total of 94 patients underwent GON decompression and met all inclusion criteria, with 78 in the occipital artery resection group and 16 in the control group. Both groups did not differ in any of the demographic factors or preoperative migraine frequency, duration, intensity or MHI. Postoperatively, both groups demonstrated a significant decrease in migraine frequency, duration, intensity, and MHI. The decrease in MHI was significantly greater amongst the occipital artery resection group than the control group (p=0.019). Both groups had no major complications and a very low rate of minor complications.

Conclusion:
Occipital artery resection during greater occipital nerve decompressions is safe and improves outcomes, therefore it should be performed routinely.
New trends in congenital syphilis: epidemiology, testing in pregnancy, and management
Authors: Thean Lijun , Moore Aoife , Nourse Clare 
Published: September 2022

Purpose of review
In light of alarming increases in the incidence of congenital syphilis in many middle and higher income countries across the globe, this review summarizes recent changes in the epidemiology of syphilis, highlights recommended changes to testing in pregnancy and provides an update for the management of syphilis infection in pregnancy (SIP) and of the infant born to a mother with SIP.

Recent findings
The re-emergence of congenital syphilis is a result of increasing infectious syphilis in women of childbearing age, which is in turn a result of increasing syphilis in the general population particularly in Indigenous and marginalized populations. Potential reasons for the increase include changing sexual practices and increased travel and migration, as well as factors that limit healthcare access, particularly access to antenatal care and limited awareness and education amongst mothers and maternity services. A single antenatal test for syphilis is insufficient; more frequent testing in pregnancy is necessary even for women deemed to be low risk. The management of SIP and of the newborn is complex and guidelines should be readily available with clear recommendations.

Summary
Congenital syphilis is preventable. The current crisis calls for a global and national multipronged, co-ordinated approach involving public health and hospital systems which includes education of individuals and healthcare workers, availability of updated guidelines for prevention and treatment, prioritization of antenatal testing, assurance of accessible and prompt treatment and appropriate assessment and follow-up of infants.
Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome Occurred During the Use of Pseudoephedrine: A Case Report
Authors: Gunduz Zahide Betul 
Published: September 2022

Introduction
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a syndrome that is manifested by a variety of clinical findings, like headache, seizure, loss of vision and change in consciousness, and characterized by bilateral vasogenic edema, which is usually located in the posterior part of the hemispheres, but sometimes located in atypical localization.

Case Presentation
A 56-year-old man with no known systemic disease with generalized tonic clonic seizure was evaluated. He had oral paracetamol + pseudoephedrine HCl for runny nose, sore throat, and headache. After the second dosage, he had a seizure during sleeping. In flair sequence of magnetic resonance imaging, bilateral cortical and subcortical hyperintensities were observed in the posterior parts of the hemispheres and the cerebellar hemispheres, which demonstrated PRES.

Conclusion
We presented a PRES case with seizures after using 2 doses of pseudoephedrine. In addition to hypertension, several factors have been blamed, such as eclampsia-preeclampsia, some immunosuppressive and chemotherapeutic drugs, some kidney diseases. Although the patient had no known risk factors for PRES, he was diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes mellitus during follow-up.
Pten regulates endocytic trafficking of cell adhesion and signaling molecules to pattern the retina
Authors: Touahri Yacine , Hanna Joseph , Tachibana Nobuhiko , David Luke Ajay , Olender Thomas , Okawa Satoshi , Chinchalongporn Vorapin , Balakrishnan Anjali , Cantrup Robert , Dixit Rajiv , Mattar Pierre , Saleh Fermisk , Ilnytskyy Yaroslav , Murshed Monzur , Mains Paul E. , Kovalchuk Igor , Lefebvre Julie L , Cayouette Michel , del Sol Antonio , Brand Marjorie , Reese Benjamin E , Schuurmans Carol 
Published: September 2022

SUMMARYThe retina is an exquisitely patterned tissue, with neuronal somata positioned at regular intervals to completely sample the visual field. Cholinergic amacrine cells are spectacular exemplars of precision, distributing in two radial layers and tangentially, forming regular mosaics. Here, we investigated how the intracellular phosphatase Pten and the cell adhesion molecule Dscam cooperate to regulate amacrine cell patterning. Using double mutants to test epistasis, we found that Pten and Dscam function in parallel pathways to regulate amacrine cell positioning. Mechanistically, Pten regulates endocytic remodeling of cell adhesion molecules (Dscam, Megf10, Fat3), which are aberrantly redistributed in Pten conditional-knock-out (cKO) amacrine cells. Furthermore, extracellular vesicles derived from multivesicular endosomes have altered proteomes in PtencKO retinas. Consequently, Wnt signaling is elevated in PtencKO retinal amacrine cells, the pharmacological disruption of which phenocopies PtencKO patterning defects. Pten thus controls endocytic trafficking of critical cell adhesion/signaling molecules to control amacrine cell spacing.HIGHLIGHTSPten and Dscam act in parallel pathways to regulate amacrine cell spacingEndocytic remodeling of cell adhesion molecules is perturbed in PtencKO retinasExtracellular vesicle content is altered in PtencKO retinasPerturbation of Wnt signaling phenocopies defects in amacrine cell positioningeTOC BLURBPatterns in nature range from stereotyped distributions of colored patches on butterfly wings to precise neuronal spacing in the nervous system. Waddington proposed that built-in constraints canalize developmental patterns. Touahri et al. identified Pten-mediated endocytic trafficking of cell adhesion/signaling molecules as a novel constraint measure controlling retinal amacrine cell patterning.
The Entorhinal-DG/CA3 Pathway in the Medial Temporal Lobe Retains Visual Working Memory of a Simple Surface Feature
Authors: Xie Weizhen , Cappiello Marcus , Yassa Michael A. , Ester Edward , Zaghloul Kareem , Zhang Weiwei 
Published: September 2022

AbstractClassic models consider working memory (WM) and long-term memory as distinct mental faculties that are supported by different neural mechanisms. Yet, there are significant parallels in the computation that both types of memory require. For instance, the representation of precise item-specific memory requires the separation of overlapping neural representations of similar information. This computation has been referred to as pattern separation, which can be mediated by the entorhinal-DG/CA3 pathway of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in service of long-term episodic memory. However, although recent evidence has suggested that the MTL is involved in WM, the extent to which the entorhinal-DG/CA3 pathway supports precise item-specific WM has remained elusive. Here, we combine an established orientation WM task with high-resolution fMRI to test the hypothesis that the entorhinal-DG/CA3 pathway retains visual WM of a simple surface feature. Participants were retrospectively cued to retain one of the two studied orientation gratings during a brief delay period and then tried to reproduce the cued orientation as precisely as possible. By modeling the delay-period activity to reconstruct the retained WM content, we found that the anterior-lateral entorhinal cortex (aLEC) and the hippocampal DG/CA3 subfield both contain item-specific WM information that is associated with subsequent recall fidelity. Together, these results highlight the contribution of MTL circuitry to item-specific WM representation.
Female Friendships: Social Network Analysis as a tool to understand intra-group affiliation in semi-commensal lion-tailed macaques
Authors: Dhawale Ashni Kumar , Sinha Anindya 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe lion-tailed macaque is a gregarious, rainforest-adapted species, that has, in certain locations across its natural distribution, recently begun to explore and utilise surrounding human-dominated habitats. In many primate species, exposure to novel human-use food resources and potential provisioning has previously been associated with changes in intra-group social structure, often categorised by increased aggression and, more importantly, increased affiliation, possibly as a means of reconciliation. Here we quantify the changing affiliative relationships among the female members of two groups with varying degrees of habituation, using social network analysis. We examine frequencies of pair-wise affiliation between the female members of each group, ranked within the prevailing linear hierarchy, to measure individual attributes or the local importance of individuals in a network, and group attributes or the global role of all individuals in the whole network. We found that the subordinate individuals in the less habituated group maintained a higher number of connections with group members, an expected outcome, as key affiliative behaviours such as grooming are known to be directed upwards in the hierarchy. This pattern was observed to be inverse in the highly habituated group, with dominant individuals maintaining more connections, suggesting that under the conditions of increased competition for the novel food resource, dominance rank was highly contested. In support of this theory, we also found multiple fluctuations in dominance rank over time for this highly habituated group, with nearly no fluctuations in the less habituated group. This study demonstrates that varied intensities of human presence and dependence on human-use foods have differential effects on the intra-group sociality of lion-tailed macaques.
Efficacy and safety of glycosphingolipid SSEA-4 targeting CAR-T cells in an ovarian carcinoma model
Authors: Monzo HJ , Hyytiäinen M , Elbasani E , Kalander K , Wall J , Moyano-Galceran L , Tanjore-Ramanathan J , Jukonen J , Laakkonen P , Ristimäki A , Carlson JW , Lehti K , Salehi S , Puolakkainen P , Haglund C , Seppänen H , Leppä S , Ojala PM 
Published: September 2022

AbstractChimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapies for solid tumors face critical challenges such as heterogeneous antigen expression. We characterized SSEA-4 cell-surface glycolipid as a target for CAR-T cell therapy. SSEA-4 is mainly expressed during embryogenesis but is also found in several cancer types making it an attractive tumor-associated antigen. Anti-SSEA-4 CAR-T cells were generated and assessed pre-clinicallyin vitroandin vivofor anti-tumor response and safety. SSEA-4 CAR-T cells effectively eliminated SSEA-4 positive cells in all tested cancer cell lines whereas SSEA-4 negative cells lines were not targeted.In vivoefficacy and safety studies using NSG mice and the high-grade serous ovarian cancer cell line OVCAR4 demonstrated a remarkable and specific anti-tumor response at all CAR-T cell doses used. At high T cell doses, CAR-T cell-treated mice showed signs of health deterioration after a follow-up period. However, severity of toxicity was reduced with delayed onset when lower CAR-T cell doses were used. Our data demonstrate the efficacy of anti-SSEA-4 CAR-T therapy; however, safety strategies, such as dose-limiting and/or equipping CAR-T cells with combinatorial antigen recognition should be implemented for its potential clinical translation.
CRISPR-Analytics (CRISPR-A): a platform for precise analytics and simulations for gene editing
Authors: Sanvicente-García Marta , García-Valiente Albert , Jouide Socayna , Jabara-Wallace Jessica , Bautista Èric , Escobosa Marc , Sánchez-Mejías Avencia , Güell Marc 
Published: September 2022

AbstractGene editing characterization with currently available tools does not always give precise relative proportions among the different types of gene edits present in an edited bulk of cells. We have developed CRISPR-Analytics, CRISPR-A, which is a comprehensive and versatile genome editing web application tool and a nextflow pipeline to give support to gene editing experimental design and analysis. CRISPR-A provides a robust gene editing analysis pipeline composed of data analysis tools and simulation. It achieves higher accuracy than current tools and expands the functionality. The analysis includes mock-based noise correction, spike-in calibrated amplification bias reduction, and advanced interactive graphics. This expanded robustness makes this tool ideal for analyzing highly sensitive cases such as clinical samples or experiments with low editing efficiencies. It also provides an assessment of experimental design through the simulation of gene editing results. Therefore, CRISPR-A is ideal to support multiple kinds of experiments such as double-stranded DNA break-based engineering, base editing (BE), primer editing (PE), and homology-directed repair (HDR), without the need of specifying the used experimental approach.