by Sébastien Goutal, Nicolas Tournier, Martine Guillermier, Nadja Van Camp, Olivier Barret, Mylène Gaudin, Michel Bottlaender, Philippe Hantraye, Sonia Lavisse Introduction Knowledge of the repeatability of quantitative parameters derived from [18F]FDG PET images is essential to define the group size and allow correct interpretation. Here we tested repeatability and accuracy of different [18F]FDG absolute and relative quantification parameters in a standardized preclinical setup in nonhuman primates...
by Katharina Martini, Christian Blüthgen, Joan Elias Walter, Thi Dan Linh Nguyen-Kim, Friedrich Thienemann, Thomas Frauenfelder Background To evaluate chest-computed-tomography (CT) scans in coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients for signs of organizing pneumonia (OP) and microinfarction as surrogate for microscopic thromboembolic events. Methods Real-time polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 patients undergoing chest-CT (non-enhanced, enhanced, pulmonary-angiography [CT-PA])...
by Jin Kyu Kim, Jong Hee Hwang, Myung Hee Lee, Yun Sil Chang, Won Soon Park Antenatal corticosteroid (ACS) administration has been known as one of the most effective treatment in perinatal medicine, but the beneficial effects of ACS may vary not only gestational age, but also the quality of perinatal and neonatal care of the institution. This nationwide cohort study of the Korean Neonatal Network (KNN) data was consisted of
by Liwei Zhang, Zhihui Liu The uncertainty of high technology has determined the high-risk character of high-tech projects. Thus, it is of great importance to effectively avoid the risk of high-tech projects by thoroughly analyzing projects’ methodologies and fully understanding the technology prospect risk of projects in the feasibility study phase. This study proposes a systematic research framework to identify and analyze the technology prospect risk of projects based on patent analysis....
by Chin-Ying Chen, Wei-Sheng Huang, Hui-Chuen Chen, Chin-Hao Chang, Long-Teng Lee, Heng-Shuen Chen, Yow-Der Kang, Wei-Chu Chie, Chyi-Feng Jan, Wei-Dean Wang, Jaw-Shiun Tsai Aim This study explored the effect of a moderate (90 g/d) low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) in type 2 diabetes patients over 18 months. Methods Ninety-two poorly controlled type 2 diabetes patients aged 20–80 years with HbA1c ≥7.5% (58 mmol/mol) in the previous three months were randomly assigned to a 90 g/d LCD r traditional diabetic...
by Martin Sundström Rehal, Felix Liebau, Jan Wernerman, Olav Rooyackers Background Enteral nutrition (EN) is a ubiquitous intervention in ICU patients but there is uncertainty regarding the optimal dose, timing and importance for patient-centered outcomes during critical illness. Our research group has previously found an improved protein balance during normocaloric versus hypocaloric parenteral nutrition in neurosurgical ICU patients. We now wanted to investigate if this could be demonstrated...
by Jinqiu Mo, Qing Yang, Lan Xia, Zhihong Niu Objective To evaluate the location of transferred embryos under various parameters during embryo transfer in in vitro fertilization (IVF) by applying an in vitro experimental model for embryo transfer (ET). Methods Mock ET simulations were conducted with a laboratory model of the uterine cavity. The transfer catheter was loaded with a sequence of air and liquid volumes, including development-arrested embryos donated by patients. The transfer procedure...
by Shweta Singh, Vinod Kumar Mishra, Ravindra Nath Kharwar, Neeraj Budhlakoti, Ram Narayan Ahirwar, Dwijesh Chandra Mishra, Sundeep Kumar, Ramesh Chand, Uttam Kumar, Suneel Kumar, Arun Kumar Joshi Lesion mimic (Lm) mutants display hypersensitive responses (HR) without any pathogen attack; their symptoms are similar to those produced by a pathogen and result in cell death. In wheat, such mutants have been reported to be resistant against leaf rust due to their biotrophic nature. However, Lm mutants...
by Tai-Hsin Tsai, Szu-Huai Lin, Chieh-Hsin Wu, Yi-Cheng Tsai, Sheau-Fang Yang, Chih-Lung Lin Objectives More and more evidence suggests oxidative stress and inflammation contribute importantly to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-induced cerebral vasospasm and secondary brain injury. Recent evidence indicates Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) increases the expression of antioxidant genes and decreases the expression of pro-inflammatory genes. This study examines the effects of an activator...
by Andreas M. Hötker, Christian Blüthgen, Niels J. Rupp, Aurelia F. Schneider, Daniel Eberli, Olivio F. Donati Purpose To assess the value of the PI-RADS 2.1 scoring system in the detection of prostate cancer on multiparametric MRI in comparison to the standard PI-RADS 2.0 system and to assess its inter-reader variability. Materials and methods This IRB-approved study included 229 patients undergoing multiparametric prostate MRI prior to MRI-guided TRUS-based biopsy, which were retrospectively...
by Shyryn Almerekova, Natalia Shchegoleva, Saule Abugalieva, Yerlan Turuspekov Worldwide, the genus Ranunculus includes approximately 600 species and is highly genetically diverse. Recent taxonomic reports suggest that the genus has a monophyletic origin, divided into two subgenera, and consists of 17 sections. The Central Asian country of Kazakhstan has 62 species of the genus that have primarily been collected in the central part of the country. The latest collection trips in southern parts...
by Caroline Rometsch, Jana Katharina Denkinger, Martha Engelhardt, Petra Windthorst, Johanna Graf, Christoph Nikendei, Stephan Zipfel, Florian Junne Background Traumatized refugees often suffer from diverse psychosomatic symptoms. Female Yazidi refugees from Northern Iraq who survived attacks of the so-called “Islamic State” were brought to Germany to receive special medical and psychotherapeutic treatment in a unique worldwide humanitarian admission program (HAP). Here, we report on their psychosomatic...
by Laily Sadozai, Shaya Sable, Enora Le Roux, Pierre Coste, Clémence Guillot, Priscilla Boizeau, Aurore Berthe-Aucejo, François Angoulvant, Mathie Lorrot, Olivier Bourdon, Sonia Prot-Labarthe Introduction While drug prescription should be based on established recommendations stemming from clinical trials but in pediatrics, many drugs are used without marketing authorization. Consequently recommendations are often based on clinical experience and the risk of inappropriate prescription (IP) is high....
by Yan Hao, Ting Xu, Hongping Hu, Peng Wang, Yanping Bai The outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan has significantly impacted the economy and society globally. Countries are in a strict state of prevention and control of this pandemic. In this study, the development trend analysis of the cumulative confirmed cases, cumulative deaths, and cumulative cured cases was conducted based on data from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China from January 23, 2020 to April 6, 2020 using an Elman...
by Silke Adam, Ueli Reber, Thomas Häussler, Hannah Schmid-Petri We study the discursive resonance of online climate skepticism in traditional media in Germany, a country where climate skeptics lack public prestige and thus form a political counter-movement. We thereby differentiate two temporal dynamics: resonance can be continuous or selective, based on the exploitation of specific events. Beyond, we test whether such resonance is higher within the conservative media. We rely on news value...
by Mitsuteru Yoshida, Kazuya Kondo, Naoko Matsui, Yuishinn Izumi, Yoshimi Bando, Michihiro Yokoishi, Kouichirou Kajiura, Akira Tangoku Background It is popularly believed that myasthenia gravis (MG) patients show acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChRAb) production associated with the thymus (germinal centers, approximately 80%). It has been suggested that thymectomy can remove the area of autoantibody production. This study aimed to determine whether the solid volume of the thymus calculated using...
by Mohammad Rubayet Hasan, Faheem Mirza, Hamad Al-Hail, Sathyavathi Sundararaju, Thabisile Xaba, Muhammad Iqbal, Hashim Alhussain, Hadi Mohamad Yassine, Andres Perez-Lopez, Patrick Tang
by Stephanie T. Castle, Nora Allan, Deana Clifford, Cody M. Aylward, Jon Ramsey, Andrea J. Fascetti, Risa Pesapane, Austin Roy, Mark Statham, Benjamin Sacks, Janet Foley The critically endangered Amargosa vole (Microtus californicus scirpensis) is found only in rare marsh habitat near Tecopa, California in a plant community dominated by three-square bulrush (Schoenoplectus americanus). Since the earliest research on the Amargosa vole, the existing paradigm has been that these voles are obligatorily...
by Rosana Veroneze, Sâmia Cruz Tfaile Corbi, Bárbara Roque da Silva, Cristiane de S. Rocha, Cláudia V. Maurer-Morelli, Silvana Regina Perez Orrico, Joni A. Cirelli, Fernando J. Von Zuben, Raquel Mantuaneli Scarel-Caminaga Objective It is increasingly common to find patients affected by a combination of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), dyslipidemia (DLP) and periodontitis (PD), which are chronic inflammatory diseases. More studies able to capture unknown relationships among these diseases will contribute...
by Wilbert Mbuya, Ruby Mcharo, Jacklina Mhizde, Jonathan Mnkai, Anifrid Mahenge, Maria Mwakatima, Wolfram Mwalongo, Nhamo Chiwerengo, Michael Hölscher, Tessa Lennemann, Elmar Saathoff, France Rwegoshora, Liset Torres, Arne Kroidl, Christof Geldmacher, Kathrin Held, Mkunde Chachage Background The burden of HPV-associated premalignant and malignant cervical lesions remains high in HIV+ women even under ART treatment. In order to identify possible underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms, we studied...
by Benjamin E. Zuchelkowski, Ling Wang, Sebastien Gingras, Qinzi Xu, Minying Yang, Darrell Triulzi, Grier P. Page, Victor R. Gordeuk, Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro, Janet S. Lee, Mark T. Gladwin Background Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is widely used in the treatment of malaria, rheumatologic disease such as lupus, and most recently, COVID-19. These uses raise concerns about its safe use in the setting of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, especially as 11% of African American men carry the...
by Je Moon Woo, Jae Bong Cha, Chang Kyu Lee Purpose To compare the properties of the lamina cribrosa (LC) and the peripapillary vessel density between branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), using swept-source optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography angiography. Methods This retrospective study included 21 eyes of 21 patients with BRVO and 43 eyes of 43 patients with NTG who were treated from June 2016 to September 2017. The anterior LC depth...
by Gáspár Lukács, Eva Specker Binary classification has numerous applications. For one, lie detection methods typically aim to classify each tested person either as “liar” or as “truthteller” based on the given test results. To infer practical implications, as well as to compare different methods, it is essential to assess the diagnostic efficiency, such as demonstrating the number of correctly classified persons. However, this is not always straightforward. In Concealed Information Tests (CITs),...
by Esther J. R. Florisse, Philippe A. E. G. Delespaul Evidence of risk assessment procedures is scarce and inconclusive. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of risk assessment on aggression and the use of coercive interventions in an acute psychiatric admission setting. In addition, we evaluated nurse behaviour before and after the use of risk assessment. To take the fluctuations with regard to aggression and coercive interventions into account, we allowed 26 weeks for baseline...
by Aybüke Koyuncu, Michelo Simuyandi, Samuel Bosomprah, Roma Chilengi Background Rotavirus is the most common cause of fatal diarrhoeal disease among children under the age of five globally and is responsible for millions of hospitalizations each year. Although nutritional status and environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) are recognized as important predictors of susceptibility to diarrhoeal disease, no research to date has examined the mechanisms by which undernutrition and EED may protect against...
by Laura Artigas, Mireia Coma, Pedro Matos-Filipe, Joaquim Aguirre-Plans, Judith Farrés, Raquel Valls, Narcis Fernandez-Fuentes, Juan de la Haba-Rodriguez, Alex Olvera, Jose Barbera, Rafael Morales, Baldo Oliva, Jose Manuel Mas From January 2020, COVID-19 is spreading around the world producing serious respiratory symptoms in infected patients that in some cases can be complicated by the severe acute respiratory syndrome, sepsis and septic shock, multiorgan failure, including acute kidney injury...
by Vijay S. Thakur, Scott M. Welford Modulation of gene activity by creating mutations has contributed significantly to the understanding of protein functions. Oftentimes, however, mutational analyses use overexpression studies, in which proteins are taken out of their normal contexts and stoichiometries. In the present work, we sought to develop an approach to simultaneously use the CRISPR/Cas9 and Cre-Lox techniques to modify the endogenous SAT1 gene to introduce mutant forms of the protein...
by Grant A. Rutledge, Larry G. Cabral, Brandon J. Kuey, Joshua D. Lee, Laurence D. Mueller, Michael R. Rose Our intuitive understanding of adaptation by natural selection is dominated by the power of selection at early ages in large populations. Yet, as the forces of natural selection fall with adult age, we expect adaptation to be attenuated with age. Explicit simulations of age-dependent adaptation suggest that populations adapt to a novel environment quickly at early ages, but only slowly...
by Anh-Dao Phan, Arthur Neuschwander, Guillaume Perrod, Gabriel Rahmi, Christophe Cellier, Bernard Cholley Background Hemodynamic monitoring during digestive endoscopy is usually minimal and involves intermittent brachial pressure measurements. New continuous noninvasive devices to acquire instantaneous arterial blood pressure may be more sensitive to detect procedural hypotension. Purpose To compare the ability of noninvasive continuous monitoring with that of intermittent oscillometric measurements...
by Steven A. Lee, Christopher M. Wallis, Elizabeth E. Rogers, Lindsey P. Burbank Bacterial phytopathogen Xylella fastidiosa specifically colonizes the plant vascular tissue through a complex process of cell adhesion, biofilm formation, and dispersive movement. Adaptation to the chemical environment of the xylem is essential for bacterial growth and progression of infection. Grapevine xylem sap contains a range of plant secondary metabolites such as phenolics, which fluctuate in response to pathogen...
by Kassaw Beyene Getahun, Gebresilasea Gendisha Ukke, Biresaw Wassihun Alemu Background Companionship during delivery is an important feature of compassionate and respectful maternity care. It has a positive impact on delivery and birth outcomes. In low resource countries like Ethiopia lack of companionship discourages women from accessing facility-based delivery care. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the utilization of companionship during delivery and associated factors. Methods Health facility-based...
by Maurits Adam, Birgit Elsner When infants observe a human grasping action, experience-based accounts predict that all infants familiar with grasping actions should be able to predict the goal regardless of additional agency cues such as an action effect. Cue-based accounts, however, suggest that infants use agency cues to identify and predict action goals when the action or the agent is not familiar. From these accounts, we hypothesized that younger infants would need additional agency cues...
by Everton Falcão de Oliveira, Alessandra Gutierrez de Oliveira, Carla Cardozo Pinto de Arruda, Wagner de Souza Fernandes, Márcio José de Medeiros Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected vector-borne disease associated with socioeconomic and environmental issues. In Brazil, epidemics of VL have occurred in major cities since 1980. Applied models for medical and epidemiological research have been used to assess the distribution and characteristics of disease endpoints and identify and characterize...
by Arthurine K. Zakama, Terik Weekes, Richard Kajubi, Abel Kakuru, John Ategeka, Moses Kamya, Mary K. Muhindo, Diane Havlir, Prasanna Jagannathan, Grant Dorsey, Stephanie L. Gaw Objective Placental malaria is a known risk factor for small for gestational age (SGA) neonates. However, currently utilized international and African birthweight standards have not controlled for placental malaria and/or lack obstetrical ultrasound dating. We developed a neonatal birthweight standard based on obstetrically...
by Matthew W. Nelms, Andrew G. Day, Xuemei Sui, Steven N. Blair, Robert Ross Despite considerable evidence demonstrating that waist circumference (WC) is independently associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or all-cause mortality, whether the addition of WC improves risk prediction models is unclear. The objective was to evaluate the improvement in risk prediction with the addition of WC, alone or in combination with BMI, to the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) and a population specific...
by Ali Eshragh, Saed Alizamir, Peter Howley, Elizabeth Stojanovski The novel coronavirus COVID-19 arrived on Australian shores around 25 January 2020. This paper presents a novel method of dynamically modeling and forecasting the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia with a high degree of accuracy and in a timely manner using limited data; a valuable resource that can be used to guide government decision-making on societal restrictions on a daily and/or weekly basis. The “partially-observable stochastic...
by Yuji Shimizu, Shin-Ya Kawashiri, Yuko Noguchi, Yasuhiro Nagata, Takahiro Maeda, Naomi Hayashida Hypertension frequently occurs in subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). By bolstering thyroid inflammation, anti-peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) causes autoimmune thyroiditis, which is one of the most common causes of SCH. Since the absence of thyroid cysts is associated with TPO-Ab (+) based on the indication of latent thyroid damage, we explored the potential mechanism underlying the association among...
by Wei Yan, Lei Ji, Deshun Xu, Liping Chen, Xiaofang Wu Vibrio parahaemolyticus is responsible for seafood-borne gastroenteritis worldwide. Isolates of V. parahaemolyticus from clinical samples (n = 54) and environmental samples (n = 38) in Huzhou were analyzed by serological typing, virulence gene detection, antibiotic resistance testing, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for molecular typing. O3:K6 was the main serotype and tlh+tdh+trh- was the most frequently detected virulence...
by Anli Chen, Qiongyan Li, Pengfei Liao, Qiaoling Zhao, Shunming Tang, Pingyang Wang, Gang Meng, Zhanpeng Dong Fuyin-lethal red egg (Fuyin-lre) is a red egg mutant discovered from the germplasm resource Fuyin of Bombyx mori. The embryo of Fuyin-lre stops developing at the late stage of gastrulation due to chromosome structural variation. In this work, precise mutation sites at both ends of the mutated region were determined, and two inserted sequences with lengths of 1232 bp and 1845 bp were...
by Albert Altarriba-Bartes, Javier Peña, Jordi Vicens-Bordas, Raimon Milà-Villaroel, Julio Calleja-González Aims The main aim of the present review was to update the available evidence on the value interest of post-competition recovery strategies in male professional or semi-professional soccer players to determine its effect on post-game performance outcomes, physiological markers, and wellness indicators. Methods A structured search was carried out following the PRISMA guidelines using six online...
by Kosuke Takeuchi, Masatoshi Nakamura Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare the duration of high-intensity static stretching on flexibility and strength in the hamstrings. Methods Fourteen healthy males (20.8 ± 0.6 years, 170.7 ± 6.5 cm, 66.4 ± 9.9 kg) underwent high-intensity static stretching for three different durations (10, 15, and 20 seconds). The intensity of static stretching was set at the maximum point of discomfort. To examine the change in flexibility and strength, range...
by Tanya Abramsky, Imma Kapinga, Gerry Mshana, Shelley Lees, Christian Holm Hansen, Ramadhan Hashim, Heidi Stöckl, Saidi Kapiga, Sheila Harvey Introduction Globally, around 30% of ever-partnered women have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) during their lifetime. To date, most research into causes and prevention of IPV involves surveys of women, with little research into risk-factors for male perpetration. This paper describes a survey of male partners of women participating...
by Giuliano Garofolo, Antonio Petrella, Giuseppe Lucifora, Gabriella Di Francesco, Giovanni Di Guardo, Alessandra Pautasso, Barbara Iulini, Katia Varello, Federica Giorda, Maria Goria, Alessandro Dondo, Simona Zoppi, Cristina Esmeralda Di Francesco, Stefania Giglio, Furio Ferringo, Luigina Serrecchia, Mattia Anna Rita Ferrantino, Katiuscia Zilli, Anna Janowicz, Manuela Tittarelli, Walter Mignone, Cristina Casalone, Carla Grattarola Brucella ceti infections have been increasingly reported in...
by Cao Shan, Mudassir Hussain, Ghulam Raza Sargani This article investigates acculturation stress among Pakistani students who are studying in Chinese universities, located in five provinces where international students are concentrated, with a mix-method approach. 203 students among 260 questionnaire recipients responded the online survey. When using the ASSIS (Acculturation Stress Scale for International Students) as instrument, the Principal Component Analysis Method and SPSS 20.0, we found...
by Maurizio Serva, Michele Pasquini All results in this paper are based upon a new dataset consisting in 60 Swadesh lists of 207 items, overall 12,420 terms collected during 2018-2019. Each list corresponds to a different variety of Malagasy, which is not simply identified by the name of the ethnicity but also by the precise location where the variety was collected. This is very important since some traditional ethnic groups are a heritage of historical events rather than representing communities...
by Zorba Blázquez-Bermejo, Nuria Farré, Marc Llagostera, Pedro Caravaca Perez, Laura Morán-Fernández, Aleix Fort, Javier De-Juan, Sonia Ruiz, Juan F. Delgado Introduction Diuretic resistance (DR) is a common condition during a heart failure (HF) hospitalization, and is related to worse prognosis. Although the risk factors for DR during a HF hospitalization are widely described, we do not know whether the risk of chronic DR could be predicted during admission. Material and methods We conducted a...
by Christos Andreas Makridis This paper studies the spatial and time series patterns of religious liberty across countries and estimates its effect on measures of human flourishing. First, while there are significant cross-country differences in religious liberty, it has declined in the past decade across countries, particularly among countries that rank higher in economic freedom. Second, countries with greater religious liberty nonetheless exhibit greater levels of economic freedom, particularly...
by Myrthe A. Nuijts, Nienke Veldhuis, Inge Stegeman, Hanneke M. van Santen, Giorgio L. Porro, Saskia M. Imhof, Antoinette Y. N. Schouten–van Meeteren Childhood craniopharyngioma is a rare and slow growing brain tumour, often located in the sellar and suprasellar region. It commonly manifests with visual impairment, increased intracranial pressure and hypothalamic and/or pituitary deficiencies. Visual impairment in childhood adversely affects a child’s daily functioning and quality of life. We...
by Alzahraa Abdelraouf Ahmad, Asmaa M. El-Kady, Tasneem M. Hassan Giardia duodenalis is a common gastrointestinal protozoan parasite, causing diarrheal illness in humans worldwide. Yet, the distribution of G. duodenalis genotypes among human patients and their clinical relevance remains controversial. This study aimed to detect G. duodenalis in children in Upper Egypt and identify causative genotypes and elucidate a possible correlation between genotype and clinical presentation. One hundred...
by Tarak Dhaouadi, Jihen Abdellatif, Raja Trabelsi, Hanene Gaied, Sameh Chamkhi, Imen Sfar, Rym Goucha, Fethi Ben Hamida, Taieb Ben Abdallah, Yousr Gorgi Background Primary membranous nephritis (PMN) is an autoimmune disease induced by the deposit of antibodies (Ab) to the phospholipase receptor A2 receptor (PLA2R) on podocytes. In this context, we aimed to assess the relationships between anti-PLA2R Ab, PLA2R rs4664308 SNP, PLA2R mRNA levels and PMN susceptibility and outcome. Methods Sixty-eight...
by Ellen Schmitt–van de Leemput, Lucy V. A. Metcalfe, George Caldow, Paul H. Walz, Christian Guidarini Daily milk production and reproductive performance of cows vaccinated with a live double-deleted Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) vaccine were compared to those of non-vaccinated cows, cohabitating in endemic BVDV herds. All animals in the treatment group were vaccinated on study day 0 irrespective of lactation or gestation status, while control animals did not receive any treatment. 1463...
by Koichi Kamei, Isao Miyairi, Kenji Ishikura, Masao Ogura, Kensuke Shoji, Katsuhiro Arai, Reiko Ito, Toshinao Kawai, Shuichi Ito Patients receiving immunosuppressive agents are at risk of life-threatening infections. However, live vaccines are generally contraindicated in them. We conducted a prospective study regarding live attenuated vaccines for them. Patients elder than one year of age with immunosuppressive agents who showed negative or borderline antibody titers (virus-specific IgG levels...
by Cody Hansen, Karine D. Bojikian, Zhongdi Chu, Xiao Zhou, Qinqin Zhang, Raghu C. Mudumbai, Murray A. Johnstone, Ruikang K. Wang, Philip P. Chen Purpose To investigate the relationships between global and sectoral macular vascular microcirculation parameters in the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) assessed by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), and global and sectoral visual field (VF) central mean sensitivity (CMS) assessed by standard automated perimetry. Methods Fifty-four...
by Wei-Ting Chen, Yu-Yi Kuo, Guan-Bo Lin, Chueh-Hsuan Lu, Hao-Ping Hsu, Yi-Kun Sun, Chih-Yu Chao Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are becoming a major threat to public health, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The most common form of NDDs is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), boasting 60–70% share. Although some debates still exist, excessive aggregation of β-amyloid protein (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles has been deemed one of the major causes for the pathogenesis of AD. A growing...
by Tsutomu Shimura, Chinami Nakashiro, Momoka Narao, Akira Ushiyama Dose assessment is an important issue for radiation emergency medicine to determine appropriate clinical treatment. Hematopoietic tissues are extremely vulnerable to radiation exposure. A decrease in blood cell count following radiation exposure is the first quantitative bio-indicator using hematological techniques. We further examined induction of oxidative stress biomarkers in residual lymphocytes to identify new biomarkers...
by Giorgio Burastero, Mattia Alessio-Mazzola, Luca Cavagnaro, Francesco Chiarlone, Giuliana Carrega, Andrea Giorgio Capello, Stefano Lovisolo, Lamberto Felli Few studies provide an analysis of conservative two-stage revision of hip periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) and its impact on final outcome. A conservative revision is defined when soft tissues and bone quality enable the use of primary prosthetic components. Data of patients treated for chronic hip PJI who underwent two-stage revision...
by Armin Attar, Fatemeh Nouri, Roham Borazjani, Mehrab Sayadi Background In the 2017 ACC/AHA hypertension guidelines, a 10-year risk of more than 10% is considered for initiation of intensive blood pressure reduction. The current study aimed to determine which cut off limit of cardiovascular risk for starting intensive blood pressure reduction is beneficial. Design A Secondary Analysis of Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). Methods Data from the SPRINT Trial was obtained from the...
by Bich Na Jang, Fatima Nari, Selin Kim, Eun-Cheol Park Background Diabetes is a progressive disease, and thus, it is important to prevent diabetes at the prediabetes stage. Although the loss of muscle strength and prediabetes are associated, few studies have examined relative handgrip strength (RHGS), which can be an indicator of both muscle strength and adiposity. Therefore, our study aimed to examine the association between RHGS and prediabetes (HbA1c level >5.7%) stratified by sex due to...
by Wojciech Sokołowski, Karolina Barszcz, Marta Kupczyńska, Michał Czopowicz, Norbert Czubaj, Wojciech Kinda, Zdzisław Kiełbowicz Hydrocephalus occurs more often in brachycephalic individuals of different species. Detailed analysis of rostral cranial fossa–region of cerebrospinal fluid outflow–is necessary to understand causes leading to hydrocephalus in specimens with shortened skull. The objective of the study was to determine morphology and morphometry of rostral cranial fossa in brachycephalic...
by Yohei Ueda, Keisho Hirota, Ichiro Yamauchi, Takuro Hakata, Takafumi Yamashita, Toshihito Fujii, Akihiro Yasoda, Nobuya Inagaki C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is a pivotal enhancer of endochondral bone growth and is expected to be a therapeutic reagent for impaired skeletal growth. Although we showed that CNP stimulates bone growth as a local regulator in the growth plate via the autocrine/paracrine system, CNP is abundantly produced in other various tissues and its blood concentration is...
FEEDS YOU MIGHT LIKE
by Hime Suzuki, Nobuhiro Mikuni, Hirofumi Ohnishi, Rintaro Yokoyama, Rei Enatsu, Satoko Ochi Objectives To evaluate the effects of nonadherence to antiseizure medications (ASMs) and clinical characteristics on seizure control, we employed a prospective cohort cross-sectional study using self-reports and medical records of patients with epilepsy (PWEs). Methods Eight hundred and fifty-five PWEs taking ASMs were enrolled from fourteen collaborative outpatient clinics from January 2018 to March 2019....
by Aric Vaidya, Hirohiko Kakizaki, Yasuhiro Takahashi Since the inferior rectus muscle (IRM) is a secondary adductor, it is expected to commonly observe esotropia in thyroid-associated inferior rectus myopathy, but this can be improved after the IRM recession. However, variable outcomes regarding the changes in horizontal strabismus after IRM recession ± IRM nasal transposition have been encountered in patients with thyroid eye disease (TED). We, therefore, examined the changes in 62 patients...
by Jianli Wu, Yue Pu Environmental pollution and income inequality are important issues related to sustainable economic and social development. Air pollution affects residents' physical health, and income inequality affects social stability and economic development. No scholar has yet confirmed the causal impact of air pollution on income inequality; therefore, this study is an important extension of the environmental Kuznets curve theory. This article examines the impact using balanced panel...
by Andrey N. Pravdivtsev, Frank D. Sönnichsen, Jan-Bernd Hövener Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) allows the analysis of biochemical processes non-invasively and in vivo. Still, its application in clinical diagnostics is rare. Routine MRS is limited to spatial, chemical and temporal resolutions of cubic centimetres, mM and minutes. In fact, the signal of many metabolites is strong enough for detection, but the resonances significantly overlap, exacerbating identification and quantification....
by Takako Takayama, Hideo Suzuki, Kosuke Okada, Takeshi Yamada, Kazushi Maruo, Yoko Saito, Yuji Mizokami Introduction To prevent gastric cancer, it is important to accurately determine the presence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. However, correctly identifying HP-uninfected individuals is difficult when using the combination of HP antibody and pepsinogen (PG). Objective The aim of this study was to discriminate true HP-uninfected individuals from others without the need for endoscopic examination....
by Stefan A. Nass, Ilias Hossain, Chilel Sanyang, Bakary Baldeh, Dora I. A. Pereira Background Anemia is one of the most impactful nutrient deficiencies in the world and disproportionately affects children in low-resource settings. Point-of-care devices (PoCDs) measuring blood hemoglobin (Hb) are widely used in such settings to screen for anemia due to their low cost, speed, and convenience. Here we present the first iteration of Aptus, a new PoCD which measures Hb and hematocrit (HCT). Aim To...
by Jan Hoffmann, Christine Kersting, Birgitta Weltermann Introduction Practice assistants represent a highly relevant occupational group in Germany and one of the most popular training professions in Germany. Despite this, most research in the health care sector has focused on secondary care settings, but has not addressed practice assistants in primary care. Knowledge about practice assistants’ workplace-related stressors and resources is particularly scarce. This cross-sectional study addresses...
by Andreas Riexinger, Frederik Bernd Laun, Sebastian Bickelhaupt, Hannes Seuß, Michael Uder, Bernhard Hensel, Marc Saake Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the cardiac motion artifact that regularly appears in diffusion-weighted imaging of the left liver lobe might be reduced by acquiring images in inspiration, when the coupling between heart and liver might be minimal. Materials and methods 43 patients with known or suspected focal liver lesions were examined at 1.5 T...
by Shreela V. Sharma, Amier Haidar, Jacqueline Noyola, Jacqueline Tien, Melinda Rushing, Brittni M. Naylor, Ru-Jye Chuang, Christine Markham Objective Brighter Bites is a school-based health promotion program that delivers fresh produce and nutrition education to low-income children and families. Due to COVID-19-related school closures, states were under “shelter in place” orders, and Brighter Bites administered a rapid assessment survey to identify social needs among their families. The purpose...
by Chiara Posarelli, Maria Novella Maglionico, Giuseppe Covello, Pasquale Loiudice, Alessandro Cipriano, Massimo Santini, Michele Figus Since the end of 2019, an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan has spread rapidly worldwide causing thousands of deaths. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is supported by SARS-CoV-2 and represents the causative agent of a potentially fatal disease that is of great global public health...
by Grijesh Jaiswal, Veerendra Kumar The SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused a pandemic and is public health emergency of international concern. As of now, no registered therapies are available for treatment of coronavirus infection. The viral infection depends on the attachment of spike (S) glycoprotein to human cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). We have designed a protein inhibitor (ΔABP-D25Y) targeting S protein using computational approach. The inhibitor consists of two α helical...
by Ureporn Kedjarune-Leggat, Uraipan Saetan, Anchana Khongsaengkaeo, Sudarat Suwannarat, Panchalika Deachamag, Monwadee Wonglapsuwan, Rawiwan Pornprasit, Wanwisa Thongkamwitoon, Parujee Phumklai, Jirapan Chaichanan, Wilaiwan Chotigeat Human Fortilin, an antiapoptotic protein, has also been implicated in several diseases; however, several potential uses of fortilin have also been proposed. Bearing the implications of fortilin in mind, fortilin analog, which has no complication with diseases,...
by Soo Hyun Kim, Hyo Joon Kim, Kyu Nam Park, Seung Pill Choi, Byung Kook Lee, Sang Hoon Oh, Kyung Woon Jeung, In Soo Cho, Chun Song Youn Background Prognostication after cardiac arrest (CA) needs a multimodal approach, but the optimal method is not known. We tested the hypothesis that the combination of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and neuroimaging could improve outcome prediction after CA treated with targeted temperature management (TTM). Methods A retrospective observational cohort study was...
by Shakil Ahmed, Andreas Kreft, Ezharul Hoque Chowdhury, Sultana Mehbuba Hossain, Peter R. Galle, Helmut Neumann Background and study aims Despite major technical advancements, endoscopic surveillance for detecting premalignant lesions in Barrett’s esophagus is challenging because of their flat appearance with only subtle morphological changes. Molecular endoscopic imaging (MEI) using nanoparticles (NPs), coupled with fluorescently labeled antibody permits visualization of disease-specific molecular...
by Laura Inhestern, Mona L. Peikert, Konstantin A. Krauth, Gabriele Escherich, Stefan Rutkowski, Daniela Kandels, Corinna Bergelt Our objective was to further the understanding of the process of reintegration of childhood cancer patients after treatment and to identify factors influencing that process. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted 49 interviews with parents (n = 29 mothers, n = 20 fathers) from 31 families with a child (
by Yoojoong Kim, Junhee Seok In general survival analysis, multiple studies have considered a single failure time corresponding to the time to the event of interest or to the occurrence of multiple events under the assumption that each event is independent. However, in real-world events, one event may impact others. Essentially, the potential structure of the occurrence of multiple events can be observed in several survival datasets. The interrelations between the times to the occurrences of...
by Ariyaratne Manathunge, Jelena Barbaric, Tomislav Mestrovic, Sriyakanthi Beneragama, Ivana Bozicevic Sri Lanka has a low-level HIV epidemic. This study aims to provide evidence on HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B (HBV) prevalence, sexual risk behaviours and utilisation of HIV prevention interventions among female sex workers (FSW) in the cities Colombo, Galle, and Kandy. Using respondent-driven sampling (RDS), we recruited a total of 458 FSW in Colombo, 360 in Galle and 362 in Kandy from November...
by Kelly Helorany Alves Costa, Bruno Duarte Gomes, Luiz Carlos de Lima Silveira, Givago da Silva Souza, Isabelle Christine Vieira da Silva Martins, Eliza Maria da Costa Brito Lacerda, Fernando Allan de Farias Rocha In the present study, we investigated the topographical distribution of ganglion cells and displaced amacrine cells in the retina of the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), a diurnal neotropical mammal of the suborder Suina (Order Artiodactyla) widely distributed across central and...
by Hayley McDonald, Janneke Berecki-Gisolf, Karen Stephan, Stuart Newstead To deter the performance of illegal driving behaviours, traffic infringement notices may be issued. Whilst there is a substantial body of research that has examined rates of reoffending following a traffic infringement, there have been few studies examining the length of time to next traffic offence. Where this research has been conducted, the findings do not provide current understandings, given the substantial changes...
by Zihan Xu, Shengzhi Mu, Xia Liao, Ronghui Fan, Wenjie Gao, Yaowen Sun, Wujun Wu, Qingan Jia Sepsis was characterized by systemic inflammatory response and multisystem organ dysfunction, refering to the activation of inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways. Estrogen has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects as well as extensive organ protective role. However, whether estrogen alleviates sepsis-induced liver injury and the mechanisms involved remain unknown. Septic...
by Vinay Udyawer, Claire Goiran, Olivier Chateau, Richard Shine The fitness of a predator depends upon its ability to locate and capture prey; and thus, increasing dietary specialization should favor the evolution of species-specific foraging tactics tuned to taxon-specific habitats and cues. Within marine environments, prey detectability (e.g., via visual or chemical cues) is affected by environmental conditions (e.g., water clarity and tidal flow), such that specialist predators would be expected...
by Johannes Jernqvist Gaare, Gonzalo Nido, Christian Dölle, Paweł Sztromwasser, Guido Alves, Ole-Bjørn Tysnes, Kristoffer Haugarvoll, Charalampos Tzoulis Parkinson disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. While genome wide association studies have identified several susceptibility loci, many causal variants and genes underlying these associations remain undetermined. Identifying these is essential in order to gain mechanistic...
by Meike Schleiff, Bhakti Hansoti, Anike Akridge, Caroline Dolive, David Hausner, Anna Kalbarczyk, George Pariyo, Thomas C. Quinn, Sharon Rudy, Sara Bennett Background As the field of global health expands, the recognition of structured training for field-based public health professionals has grown. Substantial effort has gone towards defining competency domains for public health professionals working globally. However, there is limited literature on how to implement competency-based training into...
by Peter Jo, Markus Bernhardt, Manuel Nietert, Alexander König, Azadeh Azizian, Markus A. Schirmer, Marian Grade, Julia Kitz, Kirsten Reuter-Jessen, Michael Ghadimi, Philipp Ströbel, Hans-Ulrich Schildhaus, Jochen Gaedcke Introduction Oncogenic mutation within the KRAS gene represents a negative predictor for treatment response to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in patients with colorectal cancer. Recently, we have shown no relevant heterogeneity for KRAS mutation status within and...
by Ahnul Ha, Sukkyu Sun, Young Kook Kim, Jinho Lee, Jin Wook Jeoung, Hee Chan Kim, Ki Ho Park Optic-disc photography (ODP) has proven to be very useful for optic nerve evaluation in glaucoma. In real clinical practice, however, limited patient cooperation, small pupils, or media opacities can limit the performance of ODP. The purpose of this study was to propose a deep-learning approach for increased resolution and improved legibility of ODP by contrast, color, and brightness compensation. Each...
by Michele D. Larson, Edward P. Levri, Snehalata V. Huzurbazar, Daniel J. Greenwood, Kara L. Wise, Amy C. Krist The dilution effect can occur by a range of mechanisms and results in reduced parasite prevalence in host taxa. In invaded ecosystems, the dilution effect can benefit native species if non-native species, acting as resistant or less competent hosts, reduce rates of parasitic infections in native species. In field experiments, we assessed whether manipulating biomass of the non-native...
by Tetsu Yatsuyanagi, Hitoshi Araki Migratory organisms have their own life histories that efficiently link multiple ecosystems. Therefore, comprehensive understanding of migration ecologies of these organisms is essential for both species conservation and ecosystem management. However, monitoring migration at fine spatiotemporal scales, especially in open marine systems, often requires huge costs and effort. Recently, environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques that utilize DNA released from living...
by Eugene Budu, Eugene Kofuor Maafo Darteh, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, Abdul-Aziz Seidu, Kwamena Sekyi Dickson Background Vaccination is proven to be one of the most cost-effective measures adopted to improve the health of children globally. Adhering to vaccines for children has the propensity to prevent about 1.5 million annual child deaths globally. This study sought to assess the trend and determinants of complete vaccination coverage among children aged 12–23 months in Ghana. Materials and methods...
by Yanlei Wang, Yanfei Liu, Gaoyang Han, Bo Yi, Shaihong Zhu Objective Robotic surgery (RS) has been increasingly used for the resection of rectal cancer, and its advantages over laparoscopic surgery (LS) have been demonstrated. However, few studies focused on the severity of postoperative complications. This study aimed to compared the postoperative complications within 30 days after RS over LS according to the Clavien-Dindo (C-D) classification. Methods A literature research of PubMed, Embase,...
by Min Cai, Fei Ye, Jiapeng Wu, Qihang Wu, Yu Wang, Yiguo Hong The identification of anammox bacteria is mostly relied on PCR with various marker genes. However, the community composition revealed by different marker genes and whether the marker genes influence the resulted community composition remain unclear. We compared the community structure of anammox bacteria in enriched and natural environments revealed by 16S rRNA and functional genes (hzo, hzsA and hzsB) from public database and published...
Physical activity and its associated factors in females with type 2 diabetes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
by Badreldin Abdelrhman Mohamed, Mohamed Salih Mahfouz, Mohamed Farouk Badr Despite the benefits of physical activity (PA) for the management of type 2 diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), the topic of PA is poorly addressed in Saudi Arabia (SA), especially in females with T2DM. The present study examined PA and its associated factors in females with T2DM in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This observational cross-sectional study was performed in a random sample of 372 women with T2DM. A face-to-face interview that...
by Ming-Cheng Huang, Hung-Rong Yen, Cheng-Li Lin, Yu-Chen Lee, Mao-Feng Sun, Mei-Yao Wu Background The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in decreasing the risk of stroke in patients with fibromyalgia. Methods We enrolled patients who was newly diagnosed as having fibromyalgia between 1 January, 2000 and 31 December, 2010 from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. The claim data for both the acupuncture cohort and non-acupuncture cohort were...
by Jerom Maas, Ronald van Gent, Jacco Hoekstra A detailed situation awareness of the local environment is essential for safe flight in General Aviation. When operating under Visual Flight Rules, eyesight is crucial for maintaining situation awareness and objects may be overlooked. Technical solutions such as Flarm have been sought, but they only work on a basis of co-operation: obstacles without the proper equipment are invisible. Recent developments in the field of radar technology, partly...
by Xinhui Xie, Lanxiao Hu, Hucheng Deng, Jinjian Gao Electromagnetic radiation has been proposed to non-aqueously stimulate shale formations, which can generate fractures and enhance the porosity of the matrix. The proposed method consumes electricity and thereby possesses significant advantages for sustainable and environmental hydrocarbon production. In this study, we investigate the pore structure variations of marine shale during electromagnetic radiation. First, the prepared marine shale...
by Xinyun Hu, Mingming Li From the discourse analysis perspective, ecopolitics has experienced a discourse change from authoritarianism to democracy. This study uses theory of authoritarianism and democracy in ecopolitics to explore the impact of authoritarian ecopolitical discourse (AED) and democratic ecopolitical discourse (DED) on environmental quality in China. After analysis using panel data and comparison of three main regions, results suggest a negative relationship between AED of the...
by Karen Gabriels, Patrick Willems, Jos Van Orshoven Soil sealing increases surface runoff in a watershed and decreases infiltration into the soil. Consequently, urbanization poses a significant challenge for watershed management to mitigate faster runoff accumulation downstream and associated floods. Hydrological models are often employed to assess the impact of land-use dynamics on flood events. Alternatively, data-driven approaches combining time series of land use geodatasets and georeferenced...
by Alessandra Colombini, Carlotta Perucca Orfei, Fabrizio Vincenzi, Paola De Luca, Enrico Ragni, Marco Viganò, Stefania Setti, Katia Varani, Laura de Girolamo Tendinopathy is a degenerative disease in which inflammatory mediators have been found to be sometimes present. The interaction between inflammation and matrix remodeling in human tendon cells (TCs) is supported by the secretion of cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-33. In this context, it has been demonstrated that pulsed electromagnetic...
by Alejandro García-Castaño, Leire Madariaga, Montserrat Antón-Gamero, Natalia Mejia, Jenny Ponce, Sara Gómez-Conde, Gustavo Pérez de Nanclares, Ana Belén De la Hoz, Rosa Martínez, Laura Saso, Idoia Martínez de LaPiscina, Inés Urrutia, Olaia Velasco, Aníbal Aguayo, Luis Castaño, Sonia Gaztambide The maintenance of magnesium (Mg2+) homeostasis is essential for human life. The Cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS)-pair domain divalent metal cation transport mediators (CNNMs) have been described to be...
by Zi-ying Chen, Dan-feng Xie, Zhi-yuan Liu, Yong-qi Zhong, Jing-yan Zeng, Zheng Chen, Xin-lin Chen Banxia Houpu decoction (BXHPD) has been used to treat depression in clinical practice for centuries. However, the pharmacological mechanisms of BXHPD still remain unclear. Network Pharmacology (NP) approach was used to explore the potential molecular mechanisms of BXHPD in treating depression. Potential active compounds of BXHPD were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology...
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου