Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Transl Gastroenterol Hepatol 2020 5;5:37. Epub 2020 Jul 5.

Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.

Outcomes of liver resection have improved with advances in surgical techniques, improvements in critical care and expansion of resectability criteria. However, morbidity and mortality following liver resection continue to plague surgeons. Post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) due to inadequate future liver remnant (FLR) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality following liver resection. Read More

J Cardiothorac Surg 2020 Jul 2;15(1):161. Epub 2020 Jul 2.

Gorman Cardiovascular Research Group, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Background: High ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) recurrence rates continue to plague IMR repair with undersized ring annuloplasty. We have previously shown that pre-repair three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) analysis is highly predictive of IMR recurrence. The objective of this study was to determine the quantitative change in 3DE annular and leaflet tethering parameters immediately after repair and to determine if intraoperative post-repair 3DE parameters would be able to predict IMR recurrence 6 months after repair. Read More

Intensive Care Med 2020 Jul 1. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Humanitas Clinical and Research Centre, IRCCS, Rozzano, Milan, Italy.

Parasit Vectors 2020 Jul 1;13(1):335. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

Paul G Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, Washington, 99164, USA.

Background: Yersinia pestis is the flea-transmitted etiological agent of bubonic plague. Sylvatic plague consists of complex tripartite interactions between diverse flea and wild rodent species, and pathogen strains. Transmission by flea bite occurs primarily by the Y. Read More

Nat Immunol 2020 Jun 29. Epub 2020 Jun 29.

Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Institut Pasteur, UMR 2000, CNRS, Paris, France.

Tissue Eng Part A 2020 Jun 29. Epub 2020 Jun 29.

Oregon Health & Science University, Biomedical Engineering, 3303 SW Bond Ave, Mailcode: CH13B, Portland, Oregon, United States, 97239;

Artificial small-diameter vascular grafts remain an unmet need in modern medicine, due to the thrombosis and neointimal hyperplasia that plague currently available synthetic devices. Tissue engineering techniques including in vitro endothelialization could offer a solution to this problem. A potential minimally invasive source of patient autologous endothelium is endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs), endothelial-like outgrowth products of circulating progenitors. Read More

Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2020 06 26;6:CD013459. Epub 2020 Jun 26.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.

Background: Plague is a severe disease associated with high mortality. Late diagnosis leads to advance stage of the disease with worse outcomes and higher risk of spread of the disease. A rapid diagnostic test (RDT) could help in establishing a prompt diagnosis of plague. Read More

Hastings Cent Rep 2020 May;50(3)

An account of an experience with contracting an illness that may well have been Covid-19 gives rise to reflections on doubt and on the art of dying well. The upshot: our mortality remains a fundamentally disorienting condition of our existence. If there's any wisdom to be had concerning our deaths, it likely lies in the direction of accepting their deranging character, rather than in searching for the philosophical insight that will reconcile us to our fate. Read More

Hastings Cent Rep 2020 May;50(3):50-53

When confronted by the novel ethical challenges posed by a pandemic, it is helpful to turn to history for guidance and direction. In this essay, the author revisits Thucydides's description of the Plague of Athens from The Peloponnesian War as he considers the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law's 2015 guidelines on ventilator allocation. Confronted by the exigencies of the Covid-19 surge that struck New York, he questions the task force's decision not to give any degree of preference to health care workers who might become ill. Read More

Front Immunol 2020 12;11:988. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

Microbiology Division, Defence Research and Development Establishment, Gwalior, India.

To counteract the deadly pathogens, i.e., , and , we prepared a recombinant DNA construct encoding the bivalent fusion protein LcrV-HSP70. Read More

Appl Nurs Res 2020 Jun 10:151316. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Department of Public Health Services, College of Health and Social Services, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001, United States of America. Electronic address:

Aim: To examine how factors such as a sense of belonging to a nursing work group, work environmental characteristics, and workplace violence effects the duration of employment in professional settings in a southwest region of the United States.

Design: The descriptive correlational survey study conducted in 2014.

Methods: A random sample of 700 licensed registered nurses (RN) from a Board of Nursing's list of currently licensed RNs' (approximate n = 2300). Read More

J Anxiety Disord 2020 Jun 12;74:102259. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

West Virginia University, United States.

Shame and concerns about stigma are salient barriers to treatment for people with anxiety disorders, and yet very little stigma research has focused on this class of disorders. One explanation for this research gap is the absence of a brief, psychometrically sound measure for assessing public stigma for the anxiety disorders as a class. This (three-study) paper presents the psychometric properties of a 7-item scale that covertly assesses anxiety stigma by presenting as a test of knowledge. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020 Jun 22;17(12). Epub 2020 Jun 22.

School of Architecture and Environmental Design, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran.

In the past century, dramatic shifts in demographics, globalization and urbanization have facilitated the rapid spread and transmission of infectious diseases across continents and countries. In a matter of weeks, the 2019 coronavirus pandemic devastated communities worldwide and reinforced the human perception of frailty and mortality. Even though the end of this pandemic story has yet to unfold, there is one parallel that is undeniable when a comparison is drawn between the 2019 coronavirus and the 1918 influenza pandemics. Read More

Phys Rev E 2020 May;101(5-1):053312

School of Science and Technology, Physics Division, Università di Camerino, 62032 Camerino (MC), Italy.

The autoregressive neural networks are emerging as a powerful computational tool to solve relevant problems in classical and quantum mechanics. One of their appealing functionalities is that, after they have learned a probability distribution from a dataset, they allow exact and efficient sampling of typical system configurations. Here we employ a neural autoregressive distribution estimator (NADE) to boost Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations of a paradigmatic classical model of spin-glass theory, namely, the two-dimensional Edwards-Anderson Hamiltonian. Read More

Clin Orthop Relat Res 2020 Jul;478(7):1416-1418

G. E. Friedlaender, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA L. K. Friedlaender, Senior Curator of Education, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, USA.

Transplantation 2020 Jul;104(7):e199-e207

Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA.

Background: Health disparities plague our healthcare system. Utilizing a novel approach, we sought to assess the effects of geographic disparities on access to lung transplantation (LT) in the United States.

Methods: A total of 13 743 LT adult recipients in the United Network for Organ Sharing Database were identified between May 2005 and December 2014 with a zip code status. Read More

Cir Cir 2020 ;88(4):395-398

Departamento de Genética Humana, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas, EUA.

Am J Hum Biol 2020 Jun 21:e23439. Epub 2020 Jun 21.

Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading, England, UK.

Objectives: Bioarcheological evidence suggests stature increased in males but decreased in females after the Black Death (1348-1350 CE). Because tradeoffs between growth and reproduction can result in earlier ages at menarche and lower limb length, we assess menarcheal age between 1120 and 1540 CE to better understand the health of medieval adolescent females before and after the plague.

Materials And Methods: Our sample comprises 74 adolescent females from St. Read More

Zhonghua Yi Shi Za Zhi 2019 Nov;49(6):350-354

Department of Medical History, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China.

After reading Wu Lien-teh's Plague Fighter: The Autobiography of a Modern Chinese Physician, Morris wrote to Joseph Needham, proposing to award an honorary degree from Emmanuel College in Cambridge to Mr.Wu. He, then, wrote a book review in Cambridge Review introducing Wu Lien-teh's autobiography After Wu Lien-teh's death, he wrote an obituary published in the Times, giving Wu Lien-teh highly praised. Read More

Zhonghua Yi Shi Za Zhi 2019 Nov;49(6):323-329

China Institute for History of Medicine and Medical Literature, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.

It happens that 2019 is the commemoration date for the 130(th) and 140(th) birthday of K. Chimin Wong and Wu Lien-teh respectively, both famous modern Chinese medical historians, the authors of the book . Originally, they were inhabitants separated thousand miles away, the former in Eastern China, and the other in Penang, Malaysia. Read More

Transbound Emerg Dis 2020 Jun 21. Epub 2020 Jun 21.

Irkutsk State Medical University, Irkutsk, Russia.

The Republic of Buryatia (RB) is located southeast of Lake Baikal and shares a long border with Mongolia. This region of Russia was rabies-free from 1982 to 2010. The first outbreak of fox rabies in RB was identified in 2011, about 30 km from the Russian-Mongolian border. Read More

BMC Biol 2020 Jun 19;18(1):70. Epub 2020 Jun 19.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Background: Fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) are small flightless parasites of birds and mammals; their blood-feeding can transmit many serious pathogens (i.e., the etiological agents of bubonic plague, endemic and murine typhus). Read More

Cir Cir 2020 ;88(3):249-251

Práctica Privada, Ciudad de México, México.

Chin Med 2020 12;15:62. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hubei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, 430070 China.

Background: At present, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, is spreading all over the world, with disastrous consequences for people of all countries. The traditional Chinese medicine prescription Dayuanyin (DYY), a classic prescription for the treatment of plague, has shown significant effects in the treatment of COVID-19. However, its specific mechanism of action has not yet been clarified. Read More

Arch Iran Med 2020 Jun 1;23(6):414-421. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

One of the historical periods of Iran that can be studied for contagious diseases and how they spread, is the late Qajar period. The city of Mashhad, after Tehran and Tabriz, had a special place among Russian and English governments in the Qajar period as one of the significant religious, political and economic centers in Iran due to Imam Reza's holy shrine, a large population and great geographical scale. The central governments' incompetence in preventing the outbreak of contagious diseases and lack of essential amenities, caused many lives to be lost all over Iran and especially Mashhad during the Qajar period. Read More

J Med Entomol 2020 Jun 13. Epub 2020 Jun 13.

Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, Pullman, WA.

Plague, caused by the flea-transmitted bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis, is primarily a disease of wild rodents distributed in temperate and tropical zones worldwide. The ability of Y. pestis to develop a biofilm blockage that obstructs the flea foregut proventriculus facilitates its efficient transmission through regurgitation into the host bite site during flea blood sucking. Read More

Biomolecules 2020 Jun 10;10(6). Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Plant Resource Industry Division, Forest Plant Industry Department, Baekdudaegan National Arboretum, Bonghwa-gun 26209, Korea.

have been used since a long time in folk medicine to treat diseases including plague, pestilential fever, allergy, and inflammation in East Asia and European countries. Bioactive compounds that may prevent and treat infectious diseases are identified based on their ability to inhibit bacterial neuraminidase (NA). We aimed to isolate and identify bioactive compounds from leaves and stems of (PJA) and elucidate their mechanisms of NA inhibition. Read More

J Prev Med Hyg 2020 Mar 30;61(1 Suppl 1):E3-E8. Epub 2020 Apr 30.

Division of Paleopathology, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Italy.

Tuberculosis (TB) has been one of the most important infectious diseases affecting mankind and still represents a plague on a global scale. In this narrative review the origins of tuberculosis are outlined, according to the evidence of paleopathology. In particular the first cases of human TB in ancient skeletal remains are presented, together with the most recent discoveries resulting from the paleomicrobiology of the tubercle bacillus, which provide innovative information on the history of TB. Read More

Sci Rep 2020 Jun 11;10(1):9499. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.

Developments in techniques for identification of pathogen DNA in archaeological samples can expand our resolution of disease detection. Our application of a non-targeted molecular screening tool for the parallel detection of pathogens in historical plague victims from post-medieval Lithuania revealed the presence of more than one active disease in one individual. In addition to Yersinia pestis, we detected and genomically characterized a septic infection of Treponema pallidum pertenue, a subtype of the treponemal disease family recognised as the cause of the tropical disease yaws. Read More

J R Soc Med 2020 Jun;113(6):236-237

Independent Public Health Consultant, Liverpool L25 5JF, UK.

Rev Col Bras Cir 2020 8;47:e20202597. Epub 2020 Jun 8.

- University of São Paulo, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery - São Paulo - SP - Brazil.

Medical Uniforms date back from medieval times. Nursing uniforms were based on nuns clothes whereas doctors used the famous "plague costumes" and black "frock" coats from about 15th to early 19th century. In latter half 19th century medical uniforms started to change. Read More

Proc Biol Sci 2020 Jun 10;287(1928):20200538. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

The Zeeman Institute: SBIDER, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.

Plague, caused by infection, continues to threaten low- and middle-income countries throughout the world. The complex interactions between rodents and fleas with their respective environments challenge our understanding of human plague epidemiology. Historical long-term datasets of reported plague cases offer a unique opportunity to elucidate the effects of climate on plague outbreaks in detail. Read More

JAMA 2020 06;323(22):2347

J Pak Med Assoc 2020 May;70(Suppl 3)(5):S34-S37

Department of Endocrinology, Zydus Hospitals, Ahmedabad, India.

Infectious diseases resulting in epidemics and pandemics have moulded human history and continue to do so even today. Cholera, plague, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and influenza have been some of the most brutal killers. The advancement of medical science has helped us win the war against several of these deadly agents. Read More

Med Leg J 2020 Jul 9;88(2):57-64. Epub 2020 Jun 9.

London, UK.

This is a personal view from London as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread here and the situation changes from day to day. As such it can only be a snapshot caught in time; it is not a diary of events. The Coronavirus Act 2020 gives Government enormous powers and was passed by Parliament in one day of debate immediately before it closed early for the Easter break. Read More

Lancet 2020 06;395(10239):1754-1755

Department of History, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. Electronic address:

Nature 2020 06;582(7811):162-164

J Virol 2020 Jun 3. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

Division of Livestock Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which is caused by FMD virus (FMDV), remains a major plague among cloven-hoofed animals worldwide, and its outbreak often has disastrous socio-economic consequences. A live-attenuated FMDV vaccine will greatly facilitate the global control and eradication of FMD, but a safe and effective attenuated FMDV vaccine has not yet been successfully developed. Here, we found that the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) element in the viral genome is a critical virulence determinant of FMDV, and a nucleotide substitution of cytosine (C) for guanine (G) at position 351 of the IRES endows FMDV with temperature-sensitive and attenuation () phenotypes. Read More

J Vector Ecol 2020 Jun;45(1):82-88

U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, U.S.A.

Human health practitioners and wildlife biologists use insecticides to manage plague by suppressing fleas (Siphonaptera), but insecticides can also kill other ectoparasites. We investigated effects of deltamethrin and fipronil on ectoparasites from black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus, BTPDs). In late July, 2018, we treated three sites with 0. Read More

J Med Virol 2020 Jun 3. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

Research Center for Immunodeficiencies, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Nowadays, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which caused novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, is the worldwide challenge. The virus is highly contagious, and clinical consequences were very divers. It is estimated that if no effective action is taken, COVID-19 could plague 90% of the world's population and kill over 40 million people. Read More

Bull Exp Biol Med 2020 May 2;169(1):40-42. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute, Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare, Irkutsk, Russia.

We studied immunotropic properties of synthetic selenium-organic preparation 2,6-dipyridinium-9-selenabicyclo[3.3.1]nonyl dibromide (974zh). Read More

Infez Med 2020 Jun;28(2):278-287

Istituto di Malattie Infettive, Policlinico S. Orsola-Malpighi, Universitá degli Studi di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

In the year 1527, following the invasion of Italy by Landsknechts, who were headed by Georg von Frundsberg, the bubonic plague appeared in the country. These soldiers were part of an army that Charles V sent to invade Italy in order to subjugate the Italian states which had adhered to the League of Cognac. In Bologna during the year 1527 believers held a procession from the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Soccorso, through the city, as far as the Church of San Rocco. Read More

ACS Infect Dis 2020 Jun 1. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States.

Pandemics such as influenza, smallpox, and plague have caused the loss of hundreds of millions of lives and have occurred for many centuries. Fortunately, they have been largely eliminated by the use of vaccinations and drugs. More recently, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and now Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have arisen, and given the current absence of highly effective approved vaccines or drugs, brute-force approaches involving physical barriers are being used to counter virus spread. Read More

Front Chem 2020 12;8:381. Epub 2020 May 12.

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Salisbury, United Kingdom.

A novel electrochemical detection approach using DNA probes labeled with Anthraquinone (AQ) as a reporter moiety has been successfully exploited as a method for the direct detection of DNA targets. This assay uses simple voltammetry techniques (Differential Pulse Voltammetry) to exploit the unique responsiveness of AQ to its chemical environments within oxygenated aqueous buffers, providing a specific detection mechanism as a result of DNA hybridization. This measurement is based on a cathodic shift of the reduction potential of the AQ tag and the concurrent reduction in peak current upon DNA binding. Read More

Pediatr Radiol 2020 Jul 30;50(8):1069-1070. Epub 2020 May 30.

Department of Radiology, Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine, 702 North Barnhill Drive, Room 1053, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA.

J Nerv Ment Dis 2020 Jun;208(6):443-444

Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm University, Ulm.

The aim of this work is to elucidate psychosocial reactions to plagues by analyzing three landmark descriptions from different eras: Thucydides' description of the plague of Athens (430 BC) in The History of the Peloponnesian War, Giovanni Boccaccio's description of the plague in Florence (1348) in The Decameron, and Albert Camus' description in The Plague (1947). Using a narrative inquiry, we found psychosocial reactions to be complex and ambivalent and could discern several coping strategies. We propose that this knowledge can help psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

Exp Appl Acarol 2020 Jun 29;81(2):255-264. Epub 2020 May 29.

Unidade Acadêmica de Garanhuns, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Av. Bom Pastor, S/N, Boa Vista, Garanhuns, CEP 55292-270, Brazil.

Ticks and fleas are arthropods widely distributed around the world involved in the transmission of various vector-borne diseases (VBDs), including Brazilian Spotted Fever (BSF), Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome and the plague, with outstanding consequences for the public health. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Rickettsia spp., Borrelia spp. Read More

mBio 2020 05 29;11(3). Epub 2020 May 29.

Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

With great apprehension, the world is now watching the birth of a novel pandemic already causing tremendous suffering, death, and disruption of normal life. Uncertainty and dread are exacerbated by the belief that what we are experiencing is new and mysterious. However, deadly pandemics and disease emergences are not new phenomena: they have been challenging human existence throughout recorded history. Read More

Mar Pollut Bull 2020 Jun 8;155:111153. Epub 2020 May 8.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling -Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA.

Kyiv is Ukraine's capital and largest city. Home to 3 million people, this area has a rich history of agriculture and industry. The Dnieper River is Ukraine's largest river and it passes through the center of Kyiv. Read More

Mol Microbiol 2020 May 27. Epub 2020 May 27.

Cancer Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.

The outer membrane is a key virulence determinant of gram-negative bacteria. In Yersinia pestis, the deadly agent that causes plague, the protein Ail and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) enhance lethality by promoting resistance to human innate immunity and antibiotics, enabling bacteria to proliferate in the human host. Their functions are highly coordinated. Read More