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Sleep Breath 2021 Apr 13. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, CHU Saint-Pierre, Brussels, Belgium.

Purpose: Telemonitoring (TMg) for patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is now routine care in some sleep labs. The purpose of the present study was to identify technical interventions associated with improved CPAP compliance in a real-life cohort of newly telemonitored patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) during the first 6 months of treatment.

Methods: All patients with moderate-to-severe OSA (apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 15/h) who were newly treated with CPAP were included in the study and telemonitored. Read More

Environ Chem Lett 2021 Apr 7:1-15. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

End 2019, the zoonotic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), named COVID-19 for coronavirus disease 2019, is the third adaptation of a contagious virus following the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus in 2002, SARS-CoV, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome virus in 2012, MERS-CoV. COVID-19 is highly infectious and virulent compared to previous outbreaks. We review sources, contagious routes, preventive measures, pandemic, outbreak, epidemiology of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 from 2002 to 2020 using a Medline search. Read More

J Hepatol 2021 Apr 9. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address:

Background & Aims: Chronic hepatitis D virus (HDV) infections cause the most severe form of viral hepatitis. HDV requires hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelope proteins for hepatocyte entry, particle assembly and release. Eight HDV and eight HBV genotypes are presently distinguished. Read More

Genetics 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034.

Current eukaryotic replication models postulate that leading and lagging DNA strands are replicated predominantly by dedicated DNA polymerases. The catalytic subunit of the leading strand DNA polymerase ε, Pol2, consists of two halves made of two different ancestral B-family DNA polymerases. Counterintuitively, the catalytically active N-terminal half is dispensable, while the inactive C-terminal part is required for viability. Read More

F1000Res 2021 23;10:44. Epub 2021 Jan 23.

Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India.

: The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome related corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) belongs to the "Coronaviridae" family and order "Nidovirales", which has caused the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 has been spread in more than a 100 countries, and more than a million have lost their lives. Vaccination and immunization could be an effective strategy to combat fatal COVID-19. Read More

Physiother Theory Pract 2021 Apr 10:1-10. Epub 2021 Apr 10.

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Østfold Hospital Trust, Grålum, Norway.

: Cough is a common symptom among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but there are currently no patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) for subjective cough symptoms in Norwegian.: The objective was to translate and validated the most widely used PROM for chronic cough, the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) from English to Norwegian (NLCQ) using established guidelines.: Forward and backward translations were performed using external translators. Read More

Ann Chir Plast Esthet 2021 Apr 7. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Purpan University Hospital, Toulouse, France.

Background: The management of bone exposure in patients with extensive burns could be a challenge due to the lack of healthy tissue. In such cases, it could be interesting to use any still healthy tissue initially destined for amputation and use it to cover up another site. We present the case of a sever burn patient for whom we used the only healthy palmar hand skin to cover an olecranon exposure. Read More

ILAR J 2021 Apr 9. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Department of Comparative Medicine, John Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has fueled unprecedented development of animal models to understand disease pathogenesis, test therapeutics, and support vaccine development. Models previously developed to study severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) have been rapidly deployed to study SARS-CoV-2. However, it has become clear that despite the common use of ACE2 as a receptor for both viruses, the host range of the 2 viruses does not entirely overlap. Read More

Plant Cell Physiol 2021 Apr 9. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan.

Traditional breeding for high-yielding crops has mainly relied on the widespread cultivation of gibberellin (GA)-deficient semi-dwarf varieties, as dwarfism increases lodging resistance and allows for high nitrogen use, resulting in high grain yield. Although the adoption of semi-dwarf varieties in rice and wheat breeding brought big success to the "Green Revolution" in the 20th century, it consequently increased the demand for nitrogen-based fertilizer, which causes severe threat to ecosystems and sustainable agriculture. In order to make the "Green Revolution" truly green, it is necessary to develop new varieties with high nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE). Read More

Open Access Emerg Med 2021 31;13:151-153. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, Youngstown, OH, USA.

Background: HAPE (High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema) is a life-threatening form of high-altitude illness caused by noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. It has been most commonly reported in individuals who live at lower elevations and travel to elevations above 2500 m, typically in those who do so without any acclimatization. It can also occur in residents of high altitudes who descend to lower altitudes and then return to their native altitude without acclimatization. Read More

PLoS Pathog 2021 04 8;17(4):e1009431. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.

Tracking evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) within infected individuals will help elucidate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathogenesis and inform use of antiviral interventions. In this study, we developed an approach for sequencing the region encoding the SARS-CoV-2 virion surface proteins from large numbers of individual virus RNA genomes per sample. We applied this approach to the WA-1 reference clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2 passaged in vitro and to upper respiratory samples from 7 study participants with COVID-19. Read More

Aesthetic Plast Surg 2021 Apr 8. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Center for Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Ocean Clinic, Av. Ramón y Cajal 7, 29601, Marbella, Málaga, Spain.

Background: In many countries, the worldwide spread of COVID-19 has led to a near total stop of non-urgent, elective surgeries across all specialties during the first wave's peak of the pandemic. For providers of aesthetic surgery procedures or minimal invasive cosmetic treatments, this led to a huge socio-economic impact worldwide. In order to evaluate valid clinical management strategies for future pandemic events and to overcome the challenges imposed by the current pandemic, it is paramount to analyse the socio-economic effects caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Read More

J Consult Clin Psychol 2021 Mar;89(3):143-155

Department of Psychology.

Objective: Individuals who return from armed groups present with a history of traumatic events including perpetration. Subsequent severe mental stress and heightened levels of reactive and appetitive aggression may persist and if left untreated, frequently impede peacebuilding and societal stability. In this study, we tested a revised adaptation of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET; Schauer et al. Read More

Orphanet J Rare Dis 2021 Apr 7;16(1):163. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.

Background: Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR), alias ATTR variant (ATTRv) is a severe and disabling disease causing sensory and motor neuropathy, autonomic dysfunction, and cardiomyopathy. The progressive decline of patient's functional autonomy negatively affects the patient's quality of life and requires increasing involvement of relatives in the patient's daily life. Family caregiving may become particularly demanding when the patient is no longer able to move independently. Read More

Physiol Plant 2021 Apr 7. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Succulent halophytes can be used as convenient models for understanding the mechanistic basis of plant adaptation to salt stress. In this work, the effects of salinity (0 - 1000 mM NaCl range) on growth, ion accumulation and stomatal features were investigated in the succulent halophyte Sarcocornia quinqueflora. Elevated salinity levels up to 400 mM NaCl largely promoted dry matter yield, succulence, shoot surface area and stomatal characteristics. Read More

Plant Cell 2020 Aug;32(8):2525-2542

The Key Laboratory of Plant Development and Environmental Adaptation Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Science, Shandong University, 266237 Qingdao, China.

The switch from dark- to light-mediated development is critical for the survival and growth of seedlings, but the underlying regulatory mechanisms are incomplete. Here, we show that the steroids phytohormone brassinosteroids play crucial roles during this developmental transition by regulating chlorophyll biosynthesis to promote greening of etiolated seedlings upon light exposure. Etiolated seedlings of the brassinosteroids-deficient det2-1 (de-etiolated2) mutant accumulated excess protochlorophyllide, resulting in photo-oxidative damage upon exposure to light. Read More

Physiol Biochem Zool 2021 May-Jun;94(3):162-170

AbstractPhylogenetic comparative methods represent a major advance in integrative and comparative biology and have allowed researchers to rigorously test for adaptation in a macroevolutionary framework. However, phylogenetic comparative methods require trait data for many species, which is impractical for certain taxonomic groups and trait types. We propose that the philosophical principle of severity can be implemented in an integrative framework to generate strong inference of adaptation in studies that compare only a few populations or species. Read More

J Am Coll Clin Pharm 2021 Mar 28;4(3):364-371. Epub 2021 Jan 28.

Department of Pharmacy Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has challenged health systems to find innovative ways of delivering patient care while protecting staff from infection with the virus. As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to evolve establishing "hot spots" in various areas of the country, clinicians have learned more about caring for these patients. This has required the Department of Pharmacy at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to constantly update the approach it has taken during this time, and the guidance which is provided for the pharmaceutical care of these patients. Read More

Int Emerg Nurs 2021 Mar 9;56:100996. Epub 2021 Mar 9.

Department of Paramedicine, Monash University, VIC, Australia.

Background: Viral epidemics have negative and sometimes extreme impacts on psychological well-being, particularly in health care workers. Studies have reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, insomnia, stress, distress, fear, burnout, and post-traumatic symptoms.

Objective: This research aimed to explore the psychological impacts of COVID 19 on paramedicine students. Read More

Front Robot AI 2021 18;8:618866. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, and UK Dementia Research Institute-Care Research and Technology Centre, London, United Kingdom.

COVID-19 has severely impacted mental health in vulnerable demographics, in particular older adults, who face unprecedented isolation. Consequences, while globally severe, are acutely pronounced in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) confronting pronounced gaps in resources and clinician accessibility. Social robots are well-recognized for their potential to support mental health, yet user compliance (i. Read More

Front Mol Biosci 2021 18;8:635382. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.

Non-synonymous Single Nucleotide Variants (nsSNVs), resulting in single amino acid variants (SAVs), are important drivers of evolutionary adaptation across the tree of life. Humans carry on average over 10,000 SAVs per individual genome, many of which likely have little to no impact on the function of the protein they affect. Experimental evidence for protein function changes as a result of SAVs remain sparse - a situation that can be somewhat alleviated by predicting their impact using computational methods. Read More

Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021 17;11:641920. Epub 2021 Mar 17.

School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.

is a biofilm-forming opportunistic pathogen which causes chronic infections in immunocompromised patients and leads to high mortality rate. It is identified as a common coinfecting pathogen in COVID-19 patients causing exacerbation of illness. In our hospital, is one of the top coinfecting bacteria identified among COVID-19 patients. Read More

Ther Drug Monit 2021 Mar 9. Epub 2021 Mar 9.

Oncology Pharmacy Department, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France Institute of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France Claude Bernard University - Lyon 1, Lyon, France Pharmacy Department, Hôpital Pierre Garraud, Groupement Hospitalier Nord, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France EMR 3738, Team 2 - PK/PD Modeling in Oncology, Lyon-Sud Faculty of Medicine, Oullins, France.

Background: Cyclosporine (CsA) is the main drug used to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). CsA therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has been performed for ages, with studies revealing clinical benefits, but failing to examine its economic impact. Herein, the main objective was to evaluate the economic impact of the CsA TDM strategy, based on a Bayesian approach, by assessing costs related to its clinical impact. Read More

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2021 Mar 31;216:112178. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, P.O. BOX 5003 NMBU, No-1432 Ås, Norway.

Adaptation of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans towards NM300K silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has previously been demonstrated. In the current study, the sensitivity to a range of secondary stressors (CeO NP, Ce, Cu, Cd, and Paraquat) following the multigenerational exposure to silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs NM300K) or AgNO was investigated. This revealed improved tolerance to the ROS inducer Paraquat with higher fecundity after pre-exposure to Ag NP, indicating an involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism in the adaptive response to NM300K. Read More

Pathogens 2021 Mar 19;10(3). Epub 2021 Mar 19.

Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.

Recently, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detected in several animal species. After transmission to animals, the virus accumulates mutations in its genome as adaptation to the new animal host progresses. Therefore, we investigated whether these mutations result in mismatches with the diagnostic PCR assays and suggested proper modifications to the oligo sequences accordingly. Read More

Cells 2021 Mar 31;10(4). Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Mayo Clinic, Human Cell Therapy Laboratory, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

Ischemic nephropathy reflects progressive loss of kidney function due to large vessel atherosclerotic occlusive disease. Recent studies indicate that this process is characterized by microvascular rarefaction, increased tissue hypoxia and activation of inflammatory processes of tissue injury. This review summarizes the rationale and application of functional MR imaging to evaluate tissue oxygenation in human subjects that defines the limits of renal adaptation to reduction in blood flow, development of increasingly severe tissue hypoxia and recruitment of inflammatory injury pathways in ischemic nephropathy. Read More

Animals (Basel) 2021 Mar 4;11(3). Epub 2021 Mar 4.

Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Department of Reproduction and Clinic of Farm Animals, 50-366 Wrocław, Poland.

The article presents the results of the clinical evaluation (Apgar scores, AS) and umbilical cord blood gas analysis (UCBGA) obtained from clamped umbilical cords of newborn pups delivered by the elective Caesarean section. The study was planned as a controlled clinical study, the newborns were allocated into one of the groups, I-critical neonates (severe distress, AS ≤ 3), II-weak neonates (moderate distress, AS 4-6) and III-healthy neonates (no distress, AS ≥ 7). The following parameters were evaluated: pH (pH units), carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO; mmHg), oxygen partial pressure (pO; mmHg), actual bicarbonate (cHCO; mmol/L), total carbon dioxide (cTCO; mmol/L), base excess of extracellular fluid (BE(ecf); mmol/L), base excess of blood (BE(b); mmol/L), oxygen saturation (csO; %), lactate (Lac; mg/dL), hematocrit (Hct; %PCV), hemoglobin (cHgb; g/dL), glucose (Glu; mg/dL), ions (Na, K, Ca, Cl). Read More

Microorganisms 2021 Mar 21;9(3). Epub 2021 Mar 21.

Infectious Diseases Department, Center of Rickettsiosis and Arthropod-Borne Diseases (CRETAV), San Pedro University Hospital-Center of Biomedical Research from La Rioja (CIBIR), Piqueras, 98, 26006 Logroño, La Rioja, Spain.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), mainly transmitted by ticks, belonging to the genus (family , order ). CCHFV causes a potentially severe, or even fatal, human disease, and it is widely distributed in Africa, Asia, eastern Europe and, more recently, in South-western Europe. Until a few years ago, no cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) had been reported in western Europe, with the exception of several travel-associated cases. Read More

Insects 2021 Mar 6;12(3). Epub 2021 Mar 6.

Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy.

(1) Background: Bees are the primary animal pollinators in most ecosystems, and honey bees ( L.) are important providers of pollination ecosystem services and products. Climate change is one of the major threats for honey bees. Read More

Viruses 2021 03 8;13(3). Epub 2021 Mar 8.

Laboratory of Veterinary Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, 1-7-1 Kyonan-cho, Musashino, Tokyo 180-8602, Japan.

Torovirus (ToV) has recently been classified into the new family Tobaniviridae, although it belonged to the Coronavirus (CoV) family historically. ToVs are associated with enteric diseases in animals and humans. In contrast to CoVs, which are recognised as pathogens of veterinary and medical importance, little attention has been paid to ToVs because their infections are usually asymptomatic or not severe; for a long time, only one equine ToV could be propagated in cultured cells. Read More