Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Chemosphere 2021 Apr 5;279:130496. Epub 2021 Apr 5.

Groundwater Department WAPCOS, New Delhi, India.

The Bundelkhand region of India is suffering from acute water scarcity, raising concern over the potability in the region. Therefore, to develop a baseline data set of groundwater quality, sampling was carried out from the 110 existing shallow hand pumps and tube wells covering the Lalitpur district. Groundwater samples were investigated for hydro-geochemical and isotopic signatures (δO and δH) to understand the driving factors leading to water quality and its contamination in the region. Read More

Doc Ophthalmol 2021 Apr 20. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Newcastle Eye Centre, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP, UK.

Purpose: To report the long-term structural and functional changes in the posterior segments of an adult with an unusual retinal dystrophy caused by a novel mutation in JAG1.

Methods: A 33-year-old female underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination, including best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurement, dilated fundus imaging (wide-angle fundus colour and short wavelength autofluorescence imaging), macular and peripheral spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and electroretinography (ERG) at baseline and 10 years later at the age of 43. The patient also underwent systemic review with detailed cardiac, brain and renal investigations. Read More

Eur Spine J 2021 Apr 20. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Texas Back Institute, 6020 West Parker Road, Plano, TX, 75093, USA.

Study Design: This is a retrospective cohort with multiple regression modeling.

Objective: The aim is to develop a new method for estimating cone of economy (CoE) using a force plate rather than traditional motion capture.

Background: Currently, most spinal deformity surgeons rely on static radiographic parameters for alignment, balance, and outcomes data alongside patient-reported outcome measures. Read More

Cochlear Implants Int 2021 Apr 19:1-7. Epub 2021 Apr 19.

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Aim: Untreated hearing loss is risk factor for dementia, depression and falls in the elderly population. The present study evaluated the outcomes of cochlear implantation in adults over age 85, including surgical outcomes, speech perception, and implant use.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of 78 patients implanted at a tertiary academic medical center. Read More

Environ Epidemiol 2021 Apr 2;5(2):e147. Epub 2021 Apr 2.

Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.

Prenatal exposure to metals has been associated with a range of adverse neurocognitive outcomes; however, associations with early behavioral development are less well understood. We examined joint exposure to multiple co-occurring metals in relation to infant negative affect, a stable temperamental trait linked to psychopathology among children and adults.

Methods: Analyses included 308 mother-infant pairs enrolled in the PRISM pregnancy cohort. Read More

World J Clin Cases 2021 Apr;9(10):2289-2295

Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225000, Jiangsu Province, China.

Background: Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a primary immunodefici-ency disease caused by gene defects. The onset of FHL in adolescents and adults may lead clinicians to ignore or even misdiagnose the disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to detail the clinical features of type 2 FHL (FHL2) with compound heterozygous perforin () defects involving the c. Read More

Oncotarget 2021 Mar 30;12(7):665-673. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Purpose: Adult granulosa cell tumors (AGCTs) of the ovary represent a rare malignancy in which timing and choice of treatment is a clinical challenge. This study investigates the value of FDG-PET/CT and FES-PET/CT in monitoring recurrent AGCTs and assessing eligibility for anti-hormonal treatment.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated 22 PET/CTs from recurrent AGCT patients to determine tumor FDG ( = 16) and FES ( = 6) uptake by qualitative and quantitative analysis. Read More

Front Plant Sci 2021 23;12:639953. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Division of Mucosal Immunology, IMSUT Distinguished Professor Unit, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Human norovirus is the leading cause of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis in people of all ages worldwide. Currently, no licensed norovirus vaccine, pharmaceutical drug, or therapy is available for the control of norovirus infection. Here, we used a rice transgenic system, MucoRice, to produce a variable domain of a llama heavy-chain antibody fragment (VHH) specific for human norovirus (MucoRice-VHH). Read More

Eur J Intern Med 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Clinica Medica "A. Murri", Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari 70124, Italy. Electronic address:

Obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are high prevalence, inter-related conditions at increased risk for advanced liver diseases and related mortality. Adiponectin and leptin have divergent roles in the pathogenesis of fat accumulation and NAFLD. However, the relationships between body and liver fat accumulation, early modification of liver function and unbalanced adipokine levels are still scarcely explored. Read More

J Pers 2021 Apr 18. Epub 2021 Apr 18.

Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

Intro: Need for Cognition (NFC) refers to a personality trait describing the relatively stable intrinsic motivation of individuals to invest cognitive effort in cognitive endeavors. Higher NFC is associated with a more elaborated, central information processing style and increased recruitment of resources in cognitively demanding situations. To further clarify the association between cognitive resources and NFC, we examined in two studies how NFC relates to executive functions as basic cognitive abilities. Read More

Dev Biol 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, TX, 78712, USA. Electronic address:

Female fertility in mammals requires iterative remodeling of the entire adult female reproductive tract across the menstrual/estrous cycle. However, while transcriptome dynamics across the estrous cycle have been reported in human and bovine models, no global analysis of gene expression across the estrous cycle has yet been reported for the mouse. Here, we examined the cellular composition and global transcriptional dynamics of the mouse oviduct along the anteroposterior axis and across the estrous cycle. Read More

Psychooncology 2021 Apr 16. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Department of Oncology, First Faculty of Medicine and Thomayer Hospital, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze longitudinal development of prognostic awareness in advanced cancer patients and their families.

Methods: This was a longitudinal cohort study, involving 134 adult cancer patients, 91 primary family caregivers and 21 treating oncologists. Key eligibility criterion for patients was life expectancy less than 1 year (estimated by their oncologists using the 12-month surprised question). Read More

Pain 2021 Apr 7. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch Sealy Center on Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch Department of Family Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health, University of Texas Medical Branch.

Abstract: Pain increases with age, disproportionately affects women, and is a major contributor to decreased quality of life. Because pain is dynamic, trajectories are important to consider. Few studies have examined longitudinal trajectories of pain, by gender, in Mexico. Read More

Appl Environ Microbiol 2021 Apr 16. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Department of Biology, Emory University, 30322, Atlanta, GA, USA

A pervasive pest of stored leguminous products, the bean beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: ) associates with a simple bacterial community during adulthood. Despite its economic importance, little is known about the compositional stability, heritability, localization, and metabolic potential of the bacterial symbionts of In this study, we applied community profiling using 16S rRNA gene sequencing to reveal a highly conserved bacterial assembly shared between larvae and adults. Dominated by and , this community is localized extracellularly along the epithelial lining of the bean beetle's digestive tract. Read More

J Neurotrauma 2021 Apr 16. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, No.28 Xianning West Road, Xi'an, China, 710049;

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) initiating long-term effects on white matter integrity resembles brain-aging changes, implying an aging process accelerated by mTBI. This longitudinal study aims to investigate the mTBI-induced acceleration of the brain-aging process by developing a neuroimaging model to predict brain age. The brain-age prediction model was defined using relevance vector regression based on fractional anisotropy from diffusion-tensor imaging of 523 healthy individuals. Read More

Crit Care Med 2021 Apr 5. Epub 2021 Apr 5.

1 Department of Pharmacy and Health Systems Sciences, Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA. 2 Department of Intensive Care, Radboud Institute for Health Science, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NL. 3 Department of Health Sciences, Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.

Objectives: Haloperidol is commonly administered in the ICU to reduce the burden of delirium and its related symptoms despite no clear evidence showing haloperidol helps to resolve delirium or improve survival. We evaluated the association between haloperidol, when used to treat incident ICU delirium and its symptoms, and mortality.

Design: Post hoc cohort analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, delirium prevention trial. Read More

Ann Transplant 2021 Apr 16;26:e929535. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Department of Medicine, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

BACKGROUND The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant commonly used to prevent transplant rejection, can differ in specific subpopulations. This analysis examined treatment outcomes and safety of immediate-release tacrolimus (IR-Tac) and LCP-tacrolimus (LCPT) in stable Hispanic kidney transplant recipients. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a post hoc analysis of clinical trial data from Hispanic adult stable kidney transplant recipients randomized to remain on IR-Tac or convert from IR-Tac to a reduced dose of LCPT (NCT00817206). Read More

Cornea 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of corneal crosslinking on vision and keratometry in children and young adults with progressive keratoconus.

Methods: A retrospective medical records review of patients aged 22 years or younger with keratoconus who underwent corneal crosslinking between January 2013 and November 2019 at Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University was conducted. Outcome measures included logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA); keratometry, including maximum keratometry (Kmax); pachymetry; and total wavefront aberration. Read More

J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr 2021 Feb 23. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Division of Cardiology, The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address:

In the United States, non-obstructive coronary disease has been on the rise, and each year, nearly one million adults suffer myocardial infarction, 70% of which are non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). In addition, approximately 15% of patients suffering NSTEMI will have subsequent readmission for a recurrent acute coronary syndrome (ACS). While invasive angiography remains the standard of care in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to these patients, these methods have limitations that include procedural complications, uncertain specificity in diagnosis of the culprit lesion in patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease (CAD), and challenges in following coronary disease over time. Read More

J Interpers Violence 2021 Apr 16:8862605211006366. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

University at Albany School of Public Health, State University of New York, USA.

Violence and other antisocial behaviors, including fighting and weapon carrying, are highly prevalent among adolescents but usually decrease in young adulthood. Childhood adversities, including exposure to abuse, intimate partner violence, and household substance use and mental health problems, have been linked to violent behaviors in adolescence and adulthood. However, few studies of childhood adversity as determinants of persistent violent behavior among community-based samples have been conducted. Read More

IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 2021 Apr 15;PP. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

The Sit-to-Stand (STS) test is used in clinical practice as an indicator of lower-limb functionality decline, especially for older adults. Due to its high variability, there is no standard approach for categorising the STS movement and recognising its motion pattern. This paper presents a comparative analysis between visual assessments and an automated-software for the categorisation of STS, relying on registrations from a force plate. Read More

Front Neurol 2021 29;12:613834. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

Advanced Imaging and Radiomics Center, Neuroradiology Department, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.

Nusinersen is a recent promising therapy approved for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare disease characterized by the degeneration of alpha motor neurons (αMN) in the spinal cord (SC) leading to progressive muscle atrophy and dysfunction. Muscle and cervical SC quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) has never been used to monitor drug treatment in SMA. The aim of this pilot study is to investigate whether qMRI can provide useful biomarkers for monitoring treatment efficacy in SMA. Read More

J Asthma Allergy 2021 6;14:325-334. Epub 2021 Apr 6.

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan.

Background: Nocturnal asthma symptoms are a well-known feature of sleep disturbance. However, there are few reports on the association between sleep-related characteristics and asthma exacerbation. The aim of the current prospective observational study was to explore the factors while sleeping associated with future asthma exacerbation. Read More

BMC Public Health 2021 Apr 15;21(1):576. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Primary Care Stratified Medicine group (PRISM), Division of Primary Care, University of Nottingham, Room 1402, Tower Building, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.

Background: Although obesity is a well-recognised risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), the impact of long-term body mass index (BMI) changes in overweight or obese adults, on the risk of heart failure, CVD and mortality has not been quantified.

Methods: This population-based cohort study used routine UK primary care electronic health data linked to secondary care and death-registry records. We identified adults who were overweight or obese, free from CVD and who had repeated BMI measures. Read More

Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 2021 12;63:e26. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil.

Sepsis is the organ dysfunction resulting from an infection associated with an unregulated host inflammatory response, which generates high mortality rates in Brazil. The aim of this stydy was to analyze the trend of early, late and post-neonatal mortality rates due to sepsis in Brazilian regions, from 2009 to 2018. This is an ecological study of time series. Read More

PLoS One 2021 14;16(4):e0249422. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America.

Response to human impacts on the environment are typically initiated too late to remediate negative consequences. We present the novel use of stable isotope analysis (SIA) of blow flies to determine human influences on vertebrate communities in a range of human-inhabited environments, from a pristine national park to a dense metropolitan area. The refrain "you are what you eat" applies to the dietary isotope record of all living organisms, and for carrion-breeding blow flies, this translates to the type of carcasses present in an environment. Read More

PLoS One 2021 14;16(4):e0245423. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Quantigen Biosciences, Fishers, Indiana, United States of America.

Background: In order to identify an inexpensive yet highly stable SARS-CoV-2 collection device as an alternative to foam swabs stored in transport media, both contrived ("surrogate") CoV-positive and patient-collected spun polyester swabs stored in dry tubes were evaluated for time- and temperature-stability using qPCR.

Methods: Surrogate specimens were prepared by combining multiple, residual SARS-CoV-2-positive clinical specimens and diluting to near-LOD levels in either porcine or human mucus ("matrix"), inoculating foam or polyester nasal swabs, and sealing in dry tubes. Swabs were then subjected to one of three temperature excursions: (1) 4°C for up to 72 hours; (2) 40°C for 12 hours, followed by 32°C for up to 60 hours; or (3) multiple freeze-thaw cycles (-20°C). Read More

Eur J Nutr 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of Epidemiology and Statistic, Hebei Key Laboratory of Environment and Human Health, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017, Hebei, People's Republic of China.

Purpose: The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has increased in China. However, the contribution of dietary risks to the NCD burden has not been evaluated. This study aimed to estimate the burden of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and colorectal cancer (CRC) attributable to a diet low in fiber in China from 1990 to 2017. Read More

Clin Infect Dis 2021 Apr 14. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Pfizer S.L.U., Madrid, Spain; 8. Pfizer Vaccines, Collegeville, PA, USA.

Background: Spain introduced 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in the childhood national immunization programme (NIP) in 2015-2016 with coverage of three doses of 94.8% in 2018. We assessed the evolution of all pneumococcal, PCV13 vaccine type (VT), and experimental PCV20-VT (PCV13 + serotypes 8, 10A, 11A, 12F, 15B, 22F, 33F) hospitalized community acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults in Spain from 2011-2018. Read More

Am J Clin Nutr 2021 Apr 13. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Appetite Control and Energy Balance Research Group, School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.

Background: Recent work has challenged the long-held assumption that appetite functions to maintain stable body mass and fat mass (FM), suggesting instead that appetite matches food intake to energy expenditure and its correlate, fat-free mass (FFM). Whether this scenario applies to young infants, in chronic positive energy balance, remains unknown.

Objectives: To test associations of components of energy expenditure and body composition with milk intake (MI) and energy intake (EI) in 12-week infants, by reanalyzing published cross-sectional data. Read More