Nevin Manimala

Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 17;12(1):793. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04765-9.

ABSTRACT

Pharmacological and non-pharmacological measures will overlap for a period after the onset of the pandemic, playing a strong role in virus containment. We explored which factors influence the likelihood to adopt two different preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. An online snowball sampling (May-June 2020) collected a total of 448 questionnaires in Italy. A Bayesian bivariate Gaussian regression model jointly investigated the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to download the national contact tracing app. A mixed-effects cumulative logistic model explored which factors affected the motivation to adopt one of the two preventive measures. Despite both COVID-19 vaccines and tracing apps being indispensable tools to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, our results suggest that adherence to the vaccine or to the national contact tracing app is not predicted by the same factors. Therefore, public communication on these measures needs to take in consideration not only the perceived risk associated with COVID-19, but also the trust people place in politics and science, their concerns and doubts about vaccinations, and their employment status. Further, the results suggest that the motivation to comply with these measurements was predominantly to protect others rather than self-protection.

PMID:35039550 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-04765-9

Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 17;12(1):866. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03847-y.

ABSTRACT

To explore whether patients with unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (uISSNHL) have normal speech in noise (SIN) perception under different masking conditions after complete recovery of pure tone audiometry. Eight completely recovered uISSNHL patients were enrolled in ISSNHL group, while 8 normal-hearing adults matched with age, gender, and education experience were selected as the control group. Each group was tested SIN under four masking conditions, including noise and speech maskings with and without spatial separation cues. For both ISSNHL and control groups a two-way ANOVA showed a statistically significant effect of masking type (p = 0.007 vs p = 0.012). A significant effect of perceived spatial separation (p < 0.001 vs p < 0.001). A significant interaction between masking type and perceived spatial separation was found (p < 0.001 vs p < 0.001). A paired sample T-test showed that the SIN perception of the control group was statistically significant lower than that of ISSNHL patients only under speech masking without spatial separation cues (p = 0.011). There were still abnormalities in the auditory center shortly after complete recovery in the ISSNHL group (within 2 weeks). However, the auditory periphery and higher-level ability to use spatial cues was normal.

PMID:35039548 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-03847-y

Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 17;12(1):790. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04761-z.

ABSTRACT

This study aims to assess the metal fume exposure of welders and to determine exposure rates for similar exposure groups in a shipyard through the use of Near-field/Far-field (NF/FF) mathematical model and Bayesian decision analysis (BDA) technique. Emission rates of various metal fumes (i.e., total chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni)) were experimentally determined for the gas metal arc welding and flux cored arc welding processes, which are commonly used in shipyards. Then the NF/FF field model which used the emission rates were further validated by welding simulation experiment, and together with long-term operation condition data obtained from the investigated shipyard, the predicted long-term exposure concentrations of workers was established and used as the prior distribution in the BDA. Along with the field monitoring metal fume concentrations which served as the likelihood distribution, the posterior decision distributions in the BDA were determined and used to assess workers’ long-term metal exposures. Results show that the predicted exposure concentrations (C_p) and the field worker’s exposure concentrations (C_m) were statistically correlated, and the high R² (= 0.81-0.94) indicates that the proposed surrogate predicting method by the NF and FF model was adequate for predicting metal fume concentrations. The consistency in both prior and likelihood distributions suggests the resultant posterior would be more feasible to assess workers’ long-term exposures. Welders’ Fe, Mn and Pb exposures were found to exceed their corresponding action levels with a high probability (= 54%), indicating preventive measures should be taken immediately. The proposed approach provides a universal solution for conducting exposure assessment with usual limited number of personal exposure data.

PMID:35039543 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-04761-z

Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 17;12(1):818. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04656-z.

ABSTRACT

Tendons have limited reparative ability and perform a relatively simple mechanical function via the extracellular matrix. Thus, the injured tendon might be treated successfully by stem cell transplantation. We performed a randomized, controlled study to investigate the effects of mesenchymal stem cell injection for treating partial tears in the supraspinatus tendon. We enrolled 24 patients with shoulder pain lasting more than 3 months and partial tears in the supraspinatus tendon. Participants were assigned to three groups: stem cells in fibrin glue, normal saline/fibrin glue mixture, and normal saline only, with which intra-lesional injection was performed. Pain at activity and rest, shoulder function and tear size were evaluated. For safety measures, laboratory tests were taken and adverse events were recorded at every visit. Participants were followed up at 6, 12 weeks, 6, 12 months and 2 years after injection. The primary outcome measure was the improvement in pain at activity at 3 months after injection. Twenty-three patients were included in the final analysis. Primary outcome did not differ among groups (p = 0.35). A mixed effect model revealed no statistically significant interactions. Only time significantly predicted the outcome measure. All participants reported transient pain at the injection site. There were no differences in post-injection pain duration or severity. Safety measures did not differ between groups, and there were no persistent adverse events. Stem cell injection into supraspinatus partial tears in patients with shoulder pain lasting more than 3 months was not more effective than control injections.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02298023.

PMID:35039529 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-04656-z

Nat Commun. 2022 Jan 17;13(1):342. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28034-z.

ABSTRACT

Identifying differentially abundant microbes is a common goal of microbiome studies. Multiple methods are used interchangeably for this purpose in the literature. Yet, there are few large-scale studies systematically exploring the appropriateness of using these tools interchangeably, and the scale and significance of the differences between them. Here, we compare the performance of 14 differential abundance testing methods on 38 16S rRNA gene datasets with two sample groups. We test for differences in amplicon sequence variants and operational taxonomic units (ASVs) between these groups. Our findings confirm that these tools identified drastically different numbers and sets of significant ASVs, and that results depend on data pre-processing. For many tools the number of features identified correlate with aspects of the data, such as sample size, sequencing depth, and effect size of community differences. ALDEx2 and ANCOM-II produce the most consistent results across studies and agree best with the intersect of results from different approaches. Nevertheless, we recommend that researchers should use a consensus approach based on multiple differential abundance methods to help ensure robust biological interpretations.

PMID:35039521 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-28034-z

Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 17;12(1):820. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04260-1.

ABSTRACT

Despite the structural and functional information contained in the statistical coupling between pairs of residues in a protein, coevolution associated with function is often obscured by artifactual signals such as genetic drift, which shapes a protein’s phylogenetic history and gives rise to concurrent variation between protein sequences that is not driven by selection for function. Here, we introduce a background model for phylogenetic contributions of statistical coupling that separates the coevolution signal due to inter-clade and intra-clade sequence comparisons and demonstrate that coevolution can be measured on multiple phylogenetic timescales within a single protein. Our method, nested coevolution (NC), can be applied as an extension to any coevolution metric. We use NC to demonstrate that poorly conserved residues can nonetheless have important roles in protein function. Moreover, NC improved the structural-contact predictions of several coevolution-based methods, particularly in subsampled alignments with fewer sequences. NC also lowered the noise in detecting functional sectors of collectively coevolving residues. Sectors of coevolving residues identified after application of NC were more spatially compact and phylogenetically distinct from the rest of the protein, and strongly enriched for mutations that disrupt protein activity. Thus, our conceptualization of the phylogenetic separation of coevolution provides the potential to further elucidate relationships among protein evolution, function, and genetic diseases.

PMID:35039514 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-04260-1

Nat Commun. 2022 Jan 17;13(1):344. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-27958-w.

ABSTRACT

Quantum Hall interferometers have been used to probe fractional charge and statistics of quasiparticles. We present measurements of a small Fabry-Perot interferometer in which the electrostatic coupling constants which affect interferometer behavior can be determined experimentally. Near the center of the ν = 1/3 state this device exhibits Aharonov-Bohm interference interrupted by a few discrete phase jumps, and Φ₀ oscillations at higher and lower magnetic fields, consistent with theoretical predictions for detection of anyonic statistics. We estimate the electrostatic parameters K_I and K_IL by two methods: using the ratio of oscillation periods in compressible versus incompressible regions, and from finite-bias conductance measurements. We find that the extracted K_I and K_IL can account for the deviation of the phase jumps from the theoretical anyonic phase θ_a = 2π/3. At integer states, we find that K_I and K_IL can account for the Aharonov-Bohm and Coulomb-dominated behavior of different edge states.

PMID:35039497 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-27958-w

Biomed Phys Eng Express. 2022 Jan 17. doi: 10.1088/2057-1976/ac4c2a. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

By using the statistical techniques of ANOVA: mean test and regression, it was found that the N_KRcalibration factor of Standard Imaging (SI) model HDR 1000 plus chambers presents a quadratic dependence with the reference air kerma rateK_R(from 6.9 mGy h^-1to 43.9 mGy h^-1). In order to understand and correct this dependency one model is presented for total recombination:k_s=I₃₀₀/I₁₅₀=1+k_ini+ k_d+k_volI₃₀₀+k_screenI₃₀₀², wherek_iniis the initial recombination,k_dthe thermal diffusion recombination,k_volthe volumetric recombination andk_screenthe screening for the currents/charges collected at the potential differences of 300 and 150 V. In conclusion, the total recombinationk_sis composed by onek_iniwith a constant contribution of 0.019%, onek_dcontribution of 0.017%, onek_volI₃₀₀contribution from 0.022% to 0.138%, and thek_screenI₃₀₀²effects from 0.002% to 0.09% in the range ofK_Rrate above. However, when this model fork_sis applied to try to correct the quadratic dependence of theN_KRvs K_R, explicitly there is no improvement in the variation range of 0.5% of theN_KRvs K_R.Nonetheless, it allows to obtainN_KRvalues consistent with a u_c≤ 0.7 %, which is less than 1.25% reported in the literature by ADCL or SSDL.

PMID:35039465 | DOI:10.1088/2057-1976/ac4c2a

J Clin Pathol. 2022 Jan 17:jclinpath-2021-207556. doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2021-207556. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To compare specific T-cell responses between laboratory employees in South Africa with and without previously diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

METHODS: Employees at a private pathology laboratory in South Africa were invited to participate in a nationwide cross-sectional study. T-cell proliferation to SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N)-proteins and spike (S)-proteins was measured by flow cytometry and compared between participants.

RESULTS: Based on classification according to SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription (RT)-PCR results, a total of 81% (42/52) of positive participants demonstrated T-cell proliferation to SARS-CoV-2 N-proteins or S-proteins (95% CI 67.5% to 90.4%), while 62% (68/110) of negative participants also had detectable T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 proteins (95% CI 52.1% to 70.9%). When classified according to SARS-CoV-2 serology results, 92.6% (50/54) of positive participants demonstrated T-cell proliferation to SARS-CoV-2 proteins (95% CI 82.1 to 97,9 %), while 56% (60/108) of negative participants demonstrated T-cell proliferation (95% CI 45.7% to 65.1%). The magnitude of the T-cell responses as determined by a stimulation index, was significantly higher in the group previously infected by SARS-CoV-2 than in the negative group. A statistically significant difference in T-cell proliferation was noted between high risk and low risk groups for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 within the negative group, but no significant difference in magnitude of the response.

CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of South African laboratory employees who were not previously diagnosed with COVID-19 demonstrated T-cell reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 N-proteins and S-proteins. The pre-existing T-cell proliferation responses may be attributable to cross-reactive immune responses to other human coronaviruses, or possibly asymptomatic infection.

PMID:35039453 | DOI:10.1136/jclinpath-2021-207556

J Am Board Fam Med. 2022 Jan-Feb;35(1):140-151. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2022.01.210273.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Hyperuricemia is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Because patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia (AH) experience no immediate discomfort and there are possible side effects of urate-lowering drugs, treatment for AH is controversial. We aimed to perform a network meta-analysis (NMA) to investigate the effects of different urate-lowering therapies (ULTs) on serum uric acid level, renal function, blood pressure (BP), and safety in AH patients.

METHODS: This NMA focused on AH patients. The intervention group (patients receiving urate-lowering drugs) was compared with others using other types of drugs, placebo, or usual care. We undertook a NMA under the frequentist framework by R.

RESULTS: Thirteen eligible trials were identified. The interventions included allopurinol, febuxostat, and benzbromarone, which are not approved in the United States. Benzbromarone and allopurinol had the best efficacy on lowering serum uric acid level in short-term and long-term follow-up (mean difference [MD] = -3.05; 95% CI, -5.19 to -0.91 vs MD = -3.17; 95% CI, -5.19 to -1.15). Patients using allopurinol had significantly higher eGFR than using placebo in both short-term and long-term follow-up (MD = 3.07; 95% CI, 0.18 to 5.95 vs MD = 4.10; 95% CI, 2.66 to 5.54). No difference in BP was found between groups, except for febuxostat to diastolic BP after long-term treatment (MD = -1.47; 95% CI, -2.91 to -0.04). No statistically increased odds of safety events were found with the use of ULT.

CONCLUSIONS: Our result showed that in AH patients, allopurinol has a renoprotective effect. Febuxostat has a significant impact in lowering diastolic BP. ULT does not result in a higher risk of safety events.

PMID:35039419 | DOI:10.3122/jabfm.2022.01.210273