Tag: pubmed

Development. 2023 Oct 13:dev.202068. doi: 10.1242/dev.202068. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Recent work shows that the developmental potential of progenitor cells in the HH10 chick brain changes rapidly, accompanied by subtle changes in morphology. This demands increased temporal resolution for studies of the brain at this stage, necessitating precise and unbiased staging. Here we asked if we could train a deep convolutional neural network to sub-stage HH10 chick brains using a small dataset of 151 expertly labelled images. By augmenting our images with biologically-informed transformations and data-driven preprocessing steps, we successfully trained a classifier to sub-stage HH10 brains to 87.1% test accuracy. To determine whether our classifier could be generally applied, we re-trained it using images (<250) of randomised control and experimental chick wings, and obtained similarly high test accuracy (86.1%). Saliency analyses revealed that biologically relevant features are used for classification. Our strategy enables training of image classifiers for various applications in developmental biology with limited microscopy data.

PMID:37830145 | DOI:10.1242/dev.202068

Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2023 Oct 13. doi: 10.1002/acn3.51927. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to determine whether angiographic differences increase the risk of ischemic pattern among adult patients with moyamoya disease (MMD).

METHODS: From January 2020 to December 2021, we retrospectively enrolled 123 ischemic or asymptomatic adult patients diagnosed as MMD. Angiographic changes including Suzuki stage, moyamoya vessels, anterior choroidal artery (AChoA) dilatation, lenticulostriate artery (LSA) dilatation, posterior communicating artery (PcomA) dilatation, and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) involvement were evaluated for all patients.

RESULTS: Among the 123 participants, 35 ischemic patients and 88 asymptomatic patients were analyzed. There was no significant difference of Suzuki stage, AChoA dilatation, LSA dilatation, and PcomA dilatation between ischemic group and asymptomatic group. The grading of moyamoya vessels differed significantly but was not a factor associated with ischemic pattern after adjusting multiple related confounders. However, the frequency of PCA steno-occlusive changes in ischemic patients was statistically higher than that in asymptomatic patients (54.3% vs 34.1%, p = 0.039). Furthermore, PCA involvement was a risk factor associated with ischemic form and remained statistically significant after the multivariate adjustment (p = 0.033, 95% CI 1.092-8.310).

INTERPRETATION: PCA involvement is closely related to the presentation of ischemic stroke but other angiographic features had no association with ischemic pattern in adult MMD.

PMID:37830135 | DOI:10.1002/acn3.51927

J Oral Rehabil. 2023 Oct 13. doi: 10.1111/joor.13608. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In the last decade, tissue-engineering strategies for regenerating the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) have been investigated. This may be a promising strategy for the minimally invasive restoration of joint integrity.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) loaded in a light-occured hydrogel made of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) enhance the regeneration of osteochondral defects in the rabbit TMJ.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Defects were filled with GelMA alone (control group; n = 4) or filled with GelMA loaded with rabbit DPSCs (experimental group; n = 4), In one group, the TMJ capsule was opened without creating a defect (sham group; n = 2). The following micro-CT parameters were analysed: bone volume to total volume ratio (BV/TV%) and bone mineral density (BMD). Histological evaluation was performed to assess cartilage regeneration features. A semi-quantitative scoring system was also used to evaluate the defects.

RESULTS: All groups had no statistical difference regarding the micro-CT parameters. The highest mean healing score was found for the experimental group. After 4 weeks, there were no signs of hydrogel in either group or no signs of inflammation in the adjacent tissues. The tissue formed in the defect was dense fibrous connective tissue.

CONCLUSION: Adding DPSCs to GelMA did not provide a regenerative enhancement in TMJ osteochondral defects. This resulted in similar micro-CT parameters after 4 weeks of healing, with improved signs of subchondral bone regeneration but no cartilage regeneration.

PMID:37830126 | DOI:10.1111/joor.13608

Lin Chuang Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi. 2023 Sep;37(9):695-699;707. doi: 10.13201/j.issn.2096-7993.2023.09.003.

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the clinical effect of transaxillary non-inflatable endoscopic surgery and traditional open thyroid surgery in the treatment of PTC. Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 342 patients with PTC treated in the Otorhinolaryngology Department of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from December 2020 to December 2022. There were 73 males and 269 females, aged 16-72 years, who underwent unilateral non-inflatable transaxillary endoscopic thyroid surgery（endoscopic group） and unilateral traditional open thyroid surgery（open group）. There were 108 patients in the endoscopic group and 234 in the open group. Results:The endoscopic group was lower in age（37.1±9.4 vs 43.5±11.2） years and BMI（23.4±3.4 vs 25.7±3.8 ）kg/m² than that in the open group, and the difference was statistically significant（t was 5.53, 5.67 respectively, P<0.01）. There was no significant difference in hospitalization days between the two groups（P>0.05）. The logarithmic curve of the operation time showed a smooth downward trend, and the overall operation time of the endoscopic group was relatively consistent. There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss between the endoscopic group（13.3±3.2） mL and the open group（14.7±6.3） mL（P>0.05）, but the operation time（130.1±37.9） min was longer than that in the open group（57.4±13.7） min, and the difference was statistically significant（t=19.40, P<0.01）. There was no significant difference in complications such as temporary recurrent laryngeal nerve injury within 3 days after operation between the two groups（P>0.05）. The aesthetic satisfaction score of the surgical incision and the incision concealment effect score in the endoscopic group were higher than those in the open group, and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）. Conclusion:Compared with traditional open thyroidectomy, transaxillary non-inflatable endoscopic thyroidectomy has more advantages in the concealment and aesthetics of postoperative incision. Although the former has longer operation time and more drainage, it is still a safe and feasible surgical method with good postoperative clinical effect.

PMID:37830118 | DOI:10.13201/j.issn.2096-7993.2023.09.003

Wellcome Open Res. 2023 Sep 21;7:244. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18394.2. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Background: The Born in Bradford’s Better Start (BiBBS) interventional birth cohort study was designed as an innovative cohort platform for efficient evaluation of early life interventions delivered through the Better Start Bradford programme. There are a growing number of interventional cohorts being implemented internationally. This paper provides an interim analysis of BiBBS in order to share learning about the feasibility and value of this method. Methods: Recruitment began in January 2016 and will complete in December 2023 with a target sample of 5,000 pregnancies. An interim analysis was completed for all pregnancies recruited between January 2016 and November 2019 with an expected due date between 1 ^st April 2016 and 8 ^th March 2020. Descriptive statistics were completed on the data. Results: Of 4,823 eligible pregnancies, 2,626 (54%) pregnancies were recruited, resulting in 2,392 mothers and 2,501 children. The sample are representative of the pregnant population (61% Pakistani heritage; 12% White British; 8% other South Asian and 6% Central and Eastern European ethnicity). The majority of participants (84%) live in the lowest decile of the Index of Multiple Deprivation, and many live in vulnerable circumstances. A high proportion (85%) of BiBBS families have engaged in one or more of the Better Start Bradford interventions. Levels of participation varied by the characteristics of the interventions, such as the requirement for active participation and the length of commitment to a programme. Conclusions: We have demonstrated the feasibility of recruiting an interventional cohort that includes seldom heard families from ethnic minority and deprived backgrounds. The high level of uptake of interventions is encouraging for the goal of evaluating the process and outcomes of multiple early life interventions using the innovative interventional cohort approach. BiBBS covers a period before, during and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which adds scientific value to the cohort.

PMID:37830108 | PMC:PMC10565418 | DOI:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18394.2

Ann Appl Stat. 2023 Sep;17(3):1958-1983. doi: 10.1214/22-aoas1701. Epub 2023 Oct 7.

ABSTRACT

Recent advances in biological research have seen the emergence of high-throughput technologies with numerous applications that allow the study of biological mechanisms at an unprecedented depth and scale. A large amount of genomic data is now distributed through consortia like The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), where specific types of biological information on specific type of tissue or cell are available. In cancer research, the challenge is now to perform integrative analyses of high-dimensional multi-omic data with the goal to better understand genomic processes that correlate with cancer outcomes, e.g. elucidate gene networks that discriminate a specific cancer subgroups (cancer sub-typing) or discovering gene networks that overlap across different cancer types (pan-cancer studies). In this paper, we propose a novel mixed graphical model approach to analyze multi-omic data of different types (continuous, discrete and count) and perform model selection by extending the Birth-Death MCMC (BDMCMC) algorithm initially proposed by Stephens (2000) and later developed by Mohammadi and Wit (2015). We compare the performance of our method to the LASSO method and the standard BDMCMC method using simulations and find that our method is superior in terms of both computational efficiency and the accuracy of the model selection results. Finally, an application to the TCGA breast cancer data shows that integrating genomic information at different levels (mutation and expression data) leads to better subtyping of breast cancers.

PMID:37830084 | PMC:PMC10569451 | DOI:10.1214/22-aoas1701

Open Res Eur. 2023 Sep 4;3:54. doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.15701.2. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Context: International comparisons of the health of mothers and babies provide essential benchmarks for guiding health practice and policy, but statistics are not routinely compiled in a comparable way. These data are especially critical during health emergencies, such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) project aimed to promote the exchange of population data in Europe and included a Use Case on perinatal health. Objective: To develop and test a protocol for federated analysis of population birth data in Europe. Methods: The Euro-Peristat network with participants from 31 countries developed a Common Data Model (CDM) and R scripts to exchange and analyse aggregated data on perinatal indicators. Building on recommended Euro-Peristat indicators, complemented by a three-round consensus process, the network specified variables for a CDM and common outputs. The protocol was tested using routine birth data for 2015 to 2020; a survey was conducted assessing data provider experiences and opinions. Results: The CDM included 17 core data items for the testing phase and 18 for a future expanded phase. 28 countries and the four UK nations created individual person-level databases and ran R scripts to produce anonymous aggregate tables. Seven had all core items, 17 had 13-16, while eight had ≤12. Limitations were not having all items in the same database, required for this protocol. Infant death and mode of birth were most frequently missing. Countries took from under a day to several weeks to set up the CDM, after which the protocol was easy and quick to use. Conclusion: This open-source protocol enables rapid production and analysis of perinatal indicators and constitutes a roadmap for a sustainable European information system. It also provides minimum standards for improving national data systems and can be used in other countries to facilitate comparison of perinatal indicators.

PMID:37830050 | PMC:PMC10565425 | DOI:10.12688/openreseurope.15701.2

R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Oct 11;10(10):230615. doi: 10.1098/rsos.230615. eCollection 2023 Oct.

ABSTRACT

The gender and ethnicity pay gaps are well publicised for academics. The majority of research relies on observations representing a point in time or uses models to consider a standard academic lifespan. We use a stochastic mathematical model to ask what drives differences in lifetime earnings of university academics and highlight a new question: how best should we quantify a working lifetime? The model observes and accounts for patterns in age when entering and leaving the workforce, and differing salary trajectories during an academic career. It is parameterized with data from a national dataset in Aotearoa New Zealand. We compare the total lifetime earnings of different gender and ethnicity groups with and without accounting for the different lengths of time spent in academia. The lifetime earnings gaps are considerably larger when we account for different hiring and leaving ages. We find that overall, for every ethnicity, women have shorter careers and are more likely to leave academia. All minority ethnic groups-and women-earn considerably less than their male white, European colleagues.

PMID:37830027 | PMC:PMC10565367 | DOI:10.1098/rsos.230615

R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Oct 11;10(10):231305. doi: 10.1098/rsos.231305. eCollection 2023 Oct.

ABSTRACT

The gut microbiome has a well-documented relationship with host fitness. Greater microbial diversity and abundance of specific microbes have been associated with improved fitness outcomes. Intestinal microbes also may be associated with patterns of social behaviour. However, these associations have been largely studied in captive animal models; we know less about microbiome composition as a potential driver of individual social behaviour and position in the wild. We used linear mixed models to quantify the relationship between fecal microbial composition, diversity and social network traits in a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer). We focused our analyses on microbes previously linked to sociability and neurobehavioural alterations in captive rodents, primates and humans. Using 5 years of data, we found microbial diversity (Shannon-Wiener and Faith’s phylogenetic diversity) has a modest yet statistically significant negative relationship with the number of social interactions an individual engaged in. We also found a negative relationship between Streptococcus spp. relative abundance and two social network measures (clustering coefficient and embeddedness) that quantify an individual’s position relative to others in their social group. These findings highlight a potentially consequential relationship between microbial composition and social behaviour in a wild social mammal.

PMID:37830026 | PMC:PMC10565414 | DOI:10.1098/rsos.231305

Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2023 Oct 8;44(10):5498-5510. doi: 10.13227/j.hjkx.202211122.

ABSTRACT

TheWudu River is a typical mining-type watershed in the karst mountainous area of western Guizhou Province. Based on the collection of the main stream, tributaries, spring water, and mine water samples in Wudu River Basin, the hydrochemical characteristics and control factors of Wudu River Basin were studied using Gibbs diagram, Piper diagram, and mathematical statistics analysis, and the solute contribution rate of different sources was calculated. The results revealed that the pH value of the water in the Wudu River Basin ranged from 7.87 to 8.52, with an average of 8.14. The TDS values ranged from 135 to 243 mg·L^-1, with an average of 191.7 mg·L^-1. The major cations in natural river and spring water were Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, the major anion was HCO₃^–, and the hydrochemical type was HCO₃-Ca. However, owing to the influence of mining activities, the major cations in some tributaries were Ca²⁺ and Na⁺, and the hydrochemical types transitioned to HCO₃·SO₄-Ca and HCO₃·SO₄-Ca·Na. The ion components of river water in Wudu River Basin were affected by mine water discharge and cation exchange, carbonate rock weathering, silicate rock weathering, and agricultural fertilization. The high concentration of SO₄^2- and Na⁺in mine water was the primary source of SO₄^2- and Na⁺in the tributaries of the Wudu River. The method for calculating chemical material balance showed that the contribution rate of carbonate rock weathering ranged from 44.12% to 86.92%, with an average of 74.32%. The contribution rate of mining activities ranged from 3.28% to 37.07%, with an average of 11.61%. Carbonate rock weathering was the main controlling factor of hydrochemical components in the Wudu River Basin; meanwhile, mining activities also had a certain impact on river water chemistry but they showed spatial heterogeneity. The average contribution rates of atmospheric precipitation, silicate rock weathering, agricultural activities, and domestic sewage were 3.75%, 4.67%, 2.85%, and 2.81%, respectively, which had a limited impact on the hydrochemical components of the basin.

PMID:37827767 | DOI:10.13227/j.hjkx.202211122