bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Health effects of children’s summer holiday programs: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Eglitis Emily , Singh Ben , Olds Timothy , Virgara Rosa , Machell Amanda , Richardson Mandy , Brannelly Kylie , Grant Aniella , Gray Jessica , Wilkinson Terri , Rix Zoe , Tomkinson Grant R. , Maher Carol
Published: October 2024

Background

Unfavourable changes occur in children’s health behaviours and outcomes during the summer holidays. This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of summer holiday programs in mitigating these changes.

Methods

Six databases (MEDLINE, JBI, PsychINFO, Embase, ERIC and Scopus) were systematically searched for experimental controlled studies that investigated programs of at least 5 days’ duration conducted exclusively during the summer holiday period on school-aged children (5–18 years). Primary outcomes were moderate-vigorous physical activity and energy intake. Secondary outcomes were sedentary behavior, diet quality, adiposity, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Risk of Bias was assessed using the PEDro tool. Effect sizes were calculated using random-effects meta-analysis with narrative synthesis of effects by student or program characteristics.

Results

Ten studies (two randomised controlled trials, and eight non-randomised controlled trials) involving 1,446 participants were included. Summer programs had a significant moderate effect on reducing sedentary behaviour (g= -0.59, 95%CI= -1.16, -0.03) and significant small effects on improving moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (g = 0.35, 95%CI = 0.02, 0.67) and adiposity (g= -0.25, 95% CI = -0.39, -0.10). No significant change was detected for cardiorespiratory fitness (g = 0.43, 95%CI= -0.32, 1.17), energy intake (g= -0.06, 95% CI -2.33, 2.22), or diet quality (g = 0.20, 95%CI= -0.43, 0.83). Summer program effectiveness did not appear to differ by child sociodemographic or program characteristics. Concerns regarding bias and high heterogeneity impacted results.

Conclusions

Summer programs show potential in promoting healthier movement behaviours in children and supporting healthy body weight during the summer months. Although evidence from the included studies has limitations, these programs produced small to moderate effect sizes and present promising health intervention opportunities for children. Future research with more rigorous study designs and comprehensive reporting is needed to confirm these findings and better understand the impact of summer programs on children’s health.

Prospero registration

CRD42023409795.
Zhi-Kang-Yin formula attenuates high-fat diet-induced metabolic disorders through modulating gut microbiota-bile acids axis in mice
Authors: Li Yifan , Wang Hao , He Xiaofang , Zhu Weize , Bao Yiyang , Gao Xinxin , Huang Wenjin , Ge Xinyu , Wei Wenjing , Zhang Huan , Sheng Lili , Zhang Tao , Li Houkai
Published: October 2024

Background

Metabolic disorders have become one of the global medical problems. Due to the complexity of its pathogenesis, there is still no effective treatment. Bile acids (BAs) and gut microbiota (GM) have been proved to be closely related to host metabolism, which could be important targets for metabolic disorders. Zhi-Kang-Yin (ZKY) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula developed by the research team according to theory of TCM and has been shown to improve metabolism in clinic. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear.

Aim of the study

This study aimed to investigate the potential mechanisms of the beneficial effect of ZKY on metabolism.

Methods

High-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were treated with and without ZKY. The glucose and lipid metabolism-related indexes were measured. BA profile, GM composition and hepatic transcriptome were then investigated to analyze the changes of BAs, GM, and hepatic gene expression. Moreover, the relationship between GM and BAs was identified with functional gene quantification and ex vivo fermentation experiment.

Results

ZKY reduced weight gain and lipid levels in both liver and serum, attenuated hepatic steatosis and improved glucose tolerance in HFD-fed mice. BA profile detection showed that ZKY changed the composition of BAs and increased the proportion of unconjugated BAs and non-12-OH BAs. Hepatic transcriptomic analysis revealed fatty acid metabolism and BA biosynthesis related pathways were regulated. In addition, ZKY significantly changed the structure of GM and upregulated the gene copy number of bacterial bile salt hydrolase. Meanwhile, ZKY directly promoted the growth of Bifidobacterium, which is a well-known bile salt hydrolase-producing genus. The ex vivo co-culture experiment with gut microbiota and BAs demonstrated that the changes of BAs profile in ZKY group were mediated by ZKY-shifted GM, which led to increased expression of genes associated with fatty acid degradation in the liver.

Conclusion

Our study indicated that the effect of ZKY on improving metabolism is associated with the modulation of GM-BAs axis, especially, by upregulating the abundance of bile salt hydrolase-expression bacteria and increasing the levels of unconjugated BAs. This study indicates that GM-BAs axis might be an important pathway for improving metabolic disorders by ZKY.
Addressing cancer survivors’ information needs and satisfaction: a systematic review of potential intervention components for survivors with a rare cancer type
Authors: Farrugia Tamsin , Duijts Saskia F. A. , Wilson Carlene , Hemming Laura , Cockburn Christine , Spelten Evelien
Published: October 2024

Objective

Providing current, evidence-based information to cancer survivors is critical for informed decision making. People diagnosed with a rare cancer report higher unmet information needs compared to common cancer survivors. However, interventions providing informational support for rare cancers are limited. Therefore, the aims of this systematic review were to identify and synthesise interventions decreasing survivors’ information needs and/or improving satisfaction with information, and to explore potential components to be included in an intervention for rare cancer survivors.

Methods

Searches were conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library. Studies reporting an intervention targeting information needs and/or patient satisfaction with information in survivors of any cancer type were included. Data were extracted, a quality assessment performed and findings were synthesised.

Results

A total of 7012 studies were identified and 34 were included in the review. Five studies targeted patients with a rare cancer type; the remaining studies included common cancer survivors. Interventions varied in relation to the mode of information provision, timing of intervention delivery, and the intervention provider. The most promising interventions included face-to-face communication and written material and were delivered by a nurse. All rare cancer studies were designed around a web-based program, but none of them improved outcomes.

Conclusions

Interventions targeting information needs and/or patient satisfaction with information in rare cancer survivors are lacking. Future studies should focus on this underserved group, and successful aspects of interventions for common cancer survivors should be considered for inclusion when designing an intervention for rare cancer survivors.
Scalable identification of lineage-specific gene regulatory networks from metacells with NetID
Authors: Wang Weixu , Wang Yichen , Lyu Ruiqi , Grün Dominic
Published: October 2024

The identification of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is crucial for understanding cellular differentiation. Single-cell RNA sequencing data encode gene-level covariations at high resolution, yet data sparsity and high dimensionality hamper accurate and scalable GRN reconstruction. To overcome these challenges, we introduce NetID leveraging homogenous metacells while avoiding spurious gene–gene correlations. Benchmarking demonstrates superior performance of NetID compared to imputation-based methods. By incorporating cell fate probability information, NetID facilitates the prediction of lineage-specific GRNs and recovers known network motifs governing bone marrow hematopoiesis, making it a powerful toolkit for deciphering gene regulatory control of cellular differentiation from large-scale single-cell transcriptome data.
Oxygen therapy and noninvasive respiratory supports in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure: a narrative review
Authors: Thille Arnaud W. , Balen Frédéric , Carteaux Guillaume , Chouihed Tahar , Frat Jean-Pierre , Girault Christophe , L’Her Erwan , Marjanovic Nicolas , Nay Mai-Anh , Ray Patrick , Reffienna Matthieu , Retenauer Leo , Roch Antoine , Thiery Guillaume , Truchot Jennifer
Published: October 2024

Background

This narrative review was written by an expert panel to the members of the jury to help in the development of clinical practice guidelines on oxygen therapy.

Results

According to the expert panel, acute hypoxemic respiratory failure was defined as PaO2 < 60 mm Hg or SpO2 < 90% on room air, or PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 300 mm Hg. Supplemental oxygen should be administered according to the monitoring of SpO2, with the aim at maintaining SpO2 above 92% and below 98%. Noninvasive respiratory supports are generally reserved for the most hypoxemic patients with the aim of relieving dyspnea. High-flow nasal cannula oxygen (HFNC) seems superior to conventional oxygen therapy (COT) as a means of avoiding intubation and may therefore be should probably be used as a first-line noninvasive respiratory support in patients requiring more than 6 L/min of oxygen or PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 200 mm Hg and a respiratory rate above 25 breaths/minute or clinical signs of respiratory distress, but with no benefits on mortality. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) cannot currently be recommended as a first-line noninvasive respiratory support, since its beneficial effects on intubation remain uncertain. Despite older studies favoring noninvasive ventilation (NIV) over COT, recent clinical trials fail to show beneficial effects with NIV compared to HFNC. Therefore, there is no evidence to support the use of NIV or CPAP as first-line treatment if HFNC is available. Clinical trials do not support the hypothesis that noninvasive respiratory supports may lead to late intubation. The potential benefits of awake prone positioning on the risk of intubation in patients with COVID-19 cannot be extrapolated to patients with another etiology.

Conclusions

Whereas oxygen supplementation should be initiated for patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure defined as PaO2 below 60 mm Hg or SpO2 < 90% on room air, HFNC should be the first-line noninvasive respiratory support in patients with PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 200 mm Hg with increased respiratory rate. Further studies are needed to assess the potential benefits of CPAP, NIV through a helmet and awake prone position in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure not related to COVID-19.
Health optimisation for patients with obesity before elective orthopaedic surgery: a qualitative study of professionals’ views on restrictive approaches and future practice
Authors: McLaughlin Joanna , Kipping Ruth , McLeod Hugh , Judge Andrew , Owen-Smith Amanda
Published: October 2024

Background

Preoperative health optimisation for elective surgery entails supporting patients to improve their health in preparation for their treatment and recovery. While there is consensus that this process should address obesity, approaches vary across England. Despite guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to the contrary, restrictive approaches with body mass index thresholds for referral to arthroplasty are in use. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the views of professionals on the current use and future implications of these policies.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 professionals including clinicians, commissioners, policymakers, and health service managers, with experience of developing and/or implementing health optimisation policies for elective arthroplasty. Participants were sampled from areas in England with and without restrictive policies. We undertook thematic analysis of the interview data.

Results

Participants described pre-surgical health optimisation as an important trigger for health improvement but identified current resourcing and inadequacies in provision of weight management support as significant barriers to success. Participants expressed concerns about the appropriateness and fairness of including obesity as a determinant to restrict access to surgery. They described short-term financial pressures underlying the use of restrictive body mass index thresholds and a lack of an evidence base, such that policies amounted to rationing and risked exacerbations of health inequalities. The study identified four priorities for improvements to future health optimisation practices: developing and implementing national guidance with flexibility for local variation, initiating patient engagement in primary care with onward integration across all services, improving resourcing to support effective equitable impact, and addressing wider determinants of obesity through societal change.

Conclusions

Overall, participants had limited expectations of the impact of health optimisation policies on obesity without additional support, investment, and national guideline implementation. They raised strong concerns over current restrictive approaches. We conclude that addressing concerns around weight management support service availability and impacts on health inequalities is essential for shaping effective health optimisation policies. Future policy direction should support health optimisation to be offered early (ideally in primary care). Health optimisation interventions should be non-restrictive, inclusive, and well-monitored, particularly around equality impact.
Thoracoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery for esophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumor: a case report
Authors: Kanoda Ryo , Kikuchi Tomohiro , Utsumi Akihito , Mochizuki Shotaro , Matsuishi Akira , Kaneta Akinao , Nirei Azuma , Hanayama Hiroyuki , Saze Zenichiro , Hikichi Takuto , Hashimoto Yuko , Kono Koji
Published: October 2024

Background

Esophageal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are relatively rare, accounting for 2–5% of all GISTs. Typically, the treatment is surgery in nature. However, no standard procedure established for esophageal GISTs, and in many cases, subtotal esophagectomy or local resection via thoracoscopy or mediastinoscopy is performed. Thoracoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery (TECS) is a surgical approach similar to laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery used for gastric GIST; however, no reports of its use for esophageal GIST have been published to date. We herein report such a case along with a review of past literature.

Case presentation

The patient was a 60-year-old man. Upper gastrointestinal contrast imaging revealed a subepithelial lesion in the esophagus. An 18 × 17 mm subepithelial lesion was identified in the left wall, 35 cm from the upper incisors, during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and was diagnosed as a GIST through endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy. TECS was therefore performed. The patient was placed in a prone position with his face to the left. After confirming the lesion under endoscopy and left thoracoscopy, the periesophageal area of the lesion was dissected under thoracoscopy. Subsequently, an endoscopic full-layer resection was performed. Finally, the excision site of the lesion was sutured under thoracoscopy. The operation took a total of 3 h and 22 min, with a blood loss of 50 mL.

Conclusions

The appropriate surgical procedure for esophageal GIST should be considered according to the location and size of the lesion. TECS ensures that the resection margins are secured using an endoscopic or thoracoscopic approach. Furthermore, TECS is minimally invasive, avoiding esophagectomy and reconstruction, which makes it a potential surgical option for esophageal GISTs.
Genes in context: path to more precise risk prediction in psychiatry?
Authors: Na Peter J. , Pietrzak Robert H. , Gelernter Joel
Published: October 2024

This guest editorial describes the importance of converging genetics and psychosocial epidemiology research methods to understand the biopsychosocial etiology of psychiatric phenotypes.
Mapping the Social Lives of The Namibian Review
Authors: Benson Koni , Gamedze Asher , Mushaandja Nashilongweshipwe
Published: October 2024

Thirty-two editions of The Namibian Review (1976–87) were published by anti-apartheid revolutionaries in a decade of intensifying struggle for independence from the South African occupation of South West Africa. This teaching tool discusses the wider history of political orientations and networks surrounding The Namibian Review, presenting a creative approach to African history research and political education aimed at challenging the ongoing legacies of the colonial imposed borders of the region.
The mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer senses decreasing oxygen availability (PO2) and responds by reducing ion uptake and altering gene expression
Authors: Cochran Jamie K. , Buchwalter David B.
Published: October 2024

Oxygen availability is central to the energetic budget of aquatic animals and may vary naturally and/or in response to anthropogenic activities. Yet, we know little about how oxygen availability is linked to fundamental processes such as ion transport in aquatic insects. We hypothesized and observed that ion (22Na and 35SO4) uptake would be significantly decreased at O2 partial pressures below the mean critical level (Pcrit, 5.4 kPa) where metabolic rate (ṀO2) is compromised and ATP production is limited. However, we were surprised to observe marked reductions in ion uptake at oxygen partial pressures well above Pcrit, where ṀO2 was stable. For example, SO4 uptake decreased by 51% at 11.7 kPa and 82% at Pcrit (5.4 kPa) while Na uptake decreased by 19% at 11.7 kPa and 60% at Pcrit. Nymphs held for longer time periods at reduced PO2 exhibited stronger reductions in ion uptake rates. Fluids from whole-body homogenates exhibited a 29% decrease in osmolality in the most hypoxic condition. The differential expression of atypical guanylate cyclase (gcy-88e) in response to changing PO2 conditions provides evidence for its potential role as an oxygen sensor. Several ion transport genes (e.g. chloride channel and sodium-potassium ATPase) and hypoxia-associated genes (e.g. ldh and egl-9) were also impacted by decreased oxygen availability. Together, the results of our work suggest that N. triangulifer can sense decreased oxygen availability and perhaps conserves energy accordingly, even when ṀO2 is not impacted.
Identification of genetic risk variants for Type-2 Diabetes mellitus in Pakistani Pashtun population: A case-control association study
Authors: Jan Asif , Mothana Ramzi A. , Jun-Ya Kaimori  , Tahir Muhammad  , Mehtab Khan  , Naveed Rahman  , Abdullah R. Alanzi
Published: October 2024

Background and Objective: Pakistan, a South Asian developing country, is experiencing a rapid increase in number of diabetes cases. High prevalence ratio of diabetes in Pakistani population and lack of genetic research studies prompted us to design this study. This present study investigated Pakistani Pashtun population for (known and novel SNPs) and its possible correlation with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: This two stage (discovery & validation stage), case-control association study included one thousand individuals (Patients with T2DM=500 & controls=500) from eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. The study duration/period was from March 2018 to January 2020. In the first stage (the discovery stage) the target population was screened for known and novel T2DM-associated genetic markers. In the validation stage, identified variants were confirmed for T2DM association using MassARRAY genotyping and association analysis.
Results: Exome sequencing detected eleven known and four novel/new genetic markers in the study population. Novel variants were preferred over the known for follow-up analysis/validation. Among the identified variants strong associations were confirmed for the following variants; rs1781133/ANKRD65 (OR=2.10, 95%Cl=1.06–3.08, P=0.003) rs2274791/TTLL10 (OR=1.97, 95%Cl=1.36-2.62, P=0.025), rs71628928/RNF223 (OR=1.82, 95%Cl=0.97-1.92, P=0.041), and rs609805/SCNN1D (OR=2.21, 95%Cl=1.92-3.09, P=0.001) with T2DM; other reported variants showed no noticeable association (having P>0.05) with T2DM.
Conclusion: This study reports new genetic risk variants for T2DM in Pashtun population providing valuable insights into the genetic basis of T2DM in this group.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.10292
How to cite this: Jan A, Mothana RA, Kaimori JY, Muhammad T, Khan M, Ali SS, et al. Identification of genetic risk variants for Type-2 Diabetes mellitus in Pakistani Pashtun population: A case-control association study. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2336-2343.  doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.10292
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Efficacy of titanium locking plate combined with suture anchor repair on ankle joint functional recovery and quality of life in patients with ankle fractures
Authors: Huang Zhenfeng , Chen Mengni , Ye Zhiwei
Published: October 2024

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of titanium locking plate combined with suture anchor (SA) repair in the treatment of ankle fractures (AF).
Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical data of 170 patients with AF who underwent surgical treatment at the Department of Traumatology and Orthopedics of Wuhan Fourth Hospital, China from May 2020 to June 2023 was conducted. A total of 83 patients underwent conventional open reduction and internal fixation (control group); 87 patients received titanium locking plates combined with SA repair (observation group). Ankle joint functional recovery (measured using the Mazur Ankle Grading Scale), quality of life (measured using the Generic Quality of Life Inventory-74), and incidence of complications were compared between two groups. Active range of motion and muscle strength of the ankle joint in plantar flexion and dorsiflexion states, and medial clear space and talar tilt angle were also analyzed.
Results: The rate of excellent recovery of ankle joint function in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Six months after surgery, active range of motion and muscle strength of the ankle joints in the plantar flexion and dorsiflexion states in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The medial clear space and talar tilt angle of the observation group was significantly smaller compared to the control group (P<0.05). The quality of life in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the incidence of complications in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Titanium locking plates combined with SA repair for the treatment of AF can significantly improve ankle joint functional recovery, improve the quality of life of patients, and is associated with a lower incidence of complications.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.10308
How to cite this: Huang Z, Chen M, Ye Z. Efficacy of titanium locking plate combined with suture anchor repair on ankle joint functional recovery and quality of life in patients with ankle fractures. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2350-2355. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.10308
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Correlation of hyperglycemia and balthazar classification in patients with acute pancreatitis
Authors: KİLİC Guner , Kilic Gulce Ecem , Ozkahraman Adnan , Kayar Yusuf
Published: October 2024

Objective: High levels of glucose during acute pancreatitis (AP) progression influence disease progression by promoting the release of inflammatory cytokines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of both the blood glucose level in patients without diabetes mellitus (DM) and the presence of DM on the severity and course of AP in patients presenting with clinical AP.
Methods: The study included 343 patients who were hospitalized at Van Training and Research Hospital, Turkey and followed up with the diagnosis of AP between 2014 and 2018. The patients were separated into two groups as diabetic and non-diabetic. The relationship between DM and the severity and course of AP was examined in the two groups.
Results: The DM group included 52 (15.1%) patients, and the non- DM group included 291 (84.9%) patients. In the non-DM group, the serum glucose level was <125 mg/dl in 160 (54.9 %) patients, and >125 mg/dl in 131 (45.1 %) patients. In the comparison of AP severity in the diabetic and non-diabetic groups, the rate of severe AP was determined to be significantly higher in the diabetic group according to the Modified Balthazar classification, evaluated from tomographies taken on admission and on the 3rd day (p:0.026, p:0.001, respectively).
Conclusion: Elevated blood glucose is relatively common in patients with AP and has a negative impact on the disease process. A high glucose level can increase the severity of AP and slow healing.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.6687
How to cite this: Kilic G, Kilic GE, Ozkahraman A, Kayar Y. Correlation of hyperglycemia and balthazar classification in patients with acute pancreatitis. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2271-2276. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.6687
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Efficacy of Vitamin-D supplementation in improving the prognosis of H-type hypertension in elderly patients
Authors: Zang Sha-Sha , Zhao Qing , Xiao Nuan , Liu Sha
Published: October 2024

Objective: To investigate the correlation between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and H-type hypertension in elderly patients, and to observe the clinical efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in those patients.
Methods: This was a retrospective study. One hundred and twenty elderly hypertensive patients treated at The Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University from June 2022 to June 2023 were randomly divided into Group-A (n=60) with hypertension and elevated homocysteine (Hcy) levels (H-type hypertension), and Group-B(n=60) with hypertension and normal Hcy levels. Blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 24 hours ambulatory blood pressure were assessed in both groups of patients upon admission, with the correlation analysis performed simultaneously. The therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.
Results: Through Pearson correlation analysis, there were negative correlations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels with 24 hours SSD, 24 hours DSD, dnSBP, and nDBP(all p<0.05). After 12 weeks of treatment, the treatment group had higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and lower 24 hours SBP, 24h DBP, dSBP, dDBP, nSBP, nDBP levels than those of the control group(p<0.05). After treatment, the treatment group had lower blood Hcy, IMT, TC, TG, and LDL-C levels(p<0.05), and higher HDL-C levels(p<0.05) than those of the control group.
Conclusion: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in elderly patients with H-type hypertension have negative correlations with 24 hours SSD, 24 hours DSD, dnSBP, and nDBP. Oral vitamin D supplementation for H-type hypertensive patients exhibits significant therapeutic effects, with improvements in 24 hours ambulatory blood pressure monitoring results, blood lipid levels, IMT, and blood Hcy levels after treatment.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.8464
How to cite this: Zang S, Zhao Q, Xiao N, Liu S. Efficacy of Vitamin-D supplementation in improving the prognosis of H-type hypertension in elderly patients. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2379-2383. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.8464
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Construction of a disulfidptosis-associated lncRNAs risk model to predict prognosis and immuno-infiltration analysis of lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Liu Jiaming , Hao Nie , Du Wenji , Song Wei
Published: October 2024

Objective: To develop a risk model based on LncRNAs associated with disulfidptosis to forecast the prognosis and assess immune infiltration of Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).
Methods: This study employed a bioinformatics approach. The study was conducted from March 29, 2023 and concluded on July 1, 2023 at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China. Transcriptomic data specific to LUAD were collected from TCGA database. Disulfidptosis-related LncRNAs were preliminarily screened using co-expression analysis, followed by screening using Lasso regression and Cox regression to identify LncRNAs. Subsequently, prognostic prediction models were constructed. To assess the model, survival analysis, subject operating characteristic curves, and calibration curves were employed. To evaluate the tumor microenvironment, the “estimate” package was used, while the “ggpubr” package was utilized to visualize the variations. Additionally, we employed CIBERSORT to examine immune cell infiltration abundance.
Results: A prognostic prediction model was constructed using five LncRNAs. The high-risk group displayed a shorter overall survival and progression-free survival (P<0.05). The concordance index was calculated as 0.704 (95% CI: 0.654-0.754). GSEA analysis reveals that high risk group is associated with the cell cycle pathway and steroid hormone biosynthesis pathway, while the low-risk group is associated with hematopoietic cell pathway and allograft rejection pathway. Immune cell infiltration analysis indicated associations between the prognostic model and activated T cells CD4 memory, T cells CD8, etc.
Conclusions: The risk model of Disulfidptosis-related LncRNAs can predict the prognosis of LUAD and evaluate the immune infiltration, providing a new direction for the treatment of LUAD.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.9025
How to cite this: Liu J, Nie H, Du W, Song W. Construction of a disulfidptosis-associated lncRNAs risk model to predict prognosis and immuno-infiltration analysis of lung adenocarcinoma. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2368-2372. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.9025
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Efficacy of probiotics combined with enteral nutrition therapy on intestinal flora, digestive tract symptoms and endogenous environment in patients with gastric cancer undergoing chemotherapy
Authors: Yang Lan , Liang Yuzhu , Li Riheng , Chen Yuan , Zhang Xia
Published: October 2024

Objective: To investigate the effects of probiotics combined with enteral nutrition therapy on intestinal flora, digestive tract symptoms and endogenous environment in patients with gastric cancer undergoing chemotherapy.
Methods: In this retrospective study, eighty patients with gastric cancer undergoing chemotherapy admitted to Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University from January 2021 to September 2023 were included and divided into two groups by random number table method: the enteral nutrition group and the probiotics combined enteral nutrition group (n=40 each group). The differences in the number of intestinal flora, nutritional indicators, immune function, endotoxin, D-lactic acid levels between the two groups, and the digestive tract symptoms of the two groups before and after treatment were compared and recorded.
Results: The levels of serum total protein (TP), prealbumin (PAB), albumin (ALB) and transferrin (TF) in both groups were higher than those before treatment, and those in the probiotics combined with enteral nutrition group were higher than those in the enteral nutrition group (p< 0.05). The levels of immunoglobulin A (lgA), immunoglobulin M (lgM) and immunoglobulin G (lgG) in the two groups were lower than before treatment, and those in the probiotics combined with the enteral nutrition group were lower than those in the enteral nutrition group (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: Probiotics combined with enteral nutrition results in various benefits in the treatment of patients with gastric cancer undergoing chemotherapy, improving immunity, and reducing gastrointestinal symptoms.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.9032
How to cite this: Yang L, Liang Y, Li R, Chen Y, Zhang X. Efficacy of probiotics combined with enteral nutrition therapy on intestinal flora, digestive tract symptoms and endogenous environment in patients with gastric cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2344-2349.  doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.9032
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Effect of patient age and breast parenchymal density on Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BIRADS-4) Subcategorization
Authors: Ghunaim Hadeel A
Published: October 2024

Background & Objectives: BI-RADS (Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System) is a standard radiological risk assessment for breast lesions, including six categories, of which category four is the widest range of likelihood cancer risk (2% to 95%). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of patient age and ACR breast density on the positive predictive value (PPV) of BI-RADS 4 subcategorization (4A, 4B, and 4C).
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at King Fahed Hospital (KFH) between September 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. PPV was calculated based on a histopathological report for all lesions. The correlation was made with patients’ age groups ranging from < 45 years, 45-55 years, and > 55 years and four types of breast density on mammography. We used IBM-SPSS for data synthesis. The Chi-square test was used to assess any correlation between variables. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The mean age was 44.62 ±14.32. Of the 248 cases, 81% were benign, 17% were malignant, and 2% were high-risk lesions. The age-related PPV of each BI-RADS category showed no significant differences among all age groups. However, the breast composition-related PPV cases with BI-RADS categories differed significantly within subcategory 4C (p-value<0.001).
Conclusions: There were no positive relationships between increasing age and PPV in BI-RADS 4 subcategories 4A, B, and C. Breast composition-related PPV showed significant differences with BI-RADS 4C subcategories.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.9552
How to cite this: Ghunaim HA. Effect of patient age and breast parenchymal density on Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BIRADS-4) Subcategorization. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2356-2362. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.9552
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Part Feeding and Internal Transportation Decision Making for a Machinery Manufacturer
Authors: Adenipekun Ebenezer Olatunde , Limère Veronique , Schmid Nico André
Published: October 2024

This research validates a mixed integer linear programming model that minimizes total feeding and acquisition costs by integrating assembly line feeding and vehicle type decisions in a machinery manufacturing company. The results show that the optimal assignment reduces costs by 56% compared with the company's current assignment.
Signaling Quality: How Refund Bonuses Can Overcome Information Asymmetries in Crowdfunding
Authors: Cason Timothy N. , Tabarrok Alex , Zubrickas Robertas
Published: October 2024

Crowdfunding can suffer from information asymmetry, leaving some investors disappointed with low-quality projects, whereas other high-quality projects remain unfunded. We show that refund bonuses, which provide investors a payment if a fundraising campaign is unsuccessful, can signal project quality and help overcome the market failure in crowdfunding. Because strong projects have a lower risk of bonus payout, entrepreneurs with strong projects are more likely to offer bonuses. This signals high quality to investors, and due to their updated beliefs, this drives investment toward such projects. An experiment provides supporting empirical evidence for the benefits of this signaling solution to the problems of information asymmetry in crowdfunding.

This paper was accepted by Joshua Gans, business strategy.

Funding: This work was supported by Schmidt Sciences.

Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.03923 .
Working with carer grief in community palliative care nursing
Authors: Iskov Leonie , Andersson-Noorgard Kurt , Fairbrother Greg
Published: October 2024

Background:

Community nurses (CN), both generalist and palliative care-specific, are key to supporting the carer with their experience of grief.

Aim:

To identify the grief-related needs of carers and the capacity of CNs to provide for those needs.

Methods:

A convergent parallel mixed-methods study which employed i) a needs questionnaire among carers of palliative care patients who had recently died; ii) a qualitative interview study among carers and iii) a questionnaire among CNs which canvassed their confidence and skills in working with carer grief.

Findings:

In the carer survey, just one-third of carers reported engagement with CNs regarding prolonged and anticipatory grief. In the CN survey, low confidence and skill regarding supporting carers with their grief was reported. CNs with palliative care training were more confident and knowledgeable than generalist CNs.

Conclusions:

Despite offering high ratings for CN compassion and overall quality of support during the dying process, grief support was reported by carers to be missing from their experience of CN care. The role of CNs in providing for the grief-related needs of carers is yet to be established.
Supplemental information for "Water Quality Sampling Provides Insight Into Nutrient Sources and Pathways in an Agricultural Watershed in the Midwestern USA"
Authors: Rudko Noah R , McMillan Sara , Frankenberger Jane , Winter Danielle , Limiac Amanda
Published: October 2024

Supplemental information detailing individual metrics for storm events, a time series of nutrient concentrations, and figures of conservation practices over time for two subwatersheds, and correlation coefficients of storm event metrics with hydroclimatic variables.
High-performance and scalable polarization splitter-rotator based on photonic crystal nanobeam reflection
Authors: Zhou Enze , Wang DongYu , Sun Yaohui , Wang Qichao , Zhu Wanghua , Hu Guohua , Yun Binfeng , Shuai Liguo , Cui Yiping
Published: October 2024

The polarization splitter-rotator (PSR) is a key device for polarization processing in polarization diversity systems, which has wide applications in achieving polarization independence and mixed multiplexing. However, it remains a significant challenge to simultaneously achieve a better balance in bandwidth, crosstalk (CT), polarization extinction ratio (PER), and compact footprint of the PSR. In this article, a photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) structure is introduced to PSR for large bandwidth and compact size, with a device length of only 104 µm. Additionally, to achieve lower CT, a bridge waveguide is introduced for primary filtering. Simulation results show that the insertion loss (IL) is less than 0.55 dB, CT less than -35 dB, and PER greater than 35 dB within a bandwidth exceeding 110 nm, while maintaining a large process tolerance. Furthermore, the proposed PSR design breaks through the limitations of traditional schemes by extending its functionality effectively. To further improve integration, a novel approach to PSR using mode hybridization followed by spatial beam splitting is proposed. By controlling the phase-matching condition of various modes in different waveguides, the designed spatial beam splitting achieves lower CT and better compactness. Simulation results verify that the IL of the improved scheme is less than 1 dB, CT less than -24 dB, and PER greater than 22 dB within an 85 nm bandwidth, while reducing the overall length to less than 20 µm.
Multifunctional integrated droplet lens based on microfluidics
Authors: Wang Ziyuan , Yin Wenqi , Zhang Ziyi , Li Lei
Published: October 2024

A multifunctional integrated droplet lens based on microfluidics is proposed. The lens consists of a microfluidic chip, four droplets with different properties, and transparent silicone oil. Visible-light, infrared, narrow wavelength band, and light-switching droplets can be used for imaging in the VIS-NIR (visible to near-infrared), narrow wavelength band, and blocking light, respectively. The optical focal power of the proposed lens is -134.6 D ∼ -91.62 D with visible-light droplet and -21.1 D ∼ -12.9 D with infrared droplet. When the droplet lens is used as an optical switch, the maximum optical attenuation is 251:1. It is measured that the transmitted power can be adjusted from 0.015 mW to 0.096 mW when the initial incident power is 0.776 mW. The proposed lens integrates the functions of zoom and optical attenuation. It offers important advantages in providing lightweight, high integration and shows a wide range of potential applications in microscopy systems, microfluidic systems, and variable optical attenuators.
Unlocking the mentally ill in Indonesia: An empirical study of the effectiveness of a “Bebas Pasung” program in Central Java
Authors: Tyas Tri Hayuning , Good Mary-Jo D. , Pratikno Bambang , Subandi M. A. , Marchira Carla R. , Good Byron J.
Published: October 2024

Background

Locking or confinement of persons with severe mental illness has been common in Indonesia. In 2010, the Ministry of Health declared a policy that persons who were locked (pasung) should be unlocked or freed (bebas) from confinement and provided mental health services. This study is an empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of one Bebas Pasung program in Indonesia at two-year follow-up.

Methods

From medical records in Soerojo Mental Hospital, Magelang, Central Java, 114 persons with severe mental illness who had been unlocked, treated, and returned to the community from four districts served by the hospital were identified. At two-year follow-up, 62 caregivers were able to be contacted and willing to participate in a study. Data were collected from hospital records about condition of the patient at time of “unlocking” and at discharge, and primary caregivers were interviewed about the previous locking and care of the patient since return, as well as experiences of caregiving.

Results

We provide descriptive data concerning history of illness, reasons for locking, type of confinement, and care of the individual since return. 58% of those unlocked were men, 80% had diagnoses of schizophrenia, and mean age was 35. At follow-up, 24% of this sample had been re-locked; only 44% took medications regularly, including 33% of those re-locked and 47% of those not relocked. A majority cared for themselves, half were partially or fully productive, and the quality of life of family caregivers improved significantly since their family member was unlocked, treated, and returned home.

Conclusions

This program successfully unlocked, treated, and returned to their homes persons with severe mental illness living in pasung or restraints. Findings suggest such unlocking programs need to be linked more closely to community-based mental health and rehabilitation services, maintain care of the patient, and provide a path toward recovery.
Text classification algorithm of tourist attractions subcategories with modified TF-IDF and Word2Vec
Authors: Xiao Lu , Li Qiaoxing , Ma Qian , Shen Jiasheng , Yang Yong , Li Danyang
Published: October 2024

Text classification, as an important research area of text mining, can quickly and effectively extract valuable information to address the challenges of organizing and managing large-scale text data in the era of big data. Currently, the related research on text classification tends to focus on the application in fields such as information filtering, information retrieval, public opinion monitoring, and library and information, with few studies applying text classification methods to the field of tourist attractions. In light of this, a corpus of tourist attraction description texts is constructed using web crawler technology in this paper. We propose a novel text representation method that combines Word2Vec word embeddings with TF-IDF-CRF-POS weighting, optimizing traditional TF-IDF by incorporating total relative term frequency, category discriminability, and part-of-speech information. Subsequently, the proposed algorithm respectively combines seven commonly used classifiers (DT, SVM, LR, NB, MLP, RF, and KNN), known for their good performance, to achieve multi-class text classification for six subcategories of national A-level tourist attractions. The effectiveness and superiority of this algorithm are validated by comparing the overall performance, specific category performance, and model stability against several commonly used text representation methods. The results demonstrate that the newly proposed algorithm achieves higher accuracy and F1-measure on this type of professional dataset, and even outperforms the high-performance BERT classification model currently favored by the industry. Acc, marco-F1, and mirco-F1 values are respectively 2.29%, 5.55%, and 2.90% higher. Moreover, the algorithm can identify rare categories in the imbalanced dataset and exhibit better stability across datasets of different sizes. Overall, the algorithm presented in this paper exhibits superior classification performance and robustness. In addition, the conclusions obtained by the predicted value and the true value are consistent, indicating that this algorithm is practical. The professional domain text dataset used in this paper poses higher challenges due to its complexity (uneven text length, relatively imbalanced categories), and a high degree of similarity between categories. However, this proposed algorithm can efficiently implement the classification of multiple subcategories of this type of text set, which is a beneficial exploration of the application research of complex Chinese text datasets in specific fields, and provides a useful reference for the vector expression and classification of text datasets with similar content.