bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase may be a potential prognostic biomarker and immunotherapy target in cancer: A meta-analysis and bioinformatics analysis
Authors: Hu Yanyan , Liu Zhongjian , Tang Hui
Published: October 2022

Background

Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO2) is one of the emerging immune checkpoints. Meanwhile, TDO2 is also a key enzyme in the tryptophan (Trp)–kynurenine (Kyn) signaling pathway. Many studies have evaluated that TDO2 is highly expressed in various malignant tumor patients and plays a prognostic role. However, the sample size of a single prognostic study was small, and the results were still controversial.

Methods

We used Stata software and referenced the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement to conduct a meta-analysis on TDO2 and its clinical features and prognosis. We searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to find publications concerning TDO2 expression in malignant tumor patients up to June 2021. We used the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) to evaluate the bias risk of the included literature. Risk ratios (RRs) and hazard ratios (HRs) were used for clinical outcomes, specifically overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). In addition, we used data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to verify our conclusions.

Results

Nine studies including 667 patients with malignant tumors were identified. Our results suggested that overexpression of TDO2 was statistically correlated with poor OS and poor PFS (HR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.52–4.40, p = 0.0005; HR = 2.38, 95% CI = 0.99–5.73, p = 0.05). In terms of clinicopathological characteristics, the overexpression level of TDO2 was statistically correlated with TNM (tumor–node–metastasis) stage (RR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.48–0.89, p = 0.002) and regional lymph node metastasis (RR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.59–0.99, p = 0.04). Subgroup analysis revealed the potential sources of heterogeneity. In addition, bioinformatics studies suggested that the level of TDO2 was high in malignant tumors and higher in cancer tissue than in matched paracarcinoma tissue. Gene enrichment analysis showed that TDO2 was closely related to immune response.

Conclusion

Overall, TDO2 may be a biomarker for the survival and prognosis of patients with malignant tumors and a potential therapeutic target in the future.

Systematic Review Registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=260442, identifier (CRD42021260442)
The bioactivities of sclareol: A mini review
Authors: Zhou Jianbo , Xie Xiaofang , Tang Hailin , Peng Cheng , Peng Fu
Published: October 2022

Sclareol, a diterpene alcohol isolated from the herbal and flavor plant clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.), is far-famed as the predominant ingredient in the refined oil of Salvia sclarea (L.). The empirical medicine of Salvia sclarea L. focused on various diseases, such as arthritis, oral inflammation, digestive system diseases, whereas the sclareol possessed more extensive and characteristic bioactivities, including anti-tumor, anti-inflammation and anti-pathogenic microbes, even anti-diabetes and hypertension. However, there is a deficiency of literature to integrate and illuminate the pharmacological attributes of sclareol based on well-documented investigations. Interestingly, sclareol has been recently considered as the potential candidate against COVID-19 and Parkinson’s disease. Accordingly, the bioactive attributes of sclareol in cancer, inflammation, even pharmacochemistry and delivery systems are reviewed for comprehensively dissecting its potential application in medicine.
Theoretical exploration on structures, bonding aspects and molecular docking of α-aminophosphonate ligated copper complexes against SARS-CoV-2 proteases
Authors: Yadav Oval , Kumar Manjeet , Mittal Himanshi , Yadav Kiran , Seidel Veronique , Ansari Azaj
Published: October 2022

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in the biological activity of metal complexes of α-aminophosphonates. Here for the first time, a detailed DFT study on five α-aminophosphonate ligated mononuclear/dinuclear CuII complexes is reported using the dispersion corrected density functional (B3LYP-D2) method. The electronic structures spin densities, FMO analysis, energetic description of spin states, and theoretical reactivity behaviour using molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) maps of all five species are reported. All possible spin states of the dinuclear species were computed and their ground state S values were determined along with the computation of their magnetic coupling constants. NBO analysis was also performed to provide details on stabilization energies. A molecular docking study was performed for the five complexes against two SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus protein targets (PDB ID: 6LU7 and 7T9K). The docking results indicated that the mononuclear species had a higher binding affinity for the targets compared to the dinuclear species. Among the species investigated, species I showed the highest binding affinity with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron protease. NPA charge analysis showed that the heteroatoms of model species III had a more nucleophilic nature. A comparative study was performed to observe any variations and/or correlations in properties among all species.
The role of immune checkpoints in cardiovascular disease
Authors: Yousif Laura I. , Tanja Anniek A. , de Boer Rudolf A. , Teske Arco J. , Meijers Wouter C.
Published: October 2022

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are monoclonal antibodies which bind to immune checkpoints (IC) and their ligands to prevent inhibition of T-cell activation by tumor cells. Currently, multiple ICI are approved targeting Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), Programmed Death Protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1, and Lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3). This therapy has provided potent anti-tumor effects and improved prognosis for many cancer patients. However, due to systemic effects, patients can develop immune related adverse events (irAE), including possible life threatening cardiovascular irAE, like atherosclerosis, myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. Inhibition of vascular IC is associated with increased atherosclerotic burden and plaque instability. IC protect against atherosclerosis by inhibiting T-cell activity and cytokine production, promoting regulatory T-cell differentiation and inducing T-cell exhaustion. In addition, PD-L1 on endothelial cells might promote plaque stability by reducing apoptosis and increasing expression of tight junction molecules. In the heart, IC downregulate the immune response to protect against cardiac injury by reducing T-cell activity and migration. Here, inhibition of IC could induce life-threatening T-cell-mediated-myocarditis. One proposed purpose behind lymphocyte infiltration is reaction to cardiac antigens, caused by decreased self-tolerance, and thereby increased autoimmunity because of IC inhibition. In addition, there are several reports of ICI-mediated cardiomyopathy with immunoglobulin G expression on cardiomyocytes, indicating an autoimmune response. IC are mostly known due to their cardiotoxicity. However, t his review compiles current knowledge on mechanisms behind IC function in cardiovascular disease with the aim of providing an overview of possible therapeutic targets in prevention or treatment of cardiovascular irAEs.
Chitinase (CHI) of Spodoptera frugiperda affects molting development by regulating the metabolism of chitin and trehalose
Authors: Liu Xiang-Yu , Wang Sha-Sha , Zhong Fan , Zhou Min , Jiang Xin-Yi , Cheng Yi-Sha , Dan Yi-Hao , Hu Gao , Li Can , Tang Bin , Wu Yan
Published: October 2022

Chitin is the main component of insect exoskeleton and midgut peritrophic membrane. Insect molting is the result of the balance and coordination of chitin synthesis and degradation in chitin metabolism under the action of hormones. In this study, a 678 bp dsRNA fragment was designed and synthesized according to the known CHI (Chitinase) sequence of Spodoptera frugiperda. It was injected into the larvae to observe the molting and development of S. frugiperda. At the same time, the activities of trehalase and chitinase, the contents of trehalose, chitin and other substances were detected, and the expression of related genes in the chitin synthesis pathway was determined. The results showed that CHI gene was highly expressed at the end of each instar, prepupa and pupal stage before molting; At 12 and 24 h after dsRNA injection of CHI gene of S. frugiperda, the expression of CHI gene decreased significantly, and the chitinase activity decreased significantly from 12 to 48 h. The expression of chitin synthase (CHSB) gene decreased significantly, and the chitin content increased significantly. Some larvae could not molt normally and complete development, leading to certain mortality. Secondly, after RNAi of CHI gene, the content of glucose and glycogen increased first and then decreased, while the content of trehalose decreased significantly or showed a downward trend. The activities of the two types of trehalase and the expression levels of trehalase genes decreased first and then increased, especially the trehalase activities increased significantly at 48 h after dsCHI injection. And trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS), glutamine: fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GFAT), UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylases (UAP), hexokinase (HK), glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (G6PI) and phosphoacetylglucosamine mutase (PAGM) all decreased significantly at 24 h, and then increased or significantly increased at 48 h. These results indicated that when the expression of chitinase gene of S. frugiperda was inhibited, it affected the degradation of chitin in the old epidermis and the formation of new epidermis, and the content of chitin increased, which led to the failure of larvae to molt normally. Moreover, the chitin synthesis pathway and trehalose metabolism were also regulated. The relevant results provide a theoretical basis for screening target genes and developing green insecticides to control pests by using the chitin metabolism pathway.
A recommended exercise program appropriate for patients with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Guo Xuanhui , Zhao Peng , Zhou Xiao , Wang Jialin , Wang Ruirui
Published: October 2022

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common degenerative disease. Recommended first-line management includes exercise. However, there is still no standard recommendation for the appropriate exercise program for patients with KOA.

Purpose: This study aims to compare the effects of a land-based exercise program with high vs. uncertain compliance with recommendations among people with KOA in pain, function, and stiffness.

Methods: From January 2000 to January 2022, PubMed, EBSCO, Sport-discuss, Medline, and Web of Science were searched. A comprehensive review of meta-analyses of land-based exercise programs with exercise prescriptions was done in symptomatic individuals with KOA. The Cochrane Collaboration’s standards were followed for study selection, eligibility criteria, data extraction, and statistics, and the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Review Manager 5 software was used to extract the baseline mean and follow-up values, as well as the accompanying standard deviation, to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD). In meta-analyses, SMD was calculated for pain outcomes, self-reported physical function, and stiffness. The effects of the outcomes on the subgroups of studies were compared. A fixed- or random-effects model was used in group research studies with comparable outcomes.

Results: There were 15 studies with a total of 1,436 participants. Compliance with the ACSM recommendations was categorized as “high” in five cases and “uncertain” in nine others. The SMD for pain was −0.31 (95% CI −0.47, −0.14) in the subgroup with a high ACSM compliance ratio and −0.55 (95% CI −0.69, −0.41) in the subgroup with uncertain ACSM compliance. For physical function, in the high-compliance group, the SMD was −0.21 (95% CI −0.38, −0.05), while in the uncertain-compliance group, it was −0.61 (95 % CI −0.82, −0.40). The SMD was −0.40 (95 % CI −0.61, −0.19) for stiffness and high compliance with ACSM. The SMD was −0.29 (95% CI −0.66, 0.07) for study interventions with uncertain compliance.

Conclusion: The results showed that the land-based training program significantly improved pain, physical function, and stiffness in KOA patients compared to controls. Exercise interventions with high adherence to ACSM recommendations differed significantly only in stiffness measures compared with the uncertain-compliance group.

Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#recordDetails, identifier PROSPERO (ID CRD42022311660)
Association of uric acid levels with cardiac syndrome X: A meta-analysis
Authors: Zu Wu , Li Chen-Chen , Wang Xin-Yu , Li Qiu-Shi , Liu Bing
Published: October 2022

Objective: The pathogenesis of elevated uric acid (UA) levels in patients with cardiac syndrome X (CSX) is unclear, and the results presented in recent papers on UA levels in patients with CSX are controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta- analysis to assess the relationship between UA levels and CSX.

Methods: Three databases, including the Web of Science, EMBASE and PubMed, were systematically searched until January 2022. Fixed-effect and random-effects models were used to analyze the relationship between UA levels and CSX. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were also performed.

Results: Six studies involving 406 CSX patients and 267 non-CSX were included. Our results showed a significant relationship between UA levels and CSX, with a pooled SMD of 0.68 (95% CI 0.37 to 1.00; p < 0.0001). We also found a close relationship between UA levels and CSX for patients ≥ 55 years old (SMD:0.70, 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.99, p < 0.00001), for patients < 55 years old (SMD: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.25 to 1.12, p =0 .002), for women ≥ 60% (SMD: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.33 to 1.14, p =0 .0004), for women < 60% (SMD: 0.61, 95% CI:0.23 to 0.98, p =0 .001), for BMI ≥ 28 Kg/m2 (SMD :0.61, 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.98, p =0 .001), for BMI < 28 Kg/m2 (SMD:0.75, 95% CI: 0.31 to 1.19, p =0 .0009), for publication years ≥ 2012 (SMD :0.69, 95% CI: 0.23 to 1.15, p = 0.003), for publication years < 2012 (SMD:0.73, 95% CI:0.41 to 1.05, p < 0.00001), and for Turkey (SMD:0.75, 95% CI:0.38 to 1.11, p <.0001). Sensitivity analysis showed that the pooled results remained consistent after removing any one study or converting the random-effects model to fixed-effects model.

Conclusion: Our results indicated a strong association between high UA levels and CSX. However, more well-designed studies are needed to investigate whether early treatment of hyperuricemia can reduce the incidence of CSX.
Two new methods for severity assessment of wheat stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici
Authors: Jiang Qian , Wang Hongli , Wang Haiguang
Published: October 2022

Accurate severity assessment of wheat stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici is of great significance for phenotypic determination, prediction, and control of the disease. To achieve accurate severity assessment of the disease based on the actual percentages of lesion areas in the areas of the corresponding whole diseased leaves, two new methods were proposed for severity assessment of the disease. In the Adobe Photoshop 2022 software, the acquired images of single diseased leaves of each severity class of the disease were manually segmented, and the numbers of the leaf region pixels and lesion pixels of each diseased leaf were obtained by pixel statistics. After calculation of the actual percentages of lesion areas in the areas of the corresponding whole diseased leaves based on the obtained pixel numbers, the training sets and testing sets were constructed for each severity class by using the system sampling method with two sampling ratios of 4:1 and 3:2. Then the mean and standard deviation of the actual percentages of lesion areas contained in each training set were calculated, respectively. For each sampling ratio, two methods, one based on the midpoint value of the means of the actual percentages of lesion areas corresponding to two adjacent severity classes and the other based on the distribution range of most of the actual percentages of lesion areas, were used to determine the midpoint-of-two-adjacent-means-based actual percentage reference range and the 90%, 95%, and 99% reference ranges of the actual percentages of lesion areas for each severity class. According to the determined reference ranges, the severity of each diseased leaf in the training sets and testing sets was assessed. The results showed that high assessment accuracies (not lower than 85%) for the training sets and testing sets were achieved, demonstrating that the proposed methods could be used to conduct severity assessment of wheat stripe rust based on the actual percentages of lesion areas. This study provides a reference for accurate severity assessments of plant diseases.
Designing for downsizing: Home-based barriers and facilitators to reduce portion sizes for children
Authors: Tang Tang , Wang Wenmeng , Vazirian Marjan , Croden Fiona , Hetherington Marion M.
Published: October 2022

Evidence confirms that parents know that they should limit non-core foods for their children since these tend to be high in energy density (HED), fat, salt and sugar. However, it is unclear how knowledge of portion size limits, such as the 100 kcal guide from Public Health England are applied in practice. To observe in real-time children’s home food environment related to portion control and to explore with parents their reported portion size strategies, a mixed methods study was designed. Families with children aged 1–5 years were recruited (n = 21) to a three-part study: (1) to complete questionnaires and interviews on household food intake and portion control; (2) to report daily food intake for 4 days (n = 13) for one parent and their child(ren); (3) to observe home-based food provisioning via videorecording during dinner, breakfast and snack time (n = 6). Although the problem of large portion sizes of HED foods was recognised by mothers, strategies to downsize portions were not necessarily applied at home, as revealed in home observations and diaries. A mismatch between what was observed at home, what was reported in food diaries and what was said in interviews became apparent for some families. Mothers reported the need for greater support and guidance to downsize HED foods since they relied on pre-packaging as a guide to intake. Education and engagement were identified as important parameters for downsizing by mothers. One strategy which could be explored and applied by manufacturers is packaging design to faciliate the 100 kcal guidance using physical and engaging ways to assist parents in downsizing HED foods for their children. To facilitate effective government communication, innovative packaging design can be used to convey clear guidance and to tailor portion size messages for children. Packaging design, alongside government recommendations, can support parents’ goals to achieve healthy eating and can reinforce guidance for portion norms through innovation involving learning, playful engagement, and interaction.
The role of product cues and regulatory focus in the consumers’ response to green products: The mediation effects of green attitudes
Authors: Wang Xiaomei , Gu Yangli , Xin Haohang , Qiu Peiling , Wang Jia
Published: October 2022

By applying the cue-diagnosticity theory, this study explores the influence mechanism of consumption response to low-involvement products and high-involvement products, respectively. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to investigate how product clues (brand strength and retailer reputation) affect consumption responses to green products with different involvement and to examine regulatory focus as a moderator and green attitude as a mediator. The results of study 1 reveal that for low-involvement green products, the effect of the retailer reputation rather than brand strength on consumption response is mediated by a green attitude, and the regulatory focus plays a moderating role in this process. The results of study 2 show that for high-involvement green products, the effect of the brand strength rather than retailer reputation on consumption response is mediated by a green attitude; however, the regulatory focus does not play a moderating role in this process. Finally, the data aggregation verifies that people’s consumption response to green products strongly depends on the retailer reputation, brand strength, and green attitude, and there is a moderated mediation effect of regulatory focus on the indirect effect of retailer reputation (rather than brand strength) on consumption response via green attitude. As behavioral antecedents differ across the analyzed product types in forming consumer response, it is very important for policymakers and marketers to take note of the differences when designing marketing activities for green products.
Quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia: Contributions of disease symptoms, lifestyle and multi-medication
Authors: Fernandez-Feijoo Fátima , Samartin-Veiga Noelia , Carrillo-de-la-Peña María Teresa
Published: October 2022

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disease characterized by the presence of chronic and widespread musculoskeletal pain, which causes a high negative impact on the quality of life (QoL). Although there are many studies about the QoL of patients with FM, it is unknown which variables have a main influence on it. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to determine which FM symptoms predict a worse QoL and also to establish whether lifestyle and multi-medication are associated to QoL. We assessed a sample of 134 women with FM using a semi-structured clinical interview to explore lifestyle (diet, exercise, smoking) and medication use, and questionnaires to cover the main symptoms of this disease and QoL (SF-36). We found that the patients with FM had a poor QoL, being “physical pain” and “vitality” the most affected domains. A linear regression analysis showed that depression and anxiety assessed by HADS were the FM symptoms which most significantly predicted QoL, explaining 49% of the variance. Concerning lifestyle/medication influences, we found that multiple drug treatment and smoking also predicted a worse QoL (14%). Moreover, patients who practiced exercise regularly showed better QoL than patients who did not (regardless of the severity of FM). Thus, our results suggest that treatment strategies to improve QoL in FM should be focused on improving psychological distress, promoting regular exercise and reducing smoking and multi-medication. The data highlights the role of positive self-management practices to improve QoL in FM.
Factors associated with a high level of unmet needs and their prevalence in the breast cancer survivors 1–5 years after post local treatment and (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy during the COVID-19: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Miroševič Špela , Prins Judith , Borštnar Simona , Besić Nikola , Homar Vesna , Selič-Zupančič Polona , Smrdel Andreja Cirila Škufca , Klemenc-Ketiš Zalika
Published: October 2022

Objective

To assess the prevalence of unmet needs in post-treatment breast cancer survivors and identify sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables associated with reported unmet needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods

In this cross-sectional study, 430 post-treatment breast cancer survivors, ranging between 1 and 5 years after the procedure, completed the Cancer Survivors’ Unmet Needs (CaSUN) questionnaire from September 2021 and January 2022. The multivariate logistic analysis identified factors associated with at least one reported unmet need in the total CaSUN scale and specific domains.

Results

A total of 67% of survivors reported at least one unmet need. The most frequently reported unmet needs were the lack of accessible hospital parking (43%) and recurrence concerns (39.5%). The majority of reported unmet needs relate to comprehensive care (44%), followed by the psychological and emotional support domain (35.3%). Younger age (OR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.92–0.99; p < 0.001), three or more comorbidities (OR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.11–0.71, p < 0.01), a lower quality of life (OR = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.01–0.47, p < 0.01) and low resilience (OR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.93–0.99) were associated with a high level of unmet needs in the multivariate regression model. Results are presented for factors associated with a high level of unmet needs for comprehensive cancer care and psychological and emotional support domain.

Conclusion

A high prevalence found in our study could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, where patients may have missed adequate follow-up care, although comparing to studies done in non-pandemic time is difficult. Family physicians should be more attentive toward younger cancer survivors and those with more comorbidities as both characteristics can be easily recognized in the family practice.
Self-regulated learning strategies of Macau English as a foreign language learners: Validity of responses and academic achievements
Authors: Deng Xiaojia , Wang Chuang , Xu Jianzhong
Published: October 2022

Self-regulation is important in enhancing students’ academic performance, yet evidence for the systematic and valid instruments to measure self-regulated learning strategies of college students in an English as a foreign language context is far from robust. This study was situated to develop an evaluation tool to examine the status quo of self-regulated learning strategies employed by college English learners and the associations between the use of these strategies and their academic achievement. A large-scale survey was conducted at a university in Macau to provide evidence of the construct validity of responses to the questionnaire on self-regulated learning strategies. Conceptualized in social cognitive theory, the questionnaire comprised environmental, behavioral and personal self-regulated learning strategies with 48 items weaving into 10 dimensions. Strong evidence for reliability and validity was found. Findings also revealed that students who intrinsically valued and used more self-regulated learning strategies achieved higher academic performance. Students in advanced-level English course reported significantly more frequent use of self-regulated learning strategies than students in medium-level and mixed-level English courses. Our results draw attention to the pedagogical orientation for teachers of English as a foreign/second language in helping students become adaptive learners with self-regulative process.
The development of the Chinese version of the Sports Emotional Intelligence Scale
Authors: Zhang Jia , Bai Donghuan , Qin Long , Song Pengwei
Published: October 2022

Objective

To revise and test the Chinese version of the Sports Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) in sports situations.

Materials and methods

After pretesting 112 college students, 832 college students were formally tested, and item analysis, validity test, internal consistency reliability analysis, and calibration validity and equivalence test of the Chinese version of the SEIS were performed. The Chinese version of the SEIS had 14 items with four dimensions (evaluation of others’ emotions, self-emotional management, emotion use, and social skills), with a cumulative variance contribution of 57.812 percent; the four-factor measurement model fit well (χ2/df = 3.743, NFI = 0.917, GFI = 0.945, AFGI = 0.913, CFI = 0.926, and RMSEA = 0.062). The internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s α) of the Chinese version of the SEIS ranged from 0.824 to 0. 905, and the split-half reliability ranged from 0.807 to 0.891; the correlations between the total SEIS score and its dimensional scores and the calibration variables were significantly correlated (p < 0.05), ranging from 0.255 to 0.603. The gender measure equivalence test was valid, and the mean difference of potential variables across gender groups was not significant in the potential mean analysis.

Conclusion

The Chinese version of the SEIS has good reliability and validity, and it is appropriate for assessing emotional intelligence in sports situations.
The negative footprint illusion in environmental impact estimates: Methodological considerations
Authors: Sörqvist Patrik , Holmgren Mattias
Published: October 2022

Past research has consistently shown that carbon footprint estimates of a set of conventional and more environmentally friendly items in combination tend to be lower than estimates of the conventional items alone. This ‘negative footprint illusion’ is a benchmark for the study of how cognitive heuristics and biases underpin environmentally significant behavior. However, for this to be a useful paradigm, the findings must also be reliable and valid, and an understanding of how methodological details such as response time pressure influence the illusion is necessary. Past research has cast some doubt as to whether the illusion is obtained when responses are made on a ratio/quantitative scale and when a within-participants design is used. Moreover, in past research on the negative footprint illusion, participants have had essentially as much time as they liked to make the estimates. It is yet unknown how time pressure influences the effect. This paper reports an experiment that found the effect when participants were asked to estimate the items’ emissions in kilograms CO2 (a ratio scale) under high and under low time pressure, using a within-participants design. Thus, the negative footprint illusion seems to be a reliable and valid phenomenon that generalizes across methodological considerations and is not an artifact of specific details in the experimental setup.
See think act scale: Validation of the Dutch version of a measure of relational security in high secure forensic psychiatric care
Authors: de Vries Meike G. , Verkes Robbert-Jan , Bulten Berend H.
Published: October 2022

Relational security is considered an essential form of security in forensic psychiatric care. Research on relational security is important, but is hampered by the lack of instruments to assess and monitor this concept in clinical practice. Within this current study the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the See Think Act (STA) scale, an instrument designed to measure relational security as perceived by forensic staff members within secure settings, was studied. Results show that the internal consistency of the STA total scale was good. However, the internal consistency of the subscales was relatively low compared to other studies using the original English or the Chinese version of the STA scale. The factor structure found in the original English version of the scale was not confirmed within this sample. With regard to the validity of the instrument results were promising, finding relationships with aspects of ward climate and team reflexivity. Further research and development is needed regarding the STA scale, making it more suitable for monitoring and studying this clinically relevant concept in forensic care.
Psychological well-being in times of COVID-19: Associated factors and levels in the general population
Authors: Ebling Sara , Ebrahimi Omid V. , Johnson Sverre Urnes , Skjerdingstad Nora , Hoffart Asle
Published: October 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic and living under social distancing restrictions have been hypothesized to impact well-being and mental health in the general population. This study investigated the general Norwegian adult population's well-being after implementing and lifting strict social distancing restrictions. The study was conducted through digital surveys; during the implementation of strict social distancing restrictions in March 2020 (T1) and 3 months later, when the preponderance of strict distancing restrictions was discontinued (T2). Well-being was measured at T2. Four thousand nine hundred twenty-one individuals participated, and a sensitivity analysis was conducted to ensure that the sample reflects the true Norwegian adult population. Hierarchical regression analyses show that contemporaneous employment status and positive metacognitions at T2 were associated with higher well-being. Negative metacognitions and the use of unhelpful coping strategies at T2 had a contemporaneous association with lower mental well-being. Negative metacognitions at T1 were associated with lower well-being scores, while positive metacognitions at T1 were positively associated with higher well-being. An indirect association between social distancing and lower well-being was found through heightened depressive symptoms. These results contribute to understanding how social distancing restrictions relate to general well-being, which may further contribute to designing proper strategies to strengthen mental health and well-being during challenging and unavoidable societal conditions.
The association between diabetes and nocturia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Fu Zhiwei , Wang Fang , Dang Xing , Zhou Tao
Published: October 2022

Background

Many studies have explored the association between diabetes and nocturia, but it remains unclear. This article systematically analyses existing evidence of the relationship between diabetes and nocturia, including subgroup analysis based on the number of voids, gender, and continent, in the hope of reaching more reliable clinical conclusions relating to diabetes and nocturia.

Methods

PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched for identifying studies relating to diabetes and nocturia prior to July 2021. Literature quality evaluation was performed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. A random effect meta-analysis was used for pooled odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) as a means of evaluating the relationship between diabetes and nocturia.

Results

In total, 29 of 781 potentially relevant studies were proven to be eligible. The overall pooled OR demonstrated that diabetes increases the risk of nocturia (OR: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.38, 1.61; P < 0.00001). The association was found to be more robust among subjects ≥ 1 void than ≥ 2 void (OR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.41, 2.14; P < 0.00001 vs. OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.33, 1.59; P < 0.00001), in males than females (OR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.41, 1.79; P < 0.00001 vs. OR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.20, 1.66; P < 0.0001) and in Asia than Europe or North America (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.36, 1.75; P < 0.00001 vs. OR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.19, 1.72; P = 0.0001 vs. OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.22, 1.73; P < 0.0001).

Conclusions

Diabetes has an association with a 1.49-fold higher risk of nocturia. This association is more robust for Asian and male subjects or those at a lower nocturia cut-off.
Public awareness and use of 997 emergency medical service phone number during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Aljabri Duaa , Albinali Hissah
Published: October 2022

Background

Emergency medical services (EMSs) are an important element of the healthcare system as it provides an opportunity to respond to critical medical conditions and save people's lives. In Saudi Arabia, EMS is offeredviathe EMS phone number “997” and mobile application “Asefny”.

Methods

This was an observational cross-sectional survey study exploring public awareness and use of the EMS phone number during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. A bivariate analysis was performed to investigate factors affecting awareness and use of the EMS phone number and to compare the EMS acceptance to transport and timelines of ambulance arrival between requests madeviathe “997” EMS phone number and the “Asefny” mobile application during the country's emergency lockdown.

Results

A total of 805 participants were included in the analysis, where 66% reported awareness of the EMS phone number and 75% of them accurately identified the nature of the service provided by dialing the number. The men who participated, those with a bachelor's degree, with children, and with chronic conditions were more aware of the EMS phone number compared to the other participants. Of the total sample, 46.7% used EMS phone numbers at least one time (ever users). During the COVID-19 lockdown, the EMS accepted to transport 87% of the calls made by 997 phone number and 56.2% of the mobile application requests (P< 0.00). The ambulance arrived in ≤ 8 min in 53.6% of the 997 phone calls and 35.5% of the Asefny mobile requests (P< 0.00).

Conclusions

Findings showed commendable levels of awareness and the use of EMS phone numbers. However, the results suggest room for improvement by developing promotional and educational campaigns inspired by the factors identified as influential on both awareness and use. Mobile applications in EMS are promising to improve prehospital emergency service accessibility, which needs to be further investigated to assess its impact on the public health informatics experience.
Food security of people with celiac disease in the Republic of Moldova through prism of public policies
Authors: Siminiuc Rodica , Ṭurcanu Dinu
Published: October 2022

Food security is an important lever for the implementation of rights-based legislation, policies, and programs, while being a public health and socio-economic priority. Foodborne illnesses have a major impact on public health, and nutritional interventions are essential therapeutic strategies to combat them. Gluten ingestion has been linked to several clinical disorders, collectively called gluten-related disorders. The most serious of these is celiac disease. The only way to treat celiac disease is to stick to a gluten-free diet for life. Following a strict diet is also the only way to prevent the long-term consequences of the disease. Public policies are essential to ensure the food security of people with gluten-related disorders. The aim of the research is to assess the level of care for people with celiac disease in the Republic of Moldova, in terms of public policies, to ensure a sustainable sector that effectively satisfies the food security of people with disorders associated with gluten consumption. To assess the level of care for people with gluten-related disorders, the working algorithm was taken, with reference to global public policies in support of people with celiac disease, developed and validated by Falcomer et al., Focused on 6 items. The results of the study showed that the Republic of Moldova does not have adequate policy support to ensure food security for people with gluten-related disorders, which poses major challenges and, as a result, may increase the complications of these problems.
Patient's behavior of selection physician in online health communities: Based on an Elaboration likelihood model
Authors: Qin Min , Zhu Wei , You Changmeng , Li Shuqin , Qiu Shanshan
Published: October 2022

Background

With the rapid development of “Internet + medicine” and the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, online health communities have become an important way for patients to seek medical treatment. However, the mistrust between physicians and patients in online health communities has long existed and continues to impact the decision-making behavior of patients. The purpose of this article is to explore the influencing factors of patient decision-making in online health communities by identifying the relationship between physicians' online information and patients' selection behavior.

Methods

In this study, we selected China's Good Doctor (www.haodf.com) as the source of data, scrapped 10,446 physician data from December 2020 to June 2021 to construct a logit model of online patients' selection behavior, and used regression analysis to test the hypotheses.

Results

The number of types of services, number of scientific articles, and avatar in physicians' personal information all has a positive effect on patients' selection behavior, while the title and personal introduction hurt patients' selection behavior. Online word-of-mouth positively affected patients' selection behavior and disease risk had a moderating effect.

Conclusion

Focusing on physician-presented information, this article organically combines the Elaboration likelihood model with trust source theory and online word-of-mouth from the perspective of the trusted party–physician, providing new ideas for the study of factors influencing patients' selection behavior in online health communities. The findings provide useful insights for patients, physicians, and community managers about the relationship between physician information and patients' selection behavior.
Development and validation of a military fear avoidance questionnaire
Authors: Cooper Carly , Frey Bruce , Day Charles
Published: October 2022

Chronic pain due to musculoskeletal injury is one of the leading causes of disability and reduced combat readiness in the U.S. Army. Unidimensional pain management systems are not effective in addressing the complex phenomenon of pain-related disability. Growing evidence has supported use of the Fear Avoidance Model (FAM) as a suitable model to address pain-related disability and chronicity from a multidimensional pain neuroscience approach. While several fear avoidance measurement tools exist, one that addresses the complexity of the Army environment encouraged the authors to develop and test the reliability and validity of a military specific questionnaire. This study developed and validated an Army specific fear avoidance screening, the Return to Duty Readiness Questionnaire (RDRQ), which subsequently demonstrated good psychometric properties. Reliability coefficients demonstrate high internal consistency values both during pilot study (α = 0.96) and validation study (α = 0.94, ωt = 0.94). A Correlation Coefficient of 0.74 when compared with the Fear Avoidance Components Scale (FACS) suggests good concurrent validity. Future study should include replication in a new army population, investigation of responsiveness, test-retest reliability, structural validity and establishing severity scores with minimal clinically important differences to enhance utility.
Balancing bias and performance in polyphonic piano transcription systems
Authors: Marták Lukáš Samuel , Kelz Rainer , Widmer Gerhard
Published: October 2022

Current state-of-the-art methods for polyphonic piano transcription tend to use high capacity neural networks. Most models are trained “end-to-end”, and learn a mapping from audio input to pitch labels. They require large training corpora consisting of many audio recordings of different piano models and temporally aligned pitch labels. It has been shown in previous work that neural network-based systems struggle to generalize to unseen note combinations, as they tend to learn note combinations by heart. Semi-supervised linear matrix decomposition is a frequently used alternative approach to piano transcription–one that does not have this particular drawback. The disadvantages of linear methods start to show when they encounter recordings of pieces played on unseen pianos, a scenario where neural networks seem relatively untroubled. A recently proposed approach called “Differentiable Dictionary Search” (DDS) combines the modeling capacity of deep density models with the linear mixing model of matrix decomposition in order to balance the mutual advantages and disadvantages of the standalone approaches, making it better suited to model unseen sources, while generalization to unseen note combinations should be unaffected, because the mixing model is not learned, and thus cannot acquire a corpus bias. In its initially proposed form, however, DDS is too inefficient in utilizing computational resources to be applied to piano music transcription. To reduce computational demands and memory requirements, we propose a number of modifications. These adjustments finally enable a fair comparison of our modified DDS variant with a semi-supervised matrix decomposition baseline, as well as a state-of-the-art, deep neural network based system that is trained end-to-end. In systematic experiments with both musical and “unmusical” piano recordings (real musical pieces and unusual chords), we provide quantitative and qualitative analyses at the frame level, characterizing the behavior of the modified approach, along with a comparison to several related methods. The results will generally show the fundamental promise of the model, and in particular demonstrate improvement in situations where a corpus bias incurred by learning from musical material of a specific genre would be problematic.
Stress reduction interventions: A scoping review to explore progress toward use of haptic feedback in virtual reality
Authors: Brelet Lisa , Gaffary Yoren
Published: October 2022

With the objective of providing scientific guidance for the development of a multisensory virtual reality (VR) relaxation device using haptic stimulation, the present review focuses on analysis of existing traditional and VR-based stress reduction interventions as well as their relevant measures. Two primary methods of stress reduction are explored: relaxation techniques and meditation techniques. Relaxation techniques enable the practitioner to achieve a tension-free state through control of and reduction in physiological activity. Meditation techniques also induce a relaxation response, but can additionally increase sustained attention to the present moment, to one’s own bodily sensations, emotions, tensions, thoughts, etc., or to an object, without judgement or adherence to a particular perspective. The limitations of traditional techniques are also noted, including the time required for training or mastery and the need for visualization efforts, and the benefits of VR-based relaxation techniques for the user are explored: these include the reduction of negative emotions, stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, as well as improved relaxation and positive affect. Particular attention is paid to the multisensorial approach made possible by VR. However, while it has been known for decades that tactile stimulation is very efficient to relax users, reduce stress, and induce positive emotions, tactile stimuli are currently under-exploited in VR-based stress reduction interventions. This review focuses specifically on touch and its beneficial effects on stress and affect. Finally, we discuss and provide forward-looking perspectives on the present and future use of tactile stimulation as a component of VR tools designed to reduce stress.