bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design, development, and implementation of IsoBank: A centralized repository for isotopic data
Authors: Shipley Oliver N. , Dabrowski Anna J. , Bowen Gabriel J. , Hayden Brian , Pauli Jonathan N. , Jordan Christopher , Anderson Lesleigh , Bailey Adriana , Bataille Clement P. , Cicero Carla , Close Hilary G. , Cook Craig , Cook Joseph A. , Desai Ankur R. , Evaristo Jaivime , Filley Tim R. , France Christine A. M. , Jackson Andrew L. , Kim Sora Lee , Kopf Sebastian , Loisel Julie , Manlick Philip J. , McFarlin Jamie M. , McMeans Bailey C. , O’Connell Tamsin C. , Pilaar Birch Suzanne E. , Putman Annie L. , Semmens Brice X. , Stantis Chris , Stricker Craig A. , Szejner Paul , Trammell Tara L. E. , Uhen Mark D. , Weintraub-Leff Samantha , Wooller Matthew J. , Williams John W. , Yarnes Christopher T. , Vander Zanden Hannah B. , Newsome Seth D.
Published: September 2024

Stable isotope data have made pivotal contributions to nearly every discipline of the physical and natural sciences. As the generation and application of stable isotope data continues to grow exponentially, so does the need for a unifying data repository to improve accessibility and promote collaborative engagement. This paper provides an overview of the design, development, and implementation of IsoBank (www.isobank.org), a community-driven initiative to create an open-access repository for stable isotope data implemented online in 2021. A central goal of IsoBank is to provide a web-accessible database supporting interdisciplinary stable isotope research and educational opportunities. To achieve this goal, we convened a multi-disciplinary group of over 40 analytical experts, stable isotope researchers, database managers, and web developers to collaboratively design the database. This paper outlines the main features of IsoBank and provides a focused description of the core metadata structure. We present plans for future database and tool development and engagement across the scientific community. These efforts will help facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among the many users of stable isotopic data while also offering useful data resources and standardization of metadata reporting across eco-geoinformatics landscapes.
Susceptibility and infectiousness of SARS-CoV-2 in children versus adults, by variant (wild-type, alpha, delta): A systematic review and meta-analysis of household contact studies
Authors: Uthman Olalekan A. , Lyngse Frederik Plesner , Anjorin Seun , Hauer Barbara , Hakki Seran , Martinez Diego A. , Ge Yang , Jonnerby Jakob , Julin Cathinka Halle , Lin Gary , Lalvani Ajit , Loss Julika , Madon Kieran J. , Martinez Leonardo , Næss Lisbeth Meyer , Page Kathleen R. , Prieto Diana , Robertson Anna Hayman , Shen Ye , Wurm Juliane , Buchholz Udo
Published: September 2024

Importance

Understanding the susceptibility and infectiousness of children and adolescents in comparison to adults is important to appreciate their role in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective

To determine SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and infectiousness of children and adolescents with adults as comparator for three variants (wild-type, alpha, delta) in the household setting. We aimed to identify the effects independent of vaccination or prior infection.

Data sources

We searched EMBASE, PubMed and medRxiv up to January 2022.

Study selection

Two reviewers independently identified studies providing secondary household attack rates (SAR) for SARS-CoV-2 infection in children (0–9 years), adolescents (10–19 years) or both compared with adults (20 years and older).

Data extraction and synthesis

Two reviewers independently extracted data, assessed risk of bias and performed a random-effects meta-analysis model.

Main outcomes and measures

Odds ratio (OR) for SARS-CoV-2 infection comparing children and adolescents with adults stratified by wild-type (ancestral type), alpha, and delta variant, respectively. Susceptibility was defined as the secondary attack rate (SAR) among susceptible household contacts irrespective of the age of the index case. Infectiousness was defined as the SAR irrespective of the age of household contacts when children/adolescents/adults were the index case.

Results

Susceptibility analysis: We included 27 studies (308,681 contacts), for delta only one (large) study was available. Compared to adults, children and adolescents were less susceptible to the wild-type and delta, but equally susceptible to alpha. Infectiousness analysis: We included 21 studies (201,199 index cases). Compared to adults, children and adolescents were less infectious when infected with the wild-type and delta. Alpha -related infectiousness remained unclear, 0–9 year old children were at least as infectious as adults. Overall SAR among household contacts varied between the variants.

Conclusions and relevance

When considering the potential role of children and adolescents, variant-specific susceptibility, infectiousness, age group and overall transmissibility need to be assessed.
Innovative models for enhanced student adaptability and performance in educational environments
Authors: Liu Lanbo , Wan Lihong
Published: September 2024

In the domain of adaptable educational environments, our study is dedicated to achieving three key objectives: forecasting the adaptability of student learning, predicting and evaluating student performance, and employing aspect-based sentiment analysis for nuanced insights into student feedback. Using a systematic approach, we commence with an extensive data preparation phase to ensure data quality, followed by applying efficient data balancing techniques to mitigate biases. By emphasizing higher education or educational data mining, feature extraction methods are used to uncover significant patterns in the data. The basis of our classification method is the robust WideResNeXT architecture, which has been further improved for maximum efficiency by hyperparameter tweaking using the simple Modified Jaya Optimization Method. The recommended WResNeXt-MJ model has emerged as a formidable contender, demonstrating exceptional performance measurements. The model has an average accuracy of 98%, a low log loss of 0.05%, and an extraordinary precision score of 98.4% across all datasets, demonstrating its efficacy in enhancing predictive capacity and accuracy in flexible learning environments. This work presents a comprehensive helpful approach and a contemporary model suitable for flexible learning environments. WResNeXt-MJ’s exceptional performance values underscore its capacity to enhance pupil achievement in global higher education significantly.
The intra-day and inter-day reliability of a 6-second Wingate to determine maximal peak power in endurance-trained athletes
Authors: Falk Neto Joao Henrique , Boulé Normand , Jones Kelvin E. , Comeau Aidan K. , Kennedy Michael D.
Published: September 2024

Determining an athlete’s maximal peak power (MPP) is crucial in profiling endurance sports participants. While short (3 to 6 seconds) all-out efforts have been validated for MPP assessment, prior studies mainly involved non-endurance trained athletes. This study aimed to assess the intra- and inter-day reliability of a 6-second Wingate test for MPP determination in endurance athletes. Endurance-trained participants (22 males, 5 females) completed nine 6-second Wingate tests over four days (3 trials at baseline, 2 trials on each subsequent day). Analysis revealed no systematic differences in MPP (F(4.09, 106.3) = 1.88, p = 0.117) or time to peak power (χ2(8) = 5.23, p = 0.732) across the trials. Reliability, assessed through the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM), was excellent across all trials (ICC = 0.95, SEM = 40.0W, SEM% = 3.7%). Absolute reliability improved when selecting the average or the best MPP values from each day (SEM% = 2.7% and 2.9%, respectively). Within-day reliability was consistently rated as excellent, with the best values on the 4thday of tests. No significant differences in MPP values occurred between the first and second 6-second Wingate tests on days 1 to 3, with both trials demonstrating similar reliability values (SEM%: 3.2% vs 2.8%, for the first and second trials, respectively). The test also demonstrated a good sensitivity to detect a meaningful change in MPP values. In conclusion, the 6-second Wingate test proves reliable for determining MPP in endurance-trained athletes. Two trials are recommended on the first day of testing, with a single MPP likely sufficient to determine the athlete’s MPP on subsequent days.
Happy children! A network of psychological and environmental factors associated with the development of positive affect in 9–13 children
Authors: Feraco Tommaso , Cona Giorgia
Published: September 2024

To deepen the development of positive affect during early adolescence and shed new light on its predictors, this study adopts an exploratory network approach to first identify the main domains that describe the variability of children’s psychological, environmental, and behavioral characteristics, and then use these domains to longitudinally predict positive affect and its development within a latent growth framework. To this aim, we considered 10,904 US participants (9 years old at baseline; 13 years old 42 months later), six measurement occasions of positive affect, and 46 baseline indicators from the ABCD study. Our results not only confirm that positive affect declines between 9 and 13 years old, but also show that among the five domains identified (behavioral dysregulation, cognitive functioning, psychological problems, supportive social environment, and extracurricular activities), only a supportive social environment consistently predicts positive affect. This is crucial for practitioners and policymakers, as it can help them focus on the elements within our complex network of psychological, social, and environmental variability.
Two-stage mural image restoration using an edge-constrained attention mechanism
Authors: Cao Jianfang , Wang Xianhui , Wang Fang , Cao Zhen , Liu Jiaqi , Yang Zhuolin
Published: September 2024

The current mainstream image restoration methods have difficulty fully learning the structure and color information of murals in mural image restoration tasks due to the limited size of the available datasets, resulting in problems such as structural loss and texture errors. This study proposes a two-stage mural restoration network based on an edge-constrained attention mechanism. This paper introduces additional sketches as inputs during the coarse restoration phase and incorporates a local edge loss function to enable the network to generate corresponding structural information based on the sketches. In the fine restoration phase, the calculation for the similarity between missing areas and known areas is optimized to enhance the consistency of the restoration results with the texture of the known areas. Furthermore, a structure-guided attention propagation block is introduced after adopting the attention mechanism. This block selectively integrates surrounding contextual information to update the attention score map, thereby enhancing the coherence and plausibility of the generated textures. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the current mainstream restoration methods according to various assessment indices. The proposed method generates high-quality structural information according to user guidance information, and the repaired texture is highly visually consistent with that of the original mural, with few noticeable deviations. This study provides a new approach for mural restoration, which may positively impact cultural heritage protection and artistic restoration applications.
Development of innovative multi-epitope mRNA vaccine against central nervous system tuberculosis using in silico approaches
Authors: Shi Huidong , Zhu Yuejie , Shang Kaiyu , Tian Tingting , Yin Zhengwei , Shi Juan , He Yueyue , Ding Jianbing , Wang Quan , Zhang Fengbo
Published: September 2024

Tuberculosis(TB) of the Central nervous system (CNS) is a rare and highly destructive disease. The emergence of drug resistance has increased treatment difficulty, leaving the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine as the only licensed preventative immunization available. This study focused on identifying the epitopes of PknD (Rv0931c) and Rv0986 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb) strain H37Rv using an in silico method. The goal was to develop a therapeutic mRNA vaccine for preventing CNS TB. The vaccine was designed to be non-allergenic, non-toxic, and highly antigenic. Codon optimization was performed to ensure effective translation in the human host. Additionally, the secondary and tertiary structures of the vaccine were predicted, and molecular docking with TLR-4 was carried out. A molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the stability of the complex. The results indicate that the vaccine structure shows effectiveness. Overall, the constructed vaccine exhibits ideal physicochemical properties, immune response, and stability, laying a theoretical foundation for future laboratory experiments.
Geographical variation and predictors of missing essential newborn care items during the immediate postpartum period in Ethiopia: Spatial and multilevel count analyses
Authors: Hailegebireal Aklilu Habte , Kitila Aiggan Tamene
Published: September 2024

Background

Essential Newborn care (ENC) is a High-quality universal newborn health care devised by the World Health Organization for the provision of prompt interventions rendered to newborns during the postpartum period. Even though conducting comprehensive studies could provide a data-driven approach to tackling barriers to service adoption, there was a dearth of studies in Ethiopia that assess the geographical variation and predictors of missing ENC. Hence, this study aimed to identify geographical, individual, and community-level predictors of missing ENC messages at the national level.

Methods

This study used the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey, by using a weighted sample of 7,590 women who gave birth within two years prior to the survey. The spatial analysis was carried out using Arc-GIS version 10.7 and SaTScan version 9.6 statistical software. Spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I) was checked to figure out the non-randomness of the spatial variation of missing ENC in Ethiopia. Six items of care used to construct a composite index.0of ENC uptake were cord examination, temperature measurement, counselling on danger signs, counselling on breastfeeding, observation of breastfeeding, and measurement of birth weight. To assess the presence of significant differences in the mean number of ENC items across covariates, independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA were performed. Finally, a multilevel multivariable mixed-effect negative binomial regression was done by using STATA version 16. The adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) with its corresponding 95% CI was used as a measure of association and variables with a p-value<0.05 were identified as significant predictors of ENC.

Results

The overall prevalence of missing ENC was 4,675 (61.6%) (95% CI: 60.5, 62.7) with a significant spatial variation across regions. The majority of Somali, Afar, south Amhara, and SNNPR regions had statistically significant hotspots for missing ENC. The mean (±SD) number of ENC items received was 1.23(±1.74) with a variance of 3.02 indicating over-dispersion. Living in the poorest wealth quintile (aIRR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.51, 0.87), lack of Antenatal care (aIRR = 0.52, 95%CI: 0.49, 0.71), birth at home (aIRR = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.34), living in rural area (aIRR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.57) were significant predictors of ENC uptake.

Conclusion

The level of missing ENC was found to be high in Ethiopia with a significant spatial variation across regions. Hence, the government and policymakers should devise strategies for hotspot areas to improve women’s economic capabilities, access to education, and health-seeking behaviours for prenatal care and skilled delivery services to improve ENC uptake.
Profile of individuals served and presumed coverage of Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) in Brazil: A study of the period 2013–2019
Authors: Paiva do Carmo Mercedes Bruna , Silva Everton Nunes da , Carregaro Rodrigo Luiz , Miasso Adriana Inocenti
Published: September 2024

Objective

To describe the profile of individuals with depression who received assistance at CAPS in Brazil between 2013 and 2019, focusing on their clinical and demographic characteristics, and to calculate the estimated coverage of CAPS across the national territory and its constituent federal units.

Methods

Descriptive, ecological, time-series study with secondary data from national databases, referring to care provided at CAPS in the country for adults aged 18 years or over-diagnosed with depression (F32-32.9 and F33-F33.9). The estimated coverage of CAPS was calculated for 2013 and 2019 using registered and active services.

Results

There was a 107% increase in the number of patients with depression receiving treatment at CAPS between 2013 and 2019. Women accounted for 77% of the patients, with the majority falling within the age range of 41 to 61years (49%). The predominant racial demographics were white (38%) and brown (34%). The diagnosis of depressive episodes was prevalent among 65% of the patients, and individual care was administrated to 75% of them. The presumed CAPS coverage was 71% in 2013 and increased to 87% in 2019 nationwide, although significant discrepancies were observed among different states.

Conclusion

Progress was evident in the implementation of CAPS across Brazil during the period spanning 2013 to 2019. Nonetheless, disparities persist among the federative units, and there remains an underutilization of group and family care within CAPS services.
Exploration of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors: A comprehensive in silico approach targeting a large set of triazole derivatives
Authors: Abchir Oussama , Khedraoui Meriem , Yamari Imane , Nour Hassan , Errougui Abdelkbir , Samadi Abdelouahid , Chtita Samir
Published: September 2024

Background

The increasing prevalence of diabetes and the side effects associated with current medications necessitate the development of novel candidate drugs targeting alpha-glucosidase as a potential treatment option.

Methods

This study employed computer-aided drug design techniques to identify potential alpha-glucosidase inhibitors from the PubChem database. Molecular docking was used to evaluate 81,197 compounds, narrowing the set for further analysis and providing insights into ligand-target interactions. An ADMET study assessed the pharmacokinetic properties of these compounds, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity. Molecular dynamics simulations validated the docking results.

Results

9 compounds were identified as potential candidate drugs based on their ability to form stable complexes with alpha-glucosidase and their favorable pharmacokinetic profiles, three of these compounds were subjected to the molecular dynamics, which showed stability throughout the entire 100 ns simulation.

Conclusion

These findings suggest promising new alpha-glucosidase inhibitors for diabetes treatment. Further validation through in vitro and in vivo studies is recommended to confirm their efficacy and safety.
Hair and urinary 2-hydroxynaphthalene levels in the people living in a region with frequent oil pipeline incidents in Iran: Health risk assessment
Authors: Hemati Sara , Heidari Mohsen , Momenbeik Fariborz , khodabakhshi Abbas , Fadaei Abdolmajid , Farhadkhani Marzieh , Mohammadi-Moghadam Fazel
Published: September 2024

Oil spills from pipeline accidents can have long-lasting health effects on residents of polluted regions. Assessing the potential health risk of these accidents is crucial for effective environmental health management. This study analyzed the concentration of 2-OHNAP in urine and hair as biomarkers of PAHs exposure among the people living in a region with frequent oil pipeline incident in Iran. Fifty pairs of hair and urine samples were collected from residents along with demographic information and dietary habits via a questionnaire. The concentration of 2-OHNAP was analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). 2-OHNAP was detected in 100% of urine and 88% of hair samples. The mean concentration of 2-OHNAP in urine was 16.65 ± 21.98 μg/g creatinine and in hair was 8.16±7.62 ng/g dry weight (dw). However, there was no significant correlations between the levels of 2-OHNAP in urine and hair. The mean values of HQ and CR were below 1 and 10−6, respectively. Moreover, some simulated health risk indices were near the threshold levels, and the carcinogenic risk above 70% of the simulated CRs was above 10−6 as well. Therefore, the health risk attributed to the exposure to the parent compound of 2-OHNAP in the study area is currently acceptable, but it is not negligible and may be worsened in the future. This study provides a valuable scientific information for regional decision makers and stakeholders about human health programs and identification of environmental health priorities.
Risk assessment and clinical implications of COVID-19 in multiple myeloma patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Mahmud Sultan , Hossain Md. Faruk , Muyeed Abdul , Nazneen Shaila , Haque Md. Ashraful , Mazumder Harun , Mohsin Md
Published: September 2024

Introduction

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) face heightened infection susceptibility, particularly severe risks from COVID-19. This study, the first systematic review in its domain, seeks to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on MM patients.

Method

Adhering to PRISMA guidelines and PROSPERO registration (ID: CRD42023407784), this study conducted an exhaustive literature search from January 1, 2020, to April 12, 2024, using specified search terms in major databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science). Quality assessment utilized the JBI Critical checklist, while publication bias was assessed using Egger’s test and funnel plot. The leave-one-out sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness of the results by excluding one study at a time to identify studies with a high risk of bias or those that significantly influenced the overall effect size. Data synthesis involved fitting a random-effects model and estimating meta-regression coefficients.

Results

A total of 14 studies, encompassing a sample size of 3214 yielded pooled estimates indicating a hospitalization rate of 53% (95% CI: 40.81, 65.93) with considerable heterogeneity across studies (I2 = 99%). The ICU admission rate was 17% (95% CI: 11.74, 21.37), also with significant heterogeneity (I2 = 94%). The pooled mortality rate was 22% (95% CI: 15.33, 28.93), showing high heterogeneity (I2 = 97%). The pooled survival rate stood at 78% (95% CI: 71.07, 84.67), again exhibiting substantial heterogeneity (I2 = 97%). Subgroup analysis and meta-regression highlighted that study types, demographic factors, and patient comorbidities significantly contributed to the observed outcome heterogeneity, revealing distinct patterns. Mortality rates increased by 15% for participants with a median age above 67 years. ICU admission rates were positively correlated with obesity, with a 20% increase for groups with at least 19% obesity. Mortality rates rose by 33% for the group of patients with at least 19% obesity, while survival rates decreased by 33% in the same group.

Conclusion

Our meta-analysis sheds light on diverse COVID-19 outcomes in multiple myeloma. Heterogeneity underscores complexities, and study types, demographics, and co-morbidities significantly influence results, emphasizing the nuanced interplay of factors.
Genetic drift, historic migration, and limited gene flow contributing to the subpopulation divergence in wild sea beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima (L.) Arcang)
Authors: Tehseen Muhammad Massub , Wyatt Nathan A. , Bolton Melvin D. , Fugate Karen K. , Preister Lisa S. , Yang Shengming , Ramachandran Vanitharani , Li Xuehui , Chu Chenggen
Published: September 2024

Cultivated beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris) originated from sea beet (B. vulgaris ssp. maritima (L.) Arcang), a wild beet species widely distributed along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, as well as northern Africa. Understanding the evolution of sea beet will facilitate its efficient use in sugarbeet improvement. We used SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) covering the whole genome to analyze 599 sea beet accessions collected from the north Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea coasts. All B. maritima accessions can be grouped into eight clusters with each corresponding to a specific geographic region. Clusters 2, 3 and 4 with accessions mainly collected from Mediterranean coasts are genetically close to each other as well as to Cluster 6 that contained mainly cultivated beet. Other clusters were relatively distinct from cultivated beets with Clusters 1 and 5 containing accessions from north Atlantic Ocean coasts, Clusters 7 and Cluster 8 mainly have accessions from northern Egypt and southern Europe, and northwest Morocco, respectively. Distribution of B. maritima subpopulations aligns well with the direction of marine currents that was considered a main dynamic force in spreading B. maritima during evolution. Estimation of genetic diversity indices supported the formation of B. maritima subpopulations due to local genetic drift, historic migration, and limited gene flow. Our results indicated that B. maritima originated from southern Europe and then spread to other regions through marine currents to form subpopulations. This research provides vital information for conserving, collecting, and utilizing wild sea beet to sustain sugarbeet improvement.
β-Ionone enhances the inhibitory effects of 5-fluorouracil on the proliferation of gastric adenocarcinoma cells by the GSK-3β signaling pathway
Authors: Wang Fa-lin , Chang Xiaoxia , Shi Yuanyang , Yang Tingting , Li Juan , Dong Hongwei , Wang Qi , Zhang Shujun , Liu Jiaren
Published: September 2024

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is widely used in the treatment of gastric cancer, and the emergence of drug resistance and toxic effects has limited its application. Therefore, there is an urgent need for safe and effective novel drugs or new therapies. β-Ionone (BI) is found in vegetables and fruits and possesses an inhibitory proliferation of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we investigated whether BI could enhance the inhibitory effects of 5-FU on the proliferation of gastric adenocarcinoma cells and the growth of gastric cancer cell xenografts in a mouse model. The effects of BI and 5-FU alone or their combination on the cell viability, apoptosis, and mitochondrial membrane potential, the cell cycle, and its related proteins—Cyclin D1, and CDK4 as well as PCNA and GSK-3β were evaluated in SGC-7901 cells and MKN45 cells by MTT, MB, flow cytometry and Western blot. In addition, the effects of BI and 5-FU alone or their combination on the growth of SGC-7901 cell xenografts in nude mice were investigated. The results showed that BI significantly enhanced the sensitivity of gastric adenocarcinoma cells to 5-FU in vitro and in vivo, i.e. proliferation inhibited, apoptosis induced and GSK-3β protein activated. Therefore, our results suggest that BI increases the antitumor effect of 5-FU on gastric adenocarcinoma cells, at least partly from an activated GSK-3β signaling pathway.
A causal relationship between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment: A Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Liu Hengzhi , Fan Yi , Liang Jie , Hu Aixin , Chen Wutong , Wang Hua , Fan Yifeng , Li Mingwu , Duan Jun , Wang Qinzhi
Published: September 2024

Objective

Sarcopenia and cognitive impairment often coexist in the elderly. In this study, we investigated the causal relationship between sarcopenia-related muscle characteristics and cognitive performance.

Methods

We used linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) and Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses to estimate genetic correlations and causal relationships between genetically predicted sarcopenia-related muscle traits and cognitive function, as well as cognitive function-based discovery samples and replicated samples. Estimated effect sizes were derived from a fixed-effects meta-analysis.

Results

Our univariate genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis indicated a causal relationship between appendicular lean mass (ALM) (β = 0.049; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.032–0.066, P < 0.001) and walking pace (β = 0.349; 95% CI: 0.210–0.487, P < 0.001) with cognitive function, where a causal relationship existed between ALM in both male and female (βALM-Male(M) = 0.060; 95% CI: 0.031–0.089, PALM-M < 0.001; βALM-Female(F) = 0.045; 95% CI: 0.020–0.069, PALM-F < 0.001) with cognitive function. Low grip strength was not causally associated with cognitive function (β = -0.045; 95% CI: -0.092 - -0.002, P = 0.062). A reverse causality GWAS meta-analysis showed a causal relationship between cognitive function and ALM (β = 0.033; 95% CI: 0.018–0.048, P < 0.001) and walking pace (β = 0.039; 95% CI: 0.033–0.051, P < 0.001), where ALM in both male and female showed a causality (βALM-M = 0.041; 95% CI: 0.019–0.063, PALM-M < 0.001; βALM-F = 0.034; 95% CI: 0.010–0.058, PALM-F = 0.005). Cognitive function was not causally related to low grip strength (β = -0.024; 95% CI: -0.073–0.025, P = 0.344). Multivariable MR1 (MVMR1) analyses showed a significant causal relationship for ALM (β = 0.077; 95% CI: 0.044–0.109, P = 0.000) and walking pace (β = 0.579; 95% CI: 0.383–0.775, P = 0.000) and cognitive function. Multivariable MR2 (MVMR2) multivariate analysis showed that ALM causality remained (β = 0.069; 95% CI: 0.033–0.106, P = 0.000), and walking pace (β = 0.589; 95% CI: 0.372–0.806, P = 0.000).

Conclusions

Bidirectional two-sample MR demonstrated that sarcopenia-related muscle characteristics and cognitive performance were positive causal genetic risk factors for each other, while a multivariable MR study demonstrated that low ALM and a slow walking pace were causally involved in reduced cognitive performance. This study suggests a causal relationship between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment in older adults and provide new ideas for prevention and treatment.
Predicting students’ satisfaction with academic services at a multicultural engineering university in Bangladesh: A multiple regression analysis
Authors: Umar Mwebesa , Hasan Mahbub
Published: September 2024

This empirical study sought to determine the levels of satisfaction among engineering students enrolled at a multicultural international institution in Bangladesh with a reputation for excellence. An assortment of first- and fourth-year undergraduate students participated in the study by completing an online survey. The study focused on selected determinants namely; support services (SS), campus life (CL), economic factors (EF) and University corporate image (CI). The researchers used a survey research design (SRD) to illuminate students’ opinions and views. A multiple regression analysis (MRA) was used to regress opinions of 326 respondents who participated in the study. The disproportional stratified random sampling was used to determine the samples. The study was guided by two hypotheses. The study analyzed predictors of student satisfaction with academic services by employing standard multiple regression analysis. The findings showed that the four determinants SS, CL, EF and CI were statistically significant to predict students’ satisfaction levels [F(4,321) = 143.786, p < .001]. It was empirically discovered that Support Services had the highest impact to the model [β = .496, p < .05] followed by university Corporate Image [β = .365, p < .05]. The findings showed that Campus Life and Economic Factors were not statistically significant (p>.05) in the model of predictors implying that they do not influence students’ satisfaction levels on their academic career at the university. The researchers recommend that in order to maintain students’ satisfaction levels on their academic experiences, universities should consolidate on support services provided to the students as well as improving their corporate image and world view.
Prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy worldwide: A systematic review
Authors: Guimarães Fernando Silva , Dal-Pizzol Tatiane da Silva , Silveira Marysabel Pinto Telis , Bertoldi Andréa Dâmaso
Published: September 2024

Objectives

In this study, we aimed to systematically review the literature of the prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy and to perform a descriptive analysis focused on methodological characteristics.

Materials and methods

This study was registered in PROSPERO under protocol number CRD42022376634. Medline, Embase, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Web of Science databases were searched (published studies until November 3rd, 2022). Selected studies were population-based cross-sectional or cohort, carried out with pregnant women, and providing information about the prevalence of systemic antibacterial use at least in one trimester of pregnancy. Reviewers conducted in pairs the title and abstract screening, eligibility criteria check, and data extraction of selected studies. Quality appraisal was performed with an adapted version of the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence Studies. Data of included studies were pooled into a graphical and tabular summary.

Results

A total of 16,251,280 pregnant women and 5,169,959 pregnancy registers were identified. The prevalence estimates of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy ranged from 2.0% (95%CI 2.0–2.0) to 64.3% (95%CI not reported) in the 79 included studies. The majority were performed in high-income countries (91.5%). Overall, the studies revealed considerable prevalence heterogeneity in terms of study type and dataset used. The 95% confidence intervals were not reported in 41% of studies.

Conclusion

The disparities in the prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy can be related to methodological issues and different health policies. Lack of uniform databases and changes in data collection methods over time should be taken into account in public health strategy planning. The scarce evidence in low- and middle-income settings hampers the comprehensiveness of the global prevalence of antibacterial use during pregnancy.
Intellectual humility is reliably associated with constructive responses to conflict
Authors: Koetke Jonah , Schumann Karina , Welker Keith , Coleman Peter T.
Published: September 2024

Conflict is a ubiquitous, but potentially destructive, feature of social life. In the current research, we argue that intellectual humility—the awareness of one’s intellectual fallibility—plays an important role in promoting constructive responses and decreasing destructive responses to conflict in different contexts. In Study 1, we examine the role of intellectual humility in interpersonal conflicts with friends and family members. In Study 2, we extend this finding to workplace conflicts. In both studies we find that intellectual humility predicts more constructive and less destructive responses to conflict. This work extends the burgeoning literature on the benefits of intellectual humility by demonstrating its association with responses that help defuse conflictual encounters.
Sleep patterns, genetic susceptibility, and venous thromboembolism: A prospective study of 384,758 UK Biobank participants
Authors: Bai Jiaxin , Yang Ziyu , Jia Yu , Yu Jing , Jiang Wenli , Liu Yi , Li Fanghui , Zeng Rui , Wan Zhi , Lei Yi , Liao Xiaoyang , Li Dongze , Zhao Qian
Published: September 2024

Background

Although healthy sleep patterns have been linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in earlier research, it is unclear how beneficial they are for venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Aim

This research aimed to examine the correlation between sleep patterns, genetic susceptibility, and VTE.

Methods

In the UK Biobank cohort, healthy sleep behaviors were defined as early chronotype, 7–8 hours of sleep each day, no snoring, infrequent insomnia, and infrequent daytime sleepiness. Each of the five criteria was given 1 point, creating a healthy sleep score ranging from 0 to 5. Cox proportional hazards regression models were utilized to examine the associations between genetic susceptibility, healthy sleep score and VTE.

Results

The UK Biobank study included 384,758 participants aged 56.6 ± 8.0 years. After a median of 11.9 years of follow-up, 8,885 (2.3%) participants were diagnosed with VTE. A healthy sleep score inversely affected VTE risk. For participants with a score of 5, the hazard ratio of VTE was 0.813 (95% confidence interval: 0.758–0.873, P<0.001) compared to those with a score ≤2. Early chronotype, sleeping 7–8 hours each day, infrequent insomnia, and infrequent daytime sleepiness were significantly associated with a 7.9%, 8.3%, 5.1%, and 20.7% lower risk of VTE, respectively. In addition, the correlation between sleep pattern and the incidence of VTE was consistent, regardless of genetic susceptibility (P for interaction = 0.366).

Conclusions

Our secondary analysis of a large-scale prospectively gathered registry revealed that individuals with a healthy sleep pattern are significantly correlated with lower risk of developing VTE, irrespective of genetic susceptibility.
Item response theory model highlighting rating scale of a rubric and rater–rubric interaction in objective structured clinical examination
Authors: Uto Masaki , Tsuruta Jun , Araki Kouji , Ueno Maomi
Published: September 2024

Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are a widely used performance assessment for medical and dental students. A common limitation of OSCEs is that the evaluation results depend on the characteristics of raters and a scoring rubric. To overcome this limitation, item response theory (IRT) models such as the many-facet Rasch model have been proposed to estimate examinee abilities while taking into account the characteristics of raters and evaluation items in a rubric. However, conventional IRT models have two impractical assumptions: constant rater severity across all evaluation items in a rubric and an equal interval rating scale among evaluation items, which can decrease model fitting and ability measurement accuracy. To resolve this problem, we propose a new IRT model that introduces two parameters: (1) a rater–item interaction parameter representing the rater severity for each evaluation item and (2) an item-specific step-difficulty parameter representing the difference in rating scales among evaluation items. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model by applying it to actual data collected from a medical interview test conducted at Tokyo Medical and Dental University as part of a post-clinical clerkship OSCE. The experimental results showed that the proposed model was well-fitted to our OSCE data and measured ability accurately. Furthermore, it provided abundant information on rater and item characteristics that conventional models cannot, helping us to better understand rater and item properties.
Analysis of coupling in geographic information systems based on WASPAS method for bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic Aczel-Alsina power aggregation operators
Authors: Ali Zeeshan , Hayat Khizar , Pamucar Dragan
Published: September 2024

The model of bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic set is a very famous and dominant principle to cope with vague and uncertain information. The bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic set contained the positive membership function, negative membership function, and linguistic variable, where the technique of fuzzy sets to bipolar fuzzy sets are the special cases of the bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic set. In this manuscript, we describe the model of Aczel-Alsina operational laws for bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic values based on Aczel-Alsina t-norm and Aczel-Alsina t-conorm. Additionally, we compute the Aczel-Alsina power aggregation operators based on bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic data, called bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic Aczel-Alsina power averaging operator, bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic Aczel-Alsina power weighted averaging operator, bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic Aczel-Alsina power geometric operator, and bipolar complex fuzzy linguistic Aczel-Alsina power weighted geometric operator with some dominant and fundamental laws such as idempotency, monotonicity, and boundedness. Moreover, we initiate the model of the Weighted Aggregates Sum Product Assessment technique with the help of consequent theory. In the context of geographic information systems and spatial information systems, coupling aims to find out the relationships among different components within a geographic information system, where coupling can occur at many stages, for instance, spatial coupling, data coupling, and functional coupling. To evaluate the above dilemma, we perform the model of multi-attribute decision-making for invented operators to compute the best technique for addressing geographic information systems. In the last, we deliberate some numerical examples for comparing the ranking results of proposed and prevailing techniques.
Impact of different visceral metastatic sites on survival in metastatic prostate cancer patients
Authors: Lai Gu-Shun , Chen Chuan-Shu , Cheng Jason Chia-Hsien , Li Jian-Ri , Yang Cheng-Kuang , Lin Chia-Yen , Hung Sheng-Chun , Chiu Kun-Yuan , Wang Shian-Shiang
Published: September 2024

Introduction

Visceral metastasis is an important predictor for poor outcomes in prostate cancer, however, the prognostic significance surrounding the specific sites of visceral metastasis remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different visceral metastatic sites on survival in patients with prostate cancer.

Methods

We identified patients with metastatic prostate cancer between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2023 using the TriNetX database. Patients were divided into 4 cohorts according to their specific metastatic sites: lung metastases, brain metastases, liver metastases, and bone metastases. Survival analysis was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression models.

Results

In total, 59,875 patients diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer were identified, with 39,495 (65.2%) having bone metastases, 7,573 (12.5%) lung metastases, 5,240 (8.7%) brain metastases, and 7,567 (12.5%) liver metastases. The median overall survival was 44.4 months for patients with bone metastases, 31.9 months for lung metastases, 9.6 months for brain metastases, and 10 months for liver metastases. Lung metastases were associated with an improved survival when compared with liver and brain metastases. For patients with two visceral metastatic sites or concomitant bone metastases, liver metastases were related to worse outcomes. Asian patients experienced better OS than Caucasian and African American patients in visceral metastatic prostate cancer.

Conclusion

Patients with lung metastases experienced better survival outcomes in prostate cancer with only one visceral metastatic site. Liver metastases were associated with worse outcomes when there were two visceral metastatic sites combined or concomitant bone metastases. Asian patients displayed improved survival rates when compared with both Caucasian and African American patients in visceral metastatic prostate cancer.
Does overconfident CEO lead to corporate environmental misconducts? Evidence from China
Authors: Zhang Lu , Li Dayuan , Xiao Zhaohua , Jiang Jialin , Lu Fenghua
Published: September 2024

Enterprises are drawing growing criticism for violating environmental rules. The research examines whether and how top executives’ mental bias leads to corporate environmental misconduct (CEI). Drawing on upper echelon theory (UET) and agency theory, we link CEO overconfidence with CEI, and explore the boundary conditions from the perspective of management discretion at the governance level. Using a data set covering the Chinese listed enterprises from 2004 to 2016, the empirical results demonstrate that CEO overconfidence positively and markedly influenced CEI. Moreover, shareholder concentration and CEO duality reinforce the relationship between overconfidence and CEI, whereas board independence is the opposite. The findings clarify ecological outcomes of CEO overconfidence and have remarkable significance in theory and practice.
A bidirectional reversible and multilevel location privacy protection method based on attribute encryption
Authors: Hu Zhaowei , Hu Kaiyi , Hasan Milu Md Khaled
Published: September 2024

Various methods such as k-anonymity and differential privacy have been proposed to safeguard users’ private information in the publication of location service data. However, these typically employ a rigid “all-or-nothing” privacy standard that fails to accommodate users’ more nuanced and multi-level privacy-related needs. Data is irrecoverable once anonymized, leading to a permanent reduction in location data quality, in turn significantly diminishing data utility. In the paper, a novel, bidirectional and multi-layered location privacy protection method based on attribute encryption is proposed. This method offers layered, reversible, and fine-grained privacy safeguards. A hierarchical privacy protection scheme incorporates various layers of dummy information, using an access structure tree to encrypt identifiers for these dummies. Multi-level location privacy protection is achieved after adding varying amounts of dummy information at different hierarchical levels N. This allows for precise control over the de-anonymization process, where users may adjust the granularity of anonymized data based on their own trust levels for multi-level location privacy protection. This method includes an access policy which functions via an attribute encryption-based access control system, generating decryption keys for data identifiers according to user attributes, facilitating a reversible transformation between data anonymity and de-anonymity. The complexities associated with key generation, distribution, and management are thus markedly reduced. Experimental comparisons with existing methods demonstrate that the proposed method effectively balances service quality and location privacy, providing users with multi-level and reversible privacy protection services.
Diagnostic accuracy of dental caries detection using ensemble techniques in deep learning with intraoral camera images
Authors: Kang Sohee , Shon Byungeun , Park Eun Young , Jeong Sungmoon , Kim Eun-Kyong
Published: September 2024

Camera image-based deep learning (DL) techniques have achieved promising results in dental caries screening. To apply the intraoral camera image-based DL technique for dental caries detection and assess its diagnostic performance, we employed the ensemble technique in the image classification task. 2,682 intraoral camera images were used as the dataset for image classification according to dental caries presence and caries-lesion localization using DL models such as ResNet-50, Inception-v3, Inception-ResNet-v2, and Faster R-convolutional neural network according to diagnostic study design. 534 participants whose mean age [SD] was 47.67 [±13.94] years were enrolled. The dataset was divided into training (56.0%), validation (14.0%), and test subset (30.0%) annotated by one experienced dentist as a reference standard about dental caries detection and lesion location. The confusion matrix, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), and average precision (AP) were evaluated for performance analysis. In the end-to-end dental caries image classification, the ensemble DL models had consistently improved performance, in which as the best results, the ensemble model of Inception-ResNet-v2 achieved 0.94 of AUROC and 0.97 of AP. On the other hand, the explainable model achieved 0.91 of AUROC and 0.96 of AP after the ensemble application. For dental caries classification using intraoral camera images, the application of ensemble techniques exhibited consistently improved performance regardless of the DL models. Furthermore, the trial to create an explainable DL model based on carious lesion detection yielded favorable results.