bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of ethnicity and other sociodemographic factors on attendance at ophthalmology appointments following referral from a Diabetic Eye Screening Programme: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Banks James , Olvera-Barrios Abraham , Pitt Matilda , Williams Daisy , Seltene Michael , Rutowska Celestine , Khatun Mumina , Huemer Josef , Khan Yasir , Ockrim Zoe , Heng Ling Zhi , Rudnicka Alicja R , Tufail Adnan , A Egan Catherine , Owen Christopher G
Published: January 2025

Background/aims

To examine the association between sociodemographic characteristics and attendance at Hospital Eye Service (HES) referrals from the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP), in a large, ethnically diverse urban population.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study (4 January 2016–12 August 2019) of people with diabetic retinopathy (DR) referred from an English DESP to a tertiary referral eye hospital. We conducted a multivariable logistic regression with attendance as the primary outcome, controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, Index of Multiple Deprivation, best eye visual acuity and baseline DR grade.

Results

Of 7793 people referred (mean age 64 years, 62.6% male, 13.9% white, 12.5% black, 25.3% South Asian, 6.5% any other Asian background, 19.3% no recorded ethnicity and 20.9% of ‘Other’ ethnic origin), 69% attended. Compared with white individuals, people of black ethnic origin were similarly likely to attend. South Asians and those of other Asian backgrounds were more likely, and people with ‘Other’ or missing ethnicity were less likely to attend. Those with higher levels of deprivation, younger (aged 18–45 years) and older (76–90 years) age groups and worse visual acuity were less likely to attend, whereas people identified as having proliferative DR in both eyes were more likely to attend.

Conclusion

Sociodemographic patterns in attendance after referral from the DESP to the HES exist, and these do not appear to explain ethnic differences in more severe sight-threatening DR, suggesting other explanations. More work is needed to understand and reduce inequalities in HES attendance.
Factors influencing therapeutic efficacy of denosumab against osteoporosis in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Yang Jiwon , Park Youngjae , Lee Jennifer Jooha , Kwok Seung-Ki , Ju Ji Hyeon , Kim Wan-Uk , Park Sung-Hwan
Published: January 2025

Objective

Osteoporosis is a common comorbidity in patients with SLE, and bone loss in patients with SLE has a multifactorial aetiology. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of denosumab in patients with SLE with osteoporosis and to analyse the factors influencing therapeutic efficacy.

Methods

A total of 166 patients with SLE with osteoporosis who initiated denosumab between January 2016 and December 2023 were included. Changes in the T-score and areal bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine, total hip and femur neck from denosumab initiation to 12 months were measured. Correlation analysis was performed between the degree of BMD improvement and covariates including SLE-specific factors such as SLE duration, SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) score, glucocorticoid dose and hydroxychloroquine use. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of the therapeutic efficacy of denosumab.

Results

Denosumab significantly increased BMD and decreased bone turnover markers at 12 months compared with baseline. The degree of BMD improvement revealed a significant negative correlation with SLEDAI-2K score, hydroxychloroquine use, prior osteoporosis treatment and baseline BMD values. In contrast, body mass index and c-telopeptide of collagen type 1 levels were positively correlated with the degree of BMD improvement. Higher baseline BMD values, SLEDAI-2K scores and hydroxychloroquine use were significant predictors of attenuated BMD improvement.

Conclusions

Our study suggests that denosumab is an effective treatment option for osteoporosis in patients with SLE. The therapeutic efficacy of denosumab can be predicted by baseline BMD values, SLEDAI-2K scores and hydroxychloroquine use.
Systemic disease activity measured with ESSDAI varies largely over 5 years in a prospective, longitudinal cohort of patients with Sjögren’s disease
Authors: de Wolff Liseth , Verstappen Gwenny , Stel Alja , van Zuiden Greetje , van Nimwegen Jolien , Vissink Arjan , Kroese Frans , Arends Suzanne , Bootsma Hendrika
Published: January 2025

Objectives

The objectives are to evaluate variation in systemic disease activity (European Alliance of Associations For Rheumatology (EULAR) Sjögren’s Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI)) over time at group and individual patient level and to assess associations of ESSDAI low disease activity (LDA) with other outcome measures in a standard-of-care cohort of patients with Sjögren’s disease (SjD).

Methods

Patients with SjD participating in a prospective longitudinal study (REgistry of Sjögren Syndrome LongiTudinal cohort) fulfilling the 2016 American College of Rheumatology/EULAR classification criteria with ≥2 years of follow-up were included. ESSDAI was assessed at least yearly, up to 5 years. Patient-reported, objective glandular and laboratory outcomes were compared between patients with ESSDAI LDA (score<5) for <75% vs ≥75% of time.

Results

Of 265 included patients with SjD, 236 (89%) were women, median disease duration was 6 years (IQR 2–10) and 114 (43%) received immunosuppressive treatment at some point during follow-up. At group level, median ESSDAI decreased slightly, from 4 (IQR 2–7) at baseline to 3 (IQR 2–5) at year 5, with a concomitant decrease in variation, indicating regression to the mean. At the individual patient level, ESSDAI varied in the majority of patients: 50/102 (49%) untreated patients with ESSDAI<5 at baseline changed to ESSDAI≥5 at least once during follow-up. Of the untreated patients with ESSDAI≥5 at baseline, 41/45 (91%) changed to ESSDAI<5. Patients with ESSDAI LDA for ≥75% of time showed better outcomes on saliva production.

Conclusions

In this cohort of patients with SjD, overall ESSDAI slightly decreased during 5 years of follow-up, whereas at individual patient level, large variation was seen over time for the majority of patients. Longer time in ESSDAI LDA was associated with better salivary gland outcomes.
Diagnostic performance ofTreponema pallidumparticle agglutination tests against electrochemiluminescence immunoassays for the detection of anti-TP antibodies: Evaluation study
Authors: Lejisa Tadesse , Bikila Demiraw , Bashea Chala , Tolcha Yosef , Meles Mehari , Getahun Tigist , Ashebir Genet , Habtu Wossene , Challa Feyissa , Desalegn Daniel Melese , Anbessa Adisu Kebede , Ayana Gonfa , Tola Habteyes Hailu
Published: January 2025

Objectives

Although the burden of syphilis is slightly increasing worldwide, there are a limited number of rapid, simple-to-use, accurate and cost-effective diagnostic tools available. Thus, we aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of theTreponema pallidumparticle agglutination (TPPA) test (hereafter called index test) against an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) (hereafter called reference test). We selected the available treponemal reference test (ECLIA) to evaluate the index test (TPPA) which is not currently in use in Ethiopia.

Methods

We conducted a multicentre cross-sectional study to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the index test against the reference test. We enrolled 581 syphilis-suspected cases from the five selected health facilities in Addis Ababa in this study. We collected data on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and whole blood from each participant. We estimated the sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of the index test.

Results

Of the 581 participants, 380 (65.4%) were female. The mean age of the participants was 39.7 years (±SD 16.6), with an age range of 18–94 years. The sensitivity of the index test was 99.4% (95% CI 96.4% to 100%), while the specificity was 100%. The positive predictive value of the index test was 100%, and the negative predictive value was 99.8% (95% CI 98.4% to 100%). There was no invalid test result.

Conclusions

The diagnostic performance of TPPA for syphilis was equivalent to that of ECLIA. Thus, TPPA can be used for the diagnosis of syphilis at the health facility level equivalent to a reference test.
The community of Marine Alveolate parasites in the Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Ocean is structured by season, depth and water mass
Authors: Egge Elianne , Vaulot Daniel , Larsen Aud , Edvardsen Bente
Published: January 2025

The marine alveolates (MALVs) are a highly diverse group of parasitic dinoflagellates, which may regulate populations of a wide range of hosts, including other dinoflagellates, copepods and fish eggs. Knowledge on their distribution and ecological role is still limited, as they are difficult to study with morphological methods. In this work, we describe the taxonomic composition, seasonal- and depth distribution of MALVs in the Arctic Ocean west and north of Svalbard, based on 18S V4 rRNA metabarcoding data from five cruises. We recovered amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) representing all major groups previously described from environmental sequencing studies (Dino-Groups I-V), with Dino-Groups I and II being the most diverse. The community was structured by season, depth, and water mass. In the epipelagic zone, the taxonomic composition varied strongly by season; however, there was also a difference between Arctic and Atlantic water masses in winter. The spring and summer epipelagic communities were characterized by a few dominating ASVs present in low proportions during winter and in mesopelagic summer samples, suggesting that they proliferate under certain conditions, e.g., when specific hosts are abundant. Mesopelagic samples were more similar across months, and may harbor parasites of deep-dwelling organisms, little affected by season.
Hamilton–Jacobi method in non-minimal coupling inflation: metric vs. Palatini
Authors: Zhang Feng-Yi , Lin Wenbin
Published: January 2025

The Hamilton–Jacobi approach offers a natural framework for analyzing inflationary dynamics, relying on the specified Hubble parameter rather than the potential, particularly in extended gravity theories. In this study, we apply this method to investigate inflation with non-minimal coupling, comparing the metric and Palatini formulations. Using a power-law Hubble parameter in the Jordan frame, we find that both formalisms satisfy the attractor condition, with a slight suppression in the Palatini case. Our results align closely with the latest observational data, demonstrating the Palatini formalism’s heightened sensitivity to coupling constants and model parameters. Furthermore, we show that within the model’s viable parameter space, the reheating process can achieve sufficiently high temperatures to support successful leptogenesis.
Behaviors of dark energy candidates in the Ruban universe
Authors: Esgin Melike , Aktaş Can
Published: January 2025

In this study, we investigated quintessence and tachyon field dark energy (DE) models for the inhomogeneous and anisotropic Ruban universe in [Formula: see text] gravitation theory. We utilized the Hubble parameter in the field equations as [Formula: see text] for the solutions. Since DE candidates are classified according to the [Formula: see text] values of the EoS parameter [Formula: see text], we obtained the p and [Formula: see text] solutions for each DE candidate and analyzed the scalar field (SF) and scalar potential solution. We also talked about the model’s physical characteristics and parameters with the help of a various of graphics for redshift z and cosmic time t. Additionally, the statefinder parameters, which are essential tools for distinguishing various dark energy models, have been explored.
MODELING THE TRANSMISSION DYNAMICS OF GIARDIASIS: INTEGRATING COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND OPTIMAL CONTROL STRATEGIES
Authors: LIANA YUSTINA AMON , CHUMA FURAHA MICHAEL
Published: January 2025

Giardiasis, caused by the protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis, poses a significant public health burden worldwide, particularly in regions with limited access to clean water and sanitation infrastructure. Understanding the transmission dynamics of giardiasis and evaluating intervention strategies are crucial for effective disease control. In this study, we apply the theory of optimal control to the giardiasis model. The model includes public health education, treatment, and sanitation as the control measures for giardiasis. The goal is to minimize the infections in the population brought on by interactions with asymptomatic, symptomatic, and contaminated environments while reducing the cost of the control measures. We accomplish this goal by using Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle, where fourth-order Runge–Kutta is used to perform numerical simulations for both forward and backward in-time schemes. We simulate the model under different control scenarios to determine which strategy could produce the greatest results. The results demonstrate that the control strategy combining the three control measures (public health education, treatment, and sanitation) proves to be more effective in curbing the spread of giardiasis. Moreover, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is used to analyze cost-effectiveness. The cost-effectiveness analysis revealed that the strategy that contains treatment and sanitation is the best strategy to implement in the population in case of budget constraints. Hence, our study recommends that sanitizing the environment and treating the infected individuals immediately could be the best practice for controlling the spread of giardiasis disease on an entire population.
Collaboration as a Shared Value: Instructor and Student Perceptions of Collaborative Learning in Online Business Writing Courses
Authors: Mussack Brigitte , Tham Jason
Published: January 2025

This article presents a case study of instructor and student perceptions of collaborative learning in multiple sections of an upper-level, online business writing course. Our goals are to understand current attitudes toward collaboration among business writing instructors and students and to examine points of dissonance regarding attitudes, frameworks, and definitions of collaborative writing. Further, we aim to understand how collaboration is valued, how it is framed and valued in terms of either process or product, and various associations between collaboration and community. Our results revealed collaboration to be a shared interest by business writing instructors and students alike but at the same time it is received differently in online versus in-person interactions. In this article, we identify these dissonances and discuss what they mean for collaborative learning.
The Political Impact of the Default of GenAI
Authors: Lauren Benjamin
Published: January 2025

The first time I recall encountering artificial intelligence was in the early 2000s while working in a recording studio. After singing a take of a song, I watched as an engineer opened a plug-in called Auto-tune and then listened as he worked on tuning my vocals. I recall him explaining to me that the vocal had to be pretty close to the note I was trying to sing, otherwise the tuned version would sound fake. He demonstrated by tuning my vocal too sharp and then too flat. The sound of the stressed vocal created a distorted tremolo effect, with maybe even a bit of delay. It no longer sounded like me. It sounded like a robot who was impersonating me. I bristled. "No, not like that," I said uncomfortably laughing. "That doesn't sound like me."
Review of "Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication by Samuel Stinson and Mary Le Rouge," Stinson, S., & Le Rouge, M. (Eds.). (2022).
Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication.
Routledge.
Authors: Reamer David
Published: January 2025

Embodied Environmental Risk in Technical Communication
, edited by Samuel Stinson and Mary Le Rouge, is a timely collection of essays addressing the ways that humans conceptualize and interact with their environment when attempting to communicate the dangers of crises---such as climate change and COVID-19. Explicitly responding to the work of Jeffrey Grabill and Michelle Simmons (e.g., in their seminal 1998 essay, "Toward a Critical Rhetoric of Risk Communication"), this collection offers a broad variety of lenses for thinking about humans' relationships to their surroundings, especially while communicating environmental risk. The 14 chapters in this volume apply methodologies including rhetorical and discourse analysis, ethnography, integrated risk communication, and antiracist framing to topics ranging from university communications about the pandemic to groundwater pollution to upcycled art installations, in the process complicating traditional understandings of risk as something that exists "'out there,' independent of our minds and cultures, waiting to be measured" (Slovic, 1999, p. 690). Considered broadly, the collection offers human bodies and ecological impact as more effective barometers for risk than abstract calculations; individual chapters offer heuristics grounded in human experience or environmental considerations, along with discussion questions and assignments for use in classroom settings. The diversity of topics and methodologies represented ensure that the collection offers something of interest to most scholars and practitioners of risk communication, environmental communication, or embodiment in technical communication.
Review of "Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing by John R. Gallagher," Gallagher, J. R. (2019).
Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing.
Utah University State Press.
Authors: Virtue Drew
Published: January 2025

Update culture and the afterlife of digital writing
represents an ambitious project in which John R. Gallagher explores two primary claims. First, he introduces the idea of
"interactive and participatory internet
(IPI)
templates"
(p. 8) as structures that allow for constant rewriting and rereading of digital content. He argues that these templates foster communication by providing a model that encourages users to compose to each other based on certain characteristics, and arguably constraints, unique to digital environments. Second, he explores the idea that digital writers have developed new strategies that impact how they (re)compose, as well as interact, with participatory audiences who are closer to writers than ever before. In order to analyze these claims, Gallagher performs a series of interviews with forty writers who are top performing Redditors, Amazon reviewers, and online journalists/bloggers. Through these interviews, Gallagher connects common writing strategies that are employed by the writers as they work within the framework of specific templates and interact with their different audiences.
A Glimpse of Lawrence's Legacy: From "Siri Discipline" to Disciplining Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Mainaly Shiva Hari
Published: January 2025

Have you ever wondered how a researcher from the periphery can gain an enduring foothold in the pantheon of researchers from the center? This essay will attempt to answer that question. Halcyon Lawrence was a researcher, writer, and professor from the Global South who has made a mark on a community of technical communication scholars, writers, researchers, and professors with her widely discussed research articles dealing with the pros and cons, perils and promises, boon and bane of speech recognition tools and technology. Lawrence's research explores the thickets of speech recognition and proposes strategic and revisionary measures toward neutralizing the lopsided corpora of speech recognition software, vaporware, and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology. To crystalize her contributions to justice, data justice, and racial-linguistic justice, I chose a chapter, "Siri Discipline," she (2021) wrote for the book
Your Computer is on Fire
(Mullaney et al, 2021). My essay highlights how her ideas have gained more traction in relation to the current disruption of the AI revolution (Gopal, 2020). That disruption is often exemplified through ChatGPT, a platform that shows how Lawrence's core insight from "Siri Discipline" can have a direct bearing on normative frameworks being developed to address burgeoning challenges ushered in by the AI revolution.
Interactive UX: Building and Testing for Accessibility with Design Systems
Authors: Strantz Adam
Published: January 2025

Design systems provide a useful approach for TPC instructors looking to teach students to design and build accessible digital products. This experience report presents a teaching unit on using design systems to introduce accessibility to students. Using the Bootstrap design system, accessibility is threaded throughout the design process and provides a grounded approach for integrating accessible design into the UX classroom. Readers will come away with an outline of the teaching unit, accompanying materials for teaching that unit, and student examples user-tested for accessibility. The author concludes on a reflection on teaching the unit and offers advice for readers looking to implement a similar unit in their own courses.
Voices from The Void: Teaching User Experience as Racial Storytelling in TPC
Authors: Donelson Jerrice Renita
Published: January 2025

This article discusses a newly created method of UX journey mapping---User Experience as Racial Storytelling (UXRS)---designed to centralize Black user narratives in design thinking, and the teaching implications as a Black woman non-tenure track (NTT) online technical and professional communication (TPC) instructor. Revisiting an assigned group activity in a synchronous online technical writing course for engineers at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI), this essay will share pedagogical approaches of user experience as TPC pedagogy used to scaffold this method of racial storytelling as an anti-racist practice to adapt a social justice framework. This essay suggests UXRS can aid engineering students' perspective of inclusive design.
A GPT-assisted Multi-Granularity Contrastive Learning approach for Knowledge Graph Entity Typing
Authors: Zhang Hongbin , Wang Tao , Wang Zhuowei , Lin Nankai , Chen Chong , Cheng Lianglun
Published: January 2025

Knowledge graph entity typing (KGET) is an efficient way to infer possible missing types for entities, which has become a key instrument to enhance the construction of knowledge graphs (KGs). Existing models to KGET have mainly focused on a single granularity information such as distinct entity information, but other granularity information including entity-to-type-clusters, the same cluster and interaction information have not been fully explored, resulting in inferring incorrect types in KGs. To address this, we propose a GPT-assisted Multi-Granularity Contrastive Learning (GMGCL) approach to acquire entity-to-type-clusters, entity, type-cluster and relation information by GPT-assisted entity-to-type-clusters clustering, entity-based, cluster-based and relation-based contrastive learning, respectively. Our approach is evaluated on FB15kET and YAGO43kET datasets, outperforming other baselines and obtaining a 1.35% average improvement at least on MRR.
Hire: Hybrid-modal Interaction with Multiple Relational Enhancements for Image-Text Matching
Authors: Ge Xuri , Chen Fuhai , Xu Songpei , Tao Fuxiang , Wang Jie , Jose Joemon M.
Published: January 2025

Image-text matching (ITM) is a fundamental problem in computer vision. The key issue lies in jointly learning the visual and textual representation to estimate their similarity accurately. Most existing methods focus on feature enhancement within modality or feature interaction across modalities, which, however, neglects the contextual information of the object representation based on the inter-object relationships that match the corresponding sentences with rich contextual semantics. In this paper, we propose a Hybrid-modal Interaction with multiple Relational Enhancements (termed
Hire
) for image-text matching, which correlates the intra- and inter-modal semantics between objects and words with implicit and explicit relationship modelling. In particular, the explicit intra-modal spatial-semantic graph-based reasoning network is designed to improve the contextual representation of visual objects with salient spatial and semantic relational connectivities, guided by the explicit relationships of the objects’ spatial positions and their scene graph. We use implicit relationship modelling for potential relationship interactions before explicit modelling to improve the fault tolerance of explicit relationship detection. Then the visual and textual semantic representations are refined jointly via inter-modal interactive attention and cross-modal alignment. To correlate the context of objects with the textual context, we further refine the visual semantic representation via cross-level object-sentence and word-image-based interactive attention. Extensive experiments validate that the proposed hybrid-modal interaction with implicit and explicit modelling is more beneficial for image-text matching. And the proposed
Hire
obtains new state-of-the-art results on MS-COCO and Flickr30K benchmarks.
Circuit Modules for Flexible Locomotion
Authors: Picton Laurence , Pallucchi Irene , Fontanel Pierre , Bertuzzi Maria , Song Jianren , El Manira Abdeljabbar
Published: January 2025

Locomotion, like all behaviors, possesses an inherent flexibility that allows for the scaling of movement kinematic features, such as speed and vigor, in response to an ever-changing external world and internal drives. This flexibility is embedded in the organization of the spinal locomotor circuits, which encode and decode commands from the brainstem and proprioceptive feedback. This review highlights our current understanding of the modular organization of these locomotor circuits and how this modularity endows them with intrinsic mechanisms to adjust speed and vigor, thereby contributing to the flexibility of locomotor movements.
Effect of Biofloc Culture on the Daily Rhythmicity of the Activity and Expression of Digestive Enzymes in Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus
Authors: Monroy-Dosta María del Carmen , Becerril-Cortés Daniel , Lazo Juan Pablo , Mena-López Arturo , Negrete-Redondo Pilar , Nogueda-Torres Eliasid , Navarro-Guillén Carmen , Mata-Sotres José Antonio
Published: January 2025

Biofloc technology (BFT) has recently attracted great attention due to minimal water exchange and reduced feed intake. This study aimed to recognize daily changes in the digestive physiology of Oreochromis niloticus between a traditional system and BFT. The enzyme activity of trypsin (try), chymotrypsin (chy), leucine aminopeptidase (lap), alkaline proteases (alk), lipase (lip), and amylase (amy), along with the gene expression of trypsin (try), chymotrypsin (chy), pepsin (pep), amylase (amy), and phospholipase (pla) were measured throughout a daily cycle. Samples were taken every 4 h in a 24 h cycle under a 12:12 L:D photoperiod. During 60 days, fish were feed three times a day (zeitgeber time, ZT: 0, 4, and 8) with a fishmeal‐based diet containing 32% of crude protein and 5% of lipid, where molasses was added as a carbon source in BFT. No significant differences were found in fish performance among treatments at the end of the experiment. The activity of all tested enzymes significantly (p < 0.05) increases during the dark period in both treatments, where the same activity pattern was found in try and lip. The maximum expression levels of digestive gene enzymes between treatments show a marked effect dependent on the presence of light and dark phases. The cosinor analysis showed an activity in try, lap, and lip with a significant rhythmicity (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrate that some processes related to the digestive physiology of tilapia that respond directly to daily rhythmicity are modified under the constant presence of feed in BFT. These findings should be considered when establishing new optimized culture protocols.
Technoeconomic Feasibility of Renewable Energy Systems for Sporting Stadiums
Authors: Rashid Latif Bukari , Musah Adamu , Amoah Richmond Kwesi
Published: January 2025

The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire highlighted the substantial energy demands of major sporting events, traditionally met by conventional, and nonrenewable sources. This study investigates the technoeconomic feasibility and environmental benefits of integrating solar and wind energy systems into the six stadiums used for the 2024 AFCON to enhance sustainability, long‐term economic benefits, and reduced carbon emissions. Utilizing the hybrid optimization of multiple electric renewables (HOMER) software for simulation and optimization, and the engineering equation solver for mathematical modeling, this study assesses the energy demand and potential renewable energy contributions for stadiums in Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, Bouaké, Korhogo, and San Pedro. The findings reveal that grid purchases dominate the energy mix across all cities, with varying contributions from solar and wind energy. Abidjan achieves 20.1% renewable energy penetration, while San Pedro reaches 69.9%. The proposed hybrid renewable energy systems offer substantial economic benefits, including payback periods of less than 2 years and high internal rates of return (IRR), with surplus energy generated in some locations potentially sold back to the grid. Additionally, the environmental impact assessment indicates an estimated annual CO2 reduction of 6518.25 metric tonnes cumulatively, equivalent to planting ~2.17 million trees over 20 years. This study provides a detailed technoeconomic analysis, demonstrating the viability of hybrid wind–solar systems in large sports venues and contributing valuable insights for future implementations of renewable energy technologies in the sports infrastructure sector.
Consumer Savings and Digital Remittance in Open Banking: Insights From Bibliometric and Geospatial Econometric Analysis
Authors: Niankara Ibrahim , Hassan Hassan Ismail , Traoret Rachidatou I. , Islam Abu Reza Mohammad
Published: January 2025

Open banking (OB) refers to financial institutions opening their data and services to external parties via application programming interfaces (APIs), a practice that has been increasingly adopted globally since its 2018 regulatory inception in the United Kingdom. Despite its growth, there is still a lack of academic studies examining its impact on consumer financial behaviors on a global scale. This study addresses this gap by exploring OB’s influence on consumers’ formal saving and digital remittance behaviors worldwide. Using a mixed methods design, we combine bibliometric analysis and geospatial econometric modeling on Scopus OB bibliographic data and consumer financial preferences data from 2021 to 2022 across 139 countries. While the bibliometric results highlight the need for more international collaborations in OB research that reflect the ongoing collaborations in its implementation around the world, the econometric findings reveal significantly positive benefits for consumers globally, increasing the likelihood of formal saving and digital remittance. Specifically, consumers in countries with Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2)–regulated initiatives, market‐driven initiatives, and other non‐PSD2 initiatives show higher marginal utilities (MUs) from digital remittance (39.1%–56.7%) compared to those in countries without OB initiatives. Additionally, consumers in PSD2 and market‐driven countries exhibit higher MUs from formal saving by 61.8% and 37%, respectively, compared to those without OB initiatives. Overall, in addition to the implications for global open innovation, the paper provides reasonable evidence, supporting OB implementation to achieve several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the associated benefits to consumers’ worldwide.
Correlation Between Blood Glucose Fluctuations and Osteoporosis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Chen Fuhua , Wang Ping , Dai Fang , Zhang Qiu , Ying Ruixue , Ai Liya , Chen Yiqing
Published: January 2025

The purpose of this review is to investigate the impacts of blood glucose fluctuations on diabetic osteoporosis, a complication of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) that remains poorly understood. We reviewed the current evidence of the relationship between blood glucose fluctuations and diabetic osteoporosis in patients with T2DM. The findings indicate that blood glucose fluctuations may contribute to inhibiting the processes of bone formation and resorption, promoting diabetic osteoporosis and fractures in T2DM. Mechanistic studies, both in vitro and in vivo, reveal that these effects are largely mediated by oxidative stress, advanced glycation end products, inflammatory mediators, and multiple pathways inducing cell apoptosis or autophagy. Thus, maintaining the long‐term stability of blood glucose levels emerges as a target to be pursued in clinical practice in order to safely reduce mean blood glucose and for its direct effects on osteoporosis and fractures in T2DM.
Survival Outcomes of a Large Cohort of Acral Melanoma Patients Treated at a South African Referral Hospital
Authors: Tod Bianca , Esterhuizen Tonya , Visser Willem , Kotze Maritha , Bowcock Anne , Schneider Johann , Burger Henriette
Published: January 2025

Acral melanoma (AM) is the most common type of melanoma arising in people with skin of color. AM is often diagnosed late and associated with poor outcomes. Melanoma outcomes are also impacted by socioeconomic status. Although uncommon, AM is a public health concern in South Africa because of its epidemiology and association with health access issues, which predispose to late diagnosis. South African patients are managed based on staging systems and treatment guidelines developed for other populations. This cohort study aimed to determine the survival outcomes in a cohort of South African AM patients and how these were associated with demographic, clinical, pathological, and management data. The study included patients diagnosed at a referral hospital between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2021. Analysis occurred in 2022 and 2023. The main outcomes of interest were survival time in months (overall and progression‐free, OS and PFS). Survival outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier survival curves. Survival probabilities were compared between subgroups using log‐rank tests. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards models to assess factors associated with survival. Ninety‐one patients were included in the analysis. After a median follow‐up of 28 months (range: 0–151 months), 48 patients (52.7%) had died. The 3‐ and 5‐year survival rates for the entire cohort were 64.8% and 56.0% respectively. Notably, the OS and PFS were not affected by the population group (p value = 0.628, not significant). The examination of OS and PFS by the clinical stage group demonstrated proportional hazard. Although SLNB comprised a small group, the results appear to be prognostically valid, specifically for OS. The results indicate that the AJCC eighth edition staging is broadly applicable to AM in this population; however, a rigorous comparison was not possible. SLNB appears to be prognostically valid. No difference in survival outcomes by population group was shown.
Nationwide Surveillance of Fowl Adenovirus Infection and Coinfection With Other Diseases on Slaughter Broiler in South Korea
Authors: Kim Hye-Ryoung , Song Hye-Soon , Jang Il , Thai Tuyet Ngan , Kim Hyeon-Su , Kwon Yong-Kuk , Her Moon
Published: January 2025

Fowl adenovirus (FAdV) is an infectious pathogen causing economic loss to the poultry industry worldwide. Nationwide surveillance was performed to determine the prevalence and distribution of FAdV with 725 samples collected from145 broiler farms in South Korea. A total of 64 strains were identified using PCR and phylogenetic analysis based on a sequence of hexon gene; 23 of the 64 were FAdV‐11/D, 19 were FAdV‐5/B, and 12 were FAdV‐8b/E. FAdV‐1/A and FAdV‐8a/E were three strains, respectively; only one strain of FAdV‐2/D was detected, and there was no FAdV‐4/C. FAdV was detected very frequently at 44.1% of 145 farms, but inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) diagnosed by microscopy was confirmed in 13.8%. Poultry productivity was compared between farms with a single disease or noninfection and farms with multiple infectious diseases such as colibacillosis, antigenic variant infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) infection, infectious bronchitis, and/or IBH. Coinfection of three or more diseases, including IBH, variant IBDV infection, and infectious bronchitis, had a more deleterious effect on poultry productivity. This study provides that prevalence of various species of FAdV and distribution with other diseases and highlights the need for comprehensive measures against multiple diseases concurrently affecting the broiler in South Korea.
Supplementary Table S6 from Phosphocreatine Promotes Epigenetic Reprogramming to Facilitate Glioblastoma Growth Through Stabilizing BRD2
Authors: Chen Lishu , Qi Qinghui , Jiang Xiaoqing , Wu Jin , Li Yuanyuan , Liu Zhaodan , Cai Yan , Ran Haowen , Zhang Songyang , Zhang Cheng , Wu Huiran , Cao Shuailiang , Mi Lanjuan , Xiao Dake , Huang Haohao , Jiang Shuai , Wu Jiaqi , Li Bohan , Xie Jiong , Qi Ji , Li Fangye , Liang Panpan , Han Qiuying , Wu Min , Zhou Wenchao , Wang Chenhui , Zhang Weina , Jiang Xin , Zhang Kun , Li Huiyan , Zhang Xuemin , Li Ailing , Zhou Tao , Man Jianghong
Published: January 2025

Supplementary Table S6 shows the sequences of shRNAs used in this study.
Supplementary Table S2 from Phosphocreatine Promotes Epigenetic Reprogramming to Facilitate Glioblastoma Growth Through Stabilizing BRD2
Authors: Chen Lishu , Qi Qinghui , Jiang Xiaoqing , Wu Jin , Li Yuanyuan , Liu Zhaodan , Cai Yan , Ran Haowen , Zhang Songyang , Zhang Cheng , Wu Huiran , Cao Shuailiang , Mi Lanjuan , Xiao Dake , Huang Haohao , Jiang Shuai , Wu Jiaqi , Li Bohan , Xie Jiong , Qi Ji , Li Fangye , Liang Panpan , Han Qiuying , Wu Min , Zhou Wenchao , Wang Chenhui , Zhang Weina , Jiang Xin , Zhang Kun , Li Huiyan , Zhang Xuemin , Li Ailing , Zhou Tao , Man Jianghong
Published: January 2025

Supplementary Table S2 shows CKB IHC staining score in human glioma microarray.
Gut Microbiota-Bone Axis
Authors: Indrio Flavia , Salatto Alessia
Published: January 2025

Background:: Knowledge of the complex interplay between gut microbiota and human health is gradually increasing as it has just recently been a field of such great interest. Summary:: Recent studies have reported that communities of microorganisms inhabiting the gut influence the immune system through cellular responses and shape many physiological and pathophysiological aspects of the body, including muscle and bone metabolism (formation and resorption). Specifically, the gut microbiota affects skeletal homeostasis through changes in host metabolism, the immune system, hormone secretion, and the gut-brain axis. The major role on gut-bone axis is due to short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). They have the ability to influence regulatory T-cell (Tregs) development and activate bone metabolism through the action of Wnt10. SCFA production may be a mechanism by which the microbial community, by increasing the serum level of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), leads to the growth and regulation of bone homeostasis. A specific SCFA, butyrate, diffuses into the bone marrow where it expands Tregs. The Tregs induce production of the Wnt ligand Wnt10b by CD8+ T cells, leading to activation of Wnt signaling and stimulation of bone formation. At the hormonal level, the effect of the gut microbiota on bone homeostasis is expressed through the biphasic action of serotonin. Some microbiota, such as spore-forming microbes, regulate the level of serotonin in the gut, serum, and feces. Another group of bacterial species (Lactococcus, Mucispirillum, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium) can increase the level of peripheral/vascular leptin, which in turn manages bone homeostasis through the action of brain serotonin.
Effective Target Sites in Thalamic Stimulation for Focal Hand Dystonia
Authors: Hashimoto Takao , Tanimura Jun , Yako Takehiro
Published: January 2025

Introduction: Functional thalamic surgery is known for alleviating isolated focal hand dystonia; however, the optimal target site in the thalamus is not determined. This study aimed to identify effective sites for thalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating this condition. Methods: Four patients presenting with focal hand dystonia underwent thalamic DBS. Effective stimulation sites were identified through a combination of physiological and radiological mapping. Results: All patients exhibited significant improvement in their hand dystonia. The most effective stimulation sites were localized in the anterior regions of the ventral intermedius nucleus (Vim), involving both Vim and the ventro-oral nucleus (VO). Conclusion: Thalamic DBS proves highly effective in managing focal hand dystonia. The identified effective stimulation sites suggest the involvement of both the pallidothalamocortical and cerebellothalamocortical pathways in its pathophysiology.
Social Life and Communication Skills of School-Age Children with Congenital Hearing Loss Who Received Cochlear Implants at an Advanced Age
Authors: Shirai Kyoko , Saito Yusuke , Satoh Keiichi , Tomizawa Ayako , Nonami Naoko , Maeda Sachi , Nishiyama Nobuhiro , Tomioka Ryota , Tsukahara Kiyoaki
Published: January 2025

Introduction: Despite improved hearing, children who receive cochlear implants (CIs) at a later age encounter difficulties in adapting to society, exposing them to psychological and social risks. This study contributes to the conceptualisation of preventive interventions in schools to address potential issues so that these children can play a more active role in society.
Methods: A total of 52 children (aged 3–12 years) who received CIs at 30 months of age were assessed using the Asahide-Shiki Social Adaptive skills test, which evaluates children’s social skills on four domains: (A) language, (B) everyday life, (C) social life, (D) communication.
Results: Overall, the average score of children who receive CIs at a later age was lower than that of their hearing peers. Pre-school children obtained statistically lower scores in all skills. While this general lag in skill development was no longer observed in the lower grades of elementary school, the upper-grade school children presented lower scores than their hearing peers, although only those pertaining to everyday and social life skills were statistically significant. Accordingly, the average scores were distributed in an inverted V shape among age groups.
Conclusion: These results suggest that children who receive CIs at a later age develop their social skills later than their peers with normal hearing in preschool, catch up to their peers in the 1st to 3rd grades, and then lag in the 4th to 6th grades. Accordingly, acquiring age-appropriate social skills in the upper grades remains a challenge for children who obtained CIs at the age of approximately 3, suggesting the need for intervention programs for school-age children even when they do not show significant language acquisition delays.
Random Survival Forest Machine Learning for the Prediction of Cardiovascular Events Among Patients With a Measured Lipoprotein(a) Level: A Model Development Study
Authors: Lusk Jay B. , O’Brien Emily C. , Hammill Bradley G. , Li Fan , Mac Grory Brian , Patel Manesh R. , Pagidipati Neha J. , Shah Nishant P.
Published: January 2025

BACKGROUND:

Established risk models may not be applicable to patients at higher cardiovascular risk with a measured Lp(a) (lipoprotein[a]) level, a causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

METHODS:

This was a model development study. The data source was the Nashville Biosciences Lp(a) data set, which includes clinical data from the Vanderbilt University Health System. We included patients with an Lp(a) measured between 1989 and 2022 and who had at least 1 year of electronic health record data before measurement of an Lp(a) level. The end point of interest was time to first myocardial infarction, stroke/TIA, or coronary revascularization. A random survival forest model was derived and compared with a Cox proportional hazards model derived from traditional cardiovascular risk factors (ie, the variables used to estimate the Pooled Cohort Equations for the primary prevention population and the variables used to estimate the Second Manifestations of Arterial Disease and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Risk Score for Secondary Prevention scores for the secondary prevention population). Model discrimination was evaluated using Harrell’s C-index.

RESULTS:

A total of 4369 patients were included in the study (49.5% were female, mean age was 51 [SD 18] years, and mean Lp(a) level was 33.6 [38.6] mg/dL, of whom 23.7% had a prior cardiovascular event). The random survival forest model outperformed the traditional risk factor models in the test set (c-index, 0.82 [random forest model] versus 0.69 [primary prevention model] versus 0.80 [secondary prevention model]). These results were similar when restricted to a primary prevention population and under various strategies to handle competing risk. A Cox proportional hazard model based on the top 25 variables from the random forest model had a c-index of 0.80.

CONCLUSIONS:

A random survival forest model outperformed a model using traditional risk factors for predicting cardiovascular events in patients with a measured Lp(a) level.
Evaluation of a Machine Learning-Guided Strategy for Elevated Lipoprotein(a) Screening in Health Systems
Authors: Aminorroaya Arya , Dhingra Lovedeep S. , Oikonomou Evangelos K. , Khera Rohan
Published: January 2025

BACKGROUND:

While universal screening for Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is increasingly recommended, <0.5% of patients undergo Lp(a) testing. Here, we assessed the feasibility of deploying Algorithmic Risk Inspection for Screening Elevated Lp(a) (ARISE), a validated machine learning tool, to health system electronic health records to increase the yield of Lp(a) testing.

METHODS:

We randomly sampled 100 000 patients from the Yale-New Haven Health System to evaluate the feasibility of ARISE deployment. We also evaluated Lp(a)-tested populations in the Yale-New Haven Health System (n=7981) and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (n=10 635) to assess the association of ARISE score with elevated Lp(a). To compare the representativeness of the Lp(a)-tested population, we included 456 815 participants from the UK Biobank and 23 280 from 3 US-based cohorts of Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities, Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults, and Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

RESULTS:

Among 100 000 randomly selected Yale-New Haven Health System patients, 413 (0.4%) had undergone Lp(a) measurement. ARISE score could be computed for 31 586 patients based on existing data, identifying 2376 (7.5%) patients with a high probability of elevated Lp(a). A positive ARISE score was associated with significantly higher odds of elevated Lp(a) in the Yale-New Haven Health System (odds ratio, 1.87 [95% CI, 1.65–2.12]) and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (odds ratio, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.24–1.60]). The Lp(a)-tested population significantly differed from other study cohorts in terms of ARISE features.

CONCLUSIONS:

We demonstrate the feasibility of deployment of ARISE in US health systems to define the risk of elevated Lp(a), enabling a high-yield testing strategy. We also confirm the markedly low adoption of Lp(a) testing, which is also being restricted to a highly selected population.