bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The impact of resveratrol on the outcome of the in vitro fertilization: an exploratory randomized placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Conforti A. , Iorio G. G. , Di Girolamo R. , Rovetto M. Y. , Picarelli S. , Cariati F. , Gentile R. , D’Amato A. , Gliozheni O. , Fioretti B. , Alviggi C.
Published: April 2024

Background

Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic compound present in plants and red wine with many potential health benefits. This compound has various anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties and can improve cellular mitochondrial activity. This trial was designed to evaluate the effect on the outcome of IVF of Resveratrol supplementation in women > 35 years with good ovarian reserve (AMH > 1.2 ng/ml). Women were randomized to receive or placebo or Resveratrol (150 mg per day) for three months preceding the ovarian stimulation (OS). All patients were stimulated with a starting dose of recombinant FSH ranging between 150 and 300 IU according to age and ovarian reserve. GnRH antagonist flexible protocol was adopted for pituitary suppression. Triggering was performed with urinary hCG (10.000 IU).

Results

The study was conducted between January 2019 and December 2022 with aa total of 37 cases and 33 controls were recruited. No statistically significant differences in the number of oocytes retrieved, biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were observed between women treated with resveratrol and control group. A statistically significant increase in the follicle output rate (FORT) and follicle-to oocyte index (FOI) was observed in women treated with resveratrol-based nutraceutical (0.92 versus 0.77 [p = 0.02], and 0.77 versus 0.64 [p = 0.006], respectively).

Conclusions

Preliminary results from this study indicate that pre-treatment with resveratrol may improve ovarian sensitivity to exogenous FSH, which in turn may decrease the risk of hypo-response to OS in advanced reproductive age women.
Benchmarking bioinformatic virus identification tools using real-world metagenomic data across biomes
Authors: Wu Ling-Yi , Wijesekara Yasas , Piedade Gonçalo J. , Pappas Nikolaos , Brussaard Corina P. D. , Dutilh Bas E.
Published: April 2024

Background

As most viruses remain uncultivated, metagenomics is currently the main method for virus discovery. Detecting viruses in metagenomic data is not trivial. In the past few years, many bioinformatic virus identification tools have been developed for this task, making it challenging to choose the right tools, parameters, and cutoffs. As all these tools measure different biological signals, and use different algorithms and training and reference databases, it is imperative to conduct an independent benchmarking to give users objective guidance.

Results

We compare the performance of nine state-of-the-art virus identification tools in thirteen modes on eight paired viral and microbial datasets from three distinct biomes, including a new complex dataset from Antarctic coastal waters. The tools have highly variable true positive rates (0–97%) and false positive rates (0–30%). PPR-Meta best distinguishes viral from microbial contigs, followed by DeepVirFinder, VirSorter2, and VIBRANT. Different tools identify different subsets of the benchmarking data and all tools, except for Sourmash, find unique viral contigs. Performance of tools improved with adjusted parameter cutoffs, indicating that adjustment of parameter cutoffs before usage should be considered.

Conclusions

Together, our independent benchmarking facilitates selecting choices of bioinformatic virus identification tools and gives suggestions for parameter adjustments to viromics researchers.
The (cost-)effectiveness of early intervention (MBT-early) versus standard protocolized treatment (CBT) for emerging borderline personality disorder in adolescents (the EARLY study): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Remeeus Melissa G. A. , Clarke Sharon L. , Feenstra Dine J. , Van Eeren Hester , Smits Maaike L. , Debruyne Sara , Kouijzer Mirjam E. J. , Luyten Patrick , Scholte Ron H. J. , Hutsebaut Joost
Published: April 2024

Background

Although clinical guidelines prioritize the treatment of depression and anxiety in young persons, there is accumulating evidence that the presence of symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with the limited effectiveness of these standard treatments. These findings stress the need for interventions addressing early-stage BPD in young people with presenting symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate the (cost-)effectiveness of an early intervention programme for BPD (MBT-early) compared to first-choice psychological treatment for depression and anxiety according to Dutch treatment guidelines (CBT), in adolescents with either depression, anxiety, or both, in combination with early-stage BPD.

Methods

This study is a multi-centre randomized controlled trial. A total of 132 adolescents, presenting with either depression, anxiety, or both and significant BPD features will be randomized to either MBT-early or CBT. The severity of BPD, symptoms of depression and anxiety, personality, social and academic functioning, and quality of life will be assessed at baseline, end of treatment, and at 12-, 18-, and 24-month follow-up, along with medical costs and costs of productivity losses for cost-effectiveness analyses.

Discussion

This study will provide an empirical evaluation of the potential surplus value of early intervention in young people for whom treatment oriented at common mental disorders like anxiety and depression may be insufficient given their underlying personality problems.

Trial registration

Netherlands Trial Register, NL9569. Registered on June 15, 2021.
Early prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus using maternal demographic and clinical risk factors
Authors: Wu Yanqi , Hamelmann Paul , van der Ven Myrthe , Asvadi Sima , van der Hout-van der Jagt M. Beatrijs , Oei S. Guid , Mischi Massimo , Bergmans Jan , Long Xi
Published: April 2024

Objective

To build and validate an early risk prediction model for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) based on first-trimester electronic medical records including maternal demographic and clinical risk factors.

Methods

To develop and validate a GDM prediction model, two datasets were used in this retrospective study. One included data of 14,015 pregnant women from Máxima Medical Center (MMC) in the Netherlands. The other was from an open-source database nuMoM2b including data of 10,038 nulliparous pregnant women, collected in the USA. Widely used maternal demographic and clinical risk factors were considered for modeling. A GDM prediction model based on elastic net logistic regression was trained from a subset of the MMC data. Internal validation was performed on the remaining MMC data to evaluate the model performance. For external validation, the prediction model was tested on an external test set from the nuMoM2b dataset.

Results

An area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.81 was achieved for early prediction of GDM on the MMC test data, comparable to the performance reported in previous studies. While the performance markedly decreased to an AUC of 0.69 when testing the MMC-based model on the external nuMoM2b test data, close to the performance trained and tested on the nuMoM2b dataset only (AUC = 0.70).
PermuteDDS: a permutable feature fusion network for drug-drug synergy prediction
Authors: Zhao Xinwei , Xu Junqing , Shui Youyuan , Xu Mengdie , Hu Jie , Liu Xiaoyan , Che Kai , Wang Junjie , Liu Yun
Published: April 2024

Motivation

Drug combination therapies have shown promise in clinical cancer treatments. However, it is hard to experimentally identify all drug combinations for synergistic interaction even with high-throughput screening due to the vast space of potential combinations. Although a number of computational methods for drug synergy prediction have proven successful in narrowing down this space, fusing drug pairs and cell line features effectively still lacks study, hindering current algorithms from understanding the complex interaction between drugs and cell lines.

Results

In this paper, we proposed a Permutable feature fusion network for Drug-Drug Synergy prediction, named PermuteDDS. PermuteDDS takes multiple representations of drugs and cell lines as input and employs a permutable fusion mechanism to combine drug and cell line features. In experiments, PermuteDDS exhibits state-of-the-art performance on two benchmark data sets. Additionally, the results on independent test set grouped by different tissues reveal that PermuteDDS has good generalization performance. We believed that PermuteDDS is an effective and valuable tool for identifying synergistic drug combinations. It is publicly available at https://github.com/littlewei-lazy/PermuteDDS.

Scientific contribution

First, this paper proposes a permutable feature fusion network for predicting drug synergy termed PermuteDDS, which extract diverse information from multiple drug representations and cell line representations. Second, the permutable fusion mechanism combine the drug and cell line features by integrating information of different channels, enabling the utilization of complex relationships between drugs and cell lines. Third, comparative and ablation experiments provide evidence of the efficacy of PermuteDDS in predicting drug-drug synergy.
Performance evaluation of lung sounds classification using deep learning under variable parameters
Authors: Wang Zhaoping , Sun Zhiqiang
Published: April 2024

It is desired to apply deep learning models (DLMs) to assist physicians in distinguishing abnormal/normal lung sounds as quickly as possible. The performance of DLMs depends on feature-related and model-related parameters heavily. In this paper, the relationship between performance and feature-related parameters of a DLM, i.e., convolutional neural network (CNN) is analyzed through experiments. ICBHI 2017 is selected as the lung sounds dataset. The sensitivity analysis of classification performance of the DLM on three parameters, i.e., the length of lung sounds frame, overlap percentage (OP) of successive frames and feature type, is performed. An augmented and balanced dataset is acquired by the way of white noise addition, time stretching and pitch shifting. The spectrogram and mel frequency cepstrum coefficients of lung sounds are used as features to the CNN, respectively. The results of training and test show that there exists significant difference on performance among various parameter combinations. The parameter OP is performance sensitive. The higher OP, the better performance. It is concluded that for fixed sampling frequency 8 kHz, frame size 128, OP 75% and spectrogram feature is optimum under which the performance is relatively better and no extra computation or storage resources are required.
Dyslipidemia and associated factors among adult cardiac patients: a hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study
Authors: Abera Alemayehu , Worede Abebaw , Hirigo Agete Tadewos , Alemayehu Rahel , Ambachew Sintayehu
Published: April 2024

Background

Atherosclerotic vascular diseases are a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality. Dyslipidemia, a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, remains poorly understood among adult cardiac patients in in the study area. This study aims to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia and identify associated factors in this population.

Methods

Hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from May to August 2021. A total of 319 participants (153 cardiac cases, 166 healthy controls, aged ≥ 18) were included in the study. Socio-demographic, anthropometric, behavioral, and clinical data were collected using the WHO STEPS survey instrument through systematic sampling. Overnight fasting blood samples were obtained, and serum lipid profiles were analyzed using a COBAS 6000 analyzer. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 20.0, employing bivariable and multivariable logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results

The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia, encompassing at least one lipid abnormality, was 80.3% among 256 participants. Among cardiac cases, the prevalence rates were as follows: 72.5% for low HDL-cholesterol, 12.4% for hypercholesterolemia, 9.8% for elevated LDL-cholesterol, and 30.1% for hypertriglyceridemia. In controls, corresponding rates were 69.9%, 9.6%, 7.2%, and 32.5%. Significant factors linked to low HDL- cholesterol were female gender (AOR: 2.8, 95% CI 1.7–4.7) and obesity (AOR: 2.8, 95% CI 1.1–7.5). Abdominal obesity was associated with hypercholesterolemia (AOR: 5.2, 95% CI 1.9–14.3) and elevated LDL-cholesterol (AOR: 5.1, 95% CI 1.6–15.8). High blood pressure, overweight, and abdominal obesity were significantly linked to hypertriglyceridemia (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Dyslipidemia was high among the study participants. Overweight, obesity, central adiposity, and high blood pressure were significantly associated with dyslipidemia in cardiac patients. This alarms the need for lipid profile assessment for patients periodically, with treatment follow-up to monitor any rising patterns and cardiovascular-related risks.
Studying animal locomotion with multiple data loggers: quantifying time drift between tags
Authors: White Connor F. , Lauder George V.
Published: April 2024

Temporal accuracy is a fundamental characteristic of logging technology and is needed to correlate data streams. Single biologgers sensing animal movement (accelerometers, gyroscope, magnetometers, collectively inertial measurement unit; IMU) have been extensively used to study the ecology of animals. To better capture whole body movement and increase the accuracy of behavior classification, there is a need to deploy multiple loggers on a single individual to capture the movement of multiple body parts. Yet due to temporal drift, accurately aligning multiple IMU datasets can be problematic, especially as deployment duration increases. In this paper we quantify temporal drift and errors in commercially available IMU data loggers using a combination of robotic and animal borne experiments. The variance in drift rate within a tag is over an order of magnitude lower (σ = 0.001 s h−1) than the variance between tags (σ = 0.015 s·h−1), showing that recording frequency is a characteristic of each tag and not a random variable. Furthermore, we observed a large offset (0.54 ± 0.016 s·h−1) between two groups of tags that had differing recording frequencies, and we observed three instances of instantaneous temporal jumps within datasets introducing errors into the data streams. Finally, we show that relative drift rates can be estimated even when deployed on animals displaying various behaviors without the tags needing to be simultaneously moved. For the tags used in this study, drift rates can vary significantly between tags, are repeatable, and can be accurately measured in the field. The temporal alignment of multiple tag datasets allows researchers to deploy multiple tags on an individual animal which will greatly increase our knowledge of movement kinematics and expand the range of movement characteristics that can be used for behavioral classification.
Complex PTSD symptom clusters and executive function in UK Armed Forces veterans: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Biscoe Natasha , New Emma , Murphy Dominic
Published: April 2024

Background

Less is known about complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) than postrraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military veterans, yet this population may be at greater risk of the former diagnosis. Executive function impairment has been linked to PTSD treatment outcomes. The current study therefore aimed to explore possible associations between each CPTSD symptom cluster and executive function to understand if similar treatment trajectories might be observed with the disorder.

Methods

A total of 428 veterans from a national charity responded to a self-report questionnaire which measured CPTSD symptom clusters using the International Trauma Questionnaire, and executive function using the Adult Executive Function Inventory. Single and multiple linear regression models were used to analyse the relationship between CPTSD symptom clusters and executive function, including working memory and inhibition.

Results

Each CPTSD symptom cluster was significantly associated with higher executive function impairment, even after controlling for possible mental health confounding variables. Emotion dysregulation was the CPTSD symptom cluster most strongly associated with executive function impairment.

Conclusions

This is the first study to explore the relationship between executive function and CPTSD symptom clusters. The study builds on previous findings and suggests that executive function could be relevant to CPTSD treatment trajectories, as is the case with PTSD alone. Future research should further explore such clinical implications.
The washback of the National Matriculation English Test on senior high school English learning outcomes: do test takers from different provinces think alike?
Authors: Zhang Hao
Published: April 2024

The Chinese National Matriculation English Test (NMET) has a test purpose of producing beneficial washback to promote senior high school English teaching and learning. This article presents a large-scale nationwide survey research on student perceptions of the NMET’s before-test washback on their English learning outcomes in senior high school and the influence of the factor of home province on their views. The research participants were 20,062 first-year undergraduates from 103 universities in the Chinese mainland, and findings showed that the NMET facilitated their senior high school English learning outcomes in the surveyed skills both tested and not tested in the NMET. However, there were noticeable differences between students’ expectations and realities. It was also found that home province was a significant predictor of student perceptions, though the strengths of the relationships varied. Furthermore, in order for more beneficial NMET washback, the students suggested making the NMET speaking and listening subtests mandatory across all provincial regions and administering a nationally unified NMET form. This study calls on future researchers to hold a close lens to the complexity and dynamism of the NMET washback over time and across situations.
Extraction and restoration of scratched murals based on hyperspectral imaging—a case study of murals in the East Wall of the sixth grotto of Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China
Authors: Qiao Kezhen , Hou Miaole , Lyu Shuqiang , Li Lihong
Published: April 2024

Restoring the murals' various kinds of deteriorations is urgently necessary given the growing awareness of the need to protect cultural relics. Virtual restoration starts with an accurate extraction of deterioration. It is challenging to precisely extract scratches from murals because of their intricate information. Hyperspectral images are used to accentuate scratches of mural in this paper. First, a technique for improving information was put forth that involved the transformation of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a high-pass filter. Second, by using multi-scale bottom hat transformation, Otsu threshold segmentation, and non-deterioration mask, the deterioration information was extracted from the enhanced result. Third, the morphological transformation and connected component analysis were used to denoise the extracted results. Additionally, the scratched image was repaired using an improved exemplar-based region filling method. The results of deterioration information under different enhancement methods were discussed, and the deterioration extraction method proposed in this paper was contrasted with other deterioration extraction methods. The extraction accuracy was greatly increased by the suggested method. Additionally, we assessed the accuracy of various virtual restoration techniques for image restoration and discovered that our suggested restoration method did a good job of maintaining the structural integrity of the mural's information.
Hyperoxemia and hypoxemia impair cellular oxygenation: a study in healthy volunteers
Authors: Hilderink Bashar N. , Crane Reinier F. , van den Bogaard Bas , Pillay Janesh , Juffermans Nicole P.
Published: April 2024

Introduction

Administration of oxygen therapy is common, yet there is a lack of knowledge on its ability to prevent cellular hypoxia as well as on its potential toxicity. Consequently, the optimal oxygenation targets in clinical practice remain unresolved. The novel PpIX technique measures the mitochondrial oxygen tension in the skin (mitoPO2) which allows for non-invasive investigation on the effect of hypoxemia and hyperoxemia on cellular oxygen availability.

Results

During hypoxemia, SpO2 was 80 (77–83)% and PaO2 45(38–50) mmHg for 15 min. MitoPO2 decreased from 42(35–51) at baseline to 6(4.3–9)mmHg (p < 0.001), despite 16(12–16)% increase in cardiac output which maintained global oxygen delivery (DO2). During hyperoxic breathing, an FiO2 of 40% decreased mitoPO2 to 20 (9–27) mmHg. Cardiac output was unaltered during hyperoxia, but perfused De Backer density was reduced by one-third (p < 0.01). A PaO2 < 100 mmHg and > 200 mmHg were both associated with a reduction in mitoPO2.

Conclusions

Hypoxemia decreases mitoPO2 profoundly, despite complete compensation of global oxygen delivery. In addition, hyperoxemia also decreases mitoPO2, accompanied by a reduction in microcirculatory perfusion. These results suggest that mitoPO2 can be used to titrate oxygen support.
Tokenomics in the Metaverse: understanding the lead–lag effect among emerging crypto tokens
Authors: Guan Chong , Liu Wenting , Yu Yinghui , Ding Ding
Published: April 2024

The convergence of blockchain and immersive technologies has resulted in the popularity of Metaverse platforms and their cryptocurrencies, known as Metaverse tokens. There has been little research into tokenomics in these emerging tokens. Building upon the information dissemination theory, this research examines the role of trading volume in the returns of these tokens. An empirical study was conducted using the trading volumes and returns of 197 Metaverse tokens over 12 months to derive the latent grouping structure with spectral clustering and to determine the relationships between daily returns of different token clusters through augmented vector autoregression. The results show that trading volume is a strong predictor of lead–lag patterns, which supports the speed of adjustment hypothesis. This is the first large-scale study that documented the lead–lag effect among Metaverse tokens. Unlike previous studies that focus on market capitalization, our findings suggest that trade volume contains vital information concerning cross-correlation patterns.
Psychometric network analysis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) in Paraguayan general population
Authors: Caycho-Rodríguez Tomás , Travezaño-Cabrera Aaron , Torales Julio , Barrios Iván , Vilca Lindsey W. , Samaniego-Pinho Antonio , Moreta-Herrera Rodrigo , Reyes-Bossio Mario , Barria-Asenjo Nicol A. , Ayala-Colqui Jesús , Garcia-Cadena Cirilo H.
Published: April 2024

Background

Depression and anxiety are two of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders worldwide, both in the general population and in outpatient clinical settings.

Objective

This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) based on network analysis metrics.

Methods

A total of 911 Paraguayans (23.71% women and 76.29% men; mean age 31.25 years, SD = 10.63), selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling, participated in the study. Network analysis was used to evaluate the internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance between men and women.

Results

The results revealed that the PHQ-4 is a unidimensional measure through Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA). Reliability, through structural consistency, identified that 100% of the time, only a single dimension was obtained, and all items remained stable, as they were always replicated within the empirical dimension. The unidimensional structure has shown evidence of configural invariance; therefore, the network structure functioned equally among the different sex groups.

Conclusion

The PHQ-4 presented optimal preliminary evidence of validity based on its internal structure, reliability, and invariance between sexes. Therefore, it may be useful as an accurate and brief measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the Paraguayan context.
Embryotoxicity of fluconazole on developing chick embryos
Authors: Sattar Rao Zahid , Bilal Asif , Bashir Sadia , Iftikhar Anisa , Yaqoob Irfan
Published: April 2024

Background

Fluconazole is a first-generation triazole used as an antifungal treatment for skin, hair, and nail infections. The study aimed to assess the embryotoxicity and teratological effects of fluconazole on chick embryos. Fertilized eggs were divided into four groups: two experimental groups treated with different concentrations of fluconazole (0.1 ml/egg, 0.2 ml/egg) containing 12 and 11 eggs, respectively, one group treated with distilled water (10 eggs), and a control group (10 eggs) left untreated. The liquid form of fluconazole was administered on the 4th day of incubation, and observations were made on the 9th day.

Results

There were different anomalies observed in them like hydrocephaly, microcephaly shorting of the beak, agenesis, Amelia, micromelia, anophthalmia, microphthalmia, and kyphosis. There were also observed the morphometric measurements with a difference of significant (p < 0.001) and (p < 0.01) in CR length, body weight, head circumference, eye circumference, forelimb, and hind limb. Different vital organ defects were also observed in histological studies. Fluconazole in various combinations has been found to cause embryotoxicity and teratological consequences in chick embryos.

Conclusion

The current study showed that fluconazole is teratogenic in creating chick undeveloped organisms. The embryotoxic impacts were recorded on structural morphometric and graphic levels.
Ultra-wideband terahertz fingerprint enhancement sensing and inversion model supported by single-pixel reconfigurable graphene metasurface
Authors: Liu Bingwei , Peng Yan , Hao YuFan , Zhu Yiming , Chang Shengjiang , Zhuang Songlin
Published: April 2024

The molecular fingerprint sensing technology based on metasurface has unique attraction in the biomedical field. However, in the terahertz (THz) band, existing metasurface designs based on multi-pixel or angle multiplexing usually require more analyte amount or possess a narrower tuning bandwidth. Here, we propose a novel single-pixel graphene metasurface. Based on the synchronous voltage tuning, this metasurface enables ultra-wideband ($$\sim$$
∼
1.5 THz) fingerprint enhancement sensing of trace analytes, including chiral optical isomers, with a limit of detection (LoD) ≤ 0.64 μg/mm2. The enhancement of the fingerprint signal ($$\sim$$
∼
17.4 dB) originates from the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect excited by the metasurface, and the ideal overlap between the light field constrained by single-layer graphene (SLG) and ultra-thin analyte. Meanwhile, due to the unique nonlinear enhancement mechanism in graphene tuning, the absorption envelope distortion is inevitable. To solve this problem, a universal fingerprint spectrum inversion model is developed for the first time, and the restoration of standard fingerprints reaches Rmax2 ≥ 0.99. In addition, the asynchronous voltage tuning of the metasurface provides an opportunity for realizing the dynamic reconfiguration of EIT resonance and the slow light modulation in the broadband range. This work builds a bridge for ultra-wideband THz fingerprint sensing of trace analytes, and has potential applications in active spatial light modulators, slow light devices and dynamic imaging equipments.
Perspectives from Undergraduate Life Sciences Faculty: Are We Equipped to Effectively Accommodate Students With Disabilities in Our Classrooms?
Authors: Goodwin Emma C. , Pais Danielle , He Jingyi , Gin Logan E. , Brownell Sara E.
Published: April 2024

The authors interview life sciences faculty instructors to explore their motivation to provide accommodations for students with disabilities. They find that faculty motivation is largely influenced by personal belief that providing accommodations is “the right thing to do,” and argue that this is an inequitable system for both students and faculty.
Organizational Breast Cancer Data Mart: A Solution for Assessing Outcomes of Imaging and Treatment
Authors: Zuley Margarita L. , Silverstein Jonathan , Logue Durwin , Morgan Richard S. , Bhargava Rohit , McAuliffe Priscilla F. , Brufsky Adam M. , Bandos Andriy I. , Nishikawa Robert M.
Published: April 2024

PURPOSE

In the United States, a comprehensive national breast cancer registry (CR) does not exist. Thus, care and coverage decisions are based on data from population subsets, other countries, or models. We report a prototype real-world research data mart to assess mortality, morbidity, and costs for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

METHODS

With institutional review board approval and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) compliance, a multidisciplinary clinical and research data warehouse (RDW) expert group curated demographic, risk, imaging, pathology, treatment, and outcome data from the electronic health records (EHR), radiology (RIS), and CR for patients having breast imaging and/or a diagnosis of breast cancer in our institution from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2020. Domains were defined by prebuilt views to extract data denormalized according to requirements from the existing RDW using an export, transform, load pattern. Data dictionaries were included. Structured query language was used for data cleaning.

RESULTS

Five-hundred eighty-nine elements (EHR 311, RIS 211, and CR 67) were mapped to 27 domains; all, except one containing CR elements, had cancer and noncancer cohort views, resulting in a total of 53 views (average 12 elements/view; range, 4-67). EHR and RIS queries returned 497,218 patients with 2,967,364 imaging examinations and associated visit details. Cancer biology, treatment, and outcome details for 15,619 breast cancer cases were imported from the CR of our primary breast care facility for this prototype mart.

CONCLUSION

Institutional real-world data marts enable comprehensive understanding of care outcomes within an organization. As clinical data sources become increasingly structured, such marts may be an important source for future interinstitution analysis and potentially an opportunity to create robust real-world results that could be used to support evidence-based national policy and care decisions for breast cancer.
Attenuation of Bone Mineral Density Decline During Anemia Treatment With Methenolone Acetate in Myelodysplastic Syndrome
Authors: Ushimaru Shu , Sumi Hirofumi , Aso Mea , Fujishima Rie , Shiizaki Kazuhiro , Tominaga Naoto
Published: April 2024

In an aging society, addressing the risks and management of osteoporotic fractures is critical to reduce mortality. Similarly, the morbidity of chronic kidney disease and myelodysplastic syndrome increases with aging. The association between chronic kidney disease and fractures is well understood; however, recent reports have indicated an increased risk of incident osteoporosis in patients with prevalent myelodysplastic syndrome. In this case report, we present an older man with stage 4 chronic kidney disease complicated by myelodysplastic syndrome and progressive decline in bone mineral density. He was treated with methenolone acetate and darbepoetin for anemia caused by myelodysplastic syndrome. During anemia treatment, the decline in bone mineral density was attenuated overtime. The case findings suggest the potential association between the use of methenolone acetate as a synthetic anabolic steroid and attenuated decline in bone mineral density.
Maternal Graves Disease Postthyroidectomy With Fetal Thyrotoxicosis and Goiter
Authors: Fennell David , Walsh Jennifer , Cathcart Barbara , O’Donnell Colm P F , Hatunic Mensud
Published: April 2024

Fetal thyrotoxicosis is a rare condition with high morbidity and mortality. It may complicate pregnancies in women with a history of Graves disease (GD) when transplacental passage of maternal TSH receptor antibodies stimulate the fetal thyroid gland and cause hyperthyroidism. We report the case of a 34-year-old woman with a history of GD and prior thyroidectomy, where fetal thyrotoxicosis at 21 weeks of gestation was suspected due to prenatal ultrasound findings of cardiac failure and fetal goiter. She was treated with high-dose carbimazole and followed closely by a multidisciplinary team. Her baby was delivered in good condition at 34 weeks’ gestation and developed hyperthyroidism in the days after birth, which was successfully treated medically. This case highlights the importance of awareness of the condition among women with a history of GD, as well as the necessity for prompt diagnosis and treatment of this complex disease.
Concordance of Blood Glucose and CGM During a Pilot Trial of Automated Insulin Delivery in Type 1 Diabetes Pregnancies
Authors: Kaur Ravinder Jeet , Levy Carol J , Castorino Kristin , Wood-Wentz Christina M , Rizvi Shafaq R , Ozaslan Basak , O’Malley Grenye , Trinidad Mari Charisse , Levister Camilla , Church Mei Mei , Desjardins Donna , Ogyaadu Selassie , Reid Corey , Bailey Kent R , Doyle Francis J , Pinsker Jordan E , Dassau Eyal , Kudva Yogish C
Published: April 2024

Background

Customized and standard automated insulin delivery (AID) systems for use in pregnancies of women with preexisting type 1 diabetes (T1D) are being developed and tested to achieve pregnancy appropriate continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) targets. Guidance on the use of CGM for treatment decisions during pregnancy in the United States is limited.

Methods

Ten pregnant women with preexisting T1D participated in a trial evaluating at-home use of a pregnancy-specific AID system. Seven-point self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) was compared to the closest sensor glucose (Dexcom G6 CGM) value biweekly to assess safety and reliability based on the 20%/20 mg/dL criteria.

Results

All participants completed the study with 7 participants satisfying the safety and reliability criteria with a mean absolute relative difference of 10.3%. Three participants did not fulfill the criteria, mainly because the frequency of SMBG did not meet the requirements.

Conclusion

Dexcom G6 CGM is safe and accurate in the real-world setting for use in pregnant women with preexisting T1D with reduced SMBG testing as part of a pregnancy-specific AID system.
Restoring Ovarian Fertility and Hormone Function: Recent Advancements, Ongoing Efforts and Future Applications
Authors: Tsui Elizabeth L , McDowell Hannah B , Laronda Monica M
Published: April 2024

The last 20 years have seen substantial improvements in fertility and hormone preservation and restoration technologies for a growing number of cancer survivors. However, further advancements are required to fill the gaps for those who cannot use current technologies or to improve the efficacy and longevity of current fertility and hormone restoration technologies. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) followed by ovarian tissue transplantation (OTT) offers those unable to undergo ovarian stimulation for egg retrieval and cryopreservation an option that restores both fertility and hormone function. However, those with metastatic disease in their ovaries are unable to transplant this tissue. Therefore, new technologies to produce good-quality eggs and restore long-term cyclic ovarian function are being investigated and developed to expand options for a variety of patients. This mini-review describes current and near future technologies including in vitro maturation, in vitro follicle growth and maturation, bioprosthetic ovaries, and stem cell applications in fertility restoration research by their proximity to clinical application.
Utilization of a Supraglottic Airway Device for Airway Rescue and Tamponade of an Oropharyngeal Hemorrhage After Systemic Thrombolysis for an Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Case Report
Authors: Hashim Salman , Patel Nishita , Nozari Ala , Mustafa Wissam
Published: April 2024

A 39-year-old man presented for mechanical thrombectomy after receiving systemic tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for a basilar artery occlusion. The anesthesiology team was initially unable to intubate the patient due to oropharyngeal bleeding and a large epiglottis. Two-handed, 2-provider mask ventilation with an oral airway proved difficult. The team successfully placed a supraglottic airway (SGA) through which an oral endotracheal tube (ETT) was advanced over a fiberoptic bronchoscope into the trachea. The SGA remained overnight with the cuff inflated to tamponade the bleeding. The ETT was exchanged over an airway exchange catheter on postoperative day 1 without further airway complications.
Basal Cell Carcinoma Formation Within A Spinal Cord Stimulator Surgical Scar: A Case Report
Authors: DeJulio Paul A. , Yih Christopher J. , Dang Timothy M. , Reddy Rajiv D.
Published: April 2024

Implanting neuromodulation devices requires that pain medicine physicians be well-versed in proper surgical technique and postoperative wound management. To be able to identify abnormal wound healing, a basic understanding of normal wound healing is required. When postoperative wounds deviate from expected healing, it is important that pain medicine physicians entertain a broad differential diagnosis, including nonsurgical dermatologic pathology.
Angioarchitecture Classification and Treatment Modalities of Craniocervical Junction Arteriovenous Fistulas: A Cohort Study of 155 Patients
Authors: Song Zihao , Ma Yongjie , Tu Tianqi , Wang Jiachen , Wang Yinqing , He Chuan , Li Guilin , Zhang Peng , Hong Tao , Sun Liyong , Hu Peng , Ye Ming , Zhang Hongqi
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Craniocervical junction (CCJ) arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) are rare. Variability in clinical manifestations and treatment strategies for CCJ AVFs stems from differences in their angioarchitecture. Our study aims to categorize CCJ AVFs based on their angioarchitecture and explore the associated clinical features and treatment modalities for distinct CCJ AVF types.

METHODS:

The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with CCJ AVFs treated at a single neurosurgical facility over the past decade. These patients were classified based on the angioarchitecture of their CCJ AVFs. The analysis included an evaluation of angioarchitecture, clinical characteristics, treatment strategies, and outcomes.

RESULTS:

The study included 155 patients, with a median age of 56 years, collectively manifesting 165 CCJ AVFs. Our classification identified 4 distinct CCJ AVF types: epidural AVFs (19 [11.5%]), dural AVFs (98 [59.4%]), radicular AVFs (33 [20.0%]), and perimedullary AVFs (15 [9.1%]). Further differentiation was applied based on the presence of pial feeders. The predominant fistula location was at cervical-1 (77.0%). Ascending intradural drainage (52.7%) and descending intradural drainage (52.1%) were frequently observed drainage patterns. Patients with dural AVF predominantly presented with venous hypertensive myelopathy, whereas patients with other types of CCJ AVFs showed a higher incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage (P = .012). Microsurgery was the predominant treatment, applied in the management of 126 (76.4%) AVFs, whereas 8 (4.8%) AVFs exclusively underwent interventional embolization and 25 (15.2%) received a combination of interventional embolization and microsurgical treatment.

CONCLUSION:

CCJ AVFs can be distinguished based on the fistula location and the arterial feeders. Currently, microsurgery stands as the preferred treatment strategy for CCJ AVFs, whereas interventional embolization plays a distinctive role in cases with specific angioarchitecture or as a pretreatment measure before microsurgery.
CHD4 and SMYD1 repress common transcriptional programs in the developing heart
Authors: Shi Wei , Wasson Lauren K. , Dorr Kerry M. , Robbe Zachary L. , Wilczewski Caralynn M. , Hepperla Austin J. , Davis Ian J. , Seidman Christine E. , Seidman Jonathan G. , Conlon Frank L.
Published: April 2024

Regulation of chromatin states is essential for proper temporal and spatial gene expression. Chromatin states are modulated by remodeling complexes composed of components that have enzymatic activities. CHD4 is the catalytic core of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex, which represses gene transcription. However, it remains to be determined how CHD4, a ubiquitous enzyme that remodels chromatin structure, functions in cardiomyocytes to maintain heart development. In particular, whether other proteins besides the NuRD components interact with CHD4 in the heart is controversial. Using quantitative proteomics, we identified that CHD4 interacts with SMYD1, a striated muscle-restricted histone methyltransferase that is essential for cardiomyocyte differentiation and cardiac morphogenesis. Comprehensive transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility studies of Smyd1 and Chd4 null embryonic mouse hearts revealed that SMYD1 and CHD4 repress a group of common genes and pathways involved in glycolysis, response to hypoxia, and angiogenesis. Our study reveals a mechanism by which CHD4 functions during heart development, and a previously uncharacterized mechanism regarding how SMYD1 represses cardiac transcription in the developing heart.
George quer respirar novos ares: quando fazer direito é mudar de carreira
Authors: Cepellos Vanessa , Pinheiro Marcelo
Published: April 2024

George se formou em Direito e desenvolveu uma carreira bem-sucedida na área jurídica. Ingressou como advogado Júnior e, depois de algum tempo, foi admitido na área jurídica de outra empresa. No entanto, este departamento precisou ser reestruturado, resultando em uma sobrecarga de trabalho para os colaboradores que continuaram na empresa. Após esse episódio, George começou a ficar insatisfeito com o seu trabalho e pretende se mudar para a área comercial. Ele enfrenta um dilema: como ingressar na área comercial se toda sua carreira foi desenvolvida na área jurídica? O caso busca contribuir para a discussão sobre transição de carreira.
Seismic hazard assessment using seismic geophysical data
Authors: Μουζακιώτης Ευάγγελος
Published: April 2024

Στην παρούσα διατριβή παρουσιάζεται η εφαρμογή μεθοδολογιών τρισδιάστατης αριθμητικής προσομοίωσης για την εκτίμηση της σεισμικής επικινδυνότητας και τον υπολογισμό της τρισδιάστατης επίδρασης των τοπικών εδαφικών συνθηκών. Γίνεται παρουσίαση ενός νέου αλγορίθμου σε περιβάλλον MATLAB, ο οποίος βασίζεται στη μέθοδο πεπερασμένων διαφορών σε τρισδιάστατο κλιμακωτό πλέγμα κόμβων. Στον προτεινόμενο αλγόριθμο χρησιμοποιούνται σύγχρονες μεθοδολογίες ως προς την εφαρμογή οριακών συνθηκών, εισαγωγή ελεύθερης τοπογραφικής επιφάνειας ως άνω όριο του πλέγματος, προσομοίωση ανελαστικής απορρόφησης και εφαρμογή πηγών πεπερασμένων διαστάσεων. Παράλληλα, παρουσιάζεται και ένα φιλικό προς τη χρήση γραφικό περιβάλλον στοχευμένο στη εύκολη εφαρμογή του παραπάνω αλγόριθμου. Οι τυπικά πολύ μεγάλες υπολογιστικές απαιτήσεις των τρισδιάστατων τεχνικών προσομοίωσης ελήφθησαν υπόψη κατά το σχεδιασμό του λογισμικού και ελήφθησαν συγκεκριμένα μέτρα ως προς τη μεγιστοποίηση της αποδοτικότητάς του. Στο λαγισμικό που παρουσιάζεται εφαρμόζονται πράξεις πινάκων και υπολογισμοί με την χρήση της κάρτας γραφικών (GPU), με αποτέλεσμα την σημαντική αύξηση της ταχύτητας των 3Δ προσομοιώσεων κατά πολλές τάξεις μεγέθους σε τυπικούς οικιακούς υπολογιστές. Για τον έλεγχο της ορθότητας των υπολογισμών έγιναν δοκιμαστικές προσομοιώσεις για διάφορα συνθετικά μοντέλα και συνδυασμούς παραμέτρων. Από τους παραπάνω ελέγχους αποδείχθηκε η αξιοπιστία των αποτελεσμάτων ακόμα και για ιδιαίτερα ανομοιογενή μοντέλα υπεδάφους ενώ επιτεύχθει αρκετά ικανοποιητική ταύτιση των αποτελεσμάτων αυτών με τα αποτελέσματα που προκύπτουν από άλλες μεθοδολογίες. Η εισαγωγή πραγματικών σεισμικών γεωφυσικών δεδομένων, προκειμένου να εκτιμηθεί με μεγαλύτερη ακρίβεια η σεισμική επικινδυνότητα, διερευνάται επίσης μέσω αρκετών πραγματικών εφαρμογών του λογισμικού. Χρησιμοποιήθηκε ένα ρηχό τρισδιάστατο μοντέλο ταχύτητας σεισμικών κυμάτων, το οποίο υπολογίστηκε εφαρμόζοντας την τεχνική παθητικής MASW και χρησιμοποιήθηκε για τον υπολογισμό της εδαφικής ενίσχυσης που προκαλείται από τη ρηχή τρισδιάστατη δομή στην πόλη του Λουτρακίου. Ένα τρισδιάστατο τομογραφικό μοντέλο ταχύτητας, που υπολογίστηκε από παλαιότερη εφαρμογή της μεθόδου παθητικής σεισμικής τομογραφίας, χρησιμοποιήθηκε επίσης σε μια προτότυπη εφαρμογή του αλγορίθμου με στόχο τον εντοπισμό του πιθανού ρήγματος που σχετίζεται με έναν ισχυρό ιστορικό σεισμό στην περιοχή του Βόρειου Ευβοϊκού Κόλπου. Τέλος, αξιολογήθηκε η επίδραση της δομής τρισδιάστατης λεκάνης κάτω από την πόλη του Βόλου χρησιμοποιώντας ένα συνθετικό μοντέλο λεκάνης που προήλθε από μετρήσεις MASW σε συνδυασμό με γεωλογικά δεδομένα, στην τελευταία παρουσίαση της εφαρμογής του αλγορίθμου.
Iason Chandrinos, Πόλεις σε πόλεμο 1939–1945: Ευρωπαϊκά αστικά κέντρα υπό γερμανική κατοχή [Cities at war, 1939–1945: European urban areas under German occupation]
Authors: Kantzias-Rohde Alexander
Published: April 2024

Review of Iason Chandrinos, Πόλεις σε πόλεμο 1939-1945: Ευρωπαϊκά αστικά κέντρα υπό γερμανική κατοχή [Cities at war, 1939–1945: European urban areas under German occupation]. Athens: Mov Skiouros, 2018. 568 pp.
Study anti-viral drugs for their efficiency against multiple SARS CoV-2 drug targets within molecular docking, molecular quantum similarity, and chemical reactivity indices frameworks
Authors: Morales-Bayuelo Alejandro , Sánchez-Márquez Jesús , Vivas-Reyes Ricardo , Kaya Savaş
Published: April 2024

The study focused on drug discovery for COVID-19, emphasizing the challenges posed by the pandemic and the importance of understanding the virus’s biology. The research utilized molecular docking and quantum similarity analyses to explore potential ligands for SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Docking Results Docking outcomes for various ligands, including Oseltamivir, Prochloraz, Valacyclovir, Baricitinib, Molnupiravir, Penciclovir, Famciclovir, Lamivudine, and Nitazoxanide, were presented. Interactions between ligands and specific residues in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase were analyzed. Reactivity Descriptors Global parameters, such as electronic chemical potential, chemical hardness, global softness, and global electrophilicity, were computed for the ligands. For the local reactivity descriptors, the Fukui Functions were used. Fukui functions, representing electrophilic and nucleophilic sites, were calculated for selected ligands (Valacyclovir and Penciclovir). Nucleophilic character assignments for specific molecular regions were discussed, providing insights into potential charge-donating interactions. Results and Discussion Challenges in COVID-19 drug discovery, such as virus mutability, rapid evolution, and resource limitations, were summarized. Progress in vaccine development and the need for ongoing research to address variants and breakthrough cases were emphasized. Overlap Operator Analysis Higher MQSM between Lamivudine and Molnupiravir (0.5742) indicates structural and electronic similarity. Lowest MQSM between Oseltamivir and Prochloraz (0.2233) implies structural dissimilarity. Coulomb Operator Analysis Higher MQSM between Lamivudine and Molnupiravir (0.9178) suggests both structural and electronic similarity. Lowest MQSM between Baricitinib and Famciclovir (0.6001) indicates greater structural diversity. Measurements above 0.5 in Table 3 suggest electronic similarity, emphasizing the electronic aspects in molecular analysis. In this sense, it study employed a multi-faceted approach combining molecular docking, quantum similarity analyses, and chemical reactivity assessments to explore potential drug candidates for COVID-19. The findings provide valuable insights into ligand interactions, reactivity patterns, and the challenges associated with drug discovery in the context of the global pandemic.