bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effects of combined cognitive training on prospective memory in older adults with mild cognitive impairment
Authors: Chen Yifan , Zhou Wei , Hong Zijing , Hu Rongrong , Guo Zhibin , Liu Shen , Zhang Lin 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThis study aimed to assess the effects of combined cognitive training on prospective memory ability of older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A total of 113 participants were divided into a control group and three intervention groups. Over three months, the control group received only community education without any training, whereas for the first six weeks, an executive function training group received executive function training, a memory strategy training group received semantic encoding strategy training, and the combined cognitive training group received executive function training twice a week for the first six weeks, and semantic encoding strategy training twice a week for the next six weeks. The combined cognitive training group showed improvement on the objective neuropsychological testing (Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale). The memory strategy training group showed improvement on the self-evaluation scales (PRMQ-PM). Combined cognitive training improved the prospective memory and cognitive function of older adults with MCI.
Interpreting time-series COVID data: reasoning biases, risk perception, and support for public health measures
Authors: Harman Jason L. , Weinhardt Justin M. , Beck James W. , Mai Ivy 
Published: August 2021

AbstractEffective risk communication during the COVID-19 pandemic is critical for encouraging appropriate public health behaviors. One way that the public is informed about COVID-19 numbers is through reports of daily new cases. However, presenting daily cases has the potential to lead to a dynamic reasoning bias that stems from intuitive misunderstandings of accumulation. Previous work in system dynamics shows that even highly educated individuals with training in science and math misunderstand basic concepts of accumulation. In the context of COVID-19, relying on the single cue of daily new cases can lead to relaxed attitudes about the risk of COVID-19 when daily new cases begin to decline. This situation is at the very point when risk is highest because even though daily new cases have declined, the active number of cases are highest because they have been accumulating over time. In an experiment with young adults from the USA and Canada (N = 551), we confirm that individuals fail to understand accumulation regarding COVID-19, have less concern regarding COVID-19, and decrease endorsement for public health measures as new cases decline but when active cases are at the highest point. Moreover, we experimentally manipulate different dynamic data visualizations and show that presenting data highlighting active cases and minimizing new cases led to increased concern and increased endorsement for COVID-19 health measures compared to a control condition highlighting daily cases. These results hold regardless of country, political affiliation, and individual differences in decision making. This study has implications for communicating the risks of contracting COVID-19 and future public health issues.
The genetic architecture of plasma kynurenine includes cardiometabolic disease mechanisms associated with the SH2B3 gene
Authors: Bagheri Minoo , Wang Chuan , Shi Mingjian , Manouchehri Ali , Murray Katherine T. , Murphy Matthew B. , Shaffer Christian M. , Singh Kritika , Davis Lea K. , Jarvik Gail P. , Stanaway Ian B. , Hebbring Scott , Reilly Muredach P. , Gerszten Robert E. , Wang Thomas J. , Mosley Jonathan D. , Ferguson Jane F. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractInflammation increases the risk of cardiometabolic disease. Delineating specific inflammatory pathways and biomarkers of their activity could identify the mechanistic underpinnings of the increased risk. Plasma levels of kynurenine, a metabolite involved in inflammation, associates with cardiometabolic disease risk. We used genetic approaches to identify inflammatory mechanisms associated with kynurenine variability and their relationship to cardiometabolic disease. We identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously associated with plasma kynurenine, including a missense-variant (rs3184504) in the inflammatory gene SH2B3/LNK. We examined the association between rs3184504 and plasma kynurenine in independent human samples, and measured kynurenine levels in SH2B3-knock-out mice and during human LPS-evoked endotoxemia. We conducted phenome scanning to identify clinical phenotypes associated with each kynurenine-related SNP and with a kynurenine polygenic score using the UK-Biobank (n = 456,422), BioVU (n = 62,303), and Electronic Medical Records and Genetics (n = 32,324) databases. The SH2B3 missense variant associated with plasma kynurenine levels and SH2B3−/− mice had significant tissue-specific differences in kynurenine levels.LPS, an acute inflammatory stimulus, increased plasma kynurenine in humans. Mendelian randomization showed increased waist-circumference, a marker of central obesity, associated with increased kynurenine, and increased kynurenine associated with C-reactive protein (CRP). We found 30 diagnoses associated (FDR q < 0.05) with the SH2B3 variant, but not with SNPs mapping to genes known to regulate tryptophan-kynurenine metabolism. Plasma kynurenine may be a biomarker of acute and chronic inflammation involving the SH2B3 pathways. Its regulation lies upstream of CRP, suggesting that kynurenine may be a biomarker of one inflammatory mechanism contributing to increased cardiometabolic disease risk.
Geomorphic effects of recurrent outburst superfloods in the Yigong River on the southeastern margin of Tibet
Authors: Hu Kaiheng , Wu Chaohua , Wei Li , Zhang Xiaopeng , Zhang Qiyuan , Liu Weiming , Yanites Brian J. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractLandslide dam outburst floods have a significant impact on landform evolution in high mountainous areas. Historic landslide dams on the Yigong River, southeastern Tibet, generated two outburst superfloods > 105 m3/s in 1902 and 2000 AD. One of the slackwater deposits, which was newly found immediately downstream of the historic dams, has been dated to 7 ka BP. The one-dimensional backwater stepwise method gives an estimate of 225,000 m3/s for the peak flow related to the paleo-stage indicator of 7 ka BP. The recurrence of at least three large landslide dam impoundments and super-outburst floods at the exit of Yigong Lake during the Holocene greatly changed the morphology of the Yigong River. More than 0.26 billion m3 of sediment has been aggraded in the dammed lake while the landslide sediment doubles the channel slope behind the dam. Repeated landslide damming may be a persistent source of outburst floods and impede the upstream migration of river knickpoints in the southeastern margin of Tibet.
Salivary proteome of aphthous stomatitis reveals the participation of vitamin metabolism, nutrients, and bacteria
Authors: Hernández-Olivos Romina , Muñoz Mariagrazia , Núñez Esteban , Camargo-Ayala Paola Andrea , Garcia-Huidobro Jenaro , Pereira Alfredo , Nachtigall Fabiane M. , Santos Leonardo S. , Rivera César 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThere are currently no preventative options for recurrent aphthous stomatitis, and the only available treatments are palliative. This is partly due to a poor understanding of its etiopathogenesis. In this case–control study, we characterized the salivary proteome of patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis in the presence and absence of lesions. Through mass spectrometry-based proteomics and bioinformatics tools, we identified that the presence of oral ulcers is associated with several specific biological processes, including the metabolic pathways of vitamin B9, B12, nitrogen, selenium, and the bacteriumNeisseria meningitidis. These changes occurred only in the presence of clinically visible lesions, and there were no relevant differences between patients in anatomical regions unaffected by ulcers. Additionally, using western blot and ELISA assays, we verified that carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA1) and hemoglobin subunit beta (HBB) proteins are highly expressed during the ulcerative and remission phases of recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Our results cumulatively support saliva as an indicator of the pathophysiological changes, which occur during the clinical course of lesions. From a clinical perspective, we suggest that recurrent aphthous stomatitis is a condition triggered by temporary biological changes in people with lesions.
A cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging-based pilot study to assess coronary microvascular disease in COVID-19 patients
Authors: Drakos Stefanos , Chatzantonis Grigorios , Bietenbeck Michael , Evers Georg , Schulze Arik Bernard , Mohr Michael , Fonfara Helena , Meier Claudia , Yilmaz Ali 
Published: August 2021

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and is primarily characterised by a respiratory disease. However, SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect vascular endothelium and subsequently cause vascular inflammation, atherosclerotic plaque instability and thereby result in both endothelial dysfunction and myocardial inflammation/infarction. Interestingly, up to 50% of patients suffer from persistent exercise dyspnoea and a post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS) after having overcome an acute COVID-19 infection. In the present study, we assessed the presence of coronary microvascular disease (CMD) by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in post-COVID-19 patients still suffering from exercise dyspnoea and PVFS. N = 22 patients who recently recovered from COVID-19, N = 16 patients with classic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and N = 17 healthy control patients without relevant cardiac disease underwent dedicated vasodilator-stress CMR studies on a 1.5-T MR scanner. The CMR protocol comprised cine and late-gadolinium-enhancement (LGE) imaging as well as velocity-encoded (VENC) phase-contrast imaging of the coronary sinus flow (CSF) at rest and during pharmacological stress (maximal vasodilation induced by 400 µg IV regadenoson). Using CSF measurements at rest and during stress, global myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR) was calculated. There was no difference in left ventricular ejection-fraction (LV-EF) between COVID-19 patients and controls (60% [57–63%] vs. 63% [60–66%], p = NS). There were only N = 4 COVID-19 patients (18%) showing a non-ischemic pattern of LGE. VENC-based flow measurements showed that CSF at rest was higher in COVID-19 patients compared to controls (1.78 ml/min [1.19–2.23 ml/min] vs. 1.14 ml/min [0.91–1.32 ml/min], p = 0.048). In contrast, CSF during stress was lower in COVID-19 patients compared to controls (3.33 ml/min [2.76–4.20 ml/min] vs. 5.32 ml/min [3.66–5.52 ml/min], p = 0.05). A significantly reduced MPR was calculated in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls (2.73 [2.10–4.15–11] vs. 4.82 [3.70–6.68], p = 0.005). No significant differences regarding MPR were detected between COVID-19 patients and HCM patients. In post-COVID-19 patients with persistent exertional dyspnoea and PVFS, a significantly reduced MPR suggestive of CMD—similar to HCM patients—was observed in the present study. A reduction in MPR can be caused by preceding SARS-CoV-2-associated direct as well as secondary triggered mechanisms leading to diffuse CMD, and may explain ongoing symptoms of exercise dyspnoea and PVFS in some patients after COVID-19 infection.
Tinnitus Management: The Utilization of a Hybrid Telehealth and In-Person Delivery Model
Authors: Scaglione Tricia , Kuzbyt Brianna 
Published: August 2021

AbstractTelehealth, or the delivery of healthcare services from a distance, has historically been used to provide care to underserved populations and to those unable to visit a healthcare center. During the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, some providers of tinnitus healthcare services incorporated telehealth into their clinical protocols to allow for continued care for their patients while adhering to social distancing guidelines and safety measures. Bothersome tinnitus can negatively impact one's quality of life. Telehealth has been instrumental in treating this debilitating problem in a time when in-person care has not been easily available. The case of a patient with tinnitus is examined to demonstrate the use of a hybrid delivery model utilizing telehealth and in-person interactions to assess and manage her bothersome tinnitus. In-person services were used for audiological assessments and fitting of treatment devices, while telehealth was utilized for counseling, education, and remote programming of her treatment devices. This combined approach, which has allowed the patient to continue receiving care safely during the pandemic, can be continued for future care. Telehealth offers several advantages to patients and providers alike. While the COVID-19 pandemic will hopefully come to an end, telehealth services for tinnitus management may be here to stay.
Accuracy of ultrasonography in detecting radiolucent soft-tissue foreign bodies
Authors: Tahmasebi Morteza , Zareizadeh Hamdollah , Motamedfar Azim 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background and Objective: Detection of radiolucent soft-tissue foreign bodies is a challenging problem, which is especially further complicated when retained foreign body is highly suggested by clinicians but radiography is negative. So, blind exploration is sometimes hazardous for patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of ultrasonography (USG) in detecting radiolucent soft-tissue foreign bodies in the extremities. Materials and Methods: From November 2011 to January 2012, patients with clinically suspected radiolucent soft-tissue foreign body and negative radiography were evaluated by USG with a 12-MHz linear array transducer. The patients with positive clinical and USG examination were included in our study and underwent exploration or USG removal. Results: Fifty-one patients underwent foreign body removal under ultrasonography-guided or surgical exploration and 47 patients had foreign body (31, 12, 3, and 1 case had thorn, wood, glass, and plastic, respectively). Ultrasound was positive in 50 patients. USG falsely predicted the presence of foreign body in four cases and was falsely negative in one of the cases. Accuracy, sensitivity, and positive predictive value were determined as 90.2%, 97.9%, and 92%, respectively. Conclusions: The real-time high-frequency USG is a highly sensitive and accurate tool for detecting and removing radiolucent foreign bodies which are difficult to be visualized by routine radiography.
The method of comparative-historical analysis: a tailor-made approach to public diplomacy research
Authors: Ohnesorge Hendrik W. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractIn view of the major methodological challenges which confront researchers in public diplomacy (PD), the paper recognizes the method of comparative-historical analysis (CHA) as an eminently suitable approach for robust empirical studies. The paper starts by exploring different conceptualizations and operationalizations of public diplomacy. Subsequently, four defining characteristics of CHA are identified: (1) CHA starts from a positivist epistemological perspective; (2) CHA-based research usually is concerned with “big questions;” (3) comparative methods are applied in CHA, either across different cases or within cases across time, allowing for in-depth analyses; (4) by considering respective starting points, specific historical developments, and cultural particulars, CHA is committed to methods drawn from historical research, including process tracing and causal narrative. The paper demonstrates that CHA, in view of these characteristics and with its highly interdisciplinary pedigree and methodological eclecticism, is eminently suited for studies exploring PD practices and outcomes. To provide a tailor-made approach for such endeavors, CHA is innovatively combined with the method of structured, focused comparison. Finally, drawing on both the different operationalizations of PD and the requirements of CHA, a comprehensive matrix for CHA-based PD research is presented, offering a tangible framework for future empirical analyses.
The impact of commuters’ psychological feelings due to delay on perceived quality of a rail transport
Authors: Rezapour Mahdi , Richard Ferraro F. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractPublic transport’s delay has become an integral part of the daily routine for many commuters, and become more intense as people are under more time pressure and deadline. This study was set forward to study a relationship between various psychological feelings that the commuters might experience due to delay and the level of transport satisfaction. One of the most notorious rail transport in Malaysia was employed as the case study. The passengers of that rail transport often experience more than an hour of delay due to malfunctions or other mechanical problems of that transport. Our instruments include 396 fully completed commuters’ responses at the locations of the waiting time. The instruments include three subsections: demographic, physical, and psychological behaviors that commuters might experience. An indicator was also used to obtain the passengers’ opinions about the impacts of delay on the level of the perceived quality of the transport. The ordered mixed logit model was employed for the analysis. The mixed model was considered to provide more flexibility and to prevent biased point estimates. That is especially important as it is expected that the point estimates of some commuters’ feelings might vary across population based on factors such as the commuters’ objectives of travel, or level of urgency to reach the destination. The results highlighted, for instance, the feelings of being tired or nervous to be random in predicting the perceived quality of the transport. The results also indicated that the interactions between age, gender, and level of education, and also neck pain, and an increased heartbeat should be considered, instead of their sole main effects. Also, evaluating the heterogeneity in taste revealed that the change in a random parameter of feeling nervous is dependent on the parameter of commuters’ gender. Overall, the results provide important insights regarding various feelings that the commuters experienced, which impact their perceived quality of rail transportation. Extensive discussion regarding the link between the study’s findings and mindsponse theory was given in the “Discussion” and “Conclusion” sections of this study.
An 18.3-MJ charging and discharging pulsed power supply system for the Space Plasma Environment Research Facility (SPERF): The subsystem for the magnetosheath coils
Authors: Guan Jian , E Peng , Ma Xun , Mao Aohua , Deng Weijun , Ding Mingjun , Kang Chuanhui , Li Songjie , Xiao Jinshui , Tong Weiming , Li Hongtao 
Published: August 2021

3D asymmetric magnetic reconnection is an important investigation of the Space Plasma Environment Research Facility, which is being built as a user facility at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China. Four magnetosheath coils, which consist of Poloidal Field (labeled PF) coils and Toroidal Field (labeled TF) coils, are used to generate the magnetic field and plasma environment for the reconnecting experiment. A capacitor-based pulsed power supply (PPS) system with a modular design is developed to excite the magnetosheath coils to generate the required amplitude and duration of the magnetic field. The PPS system includes the PF PPS and TF PPS, which include four sets of PPSs, respectively. Each set of PF PPS and TF PPS consists of nine modules and four modules, respectively, and each module consists of a charge and discharge unit. The PF PPS can provide a pulsed current of no less than 360 kA for the corresponding PF coil at 0.11 ms when the charging voltage is 20 kV, and the duration of the pulsed current from the peak to 10% of the peak is no more than 0.6 ms. The TF PPS can provide a pulsed current of no less than 200 kA for the corresponding TF coil at 0.08 ms when the charging voltage is 20 kV, and the duration of the pulsed current from the peak to 10% of the peak is no more than 1.6 ms. The detailed design of the PPS has been discussed in this paper, and the detailed design of the main components in the discharge unit of the PPS is also given in this paper. Finally, the discharge tests of all the PPSs are carried out to verify the design of the PPSs, and the results of the PPSs in discharge tests indicate that all the PPSs meet the design requirements.
Efficient treatment of molecular excitations in the liquid phase environment via stochastic many-body theory
Authors: Weng Guorong , Vlček Vojtěch 
Published: August 2021

Accurate predictions of charge excitation energies of molecules in the disordered condensed phase are central to the chemical reactivity, stability, and optoelectronic properties of molecules and critically depend on the specific environment. Herein, we develop a stochastic GW method for calculating these charge excitation energies. The approach employs maximally localized electronic states to define the electronic subspace of a molecule and the rest of the system, both of which are randomly sampled. We test the method on three solute–solvent systems: phenol, thymine, and phenylalanine in water. The results are in excellent agreement with the previous high-level calculations and available experimental data. The stochastic calculations for supercells containing up to 1000 electrons representing the solvated systems are inexpensive and require ≤1000 central processing unit hrs. We find that the coupling with the environment accounts for ∼40% of the total correlation energy. The solvent-to-solute feedback mechanism incorporated in the molecular correlation term causes up to 0.6 eV destabilization of the quasiparticle energy. Simulated photo-emission spectra exhibit red shifts, state-degeneracy lifting, and lifetime shortening. Our method provides an efficient approach for an accurate study of excitations of large molecules in realistic condensed phase environments.
Oncogenic gene fusions in nonneoplastic precursors as evidence that bacterial infection can initiate prostate cancer
Authors: Shrestha Eva , Coulter Jonathan B. , Guzman William , Ozbek Busra , Hess Megan M. , Mummert Luke , Ernst Sarah E. , Maynard Janielle P. , Meeker Alan K. , Heaphy Christopher M. , Haffner Michael C. , De Marzo Angelo M. , Sfanos Karen S. 
Published: August 2021

Significance
Prostate infections and inflammation are potential initiating factors in prostate cancer development. Here, we investigated whether bacterial infections are associated with the presence of the most common prostate cancer oncogenic gene fusion, TMPRSS2:ERG, in early precursor lesions. We provide evidence that TMPRSS2:ERG (ERG+) gene fusions can initiate in early prostate cancer risk factor lesions, including proliferative inflammatory atrophy in the setting of prostate infection. We further demonstrate that these infection-associated ERG+ precursor lesions are transitioning to early invasive cancer. Overall, we provide evidence that, in at least a subset of cases, infection-induced TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusions are an early alteration in the carcinogenic process.