bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Are E‐Cigarettes Substitutes or Complements to Combustible Cigarettes Among Youths? Evidence From Canada
Authors: Nguyen Hai V. , Mital Shweta 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTExisting evidence on whether e‐cigarettes are substitutes or complements to combustible cigarettes is limited and mixed. We revisit this question using nationally‐representative Canadian survey data over 14 years (2004–2017) and difference‐in‐differences methods that exploit the staggered adoption of e‐cigarette Minimum Legal Age (MLA) laws in Canadian provinces between 2015 and 2017. We study the laws' effects not only on youth smoking but also on smoking initiation and cessation to shed light on the mechanisms through which these laws affect youth smoking. We find that the relationship between e‐cigarette use and combustible cigarette use depends on smoking status of youths. While the MLA laws reduced smoking initiation among youth non‐smokers, they made existing youth smokers less likely to quit smoking. Our results highlight the tradeoffs between lower smoking initiation and lower smoking cessation associated with policies that aim to reduce youth e‐cigarette use.
Pathways to Hypertension Control: Unfinished Journeys of Low‐Income Individuals in Malaysia and the Philippines
Authors: Palafox Benjamin , Balabanova Dina , Loreche Arianna Maever , Mat‐Nasir Nafiza , Ariffin Farnaza , Md‐Yasin Mazapuspavina , Isa Mohamad‐Rodi , Abd‐Majid Fadhlina , Palileo‐Villanueva Lia M. , Renedo Alicia , Seguin Maureen L , Dans Antonio L , Mckee Martin 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTBackgroundReducing inequities in hypertension control among those affected in low‐ and middle‐income countries requires person‐centred health system responses based on a contextualised understanding of the choices and care pathways taken by those who rely on the services provided, particularly those from poor and marginalised communities. We examine patterns of care seeking and pathways followed by individuals with hypertension from low‐income households in the Philippines and Malaysia. This study aims to fill a significant gap in the literature by analysing the stages at which individuals make decisions that may affect the successful control of their blood pressure.MethodsThis study presents cross‐sectional survey data collected as part of the Responsive and Equitable Health Systems‐Partnership on Non‐Communicable Diseases (RESPOND) project, a longitudinal observational study in low‐income communities. The study participants were 1191 randomly selected adults aged 35–70 years with a self‐reported history of hypertension or identified as hypertensive through blood pressure screening.ResultsWhile most low‐income individuals with hypertension in both countries were diagnosed and receiving medication, Malaysians demonstrated higher self‐reported medication adherence. Urban areas in the Philippines showed better hypertension management outcomes compared to rural areas. The study also provides insights into the care seeking pathways followed by low‐income adults diagnosed with hypertension. Nearly half of these individuals in Malaysia and a third in the Philippines were following pathways where they had never changed or stopped treatment without professional advice, and where they were using and adhering to their prescribed medication. Following such pathways was strongly associated with a greater likelihood blood pressure control in the Philippines, but less so in Malayisa.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the need for a contextualised understanding of care seeking choices and the importance of person‐centred solutions. They offer a typology of hypertension care seeking pathways and a foundation for similar research in other settings.
FGFR2‐RUNX2 activation: An unexplored therapeutic pathway in luminal breast cancer related to tumor progression
Authors: Rodriguez María S. , Mahmoud Yamil D. , Vanzulli Silvia , Giulianelli Sebastián , Spengler Eunice , Martínez Vazquez Paula , Burruchaga Javier , Bushweller John , Lamb Caroline A. , Lüthy Isabel A. , Lanari Claudia , Pérez Piñero Cecilia 
Published: December 2024

AbstractOvercoming luminal breast cancer (BrCa) progression remains a critical challenge for improved overall patient survival. RUNX2 has emerged as a protein related to aggressiveness in triple‐negative BrCa, however its role in luminal tumors remains elusive. We have previously shown that active FGFR2 (FGFR2‐CA) contributes to increased tumor growth and that RUNX2 expression was high in hormone‐independent mouse mammary carcinomas. To elucidate the interaction between FGFR2 and RUNX2 in human BrCa, we investigated their roles in tumor progression and treatment responsiveness. Increased FGFR2 activity resulted in higher RUNX2 expression, cell proliferation, and metastasis. In contrast, silencing FGFR2 reduced these parameters. Overexpression of RUNX2 in FGFR2‐silenced cells rescued the inhibitory effects, promoting a more aggressive phenotype, even if compared with the wt RUNX2‐transfected cells, which also had increased aggressiveness compared with naïve‐transfected cells. RUNX2‐overexpressing tumors were insensitive to endocrine‐ or FGFR inhibitor treatments. Notably, the CBFβ‐RUNX complex inhibitor, AI‐14‐91, demonstrated great effectiveness in vitro. In a small cohort of luminal BrCa patients, nuclear RUNX2 expression was associated with tumor recurrence. Transcriptomic analysis strongly supported these data showing that patients with luminal carcinomas with high RUNX2 activity score have a worse progression‐free interval than those with low RUNX2 activity. Our findings suggest a complex interplay between FGFR2 and RUNX2 in regulating tumor aggressiveness. This study underscores the significance of RUNX2 in luminal BrCa progression and posits RUNX2 as a promising therapeutic target and as a potential prognostic biomarker in luminal BrCa patients.
Turfgrass quality, growth rates, and annual bluegrass contamination as affected by seasonal fertilizer distribution on red fescue putting greens
Authors: Chen Yajun , Pettersen Trond , Aamlid Trygve S. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractRed fescue (Festuca rubra L.) is the preferred turfgrass species for low‐input golf course putting greens in Northern Europe. While it is well recognized that fescue requires less fertilizer than bentgrasses (Agrostis spp.) or annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.), the optimal fertilizer distribution throughout the growing season has not been investigated. Our objective was to determine the effects of three seasonal fertilizer distributions on turfgrass quality, seasonal growth rates, root development, and competition from annual bluegrass on a sand‐based red fescue putting green at the NIBIO (Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research) Turfgrass Research Center, Landvik, Norway (58° N). All fertilizer treatments comprised weekly inputs of a complete, liquid fertilizer solution for a total of 11 g N m−2 year−1, but the inputs were distributed with (1) the highest weekly rates from early May to mid‐summer (SPRING+), (2) equal weekly rate from early May through late September (FLAT), or (3) the highest weekly rates from mid‐August to late September (FALL+). SPRING+ fertilization resulted in higher turfgrass quality, deeper roots, and, in the second experimental year, less annual bluegrass than FALL+ fertilization. The advantage of FALL+ fertilization was faster green‐up and enhanced growth in September, October, and April, but this came at the expense of more annual bluegrass. Results are discussed in light of previously published data on temperature and fertilizer requirements for the growth of red fescue versus annual bluegrass.
Repositioning the Posterior Septal Angle in Rhinoplasty: Methods and Outcomes
Authors: Hong Ellen M. , Vasudev Milind , Nguyen Cecilia , Goshtasbi Khodayar , Torabi Sina J. , Nguyen Theodore V. , Wong Brian J.F. 
Published: December 2024

ObjectiveRepositioning and fixation of the posterior septal angle (PSA) relative to the anterior nasal spine (ANS) is a well‐known maneuver performed during rhinoplasty. Suture techniques through the periosteum along with transosseous drilling through the spine are the two most common fixation methods. We report on how nasal airway patency varies as a function of technique and patient demographic factors.MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent PSA repositioning and stabilization during rhinoplasty due to caudal septal deformities. Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scales were measured pre‐ and post‐operation to evaluate functional outcomes.Results207 patients with either mobile or immobile PSA underwent ANS fixation secured with either a suture passed through the periosteum of the ANS or with the creation of a drill hole through the ANS. In all patients regardless of clinical or demographic groupings, postoperative NOSE scores were significantly decreased when compared to preoperative scores (p < 0.05). Preoperative NOSE score, fixation method, sex, functional versus cosmetic, age, follow‐up period, and graft site did not independently affect the postoperative NOSE score. Though the differences between primary and revision outcomes were statistically significant, patients in both groups reported significant improvements in postoperative NOSE scores that deescalated their symptoms from “severe” to “mild.”ConclusionRepositioning and fixation of the PSA improve patient outcomes. However, there is no significant difference between fixation methods on final NOSE scores. Septal fixation with consideration for patient anatomy allows for effective treatment.Level of Evidence4 Laryngoscope, 2024
Multifunctional Metalens for Trapping and Characterizing Single Atoms
Authors: Chen Guang‐Jie , Zhao Dong , Wang Zhu‐Bo , Li Ziqin , Zhang Ji‐Zhe , Chen Liang , Zhang Yan‐Lei , Xu Xin‐Biao , Liu Ai‐Ping , Dong Chun‐Hua , Guo Guang‐Can , Huang Kun , Zou Chang‐Ling 
Published: December 2024

AbstractPrecise control and manipulation of neutral atoms are essential for quantum technologies but largely dependent on conventional bulky optical setups. Here, a multifunctional metalens that integrates an achromatic lens with large numerical aperture is demonstrated, a quarter‐wave plate, and a polarizer for trapping and characterizing single Rubidium atoms. The metalens simultaneously focuses a trapping beam at 852 nm and collects single‐photon fluorescence at 780 nm. A strong dependence of the trapping lifetime is observed on an external bias magnetic field, suggests a complex interplay between the circularly polarized trapping light and the atom's internal states. This work showcases the potential of metasurfaces in realizing compact and integrated quantum systems based on cold atoms, opening up new possibilities for studying quantum control and manipulation at the nanoscale.
UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS With Chemometrics Approach Analysis of Nonvolatile Compounds for Medicinal Citrus reticulata With Cultivar and Areas Variations
Authors: Yang Fang‐Qing , Tan Xiang‐Mei , Chu Shan‐Shan , Yin Min‐Zhen , Zhang Zhen‐Yu , Peng Hua‐Sheng 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTIntroductionCitri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP), also known as Chenpi in Chinese, is the dry mature peel of Citrus reticulata Blanco or its cultivated varieties. CRP as the health‐care food and dietary supplement has been widely used in various diseases. The quality of CRP can be affected by various factors, which are closely related to the metabolite composition of CRP.ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis on the chemical profiling of 51 C. reticulata samples of eight medicinal varieties, grown in different areas, and provide a methodological reference for the study of pharmacodynamic material bases and quality control of C. reticulata.MethodologyInitially, a comprehensive characterization was performed using quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS), and a heatmap visualization was employed for clarifying the distribution of the annotated active ingredients. Furthermore, obtained chemical profiles data were employed in multivariate statistical methods, comprising principal component analysis (PCA), and orthogonal partial least‐squares‐discrimination analysis (OPLS‐DA).ResultsA total of 42 chemical components were annotated in positive ion mode. The relative contents were evident differences in the active ingredients of medicinal varieties of C. reticulata; mostly, polymethoxy flavones (PMFs) in C. reticulata “Dahongpao” were more abundant; among them, nobiletin and tangeretin are the main active ingredients in CRP. In addition, the relative contents of chemical constituents of C. reticulata “Dahongpao” and C. reticulata “Unshiu” from different areas were less variable. Compared with production origins, the varieties of C. reticulata had a greater impact on quality.ConclusionThis work obtains a better understanding of the chemical profiles of medicinal varieties of C. reticulata, facilitated the reasonable applicability and quality control of medicinal varieties of C. reticulata.
Research Progress on Implantable Medical Textiles and Their Surface Functional Coatings
Authors: Wang Hongwei , Gao Yujie , Zhang Chong , Du Lei , Ma Xiaoman , Wu Jindan 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTWith changes in people's lifestyles and the escalating pace of population aging, the incidence rate of chronic diseases has increased annually, posing significant challenges to both individual and societal health. Specifically engineered implantable medical textiles have exhibited structural superiority over other material types in repairing or replacing damaged tissues or organs within the body, along with the enhancement of their functions. They also play important roles in the treatment and management of chronic diseases. This review takes several representative implantable medical textiles, such as artificial blood vessels, artificial ligaments, and medical sutures, as examples to introduce the fundamental features of implantable medical textiles and the particularities inherent in their development. In addition, on the basis of the clinical requirements of anti‐infection, common strategies for the construction of antibacterial coatings are summarized. Ultimately, the development trend of implantable medical textiles is discussed. Through this review, we aim to provide certain insights for the conception and development of novel implantable medical textiles.
Disease Progression Mathematical Modeling With a Case Study on Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Authors: Boivin‐Champeaux Clémence , Velez de Mendizabal Nieves , Jones Aksana , Balsitis Scott , Schmidt Stephan , Feigelman Justin S. , Azeredo Francine Johansson 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTChronic Hepatitis B presents a significant health and socioeconomic burden. The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma remains elevated although treatments are available. Achieving an optimal treatment regimen necessitates a deep comprehension of the dynamic relationship between the virus and its host across disease states. This tutorial elucidates essential considerations for establishing a disease modeling platform to facilitate informed decision‐making in hepatitis B treatment strategies. We review several published models of varying complexity and describe the context that motivated each model's structure and assumptions. Several of the models are made available in an interactive RShiny app to demonstrate the influence of model choice and sensitivity to the choice of parameter values.
A Bayesian Hybrid Design With Borrowing From Historical Study
Authors: Lu Zhaohua , Toso John , Ayele Girma , He Philip 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTIn early phase drug development of combination therapy, the primary objective is to preliminarily assess whether there is additive activity from a novel agent when combined with an established monotherapy. Due to potential feasibility issues for conducting a large randomized study, uncontrolled single‐arm trials have been the mainstream approach in cancer clinical trials. However, such trials often present significant challenges in deciding whether to proceed to the next phase of development due to the lack of randomization in traditional two‐arm trials. A hybrid design, leveraging data from a completed historical clinical study of the monotherapy, offers a valuable option to enhance study efficiency and improve informed decision‐making. Compared to traditional single‐arm designs, the hybrid design may significantly enhance power by borrowing external information, enabling a more robust assessment of activity. The primary challenge of hybrid design lies in handling information borrowing. We introduce a Bayesian dynamic power prior (DPP) framework with three components of controlling amount of dynamic borrowing. The framework offers flexible study design options with explicit interpretation of borrowing, allowing customization according to specific needs. Furthermore, the posterior distribution in the proposed framework has a closed form, offering significant advantages in computational efficiency. The proposed framework's utility is demonstrated through simulations and a case study.
Molecular Evolution of the H5 and H7 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus Haemagglutinin Cleavage Site Motif
Authors: Luczo Jasmina M. , Spackman Erica 
Published: December 2024

ABSTRACTAvian influenza viruses are ubiquitous in the Anatinae subfamily of aquatic birds and occasionally spill over to poultry. Infection with low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses generally leads to subclinical or mild clinical disease. In contrast, highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses emerge from low pathogenic forms and can cause severe disease associated with extraordinarily high mortality rates. Here, we describe the natural history of avian influenza virus, with a focus on H5Nx and H7Nx subtypes, and the emergence of highly pathogenic forms; we review the biology of AIV; we examine cleavage of haemagglutinin by host cell enzymes with a particular emphasis on the biochemical properties of the proprotein convertases, and trypsin and trypsin‐like proteases; we describe mechanisms implicated in the functional evolution of the haemagglutinin cleavage site motif that leads to emergence of HPAIVs; and finally, we discuss the diversity of H5 and H7 haemagglutinin cleavage site sequence motifs. It is crucial to understand the molecular attributes that drive the emergence and evolution of HPAIVs with pandemic potential to inform risk assessments and mitigate the threat of HPAIVs to poultry and human populations.
Information Structure
Authors: Dieker Antonius B. , Hackman Steven T. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractIn Chap. 10, we showed how to overcome the curse of dimensionality for counters by imposing independence of the counter and label variables corresponding to different subsystems. This chapter lays the foundation for incorporating more flexibility with respect to the independence assumptions imposed between the counter and label variables. Specifically, we will use the global Markov property to define the conditional independence relationships between these variables, specified by a modeler via information structure graphs. The choice of information structure affects the resulting approximation as well as the computational requirements. The information structure perspective generalizes the subsystem setting of Chap. 10.
Exactness Results
Authors: Dieker Antonius B. , Hackman Steven T. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractThis chapter shows that, under various assumptions, the kernel iterates are equal to the lifted QPLEX iterates, i.e., QPLEX iterates after applying a multinomial lift map. We call such a result an exactness result, and we establish such results in three specific settings. In the first two settings, we consider QPLEX chains that encompass as special cases the multiserver queueing model from Chap. 2 in which (1) the service duration distribution is geometric and does not vary over time and (2) the number of servers is infinite. The third setting considers an arbitrary single activity QPLEX chain in which the size functions only take on values 0 or 1.
First Look at QPLEX
Authors: Dieker Antonius B. , Hackman Steven T. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractThis chapter develops the QPLEX calculus for a classical multiserver queueing model in discrete time. We focus on this model for four reasons. First, this model has many practical applications in its own right, and it (and its variations) forms a building block for many practical stochastic network models that we will encounter in various forms throughout this book. Second, this model is simple enough to develop and justify the QPLEX calculus from first principles. In subsequent chapters, we will formally derive the calculus for a broad class of models defined by model primitives from which the calculus developed here will be seen as a special case. Third, the reader will see the use of distributional programming, described in general in Sect. 1.5, and the use of our streamlined notation to represent pmfs and conditional pmfs, described in Sect. 1.2, in a concrete context. Fourth, we have undertaken an extensive testbed of experiments to ascertain the quality of the QPLEX approximation for this model, which we summarize at the end of this chapter.
Introduction to QPLEX Modeling and Calculus
Authors: Dieker Antonius B. , Hackman Steven T. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractChapter 2 used a simple yet highly practical model to introduce the main ideas behind the QPLEX calculus. In Part I, we develop an abstraction of this calculus and show that it applies to a wide variety of models. This chapter presents our terminology and definitions that form the foundation for the developments in this part.
Models with Advanced Transition Dynamics
Authors: Dieker Antonius B. , Hackman Steven T. 
Published: December 2024

AbstractThis chapter provides examples of practical models that can be represented as QPLEX chains with advanced transition dynamics via suitable choices of model primitives. None of these examples can be represented using simple transition dynamics model primitives. Each model is a variation of the multiserver queueing model presented in Chap. 2.