bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Accurate characterization of β-amyloid (Aβ40, Aβ42) standards using species-specific isotope dilution by means of HPLC-ICP-MS/MS
Authors: Schaier Martin , Hermann Gerrit , Koellensperger Gunda , Theiner Sarah 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe amyloid β peptide, as one of the main components in senile plaque, represents a defining pathological feature for Alzheimer’s disease, and is therefore commonly used as a biomarker for this disease in clinical analysis. However, the selection of suitable standards is limited here, since only a few are commercially available, and these suffer from varying purity. Hence, the accurate characterization of these standards is of great importance. In this study, we developed a method for the traceable quantification of the peptide content using species-specific isotope dilution and ICP-MS/MS detection. It is based on the separation of the sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine after oxidation and hydrolysis of the peptide. Using a strong anion exchange column, both amino acids could be separated from each other, as well as from their oxidized forms and sulfate. The sulfur content was determined via ICP-MS/MS using oxygen as reaction gas. Species-specific isotope dilution was enabled by using a 34S-labeled yeast hydrolysate, containing methionine sulfone and cysteic acid with different isotopic composition. The peptide contents of Aβ standards (Aβ40,42), as well as myoglobin and lysozyme with different degrees of purity, were determined. For validation purposes, the standard reference material NIST 2389a, which contains the amino acids in a similar concentration, was subjected to the developed sample preparation and analysis method. In addition to accounting for errors during sample preparation, high levels of accuracy and precision could be obtained using this method, making it fit-for-purpose for the characterization of peptide standards.
Graphical abstract
Students’ attitudes toward digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey conducted following an online course in gynecology and obstetrics
Authors: Olmes Gregor Leonhard , Zimmermann Julia Sarah Maria , Stotz Lisa , Takacs Ferenc Zoltan , Hamza Amr , Radosa Marc Philipp , Findeklee Sebastian , Solomayer Erich-Franz , Radosa Julia Caroline 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this survey was to assess medical students’ opinions about online learning programs and their preferences for specific teaching formats during COVID 19 pandemic.

Methods
Between May and July 2020, medical students who took an online gynecology and obstetrics course were asked to fill in a questionnaire anonymously. The questionnaire solicited their opinions about the course, the teaching formats used (online lectures, video tutorials featuring real patient scenarios, and online practical skills training), and digital learning in general.

Results
Of 103 students, 98 (95%) submitted questionnaires that were included in the analysis. 84 (86%) students had no problem with the online course and 70 (72%) desired more online teaching in the future. 37 (38%) respondents preferred online to traditional lectures. 72 (74%) students missed learning with real patients. All digital teaching formats received good and excellent ratings from > 80% of the students.

Conclusion
The survey results show medical students’ broad acceptance of the online course during COVID 19 pandemic and indicates that digital learning options can partially replace conventional face-to-face teaching. For content taught by lecture, online teaching might be an alternative or complement to traditional education. However, bedside-teaching remains a key pillar of medical education.
Quality and cost outcomes of an integrated supportive care program
Authors: Weinstein Elizabeth , Kemmann Matthew , Douglas Sara L. , Daly Barbara , Levitan Nathan 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Purpose
This article reports findings from a demonstration project funded by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). The purpose of the project was to test a supportive care program on the outcomes of quality of care and quality of life, and costs in patients with advanced cancer.

Methods
The project was conducted between February 2015 and February 2018, enrolling adult, Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries with advanced or progressed solid tumor malignancy. A comparative longitudinal comparison of the program with both a concurrent control and an historic control was used to evaluate outcomes. The intervention included routine electronic biopsychosocial screening, early access to specialty palliative care, and nurse care coordination. Quality of life, aggressiveness of care, and healthcare utilization were measured.

Results
A total of 1340 people were enrolled, with 71% of the total sample being Caucasian; 41.4% had stage IV cancer, and 20% utilized Medicaid only. Significant differences in the enrolled patients and the comparison group were controlled for through statistical analysis. There were significantly fewer ED visits, unplanned admissions, and fewer total hospitalization days in the intervention group. In the last 30 days of life, hospital and ICU admissions were less and a greater proportion of patients were enrolled in hospice in the intervention group. Quality of life had a marked improvement for enrolled patients. Average cost per member per month was not less in the enrolled group.

Conclusion
This pragmatic demonstration project confirmed the clinical benefits of an integration of supportive care for patients with advanced cancer, although no reduction in costs was found.
Minimal winning coalitions and orders of criticality
Authors: Aleandri Michele , Dall’Aglio Marco , Fragnelli Vito , Moretti Stefano 
Published: August 2021

AbstractIn this paper, we analyze the order of criticality in simple games, under the light of minimal winning coalitions. The order of criticality of a player in a simple game is based on the minimal number of other players that have to leave so that the player in question becomes pivotal. We show that this definition can be formulated referring to the cardinality of the minimal blocking coalitions or minimal hitting sets for the family of minimal winning coalitions; moreover, the blocking coalitions are related to the winning coalitions of the dual game. Finally, we propose to rank all the players lexicographically accounting the number of coalitions for which they are critical of each order, and we characterize this ranking using four independent axioms.
Influence of pretreatment and mechanical nanofibrillation energy on properties of nanofibers from Aspen cellulose
Authors: Balea A. , Fuente E. , Tarrés Q. , Pèlach M. Àngels , Mutjé P. , Delgado-Aguilar M. , Blanco A. , Negro C. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe characteristics of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) depend on many factors such as the raw material, type and intensity of the pre-treatment, and type and severity of the mechanical defibrillation process. The relationship among factors is complex but crucial in determining the final, fit-for-use CNF properties. This study aims to find the relationship between the CNF properties morphology, aspect ratio, nanofibrillation yield, transmittance and cationic demand, and the production process using bleached Aspen thermomechanical pulp as the raw material. Five different types of pretreatments were carried out and five different defibrillation intensities of high-pressure homogenization were evaluated. Pretreatments were: PFI refining at 20,000 revolutions, enzymatic hydrolysis with 80 and 240 g of enzyme per ton of dry pulp and TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl)–mediated oxidation with 5 and 15 mmol of NaClO per gram of dry pulp. From the twenty-five different procedures evaluated, results show that both the pretreatment and the severity of the high-pressure homogenization determined both the fibrillation yield and the CNF morphology. Moreover, the main properties of CNFs (cationic demand, yield, transmittance and aspect ratio) can be estimated from the carboxylic content of the pretreated pulp, which would facilitate the control of the CNF production and their tuning according to the production needs.
Does She Kill Like He Kills? Comparison of Homicides Committed by Women with Homicides Committed by Men in Spain
Authors: Santos-Hermoso Jorge , Quintana-Touza José Manuel , Medina-Bueno Zaida , Gómez-Colino María Regina 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe homicides committed by women make up between 5 and 15% of the total number of homicides recorded in the world. Studies based on the gender of the perpetrator have been uncommon due to the low level of prevalence of female homicide offenders, but this tendency is currently undergoing a change. Nonetheless, in general, there is still limited knowledge of the role of women in serious crime, which makes the task of criminal policy more difficult. Therefore, the present investigation seeks to perform a comparative analysis of the homicides committed by women (n = 56) with those committed by men (n = 521). The cases in this sample correspond to homicides solved in Spain by the Civil Guard between the years 2013 and 2018. The findings of the study show that homicides by women have distinctive characteristics, with 3 out of every 4 taking place in the family environment, and these being dominated by cases of filicide. The victims are underage males with some type of vulnerability and a mental disorder. The female perpetrators tend to have a partner and live with somebody, have a mental disorder and do not present a prior criminal record. With regard to the crime, homicides perpetrated by women take place in the afternoon, without witnesses and in residences; when it comes to the criminal behaviours, they use weapons of opportunity, above all asphyxiating methods, they alter the scene and do not flee from the scene of the crime.
Planning target volume as a predictor of disease progression in inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy and concurrent and/or sequential immune checkpoint inhibition
Authors: Taugner Julian , Käsmann Lukas , Karin Monika , Eze Chukwuka , Flörsch Benedikt , Guggenberger Julian , Li Minglun , Tufman Amanda , Reinmuth Niels , Duell Thomas , Belka Claus , Manapov Farkhad 
Published: August 2021

SummaryBackground. The present study evaluates outcome after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with concurrent and/or sequential Programmed Cell Death 1 (PD-1) or Ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibition (CPI) for inoperable stage III NSCLC patients depending on planning target volume (PTV). Method and patients. Prospective data of thirty-three consecutive patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC treated with CRT and sequential durvalumab (67%, 22 patients) or concurrent and sequential nivolumab (33%, 11 patients) were analyzed. Different PTV cut offs and PTV as a continuous variable were evaluated for their association with progression-free (PFS), local–regional progression-free (LRPFS), extracranial distant metastasis-free (eMFS) and brain-metastasis free-survival (BMFS). Results. All patients were treated with conventionally fractionated thoracic radiotherapy (TRT); 93% to a total dose of at least 60 Gy, 97% of patients received two cycles of concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy. Median follow-up for the entire cohort was 19.9 (range: 6.0–42.4) months; median overall survival (OS), LRFS, BMFS and eMFS were not reached. Median PFS was 22.8 (95% CI: 10.7–34.8) months. Patients with PTV ≥ 900ccm had a significantly shorter PFS (6.9 vs 22.8 months, p = 0.020) and eMFS (8.1 months vs. not reached, p = 0.003). Furthermore, patients with PTV ≥ 900ccm and stage IIIC disease (UICC-TNM Classification 8th Edition) achieved a very poor outcome with a median PFS and eMFS of 3.6 vs 22.8 months (p < 0.001) and 3.6 months vs. not reached (p = 0.001), respectively. PTV as a continuous variable also had a significant impact on eMFS (p = 0.048). However, no significant association of different PTV cut-offs or PTV as a continuous variable with LRPFS and BMFS could be shown. The multivariate analysis that was performed for PTV ≥ 900ccm and age (≥ 65 years), gender (male), histology (non-ACC) as well as T- and N-stage (T4, N3) as covariates also revealed PTV ≥ 900ccm as the only factor that had a significant correlation with PFS (HR: 5.383 (95% CI:1.263–22.942, p = 0.023)). Conclusion. In this prospective analysis of inoperable stage III NSCLC patients treated with definitive CRT combined with concurrent and/or sequential CPI, significantly shorter PFS and eMFS were observed in patients with initial PTV ≥ 900ccm.
Bioaccumulation of polonium 210Po in cats’ hair, taking into account potential factors influencing changes in its concentration
Authors: Rudnicki-Velasquez Paweł Błażej , Boryło Alicja , Kaczor Marcin , Wieczorek Jarosław 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe main aim of this study was to determine the bioaccumulation of 210Po in the hair of various cat breeds and an attempt to interpret whether the following factors, such as: breed, length of hair, gender, age, place of living or residence, weight, type of food consumed, taking medications, origin taking into account the structural division of Poland into voivodeships and physiological processes such as pregnancy and lactation have a significant influence on the concentration of this radionuclide. The obtained results show that the factors such as breed, length of hair, living of the cat in a given voivodeship and the type of food served influence the degree of 210Po bioaccumulation.
Tropes variations: the topic of particulars beyond Sellars’s myth of the given
Authors: Nunziante Antonio M. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe aim of this paper is twofold. First, I would like to bring into the light the almost unexplored Sellars’s theory of particulars. Second, I would like to show its surprising degree of compatibility with the thesis supported by some contemporary tropists (Lowe, Gozzano and Orilia (eds), Tropes, Universals and the Philosophy of Mind, Ontos Verlag, 2008; Moltmann, Mind 113:1–41, 2004 and Moltmann, Noûs 47:346–370, 2013). It is difficult to establish whether Sellars possessed an own theory of tropes, developed independently by the classical form it took in Williams 1953, but as a matter of fact the peculiar features of his “complex particulars” model it is very much like Williams’s theory. So much so that to all intents and purposes it represents a tropes variation. One of its strengths is that it is not part of a constituent ontology, since it is essentially developed from a linguistic and phenomenological point of view. It is for these reasons that this theory manages to avoid some of the classic objections to tropes and it shows to be compatible with the argument of Jonathan Lowe’s “proper visibility” as well as with Friederike Moltmann’s exquisitely linguistic interpretation of tropes.
The neural basis of Tetris gameplay: implicating the role of visuospatial processing
Authors: Agren Thomas , Hoppe Johanna M. , Singh Laura , Holmes Emily A. , Rosén Jörgen 
Published: August 2021

AbstractTetris is not only a widely used entertaining computer game, but has been used as a component in emerging psychological interventions targeting dysfunctional mental imagery, e.g., intrusive memories and imagery-based cravings. However, little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these interventions. Tetris gameplay has been hypothesized to disrupt dysfunctional mental imagery (e.g., imagery-based intrusive memories of adverse events) and cravings (e.g., substance use) by taxing visuospatial working memory. In line with this, the present study aimed to characterize brain areas involved in the visuospatial aspects of Tetris gameplay, by controlling for motor activity (button presses) and using gameplay instructions emphasizing mental rotation. Participants (N = 28) received mental rotation instructions and thereafter either played Tetris, or only pressed buttons as if playing Tetris (motor activity), while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Tetris gameplay (when using mental rotation instructions and controlling for motor activity) robustly activated brain areas located in the ventral and dorsal stream, with maximum peak activation in the inferior and mid temporal gyrus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize brain areas specifically associated with the visuospatial aspects of Tetris gameplay, by controlling for motor activity and when using mental rotation instructions. Results demonstrate that engaging in Tetris gameplay recruits an extensive brain circuitry previously tied to visuospatial processing. Thus, findings are consistent with the use of Tetris as an imagery-competing task as one of several components of emerging interventions targeting dysfunctional mental imagery.
Understanding technology in mining and its effect on the work environment
Authors: Lööw Joel 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThis paper takes its starting point in the fact that many mines have managed to improve its work environment, with regards to, for example, accident occurrence, while at the same time having stopped seeing improvements in these areas even in the wake of technology interventions. Technology projects in the mining industry continue to make claims on further improvements to the work environment, and make wider claims still, but have not addressed underlying causes that lead to underperformance of technology in terms of work environment improvements. This paper suggests that when we look closer at the situation, we find a complex situation in which negative and positive effects on the work environment follow the implementation of new technology. The analysis conducted in the paper further suggests that this has to do with mining environments having reached a level where historically major risks have been addressed; remaining risks, which are still significant, are of such a nature that their singular treatment — attempting to address these risks through isolated action such as new technology — engenders risks elsewhere. At the same time, the mining industry is of such a character that technological sophistications will fail to ultimately address the fundamental underlying causes of technology’s underperformance; technology by itself will never be enough. In part, this is due to constraints stemming from the characteristics of the mining industry, resulting in lower and slower technological progress for instance. The paper, thus, proposes a shift in focus with regards to technology, from technology itself to the processes surrounding the development, implementation, and use of technology in the mining industry. The paper, then, outlines some requirements for such a process.
Race, Ethnicity, and Neighborhood Food Environment Are Associated with Adolescent Sugary Drink Consumption During a 5-Year Community Campaign
Authors: Boehm Rebecca , Cooksey Stowers Kristen , Schneider Glenn E. , Schwartz Marlene B. 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background
A multi-level county-wide campaign to reduce sugary drink consumption was associated with significant decreases in retail sales of soda and fruit drinks. The aim of the current study was to examine changes in adolescent beverage consumption during the campaign by race/ethnicity and neighborhood food environment.

Methods
Beverage consumption among adolescents was evaluated at four time points in a repeated cross-sectional survey of a racially and ethnically diverse sample of sixth graders (N = 13,129) from public middle schools in the county. Each school’s surrounding attendance zone (i.e., neighborhoods where students live) was characterized as providing high or low exposure to unhealthy food retail (e.g., convenience stores, fast-food restaurants). Logistic and multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate changes in beverage consumption over time by student race/ethnicity and high versus low unhealthy food exposure.

Results
Over the 5 years, there were significant declines in the overall share of students who reported daily sugary drink consumption (49.4 to 36.9%) and their reported daily calories from these products (220 to 158 calories). However, disparities were observed, with higher levels of consumption among Black and Hispanic youth and among youth living in neighborhoods with more unhealthy food retail. Notably, Black students living in healthier neighborhood food environments reported significant decreases in daily consumption and calories after 5 years, while Black students living in neighborhoods with more convenience stores and fast-food outlets did not.

Conclusion
These findings suggest that both race/ethnicity and neighborhood food environments are important considerations when designing interventions to reduce sugary drink consumption among adolescents.
Necessity, Norm and Missing Knowledge
Authors: Müller Marcus 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThis study examines modal verbs in German press coverage of COVID-19 during the first phase of the pandemic. The data basis is an 18-million-word corpus of newspaper articles. For analysis, a sample is drawn from the total number of modal verbs in the corpus and these are categorised according to their discourse function. The corresponding annotated data are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. For this purpose, the study draws back to Kratzer’s concept of conversational backgrounds. It turns out that in addition to normative speech backgrounds, goal formulations can be found above all. Normative backgrounds are evoked, on the one hand, to address official rules and their effects and, on the other hand in appeals and demands, to refer to social norms that are assumed as common ground. The fact that teleological backgrounds play a relatively large role indicates that the normalisation perspective is of great importance as a regulative in the crisis discourse. More positive than negative determining factors are indicated and uncertainty markings occur comparatively rarely. This points to successful crisis communication in this discourse phase.
Perineal Cyst in Transgender Men: A Rare Complication Following Gender Affirming Surgery – A Case Series and Literature Overview
Authors: Asseler Joyce D. , Ronkes Brechje L. , Groenman Freek A. , de Leeuw Robert , Pigot Gary L.S. , van Mello Norah M. 
Published: August 2021

Abstract

Introduction
Genital gender affirming surgery (gGAS) is usually the final stage in the medical transition for transgender men and consists of creating a neophallus and neo-scrotum, with or without urethral lengthening(UL). To reduce the complication risks of UL, a mandatory colpectomy is performed prior to UL. Colpectomy is considered a complex surgery, which may lead to various perioperative complications. There are few long-term complications reported.

Aim
To describe the clinical presentation and management of 3 consecutive transgender men presenting with a perineal cyst following gGAS.

Methods
After obtaining informed consent all clinical data was collected, including medical history, current symptoms, imaging, as well as surgery and histological outcomes. Furthermore, a literature search was performed.

Main outcome measure
To hypothesize the aetiology of the perineal cyst based on current published literature.

Results
Three otherwise healthy transgender men, ages 26–46 with a similar medical history, presented with a perineal cyst several months or years following colpectomy and gGAS with UL. All patients underwent surgery to remove the cyst. Several theories regarding aetiology of this perineal cyst are discussed in this report.

Conclusion
There remain several gaps in our knowledge regarding the aetiology and management of this perineal cyst. Therefore, further research is necessary.