bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Myocardial Deformation Parameters Assessed By CMR Feature Tracking In Chronic Heart Failure: The Influence of An Optimal Medical Therapy On Myocardial Remodeling
Authors: Kersten Johannes , Hackenbroch Carsten , Gann Paula , Hoestermann Anna-Sophie , Bernhardt Peter 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background: Myocardial deformation parameters have been shown to yield early detection of pathological changes in chronic heart failure (CHF). Aim of our study was to evaluate myocardial deformation changes under optimal medical therapy (OMT) in CHF patients.Methods: CHF patients were examined longitudinally with two cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) examinations at a median time interval of 140 days. Left and right ventricular volumes were quantified, and deformation analysis was performed using feature tracking, respectively.Results: 57 patients were included into the study. There was a high rate of OMT with a prescription of beta blockers in 98.2% and ACE-inhibitors/Angiotensin receptor blockers in 93.0%. In the total cohort, there were indications of positive remodeling with a significant improvement in left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (38.9% ± 11.6 vs. 43.0% ± 12.7, p=0.009), LV enddiastolic volume indexed (92.1ml/m2 ± 23.5 vs. 87.2ml/m2 ± 21.2, p=0.007), LV mass (140.3g ± 35.7 vs. 128.0g ± 34.4, p=0.001) and right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RV GLS) (-18.1% ± 5.1 vs. -20.3% ± 4.5, p<0.001) during follow-up. Discussion: Patients with CHF and OMT show positive reverse remodeling with improvement of LV volumes and function and RV GLS. This has a potential impact on the surveillance of this patient group, which should be further investigated in larger prospective studies.
Highly Sensitive Plasmonic Refractive Index Sensor Based on Dual D-Shaped Photonic Crystal Fiber with Aluminum Nitride-Silver Films
Authors: Gu Sanfeng , Sun Wei , Li Meng , Deng Ming 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
A dual-core and dual D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with silver and Aluminum Nitride (AlN) films is designed. The distribution characteristics of the electromagnetic fields of core and plasmon modes, as well as the sensing properties are numerically studied by finite element method (FEM). The structure parameters of the designed sensor are optimized by the optical loss spectrum. The results show the resonance wavelength variation of 489 nm for the refractive index (RI) range of 1.36~1.42. In addition, a maximum wavelength sensitivity of 13400 nm/RIU with the corresponding RI resolution of 7.46×10-6 RIU is obtained in the RI range of 1.41~1.42. The proposed sensor with the merits of high sensitivity, low cost and simple structure has a wide application in the fields of RI sensing, such as hazardous gas detection, environmental monitoring and biochemical analysis.
Invasive alien plants in Bangladesh: taxonomic inventory, impact assessment and management issues
Authors: Jain Sreepat , Banaś Krzysztof , Salamon Mariusz , Płachno Bartosz J. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
The establishment of a database of naturalized species is the first step in understanding the development and spread of invasion, and serves as a stepping-stone for further detailed studies on the biology and impact of individual species on the ecosystem. Preliminary dataset for such a database of Bangladesh is provided here. The inventory of invasive alien flora comprises of 54 species from 48 genera and 24 families. 54% species originate from South America, 17% from Tropical Asia, Tropical Africa and North America - 5% each, Australia and the Mediterranean region - 2% each and China - 1%. With regard to life form representation, herbs constitute the largest share (63%), followed by trees (13%), shrubs (9%), climbers (8%) and grass (7%). Combating plant Invasive Alien Species (IAS) in Bangladesh is very difficult due to the absence of (1) a cataloged list of identified plant IAS, (2) properly carried out case studies on economic and ecological impacts, (3) unstructured programs on management efforts, (4) awareness campaigns and (5) and coordination between different nodal ministries and agencies. As combating IAS requires an integrated approach, all relevant departments must integrate their approaches, establish a national focal point, education and strictly monitor and implement legal instruments.
Evidence on Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Challenges Faced in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Qualitative Review
Authors: Farah Rebecca , Groot Wim , Pavlova Milena 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background
In low-income countries (LIC) and low-middle-income countries (LMIC), the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has increased due to the lack of prevention and the presence of barriers to enter rehabilitation programs. The aim of this systematic review is to analyze the evidence on pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in LIC and LMIC.
Methods
A systematic literature review was conducted. Four electronic databases were searched for qualitative and quantitative studies that documented the presence of PR in LIC and LMIC. We report our findings following the Prisma guidelines. In addition, grey literature was also searched. Articles not in English, presenting a point of view and/or not treating an adult population (< 18 years old) were excluded from the review. Data were extracted by one reviewer and synthesized in the form of tables. Tables present individual characteristics of the PR reported within countries, including country of origin, study design, population attending, intervention (kind of program setting), frequency and duration of a program established (if available), with health outcomes. The PICO framework was used for every country with reported PR to assess population, intervention, comparison and outcomes found. This systematic review is registered on Prospero: CRD42020141655.
Results
In total, 47 publications were included in the review. In LIC, PR for HIV-infected patients was most frequently reported, while in LMIC, PR for COPD patients was most frequent. Duration and frequency of treatments reported were also different in LIC and LMIC. Health outcomes on cardiopulmonary function were established in all publications. Results found that the implementation of PR in LMIC is ongoing. The most important barriers to access are the lack of funds and know-how among professional healthcare givers.
Conclusion
Findings suggest that the literature on PR is scarce in LIC and LMIC. Structured or non-structured rehabilitation programs for patients suffering from COPD, HIV and Tuberculosis, are infrequently available. Strategic policy initiatives to diminish barriers and challenges are needed to implement more PR programs in LIC and LMIC.
Mechanism and Conformation Changes for the Whole Regeneration Process of Cellulose in Pyridinium-Based Ionic Liquids
Authors: Li Chengjie , Fang Timing , Zhou Guohui , Ge Mengmeng , Li Yao , Liu Xiaomin 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
In this work, mechanism and conformation changes of cellulose regenerated from ionic liquid by anti-solvents (water, ethanol and acetone) were investigated by molecular simulations. Cellulose model consists of seven glucose single chains were constructed. In order to depict the regeneration mechanism, both the dissolution and regeneration processes of cellulose in [Bpy][OAc] IL were simulated. The methyl hydroxyl group of cellulose will change its conformation during dissolution and regeneration. The conformation of initial cellulose crystal is mainly the tg conformation. After dissolved in ILs, the cellulose conformation changes into the gt conformation and the gg conformation. After regenerated by anti-solvent, the proportion of the gg and gt conformation changes, and the gg conformation increased and the gt conformation decreased. Based on energy analysis, it is concluded that the energy for tg is the lowest, and the tg widely exists in cellulose I. After cellulose is dissolved in ILs, the conformation changes into two higher energy conformations, the gt and gg. In the subsequent regeneration process, with the completion of regeneration, the gg conformation increases and the gt conformation decreases.
Classifier Performance Evaluation in Wrist and Finger Movement Fitting Task Based on Forearm HD-sEMG
Authors: Duan Haiqiang , Dai Chenyun , Chen Wei 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background: The transmission of human body movements to other devices through wearable smart bracelets have attracted more and more attentions in the field of human-machine interface (HMI) applications. However, due to the limitation of the collection range of wearable bracelets, it is necessary to study the relationship between the superposition of wrist and finger motion and their cooperative motion to simplify the collection system of the device.Methods: The multi-channel high-density surface electromyogram (HD-sEMG) signal has high spatial resolution and can improve the accuracy of multi-channel fitting. In this study, we quantified the HD-sEMG forearm spatial activation features of 256 channels of hand movement, and performed a linear fitting of the quantified features of fingers and wrist movements to verify the linear superposition relationship between fingers and wrist cooperative movements and their independent movements. The most important thing is to classify and predict the results of the fitting and the actual measured fingers and wrist cooperative actions by four commonly used classifiers: Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) ,K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) ,Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF), and evaluate the performance of the four classifiers in gesture fitting in detail according to the classification results.Results: In a total of 12 kinds of synthetic gesture actions, in the three cases where the number of fitting channels was selected as 8, 32 and 64, four classifiers of LDA, SVM, RF and KNN are used for classification prediction. When the number of fitting channels was 8, the prediction accuracy of LDA classifier was 99.70%, the classification accuracy of KNN was 99.40%, the classification accuracy of SVM was 99.20%, and the classification accuracy of RF was 93.75%. When the number of fitting channels was 32, the accuracy of LDA was 98.51%, the classification accuracy of KNN was 97.92%, the accuracy of SVM is 96.73%, and the accuracy of RF was 86.61%. When the number of fitting channels is 64, the accuracy of LDA is 95.83%, the classification accuracy of KNN is 91.67%, the accuracy of SVM is 86.90%, and the accuracy of RF is 83.30%.Conclusion: It can be seen from the results that when the number of fitting channels is 8, the classification accuracy of the three classifiers of LDA, KNN and SVM is basically the same, but the time-consuming of SVM is very small. When the amount of data is large, the priority should be selected SVM as the classifier. When the number of fitting channels increases, the classification accuracy of the LDA classifier will be higher than the other three classifiers, so the LDA classifier should be more appropriate. The classification accuracy of the RF classifier in this type of problem has always been far lower than the other three classifiers, so it is not recommended to use the RF classifier as a classifier for gesture stacking related work.
LIM Domain-Wide Comprehensive Virtual Mutagenesis Provides Structural Rationale for Cardiomyopathy Mutations in CSRP3
Authors: Chauhan Pankaj Kumar , Sowdhamini R. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Cardiomyopathies are a severe and chronic cardiovascular burden worldwide, affecting a large cohort in the general population. Cysteine and glycine-rich protein 3 (CSRP3) is one of key proteins implicated in dominant dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In this study, we device a rapid in-silico screening protocol that creates a mutational landscape map for all possible allowed and disallowed substitutions in the protein of interest. This map provides the structural and functional insights on the stability of LIM domains of CSRP3. Further, the sequence analysis delineates the eukaryotic CSRP3 protein orthologs which complements the mutational map. Next, we also evaluated the effect of HCM/DCM mutations on these domains. One of highly destabilising mutations - L44P (also disease causing) and a neutral mutation - L44M were further subjected to molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results establish that L44P substitution affects the LIM domain structure. The present study provides a useful perspective to our understanding of the role of mutations in the CSRP3 LIM domains and their evolution. Experimentally verifying every reported mutation can become challenging both in time and resources used. This study provides a novel screening method for quick identification of key mutation sites for specific protein structures that can reduce the burden on experimental research.
The Impact of Covid-19 on Malaria Services in Three High Endemic Districts in Rwanda – A Mixed-Method Study
Authors: Hakizimana Dieudonne , NTIZIMIRA Christian , Mbituyumuremyi Aimable , Hakizimana Emmanuel , Mahmoud Hani , Birindabagabo Pascal , Musanabaganwa Clarisse , Gashumba Diane 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background:
Rwanda has achieved impressive reductions in malaria morbidity and mortality over the past two decades. However, the disruption of essential services due to the current Covid-19 pandemic can lead to a reversal of these gains in malaria control unless targeted, evidence-based interventions are implemented to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The extent to which malaria services have been disrupted has not been fully characterized. In this study, we thus assessed the impact of Covid-19 on malaria services in Rwanda.
Methods:
We conducted a mixed-methods study in three purposively selected districts in Rwanda. The quantitative data included malaria aggregated data reported at the health facility level and the community level. The data included the number of malaria tests, uncomplicated malaria cases, severe malaria cases, and malaria deaths. We collected qualitative data using focus group discussions with community members and community health workers, as well as in-depth interviews with health care providers and staff working in the malaria program. We conducted interrupted time series analysis to compare changes in malaria presentations between the pre-Covid-19 period (January 2019 to February 2020) and Covid-19 periods (from March 2020 to November 2020). We used the constant comparative method in qualitative thematic analysis.
Results:
Compared to pre-Covid-19 period, there was a monthly reduction in patients tested in health facilities of 5.09 per 1000 population and a monthly increase in patients tested in the community of 3.13 per 1000 population during the Covid-19 period. There was no change in presentation rate for uncomplicated malaria or severe malaria. Additionally, although healthcare providers continued to provide malaria services, they were fearful that this would expose them and their families to Covid-19. Covid-19 mitigation measures limited the availability of transportation options for the community to seek care in health facilities and delayed the implementation of some key malaria interventions. The focus on Covid-19-related communication also reduced the amount of health information for other diseases provided to community members.
Conclusion
The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in patients increasingly seeking care in the community and poses challenges to maintaining delivery of malaria services in Rwanda. Interventions to mitigate these challenges should focus on strengthening programming for community and home-based care models and integrating malaria messages into Covid-19-related communication. Additionally, implementation of the interrupted interventions should be timed and overlap with the malaria transmission season to mitigate Covid-19 consequences on malaria.
Renal Function during Hospitalization and Outcome in Chinese Patients with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure
Authors: Lee Hao-Wei , Huang Chin-Chou , Yang Chih-Yu , Leu Hsin-Bang , Huang Po-Hsun , Wu Tao-Cheng , Lin Shing-Jong , Chen Jaw-Wen 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
It is well known that the heart and kidney have a bi-directional correlation, in which organ dysfunction results in maladaptive changes in the other. We aimed to investigate the impact of renal function and its decline during hospitalization on clinical outcomes in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). A total of 119 consecutive Chinese patients admitted for ADHF were prospectively enrolled. The course of renal function was presented with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), calculated by the four-variable equation proposed by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) Study. Worsening renal function (WRF), defined as eGFR decline between admission (eGFRadmission) and pre-discharge (eGFRpredischarge), occurred in 41 patients. Clinical outcomes during the follow-up period were defined as 4P-major adverse cardiovascular events (4P-MACE), including the composition of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, and nonfatal HF hospitalization. During an average follow-up period of 2.6±3.2 years, 66 patients experienced 4P-MACE. Cox regression analysis revealed that impaired eGFRpredischarge, but not eGFRadmission or WRF, was significantly correlated with the development of 4P-MACE (HR, 2.003; 95% CI, 1.072–3.744; P=0.029). In conclusion, impaired renal function before discharge, but not WRF, is a significant risk factor for poor outcomes in patients with ADHF.
Psychosocial Factors Underlying Sexual Deviance Among Adolescents in ASEAN: a Systematic Review
Authors: Kamaluddin Mohammad Rahim , Chendirasagaram Karunaagaran , Mey Loy See , Ibrahim Fauziah , Rathakrishnan Balan , Singh Soon Singh Bikar , Nasir Norruzeyati Che Mohd , Muda Azlina Tengku , Hinduan Zahrotur Rusyda , Mokhtar Daniella Maryam Mohamed , Rahman Zaizul Ab , Chong Ibrahim Maclean 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background: Risky sexual behaviours amongst adolescents are associated with detrimental impact on their personal growth, influenced by psychosocial factors including subjective cultural norms. This systematic review aimed to examine the evidence on ASEAN countries’ adolescents risky sexual behaviour defined as sexual deviance with its associated psychosocial factors.Methods: A systematic literature review was guided by PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) for a search through four electronic databases for articles published within the time frame of 2010 and 2020 resulting in 20 articles that meet the inclusion criteria. Results: Adolescent sexual deviance in ASEAN is associated with salient psychosocial factors such as cultural norm, self-esteem, parental support/monitoring, substance abuse (alcohol/drugs/smoking), spirituality and religion. Intention, attitude and motivation of sexual transgression appear to be recurrent factors as well. Most studies are cross-sectional and quantitatively designed. The diverse and nuanced psychosocial factors of sexually deviant behaviour affirm the sexual dimension and values of absolutism, hedonism and relativism.Conclusions: Strategies for reducing risky sexual behaviours among ASEAN adolescents should take regard of subjective culture norms and psychosocial needs to achieve the goal of progress as per the ASEAN Youth Development Index. More qualitative and longitudinal approaches in future research are also recommended for more in-depth insights for appropriate intervention or rehabilitative measures.
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Facilitate Sympathoexcitation After Traumatic Brain Injury Via HMGB1/AP1 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Zhu Kaixin , Hou Xiaoxiang , Qu Xiaolin , Chen Wen , Chen Kun , Zhang Yelei , Xu Haoxiang , Wang Junyu , Lv Liquan , Zhang Danfeng , Hou Lijun 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) usually accompanies with sympathetic excitation, and paradoxical sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) may be detrimental to the prognosis of TBI sufferers. Neutrophils can form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to get involved in the neuroinflammation after TBI. As an important form of NETs, HMGB1 were found to activate the expression of AP1, which can increase the formation of IL-1β in microglia. Considering that IL-1β is able to regulate sympathoexcitation, it is reasonable to infer that HMGB1/AP1 signaling plays an important role in sympathoexcitation after TBI. Methods: In this present study, rat model with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) was established. The existance of NETs and the expression level of HMGB1/AP1/IL-1β in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) after DAI were examined by immunofluorescence and Western blot (WB). The role of HMGB1/AP1 in the activation of microglia, secretion of IL-1β and sympathoexcitaiton were identified in vitro. Moreover, stereotaxic injection of anti-HMGB1 or HMGB1 was conducted to further validate the effect of HMGB1/AP1 pathway on sympathoexcitation after TBI.Results: The indicators of sympathoexcitation, including mean arterial pressure and serum catecholamine, increased and peaked at 72 hours after TBI. The formation of NETs was observed in PVN after injury, whereas, no NETs were found in the control group. And meanwhile, levels of NETs in PVN were higher than that in the para-PVN tissues after the injury. In vitro experiments showed that HMGB1 can promote the activation of microglia as well as increase the expression of AP1 and IL-1β. In vivo experiments suggested HMGB1 have an impact on the expression of AP1 and IL-1β in the PVN, and further controlling the sympathoexcitation after TBI.Conclusion: NETs might mediate sympathoexcitation after TBI through microglial activation in the PVN in a HMGB1/AP1/IL-1β dependent way.