bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Targeted Limbic Self-Neuromodulation for Alleviating Central Sensitization Symptoms in Fibromyalgia
Authors: Or-Borichev Ayelet , Lerner Yulia , Hamrani Yael , Gurevitch Guy , Mor Netali , Doron Maayan , Sarna Noam , Ablin Jacob N. , Hendler Talma , Sharon Haggai 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Background
Fibromyalgia (FM), involving somatic, cognitive, and affective domains is often regarded as a hallmark central sensitization syndrome. Despite limited current therapeutic options, emerging understanding of its neural underpinnings offers the potential of applying novel neuromodulation strategies. Specifically, limbic dysregulation underlying abnormalities in pain modulation and somatic-affective processing, has been shown to play a key role in FM. Here, we assessed the long-term efficacy of targeted limbic self-neuromodulation for improving clinical disease burden in FM.
Method
Forty-seven FM patients participated in a double-blind, randomized, dual-control study employing a novel specialized neurofeedback probe representing amygdala activity. Patients underwent 10 sessions of either genuine (NFT = 21) or sham (NFS = 13) training, or treatment as usual (TAU = 13). Disease burden was assessed using the Symptom Severity Score (SSS), alongside other questionnaires pre- and post-treatment. Clinical follow-up was performed 10–12 months post-intervention.
Results
NFT resulted in significant immediate and long-term reduction in SSS (F(2,40) = 7.32, p = 0.00, ηp2 = 0.27) and the FIQ (F(2,40) = 9.85, p = 0.00, ηp2 = 0.33), alongside multidomain short and long-term clinical benefits. NFS resulted in a long-term decrease in pain, but not in other disease measures or overall disease burden. The TAU group exhibited no clinical improvements.
Conclusions
Our findings support the intimate involvement of limbic brain areas in the pathophysiology of FM and suggest that targeted neuromodulation offers a novel mechanism-based approach to managing multidomain symptoms in FM.
Trial registration
This study was preregistered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Registration number NCT02146495. Name of trial registry Targeted Limbic Selfmodulation as a Potential Treatment for Patients Suffering From Fibromyalgia. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02146495
Comparative analysis of clinical characteristics of drug-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia and viral pneumonia in children under 6 years of age
Authors: 杨 月 , Zhang Yuxiang , Liang Xuan , Qi Jing , Zhang Rongfang 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Purpose
Comparative analysis of differences in clinical features and laboratory findings between macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumoniae (MRMPP) and viral pneumonia in children under 6 years of age.
Methods
In this study, 213 children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) admitted to the pediatrics department of Gansu Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital from March 2023 to August 2024 were selected and divided into the MRMPP group and the viral pneumonia group according to the results of Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS), and the general data, clinical characteristics, laboratory examinations, chest CT and fiberoptic bronchoscopic manifestations of the two groups were compared and analyzed.
Results
There were 145 cases (68.1%) in the MRMPP group and 68 cases (31.9%) in the viral pneumonia group. The incidence of severe illness was 59.3% and 29.4% in the MRMPP and viral pneumonia groups, respectively. The MRMPP group showed a higher proportion of fever, longer total duration of fever, more likely to hear moist rales and diminished breath sounds, and more likely to have wheezing and sputum sounds in the viral pneumonia group. The MRMPP group was dominated by increased levels of N%, CRP, D-D, and ESR, and the viral pneumonia group was dominated by increased levels of WBC, L%, Alb, ALT, and AST, and chest CT was more likely to show lobar pneumonia and lung consolidation, and the rates of fiberoptic bronchoscopy, bronchial inflammatory stenosis, and plasmacytoid bronchitis were higher.
Conclusions
Despite the differences in clinical features and laboratory tests between MRMPP and viral pneumonia in children under 6 years of age, it is difficult to differentiate them in clinical practice, and the use of tNGS may help to clarify the etiology of the infection when it is difficult to do so.
Using virtual reality to enhance mobility, safety, and equity for persons with vision loss in urban environments
Authors: Ricci Fabiana Sofia , Ukegbu Charles K , Krassner Anne , Hazarika Sanjukta , White Jade , Porfiri Maurizio , Rizzo John-Ross 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

This study explores the use of virtual reality (VR) as an innovative tool to enhance awareness, acceptance, and understanding of accessibility for persons with vision loss (VL). Through a VR-based workshop developed in collaboration with New York City's Department Of Transportation, participants experienced immersive simulations of VL and and related immersive mobility challenges. The methodology included pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, assessing changes in participants’ knowledge, confidence, and perception. Participants included urban planners, designers, and architects. Results showed a significant increase in awareness of VL-related challenges that affect design guidelines, as well as improved confidence in addressing such challenges. Participants also expressed strong support for VR as a pedagogical tool, noting its potential for reshaping professional practices, improving capacity building, and enhancing inclusive design. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of VR as an experiential learning platform, fostering empathy and a long-term commitment to integrating VL considerations into urban design. These findings highlight the transformative potential of VR in advancing equity and accessibility in urban environments.
Albumin orchestrates a natural host defense mechanism against mucormycosis
Authors: Pikoulas Antonis , Morianos Ioannis , Nidris Vassilis Nidris , Hamdy Rania , López-López Ángeles , Moran-Garrido Maria , Muthu Valliappan , Halabalaki Maria , Papadovasilaki Maria , Irene Kyrmizi , Gu Yiyou , Aerts Robina , Mercier Toine , Vanbiervliet Yuri , Cho Sung-Yeon , Spallone Amy , Samonakis Dimitrios , Kastritis Efstathios , Drakos Elias , Tzardi Maria , Eliopoulos Aristides , Georgila Konstantina , Carvalho Agostinho , Kurzai Oliver , Rudramurthy Shivaprakash , Lanternier Fanny , Petratos Kyriacos , Maertens Johan , Bruno Vincent , Kontoyiannis Dimitrios , Barbas Coral , Soliman Sameh , Ibrahim Ashraf , Chamilos Georgios 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Mucormycosis is an emerging, life-threatening human infection caused by fungi of the order Mucorales. Metabolic disorders uniquely predispose an ever-expanding group of patients to mucormycosis via poorly understood mechanisms. Therefore, it is highly likely that uncharacterized host metabolic effectors confer protective immunity against mucormycosis. Here, we uncover a master regulatory role of albumin in host defense against Mucorales through the modulation of the fungal pathogenicity program. Our initial studies identified severe hypoalbuminemia as a prominent metabolic abnormality and a biomarker of poor outcome in independent cohorts of mucormycosis patients. Strikingly, we found that purified albumin selectively inhibits Mucorales growth among a range of human pathogens, and albumin-deficient mice display susceptibility specifically to mucormycosis. The antifungal activity of albumin is mediated by the release of bound free fatty acids (FFAs). Importantly, albumin prevents FFA oxidation, which results in loss of their antifungal properties. A high degree of FFA oxidation is found in the sera of patients with mucormycosis. Physiologically, albumin-bound FFAs blocks the expression of the mycotoxin mucoricin and renders Mucorales avirulent in vivo. Overall, we discovered a novel host defense mechanism that directs the pathogen to suppress its growth and the expression of virulence factors in response to unfavorable metabolic cues regulated by albumin. These findings have major implications for the pathogenesis and management of mucormycosis.
Object Detection Based on Enhancement of Subtle Features in Low-Illumination Images
Authors: yu li , wang jiawei 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

This study discusses the issue of target detection in low-light environments, which is of great significance for improving traffic safety, enhancing the perception capabilities of autonomous driving, and intelligent surveillance systems. Addressing the challenges of image detection under low-light conditions, such as low brightness, weak contrast, and noise interference, this paper selects the YOLOv5 model for improvement research and primarily proposes a new type of attention mechanism, ICA, which integrates IRMB and CA attention mechanisms to more accurately identify inconspicuous features and reduce the interference of irrelevant information. Additionally, to address contrast issues caused by uneven lighting, this paper replaces the original YOLOv5 up-sampling operator with the CARAFE operator, which dynamically generates adaptive up-sampling kernels through content-aware methods and aggregates contextual information within a larger receptive field, thereby enhancing the model's object recognition capabilities. Lastly, to cope with the variability of objects in low-light environments, this paper introduces the ASFF module, which further enhances the model's detection performance for multi-scale targets by adaptively learning the fusion weights of each scale feature map. Through multiple training sessions, more suitable parameter settings for training are found, further enhancing the model's performance. The proposed model is named YOLOV5-ICAs.
Proca stars in excited states
Authors: Joaquin Carlos , Alcubierre Miguel 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

In this paper we consider families of solutions for excited states of Proca stars in spherical symmetry. We focus on the first two excited configurations and perform a series of fully non-linear dynamical simulations in order to study their properties and stability. Our analysis reveals that excited Proca stars are always unstable against even very small perturbations, and their dynamical evolution can lead to three different final states: collapse to a black hole, dissipation, or migration to a different configuration in the ground state. We find that migration to the ground state can only occur in a small region of the parameter space of solutions with negative binding energy.
PACS numbers: 04.20.Ex, 04.25.Dm, 95.30.Sf
Association Between Internet Addiction and Insomnia Among College Freshmen: A Moderated Chain Mediation Effect of Emotion Regulation and Anxiety
Authors: Yu Ye , Zhang Li , Su Xuejian , Zhang Xinfeng , Deng Xiaopeng 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Background: The advancement of the information age has led to the widespread use of the internet, accompanied by numerous internet-related issues that often correlate with various physical and mental health conditions, particularly among college freshmen. We examined the relationship between internet addiction (IA) and insomnia among these students, using emotion regulation (ER) and anxiety as mediators and gender as a moderating variable.
Methods: A questionnaire survey was administered to 7353 college freshmenat Yangtze University in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China. The survey assessed their IA, ER, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms. PROCESS was employed to analyse the mediation and moderation effects.
Results: ER and anxiety served as chained mediators in the relationship between IA and insomnia. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that males were more adept at predicting insomnia levels on the basis of IA, whereasfemales were more likely to predict insomnia through ER or by influencing anxiety via ER.
Limitations: First, the use of multiple assessment tools should be considered to increaseobjectivity. Second, the cross-sectional design limits causal inference. Third, a multicentersample survey is needed to explore this relationship further.
Conclusion: IA can exacerbate insomnia in college freshmenby compromising their ER, subsequently triggering anxiety symptoms. The process differs by gender, suggesting tailored strategies for each. These findings may play crucial rolesin promoting the physical and mental well-being of college freshmen.
Behaviorally-relevant features of observed actions dominate cortical representational geometry in natural vision
Authors: Han Jane , Chauhan Vassiki , Philip Rebecca , Taylor Morgan , Jung Heejung , Halchenko Yaroslav , Gobbini M. Ida , Haxby James , Nastase Samuel 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

We effortlessly extract behaviorally relevant information from dynamic visual input in order to understand the actions of others. In the current study, we develop and test a number of models to better understand the neural representational geometries supporting action understanding. Using fMRI, we measured brain activity as participants viewed a diverse set of 90 different video clips depicting social and nonsocial actions in real-world contexts. We developed five behavioral models using arrangement tasks: two models reflecting behavioral judgments of the purpose (transitivity) and the social content (sociality) of the actions depicted in the video stimuli; and three models reflecting behavioral judgments of the visual content (people, objects, and scene) depicted in still frames of the stimuli. We evaluated how well these models predict neural representational geometry and tested them against semantic models based on verb and nonverb embeddings and visual models based on gaze and motion energy. Our results revealed that behavioral judgments of similarity better reflect neural representational geometry than semantic or visual models throughout much of cortex. The sociality and transitivity models in particular captured a large portion of unique variance throughout the action observation network, extending into regions not typically associated with action perception, like ventral temporal cortex. Overall, our findings expand the action observation network and indicate that the social content and purpose of observed actions are predominant in cortical representation.
Situation analysis of clinical education during teaching hospitals based on the standards of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Iran University of Medical Sciences
Authors: Hazrati Hakimeh , Nojomi Marzieh , Vahedi Leila 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Background: Clinical education forms the foundation and core of medical education, playing a pivotal role in shaping medical students' professional identities This study examined the current state of clinical teaching within the teaching hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in two phases: questionnaire design and psychometric evaluation, and questionnaire administration. The study analyzed the status of clinical teaching in two teaching hospitals at Iran University of Medical Sciences. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19 software.
Results: The overall impact score, CVI, and CVR index for the questionnaire titled "Situation Analysis of Clinical Education from the Students' Perspective" were 4.88, 0.96, and 0.90, respectively. For the questionnaire titled "Situation Analysis of Clinical Education from the Teachers' Perspective," the scores were 4.78, 0.92, and 0.91. A total of 97 students and 46 clinical professors completed the questionnaires. Both groups reported higher compliance with standards in the morning report (77.28% for students and 71.37% for professors) compared to other areas. However, in the clinical skills center (43.5% for students and 44.71% for professors), compliance was reported to be lower. Additionally, students reported low compliance with journal club standards, with only 35% meeting the required standards.
Conclusion: This study identified a weakness in the implementation of standards in the clinical skills center and the lack of practical evaluation methods in different areas of clinical education. As the clinical skills unit prepare students for clinical practice, it will be important for health policy-makers to give priority to the unit and to improve the teachingof teachers in the skills workshops, particularly in relation to changes in the evaluation process of students in clinical areas.
A Green and Verified High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Technique for the Concurrent Measurement of a Few Veterinary Drug Residues in Milk
Authors: Sattar Osama I. Abdel , Abuseada Hamed H. M. , Emara Mohamed Saleh , Rabee Mahmoud 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Milk is a dietary item that is often consumed due to its high nutritional value. Milk containing residues of veterinarian medications is dangerous for human health and could negatively impact consumers. These leftovers are becoming more widely recognized as a developing environmental problem. This study developed and refined a chromatographic method for the simultaneous identification of specific veterinary medication residues in milk samples. The drugs that were selected were Sulfadimidine (SDD), Flunixin Meglumine (FNM), and Imidocarb Dipropionate (IMD). An ODS Hypersil C18 column with UV detection at 270 nm was used to perform the separation. A flow rate of 1 mL/min of 0.05 M phosphate buffer, pH 3: acetonitrile: methanol (55: 30: 15; by volume) used as the mobile phase. The target medicines were extracted from milk using a protein precipitation process that used methanol as a deproteinization agent prior to analysis. The suggested technique worked well for measuring the drug residues in milk samples that had been tampered with. In order to confirm that the suggested approach was an environmentally friendly and green analytical method, its greenness and environmental impact were also assessed.
Co-production in sleep and circadian research: a scoping review of current practices and future directions
Authors: Gale Emma Louise , Manrai Raahat , Caddick Lorna , Murray Aja , Whalley Heather C , Smith Daniel , Gardani Maria 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Introduction: Sleep is essential for mental and physical health and research in the field has substantially expanded over the past fifty years. Co-production methodology has been increasingly used within health and social care research and refers to collaboration between researchers, policy makers, community partners and wider stakeholders. The aim of this scoping review was to detail the use of co-production methods within sleep research.
Methods: A review of the existing literature was conducted using seven databases following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Search terms included objective and subjective sleep outcomes, and the use of co-production research methodologies.
Results: Sixteen studies were included in the final review: ten studies used solely qualitative co-production methods to inform intervention design and development (sleep as a primary outcome (n=5) and as a secondary outcome (n=5)) and six studies used co-production methodologies to establish sleep as a priority outcome for future research. Most studies used consultation approaches to design interventions (n=8), instead of using co-design teams (n=2). Two studies focusing on intervention development recruited participants from clinical populations with poor sleep, other studies recruited from those with other underlying conditions or a healthy population.
Discussion: The most common limitations of the included studies were small sample size, researcher driven topics/domains for the PAR components, under-representative samples and COVID-19 pressures. Future sleep research should consider the use of co-production methodologies from the study conceptualisation, through to the design, development and implementation of research to further benefit the intended research population.
Optimizing Credit Card Fraud Detection with Random Forests and SMOTE
Authors: P SUNDARAVADIVEL , R Augustian Isaac , D.Elangovan  , Raj K. D. Krishna , Rahul L. R. V. V. Lokesh , Raja R. 
Published: December 2024

Abstract

Credit card fraud is a growing concern in the financial industry, necessitating the development of efficient detection methods to minimize financial losses. In this project, we built a machine learning-based system to detect fraudulent transactions using a publicly available dataset of credit card transactions. The dataset, highly imbalanced with fraudulent transactions representing less than 0.2% of the total, was processed using techniques like Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) to handle class imbalance. Various classification algorithms, including Logistic Regression, Random Forest, and Neural Networks, were evaluated to determine their effectiveness in identifying fraudulent activities. The Random Forest model emerged as the best performing algorithm with an accuracy of 99.5% and a high recall score, indicating its robustness in detecting fraudulent transactions. This system can be deployed in real-time financial systems to enhance fraud prevention mechanisms and ensure secure financial transactions.
A Novel Method for Forensic Examination of Bribery Cases Using Alpha-Naphtholphthalein
Authors: Das Rahul , Mishra Vichar , Mishra Jayati 
Published: December 2024

Background: Corruption is one of the major issues of India and other third world countries. Anti-corruption Bureau, detective agencies and various Forensic Science Laboratories make use of indicator dyes/detective dyes, such as, Phenolphthalein and Anthracene for catching a person involved in taking bribe, red-handed. This study aims to solve the issue of fading out of colour and fluorescence due to extraneous substances, often encountered in case of traditional dyes. To overcome the limitations faced in case of traditional dyes, a new and innovative approach by using ?-naphtholphthalein [3,3-Bis(4-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)-2-benzofuran-1(3H)-one] has been developed. Results: The sensitivity of the method was evaluated and limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 243.2005 ?g/mL or ppm and 736.9712 ?g/mL or ppm respectively, with a regression coefficient of 0.987. Conclusion: Two pathways have been suggested in this study – Aerosol spray method and the traditional wash-solution method. The resulting wash solution and the turquoise blue coloured solution have been analysed using Acid-Alkali test, pH test, Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), Colorimetry and UV Spectrophotometry.