bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Household contact antigen-specific TNF and IL-2 T-cell responses and impact of index case Mycobacterium tuberculosis aerosolization and HIV Co-infection
Authors: Njagi Lilian N. , Nduba Videlis , Murithi Wilfred Bundi , Mwongera Zipporah , Cook Kennadi , Mecha Jerphason , Chacha Robi , Fennelly Kevin P. , Horne David J. , Hawn Thomas R. 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Exposure to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) culminates in heterogeneous outcomes, including variation in Mtb antigen-specific interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) T-cell responses. IFN-γ-independent cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL-2), offer potential diagnostic improvements and insights into pathogenesis. We hypothesized that ESAT6/CFP10 TNF and IL-2 responses improve Mtb infection detection among exposed household contacts (HHCs) and are associated with index case Mtb aerosolization (i.e., cough aerosol culture positive for Mtb growth, CAC+]) and HIV co-infection. We enrolled individuals with PTB and their HHCs in a longitudinal study in Nairobi, Kenya. We measured TNF and IL-2 in HHCs from QuantiFERON-TB Plus TB1 tube supernatants. An additional 9.2% (25) HHCs beyond the 58.6% (129) with an IFN-γ response demonstrated an antigen-specific increase in IL-2 and TNF. HHCs of CAC + participants were more likely to have positive IL-2 (84.6% vs. 53.8%, p = 0.02) and IFN-γ (88.0% vs. 54.9%, p = 0.01), but not TNF responses, compared to CAC-negative individuals. While HIV co-infection in the index was negatively associated with IFN-γ responses in HHCs (35.7% vs. 62.3%, p = 0.03), IL-2 and TNF responses did not differ. Antigen-specific ESAT6/CFP10 IL-2 and TNF may increase rates of Mtb infection detection and provide insights into Mtb transmission and pathogenesis.
Soil Quality Assessment in Agricultural Lands of an Industrializing Region of India
Authors: Kanagaraj Avinash , kaliappan Sathiya Bama , S Thenmozhi , A Bharani , R Kumaraperumal , S Pazhanivelan , PC Prabhu 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Soil degradation due to industrialization is a growing global concern, emphasizing the importance of evaluating soil quality near industrial zones to ensure food security, environmental sustainability, and public health. This study compares soil quality across five industrial sites, including foundries, electroplating, paper mills, textile mills, and quarries and cement industries in Coimbatore district. Soil samples were collected by purposive sampling approach from nearby agricultural fields using a 500 m2 grid. Soil quality was assessed by including all soil parameters as soil quality indicators by using principal component analysis and correlation studies with minimum data set followed by linear scoring and weighted additive method. Soil quality is ranked as follows: based on soil quality index: Reference soils (0.752) > Foundry industrial sites (0.591) > Quarry and cement industrial sites (0.554) > Paper mill sites (0.552) > Textile and dyeing industrial sites (0.500) > Electroplating industrial sites (0.482). The findings reveal that industrial activities significantly compromise soil quality in adjacent agricultural areas, with varying levels of impact.
Predictive Model for HBsAg Clearance Rate in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Treated with Pegylated Interferon α-2b for 48 Weeks
Authors: TAN Zhili , KONG Nan , ZHANG Qiran , GAO Xiaohong , SHANG Jia , GENG Jiawei , YOU Ruirui , WANG Tao , GUO Ying , WU Xiaoping , ZHANG Wenhong , QU Lihong , ZHANG Fengdi 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background and Aims: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a major global health concern. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance in CHB patients treated with pegylated interferon α-2b (Peg-IFNα-2b) for 48 weeks and to establish a predictive model.
Methods: This analysis is based on the "OASIS" project, a prospective real-world multicenter study in China. We included CHB patients who completed 48 weeks of Peg-IFNα-2b treatment. Patients were randomly assigned to a training set and a validation set in a ratio of approximately 4:1 by spss 26.0, and were divided into clearance and non-clearance groups based on HBsAg status at 48 weeks. Clinical data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0, employing chi-square tests for categorical data and Mann-Whitney U tests for continuous variables. Significant factors (p<0.05) were incorporated into a binary logistic regression model to identify independent predictors of HBsAg clearance. The predictive model's performance was evaluated using ROC curve analysis.
Results: We included 868 subjects, divided into the clearance group (187 cases) and the non-clearance group (681 cases). They were randomly assigned to a training set (702 cases) and a validation set (166 cases). Key predictors included female gender (OR=1.879), lower baseline HBsAg levels (OR=0.371), and cirrhosis (OR=0.438). The final predictive model was:
Logit(P) = 0.92 + Gender (Female) * 0.66 - HBsAg (log) * 0.96 - Cirrhosis * 0.88. ROC analysis showed an AUC of 0.80 for the training set and 0.82 for the validation set, indicating good predictive performance.
Conclusion: Gender, baseline HBsAg levels, and cirrhosis are significant predictors of HBsAg clearance in CHB patients after 48 weeks of Peg-IFNα-2b therapy. The developed predictive model demonstrates high accuracy and potential clinical utility.
Ultrasonic combined with barium titanate coating for 3D printing porous titanium alloy (Ti-24Nb-4Zr-7.9Sn) Scaffold Promotes Bone Properties study
Authors: Liu Peng , Li Yunfei , Tian Yongzheng , Liu Dengke , Sun Ruilong , Liu Ruitang , Zhou Yigui , Zhan Longwen , Bo Fan , Gao Qiuming 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Large-segment bone defect is very challenging in clinic. At present, the scheme of repairing bone defect with 3D printed porous titanium alloy has attracted more and more attention. However, the piezoelectric effect of human bone can stimulate bone formation, while porous titanium alloys lack electrical activity, which hinders their further application. Therefore, in this study, the porous titanium alloy with low elastic modulus (Ti-24Nb-4Zr-7.9Sn) was used as the mechanical support material, and then the porous titanium alloy was surface-modified with piezoelectric ceramics (BaTiO3), and bionic manufacturing was carried out from the perspective of bioelectric physiology, so as to prepare the artificial bone material with low elastic modulus (Ti-24Nb-4Zr-7.9Sn) with bioelectric activity. Firstly, Micro-CT, mechanical testing machine, water contact angle measuring instrument, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to characterize the two kinds of stents before and after barium titanate coating. Then the in vitro and in vivo experiments were divided into four groups: porous titanium alloy group (pTi), porous titanium alloy + barium titanate coating group (pTi/BaTiO3), porous titanium alloy + ultrasound group (pTi/LIPUS) and porous titanium alloy + barium titanate coating + ultrasound group (pTi/BaTiO3/LIPUS). The results showed that the ability of adhesion, proliferation and gene expression of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on the scaffold surface in pTi/BaTiO3/LIPUS group was significantly higher than that in pTi group, pTi/BaTiO3 group and pTi/LIPUS group. In addition, compared with other groups, the scaffold in pTi/BaTiO3/LIPUS group significantly enhanced osteogenesis and osseointegration at 6 and 12 weeks after being implanted into large radial bone defect in rabbits. Therefore, pTi/BaTiO3/LIPUS has become a promising method to promote bone regeneration in large bone defects in clinical application.
COVID-19 infection and later risk of sickness absence by socioeconomic status: a cohort study
Authors: Joensuu Matti , Kausto Johanna , Airaksinen Jaakko , Oksanen Tuula , Vahtera Jussi , Kivimäki Mika , Ervasti Jenni 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant health risk and resulted in increased sickness absence during the pandemic. This study examines whether a history of COVID-19 infection is associated with a higher risk of subsequent sickness absence.
Methods
In this prospective cohort study, 32,124 public sector employees responded to a survey on COVID-19 infection and lifestyle factors in 2020 and were linked to sickness absence records before (2019) and after (2021–2022) the survey. Study outcome was annual sickness absence defined as the total number of sickness absence days and the number of short sickness absence spells (< 10 days) and long sickness absence spells (10–365 days). We used negative binomial regression adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, health behaviors in 2020 and sickness absence in 2019. We examined differences in sickness absence between socioeconomic statuses (SES), measured by occupational titles from employers’ records.
Results
A self-reported COVID-19 infection in 2020 was associated with higher subsequent risk of sickness absence in 2021: Adjusted relative risk (RR) compared to those not reporting COVID-19 RR = 1.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10–1.37 for sickness absence days, 1.29, 1.20–1.39 for short sickness absence spells and 1.20, 1.05–1.37 for long spells. The association was strongest in employees with intermediate SES: 1.48, 1.20–1.77 days, 1.44, 1.27–1.63 short spells, and 1.32, 1.05–1.66 long spells. For employees with low and high SES, an association was observed only for short spells.
Conclusions
Employees who reported contracting COVID-19 infection had higher rates of sickness absence in the next year. This excess risk was most consistently observed in employees with intermediate socioeconomic status (e.g. office workers, registered nurses, and social workers).
TriSpectraKAN: A novel approach for COPD Detection via Lung Sound Analysis
Authors: Roy Abhinav , Gyanchandani Bhavesh , Oza Aditya , Singh Anurag 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

This study aims to create an automated, accessible, andcost-effective diagnostic tool for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD). Traditional diagnostic methods are expensive, time-consuming,and require specialized equipment. The proposed TriSpectraKAN modelleverages audio-based lung sound features to improve early diagnosis.TriSpectraKAN is a hybrid model combining spectral features and theKolmogorov-Arnold Network (KAN) to analyze lung sounds using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs), chromagram, and Mel spectro-grams. Each sub-model focuses on a different audio feature, capturingunique sonic signatures. These features are merged through a hybridnetwork for comprehensive analysis. The model, trained on a COPDdataset, was deployed on a Raspberry Pi for real-time use. TriSpec-traKAN achieved 93% accuracy, an F1 score of 0.98, precision of 0.97,and recall of 0.98. This multimodal approach captured a broad rangeof lung sound features, improving diagnosis accuracy compared to tra-ditional methods. The integration of multiple audio features in TriSpec-traKAN enhances COPD diagnosis, demonstrating the potential of AIand machine learning to transform respiratory disease diagnosis throughaccessible tools.
Intratracheal instillation of respiratory syncytial virus is superior to intranasal inoculation as a model method in mice and can induce infiltration of important immune cells
Authors: Lin Yinglin , Xiao Yao , Peng Bin , Xie Mengyuan , Mai Zesen , Lin Mingzhen , Miao Shanshan , Yang Xinru , Li Wei , Wang Yi , Liu Zhaoyu , Yao Wenxia 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes a substantial global disease burden, particularly in children and older adults. Despite the availability of three vaccines and two prophylactic monoclonal antibodies, there remains an urgent unmet need for effective RSV treatments. Appropriate experimental animal models and modeling methods are essential to study the pathogenesis of RSV and develop therapeutic and preventive agents. In this study, we introduced intratracheal instillation (ITS) method into mice model of RSV infection and compared it with the conventional intranasal inoculation (INO) method; data showed that ITS method resulted in more efficient viral replication and more severe pathological changes than INO method. Then RNA-seq technology was used to sequence the lung tissues of RSV infected mice with ITS method, and further immunoinfiltration analysis based on transcriptomic profile demonstrated that the ITS approach can lead to the infiltration of multiple innate and adaptive immune cells. It is concluded that intratracheal instillation of RSV is superior to intranasal inoculation as a model method in mice and can induce infiltration of important immune cells. Collectively, our study offers novel insights into the rational design of future in vivo infection methods with RSV, as well as providing a foundation for the investigation of the immune pathogenesis of RSV.
Improving bearing fault diagnosis method based on the fusion of time- frequency diagram and a novel vision transformer
Authors: Wang Jingyuan , Zhao Yuan , Wang Wenyan , Wu Ziheng 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Bearings are indispensable components in mechanical equipment, it is crucial to realize accurate and reliable fault diagnosis of bearings. Traditional bearing fault diagnosis methods suffer from insufficient feature extraction and poor robustness. Consequently, this paper presents an improving bearing fault diagnosis method based on the fusion of time-frequency diagram and a novel vision transformer. On the one hand, the method adopts continuous wavelet transform to map the time-domain feature relationship of vibration onto the time-frequency domain. On the other hand, the method designs a novel vision transformer for bearing fault diagnosis model which can effectively improve the fault diagnosis performance and reduce the computational complexity on the basis of retaining the advantage of local feature extraction and dealing with long-range feature dependencies. In this paper, a new multi-head attention module called SRWA is designed to be utilized on the novel vision transformer model. Experiments are conducted to assess and analyze the performance of the proposed models using the bearing datasets: Case Western Reserve University data set and Harbin Institute of Technology inter-shaft bearing fault diagnosis data set. The experimental results demonstrate that the classification performance of the novel model put forward in this paper surpasses the state-of-the-art bearing fault diagnosis models on different datasets, even under variable operating conditions and noise conditions.
Predicting solitary pulmonary lesions in breast cancer patients using 18Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography
Authors: Xue Yangyang , Hou Weishu , He Yanhui , Xu Alei , Li Xiaohu 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
Solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) remain difficult to diagnose for clinical therapeutic purposes in patients with a history of breast cancer. This study try to investigate the value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) combined with clinicopathological predictors for the differential diagnosis of SPNs in breast cancer patients.
Methods
One hundred and twenty breast cancer patients with newly detected SPNs were enrolled in the study and divided into a primary lung cancer (PLC) group and a breast cancer metastasis (BCM) group. The clinicopathological characteristics as well as metabolic and morphological characteristics on 18F-FDG-PET/CT images of 120 patients were retrospectively reviewed. The differences of clinicopathological and 18F-FDG-PET/CT characteristics between the two groups were analyzed, and multivariate analyses for the diagnosis of SPNs were performed.
Results
Clinicopathological terms of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA15-3 levels exhibited significant differences between PLC and BCM groups (P = 0.005 and P = 0.001, respectively). Metabolic characteristics of 18F-FDG-PET/CT images included FDG uptake, SUVmax of SPNs, hilar and/or mediastinal lymph node metastasis, SUVmax of hilar and/or mediastinal lymph node, and extrapulmonary metastasis showed significant differences between PLC and BCM groups (P = 0.004, P < 0.001, P = 0.01, P = 0.032 and P = 0.023, respectively). The lobulation sign, spicule sign, and pleural indentation sign were identified as statistically different morphological features of PLC in CT images (all P < 0.001). Among these, the SUVmax of SPNs, lobulation sign, and pleural indentation sign were valuable predictive factors for accurate diagnosis of SPNs in breast cancer patients.
Conclusions
18F-FDG-PET/CT combined with clinicopathological characteristics are valuable for the diagnosis of SPNs in breast cancer patients.
Enhancing Prehospital Decision-Making: Exploring User Needs and Design Considerations for Clinical Decision Support Systems
Authors: Bai Enze , Zhang Zhan , Xu Yincao , Luo Xiao , Adelgais Kathleen 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Background
In prehospital emergency care, providers face significant challenges in making informed decisions due to factors such as limited cognitive support, high-stress environments, and lack of experience with certain patient conditions. Effective Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) have great potential to alleviate these challenges. However, such systems have not yet been widely adopted in real-world practice and have found to cause workflow disruptions and usability issues. Therefore, it is critical to investigate how to design CDSS that meet the needs of prehospital providers while accounting for the unique characteristics of prehospital workflows.
Methods
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 prehospital providers recruited from four emergency medical services (EMS) agencies in an urban area in the northeastern U.S. The interviews focused on the decision-making challenges faced by prehospital providers, their technological needs for decision support, and key considerations for the design and implementation of a CDSS that can seamlessly integrate into prehospital care workflows. The data were analyzed using content analysis to identify common themes.
Results
Our qualitative study identified several challenges in prehospital decision-making, including limited access to diagnostic tools, insufficient experience with certain critical patient conditions, and a lack of cognitive support. Participants highlighted several desired features to make CDSS more effective in the dynamic, hands-busy, and cognitively demanding prehospital context, such as automatic prompts for possible patient conditions and treatment options, alerts for critical patient safety events, AI-powered medication identification, and easy retrieval of protocols and guidelines using voice commands. Key considerations for successful CDSS adoption included prioritizing alerts to reduce alert fatigue and workflow disruptions, facilitating real-time data collection and documentation to enable decision generation, and ensuring trust and accountability while preventing over-reliance when using CDSS.
Conclusion
This study provides empirical insights into the challenges prehospital providers face and offers design recommendations for developing CDSS solutions that align with prehospital workflows.
Comparison of heavy metals concentration and health risk assessment in corn (Zea mays) agricultural field in the southwest of Iran
Authors: Gholami Zeinab , Ruzbahani Maryam Mohammadi , Payandeh Khoshnaz , Sabzalipour Sima 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Corn is one of the most important grains in the human food basket, which is also widely cultivated in Iran. This research was conducted with the aim of evaluating the status of arsenic, lead and chromium contamination in corn (Zea mays) samples grown in Dezful and Behbahan cities from Khuzestan province. In this research, 5 farms were randomly selected in each city and from each field, 5 soil samples and 5 corn samples were prepared in the summer season. For the autumn season, the same sampling was done as in the summer season. Therefore, a total of 50 soil samples and 50 corn samples were collected from the two study areas of Dezful and Behbahan cities in 2022. The average concentration of Pb, As and Cr in corn samples was 1.84, 1.57 and 4.92 mg kg− 1 and in soil samples 11.91, 4.02 and 76.86 mg kg− 1 respectively. The concentration of As and Cr in the soil of the agricultural fields of Dezful was higher in the fall season and in the corn samples in the summer season. The amount of Pb in corn and soil samples of agricultural fields in Behbahan was higher in autumn than in Dezful. According to the non-carcinogenic risk index (THQ) and carcinogenic risk index (CR), metals can be dangerous for human health, but the non-carcinogenic hazard index (THQ) for Cr does not cause problems for adults and children.
Association of composite dietary antioxidant index with age of menopause and reproductive lifespan: A cross-sectional study of NHANES Data, 1999-2018
Authors: Zhao Xiaoxuan , Huang Zanche , Shi Nan , Lin Fangxuan , Zhang Qin 
Published: November 2024

Abstract

Objectives
Accumulated evidence has shown that the antioxidant diet exhibits protective effects on women’s reproductive health. The Composite Dietary Antioxidant Index (CDAI) serves as a crucial indicator for assessing antioxidant-rich diets. However, the relationship between CDAI and menopause age as well as reproductive lifespan remains undefined, thus motivating this cross-sectional study to investigate these connections.
Methods
This study analyzed post-menopausal women participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2018. Information on age at menopause and reproductive lifespan was derived from questionnaire data. The CDAI was calculated based on the intake of selenium, zinc, carotenoid, Vitamin A, C and E. Multiple linear regression, smooth curve fitting, threshold effect analysis, and subgroup analysis were used to investigate the association between the CDAI and age at menopause as well as reproductive lifespan.
Results
A total of 4514 patients were enrolled in the study. After adjusting for confounding factors, the results revealed that individuals with a higher CDAI typically had a later age at menopause (β = 0.08, 95% CI = 0.03–0.13, P < 0.01) and longer reproductive lifespan (β = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.01–0.11, P = 0.01). And each standard deviation increase in CDAI was associated with a 4% decrease in early menopause risk (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.94–0.99, P = 0.01). Besides, the use of oral contraceptives and female hormones could impact these relationships.
Conclusions
Our research highlighted a positive non-linear association between CDAI and age at menopause, as well as reproductive lifespan.