bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between Discomfort Intolerance And the Fear Of Self‐Injection And Testing In Patients With Diabetes Using Insulin: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Authors: Töyer Şahin Nilhan , Ek Hülya , Pehlivan Seda 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTBackgroundDiabetes is a global problem. Diabetes nurses, in particular, take great responsibility in reducing and controlling the fears of individuals using insulin and increasing their capacity to tolerate discomfort.AimThis study was conducted to examine the effects of the capacity to tolerate discomfort on the fear of self‐injection and the status of testing blood glucose levels in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes using insulin.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted between December 2022 and February 2023 with 320 adult patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes using insulin who were followed up in the Endocrinology and Internal Medicine Clinics of a university hospital in Turkey. The data analysis process included analyses of the frequency, independent‐samples t‐tests, one‐way ANOVA, the Kruskal–Wallis H test, and Pearson's correlation analysis. Data were analysed using the IBM SPSS v27.0 software, considering alpha as 0.05.ResultsThe mean total Discomfort Intolerance Scale score of the patients was 22.78 ± 6.74, and the mean Fear of Self‐Injecting and self‐testing was 21.1 ± 6.7. A negative significant correlation was found between the discomfort intolerance levels of the patients and their levels of fear of self‐injection and self‐testing (p < 0.05).ConclusionIndividuals with a higher capacity to tolerate discomfort have lower levels of fear of self‐testing and self‐injection. Therefore, the fear of self‐testing and self‐injection in patients using insulin injections may affect diabetes self‐management.Relevance to Clinical PracticeIndividuals with low tolerance for discomfort should be identified, interventions to increase tolerance in individuals at risk should be planned, and diabetes self‐management should be better supported.Reporting MethodThe reporting of the results of the study adhered to the STROBE guidelines.
Pharmaco‐Economic Assessment of Screening Strategies for High‐Risk MASLD in Primary Care
Authors: Younossi Zobair M. , Paik James M. , Henry Linda , Stepanova Maria , Nader Fatema 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTBackground and AimsSeveral scientific associations recommend a sequential combination of non‐invasive tests (NITs) to identify high‐risk MASLD patients but their cost‐effectiveness is unknown.MethodsA cost‐utility model was developed to assess the incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) of recommended screening strategies for patients with clinically suspected MASLD, specifically those with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity with multiple cardiometabolic risk factors which will be initiated in primary care. Six screening strategies were assessed, using either vibration‐controlled transient elastography (VCTE) or the enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) test as a second‐line test following an initial Fibrosis‐4 (FIB‐4) assessment as the first line NIT. The model included treatment effects of resmetirom for metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatohepatitis (MASH) patients with F2 or F3 fibrosis.ResultsAll screening strategies for high‐risk MASLD in US incurred additional costs compared to no screening, ranging from $13 587 to $14 730 per patient with T2D and $14 274 to $15 661 per patient with obesity. However, screening reduced long‐term costs, ranging from $22 150 to $22 279 per patient with T2D and $13 704 to $13 705 per patient with obesity, compared to $24 221 and $14 956 for no screening, respectively. ICERs ranged from $26 913 to $27 884 per QALY for T2D patients and $23 265 to $24  992 per QALY for patients with obesity. While ICERs were influenced by VCTE availability, they remained cost‐effective when using ELF as the second‐line test. Our findings remain robust across a range of key parameters.ConclusionsScreening for high‐risk MASLD is cost‐effective according to recent guidelines. Implementing these screening strategies in primary care should be considered.
Global Epidemiological Impact of PNPLA3 I148M on Liver Disease
Authors: Kozlitina Julia , Sookoian Silvia 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTThe prevalence of metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has increased exponentially over the past three decades, in parallel with the global rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes. It is currently the most common cause of liver‐related morbidity and mortality. Although obesity has been identified as a key factor in the increased prevalence of MASLD, individual differences in susceptibility are significantly influenced by genetic factors. PNPLA3 I148M (rs738409 C>G) is the variant with the greatest impact on the risk of developing progressive MASLD and likely other forms of steatotic liver disease. This variant is prevalent across the globe, with the risk allele (G) frequency exhibiting considerable variation. Here, we review the contribution of PNPLA3 I148M to global burden and regional differences in MASLD prevalence, focusing on recent evidence emerging from population‐based sequencing studies and prevalence assessments. We calculated the population attributable fraction (PAF) as a means of quantifying the impact of the variant on MASLD. Furthermore, we employ quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to ascertain the associations between rs738409 and a range of phenotypic traits. This analysis suggests that these QTLs may underpin pleiotropic effects on extrahepatic traits. Finally, we outline potential avenues for further research and identify key areas for investigation in future studies.
Extensive Population Structure Highlights an Apparent Paradox of Stasis in the Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
Authors: Garcia‐Erill Genís , Wang Xi , Rasmussen Malthe S. , Quinn Liam , Khan Anubhab , Bertola Laura D. , Santander Cindy G. , Balboa Renzo F. , Ogutu Joseph O. , Pečnerová Patrícia , Hanghøj Kristian , Kuja Josiah , Nursyifa Casia , Masembe Charles , Muwanika Vincent , Bibi Faysal , Moltke Ida , Siegismund Hans R. , Albrechtsen Anders , Heller Rasmus 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTImpalas are unusual among bovids because they have remained morphologically similar over millions of years—a phenomenon referred to as evolutionary stasis. Here, we sequenced 119 whole genomes from the two extant subspecies of impala, the common (Aepyceros melampus melampus) and black‐faced (A. m. petersi) impala. We investigated the evolutionary forces working within the species to explore how they might be associated with its evolutionary stasis as a taxon. Despite being one of the most abundant bovid species, we found low genetic diversity overall, and a phylogeographic signal of spatial expansion from southern to eastern Africa. Contrary to expectations under a scenario of evolutionary stasis, we found pronounced genetic structure between and within the two subspecies with indications of ancient, but not recent, gene flow. Black‐faced impala and eastern African common impala populations had more runs of homozygosity than common impala in southern Africa, and, using a proxy for genetic load, we found that natural selection is working less efficiently in these populations compared to the southern African populations. Together with the fossil record, our results are consistent with a fixed‐optimum model of evolutionary stasis, in which impalas in the southern African core of the range are able to stay near their evolutionary fitness optimum as a generalist ecotone species, whereas eastern African impalas may struggle to do so due to the effects of genetic drift and reduced adaptation to the local habitat, leading to recurrent local extinction in eastern Africa and re‐colonisation from the South.
Divide and conquer: using RhizoVision Explorer to aggregate data from multiple root scans using image concatenation and statistical methods
Authors: Seethepalli Anand , Ottley Chanae , Childs Joanne , Cope Kevin R. , Fine Aubrey K. , Lagergren John H. , Kalluri Udaya , Iversen Colleen M. , York Larry M. 
Published: October 2024

Summary

Roots are important in agricultural and natural systems for determining plant productivity and soil carbon inputs. Sometimes, the amount of roots in a sample is too much to fit into a single scanned image, so the sample is divided among several scans, and there is no standard method to aggregate the data.

Here, we describe and validate two methods for standardizing measurements across multiple scans: image concatenation and statistical aggregation. We developed a Python script that identifies which images belong to the same sample and returns a single, larger concatenated image. These concatenated images and the original images were processed with RhizoVision Explorer, a free and open‐source software. An R script was developed, which identifies rows of data belonging to the same sample and applies correct statistical methods to return a single data row for each sample. These two methods were compared using example images from switchgrass, poplar, and various tree and ericaceous shrub species from a northern peatland and the Arctic.

Most root measurements were nearly identical between the two methods except median diameter, which cannot be accurately computed by statistical aggregation.

We believe the availability of these methods will be useful to the root biology community.
Emergency of oral haemorrhage: Retrospective study over 2 years
Authors: Pinana M. , Rodriguez‐Perron I. , Lescaille G. , Toledo R. , Mondoloni M. , Rochefort J. 
Published: October 2024

AbstractIntroductionOral haemorrhages (OH) represent a relatively rare reason for an emergency consultation, among dental pain, infectious processes and traumas. Various haemorrhagic risk factors are described, particularly those related to a general medical context or local factors. It is common to associate OH with haemorrhagic risk patients. Current studies mainly focus on patients considered at risk, but there is limited data on the characteristics of OH in patients without known haemorrhagic risk.MethodWe conducted a 2‐year retrospective study in a dental emergency department to identify OH occurring in patients without known haemorrhagic risk and to study their characteristics.ResultsOH accounted for approximately 2% of the reasons for consultation among all consultations carried out for dental emergencies. Their frequency was similar in the population of patients without hemorrhagic risk and those with a confirmed risk. They mainly occurred in young patients, without medical history. They also led to the diagnosis of an underlying pathology in about 1% of cases.ConclusionThis study underscores the importance of accurately documenting patients' medical history during preoperative consultations, as well as identifying associated risk factors. It also highlights that OH can be an early sign of a systemic disorder.
Dysphagia and Dysphonia After Head and Neck Cancer
Authors: Parsons Aaron , Dewan Karuna 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTObjectiveThe purpose of this work is to synthesize the latest developments in diagnosis and management of acute and late dysphagia and dysphonia in oral cavity cancer.MethodsA literature search was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Google Scholar in May 2024 of articles published between 2021 and 2024. Keywords in the search terms included oral cavity cancer, dysphagia, dysphonia, deglutition, swallowing, voice, oral cavity cancer treatment, oral cavity radiation, chemotherapy, dysgeusia, xerostomia, swallow preservation.ResultsTwenty‐seven pertinent studies fit the inclusion criteria. The most common dysphagic complaints following head and neck cancer are trismus, xerostomia, mucositis and dysphagia. Dysphonia, change in voice is reported by half of head and neck cancer survivors. Fibrosis and neuropathy following radiation therapy to the oral cavity, tongue, oropharynx and its surrounding structures is the most common etiology of post‐treatment dysphonia.ConclusionsOral cavity cancers cause speech and swallowing dysfunction due to both anatomic and post‐treatment changes. These sequalae can be detrimental to the quality of life of the head and neck cancer survivor. For both dysphagia and dysphonia after head and neck cancer early speech and swallow therapy with a Speech Language Pathologist are essential to restoring and maintaining function.
‘I'm ruined’: Young people's and their mothers' experiences of living with, and receiving a diagnosis of, borderline personality disorder: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
Authors: Marriner L. , Larkin M. , Urquhart Law G. , Kaur Bhogal S. 
Published: October 2024

AbstractBackgroundThe adolescent borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis has been widely debated for many years. Strikingly, young people's experiences of both receiving a diagnosis of BPD, and of living with BPD, are largely under‐explored. The current study seeks to address these gaps in the literature in a multi‐perspectival design utilising young people–parent dyads.MethodsYoung people (aged 16–18 years) with a diagnosis of BPD (n = 5) and their mothers (n = 5) were recruited from two NHS Community Mental Health Services in the West Midlands and participated in semi‐structured interviews. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis [IPA].FindingsAnalysis identified two superordinate themes with five subthemes: (1) The “ugly” reality of living with BPD (providing a stark insight into what it is like to live with the unpredictable nature of experiences labelled as BPD), and (2) The diagnosis that dare not speak its name (highlighting the complexities of how the diagnosis itself is experienced by participants as a symbol of personal and permanent defectiveness and danger).DiscussionFindings highlight a clear commonality of experience centred around the intensity of the young people's emotional distress and the accompanying pressure on parents to keep young people safe, both of which services must strive to do more to contain. Ultimately, the costs of receiving a BPD diagnosis appear to outweigh the benefits, and this paper adds support to calls for change in respect to how we conceptualise difficulties labelled as BPD and how we communicate about these difficulties, in order to avoid causing harm.
Information is cheap, but filtering is costly: Congressional investment in reference resources
Authors: Craig Alison , Russell Annelise 
Published: October 2024

AbstractLawmakers who can supply themself with information to manage complex problems are at an advantage, but equally important is the filtering and contextualizing of applicable information. Members of Congress manage a deluge of policy and political information, and this short paper examines one strategy members of Congress use to mitigate that burden—by investing in reference material and news media to filter and summarize the policymaking environment. Using congressional disbursement data from the 116th and 117th Congress, I explain how institutional experience is associated with an office's choice to invest in more information filtering. Freshman members of the House are more likely to turn to news media or publications to provide insight into the congressional agenda, offer political context, and prioritize issues of importance. Reference investment is not tied to partisanship, ideology, lawmaking capacity, or previous office, but those junior offices who need to get up to lawmaking speed invest in external information filtering. These results illuminate how central institutional knowledge is to lawmaking in Congress, and how much an office is willing to invest to mitigate that weakness.
Turn to the right, turn away from the green?—A nuanced analysis on how a populist radical right party affects environmental policy making in Sweden
Authors: Berker Lars E. 
Published: October 2024

AbstractPopulist radical right parties are on the rise all over Europe. Recent literature investigates their effects on environmental policy, however, often applying an overly broad perspective on the policy area and neglecting causal mechanisms. This article addresses both gaps in an in‐depth case study of partisan effects on Swedish environmental policy in the wake of increasing populist radical right influence. A novel data approach deriving party positions and policy output from the hard figures of budget proposals between 2001 and 2023, allows a nuanced analysis of environmental policy and its subsectors (e.g., nature conservation and climate mitigation). In summary, a traditional partisan effect is confirmed as a major explaining factor for environmental policy change, while the effect unfolds through altered coalition formation strategies leading to the exclusion of “green voices.” This brings to the fore interactive environmental policy effects of the populist radical right and center‐right parties in the context of changing party competition constellations more generally.
Perceptions of Beneficiaries of Informal Social Protection Initiatives in Uganda: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Approach
Authors: Lubinga Stellah , Lubinga Moses H. , Tyanai Masiya , Asilla Rodney 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTInformal social protection interventions are instrumental in improving people's welfare through fostering income growth and enabling self‐sufficiency. Whereas the success of some informal social protection initiatives has been acknowledged and documented, there is limited knowledge of the factors influencing the performance of informal social protection initiatives, especially in developing countries like Uganda. In this study, we identify and isolate the perceived factors influencing the performance of informal social protection initiatives. We use exploratory factor analysis on a sample of 130 beneficiaries of two informal social protection interventions in the Alebtong and Kampala districts of Uganda. Findings reveal that the performance of informal social protection interventions is perceived to be influenced by three categories of factors, collectively accounting for 62.4% of the total dataset variance which is more than the threshold of 50%. The factors are beneficiary empowerment, welfare enhancement and coverage and equality. Each factor encompasses a cluster of variables that collectively capture the essential dimensions of individual perceptions concerning the effect of informal social protection initiatives. This research offers valuable insights into how the beneficiaries perceive informal social protection initiatives, shedding light on the nuanced factors contributing to their effectiveness in Uganda.
Relationships of Physical Activity and Type 2 Diabetes With Cognition in Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites
Authors: Yu Fang , Pituch Keenan , Maxfield Molly , Joseph Rodney P. , Pruzin Jeremy J. , Ashish Dev , Coon David W. , Shaibi Gabriel , _ _ 
Published: October 2024

Problem, Research Strategy, and Findings: Low physical activity (PA) and Type 2 diabetes are associated with cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease, but the evidence is inconsistent and particularly limited by ethnicity. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of PA and Type 2 diabetes with cognition in Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites. The study was a cross-sectional analysis of the Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities (n = 1,982–2,000 after removing outliers). Predictors included Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Episodic memory was assessed by Weschler Memory Scale–Third Edition Logical Memory and Spanish-English Verbal Learning Test, executive function by Weschler Memory Scale–Third Edition Digit Span and Digit Symbol Substitution Test, verbal fluency by FAS and animal naming, and global cognition by the Mini-Mental State Examination. Results show that aerobic PA and HbA1c were not associated with domain-specific, or global cognition, but strength/flexibility PA was associated with FAS (b = 0.404, 95% CI [0.023, 0.761]). Higher aerobic PA was associated with greater verbal fluency for Mexican Americans (b = 0.294, 95% CI [0.96, 0.497]) only. HbA1c was negatively associated with Mini-Mental State Examination (b = 0.838, 95% CI [0.008, 1.656]). For low HbA1c, the association between aerobic PA and Digit Symbol Substitution Test was significant for non-Hispanic Whites (b = 0.838, 95% CI [0.008, 1.656]) in comparison to Mexican Americans. Takeaway for Practice: The relationships between PA, Type 2 diabetes, and cognition vary by cognitive domains and ethnicity. Increasing aerobic activities may be particularly important for Mexican Americans who have elevated HbA1c to potentially improve fluency or executive function.
Revisiting Buchdahl transformations: new static and rotating black holes in vacuum, double copy, and hairy extensions
Authors: Barrientos José , Cisterna Adolfo , Hassaine Mokhtar , Oliva Julio 
Published: October 2024

AbstractThis paper investigates Buchdahl transformations within the framework of Einstein and Einstein-Scalar theories. Specifically, we establish that the recently proposed Schwarzschild–Levi-Civita spacetime can be obtained by means of a Buchdahl transformation of the Schwarschild metric along the spacelike Killing vector. The study extends Buchdahl’s original theorem by combining it with the Kerr–Schild representation. In doing so, we construct new vacuum-rotating black holes in higher dimensions which can be viewed as the Levi-Civita extensions of the Myers–Perry geometries. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the double copy scheme within these new generated geometries still holds, providing an example of an algebraically general double copy framework. In the context of the Einstein-Scalar system, the paper extends the corresponding Buchdahl theorem to scenarios where a static vacuum seed configuration, transformed with respect to a spacelike Killing vector, generates a hairy black hole spacetime. We analyze the geometrical features of these spacetimes and investigate how a change of frame, via conformal transformations, leads to a new family of black hole spacetimes within the Einstein-Conformal-Scalar system.
A brain-network operator for modeling disease: a first data-based application for Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Mannone Maria , Fazio Peppino , Kurths Jürgen , Ribino Patrizia , Marwan Norbert 
Published: October 2024

AbstractThe complexity of our brains can be described as a multi-layer network: neurons, neural agglomerates, and lobes. Neurological diseases are often related to malfunctions in this network. We propose a conceptual model of the brain, describing the disease as the result of an operator affecting and disrupting the network organization. We adopt the formalism of operators, matrices, and tensor products adapted from theoretical physics. This novel approach can be tested and instantiated for different diseases, balancing mathematical formalism and data-driven findings, including pathologies where aging is included as a risk factor. We quantitatively model the K-operator from real data of Parkinson’s Disease, from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) upon concession by the University of Southern California. The networks are reconstructed from fMRI analysis, resulting in a matrix acting on the healthy brain and giving as output the diseased brain. We finally decompose the K-operator into the tensor product of its submatrices and we are able to assess its action on each region of interest (ROI) characterizing the brain for the specific considered samples. We also approximate the time-dependent K-operator from the fMRI of the same patient at the baseline and at the first follow-up. Our results confirm the findings of the literature on the topic. Also, these applications confirm the feasibility of the proposed analytic technique. Further research developments can compare operators for different patients and for different diseases, looking for commonalities and aiming to develop a comprehensive theoretical approach.