bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Workers’ experiences of improvements in the work environment and mental health problems: a web-based 1-year prospective study of Japanese employees
Authors: Izawa Shuhei , Yoshikawa Toru , Nakamura-Taira Nanako , Moriishi Chihiro , Akamatsu Rie , Ikeda Hiroki , Kubo Tomohide 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to prospectively investigate the association between work environment improvements and multiple mental health outcomes in a large sample of Japanese employees.
Methods: A web-based longitudinal study surveyed 20 000 Japanese employees, 7970 of whom completed a follow-up after 1 year. Various types of work environment improvements experienced by workers were assessed using a 24-item checklist. Three mental health outcomes (poor mental health, presenteeism, and high psychosocial stress) were assessed and defined using standardized questionnaires.
Results: Overall, as the total number of work environment improvements increased, the odds ratio for mental health outcomes in the follow-up survey decreased by several percentage points, even after adjusting for demographic and occupational factors. Analysis of the types of work environment improvements showed that mutual support improvements were particularly effective in reducing mental health issues. The subgroup analyses also showed that the effectiveness of workplace environment improvements might vary between secondary and tertiary industry workers depending on the types of improvements and mental health outcomes.
Conclusions: The study suggests that workplace improvements can significantly affect mental health. The effectiveness of these improvements may vary according to the type of intervention, industry of the targeted workers, and mental health outcomes. This study provides basic data on the effectiveness of workplace environment improvements that can be used for future intervention trials.
Association between relatively low blood lead levels and urinary δ-aminolevulinic acid concentrations among male workers at a Japanese battery factory
Authors: Hasegawa Kohei , Toubou Hirokazu , Mizuki Masaru , Tsukahara Teruomi , Nomiyama Tetsuo 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Objectives: Whether the known positive association between blood lead (PbB) levels and urinary δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALAU) also exists at relatively low PbB levels (&lt;40 μg/dL) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate this association at lower PbB levels.
Methods: We analyzed data from biannual medical examinations of workers at a Japanese factory from August 2013 to August 2023. We excluded records from female workers and those with missing data, resulting in a dataset consisting of 1396 records from 155 male workers. We employed mixed-effect linear regression models with a random intercept for workers and additional adjustments for age and smoking status.
Results: The median PbB level across all the analyzed records was 8 μg/dL (range: 1-31 μg/dL). Significant positive associations were observed between PbB and ALAU, with a 1-unit increase in natural logarithm-transformed PbB corresponding to a 10.0% increase in ALAU (95% CI, 2.7%-17.9%). Categorized PbB analyses showed a 23.8% increase in ALAU (95% CI, 2.7%-49.2%) for PbB levels at 20-24 μg/dL and an 83.1% increase (95% CI, 30.1%-157.7%) for PbB levels ≥25 μg/dL, compared with those &lt;5 μg/dL. The exposure–response curve analysis indicated a plateau followed by an increasing trend.
Conclusions: A positive and nonlinear association between PbB and ALAU levels was observed at relatively low PbB levels.
Posttraumatic stress symptoms in parents of children with newly diagnosed cancer: 1-year trajectories and relationship variables as predictors
Authors: Vogt Alexandra J , Bartels Lasse , Grotzer Michael , Bodenmann Guy , Leibundgut Kurt , Rössler Jochen , Landolt Markus A 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Objective
The way in which parental posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) unfold in the first year after a cancer diagnosis in their child is poorly understood. The aims of this study were to identify parental PTSS trajectories and to examine couple-related predictors (dyadic coping and we-disease appraisals), sociodemographic predictors (education and sex), and medical predictors (child’s physical impairment) of trajectory membership.

Method
A 1-year prospective study was conducted, and 157 parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer were assessed. PTSS was measured with the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale for DSM-5 (PDS-5) at 3–6 weeks (T1), 6 months (T2), and 12 months (T3) after the diagnosis. The trajectories were identified with Latent Class Growth Analysis, the predictors were explored with binomial logistic regression.

Results
Two distinct trajectories were found. The majority of parents (86.0%) followed a low PTSS trajectory, characterized by initially low scores that slightly decreased over 12 months. In contrast, 14.0% of parents displayed a stable, high PTSS trajectory. A high trajectory of child’s physical impairment and low scores in parental dyadic coping were significantly associated with the likelihood of a high parental PTSS trajectory.

Conclusions
The findings provide new insights into the critical period of the first year after a child’s cancer diagnosis. While most parents display a resilient, low PTSS trajectory, a minority consistently experience high PTSS levels. Child’s physical impairment and dyadic coping should be considered as predictors for early identification of vulnerable parents. Incorporating dyadic coping in parental support following a childhood cancer diagnosis could be beneficial for parental mental health.
Geometric target margin strategy of proton craniospinal irradiation for pediatric medulloblastoma
Authors: Yoshimura Takaaki , Kondo Keigo , Hashimoto Takayuki , Nishioka Kentaro , Mori Takashi , Kanehira Takahiro , Matsuura Taeko , Takao Seishin , Tamura Hiroshi , Matsumoto Takuya , Sutherland Kenneth , Aoyama Hidefumi 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
In proton craniospinal irradiation (CSI) for skeletally immature pediatric patients, a treatment plan should be developed to ensure that the dose is uniformly delivered to all vertebrae, considering the effects on bone growth balance. The technical (t) clinical target volume (CTV) is conventionally set by manually expanding the CTV from the entire intracranial space and thecal sac, based on the physician’s experience. However, there are differences in contouring methods among physicians. Therefore, we aimed to propose a new geometric target margin strategy. Nine pediatric patients with medulloblastoma who underwent proton CSI were enrolled. We measured the following water equivalent lengths for each vertebra in each patient: body surface to the dorsal spinal canal, vertebral limbus, ventral spinal canal and spinous processes. A simulated tCTV (stCTV) was created by assigning geometric margins to the spinal canal using the measurement results such that the vertebral limb and dose distribution coincided with a margin assigned to account for the uncertainty of the proton beam range. The stCTV with a growth factor (correlation between body surface area and age) and tCTV were compared and evaluated. The median values of each index for cervical, thoracic and lumber spine were: the Hausdorff distance, 9.14, 9.84 and 9.77 mm; mean distance-to-agreement, 3.26, 2.65 and 2.64 mm; Dice coefficient, 0.84, 0.81 and 0.82 and Jaccard coefficient, 0.50, 0.60 and 0.62, respectively. The geometric target margin setting method used in this study was useful for creating an stCTV to ensure consistent and uniform planning.
Sonic hedgehog suppresses penile remodeling after cavernous nerve injury and sustains long-term normal penis morphology
Authors: Deng Jiangping , Triko Alexandra , Harrington Daniel A , McVary Kevin T , Podlasek Carol A 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background
Cavernous nerve (CN) injury, which occurs in prostatectomy and diabetic cases, initiates penile remodeling, including smooth muscle apoptosis and increased collagen in the corpora cavernosa, which are underlying causes of erectile dysfunction. Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is a critical regulator of penile smooth muscle, and SHH treatment suppresses corpora cavernosa remodeling that occurs with CN injury.

Aim
We examine if SHH treatment by peptide amphiphile (PA) in the first week after CN injury is sufficient to prevent long-term penis remodeling and if apoptosis inhibitors also suppress penile remodeling.

Methods
Bilateral CN crush was performed on adult Sprague-Dawley rats (P115-120) that underwent 1 of 3 treatments with novel extended-release nanofiber PA hydrogels for delivery: SHH protein (n = 10), mouse serum albumin protein (control, n = 7), or caspase 3 inhibitor (AC-DEVD-CHO, n = 10). Rats were sacrificed after 18 to 24 days. Additional rats underwent CN injury (n = 6) or CN injury and SHH PA treatment for 2 and 4 days (n = 8) and included sham controls (n = 3) and nonsurgery controls (n = 3).

Outcomes
Trichrome stain, hydroxyproline assay, and Western analysis for α-actin (smooth muscle) and GAPDH were performed to examine smooth muscle retention and collagen abundance.

Results
Smooth muscle decreased with CN injury. Corpora cavernosa showed increased smooth muscle at 2, 4, and 24 days after CN injury with SHH PA treatment in comparison with mouse serum albumin treatment among CN-injured controls. Caspase 3–inhibited penis demonstrated little smooth muscle preservation. Collagen was decreased 23% with SHH PA treatment (P &lt; .001) at 18 to 24 days after CN injury. Collagen was unchanged with caspase 3 inhibitor treatment (P &gt; .99).

Clinical Translation
It is important to know that treatments given at the time of CN injury have a sustained effect on preserving penile architecture and thus erectile function, making them valuable for clinical translation.

Strengths and Limitations
SHH PA treatment preserves penile smooth muscle after CN injury. Time points past 24 days were not examined, although penile remodeling takes place acutely after CN injury. Measurement of erectile function was not examined.

Conclusions
SHH treatment by PA in the first week after CN injury is sufficient to suppress penile remodeling and to preserve penile smooth muscle over time, which is critical to prevent development of erectile dysfunction. There is a difference in the corpora cavernosa smooth muscle from proximal to distal in the penis of the Sprague-Dawley rat model. It is critical when examining therapy efficacy to ensure that comparable regions of the penis are analyzed.

Statement of Significance
In this study, we examine if suppression of apoptosis in penile smooth muscle in the first week after cavernous nerve injury is sufficient to preserve smooth muscle long-term.
Nutraceutical interventions for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and network meta-analysis
Authors: Barbonetti Arcangelo , Tienforti Daniele , Antolini Federica , Spagnolo Luca , Cavallo Francesca , Di Pasquale Alfonso Boris , Maggi Mario , Corona Giovanni 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background
Although nutraceutical-based treatments are often offered for erectile dysfunction (ED), their efficacy remains doubtful, and the choice of one substance over the other is challenged by the dearth of head-to-head comparative studies.

Aim
We aimed to compare the efficacy of available nutraceutical interventions, alone or in combination with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5i), in improving erectile function in men with ED through a network meta-analysis (NMA), which incorporates direct and indirect evidence into one model thus generating a hierarchy of effectiveness.

Methods
PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of any nutraceutical regimen in improving erectile function when compared to each other, placebo, and/or PDE5i in men with ED. Data were included in a random-effects NMA, where efficacy of treatments was ranked by surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA). Two NMAs were also conducted separately for organic and non-organic ED. Reciprocal comparisons between all treatments were analyzed by league tables.

Outcomes
The main outcome was the standardized mean difference in the score of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-5 or IIEF-6.

Results
Fifteen RCTs provided information on 1000 men with ED. In the overall NMA, compared to placebo, the combination propionyl L-carnitine (PLC) + acetyl L-carnitine (ALC) + Sildenafil was associated with the highest SUCRA (97%) in improving erectile function score, followed by L-Arginine + Tadalafil (84%), Sildenafil (79%), Tadalafil (72%), and L-Arginine (52%). No other treatment regimen showed efficacy with statistical significance. In patients with organic ED, the efficacy of Sildenafil and Tadalafil was significantly improved by PLC + ALC and L-Arginine, respectively. On the contrary, in non-organic ED, nutraceuticals did not improve the therapeutic performance of daily Tadalafil.

Clinical Implications
This NMA contributes valuable insights into the potential of nutraceutical interventions for ED.

Strengths and Limitations
We employed strict inclusion criteria related to study design and diagnostic tool, ensuring the assumption of transitivity and the consistency of the analysis.

Conclusion
Against a background of general ineffectiveness of most nutraceutical interventions, L-Arginine and the mix PLC + ALC appeared to be of some usefulness in improving erectile function, especially in combination with PDE5i in organic ED.
Interpretation of the Charter
Authors: Kadelbach Stefan 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter discusses the interpretation of the UN Charter, a cognitive process which precedes any act of application and thus any attempt to fill its institutional design with life. Rules on Charter interpretation are supposed to answer the questions as to how to indicate in which directions the practice of the UN may develop, to identify the line between concordant practice and ultra vires acts, and in whose power it is to resolve doubt and conflict. In order to address these questions, four different approaches are taken: classical positivism, international constitutionalism, political realism, and legal formalism. The chapter then identifies which rules of interpretation apply to the Charter. Since subsequent practice has proven to be crucial, the question must be dealt with as to what impact it has and whose practice is to what extent decisive. The chapter also considers the problem of circumventing the revision procedure.
Preamble
Authors: Khan Daniel-Erasmus 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter examines the Preamble to the UN Charter, starting with its legislative history. The Preamble consists of two distinct, yet closely related, parts. According to the rather complex first sentence, it is the peoples of the United Nations who emphasize their unconditional will to work together to accomplish certain aims by certain means. It is then by virtue of the second sentence that this commitment is made an integral and binding part of the treaty consensus. Governments for their part declare to have agreed to both the rules and principles enshrined in the Charter as well as to the establishment of a new international organization, the United Nations. The chapter then considers the legal validity of the Preamble.
Article 2 (1)
Authors: Fassbender Bardo 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter focuses on Art 2 (1) of the UN Charter. The principle proclaimed in Art 2 (1) of the Charter addresses a fundamental problem of international organizations, and even international law as such—namely, the tension between the autonomy of a political entity and it belonging to a larger community and between self-determination of an entity and acceptance of the rules established by the wider community. For political entities which qualify as independent States, the UN Charter determined the balance between autonomy and integration in a particular way which cannot be deduced from the expression ‘sovereign equality’ in Art 2 (1) but only from the Charter as a whole. Since the Charter is a ‘living instrument’, the balance determined in 1945 has changed over time. The chapter considers the elaboration of the principle in the practice of the United Nations and the substance of sovereign equality in present international law.
Article 2 (6)
Authors: Talmon Stefan 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter studies Art 2 (6) of the UN Charter, which is the main but not the only provision of the Charter dealing with non-members of the Organization. Article 2 (6), together with Art 103, underlines the exceptional status of the UN Charter within the international legal order. These provisions establish the Charter as the fundamental law-making treaty for the international community as a whole and endow the system of collective security established by Charter with a global reach. In the practice of the UN, the number of express references to Art 2 (6) or States which are not members of the UN has constantly decreased over the years as it has become a universal organization. In the 1990s, the provision briefly regained some practical significance with the creation of a number of new States which did not, or not immediately, become members of the UN and which were involved in, or the cause of, disputes affecting international peace and security.
Article 8
Authors: Polzin Monika 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter addresses Art 8 of the UN Charter. Article 8 states that the ‘United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs’. It lays down a general prohibition against discriminating between men and women. Article 8 is a specific confirmation of the principle of non-discrimination that can also be found in the Preamble, Art 1 (3), Art 13 (1) (b), Art 55 (c), and Art 76 (c) of the UN Charter. Similar provisions to Art 8 binding on States can be found in international human rights treaties and particularly in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The chapter provides a brief overview of the key elements of UN practice regarding the promotion of women.
Article 9
Authors: Magiera Siegfried 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter describes Art 9 of the UN Charter, which provides for the composition of the General Assembly (GA). The GA consists of all the members of the UN. Admission to the GA becomes effective on the date on which the GA approves the application of a State for membership; it ends on the date on which the membership of the State in the UN ends. In addition to the members of the UN, which alone make up the composition of the GA, observer States have been admitted to participate in the work of the GA. These observers include non-member States, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, national liberation movements, and certain ‘other entities’ of a non-governmental character. In the GA, which is composed of all the members of the UN, each member shall have not more than five representatives.
Article 10*
Authors: Schmahl Stefanie 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter explores Art 10 of the UN Charter, which gives the General Assembly general power of discussion and recommendation on all matters within the scope of the Charter (the so-called ‘comprehensive jurisdiction’ of the GA). The GA represents the most prominent forum for the discussion of world politics and is therefore also described as the ‘town meeting of the world’ and the ‘open conscience of humanity’. However, the GA is not a world parliament, even though it draws very heavily on the traditions of parliamentary procedure used to assure the orderly conduct of public debates in national legislatures. Taking into account the far-reaching goals and principles laid down in the UN Charter, there are virtually no political issues of international importance that are not covered by the GA’s power of discussion contained in Art 10. On the other hand, the broad and vague wording of the scope of its competence and responsibility mirrors the GA’s lack of power to make binding decisions.
Article 16
Authors: Goldmann Matthias 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter details Art 16 of the UN Charter. Article 16 is the first Article of the Charter that mentions the international trusteeship system, i.e. the framework designed chiefly for the administration of non-self-governing territories formerly under the control of Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Japan. The provision refers to the functions of the General Assembly defined in the provisions of Chapter XII (International Trusteeship System) and Chapter XIII (Trusteeship Council). The purpose of Art 16 is to circumscribe the functions of the GA with regard to the international trusteeship system, while Chapters XII and XIII stipulate the specific powers of the GA, i.e. the legal bases for various measures adopted by the GA in the exercise of this function. Article 16 corresponds to Art 24 (2), which mentions the analogous competence of the Security Council under Chapter XII regarding the approval and change of trusteeship agreements for areas designated as strategic.
Article 19
Authors: Payandeh Mehrdad 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter addresses Art 19 of the UN Charter, which aims at ensuring the fiscal capabilities of the UN. It is meant to incentivize member States to honour their financial obligations towards the Organization. The provision must be seen in the systematic context of Chapter IV of the Charter: under Art 19, the failure of a member State to meet its financial obligations stemming from Art 17 (2) will lead to a suspension of that State’s voting rights within the General Assembly under Art 18. The provision thereby establishes a sanction for a State’s violation of its financial obligations under the Charter. In this regard, Art 19 provides for a more narrowly focused suspension of membership rights than the general provision of Art 5, which empowers the GA to suspend member States from the exercise of their rights and privileges of membership on a broader scale when the Security Council has taken preventive or enforcement action against that State. Article 19, moreover, does not exclude other measures in reaction to a member State’s violation of its duty to contribute financially to the UN.
Article 20
Authors: Eick Christophe 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This chapter describes Art 20 of the UN Charter. Article 20 provides that ‘the General Assembly shall meet in regular annual sessions and in such special sessions as occasion may require’. The ‘special sessions shall be convoked by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council or of a majority of the Members of the United Nations’. The GA can decide to meet abroad for the opening of a session, a complete session, parts of a session, or even just a few meetings. A simple majority is sufficient for the validity of such a decision. However, according to Rule 3 of the Rules of Procedure, the GA must not decide to shift one or more meetings away from New York City after the opening of a session. Only member States have the right to request the transfer of a session to a place other than New York City.