bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Feasibility and effect of cognitive-based board game and multi-component exercise interventions on older adults with dementia
Authors: Chang Hui-Wen , Wu Guey-Hau 
Published: June 2024

Background:
Taiwan is an aging society, and the number of people with dementia is rapidly increasing. Due to a decline in cognitive and physical function, older adults with dementia not only gradually lose the ability to complete daily living tasks on their own, but are also at a higher risk of falls and injurious falls. It is important to develop interventions that combine cognitive and exercise training for older adults with dementia to promote or maintain their cognitive and physical functions and reduce their risk of falls. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and effect of cognitive-based board games and multi-component exercise interventions on cognitive function, physical fitness, and fall risk in older adults with dementia.

Methods:
This was a quasi-experimental study with a single-group pretest and post-test design. The study participants were 41 community-dwelling older adults with mild to moderate dementia. They received cognitive-based board games and multi-component exercise interventions once a week for 12 weeks. The interventions included 1 hour of exercise training and 1 hour of cognitive training. Scores for the Taiwan version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-T), physical fitness, and the St. Thomas Risk Assessment Tool for Falling Elderly Inpatients (STRATIFY) were measured as outcome indicators at baseline and after the 12-week period.

Results:
The overall MoCA-T score increased significantly (effect size = 0.402), with participants with mild dementia showing a greater increase (effect size = 0.522) than those with moderate dementia (effect size = 0.310). Participants’ physical fitness performance improved. Female participants exhibited significant improvements in the 30-second chair stand test (effect size = 0.483) and 8-foot up-and-go test (effect size = 0.437). The fall risk score decreased by 0.05 points, the change was not significant.

Conclusion:
The cognitive-based board game and multi-component exercise interventions used in this study are beneficial for improving cognitive function and physical fitness in older adults with dementia. These interventions are feasible and suitable for promotion among community-dwelling and institution-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia to delay the decline in cognitive and physical function.
Sigmoido-ovarian fistula complicating ovarian carcinosarcoma: a case report
Authors: Siala Rakia , Mseddi Mohamed A. , Yaakoubi Chaima , Kassar Alia Z. , Guizeni Rami , Slima Mohamed B. 
Published: June 2024

Introduction:
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecological cancer. Ovarian carcinosarcomas represent a rare, aggressive entity with a poor prognosis. Spontaneous fistulization of ovarian cancer into the digestive tract is a rare phenomenon.

Presentation of case:
A 67-year-old woman with a significant history of cardiac rhythm disorders was consulted for abdominal pain. Examination revealed tachycardia and abdominal guarding. Biology pictured elevated inflammatory markers and low prothrombin time. The abdominal computed tomography scan suggested a perforated sigmoid tumor with a peri-colonic abscess and pneumoperitoneum. She was rushed to the operating theater. Upon exploration, it was an ovarian tumor fistulized to sigmoid with peritonitis. She had an en-bloc resection with a terminal stoma. Control radiological study revealed diffuse lymph node metastasis. She was scheduled for chemotherapy.

Discussion:
This complication worsens the prognosis. The fistulous communication in the digestive lumen leads to the overflow of its microbial deposit. The tumor, therefore, becomes superinfected and may result in pelvic peritonitis in case of secondary rupture. On the other hand, the patient is deprived of the benefit of undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which will decrease the chances of complete macroscopic cytoreduction. Through a literature review, we aim to shed light on this rare entity in order to clarify its pathophysiological consequences and make adequate therapeutic measures.

Conclusion:
Fistulization to the large intestine worsens the prognosis of ovarian carcinosarcomas. Surgery is mandatory and should comply with oncological requirements. Adjuvant therapy is mostly needed, although more studies should be conducted to delineate the regimen accurately.
Minimally invasive spleen-preserving surgery to treat primary splenic hydatidosis: short and long-term outcomes: a cohort study
Authors: Aljaiuossi Anas , Ba-shammakh Saleh A. , Bani Hani Mohammad , Al-A’athal Musab S. , Elsobuh Yazeed M. , Abu Sarhan Hashem , Ennab Raed Mahmoud , Al-Zubi Mohammad , Alhwari Mohammad J. , Al Omari Laith G. , Mohammad Feras M. , AL lami Mohamed S. , Zeitoon Hammam B. , Alomari Saad A. , Ababneh Salman M. 
Published: June 2024

Background:
Primary splenic hydatidosis, a rare manifestation of Echinococcus granulosus infection, presents unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. This study compares spleen-preserving surgeries with total splenectomy for treating primary splenic hydatid cysts, focusing on short- and long-term outcomes in the Jordanian context, a region particularly affected by this condition.

Methods:
This retrospective analysis was conducted on 18 patients diagnosed with primary splenic hydatid cysts at two Jordanian hospitals from January 2015 to June 2021. Selection criteria included confirmed diagnosis and complete medical records. Surgical approaches, including laparoscopic partial splenectomy, cystectomy, and cyst deroofing, supplemented by albendazole therapy, were compared based on patient demographics, symptoms, surgical details, complications, and recurrence rates.

Results:
The study group was composed of (n=7, 38.9%) male and (n=11, 61.1%) female patients, with an average age of 33.7 years. Most presented with left upper quadrant pain. Postoperative complications occurred in 22% of patients, with an 11% recurrence rate during follow-up. No significant statistical difference in recurrence rates was observed between spleen-preserving surgeries and total splenectomy. These findings highlight the efficacy of less invasive, spleen-preserving techniques in managing primary splenic hydatidosis, showing comparable outcomes to total splenectomy with minimal impact on recurrence rates.

Conclusion:
Spleen-preserving surgery offers a viable alternative to total splenectomy in treating primary splenic hydatid cysts. This approach maintains immune functionality and reduces septic risks, especially in pediatric patients. The study underscores the importance of individualized treatment approaches and suggests further research with larger cohorts for more comprehensive insights into managing this rare condition. The limitations of this study include its small sample size and retrospective nature.
Harmonizing Definitions and Perspectives in Extreme Liver Surgery
Authors: Lopez-Lopez Victor , Lodge Peter , Oldhafer Karl , Hernandez-Alejandro Roberto , Akamatsu Nobuhisa , Honda Goro , Pinna Antonio , Balci Deniz , Govil Sanjay , Cillo Umberto , Schlegel Andrea , Nadalin Silvio , Di Benedetto Fabrizio , Pratschke Johann , Aldrighetti Luca , Soubrane Olivier , Scatton Olivier , Wakabayashi Go , Popescu Irinel , Ramia Jose Manuel , Ohtsuka Masayuki , Line Pål-Dag , Troisi Roberto Ivan , Machado Marcel A , Fusai Giuseppe Kito , Sapisochin Gonzalo , Pekolj Juan , Balzan Silvio , Fondevila Constantino , Han Ho-Seong , Lesurtel Mickaël , Pinto-Marques Hugo , Menon Krishna , Rotellar Fernando , Polak Wojciech G , Dopazo Cristina , Lopez-Ben Santiago , Torzilli Guido , de Vicente Emilio , de la Cruz Juan , Chavez-Villa Mariana , Ferreras David , Serrablo Alejandro , De Santibañez Eduardo , Clavien Pierre-Alain , Azoulay Daniel , Robles-Campos Ricardo 
Published: June 2024

Objective:
To propose to our community a common language about extreme liver surgery.

Background:
The lack of a clear definition of extreme liver surgery prevents convincing comparisons of results among centers.

Methods:
We used a two-round Delphi methodology to quantify consensus among liver surgery experts. For inclusion in the final recommendations, we established a consensus when the positive responses (agree and totally agree) exceeded 70%. The study steering group summarized and reported the recommendations. In general, a five-point Likert scale with a neutral central value was used, and in a few cases multiple choices. Results are displayed as numbers and percentages.

Results:
A two-round Delphi study was completed by 38 expert surgeons in complex hepatobiliary surgery. The surgeon´s median age was 58 years old (52-63) and the median years of experience was 25 years (20-31). For the proposed definitions of total vascular occlusion, hepatic flow occlusion and inferior vein occlusion, the degree of agreement was 97%, 81% and 84%, respectively. In situ approach (64%) was the preferred, followed by ante situ (22%) and ex situ (14%). Autologous or cadaveric graft for hepatic artery or hepatic vein repair were the most recommended (89%). The use of veno-venous bypass or portocaval shunt revealed the divergence depending on the case. Overall, 75% of the experts agreed with the proposed definition for extreme liver surgery.

Conclusion:
Obtaining a consensus on the definition of extreme liver surgery is essential to guarantee the correct management of patients with highly complex hepatobiliary oncological disease. The management of candidates for extreme liver surgery involves comprehensive care ranging from adequate patient selection to the appropriate surgical strategy.
VIPER: A General Model for Prediction of Enzyme Substrates
Authors: Campbell Maxwell J. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractEnzymes, nature’s catalysts, possess remarkable properties such as high stereo-, regio-, and chemo-specificity. These properties allow enzymes to greatly simplify complex synthetic processes, resulting in improved yields and reduced manufacturing costs compared to traditional chemical methods. However, the lack of experimental characterization of enzyme substrates, with only a few thousand out of tens of millions of known enzymes in Uniprot having annotated substrates, severely limits the ability of chemists to repurpose enzymes for industrial applications. Previous machine learning models aimed at predicting enzyme substrates have been hampered by poor generalization to new substrates. Here, we introduce VIPER (Virtual Interaction Predictor for Enzyme Reactivity), a model that achieves an average 30% improvement over the previous state-of-the-art model (ProSmith) in reaction prediction for unseen substrates. Furthermore, we reveal flaws in previous enzyme-substrate reaction datasets, and introduce a novel high-quality enzyme-substrate reaction dataset to alleviate these issues.
Phylogenetically-Preserved Multiscale Neuronal Activity: Iterative Coarse-Graining Reconciles Scale-Dependent Theories of Brain Function
Authors: Munn Brandon R. , Müller Eli , Favre-Bulle Itia , Scott Ethan , Breakspear Michael , Shine James M. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractBrain recordings collected at different resolutions support statistically distinct signatures of information processing, leading to scale-dependent theories of brain function. Here, we demonstrate that these disparate neural-coding signatures emerge from the same multiscale functional organisation of neuronal activity across calcium-imaging recordings collected from the whole brains of zebrafish and nematode, as well as sensory regions of the fly, mouse, and macaque brain. Network simulations show that hierarchical-modular structural connectivity facilitates multiscale functional coordination, enhancing information processing benefits such as a maximal dynamic range. Finally, we demonstrate that this cross-scale organisation supports distinct behavioural states across species by reconfiguring functional affiliation and temporal dynamics at the mesoscale. Our findings suggest that self-similar scaling of neuronal activity is a universal principle that reconciles scale-dependent theories of brain function, facilitating both efficiency and resiliency while enabling significant reconfiguration of mesoscale cellular ensembles to accommodate behavioural demands.
Covid-19 vaccination decisions and impacts of vaccine mandates: A cross sectional survey of healthcare workers in Ontario, Canada
Authors: Chaufan Claudia , Hemsing Natalie , Moncrieffe Rachael 
Published: June 2024

AbstractBackgroundSince vaccination policies were introduced in the healthcare sector in the province of Ontario, Canada, most establishments implemented vaccination or termination requirements, with most enforcing them to this day. Researchers have shown a strong interest in the perceived problem of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers, yet not in their lived experience of the policy or in their views on the policy’s impact on the quality of patient care in the province.GoalTo document the experience and views on mandated vaccination of healthcare workers in the province of Ontario, Canada.MethodsBetween February and March 2024, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of Ontario healthcare workers, recruited through professional contacts, social media, and word-of-mouth.FindingsMost respondents, most with 16 or more years of professional experience, were unvaccinated, and most had been terminated due to non-compliance with mandates. As well, and regardless of vaccination status, most respondents reported safety concerns with vaccination, yet did not request an exemption due to their experience of high rejection rates by employers. Nevertheless, most unvaccinated workers reported satisfaction with their vaccination choices, although they also reported significant, negative impacts of the policy on their finances, their mental health, their social and personal relationships, and to a lesser degree, their physical health. In contrast, most respondents within the minority of vaccinated respondents reported being dissatisfied with their vaccination decisions, as well as having experienced mild to serious post vaccine adverse events, with about one-quarter within this group reporting having been coerced into taking further doses, under threat of termination, despite these events. Further, a large minority of respondents reported having witnessed underreporting or dismissal by hospital management of adverse events post vaccination among patients, worse treatment of unvaccinated patients, and concerning changes in practice protocols. Close to half also reported their intention to leave the healthcare industry.DiscussionOur findings indicate that in Ontario, Canada, mandated vaccination in the health sector had an overall negative impact on the well-being of the healthcare labour force, on patient care, on the sustainability of the health system, and on ethical medical practice. Our study should be reproduced in other provinces, as well as in other countries that adopted comparable policies. Findings from this and similar studies should be seriously considered when planning for future health emergencies, to protect health systems in crisis due to severe labour shortages, as well as the right to informed consent of healthcare workers and members of the public.
Binary Brains: How Excitable Dynamics Simplify Neural Connectomes
Authors: Messé Arnaud , Hütt Marc-Thorsten , Hilgetag Claus C. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractFiber networks connecting different brain regions are the structural foundation of brain dynamics and function. Recent studies have provided detailed characterizations of neural connectomes with weighted connections. However, the topological analysis of weighted networks still has conceptual and practical challenges. Consequently, many investigations of neural networks are performed on binarized networks, and the functional impact of unweighted versus weighted networks is unclear. Here we show, for the widespread case of excitable dynamics, that the excitation patterns observed in weighted and unweighted networks are nearly identical, if an appropriate network threshold is selected. We generalize this observation to different excitable models, and formally predict the network threshold from the intrinsic model features. The network-binarizing capacity of excitable dynamics suggests that neural activity patterns may primarily depend on the strongest structural connections. Our findings have practical advantages in terms of the computational cost of representing and analyzing complex networks. There are also fundamental implications for the computational simulation of connectivity-based brain dynamics and the computational function of diverse other systems governed by excitable dynamics such as artificial neural networks.
Molecular underpinnings of hornwort carbon concentrating mechanisms: subcellular localization of putative key molecular components in the model hornwortAnthoceros agrestis
Authors: Ruaud Stephanie , Nötzold Svenja I , Waller Manuel , Galbier Florian , Mousavi Sabereh S. , Charran Mark , Zeeman Samuel , Bailly Aurélien , Baroux Celia , Hippler Michael , Wicke Susann , Szövényi Péter 
Published: June 2024

SummaryBiophysical carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) operating at the single-cell level have evolved independently in eukaryotic algae and a single land plant lineage, hornworts. An essential component for an efficient eukaryotic CCM is a pyrenoid whose biology is well-characterized in the unicellular green alga,Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. By contrast, pyrenoids and CCM are little understood in hornworts.Here, we investigate the molecular underpinnings and dynamics of hornwort pyrenoids. We do so by studying the subcellular localization of candidate proteins homologous to essential CCM genes inC. reinhardtiiand assessing their mobility kinetics in the hornwort modelAnthoceros agrestis.We provide evidence that an EPYC1 analog and the RuBisCO co-localize in the pyrenoid but pyrenoids seem less dynamic inA. agrestisthan inC. reinhardtii. We further found that a carbon anhydrase homolog (CAH3) localizes to the pyrenoid, while an LCIB-like homolog is less intimately linked to the pyrenoid than inC. reinhardtii.Our results imply that the pyrenoid-based CCM of hornworts is characterized by a mixture ofChlamydomonas-like as well as hornwort-specific features which is in line with its independent evolutionary origin. Using these observations, we provide a first mechanistic model of hornwort CCM.
A highly contiguous reference genome for the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex)
Authors: Çilingir F. Gözde , Landuzzi Fabio , Brambilla Alice , Charrance Debora , Furia Federica , Trova Sara , Peracino Alberto , Camenisch Glauco , Waldvogel Dominique , Howard-McCombe Jo , Castillo De Spelorzi Yeraldin Chiquinquira , Henzen Edoardo , Bernagozzi Andrea , Coppe Alessandro , Christille Jean Marc , Vecchi Manuela , Vozzi Diego , Cavalli Andrea , Bassano Bruno , Gustincich Stefano , Croll Daniel , Pandolfini Luca , Grossen Christine 
Published: June 2024

AbstractAnthropogenic hybridization, the unintentional hybridization with a non-native or domestic species in human-dominated environments, is a major concern for species conservation and a challenge for conservation management decisions. Genetically depleted species are expected to be particularly vulnerable to hybridization and introgression since hybridization can restore or introduce new adaptive genetic variation and alleviate the effects of inbreeding through hybrid vigour. However, defining the precise sets of deleterious or beneficial mutations resulting from anthropogenic hybridization is complex and limited by the quality of genomic resources. The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex), a species native to the Alps, faced near-extinction two centuries ago, but conservation programs have successfully restored its populations. Alpine ibex are known to hybridize with the domestic goat (Capra hircus) occasionally leading to hybrid swarm formation. Past introgression has been observed at immune-related genes and was suggested to have had an adaptive effect. Alpine ibex also carry deleterious mutation load from the reintroduction bottlenecks, which could be alleviated through admixture. Here, we produced a chromosome-level reference genome for Alpine ibex based on Oxford Nanopore sequencing coupled with high-throughput chromosome conformation capture. The highly contiguous assembly of 2.66 Gbp reveals 30 chromosomes and is augmented by a 98.8% complete RNAseq-assisted gene model prediction. The Alpine ibex genome presents overall a high degree of synteny compared to the domestic goat, with a number of structural variants spanning 38 Mb of insertion and deletions, as well as 49 Mb of inversions. We also identified structural variants near but not within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), an immune-relevant gene complex, where previous studies found signals of introgression. The high degree of synteny between the Alpine ibex and domestic goat chromosomes likely facilitates recombination between haplotypes of the two species and is, therefore, in accordance with the observation of hybrid swarms. To determine the precise impact of recent admixture, we resequenced eight hybrid individuals sampled from two hybrid swarms in Northern Italy. Swarm individuals carried between 18-80% goat genome representing up to 3rd generation hybrids, including one F1 hybrid. The reference genome will facilitate quantifying maladaptive variation introduced from domestic goats and guide management efforts.
Evolving a High-Performance Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase for Enzymatic DNA Synthesis
Authors: Forget Stephanie , Krawczyk Mikayla , Knight Anders , Ching Charlene , Copeland Rachelle , Mahmoodi Niusha , Mayo Melissa , Nguyen James , Tan Amanda , Miller Matt , Vroom Jonathan , Lutz Stefan 
Published: June 2024

AbstractEnzymatic DNA synthesis, using stepwise nucleotide addition catalyzed by template-independent polymerases, promises higher efficiency, quality, and sustainability than today’s industry standard phosphoramidite-based processes. We report on the directed evolution of a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase that uses 3’-phosphate blocked dNTPs to control the polymerization reaction and demonstrates high activity for these modified substrates and improved template promiscuity and thermostability.