bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of a range of 6 prefabricated orthotic insole designs on plantar pressure in a healthy population: A randomized, open-label crossover investigation
Authors: Cooper Stephanie , Hanning Jennifer , Hegarty Carol , Generalis Christian , Smith Adam , Hall Tanya , Starbuck Chelsea , Kaux Jean François , Schwartz Cédric , Buckley Carolyn 
Published: August 2024

Background:
Prefabricated orthotic insoles are widely commercially available for self-selection to treat foot and lower-body musculoskeletal pain, without requiring advice from health care professionals. Although they are generally designed to mimic traditional design features of custom-made orthotics used in clinical practice, the effects of prefabricated insoles on plantar pressure distribution are poorly understood.

Objective:
This investigation aimed to evaluate and directly compare the effects of a range of 6 different commercially available prefabricated orthotic insole designs on plantar pressure in healthy individuals.

Methods:
This was a single-center, randomized, open-label, crossover investigation. In-shoe dynamic pressure (F-scan) was investigated in 24 healthy subjects with normal foot posture, wearing standard shoes alone and in combination with 6 different orthotic insoles, consecutively, measured on a single day. The biomechanical impact of each insole was determined by the statistical significance of changes from baseline measurements (standard shoe alone).

Results:
Insoles with heel cups and medial arch geometries consistently increased contact area at medial arch and whole-foot regions and reduced both plantar peak pressure (PP) and pressure time integral at medial arch and heel regions.

Conclusions:
This investigation has aided in further understanding the mode of action of prefabricated insoles in a healthy population. The insoles in this study redistributed plantar pressure at key regions of the foot, based on design features common to prefabricated insoles. Prefabricated orthotic insoles represent an easily accessible means of reducing lower-body musculoskeletal stress for those who spend prolonged periods of time on their feet.
Social Capital and Surgery Access Among Medicare Beneficiaries
Authors: Myers Hannah E. W. , Kunnath Nicholas , Ibrahim Andrew M. 
Published: August 2024

Objective:
To compare the rates of unplanned procedures for access-sensitive surgical conditions among beneficiaries living in census tracts of varying social capital levels.

Background:
Access-sensitive surgical conditions are conditions ideally screened for and treated in an elective setting. However, when left untreated, these conditions may result in unplanned (i.e., urgent or emergent) surgery. It is possible that social capital—the resources available to individuals through their membership in a social network—may impact the likelihood of a planned procedure occurring.

Methods:
Medicare beneficiaries who underwent one of three access-sensitive procedures (abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colectomy for cancer, and ventral hernia repair) between 2016-2020 were stratified by their census tract level of social capital, the exposure variable. Outcomes included rate of unplanned surgery, readmission, 30-day mortality, and complications which were risk-adjusted with a logistic regression model that accounted for patient age, sex, race, comorbidities, and area deprivation.

Results:
A total of 975,048 beneficiaries were included (mean [SD] patient age, 76 [7.6] years; 443,190 were male [45.45%]). Compared to patients from census tracts in the highest overall social capital decile, those from census tracts with the least social capital were on average more likely to undergo unplanned surgery (40.67% versus 35.28%, OR=1.26 P<0.001). Additionally, beneficiaries in these communities were also more likely to experience postoperative complications (24.99% versus 22.90%, OR=1.12 P<0.001), but there was no significant difference in rates of readmission or mortality. When evaluating only elective procedures, the differences between the lowest and highest social capital decile groups reduced significantly for complications (12.77% versus 12.11%, OR=1.06 P=0.04), the differences in mortality rates collapsed, and differences in readmission rates remained insignificant.

Conclusion:
These data suggest that Medicare beneficiaries who live in communities with lower social capital are more likely to undergo unplanned surgery for access-sensitive conditions. Efforts to improve social capital in these communities may be one strategy for reducing the rate of unplanned operations.
Validation and Optimisation of the ISGPS Risk Classification for Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula after Pancreatoduodenectomy for Periampullary Tumours
Authors: Kapoor Deeksha , Desiraju Yajushi , Chaudhari Vikram A. , Bagwan Afroj Ismail , Chopde Amit , Namachivayam ArunKumar , Bhandare Manish S. , Shrikhande Shailesh V. 
Published: August 2024

Objectives:
To externally validate the International Study Group of Pancreatic Surgery (ISGPS) classification and test its performance for predicting clinically relevant pancreatic fistula (CRPF) for periampullary tumours (P-amps).

Background:
The ISGPS is a simple two-factor, four-tier classification of pancreas-related risk for CRPF after a pancreatoduodenectomy (PD). External validation and performance of the classification specific to P-amps are lacking. P-amps have different disease biology, lesser need for neoadjuvant therapy, softer pancreas, and a higher rate of CRPF, underscoring the importance of site-specific prediction.

Methods:
Validation was performed in a cohort of 1422 patients, with CRPF as the primary outcome. Model performance was tested by plotting the receiver operating curve and calibration plots. After analysing the factors predicting CRPF, the model was optimised for P-amps.

Results:
CRPF rate was 22.2% (315/1422), for P-amps being 25.8%. The ISGPS model performed moderately (AUC=0.632, 95% CI 0.598–0.666, P<0.001), with worse performance for P-amps (AUC=0.605, 95% CI 0.566-0.645, P<0.001). On multivariate analysis, soft pancreas (OR 1.689, 95% CI 1.136-2.512, P=0.010), body mass index ≥23 kg/m2 (OR 2.112, 95% CI 1.464–3.046, P<0.001) and pancreatic duct ≤3 mm (OR 2.113 95% CI 1.457–3.064, P<0.001), emerged as independent predictors and the model was optimised. The adjusted ISGPS for P-amps showed improved discrimination (AUC=0.672, P<0.001, 95% CI 0.637–0.707), with adequate performance on internal validation.

Conclusion:
The adjusted ISPGS performs better than the original ISGPS in predicting CRPF for P-amps. Large-scale multicenter data is needed to generate and validate site-specific predictive models.
Patient-Reported Preoperative Depression as a Predictor of Psychosocial Outcomes After Gender-Affirming Facial Feminization Surgery
Authors: Taylor Jeremiah M. , Nguyen Nghiem H. , Huang Kelly X. , Pfaff Miles J. , Ranganathan Kavitha , Rada Rebecca C. , Litwin Mark S. , Hidalgo Marco A. , Lee Justine C. 
Published: August 2024

Objective:
To understand psychosocial functioning before and after gender-affirming facial feminization surgery (FFS) as well as identify predictors of postoperative psychosocial functioning.

Summary Background Data:
Few investigations have rigorously explored the impact of gender-affirming FFS on psychosocial functioning in transgender and gender non-binary (TGNB) individuals. This knowledge gap hinders the identification of methods to optimize mental health quality-of-life outcomes after FFS and carries repercussions for access to care.

Methods:
Adult TGNB participants awaiting gender-affirming FFS were prospectively enrolled and administered Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) instruments assessing anxiety, anger, depression, global mental and physical health, positive affect, emotional support, social isolation, companionship, and meaning and purpose before and 3-6 months after FFS. Paired t-tests compared pre- and postoperative scores. Multivariable linear models identified predictors of postoperative psychosocial outcomes.

Results:
Among the domains, psychosocial scores improved for anxiety, depression, global mental health, social isolation, and positive affect after FFS. When accounting for potential variables contributing to postoperative psychosocial scores including other gender-affirming surgeries, hormone therapy duration, and private versus public insurance type, we found that preoperative depression scores independently predicted the variance in all other postoperative scores with global mental health (β=−0.52, 95%CI −0.58-−0.31 P<0.001), anxiety (β=0.40, 95% CI 0.21-0.51, P<0.001), and meaning and purpose (β=−0.52, 95% CI −0.78-−0.42 P<0.001) as the strongest models.

Conclusions:
This study suggests that gender-affirming FFS improves psychosocial functioning; however, such improvements are highly influenced by the baseline psychological functioning of each individual. These findings indicate that preoperative psychological functioning may be a potential avenue for improving outcomes after FFS via perioperative psychological interventions.
The Near-Infrared Visualization and Preemptive Ligation of the Thoracic Duct Effectively Reduce the Chyle Leak Incidence After Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy
Authors: Puccetti Francesco , Cinelli Lorenzo , Barbieri Lavinia A. , Socci Davide , Clelia Di Serio , De Cobelli Francesco , Elmore Ugo , Rosati Riccardo ,   OSR CCeR Collaborative Group†∥
Published: August 2024

Objective:
The aim of the present study is to assess the effectiveness of indocyanine-green (ICG)-guided lymphography (ICG-Lg) in reducing the incidence of chyle leak (CL) after esophagectomy.

Background:
Chylothorax may severely impact esophageal cancer surgery, and the pre-emptive ligation of the thoracic duct (TD) is the most widespread control of this complication. Intraoperative ICG-Lg has been recently embedded in minimally invasive esophagectomy to facilitate TD detection and pre-emptive ligation.

Methods:
This retrospective analysis included consecutive patients who underwent minimally invasive Ivor Lewis esophagectomy for cancer at a tertiary referral center between January 2018 and August 2023. Patients were routinely submitted to extended lymphadenectomy with TD ligation and removal. All patients treated after January 2021 underwent ICG-Lg for TD identification and ligation (ICG group) and compared with the previous series (no-ICG group). The primary outcome was the incidence of postoperative CL, while univariate and backward stepwise multivariate logistic regression models were performed to identify associated factors.

Results:
After including 320 patients, 151 (ICG group) were submitted to ICG-Lg before the pre-emptive TD ligation. Both groups presented similar characteristics, except for neoadjuvant therapy (P<0.001) and preoperative comorbidities (P=0.045). Intraoperative ICG-Lg significantly reduced the incidence of postoperative CL (11.8% vs 4.6%, P=0.026) and was significantly associated with shorter median length of hospital stay (13 vs 9 d, P=0.006). However, CL after ICG-Lg was more likely to require repairing reoperation (P=0.050).

Conclusions:
Intraoperative ICG-Lg demonstrated significantly lower rates of CL after total minimally invasive esophagectomy and, therefore, it should be routinely embedded in the standardized surgical technique of high-volume centers for esophageal cancer.
Multinational Analysis of Marginal Liver Grafts Based on the Eurotransplant Extended Donor Criteria
Authors: Moosburner Simon , Patel Madhukar S. , Wang Benjamin K. , Prasadh Jai , Öllinger Robert , Lurje Georg , Sauer Igor M. , Vagefi Parsia A. , Pratschke Johann , Raschzok Nathanael 
Published: August 2024

Objective:
To evaluate the outcome of marginal liver grafts based on the Eurotransplant extended criteria donor (ECD) criteria.

Background:
Eurotransplant uses a broad definition of ECD criteria (age >65 years, steatosis >40%, body mass index >30 kg/m2, intensive care unit stay >7 days, donation after circulatory death, and certain laboratory parameters) for allocating organs to recipients who have consented to marginal grafts. Historically, marginal liver grafts were associated with increased rates of dysfunction.

Methods:
Retrospective cohort analysis using the German Transplant Registry and the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) from 2006 to 2016. Results were validated with recent SRTR data (2017–2022). Donors were classified according to the Eurotransplant ECD criteria, donation after circulatory death was excluded. Data were analyzed with cutoff prediction, binomial logistic regression, and multivariate Cox regression.

Results:
The study analyzed 92,330 deceased brain-dead donors (87% SRTR) and 70,374 transplants (87% SRTR) in adult recipients. Predominant ECD factors were donor age in Germany (30%) and body mass index in the United States (28%). Except for donor age, grafts meeting ECD criteria were not associated with impaired 1 or 3-year survival. Cutoffs had little to no predictive value for 30-day graft survival (area under the receiver operating curve: 0.49–0.52) and were nominally higher for age (72 vs 65 years) in Germany as compared with those defined by current Eurotransplant criteria.

Conclusions:
The outcome of transplanted grafts from higher risk donors was nearly equal to standard donors with Eurotransplant criteria failing to predict survival of marginal grafts. Modifying ECD criteria could improve graft allocation and potentially expand the donor pool.
Enhancing Thyroid Nodule Assessment: Leveraging Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography as a Screening Modality - A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Desai Dev , Malafi Maria Eleni , Shah Hetvi , Parikh Aneri , Shah Abhijay B. , Gami Vismit , Gupta Parth 
Published: August 2024

AbstractIntroductionCEUS has become an emerging radio diagnostic technique of modern times. The use of these contrasts offers a way better alternative than materials that cause radiation. Thyroid nodules are notorious for their effect on normal physiology and the routine best diagnostic modality apart from biopsy is Radioactive Iodine.AimTo conduct a diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis to understand the role of CEUS in diagnosing thyroid nodules.MethodologyAccording to Prisma guidelines, literature on the topic was found using the Keywords CEUS, Thyroid Nodule, and Radioactive Iodine. Two independent reviewers conducted a quality check on the papers and decided on the studies that should be included. Any discrepancies were solved by a third reviewer. Meta Disc, Review Manager, and Excel were used to analyze the extracted data from the selected studies as per the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Biopsy was taken as a Reference Gold Standard.ResultA total of 47 RCTs with 5,527 patients were selected for the study. The pooled sensitivity of CEUS is 0.87, with a CI of 95% in a range of 0.86 to 0.88. The specificity of CEUS is 0.84, with a CI of 95% in a range of 0.82 to 0.85. The summary of the ROC curve shows that the area under the curve for CEUS was 0.9292 and the overall diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 40.59.ConclusionIt can be concluded from the results that CEUS can be used as a Screening tool for high suspicion groups but it is still not a perfect test. The newer generation of Contrasts may yield higher accuracy but for the currently available contrasts, Biopsy remains the best tool for a definitive and accurate diagnosis.
Brain cerebral blood flow with MRI-visible enlarged perivascular space in adults
Authors: Yu Chunyan , Wang Baijie , Sun Qiyuan , Huo Huiyan , Zhang Lingyan , Du Hongyan 
Published: August 2024

AbstractObjectiveTo explore the correlation between enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) in the basal ganglia (BG-EPVS) and centrum semiovale (CSO-EPVS) and changes in adult brain cerebral blood flow (CBF).MethodsThis cross-sectional single-center cohort study included individuals with varying degrees of EPVS, divided into the BG and CSO based on the established rating scale. Subsequently, the arterial spin labeling (ASL) sequence and its post- processing operation were utilized to obtain CBF values for different grades of BG- EPVS and CSO-EPVS. Logistic regression was conducted to identify risk factors associated with BG-EPVS and CSO-EPVS, and correlation analysis was employed to explore the associations between different grades of BG-EPVS and CSO-EPVS with CBF of the whole brain and specific regions of interest.ResultsThe regression analysis revealed that BG-EPVS was associated with age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04–1.15), hypertension (4.91,1.55–15.6), and periventricular white matter hyperintensities (PVWMH) (4.34,1.46–12.95). Conversely, CSO-EPVS was linked to hypertension (4.40,1.43– 13.57), drinking history (2.84,1.08–7.45), sleep duration (2.01,1.19–3.40), and PVWMH (12.20,3.83–38.85). Correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between BG-EPVS and the CBF of the whole brain (r=-0.28, p=0.00) and most brain regions, except for the brain stem (r=-0.19, p=0.05). Conversely, CSO-EPVS was negatively correlated with CBF of temporal lobe white matter (r=-0.25, p=0.01); however, the significance was lost after FDR correction. CSO-EPVS was not correlated with CBF across various brain regions.ConclusionBrain CBF decreased with the increasing severity of BG-EPVS, suggesting that BG-EPVS could serve as an imaging marker for reflecting the changes in brain CBF and an effective indicator for early ischemic stroke.
A bone-derived protein primes rapid visual escape via GPR37 receptor in a subpopulation of VTA GABAergic neurons
Authors: Liu Xuemei , Lai Juan , Gao Xiang , Wang Lina , Hu Yali , Liao Guoyang , Ma Shaohua , Feng Bo , Yang Liang , Qian Zhengjiang , Tan Liming , Li Xiang , Wang Liping 
Published: August 2024

SUMMARYRapid escape against visual threats is critical for survival. Whether it requires a permissive mechanism is unknown. Here, we show that osteocalcin (OCN), a protein produced by bone and persisted in the brain, primes rapid visual escape response by increasing excitability of VTA GABAergic neuron subpopulation via OCN-GPR37-cAMP-THIK-1 (K2P13.1) pathway. Knock-out of OCN or its receptor GPR37, and conditional knock-out of GPR37 in VTA GABAergic or glutamatergic neurons caused delayed escape. Reconstituting OCN-GPR37 signaling specifically in VTA was sufficient to restore normal response. Single-cell transcriptomics combined with electrophysiology showed that OCN decreases potassium currents in a subpopulation of VTA GABAergic neurons via GPR37-induced cAMP reduction and subsequent THIK-1 suppression. This elevation of excitability in VTA neuron subpopulation can be recapitulated by HM4Di, an inhibitory chemogenetic GPCR commonly used to suppress neuronal activity. Our study demonstrated that visual behavior requires a bone-derived protein that tunes electrophysiology of central nervous system neurons.Graph AbstractIn briefThe bone-brain axis regulates visual escape behavior.Osteocalcin (OCN), a small protein secreted by bone, plays a permissive role in rapid visual escape. This is achieved through GPR37 receptor expressed in a subpopulation of VTA GABAergic neurons. OCN-GPR37 signaling increases neuronal excitability by decreasing K+ current via THIK-1 channel suppression.HighlightsThe bone-derived protein osteocalcin and its receptor GPR37 in VTA are required for rapid visual escape response.GPR37 is expressed in a subpopulation of VTA GABAergic neurons and primes rapid visual escape.Osteocalcin-GPR37 signaling increases neuronal excitability by suppressing THIK-1 (K2P13.1) channel via cAMP reduction.Activation of HM4Di increases excitability of subpopulation of VTA GABAergic neurons and enhances rapid visual escape.
Seq2Topt: a sequence-based deep learning predictor of enzyme optimal temperature
Authors: Qiu Sizhe , Hu Bozhen , Zhao Jing , Xu Weiren , Yang Aidong 
Published: August 2024

AbstractAn accurate deep learning predictor is needed for enzyme optimal temperature (Topt), which quantitatively describes how temperature affects the enzyme catalytic activity. Seq2Topt, developed in this study, reached a superior accuracy onToptprediction just using protein sequences (RMSE = 13.3℃ and R2=0.48) in comparison with existing models, and could capture key protein regions for enzymeToptwith multi-head attention on residues. Through case studies on thermophilic enzyme selection and predicting enzymeToptshifts caused by point mutations, Seq2Topt was demonstrated as a promising computational tool for enzyme mining andin-silicoenzyme design. Additionally, accurate deep learning predictors of enzyme optimal pH (Seq2pHopt, RMSE=0.92 and R2=0.37) and melting temperature (Seq2Tm, RMSE=7.57℃ and R2=0.64) were developed based on the model architecture of Seq2Topt, suggesting that the development of Seq2Topt could potentially give rise to a useful prediction platform of enzymes.
A comparison of super-resolution microscopy techniques for imaging tightly packed microcolonies of an obligate intracellular bacterium
Authors: North Alison J. , Sharma Ved P. , Pyrgaki Christina , Lim S.Y. John , Atwal Sharanjeet , Saharat Kittirat , Wright Graham D. , Salje Jeanne 
Published: August 2024

ABSTRACTConventional optical microscopy imaging of obligate intracellular bacteria is hampered by the small size of bacterial cells, tight clustering exhibited by some bacterial species and challenges relating to labelling such as background from host cells, a lack of validated reagents, and a lack of tools for genetic manipulation. In this study we imaged intracellular bacteria from the speciesOrientia tsutsugamushi(Ot) using five different fluorescence microscopy techniques: standard confocal, Airyscan confocal, instant Structured Illumination Microscopy (iSIM), three-dimensional Structured Illumination Microscopy (3D-SIM) and Stimulated Emission Depletion Microscopy (STED). We compared the ability of each to resolve bacterial cells in intracellular clumps in the lateral (xy) axis, using full width half maximum (FWHM) measurements of a labelled outer membrane protein (ScaA) and the ability to detect small, outer membrane vesicles external to the cells. We next compared the ability of each technique to sufficiently resolve bacteria in the axial (z) direction and found 3D-STED to be the most successful method for this. We then combined this approach with a custom 3D cell segmentation and analysis pipeline using the open-source, deep learning software, Cellpose to segment the cells and subsequently the commercial software Imaris to analyze their 3D shape and size. Using this combination, we demonstrated differences in bacterial shape, but not their size, when grown in different mammalian cell lines. Overall, we compare the advantages and disadvantages of different super-resolution microscopy techniques for imaging this cytoplasmic obligate intracellular bacterium based on the specific research question being addressed.