bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The association of systemic immune-inflammation index with lung function, risk of COPD and COPD severity: A population-based study
Authors: Song Ying-da , Bai Xiao-ming , Ma Jun 
Published: June 2024

Purpose
The relationship between the levels of Systemic Immune-inflammation Index (SII) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung function, and COPD severity were not fully understood. We conducted this cross-sectional, population-based study to investigate the complex association between SII and COPD, lung function, and COPD severity among the US adults.

Methods
Overall, 18,349 participants were included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2018. The exposure variable was SII, calculated from platelet counts, neutrophil counts, and lymphocyte counts. Weighted univariable and multivariable logistic regression, subgroup analysis, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression were performed to assess the relationship between COPD, lung function, COPD severity and SII. Last, we used a propensity score matching (PSM) analysis to reduce selective bias and validate these relationships.

Results
Approximately 1,094 (5.96%) of the participants were diagnosed as COPD. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval, CI) for the Q2 group (Log-SII > 2.740) was 1.39 (1.16 to 1.68). Before and after matching, multivariable logistic regression models revealed that increased Log-SII levels (SII Logarithmic transformation) associated positively with the risk of COPD. The subgroup analysis showed no interaction between Log-SII and a variety of variables (P for interaction > 0.05). RCS showed a reversed L-shaped relationship between Log-SII with COPD (P for nonlinear = 0.001) in individuals. In addition, we observed negative significant correlations between forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) / forced vital capacity (FVC) %, FEV1/FVC% predicted and SII, and reversed U-shaped curve relationships between FEV1, FEV1% predicted and SII. High SII level is associated with severity of COPD, especially at Global Initiative on Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 1 and GOLD 3.

Conclusions
In summary, the Log-SII level is associated with COPD risk, lung function, and COPD severity.
Effects of activity-oriented physiotherapy with and without eye movement training on dynamic balance, functional mobility, and eye movements in patients with Parkinson’s disease: An assessor-blinded randomised controlled pilot trial
Authors: Mildner Sarah , Hotz Isabella , Kübler Franziska , Rausch Linda , Stampfer-Kountchev Michaela , Panzl Johanna , Brenneis Christian , Seebacher Barbara 
Published: June 2024

Objectives
To describe changes in balance, walking speed, functional mobility, and eye movements following an activity-oriented physiotherapy (AOPT) or its combination with eye movement training (AOPT-E) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). To explore the feasibility of a full-scale randomised controlled trial (RCT).

Methods
Using an assessor-blinded pilot RCT, 25 patients with PD were allocated to either AOPT or AOPT-E. Supervised interventions were performed 30 minutes, 4x/weekly, for 4 weeks, alongside inpatient rehabilitation. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and post-intervention, including dynamic balance, walking speed, functional and dual-task mobility, ability to safely balance, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), depression, and eye movements (number/duration of fixations) using a mobile eye tracker. Freezing of gait (FOG), and falls-related self-efficacy were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 4-week follow-up. Effect sizes of 0.10 were considered weak, 0.30 moderate, and ≥0.50 strong. Feasibility was assessed using predefined criteria: recruitment, retention and adherence rates, adverse events, falls, and post-intervention acceptability using qualitative interviews.

Results
Improvements were observed in dynamic balance (effect size r = 0.216–0.427), walking speed (r = 0.165), functional and dual-task mobility (r = 0.306–0.413), ability to safely balance (r = 0.247), HRQoL (r = 0.024–0.650), and depression (r = 0.403). Falls-related self-efficacy (r = 0.621) and FOG (r = 0.248) showed varied improvements, partly sustained at follow-up. Eye movement improvements were observed after AOPT-E only. Feasibility analysis revealed that recruitment was below target, with less than two patients recruited per month due to COVID-19 restrictions. Feasibility targets were met, with a retention rate of 96% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 77.68–99.79) and a 98.18% (95% CI: 96.12–99.20) adherence rate, exceeding the targets of 80% and 75%, respectively. One adverse event unrelated to the study intervention confirmed intervention safety, and interview data indicated high intervention acceptability.

Conclusions
AOPT-E and AOPT appeared to be effective in patients with PD. Feasibility of a larger RCT was confirmed and is needed to validate results.
Prospective observational study of peripheral intravenous cannula utilisation and frequency of intravenous fluid delivery in the emergency department—Convenience or necessity?
Authors: Willis Michael , Colonetti Efrem , Bakir Ali , Alame Yousef Jamal , Annetts Megan , Aygin Deren T. , Daou Amina , Farooq Sultan , Fine Nicholas A. , Firat Gozde , Goozee Benjamin , Gupta Anuj Neelesh , Hubbett Charlotte , Loi Nicole Shun Yee , Maciejec-Biskup Laura , Muthukumar Merline Gabriela , Pott Jason , Bloom Benjamin M. , Muiesan Maria Lorenza , Harris Tim 
Published: June 2024

Background
Peripheral Intravenous Cannulas (PIVCs) are frequently utilised in the Emergency Department (ED) for delivery of medication and phlebotomy. They are associated with complications and have an associated cost to departmental resources. A growing body of international research suggests many of the PIVCs inserted in the ED are unnecessary.

Methods
The objective of this study was to determine the rates of PIVC insertion and use. This was a prospective observational study conducted in one UK ED and one Italian ED. Adult ED patients with non-immediate triage categories were included over a period of three weeks in the UK ED in August 2016 and two weeks in the Italian ED in March and August 2017. Episodes of PIVC insertion and data on PIVC utilisation in adults were recorded. PIVC use was classified as necessary, unnecessary or unused. The proportion of unnecessary and unused PIVCs was calculated. PIVCs were defined as unnecessary if they were either used for phlebotomy only, or solely for IV fluids in patients that could have potentially been hydrated orally (determined against a priori defined criteria). PIVC classified as unused were not used for any purpose.

Results
A total of 1,618 patients were included amongst which 977 PIVCs were inserted. Of the 977 PIVCs, 413 (42%) were necessary, 536 (55%) were unnecessary, and 28 (3%) were unused. Of the unnecessary PIVCs, 473 (48%) were used solely for phlebotomy and 63 (6%) were used for IV fluids in patients that could drink.

Conclusions
More than half of PIVCs placed in the ED were unnecessary in this study. This suggests that clinical decision making about the benefits and risks of PIVC insertion is not being performed on an individual basis.
Designing target trials using electronic health records: A case study of second-line disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and cardiovascular disease outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Rivera Adovich S. , Pierce Jacob B. , Sinha Arjun , Pawlowski Anna E. , Lloyd-Jones Donald M. , Lee Yvonne C. , Feinstein Matthew J. , Petito Lucia C. 
Published: June 2024

Background
Emulation of the “target trial” (TT), a hypothetical pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT), using observational data can be used to mitigate issues commonly encountered in comparative effectiveness research (CER) when randomized trials are not logistically, ethically, or financially feasible. However, cardiovascular (CV) health research has been slow to adopt TT emulation. Here, we demonstrate the design and analysis of a TT emulation using electronic health records to study the comparative effectiveness of the addition of a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) to a regimen of methotrexate on CV events among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods
We used data from an electronic medical records-based cohort of RA patients from Northwestern Medicine to emulate the TT. Follow-up began 3 months after initial prescription of MTX (2000–2020) and included all available follow-up through June 30, 2020. Weighted pooled logistic regression was used to estimate differences in CVD risk and survival. Cloning was used to handle immortal time bias and weights to improve baseline and time-varying covariate imbalance.

Results
We identified 659 eligible people with RA with average follow-up of 46 months and 31 MACE events. The month 24 adjusted risk difference for MACE comparing initiation vs non-initiation of a DMARD was -1.47% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -4.74, 1.95%), and the marginal hazard ratio (HR) was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.71, 1.23). In analyses subject to immortal time bias, the HR was 0.62 (95% CI: 0.29–1.44).

Conclusion
In this sample, we did not observe evidence of differences in risk of MACE, a finding that is compatible with previously published meta-analyses of RCTs. Thoughtful application of the TT framework provides opportunities to conduct CER in observational data. Benchmarking results of observational analyses to previously published RCTs can lend credibility to interpretation.
The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire, Kate Fullagar (2020)
Authors: Waldroup Heather 
Published: June 2024

Review of: The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire, Kate Fullagar (2020)
New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 320 pp.,
ISBN 978 0 30024 306 2 (hbk), US$44
Ex-situ Conservation of Woody Plants within the Framework of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership in Georgia
Authors: Mikatadze-Pantsulaia Tsira , Kolbaia Sandro , Gogoladze Ana , Grdzelishvili Irakli 
Published: June 2024

Georgian flora comprises of the vascular plants grown in wild conditions on the territory of country, comprising 185 families, 1,048 genera and 4,275 species. High endemism level of Georgian flora reflects its richness - 21% of the local flora is endemic.
Nearly 10% of Georgian flora comprises of around 400 tree and shrub species. About 40 per cent of them are included in the Red List of Caucasus Endemics.
Within the framework of the Millennium Seed Bank partnership, 144 populations of 131 species of trees and shrubs common in Georgia were collected at the place of natural distribution and deposited in the National Seed Bank of Georgia (NSBG) under the Global Tree Seed Bank Project (Georgia) with the funding from the Garfield Weston Foundation (2015-2019).
The created genetic bank includes rare, endemic, relict, endangered and economically important species, they have food, medicine, fuel, construction, paint and other properties.
This collection also comprises relict species of Colchic forests important for the study of the history of the Caucasus flora from the following genera: Rhododendron, Betula, Ruscus, Ilex, Daphne, Hedera, Laurocerasus, amongst others;
The National Seed Bank is established for long-term storage of the wild plant species of Georgia.
Seed duplicates from different populations of all target species of the above mentioned project are kept in the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK.
In addition to the seed bank, a collection of seedlings of some of these species has been created in the collection plot of the Plant Conservation Department.
Key words: ex-situ conservation, tree and shrub species, seed bank, seedlings collection.
Entrepreneurship Development in European Union - Challenges and Opportunities for Young People
Authors: Boldureanu Gabriela , Stoian Claudia Iuliana , Bercu Ana Maria , Sandu Christiana Brigitte , Boldureanu Daniel 
Published: June 2024

At the European Union level, the importance of entrepreneurship and supporting young people's intentions to open and develop new businesses was highlighted. In this context, the purpose of our research is to analyze the challenges of entrepreneurship among young people, in a comparative perspective, relating the perspective of Romanians to that of the citizens of the European Union, in general. The research pursued four objectives: (1) identification of personal and social reasons for entrepreneurial activity; (2) investigation of barriers to entrepreneurial activity; (3) identifying the necessary support resources for starting a business; (4) the analysis of the variables that influence the preference of young people to become entrepreneurs. The analysis of the results was based on data published in 2022, in Euro barometer 513 - Social entrepreneurship and youth. The data were processed combining both descriptive and inferential analysis (binary logistic regression). The results show that, both at the level of Romania and European Union, the most important reason why young people want to be entrepreneurs is the freedom to choose the working conditions (time, location) and to be their own boss. At the same time, the main barriers that block young people in their initiative to become entrepreneurs are the lack of education, financial resources, legal, administrative, and personal aspects. Young people in Romania, like everyone else in the European Union, need to be supported, especially educationally and financially, to open a business. They are prepared, for the necessary initial investment, to call on their own resources (savings or salary), but also on external sources (family, friends, and banking institutions). The results estimate the relationship between the entrepreneurship intention of young people and a set of factors, underlying several differences between Romanian young people and those from EU27.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Young People, European Union, Entrepreneurship, Motivation, Challenges.
ERK3 is involved in regulating cardiac fibroblast function
Authors: Sahadevan Pramod , Dingar Dharmendra , Nawaito Sherin A. , Nair Reshma S. , Trépanier Joëlle , Sahmi Fatiha , Shi Yanfen , Gillis Marc‐Antoine , Sirois Martin G. , Meloche Sylvain , Tardif Jean‐Claude , Allen Bruce G. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractERK3/MAPK6 activates MAP kinase‐activated protein kinase (MK)‐5 in selected cell types. Male MK5 haplodeficient mice show reduced hypertrophy and attenuated increase in Col1a1 mRNA in response to increased cardiac afterload. In addition, MK5 deficiency impairs cardiac fibroblast function. This study determined the effect of reduced ERK3 on cardiac hypertrophy following transverse aortic constriction (TAC) and fibroblast biology in male mice. Three weeks post‐surgery, ERK3, but not ERK4 or p38α, co‐immunoprecipitated with MK5 from both sham and TAC heart lysates. The increase in left ventricular mass and myocyte diameter was lower in TAC‐ERK3+/− than TAC‐ERK3+/+ hearts, whereas ERK3 haploinsufficiency did not alter systolic or diastolic function. Furthermore, the TAC‐induced increase in Col1a1 mRNA abundance was diminished in ERK3+/− hearts. ERK3 immunoreactivity was detected in atrial and ventricular fibroblasts but not myocytes. In both quiescent fibroblasts and “activated” myofibroblasts isolated from adult mouse heart, siRNA‐mediated knockdown of ERK3 reduced the TGF‐β‐induced increase in Col1a1 mRNA. In addition, intracellular type 1 collagen immunoreactivity was reduced following ERK3 depletion in quiescent fibroblasts but not myofibroblasts. Finally, knocking down ERK3 impaired motility in both atrial and ventricular myofibroblasts. These results suggest that ERK3 plays an important role in multiple aspects of cardiac fibroblast biology.
An automated workflow based on data independent acquisition for practical and high-throughput personalized assay development and minimal residual disease monitoring in multiple myeloma patients
Authors: Wijnands Charissa , Armony Gad , Noori Somayya , Gloerich Jolein , Bonifay Vincent , Caillon Hélène , Luider Theo M. , Brehmer Sven , Pfennig Lennard , Srikumar Tharan , Trede Dennis , Kruppa Gary , Dejoie Thomas , van Duijn Martijn M. , van Gool Alain J. , Jacobs Joannes F.M. , Wessels Hans J.C.T. 
Published: June 2024

Abstract

Objectives
Minimal residual disease (MRD) status in multiple myeloma (MM) is an important prognostic biomarker. Personalized blood-based targeted mass spectrometry detecting M-proteins (MS-MRD) was shown to provide a sensitive and minimally invasive alternative to MRD-assessment in bone marrow. However, MS-MRD still comprises of manual steps that hamper upscaling of MS-MRD testing. Here, we introduce a proof-of-concept for a novel workflow using data independent acquisition-parallel accumulation and serial fragmentation (dia-PASEF) and automated data processing.

Methods
Using automated data processing of dia-PASEF measurements, we developed a workflow that identified unique targets from MM patient sera and personalized protein sequence databases. We generated patient-specific libraries linked to dia-PASEF methods and subsequently quantitated and reported M-protein concentrations in MM patient follow-up samples. Assay performance of parallel reaction monitoring (prm)-PASEF and dia-PASEF workflows were compared and we tested mixing patient intake sera for multiplexed target selection.

Results
No significant differences were observed in lowest detectable concentration, linearity, and slope coefficient when comparing prm-PASEF and dia-PASEF measurements of serial dilutions of patient sera. To improve assay development times, we tested multiplexing patient intake sera for target selection which resulted in the selection of identical clonotypic peptides for both simplex and multiplex dia-PASEF. Furthermore, assay development times improved up to 25× when measuring multiplexed samples for peptide selection compared to simplex.

Conclusions
Dia-PASEF technology combined with automated data processing and multiplexed target selection facilitated the development of a faster MS-MRD workflow which benefits upscaling and is an important step towards the clinical implementation of MS-MRD.
Item-level heterogeneous treatment effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on depression: implications for inference, generalizability, and identification
Authors: Gilbert Joshua B. , Hieronymus Fredrik , Eriksson Elias , Domingue Benjamin W. 
Published: June 2024

Abstract

Objectives
In analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), Item Response Theory (IRT) models that allow for heterogeneity in the treatment effect at the item level merit consideration. These models for “item-level heterogeneous treatment effects” (IL-HTE) can provide more accurate statistical inference, allow researchers to better generalize their results, and resolve critical identification problems in the estimation of interaction effects. In this study, we extend the IL-HTE model to polytomous data and apply the model to determine how the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on depression varies across the items on a depression rating scale.

Methods
We first conduct a Monte Carlo simulation study to assess the performance of the polytomous IL-HTE model under a range of conditions. We then apply the IL-HTE model to item-level data from 24 RCTs measuring the effect of SSRIs on depression using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) and estimate heterogeneity by subscale (HDRS-6).

Results
Our simulation results show that ignoring IL-HTE can yield standard errors that are as much as 50 % too small and create significant bias in treatment by covariate interaction effects when item-specific treatment effects are correlated with item location, and that the application of the IL-HTE model resolves these issues. Our empirical application shows that while the average effect of SSRIs on depression is beneficial (i.e., negative) and statistically significant, there is substantial IL-HTE, with estimates of the standard deviation of item-level effects nearly as large as the average effect. We show that this substantial IL-HTE is driven primarily by systematically larger effects on the HDRS-6 subscale items.

Conclusions
The IL-HTE model has the potential to provide new insights for the inference, generalizability, and identification of treatment effects in clinical trials using PROMs.
Fault Lines in the Globalization of Migration: Frontline Workers as Embodied Constituents of Disjunctive Globalization
Authors: Arun Shoba , Brahic Benedicte , Caselli Marco 
Published: June 2024

Globalization has become characterized by its disjunctions, which the COVID-19 crisis has thrown into sharp relief (Steger and James 2020). The contradictions (and disjunctures) between the dependence of receiving countries on economic migration and the visible tensions associated with migration, and the precarious experiences of migrants at the COVID-19 front line marked new insecurities in migratory paths and shocks to already insecure work circuits. The fault lines revealed by the COVID-19 crisis identified in this article raise fundamental questions for globalization and migration scholars and policymakers around the sustainability of the “migration/value” nexus. We advocate an approach that moves away from a reductivist conception of migration as solely legitimized via the generation of economic value, toward a sustainable recovery and future after the COVID-19 crisis. We argue for a human rights–based approach to migration that fosters mobilities and that ensures that all individuals are deemed of value, of public value. We believe this can inform and help set a tenacious framework that “resettles” the current disjunctures of globalization, through acknowledging different formations of mobilities through globalization for an inclusive global society. This article is part of the Global Perspectives “Interrogating Global Studies” special collection, guest edited by Jill Timms and Alison Hulme, as a tribute to Dr. Paul Kennedy, an ardent pioneer in the field of global studies.