bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Identification of 1-Methylnicotinamide as a specific biomarker for the progression of cirrhosis to hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Zhang Sijia , Tuo Ping , Ji Yuanye , Huang Zuoan , Xiong Zi , Li Hongshan , Ruan Chunyan 
Published: June 2024

Abstract
Purpose
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent malignant tumor, often arising from hepatitis induced by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in China. However, effective biomarkers for early diagnosis are lacking, leading to a 5-year overall survival rate of less than 20% among patients with advanced HCC. This study aims to identify serum biomarkers for early HCC diagnosis to enhance patient survival rates.

Methods
We established an independent cohort comprising 27 healthy individuals, 13 patients with HBV-induced cirrhosis, 13 patients with hepatitis B-type HCC, and 8 patients who progressed from cirrhosis to hepatocellular carcinoma during follow-up. Serum metabolic abnormalities during the progression from cirrhosis to HCC were studied using untargeted metabolomics. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics methods characterized the subjects’ serum metabolic profiles. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was employed to elucidate metabolic profile changes during the progression from cirrhosis to HCC. Differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) between cirrhosis and HCC groups were identified using the LIMMA package in the R language. Two machine learning algorithms, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), and Random Forest Classifier (RF), were used to identify key metabolic biomarkers involved in the progression from cirrhosis to HCC. Key metabolic biomarkers were further validated using targeted metabolomics in a new independent validation cohort comprising 25 healthy individuals and 25 patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma.

Results
A total of 155 serum metabolites were identified, of which 21/54 metabolites exhibited significant changes in HCC patients compared with cirrhosis patients and healthy individuals, respectively. PLS-DA clustering results demonstrated a significant change trend in the serum metabolic profile of patients with HBV-induced cirrhosis during the progression to HCC. Utilizing LASSO regression and RF algorithms, we confirmed 10 key metabolic biomarkers. Notably, 1-Methylnicotinamide (1-MNAM) exhibited a persistent and significant decrease in healthy individuals, cirrhosis, and HCC patients. Moreover, 1-MNAM levels in developing patients were significantly higher during the cirrhosis stage than in the HCC stage. Targeted metabolomic validation in an external cohort further confirmed the good diagnostic performance of 1-MNAM in early HCC detection.

Conclusion
Our findings imply that 1-MNAM may be a specific biomarker for the progression of cirrhosis to HCC.
Laparoscopy experience in East, Central, and Southern Africa: insights from operative case volume analysis
Authors: Yankunze Yves , Mwachiro Michael M. , Lando June Owino , Bachheta Niraj , Mangaoang Deirdre , Bekele Abebe , Parker Robert K. 
Published: June 2024

Abstract
Background
With the primary objective of addressing the disparity in global surgical care access, the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA) trains surgeons. While sufficient operative experience is crucial for surgical training, the extent of utilization of minimally invasive techniques during COSECSA training remains understudied.

Methods
We conducted an extensive review of COSECSA general surgery trainees' operative case logs from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020, focusing on the utilization of minimally invasive surgical procedures. Our primary objective was to determine the prevalence of laparoscopic procedures and compare this to open procedures. We analyzed the distribution of laparoscopic cases across common indications such as cholecystectomy, appendicitis, and hernia operations. Additionally, we examined the impact of trainee autonomy, country development index, and hospital type on laparoscopy utilization.

Results
Among 68,659 total cases, only 616 (0.9%) were laparoscopic procedures. Notably, 34 cases were conducted during trainee external rotations in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, and India. Gallbladder and appendix pathologies were most frequent among the 582 recorded laparoscopic cases performed in Africa. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy accounted for 29% (276 of 975 cases), laparoscopic appendectomy for 3% (76 of 2548 cases), and laparoscopic hernia repairs for 0.5% (26 of 5620 cases). Trainees self-reported lower autonomy for laparoscopic (22.5%) than open cases (61.5%). Laparoscopy usage was more prevalent in upper-middle-income (2.7%) and lower-middle-income countries (0.8%) compared with lower-income countries (0.5%) (p < 0.001). Private (1.6%) and faith-based hospitals (1.5%) showed greater laparoscopy utilization than public hospitals (0.5%) (p < 0.001).

Conclusions
The study highlights the relatively low utilization of minimally invasive techniques in surgical training within the ECSA region. Laparoscopic cases remain a minority, with variations observed based on specific diagnoses. The findings suggest a need to enhance exposure to minimally invasive procedures to ensure well-rounded training and proficiency in these techniques.
In situ stoichiometry amounts of p62 and poly-ubiquitin exceed the increase of alpha-synuclein during degeneration of catecholamine cells induced by autophagy inhibition in vitro
Authors: Lenzi Paola , Lazzeri Gloria , Ferrucci Michela , Busceti Carla Letizia , Puglisi-Allegra Stefano , Fornai Francesco 
Published: June 2024

AbstractNeurodegenerative disorders are typically featured by the occurrence of neuronal inclusions. In the case of Parkinson’s disease (PD) these correspond to Lewy bodies (LBs), which are routinely defined as proteinaceous inclusions composed of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn). In turn, alpha-syn is considered to be the key protein in producing PD and fostering its progression. Recent studies challenged such a concept and emphasized the occurrence of other proteins such as p62 and poly-ubiquitin (Poly-ub) in the composition of LBs, which are also composed of large amounts of tubulo-vesicular structures. All these components, which accumulate within the cytosol of affected neurons in PD, may be the consequence of a dysfunction of major clearing pathways. In fact, autophagy-related systems are constantly impaired in inherited PD and genetic models of PD. The present study was designed to validate whether a pharmacological inhibition of autophagy within catecholamine cells produces cell damage and accumulation of specific proteins and tubulo-vesicular structures. The stoichiometry counts of single proteins, which accumulate within catecholamine neurons was carried out along with the area of tubulo-vesicular structures. In these experimental conditions p62 and Poly-ub accumulation exceeded at large the amounts of alpha-syn. In those areas where Poly-ub and p62 were highly expressed, tubulo-vesicular structures were highly represented compared with surrounding cytosol. The present study confirms new vistas about LBs composition and lends substance to the scenario that autophagy inhibition rather than a single protein dysfunction as key determinant of PD.
Integrating local ecological knowledge and remote sensing reveals patterns and drivers of forest cover change: North Korea as a case study
Authors: Elves-Powell Joshua , Dolan Jai , Durant Sarah M. , Lee Hang , Linnell John D. C. , Turvey Samuel T. , Axmacher Jan C. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractSatellite-based remote sensing approaches provide a cost-efficient means to collect information on the world’s forests and to repeatedly survey large, or inaccessible, forest areas. However, it may not always be possible to ground truth–associated findings using direct ecological field surveys conducted by trained forest scientists. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is an alternative form of data which could be used to complement, interpret and verify information from satellite data. Using a case study on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), we evaluate the potential for integrating remote sensing and LEK data, gathered with non-specialist former residents, to understand patterns and drivers of forest cover change. LEK reports often concurred with, or provided key information to enable interpretation of, satellite data. This revealed that between 1986 and 2021, North Korea experienced high, but uneven, rates of deforestation. There was a pronounced northwards deforestation shift in the mid-1990s, coinciding with a period of extreme hardship and famine (the “Arduous March”), and associated with clearance of trees in more forested northern provinces as an economic and fuel resource, and conversion of forest to agricultural cropland. Loss of forest cover in North Korea has continued and recently accelerated, to a rate of > 200 km2 per annum between 2019 and 2021. This increases the vulnerability of North Korean socio-ecological systems to future environmental change and is an obstacle to the recovery of threatened species across the Korean Peninsula. We recommend that LEK- and remote sensing–based approaches are considered within a suite of complementary techniques to analyse forest changes where ecological field surveys cannot be conducted.
Multi-finished protective viscose textile via infrared assisted one-pot incorporation of Ce-organic framework
Authors: Emam Hossam E. , Abdelhameed Reda M. , Ahmed Hanan B. 
Published: June 2024

AbstractAntimicrobial and UV-blocking textiles (protective textiles) are quite required especially for outdoor workers and in hot weather countries. Herein, for the first time, under the effect of infrared radiation, the preparation of multi-finished viscose fabrics via the incorporation of metal organic framework-based on Cesium (Ce-MOF) is investigated. Ce-MOF using different ligands including 1,4-benzendicarboxylic acid (BDC), 1,2,4-benzene tricarboxylic acid (BDC-COOH) and 2-amino-1,4-dicarboxyic acid (BDC-NH2) were incorporated within viscose and cationic viscose (Q-viscose) fabrics in one-pot process. MOF uptake was significantly improved from 88.6 – 96.8 mg/g to 122.5 – 152.2 mg/g after the cationization process. Due to incorporation of Ce-MOF, viscose fabrics acquired creamy to yellowish color and became more thermally stable. Tensile strength was lowered by 8.9 – 17.4% for viscose and 17.1 – 20.3% for Q-viscose, after modification with Ce-MOFs. The estimated UV-protection factor (UPF) for Q-viscose fabrics was significantly increased to be 50.1– 88.1 after incorporation of Ce-BDC-COOH & Ce-BDC-NH2, achieving maximum UV protection. By comparing between Ce-BDC and Ce-BDC-COOH, the fabrics treated with Ce-BDC-NH2 showed the highest microbial protection against bacteria and fungus. After immobilization of Ce-MOF, the estimated inhibition zones were 11–14 mm & 15–18 mm against E. coli and 13–15 mm & 17–19 mm against C. albicans, for viscose and Q-viscose, respectively.
OpenSCV: an open hierarchical taxonomy for smart contract vulnerabilities
Authors: Vidal Fernando Richter , Ivaki Naghmeh , Laranjeiro Nuno 
Published: June 2024

AbstractSmart contracts are nowadays at the core of most blockchain systems. Like all computer programs, smart contracts are subject to the presence of residual faults, including severe security vulnerabilities. However, the key distinction lies in how these vulnerabilities are addressed. In smart contracts, when a vulnerability is identified, the affected contract must be terminated within the blockchain, as due to the immutable nature of blockchains, it is impossible to patch a contract once deployed. In this context, research efforts have been focused on proactively preventing the deployment of smart contracts containing vulnerabilities, mainly through the development of vulnerability detection tools. Along with these efforts, several heterogeneous vulnerability classification schemes appeared (e.g., most notably DASP and SWC). At the time of writing, these are mostly outdated initiatives, even though new smart contract vulnerabilities are consistently uncovered. In this paper, we propose OpenSCV, a new and Open hierarchical taxonomy for Smart Contract vulnerabilities, which is open to community contributions and matches the current state of the practice while being prepared to handle future modifications and evolution. The taxonomy was built based on the analysis of the existing research on vulnerability classification, community-maintained classification schemes, and research on smart contract vulnerability detection. We show how OpenSCV covers the announced detection ability of the current vulnerability detection tools and highlight its usefulness in smart contract vulnerability research. To validate OpenSCV, we performed an expert-based analysis wherein we invited multiple experts engaged in smart contract security research to participate in a questionnaire. The feedback from these experts indicated that the categories in OpenSCV are representative, clear, easily understandable, comprehensive, and highly useful. Regarding the vulnerabilities, the experts confirmed that they are easily understandable.
Cosmological fluids with boundary term couplings
Authors: Böhmer Christian G. , d’Alfonso del Sordo Antonio 
Published: June 2024

AbstractCosmological models can be studied effectively using dynamical systems techniques. Starting from Brown’s formulation of the variational principle for relativistic fluids, we introduce new types of couplings involving a perfect fluid, a scalar field, and boundary terms. We describe three different coupling models, one of which turns out to be particularly relevant for cosmology. Its behaviour is similar to that of models in which dark matter decays into dark energy. In particular, for a constant coupling, the model mimics well-known dynamical dark energy models while the non-constant couplings offer a rich dynamical structure, unseen before. We are able to achieve this richness whilst working in a two-dimensional phase space. This is a significant advantage which allows us to provide a clear physical interpretation of the key features and draw analogies with previously studied models.
Application of a Human Factors Systems Approach to Healthcare Control Centres for Managing Patient Flow: A Scoping Review
Authors: Paterson Estrella , Chari Satyan , McCormack Linda , Sanderson Penelope 
Published: June 2024

Abstract
Over the past decade, healthcare systems have started to establish control centres to manage patient flow, with a view to removing delays and increasing the quality of care. Such centres—here dubbed Healthcare Capacity Command/Coordination Centres (HCCCs)—are a challenge to design and operate. Broad-ranging surveys of HCCCs have been lacking, and design for their human users is only starting to be addressed. In this review we identified 73 papers describing different kinds of HCCCs, classifying them according to whether they describe virtual or physical control centres, the kinds of situations they handle, and the different levels of Rasmussen’s [1] risk management framework that they integrate. Most of the papers (71%) describe physical HCCCs established as control centres, whereas 29% of the papers describe virtual HCCCs staffed by stakeholders in separate locations. Principal functions of the HCCCs described are categorised as business as usual (BAU) (48%), surge management (15%), emergency response (18%), and mass casualty management (19%). The organisation layers that the HCCCs incorporate are classified according to the risk management framework; HCCCs managing BAU involve lower levels of the framework, whereas HCCCs handling the more emergent functions involve all levels. Major challenges confronting HCCCs include the dissemination of information about healthcare system status, and the management of perspectives and goals from different parts of the healthcare system. HCCCs that take the form of physical control centres are just starting to be analysed using human factors principles that will make staff more effective and productive at managing patient flow.
Analytical and numerical optimization of broaching tool tooth distribution
Authors: Iklodi Zsolt , Munoa Jokin , Dombovari Zoltan 
Published: June 2024

AbstractThis paper presents a detailed mathematical analysis of the effect of tooth distribution on the stability of broaching operations. Analytic and numeric techniques are employed to analyse a simplified one-degree-of-freedom mechanical model of variable pitch broaching, to assess its stability, and to find the optimal tooth distances maximizing robustness against harmful self-excited chatter vibrations. A novel modelling approach, considering a theoretical infinitely long broaching tool, draws parallels with variable pitch milling, and analytic formulas for tuning milling cutters are extended to broaching tools. For a further increase of robustness, and to take feasibility constraints into account, a goal function based on the semi-discretization and spectral collocation techniques is implemented in a direct numeric optimisation framework. A new, detailed derivation of the corresponding parameter gradients is presented to enable the use of gradient descent techniques. Since broaching is inherently a time-limited process, optimal parameters found in this manner are then validated via time domain simulations to show the desirable transient behaviours achievable by this ideal tuning of the tool geometry.
Preparing Quality of Life Surveys Versus Using Information for Sustainable Development: The Example of Polish Cities
Authors: Ligarski Mariusz J. , Owczarek Tomasz 
Published: June 2024

AbstractCities, in order to develop, should acquire data from various sources, properly process it, and skillfully use it for sustainable development. One such source is data from the surveys of residents’ quality of life. When processed as appropriate, the data may be a valuable source of information concerning sustainable development for the city. However, the very fact of carrying out the quality-of-life surveys does not guarantee that the information obtained from them will be used to manage the city. Based on studies entailing a sample of 29 city offices in Poland which declared regular studies of the residents’ quality of life, it was proved that the preparation and organization of such studies influences later use of such information for sustainable development purposes. Relying on the method of examining the quality of life and the number of specific indicators, the cities studied were divided into two groups. One was involved, and the other was not in the process of preparing quality-of-life surveys. A comparison was made between these groups of cities in terms of the areas included in the quality of life surveys, the decisions and actions taken based on the analysis of the results of these surveys, and the purposes for which the information is used. The areas in which the local government declares an impact on the quality of life of its residents were also compared. Attention was paid to significant differences between the two groups of cities and the effects of each of those two approaches were specified.
Mycological air contamination level and biodiversity of airborne fungi isolated from the zoological garden air — preliminary research
Authors: Plewa-Tutaj Kinga , Krzyściak Paweł , Dobrzycka Aleksandra 
Published: June 2024

Abstract The aim of this paper was to evaluate the degree of mycological air contamination and determine the taxonomic diversity of airborne fungi residing in the air of 20 different animal facilities in a zoological garden. The concentrations of fungi in the zoological garden were measured using a MAS-100 air sampler. The collected microorganisms were identified using the combination of molecular and morphological methods. The fungal concentration ranged from 50 to 3.65 × 104 CFU/m3 during the whole study. The quantitative analysis of the fungal aerosol showed that the obtained concentration values were lower than the recommended permissible limits (5 × 104 CFU/m3 for fungi). Environmental factors, including temperature and relative humidity, exerted a varying effect on the presence and concentration of isolated fungi. Relative humidity was shown to correlate positively with the concentration of fungal spores in the air of the facilities studied (rho = 0.57, p < 0.0021). In parallel, no significant correlation was established between temperature and total fungal concentration (rho =  − 0.1, p < 0.2263). A total of 112 fungal strains belonging to 50 species and 10 genera were isolated. Penicillium was the dominant genera, including 58.9% of total fungal strains, followed by Aspergillus 25.89%, Cladosporium 3.57%, Talaromyces 3.57%, Mucor 1.78%, Schizophyllum 1.78%, Syncephalastrum 0.89%, Alternaria 0.89%, Absidia 0.89%, and Cunninghamella 0.89%. Our preliminary studies provide basic information about the fungal concentrations, as well as their biodiversity in zoological garden. Further studies are needed to generate additional data from long-term sampling in order to increase our understanding of airborne fungal composition in the zoological garden.
Periacetabular osteotomy using computed tomography-based navigation: preoperative planning and accuracy evaluation
Authors: Inaba Yutaka , Tezuka Taro , Oba Masatoshi , Choe Hyonmin , Ike Hiroyuki 
Published: June 2024

Abstract
Purpose
Since 2011, we have used computed tomography (CT)-based navigation to perform safe and accurate rotational acetabular osteotomy (RAO) for treating developmental dysplasia of the hip. We developed a new method with four fiducial points to improve the accuracy of a published technique. In this study, we introduced a new method to achieve reorientation in accordance with planning and evaluated its accuracy.

Methods
This study included 40 joints, which underwent RAO used CT-based navigation. In 20 joints, reorientation was confirmed by touching the lateral aspect of the rotated fragment with navigation and checking whether it matched the preoperative plan. A new fiducial point method was adopted for the remaining 20 joints. To assess the accuracy of the position of the rotated fragment in each group, postoperative radial reformatted CT images were obtained around the acetabulum and three-dimensional evaluation was performed. The accuracy of acetabular fragment repositioning was evaluated using the acetabular sector angle (ASA).

Results
The absolute value of ΔASA, which represents the error between preoperative planning and the actual postoperative position, was significantly smaller in the new fiducial method group than the previous method group in the area from 11:30 to 13:30 (p < 0.05). The Harris Hip Score at 1 year after surgery did not differ significantly between the previous and new fiducial point methods.

Conclusion
The new fiducial point method significantly reduced reorientation error in the superior-lateral area of the acetabulum: significantly fewer errors and fewer cases of under-correction of lateral acetabular coverage were recorded. The four-reference fiducial method facilitates reorientation of the acetabulum as planned, with fewer errors. The effect of the improved accuracy of the fiducial point method on clinical outcomes will be investigated in the future work.