bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multi-omics data integration to identify metabolism pathways and therapeutic targets for cardiac disease
Authors: de Ruiter Sophie C. , van Vugt Marion , Finan Chris , Providencia Rui , Chopade Sandesh , Grobbee Diederick E. , den Ruijter Hester M. , Peters Sanne A.E. , Schmidt A. Floriaan 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIntroductionUrinary breakdown products, representing kidney regulated filtration of metabolism end products, contain cardiac disease biomarkers such as NT-proBNP. We set out to integrate plasma proteins with metabolism pathways, as reflected by urinary breakdown products, to identify potentially druggable metabolism pathways for cardiac disease.MethodsData was leveraged from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 954 urinary breakdown products. Mendelian randomisation was used to identify urinary breakdown products associating with atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). By interrogating eight independent plasma protein GWAS, jointly including 92,277 participants and 1,562 unique proteins, we identified druggable plasma proteins with a directionally concordant effect on urinary breakdown products and cardiac outcomes.ResultsIn total, 38 unique urinary breakdown products associated with cardiac disease, predominantly covering breakdown products from amino acid metabolism (n=12), xenobiotic metabolism (n=5), and unclassified metabolism origins (n=16). Subsequently, we identified 32 druggable proteins expressed in cardiac tissue, which had a directionally concordant association with the identified urinary breakdown products and cardiac outcomes. This included positive control findings, for example higher values of AT1B2 (targeted by digoxin) decreased the risk of HCM, which we were able to link to a novel unclassified urinary breakdown product (X-15497). Additionally, we showed that increased plasma RET values, a mediator of GDF-15 signalling, reduced the risk of HF, and linked this to the novel unclassified urinary breakdown product X-23776.ConclusionWe have identified amino acid, xenobiotic and unclassified metabolism as important pathways contributing to cardiac disease and prioritised 32 druggable proteins as potential therapeutic targets.
Healthcare Consumers’ Perceptions of Incentive-Linked Prescribing: A Scoping Review of Research
Authors: Noor Muhammad Naveed , Abbasi Haider Safdar , van Der Mark Nina , Azizullah Zahida , Linton Janice , Rahman-Shepherd Afifah , Siddiqui Amna Rehana , Khan Mishal , Hasan Rumina , Shakoor Sadia 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIncentive-linked prescribing (ILP) is considered a controversial practice universally. If incentivised, physicians may prioritise meeting pharmaceutical sales targets through prescriptions, rather than considering patients’ health and wellbeing. Despite the potential harms of ILP to patients and important stakeholders in the healthcare system, healthcare consumers (HCCs) which include patients and the general public often have far less awareness about the practice of pharmaceutical incentivisation of physicians. We conducted a scoping review to explore what existing research says about HCCs’ perceptions of the financial relationship between physicians and pharmaceutical companies. To conduct this scoping review, we followed Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework: identifying research questions, identifying relevant studies, selecting eligible studies, data charting, and collating, summarising, and reporting results. We also used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses’ extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR), as a guide to organise the information in this review. Quantitative and qualitative studies with patients and the general public, published in the English language were identified through searches of Scopus, Medline (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), and Google Scholar. Three themes emerged through the analysis of the 13 eligible studies: understanding of incentivisation, perceptions of hazards linked to ILP, and HCCs’ suggestions to address it. We found documentation that HCCs exhibited a range of knowledge from good to insufficient about the pharmaceutical incentivisation of physicians. HCCs perceived several hazards linked to ILP such as a lack of trust in physicians and the healthcare system, the prescribing of unnecessary medications, and the negative effect on physicians’ reputations in society. In addition to strong regulatory controls, it is critical that physicians self-regulate their behaviour, and publicly disclose if they have any financial ties with pharmaceutical companies. Doing so can contribute to trust between patients and physicians, an important part of patient-focused care and a contributor to user confidence in the wider health system.
Brain volume changes following blast-related mild TBI in service members and veterans: a LIMBIC-CENC study
Authors: Dennis Emily L , Rowland Jared A , Esopenko Carrie , Tustison Nicholas J , Newsome Mary R , Hovenden Elizabeth S , Avants Brian B , Gill Jessica , Hinds Sidney R , Kenney Kimbra , Lindsey Hannah M , Martindale Sarah L , Pugh Mary Jo , Scheibel Randall S , Shahim Pashtun-Poh , Shih Robert , Stone James R , Troyanskaya Maya , Walker William C , Werner Kent , York Gerald E , Cifu David X , Tate David F , Wilde Elisabeth A 
Published: February 2024

AbstractImportanceBlast-related mild traumatic brain injuries (bTBI), the “signature injury” of post-9/11 conflicts, are associated with clinically-relevant long-term cognitive, psychological, and behavioral dysfunction and disability; however, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear.ObjectiveTo investigate associations between a history of remote bTBI and regional brain volume in a sample of United States (U.S.) Veterans and Active Duty Service Members (VADSM).DesignProspective case-control study of U.S. VADSM of participants from the Long-term Impact of Military-relevant Brain Injury Consortium - Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC), which enrolled over 1,500 participants at five sites used in this analysis between 2014-2023.SettingParticipants were recruited from Veterans Affairs medical centers across the U.S.ParticipantsSeven hundred and seventy-four VADSM of the U.S. military met eligibility criteria for this analysis.ExposureAll participants had combat exposure, and 82% had one or more lifetime mild TBIs with variable injury mechanisms.Main Outcomes and MeasuresRegional brain volume was calculated using tensor-based morphometry on 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans. TBI history, including history of blast-related injury (bTBI), was assessed by structured clinical interview. Cognitive performance and psychiatric symptoms were assessed with a battery of validated instruments. We hypothesized that regional volume would be smaller in the bTBI group, and that this would be associated with cognitive performance.ResultsIndividuals with a history of bTBI had smaller brain volumes in several clusters, with the largest centered bilaterally in the superior corona radiata and globus pallidus. Greater volume deficits were associated with a larger number of lifetime bTBIs. Additionally, causal mediation analysis revealed that these volume differences significantly mediated the association between bTBI and performance on measures of working memory and processing speed.Conclusions and RelevanceOur results reveal robust volume differences associated with bTBI. Magnetic resonance elastography atlases reveal that the specific regions affected include the stiffest tissues in the brain, which may underlie their vulnerability to pressure waves from blast exposures. Furthermore, these volume differences significantly mediated the association between bTBI and cognitive function, indicating that this may be a helpful biomarker in tracking outcome after bTBI and suggesting potential treatment targets to prevent or limit chronic dysfunction.
Distinct representation of cognitive flexibility and habitual stability in the primate putamen, caudate, and ventral striatum
Authors: An Shin-young , Hwang Seong-Hwan , Lee Keonwoo , Kim Hyoung F. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractRecent primate studies have demonstrated a functional distinction along the rostral—caudal axis of the striatum, which has challenged the conventional view that flexible adaptation and habitual action differ in processing along the medial—lateral axis. We found that neurons in the rostral putamen, caudate, and ventral striatum encode values flexibly updated for adaptive choices, rather than values stably sustained for visual habit. In the reversal value learning, rostral striatal neurons dynamically updated their value discrimination responses after value reversals, whereas, in the stable value retrieval, most did not encode the value. Notably, caudate neurons were faster to update values after reversal trials than ventral striatum neurons. Slow-learning neurons were identified selectively in the ventral striatum. In each trial, their learning speeds were similar during initial learning, suggesting a parallel value update in each striatal region. Our findings thus indicate that the rostral striatum prioritizes cognitive flexibility over habitual stability.
ACaenorhabditis elegansbased system for high-throughput functional phenotyping of human gut microbiota
Authors: Ambat Achuthan , Valappil Vishnu Thayyil , Ghimire Sudeep , Harnvoravongchai Phurt , Mishra Shalabh , Pillai Viju Vijayan , Kashyap Purna , Scaria Joy 
Published: February 2024

SummaryBottoms-up approach of mono or poly colonizing microbes in germfree model is an important tool for mechanistic understanding of human gut microbiota. However, doing this in models such as germfree mouse is expensive and time consuming. To address this problem, we developed aCaenorhabditis elegansbased screening system. We used a gut microbiota culture collection that represents more than 70% functional capacity of the human gut microbiome to anaerobically colonizeC. elegans. We chose colonization resistance as the phenotype of the microbiome for further screening and found that half of the strains, previously identifiedin vitroas inhibitingClostridioides difficile, also did so inC. elegans. When validated using germ-free mouse model, results were in concordance with that obtained fromC. elegansmodel. Our system therefore could be used for screening large number of bacterial species to better understand host-microbiome interaction.
Establishment of an Inhalation Administration Non-invasive Murine Model for Rapidly Testing Drug Activity againstMycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Tian Xirong , Gao Yamin , Ma Wanli , Zhang Jingran , Ju Yanan , Ding Jie , Zeng Sanshan , Adnan Hameed H.M. , Zhong Nanshan , Cook Gregory M. , Hu Jinxing , Zhang Tianyu 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACTThe efficacy of many compounds againstMycobacterium tuberculosisis often limited when administered via conventional oral or injection routes due to suboptimal pharmacokinetic characteristics. Inhalation delivery methods have been investigated to achieve high local therapeutic doses in the lungs. However, previous models, typically employing wild-typeM. tuberculosisstrains, were intricate, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and with poor repeatability. In this study, we developed an autoluminescence-based inhalation administration model to evaluate drug activity by quantifying relative light units (RLUs) emitted from live mice infected with autoluminescentM. tuberculosis. This novel approach has several improvements: it eliminates the need for anesthesia in mice during administration and simplifies the instrument manipulation; it is cost-effective by utilizing mice instead of larger animals; it shortens time from several months to 16 or 17 days for obtaining result; it is non-invasive by measuring the live RLUs of mice; up to six mice can be administrated daily and simultaneously, even 2-3 times/day; results are relatively objective and repeatable minimizing human factors. Proof-of-concept experiments demonstrated that inhalable rifampicin, isoniazid, and ethambutol showed anti-M. tuberculosisactivity at concentrations as low as 0.5, 0.5, and 0.625 mg/mL, respectively, as evidenced by comparing the live RLUs of mice. Furthermore, consistency between RLUs and colony-forming units of the lungs reaffirms the reliability of RLUs as an indicator of drug efficacy, highlighting the potential of this approach for accurately assessing anti-M. tuberculosisactivityin vivo. This autoluminescence-based and non-invasive inhalation model offers a substantial reduction in the time, effort, and cost required for evaluating the efficacy of screening new drugs and repurposing old drugsin vivovia inhalation administration.
Profound synthetic lethality between SMARCAL1 and FANCM
Authors: Feng Sumin , Liu Kaiwen , Shang Jinfeng , Hoeg Lisa , Yang William , Roy Sabrina , Young Jordan T.F. , Wu Wei , Xu Dongyi , Durocher Daniel 
Published: February 2024

AbstractDNA replication stress is a threat to genome integrity. The large SNF2-family of ATPases participates in preventing and mitigating DNA replication stress by employing their ATP-driven motor to remodel DNA or DNA-bound proteins. To understand the contribution of these ATPases in genome maintenance, we undertook CRISPR-based synthetic lethality screens with three SNF2-type ATPases: SMARCAL1, ZRANB3 and HLTF. Here we show thatSMARCAL1displays a profound synthetic lethal interaction withFANCM, another ATP-dependent translocase involved in DNA replication and genome stability. Their combined loss causes severe genome instability that we link to chromosome breakage at loci enriched in simple repeats, which are known to challenge replication fork progression. Our findings illuminate a critical genetic buffering mechanism that provides an essential function for maintaining genome integrity.
Machine learning surrogate for charged particle beam dynamics with space charge based on a recurrent neural network with aleatoric uncertainty
Authors: Garcia-Cardona Cristina , Scheinker Alexander 
Published: February 2024

In this work, we develop a machine learning (ML) model with aleatoric uncertainty for the low energy beam transport (LEBT) region of the LANSCE linear accelerator in which we model the transport of a space-charge-dominated 750 keV proton beam through a lattice of 22 quadrupole magnets. Our ML model is developed based on data generated by a Kapchinsky–Vladimirsky (KV) envelope model of beam transport. We show that a recurrent neural network can be used as a dynamical surrogate model for fast prediction of the LEBT beam envelope. Furthermore, we endow the model with the prediction of aleatoric uncertainty and compare three different approaches. We demonstrate that the ML-based uncertainty quantification models are well calibrated and produce good estimates of the regions where the model is less certain about its predictions. This ML framework is a necessary step in the development of a real-time virtual diagnostic tool with uncertainty quantification that can be integrated into more complex downstream tasks (e.g., adaptive control or learning flexible control policies via reinforcement learning) for improved efficiency in beam operations. In future work, we plan to expand on this preliminary study by considering more realistic envelope models that include longitudinal momentum spread and dispersive effects in bending magnets, as well as particle tracking codes with 3D space charge (such as and ).

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
The collective emotion of mentally ill individuals within Facebook groups during Covid-19 pandemic
Authors: Rothschild Nava , Schler Jonathan , Sarne David , Aharony Noa 
Published: February 2024

PurposePeople with pre-existing mental health conditions are more likely to be affected by global crises. The Covid-19 pandemic has presented them with unique challenges, including reduced contact with the psychiatric rehabilitation and support systems. Thus, understanding the emotional experience of this population may assist mental health organizations in future global crises.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, researchers analyzed the discourse of the mentally ill during the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected in Israeli Facebook groups: three private groups and one public group. Researchers explored the language, reactions, emotions and sentiments used in these groups during the year before the pandemic, outbreak periods and remission periods, as well as the period before the vaccine’s introduction and after its appearance.FindingsAnalyzing groups’ discourse using the collective emotion theory suggests that the group that expressed the most significant difficulty was the Depression group, while individuals who suffer from social phobia/anxiety and PTSD were less affected during the lockdowns and restrictions forced by the outbreak.Originality/valueFindings may serve as a tool for service providers during crises to monitor patients’ conditions, and assist individuals who need support and help.
Forms and strategies of personal influence in “public” relations practices: evidence from Italy
Authors: Valentini Chiara , Sriramesh Krishnamurthy 
Published: February 2024

PurposePersonal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different public relations purposes in different cultural contexts. This study empirically investigates the presence and use of personal influence among Italian public relations professionals.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted through a self-administrated, web-based questionnaire and was developed from earlier studies investigating personal influence in public relations literature. Survey participants included public relations professionals across public, non-profit and private sectors.FindingsThe findings empirically show the presence and regular use of personal influence by professionals from all sectors to cultivate interpersonal relationships. Personal influence is considered a personal resource and used to leverage own influencing power. The findings also document four major manifestations of personal influence, which were named: relational closeness strategy, engagement strategy, expertise strategy and added value strategy.Practical implicationsThis study enhances our understanding of personal influence in a specific cultural context and offers strategic insights for international professionals seeking to leverage influence in the socio-political environment of Italy. It also offers elements to improve public relations education and training.Originality/valueThe study offers some preliminary understandings of how Italian professionals leverage their personal influence in their daily public relations activities contributing with empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in public relations.
Top management team resource-based faultline and corporate green innovation: empirical evidence from listed Chinese manufacturing companies
Authors: Lv Jingxin , Wang Shiquan 
Published: February 2024

PurposeThis study aims to focus on the resource-based faultline of a top management team (TMT) and intends to investigate the impact of TMT resource-based faultline on corporate green innovation, by indicating the environmental management as a mediator and slack resources as a moderator to understand the relationship.Design/methodology/approachBased on the empirical data of Chinese listed manufacturing companies from 2008 to 2020, this study assesses the hypotheses using an OLS model with fixed effects of time and industry.FindingsThe results indicate that TMT resource-based faultline is significantly negatively correlated with corporate green innovation. The conclusion remains valid after endogeneity tests and robustness checks. Mechanism test shows that environmental management plays a mediating role in the association between TMT resource-based faultline and corporate green innovation. Moreover, slack resources diminish the negative association between TMT resource-based faultline and corporate green innovation.Originality/valueThe study not only expands the theoretical understanding of the deeper motivation of TMT faultline on corporate green innovation, but also provides a practical reference for optimizing the human resource allocation of the TMT and accelerating green transformation development.
Barriers to Industry 4.0 technology adoption in agricultural supply chains: a Fuzzy Delphi-ISM approach
Authors: Chanchaichujit Janya , Balasubramanian Sreejith , Shukla Vinaya 
Published: February 2024

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the barriers associated with the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in agricultural supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThe study initially identified thirteen barriers by conducting a literature review and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Subsequently, these barriers were validated and modeled using an integrated Fuzzy Delphi-ISM approach. Finally, MICMAC analysis was employed to categorize the barriers into distinct clusters.FindingsThe results provide considerable insights into the hierarchical structure and complex interrelationships between the barriers as well the driving and dependence power of barriers. Lack of information about technologies and lack of compatibility with traditional methods emerged as the two main barriers which directly and indirectly influence the other ones.Research limitations/implicationsThe robust hybrid Fuzzy Delphi and ISM techniques used in this study can serve as a useful model and benchmark for similar studies probing the barriers to Industry 4.0 adoption. From a theoretical standpoint, this study expands the scope of institutional theory in explaining Industry 4.0 adoption barriers.Practical implicationsThe study is timely for the post-COVID-19 recovery and growth of the agricultural sector. The findings are helpful for policymakers and agriculture supply chain stakeholders in devising new strategies and policy interventions to prioritize and address Industry 4.0 adoption barriers.Originality/valueIt is the first comprehensive, multi-country and multi-method empirical study to comprehensively identify and model barriers to Industry 4.0 adoption in agricultural supply chains in emerging economies.
The impact of information needs satisfaction on the creativity of visual art teachers
Authors: Kolyvas Spyros , Kostagiolas Petros A. , Martzoukou Konstantina 
Published: February 2024

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate how the information needs satisfaction of visual art teachers affects their creativity. Visual art teachers’ information seeking behaviour and specifically the association of information needs satisfaction with creativity has been an understudied area, despite competent information seeking being considered essential for high quality practices of art teachers.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was developed addressing the information seeking behaviour of art teachers, informed by Wilson’s model (1981), including visual art teachers’ information needs, information resources, obstacles faced while seeking information and the perceived impact of information needs satisfaction on visual art teachers’ creativity.FindingsThe study included 298 visual art teachers in Greece. The results demonstrated that the key information needs of art teachers were mainly related to materials’ properties, techniques for creating artwork and artwork promotion methods. Online information sources were the preferred sources of art information, followed by colleagues, personal collections and visits to galleries and museums. Our study identified lack of time, lack of specialized libraries and copyright, as the main barriers to information seeking.Originality/valueInformation about art plays a substantial role in visual art education, while visual art teachers’ information needs satisfaction positively influences their creative endeavours. There is a need to further explore the digital information needs of visual art teachers.