bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Atypical varicella-zoster virus meningitis in a young immunocompetent adult during enterovirus epidemic season: A case report and literature review
Authors: Liu Yaqin , Shi Qiuling , Dai JunJie , Zhang Yu , Chen Rongchang , Shi Fei 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Background
Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) can cause acute brain infection manifesting as meningitis or encephalitis, which more likely occurs in winter and population with immunocompromised conditions[1]. During the enterovirus epidemic season, VZV meningitis is easy to be ignored and misdiagnosed, especially when the typical dermatomal rash is absent.
Case presentation
Here, we present an atypical case of a young immunocompetent male with VZV meningitis and encephalitis during summer. The patient presented with fever, headache and vomiting, but without dermatomal rash. Metagenomic Next-generation Sequencing (mNGS) of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed VZV infection. He was treated successfully with acyclovir and recovered without any neurological sign.
Conclusions
This case report describes a patient with mild diabetes but no immunocompromised condition who developed meningitis and encephalitis resulting from VZV infection in summer. Additionally, there is no dermatomal rash in the patient. It can broaden the understanding of the disease, and keep VZV infection in differential diagnoses of viral meningitis.
Effect of Maternal Time Inputs on Child Outcomes: Does the Gender Matter?
Authors: Bishwakarma Rajan , Bohara Alok K. 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Even though time inputs are more productive than monetary investments, little is known about how maternal time inputs vary by gender, and how they affect child outcomes in lower-income countries with a strong preference for male children. This paper examines the relationship between a child’s gender and maternal time investment in Nepal. We find no evidence of differential maternal time investment by gender in a sample of preschool children. Mothers equally invest not only in structural activities such as singing and taking children outside, but also in educational activities like reading and storytelling. Son preferences among Nepalese mothers, therefore, may not be an actual preference, but rather may arise due to cultural and social constraints. In addition, we find that maternal time input is an important determinant of a child’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes, implying that mothers may be the pivotal link to help young girls catch up with young boys in later life.
JEL Codes: J13, J15, O15
Genetic Markers Associated with the Widespread Insecticide Resistance in Malaria Vector Anopheles funestus Populations across Tanzania
Authors: Odero Joel O. , Nambunga Ismail H. , Masalu John P. , Mkandawile Gustav , Bwanary Hamis , Hape Emmanuel E. , Njalambaha Rukiyah M. , Tungu Patrick , Ngowo Halfan S. , Kaindoa Emmanuel W. , Mapua Salum A. , Kahamba Najat F. , Nelli Luca , Wondji Charles , Koekemoer Lizette L. , Weetman David , Ferguson Heather M. , Baldini Francesco , Okumu Fredros O. 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Background: Anopheles funestus is a leading vector of malaria in most parts of East and Southern Africa, yet its ecology, and responses to vector control remain poorly understood compared to other vectors such as Anopheles gambiaeand Anopheles arabiensis. This study presents the first large-scale survey of the genetic and phenotypic expression of insecticide resistance in An. funestus populations in Tanzania.
Methods:We performed insecticide susceptibility bioassays on An. funestusmosquitoes in nine districts with moderate to high malaria prevalence in Tanzania, followed by genotyping for resistance-associated mutations (CYP6P9a, CYP6P9b, L119F-GSTe2) and structural variants (SV4.3kb, SV6.5kb). Generalized linear models were used to assess relationships between genetic markers and phenotypic resistance. An interactive R Shiny tool was created to visualize the data and support evidence-based interventions.
Results:Pyrethroid resistance was universal but reversible by piperonyl-butoxide (PBO). However, carbamate resistance was observed in only five of the nine districts, and DDT resistance was found only in the Kilombero valley, south-eastern Tanzania. Conversely, there was universal susceptibility to the organophosphate, pirimiphos-methyl in all sites. Genetic markers of resistance had distinct geographical patterns, with CYP6P9a-R and CYP6P9b-R alleles, and the SV6.5kb structural variant absent or undetectable in the northwest but prevalent in all other sites, while SV4.3kb was prevalent in the northwestern and western regions but absent elsewhere. Emergent L119F-GSTe2, associated with deltamethrin resistance, was detected in heterozygous form in districts bordering Mozambique, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The resistance landscape was most complex in western Tanzania, in Tanganyika district, where all five genetic markers were detected. There was a notable south-to-north spread of resistance genes, especially CYP6P9a-R, though this appears to be interrupted, possibly by geographical features such as the Rift Valley.
Conclusion:This study underscores the need to expand resistance monitoring to include An. funestus alongside other vector species; and to screen for both the genetic and phenotypic signatures of resistance. The findings can be visualized online via an interactive user interface and could inform data-driven decision-making for resistance management and vector control. Since this was the first large-scale survey of insecticide resistance in Tanzania’s An. funestus, we recommend regular updates with greater geographical and temporal coverage.
Robust Point Cloud Normal Estimation via Multi-Level Critical Point Aggregation
Authors: Zhou Jun , Li Yaoshun , Wang Mingjie , Li Nannan , Li Zhiyang , Wang Weixiao 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
In this paper, we propose a multi-level critical point aggregation architecture for 3D point cloud normal estimation. It efficiently focuses on locally important points during feature extraction by employing our Local Feature Aggregation (LFA) and Global Feature Refinement (GFR) modules. These modules can accurately identify critical surface-fitting points across local and global levels. Specifically, the proposed LFA module aims to capture local geometric information from nearby points with strong correlation in low-level features, while our GFR module explores global geometric relationships in high-level features space, focusing on critical global points. Furthermore, utilizing a stacked LFA structure, we address indistinguishable features across multiple levels, enabling deep feature aggregation. By integrating multi-level features through the GFR module, our method effectively integrates robust local geometric information into comprehensive global features. This ensures stability and accuracy in subsequent surface fitting and normal estimation tasks, even in the presence of sharp features, high noise, or anisotropic structures. Experimental results demonstrate that our method is competitive and achieves stable performance on both synthetic and real-world datasets. Our implementation is available at https://github.com/CharlesLee96/NormalEstimation.
GeCKO: user-friendly workflows for genotyping complex genomes using target enrichment capture. A use case on the large tetraploid durum wheat genome.
Authors: ARDISSON Morgane , GIRODOLLE Johanna , De Mita Stéphane , ROUMET Pierre , RANWEZ Vincent 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Background:
Genotyping of individuals plays a pivotal role in various biological analyses, with technology choice influenced by multiple factors including genomic constraints, number of targeted loci and individuals, cost considerations, and the ease of sample preparation and data processing. Target enrichment capture of specific polymorphic regions has emerged as a flexible and cost-effective genomic reduction method for genotyping, especially adapted to the case of very large genomes. However, this approach necessitates complex bioinformatics treatment to extract genotyping data from raw reads. Existing workflows predominantly cater to phylogenetic inference, leaving a gap in user-friendly tools for genotyping analysis based on capture methods. In response to these challenges, we have developed GeCKO (Genotyping Complexity Knocked-Out). To assess the effectiveness of combining target enrichment capture with GeCKO, we conducted a case study on durum wheat domestication history, involving sequencing, processing, and analyzing variants in four relevant durum wheat groups.
Results:
GeCKO encompasses four distinct workflows, each designed for specific steps of genomic data processing: (i) read demultiplexing and trimming for data cleaning, (ii) read mapping to align sequences to a reference genome, (iii) variant calling to identify genetic variants, and (iv) variant filtering. Each workflow in GeCKO can be easily configured and is executable across diverse computational environments. The workflows generate comprehensive HTML reports including key summary statistics and illustrative graphs, ensuring traceable, reproducible results and facilitating straightforward quality assessment. A specific innovation within GeCKO is its 'targeted remapping' feature, specifically designed for efficient treatment of targeted enrichment capture data. This process consists of extracting reads mapped to the targeted regions, constructing a smaller sub-reference genome, and remapping the reads to this sub-reference, thereby enhancing the efficiency of subsequent steps.
Conclusions:
The case study results showed the expected intra-group diversity and inter-group differentiation levels, confirming the method's effectiveness for genotyping and analyzing genetic diversity in species with complex genomes. GeCKO streamlined the data processing, significantly improving computational performance and efficiency. The targeted remapping enabled straightforward SNP calling in durum wheat, a task otherwise complicated by the species' large genome size. This illustrates its potential applications in various biological research contexts.
Prospects of CSF shunt independence among chronically shunted patients
Authors: Koueik Joyce , Broman Aimee , Iskandar Bermans 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Background and objectives
CSF shunt placement for hydrocephalus and other etiologies has arguably been the most life-saving intervention in pediatric neurosurgery in the past 6 decades. Yet, chronic shunting remains a source of morbidity for patients of all ages. Neuroendoscopic surgery has made shunt independence possible for newly diagnosed hydrocephalic patients. In this study, we examine the prospects of shunt independence with or without endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) in chronically shunted patients.
Methods
After IRB approval, a retrospective analysis was completed on patients whose shunt was ligated or removed to achieve shunt independence, with or without ETV. Clinical and imaging data were collected.
Results
Eighty-eight patients with CSF shunts had their shunt either ligated or removed, 57 of whom had a concomitant ETV. Original reasons for shunting included: congenital hydrocephalus 20 (23%), post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) of prematurity 14 (16%), aqueductal stenosis 10 (11%), intracranial cyst 8 (9%), tumor 8 (9%), infantile subdural hematomas 8 (9%), myelomeningocele 7 (8%), post-traumatic hydrocephalus 7 (8%) and post-infectious hydrocephalus 6 (7%). The decision to perform a simultaneous ETV was made based on etiology. Forty-nine (56%) patients became shunt independent. The success rate was 46% in the ETV group and 73% in the no ETV group. Using multivariate analysis and Cox Proportional Hazards models, age > 4 months at shunt placement (p = 0.032), no shunt revisions (p = 0.01), select etiologies (p = 0.043), and ETVSS > 70 (in the ETV group) (p = 0.017), were protective factors for shunt independence.
Conclusion
Considering the long-term complications of shunting, achieving shunt independence may provide hope for improved quality of life. While this study is underpowered, it provides pilot data identifying factors that predict shunt independence in chronically shunted patients, namely age, absence of prior shunt revision, etiology, and in the ETV group, the ETVSS.
Traction-separation law parameters for the description of age-related changes in the delamination strength of the human descending thoracic aorta
Authors: Petřivý Zdeněk , Horný Lukáš , Tichý Petr 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Aortic dissection is a life-threatening disease that consists in the development of a tear in the wall of the aorta. The initial tear propagates as a discontinuity leading to separation within the aortic wall, which can result in the creation of a so-called false lumen. A fatal threat occurs if the rupture extends through the whole thickness of the aortic wall, as blood may then leak. It is generally accepted that the dissection, which can sometime extend along the entire length of the aorta, propagates via a delamination mechanism. The aim of the present paper is to provide experimentally validated parameters of a mathematical model for the description of the wall’s cohesion. A model of the peeling experiment was built in Abaqus. The delamination interface was described by a linear traction-separation law. The bulk behavior of the aorta was assumed to be nonlinearly elastic, anisotropic, and incompressible. The numerical values of the material parameters of the bulk constitutive model were adopted from the literature. Our simulations resulted in estimates of the material parameters for the traction-separation law of the human descending thoracic aorta, which were obtained by minimizing the differences between the FEM predicted delamination force and the force observed in the peeling experiment. The results show that, since delamination strength decreases with age, the traction-separation law parameters are also age-dependent. The material parameters provided by our study can be used in numerical simulations of the biomechanics of dissection propagation through the aorta especially when age-associated phenomena are studied.
Protein and solute release from the red seaweed, Gracilaria sp., using a high voltage pulsed electric field and pH shift
Authors: Kashyap Mrinal , Ghosh Supratim , Levkov Klimentiy , Livney Yoav D. , Israel Álvaro , Golberg Alexander 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
This study explores the potential of Gracilaria sp., a red seaweed species, as a source of protein ingredients. We investigated the effects of high voltage pulsed electric field (PEF) pre-treatment, followed by either water-mediated extraction or pH shift, on the total-solute (“dry matter”) and protein release, and the content of essential and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in the extracts. The PEF was administered using a custom-made generator within a specially designed electroporation cell with sliding electrodes. The treatment parameters comprised 1000 V, a 50 µs pulse duration, 200 pulses at a 3 Hz frequency, and an inter-electrode gap ranging from 3.9 to 4.4 mm. The pH shift extraction was executed through combination of fractions extracted sequentially at pH-shift steps spanning the pH range of 1 to 12. Both PEF and pH played pivotal roles in the fractionation of Gracilariasp., enhancing protein release compared to water-mediated extraction, PEF pre-treatment, or pH shift alone. The combination of PEF and sequential pH washes (pH 1 to 12) resulted in a total solute release of 9.61±0.04% and protein release of 28.02±0.2% with essential amino acid (EAA) content of 63.6±5.3%, and BCAA content of 3.47±0.06%. It is noteworthy that PEF significantly increased the EAA and BCAA content of the protein extracts, irrespective of pH shifts. These findings underscore the promising potential of PEF pre-treatment in producing functional food ingredients derived from macroalgal sources.
Environmental conditions in the preglacial late Ordovician subtropical Iapetus Ocean: geochemistry of the type section of the Lower Hartfell Shales (Katian) at Hartfell, Dumfries &amp; Galloway, Scotland.
Authors: brookfield michael e , garza hector 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

The pre-Hirnantian glaciation Katian Lower Hartfell siltstones were deposited in deep quiet water, comparable to those of the Ulleung basin of the Japan Sea, which suggests, together with the likely paleogeographic position, that Hartfell was on the landward side of a back arc basin. The major element/Al ratios do not vary much up the section and indicate a dominantly continental source, with predominantly physical weathering, but with chemical weathering during transport to the final site of deposition. The abundant quartz silt indicates significant eolian transport. Climate may have changed from hot and arid to hot and humid from the lower to the upper part of the Hartfell siltstones, with possibly an increase in surface water temperature from 25oC to 50oC. Salinity is assumed to be normal marine based on the fauna, despite the freshwater indicated by trace element ratios. Relative paleoproductivity changes suggest a slight fluctuating decrease in productivity from the wilsoni to the linearis zones. The actual productivity seems low compared with the Ulleung basin and very low compared with younger Hirnantian black shales. Overall, the redox sensitive trace elements and ratios suggest that the Hartfell sediments started oxic, became dysoxic to anoxic, and then returned to oxic.
Validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the Stress Numerical Rating Scale-11 (Stress NRS-11)
Authors: Obeid Sahar , Hallit Rabih , Malaeb Diana , Sakr Fouad , Dabbous Mariam , Khatib Sami El , Hallit Souheil , Fekih-Romdhane Feten 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Background: Meta-analytic results have revealed a significant influence of stress on a wide array of psychological and behavioral markers, underscoring its considerable clinical importance. Providing a simple and cost-effective tool assessing stress for the Arabic-speaking population, predominantly residing in low- and middle-income nations, where research can be arduous, would be immensely beneficial. Therefore, our aim was to examine the psychometric properties of an Arabic version of the Stress Numerical Rating Scale-11 (Arabic SNRS-11), including its factor structure, reliability, and construct validity.
Methods: 763 participants were recruited during November 2023. An anonymous self-administered Google Forms link was distributed via social media networks. To explore the factor structure of the Arabic SNRS-11, we utilized the FACTOR software. Initially, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed, employing principal component analysis on the items from the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Subsequently, the analysis was repeated after integrating the Arabic SNRS-11.
Results: The results of the EFA revealed two factors, which explained 66.43% of the common variance. When adding the SNRS-11, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, χ2(55) = 4127.1, p < .001, and KMO (.88) remained adequate. The two-factor solution obtained explained 63.28% of the variance. The same structure was obtained in both males and females separately. McDonald’s ω and Cronbach’s α were very good for all models. Both PSS and Arabic SNRS-11 scores correlated significantly and positively with each other, as well as with higher depression, anxiety and stress scores. Finally, no significant difference was found between males and females in terms of PSS and Arabic SNRS-11 scores.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that the Arabic SNRS-11 is a cost-effective, valid, and reliable tool for assessing stress. Therefore, we strongly recommend its adoption in future research involving Arabic-speaking adolescents in clinical and research contexts within Arab regions, especially when researchers face limitations in terms of time or resources.
The Prevalence of Awake and Sleep Bruxism of Afghan Youths Aged 15-26-year-old, a cross-sectional study
Authors: Azimi Shamila 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Background
An agreement proposal based on the idea that bruxism is a "repetitive jaw activity" that can happen while sleep (sleep bruxism) or during waking (awake bruxism) was released by an international group of bruxism experts in 2013.
Aim
to determine the prevalence of awake and sleep bruxism among Afghan youth in Kabul city aged 15–26 years.
Methods
a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study has been carried out in two academic centers located in Kabul city. A total of 173 students of both genders participated in the study. Sleep and Awake Bruxism, chewing difficulties, joint noise, facial pain, anxiety, and stress were evaluated in the questionnaire. Data were gathered and input into SPSS 20.0.
Results
173 male and female students in various age categories made up the initial study population. 96 females and 77 males. The results show there is No significant association between Bruxism and Gender. 109 (63.3%) reported not experiencing any form of bruxism (neither sleep nor awake). (10.3%) participants experiencing both AB and SB. (16.1%) experiencing SB and (10.3%) reported AB. overall 64 of the participants (36.7%) had bruxism which was (23%) were girls and (13.7%) were boys. This difference was not statistically significant the most frequent symptoms associated with dysfunction of the masticatory system were neck pain (28.2%), followed by joint noises (27.3%), facial pain (19.1%), and pain and difficulties in chewing (16.1%).
Conclusion
more than one-third of Afghan youths had a positive response regarding awake and sleep bruxism, and there was a strong correlation between bruxism, chewing difficulties, and facial pain. The youth reported varying levels of anxiety and stress, more investigations are needed to perform.
A perspective for the acceptance of water reuse: history of the valorization of wastewater throughout the development of society
Authors: Santos Ana Silvia Pereira , Lima Maira Araujo de Mendonça , Paixão Mickaela Midon , Jordão Eduardo Pacheco , Vieira José Manuel Pereira 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

Water reuse has been practiced for more than 5,000 years with different approaches by society throughout historical periods. We developed a concept that presents evidence and artistic-cultural manifestations about episodes of valorization (V), devaluation (D), and revaluation (R) of wastewater (WW) throughout history, called ‘Historical Development VxDxR/WW’. We conclude that WW has had a long valorization period of more than 3,500 years; the WW devaluation period lasted approximately 150 years; and in the last 100 years, there has been an attempt to revalue WW, with scientific, legal, and technological advances. We believe that a broad understanding of this concept can drive a true paradigm shift to guide public policies and appropriate decision-making, in the context of efficient water management. To guarantee a safe, sustainable, and economically viable water reuse practice, it is necessary to develop and implement a regulatory framework that involves, in addition to legal aspects, regional strategic planning and the production of social education instruments for the acceptance of water reuse. In this sense, this concept can pave the way for the necessary and expected advances.