bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TG468: a text graph convolutional network for predicting clinical response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy
Authors: Wang Kun , Shi Jiangshan , Tong Xiaochu , Qu Ning , Kong Xiangtai , Ni Shengkun , Xing Jing , Li Xutong , Zheng Mingyue 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Enhancing cancer treatment efficacy remains a significant challenge in human health. Immunotherapy has witnessed considerable success in recent years as a treatment for tumors. However, due to the heterogeneity of diseases, only a fraction of patients exhibit a positive response to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. Various single-gene-based biomarkers and tumor mutational burden (TMB) have been proposed for predicting clinical responses to ICI; however, their predictive ability is limited. We propose the utilization of the Text Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) method to comprehensively assess the impact of multiple genes, aiming to improve the predictive capability for ICI response. We developed TG468, a Text GCN model framing drug response prediction as a text classification task. By combining natural language processing (NLP) and graph neural network techniques, TG468 effectively handles sparse and high-dimensional exome sequencing data. As a result, TG468 can distinguish survival time for patients who received ICI therapy and outperforms single gene biomarkers, TMB and some classical machine learning models. Additionally, TG468’s prediction results facilitate the identification of immune status differences among specific patient types in the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset, providing a rationale for the model’s predictions. Our approach represents a pioneering use of a GCN model to analyze exome data in patients undergoing ICI therapy and offers inspiration for future research using NLP technology to analyze exome sequencing data.
Risk of lymph node metastasis in T1 esophageal adenocarcinoma: a meta-analysis
Authors: Nguyen Chu Luan , Tovmassian David , Isaacs Anna , Falk Gregory L 
Published: February 2024

Summary
Patients with early (T1) esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) are increasingly having definitive local therapy endoscopically. Endoscopic resection is not able to pathologically stage or treat lymph node metastasis (LNM). Accurate identification of patients having nodal metastasis is critical to select endoscopic therapy over surgery. This study aimed to define the risk of LNM in T1 EAC. A meta-analysis of studies of patients who underwent surgery and lymphadenectomy with assessment of LNM was performed according to PRISMA. Main outcome was probability of LNM in T1a and T1b disease. Secondary outcomes were risk factors for LNM and rate of LNM in submucosal T1b (SM1, SM2, and SM3) disease. Registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022341794). Twenty cohort studies involving 2264 patients with T1 EAC met inclusion criteria: T1a (857 patients) with 36 (4.2%) node positive and T1b (1407 patients) with 327 (23.2%) node positive. Subgroup analysis of T1b lesions was available in 10 studies (405 patients). Node positivity for SM1, SM2, and SM3 was 16.3%, 16.2%, and 29.4%, respectively. T1 substage (odds ratio [OR] 7.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.45–13.38, P &lt; 0.01), tumor differentiation (OR 2.82, 95% CI 2.06–3.87, P &lt; 0.01), and lymphovascular invasion (OR 13.65, 95% CI 6.06–30.73, P &lt; 0.01) were associated with LNM. T1a disease demonstrated a 4.2% nodal metastasis rate and T1b disease a rate of 23.2%. Endoscopic therapy should be reserved for T1a disease and perhaps select T1b disease, which has a moderately high rate of nodal metastasis. There were inadequate data to stratify T1b SM disease into ‘low-risk’ and ‘high-risk’ based on tumor differentiation and lymphovascular invasion.
Outcomes in Adult Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Trials: Assessment of Similarity Among Participants with Adolescent-onset and Adult-onset Disease
Authors: Rosh Joel R , Turner Dan , Hyams Jeffrey S , Dubinsky Marla , Griffiths Anne M , Cohen Stanley A , Hung Lo Kim , Kim Lilianne , Volger Sheri , Zhang Renping , Strauss Richard , Conklin Laurie S 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background and Aims
Most paediatric inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] studies are performed after medications are approved in adults, and the majority of participants in these studies are adolescents. We hypothesised that adolescent-onset IBD is not fundamentally different from adult-onset IBD. If this is correct, the value of delaying access to novel drugs in adolescents becomes questioned.

Methods
Data from 11 randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adult Phases 2 and 3 trials of four biologics were analysed. Participants were categorised as having adolescent- or adult-onset disease [diagnosed 12 to &lt;18, or ≥18 years]. Multivariable modelling explored the association between age at diagnosis and response to treatment, after adjustment for disease duration, extent, and severity at baseline. Data from dose arms were pooled to evaluate similarity of therapeutic response between adolescent- and adult-onset IBD within the same trial [not between doses or across trials]. Ratios of odds ratios [ORs] between the two groups were evaluated.

Results
Data from 6283 study participants (2575 with Crohn’s disease [CD], 3708 with ulcerative colitis [UC]) were evaluated. Of 2575 study participants with CD, 325 were 12–&lt;18 years old at diagnosis; 836 participants [32.4%] received placebo. Of 3708 participants with UC, 221 were 12–&lt;18 years old at diagnosis; 1212 [33%] were receiving placebo. The majority of the ratios of ORs were within 2-fold, suggesting that responses in adolescent- and adult-onset participants are generally similar.

Conclusion
Data presented lend support for extrapolating efficacy of biologics from adults to adolescents with IBD, which would facilitate earlier labelling and patient access.
Longitudinal reciprocal associations between volunteering, health and well-being: evidence for middle-aged and older adults in Europe
Authors: Weziak-Bialowolska Dorota , Skiba Regina , Bialowolski Piotr 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background
There is substantial evidence on the importance of voluntary activities for the health of middle-aged and older adults. Evidence on the effects of health and well-being on volunteering is more limited. This study examines reciprocal longitudinal associations between voluntary and/or charity activities and 21 indicators related to physical health, well-being, cognitive impairment and daily life functioning among middle-aged and older adults.

Methods
Longitudinal data were collected between 2011 and 2020 from a sample of 19 821 middle-aged and older adults from 15 countries participating in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. An outcome-wide analysis and an exposure-wide analysis were applied and generalized estimating equations were used. Robustness analyses were conducted.

Results
Voluntary and/or charity activities almost every week or more often were prospectively associated with greater emotional well-being, reduced risks of limitations in activities of daily living and of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at a 6-year follow-up. Positive reverse associations were found from emotional well-being to volunteering. Limitations in daily life activities, increased loneliness, high blood cholesterol, hypertension and chronic lung disease were found to impede participation in voluntary and/or charity activities over time. Feedback loops between voluntary and/or charity activities and well-being and limitations in daily activities may exist.

Conclusion
Understanding the reciprocal nature of the relationship between volunteering and health and well-being can help identify strategies to encourage volunteering among middle-aged and older adults with specific health conditions and to target health promotion efforts towards volunteers.
Longitudinal Quantiles of Frailty Trajectories Considering Death: New Insights into Sex and Cohort Differences in the Reference Curves for Frailty Progression of Older European
Authors: Marroig Alejandra , Massa Fernando , Robitaille Annie , Hofer Scott M , Stolz Erwin , Muniz-Terrera Graciela 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background
Most previous studies of frailty trajectories in older adults focus on the average trajectory and ignore death. Longitudinal quantile analysis of frailty trajectories permits the definition of reference curves, and the application of mortal cohort inference provides more realistic estimates than models that ignore death.

Methods
Using data from individuals aged 65 or older (n = 25 446) from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from 2004 to 2020, we derived repeated values of the Frailty Index (FI) based on the accumulation of health deficits. We applied weighted Generalized Estimating Equations to estimate the quantiles of the FI trajectory, adjusting for sample attrition due to death, sex, education, and cohort.

Results
The FI quantiles increased with age and progressed faster for those with the highest level of frailty (β^a0.9 = 0.0229, p &lt; .001; β^a0.5 = 0.0067, p &lt; .001; H0: βa0.5=βa0.9, p &lt; .001). Education was consistently associated with a slower progression of the FI in all quantiles (β^ae0.1 = −0.0001, p &lt; .001; β^ae0.5 =−0.0004, p &lt; .001; β^ae0.9 = −0.0003, p &lt; .001) but sex differences varied across the quantiles. Women with the highest level of frailty showed a slower progression of the FI than men when considering death. Finally, no cohort effects were observed for the FI progression.

Conclusions
Quantile FI trajectories varied by age, sex, education, and cohort. These differences could inform the practice of interventions aimed at older adults with the highest level of frailty.
Taxonomy development for term standardization in activity resulting from medication review processes: a Delphi study
Authors: Alharthi Mohammed S , Scott Sion , Hughes Carmel , Bond Christine , Hatah Ernieda , Bryant Linda , Holland Richard , Kosari Sam , Baqir Wasim , Loke Yoon , Wright David 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background
Medication review (MR) is the systematic assessment of a patient’s medications for safety and effectiveness by a healthcare professional. The language used to describe MR activity, such as stopped medicine and increased dose, should be consistent across studies to assist researchers compare how different services operate and identify their mechanism of impact.

Aim
To develop an international taxonomy of standardized terms and activity definitions related to medication reviews.

Method
This was a three-stage Delphi-based consensus study with international medication review experts. A systematic review provided MR activity terms for the survey. Experts rated their consensus on each activity term and its definition on a Likert scale and provided written feedback. The consensus was 75% panel agreement. At each stage, consensus elements were retained, and feedback was used to revise definitions.

Results
Seven experts were recruited for the study (response rate 15.2%) from four countries: the United Kingdom (n = 4), New Zealand (n = 1), Australia (n = 1), and Malaysia (n = 1). The following terms achieved consensus: the term Medication as a descriptor for MR terms; discontinue medication, start medication, dose increase, dose decrease, dosage form change, and medication safety and efficacy monitor to describe MR activity; Educate to describe the delivery of healthcare professionals and patients/carers education.

Conclusion
Standardized medication review activity terms and definitions have been selected for universal adoption in all future MR research to facilitate a meaningful comparison of process evaluations within different settings.
Custom, Reconsidered: Lessons on Unwritten Rules from Professional Sports
Authors: Beck Robert J 
Published: February 2024

AbstractProfessional sports have unwritten, but nevertheless well-appreciated and behavior-guiding rules that have come to be viewed as obligatory and subject to enforcement. This essay uses such unwritten rules from professional sports as novel lenses through which to view afresh, and more richly to appreciate, customary international law (CIL) rules’ nature, origins, and evolution. Though much CIL scholarship has presumed that merely tradition and self-interest have empowered CIL’s legal force, unwritten rules from professional sports demonstrate that emergent and even unacknowledged norms can and do necessitate widely accepted actions and penalties. This essay begins with a discussion of CIL’s literature, distinct nature, and methodological challenges. It turns next to a review and analysis of four prominent, unwritten rules drawn from professional sports. Finally, based on that analysis, it identifies particular lessons of salience for students of CIL. This essay also specifies the broader implications for CIL of professional sports’ unwritten-but-obligatory rules.
Methods of sampling malaria vectors and their reliability in estimating entomological indices in Africa
Authors: Degefa Teshome , Yewhalaw Delenasaw , Yan Guiyun 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
In efforts to intensify malaria control through vector control and hasten the progress towards elimination, the impact of control interventions needs to be evaluated. This requires sampling vector population using appropriate trapping methods. The aim of this article is to critically review methods of sampling malaria vectors and their reliability in estimating entomological indicators of malaria transmission in Africa. The standard methods are human landing catch (HLC), pyrethrum spray catch, and pit shelter for sampling host-seeking, indoor resting, and outdoor resting malaria vectors, respectively. However, these methods also have drawbacks such as exposure of collectors to infective mosquito bites, sampling bias, and feasibility issue. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps placed beside human-occupied bed nets have been used as an alternative to the HLC for sampling host-seeking malaria vectors. Efforts have been made to evaluate the CDC light traps against HLC to generate a conversion factor in order to use them as a proxy estimator of human biting rate and entomological inoculation rates in Africa. However, a reproducible conversion factor was not found, indicating that the trapping efficiency of the CDC light traps varies between different geographical locations. Several other alternative traps have also been developed and evaluated in different settings but most of them require further standardization. Among these, human-baited double net trap/CDC light trap combination and mosquito electrocuting trap have the potential to replace the HLC for routine malaria vector surveillance. Further research is needed to optimize the alternative sampling methods and/or develop new surveillance tools based on vector behavior.
BAL outflow in quasar B0254-3327B: analysis and comparison with other extreme UV outflows
Authors: Byun Doyee , Arav Nahum , Dehghanian Maryam , Walker Gwen , Kriss Gerard A 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT
We have identified a broad absorption line (BAL) outflow in the HST/STIS spectrum of the quasar QSO B0254-3327B at velocity v = −3200 km s−1. The outflow has absorption troughs from ions such as Ne viii, Na ix, Si xii, and Ne v. We also report the first detection of S xiv absorption troughs, implying very high ionization. Via measurement of the ionic column densities, photoionization analysis, and determination of the electron number density of the outflow, we found the kinetic luminosity of the outflow system to be up to ∼1 per cent of the quasar’s Eddington luminosity, or ∼5 per cent of the bolometric luminosity, making it a potential contributor to AGN feedback. A solution with two ionization phases was needed, as a single phase was not sufficient to satisfy the constraints from the measured ionic column densities. We find that the ionization parameter of the very high-ionization phase of the outflow is within the expected range of an X-ray warm absorber. We also examined the physical properties of the outflow of Q0254-334 along with previously studied extreme UV outflows, with a total sample of 24 outflow systems, finding a weak negative correlation between outflow velocity and distance from the central source, with larger distances corresponding to slower velocities. The very high-ionization phase of the Q0254-334 outflow has one of the highest ionization parameters of UV absorption outflows to date, which we attribute to the presence of S xiv.
Adherence to Treatment and Follow-Up of Precancerous Cervical Lesions in Ethiopia
Authors: Stroetmann Clara Yolanda , Gizaw Muluken , Alemayehu Rahel , Wondimagegnehu Abigiya , Rabe Friedemann , Santos Pablo , Mchome Bariki , Mmbaga Blandina Theophil , Addissie Adamu , Kantelhardt Eva Johanna 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background
In Ethiopia, both incidence and mortality of cervical cancer are relatively high. Screening services, which were implemented during the past few years, are currently being expanded. The World Health Organization recommends patients with a positive VIA (visual inspection with acetic acid) result should immediately receive treatment followed by rescreening after 1 year as precancerous lesions can reoccur or become residential despite treatment.

Materials and Methods
Screening logbooks dating between 2017 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed in 14 health facilities of Addis Ababa and Oromia region. Data for 741 women with a VIA-positive result were extracted and those women were asked to participate in a questionnaire-based phone interview to gain insights about adherence to treatment and follow-up. Data were analyzed using descriptive methods and then fitted into 2 generalized linear models to test variables for an influence on adherence to follow up.

Results
Around 13 800 women had received a VIA screening, of which approximately 820 (5.9%) were VIA positive. While over 90% of women with a positive screen received treatment, only about half of the treated patients returned for a follow-up examination. After treatment, 31 women had a VIA-positive re-screen. We found that educational status, age over 40, no/incorrect follow-up appointment, health facility-related barriers, and use of reminders are important drivers of adherence to follow up.

Conclusion
Our results revealed that adherence to treatment after VIA positive screening is relatively high whereas adherence to follow up recommendations still needs improvement. Reminders like appointment cards and phone calls can effectively reduce the loss of follow-up.
Protein Crotonylation Promotes Osteogenic Differentiation of Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells via the PI3K-AKT Pathway
Authors: Han Ruohui , Dang Rui , Liu Fan , Nie Shaochen , Tao Shaofei , Xing Liangyu , Yang Tianle , Hu Meilin , Liu Dayong 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) are crucial regulatory mechanisms for cellular differentiation and organismal development. Acylation modification is one of the main PTMs that plays a pivotal role in regulating the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and is a focal point of research in bone tissue regeneration. However, its mechanism remains incompletely understood. This article aims to investigate the impact of protein crotonylation on osteogenic differentiation in periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) and elucidate its underlying mechanisms. Western blot analysis identified that the modification level of acetylation, crotonylation, and succinylation were significantly upregulated after osteogenic induction of PDLSCs. Subsequently, sodium crotonate (NaCr) was added to the medium and acyl-CoA synthetase short-chain family member 2 (ACSS2) was knocked down by short hairpin RNA plasmids to regulate the total level of protein crotonylation. The results indicated that treatment with NaCr promoted the expression of osteogenic differentiation-related factors in PDLSCs, whereas silencing ACSS2 had the opposite effect. In addition, mass spectrometry analysis was used to investigate the comprehensive analysis of proteome-wide crotonylation in PDLSCs under osteogenic differentiation. The analysis revealed that the level of protein crotonylation related to the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway was significantly upregulated in PDLSCs after osteogenic induction. Treatment with NaCr and silencing ACSS2 affected the activation of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Collectively, our study demonstrates that protein crotonylation promotes osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs via the PI3K-AKT pathway, providing a novel targeting therapeutic approach for bone tissue regeneration.
Factors predicting the outcome of arthroscopic debridement and microfracture technique in treatment of osteochondral lesions of talus
Authors: Torkaman Ali , Nazari Masoud , Elahifar Omid , Moraveji Seyed Vahid , Yousof Gomrokchi Alireza 
Published: February 2024

Aims and Scope:
Osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) are common injuries that occur following ankle sprains and fractures. Surgical management, either through open or arthroscopic technique, is required to eliminate the pain and restore the ankle’s function. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic significance of demographic variables and lesion’s characteristics.

Method and Techniques:
In this study, 40 ankle (40 patients), who underwent arthroscopic debridement and microfracture technique to treat osteochondral lesion of the talus, were evaluated retrospectively after two years. The functional outcome of the ankle joint was assessed by using foot – ankle disability score, (FADS), pain analysing scale score (PASS), American orthopaedic foot and ankle society (AOFAS) score, and Ogilvie-Harris scaling system. Then the association between patients’ age and gender, and the lesions’ characteristics, including size, grade, and location, were evaluated.

Results:
Outcome results varied according to the scoring system, but all patients achieved satisfied outcome and pain relieve. Younger patients with smaller lesions achieved a better clinical result. All measures including PASS, AOFAS, Ogilvie-Harris, FADS appeared to be significantly better in smaller lesions. (P-value <0.05) PASS and Ogilvie-Harris scales showed better results in younger patients. Ogilvie-Harris test result was notably superior in the lateral lesions.

Conclusion:
The patient’s age and size of the lesion are two prognostic factors of arthroscopic debridement and microfracture of OLTs. We believe arthroscopic management can be associated with a better outcome in lesions smaller than 1.5 cm in diameter and patients younger than 40-years-old.

Level of Clinical Evidence:
Level 2 – prognostic study