bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effects of cyclodextrin on plaque accumulation in healthy Japanese adults: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group comparison study
Authors: Teshima Hikaru , Kato Hikaru , Nakamura Yasuyuki , Suzuki Naoko , Horiuchi Masahiko 
Published: February 2024

Background: Cyclo-isomalto-oligosaccharides (CI) have been reported to inhibit glucosyltransferases (GTF) in vitro. GTF is an enzyme related to oral plaque synthesis. However, there are few clinical studies to investigate the effect of CI on oral plaque via inhibiting GTF activity.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of consuming CI-Dextran mix on plaque accumulation in healthy Japanese adults.
Methods: This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group comparison study was conducted from May 26, 2022, to September 16, 2022. Individuals who agreed to participate in the study were randomly assigned to the CI-Dextran mix group with 60 mg/day (n = 22), the CI-Dextran mix group with 600 mg/day (n = 11), or the placebo group (n = 22). The intervention period was three days, and the outcome of this study was the plaque index (PlI), an indicator of plaque accumulation.
Results: Our results showed that the CI-Dextran mix group (600mg/day) had significantly lower post-intervention PlI values than the placebo group in a full analysis set (FAS). In individuals identified as prone to plaque accumulation among the FAS, both CI-Dextran mix groups showed significantly lower PlI values than the placebo group. No adverse events were observed during the study period, and consumption of the test food under the study conditions was considered safe.
Conclusions: Our results clearly indicated that a high dose of CI-Dextran mix (600 mg/day) could significantly reduce plaque formation in healthy Japanese adults, while a marginal reduction was noted for the group taking a low dose (60 mg/day). In particular, intake of both doses (CI-Dextran mix 60 mg/day and 600 mg/day) in individuals who were prone to plaque accumulation, could significantly inhibit plaque formation.
Keywords: CI-Dextran mix, cyclodextran, plaque inhibition, functional carbohydrates, isomaltooligosaccharide, Randomized Controlled Trial
Trial registration: UMIN000047901. Foundation: Nissin Sugar Co., Ltd.
Authors: Sucipto Sucipto , Krisnawati Dyah Ika , Kristanto Heny , Ratnasari Nita Yunianti 
Published: February 2024

People with mental disorders, abbreviated as ODGJ, are someone who experiences disturbances in thoughts, behavior and feelings which are manifested in the form of a set of symptoms and/or significant changes in behavior, and can cause suffering and obstacles in carrying out their functions as a human being. ODGJ is not only felt by individuals, but it also has a big impact on the family which becomes a burden on the family. This research aims to determine the effect of psychoeducation on the burden of families caring for clients with ODGJ at Posyandu Jiwa Abhipraya, Ngadirejo Village, Kediri City. The type of research is pre-experimental research (one group pretest and posttest design). With a sample of 15 people using the Simple Purposive technique. The research results showed that the family burden of caring for ODGJ clients decreased after psychoeducational measures were carried out with a P-value of 0.007 using bivariate analysis using paired t-tests. Family psychoeducation has an influence on reducing family burden. It is hoped that nurses will further increase psychoeducational measures for families to reduce the burden on families caring for ODGJ clients.

Keywords: Psychoeducation, Burden, ODGJ
Business In (Action): The International Chamber of Commerce and Climate Change from Stockholm to Rio
Authors: Bergquist Ann-Kristin , David Thomas 
Published: February 2024

This paper engages with the literature that has looked at the historical response to climate change among industries positioned to have had a far-reaching impact on changing the course of the climate crisis. While much of the historical research in this domain has focused on the role of big oil companies, the utility industry and conservative think tanks in the manufacturing of doubt regarding climate science and opposing ambitions climate policies, our focus is on the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) – the world’s largest transnational business association. Unlike individual multinational corporations, the ICC developed a close ties and collaborations with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which made ICC positioned to influence international policy discussions. This study finds that the ICC developed a dual strategy, which set aside climate change as the focus for discussion and business action. One strategy, led by ICC Environment Committee, involved intense collaboration with the United Nations and developing a business agenda for sustainable development. At the same time, the creation of the International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC) in 1991, gave rise to a parallel strategy, led by ICC’s related oil companies. As this study finds, the ICC’s Energy Committee developed close ties to the Global Climate Coalition, a front group designed to combat the scientific evidence of climate change. The paper concludes that the ICC was able to delay meaningful regulatory response to climate change the between 1988-1992 by forming a broad coalition of competing interests and collaborating with agencies established under the auspices of the United Nations.
Prevalence and effect on prognosis of sarcopenia in patients with primary biliary cholangitis
Authors: Yang Jiaqi , Jiang Shuangshuang , Fan Qingling , Wen Didi , Liu Yansheng , Wang Kemei , Yang Hui , Guo Changcun , Zhou Xinmin , Guo Guanya , Shang Yulong , Han Ying 
Published: February 2024

BackgroundSarcopenia adversely affects the treatment outcomes in Cirrhosis and NAFLD. However, such research is limited in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) patients. This study was performed to examine the prevalence of sarcopenia and its impact on PBC patients’ prognoses.MethodsThis study enrolled confirmed PBC patients who had an abdominal CT scan. Sarcopenia was determined by the L3-skeletal muscle index with a Chinese population-based cut-off value. Laboratory test values and liver stiffness measurements values were obtained from the electronic medical records.ResultsIn total, 174 PBC patients with a median age of 54 (IQR, 48, 62) years old, were enrolled. 45 (25.9%) patients among them were diagnosed with sarcopenia. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression results illustrated that male gender (OR = 9.152, 95%CI = 3.131–26.751, p &lt; 0.001) and LSM ≥ 12.8 kPa (OR = 4.539, 95%CI = 1.651, 12.478, p = 0.003) were the independent risk factors of sarcopenia in PBC patients. In the prognosis analysis, sarcopenia was determined as a risk factor for indicating adverse events in PBC patients (HR = 4.058, 95%CI = 1.955–8.424, p &lt; 0.001) by Cox proportional hazards regression.ConclusionThe current findings illustrate that comprehensive evaluation and management of sarcopenia may contribute to the improvement of treatment outcomes and life quality of PBC patients.
Serum ferritin and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predict all-cause mortality in patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis: a prospective study
Authors: He Jiamin , Li Changyan , Ge Jie , Li Zhen , Cao Lingyan , Fan Wenxing , Peng Yunzhu , Li Qiongfang 
Published: February 2024

Introduction: Maintenance hemodialysis is an effective treatment for end-stage renal disease patients. A critical factor contributing to the deterioration and death of maintenance hemodialysis patients is inflammation. Therefore, we focused on two inflammatory markers, serum ferritin and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, to speculate whether they could predict the prognosis of maintenance hemodialysis patients.Patients and methods: We followed 168 patients with maintenance hemodialysis from July 2019 to July 2022 with the endpoint of all-cause death or follow-up completion. Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted to assess the values of serum ferritin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and serum ferritin combined with neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio to predict the outcomes of maintenance hemodialysis patients. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed to compare survival rates over time.Results: Receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated that the best cut-off value of serum ferritin for predicting the prognosis of maintenance hemodialysis patients was 346.05 μg/L, and that of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was 3.225. Furthermore, a combination of both had a more excellent predicting value than either index (p &lt; 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analyses revealed that low serum ferritin levels and low neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio had a higher probability of survival than high ferritin levels and high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, separately.Conclusion: Elevated serum ferritin and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio are closely related to all-cause mortality among maintenance hemodialysis patients, for which they may be predictors of all-cause mortality. Additionally, the combination of the two has a much higher predictor value for the prognosis of maintenance hemodialysis patients.
Improve the diagnosis of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus by combining abnormal cortical thickness and ventricular morphometry
Authors: Yang Yifeng , Yan Meijing , Liu Xiao , Li Shihong , Lin Guangwu 
Published: February 2024

BackgroundThe primary imaging markers for idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (iNPH) emphasize morphological measurements within the ventricular system, with no attention given to alterations in brain parenchyma. This study aimed to investigate the potential effectiveness of combining ventricular morphometry and cortical structural measurements as diagnostic biomarkers for iNPH.MethodsA total of 57 iNPH patients and 55 age-matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited in this study. Firstly, manual measurements of ventricular morphology, including Evans Index (EI), z-Evans Index (z-EI), Cella Media Width (CMW), Callosal Angle (CA), and Callosal Height (CH), were conducted based on MRI scans. Cortical thickness measurements were obtained, and statistical analyses were performed using surface-based morphometric analysis. Secondly, three distinct models were developed using machine learning algorithms, each based on a different input feature: a ventricular morphology model (LVM), a cortical thickness model (CT), and a fusion model (All) incorporating both features. Model performances were assessed using 10-fold cross validation and tested on an independent dataset. Model interpretation utilized Shapley Additive Interpretation (SHAP), providing a visualization of the contribution of each variable in the predictive model. Finally, Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to evaluate the relationship between imaging biomarkers and clinical symptoms.ResultsiNPH patients exhibited notable differences in cortical thickness compared to HC. This included reduced thickness in the frontal, temporal, and cingulate cortices, along with increased thickness in the supracentral gyrus. The diagnostic performance of the fusion model (All) for iNPH surpassed that of the single-feature models, achieving an average accuracy of 90.43%, sensitivity of 90.00%, specificity of 90.91%, and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 81.03%. This improvement in accuracy (6.09%), sensitivity (11.67%), and MCC (11.25%) compared to the LVM strategy was significant. Shap analysis revealed the crucial role of cortical thickness in the right isthmus cingulate cortex, emerging as the most influential factor in distinguishing iNPH from HC. Additionally, significant correlations were observed between the typical triad symptoms of iNPH patients and cortical structural alterations.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the significant role of cortical structure changes in the diagnosis of iNPH, providing a novel insights for assisting clinicians in improving the identification and detection of iNPH.
MicroRNAs dysregulated in multiple sclerosis affect the differentiation of CG-4 cells, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell line
Authors: Perdaens Océane , Bottemanne Pauline , van Pesch Vincent 
Published: February 2024

IntroductionDemyelination is one of the hallmarks of multiple sclerosis (MS). While remyelination occurs during the disease, it is incomplete from the start and strongly decreases with its progression, mainly due to the harm to oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), causing irreversible neurological deficits and contributing to neurodegeneration. Therapeutic strategies promoting remyelination are still very preliminary and lacking within the current treatment panel for MS.MethodsIn a previous study, we identified 21 microRNAs dysregulated mostly in the CSF of relapsing and/or remitting MS patients. In this study we transfected the mimics/inhibitors of several of these microRNAs separately in an OPC cell line, called CG-4. We aimed (1) to phenotypically characterize their effect on OPC differentiation and (2) to identify corroborating potential mRNA targets via immunocytochemistry, RT-qPCR analysis, RNA sequencing, and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis.ResultsWe observed that the majority of 13 transfected microRNA mimics decreased the differentiation of CG-4 cells. We demonstrate, by RNA sequencing and independent RT-qPCR analyses, that miR-33-3p, miR-34c-5p, and miR-124-5p arrest OPC differentiation at a late progenitor stage and miR-145-5p at a premyelinating stage as evidenced by the downregulation of premyelinating oligodendrocyte (OL) [Tcf7l2, Cnp (except for miR-145-5p)] and mature OL (Plp1, Mbp, and Mobp) markers, whereas only miR-214-3p promotes OPC differentiation. We further propose a comprehensive exploration of their change in cell fate through Gene Ontology enrichment analysis. We finally confirm by RT-qPCR analyses the downregulation of several predicted mRNA targets for each microRNA that possibly support their effect on OPC differentiation by very distinctive mechanisms, of which some are still unexplored in OPC/OL physiology.ConclusionmiR-33-3p, miR-34c-5p, and miR-124-5p arrest OPC differentiation at a late progenitor stage and miR-145-5p at a premyelinating stage, whereas miR-214-3p promotes the differentiation of CG-4 cells. We propose several potential mRNA targets and hypothetical mechanisms by which each microRNA exerts its effect. We hereby open new perspectives in the research on OPC differentiation and the pathophysiology of demyelination/remyelination, and possibly even in the search for new remyelinating therapeutic strategies in the scope of MS.
Corpora amylacea negatively correlate with hippocampal tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Dallmeier Julian D. , Gober Ryan , Vontell Regina T. , Barreda Ayled , Dorfsman Daniel A. , Davis David A. , Sun Xiaoyan , Brzostowicki Daniel , Bennett Illiana , Garamszegi Susanna P. , Wander Connor M. , Cohen Todd , Scott William K. 
Published: February 2024

IntroductionSeverity and distribution of aggregated tau and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) are strongly correlated with the clinical presentation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Clearance of aggregated tau could decrease the rate of NFT formation and delay AD onset. Recent studies implicate corpora amylacea (CA) as a regulator of onset or accumulation of tau pathology. Normally, CA clear brain waste products by amassing cellular debris, which are then extruded into the cerebrospinal fluid to be phagocytosed. The proper functioning of CA may slow progression of AD-associated NFT pathology, and this relationship may be influenced by amount and distribution of phospho-tau (pTau) produced, age, sex, and genetic risk.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to determine if CA size and number are associated with hippocampal location and local pTau severity while accounting for variations in age, sex, and genetic risk.MethodsPostmortem brain hippocampal tissue sections from 40 AD and 38 unaffected donors were immunohistochemically stained with AT8 (pTau) and counter stained with periodic acid Schiff (PAS). Stained sections of the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus were analyzed. The percent area occupied (%AO) of CA, pTau, and NFT was calculated. Pairwise comparisons and regression modeling were used to analyze the influence of age, pTau %AO, and genetic risk on %AO by CA in each region, separately in donors with AD and unaffected donors.ResultsCA %AO was significantly higher in the CA3 region compared to CA1 in both groups. A significant negative correlation of CA %AO with both pTau %AO and neurofibrillary tangle %AO in the CA3 region of AD brain donors was found. Regression analysis in the CA3 region revealed a significant negative association between CA with both pTau and age.ConclusionWe found an increase of CA in the CA3 region, compared to CA1 region, in AD and unaffected donors. This may suggest that the CA3 region is a hub for waste removal. Additionally, the negative correlation between %AO by CA and NFT in the CA3 region of the hippocampus in donors with AD suggests CA could play a role in AD pathologic progression by influencing tau clearance.
Protective effects of butyrate on cerebral ischaemic injury in animal models: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Yan Shichang , Ji Qipei , Ding Jilin , Liu Zhixiang , Wei Wei , Li Huaqiang , Li Luojie , Ma Chuan , Liao Defu , He Ziyan , Ai Shuangchun 
Published: February 2024

IntroductionCerebral ischaemic stroke is a common disease that poses a serious threat to human health. Butyrate is an important metabolite of intestinal microorganisms. Recent studies have shown that butyrate has a significant protective effect in animal models of cerebral ischaemic injury.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of butyrate on cerebral ischaemic stroke by meta-analysis, aiming to provide a scientific basis for the clinical application of butyrate in patients with cerebral ischaemia.Materials and methodsA systematic search was conducted for all relevant studies published before 23 January 2024, in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase. Methodological quality was assessed using Syrcle’s risk of bias tool for animal studies. Data were analysed using Rev Man 5.3 software.ResultsA total of nine studies were included, and compared with controls, butyrate significantly increased BDNF levels in the brain (SMD = 2.33, 95%CI = [1.20, 3.47], p &lt; 0.005) and P-Akt expression (SMD = 3.53, 95% CI = [0.97, 6.10], p &lt; 0.05). Butyrate also decreased IL-β levels in the brain (SMD = −2.02, 95% CI = [−3.22, −0.81], p &lt; 0.005), TNF-α levels (SMD = −0.86, 95% CI = [−1.60, −0.12], p &lt; 0.05), and peripheral vascular IL-1β levels (SMD = −2.10, 95%CI = [−3.59, −0.61], p &lt; 0.05). In addition, butyrate reduced cerebral infarct volume (MD = −11.29, 95%CI = [−17.03, −5.54], p &lt; 0.05), mNSS score (MD = −2.86, 95%CI = [−4.12, −1.60], p &lt; 0.005), foot fault score (MD = −7.59, 95%CI = [−9.83, −5, 35], p &lt; 0.005), and Morris water maze time (SMD = −2.49, 95%CI = [−4.42, −0.55], p &lt; 0.05).ConclusionThe results of this study indicate that butyrate has a protective effect on cerebral ischaemic stroke in animal models, and the mechanism is related to reducing inflammation and inhibiting apoptosis. It provides an evidence-based basis for the future clinical development of butyrate in the treatment of ischaemic stroke.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, CRD42023482844.
Effect of genetic distances of different genotypes of maize on the authenticity of single seeds detected by NIR spectroscopy
Authors: Yang Yongqin , Harrison Rashaun Candace , Zhang Dun , Shen Binghui , Yan Yanlu , Kang Dingming 
Published: February 2024

IntroductionNIR spectroscopy combined with chemometric algorithms has been widely used for seed authenticity detection. However, the study of seed genetic distance, an internal feature that affects the discriminative performance of classification models, has rarely been reported.MethodsTherefore, maize seed samples of different genotypes were selected to investigate the effect of genetic distance on the authenticity of single seeds detected by NIR spectroscopy. Firstly, the Support vector machine (SVM) model was established using spectral information combined with a preprocessing algorithm, and then the DNA of the samples was extracted to study the correlation between genetic and relative spectral distances, the model identification performance, and finally to compare the similarities and differences between the results of genetic clustering and relative spectral clustering.ResultsThe results were as follows: the average accuracy of the models was 93.6% (inbred lines) and 93.7% (hybrids), respectively; Genetic distance and correlation spectral distance exhibited positive correlation significantly (inbred lines: r=0.177, p&lt;0.05; hybrids: r=0.238, p&lt;0.05), likewise genetic distance and model accuracy also showed positive correlation (inbred lines: r=0.611, p&lt;0.01; hybrids: r=0.6158, p&lt;0.01); Genetic clustering and spectral clustering results were essentially uniform for 94.3% (inbred lines) and 93.9% (hybrids), respectively.DiscussionThis study reveals the relationship between the genetic and relative spectral distances of seeds and the accuracy of the model, which provides theoretical basis for the establishment of the standardized system for detecting the authenticity of seeds by NIR spectroscopic techniques.