bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Physical health conditions in young children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: The prevalence and associations between these conditions
Authors: Mol‐Bakker Anouk , Van der Putten Annette A. J. , Krijnen Wim P. , Waninge Aly 
Published: March 2024

AbstractBackgroundIt is thought that physical health conditions start at a young age in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). Knowledge regarding the prevalence, associations and development of these physical health conditions could be used for purposes of prevention as well as appropriate care and support but is currently lacking.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to gain insight into the prevalence of physical health conditions and associations between these conditions in young children with PIMD.MethodsThe study used cross‐sectional data related to the physical health conditions of children with PIMD (n = 51, aged between 12 and 61 months). Data were collected in Belgium and in the Netherlands through a checklist filled in by primary caregiver(s). Physical health conditions were classified into categories by the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD‐10) system. The number of physical health conditions and associations between them were analysed. The analysis focused on prevalence rates and associations represented by odds ratios (p < 0.05). A graphical model was estimated to represent dependencies and conditional dependencies between physical health conditions.ResultsWe found a mean of 3.8 (range 1–8, SD 1.9) physical health conditions per child. Most of the physical health conditions were found in the ICD‐10 chapter ‘Nervous System’, with hypotonia as the most frequent at 70.6%. Five significant large associations were found between spasticity–contractures (OR 9.54); circulatory system–contractures (OR 7.50); scoliosis–contractures (OR 10.25); hearing impairments–skin problems (OR 58.20) and obstipation–hypotonia (OR 19.98).ConclusionThis study shows that at a young age, multiple physical health conditions are present in children with PIMD. In addition, we found five associations between physical health conditions.
Multidisciplinary teams and social science: a patient perspective
Authors: Ostroff Cheri 
Published: March 2024

AbstractMultidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are common in colorectal cancer and have been deemed important when providing care. Yet they take place outside of the patient, often with little consideration of the patient's views, goals and desires. In this paper specific examples from a patient perspective are integrated with the social science literature to provide an overview of areas of disconnect between MDT recommendations and the individual patient. The reasons for these disconnects are explored, including how MDTs relate to dyadic patient–clinician relationships, weak incorporation of patient‐oriented outcomes in MDTs, poor integration of nonmedical patient information and the patient perspective and the impact of team dynamics and cognitive decision biases. Consideration of these issues should facilitate higher‐quality MDT recommendations that are also more acceptable to patients.
Assessing ecological and socio‐political factors in site selection for ocelot reintroduction in Texas
Authors: Martinez Lindsay A. , Lombardi Jason V. , Powers Garrett , Anderson Amanda D. , Campbell Tyler , Lopez Roel R. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractWildlife reintroduction site selection requires the consideration of not only a species' ecology but also socio‐political factors that may impact conservation efforts. These socio‐political dimensions may be especially important for endangered carnivore reintroductions on private lands in the United States, where landowner support for the reintroduction is a necessity given landowner concerns about ecological and legal impacts of carnivore restoration. We designed an assessment to identify potential sites for reintroduction of the federally endangered ocelot (Leopardus pardalis pardalis) in Texas, a state where over 97% of lands are privately owned. We incorporated International Union for Conservation of Nature recommendations into a geospatial analysis evaluating potential reintroduction sites based on site size, ecological and life history requirements of ocelots, potential natural and anthropogenic threats, and the socio‐political context of each site. We identified the five highest‐ranking sites that had species‐specific suitable landscape structure of woody cover, fine‐scale vegetative cover, minimal natural and anthropogenic threats, and that present land ownership patterns that are logistically feasible for conservation planners to navigate. Our assessment provided information for ocelot conservation planning and established a framework for incorporating private land data into large‐scale assessments of wildlife reintroduction sites on private lands.
Quantitative assessment of left ventricular myocardial work in patients with different types of atrial fibrillation by non‐invasive pressure‐strain loop technique
Authors: Liu Tingting , Liu Hailan , Song Yan , Huang Yulin , Zhang Chunquan 
Published: March 2024

AbstractObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze myocardial work in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) using a noninvasive pressure strain loop (PSL) technique to provide a basis for the quantitative assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic function.MethodsLV myocardial work of 107 AF patients (56 with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and 51 with persistent atrial fibrillation) and 55 healthy individuals were assessed by the noninvasive PSL and then compared.ResultsGlobal longitudinal strain (GLS) in absolute values, global work index (GWI), global constructive work (GCW), and global work efficiency (GWE) were significantly lower in the AF group than control group, whereas peak strain dispersion (PSD) and global wasted work (GWW) were significantly higher (P < .05). Further subdivision according to the AF type revealed that, compared with the controls, GLS in absolute values and GWE decreased significantly; PSD and GWW increased significantly in the paroxysmal AF group (P < .05). Nevertheless, GWI and GCW were not significantly different between paroxysmal AF and control groups (P > .05). Compared to paroxysmal AF, persistent AF induced a further decrease in absolute GLS and GWE and a further increase in GWW (P < .05), but PSD did not increase further (P > .05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that GWI and GCW were independently associated with systolic blood pressure. GWW was associated with types of AF and left atrial volume index (LAVI). GWE was correlated with age, types of AF, disease duration, and LAVI. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve predicting myocardial injury was higher for GWE and GWW than for GLS (area under the curve: .880, .846, and .821, respectively).ConclusionsNon‐invasive PSL can quantitatively assess LV systolic function in patients with different kinds of AF and detect early subclinical myocardial injury in patients with paroxysmal AF. GWE and GWW outperform GLS and LV ejection fraction when assessing myocardial injury. Systolic blood pressure, type of AF, LVAI, disease duration, and age may be associated with myocardial injury in patients with AF.
Survival and alterations in reproductive organs of the cotton boll weevil,Anthonomus grandis grandis, fed alternative food
Authors: da Costa Moura Matheus , Tripode Bruna Mendes Diniz , de Azevedo Brito Pedro Vale , Arruda e Silva José Francisco , da Silva Filho João Luis , Barrigossi José Alexandre Freitas , Miranda José Ednilson , Pinheiro Patrícia Valle 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThe cotton boll weevil,Anthonomus grandis grandisBoheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the most important insect pests of cotton, causing significant yield losses. This insect completes its life cycle only on the flower structures of some Malvaceae species, with cotton being its preferred host. However, during the cotton off‐season, the boll weevil enters a reproductive dormancy state, in tropical regions, with important alterations in their reproduction organs. During this period, a remaining insect population survives feeding on a variety of other food sources, but the insects do not reproduce. We hypothesized that these alterations in the insect's reproductive organs are associated with the nutritional levels provided by alternative food sources during the cotton off‐season. To test our hypothesis, we first investigated food sources that sustain insect survival for long periods, such as weed species and fruits of cultivated crops. Then, we evaluated how various food sources affect the reproductive organs and reproductive capacity of the boll weevil. Among the alternative food sources tested, insect longevity was highest on banana (Musa paradisiacaL.), mango (Mangifera indicaL.), papaya (Carica papayaL.), milkweed (Euphorbia heterophyllaL.), and lilac tasselflower (Emilia sonchifoliaL.). However, only banana and mango resulted in greater longevity than cotton squares. Banana was the preferred food and resulted in the highest levels of nutrients in the insects. Additionally, insects previously fed on banana made more oviposition punctures on cotton squares than those fed only on cotton squares, which resulted in a significantly higher number of emerged adults. Histological analysis of the insects' reproductive organs showed that feeding on papaya resulted in morphological changes and testicle degradation. In conclusion, we present evidence that boll weevils fed on alternative food sources (other than cotton squares or similar‐quality food) display a nutritional imbalance, associated with substantial alterations in the reproductive tissues of this insect, which may trigger the reproductive dormancy state.
The importance of worldwide linguistic and cultural diversity for climate change resilience
Authors: Couée Ivan 
Published: March 2024

AbstractLocal minority languages and dialects, through the local knowledge and expertise associated with them, can play major roles in analysing climate change and biodiversity loss, in facilitating community awareness of environmental crises and in setting up locally‐adapted resilience and sustainability strategies. While the situation and contribution of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples are of emblematic importance, the issue of the relationships between cultural and linguistic diversity and environmental awareness and protection does not solely concern peripheral highly‐specialized communities in specific ecosystems of the Global South, but constitutes a worldwide challenge, throughout all of the countries, whatever their geographical location, their economical development, or their political status. Environmental emergency and climate change resilience should therefore raise international awareness on the need to promote the survival and development of minority languages and dialects and to take into account their creativity and expertise in relation to the dynamics of their local environments.
Compassionate mind training for people with Parkinson's disease: A pilot study and predictors of response
Authors: Della Morte Silvia , Berti Elena , Lalli Carolina , Modugno Nicola , Morgante Francesca , Schrag Anette , Makovac Elena , Ricciardi Lucia 
Published: March 2024

AbstractIntroductionPeople with Parkinson's disease (PD) often present with disabling neuropsychiatric symptoms. Compassionate mind training (CMT) is a psychological approach effective in reducing stress and promoting psychological well‐being. Heart rate variability (HRV), a measure reflecting sympathovagal balance, has been associated with psychological well‐being and a compassionate attitude.AimTo assess the feasibility and effectiveness of CMT in enhancing the quality of life and psychological well‐being in PD patients. Additionally, we evaluated HRV as a physiomarker for assessing the CMT outcomes.MethodsTwenty‐four PD patients participated in the study. A 6‐week online CMT intervention was delivered on a weekly basis. At baseline and post‐intervention patients completed questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety and quality of life. In a subsample of 11 patients, HRV was measured at baseline and post‐intervention in three conditions: at rest, during stress and after 3 min of deep breathing.ResultsThe attendance rate was 94.3%. Quality of life and perceived stigma improved post‐intervention as compared with baseline (p = 0.02 and p = 0.03 for PD Questionnaire‐39 total score and Stigma subscore, respectively). After CMT, patients presented better physiological regulation to stress, as measured by higher HRV as compared with baseline (p = 0.005). Notably, patients who were more resilient to stress at baseline (less decrease in HRV during stress) experienced a more substantial reduction in anxiety and depression following CMT.ConclusionsCMT is feasible and can improve quality of life and stigma in PD patients. HRV emerges as a promising physiomarker for predicting and measuring the outcomes of psychological interventions in PD.
Lake water chemistry and local adaptation shape NaCl toxicity in Daphnia ambigua
Authors: Rogalski Mary A. , Baker Elizabeth S. , Benadon Clara M. , Tatgenhorst Christoph , Nichols Brady R. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThe increasing application of road deicing agents (e.g., NaCl) has caused widespread salinization of freshwater environments. Chronic exposure to toxic NaCl levels can impact freshwater biota at genome to ecosystem scales, yet the degree of harm caused by road salt pollution is likely to vary among habitats and populations. The background ion chemistry of freshwater environments may strongly impact NaCl toxicity, with greater harm occurring in ion‐poor, soft water conditions. In addition, populations exposed to salinization may evolve increased NaCl tolerance. Notably, if organisms are adapted to the water chemistry of their natal environment, toxicity responses may also vary among populations in a given test medium. We examined the potential for this evolutionary and environmental context to interact in shaping NaCl toxicity with a pair of laboratory reciprocal transplant toxicity experiments, using natural populations of the water flea Daphnia ambigua collected from three lakes that vary in ion availability and composition. We observed a strong effect of the lake water environment on NaCl toxicity in both trials. NaCl caused a much greater decline in reproduction and r in lake water from a low‐ion/calcium‐poor environment (20 μS/cm specific conductance; 1.7 mg/L Ca2+) compared with water from both a Ca2+‐rich lake (55 μS/cm; 7.2 mg/L Ca2+) and an ion‐rich coastal lake (420 μS/cm; 3.4 mg/L Ca2+). Daphnia from this coastal lake were most robust to the effects of NaCl on reproduction and r. A significant interaction between the population and lake water environment shaped survival in both trials, suggesting that local adaptation to the test waters used may have contributed to toxicity responses. Our findings that the lake water environment, adaptation to that environment, and adaptation to a contaminant of interest may shape toxicity demonstrate the importance of considering environmental and biological complexity in mitigating pollution impacts.
An analysis to investigate plant disease identification based on machine learning techniques
Authors: Duhan Sangeeta , Gulia Preeti , Gill Nasib Singh , Yahya Mohammad , Yadav Sangeeta , Hassan Mohamed M. , Alsberi Hassan , Shukla Piyush Kumar 
Published: March 2024

AbstractIn agriculture, crops are severely affected by illnesses, which reduce their production every year. The detection of plant diseases during their initial stages is critical and thus needs to be addressed. Researchers have been making significant progress in the development of automatic plant disease recognition techniques through the utilization of machine learning (ML), image processing, and deep learning (DL). This study analyses the recent advancements made by researchers in the field of ML techniques for identifying plant diseases. This study also examines various methods used by researchers to produce ML solutions, such as image preprocessing, segmentation, and feature extraction. This study highlights the challenges encountered while creating plant disease identification systems, such as small datasets, image capture conditions, and the generalizability of the models, and discusses possible solutions to cater to these problems. Still, the development of a solution that automatically detects various plant diseases for various plant species remains a big challenge. To address these challenges, there is a need to create a system that is trained on an extensive dataset that contains images of various types of diseases a plant can suffer from, and plant images should be taken at various stages of the disease's development. This study further presents an analysis of various methods used at different stages of plant disease identification.
The imbalance problem: A comparison of sampling approaches using different parameters and feature selection methods in the context of classification
Authors: Morillo‐Salas Jose L. , Bolón‐Canedo Verónica , Alonso‐Betanzos Amparo 
Published: March 2024

AbstractA common situation in classification tasks is to deal with unbalanced datasets, an issue that appears when the majority class(es) has a large number of samples compared to the minority class(es). This problem is even more significant when the datasets have a large number of features but only a few samples, as is the case with microarray datasets. Traditionally, an approach to alleviate this problem has been the application of sampling methods to obtain more balanced classes, increasing the number of samples in the minority class (replicating samples or generating new synthetic samples), or decreasing the number of samples in the majority class. In this study, we have compared different balancing methods, including a novel method that applies sampling in both the minority and majority classes. The interest in applying feature selection in combination with balancing methods has also been explored. In view of the results, a recommendation of sampling method, feature selection, and classifier is proposed to improve the classification results according to the type of dataset.
Wide climatic niche breadth and traits associated with climatic tolerance facilitate eucalypt occurrence in cities worldwide
Authors: Esperon‐Rodriguez Manuel , Tjoelker Mark G. , Lenoir Jonathan , Laugier Bree , Gallagher Rachael V. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractAimEucalypts are important and popular urban tree species across cities worldwide. However, little is known about how their climatic niche breadth (CNB) and functional traits predict their success, and vulnerability, to current climate change in cities. We assessed the relationship between the CNB of eucalypts and key traits to understand their tolerance to climate change.LocationGlobal urban areas, 66 cities in 21 countries.Time period1981 to 2022.Major species studiedFifty ‘eucalypt’ species belonging to the genera Eucalyptus, Angophora and Corymbia.MethodsWe used the species' safety margin concept to determine cities where eucalypts were planted outside the limits of their CNB, as defined from the native range, considering two extreme variables, maximum temperature of the warmest month (MTWM) and precipitation of the driest month (PDM). We assessed correlations between functional traits (leaf δ13C, leaf dry mass, leaf length, leaf N per dry mass, wood density) and negative safety margins, indicative of tolerance to non‐native conditions.ResultsIn total, 42 species planted in 40 cities exceeded their safety margins for MTWM, while 43 species in 38 cities exceeded their safety margins for PDM. Within 24 cities, all species exceeded their native CNB for both MTWM and PDM. The cities of Atakpame (Togo), Chennai (India), Chongqing (China) and the US cities of Phoenix and Riverside had the highest richness of eucalypt species growing outside their native CNB. Broadly, species with wide CNB, small leaves, high δ13C, high leaf N per dry mass and high wood density were more likely to persist in cities where climatic conditions exceeded their native CNB.Main conclusionsEucalypts occupy many cities experiencing climatic conditions outside their native CNB. Species with traits characteristic of heat and drought tolerance are more often planted in cities where climatic conditions may exceed their CNB native limits.
Signals that control MAIT cell function in healthy and inflamed human tissues
Authors: Konecny Andrew J. , Huang Yin , Setty Manu , Prlic Martin 
Published: March 2024

SummaryMucosal‐associated invariant T (MAIT) cells have a semi‐invariant T‐cell receptor that allows recognition of antigen in the context of the MHC class I‐related (MR1) protein. Metabolic intermediates of the riboflavin synthesis pathway have been identified as MR1‐restricted antigens with agonist properties. As riboflavin synthesis occurs in many bacterial species, but not human cells, it has been proposed that the main purpose of MAIT cells is antibacterial surveillance and protection. The majority of human MAIT cells secrete interferon‐gamma (IFNg) upon activation, while some MAIT cells in tissues can also express IL‐17. Given that MAIT cells are present in human barrier tissues colonized by a microbiome, MAIT cells must somehow be able to distinguish colonization from infection to ensure effector functions are only elicited when necessary. Importantly, MAIT cells have additional functional properties, including the potential to contribute to restoring tissue homeostasis by expression of CTLA‐4 and secretion of the cytokine IL‐22. A recent study provided compelling data indicating that the range of human MAIT cell functional properties is explained by plasticity rather than distinct lineages. This further underscores the necessity to better understand how different signals regulate MAIT cell function. In this review, we highlight what is known in regards to activating and inhibitory signals for MAIT cells with a specific focus on signals relevant to healthy and inflamed tissues. We consider the quantity, quality, and the temporal order of these signals on MAIT cell function and discuss the current limitations of computational tools to extrapolate which signals are received by MAIT cells in human tissues. Using lessons learned from conventional CD8 T cells, we also discuss how TCR signals may integrate with cytokine signals in MAIT cells to elicit distinct functional states.