bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Health impacts of a cold wave and its economic loss assessment in China’s high-altitude city, Xining
Authors: Ning Zhenxu , He Shuzhen , Liao Xinghao , Ma Chunguang , Wu Jing 
Published: April 2024

Abstract
Objective
Amidst climate change, extensive research has centered on the health impacts of heatwaves, yet the consequences of cold spells, particularly in cooler, higher-altitude regions, remain under-explored.

Methods
Analyzing climatic data and non-accidental mortality in Xining, China’s second-highest provincial capital, from 2016 to 2020, this study defines cold spells as daily mean temperatures below the 10th, 7.5th, or 5th percentiles for 2–4 consecutive days. A time-stratified case-crossover approach and distributional lag nonlinear modeling were used to assess the link between cold spells and mortality, calculating attributable fractions (AFs) and numbers (ANs) of deaths. The study also examined the impact of cold spells over different periods and analyzed the value of a statistical life (VSL) loss in 2018, a year with frequent cold spells. Stratified analyses by sex, age, and education level were conducted.

Results
A significant association was found between cold spells and non-accidental mortality, with a relative risk of 1.548 (95% CI: 1.300, 1.845). The AF was 33.48%, with an AN of 9,196 deaths during the study’s cold period. A declining trend in mortality risk was observed from 2019–2020. The 2018 VSL was approximately 2.875 billion CNY, about 1.75% of Xining’s GDP. Higher risks were noted among males, individuals aged ≥ 65, and those with lower education levels.

Conclusion
The findings underscore the vulnerability and economic losses of high-altitude cities to cold spells. Implementing interventions such as improved heating, educational programs, and community support is vital for mitigating these adverse health effects.
Designing pH-responsive SAP-coated menstrual pads and comparing them to marketable products through quality analysis
Authors: Madhu Chintan , Patel Bharat 
Published: April 2024

Abstract
Background
For a specific purpose involving the pH of menstrual blood and the pH of the vagina during menstruation, the current work describes the development of pH-responsive superadsorbent polymer (SAP)-coated menstrual pads. Acrylic acid (AA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were used to create a pH-responsive polymer, which was then applied layer by layer to sanitary napkins. Using FTIR, the chemical composition and structure were examined. By examining tests for absorbent capacity, swelling capacity, water retention, sorption under load, strike through, wicking height, and re-wetness under load, the performance studies of coated pads were contrasted with those of menstrual pads that are sold commercially. Additionally, the coated pad’s pH response was examined to determine how stable the polymer was against pH variation.

Results
The use of SAP in this study resulted in a higher free swelling capacity (102.22 g/g) for tap water and absorption under load in sanitary napkins. The absorption capacity of SAP ranges from 8 to 24 h, with values ranging from 14.84 to 132.41 g/g. Similarly, wet back and striking through analysis indicated superior outcomes in comparison with commercial products. The pH of the prepared SAP helps to maintain the necessary acidity level (pH 3.02) for the vagina during menstruation.

Conclusions
Based on comparison results from FTIR, absorbency capacity, rewet, strike-through, and pH, the report recommends using the pH-responsive SAP to coat the top layer of feminine napkins.
Large-scale optical switches by thermo-optic waveguide lens
Authors: Chen Tao , Dang Zhangqi , Deng Zeyu , Ke Shijie , Ding Zhenming , Zhang Ziyang 
Published: April 2024

AbstractOptical switches are desired in telecom and datacom as an upgrade to electrical ones for lower power consumption and expenses while improving bandwidth and network transparency. Compact, integrated optical switches are attractive thanks to their scalability, readiness for mass production, and robustness against mechanical disturbances. The basic unit relies mostly on a microring resonator or a Mach–Zehnder interferometer for binary “bar” and “cross” switching. Such single-mode structures are often wavelength / polarization dependent, sensitive to phase errors and loss-prone. Furthermore, when they are cascaded to a network, the number of control units grows quickly with the port count, causing high complexity in electronic wiring and drive circuit integration. Herein, we propose a new switching method by thermo-optic waveguide lens. Essentially, this multimode waveguide forms a square law medium by a pair of heater electrodes and focuses light within a chip by robust 1 × 1 imaging. A 1 × 24 basic switch is demonstrated with 32 electrodes and only two are biased at a time for a chosen output. By two-level cascading, the switch expands to 576 ports and only four electrodes are needed for one path. The chips are fabricated on wafer scale in a low-budget laboratory without resorting to foundries. Yet, the performance goes beyond state of the art for low insertion loss, low wavelength dependence and low polarization dependence. This work provides an original, alternative, and practical route to construct large-scale optical switches, enabling broad applications in telecom, datacom and photonic computing.
Multi-task learning with self-learning weight for image denoising
Authors: Xiang Qian , Tang Yong , Zhou Xiangyang 
Published: April 2024

Abstract
Background
Image denoising technology removes noise from the corrupted image by utilizing different features between image and noise. Convolutional neural network (CNN)-based algorithms have been the concern of the recent progress on diverse image restoration problems and become an efficient solution in image denoising.

Objective
Although a quite number of existing CNN-based image denoising methods perform well on the simplified additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) model, their performance often degrades severely on the real-world noisy images which are corrupted by more complicated noise.

Methods
In this paper, we utilized the multi-task learning (MTL) framework to integrate multiple loss functions for collaborative training of CNN. This approach aims to improve the denoising performance of CNNs on real-world images with non-Gaussian noise. Simultaneously, to automatically optimize the weights of individual sub-tasks within the MTL framework, we incorporated a self-learning weight layer into the CNN.

Results
Extensive experiments demonstrate that our approach effectively enhances the denoising performance of CNN-based image denoising algorithms on real-world images. It reduces excessive image smoothing, improves quantitative metrics, and enhances visual quality in the restored images.

Conclusion
Our method shows the effectiveness of the improved performance of denoising CNNS for real-world image denoising processing.
Ethnic density and first episode psychosis in the British Pakistani population: findings from the East Lancashire Early Intervention Service
Authors: Qi Robert , Qureshi Masood , Gire Nadeem , Chaudhry Imran B. , Vass Victoria , McIntyre Jason C. , Barlow Kaylee , Bentall Richard P. , White Ross G. , Husain Nusrat 
Published: April 2024

BackgroundElevated risk of psychosis for ethnic minority groups has generally been shown to be mitigated by high ethnic density. However, past survey studies examining UK Pakistani populations have shown an absence of protective ethnic density effects, which is not observed in other South Asian groups.AimsTo assess the ethnic density effect at a local neighbourhood level, in the UK Pakistani population in East Lancashire.MethodData was collected by the East Lancashire Early Intervention Service, identifying all cases of first episode psychosis (FEP) within their catchment area between 2012 and 2020. Multilevel Poisson regression analyses were used to compare incidence rates between Pakistani and White majority groups, while controlling for age, gender and area-level deprivation. The ethnic density effect was also examined by comparing incidence rates across high and low density areas.ResultsA total of 455 cases of FEP (364 White, 91 Pakistani) were identified. The Pakistani group had a higher incidence of FEP compared to the White majority population. A clear effect of ethnic density on rates of FEP was shown, with those in low density areas having higher incidence rates compared to the White majority, whereas incidence rates in high density areas did not significantly differ. Within the Pakistani group, a dose-response effect was also observed, with risk of FEP increasing incrementally as ethnic density decreased.ConclusionsHigher ethnic density related to lower risk of FEP within the Pakistani population in East Lancashire, highlighting the impact of local social context on psychosis incidence.
Disparities in Surgical Intervention and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Racial/Ethnic Groups With Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis
Authors: Massaad Elie , Mitchell Taylor S. , Duerr Emmy , Kiapour Ali , Cha Thomas D. , Coumans Jean-Valery C. , Groff Michael W. , Hershman Stuart H. , Kang James D. , Lipa Shaina A. , Small Lianne , Tobert Daniel G. , Schoenfeld Andrew J. , Shankar Ganesh M. , Zaidi Hasan A. , Shin John H. , Williamson Theresa 
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Racial and socioeconomic disparities in spine surgery for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis persist in the United States, potentially contributing to unequal health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes. This is important as lumbar spondylolisthesis is one of the most common causes of surgical low back pain, and low back pain is the largest disabler of individuals worldwide. Our objective was to assess the relationship between race, socioeconomic factors, treatment utilization, and outcomes in patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis.

METHODS:
This cohort study analyzed prospectively collected data from 9941 patients diagnosed with lumbar spondylolisthesis between 2015 and 2020 at 5 academic hospitals. Exposures were race, socioeconomic status, health coverage, and HRQoL measures. Main outcomes and measures included treatment utilization rates between racial groups and the association between race and treatment outcomes using logistic regression, adjusting for patient characteristics, socioeconomic status, health coverage, and HRQoL measures.

RESULTS:
Of the 9941 patients included (mean [SD] age, 67.37 [12.40] years; 63% female; 1101 [11.1%] Black, Indigenous, and People of Color [BIPOC]), BIPOC patients were significantly less likely to use surgery than White patients (odds ratio [OR] = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.62-0.75). Furthermore, BIPOC race was associated with significantly lower odds of reaching the minimum clinically important difference for physical function (OR = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.60; 0.91) and pain interference (OR = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.62-0.97). Medicaid beneficiaries were significantly less likely (OR = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.46-0.92) to reach a clinically important improvement in HRQoL when accounting for race.

CONCLUSION:
This study found that BIPOC patients were less likely to use spine surgery for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis despite reporting higher pain interference, suggesting an association between race and surgical utilization. These disparities may contribute to unequal HRQoL outcomes for patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis and warrant further investigation to address and reduce treatment disparities.
Migration increases mitochondrial oxidative capacity without increasing reactive oxygen species emission in a songbird
Authors: Coulson Soren Z. , Guglielmo Christopher G. , Staples James F. 
Published: April 2024

ABSTRACT
Birds remodel their flight muscle metabolism prior to migration to meet the physiological demands of migratory flight, including increases in both oxidative capacity and defence against reactive oxygen species. The degree of plasticity mediated by changes in these mitochondrial properties is poorly understood but may be explained by two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses: variation in mitochondrial quantity or in individual mitochondrial function. We tested these hypotheses using yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata), a Nearctic songbird which biannually migrates 2000–5000 km. We predicted higher flight muscle mitochondrial abundance and substrate oxidative capacity, and decreased reactive oxygen species emission in migratory warblers captured during autumn migration compared with a short-day photoperiod-induced non-migratory phenotype. We assessed mitochondrial abundance via citrate synthase activity and assessed isolated mitochondrial function using high-resolution fluororespirometry. We found 60% higher tissue citrate synthase activity in the migratory phenotype, indicating higher mitochondrial abundance. We also found 70% higher State 3 respiration (expressed per unit citrate synthase) in mitochondria from migratory warblers when oxidizing palmitoylcarnitine, but similar H2O2 emission rates between phenotypes. By contrast, non-phosphorylating respiration was higher and H2O2 emission rates were lower in the migratory phenotype. However, flux through electron transport system complexes I–IV, II–IV and IV was similar between phenotypes. In support of our hypotheses, these data suggest that flight muscle mitochondrial abundance and function are seasonally remodelled in migratory songbirds to increase tissue oxidative capacity without increasing reactive oxygen species formation.
E-beam synthesized fast-switching TiO2/SnO2 type-II heterostructure photodetector
Authors: Nanda Rajib Kumar , Sarkar Mitra Barun 
Published: April 2024

A fast-switching TiO2/SnO2 heterostructure thin-film (TF)
photodetector synthesized by electron beam evaporation technique is
analyzed in this study. The substrate utilized is n-type silicon (Si),
while gold (Au) is employed as the top electrode. To assess sample
morphology and confirm elemental composition, field emission scanning
electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy
(EDS), and chemical mapping were conducted. Structural characteristics
were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The XRD
analysis confirmed the presence of various phases of TiO2 (anatase and rutile) and SnO2 (rutile). UV-Vis spectroscopy
revealed multiple absorption peaks, at 447 nm, 495 nm,
560 nm, and 673 nm, within the visible spectrum. The
device demonstrates high detectivity (D∗) of 1.737×109 Jones and a low noise equivalent
power (NEP) of 0.765×10−10W. Evaluation of the device’s switching
response through current-time characteristic (I-T) analysis indicates
rapid switching with a rise time and fall time of 0.33 s and
0.36 s, respectively.
Factors associated with mortality of elderly people due to COVID-19: Protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Silva Junior Danyllo do Nascimento , de Sousa Mata Ádala Nayana , Silva de Medeiros Gidyenne Christine Bandeira , Marques Marilane Vilela , dos Santos Thais Teixeira , de Sousa Monteiro Maria Eduarda , Costa Gabriela Góis , d´Orsi Eleonora , Parra Eva Vegue , Piuvezam Grasiela 
Published: April 2024

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant health crisis, marked by high mortality rates on a global scale, with mortality from the disease being notably concentrated among the elderly due to various factors.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the biological and non-biological factors associated with COVID-19 mortality rates among the elderly worldwide.MethodsThe following databases will be consulted: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science and ScienceDirect. Longitudinal observational studies (cohort and case-control—risk factors) will be included. The risk of bias, defined as low, moderate, high, will be assessed using the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Quality Assessment Tool for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies. Two independent authors will conduct the searches, and any possible disagreements will be resolved by a third author. Heterogeneity between study results will be assessed using a standard X2test with a significance level of 0.05, and an I2value will be calculated to further assess heterogeneity. The random effects model for meta-analyses will be adopted to distribute the weight between the studies and standardize their contributions. The meta-analyses will be conducted using RevMan software.DiscussionDespite the numerous publications on COVID-19 mortality among the elderly, there is still a gap in knowledge, as there is no systematic review and meta-analysis that summarizes the main biological and non-biological associated factors globally.ConclusionThe results of this study will consolidate the latest evidence and address gaps in the overall understanding of biological or non-biological associated factors. This knowledge will facilitate the development of appropriate health strategies for this demographic group and pave the way for further research.Trial registrationPROSPERO (CRD42023400873).
The effectiveness of Forensic Outpatient Systemic Therapy in the treatment of juvenile antisocial behavior: A study protocol of a Multiple Case Experimental Design
Authors: van Cappellen S. Marjolein , Creemers Hanneke E. , Hoogsteder Larissa , van Horn Joan , Asscher Jessica J. 
Published: April 2024

Background
Juvenile antisocial behavior can have long-lasting and devastating effects for juveniles themselves, victims, and society. Evidence-based treatment is vital. Forensic Outpatient Systemic Therapy (Forensische Ambulante Systeem Therapie; FAST) is a promising treatment for juveniles showing severe antisocial behavior including aggression, (domestic) violence, and delinquent behavior. FAST has a flexible intensity and length, addresses individual and systemic risk and protective factors, and is responsive to the abilities of the client (system), intervention characteristics all considered crucial for effective treatment. The current study will investigate whether FAST is effective in reducing aggression of the juvenile, reaching client formulated subgoals, and improving family functioning. Processes of change will be examined, as well as mediation by reaching client formulated subgoals and improved family functioning.

Methods
A Multiple Case Experimental Design (MCED) with an ABC design will be performed (A = baseline, B = intervention, and C = follow-up). Juveniles with primary aggression and/or anger problems (N = 15) and their caregiver(s) will be recruited. Data collection will consist of self-report questionnaires and case file analysis. Participants fill out frequent short self-report questionnaires (twice a week during phase A, every other week during phase B, and every week during phase C) and two main questionnaires at the start of the intervention and immediately after intervention end, thereby covering a period of 5 to 11 months. Both visual and statistical analyses will be performed.

Discussion
This study will generate robust knowledge and inform clinical practice on the effectiveness, processes of change, and mediating mechanisms of FAST, aiming to improve the treatment of future families within youth forensic care.

Trial registration
This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on 28/08/2023, protocol ID 60-63600-98-1138a.
In vitro activity of ceftazidime/avibactam, cefiderocol, meropenem/vaborbactam and imipenem/relebactam against clinical strains of the Stenotrophomonas maltophilia complex
Authors: Méndez-Sotelo Braulio Josué , Delgado-Beltrán Mónica , Hernández-Durán Melissa , Colín-Castro Claudia Adriana , Esquivel-Bautista José , Ortega-Oliva Sandra Angélica , Ortiz-Álvarez Jossue , García-Contreras Rodolfo , Franco-Cendejas Rafael , Lopez Jacome Luis Esau 
Published: April 2024

Background
Infections caused by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and related species are increasing worldwide. Unfortunately, treatment options are limited, whereas the antimicrobial resistance is increasing.

Methods
We included clinical isolates identified as S. maltophilia by VITEK 2 Compact. Ceftazidime/avibactam, meropenem/vaborbactam, imipenem/relebactam, cefiderocol, quinolones, and tetracycline family members were evaluated by broth microdilution method and compared with first-line treatment drugs. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were reported for all antibiotics. We sequenced the Whole Genome of cefiderocol resistant strains (CRSs) and annotated their genes associated with cefiderocol resistance (GACR). Presumptive phylogenetic identification employing the 16S marker was performed.

Results
One hundred and one clinical strains were evaluated, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, levofloxacin and minocycline showed susceptibilities of 99.01%, 95.04% and 100% respectively. Ceftazidime was the antibiotic with the highest percentage of resistance in all samples (77.22%). Five strains were resistant to cefiderocol exhibiting MIC values ≥ 2 μg/mL (4.95%). The β-lactamase inhibitors meropenem/vaborbactam and imipenem/relebactam, failed to inhibit S. maltophilia, preserving both MIC50 and MIC90 ≥64 μg/mL. Ceftazidime/avibactam restored the activity of ceftazidime decreasing the MIC range. Tigecycline had the lowest MIC range, MIC50 and MIC90. Phylogeny based on 16S rRNA allowed to identify to cefiderocol resistant strains as putative species clustered into Stenotrophomonas maltophilia complex (Smc). In these strains, we detected GARCs such as Mutiple Drug Resistance (MDR) efflux pumps, L1-type β-lactamases, iron transporters and type-1 fimbriae.

Conclusion
Antimicrobial resistance to first-line treatment is low. The in vitro activity of new β-lactamase inhibitors against S. maltophilia is poor, but avibactam may be a potential option. Cefiderocol could be considered as a potential new option for multidrug resistant infections. Tetracyclines had the best in vitro activity of all antibiotics evaluated.