bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical characterization of new-onset chronic musculoskeletal pain in Long COVID: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Khoja Omar , Silva-Passadouro Bárbara , Cristescu Elena , McEwan Katie , Doherty Derek , O’Connell Fiona , Ponchel Frederique , Mulvey Matthew , Astill Sarah , Tan Ai Lyn , Sivan Manoj 
Published: March 2024

AbstractPurposeNew-onset chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is one of the common persistent symptoms in Long COVID (LC). This study investigated its clinical characteristics, underlying mechanisms, and impact on function, psychological health, and quality of life.Patients and methods30 adults (19 female, 11 male) with LC and new-onset chronic MSK pain underwent clinical examination, Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST), and blood tests for inflammatory markers, and completed the following outcome measures: Timed Up and Go test (TUG), handgrip strength test, COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19-YRS), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), International Physical Activity Questionnaire - short form (IPAQ-sf), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and EuroQol Five Dimensions health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L).ResultsNew-onset chronic MSK pain was widespread and continuous in nature, and worse in the joints. When compared to normative values reported in the literature: a) QST revealed mechanical hyperalgesia, heightened temporal summation of pain, and hypoesthesia to vibration stimuli, which is strongly suggestive of central sensitization; b) Plasma cytokine assays indicated distinct pro-inflammatory profiles; c) TUG time indicated reduced balance and mobility; d) handgrip strength revealed general weakness; e) physical activity was lower ; and f) there were moderate levels of depression and anxiety with lower self-efficacy scores and lower levels of pain catastrophizing. LC symptoms were of moderate severity (44.8/100), moderate functional disability (22.8/50) and severely compromised overall health (2.6/10) when compared to pre-COVID scores.ConclusionNew-onset chronic MSK pain in LC tends to be widespread, constant, and associated with weakness, reduced function, depression, anxiety, and reduced quality of life. There is associated central sensitization and proinflammatory state in the condition. Further research is essential to explore the longitudinal progression and natural evolution of the new-onset chronic MSK pain in LC.
Pediatric Diabetic Ketoacidosis (PDKA) among newly diagnosed diabetic patients at Dilla University Hospital, Dilla, Ethiopia: prevalence and predictors
Authors: oyamo Dinberu 
Published: March 2024

AbstractBackgroundDiabetic ketoacidosis is a morbid complication of diabetes mellitus, and its occurrence at diagnosis has rarely been studied in Ethiopia, despite the many cases seen in the pediatric population.ObjectiveTo know the prevalence of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) among patients with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus and identify avoidable risk factors.MethodThis institution-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from December 25, 2018 to December 25, 2022. Newly diagnosed type1 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with age < 15 years were included in the study. DKA was diagnosed based on clinical presentation and blood glucose and urine ketone levels. A data collection form was prepared to collect sociodemographic and clinical data. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the risk factors.ResultAmong the admitted 61 newly diagnosed T1DM pediatric patients, DKA was the first presentation in 37 patients making 60.7% of newly diagnosed T1DM. Mean age at diagnosis was 8(±3.85) years and females were affected more. Clinical presentation revealed vomiting accompanied by signs of dehydration (32.4%), with polysymptoms (29.7%) being the most common. Infectious morbidity occurred in 26 patients, 21 of whom were in the DKA group. Inadequate knowledge of signs and symptoms of DM adjusted odds ratio (AOR=0.07(0.019-0.0897), absence of a family history of DM (AOR=0.129 (0.019-0.897), and presence of infection prior to diagnosis of DKA (AOR=11.69(1.34-10.1) were potential predictors for the development of DKA among newly diagnosed T1DM patientsConclusionA very high number of children present with DKA at the initial diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM), which is attributed to inadequate knowledge of the signs and symptoms of DM and the masking effect of concomitant infections in these children. Healthcare professionals should endeavor to suspect and screen children. Continuous awareness creation of DM at the health professional and community levels is encouraged to diagnose diabetes mellitus earlier and to decrease the prevalence of DKA as an initial presentation.
Insulin resistance, and not β-cell impairment, mediates association betweenMycobacterium tuberculosissensitization and type II diabetes mellitus among US adults
Authors: Magodoro IM , Aluoch A , Claggett B , Nyirenda MJ , Siedner MJ , Wilkinson KA , Wilkinson RJ , Ntusi NAB 
Published: March 2024

SummaryType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) may be a long-term sequela of infection withMycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb)by mechanisms that remain to be fully explained. We evaluated association betweenM.tbsensitization and T2DM among U.S adults and, via formal mediation analysis, the extent to which this association is mediated by insulin resistance and/or β-cell failure. These evaluations accounted for demographic, socio-economic, behavioral and clinical characteristics. T2DM was assessed by fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour oral glucose tolerance testing and HbA1c; homoeostasis model assessment 2 (HOMA2) was used to estimate β-cell dysfunction (HOMA2-B) and insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR); whileM.tbsensitization status was ascertained by tuberculin skin testing (TST). Exposure toM.tbwas associated with increased risk for T2DM, likely driven by an increase in insulin resistance. Definitive prospective studies examining incident T2DM following tuberculosis are warranted.Research in ContextWhat is already known about this subject?Accumulating evidence suggests that pre-diabetes and new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) may be a long-term complication of exposure toMycobacterium tuberculosis(M.tb) via mechanisms that remain to be unraveledWhat is the key question?To what extent do insulin resistance and β-cell failure mediate the association betweenM.tbsensitization with T2DM among US adults?What are the new findings?M.tbsensitization is characterized by distinct glucose metabolic disturbances manifesting as increased risk of T2DM and isolated impaired fasting glucose (IFG)Insulin resistance, and not β-cell impairment, likely independently mediate the observed diabetogenic effects ofM.tbsensitizationHow might this impact on clinical and/or public health practice in the foreseeable future?If corroborated by prospective studies, both TB programs and individual clinical care must incorporate monitoring of serum glucose and long-term metabolic outcomesThis will be particularly urgent in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia where scarce health resources coincide with overlapping endemic TB and epidemic T2DM
The Investigation of Nonlinear Variability Underlying Postural Control in The Injure-Limb in Individuals with and without Chronic Ankle Instability
Authors: Sugimoto Yuki A. , McKeon Patrick O. , Rhea Christopher K. , Schmitz Randy J. , Henson Robert A. , Mattacola Carl G. , Ross Scott E. 
Published: March 2024

ABSTRACTBackgroundLess flexible and adaptable sensorimotor systems reflect in movement variability in individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI), which may limit their ability to detect relevant information using a variety of primary sensory feedback. Thus, the aim of the study was to investigate underlying biological noise pertaining to postural control in single-limb stance during increased environmental constraints with sensory feedback manipulations in individuals with and without CAI.MethodsForty-two individuals with and without CAI participated in the study. A one-way ANOVA was utilized to examine group differences in biological noise underlying postural control during the SOT conditions in single-limb stance.ResultsIndividuals with CAI demonstrated significantly lower SampEN while maintaining posture during Condition 5 (P=.037) and Condition 6 (P=.030), where they were forced to exclusively rely on vestibular feedback, in single-limb stance compared to healthy controls.DiscussionIndividuals with CAI did not demonstrate decreased movement variability pertaining to postural control during all six SOT conditions. Those participants with CAI only displayed decreased movement variability when they were forced to executively rely on vestibular feedback while maintaining posture in the injured-limb compared to healthy controls.
Genetic liability for anxiety associates with treatment response to the monoamine stabilizer OSU6162 in alcohol dependence
Authors: Hong Mun-Gwan , Khemiri Lotfi , Guterstam Joar , Franck Johan , Jayaram-Lindström Nitya , Melas Philippe A. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractOSU6162, a monoamine stabilizer, has demonstrated efficacy in reducing alcohol and anxiety-related behaviors in preclinical settings. In a previous randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving patients with alcohol dependence (AD), we found that OSU6162 significantly reduced craving for alcohol, but did not alter drinking behaviors. In the present study, we explored the hypothesis that genetic predispositions related to AD or associated traits, might influence the response to OSU6162 treatment in original trial participants (N=56). To investigate this, we calculated polygenic risk scores (PRSs) over several statistical significance thresholds from genome-wide association studies on (i) alcohol use disorder and alcohol consumption (N=200-202k), (ii) problematic alcohol use (N=435k), (iii) drinks per week (N=666k), (iv) major depression (N=500k), and (v) anxiety (using both case-control comparisons and quantitative anxiety factor scores, N=17-18k). Linear regression analyses assessing the interaction effects between PRSs and treatment type (OSU6162 or placebo) identified significant associations when considering anxiety factor scores (FDR<0.05). Specifically, in OSU6162-treated AD individuals, there was a negative correlation between anxiety factor PRS (at the genome-wide significance threshold that included one genetic variant) and several drinking outcomes, including number of drinks consumed, percentage of heavy drinking days, and changes in blood phosphatidylethanol (PEth) levels. These correlations were absent in the placebo group. While preliminary, these findings suggest the potential utility of anxiety PRS in predicting response to OSU6162 treatment in AD. Further research using larger cohorts and more comprehensive genetic data is necessary to confirm these results and to advance personalized medicine approaches in alcohol use disorder.
Reproductive restraint to avoid the costs of reproductive conflict in a cooperatively breeding mammal
Authors: Birch Graham , Nichols Hazel J. , Mwanguhya Francis , Cant Michael A. , Blount Jonathan D. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThe costs of reproductive conflict can be an important factor shaping the evolution of life histories in animal societies. These costs may change as individuals age and grow, and with within-group competition. Social costs of reproductive conflict have been invoked to explain why females might gain from delaying maturity or ceasing reproduction midway through life, but not in males. Here we analyze more than 20 years of data to understand how individual male banded mongooses adjust their reproductive activity in response to the costs of reproductive conflict. In banded mongooses groups multiple female breeders enter oestrus synchronously and males compete to mate guard the females. The oldest and heaviest males in the group gained the greatest share of paternity, while younger and lighter males obtained little or no paternity. Those lighter males that are reproductively active paid disproportionate survival costs. Our results suggest that by delaying or suppressing reproduction early in life, males may reduce their mortality. Males may also avoid inflicting costs on their male kin by queuing. These results from an egalitarian cooperative breeding mammal may provide a rare example of voluntary reproductive restraint, although we cannot discount reproductive suppression by rival males.
Sensory and perceptual decisional processes underlying the perception of reverberant auditory environments
Authors: García-Lázaro Haydée G , Teng Santani 
Published: March 2024

ABSTRACTReverberation, a ubiquitous feature of real-world acoustic environments, exhibits statistical regularities that human listeners leverage to self-orient, facilitate auditory perception, and understand their environment. Despite the extensive research on sound source representation in the auditory system, it remains unclear how the brain represents real-world reverberant environments. Here, we characterized the neural response to reverberation of varying realism by applying multivariate pattern analysis to electroencephalographic (EEG) brain signals. Human listeners (12 male and 8 female) heard speech samples convolved with real-world and synthetic reverberant impulse responses and judged whether the speech samples were in a “real” or “fake” environment, focusing on the reverberant background rather than the properties of speech itself. Participants distinguished real from synthetic reverberation with ∼75% accuracy; EEG decoding reveals a multistage decoding time course, with dissociable components early in the stimulus presentation and later in the peri-offset stage. The early component predominantly occurred in temporal electrode clusters, while the later component was prominent in centro-parietal clusters. These findings suggest distinct neural stages in perceiving natural acoustic environments, likely reflecting sensory encoding and higher-level perceptual decision-making processes. Overall, our findings provide evidence that reverberation, rather than being largely suppressed as a noise-like signal, carries relevant environmental information and gains representation along the auditory system. This understanding also offers various applications; it provides insights for including reverberation as a cue to aid navigation for blind and visually impaired people. It also helps to enhance realism perception in immersive virtual reality settings, gaming, music, and film production.SIGNIFICANCEIn real-world environments, multiple acoustic signals coexist, typically reflecting off innumerable surrounding surfaces as reverberation. While reverberation is a rich environmental cue and a ubiquitous feature in acoustic spaces, we do not fully understand how our brains process a signal usually treated as a distortion to be ignored. When asking human participants to make perceptual judgments about reverberant sounds during EEG recordings, we identified distinct, sequential stages of neural processing. The perception of acoustic realism first involves encoding low-level reverberation acoustic features and their subsequent integration into a coherent environment representation. This knowledge provides insights for enhancing realism in immersive virtual reality, music, and film production, and using reverberation to guide navigation for blind and visually impaired people.
Effect of spatial overdispersion on confidence intervals for population density estimated by spatial capture–recapture
Authors: Efford Murray G. , Fletcher David 
Published: March 2024

AbstractSpatially explicit capture–recapture models are used widely to estimate the density of animal populations. The population is represented by an inhomogeneous Poisson process, where each point is the activity center of an individual and density corresponds to the intensity surface. Estimates of average density are robust to unmodeled inhomogeneity, but the coverage of confidence intervals is poor when the intensity surface is stochastic. Poor coverage is due to overdispersion of the number of detected individualsnwith respect to the fitted Poisson distribution. We investigated overdispersion from stochastic generating models (log-Gaussian Cox process and Thomas cluster process). Variation in a scalar measure of local density – the detection-weighted mean density – predicts overdispersion when the generating process is known. A previously proposed correction for overdispersion was successful only in limited cases: rigorous correction for spatial overdispersion requires prior knowledge of the generating process. The problem is lessened by assuming population size to be fixed, but this assumption cannot be justified for common study designs.
Age-dependent somatic expansion of theATXN3CAG repeat in the blood and buccal cell DNA of individuals with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3
Authors: Sidky Ahmed M. , Melo Ana Rosa Vieira , Kay Teresa T. , Raposo Mafalda , Lima Manuela , Monckton Darren G. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractSpinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), a currently untreatable disorder, is caused by the expansion of a genetically unstable polyglutamine-encoding complex CAG repeat in theATXN3gene. Longer alleles are generally associated with earlier onset and frequent intergenerational expansions mediate the anticipation observed in this disorder. Somatic expansion of the repeat has also been implicated in disease progression and slowing the rate of somatic expansion in patients has recently been proposed as a therapeutic strategy. Here, we utilised high-throughput ultra-deep MiSeq amplicon sequencing of theATXN3repeat to precisely define the number of repeats, the exact sequence structure, the phased genotype of an adjacent single nucleotide polymorphism and to accurately quantify somatic expansion in blood and buccal cell DNA samples of a cohort of individuals with SCA3 from the Azores islands (Portugal). We revealed systematic mis-sizing of theATXN3repeat and high levels of inaccuracy of the traditional fragment length analysis approach that have important implications for attempts to identify modifiers of clinical and molecular phenotypes, including genetic instability. Quantification of somatic expansion in blood DNA revealed the expected effects of age and CAG repeat length, although the effect of repeat length was surprisingly modest with much stronger associations with age at sampling. We also observed an association of the downstream rs12895357 single nucleotide polymorphism with the rate of somatic expansion, and a higher level of somatic expansion in buccal cell DNA compared to blood. Although the levels of somatic expansion are much lower per repeat unit, the average level of somatic expansion at theATXN3locus in SCA3 patients is much higher than is typically observed at theHTTlocus in Huntington disease patients. These data suggest that theATXN3locus in SCA3 patients in blood or buccal cell DNA might serve as a good biomarker for clinical trials testing suppressors of somatic expansion with peripheral exposure.
Increased malondialdehyde and nitric oxide formation, lowered total radical trapping capacity coupled with psychological stressors largely predict the phenome of first-episode mild depression in undergraduate students
Authors: Brinholi Francis F. , Vasupanrajit Asara , Semeão Laura de O. , Michelin Ana Paula , Matsumoto Andressa K. , Almulla Abbas F. , Tunvirachaisakul Chavit , Barbosa Decio S. , Maes Michael 
Published: March 2024

AbstractUndergraduate students are frequently afflicted by major depressive disorder (MDD). Oxidative and nitrosative stress (O&NS) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of MDD. There is no information regarding whether mild outpatient MDD (SDMD) and first episode SDMD (FE-SDMD) are accompanied by O&NS. The current study compared lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH), malondialdehyde (MDA), advanced protein oxidation products, nitric oxide metabolites (NOx), thiol groups, plasma total antioxidant potential (TRAP), and paraoxonase 1 activities among SDMD and FE-SDMD patients versus healthy controls. We found that SDMD and FE-SDMD exhibit elevated MDA and NOx, and decreased TRAP and LOOH as compared with controls. There was a significant and positive correlation between O&NS biomarkers and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and negative life events (NLEs). O&NS pathways, NLEs and ACEs accounted for 51.7% of the variance in the phenome of depression, and O&NS and NLS explained 42.9% of the variance in brooding. Overall, these results indicate that SDMD and FE-SDMD are characterized by reduced total antioxidant defenses and increased aldehyde and NOx production. The combined effects of oxidative and psychological stressors substantially predict the manifestation of SDMD. The differences with multi-episode MDD are attributed to specific effects of recurrence of illness and staging of illness.
Assessing the value and knowledge gains from an online tick identification and tick-borne disease management course for the Southeastern United States
Authors: Lippi Catherine A. , Gaff Holly D. , White Alexis L. , Ryan Sadie J. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractBackgroundTick-borne diseases are a growing public health threat in the United States. Despite the prevalence and rising burden of tick-borne diseases, there are major gaps in baseline knowledge and surveillance efforts for tick vectors, even among vector control districts and public health agencies. To address this issue, an online tick training course (OTTC) was developed through the Southeastern Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (SECOEVBD) to provide a comprehensive knowledge base on ticks, tick-borne diseases, and their management.MethodsThe OTTC consisted of training modules covering topics including tick biology, tick identification, tick-borne diseases, and public health, personal tick safety, and tick surveillance. The course was largely promoted to vector control specialists and public health employees throughout the Southeastern US. We collected assessment and survey data on participants to gauge learning outcomes, perceptions of the utility of knowledge gained, and barriers and facilitators to applying the knowledge in the field.ResultsThe OTTC was successful in increasing participants’ baseline knowledge across all course subject areas, with the average score on assessment increasing from 62.6% (pre-course) to 86.7% (post-course). More than half of participants (63.6%) indicated that they would definitely use information from the course in their work. Barriers to using information identified in the delayed assessment included lack of opportunities to apply skills (18.5%) and the need for additional specialized training beyond what the OTTC currently offers (18.5%), while the main facilitator (70.4%) for applying knowledge was having opportunities at work, such as an existing tick surveillance program.ConclusionsOverall, this OTTC demonstrated capacity to improve knowledge in a necessary and underserved public health field, and more than half of participants use or plan to use the information in their work. The geographic reach of this online resource was much larger than simply for the Southeastern region for which it was designed, suggesting a much broader need for this resource. Understanding the utility and penetrance of training programs such as these is important for refining materials and assessing optimal targets for training.