bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
2766 The ‘frailty opportunity identifier’—a practical tool utilising data to identify opportunities for improvement
Authors: Thompson D , Conroy S , Tite M 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Key to managing frailty is to first measure it. Until recently, there was no hospital coding for frailty, which meant that it was not visible to commissioners in routine datasets, despite the wealth of studies highlight poor outcomes for older people living with frailty. AFN has created the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS), which generates a frailty risk from routine codes included in NHS datasets. This allows commissioners and providers to ‘see’ frailty across their system. We have designed and implemented easy to use tools that allow any NHS staff to look at frailty risk profiles in any NHS organisation, to support improvement activity. The HFRS tool has been downloaded by 122 health systems in England.
Patient safety is fundamental to AFN and reducing the harm older people are exposed to in hospital is the main aim of the programme and sites participating in the network. To achieve this and spread best practice the AFN delivery team use a specific QI approach, primarily the Model for Improvement, focusing on Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to build change in local systems. The team deliver events each year for all participating teams to support teams and enable sharing of experience. Site visits comprise discussion about the local context, plans for change and a discussion about possible barriers, as well as a walk-though the patient pathway with patient safety as the absolute focus. Each participating hospital has an allocated QI Associate to support the team to plan, deliver and measure improvements.
AFN has linked closely with other campaigns that support the safety and improve the care of older people, such as ‘end PJ paralysis’ and ‘no decision about me without me’.
2828 The influence of ethnicity and social disadvantage on frailty in a United Kingdom (UK) population
Authors: Heald AH , Lu W , Williams R , McCay K , Stedman M , O’Neill TW 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Background
Frailty has both health + health economic consequences. There are however few data concerning occurrence of frailty in different ethnic groups in the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of this analysis was to determine frailty prevalence across an ethnically diverse city and to explore the influence of age/social-disadvantage/ethnicity on occurrence. We looked also at frailty related risk of severe illness in relation to COVID-19 infection.

Methods
Using data from the Greater Manchester Health Record (GMCR), we defined frailty index based on the presence/absence of up to 36 deficits scaled 0–1. We defined frailty based on those with 9 or more deficits (out of total = 36) and electronic frailty index (eFi) as the total number of deficits present, divided by 36 (range 0–1).

Results
There were 534,567 people aged 60 + years on 1January2020 in Greater Manchester. There was noticeable variation in frailty prevalence across general practices. The majority were white (84%) with 4.7% self-describing as Asian/Asian British, and 1.3% Black/Black British. The prevalence of moderate to severe frailty (eFI &gt; 0.24) was 22.1%. Prevalence was higher in women than men (25.3% vs 18.5%) and increased with age. Compared to the prevalence of frailty in Whites (22.5%) prevalence was higher in Asian/Asian British ethnicity people (28.1%) and lower in those of Black/Black British descent (18.7%). Prevalence increased with increasing social disadvantage (p = 0.002 for trend across disadvantage quintiles). Among those with a positive COVID-19 test those with frailty were more likely to require hospital admission within 28-days, with increased risk for Asian/Asian British descent (OR = 1.47; 95% CI 1.34–1.61) and Black/Black British descent (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.56–2.20) people vs Whites.

Conclusion
There is marked variation in occurrence of frailty across Greater Manchester. Frailty is more common in Asian/Asian British people than Whites and less common among Black/Black British with a gradient that relates to social disadvantage.
2864 A system wide approach to raising frailty awareness through tier 1 training
Authors: Adams J , Bull M , Merrony I , Ahmad G 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Introduction
The British Geriatrics Society ‘Joining the Dots’ blueprint recommends delivery of inter-professional education aligned with the Skills for Health Frailty Core Capabilities Framework as part of a system wide frailty strategy. Our ambition is to educate and train the entire health and care system in frailty awareness through the Guildford & Waverley Frailty Academy (GWFA).

Methods
The GWFA developed a Frailty Awareness course aligned to Tier 1 Core Capabilities and introduced this as part of a system wide programme of education and workforce development in frailty. The course was embedded in e-learning platforms across Acute, Community, Ambulance services and Local Authorities. A blend of virtual and face to face (FTF) workshops were used in undergraduate University programmes, the Voluntary sector and care sector.

Results
Between April 2023 and July 2024, 2195 people completed Tier 1 training.
Feedback showed the following:
Qualitative responses showed participants felt more aware of frailty and had a better understanding of how to adapt their practice when encountering older people with frailty.

Conclusions
Tier 1 training is an effective method of raising awareness of frailty across a health and care system when applied as part of a broader system strategy using a variety of mediums for delivery.
SSL-VQ: vector-quantized variational autoencoders for semi-supervised prediction of therapeutic targets across diverse diseases
Authors: Namba Satoko , Li Chen , Yuyama Otani Noriko , Yamanishi Yoshihiro 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Motivation
Identifying effective therapeutic targets poses a challenge in drug discovery, especially for uncharacterized diseases without known therapeutic targets (e.g. rare diseases, intractable diseases).

Results
This study presents a novel machine learning approach using multimodal vector-quantized variational autoencoders (VQ-VAEs) for predicting therapeutic target molecules across diseases. To address the lack of known therapeutic target–disease associations, we incorporate the information on uncharacterized diseases without known targets or uncharacterized proteins without known indications (applicable diseases) in the semi-supervised learning (SSL) framework. The method integrates disease-specific and protein perturbation profiles with genetic perturbations (e.g. gene knockdowns and gene overexpressions) at the transcriptome level. Cross-cell representation learning, facilitated by VQ-VAEs, was performed to extract informative features from protein perturbation profiles across diverse human cell types. Concurrently, cross-disease representation learning was performed, leveraging VQ-VAE, to extract informative features reflecting disease states from disease-specific profiles. The model’s applicability to uncharacterized diseases or proteins is enhanced by considering the consistency between disease-specific and patient-specific signatures. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated across three practical scenarios for 79 diseases: target repositioning for target–disease pairs, new target prediction for uncharacterized diseases, and new indication prediction for uncharacterized proteins. This method is expected to be valuable for identifying therapeutic targets across various diseases.

Availability and implementation
Code: github.com/YamanishiLab/SSL-VQ and Data: 10.5281/zenodo.14644837.
Unusual presentation of Ascaris lumbricoides in the urinary tract: a case report
Authors: Sowaity Zaid A , Zamareh Ammar A , Sabooh Tayseer N , Sowaity Amjed T , Khdour Yazan F , Atmeza Mutaz A A 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Ascaris lumbricoides is one of the most well-known helminthic parasites affecting humans. Ascariasis is prevalent in developing countries where inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilitate human-to-human transmission. In this report, we present a case of a 20-year-old male who arrived at the emergency room with severe right flank pain, high-grade fever, and recurrent vomiting. Diagnostic evaluations were conducted, including a complete blood count test, urinalysis, stool analysis, abdominal ultrasound, and CT scan. The final diagnosis was A lumbricoides found in the distal part of the ureter. A ureteroscopy procedure confirmed the diagnosis and extracted the worm, which measured 6 cm in length, had a brown colour, and exhibited a tight elastic consistency. While Ascaris is commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract, its occurrence in the urinary tract is an extremely rare phenomenon. In our case, the most likely explanation is that the Ascaris accessed the distal ureter through retrograde migration, wherein the worm traverses from the bladder into the ureter.
Reflective group interventions with social workers: A scoping review
Authors: Gregory Mark , Cook Laura , Yussif Ibn Abdallah , Porter Bryony 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Social work is a rewarding yet highly demanding profession, and supporting practitioners to manage the emotional and practical demands of the role is key to addressing ongoing challenges in the recruitment and retention of social workers. Reflective group interventions (RGIs)—such as group supervision and reflective case discussion groups—are commonly used to support social workers, however, comparatively little is known about the effectiveness of RGIs or the outcomes of providing them to social workers. This article is based on a scoping review of empirical research on RGIs with social workers. Twenty-seven studies were included as part of the review and findings data were extracted under four pre-determined categories: personal and professional development, working with service users, retention, and cost effectiveness. Challenges in embedding RGIs into practice were also identified as an area of interest. The evidence base for the effectiveness of RGIs is relatively weak, with most studies being small-scale, localized, and exploratory in nature. Based on findings from the review, this article proposes a logic model for prospective inputs, outputs, and outcomes of RGIs and recommends further research to support the development of effective RGIs with social workers.
Brain connectivity in individuals with migraine resets during the headache phase: a whole-brain connectivity study
Authors: Schulz Enrico , Mayr Astrid , Jahn Pauline , Stankewitz Anne 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Episodic migraine is reflected by cyclic changes in behavior and cortical processing. We aimed to identify how functional connectivity changes over the entire migraine cycle. By using longitudinal neuroimaging and a whole-brain connectivity analysis approach, we tested 12 episodic migraine patients across 82 functional MRI recordings during spontaneous migraine headaches with follow-up measurements over the pain-free interval without any external stimulation. We found that the functional connectivity linearly increased over the interictal interval. In the prodromal phase, we observed the strongest connections between the anterior agranular insula and the posterior orbitofrontal cortex with sensory, motor and cingulate areas. The strength of the connections dropped during the headache. Peak connectivity during the prodromal phase and its collapse during the headache can be regarded as a mechanism of normalizing cortical processing. We speculate about a malfunction at the molecular level in agranular frontal and insular regions, which needs to be addressed in subsequent studies.
Conceptual obstacles to the existence of an innate sense of number in the brain
Authors: dos Santos César Frederico 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
I contend that the paper by Lorenzi et al. (2025) fails to establish the existence of an innate sense of number in the brain, as it conflates the terms “number” and “numerosity.” While “numerosity” refers to the magnitude, “number” refers to the scale used by numerate humans to measure this magnitude. Since they do not provide evidence that the numerical scale is innately present in the brain, the behavioral and neural findings they present, at best, support the existence of a cerebral mechanism sensitive to numerosities.
The origins of number sense: a commentary on “Is there an innate sense of number in the brain?”
Authors: Howard Scarlett R 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
The question of whether a “sense of number” is innate has been posed in a new article by Lorenzi et al. (2025). The article explores the behavioral and neurobiological evidence from newborn animals to delve into the evolutionary origins of a sense of number. Lorenzi et al.(2025) raises new questions, interpretations, and ideas for future work to understand how number sense has evolved in humans and nonhuman animals. In this commentary, I discuss the arguments for an innate number sense, evaluate the implications for numerical cognition, and suggest how future work could fill the current gaps in our knowledge.
Judge Dread: Court severity, repossession risk and demand in mortgage and housing markets
Authors: Montebruno Piero , Silva Olmo , Szumilo Nikodem 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
We study the impact of borrower protection on mortgage and housing demand using variation in the likelihood that houses are repossessed coming from heterogeneity in preferences of local judges. We develop a framework that provides conditions to identify the impact of repossession risk on housing and credit demand – holding supply fixed. Empirically, we exploit exogenous variation in risk created by boundaries of courts’ catchment areas. We find that one standard deviation decrease in borrower protection decreases borrowing and house prices by 4.5%.
Phenotype and genotype of 23 patients with hypopituitarism and pathogenic GLI2 variants
Authors: Aouchiche Karine , Charmensat Camille , Morgane Pertuit , Teinturier Cécile , Bretones Patricia , Brac de la Perriere Aude , Layet Valérie , Bouhours-Nouet Natacha , Vantyghem Marie-Christine , Haine Elsa , Nunes-Sanchez Marie-Laure , Camard Odile , Baron Sabine , Castinetti Frederic , Barlier Anne , Brue Thierry , Reynaud Rachel , Saveanu Alexandru ,   Genhypopit Network, Linglard A , Lambert A-S , Coutant R , Abel C , Daval Cote M , Barat P , Nicolino M , Jullien Nicolas 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Objective
To analyze the phenotype and genotype of patients with congenital hypopituitarism (CH) and pathogenic (P) GLI2 variants.

Methods
A large cohort of patients with hypopituitarism was screened for GLI2 variants using a next-generation sequencing panel. Genotype–phenotype correlations were then assessed using GENHYPOPIT phenotypic data.

Results
Of the 39 GLI2 variants identified in 717 index cases, 17 were classified as pathogenic and likely pathogenic. All these GLI2 variants were identified in 23 patients (17 index cases and 6 relatives) with associated pituitary stalk interruption syndrome or extrapituitary manifestations. GLI2 variants were the most frequently identified genetic cause in patients with syndromic hypopituitarism (68%): 88% (15/17) of mutations were truncating variants, and 45% were de novo. Most patients with a GLI2 variant (21/23, 91%) had hypopituitarism, including 21.7% (5/23) presenting isolated growth hormone deficiency. Two patients had Kallmann syndrome. Pituitary morphological abnormalities were present in 84% of the patients with P GLI2 variants (index cases and affected relatives). The remaining signs included neurocognitive disorders (38%), hexadactyly (27%), cardiac septal defects, and renal/vesical abnormalities. A possible digenic origin (GLI2/HESX1) is proposed in one family.

Conclusion
In this large multicentric international cohort, GLI2 was the most frequently identified genetic cause of syndromic CH with constant association of pituitary stalk interruption syndrome or extrapituitary clinical features. In addition to polydactyly and neurocognitive disorders, cardiac and renal abnormalities were also frequently observed and should be investigated further. The variable expression of GLI2-associated phenotypes justifies further research in this area.
Suspected de novo heart failure in outpatient care: the REVOLUTION HF study
Authors: Anderson Lisa , Bayes-Genis Antoni , Bodegård Johan , Mullin Katrina , Gustafsson Stefan , Rosano Giuseppe M C , Sundström Johan 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Background and Aims
Ambulatory patients presenting with signs or symptoms of heart failure (HF) should undergo natriuretic peptide testing. Rates of death, HF hospitalization, and healthcare costs were examined in patients thus identified with suspected de novo HF.

Methods
This population-based study (REVOLUTION HF) encompassing two large healthcare regions in Sweden examined patients who presented to outpatient care for the first time between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2020, who had a recorded sign (peripheral oedema) or symptom (dyspnoea) of HF, and whose N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measured &gt;300 ng/L within ±30 days of that sign or symptom. Characteristics, outcomes, healthcare patterns, and healthcare costs for these patients were followed for 1 year. Comparisons were made with matched controls without history of HF, its signs, its symptoms, or elevated NT-proBNP.

Results
Overall, 5942 patients (median age 78.7 years; 54% women) presented with suspected de novo HF. Within 1 year, 29% had received a HF diagnosis. Patients with suspected de novo HF had higher rates of all-cause death (11.7 vs. 6.5 events/100 person-years) and HF hospitalizations (12.5 vs. 2.2 events/100 person-years) than matched controls (n = 2048), with the highest event rates in the weeks after presentation. Rates were higher with higher NT-proBNP levels. Although some patients already used HF guideline-directed medical therapies for other indications, initiation of new medications was variable. Healthcare costs were higher in patients with suspected de novo HF than in matched controls, driven mostly by HF and chronic kidney disease.

Conclusions
Patients with suspected HF and elevated NT-proBNP had high mortality and morbidity in the weeks after presentation, and accrued substantial healthcare costs, highlighting an urgent need for prompt identification, evaluation, and treatment of HF.
Costly traits in a dynamic world: trait responses to fine-scale varying environment differ according to selection pressures in a tropical lizard
Authors: Valiya Parambil Gokul , Isvaran Kavita 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Under current climate change patterns, rapidly changing environments can impose strong selection on traits. Costly traits that require heavy investment and strongly affect fitness may be particularly vulnerable to such changes. Despite organisms experiencing dynamic environments, our knowledge of costly trait responses is limited as longitudinal studies across generations are rare. Using a long-term 11-generation dataset, we examined how fine-scale spatial and temporal variation in ecological and demographic conditions modify costly traits, specifically positive allometry in morphological traits under different selection pressures, in Psammophilus dorsalis, a short-lived socially polygynous lizard. We comprehensively measured males and females across non-overlapping generations and space and quantified fine-scale variation in key ecological and demographic parameters. Positive allometry in male head width (under sexual selection) varied dramatically over generations and space. Limited rainfall, harsh temperatures, and greater competition promoted positive allometry in male head width. In stark contrast, positive allometry in female interlimb length (under fecundity selection) only weakly correlated with environmental conditions. We demonstrate that costly traits are sensitive to changing environments depending on the underlying selection pressure, with sexually selected traits showing larger effects in tropical lizards. Future climatic predictions, indicating accelerated warming and altered rainfall, can strongly impact phenotypes in tropical lizards.
Targeted seed EMS mutagenesis reveals a basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor underlying male sterility in sorghum
Authors: Xiao Yuguo , Khangura Rajdeep S , Wang Zhonghui , Dilkes Brian P , Eveland Andrea L 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Forward genetic screens of mutant populations are fundamental for functional genomics studies. However, isolating independent mutant alleles to molecularly identify causal genes is challenging in species recalcitrant to genetic manipulation. Here, we demonstrate that classic seed ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis coupled with genome sequencing can overcome this limitation in sorghum. We used this method to generate new mutant alleles of sorghum MALE STERILE 8 (MS8) and identified the causal locus for the ms8 phenotype as Sobic.004G270900, which encodes the sorghum ortholog of maize bhlh122, a basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factor required for male fertility in maize. Bulked segregant analysis mapped ms8-1 to a region on chromosome 4 containing Sobic.004G270900. Seeds from heterozygous MS8/ms8-1 plants were mutagenized and screened for chimeric inflorescences containing sectors with white, sterile anthers resembling the ms8-1 homozygous phenotype. DNA sequencing of sterile and fertile sectors from a single chimeric inflorescence revealed two mutations in Sobic.004G270900 within the sterile sector, but not the fertile sector. Isolation of this loss-of-function allele (ms8-2) established Sobic.004G270900 as the causative locus for male sterility in the ms8 mutant. We generated additional alleles of MS8 in a different genetic background using CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing, where deletions in Sobic.004G270900 also resulted in male sterility. Our work identified a gene underlying male sterility in sorghum and provides a novel and straightforward genetic tool for researchers who lack access to advanced transformation facilities to validate gene candidates. Unlike gene editing, no prior knowledge of candidate genes is required for targeted seed EMS mutagenesis to aid identification of causal loci.
Why, How, and When Do National Competition Agencies Support Supranational Regional Competition Regimes? A Case of the COMESA Competition Regime
Authors: Kigwiru Vellah Kedogo 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
A supranational institution is established by Member States and delegated with regulatory authority to make legally binding decisions over a specific issue area. Focusing on an inherently political and complex issue area – competition policy – this paper examines the conditions under which national regulatory agencies (NRA) support supranational institutions sharing competencies with NRAs in enforcing a specific policy area. Using rational choice theory, which argues that actors are instrumentally motivated by benefits accrued and costs incurred when supporting institutions, COMESA national competition agency (NCA) officials were interviewed to elicit what motivates them to support the COMESA regional competition regime (RCR) over time. The findings of this study have shown that COMESA NCA officials consider benefits accrued and costs incurred when working with the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC). Beyond the benefits and costs analysis, membership in the CCC Board of Commissioners, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) between CCC and NCAs, the ability of the CCC to consider NCA’s concerns in its decision-making, and citizen support for the CCC have all driven COMESA NCA officials’ supranational roles towards CCC. This study calls for nuanced research that explores the bureaucratic cooperation between NRA’s sharing competencies with supranational institutions to inform legal, political and international relations research. Importantly, the findings inform research on how supranational institutions can invoke national-level support for supranational governance.