bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Osteocalcin has a muscle-protective effect during weight loss in men without metabolic syndrome: a multicenter, prospective, observational study
Authors: Xiang Yi , Lu Wenyi , Mao Xiaomeng , Zou Jing , Wang Jialu , Xu Renying , Tang Qingya 
Published: November 2023

ObjectiveWeight reduction often accompanies muscle loss. Existing studies highlight the involvement of osteocalcin (OC) in energy metabolism and its potential to prevent age-related muscle loss. Nevertheless, these studies predominantly involve individuals with hyperglycemia, yielding conflicting research outcomes. This study investigated the protective role of OC against muscle loss during weight reduction in individuals without metabolic syndrome (MetS).MeasuresWe enrolled 130 overweight or obese individuals without MetS in a 4-month high-protein, energy-restricted dietary weight management program conducted at two clinic centers. Body composition and laboratory tests were assessed both before and after weight loss. Correlation and regression analysis were made between the changes in metabolic indicators and muscle mass during weight loss.ResultsFollowing weight loss, there was a decrease in body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (PBF), visceral fat area (VFA), fasting insulin (FINS), homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), and lipid profile, and increase in the percentage of skeletal muscle (PSM) and vitamin D. There was no change in osteocalcin (OC) during the intervention. Correlation analysis of the relative changes in all metabolic indicators revealed a positive correlation between OC and PSM (r=0.383, p=0.002). Multiple linear regression analysis found that OC has a significant protective effect on muscles during weight loss in males after adjusting for confounding factors (β=0.089, p=0.017).ConclusionHigh-protein, energy-restricted diets demonstrate efficacy in enhancing metabolic indicators within the weight-loss population. Furthermore, OC exhibits a protective effect on muscle mass during weight reduction in individuals without MetS, with this effect being particularly evident in males.
Mechanisms of carbon dioxide detection in the earthworm Dendrobaena veneta
Authors: Smith Emily Jordan , Ryan Jennifer L. , Lopresti Sofia A. , Haghnazari Dastan B. S. , Anderson Karleigh A. S. , Lipson Sarah J. , Johnson Erik C. , Silver Wayne L. , Saunders Cecil J. 
Published: November 2023

IntroductionCarbon dioxide (CO2) is a critical biological signal that is noxious to many animals at high concentrations. The earthworm Dendrobaena veneta lives in subterranean burrows containing high levels of CO2 and respires through its skin. Despite the ecological and agricultural importance of earthworms, relatively little is known about how they make decisions in their environment, including their response to elevated levels of CO2.MethodsTo examine CO2 detection in this species, we designed the exudate assay, in which we placed an earthworm in a sealed container, exposed it to varying concentrations of CO2 for one minute, and recorded the amount of exudate secreted. Because earthworms excrete exudate in response to noxious stimuli, we hypothesized that the amount of exudate produced was proportional to the amount of irritation. We repeated these experiments after treatment with several blockers for molecules with potential involvement in CO2 detection, including carbonic anhydrases, guanylate cyclase, TRPA1, ASICs, and OTOP channels. We also confirmed the presence of homologous transcripts for each of these gene families in an epithelial transcriptome for D. veneta. Additionally, since organisms often detect CO2 levels indirectly by monitoring the conversion to carbonic acid (a weak acid), we used the exudate assay to evaluate aversion to additional weak acids (formic acid, acetic acid, and propionic acid).ResultsEarthworms excreted significantly more exudate in response to CO2 in a dosage-dependent manner, and this response was muted by the general carbonic anhydrase inhibitor acetazolamide, the carbonic anhydrase IX/XII inhibitor indisulam, the calcium channel blocker ruthenium red, the sodium channel blocker amiloride, and the acid-sensing ion channel blocker diminazene aceturate.DiscussionThese data provide evidence of the role of carbonic anhydrase and epithelial sodium channels in earthworm CO2 detection, establish that, similar to other subterranean-dwelling animals, earthworms are extremely tolerant of CO2, and contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms used by earthworms to detect and react to weak acids in their environment.
Comparative effectiveness of explainable machine learning approaches for extrauterine growth restriction classification in preterm infants using longitudinal data
Authors: Cho Kee Hyun , Kim Eun Sun , Kim Jong Wook , Yun Cheol-Heui , Jang Jae-Won , Kasani Payam Hosseinzadeh , Jo Heui Seung 
Published: November 2023

IntroductionPreterm birth is a leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity. Despite the improvement in the overall mortality in premature infants, the intact survival of these infants remains a significant challenge. Screening the physical growth of infants is fundamental to potentially reducing the escalation of this disorder. Recently, machine learning models have been used to predict the growth restrictions of infants; however, they frequently rely on conventional risk factors and cross-sectional data and do not leverage the longitudinal database associated with medical data from laboratory tests.MethodsThis study aimed to present an automated interpretable ML-based approach for the prediction and classification of short-term growth outcomes in preterm infants. We prepared four datasets based on weight and length including weight baseline, length baseline, weight follow-up, and length follow-up. The CHA Bundang Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit dataset was classified using two well-known supervised machine learning algorithms, namely support vector machine (SVM) and logistic regression (LR). A five-fold cross-validation, and several performance measures, including accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score were used to compare classifier performances. We further illustrated the models’ trustworthiness using calibration and cumulative curves. The visualized global interpretations using Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) is provided for analyzing variables’ contribution to final prediction.ResultsBased on the experimental results with area under the curve, the discrimination ability of the SVM algorithm was found to better than that of the LR model on three of the four datasets with 81%, 76% and 72% in weight follow-up, length baseline and length follow-up dataset respectively. The LR classifier achieved a better ROC score only on the weight baseline dataset with 83%. The global interpretability results revealed that pregnancy-induced hypertension, gestational age, twin birth, birth weight, antenatal corticosteroid use, premature rupture of membranes, sex, and birth length were consistently ranked as important variables in both the baseline and follow-up datasets.DiscussionThe application of machine learning models to the early detection and automated classification of short-term growth outcomes in preterm infants achieved high accuracy and may provide an efficient framework for clinical decision systems enabling more effective monitoring and facilitating timely intervention.
Repurposing of Rutan showed effective treatment for COVID-19 disease
Authors: Salikhov Shavkat I. , Abdurakhmonov Ibrokhim Y. , Oshchepkova Yuliya I. , Ziyavitdinov Jamolitdin F. , Berdiev Nodir Sh. , Aisa Haji Akber , Shen Jingshan , Xu Yechun , Xu H. Eric , Jiang Xiangrui , Zhang Leike , Vypova Natalia L. , Allaberganov Dilshod Sh. , Tagayalieva Nigora A. , Musabaev Erkin I. , Ibadova Gulnara A. , Rajabov Ilxom B. , Lokteva Lyubov M. 
Published: November 2023

Previously, from the tannic sumac plant (Rhus coriaria), we developed the Rutan 25 mg oral drug tablets with antiviral activity against influenza A and B viruses, adenoviruses, paramyxoviruses, herpes virus, and cytomegalovirus. Here, our re-purposing study demonstrated that Rutan at 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg provided a very effective and safe treatment for COVID-19 infection, simultaneously inhibiting two vital enzyme systems of the SARS-CoV-2 virus: 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). There was no drug accumulation in experimental animals’ organs and tissues. A clinical study demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in the C-reactive protein and a reduction of the viremia period. In patients receiving Rutan 25 mg (children) and 100 mg (adults), the frequency of post-COVID-19 manifestations was significantly less than in the control groups not treated with Rutan tablets. Rutan, having antiviral activity, can provide safe treatment and prevention of COVID-19 in adults and children.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, ID NCT05862883.
Deep learning models for preoperative T-stage assessment in rectal cancer using MRI: exploring the impact of rectal filling
Authors: Tian Chang , Ma Xiaolu , Lu Haidi , Wang Qian , Shao Chengwei , Yuan Yuan , Shen Fu 
Published: November 2023

BackgroundThe objective of this study was twofold: firstly, to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) for automatic segmentation of rectal cancer (RC) lesions, and secondly, to construct classification models to differentiate between different T-stages of RC. Additionally, it was attempted to investigate the potential benefits of rectal filling in improving the performance of deep learning (DL) models.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted, including 317 consecutive patients with RC who underwent MRI scans. The datasets were randomly divided into a training set (n = 265) and a test set (n = 52). Initially, an automatic segmentation model based on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) was constructed using nn-UNet. The performance of the model was evaluated using the dice similarity coefficient (DSC), the 95th percentile Hausdorff distance (HD95), and the average surface distance (ASD). Subsequently, three types of DL-models were constructed: Model 1 trained on the total training dataset, Model 2 trained on the rectal-filling dataset, and Model 3 trained on the non-filling dataset. The diagnostic values were evaluated and compared using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, confusion matrix, net reclassification index (NRI), and decision curve analysis (DCA).ResultsThe automatic segmentation showed excellent performance. The rectal-filling dataset exhibited superior results in terms of DSC and ASD (p = 0.006 and 0.017). The DL-models demonstrated significantly superior classification performance to the subjective evaluation in predicting T-stages for all test datasets (all p &lt; 0.05). Among the models, Model 1 showcased the highest overall performance, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.958 and an accuracy of 0.962 in the filling test dataset.ConclusionThis study highlighted the utility of DL-based automatic segmentation and classification models for preoperative T-stage assessment of RC on T2WI, particularly in the rectal-filling dataset. Compared with subjective evaluation, the models exhibited superior performance, suggesting their noticeable potential for enhancing clinical diagnosis and treatment practices.
Look at the future -perceptions of fertility counseling and decision-making among adolescents and their parents in the context of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation—experience of one major center for pediatric stem cell transplantation
Authors: Barnbrock Anke , Hamannt Fabienne , Salzmann-Manrique Emilia , Rohm Theresa , Lange Sandra , Bader Peter , Jarisch Andrea 
Published: November 2023

IntroductionIncreasing survival rates after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in childhood should put focus on improving the quality of life as adults. An essential aspect is fertility and its preservation. In order to take advantage of the possibility of fertility preservation, fertility counseling should be provided to patients and their parents prior to gonadotoxic therapies.MethodsThe aim of this survey was to analyze the impact of fertility counseling in pediatric stem cell transplantation in patients and their parents using questionnaires designed for the study questions. Fifty-one parents and 7 adolescent patients were interviewed between February 2019 and October 2021 about the counseling, their perceptions of fertility issues, and the nature of decision- making concerning fertility preservation. The study included patients with malignant (e.g., leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma) and nonmalignant diseases (e.g., thalassemia, sickle cell disease, immunodeficiency) who received counseling on fertility preservation before HSCT based on an in-house standard and analysed the impact for both groups.ResultsTwo-thirds of the study participants were concerned about having children and grandchildren respectively; for half of all respondents, the topic of fertility and fertility preservation proved to be hopeful. Forty percent of the study participants were burdened by the risk of possible fertility limitations after HSCT. Concerns about fertility was particularly significant for parents whose children were advised to undergo fertility preservation. Parents of children &lt;12 years found deciding on appropriate measures more difficult. Parents with children &gt;7 years involved their children in the decision. All study participants agreed that fertility counseling had not negatively affected the parent-child relationship. More than 90% of all study participants were in favor of addressing fertility, its potential limitations and fertility preservation measures before HSCT. There was no significant difference between the malignant and the non-malignant cohort in all study questions.DiscussionOverall, the standardized fertility counseling provided in our center of pediatric stem cell transplantation resulted in high satisfaction among patients and their parents. Multiple counseling on infertility risk, including the younger patients in the decision-making and further options after gonadotoxic therapy may increase the satisfaction of the counseled patients and their parents.
Post-marketing safety surveillance and re-evaluaiton of Shu-Xue-Ning injection: a real-world study based on 30,122 cases
Authors: Xinyao Jin , Yifan Zhang , Keyi Wang , Wentai Pang , Chunyang Wang , Hui Wang , Chunxiang Liu , Yunhua Xue , Wenke Zheng 
Published: November 2023

Objective: This study aims to investigate the safety of Shu-Xue-Ning injection (SXNI) in real-world clinical applications.Methods: A prospective, multi-center, large-sample intensive monitoring method was used to monitor the use of SXNI in several medical institutions across China while collecting patients’ dosing and adverse event information. Patients who suspected as adverse reactions made comparisons with patients who did not report adverse reactions to calculate the correlation between relevant risk factors and suspected adverse reactions. Statistical analysis software SAS 9.1 was used for data analysis.Results: A total of 48 hospitals participated in this intensive monitoring study of SXNI, and 30,122 patients were monitored from July 2015 to December 2018. A total of 1,908 adverse events were reported during the use of SXNI, with an adverse event rate of 6.33% and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 6.06%–6.61%. Association assessment showed that 54 cases presented with SXNI-related adverse reactions with an incidence of 0.18% and a 95% CI of 0.13%–0.23%, thereby indicating that the incidence of SXNI-related adverse reactions was occasional. SXNI-related adverse reactions involved 9 systems-organs with 20 clinical manifestations, and the most common adverse reactions were rash, pruritus, and other damages of skin and its appendages. No serious adverse reactions were observed; 27.78% of the adverse reactions occurred within 30 min of drug administration and more than half of them occurred within 2 h of drug administration; 96.3% of the adverse reactions were cured or improved. Causal analysis showed that women, long dispensing time, and slow dripping speed rate were considered as risk factors.Conclusion: The incidence of SXNI-related adverse reactions in real-world clinical applications is occasional and in a reasonable range with a good prognosis.
Evaluation of pharmacological and pharmacokinetic herb-drug interaction between irinotecan hydrochloride injection and Kangai injection in colorectal tumor-bearing mice and healthy rats
Authors: Chen Yanfei , Hu Zhaoliang , Jiang Jing , Liu Chenxi , Gao Shuxiao , Song Min , Hang Taijun 
Published: November 2023

Introduction: Kangai (KA) injection, a Chinese herbal injection, is often used in combination with irinotecan (CPT-11) to enhance the effectiveness of anti-colorectal cancer treatment and alleviate side effects. However, the combined administration of this herb-drug pair remains controversial due to limited pre-clinical evidence and safety concerns. This study aimed to determine the pre-clinical herb-drug interactions between CPT-11 and KA injection to provide a reference for their clinical co-administration.Methods: In the pharmacological study, BALB/c mice with CT26 colorectal tumors were divided into four groups and treated with vehicle alone (0.9% saline), CPT-11 injection (100 mg/kg), KA injection (10 mL/kg), or a combination of CPT-11 and KA injection, respectively. The tumor volume of mice was monitored daily to evaluate the therapeutic effect. Daily body weight, survival rate, hematopoietic toxicity, immune organ indices, and gut toxicity were analyzed to study the adverse effects. Healthy Sprague-Dawley rats in the pharmacokinetic study were administered KA injection only (4 mL/kg), or a combination of CPT-11 injection (20 mg/kg) and KA injection, respectively. Six key components of KA injection (oxymatrine, matrine, ginsenoside Rb1, Rg1, Re, and astragaloside IV) in rat plasma samples collected within 24 h after administration were determined by LC-MS/MS.Results: The pharmacological study indicated that KA injection has the potential to enhance the anti-colorectal cancer efficacy of CPT-11 injection and alleviate the severe weight loss induced by CPT-11 injection in tumor-bearing mice. The pharmacokinetic study revealed that co-administration resulted in inhibition of oxymatrine metabolism in rats, evidenced by the significantly reduced Cmax and AUC0-t of its metabolite, matrine (p &lt; 0.05), from 2.23 ± 0.24 to 1.38 ± 0.12 μg/mL and 8.29 ± 1.34 to 5.30 ± 0.79 μg h/mL, respectively. However, due to the similar efficacy of oxymatrine and matrine, this may not compromise the anti-cancer effect of this herb-drug pair.Discussion: This study clarified the pre-clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetic benefits and risks of the CPT-11-KA combination and provided a reference for their clinical co-administration.
Layered metal-organic chalcogenide thin films for flexible and large-area X-ray direct detection
Authors: Fratelli Ilaria , Maserati Lorenzo , Basiricò Laura , Galeazzi Alessandro , Passarella Bianca , Ciavatti Andrea , Caironi Mario , Fraboni Beatrice 
Published: November 2023

X-ray detection for personal dosimetry requires sensitive, stable and non-toxic materials. At the same time, scalability onto large-area and flexible substrates is emerging as a desirable property. To satisfy these requirements, novel materials to be employed as the active layer of direct X-ray detectors are needed. In this search for easy-processability, large area, efficient and non-toxic materials for direct X-ray detection, we assess the performance of a layered metal-organic chalcogenide [AgSePh]∞, recently proposed as representative of a novel excitonic semiconductors platform. Here we demonstrate that [AgSePh]∞ can be successfully applied as direct ionizing radiation detecting layer, reaching sensitivities up to (180 ± 10) μC Gy−1 cm−2 and competitive limit of detection down to (100 ± 30) nGy s−1. Moreover, it offers good stability and reproducibility of detection after 100 Gy of irradiation and upon bending to a curvature radius of 5 mm.
Examining resilience in Singapore in the face of COVID-19 community restrictions
Authors: Chan Alyssa Yenyi , Tan Chuen Seng , Chan Felicia Jia Hui , Soh Alexius Matthias Sheng En , Chen Mark I-Cheng , Hildon Zoe Jane-Lara 
Published: November 2023

IntroductionTo curb transmission of COVID-19, Singapore has experienced multiple, ongoing community restrictions. Gaining the ability to adapt and thrive under pressure will be key to addressing effects of these restrictions on mental health. To inform this, we examine the following research questions, (1) What typifies adversity related to living with on–off COVID-19 restrictions? (2) Who are the resilient? (3) How are negative effects of adversity attenuated?MethodsParticipants were a part of the Strengthening Our Community’s Resilience Against Threats from Emerging Infections (SOCRATES) cohort, invited to participate in this survey either via email or text message. Using the community survey data (N = 1,364), analyses including Wilcoxon rank sum test and logistic regression were conducted.ResultsAdversities are identified as circumstances associated with a significant increase in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores. These are typified by having financial worries; experiencing heightened emotions and frequent crying; having “out of body” experiences; having to move frequently or not being able to settle into accommodation; and regularly feeling mistreated by someone close to you. Being resilient in the face of adversity was determined by HADS scores for depression and anxiety (dichotomized at the median) and characterized by overall better social relationships such as having harmonious living situations and solution-driven coping strategies, especially the ability to harness the belief that difficult situations can lead to growth.DiscussionIn accordance with the Loads-Levers-Lifts model, results indicate that initiatives that increase access to identified protection, while minimizing exposure to known adversities where possible, will promote resilience under COVID-19 restrictions.
Investigating the relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and postpartum depression in Chinese women: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Huang Wei , Wu Xiaoli , Yao Zhenzhen , Gu Yingping , Lai Xin , Meng Liping , Peng Songxu 
Published: November 2023

BackgroundPostpartum depression (PPD) is associated with several psychological and obstetric factors. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been linked with a high risk of depression, but little is known about the relationship between maternal HBV infection and PPD. We aimed to investigate the association between HBV infection and PPD.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included 3,808 mothers who gave birth in a hospital in southern China. Self-reported Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess PPD. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine whether maternal HBV infection was associated with PPD risk.ResultsOf the 3,808 participants, 11.9% of mothers had PPD at 6 weeks postpartum. Two hundred and seventy-eight (7.3%) and 3,530 (92.7%) were in the HBV and control groups, respectively. Women with HBV infection were more likely to test positive for PPD (14.7 vs.11.7%). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HBV-infected women did not have a significantly higher incidence of PPD (OR = 1.23; 95% CI, 0.82–1.84) than those without HBV infection in the study cohort. Parity and postpartum hemorrhage were found to be associated with PPD. In addition, our study showed that e antigen positivity was not associated with PPD risk (OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.19–1.63).ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the relationship between maternal HBV infection and PPD. In a cohort of women without prior history or family history of mental illness, having HBV infection was not significantly associated with self-reporting of PPD compared to not having HBV infection.