bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparing SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 self-testing/self-sampling with molecular and professional-use tests: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Katzenschlager Stephan , Brümmer Lukas E. , Schmitz Stephani , Tolle Hannah , Manten Katharina , Gaeddert Mary , Erdmann Christian , Lindner Andreas , Tobian Frank , Grilli Maurizio , Pollock Nira R. , Macé Aurélien , Erkosar Berra , Carmona Sergio , Ongarello Stefano , Johnson Cheryl C. , Sacks Jilian A. , Denkinger Claudia M. , Yerlikaya Seda 
Published: December 2023

AbstractSelf-testing is an effective tool to bridge the testing gap for several infectious diseases; however, its performance in detecting SARS-CoV-2 using antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) has not been systematically reviewed. This study aimed to inform WHO guidelines by evaluating the accuracy of COVID-19 self-testing and self-sampling coupled with professional Ag-RDT conduct and interpretation. Articles on this topic were searched until November 7th, 2022. Concordance between self-testing/self-sampling and fully professional-use Ag-RDTs was assessed using Cohen’s kappa. Bivariate meta-analysis yielded pooled performance estimates. Quality and certainty of evidence were evaluated using QUADAS-2 and GRADE tools. Among 43 studies included, twelve reported on self-testing, and 31 assessed self-sampling only. Around 49.6% showed low risk of bias. Overall concordance with professional-use Ag-RDTs was high (kappa 0.91 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88–0.94]). Comparing self-testing/self-sampling to molecular testing, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 70.5% (95% CI 64.3–76.0) and 99.4% (95% CI 99.1–99.6), respectively. Higher sensitivity (i.e., 93.6% [95% CI 90.4–96.8] for Ct < 25) was estimated in subgroups with higher viral loads using Ct values as a proxy. Despite high heterogeneity among studies, COVID-19 self-testing/self-sampling exhibits high concordance with professional-use Ag-RDTs. This suggests that self-testing/self-sampling can be offered as part of COVID-19 testing strategies.Trial registration: PROSPERO: CRD42021250706.
Machine learning model for predicting immediate postoperative desaturation using spirometry signal data
Authors: Shin Youmin , Kim Yoon Jung , Jin Juseong , Lee Seung-Bo , Kim Hee-Soo , Kim Young-Gon 
Published: December 2023

AbstractPostoperative desaturation is a common post-surgery pulmonary complication. The real-time prediction of postoperative desaturation can become a preventive measure, and real-time changes in spirometry data can provide valuable information on respiratory mechanics. However, there is a lack of related research, specifically on using spirometry signals as inputs to machine learning (ML) models. We developed an ML model and postoperative desaturation prediction index (DPI) by analyzing intraoperative spirometry signals in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery. We analyzed spirometry data from patients who underwent laparoscopic, robot-assisted gynecologic, or urologic surgery, identifying postoperative desaturation as a peripheral arterial oxygen saturation level below 95%, despite facial oxygen mask usage. We fitted the ML model on two separate datasets collected during different periods. (Datasets A and B). Dataset A (Normal 133, Desaturation 74) was used for the entire experimental process, including ML model fitting, statistical analysis, and DPI determination. Dataset B (Normal 20, Desaturation 4) was only used for verify the ML model and DPI. Four feature categories—signal property, inter-/intra-position correlation, peak value/interval variability, and demographics—were incorporated into the ML models via filter and wrapper feature selection methods. In experiments, the ML model achieved an adequate predictive capacity for postoperative desaturation, and the performance of the DPI was unbiased.
Molecular characterization of a galactomannan extracted from Tara (Caesalpinia spinosa) seeds
Authors: Ibieta Gabriela , Bustos Atma-Sol , Ortiz-Sempértegui Jimena , Linares-Pastén Javier A. , Peñarrieta J. Mauricio 
Published: December 2023

AbstractTara gum (TG) is a polysaccharide extracted from the seeds of a South American tree called Tara (Caesalpinia spinosa). TG is a galactomannan with many applications in the food industry, mainly as an emulsifier and stabilizer agent. In addition, it is also used in the paper and cosmetic industries. In the present study, we performed a molecular characterization based on chemical composition and physicochemical properties to understand the properties behind TG applications. TG was extracted and purified from Tara seeds distributed in different ecoregions of Bolivia. The monosaccharide composition analysis was determined by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography/pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). At the same time, their molecular characteristics, such as molar mass, root-mean-square radius, hydrodynamic radius, conformation, and densities, were studied by asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled to multi-angle light scattering refractive index (AF4-MALS-dRI), also the specific refractive index increment (dn/dc) was determined for the first time using AF4 for TG. The results revealed that the gum samples are galactomannans composed of mannose (Man) and galactose (Gal) in a ratio of 3.37 (Man/Gal), with an average molar mass range from 2.460 × 107 to 3.699 × 107 Da, distributed in a single population. The root-mean-square radius range from 260.4 to 281.6 nm, and dn/dc is 0.1454. The Kratky plots based on 14 scattering angles indicated that the conformation of all samples corresponds to random coil monodisperse, while their gyration radius/hydrodynamic radius ratio (ρ) is high. All these results suggest that the chains have a low branched density, consistent with the Gal/Man composition. To the best of our knowledge, we report for the first time an integrated physicochemical study of TG relevant to developing emulsifier and stabilizer formulations.
Higher gamma-glutamyl transferase levels are associated with an increased risk of incident systemic sclerosis: a nationwide population-based study
Authors: Kwon Oh Chan , Han Kyungdo , Park Min-Chan 
Published: December 2023

AbstractGamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is known to promote oxidative stress. As oxidative stress is a key component in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc), we investigated whether GGT levels are associated with the risk of incident SSc. A cohort of individuals without SSc who underwent national health examination in 2009 were extracted from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. The incidence rate of SSc during the observation period, between 2009 and 2019, was estimated. GGT levels measured in 2009 were categorized into quartiles (Q1 [lowest], Q2, Q3, and Q4 [highest]). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the risk of incident SSc according to the quartiles of GGT, using Q1 as the reference. A total of 6,091,788 individuals were included. Incidence rate of SSc was 1.16 per 100,000 person-years over a mean observation period of 9.2 years. After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, economic income, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and chronic kidney disease, higher quartiles of GGT levels were significantly associated with a higher risk of incident SSc (Q4: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.807, 95% confidence interval CI 1.446–2.259; Q3: aHR 1.221, 95% CI 0.971–1.536; and Q2: aHR 1.034, 95% CI 0.807–1.324; p for trend < 0.001). Higher GGT levels were associated with a higher risk of incident SSc. These findings could lead to a closer monitoring for high risk individuals and an earlier diagnosis and treatment.
Validating the association of Oxford classification and renal function deterioration among Taiwanese individuals with Immunoglobulin A nephropathy
Authors: Chen Cheng-Hsu , Wu Ming-Ju , Tsai Shang-Feng 
Published: December 2023

AbstractValidation of the Oxford classification (MEST and MEST-C) for Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) in the Taiwanese population is lacking. Our study aimed to validate this classification and assess individual lesion impact. We conducted a retrospective cohort study at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan (Jan 2011–Jul 2023). Composite renal outcomes were evaluated using clinical conditions and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). We used Kaplan–Meier, univariable/multivariable logistic regression and ROC curves. Subgroup analysis considered eGFR < or ≥ 30.0 ml/min/1.73 m2. In 366 renal biopsies, serum creatinine was 1.34 mg/dl, eGFR 53.8 ml/min/1.73 m2, urine protein–creatinine ratio 1159 mg/g. T1/T2 lesions had lowest baseline eGFR (39.6/11.5 ml/min/1.73 m2), correlating with poorest renal survival (median survival 54.7/34.4 months). Univariable analysis linked all individual variables to worse renal outcomes. Multivariable analysis (MEST/MEST-C) showed only T1/T2 linked to worse outcomes. T score had highest predictive power (AUC 0.728, sensitivity 60.2%, specificity 83.6%), with MEST having high AUC (0.758). No extra predictive power was seen transitioning MEST to MEST-C. Subgroup analysis (eGFR < 30.0 ml/min/1.73 m2) associated C1 with improved renal outcomes (odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI 0.03–0.65). T lesion correlated with worse outcomes across subgroups. The T lesion consistently correlated with worse renal outcomes across all groups and baseline statuses. Integrating the C lesion into the transition from MEST to MEST-C did not enhance predictive power. Importantly, the C1 lesion was linked to improved renal outcomes in the eGFR < 30.0 ml/min/1.73 m2 subgroup, likely due to treatment effects.
Comprehensive relationship between disease activity indices, mTSS, and mHAQ and physical function evaluation and QOL in females with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Nagafusa Tetsuyuki , Mizushima Takashi , Suzuki Motohiro , Yamauchi Katsuya 
Published: December 2023

AbstractRheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes significant physical disability. We comprehensively investigated the relationship between RA disease activity (Disease Activity Score 28-C-reactive protein [DAS28-CRP], Simplified Disease Activity Index [SDAI], and Clinical Disease Activity Index [CDAI]), physical function (10-Meter Walk Test [10 MWT], Timed Up and Go test [TUG], Functional Reach Test [FRT], and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand [DASH]), and quality of life (QOL) (Short-Form 36 [SF-36®]). We also investigated the relationship between van der Heijde’s modified Total Sharp Score (mTSS), modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (mHAQ), and physical function and QOL assessments. Among 35 female patients with RA, DAS28-CRP correlated solely with DASH (r = 0.376), while SDAI and CDAI did not correlate with physical function. The mTSS-hand roentgenographic evaluation correlated with TUG (r = 0.359), FRT (r = − 0.415), and DASH (r = 0.533) among physical function assessments. The mHAQ correlated with 10 MWT (r = 0.347), TUG (r = 0.356), FRT (r = − 0.420), and DASH (r = 0.646). DAS28-CRP correlated with six of the eight subscales of SF-36®, and mTSS and mHAQ correlated with only one subscale. RA disease activity assessments may not reflect all physical functions and QOL domains of female patients with RA. Evaluating physical function and QOL in female patients with RA is essential.
Global visual attention SPAN in different video game genres
Authors: Argilés Marc , González-Fortuny Xavier , Fonts Elisabet , Sunyer-Grau Bernat 
Published: December 2023

AbstractVideo games, specifically action video games, have been demonstrated to be a useful tool in improving certain visual aspects in the general population. Visual attention span, the ability to simultaneously process multiple distinct visual elements during a single fixation, has been shown to improve among action video game players. The goal of this study was to verify that visual attention span is better not only in action video games, but also in other video game genres such as sports simulators or role-playing games. A total of 41 participants, aged 18 to 40 years old, were asked about the type of video games they were playing, name and genre, and the frequency of play. Visual attention span was assessed in all participants. Participants were divided into 4 groups according to the genre of video game they played. The total percentage of letter identification in the visual attention span was not significantly different between groups. A significant difference was found in the sixth position letter, and the right hemifield performance between groups, especially in sports simulators and action video game participants who showed a better performance. The action video game group showed a significant correlation between visual attention span performance and weekly hours played. Playing regularly different genres other than action video games can contribute to raise visual attention resources.
Using the Blackburne-Peel index to measure the patellar height on magnetic resonance images
Authors: Kızılgöz Volkan 
Published: December 2023

AbstractTo reveal the normal values of patellar height measurements using the Blackburne-Peel index on magnetic resonance (MR) images and to show the gender and age differences regarding this measurement technique. This retrospective cross-sectional study investigated 148 knee MR images, and those images were re-evaluated to find out the normal values of patellar height using the Blackburne-Peel index (BPI). An adapted measurement technique of this index was applied to MR images. The study group was analyzed regarding the sex and age differences, correlation with age was investigated, and all descriptive data were presented. Independent Samples T-test, Kruskal–Wallis variance analysis, and Spearman’s Rho correlation test was applied to calculate the results. The mean value was 0.80 ± 0.09 for the total of patients. The measurements regarding the height of the inferior edge of the patella articular surface and the length of the patella articular surface indicated a significant difference between females and males (p < 0.001 for both measurements). The descriptive data obtained from this study revealed the mean values of the whole study group, different sexes, and age groups separately. Additional studies are needed for adapting BPI on MR images and verifying the normal values of the population.
A Maastrichtian insect assemblage from Patagonia sheds light on arthropod diversity previous to the K/Pg event
Authors: Vera Ezequiel I. , Monferran Mateo D. , Massaferro Julieta , Sabater Lara M. , Gallego Oscar F. , Perez Loinaze Valeria S. , Moyano-Paz Damián , Agnolín Federico L. , Manabe Makoto , Tsuhiji Takanobu , Novas Fernando E. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractInsect faunas from the latest Cretaceous are poorly known worldwide. Particularly, in the Southern Hemisphere, there is a gap regarding insect assemblages in the Campanian-Maastrichtian interval. Here we present an insect assemblage from the Maastrichtian Chorrillo Formation, southern Argentina, represented by well-preserved and non-deformed, chitinous microscopic remains including head capsules, wings and scales. Identified clades include Chironomidae dipterans, Coelolepida lepidopterans, and Ephemeroptera. The assemblage taxonomically resembles those of Cenozoic age, rather than other Mesozoic assemblages, in being composed by diverse chironomids and lepidopterans. To the best of our knowledge, present discovery constitutes the first insect body fossils for the Maastrichtian in the Southern Hemisphere, thus filling the gap between well-known Early Cretaceous entomofaunas and those of Paleogene age. The presented evidence shows that modern clades of chironomids were already dominant and diversified by the end of the Cretaceous, in concert with the parallel radiation of aquatic angiosperms which became dominant in freshwater habitats. This exceptional finding encourages the active search of microscopic remains of fossil arthropods in other geological units, which could provide a unique way of enhancing our knowledge on the past diversity of the clade.
Cognitive processes and strategies of bilingual students when attempting assessments in an L2
Authors: Teng Xing San , Hsiao Janet , Lo Yuen Yi 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
In bilingual education programs, students learn content knowledge through an additional language (L2). Their
content knowledge is also assessed through their L2, which raises concerns about underestimating their actual learning. This study
addresses such concerns by investigating the cognitive processes and strategies of bilingual learners when being assessed in their
L2. 49 university students, divided into more proficient and less proficient L2 learners, participated in an eye-tracking
experiment which captured their eye movements when attempting a biology assessment. They then reported their thinking processes
and strategies during the assessment process in a stimulated recall. In general, the participants engaged in more cognitive
processes when attempting questions that were more cognitively demanding and required productive language skills. The less
proficient group had more and longer fixations and regressions than their more proficient counterparts, but the two groups
reported similar strategies. These findings have implications for assessment design in bilingual education programs.
“We Invite You for Lunch”: Post/Colonial Subjectivities and Performances of Tourism in Puducherry, India
Authors: Chakraborty Aindrila 
Published: December 2023

Summary
Tourism is contested, as Edward Bruner suggests. These contestations may not always take the form of overt conflicts between actors and/or institutions. They may operate in silent pauses and gaps, performances of the actors involved, their identifications and agencies and constructed meanings. In my research, I focus on the town of Puducherry, a French colony merged with India in 1962, to engage with the discourse of authenticity in which the hosts take part. By positioning myself as both tourist and ethnographer, I delve into the complexities of post/colonial subjectivities and performances of identity in Puducherry, with a focus on the Franco-Pondicherrian community who, through their performances reproduce the authentic and reclaim their collective identity. In the process, the members of the community, who are also the hosts in this context, become both the gatekeepers of authenticity and the toured. Using the idea of staged authenticity in a social constructionist frame, I engage with how hosts stage cultural performances in the intimate space of their home which works to make the tourist aware of their cultural heritage and abets their identity practices.

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Business Strategy and Development toward Sustainability: A Story of Ban Bo Chet Luk Community Entrepreneurship, Thailand
Authors: Ditta-Apichai Morakot 
Published: December 2023

Summary
Community-based entrepreneurship has been acknowledged to be an essential instrument for the socio-economic development of rural communities and social upliftment, especially in developing countries such as Thailand. This case study covers community background, management history, business strategy, ecotourism, and sustainable development in the Ban Bo Chet Luk community. It analyses community-based tourism initiatives, business strategy, and entrepreneurial activities to share ecotourism experiences with visitors and raise awareness about preserving the natural resources and environment of the region.

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© The Author 2023
Conservation, peasants and class: critical reflections on the political economy of climate change strategies in West Senegal
Authors: Hiraldo Rocío , Böhm Steffen 
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACTEnvironmental conservation has become a key climate mitigation strategy in the last two decades. Through the multiplication of ‘conservation’ projects, Africa is one of the main centres of this kind of intervention. While scholars have shown conservation to be a vehicle for the advancement of capitalist interests, scarce attention has been paid to agrarian labour and class dynamics in the African countryside sustaining this development. Drawing on the authors’ research in West Senegal, this article develops a conceptual framework for integrating class and peasant labour in the study of capitalist conservation. It shows how conservation-related climate mitigation strategies in Africa nurture and are nurtured by neoliberal and imperialist processes of agrarian change, reinforcing the economic and political vulnerability of African peasants. Alternative, anti-imperial climate change mitigation strategies need to be centred around peasant environmentalisms and their liberation from labour oppression.
Selenium and zinc supplementation mitigates metals-(loids) mixture- mediated cardiopulmonary toxicity via attenuation of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic mechanisms in female Sprague Dawley rats
Authors: Antia Mfoniso , Ezejiofor Anthonet N , Orish Chinna N , Cirovic Ana , Cirovic Aleksandar , Orisakwe Orish E 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
This study evaluated the cardiopulmonary protective effects of essential elements (Zn and Se) against heavy metals mixture (HMM) exposure. Twenty five female Sprague Dawley albino rats, divided in to five groups: controls were orally treated only with distilled water; next, group 2 was exposed to HMM with the following concentrations: 20 mg/kg of Pb body weight, 0.40 mg/kg of Hg, 0.56 mg/kg of Mn, and 35 mg/kg of Al. Groups 3, 4 and 5 were exposed to HMM and co-treated with zinc chloride (ZnCl2; 0.80 mg/kg), sodium selenite (Na2SeO3;1.50 mg/kg) and both zinc chloride and sodium selenite, respectively. The experiment lasted for 60 days. Afterwards animals were sacrificed, and we conduced biochemical and histopathological examination of the heart and lungs. HMM only exposed animals had an increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO), increased IL-6 and TNF-α, attenuated SOD, GPx, CAT and GSH and caspase 3 in the heart and lungs. HMM affected NF-kB and Nrf2 in the heart muscle with histomorphological alterations. Zn and Se attenuated adverse effects of HMM exposure. Essential element supplementation ameliorated heavy metal cardiopulmonary intoxication in rats.