bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Kinetic chain exercises on muscle cross-sectional area, pain, and functional mobility in knee osteoarthritis: A single-blinded, randomised multigroup clinical trial
Authors: Tiwari M. , Vaidya N. , Agarwal S. 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of three modes of kinetic chain exercises (KCE) on muscle cross-sectional area, pain, function, and mobility among individuals with knee osteoarthritis (IKOA). 60 IKOA aged, over 50 years were recruited using a convenience sampling technique based on selection criteria. Then, the group was randomly allocated into three different groups, namely, open kinetic chain exercise (OKCE), close kinetic chain exercise (CKCE), and combined chain exercise (CCE). Muscle cross-sectional area, pain, and functional mobility were measured using thigh girth measurement, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and timed-up-go test (TUG), respectively. Data obtained before (baseline), at the end of the 3rd and 6th weeks were taken for analysis. Statistical significant () changes were observed in thigh girth measurement, WOMAC and TUG in CCE than OKC and CKC groups. The result of this study suggests that CCE are more effective in improving functional outcomes and mobility than OKCE and CKCE in PKOA.
Registered with Clinical Trials Registry, India (CTRI): REF/2021/12/049412.
Locatives in the Spoken Arabic of Mardin (Turkey)
Authors: Grigore George 
Published: January 2025

This study explores the system of locatives—linguistic elements denoting place or direction—in the spoken Arabic of Mardin, a peripheral dialect with unique features preserved through limited external influence. Drawing upon a corpus of recordings from 2002 to the present, the research builds on prior work, including L’arabe parlé à Mardin (Grigore, 2007) and comparative frameworks such as Arlette Roth's (2006) analysis of Kormakiti Arabic and Stephan Procházka’s (1993) studies on Arabic prepositions.
The analysis identifies two main categories of locatives: independent semantic markers (locative adverbs) and dependent ones (locative prepositions). Adverbs, such as taḥt ('under'), fōq ('above'), and hawn ('here'), function autonomously, situating actions in spatial relation to fixed reference points either within the discourse or the situational context. Conversely, prepositions like ʿala ('on'), mən ('from'), and qəddām ('in front of') operate relationally, requiring determiners such as nouns or pronouns to define spatial relationships.
The study highlights structural innovations specific to Mardin Arabic, such as the use of adverbs in status constructus formations (e.g., ḥāṛṛ hawnake—‘the heat there’), diverging from broader Arabic norms. Despite significant contact with Turkish and Kurdish, Mardin Arabic retains its locative system largely intact, reflecting the resilience of its prepositional framework rooted in Classical Arabic. This stability underscores the distinctiveness of Mardin Arabic within the broader landscape of Arabic dialectology.
High-dimensional, outcome-dependent missing data problems: Models for the human KIR loci
Authors: van der Burg Lars Leonardus Joannes , Putter Hein , Baldauf Henning , Sauter Jürgen , Schetelig Johannes , de Wreede Liesbeth C , Böhringer Stefan 
Published: January 2025

Missing data problems are common in biological, high-dimensional data, where data can be partially or completely missing. Algorithms have been developed to reconstruct the missing values by means of imputation or expectation-maximization algorithms. For missing data problems, it has been suggested that the regression model of interest should be incorporated into the imputation procedure to reduce bias of the regression coefficients. We here consider a challenging missing data problem, where diplotypes of the KIR loci are to be reconstructed. These loci are difficult to genotype, resulting in ambiguous genotype calls. We extend a previously proposed expectation-maximization algorithm by incorporating a potentially high-dimensional regression model to model the outcome. Three strategies are evaluated: (1) only allelic predictors, (2) allelic predictors and forward-backward selection on haplotype predictors, and (3) penalized regression on a saturated model. In a simulation study, we compared these strategies with a baseline expectation-maximization algorithm without outcome model. For extreme choices of effect sizes and missingness levels, the outcome-based expectation-maximization algorithms outperformed the no-outcome expectation-maximization algorithm. However, in all other cases, the no-outcome expectation-maximization algorithm performed either superior or comparable to the three strategies, suggesting the outcome model can have a harmful effect. In a data analysis concerning death after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a function of donor KIR genes, expectation-maximization algorithms with and without outcome showed very similar results. In conclusion, outcome based missing data models in the high-dimensional setting have to be used with care and are likely to lead to biased results.
Weighting methods for truncation by death in cluster-randomized trials
Authors: Isenberg Dane , Harhay Michael O , Mitra Nandita , Li Fan 
Published: January 2025

Patient-centered outcomes, such as quality of life and length of hospital stay, are the focus in a wide array of clinical studies. However, participants in randomized trials for elderly or critically and severely ill patient populations may have truncated or undefined non-mortality outcomes if they do not survive through the measurement time point. To address truncation by death, the survivor average causal effect has been proposed as a causally interpretable subgroup treatment effect defined under the principal stratification framework. However, the majority of methods for estimating the survivor average causal effect have been developed in the context of individually randomized trials. Only limited discussions have been centered around cluster-randomized trials, where methods typically involve strong distributional assumptions for outcome modeling. In this article, we propose two weighting methods to estimate the survivor average causal effect in cluster-randomized trials that obviate the need for potentially complicated outcome distribution modeling. We establish the requisite assumptions that address latent clustering effects to enable point identification of the survivor average causal effect, and we provide computationally efficient asymptotic variance estimators for each weighting estimator. In simulations, we evaluate our weighting estimators, demonstrating their finite-sample operating characteristics and robustness to certain departures from the identification assumptions. We illustrate our methods using data from a cluster-randomized trial to assess the impact of a sedation protocol on mechanical ventilation among children with acute respiratory failure.
The Relationship Between Trait Mindfulness and Depression Severity Among People With Schizophrenia: The Role of Perceived Public Stigma Toward Mental Illness
Authors: Rayan Ahmad 
Published: January 2025

Background: Studies have found that trait mindfulness is associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms among people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Still, the role of the perceived public stigma in this association has yet to be established. Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess the association between mindfulness and depressive symptoms experienced by people diagnosed with schizophrenia, controlling for the impact of their demographics and their perceived public stigma against mental illness. Methods: A quantitative descriptive correlational design was used. The sample included 184 Jordanian outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia who completed self-administered measures of mindfulness, depressive symptoms, public stigma against mental illness, and demographic information. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis was performed to identify the unique variance in perceived depression explained by participants’ demographic and clinical variables, public stigma, and mindfulness. Results: Participants had moderate perceived discrimination and moderate to severe depression. Age, gender, perceived physical pain, perceived public stigma, and mindfulness were significantly correlated with depression among the study participants. After controlling for demographic and clinical variables, public stigma was significantly associated with depression and accounted for 14% additional variance above and beyond the 37% accounted for by demographic and clinical variables. Mindfulness accounted for a 15% additional variance above and beyond the variance accounted for by all other predictors. Conclusion: Anti-stigma programs could be combined with mindfulness-based interventions to reduce depression in people diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Design and analysis of energy efficient urban buildings based on BIM model
Authors: Wu Yang 
Published: January 2025

Traditional buildings face problems such as low construction efficiency and high costs during the construction process, which cannot meet the requirements of green and sustainable development of buildings. To address this, a design model is constructed using BIM technology as a framework, which optimizes the energy efficiency of multiple building indicators and constructs a building energy efficiency optimization model based on decomposition of multiple objectives. Considering the cost and convergence issues of the goal solving model, an agent-assisted multi-objective particle swarm optimization model is introduced to construct an energy-saving design optimization model. The fitness of the particle swarm is optimized through an agent optimization strategy, thereby adjusting the speed and position of particles and improving the model optimization effect. Performed performance testing on the proposed model, and the proposed model has the best optimization performance under the Ackley function. After 100 iterations, it tends to converge. At this point, the best fitness value of the model is 0.452. Applying the proposed technology to specific cases for target optimization of urban single-room office buildings, the proposed optimization model has a shorter search time, a minimum of 2408 uncomfortable hours, and a minimum total energy consumption of 47.5, which are superior to the other three models. Finally, by comparing the comprehensive application effects of the model, the proposed model has the best performance in terms of super volume index, reaching 26,473 in urban office buildings. Compared to the comparison model, the proposed model takes 1.3 h, and the overall optimization time is the shortest. In traditional residential building testing, the proposed model has a super volume index of 50,132, which is also the best and has the shortest training time. It can be seen that the proposed optimization model has excellent optimization ability, and compared to other technologies in energy-saving optimization design, the proposed technology has the best optimization effect. Research technology will provide important technical support for the energy-saving optimization design and construction management of modern buildings.
MR-guided percutaneous interventional surgery robot system: A review
Authors: Zhang Weixi , Yu Jiaxing , Lu Xikun , Xu Yanjie 
Published: January 2025

Background The combination of MR and robotic technology can improve surgical accuracy, shorten surgical time, and even improve the location of lesions that cannot be reached by traditional percutaneous intervention. However, owing to the limitations of the MR technology, MR-guided interventional robots face many difficulties and challenges in sensor, material selection, driving mode, and mechanical structure design. Aims The purpose of this paper is to summarize and analyze the previous MR-guided interventional robots, provide reference for future research on MR-guided interventional robots, and propose a concept suitable for MR-guided bionic breast interventional robots. Methods Starting from the field of MR-guided interventional robots, a systematic classification of MR-guided interventional robots for different body parts was conducted by reviewing the literature of the past 20 years. The structural design, surgical environment requirements, and experimental results of these robots are analyzed in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of each type of robot are summarized, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of the field. Conclusion MR-guided interventional robots have demonstrated significant efficacy in percutaneous procedures. When designing MR-guided interventional robots, it is crucial to consider structural compactness, the selection of the drive system, and the compatibility of sensor modules. Based on an extensive review of relevant literature, this paper ultimately proposes a structural design concept of MR-breast interventional robot, which imitates the bloodsucking process of leeches.
Association of CVAI, LAP and SMI with risk of haematological toxicity after immunochemotherapy in patients with DLBCL: a retrospective study
Authors: Liao Caifeng , Lai Hurong , Tu Yansong , He Ling , Lin Chuyang , Tu Huaijun , Li Jian 
Published: January 2025

Background: The occurrence of adverse events after immunochemotherapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) frequently affects the course of chemotherapy, leading to a further decline in quality of life and survival. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the association between Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI), lipid accumulation product (LAP) index and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) at initial diagnosis and the risk of haematological toxicity following immunochemotherapy in patients with DLBCL. Design: Retrospective, single-centre study. Methods: CVAI, LAP and SMI were calculated by combining clinical data of the patients. This study included 213 patients, of whom 117 (55%) patients experienced grades 3–4 haematological toxicity after immunochemotherapy. Participants were divided into four groups (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) based on the quartiles of CVAI, LAP and SMI. Results: In the fully adjusted model, the risk of grades 3–4 haematological toxicity in group with the highest CVAI and LAP was reduced by 75.1% (OR: 0.249, 95% CI: 0.102–0.606, p = 0.002) and by 77.3% (OR: 0.227, 95% CI: 0.095–0.542, p = 0.001) compared to the group with the lowest CVAI and LAP. For SMI, the risk of grades 3–4 haematological toxicities in the group with the highest SMI was reduced by 62.9% compared with the lowest SMI group in the unadjusted model. The multivariable-adjusted restricted cubic spline curves and subgroup interaction analyses further confirmed the robustness of these findings. Conclusion: The results indicate that DLBCL patients with relatively high CVAI, LAP and SMI at initial diagnosis have a lower risk of severe haematological toxicity following chemotherapy. Therefore, CVAI, LAP and SMI at initial diagnosis are reliable and effective biomarkers for predicting severe haematological toxicity after immunochemotherapy in DLBCL patients. Trial registration: This is a retrospective study, and no registration on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Spacetime modeling of mortality by infectious and parasitic diseases in Brazil: a 20-year ecological and population-based study
Authors: Andrade Lucas Almeida , de Souza Carlos Dornels Freire , Paz Wandklebson Silva da , Gois Souza Danilo de , Góes José Augusto Passos , Camargo Emerson Lucas Silva , de Sousa Álvaro Francisco Lopes , Moretti Carneiro Liliane , Mendes Isabel Amélia Costa , Machado Araújo Karina , Santos Allan Dantas dos , Bezerra-Santos Márcio 
Published: January 2025

Background: Infectious and parasitic diseases (IPDs) encompass a broad range of illnesses predominantly associated with poverty. They are more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries, including Brazil, where they continue to be among the leading causes of mortality. Objective: This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of mortality due to IPDs in Brazil from 2000 to 2019. Methods: We conducted an ecological study using data on mortality by IPDs from the Brazilian Mortality Information System. We applied the segmented log-linear regression model to assess temporal trends. For spatial analysis, we used the local empirical Bayesian estimator and Moran indices. Retrospective spatiotemporal scan statistics were performed using the Poisson Probability Distribution Model. Results: Between 2000 and 2019, there were 2,155,513 deaths related to IPDs in Brazil. The leading causes of death included acute respiratory infections ( n = 1,130,069; 52.49%), septicemia ( n = 289,817; 13.46%), human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( n = 232,892; 10.82%), tuberculosis ( n = 104,121; 4.84%), and neglected tropical diseases such as Chagas disease ( n = 94,788; 4.40%) and schistosomiasis ( n = 10,272; 0.48%). An increasing temporal trend in the mortality rate from IPDs was observed in Brazil and across all its regions. Additionally, our spatiotemporal scan identified high-risk clusters of death in the Southeast and Northeast regions. Conclusion: Mortality from IPDs remains a significant public health concern in Brazil, with an increasing trend observed in all regions. Our findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive intersectoral public policies. These policies should focus on a greater allocation of resources and investments in the most critical areas, aiming to significantly reduce the number of deaths, particularly in the most vulnerable regions.
Taking on the Titin: Muscle imaging as a diagnostic marker of biallelic TTN-related myopathy
Authors: Hayes LH , Neuhaus SB , Donkervoort S , Mohassel P , Foley AR , Dastgir J , Bharucha-Goebel D , Leach ME , Vuillerot C , Iannaccone ST , Grosmann CM , Beggs AH , Bönnemann CG 
Published: January 2025

Background: The accurate diagnosis of titin-related myopathies ( TTN-RM) is challenging due to the “gigantism” of the coding gene TTN with an incompletely understood landscape of normal genetic variation, an increasing number of pathogenic variants, and wide phenotypic variability of both cardiac and muscle involvement. Particularly in situations of potentially incomplete genotypes, clinicians need more phenotyping tools to help confidently determine the pathogenicity of variants in TTN and accurately diagnose titinopathies. Objective: To illustrate the pattern of muscle involvement found by muscle imaging in patients with TTN-RM. Methods: We reviewed the clinical and imaging data of patients with TTN-RM. Cross secitonal MR images of the lower extremity muscles were scored for degree of abnormality using the Mercuri scoring system and patterns were identified with comparison across muscle groups. Ultrasound images were also reviewed and described. Results: Eleven patients with TTN-RM had clinical and imaging data available for review. The relatively more severe involvement of the semitendinosus muscle in the hamstring group (“semitendinosus sign”) emerged as a consistent feature in patients with recessive TTN-RM despite clinical heterogeneity. Conclusions: Here we find that despite considerable complexity, the pattern of muscle involvement on MRI and ultrasound may aid in the confirmation of TTN-RM by establishing compatibility with the diagnosis.
Newborn screening programs for spinal muscular atrophy worldwide in 2023
Authors: Vrščaj Eva , Dangouloff Tamara , Osredkar Damjan , Servais Laurent ,   the SMA NBS World Study Group
Published: January 2025

Background Spinal muscular atrophy is a rare, genetic neuromuscular disorder. Disease-modifying therapies, when administered early, have shown improved outcomes, leading to the implementation of numerous newborn screening programs for spinal muscular atrophy. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the progress in implementing newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy and therapy accessibility worldwide, after the first paper published in 2021. Methods We conducted a survey, contacted experts from 143 countries worldwide, gathered responses from 86 experts from 80 countries. Results By 2023, 31 countries reported established programs, 33 in the beginning of the year 2024; identifying approximately 1176 cases of spinal muscular atrophy. Additionally, the availability of disease-modifying therapies has expanded. At least one therapy is now accessible in 62 countries. Challenges, such as lack of governmental support, resource constraints, and varying healthcare priorities continue to impede implementation in some countries. Conclusions The data shows a significant increase in the implementation of newborn screening programs since 2021. The experts are still expressing a strong need for equitable access to standard of care for all the patients globally. Despite all setbacks, collaborative efforts have played a crucial role in newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy implementation and currently 7% of world newborns are being screened, projections indicate an estimated 18% screening rate by 2028.
Cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, and nitric oxide as determinants of resting heart rate variability in non-hospitalized mild post-COVID individuals: a cross-sectional study
Authors: de Almeida Lucivalda Viegas , Santos-de-Araújo Aldair Darlan , da Silva Luís Cláudio Nascimento , Santos Patricia Martins , Maia Mariana Campos , Frutuoso Victória Pereira , Rocha Daniel Santos , Rêgo Adriana Sousa , Bassi-Dibai Daniela 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Background
The association between plasma lipids, nitric oxide (NO) and cardiovascular risk has been well documented in the literature, however, the association between these outcomes and heart rate variability (HRV) in COVID-19 remains incipient as there is no scientific evidence that has investigated this outcome.

Objective
Investigate whether metabolic outcomes may be associated with cardiac autonomic behavior arising from short-term HRV variables in non-hospitalized mild post-COVID individuals.

Methods
This is a cross-sectional study. Individuals of both sexes, aged ≥ 18 years, who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 according to the RT-PCR test, without the need for hospitalization, were included. The HRV was collected in the supine position for at least 10 min for later analysis in the Kubios software. Metabolic outcomes [high density lipoprotein (HDL) (mg/dL), cholesterol (mg/dL), triglycerides (mg/dL) and NO (µmol/L)] were collected through a blood sample.

Results
Seventy-three individuals were included (post-COVID = 32; control = 41). HRV was worse in the post-COVID group when compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Cholesterol, HDL, triglycerides and NO showed significant correlations with HRV indices. Regression models indicated that cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as NO, explain up to 30.3% of the variations in certain HRV indices, suggesting an impact of metabolic outcomes on autonomic modulation.

Conclusion
There is a relationship between plasma lipids, NO and HRV in non-hospitalized individuals with mild COVID-19. Metabolic outcomes are associated and explain between 16.6% and 30.30% of certain variables of resting HRV in post-COVID individuals.

Clinical trial number
Not applicable.