bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Empowering Minds and Bodies: The Impact of Exercise on Multiple Sclerosis and Cognitive Health
Authors: Zameer Ushna , Tariq Amna , Asif Fatima , Kamran Ateeba 
Published: February 2024

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a global health concern affecting around 2.6 million people. It is characterised by neural inflammation, myelin breakdown and cognitive decline. Cognitive impairment, especially reduced cognitive processing speed (CPS), which affects up to 67% of MS patients and frequently manifests before mobility concerns, is one of the disease’s most serious side effects. Effective adaptation and the application of cognitive rehabilitation treatments depend on the early diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Although pharmaceutical therapies have some drawbacks, endurance training has become a promising alternative. Intensity-controlled endurance exercise has the ability to delay the onset of MS symptoms and enhance cognitive function. Exercise has also been shown to have neuroprotective effects in a number of neurological disorders, including MS, Parkinson’s disease and stroke. This includes both aerobic and resistance training. A mix of aerobic exercise and weight training has shown promise, especially for people with mild cognitive impairment, but according to recent studies any amount of physical activity is beneficial to cognitive performance. In conclusion, this in-depth analysis highlights the crucial part endurance exercise plays in treating MS-related cognitive impairment. It improves not only neurological health in general but also cognitive performance. Exercise can help control MS in a way that dramatically improves quality of life and well-being.
Leveraging the Social Fabric to Improve Rural E-Commerce Access
Authors: Zhang Zihao , Garimella Aravinda , Fan Ming 
Published: February 2024

Motivated by recent developments aimed to address last-mile delivery challenges in rural areas of Indonesia and China, we develop a theoretical model to study how to lower participation barriers to the e-commerce market. We analyze how stage stations lower the cost of last-mile delivery by leveraging the preexisting social fabric in rural communities, including local stores, as well as social technologies such as chat services and virtual groups. Specifically, we examine two models, a decentralized model with stage stations run by independent agents, and a centralized model, similar to the one pioneered by Alibaba Taobao. We find that when the delivery cost in rural areas is high, the decentralized model can lower the participation cost and increase both platform profit and social welfare. In general, the centralized model outperforms the decentralized one. One reason is that the decentralized model suffers from a double marginalization problem. The centralized model has more flexibility, for example, in determining the pricing policies for both sellers and buyers. It could offer free service to rural customers if the participation of fresh rural customers can attract many additional sellers. However, a centralized model may not be feasible in many countries. Therefore, we explore whether the platform can implement a coordination mechanism for decentralized stage stations. We find that our proposed coordination mechanism can improve the performance of the decentralized model. Our results have important implications for how e-commerce platforms can leverage stage stations and social technologies to lower participation barriers for rural customers, thereby creating a more inclusive development model.
Real-World Incidence and Severity of Hypertension Caused by Abiraterone Acetate in Patients With Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Authors: Lam Brian , Rodgers Jo E. , Muluneh Benyam , Proco Darrian , Whang Young E. , Morgan Katherine P. 
Published: February 2024

Background: Abiraterone acetate (AA) is used in treatment of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Despite the survival advantage, AA is associated with hypertension due to mineralocorticoid excess syndrome. Objective: We conducted a single-center retrospective analysis to evaluate the real-world incidence and severity of AA-induced hypertension. Methods: Electronic health records were used to collect baseline characteristics and prostate cancer history. Patient data, including blood pressure at each 4 (±2)-week interval, were collected for 24 weeks after the initiation of AA therapy. The primary endpoint was the incidence and severity of AA-induced hypertension. The secondary endpoints include effect of different prednisone dosing regimens and prostate cancer types on hypertensive incidence and the impact of clinical pharmacists’ involvement in managing AA-induced hypertension. Results: A total of 142 patients who met our inclusion criteria received AA for metastatic prostate cancer, 73 (51.4%) with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), and 69 (48.6%) with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC). Of all, 43.7% experienced all-grade hypertension, and 28.2% experienced grade 3-4 hypertension. There was no difference in incidence of hypertension between patients receiving 5 mg of prednisone daily and those receiving 5 mg of prednisone twice daily. All-grade hypertension occurred in 39.7% of mCRPC and 47.8% of mCSPC patients ( P = 0.33). Thirty-two percent of patients were actively managed by a clinical pharmacist and had an overall trend of reduced hypertension severity after 12 weeks. Conclusion and relevance: This single-center, retrospective cohort study found that real-world metastatic prostate cancer patients who received AA had substantially higher incidence and severity of hypertension compared with clinical trials regardless of prednisone dose. In patients with mCRPC and mCSPC, the role of prednisone dose in hypertension incidence and severity warrants further investigation. Overall, results indicate the need for closely monitoring hypertension and optimization of anti-hypertensive therapy by multidisciplinary teams in metastatic prostate cancer patients receiving AA.
The Integrated Atlas of Dementia Care in the Australian Capital Territory: A Collective Case Study of Local Service Provision
Authors: Tabatabaei-Jafari Hossein , Furst Mary Anne , Bagheri Nasser , D’Cunha Nathan M. , Bail Kasia , Sachdev Perminder S. , Salvador-Carulla Luis 
Published: February 2024

Background: This study evaluates the dementia care system in a local area and aimed to include all specialised services designed to provide health and social services to people with dementia or age-related cognitive impairment, as well as general services with a high or very high proportion of clients with dementia. Methods: The study used an internationally standardised service classification instrument called Description and Evaluation of Services and DirectoriEs for Long Term Care (DESDE-LTC) to identify and describe all services providing care to people with dementia in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Results: A total of 47 service providers were eligible for inclusion. Basic information about the services was collected from their websites, and further information was obtained through interviews with the service providers. Of the 107 services offered by the 47 eligible providers, 27% (n = 29) were specialised services and 73% (n = 78) were general services. Most of the services were residential or outpatient, with a target population mostly of people aged 65 or older, and 50 years or older in the case of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. There were government supports available for most types of care through various programmes. Conclusions: Dementia care in the ACT relies heavily on general services. More widespread use of standardised methods of service classification in dementia will facilitate comparison with other local areas, allow for monitoring of changes over time, permit comparison with services provided for other health conditions and support evidence-informed local planning.
Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis: Long-term follow-up data from Norway
Authors: Kvistad Christopher Elnan , Lehmann Anne Kristine , Kvistad Silje Agnethe Stokke , Holmøy Trygve , Lorentzen Åslaug Rudjord , Trovik Linn Hereide , Kristoffersen Einar Klæboe , Bø Lars , Torkildsen Øivind 
Published: February 2024

Background: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a potent treatment option for patients with aggressive relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Objective: To evaluate long-term outcomes of HSCT in MS. Methods: National retrospective single-center observational study of patients with aggressive RRMS that underwent HSCT in Norway from January 2015 to January 2018. Criteria for receiving HSCT included at least two clinical relapses the last year while on disease modifying treatment (DMT). Results: In total, 29 patients, with a mean follow-up time of 70 months (standard deviation:14.3), were evaluated. Twenty patients (69%) had sustained no evidence of disease activity (NEDA-3) status, 24 (83%) were relapse-free, 23 (79%) free of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity, and 26 (90%) free of progression. Number of patients working full-time increased from 1 (3%), before HSCT, to 10 (33%) after 2 years and 15 (52%) after 5 years. Conclusion: HSCT offers long-term disease-free survival with successively increasing work participation in patients with aggressive MS resistant to DMTs.
The impact of ketamine on delayed neurocognitive recovery in elderly patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia for orthopaedic procedures, a pilot study
Authors: Abbas Mostafa Samy , Abo-Zeid Mohamed Gamal , Askar Fatma Gad-Elrab , Askar Omnia Ahmed 
Published: February 2024

Objective: Delayed neurocognitive recovery is an objectively measurable decline in the cognitive status at varying intervals after surgery under both general and spinal anaesthesia. In this study, we used the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire to evaluate the protective effect of ketamine infusion on cognitive function of elderly patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia for orthopaedic procedures. Methods: A randomised, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial. Forty-two geriatric patients listed for elective orthopaedic surgery under spinal anaesthesia were randomly assigned to receive an intravenous infusion of either ketamine (0.3mg/kg) or isotonic saline (control group) after receiving spinal anaesthesia, which continued throughout the procedure. Cognitive performance was evaluated, as a primary outcome, with Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire. Results: Baseline cognitive performance was comparable in both groups. Patients in the ketamine group showed statistically significant fewer errors in the postoperative Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire compared with the baseline evaluations (p = 0.038). Patients in the ketamine group showed significantly lower verbal numerical scale scores than the control group (p = 0.04) at six hours after surgery. Conclusion: Elderly patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia showed a better cognitive status after receiving an intravenous infusion of 0.3mg/kg ketamine. However, further research with a larger sample size and different assessment tools might be required to verify our results.
Profile of cough triggers and their relationship with capsaicin cough sensitivity in chronic cough
Authors: Xu Tingting , Chen Zhiyin , Zhan Chen , Zhan Wenzhi , Yi Fang , Lai Kefang 
Published: February 2024

Background: Cough hypersensitivity is an important part of the neurophysiology of cough, which presents with increased cough response to a lower level of stimuli or triggers. Classification of stimuli might bring about additional insight into the underlying mechanisms and management. Objectives: This study investigated the profile of cough triggers in chronic cough patients and their relationship with capsaicin cough sensitivity. Design: This was a cross-sectional observational study. Methods: We enrolled patients with different causes of chronic cough from 2006 to 2021. Cough triggers were defined as cough response to chemical triggers, mechanical triggers, meal triggers, or thermal trigger. Cough sensitivity to capsaicin was evaluated by the capsaicin challenge test, which was expressed as the lowest concentration of capsaicin inducing 5 or more coughing (C5). Results: Among 1211 patients with chronic cough, 1107 (91.4%) patients reported at least one cough trigger. Chemical triggers (66.9%) were the most common cough triggers, followed by thermal exposure (50.6%), mechanical triggers (48.2%), and meal triggers (21.2%). There was no difference in the proportion of chemical triggers among different etiologies. Patients with refractory chronic cough reported the highest prevalence of cough triggers (97.1%). A higher number of meal triggers (34.9%) was associated with gastroesophageal reflux-related cough, and meal triggers and mechanical triggers were more common in refractory chronic cough. Among 254 patients who completed capsaicin challenge test, both the number of total triggers and the number of chemical triggers had a significant but mild correlation with capsaicin cough sensitivity. Conclusion: Cough hypersensitivity as reflected by a variety of cough triggers is a common feature in chronic cough patients, but different etiologies present specific profiles of cough triggers, which could not be evaluated comprehensively by capsaicin cough sensitivity.
The efficacy of vardenafil and tamsulosin in treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia: A randomised clinical trial
Authors: Zaza Mohamed Mahmoud , Hussien Adham Hussien Mohamed , Salem Tarek Abdel-Majid , Ali Soliman Mohamed Hassan 
Published: February 2024

Objectives: This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to evaluate the efficacy of vardenafil monotherapy, tamsulosin monotherapy, and combination therapy of vardenafil and tamsulosin in treating lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods: This RCT involved 75 patients presenting with LUTS secondary to BPH. Patients were randomly allocated into three groups, receiving either vardenafil monotherapy, tamsulosin monotherapy, or a combination of both drugs. Assessments and follow-ups were conducted 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment initiation, focusing on improvements in LUTS, uroflowmetry measurements, and patients’ sexual performance. Data analysis was performed using Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and IBM SPSS statistics software version 22.0. Results: This study included 75 participants divided into three groups. No significant differences were found in terms of patients’ age (p = 0.504) or treatment duration (p = 0.680) between the groups. The combination of vardenafil/tamsulosin consistently showed the lowest International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) scores and grades, followed by the tamsulosin group (p < 0.001). Regarding Q-max and post-void residual urine (PVRU), significant differences were observed between the vardenafil group and the other two groups (p > 0.001), but no significant differences were found between the tamsulosin and vardenafil/tamsulosin groups. Conclusion: The combination therapy with vardenafil and tamsulosin is more effective in improving LUTS secondary to BPH than monotherapy. Tamsulosin monotherapy also appears to be more effective than vardenafil monotherapy. Combination therapy provides a viable treatment option for patients who do not respond adequately to monotherapy or experience adverse effects from either drug. Level of Evidence: Moderate
Molecular characterization of antibiotic-resistant bacteria associated with maggots obtained from chicken droppings
Authors: Ajibade Olumide Alaba , Akinduro Adebayonle Olayiwola , Omojufehinsi Gbajesu , Odetoyin Babatunde , Olaniyi Oladipo Oladiti 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Background
The use of maggots, developed from chicken droppings as alternative fish meal might serve as a reservoir and vehicle for the widespread of single and multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria (MARB). This study aimed at investigating antibiotic resistant bacteria from chicken droppings and maggots developed from them, and the associated resistance genes and mobile genetic elements in their genomes. Freshly collected poultry droppings obtained from three commercial poultry farms, in Akure, Nigeria and maggots developed from their composting were plated on Luria–Bertani (LB) agar plates that had been incorporated with antibiotics. The emerged MARB were presumptively identified by conventional cultural microbiological methods and then authenticated using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in the genome of MARB were detected by standard molecular tools.

Results
Potential bacterial pathogens isolated include Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella enterica, Providencia stuartii, P. rettgeri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Alcaligenes faecalis, Paelnalcaligenes hominis and Micrococcus luteus. Seventeen ARGs were widely distributed among the 19 ARB/MARB. Tetracycline resistance gene was widely distributed among the ARB/MARB with prevalence of 62%, while macrolides and beta lactam resistance gene had 17% and 13%, respectively. At least six MARB isolates showed the presence of two or more class 1 integron, while five isolates was detected to carry two or more class 2 integron among the 19 MARB.

Conclusions
The results highlight a much higher risk of ARGs spreading through maggots derived from chicken droppings to humans and environmental microbiota.
A supervised learning method for classifying methylation disorders
Authors: Walsh Jesse R. , Sun Guangchao , Balan Jagadheshwar , Hardcastle Jayson , Vollenweider Jason , Jerde Calvin , Rumilla Kandelaria , Koellner Christy , Koleilat Alaa , Hasadsri Linda , Kipp Benjamin , Jenkinson Garrett , Klee Eric 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Background
DNA methylation is one of the most stable and well-characterized epigenetic alterations in humans. Accordingly, it has already found clinical utility as a molecular biomarker in a variety of disease contexts. Existing methods for clinical diagnosis of methylation-related disorders focus on outlier detection in a small number of CpG sites using standardized cutoffs which differentiate healthy from abnormal methylation levels. The standardized cutoff values used in these methods do not take into account methylation patterns which are known to differ between the sexes and with age.

Results
Here we profile genome-wide DNA methylation from blood samples drawn from within a cohort composed of healthy controls of different age and sex alongside patients with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS), Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome, Fragile-X syndrome, Angelman syndrome, and Silver–Russell syndrome. We propose a Generalized Additive Model to perform age and sex adjusted outlier analysis of around 700,000 CpG sites throughout the human genome. Utilizing z-scores among the cohort for each site, we deployed an ensemble based machine learning pipeline and achieved a combined prediction accuracy of 0.96 (Binomial 95% Confidence Interval 0.868$$-$$
-
0.995).

Conclusion
We demonstrate a method for age and sex adjusted outlier detection of differentially methylated loci based on a large cohort of healthy individuals. We present a custom machine learning pipeline utilizing this outlier analysis to classify samples for potential methylation associated congenital disorders. These methods are able to achieve high accuracy when used with machine learning methods to classify abnormal methylation patterns.
TB-DROP: deep learning-based drug resistance prediction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis utilizing whole genome mutations
Authors: Wang Yu , Jiang Zhonghua , Liang Pengkuan , Liu Zhuochong , Cai Haoyang , Sun Qun 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe most widely practiced strategy for constructing the deep learning (DL) prediction model for drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) involves the adoption of ready-made and state-of-the-art architectures usually proposed for non-biological problems. However, the ultimate goal is to construct a customized model for predicting the drug resistance of MTB and eventually for the biological phenotypes based on genotypes. Here, we constructed a DL training framework to standardize and modularize each step during the training process using the latest tensorflow 2 API. A systematic and comprehensive evaluation of each module in the three currently representative models, including Convolutional Neural Network, Denoising Autoencoder, and Wide & Deep, which were adopted by CNNGWP, DeepAMR, and WDNN, respectively, was performed in this framework regarding module contributions in order to assemble a novel model with proper dedicated modules. Based on the whole-genome level mutations, a de novo learning method was developed to overcome the intrinsic limitations of previous models that rely on known drug resistance-associated loci. A customized DL model with the multilayer perceptron architecture was constructed and achieved a competitive performance (the mean sensitivity and specificity were 0.90 and 0.87, respectively) compared to previous ones. The new model developed was applied in an end-to-end user-friendly graphical tool named TB-DROP (TuBerculosis Drug Resistance Optimal Prediction: https://github.com/nottwy/TB-DROP), in which users only provide sequencing data and TB-DROP will complete analysis within several minutes for one sample. Our study contributes to both a new strategy of model construction and clinical application of deep learning-based drug-resistance prediction methods.
Network pharmacology-based strategy to investigate the mechanisms of artemisinin in treating primary Sjögren’s syndrome
Authors: Liao Jia-he , He Qian , Huang Zi-wei , Yu Xin-bo , Yang Jian-ying , Zhang Yan , Song Wei-jiang , Luo Jing , Tao Qing-wen 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Objective
The study aimed to explore the mechanism of artemisinin in treating primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) based on network pharmacology and experimental validation.

Methods
Relevant targets of the artemisinin and pSS-related targets were integrated by public databases online. An artemisinin-pSS network was constructed by Cytoscape. The genes of artemisinin regulating pSS were imported into STRING database to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network in order to predict the key targets. The enrichment analyses were performed to predict the crucial mechanism and pathway of artemisinin against pSS. The active component of artemisinin underwent molecular docking with the key proteins. Artemisinin was administered intragastrically to SS-like NOD/Ltj mice to validate the efficacy and critical mechanisms.

Results
Network Pharmacology analysis revealed that artemisinin corresponded to 412 targets, and pSS related to 1495 genes. There were 40 intersection genes between artemisinin and pSS. KEGG indicated that therapeutic effects of artemisinin on pSS involves IL-17 signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, apoptosis signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway. Molecular docking results further showed that the artemisinin molecule had higher binding energy by combining with the key nodes in IL-17 signaling pathway. In vivo experiments suggested artemisinin can restored salivary gland secretory function and improve the level of glandular damage of NOD/Ltj mice. It contributed to the increase of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and the downregulated secretion of IL-17 in NOD/Ltj model.

Conclusion
The treatment of pSS with artemisinin is closely related to modulating the balance of Tregs and Th17 cells via T cell differentiation.