bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quality of Life in Chinese Youth Following Open Thyroid Surgery
Authors: Zhu Pingting , Zhang Hui , Gu Xinyue , Ding Yinwen , Qian Meiyan , Wang Wen , Shi Guanghui , Lee Amanda 
Published: December 2023

Background
Because of the increased incidence of thyroid cancer and good survival rates and with research into scarless techniques, it is increasingly important to understand the quality of life of thyroid cancer patients and identify areas for improvement. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the importance of neck appearance after thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer survivors in China.

Objective
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of scarring after open thyroid surgery on the quality of life of young patients.

Methods
A descriptive qualitative design was used. Data were collected using face-to-face semistructured interviews and analyzed using directed content analysis.

Results
Five men and 19 women participated in the study. The following 3 broad themes and 9 subthemes emerged, which were (1) emotional functioning, including low self-esteem due to high visibility of scars, concerns and helplessness about scarring lesions, and feelings of isolation due to lack of support; (2) social functioning, including restricted choice of employment, avoidance of socializing with others, and reduced participation in social activities; and (3) information seeking, acceptance, and living with the scar, including bargaining, seeking professional help, and use of social media.

Conclusions
After open surgery for thyroid cancer, patients experience a variety of scarring features that affect their quality of life. Therefore, preoperative communication and long-term postoperative care should be emphasized in clinical practice and research.

Implications for practice
Understanding the experience of carrying scars after thyroid cancer surgery helps provide adequate information, expectation management, and informed decision-making.
STI Prevention Perspectives in Black Men who have Sex with Men Taking PrEP in New Orleans
Authors: Clement Meredith E. , Beckford Jeremy , Lovett Aish , Siren Julia , Adorno Marie , Legrand Sara , Bennett Marsha , Taylor Jamilah , Hanlen-Rosado Emily , Perry Brian , Corneli Amy 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

Introduction
Profound sexual health disparities exist for Black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the US South, including high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). STI prevention strategies beyond condoms are needed for Black MSM taking PrEP.

Methods
We conducted in-depth interviews with Black MSM taking PrEP in New Orleans, Louisiana. Informed by the Health Belief Model, we asked about participants’ perceived susceptibility, severity, and concerns regarding STIs, and perceived benefits of STI prevention. We also asked about willingness to use various STI prevention strategies, including antibiotic prophylaxis. Interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using applied thematic analysis.

Results
We interviewed 24 Black MSM ages 18 to 36; half had a recent STI diagnosis. Most participants were concerned about receiving an STI diagnosis, noting shame or disappointment; physical effects were concerning but infrequently considered. Participants described being less likely to use condoms with routine partners or those taking PrEP. Most reported being willing to engage in each of the six prevention strategies discussed.

Conclusion
Black MSM taking PrEP voiced concern about STIs and many noted they infrequently use condoms. They were willing to engage in methods focused on preventing STIs on an individual- or population-level.
Integrated response to address a resurgent syphilis epidemic in a rural American Indian community, Whiteriver, Arizona, January 2022 – June 2023
Authors: Close Ryan M. , McKinney Michelle , Weigle Alex , Thompson Trevor , McAuley James 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

Background
The United States has seen a significant rise in syphilis over the past twenty years with a disparate impact on American Indian communities. We conducted a thorough review of the local epidemiology that guided an innovative response to curb the epidemic.

Methods
We analyzed syphilis data from a hospital in rural Arizona that serves an American Indian population of over 18,000. Testing data was extracted from 2017-2023 with detailed chart reviews of all reactive results since January 2022. Descriptive and comparative statistics were computed using parametric and non-parametric methods where appropriate.

Results
Among 5,888 tested persons, 555 (9.4%) had reactive results and 277 (4.7%) represented new infections. Among new cases, 151 (54.5%) were female and 55 (19.9%) were reinfections. The annualized incidence rate was 10.0 cases per 1000 persons with peak annualized incidence among women ages 30-34 years of 22.6 infections per 1000 persons. During the observation period and after the implementation of programmatic changes in June 2022, there were statistically significant reductions in median time to treatment (-80%), test positivity (-70%), infections (-60%) and no congenital syphilis cases during the observation period.

Conclusions
We observed significantly elevated syphilis rates in AI/AN persons compared to the general population. Strategic implementation of new policies and practices led to a measurable and meaningful improvement in several epidemic variables and our experience may serve as a model to other communities.
Predicting Optimal Patient-Specific Postoperative Facial Landmarks for Patients with Craniomaxillofacial Deformities
Authors: Lee Jungwook , Kim Daeseung , Xu Xuanang , Kuang Tianshu , Gateno Jaime , Yan Pingkun 
Published: December 2023

1AbstractOrthognathic surgery traditionally focuses on correcting skeletal abnormalities and malocclusion, with the expectation that an optimal facial appearance will naturally follow. However, this skeletal-driven approach can lead to undesirable facial aesthetics and residual asymmetry. To address these issues, a soft-tissue-driven planning method has been proposed. This innovative method bases bone movement estimates on the targeted ideal facial appearance, thus increasing the surgical plan’s accuracy and effectiveness. This study explores the initial phase of implementing a soft-tissue-driven approach, simulating the patient’s optimal facial look by repositioning deformed facial landmarks to an ideal state. The algorithm incorporates symmetrization and weighted optimization strategies, aligning projected optimal landmarks with standard cephalometric values for both facial symmetry and form, which are integral to facial aesthetics in orthognathic surgery. It also includes regularization to preserve the patient’s original facial characteristics. Validated using retrospective analysis of data from both preoperative patients and normal subjects, this approach effectively achieves not only facial symmetry, particularly in the lower face, but also a more natural and normalized facial form. This novel approach, aligning with soft-tissue-driven planning principles, shows promise in surpassing traditional methods, potentially leading to enhanced facial outcomes and patient satisfaction in orthognathic surgery.
Anin vitromodel of acute horizontal basal cell activation reveals dynamic gene regulatory networks underlying the acute activation phase
Authors: Barrios-Camacho Camila M. , Zunitch Matthew J. , Louie Jonathan D. , Jang Woochan , Schwob James E. 
Published: December 2023

SummaryHorizontal basal cells (HBCs) activate only in response to severe olfactory epithelium (OE) injury. This activation is mediated by the loss of the transcription factor TP63. Using the compound phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), we find that we can model the process of acute HBC activation. First, we find that PMA treatment induces a rapid loss in TP63 protein and induces the expression of HOPX and the nuclear translocation of RELA, previously identified to mediate HBC activation. Using bulk RNA sequencing, we find that PMA-treated HBCs pass through various stages of acute activation identifiable by transcriptional regulatory signatures that mimic stages identifiedin vivo. These temporal stages are associated with varying degrees of engraftment and differentiation potential in transplantation assays. Together, this data shows that our model can model physiologically relevant features of HBC activation and identifies new candidates for mechanistic testing.
Synergistic activity of dispersin B and benzoyl peroxide againstCutibacterium acnesbiofilms
Authors: Kaplan Jeffrey B. 
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACTCutibacterium acneshas been implicated in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris.C. acnesforms biofilms which may contribute to host colonization and antimicrobial resistance. Poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PNAG) is an exopolysaccharide that mediatesC. acnesbiofilm formation. In this study we investigated the ability of the PNAG-degrading enzyme dispersin B to sensitizeC. acnesbiofilms to killing by the anti-acne agent benzoyl peroxide (BPO).C. acnesbiofilms were cultured aerobically in glass tubes in the presence ofStaphylococcus epidermidiswhich has been shown to stimulateC. acnesbiofilm formation. Biofilms were treated with 5-80 μg/ml dispersin B and/or 0.1-2.5% BPO. Treatment of biofilms with dispersin B or BPO alone resulted in a 1-2 log reductionC. acnesCFUs, whereas treatment of biofilms with dispersin B followed by BPO resulted in a >6 log reduction inC. acnesCFUs. Concentrations as low as 5 μg/ml dispersin B and 0.5% BPO efficiently eradicatedC. acnesfrom the dual-species biofilm. Our findings confirm that PNAG protectsC. acnesfrom benzoyl peroxide killing and demonstrate that dispersin B and BPO act synergistically to killC. acnesbiofilm cells. Dispersin B may be a useful adjunct to BPO for the treatment and prevention of acne.
Rapid population recovery of a foundation species from experimental small-scale harvesting
Authors: Fica-Rojas Eliseo , López Daniela N. , Pérez-Matus Alejandro , Valdivia Nelson 
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACTEcological stability is central to understand how disturbances challenge the persistence of populations and communities through time, particularly when species with strong effects on other species are disturbed. The bull kelpDurvillaea incurvatais a foundation habitat forming species that provides habitat, food, and shelter for various species, and supports the livelihoods of human communities along the southeast Pacific coast of Chile. Harvesting ofD. incurvatahas raised concerns about the long-term viability of its populations, but the stability responses of bull kelps to anthropogenic disturbances are still unclear. Here, we conducted a manipulative field experiment in which we removed once all individuals of the bull kelp from two sites in southern Chile. We simulated the loss of bull kelps to harvesting in 1-m2-plots interspersed in matrices of denseD. incurvatastands. Fronds cannot regrow from the holdfasts after harvesting. Holdfasts were therefore also removed, a practice not typically carried out by local gatherers. For 25 months we quantified bull kelp recruitment, holdfast densities, percent cover, mean frond size and density, biomass, and population size structure in two rocky intertidal sites. In both sites, all metrics completely recovered within five to seven months. The removal ofD. incurvatadid not have a significant impact on recruitment, which was constant during the experiment. The relatively small spatial scale of the disturbances, constant recruitment provided by the surrounding bull kelp matrix, and the removal of holdfasts that released settlement substratum may have allowed for the strong stability responses in these populations. Therefore, spatial heterogeneity, which allows for settles to colonize the disturbed plots, should be prioritized in management strategies of natural seaweeds stands.
Corticopostural functional and effective connectivity reveal cortical control of postural sway velocity during quiet standing
Authors: Fauvet Maxime , Ziane Clara , Archambault-Levesque Ludovic , Fornerone Théo , Dal Maso Fabien 
Published: December 2023

AbstractBackgroundDespite a large body of evidence showing the involvement of the sensorimotor cortex in postural control, its exact role remains unclear. Models of postural control outcomes suggested that the velocity of the center of pressure is a crucial parameter to maintain balance. Inspired by corticokinematic coherence, we hypothesized that cortical oscillations and the velocity of the center of pressure (CoP) would synchronize and that this synchronization would increase with postural task difficulty during quiet standing.MethodsWe compared the magnitude of coherence and Granger causality computed between brain oscillations recorded with electroencephalography and the center of pressure velocity in the Delta and Theta frequency bands obtained from 23 participants performing four quiet standing tasks with various levels of difficulty. The effect of postural task difficulty and information flow direction were tested with a linear mixed model while non-parametric correlations were computed between coherence magnitude and postural performance measured by 95% confidence ellipse area and mean center of pressure velocity.ResultsWe found significant coherence between the Cz EEG electrode and CoP velocity in the Delta and Theta frequency bands. This EEG-CoP velocity coherence significantly increased with task difficulty in the Delta (F = 18.8, p < 0.001) and Theta (F = 7.83, p < 0.001) bands. Granger causality significantly increased with task difficulty (F = 12.5, p < 0.001) and was higher in the efferent than afferent direction (F = 78, p < 0.001). The 95% confidence ellipse area was correlated to coherence magnitude in the most difficult condition. Participants showing significant Granger causality in the afferent direction showed more stable postural outcomes.ConclusionOur results confirm that the CoP velocity has a crucial role in postural control through its synchronization with sensorimotor cortex oscillations. The efferent information predominance suggests that posture is partly controlled by the sensorimotor cortex by a mechanism named corticopostural coherence. Our results show that this corticopostural coherence could represent a mechanism for controlling balance during quiet standing.
Individual variations in McGurk illusion susceptibility reflect different integration-segregation strategies of audiovisual speech perception
Authors: Dong Chenjie , Wang Zhengye , Li Ruqin , Wang Suiping 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe McGurk illusion is a widely used indicator of audiovisual speech integration. In this illusion, incongruent visual articulations biases the auditory speech percepts, resulting in illusory percepts that different from both auditory and visual inputs. Despite its widespread use, its validity for measuring audiovisual integration has been questioned due to substantial individual variations. Classical forced fusion theories propose that variations in McGurk illusion susceptibility reflect differences in multisensory integration ability, whereas Bayesian causal inference (BCI) theory proposes that these variations reflect different audiovisual integration-segregation strategies used according to unisensory accuracy and inferred casual structures of the auditory and visual signals. To test these two proposals, we investigated the relationships between variations in McGurk illusion susceptibility and unisensory accuracy across testing time (Experiment 1, N =161), task type (Experiment 2, N = 88), and stimuli (Experiment 3, N = 37). We found stable negative correlations between McGurk illusion susceptibility and unisensory accuracy both at the group level and single participant level. Participants with weak illusion susceptibility had higher unisensory accuracy than participants with strong illusion susceptibility. Conversely, participants with strong illusion susceptibility were more likely to incorrectly categorize the auditory and visual stimuli as illusory percepts. Moreover, participants with similar unisensory accuracy showed similar McGurk illusion susceptibility. Consistent with the BCI theory, our results indicate that individual variations in McGurk illusion susceptibility reflect different integration-segregation strategies used by participants due to variations in unisensory accuracy. Failing to perceive an illusion does not indicate a failure to integrate audiovisual signals; instead, it indicates a successful segregation of incongruent signals. These findings suggest that caution is necessary when generalizing variations in McGurk illusion susceptibility to differences in audiovisual integration ability.
Genome-wide and chromosomal microsatellite marker landscape analysis within the genus Crassostrea
Authors: Sahu Basanta Pravas , Fazil Mohamed Madhar , Panda Subhasmita , Thiyagarajan Vengatesen 
Published: December 2023

AbstractMicrosatellite is a classical codominant marker frequently used to study genetics and evolution of living entities as well as molecular breeding in commercially important species. Although it has a tremendous application in oyster aquaculture, the lack of knowledge about its type, distribution pattern, and comparative analysis is limited. Thus, in this study, we conducted a genome-wide as well as chromosomal microsatellite landscape analysis within the genus Crassostrea. The genome-wide microsatellites number varied from 169432-212368, with relative abundance (RA) and relative density (RD) ranging from 310.18-336.5 loci/Mb and 7553.4-8793.42 bp/Mb, respectively. About 14.99-16.75% of total microsatellites were considered compound microsatellites having cRA and cRD, 21.78-25.5 loci/Mb, and 1332.81-1694.54 bp/Mb, respectively. The mononucleotide microsatellites were predominant followed by di and tetranucleotide. The RA and RD of the SSRs revealed no correlation with genome size but a significant correlation with GC content. However, the number of SSRs showed a significant relationship with the genome size but no relation with GC content. In contrast, the incidence of cSSR was positively associated with genome size and GC content. Finally, 29 cSSR loci were developed and validated inC. hongkonensisusing one wild population followed by its cross-species amplification. The allele number (Ne), observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He), inbreeding co-efficient (Fis), the polymorphic information content (PIC), ranged from 2-10, 0.092-0.897, 0.0001-1, 0.088-0.828, respectively. The present study elucidated microsatellite evolution within the Crassostrea genome and the loci developed can be utilized for brood stock analysis, parentage assignment, and construction of linkage map of the respective species.
mTOR signaling controls the formation of smooth muscle cell-derived intimal fibroblasts during vasculitis
Authors: Stock Angus. T. , Parsons Sarah , Hansen Jacinta. A. , D’Silva Damian. B. , Starkey Graham , Fayed Aly , Lim Xin Yi , D’Costa Rohit , Gordon Claire. L. , Wicks Ian. P. 
Published: December 2023

AbstractThe excessive accumulation of fibroblasts within the intimal layer of inflamed vessels is a feared complication of vasculitis, which can lead to arterial stenosis and ischemia. In this study, we have investigated how such intimal fibroblasts develop during Kawasaki Disease (KD), a paediatric vasculitis typically involving the coronary arteries. By performing lineage tracing studies in a murine model of KD, we reveal that vasculitis-induced intimal fibroblasts develop independently of both adventitial fibroblasts and endothelial cells, and instead derive from smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Notably, the emergence of SMC-derived intimal fibroblasts - in both mice and in patients with KD, Takayasu’s arteritis and Giant Cell arteritis - coincided with their activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway. Moreover, the genetic deletion of mTOR signalling in SMCs abrogated the emergence of intimal fibroblasts, demonstrating that mTOR is an intrinsic and essential regulator of vasculitis-induced, SMC-derived intimal fibroblasts. Collectively these findings provide molecular insight into the pathogenesis of arterial stenosis and identify mTOR as a therapeutic target to prevent adverse vascular remodelling in vasculitis.
Analysis of influencing factors of aircraft fuel tank flammability
Authors: Geng Leiming , Zhang Ruihua , Liu Weihua 
Published: December 2023

Purpose
It is an indispensable part of airworthiness certification to evaluate the fuel tank flammability exposure time for transport aircraft. There are many factors and complex coupling relationships affecting the fuel tank flammability exposure time. The current work not only lacks a comprehensive analysis of these factors but also lacks the significance of each factor, the interaction relationship and the prediction method of flammability exposure time. The lack of research in these aspects seriously restricts the smooth development of the airworthiness forensics work of domestic large aircraft. This paper aims to clarify the internal relationship between user input parameters and predict the flammability exposure time of fuel tanks for transport aircraft.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on the requirements of airworthiness certification for large aircraft, an in-depth analysis of the Monte Carlo flammability evaluation source procedures specified in China Civil Aviation Regulation/FAR25 airworthiness regulations was made, the internal relationship between factors affecting the fuel tank flammability exposure time was clarified and the significant effects and interactions of input parameters in the Monte Carlo evaluation model were studied using the response surface method. And the BP artificial neural network training samples with high significance factors were used to establish the prediction model of flammability exposure time.

Findings
The input parameters in the Monte Carlo program directly or indirectly affect the fuel tank flammability exposure time by means of the influence on the flammability limit or fuel temperature. Among the factors affecting flammability exposure time, the cruising Mach number, balance temperature difference and maximum range are the most significant, and they are all positively correlated with flammability exposure time. Although there are interactions among all factors, the degree of influence on flammability exposure time is not the same. The interaction between maximum range and equilibrium temperature difference is more significant than other factors. The prediction model of flammability exposure time based on multifactor interaction and BP neural network has good accuracy and can be applied to the prediction of fuel tank flammability exposure time.

Originality/value
The flammability exposure time prediction model was established based on multifactor interaction and BP neural network. The limited test results were combined with intelligent algorithm to achieve rapid prediction, which saved the test cost and time.