bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A simple-to-use score system for predicting HBsAg clearance to peginterferon alfa-2b in nucleoside analogs-experienced chronic hepatitis B patients
Authors: Song Kaimin , Zeng Dawu , Zheng Yijuan , Zhang Huatang , Weng Zhangyan , Zhou Yongjun , Su Zhijun , Yu Xueping 
Published: November 2023

ObjectivePatients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) often fail to achieve clearance of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) with peginterferon treatment. Our study aimed to develop a simple-to-use scoring system to predict the likelihood of HBsAg clearance following treatment with peginterferon alfa-2b(PEG-IFN-α2b) in patients with CHB.MethodsA total of 231 patients were enrolled and divided into HBsAg clearance (n = 37) and non-HBsAg clearance (n = 194) groups. Multifactor logistic models were constructed using univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis were used to evaluate the discrimination, calibration, and clinical applicability of the predictive scoring system.ResultsFour clinical variables (age, baseline HBsAg level, HBsAg level decline at week 12, and alanine aminotransferase ratio at week 12) were independently associated with HBsAg clearance after PEG-IFN-α2b treatment and, therefore, were used to develop a predictive scoring system ranging from 0 to 13. The optimal cut-off value was &gt;4, with a sensitivity of 86.49%, specificity of 72.16%, positive predictive value of 37.2%, negative predictive value of 96.6%, and an AUC of 0.872. This model exhibited good discrimination, calibration, and clinical applicability. Among patients with scores &lt;4, 4, or &gt; 4 HBsAg clearance was achieved in 0.85, 14.29, and 37.21% of the patients, respectively.ConclusionThe scoring system could effectively predict the predominance of HBsAg clearance after PEG-IFN-α2b treatment in the early stage. This may be helpful when making clinical decisions for the treatment of patients with CHB.
Lower incidence of diabetes mellitus in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a large case–control study with propensity score matching
Authors: Zhong Weiying , Chen Kai , Song Ziyin , Xiao Yizhou , Zhou Donglin , Zhang Mingxiang , Wang Yunyan , Wang Donghai , Su Wandong 
Published: November 2023

Background and purposeDiabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-established cardiovascular risk factor for atherosclerotic disease; however, its effect on the risk of rupture of intracranial aneurysms remains controversial. Herein, we aimed to perform a case–control study to investigate the relationship between DM and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH).MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the data of patients with ruptured or unruptured aneurysms who were treated between 2013 and 2023. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between DM and risk of aSAH.ResultsA total of 4,787 patients with 5,768 intracranial aneurysms were included. Among them, 2,957 (61.8%) were females, 1765 (36.9%) had ruptured aneurysms, and 531 (11.1%) presented with DM. Female sex, current drinking, and hypercholesterolemia were associated with a higher risk of aSAH, whereas old age, former smoking, and DM were associated with a lower risk of aSAH in multivariate analysis (p &lt; 0.05). The incidence of DM (13.4%, 406/3022) in the unruptured group was higher than that in the ruptured group (7.1%, 125/1765) (odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.444–0.680) (p &lt; 0.001). After propensity score matching, 530 patients with DM were successfully matched, and DM was still associated with a lower risk of aSAH (odds ratio, 0.24; 95% confidence interval, 0.185–0.313) (p &lt; 0.001).ConclusionPatients with aSAH have a lower incidence of DM, however, this case-cohort study could not establish a causal relationship. A prospective and large study with long-term follow-up is warranted to establish a causal relationship.
Association between dietary trace minerals and pelvic inflammatory disease: data from the 2015–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys
Authors: Hu Panwei , Zhang Siming , Li Haoyuan , Yan Xiaotong , Zhang Xiaole , Zhang Qinhua 
Published: November 2023

ObjectivePelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a prevalent gynecological disorder. Dietary trace minerals play an important role in combating many chronic diseases including PID. However, it is unknown whether dietary trace minerals and PID are related. This study aimed to examine the relationship between dietary trace minerals (copper, iron, selenium, and zinc) and PID.MethodsData of women participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015–2018 were enrolled in this cross-sectional investigation. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses of the relationship between dietary trace minerals and PID were performed, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses were applied to visualize those relationships.ResultsIn total, 2,694 women between the ages of 20 and 59 years participated in the two NHANES cycles. In the univariate analyses, a significant negative relationship was identified between PID and dietary copper intake [odds ratio (OR) = 0.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24–0.67, p &lt; 0.01] but not with iron (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.90–1.03, p = 0.25), selenium (OR = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.99–1.0, p = 0.23), and zinc (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.86–1.03, p = 0.17) intake. Following the adjustment for age and race (model 1), a robust correlation was found between dietary copper intake and PID (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.09–0.61, p &lt; 0.01), as indicated by the fully adjusted model 2 (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.09–0.90, p = 0.03). Simultaneously, a significant trend was found between copper intake and PID across the quintile subgroups (p for trends &lt;0.05), suggesting a robust relationship. Furthermore, the RCS analysis demonstrated a linear correlation between PID and dietary copper intake (overall p &lt; 0.01, non-linear p = 0.09).ConclusionDecreased dietary copper intakes are linked to PID. However, additional research is needed to fully investigate this relationship due to the constraints of the study design.
The value of multiparametric MRI radiomics in predicting IDH genotype in glioma before surgery
Authors: Liang Yuanzi , Liu Wenjuan , Bai Dong , Hu Junqi , Wang Zhiqun 
Published: November 2023

ObjectiveTo explore the value of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) radiomics in the preoperative prediction of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genotype for gliomasMethodsThe preoperative routine MRI sequences of 114 patients with pathologically confirmed grade II-IV gliomas were retrospectively analysed. All patients were randomly divided into training cohort(n=79) and validation cohort(n=35) in the ratio of 7:3. After feature extraction, we eliminated covariance by calculating the linear correlation coefficients between features, and then identified the best features using the F-test. The Logistic regression was used to build the radiomics model and the clinical model, and to build the combined model. Assessment of these models by subject operating characteristic (ROC) curves, area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity.ResultsThe multiparametric radiomics model was built by eight selected radiomics features and yielded AUC values of 0.974 and 0.872 in the training and validation cohorts, which outperformed the conventional models. After incorporating the clinical model, the combined model outperformed the radiomics model, with AUCs of 0.963 and 0.892 for the training and validation cohorts.ConclusionRadiomic models based on multiparametric MRI sequences could help to predict glioma IDH genotype before surgery.
Fangji Dihuang formulation ameliorated DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions by IL-17 signaling pathway: integrating network analysis and experimental validation
Authors: Zhao Wenting , Jiang Honghong , Gu Yunfan , Zhang Weiming , Bao Shijie , Dai Ming , Dong Bilin , Yang Ya , Li Ke , Qin Li , Zeng Xianyu 
Published: November 2023

Background: The Fangji Dihuang formulation (FJDHF) is a widely recognized Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula that consists of five plant drugs: Stephaniae Tetrandrae Radix, Cinnamomi Ramulus, Rehmanniae Radix, Saposhnikoviae Radix, and Glycyrrhiza Urensis Fisch. This formulation has been known to exhibit clinical therapeutic effects in the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. However, there is a lack of pharmacological research on its anti-atopic dermatitis (AD) activity.Methods: To investigate the potential anti-AD activity of FJDHF, DNCB was used to induce AD-like skin inflammation in the back of mice. Following successful modeling, the mice were administered FJDHF orally. The extent of the inflammatory skin lesions was recorded at day 4, 7, 14 and 28. UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS was used to identify and match the compounds present in FJDHF with ITCM, TCMIP and TCMSID. In silico predictions of potential target proteins of the identified compounds were obtained from SwishTargetPrediction, ITCM and TargetNet databases. AD-related genes were identified from GSE32924 data set, and FJDHF anti-AD hub genes were identified by MCODE algorithm. ClueGo enrichment analysis was employed to identify the core pathway of FJDHF’s anti-AD effect. To further investigate the anti-AD effect of FJDHF, single-cell RNA sequencing data set (GSE148196) from AD patients was analyzed to determine the target cells and signaling pathways of FJDHF in AD. Finally, rt-PCR, flow cytometry, and mouse back skin RNA sequencing were utilized to validate our findings.Results: FJDHF was found to be effective in improving the degree of the AD-like lesions in the mice. Network pharmacological analysis revealed the core pathway of FJDHF to be the IL-17 signaling pathway, which is interactively associated with cytokines. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis suggested that FJDHF may play an anti-AD role by influencing dendritic cells. Flow cytometry and rt-PCR results showed that FJDHF can reduce the influence of AD sample of IL-4, IFN-γ and the expression of IL-17. The RNA sequencing of mouse back skin also confirmed our conclusion.Conclusion: FJDHF may inhibit DNCB-induced AD-like skin inflammation in mice by inhibiting the IL-17 signaling pathway. Thus, FJDHF can be considered as a potential therapeutic agent for AD.
Community matters: barriers and opportunities to sexual health and sexuality education of young female migrants in Hong Kong
Authors: Kwok Kim , Kwok Diana K. 
Published: November 2023

IntroductionFemale migrant workers form a substantial portion of the global migrant workforce and research indicates they are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and barriers to sexual and reproductive healthcare. This article investigates the perceptions, barriers and opportunities to sexual health and sexuality education experienced by young female migrants in Hong Kong.MethodsThe study adopted a rights-based perspective, employing qualitative methods for data collection, including focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with 22 female migrants working as domestic workers.ResultsResults indicate that young migrants’ perceptions of sexual health behaviors and access to sexuality education are shaped by various interconnected factors at four distinct levels: individual, interpersonal, social and community, and sociocultural and sociopolitical.DiscussionsThe present study adds to the existing literature by shedding light on certain perspectives that have not been given due emphasis in comparable studies. First, it highlights the importance of migrant community as barrier as well as opportunity in promoting positive health-seeking behaviors in a culturally acceptable manner. Second, it underscores the interplay between structural forces and individual and group-level vulnerability, emphasizing the need to address structural factors to eliminate young migrants’ internalized vulnerability. Third, it draws attention to the positive dimensions of sexual experiences as a motivator for proactive health-seeking and the intricate relationship between cultural practices and positive sexuality. This article recommends a proactive approach of migrant communities to address sexual healthcare issues while public healthcare institutions should proactively provide accessible sexual healthcare information and services.
Return to work after Post-COVID: describing affected employees' perceptions of personal resources, organizational offerings and care pathways
Authors: Straßburger Claudia , Hieber Daniel , Karthan Maximilian , Jüster Markus , Schobel Johannes 
Published: November 2023

BackgroundMost individuals recover from the acute phase of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, however, some encounter prolonged effects, referred to as the Post-COVID syndrome. Evidence exists that such persistent symptoms can significantly impact patients' ability to return to work. This paper gives a comprehensive overview of different care pathways and resources, both personal and external, that aim to support Post-COVID patients during their work-life reintegration process. By describing the current situation of Post-COVID patients pertaining their transition back to the workplace, this paper provides valuable insights into their needs.MethodsA quantitative research design was applied using an online questionnaire as an instrument. Participants were recruited via Post-COVID outpatients, rehab facilities, general practitioners, support groups, and other healthcare facilities.ResultsThe analyses of 184 data sets of Post-COVID affected produced three key findings: (1) The evaluation of different types of personal resources that may lead to a successful return to work found that particularly the individuals' ability to cope with their situation (measured with the FERUS questionnaire), produced significant differences between participants that had returned to work and those that had not been able to return so far (F = 4.913, p = 0.001). (2) In terms of organizational provisions to facilitate successful reintegration into work-life, predominantly structural changes (i.e., modification of the workplace, working hours, and task) were rated as helpful or very helpful on average (meanworkplace 2.55/SD = 0.83, meanworking hours 2.44/SD = 0.80; meantasks 2.55/SD = 0.83), while the remaining offerings (i.e., job coaching or health courses) were rated as less helpful or not helpful at all. (3) No significant correlation was found between different care pathways and a successful return to work.ConclusionThe results of the in-depth descriptive analysis allows to suggests that the level of ability to cope with the Post-COVID syndrome and its associated complaints, as well as the structural adaptation of the workplace to meet the needs and demands of patients better, might be important determinants of a successful return. While the latter might be addressed by employers directly, it might be helpful to integrate training on coping behavior early in care pathways and treatment plans for Post-COVID patients to strengthen their coping abilities aiming to support their successful return to work at an early stage.
Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy in the Brazilian Amazon region: clinical characteristics and regional distinctiveness
Authors: Guevara Moctezuma Elsa Isela , Smith Doria Susan , Ortiz Jessica Vanina , Teixeira de Sousa Débora Raysa , Mwangi Victor Irungu , do Nascimento Couceiro Katia , Brandão Alba Regina Jorge , Guerra Jorge Augusto de Oliveira , Vale Barbosa Guerra Maria das Graças , Barbosa Bemfica Ferreira João Marcos 
Published: November 2023

ObjectivesThis study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of clinical and epidemiological data related to Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy (CCC) in the Amazon region of Brazil.MethodsA review of observational, retrospective, and cross-sectional studies related to Chagas Disease in the Amazon region of Brazil was conducted, and a case series addressing CCC in patients treated at the FMT-HVD outpatient clinic, a reference center for Chagas disease in Brazil, was carried out.ResultsClinical characteristics of 55 patients from the Amazon region with CCC were described. The most common electrocardiographic alteration observed was abnormal ventricular repolarization (AVR), present in 40% of cases. The most common echocardiographic finding was left ventricular systolic dysfunction (49%), followed by akinesia or hypokinesia of the inferior and/or inferolateral walls (38.1%) and the presence of an apical aneurysm (32.7%).ConclusionsOverall, this study demonstrates that CCC in the Amazon region presents clinical characteristics and severity that are similar to those observed in other regions. However, certain peculiarities, such as the frequency of right bundle branch block (RBBB) and anterior and septal involvement during the acute phase, require additional investigation to better comprehend the disease in the region. Overall, the study provides crucial clinical insights for the diagnosis and treatment of CCC in the Amazon region.
Source, distribution, and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment and fish samples from River Owan, Edo State, Nigeria
Authors: Akinnusotu Akinyinka , Ukpebor Justina E. , Okieimen Felix E. 
Published: November 2023

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent environmental contaminants that present several environmental risks including human health. The 16 priority PAHs including its 1-methylnaphthalene, and 2-methylnaphthalene were determined in sediment and fish samples (Clarias anguillaris and Oreochromis niloticus) of River Owan, Edo State, Nigeria using gas chromatography (GC) equipped with flame ionization detector (FID) and other standard laboratory protocols. The isomeric ratio was used for source diagnosis, sediment quality guidelines, and risk models of incremental lifetime cancer were used for risk assessment. 1-methylnaphthalene and 2-methylnaphthalene were most predominant in all sediment samples analysed. The ∑LMW PAHs ranged between 0.093—0.250 μg/kg; ∑HMW PAHs were 0.107—0.579 μg/kg. The sediment samples range for ∑PAHs was 0.280–0.810 μg/kg with concentration order of increase: SE5&gt;SE4&gt;SE3&gt;SE6&gt;SE1&gt;SE2&gt;SE7 for the seven sampling locations. The ∑PAHs for Oreochromis niloticus was 0.190 μg/kg, which is higher than the value of Clarias anguillaris 0.080 μg/kg, and these values were greatly lesser when compared to the European Commission limit of 12.00 μg/kg. The diagnostic ratio indicates that the sources are more pyrogenic than petrogenic, revealing combustion from grass, wood, and bush burning. Sediment quality assessment showed that the ∑PAHs were lower than the regulatory values of sediment quality guidelines (SQG) assessment suggesting no ecotoxicological effects on the benthic organisms in this area at present. The Incremental Life Cancer Risk results were in the range of 9.15 × 10−12—1.46 × 10−6 for children, and 7.78 × 10−12—1.76 × 10−6 for adults considering the three routes of exposure. The incremental life cancer risk assessment showed a negligible risk.
An LcMYB111-LcHY5 Module Differentially Activates an LcFLS Promoter in Different Litchi Cultivars
Authors: Xiao Zhidan , Wang Jing , Jiang Nonghui , Fan Chao , Xiang Xu , Liu Wei 
Published: November 2023

Flavonol synthase (FLS) is the crucial enzyme of the flavonol biosynthetic pathways, and its expression is tightly regulated in plants. In our previous study, two alleles of LcFLS, LcFLS-A and LcFLS-B, have been identified in litchi, with extremely early-maturing (EEM) cultivars only harboring LcFLS-A, while middle-to-late-maturing (MLM) cultivars only harbor LcFLS-B. Here, we overexpressed both LcFLS alleles in tobacco, and transgenic tobacco produced lighter-pink flowers and showed increased flavonol levels while it decreased anthocyanin levels compared to WT. Two allelic promoters of LcFLS were identified, with EEM cultivars only harboring proLcFLS-A, while MLM cultivars only harbor proLcFLS-B. One positive and three negative R2R3-MYB transcription regulators of LcFLS expression were identified, among which only positive regulator LcMYB111 showed a consistent expression pattern with LcFLS, which both have higher expression in EEM than that of MLM cultivars. LcMYB111 were further confirmed to specifically activate proLcFLS-A with MYB-binding element (MBE) while being unable to activate proLcFLS-B with mutated MBE (MBEm). LcHY5 were also identified and can interact with LcMYB111 to promote LcFLS expression. Our study elucidates the function of LcFLS and its differential regulation in different litchi cultivars for the first time.
REKP: Refined External Knowledge into Prompt-Tuning for Few-Shot Text Classification
Authors: Dang Yuzhuo , Chen Weijie , Zhang Xin , Chen Honghui 
Published: November 2023

Text classification is a machine learning technique employed to assign a given text to predefined categories, facilitating the automatic analysis and processing of textual data. However, an important problem is that the number of new text categories is growing faster than that of human annotation data, which makes many new categories of text data lack a lot of annotation data. As a result, the conventional deep neural network is forced to over-fit, which damages the application in the real world. As a solution to this problem, academics recommend addressing data scarcity through few-shot learning. One of the efficient methods is prompt-tuning, which transforms the input text into a mask prediction problem featuring [MASK]. By utilizing descriptors, the model maps output words to labels, enabling accurate prediction. Nevertheless, the previous prompt-based adaption approaches often relied on manually produced verbalizers or a single label to represent the entire label vocabulary, which makes the mapping granularity low, resulting in words not being accurately mapped to their label. To address these issues, we propose to enhance the verbalizer and construct the refined external knowledge into a prompt-tuning (REKP) model. We employ the external knowledge bases to increase the mapping space of tagged terms and design three refinement methods to remove noise data. We conduct comprehensive experiments on four benchmark datasets, namely AG’s News, Yahoo, IMDB, and Amazon. The results demonstrate that REKP can outperform the state-of-the-art baselines in terms of Micro-F1 on knowledge-enhanced text classification. In addition, we conduct an ablation study to ascertain the functionality of each module in our model, revealing that the refinement module significantly contributes to enhancing classification accuracy.
The Benefits of Toxicity: M. smegmatis VapBC TA Module Is Induced by Tetracycline Exposure and Promotes Survival
Authors: Zamakhaev Mikhail , Bespyatykh Julia , Goncharenko Anna , Shumkov Mikhail 
Published: November 2023

Toxin–antitoxin (TA) systems are widely present in bacterial genomes. Mycolicibacterium smegmatis, a common model organism for studying Mycobacterium tuberculosis physiology, has eight TA loci, including mazEF and vapBC. This study aims to investigate the physiological significance of these TA systems. Proteomic profiling was conducted on a culture overexpressing the VapC toxin, and the involvement of VapC in M. smegmatis stress responses to heat shock and antibiotic treatment was examined. While deciphering the underlying mechanisms of the altered stress resistance, we assessed the antibiotic susceptibility of vapBC, mazEF, and double vapBC-mazEF deletion mutants. Additionally, the mRNA levels of vapC and mazF were measured following tetracycline supplementation. The results reveal changes in the abundance of metabolic enzymes and stress response proteins associated with VapC overexpression. This activation of the general stress response leads to reduced thermosensitivity in M. smegmatis, but does not affect susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and isoniazid. Under tetracycline treatment, both vapC and mazF expression levels are increased, and the fate of the cell depends on the interaction between the corresponding TA systems.