bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of diagnostic accuracy for cryptorchidism and risk factors for delayed orchidopexy
Authors: Morizawa Yosuke , Aoki Katsuya , Fukui Shinji , Tomizawa Mitsuru , Shimizu Takuto , Onishi Kenta , Hori Shunta , Gotoh Daisuke , Nakai Yasushi , Miyake Makito , Torimoto Kazumasa , Fujimoto Ken , Otani Takeshi , Fujimoto Kiyohide 
Published: November 2023

ObjectivesCryptorchidism (CO) diagnosis by palpation is challenging. Patients with suspected CO are primarily referred to pediatric urologists by general pediatricians and urologists. Currently, surgical treatment for CO is recommended earlier than in previous guidelines. In this study, we evaluated factors that lead to diagnosis discordance and delayed orchidopexy in patients referred with suspected CO in addition to timing of initial screening.MethodsIn total, 731 patients (1052 testes) with suspected CO were included. Risk factors for diagnostic discrepancy in CO diagnosis by pediatric urologists and risk of delayed orchiopexy were evaluated.ResultsHerein, 659 (90%) patients were diagnosed during routine public health checkups for infants and young children, and 419 (57%) patients were referred by pediatric practitioners. Of 1052 testes, 374 (36%) were diagnosed with CO by pediatric urologists. In multivariate analysis, risk factors of diagnostic discrepancy for CO diagnosis by pediatric urologists were bilateral testis (odds ratio [OR] = 9.17, p < 0.0001), >6 months old at initial diagnosis (OR = 1.036, p < 0.0001), and pediatric referral (OR = 4.60, p < 0.0001). In total, 296 patients underwent orchiopexy for CO. In multivariate analysis, risk factors for delayed orchiopexy were presence of comorbidities (OR = 3.43, p = 0.003) and >10 months old at referral (OR = 12.62, p < 0.0001).ConclusionsPediatric referral is a risk factor for discordant CO diagnostics, and late age at referral brings a risk of delayed orchiopexy. It is necessary to enlighten pediatricians, who are mainly responsible for routine health checkups, in teaching CO diagnostic techniques to ensure early referral.
A formative assessment of client characteristics associated with missed appointments in integrated primary care services in rural Arizona
Authors: Santos Jeffersson , Camplain Carolyn , Pollitt Amanda Marie , Baldwin Julie Ann 
Published: November 2023

AbstractIntroductionIntegrating primary care services in mental healthcare facilities is an uncommon model of care in the United States that could bring several benefits (e.g., improved access to physical healthcare) for vulnerable populations experiencing mental health conditions, especially those living in underserved regions like rural Arizona.AimThis formative assessment aimed to understand the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of clients accessing integrated primary care (IPC) services implemented in 2021 at a community mental healthcare facility in rural Arizona and to explore the proportion of missed appointments. Additionally, we analysed the association between client characteristics and IPC missed appointments.MethodsThe authors collaborated with a community mental health facility in rural Arizona, which provided deidentified data from 280 clients who accessed IPC services from June 2021 to February 2022.ResultsMost clients were White and of vulnerable socioeconomic status, with a substantial proportion of Native Americans (23.58%). The majority of clients (55.75%) had a mental health disorder (MHD), 23.74% had a substance use disorder (SUD), and 15.10% had comorbid MHD and SUD. Linear regression revealed that experiencing comorbid MHD and SUD was significantly associated with missed appointments. Compared with White clients, Native Americans missed fewer appointments.ConclusionFuture studies conducted from a culturally‐centred perspective are crucial to guide strategies to reduce missed appointments in rural IPC services.
Nudging food choice in a prison setting: an investigation using food choice data
Authors: Fennessy A. , Homer M. S. , Ensaff H. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe prison population presents complex health needs and is disproportionately affected by poor health, compared to the general population. Diet has a clear role in prisoner health, and the prison food environment within which food choices are made is relatively under–researched. The aim of this study was to examine whether food choices in a women's prison changed after the introduction of a new menu design by the catering team.MethodsThe adjusted menu design incorporated an emoticon (a smiley face) placed next to designated ‘Healthy Choice’ foods on the menu sheets, which were used to preselect meals. Data comprised all women's (n = 865) food choices (more than 115,000 selections) for a period of 8 weeks (with the new menu) as well as 8 weeks prior (baseline period). The study design was a pre‐post intervention study, and food selection was examined using chi‐square tests and binary logistic regression models.ResultsThe selection of promoted foods overall significantly increased under the new menu design (with the emoticon nudge strategy) compared to baseline; the effect size, however, was small according to the usual guidelines (21.4% compared to 20% at baseline; χ2(1) = 32.6, p < 0.001, φ = 0.02). Individuals were 11% more likely (p < 0.001) to select the promoted ‘Healthy Choice’ foods under the adjusted food choice architecture. A significant effect was found for lunch and evening meal – but not for desserts. A minority of individual food items that were promoted had significant positive changes in selection, and were 1.3–4 times as likely to be selected when emoticons had been introduced, compared to baseline.ConclusionsFurther research is needed to examine the potential added benefit of multiple complementary nudge strategies, and the relevance of the preselection of foods in advance of consumption.
Gambling culture and internal control extensiveness
Authors: Tan Jianhua , Gao Jun , Chan Kam C. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractWhile cultural traits in a firm's location impact corporate operation, the role of local cultures on a firm's internal control effectiveness (ICE) remains unclear. Using data from a sample of Chinese firms from 2009 to 2019, we examine how the gambling culture in Chinese provinces where firms are located impacts the firms' ICE. We use per capita lottery sales of the provinces to proxy for gambling culture in China and find that firms raise their ICE in environments with strong gambling cultures. The results are robust to five components of ICE (control environment, risk assessment, control activity, information and communication, and internal monitoring), alternative metrics of gambling metrics, and after accounting for endogeneity. A mediating analysis also shows that firms in regions with a strong gambling culture engage in risky activities, which increases their ICE. Additional analyses suggest that the effect is more salient for firms with poor internal corporate governance, firms located in poor legal environments, firms with poor audit quality, or firms with more local external stakeholders, echoing that ICE and monitoring are partial substitutes.
Clinker based on calcium looped meals from the Cleanker Project
Authors: Gastaldi Daniela , Canonico Fulvio , Merlo Valentino , Magli Francesco 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe Cleanker (CLEAN clinKER production by Calcium Looping process) project, financed in the framework of Horizon 2020 EU funding program, has demonstrated the feasibility of the integrated CaL concept at industrial scale in a new demo system realised in the Buzzi Unicem cement plant in Vernasca (IT). The Calcium Looping (CaL) CO2 capture process exploits the reversible reaction of limestone calcination/carbonation (CaCO3 ↔ CaO + CO2). The Cleanker pilot plant consists of the coupling of a carbonator and an oxyfuel calciner. When the flue gases from kiln (containing CO2) flow through the carbonator together with calcined meal, which acts as a CO2 sorbent, carbonation takes place and CO2 is fixed in calcium carbonate. CaO is then regenerated in the calciner, where the opposite reaction takes place, and the captured CO2 is released. When the lime/limestone looping is carried out through a carbonator and a calciner operated in oxyfuel, a concentrated CO2 stream is obtained that can be efficiently addressed towards CCS or CCUS processes.In the Cleanker Project, the possibility to use raw meal for clinker production has been exploited and the meals sampled at the outlet of the oxyfuel calciner have been characterised and used for producing clinker at a lab scale. Calcium looped (CaL) meals collected at different sampling point during the operation of the CaL plant were characterised by means of X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction and particle size distribution. Electron scanning microscopy revealed significant differences in the surface of particles of the looped meals with respect to the original one, resulting from the loading and unloading of CO2 during the looping cycles. The meals were burnt in a laboratory furnace and the obtained clinkers have been characterised on a chemical, mineralogical and microscopical point of view, revealing the good burnability of all the meals and attesting the possibility to reintegrate the materials in the clinker production process. A lower alite/belite ratio in the clinker produced from the looped meals was observed: actually, the depletion of calcium during the recirculation of the meal in the calciner/carbonator system led to a reduction of the lime saturation factor influencing the mineralogical composition of the product.
Imaging of pediatric skull lytic lesions: A review
Authors: Santos Mariana , Cunha Bruno , Abreu Vasco , Ferraciolli Suely , Godoy Luís , Murakoshi Rodrigo , Amaral Lázaro Luís Faria , Conceição Carla 
Published: November 2023

AbstractSkull lesions in pediatric population are common findings on imaging and sometimes with heterogeneous manifestations, constituting a diagnostic challenge. Some lesions can be misinterpreted for their aggressiveness, as with larger lesions eroding cortical bone, containing soft tissue components, leading to excessive and, in some cases, invasive inappropriate etiological investigation. In this review, we present multiple several conditions that may present as skull lesions or pseudolesions, organized by groups (anatomic variants, congenital and development disorders, traumatic injuries, vascular issues, infectious conditions, and tumoral processes). Anatomic variants are common imaging findings that must be recognized by the neuroradiologist. Congenital malformations are rare conditions, such as aplasia cutis congenita and sinus pericranii, usually seen at earlier ages, the majority of which are benign findings. In case of trauma, cephalohematoma, growing skull fractures, and posttraumatic lytic lesions should be considered. Osteomyelitis tends to be locally aggressive and may mimic malignancy, in which cases, the clinical history can be the key to diagnosis. Vascular (sickle cell disease) and tumoral (aneurismal bone cyst, eosinophilic granuloma, metastases) lesions are relatively rare lesions but should be considered in the differential diagnosis, in the presence of certain imaging findings. The main difficulty is the differentiation between the benign and malignant nature; therefore, the main objective of this pictorial essay is to review the main skull lytic lesions found in pediatric age, describing the main findings in different imaging modalities (CT and MRI), allowing the neuroradiologist greater confidence in establishing the differential diagnosis, through a systematic and simple characterization of the lesions.
Cardiovascular diseases, risk factors, and ulcer relapse in older adults with aphthous stomatitis
Authors: Yao Hui , Deng Yiwen , Du Guanhuan , Wang Yufeng , Tang Guoyao 
Published: November 2023

AbstractObjectivesTo test the hypothesis that cardiovascular diseases and risk factors are associated with ulcer relapse in after‐retirement patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis.Subjects and MethodsThis retrospective cohort study analyzed the data of 40 minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis patients aged 55–75 years, admitted to Oral Medicine Clinic at one university hospital in China between 2016 and 2018. The diagnosis of minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis was made based on the history and manifestation of oral ulcers. The ulcer relapse was evaluated after a 5‐week anti‐inflammatory treatment, and the history of systemic diseases was collected. cardiovascular disease/metabolic risk referred to the presence of any cardiovascular diseases and metabolic cardiovascular disease risks. Associations among cardiovascular diseases, risk factors, and ulcer relapse were evaluated.ResultsThe mean age of 40 patients with minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis was 62.4 years (SD 5.1), and 60% were women. The ulcer relapse rate was 37.5% (95% CI, 0.242–0.530). The proportion of cardiovascular disease/metabolic risk was higher in the relapse group than in the no‐relapse group after 5‐week anti‐inflammatory treatment (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.041).ConclusionsAccording to this single‐center experience, older patients with cardiovascular disease/metabolic risk may be more prone to oral ulcer recurrence. Nevertheless, larger prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings.
Changes in Politics and Religiosity Among Students at a Protestant University
Authors: Brown Brandon M. , Dougherty Kevin D. , Uecker Jeremy E. , Schnitker Sarah A. , Glanzer Perry L. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractCollege is a setting and time of profound change in the lives of emerging adults. This change can include shifts in identity related to politics and religion. Given widespread attention to the alignment of religious people with conservative politics and less religious people with liberal politics (i.e., the “God Gap”), we ask: do college students who become politically liberal lose their religion in the process? Using longitudinal panel data, this study examines changes in political identity and religiosity among students at a Protestant university. Findings reveal changes in students’ politics align with changes in public and private religious behaviors, certainty in belief, agreement with core tenets of the Christian faith, faith maturity, and closeness to God. Whereas students who become more politically conservative increase their religiosity, the inverse is true for those whose politics become more liberal in college.
The effect of host admixture on wild house mouse gut microbiota is weak when accounting for spatial autocorrelation
Authors: Čížková Dagmar , Schmiedová Lucie , Kváč Martin , Sak Bohumil , Macholán Miloš , Piálek Jaroslav , Kreisinger Jakub 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe question of how interactions between the gut microbiome and vertebrate hosts contribute to host adaptation and speciation is one of the major problems in current evolutionary research. Using bacteriome and mycobiome metabarcoding, we examined how these two components of the gut microbiota vary with the degree of host admixture in secondary contact between two house mouse subspecies (Mus musculus musculus and M. m. domesticus). We used a large data set collected at two replicates of the hybrid zone and model‐based statistical analyses to ensure the robustness of our results. Assuming that the microbiota of wild hosts suffers from spatial autocorrelation, we directly compared the results of statistical models that were spatially naive with those that accounted for spatial autocorrelation. We showed that neglecting spatial autocorrelation can strongly affect the results and lead to misleading conclusions. The spatial analyses showed little difference between subspecies, both in microbiome composition and in individual bacterial lineages. Similarly, the degree of admixture had minimal effects on the gut bacteriome and mycobiome and was caused by changes in a few microbial lineages that correspond to the common symbionts of free‐living house mice. In contrast to previous studies, these data do not support the hypothesis that the microbiota plays an important role in host reproductive isolation in this particular model system.
Patterns of speciation in a parapatric pair of Saturnia moths as revealed by target capture
Authors: Khan Maria , Joshi Mukta , Espeland Marianne , Huemer Peter , Lopez‐Vaamonde Carlos , Mutanen Marko 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe focus of this study has been to understand the evolutionary relationships and taxonomy of a widely distributed parapatric species pair of wild silk moths in Europe: Saturnia pavonia and Saturnia pavoniella (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). To address species delimitation in these parapatric taxa, target enrichment and mtDNA sequencing was employed alongside phylogenetic, admixture, introgression, and species delimitation analyses. The dataset included individuals from both species close to and farther away from the contact zone as well as two hybrids generated in the lab. Nuclear markers strongly supported both S. pavonia and S. pavoniella as two distinct species, with hybrids forming a sister group to S. pavoniella. However, the Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree generated from mtDNA sequencing data presented a different picture, showing both taxa to be phylogenetically intermixed. This inconsistency is likely attributable to mitonuclear discordance, which can arise from biological factors (e.g., introgressive hybridization and/or incomplete lineage sorting). Our analyses indicate that past introgressions have taken place, but that there is no evidence to suggest an ongoing admixture between the two species, demonstrating that the taxa have reached full postzygotic reproductive isolation and hence represent two distinct biological species. Finally, we discuss our results from an evolutionary point of view taking into consideration the past climatic oscillations that have likely shaped the present dynamics between the two species. Overall, our study demonstrates the effectiveness of the target enrichment approach in resolving shallow phylogenetic relationships under complex evolutionary circumstances and that this approach is useful in establishing robust and well‐informed taxonomic delimitations involving parapatric taxa.
Association between the skin microbiome and MHC class II diversity in an amphibian
Authors: Cortazar‐Chinarro M. , Richter‐Boix A. , Rödin‐Mörch P. , Halvarsson P. , Logue J. B. , Laurila A. , Höglund J. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractMicrobiomes play an important role in determining the ecology and behaviour of their hosts. However, questions remain pertaining to how host genetics shape microbiomes, and how microbiome composition influences host fitness. We explored the effects of geography, evolutionary history and host genetics on the skin microbiome diversity and structure in a widespread amphibian. More specifically, we examined the association between bacterial diversity and composition and the major histocompatibility complex class II exon 2 diversity in 12 moor frog (Rana arvalis) populations belonging to two geographical clusters that show signatures of past and ongoing differential selection. We found that while bacterial alpha diversity did not differ between the two clusters, MHC alleles/supertypes and genetic diversity varied considerably depending on geography and evolutionary history. Bacterial alpha diversity was positively correlated with expected MHC heterozygosity and negatively with MHC nucleotide diversity. Furthermore, bacterial community composition showed significant variation between the two geographical clusters and between specific MHC alleles/supertypes. Our findings emphasize the importance of historical demographic events on hologenomic variation and provide new insights into how immunogenetic host variability and microbial diversity may jointly influence host fitness with consequences for disease susceptibility and population persistence.
Cassava molecular genetics and genomics for enhanced resistance to diseases and pests
Authors: Ntui Valentine Otang , Tripathi Jaindra Nath , Kariuki Samwel Muiruri , Tripathi Leena 
Published: November 2023

AbstractCassava (Manihot esculenta) is one of the most important sources of dietary calories in the tropics, playing a central role in food and economic security for smallholder farmers. Cassava production is highly constrained by several pests and diseases, mostly cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). These diseases cause significant yield losses, affecting food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Developing resistant varieties is a good way of increasing cassava productivity. Although some levels of resistance have been developed for some of these diseases, there is observed breakdown in resistance for some diseases, such as CMD. A frequent re‐evaluation of existing disease resistance traits is required to make sure they are still able to withstand the pressure associated with pest and pathogen evolution. Modern breeding approaches such as genomic‐assisted selection in addition to biotechnology techniques like classical genetic engineering or genome editing can accelerate the development of pest‐ and disease‐resistant cassava varieties. This article summarizes current developments and discusses the potential of using molecular genetics and genomics to produce cassava varieties resistant to diseases and pests.