bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessing effectiveness of adding niosomal atorvastatin 1% ointment to topical calcineurin inhibitor treatment in non‐segmental vitiligo
Authors: Zartab Hamed , Aflatoonian Mahin , Shamsi‐Meymandi Simin , Pardakhty Abbas , Isazadeh Ahdie , Firooz Alireza , Amiri Rezvan 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBackgroundTreatment of vitiligo is still a big challenge for dermatologists. The efficacy of statins in the treatment of vitiligo is controversial.Aim and ObjectiveWe studied possible therapeutic effect of topical 1% niosomal atorvastatin ointment combined with topical 0.1% tacrolimus in treatment of non‐segmental vitiligo.MethodsThis is a triple blind, pilot, randomized placebo‐controlled trial (RCT) that was performed in dermatology clinic. All the patients used topical 0.1% tacrolimus cream twice daily (BD). Moreover, the intervention group participants used topical 1% niosomal atorvastatin ointment, and control group participants were prescribed placebo ointment, BD. Patients were evaluated using vitiligo area surface index (VASI) score and patients' satisfaction at baseline and after 3 months treatment.ResultsThe mean patient satisfaction in the intervention and control groups were 5 ± 1.4 and 3.5 ± 1.9; the difference between groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.9). We found statistically significant difference in VASI score before and after treatment in both intervention and control groups (p = 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). However, comparison of the VASI score between groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.62). We also found no significant correlation between VASI score and other variables.ConclusionThe result of this study indicates that adding of niosomal atorvastatin 1% ointment to topical calcineurin inhibitor has no additional effect on non‐segmental type of vitiligo. Further large studies with different combinations are recommended before any conclusive result can be concluded on efficacy of statins in vitiligo.
Ethnicity and UK graduate migration: An identity economics approach
Authors: Brophy Sean 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis paper reports on the employment migration behavior of non‐White ethnic minority graduates in the United Kingdom for the 2018/2019 graduation cohort, which is the last cohort to enter the labor market before the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using data from the new Graduate Outcomes survey and controlling for a rich set of background characteristics, the findings indicate that ethnic minority graduates are more likely than their White counterparts to find work in ethnically diverse areas of the United Kingdom after leaving higher education. An identity utility framework is then formalized that combines identity economics with traditional approaches of human capital theory and job search theory. A test of an ethnic identity‐based hypothesis reveals that Asian, Black, and Mixed‐background graduates are comparatively more likely to migrate to areas with higher ethnic diversity levels, rather than less diverse areas. In addition to traditional explanations based on human capital theory and job search theory, this paper argues that these patterns are best explained by ethnic identity norms, which introduce a preference for working in ethnically diverse places. However, the results should be interpreted with some caution because of concerns related to heterogeneity within the ethnic group classifications used in the paper and possible omitted and unobserved variables.
Correlation between urine anion gap and urine ammonia‐creatinine ratio in healthy cats and cats with kidney disease
Authors: Berman Alyssa R. , Specht Andrew J. , Castro Rebeca A. , Cooke Kirsten L. , Gilor Shir , Harris Autumn N. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBackgroundAmmonium excretion decreases as kidney function decreases in several species, including cats, and may have predictive or prognostic value in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Urine ammonia measurement is not readily available in clinical practice, and urine anion gap (UAG) has been proposed as a surrogate test.ObjectivesEvaluate the correlation between urine ammonia‐to‐creatinine ratio (UACR) and UAG in healthy cats and those with CKD and determine if a significant difference exists between UAG of healthy cats and cats with CKD.AnimalsUrine samples collected from healthy client‐owned cats (n = 59) and those with stable CKD (n = 17).MethodsUrine electrolyte concentrations were measured using a commercial chemistry analyzer and UAG was calculated as ([sodium] + [potassium]) − [chloride]. Urine ammonia and creatinine concentrations had been measured previously using commercially available enzymatic assays and used to calculate UACR. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between UAG and UACR was calculated for both groups. The UAG values of healthy cats and cats with CKD were assessed using the Mann‐Whitney test (P < .05).ResultsThe UAG was inversely correlated with UACR in healthy cats (P < .002, r0 = −0.40) but not in cats with CKD (P = .55; r0 = −0.15). A significant difference was found between UAG in healthy cats and those with CKD (P < .001).Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceThe UAG calculation cannot be used as a substitute for UACR in cats. The clinical relevance of UAG differences between healthy cats and those with CKD remains unknown.
Interindividual variation among Culex pipiens larvae in terms of thermal response
Authors: Sakaci Zafer , Talay Sengul , Erguler Kamil , Korkmaz Adil , Sirin Deniz , Er Aylin , Alten Bulent , Kar Sirri 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThis study aims to determine the phenological characteristics of thermal responses in the larvae of a Culex pipiens complex field population at the individual level under the influence of thermal regime of its habitat. The analysis is based on a structured population model quantifying the thermal responses of development time and survival under variable conditions and characterising the variety between the larvae (interindividual variety). During the study performed in Turkish Thrace on a monthly basis between May 2021 and June 2022, a total of 3744 larvae were reared as peer larval cohorts and 2330 larvae as siblings in artificial containers to be fully exposed to the natural thermal condition that was recorded hourly. The development process of larvae was monitored daily from egg to adult. As a result, a total of 4788 adult mosquitoes emerged, with a development period ranging from 8 to 52 days in the females and 7 to 50 days in the males, and the survival rate was found to range from 0% to 100%. Both parameters varied by month and individuals, and the variations manifested itself, particularly in the colder periods. The results indicate that the variation between the individuals in terms of thermal response in the larvae of C. pipiens, along with the thermal acclimation ability, appears to be fate determinant in resisting fluctuating thermal regimes, surviving in concurrent climate change and adapting to new conditions with modifications in the seasonal phenology, such as maintaining reproductive dynamics throughout the winter thanks to global warming.
Patient‐reported difficulty in activities of daily living and corresponding muscle weakness in elderly patients undergoing haemodialysis
Authors: Matsufuji Shota , Shoji Tetsuo , Lee Suhye , Hoshio Atsuhiro , Tanaka Ruri , Fujimoto Koji , Watanuki Hiroaki , Nishimura Mari , Tsujimoto Yoshihiro , Morioka Tomoaki , Mori Katsuhito , Emoto Masanori 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAimPatients undergoing haemodialysis have reduced muscle strength and impaired activities of daily living (ADL). We examined possible relationship between difficult ADL and corresponding muscle weakness in elderly haemodialysis patients.MethodsThis was a single‐centre, cross‐sectional study. Patient‐reported ADL difficulty was examined using a questionnaire in six ADL using upper limbs (eating, grooming and dressing) and lower limbs (bathing, toileting and locomotion). We measured six muscle strengths by dynamometers of shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, elbow flexion, handgrip, hip abduction and knee extension. The muscle strength with the lowest Z‐score was considered as the weakest muscle strength for the patient.ResultsThe six scores of ADL difficulty were all inversely associated with the six muscle strengths in the 81 total participants of whom 71 individuals (87.7%) had any ADL difficulty. Among the six measurements of muscle strength, handgrip strength showed the highest associations with all ADL difficulties. In 25 patients who perceived that the most difficult ADL was an activity using upper limbs, the common weakest muscle strengths were the hip abduction, handgrip and elbow flexion. In 44 patients who perceived that the most difficult ADL was an activity using lower limbs, knee extension was the most prevalent weakest muscle strength.ConclusionThis study suggested preferential relationship between the most difficult ADL and corresponding muscle weakness in elderly haemodialysis patients. This finding may be useful in prevention and treatment.image
Weight reduction and the risk of gallbladder and biliary disease: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized clinical trials
Authors: Yang Wenjia , Wu Han , Cai Xiaoling , Lin Chu , Luo Yingying , Hu Suiyuan , Li Zonglin , Jiao Ruoyang , Bai Shuzhen , Liu Geling , Yang Xiaolin , Ji Linong 
Published: February 2024

SummaryIn this meta‐analysis, we aim to evaluate the risk of gallbladder and biliary disease of weight management strategies and investigate the association between weight reduction and risk of gallbladder or biliary disease. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a duration of at least 12 weeks that compare antiobesity medications (AOMs) with placebo or bariatric surgery with less intensive weight management strategy were concluded. Weight management strategy was associated with a significant increased risk of gallbladder or biliary disease (OR 1.361, 95% CI 1.147 to 1.614, P < 0.001, I2 = 3.5%), cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, and cholecystectomy compared with placebo or controls. The increased risk of gallbladder or biliary disease was observed both in pharmacotherapies subgroup and bariatric surgery subgroup. With regards of specific pharmacotherapies, an increased risk of gallbladder or biliary disease was observed in trials with glucagon‐like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP‐1 RA) treatments. In addition, trials with indication of obesity and overweight treatment and trials with higher doses showed significant higher risk of gallbladder or biliary disease compared with placebo or controls. In conclusion, weight management strategy was associated with an increased risk of gallbladder or biliary disease when compared with placebo or control groups.
The impact of perinatal and at birth risk factors on the progression from preschool wheezing to adolescent asthma
Authors: Gallagher Claire , Batra Mehak , Malamardi Sowmya Nagappa , Erbas Bircan 
Published: February 2024

AbstractAsthma is a global health concern affecting millions of children and adolescents. This review focuses on the possible factors that are associated with the transition from preschool wheezing to childhood asthma and highlights the significance of early‐life environmental exposures during pregnancy and the first 6 months of life in shaping allergies and asthma. We observed a scarcity of studies investigating this subgroup, with most focusing on wheezing trajectories. We undertook a thorough investigation of diverse perinatal exposures that have the potential to impact this transition. These factors include maternal asthma, smoking during pregnancy, diet, prepregnancy weight, infant birthweight, gestational age, and breastfeeding. Although limited, studies do suggest that maternal asthma increases the likelihood of preschool wheeze in offspring that persists through childhood with potential asthma progression. Findings concerning other perinatal exposures remain inconsistent. Further research is needed to identify asthma progression risk factors and assess perinatal exposure effects.
Growing or reproducing? Assessing the existence of a trade‐off in the globose cactus Gymnocalycium monvillei
Authors: Lorenzati M. A. , Aliscioni N. L. , Delbón N. E. , Gurvich D. E. 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT
Resource allocation in plants is a fundamental aspect of life history theory. In Cactaceae, the specific trade‐off between sexual reproduction and vegetative growth has still not been studied. The aim of this work was to assess if there is a trade‐off between growth and reproduction, and to analyse whether both growth and allocation to reproduction depend on size of the individual.
In this study, we used Gymnocalycium monvillei, a globose cactus endemic to the mountains of central Argentina, as a model species. Specifically, we analysed the relationship of growth (percentage increase in diameter) and size of individuals (diameter) to seed production, seed mass, germination, and mean germination time. To relativize the effect of size on seed production, two variables were calculated: the ratio of seed production to plant size (RSPS), and the ratio of total seed mass to plant size (RSMS).
We found that both seed production and total seed mass were significantly related to cactus size. However, growth was not related to seed mass or to seed production, even when they were relativized. Germination and mean germination time were not related to plant size or growth.
In the studied species, a slow‐growing globose cactus, we did not find a trade‐off between growth and reproduction.
Investigating the relationship between gender equality and citizen trust: Evidence from Latin America
Authors: Lee Yunsoo , Ottervik Mattias 
Published: February 2024

AbstractObjectivesPrevious research has shown a relationship between social and economic equality and trust, but the relationship between gender equality and trust has received relatively little attention. This study addresses that lacuna and analyzes the relationship between gender equality and political trust as well as social trust.MethodsUsing the 2015 Latinobarómetro, we test the relationship between two types of gender equality, labor gender equality and overall gender equality, and two types of trust, political trust and social trust in a series of regressions.ResultsThe results show that gender equality is positively associated with social and political trust. In particular, the magnitude of association of labor gender equality with social trust is greater than that of overall gender equality. Also, the magnitude of association of overall gender equality with political trust is greater than that of labor gender equality.ConclusionsOur article contributes to the literature by demonstrating that overall gender equality and labor gender equality have varying association with trust depending on types of trust.
More than the Second Amendment: Liberal gun owners, citizenship, and emancipatory democracy in the United States
Authors: Hubbert Jennifer , Eaton Hannah 
Published: February 2024

AbstractObjectiveThis study seeks to understand how liberal gun owners configure the rights and responsibilities of ethical gun citizenship in the face of a dominant public narratives that rejects guns as markers of liberal belonging.MethodsThis study employs a qualitative, textual analysis approach to explore the narratives of liberal gun owners participating in online discussions of mass shootings and contentious political elections.ResultsThe results show how liberal gun owners, in these online forums, advocated for an emancipatory democracy that largely prioritized the collective over the individual, demanded an accountable government, and was radical in its insistence on the importance of accessibility and meaningful participation, thus configuring social belonging and commensurability as central to formal citizenship.ConclusionThe results suggest that how one formulates the values of citizenship is linked to how one practices the politics of democracy. Highlighting the greater range of possibilities for the alignment of guns and citizenship may thus offer some hope to the rancor of contemporary partisan politics as liberal gun owners seek to normalize a democracy that brings individual and collective identities and needs into its culture and practice.
Spatiotemporal stacking method with daily‐cycle restrictions for reconstructing missing hourly PM2.5 records
Authors: Chen Chuanfa , Li Kunyu 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe reliability of hourly PM2.5 data obtained from air quality monitoring stations is compromised as a result of the missing values, thereby impeding the thorough examination of crucial information. In this paper, we present a spatiotemporal (ST) stacking machine learning (ML) method with daily‐cycle restrictions for reconstructing missing hourly PM2.5 records. First, the ST neighbors for the target station with missing values are selected at a daily scale. Subsequently, the non‐null data within the ST neighbors undergo an iterative P‐BSHADE interpolation process for re‐interpolation. Next, a stacking ML model is constructed using the re‐interpolation values and several environmental factors associated with PM2.5 as the predictors, while the observed PM2.5 is taken as the independent variable. Finally, the missing values are reconstructed by inputting the predictors into the trained stacking model. The study utilized hourly PM2.5 data in the Beijing‐Tianjin‐Hebei region as a case study to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method, using daily missing ratios of 10%, 30%, and 50%, respectively. The accuracy of the proposed method was then compared to four contemporary ST interpolation methods. The results indicate that the proposed method exhibits superior performance compared to the classical methods. Specifically, it achieves a reduction in the average root mean square error and mean absolute error by at least 40.6% and 40.1%, respectively. Additionally, the proposed method demonstrates the successful recovery of extreme values in the hourly PM2.5 records, in contrast to the classical methods which often exhibit a tendency to overestimate low values and underestimate high values. Overall, the proposed method presents a viable and efficient approach to recover missing values in the hourly PM2.5 records that demonstrate evident daily periodic patterns.
The nuts and bolts of transplant infectious disease training
Authors: Harris Courtney E. , Kumar Rebecca N. , Haidar Ghady , La Hoz Ricardo M. , Gorsline Chelsea A. 
Published: February 2024

AbstractThe number of transplant infectious disease (TID) fellowship programs has expanded rapidly in the past 5 years, with the creation of many new programs and the expansion of training tracks and dedicated years as the demand for TID physicians grows drastically. This editorial focuses on major factors and complexities that programs should consider in TID fellowship creation, as well as highlighting examples of formative experiences, programmatic structure, and fellow resources that trainees can use to identify their desired career path in TID.
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Effect of Rim Seal Geometry on Rotationally-Driven Ingestion
Authors: Burden Shaun , Chew John W. , Gao Feng , Marxen Olaf 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
This study investigates turbine rim seal geometry effects within the rotationally-driven ingestion regime. Computations were performed with a wall-resolved unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) model and a large-eddy simulation (LES) model including near-wall boundary layer modeling, that is, wall-modeled LES (WMLES). Use of simplified rim sealing models is proposed as an efficient method of ranking seal designs and investigating sensitivity to seal geometry. Four rim seal configurations, two chute seals, an axial seal and a radial seal which are representative of those used in gas turbines and in previous research were investigated. Furthermore, hybrid seals combining geometric characteristics from both the chute and radial seal were considered. Significant sensitivities of sealing performance to turbulence modeling are identified, but URANS and WMLES show similar trends in ranking of seal performance, and these are consistent with previous experimental work. The addition of an outer radial clearance section to a chute seal is effective in reducing ingestion levels.
Melting and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Phase Change Material: A Comparative Study on Wire Mesh Finned Structure and Other Fin Configurations
Authors: Uniyal Arun , Kumar Deepak , Prajapati Yogesh K. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
In the present paper, a two-dimensional transient numerical study has been performed to investigate the influence of different fin designs on the melting and heat transfer characteristics of a phase change material (PCM), i.e., Paraffin wax, filled in square enclosures equipped with fin structures. Five distinct fin designs were examined: single rectangular, double rectangular, double triangular, double angled, and wire mesh. It is worth noting that all these fin designs have the equal heat transfer area. An isothermal heat source of temperature 350 K is provided at the left wall of the square enclosure and the remaining walls are assumed to be adiabatic. Six parameters were evaluated to determine the best fin configurations: melting time, enhancement ratio (ER), time savings, energy stored, mean power, and Nusselt number. The results show that all the fin designs outperformed as compared to model 1 (no fin configuration). Among the finned configurations, model 2 had the poorest performance, taking 1314 s to complete the melting, while model 6 had the most efficient fin design, with a melting time reduced by 67.53% compared to model 1. Model 6 also had the highest ER and mean power, i.e., 70.43% and 199.51%, respectively and as the melting process continued, the Nusselt number decreased. In addition to the above, we optimized the element size of the wire-mesh fin design using RSM methodology. This optimized design decreases the melting period by 70.04%. Overall, present study provides a comprehensive analysis of different finned configurations for improving the melting performance of the PCM in square enclosures and found wire-mesh fin design most appropriate and promising.