bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of CT‐guided percutaneous cordotomy in intractable cancer pain: Experience in 14 patients
Authors: Akbaş Mert , Dağıstan Gözde 
Published: October 2023

AbstractBackgroundSevere and treatment‐resistant pain is a major issue for patients with cancer. Cordotomy is an effective approach for addressing severe cancer‐related pain. It is based on blocking the transmission of pain by damaging the lateral spinothalamic tract.MethodsComputed tomography guided cordotomy was performed on 14 patients who did not respond to medical and interventional pain management methods.ResultsFourteen patients with cancer pain underwent CT‐guided percutaneous cordotomy. Pain relief was reported in 86% of the patients. The visual analog scale values before and after cordotomy were compared and a significant difference was found (p = 0.0001). The improvement in the Karnofsky Performance Scale score of the patients was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.0001).ConclusionWe believe that CT‐guided cordotomy, performed by experienced hands in a team of experienced individuals and applied to the right patients, is an effective treatment. However, it is crucial to exercise extreme caution regarding potential side effects and serious complications during the cordotomy procedure.
Cardiac psychophysiological tuning to socioaffective content is disrupted in aged rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)
Authors: Santistevan Anthony C. , Moadab Gilda , Fiske Olivia , Nord Christina M. , Isaacowitz Derek M. , Bliss‐Moreau Eliza 
Published: October 2023

AbstractAging ushers in numerous disruptions to autonomic nervous system (ANS) function. Although the effects of aging on ANS function at rest are well characterized, there is surprising variation in reports of age‐related differences in ANS reactivity to psychosocial stressors, with some reports of decreases and other reports of increases in reactivity with age. The sources of variation in age‐related differences are largely unknown. Nonhuman primate models of socioaffective aging may help to uncover sources of this variation as nonhuman primates share key features of human ANS structure and function and researchers have precise control over the environments in which they age. In this report, we assess how response patterns to dynamic socioaffective stimuli in the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) ANS differ in aged compared to middle‐aged monkeys. We find that respiratory sinus arrhythmia, a cardiac indicator of activity in the parasympathetic branch of the ANS, exhibits age‐related disruptions in responding while monkeys view videos of conspecifics. This suggests that there are evolutionarily conserved mechanisms responsible for the patterns of affective aging observed in humans and that aged rhesus monkeys are a robust translational model for human affective aging.
Effect of audio and virtual reality distraction on the dental anxiety of children with mild intellectual disability
Authors: Mehrotra Deepshikha , Shetty Amarshree A. , Rai Kavita , Kumara  
Published: October 2023

AbstractBackground and AimIntellectual disability, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that typically manifests early in childhood and consists of both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in conceptual, social, and practical domains. It can be categorized into mild, moderate, severe, and profound based on its severity. Cognitive impairment may be observed predominantly in children with intellectual disabilities. Marked deficits in areas of learning, planning, communication, social participation, and personal independence in children with mild intellectual disabilities make behavior guidance and communication a challenge during dental treatments. The aim was to evaluate and compare the use of two different distraction tools, audio, and virtual reality (VR) on the dental anxiety of children with mild intellectual disability during dental treatment.MethodsTwenty children diagnosed with mild intellectual disability were equally divided into two groups. A cross‐over study design consisting of two appointments 1 month apart was employed. In the first appointment, audio and VR distractions were provided to participants in Groups 1 and 2, respectively, and the distraction tools provided to the participants were interchanged in the second appointment. A trained observer recorded physiological parameters (pulse rate and oxygen saturation) and observational parameters (Venham's anxiety rating scale) during both appointments at three‐time intervals. Statistical intra‐group and inter‐group comparison analyses were performed using Friedman's and Mann–Whitney U tests.ResultsA decrease in pulse, increase in oxygen saturation levels, and a decrease in Venham's Anxiety Rating Scores (statistically significant p < .05 / highly significant p < .01) was observed on introducing the distraction techniques in Groups 1 and 2 in both appointments. A statistically non‐significant difference (p > .05) in physiological and observational parameters was observed between Groups 1 and 2 in both appointments.ConclusionAudio and VR distraction techniques can be employed for behavior guidance in children with mild intellectual disability during restorative dental procedures.
Contraceptive Intentions and Use throughout the Extended Postpartum Period: A Panel Study in Ethiopia
Authors: Magalona Sophia , Karp Celia , Shiferaw Solomon , Seme Assefa , Lulu Birikty , Yihdego Mahari , Zimmerman Linnea 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThe postpartum period is an ideal time for women to access contraception, but the prevalence of postpartum contraceptive use remains low in sub‐Saharan Africa. To better understand the gap between women's desires to space or limit births and their contraceptive behaviors, intention to use contraception has been proposed as a person‐centered measure of contraceptive demand. Using data from a panel study of Ethiopian women aged 15–49 who were interviewed at six weeks, six months, and one year postpartum, we examined the dynamics of contraceptive intention in the first year postpartum and its relationship with contraceptive use. Contraceptive intention fluctuated considerably in the year after childbirth. At six weeks, 60.9 percent of women intended to use a contraceptive method in the next year; 23.2% did not. By one year, less than half (43.5 percent) were using a method, and those who had no intention to use doubled (44.5 percent). Women who developed or sustained their intention to use a method in the postpartum period were more likely to adopt a method by one year than those who did not, showing that contraceptive intention is a strong predictor of use and has the potential to inform person‐centered reproductive health programming in the extended postpartum period.
Longitudinal associations between pet relationship quality and socio‐emotional functioning in early adolescence
Authors: Mueller Megan K. , Callina Kristina S. , Richer Amanda M. , Charmaraman Linda 
Published: October 2023

AbstractAdolescence is a key developmental period for socio‐emotional skills, and companion animal relationships may be one potential source of emotional support and resilience during this time. This study used longitudinal data from 940 pet‐owning adolescents, collected over four‐time points, from youth in the Northeastern United States. We assessed whether pet relationship quality (indexed by relationship satisfaction, companionship, and emotional disclosure) predicted trajectories of loneliness, social anxiety, and depression. Results indicated that high satisfaction with a pet relationship was associated with more favorable trajectories, but companionship (i.e., regarding the frequency of interacting with the pet) was not related significantly to socio‐emotional functioning. High levels of disclosure to a pet were linked with less favorable trajectories for loneliness and depression, but not related to social anxiety. These results suggest that a pet relationship can, in some cases, be associated positively with socio‐emotional development, but that there is significant complexity in these associations. Families, educators, and practitioners should take a nuanced approach to understanding individual adolescent‐pet relationships as a contextual asset for specific youth.
Whole genome methylation sequencing reveals epigenetic landscape and abnormal expression of FABP5 in extramammary Paget's disease
Authors: Kang Ziwei , Jiang Long , Chen Diyan , Yan Guorong , Zhang Guolong , Lai Yongxian , Zeng Qingyu , Wang Xiuli 
Published: October 2023

AbstractBackgroundExtramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is a rare cutaneous malignant tumor with a high recurrence rate after surgery. However, the genetic and epigenetic alterations underlying its pathogenesis remain unknown. DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification involved in many biological processes.MethodsIn this study, enzymatic methyl‐sequencing (EM‐seq) technique was used to investigate the landscape of genome‐wide DNA methylation from three pairs of tumor tissues and adjacent tissues of patients with EMPD. Additionally, we conducted histopathological examinations to assess the expression of fatty acid‐binding protein 5 (FABP5) in another three paired samples from EMPD patients.ResultsThe cluster analysis showed the good quality of the samples. A differential methylation region (DMR) heat map was used to quantitatively characterize genome‐wide methylation differences between tumors and controls. Global DNA methylation level is lower in EMPD tissue compared to matched controls, indicating that DNA methylation discriminates between tumor and normal skin. And the top hypomethylation gene on the promoter region in tumor tissues was FABP5 on chromosome 8 with 38.44% decreased median methylation. We next identified the expression of FABP5 in paired tumors and adjacent tissues in three additional patients with EMPD. Immunofluorescence results showed FABP5 highly expressed in tumor tissues and co‐located with CK7, CK20 and EMA. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed DMR genes on promoter are mainly enriched in the calcium ion transport, GTPase mediated signal transduction, Rap1 signaling pathway and GnRH signaling pathway.ConclusionTaken together, our findings provide the first description of the whole genome methylation map of EMPD and identify FABP5 as a pathogenic target of EMPD.
Learning from COVID‐19: Research education in troubling times
Authors: Coe Michael , Jones David , Kiley Anna , Hester Carolyn , Ward Tony 
Published: October 2023

AbstractThe United Nations has identified the COVID‐19 pandemic as the largest global disruption of education in history. Collaborative and hands‐on learning activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were particularly challenging to maintain during this period. Future large‐scale disruptions of schools are considered likely, leading to questions about how educators can be better prepared. Since 2019, the REACH program has worked with schools in Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii to educate students about air quality and health. The program also provides a framework and support for teachers to incorporate rudimentary student‐led scientific field research in middle and high school science courses. Through student and teacher surveys, we inquired about how the pandemic affected program experiences during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 school years. Responses from 416 students and 31 teachers showed both difficulties and adaptive capacity in implementing the REACH program during COVID‐19‐related restrictions. It is encouraging to appreciate the resilience of students and teachers as they adapted to emergency remote teaching and learning strategies. However, the extent and the specific kinds of difficulties they encountered may inform efforts to help schools and teachers become better prepared for potential future events that may disrupt in‐classroom learning.
Open source map matching with Markov decision processes: A new method and a detailed benchmark with existing approaches
Authors: Wöltche Adrian 
Published: October 2023

AbstractMap matching is a widely used technology for mapping tracks to road networks. Typically, tracks are recorded using publicly available Global Navigation Satellite Systems, and road networks are derived from the publicly available OpenStreetMap project. The challenge lies in resolving the discrepancies between the spatial location of the tracks and the underlying road network of the map. Map matching is a combination of defined models, algorithms, and metrics for resolving these differences that result from measurement and map errors. The goal is to find routes within the road network that best represent the given tracks. These matches allow further analysis since they are freed from the noise of the original track, they accurately overlap with the road network, and they are corrected for impossible detours and gaps that were present in the original track. Given the ongoing need for map matching in mobility research, in this work, we present a novel map matching method based on Markov decision processes with Reinforcement Learning algorithms. We introduce the new Candidate Adoption feature, which allows our model to dynamically resolve outliers and noise clusters. We also incorporate an improved Trajectory Simplification preprocessing algorithm for further improving our performance. In addition, we introduce a new map matching metric that evaluates direction changes in the routes, which effectively reduces detours and round trips in the results. We provide our map matching implementation as Open Source Software (OSS) and compare our new approach with multiple existing OSS solutions on several public data sets. Our novel method is more robust to noise and outliers than existing methods and it outperforms them in terms of accuracy and computational speed.
Infectious etiologies among post‐donation deferrals in a military blood donation center
Authors: Kwon Somin , Casleton Brian G. , Rivera Glorimar Z. , Gella Melita M. , Winkler Erin L. , Kieffer John W. , Osuna Angela B. , Casey Theresa M. , Yun Heather C. , Marcus Joseph E. 
Published: October 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe burden of transfusion‐transmitted infections among blood recipients remains low due to extensive pre‐ and post‐donation screening. However, the military has the unique challenge of providing blood in austere environments with limited testing capabilities. This study evaluates the infectious etiologies of deferred blood donors at a large military blood donation center.MethodsAll blood donors at the Armed Service Blood Bank Center, San Antonio, between 2017 and 2022 with positive post‐donation screening for hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T‐lymphotropic virus (HTLV‐I/II), Zika (2018–2021), West Nile virus, Trypanosoma cruzi, Treponema pallidum, or Babesia microti (2020–2022) were evaluated. Donors were deferred based on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance.ResultsTwo‐hundred and thirteen (213) donors met FDA criteria for deferral. T. pallidum (n = 45, 50.3 per 100,000), HCV (n = 34, 38.0 per 100,000), and HBV (n = 19, 21.2 per 100,000) were the most common pathogens among those with both positive screening and confirmatory testing. The majority of HIV (95%), Chagas (78%), HTLV‐I/II (50%) deferrals were due to indeterminate confirmatory tests following initial positive screens. The majority of deferrals for HBV were for a second occurrence of a positive screen despite negative confirmatory testing.ConclusionThe rates of post‐donation deferral for transfusion‐transmissible infections were low in this military cohort. Our findings suggest that donor testing in deployed service members should focus on HBV, HCV, and T. pallidum and highlight the need for better diagnostics for HIV, Chagas, and HTLV‐I/II.
The Application of an Artificial Neural Network as a Baseline Model for Condition Monitoring of Innovative Humidified Micro Gas Turbine Cycles
Authors: Colquhoun Kathryn , Nikpey Somehsaraei Homam , De Paepe Ward 
Published: October 2023

Abstract
Due to high penetration of renewables, the EU energy system is undergoing a transition from large-scale centralized generation toward small-scale distributed generation. The increasing share of intermittent renewables such as solar and wind has become the main driver for dispatchable distributed energy generation technologies to maintain the grid flexibility and stability. In this context, micro gas turbines (MGTs) with high fuel and operation flexibility could play a crucial role to guarantee the grid stability, enabling deeper penetration of the intermittent renewable energy sources. Despite this, the MGT market is still considered to be niche, and there are R&D&I challenges that need to be addressed to further promote this technology in distributed generation applications. Innovative MGT cycles based on a cycle humidification concept can be considered to obtain higher system performance. However, given the fact that MGTs are installed close to the consumption points, where they are operated by nontechnical prosumers with very limited access to maintenance services, they should also offer high availability and reliability to avoid unexpected outages and secure the supply. Therefore, intelligent monitoring systems are needed that can support nonexpert end-users to detect degradation and plan maintenance before a breakdown occurs. In this study, we investigated and developed advanced methods based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) for condition monitoring of a humidified MGT cycle under real-life operational conditions. To create a high-performing model, extensive data preprocessing has been conducted to remove data outliers and select optimum model features, which provide best results. Additionally, the model hyperparameters such as learning rate, momentum, and number of hidden nodes have been altered to achieve the most accurate predictions. The results of this study have provided a baseline ANN model capable of conducting condition monitoring of a micro humid air turbine (mHAT) system, which will be applied to additional studies in the future.
An Experimental and Computational Investigation of Ranque–Hilsch Vortex Tube Heat Transfer Characteristics
Authors: Fuqua Matthew N. , Rutledge James L. 
Published: October 2023

Abstract
Ranque–Hilsch vortex tubes have the extraordinary ability to split an incoming stream of fluid into two streams—one with a lower absolute total temperature than the incoming flow and the other with greater total temperature. The physical mechanism involves inducing an intense swirl of the flow down the length of the tube. The warmer flow exits around the periphery at the end of the tube, while the cooler central flow changes direction within the core and exits the opposite end. While much research has focused on the physical mechanisms of the energy separation, relatively little attention has been paid to the heat transfer behavior should a heat flux be applied to the walls. In the present work, experiments were performed using a vortex tube with air and varying levels of heat addition, up to approximately 15 kW/m2. Companion computational experiments were performed that allowed the determination of axially resolved Nusselt number distributions, the first of their kind for vortex tube flows. A notable finding is that the vast majority of heat added to the vortex tube flow remains within the hot stream; i.e., the cold stream experiences relatively little temperature rise due to the heat addition. For example, even when only 30% of the flow exits the hot side of the tube, it retains more than 80% of the heat added to the flow. Additionally, a modified swirl number was also defined that was found to scale the Nusselt number augmentation across the two different total flowrates examined presently.
Organ agar serves as physiologically relevant alternative for
in vivo
bacterial colonization
Authors: Pearson Melanie M. , Shea Allyson E. , Pahil Sapna , Smith Sara N. , Forsyth Valerie S. , Mobley Harry L. T. 
Published: October 2023

ABSTRACT

Animal models for host-microbial interactions have proven valuable, yielding physiologically relevant data that may be otherwise difficult to obtain. Unfortunately, such models are lacking or nonexistent for many microbes. Here, we introduce organ agar, a straightforward method to enable the screening of large mutant libraries while avoiding physiological bottlenecks. We demonstrate that growth defects on organ agar were translatable to bacterial colonization deficiencies in a murine model. Specifically, we present a urinary tract infection agar model to interrogate an ordered library of
Proteus mirabilis
transposon mutants, with accurate prediction of bacterial genes critical for host colonization. Thus, we demonstrate the ability of
ex vivo
organ agar to reproduce
in vivo
deficiencies. Organ agar was also useful for identifying previously unknown links between biosynthetic genes and swarming motility. This work provides a readily adoptable technique that is economical and uses substantially fewer animals. We anticipate this method will be useful for a wide variety of microorganisms, both pathogenic and commensal, in a diverse range of model host species.
Draft genome sequences of nine non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing
Escherichia coli
in ready-to-eat food from supermarkets in Argentina
Authors: Alotaibi Khulud , Hikal Ahmed F. , Sung Kidon , Zhang Guodong , Khan Ashraf A. 
Published: October 2023

ABSTRACT

Non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing
Escherichia coli
(STEC) are recognized as an important group of bacterial enteropathogens. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of nine strains of non-O157 STEC isolated from ready-to-eat foods in Argentina. The whole-genome sequence data provide a better understanding of these isolates and will aid epidemiological investigation during outbreaks.
Ocular blood flow biomarkers may predict long-term glaucoma progression
Authors: Verticchio Vercellin Alice Chandra , Harris Alon , Oddone Francesco , Siesky Brent , Eckert George , Belamkar Aditya , Antman Gal , Segev Fani 
Published: October 2023

Background/aim
To examine the relationship between baseline blood flow biomarkers and long-term open-angle glaucoma (OAG) progression.

Methods
112 patients with early to moderate OAG (mean age 64.9±11.0 years; 68 female) were evaluated at baseline and every 6 months from 2008 to 2013. Biomarkers of retinal capillary blood flow were assessed by Heidelberg retinal flowmetry. Functional disease progression was monitored via Humphrey visual field examinations, defined as two consecutive visits with a mean deviation decrease ≥2 decibels and/or Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study score increase ≥2 compared with baseline. Structural progression was monitored with optical coherence tomography and Heidelberg retinal tomograph, defined as two consecutive visits with retinal nerve fibre layer thickness decrease ≥8% and/or horizontal or vertical cup/disk ratio increase ≥0.2 compared with baseline. Mixed-model analysis of covariance was used to test for significant change from baseline to 5-year follow-up. Times to functional and structural progression were analysed using Cox proportional hazards models.

Results
Lower HRF retinal capillary blood flow in the superior retina was significantly associated with structural progression (p=0.0009).

Conclusion
In our OAG sample, baseline lower retinal capillary perfusion in the superior retina was predictive of structural progression after 5 years.

Trial registration number

NCT01145911
.