bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Retest reliability of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over the healthy human motor cortex: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Kanig Carolina , Osnabruegge Mirja , Schwitzgebel Florian , Litschel Karsten , Seiberl Wolfgang , Mack Wolfgang , Schoisswohl Stefan , Schecklmann Martin 
Published: September 2023

IntroductionRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is used to induce long-lasting changes (aftereffects) in cortical excitability, which are often measured via single-pulse TMS (spTMS) over the motor cortex eliciting motor-evoked potentials (MEPs). rTMS includes various protocols, such as theta-burst stimulation (TBS), paired associative stimulation (PAS), and continuous rTMS with a fixed frequency. Nevertheless, subsequent aftereffects of rTMS are variable and seem to fail repeatability. We aimed to summarize standard rTMS procedures regarding their test–retest reliability. Hereby, we considered influencing factors such as the methodological quality of experiments and publication bias.MethodsWe conducted a literature search via PubMed in March 2023. The inclusion criteria were the application of rTMS, TBS, or PAS at least twice over the motor cortex of healthy subjects with measurements of MEPs via spTMS as a dependent variable. The exclusion criteria were measurements derived from the non-stimulated hemisphere, of non-hand muscles, and by electroencephalography only. We extracted test–retest reliability measures and aftereffects from the eligible studies. With the Rosenthal fail-safe N, funnel plot, and asymmetry test, we examined the publication bias and accounted for influential factors such as the methodological quality of experiments measured with a standardized checklist.ResultsA total of 15 studies that investigated test–retest reliability of rTMS protocols in a total of 291 subjects were identified. Reliability measures, i.e., Pearson's r and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) applicable from nine studies, were mainly in the small to moderate range with two experiments indicating good reliability of 20 Hz rTMS (r = 0.543) and iTBS (r = 0.55). The aftereffects of rTMS procedures seem to follow the heuristics of respective inhibition or facilitation, depending on the protocols' frequency, and application pattern. There was no indication of publication bias and the influence of methodological quality or other factors on the reliability of rTMS.ConclusionThe reliability of rTMS appears to be in the small to moderate range overall. Due to a limited number of studies reporting test–retest reliability values and heterogeneity of dependent measures, we could not provide generalizable results. We could not identify any protocol as superior to the others.
Twenty-five years of natural products research in NuBBE
Authors: Mannochio-Russo Helena , Pires dos Santos Ana Letícia , Bueno Paula Carolina Pires , Vieira Rafael , Ferreira Pinto Meri Emili , Silva Queiroz Suzana Aparecida , Dutra Luiz Antonio , Gaspareto Felippe Lidiane , Nastri de Luca Batista Andrea , de Souza-Moreira Tatiana Maria , Valli Marilia , Previate Medina Rebeca , Araujo Angela Regina , Pilon Alan Cesar , Castro-Gamboa Ian , Cavalheiro Alberto José , Silva Dulce Helena Siqueira , Furlan Maysa , da Silva Bolzani Vanderlan 
Published: September 2023

The richness of Brazilian biodiversity translates into a valuable collection of molecules with biological properties that range from ecological functions to pharmacological properties. For over 25 years, the Nucleus of Bioassays, Biosynthesis, and Ecophysiology of Natural Products (NuBBE) has conducted extensive investigations into the chemical entities of numerous plant and microorganism species, resulting in the discovery of over a thousand natural compounds spanning various chemical classes (such as shikimate derivatives, phenylpropanoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, and peptides). The research goals within the natural products field encompass phytochemical studies, investigations of endophytic fungi and marine organisms, biosynthetic studies, medicinal chemistry, and the development of innovative methodologies. This comprehensive review article aims to offer valuable insights into the multifaceted research endeavors conducted in NuBBE. In this way, accomplishments, perspectives, and opportunities for advancing natural products research in Brazil are highlighted, seeking to inspire and motivate other research groups in the field of natural products–especially those located in emerging countries with rich biodiversity.
Development of a multi-feature-combined model: proof-of-concept with application to local failure prediction of post-SBRT or surgery early-stage NSCLC patients
Authors: Yang Zhenyu , Wang Chunhao , Wang Yuqi , Lafata Kyle J. , Zhang Haozhao , Ackerson Bradley G. , Kelsey Christopher , Tong Betty , Yin Fang-Fang 
Published: September 2023

ObjectiveTo develop a Multi-Feature-Combined (MFC) model for proof-of-concept in predicting local failure (LR) in NSCLC patients after surgery or SBRT using pre-treatment CT images. This MFC model combines handcrafted radiomic features, deep radiomic features, and patient demographic information in an integrated machine learning workflow.MethodsThe MFC model comprised three key steps. (1) Extraction of 92 handcrafted radiomic features from the GTV segmented on pre-treatment CT images. (2) Extraction of 512 deep radiomic features from pre-trained U-Net encoder. (3) The extracted handcrafted radiomic features, deep radiomic features, along with 4 patient demographic information (i.e., gender, age, tumor volume, and Charlson comorbidity index), were concatenated as a multi-dimensional input to the classifiers for LR prediction. Two NSCLC patient cohorts from our institution were investigated: (1) the surgery cohort includes 83 patients with segmentectomy or wedge resection (7 LR), and (2) the SBRT cohort includes 84 patients with lung SBRT (9 LR). The MFC model was developed and evaluated independently for both cohorts, and was subsequently compared against the prediction models based on only handcrafted radiomic features (R models), patient demographic information (PI models), and deep learning modeling (DL models). ROC with AUC was adopted to evaluate model performance with leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) and 100-fold Monte Carlo random validation (MCRV). The t-test was performed to identify the statistically significant differences.ResultsIn LOOCV, the AUC range (surgery/SBRT) of the MFC model was 0.858-0.895/0.868-0.913, which was higher than the three other models: 0.356-0.480/0.322-0.650 for PI models, 0.559-0.618/0.639-0.682 for R models, and 0.809/0.843 for DL models. In 100-fold MCRV, the MFC model again showed the highest AUC results (surgery/SBRT): 0.742-0.825/0.888-0.920, which were significantly higher than PI models: 0.464-0.564/0.538-0.628, R models: 0.557-0.652/0.551-0.732, and DL models: 0.702/0.791.ConclusionWe successfully developed an MFC model that combines feature information from multiple sources for proof-of-concept prediction of LR in patients with surgical and SBRT early-stage NSCLC. Initial results suggested that incorporating pre-treatment patient information from multiple sources improves the ability to predict the risk of local failure.
Study protocol: Identification and validation of integrative biomarkers of physical activity level and health in children and adolescents (INTEGRActiv)
Authors: Picó Catalina , Lurbe Empar , Keijer Jaap , Kopecky Jan , Landrier Jean-François , Álvarez-Pitti Julio , Martin Jean Charles , Oliver Paula , Palou Andreu , Palou Mariona , Zouhar Petr , Ribot Joan , Rodríguez Ana M. , Sánchez Juana , Serra Francisca , Bonet M. Luisa 
Published: September 2023

BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) provides health benefits across the lifespan and improves many established cardiovascular risk factors that have a significant impact on overall mortality. However, discrepancies between self-reported and device-based measures of PA make it difficult to obtain consistent results regarding PA and its health effects. Moreover, PA may produce different health effects depending on the type, intensity, duration, and frequency of activities and individual factors such as age, sex, body weight, early life conditions/exposures, etc. Appropriate biomarkers relating the degree of PA level with its effects on health, especially in children and adolescents, are required and missing. The main objective of the INTEGRActiv study is to identify novel useful integrative biomarkers of PA and its effects on the body health in children and adolescents, who represent an important target population to address personalized interventions to improve future metabolic health.Methods/designThe study is structured in two phases. First, biomarkers of PA and health will be identified at baseline in a core cohort of 180 volunteers, distributed into two age groups: prepubertal (n = 90), and postpubertal adolescents (n = 90). Each group will include three subgroups (n = 30) with subjects of normal weight, overweight, and obesity, respectively. Identification of new biomarkers will be achieved by combining physical measures (PA and cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, anthropometry) and molecular measures (cardiovascular risk factors, endocrine markers, cytokines and circulating miRNA in plasma, gene expression profile in blood cells, and metabolomics profiling in plasma). In the second phase, an educational intervention and its follow-up will be carried out in a subgroup of these subjects (60 volunteers), as a first validation step of the identified biomarkers.DiscussionThe INTEGRActiv study is expected to provide the definition of PA and health-related biomarkers (PA-health biomarkers) in childhood and adolescence. It will allow us to relate biomarkers to factors such as age, sex, body weight, sleep behavior, dietary factors, and pubertal status and to identify how these factors quantitatively affect the biomarkers’ responses. Taken together, the INTEGRActiv study approach is expected to help monitor the efficacy of interventions aimed to improve the quality of life of children/adolescents through physical activity.
Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier NCT05907785.
MixSeg: a lightweight and accurate mix structure network for semantic segmentation of apple leaf disease in complex environments
Authors: Lu Bibo , Lu Jiangwen , Xu Xinchao , Jin Yuxin 
Published: September 2023

IntroductionSemantic segmentation is effective in dealing with complex environments. However, the most popular semantic segmentation methods are usually based on a single structure, they are inefficient and inaccurate. In this work, we propose a mix structure network called MixSeg, which fully combines the advantages of convolutional neural network, Transformer, and multi-layer perception architectures.MethodsSpecifically, MixSeg is an end-to-end semantic segmentation network, consisting of an encoder and a decoder. In the encoder, the Mix Transformer is designed to model globally and inject local bias into the model with less computational cost. The position indexer is developed to dynamically index absolute position information on the feature map. The local optimization module is designed to optimize the segmentation effect of the model on local edges and details. In the decoder, shallow and deep features are fused to output accurate segmentation results.ResultsTaking the apple leaf disease segmentation task in the real scene as an example, the segmentation effect of the MixSeg is verified. The experimental results show that MixSeg has the best segmentation effect and the lowest parameters and floating point operations compared with the mainstream semantic segmentation methods on small datasets. On apple alternaria blotch and apple grey spot leaf image datasets, the most lightweight MixSeg-T achieves 98.22%, 98.09% intersection over union for leaf segmentation and 87.40%, 86.20% intersection over union for disease segmentation.DiscussionThus, the performance of MixSeg demonstrates that it can provide a more efficient and stable method for accurate segmentation of leaves and diseases in complex environments.
The pragmatics of exhaustivity in embedded questions: an experimental comparison of know and predict in German and English
Authors: Fricke Lea , Destruel Emilie , Zimmermann Malte , Onea Edgar 
Published: September 2023

IntroductionWe present a cross-linguistic experimental study that explores the exhaustivity properties of questions embedded under wissen/to know and korrekt vorhersagen/to correctly predict in German and English. While past theoretical literature has held that such embedded questions should only be interpreted as strongly exhaustive (SE), recent experimental findings suggest an intermediate exhaustive (IE) interpretation is also available and plausible.MethodsParticipants were confronted with a decision problem involving the different exhaustive readings and received a financial incentive based on their performance. We employed Bayesian analysis to create probabilistic models of participants' beliefs, linking their responses to readings based on utility maximization in simple decision problems.ResultsFor wissen/to know, we found that the SE reading was most probable in both languages, aligning with early theoretical literature. However, we also attested to the presence of IE readings. For korrekt vorhersagen in German, the IE reading was most probable, whereas for the English phrase "to correctly predict," a preference for the SE reading was observed.DiscussionThis cross-linguistic variation correlates with independent corpus data, indicating that German vorhersagen and English to predict are not lexically equivalent. By including an explicit pragmatic component, our study complements previous work that has focused solely on the principled semantic availability of given readings.
Effect of depressive symptoms on quality of work life in female nurses: a cross-sectional study using propensity score matching
Authors: Li Jia-Ning , Chen Xiao-Qian , Li Qing-Qing , Zheng Qing-Xiang , Pan Yu-Qing , Huang Ling , Zhu Yu , Liu Ru-Lin , Jiang Xiu-Min 
Published: September 2023

BackgroundFemale nurses have been considered as a vulnerable population in the context of mental health, due to the nature of their work, which can be stressful and emotionally taxing. Understanding the relationship between depressive symptoms and quality of work life (QWL) can contribute to improving mental health and job performance. However, limited studies have focused on the effect of depressive symptoms on QWL in female nurses.ObjectivesThe present study aimed to assess the effect of depressive symptoms on female nurses’ QWL using propensity score matching (PSM).MethodsA cross-sectional, online study using convenience sampling was conducted among 1,401 female nurses in China. PSM was used to minimize the impact of potential confounders between no depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms. Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were performed on the PSM samples to explore the effects of depressive symptoms on the QWL.ResultsThe results revealed there were 33.5% of the female nurses reported depressive symptoms before PSM. And female nurses in this study had a moderate level of QWL before PSM (122.11 ± 18.15), which remained steady after PSM (118.33 ± 18.04). After PSM, the final sample contained 864 female nurses. Stepwise multiple linear regression results indicated that depressive symptoms were the most strongly associated with QWL (β = −0.454, p &lt; 0.001).ConclusionThis study highlights the importance of developing mental health plans and psychological interventions for female nurses to maintain mental health and QWL, which is critical to the nursing workforce’s sustainability.
Transgender individuals are at higher risk for suicidal ideation and preparation than cisgender individuals in substance use treatment
Authors: Hochheimer Martin , Glick Jennifer L. , Garrison-Desany Henri , Huhn Andrew S. 
Published: September 2023

IntroductionThis study describes the differences and similarities in mental health, substance use, and substance use treatment outcomes between people presenting for SUD treatment who identified as transgender and those who identified as cisgender men or women.MethodsWe compared 64 individuals who self-identified as transgender and presented for SUD treatment to samples of cisgender men and women (separately) matched based on propensity scores which were created based on sociodemographic factors known to influence both the nature of substance use and patterns of treatment engagement including age, education, race, stable housing, and employment status. Comparisons were made using χ2 tests and t-tests in over 150 variables collected at treatment intake regarding physical and mental health, substance use patterns, events that led to treatment, reasons for seeking treatment, and treatment outcomes.ResultsThe transgender sample endorsed six of the seven suicide-related items more often than at least one of the cisgender-matched samples. Furthermore, the transgender sample remained in treatment significantly longer (M = 32.3, SD = 22.2) than the cisgender male sample (M = 19.5, SD = 26.1, t = 2.17, p = 0.03).DiscussionThis study is a first step into understanding gender minority population experiences during SUD treatment. While there was no significant difference between the cisgender and transgender samples on most variables, there was an elevated prevalence of suicidal ideation and behaviors in the transgender sample, which warrants further investigation.
Who chooses alternative sources of information about childhood vaccinations? A cross-sectional study
Authors: Bellomo Rosa Katia , Cerabona Vito , Massimi Azzurra , Migliara Giuseppe , Sparano Michele , Novello Francesco , Schilirò Tiziana , Siliquini Roberta , Villari Paolo , De Vito Corrado 
Published: September 2023

IntroductionVaccine hesitancy can lead to problematic outcomes in terms of public health. A factor playing a fundamental role in this dynamic is the source of information considered by parents in the decision-making progress that leads to the acceptance or refusal of childhood vaccinations. This study aims to investigate the sources of information considered by the parents of children attending primary and secondary schools in two large Italian cities and to identify predictors that led to choosing alternative sources of information.MethodsAn online questionnaire was administered to the parents of students attending elementary, middle, and high schools in Rome and Turin. Two validated tools were used: the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines Survey and the Vaccine Health Literacy of adults in Italian. Sources of information about vaccinations, trust toward the healthcare system, hesitancy and attitudes about COVID-19 vaccinations, were also investigated. A multivariable logistic regression model was built to identify predictors of the preferred sources of information on the topic.ResultsTotally, 2,301 answers to the survey were collected from June to October 2021. Of these, 1,127 came from parents in Rome (49%) and 1,174 from parents based in Turin (51%) with a mean age of 47.7 years (±6.4). The majority of the respondents were mothers (81%), married (73%), with two or more children (70.5%). The multivariable logistic regression model results showed that fathers were more inclined than mothers to use alternative sources of information (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.29–2.00). Moreover, a higher level of vaccine hesitancy was a strong predictor for choosing alternative sources of information (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.73–3.46). The HLVa-it scores show that parents with a lower Vaccine Literacy (VL) were more inclined to use alternative sources of information.DiscussionAddressing health literacy issues and changing the official forms of communication could help improving vaccine acceptance. This study shows the importance of rebuilding a trusting relationship between patients and health care providers, which is fundamental in the fight against vaccine hesitancy.
Research on the spatiotemporal characteristics and influence mechanism of the integration of the health industry and tourism industry in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle of China
Authors: Chen Xuejun , Deng Ying 
Published: September 2023

IntroductionGiven the background of the “Healthy China” strategy and the aging population, the high-quality integration of the health industry and tourism industry is of great significance to meet the national health tourism needs and promote regional coordinated development.MethodsTaking the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle as an example, this paper uses the coupling coordination degree method and geographic detectors to explore the spatiotemporal characteristics and influence mechanism of the integration of the health industry and tourism industry in the Chengdu-Chongqing region.Results(1) The integration level of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle as a whole, four major regional sectors, and 36 cities is relatively low, and the regional differences in the degree of coupling coordination are relatively large, showing a three-level change. Overall, the spatial differentiation characteristics are high in the west and low in the east, radiating from the two nuclei to the periphery. (2) There are obvious regional differences in the spatial connection strength of the integration of the two major industries, which form a radial non-equilibrium structure with the Chengdu and Chongqing main cities as the connection centers. The overall spatial connection network structure is relatively loose, the point-degree centrality has the spatial distribution characteristics of dominated by two poles, led by multiple cores, and weak at the edges, and the division of cohesive subgroups is greatly affected by geographical factors and administrative divisions. (3) The temporal and spatial characteristics of the integration of the two industries are the result of the mutual coupling of market demand, industrial development, policy support, and economic development.DiscussionThe high-quality integrated development of the health industry and the tourism industry is a complex systematic project, which requires the assistance of government departments at all levels and health tourism enterprises in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle to strengthen coordination and cooperation.