bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Utility of Neurophysiological Evaluation in Movement Disorders Clinical Practice
Authors: Grippe Talyta , Chen Robert 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackgroundQuantitative and objective neurophysiological assessment can help to define the predominant phenomenology and provide diagnoses that have prognostic and therapeutic implications for movement disorders.ObjectivesEvaluate the agreement between initial indications and final diagnoses after neurophysiological evaluations in a specialized movement disorders center.MethodsElectrophysiological studies conducted for movement disorders from 2003 to 2021 were reviewed. The indications were classified according to predominant phenomenology and the diagnoses categorized in subgroups of phenomenology.ResultsA total of 509 studies were analyzed. 51% (259) of patients were female, with a mean age of 51 years (ranges 5 to 89 years). The most common reasons for referral were evaluation of functional movement disorders (FMD), followed by jerky movements, tremor and postural instability. Regarding FMD referrals, there was a diagnostic change in 13% of the patients after electrophysiological assessment. The patients with jerky movements as indication had a diagnosis other than myoclonus in 27% of them, and tremor was not confirmed in 20% of the cases. In patients with an electrophysiological diagnosis of FMD, it was not suspected in 30% of the referrals. Similarly, tremor was not mentioned in the referral of 17% of the patients with this electrophysiological diagnosis and myoclonus was not suspected in 13% of the cases.ConclusionsElectrophysiological assessment has utility in the evaluation of movement disorders, even in patients evaluated by movement disorders neurologists. More studies are needed to standardize the protocols between centers and to promote the availability and use of these techniques among movement disorders clinics.
Estimating follow‐up CTs from geometric deformations of catheter implants in interstitial breast brachytherapy: A feasibility study using electromagnetic tracking
Authors: Dürrbeck Christopher , Schulz Moritz , Pflaum Leonie , Kallis Karoline , Geimer Tobias , Abu‐Hossin Nadin , Strnad Vratislav , Maier Andreas , Fietkau Rainer , Bert Christoph 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackgroundElectromagnetic tracking (EMT) systems have been shown to provide valuable information on the geometry of catheter implants in breast cancer patients undergoing interstitial brachytherapy (iBT). In the context of an extended patient‐specific, pre‐treatment verification, EMT can play a key role in determining the potential need and, if applicable, the appropriate time for treatment adaptation. To detect dosimetric shortcomings the relative position between catheters, and target volume and critical structures must be known. Since EMT cannot provide the anatomical context and standard imaging techniques such as cone‐beam CT are not yet available in most brachytherapy suites, it is not possible to detect anatomic changes on a daily or fraction basis, so the need for adaptive planning cannot be identified.PurposeThe aim of this feasibility study is to develop and evaluate a technique capable of estimating follow‐up CTs at any time based on the initial treatment planning CT (PCT) and surrogate information about changes of the implant geometry from an EMT system.MethodsA deformation vector field is calculated from two different implant reconstructions acquired in treatment position through EMT, the first immediately after the PCT and the second at another time point during the course of treatment. The calculation is based on discrete displacement vectors of pairs of control and target points. These are extrapolated by means of different radial basis functions in order to cover the entire CT volume. The adequate parameters for the calculation of the deformation field were identified. By warping the PCT according to the deformation field, one obtains an estimated CT (ECT) that reflects the geometric changes. For the proof of concept, ECTs were computed for the time point of the clinical follow‐up CT (FCT) that is embedded in the treatment workflow after the fourth fraction.ResultsECT and clinical FCTs of 20 patients were compared to each other quantitatively in terms of absolute Hounsfield unit differences in the planning target volume (PTV) and in a convex hull (CH) enclosing the catheters. The median differences were 31.2 and 29.5 HU for the CH and the PTV, respectively.ConclusionThe proposed ECT approach was able to approximate the “anatomy of the day” and therefore, in principle, allows a dosimetric appraisal of the treatment plan quality before each fraction. In this way, it can contribute to a more detailed patient‐specific quality assurance in iBT of the breast and help to identify the timing for a potential treatment adaptation.
Quantification of short echo time MRS signals with improved version of QUantitation based on quantum ESTimation algorithm
Authors: Starčuková Jana , Stefan Dan , Graveron‐Demilly Danielle 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMagnetic resonance spectroscopy offers information about metabolite changes in the organism, which can be used in diagnosis. While short echo time proton spectra exhibit more distinguishable metabolites compared with proton spectra acquired with long echo times, their quantification (and providing estimates of metabolite concentrations) is more challenging. They are hampered by a background signal, which originates mainly from macromolecules (MM) and mobile lipids. An improved version of the quantification algorithm QUantitation based on quantum ESTimation (QUEST), with MM prior knowledge (QUEST‐MM), dedicated to proton signals and invoking appropriate prior knowledge on MM, is proposed and tested. From a single acquisition, it enables better metabolite quantification, automatic estimation of the background, and additional automatic quantification of MM components, thus improving its applicability in the clinic. The proposed algorithm may facilitate studies that involve patients with pathological MM in the brain. QUEST‐MM and three QUEST‐based strategies for quantifying short echo time signals are compared in terms of bias‐variance trade‐off and Cramér–Rao lower bound estimates. The performances of the methods are evaluated through extensive Monte Carlo studies. In particular, the histograms of the metabolite and MM amplitude distributions demonstrate the performances of the estimators. They showed that QUEST‐MM works better than QUEST (Subtract approach) and is a good alternative to QUEST when measured MM signal is unavailable or unsuitable. Quantification with QUEST‐MM is shown for 1H in vivo rat brain signals obtained with the SPECIAL pulse sequence at 9.4 T, and human brain signals obtained, respectively, with STEAM at 4 T and PRESS at 3 T. QUEST‐MM is implemented in jMRUI and will be available for public use from version 7.1.
Relationship between quality of life, fear of disease progression, and coping styles in patients with pulmonary hypertension: A network analysis
Authors: Wang Xiaoli , Liu Mengqi , Li Jing , Wang Zhiwei , Liang Qian , Yan Zeping , Wang Jiurui , Luan Xiaorong 
Published: August 2023

AbstractA poor quality of life (QoL) in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) is often associated with emotional disturbances and the ability to cope. Little is known, however, about the intrinsic links among the QoL, fear of disease progression (FoP), and coping styles in patients with PH. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationships among QoL, FoP, and coping styles in patients with PH. We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of 247 patients from a tertiary hospital in Jinan, China and analyzed the relationships using network analysis. Participants completed the World Health Organization's Quality of Life Questionnaire, Fear of Disease Progression Questionnaire and Simple Coping Style Questionnaire during the survey period. The total QoL, positive coping, and negative coping scores were 46.55 ± 10.46, 31.75 ± 6.85, and 18.75 ± 4.66, respectively. The QoL psychological domain had the strongest centrality, deserving more attention than other domains. The coping styles were bridge nodes that connected the whole network, where negative coping and social family FoP, and positive coping and both social and psychological QoL had the strongest positive correlations. There were no significant sex‐based or age‐based differences in the networks. To improve QoL and psychological well‐being in people with PH, healthcare professionals must focus on issues beyond the patient's physical health. Specifically, they should focus on positive coping styles, while developing interventions to promote positive coping and reduce negative coping styles.
Birds among the Moche of northern Peru: Examining food, environment, and ritual through avian taxa from Huaca Colorada (600–900 CE)
Authors: Alaica Aleksa K. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractRelatively little attention has been paid to the importance of birds as alternative food sources and as ceremonial offerings in Moche practices. I examine bird remains from the Late Moche (600–900 CE) site of Huaca Colorada of the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru, to investigate the role of birds in daily activities and their use in ritual events. The Moche used birds in diverse ways in both domestic and ceremonial activities. Beginning with their use as food source, this analysis addresses the active hunting and opportunistic collection of various avian taxa to establish some of the ways that these animals formed part of subsistence practices. I further consider the way birds can serve as environmental proxies. I examine the presence of marine birds and possible nonlocal species at Huaca Colorada for their use in ceremonial practice. Zooarchaeological and iconographic evidence attests to various predatory bird taxa as important liminal beings for bridging different ecological zones and as vehicles for the travel of spirits and other supernatural forces between spheres of the living and the dead. By investigating birds in Moche practices, this article contributes new insights on the way avian species formed part of feasting events and mortuary offerings and more fully connects iconographic and zooarchaeological records.
Fatigue mediates the relationship between emotional and cognitive functioning in children post‐cancer treatment
Authors: Greidanus‐Jongejan Juliette E. M. , van Gorp Marloes , van Litsenburg Raphaele R. L. , Aarsen Femke K. , van der Vlist Merel M. Nap‐ , Nijhof Sanne , Grootenhuis Martha A. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackground/objectivesChildren treated for cancer are at risk to develop cognitive problems. Insight in underlying associations with emotional functioning and fatigue can be used to optimize interventions. We therefore aim to study emotional functioning, fatigue, and cognitive functioning in children postcancer treatment and investigate whether fatigue mediates the relationship between emotional and cognitive functioning.Design/methodsEmotional functioning, fatigue, and cognitive functioning were assessed in children post‐cancer treatment using subscales of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Generic Core Scales, Multidimensional Fatigue Scale and Cognitive Functioning Scale. A one sample t‐test was used to compare outcomes with general population peers and mediation analysis was used to address the effect of fatigue on the relationship between emotional and cognitive functioning.ResultsA total of 137 children (mean age: 13.6, SD ± 3.3 years; mean time since end of treatment: 7.1 months, SD ± 5.9) participated. Lower scores on emotional functioning (Cohen's d [D]: 0.4), fatigue (D: 0.8) and cognitive functioning (D: 0.6) were found (p < .001) in children post‐cancer treatment than in peers. A medium association was found between emotional and cognitive functioning (standardized regression coefficient [β]: 0.27, p < .001), which was mediated by fatigue (β = 0.16).ConclusionsOutcomes on emotional and cognitive functioning are decreased and fatigue is increased in children postcancer treatment. Fatigue mediates the relationship between emotional and cognitive functioning. Our results show the importance to focus on fatigue amongst stress as a target for intervention to improve cognitive functioning.
Evaluation of protein extraction methods to improve meta‐proteomics analysis of treated wastewater biofilms
Authors: Almulhim Fatimah , Hong Pei‐Ying 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMetaproteomics can be used to study functionally active biofilm‐based bacterial populations in reclaimed water distribution systems, which in turn result in bacterial regrowth that impacts the water quality. However, existing protein extraction methods have differences in their protein recovery and have not been evaluated for their efficacies in reclaimed water biofilm samples. In this study, we first evaluated six different protein extraction methods with diverse chemical and physical properties on a mixture of bacterial cell culture. Based on a weighting scores‐based evaluation, the extraction protocols in order of decreasing performance are listed as B‐PER > RIPA > PreOmics > SDS > AllPrep > Urea. The highest four optimal methods on cell culture were further tested against treated wastewater non‐chlorinated and chlorinated effluent biofilms. In terms of protein yield, our findings showed that RIPA performed the best; however, the highest number of proteins were extracted from SDS and PreOmics. Furthermore, SDS and PreOmics worked best to rupture gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacterial cell walls. Considering the five evaluation factors, PreOmics obtained highest weighted score, indicating its potential effectiveness in extracting proteins from biofilms. This study provides the first insight into evaluating protein extraction methods to facilitate metaproteomics for complex reclaimed water matrices.
Multilevel analysis of place of delivery among reproductive age women in Ethiopia
Authors: Guyo Tamirat G. , Banja Yishak Belachew , Ayele Tadesse Awoke 
Published: August 2023

AbstractIntroductionThe place where the mother gives birth majorly affects the birth outcome and the mother's well‐being; this is because most maternal mortality, morbidity, and neonatal death occur during the time of labor and delivery and immediately after birth. This study was aimed to identify factors associated with the place of delivery among reproductive age women.MethodSecondary analysis was done using the 2019 Mini Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data. A multi‐stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 5527 weighted representative samples of women to include in the analysis. To identify factors associated with the place of delivery, a multilevel mixed effect binary logistic regression model was fitted to consider the hierarchical nature of the data. Statistical significance was declared at p‐value < 0.05.ResultThis study found that women aged 35 to 49 years, mothers with primary and secondary and above, educational status, and women from households with higher wealth index, and participants who had at least one antenatal care visit had higher odds of giving birth in a health facility. Women with two and three and more birth order, who live in rural areas, and women living in communities with higher poverty levels have lower odds of institutional delivery.ConclusionIncreased maternal age, increased maternal educational status, having at least one antenatal care visit, women's household wealth index, increased birth order, rural residence, and higher community poverty level were found to be factors that significantly associated with the place of delivery. Hence, Ethiopia's Federal Minister of Health and another stakeholders should amplify their efforts to increase the accessibility and availability of healthcare facilities and quality maternal health service delivery.
Ensemble learning for score likelihood ratios under the common source problem
Authors: Veneri Federico , Ommen Danica M. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMachine learning‐based score likelihood ratios (SLRs) have emerged as alternatives to traditional likelihood ratios and Bayes factors to quantify the value of evidence when contrasting two opposing propositions. When developing a conventional statistical model is infeasible, machine learning can be used to construct a (dis)similarity score for complex data and estimate the ratio of the conditional distributions of the scores. Under the common source problem, the opposing propositions address if two items come from the same source. To develop their SLRs, practitioners create datasets using pairwise comparisons from a background population sample. These comparisons result in a complex dependence structure that violates the independence assumption made by many popular methods. We propose a resampling step to remedy this lack of independence and an ensemble approach to enhance the performance of SLR systems. First, we introduce a source‐aware resampling plan to construct datasets where the independence assumption is met. Using these newly created sets, we train multiple base SLRs and aggregate their outputs into a final value of evidence. Our experimental results show that this ensemble SLR can outperform a traditional SLR approach in terms of the rate of misleading evidence and discriminatory power and present more consistent results.
46.2: Invited Paper: Highoutput tests for vehicle displays
Authors: Weinhold Wolfgang P. , Wang Helen 
Published: August 2023

This paper will introduce the latest development on large vehicle display testing methods. Due to the upscale dimension of the display products, a high output testing machine and the corresponding testing methods have been developed to test the durability and functionality of displays or surfaces materials or products in the vicinity of the display.It is applicable for the developer and producer of displays, films and coatings and electric switches or buttons, the integration provider and the overall product OEM.
Advancement of Engineered Bacteria for Orally Delivered Therapeutics
Authors: Guo Peilin , Wang Shuang , Yue Hua , Zhang Xiao , Ma Guanghui , Li Xin , Wei Wei 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe use of bacteria and their biotic components as therapeutics has shown great potential in the treatment of diseases. Orally delivered bacteria improve patient compliance compared with injection‐administered bacteria and are considered the preferred mode. However, due to the harsh gastrointestinal environment, the viability and therapeutic efficacy of orally delivered bacteria are significantly reduced in vivo. In recent years, with the rapid development of synthetic biology and nanotechnology, bacteria and biotic components have been engineered to achieve directed genetic reprogramming for construction and precise spatiotemporal control in the gastrointestinal tract, which can improve viability and therapeutic efficiency. Herein, a state‐of‐the‐art review on the current progress of engineered bacterial systems for oral delivery is provided. The different types of bacterial and biotic components for oral administration are first summarized. The engineering strategies of these bacteria and biotic components and their treatment of diseases are next systematically summarized. Finally, the current challenges and prospects of these bacterial therapeutics are highlighted that will contribute to the development of next‐generation orally delivered bacteriotherapy.
A sensitive, precise, accurate, and economic planar chromatographic method developed and validated for quantification of Desidustat as per guideline
Authors: Pandya Rutvik , Kachhiya Heta M. , Solanki Dhaval , Tandel Jinal , Chhalotiya Usmangani , Shah Dimal 
Published: August 2023

AbstractAnemia with chronic kidney disease treating newer hope is recently approved Desidustat. By following International Conference on Harmonization Quality guideline Q2 (R1), an economic high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography method has been developed for the estimation of Desidustat. Pre‐coated silica gel 60 F254 plates as stationary phase along with mobile phase toluene:methanol:glacial acetic acid (7.5:2.5:0.3 v/v/v), and 230 nm detection wavelength was selected as optimized. Developed method was found linear in quantity per band range of 100 ng/band to 600 ng/band for Desidustat with 0.9979 regression coefficient. Standard spiking method showed method accuracy with a mean percentage recovery of 99.21%–101.63%. Limit of detection and limit of quantitation were found to be 3.94 and 11.94 ng/band, respectively. The method was found to be linear, precise, accurate, robust, rugged, selective, sensitive, and specific for the quantification of Desidustat in bulk and tablet dosage form and successfully can be applied for the qualitative and quantitative determination of Desidustat in bulk and marketed tablet formulation.
Fate of herbicides in cropped lysimeters: 2. Leaching of four maize herbicides considering different processes
Authors: Imig Anne , Augustin Lea , Groh Jannis , Pütz Thomas , Elsner Martin , Einsiedl Florian , Rein Arno 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThis study investigates the contamination potential of herbicides to groundwater with the help of numerical modeling (HYDRUS‐1D) and stable carbon isotopes for characterizing biodegradation. Four herbicides, metolachlor, terbuthylazine, prosulfuron, and nicosulfuron, were applied over a period of 4.5 years on two lysimeters located in Wielenbach, Germany, and monitored by lysimeter drainage. These lysimeters contained soil cores dominated by sandy gravel (Ly1) and clayey sandy silt (Ly2) and were both cropped with maize (Zea mays). In the preceding study, we characterized flow within the lysimeters by using stable water isotopes and unsaturated flow models. Building up on these findings, models were extended for describing reactive transport of the herbicides and investigating process contributions. At the end of the experiment, 0.9%–15.9% of the applied herbicides (up to 20.9% if including metabolites) were recovered by lysimeter drainage. Metabolite formation and accumulation was observed, and biodegradation was also indicated by small changes in carbon isotope signals (δ13C) between applied and leached herbicides. Model setups could describe the dynamics of herbicide concentrations in lysimeter drainage well. Concentration peaks in drainage were partly also linked with strong precipitation events, indicating preferential flow influence. The soil core with the coarser texture (Ly1) showed less herbicide leaching than the finer texture (Ly2), which can be explained by a larger mobile phase in Ly1. Overall, our approaches and findings contribute to the understanding of multi‐process herbicide transport in the vadose zone and leaching potentials to groundwater, where δ13C can provide valuable hints for microbial degradation.