bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
ACTivity as medicine In Oncology for Head and Neck (ACTIOHN): Protocol for a feasibility study investigating a patient-centred approach to exercise for people with head and neck cancer
Authors: Midgley Adrian W. , Levy Andrew R. , Rogers Simon N. , Brooker Rachel C. , Bryant Valerie , Cherry Mary Gemma , Lane Steven , Nugent Michael M. , Price Ruth , Schache Andrew G. , Young Bridget , Patterson Joanne M. 
Published: August 2023

Background and aimAttempts at personalisation of exercise programmes in head and neck cancer (HaNC) have been limited. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of introducing a remotely delivered, fully personalised, collaborative, and flexible approach to prescribing and delivering exercise programmes into the HaNC usual care pathway.MethodsThis is a single arm, feasibility study. Seventy patients diagnosed with HaNC will be recruited from two regional HaNC centres in the United Kingdom. Patients will undertake an 8-week exercise programme designed and delivered by cancer exercise specialists. The exercise programme will start any time between the time of diagnosis and up to 8 weeks after completing treatment, depending on patient preference. The content of the exercise programme will be primarily based on patient needs, preferences, and goals, but guided by current physical activity guidelines for people with cancer. The primary outcome measure is retention to the study. Secondary quantitative outcomes are uptake to the exercise programme, different measures of exercise adherence, pre- and post-intervention assessments of fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory—Short Form), quality of life (SF-36), physical activity levels (International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form), and various components of physical fitness. The outcomes of the nested qualitative study are acceptability and feasibility of the intervention evaluated via interviews with patients, health care professionals, and the cancer exercise specialists. Intervention and participant fidelity will be determined using checklists and scrutiny of each patient’s logbook and the cancer exercise specialists’ meeting notes. Analysis of quantitative data will be via standard summary statistics. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis.Expected resultsThis feasibility study will inform the design and conduct of a future randomised controlled trial. Success will be defined according to a traffic light system for identifying the appropriateness of progression to a randomised controlled trial.Trial registrationInternational Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry (ISRCTN82505455).
The psychological status of patients with delayed intravitreal injection for treatment of diabetic macular edema due to the COVID–19 pandemic
Authors: Zaini Mohamad Azlan , Mohd Zain Ayesha , Din Norshamsiah Md. , Mustapha Mushawiahti , Sidi Hatta 
Published: August 2023

Background
Since the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to contain the spread of COVID -19 infection in Malaysia, most clinic appointments have been rescheduled and procedures and surgeries postponed to a later date. Clinic appointments including intravitreal endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment for patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) were also no exception to the postponement. This measure takes a psychological toll on patients because of the overwhelming concern for their eye condition. This study was conducted to assess the psychological status of DME patients with delayed anti-VEGF treatment during the pandemic.

Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2020 to March 2021 in Ophthalmology Clinic Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HCTM UKM). Subjects diagnosed with center-involved DME aged between 20 to 80 years who experienced delayed anti-VEGF injection were recruited. Level of depression, anxiety and stress were assessed using DASS-21 questionnaire. Statistical analysis using non-parametric tests were performed to determine the relationship between the DASS-21 score and duration of last injection, in those whose vision was affected by delayed injection and the relationship to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical significance was denoted as p < 0.05.

Results
A total of 86 respondents with median age of 69 years old participated in this study. Most respondents were Malays (n = 47,54.7%) males (n = 51, 59.3%), had education up to secondary level (n = 37, 43%), unemployed (n = 78, 90.7%), married (n = 72, 83.7%) and living with their family (n = 82, 95.3%). The number of intravitreal injections received was at least three times among the respondents (n = 81, 94.2%). More than half of the respondents (n = 46, 53.5%) had been postponed for more than 12 weeks and felt that their vision was affected after delayed intravitreal injection (n = 47, 54.7%). Most of the subjects did not experience depression, anxiety, or stress. However, there was a significant level of stress scores among those with delayed injection of 9 to 12 weeks (p = 0.004), and significant anxiety (p = 0.029) and stress (p = 0.014) scores found in subjects with vision affected due to delayed treatment.

Conclusion
The level of anxiety and stress can be significant in DME patients who experienced delay in intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment. Assessment of psychosocial impacts is important to identify early mental health issues potentially leading to the onset of psychiatry illness, thus early intervention is indispensable.
The entero-endocrine response following a mixed-meal tolerance test with a non-nutritive pre-load in participants with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes: A crossover randomized controlled trial proof of concept study
Authors: Muilwijk Mirthe , Beulens Joline W. J. , Groeneveld Lenka , Rutters Femke , Blom Marieke T. , Agamennone Valeria , van den Broek Tim , Keijser Bart J. F. , Hoevenaars Femke 
Published: August 2023

Introduction
This crossover randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigated differences in short-term entero-endocrine response to a mixed-meal tolerance test preceded by nutrient sensing between participants with pre-diabetes (pre-T2D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Additionally, differences in gut and oral microbiome composition between participants with a high and low entero-endocrine response were investigated.

Research design and methods
Ten participants with pre-T2D and ten with T2D underwent three test days with pre-loads consisting of either swallowing water (control), or rinsing with a non-nutritive sweetener solution, or swallowing the sweetener solution before a mixed-meal tolerance test. Blood glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucagon, glucose, insulin and peptide YY (PYY) were determined at t = -20, 0, 15, 30, 60, 120 and 240 minutes. The composition of the oral and gut microbiome at baseline were also determined.

Results
The entero-endocrine response differed by pre-loads, e.g. a lower PYY response after swallowing the non-nutritive sweetener (-3585.2pg/mL [95% CI: -6440.6; -729.8]; p = 0.01). But it also differed by T2D status, e.g. a higher glucose, glucagon and PYY response was found in participants with T2D, compared to those with pre-T2D. Evidence for associations between the oral and gut microbiome composition and the entero-endocrine response was limited. Still, the level of entero-endocrine response was associated with several oral microbiome measures. Higher oral anterior α-diversity was associated with a lower PYY response (e.g. Inverse Simpson index -1357pg/mL [95% CI -2378; -336; 1.24]), and higher oral posterior α-diversitywith a higher GIP response (e.g. Inverse Simpson index 6773pg/mL [95% CI 132; 13414]) in models adjusted for sex, age and T2D status.

Conclusions
Non-nutritive pre-loads influence the entero-endocrine response to a mixed-meal, and this effect varies based on (pre-)T2D status. The entero-endocrine response is likely not associated with the gut microbiome, and there is limited evidence for association with the α-diversity of the oral microbiome composition.

Trial registration
Trial register: Netherlands Trial Register NTR7212, accessible through International Clinical Trials Registry Platform: ICTRP Search Portal (who.int).
Health-related quality of life and associated factors among prisoners in Gondar city prison, Northwest Ethiopia: Using structural equation modeling
Authors: Seifu Beminate Lemma , Nigatu Solomon Gedlu , Gezie Lemma Derseh 
Published: August 2023

Background
Prisoners usually need more comprehensive health and social support than the general population. Due to the growing number of prisoners in Ethiopia and limited access to health service, quality of life is a key concern. Compromised health-related quality of life imposes short and long-term consequences on the prisoners, their families, and the healthcare system. In Ethiopia, there are limited studies that investigate health outcomes and health-related quality of life in this particular population. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of health-related quality of life and associated factors among prisoners considering the multidimensional nature of health related quality of life.

Methods
An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,246 prisoners who were enrolled using simple random sampling. The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-BREF-26) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) tools were used to assess the HRQoL and depression among prisoners, respectively. The relationships between exogenous, mediating, and endogenous variables were identified using structural equation modeling. As the mediation of effects were present, then the direct, indirect, and total effects were determined. General fit indices of the final model were acceptable (x2/df = 1.76, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.06, TLI = 0.90, CFI = 0.91, and SRMR = 0.06).

Result
The mean (standard deviation) score of the overall health related quality of life was 53.25 (15.12). Having an underlying medical condition had negative total effect on health related quality of life while visits in prison had positive total effect. Having income-generating work in prison had only a direct positive effect. Whereas, older age, being married, longer duration of imprisonment, and depression all had only a negative direct effect on one or more domains of quality of life (p<0.05).

Conclusion
Inmates in Gondar Prison have very poor and compromised levels of physical and psychological health despite having a modest degree of overall HRQoL. The result of this study is significant for people who work in and research the prison environment because it can assist in recognizing prisoners’ health needs and devising treatment procedures that take into consideration physical, psychological, environmental, and social relationship aspects.
Evaluation of cyclic fatigue and bending test for different Nickle-Titanium files
Authors: Ramadan Farah , AbuMostafa Ammar , Alharith Dalia 
Published: August 2023

Aim
To compare cyclic fatigue resistance and bending for three different nickel-titanium (NiTi) rotary files.

Materials and methods
A sample of 90 NiTi instruments size (25.06) was divided into three groups with 30 files in each: Race Evo files (FKG Dentaire, Switzerland); Tia Tornado Blue files (TiaDent Inc., Texas- USA); One Curve files (Micro-Mega, France). Then each group was subdivided into two groups with 15 files in each; a bending test was performed for one group, and a dynamic cyclic fatigue test at body temperature was performed for the other group. Files fractured by cyclic fatigue were randomly picked from all tested groups for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) (Jeol, Tokyo, Japan). In addition, the test included measuring the broken part of the files tested using (Electronic Micrometre Calliper with LCD Screen, Inch and Millimetre Conversion, Adoric- Taiwan). Data were statistically analyzed using a one-way ANOVA with Tukey-HSD post hoc test.

Results
It was found that maximum load [gf] was less (meaning more flexible) in the group of Tia Tornado Blue with a statistically significant difference in comparison with Race Evo and One Curve. The number of cycles to fracture (NCF) in the Race Evo group was significantly higher than the groups of One Curve and Tia Tornado Blue.

Conclusions
Within the limitation of the study, it could be concluded that Race Evo files were more resistant to cyclic fatigue fracture and Tia Tornado Blue files were more flexible compared to the other tested files.
The epidemiology of patients with toxoplasmosis and its associated risk factors in Taiwan during the 2007–2020 period
Authors: Yu Chia-Peng , Chen Bao-Chung , Chou Yu-Ching , Hsieh Chi-Jeng , Lin Fu-Huang 
Published: August 2023

Background
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), and may cause miscarriage and birth defects during pregnancy. This study aimed to assess the epidemiological features, epidemic trends, and correlations between the before number of confirmed toxoplasmosis cases in Taiwan from 2007 to 2020 in gender, age, season, and residential area, and hypothesized the environmental and climate factors also might affect the disease in Taiwan.

Methods
This study reviewed publicly available annual summary data on reported toxoplasmosis cases in the Taiwan Centers for Diseases Control (TCDC) between 2007 and 2020.

Results
This study collected 150 confirmed domestic and nine patients with imported toxoplasmosis. There was an increasing trend in the incidence of toxoplasmosis, 0.09–0.89 cases per 1,000,000 people, peaking in 2017. The average annual toxoplasmosis incidence was 4.4, 13, and 18 during 2007–2011, 2012–2016, and 2017–2020, respectively. Comparing sex, age, season, and place of residence, the incidence rate was highest in male, 20–39 years-old patients, summer, and the eastern region, with 1.02, 1.72, 0.38, and 3.63 cases per million population, respectively. Additionally, comparing the distribution of cases by age group in Taiwan, there were significant differences between 40–59 years-old in the northern region (odds ratio (OR) = 0.343, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.167–0.705, p = 0.004) and 40–59 years-old in the southern region (OR = 4.488, and 95% CI = 2.149–9.374, p< 0.001), respectively. Linear regression analysis also showed that PM (particulate matter) 2.5 (μg/m3) concentration was positively associated with toxoplasmosis (β = 0.095, p = 0.037). CO concentration was negatively correlated with toxoplasmosis (β = -14.001, p = 0.021).

Conclusions
This study is the first to report domestic and confirmed cases of imported toxoplasmosis from the surveillance data of the TCDC between 2007 and 2020. It identified that residence and age were associated with an increased risk of toxoplasmosis in Taiwan. This study confirmed that toxoplasmosis remains a prevalent infectious disease in Taiwan, its epidemic is gradually increasing and becoming more severe. These findings might be useful for policy-makers and clinical experts to direct prevention and control activities to patients with T. gondii, which causes the most severe illness and greatest burden to Taiwanese people.
Bottlenecks of Electoral Violence on Electoral Process and Human Welfare in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District, Zambia
Authors: Kawila Eliazer Lushinga , Matole Adrian , Mulubale Sanny , Simui Francis , Muleya Gistered 
Published: August 2023

This article explored bottlenecks of electoral violence on electoral process and human welfare in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District, Zambia. The case study design was employed on a targeted population that comprised of 28 participants. The interview guide was used as a tool for primary data production. The main findings of this research were that violence impacted negatively the electoral process by promoting voter apathy especially among women and those that are physically challenged. It was also found that violence disturbs political self-will for the electorates to make independent decisions. Similarly, it was found that electoral violence creates unbalanced political playing field for the candidates to market themselves to the potential electorates. Equally, it was revealed that electoral violence leads to decline in economic activities, destruction of property and a threat to human life. The article concludes that electoral violence denies electorates an opportunity to elect credible leaders and as such, it should not be condoned. Thus, the article recommends that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) should give harsh punishment to those who are fond of engaging in electoral violence as this may deter others from participating in such undemocratic activities.
Efficient Fault Tolerance for Recommendation Model Training via Erasure Coding
Authors: Zhang Tianyu , Liu Kaige , Kosaian Jack , Yang Juncheng , Vinayak Rashmi 
Published: August 2023

Deep-learning-based recommendation models (DLRMs) are widely deployed to serve personalized content. In addition to using neural networks, DLRMs have large, sparsely-accessed embedding tables, which map categorical features to a learned dense representation. Due to the large sizes of embedding tables, DLRM training is typically distributed across the memory of tens or hundreds of nodes. Node failures are common in such large systems and must be mitigated to enable training to complete within production deadlines. Checkpointing is the primary approach used for fault tolerance in these systems, but incurs significant time overhead both during normal operation and when recovering from failures. As these overheads increase with DLRM size, checkpointing is slated to become an even larger overhead for future DLRMs, which are expected to grow. This calls for rethinking fault tolerance in DLRM training.
We present ECRec, a DLRM training system that achieves efficient fault tolerance by coupling erasure coding with the unique characteristics of DLRM training. ECRec takes a hybrid approach between erasure coding and replicating different DLRM parameters, correctly and efficiently updates redundant parameters, and enables training to proceed without pauses, while maintaining the consistency of the recovered parameters. We implement ECRec atop XDL, an open-source, industrial-scale DLRM training system. Compared to checkpointing, ECRec reduces training-time overhead on large DLRMs by up to 66%, recovers from failure up to 9.8× faster, and continues training during recovery with only a 7--13% drop in throughput (whereas checkpointing must pause).
TSM-Bench: Benchmarking Time Series Database Systems for Monitoring Applications
Authors: Khelifati Abdelouahab , Khayati Mourad , Dignös Anton , Difallah Djellel , Cudré-Mauroux Philippe 
Published: August 2023

Time series databases are essential for the large-scale deployment of many critical industrial applications. In infrastructure monitoring, for instance, a database system should be able to process large amounts of sensor data in real-time, execute continuous queries, and handle complex analytical queries such as anomaly detection or forecasting. Several benchmarks have been proposed to evaluate and understand how existing systems and design choices handle specific use cases and workloads. Unfortunately, none of them fully covers the peculiar requirements of monitoring applications. Furthermore, they fall short of providing an automated way to generate representative real-world data and workloads for testing and evaluating these systems.
We present TSM-Bench, a benchmark tailored for time series database systems used in monitoring applications. Our key contributions consist of (1) representative queries that meet the requirements that we collected from a water monitoring use case, and (2) a new scalable data generator method based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) and Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH). We demonstrate, through an extensive set of experiments, how TSM-Bench provides a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of seven leading time series database systems while offering a detailed characterization of their capabilities and trade-offs.
Influence of temperature on twitch potentiation following submaximal voluntary contractions in human plantar flexor muscles
Authors: Ota Kazutaka , Sasaki Kazushige 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThis study aimed to clarify the influence of temperature on post‐activation twitch potentiation, a possible indicator of fast‐twitch fiber activation during a preceding voluntary contraction. Ten healthy males immersed their left lower leg in water of different temperatures (cold: 0°C, neutral: 32–35°C, hot: ~43°C) for 20 min each. In each temperature condition, they performed submaximal (10%–50% of maximal voluntary contraction torque measured before water immersion) and maximal plantar flexions. Immediately after each voluntary contraction, twitch contractions were evoked with supramaximal stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve. The magnitude of twitch potentiation, defined as a percent increase in twitch torque following a voluntary contraction, increased with the intensity of the preceding voluntary contraction. The magnitude of twitch potentiation after the maximal voluntary contraction was smaller in Cold than in the other temperature conditions. However, temperature had no influence on the relative magnitude of twitch potentiation following the submaximal contractions. In addition, there was no difference in electromyographic activity between the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in any temperature conditions. Collectively, the temperature dependence was not observed when using twitch potentiation or electromyographic amplitude as an indicator of fast‐twitch fiber activation during brief submaximal voluntary contractions.
Social Entrepreneurship: The Choice Between Labels, Variants, Dedicated and Conventional Corporate Forms
Authors: Cools Sofie 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

85
Around the globe legislators have created labels and dedicated company forms for social enterprises. On the basis of an analysis of US, UK, German, French, Dutch and Belgian law, this article exposes which elements are important (and which are not) in the creation of these labels and forms. First, the distinction between labels and dedicated forms is of relative practical importance. Even dedicated company forms are – like labels – to a large extent governed by general corporate law. This offers advantages in terms of network effects and easy adoption. Creating a completely new corporate form is therefore justified only if there are compelling reasons for a comprehensive overhaul of existing company law. Second, the introduction of labels and dedicated company forms is influenced by the level of stringency with which jurisdictions distinguish between companies and nonprofit forms. For instance, the American benefit corporations and the French ‘raison d’être’ were introduced to explicitly authorize what conventional companies can do elsewhere. Nevertheless, a high degree of flexibility in conventional company law is insufficient to facilitate social entrepreneurship. Mandatory law for social enterprise labels or forms is necessary to credibly signal commitment to a social purpose. Yet, creating labels or dedicated forms for lightly regulated ‘mission purposes’ may generate noise that interferes with this signal.
86