bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Trabecular Bone Score in Assessing Bone Mineralization Status in Children with End- Stage Renal Disease: A Promising Tool
Authors: Salem Nanees , Bakr Ashraf , Eid Riham 
Published: August 2023

AbstractAreal-bone mineral density (aBMD) of lumbar-spine dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan is the most frequently used tool in evaluating BMD in pediatric patients, however its size dependency have significant impact on measurements accuracy in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of trabecular bone score (TBS) computed during lumbar-spine DXA scan in assessing bone status in children on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Ninety-three children on HD (aged 9–18 years) were subjected to lumbar-spine DXA-scan to obtain aBMD (g/cm2) and TBS.Z-scores of aBMD for chronological-age (aBMDZ-CA), height-age (aBMDZ-HA), and TBSZ-score were calculated using mean and SD values of 442 healthy controls. aBMD and TBS were significantly lower in short-for-age and normal height-for-age patients compared to the corresponding values of controls (p < 0.05 for all). Degraded vertebral microarchitecture (TBSZ-score < -2) was detected in 48% and 44% of male and female patients respectively. There were no significant differences in median TBSZ-score between short-for-age and normal height-for-age HD patients in male (p = 0.425) and in female (p = 0.316) patients. TBSZ-score correlated significantly with aBMDZ-CA (r = 0.234; p = 0.024) but not with aBMDZ-HA (r = 0.077; p = 0.462). Patients with history of fractures (5 patients only) had significantly lower TBS scores compared to those without fracture history (p = 0.016).Conclusion: TBS is significantly reduced in children on maintenance HD and is associated with increased fracture incidence. TBS has shown to be a promising tool in assessing bone quality (trabecular microarchitecture) in children with CKD being not size-dependent as is a-BMD, for further evaluation of its potential role in therapeutic and follow-up decisions.

What is Known:• In children with CKD, bone demineralization starts as early as CKD stage 2, so assessment of bone health is mandatory for follow up and therapeutic decisions.• aBMD of lumbar-spine DXA scan is the most used tool in evaluating BMD in pediatric patients, however its size dependency have significant impact on measurements made in children with CKD.

What is New:• TBS is significantly reduced in children on maintenance HD and associated with increased fracture incidence.• TBS has shown to be a promising tool in assessing bone quality (trabecular microarchitecture) in children with CKD being not size-dependent as is a-BMD.
Telestration with augmented reality improves the performance of the first ten ex vivo porcine laparoscopic cholecystectomies: a randomized controlled study
Authors: Cizmic Amila , Müller Felix , Wise Philipp A. , Häberle Frida , Gabel Felix , Kowalewski Karl-Friedrich , Bintintan Vasile , Müller-Stich Beat P. , Nickel Felix 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Introduction
The learning curve in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is steep compared to open surgery. One of the reasons is that training in the operating room in MIS is mainly limited to verbal instructions. The iSurgeon telestration device with augmented reality (AR) enables visual instructions, guidance, and feedback during MIS. This study aims to compare the effects of the iSurgeon on the training of novices performing repeated laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) on a porcine liver compared to traditional verbal instruction methods.

Methods
Forty medical students were randomized into the iSurgeon and the control group. The iSurgeon group performed 10 LCs receiving interactive visual guidance. The control group performed 10 LCs receiving conventional verbal guidance. The performance assessment using Objective Structured Assessments of Technical Skills (OSATS) and Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills (GOALS) scores, the total operating time, and complications were compared between the two groups.

Results
The iSurgeon group performed LCs significantly better (global GOALS 17.3 ± 2.6 vs. 16 ± 2.6, p ≤ 0.001, LC specific GOALS 7 ± 2 vs. 5.9 ± 2.1, p ≤ 0.001, global OSATS 25.3 ± 4.3 vs. 23.5 ± 3.9, p ≤ 0.001, LC specific OSATS scores 50.8 ± 11.1 vs. 41.2 ± 9.4, p ≤ 0.001) compared to the control group. The iSurgeon group had significantly fewer intraoperative complications in total (2.7 ± 2.0 vs. 3.6 ± 2.0, p ≤ 0.001) than the control group. There was no difference in operating time (79.6 ± 25.7 vs. 84.5 ± 33.2 min, p = 0.087).

Conclusion
Visual guidance using the telestration device with AR, iSurgeon, improves performance and lowers the complication rates in LCs in novices compared to conventional verbal expert guidance.
Variational sensitivity analysis and shape optimisation applied to a non-local, ductile damage model
Authors: Guhr Fabian , Barthold Franz-Joseph 
Published: August 2023

AbstractShape optimisation is applied to an elasto-plastic material model with non-local, regularised damage. Geometries of the same volume are generated which behave better under the aspect of damage accumulation. The underlying material model is taken from published literature and enhanced to derive the sensitivities w.r.t the initial reference geometry. A variational approach, together with an enhanced kinematic concept to decouple geometrical and physical quantities, is utilised to derive these sensitivities. With the inclusion of plastic and damaging effects, the load history of the problem has to be taken into account as well. This introduces additional terms for the sensitivity analysis and requires certain adjustments within the numerical treatment. These gradient information can finally be applied in gradient-based optimisation techniques to efficiently solve the stated optimisation problem. The two discussed examples highlight the benefit of damage optimisation. In the first example, a geometry is reshaped to directly reduce the damage accumulation under certain load. In a second example, the results of a compliance based optimisation with the ductile damage material behaviour are compared to shapes resulting from optimisation problems considering elastic and elasto-plastic material behaviour.
An uncertainty estimator method based on the application of feature density to classify mammograms for breast cancer detection
Authors: Fuentes-Fino Ricardo , Calderón-Ramírez Saúl , Domínguez Enrique , López-Rubio Ezequiel , Elizondo David , Molina-Cabello Miguel A. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractIn the area of medical imaging, one of the factors that can negatively influence the performance of prediction algorithms is the limited number of observations for each class within a labeled dataset. Usually, in order to increase the samples, a second set of unlabeled images is used. However, this set adds two new problems (i) finding patient observations with different pathologies than those observed in the labeled data set and (ii) finding images belonging to a different distribution from the dataset used in the model training process. This way, merging datasets from different sources can have an adverse effect on the distribution of features. Encountering this type of data (better known as out-of-distribution data) within the deployment environments may also lead to varying degrees of performance degradation as can be seen in the different experimental results obtained. In this research, a study of the behavior of Feature Density is made, as a mathematical model for the estimation of predictive uncertainty in supervised classification algorithms, in order to improve the behavior when out-of-distribution data are presented in the dataset. The Feature Density method is based on the estimation of feature density by means of histogram calculation (or Probability Density Function). The advantage of this method over the baseline approach (Mahalanobis distance) is that it does not assume a Gaussian-type distribution of sample characteristics and serves to estimate the uncertainty. This work focuses on the binary classification of mammography X-ray images from three different datasets simulating the condition of a different degree of contamination with out-of-distribution sample. According to the obtained results, the performance of the proposed method depends directly on the architecture of the implemented neural network.
Ultrastructural organization of the thylakoid system during the afternoon relocation of the giant chloroplast in Selaginella martensii Spring (Lycopodiophyta)
Authors: Colpo Andrea , Demaria Sara , Boldrini Paola , Baldisserotto Costanza , Pancaldi Simonetta , Ferroni Lorenzo 
Published: August 2023

AbstractWithin the ancient vascular plant lineage known as lycophytes, many Selaginella species contain only one giant chloroplast in the upper epidermal cells of the leaf. In deep-shade species, such as S. martensii, the chloroplast is cup-shaped and the thylakoid system differentiates into an upper lamellar region and a lower granal region (bizonoplast). In this report, we describe the ultrastructural changes occurring in the giant chloroplast hosted in the epidermal cells of S. martensii during the daily relocation of the organelle. The process occurs in up to ca. 40% of the microphylls without the plants being exposed to high-light flecks. The relocated chloroplast loses its cup shape: first, it flattens laterally toward the radial cell wall and then assumes a more globular shape. The loss of the conical cell shape, the side-by-side lateral positioning of vacuole and chloroplast, and the extensive rearrangement of the thylakoid system to only granal cooperate in limiting light absorption. While the cup-shaped chloroplast emphasizes the light-harvesting capacity in the morning, the relocated chloroplast is suggested to support the renewal of the thylakoid system during the afternoon, including the recovery of photosystem II (PSII) from photoinhibition. The giant chloroplast repositioning is part of a complex reversible reshaping of the whole epidermal cell.
In paired preference tests, domestic chicks innately choose the colour green over red, and the shape of a frog over a sphere when both stimuli are green
Authors: Protti-Sánchez Francesca , Mayer Uwe , Rowland Hannah M. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMany animals express unlearned colour preferences that depend on the context in which signals are encountered. These colour biases may have evolved in response to the signalling system to which they relate. For example, many aposematic animals advertise their unprofitability with red warning signals. Predators’ innate biases against these warning colours have been suggested as one of the potential explanations for the initial evolution of aposematism. It is unclear, however, whether unlearned colour preferences reported in a number of species is truly an innate behaviour or whether it is based on prior experience. We tested the spontaneous colour and shape preferences of dark-hatched, unfed, and visually naive domestic chicks (Gallus gallus). In four experiments, we presented chicks with a choice between either red (a colour typically associated with warning patterns) or green (a colour associated with palatable cryptic prey), volume-matched spheres (representing a generalised fruit shape) or frogs (representing an aposematic animal’s shape). Chicks innately preferred green stimuli and avoided red. Chicks also preferred the shape of a frog over a sphere when both stimuli were green. However, no preference for frogs over spheres was present when stimuli were red. Male chicks that experienced a bitter taste of quinine immediately before the preference test showed a higher preference for green frog-shaped stimuli. Our results suggest that newly hatched chicks innately integrate colour and shape cues during decision making, and that this can be augmented by other sensory experiences. Innate and experience-based behaviour could confer a fitness advantage to novel aposematic prey, and favour the initial evolution of conspicuous colouration.
Migration-related inequalities in loneliness across age groups: a cross-national comparative study in Europe
Authors: Delaruelle Katrijn 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThis study aims to contribute to the growing interest in the consequences of migration for loneliness by investigating the role of generational status across various age groups in countries with differing integration policies and attitudes towards immigrants. Using data from rounds 5, 6 and 7 of the European Social Survey, I conducted logistic multilevel models on a sample of 121,835 respondents aged 18 years and older, residing in 26 countries. Loneliness was assessed based on a single-item item question from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression scale. The findings suggest that individuals with a migration background are more likely to experience loneliness than those without. Within this group, I found that first-generation immigrants who arrived after the age of 18 are more vulnerable to loneliness than those who arrived earlier, although the latter still reported more loneliness than second-generation immigrants. Furthermore, migration-related inequalities in loneliness were greater among the youngest age group (18–34 years) and in countries with a more positive public stance towards immigrants. In sum, this study highlights the persistent challenges that migration poses for loneliness across generations and age groups, and emphasizes the need to extend research in this area beyond older adults. Moreover, it suggests that promoting a welcoming culture towards immigrants may have unintended consequences for loneliness gaps, but further research is needed to explain this observation.
Patterns of cytonuclear discordance and divergence between subspecies of the scarlet macaw (Ara macao) in Central America
Authors: Aardema Matthew L. , Schmidt Kari L. , Amato George 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe scarlet macaw, Ara macao, is a neotropical parrot that contains two described subspecies with broadly discrete geographical distributions. One subspecies, A. m. macao, is found from South America north into southwestern Costa Rica, while the second subspecies, A. m. cyanoptera, is found from eastern Costa Rica north into central Mexico. Our previous research using mitochondrial data to examine phylogeographical divergence across the collective range of these two subspecies concluded that they represent distinct evolutionary entities, with minimal contemporary hybridization between them. Here we further examine phylogenetic relationships and patterns of genetic variation between these two subspecies using a dataset of genetic markers derived from their nuclear genomes. Our analyses show clear nuclear divergence between A. m. macao and A. m. cyanoptera in Central America. Collectively however, samples from this region appear genetically more similar to one another than they do to the examined South American (Brazilian) A. m. macao sample. This observation contradicts our previous assessments based on mitochondrial DNA analyses that A. m. macao in Central and South America represent a single phylogeographical group that is evolutionarily distinct from Central American A. m. cyanoptera. Nonetheless, in agreement with our previous findings, ongoing genetic exchange between the two subspecies appears limited. Rather, our analyses indicate that incomplete lineage sorting is the best supported explanation for cytonuclear discordance within these parrots. High-altitude regions in Central America may act as a reproductive barrier, limiting contemporary hybridization between A. m. macao and A. m. cyanoptera. The phylogeographic complexities of scarlet macaw taxa in this region highlight the need for additional evolutionary examinations of these populations.
Occupational aspirations at the end of compulsory schooling: The interplay of parents’ educational background, work values and self-Concepts in the reproduction of inequality
Authors: Astleithner Franz , Vogl Susanne , Kogler Raphaela 
Published: August 2023

AbstractDecisions about further schooling or vocational training are imminent at the end of lower secondary education, and they determine educational and occupational trajectories. Understanding decision processes during this transition helps to elucidate the intergenerational reproduction of inequality. The aim of this study is to untangle influences on students’ occupational aspirations and how their parents’ educational level shapes these aspirations. We analysed data from an online survey of 3078 students at approximately 15 years of age in the general track of lower secondary school (‘Neue Mittelschule’) in Vienna (Austria). Based on regression analyses and path models, we show that educational background is related to occupational aspirations. Work values, attitudes towards school and social capital shape occupational aspirations but cannot be (fully) explained by educational background. Furthermore, we find no evidence that locus of control affects the level of occupational aspirations.
Leisure time in young people’s everyday life and its relevance for wellbeing: longitudinal analyses based on a quantitative panel in Vienna
Authors: Mataloni Barbara 
Published: August 2023

AbstractQualitative studies with young people have shown that wellbeing is something that is felt and sensed in their everyday lives, especially in less formal leisure-time contexts. This article contributes to the current state of research by analyzing the relations between wellbeing and the conditions in young people’s leisure time using a longitudinal, quantitative approach. The analyses are based on a new measurement instrument, which captures conditions in young people’s leisure time in terms of the extent to which they facilitate correspondence and experimentation, and require adaption. The measurement instrument was inserted twice (2020, 2022) in the quantitative panel of ‘Pathways to the Future’, a project about young people in Vienna. The analytical sample consists of 239 panel participants (478 observations), and the main results are based on the specification of a random effects model. The findings reveal that possibilities for correspondence in the panel participants’ leisure time, i.e., being able to be oneself and to relax, increase their wellbeing. In addition, to a lesser extent, possibilities for experimentation, i.e., discovering new traits about oneself and engaging in stimulating activities, are important for wellbeing. Interestingly, leisure time requiring adaption is not significantly related to wellbeing. More detailed analyses considering decreases and increases of adaption separately by estimating asymmetric effects suggest that adaption can be constraining but can also be more positively connotated. Overall, the results contribute to a relational and situational understanding of wellbeing in quantitative research, which places the focus on the conditions in young people’s everyday life.
A Delphi consensus on the management of Spanish patients with osteoporosis at high risk of fracture: OSARIDELPHI study
Authors: Arboleya Luis , Cancio-Trujillo Jose Manuel , Chaves Celia , Duaso-Magaña Enric , Mesa-Ramos Manuel , Olmos Jose Manuel 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Summary
The OSARIDELPHI study evaluated the level of agreement between specialists in osteoporosis regarding the management of patients with high-risk fractures in Spain. The results provide expert-based recommendations for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment related to fracture risk. Therefore, the study facilitates clinical decision-making for managing this patient’s profile.

Purpose
To evaluate the level of agreement between specialists in osteoporosis regarding the management of patients with high-risk fractures in Spain.

Methods
A two-round Delphi study was performed using an online survey. In round 1, panel members rated their level of agreement with assessments on a 9-point Likert scale. Item selection was based on acceptance by ≥ 66.6% of panel experts and the agreement of the scientific committee. In round 2, the same panelists evaluated non-consensus items in round 1.

Results
A total of 80 panelists participated in round 1; of these, 78 completed the round 2 survey. In round 1, 122 items from 4 dimensions (definition of fracture risk: 11 items, prevention and diagnosis: 38 items, choice of treatment: 24 items, and treatment-associated quality of life: 49 items) were evaluated. The consensus was reached for 90 items (73.8%). Panelists agreed that categorizing high risk, very high risk, or imminent risk determines secondary prevention actions (97.5%). Experts agreed that treatment with bone-forming drugs should be considered in case of a very high risk of fracture, and a sequential change to antiresorptive drugs should be made after 1–2 years (97.5%). Panelists also recommended corrective action plans for non-adherent patients to improve adherence (97.5%). A total of 131 items were finally accepted after round 2.

Conclusion
This Delphi study provides expert-based recommendations on clinical decision-making for managing patients with osteoporosis at high risk of fracture.
CircRNA-CIRH1A Promotes the Development of Osteosarcoma by Regulating PI3K/AKT and JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathways
Authors: Zhang Meng , Wang Xiang , Zhao Jianfeng , Yan Jizhou , He Xiaodan , Qin Danxia , Liang Fang , Tong Kai , Wang Jianjian 
Published: August 2023

AbstractOsteogenic sarcoma (OS), one of the mesenchymal tumors with a high degree of malignancy, mainly occurs in the metaphysis of the long bones and around the knee joints in children and adolescents. The poor diagnosis in patients with OS can be attributed to the lack of early clinical symptoms, although the growth of tumor mass gradually results in severe pain and systemic symptoms. The mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of OS are not fully understood. Thus, identifying early diagnostic biomarkers and novel targets involved in the progression of OS is of critical significance in the management of OS. CircRNA is a class of non-coding RNAs characterized by the close-loop structure and increased stability, which are implicated in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis. Moreover, circRNAs also play significant roles in aging and chronic disorders, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Accordingly, we reported the upregulation of circRNA-CIRH1A in OS tissues and cell lines. Silencing circRNA-CIRH1A in OS cell lines (U2OS, HOS, Saos-2, and MG-63) could inhibit the cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and apoptosis, which was also validated in xenograft tumorigenesis mouse model. We further demonstrated that circRNA-CIRH1A sponged miR-1276, which subsequently disrupted the effect of miR-1276 on PI3K/AKT and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways. Together, our study revealed the oncogenic role of circRNA-CIRH1A in OS, and identified miR-1276/ PI3K-AKT and JAK2-STAT3 signaling axis as the key downstream mediators of circRNA-CIRH1A.
Generalized partially bent functions, generalized perfect arrays, and cocyclic Butson matrices
Authors: Armario J. A. , Egan R. , Flannery D. L. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractIn a recent survey, Schmidt compiled equivalences between generalized bent functions, group invariant Butson Hadamard matrices, and abelian splitting relative difference sets. We establish a broader network of equivalences by considering Butson matrices that are cocyclic rather than strictly group invariant. This result has several applications; for example, to the construction of Boolean functions whose expansions are generalized partially bent functions, including cases where no bent function can exist.