bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Absenteeism prevention in preschools in Chile: Impact from a quasi-experimental evaluation of 2011–2017 Ministry of Education data
Authors: Arbour MaryCatherine , Soto Carolina , Alée Yanira , Atwood Sidney , Muñoz Pablo , Marzolo Marcela 
Published: January 2023

IntroductionIn 2007, to promote social equity, Chile expanded coverage and subsidies for early childhood education (ECE). Fundación Educacional Oportunidad (OFE) aimed to improve ECE quality through its professional development program for teachers and school leaders, Un Buen Comienzo (UBC). An experimental evaluation showed that high levels of absenteeism moderated UBC’s impact: despite moderate to large positive impacts on preschool quality, only children who attended most frequently experienced positive impacts on targeted language and literacy skills. In 2012, OFE began prioritizing attendance promotion and chronic absenteeism prevention.MethodsUsing a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BTS) that combines continuous quality improvement methods and networked peer learning, OFE tested a theory of change and several innovations, including Absenteeism Committees comprised of school teams and families; a new real-time data platform; and a set of universal and targeted strategies to apply with families at risk for chronic absenteeism. In 2014-2015, OFE expanded the UBC program to nineteen schools in Chile’s VI Region, five of which prioritized attendance promotion. This study describes the intervention strategies and BTS implementation approach, and we use publicly available Ministry of Education databases to analyze rates of absences and chronic absenteeism in public preschools in Chile’s VI region from 2011 to 2017 (n = 1,218 children per year; 63,689 child-months of data), comparing rates between UBC schools that prioritized attendance (n = 5), UBC schools that did not prioritize attendance (n = 14), and non-UBC schools (n = 27).ResultsChildren missed, on average, 14.0%–14.4% of schooldays. Rates of chronic absenteeism were 50.9%–54.2%. Statistical Process Control charts show an initial increase in the percentage of days absent per child each month (13.4% to 16.3%) in UBC Schools prioritizing attendance, followed by a decrease to 12.9%. The percentage of children with chronic absenteeism decreased from 54.2% to 35%. Interrupted time series analyses suggest that these reductions can be attributed to UBC participation.DiscussionThis study (1) replicates findings from prior research indicating that absenteeism rates are sufficiently high among Chilean preschoolers to diminish ECE’s potential benefits, and (2) demonstrates the effectiveness of multi-level strategies implemented using continuous improvement methods and networked peer learning to promote attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism.
Increased plasma genistein after bariatric surgery could promote remission of NAFLD in patients with obesity
Authors: Wang Geng , Wang Yu , Bai Jie , Li Gang , Liu Yang , Deng Shichang , Zhou Rui , Tao Kaixiong , Xia Zefeng 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundBariatric surgery is associated with a positive effect on the progress of non-alcoholic associated fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Although weight loss is the obvious mechanism, there are also weight-independent mechanisms.MethodsWe collected blood samples from 5 patients with obesity before and 3 months after surgery and performed an LC-MS-based untargeted metabolomics test to detect potential systemic changes. We also constructed sleeve gastrectomy (SG) mice models. The plasma, liver and intestine samples were collected and analyzed by qPCR, ELISA and HPLC. Cohousing experiments and feces transplantation experiments were performed on mice to study the effect of gut microbiota. Genistein administration experiments were used to study the in vivo function of the metabolites.ResultsPlasma genistein (GE) was identified to be elevated after surgery. Both clinical data and rodent models suggested that plasma GE is negatively related to the degree of NAFLD. We fed diet-induced obese (DIO) mice with GE, and we found that there was significant remission of NAFLD. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that GE could restrict the inflammation state in the liver and thus relieve NAFLD. Finally, we used co-housing experiments to alter the gut microbiota in mice, and it was identified that sleeve gastrectomy (SG) mice had a special gut microbiota phenotype, which could result in higher plasma GE levels. By feces transplantation experiment (FMT), we found that only feces from the SG mice (and not from other lean mice) could induce higher plasma GE levels.ConclusionOur studies showed that SG but not calorie restriction could induce higher plasma GE levels by altering the gut microbiota. This change could promote NAFLD remission. Our study provides new insights into the systemic effects of bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery could affect remote organs via altered metabolites from the gut microbiota. Our study also identified that additional supplement of GE after surgery could be a therapy for NAFLD.
Whole-exome sequencing and bioinformatic analyses revealed differences in gene mutation profiles in papillary thyroid cancer patients with and without benign thyroid goitre background
Authors: Eng Zing Hong , Abdullah Mardiaty Iryani , Ng Khoon Leong , Abdul Aziz Azlina , Arba’ie Nurul Hannis , Mat Rashid Nurullainy , Mat Junit Sarni 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundPapillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common thyroid malignancy. Concurrent presence of cytomorphological benign thyroid goitre (BTG) and PTC lesion is often detected. Aberrant protein profiles were previously reported in patients with and without BTG cytomorphological background. This study aimed to evaluate gene mutation profiles to further understand the molecular mechanism underlying BTG, PTC without BTG background and PTC with BTG background.MethodsPatients were grouped according to the histopathological examination results: (i) BTG patients (n = 9), (ii) PTC patients without BTG background (PTCa, n = 8), and (iii) PTC patients with BTG background (PTCb, n = 5). Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed on genomic DNA extracted from thyroid tissue specimens. Nonsynonymous and splice-site variants with MAF of ≤ 1% in the 1000 Genomes Project were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA). PTC-specific SNVs were filtered against OncoKB and COSMIC while novel SNVs were screened through dbSNP and COSMIC databases. Functional impacts of the SNVs were predicted using PolyPhen-2 and SIFT. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) enrichment of the tumour-related genes was analysed using Metascape and MCODE algorithm.ResultsPCA plots showed distinctive SNV profiles among the three groups. OncoKB and COSMIC database screening identified 36 tumour-related genes including BRCA2 and FANCD2 in all groups. BRAF and 19 additional genes were found only in PTCa and PTCb. “Pathways in cancer”, “DNA repair” and “Fanconi anaemia pathway” were among the top networks shared by all groups. However, signalling pathways related to tyrosine kinases were the most significantly enriched in PTCa while “Jak-STAT signalling pathway” and “Notch signalling pathway” were the only significantly enriched in PTCb. Ten SNVs were PTC-specific of which two were novel; DCTN1 c.2786C&gt;G (p.Ala929Gly) and TRRAP c.8735G&gt;C (p.Ser2912Thr). Four out of the ten SNVs were unique to PTCa.ConclusionDistinctive gene mutation patterns detected in this study corroborated the previous protein profile findings. We hypothesised that the PTCa and PTCb subtypes differed in the underlying molecular mechanisms involving tyrosine kinase, Jak-STAT and Notch signalling pathways. The potential applications of the SNVs in differentiating the benign from the PTC subtypes requires further validation in a larger sample size.
Autophagy and senescence of rat retinal precursor cells under high glucose
Authors: Peng Hanhan , Han Wentao , Ma Benteng , Dai Shirui , Long Jianfeng , Zhou Shu , Li Haoyu , Chen Baihua 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundsDiabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common diabetic ocular disease characterized by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) changes. An abnormal environment, hyperglycemia, may progressively alter the structure and function of RGCs, which is a primary pathological feature of retinal neurodegeneration in DR. Accumulated studies confirmed autophagy and senescence play a vital role in DR; however, the underlying mechanisms need to be clarified.MethodsThis study included the microarray expression profiling dataset GSE60436 from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to conduct the bioinformatics analysis. The R software was used to identify autophagy-related genes (ARGs) that were differentially expressed in fibrovascular membranes (FVMs) and normal retinas. Co-expression and tissue-specific expression were elicited for the filtered genes. The genes were then analyzed by ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). R28 cells were cultured with high glucose, detected by reverse transcription-quantitative (RT-qPCR) and stained by apoptosis kit.ResultsIn the retina, 31 differentially expressed ARGs (24 up-regulated genes) were discovered and enriched. The enrichment results revealed that differentially expressed ARGs were significantly enriched in autophagy, apoptosis, aging, and neural function. Four hub genes (i.e., TP53, CASP1, CCL2, and CASP1) were significantly up-regulated. Upregulation of cellular autophagy and apoptosis level was detected in the hyperglycemia model in vitro.ConclusionsOur results provide evidence for the autophagy and cellular senescence mechanisms involved in retinal hyperglycemia injury, and the protective function of autophagy is limited. Further study may favour understanding the disease progression and neuroprotection of DR.
Frequency of de novo variants and parental mosaicism in families with inactivating PTH/PTHrP signaling disorder type 2
Authors: Vado Yerai , Pereda Arrate , Manero-Azua Africa ,   Spanish Network for Imprinting Disorders, Perez de Nanclares Guiomar 
Published: January 2023

ObjectiveiPPSD2 (which includes PHP1A and PPHP/POH) is a rare inherited autosomal dominant endocrine disorder caused by inactivating GNAS pathogenic variants. A high percentage of de novo cases has been suggested. In rare cases, parental mosaicism has been described, but its real frequency is unknown.DesignA retrospective study including a series of 95 genetically confirmed iPPSD2 probands.MethodsThe frequency of de novo cases was evaluated and the distribution of the type of variants was compared according to the type of inheritance. The putative involved allele was determined by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) or allele specific oligonucleotide RT-PCR (ASO-RT-PCR). The possibility of GNAS mosaicism was studied by next-generation sequencing (NGS) on the corresponding parental DNA.ResultsIn 41 patients the variant was of de novo origin and in 24 the origin could not be established. In both cases 66.67% of variants generated a truncated or absent protein whereas the rest of the variants were missense or in-frame deletion/duplication. Parental origin was studied in 45 of those patients and determined in 35. Curiously, the percentage of de novo variants at the paternal allele was higher than when paternally inherited (31.1% vs 6.67%). NGS detected mosaicism in three independent families: one from paternal DNA (allelic ratio 10%) and two from maternal DNA (allelic ratio 10% and 2%).ConclusionDe novo pathogenic variants are frequent in iPPSD2 (around 45%). Parental mosaicism is infrequent (8.11%) but should be analyzed with NGS, taking into account its importance in genetic counselling.
The potential interaction between medical treatment and radioiodine treatment success: A systematic review
Authors: Zannat Riazul , Lee Jonathan , Muzaffar Jameel , Read Martin L. , Brookes Katie , Sharma Neil , Boelaert Kristien , McCabe Christopher J. , Nieto Hannah R. 
Published: January 2023

IntroductionRadioactive iodine (RAI) therapy is a critical component in the post-surgical management of thyroid cancer patients, as well as being a central therapeutic option in the treatment of hyperthyroidism. Previous work suggests that antithyroid drugs hinder the efficacy of RAI therapy in patients. However, the effects of other background medications on RAI treatment efficacy have not been evaluated. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the potential off-target effects of medication on RAI therapy in patients with thyroid cancer and hyperthyroidism.MethodsSystematic review and meta-analysis according to the 2020 PRISMA guidelines. Databases searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library for studies published between 2001 and 2021.ResultsSixty-nine unique studies were identified. After screening, 17 studies with 3313 participants were included. One study investigated thyroid cancer, with the rest targeted to hyperthyroidism. The majority of studies evaluated the effects of antithyroid drugs; the other drugs studied included lithium, prednisone and glycididazole sodium. Antithyroid drugs were associated with negative impacts on post-RAI outcomes (n = 5 studies, RR = 0.81, p = 0.02). However, meta-analysis found moderate heterogeneity between studies (I2 = 51%, τ2 = 0.0199, p = 0.08). Interestingly, lithium (n = 3 studies), prednisone (n = 1 study) and glycididazole (n = 1 study) appeared to have positive impacts on post-RAI outcomes upon qualitative analysis.ConclusionOur systematic review strengthens previous work on antithyroid medication effects on RAI, and highlights that this field remains under researched especially for background medications unrelated to thyroid disease, with very few papers on non-thyroid medications published.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php, identifier CRD42021274026.
Bibliometric analysis of global research profile on ketogenic diet therapies in neurological diseases: Beneficial diet therapies deserve more attention
Authors: Wang Yinuo , Zhang Junyao , Zhang Yingying , Yao Junyan 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundThe protective effects of Ketogenic Diet Therapies (KDTs) on neurological diseases have been extensively studied over the past two decades. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the publication of KDTs in the neurological field from 2000 to 2021.MethodsA literature search was performed on June 7th, 2022, using the search terms: ((“ketone” OR “ketogenic” OR “*hydroxybuty*”) AND (“neuro*”)) in the WoSCC database. Collected data were further analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace and other online bibliometric websites. The annual publication volume and citation trends were summarized. The collaborations among highly cited countries, institutions, authors and journals were visualized. The co-citation analysis of highly cited references and journals were also visualized. Moreover, the research focuses and fronts were revealed by co-occurrence analysis and burst keywords detection.ResultsA total of 2808 publications with 88,119 citations were identified. From 2000-2021, the number of publications and citations presented rising trends. The United States was the country with an overwhelming number of publications and cited times. Johns Hopkins University was the most contributory institution. Kossoff Eric H was the author with the largest number of publications. And Epilepsia was both the largest publisher and the most frequently cited journal. The keywords of intense interest involved “Modified Atkins Diet”, “Temporal Lobe Epilepsy”, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, “Parkinson’s Disease”, “Cerebral Blood Flow”, “Neuroinflammation”, “Oxidative Stress”, “Metabolism” and “Mitochondria”.ConclusionWe presented the global trend of KDTs in neurological diseases and provided important information for relevant researchers in a bibliometric way. This bibliometric study revealed that treating epilepsy, neuroprotection and functional effects of KDTs on mitochondria and oxidative stress have been the spotlight from 2000 to 2021. These have emerged as the basis for transformation from basic research to clinical application of KDTs.
Association between circulating resistin levels and thyroid dysfunction: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhou Lin , Song Kang , Luo Wei 
Published: January 2023

BackgroundAs a product of adipose tissue, resistin exceeds other adipokines in its role in regulating appetite, energy expenditure, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and immunity, similar to thyroid hormones. This study aimed to evaluate the association between resistin levels and thyroid dysfunction and to explore variations in circulating resistin levels before and after treatment for thyroid dysfunction.MethodsThis study was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis statement. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases was conducted until June 15, 2022, with no start date restriction, according to the preregistered protocol (PROSPERO-CRD42022336617). RevMan version 5.4 and R software package version 4.2.0 were used for statistical analyses.ResultsFourteen studies with 1716 participants were included in this study. The findings of the meta-analysis confirmed that the resistin levels of patients with thyroid dysfunction were significantly higher than those of the euthyroid function control group (mean difference [MD] = 2.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.11–3.11, P &lt; 0.00001). Furthermore, the resistin levels of patients with hyperthyroidism (MD = 3.23, 95% CI = 0.68–5.79, P = 0.01) and subclinical hypoidism (MD = 1.37, 95% CI = 0.31–2.42, P = 0.01) were significantly higher than those of euthyroid controls. The resistin levels of patients with thyroid dysfunction after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (MD = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.34–1.65, P = 0.003), especially in patients with hyperthyroidism (MD = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.00–3.32, P = 0.0003). Correlation analysis confirmed a positive correlation between resistin levels and free triiodothyronine (FT3) levels in patients with thyroid dysfunction (r = 0.27578, P = 0.001).ConclusionsOur meta-analysis demonstrates that resistin levels are significantly higher in patients with thyroid dysfunction, and the resistin levels after treatment in patients with thyroid dysfunction are significantly lower than those before treatment. Correlation analysis shows a positive correlation between resistin levels and FT3 levels in patients with thyroid dysfunction.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42022336617.
Capturing the rapid response of sediments to low-oxygen conditions with high temporal resolution gas concentration measurements
Authors: Chua Emily J. , Fulweiler Robinson W. 
Published: January 2023

Low-oxygen conditions plague coastlines worldwide. At present, little is known about how the transition from normoxic to low or even no oxygen conditions alters sediment biogeochemical cycling and ultimately ecosystem functioning. Conventional sediment core incubations cannot capture rapid (&lt;hourly) changes in biogenic gas fluxes that may occur due to oxygen depletion. To better constrain the response of sediments to hypoxia, we employed a novel flow-injection system coupled to a membrane inlet mass spectrometer to quantify fluxes oxygen, dinitrogen, and methane across the sediment-water interface from a temperate estuary (Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, United States). We evaluated how sediments from a site more impacted by nitrogen pollution compare to one less impacted by nitrogen in response to organic matter addition. Our system is able to sample every 10 minutes, allowing us to cycle through triplicate core measurements roughly every 30 minutes to track the response of sediments to increasing hypoxic severity. The high temporal-resolution data revealed dynamic changes in sediment-water gas fluxes, suggesting that reactive nitrogen removal is enhanced under mild hypoxia but dampened under prolonged hypoxia to anoxia. Further we found that organic matter loading enhances both net denitrification and methane emissions. Ultimately, our approach represents a powerful new tool for advancing our knowledge of short-term temporal dynamics in benthic biogeochemical cycling.
National assessment of extreme sea-level driven inundation under rising sea levels
Authors: Paulik Ryan , Wild Alec , Stephens Scott , Welsh Rebecca , Wadhwa Sanjay 
Published: January 2023

Episodic inundation from extreme sea-levels (ESLs) will have increasing social and economic impacts in response to relative sea level rise (RSLR). Despite the improved global understanding of ESL frequencies and magnitudes, detailed nationwide inundation maps are unavailable for many countries. This study quantifies New Zealand’s land area exposure to inundation from ESLs and RSLR by: (i) calculating ESL heights for nine annual recurrence intervals (ARI) between 2 and 1,000-years, (ii) converted into space-varying water surface grids, (iii) developing a composite topographical dataset comprised of Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) and bias corrected Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), (iv) modifying topographical data to represent mitigation structures, and (v) executing a scalable static model to map land inundation areas for 0.1 m RSLR increments. This modular approach supports continuous integration of new models and data at resolutions appropriate for quantifying inundation hazard and risk trends. In response to 0.1 m–0.4 m RSLR expected in the New Zealand region from 2040 to 2070 under SSP5-8.5 global mean sea level rise scenarios, a rapid cumulative inundation area increase is observed for 10 and 100-year ESL ARIs at national and regional levels. The RSLR time independent maps developed here supports future investigations of ESL inundation hazards and risks for any prescribed RSLR heights or timeframes.
Occurrence and distribution characteristics of PCBs and PBDEs in farmland soils adjacent to electronic circuit board dismantling ruins
Authors: Zhang Zhen , Chen Lin Hua , Tao Min Long , Zhou Dan Dan , Zhang Yuan , Yao Jun , Kong Qing Na , Guo Bin Bin 
Published: January 2023

The Nanwan village, a green ecological village in Taizhou city, is used as a recycling area (recycling for heavy metal) for electronic circuit boards and as crushing and stacking sites of waste circuit boards for nearly 20 years from 1980s to 2000s. At present, although the e-waste recycling activities in Taizhou city have been effectively controlled, and many areas polluted by the e-dismantling activities have been gradually remediated except Nanwan village. Nanwan village seems to have been forgotten for its special geographical location, which has attracted our attention because of its ecological and food safety issues. Accordingly, the content of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the surface soil around the ruins and four edible agricultural crops were investigated. The main conclusions are as follows: among the four dismantling ruins and surrounding soil samples investigated, the content of Σ20PCBs in vegetable field topsoil of 2(20) is 1,321.3 ± 132.1 μg kg−1; the content of Σ8PBDEs in the paddy soil of 3(1S) is 7,216.9 ± 232.0 μg kg−1; biological toxicity events are likely to occur frequently in 2(20) and 3(1S). PCBs and PBDEs have both horizontal diffusion in distance and vertical diffusion in depth. The lifetime carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of PCBs and PBDEs are at a low risk level, except for the non-carcinogenic risk of PCBs for children in 3(1S). The lifetime carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of PCBs and PBDEs in the edible parts of garlic, ginger, mung beans, and oranges were all at acceptable or negligible levels.