bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Twist-Box domain of the C. elegans Twist homolog, HLH-8, plays a complex role in transcriptional regulation
Authors: Gruss Michael J , O’Callaghan Colleen , Donnellan Molly , Corsi Ann K 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
TWIST1 is a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor in humans that functions in mesoderm differentiation. TWIST1 primarily regulates genes as a transcriptional repressor often through TWIST-Box domain-mediated protein–protein interactions. The TWIST-Box also can function as an activation domain requiring 3 conserved, equidistant amino acids (LXXXFXXXR). Autosomal dominant mutations in TWIST1, including 2 reported in these conserved amino acids (F187L and R191M), lead to craniofacial defects in Saethre–Chotzen syndrome (SCS). Caenorhabditis elegans has a single TWIST1 homolog, HLH-8, that functions in the differentiation of the muscles responsible for egg laying and defecation. Null alleles in hlh-8 lead to severely egg-laying defective and constipated animals due to defects in the corresponding muscles. TWIST1 and HLH-8 share sequence identity in their bHLH regions; however, the domain responsible for the transcriptional activity of HLH-8 is unknown. Sequence alignment suggests that HLH-8 has a TWIST-Box LXXXFXXXR motif; however, its function also is unknown. CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing was utilized to generate a domain deletion and several missense mutations, including those analogous to SCS patients, in the 3 conserved HLH-8 amino acids to investigate their functional role. The TWIST-Box alleles did not phenocopy hlh-8 null mutants. The strongest phenotype detected was a retentive (Ret) phenotype with late-stage embryos in the hermaphrodite uterus. Further, GFP reporters of HLH-8 downstream target genes (arg-1::gfp and egl-15::gfp) revealed tissue-specific, target-specific, and allele-specific defects. Overall, the TWIST-Box in HLH-8 is partially required for the protein's transcriptional activity, and the conserved amino acids contribute unequally to the domain's function.
Well-Being and Aging-Related Decline in Financial and Health Literacy in Advanced Age
Authors: Stewart Christopher C , Yu Lei , Glover Crystal , Mottola Gary , Valdes Olivia , Wilson Robert S , Bennett David A , Boyle Patricia A 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Objectives
Emerging evidence suggests that financial and health literacy deteriorates in advanced age. By contrast, well-being promotes health in aging. This study tested the hypothesis that well-being is associated with slower aging-related literacy decline.

Methods
Participants were 1,099 community-based older adults without dementia at baseline. Financial and health literacy was assessed at baseline and annually thereafter via a 32-item measure. Well-being was assessed at baseline via the 18-item version of Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being.

Results
During up to 12 years of annual follow-up, literacy declined about 1 percentage point per year on average (β = −0.91, standard error [SE] = 0.08, p &lt; .001); however, there was considerable variation in change in literacy between participants (random slopes variance = 1.24, SE = 0.15, p &lt; .001). In a linear mixed-effects model adjusted for age, sex, and education, higher well-being was associated with higher starting level of literacy (β = 2.31, SE = 0.67, p = .001) and, critically, slower literacy decline (β = 0.29, SE = 0.11, p = .01). The association of higher well-being with slower literacy decline persisted in models that additionally adjusted for income, medical conditions, depressive symptoms, and a robust measure of global cognition.

Discussion
This study suggests that well-being helps stave off aging-related literacy decline.
Tele-Savvy Outcomes of Non-Hispanic Black American and White Caregivers
Authors: Bonds Johnson Kalisha , Higgins Melinda , Epps Fayron , Brewster Glenna S , Alexander Karah , Hepburn Kenneth 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Background and Objectives
Tele-Savvy is a synchronous/asynchronous psychoeducation program for caregivers of community-dwelling persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) designed to increase caregivers’ competence and confidence (mastery) in caregiving. Its overall efficacy was tested in a randomized controlled trial.

Research Design and Methods
This secondary data analysis examined the caregiver mastery and psychological health (i.e., perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and burden) outcome of 153 non-Hispanic Black American and White caregivers (31 non-Hispanic Black American and 122 White caregivers) from baseline to 6 months postintervention. Given the difference in the sample sizes of Black and White caregivers, a descriptive post hoc subgroup analysis was conducted of 21 non-Hispanic Black American and 20 White adult children and grandchildren caregivers.

Results
In the overall sample, Black American caregivers demonstrated higher levels of mastery and lower levels of distress than White caregivers at baseline and across all time points. Over time, White caregivers, but not Black American caregivers, experienced significantly improved levels of mastery and significantly lowered levels of depression. Within the subgroup analysis, except for a moderate effect size in the management of situation scores over time among Black American adult children caregivers, similar results were obtained.

Discussion and Implications
The findings highlight the strengths and shortcomings of the Tele-Savvy program in improving caregiver mastery and reducing negative psychological health outcomes. Intentionally tailoring the Tele-Savvy program to certain racial and caregiving groups may hold promise in meeting the needs of more ADRD caregivers.

Clinical Trial Registration
NCT03033875.
COVID-19 Does Not Lead to an Increase in Corticosteroid Prescriptions in IBD Patients: A Nationwide Cohort Study
Authors: Nørgård Bente Mertz , Zegers Floor Dijkstra , Nielsen Jan , Knudsen Torben , Kjeldsen Jens 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Background
It is not known whether coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a trigger for disease activity in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In patients with IBD, we aimed to examine the association between COVID-19 infection and prescriptions of systemic and local corticosteroids (used as proxy for disease activity).

Methods
This nationwide cohort study was based on Danish health registries and included all patients in Denmark with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) by the start of the pandemic (March 1, 2020) and who had a positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test from March 1, 2020, to July 31, 2022. We calculated rates of corticosteroid prescriptions 6 months before and 6 months after a positive COVID-19 PCR test, and we calculated adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR).

Results
We included 30,102 patients with IBD and a positive COVID-19 test (11,159 with CD, 18,493 with UC). The aIRR for having corticosteroid prescriptions after a COVID-19 positive test was 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79-0.91). When we stratified for underlying disease, the aIRR for having corticosteroid after a COVID-19 positive test in UC was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.75-0.90), and in CD 0.91 (95% CI, 0.81-1.02). Stratifications according to calendar periods and age groups showed consistent results.

Conclusions
An infection with COVID-19 did not result in a higher rate of filled corticosteroid prescriptions. Using corticosteroids as a proxy for disease activity, COVID-19 did not seem to trigger disease activity, which is a reassuring result for patients with IBD.
A qualitative study to investigate community pharmacists’ perceptions about identifying and addressing inappropriately prescribed analgesia
Authors: Meaadi Jawza , Obara Ilona , Nazar Hamde 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Objectives
Inappropriate prescribing, particularly for analgesia, is a recognised global problem. This leads to increased morbidity and mortality and presents a significant challenge for patients and the healthcare system. There is a need to identify strategies that best identify inappropriately prescribed analgesia (IPA). This study aims to explore the perspectives and experiences of community pharmacists (CPs) about addressing IPA.

Methods
Semi-structured interviews informed by the Behaviour Change Wheel model and the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) were conducted with consenting community pharmacists. Transcripts were coded using a capability, opportunity, motivation model of behaviour (COM-B) model. The COM-B components were mapped to the TDF and behaviour change techniques (BCTs) were identified to address these.

Key findings
A total of 12 pharmacists who work in community pharmacies in England were interviewed between March and May 2021. COM-B components were identified through analysis and mapped to nine TDF domains. Component 1 referred to ‘Capability’ of CPs to be involved in addressing IPA (knowledge). Component 2 pertained to ‘Opportunity’ to identify IPA (e.g. social influence). The ‘Motivation’ component linked to five TDF domains (e.g. goals). Seventeen BCTs were identified to support CPs in addressing IPA (e.g. environmental context and resources domain mapped to 2 BCTs ‘restructuring the physical and social environment’).

Conclusions
CPs expressed mixed perceptions about their involvement in the deprescribing of IPA as part of their daily practice, but they stated that social and environmental barriers needed to be addressed to facilitate their involvement. The identified BCTs provide evidence-based strategies to help the involvement of CPs to identify IPA.
Alleviating Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Inclusive Business Models
Authors: Kamgnia Bernadette Dia , Ahouré Alban A E 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
The study aimed to analyze the ability of inclusive business (IB) models to sustainably contribute to efforts made in alleviating poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on the cases of Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya. Data collected on these two countries revealed a clear opposite stream in the integration pattern of the populations at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) in IB models. In Côte d'Ivoire individuals at BoPs integrate IBs mainly through the agricultural sector, getting busy with the supply of raw material, and with the distribution and/or sale of products in the value chain; thus, supporting an upstream integration. In Kenya, individual at BoPs rather are concentrated in manufacturing, with a first choice on non-permanent employees as activity in the value chain, followed by permanent employees; hence, downstreaming the integration ladder. In both countries, IB contributes positively and significantly to welfare at BoPs, especially when the IB model is implemented as part of a specific program.
Does the Poverty Level Minimum Basket Adequately Inform the Scope of Governments' Poverty Reduction Strategies?
Authors: Ngugi Rose W , Munga Boaz O , Kirii Phares P , Onsomu Eldah N 
Published: April 2023

AbstractAppropriately guided and implemented government interventions help in achieving the desired outcome. They complement the household budget in meeting their basic needs, allowing them to move to a higher satisfaction level. The study looks at the nexus between household poverty and government strategies to stem it. The analysis uses various approaches including the binary and polychotomous logit models to see who is likely to benefit from the interventions, the Tobit model to measure the intensity in closing poverty gap and simulations to capture the impact and cost implications of interventions. While several interventions were introduced, results reveal implementation gaps where the deserving households are not comprehensively covered; the extremely poor have lower probability of uptake of the interventions. Thus, more targeted coverage is necessary in closing the poverty gap.
Regendering Childbirth: Catholicism, Medical Activism, and Birth Preparation in Post-War Poland
Authors: Ignaciuk Agata , Kościańska Agnieszka 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
This article examines the work of the gynecologist Włodzimierz Fijałkowski, the key promoter of preparation for childbirth in Communist and early democratic Poland. From the late 1950s until the 1990s, Fijałkowski developed a childbirth preparation training protocol that served as an inspiration for childbirth preparation schools across the country. Through analysis of Fijałkowski’s publications in medical journals, books aimed at both professional and lay readers, visual aids for childbirth training, and archival material, we demonstrate that a specific vision of gender roles and relationships lay at the core of Fijałkowski’s psychoprophylactic project. This vision represented a re-definition and re-essentialization of femininity and masculinity, and motherhood and fatherhood, while simultaneously advocating for radical change in the relationship between women in labor and obstetric professionals. Fijałkowski’s ideas and advocacy were intimately connected with a humanization of the embryo and fetus from the earliest stages of pregnancy, and we show how his work became an important transmission medium for the gradual mainstreaming of anti-abortion ideas within public discourse in late-Communist Poland.
Inventing Young Offenders: The Legal and Medical Categorization of Juvenile Delinquency in Hashemite Iraq, 1921–1958
Authors: Farhan Sara , Olsen Pelle Valentin 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
This article traces the emergence of juvenile delinquency as a legal and medical category in Hashemite Iraq (1921–58). We argue that as children and youth became increasingly visible through actions and inactions that highlighted the weaknesses of political and social structures, state institutions adopted international frameworks and vernaculars concerning the participation of youth in labor. Medicine played a key role in defining the “juvenile” and determining young people’s physical abilities and, by extension, their productive potential. Focusing on children and youth who were for the most part unaffiliated with organized political groups, the article demonstrates that Iraq’s correctional facilities, including reformatories, were integral to the Hashemite state’s attempt at crafting and regulating citizens. Juvenile delinquency was also a uniquely gendered and classed category. Gender in particular became a distinguishing marker that in effect deprived young women and girls of the juvenile status that allowed mostly lower-class young men and boys to access reformatories rather than adult prisons. While defiant young men and boys who were considered as potentially redeemable gained access to judicial and social institutions that aimed to rehabilitate the juvenile delinquent, the crimes of young women and girls were often sexualized and assessed according to interpretations of maturity determined by the onset of puberty rather than legal age.
Comparison of the optimized direct spectrophotometric serum prolidase enzyme activity assay method with the currently used spectrophotometric assay methods and liver fibrosis indexes to distinguish the early stages of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection
Authors: Kayadibi Huseyin , Köker İbrahim Hakkı , Gucin Zuhal , Şentürk Hakan , Merzifonlu Sakine Candan , İnce Ali Tüzün 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Objective
The aim of this study was to optimize the currently used direct spectrophotometric serum prolidase enzyme activity (SPEA) assay method and compare its diagnostic accuracy with current precipitation and direct spectrophotometric assay methods, AST-to-ALT ratio, age platelet index, AST-to-platelet ratio index, cirrhosis discriminate score, Doha score, FIB-4, FibroQ, fibrosis index, Goteborg University Cirrhosis Index , King’s score, and Pohl score for distinguishing Ishak F0 from F1–F3 in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection.

Methods
Liver biopsy results from 112 patients were included in this study.

Results
The SPEA values were 529 (292–794) U/L, 671 (486–927) U/L, and 1077 (867–1399) U/L with the precipitation, current, and optimized direct spectrophotometric assay methods, respectively. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis optimized direct spectrophotometric SPEA was the only statistically significant parameter to predict the early stages of liver fibrosis.

Conclusions
Optimized direct spectrophotometric SPEA assay method could be used to distinguish early stages of liver fibrosis in patients with CHB infection instead of the currently used spectrophotometric SPEA assay methods and other evaluated liver fibrosis indexes.
Prediction equations to estimate muscle mass using anthropometric data: a systematic review
Authors: Duarte Camila Kümmel , de Abreu Silva Luciana , Castro Carolina Fernandes , Ribeiro Mariana Vassallo , Saldanha Marcelle Ferreira , Machado Adriane Moreira , Jansen Ann Kristine 
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Context
Reduced muscle mass is linked to poor outcomes in both inpatients and outpatients, highlighting the importance of muscle mass assessment in clinical practice. However, laboratory methods to assess muscle mass are not yet feasible for routine use in clinical practice because of limited availability and high costs.

Objective
This work aims to review the literature on muscle mass prediction by anthropometric equations in adults or older people.

Data Sources
The following databases were searched for observational studies published until June 2022: MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science.

Data Extraction
Of 6437 articles initially identified, 63 met the inclusion criteria for this review. Four independent reviewers, working in pairs, selected and extracted data from those articles.

Data Analysis
Two studies reported new equations for prediction of skeletal muscle mass: 10 equations for free-fat mass and lean soft tissue, 22 for appendicular lean mass, 7 for upper-body muscle mass, and 7 for lower-body muscle mass. Twenty-one studies validated previously proposed equations. This systematic review shows there are numerous equations in the literature for muscle mass prediction, and most are validated for healthy adults. However, many equations were not always accurate and validated in all groups, especially people with obesity, undernourished people, and older people. Moreover, in some studies, it was unclear if fat-free mass or lean soft tissue had been assessed because of an imprecise description of muscle mass terminology.

Conclusion
This systematic review identified several feasible, practical, and low-cost equations for muscle mass prediction, some of which have excellent accuracy in healthy adults, older people, women, and athletes. Malnourished individuals and people with obesity were understudied in the literature, as were older people, for whom there are only equations for appendicular lean mass.

Systematic Review Registration
PROSPERO registration number CRD42021257200.
COP 27 insights to increase food-systems climate adaptation and resilience
Authors: Varyvoda Yevheniia , Taren Douglas 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
The limited resilience of agricultural and food systems has become an agenda in the time of more extreme natural hazards. The impact of such events is extensive, and the level of damage and recovery strongly depends on ecosystem services, including their own resilience capacity. Most of the time, ecosystems themselves can offer mitigation measures based on the benefits people get from nature, including cultivated and wild biomass for nutrition, materials, or energy; pest and disease control; and regulation of baseline flows, among others. The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, addressed issues related to crop production, food security, and nutrition. The information garnered from this conference provided impetus for actions that we believe can ensure a future with the resources needed for sustainable development and that support the health and nutrition for all the inhabitants on Earth.
Short Interest and Aggregate Stock Returns: International Evidence
Authors: Gorbenko Arseny 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
I find that short interest significantly and negatively predicts aggregate stock returns in 24 of 32 countries examined. This predictability survives out-of-sample tests, persists outside of recessions, and is not subsumed by other well-known return predictors. The results indicate that short interest contains valuable information for forecasting international market returns that is distinct and more powerful than that of other available predictors. However, the predictive power of short interest varies over time and across regions. It is higher around economic downturns when margin requirements tighten and in regions where short selling is constrained by regulations or equity lending market frictions.
Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.
Spatial and Temporal Abnormalities of Spontaneous Fixational Saccades and Their Correlates With Positive and Cognitive Symptoms in Schizophrenia
Authors: Liu Xu , Li Yu , Xu Lihua , Zhang Tianhong , Cui Huiru , Wei Yanyan , Xia Mengqing , Su Wenjun , Tang Yingying , Tang Xiaochen , Zhang Dan , Spillmann Lothar , Max Andolina Ian , McLoughlin Niall , Wang Wei , Wang Jijun 
Published: April 2023

AbstractBackground and HypothesisVisual fixation is a dynamic process, with the spontaneous occurrence of microsaccades and macrosaccades. These fixational saccades are sensitive to the structural and functional alterations of the cortical-subcortical-cerebellar circuit. Given that dysfunctional cortical-subcortical-cerebellar circuit contributes to cognitive and behavioral impairments in schizophrenia, we hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia would exhibit abnormal fixational saccades and these abnormalities would be associated with the clinical manifestations.Study DesignSaccades were recorded from 140 drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 160 age-matched healthy controls during ten separate trials of 6-second steady fixations. Positive and negative symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Cognition was assessed using the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB).Study ResultsPatients with schizophrenia exhibited fixational saccades more vertically than controls, which was reflected in more vertical saccades with angles around 90° and a greater vertical shift of horizontal saccades with angles around 0° in patients. The fixational saccades, especially horizontal saccades, showed longer durations, faster peak velocities, and larger amplitudes in patients. Furthermore, the greater vertical shift of horizontal saccades was associated with higher PANSS total and positive symptom scores in patients, and the longer duration of horizontal saccades was associated with lower MCCB neurocognitive composite, attention/vigilance, and speed of processing scores. Finally, based solely on these fixational eye movements, a K-nearest neighbors model classified patients with an accuracy of 85%. Conclusions: Our results reveal spatial and temporal abnormalities of fixational saccades and suggest fixational saccades as a promising biomarker for cognitive and positive symptoms and for diagnosis of schizophrenia.