bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Distribution of Acid-Volatile Sulfides and Simultaneously Extracted Metals in Guanabara Bay: Combination of Anthropogenic, Sedimentological, and Geochemical Processes
Authors: Cordeiro Renato Campello , Santelli Ricardo Erthal , Machado Wilson Thadeu do Vale , Gomes Abilio Soares , Moreira Luciane Silva , de Oliveira Rafael Lopes , Abreu Ilene Matano , Meniconi Maria de Fatima Guadalupe 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Coastal sedimentary systems are affected by continental and marine metal pollutant inputs associated with different hydrodynamic characteristics and geochemical processes. These include the formation of acid-volatile sulfides (AVS) within sediments, which affects metal bioavailability and associated aquatic biota toxicity risks. Physicochemical changes in these environments in the face of extreme natural or man-made environmental influences can dramatically alter metal bioavailability and toxicity through metal binding and immobilization as insoluble sulfides. Surface sediments from Guanabara Bay, rivers mouth and two mangrove areas were collected and AVS and simultaneously extracted metals Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, ΣSEM were determined to assess sediment quality. A severe eutrophication history favored AVS concentrations exceeding or close to the sum of SEM concentrations, demonstrating that AVS play an important role in making trace metals unavailable for assimilation by living organisms, mitigating the risks of contamination for the local biota. This eutrophication-driven sulfide accumulation may attenuate the sediment toxicity in sites heavily polluted by metals, while some fewer eutrophic sites became more exposed to metals in excess to AVS.
Exploring the trend of age-standardized mortality rates from cardiovascular disease in Malaysia: A joinpoint analysis (2010-2021)
Authors: Hasani Wan Shakira Rodzlan , Musa Kamarul Imran , Cheng Kueh Yee , Dass Sarat Chandra 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Introduction:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major health concern worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in late 2019 may have had an impact on the trend of CVD mortality. This study aimed to investigate the trend and changes in CVD mortality rates in Malaysia, using age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) from 2010 to 2021.
Methods
The Malaysian population and mortality data from 2010 through 2021 were obtained from Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). ASMRs from CVD per 100,000 population were calculated based on the World Health Organization (2000–2025) standard population using direct method. The ASMRs were computed based on sex, age groups (including premature mortality age, 30–70 years), and CVD types. The annual percentage change (APC) and average annual percentage change (AAPC) of the ASMR with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated from jointpoint regression model using the Joinpoint Regression Program, Version 4.9.1.0.
Results
Throughout the study period (2010–2021), ASMRs for CVD exhibited an increase from 93.1 to 147.0 per 100,000, with an AAPC of 3.6% (95% CI: 2.1 to 5.2). The substantial increase was observed between 2015 and 2018 (APC 12.6%), with significant changes in both sexes, and age groups 50–59, 70 years, and 30–69 (premature mortality age). Notably, the ASMR trend remained consistently high in the premature mortality group across other age groups, with males experiencing higher rates than females. No significant changes were detected before or after the COVID-19 pandemic (between 2019 and 2021), except for females who died from IHD (10.3% increase) and those aged 0–4 (25% decrease).
Conclusion
The overall CVD mortality trend, particularly premature mortality, has generally increased over the past decades. However, our analysis reveals that there was no substantial change in trend of CVD mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Given the scarcity of point data following the COVID-19 outbreak, the interpretation of findings for the true burden of COVID-19 on CVD death should be undertaken with caution.
Health-Related Quality of Life in Children after Surgical Repair of Esophageal Atresia: A Single Tertiary Center Cross-sectional Study
Authors: Feng Zhong , Zhu Haitao , Peng Xueni , Gao Runnan , He Weijing , Tian Yuxin , Cao Xuqing , Chen Gong , Dong Kuiran , Zheng Shan , Shen Chun 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Objective
To investigate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of in postoperative esophageal atresia (EA) patients and to identify its potential influencing factors.
Methods
A total of 102 EA children who had previously visited our hospital participated in this cross-sectional study. Basic data and disease data of the patients were collected. The HRQOL was assessed by Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryTM4.0 (PedsQLTM4.0) and EA-QOL questionnaire. The scores of PedsQLTM4.0 were calculated and compared with demographically matched healthy control group. The HRQOL of EA was analyzed by the specific scale EA-QOL-questionnaire. We calculated the overall score and each domain scores, and determined related factors that influenced the HRQOL in children with EA by using a multivariate analysis of variance
Results
The group of EA and control reached a similar score in the generic PedsQLTM4.0 (EA group: 89.41 ± 6.54; control: 89.41 ± 6.54; p = 0.670). There was no significant difference between the EA group and the control group in other domains except the school functioning. 65 parents completed the EA-QOL-questionnaire for children aged 2 to 7 years, who had highest score in social isolation & stress domain and lowest score in physical health & treatment domain, and other domain in the middle, with an overall quality of life score of 83.48 ± 10.22; 37 children the EA-QOL-questionnaire for children 8 to 17 years. Scores were relatively high in social relationships and health & well-being and lowest in eating domain, with an overall quality of life score of 89.43 ± 8.57. Heart malformation, complicated esophageal surgery history, respiratory symptoms and digestive symptoms in the past 1 month were the main factors affecting HRQOL of children aged 2–7 years. Complicated esophageal surgery history, respiratory symptoms and digestive symptoms in the past 1 month were the main factors affecting the HRQOL of children aged 8–17 years.
Conclusions
This study provides the first evaluation of HRQOL in the Chinses EA patients. The findings presented here suggest that patients with EA generally have a good quality of life after surgery. However, EA children with postoperative complications and associated symptoms have lower scores in the EA-QOL questionnaire. In the future, we should pay more attention to the application of specific scales and conduct timely intervention for those patients with low quality of life.
Assessing attitudes towards biostatistics education among medical students: Adaptation and preliminary evaluation of the Chinese version survey of attitudes towards statistics (SATS-36)
Authors: Li Chen , Zhang Yuhai , Wang Ling , Shang Lei 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Background
Despite the advantages of mastering biostatistics, medical students generally perceive biostatistics as a difficult and challenging subject and even experience anxiety during the courses. Evidence for the relationships between achievements and students' attitudes have been proven that attitudes implying cognitive competence at the beginning of the biostatistics course, could affect attitudes at the end of the course that, in turn, influenced student performance. However, there are disagreements in the results of measuring attitudes. Thus, we need acknowledged standard instruments to assess them. This study was conducted to develop a Chinese version of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS-36) in order to acquire a valid instrument to measure attitudes toward biostatistics under Chinese medical educational background.
Methods
The Chinese version SATS-36 was developed by translation and back-translation of the original scale, followed by revision according to expert advice on the most appropriate item content. The local adaption was performed on a cohort of 1709 Chinese-speaking medical undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in biostatistics courses. And then, the reliability, validity and discrimination of the questionnaires were evaluated through correlation coefficient calculation, factor analysis, parallel analysis and other methods.
Results
The Chinese version SATS-36 consisted of 36 items and loaded a five-factor structure by factor analysis, which offered an alternative similar but not equal to that original six-factor structure. The cumulative variance contribution rate was 62.20%, the Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.908, the Guttman split-half reliability coefficient was 0.905 and the test–retest reliability coefficient was 0.752. Discriminant analysis revealed small to large significant differences in the five attitude subscales.
Conclusions
The Chinese version SATS-36 with good validity and reliability in this study can be used to evaluate the learning framework of Chinese medical students.
Cancer-derived exosomal-Alu RNA promotes colorectal cancer progression
Authors: Tarallo Valeria , Trotta Sara Magliacane , Adinolfi Antonio , D'Orsi Luca , Panico Sonia , Mercadante Grazia , Mehlen Patrick , Ambati Jayakrishna , De Falco Sandro 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Inflammation plays a crucial role in cancer progression, but the relevance of the NLRP3 inflammasome remains unclear. Alu RNA is the first endogenous nucleic acid identified to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. Here we show that Alu RNA can induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through NLRP3 inflammasome activation and releasing IL-1b in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. Alu RNA is stored, transported and transferred to CRC cells by exosomes. Exosomal-Alu RNA promotes tumorigenesis by inducing invasion, metastasis and EMT through NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Corroborating this data, we found that the significantly increased expression of Alu RNA correlates with the induction of NLRP3 priming in human CRC patients. Furthermore, the expression level of Alu RNA from circulating exosomes correlate with CRC progression in preclinical model. These findings reveal the direct involvement of Alu RNA in cancer pathogenesis and their presence in CRC cell-derived exosomes could be used as non-invasive diagnostic biomarker.
Diagnostic accuracy of Lipoarabinomannan detection by lateral flow assay in pleural tuberculosis
Authors: Mohapatra Atish , Gaikwad Ujjwala , Ganga Ranganath T , Sharma Pratibha 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Background
Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) antigen serves as an attractive biomarker to diagnose Tuberculosis (TB). Given the limitations of current diagnostic modalities for Pleural TB, current study evaluated LAM’s potential to serve as a point-of-care test to diagnose pleural TB.
Methods
A cross sectional, diagnostic accuracy study was conducted during February to November 2021 in a tertiary care hospital in India. LAM antigen detection was performed on pleural fluid as well as early morning urine specimen of suspected pleural TB patients by "Alere/ Abott Determine TB LAM" lateral flow assay (LAM-LFA). The results were compared to microbiological reference standards/MRS (Mycobacterial culture or NAAT) and Composite reference standards/CRS (MRS plus Clinico-radiological diagnosis).
Results
A total of 170 subjects were included in the analysis, including 26 with Definite TB, 22 with Probable TB, and 122 with No TB. Compared to MRS and CRS, the sensitivity (61.54% & 45.83%) and positive predictive value (PPV) (57.14 & 78.57%) of Pleural LAM-LFA testing were found to be suboptimal, whereas the specificity (91.67% & 95.08%) and negative predictive value (NPV) (92.96% & 81.69%) of the assay were found to be good. Urinary LAM-LFA performed even worse than pleural LAM-LFA, except for its higher specificity against MRS and CRS (97.2% and 98.3%, respectively). Specificity and PPV of pleural LAM detection increased to 100% when analysed in a subgroup of patients with elevated ADA levels (receiver operating curve analysis-derived cut off value > 40 IU/ml).
Conclusion
Detection of LAM antigen by LFA directly from pleural fluid performed fairly accurate in diagnosing pleural TB and was highly predictive of the disease in a selected cohort of patients making it a valuable POCT.
A causal association between gastroesophageal reflux disease and risk of heavy menstrual bleeding with regular cycle: A Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Ren Xuetong , Wang Yuhua , Chen Haoyu , Liu Shaowei , Bai Haiyan , Wang Yangang 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Background: Clinical observations and retrospective studies have found that GERD is associated with hormone levels and digestive symptoms during menstruation. However, whether there is a genetic causal relationship between GERD and HMB with regular menstrual cycleshas not been reported.
Methods: In this study, we extracted instrumental variables from the dataset of GERD and HMB with regular menstrual cycles from the GWAS database, and then we used the R package "TwoSampleMR" and Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to conduct causal inference analysis of GERD and HMB with regular menstrual cycles.
Results: We observed a possible causal relationship between GERD and HMB with regular menstrual cycles. GERD was positively correlated with menorrhagia.
Conclusion: Our results may provide evidence for a genetic causal effect of GERD on the etiological mechanism of HMB with regular menstrual cycles. For patients diagnosed with GERD, attention should be paid to monitoring the blood volume during menstruation.
Patient and provider perspectives on telemedicine use in Canadian gastroenterology clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey study
Authors: Tomaszewski Marcel , Jiang Shirley X. , Kim Hyun Jae , Zhao Billy , Lam Eric , Enns Robert , Bressler Brian , Moosavi Sarvee 
Published: August 2023

Abstract

Background
Telemedicine has revolutionized access to medical care. This was particularly palpable during the COVID pandemic and within gastroenterology. Telehealth can improve access to patients remotely, and lead to high patient and clinician satisfaction. However, questions remain surrounding patient selection and provider considerations. We conducted a Canadian study to examine patient and provider preferences and experiences in telehealth.
Methods
An anonymous online survey was conducted amongst patients of an urban gastroenterology practice, as well as Canadian gastroenterologists, evaluating experiences and preferences in utility of telemedicine.
Results
Of 1236 patients contacted, 181 (15%) respondents were aged 18–89, 60% were female, and 58% had inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Patient satisfaction with telehealth was high across all characteristics. Patients used both phone calls (61%) and video/audio applications (50%); higher use of phone calls was associated with older age (p = 0.02). Patients living more than 30km from clinic and with IBD were more likely to prefer telehealth visits (p < 0.01). Most providers (96%) and patients (96%) believed that telehealth use should continue for certain patients or follow up visits after the pandemic. Of 100 providers contacted, 25 respondents reported using phone calls (96%) and video/audio applications (44%). Providers perceived follow up of benign endoscopic pathology (96%) and general follow up visits (92%) to be most suitable for telehealth.
Conclusion
Canadian gastroenterology providers and patients appreciate telehealth and favor continued use after the pandemic. Consideration of patient factors such as age, distance, health issue, and follow up status can further optimize ongoing telehealth options.
How Well Does the Oswestry Disability Index Perform Among Patients Undergoing Lumbar Spinal Surgery? – An observational prospective cohort study
Authors: Koivunen Konsta , Widbom-Kolhanen Sara , Pernaa Katri , Arokoski Jari , Saltychev Mikhail 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Background
The objective of this study was to explore the internal consistency and factor structure of the Oswestry Disability Index among patients undergoing spinal surgery. The sample consisted of 1,990 patients who underwent lumbar spinal surgery at a university hospital between 2018 and 2021.
Methods
The patients responded to the Oswestry Disability Index within 2 months before surgery. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the internal consistency. The factor structure was evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.
Results
The internal consistency of the Oswestry Disability Index was found to be good, with an alpha of 0.86. An exploratory factor analysis revealed unidimensionality. Confirmatory factor analysis showed at least moderate correlations between the main factor “disability” and all the individual items. The highest correlations were found for items “traveling,” “social life,” “sex life” and “personal care.”
Discussion
The result of this study was in line with other research that have reported a good internal consistency of the Oswestry Disability Index. The result of this study contradicts the previous research that have found a multiple-factor structure of the Oswestry Disability Index. The study was conducted in a single, highly specialized university clinic; therefore, the results might differ in primary care.
Conclusions
The Oswestry Disability Index is a unidimensional and internally consistent scale that can be used to assess the severity of disability in patients undergoing lumbar spinal surgery. In the studied population, “traveling,” “social life,” “sex life” and “personal care” were the most important items to define the severity of disability, while “walking” and “standing” were the least important items.
Trial registration Not applicable
Catalytic Reduction of Anthropogenic Pollutants over gold (Au) Based Activated Charcoal
Authors: Shah Nowshad Ali , Ullah Sajid , Hussain Saddam 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Numerous industrial operations discharge contaminants created by humans onto rivers. When these toxins are present in water, they pose a major danger to human health and the health of other ecosystems. Significant progress has been achieved in reducing the quantity of hazardous substances entering our rivers. Through the application of catalytic hydrogenation procedures, it is feasible to remediate and lessen the hazards of both NP and MB in water. The hydrogenation reactions between the dye and the NP were investigated utilizing a variety of noble metal (Au, Pd) and noble metal (Pt) nanoparticle-based catalysts (NPCs). Recently, activated carbon-based catalysts have garnered considerable attention. Activated carbon is a substance that is mainly amorphous, very porous, and highly adsorbent. The majority of the molecule is composed of aromatic carbon atoms that are cross-linked. Modifications to the synthesis and post-treatment conditions may modify the textural qualities. However, in terms of gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) dispersion and size restrictions, AC has been categorized only as a palladium supporting material (Pd). This work used a homogenous deposition approach to fabricate Au/AC, a mesoporous activated carbon substrate (HDP). The synthesized material was analyzed using XRD and BET techniques, as well as SEM, TEM, TGA, FTIR, and XPS. The catalyst generated from the hydrogenation of PNP and MB was tested for its catalytic potential. In 13 minutes and 5 minutes respectively, PNP and MB was completely hydrogenated. During the use of the synthesized materials, the decontamination of two dangerous organic pollutants, P-Nitrophenol (P-NP) and methylene blue (MB) dye, will be examined. The purpose of this study was to determine the reusability of materials in real waste water treatment applications that required more than one cycle.
Raising ducks in paddy fields promoted phosphorus absorption by changing soil phosphorus forms in the Yangtze River Delta of eastern China
Authors: Sha Zhimin , Gao Hui , Wang Jun , Cao Linkui 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Aims
The rice-duck system was widely promoted to attaining the sustainable development of agricultural ecosystem was due to its potential eco-friendly characteristics. Soil phosphorus (P) forms are closely related to crop P uptake and soil environmental quality. Nevertheless, the effects of rice-duck system combined with different fertilizer on crop P uptake, the change of soil P forms, phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) and interrelation remain unclear.
Methods
A field experiment of ducks were put into the four fertilizer treatments: chemical fertilizer (RDF and RMF), a mixture of 70% chemical and 30% organic fertilizers (RDFO and RMFO), organic fertilizer (RDO and RMO) and no fertilizer (RD and RM) were carried out in rice tiller and maturity period and ensure consistent P, nitrogen (N) and potassium input.
Results
Results showed that the RDO and RDFO had higher readily available inorganic P pool (Resin P + NaHCO3-Pi), extractable organic P fractions (NaHCO3-Po + NaOH-Po), and Fe-P and Al-P (NaOH-Pi) than the corresponding rice monoculture. RDF decreased the extractable organic P fractions (NaHCO3-Po + NaOH-Po) and Fe-P and Al-P (NaOH-Pi) compared with RMF; RDO increased the accumulation of Residual-P while RDF and RDFO decreased the accumulation of Residual-P compared with RMO, RMF, and RMFO. pH was the dominant factor affecting P forms of soil. RDF and RDFO had higher P content of grain and straw that mainly affected by soil NaHCO3-Pi and NaOH-Pi than other treatments. Simultaneously, rice–duck system can increase PUE, especially RDF significantly increased by 171.63% and 22.63% than RDO and RDFO, respectively.
Conclusions
Rice–duck system can promote rice grain and straw to absorb soil P by changing the soil pH to stimulate soil surplus P into active P and improve PUE.