bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of gender medicine on neonatology: the disadvantage of being male: a narrative review
Authors: Migliori Claudio , Braga Marta , Siragusa Virginia , Villa Maria Cristina , Luzi Livio 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis narrative non-systematic review addresses the sex-specific differences observed both in prenatal period and, subsequently, in early childhood. Indeed, gender influences the type of birth and related complications. The risk of preterm birth, perinatal diseases, and differences on efficacy for pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies, as well as prevention programs, will be evaluated. Although male newborns get more disadvantages, the physiological changes during growth and factors like social, demographic, and behavioural reverse this prevalence for some diseases. Therefore, given the primary role of genetics in gender differences, further studies specifically targeted neonatal sex-differences will be needed to streamline medical care and improve prevention programs.
Hospitalization for bronchiolitis in children aged ≤ 1year, Southern Italy, year 2021: need for new preventive strategies?
Authors: Baldassarre Maria Elisabetta , Loconsole Daniela , Centrone Francesca , Caselli Desiree , Martire Baldassarre , Quartulli Lorenzo , Acquafredda Angelo , D’Amato Gabriele , Maffei Gianfranco , Latorre Giuseppe , Riganti Anita , Di Noia Michele , Chironna Maria , Laforgia Nicola 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Background
Bronchiolitis is a major cause of hospitalization in infants, particularly in the first six months of life, with approximately 60–80% of admissions due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Currently, no prophylactic options are available for healthy infants. The present study aimed at describing the demographic, clinical, and epidemiological characteristics of infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis in the Apulia region of Italy in 2021.

Methods
From January to December 2021, data on children aged 0–12 months admitted for bronchiolitis in nine neonatal or pediatric units covering 61% of pediatric beds of hospitals in the Apulia region of Italy were analyzed. Demographic data, comorbidities, need for oxygen support, length of hospital stay, palivizumab administration, and outcomes were collected. For the purpose of the analysis, patients were divided into those aged 0–3 months and > 3 months. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to explore associations between the need for oxygen support and sex, age, comorbidities, history of prematurity, length of hospital stay, and palivizumab administration.

Results
This study included 349 children aged 0–12 months admitted for bronchiolitis, with a peak of hospitalization in November (7.4 cases/1,000 children). Of these patients, 70.5% were RSV positive, 80.2% were aged 0–3 months, and 73.1% required oxygen support. Moreover, 34.9% required observation in the sub-intensive care unit, and 12.9% in the intensive care unit. Of the infants who required intensive care, 96.9% were aged 0–3 months and 78.8% were born at term. Three patients required mechanical ventilation and one, who required Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation, died. Children aged 0–3 months were more likely to show dyspnea, need oxygen support, and have a longer hospital stay.

Conclusions
The present study showed that almost all of the children who required intensive care support were aged ≤ 3 months and most were born at term. Therefore, this age group remains the highest risk group for severe bronchiolitis. Preventive measures such as single-dose monoclonal antibody immunoprophylaxis, and maternal and childhood vaccination against RSV, may reduce the high public health burden of bronchiolitis.
Mechanical ventilation in patients with acute brain injury: a systematic review with meta-analysis
Authors: Asehnoune Karim , Rooze Paul , Robba Chiara , Bouras Marwan , Mascia Luciana , Cinotti Raphaël , Pelosi Paolo , Roquilly Antoine 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Objective
To describe the potential effects of ventilatory strategies on the outcome of acute brain-injured patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation.

Design
Systematic review with an individual data meta-analysis.

Setting
Observational and interventional (before/after) studies published up to August 22nd, 2022, were considered for inclusion. We investigated the effects of low tidal volume Vt < 8 ml/Kg of IBW versus Vt >  = 8 ml/Kg of IBW, positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) < or >  = 5 cmH2O and protective ventilation (association of both) on relevant clinical outcomes.

Population
Patients with acute brain injury (trauma or haemorrhagic stroke) with invasive mechanical ventilation for ≥ 24 h.

Main outcome measures
The primary outcome was mortality at 28 days or in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the duration of mechanical ventilation and the partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2)/fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) ratio.

Results
The meta-analysis included eight studies with a total of 5639 patients. There was no difference in mortality between low and high tidal volume [Odds Ratio, OR 0.88 (95%Confidence Interval, CI 0.74 to 1.05), p = 0.16, I2 = 20%], low and moderate to high PEEP [OR 0.8 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.07), p = 0.13, I2 = 80%] or protective and non-protective ventilation [OR 1.03 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.15), p = 0.6, I2 = 11]. Low tidal volume [OR 0.74 (95% CI 0.45 to 1.21, p = 0.23, I2 = 88%], moderate PEEP [OR 0.98 (95% CI 0.76 to 1.26), p = 0.9, I2 = 21%] or protective ventilation [OR 1.22 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.58), p = 0.13, I2 = 22%] did not affect the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Protective ventilation improved the PaO2/FiO2 ratio in the first five days of mechanical ventilation (p < 0.01).

Conclusions
Low tidal volume, moderate to high PEEP, or protective ventilation were not associated with mortality and lower incidence of ARDS in patients with acute brain injury undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation. However, protective ventilation improved oxygenation and could be safely considered in this setting. The exact role of ventilatory management on the outcome of patients with a severe brain injury needs to be more accurately delineated.
Improvement of synaptic plasticity and cognitive function in RASopathies—a monocentre, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, cross-over clinical trial (SynCoRAS)
Authors: Jung Nikolai H. , Egert-Schwender Silvia , Schossow Beate , Kehl Victoria , Wahlländer Ute , Brich Louisa , Janke Viktoria , Blankenstein Christiane , Zenker Martin , Mall Volker 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Background
Cognitive impairment is a common medical issue in rat sarcoma (RAS) pathway disorders, so-called RASopathies, like Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) or Noonan syndrome (NS). It is presumed to be caused by impaired synaptic plasticity. In animal studies, pathway-specific pharmacological interventions with lovastatin (LOV) and lamotrigine (LTG) have been shown to improve synaptic plasticity as well as cognitive function. The aim of this clinical trial is to translate the findings of animal studies to humans and to probe the effect of lovastatin (NS) and lamotrigine (NS and NF1) on synaptic plasticity and cognitive function/alertness in RASopathies.

Methods
Within this phase IIa, monocentre, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, cross-over clinical trial (syn. SynCoRAS), three approaches (approaches I–III) will be carried out. In patients with NS, the effect of LTG (approach I) and of LOV (approach II) is investigated on synaptic plasticity and alertness. LTG is tested in patients with NF1 (approach III). Trial participants receive a single dose of 300 mg LTG or placebo (I and III) and 200 mg LOV or placebo (II) daily for 4 days with a cross-over after at least 7 days. Synaptic plasticity is investigated using a repetitive high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) protocol called quadri-pulse theta burst stimulation (qTBS). Attention is examined by using the test of attentional performance (TAP). Twenty-eight patients are randomized in groups NS and NF1 with n = 24 intended to reach the primary endpoint (change in synaptic plasticity). Secondary endpoints are attention (TAP) and differences in short interval cortical inhibition (SICI) between placebo and trial medication (LTG and LOV).

Discussion
The study is targeting impairments in synaptic plasticity and cognitive impairment, one of the main health problems of patients with RASopathies. Recent first results with LOV in patients with NF1 have shown an improvement in synaptic plasticity and cognition. Within this clinical trial, it is investigated if these findings can be transferred to patients with NS. LTG is most likely a more effective and promising substance improving synaptic plasticity and, consecutively, cognitive function. It is expected that both substances are improving synaptic plasticity as well as alertness. Changes in alertness may be a precondition for improvement of cognition.

Trial registration
The clinical trial is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03504501; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; date of registration: 04/11/2018) and in EudraCT (number 2016–005022-10).
Exploring the potential role of defensins in differential vector competence of body and head lice for Bartonella quintana
Authors: Yoon Kyungjae Andrew , Lee Do Eun , Lee Si Hyeock , Kim Ju Hyeon 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Background
The body and head lice of humans are conspecific, but only the body louse functions as a vector to transmit bacterial pathogens such as Bartonella quintana. Both louse subspecies have only two antimicrobial peptides, defensin 1 and defensin 2. Consequently, any differences in the molecular and functional properties of these two louse subspecies may be responsible for the differential vector competence between them.

Methods
To elucidate the molecular basis of vector competence, we compared differences in the structural properties and transcription factor/microRNA binding sites of the two defensins in body and head lice. Antimicrobial activity spectra were also investigated using recombinant louse defensins expressed via baculovirus.

Results
The full-length amino acid sequences of defensin 1 were identical in both subspecies, whereas the two amino acid residues in defensin 2 were different between the two subspecies. Recombinant louse defensins showed antimicrobial activities only against the representative Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus but not against either Gram-negative Escherichia coli or the yeast Candida albicans. However, they did show considerable activity against B. quintana, with body louse defensin 2 being significantly less potent than head louse defensin 2. Regulatory sequence analysis revealed that the gene units of both defensin 1 and defensin 2 in body lice possess decreased numbers of transcription factor-binding sites but increased numbers of microRNA binding sites, suggesting relatively lower transcription activities of body louse defensins.

Conclusions
The significantly lower antibacterial activities of defensin 2 along with the reduced probability of defensin expression in body lice likely contribute to the relaxed immune response to B. quintana proliferation and viability, resulting in higher vector competence of body lice compared to head lice.

Graphical Abstract
The role of psychological distress, stigma and coping strategies on help-seeking intentions in a sample of Italian college students
Authors: Dagani Jessica , Buizza Chiara , Ferrari Clarissa , Ghilardi Alberto 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Background
Mental health issues are common among university students, but the latter are unlikely to seek professional help even when mental health services are available. Coping strategies, stigma and psychological distress are often considered as factors that can affect help-seeking intentions in university students.

Methods
This study aimed to determine the role of coping strategies, stigma and psychological distress on the intentions to seek professional help for psychological problems. All students (N = 13,886) from an Italian medium-sized university were asked to participate in a multidimensional online survey and 3754 (27.1%) agreed to participate. A Structural Equation Modelling approach was applied to explore the simultaneous direct and indirect effects of distress, stigma and coping strategies on professional help-seeking intentions.

Results
Results showed that students were not very likely to seek professional help and, through the Structural Equation Model, psychological distress was found to be positively correlated with coping strategies, which in turn was negatively associated with the stigma of seeking help. The latter was negatively associated with professional help-seeking intentions. These effects suggest that students with significant psychological distress use coping strategies to face the stigma of seeking help: the lower the stigma of seeking help, the higher the chance of developing intentions to seek professional help.

Conclusions
This study suggests the importance of implementing programs to encourage college students to seek help, including measures that foster a stigma-free environment, reduce psychological distress and promote the use of adaptive coping strategies. Interventions should be focused firstly on self-stigma and secondly on perceived stigma, taking into consideration the level of psychological distress and social stereotypes associated with mental disorders and help seeking behaviours. Programs about coping are also essential and should focus on promoting emotion-focused strategies and problem-focused strategies.
Predictive model of sperm whale prey capture attempts from time-depth data
Authors: Pérez-Jorge Sergi , Oliveira Cláudia , Rivas Esteban Iglesias , Prieto Rui , Cascão Irma , Wensveen Paul J. , Miller Patrick J. O. , Silva Mónica A. 
Published: June 2023

Background
High-resolution sound and movement recording tags offer unprecedented insights into the fine-scale foraging behaviour of cetaceans, especially echolocating odontocetes, enabling the estimation of a series of foraging metrics. However, these tags are expensive, making them inaccessible to most researchers. Time-Depth Recorders (TDRs), which have been widely used to study diving and foraging behaviour of marine mammals, offer a more affordable alternative. Unfortunately, data collected by TDRs are bi-dimensional (time and depth only), so quantifying foraging effort from those data is challenging.

Methods
A predictive model of the foraging effort of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) was developed to identify prey capture attempts (PCAs) from time-depth data. Data from high-resolution acoustic and movement recording tags deployed on 12 sperm whales were downsampled to 1 Hz to match the typical TDR sampling resolution and used to predict the number of buzzes (i.e., rapid series of echolocation clicks indicative of PCAs). Generalized linear mixed models were built for dive segments of different durations (30, 60, 180 and 300 s) using multiple dive metrics as potential predictors of PCAs.

Results
Average depth, variance of depth and variance of vertical velocity were the best predictors of the number of buzzes. Sensitivity analysis showed that models with segments of 180 s had the best overall predictive performance, with a good area under the curve value (0.78 ± 0.05), high sensitivity (0.93 ± 0.06) and high specificity (0.64 ± 0.14). Models using 180 s segments had a small difference between observed and predicted number of buzzes per dive, with a median of 4 buzzes, representing a difference in predicted buzzes of 30%.

Conclusions
These results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain a fine-scale, accurate index of sperm whale PCAs from time-depth data alone. This work helps leveraging the potential of time-depth data for studying the foraging ecology of sperm whales and the possibility of applying this approach to a wide range of echolocating cetaceans. The development of accurate foraging indices from low-cost, easily accessible TDR data would contribute to democratize this type of research, promote long-term studies of various species in several locations, and enable analyses of historical datasets to investigate changes in cetacean foraging activity.
Psychological interventions for cancer-related post-traumatic stress disorder: narrative review
Authors: Anderson Daniel , Jones Victoria 
Published: June 2023

Aims and methodThis narrative review updates the evidence base for cancer-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Databases were searched in December 2021, and included EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO and PubMed. Adults diagnosed with cancer who had symptoms of PTSD were included.ResultsThe initial search identified 182 records, and 11 studies were included in the final review. Psychological interventions were varied, and cognitive–behavioural therapy and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing were perceived to be most efficacious. The studies were also independently rated for methodological quality, which was found to be hugely variable.Clinical implicationsThere remains a lack of high-quality intervention studies for PTSD in cancer, and there is a wide range of approaches to managing these conditions, with a large heterogeneity in the cancer populations examined and methodologies used. Specific studies designed with patient and public engagement and that tailor the PTSD intervention to particular cancer populations under investigation are required.
Refusing Race: Cultural Capital and Cultural Studies
Authors: Chiang Mark 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
This article argues for the limitations of John Guillory's analysis of canon formation in terms of its treatment of race. The article reads Guillory's 1997 essay “Bourdieu's Refusal” alongside Bourdieu and Loïc Wacquant's 1999 essay “On the Cunning of Imperialist Reason,” pointing in each to a sociological determinism, for which well-intentioned social actions intended to address racial and gendered inequalities of representation seem only to prop up structures of market domination. In spite of Bourdieu's resistance to American discourses of racial identity, the article argues, the “globalization of race” in fact allows for the emergence of a relatively unmediated political discourse. Cultural studies, in particular, provides an entrance to that project. One limitation of racial politics is that it does not necessarily impact the structure of economic relations, but at the same time, purely class or economic struggles do not necessarily alter noneconomic modes of class domination in the social and cultural sphere, nor the symbolic violence of social hierarchies such as race or gender.
Holding Hands: Intergenerational Desire in Diana Wynne Jones's Fire and Hemlock and Ali Smith's Autumn
Authors: Joosen Vanessa 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Diana Wynne Jones's Fire and Hemlock (1984) and Ali Smith's Autumn (2016) are two British novels that evoke an intense friendship between a girl and an older man. Their experimental narrative forms include a complex chronology, unreliable narrator, dream scenes, gaps, and a rich intertextual network to frame an intergenerational friendship that can be read as intergenerational desire. The experimental narratives and reflections on the fluidity of age enable Smith and Jones to evoke this controversial topic without fulling addressing it. A lot is at stake for Fire and Hemlock, given that it is addressed to young readers and there is concern that children's books could be used for grooming. Controversially, both novels locate the desire in the young girl rather than the old man and explore the agency and moments of disempowerment that the female characters experience. However, an age gap between childhood and adulthood is crucial in qualifying a relationship as “intergenerational desire,” and here, the novels’ experimental structures and fuzzy chronologies create ambiguity. In addition, the books create confusion about the nature of the attraction between the characters. They exploit the ambiguity that incomplete memories, unreliable narration, narrative gaps, metaphors, and intertextual references leave when thematizing what could be defined as friendship, kinship, love, and/or sexual attraction.
Adverse effects in the management of breast cancer – recent studies
Authors: Maksymowicz Marcela , Machowiec Piotr , Korzeniowska Anna , Baran Natalia , Bielak Adriana , Nowak Aleksandra , Cywka Łucja , Szwed Weronika , Nowak Alicja , Bogusz Klaudia 
Published: June 2023

Introduction and purpose
Breast cancer (BC) management includes local therapies surgery, radiotherapy and systemic – hormonotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted and immunotherapy. However, some adverse events of these treatment strategies limit their wide administration in BC therapy. The aim of the study was to present adverse effects in the management of BC, prevention and treatment of them.
State of the knowledge
Surgery of the breast leads to lymphedema, pain, and anatomical changes. The most characteristic adverse event of radiotherapy is radiation dermatitis which is more probable among obese, older patients, females, and smokers. Other side effects are pneumonia, cardiac and pulmonary injury. Chemotherapeutics lead to complications such as anthracyclines-induced cardiotoxicity. As a consequence of endocrine therapy, patients are affected by vasomotor, musculoskeletal, and vulvovaginal symptoms. Immune checkpoint inhibitors may cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which are usually mild. When severe irAEs occur, immunosuppressive drugs are used. Depending on stage, toxicities of the therapies can lead to interrupting the treatment of BC. Moreover, drug resistance is an important therapeutic obstacle in BC treatment.
Conclusion
The application of a diversity of drugs in the treatment of breast cancer is associated with adverse effects which limit its efficacy. It is vital to develop novel, targeted therapeutic methods to optimize outcomes of patients. Given the adverse effects of breast cancer therapies and drug resistance, it is vital to develop novel, targeted therapeutic methods.