bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ease of doing business and investment among West African countries
Authors: Ijirshar Victor Ushahemba , Nomkuha Joshua Kpelai , Bura Benjamin Bem , Sokpo Joseph Tarza , Ijirshar Mlumun Queen 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThis study assessed the link between ease of doing business (EBD) and investment among 11 selected countries in West Africa covering 2006–2020. The study used the fixed‐effects estimator, the random‐effects estimator, the augmented mean‐group method, and the Half‐Panel Jackknife Wald‐type test. The study found a bidirectional relationship between the EBD and foreign direct investment (FDI) and a unidirectional relationship running from EBD to domestic investment. The findings further revealed that the EBD and national income have a strong influence in determining the level of domestic investment and FDI inflows, and that some indicators of EBD, such as the procedure for starting a business, access to credit facilities, tax, and security threats, discourage domestic investment and FDI inflows, in contrast to the influence of obtaining electricity and national income on investment. The study suggests that West African governments reduce taxes, ease the procedures and costs of starting a business and dealing with construction permits, and increase the availability of credit facilities at lower interest rates to promote investment in the region.
Effects of sodium thiosulfate on serum calcification factors in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis
Authors: Liu Pan , Xu Xiang , Wang YuFu , Long XiaoNa , Li XunJia , Peng HongYing 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the effect of sodium thiosulfate (STS) on serum calcification factors in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.MethodsForty‐four Patients were randomly divided into control group (n = 22) and observation group (n = 22) by envelope method (block 4 randomization). The control group received routine treatment while observation group was treated with STS on the basis of routine treatment. The biochemical indicators, including BUN, UA, SCr, Ca2+, P3−, calcium‐phosphorus product, PTH, hs‐CRP, TG, TC, HDL, LDL, and serum calcification factor MGP, FA, FGF‐23, and OPG levels were compared before and after treatment.ResultsControl group had no statistically significant difference in the levels of vascular calcification factors MGP, FA, FGF‐23, and OPG before and after treatment (p > 0.05). Whereas observation group had higher levels of MGP and FA, and lower levels of FGF‐23 and OPG after treatment than before treatment (p < 0.05). The levels of MGP and FA in observation group were higher than those in control group, and FGF‐23 and OPG were lower than those in control group (p < 0.05).ConclusionIt is speculated that sodium thiosulfate can alleviate the progression of vascular calcification by changing the levels of calcification factors.
Chinese Registry of Psoriatic Arthritis (CREPAR): I. Clinical characteristics of Chinese patients with psoriatic arthritis
Authors: Lu Chaofan , Yang Fan , Liu Huilan , Dou Lei , Wang Yanhong , Li Hongbin , Duan Xinwang , Wu Lijun , Wang Yongfu , Zhang Xiuying , Xu Jian , Su Jinmei , Xu Dong , Zhao Jiuliang , Wu Qingjun , Li Mengtao , Leng Xiaomei , Zeng Xiaofeng ,   CREPAR co‐authors
Published: July 2023

AbstractAimTo describe the clinical characteristics of Chinese patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) using the data recorded in the Chinese Registry of Psoriatic Arthritis (CREPAR).MethodsThis is a cross‐sectional study based on the CREPAR registry, which is a prospective registry founded in December 2018. Data regarding clinical characteristics and treatment of patients were collected during every visit. Data recorded at enrollment were extracted, analyzed, and compared with data in other registries or cohorts.ResultsA total of 1074 patients were registered from December 2018 to June 2021. Of these, 929 (86.5%) patients had a history of peripheral arthritis, and 844 patients (78.6%) had peripheral arthritis at enrollment, of which polyarthritis is the most common subtype. Axial involvement was present in 39.9% of patients, and 50 (4.7%) patients had axial involvement only. More than half of the patients (55.4%) had at least two musculoskeletal presentations at enrollment. The prevalence of low disease activity and remission according to DAPSA were 26.4% and 6.8%, respectively. Conventional synthetic disease‐modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) and biological DMARDs were used in 64.9% and 29.1% of patients, respectively. Among patients with different musculoskeletal presentations, patients with dactylitis had the highest proportion of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory and csDMARD use. The proportion of patients receiving bDMARDs was highest in axial PsA.ConclusionThe CREPAR registry has provided information on Chinese patients with PsA. Compared with data in other registries or cohorts, the disease activity of patients in CREPAR was higher, and the proportion of bDMARD use was lower.
Chromatin‐transcription interface: The secret of eternal youth?
Authors: Izquierdo José M. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIn their recent study in Nature, Debès et al. report an increase in RNA polymerase II (Pol II)‐mediated transcriptional elongation speed associated with chromatin remodeling during aging in four metazoan animals, two human cell lines, and human blood. Their findings might help us understand why we age through evolutionarily conserved essential processes, and open a window to the molecular and physiological mechanisms influencing healthspan, lifespan and/or longevity.
Risk and ambiguity aversion: Incentives or disincentives for adoption of improved agricultural land management practices?
Authors: Hadera Amanuel , Tadesse Tewodros 
Published: July 2023

AbstractFarmers grapple with uncertainties related to the adoption of improved agricultural practices. Adoption decisions on these practices may vary in response to risk in which farmers may be able to predict the chances of occurrence on outcomes of their decisions, and/or ambiguity where adoption‐decision outcome probabilities are unknown. Also, these uncertainties may emanate from imperfect information on production returns from adoption and adoption‐related fixed costs. In this paper, we study whether risk and ambiguity aversion create incentives or disincentives for intensity and duration of adoption of improved agricultural practices. For this, we combine experimental with survey data. We find that ambiguity aversion reduces incentives for high‐intensity adoption while risk aversion attenuates this disincentive. As expected, risk aversion increases incentives for longer adoption of improved agricultural practices. Experience was expected to allow farmers to learn enough about payoff probabilities from adoption and render ambiguity aversion less important. Yet, we find it reduces the duration of adoption of soil and water conservation structures, which could be explained by adoption‐related high fixed costs. On the other hand, ambiguity aversion appears to matter little with adoption of agroforestry despite the associated high fixed and management costs attributed to integrated agri‐silviculture and agro‐silvopastoral systems. Given the complementary nature of the practices, agricultural policy should be directed at interventions that attenuate the deterrent effect of ambiguity aversion through providing information related to production returns from the adoption of improved practices that involve high fixed (management) costs.
The appendix in endometriosis
Authors: Guo Cici , Chen Michelle Zhiyun , Chiu Tricia , Condous George , Barto Walid 
Published: July 2023

BackgroundIn the most severe stage of endometriosis, Stage IV, intestinal involvement is common. The true prevalence of endometriotic disease of the appendix in this population is not well described. A macroscopically normal looking appendix may harbour endometriosis.AimsOur study aims to assess the role of routinely performing appendicectomy in Stage IV endometriosis surgery, and the histopathological prevalence of true appendiceal endometriosis in this population.MethodsThis is a retrospective study of women undergoing surgery for Stage IV endometriosis between 2018 to 2022 in a tertiary public hospital in New South Wales, Australia. Patient demographics, age and post‐operative complications were retrospectively retrieved from hospital medical records.Inclusion criteria were women with Stage IV endometriosis who underwent routine appendicectomy as part of their endometriosis surgery. Exclusion criteria were women who did not have Stage IV endometriosis, those who had cancer surgery or emergency surgery for endometriosis. The primary outcome of this study was to determine the incidence of appendiceal endometriosis. Secondary outcomes included post‐operative complications and length of stay.ResultsSixty‐seven patients were included. The mean age was 36 years. All patients also underwent bowel resection for colorectal endometriosis. There were 35.8% who had confirmed appendiceal endometriosis on histopathology. Post‐operative complications included port site infections, colitis, urinary tract infection and ureteric injury. There were no complications related to appendicectomy. Mean length of stay was 4.4 days.ConclusionLaparoscopic appendicectomy can be safely performed at time of laparoscopic surgical excision of Stage IV endometriosis and should be routinely considered in a subset of Stage IV endometriosis patients with colorectal involvement undergoing surgery.
Experiences of nurses working at day‐service centres for people with intellectual disabilities/intellectual and physical disabilities and their interactions with service‐users
Authors: Ito Yoshimi , Asakura Kyoko , Sugiyama Shoko , Takada Nozomu 
Published: July 2023

AbstractBackgroundPeople with intellectual/intellectual and physical disabilities frequently use day‐service centres, an array of services that involve the provision of care and social activities during the daytime and offer homebound people with disabilities opportunities to live in their communities. While nurses working at day‐service centres for people with disabilities are expected to promote service‐users' health, little research has focused on this area. Nurses' relationships with service‐users of day‐service centres have not been sufficiently investigated regarding how their interactions determine service‐users' specific activities and daily lives within such facilities. This study sought to address this research gap.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative descriptive study with six nurses working at day‐service centres located in Tohoku region, Japan. Six participants were interviewed 16 times. The psychological‐phenomenological method developed by Amedeo Giorgi was used as the model for data analysis.FindingsThe analysis generated five themes. First, nurses show interest in service‐users by ‘continuing to show interest’ and by ‘trying to understand the service‐users from the perspective of what they can do’. Additionally, the nurses ensure that service‐users enjoy their time in the facility by ‘supporting enjoyment through nursing and medical care’, ‘stabilising feelings’ and ‘creating an environment conducive to everyone's comfort’.ConclusionsNurses working at day‐service centres for people with intellectual/intellectual and physical disabilities provide support for social participation while maintaining the service‐users' mental and physical health. Thus, these nurses support enjoyment among service‐users from the nursing and medical care aspect; they also devise ways for service‐users to interact and adjust to the environment to improve service‐users' comfort at day‐service centres. Furthermore, participation in daytime activities at day‐service centres indicated that nurses are interested in service‐users' activities, and they perceive service‐users as positive individuals.
The role of the thalamus in modular functional networks in temporal lobe epilepsy with cognitive impairment
Authors: Pang Xiaomin , Liang Xiulin , Chang Weiwei , Lv Zongxia , Zhao Jingyuan , Wu Peirong , Li Xinrong , Wei Wutong , Zheng Jinou 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjectiveCognitive deficit is common in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Here, we aimed to investigate the modular architecture of functional networks associated with distinct cognitive states in TLE patients together with the role of the thalamus in modular networks.MethodsResting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from 53 TLE patients and 37 matched healthy controls. All patients received the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test and accordingly were divided into TLE patients with normal cognition (TLE‐CN, n = 35) and TLE patients with cognitive impairment (TLE‐CI, n = 18) groups. The modular properties of functional networks were calculated and compared including global modularity Q, modular segregation index, intramodular connections, and intermodular connections. Thalamic subdivisions corresponding to the modular networks were generated by applying a ‘winner‐take‐all’ strategy before analyzing the modular properties (participation coefficient and within‐module degree z‐score) of each thalamic subdivision to assess the contribution of the thalamus to modular functional networks. Relationships between network properties and cognitive performance were then further explored.ResultsBoth TLE‐CN and TLE‐CI patients showed lower global modularity, as well as lower modular segregation index values for the ventral attention network and the default mode network. However, different patterns of intramodular and intermodular connections existed for different cognitive states. In addition, both TLE‐CN and TLE‐CI patients exhibited anomalous modular properties of functional thalamic subdivisions, with TLE‐CI patients presenting a broader range of abnormalities. Cognitive performance in TLE‐CI patients was not related to the modular properties of functional network but rather to the modular properties of functional thalamic subdivisions.ConclusionsThe thalamus plays a prominent role in modular networks and potentially represents a key neural mechanism underlying cognitive impairment in TLE.
Conserving the evolutionary history of birds
Authors: McClure Christopher J. W. , Berkunsky Igor , Buechley Evan R. , Dunn Leah , Johnson Jeff , McCabe Jennifer , Oppel Steffen , Rolek Brian W. , Sutton Luke J. , Gumbs Rikki 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIn the midst of the sixth mass extinction, limited resources are forcing conservationists to prioritize which species and places will receive conservation action. Evolutionary distinctiveness measures the isolation of a species on its phylogenetic tree. Combining a species’ evolutionary distinctiveness with its globally endangered status creates an EDGE score. We use EDGE scores to prioritize the places and species that should be managed to conserve bird evolutionary history. We analyzed all birds in all countries and important bird areas. We examined parrots, raptors, and seabirds in depth because these groups are especially threatened and relatively speciose. The three focal groups had greater median threatened evolutionary history than other taxa, making them important for conserving bird evolutionary history. Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar, New Zealand, and the Philippines were especially critical countries for bird conservation because they had the most threatened evolutionary history for endemic birds and are important for parrots, raptors, and seabirds. Increased enforcement of international agreements for the conservation of parrots, raptors, and seabirds is needed because these agreements protect hundreds of millions of years of threatened bird evolutionary history. Decisive action is required to conserve the evolutionary history of birds into the Anthropocene.
Flexibility trade‐offs in conservation offsets
Authors: Drechsler Martin 
Published: July 2023

AbstractConservation offsets promise cost‐effective conservation of biodiversity, especially under economic and environmental change, because they represent a more flexible approach to biodiversity conservation, allowing for the economic development of ecologically valuable land provided that this development is offset by restoration of previously developed areas. The level of flexibility is determined by the trading rules. Lax rules allow for more flexibility, which promises cost savings, but will likely lead to unintended loss of biodiversity. I analyzed the trade‐off between economic costs and ecological benefits (biodiversity conservation) in biodiversity offsetting with an ecological‐economic model that considered the three main types of offset flexibility: spatial, temporal, and ecosystem type. I sought to examine the influence of ecological and economic conditions on offset flexibility trade‐offs. Large variation in the conservation costs and small costs of habitat restoration strongly increased trading activity and reduced the ecological benefit. The ecological benefit was most sensitive to spatial flexibility when a short range of ecological interaction was considered. At a large interaction range, spatial flexibility delivered large cost savings without overly reducing the ecological benefit. Risks and time lags associated with habitat restoration favored an offsetting scheme in which credits are awarded with the initiation of restoration projects rather than their successful completion—given appropriate offsetting multipliers were chosen. Altogether, under scarce resources, the level of flexibility in an offsetting scheme should be chosen by carefully balancing ecological benefits and economic costs.
Contribution of cultural heritage values to steppe conservation on ancient burial mounds of Eurasia
Authors: Deák Balázs , Bede Ádám , Rádai Zoltán , Dembicz Iwona , Apostolova Iva , Batáry Péter , Gallé Róbert , Tóth Csaba Albert , Dózsai József , Moysiyenko Ivan I. , Sudnik‐Wójcikowska Barbara , Zachwatowicz Maria , Nekhrizov Georgi , Lisetskii Fedor N. , Buryak Zhanna A. , Kis Szabolcs , Borza Sándor , Godó Laura , Bragina Tatyana M. , Smelansky Ilya , Molnár Ábel , Bán Miklós , Báthori Ferenc , Árgay Zoltán , Dani János , Kiss Réka , Valkó Orsolya 
Published: July 2023

AbstractCivilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilizations are rarely considered in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. We used a data set containing more than 1000 records on localities, land cover, protection status, and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (kurgans); we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. Using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we examined the potential of mounds to preserve grasslands in landscapes with different levels of land‐use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether local cultural values support the maintenance of grasslands on them. Kurgans were of great importance in preserving grasslands in transformed landscapes outside protected areas, where they sometimes acted as habitat islands that contributed to habitat conservation and improved habitat connectivity. In addition to steep slopes hindering ploughing, when mounds had cultural value for local communities, the probability of grassland occurrence on kurgans almost doubled. Because the estimated number of steppic mounds is about 600,000 and similar historical features exist on all continents, our results may be applicable at a global level. Our results also suggested that an integrative socioecological approach in conservation might support the positive synergistic effects of conservation, landscape, and cultural values.
Systematic review of technology‐mediated peer support interventions in paediatric type 1 diabetes care
Authors: Titoria Reena , Fung Andrea , Tang Tricia S. , Amed Shazhan 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAimsThere is increasing interest in the role of peer support in diabetes care. However, technology‐mediated peer support in paediatric type 1 diabetes remains understudied.We aimed todescribe technology‐mediated peer support interventions for children living with type 1 diabetes, their caregivers and healthcare providers.MethodsCINAHL, Embase and MEDLINE (Ovid) were searched from Jan 2007 to June 2022. We included randomised and non‐randomised trials with peer support interventions for children living with diabetes, their caregivers and/or healthcare providers. Studies examining clinical, behavioural or psychosocial outcomes were included. Quality was assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias tool.ResultsTwelve of 308 retrieved studies were included, with a study duration range of 3 weeks to 24 months and most were randomised trials (n = 8, 66.67%). Four technology‐based interventions were identified: phone‐based text messages, video, web portal and social media, or a hybrid peer support model. Most (58.6%, n = 7) studies exclusively targeted children with diabetes. No significant improvement was observed in psychosocial outcomes (quality of life, n = 4; stress and coping, n = 4; social support, n = 2). Mixed findings were observed in HbA1c (n = 7) and 28.5% studies (n = 2/7) reported reduced incidence of hypoglycaemia.ConclusionsTechnology‐mediated peer support interventions may have the potential to improve diabetes care and outcomes. However, further well‐designed studies are necessary that address the needs of diverse populations and settings, and the sustainability of intervention effects.
Changes in the glycaemia risk index and its association with other continuous glucose monitoring metrics after initiation of an automated insulin delivery system in adults with type 1 diabetes
Authors: Karakus Kagan E. , Shah Viral N. , Klonoff David , Akturk Halis K. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAimTo evaluate the glycaemia risk index (GRI) and its association with other continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) metrics after initiation of an automated insulin delivery (AID) system in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D).Materials and MethodsUp to 90 days of CGM data before and after initiation of an AID system from 185 CGM users with T1D were collected. GRI and other CGM metrics were calculated using cgmanalysis R software and were analysed for 24 hours, for both night‐time and daytime. GRI values were assigned to five GRI zones: zone A (0‐20), B (21‐40), C (41‐60), D (61‐80) and E (81‐100).ResultsCompared with baseline, GRI and its components decreased significantly after AID initiation (GRI: 48.7 ± 21.8 vs. 29 ± 13; hypoglycaemia component: 2.7 ± 2.8 vs. 1.6 ± 1.7; hyperglycaemia component: 25.3 ± 14.5 vs. 15 ± 8.5; P < .001 for all). The GRI was inversely correlated with time in range before (r = −0.962) and after (r = −0.961) AID initiation (P < .001 for both). GRI was correlated with time above range (before: r = 0.906; after = 0.910; P < .001 for both), but not with time below range (P > .05). All CGM metrics improved after AID initiation during 24 hours, for both daytime and night‐time (P < .001 for all). Metrics improved significantly more during night‐time than daytime (P < .01).ConclusionsGRI was highly correlated with various CGM metrics above, but not below target range, both before and after AID initiation.