bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
4C Mortality Score and CT Severity Score among COVID-19 Patients; A Single Center Prospective Study
Authors: * Azza Farag Said , El-Fateh Ayman Hussein , Esmaeel Tamer El Zaeem , Mady Ahmed Fathy 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background

Predictions about the hospital course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients are of paramount value.

Objectives

This research was designed to validate 4C mortality and CT severity scores (CT-SS) and detect their relations among patients with covid-19 who are hospitalized as prognostication tools.

Patients and methods

Two hundred and ninety-six confirmed COVID-19 cases were included. They were allocated into 3 groups according to severity;78 in non-severe group, 97 in severe group, and 121 patients in critical group. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, co-morbidities, lines of treatment, 4C mortality score and CT severity score were assessed upon admission.

Results

The study revealed that 90% and 84.3% sensitivities were observed for both of 4C mortality and CT-SS respectively as predictors of mortality. Significant correlation between both scores (r = 0.6. p = 0.0001) was detected. Multivariate analysis identified 7-fold increased risk of mortality for the patients with 4C mortality score > 9.5 (p = 0.001). CT-SS > 12 (p = 0.02), age ≥ 60, male gender, hypertension and diabetes mellitus were also found as significant independent factors associated with increased mortality.

Conclusion

Satisfactory results were found on addition a verified radiological score to commonly used risk-stratification scores when estimating the probability of death in severe and critical cases in COVID-19.
The association between smoking and the occurrence of hyperuricemia: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Li Peihua , Li Xinyu , Wang Bing , Li Guosheng , Liu Yudan , Zhao Yuedong , Yu Qing , Gao Zhengnan , Liu Xuhan 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
There is no national or international consensus on the effect of smoking on blood uric acid levels and the risk of hyperuricemia (HUA). By collecting and analyzing clinical data of 3,196 patients with undiagnosed HUA at baseline in Dalian Municipal Central Hospital between January 1, 2010, and January 1, 2021, patients were grouped according to baseline smoking status and smoking index, and Cox regression analysis was applied to the univariate and multifactor analysis of factors that may influence the occurrence of HUA, and further stratified analysis was performed. A total of 485 (15.2%) patients developed HUA. The incidence of HUA was significantly higher in the smoking group than in the nonsmoking group (P<0.05). And there was a statistically significant difference in the incidence of HUA between the smoking index 1-4 groups and the smoking index 0 group (P<0.05). Smoking is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of HUA and is independent of gender, whether a woman is menopausal, BMI, and alcohol consumption. The Smoking index≥601 was an independent risk factor for the occurrence of HUA. However, further prospective studies involving rigorous large samples are needed to further confirm the association between smoking and HUA.
A comparative investigation of variant calling and genotyping for a single non-Caucasian whole genome
Authors: Park HyeonSeul , Gim JungSoo 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Most genome benchmark studies utilize hg38 as a reference genome (based on Caucasian and African samples) and ‘NA12878’ (a Caucasian sequencing read) for comparison. Here, we aimed to elucidate whether 1) ethnic match or mismatch between the reference genome and sequencing reads produces a distinct result; 2) there is an optimal workflow for single genome data. We assessed the performance of variant calling pipelines using hg38 and a Korean genome (reference genomes) and two whole-genome sequencing (WGS) reads from different ethnic origins: Caucasian (NA12878) and Korean. The pipelines used BWA-mem and Novoalign as mapping tools and GATK4, Strelka2, DeepVariant, and Samtools as variant callers. Using hg38 led to better performance (based on precision and recall), regardless of the ethnic origin of the WGS reads. Novoalign + GATK4 demonstrated best performance when using both WGS data. We assessed pipeline efficiency by removing the markduplicate process, and all pipelines, except Novoalign + DeepVariant, maintained their performance. Novoalign identified more variants overall and in MHC of chr6 when combined with GATK4. No evidence suggested improved variant calling performance from single WGS reads with a different ethnic reference, re-validating hg38 utility. We recommend using Novoalign + GATK4 without markduplication for single PCR-free WGS data.
How to select and understand guidelines for patient-reported outcomes? Scoping review of existing guidelines
Authors: Kaneyasu Takako , Hoshino Eri , Naito Mariko , Suzukamo Yoshimi , Miyazaki Kikuko , Kojima Satomi , Yamaguchi Takuhiro , Kawaguchi Takashi , Miyaji Tempei , Nakajima Takako Eguchi , Shimozuma Kojiro 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs), which are health outcomes subjectively provided by patients, have been used in various situations over the past decades as tools to understand patients’ health conditions, and accordingly, numerous PRO questionnaires and guidelines have been developed. In this study, existing PRO guidelines for clinical trials and practice were comprehensively collected to support novice PRO users in academia, industry, clinical practice, regulatory and reimbursement decision-making.
Methods
For the scoping review, we searched databases including MEDLINE, Embase, Google Books, WorldCat, and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Bookshelf from 2009 to 2020. The inclusion criteria were PRO guidelines for clinical trials/practice and application/utilization, which included quality of life (QOL), PRO, health-related QOL, or health state utilities related to psychometric requirements, collection method and analysis, and clinical interpretation. After the systematic search, three members individually reviewed the data collected, and the reviewed articles and books were scrutinized for the same criteria.
Results
The PRO guidelines published in articles and books between 2009 and 2020 were collected. From the database searches, 1,039 articles and 296 books were selected, of which one book and 25 articles were finally selected. A total of 16 guidelines from articles and books on clinical trials covered issues such as design/reporting, questionnaire preparation, and collection methods, including ePRO, analysis, and clinical interpretation. Five of these covered PRO assessment and application in clinical practice. One PRO guideline was published to inform decision-making such as health technology assessment.
Conclusions
This scoping review classified existing PRO guidelines by stage (evaluation or application), setting (clinical trials/practice), and evaluation process. The classification and summary would facilitate beginners’ judgment in the selection and explanation of terms used in the guidelines would enhance understanding of existing PRO guidelines.
Predicting prognosis and drug sensitivity of ovarian cancer patients using different Programmed cell death patterns
Authors: xia hongmei , Xiao Yu , Ji Liyan , Xu Zelong , Sun Yang 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background：Ovarian cancer has a high mortality rate, which has major contributing factors including advanced detection and recurrence susceptibility. For patients with ovarian cancer, optimal predictive models for therapy progression and medication sensitivity are currently lacking. Different types of programmed cell death (PCD) can predict prognosis and medication susceptibility in ovarian cancer and play a significant role in tumor growth.
Materials and methods: By analyzing 12 PCD patterns (apoptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, netotic cell death, entotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, parthanatos, autophagy-dependent cell death, oxeiptosis, and novel regulated cell death by alkaliptosis), Cox multifactorial regression analysis was used to screen a gene set of 20 genes that can each individually affect the prognosis of ovarian cancer. The gene set was then typed and modeled. The model was further validated and additional risk scoring was done. To learn more about the IC50 link between high and low-risk scores and chemotherapeutic drugs, the relationship between high and low-risk scores and the immune microenvironment was examined.
Results: The two examined subtypes of ovarian cancer have different key biological activities, according to the results of typing genes that can independently affect ovarian cancer survival, which combined with clinical characteristics to create a nomogram map with good predictive performance. Additionally, patients with ovarian cancer in the high-risk category were sensitive to Dasatinib, and the type was related to immune checkpoint genes and important tumor microenvironment components.
Conclusion: In short, by combining several cell death patterns, we created a new staging model that can precisely predict the clinical outcome and medication sensitivity of ovarian cancer patients.
Sex-based differences in neck selectivity in total hip arthroplasty using a modular femoral neck system
Authors: Shigemura Tomonori , Murata Yasuaki , Yamamoto Yohei , Kamikawa Koya 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background: Dislocation is a major complication of total hip arthroplasty (THA). The modular femoral neck system has some practical advantages in that it permits adjustment neck version and length, if intraoperative instability is present. Anatomical studies have identified morphological differences in the hip joint between men and women. Although sex-based differences exist in hip morphology, it is unclear whether sex-based differences exist in femoral neck selection when the hip is anatomically reconstructed with THA using a modular femoral neck system. This retrospective study aimed to investigate sex-based differences in femoral neck selectivity in THA using a modular neck system.
Hypothesis: We hypothesised that sex-based differences exist in neck selectivity in THA using a modular neck system.
Patients and Methods: Between July 2007 and March 2013, 163 THAs using a modular femoral neck system were performed in 149 patients at Teikyo University Chiba Medical Center. Data on the type of modular neck were retrieved from patient records. Fisher’s exact test was used to investigate sex-based differences in femoral neck selectivity in THA using a modular neck system.
Results: Neck selectivity did not significantly differ between men and women.
Discussion: This retrospective study on THA with a modular femoral neck system revealed no sex-based difference in neck selectivity; however, more than half of the series used varus or version-controlled neck, indicating that a changeable neck may play a role in preventing postoperative dislocation.
Laparoscopic surgery for extremely elderly patients (≥85)-experience from a single center
Authors: Wang Yawei , Wang Yan , Zou Liaonan , Deng Lingna , Wu Meilong , Fan Lili , Jiang Jiling , An Tailai 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Background: More and more extremely elderly patients (≥85) with colorectal cancer are being encountered in routine clinical practice. For these patients, the laparoscopic approach has been considered as a less invasive alternative. Whereas, it is not so easy for us to accomplish controlled clinical trials among extremely elderly patients. The present study was performed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of laparoscopic surgery for extremely elderly patients.
Materials and Methods: Medical records of extremely elderly patients with colorectal cancer who had underwent curative laparoscopic or open surgery were retrospectively reviewed. The clinicopathological characteristics and surgery-related outcomes of these patients were recorded and analyzed.
Results: A total of 110 extremely elderly patients had undergone curative surgery at our center, including 47 open surgeries and 63 laparoscopic surgeries. The mean operation times for open surgery and laparoscopic surgery were 199.94 (±64.17) and 195.71 (±77.85) minutes, respectively. Intraoperative blood transfusion during laparoscopic surgery (258.73±549.38 ml) was not significantly different from that for open surgery (160.64±273.05 ml) (P=0.264). In the open group, 2 patients experienced major complications. In the laparoscopic group, 4 patients experienced major complications. The laparoscopic group was not significantly different from the open group in terms of overall survival (P=0.763) and recurrence-free survival (P=0.323). Of these 110 patients, the oldest was a woman aged 100 years and 10 months who had undergone curative laparoscopic sigmoidectomy.
Conclusion: For extremely elderly patients with colorectal cancer, laparoscopic surgery is feasible and safe. We report the success of laparoscopic surgery for a patient aged 100 years with sigmoid colon cancer.
Screening the effects of additional donors, numbers and positions of π-spacers on perylene- based sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cell applications
Authors: Nicksonsebastin D. , Pounraj P. , Paulraj E. Isac , Mani N. , Prasath M. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract

The novel sensitizers are framed by perylene as donor with diphehylamine as auxiliary donor, thiophene and cyanovinyl as π-spacers and cyano acrylic acid as an acceptor unit. The optimised structure for the designed sensitizers was determined utilizing density functional theory, and the electronic structure was determined utilizing time-dependent density functional theory through the B3LYP/6-311G (d, p) basis set in the gas phase and Dimethylformamide (DMF) phase. The frontier molecular orbital results have significantly lower HOMO-LUMO energy gap values for better electron injection and electron regeneration. All designed sensitizers have absorption spectra values in the range of visible to near IR region. In the present work, the position and number of π-spacers reduces the HOMO-LUMO gap, the redshift of the absorption spectrum, and increases the high light harvesting efficiency. The findings reveal that the number of π-spacers improves the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the solar cells.
Constructing and applying an evaluation index system to assess the techno-economic effects of rice mechanization in China
Authors: Ouyang Shumiao , Lin Jinlong , Yao Mingyin 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This paper applies the Wuli-Shili-Renli (WSR) methodology to construct an index system that evaluates the technical and economic effects of rice mechanization (TER). The system includes 26 indicators, and the study calculates the weight of each indicator using hierarchical analysis (AHP). The study also includes an empirical analysis of the TER in China and main producing provinces from 2008 to 2018. The study yielded the following key results. 1) The TER in China increased in its fluctuations from 2008 to 2018. 2) Land productivity and labor productivity increased significantly, positively contributing to the TER in China. Indicators such as seed usage per unit of operating area decreased steadily, negatively affecting the TER in China. The efficiency of agricultural machinery management and other organizations continued to improve during the study period, increasing the TER. 3) Most of the regions with high TER are located in the dominant main production areas in the northeast and the dominant main production areas in the Yangtze River basin. Most of the rice producing provinces in the southeast production areas ranked in the middle and lower levels. This paper concludes that the TER in China could be improved by improving the refinement of agricultural machinery operations, increasing the degree of large-scale land management in small-plot provinces such as Yunnan, and increasing the research and development of suitable agricultural machinery.
Improving Efficiency of Ground-Truth Data Collection for UAV-based Rice Growth Estimation Models: Investigating the Effect of Sampling Size on Model Accuracy
Authors: Yamaguchi Tomoaki , Sasano Kana , Katsura Keisuke 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
One of the bottlenecks in the development of UAV-based crop growth estimation models has been the need for ground-truth data collection through plant sampling in a field, which required a great deal of effort. Thus, we investigated the viability of utilizing datasets derived from reduced sampling size for the development of growth estimation models, with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of ground-truth data collection. Koshihikari, a japonica rice variety, was grown at a planting spacing of 15 × 30 cm with various fertilizer conditions and transplanting dates. Once a week from transplanting to the heading date, aerial RGB and multispectral images were collected with a UAV. Subsequently, four adjacent hills from each plot were harvested, and above-ground biomass (AGB) and leaf area index (LAI) measurements were taken for each hill. For each hill, the ground-measured data was linked to the features (plant height, vegetation indices, and texture indices) derived from corresponding UAV images. Three datasets were compiled using the values of single hills (15 × 30 cm), the average values of two adjacent hills (30 × 30 cm), and those of four adjacent hills (60 × 60 cm). Models estimating AGB and LAI from UAV-derived features were developed with each dataset using single regression and machine learning (ML) algorithms, and the prediction accuracy was compared among the three datasets. The prediction accuracy of the single regression models was similar across all datasets. In addition, it was demonstrated that the dataset based on single-harvested hills can contribute to improving the prediction accuracy of the ML models. In previous studies, datasets were generally developed by aggregating data from multiple harvested hills, yet our results indicated that the dataset based on single-harvested hills was sufficiently reliable for model development and can be utilized, consequently allowing for more efficient ground-truth data collection.
Estimating vaccine-preventable COVID-19 deaths under counterfactual vaccination scenarios in the United States
Authors: Zhong Ming , Glazer Tamara , Kshirsagar Meghana , Johnston Richard , Dodhia Rahul , Kim Allen , Michael Divya , Salcido Santiago , Nair-Desai Sameer , Tsai Thomas C. , Friedhoff Stefanie , Weeks William B , Ferres Juan M. Lavista 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
In early 2021, effective SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccines became available in the United States; by mid-April 2021, vaccine availability outstripped demand, daily vaccination rates peaked, and COVID-19 vaccines were found highly effective in adult populations.
Accurate estimates of the number of vaccine-preventable deaths had higher vaccination rates been attained could have helped local policymakers and possibly persuaded more to get vaccinated. Because existing estimation methodologies are limited, for the period 1/1/21 – 4/30/22, we simulated the number of vaccine-preventable deaths associated with two-dose COVID-19 vaccination that incorporated state-level population, death, and vaccination numbers and three scenarios of vaccination rate achievement. Nationally, we found that had 100% of the population became fully vaccinated during the period examined, 318,979 deaths, or approximately 50% of actual COVID-19 deaths, might have been prevented; had 85% been so, 28% might have been prevented. Across states, we found substantial variation in the proportion of avoidable COVID-19 deaths that might have been avoided at the state level, from 25% in Massachusetts to 74% in Alaska. Our findings are sobering when considering the painful deaths, the survivors’ anguish, and the diversion of scarce and expensive healthcare resources that might have been averted had peak vaccination administration efforts been maintained.
Feeding Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae with bacteria increase larval juvenile hormone levels inhibiting cannibalism under certain conditions
Authors: Du Xing-Xing , Cao Sheng-Kai , Xiao Hua-Yan , Yang Chang-Jin , Zeng Ai-Ping , Chen Gong , Yu Huan 
Published: March 2023

Abstract

Feed quality influences insect cannibalistic behavior and gut microbial communities. The relationship between larval cannibalism and larval-midgut bacteria was determined in this study. Spodoptera exigua larvae fed with different artificial diets exhibited different cannibalism ratios. The RW-fed larvae had delayed cannibalistic behavior and reduced cannibalism ratio compared with those of the CS, CSK, SW, or CSW-fed larvae. The gut bacterial load of the CSK-fed larvae was the lowest among the five tested larval group. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the bacteria in the midgut of S. exigua larvae fed with five diets indicated that Enterobacteriales was the prominent bacterial family in the RW-fed larvae. Fifteen culturable bacterial isolates were obtained from the midgut of the RW-fed larvae; of these, ten were belonging to Enterobacteriales. After administered to CS or CSK-fed S. exigua larvae, two bacteria isolates (SePC-12 and − 37) delayed cannibalistic behavior in both tested larval groups. Furthermore, CSK-fed larvae had lowest Juvenile hormone (JH) concentration, and they were more aggressive in intraspecific predation. But the loading of SePC-12 increased the JH hormone in the CSK-fed larvae and inhibited their cannibalism. The bacteria in the larval midgut involved in the JH levels stabilization, thereby regulating host larval cannibalistic behavior.
VT-BPAN: Vision Transformer-based bilinear pooling and attention network fusion of RGB and skeleton features for human action recognition
Authors: Sun Yaohui , Xu Weiyao , Yu Xiaoyi , Gao Ju 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Recent generation Microsoft Kinect Camera captures a series of multimodal signals that provide RGB video, depth sequences, and skeleton information, thus it becomes an option to achieve enhanced human action recognition performance by fusing different data modalities. However, most existing fusion methods simply fuse different features, which ignores the underlying semantics between different models, leading to a lack of accuracy. In addition, there exists a large amount of background noise. In this work, we propose a Vision Transformer-based Bilinear Pooling and Attention Network (VT-BPAN) fusion mechanism for human action recognition. This work improves the recognition accuracy in the following ways: 1) An effective two-stream feature pooling and fusion mechanism is proposed. The RGB frames and skeleton are fused to enhance the spatio-temporal feature representation. 2) A spatial lightweight vision Transformer is proposed, which can reduce the cost of computing. The framework is evaluated based on three widely used video action datasets, and the proposed approach performs a more comparable performance with the state-of-the-art methods.