bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Potential analgesic effects of psychedelics on select chronic pain conditions: A survey study
Authors: Cavarra Mauro , Mason Natasha Leigh , Kuypers Kim P. C. , Bonnelle Valerie , Smith Will J. , Feilding Amanda , Kryskow Pamela , Ramaekers Johannes G. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackgroundChronic pain is a major cause of suffering and disability and is often associated with psychiatric complications. Current treatments carry the risk of severe side effects and may lead to limited or no relief at all in a relevant portion of this patient population. Preliminary evidence suggests that classical psychedelics (e.g. LSD and psilocybin) may have analgesic effects in healthy volunteers, and in certain chronic pain conditions and observational studies reveal that they are used in naturalistic settings as a means to manage pain.MethodsIn order to gain insight on the effectiveness of such compounds in chronic pain conditions, we set up a survey addressed to chronic pain patients inquiring about psychedelic use and the relief levels achieved with both conventional treatments, full psychedelic doses and microdoses. We analysed data related to five conditions selected based on diagnostic homogeneity within each of them: fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraine, tension‐type headache and sciatica.ResultsExcept for sciatica, volunteers reported that psychedelics led to better pain relief compared to conventional medication in all examined conditions. More specifically, full doses performed better than conventional medication. Microdoses led to significantly better relief compared to conventional medication in migraines and achieved comparable relief in the remaining three categories. Implications for future research are discussed.ConclusionsFull doses and microdoses may hold value in the treatment of some specific chronic pain conditions.SignificancePsychedelic substances are receiving increasing attention from the scientific literature because of evidence showing beneficial effects on several measures related to mental health in clinical samples and healthy volunteers samples. Previous evidence suggests that people suffering from chronic pain are using psychedelics to seek relief and the present paper presents the results of a survey study investigating their use and analgesic effects among individuals suffering from fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraine, tension‐type headache and sciatica.
Estimation of rare disaster concerns from option prices—An arbitrage‐free RND‐based smile construction approach
Authors: Albert Pascal , Herold Michael , Muck Matthias 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThis research addresses the estimation of measures of rare disaster concerns from option prices. We propose a new smile construction approach to obtain the required continuum of implied volatilities from discretely sampled observations that are affected by microstructure noise. We extrapolate implied volatilities of far out‐of‐the‐money options by modeling the tails of the risk‐neutral return distribution (RND) ensuring that option prices do not admit arbitrage. Our numerical analysis and empirical application show that the RND‐based approach consistently outperforms standard techniques. It substantially reduces estimation errors resulting in considerably higher estimates of the rare disaster concern index () when event risk is high.
Evaluating the effectiveness of UndocuAlly trainings: A case example in the state of New York
Authors: Jach Elizabeth A. , Carvajal Cynthia N. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractDespite the lack of comprehensive federal legislation for undocumented students, activists catalyzed the passage of the New York State Dream Act in 2019. Yet, numerous barriers remain for undocumented students pursuing higher education. We provide a case example of UndocuAlly Trainings facilitated at a campus center in the State University of New York (SUNY), University at Albany. We consider the effectiveness of the training through an evaluation of open‐ended responses to a four‐question post‐event survey (n = 65). We examine implications for accountability within systems and institutions of higher education, emphasizing the importance of investing in dedicated centers to support students regardless of immigration status.Practical Takeaways
Our UndocuAlly training sessions focused on supporting undocumented and immigrant students attending a higher education institution. The goal of these trainings is to educate stakeholders and develop a network of allies.
We consider the effectiveness of the training through an evaluation of open‐ended responses to a four‐question post‐event survey. Our analysis of the survey responses demonstrates the clear need for investment in dedicated staffing, student groups, and physical space.
Our findings suggest that while the training was an effective tool for awareness and education, it also emphasizes the need for accountability of greater investment toward the success of all students regardless of immigration status.
Prevalence and risk factors of prenatal anxiety disorders: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Shariatpanahi Mojgan , Faramarzi Mahbobeh , Barat Shahnaz , Farghadani Azadeh , Shirafkan Hoda 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackground and AimsStudies regarding the risk factors of prenatal anxiety disorders are inconclusive and sometimes contradictory. The current study aimed to define the prevalence and risk factors for anxiety disorders in women during pregnancy.MethodsThis is a cross‐sectional and hospital‐based survey of two public hospitals (Ayatollah Rohani and Yahyanejad) of inpatients/outpatients, obstetric wards/clinics, and four private outpatient obstetric clinics in the city of Babol. Convenience sampling was utilized to recruit 432 pregnant women. A trained clinical psychologist conducted the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐5 (SCID‐5) to diagnose anxiety disorders. In addition, the Brief Symptom Inventory 18 (BSI‐18) was completed by the participants to assess the severity of psychological distress.ResultsOf 432 pregnant women, 132 (30.5%) were diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders included 61 cases of pregnancy adjustment disorder (47.7%), 52 cases of generalized anxiety disorder (40.6%), and 15 cases of specific phobia (to delivery) (11.7%). The logistic regression results showed that the age, pregnancy, education, parity, and high‐risk pregnancy variables predicted 28% of the variance of anxiety disorders. Furthermore, as the age (β = 0.94,p = 0.003) and gestational age (β = 0.9,p < 0.001) increased, the probability of anxiety disorders in pregnancy decreased. Moreover, university education (β = 1.65,p = 0.049) and high‐risk pregnancy (β = 1.72,p = 0.02) were recognized as risk factors for developing anxiety disorders during pregnancy.ConclusionThe high incidence of anxiety disorders in pregnant women suggests that obstetricians should pay more attention to identifying and treating anxiety disorders in all pregnant women, especially in high‐risk pregnancies.
Developing a composite index for urban ecosystem services (Hyrcanian forests—Gorgan)
Authors: Zoghi Mahmood , Amiri Mohammad Javad 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
The current era has been termed the “Anthropocene,” because of the irreversible impact of human activities. Land use change and urban growth are examples of these disturbances leading to the reduction in many ecosystem services (ESs). The subject of this study, Gorgan, has undergone significant changes that significantly affected the area. Studying these changes and understanding their effects on the ecosystem is essential. An integrated method was used to investigate the process of changing the urban ESs over 35 years, considering the physical and ecological characteristics of the area. This marks the first time such a study has been conducted using the hexagonal unit. Then, the composite total ecosystem services (TESs) index was calculated from the modeled and quantified combination of six ESs, including water yield, flood volume, net primary production, soil retention, carbon sequestration, and air pollution removal. Thereafter, the ESs were mapped and evaluated across time and space. The TES is proposed as an appropriate measure for quantifying ES supply and can indicate the overall function of ESs. According to the findings, the TES value declined from 0.427 in 1985 to 0.247 in 2005 and declined to 0.192 in 2020. Moreover, the Hyrcanian forests were the main source of the highest TES in Gorgan city, whereas urban areas had the lowest levels. The shortage of ESs in the study area has resulted in various crises. These include reduced air quality, heightened flood risk, soil erosion, and ecological imbalances in urban regions. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:465–480. © 2023 Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).
Stage 4N neuroblastoma before and during the era of anti‐GD2 immunotherapy
Authors: Kushner Brian H. , LaQuaglia Michael P. , Cardenas Fiorella Iglesias , Basu Ellen M. , Gerstle Justin T. , Kramer Kim , Roberts Stephen S. , Wolden Suzanne L. , Cheung Nai‐Kong V. , Modak Shakeel 
Published: August 2023

AbstractPatients with stage 4N neuroblastoma (distant metastases limited to lymph nodes) stand out as virtually the only survivors of high‐risk neuroblastoma (HR‐NB) before myeloablative therapy (MAT) and immunotherapy with anti‐GD2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) became standard. Because no report presents more recent results with 4N, we analyzed our large 4N experience. All 51 pediatric 4N patients (<18 years old) diagnosed 1985 to 2021 were reviewed. HR‐NB included MYCN‐nonamplified 4N diagnosed at age ≥18 months and MYCN‐amplified 4N. Among 34 MYCN‐nonamplified high‐risk patients, 20 are relapse‐free 1.5+ to 37.5+ (median 12.5+) years post‐diagnosis, including 13 without prior MAT and 5 treated with little (1 cycle; n = 2) or no mAb (n = 3), while 14 patients (7 post‐MAT, 8 post‐mAbs) relapsed (all soft tissue). Of 15 MYCN‐amplified 4N patients, 7 are relapse‐free 2.1+ to 26.4+ (median 11.6+) years from the start of chemotherapy (all received mAbs; 3 underwent MAT) and 4 are in second remission 4.2+ to 21.8+ years postrelapse (all soft tissue). Statistical analyses showed no significant association of survival with either MAT or mAbs for MYCN‐nonamplified HR‐NB; small numbers prevented these analyses for MYCN‐amplified patients. The two patients with intermediate‐risk 4N (14‐months‐old) are relapse‐free 7+ years postresection of primary tumors; distant disease spontaneously regressed. The natural history of 4N is marked by NB confined to soft tissue without early relapse in bones or bone marrow, where mAbs have proven efficacy. These findings plus curability without MAT, as seen elsewhere and at our center, support consideration of treatment reduction for MYCN‐nonamplified 4N.
Bank income smoothing behaviours under expansionary and recessionary economic environments: New evidence using micro‐data sample
Authors: Aggelopoulos Eleftherios , Papageorgiou Theofanis , Iakovidou Melpo , Giannopoulos Vasilios 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe income smoothing (IS) literature connected with changes in the external environment provides unclear results whether this phenomenon occurs in expansion or in crisis. Given that a substantial amount of credit risk is generated in retail banking, this study exploits a large number of micro‐loan portfolio level data of a systemic Greek bank and examines, for the first time, the IS behaviour at the retail banking level, contrasting the expansion period (2006–2008) with the financial crisis period (2009–2011). This specific case study provides more granular data compared with traditional archival studies, thus allowing the immediate and more frequent identification of exogenous (such as crisis effects) and endogenous (such as the geographic origination of loan portfolios) features that may affect IS practices. Based on the association between pre‐provision loan income and loans loss provisions as a proxy for IS, we employ the robust Mean Group estimator (Pesaran and Smith, Journal of Econometrics, 1995;68(1):79–113) and find that this association is higher in expansionary periods and declines in recession. Moreover, we conclude that the IS behaviour is affected by geographical features of loan portfolios.
Market forces in healthcare insurance: The impact of healthcare reform on regulated competition revisited
Authors: Bikker Jacob A. , Bekooij Jack G. J. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe Dutch healthcare insurance reform in 2006 replaced the dual system of public and private insurance with a single compulsory health insurance scheme, in which insurance providers compete for customers in a free market. This paper investigates whether competition among healthcare insurers has indeed increased and their efficiency has improved. We measure competition directly from either shifts in market shares, or developments in profits, using Dutch regulatory data. We find that a structural break occurs after the reform: competition is significantly higher after 2006 than before. This holds both for the analysis based on shifts in market shares and that based on profits. Several robustness tests confirm this outcome. Hence, the reform has had a significant impact. Nevertheless, we find that the health insurance sector is still less competitive than financial sectors such as banking and life insurance.
Sustainability and modernization of agricultural irrigation: A comparative assessment of two irrigation schemes
Authors: Çetin Öner , Fayrap Aynur , Yolcu Ramazan 
Published: August 2023

AbstractIn this study, two different irrigation schemes in Turkey were evaluated. One is Devegeçidi irrigation, which was put into operation in 1972. The command area is 5800 ha, and farmers used surface irrigation. Ergani irrigation, a modern irrigation scheme using drip and/or sprinkler irrigation systems with an irrigation area of 1866 ha, was put into operation in 2021. The average total water use (TWU), irrigation efficiency (IE), water economic productivity (WEP) and net income (NI) were 11,728 m3 ha−1, 45%, $0.21 m−3and $2354 ha−1in the Devegecidi irrigation, respectively, and all the same criteria results were 6189 m3 ha−1, 81%, $0.78 m−3and $4789 ha−1in the Ergani irrigation, respectively. In addition, irrigation water productivities (IWPs) in wheat, cotton and corn for the Devegeçidi irrigation were 0.78, 0.47 and 1.21 kg m−3, while those values were 0.89, 0.89 and 2.26 kg m−3in the Ergani irrigation scheme, respectively. The study results show that the modernization of irrigation systems is significantly important in saving irrigation water and increasing the income of farmers and water productivity. These indicators can guide decision makers in the modernization of irrigation systems.
LncRTPred: Predicting RNA–RNA mode of interaction mediated by lncRNA
Authors: Das Gourab , Das Troyee , Parida Sibun , Ghosh Zhumur 
Published: August 2023

AbstractLong non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a significant role in various biological processes. Hence, it is utmost important to elucidate their functions in order to understand the molecular mechanism of a complex biological system. This versatile RNA molecule has diverse modes of interaction, one of which constitutes lncRNA–mRNA interaction. Hence, identifying its target mRNA is essential to understand the function of an lncRNA explicitly. Existing lncRNA target prediction tools mainly adopt thermodynamics approach. Large execution time and inability to perform real‐time prediction limit their usage. Further, lack of negative training dataset has been a hindrance in the path of developing machine learning (ML) based lncRNA target prediction tools. In this work, we have developed a ML‐based lncRNA–mRNA target prediction model‐ ‘LncRTPred’. Here we have addressed the existing problems by generating reliable negative dataset and creating robust ML models. We have identified the non‐interacting lncRNA and mRNAs from the unlabelled dataset using BLAT. It is further filtered to get a reliable set of outliers. LncRTPred provides a cumulative_model_score as the final output against each query. In terms of prediction accuracy, LncRTPred outperforms other popular target prediction protocols like LncTar. Further, we have tested its performance against experimentally validated disease‐specific lncRNA–mRNA interactions. Overall, performance of LncRTPred is heavily dependent on the size of the training dataset, which is highly reflected by the difference in its performance for human and mouse species. Its performance for human species shows better as compared to that for mouse when applied on an unknown data due to smaller size of the training dataset in case of mouse compared to that of human. Availability of increased number of lncRNA–mRNA interaction data for mouse will improve the performance of LncRTPred in future. Both webserver and standalone versions of LncRTPred are available. Web server link: http://bicresources.jcbose.ac.in/zhumur/lncrtpred/index.html. Github Link: https://github.com/zglabDIB/LncRTPred.
Nrf2 as a therapeutic target in acetaminophen hepatotoxicity: A case study with sulforaphane
Authors: Etemadi Yasaman , Akakpo Jephte Y. , Ramachandran Anup , Jaeschke Hartmut 
Published: August 2023

AbstractAcetaminophen (APAP) overdose can cause severe liver injury and acute liver failure. The only clinically approved antidote, N‐acetylcysteine (NAC), is highly effective but has a narrow therapeutic window. In the last 2 decades, activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2), which regulates acute phase proteins and antioxidant defense genes, has emerged as a putative new therapeutic target against APAP hepatotoxicity. However, virtually all studies that propose Nrf2 activation as mechanism of protection used prolonged pretreatment, which is not a clinically feasible approach to treat a drug overdose. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess if therapeutic activation of Nrf2 is a viable approach to treat liver injury after APAP overdose. We used the water‐soluble Nrf2 activator sulforaphane (SFN; 5 mg/kg) in a murine model of APAP hepatotoxicity (300 mg/kg). Our results indicate that short‐term treatment (≤3 h) with SFN alone did not activate Nrf2 or its target genes. However, posttreatment with SFN after APAP partially protected at 6 h likely due to more rapid activation of the Nrf2‐target gene heme oxygenase‐1. A direct comparison of SFN with NAC given at 1 h after APAP showed a superior protection with NAC, which was maintained at 24 h unlike with SFN. Thus, Nrf2 activators have inherent problems like the need to create a cellular stress to activate Nrf2 and delayed adaptive responses which may hamper sustained protection against APAP hepatotoxicity. Thus, compared to the more direct acting antidote NAC, Nrf2 activators are less suitable for this indication.
Ultrasound features and differential diagnosis for superficial nodular fasciitis
Authors: Zhuang Nan , Lyu Heng , Zhao Chenyang , Zhang Yusen , Dong Licong , Luo Haiyu , Tian Yun , Xie Lu , Wu Wangjie , Liu Li , Sun Desheng , Xie HaiQin 
Published: August 2023

AbstractBackgroundNodular fasciitis (NF) has nonspecific clinical manifestations and is often misdiagnosed as sarcoma. The investigations of imaging methods for NF were limited.ObjectiveTo analyze the ultrasound (US) features of NF, and to evaluate the diagnostic value of US for NF.Materials and MethodsA total of 61 NF patients were recruited retrospectively, and 551 lesions in the subcutaneous fat layer were included for comparison. We evaluated the ultrasound features of the patients and divided the NF cases into three types. Chi‐square test or Fisher exact test were conducted to detect the potential difference in the distributions of three types in the two groups.ResultsAmong the 61 NF cases, 65.6% were in the upper extremities (n = 40). The proportion of type 1, 2, and 3 were 57.4%, 24.6%, and 18.0%, respectively. NF were significantly more likely locating in the upper extremities than the other soft tissue tumors (p < 0.001). Type 1 and type 2 of sonographic features were significantly more commonly observed in NF than other soft tissue tumors among the three types (p < 0.001).ConclusionThe type 1 and type 2 of US features can help to distinguish NF from other lesions. US has great potential to improve the diagnostic accuracy and reduce the unnecessary surgery.
Laterality in roe deer embryos implantation
Authors: Chirichella Roberta , Apollonio Marco , Luccarini Siriano , Berlinguer Fiammetta 
Published: August 2023

AbstractFemale reproductive success is one of the most important life‐history traits to be monitored when determining population dynamics in free‐ranging ungulates. Several studies have described how phenotypic characteristics of the mother, climatic conditions, population status, and habitat can impact on potential reproductive output in wild ungulates. However, little is known regarding the internal, physiological factors, that may account for differences in implantation rates. The present study investigated the differences in implantation rates and site on the basis of site and number of ovulations through the examination of about 3000 intact uteri collected from pregnant roe deer does (Capreolus capreolus). Although ovulation occurs with the same frequency in the left and right ovary, we revealed a higher frequency of embryos implantation in the left uterine horn in odd litter size, demonstrating that embryos can migrate between the uterine horns. In our study, a greater proportion of reproductive wastage was associated to females with three and four corpora lutea and interestingly, in relation to the site of ovulation, the percentage of corpora lutea that did not correspond to a fetus was higher in the right ovary than in the left one (73.2% vs. 26.8%). Our research described for the first time the absence of laterality in ovulation and the presence of laterality in implantation in roe deer, thus laying the foundations for in‐depth studies about the functionality of this uterine side and for comparisons with populations located in other geographical areas to understand whether it is a widespread phenomenon or a local adaptation.