bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Methoden zur Erfassung der Krankheitsaktivität der Polymyalgia rheumatica
Authors: Reisch Myriam , Dejaco Christian 
Published: May 2023

ZusammenfassungDie Polymyalgia rheumatica (rPMR) ist die zweithäufigste entzündlich rheumatische Erkrankung im höheren Lebensalter. In klinischen Studien werden häufig die Remission und das Rezidiv als Endpunkte festgesetzt, jedoch existieren für diese Zustände noch keine einheitlichen Definitionen, was die Vergleichbarkeit von Studien erschwert. Der PMR-AS (PMR-Aktivitätsscore) ist derzeit der einzige für die PMR entwickelte Composite Score, durch den neben der Remission auch eine niedrige, mittlere und hohe Krankheitsaktivität definiert werden. In neueren Studien wird der PMR-AS häufig verwendet und die niedrige Krankheitsaktivität als Endpunkt festgelegt. Eine Limitation des PMR-AS ist die mögliche Beeinflussung der einzelnen Variablen durch Komorbiditäten. Beim Einsatz von Medikamenten, welche die Interleukin-6-Achse beeinflussen, sind das C‑reaktive Protein (CRP) und die Blutsenkungsgeschwindigkeit (BSG) für die Beurteilung der Krankheitsaktivität der PMR nur eingeschränkt verwertbar. Vielversprechende alternative Biomarker sind Calprotectin und Osteopontin, die bereits bei der rheumatoiden Arthritis die Erkrankungsaktivität unabhängig vom CRP widerspiegeln konnten. Darüber hinaus könnten bildgebende Verfahren wie die Sonographie, Magnetresonanztomographie und FDG(Fluordesoxyglucose)-Positronenemissionstomographie zum Monitoring der Krankheitsaktivität eingesetzt werden, wobei diese erst in weiteren Studien validiert werden müssen. Die PMR-IS (PMR-Impact Scale) ist ein Composite Score zur Erfassung der Auswirkungen von PMR auf die Patient:innen. Sie wurde allerdings bisher noch nicht in klinischen Studien angewendet. Die Entwicklung von weiteren PROs („patient reported outcomes“) für die PMR und die Definition von einheitlichen Kriterien zur Erfassung der Remission und des Rezidivs sind für die PMR wichtige zukünftige Forschungsfragen.
Morphokinetic analysis of early human embryonic development and its relationship to endometriosis resection: a retrospective time-lapse study using the KIDScore™ D3 and D5 implantation data algorithm
Authors: Herbert Saskia-Laureen , Staib Claudia , Wallner Theresa , Löb Sanja , Curtaz Carolin , Schwab Michael , Wöckel Achim , Häusler Sebastian 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Research question
Does complete resection of endometriosis improve embryo quality as assessed by morphokinetic parameters using time-lapse microscopy?

Design
For this retrospective study we analysed 237 fertilised, cultured and transferred embryos from 128 fresh IVF and/ or ICSI transfer cycles. Endometriosis was confirmed or excluded by laparoscopy. Patients were stimulated with recombinant FSH using GnRH agonist and antagonist protocols. After fertilisation, a time-lapse incubation system was used for observation. Embryo quality was assessed using the KIDScore™ D3 and D5 implantation data algorithm.

Results
The analysis showed a median KIDScore™ D5 of 2.6 (on a scale of 1 to 9.9) for embryos from patients with endometriosis without complete resection. The control group without endometriosis achieved a score of 6.8 (p = 0.003). The median score for embryos from endometriosis patients with complete resection was 7.2, which was a significant increase compared to embryos from patients without complete resection (p = 0.002). We observed an effect size of r = 0.4 for complete resection versus no resection of endometriosis using the KIDScore™ D5. There were no differences in KIDScore™ D3 between the three patient groups. Pregnancy and miscarriage rates showed the same clinical trends. In three of our four case series of patients who underwent IVF/ ICSI cycles before and after complete resection, we found a marked improvement in embryo quality after complete resection.

Conclusions
Complete resection of endometriosis could significantly improve the otherwise poor embryo quality of patients undergoing IVF-procedures. The data, therefore, strongly support recommending surgery to patients with endometriosis prior to assisted reproduction.
Self-organizing maps on “what-where” codes towards fully unsupervised classification
Authors: Sa-Couto Luis , Wichert Andreas 
Published: May 2023

AbstractInterest in unsupervised learning architectures has been rising. Besides being biologically unnatural, it is costly to depend on large labeled data sets to get a well-performing classification system. Therefore, both the deep learning community and the more biologically-inspired models community have focused on proposing unsupervised techniques that can produce adequate hidden representations which can then be fed to a simpler supervised classifier. Despite great success with this approach, an ultimate dependence on a supervised model remains, which forces the number of classes to be known beforehand, and makes the system depend on labels to extract concepts. To overcome this limitation, recent work has been proposed that shows how a self-organizing map (SOM) can be used as a completely unsupervised classifier. However, to achieve success it required deep learning techniques to generate high quality embeddings. The purpose of this work is to show that we can use our previously proposed What-Where encoder in tandem with the SOM to get an end-to-end unsupervised system that is Hebbian. Such system, requires no labels to train nor does it require knowledge of which classes exist beforehand. It can be trained online and adapt to new classes that may emerge. As in the original work, we use the MNIST data set to run an experimental analysis and verify that the system achieves similar accuracies to the best ones reported thus far. Furthermore, we extend the analysis to the more difficult Fashion-MNIST problem and conclude that the system still performs.
Genotype–phenotype correlation in contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP-2) developmental disorder
Authors: D’Onofrio Gianluca , Accogli Andrea , Severino Mariasavina , Caliskan Haluk , Kokotović Tomislav , Blazekovic Antonela , Jercic Kristina Gotovac , Markovic Silvana , Zigman Tamara , Goran Krnjak , Barišić Nina , Duranovic Vlasta , Ban Ana , Borovecki Fran , Ramadža Danijela Petković , Barić Ivo , Fazeli Walid , Herkenrath Peter , Marini Carla , Vittorini Roberta , Gowda Vykuntaraju , Bouman Arjan , Rocca Clarissa , Alkhawaja Issam Azmi , Murtaza Bibi Nazia , Rehman Malik Mujaddad Ur , Al Alam Chadi , Nader Gisele , Mancardi Maria Margherita , Giacomini Thea , Srivastava Siddharth , Alvi Javeria Raza , Tomoum Hoda , Matricardi Sara , Iacomino Michele , Riva Antonella , Scala Marcello , Madia Francesca , Pistorio Angela , Salpietro Vincenzo , Minetti Carlo , Rivière Jean-Baptiste , Srour Myriam , Efthymiou Stephanie , Maroofian Reza , Houlden Henry , Vernes Sonja Catherine , Zara Federico , Striano Pasquale , Nagy Vanja 
Published: May 2023

AbstractContactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene encodes for CASPR2, a presynaptic type 1 transmembrane protein, involved in cell–cell adhesion and synaptic interactions. Biallelic CNTNAP2 loss has been associated with “Pitt-Hopkins-like syndrome-1” (MIM#610042), while the pathogenic role of heterozygous variants remains controversial. We report 22 novel patients harboring mono- (n = 2) and bi-allelic (n = 20) CNTNAP2 variants and carried out a literature review to characterize the genotype–phenotype correlation. Patients (M:F 14:8) were aged between 3 and 19 years and affected by global developmental delay (GDD) (n = 21), moderate to profound intellectual disability (n = 17) and epilepsy (n = 21). Seizures mainly started in the first two years of life (median 22.5 months). Antiseizure medications were successful in controlling the seizures in about two-thirds of the patients. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or other neuropsychiatric comorbidities were present in nine patients (40.9%). Nonspecific midline brain anomalies were noted in most patients while focal signal abnormalities in the temporal lobes were noted in three subjects. Genotype–phenotype correlation was performed by also including 50 previously published patients (15 mono- and 35 bi-allelic variants). Overall, GDD (p < 0.0001), epilepsy (p < 0.0001), hyporeflexia (p = 0.012), ASD (p = 0.009), language impairment (p = 0.020) and severe cognitive impairment (p = 0.031) were significantly associated with the presence of biallelic versus monoallelic variants. We have defined the main features associated with biallelic CNTNAP2 variants, as severe cognitive impairment, epilepsy and behavioral abnormalities. We propose CASPR2-deficiency neurodevelopmental disorder as an exclusively recessive disease while the contribution of heterozygous variants is less likely to follow an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.
Matrix Whittaker processes
Authors: Arista Jonas , Bisi Elia , O’Connell Neil 
Published: May 2023

AbstractWe study a discrete-time Markov process on triangular arrays of matrices of size$$d\ge 1$$d≥1, driven by inverse Wishart random matrices. The components of the right edge evolve as multiplicative random walks on positive definite matrices with one-sided interactions and can be viewed as ad-dimensional generalisation of log-gamma polymer partition functions. We establish intertwining relations to prove that, for suitable initial configurations of the triangular process, the bottom edge has an autonomous Markovian evolution with an explicit transition kernel. We then show that, for a special singular initial configuration, the fixed-time law of the bottom edge is a matrix Whittaker measure, which we define. To achieve this, we perform a Laplace approximation that requires solving a constrained minimisation problem for certain energy functions of matrix arguments on directed graphs.
Near-optimal distributed dominating set in bounded arboricity graphs
Authors: Dory Michal , Ghaffari Mohsen , Ilchi Saeed 
Published: May 2023

AbstractWe describe a simple deterministic $$O( \varepsilon ^{-1} \log \Delta )$$

O
(

ε

-
1

log
Δ
)

round distributed algorithm for $$(2\alpha +1)(1 + \varepsilon )$$

(
2
α
+
1
)
(
1
+
ε
)

approximation of minimum weighted dominating set on graphs with arboricity at most $$\alpha $$
α
. Here $$\Delta $$
Δ
denotes the maximum degree. We also show a lower bound proving that this round complexity is nearly optimal even for the unweighted case, via a reduction from the celebrated KMW lower bound on distributed vertex cover approximation (Kuhn et al. in JACM 63:116, 2016). Our algorithm improves on all the previous results (that work only for unweighted graphs) including a randomized $$O(\alpha ^2)$$

O
(

α
2

)

approximation in $$O(\log n)$$

O
(
log
n
)

rounds (Lenzen et al. in International symposium on distributed computing, Springer, 2010), a deterministic $$O(\alpha \log \Delta )$$

O
(
α
log
Δ
)

approximation in $$O(\log \Delta )$$

O
(
log
Δ
)

rounds (Lenzen et al. in international symposium on distributed computing, Springer, 2010), a deterministic $$O(\alpha )$$

O
(
α
)

approximation in $$O(\log ^2 \Delta )$$

O
(

log
2

Δ
)

rounds (implicit in Bansal et al. in Inform Process Lett 122:21–24, 2017; Proceeding 17th symposium on discrete algorithms (SODA), 2006), and a randomized $$O(\alpha )$$

O
(
α
)

approximation in $$O(\alpha \log n)$$

O
(
α
log
n
)

rounds (Morgan et al. in 35th International symposiumon distributed computing, 2021). We also provide a randomized $$O(\alpha \log \Delta )$$

O
(
α
log
Δ
)

round distributed algorithm that sharpens the approximation factor to $$\alpha (1+o(1))$$

α
(
1
+
o
(
1
)
)

. If each node is restricted to do polynomial-time computations, our approximation factor is tight in the first order as it is NP-hard to achieve $$\alpha - 1 - \varepsilon $$

α
-
1
-
ε

approximation (Bansal et al. in Inform Process Lett 122:21-24, 2017).
Nonlinear nonlocal Douglas identity
Authors: Bogdan Krzysztof , Grzywny Tomasz , Pietruska-Pałuba Katarzyna , Rutkowski Artur 
Published: May 2023

AbstractWe give Hardy–Stein and Douglas identities for nonlinear nonlocal Sobolev–Bregman integral forms with unimodal Lévy measures. We prove that the corresponding Poisson integral defines an extension operator for the Sobolev–Bregman spaces. As an application, we obtain the boundedness of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator on weighted $$L^p$$

L
p

spaces. We also show that the Poisson integrals are quasiminimizers of the Sobolev–Bregman forms.
More help than harm: surgery for metastatic spinal cord compression is associated with more favorable overall survival within a propensity score analysis
Authors: Leitner Lukas , Bratschitsch Gerhard , Kostwein Anna , Sadoghi Patrick , Smolle Maria , Leithner Andreas , Posch Florian 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Purpose
Indication for surgical decompression in metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) is often based on prognostic scores such as the modified Bauer score (mBs), with favorable prognosis suggestive of surgery and poor prognosis of non-surgical management. This study aimed to clarify if (1) surgery may directly affect overall survival (OS) aside from short-term neurologic outcome, (2) explore whether selected patient subgroups with poor mBs might still benefit from surgery, and (3) gauge putative adverse effects of surgery on short-term oncologic outcomes.

Methods
Single-center propensity score analyses with inverse-probability-of-treatment-weights (IPTW) of OS and short-term neurologic outcomes in MSCC patients treated with or without surgery between 2007 and 2020.

Results
Among 398 patients with MSCC, 194 (49%) underwent surgery. During a median follow-up of 5.8 years, 355 patients (89%) died. MBs was the most important predictor for spine surgery (p < 0.0001) and the strongest predictor of favorable OS (p < 0.0001). Surgery was associated with improved OS after accounting for selection bias with the IPTW method (p = 0.021) and emerged as the strongest determinant of short-term neurological improvement (p < 0.0001). Exploratory analyses delineated a subgroup of patients with an mBs of 1 point who still benefited from surgery, and surgery did not result in a higher risk of short-term oncologic disease progression.

Conclusion
This propensity score analysis corroborates the concept that spine surgery for MSCC associates with more favorable neurological and OS outcomes. Selected patients with poor prognosis might also benefit from surgery, suggesting that even those with low mBs may be considered for this intervention.
Urinary metabolites associate with the presence of diabetic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes and mediate the effect of inflammation on kidney complication
Authors: Shi Caifeng , Wan Yemeng , He Aiqin , Wu Xiaomei , Shen Xinjia , Zhu Xueting , Yang Junwei , Zhou Yang 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Aims
Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the one of the leading causes of end-stage kidney disease. Unraveling novel biomarker signatures capable to identify patients with DKD is favorable for tackle the burden. Here, we investigated the possible association between urinary metabolites and the presence of DKD in type 2 diabetes (T2D), and further, whether the associated metabolites improve discrimination of DKD and mediate the effect of inflammation on kidney involvement was evaluated.

Methods
Two independent cohorts comprising 192 individuals (92 DKD) were analyzed. Urinary metabolites were analyzed by targeted metabolome profiling and inflammatory cytokine IL-18 were measured by ELISA. Differentially expressed metabolites were selected and mediation analysis was carried out.

Results
Seven potential metabolite biomarkers (i.e., S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine, propionic acid, oxoadipic acid, leucine, isovaleric acid, isobutyric acid, and indole-3-carboxylic acid) were identified using the discovery and validation design. In the pooled analysis, propionic acid, oxoadipic acid, leucine, isovaleric acid, isobutyric acid, and indole-3-carboxylic acid were markedly and independently associated with DKD. The composite index of 7 potential metabolite biomarkers (CMI) mediated 32.99% of the significant association between the inflammatory IL-18 and DKD. Adding the metabolite biomarkers improved the discrimination of DKD.

Conclusions
In T2D, several associated urinary metabolites were identified to improve the prediction of DKD. Whether interventions aimed at reducing CMI also reduce the risk of DKD especially in patients with high IL-18 needs further investigations.
Incidence of acute neurosurgery for traumatic brain injury in children—a nationwide analysis from 1998 to 2018
Authors: Möttönen Julius , Ponkilainen Ville T. , Iverson Grant L. , Luoto Teemu , Mattila Ville M. , Kuitunen Ilari 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Background
Most of moderate and severe pTBIs are managed conservatively, but in some cases neurosurgical interventions are needed. The incidence rates of acute pTBI neurosurgery vary considerably between countries and operation types. Our goal was to assess the incidence of acute pTBI neurosurgery in Finland.

Methods
We conducted a retrospective Finnish register-based cohort study from 1998 to 2018. We included all patients that were 0 to 17 years of age at the time of the TBI. The incidence rates of patients with pTBI undergoing neurosurgery and the rates for specific operation types were calculated per 100,000 person-years. We compared the annual incidences with incidence rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We stratified patients to three age categories: (i) 0 to 3 years of age, (ii) 4 to 12 years of age, and (iii) 13 to 17 years of age.

Results
The total number of neurosurgeries for acute pTBI during the study period was 386, and the cumulative incidence was 1.67 operations per 100,000 person-years. The cumulative incidence during the 21-year follow-up was highest at the age of 16 (IRR 4.78, CI 3.68 to 6.11). Boys had a 2.42-time higher cumulative incidence (IRR 2.35, CI 1.27 to 3.99) than girls (IRR 0.97, CI 0.35 to 2.20). The most common neurosurgery was an evacuation of an intracranial hemorrhage (n = 171; 44.3%).

Conclusion
The incidence of neurosurgeries for pTBIs has been stable from 1998 to 2018. The incidence was highest at the age of 16, and boys had higher incidence than girls.
Quantity discrimination by kittens of the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus)
Authors: Szenczi Péter , Martínez-Byer Sandra , Chacha Jimena , Hudson Robyn , Bánszegi Oxána 
Published: May 2023

AbstractQuantitative abilities are well described in many species and in diverse life situations, including in the adult domestic cat. However, such abilities have been much less studied during ontogeny. In the present study we examined spontaneous quantity discrimination by pre-weaning age kittens in two-way food choice experiments. In Experiment 1, 26 kittens performed 12 trials with different ratios between the number of same-size food items. In Experiment 2, 24 other kittens performed eight trials with different ratios between the size of two food items. We found, in general, that the kittens discriminated between the different amounts of food and spontaneously chose the larger one, but that their choice was influenced by the ratio of difference. The kittens in Experiment 1 chose the larger number of same-size food items if the ratio was smaller than 0.4 and in Experiment 2 they chose the larger pieces of food if the ratio between the items was smaller than 0.5. Because the kittens’ choice was not influenced by the absolute number of food items or the numerical difference between them in Experiment 1, it suggests that their cognitive performance relied on an analog magnitude system rather than on an object file system during the quantity discrimination tasks. We discuss our results considering the ecological and social background of cats and compare it with the performance of previously studied species.
Surgical management of symptomatic hemangioma of the geniculate ganglion: fascicular-sparing resection or grafting?
Authors: Giotta Lucifero Alice , Luzzi Sabino , Rabski Jessica , Meredith David , Kadri Paulo Abdo do Seixo , Al-Mefty Ossama 
Published: May 2023

Abstract Geniculate ganglion hemangioma (GGH) is rarely presented in the neurosurgical literature. It extends extradurally on the middle fossa floor and displaces the intratemporal part of the facial nerve. Surgical treatment is advisable at early symptoms. Proposed techniques include fascicular-sparing resection or nerve interruption with grafting. No definitive conclusions exist about the superiority of a certain technique in preserving facial nerve integrity and function. Through the description of a surgically managed symptomatic GGH, we herein discuss literature data about the surgical results of fascicular-sparing resection versus grafting. A PRISMA-based literature search was performed on the PubMed database. Only articles in English and published since 1990 were selected and furtherly filtered based on the best relevance. Statistical comparisons were performed with ANOVA. One hundred sixteen GGHs were collected, 56 were treated by fascicular-sparing resection, and 60 were treated by grafting. The facial function was improved, or unchanged, in 53 patients of the fascicular-sparing group and 30 patients of the grafting one. Sixty-five patients achieved a good (House–Brackmann (HB) grade III) postoperative facial outcome, of which 47 and 18 belonged to the fascicular-sparing and grafting group, respectively. Greater efficacy of the fascicular-sparing technique in the achievement of a better facial outcome was found (p = 0.0014; p = 0.0022). A surgical resection at the earliest symptoms is critical to preserve the facial nerve function in GGHs. Fascicular-sparing resection should be pursued in symptomatic cases with residual facial function (I–III HB). Conversely, grafting has a rationale for higher HB grades (V–VI). Broader studies are required to confirm these findings and turn them into new therapeutic perspectives.
Neopterin Levels in Bonobos Vary Seasonally and Reflect Symptomatic Respiratory Infections
Authors: Kreyer Mélodie , Behringer Verena , Deimel Caroline , Fruth Barbara 
Published: May 2023

AbstractAs environmental changes exacerbate the threat coming from infectious diseases in wild mammal species, monitoring their health and gaining a better understanding of the immune functioning at the species level have become critically important. Neopterin is a biomarker of cell-mediated immune responses to intracellular infections. We investigated the variation of urinary neopterin (uNeo) levels of wild, habituated bonobos (Pan paniscus) in relation to individual and environmental factors. We used 309 urine samples collected between 2010 and 2018 at the LuiKotale field site, DRC. Based on current knowledge on zoo-housed conspecifics and closely related species, we predicted uNeo levels to increase (1) during infections, (2) with increasing age, (3) over the gestation period and in estrous females; and (4) to vary seasonally. Our results showed uNeo levels varied over a one-year period and increased in individuals showing respiratory symptoms. Contrary to chimpanzees, uNeo levels did not vary with age or female reproductive status, possibly due to our small sample size. Our study provides a baseline for a better understanding of bonobo’s immunocompetence in the context of socio-ecological pressures and for monitoring the health of wild populations.