bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Identification of ferroptosis-related molecular clusters and genes for diabetic osteoporosis based on the machine learning
Authors: Wang Xingkai , Meng Lei , Zhang Juewei , Zhao Zitong , Zou Linxuan , Jia Zhuqiang , Han Xin , Zhao Lin , Song Mingzhi , Zong Junwei , Wang Shouyu , Qu Xueling , Lu Ming 
Published: August 2023

BackgroundDiabetic osteoporosis exhibits heterogeneity at the molecular level. Ferroptosis, a controlled form of cell death brought on by a buildup of lipid peroxidation, contributes to the onset and development of several illnesses. The aim was to explore the molecular subtypes associated with ferroptosis in diabetic osteoporosis at the molecular level and to further elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms.MethodsIntegrating the CTD, GeneCards, FerrDb databases, and the microarray data of GSE35958, we identified ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) associated with diabetic osteoporosis. We applied unsupervised cluster analysis to divide the 42 osteoporosis samples from the GSE56814 microarray data into different subclusters based on FRGs. Subsequently, FRGs associated with two ferroptosis subclusters were obtained by combining database genes, module-related genes of WGCNA, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Eventually, the key genes from FRGs associated with diabetic osteoporosis were identified using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), Boruta, support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM ­ RFE), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) machine learning algorithms. Based on ROC curves of external datasets (GSE56815), the model’s efficiency was examined.ResultsWe identified 15 differentially expressed FRGs associated with diabetic osteoporosis. In osteoporosis, two distinct molecular clusters related to ferroptosis were found. The expression results and GSVA analysis indicated that 15 FRGs exhibited significantly different biological functions and pathway activities in the two ferroptosis subclusters. Therefore, we further identified 17 FRGs associated with diabetic osteoporosis between the two subclusters. The results of the comprehensive analysis of 17 FRGs demonstrated that these genes were heterogeneous and had a specific interaction between the two subclusters. Ultimately, the prediction model had a strong foundation and excellent AUC values (0.84 for LASSO, 0.84 for SVM ­ RFE, 0.82 for Boruta, and 0.81 for XGBoost). IDH1 is a common gene to all four algorithms thus being identified as a key gene with a high AUC value (AUC = 0.698).ConclusionsAs a ferroptosis regulator, IDH1 is able to distinguish between distinct molecular subtypes of diabetic osteoporosis, which may offer fresh perspectives on the pathogenesis of the disease’s clinical symptoms and prognostic heterogeneity.
Defying syntactic preservation in Alzheimer's disease: what type of impairment predicts syntactic change in dementia (if it does) and why?
Authors: Ivanova Olga , Martínez-Nicolás Israel , García-Piñuela Elena , Meilán Juan José G. 
Published: August 2023

IntroductionMany studies on syntax in dementia suggest that, despite syntactic simplification, speakers with Alzheimer's disease (AD) retain their basic grammatical abilities, being mainly affected in their comprehension and production of complex syntax. Moreover, there is no single position on the origin of syntactic decline in AD, which, according to some authors, can be linked to a lexical-semantic deficit or, according to others, to either cognitive or autonomous dysfunction.MethodsIn this study, we apply the model of syntactic maturity to the analysis of oral speech production elicited by the Cookie-Theft description task. We assess a sample of 60 older adults (21 HC, 19 MCI, and 20 AD) through three indexes of syntactic maturity, measuring the proportion of sentences and clauses in discourse, their mean length, and the rate of their complexity.ResultsOur results show two important tendencies in AD: the preservation of general syntactic ability, as measured by the basic syntactic organization of speech, and the disturbance of the indexes of syntactic complexity, as measured by the overall length of utterances and their indexes of complexity.DiscussionAlthough speakers with AD maintain the ability to construct grammatically acceptable sentences and produce a similar number of utterances to healthy aging speakers and speakers with MCI, the syntactic complexity of their discourse significantly changes. Importantly, such significant changes are already present at the MCI stage and are not conditioned by the lexical-semantic deficit itself. Our results may be particularly relevant to improving the detection of cognitive impairment and to theoretically discussing the relationships between language levels in aging speakers.
Privacy-preserving continual learning methods for medical image classification: a comparative analysis
Authors: Verma Tanvi , Jin Liyuan , Zhou Jun , Huang Jia , Tan Mingrui , Choong Benjamin Chen Ming , Tan Ting Fang , Gao Fei , Xu Xinxing , Ting Daniel S. , Liu Yong 
Published: August 2023

BackgroundThe implementation of deep learning models for medical image classification poses significant challenges, including gradual performance degradation and limited adaptability to new diseases. However, frequent retraining of models is unfeasible and raises concerns about healthcare privacy due to the retention of prior patient data. To address these issues, this study investigated privacy-preserving continual learning methods as an alternative solution.MethodsWe evaluated twelve privacy-preserving non-storage continual learning algorithms based deep learning models for classifying retinal diseases from public optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, in a class-incremental learning scenario. The OCT dataset comprises 108,309 OCT images. Its classes include normal (47.21%), drusen (7.96%), choroidal neovascularization (CNV) (34.35%), and diabetic macular edema (DME) (10.48%). Each class consisted of 250 testing images. For continuous training, the first task involved CNV and normal classes, the second task focused on DME class, and the third task included drusen class. All selected algorithms were further experimented with different training sequence combinations. The final model's average class accuracy was measured. The performance of the joint model obtained through retraining and the original finetune model without continual learning algorithms were compared. Additionally, a publicly available medical dataset for colon cancer detection based on histology slides was selected as a proof of concept, while the CIFAR10 dataset was included as the continual learning benchmark.ResultsAmong the continual learning algorithms, Brain-inspired-replay (BIR) outperformed the others in the continual learning-based classification of retinal diseases from OCT images, achieving an accuracy of 62.00% (95% confidence interval: 59.36-64.64%), with consistent top performance observed in different training sequences. For colon cancer histology classification, Efficient Feature Transformations (EFT) attained the highest accuracy of 66.82% (95% confidence interval: 64.23-69.42%). In comparison, the joint model achieved accuracies of 90.76% and 89.28%, respectively. The finetune model demonstrated catastrophic forgetting in both datasets.ConclusionAlthough the joint retraining model exhibited superior performance, continual learning holds promise in mitigating catastrophic forgetting and facilitating continual model updates while preserving privacy in healthcare deep learning models. Thus, it presents a highly promising solution for the long-term clinical deployment of such models.
Sustainable nano-interventions to enhance crop yield, anthocyanin content, and marketability of onion (Allium cepa)
Authors: Jangir Himanshi , Kaler Brijesh , Srivastava Gaurav , Das Mainak 
Published: August 2023

Introduction: Agriculture predominantly follows three farming systems: natural, organic (organic manures for soil nutrition), and agrochemical intensive. Agrochemical-intensive farming uses synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, and weedicides. It holds the most prominent place in the modern agriculture business. Humankind realizes that over-reliance on synthetic agrochemicals has resulted in the declining health of the ecosystem’s soil, water, and living species. It must explore strategies to reduce synthetic agrochemicals without compromising agricultural production to restore the ecological balance. Nano-formulations help lower dosages of agrochemicals, leading to the emergence of nano-agriculture. However, the critical challenge is how we could exploit nanomaterials’ power to selectively improve crop plants’ metabolic performance so that it has a better competitive edge in the field to withstand the nutrient-seeking pressure exerted by other plants.Methods: Here we have achieved the same by root treatment of the onion crop and then growing them in the presence of organic goat manure.Results: In a 2 years field trial with onion crops, we report an increase in yield through root treatment with nano-pyrite (FeS2) plus soil application of goat dropping (Test) as compared to the use of goat dropping alone (Control). In the first-year field trial (November 2018- April 2019), the total biomass (bulb + leaf) weight of the test sample was 4.75 kg (n = 86), while control samples weighed 3.5 kg (n = 83). The total bulb weight for the control and test was 2.6 and 3.6 kg, respectively. In the second-year field trial (December 2019- April 2020), the total biomass of the test sample was 2.65 kg (n = 64), while control samples weighed 2.30 kg (n = 64). We observed a yield-boosting effect of root treatment with nano-pyrite plus soil application of goat dropping in onion crops. As monitored by spectroscopic absorbance, there is a significant increase in the anthocyanin content in test bulbs (0.069) compared to control bulbs (0.02). Similarly, the relative flavanol content in test leaves (0.253) was significantly higher compared to the control samples (0.086). We have integrated nano-agriculture and organic farming, resulting in a hybrid form; nano-organic farming bolsters the metabolic fitness of the onion (Allium cepa) to achieve sustainable food production.
Language and health-related quality of life outcomes of children early-detected with unilateral and mild bilateral hearing loss
Authors: Carew Peter , Shepherd Daisy A. , Smith Libby , Soh Qi Rui , Sung Valerie 
Published: August 2023

IntroductionWe aimed to describe the language and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes of children early-identified with unilateral or mild bilateral permanent hearing loss. This was a cross-sectional community-based study of children with mild bilateral or unilateral permanent hearing loss (including unilateral auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD)), drawn from a population-based databank in Victoria, Australia.MethodsEnrolment in this databank is independent of early intervention and amplification approaches. Language and caregiver-reported HRQoL outcomes are described by type and degree of loss at three timepoints across child development: at age 2 years (n = 255), 5–7 years (n = 173) and 9–12 years (n = 45).ResultsAcross all age groups, average language outcomes were poorer than population normative scores by between a half to two thirds of a standard deviation. Children with mild bilateral hearing loss demonstrated poorer average language outcomes than children with unilateral hearing loss, particularly at younger ages. Children with unilateral ANSD showed language outcomes comparable to their peers with unilateral profound hearing loss. Children had poorer HRQoL psychosocial scores compared to physical scores, without obvious patterns of outcomes linked to degree or type of hearing loss.DiscussionThis study demonstrates children with early-identified unilateral or mild bilateral hearing loss have average language and HRQoL outcomes poorer than population normative expectations from an early age. These outcomes are observed at later ages across childhood. These findings provide a contemporary description of language and quality of life outcomes for children identified but not targeted by universal newborn hearing screening and raise questions of how to provide better support for these populations of children and their families.
Depression symptoms and suicide risk of internal medicine residents before and after first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: De La Roca-Chiapas Jose Maria , Grajeda Gutiérrez Carlos Francisco , Íñiguez Venegas Valeria Judith , Hernández González Martha Alicia , Reyes Pérez Verónica 
Published: August 2023

IntroductionDepression is a mental health disorder characterized by the presence of sadness or loss of the ability to feel pleasure, with a high incidence in patients with COVID 19. The investigations have focused on patient care and little on the care of health personnel, these being the ones with the highest mortality rate, so the objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence of depression symptoms and suicide risk and understand the association of depressive disorder and suicide risk with levels of serum cholesterol and low levels of serum cortisol among internal medicine fellows in a specialist medical hospital in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, before and after COVID-19.MethodsIn this longitudinal study, internal medicine residents were initially monitored for 2months before starting to care for patients with COVID-19. Participants were asked to fill out depression symptoms and suicide risk surveys. We measured the serum cholesterol and cortisol of each participant, and again after 11months of treating COVID-19 patients.ResultsDepression symptoms and suicide risk were assessed; significant differences were found between the two time periods for depression (p &lt; 0.01), and no difference was found for suicide risk (p = 0.182). We found a significant correlation between serum cholesterol levels and suicide risk (r = 0.366, p &lt; 0.01); we also found differences in serum cortisol levels (p &lt; 0.01) and cholesterol (p &lt; 0.0001) before and after the pandemic.ConclusionCaring for patients with COVID-19 in the hospital contributed to an increase in levels of depression symptoms and suicidal ideation, as well as differences in levels of cortisol and cholesterol in resident physicians of internal medicine; among the possible reasons for this change could be the conditions of personal protection while treating patients, the uncertainty in the first months of not knowing how the virus was transmitted and not having or knowing when vaccinations would be available, as well as the lack of a strategy of adequate mental health support from the institutions dedicated to their academic training.
Crossmodal correspondences between visual features and tastes in preschoolers: an exploratory study
Authors: Meng Xianwei , Chen Na , Ishida Junya , Watanabe Katsumi , Murakami Taro 
Published: August 2023

IntroductionAdults possess a natural inclination to associate sensory cues derived from distinct modalities, such as the pairing of sweet with pink. However, studies exploring crossmodal correspondences in children, particularly in the sensory pairing of visual features and tastes, are scant, leaving unanswered questions regarding the developmental trajectory of crossmodal correspondences. The present study investigates whether Japanese preschool children demonstrate specific biases in shape–color, shape–taste, and color–taste associations.MethodsIn a series of in-person experiments, 92 children between 3 to 6 years of age completed matching tasks utilizing paper stimuli.ResultsChildren exhibit crossmodal correspondences in shape-color (circle-red and asymmetrical star-yellow), shape–taste (triangle-salty and circle-sweet), and color–taste (yellow-sour, black-bitter, and pink-sweet) associations. Moreover, children’s choices are not influenced by their individual preferences.DiscussionThe crossmodal correspondences observed in this study have been observed in previous research on adults from the same (Japanese) culture, although adults showed more crossmodal correspondences than the children in this study (e.g., pink-circle, triangle-sour, and green-bitter). Thus, while some crossmodal correspondences emerge during childhood, others may require additional time to develop, thereby highlighting the importance of understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying crossmodal correspondences from an ontogenic perspective.
The association between physical activity and fear of falling among community-dwelling older women in China: the mediating role of physical fitness
Authors: Wu Shuang , Li Guangkai , Shi Beibei , Ge Hongli , He Qiang 
Published: August 2023

BackgroundThis study aimed to explore the association between physical activity (PA) and fear of falling (FOF) and to determine whether this relationship was mediated by physical fitness (PF) in community-dwelling older women.MethodsFor this cross-sectional study, a total of 1,108 older women were recruited. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and light physical activity (LPA) were objectively measured by accelerometers. Physical fitness indicators including body mass index (BMI), forced vital capacity, choice reaction time, grip strength, sit and reach, and five times sit-to-stand were measured. FOF was evaluated by the Chinese version of the activities-specific balance confidence scale. A stepwise linear regression model analysis was used for mediation analysis, and bootstrap analysis was used to verify the mediation effects.ResultThe Pearson correlation coefficient results suggested that MVPA was significantly and negatively correlated with FOF while LPA was not correlated with FOF. Logistic regression analysis suggested a significant association between MVPA, BMI, forced vital capacity, choice reaction time, sit and reach, grip strength, five times sit-to-stand, and FOF. The mediation analysis showed a negative relationship between MVPA and FOF. BMI completely mediated the relationship between MVPA and FOF while sit and reach, five times sit-to-stand, and forced vital capacity partially mediated the relationship between MVPA and FOF.ConclusionAccumulation of more daily MVPA was associated with reducing the odds of FOF in community-dwelling older women. PF indicators fully or partially mediate the relationship between MVPA and FOF. Therefore, more intervention efforts should focus on the promotion of MVPA to improve PF and thus reduce FOF among older women.
Case report: Predictability of clinical response and rejection risk after immune checkpoint inhibition in liver transplantation
Authors: Yang Zhou Jordi , Eder Dominik , Weber Florian , Heumann Philipp , Kronenberg Katharina , Werner Jens M. , Geissler Edward K. , Schlitt Hans J. , Hutchinson James A. , Bitterer Florian 
Published: August 2023

BackgroundThe approval of Atezolizumab / Bevacizumab therapy (Atezo/Bev) in 2020 opened up a promising new treatment option for patients with end-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, liver transplant (LTx) patients with HCC are still denied this therapy owing to concerns about ICI-induced organ rejection and lack of regulatory approval.MethodsA prospective observational study at a tertiary liver transplant centre monitored the compassionate, off-label use of Atezo/Bev in a single, stable LTx recipient with non-resectable HCC recurrence. Close clinical, laboratory and immunological monitoring of the patient was performed throughout a four-cycle Atezo/Bev treatment. Measured parameters were selected after a systematic review of the literature on predictive markers for clinical response and risk of graft rejection caused by ICI therapy.Results19 articles describing 20 unique predictive biomarkers were identified. The most promising negative prognostic factors were the baseline values and dynamic course of IL-6, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and the AFP/CRP ratio. The frequency of regulatory T cells (Treg) reportedly correlates with the success of ICI therapy. PD-L1 and CD28 expression level with the allograft, peripheral blood CD4+ T cell numbers and Torque Teno Virus (TTV) titre may predict risk of LTx rejection following ICI therapy. No relevant side effects or acute rejection occurred during Atezo/Bev therapy; however, treatment did not prevent tumor progression. Absence of PD-L1 expression in pre-treatment liver biopsies, as well as a progressive downregulation of CD28 expression by CD4+ T cells during therapy, correctly predicted absence of rejection. Furthermore, increased IL-6 and AFP levels after starting therapy, as well as a reduction in blood Treg frequency, correctly anticipated a lack of therapeutic response.ConclusionAtezo/Bev therapy for unresectable HCC in stable LTx patients remains a controversial strategy because it carries a high-risk of rejection and therapeutic response rates are poorly defined. Although previously described biomarkers of rejection risk and therapeutic response agreed with clinical outcomes in the described case, these immunological parameters are difficult to reliably interpret. Clearly, there is an important unmet need for standardized assays and clinically validated cut-offs before we use these biomarkers to guide treatment decisions for our patients.
Does this virtual food make me hungry? effects of visual quality and food type in virtual reality
Authors: Ramousse Florian , Raimbaud Pierre , Baert Patrick , Helfenstein-Didier Clémentine , Gay Aurélia , Massoubre Catherine , Galusca Bogdan , Lavoué Guillaume 
Published: August 2023

Introduction: Studies into food-related behaviors and emotions are increasingly being explored with Virtual Reality (VR). Applications of VR technologies for food science include eating disorder therapies, eating behavior studies and sensory analyzes. These applications involve 3D food stimuli intended to elicit cravings, stress, and/or emotions. However, the visual quality (i.e., the realism) of used food stimuli is heterogeneous, and this factor’s influence on the results has never been isolated and evaluated. In this context, this work aims to study how the visual quality of food stimuli, exposed in a virtual reality environment, influences the resulting desire to eat.Methods: 28 subjects without eating disorders were included in this protocol, who evaluated the desire to eat induced by 10 3D food stimuli, each duplicated in 7 quality levels (for a total of 70 stimuli).Results: Results show that visual quality influences the desire to eat, and this effect depends on the type of food and users’ eating habits. We found two significant thresholds for visual quality: the first provides the minimal quality necessary to elicit a significant desire to eat, while the second provides the ceiling value above which increasing the quality does not improve further the desire to eat.Discussion: These results allow us to provide useful recommendations for the design of experiments involving food stimuli.