bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Three-year trajectories of alcohol use among at-risk and among low-risk drinkers in a general population sample of adults: A latent class growth analysis of a brief intervention trial
Authors: Baumann Sophie , Staudt Andreas , Freyer-Adam Jennis , Zeiser Maria , Bischof Gallus , Meyer Christian , John Ulrich 
Published: November 2022

BackgroundFew studies have assessed trajectories of alcohol use in the general population, and even fewer studies have assessed the impact of brief intervention on the trajectories. Especially for low-risk drinkers, it is unclear what trajectories occur, whether they benefit from intervention, and if so, when and how long. The aims were first, to identify alcohol use trajectories among at-risk and among low-risk drinkers, second, to explore potential effects of brief alcohol intervention and, third, to identify predictors of trajectories.MethodsAdults aged 18-64 years were screened for alcohol use at a municipal registration office. Those with alcohol use in the past 12 months (N = 1646; participation rate: 67%) were randomized to assessment plus computer-generated individualized feedback letters or assessment only. Outcome was drinks/week assessed at months 3, 6, 12, and 36. Alcohol risk group (at-risk/low-risk) was determined using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–Consumption. Latent class growth models were estimated to identify alcohol use trajectories among each alcohol risk group. Sex, age, school education, employment status, self-reported health, and smoking status were tested as predictors.ResultsFor at-risk drinkers, a light-stable class (46%), a medium-stable class (46%), and a high-decreasing class (8%) emerged. The light-stable class tended to benefit from intervention after 3 years (Incidence Rate Ratio, IRR=1.96; 95% Confidence Interval, CI: 1.14–3.37). Male sex, higher age, more years of school, and current smoking decreased the probability of belonging to the light-stable class (p-values&lt;0.05). For low-risk drinkers, a very light-slightly increasing class (72%) and a light-increasing class (28%) emerged. The very light-slightly increasing class tended to benefit from intervention after 6 months (IRR=1.60; 95% CI: 1.12–2.28). Male sex and more years of school increased the probability of belonging to the light-increasing class (p-value &lt; 0.05).ConclusionMost at-risk drinkers did not change, whereas the majority of low-risk drinkers increased alcohol use. There may be effects of alcohol feedback, with greater long-term benefits among persons with low drinking amounts. Our findings may help to identify refinements in the development of individualized interventions to reduce alcohol use.
Sex-differences in COVID-19 diagnosis, risk factors and disease comorbidities: A large US-based cohort study
Authors: Kharroubi Samer A. , Diab-El-Harake Marwa 
Published: November 2022

IntroductionMorbidity and mortality from COVID-19 are higher among men, however, underlying pathways remain controversial. We aim to investigate sex-gender differences in COVID-19 in a large US-based cohort, namely COVID-19 Research Database. More specifically, the objectives are to explore the socio-economic characteristics of COVID-19 male and female patients and to examine potential sex differences in lifestyle factors and disease comorbidities among diagnosed patients.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study contrasting male vs. female patients with test-confirmed COVID-19. The study used Healthjump electronic medical records (e.g., demographics, encounters, medical history, and vitals) extracted from January 2020 to December 2021 (N = 62,310).ResultsSignificant sociodemographic and comorbidity differences were observed between males and females (p &lt; 0.05). For example, a significantly higher proportion of males (vs. females) were aged ≥70-year-old (17.04 vs. 15.01%) and smokers (11.04 vs. 9.24%, p &lt; 0.0001). In addition, multiple logistic regression showed that hypertension and diabetes were significantly more frequent in males [adjusted odds ratio (ORa) = 66.19 and ORa = 22.90].ConclusionsUnderstanding the differences in outcomes between male and female patients will inform gender equity responsive approach to COVID-19 and enhance the effectiveness of clinical practice, health policy and interventions.
Tracking financing for global common goods for health: A machine learning approach using natural language processing techniques
Authors: Dixit Siddharth , Mao Wenhui , McDade Kaci Kennedy , Schäferhoff Marco , Ogbuoji Osondu , Yamey Gavin 
Published: November 2022

ObjectiveTracking global health funding is a crucial but time consuming and labor-intensive process. This study aimed to develop a framework to automate the tracking of global health spending using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. We used the global common goods for health (CGH) categories developed by Schäferhoff et al. to design and evaluate ML models.MethodsWe used data curated by Schäferhoff et al., which tracked the official development assistance (ODA) disbursements to global CGH for 2013, 2015, and 2017, for training and validating the ML models. To process raw text, we implemented different NLP techniques, such as removing stop words, lemmatization, and creation of synthetic text, to balance the dataset. We used four supervised learning ML algorithms—random forest (RF), XGBOOST, support vector machine (SVM), and multinomial naïve Bayes (MNB) (see Glossary)—to train and test the pre-coded dataset, and applied the best model on dataset that hasn't been manually coded to predict the financing for CGH in 2019.ResultsAfter we trained the machine on the training dataset (n = 10,534), the weighted average F1-scores (a measure of a ML model's performance) on the testing dataset (n = 2,634) ranked 0.79–0.83 among four models, and the RF model had the best performance (F1-score = 0.83). The predicted total donor support for CGH projects by the RF model was $2.24 billion across 3 years, which was very close to the finding of $2.25 billion derived from coding and classification by humans. By applying the trained RF model on the 2019 dataset, we predicted that the total funding for global CGH was about $2.7 billion for 730 CGH projects.ConclusionWe have demonstrated that NLP and ML can be a feasible and efficient way to classify health projects into different global CGH categories, and thus track health funding for CGH routinely using data from publicly available databases.
Adjusting intervention strategies for mental health of COVID-19 patients: A network analysis based on a survey in Omicron-infected patients
Authors: Li Kuiliang , Luo Keyong , Zhan Xiaoqing , Liu Chang , Li Ling , Luo Xi , Ren Lei , Wang Lingzhi , Feng Zhengzhi 
Published: November 2022

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on people's mental health. As the SAS-Cov-2 evolves to become less virulent, the number of asymptomatic patients increases. It remains unclear if the mild symptoms are associated with mild perceived stress and mental illness, and the interventions to improve the mental health of the patients are rarely reported.MethodsThis cross-sectional study investigated the level of depression, anxiety and perceived stress of 1,305 COVID-19 patients who received treatment in the Fangcang shelter hospitals in Shanghai, China. Network analysis was used to explore the relationship among depression, anxiety and perceived stress.ResultsThe prevalence of depression, anxiety and perceived stress in the patients with Omicron infection were 9.03, 4.60, and 17.03%, respectively, lower than the prevalence reported during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. “Restlessness (A5),” “Uncontrollable worry (A2),” “Trouble relaxing (A4)” and “Fatigue (D4)” had the highest expected influence values. “Irritability (A6)” and “Uncontrollable (S1)” were bridge symptoms in the network. Comparative analysis of the network identified differences in the network structures between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.ConclusionThis study investigated the prevalence of depression, anxiety and perceived stress and the correlation among them in Omicron-infected patients in Fangcang shelter hospital, in Shanghai, China. The core symptoms identified in the study provide insight into targeted clinical prevention and intervention of mental health in non-severe Omicron-infected patients.
Development of a new category system for the profile morphology of temporomandibular disorders patients based on cephalograms using cluster analysis
Authors: Zhu Rui , Zheng Yun-Hao , Zhang Zi-Han , Fan Pei-Di , Wang Jun , Xiong Xin 
Published: November 2022

ObjectiveThis study aims to develop a new category scheme for the profile morphology of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) based on lateral cephalometric morphology.MethodsFive hundred and one adult patients (91 males and 410 females) with TMD were enrolled in this study. Cluster tendency analysis, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed using 36 lateral cephalometric measurements. Classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm was used to construct a binary decision tree based on the clustering results.ResultsTwelve principal components were discovered in the TMD patients and were responsible for 91.2% of the variability. Cluster tendency of cephalometric data from TMD patients were confirmed and three subgroups were revealed by cluster analysis: (a) cluster 1: skeletal class I malocclusion; (b) cluster 2: skeletal class I malocclusion with increased facial height; (c) cluster 3: skeletal class II malocclusion with clockwise rotation of the mandible. Besides, CART model was built and the eight key morphological indicators from the decision tree model were convenient for clinical application, with the prediction accuracy up to 85.4%.ConclusionOur study proposed a novel category system for the profile morphology of TMDs with three subgroups according to the cephalometric morphology, which may supplement the morphological understanding of TMD and benefit the management of the categorical treatment of TMD.
An exercise prescription for patients with lung cancer improves the quality of life, depression, and anxiety
Authors: Lei Juntian , Yang Jianyu , Dong Lei , Xu Jilai , Chen Jing , Hou Xiao , Bai Zhenmin 
Published: November 2022

IntroductionLung cancer has the highest rates of morbidity and mortality among all cancers. Patients with lung cancer inevitably confront psychosocial discomforts and progressively experience depression and anxiety that potentially impact the clinical outcomes [e.g., quality of life (QoL)]. These mental disorders in patients with lung cancer may effectively be alleviated with prescribed Chinese traditional mind-body exercises. This study aimed to determine the effect of the exercise prescription containing Chinese traditional mind-body exercise on QoL, depression, and anxiety in patients with lung cancer.MethodsIn this study, 52 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) recruited from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital were divided into two groups, namely, the experimental group (N = 26) and the control group (N = 26). The experimental group was treated with an 8-week exercise prescription containing aerobic and resistance training. The control group received the usual care during the study period. The QoL, depression, and anxiety were separately investigated using EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQ-LC13, the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) at baseline and post-intervention. The scores of questionnaires were analyzed using the paired sample and independent sample t-tests to explore the intragroup and intergroup differences, respectively.ResultsThe EORTC QLQ-C30 scores for physical functioning, role functioning, emotional functioning, and global QoL in the experimental group at post-intervention were significantly higher than those at baseline. The EORTC QLQ-C30 scores for fatigue, pain, dyspnea, and insomnia in the experimental group at post-intervention were significantly lower than those at the baseline. The SDS scores (baseline: 57.74 ± 8.77 vs. post-intervention: 51.42 ± 7.31, p &lt; 0.05) and the SAS scores (baseline: 56.63 ± 9.39 vs. post-intervention: 49.16 ± 7.83, p &lt; 0.05) in the experimental group at post-intervention were significantly lower than those at baseline.ConclusionsThe 8-week exercise prescription containing moderate-intensity Baduanjin (5 days per week) can effectively alleviate QoL, depression, and anxiety in patients with NSCLC. Our exercise prescription is an effective supportive treatment for lung cancer patients with depression and anxiety.Clinical trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900025121).
Spatial-temporal heterogeneity and driving factors of PM2.5 in China: A natural and socioeconomic perspective
Authors: She Yuanyang , Chen Qingyan , Ye Shen , Wang Peng , Wu Bobo , Zhang Shaoyu 
Published: November 2022

BackgroundFine particulate matter (PM2.5), one of the major atmospheric pollutants, has a significant impact on human health. However, the determinant power of natural and socioeconomic factors on the spatial-temporal variation of PM2.5 pollution is controversial in China.MethodsIn this study, we explored spatial-temporal characteristics and driving factors of PM2.5 through 252 prefecture-level cities in China from 2015 to 2019, based on the spatial autocorrelation and geographically and temporally weighted regression model (GTWR).ResultsPM2.5 concentrations showed a significant downward trend, with a decline rate of 3.58 μg m−3 a−1, and a 26.49% decrease in 2019 compared to 2015, Eastern and Central China were the two regions with the highest PM2.5 concentrations. The driving force of socioeconomic factors on PM2.5 concentrations was slightly higher than that of natural factors. Population density had a positive significant driving effect on PM2.5 concentrations, and precipitation was the negative main driving factor. The two main driving factors (population density and precipitation) showed that the driving capability in northern region was stronger than that in southern China. North China and Central China were the regions of largest decline, and the reason for the PM2.5 decline might be the transition from a high environmental pollution-based industrial economy to a resource-clean high-tech economy since the implementation the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan in 2013.ConclusionWe need to fully consider the coordinated development of population size and local environmental carrying capacity in terms of control of PM2.5 concentrations in the future. This research is helpful for policy-makers to understand the distribution characteristics of PM2.5 emission and put forward effective policy to alleviate haze pollution.
Prevalence of waterpipe smoking and its associated factors among adolescents aged 12–16 years in 73 countries/territories
Authors: Ma Chuanwei , Yang Hui , Zhao Min , Magnussen Costan G. , Xi Bo 
Published: November 2022

IntroductionTo describe the recent prevalence of, and trends in, waterpipe smoking and to examine its associated factors among adolescents aged 12–16 years in 73 countries/territories (hereafter “countries”).MethodsData from 72 countries that had conducted a Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) in 2010–2019 and from the National Youth Tobacco Survey in the United States in 2019 were used to assess the recent prevalence of waterpipe smoking and to examine its associated factors among adolescents aged 12–16 years. Data from 38 countries that had carried out at least 2 surveys from 2000 to 2019 were used to determine trends in the prevalence of waterpipe smoking among adolescents.ResultsThe recent prevalence of current waterpipe smoking (on 1 day during the past 30 days) among adolescents was 6.9% (95%CI 6.4–7.5). The prevalence was highest in the European region (10.9%, 9.9–11.8) and Eastern Mediterranean region (10.7%, 9.5–11.9), but lowest in the Western Pacific region (1.9%, 1.4–2.4). The prevalence of current waterpipe smoking increased or remained unchanged in 19 (50%) of 38 countries, but decreased in the remaining 19 countries (50%). Parental smoking, closest friends' smoking, secondhand smoke exposure, tobacco advertisement exposure, not being taught the dangers of smoking, particularly cigarette smoking, were positively associated with adolescent waterpipe smoking.DiscussionWaterpipe smoking among adolescents remains a major public health issue worldwide, especially in the regions of Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. Effective prevention and control strategies and measures are needed to curb the epidemic of adolescent waterpipe smoking.
Knowledge, attitude, acceptance, and practice of COVID-19 vaccination and associated factors complemented with constructs of health belief model among the general public in South Gondar, Ethiopia: A community-based study
Authors: Yisak Hiwot , Ambaw Birhanie , Belay Emaway , Desalegn Tsion , Getie Adanech , Asrat Meswat , Guangul Asrate , Seid Tigist , Zewde Edgeit Abebe , Assefa Mengesha , Ewunetei Amien 
Published: November 2022

IntroductionUnderstanding the epidemiological dynamics of disease control, as well as the effectiveness, compliance, and success of the vaccination program requires an understanding of the local population's knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the Corona Virus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 vaccination and associated factors among the general public.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in the South Gondar Zone, among residents above the age of 18 years. The study used objective measures and the constructs of the Health Belief Model. Binary logistic regression was used and the result of the final model was presented in terms of adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), and statistical significance was taken and considered at a P-value &lt; 0.05.ResultsThe study was conducted on 1,111 study participants. The mean age is 30.83 ± 7.106. About 575 (51.8%) of the respondents have good knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccination and 43.4% have a positive attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination. About 361 (32.5%) of the respondents were willing to take the vaccine if it is available and 113 (10.2%) of them were vaccinated. Participants with a positive attitude and good knowledge, those with a secondary level of education AOR = 5.70, 95% CI (2.60–12.60), those with a monthly income of &gt;2,000 birr AOR = 6.30, 95% CI (2.50–15.60), those having a television (TV), and those who use Facebook AOR = 17.70, 95% CI (10.10–30.90) had a higher level of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. The Health Belief Model's constructs of perceived susceptibility AOR = 1.53, 95% CI (1.26–1.85), perceived benefit AOR = 1.49, 95% CI (1.28–1.75), and cues to action AOR = 0.54, 95% CI (0.45–0.65) were all linked to COVID-19 vaccine acceptability.ConclusionThe level of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination is much lower. Having a positive attitude score and good knowledge score, level of education, monthly income, presence of TV, the use of Facebook, and knowing the means of transmission of COVID-19 increase the level of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination.
Acceptability of rectal self-sampling in non-clinical venues for chlamydia and gonorrhea testing among men who have sex with men: A cross-sectional study in Shenzhen, China
Authors: Weng Rongxing , Ning Ning , Zhang Chunlai , Wen Lizhang , Ye Jianbin , Wang Honglin , Li Jing , Chen Xiangsheng , Cai Yumao 
Published: November 2022

BackgroundRectal Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) have become an increasingly important concern. The study aimed to explore (1) the acceptability of rectal self-sampling for chlamydia and gonorrhea testing among MSM in non-clinical venues in Shenzhen city, China; (2) factors associated with the acceptability of rectal self-sampling; and (3) factors associated with rectal CT and NG infections, respectively.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in two non-clinical settings in Shenzhen, China, from April 2021 to October 2021. Mixed-effects logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the factors associated with acceptance of rectal self-collection for CT and NG testing.ResultsOf the 306 MSM who were offered to perform rectal self-sampling, 133 (43.46%) accepted, and 96.24% (128/133) of them successfully provided a valid rectal sample. The prevalence of urogenital CT and NG infections among 303 MSM was 4.29 and 0.66%, respectively. The prevalence of rectal CT and NG infections among 128 participants was 31.25 and 9.38%, respectively. Participants having been diagnosed with HIV infection showed a higher acceptance of rectal self-collection for CT and NG testing.ConclusionThis study reported that rectal self-sampling in non-clinical venues for CT and NG testing among MSM was barely acceptable and feasible in China. Most CT and NG infections would have been missed if urethral screening was offered alone, which implies that the CT and NG screening should be scaled up in the above setting. Integrating free CT tests into regular STI interventions for MSM could also be considered.
Spirulina platensis Ameliorates Oxidative Stress Associated with Antiretroviral Drugs in HepG2 Cells
Authors: Sibiya Thabani , Ghazi Terisha , Mohan Jivanka , Nagiah Savania , Chuturgoon Anil A. 
Published: November 2022

Lately, Spirulina platensis (SP), as an antioxidant, has exhibited high potency in the treatment of oxidative stress, diabetes, immune disorder, inflammatory stress, and bacterial and viral-related diseases. This study investigated the possible protective role of Spirulina platensis against ARV-induced oxidative stress in HepG2 cells. Human liver (HepG2) cells were treated with ARVs ((Lamivudine (3TC): 1.51 µg/mL, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF): 0.3 µg/mL and Emtricitabine (FTC): 1.8 µg/mL)) for 96 h and thereafter treated with 1.5 µg/mL Spirulina platensis for 24 h. After the treatments, the gene and protein expressions of the antioxidant response pathway were determined using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blots. The results show that Spirulina platensis decreased the gene expressions of Akt (p < 0.0001) and eNOS (↓p < 0.0001) while, on the contrary, it increased the transcript levels of NRF-2 (↑p = 0.0021), Keap1 (↑p = 0.0002), CAT (↑p < 0.0001), and NQO-1 (↑p = 0.1432) in the HepG2 cells. Furthermore, the results show that Spirulina platensis also decreased the protein expressions of NRF-2 (↓p = 0.1226) and pNRF-2 (↓p = 0.0203). Interestingly, HAART-SP induced an NRF-2 pathway response through upregulating NRF-2 (except for FTC-SP) (↑p < 0.0001), CAT (↑p < 0.0001), and NQO-1 (except for FTC-SP) (↑p < 0.0001) mRNA expression. In addition, NRF-2 (↑p = 0.0085) and pNRF-2 (↑p < 0.0001) protein expression was upregulated in the HepG2 cells post-exposure to HAART-SP. The results, therefore, allude to the fact that Spirulina platensis has the potential to mitigate HAART-adverse drug reactions (HAART toxicity) through the activation of antioxidant response in HepG2 cells. We hereby recommend further studies on Spirulina platensis and HAART synergy.