bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dose– and time-dependent systemic immune modulation by stereotactic radiotherapy in early-stage lung cancer
Authors: Gkika Eleni , Firat Elke , Adebahr Sonja , Graf Erika , Popp Ilinca , Radicioni Gianluca , Lo Simon S. , Nestle Ursula , Nicolay Nils H. , Niedermann Gabriele , Duda Dan G. , Grosu Anca L. 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Importance:There is an unmet need to understand the immunomodulatory mechanisms of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to effectively enhance responses to immunotherapy, while reducing tumor burden.Objective:To evaluate the impact of ablative SBRT on systemic immunity in patients with early-stage NSCLC.Design:The LAPIS trial accrued patients between 2016-2021, with a median follow-up of 31 months. This primary analysis was based on data that were current as of December 14, 2021.Setting:Single center prospective clinical trial.Participants:Fifty-six patients with early-stage inoperable NSCLC patients treated with SBRT in different dose/schedules were enrolled, of whom 50 were evaluable.Intervention(s) (for clinical trials) or Exposure(s) (for observational studies): We used immune profiling of peripheral blood at first SBRT fraction (baseline), during and at the end of SBRT as well as at first (FU1) and second (FU2) follow-up (six weeks and another 4.5 months after the last SBRT fraction, respectively).Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s): The pre-specified primary endpoint was increase (yes/no) in circulating CD8+ CTL counts at FU1 compared to pre-treatment, and secondary endpoints included changes in other T-cell subsets at all time-points.Results: Fifty patients with early-stage NSCLC (median age 70 years, male 68%, female 32%) were evaluated. The absolute counts of circulating CD8+ CTLs at FU1 increased only in 21% of the patients (not significant), but there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of proliferating CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells immediately after SBRT (at the end of the treatment, p £ 0.01), also in the subsets expressing PD-1, containing tumor-specific T-cells (p £ 0.001). These effects were significant only in the subset of patients receiving 10Gy or less per SBRT fraction (n=25, p £ 0.05). At 2 and 4 years, OS rate was 75% and 51%, respectively, and progression-free survival (PFS) was 56% and 25%, respectively. A longer PFS was associated with an absolute increase of the CD8+ CTLs at FU1 compared to pre-treatment values (p=.04).Conclusions and Relevance: SBRT induces a significant expansion in subsets of circulating effector T-cells immediately post-treatment and support the testing of lower doses per fraction for SBRT prior to or combined with immunotherapy.Trial Registration: The study was registered accordingly in the German trials registry (DRKS 00011266).https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00011266
The Relationship Between Coronary Artery Ectasia and Pai-1 4g/5g Gene Polymorphi̇sms
Authors: Ergül Muhammed , Çiçek Yüksel , Özyıldız Ali Gökhan , Saydam Faruk , Ergül Elif 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background: Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is defined as diffuse or segmental dilatation of the coronary artery exceeding 1.5 times greater than the normal adjacent vessel diameter. The etiology of CAE is still not clarified. Higher plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) concentrations have been related to aortic aneurysms, possibly resulting from occlusion of vasa vasorum, followed by diminished vessel wall supply. Whether the same process has a role in coronary artery ectasia is not known. This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between pai-1 gene polymorphism and coronary artery ectasia. Methods: 53 patients with CAE were included in the study group, and 52 participants with similar patient characteristics and normal coronary arteries were included in the control group.The PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism was genotyped by real-time PCR, using melting curve analysis of LightCycler 480 II. Results: Genotype frequencies in groups were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p=1.00). There was no difference in pai-1 gene polymorphism between the two groups. Conclusion: Our findings showed that -675 4G/5G polymorphism in the PAI-1 gene might not be a risk factor for the development of CAE
Non-binary Evaluation of Next-basket Food Recommendation
Authors: Liu Yue , Achananuparp Palakorn , Lim Ee-Peng 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Next-basket recommendation (NBR) is a recommendation task that predicts a basket or a set of items a user is likely to adopt next based on his/her history of basket adoption sequences. It enables a wide range of novel applications and services from predicting next basket of items for grocery shopping to recommending food items a user is likely to consume together in the next meal. Even though much progress has been made in the algorithmic NBR research over the years, little research has been done to broaden knowledge about the evaluation of NBR methods, which largely based on the offline evaluation experiments and binary relevance paradigm. Specifically, we argue that recommended baskets which are more similar to ground-truth baskets are better recommendations than those that share little resemblance to the ground truth, and therefore they should be granted some partial credits. Based on this notion of non-binary relevance assessment, we propose new evaluation metrics for NBR by adapting and extending similarity metrics from natural language processing (NLP) and text classification research. To validate the proposed metrics, we conducted two user studies on the next-meal food recommendation using numerous state-of-the-art NBR methods in both online and offline evaluation settings. Our findings show that the the offline performance assessment based on the proposed non-binary evaluation metrics is more representative of the online evaluation performance than that of the standard evaluation metrics.
Evaluation of Ortho VITROS and Roche Elecsys S and NC Immunoassays for SARS‑CoV‑2 Serosurveillance Applications
Authors: Sulaeman Hasan , Grebe Eduard , Dave Honey , McCann Lily , Germanio Clara Di , Sanghavi Aditi , Sclar Victoria , Bougie Daniel W. , Chatelain Richard , Biggerstaff Brad J. , Jones Jefferson M. , Thornburg Natalie J. , Kleinman Steve , Stone Mars , Busch Michael P. 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies are instrumental in monitoring epidemic activity and require well-characterized, high-throughput assays, and appropriate testing algorithms. The U.S. Nationwide Blood Donor Seroprevalence Study performed monthly cross-sectional serological testing from July 2020 to December 2021, implementing evolving testing algorithms in response to changes in pandemic activity. With high vaccine uptake, anti-Spike (S) reactivity rates reached >80% by May 2021, and the study pivoted from reflex Roche anti-nucleocapsid (NC) testing of Ortho S-reactive specimens to parallel Ortho S/NC testing. We evaluated the performance of the Ortho NC assay as a replacement for the Roche NC assay and compared performance of parallel S/NC testing on both platforms. Qualitative and quantitative agreement of Ortho NC with Roche NC assays was evaluated on pre-selected S/NC concordant and discordant specimens. All 200 Ortho S+/Roche NC+ specimens were reactive on the Ortho NC assay; 36% of 383 Ortho S+/Roche NC- specimens collected prior to vaccine availability and 52% of 101 Ortho S-/Roche NC+ specimens were reactive on the Ortho NC assay. Performance of parallel S/NC testing using Ortho and Roche platforms was evaluated on 200 specimens collected in 2019 and 3,903 study specimens collected in 2021. All 200 pre-COVID 2019 specimens tested negative on the four assays. Agreement of S and NC reactivity on specimens was 96.4% (3,769/3,903); most discordant results had reactivity close to the cutoffs on the alternate assays. These findings, and higher efficiency and throughput, support use of parallel S/NC testing on either Roche or Ortho platforms for large serosurveillance studies.
Monthly potential evapotranspiration estimated using the Thornthwaite method with gridded climate datasets for Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil
Authors: Santos Christiane Nascimento , Santos Anderson Amorim Rocha , Abreu Marcel Carvalho , Martins Fabrina Bolzan , Lyra Guilherme Bastos , Souza José Leonaldo , Lyra Gustavo Bastos 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Monthly potential evapotranspiration (PET) using the Thornthwaite (ThW) method fed with gridded climate datasets was evaluated relative to PET by ThW and to reference evapotranspiration (ETo) estimated using the FAO56 Penman-Monteith method (PM-FAO56) with observed data, for Rio de Janeiro state, and neighboring states in southeast Brazil. The PM-FAO56 method used monthly climate series (1961–2010) on sunshine hours, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed, from 21 weather stations of the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), São Paulo (SP), Minas Gerais (MG), and Espírito Santo (ES) to estimate ETo. The estimated PET using the ThW method was based on observed air temperature from INMET stations and also using gridded air temperature datasets (1961–2010) from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) and the University of Delaware (UDel). The ETP estimates had an agreement (Willmott index) between 0.54 ≤ dw ≤ 0.96 – GHCN and 0.62 ≤ dw ≤ 0.96 - UDel; a precision between 0.44 ≤ r² ≤ 0.88 – GHCN and 0.53 ≤ r² ≤ 0.95 - UDel; and RMSE inferior to 1.39 mm d− 1 – GHCN and 1.13 mm d− 1 - UDel. The PET estimated with the UDel gridded series was better overall performance than using the GHCN product. Differences in altitude, latitude and longitude were the main geographic variables determining the precision and agreement of the PET estimates using GHCN and Udel. The gridded datasets are an alternative for locations without climatic series data or with low-quality non-continuous data series.
A Comparative Study of the Iranian and Malaysian English Learners' Communication Anxiety, Communicative Competence, Willingness to Communicate (WTC), and International Posture
Authors: Azarfam Ali Asghar Yousefi 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate several commonly used measures of communication orientations, namely communication anxiety, communicative competence, willingness to communicate, and international posture of Iranian EFL and Malaysian ESL learners. To this end, samples of Iranian EFL university students were selected to be compared with Malaysian ESL university students through non-probability convenience sampling method. The results of the study indicated that the differences between Iranian and Malaysian samples do exist, but the differences were primarily restricted to “communication anxiety” and “willingness to communicate”, and the other two measures of “communicative competence” and “international posture” were found to be not significantly different between the learners of the two groups. Hence, the Iranian EFL learners felt as competent to communicate as the Malaysian ESL learners. Furthermore, the Malaysian learners were documented to experience and suffer from more communication anxiety than their Iranian counterparts. However, the Iranian EFL learners expressed more willingness to communicate than those Malay ESL learners. Regarding international posture, however, the participants of both groups showed an equal tendency and readiness to relate themselves to the international community. The findings of the current study had specific implications for instructors, administrators, and learners in both ESL and EFL contexts.
Minimum effective volume of ropivacaine 0.25% in 90% of patients (MEV90) for ultrasound-guided superior trunk block: study protocol for a single-center, sequential-randomized trial
Authors: Wang Kai , Gong Ming , Zheng Dong-yu , Zhang Jin-xiang , Zhou Yang-yang , li yonghua 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background

General anaesthesia and interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB) are the main anaesthesia methods for patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopy. However, they usually result in severe complications, such as postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), and hemi-diaphragmatic paralysis (HDP). Compared with ISB, superior trunk block (STB) is associated with a lower incidence of HDP and greater hand strength. Previous studies of STB have proven that it could provide surgical anaesthesia and noninferior postoperative analgesia, but the incidence of partial HDP was still very high, which may be fatal for some specific populations, such as patients with preexisting pulmonary impairments. Moreover, a high dose of local anaesthetic (LA) can result in prolonged postoperative numbness and weakness in the affected upper limb. Adverse events can be avoided by reducing the dose of LA, namely by using the minimum effective volume (MEV) or concentration (MEC). In this study, we aimed to explore the MEV of ropivacaine 0.25%, providing satisfactory surgical anaesthesia during the performance of an STB.

Methods/design

Our study is a prospective cohort trial to determine the minimum effective volume of ropivacaine 0.25% in 90% of patients (MEV90) on the provision of surgical anaesthesia for shoulder arthroscopy. Trial designs apply the up-and-down Biased Coin Design (BCD) methodology, which has been adopted in recent years in dose-finding studies for regional anaesthesia. Participants will be enrolled and receive STB with different volumes of ropivacaine 0.25%. The volume of ropivacaine administered to each patient depends on the outcome of the previous one. A volume of 5 ml is chosen for the initial case on the basis of prior clinical experience. In case of failure, the next patient will receive a higher volume (defined as the previous volume with an increment of 2 ml). The successful block will be defined as not only achieving a minimal score of 9 points (out of 10 points) after 30 minutes of STB using a sensory composite scale but also completing the surgery with only STB without general anaesthesia. The volume of LA for the subsequent case is then randomized according to the BCD principle.

Discussion

This research will determine the MEV90 of ropivacaine 0.25% of STB in patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopy. The results of the study will be important for guiding clinical practice and making it possible to enhance recovery after surgery for patients in day wards undergoing shoulder arthroscopic surgery.
Magnitude of poor glycemic control and its predictors among adult diabetic patients on ambulatory chronic care follow-up at Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia; a focus on therapeutic inertia; cross-sectional study
Authors: Dubale Mariam , Gizaw Kaleab , Dessalegn Dula 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background
Despite the development of new medications over the past decade to aid in the control of blood glucose, most diabetic patients often do not reach recommended glycemic targets of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) < 7% in daily clinical practice because of many contributing factors. Thus, this study was designed to assess the magnitude and predictors of poor glycemic control among adult diabetic patients on ambulatory chronic care follow-up at Jimma Medical Center.
Methods
A cross sectional study was conducted on 307 adult diabetic patients between January 2 and April 30, 2022. Representative samples were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. Predictors of poor glycemic control were assessed using a binary and multi variable logistic regression. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 25.
Results
A total of 307 adult diabetic patients were included in the study making a response rate of 93%. Out of 307 adult diabetic patients, majority (62.5%) were males. Mean age of the patients was 48.91 ± 15.68 years. The majority, 221 (72%), of patients had poor glycemic control. Non-adherence of patients to medications (AOR = 3.36, 95% CI 1.16–9.72, p = 0.04), no formal education (AOR = 3.84, 95% CI (1.06–13.93, p = 0.04), therapeutic inertia (AOR = 3.16, 95% CI 1.61–6.20, p = 0.001) and poor diabetic knowledge (AOR = 4.79, 95% CI 1.56–14.68, p = 0.006) were found to be independent predictors of poor glycemic control.
Conclusions
Nearly three fourth of diabetic patients in the present study had poor glycemic control and were at higher risk of developing diabetic complications or already developed it. These results highlight the need for appropriate management of patients focusing on adherence to medications, education, therapeutic inertia and diabetic knowledge to maintain good glycemic control and improve adverse outcomes of the disease in this study setting.
SARS-CoV-2 S1 Protein Persistence in SARS-CoV-2 Negative Post-Vaccination Individuals with Long COVID/ PASC-Like Symptoms
Authors: Patterson Bruce K. , Francisco Edgar B. , Yogendra Ram , Long Emily , Pise Amruta , Beaty Christopher , Osgood Eric , Bream John , Kreimer Mark , Heide Richard Vander , Guevara-Coto Jose , Mora Rodrigo , Mora Javier 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background
We sought to determine the immunologic abnormalities in patients following SARS-CoV-2 vaccines who experience post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)-like symptoms > 4 weeks post vaccination. In addition, we investigated whether the potential etiology was similar to PASC.
Design:
We enrolled 50 post-vaccination individuals who experience PASC-like symptoms, 10 healthy individuals, and 35 individuals post-vaccination without symptoms. We performed multiplex cytokine/chemokine profiling with machine learning as well as SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein detection on monocyte subsets using flow cytometry and mass spectrometry.
Results
We determined that post-vaccination individuals with PASC-like symptoms had similar symptoms to PASC patients. When analyzing their immune profile, post-vaccination individuals had statistically significant elevations of sCD40L, CCL5, IL-6, and IL-8. SARS-CoV-2 S1 and S2 protein were detected in CD16 + monocytes using flow cytometry and mass spectrometry on sorted cells.
Conclusions
Post-vaccination individuals with PASC-like symptoms exhibit markers of platelet activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production which may be driven by the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein persistence in intermediate and non-classical monocytes.
A nomogram for predicting postoperative overall survival of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma: a SEER-based study
Authors: Rao Jin , Yu Yue , Zhang Li , Wang Pei , Wang Xuefu , Wang Zhinong 
Published: July 2022

Abstract

Background
Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the most common histological subtype of all lung cancer. Although the overall prognosis of lung cancer has improved, the predictable nomogram model of LSCC has not improved significantly. Our study aimed to construct and validate a nomogram model and to predict overall survival (OS) for patients with LSCC undergoing surgical treatment.
Methods
A total of 8,078 patients identified to have LSCC between 2010 and 2015 were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. They were further randomly divided into training and validation cohorts. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to identify the risk factors affecting the prognosis for constructing the nomogram. The discrimination and calibration of the established nomogram were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under ROC curve (AUC), and calibration plots. In addition, decision curve analysis (DCA) was performed to evaluate the clinical utility. Finally, we plotted Kaplan-Meier survival curves and developed risk stratification systems.
Results
Seven variables were selected to establish the nomogram for LSCC. The AUC value in the ROC curve analysis revealed 0.658, 0.651, and 0.647 in the training cohort and 0.673, 0.667, and 0.658 in the validation cohort at 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival, respectively. The calibration curves showed satisfactory consistencies between nomogram-predicted and observed survival probability at 1-, 2-, and 3- year OS in training and validation cohorts. The DCA curve showed the established nomogram had great clinical net benefit, indicating high clinical application value. In risk stratification systems, patients were divided into three risk groups: low risk (total points༜95), middle risk (95 ≤ total points༜143), high risk (total points ≥ 143). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that significant difference in OS were observed among the three groups (P༜0.001).
Conclusions
A prognostic nomogram for OS of LSCC patients after surgical treatment was developed and validated, which may assist clinicians in evaluating prognosis of and facilitate doctors to provide highly individualized therapy.
Utilization of Family Planning and Volunteer Counseling and Testing Service and Associated Factors among Preparatory School Students in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia: A Cross- Sectional Study
Authors: Mata Melaku , Sisay Gizaw , Girma Meseret , Girma Zeleke , Wolde Fitsum , Berhanu Getasew 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background: The utilization of reproductive health service plays significant role in preventing youths from different reproductive related health problems. Adolescents in Ethiopia have inadequate access to information and services.Objective: To assess utilization of family planning and volunteer counseling and testing service and associated factors among preparatory school students in Arba Minch Town. Method: Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 522 regular preparatory students in Arba Minch Town from December 01-30/2019. Data was entered and clean into Epidata-4.6 templates then transferred to SPSS-25 statistical software for analysis. A bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify statistically significant variables of the independent variable. Variables with P-value < 0.05 in the final model were considered significant determinant variables. Result: Out of those who had sexual intercourse 78.6% and 29.3% of them used family planning and voluntary counseling and testing service, respectively. Sexual intercourse experienced adolescents were 8.24 times more likely utilized F/P service than their counterparts (AOR=8.236, 95% CI: 6.18-15.76). The study participants living with both parents were about 1.6 times (AOR=1.645, CI: 1.077-2.513 more likely to use voluntary counseling and testing service compared to those who living with others. Conclusions and Recommendations: Based on this finding majority (more than three fourth) of adolescents used family planning, but voluntary counseling and testing service utilization were low. The reasons for not utilizing family planning and voluntary counseling and testing service were felt ashamed from friends and unfriendly approach of health workers during service provision. So, we can recommend that encourage adolescents open discussion about reproductive health service utilization with different peoples, open discussion within couples and encourage to increase female education are important steps to improve adolescent’s reproductive service utilization.