bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Teicoplanin pharmacokinetics in critically ill patients on extracorporeal organ support: a retrospective analysis
Authors: Camen Giovanni , Wendel-Garcia Pedro David , Erlebach Rolf , Müller Mattia , John Caroline , Buhlmann Alix , Andermatt Rea , Schuepbach Reto A. , David Sascha , Hofmaenner Daniel A. 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can alter the pharmacokinetics of diverse antimicrobials, posing challenges in achieving therapeutic drug levels. Some literature suggests that teicoplanin may require higher dosing in ECMO patients, however the respective evidence is scarce. The aim of this study was to assess teicoplanin trough levels in critically patients on ECMO support and to compare patients with and without additional continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). We conducted a retrospective study at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. Teicoplanin trough levels and doses were analyzed in critically ill patients during ECMO support by means of a non-parametric local estimated polynomial regression. Outcomes included the proportion of patients with insufficient or toxic teicoplanin trough levels, dosage adjustments, and differences in teicoplanin trough levels between patients with and without additional CRRT during ECMO support.

Results
After screening 172 patients receiving teicoplanin therapy during their ICU stay from 1.1.2020 to 19.07.2023, a total of 23 adult patients were included. The proportion of patients with insufficient teicoplanin levels was notably higher during ECMO support compared to patients with toxic levels (78.3% vs. 13% of patients, respectively). Teicoplanin dosages mostly were increased during the first few days of ECMO treatment. Concomitant CRRT led to a further increase in the proportion of patients with insufficient levels.

Conclusions
Teicoplanin trough levels using standard dosing tend to be low in patients on ECMO support, especially in the early days of therapy. Higher doses than the standard regimen are often necessary to achieve therapeutic levels, particularly in patients receiving additional CRRT.
Early sepsis recognition: a pilot study using a rapid high-multiplex host-response mRNA diagnostic test
Authors: Lu Jingyi , ter Voert Michèle A. , Ünal Mehtap , Whitfield Natalie N. , Liesenfeld Oliver , ter Maaten Jan C. , Sweeney Timothy E. , Bouma Hjalmar R. 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Early sepsis diagnosis is essential to allow timely initiation of adequate care. The TriVerity™ Test, performed on the Myrna™ Instrument, is the first rapid high-multiplex host-response mRNA diagnostic test that supports clinical decision-making by evaluating the likelihood of bacterial and/or viral infections and severity of illness. We present findings of the first, proof of concept, real-world evaluation in an emergency department (ED).

Methods
Blood was collected in PAXgene® Blood RNA tubes from adult patients visiting the ED with suspicion of infection between 4th December 2023 and 22nd January 2024. TriVerity was performed within 1 h (RNA extraction and amplification of 29 host mRNAs using LAMP technology on the Myrna Instrument within approximately 30 min). TriVerity generates three diagnostic scores (likelihood of bacterial infection, viral infection, and illness severity), each classified into five discrete interpretation bands (very low, low, moderate, high, and very high). Post hoc chart reviews were performed after hospital discharge to clinically adjudicate the infection status (consensus and forced adjudication).

Results
Among 60 patients, there were 20 (33%) bacterial infections, 15 (25%) viral infections, 11 (18%) bacterial–viral coinfections and 14 (23%) did not have an infection under forced adjudication. Under consensus adjudication, bacterial results demonstrated 95% rule-in specificity and 95% rule-out sensitivity. Viral results demonstrated rule-in specificity 100% and 92% rule-out sensitivity. Since only three patients were admitted to the ICU or died in this cohort, we cannot draw firm conclusions about the predictive value of the test for severe endpoints.

Conclusions
TriVerity is a rapid whole-blood host-response test to reliably detect the presence or absence of bacterial and/or viral infections, as well as to assess illness severity in patients presenting to the ED. Its quick turnaround time aligns with the ED workflow, offering timely insights for clinical decision-making. Results from upcoming large-scale validation studies will provide more detailed results on the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of the test.
Barriers and facilitators to tuberculosis service access for patients in Bajhang, Nepal: a qualitative study based on focus groups with patients, screening camp visitors, community volunteers and medical doctors
Authors: Malla Emil , Shahi Sachin , Forsberg Birger 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Efforts to achieve global tuberculosis (TB) targets, especially in lower- and middle-income countries, such as Nepal, require urgent attention. Challenges persist, including TB-related social stigma and catastrophic costs incurred by affected households. Socioeconomically vulnerable individuals, particularly those residing in rural, mountainous and remote areas, face limited access to TB care. To explore the barriers and facilitators to accessing TB care, this study was conducted in Bajhang, one of the most underdeveloped and socioeconomically vulnerable districts in Sudurpaschim Province of far-western Nepal.

Methods
Focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with TB patients, TB camp visitors, community mobilizers and medical doctors.

Results
Thirty-five barriers and 21 facilitators were identified by thematic analysis of the eight FGDs. Key barriers included economic burdens, social stigma leading to concealment and isolation, limited resources in local healthcare and geographical inaccessibility. Notable facilitators included TB volunteer programs, screening camps, economic support, and awareness campaigns.

Conclusions
Prioritizing actions should target early care cascade stages and address individual, community, infrastructure, and health policy levels.
Learning about causal relations that change over time: primacy and recency over long timeframes in causal judgments and memory
Authors: Rottman Benjamin M. , Zhang Yiwen 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
Being able to notice that a cause–effect relation is getting stronger or weaker is important for adapting to one’s environment and deciding how to use the cause in the future. We conducted an experiment in which participants learned about a cause–effect relation that either got stronger or weaker over time. The experiment was conducted with a typical procedure in which the learning cases were presented rapidly, and with a mobile phone procedure, in which participants experienced the cause–effect relation over 24 days. First, we found that people could detect the change in contingency. They were better at doing so in the artificial short timeframe task, but still could do so in the more realistic long timeframe task. Second, when making summary judgments about the cause–effect relation, participants exhibited a recency effect for most measures in the long timeframe, but did not exhibit a primacy or recency effect in the short timeframe. Third, though participants’ episodic memories for individual cause–effect events in the learning sequence were quite poor, they did exhibit primacy and recency effects in the short timeframe; these were attenuated in the long timeframe. These findings raise fundamental questions about causal learning; they suggest that people automatically recognize changes and store representations of the contingency during different phases of learning, but this ability is not predicted by most existing theories of causal learning.
Learning the layout of different environments: common or dissociated abilities?
Authors: Topete Alexis , He Chuanxiuyue , Hegarty Mary 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
People navigate in various types of spaces, including indoor and outdoor environments. These differ in availability of navigational cues, such as distal landmarks, clear boundaries, and regular grid structures. Does learning the layout of different types of environments rely on the same or diverse cognitive abilities? Do separate measures of learning reflect different abilities? In a study of individual differences, 88 people learned the layout of two virtual environments from first person experience: a grid-like maze, and a campus-like open environment. After learning each environment, their knowledge was measured by three tasks; onsite pointing, map-reconstruction, and wayfinding. Performance on these measures was significantly correlated. In confirmatory factor analyses, the best fitting model indicated separate factors for spatial knowledge acquisition of the grid-like maze and the outdoor open environment. However, these two factors also shared considerable variance, indicating that they reflect a common underlying ability. There was no evidence that different measures of learning (pointing, map reconstruction, and wayfinding) defined separate abilities, adding to their validity as alternative measures of configural knowledge. Performance of map-based navigation and path integration in the mobile navigation game Sea Hero Quest was generally not correlated with performance in the environment learning tasks, nor were self-report measures of sense of direction and spatial anxiety. Our research suggests that there is a common ability related to learning spatial layout in different contexts, but this may be distinct from other navigation abilities.
Predictive ability of serum osmolarity for contrast-induced nephropathy after elective percutaneous coronary intervention: Are we having a new target?
Authors: Samir Ahmad , Radwan Aly , Elhossary Hossam , Baghdady Yasser 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) remains a serious complication following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), often leading to poor outcomes. Although the overall incidence of CIN is low, the risk can be significantly higher in certain susceptible cohorts.

Results
This prospective observational analytic study enrolled 174 consecutive eligible patients. The study selectively included diabetic patients with heart failure who are receiving regular diuretic therapy, being scheduled for elective coronary angiography (CAG) and/or PCI. CIN occurred in 24.7% of the study participants. CIN patients had significantly higher baseline osmolarity compared to those who did not develop CIN. After adjusting for other factors, pre-procedure osmolarity ≥ 302.3 mOsm/L, higher CHA2DS2VA score, and larger contrast volume proved to be independent predictors for CIN with an odds ratio and 95% confidence interval of 7.07 (2.47–20.26), 3.99 (2.02–7.9), and 1.01 (1.0–1.014), respectively.

Conclusions
In patients at high risk for CIN, serum osmolarity can serve as a practical stratification tool for CIN risk before elective CAG or PCI. Future studies should evaluate whether targeting a specific pre-procedural osmolarity threshold can reduce the risk of post-PCI CIN.

Graphical abstract
Evaluating Mortgage Renegotiation Strategies: A Data-Driven Framework for Investors
Authors: Korgaonkar Sanket 
Published: February 2025

This paper offers a novel framework to quantify the expected gains from renegotiating delinquent loans. The framework accounts for important trade-offs between concessions to borrowers, postdelinquency loan performance, and expected collateral values. The framework’s parameters are calibrated using data on renegotiated 30-year residential fixed-rate mortgages that went delinquent during the Great Recession. Our model-implied expected gains increase during the 2007–2009 period coinciding with an increase in the rate of loan renegotiation. Counterfactual analyses show that larger expected gains can be generated from employing principal forbearance and extensions of the term to maturity compared with principal write-downs and interest-rate reductions. On the other hand, principal write-downs can be a powerful tool when borrowers are deeply underwater. Our analyses illustrate how lenders or policymakers might deploy this framework when faced with another delinquency crisis. This paper was accepted by Tomasz Piskorski, finance. Funding: The author thanks the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley and the Center for Investors and Financial Markets at the University of Virginia for funding for this paper. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.02672 .
Voices of surgical wards nurses on barriers hindering acute post-operative pain management at Tshwane municipality, South Africa
Authors: Makou Nnene Melia , Rasweswe Melitah Molatelo , Mooa Ramadimetja Shirley 
Published: February 2025

Introduction and background
Acute pain is expected following a surgery, but it is often inadequately managed by health care providers. However, little is known about the barriers that hinder acute post-operative pain management among surgical wards nurses.

Objective
Uncovering barriers that hinder the surgical wards nurses to manage acute post-operative pain at the selected public hospital in Tshwane municipality, Gauteng Province, South Africa.

Methods
This study utilized a qualitative explorative, descriptive, and contextual research design. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted from a purposive sampling of 13 professional nurses. Data collected were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim by the first author. Data were analysed using thematic data analysis, which led to the emergence of themes and sub-themes. An independent co-coder assisted with data analysis.

Findings
The barriers described by the participants include: 1) Organisational/ management related barriers; 2) Personnel related barriers, which were discussed as shortage of nurses, inadequate skill competency to manage acute post-operative pain, and interprofessional communication; and 3) Patient related barriers.

Conclusion
This paper comes to the conclusion that, due to a number of stated barriers or obstacles, the nurses employed in the surgical wards of the selected hospital in South Africa are not adequately managing the acute post-operative pain. As a result, hospital management must devise practical solutions to the stated obstacles.
Time‐dependent bladder activity changes in streptozotocin‐induced female diabetic rats
Authors: Izumi Keiichiro , Kamijo Tadanobu Chuyo , Oshiro Takuma , Kimura Ryu , Ashikari Asuka , Kurobe Masahiro , Akimoto Takahiro , Miyazato Minoru 
Published: February 2025

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the long‐term physiological and morphological changes in the bladders of diabetic rats. Sixty‐nine female Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into a control and six diabetic (3 days and 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks after induction of type 1 diabetes) groups. Metabolic cages and cystometry were used to evaluate bladder function. Bladder contractility was assessed using an organ bath test, and Masson's trichrome staining was performed. In the metabolic cage study, the urination frequency during the dark period significantly increased in the early stages at 3 days of diabetes (p < 0.05). The voiding interval significantly increased (p < 0.05) at 8–12 weeks of diabetes, while the residual urine volume and voiding efficiency worsened at 24 weeks. In the organ bath study, the dose–response curve of carbachol for median effective concentration did not change; however, the bladder contractile force was enhanced at 8 weeks (p = 0.028). Histological analysis revealed increased fibrosis at 4 weeks of diabetes. Diabetic bladder dysfunction is characterized by storage and voiding bladder activity changes in the early stages that induces urinary frequency and reduced voiding efficiency in the late phase; this turning point occurs at 8 weeks after diabetes.
Go to church or die in prison: PPs with bare institutional nouns in the history of English
Authors: Sommerer Lotte , Zehentner Eva 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
This paper traces the diachronic development of prepositional phrases (PPs) with bare institutional/location nouns (e.g. go to church, stay in bed, die in prison) from Middle English to Late Modern English. Based on a dataset of 2,249 instances extracted from the Penn Parsed Corpora of Historical English (PPCME2, PPCEME, PPCMBE2), we investigate changes in the usage of these constructions (i.e. formal and functional features). One question addressed is why a definite determiner is apparently ‘missing’ in these constructions (died in prison rather than died in the prison) and what kind of semantic interpretation this lack of overt definiteness marking triggers. Moreover, we assess whether there is evidence of these PPs becoming increasingly integrated into the extended verb phrase, by zooming in on the patterns’ semantic functions and formal features. By using collostructional analyses as well as by fitting a conditional random forest model, we show that different constructional types can be identified, which differ regarding the association strength between the elements involved as well as regarding their preferred semantic function, among other things. These results are then discussed from a usage-based, cognitive constructional perspective, indicating that the constructions at hand force us to revisit traditional assumptions about phrase structure boundaries and compositionality.
Ultra-high field fMRI reveals effect of ketamine on vocal processing in common marmosets
Authors: Dureux Audrey , Zanini Alessandro , Jafari Azadeh , Everling Stefan 
Published: February 2025

Auditory deficits are a well-known symptom in neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist ketamine has been used to model sensory and cognitive deficits in nonhuman primates, but its whole-brain effects remain largely unknown. Here we employed ultra-high-field fMRI at 9.4T in awake male and female marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) to compare brain activations to conspecific vocalizations, scrambled vocalizations, and non-vocal sounds following the administration of a subanesthetic dose of ketamine. Our findings reveal a broad suppression of activations across auditory regions following ketamine compared to saline. Additionally, we observed differential effects depending on the type of sound, with notable changes in the mediodorsal thalamus and anterior cingulate cortex, particularly during the processing of vocalizations. These findings suggest a potential overlap between the effects of ketamine and neural disruptions observed in schizophrenia, particularly affecting vocalization processing.Significant StatementThis study explores the effects of ketamine, a compound known for its psychotomimetic effects that mimic those of neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, on auditory processing in common marmosets using ultra-high-field fMRI. We reveal a global suppression of neural activity across auditory regions under ketamine, with varying effects depending on the sound type in certain regions. Notably, the mediodorsal thalamus showed significant susceptibility in processing socially relevant sounds. These findings suggest parallels between ketamine's impact and auditory processing disruptions seen in schizophrenia.
Detection of individual differences encoded in sequential variations of elements in zebra finch songs
Authors: Cheng (程柘皓) Zhehao , Yazaki-Sugiyama (杉山（矢崎）陽子) Yoko 
Published: February 2025

Zebra finches sing individually unique songs and recognize conspecific songs and individual identities in songs. Their songs comprise several syllables/elements that share acoustic features within the species, with unique sequential arrangements. However, the neuronal mechanisms underlying the detection of individual differences and species specificity have yet to be elucidated. Herein, we examined the neuronal auditory responsiveness of neurons in higher auditory area, the caudal nidopallium (NCM), to songs and their elements in male zebra finches to understand the mechanism for detecting species and individual identities in zebra finch songs. We found that various adult male zebra finch songs share acoustically similar song elements but differ in their sequential arrangement between individuals. The broader spiking (BS) neurons in the NCM detected only a small subset of zebra finch songs, whereas NCM BS neurons, as a neuronal ensemble, responded to all zebra finch songs. Notably, distinct combinations of BS neurons responded to each of the 18 presented songs in one bird. Subsets of NCM BS neurons were sensitive to sequential arrangements of species-specific elements, which dramatically increasing the capacity for song variation with a limited number of species-specific elements. The naïve Bayes decoder analysis further showed that the response of sequence-sensitive BS neurons increased the accuracy of song stimulus predictions based on the response strength of neuronal ensembles. Our results suggest the neuronal mechanisms that NCM neurons as an ensemble decode the individual identities of songs, while each neuron detects a small subset of song elements and their sequential arrangement.Significance statementZebra finches develop unique songs by learning from tutors. Various zebra finch songs consist of repeats of species-specific syllable elements that differ in their sequential arrangements. In vivo, single-unit electrophysiological recordings from neurons in the zebra finch's higher auditory area (caudal nidopallium [NCM]) revealed that each broad-spiking (BS) NCM neuron responded to a small subset of the zebra finch songs. However, a NCM neuronal ensemble detected all the songs. Some NCM BS neurons responded sensitively to sequential song element arrangement, which increased the prediction accuracy in the naïve Bayes decoder analysis. These findings suggest a neuronal mechanism for discriminating individual song variations in NCM neuronal ensembles, in which each neuron detects small subsets of song elements and their sequential arrangements.
A Few Psychometric Properties of Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale in Two Countries: A Pilot Study in Lithuania and Turkey
Authors: Vadvilavičius Tadas , Stelmokienė Aurelija 
Published: February 2025

Culture is an important contextual factor affecting human attitudes and behavior. Reliable and valid instruments are needed to measure this complex phenomenon. The psychometric properties of the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998) were tested in two countries – Lithuania (n = 110) and Turkey (n = 80). Internal reliability and factorial validity were investigated. The results revealed adequate internal reliability for group analysis and confirmed the factorial structure for a four-factor model. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.