bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Real‐Life Turning Movements Capture Subtle Longitudinal and Preataxic Changes in Cerebellar Ataxia
Authors: Thierfelder Annika , Seemann Jens , John Natalie , Harmuth Florian , Giese Martin , Schüle Rebecca , Schöls Ludger , Timmann Dagmar , Synofzik Matthis , Ilg Winfried 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBackgroundClinical and regulatory acceptance of upcoming molecular treatments in degenerative ataxias might greatly benefit from ecologically valid endpoints that capture change in ataxia severity in patients' real life.ObjectivesThis longitudinal study aimed to unravel quantitative motor biomarkers in degenerative ataxias in real‐life turning movements that are sensitive for changes both longitudinally and at the preataxic stage.MethodsCombined cross‐sectional (n = 30) and longitudinal (n = 14, 1‐year interval) observational study in degenerative cerebellar disease (including eight preataxic mutation carriers) compared to 23 healthy controls. Turning movements were assessed by three body‐worn inertial sensors in three conditions: (1) instructed laboratory assessment, (2) supervised free walking, and (3) unsupervised real‐life movements.ResultsMeasures that quantified dynamic balance during turning—lateral velocity change (LVC) and outward acceleration—but not general turning measures such as speed, allowed differentiating ataxic against healthy subjects in real life (effect size δ = 0.68), with LVC also differentiating preataxic against healthy subjects (δ = 0.53). LVC was highly correlated with clinical ataxia severity (scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia [SARA] score, effect size ρ = 0.79) and patient reported balance confidence (activity‐specific balance confidence scale [ABC] score, ρ = 0.66). Moreover, LVC in real life—but not general turning measures or the SARA score—allowed detecting significant longitudinal change in 1‐year follow‐up with high effect size (rprb = 0.66).ConclusionsMeasures of turning allow capturing specific changes of dynamic balance in degenerative ataxia in real life, with high sensitivity to longitudinal differences in ataxia severity and to the preataxic stage. They thus present promising ecologically valid motor biomarkers, even in the highly treatment‐relevant early stages of degenerative cerebellar disease. © 2022 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Detecting perturbations of a radiation field inside a head‐sized phantom exposed to therapeutic carbon‐ion beams through charged‐fragment tracking
Authors: Ghesquière‐Diérickx Laura , Félix‐Bautista Renato , Schlechter Annika , Kelleter Laurent , Reimold Marvin , Echner Gernot , Soukup Pavel , Jäkel Oliver , Gehrke Tim , Martišíková Maria 
Published: January 2022

AbstractPurposeNoninvasive methods to monitor carbon‐ion beams in patients are desired to fully exploit the advantages of carbon‐ion radiotherapy. Prompt secondary ions produced in nuclear fragmentations of carbon ions are of particular interest for monitoring purposes as they can escape the patient and thus be detected and tracked to measure the radiation field in the irradiated object. This study aims to evaluate the performance of secondary‐ion tracking to detect, visualize, and localize an internal air cavity used to mimic inter‐fractional changes in the patient anatomy at different depths along the beam axis.MethodsIn this work, a homogeneous head phantom was irradiated with a realistic carbon‐ion treatment plan with a typical prescribed fraction dose of 3 Gy(RBE). Secondary ions were detected by a mini‐tracker with an active area of 2 cm2, based on the Timepix3 semiconductor pixel detector technology. The mini‐tracker was placed 120 mm behind the center of the target at an angle of 30 degrees with respect to the beam axis. To assess the performance of the developed method, a 2‐mm thick air cavity was inserted in the head phantom at several depths: in front of as well as at the entrance, in the middle, and at the distal end of the target volume. Different reconstruction methods of secondary‐ion emission profile were studied using the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation package. The perturbations in the emission profiles caused by the air cavity were analyzed to detect the presence of the air cavity and localize its position.ResultsThe perturbations in the radiation field mimicked by the 2‐mm thick cavity were found to be significant. A detection significance of at least three standard deviations in terms of spatial distribution of the measured tracks was found for all investigated cavity depths, while the highest significance (six standard deviations) was obtained when the cavity was located upstream of the tumor. For a tracker with an eight‐fold sensitive area, the detection significance rose to at least nine standard deviations and up to 17 standard deviations, respectively. The cavity could be detected at all depths and its position measured within 6.5 ± 1.4 mm, which is sufficient for the targeted clinical performance of 10 mm.ConclusionThe presented systematic study concerning the detection and localization of small inter‐fractional structure changes in a realistic clinical setting demonstrates that secondary ions carry a large amount of information on the internal structure of the irradiated object and are thus attractive to be further studied for noninvasive monitoring of carbon‐ion treatments.
The establishment of the normal contact force model for a one‐dimensional sphere chain subjected to impact load
Authors: Liu Jun , Zhao Futian , Xiao Zhimin , Wang Yue , Liu Zheng , Zheng Haowen 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe normal contact force determines the behavior of a particle system. To investigate the normal contact force in a one‐dimensional sphere chain subjected to impact load, by comparing the simulation results of the existing typical normal contact force models embedded in the discrete element program, an improved normal contact force model was proposed in this paper. The improved model consists of two parts: the Cundall model for loading and the Daniel model for unloading. Moreover, a systematic test was designed to verify the accuracy and applicability of the improved model. The results showed that the calculated contact force curves agree well with the experimental results. Furthermore, the improved model is implemented in the solution algorithm without need for complex numerical methods and parameters fitting, leading to more efficient simulations.
Health Disparities and Health Omissions: Pushing Medical Anthropology Forward in the United States
Authors: Carter Chelsey R. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractRacialized diagnosis of the fatal neurodegenerative disease ALS illustrates the limitations of medical anthropological knowledge that focuses only on “ethnic differences” to explain health disparities at the population level. I argue that a central focus on racism in our analysis of biomedical US spaces, and explicitly anti‐Black racism, will better equip anthropologists to understand how racialized forms of knowledge production in medicine and science have deleterious effects on people’s lives and bodies. The aggregate effects of racial science (the belief that human beings can be separated into biologically distinct groups) in slavery’s afterlife impact how clinicians and researchers see and treat Black people. I elaborate the concept of “health omissions” to equip anthropologists, clinical researchers, and biomedical clinicians with an analytical and truth‐telling lens that can attend to the ways that systemic marginalization in slavery’s afterlife omits Black people’s health problems and care.
Ifenprodil for the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder: An exploratory, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial
Authors: Kotajima‐Murakami Hiroko , Takano Ayumi , Hirakawa Shinya , Ogai Yasukazu , Funada Daisuke , Tanibuchi Yuko , Ban Eriko , Kikuchi Minako , Tachimori Hisateru , Maruo Kazushi , Kawashima Takahiro , Tomo Yui , Sasaki Tsuyoshi , Oi Hideki , Matsumoto Toshihiko , Ikeda Kazutaka 
Published: January 2022

AbstractAimNo effective pharmacological interventions have been developed for patients with methamphetamine use disorder. Ifenprodil is a blocker of G protein‐activated inwardly rectifying potassium channels, which play a key role in the mechanism of action of addictive substances. We conducted a randomized, double‑blind, exploratory, dose‐ranging, placebo‐controlled trial to examine the clinical efficacy of ifenprodil for the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder.MethodsParticipants were assigned to three groups: placebo, 60 mg/d ifenprodil, or 120 mg/d ifenprodil. The drug administration period was 84 days. The primary outcome was the use or nonuse of methamphetamine during the drug administration period in the placebo group vs 120 mg/d ifenprodil group. We also assessed drug use status, relapse risk based on the Stimulant Relapse Risk Scale (SRRS), drug craving, and methamphetamine in urine as secondary outcomes. We further evaluated drug use status and SRRS subscale scores in patients who were not taking addiction medications during the study.ResultsIfenprodil did not affect the primary or secondary outcomes. However, the additional analyses showed that the number of days of methamphetamine use during the follow‐up period and scores on the emotionality problems subscale of the SRRS improved in the 120 mg/d ifenprodil group. The safety of ifenprodil was confirmed in patients with methamphetamine use disorder.ConclusionThe present findings did not confirm the efficacy of ifenprodil for methamphetamine use disorder treatment based on the primary or secondary outcomes, but we found evidence of its safety and efficacy in reducing emotionality problems.Clinical trial registrationThe study was registered at the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry (no. UMIN000030849) and Japan Registry of Clinical Trials (no. jRCTs031180080). The main registration site is jRCT (https://jrct.niph.go.jp/).
Risk model based on MRI fusion biopsy characteristics predicts biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy
Authors: Chen Zhihao , Wu Jianhong , Sun Kening , He Yijun , Zhu Zhenfang , Xiao Li , Sheng Lu 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBackgroundTo determine the prostate cancer biochemical recurrence‐related fusion biopsy characteristics before radical surgery and to establish the risk prediction model of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.MethodsThree hundred and four patients undergoing radical surgery for prostate cancer at Huadong Hospital affiliated to Fudan University between 2009 and 2020 for preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before biopsy with suspicious prostate cancer lesions. Each case was followed by a 10 + x needle combination of targeted biopsy (intentional or robotic fusion) with systematic biopsy. Prostate‐specific antigen levels were measured at 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively, followed by reexamination every 6 months. Survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan–Meier method, univariate and multivariate analysis by Cox, and Logistic risk regression models.ResultsHigher Prostate Imaging Reporting And Data System (PI‐RADS) scores (p < 0.001), suspicious extracapsular invasion (p < 0.001), and seminal vesicle invasion (p < 0.001) on MRI, the largest lesion diameter on MRI (p = 0.006), higher biopsy International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade group (p < 0.001) related to higher biochemical recurrence rates, higher pathological staging (p < 0.001), and a greater probability of local lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001). We accurately predicted the biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after radical surgery based on preoperative features including the long diameter of the largest MRI lesion more than 23 mm, seminal vesicle invasion on MRI, and targeted fusion biopsy ISUP grade >3 Risk stratified classification (AUC = 0.729, p < 0.001). In our cohort, this risk stratification had a larger area under the curve than predictive models based only on magnetic resonance parameters and traditional risk scores.ConclusionsIn this cohort, seminal vesicle invasion on MRI, the long diameter of the largest MRI lesion, and targeted fusion biopsy ISUP grade grope are significantly predictive of pathologic features and biochemical recurrence after prostate surgery. The risk stratification integrating the three parameters could better predict the biochemical recurrence than the traditional model.
Dockground scoring benchmarks for protein docking
Authors: Kotthoff Ian , Kundrotas Petras J. , Vakser Ilya A. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractProtein docking protocols typically involve global docking scan, followed by re‐ranking of the scan predictions by more accurate scoring functions that are either computationally too expensive or algorithmically impossible to include in the global scan. Development and validation of scoring methodologies are often performed on scoring benchmark sets (docking decoys) which offer concise and nonredundant representation of the global docking scan output for a large and diverse set of protein–protein complexes. Two such protein–protein scoring benchmarks were built for the Dockground resource, which contains various datasets for the development and testing of protein docking methodologies. One set was generated based on the Dockground unbound docking benchmark 4, and the other based on protein models from the Dockground model–model benchmark 2. The docking decoys were designed to reflect the reality of the real‐case docking applications (e.g., correct docking predictions defined as near‐native rather than native structures), and to minimize applicability of approaches not directly related to the development of scoring functions (reducing clustering of predictions in the binding funnel and disparity in structural quality of the near‐native and nonnative matches). The sets were further characterized by the source organism and the function of the protein–protein complexes. The sets, freely available to the research community on the Dockground webpage, present a unique, user‐friendly resource for the developing and testing of protein–protein scoring approaches.
Conditional or unconditional logistic regression for frequency matched case‐control design?
Authors: Wan Fei 
Published: January 2022

AbstractFrequency matching is commonly used in epidemiological case control studies to balance the distributions of the matching factors between the case and control groups and to improve the efficiency of case‐control designs. Applied researchers have held a common opinion that unconditional logistic regression should be used to analyze frequency matched designs and conditional logistic regression is unnecessary. However, the justification of this view is unclear. To compare the performances of ULR and CLR in terms of simplicity, unbiasedness, and efficiency in a more intuitive way, we viewed frequency matching from the perspective of weighted sampling and derived the outcome models describing how the exposure and matching factors are associated with the outcome in the matched data separately in two scenarios: (1) only categorical variables are used for matching; (2) continuous variables are categorized for matching. In either scenario the derived outcome model is a logit model with stratum‐specific intercepts. Correctly specified unconditional logistic regression can be more efficient than conditional logistic regression, particularly when continuous matching factors are used, whereas conditional logistic regression is a more practical approach because it is less dependent on modeling choices.
Robust nonparametric integrative analysis to decipher heterogeneity and commonality across subgroups using sparse boosting
Authors: Li Zihan , Luo Ziye , Sun Yifan 
Published: January 2022

AbstractIn many biomedical problems, data are often heterogeneous, with samples spanning multiple patient subgroups, where different subgroups may have different disease subtypes, stages, or other medical contexts. These subgroups may be related, but they are also expected to have differences with respect to the underlying biology. The heterogeneous data presents a precious opportunity to explore the heterogeneities and commonalities between related subgroups. Unfortunately, effective statistical analysis methods are still lacking. Recently, several novel methods based on integrative analysis have been proposed to tackle this challenging problem. Despite promising results, the existing studies are still limited by ignoring data contamination and making strict assumptions of linear effects of covariates on response. As such, we develop a robust nonparametric integrative analysis approach to identify heterogeneity and commonality, as well as select important covariates and estimate covariate effects. Possible data contamination is accommodated by adopting the Cauchy loss function, and a nonparametric model is built to accommodate nonlinear effects. The proposed approach is based on a sparse boosting technique. The advantages of the proposed approach are demonstrated in extensive simulations. The analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas data on glioblastoma multiforme and lung adenocarcinoma shows that the proposed approach makes biologically meaningful findings with satisfactory prediction.
Conversion of Biowaste into Larnite by Sol‐Gel Combustion Route for Biomedical Applications
Authors: Vijayakumar Naveensubramaniam , Venkatraman Senthil Kumar , Choudhary Rajan , Indurkar Abhishek , Chatterjee Ankita , Abraham Jayanti , Ostrovskiy Sergey , Senatov Fedor , Locs Janis , Swamiappan Sasikumar 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe conversion of waste product into a valuable material can significantly reduce the environmental pollution. In present study, eggshell waste was utilized to synthesize larnite (Ca2SiO4) at 850 °C via sol‐gel assisted combustion method. TG/DSC, FT‐IR, XRD and SEM/EDX were utilized to characterize the larnite sample. The biomineralization study clearly indicates that larnite has the ability to induce apatite formation on its surface within 3 days, after immersion in the simulated body fluid medium. According to the microscopic investigation, spherical beads like morphology confirmed the apatite deposition on the surface of larnite scaffold. Also, larnite showed significant resistance against the growth of clinical pathogens at a low concentration of 2 mg/mL. The observations suggest that larnite could be used as a coating material over the inert orthopaedic implants in the field of biomedical applications.
Fairness concerns and job assignment to positions with different surplus
Authors: Danková Katarína , Morita Hodaka , Servátka Maroš , Zhang Le 
Published: January 2022

AbstractHow does job assignment to positions with different surplus affect fairness concerns? We experimentally examine agents' fairness concerns in a three‐person ultimatum game in which all agents are asked to complete a general knowledge quiz before being assigned to a high‐stake or low‐stake position. We disentangle two possible channels through which job assignment impacts fairness concerns, wage differences, and the principal's intentions, by comparing cases in which the job assignment is determined randomly or by the principal. The knowledge quiz, which mimics performance evaluation, signifies the distinction between the two cases as it provides a basis on which the principal can make the assignment decision. We find that the principal's intentions significantly impact fairness concerns of the agents assigned to the low‐stake position, but wage differences themselves do not. We elaborate on managerial implications of our findings.
Analysis of the organization, management and operation of Blantyre Water Board in Malawi: Future reforms and perspectives
Authors: Song Chen 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe Blantyre Water Board (BWB) is a water management organization located in Malawi, south‐central Africa. The water board's backward operation mode, combined with the growth of local public utilities, has placed it in a difficult position to face difficult challenges at the country level. The main aim of this paper is to examine the organizational structure, management, and operation mode of BWB, as well as the issues that require further investigation. Additionally, options are discussed to predict the factors that will affect water services and changes in water demand over the next few years, using certain benchmarking criteria and assumptions. After taking into consideration the current situation and the newly acquired knowledge, it has become necessary to reform the BWB. It is proposed in this paper that reform initiatives should be implemented in the water services sector, within organizations, and between organizations in Blantyre, with the goal of assisting in the development of water company operations to make them more suitable and sustainable to meet the needs of modern life, particularly for residents of low‐income areas (LIAs) in the country.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of waste management with circular economy principles in developing countries: A systematic review
Authors: Wikurendra Edza Aria , Ferto Imre , Nagy Imre , Nurika Globila 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe waste management problem is still one of the focus areas that need to be addressed in developing countries. In order to overcome the problem, circular economy is potentially be applied, circular economy can be applied. Circular economy is an offered alternative to the traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose of). Economic actors keep resources in use as long as possible, derive maximum value from use, then create and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life. Circular economy, as a system that will be implemented in developing countries, should consider a number of internal and external elements in order to decide the best approach for the implementation. Therefore, this research aims to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of waste management with circular economy principles in developing countries. A systematic review is used in this study on published 26 articles on waste management with circular economy principles, especially in developing countries. The result shows that many developing countries do not apply circular economy ideas in dealing with waste management problem. This study concludes that the circular economy brings a new approach to waste management and an incentive for future research that has great strengths and opportunities but also requires efforts to control the shortcomings and threats that are also posed in the implementation of this circular economy.
Mapping Global Population Exposure to Heatwaves
Authors: Han Qinmei , Xu Wei , Shi Peijun 
Published: January 2022

AbstractGlobal warming has become a severe problem worldwide, where the average global temperature has steadily increased over recent decades, accompanied by the abnormally hot weather (IPCC 2013). Since the 1950s, heatwave events have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration and their impact on human health will also increase under enhanced global warming (Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Lewis 2020). Heatwaves have become one of the most serious climate events in the world. Thousands of people have died from exposing to heatwaves in recent years, for instance, the European heatwave of 2003 induced more than 70,000 additional deaths (Robine et al. 2008). Heat-related mortality and morbidity are not only attributed to natural hazards resulting from climate change (Seneviratne et al. 2012). Both climatic factors and socioeconomic factors such as population change and vulnerability of people exposed to heatwaves have impact on the number of deaths caused by heatwaves. Thus, a comprehensive and quantitative assessment of heatwave exposure is conducive to taking targeted measures to reduce the risk in hotspot regions of the world.