bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Risk factors for cognitive decline in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Brazil: a prospective observational study
Authors: de Almeida Faria Ana Cristina Ravazzani , Dall’Agnol Joceline Franco , Gouveia Aline Maciel , de Paiva Clara Inácio , Segalla Victoria Chechetto , Baena Cristina Pellegrino 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients are twice as likely to develop dementia. The study’s goal was to evaluate cognitive performance and risk factors for cognitive decline in this population.

Methods
Prospective observational study was conducted with 400 T2DM adults, of whom, during routine baseline and follow-up appointments, had socio-demographic, clinical, and laboratory data collected, and underwent physical examination, screening for depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionaire-9-PHQ-9), and cognitive tests: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Semantic Verbal Fluency Test, Trail Making Test A/B, and Word Memory Tests. Each cognitive test score was converted to a z-score and its average resulted in a new variable called Global Cognitive z-Score [GCS(z)]. Averages of the cognitive test scores and GCS(z) at both moments were compared by the Student’s T-Test for paired samples. Multivariate binary logistic regression models were built to assess the association of GCS(z) < zero with risk factors for cognitive decline at the baseline and follow-up.

Results
After exclusions, 251 patients were eligible, being 56.6% female, mean age of 61.1 (± 9.8) years, 12.6 (± 8.9) years of DM duration, and 7.6 (± 4.2) years of school education. Follow-up had 134 patients reevaluated and took place after a mean of 18.4(± 5.0) months. Eleven (14%) patients with a GCS(z) ≥ 0 at baseline turned into a GCS(z) < 0 at follow-up. There were no significant differences between the means of cognitive test scores and GCS(z) at the two evaluation moments. At the baseline, the multivariate logistic regression model identified five risk factors associated with GCS(z) < zero: age ≥ 65 years, schooling ≤ 6 years, arterial hypertension, depression symptoms, and diabetic retinopathy (DR), with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI95%) respectively: 5.46 (2.42–12.34); 12.19 (5.62–26.46); 2.55 (0.88–7.39); 3.53 (1.55–8.07) e 2.50 (1.18–5.34). At follow-up, the risk factors for GCS(z) < zero were: schooling ≤ 6 years, DM duration ≥ 10 years, depression symptoms, arterial hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (CVD), OR and CI95% respectively: 10.15 (3.68–28.01); 2.68 (0.96–7.48); 4.92 (1.77–13.70); 7.21 (1.38–35.71) e 5.76 (1.93–17.18).

Conclusions
Based on our results, cognitive evaluation and follow-up should be incorporated on the routine of T2DM patients, especially for those with advanced age, low education level, prolonged DM duration, arterial hypertension, depression symptoms, CVD, and DR.
The effectiveness of a golf injury prevention program (GRIPP intervention) compared to the usual warm-up in Dutch golfers: protocol design of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Gladdines S. , von Gerhardt A. L. , Verhagen E. , Beumer A. , Eygendaal D. ,   GRIPP 9 study collaborative
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background
Sixty million golfers around the world play golf. Golf injuries are most frequently located in the spine, elbow, wrist, hand and shoulder. Those injuries are often seen in golfers with more playing hours and suboptimal swing biomechanics, resulting in overuse injuries. Golfers who do not perform a warm-up or do not warm-up appropriately are more likely to report an injury than those who do. There are several ways to warm-up. It is unclear, which warm-up is most useful for a golfer to perform. Moreover, there is currently no evidence for the effectiveness of a warm-up program for golf injury prevention. We previously have developed the Golf Related Injury Prevention Program (GRIPP) intervention using the Knowledge Transfer Scheme (KTS). We aim to evaluate the effect of the GRIPP intervention on golf-related injuries. The hypothesis is that the GRIPP intervention program will reduce the number of golf-related injuries.

Methods and design
The GRIPP study is a two-armed randomized controlled trial. Twenty-eight golf clubs with 11 golfers per club will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. The intervention group will perform the GRIPP intervention program, and the control group will perform their warm-up as usual. The GRIPP intervention is conducted with the Knowledge Transfer Scheme framework, which is a systematic process to develop an intervention. The intervention consists of 6 exercises with a maximum total of 10 min. The primary outcome is the overall prevalence (%) of golf injuries measured with the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC-H) questions on health problems every fortnight. The secondary outcome measures will be exposure to golf and compliance to the intervention program.

Discussion
In other sports warm-up prevention programs are effective in reducing the risk of injuries. There are no randomized trials on golf injury prevention. Therefore, an individual unsupervised golf athlete intervention program is conducted which reflects the daily practice of predominantly unsupervised exposure of amateur golfers.

Trial registration
The trial is retrospectively (28 October 2021) registered at the Dutch Trial Register: NL9847 (https://trialsearch.who.int).
Morphological features of bronchiectasis in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteriosis and interstitial pneumonia
Authors: Tabe Chiori , Dobashi Masaki , Ishioka Yoshiko , Itoga Masamichi , Tanaka Hisashi , Taima Kageaki , Tasaka Sadatomo 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Objective
To compare the morphological features of bronchiectasis between patients with different underlying diseases, we performed quantitative analysis of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images of 14 patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteriosis (NTM) and 13 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A 3D image of the bronchial structure was made from HRCT data. Bronchiectasis was defined as abnormal dilatation of the bronchi with the diameter greater than that of the accompanying pulmonary artery. We measured the inner and outer diameters, wall area as %total airway cross sectional area (WA%), and wall thickness to airway diameter ratio (T/D) of the 4-8th generations of bronchi.

Results
In patients with IPF, the inner and outer diameters linearly decreased toward the distal bronchi. In contrast, the inner and outer diameters of NTM fluctuated. The coefficient of variation of the outer diameters of the 6-7th generations of bronchi was larger in the NTM patients than in those with IPF, whereas no significant difference was observed in the coefficient of variation of the inner diameters between the groups. In IPF patients, WA% and T/D varied between the generation of bronchi, but the coefficient of variation of WA% and T/D was relatively small in those with NTM.
Neurotrophic factor-secreting cells restored endogenous hippocampal neurogenesis through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in AD model mice
Authors: Bahlakeh Gozal , Rahbarghazi Reza , Abedelahi Ali , Sadigh-Eteghad Saeed , Karimipour Mohammad 
Published: July 2022

AbstractBackgroundImpairment in neurogenesis correlates with memory and cognitive dysfunction in AD patients. In the recent decade, therapies with stem cell bases are growing and proved to be efficient. This study is a preliminary attempt to explore the impact of NTF-SCs on hippocampal neurogenesis mediated by the Wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade in AD-like mouse brain parenchyma.MethodsThe BALB/c mice were divided into four groups: Control, AD +Vehicle, AD+ TF-SCs-CM and AD+NTF-SCs (n = 10). For AD induction, 100 µM Aβ1-42was injected into lateral ventricles. The AD-like model was confirmed via passive avoidance test and Thioflavin-S staining 21 days following Aβ injection. Next, NTF-SCs were differentiated from ADMSCs, and both NTF-SCs and supernatant (NTF-SCs-CM) were injected into the hippocampus after AD confirmation. Endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) proliferation capacity was assessed after 50 mg/kbW BrdU injection for 4 days using immunofluorescence (IF) staining. The percent of BrdU/Nestin and BrdU/NeuN positive NSCs were calculated. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect genes related to the Wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade. The spatial learning and memory alternation was evaluated using the Morris water maze (MWM).ResultsData showed the reduction in escape latency over 5 days in the AD mice compared to the control group. The administration of NTF-SCs and NTF-SCs-CM increased this value compared to the AD-Vehicle group. Both NTF-SCs and NTF-SCs-CM were the potential to reduce the cumulative distance to the platform in AD mice compared to the AD-Vehicle group. The time spent in target quadrants was ameliorated following NTF-SCs and NTF-SCs-CM transplantation followed by an improved MWM performance. IF imaging revealed the increase in BrdU/Nestin+and BrdU/NeuN+in AD mice that received NTF-SCs and NTF-SCs-CM, indicating enhanced neurogenesis. Based on real-time PCR analysis, the expression of PI3K, Akt, MAPK, ERK, Wnt, and β-catenin was upregulated and coincided with the suppression of GSK-3β after injection of NTF-SCs-CM and NTF-SCs. In this study, NTF-SCs had superior effects in AD mice that received NTF-SCs compared to NTF-SCs-CM.ConclusionsThe activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway via NTF-SCs can be touted as a possible therapeutic approach to restore neurogenesis in AD mice.
Pretreatment of nucleus pulposus mesenchymal stem cells with appropriate concentration of H2O2 enhances their ability to treat intervertebral disc degeneration
Authors: Zhang Yu-yao , Hu Zhi-lei , Qi Yu-han , Li Hai-yin , Chang Xian , Gao Xiao-xin , Liu Chen-hao , Li Yue-yang , Lou Jin-hui , Zhai Yu , Li Chang-qing 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background
Nucleus pulposus mesenchymal stem cells (NPMSCs) transplantation is a promising treatment for intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). However, the transplanted NPMSCs exhibited weak cell proliferation, high cell apoptosis, and a low ability to resist the harsh microenvironment of the degenerated intervertebral disc. There is an urgent need to explore feasible methods to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of NPMSCs transplantation.

Objective
To identify the optimal concentration for NPMSCs pretreatment with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and explore the therapeutic efficacy of NPMSCs transplantation using H2O2 pretreatment in IVDD.

Methods
Rat NPMSCs were pretreated with different concentrations (range from 25 to 300 μM) of H2O2. The proliferation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, and apoptosis of NPMSCs were detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) staining, and flow cytometry in vitro. The underlying signalling pathways were explored utilizing Western blotting. A rat needle puncture-stimulated IVDD model was established. X-ray, histological staining, and a multimode small animal live imaging system were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of H2O2-pretreated NPMSCs in vivo.

Results
NPMSCs pretreated with 75 μM H2O2 demonstrated the strongest elevated cell proliferation by inhibiting the Hippo pathway (P < 0.01). Meanwhile, 75 μM H2O2-pretreated NPMSCs exhibited significantly enhanced antioxidative stress ability (P < 0.01), which is related to downregulated Brd4 and Keap1 and upregulated Nrf2. NPMSCs pretreated with 75 μM H2O2 also exhibited distinctly decreased apoptosis (P < 0.01). In vivo experiments verified that 75 μM H2O2-pretreated NPMSCs-transplanted rats exhibited an enhanced disc height index (DHI% = 90.00 ± 4.55, P < 0.01) and better histological morphology (histological score = 13.5 ± 0.5, P < 0.01), which means 75 μM H2O2-pretreated NPMSCs can better adapt to the environment of degenerative intervertebral discs and promote the repair of IVDD.

Conclusions
Pretreatment with 75 μM H2O2 was the optimal concentration to improve the proliferation, antioxidative stress, and antiapoptotic ability of transplanted NPMSCs, which is expected to provide a new feasible method to improve the stem cell therapy efficacy of IVDD.
Stem cells for treatment of liver fibrosis/cirrhosis: clinical progress and therapeutic potential
Authors: Liu Pinyan , Mao Yongcui , Xie Ye , Wei Jiayun , Yao Jia 
Published: July 2022

AbstractCost-effective treatment strategies for liver fibrosis or cirrhosis are limited. Many clinical trials of stem cells for liver disease shown that stem cells might be a potential therapeutic approach. This review will summarize the published clinical trials of stem cells for the treatment of liver fibrosis/cirrhosis and provide the latest overview of various cell sources, cell doses, and delivery methods. We also describe the limitations and strengths of various stem cells in clinical applications. Furthermore, to clarify how stem cells play a therapeutic role in liver fibrosis, we discuss the molecular mechanisms of stem cells for treatment of liver fibrosis, including liver regeneration, immunoregulation, resistance to injury, myofibroblast repression, and extracellular matrix degradation. We provide a perspective for the prospects of future clinical implementation of stem cells.
Sex differences in the human brain: a roadmap for more careful analysis and interpretation of a biological reality
Authors: DeCasien Alex R. , Guma Elisa , Liu Siyuan , Raznahan Armin 
Published: July 2022

AbstractThe presence, magnitude, and significance of sex differences in the human brain are hotly debated topics in the scientific community and popular media. This debate is largely fueled by studies containing strong, opposing conclusions: either little to no evidence exists for sex differences in human neuroanatomy, or there are small-to-moderate differences in the size of certain brain regions that are highly reproducible across cohorts (even after controlling for sex differences in average brain size). Our Commentary uses the specific comparison between two recent large-scale studies that adopt these opposing views—namely the review by Eliot and colleagues (2021) and the direct analysis of ~ 40k brains by Williams and colleagues (2021)—in an effort to clarify this controversy and provide a framework for conducting this research. First, we review observations that motivate research on sex differences in human neuroanatomy, including potential causes (evolutionary, genetic, and environmental) and effects (epidemiological and clinical evidence for sex-biased brain disorders). We also summarize methodological and empirical support for using structural MRI to investigate such patterns. Next, we outline how researchers focused on sex differences can better specify their study design (e.g., how sex was defined, if and how brain size was adjusted for) and results (by e.g., distinguishing sexual dimorphisms from sex differences). We then compare the different approaches available for studying sex differences across a large number of individuals: direct analysis, meta-analysis, and review. We stress that reviews do not account for methodological differences across studies, and that this variation explains many of the apparent inconsistencies reported throughout recent reviews (including the work by Eliot and colleagues). For instance, we show that amygdala volume is consistently reported as male-biased in studies with sufficient sample sizes and appropriate methods for brain size correction. In fact, comparing the results from multiple large direct analyses highlights small, highly reproducible sex differences in the volume of many brain regions (controlling for brain size). Finally, we describe best practices for the presentation and interpretation of these findings. Care in interpretation is important for all domains of science, but especially so for research on sex differences in the human brain, given the existence of broad societal gender-biases and a history of biological data being used justify sexist ideas. As such, we urge researchers to discuss their results from simultaneously scientific and anti-sexist viewpoints.
SimVec: predicting polypharmacy side effects for new drugs
Authors: Lukashina Nina , Kartysheva Elena , Spjuth Ola , Virko Elizaveta , Shpilman Aleksei 
Published: July 2022

AbstractPolypharmacy refers to the administration of multiple drugs on a daily basis. It has demonstrated effectiveness in treating many complex diseases , but it has a higher risk of adverse drug reactions. Hence, the prediction of polypharmacy side effects is an essential step in drug testing, especially for new drugs. This paper shows that the current knowledge graph (KG) based state-of-the-art approach to polypharmacy side effect prediction does not work well for new drugs, as they have a low number of known connections in the KG. We propose a new method , SimVec, that solves this problem by enhancing the KG structure with a structure-aware node initialization and weighted drug similarity edges. We also devise a new 3-step learning process, which iteratively updates node embeddings related to side effects edges, similarity edges, and drugs with limited knowledge. Our model significantly outperforms existing KG-based models. Additionally, we examine the problem of negative relations generation and show that the cache-based approach works best for polypharmacy tasks.
A spectrum estimation approach for accurate heartbeat detection using Doppler radar based on combination of FTPR and TWV
Authors: Pan Haipeng , Zou Yongyang , Gu Minming 
Published: July 2022

AbstractNon-contact heartbeat detection using Doppler radar is extremely valuable for remotely monitoring and medical diagnosis on special occasions. Nevertheless, fast and accurate heart rate (HR) detection endures several challenges due to influential respiration interference and insufficient frequency spectrum resolution. In this paper, a novel heartbeat detection method with a compact Doppler radar is employed to accurately estimate some indicators of HR and heart rate variability. Firstly, a multiresolution analysis approach based on maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform is introduced to accomplish the preliminary separation of respiration and heartbeat. Subsequently, a template matched filter algorithm is further implemented to maximize the enhancement of the concealed heartbeat component and retrieve the heartbeat signal. Eventually, a novel spectrum estimation method combining frequency–time phase regression with time-window-variation technology is proposed to evaluate the real-time HR. It solves serious dominant frequency estimation deviation and insufficient frequency spectrum resolution in short-period time windows. The accuracy and timeliness of our proposed method are validated by 6 sets of experimental data sampled at the actual office. As a result, the HR detection accuracy is up to 99.70% in different-period time windows of 10 s and 92.09% in 3s. In addition, the mean relative error of extracted beat-to-beat intervals in 3 s ranges from 0.76 to 1.02%.
Spectral-efficient hybrid precoding for multi-antenna multi-user mmWave massive MIMO systems with low complexity
Authors: Liu Yang , Zhang Qiutong , He Xin , Lei Xuemei , Zhang Yinghui , Qiu Tianshuang 
Published: July 2022

AbstractMillimeter-wave (mmWave) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems allow for a data transmission rate of gigabits per second owing to the large bandwidth available in the mmWave spectrum and the antenna gains provided by the massive MIMO system. However, hybrid precoding with high complexity and low spectral efficiency cannot address the challenge of high cost and power consumption of RF chains of multi-user systems. In this paper, we propose a low-complexity hybrid precoding scheme for downlink multi-antenna multi-user mmWave massive MIMO systems, aiming to enhance the sum spectral efficiency (SSE) performance. We first extend the dimension of the analog precoding matrix into a square matrix and find the optimal analog combiner by selecting some of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) bases, which enhances the equivalent baseband channel matrix gain. Then, we directly aggregate the channel gain through the equal gain transmission (EGT) method to ensure the frequency efficiency performance. Finally, we propose an improved BD scheme to design the digital precoder and combiner to reduce the inter-user interference. We consider both the mmWave channel and the Rayleigh channel to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results verify that the proposed scheme enjoys near-optimal achievable sum spectrum efficiency and BER performance in both the mmWave channel and Rayleigh channel and performs even better in Rayleigh channel than in the mmWave channel.
Electricity market relationship between Great Britain and its neighbors: distributional effects of Brexit
Authors: Ball Christopher Stephen , Govorukha Kristina , Kuckshinrichs Wilhelm , Mayer Philip , Rübbelke Dirk , Vögele Stefan 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background
Beyond Great Britain, Brexit could also have ripple effects on the electricity systems of certain other EU member states. This paper investigates the possible effects of reduced growth in interconnectivity between Great Britain and mainland Europe by 2030 on the electricity system in GB and across other EU member states in addition to the effects of Pound depreciation. Effects are analyzed across a “Green Scenario” and “Blue Scenario” in 2030, based on the ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators-Electricity) 10-year development plans. There is a greater expansion of nuclear and renewables in Green than in Blue and, in Blue, the British CO2 price is higher than in the EU. Within each scenario, there are four variants: full vs. reduced expansion of interconnection capacity, in combination with no devaluation and 10% depreciation of the British Pound. The EMME (Electricity Market Model for Europe) is used to model these impacts across the different scenario variants.

Results
Interconnector utilization is more volatile in the Green Scenario variants, leading to concerns about investor incentives, especially given the increased uncertainty under Brexit. In terms of electricity prices, GB consumers lose out across both Blue and Green scenario variants, whereas EU and GB producers both gain and lose in different variants. Across the Green Scenario variants, EU neighbors’ trade balances with GB deteriorate slightly, but the impact is far stronger in Blue due to a loss of opportunities to export power. GB sees significant increases in electricity costs across scenario variants. Green scenario variants offer potential for modest emission reductions in certain EU nations, whereas Blue Scenario variants lead to greater emission reductions in the EU neighbors which contrasts with a sharp rise in GB emissions.

Conclusions
There is a significant link between NTC expansion and wholesale prices. Delayed or cancelled NTC expansion could negatively affect the GB power system’s low-carbon transition. Pound depreciation and reduced expansion of NTCs lead to shifts in generation-related CO2 emissions. A higher cost burden for electricity is a risk for GB, whereas, for EU neighbors, their trade position with the UK risks deteriorating.