bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diagnosis and Management of Fingolimod-Associated Macular Edema
Authors: Wang Chunjiang , Deng Zhenzhen , Song Liying , Sun Wei , Zhao Shaoli 
Published: July 2022

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features, treatment, and prognosis of fingolimod-associated macular edema (FAME) and to provide a reference for its rational management.MethodsFAME-related case reports were included in a pooled analysis by searching Chinese and English databases from 2010 to November 31, 2021.ResultsThe median age of 41 patients was 50 years (range, 21, 67 years), of whom 32 were women. The median time to onset of FAME was 3 m (range.03, 120), and blurred vision (17 cases) and decreased vision (13 cases) were the most common complaints. A total of 55 eyes were involved in FAME, including the left eye (14 cases), right eye (10 cases), and both eyes (15 cases), of which 46 eyes had best-corrected visual acuity close to normal (20/12-20/60) and 8 eyes had moderate to severe visual impairment (20/80-20/500). Fundus examination in 23 patients showed macular edema (11 cases). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) in 39 patients mainly showed perifoveal cysts (24 cases), ME (23 cases), and foveal thickening (19 cases). Fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) in 18 patients showed vascular leakage (11 cases). Complete resolution of ME occurred in 50 eyes and recovery of visual acuity occurred in 45 eyes at a median time of 2 m (range 0.25, 24) after discontinuation of fingolimod or administration of topical therapy.ConclusionsMacular edema is a known complication of fingolimod. All patients using fingolimod require regular eye exams, especially those with a history of diabetes and uveitis and those undergoing cataract surgery.
Causal Structural Covariance Network Suggesting Structural Alterations Progression in Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Authors: Zhang Jiang , Liu Yuyan , Guo Xiaonan , Guo Jing , Du Zhengcong , He Muyuan , Liu Qihong , Xu Dundi , Liu Taiyuan , Zhang Junran , Yuan Huijuan , Wang Meiyun , Li Shasha 
Published: July 2022

Background and PurposeAccording to reports, type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a progressive disease. However, no known research has examined the progressive brain structural changes associated with T2D. The purpose of this study was to determine whether T2D patients exhibit progressive brain structural alterations and, if so, how the alterations progress.Materials and MethodsStructural magnetic resonance imaging scans were collected for 81 T2D patients and 48 sex-and age-matched healthy controls (HCs). Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and causal structural covariance network (CaSCN) analyses were applied to investigate gray matter volume (GMV) alterations and the likely chronological processes underlying them in T2D. Two sample t-tests were performed to compare group differences, and the differences were corrected using Gaussian random field (GRF) correction (voxel-level p &lt; 0.001, cluster-level p &lt; 0.01).ResultsOur findings demonstrated that GMV alterations progressed in T2D patients as disease duration increased. In the early stages of the disease, the right temporal pole of T2D patients had GMV atrophy. As the diseases duration prolonged, the limbic system, cerebellum, subcortical structures, parietal cortex, frontal cortex, and occipital cortex progressively exhibited GMV alterations. The patients also exhibited a GMV alterations sequence exerting from the right temporal pole to the limbic-cerebellum-striatal-cortical network areas.ConclusionOur results indicate that the progressive GMV alterations of T2D patients manifested a limbic-cerebellum-striatal-cortical sequence. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the progression and an improvement of current diagnosis and intervention strategies for T2D.
Urethral Interfractional Geometric and Dosimetric Variations of Prostate Cancer Patients: A Study Using an Onboard MRI
Authors: Pham Jonathan , Savjani Ricky R. , Yoon Stephanie M. , Yang Tiffany , Gao Yu , Cao Minsong , Hu Peng , Sheng Ke , Low Daniel A. , Steinberg Michael , Kishan Amar U. , Yang Yingli 
Published: July 2022

PurposeFor a cohort of prostate cancer patients treated on an MR-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) system, we retrospectively analyzed urethral interfractional geometric and dosimetric variations based on onboard MRIs acquired at different timepoints and evaluated onboard prostatic urethra visualization for urethra-focused online adaptive RT.MethodsTwenty-six prostate cancer patients were prospectively scanned on a 0.35-T MRgRT system using an optimized T2-weighted HASTE sequence at simulation and final fraction. Two radiation oncologists (RO1 and RO2) contoured the urethras on all HASTE images. The simulation and final fraction HASTE images were rigidly registered, and urethral interobserver and interfractional geometric variation was evaluated using the 95th percentile Hausdorff distance (HD95), mean distance to agreement (MDA), center-of-mass shift (COMS), and DICE coefficient. For dosimetric analysis, simulation and final fraction HASTE images were registered to the 3D bSSFP planning MRI and 3D bSSFP final setup MRI, respectively. Both ROs’ urethra contours were transferred from HASTE images for initial treatment plan optimization and final fraction dose estimation separately. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) plans, 40 Gy in 5 fractions, were optimized to meet clinical constraints, including urethral V42Gy ≤0.03 cc, on the planning MRI. The initial plan was then forward calculated on the final setup MRI to estimate urethral dose on the final fraction and evaluate urethral dosimetric impact due to anatomy change.ResultsThe average interobserver HD95, MDA, COMS, and DICE were 2.85 ± 1.34 mm, 1.02 ± 0.36 mm, 3.16 ± 1.61 mm, and 0.58 ± 0.15, respectively. The average interfractional HD95, MDA, COMS, and DICE were 3.26 ± 1.54 mm, 1.29 ± 0.54 mm, 3.34 ± 2.01 mm, and 0.49 ± 0.18, respectively. All patient simulation MRgRT plans met all clinical constraints. For RO1 and RO2, 23/26 (88%) and 21/26 (81%) patients’ final fraction estimated urethral dose did not meet the planned constraint. The average urethral V42Gy change was 0.48 ± 0.58 cc.ConclusionUrethral interfractional motion and anatomic change can result in daily treatment violating urethral constraints. Onboard MRI with good visualization of the prostatic urethra can be a valuable tool to help better protect the urethra through patient setup or online adaptive RT.
Ferroptosis: A Specific Vulnerability of RAS-Driven Cancers?
Authors: Andreani Cristina , Bartolacci Caterina , Scaglioni Pier Paolo 
Published: July 2022

Ferroptosis has emerged as a new type of programmed cell death that can be harnessed for cancer therapy. The concept of ferroptosis was for the first time proposed in in the early 2000s, as an iron-dependent mode of regulated cell death caused by unrestricted lipid peroxidation (LPO) and subsequent plasma membrane rupture. Since the discovery and characterization of ferroptosis, a wealth of research has improved our understanding of the main pathways regulating this process, leading to both the repurposing and the development of small molecules.However, ferroptosis is still little understood and several aspects remain to be investigated. For instance, it is unclear whether specific oncogenes, cells of origin or tumor niches impose specific susceptibility/resistance to ferroptosis or if there are some ferroptosis-related genes that may be used as bona fide pan-cancer targetable dependencies. In this context, even though RAS-driven cancer cell lines seemed to be selectively sensitive to ferroptosis inducers, subsequent studies have questioned these results, indicating that in some cases mutant RAS is necessary, but not sufficient to induce ferroptosis. In this perspective, based on publicly available genomic screening data and the literature, we discuss the relationship between RAS-mutation and ferroptosis susceptibility in cancer.
Screening for an Underlying Tubulopathy in Children With Growth Failure, Simply Maths?
Authors: Becue Caroline , Ceuleers Britt , den Brinker Marieke , Somers Ines , Ledeganck Kristien J. , Dotremont Hilde , Trouet Dominique 
Published: July 2022

BackgroundInvolving pediatric nephrological input in the clinical diagnostic work-up of children with short stature, gave rise to the hypothesis that the presence of an underlying renal tubular disorder in children with short stature is possibly underestimated. This study focussed on the added value of calculated urinary fractional excretion (FE) in the early detection of tubular disorders in children with growth failure.MethodsThis trial was designed as an observational study analyzing the medical files of children between 5 and 16 years who had been referred for short stature to the pediatric endocrinology outpatient clinic at the University Hospital Antwerp between 25/01/2015 and 01/03/2019. Based on the laboratory results of the simultaneously taken blood and urine sample, the fractional excretions of Sodium, Chloride, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphate, and Magnesium were calculated.ResultsOf the 299 patients, 54 patients had at least one deviating fractional excretion value, requiring further investigation (control sample of blood and urine, kidney ultrasound or 24 h urine collection). Genetic screening for tubulopathies was performed in 19 patients. In 5 patients (1.7% of the total population) a tubulopathy was confirmed based on genetic analysis.ConclusionThis study explored the possibility of using fractional excretions as a screening test to obtain an earlier diagnosis of tubular disorders in children with short stature. Of the 299 patients, 5 patients were diagnosed with a genetically confirmed tubulopathy. Based on these results, we propose a flowchart for an additional work-up in all children with a deviating fractional excretion.
Therapeutic and Prophylactic Effects of Amphotericin B Liposomes on Chronic Social Defeat Stress-Induced Behavioral Abnormalities in Mice
Authors: Lu Jiashu , Huang Chao , Lu Qun , Lu Xu 
Published: July 2022

Recently, innate immune system stimulants, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), were reported to prevent and reverse chronic stress-induced behavioral abnormalities, suggesting that innate immune stimulation could be a potential strategy for the treatment and prevention of mental disorders. Amphotericin B liposome is a clinically available antifungal medication that can stimulate macrophages and microglia. We hypothesize that amphotericin B liposome may be used to prevent and reverse behavioral abnormalities triggered by chronic stress. As expected, our results showed that a single injection of amphotericin B liposome (1 mg/kg) immediately after stress cessation reversed the decrease in time spent in the interaction zone in the social interaction test (SIT) and the increase in immobility time in the tail suspension test (TST) and forced swimming test (FST) in mice caused by chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). In addition, a single injection of amphotericin B liposomes (1 mg/kg) 1 day before stress exposure was found to prevent the CSDS-induced decrease in time spent in the interaction zone in the SIT and the increase in immobility time in the TST and FST in mice. Pretreatment with minocycline to inhibit the innate immune response was able to abolish the reversal effect of post-stress injection of amphotericin B liposomes on CSDS-induced behavioral abnormalities and the prophylactic effect of pre-stress injection of amphotericin B liposomes on CSDS-induced behavioral abnormalities. These results demonstrate that amphotericin B liposomes have both therapeutic and prophylactic effects on chronic stress-induced behavioral abnormalities in mice by mobilizing the innate immune response.
Hyaluronic Acid–Stabilized Fe3O4 Nanoparticles for Promoting In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Tumors
Authors: Zhang Weijie , Zhang Zhongyue , Lou Shitong , Chang Zhiwei , Wen Baohong , Zhang Tao 
Published: July 2022

The use of iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles as novel contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has attracted great interest due to their high r2 relaxivity. However, both poor colloidal stability and lack of effective targeting ability have impeded their further expansion in the clinics. Here, we reported the creation of hyaluronic acid (HA)-stabilized Fe3O4 nanoparticles prepared by a hydrothermal co-precipitation method and followed by electrostatic adsorption of HA onto the nanoparticle surface. The water-soluble HA functions not only as a stabilizer but also as a targeting ligand with high affinity for the CD44 receptor overexpressed in many tumors. The resulting HA-stabilized Fe3O4 nanoparticles have an estimated size of sub-20 nm as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and exhibited long-term colloidal stability in aqueous solution. We found that the nanoparticles are hemocompatible and cytocompatible under certain concentrations. As verified by quantifying the cellular uptake, the Fe3O4@HA nanoparticles were able to target a model cell line (HeLa cells) overexpressing the CD44 receptor through an active pathway. In addition, we showed that the nanoparticles can be used as effective contrast agents for MRI both in vitro in HeLa cells and in vivo in a xenografted HeLa tumor model in rodents. We believe that our findings shed important light on the use of active targeting ligands to improve the contrast of lesion for tumor-specific MRI in the nano-based diagnosis systems.
Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Severe or Critical COVID-19: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials and Observational Studies
Authors: Li Mengting , Zhu Hongfei , Liu Yafei , Lu Yao , Sun Minyao , Zhang Yuqing , Shi Jiaheng , Shi Nannan , Li Ling , Yang Kehu , Sun Xin , Liu Jie , Ge Long , Huang Luqi 
Published: July 2022

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread globally. Due to the higher risk of mortality, the treatment of severe or critical patients is a top priority. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment has played an extremely important role in the fight against COVID-19 in China; a timely evidence summary on TCM in managing COVID-19 is crucial to update the knowledge of healthcare for better clinical management of COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the effects and safety of TCM treatments for severe/critical COVID-19 patients by systematically collecting and synthesizing evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies (e.g., cohort).Methods: We searched nine databases up to 19th March 2022 and the reference lists of relevant publications. Pairs of reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data of interest, and assessed risk of bias. We performed qualitative systematic analysis with visual presentation of results and compared the direction and distribution of effect estimates for each patient’s important outcome. We performed sensitivity analyses to observe the robustness of results by restricting analysis to studies with low risk of bias.Results: The search yielded 217,761 records, and 21 studies (6 RCTs and 15 observational studies) proved eligible. A total of 21 studies enrolled 12,981 severe/critical COVID-19 patients with a mean age of 57.21 years and a mean proportion of men of 47.91%. Compared with usual supportive treatments, the effect estimates of TCM treatments were consistent in direction, illustrating that TCM treatments could reduce the risk of mortality, rate of conversion to critical cases, and mechanical ventilation, and showed significant advantages in shortening the length of hospital stay, time to viral clearance, and symptom resolution. The results were similar when we restricted analyses to low-risk-bias studies. No serious adverse events were reported with TCM treatments, and no significant differences were observed between groups.Conclusion: Encouraging evidence suggests that TCM presents substantial advantages in treating severe/critical COVID-19 patients. TCM has a safety profile that is comparable to that of conventional treatment alone. TCMs have played an important role in China’s prevention and treatment of COVID-19, which sets an example of using traditional medicine in preventing and treating COVID-19 worldwide.
Investigating Global Spatial Patterns of Diarrhea-Related Mortality in Children Under Five
Authors: Almasi Ali , Zangeneh Alireza , Ziapour Arash , Saeidi Shahram , Teimouri Raziyeh , Ahmadi Tohid , Khezeli Mehdi , Moradi Ghobad , Soofi Moslem , Salimi Yahya , Rajabi-Gilan Nader , Ramin Ghasemi Seyed , Heydarpour Fatemeh , Moghadam Shahrzad , Yigitcanlar Tan 
Published: July 2022

ObjectiveInvestigating the trends of child diarrhea-related mortality (DRM) is crucial to tracking and monitoring the progress of its prevention and control efforts worldwide. This study explores the spatial patterns of diarrhea-related mortality in children under five for monitoring and designing effective intervention programs.MethodsThe data used in this study was obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO) public dataset that contained data from 195 countries from the year 2000 to 2017. This dataset contained 13,541,989 DRM cases. The worldwide spatial pattern of DRM was analyzed at the country level utilizing geographic information system (GIS) software. Moran's I, Getis-Ord Gi, Mean center, and Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE) techniques were used to conduct the spatial analysis.ResultsThe spatial pattern of DRM was clustered all across the world during the study period from 2000 to 2017. The results revealed that Asian and African countries had the highest incidence of DRM worldwide. The findings from the spatial modeling also revealed that the focal point of death from diarrhea was mainly in Asian countries until 2010, and this focus shifted to Africa in 2011.ConclusionDRM is common among children who live in Asia and Africa. These concentrations may also be due to differences in knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding diarrhea. Through GIS analysis, the study was able to map the distribution of DRM in temporal and spatial dimensions and identify the hotspots of DRM across the globe.
Examining the Mental Health, Wellbeing, Work Participation and Engagement of Medical Laboratory Professionals in Ontario, Canada: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Nowrouzi-Kia Behdin , Dong Jingwen , Gohar Basem , Hoad Michelle 
Published: July 2022

ObjectivesThe overall objective of this proposed project is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health, functioning and wellbeing of medical laboratory technologists (MLT) and medical laboratory technicians/assistants (MLT/A) in Ontario, Canada.MethodsA cross-sectional study included a self-reported questionnaire for MLT and MLT/A in Ontario. The questionnaire included questions about demographics and occupational characteristics. Questions about mental health, functioning, well-being and psychosocial work environments were also included using validated questionnaires.ResultsThere were 551 MLT and 401 MLT/A in the analytic sample. Most of the respondents were women. The mean age and standard deviation of the overall sample were 42.0 ± 11.8. MLT demonstrated higher quantitative demands, possibilities for development, and organizational justice compared to MLT/A. The scores of work pace, emotional demands, role conflicts, job insecurity, insecurity over working conditions and negative acts were higher for MLT/A than MLT. The WHODAS 2.0 scores of the respondents were 20.80 ± 6.68, higher than approximately 92% average people. For both groups, most respondents scored the COPSOQ-III domains as worse since COVID-19.ConclusionThe study provides preliminary evidence regarding the workplace mental health outcomes of medical laboratory professionals in Ontario, Canada. The findings suggest that MLT and MLT/A experience psychosocial work conditions that impact mental health, functioning and disability. Accordingly, additional research is necessary to understand the experiences of medical laboratory professionals.
Physical Therapist Impressions of Telehealth and Virtual Reality Needs Amidst a Pandemic
Authors: Elor Aviv , Conde Samantha , Powell Michael , Robbins Ash , Chen Nancy N. , Kurniawan Sri 
Published: July 2022

Most physical therapists would agree that physical rehabilitation is difficult to perform remotely. Consequently, the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced many physical therapists and their clients to adapt to telehealth, especially with video conferencing. In this article, we ask: How has telehealth for physical rehabilitation evolved with the global pandemic and what are the largest technological needs, treatment methodologies, and patient barriers? With the increased widespread use of telehealth for physical therapy, we present a qualitative study towards examining the shortcomings of current physical therapy mediums and how to steer future virtual reality technologies to promote remote patient evaluation and rehabilitation. We interviewed 130 physical rehabilitation professionals across the United States through video conferencing during the COVID19 pandemic from July—August 2020. Interviews lasted 30–45 min using a semi-structured template developed from an initial pilot of 20 interviews to examine potential barriers, facilitators, and technological needs. Our findings suggest that physical therapists utilizing existing telehealth solutions have lost their ability to feel their patients’ injuries, easily assess range of motion and strength, and freely move about to examine their movements when using telehealth. This makes it difficult to fully evaluate a patient and many feel that they are more of a “life coach” giving advice to a patient rather than a traditional in-person rehabilitation session. The most common solutions that emerged during the interviews include: immersive technologies which allow physical therapists and clients 1) to remotely walk around each other in 3D, 2) enable evidence-based measures, 3) automate documentation, and 4) provider clinical practice operation through the cloud. We conclude with a discussion on opportunities for immersive virtual reality towards telehealth for physical rehabilitation.
Low-rank matrix approximations over canonical subspaces
Authors: Dax Achiya 
Published: July 2022

In this paper we derive closed form expressions for the nearest rank-\(k\) matrix on canonical subspaces.

We start by studying three kinds of subspaces. Let \(X\) and \(Y\) be a pair of given matrices. The first subspace contains all the \(m\times n\) matrices \(A\) that satisfy \(AX=O\). The second subspace contains all the \(m \times n\) matrices \(A\) that satisfy \(Y^TA = O\), while the matrices in the third subspace satisfy both \(AX =O\) and \(Y^TA = 0\).

The second part of the paper considers a subspace that contains all the symmetric matrices \(S\) that satisfy \(SX =O\). In this case, in addition to the nearest rank-\(k\) matrix we also provide the nearest rank-\(k\) positive approximant on that subspace.

A further insight is gained by showing that the related cones of positive semidefinite matrices, and negative semidefinite matrices, constitute a polar decomposition of this subspace.
The paper ends with two examples of applications. The first one regards the problem of computing the nearest rank-\(k\) centered matrix, and adds new insight into the PCA of a matrix.
The second application comes from the field of Euclidean distance matrices. The new results on low-rank positive approximants are used to derive an explicit expression for the nearest source matrix. This opens a direct way for computing the related positions matrix.