bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Timau National Observatory using limited in situ measurements
Authors: Priyatikanto R , Mumpuni E S , Hidayat T , Saputra M B , Murti M D , Rachman A , Yatini C Y 
Published: December 2022

ABSTRACT
A new astronomical observatory in south-eastern Indonesia is currently under construction. This Timau National Observatory will host a 3.8-m telescope for optical and near-infrared observations. To support the operation and planning, the characterization of the site needs to be appropriately performed. However, limited resources and access to the site hindered the deployment of instruments for comprehensive site testing. Fortunately, in situ sky brightness data from the Sky Quality Meter (SQM) have been available for almost 2 yr. Based on the data acquired in 470 nights, we obtain a background sky brightness of μ0 = 21.86 ± 0.38 mag arcsec−2. Additionally, we evaluate the moonlit sky brightness to estimate the atmospheric extinction coefficient (k) and level of scattering on site. We find an elevated value of k = 0.48 ± 0.04, associated with a high atmospheric aerosol content. It is considered regular for an equatorial area situated at a low altitude (∼1300 masl). By analysing the fluctuation of the sky brightness and infrared images from Himawari-8 satellite, we estimate the available observing time (AOT) of at least 5.3 h/night and the yearly average percentage of usable nights of $66{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. The monthly average AOT from SQM and satellite data analysis correlate with R = 0.82. In terms of the monthly percentage of usable nights, the correlation coefficient is R = 0.78. During the wet season (November–April), the results from SQM and satellite data analysis deviate more significantly, mainly due to the limited capability of Himawari-8 in detecting fragmented low-altitude clouds. According to these results, we expect Timau to complement other observatories greatly.
Broad-band mHz QPOs and spectral study of LMC X-4 with AstroSat
Authors: Sharma Rahul , Jain Chetana , Rikame Ketan , Paul Biswajit 
Published: December 2022

ABSTRACT
We report the results of broad-band timing and spectral analysis of data from an AstroSat observation of the high-mass X-ray binary LMC X-4. The Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) and Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) instruments onboard the AstroSatobserved the source in 2016 August. A complete X-ray eclipse was detected with the LAXPC. The 3–40 keV power density spectrum showed the presence of coherent pulsations along with a ∼26 mHz quasi-periodic oscillation feature. The spectral properties of LMC X-4 were derived from a joint analysis of the SXT and LAXPC spectral data. The 0.5–25 keV persistent spectrum comprised of an absorbed high-energy cut-off power law with photon index of Γ ∼ 0.8 and cut-off at ∼16 keV, a soft thermal component with kTBB ∼ 0.14 keV, and Gaussian components corresponding to Fe Kα, Ne ix, and Ne x emission lines. Assuming a source distance of 50 kpc, we determined 0.5–25 keV luminosity to be ∼2 × 1038 erg s−1.
Producing fast and active Rubisco in tobacco to enhance photosynthesis
Authors: Chen Taiyu , Riaz Saba , Davey Philip , Zhao Ziyu , Sun Yaqi , Dykes Gregory F , Zhou Fei , Hartwell James , Lawson Tracy , Nixon Peter J , Lin Yongjun , Liu Lu-Ning 
Published: December 2022

Abstract
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) performs most of the carbon fixation on Earth. However, plant Rubisco is an intrinsically inefficient enzyme given its low carboxylation rate, representing a major limitation to photosynthesis. Replacing endogenous plant Rubisco with a faster Rubisco is anticipated to enhance crop photosynthesis and productivity. However, the requirement of chaperones for Rubisco expression and assembly has obstructed the efficient production of functional foreign Rubisco in chloroplasts. Here, we report the engineering of a Form 1A Rubisco from the proteobacterium Halothiobacillus neapolitanus in Escherichia coli and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) chloroplasts without any cognate chaperones. The native tobacco gene encoding Rubisco large subunit was genetically replaced with H. neapolitanus Rubisco (HnRubisco) large and small subunit genes. We show that HnRubisco subunits can form functional L8S8 hexadecamers in tobacco chloroplasts at high efficiency, accounting for ∼40% of the wild-type tobacco Rubisco content. The chloroplast-expressed HnRubisco displayed a ∼2-fold greater carboxylation rate and supported a similar autotrophic growth rate of transgenic plants to that of wild-type in air supplemented with 1% CO2. This study represents a step toward the engineering of a fast and highly active Rubisco in chloroplasts to improve crop photosynthesis and growth.
Universal Postpartum Naloxone Provision: A Harm Reduction Quality Improvement Project
Authors: Naliboff Jay A. , Tharpe Nell 
Published: December 2022

Objective
The aim of the study is to demonstrate the feasibility of combining implicit bias and harm reduction education for birthing unit providers and staff with the provision of a naloxone-containing home first aid kit for all postpartum people.

Methods
A quality improvement project was pilot tested at a small rural hospital in Maine. Birthing unit providers and staff were educated regarding implicit bias and harm reduction activities. All postpartum people were offered a take-home first aid kit containing first aid supplies, local recovery resources, naloxone administration instructions, and a 2-dose nasal naloxone pack. Data were collected over the course of 1 year from May 1, 2021, to April 30, 2022. Data included the number and percentage of staff completing the education modules, number of postpartum discharges, number and percentage of postpartum people who received harm reduction education, and number and percentage of postpartum people who accepted the take-home first aid kits with or without naloxone.

Results
Fourteen of 17 (83%) providers and staff completed the education modules. One hundred ninety-seven postpartum people were discharged during the pilot project. One hundred ninety-two of 197 (97%) postpartum people received education from nursing staff on opioid overdose recognition and treatment. One hundred eighty-six of 197 (94%) postpartum people accepted the kits, and 150 of 197 (76%) also accepted the naloxone.

Conclusions
Educating birthing unit staff and providers on implicit bias and harm reduction activities support universal postpartum overdose education and acceptance of a naloxone-containing home first aid kit.
Developing a Model to Predict High Health Care Utilization Among Patients in a New York City Safety Net System
Authors: Li Zeyu , Gogia Spriha , Tatem Kathleen S. , Cooke Caroline , Singer Jesse , Chokshi Dave A. , Newton-Dame Remle 
Published: December 2022

Background:
Health care facilities use predictive models to identify patients at risk of high future health care utilization who may benefit from tailored interventions. Previous predictive models that have focused solely on inpatient readmission risk, relied on commercial insurance claims data, or failed to incorporate social determinants of health may not be generalizable to safety net hospital populations. To address these limitations, we developed a payer-agnostic risk model for patients receiving care at the largest US safety net hospital system.

Methods:
We transformed electronic health record and administrative data from 833,969 adult patients who received care during July 2016–July 2017 into demographic, utilization, diagnosis, medication, and social determinant variables (including homelessness and incarceration history) to predict health care utilization during the following year.
We selected the final model by developing and validating multiple classification and regression models predicting 10+ acute days, 5+ acute days, or continuous acute days. We compared a portfolio of performance metrics while prioritizing positive predictive value for patients whose predicted utilization was among the top 1% to maximize clinical utility.

Results:
The final model predicted continuous number of acute days and included 17 variables. For the top 1% of high acute care utilizers, the model had a positive predictive value of 47.6% and sensitivity of 17.3%. Previous health care utilization and psychosocial factors were the strongest predictors of future high acute care utilization.

Conclusions:
We demonstrated a feasible approach to predictive high acute care utilization in a safety net hospital using electronic health record data while incorporating social risk factors.
Comparison of 68Ga-FAPI-04 and fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/computed tomography in the detection of ovarian malignancies
Authors: Zheng Wenlu , Liu Lin , Feng Yue , Wang Li , Chen Yue 
Published: December 2022

Background
Currently, fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) is the most frequently used diagnostical radiotracer for PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) in ovarian malignancies. However, 18F-FDG has some limitations. The fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) previously demonstrated highly promising results in studies on various tumor entities and 68Ga-labeled FAPI presents a promising alternative to 18F-FDG. This study aimed to compare the performance of 68Ga-FAPI and 18F-FDG PET/CT for imaging of ovarian malignancies.

Methods
A total of 27 patients were included in this retrospective study conducted at the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University between June 2020 and February 2022. The 18F-FDG and 68Ga-FAPI uptakes of tumors, lymph nodes, and distant metastases were quantified using the maximum standardized uptake values, and the tumor-to-background ratios were also evaluated and calculated by using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results
Twenty-one patients with suspected (n = 11) and previously treated ovarian malignancies (n = 10) were in statistical analysis finally. For detecting tumors, 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT was more sensitive than 18F-FDG PET/CT [14 of 14 (100%) vs. 11 of 14 (78%)], lymph node metastases [75 of 75 (100%) vs. 60 of 75 (80%)] and superior to 18F-FDG PET/CT in terms of the peritoneal and pleural metastases [9 of 9 (100%) vs. 5 of 9 (56%)]. For four of the newly diagnosed patients (n = 11), 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT upstaged the clinical stage compared to 18F-FDG PET/CT.

Conclusion

68Ga-FAPI PET/CT has superior potential in the detection of ovarian cancers, especially in peritoneal carcinomatosis. 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT may be a promising supplement for staging and follow-up of ovarian malignancies.
Building Blocks of Biofilms – an engaging and hands-on microbiology outreach activity for school children and the general public
Authors: Pincott Hayley , Hughes Megan , Cummins Thomas , Morse Daniel James 
Published: December 2022

Biofilms are naturally occurring communities of microorganisms, attached to a surface and often embedded in a matrix of self-produced polymeric substances. Biofilms are widely implicated in human infections, particularly on prostheses and medical implants. Such biofilms are difficult to eradicate, often leading to replacement of the prosthesis and resulting in a significant burden to healthcare.
Here we present a fun and engaging interactive activity targeted toward primary school/early secondary school children, introducing the concept of natural and healthcare-associated biofilms, using dental plaque as an archetypal example. Dental plaque forms as a result of poor oral/dental hygiene, and develops according to a typical series of defined stages: attachment and adherence to the surface, followed by colonisation and maturation of the biofilm structure, and eventually, dispersal. This activity uses dental disclosing tablets to visualise real biofilms (plaque) on the participants teeth, and uses interlocking building-blocks to represent microorganisms, where children build three-dimensional ‘biofilms’ of varying shapes and structural integrities. Each of the stages of development are discussed in detail, and after building the biofilms, balls of different shapes, sizes and weights can be used as ‘antimicrobials’ to disrupt the biofilm structure.
The outcomes of the activity are to enhance knowledge and general understanding of biofilms; their ubiquitous presence in the natural environment, development, implications in healthcare, and challenges of treatment. The various ‘antimicrobial’ balls also provide a basis to introduce and discuss drug selection for infections, and the importance of using the correct antimicrobial for different infections to avoid development of resistance.
Communication attributes modify the anxiety risk associated with social media addiction: a prospective diary method study
Authors: Weng Chenziheng Allen , Bulgin Jahshara , Diaz Savannah , Zhang Jiafang , Tan Runzi , Li Le , Armstrong-Hough Mari 
Published: December 2022

AbstractPurposeSocial media use in younger people has shown mixed associations with mental health. We hypothesized that communication types during social media use might alter the relationship between social media dependence and anxiety over time. We aimed to identify how four dimensions of communication influence the link between social media addiction (SMA) and anxiety.MethodsWe recruited a cohort of undergraduate students aged 18-26 to participate in daily surveys over two weeks using a diary method to assess daily social media use, SMA, anxiety symptoms, and the four dimensions of communication: Consumption, Broadness, Online Exclusivity, and Parasociality. Lagged logistic regression models with generalized estimating equations evaluated the influence of daily SMA and communication type on subsequent anxiety levels.ResultsOut of 79 participants, 1009 daily records were analyzed. SMA positively correlated with anxiety (Kendall rank correlation τ=.30). Interaction analysis indicated that levels of parasociality and consumption moderated the association between SMA components and anxiety outcomes. In young adults with high levels of consumption or parasociality, a 1-standard-deviation rise in SMA’s social conflict component led to an 11%-13% increase in next-day anxiety scores. This association was absent for those with low to moderate levels of parasociality and consumption.DiscussionElevated levels of passive consumption and one-sided interactions amplify the anxiety risk associated with social media dependence. Further longitudinal evidence can elucidate the connections between communication types, social media exposure, and anxiety, guiding the development of a model for healthy social media use.Implications and ContributionProblematic social media use among youth necessitates targeted interventions. This study demonstrates that passive consumption and one-sided social interactions significantly heighten the anxiety risks tied to social media addiction. The findings highlight the importance of considering communication types in developing interventions aimed at reducing social media-induced mental health issues.HighlightsWe examined four dimensions of social media communication via a daily diary method.Consumption and parasociality moderated the SMA-anxiety link, amplifying its effects.High consumption and parasociality predicted increased next-day anxiety scores.Communication attributes are important in understanding social media use
An herbal drug combination identified by knowledge graph alleviates the clinical symptoms of plasma cell mastitis patients: a nonrandomized controlled trial
Authors: Liu Caigang , Yu Hong , Chen Guanglei , Yang Qichao , Niu Nan , Han Ling , Zhao Dongyu , Wang Manji , Liu Yuanyuan , Yang Yongliang 
Published: December 2022

AbstractBackgroundPlasma cell mastitis (PCM) is a nonbacterial breast inflammation with severe and intense clinical manifestation yet treatment methods for PCM are still rather limited. Although the mechanism of PCM remains unclear, mounting evidences suggest that the dysregulation of immune system is closely associated with the pathogenesis of PCM. Drug combinations or combination therapy could exert improved efficacy and reduced toxicity through hitting multiple discrete cellular targets.MethodsWe have developed a knowledge graph architecture towards immunotherapy and systematic immunity that consists of herbal drug-target interactions with a novel scoring system to select drug combinations based on target-hitting rates and phenotype relativeness. To this end, we employed this knowledge graph to identify an herbal drug combination for PCM and we subsequently evaluated the efficacy of the herbal drug combination in clinical trialResultsOur clinical data suggests that the herbal drug combination could significantly reduce the serum level of various inflammatory cytokines, downregulate serum IgA and IgG level, reduce the recurrence rate and reverse the clinical symptoms of PCM patients with improvements of general health status.ConclusionsIn summary, we reported that an herbal drug combination identified by knowledge graph can alleviate the clinical symptoms of plasma cell mastitis patients. We demonstrated that the herbal drug combination holds great promise as an effective remedy for PCM, acting through the regulation of immunoinflammatory pathways and improvement of systematic immune level. In particular, the herbal drug combination could significantly reduce the recurrence rate of PCM, a major obstacle for PCM treatment. Our data suggests that the herbal drug combination is expected to feature prominently in future PCM treatment.FundingC. Liu’s lab was supported by grants from the Public Health Science and Technology Project of Shenyang (Grant: 22-321-32-18); Y. Yang’s laboratory was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant: 81874301), the Fundamental Research Funds for Central University (Grant: DUT22YG122) and the Key Research project of ‘be Recruited and be in Command’ in Liaoning Province (Personal Target Discovery for Metabolic Diseases).Clinical trial numberClinicalTrials.gov:NCT05530226
Novel 10-channel phased-array coil design for carotid wall MRI at 3T
Authors: de Buck Matthijs H.S. , Jezzard Peter , Frost Robert , Randell Chris , Hurst Katherine , Choudhury Robin P. , Robson Matthew D. , Biasiolli Luca 
Published: December 2022

AbstractBackgroundAccurate assessment of plaque accumulation near the carotid bifurcation is important for the effective prevention and treatment of stroke. However, vessel and plaque delineation using MRI can be limited by low contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and long acquisition times. In this work, a novel 10-channel phased-array receive coil design for bilateral imaging of the carotid bifurcation using 3T MRI is proposed.MethodsThe novel 10-channel receive coil was compared to a commercial 4-channel receive coil configuration using data acquired from phantoms and healthy volunteers (N = 9). The relative performance of the coils was assessed, by comparing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), g-factor noise amplification, and the CNR between vessel wall and lumen using black-blood sequences. Patient data were acquired from 12 atherosclerotic carotid artery disease patients.ResultsThe 10-channel coil consistently provided substantially increased SNR in phantoms (+88 ± 2%) and improved CNR in healthy carotid arteries (+62 ± 11%), or reduced g-factor noise amplification. Patient data showed excellent delineation of atherosclerotic plaque along the length of the carotid bifurcation using the 10-channel coil.ConclusionsThe proposed 10-channel coil design allows for improved visualization of the carotid arteries and the carotid bifurcation and increased parallel imaging acceleration factors.
Assessment of quality of life of breast cancer patients attending a tertiary hospital in Bangladesh
Authors: Islam Kazi Faria , Awal Abdul , Ummey Shaon Farzana Tamanna , Hossain Md. Badrul , Samson Aliayah , Momo James Senjeh , Hasan Mehedi , Hanif Abu. A. M. , Mahmud Ilias , Mridha Malay Kanti 
Published: December 2022

AbstractObjectiveBreast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy and a leading cause of death among women. This cross-sectional study assessed the quality of life (QOL) of breast cancer patients attending a tertiary hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh.MethodData were obtained from 359 female breast cancer patients at a tertiary hospital between November 23 and December 9, 2019, using a digital platform (Kobo Toolbox). A Bangla translation of the QOL questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30) was used to assess QOL. The survey comprised three scales: global health, functional, and symptoms scale. For the functional and global health scales, we adopted a cut-off level of ≥66% score for good QOL and ≤33% for poor QOL, which was reversed for the symptoms scale. Using STATA 13.0, we performed descriptive and logistic regression analyses.ResultAmong the 359 patients, 86.35% were housewives, and 50.42% of them came from the Dhaka division. In contrast to the 38.44% and 42.90 % of respondents who scored highly in the social and cognitive categories of the functional scale, respectively, only 8.92% of patients had a high global health status score. Financial difficulties (28.97%) and fatigue (17.82%) were reported as the most distressing factors followed by loss of appetite (14.76%) and insomnia (13.65%). The logistic regression models revealed that women ≥40 years had higher odds of exhibiting the poor quality of health concerning physical function (AOR 3.59, p=0.005), role function (AOR 3.89, p=0.002), and emotional function (AOR, 2.87, p=0.009) as compared to women<40 years.ConclusionOur study emphasizes the necessity of integrating psychosocial components for both patients and informal caregivers in the cancer treatment service. Additionally, it is critical to design and implement multi-sectoral policies and integrative techniques to alleviate the most distressing issues for breast cancer patients, as demonstrated in our study: financial hardships, exhaustion, and pain.
GDockScore: a graph-based protein-protein docking scoring function
Authors: McFee Matthew , Kim Philip M. 
Published: December 2022

AbstractProtein complexes play vital roles in a variety of biological processes such as mediating biochemical reactions, the immune response, and cell signalling, with three-dimensional structure specifying function. Computational docking methods provide a means to determine the interface between two complexed polypeptide chains without using time-consuming experimental techniques. The docking process requires the optimal solution to be selected with a scoring function. Here we propose a novel graph-based deep learning model that utilizes mathematical graph representations of proteins to learn a scoring function (GDockScore). GDockScore was pre-trained on docking outputs generated with the Protein Data Bank (PDB) biounits and the RosettaDock protocol, and then fine-tuned on HADDOCK decoys generated on the ZDOCK Protein Docking Benchmark. GDockScore performs similarly to the Rosetta scoring function on docking decoys generated using the RosettaDock protocol. Furthermore, state-of-the-art is achieved on the CAPRI score set, a challenging dataset for developing docking scoring functions. The model implementation is available athttps://gitlab.com/mcfeemat/gdockscore.