bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Report on a Conference That Never Was: Connections, Collaboration, and Solidarity among the Taiwan Studies Community
Authors: Cheng Isabelle 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This essay reports on a Taiwan studies conference that did not take place in April 2020 in Europe. Recalling what has replaced this disrupted conference, this report provides a sketch of how the Taiwan studies community responded to the unprecedented challenges of the global pandemic by organising online events. It concludes by calling for comparative research where the experiences of Taiwan can be juxtaposed with underlying issues that have deepened the divide between those who have and those who have not during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also calls for solidarity among academics within and beyond the Taiwan studies community and for a more sustainable academic infrastructure constituted by universities, research institutions, funding agencies, and academics themselves.
Improved visualization of the subthalamic nucleus on synthetic MRI with optimized parameters: initial study
Authors: Tatsuo Sayuri , Tatsuo Soichiro , Tsushima Fumiyasu , Sakashita Nina , Oyu Kazuhiko , Ide Satoru , Kakeda Shingo 
Published: February 2022

Background Synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (SyMRI) enables to reformat various images by adjusting the MR parameters. Purpose To investigate whether customization of the repetition time (TR), echo time (TE), and inversion time (TI) in SyMRI could improve the visualization of subthalamic nucleus (STN). Material and Methods We examined five healthy volunteers using both coronal SyMRI and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), seven patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using coronal SyMRI, and 15 patients with PD using coronal QSM. Two neuroradiologists reformatted SyMRI (optimized SyMRI) by adjusting TR, TE, and TI to achieve maximum tissue contrast between the STN and the adjacent brain parenchyma. The optimized MR parameters in the PD patients varied according to the individual. For regular SyMRI (T2-weighted imaging [T2WI] and STIR), optimized SyMRI, and QSM, qualitative visualization scores of the STN (STN score) were recorded. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the STN was also measured. Results For the STN scores in both groups, the optimized SyMRI were significantly higher than the regular SyMRI ( P < 0.05), and there were no significant differences between optimized SyMRI and QSM. For the CNR of differentiation of the STN from the substantia nigra, the optimized SyMRI was higher than the regular SyMRI (volunteer: T2WI P = 0.10 and STIR P = 0.26; PD patient: T2WI P = 0.43 and STIR P = 0.25), but the optimized SyMRI was lower than the QSM (volunteer: P = 0.26; PD patient: P = 0.03). Conclusions On SyMRI, optimization of MR parameters (TR, TE, and TI) on an individual basis may be useful to increase the conspicuity of the STN.
The external jugular vein is a feasible and safe alternative access for retrieval of inferior vena cava filter
Authors: Zeng Xiong , Zeng Xiande , Zeng Qingfu , Wu Yuewu , Zhang Shanzhong , Yang Yujin , Zhu Xianhua , Zhang Wenwen , Xu Yingqi , Min Xixi , Chen Wei , Zhou Weimin , Qiu Jiehua 
Published: February 2022

Purpose: The purpose is to analyze whether the external jugular vein (EJV) is a feasible and safe alternative access for the retrieval IVCFs designed for the jugular approach. Methods: This study was designed as a nonrandomized, controlled study. The patients were divided into two groups: the IJV or EJV access groups. All operations were performed by the vascular surgery team. The main outcome was the technical success rate. The secondary outcomes included (1) the IVCF retrieval rate; (2) the time required to puncture the access vein (min); (3) the number of punctures required for access, and other aspects. Results: A total of 119 patients were recruited for IVCF retrieval. Seventeen patients refused to join this trial, leaving 58 patients in the IJV group and 44 patients in the EJV group. In the IJV group, technical success was not achieved in one patient who started in the EJV group and was transferred to the IJV group. There was no significant difference in age, comorbidities, or technical success rate between the two groups. Significant differences were observed in puncture time (min), number of punctures, and inadvertent puncture of the carotid artery. All of the patients were discharged 1 or 2 days after the operation. Conclusion: EJV is safe and feasible alternative access for the retrieval of IVCFs that are designed for jugular approaches.
Introducing A Day-Case Shoulder Arthroplasty Pathway In The UK – How We Did It
Authors: Allen James , Abdelmonem Mohamed , Fieraru Gabriel , Guyver Paul 
Published: February 2022

Background As the demand for elective orthopaedics grows, day-case arthroplasty is gaining popularity. The aim of this study was to create a safe and reproducible pathway for day-case shoulder arthroplasty (DCSA) based upon a literature review and discussion with the local multidisciplinary team (MDT). Methods A literature review was performed using OVID MEDLINE and Embase databases reporting 90-day complication and admission rates following DCSA. Minimum follow-up was 30 days. Day-case was defined as discharge on the same day of surgery. Results The literature review revealed a mean 90-day complication rate of 7.7% [range, 0–15.9%] and mean 90-day readmission rate of 2.5% [range 0−9.3%]. A pilot protocol was devised based upon the literature review and consisted of 5 phases: (1) pre-operative assessment, (2) intra-operative phase, (3) post-operative phase, (4) follow-up, and (5) readmission protocol. This was presented, discussed, amended, and ultimately ratified by the local MDT. In May 2021 the unit successfully completed its first day-case shoulder arthroplasty. Discussion This study proposes a safe and reproducible pathway for DCSA. Patient selection, well-defined protocols and communication within the MDT are important factors to achieve this. Further studies with extended follow-up will be needed to gauge long-term success within our unit.
The life history theory of the Lord of the Rings: a randomized controlled trial of using fact versus fiction to teach life history theory
Authors: Maley Carlo C. , Seyedi Sareh 
Published: February 2022

AbstractDoes asking students to apply concepts from evolution to a fictional context, compared to a novel biological context, improve their understanding, exam performance or enjoyment of the material? Or does it harm their education by taking time away from true biology? At our institution, we sometimes ask students to apply life history theory to species from fictional movies, television shows or books. Previously, we had used a factual article on life history theory, to supplement our textbook. We wrote an alternative introduction to life history theory (included in the additional files for educational use), using Tolkien’s fictional species from his Lord of the Rings books. We also introduce the biological species definition, sexual selection, sexual dimorphism, kin selection, and the handicap principle, as those concepts arose naturally in the discussion of the fictional species. Life history theory predicts strong correlations between traits affecting reproduction, growth and survival, which are all shaped by the ecology of the species. Thus, we can teach life history theory by asking students to infer traits and aspects of the ecology of a fictional species that have never been described, based on the partial information included in the fictional sources. In a large, third year undergraduate evolution course at Arizona State University, we randomized 16 tutorial sections of a total of 264 students to either read our article on the life history theory of Lord of the Rings, or the factual article we had used previously in the course. We found that the exam performance on life history questions for the two groups were almost identical, except that fans of The Lord of the Rings who had read our article did better on the exam. Enjoyment, engagement and interest in life history theory was approximately a full point higher on a 5-point Likert scale for the students that had read the fictional article, and was highly statistically significantly different (T-test p < 0.001 for all questions). There was no difference between the two groups in their familiarity or enjoyment of The Lord of the Rings stories themselves. Reading the article that taught life history theory by applying it to the species of The Lord of the Rings neither helped nor harmed exam performance, but did significantly improve student enjoyment, engagement and interest in life history theory, and even improved exam scores in students who liked The Lord of the Rings. Using fiction to teach science may also help to engage non-traditional students, such as world-builders, outside of our institutions of education. By encouraging students to apply the scientific ideas to their favorite stories from their own cultures, we may be able to improve both inclusivity and education.
Critical evaluation of the microbial turnover to biomass approach for the estimation of biogenic non-extractable residues (NER)
Authors: Trapp Stefan , Brock Andreas Libonati , Kästner Matthias , Schäffer Andreas , Hennecke Dieter 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
Persistence is a key criterion for the risk assessment of chemicals. In degradation tests, microbial biodegradation of labeled test chemicals leads to the incorporation of the label in microbial biomass, resulting in biogenic non-extractable residues (bioNER), which are not considered as harmful in persistence assessment. The amount of bioNER can be estimated using the microbial turnover to biomass (MTB) model. MTB estimates the biomass growth during productive degradation of a compound from theoretical growth yield and CO2-formation and gives an upper and a lower value for bioNER formation. The aim of this study is use available experimental data for bioNER to assess the validity, accuracy and precision of the MTB method as new tool in persistence assessment.

Results
We collected experimental data in order to test accuracy and precision of this estimation method. In total, 16 experimental studies were found in literature where bioNER was experimentally quantified. Hereof, 13 studies used the amount of label recovered from total amino acid (tAA) content as proxy for bioNER. Unfortunately, the comparison with experimental data was difficult due to the variety of employed methods. A conversion factor is required to extrapolate from tAA on bioNER, and this factor may vary during the experiment and between experiments. The bioNER formation for all compounds tested was calculated with the MTB method, and the outcome was compared to measured tAA as proxy for bioNER. The relation between predicted and measured bioNER was significant, but no better correlation was obtained than with CO2 to tAA. The mean absolute error of the prediction (low MTB versus tAA) was 5% applied label (range 0.3 to 16%). Some deviation between measured results and calculated bioNER could be contributed to uncertainties in the experimental determination, as shown by variance in replicates (bromoxynil) or high background of label in sterile samples (sulfadiazine).

Conclusions
MTB thus provides a robust model for determining of the potential amounts of biomass and bioNER formed from the degradation of organic chemicals.
CROPSR: an automated platform for complex genome-wide CRISPR gRNA design and validation
Authors: Müller Paul Hans , Istanto Dave D. , Heldenbrand Jacob , Hudson Matthew E. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
CRISPR/Cas9 technology has become an important tool to generate targeted, highly specific genome mutations. The technology has great potential for crop improvement, as crop genomes are tailored to optimize specific traits over generations of breeding. Many crops have highly complex and polyploid genomes, particularly those used for bioenergy or bioproducts. The majority of tools currently available for designing and evaluating gRNAs for CRISPR experiments were developed based on mammalian genomes that do not share the characteristics or design criteria for crop genomes.

Results
We have developed an open source tool for genome-wide design and evaluation of gRNA sequences for CRISPR experiments, CROPSR. The genome-wide approach provides a significant decrease in the time required to design a CRISPR experiment, including validation through PCR, at the expense of an overhead compute time required once per genome, at the first run. To better cater to the needs of crop geneticists, restrictions imposed by other packages on design and evaluation of gRNA sequences were lifted. A new machine learning model was developed to provide scores while avoiding situations in which the currently available tools sometimes failed to provide guides for repetitive, A/T-rich genomic regions. We show that our gRNA scoring model provides a significant increase in prediction accuracy over existing tools, even in non-crop genomes.

Conclusions
CROPSR provides the scientific community with new methods and a new workflow for performing CRISPR/Cas9 knockout experiments. CROPSR reduces the challenges of working in crops, and helps speed gRNA sequence design, evaluation and validation. We hope that the new software will accelerate discovery and reduce the number of failed experiments.
Genetic effect of an InDel in the promoter region of the NUDT15 and its effect on myoblast proliferation in chickens
Authors: Wei Chengjie , Niu Yufang , Chen Bingjie , Qin Panpan , Wang Yanxing , Hou Dan , Li Tong , Li Ruiting , Wang Chunxiu , Yin Huadong , Han Ruili , Xu Huifen , Tian Yadong , Liu Xiaojun , Kang Xiangtao , Li Zhuanjian 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
Molecular breeding accelerates the speed of animal breeding. Screening molecular markers that can affect economic traits through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) can provide a theoretical basis for molecular breeding. At present, a large number of molecular markers have been screened in poultry research, but few reports on how molecular markers affect economic traits exist. It is particularly important to reveal the action mechanisms of molecular markers, which can provide more accurate information for molecular breeding.

Results
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between two indels (NUDT15-indel-2777 and NUDT15-indel-1673) in the promoter region of NUDT15 and growth and carcass traits in chickens and to explore the regulatory mechanism of NUDT15. Significant differences were found in genotype and allele frequencies among commercial broilers, commercial laying hens and dual-purpose chickens. The results of association analyses showed that these two indel loci could significantly affect growth traits, such as body weight, and carcass traits. Tissue expression profiling at E12 showed that the expression of NUDT15 was significantly higher in skeletal muscle, and time-expression profiling of leg muscle showed that the expression of NUDT15 in myoblasts was significantly higher in the E10 and E12 proliferation stages than in other stages. Promoter activity analysis showed that pro-1673-I and pro-1673-D significantly inhibited promoter activity, and the promoter activity of pro-1673-D was significantly lower than that of pro-1673-I. In addition, when NUDT15 was overexpressed or underwent interference in chicken primary myoblasts (CPMs), NUDT15 could inhibit the proliferation of CPMs.

Conclusion
The results suggest that the studied indels in the promoter region of NUDT15 may regulate the proliferation of CPMs by affecting NUDT15 expression, ultimately affecting the growth and carcass traits of chickens. These indel polymorphisms may be used together as molecular markers for improving economic traits in chickens.
Inverse probability weighting to handle attrition in cohort studies: some guidance and a call for caution
Authors: Metten Marie-Astrid , Costet Nathalie , Multigner Luc , Viel Jean-François , Chauvet Guillaume 
Published: February 2022

AbstractBackgroundAttrition in cohort studies challenges causal inference. Although inverse probability weighting (IPW) has been proposed to handle attrition in association analyses, its relevance has been little studied in this context. We aimed to investigate its ability to correct for selection bias in exposure-outcome estimation by addressing an important methodological issue: the specification of the response model.MethodsA simulation study compared the IPW method with complete-case analysis (CCA) for nine response-mechanism scenarios (3 missing at random – MAR and 6 missing not at random - MNAR). Eighteen response models differing by the type of variables included were assessed.ResultsThe IPW method was equivalent to CCA in terms of bias and consistently less efficient in all scenarios, regardless of the response model tested. The most effective response model included only the confounding factors of the association model.ConclusionOur study questions the ability of the IPW method to correct for selection bias in situations of attrition leading to missing outcomes. If the method is to be used, we encourage including only the confounding variables of the association of interest in the response model.
Full recovery after prolonged resuscitation in a pediatric patient due to fulminant myocarditis: a case report with three-year follow-up
Authors: Gu Yanping , Xue Peng , Chen Hong-Lin , Zou Guojin , Ni Yongcheng , Li Lin , Lu Lijuan , Chen Hao , Zheng Aibin 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
Fulminant myocarditis (FM) is a common life-threatening disease in pediatric patients, which can result in sudden cardiac arrest (CA). Whether prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is beneficial to FM induced CA is unknown.

Case presentation
We reported the case of an 8-year-old child with FM. At 14:49 of the day after admission, the ECG monitoring indicated ventricular flutter. The patient was immediately given continuous external cardiac compression. Electric cardioversion (energy 30J) and electric defibrillation (energy 50 J, 100 J, 100 J) were given. Continuous chest compression was conducted until extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) successfully placed at 19:30 P.M. The total duration of CPR was 291 min. Nine days later, the ECMO was removed; and 29 days later, the patient was discharged from hospital. In the three years of follow-up, the boy showed a full recovery without neurological sequela. At present, his daily activities have returned to normal and his academic performance at school is excellent.

Conclusions
Prolonged CPR can be used in FM induced in-hospital CA in pediatric patients, especially during preparation for ECMO after the failure of standard resuscitation measures.
Marker- three dimensional measurement versus traditional radiographic measurement in the treatment of tibial fracture using Taylor spatial frame
Authors: Liu Qixin , Liu Yanshi , Li Hong , Fu Xuefei , Zhang Xingpeng , Liu Sida , Zhang Jinli , Zhang Tao 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
The Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF) has been widely used for tibial fracture. However, traditional radiographic measurement method is complicated and the reduction accuracy is affected by various factors. The purpose of this study was to propose a new marker- three dimensional (3D) measurement method and determine the differences of reduction outcomes, if any, between marker-3D measurement method and traditional radiographic measurement in the TSF treatment.

Methods
Forty-one patients with tibial fracture treated by TSF in our institution were retrospectively analyzed from January 2016 to June 2019, including 21 patients in the marker-3D measurement group (experimental group) and 20 patients in the traditional radiographic measurement group (control group). In the experimental group, 3D reconstruction with 6 markers installed on the TSF was performed to determine the electronic prescription. In the control group, the anteroposterior (AP) and lateral radiographs were performed for the traditional parameter measurements. The effectiveness was evaluated by the residual displacement deformity (RDD) and residual angle deformity (RAD) in the coronal and sagittal plane, according to the AP and lateral X-rays after reduction.

Results
All patients achieved functional reduction. The residual RDD in AP view was 0.5 (0, 1.72) mm in experimental group and 1.74 (0.43, 3.67) mm in control group. The residual RAD in AP view was 0 (0, 1.25) ° in experimental group and 1.25 (0.62, 1.95) °in control group. As for the lateral view, the RDD was 0 (0, 1.22) mm in experimental group and 2.02 (0, 3.74) mm in control group, the RAD was 0 (0, 0) ° in experimental group and 1.42 (0, 1.93) ° in control group. Significant differences in all above comparisons were observed between the two groups (AP view RDD: P = 0.024, RAD: P = 0.020; Lateral view RDD: P = 0.016, RAD: P = 0.004).

Conclusions
The present study introduced a marker-3D measurement method to complement the current TSF treatment. This method avoids the manual measurement error and improves the accuracy of fracture reduction, providing potential advantages of bone healing and function rehabilitation.
Serum ferritin and incident cardiometabolic diseases in Scottish adults
Authors: Suárez-Ortegón Milton-Fabian , McLachlan Stela , Fernandez-Real José-Manuel , Tuomainen Tomi-Pekka , Aregbesola Alex , Wild Sarah H. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
Iron stores, estimated as ferritin levels, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) have been associated previously, while findings regarding coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CEVD) are still inconclusive. No study has focused on simultaneous evaluation of associations between iron stores and the above cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) in the same population. We aim to evaluate the association between serum ferritin and risk of T2D, CHD and CEVD in Scottish population over a wide range of ferritin levels.

Methods
Longitudinal study in 6,497 participants of the 1995 and 1998 Scottish health surveys, who were followed-up until 2011. Cox regression models were conducted adjusting for age, sex/menopausal status, fibrinogen, GGT levels, smoking, alcohol consumption, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, blood pressure, and BMI. Ferritin was used as continuous (sex/menopausal status-specific Z score) and categorical variable (sex/menopausal status-specific quartiles, quintiles and sextiles).

Results
During follow-up, 4.9% of the participants developed T2D, 5.3% CHD, and 2.3% CEVD. By using ferritin quartiles, serum ferritin was positively associated with T2D, CHD and CEVD but only the association with T2D remained after adjustment for covariates [Quartile 4 v. 1: adjusted HR 95% CI 1.59 (1.10–2.34); P = 0.006]. When ferritin sextiles were used (6 v. 1), the ferritin-CEVD association became slightly stronger and significant [adjusted HR 95% CI 2.08 (1.09–3.94); P = 0.024].

Conclusions
Iron stores relate differently to each CMD. Serum ferritin levels were positively and independently associated with incident T2D, and with incident CEVD if higher cut-off points for high ferritin levels were considered.