bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of the Shenzhuo formula in the treatment of patients with macroalbuminuria secondary to diabetic kidney disease: protocol update and statistical analysis plan
Authors: Wei Yu , Huang Yi-Shan , Yang Ze , Wang Xinmiao , Li Yanbo , Zhang Ying , Zhao Lin-Hua , Tong Xiaolin 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
Background
Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a significant complication of diabetes and has garnered considerable attention. Our previous retrospective study indicated that Shenzhuo formula (SZF) potentially reduces macroalbuminuria secondary to DKD.

Methods
This trial is a 24-week, randomized, multicentric, double-blinded, double-dummy clinical trial. A total of 120 patients with DKD will be equally and randomly divided into two groups: SZF+ irbesartan simulator or irbesartan + SZF simulator. The 24-h urinary protein change from baseline to week 24 is the primary outcome measure. The secondary outcome measures include serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate, urinary albumin excretion rate, improvement in traditional Chinese medicine symptoms, fasting blood glucose, 2-h postprandial plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c, cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, blood pressure, albumin to creatinine ratio, and the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life 19. Our recruitment began in May 2015; currently, we have recruited 100 participants, with a designed maximum sample size of 120. The interim results were reviewed at N = 60, and continuing recruitment was recommended. This statistical analysis plan includes our approach to missing data imputation, primary and secondary outcomes analyses, and safety endpoints.

Discussion
This statistical analysis plan will standardize the clinical trial’s statistical analysis and avoid outcome selective reporting bias and data-driven analysis. This trial will provide further clinical evidence regarding the effectiveness of SZF in managing macroalbuminuria secondary to DKD.

Trial registration
Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-ICR-15006311. Registered on 26 May 2013. http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=10862
Adjuvant treatment of high-risk melanoma – cost-effectiveness analysis of treatment options for BRAF 600 mutated tumors
Authors: Wahler Steffen , Müller Alfred , Fuchs Sabine , von der Schulenburg Johann-Matthias 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
Introduction
Until recently, adjuvant treatment options for higher stage resectable cutaneous melanoma were limited. Two studies with a similar set-up, published 2017, led to registration of targeted therapy for BRAF-mutated melanoma with dabrafenib and trametinib as well as of the immunotherapy with nivolumab irrespective of BRAF-mutation status. Both options have been positively assessed in Germany since 2019 for the adjuvant treatment of BRAF-V600 mutated melanoma. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of both treatment alternatives (dabrafenib/trametinib and nivolumab) against observation as a comparative therapy from the perspective of German statutory health funds.

Methods
Partitioned survival analysis based on published survival curves for the investigated treatment options was used for a cohort model for the health states relapse free survival, progression, and death. The partitioned survival analysis approach was based on the survival curves published for the key studies Combi AD and Checkmate-238. The modelling was performed for the remaining lifetime for a cohort with starting age of 50 years. For extrapolation of the survival curves, convergence to general population mortality rates was assumed in the long term. Within the progression state, a Markov model uses three levels of progressions (locoregional, distant metastases with 1st and 2nd line treatment). Lifetime treatment costs were calculated using the German statutory health fund reimbursement scheme. Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) associated to the health states were adopted from previously published utilities based on the Combi AD study.

Results
The treatment with dabrafenib/trametinib yielded an increase in quality adjusted life years of 2.28 QALY at an incremental lifetime cost of 86.1 T€. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio of dabrafenib/trametinib and nivolumab was comparable with 37.8 T€/QALY and 30.0 T€/QALY, respectively. Several sensitivity analyses proved the result to be insensitive. General model parameters like discount rate and length of the time horizon had stronger influence. For nivolumab, the model showed lower discounted lifetime costs (118.1 T€) compared to dabrafenib/trametinib [155.1 T€], associated with a lower gain in QALYs (1.64 years) compared to observation.

Conclusion
Both dabrafenib/trametinib and nivolumab turned out to be cost effective within internationally accepted Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) thresholds with comparable cost effectiveness ratios.
Influence of bacteriocin-producing Bacillus strains on quality characteristics of fermented soybean product with biogenic amine-forming lactic acid bacteria
Authors: Lim Eun-Seo 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThis study evaluated the antibacterial activity of bacteriocin produced by Bacillus strains against biogenic amines (BA)-forming lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and the applicability of desirable strains as Bacillus starters for safety and quality improvement of fermented soybean products. The BA-forming ability of the tested LAB in amino acid decarboxylase broth was mostly strain specific rather that species specific. The bacteriocin produced by specific Bacillus strains: Bacillus sp. DB407, Bacillus licheniformis DB612, and Bacillus subtilis DB821 may play a contributory role in the inhibiting the growth of BA-forming strains. In fermented soybean products manufactured using different starter cultures, there was a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the cell counts of LAB by application of a mixed culture containing B. subtilis DB821, which showed the highest antimicrobial activity. Specifically, B. subtilis DB821 was highly efficient in reducing accumulation of cadaverine, tryptamine, and tyramine produced by Enterococcus faecium D12 and Enterococcus faecalis D51 during soybean fermentation. In conclusion, the bacteriocin-producing Bacillus strains such as Bacillus sp. DB 407, B. licheniformis DB612, and B. subtilis DB821 can be used as a starter culture for the production of BA-controlled soybean products and for the enhancement of the quality and safety of fermented foods.
Investigation of fiber utilization in the rumen of dairy cows based on metagenome-assembled genomes and single-cell RNA sequencing
Authors: Xue Ming-Yuan , Wu Jia-Jin , Xie Yun-Yi , Zhu Sen-Lin , Zhong Yi-Fan , Liu Jian-Xin , Sun Hui-Zeng 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
Background
Dairy cows utilize human-inedible, low-value plant biomass to produce milk, a low-cost product with rich nutrients and high proteins. This process largely relies on rumen microbes that ferment lignocellulose and cellulose to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The VFAs are absorbed and partly metabolized by the stratified squamous rumen epithelium, which is mediated by diverse cell types. Here, we applied a metagenomic binning approach to explore the individual microbes involved in fiber digestion and performed single-cell RNA sequencing on rumen epithelial cells to investigate the cell subtypes contributing to VFA absorption and metabolism.

Results
The 52 mid-lactating dairy cows in our study (parity = 2.62 ± 0.91) had milk yield of 33.10 ± 6.72 kg. We determined the fiber digestion and fermentation capacities of 186 bacterial genomes using metagenomic binning and identified specific bacterial genomes with strong cellulose/xylan/pectin degradation capabilities that were highly associated with the biosynthesis of VFAs. Furthermore, we constructed a rumen epithelial single-cell map consisting of 18 rumen epithelial cell subtypes based on the transcriptome of 20,728 individual epithelial cells. A systematic survey of the expression profiles of genes encoding candidates for VFA transporters revealed that IGFBP5+ cg-like spinous cells uniquely highly expressed SLC16A1 and SLC4A9, suggesting that this cell type may play important roles in VFA absorption. Potential cross-talk between the microbiome and host cells and their roles in modulating the expression of key genes in the key rumen epithelial cell subtypes were also identified.

Conclusions
We discovered the key individual microbial genomes and epithelial cell subtypes involved in fiber digestion, VFA uptake and metabolism, respectively, in the rumen. The integration of these data enables us to link microbial genomes and epithelial single cells to the trophic system.
Development and using of some nanopesticide formulations against the conical snail, Cochlicella acuta, and the chocolate banded snail, Massylaea vermiculata
Authors: Sabry Al-kazafy Hassan , Ali Reham Fathey 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
Background
Nanopesticides are considered promising strategy in pest control. So, this strategy became an important new approach in pesticide formulations production. In this study, three traditional pesticide formulations (chlorfenapyr, imidacloprid and indoxacarb) were developed into nanoformulations. The toxicity of these nanoformulations was evaluated against the adults of the conical snail, Cochlicella acuta (Müller, 1774), and the chocolate banded snail, Massylaea vermiculata (Mohamed and Ali, Anim Biol J
2(4):171–180, 2011).

Results
The results revealed that the nanosizes of nanoformulation nanoparticles were ranged between 220 and 534 nm. The loading capacities of the selected pesticides on polymer were 65.3 ± 6.4, 62.8 ± 5.3 and 37.1 ± 0.4%for nanochlorfenapyr, nanoimidacloprid and nanoindoxacarb, respectively. The nanochlorfenapyr was the most toxic against both the C. acuta and M. vermiculata followed by nanoindoxacarb and nanoimidacloprid. The LC50,s of the nanoformulations were 6.1, 7.7 and 14.9 ppm for chlorfenapyr, indoxacarb and imidacloprid, respectively.

Conclusions
These results cleared that the conical snails were more susceptible to all the tested pesticides than the chocolate banded snail, M. vermiculata. The efficacy of nanochlorfenapyr, nanoindoxacarb and nanoimidacloprid on conical snails (6.1, 7.7 and 14.9 ppm, respectively) was about fourfold compared with M. vermiculata (23.1, 31.9 and 60.6 ppm, respectively).The results also revealed that the potency of nanoformulation used was not only by direct killing of tested snails but also by repellent effect.
The emerging therapeutic role of some pharmacological antidotes in management of COVID-19
Authors: El Shehaby Doaa M. , Mohammed Marwa Kh. , Ebrahem Noha Esmael , Abd El-Azim Mariam M. , Sayed Islam G. , Eweda Sarah A. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBackgroundA novel RNA coronavirus was identified in January 2020 as the cause of a pneumonia epidemic affecting the city of Wuhan; it rapidly spread across China.Aim of the reviewThe aim is to discuss the potential efficacy of some pharmacologically known pharmacological antidotes (N-acetylcysteine; hyperbaric oxygen; deferoxamine; low-dose naloxone) for the management of COVID-19-associated symptoms and complications.MethodAn extensive search was accomplished in Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Central databases until the end of April, 2021. Four independent researchers completed the screening, and finally, the associated studies were involved.ConclusionThe current proof hinders the experts for suggesting the proper pharmacological lines of treatment of COVID-19. Organizations, for example, WHO, should pursue more practical actions and design well-planned clinical trials so that their results may be used in the treatment of future outbreaks.
Natural History of Spinal Cord Cavernous Malformations: A Multicenter Cohort Study
Authors: Ren Jian , Jiang Nan , Bian Lisong , Dmytriw Adam A. , Zeng Gao , He Chuan , Sun Liyong , Li Xiaoyu , Ma Yongjie , Yu Jiaxing , Li Guilin , Ye Ming , Hu Peng , Li Jingwei , Yang Fan , Li Qianwen , Ling Feng , Zhang Hongqi , Hong Tao 
Published: January 2022

BACKGROUND:
The natural history of spinal cord cavernous malformations (SCCMs) remains relatively unclear.

OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the natural history for hemorrhagic risks and neurological outcomes, as well as relevant predicting factors, of SCCMs.

METHODS:
All patients between 2002 and 2019 with diagnosis of SCCMs were identified retrospectively. An observational study of patients with conservative management was performed to reveal the natural history of SCCMs.

RESULTS:
We identified 305 patients in the full cohort, including 126 patients who were conservatively treated for at least 6 months (median observational period, 24.0 months). Forty-five hemorrhage events occurred during 527 person-years of follow-up, yielding an annual hemorrhage rate of 8.5% per person-year. The 1-, 2-, and 5-year cumulative risks of hemorrhage were 13.9%, 26.1%, and 35.1%, respectively. Prior hemorrhage (hazard ratio [HR] = 12.948, P = .012) and pediatric patients (HR = 2.841, P = .031) were independent predictors of hemorrhage in the long-term follow-up. Familial form (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 30.695, P = .010) and subsequent hemorrhage events (adjusted OR = 16.333, P = .000) were independent risk factors for worsening of neurological function, and baseline neurological status (adjusted OR = 78.984, P = .000) and presence of subsequent hemorrhage (adjusted OR = 9.611, P = .001) were significantly associated with neurological outcomes.

CONCLUSION:
The natural history of SCCMs varies. Baseline characteristics, such as pediatric patients, familial form, and baseline neurological status, as well as prior and subsequent hemorrhagic events, significantly affect the natural history of the SCCMs, which prompts a differentiated treatment strategy.
On the feeding biomechanics of nectarivorous birds
Authors: Cuban David , Hewes Amanda E. , Sargent Alyssa J. , Groom Derrick J. E. , Rico-Guevara Alejandro 
Published: January 2022

ABSTRACTNectar-feeding birds employ unique mechanisms to collect minute liquid rewards hidden within floral structures. In recent years, techniques developed to study drinking mechanisms in hummingbirds have prepared the groundwork for investigating nectar feeding across birds. In most avian nectarivores, fluid intake mechanisms are understudied or simply unknown beyond hypotheses based on their morphological traits, such as their tongues, which are semi-tubular in sunbirds, frayed-tipped in honeyeaters and brush-tipped in lorikeets. Here, we use hummingbirds as a case study to identify and describe the proposed drinking mechanisms to examine the role of those peculiar traits, which will help to disentangle nectar-drinking hypotheses for other groups. We divide nectar drinking into three stages: (1) liquid collection, (2) offloading of aliquots into the mouth and (3) intraoral transport to where the fluid can be swallowed. Investigating the entire drinking process is crucial to fully understand how avian nectarivores feed; nectar-feeding not only involves the collection of nectar with the tongue, but also includes the mechanisms necessary to transfer and move the liquid through the bill and into the throat. We highlight the potential for modern technologies in comparative anatomy [such as microcomputed tomography (μCT) scanning] and biomechanics (such as tracking BaSO4-stained nectar via high-speed fluoroscopy) to elucidate how disparate clades have solved this biophysical puzzle through parallel, convergent or alternative solutions.
Immersive virtual classroom as an education tool for color barrier-free presentations: a pilot study
Authors: Fukuyama Sayaka , Saito Toki , Ichikawa Daisuke , Kohyama Ayako , Oyama Hiroshi 
Published: January 2022

Background: This study aimed to propose an experiential approach for understanding color vision variation using virtual reality technology. Methods: The study design was adapted from the phase 1 clinical trial for medical apps. A virtual classroom was developed in a three-dimensional space, and ten healthy university students were tested to understand color vision variations. Results: No participant interrupted the experience due to VR sickness. Most participants noted that the virtual classroom was an excellent educational tool, which could help teachers understand the problems associated with [visual analog scale (VAS): mean ± standard deviation (SD), 9.6 ± 0.6] and obtain a better understanding of (VAS: mean ± SD, 9.0 ± 1.0) color vision deficiencies. Conclusions: A pilot study was conducted on the impact of immersive virtual classroom experiences as an educational tool for color barrier-free presentations. This approach may help the participants to respond appropriately to children who suffer from this disorder. It is necessary to evaluate the impact of this approach on new teachers.
The aesthetic(s) of eroticism in later life
Authors: Iacub Ricardo , Villar Feliciano 
Published: January 2022

In chapter 4, Ricardo Iacub and Feliciano Villar explore how negative aesthetics of old age contribute to or even construct a stigmatized sexuality that arouses feelings of disgust or else prompts ridicule. Such stigma naturalizes and limits critical and political thinking about the mechanisms of social control over eroticism in later life. In addition to examining how older-body-selves are desexualized, this chapter also discusses images of more recent vintage that defy conformity to traditional ageing stereotypes and which have emerged especially in the gay world such as ‘Bears’ (older, bigger/fatter hairier men), ‘daddies’, mature men, and grand-daddies. Essentially, this chapter critically examines the mechanisms that regulate the aesthetics of erotica as they relate to old age from fragments of historical accounts, exploration of social trends and by using insights from psychological studies, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of younger people’s perceptions of young and old people about sexuality and older bodies. Such a focus enables an analysis that accounts for in-depth understanding of the ‘politics of age’ (Iacub 2002) and how the ‘aesthetics of the erotic in old age’ can work differently for different individuals and social groups (Iacub 2002).
Surveillance, Substance Misuse and the Drug Use Industry
Authors: Pycroft Aaron 
Published: January 2022

This chapter provides a critical appreciation of the dynamics of the drug use industry in ultra-modern democracies. A hermeneutic of suspicion uncovers the onto-theological/metaphysical mechanisms of religious and archaic violence driving pre-criminalisation and exclusion, and a hermeneutic of affirmation seeks solutions to this cultural and institutional violence. With respect to the drug use industry, our suspicion apprehends recovery as an example of the non-places that have come to define super modernity where the drug dependent person is always in transit but can never arrive. Our affirmation of poetic space as a process of discovery rather than recovery for drug users provides distance from a repressive state apparatus allowing for the unlearning rationalism to discover new ways of being.
Discourse Coalitions and the Messiness of Policy Solutions: College Governance in Nevada
Authors: Martinez Magdalena 
Published: January 2022

Magdalena Martinez examines the role of discourse coalitions on policy solutions through a higher education governance case study in Nevada in the United States. Specifically, through the observation of actors’ discursive practices (i.e., interviews, legislative testimonies, media accounts) Martinez focuses on how coalition actors created meaning for their proposals through policy statements and how they employed their discursive actions as a way to bind coalition identities around problems and solutions. Key to their strategy was their ability to create coalitions and bind specific policy statements and proposals to these coalition actors; in doing so they created ownership for their respective proposals. Yet the unequal political power advanced some coalitions over others, thus creating a dimension of conflict and power dynamics. Coalition conflict and power was disputed in multiple spaces in order to cement their policy statements and proposals. Notably, multiple hidden spaces of dispute determined who joined what coalition, and what policy statements and proposals were championed in public legislative spaces. The undercovering of these spaces can help us understand the hidden side of the politics of coalitions and their policy statements and proposals.
Intra-Regional Relationality and Green City-Regionalism: Placing the Role of ‘Secondary Cities’
Authors: Dierwechter Yonn 
Published: January 2022

This chapter considers the implications of ‘intra-regional relationality’ in comparative urban studies for extant and emerging work on city-regionalism, particularly as this involves spatial planning policies and growth discourses around global climate action. Scholars of new global green networks rarely highlight the city-regional context of ‘discrete places’, within which specific ‘leading’ cities engage in transnational network activities. Yet the urbanization of green internationalism reflects uneven local development patterns that require us to pay more attention to the complex roles of secondary cities. Put another way, we must think about the regional role(s) of secondary cities in city-regional complexes rather than simply ‘abstracting’ the green successes of core cities. Doing so changes how we map and explain urban sustainability as we follow the relational geographies and inter-urban flows that shape green polities. This chapter briefly illustrates these arguments with reference to initiatives in two city-regions in the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver-Surrey and Seattle-Tacoma.
Highly sensitive biosensor based on an all-dielectric asymmetric ring metasurface
Authors: Chai Fumei , Fang Bo , Li Chenxia , Hong Zhi , Jing Xufeng 
Published: January 2022

We propose an all-dielectric asymmetric ring-cylindrical metasurface. Based on the analysis of transmission characteristics and the calculation of electromagnetic field distribution of the metasurface with this element structure, it is found that the high

Q

resonance of the ultra-narrowband can be realized when the symmetry of the ring-cylindrical structure is broken. Meanwhile, it is found that the degree of asymmetry of the ring, the refractive index of the material, the radius of the ring, and the substrate have great influence on the

Q

value and resonant frequency of the metasurface. Our proposed metasurface structure is applied to the detection of biological molecules based on the change in refractive index of biomolecular solutions. The designed metasurface with high sensitivity to detect biomolecules with different refractive indices, the

Q

value can reach 365.03, and the sensitivity is increased by 90.36 GHz/RIU compared to that without substrate, while the figure of merit value is as high as 100.56, providing label-free detection of biomolecules.