bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of obesity in young adults on an acoustic-based system for ruling-out coronary artery disease
Authors: Dahl Tórður , Bakmand Laura , Jakobsgaard Mai Ørom , Kempel Mia Klinkvort , Böttcher Morten , Winther Simon , Schmidt Samuel Emil 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Introduction: The CADScor®System is a non-invasive acoustic rule-out device used in patients with symptoms of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). The system is only validated for adults over the age of 40 and it is unknown whether obesity impact the acoustic device. This study examines if BMI influence the acoustic and clinical CAD-Scores. Furthermore, it explores whether the acoustic and clinical CAD-Scores differ between adults below versus above 40 years. Method: A total of 147 young adults age 28-30 years and 494 adults age > 40 years without CAD were included in this study. CAD was excluded by coronary artery calcium score in the young adult group and by coronary computed tomography angiography in the adult group. Results: This study showed an inverse relationship between the acoustic CAD-Score and BMI for both age groups. When comparing the three BMI groups a significant difference in acoustic CADscores was detected for both age groups (p<0.01;p=0.01). When comparing males in the two age groups a statistical difference in acoustic CAD-score was shown (p<0.05), however, no difference was shown for females (p=0.13). There was no significant difference in clinical CAD-Score between the BMI groups for adults nor young adults (p=0.22;p=0.21). Conclusion: The findings indicate that in subjects without CAD, a slightly inverse relationship between acoustic CAD-Score and BMI was shown. However, this did not influence the clinical CADscore significantly. A slightly lower acoustic CAD-score was observed comparing males in the two age groups, but this trend was not observed in females.
Improving access to surgery during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of the effects of outsourcing elective surgeries to private-sector health service providers to shorten waiting times
Authors: Rathnayake Dimuthu , Clarke Mike , Jayasinghe Viraj 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
Waiting times are a key performance indicator for many healthcare systems, which are used with the aim of delivering high-quality care without unnecessary delay. Long waiting times and lengthy queues for elective surgery have been common to many publicly funded health systems for some time but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to large numbers of scheduled operations being cancelled or postponed globally. Among multiple strategies that might help ease the burden of these even longer waiting times on patients and health systems, collaboration with the private sector has been reported as effective in certain settings. Therefore, this review assesses the evidence on the effects on waiting times of outsourcing elective surgical services to private sector service providers.
Methods
We searched PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Web of Science and Cochrane Library up to January 2020, for articles published after 2013 and updated the search on November 2021. Eligibility criteria included major elective surgery for adult patients. Both randomised trials and non-randomised controlled studies were considered for the review and the main outcome variable of interest was waiting time for elective surgery. The quality of evidence was assessed using the relevant CASP tool and the review is presented as a narrative synthesis because of heterogeneity in the methods of the included studies. The review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42019158455).
Results
The electronic search yielded 7543 records and seven studies were eligible after deduplication and full article screening. The eligible research varied widely in design, scope, reported outcomes and overall quality.
Conclusions
The evidence from this review suggests that for certain types of elective surgeries, such as hip and knee replacement, outsourcing to private sector providers is likely to shorten waiting times and increase access for patients. This may be especially important given the impact of COVID-19 on elective surgery waiting lists. The limitations identified due to observational study methods could be overcome by interventional studies and we recommend randomised trials coupled with economic analysis to determine the trade-offs between time, cost and quality of care.
Susceptibility of embryos of Biomphalaria tenagophila (Mollusca: Gastropoda) to infection by Pochonia chlamydosporia (Ascomycota: Sordariomycetes)
Authors: Castro Lorena Souza , Martins Isabella Vilhena Freire , Tunholi-Alves Vinícius Menezes , Amaral Ludimila Santos , Pinheiro Jairo , de Araújo Jackson Victor , Monteiro Caio Márcio de Oliveira , Tunholi Victor Menezes 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
The trematode Schistosoma mansoni is a heteroxenous parasite, meaning that during its life cycle needs the participation of obligatory intermediate and definitive hosts. The larval development occurs in aquatic molluscs belonging to the Biomphalaria genus, leading to the formation of cercariae, which emerge to infect the final vertebrate host. For this reason, studies for control of the diseases caused by digenetic trematodes often focus on combating the snail hosts. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of Biomphalaria tenagophila embryos to the fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia (isolate Pc-10) under laboratory conditions. Two experimental groups were formed: the control group, consisting of egg masses not exposed to the fungus; and the treated group, in which the snail egg masses were exposed to mycelium of the fungal isolate (Pc-10). At the end of 15 days, the egg masses were evaluated under a stereomicroscope to analyze the hatching of B. tenagophila embryos in both experimental groups. The entire experiment was conducted in duplicate, with five replicates for each repetition (five egg masses/replicate), utilizing a total of 100 egg masses, with 20 to 30 eggs/egg mass. After 15 days of interaction, the exposure to the fungal hyphae bodies significantly impaired the viability of the B. tenagophila eggs, inhibiting the embryogenesis process by 83.7% in relation to the control group. Transmission and scanning electron microscopic images revealed relevant structural alterations in the egg masses exposed to the hyphae action of the fungus, interfering in the development and hatching of the young snails under analysis. These results indicate the susceptibility of B. tenagophila embryos to the fungus P. chlamydosporia (isolate Pc-10) and suggests the potential of Pc-10 to be used in the control of parasitic agents, such as S. mansoni, but in vivo experiments become necessary.
Removal of Cr(VI) by biochar derived via co-pyrolysis of oily sludge with corn stalks
Authors: Han Lei , Li Jinling , Zhang Tiantian , Qu Chengtun , Yu Tao , Yang Bo , Shao Zhiguo 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Co-pyrolysis of oily sludge with biomass to prepare carbon materials, is not only an effective way to solve the pollution problem of oily sludge, but also a method to get carbon materials. In this study, a waste recycling adsorbed carbon material (OS-CS AC), was obtained by co-pyrolysis of oily sludge (OS) and corn stalks (CS) directly, and then was applied to Cr(VI) removal. According to the hydroxy and carboxy masking experiments and the characterization of OS-CS AC by FT-IR, SEM, XPS, XRD, N2 physical adsorption-desorption, it shows that Cr(VI) can be adsorbed efficiently through pore filling effect, the surface oxygen-containing functional groups can promote the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) through electron donors, and the greater electrostatic attraction between the electron-donating functional group of OS-CS AC and Cr(VI), the stronger ability of remove Cr(VI). In addition, the removal process was discussed, the results indicates that the McKay kinetic, Langmuir isotherm and Van 't Hoff thermodynamic models were the most suitable models for the removal process. Furthermore, with the discussion of the main factors affecting the removal of Cr(VI), the removal of Cr(Ⅵ) could reached to 99.14%, which gives a comprehensive utilization way of oily sludge and corn stalks.
High impositions and stringent measures of countries to cope with COVID-19 reduce economic performance and do not lessen final fatality rate
Authors: Coccia Mario 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
The goal of this study is to develop a comparative analysis between countries having introduced a high or low level of restrictions and control measures in society to cope with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis to assess if a policy response based on many pervasive compulsory measures is more effective to support a reduction of negative impact of COVID-19 on health of people and socioeconomic systems. In particular, the idea here is to analyze if countries with high restrictions and mandatory measures have lower fatality rates of COVID-19 and better economic performances than countries having policy responses based on little restrictions. The results of this analysis here seem to be that: Ž a strict policy of many restrictions and obligations does not reduce negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic in society in terms of lower mortality per 1,000 people and a lower-case fatality rate than countries with little restrictions (findings here show 1.19 vs. 0.89 and 0.82% vs. 0.43%, for countries with high and low restrictions respectively) Ž countries with high restrictions and obligations reduce the economic performance in terms of lower average growth of quarterly Gross Domestic Product than countries with little restrictions (0.14% vs. 0.38%, for countries with high and low restrictions respectively). This result can be explained with the fact that harsh containment policies are not a sufficient strategy to reduce the negative impact of new coronavirus in society, because there are manifold factors that support the diffusion of the novel coronavirus and mortality of COVID-19. Many countries applied hard and pervasive restrictions with the objective to reduce pandemic diffusion and support economic growth, but the evidence of this study shows that it is not a policy having effectiveness. These results can provide main information to extend knowledge in these topics to improve the crisis management and design best practices and effective policy responses to cope with COVID-19 and similar pandemic crisis.
Accounting for overlapping annotations in genomic prediction models of complex traits
Authors: Mollandin Fanny , Gilbert Hélène , Croiseau Pascal , Rau Andrea 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background: It is now widespread in livestock and plant breeding to use genotyping data to predict phenotypes with genomic prediction models. In parallel, genomic annotations related to a variety of traits are increasing in number and granularity, providing valuable insight into potentially important positions in the genome. The BayesRC model integrates this prior biological information by factorizing the genome according to disjoint annotation categories, in some cases enabling improved prediction of heritable traits. However, BayesRC is not adapted to cases where markers may have multiple annotations. Results: We propose two novel Bayesian approaches to account for multi-annotated markers through a cumulative (BayesRC+) or preferential (BayesRCπ) model of the contribution of multiple annotation categories. We illustrate their performance on simulated data with various genetic architectures and types of annotations. We also explore their use on data from a backcross population of growing pigs in conjunction with annotations constructed using the PigQTLdb. In both simulated and real data, we observed a modest improvement in prediction quality with our models when used with informative annotations. In addition, our results show that BayesRC+ successfully prioritizes multi-annotated markers according to their posterior variance, while BayesRCπ provides a useful interpretation of informative annotations for multi-annotated markers. Finally, we explore several strategies for constructing annotations from a public database, highlighting the importance of careful consideration of this step. Conclusion: When used with annotations that are relevant to the trait under study, BayesRCπ and BayesRC+ allow for improved prediction and prioritization of multi-annotated markers, and can provide useful biological insight into the genetic architecture of traits.
Effects of Potassium Ferrate-Walnut Shell Pretreatment on Dehydration Performance of Residual Sludge
Authors: Shaolan Ding , Xiangwei Sang , Zhen Zhao , Huijun Ren 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Sludge dehydration is not only the primary part in sludge reduction, but also a difficult point in sludge treatment and disposal, while the high moisture content of the sludge will also limit its resource utilization. In this paper, the strong oxidizing property of potassium ferrate was used to treat the residual sludge, and walnut shells are used as a skeleton builder to obtain the dehydrated sludge that can be recycled. The disintegration degree of extracellular polymer of sludge (EPS), the moisture content of the sludge, and the specific resistance of sludge (SRF) were investigated to explo re the effects of potassium ferrate-walnut shell pretreatment on sludge dehydration performance. The experimental results show that the optimal dosages of potassium ferrate and walnut shells are 60 mg/gDS and 0.8 g/gDS, respectively, and the moisture content and SRF of the sludge after pretreatment reach the lowest values of 70.2% and 1.107×1011 m/kg, which greatly improves the dehydration performance compared with the individually treated potassium ferrate and walnut shells, and provides the new ideas and methods for sludge dehydration.
Relationship Between Aspartate Aminotransferase To Alanine Aminotransferase Ratio And Risk Of Incident Diabetes Mellitus In A Chinese Population
Authors: Wu Xiaoying , Xu Jing 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background: Recent studies have shown that the serum aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio is related to metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. However, the relationship between AST/ALT and the risk of incident diabetes mellitus remains to be unclear. This study aims to explore the relationship between AST/ALT and the risk of incident diabetes in Chinese adults Methods: This study used data from the Chinese Health Screening Project. A total of 86,849 non-diabetic patients were enrolled. Cox proportional hazards model, ROC analysis and subgroup analysis were used to evaluate the independent influence of baseline AST/ALT on the risk of incident diabetes in the future.Results: During an average follow-up of 3.13 years, 1790 subjects developed diabetes mellitus among 86849 individuals aged≥20 years. AST/ALT was negatively correlated with low density lipoprotein cholesterol, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and triglyceride. After adjusting for potential confounders, AST/ALT was significantly negatively correlated with the risk of incident diabetes in the future (HR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.21-0.52). Area under ROC was 0.642. Subgroup analysis showed that negative correlation was more significant among subjects with BMI≥18.5 kg/m2 and < 24 kg/m2, age <40 years old, or in males. Conclusions: In Chinese adults, AST/ALT is negatively correlated with the risk of diabetes.
Breast Cancer Therapy in Women Under 35 Years and Women Aged 50-69 Years: Influence of the Therapy Period
Authors: Schreiber Julia , Schreiber J. , Ignatov Atanas , Burger Elke , Meinecke Anne-Marie , Eggemann Holm 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Purpose:In recent years, therapeutic strategies based on tumour biology have increased significantly. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the recent changes in patient characteristics, treatment procedures and survival factors for two groups of patients: patients younger than 35 years and patients between 50 and 69 years who belong to the screening group. Methods:For this purpose, data from the population-based Cancer Registry of Magdeburg was used. Subjects included women with non-metastatic breast cancer treated between 2000 and 2015. A comparison was made between two observation periods: 2000-2007 and 2008-2015. Results:The findings report continuous increases in patient survival. Tumour characteristics and treatment modalities changed, especially in the group of older patients. The proportion of prognostically more favourable tumour subtypes, such as Luminal A, increased significantly (30.6% vs. 36.2% resp. 47.1% vs. 64.2%). Between 2008 - 2015, more often hormone receptor-positive, nodal negative, HER2-negative and well-differentiated tumours were observed. Surgical methods were associated with significantly reduced radicality, while the rate of neoadjuvant therapy increased (17.3% vs. 47.1% vs. 11.0% vs. 20.3%) in both groups. Observations reported show a decrease in CMF (Cyclophosphamid, Methotrexat, 5-Fluoruracil) and anthracycline therapies, taxane-containing chemotherapy grew. While tamoxifen was increasingly used in younger patients (40.0% vs. 73.7%), it was superseded by aromatase inhibitors in older patients (52.8% vs. 31.4%). Furthermore, immune therapy received higher approval.Conclusion:Overall, in both age groups, but primarily in older patients, we observed significant changes in tumour biology and treatment options. This led to a continuous improvement in patient outcomes.
Musculoskeletal involvement in childhood leukemia: Characteristics and survival outcomes
Authors: Kittivisuit Sirinthip , Sripornsa Pornpun , Songthawee Natsaruth , Chavananon Shevachut , McNeil Edward B , Chotsampancharoen Thirachit 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background: Childhood leukemia with musculoskeletal (MSK) involvement mimics various conditions, which consequently leads to diagnostic delays. The clinical implication of MSK involvement in this disease on survival outcomes is inconclusive. This study aimed to compare characteristics and survival outcomes between MSK and non-MSK involvement in childhood leukemia.Methods: The medical records of children newly diagnosed with acute leukemia aged under 15 years were retrospectively reviewed. Two-to-one nearest-neighbor propensity score-matching was performed to obtain matched groups with and without MSK involvement. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were then used to assess the effect of MSK involvement on survival outcomes.Results: Of 1042 childhood leukemia cases, 81 (7.8%) children had MSK involvement at initial presentation. MSK involvement was more likely in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia than acute myeloid leukemia (p <0.05). Hematologic abnormalities were less frequent in the MSK involvement group (p <0.05). The absence of peripheral blast cells was significantly higher in the MSK involvement group (17.3% vs 9.6%, p = 0.04). Normal complete blood counts with absence of peripheral blast cells were found 2.5% of the children with MSK involvement. By propensity score-matching for comparable risk groups of children with and without MSK involvement, the 5-year overall survival was not significantly different (48.2% vs 57.4%, respectively, p = 0.22), nor was event-free survival (43.3% vs 51.8%, respectively, p = 0.31).Conclusion: Childhood leukemia with MSK involvement had the characteristics of minimal or absent hematologic abnormalities and peripheral blast counts.
Right Ventricular Dysfunction Correlates With Decreased Endothelial Progenitor Cell Mobilisation And Impaired Angiogenesis In Patients With Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Frljak Sabina , Poglajen Gregor , Vrtovec Bojan 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Aim. Although we have previously demonstrated that CD34+ cell therapy may improve right ventricular (RV) function in non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICM), the underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. We sought to investigate a potential correlation between RV function and alterations in angiogenesis in this patient population.Methods. We enrolled 43 consecutive patients with NICM, NYHA class III, and LVEF<40%. In all patients, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were mobilized by granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; 10 mcg/kg, 5 days) and collected via apheresis. Before EPC mobilisation we performed echocardiography and measured plasma levels of biomarkers of angiogenesis. The presence of RV dysfunction was defined as TAPSE<17 mm, pulsed Doppler S wave< 9.5 cm/s and RV fractional area change< 35%.Results. RV dysfunction was present in 25/43 patients (58%, RVD Group), and 18/43 patients had preserved RV function (42%, No-RVD Group). The groups did not differ in age, gender, serum creatinine, bilirubin, left ventricular ejection fraction, or NT-proBNP levels. After G-CSF stimulation, we found significantly lower numbers of EPCs in RVD Group (44±43 x106 cells/L) than in No-RVD Group (92±53 x106 cells/L, P=0.001). Similarly, apheresis yielded significantly lower numbers of EPCs in RVD Group (81±82 x106 cells vs. 205±100 x106 cells in No-RVD Group, P=0.001). When compared to No-RVD Group, patients in RVD Group displayed lower levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (32±23 pg/mL vs. 51±24 pg/mL, P=0.01), and higher levels of agiopoietin-2 (61±33 ng/mL vs. 21±18 ng/mL, P=0.01), endostatin (86±30 pg/mL vs. 63±27 ng/mL, P=0.01), and thrombospondin (180±74 pg/mL vs. 93±84 ng/mL, P=0.01), implicating a more pronounced impairment of angiogenetic pathway.Conclusion. In patients with NICM, RV dysfunction appears to correlate with reduced mobilisation of endothelial progenitor cells and impaired angiogenesis.
The measurement of substance use disapproval: different information capacity of disapproval of licit and illicit psychoactive substances along a spectrum of substance use disapproval
Authors: Horváth Zsolt , Magi Anna , Paksi Borbála , Demetrovics Zsolt , Felvinczi Katalin 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background. Disapproval of substance use behavior might have a role in the development and persistence of substance use. However, less is known about the measurement function of disapproval of using different types of psychoactive substances. By using item response analyses, the present study aimed to examine the latent structure as well as item-level measurement properties of the construct of substance use disapproval.Methods. Nationally representative adult samples derived from the National Survey on Addiction Problems in Hungary from 2015 (N=2274) and 2019 (N=1385) were used in the present study. Dichotomous items measured the disapproval of eleven forms of substance use, such as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and different forms of illicit drug use.Results. A unidimensional measurement model of substance use disapproval was supported. Item response analyses indicated that disapproval of alcohol use and cigarette smoking had moderate discrimination capacity and were located at moderately low-moderately high levels of the substance use disapproval continuum, whereas illicit substance use forms had high-very high discrimination capacities and were ranged at low-very low levels of the disapproval spectrum. Disapproval of experimenting with heroin, ecstasy and designer stimulants had the highest information capacity in 2015, whereas in 2019 disapproval of experimenting with synthetic cannabinoids and experimenting with and using occasionally cannabis were the most informative. Conclusions. Less permissive attitudes were shown for all forms of illicit drug use compared to alcohol and cigarette use. Discrimination and difficulty levels of disapproval of substance use might be associated with legal status of psychoactive substances.