julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Institutional quality, aid flows, and malaria burden: a geospatial analysis of sub-Saharan Africa
2025-10-14

Abstract Background Malaria remains a major public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for approximately 95 percent of global malaria deaths despite extensive interventions. Significant disparities persist in disease burden across countries, with some achieving remarkable progress while others experiencing persistently high transmission rates, suggesting factors beyond resource availability influence disease control effectiveness. This study examines the relationship between institutional quality, development aid flows, and malaria burden across 38 sub-Saharan African countries during 2010–2022. Methods The analysis employed malaria cases and deaths per 1,000 population as malaria burden measures. Key explanatory variables included development assistance for health per capita, government effectiveness indices and health worker density as institutional quality indicators, alongside control variables for intervention coverage, climatic factors, and socioeconomic conditions. Data was sourced from the World Health Organization, United Nations Development Program, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Malaria Atlas project, Demographic and Health surveys, and World Bank databases. Spatial econometric models, including Spatial Durbin Models, Spatial Lag of X, and Spatial Durbin Error Models, were used to account for spatial autocorrelation and cross-border transmission effects, while fixed-effects models with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors provided baseline estimates. Results The study found overall malaria burden reduction across sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria cases and deaths demonstrated significant spatial autocorrelation annually, indicated by Moran's I statistics. Findings revealed that increased health worker density, enhanced institutional effectiveness, and higher aid levels are positively associated with the burden. These effects persisted with lagged values of health workers and government effectiveness. The geospatial analysis reveals that the malaria burden is driven more by local conditions with limited spillover effects from neighbouring countries. Conclusion Findings highlight that while malaria burden has generally declined across sub-Saharan Africa, it is spatially clustered. There is need for localized health systems strengthening alongside targeted regional coordination.
Opportunities and Risks of Promoting Skin and Bone Healing via Implant Biofunctionalization of Extracellular Matrix Protein ECM1
2025-10-14

Impaired bone regeneration and wound healing represent a major clinical and socioeconomic challenge for our aging and multimorbid population. Fracture and wound healing share many common features, with transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) being a key regulator of inflammation, angiogenesis, fibroblast activation, and matrix remodeling. The dysregulation of TGF-β signaling is a hallmark of chronic wounds, excessive scar formation, and fracture non-union. Extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) plays a crucial role in the activation of latent TGF-β. As a protein of the extracellular matrix, ECM1 offers ideal conditions for the biofunctionalization of bone implants or wound patches. Its mode of action has been studied mainly in fibrosis models of the liver or heart, where TGF-β acts as a driver of the disease. The controlled knock-out or overexpression of ECM1 either promoted or improved fibrosis development. In this review, we discuss how these findings can be applied to the biofunctionalization of implants to support bone and wound healing, considering the impact of TGF-β on the different healing phases.
A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia
2025-10-14

Neophobia, or aversion to novelty, is important for adaptability and survival as it influences the ways in which animals navigate risk and interact with their environments. Across individuals, species and other taxonomic levels, neophobia is known to vary considerably, but our understanding of the wider ecological drivers of neophobia is hampered by a lack of comparative multispecies studies using standardized methods. Here, we utilized the ManyBirds Project, a Big Team Science large-scale collaborative open science framework, to pool efforts and resources of 129 collaborators at 77 institutions from 24 countries worldwide across six continents. We examined both difference scores (between novel object test and control conditions) and raw data of latency to touch familiar food in the presence (test) and absence (control) of a novel object among 1,439 subjects from 136 bird species across 25 taxonomic orders incorporating lab, field, and zoo sites. We first demonstrated that consistent differences in neophobia existed among individuals, among species, and among other taxonomic levels in our dataset, rejecting the null hypothesis that neophobia is highly plastic at all taxonomic levels with no evidence for evolutionary divergence. We then tested for effects of ecological factors on neophobia, including diet, sociality, habitat, and range, while accounting for phylogeny. We found that (i) species with more specialist diets were more neophobic than those with more generalist diets, providing support for the Neophobia Threshold Hypothesis; (ii) migratory species were also more neophobic than nonmigratory species, which supports the Dangerous Niche Hypothesis. Our study shows that the evolution of avian neophobia has been shaped by ecological drivers and demonstrates the potential of Big Team Science to advance our understanding of animal behavior.
Biallelic variants in ARHGAP19 cause a progressive inherited motor-predominant neuropathy
2025-10-14

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of hereditary neuropathies. Despite progress in genetic sequencing, around a quarter of patients remain unsolved. Here, we identify 16 recessive variants in the RhoGTPase activating protein 19 gene (ARHGAP19) causing motor-predominant neuropathy in 25 individuals from 20 unrelated families. The ARHGAP19 protein acts as a negative regulator of the RhoA GTPase. In vitro biochemical and cellular assays revealed that patient variants impair the GTPase-activating protein (GAP) activity of ARHGAP19 and reduce ARHGAP19 protein levels. Combined in vitro and in vivo studies reveal that human ARHGAP19, and conserved ARHGAP19 orthologs in Drosophila and Zebrafish, influence motoneuron morphology and promote locomotor capacity. Transcriptomic studies further demonstrate that ARHGAP19 regulates cellular pathways associated with motor proteins and the cell cycle. Taken together, our findings establish ARHGAP19 variants as a cause of inherited neuropathy acting through a loss-of-function mechanism.
The superficial layers of the primary visual cortex create a saliency map that feeds forward to the parietal cortex
2025-10-14

A salient visual object with a distinct feature from the surrounding environment automatically captures attention. While the saliency signals have been found in many brain regions, their source remains highly controversial. Here, we investigated the neural origin of visual saliency using cortical layer-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of cerebral blood volume (CBV) at 7 Tesla. Behaviorally, human observers were better at detecting salient foreground bars with a larger orientation contrast from uniformly oriented background bars. Saliency-sensitive signals were strongest in the superficial layers of the primary visual cortex (V1) and in the middle layers of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) of the parietal cortex. Layer-dependent effective connectivity revealed the transmission of saliency signals along the feedforward pathway from V1 to IPS. Furthermore, behavioral sensitivity to the foreground stimulus correlated significantly with the fMRI response in the superficial layers of V1. Our findings provide mesoscale evidence that a visual saliency map is created by iso-feature suppression through lateral inhibition in the superficial layers of V1, and then feeds forward to attentional control brain regions to guide attention and eye movements.
Elucidating Transformation Pathways of Microcystins during Advanced Oxidation/Reduction Processes for Water Treatment
2025-10-15

A plethora of synthetic and natural organic compounds end up in water bodies, threatening public health and ecosystems. When conventional water treatment methods prove insufficient for removing harmful contaminants, Advanced Oxidation and Reduction Processes (AOPs/ARPs) offer a promising alternative by generating reactive species (RS) to degrade them. Liquid Chromatography coupled with High-Resolution tandem MS (LC-HR-MS/MS) has been widely employed to elucidate degradation pathways by detecting transformation products (TPs) produced during AOP/ARP. However, most reported studies are targeted at certain suspect TPs, rather than exploiting the whole information provided by LC-HR-MS/MS. Here, we applied an advanced computational metabolomics pipeline to explore non-targeted HR-MS/MS data, including molecular networking and chemical proportionality, to provide new insights and a more comprehensive view of the degradation pathways in AOP/ARP. We selected the cyclic-peptide cyanobacterial hepatotoxin, microcystin-RR (MC-RR) as a substrate and applied the principles of radiation chemistry of water to selectively produce RS in known yields. Degradation of MC-RR was observed with all RS and degradation rate constants followed the order: H• &gt; eaq- &gt; HO• &gt; HOO•/O2-•, ranging from 0.0021 Gy-1 (HOO•/O2-•) to 0.0729 Gy-1 (H•). By combining LC-HR-MS/MS with computational analysis tools, we were able to annotate both novel and known TPs, indicating degradation pathways that include hydroxylation and isomerization under oxidative conditions, as well as hydrogenation and guanidine/methoxy group reduction under reductive conditions. The proposed approach enhances the elucidation of degradation pathways in AOPs/ARPs and has potential for studying and optimizing water treatment technologies, for decontamination by various organic micropollutants.
Multidisciplinary study of human remains from the 3rd century mass grave in the Roman city of Mursa, Croatia
2025-10-15

During excavations in 2011, a peculiar archaeological feature representing a mass grave with seven completely preserved skeletons was discovered at the site of the Roman period city of Mursa (modern-day Osijek, Croatia). The archaeological context and direct radiocarbon dating indicate that the bodies were interred during the mid-3 rd century CE. Bioarchaeological analysis shows that all seven individuals are adult males exhibiting numerous pathological lesions (e.g., enthesopathies, injuries). Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes analysis indicates they had a mixed C 3 /C 4 -based vegetal diet with limited amounts of terrestrial animal protein and a very limited marine protein consumption. Ancient DNA analysis shows that individuals from the Mursa mass grave had a heterogenous ancestry. None of them show genetic continuity with the preceding local Early Iron Age population. The presented multidisciplinary analyses of the Mursa mass grave strongly suggest that the studied individuals were Roman soldiers, victims of a catastrophic event occurring as the result of the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’, most probably the battle of Mursa from 260 CE.
CT-FFR: How a new technology could transform cardiovascular diagnostic imaging
2025-10-15

Abstract CT-based fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) is a promising noninvasive method for the functional assessment of coronary stenosis. It expands the diagnostic capabilities of coronary CT angiography (cCTA) by providing hemodynamic information and potentially reducing unnecessary invasive coronary angiography examinations This review summarizes current technological developments, study results, and clinical applications of CT-FFR. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various software solutions, including artificial intelligence (AI)-based on-site analyses, and their potential integration into the clinical routine. Studies show that CT-FFR improves diagnostic accuracy compared to cCTA and can optimize patient management. Advances in artificial intelligence and new imaging techniques such as photon-counting CT could further refine CT-FFR and expand its applicability. Despite promising results, further research is needed regarding long-term validation, standardized workflows, and economic feasibility. CT-FFR is a promising complementary tool for assessing the hemodynamic relevance of coronary stenoses. CT-FFR is particularly helpful in complex, long-segment, or consecutive stenosis, because a purely anatomical visual examination is not always sufficient. The combination of technical innovations and AI-assisted image analysis could have the potential to transform noninvasive coronary diagnostics.
Riemannian geometry boosts functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based brain-state classification accuracy
2025-10-15

To our knowledge, we are the first to demonstrate that the proposed Riemannian-geometry-based classification approach is both powerful and viable for fNIRS data, substantially increasing the accuracy in binary and multi-class classification of brain activation patterns.
National recommendations of the Croatian society of medical biochemistry and laboratory medicine: Thyroid function tests from the laboratory point of view
2025-10-15

Thyroid function tests (TFTs) - thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), total triiodothyronine (T3), total thyroxine (T4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO), thyroglobulin antibodies (anti-Tg), TSH receptors antibodies (anti-TSHR), and thyroglobulin (Tg) - are used to diagnose thyroid disorders and are crucial biomarkers for monitoring and managing thyroid cancer. The 2022 national survey results revealed that thyroid function testing is not standardized among Croatian medical-biochemistry laboratories. Laboratories follow individual protocols at each testing stage, from patient preparation to result reporting. To address this, the Working group for laboratory endocrinology of the Croatian society of medical biochemistry and laboratory medicine has developed recommendations based on the latest national and international guidelines, research and the authors’ expert opinion. The document aims to standardize all phases of thyroid function testing, with 7 preanalytical, 12 analytical, and 8 postanalytical recommendations, each supported by expert explanations. While primarily directed at Croatian laboratory professionals, this document is also relevant to other healthcare professionals managing thyroid-related health issues.
Advancements in imaging for endovascular treatment of peripheral artery disease
2025-10-15

Summary: Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a significant global health concern, leading to morbidity through progressive stenosis and eventually occlusion of the lower extremity arterial vasculature. Advanced imaging modalities play a major role in diagnosing PAD, in planning endovascular as well as surgical interventions, and in monitoring post-treatment outcomes. This review highlights the current major imaging techniques, including duplex ultrasound, computed tomography angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). It provides insights into their applications, advantages, limitations and the importance of individualized imaging strategies for optimizing patient outcomes.
Faunal persistence and ecological flexibility in Pleistocene Southeast Asia revealed through multi-isotope analysis
2025-10-15

Southeast Asia boasts some of the world’s most diverse ecosystems, yet it has experienced a dramatic decline in biodiversity due to extensive deforestation in recent decades. Understanding how species adapted to past habitat loss could provide valuable insights for developing effective conservation strategies to address current threats. We apply state-of-the-art isotope measurements of enamel-bound zinc (δ 66 Zn) and nitrogen (δ 15 N enamel ) analyses to fossil mammal teeth from Coc Muoi [148 to 117 thousand years (ka) and Duoi U’Oi (70 to 60 ka)], Vietnam. Alongside published regional data (δ 66 Zn, δ 13 C, and δ 18 O), we explore how different taxa adapt their diets and behaviors in the face of climatic and environmental changes. We show that foraging in diverse habitats and diversifying food consumed is associated with extant species, while extinct or locally extirpated taxa show these traits to a lesser extent. We underscore the precariousness of certain species and the pressing need for robust conservation policies to safeguard Southeast Asia’s biodiversity.
Isometric force matching in the TRACK-HD study - a novel quantitative assessment for clinical applications?
2025-10-15

Background Huntington's disease is a rare, progressive, neurodegenerative disease. Capturing symptomatic progression and treatment effects reliably in clinical therapeutic trials has shown to be a challenging task, facing the problem of small cohorts and a variable phenotype. Hence, robust and sensitive outcome measures are needed, to assess efficacy and safety of novel therapies in clinical studies with small cohorts. Objective Objectives of this study were to assess feasibility, discriminative potential, and correlation to clinical and imaging endpoints of the Q-Motor isometric force matching task with visual feedback. Furthermore, a statistical comparison with the Q-Motor grasping and lifting task should be assessed. Methods 220 huntingtin gene expansion carriers (HGEC) and 110 non-huntingtin gene expansion carrier (Non-HGEC) participants of the observational TRACK-HD study completed the Q-Motor force matching assessment, along with a standard battery of clinical tests (UHDRS) and MRI assessments. During the Q-Motor force matching assessments, patients were reproducing a target force in precision grip with help of visual feedback. Q-Motor utilizes a highly sensitive force transducer to record force feedback. HGEC participants were categorized into four groups by a CAG- and age-based survival score. Results Q-Motor force matching allowed for very good discrimination between HGEC and Non-HGEC participant groups (p &lt; 0.001 for all but least affected HGEC group) and between different HGEC groups (all p &lt; 0.05). Strong correlations with UHDRS scores (TMS = −0.708, TFC = −0.638), CAG-Age product scores (Survival Score = 0.626) and imaging outcomes (caudate volume = −0.609, striatum volume = −0.624) were observed. A statistical difference between correlation strength of Q-Motor force matching and Q-Motor grasping and lifting tasks could not be observed. Conclusions Cross-sectional analysis of Q-Motor force matching showed promising results, outperforming clinical rating scales in sensitivity. Further efforts are required to assess longitudinal robustness of the task, and to further explore its potential of capturing cognitive effects by increasing cognitive load during the task.
The interplay of RALF structural and signaling functions in plant-microbe interactions
2025-10-15

Rapid alkalinization factor (RALF) peptides are important signaling molecules binding to Catharanthus roseus receptor-like kinase 1-like (CrRLK1L)—LORELEI/LORELEI-like GPI-anchored protein complexes to regulate a plethora of physiological responses, including plant-microbe interactions. Recently, RALF peptides were demonstrated to possess additional structural functions as organizers of primary cell wall structure through binding to de-methylated pectin via Leucine-rich repeat extensin proteins. In this review, we discuss these novel findings and their possible implications for RALF-regulated plant-microbe interactions, put them into context with the well-known signaling function of RALF-CrRLK1L complexes, and address key future directions for this emerging field in molecular stress physiology and beyond.
Ex Oriente Lux? A quantitative comparison between northern Ahmarian and Protoaurignacian
2025-10-15

The appearance of the Protoaurignacian in Europe around 42,000 years ago is widely believed to result from a major dispersal of anatomically modern Homo sapiens out of the Levant, a view primarily supported by perceived similarities between Mediterranean Protoaurignacian and Levantine Ahmarian stone tools. However, no quantitative technological comparison has yet thoroughly tested this connection. Here, we present the first systematic evaluation of lithic technology from Protoaurignacian assemblages in Italy and from the northern Ahmarian and post-Ahmarian layers at the reference sequence of Ksar Akil (Lebanon). Using attribute analysis and multivariate statistics, we assessed technological similarities and differences across different stages of the core reduction sequence. Our results demonstrate very limited affinities and distinct technological trajectories between the two regions. While the northern Ahmarian at Ksar Akil is characterized by bidirectional volumetric core reduction aimed at blade production, the Protoaurignacian exhibits a strong emphasis on bladelet production from unidirectional cores. Although lithic miniaturization trends are observed in both regions, the post-Ahmarian layers at Ksar Akil primarily produced twisted bladelets from burins and carinated cores-a feature uncommon in the Protoaurignacian. These findings challenge the hypothesis of a Levantine origin for the Protoaurignacian and, more broadly, suggest that technological convergence-driven by the growing importance of multicomponent projectile technology and increased mobility-played a central role. Thus, our study underscores the need to reconsider diffusionist explanations and emphasizes the central role of internal cultural innovation among foraging groups settled in different regions of the Old World in shaping the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic.
CIRSE Standards of Practice for the Classification of Complications: The Modified CIRSE Classification System
2025-10-16

Abstract The CIRSE classification system was published in 2017 aiming to standardize the reporting of complications by avoiding subjective definitions and an excessive number of grades. The original system described 6 grades: Grade 1: complication could be solved within the same procedure, Grade 2: unplanned prolonged hospitalization &lt; 48 h without an additional therapy, Grade 3: additional therapies needed or hospitalization &gt; 48 h, but no sequelae, Grade 4: mild sequelae beyond hospitalization, Grade 5: severe sequelae requiring assistance in daily life, and Grade 6: death. Following initial evaluation through a validation process performed during the International Conference on Complications in Interventional Radiology (ICCIR 2023), a need to modify the system was identified, specifically to stratify grades 1 and 3 based on the degree of impact on the patient in terms of success or failure of the procedure (Grade 1) and on the duration of hospital stay (Grade 3). Thus, Grade 1 was subdivided into 1a and 1b: 1b describing situations when the complication was resolved within the same procedure, but the intended procedure was not completed and Grade 3 subdivided into 3a: Hospital stay &gt; 48 h, but &lt; 2 weeks and 3b &gt; 2 weeks to depict the complications that resulted in the most time- and resource consuming hospitalizations. It remained the case that no permanent sequelae are observed in grade 3. This initial testing of the modified classification system in an international IR complication meeting showed high reliability and strong inter-observer agreement. The modified CIRSE system for classification of complications addresses the shortcomings of the original system while remaining easy to use with clear and objective parameters describing the clinical outcomes after a complication.