bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
British Columbia’s Health Data Platform: Unleashing the Power of a Data Environment Commons for Health and Health System Improvement
Authors: Wong Shirley , Schuckel Victoria , Thompson Simon , Ford David , Lyons Ronan , Hier Richard
Published: December 2020

IntroductionThere is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.1

The Health Data Platform (HDP) will democratize British Columbia’s (population of approximately 4.6 million) health sector data by creating common enabling infrastructure that supports cross-organization analytics and research used by both decision makers and cademics. HDP will provide streamlined, proportionate processes that provide timelier access to data with increased transparency for the data consumer and provide shared data related services that elevate best practices by enabling consistency across data contributors, while maintaining continued stewardship of their data. HDP will be built in collaboration with Swansea University following an agile pragmatic approach starting with a minimum viable product.

Objectives and ApproachBuild a data sharing environment that harnesses the data and the understanding and expertise about health data across academe, decision makers, and clinicians in the province by:

Enabling a common harmonized approach across the sector on:

Data stewardship

Data access

Data security and privacy

Data management

Data standards

To:

Enhance data consumer data access experience

Increase process consistency and transparency

Reduce burden of liberating data from a data source

Build trust in the data and what it is telling us and therefore the decisions made

Increase data accessibility safely and responsibly

Working within the jurisdiction’s existing legislation, the Five Safes Privacy and Security Framework will be implemented, tailored to address the requirements of data contributors.

ResultsThe minimum viable product will provide the necessary enabling infrastructure including governance to enable timelier access, safely to administrative data to a limited set of data consumers. The MVP will be expanded with another release planned for early 2021.

Conclusion / ImplicationsCollaboration with Swansea University has enabled BC to accelerate its journey to increasing timelier access to data, safely and increasing the maturity of analytics by creating the enabling infrastructure that promotes collaboration and sharing of data and data approaches.

1 Margaret Wheatley
Does Identifying Frailty from ICD-10 Coded Data on Hospital Admission Improve Prediction of Adverse Outcomes in Older Surgical Patients
Authors: Harvey Lara , Toson Barbara , Harris Ian , Gandy Robert , Close Jacqueline
Published: December 2020

IntroductionAs the population ages, increasing numbers of older adults are undergoing surgery. Outcomes for older people are known to be worse than younger people following surgical procedures, and identifying which patients stand to benefit from surgery can be challenging.

Frailty is recognised as a major contributor to poor outcomes, however assessing frailty clinically is time-consuming and not routinely undertaken. Using data available from electronic medical records can potentially provide the opportunity to routinely screen for frailty electronically at time of admission.

Objectives and ApproachThis population-based external validation study aimed to: 1. assess the performance of the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) in the prediction of adverse outcomes (mortality, prolonged length of stay (LOS) and 28-day readmission), 2. to determine optimal age-groups and lookback periods and 3. compare HFRS performance against the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI).

Hospital and death data for individuals (n=487,197) aged >50 years admitted under a surgical specialty to all public/private hospitals in NSW, Australia, 2013-2017 were linked. Logistic regression models were tested for each outcome of interest. Area under receiving operator curve (AUC) and Akaike information criterion (AIC) were assessed for each model.

ResultsFor prediction of 30-day, all models performed better than age and sex alone; however adjusting for CCI (AUC 0.76) provided marginally better prediction than adjusting for HFRS (AUC 0.75). Models consistently performed better in the younger age-group (50-65), providing excellent discrimination (AUC 0.82). In contrast, all models had poor ability to predict prolonged-LOS (AUC range 0.62- 0.63) or readmission (AUC range 0.62-0.65). Using a 5-year lookback period did not improve model discrimination over using a 2-year period.

Conclusion / ImplicationsAdjusting for frailty using the HFRS did not improve prediction of 30-mortality over that achieved by the CCI. Neither HFRS nor CCI were useful for predicting prolonged-LOS r 28-day unplanned readmission.
Collaboration with First Nations Communities to Produce Tailored Community-Driven Results
Authors: Mecredy Graham , Naponse-Corbiere Pam , Walker Jennifer
Published: December 2020

IntroductionWhile First Nations communities are well aware of the unique health challenges and requirements of their populations, research evidence is often needed to support this knowledge. First Nations communities face continual challenges accessing data pertaining to the health of their people that is held by the government or other organizations.

Objectives and ApproachThrough the Applied Health Research Question (AHRQ) program at ICES, First Nations communities in Ontario, Canada, have an avenue to access vital population health information about their people. While keeping questions of privacy, data sovereignty, data governance, and the OCAP® principles at the forefront, First Nations partners are active members and collaborators on community driven projects that are of importance to their communities. An Indigenous health data training program has also been developed to run concurrently with these projects, to enhance research knowledge and capacity within partner First Nations communities.

ResultsFirst Nations community partners are the main drivers in deciding and refining the research questions for their projects. They are engaged throughout the project process to ensure the production of results that suit the specific needs of the partners. Project results are only shared with the partners, who utilize and disseminate them as appropriate within their communities.

Conclusion / ImplicationsWith access to previously difficult to access population health data sources, First Nations communities are able to use health system data as an additional tool to better plan and implement community health programs, to lobby for additional funding, and ultimately to contribute to positive policy change.
Using Linked Whole-Of-Population Data to Estimate Education-Related Inequalities in Cause-Specific Mortality in Australia
Authors: Welsh Jennifer , Joshy Grace , Moran Lauren , Soga Kay , Law Hsei Di , Butler Danielle , Bishop Karen , Gourley Michelle , Eynstone-Hinkins James , Moon Lynelle , Blakely Anthony , Banks Emily , Korda Rosemary J
Published: December 2020

IntroductionOfficial Australian estimates of socioeconomic inequalities in cause-specific mortality have been based on area-level socioeconomic measures. Using area-level measures is known to underestimate inequalities.

Objectives and ApproachUsing recently released census linked to mortality data, we estimate education-related inequalities in cause-specific mortality for Australia. We used 2016 Australian Census and Death Registration data (2016-17) linked via a Person Linkage Spine (linkage rates: 92% and 97%, respectively) from the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP). Education, from the Census, was categorised as low (no secondary school graduation or other qualification), intermediate (secondary graduation with/without other non-tertiary qualifications) and high (tertiary qualification). Cause of death was coded according to the underlying cause of death using the ICD-10. We used negative binomial regression to estimate relative rates (RR) for cause-specific mortality at ages 25-84 years, in the 12-months following Census, comparing low vs high education, separately by sex and 20-year age group, adjusting for age.

Results80,317 deaths occurred among 13,856,202 people. For those aged 25-44 years, relative inequalities were large for causes related to injury and smaller for lesspreventable deaths (e.g. for men, suicide RR=5.6, 95%CI: 4.1-7.5 and brain cancer RR=1.3, 0.6-3.1). For those aged 45-64, inequalities were large for causes related to health behaviours and amenable to medical intervention, e.g. lung cancer (men RR= 6.4, 4.7-8.8) and ischaemic heart disease (women RR=5.0, 3.2-7.7), and were small for less preventable causes e.g. brain cancer (women RR=0.9, 0.6-1.3). Patterns among those aged 65-84years were similar to those aged 45-64 years.

Conclusion / ImplicationsIn Australia, inequalities in mortality are substantial. Our findings highlight the health burden from inequalities, opportunities for prevention and provide insights on targets to effectively reduce them.
Using Linked Data to Estimate the True Number of Individuals Impacted by Residential Fire
Authors: Ghassempour Nargess , Harvey Lara A , Tannous W. Kathy
Published: December 2020

IntroductionResidential fires remain a significant global public health problem. It is recognised that the reported number of residential fires, fire-related injuries and deaths significantly underestimate the true number. Australian population-based surveys show that around two-thirds of respondents who experience a residential fire are unwilling to call fire services, and studies from the US and New Zealand highlight that many individuals who access medical treatment for fire-related injuries do not have an associated fire incident report.

Objectives and ApproachThis population-based study aimed to quantify the total number of residential fires, fire-related injuries and associated health service utilisation. The cohort included all persons residing at a residential address in New South Wales, Australia, which experienced a fire between 1 January 2005 - 31 December 2014. The cohort comprised linked person-level data from eight administrative datasets and includes information about nature of fire, first responder use (Fire and Rescue (FRNSW) and ambulance services), health service utilisation (emergency department, hospital and burns outpatient clinic) and health outcomes.

ResultsOver the study period, FRNSW responded to 42,491 residential-fire incidents, involving 42,160 individuals with some individuals reporting multiple times. In total, 3,382 individuals used one or more health service and 154 individuals died. Of individuals who contacted FRNSW, 1,661 (3.9%) used health services;ambulance (n=1,101), emergency department (n=1,114), hospital admissions (n=168). There were 95 deaths. There were 1,721 (51%) additional individuals who used one or more health service as a result of a residential-fire that did not contact FRNSW and 59 additional deaths were identified.

Conclusion / ImplicationsThis study found that more than half of individuals who used health services for residential fire-related injuries did not have an associated fire report, highlighting the importance of data linkage for accurate communication to policy makers and the public on the prevalence and impact of residential-fires.
Benchmarking Computational Performance of Virtual Machines Within the Secure Unified Research Environment Versus Physical Computers
Authors: Moldovan Max , Radbone Chris , Inacio Maria C
Published: December 2020

IntroductionThe Secure Unified Research Environment (SURE) is a high-powered computing environment located within Sax Institute (Sydney, Australia). SURE was established through the financial support of the Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) as part of the Population Health Research Network (PHRN). SURE is approved by the Australian Government as the only secure platform for analysing unit record level sensitive health and other Australian Government data, providing computational resources and secure infrastructure in a form of virtual machines (VMs) accessible by approved researchers in Australia and overseas.

Objectives and ApproachWe aim to compare computational performance of SURE VMs of different configurations with the performance of physical computers by running a series of standardised computational tasks involving different numbers of central processingunit (CPU) cores available on each computer. The approach utilised the benchmark test maintained by the H2O.ai group (https://h2oai.github.io/db-benchmark/). The results were measured over the datasets of different sizes, ranging from 500MB to 50GB in Random Access Memory (RAM).

ResultsOur benchmarking outcomes have revealed that computational efficiency of physical computers uniformly outperform the efficiency of the current standard SURE VM configuration offerings, sometimes demonstrating a nearly double performance. For the range of typical analytical tasks assessed, computational performance greatly benefits from extending the number of computational cores available on a machine.

Conclusion / ImplicationsSURE is a highly valuable tool enabling research and collaborations involving confidential population-based data. The shortage of RAM and CPU cores can be a major bottleneck even for moderately large datasets. VMs currently offered by SURE yet fall short of reaching computational performance of physical desktop computers. The results are to guide the funders and providers of secure remote access data laboratories responsible for providing Research Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) tailored to meet the needs of participating research groups.
Associations Between Regularity of General Practitioner Contacts and Adherence to Statin Therapy
Authors: Youens David
Published: December 2020

IntroductionResearch has demonstrated continuity and regularity of general practitioner (GP) contacts to be associated with reduced hospitalisations and emergency department (ED) presentations. Opportunities for improved medication management are often cited as a potential causal mechanism, but little research has directly addressed this.

Objectives and ApproachTo determine associations between continuity of primary care and adherence with statin medications amongst individuals at risk of cardiovascular disease outcomes, taking statins through the exposure period of July 2011 - June 2012. We used self-report and administrative data from 267,153 participants of the 45 and Up Study conducted in New South Wales, Australia from 2006-2009. Medicare Benefits Schedule and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data, from the Australian Government Department of Human Services, were linked to survey, hospital and death data by the NSW Centre for Health Record Linkage. Exposures were the Usual Provider of Care (UPC) index, i.e. the proportion of visits made to the usual GP; and a regularity index assessing whether patients were visiting the GP on a regular basis. Cox regression estimated associations between these exposures and time to cessation of statin medication, defined as a 30-day period without supply.

ResultsPreliminary findings amongst a cohort of approximately 48,000 indicated that increases in both regularity and continuity of primary care were associated with reduced likelihood of statin cessation. After controlling for socio-demographic and health status indicators the hazard ratio for cessation in the most regular quintile (baseline least) was 0.84 (95%CI 0.80 – 0.87) and in the highest continuity quintile was 0.93 (95%CI 0.89 – 0.96).

Conclusion / ImplicationsPrevious work assessed relationships between continuity of care and downstream hospital and ED outcomes. This work complements existing literature by assessing intermediate outcomes, aiding understanding of potential causal pathways. These findings are relevant given adherence to statin medication is often sub-optimal.
Western Australian Child Development Atlas: Visualising Data on Child Health, Education and Well-Being
Authors: Fuller Emma L , Bell Megan , Sims Sims , Glauert Rebecca , Ansell David
Published: December 2020

IntroductionThe WA Child Development Atlas (CDA) is a unique resource that generates geographic profiles of the development, health and well-being of WA children. The CDA has been developed at the Telethon Kids Institute with funding from the Ian Potter and Minderoo Foundations and in partnership with government agencies and service providers.

Objectives and ApproachVisualisation of data within geographic boundaries helps to build a picture of ‘place’. This informs better decision making and underpins the development of evidence-based policy and service planning that acknowledges the differing needs of communities.

The CDA is an online, interactive mapping tool that utilises geographic information system (GIS) technologies to identify spatial patterns in population-level child and youth development indicators. Data are sourced from core health, social, and linked administrative datasets, from 1990 onwards. Aggregated, de-identified data on children and young people (0-24 years) and their parents are mapped within geographic boundaries across WA.

The CDA was piloted to ensure it is useful and relevant to a diversity of stakeholders. Extensive community consultation has been undertaken at all stages of the project. The CDA has been received favourably by consumers, government organisations, communities and researchers, with significant support for public launch.

ResultsThe CDA is a freely available, confidential and secure resource. Features of the CDA include: it is online and interactive (no software is required), area profiles, downloadable charts, tables and summary statistics, map panning and zooming. The Atlas has been used to generate community profiles and empowers all the people of WA with enhanced knowledge and understanding of the development of children.

Conclusion / ImplicationsThe CDA has built capacity to use spatial information, assisting agencies who make decisions relevant to child development and to facilitate cross-agency collaboration. It is an important and valuable resource utilising disparate data sources with significant public benefit.
Providing A Person-Centred View: Applying Linked Data to Government Policy Reform and Service Design
Authors: Williams Sharon , Cheng Kenneth , Sipthorp Mark
Published: December 2020

The application of linked data by government has limited visibility due to complexities in publishing details of the analysis and interventions. The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) acknowledges the value of linked data in the department’s strategic plan, and linked data has been used in many policy reform and service design activities over the past three years.

IntroductionIn 2016 the Centre for Victorian Data Linkage (CVDL), located in DHHS, developed the Victorian Linkage Map (VLM) of 20 plus health and human services datasets linked with births and deaths data. The VLM has since been expanded to include education, justice and police data. DHHS has been an “early adopter” in applying linked data to policy development, service reforms and departmental operations to improve the health and wellbeing of the Victorian population.

Objectives and ApproachThe presentation will provide an overview of multi-sector data linkage in Victoria, and the value of frequent collaborations between CVDL and DHHS staff in applying linked data to priority projects and reforms. It will consider the challenges of cross-jurisdictional linkage in Australia, highlighting initiatives which are expanding linked datasets available to DHHS.

ResultsDHHS has undertaken a broad range of linked data projects which have provided an evidence base for departmental activities, including provision of hospital, housing, health surveillance and child protection services. Linked data has also been used to develop an integrated demand model, which forecasts impact of investment in one program area on other parts of the service system.

Conclusion / ImplicationsThe active use of linked data by DHHS provides a model for other government departments to improve service design and delivery to vulnerable populations. DHSS is expanding linked-data use to additional areas, and further imbedding in departmental operations.
The Impact of Musculoskeletal Conditions on Assessed Levels of Care Required by Older Australians
Authors: Gill Tiffany K , Wesselingh Steve , Inacio Maria C
Published: December 2020

IntroductionMusculoskeletal problems, including conditions such as back pain, neck pain, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and osteoarthritis are common in the population and significant contributors to global disease burden. Age is one of the most common risk factors for musculoskeletal conditions and over 40% of older people accessing residential aged care have a musculoskeletal condition. It is not known whether individuals living in the community with musculoskeletal conditions have similar needs to those in permanent care and this is important to know in order to provide appropriate care.

Objectives and ApproachThe objective of this study was to profile individuals with musculoskeletal conditions in different aged care service settings (i.e. permanent care, community care only, transition/ respite care, or no services). Specifically, we examined the concurrent chronic conditions, health risk factors and functional limitations of individuals by service setting. A cross-sectional evaluation of individuals in the National Historical Cohort of the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) between 2004 and 2014 was conducted. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated the factors associated with being in different aged care settings. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were determined.

Results401,026 (42.5%) individuals with musculoskeletal conditions were assessed for aged care service eligibility during the study period. Of these 197,181 (49.2%) accessed permanent care, 37,003 (9.2%) accessed home care, 54,826 (13.7%) transition/respite, and 112,016 (27.9%) - no care. Individuals accessing community care compared to residential care were more likely to be female, have pain and have difficulty maintaining their home, as were individuals accessing no services compared to residential care.

Conclusion / ImplicationsCompared to those in residential care, individuals with musculoskeletal conditions in the community with or without assistance had few differences related to other chronic conditions and functional limitations. But the reasons why some had support, while others did not, are unclear.
Pioneering Methods Developed to Investigate the Burden of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease Using Multiple Linked Data Sources
Authors: Seth Rebecca , Bond-Smith Daniela , Katzenellenbogan Judith
Published: December 2020

IntroductionAcute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) and Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) remain a major public health concern in Australia. Government action requires reliable burden estimates, however data from single or unlinked sources are only partial and likely to be skewed, exacerbated by systemic problems with ICD-10 codes for RHD. Linked data provide an opportunity to address these shortcomings.

Objectives and ApproachObjectives: to develop a methodology using harmonised linked data across five Australian jurisdictions to determine the burden of ARF and RHD <55 years, in particular robust case definitions for calculating incidence and prevalence.

For identifying RHD in hospital-only patients, validated case and non-cases from non-hospital sources were used with linked inpatient hospital admissions to develop a RHD prediction model. Additional data sources (register and surgery databases) were used to identify cases for reporting RHD prevalence. A unique ARF episode was defined as an ARF record >90 days from the previous one across both register and hospital data. For first-ever episodes we applied a lookback to mid-2001 for both ARF and RHD. For Western Australia, we evaluated the effect of look-back period on prevalence pooling.

ResultsFor total ARF incidence over 3 years (2015-2017), there was 1425 episodes compared to 1027 episodes for first-ever ARF. There was an annual average of 5241 cases of RHD identified using our new methods (0-54yrs) – substantially higher than 2634 and 4255 RHD cases reported by Global Burden of Disease Study and Australian Institute of Welfare estimates respectively for 2017. Increased lookback had no effect on first-ever ARF but increased RHD prevalence >25 years.

Conclusion / ImplicationsBy using multiple sources and cross-jurisdictional data we were able to provide contemporary and robust estimates for the burden of ARF and RHD in Australia. The prediction algorithm we developed can also be used in other countries, where only hospital data is available, to quantify RHD burden.
Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension in Wales
Authors: Strafford Huw , Miah Latif , Fonferko-Shadrach Beata , Hollinghurst Joe , Rees Mark I , Sawhney Inder , Hadjikoutis Savvas , Powell Rob , Lacey Arron , Lacey Arron
Published: December 2020

IntroductionIdiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH) is a condition of unknown aetiology that is strongly associated with obesity. IIH predominantly affects women of childbearing age and causes chronic disabling headaches, visual disturbance and, in a minority of patients, permanent visual loss.

Objectives and ApproachWe characterised the IIH population, epidemiological trends and healthcare outcomes in Wales using routinely collected healthcare data. We used primary and secondary care healthcare diagnosis codes within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage databank to ascertain IIH cases and controls in a retrospective cohort study between 2003 and 2017. We validated IIH diagnosis codes using anonymised secondary care lists of IIH cases.

ResultsWe analysed 35 million patient years of data (2003–2017). There were 1765 cases of IIH in 2017 (85% female). The prevalence and incidence of IIH in 2017 was 76/100,000 and 7.8/100,000/year, a significant increase from 2003 (corresponding figures=12/100,000 and 2.3/100,000/year). The odds ratio for developing IIH in the least deprived quintile compared to the most deprived quintile, adjusted for gender and Body Mass Index (BMI), was 0.65 (95% CI=0.55–0.76). 9% of people with IIH had CSF shunts with less than 0.2% having bariatric surgery. Unscheduled hospital admissions were significantly higher in the IIH cohort compared to controls (rate ratio=5.28, p<0.001) and in the people with IIH with CSF shunts compared to those without (rate ratio=2.02, p<0.01).

Conclusion / ImplicationsIIH incidence and prevalence is increasing significantly, corresponding to population increases in BMI, and is associated with increased deprivation. This has important implications for healthcare professionals and policy makers given the comorbidities, complications and increased healthcare utilisation associated with IIH.
Deep Learning and NLP For Knowledge Extraction from Laboratory Reports
Authors: Chen Branson , Dolatabadi Elham , Kwong Jeffrey , Azimaee Mahmoud
Published: December 2020

IntroductionDue to the ever-growing volume and complexity of clinical data, it has become a tedious task to extract information from data for secondary uses such as decision support, quality assurance, and outcome analysis. Recently, there have been great advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) approaches that automate knowledge extraction from clinical reports in order to save costs and improve efficiency.

Objectives/Approach​Our goal is the development of an NLP tool designed to automatically extract and encode clinical information from laboratory reports. This study describes and evaluates our NLP tool on provincial repositories of laboratory tests and results called Ontario Laboratory Information System (OLIS). OLIS is an electronic system that covers >200 labs and stores patients’ current and past test results as patients move through different areas of the healthcare system. Our NLP tool is a modular system of pipelined components including Named Entity Recognition module for extracting mentions of virus and test mentions and inference to combine extracted entities into a meaningful outcome.

Results​Initial analyses were conducted on a segment of OLIS related to laboratory tests for respiratory viruses. This data included over a million observations corresponding to ~100 Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC), with >40,000 unique strings. The clinical text was cleaned, tokenized, and parsed using an in-house text algorithm that was continually refined with manual review from clinical experts. This data was then encoded as virus and test types to be used as a ground truth. The NLP tool was built on ground truth data and achieved an accuracy greater than 95%.

Conclusion/ImplicationsApproaches like these can be applied to many areas of health research that make use of clinical reports. Our methods, when optimized and validated, can be deployed into clinical systems to provide on-the-spot analysis of various laboratory reports.
Uso do laser em cruz como método auxiliar no diagnóstico e planejamento de tratamento de pacientes padrão III
Authors: Vieira Giovanni Modesto , Franco Eduardo Jacomino
Published: December 2020

The spatial position of the cranio-maxillary-mandibular complex is related to the natural position of the head, which is not always easily obtained due to vicious and unconscious postural compensation. The cross-laser allows the fixation of certain face parameters, which lead to natural and adequate positioning of the head for lateral teleradiography in conjunction with facial analysis. The severity of Pattern III skeletal discrepancy is masked by soft tissues, and is best investigated and quantified with the patient in smiling profile, relative to true vertical, and can be compared with cephalometric analysis. The treatment of this discrepancy is directly related to its severity. This article aims to demonstrate the relevance of the cross-laser as an auxiliary tool in the analysis of the facial severity of patients Pattern III. Three clinical cases with different severities for Pattern III and their respective treatment approaches are presented.
Expansão Maxilar Apoiada em Mini-implantes (MARPE) – guia prático para planejamento e instalação
Authors: Fernandes Luciana Quintanilha Pires , Capelli Junior Jonas , Miguel José Augusto Mendes
Published: December 2020

Rapid maxillary expansion (RME) is an orthodontic treatment alternative that aims to increase the transverse direction of the maxilla by separating the median palatine suture (MPS). miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) aims to enhance the orthopedic effects of RME through skeletal anchorage. Thus, the aim of this article is to provide a guide for MARPE planning in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and for installation of the expander device with this technique. In addition, a case report of a Caucasian male patient, 16 years and 3 months old with Class II malocclusion, division 1 right subdivision, posterior crossbite of the right side and atresic upper arch in the post-pubertal growth spurt phase will be presented. The patient was treated with MARPE for a period of 5 weeks, when overcorrection of crossbite, correction of maxillary atresia, opening of MPS and creation of a transient diastema between the upper incisors were achieved, evidencing the success of the MARPE technique in a post-pubertal growth spurt patient.
Harmonização orofacial após Covid-19: biossegurança e benefcios
Authors: Correa Ana Karina Fonseca de Carvalho Calderan , Lima e Silva Gabriela Araújo Barros , Tavares Leonardo Nogueira , de Araújo Júnior Ricardo Correa , Celoria Antonio Aparecido
Published: December 2020

Orofacial Harmonization (HOF) that has already been recognized as a dental specialty by the Brazilian Federal Council of Dentistry (CFO) through the resolution CFO-198/2019, has been showing considerable advances in health promotion and reestablishment of a complete physical, mental and social well-being of the individual. Also, it makes efforts in an attempt to strengthen and improve the biosafety protocols presented by the World Health Organization (WHO). The undertakings carried out by the government and health authorities are notorious in an attempt to adapt to the new reality presented by this pandemic caused by COVID-19. However, we cannot deny the negligence of these same authorities of not inserting this specialty as part of the essential care for the population, as the HOF is able of providing numerous benefits, as well as the dentist who was left in the gloom in its origin as a health promoting agent. In the present study, updated biosafety protocols will be shown, and also the importance of adding the inherent technologies of HOF and all the knowledge and proficiency of dentistry professionals in an attempt to concretize the real concept of health, benefiting the population that is desolated and terrified in this new post-COVID world.
Improving Students’ Cognitive and Affective Domains Students through Fostering Teacher Development
Authors: Kurniati Kurniati , Nurdin Nurdin , Nurasmawati Nurasmawati
Published: December 2020

The aim of this paper is to discusses the practice of cousin marriage in the community of Kalola Village, Pasangkayu Regency, West Sulawesi. This study uses qualitative methods and data was gathered through observation, in-depth interviews, and written material. Data analysis was analyzed using grounded theory approach. The results showed that the foster teacher pattern applied in MAN Insan Cendekia Palu City was a form of activity and guidance that was relative and consistent, and a series of active efforts that made a large contribution to students, in improving intellectual / academic aspects as well as good attitudes. . So that the foster teacher pattern is used as a series of activities as a vehicle to educate, nurture and socialize children in developing their abilities, in order to achieve family, community and school expectations. Some educators who serve as foster teachers apply authoritarian parenting with the aim that students are clear and do not repeat mistakes, and also authoritative parenting which provides more understanding and good guidance without heavy pressure and punishment.
SER 2020 - A comparative approach proving the EU tanning industry's continuous striving towards sustainable development
Authors: Gonzalez-Quijano Gustavo , Acsinte Dorel , Bostaca Gheorghe
Published: December 2020

The paper presents results of the new Social and Environmental Report of the European Leather Industry (SER 2020) that follows up on the exercise done in 2012. Based on an intensive survey amongst European tanneries, led by COTANCE and industriAll-European Trade Union, company data on social indicators and environmental parameters that reflect the performance of the tanning sector were collected. Companies’ data, anonymised and aggregated at national level and centrally computed at European level are presented and analysed, versus 2012 data, where appropriate (in terms of average values). Social Footprint of the EU Tanning Industry (employment contracts, age distribution in the EU force, staff retention, education, citizenship, gender balance) and Environmental Footprint of the EU Tanning Industry (chemical consumption, energy consumption, breakdown of energy sources, water consumption, removal of water pollution, waste generation, solvent consumption, costs and investments) are thoroughly discussed. Finally, Sustainability priorities / Ethical issues for the value chain and Objectives and challenges for the future are communicated in order to demonstrate the continuous striving of Europe’s leather sector towards excellence in social and environmental performance.
Perspective in using chitosan films for sensors
Authors: Aileni Raluca Maria , Chiriac Laura , Sandulache Irina
Published: December 2020

This paper presents some aspects concerning the possibilities of using chitosan films for sensor development. The proposed approaches consist of the development of the experimental samples using 100% cotton fabrics (plain weave) coated with a conductive paste based on chitosan (low, medium, and high molecular weight) and copper microparticles. Our samples were obtained using the scraping method and free drying (24 h), followed by crosslinking 2-3 minutes at 150-160°C. Surface resistance was investigated using the resistance tester based on two parallel electrodes. The results showed that textile coated with chitosan paste with metallic particle content has a poorly conductive character. Based on the surface resistivity, was calculated the surface conductivity. Using the VCA Optima device was investigated the surface wettability by contact angle to conclude if the samples present a hydrophilic or hydrophobic character. After these tests, we concluded that almost all samples have a hydrophilic character due in large part to the fact that this polymer (chitosan) has hydrophilic nature.
The elementary characterization of anthill clay for composite materials
Authors: Aluvihara Suresh , Kalpage C.S. , Bandaranayake P.W.S.K.
Published: December 2020

Anthill clay is a distinct soil/clay genre among common soil types because of the extraordinary stockpiling method. The small particles are carried in and erected an anthill by a small creature that it is called as termite. In generally, clay is a conspicuous raw material for industrial applications greatly and the assay of expediencies of anthill clay for advanced material applications were the prospects of the existing research. Carefully collected anthill clay samples were characterized under the physically and chemically using standard procedures and instruments. The mechanical characteristics of prepared bricks from anthill clays under 8000C were investigated. As the major outcomes of the existing investigation of raw clays, there were looked to 5.56 of PH value, 15% of natural moisture content, gap graded and symmetrically distributed arrangement of grains, 60% finer particle percentage (<0.075mm) according to the weight, composition of Fe, Ti, Ba and K based compounds including Fe minerals with large sorption capacity for other metals. In addition that 25% of water absorption, 2.62 of bulk specific gravity, 65% of apparent porosity, 21 Mpa compressive strength and 0.4 Mpa splitting tensile strength were observed with respect to the bricks which were prepared from the anthill clay. Based on the behaviors of such anthill clay it should be an influential material in the advanced material manufacturing in the industrial purposes such as the water treatments, rigid materials, catalysts and refractors.
Bioactive textiles obtained by applying cinnamon essential oil-based emulsions
Authors: Chirila Laura , Popescu Alina , Olaru Sabina , Danila Angela , Constantinescu Rodica Roxana , Tigau Andreea
Published: December 2020

In order to obtain biomaterials with potential use in the treatment of inflammatory skin conditions, this experimental study approached the immobilization on knitted fabric, made of 100% organic cotton, of oil-in-water emulsions type, based on xanthan-propolis-cinnamon essential oil, in certain formulations. For this purpose, seven experimental variants of emulsions were prepared and characterized, by specific methods, from physical-chemical and stability point of view. The functionalized textile materials were also characterized from morphological and antibacterial activity view point. The stability index, determined after 10 days, indicated that the emulsions are stable, without showing the presence of one of the flocculation, creaming / sedimentation, coalescence or Ostwald ripening phenomena. The lowest value of the turbidity was obtained for the experimental variant containing the lowest amount of essential oil and propolis. For the same variant, the highest value of viscosity was obtained, in which 0,363 mL water /mL emulsion and 0,5 mL xanthan/mL emulsion volume fraction was used. The textile materials treated with the synthesized emulsions based on xanthan-propolis-cinnamon essential oil shows antibacterial effect against S. aureus and E. coli test strains
Research comparison of foot plantar pressure on polyurethane visco elastic foam insole and EVA insole materials
Authors: Dhanapal Durairaj , Melese Bahiru , Shawel Liya , Sanmugam Kumaravel
Published: December 2020

The viscoelastic cushion insoles respond to the unique curves and pressures of our foot with every movement whether walking, running, playing, or exercising. Initially NASA, USA had developed viscoelastic foam insole to support astronauts during the heavy G force applied to the body during space flight. Nowadays ¼ inch thick layer of viscoelastic foam sandwiched between two layers of different types of foam are available commercially at a high cost. In our country, viscoelastic PU foams as cushion inserts for shoes are imported from China. But the available materials are not scientifically characterized and optimized for the composition of PU for application as an insole for treating foot abnormalities. In this project PU, the viscoelastic foam was prepared using standard polyols and dissociates used by industries to prepare memory foam mattresses. The additives which are physiologically and environmentally safe were used.
Approaches to the evaluation of the mechanical properties of single-layer composite plates made of recyclable polymeric and protein materials
Authors: Durbaca Ion , Iatan Radu , Surdu Elena , Farcas-Flamaropol Dana-Claudia
Published: December 2020

This paper deals with the theoretical and experimental mechanical characteristics of composite plates obtained from recyclable polymer and protein matrix and fibrous reinforcement. The definition of the theoretical model of the monolayer composite material with its structural elements and the physical-mechanical evaluation of its characteristics leads to the optimal and efficient design and use of all products made of such materials. By the theoretical and experimental determination of the mechanical characteristics that define the properties of the composite material, it can be decided on its use in specific industrial technical applications.
An overview on far-infrared functional textile materials
Authors: Iordache Ovidiu , Mitran Elena Cornelia , Sandulache Irina , Memecica Maria , Secareanu Lucia Oana , Lite Cristina , Perdum Elena
Published: December 2020

The present study was aimed at highlighting the applicability of novel generations of functional textile materials based on incorporation of safe, pyroelectric nanoparticles into fibers. The synthetic fibers with negative ions emitting properties contain semiprecious stone particles (tourmaline, monazite, opal), ceramic, charcoal, zirconium powders, aluminum titanate and mixtures of such minerals. Currently, the synthetic fibers generating pyroelectric effects are obtained by introducing minerals (e.g. superfine tourmaline powder) into melted polymers before spinning or by dispersing the minerals into the spinning solution. As polymers, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl acetate, polyamide and viscose have been used. In low quantities, these minerals have almost no effect on human health. Included in large quantities, they tend to be too expensive (tourmaline, opal) and the fibers become harsh and fragile. The current generation of FIR functional textile materials faces a series of technical challenges: some of the of the used compounds are radioactive (monazite); if the particles size is too large (0.2-0.3µm), it may result in the production of highly non-uniform fibers and early wear of the mechanical parts producing installation; most of commercial pyroelectric fabrics emit a low amount of negative ions (500-2600 anions/cc) and FI rays, inducing a low health effect. Clinical studies involving exposure to pyroelectric compounds have highlighted positive effects on: blood circulation, skin cell re-vitalizing, collagen and elastin production, sleep modulation, wounds healing and acceleration of micro-circulation, chronic pain management, improvement of vascular endothelial functions, atherosclerosis and arthritis affections etc.
Evaluation of combination tanning and natural finishing on sheep leather with Uncaria Gambir Roxb extract
Authors: Griyanitasari Gresy , Kasmudjiastuti Emiliana , Yuliatmo Ragil , Abidin Mohammad Zainal
Published: December 2020

The discovery of natural local resources for tanning and coloring agents are growing dramatically to sustain a cleaner leather manufacturing technology. Gambir (Uncaria gambir Roxb) has been found potential as tannin and dyestuffs for leather and textile industry. Therefore, to explore these issues, a combination tanning and finishing system were evaluated to observe the efficiency of this extract on leather processing. A combination tanning system based on chrome or glutaraldehyde – gambir and followed by gambir as coloring agent with different concentrations (100 - 200 parts/L) have been applied. In this FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) analysis of gambir extract showed the presence of phenolic hydroxyl group. Our results revealed that chrome - gambir and glutaraldehyde - gambir finished leather product with 150 parts/L of gambir extract showed excellent rub fastness, color fastness to perspiration and washing. Most of the result values obtained were generally at satisfactory levels which were between 3/4 and 5 fastness values. Visual evaluation reported that chrome-gambir finished leather product with 150 parts/L of gambir extract exhibited better uniformity of colour fastness.
Collagen matrices from leather industry wastes for biomedical application
Authors: Maistrenko Lesia , Iungin Olga , Savchuk Oleksii , Okhmat Olena
Published: December 2020

Modern biomedical science is challenged to develop new wound healing drugs. The collagen-containing wastes of leather industry could be the rich source of collagen products for further use in biomedical science. The aim of this research was to find the best source of collagen between limed pelt, delimed pelt and fleshings of cattle hides, and to prepare it for the use as a matrix for further microbiological studies. Collagen was extracted with 0.5 M acetic acid and 5 mM EDTA. The purity of the extracted collagen was checked by gel-electophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The rate of growth and crystal violet assay of laboratory strains (S. aureus, P. aeruginosa) were used for microbiological evaluation of obtained collagen matrices. The delimed pelt provided the highest concentration of collagen and the greatest volume of collagen products. All obtained collagen products were applicable as matrices for microbial cells growth. The applicability of collagen products from leather industry wastes for biomedical studies in Ukraine was shown.