bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Creating Respectful Workplaces for Nurses in Regional Acute Care Settings: Protocol for a Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study
Authors: Hawkins Natasha , Jeong Sarah , Smith Tony
Published: December 2020

Background

Negative workplace behaviour among nurses is an internationally recognised problem, despite the plethora of literature spanning several decades. The various forms of mistreatments and uncaring attitudes experienced by nurses include workplace aggression, incivility, bullying, harassment and horizontal violence. Negative behaviour has detrimental effects on the individual nurse, the organisation, the nursing profession and patients. Multi-level organisational interventions are warranted to influence the “civility norms” of the nursing profession.

Objective

The aim of this study is to investigate the self-reported exposure to and experiences of negative workplace behaviours of nursing staff and their ways of coping in regional acute care hospitals in one Local Health District (LHD) in NSW before and after Respectful Workplace Workshops have been implemented within the organisation.

Methods

This study employs a mixed methods sequential explanatory design with an embedded experimental component, underpinned by Social World’s Theory. This study will be carried out in four acute care regional hospitals from a Local Health District (LHD) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The nurse unit managers, registered nurses and new graduate nurses from the medical and surgical wards of all four hospitals will be invited to complete a pre-survey examining their experiences, perceptions and responses to negative workplace behaviour, and their ways of coping when exposed. Face-to-face educational workshops will then be implemented by the organisation at two of the four hospitals. The workshops are designed to increase awareness of negative workplace behaviour, the pathways to seek assistance and aims to create respectful workplaces. Commencing 3 months after completion of the workshop implementation, follow up surveys and interviews will then be undertaken at all four hospitals.

Results

The findings from this research will enhance understanding of negative workplace behaviour occurring within the nursing social world and assess the effectiveness of the LHD’s Respectful Workplace Workshops upon the levels of negative workplace behaviour occurring. By integrating qualitative and quantitative findings it will allow for a dual perspective of the social world of nurses where negative and/or respectful workplace behaviours occur, and provide data grounded in individuals lived experiences, positioned in a macro context

Conclusions

It is expected that evidence from this study will inform nursing practice, and future policy development aimed at creating respectful workplaces.

Trial Registration

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Registration No. ACTRN12618002007213; 14 December 2018).

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/18643
Digital Health Interventions for Cardiac Rehabilitation: Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Wongvibulsin Shannon , Habeos Evagelia E , Huynh Pauline P , Xun Helen , Shan Rongzi , Porosnicu Rodriguez Kori A , Wang Jane , Gandapur Yousuf K , Osuji Ngozi , Shah Lochan M , Spaulding Erin M , Hung George , Knowles Kellen , Yang William E , Marvel Francoise A , Levin Eleanor , Maron David J , Gordon Neil F , Martin Seth S
Published: December 2020

Background

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Despite strong evidence supporting the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation (CR), over 80% of eligible patients do not participate in CR. Digital health technologies (ie, the delivery of care using the internet, wearable devices, and mobile apps) have the potential to address the challenges associated with traditional facility-based CR programs, but little is known about the comprehensiveness of these interventions to serve as digital approaches to CR. Overall, there is a lack of a systematic evaluation of the current literature on digital interventions for CR.

Objective

The objective of this systematic literature review is to provide an in-depth analysis of the potential of digital health technologies to address the challenges associated with traditional CR. Through this review, we aim to summarize the current literature on digital interventions for CR, identify the key components of CR that have been successfully addressed through digital interventions, and describe the gaps in research that need to be addressed for sustainable and scalable digital CR interventions.

Methods

Our strategy for identifying the primary literature pertaining to CR with digital solutions (defined as technology employed to deliver remote care beyond the use of the telephone) included a consultation with an expert in the field of digital CR and searches of the PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases for original studies published from January 1990 to October 2018.

Results

Our search returned 31 eligible studies, of which 22 were randomized controlled trials. The reviewed CR interventions primarily targeted physical activity counseling (31/31, 100%), baseline assessment (30/31, 97%), and exercise training (27/31, 87%). The most commonly used modalities were smartphones or mobile devices (20/31, 65%), web-based portals (18/31, 58%), and email-SMS (11/31, 35%). Approximately one-third of the studies addressed the CR core components of nutrition counseling, psychological management, and weight management. In contrast, less than a third of the studies addressed other CR core components, including the management of lipids, diabetes, smoking cessation, and blood pressure.

Conclusions

Digital technologies have the potential to increase access and participation in CR by mitigating the challenges associated with traditional, facility-based CR. However, previously evaluated interventions primarily focused on physical activity counseling and exercise training. Thus, further research is required with more comprehensive CR interventions and long-term follow-up to understand the clinical impact of digital interventions.
Social Media Insights Into US Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Analysis of Twitter Data
Authors: Valdez Danny , ten Thij Marijn , Bathina Krishna , Rutter Lauren A , Bollen Johan
Published: December 2020

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented mitigation efforts that disrupted the daily lives of millions. Beyond the general health repercussions of the pandemic itself, these measures also present a challenge to the world’s mental health and health care systems. Considering that traditional survey methods are time-consuming and expensive, we need timely and proactive data sources to respond to the rapidly evolving effects of health policy on our population’s mental health. Many people in the United States now use social media platforms such as Twitter to express the most minute details of their daily lives and social relations. This behavior is expected to increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, rendering social media data a rich field to understand personal well-being.

Objective

This study aims to answer three research questions: (1) What themes emerge from a corpus of US tweets about COVID-19? (2) To what extent did social media use increase during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic? and (3) Does sentiment change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Methods

We analyzed 86,581,237 public domain English language US tweets collected from an open-access public repository in three steps. First, we characterized the evolution of hashtags over time using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling. Second, we increased the granularity of this analysis by downloading Twitter timelines of a large cohort of individuals (n=354,738) in 20 major US cities to assess changes in social media use. Finally, using this timeline data, we examined collective shifts in public mood in relation to evolving pandemic news cycles by analyzing the average daily sentiment of all timeline tweets with the Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner (VADER) tool.

Results

LDA topics generated in the early months of the data set corresponded to major COVID-19–specific events. However, as state and municipal governments began issuing stay-at-home orders, latent themes shifted toward US-related lifestyle changes rather than global pandemic-related events. Social media volume also increased significantly, peaking during stay-at-home mandates. Finally, VADER sentiment analysis scores of user timelines were initially high and stable but decreased significantly, and continuously, by late March.

Conclusions

Our findings underscore the negative effects of the pandemic on overall population sentiment. Increased use rates suggest that, for some, social media may be a coping mechanism to combat feelings of isolation related to long-term social distancing. However, in light of the documented negative effect of heavy social media use on mental health, social media may further exacerbate negative feelings in the long-term for many individuals. Thus, considering the overburdened US mental health care structure, these findings have important implications for ongoing mitigation efforts.
Knowledge, Perceived Beliefs, and Preventive Behaviors Related to COVID-19 Among Chinese Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey
Authors: Chen Ying , Zhou Rui , Chen Boyan , Chen Hao , Li Ying , Chen Zhi , Zhu Haihong , Wang Hongmei
Published: December 2020

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an international public health threat. Prevention is of paramount importance to protect the high-risk group of older adults until specific treatments for COVID-19 become available; however, little work has been done to explore factors that promote preventive behaviors among this population.

Objective

This study aims to investigate the knowledge, perceived beliefs, and preventive behaviors towards COVID-19 of older adults in China and determine the factors that influence their practice of preventive behaviors.

Methods

From February 19 to March 19, 2020, a cross-sectional, web-based survey was administered to Chinese older adults in all 31 provinces of mainland China using a convenience sampling method to assess the respondents’ knowledge, perceived beliefs, and preventive behaviors towards COVID-19. Standard descriptive statistics and hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data.

Results

A total of 1501 participants responded to the survey, and 1263 valid responses (84.1%) were obtained for further analysis. The overall correct rate on the knowledge questionnaire was 87%, overall positive beliefs regarding COVID-19 were found, and the mean behavior score was 13.73/15 (SD 1.62, range 5-15). The hierarchical linear regression showed that respondents who were married or cohabitating and who lived in areas with community-level control measures were more likely to practice preventive behaviors (P<.01). Knowledge (β=0.198, P<.001), perceived susceptibility (β=0.263, P=.03), perceived benefits (β=0.643, P<.001), and self-efficacy in preventing COVID-19 (β=0.468, P<.001) were also found to be significantly associated with preventive behaviors.

Conclusions

Most older residents had adequate knowledge and positive beliefs regarding COVID-19 and engaged in proactive behaviors to prevent the disease. Knowledge and beliefs were confirmed to be significantly associated with behavior responses. Our findings have significant implications in enhancing the effectiveness of COVID-19 prevention programs targeting the older population; these programs must be continued and strengthened as the epidemic continues.
Using Social Media Data to Understand Consumers' Information Needs and Emotions Regarding Cancer: Ontology-Based Data Analysis Study (Preprint)
Authors: Lee Jooyun , Park Hyeoun-Ae , Park Seul Ki , Song Tae-Min
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

Analysis of posts on social media is effective in investigating health information needs for disease management and identifying people’s emotional status related to disease. An ontology is needed for semantic analysis of social media data.

OBJECTIVE

This study was performed to develop a cancer ontology with terminology containing consumer terms and to analyze social media data to identify health information needs and emotions related to cancer.

METHODS

A cancer ontology was developed using social media data, collected with a crawler, from online communities and blogs between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2017 in South Korea. The relative frequencies of posts containing ontology concepts were counted and compared by cancer type.

RESULTS

The ontology had 9 superclasses, 213 class concepts, and 4061 synonyms. Ontology-driven natural language processing was performed on the text from 754,744 cancer-related posts. Colon, breast, stomach, cervical, lung, liver, pancreatic, and prostate cancer; brain tumors; and leukemia appeared most in these posts. At the superclass level, risk factor was the most frequent, followed by emotions, symptoms, treatments, and dealing with cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Information needs and emotions differed according to cancer type. The observations of this study could be used to provide tailored information to consumers according to cancer type and care process. Attention should be paid to provision of cancer-related information to not only patients but also their families and the general public seeking information on cancer.
User Experience of a Chatbot Questionnaire Versus a Regular Computer Questionnaire: Prospective Comparative Study (Preprint)
Authors: te Pas Mariska E , Rutten Werner G M M , Bouwman R Arthur , Buise Marc P
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

Respondent engagement of questionnaires in health care is fundamental to ensure adequate response rates for the evaluation of services and quality of care. Conventional survey designs are often perceived as dull and unengaging, resulting in negative respondent behavior. It is necessary to make completing a questionnaire attractive and motivating.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to compare the user experience of a chatbot questionnaire, which mimics intelligent conversation, with a regular computer questionnaire.

METHODS

The research took place at the preoperative outpatient clinic. Patients completed both the standard computer questionnaire and the new chatbot questionnaire. Afterward, patients gave their feedback on both questionnaires by the User Experience Questionnaire, which consists of 26 terms to score.

RESULTS

The mean age of the 40 included patients (25 [63%] women) was 49 (SD 18-79) years; 46.73% (486/1040) of all terms were scored positive for the chatbot. Patients preferred the computer for 7.98% (83/1040) of the terms and for 47.88% (498/1040) of the terms there were no differences. Completion (mean time) of the computer questionnaire took 9.00 minutes by men (SD 2.72) and 7.72 minutes by women (SD 2.60; P=.148). For the chatbot, completion by men took 8.33 minutes (SD 2.99) and by women 7.36 minutes (SD 2.61; P=.287).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients preferred the chatbot questionnaire over the computer questionnaire. Time to completion of both questionnaires did not differ, though the chatbot questionnaire on a tablet felt more rapid compared to the computer questionnaire. This is an important finding because it could lead to higher response rates and to qualitatively better responses in future questionnaires.
Reversing the Antibiotic Resistance “Yelp Effect” Through the Use of Emotionally Framed Responses to Negative Reviews of Providers: Questionnaire Study (Preprint)
Authors: Turner Monique Mitchell , Choung Hyesun , Bui Quoc-Ha Hannah Mai , Beck Paige , Ashraf Hera
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

The overuse of antibiotics has rapidly made antimicrobial resistance a global public health challenge. There is an emerging trend where providers who perceive that their patients expect antibiotics are more likely to prescribe antibiotics unprompted or upon request. Particularly, health care providers have expressed concern that dissatisfied patients will provide disparaging online reviews, therefore threatening the reputation of the practice. To better deal with the negative reviews and inform patients, some health care staff directly respond to patients’ online feedback. Engaging with patients’ online reviews gives providers an opportunity to prevent reputational damage and improve patients’ understanding of the antibiotic resistance problem.

OBJECTIVE

We aim to test the effectiveness of different response strategies to the negative patient online reviews on the readers’ perceptions of the health care provider and their perceptions related to antibiotics resistance.

METHODS

Two experiments were conducted to examine the impact of message tactics (apologizing, inducing fear or guilt) that can be employed by health care providers when responding to patients’ negative online feedback related to not receiving an antibiotic.

RESULTS

Overall, our results demonstrated positive impacts of responding to patients’ online reviews. In study 1, we found apologetic messaging and use of emotional appeals in the response were effective in making readers feel more favorable toward the message. Readers also expressed a greater credibility perception toward the provider and willingness to visit the clinic when emotional appeals were used. Findings from study 2 largely supported the effectiveness of a fear-based response in improving the readers’ credibility perceptions and willingness to visit the clinic. The fear-inducing information was particularly effective among parent readers.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper demonstrated that a strategic response to online patient complaints could prevent reputational damage and minimize the potential negative impacts of the review. The results also glean insight into the step toward developing a novel intervention—crafting a persuasive response to patients’ negative feedback that can help improve the understanding of antibiotic resistance problems.
And Justice for All? There Is More to the Interoperability of Contact Tracing Apps Than Legal Barriers. Comment on “COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps: A Technologic Tower of Babel and the Gap for International Pandemic Control” (Preprint)
Authors: Crutzen Rik
Published: December 2020

UNSTRUCTURED

Not applicable.
Neighborhood Broadband and Use of Telehealth Among Older Adults: Cross-sectional Study of National Survey Data Linked With Census Data (Preprint)
Authors: Okoye Safiyyah M , Mulcahy John F , Fabius Chanee D , Burgdorf Julia G , Wolff Jennifer L
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the role of telehealth in health care delivery. Regional variation in internet access and telehealth use are well-documented, but the effect of neighborhood factors, including the pervasiveness of broadband internet, on older adults’ telehealth usage in the context of internet access is not known.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate how individual and neighborhood characteristics, including the pervasiveness of neighborhood broadband internet subscription, are associated with engagement in telehealth among older adults with internet access.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, we included 5117 community-living older adults aged ≥65 years, who participated in the 2017 National Health and Aging Trends Study with census tract–level data for participants’ places of residence from the American Community Survey.

RESULTS

Of an estimated 35.3 million community-living older adults, 21.1 million (59.7%) were internet users, and of this group, more than one-third (35.8%) engaged in telehealth. In a multivariable regression model adjusted for individual- and neighborhood-level factors, age, education, income, and the pervasiveness of neighborhood broadband internet subscription were associated with engagement in telehealth, while race, health, county metropolitan status, and neighborhood social deprivation were not. Among internet users, living in a neighborhood at the lowest (versus highest) tertile of broadband internet subscription was associated with being 40% less likely to engage in telehealth (adjusted odds ratio 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.87), all else equal.

CONCLUSIONS

Neighborhood broadband internet stands out as a mutable characteristic that is consequential to engagement in telehealth.
Parallel-charge series-discharge inductor-based voltage boosting technique applied to a rectifier-fed positive output DC-DC converter
Authors: Annapurani S. , Murali D.
Published: December 2020

The conventional power electronic boost converters have inherent limitations that they are not able to increase the low DC input voltage level into sufficiently high DC output voltage level. This is because of the fact that (1). the inductor used in the converter has certain amount of internal resistance, and (2). the power devices used in the converter are subjected to high potential stress which led to damage of the devices. A configuration of a non-isolated step-up rectifier-fed positive output power converter capable of converting low DC voltage into high DC output voltage-based on the concept of parallel-charge series-discharge inductors is proposed in this paper. The proposed converter is fed by an uncontrolled diode bridge rectifier to which an input sinusoidal AC voltage of magnitude 30 V (rms) is given. The converter is configured such that the input AC voltage of 30 V (rms) is stepped-up to around 900 V (DC) at the output of the converter, with extremely low duty ratio. The proposed converter configuration employs only two high power semiconductor switches with reduced complexity of control. In this work, the converter topology is presented, and its steady state behavior and dynamic modeling are discussed for continuous inductor current mode operation. Further, it is revealed that the voltage gain of the converter is influenced by the variation of the duty cycle of the power switches. The effectiveness of the converter is better understood through simulation in MATLAB/SIMULINK platform. The results demonstrate that the converter is able to maintain higher constant output voltage profile with significantly reduced overshoot and settling time.
The role of character positional frequency in oral reading: A developmental study
Authors: Lian Kunyu , Ma Jie , Liang Feifei , Wei Ling , Zhang Shuwei , Wu Yingying , Bai Xuejun , Lian Rong
Published: December 2020

How frequently a character appears in a word (positional character frequency) is used as a cue in word segmentation when reading aloud in the Chinese language. In this study we created 176 sentences with a target word in the center of each. Participants were 76 college students (mature
readers) and 76 third-grade students (beginner readers). Results show an interaction effect of age and positional frequency of the initial character in the word on gaze duration. Further analysis shows that the third-grade students' gaze duration was significantly longer in high, relative
to low, positional character frequency of the target words. This trend was consistent with refixation duration, and there was a marginally significant interaction between age and total fixation time. Overall, positional character frequency was an important cue for word segmentation in oral
reading in the Chinese language, and third-grade students relied more heavily on this cue than did college students.
El paciente con cefalea postraumática en urgencias
Authors: Jiménez Jaramillo Juan Diego , Ramirez Sergio , Ayala-Castillo Miguel
Published: December 2020

El trauma craneoencefálico suele estar acompañado por cefalea, con una prevalencia que varía entre 30 y 90 %. La cefalea postraumàtica representa una condición altamente incapacitante, parece tener una mayor relación con traumatismos leves y se subdivide en cefalea aguda y persistente. Sus características clínicas son similares a la cefalea tipo migraña y tipo tensional, con algunos detalles diferenciales. Varios mecanismos fisiopatológicos se han visto involucrados y esto podría explicar los diferentes fenotipos que presenta. El diagnóstico se basa en los síntomas y los criterios establecidos. Se presenta un caso clínico de cefalea postraumàtico manejado en el servicio de urgencias con el cual se busca profundizar en los aspectos clínicos y terapéuticos de esta entidad.
Nitric oxide in exhaled gas and tetrahydrobiopterin in plasma after exposure to hyperoxia
Authors:   Norwegian Centre for Maritime and Diving Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, Hesthammer Ronja ,   Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway, Dahle Stian ,   Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway, Storesund Jon Peder ,   Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway, Eide Torunn ,   Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway, Djurhuus Rune ,   Norwegian Centre for Maritime and Diving Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, Svardal Asbjørn M. ,   Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway, Thorsen Einar ,   Norwegian Centre for Maritime and Diving Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway,   Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway
Published: December 2020

The fraction of nitric oxide in exhaled gas (FENO) is decreased after exposure to hyperoxia in vivo, although the mechanisms for this decrease is not clear. A key co-factor for nitric oxide synthase (NOS), tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), has been shown to be oxidized in vitro when exposed to hyperoxia. We hypothesized that the decrease of FENO is due to decreased enzymatic generation of NO due to oxidation of BH4. The present study was performed to investigate the relationship between levels of FENO and plasma BH4 following hyperoxic exposure in humans. Two groups of healthy subjects were exposed to 100% oxygen for 90 minutes. FENO was measured before and 10 minutes (n = 13) or 60 minutes (n = 14) after the exposure. Blood samples were collected at the same time points for quantification of biopterin levels (BH4, BH2 and B) using LC-MS/MS. Each subject was his or her own control, breathing air for 90 minutes on a separate day. Hyperoxia resulted in a 28.6 % decrease in FENO 10 minutes after exposure (p < 0.001), confirming previous findings. Moreover, hyperoxia also caused a 14.2% decrease in plasma BH4 (p = 0.012). No significant differences were observed in the group measured 60 minutes after exposure. No significant correlation was found between the changes in FENO and BH4 after the hyperoxic exposure (r = 0.052, p = 0.795), this might be due to the recovery of BH4 being faster than the recovery of FENO.
Middle-ear barotrauma aft er hyperbaric oxygen therapy: a fi ve-year retrospective analysis on 2,610 patients
Authors:   Navy Centre for Medical Assessments, Limbe, Cameroon, Edinguele, William François Oko Petis , Barberon Bruno ,   Hyperbaric Medicine Centre, Pôle RUSH, Sainte-Marguerite Hospital, Marseille, France, Poussard Jérôme ,   Hyperbaric Medicine Centre, Pôle RUSH, Sainte-Marguerite Hospital, Marseille, France, Thomas Emilie ,   Hyperbaric Medicine Centre, Pôle RUSH, Sainte-Marguerite Hospital, Marseille, France, Reynier Jean Charles ,   Hyperbaric Medicine Centre, Pôle RUSH, Sainte-Marguerite Hospital, Marseille, France, Coulange Mathieu ,   Hyperbaric Medicine Centre, Pôle RUSH, Sainte-Marguerite Hospital, Marseille, France,   INSERM 1263 – INRA 1260, TEAM V: Adenosinergic system and cardiovascular disease, Aix-Marseille Université, France
Published: December 2020

Introduction: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy is the use of oxygen or gas mixtures at a pressure above atmospheric pressure for therapeutic purposes. This treatment is used in numerous pathological processes. Its main side effect is middle ear barotrauma (MEB), which represents a great concern for iatrogenic HBO2 therapy. The aim of this work is to describe this adverse event in order to highlight clinical elements that can contribute to its prevention and management. Methods: We conducted a five-year retrospective study from January 2013 to December 2017, where 2,610 patients were selected, in the Hyperbaric Medicine Centre, Sainte- Marguerite Hospital of Marseille, France. Results: 262 patients experienced MEB after HBO2, representing a prevalence of 10.04% and incidence of 0.587%. Their average age was 55 ± 19 years. Women were more affected than men. We have not highlighted a seasonality to this condition. Risk factors were: age older than 55 years, female gender, ear, nose and throat history (cancer, radiotherapy, infections or allergies, malformations or benign tumors), general history (smoking, obstructive breathing disorders, thyroid disorders and obesity), HBO2-approved indications of sudden deafness and delayed wound healing, and altered tympanic mobility on initial examination. Although the benign stages of Haines-Harris classification were the most encountered in our study, MEB was responsible for premature discontinuation of HBO2. Conclusion: MEB is a common condition responsible for many premature discontinuations of HBO2. Its origin is multifactorial, associating non-modifiable and modifiable factors. Better management of this affection will further contribute to making HBO2 a low-risk treatment.
Peat depth as a control on moss water availability during drought
Authors: Moore Paul , Didemus Benjamin , Furukawa Alexander , Waddington James
Published: December 2020

Peatlands are globally important long-term sinks of carbon, however
there is concern that enhanced moss moisture stress due to climate
change mediated drought will reduce moss productivity making these
ecosystems vulnerable to carbon loss and associated long-term
degradation. Peatlands are resilient to summer drought moss stress
because of negative ecohydrological feedbacks that generally maintain a
wet peat surface, but where feedbacks may be contingent on peat depth.
We tested this ‘survival of the deepest’ hypothesis by examining water
table position, near-surface moisture content, and soil water tension in
peatlands that differ in size, peat depth, and catchment area during a
summer drought. All shallow sites lost their WT (i.e. the groundwater
well was dry) for considerable time during the drought period.
Near-surface soil water tension increased dramatically at shallow sites
following water table loss, increasing ~5–7.5× greater
at shallow sites compared to deep sites. During a mid-summer drought
intensive field survey we found that 60%–67% of plots at shallow
sites exceeded a 100 mb tension threshold used to infer moss water
stress. Unlike the shallow sites, tension typically did not exceed this
100 mb threshold at the deep sites. Using species dependent water
content - chlorophyll fluorescence thresholds and relations between
volumetric water content and water table depth, Monte Carlo simulations
suggest that moss had nearly twice the likelihood of being stressed at
shallow sites (0.38 ± 0.24) compared to deep sites (0.22 ± 0.18). This
study provides evidence that mosses in shallow peatland may be
particularly vulnerable to warmer and drier climates in the future, but
where species composition may play an important role. We argue that a
critical ‘threshold’ peat depth specific for different hydrogeological
and hydroclimatic regions can be used to assess what peatlands are
especially vulnerable to climate change mediated drought.
Paths of introduction: Assessing global colonization history of the most successful amphibian invader
Authors: Jorgewich-Cohen Gabriel , Montesinos Rachel , Henrique Rafael , Toledo Felipe , Borzée Amaël , Yi Yang , Fei Wang , Igawa Takeshi , Guayasamin Juan , Laufer Gabriel , Bolivar Wilmar , Rodriguez Ariel , Grant Taran
Published: December 2020

International socioeconomic relationships form the background that
underlies the history of invasive species. Species with economic value,
such as the North American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), are more
likely to become internationally distributed and to be subsequently
introduced to non-native areas and, consequently, become more difficult
to control. Using population genetics methods, we investigated the
invasion pathways, the connectivity among clusters in different
countries and the native population of origin of globally introduced
bullfrog populations. Throughout the analysis of seven microsatellite
nuclear loci, one fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b locus, and
historical information, four main lineages were identified and analyzed
along with previous findings. This species’ capability to colonize
several countries from few starting lineages highlights the necessity to
control new propagule pressure to ensure successful management programs,
as high inbreeding and bottleneck effect seem not to diminish the
invasive success of this species. There is a consensus between markers
that most areas of South America belong to the same genetic population
while populations in Asia have a more complex history of introduction.
Multidisciplinary Surgery In Thoracic Wall Reconstruction For Sternal Osteomyelitis
Authors: Gokce Anil , Babaroglu Seyhan , ERGANI Hasan , akkas yucel
Published: December 2020

Sternal osteomyelitis and dehisense are a common problem with an
incidence rate of 0.5% to 5.0% after major cardiac surgery. However,
the management of separation of the sternum in the patient’s thorax
remains a challenge for cardiac surgeons and thoracic surgeons using the
incision. After cardiac surgery, postop sternal dehiscence and
osteomyelitis was developed in the patient. The old steel wires were
removed and the sternum was resected due to long-term infection and
extensive deformation of the sternum. Pectoralis muscle flaps were
partially mobilized and adducted. The large defect was closed using a
large prolene patch. Proper sized transversal titanium plates were
selected. Due to the sternum bone was severely destroyed by infection,
longer transversal titanium plates were chosen to achieve thoracic
stability. Healthy tissues were detected on the ribs. A total of 4
titanium plates were placed intermittently. The plates were fixed to the
ribs with titanium locking screws. The pectoral muscle flaps adducted to
the plates by the plastic surgery team. A total of 3 drains were placed,
one in the mediastinum and two between the thoracic wall and muscle
structures.
The use of tissue cultures in the mass production of Heuchera‘Silver Scrolls’
Authors: Nowakowska Karolina , Bodych Aleksandra , Latkowska Monika , Pacholczak Andrzej
Published: December 2020

Żurawka (Heuchera sp.) to jedna z najważniej-szych bylin ozdobnych, mająca zastosowanie w nasadzeniach ogrodowych, miejskich i par-kowych. W ostatnich latach również zyskała na znaczeniu jako roślina do kompozycji w po-jemnikach oraz materiał florystyczny. Celem tej pracy jest przedstawienie skutecznego protokołu intensyfikacji produkcji Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’ w kulturach tkankowych. Sprawdzono wpływ składu makroelementów w trzech wybranych po-żywkach: MS (Murashige i Skoog), QL (Quoirin i Lepoivre) oraz DKW (Driver i Kuniyuki Wal-nut). Mikroelementy i witaminy we wszystkich kombinacjach dodano zgodnie ze składem MS. W kolejnych doświadczeniu oceniono wpływ czterech stężeń (0,1; 0,5; 1,0; 2,0 mg∙L–1) cyto-kinin: benzyloadeniny (BA) i meta-topoliny (mT) na liczbę i długość pędów. Określono równieżwpływ różnych stężeń auksyn: IBA (kwas indoli-lo-3-masłowy) lub NAA (kwas 1-naftylooctowy) na procent ukorzenionych sadzonek oraz liczbęi długość korzeni. Ostatnim etapem była aklima-tyzacja roślin w warunkach szklarniowych. Po-żywka i regulatory wzrostu znacząco wpływały na współczynnik namnażania żurawki. Najwięcej nowych pędów uzyskano na zmodyfikowanej pożywce QL z dodatkiem BA, a auksyna NAA wpływała lepiej na ukorzenianie niż IBA. Opty-malne warunki mikrorozmnażania pozwalają na uzyskanie ok. 10 000 roślin z jednego eksplantatu w trakcie trzech miesięcy prowadzenia kultury.
CMC of diverse Gemini surfactants modelling using a hybrid approach combining SVR-DA
Authors: Laidi Maamar , Abdallah el , Si-Moussa Cherif , Benkortebi Othmane , Hentabli Mohamed , Hanini Salah
Published: December 2020

Quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) technique provides a suitable tool to predict the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of Gemini surfactants from their structure descriptors. In this study, a comparative work was conducted to model the CMC property of 211 diverse Gemini surfactants based on their structural characteristics using linear and non-linear quantitative structure?property relationship models. Least squares model (OLS) and partial least squares (PLS) against k-nearest neighbours regression model (KNN), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) have been developed to model the CMC. Molecular descriptors were calculated and screened to remove unsuitable descriptors and improve the learning. Results indicate that the improved performance of support vector regression when the hyper-parameters are optimized using Dragonfly algorithm (SVR-DA) was highly capable of predicting the pCMC (-log CMC) values with an average absolute relative deviation (AARD) of 0.666 and coefficient of determination (R?) of 0.9971 for the global dataset.
The Use of Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Application With Noise (DBSCAN) for Record Linkage in An Observational HIV Cohort
Authors: Olago Victor , Bartels Lina , Dhokotera Tafadzwa , Bartels Lina , Bohlius Julia , Egger Matthias , Singh Elvira , Sengayi Mazvita
Published: December 2020

IntroductionThe South African HIV Cancer Match (SAM) study is a probabilistic record linkage study involving creation of an HIV cohort from laboratory records from the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS). This cohort was linked to the pathology based South African National Cancer Registry to establish cancer incidences among HIV positive population in South Africa. As the number of HIV records increases, there is need for more efficient ways of de-duplicating this big-data. In this work, we used clustering to perform big-data deduplication.

Objectives and ApproachOur objective was to use DBSCAN as clustering algorithm together with bi-gram word analyser to perform big-data deduplication in resource-limited settings. We used HIV related laboratory records from entire South Africa collated in the NHLS Corporate Data Warehouse for period 2004-2014. This involved data pre-processing, deterministic deduplication, ngrams generation, features generation using Term Frequency Inverse Document Frequency vectorizer, clustering using DBSCAN and assigning cluster labels for records that potentially belonged to the same person. We used records with national identification numbers to assess quality of deduplication by calculating precision, recall and f-measure.

ResultsWe had 51,563,127 HIV related laboratory records. Deterministic deduplication resulted in 20,387,819 patient record deduplicates. With DBSCAN clustering we further reduced this to 14,849,524 patient record clusters. In this final dataset, 3,355,544 (22.60%) patients had negative HIV test, 11,316,937 (76.21%) had evidence for HIV infection, and for 177,043 (1.19%) the HIV status could not be determined. The precision, recall and f-measure based on 1,865,445 records with national identification numbers were 0.96, 0.94 and 0.95, respectively.

Conclusion / ImplicationsOur study demonstrated that DBSCAN clustering is an effective way of deduplicating big datasets in resource-limited settings. This enabled refining of an HIV observational database by accurately linking test records that potentially belonged to the same person. The methodology creates opportunities for easy data profiling to inform public health decision making.
2021 Census England And Wales: Developing Record Speed Linkage Methods to Produce Outputs in a Year
Authors: Shipsey Rachel , Tomlin Charlie , White Zoe , Plachta Josie , Gammon Shelley , Dygas Patricia
Published: December 2020

Introduction2021 will herald the next census in England and Wales. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have a goal of publishing outputs within one year, 4 months earlier than in 2011. Since we produce estimates rather than counts, the linkage of the 2021 Census to the Census Coverage Survey which comprises ~710,000 person and ~370,000 household records, has to be carried out in record time (eight weeks) whilst maintaining incredibly high accuracy (less than 0.1% false positives and 0.25% false negatives).

Objectives and ApproachOur approach is to utilise the ONS Distributed Access Platform to write automated matching algorithms that are both efficient and accurate. These methods use parallelisation to speed things up, active machine learning to iteratively improve our parameters, and associative matching to squeeze every last match out automatically without impairing the accuracy.

As in 2011, we will be using clerical matchers to resolve cases that cannot be matched automatically. Speeding up the clerical matching process is imperative. We have therefore developed a pre-search algorithm that takes the hard work out of clerical matching by replacing clerical searching (here’s a record can you find a match?) with clerical resolution (here are two or more records, do they match?).

ResultsAs a result of our improvements we estimate that we have increased our automatic matching rates from 70% to 91% for person matching, and from 60% to 95% for household matching, without loss of accuracy. However, the biggest gains in terms of speed are delivered by our pre-search algorithm which, at the current iteration, is limiting false negatives to ~0.13% according to the 2011 gold standard.

ConclusionWe estimate that overall our improvements will mean that in 2021 we will need less than half the clerical resource that was required in 2011 and will meet our eight-week deadline.
Using Additive and Relative Hazards to Quantify Colorectal Survival Inequalities for Patients with A Severe Psychiatric Illness
Authors: Mahar Alyson L , Davis Laura E , Kurdyak Paul , Hanna Timothy P , Coburn Natalie G , Groome Patti A
Published: December 2020

IntroductionDespite recommendations, most studies examining health inequalities fail to report both absolute and relative summary measures. We examine colorectal cancer (CRC) survival for patients with and without severe psychiatric illness (SPI) to demonstrate the use and importance of relative and absolute effects.

Objectives and ApproachWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of CRC patients diagnosed between 01/04/2007 and 31/12/2012, using linked administrative databases. SPI was defined as diagnoses of major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychotic illnesses six months to five years preceding cancer diagnosis and categorized as inpatient, outpatient or none. Associations between SPI history and risk of death were examined using Cox Proportional Hazards regression to obtain hazard ratios and Aalen’s semi-parametric additive hazards regression to obtain absolute differences. Both models controlled for age, sex, primary tumour location, and rurality.

ResultsThe final cohort included 24,507 CRC patients, 482 patients had an outpatient SPI history and 258 patients had an inpatient SPI history. 58.1% of patients with inpatient SPI history died, and 47.1% of patients with outpatient SPI history died. Patients with an outpatient SPI history had a 40% (HR 1.40, 95% CI: 1.22-1.59) increased risk of death and patients with an inpatient SPI history had a 91% increased risk of death (HR 1.91, 95% CI: 1.63-2.25), relative to no history of a mental illness. An outpatient SPI history was associated with an additional 33 deaths per 1000 person years, and an inpatient SPI was associated with an additional 82 deaths per 1000 person years after controlling for confounders.

Conclusion / ImplicationsWe demonstrated that reporting of both relative and absolute effects is possible and calculating risk difference is relatively simple using Aalen models. We encourage future studies examining inequalities with time-to-event data to use this method and report both relative and absolute effect measures.
Data Linkage of Hashed Data: Derive and Conquer
Authors: Plachta Josie , Tomlin Charlie , Shipsey Rachel
Published: December 2020

IntroductionData Linkage of hashed datasets is much more difficult than linking in-the-clear data. Hashing prevents the use of matching tools that overcome messy data such as ‘contained-within’ functions and edit distance metrics. Hashing sensitive data received from third parties is becoming more common due to increased Data Security concerns. Institutions need to be ready to link hashed data with high accuracy, otherwise the quality of outputs from these linked datasets will suffer.

Objectives and ApproachWe designed an innovative matching method, Derive and Conquer (D&C). We derived variables containing substrings or patterns of the full variable (e.g. Soundex or first 4 characters of a string) to match on instead. However, using lots of combinations of these derived variables would require thousands of traditional match keys to be programmed, run, and reviewed. Instead, D&C runs matchkeys on a derived agreement variable which amalgamates information stored in multiple derived variables into one value, reducing the number of matchkeys to a manageable amount. D&C runs on distributing computing systems using PySpark to link datasets containing millions of records in a timely manner.

ResultsD&C was developed using in-the-clear UK Census and health records with results comparable to the in-the-clear gold standard. It is currently being tested on hashed data to link UK tax and benefits data to UK health records. 66.4 million records were declared matched - a realistic match rate for the UK population. Research into the linkage quality is ongoing to produce estimates on the amount of bias in the linkage and the precision and recall. We will be excited to present these results at the Conference in October. These results will be used to improve D&C.

Conclusion / ImplicationsUsing these derived variables, we have been able to overcome the challenge of matching massive hashed datasets with a realistic match rate and in a realistic time frame.