bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of a minimally invasive endoscopic technique for excisional biopsy of the axillary lymph nodes in dogs
Authors: Kuvaldina Alexandra B. , Buote Nicole , Campoy Luis , Porter Ian , Hayes Galina M.
Published: October 2022

Objective

To develop and describe a minimally invasive technique for excisional biopsy of the axillary lymph nodes in dogs.

Study design

Descriptive cadaver and clinical case series.

Animals

Four canine cadavers and three clinical patients.

Methods

A 3D computed tomographic reconstruction of the canine axilla was used to identify an optimal avenue of approach to the lymph nodes. This approach was refined using endoscopic techniques in four cadavers (six procedures) and potential surgical hazards, landmarks, and the surgical time required for excisional biopsy of the nodes was recorded. The procedure was then performed in three clinical cases.

Results

Axillary lymph node removal was achieved using an endoscopic technique with surgical times of 58 and 35 minutes in two of three clinical cases. The third case required conversion to an open approach after endoscopic identification of the node. No major complications were encountered.

Conclusion

Excisional biopsy of the axillary lymph nodes can be performed successfully using a minimally invasive technique in the dog. Further investigation in clinical cases is needed to determine the risks and complications of this procedure.

Clinical significance

Minimally invasive excisional biopsy of the axillary lymph nodes in dogs can be performed and may have a role in assisting with staging and local disease control in oncologic cases.
Mineralogy of Palygorskite Occurrences from Guadalupe, Piauí, Parnaíba Basin
Authors: Pôssa Jéssica Tiné , Bertolino Luiz Carlos
Published: October 2022

Palygorskite is a clay mineral with structural units forming ribbons, whose economic importance is directly related to its unusual structure and physicochemical properties, which give it a wide variety of uses in industry. The formation stability field of palygorskite is very limited, which makes deposits of this clay rare around the world. In Brazil, the only exploitable deposits of this mineral are located in the municipality of Guadalupe, Piauí state, inserted in the geological context of the Parnaíba Basin, specifically in the Carboniferous and Permian sequence represented by the Piauí, Poti and Pedra de Fogo formations. The objective of this study was the geological and mineralogical description of palygorskite occurrences in the Guadalupe region. Six occurrences were studied, and 25 samples were collected. These raw samples were processed to concentrate particles with size smaller than 44 µm. XRD, SEM/EDS, density and particle size analysis were performed. Most of the samples were composed of palygorskite, quartz and kaolinite; however, according to the diffractograms, there are three samples with the absence of palygorskite, two with the absence of kaolinite and one with presence of dolomite. From these results, it is possible to correlate hypotheses for palygorskite formation with the local geological context. The environmental conditions of Piauí and Pedra de Fogo formations were favorable to this clay mineral formation, the association of dolomite and palygorskite in an upper layer may indicate a greater association with Pedra de Fogo Formation, however the field descriptions, as the levels of silexite, and the analyses results are not enough to define in which one of these formations the occurrences of palygorskite are inserted.
La literatura colombiana entre mundialización y la diferencia. Un análisis de la ‘lista bicentenaria’
Authors: Pérez Sergio , Gil Rigoberto
Published: October 2022

Se analizan la iniciativa y los resultados de la convocatoria “200 años de historia republicana, 200 obras literarias colombianas”, que en 2019 promovió la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira (Maestría y Doctorado en Literatura), la Universidad de Caldas (Feria del Libro de Manizales), en asocio con La Patria de Manizales y Radio Nacional de Colombia, para celebrar el bicentenario de independencia nacional. En la selección de libros, en la que participó un grupo importante de lectores –conformado en su mayoría por especialistas y conocedores de la literatura colombiana–, se proyecta la imagen de una literatura en pleno proceso de mundialización, esto es, que articula la producción local con prácticas modernas de producción cultural, visión que enfrenta, al mismo tiempo, el riesgo de desconocer autores y de homogenizar las valoraciones sobre la práctica literaria, que no se ajusten a ciertas formas ‘estereotípicas’.
Numerical Modelling of Drag and Lift Forces on Aquaculture Nets: Comparing New Numerical Load Model With Physical Model Test Results
Authors: Endresen Per Christian , Moe Føre Heidi
Published: October 2022

The Norwegian aquaculture industry expands towards sites with a harsher current and wave environment than before, while utilizing larger and more complex designs. This increases the need of precise modelling of hydrodynamic loads on nets to ensure a safe design that minimize risk of failure and avoids over-dimensioning and corresponding increase in costs. Established methods may overestimate drag forces, especially for high solidity nets.

In this paper, a new formulation for drag and lift forces on nylon multifilament aquaculture nets has been implemented in a numerical analysis software. The formulation was derived from towing tank tests of net panels with a wide range of solidities. The numerical code has been applied to estimate drag and lift forces on netting cylinders (representing a simplified, scaled net cage model) with four different solidities, similar to previously published physical model tests in a flume tank. The results from the numerical simulations and physical model tests were then compared to validate the new load model.

Resulting drag forces from the numerical simulations compared well with measured drag forces from the model tests, especially for the higher solidity netting materials, while numerical estimates of lift and measured total lift forces were dissimilar for some velocities and nets. Possible error-sources and uncertainties have been identified in both the numerical load model and physical tests.

A parameter study on the magnitude of drag and lift forces with varying net inclination angle was conducted and indicated that net panels and net cylinders may affect the flow differently. Applying formulas derived from net panel tests may therefore not be straightforward. The study also showed that the estimated total drag forces were dependent on the lift formula and vice versa, due to changes in net cage deformation.
Second Order Difference- and Sum-Frequency Wave Loads in the Open-Source Potential Flow Solver NEMOH
Authors: Kurnia R. , Ducrozet G. , Gilloteaux J.-C.
Published: October 2022

Theoretical and numerical aspects of the open-source potential flow boundary element solver, NEMOH, for the first order hydrodynamic coefficients computations in the frequency domain are described in [Babarit, A. and Delhommeau, G., 2015]. [Philippe, M. et al., 2015] described the implementation and verifications of the second order difference-frequency quadratic transfer functions (QTFs) in the NEMOH code. In the latter paper, the QTFs are verified for standard cases, a bottom-mounted cylinder and a hemisphere. The present study reports the implementation and verification of the complete QTFs, for difference- and sum-frequency loads. The QTFs are composed of quadratic and potential parts. The quadratic part depending on the first order hydrodynamic quantities, is implemented using the near-field approach. The potential part, which depends on the second order potential, is solved using the indirect method. Verification is achieved by comparing the NEMOH result with a commercial software HYDROSTAR for a hemisphere and the OC5-DeepCwind semisubmersible.
Investigation of Springing Responses to High Harmonics of Wave Loads by Direct Coupling Between CFD and FEM
Authors: Kumar Pal Sumit , Iijima Kazuhiro
Published: October 2022

Springing of hull girder to very high harmonics of wave loads is investigated thoroughly using one-way coupling with the help of two-way direct coupling between Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Method (FEM). A segmented barge is chosen as a subject model, in which each segment is connected to a backbone. The springing response of the ship model to very high harmonics was reported in the tank tests by the present authors. The coupling platform for exchanging the related information to capture hydro-elastic behavior is developed separately by the authors. First, the numerical methods are compared for rigid body motions, then flexible behavior is studied. In the one-way coupling, the effect of added mass associated with the springing is considered manually by adjusting the total mass of the body. However, in the case of two-way coupling, such manual adjustment is not necessary as the added mass effect is automatically considered in the simulation. In the present paper, the comparison between one-way and two-way coupling together with benefits and drawbacks of individual methods are discussed. Most of the existing literature is mainly focused on the lower order harmonics for the springing phenomenon, however, in this paper possible case of 14th order harmonics is discussed and validated with experiment.
Understanding the Collision of Debris Carried by Tsunami-Like Flows on a Residential Structure
Authors: Josiah N. R. , Araki Susumu , Laknath D. P. C.
Published: October 2022

Collision force exerted by single cuboid elements with different dimensions and sizes, subjected to dissimilar dam-break waves were investigated in this study to determine their ability to induce forces on a one storey residential structure with respect to the wave only forces. The observations indicated that a significant amount of additional force was exerted on the house model with several delivery modes and impacting patterns. The smaller size of cuboid subjected with lower wave conditions induced a considerably larger force, whereas for higher flow conditions, it was not as sensitive to the wave forces. In contrast, the larger size of the cuboid yielded a lower force for lower wave condition and displayed a considerable increment for larger waves. Several governing parameters were identified to be incorporated in the presently available formulations to estimate the debris impacts.
Digital Twining of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine With Reduced-Order Modelling Approach
Authors: Zhao Xiang , Quang Tuyen Le , My Ha Dao
Published: October 2022

In the wind energy industry, a cost-benefit digital twin (DT) will be very useful for managing the operation of a wind turbine. For instance, a DT could provide information on the structural health conditions in real-time as well as projections in the near future. This allows wind farm operators to proactively plan maintenance visits, limiting down time. A DT is also invaluable when it comes to playing out “what if” scenarios. For instance, wind farm operators could use a DT to predict what might happen if they keep a high-power rate under a strong wind. The ability to rapidly play out these cost-benefit models helps to optimize the performance of the turbine and generally the whole wind farm. In this work, we employ component-based Reduced-Order Modelling (ROM) techniques to construct a DT of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5MW wind turbine. The DT consists of a ROM model for modal analysis and for structural response prediction under wind loading. First, an offline library is pre-computed, which contains a series of component archetypes. Then, the component-based ROM is assembled out of these archetypes such as the parts in blade, hub, nacelle, and tower. The wind loading on the turbine is predicted with inputs of far-field wind. With very fast computation speed of the ROM model, the DT could be able to provide almost instant predictions of the modes and the responses of the turbine structure.
Speech-in-noise testing: Innovative applications for pediatric patients, underrepresented populations, fitness for duty, clinical trials, and remote services
Authors: Sanchez Victoria A. , Arnold Michelle L. , Moore David R. , Clavier Odile , Abrams Harvey B.
Published: October 2022

Speech perception testing, defined as providing standardized speech stimuli and requiring a listener to provide a behavioral and scored response, has been an integral part of the audiologic test battery since the beginning of the audiology profession. Over the past several decades, limitations in the diagnostic and prognostic validity of standard speech perception testing as routinely administered in the clinic have been noted, and the promotion of speech-in-noise testing has been highlighted. This review will summarize emerging and innovative approaches to speech-in-noise testing with a focus on five applications: (1) pediatric considerations promoting the measurement of sensory and cognitive components separately; (2) appropriately serving underrepresented populations with special attention to racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, as well as considering biological sex and/or gender differences as variables of interest; (3) binaural fitness for duty assessments of functional hearing for occupational settings that demand the ability to detect, recognize, and localize sounds; (4) utilization of speech-in-noise tests in pharmacotherapeutic clinical trials with considerations to the drug mechanistic action, the patient populations, and the study design; and (5) online and mobile applications of hearing assessment that increase accessibility and the direct-to-consumer market.
Dispersion of surface acoustic waves in thin films at extreme wavelength-to-thickness ratios
Authors: Duquennoy Marc , Kadi Tahar , Ouaftouh Mohammadi , Smagin Nikolay , Jenot Frederic
Published: October 2022

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are sensitive to the presence of a layer on the surface of a material, even if this layer is extremely thin compared to their wavelengths. Given the very slow propagation velocities of SAWs compared to electromagnetic waves, their wavelengths are on the order of 40 μm for acoustic frequencies on the order of 100 MHz. However, it has been shown that these waves are dispersive for coatings whose thicknesses are more than 1000 times smaller than their wavelength. This sensitivity is verified by studying the dispersion of SAWs for a frequency range between 90 and 260 MHz.
Broadband acoustic quantification of mixed biological aggregations at the New England shelf break
Authors: Loranger Scott , Jech Michael J. , Lavery Andone C.
Published: October 2022

At the New England shelf break, cold, less saline shelf water collides with warmer saltier slope water to form a distinct oceanographic front. During the Office of Naval Research Sediment Characterization Experiment in 2017, the front was mapped by narrowband (18 and 38 kHz) and broadband (70–280 kHz) shipboard echo sounders. The acoustically determined cross-shelf velocity of the front ranged in amplitude from 0.02 to 0.33 m/s. Acoustic surveys revealed aggregations of scatterers near the foot of the front. Acoustic backscatter in conjunction with Northeast Fisheries Science Center bottom trawl surveys identified longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) and mackerel (Scomber scombrus) as the most likely scatterers in the aggregations. A mixed species scattering model was developed and further refined by the use of a matching method used for distribution of the lengths of each species. The mean length of squid and mackerel, respectively, using the matching method was 4.45 ± 1.00 and 20.25 ± 1.25 cm compared with 6.17 ± 2.58 and 22.76 ± 1.50 cm from the trawl data. The estimated total biomass of the aggregation was a factor of 1.64 times larger when using the matching method estimated length distribution compared to the trawl length distribution.
Effect of thermal aging on the transport and acoustic properties of partially reticulated polyurethane foams
Authors: Yang Sung Soo , Lee Jung Wook , Kim Jong Hyun , Kang Yeon June
Published: October 2022

This study aims to investigate the acoustic effects of thermal aging on partially reticulated polyurethane (PU) foam. An accelerated test was performed under appropriate test conditions as determined by thermal analyses of the material. Measurements of the absorption coefficient showed that the performance of the partially reticulated PU foam can be significantly reduced by thermal aging. The transport parameters were evaluated to analyze the origin of this change in the absorption behavior. Sensitivity analyses revealed that a decrease in the static airflow resistivity had the greatest effect in terms of reducing the absorption coefficient owing to thermal aging. In addition, observation and characterization of the microstructure of the aged foam to determine the root cause of this acoustic degradation indicated that heat-induced damage to the membrane was the most important factor. To verify this assertion, a periodic unit cell model that mimicked the topology of the cellular structure was constructed, and the mechanism responsible for the change in the acoustic behavior was simulated. The results presented herein can be used as durability guidelines for maintaining the performances of partially reticulated PU foams that are employed in high-temperature environments.
HIV prevention and treatment interventions for black men who have sex with men in Canada: a protocol for a scoping systematic review
Authors: Djiadeu Pascal , Nur Jemal , Mbuagbaw Lawrence , Giwa Sulaimon , Whitfield Darren , Nelson Laron E
Published: October 2022

Introduction

Globally, rates of HIV are disproportionately high among black men who have sex with men (MSM). In Canada, race, gender and sexuality have been investigated as separate factors that influence quality of care within and progression along the HIV care continuum. Traditional compartmental approaches to synthesising the HIV care continuum literature do not sufficiently account for intersectional experiences and marginalisation of Black MSM (BMSM). Moreover, there is limited research outlining access to and quality of care as specific barriers to progression along the care continuum among BMSM in Canada.

Objectives

The primary objective of this scoping review is to assess the state of the science regarding the influence of access to and quality of HIV care continuum outcomes for BMSM in Canada.

Methods and analysis

We will conduct a systematic search of published literature of quantitative and qualitative studies published on Canadian BMSM’s healthcare and HIV status. The searches will be conducted through MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica Database, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Cochrane Library, the NHUS Economic Development Database, Global Health, APA PsychInfo, PubMed and Web of Science.

Eligibility criteria

Eligible studies will include data on black MSM living with or without HIV in Canada and must be published after 1983 in either English or French. Screening and data extraction will be conducted in duplicate. Any discrepancies that arise will be resolved by consulting a third author. The findings will subsequently be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approval is not required as secondary published data will be used. Our findings will be disseminated as peer-reviewed manuscripts, at conferences, student rounds and could be of interest to government health agencies and HIV/AIDS service organisations.
Nutrition competencies for medicine: an integrative review and critical synthesis
Authors: Lepre Breanna , Mansfield Kylie J , Ray Sumantra , Beck Eleanor J
Published: October 2022

Objective

Globally, 11 million deaths are attributable to suboptimal diet annually, and nutrition care has been shown to improve health outcomes. While medically trained clinicians are well-placed to provide nutrition care, medical education remains insufficient to support clinicians to deliver nutrition advice as part of routine clinical practice. Competency standards provide a framework for workforce development and a vehicle for aligning health priorities with the values of a profession. Although, there remains an urgent need to establish consensus on nutrition competencies for medicine. The aim of this review is to provide a critical synthesis of published nutrition competencies for medicine internationally.

Design

Integrative review.

Data sources

CINAHL, Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and Global Health were searched through April 2020.

Eligibility criteria

We included published Nutrition Competency Frameworks. This search was complemented by handsearching reference lists of literature deemed relevant.

Data extraction and synthesis

Data were extracted into summary tables and this matrix was then used to identify common themes and to compare and analyse the literature. Miller’s pyramid, the Knowledge to Action Cycle and the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition were also used to consider the results of this review.

Results

Using a predetermined search strategy, 11 articles were identified. Five common themes were identified and include (1) clinical practice, (2) health promotion and disease prevention, (3) communication, (4) working as a team and (5) professional practice. This review also identified 25 nutrition competencies for medicine, the majority of which were knowledge-based.

Conclusions

This review recommends vertical integration of nutrition competencies into existing medical education based on key, cross-cutting themes and increased opportunities to engage in relevant, skill-based nutrition training.
Safety of live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine in Australian adults 70–79 years of age: an observational study using active surveillance
Authors: Phillips Anastasia , Glover Catherine , Leeb Alan , Cashman Patrick , Fathima Parveen , Crawford Nigel , Snelling Thomas L , Durrheim David , Macartney Kristine
Published: October 2022

Objectives

To assess the safety of live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine live (ZVL) through cumulative analysis of near real-time, participant-based active surveillance from Australia’s AusVaxSafety system.

Design and setting

ZVL was funded in Australia for adults aged 70 years from November 2016, with a time-limited catch up programme for those up to 79 years. This cohort study monitored safety in the first two programme years through active surveillance at 246 sentinel surveillance immunisation sites.

Participants

Adults aged 70–79 years vaccinated with ZVL who responded to an opt-out survey sent via automated short message service (SMS) 3 days following vaccination (n=17 458) or contributed supplementary data through a separate, opt-in online survey at 16 and 24 days following vaccination (n=346).

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Rates of overall and prespecified adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) by sex, concomitant vaccination and underlying medical condition. Signal detection methods (fast initial response cumulative summation and Bayesian updating analyses) were applied to reports of medical attendance.

Results

The median age of participants was 72 years; 53% were female. The response rate following automated SMS was high (73% within 7 days of vaccination). Females were more likely than males to report any adverse event within 7 days of vaccination (RR 2.07, 95% CI 1.86 to 2.31); injection site reaction was the most commonly reported (2.3%, n=377). Concomitant vaccination was not associated with higher adverse event rates (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.18). Rates of medical attendance were low (0.3%) with no safety signals identified. Supplementary opt-in survey data on later onset adverse events did not identify any difference in AEFI rates between those with and without underlying medical conditions.

Conclusions

ZVL has a very good safety profile in the first week after vaccination in older adults. Active, participant-based surveillance in this primary care cohort is an effective method to monitor vaccine safety among older adults and will be used as a key component of COVID-19 vaccine safety surveillance in Australia.
Perceptions of injury risk in the home and workplace in Nepal: a qualitative study
Authors: Joshi Elisha , Bhatta Santosh , Deave Toity , Mytton Julie , Adhikari Dhruba , Manandhar Sunil Raja , Joshi Sunil Kumar
Published: October 2022

Objective

Injuries are a global health problem. To develop context-specific injury prevention interventions, one needs to understand population perceptions of home and workplace injuries. This study explored a range of views and perceptions about injuries in a variety of settings and identified barriers and facilitators to injury prevention.

Design

Qualitative study: interviews and focus groups.

Setting

Three administrative areas: Hetauda submetropolitan city, Thaha municipality and Bakaiya rural municipality in Makwanpur, Nepal.

Participants

Nine focus groups (74 participants) and nine one-to-one interviews were completed; workers from diverse occupations, residents (slum, traditional or modern homes) and local government decision-makers participated in the study between May and August 2019. The interviews and discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated to English and analysed thematically.

Results

Six themes were developed: unsafe home and workplace environment; inadequate supervision and monitoring; perceptions that injuries are inevitable; safety takes low priority: financial and behavioural considerations; safety education and training; and government-led safety programmes and enforcement. Key barriers to injury prevention were perceived to be lack of knowledge about injury risk and preventive measures both at the community level and at the workplace. Facilitators were community-level educational programmes and health and safety training to employees and employers. Participants stressed the importance of the role of the government in planning future injury prevention programmes in different environments.

Conclusions

This study highlighted that both home and workplace injuries are complex and multifactorial. Lack of knowledge about injury risks and preventive measures, both at the community level and at the workplace, was found to be a common barrier to injury prevention, perceived to be mitigated by educational programmes. Together with previously published epidemiological evidence, the barriers and facilitators identified in this study offer useful basis to inform policy and practice.
Incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and survival rates after 1 month among the Japanese working population: a cohort study
Authors: Yamagishi Yasunobu , Oginosawa Yasushi , Fujino Yoshihisa , Yagyu Keishiro , Miyamoto Taro , Tsukahara Keita , Ohe Hisaharu , Kohno Ritsuko , Abe Haruhiko
Published: October 2022

Objectives

The prevention and improvement of the prognosis of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) are important issues especially with respect to their social and economic significance in working populations. The age distribution of the working population in Japan is expected to change continually due to its ageing society and extension of retirement; however, few reports have examined the long-term condition of OHCA in the working population, defined by age. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of OHCAs and the survival rates after 1 month, among the Japanese working population, defined by age, considering the changing age distribution.

Design and setting

We analysed the All-Japan Utstein registry, a prospective, nationwide, population-based, observational registry (2005–2016).

Participants

From the registry, 212 961 patients with OHCA from the Japanese working population (defined aged 20–69 years), with only cardiogenic aetiology participated in this study. These patients were further divided into four groups according to the type of citizen bystander (family, friends, work-colleagues and passers-by).

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The main outcomes were 1-month survival with favourable neurological outcomes.

Results

The incidence of OHCAs, in any age group, was almost constant during the 12-year period. The work-colleagues had the best prognosis despite having significantly longer times to initial defibrillations compared with the passers-by (13 vs 12 min, respectively, p<0.001) that was associated independently with 1-month survival with favourable neurological outcomes (adjusted OR: 0.94 (1 min increments), p<0.001).

Conclusions

In the 12-year period, the incidence of OHCAs in any age group remained almost constant, whereas the prognosis improved each year. Reducing the time to initial defibrillation may further improve the prognosis of OHCAs with a work-colleague bystander.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ongoing health research: an ad hoc survey among investigators in Germany
Authors: Bratan Tanja , Aichinger Heike , Brkic Nicole , Rueter Jana , Apfelbacher Christian , Boyer Lisa , Loss Julika
Published: October 2022

Objectives

To gain insights into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ongoing health research projects, using projects from a selected funding programme in Germany as an example.

Design

Online survey and validation workshop.

Setting

Lockdowns and social distancing policies impact on clinical and public health research in various forms, especially if unrelated to COVID-19. Research institutions have reduced onsite activities, data are often collected remotely, and during the height of the crisis, clinical researchers were partially forced to abandon their projects in favour of front-line care.

Participants survey

120 investigators of health research projects across Germany, performed between 15 and 25 May 2020; workshop: 32 investigators, performed on 28 May 2020.

Results

The response rate (78%) showed that the survey generated significant interest among investigators. 85 responses were included for analysis, and the majority of investigators (93%) reported that their projects were affected by the pandemic, with many (80%) stating that data collection was not possible as planned, and they could not carry out interventions as intended (67%). Other impacts were caused by staff being unavailable, for example, through child or elder care commitments or because of COVID-19 quarantine or illness. Investigators also reported that publications were delayed or not feasible at all (56%), and some experienced problems with PhD or Masters theses (18%). The majority of investigators had mitigation strategies in place such as adjustment of data collection methods using digital tools (46%) or of project implementation in general (46%), others made changes in research design or research questions (27%).

Conclusions

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted on health research projects. The main challenge is now to mitigate negative effects and to improve long-term resilience in health research. The pandemic has also acted as a driver of innovation and change, for example, by accelerating the use of digital methods.
Are patients accurate forecasters of their emotional response to medical conditions? A scoping review on affective forecasting
Authors: Bosch G J van den , Roos R A N , Otten R , Bockting Claudi , Smulders Y M
Published: October 2022

Objective

In this paper, we challenge the premise that patients are capable of accurately predicting their emotional response or quality of life in anticipation of health changes. Our goal was to systematically review the published empirical evidence related to the reliability of affective forecasting in the context of medical conditions.

Design

Scoping review.

Setting

We conducted a search string using both simple search terms as well as MeSH terms and searched the electronic databases of PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane up to April 2021.

Participants

We initially selected 5726 articles. Empirical studies reporting on predicted and/or observed emotions or quality of life concerning deterioration, improvement in health or chronic illnesses were included. Furthermore, empirical studies of healthy individuals predicting emotional response or quality of life compared with patients reflecting on emotions or quality of life concerning deterioration or improvement in health or chronic illnesses were also included. Studies on healthy participants, psychiatric patients and non-English articles were excluded.

Results

7 articles were included in this review. We found that patients generally tend to systematically exaggerate both anticipated happiness and sorrow/grief after health improvement and deterioration, respectively.

Conclusion

Patients are less adept in predicting emotional response or quality of life regarding to health changes than we are inclined to assume. We discuss several biases which could explain this phenomenon. Our findings are relevant in the context of treatment decisions, advanced care planning and advanced care directives.
Measurement-based care educational programmes for clinical trainees in mental healthcare: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Freedman David Eli , Waddell Andrea Evelyn , Lam Henry , Bourdon Alexander , Wang Karen
Published: October 2022

Introduction

Measurement-based care (MBC) represents the approach of regularly using symptom rating scales to guide patient care decisions in mental healthcare. MBC is an effective, feasible and acceptable approach to enhance clinical outcomes in various disciplines, including medicine, psychology, social work and psychotherapy. Yet, it is infrequently used by clinicians, potentially due to limited education for care providers. The objective of this scoping review is to survey the characteristics of MBC educational programmes for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate clinical trainees in mental healthcare.

Methods and analysis

Using database-tailored search strategies, we plan on searching Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane Central for relevant studies. Thereafter, we will analyse the selected studies to extract information on the delivery of educational programmes, the clinical and educational outcomes of these programmes, and the potential enablers and barriers to MBC education. In this paper, we articulate the protocol for this scoping review.

Ethics and dissemination

This scoping review does not require research ethics approval. The findings from this scoping review will be incorporated into the creation of a novel MBC curriculum and handbook. Results will be disseminated at appropriate national or international conferences, as well as in a peer-reviewed journal publication.
Treatment of isolated and recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula in children: a case series and literature review
Authors: Sautin Aleh , Marakhouski Kiryl , Pataleta Aleh , Svirsky Aliaksandr , Averyn Vasili
Published: October 2022

Background

Despite improvements in the treatment of esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) in recent decades, complications still exist. The rate of fistula recanalization after surgical repair is ~5% in large cohorts. However, there is controversy regarding the gold standard of treatment. This research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of treatment of pediatric patients with isolated (H-type) and recurrent TEF in our clinic.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 12 patients (7 boys, 5 girls) aged 35 days–14.6 years. The median age of our patients was 632 days [95% CI (confident interval) 120.1 to 2118.7]; the mean birth weight was 2713 g (95% CI 2258 to 3169; median: 2763 g); and the mean gestational age was 37.1 weeks (95% CI 35.4 to 38.8; median: 37 weeks). All patients were managed for isolated or recurrent TEF between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2020 using endoscopy (laser de-epithelialization).

Results

Laser de-epithelialization alone was effective in 8 of 12 patients (66.67%), with a mean number of de-epithelializations of 2.25 (range: 1–4). After one attempt at de-epithelialization, success was achieved in only two patients (n=16.67%). The mortality rate was 0%. The median follow-up for patients who received endoscopic treatment exclusively (n=8) was 3.7 years (95% CI 1.38 to 4.87) after the last stage of de-epithelialization.

Conclusion

Flexible endoscopy is an alternative treatment to open surgical repair of isolated and recurrent TEF in children. The effectiveness of endoscopic laser de-epithelialization alone with subsequent fistula obliteration was 66.7%, with a median follow-up of 3.7 years.
Engineering Nearly Linear-time Algorithms for Small Vertex Connectivity
Authors: Franck Max , Yingchareonthawornchai Sorrachai
Published: October 2022

Vertex connectivity is a well-studied concept in graph theory with numerous applications. A graph is
k
-connected if it remains connected after removing any
k
−1 vertices. The vertex connectivity of a graph is the maximum
k
such that the graph is
k
-connected. There is a long history of algorithmic development for efficiently computing vertex connectivity. Recently, two near linear-time algorithms for small
k
were introduced by Forster et al. [SODA 2020]. Prior to that, the best-known algorithm was one by Henzinger et al. [FOCS 1996] with quadratic running time when
k
is small.

In this article, we study the practical performance of the algorithms by Forster et al. In addition, we introduce a new heuristic on a key subroutine called local cut detection, which we call degree counting. We prove that the new heuristic improves space-efficiency (which can be good for caching purposes) and allows the subroutine to terminate earlier. According to experimental results on random graphs with planted vertex cuts, random hyperbolic graphs, and real-world graphs with vertex connectivity between 4 and 8, the degree counting heuristic offers a factor of 2–4 speedup over the original non-degree counting version for small graphs and almost 20 times for some graphs with millions of edges. It also outperforms the previous state-of-the-art algorithm by Henzinger et al., even on relatively small graphs.
Polyhedral Specification and Code Generation of Sparse Tensor Contraction with Co-iteration
Authors: Zhao Tuowen , Popoola Tobi , Hall Mary , Olschanowsky Catherine , Strout Michelle
Published: October 2022

This article presents a code generator for sparse tensor contraction computations. It leverages a mathematical representation of loop nest computations in the sparse polyhedral framework (SPF), which extends the polyhedral model to support non-affine computations, such as those that arise in sparse tensors. SPF is extended to perform layout specification, optimization, and code generation of sparse tensor code: (1) We develop a polyhedral layout specification that decouples iteration spaces for layout and computation; and (2) we develop efficient co-iteration of sparse tensors by combining polyhedra scanning over the layout of one sparse tensor with the synthesis of code to
find
corresponding elements in other tensors through an SMT solver.

We compare the generated code with that produced by a state-of-the-art tensor compiler, TACO. We achieve on average 1.63× faster parallel performance than TACO on sparse-sparse co-iteration and describe how to improve that to 2.72× average speedup by switching the find algorithms. We also demonstrate that decoupling iteration spaces of layout and computation enables additional layout and computation combinations to be supported.
HTF: Homogeneous Tree Framework for Differentially Private Release of Large Geospatial Datasets with Self-tuning Structure Height
Authors: Shaham Sina , Ghinita Gabriel , Ahuja Ritesh , Krumm John , Shahabi Cyrus
Published: October 2022

Mobile apps that use location data are pervasive, spanning domains such as transportation, urban planning, and healthcare. Important use cases for location data rely on statistical queries, e.g., identifying hotspots where users work and travel. Such queries can be answered efficiently by building histograms. However, precise histograms can expose sensitive details about individual users. Differential privacy (DP) is a mature and widely adopted protection model, but most approaches for DP-compliant histograms work in a data-independent fashion, leading to poor accuracy. The few proposed data-dependent techniques attempt to adjust histogram partitions based on dataset characteristics, but they do not perform well due to the addition of noise required to achieve DP. In addition, they use ad hoc criteria to decide the depth of the partitioning. We identify
density homogeneity
as a main factor driving the accuracy of DP-compliant histograms, and we build a data structure that splits the space such that data density is homogeneous within each resulting partition. We propose a self-tuning approach to decide the depth of the partitioning structure that optimizes the use of privacy budget. Furthermore, we provide an optimization that scales the proposed split approach to large datasets while maintaining accuracy. We show through extensive experiments on large-scale real-world data that the proposed approach achieves superior accuracy compared to existing approaches.
Mobile Serious Game for Enhancing User Experience in Museum
Authors: Stanković Elesini Urška , Miha Hlede , Kristan David , Korošec Andreja , Protić Eni , Učakar Andrej , Vrabič Brodnjak Urška , Rugelj Jože
Published: October 2022

Mobile technology offers new opportunities to enhance the visitor experience in museums. Mobile serious games can support experiential learning with authentic exhibits in an authentic museum environment based on the contextual learning model with the interaction between the personal, socio-cultural, and physical context. In developing the game, we wondered whether it could appropriately motivate and engage different age groups in the museum experience with its challenges of different difficulty levels; whether a mobile game could, through its challenges interacting with the museum environment, prevent “head-down” behavior; and whether museum exhibits could be better recalled by visitors participating in a tour with a mobile game than in two other traditional tours (i.e., guided tours, tours with museum brochures). The results of the study showed that a tour with a mobile serious game with challenges of different difficulty levels is suitable for visitors of two target groups (i.e., families and students). Since each challenge encourages interaction with the museum environment, it could largely prevent “head-down” behavior. The results also show that a tour with appropriately planned multisensory challenges motivates visitors to actively engage with the museum environment, resulting in slightly better recall of exhibits compared to other tour types. The results of this study can help bring museums and the history they represent closer to digital generations,

1

and popularize modern informal learning methods associated with incidental and experiential lifelong learning that can take place anytime, anywhere, and help achieve higher taxonomic knowledge levels.
Prior Knowledge Constrained Adaptive Graph Framework for Partial Label Learning
Authors: Lyu Gengyu , Feng Songhe , Wang Shaokai , Yang Zhen
Published: October 2022

Partial label learning (PLL) aims to learn a robust multi-class classifier from the ambiguous data, where each instance is given with several candidate labels, among which only one label is real. Most existing methods usually cope with such problem by utilizing a feature similarity graph to conduct label disambiguation. However, these methods construct the feature graph by only employing original features, while the influences of latent outliers and the contributions of label space are regrettably ignored. To tackle these issues, in this article, we propose aPrior KnOwledge ConsTrainedAdaptiveGraph FramEwork (POTAGE) for partial label learning, which utilizes an adaptive graph fused with label information to accurately describe the instance relationship and guide the desired model training. Compared with the feature-induced fixed graph, the adaptive graph is deemed to be more robust and accurate to reveal the intrinsic manifold structure within the data, and the embedding label information is expected to effectively alleviate the label ambiguities and enlarge the gap of label confidences between two instances from different classes. Extensive experiments demonstrate that POTAGE achieves state-of-the-art performance.
On the Relationship between Explanation and Recommendation: Learning to Rank Explanations for Improved Performance
Authors: Li Lei , Zhang Yongfeng , Chen Li
Published: October 2022

Explaining to users why some items are recommended is critical, as it can help users to make better decisions, increase their satisfaction, and gain their trust in recommender systems (RS). However, existing explainable RS usually consider explanation as a side output of the recommendation model, which has two problems: (1) It is difficult to evaluate the produced explanations, because they are usually model-dependent, and (2) as a result, how the explanations impact the recommendation performance is less investigated.

In this article, explaining recommendations is formulated as a ranking task and learned from data, similarly to item ranking for recommendation. This makes it possible for standard evaluation of explanations via ranking metrics (e.g., Normalized Discounted Cumulative Gain). Furthermore, this article extends traditional item ranking to an item–explanation joint-ranking formalization to study if purposely selecting explanations could reach certain learning goals, e.g., improving recommendation performance. A great challenge, however, is that the sparsity issue in the user-item-explanation data would be inevitably severer than that in traditional user–item interaction data, since not every user–item pair can be associated with all explanations. To mitigate this issue, this article proposes to perform two sets of matrix factorization by considering the ternary relationship as two groups of binary relationships. Experiments on three large datasets verify the solution’s effectiveness on both explanation ranking and item recommendation.
Mechano-bioengineering of the knee meniscus
Authors: Ma Zhiyao , Vyhlidal Margaret J. , Li David Xinzheyang , Adesida Adetola B.
Published: October 2022

The meniscus is a fibrocartilaginous structure of the knee joint that serves a crucial role in joint health and biomechanics. Degeneration or removal of the meniscus is known to lead to a chronic and debilitating disease known as knee osteoarthritis, whose prevalence is expected to increase in the next few decades. Meniscus bioengineering has been developed as a potential alternative to current treatment methods, wherein meniscus-like tissues are engineered using cells, materials, and biomechanical stimuli. The application of mechanical stimulation in meniscus bioengineering has presented varied results but, for the most part, it has been shown to enhance meniscus-like tissue formation. In this review, we summarized literature over the last 10 years of various mechanical stimuli applied in bioengineering meniscus tissues. The role of individual loading types is examined, and the effects on engineered meniscus are evaluated on both molecular and tissue levels. In addition, simulated microgravity is highlighted as a new area of interest in meniscus engineering, and its potential use as a disease-driving platform is discussed. Taken together, with the increased understanding of the effects of mechanical stimulation on bioengineered meniscus tissues, the most suitable loading regime could be developed for meniscus tissue engineering and osteoarthritis modeling.