bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND RISKS OF ARCTIC ACTIVITIES
Authors: Krasulina O.
Published: October 2020

The Arctic region plays a crucial role in climate management in other parts of the world. Global warming and climate change affect the state of many natural ecosystems and thus-the state of the biosphere as a whole, the biosphere conditions of human existence. The article was analyzed the sources of risks of polar regions due to the warming of the Arctic climate. Modern scientific research related to climate change, which is the determining cause of the warming of the Earth’s climate are analyzed. Climate change caused by the industrial development of mankind has taken place too quickly over the past 100 years, and modern society can no longer ignore this problem. There is a risk of further increase in average temperature, so, by 2050, a special danger is the destruction of ice sheets. The author highlighted the risks affecting climate change and among them CO2 is the main anthropogenic factor caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Measures are proposed to solve the problem to continue the sustainable development of the Arctic territories and reduce the degree of risk.
Analysis of Russian Arctic LNG projects and their development prospects
Authors: Merkulov V I
Published: October 2020

This article provides a detailed description of the Yamal LNG project, including a general description of the project, supply geography, project infrastructure including port, airport and settlement of Sabetta as wll as resource base of the project and LNG transportation routes. Opportunity of the new North-South transport corridor for LNG transportation is considered. The issues of gasification of the Arctic zone of Russia using LNG were also studied including LNG transportation facilities, shore storage systems, floating gas storage and floating power plants. Strategic analysis of Russian Arctic LNG projects was carried out. Conclusions have been made on the localization of production of critical equipment for LNG production as well as the opportunities of export of Russian gas liquefaction technology to world markets. Also the localization of shipbuilding for the needs of Arctic LNG projects, the diversification of LNG sales routes, the use of LNG as a transport fuel and the gasification of a number of Russian regions using the LNG logistics infrastructure were offered.
Formation and development of digital economy in Kazakhstan
Authors: Alimbetov U S , Larichkin F D , Krause N V , Ivanova L V , Samusenko E A
Published: October 2020

The article discusses the current stage of transition to digitization, the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the industrial revolution, gives a brief description of technological structures in the world of technical and economic development. The natural resource-based economies of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation are quite similar; therefore, it is appropriate to take into consideration positive aspects of development and share of experiences between the two countries, including that in the field of forming and developing digitization. The main condition for the transformation of the national and global economy into an electronic format is the level of development of the ICT industry. In the article the level and dynamics of the basic indicators of the functioning of the ICT sector in Kazakhstan are analyzed. The analysis of the share of production and services in the ICT industry in relation to GDP in dynamics is presented. GDP dependence on production volumes and ICT services is analyzed using economic-mathematical modelling. Recommendations on using the research results for other territories, including the Russian Arctic zone are given.
Concept and mechanism for managing the digital transformation of Arctic target subspaces and spheres of vital activity
Authors: Didenko N I
Published: October 2020

The present article considers a concept and mechanism for managing the digital transformation of Arctic target subspaces and spheres of vital activity. The necessary and sufficient conditions for choosing the concept and mechanism for managing the digital transformation of the development of the Arctic target subspaces and spheres of life are considered. The necessary conditions for the innovative and technological development of the Arctic territory, as well as the choice of concept and management mechanism, stem from the requirements of a set of measures that sustain human activity under the extreme conditions of the Arctic. Sufficient conditions for innovative technological development are determined by technological capabilities combined with a sufficient volume of investment in the global economy. The conceptual provisions of digital transformation are based on two main areas: (a) Industry 4.0 strategies adopted in various countries; (b) the main technological trends in the field of digital transformation of industry in the global economy. A schematic infrastructure for digital transformation of the technology-product life cycle of target subspaces and spheres of vital activity is presented along with a mechanism for managing the digital developmental transformation of Arctic target subspaces and spheres of life.
Constructive model of multilingual education management in higher school
Authors: Rubtsova A V , Almazova N I , Bylieva D S , Krylova E A
Published: October 2020

Management mechanisms of education systems require improvement and modern approaches to the process of modeling management strategies and tactics. The need to develop constructive model for managing multilingual higher education is one of the priority tasks of modern didactics, management and social psychology. Pedagogical management is necessary for the formation of mechanisms enabling educational services quality assessment and their relevance on the global market. In this paper, the authors use the constructive research method that gives an opportunity to implement comprehensive methodological modeling of multilingual education system management. The constructive method provides implementation of several functions of educational management model in a higher school: design, information and analytical, prognostic, motivational-objective, monitoring and diagnostic, regulatory. The main result of the study is designing of the constructive management model of multilingual education of foreign students, including managerial level, target component, elements of constructive management, training modules, the system of methodological indicators, constructive linguodidactic technology. The effectiveness of theoretical results is confirmed by the experimental work that was carried out for six months in study groups at the Institute of Humanities in Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University.
Digital Humanities Tools in Information 4.0 Space: Towards language worker competences
Authors: Chernyavskaya Valeria , Beliaeva Larisa , Kamshilova Olga
Published: October 2020

Induced by the rise of technology level due to automation processes growth in industries, the coming forth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) will inevitably bring along dramatic changes in job market. Among new jobs a language worker is definitely a competitive one, yet little is done today both in education and industry to provide a proper training for this “job of tomorrow”. The paper focuses on supportive competences and practice conditions of a trained language worker prepared to perform information and text processing in Industry/Information 4.0 space. This paper considers IT and Web resources potential to be used by would-be language workers in their practice and studies. Methodological analysis is based on theoretical and practical conclusions about applied linguistics development which deals with knowledge engineering, i.e. methods and means of extracting, presenting, structuring and using of knowledge. In the framework discussed the focus is on relevant linguistic tools and internet resources and a modeled automated workstation to ensure the working process.
MODERN UNIVERSITY MARKETING MANAGEMENT: SPECIFIC NATURE
Authors: Bolshakova Anna Vladimirovna , Shakurov Andrei Alekseevich , Pavlovich Slanov Valeriy
Published: October 2020

Modem globalization of markets, transformation and renewal of the state education system, reinforcement of political and economic tension worldwide, increase the urgent character of strategic aspects in the university marketing activities management.

Marketing in the activity of any modern university involves targeting those priorities that will help the administration of the higher education institution measure its own competitive advantages and specify real opportunities for their growth.

Thus, we have to examine subjects and objects of educational services marketing (its constituent elements) in order to understand the essence of this business process.

It is customary to recognize all the subjects of the market as a marketing subject. The objects of educational services and products marketing include educational institutions, consumers, intermediaries and social entities involved in promotion of educational services in the market.

Students can be considered as consumers of educational services. Consumers influence the choice of a field of study, mode of study, place, time and source of funding. Therefore, marketing relationships are formed to satisfy consumers’ need for educational services.

It is worth mentioning that one of the primary tasks in the management system is to promote educational services and inform potential consumers about the educational institution. This goal may be achieved by means of various communication methods.

Potential educational services consumers should be aware of the location of an educational institution, its specializations, term of apprenticeship and cost of training.

To attract potential customers, a variety of communication tools is used to influence both practical and emotional spheres of human nature.

The article defines the target setting of the marketing approach in the university management and proposes the concept of organizational support of management approach implementation in the field of university marketing environment.
Kibble-Zurek Scaling with Matrix Product States
Authors: Howard E M
Published: October 2020

We study the dynamics of second-order phase transitions that may have taken place in the early universe and analyze the Kibble-Zurek (KZ) scaling as well as the formation of topological defects emerging from a quench in the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model. We describe the universal dynamics of the KZ mechanism (KZM) and the topological defect formation by simulating the Bose–Hubbard model at zero temperature. We study the effects of thermalization on the ground state by analyzing the transition between Mott and superfluid phases. The out-of-equilibrium dynamics induced by a quench of the hopping parameter is presented. We find a KZ scaling behaviour at zero temperature and analyze the KZ dynamics.
Microtubule-dependent pushing forces contribute to long-distance aster movement and centration inXenopus laevisegg extracts
Authors: Sulerud Taylor , Sami Abdullah Bashar , Li Guihe , Kloxin April , Oakey John , Gatlin Jesse
Published: October 2020

In this work, we demonstrate that microtubule asters are able to center in a variety of cell geometries and can do so over long distances, even when the activity of cytoplasmic dynein is inhibited. This observation, along with additional characterizations of aster movements, is consistent with a microtubule-based pushing mechanism.
P-Curve Analysis of the Köhler Motivation Gain Effect in Exercise Settings: A Demonstration of a Novel Technique to Estimate Evidential Value Across Multiple Studies
Authors: Hill Christopher R , Samendinger Stephen , Rymal Amanda M
Published: October 2020

Background

Practitioners and researchers may not always be able to adequately evaluate the evidential value of findings from a series of independent studies. This is partially due to the possibility of inflated effect size estimates for these findings as a result of researcher manipulation or selective reporting of analyses (i.e., p-hacking). In light of the possible overestimation of effect sizes in the literature, the p-curve analysis has been proposed as a worthwhile tool that may help identify bias across a series of studies focused on a single effect. The p-curve analysis provides a measure of the evidential value in the published literature and might highlight p-hacking practices.

Purpose

Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to introduce the mechanics of the p-curve analysis to individuals researching phenomena in the psychosocial aspects of behavior and provide a substantive example of a p-curve analysis using findings from a series of studies examining a group dynamic motivation gain paradigm.

Methods

We performed a p-curve analysis on a sample of 13 studies that examined the Köhler motivation gain effect in exercise settings as a means to instruct readers how to conduct such an analysis on their own.

Results

The p-curve for studies examining the Köhler effect demonstrated evidential value and that this motivation effect is likely not a byproduct of p-hacking. The p-curve analysis is explained, as well as potential limitations of the analysis, interpretation of the results, and other uses where a p-curve analysis could be implemented.
Network Pharmacology and bioinformatics analyses identify intersection genes of niacin and COVID-19 as potential therapeutic targets
Authors: Li Rong , Li Yu , Liang Xiao , Yang Lu , Su Min , Lai Keng Po
Published: October 2020

Objectives

Patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) may be susceptible to the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). However, anti-CRC/COVID-19 treatment options are currently unavailable. Since niacin is a vitamin with cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory functions, this study aimed to evaluate the possible functional roles and underlying mechanisms of action of niacin as an anti-COVID-19 and -CRC therapy.

Interventions

We used a series of network pharmacology-based and computational analyses to understand and characterize the binding capacity, biological functions, pharmacological targets and therapeutic mechanisms of niacin in CRC/COVID-19.

Measurements and main results

We revealed the clinical characteristics of CRC patients and COVID-19 patients, including predisposing genes, survival rate and prognosis. Moreover, the results of molecular docking analysis indicated that niacin exerted effective binding capacity in COVID-19. Further, we disclosed the targets, biological functions and signaling pathways of niacin in CRC/COVID-19. The analysis indicated that niacin could help in treating CRC/COVID-19 through cytoprotection, enhancement of immunologic functions, inhibition of inflammatory reactions and regulation of cellular microenvironment. Furthermore, five core pharmacological targets of niacin in CRC/COVID-19 were also identified, including BCL2L1, PTGS2, IL1B, IFNG and SERPINE1.

Conclusions

This study, for the first time, revealed the niacin-associated molecular functions and pharmacological targets for treating CRC/COVID-19, as COVID-19 remains a serious pandemic. But the findings were not validated in actual CRC patients infected with COVID-19, so further investigation is needed to confirm the potential use of niacin for treating CRC/COVID-19.
SeqEditor: an application for primer design and sequence analysis with or without GTF/GFF files
Authors: Hafez Ahmed , Futami Ricardo , Arastehfar Amir , Daneshnia Farnaz , Miguel Ana , Roig Francisco J. , Soriano Beatriz , Perez-Sánchez Jaume , Boekhout Teun , Gabaldón Toni , Llorens Carlos
Published: October 2020

Motivation

Sequence analyses oriented to investigate specific features, patterns and functions of protein and DNA/RNA sequences usually require tools based on graphic interfaces whose main characteristic is their intuitiveness and interactivity with the user’s expertise, especially when curation or primer design tasks are required. However, interface-based tools usually pose certain computational limitations when managing large sequences or complex datasets, such as genome and transcriptome assemblies. Having these requirments in mind we have developed SeqEditor an interactive software tool for nucleotide and protein sequences’ analysis.

Result

SeqEditor is a cross-platform desktop application for the analysis of nucleotide and protein sequences. It is managed through a Graphical User Interface and can work either as a graphical sequence browser or as a fasta task manager for multi-fasta files. SeqEditor has been optimized for the management of large sequences, such as contigs, scaffolds or even chromosomes, and includes a GTF/GFF viewer to visualize and manage annotation files. In turn, this allows for content mining from reference genomes and transcriptomes with similar efficiency to that of command line tools. SeqEditor also incorporates a set of tools for singleplex and multiplex PCR primer design and pooling that uses a newly optimized and validated search strategy for target and species-specific primers. All these features make SeqEditor a flexible application that can be used to analyses complex sequences, design primers in PCR assays oriented for diagnosis, and/or manage, edit and personalize reference sequence datasets.

Availabilityand implementation

SeqEditor was developed in Java using Eclipse Rich Client Platform and is publicly available at https://gpro.biotechvana.com/download/SeqEditor as binaries for Windows, Linux and Mac OS. The user manual and tutorials are available online at https://gpro.biotechvana.com/tool/seqeditor/manual.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Out of the OCBILs: new hypotheses for the evolution, ecology and conservation of the eucalypts
Authors: Hopper Stephen D
Published: October 2020

OCBIL theory is a multi-hypothesis formulation aimed towards an understanding of the evolution, ecology and conservation of biological and cultural diversity on old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes (OCBILs). OCBILs have been in existence contemporaneously with rainforest since Gondwanan times. Such landscapes are common in areas of eucalypt species richness embraced by Australia’s two Global Biodiversity Hotspots, the Southwest Australian Floristic Region and the Forests of East Australia. Here, I summarize evidence pertaining to the eucalypts in the context of a recent reformulation of OCBIL theory into 12 evolutionary, ecological and cultural hypotheses and ten conservation management hypotheses. A compelling argument emerges for a new interpretation of the eucalypts evolving out of the OCBILs, rather than out of the rainforests as traditionally interpreted. This calls for a significant reinterpretation of best conservation management of the eucalypts. For example, traditional ideas on application of fire in eucalypt communities regarded as well adapted to this disturbance need to give way to a more nuanced and cautious view. This review of eucalypts seen as evolving out of the OCBILs helps in understanding the group from several new perspectives. Interpretation of other sedentary plant and animal groups as out of the OCBILs is commended for further study.
Alzheimer’s disease brain-derived extracellular vesicles spread tau pathology in interneurons
Authors: Ruan Zhi , Pathak Dhruba , Venkatesan Kalavai Srinidhi , Yoshii-Kitahara Asuka , Muraoka Satoshi , Bhatt Nemil , Takamatsu-Yukawa Kayo , Hu Jianqiao , Wang Yuzhi , Hersh Samuel , Ericsson Maria , Gorantla Santhi , Gendelman Howard E , Kayed Rakez , Ikezu Seiko , Luebke Jennifer I , Ikezu Tsuneya
Published: October 2020

Extracellular vesicles are highly transmissible and play critical roles in the propagation of tau pathology, although the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, for the first time, we comprehensively characterized the physicochemical structure and pathogenic function of human brain-derived extracellular vesicles isolated from Alzheimer’s disease, prodromal Alzheimer’s disease, and non-demented control cases. Alzheimer’s disease extracellular vesicles were significantly enriched in epitope-specific tau oligomers in comparison to prodromal Alzheimer’s disease or control extracellular vesicles as determined by dot blot and atomic force microscopy. Alzheimer’s disease extracellular vesicles were more efficiently internalized by murine cortical neurons, as well as more efficient in transferring and misfolding tau, than prodromal Alzheimer’s disease and control extracellular vesicles in vitro. Strikingly, the inoculation of Alzheimer’s disease or prodromal Alzheimer’s disease extracellular vesicles containing only 300 pg of tau into the outer molecular layer of the dentate gyrus of 18-month-old C57BL/6 mice resulted in the accumulation of abnormally phosphorylated tau throughout the hippocampus by 4.5 months, whereas inoculation of an equal amount of tau from control extracellular vesicles, isolated tau oligomers, or fibrils from the same Alzheimer’s disease donor showed little tau pathology. Furthermore, Alzheimer’s disease extracellular vesicles induced misfolding of endogenous tau in both oligomeric and sarkosyl-insoluble forms in the hippocampal region. Unexpectedly, phosphorylated tau was primarily accumulated in glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) GABAergic interneurons and, to a lesser extent, glutamate receptor 2/3-positive excitatory mossy cells, showing preferential extracellular vesicle-mediated GABAergic interneuronal tau propagation. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings of CA1 pyramidal cells showed significant reduction in the amplitude of spontaneous inhibitory post-synaptic currents. This was accompanied by reductions in c-fos+ GAD67+ neurons and GAD67+ neuronal puncta surrounding pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region, confirming reduced GABAergic transmission in this region. Our study posits a novel mechanism for the spread of tau in hippocampal GABAergic interneurons via brain-derived extracellular vesicles and their subsequent neuronal dysfunction.
Development and Validation of Stability Indicating High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method for Determination of Cyproheptadine Hydrochloride, its Impurity And Degradation Product
Authors: Abdelrahman Maha M , Abdelaleem Eglal A , Ali Nouruddin W , Emam Raghda A
Published: October 2020

This work presents a sensitive, accurate and selective RP-HPLC method for simultaneous determination of cyproheptadine HCl (CPH), its impurity B (dibenzosuberone) and CPH oxidative degradation product (10,11-dihydroxy-dibenzosuberone) in bulk powder and in pharmaceutical formulation. The RP-HPLC method depends on isocratic elution using C8 column and mobile phase consisting of 0.05 M KH2PO4 buffer:methanol (35:65, v/v, pH = 4.5) at a flow rate of 2 mL/min, and the eluant was monitored at 245 nm. Good resolution was obtained with tR values of 3.05, 7.54 and 6.17 min for CPH, impurity and oxidative degradate, respectively. The proposed method has been validated as per ICH guidelines using pure forms of CPH, its impurity and degradation product in pharmaceutical formulation with an accuracy of 100.48, 100.16 and 100.11, respectively. Additional spiking experiments yielded an accuracy of 100 ± 1.6%. Repeatability and intermediate precision results indicated acceptable low <2% RSD values. Moreover, the developed method’s statistical results were favorably compared to the previously reported method results regarding both accuracy and precision. The developed method can be applied for analysis of the three components in quality control laboratories.
Revisiting the Performance of DNS Queries on a DNS Hierarchy Testbed over Dual-Stack
Authors: Adiwal Sanjay , Rajendran Balaji , Shetty D Pushparaj , Palaniappan Gopinath
Published: October 2020

The exponential growth of IoT devices and their need to use IPv6 addresses has the potential to create load stress on the existing DNS infrastructure and it is imperative that DNS servers to be deployed on IPv6 networks. The DNS query latency from a particular Internet vantage point for IPv4 and IPv6 network cannot be compared directly due to variations in the number of hops of query on IPv4 and IPv6 communication networks. Moreover, there is no assurance that DNS server in the hierarchy is hosted on a dual-stack. This work brings out the DNS query resolution latency over the IPv4 and IPv6 protocol stacks with better accuracy. The experiments are carried out by setting up a complete DNS hierarchy (ROOT, TLD, STLD, TTLD and recursive resolver) on dual IP stack (IPv4 and IPv6), enabling both forward and reverse lookup tree on a live testbed, ensuring a constant number of hops between the recursive resolver and each of the DNS servers in the hierarchy. This live testbed is a first of its kind and is made available for Internet researchers. The operational issues encountered during this deployment and service provisioning are discussed and documented in this paper. This paper also gives a clear illustration and provides reference guidelines for the DNS hierarchy setup, and also aims to bridge the knowledge gap required for deploying DNS over IPv6.
Impacts of Exotic Pasture Establishment on Dung Beetle Assemblages (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in the Brazilian Cerrado
Authors: Correa César M A , Puker Anderson , Abot Alfredo R
Published: October 2020

The Brazilian Cerrado is the second largest Neotropical biome and an important hotspot of biodiversity. However, land use change in this ecosystem is producing landscapes with modified natural environments and anthropogenic environments, such as exotic pastures. In this study, we evaluated how conversion of native Cerrado vegetation to exotic pastures affects the dung beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). We sampled dung beetles in four areas of Cerrado (sensu stricto) and in four areas of exotic pastures (Urochloa spp.) in Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. In all, 7,544 individuals from 43 species of dung beetles were collected, and 19 species were found in both the Cerrado and exotic pastures. The abundance and species richness of dung beetles were higher in Cerrado remnants. Species composition differed between Cerrado and exotic pastures, where 11 species were classified as specialists of Cerrado, 10 species were considered specialists of exotic pastures, and 6 species were habitat generalists. Roller beetles were most negatively affected by exotic pasture establishment. We demonstrated that exotic pasture establishment has a negative impact on dung beetle assemblages in Brazilian Cerrado. The decline in abundance and richness of roller beetles has important implications for the understanding of ecosystem functioning because it can reduce the ecological functions performed by dung beetle assemblages in exotic pastures. Finally, the high number of dung beetle species shared between Cerrado and exotic pastures suggests that the Cerrado remnants is a fundamental requirement for the conservation of biodiversity of dung beetles in exotic pastures in the Brazilian Cerrado.
High Dietary Niche Overlap Between Non-native and Native Ant Species in Natural Ecosystems
Authors: Probert Anna F , Ward Darren F , Beggs Jacqueline R , Bury Sarah J , Hermans Syrie M , Lear Gavin , Stanley Margaret C
Published: October 2020

Ants represent a highly diverse and ecologically important group of insects found in almost all terrestrial ecosystems. A subset of ant species have been widely transported around the globe and invade many natural ecosystems, often out-competing native counterparts and causing varying impacts on recipient ecosystems. Decisions to control non-native ant populations require an understanding of their interactions and related impacts on native communities. We employed stable isotope analysis and metabarcoding techniques to identify potential dietary niche overlap and identify gut contents of 10 ant species found in natural ecosystems in Aotearoa New Zealand. Additionally, we looked at co-occurrence to identify potential competitive interactions among native and non-native ant species. Ants fed mainly across two trophic levels, with high dietary overlap. Relative to other ant species sampled, two non-native ant species, Linepithema humile and Technomyrmex jocosus, were found to feed at the lowest trophic level. The largest isotopic niche overlap was observed between the native Monomorium antarcticum and the invasive Ochetellus glaber, with analyses revealing a negative co-occurrence pattern. Sequence data of ant gut content identified 51 molecular operational taxonomic units, representing 22 orders and 34 families, and primarily consisting of arthropod DNA. Although we generally found high dietary overlap among species, negative occurrence between a dominant, non-native species and a ubiquitous native species indicates that species-specific interactions could be negatively impacting native ecosystems. Our research progresses and informs the currently limited knowledge around establishing protocols for metabarcoding to investigate ant diet and interactions between native and non-native ant species.
Prognostic significance of the N1 classification pattern: a meta-analysis of different subclassification methods
Authors: Wang Zihuai , Yang Hanle , Hao Xiaohu , Zhou Jian , Chen Nan , Pu Qiang , Liu Lunxu
Published: October 2020

OBJECTIVES

The number of positive lymph node stations has been viewed as a subclassification in the N1 category in the new revision of tumour node metastasis (TNM) staging. However, the survival curve of these patients overlapped with that of some patients in the N2 categories. Our study focused on the prognostic significance of different subclassifications for N1 patients.

METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library on the topic of N1 lymph node dissection. Hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the prognostic significance of N1 metastases. I2 statistics was used to evaluate heterogeneity among the studies: If significant heterogeneity existed (P ≤ 0.10; I2 >50%), a random effect model was adopted.

RESULTS

After a careful investigation, a total of 17 articles were included in the analysis. The results showed that patients with non-small-cell lung cancer with multistation N1 disease have worse survival compared with those with single-station N1 disease (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.32–1.77; P < 0.001; I2 = 5.1%). No significant difference was observed between groups when we assessed the number of positive lymph nodes (single or multiple) (HR 1.25, 95% CI 0.96–1.64; P = 0.097; I2 = 72.5%). Patients with positive hilar zone lymph nodes had poorer survival than those limited to the intrapulmonary zone (HR 1.80, 95% CI 1.57–2.07; P < 0.001; I2 = 0%). A subgroup analysis conducted according to the different validated lymph node maps showed a stable result.

CONCLUSIONS

Our result confirmed the prognostic significance of the N1 subclassification based on station number. Meanwhile, location-based classifications, especially zone-based, were also identified as prognostically significant, which may need further confirmation and validation in the staged population.
‘Hypertension multiple’: Patients’ experiential knowledge concept of symptoms and care required, and its implications for public health
Authors: Mendoza J
Published: October 2020

Patients' conceptualisations of their disease do not always correspond to the biomedical definitions. Patients make sense of conditions by drawing on embodied experiences, beliefs circulating in their environments and information gathered from a variety of sources. Discrepancy between biomedical and patients' conceptualisations is problematic as it can affect treatment adherence, access to care, patient-provider communication and quality of patient experience. This is particularly the case for hypertension, an ‘invisible disease' that gives rise to various lay conceptions and practices. We examine how the disease is made ‘real' for Filipino hypertensive patients and the role their embodied experiences play in apprehending the chronicity of hypertension and in shaping care-related practices.

Drawing from interview and focus group data from hypertensive patients in low-income communities in the Philippines, and on Annemarie Mol's notion of ‘multiplicity', the ‘symptom' plays a key role in the ways in which participants self-manage ‘hypertension'. Hypertension is a ‘multiple' condition that is understood and enacted differently by people who rely on their own experiential knowledge and ‘symptoms' to define its nature and act accordingly to maintain health. Their ‘symptoms' may or may not correspond with the biomedical view of hypertension, leading to a non-chronic view of hypertension that informs the decision (not) to take maintenance medications regularly.

These findings have consequences for health communications and primary care. Failing to account for this ‘multiplicity' can also negatively impact experiences of care if patients feel that their embodied experiences are dismissed as less legitimate than biomedical indicators of the disease. Clinicians and public health officials must emphasize educational efforts that aim to address divergent views of noncommunicable diseases while respecting, listening to, and accounting for patients' experiential knowledge.
Vaccine hesitancy and Health Literacy: we need to change our paradigm
Authors: Casigliani V , Arzilli G , Menicagli D , Scardina G , Lopalco P L
Published: October 2020

Introduction

The vaccination coverage decline and the re-emergence of vaccine preventable diseases draw attention to the problem of vaccine hesitancy (VH). Many studies demonstrated that the current vaccine education is not very effective. We analysed the problem of VH in relation to Health Literacy (HL) and the perception of vaccine preventable diseases-related risks in a sample of parents.

Methods

We conducted a survey among parents between February and November 2018. We collected data on demographic, main sources of information, vaccination attitude (using the Vaccine Confidence Index (VCI) adapted from Larson HJ 2016), HL levels(using an adapted version of IMETER and knowledge of signs and symptoms of diphtheria, tetanus and measles.

Results

The study included 772 parents, 620 women (mean age 39 years), 48.2% had diploma. The main source of information was the doctor (85.5%) followed by the web(24.2%). The average VCI was 3.78(range: 0.1-10) with lower values among parents informed through social networks (2.05-2.78). Analysing the IMETER test, 90% had a good or acceptable level of HL. No significant correlation between VCI and HL was found. For parents who identified at least 3 specific elements of selected diseases, the average VCI was significantly higher(Measles 4.32,Tetanus 4.64,Diphtheria 5.84).

Conclusions

The HL level did not correlate with the VCI. A low VCI was associated with poor knowledge of selected diseases: this confirms the importance of a correct risk perception. This study in accordance with the literature suggests to amplify the model used to analyse the VH taking into account cognitive biases (i.e. ambiguity aversion and omission bias) as important factor affecting the parents' decision making. We aim to expand our work building a survey to categorise parents according their main cognitive bias. This may be useful to understand the better communication strategies to effectively have an impact on each parents' behaviour.

Key messages

This study in accordance with the literature suggests to amplify the model used to analyse the VH taking into account cognitive biases. The Health Literacy is not enough to explain the problem of the Vaccine Hesitancy.
Influenza vaccination coverage in patients with diabetes mellitus afferent to an Italian hospital
Authors: Cocciolo G , Salvati S , Allora A , Molinari C , Burini A , Scavini M , Odone A
Published: October 2020

Background

Patients with type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 (T2DM) diabetes are at increased risk of vaccine-preventable diseases and their complications. The National Vaccinal Prevention Plan 2017-2019 includes specific recommendations for patients with diabetes, which in 2018 have been included in the standards of care of the Italian Diabetes Society (SID) and Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (AMD).

Methods

Adult diabetic patients attending the Diabetes clinic at the San Raffaele Hospital, a large teaching hospital in Milan, Italy, were surveyed with a questionnaire to investigate self-reported vaccinal history, knowledge, attitudes and practice on the recommended vaccinations, vaccinal hesitancy and information sources on the topic.

Results

Between May 16 and November 11, 2019 N = 222 T1DM and N = 57 T2DM patients were enrolled. 25.2% of T1DM and 26.3% of T2DM patients did get vaccinated annually against the flu in the past 3 year. 85.0% of T2DM patients were vaccinated at the General Practitioner's (GP) clinic, while 54.9% of T1DM patients were vaccinated by their GP and 24.4% from territorial vaccinal clinics. 54.5% of T1DM and 50.0% of T2DM patients chose not to be vaccinated because they didn't consider the vaccine useful, while the second most common reason was that they have not been advised by healthcare personnel.

Conclusions

We documented a low coverage and knowledge about influenza vaccination. Patients with diabetes trusted information and advice of diabetologists and GPs about vaccination and claimed that they would be more likely to vaccinate if vaccination were offered in the diabetes clinic. Implementing training programs for professionals and educational campaigns for patients with diabetes may improve vaccinal coverage.

Key messages

Vaccination coverage in T1DM and T2DM patients is low due to vaccination hesitancy. A strong action from care givers, in order to raise vaccination awareness in this at-risk population, is needed.
Twitter monitoring evidence of Covid-19 infodemic in Italy
Authors: Calamusa A , Tardelli S , Avvenuti M , Cresci S , Federigi I , Tesconi M , Verani M , Carducci A
Published: October 2020

Background

Risk communication is essential for risk management, especially during alarming events, in order to create a balanced risk perception. The tweets follow up can be useful to timely evidence “media storms” or “infodemics” thus suggesting corrective interventions. The spread of Covid-19 has been the occasion to observe the evolution of tweets about this topic, with the aim of evidence peaks of fear

Methods

On 30th January 2020 we started a large collection of Italian and English tweets containing the following keywords: “coronavirus”, “2019-nCov”, “CoronavirusOutbreak”, “CoronavirusWho”, “WuhanCoronavirus”, “coronaviruschina”, “coronavirusitalia”, “virus cina”, “virus cinese”, “virus mascherine”, “virus paura”, “virus polmonite” and “virus vaccine”. “Covid-19” and “SARS-CoV-2” were added later. For the data collection Twitter Streaming API was used.

Results

The total number of tweets collected till 26th February was approximately 20M, 2M in Italian and 18M in English. The trend of the volume of tweets gathered shows a first small peak between Jan 30th and Feb 1st, but a second, higher, peak is visible after the 21st February, following the report of the Covid-19 clusters in Italy. Italian tweets account for 6% of the first peak and for 22% of the second. The Italian word “paura” firstly appeared on Feb 5th, with a peak after Feb 21th.

Conclusions

”infodemics” or “media storms”, are situations of uncontrolled diffusion of news and opinion, frequently leading to irrational and counterproductive behaviors. The Italian evolution of tweets indicate since the first day of cluster report, a clear escalation of fear, that suggests timely corrective actions to facilitate the disease control.

Key messages

With the twitter monitoring we demonstrate that since 21th February an infodemic is spreading in Italy. The twitter follow up can be used to timely evidence a public alarm, motivate corrective interventions and. evaluate the efficacy of them.
Transforming food retail for better health: The Healthy Stores 2020 trial
Authors: Brimblecombe J , McMahon E , De Silva K , Ferguson M , Miles E , Wycherley T , Peeters A , Minaker L , Greenacre L , Mah C
Published: October 2020

Background

How food is promoted in food retail settings impacts population diet. Foods high in sugar, fat and/or salt are promoted by retailers to attract impulse purchases. To combat the high burden of chronic disease and associated conditions confronting society we examined the impact of restricted retail merchandising (promotion and visibility) of discretionary food and beverages on sales and business outcomes.

Methods

We conducted a pragmatic randomised controlled trial in partnership with a retail organisation operating stores in remote communities of Australia (the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation). Twenty consenting stores were allocated to the 12-week intervention (7-point Healthy Stores 2020 strategy) or to usual retail practice. Four intervention stores with retail competition implemented a modified 6-point strategy. Weekly sales data were used to assess intervention impact on free sugars (g) to energy (MJ) (primary outcome) derived from all purchased food and beverages. Impact on gross profit and sales of targeted food and beverages was also assessed. Managers of intervention stores were interviewed to determine their views on customer response and impact on retail practice.

Results

Free sugars were reduced by a relative 2.8% (95% CI -4.8, -0.7). There were significant reductions in free sugars from targeted beverages (-6.4%; -11.1, -1.5) and soft drinks (-12.5%; -18.1, -6.5). Gross profit was not impacted adversely. Managers mostly viewed the strategy favourably and of benefit to the community.

Conclusions

The public health and business relevant gains demonstrated by this novel trial have resulted in ALPA converting their stores to the Healthy Stores 2020 strategy and integrating the strategy in to their nutrition policy. Retail competition impedes complete implementation of the 7-point strategy. Tackling this will require collective agreement by retailers to implement the full strategy and/or government policy power.

Key messages

Restricting merchandising of unhealthy foods can achieve both public health relevant and business relevant gains. Working in partnership with retailers is critical to testing real-world interventions to impact population diet.
Swedish teens' comprehension of sexting and explicit sexual images and consequences for well-being
Authors: Dahlqvist H , Gillander Gådin K
Published: October 2020

Background

Sexting and dissemination of explicit sexual images (ESI) through social media have become a common practice in teen peer culture in the past decade. Even though sexting is not a problem per se, it is regarded as a risk factor for e.g., sextortion and adverse mental health. The dissemination of ESI may be with or without consent, and the difference between (unwanted) sexting/ESI and online sexual harassment may be difficult for teenagers to assess. Therefore, it is important to delve deeper into how young people understand these practices.

Aim

The aim was to deepen the understanding of how young people comprehend sexting with a focus on ESI.

Methods

We conducted ten group interviews (3-7 participants each) with adolescent girls and boys in Sweden in 2019. There were two male and two female groups with 12-14-year-olds and four male and two female groups with 15-19-year-olds. Parental written consent was obtained for participants <15 years. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results

One overarching theme was found for both genders: “Sexting and ESI - a means to many ends and an everyday hassle”. The understanding of sexting and ESI dissemination was however only partly overlapping between genders. One difference was that boys expressed that often, the non-consensual dissemination of ESI was a means to 'mess with' or harass (most often) girls and not as a means to express romantic or sexual interest. In contrast, girls interpreted the motives behind boys sending unwanted ESI in various ways but not directly as a means of harassment. Furthermore, ESI often had adverse effects on girls' well-being.

Conclusions

The line between (unwanted) sexting/ESI and sexual harassment is problematic, and boys seem often to be using ESI to cross this line. Both girls and boys recognized the adverse mental health effects of ESI. These findings can inform internet safety educators, legal guardians, and school staff as well as other adults working with young people.

Key messages

For boys, the dissemination of ESI was often a means to ‘mess with’ others. In contrast, girls did not interpret the motives behind boys sending unwanted ESI as a means of harassment. Both girls and boys recognized the adverse mental health effects of unwanted ESI.
Examining the governance and structure of the global health financing system using network analyses
Authors: Fergus C A
Published: October 2020

Background

Development assistance for health (DAH) has been a vital in achieving the improvements in health since the year 2000. This was facilitated through the distribution of financial and in-kind resources, valued at over $37 billion in 2017, from a group of global health and development entities to low- and middle-income countries. The resources from these organisations originated from a variety of sources, including national treasuries, philanthropic foundations, and private corporations. The allocation of these resources are also governance arrangements, in many cases with disease and intervention priorities determined outside the recipient localities.

Methods

The structure of global health financing was investigated using network analyses of DAH actors in the context of disease/health area-specific funding. The dataset utilised in the analyses, assembled by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, consisted of 27 years of annual estimates (1990-2017) of DAH flows tracked from sources through channels to 177 recipient countries, disaggregated by health area.

Results

The number and diversity of organisations involved in global health financing saw a rapid expansion since 1990. The most prominent structural changes were the recession of large multi-laterals and the emergence of non-OECD and private entities. Amongst these, unofficial partnerships were detected. This study identified several weaknesses in the global health financing system pertaining to specific diseases as well as child and maternal health.

Conclusions

To provide sustainable, efficient, and effective health intervention implementation in DAH-recipient countries, it is important to understand the structure of the global health funding system. These results will be used to develop potential future financing scenarios, and to understand the impact of the global health financing structural characteristics on the improvement of targeted health outcomes in developing countries.

Key messages

Global health financing has undergone substantial structural changes since 1990, with multi-laterals scaling back proportionally and the emergence new types of entities. The governance and delivery arrangements within global health are linked to the financial arrangements, potentially causing structural weaknesses that threaten the sustainability of the system.