bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Are Men Better at Recognizing Emojis than Facial Expressions?
Authors: Dalle Nogare Linda , Cerri Alice , Proverbio Alice Mado
Published: January 2023

Emojis are colorful ideograms resembling stylized faces commonly used for expressing emotions in instant messaging, in social network sites and in email communication. Notwithstanding their increasing and pervasive use in electronic communication, they are not much investigated in terms of their psychological properties and communicative efficacy. Here we presented 112 different human facial expressions and emojis (expressing neutrality, joy, surprise, sadness, anger, fear and disgust) to a group of 96 female and male university students engaged in the recognition of their emotional meaning. Both Analysis of Variance and Wilcoxon tests showed that men were significantly better than women at recognizing emojis (especially negative ones) while women were better than men at recognizing human facial expressions. Quite interestingly, men were better at recognizing emojis than human facial expressions per se. These findings are in line with more recent evidences suggesting how men may be more competent and inclined to use emojis to express their emotions in messaging (especially sarcasm, tease and love) than previously thought. Finally, the data indicate how emojis are less ambiguous than facial expressions (except for neutral and surprise emotions), possibly because of the limited number of fine-grained details, and the lack of morphological features conveying facial identity.
XBB.1.5 Kraken Cracked: Gibbs Energies of Binding and Biosynthesis of the XBB.1.5 Variant of SARS-Cov-2
Authors: Popovic Marko
Published: January 2023

The SARS-CoV-2 Hydra with many heads (variants) has been causing the COVID-19 pandemic for 3 years. The appearance of every new head (SARS-CoV-2 variant) causes a new pandemic wave. The last in the series is the XBB.1.5 “Kraken” variant. In the general public (social media) and in the scientific community (scientific journals), during the last several weeks since the variant has appeared, the question was raised of whether the infectivity of the new variant will be greater. This article attempts to provide the answer. Analysis of thermodynamic driving forces of binding and biosynthesis leads to the conclusion that infectivity of the XBB.1.5 variant could be increased to a certain extent. The pathogenicity of the XBB.1.5 variant seems to be unchanged compared to the other Omicron variants.
Simulation of the Long-Term Ageing of Polypropylene-Made Disposable Surgical Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators
Authors: Carreiras-Suarez Sandra , Dominguez-Ramos Lidia , Lazzari Massimo
Published: January 2023

The main purpose of this work is to contribute to understanding the mechanism of oxidation of the polymeric components of common disposable masks used during the COVID-19 pandemic to offer the chemical basis to predict their long-term behaviour under typical environmental conditions. Artificial ageing of representative mask layers under isothermal conditions (110℃) or accelerated photoageing showed that all the PP-made components underwent a fast oxidation process, following the typical hydrocarbon oxidation mechanism. In particular, yellowing and the melting temperature drop are early indicators of their diffusion-limited oxidation. Morphology changes also induced a loss of mechanical properties, observable as embrittlement of the fabric fibres. Results were validated through preliminary outdoor ageing of masks, which allows us to predict they will suffer fast and extensive oxidation only in the case of contemporary exposure to sunlight and relatively high environmental temperature, leading to their extensive breakdown in the form of microfiber fragments, i.e., microplastics.
Stopping Feline Coronavirus Shedding Prevented Feline Infectious Peritonitis
Authors: Addie Diane D. , Bellini Flora , Covell-Ritchie Johanna , Crowe Ben , Curran Sheryl , Fosbery Mark , Hills Stuart , Johnson Eric , Johnson Carrie , Lloyd Steven , Jarrett Os
Published: January 2023

After an incubation period of weeks to months up to 14% of cats infected with feline coronavirus (FCoV) develop feline infectious peritonitis (FIP): a potentially lethal pyogranulomatous perivasculitis. The aim of this study was to find out if stopping FCoV faecal shedding with antivirals prevents FIP. Guardians of cats from which FCoV had been eliminated at least 6 months earlier were contacted to find out the outcome of their cats: 27 households were identified containing 147 cats; 13 cats were treated for FIP and 109 others shed FCoV. A 4-7 day course of oral GS-441524 antiviral stopped faecal virus shedding. Follow-up was from 6 months to 3.5 years: 11 of 147 cats died, but none developed FIP. No FIP-recovered cat relapsed. Cats from 8 households recovered from chronic FCoV enteropathy. A previous field study of 820 FCoV-exposed cats was used as a retrospective control group: 37 of 820 cats developed FIP: the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.0038). Conclusions: early treatment of FCoV-infected cats with oral antivirals prevented FIP. Nevertheless, should FCoV be re-introduced into a household then FIP can result. Further work is required to establish the role of FCoV in cats with inflammatory bowel disease.
The Agrivoltaic Potential of Canada
Authors: Jamil Uzair , Bonnington Abigail , Pearce Joshua M.
Published: January 2023

Canada has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by increasing the non-emitting share of electricity generation to 90% by 2030. As solar energy costs have plummeted, agrivoltaics (co-development of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and agriculture) provide an economic path to these goals. This study quantifies agrivoltaic potential in Canada by province using geographical information system analysis of agricultural areas and numerical simulations. Systems modeled would enable conventional farming of field crops to continue (and potentially increase yield) by using bifacial PV for single-axis tracking and vertical system configurations. Between a quarter (vertical) to more than one third (single axis tracking) of Canada’s electrical energy needs can be provided solely by agrivoltaics using only 1% of current agricultural lands. These results show that agrivoltaics could be a major contributor to sustainable electricity generation and provide the ability for Canada to render the power generation sector net zero/GHG emission free. It is clear that the potential of agrivoltaic-based solar energy production in Canada far outstrips current electric demand and can thus be used to electrify and decarbonize transportation, heating, expand economic opportunities by powering the burgeoning computing sector, and export green electricity to the U.S. to help eliminate their dependence on fossil fuels.
Hydrolytic Enzymes, Proteases, Permeases, and Transporters as Cryptococcus neoformans Weapons in Human Infections
Authors: Folorunso Olufemi Samuel , Sebolai Olihile Moses
Published: January 2023

In this review, we present several extracellular proteases, enzymes, membrane permeases, and transporters as essential accessories proteins for nutrient assimilation, conservation, and transportation as determined by nutrient repletion or depletion. As an obligate aerobic pathogen, it is crucial for invading Cryptococcus (C.) neoformans to negotiate its adaptation to human internal organs like the brain and spinal cord, where the oxygen level is low compared to peripheral organs. Besides, essential metals like copper and iron are important cofactors to functional proteins; however, these metals are not usually freely available to invading human pathogens. Again, the phagolysosome low pH with glucose paucity, internal temperature, immune response, and complex extracellular matrixes are challenging environments that must be circumvented by C. neoformans in the systemic tissues for survival, adaptation, and infection in humans. We review extensive works on several extracellular proteases, enzymes, membrane permeases and transporters orchestrated by different transcription factors and present these proteins as weapons needed to outwit systemic resistance to invading pathogens. Lastly, we examine the extracellular secretory vesicles of C. neoformans as “an exosomal virulence bag” that harbours urease, laccase, phosphatase, and capsular components as additional secretory weapons for tissue invasion and persistence.
Drawbacks of Immune Checkpoint Inhibition and Rigorous Management for Immune Related Adverse Events Along with a Strategy Against Tumor Plasticity
Authors: Hendekli C. Mehmet
Published: January 2023

Immune checkpoint inhibition therapy (ICIT) is an emerging field in oncology especially opening new horizons to chemotherapy refractory patients. This paper provides deep insight into immune related adverse events (irAEs) posing a major challenge and drawback to ICIT, and presents right management strategies for very complex complications. Moreover, a strategy is presented to overcome or to delay the progression after initial good response to ICIT in a subset of patients.
Confidence Intervals and Regions for Proportions Under Various Three-Endmember Linear Mixture Models
Authors: Berman Mark
Published: January 2023

Many papers in recent years have been devoted to estimating the per pixel proportions of three broad classes of materials (e.g. photosynthetic vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation and bare soil) using data from multispectral sensors. Many of these papers use estimation methods based on the linear mixture model. Very few of these papers assess the accuracy of their estimators. I show how to produce confidence intervals (CIs) and joint confidence regions (JCRs) for the proportions associated with various linear mixture models. There are two main models, both of which assume that the coefficients in the model are non-negative. The first model assumes that the coefficients sum to 1. The second does not, but uses rescaling of the estimated coefficients to produce estimated proportions. Three variants of these two models are also analysed. JCRs are shown to be particularly informative, because they are typically better at localising the information than CIs are. The methodology is illustrated using examples from Landsat Thematic Mapper data at 1169 locations across Australia, each of which has associated field observations. There is also discussion about the extent to which the methodology can be extended to hyperspectral data.
Evaluating the Impacts of Headstarting on the Critically En-Dangered Spoon-Billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea
Authors: Loktionov Egor Y. , Digby Roland A. , Yakushev Nickolay N. , Shepelev Ivan A. , Clements Jodie P. , Tomkovich Pavel S. , Jarrett Nigell S. , Clark Nigel A. , Green Rhys E. , Lappo Elena G. , Syroechkovskiy Evgeny E.
Published: January 2023

Headstarting is a conservation approach that suggests offering an advantage to a population by improving egg production, survival of embryos and/or juveniles. In this article, we are providing the quantitative data obtained during 10-years for different stages of headstarting (production of eggs per pair, hatching and fledging rates) and the resulting impact (survival to maturity, philopatry rate, sex ratio, apparent survival, growth/decline rate) on the local population of the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper. We have shown that headstarting gain is reduced over time from fledging to long-term recruitment to the local breeding population. The possible reasons for this reduction are suggested and discussed. The unexpected finding was a drastic difference in sex ratios of the new recruits which was about even for headstaring, but strongly male-biased for wild reared birds. We suggest that to happen due to increased mortality of female chicks in nature. We have also shown only headstarting could stop the global decline of the species, particularly once the suggested improvements are implemented and the number of pairs involved is scaled up. Headstarting also had a significant social effect due to involvement of in-creasing numbers of people both in the local communities in Chukotka and from many countries on the flyway into searching for marked birds and learning about waders, raising awareness about ecological problems on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, thus, making the need for conservation actions on the flyway more obvious and sensible.
Contribution of Live Video to Physicians’ Remote Assessment of Suspected COVID19 Patients in an Emergency Medical Communication Centre: A Retrospective Study and Web-Based Survey
Authors: Larribau Robert , Healey Beth , Chappuis Victor Nathan , Boussard Dominique , Guiche Florent , Herren Tara , Gartner Birgit Andrea , Suppan Laurent
Published: January 2023

The COVID19 pandemic had a major impact on emergency medical communication centres (EMCC). A live video facility was made available to second-line physicians in an EMCC with a first-line paramedic to receive emergency calls. The objective of this study was to measure the contribution of live video to remote medical triage. The single-centre retrospective study included all telephone assessments of patients with suspected COVID19 symptoms from 01.04.2020 to 30.04.2021 in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation of the EMCC and the characteristics of patients who called the two emergency lines (official emergency number and COVID19 number) with suspected COVID19 symptoms were described. A prospective web-based survey of physicians was conducted during the same period to measure the indications, limitations and impact of live video on their decisions. 8,957 patients were included. 2,157 (48.0%) of the 4,493 patients assessed on the official emergency number had dyspnoea. 4,045 (90.6%) of 4,464 patients assessed on the COVID19 number had flu-like symptoms. 1,798 (20.1%) patients were reassessed remotely by a physician, including 405 (22.5%) with live video, successfully in 315 (77.8%) attempts. The web-based survey (107 forms) showed that physicians used live video to assess mainly the breathing (81.3%) and general condition (78.5%) of patients. They felt that their decision was modified in 75.7% (n=81) of cases, and caught 7 (7.7%) patients in life-threatening emergency. Medical triage decisions for suspected COVID19 patients are strongly influenced by the use of live video.
Arabic Opinion Mining Using Machine Learning Techniques: Algerian Dialect as a Case of Study
Authors: Kara Mostefa , Laouid Abdelkader , Bounceur Ahcène , Aldabbas Omar
Published: January 2023

Social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are fertile ground for analyzing texts, extracting opinions, and identifying feelings, due to the large number of texts and their diversity in all areas of life. In this manuscript, we apply four algorithms to classify tweets written in the Algerian dialect. To extract feelings, we used six features based on three polarities. In the presented work, we manually annotate a corpus of 2,891 texts and create an Algerian lexicon of idioms that contains 1328 annotated words. Our results show that there are improvements gained on the accuracy of the system, where we have achieved a better accuracy of 85.31%.
Magnified attraction due to Gravitationally Lensed Gravity
Authors: Boenke Andreas
Published: January 2023

Can a gravitational lens magnify gravity ? The answer to this question is the subject of this article. Light is deflected as it passes through curved spacetime caused by a mass distribution. This phenomenon, known as "gravitational lensing," has been extensively studied and is well understood. According to the general theory of relativity, the same deflection is expected for gravitational waves, because they also propagate at the speed of light. But this applies to gravitational fields as well. Thus, gravitational fields, which extend through curved spacetime, are also deflected correspondingly. This effect is referred to as "Gravitationally Lensed Gravity". It leads to the fact that the gravitational field strength originating from an object in the background of a gravitational lens is enhanced in the same way as its light intensity. If the background object is visible to an observer several times due to the gravitational lens, each of the images also exerts a corresponding gravitational attraction on her ! For the first time, a proof of the existence of this amazing effect is given. In a simple thought experiment the contraction of a spherically symmetric gravitational lens is discussed. The proof is essentially based on Birkhoff's theorem. According to this theorem, during the contraction additional null geodesics between the background object and the observer come into existence. To these null geodesics also contributions to the gravitational field are to be assigned. In the literature, similar descriptions can be found for the gravitational self-interaction of a particle in a curved spacetime background. The article is organized as follows: In the introduction, the historical origin of the idea of the "Gravitationally Lensed Gravity" is briefly outlined. In the second chapter, the subsequently required basic principles and essential features of general relativity are explained. In the third chapter I analyze different arrangements of masses and describe the observations to be expected. The arrangements show step by step the transition from the classical "Newtonian limit" in a flat spacetime background to the "Gravitationally Lensed Gravity" in a curved spacetime background. Due to its clarity, the simple scenario may also serves as a suitable test case for the mathematical methods of general relativity. The concluding outlook provides references to current questions in astrophysics, especially the question of the existence of Dark Matter. Here, the general theory of relativity offers much simpler explanations with the "Gravitationally Lensed Gravity".
Still Finding Ways to Augment the Existing Management of Acute and Chronic Kidney Diseases with Targeted Gene and Cell Therapies: Opportunities and Hurdles
Authors: Corridon Peter
Published: January 2023

The rising global incidence of acute and chronic kidney diseases has increased the demand for renal replacement therapy. This issue, compounded with the limited availability of viable kidneys for transplantation, has propelled the search for alternative strategies to address the growing health and economic burdens associated with these conditions. In the search for such alternatives, significant efforts have been devised to augment the current and primarily supportive management of renal injury with novel regenerative strategies. For example, gene- and cell-based approaches that utilize recombinant peptides/proteins, gene, cell, organoid, and RNAi technologies have shown promising outcomes primarily in experimental models. Supporting research has also been conducted to improve our understanding of the critical aspects that facilitate the development of efficient gene- and cell-based techniques that the complex structure of the kidney has traditionally limited. This manuscript is intended to communicate efforts that have driven the development of such therapies by identifying the vectors and delivery routes needed to drive exogenous transgene incorporation that may support the treatment of acute and chronic kidney diseases.
The Impact of Event Scale – Revised: Examining its cutoff scores among Arab psychiatric patients and healthy adults within the context of COVID-19 as a collective traumatic event
Authors: Ali Amira M. , Al-Dossary Saeed Abdullah , Almarwani Abdulaziz Mofdy , Atout Maha , Al-Amer Rasmieh , Alkhamees And Abdulmajeed A.
Published: January 2023

The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is the most popular measure of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has been recently validated in Arabic. This instrumental study aimed to determine optimal cutoff scores of the IES-R and its subscales in Arab samples of psychiatric patients (N = 168, 70.8% females) and healthy adults (N = 992, 62.7% females) from Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic as an ongoing collective traumatic event. Based on a cutoff score of 14 of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8), receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis revealed two optimal points of 39.5 and 30.5 for the IES-R in the samples (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.86 & 0.91, p values = 0.001, 95% CI: 0.80-0.92 & 0.87 to 0.94, sensitivity = 0.85 & 0.87, specificity = 0.73 & 0.83, Youden index = 0.58 & 0.70, respectively). Different cutoffs were detected for the six subscales of the IES-R, with numbing and avoidance expressing the lowest predictivity for distress. Meanwhile, hyperarousal followed by the irritability expressed stronger predictive capacity for distress than all subscales in both samples. In path analysis, pandemic-related irritability resulted from direct and indirect effects of key PTSD symptoms (intrusion, hyperarousal, and numbing). Irritability contributed to traumatic symptoms of sleep disturbance in both samples while the opposite was not true. The findings suggest usefulness of the IES-R at a score of 30.5 for detecting adults prone to trauma related distress, with higher scores needed for screening in psychiatric patients. Various PTSD symptoms may induce dysphoric mood, which represents a considerable burden that may induce circadian misalignment and more noxious psychiatric problems/ co-morbidities (sleep disturbance) in both healthy and diseased groups.
Classification, Perception, Sociological Aspects, and Toxicity of Emerging Flavored Oral Nicotine Pouches
Authors: Shaikh Sadiya Bi , Newton Chad , Tung Wai Cheung , Sun Yehao , Li Dongmei , Ossip Deborah , Rahman Irfan
Published: January 2023

Introduction: Oral Nicotine Pouches (ONPs) are the new form of nicotine pouches that have become a type of emerging smokeless tobacco product sold by various tobacco companies. These smokeless tobacco products are being marketed for usage all over as Snus containing tobacco-derived nicotine (Natural) or as tobacco-free nicotine (Synthetic) as substitutes for other tobacco products that are limited in public places. ONPs have become popular tobacco products among adolescents/young adults and over 50% of young adult users of ONP use flavored ONP, such as menthol/mint, tobacco, dessert/candy, and fruity, being the most popular flavors. Various new ONP flavors are currently popular locally as well in the online market. Tobacco, Menthol, and fruit-flavored ONPs could motivate cigarette smokers to alteration to ONPs.
Methods: We expanded our knowledge on natural/synthetic ONP flavors wheels to available data on ONPs, describing in detail their flavors and brands (US and Europe) in both natural/Synthetic ONP categories. We classified over 152 snus and 228 synthetic ONPs into the following flavor categories: “Tobacco”, “Menthol/Mint”, “Fruity”, “Candy/Deserts”, “Drink”, “Aroma”, “Spices” and “Mixed Flavors”.
Results: Based on total numbers, wefound that the most popular ONPs flavor sold as tobacco and menthol to be among natural ONPs, among synthetic ONPs fruity and menthol as the most prominent flavors with varying concentrations of nicotine and other flavoring chemicals including coolant WS-23. We also illustrated possible molecular targets and toxicities due to exposure to ONPs activating several signaling cascades like AKT and NF-B might possibly lead to apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT).
Conclusions: Considering the marketing of ONP products with various flavor profiles and most of these products containing tobacco/menthol/fruit flavor, it is likely to have regulation and marketing disclaimer on some of these products. Further, it would be logical to determine how the market reacts in terms of compliance and non-compliance with flavor restrictions by the regulatory agencies.
Stimuli Responsive and Antimicrobial Cellulose-Chitosan Hydrogels Containing Polydiacetylene Nanosheets
Authors: Madivoli Edwin Shigwenya , Schwarte Justine Veronique , Kareru Patrick Gachoki , Gachanja Anthony Ngure , Fromm Katharina M.
Published: January 2023

Herein, we report a stimuli responsive hydrogel with inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli prepared by chemical crosslinking of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCs) and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). The hydrogels were prepared by esterification of chitosan (Cs) with monochloroacetic acid to produce CMCs which was then chemically crosslinked to HEC using citric acid as the crosslinking agent. To impart a stimuli responsiveness property to the hydrogels, polydiacetylene-zinc oxide (PDA-ZnO) nanosheets were synthesized in-situ during the crosslinking reaction followed by photopolymerization of the resultant composite. To achieve this, ZnO was anchored on carboxylic groups in 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) layers to restrict movement of alkyl portion of PCDA during crosslinking CMCs and HEC hydrogels. This was followed by irradiating the composite with UV radiation to photopolymerize the PCDA to PDA within the hydrogel matrix so as to impart thermal and pH responsiveness to the hydrogel. From the results obtained, the prepared hydrogel had a pH dependant swelling capacity as it absorbed more water in acidic media as compared to basic media. Incorporation of PDA-ZnO resulted in a thermochromic composite responsive to pH evidenced by a visible colour transition from pale purple to pale pink. Upon swelling, PDA-ZnO-CMCs-HEC hydrogels had inhibitory activity against E. coli attributed to the slow release of the ZnO nanoparticles as compared to CMCs-HEC hydrogels.
UV-Spectrophotometric Determination of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Meloxicam and Nimesulide in Cleaning Validation Samples With Sodium Carbonate
Authors: Nikolaychuk Pavel Anatolyevich
Published: January 2023

The spectrophotometric methods of determination of the active pharmaceutical ingredients meloxicam and nimesulide were reviewed, and a simple UV-spectrophotometric method for the determination of these active pharmaceutical ingredients in industrial equipment cleaning validation samples were proposed. The methods are based on extraction of the residual quantities of meloxicam and numesulide from the manufacturing equipment surface by the concentrated sodium carbonate solution, and the subsequent UV-spectrophotometric determination of the basic forms of the drugs at the wavelength of 362 nm for meloxicam and at 397 nm for nimesulide. The calibration graphs are linear in the range from 5 to 25 mg/L of both nimesulide and meloxicam, the molar attenuation coefficients are 6100 m2/mol for nimesulide and 9100 m2/mol for meloxicam, the limit of detection is 0.8 mg/L for nimesulide and 1.9 mg/L for meloxicam, the limit of quantification is 2.5 mg/L for nimesulide and 5.8 mg/L for meloxicam, the methods are selective with respect to the common excipients, show a good accuracy (the relative uncertainty does not exceed 4%) and precision (the relative standard deviation does not exceed 5%), do not require lengthy sample preparation and sophisticated laboratory equipment and are suitable for the routine analysis of cleaning validation samples.
Perimyocarditis as First Manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Successfully Treated With Heart Failure and Immunosuppressive Therapy
Authors: Ikić Matijašević Marina , Grubić Rotkvić Petra , Planinić Zrinka , Ikić Lucija , Zadro Kordić Ines , Galić Edvard
Published: January 2023

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) myocarditis is presumed to be rare but associated with ad-verse outcomes. If SLE diagnosis has not previously been established, its clinical presentation is often unspecific and difficult to recognize. Furthermore, there is a lack of data in the scientific literature regarding myocarditis and its treatment in systemic immune-mediated diseases, leading to its late recognition and undertreatment. We present the case of a young woman whose first lupus manifestations included acute perimyocarditis, among other symptoms and signs that provided clues to the diagnosis of SLE. Transthoracic and speckle tracking echocardiography were helpful in detecting early abnormalities in myocardial wall thickness and contractility while waiting for cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Since the patient presented with acute decompensated heart failure (HF), HF treatment was promptly started in parallel with immunosuppressive therapy, with a good response. In the treatment of myocarditis with heart failure, we were guided by the echocardiographic findings, biomarkers for myocardial injury N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and hs-troponin I, biomarkers for systemic inflammation erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP), and biomarkers for SLE disease activity (Complement C)3, C4, and anti-dsDNA levels.
Palliative medical care for children at the federal and regional levels: analysis of expert opinions and new challenges to the healthcare system
Authors:   Central Research Institute of Healthcare Organization and Informatization, Moscow, Russian Federation, Stupak V.S. , Feduleeva E.S. ,   I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation, Ishutin A.A. ,   Central Research Institute of Healthcare Organization and Informatization, Moscow, Russian Federation,   Moscow Regional Pediatric Hospice, Domodedovo, Russian Federation, Zolotareva L.S. ,   Moscow Regional Pediatric Hospice, Domodedovo, Russian Federation,   Research Institute of Clinical Surgery, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University
Published: January 2023

The Resolution on Palliative Care (PC) adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2014 implies PC integration into healthcare at all levels. In the Russian Federation, PC management and improvement are regulated by territorial health development programs. Objective. To analyze expert opinions on the quality of PC in various regions of the Russian Federation to optimize pediatric PC. Materials and methods. This prospective cohort study was conducted in 80 regions of the Russian Federation in October–December 2020. We interviewed 276 chief consultants, top healthcare executives, heads of healthcare institutions, pediatric departments, neonatology departments, and gynecological departments. Results. Respondents reported high quality of PC and equipment in healthcare institutions. However, they also marked limited territorial accessibility and volume of PC. They believe that PC in Russia requires better funding and expansion of home care, medical care in day hospitals and regular hospitals, and improvement of legal protection of patients. Conclusion. PC in the Russian Federation is one of the top priorities in healthcare. Several regulatory documents (including orders No 345n/372n and No 348n, resolution No 813, orders for the Moscow Region No 4-r and No 87-r) have been implemented. However, organizational problems still exist in some regions, which requires the improvement of the regulatory framework. Key words: pediatric palliative care, children, hospice and palliative care, medical and organizational measures, quality of life, suffering alleviation
Cardiac and vegetative manifestations of long-COVID in children
Authors:   Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), Moscow, Russian Federation, Degtyareva E.A. ,   Children's Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases No 6, Moscow, Russian Federation, Gorelov A.V. ,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service on Customers' Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance, Moscow, Russian Federation,   A.I.Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russian Federation, Simonovskaya H.Yu. ,   A.I.Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russian Federation, Isaeva E.P. ,   A.I.Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russian Federation,   Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Children and Adolescents, Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation, Kufa M.A. ,   Children's Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases No 6, Moscow, Russian Federation, Kantemirova M.G. ,   Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), Moscow, Russian Federation, Aleksandrova A.S. ,   Bakulev National Medical Research Center for Cardiovascular Surgery, Moscow, Russian Federation, Barskiy V.I. ,   National Medical Research Center for Children's Health, Moscow, Russian Federation, Zakrevskij A.S. ,   Podolsk Children's City Hospital, Podolsk, Russian Federation
Published: January 2023

Approximately 5–15% of children develop post-COVID-19 syndrome after SARS-CoV-2 infection, which manifests itself with various pathological symptoms for more than 12 weeks. Cardiovascular symptoms range from serious myocardial inflammation, manifestations of essential hypertension to signs of autonomic dysfunction with a tendency to hypersympathicotonia, which negatively affects the quality of life of children. We report a case of subacute myocarditis in a patient with long-COVID after a low-symptomatic acute disease. This case illustrates high clinical significance of timely diagnosis of long-COVID using gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, which was performed in our country for the first time in pediatric practice. We developed criteria for early diagnosis of autonomic dysfunction specific for children and adolescents. We also developed treatment recommendations, including behavioral therapy, drug, and non-drug treatments. Key words: long-COVID, autonomic dysfunction, hypersympathicotonia, myocarditis, behavioral therapy, non-drug treatment
Novel approach to comprehensive diagnosis of intracranial hypertension in children with neuroinfections
Authors:   Children’s Research and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, Vasilieva Yu.P. , Skripchenko N.V. ,   Children’s Research and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation,   Saint-Petersburg Pediatric Medical University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, Klimkin A.V. ,   Children’s Research and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, Bedova M.A. ,   Children’s Research and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, Levina O.A. ,   Children’s Research and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
Published: January 2023

Objective. To develop an algorithm of structural and functional non-invasive diagnosis of different stages of intracranial hypertension (ICH) in children with acute meningitis and encephalitis. Patients and methods. We examined 115 patients aged 1 month to 17 years. We used neurosonography (NSG), transcranial duplex scanning (TCD), ultrasound examination of the optic nerve (ON), and fundus examination by an ophthalmologist. We have developed a comprehensive structural and functional diagnostic algorithm for different ICH stages in children with suspected neuroinfections. This algorithm should be applied within a day upon admission to the intensive care unit and includes NSG, TCD, ON ultrasound, and fundus examination by an ophthalmologist. The exact diagnostic criteria were developed for each method. NSG: clear contours of the brain stem; lateral ventricles between 12 and 16 mm in size; bone-brain diastasis between 1 and 4 mm. TCD: systolic flow rate in the middle cerebral artery between 60 and 180 cm/s; systolic flow rate in the veins of Rosenthal between 10 and 20 cm/s; arterial resistance index up to 0.8; venous resistance index up to 0.5. ON ultrasound: ON thickness up to 5.5 mm in children aged 1 month to 5 years and up to 5.8 mm in children aged 5–17 years. Fundus examination: dilated veins in the fundus. Decompensated ICH: deformed brain stem pattern; lateral ventricles up to 11 mm, bone-brain diastasis <1 mm; systolic flow rate in the middle cerebral artery up to 60 mm/s; systolic flow rate in the veins of Rosenthal up to 10 mm/s; reverberation pattern; ON thickness 6.5 ± 0.43 mm with unclear ON contours; stagnant disk of the optic nerve. We provide clinical examples that illustrate the effectiveness of the new algorithm, as well as the effectiveness of comprehensive therapy with cytoflavin during acute disease. Cytoflavin has multiple effects on the organism, improves cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism. Key words: intracranial hypertension, children, duplex, optic nerve, meningitis, neurosonography, ultrasound, encephalitis, cytoflavin
Organization and unresolved problems of providing medical care by the emergency department to sick children do not need hospitalization
Authors:   South Ural State Medical University” of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Tyukov Yu.A. , Kosymov E. A. ,   South Ural State Medical University” of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Dobrovetsky I. N. ,   South Ural State Medical University” of the Ministry of Health of Russia
Published: January 2023

In recent years, the option of providing medical care in reception departments of hospitals to children do not need hospitalization has spontaneously developed in the country. Moreover, such conditions for providing outpatient care are not even implied in the normative documents of domestic health care. Aim: to improve the organization of medical care in the conditions of compulsory health insurance in hospitals for children who do not need hospitalization. Material and methods. The research was conducted from 2009 to 2019 on the basis of Children’s City Clinical Hospital № 8, Metallurgichesky district of Chelyabinsk, assigned contingent over the research period changed in the range of 23,4 thousand – 26,5 thousand children 0 to 17 years. Results and discussion. Over the decade, the number of treatments in emergency departments increased from 6,3 cases per 1,000 children in 2009 to 48,0 cases in 2018. The spontaneously established system of providing medical care in emergency departments in case of a sudden deterioration of children’s health, do not need hospitalization, many violations of existing regulations and requires a change of the system of settlements with the outpatient hospital, independent of providing medicine, changes in the procedure for recording morbidity and the schedule of work of the hospital diagnostic services. The reason for these drawbacks is the lack of legislative consolidation of the right to provide assistance to outpatients. Conclusion. It is necessary to make the additional formulation in the paragraph 2 of Article 32 of section 3 of Federal Law № 323 “…outpatient medical care is provided, including in emergency departments of the hospital… .”
Safety culture – a fundamental aspect of safety and improving the quality of medical care
Authors:   “National Institute of Quality” Roszdravnadzor, Taut D. F. , Shvabskiy O. R. ,   “National Institute of Quality” Roszdravnadzor, Tolkaheva A. G. ,   Regional center of competence in the field of quality and safety management of medical activities in medical organizations of the Tyumen region, Belenkaia V. A. ,   “City polyclinic No. 5”, Minulin I. B. ,   “National Institute of Quality” Roszdravnadzor, Zinovieva E. V. ,   Peoples' Friendship University of Russia
Published: January 2023

The article provides information about the importance of developing a safety culture of personnel in ensuring the safety of medical activities, the key factors in the development of a safety culture in medical organizations, the results of a survey of personnel regarding the safety of medical activities in medical organizations that provide outpatient and inpatient care and implement a quality management system based on Practical recommendations of Roszdravnadzor on the organization and conduct of internal quality control and safety of medical activities in a medical organization.
Measuring satisfaction with the quality of medical services provided by patients by structural modeling
Authors:   Voronezh State Medical University of N. N. Burdenko, Isaenkova E. A.
Published: January 2023

The study is related to the development of a structural model of satisfaction with the quality of medical services provided to patients in inpatient conditions of the regional level, using the SERVQUAL technique, substantiation on the constructed model of statistical hypotheses on the impact of certain aspects of patient perception on quality satisfaction. The materials of the study are presented in the form of the results of the questionnaire of 1293 patients of hospitals who received medical services in 25 medical organizations of the regional level. The study used structural modeling using the SPSS AMOS software. Analysis of the data showed that the perceived quality of health care directly affected satisfaction, with a value of 76% and an effect size of 0,58. Perceived quality of care is an important factor in patient satisfaction with health services. The structural modeling method allows assessing the causal relationships between the structures of the investigated data based on their qualitative causality, verifying and confirming the put forward research hypotheses, and forming management decisions to increase patient satisfaction with medical services.
Basic principles of prevention and rehabilitation of main pathologies of individuals older than 75 years
Authors:   Sports Neurology Laboratory of NIISiSM, Koss V. V. , Tolstykh R. A. ,   Sports Neurology Laboratory of NIISiSM, Liziy J. B. ,   Research and Medical Center "Sofiatria"
Published: January 2023

J u s t i f i c a t i o n : the Current demographic situation in the country and statistical forecasts indicate an increase in the number of elderly and senile people in the total population. In most regions of Russia, the proportion of people over 75 years of age ranges from 15 to 19% of the total population of the region. According to demographers, by 2020, every fifth Russian will be over 60 years old. Patients of older age groups, on average, make up 25–30% of those who seek medical care in outpatient clinics. The level of their hospitalization and emergency medical treatment is 5 times higher than that of the rest of the population combined. O b j e c t i v e : to Substantiate and develop the principles of step-by-step rehabilitation treatment of patients after hip replacement, to develop differentiated rehabilitation complexes at the sanatorium-resort stage, depending on the timing of referral after surgical treatment, its features, age and concomitant pathology of patients. M e t h o d s : General clinical, orthopedic, goniometric, biomechanical: support reactions, dynamometric, stabilographic; functional tests and tests, questionnaires, statistical. R e s u l t s : change curve of the reference reactions, namely the reduction in force characteristics of front and rear shocks 34,6% and 37,0%, improving the power characteristics bestolkovoe period by 12,4%, and the total time of support in 2 times; decrease in the force characteristics of muscle in 2,5 times the power mm. abductor 65,2%, mm. adductor 59,6%, mm. extensor at 76,7 percent, mm. rec. femoris by 20,0%; displacement of the projection of the General center of gravity back and towards the intact limb; reduction of the volume of movements in the hip joint by 1,7 times; reduced walking speed by 1,8 times, the quality of life of patients and daily functions, which justifies the need for rehabilitation measures. C o n c l u s i o n : a basic rehabilitation complex was developed for patients after hip replacement at the early postoperative stage, which included the following activities: kinesotherapy-therapeutic gymnastics, therapeutic dosed walking with additional support, mechanical therapy, Cycling, hydrokinesotherapy, orthopedic regimen; physiotherapy.
Key changes in the powers of participants in the compulsory health insurance system in 2021
Authors:   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kobyakova O. S. , Starodubov V. I. ,   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Kadyrov F. N. ,   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation,   North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, Obukhova O. V. ,   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Endovitskaya Yu. V. ,   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Bazarova I. N. ,   Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Chililov A. M. ,   “National Medical Research Center of Surgery named after A. V. Vishnevsky” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation
Published: January 2023

This publication is devoted to the analysis of the amendments to the Federal Law “On Compulsory Health Insurance in the Russian Federation” of 29.11.2010 No. 326-FZ, which entered into force on 01.01.2021, as well as other related regulatory legal acts. The purpose of the work is to analyze the reasons that led to the need to improve the regulatory framework for mandatory health insurance; the content of the main changes in federal legislation and other regulatory legal acts regulating the field of mandatory health insurance, as well as to assess the consequences of these changes.
Structural Racism, the Social Determination of Health, and Health Inequities: The Intersecting Impacts of Housing and Mass Incarceration
Authors: Blankenship Kim M. , Rosenberg Alana , Schlesinger Penelope , Groves Allison K. , Keene Danya E.
Published: January 2023

Public health researchers have directed increasing attention to structural racism and its implications for health equity. The conceptualization of racism as historically rooted in systems, structures, and institutions of US society has important implications for addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). It requires theorizing SDOH as embedded in and expressions of racially oppressive historical structures that are manifested in and maintained by policies, programs, and practices in multiple domains that dynamically intersect to reinforce and reproduce in new ways: race inequities in health.

We develop this argument using housing, a SDOH recognized as reflecting longstanding racist practices and policies that, among other things, have restricted the affordable housing options of Black people to segregated neighborhoods with limited resources. We argue that understanding and addressing the health inequities resulting from structural racism associated with housing requires simultaneously understanding and addressing how housing intersects with mass incarceration, another SDOH and manifestation of structural racism.

We suggest that unless these intersections are intentionally analyzed and confronted, efforts to address the impacts of housing on racial health disparities may produce new forms of health inequities. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(S1):S58–S64. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307116 )