bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Administrative Services Satisfaction Survey in Private Higher Education Institution in Malolos City, Bulacan, Philippines
Authors: Estacio Dennis L.
Published: November 2021

The study examined the level of satisfaction of the administrators, teaching and non-teaching personnel of services rendered by the Administrative Services through Survey in Private Higher Education Institution in Malolos City, Bulacan. An ongoing effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of programs and services in the Private Higher Education Institution in Malolos City, Bulacan and specifically to identify needed adjustments to better “facilitate education” through Administrative Services (AS), the Head, University Buildings and Campus Ground Maintenance Unit develop and administer a comprehensive Satisfaction Survey. The purpose of the study is to examine the area of strengths and weaknesses that were identified through the survey questionnaire used by 50 respondents representing the 20% of the Private Higher Education Institution in Malolos City personnel. This study makes use of the descriptive survey method to obtain date and information needed in determining the Administrative Services Satisfaction Survey.  All Administrators, faculty, and non-teaching staff in the Private Higher Education Institution in Malolos City were invited by questionnaire and completed the survey. The purpose of this brief is to examine the responses from the fifty valid surveys received. The summary of the study provides recommendations for further research and to produce corrective actions on the area that need improvement.
FACULTY ONLINE LEARNING READINESS OF A PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BICOL, PHILIPPINES AMIDST THE NEW NORMAL
Authors: Medalla Jopet Vincent , Dipad Mark Anthony , De Vera Christian Paulo
Published: November 2021

The emergence of Corona Virus Disease 2019 pandemic required educational institutions to shift to new instructional paradigm to ensure learning continuity. With the restrictions on mass gathering, online distance learning has emerged as one of the alternative modalities. This descriptive study primarily aimed to assess the faculty readiness of St. Louise de Marillac School of Bulan (SLMSB), Inc., a private secondary school in Sorsogon Province, Bicol Region, The Philippines, in implementing online learning as an alternative instructional mode. Using an adopted survey-questionnaire, twenty (20) faculty members participated in this research. It was found that the faculty members of SLMSB are sufficiently ready on online learning in terms of their technology access, considering the measures being undertaken by the school administration. They are also ready in terms of their technology skills and their attitude towards online learning. However, despite the general result on readiness, analysis of the indicators revealed that they need to be trained in terms of use of online learning management system, and use of tools for developing learning materials. With these results, it is recommended that a capability-building program for faculty members of SLMSB be conducted in order to prepare them in facilitating online learning through an extension program that may be offered by Sorsogon State College – Bulan Campus.
Student’s Performance and Parent’s Involvement in Distance Learning: A Correlational Study
Authors: Marañon Mar Joseph S. , Alegria Jolises S. , Alfonso Ranica M. , Cabatas Lorebelle A. , Cruz Kristine Joy A. De la , Peña Queenilyn B. De la , Deocampo Ray Andrew M. , Embino Placido G. , Espellogo Jeremeah T. , Grande Jebalyn T. , Hinoguin Lore Jean T. , Intig Alexandra Marie R. , Mancia Stephanie C. , Martesano Philip Anthony P. , Nalaunan Franz Ann P. , Reverial Joseph Hanz S. , Villanueva Jenika P. , Bacosa Rogie P. , Castañeda Denelle M. , Peacita Simple Joy M. , Rollo Iril Ian B. , Patrata Anthony G.
Published: November 2021

Distance Learning had evolve through many ages and generation. This became the main source of teaching on the present since its become convenient and efficient to everyone. As COVID-19 pandemic creates a devastating effect throughout the world, Philippines become innovative on how they will able to adapt and continue the classes with the use of parents as the molder of their children. The main objective of the study is to correlate the level of parent’s involvement  on students’ performance in distance learning of Negros Occidental High School during this times of pandemic. A sample size of three hundred thirty-six (336) students were accommodated in the study covered the Senior High School day class students for S.Y. 2020-2021 who are under the two learning modalities — print and digital learning and were randomly selected from different strands both Academic and Non Academic Tracks composed of grade levels namely Grade 11 and 12. A researcher made survey questionnaire was used  as a research instrument to gathered data. Proper encryption and verification of data was done to derive a certain result.  Results shown that parents involvement in distance learning have no significant relationship towards the performance of the student. The proponents suggested continuing the wider scope of the same study with having larger samples in expanding the range to both Junior High School and Senior High School in order to show various results may add to the body of knowledge in parent’s involvement and student’s performance.
Capturing Emerging Trends to Bridge Relevancy Gap Between Academic Delivery of Course on Business Research and Talent Expectation of Re-search Industry
Authors: Saxena Nitin , Tiwari Surendra
Published: November 2021

What is changing in business research in terms of practices and methods? Are the emerging trends in business research valuable enough to be included as essential contents for the course on business research? This research paper aims to troupe a light on the drifts that are likely to sojourn for a significant time and hence are academically must to deliver in classroom session while coaching progression on business research. This paper explores business correlated emergent research practices and tools with an objective to find their suitability from academic standpoint. This paper will uncover the trends that may help students in becoming potentially more suitable and job ready for research industry that offer keys and solutions to businesses and also aids in the advancement the subject substance of course on business research approaches. The global content in this paper creates valuable insight on the basis of exploration of emerging research trends hence this paper shall contribute as a reference material for the imminent forthcoming research interrelated to this topic.
Science Teachers’ Teaching Styles, Students’ Learning Styles and Their Academic Performance in The Secondary Public Schools of Zambales
Authors: Ariem Jennifer Garingarao , Cabal Esmen Macadaan
Published: November 2021

This research was conducted to determine the relationship of Science teachers’ teaching styles and the students’ learning styles and academic performance. The study was conducted among the public secondary school in Subic, Zambales during the academic year 2018 – 2019. The descriptive survey research design was used where the teaching styles of eighty-five teachers and six hundred high school students. Data were analyzed using the percentage, mean and chi square test. The findings of the study revealed that the science teachers are adults with the most of them are female. The students are teenagers mostly male in Grade 8. The teaching styles of the science teachers is of a formal authority and the learning styles of the students is generally visual. The academic performance in science is satisfactory. The teaching styles of the teachers was dependent on education, field of specialization, length of service. The learning styles of the students were not dependent significantly on their age and year level. The learning styles of the students were significantly dependent on teaching styles of their science teachers and the academic performance of the students significantly dependent on the teaching styles of the science teachers. The academic performance of students are significantly dependent on their learning styles. With these findings and conclusions follow up studies exploring other factors affecting the performance level of the students in Science is recommended as well as the effectiveness of the various teaching styles and learning styles to promote learning and better understanding in the subject must be conducted.
Challenges in Gender Mainstreaming in the Department of Education: Basis for Proposed Intervention Program for Secondary Teachers in the Division of Zambales
Authors: Sepillo Jesseca Jean A. , Orge Novrina Bigilda A.
Published: November 2021

The study aimed to determine the challenges in gender mainstreaming in the Department of Education. The study made use of descriptive research design with the aid of questionnaires the main instrument in gathering the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The study revealed that a typical respondent was in their middle adulthood aged thirty-one to forty, majority were female, most have rendered zero to four years in service, more than half of the public secondary teachers are Teacher I, and most of the public secondary teachers attended three to five numbers of relevant training on gender mainstreaming. The public secondary teachers identified that the security, health and other student services was moderately serious problem while facilities, administration, instruction and curriculum was not a problem. There was a statistically significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of administration and curriculum when grouped according to age and number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. There was a statistically significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of instruction when grouped according to number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. There was a significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of facilities when grouped according to sex, length of service and number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. There was a significant difference on the problems encountered by the public secondary teachers on the gender mainstreaming implementation in terms of security, health and other student services when grouped according to sex and number of relevant training attended on gender mainstreaming. The proposed intervention program addresses the gender mainstreaming implementation for public secondary teachers in the Division of Zambales
Agricultural landscape management strategies in watersheds towards resilient agroecosystems
Authors: Dariati Tigin , Mustari Kahar , Solle Muchtar Salam , Ulfa Fachirah , Iswoyo Hari
Published: November 2021

A resilient and sustainable agriculture must be able to meet the needs of food for people while taking into account the state of the ecosystem. Aims of this study is to develop a suitable management strategy to be applied to the agricultural landscape in the upstream of Jeneberang watershed in order to form a resilient agroecosystem. This research is a descriptive-analysis research. In this study, information was collected regarding the development of agricultural and agroecosystem activities in the upstream of the Jeneberang watershed. The data used were derived from primary data and secondary data. Primary data obtained from interviews and distributing questionnaires to respondent farmers, as well as field surveys. Meanwhile, secondary data retrieved from literature studies and data from various related agencies. Several strategies for managing agricultural landscapes towards resilient agroecosystems in the upstream Jeneberang watershed are as follows: diversify agricultural crops and agricultural activities in the upstream Jeneberang watershed; combine the use of environmentally friendly technology to make it suitable for the land; build good communication among the community; and develops agrotourism or ecotourism activities.
The Effect of Overeducation on Unemployment Duration in Indonesian
Authors: Friska Maya , Damayanti Arie
Published: November 2021

Unemployment has a negative impact on individuals. During the unemployment period, job seekers will use their money or assets savings and as long as the unemployment period is not over, the job seekers will need more money or assets in order to meet their needs during the unemployment period. The open unemployment rate (TPT) in Indonesia is more dominated by people with high school education and above indicating an oversupply of graduates with high education. This oversupply is one of the causes of the mismatch in the level of education or also referred to as overeducation. This study aims to determine the effect of overeducation on unemployment duration in Indonesia. This study uses the National Labor Force Survey Panel (SAKERNAS PANEL 2017) through a survival analysis approach with Cox Proportional Hazard Regression. The results showed that overeducation would extend the length of time someone was looking for work.
Pengaruh Kekayaan Rumah Tangga terhadap Pertumbuhan Ekonomi dan Ketimpangan: Studi Kasus Provinsi di Indonesia 2010-2019
Authors: Gumilang Farida Nurkhayati
Published: November 2021

Kekayaan yang dimiliki oleh rumah tangga dapat diidentifikasikan sebagai kekayaan bersih rumah tangga yang terbentuk dari aset riil dan aset keuangan dikurangi hutang. Paper ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan kekayaan rumah tangga dan jenis-jenisnya, lalu menganalisis pengaruh kekayaan rumah tangga terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi dan ketimpangan provinsi di Indonesia periode 2010 hingga 2019. Metode estimasi yang digunakan adalah dengan regresi data panel. Hasil estimasi menunjukkan bahwa kekayaan rumah tangga signifikan berpengaruh terhadap pertumbuhan pendapatan riil per kapita yang merupakan proxy pertumbuhan ekonomi. Aset finansial berpengaruh positif terhadap pertumbuhan pendapatan riil per kapita, sedangkan kewajiban keuangan mempunyai dampak yang berlawanan. Semakin banyak beban hutang suatu rumah tangga, maka akan memperlambat pertumbuhan ekonomi. Ketimpangan distribusi pendapatan di Indonesia cukup stabil, sehingga kekayaan rumah tangga hanya mempunyai pengaruh yang kecil terhadap pengentasan ketimpangan. Aset finansial yang dimiliki oleh suatu rumah tangga berpengaruh positif terhadap ketimpangan, artinya aset finansial yang semakin tinggi hanya dikuasai oleh golongan masyarakat tertentu sehingga distribusi pendapatan semakin tidak merata.
Enfermagem Psiquiátrica, Saúde Mental e as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do Curso de Graduação em Enfermagem
Authors: Reinaldo Amanda Márcia dos Santos , Souza Girliani Silva de , Silveira Belisa Vieira da
Published: November 2021

Objetivo: analisar as recomendações para a reformulação das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do Curso de Graduação em Enfermagem (Resolução nº 573, de 31 de janeiro de 2018) no que tange ao ensino da Enfermagem Psiquiátrica e Saúde Mental no processo formador do enfermeiro. Método: trata-se de um estudo documental. A coleta de dados foi realizada a partir de busca textual sobre o tema em diferentes sítios de pesquisa. Os dados foram tabulados com o uso do software Web Qualitative Data Analysis e submetidos à Análise de Conteúdo. As categorias encontradas foram: O cuidado de Enfermagem em saúde mental é um direito de todos; O cuidado de Enfermagem em saúde mental considera a singularidade do sujeito. Resultados: as recomendações fortalecem o ensino de Enfermagem Psiquiátrica e Saúde Mental, trazendo protagonismo para a área no contexto do cuidado em saúde. Conclusão: as recomendações atendem às questões contemporâneas associadas ao sofrimento mental nas populações. A formação do enfermeiro deve atender às questões sociais, políticas e do mercado, considerando os determinantes sociais em saúde e saúde mental.
IMPROBED: Multiple Problem-Solving Brain via Evolved Developmental Programs
Authors: Miller Julian Francis
Published: November 2021

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were originally inspired by the brain; however, very few models use evolution and development, both of which are fundamental to the construction of the brain. We describe a simple neural model, called IMPROBED, in which two neural programs construct an artificial brain that can simultaneously solve multiple computational problems. One program represents the neuron soma and the other the dendrite. The soma program decides whether neurons move, change, die, or replicate. The dendrite program decides whether dendrites extend, change, die, or replicate. Since developmental programs build networks that change over time, it is necessary to define new problem classes that are suitable to evaluate such approaches. We show that the pair of evolved programs can build a single network from which multiple conventional ANNs can be extracted, each of which can solve a different computational problem. Our approach is quite general and it could be applied to a much wider variety of problems.
Taxonomic review of the millipede genus Haematotropis Jeekel, 2000 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Aphelidesmidae, Aphelidesminae) with descriptions of thirteen new species
Authors: DE ALMEIDA THAÍS M. , BUENO-VILLEGAS JULIÁN , RAFAEL JOSÉ A.
Published: November 2021

The northern South American genus Haematotropis Jeekel, 2000 is shown to presently encompass 21 species, all duly redescribed, illustrated, keyed, and mapped, including 13 new species: H. amazonica sp. nov. (Amazonas, Brazil), H. aripuanensis sp. nov. (Mato Grosso, Brazil), H. callyi sp. nov. (French Guiana), H. dentata sp. nov. (Maranhão, Brazil), H. disjunctoides sp. nov. (Pará, Brazil), H. goeldii sp. nov. (Pará, Brazil), H. jurutiensis sp. nov. (Pará, Brazil), H. driki sp. nov. (Amazonas, Brazil), H. melgacensis sp. nov. (Pará, Brazil), H. mosaica sp. nov. (Pará, Brazil), H. paraensis sp. nov. (Pará, Brazil), H. poranga sp. nov. (Pará, Brazil) and H. tysoni sp. nov. (Amazonas, Brazil). New characters are used in all descriptions and redescriptions. Aphelidesmus guianensis Chamberlin, 1923, the type species of Ochrotropis Jeekel, 2000, is a new junior synonym of Aphelidesmus divergens Chamberlin, 1918, comb. nov. ex Ochrotropis in Haematotropis.
Two new species of the genus Rhyacophila Pictet (Trichoptera, Rhyacophilidae) from Korea and Japan
Authors: NOZAKI TAKAO , PARK SUN-JIN
Published: November 2021

Two new species of the genus Rhyacophila Pictet, R. kangae Park & Nozaki sp. nov. and R. yamamotoi Nozaki sp. nov., are described from Korea and Japan, respectively. Both species belong to the Rhyacophila nigrocephala Species Group, and their genitalic morphology is very similar to those of R. confissa Botosaneanu 1970 and R. vicina Botosaneanu 1970 described from the Korean Peninsula. These four species can be distinguished from each other by the shape of the complex of preanal appendages and apicodorsal lobe of segment IX in males, and by the shape of the vaginal apparatus in females. Males of the two new species bear larger compound eyes in proportion to the head widths than those of R. confissa and R. vicina.
Success Stories of Satellite Radar Altimeter Applications
Authors: Eldardiry Hisham , Hossain Faisal , Srinivasan Margaret , Tsontos Vardis
Published: November 2021

For nearly three decades, satellite nadir altimeters have provided essential information to understand primarily ocean but also inland water dynamics. A variety of parameters can be inferred via altimeter measurements, including sea surface height, sea surface wind speeds, significant wave heights, and topography of land, sea ice, and ice sheets. Taking advantage of these parameters with the long record of altimeter data spanning multiple decades has allowed a diverse range of societal applications. As the constellation of altimeter satellites grows, the proven value of the missions to a diverse user community can now be demonstrated by highlighting a selection of verifiable success stories. In this paper, we review selected altimeter success stories that incorporate altimetry data, alone or in conjunction with numerical models or other Earth observations, to solve a key societal problem. First, we define the problem or the key challenge of each use case, and then we articulate the uptake of the successful altimeter-based solution. Our review revealed steady progress by scientific and stakeholder communities in bridging the gap between data availability and their actual uptake to address a variety of applications. Highlighting these altimeter-based success stories can serve to further promote the widespread adoption of future satellite missions such as the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission scheduled for launch in 2022. Knowledge of the breadth of current utility of altimeter observations can help the scientific community to demonstrate the value in continuing radar altimeter and similar missions, particularly those with expanded capabilities, such as SWOT.
Management of altered metabolic activity in Drosophila model of Huntington’s disease by curcumin
Authors: Aditi Kumari , Singh Akanksha , Shakarad Mallikarjun N , Agrawal Namita
Published: November 2021

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a devastating polyglutamine disorder characterized by extensive neurodegeneration and metabolic abnormalities at systemic, cellular and intracellular levels. Metabolic alterations in HD manifest as abnormal body weight, dysregulated biomolecule levels, impaired adipocyte functions, and defective energy state which exacerbate disease progression and pose acute threat to the health of challenged individuals in form of insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, and energy crisis. To colossally mitigate disease symptoms, we tested the efficacy of curcumin in Drosophila model of HD. Curcumin is the bioactive component of turmeric ( Curcuma longa Linn), well-known for its ability to modulate metabolic activities. We found that curcumin effectively managed abnormal body weight, dysregulated lipid content, and carbohydrate level in HD flies. In addition, curcumin administration lowered elevated reactive-oxygen-species levels in adult adipose tissue of diseased flies, and improved survival and locomotor function in HD flies at advanced disease stage. Altogether, these findings clearly suggest that curcumin efficiently attenuates metabolic derangements in HD flies and can prove beneficial in alleviating the complexities associated with HD.
A deep learning method for counting white blood cells in bone marrow images
Authors: Wang Da , Hwang Maxwell , Jiang Wei-Cheng , Ding Kefeng , Chang Hsiao Chien , Hwang Kao-Shing
Published: November 2021

Background

Differentiating and counting various types of white blood cells (WBC) in bone marrow smears allows the detection of infection, anemia, and leukemia or analysis of a process of treatment. However, manually locating, identifying, and counting the different classes of WBC is time-consuming and fatiguing. Classification and counting accuracy depends on the capability and experience of operators.

Results

This paper uses a deep learning method to count cells in color bone marrow microscopic images automatically. The proposed method uses a Faster RCNN and a Feature Pyramid Network to construct a system that deals with various illumination levels and accounts for color components' stability. The dataset of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University is used to train and test.

Conclusions

The experiments test the effectiveness of the proposed white blood cell classification system using a total of 609 white blood cell images with a resolution of 2560 × 1920. The highest overall correct recognition rate could reach 98.8% accuracy. The experimental results show that the proposed system is comparable to some state-of-art systems. A user interface allows pathologists to operate the system easily.
Design of lung nodules segmentation and recognition algorithm based on deep learning
Authors: Yu Hui , Li Jinqiu , Zhang Lixin , Cao Yuzhen , Yu Xuyao , Sun Jinglai
Published: November 2021

Background

Accurate segmentation and recognition algorithm of lung nodules has great important value of reference for early diagnosis of lung cancer. An algorithm is proposed for 3D CT sequence images in this paper based on 3D Res U-Net segmentation network and 3D ResNet50 classification network. The common convolutional layers in encoding and decoding paths of U-Net are replaced by residual units while the loss function is changed to Dice loss after using cross entropy loss to accelerate network convergence. Since the lung nodules are small and rich in 3D information, the ResNet50 is improved by replacing the 2D convolutional layers with 3D convolutional layers and reducing the sizes of some convolution kernels, 3D ResNet50 network is obtained for the diagnosis of benign and malignant lung nodules.

Results

3D Res U-Net was trained and tested on 1044 CT subcases in the LIDC-IDRI database. The segmentation result shows that the Dice coefficient of 3D Res U-Net is above 0.8 for the segmentation of lung nodules larger than 10 mm in diameter. 3D ResNet50 was trained and tested on 2960 lung nodules in the LIDC-IDRI database. The classification result shows that the diagnostic accuracy of 3D ResNet50 is 87.3% and AUC is 0.907.

Conclusion

The 3D Res U-Net module improves segmentation performance significantly with the comparison of 3D U-Net model based on residual learning mechanism. 3D Res U-Net can identify small nodules more effectively and improve its segmentation accuracy for large nodules. Compared with the original network, the classification performance of 3D ResNet50 is significantly improved, especially for small benign nodules.
The beneficial impact of filtration surgery on antiviral therapy cessation in patients with cytomegalovirus-related secondary glaucoma
Authors: Murai Yusuke , Mori Sotaro , Takano Fumio , Ueda Kaori , Sakamoto Mari , Kurimoto Takuji , Kusuhara Sentaro , Yamada-Nakanishi Yuko , Nakamura Makoto
Published: November 2021

Purpose

Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-related keratouveitis elevates intraocular pressure (IOP). Antiviral therapy does not always control IOP and some patients do not tolerate systemic antiviral therapy because of the side effects. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients with CMV-related keratouveitis and determine the impact of glaucoma surgeries on the postoperative antiviral therapy regimen.

Methods

We enrolled twenty-two patients with CMV-DNA-positive keratouveitis between June 2012 and July 2019 in Kobe University Hospital. The following clinical parameters were collected: gender, age, history of previous intraocular surgery, antiviral medications, visual acuity, IOP, glaucoma drug score, corneal endothelial cells density, and the mean deviation of a Humphrey visual field test at the first visit and before and 1 year after glaucoma surgery.

Results

All twenty-two patients started on oral and/or topical antiviral therapy. Eighteen patients needed glaucoma surgery despite their antiviral medications. Nine patients underwent trabeculotomy (TLO) and nine underwent trabeculectomy (TLE) as the first surgical intervention. Six of patients who initially underwent TLO and two of the patients who initially underwent TLE required additional TLE within 1 year. Each of the 15 patients who underwent at least 1 TLE showed a reduction in the magnitude and variation of IOP and glaucoma drug scores and 13 patients were able to discontinue antiviral therapy. For the remaining 4 patients, IOP and inflammation were controlled but with antiviral medications.

Conclusions

In patients with CMV-related keratouveitis, TLE decreases and stabilizes IOP and contributes to withdrawal from antiviral medications.
Leveraging e-Learning technology to enhance pre-service training for healthcare trainees in Ghana: evidence from a pilot project and pointers to policy reforms
Authors: Alhassan Robert Kaba , Ayanore Martin Amogre , Diekuu John-Bosco , Prempeh Emmanuel B. A. , Donkor Ernestina Safoa
Published: November 2021

Background

E-Learning solutions are increasingly being advocated to augment existing traditional teaching and learning efforts in health training institutions. Unfortunately, these emerging technologies rarely focus on health sciences education within the context of public universities, hence the need for this study. This project evaluated experiences of healthcare trainees with a pilot e-Learning project (SMART e-Learning project) initiated in one of Ghana’s public universities in 2017. The study used a mixed methods cross-sectional approach among 363 healthcare trainees. Data collection was between 17th October, 2019 to 3rd December, 2019. Data was analysed descriptively and test for variable differences done using Pearson Chi-square and Fisher’s Exact for categorical variables. Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test was used to test for differences in the Likert scale items. Additionally, rotated varimax factor analysis was performed for the health trainees’ rated satisfaction factors.

Results

Out of 446 respondents who consented to participate in the study, 363 responses were complete and valid, representing a response rate of 81 %. Most frequently used e-learning facilities by healthcare trainees were: writing interim assessments (IAs) (82 %) while the least used function was live chating with faculty (5 %). Challenges associated with the e-learning pilot project were: limited workspace in the pilot computer laboratory (33 %), slow internet/intranet speed (29 %) and limited capacity of teaching and ICT staff to support users (28 %).

Conclusions

There is the need to engage relevant stakeholders at the University, ministries of health and education through policy dialogues to develop statutory e-Learning guidelines for health educational institutions of higher learning to complement existing traditional teaching and learning approaches.
CircMMP11 overexpression predicts the poor survival of non-small cell lung cancer and downregulates miR-143 through methylation to suppress cell proliferation
Authors: Chen Juan , Gong Jiang
Published: November 2021

Background

CircMMP11 is a characterized circRNA with oncogenic function in breast cancer. In this study, we explored the involvement of circMMP11 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

Paired cancer and non-cancer tissues were collected from 66 NSCLC patients, and the expression of circMMP11 and miR-143 in these tissues were detected using RT-qPCRs. Overexpression levels of circMMP11 and miR-143 were performed by transfection, and their crosstalk was analyzed by RT-qPCRs. The effect of circMMP11 overexpression on miR-143 methylation was analyzed by methylation-specific PCR. CCK-8 assay was performed to analyze the roles of miR-143 and circMMP11 in regulating NSCLC cell proliferation.

Results

We found that circMMP11 was overexpressed in NSCLC and predicted patients’ poor survival. Moreover, a close correlation between circMMP11 and miR143 was observed. In NSCLC cells, circMMP11 overexpression reduced miR-143 expression and increased miR-143 methylation. CCK-8 assay analysis showed that miR-143 reversed the enhancing effects of circMMP11 overexpression on cell proliferation.

Conclusions

CircMMP11 is overexpressed in NSCLC and predicts poor survival. In addition, circMMP11 may downregulate miR-143 through methylation to suppress cell proliferation.
Pharmacists and telemedicine: an innovative model fulfilling Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Authors: Bukhari Nadia , Siddique Maryam , Bilal Nazia , Javed Sobia , Moosvi Arzu , Babar Zaheer-Ud-Din
Published: November 2021

The lack of access to safe medicines and quality healthcare services in peri-urban and rural areas is a major challenge driving a health system to innovate new models of care. This commentary will discuss the implementation and impact of the “Guddi baji” tele-pharmacy model, a project piloted by doctHERs, one of Pakistan’s leading telemedicine organizations. This innovative model has described the reintegration of women into the workforce by leveraging technology to improve the level of primary health care services and contributes to safe medication practice in a remote area. Our intervention proposed the deployment of technology-enabled, female frontline health workers known as the Guddi baji (meaning The Good Sister) in a rural village. They serve as an “access point to health care” that is linked to a remotely located health care professional; a licensed doctor or a pharmacist within this model.
Stabilized Column Generation Via the Dynamic Separation of Aggregated Rows
Authors: Costa Luciano , Contardo Claudio , Desaulniers Guy , Yarkony Julian
Published: November 2021

Column generation (CG) algorithms are well known to suffer from convergence issues due, mainly, to the degenerate structure of their master problem and the instability associated with the dual variables involved in the process. In the literature, several strategies have been proposed to overcome this issue. These techniques rely either on the modification of the standard CG algorithm or on some prior information about the set of dual optimal solutions. In this paper, we propose a new stabilization framework, which relies on the dynamic generation of aggregated rows from the CG master problem. To evaluate the performance of our method and its flexibility, we consider instances of three different problems, namely, vehicle routing with time windows (VRPTW), bin packing with conflicts (BPPC), and multiperson pose estimation (MPPEP). When solving the VRPTW, the proposed stabilized CG method yields significant improvements in terms of CPU time and number of iterations with respect to a standard CG algorithm. Huge reductions in CPU time are also achieved when solving the BPPC and the MPPEP. For the latter, our method has shown to be competitive when compared with a tailored method.

Summary of Contribution: Column generation (CG) algorithms are among the most important and studied solution methods in operations research. CG algorithms are suitable to cope with large-scale problems arising from several real-life applications. The present paper proposes a generic stabilization framework to address two of the main issues found in a CG method: degeneracy in the master problem and massive instability of the dual variables. The newly devised method, called dynamic separation of aggregated rows (dyn-SAR), relies on an extended master problem that contains redundant constraints obtained by aggregating constraints from the original master problem formulation. This new formulation is solved in a column/row generation fashion. The efficacy of the proposed method is tested through an extensive experimental campaign, where we solve three different problems that differ considerably in terms of their constraints and objective function. Despite being a generic framework, dyn-SAR requires the embedded CG algorithm to be tailored to the application at hand.
Wolf Pack Activism
Authors: Brav Alon , Dasgupta Amil , Mathews Richmond
Published: November 2021

Blockholder monitoring is central to corporate governance, but blockholders large enough to exercise significant unilateral influence are rare. Mechanisms that enable moderately sized blockholders to exert collective influence are therefore important. Existing theory suggests that engagement by moderately sized blockholders is unlikely, especially when the blocks are held by delegated asset managers who have limited skin in the game. We present a model in which multiple delegated blockholders engage target management in parallel, that is, “wolf pack activism.” Delegation reduces skin in the game, which decreases incentives for engagement. However, it also induces competition over investor capital (i.e., competition for flow). We show that this increases engagement incentives and helps ameliorate the problem of insufficient engagement, although it can also foster excess engagement. Under competition for flow, the total amount of capital seeking skilled activist managers is relevant to engagement incentives, which helps to predict when and where wolf packs arise. Flow incentives are particularly valuable in incentivizing engagement by packs with smaller members.

This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.
School and Home as Study Spaces: Attitudes of Teachers, Parents, and Students to E-learning During the COVID-19 Period: The Case of Israel
Authors: Ben-Amram Miri , Davidovitch Nitza
Published: November 2021

During the period of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the boundaries between the home and the school as study spaces were blurred. School studies entered the home, with the parents present and observing their children’s e-lessons and the teachers’ teaching methods. The purpose of the current study was to explore the explicit and implicit attitudes of the lesson partners: teachers, parents, and students, to e-learning. The study explores whether and to what degree the attitudes of teachers, students, and parents to e-teaching are compatible, and what are the implications for the future. The study shows that although in recent years the relationships between parents and the school and between teachers and students have waned, with regard to the separation of authorities between the home and school, the period of the COVID-19 crisis clarified the need to enhance the relationship and cooperation between the home and the school as two meaningful study spaces for independent learners. The research findings raise the paradox that not only does technology not increase the distance rather it has the potential to strengthen the relationships between parents, teachers, and the school. The study points to the need to prepare holistic guidance sessions and professional development courses.
Epidemiological study of snakebite cases in Sikkim: Risk modeling with regard to the habitat suitability of common venomous snakes
Authors: Rai Ananta , Chettri Manita , Dewan Sailendra , Khandelwal Bidita , Chettri Basundhara
Published: November 2021

Background

Snakebite envenoming is listed as category ‘A’ Neglected Tropical Disease. To achieve the target of WHO (World Health Organization) 2019, it becomes necessary to understand various attributes associated with snakebite including community awareness, improvisation of medical facilities and to map the potential distribution of venomous snakes responsible for the bite. Hence this study is conducted in Sikkim, India to understand the epidemiology of snakebite in Sikkim. The potential distribution and risk mapping of five common venomous snakes are done for effective management of snakebite cases.

Methods and findings

The snakebite cases registered in six district hospitals and four PHCs (Primary Health Centers) of Sikkim were collected from the year 2011 to 2018. Community survey was also conducted to supplement the data. Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM) was performed to predict the potential habitat of five common venomous snakes of Sikkim. The risk modeling of snakebite cases was done at the level of Gram Panchayat Unit (GPU) using Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) and Ordinary Linear Square (OLS) model. We found higher number of male victims inflicted with snakebite envenomation. The potential distribution of the five venomous snakes showed satisfactory mean AUC (Area under Curve) value. Both the models showed significant positive association of snakebite cases with habitat suitability of the venomous snakes. Hospital data revealed no death cases whereas community data reported 24 deaths.

Conclusions

Death from snakebite reflected in community data but not in hospital data strongly indicates the people’s belief in traditional medicine. Though people of Sikkim have rich traditional knowledge, in case of snakebite traditional practices may be ineffective leading to loss of life. Sensitizing people and improving medical facilities along with proper transport facilities in rural areas might significantly reduce the snakebite casualties in the state.
Thrombotic microangiopathy after kidney transplantation: Analysis of the Brazilian Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome cohort
Authors: Nga Hong Si , Palma Lilian Monteiro Pereira , Ernandes Neto Miguel , Fernandes-Charpiot Ida Maria Maximina , Garcia Valter Duro , Kist Roger , Miranda Silvana Maria Carvalho , Macedo de Souza Pedro Augusto , Pereira Gerson Marques , de Andrade Luis Gustavo Modelli
Published: November 2021

Background

Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS) is an ultra-rare disease that potentially leads to kidney graft failure due to ongoing Thrombotic Microangiopathy (TMA). The aim was evaluating the frequency of TMA after kidney transplantation in patients with aHUS in a Brazilian cohort stratified by the use of the specific complement-inhibitor eculizumab.

Methods

This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study including kidney transplant patients diagnosed with aHUS. We collected data from 118 transplant centers in Brazil concerning aHUS transplanted patients between 01/01/2007 and 12/31/2019. Patients were stratified into three groups: no use of eculizumab (No Eculizumab Group), use of eculizumab for treatment of after transplantation TMA (Therapeutic Group), and use of eculizumab for prophylaxis of aHUS recurrence (Prophylactic Group).

Results

Thirty-eight patients with aHUS who received kidney transplantation were enrolled in the study. Patients’ mean age was 30 years (24–40), and the majority of participants was women (63% of cases). In the No Eculizumab Group (n = 11), there was a 91% graft loss due to the TMA. The hazard ratio of TMA graft loss was 0.07 [0.01–0.55], p = 0.012 in the eculizumab Prophylactic Group and 0.04 [0.00–0.28], p = 0.002 in the eculizumab Therapeutic Group.

Conclusion

The TMA graft loss in the absence of a specific complement-inhibitor was higher among the Brazilian cohort of kidney transplant patients. This finding reinforces the need of eculizumab use for treatment of aHUS kidney transplant patients. Cost optimization analysis and the early access to C5 inhibitors are suggested, especially in low-medium income countries.
Psychometric properties, validity and insights of the School Bullying Questionnaire (CIE-A) in secondary schools of the Valencian Community (Spain)
Authors: Useche Sergio A. , Valle Eliseo , Valle-Escolano Raquel , Colomer-Pérez Natura
Published: November 2021

Besides its several threats to health, welfare, social and academic development and performance of kids and teenagers, school bullying remains highlighted as one of the most relevant related challenges for educational, behavioral and legal sciences worldwide. Moreover, the lack of research on the field and the crucial but unattended need to count on psychometrically suitable and valid tools to detect school bullying make difficult understanding its contexts, dynamics and possible solutions. Objective The aim of this study was to thoroughly present in detail the psychometric properties and validity issues of the School Bullying Questionnaire (CIE-A) among secondary students. Methods A regionwide sample of 810 (47.2% girls) secondary students attending to 21 schools across the Valencian Community (Spain), aged M = 14.40 (SD = 1.61) years, responded to a paper-based questionnaire containing the 36-item version of the CIE-A and various scales related to psychosocial health and wellbeing, used as criterion variables. Results The outcomes of this study suggest that the CIE-A has a clear factor structure, an optimal set of item loadings and goodness-of-fit indexes. Further, that CIE-A has shown good internal consistency and reliability indexes, coherent associations with other mental health and academic performance variables, and the possibility to assess gender differences on bullying-related factors among secondary students. Conclusion The CIE-A may represent a suitable tool for assessing bullying in a three-factorial approach (i.e., victimization, symptomatology, and intimidation), offering optimal psychometric properties, validity and reliability insights, and the potentiality of being applied in the school environment. Actions aimed at improving the school coexistence and the well-being of secondary students, targeting potential bullied/bully profiles or seeking to assess demographic and psychosocial correlates of bullying among teenagers, might get benefited from this questionnaire.
Crowding in or crowding out? How local government debt influences corporate innovation for China
Authors: Xu Junbing , Li Yuanyuan , Feng Dawei , Wu Zhouyi , He Yang
Published: November 2021

The pressure upon local governments to redeem their debt could affect government fiscal ability. It could consequently affect their fiscal policies on corporations, which might distort corporate innovation. Based on the data of Chinese Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies and the local government implicit short-term debt financed by local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) in 31 provinces, this paper shows that local government debt (LGD) negatively affects corporate R&D investment in China, thereby suggesting a strong crowding-out effect. The crowding-out effect is more pronounced when the firm is a non-state-owned enterprise (NSOE), the firm’s size is small, the firm’s age is young, or the firm is in the lower market competition. This paper provide evidence by interacting the terms that local government actions, such as consumption of fiscal resources, strengthening tax collection efforts, or consumption of credit resources, might partially account for the crowding-out effect. This study illustrates the innovation costs of local government debt.
Examining the link between information and communication technologies and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Adam Ibrahim Osman , Dzang Alhassan Muftawu
Published: November 2021

This study examines the empirical link between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 143 countries for 2016. The adoption of the 2030 agenda of the SDGs has prompted the creation of research streams across disciplines, including the information systems discipline. Despite these, extant literature since the adoption of the SDGs has sought to highlight the importance of ICTs in achieving the 2030 milestones. Whilst many of these studies proffer the ICT–SDG linkage, there is no empirical evidence that examines this linkage. This study draws on archival data and structural equation modelling to empirically show the relationship between ICTs and the SDGs, on one hand, and the mediating role of human development, on the other. Our findings show that there is a direct significant relationship between ICTs and the SDGs and that investment in ICTs will significantly accelerate the achievement of the 2030 targets of the SDGs. Further, human development plays a significant mediating role in this relationship. The policy implications are discussed.