bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
UMUR SIMPAN SAMBAL PARI (Dasyatis Sp.) ASAP YANG DIKEMAS JAR PADA BEBERAPA CARA PEMASAKAN DENGAN METODE PENDUGAAN ACCELERATED SHELF-LIFE TESTING (ASLT)
Authors: Affandi Dian Rachmawanti , Sanjaya Adhitya Pitara , Mardiana Santi Rahma
Published: August 2020

Penambahan ikan pari asap pada pembuatan sambal dapat menjadi alternatif pengolahan ikan pari asap dan menghasilkan sambal dengan cita rasa khas. Selama penyimpanan, sambal mengalami penurunan mutu secara mikrobiologi serta menyebabkan perubahan aroma dan timbulnya asam pada sambal sehingga produk ditolak oleh konsumen. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh variasi cara kualitas sensoris, kimiawi, dan mikrobiologis sambal ikan pari asap kemasan jar kaca selama penyimpanan, umur simpan sambal, serta menentukan cara pemasakan untuk memperpanjang umur simpan sambal. Pengemasan menggunakan jar kaca dan variasi cara pemasakan pada sambal ikan pari asap dilakukan untuk mencegah penurunan mutu. Variasi cara pemasakan yang dilakukan yaitu pemasakan kering (P1), pemasakan setengah kering (P2), dan pemasakan kering dengan penambahan minyak setelah pemasakan (P3). Selanjutnya, untuk memenuhi standar keamanan pangan dan sebagai jaminan mutu dilakukan pendugaan umur simpan sambal ikan pari asap menggunakan metode ASLT model Arrhenius yang memiliki waktu pengujian relatif singkat dengan ketepatan dan akurasi tinggi.  Parameter yang diuji adalah sensoris aroma, total asam tertitrasi (TAT), dan total plate count (TPC). Penurunan mutu sambal diamati pada penyimpanan suhu 35˚C, 45˚C dan 55˚C selama 48 jam dengan waktu pengamatan setiap 12 jam sekali. Berdasarkan hasil peneli tian, tiga variasi cara pemasakan sambal ikan pari asap memiliki penurunan mutu yang berbeda-beda selama penyimpanan. Umur simpan sambal ikan pari asap kemasan jar kaca menurut parameter kritis TAT pada cara pemasakan kering (P1) pada suhu 30˚C adalah 165,95 jam. Pada variasi pemasakan setengah kering (P2), umur simpan sambal pada suhu 30˚C adalah 155,04 jam. Pada variasi pemasakan kering dengan penambahan minyak (P3), umur simpan sambal pada suhu 30˚C adalah 197,96 jam. Variasi pemasakan kering dengan penambahan minyak goreng setelah pemasakan merupakan cara terbaik untuk memperpanjang umur simpan sambal ikan pari asap kemasan jar kaca.

 

 
EVALUASI PROGRAM PENDIDIKAN KARAKTER BERBASIS REVOLUSI MENTAL SEKOLAH MENENGAH PERTAMA DI KABUPATEN SUMBAWA
Authors: Hartono Roni
Published: August 2020

Tujuan dalam penelitian ini adalah untuk ; melihat Sejauh mana peran agama dan peran lingkungan dalam pendidikan karakter di sekolah menengah pertama di Kabupaten Sumbawa. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah model evaluasi dengan menggunakan analisis korelasi kedua variabel yaitu agama dan lingkungan. Data penelitian diperoleh dari instrumen agama dan lingkungan yang uji validitasnya menggunakan validitas tampang dan validitas faktor dengan Eksplanatory Faktor Analisis. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan data pendidikan karakter berbasis lingkungan adalah 3,64 yang berarti pendidikan karakter berbasis lingkungan berada dalam kategori baik. Hasil analisis data instrumen pendidikan karakter berbasis agama adalah 3,24 yang berarti pendidikan karakter berbasis lingkungan berada dalam kategori baik. hasil uji korelasi antara kedua variabel bernilai positif dengan nilai korelasi sebesar 0,221 dengan sig. (p hitung) = 0,0001 atau p<0,05 yang berarti hubungan yang terjadi antara kedua variabel bersifat signifikan.
APPLYING RASCH MODEL TO MEASURE STUDENTS` READING COMPREHENSION
Authors: Pratama Dinar , Husnayaini Ihda
Published: August 2020

There have been studies suggesting that students' reading comprehension in English subject is influenced by the accuracy of teaching strategy use. The use of appropriate teaching strategies is required to accommodate the diversity of students' abilities. Therefore, measurements are needed to provide actual information about students' abilities. This study aims to examine the levels of students' reading comprehension by using RASCH model. The subjects of this study were8th grade students, totaling 200 responses on the teacher's reading comprehension test with five alternative responses. The data analysis used was the Rasch 1 parameter model consisting of person reliability, item-person distribution maps, and item-person suitability. The findings of this study indicated that the average reading comprehension ability of students was included in the high category with a value (Meanperson) of 1.29 logits above the average level of difficulty of the test items (Meanitem) of 0. Further research is expected to be conducted to prove whether the addition of test items affect the value of person reliability.
THE APPLICATION-BASED ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONS ITEM QUALITY IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Authors: Rabiatul Adawiah
Published: August 2020

The activity of analyzing the items is one of the obligations for each teacher in an effort to improve the quality of the questions. However, for Civics Education teachers, this has never been done especially for questions created by the Subject Teachers' Consultation which are used for the end-semester assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of the questions based on distinguishing feature, level of difficulty, and effectiveness of the distractor. This study is an evaluation study of 50 items of  Civics Education Subject test in Banjarmasin, totaling 50 questions in the form of multiple choice questions at the end-semester test, academic year 2019/2020. The data collected are in the form of: (1) final exams question sheet, (2) question answer key sheet, and (3) students’ answer sheet. All data is obtained by documentation techniques. Data analysis uses the AnBuso version 8.0 application. The criteria for determining the quality of items are: (a) questions are considered good if the distinguishing feature is good/good enough, the level of difficulty is medium and all alternative answers are effective, (b) revision of alternative answers, if the distinguishing feature is good/good enough and the level of difficulty is medium, but the alternative there are ineffective answers, (c) good enough, if the distinguishing feature is good/good enough but the level of difficulty is easy/difficult, and (d) not good, if the distinguishing feature is not good.  The results of this study indicate that the questions used for the end-semester test at Junior High School in Banjarmasin are 50 % of poor quality.
Memberdayakan Anak Autis Sebagai Amanah Tuhan : Kajian Psikologi Lintas Budaya dengan Metode Client Centered
Authors: Saliyo Saliyo
Published: August 2020

This article was written aims to determine the proper empower method in children with autism. A surrogate child of God. Every child was born nothing is the same. No child is born with perfect physically, mentally. The other hand also children born to experience abnormality or disability. Whatever the situation of children who are born in the world, parents are obliged to maintain and empower. The goal as the provision of the future life of the child as an adult.
Abnormality across studies in cross-cultural psychology studies. There is a difference of meaning in a place or state defines the abnormality. The basis of the difference gives meaning to the abnormality is due to cultural background. One part of abnormality or disability is a child with autism. An autistic child have outstanding advantages. Among these advantages is his
intelligence. The other hand of autistic children also who experienced below-average intelligence. To achieve the a happy life of autistic children need education. One method is right for empowering children with autism are client centered method.
The correlative behavior of sandbars and shoreline along Sulina – Sf. Gheorghe beaches (Danube Delta Coast)
Authors: TĂTUI Florin
Published: August 2020

Longshore sandbars along wave-dominated sandy beaches are important for beach-dune system protection during storms. Our analysis is based on 6 years of seasonal and annual bathymetric surveys along 16 km of erosive, stable and accumulative low-lying non-tidal beaches northward of Sf. Gheorghe arm mouth (Danube Delta – Romanian Black Sea coast). Our results show significant correlations established between longshore sandbar crest positions and morphology with more intense coupling between the inner and outer sandbar sub-systems during high-energy conditions and more frequent along the northern erosive sector in comparison with the southern/central accumulative/stable ones. There is a good connection between the long-term shoreline mobility and sandbars offshore migration rates along different sectors of the study area, with faster sandbars movement and shorter cycle return periods along the northern erosive sector in comparison with the central (stable) and southern (accretionary) sectors. The longshore variations of the nearshore slope are the main driver of the relationship between long-term sandbars dynamics and shoreline variability along the study site.
Aerobic exercise capacity is maintained over a 5-year period in mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease: A longitudinal study
Authors: Wallin Helena , Jansson Eva , Wallquist Carin , Rössner Britta Hylander , Jacobson Stefan H , Rickenlund Anette , Eriksson Maria J
Published: August 2020

Background: Aerobic exercise capacity is reduced in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD), but little is known about the magnitude of changes in exercise capacity over time. Our main hypothesis was that aerobic ExCap would decline over 5 years in individuals with mild-to-moderate CKD along with a decline in renal function. A secondary hypothesis was that such a decline in ExCap would be associated with a decline in muscle strength, cardiovascular function and physical activity. Methods: We performed a 5-year-prospective study on individuals with mild-to-moderate CKD, who were closely monitored at a nephrology clinic. Fiftytwo individuals with CKD stage 2–3 and 54 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included. Peak workload was assessed through a maximal cycle exercise test. Muscle strength and lean body mass, cardiac function, vascular stiffness, self-reported physical activity level, renal function and haemoglobin level were evaluated. Tests were repeated after 5 years. Statistical analysis of longitudinal data was performed using linear mixed models.Results: Exercise capacity did not change significantly over time in either the CKD group or controls, although the absolute workloads were significantly lower in the CKD group. Only in a CKD subgroup reporting low physical activity at baseline, exercise capacity declined. Renal function decreased in both groups, with a faster decline in CKD (p = 0.05 between groups). Peak heart rate, haemoglobin level, handgrip strength, lean body mass and cardiovascular function did not decrease significantly over time in CKD individuals. Conclusions: On a group level, aerobic exercise capacity and peak heart rate were maintained over 5 years in patients with well-controlled mild-to-moderate CKD, despite a slight reduction in glomerular filtration rate, mirroring the lack of progression of cardiovascular and muscular dysfunction in this group. In patients with mild-to-moderate CKD, physical activity level at baseline seems to have a predictive value for exercise capacity at follow-up.
Evaluating effectiveness of screening house eaves as a potential intervention for reducing indoor vector densities and malaria prevalence in Nyabondo, western Kenya .
Authors: NG'ANG'A PETER N. , Okoyo Collins , Mbogo Charles , Mutero Clifford Maina
Published: August 2020

Background: Mosquito-proofing of houses using wire mesh screens is gaining greater recognition as a practical intervention for reducing exposure to malaria transmitting mosquitoes. Screening potentially protects all persons sleeping inside the house against transmission of mosquito-borne diseases indoors. The study assessed the effectiveness of house eaves screening in reducing indoor vector densities and malaria prevalence in Nyabondo, western Kenya. Methods: 160 houses were selected for the study, with half of them randomly chosen for eaves screening with fibre-glass coated wire mesh (experimental group) and the other half left without screening (control group). Randomization was carried out by use of computer-generated list in permuted blocks of ten houses and 16 village blocks, with half of them allocated treatment in a ratio of 1:1. Cross-sectional baseline entomological and parasitological data were collected before eave screening. After baseline data collection, series of sampling of indoor adult mosquitoes were conducted once a month in each village using CDC light traps. Three cross-sectional malaria parasitological surveys were conducted at three month intervals after installation of the screens. The primary outcome measures were indoor Anopheles mosquito density and malaria parasite prevalence. Results: A total of 15,286 mosquitoes were collected over the two year period using CDC light traps in 160 houses distributed over 16 study villages (mean mosquitoes = 4.35, SD = 11.48). Of all mosquitoes collected, 2,872 (18.8%) were anophelines (2,869 An. gambiae s.l., 1 An. funestus and 2 other Anopheles spp). Overall, among An. gambiae collected, 92.6% were non-blood fed, 3.57% were blood fed and the remaining 0.47% were composed of gravid and half gravid females. More indoor adult mosquitoes were collected in the control than experimental arms of the study. Results from cross-sectional parasitological surveys showed that screened houses recorded relatively low malaria parasite prevalence rates compared to the control houses. Overall, malaria prevalence was 5.6% (95%CI: 4.2-7.5) n=1,918, with baseline prevalence rate of 6.1% (95%CI: 3.9-9.4), n=481 and 3rd follow-up survey prevalence of 3.6% (95%CI: 2.0-6.8) n=494. At all the three parasitological follow-up survey points, house screening significantly reduced the malaria prevalence by 100% (p<0.001), 63.6% (p=0.026), and 100% (p<0.001) in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd follow-up surveys respectively.Conclusions: The study demonstrated that house eave screening has potential to reduce indoor vector densities and malaria prevalence in high transmission areas.
Hepcidin and GDF-15 are potential biomarkers of Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in South Africa
Authors: Nalada Aishatu Muhammad , Olorunfemi Gbenga , Dix-Peek Therese , Dickens Caroline , Khambule Lungile , Snyman Tracy , Paget Graham , Mahlangu Johnny , Duarte Raquel , George Jaya , Naicker Saraladevi
Published: August 2020

Background Anaemia is a common presenting feature among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and it is associated with poor clinical outcomes and quality of life. It is not clear if growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) or hepcidin are useful as early markers of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) among non-dialysis CKD patients. We therefore evaluated the diagnostic validity of GDF-15 and hepcidin as biomarkers of IDA among non-dialysis CKD patients in Johannesburg, South Africa. Method An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among non-dialysis CKD patients (n=312) and apparently healthy controls (n=184) from June to December 2016 at an Academic Hospital, in Johannesburg, South Africa. An interviewer administered proforma was used to obtain the Socio-biological and clinical characteristics of the participants. Serum levels of GDF-15 and hepcidin were determined Predictive logistic regression models were built and post estimation receiver operator characteristics was determined to evaluate diagnostic validity of hepcidin and GDF-15 for absolute and functional iron deficiency anaemia. Results About half (50.6%) of the participants were female while the participants’ mean age was 49.7 ±15.8 years. The predictive value of diagnosing absolute IDA among CKD patients using GDF-15 was 74.02% (95% CI: 67.62% - 80.42%) while the predictive value of diagnosing functional IDA among CKD patients using hepcidin was 70.1% (95% CI: 62.79% - 77.49%).There was a weak negative correlation between hepcidin levels and GFR (r=-0.19, p=0.04) in anaemic CKD patients, and between serum GDF-15 and haemoglobin (r=-0.34, p=0.001). Serum ferritin (β=0.00389, P-value<0.001), was a predictor of log hepcidin. MCHC (β= -0.0220, P-value 0.005) and CKD stage (β=0.4761, P-value <0.001), race (β = 0.3429, P-value = 0.018) were predictors of log GDF-15. Both GDF-15 (adj OR: 1.0003, 95%CI: 1.0001 – 1.0005, P=0.017) and hepcidin (adj OR: 1.003, 95%CI: 1.0004 – 1.0055, P=0.023) were associated with iron deficiency anaemia after multiple linear regression modelling.Conclusion Serum GDF-15 is a potential biomarker of absolute IDA, while hepcidin levels can predict functional IDA among CKD patients.
Molecular epidemiological surveillance of Africa and Asia imported malaria in Wuhan, Central China: comparison of diagnostic tools during 2011–2018
Authors: Xie Yiting , Wu Kai , Cheng Weijia , Jiang Tingting , Yao Yi , Xu Mingxing , Yang Yan , Tan Huabing , Li Jian
Published: August 2020

Background
Malaria remains a serious public health problem globally. As the elimination of indigenous malaria continues in China, imported malaria has gradually become a major health hazard. Well-timed and accurate diagnoses could support the timely implementation of therapeutic schedules, reveal the prevalence of imported malaria and avoid transmission of the disease.
Methods
Blood samples were collected in Wuhan, China, from August 2011 to December 2018. All patients accepted microscopy and rapid diagnosis test (RDT) examinations. Subsequently, each of the positive or suspected positive cases was tested for four human-infectious Plasmodium species by using 18S rRNA-based nested PCR and Taqman probe-based real-time PCR. The results of the microscopy and the two molecular diagnostic methods were analysed. Importation origins were traced by country, and the prevalence of Plasmodium species was analysed by year.
Results
A total of 296 blood samples, including 288 that were microscopy and RDT positive, 7 RDT and Plasmodium falciparum positive, and 1 suspected case, were collected and reanalysed. After application of the two molecular methods and sequencing, 291 cases including 245 P. falciparum, 15 Plasmodium vivax, 20 Plasmodium ovale, 6 Plasmodium malariae and 5 mixed infections (3 P. falciparum + P. ovale, 2 P. vivax + P. ovale) were confirmed. These patients had returned from Africa (95.53%) and Asia (4.47%). Although the prevalence displayed a small-scale fluctuation, the overall trend of the imported cases increased yearly.
Conclusions
These results emphasize the necessity of combined utilization of the four tools for malaria diagnosis in clinic and in field surveys of potential risk regions worldwide including Wuhan.
Latent-space embedding of expression data identifies gene signatures from sputum samples of asthmatic patients
Authors: LOU Shaoke , Li Tianxiao , Spakowicz Daniel , Yan Xiting , Chupp Geoffrey Lowell , Gerstein Mark
Published: August 2020

Background: The pathogenesis of asthma is a complex process involving multiple genes and pathways. Identifying biomarkers from asthma datasets, especially those that include heterogeneous subpopulations, is challenging. Potentially, autoencoders provide ideal frameworks for such tasks as they can embed complex, noisy high-dimensional gene expression data into a low-dimensional latent space in an unsupervised fashion, enabling us to extract distinguishing features from expression data.Results: Here, we developed a framework combining a denoising autoencoder and a supervised learning classifier to identify gene signatures related to asthma severity. Using the trained autoencoder with 50 hidden units, we found that hierarchical clustering on the low-dimensional embedding corresponds well with previously defined and clinically relevant clusters of patients. Moreover, each hidden unit has contributions from each of the genes, and pathway analysis of these contributions shows that the hidden units are significantly enriched in known asthma-related pathways. We then used genes that contribute most to the hidden units to develop a secondary random-forest classifier for directly predicting asthma severity. The feature importance metric from this classifier identified a signature based on 50 key genes, which are associated with severity. Furthermore, we can use these key genes to successfully estimate FEV1/FVC ratios across patients, via support-vector-machine regression. Conclusion: We found that the denoising autoencoder framework can extract meaningful patterns corresponding to functional gene groups and patient clusters from the gene expression of asthma patients.
Differential metabolism -associated gene expression of duck pancreatic cells in response to two subtype s of duck hepatitis A virus type 1
Authors: SHI Shaohua , CHEN Zhen , HUANG Yu , HUANG Cuiqin , LIU Rongchang , CHENG Longfei , FU Guanghua , CHEN Hongmei , WAN Chunhe , FU Qiuling
Published: August 2020

Background: Duck hepatitis A virus type 1 (DHAV-1) causes a highly contagious disease in domestic ducklings, which is traditionally characterized by lesions in the liver and rarely in the pancreas. However, several outbreaks of DHAV-1, which were characterized by yellow coloration and hemorrhage in pancreatic tissues, have occurred in China. Genomic sequencing indicated variation rates of 3.4-6.5% in the genome of the novel DHAV-1 compared with those of DHAV-1. The antigenic relationship between the novel DHAV-1 and DHAV-1 indicated large variation. Therefore, the novel DHAV-1 was named as DHAV-1 subtype (DHAV-1s). However, the mechanism involved in infection of DHAV-1s is still unclear. Results: In the present study, transcriptome analysis of duck pancreas infected with DHAV-1 and DHAV-1s was carried out. Following deep sequencing with Illumina-Solexa, a total of 53.9 Gb clean data were obtained from the cDNA library of the pancreas and a total of 29,597 unigenes with an average length of 993.43 bp were generated following de novo sequence assembly. The expression levels of D-3-phosphoglyceratedehydrogenase, phosphoserine aminotransferase, phosphoserine phosphatase, which are involved in glycine, serine and threonine metabolism pathway, were significantly downregulated in the DHAV-1s-infected group compared with those of the DHAV-1-infected group.Conclusion: These findings provide information regarding differential expression levels of metabolism-associated genes between the novel DHAV-1s and DHAV-1, indicating that intensive metabolism disorders may contribute to different phenotypes of DHAV-1-infection.
Informing urban climate planning with high resolution data: the Hestia fossil fuel CO2 emissions for Baltimore, Maryland
Authors: Roest Geoffrey Scott , Gurney Kevin R , Miller Scot M , Liang Jianming
Published: August 2020

Background: Cities contribute more than 70% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and are leading the effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through sustainable planning and development. However, urban greenhouse gas mitigation often relies on self-reported emissions estimates that may be incomplete and unverifiable via atmospheric monitoring of GHGs. We present the Hestia Scope 1 fossil fuel CO2 (FFCO2) emissions for the city of Baltimore, Maryland – a gridded annual and hourly emissions data product for 2010 through 2015 (Hestia-Baltimore v1.6). We also compare the Hestia-Baltimore emissions to overlapping Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions in Baltimore’s self-reported inventory for 2014. Results: The Hestia-Baltimore emissions in 2014 totaled 1487.3 kt C (95% confidence interval of 1,158.9 – 1,944.9 kt C), with the largest emissions coming from onroad (34.2% of total city emissions), commercial (19.9%), residential (19.0%), and industrial (11.8%) sectors. Scope 1 electricity production and marine shipping were each generally less than 10% of the city’s total emissions. Baltimore’s self-reported Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions included onroad, natural gas consumption in buildings, and some electricity generating facilities within city limits. The self-reported Scope 1 FFCO2 total of 1,182.6 kt C was similar to the sum of matching emission sectors and fuels in Hestia-Baltimore v1.6. However, 20.5% of Hestia-Baltimore’s emissions were in sectors and fuels that were not included in the self-reported inventory. Petroleum use in buildings were omitted and all Scope 1 emissions from industrial point sources, marine shipping, nonroad vehicles, rail, and aircraft were categorically excluded.Conclusions: The omission of petroleum combustion in buildings and categorical exclusions of several sectors resulted in an underestimate of total Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions in Baltimore’s self-reported inventory. Accurate Scope 1 FFCO2 emissions, along with Scope 2 and 3 emissions, are needed to inform effective urban policymaking for system-wide GHG mitigation. We emphasize the need for comprehensive Scope 1 emissions estimates for emissions verification and measuring progress towards Scope 1 GHG mitigation goals using atmospheric monitoring.
Evaluation of the liver function by the liver parenchyma, spleen and portal vein signal intensity during the hepatobiliary phase in Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI
Authors: Yang Ming , Zhang Yue , Zhao Wenlu , Cheng Wen , Wang Han , Guo Shengren
Published: August 2020

Background: Previous studies used the signal intensity (SI) to reflect liver function. However, there are still few studies on the assessment of liver function via the portal vein, and no study has pointed out that in terms of SI (liver, spleen, portal vein), which one can better reflect liver function. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate whether these parameters can be used to evaluate liver function in patients with cirrhosis and determine which parameter is best.Methods: A total of 120 patients with normal livers (n = 41) or Child–Pugh class A (n = 50), B (n = 21) or C (n = 8) disease who underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI were retrospectively reviewed. Comparisons of the SI of the liver parenchyma, portal vein, and spleen and liver-to-portal vein (LPC), liver-to-spleen (LSC), and portal vein-to-spleen (PSC) contrast ratios on the 15-min hepatobiliary phase images were performed among groups, and the correlations among liver function parameters (total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, albumin, creatinine, platelet count, prothrombin time and international normalized ratio), liver function scores and MRI date were also quantitatively analyzed.Results: Significant differences were observed in the SI of the liver parenchyma, LPC and LSC among groups. These values all decreased gradually from normal livers to Child–Pugh class C cirrhotic livers (P < 0.001). The SI of the portal vein constantly and slightly increased from normal livers to Child–Pugh class C cirrhotic livers, but there were no differences among groups in portal vein signal and PSC (P > 0.05). LPC had a stronger correlation with Child-Pugh score and MELD score than LSC and liver parenchyma SI. The order of the AUCs of these parameters, from largest to smallest, was as follows: LPC, LSC, and liver parenchyma SI (P > 0.05).Conclusion: Liver parenchyma SI, LSC and LPC may be used as alternative imaging biomarkers for assessing liver function, while the portal vein signal and PSC could not reflect liver function. Furthermore, LPC values can more effectively distinguish severity among patients with cirrhosis than liver parenchyma SI and LSC.
Vibroarthrographic analysis of patellofemoral joint arthrokinematics during squats with increasing external loads
Authors: Ołowiana Ewelina , Selkow Noelle , Laudner Kevin , Puciato Daniel , Bączkowicz Dawid
Published: August 2020

Background: The patellofemoral joint (PFJ) provides extremely low kinetic friction, which results in optimal arthrokinematic motion quality. Previous research showed that these friction-reducing properties may be diminished due to the increase in articular contact forces. However, this phenomenon has not been analyzed in vivo during functional daily-living activities. The aim of this study was the vibroarthrographic assessment of changes in PFJ arthrokinematics during squats with variated loads.Methods: 114 knees from 57 asymptomatic subjects (23 females and 34 males) whose ages ranged from 19 to 26 years were enrolled in this study. Participants were asked to perform 3 trials: 4 repetitions of bodyweight squats (L0), 4 repetitions of 10 kg barbell back loaded squats (L10), 4 repetitions of 20 kg barbell back loaded squats (L20). During the unloaded and loaded (L10, L20) squats, vibroarthrographic signals were collected using an accelerometer placed on the patella and were described by the following parameters: variation of mean square (VMS), mean range (R4), and power spectral density for frequency of 50-250 Hz (P1) and 250-450 Hz (P2).Results: Obtained results showed that the lowest values were noted in the unloaded condition and that the increased applied loads had a significant concomitant increase in all the aforementioned parameters bilaterally (p<0.05).Conclusion: This phenomenon indicates that the application of increasing knee loads during squats corresponds to higher intensity of vibroacoustic emission, which might be related to higher contact stress and kinetic friction as well as diminished arthrokinematic motion quality.
A qualitative study of perceived barriers to hepatitis C care among people who did not attend appointments in the non-urban U.S. South
Authors: Sherbuk Jacqueline , Tabackman Alexa , McManus Kathleen A , Knick Terry , Schexnayder Julie , Flickinger Tabor E , Dillingham Rebecca
Published: August 2020

Background: Most people diagnosed with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) have not linked to care, despite the availability of safe and effective treatment. We aimed to understand why people diagnosed with HCV have not pursued care in the non-urban southern United States. Methods: We conducted a survey and semi-structured interview with participants referred to an HCV clinic who did not attend an appointment between 2014 and 2018. Our clinic is located in a non-urban region of Virginia at a university hospital. Qualitative data collection was guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM). Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis to identify key factors influencing patient perceptions regarding HCV and pursuit of care.Results: Over half of previously referred patients (N=200) could not be reached by phone. Eleven participants enrolled, including 7 men and 4 women. Based on survey responses, unreliable transportation, unstable housing, substance use, and lack of insurance were common. Participants demonstrated good knowledge of HCV disease, complications, and treatment. On qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews, final themes emerged from within and between HBM constructs. Emerging themes influencing patient perceptions included (1) structural barriers, (2) stigma, (3) prior experiences of HCV disease and treatment, (4) discordance between the recognized severity of HCV and expected impacts on one’s own health, and (5) patient-provider relationship. Substance use was not identified to be a barrier to care.Conclusions: Participants perceived individual and structural barriers to linking to care. A strong HCV knowledge base was not sufficient to motivate pursuit of care. Efforts to improve linkage to care must address barriers at multiple levels, and system-level changes are needed. As the majority of previously referred patients could not be contacted by phone, current approaches to patient engagement are not effective for reaching these populations. Expansion of HCV care to primary care settings with an established patient-provider relationship or co-located treatment within substance use treatment programs may serve to increase access to HCV treatment.
A mobile app using therapeutic exercise and education for self-management in patients with hand rheumatoid arthritis. A randomized controlled trial protocol.
Authors: Rodríguez-Sánchez-Laulhé Pablo , Luque-Romero Luis Gabriel , Blanquero Jesús , Suero-Pineda Alejandro , Biscarri-Carbonero Ángela , Barrero-García Francisco José , Heredia-Rizo Alberto Marcos
Published: August 2020

• Background: Therapeutic exercise is a safe and cost-effective approach to alleviate hand rheumatoid arthritis (RA) related symptoms. This study aims to investigate the differences in self-management between a smartphone app (CareHand), using hand exercises and educational advices, compared with a standard approach, on hand overall function, pain intensity, stiffness, and grip and pinch strength in patients with hand RA.• Methods: The project is a prospective, longitudinal, superiority, randomized controlled trial. Fifty-eight participants with hand RA will be randomly assigned into an experimental group (CareHand app) or a control group (conventional treatment). Control intervention involves a paper sheet with exercises and recommendations, and the experimental group includes the use of a smartphone app, which provides individualized exercise programmes, self-management and educational strategies to promote adherence to treatment. Both intervention protocols will last for 3 months. The principal investigator will conduct an educational session at baseline for all participants. Primary outcome comprises the overall hand function, assessed with the Michigan Hand Outcome Questionnaire (MHQ). Secondary outcomes include self-reported functional ability with the Quick DASH questionnaire, self-reported pain intensity and morning stiffness using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and hand grip and pinch strength (dynamometer). Outcome measures will be collected at baseline, and at 1 month and 3-month follow-up.• Discussion: This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a telerehabilitation tool, which uses exercise and self-management strategies, compared to a conventional approach, in patients with hand RA. The smartphone app will allow to monitor the patient´s status, and to enhance patient-therapist communication. Some limitations may be related to the short follow-up duration and the lack of evaluation of psychosocial factors. Overall, this new way of promoting long-term effects in patients with a chronic rheumatic disease could be feasible and easy to implement in daily life clinical practice and current musculoskeletal care.• Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04263974. Registered 7 March 2020. Date of last update 15 April 2020. Ethics committee code: PI_RH_2018.
Availability of Essential Commodities and Related Bottlenecks for Community Health System: Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Pradhan Ami , Bogue Erin , Schreiber Benjamin , Dini Hannah Sarah , Hurkchand Hitesh , Briggs Jane , Ballard Madeleine
Published: August 2020

Background: This paper explores the extent of community-level stock-out of essential and program commodities for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) among Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), and identifies the underlying bottlenecks leading to such stock-outs.Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted of published and grey literature. 48 studies containing information on the number or percentage of CHWs or health facilities (HFs) stocked-out, or reasons for stock-outs at these levels, were included. In addition, interviews were conducted with domain experts from different organizations working on community health to identify primary reasons for stock-outs. The qualitative data regarding reasons for stock-outs were categorized under different themes, using a content analysis method. Results: 48.09% [CI 95%: 39.28 - 56.90] of the Community Health Workers and 54.76 % [CI 95%: 43.54 - 65.98] of the health facilities in SSA countries included in this study experienced stock-outs of essential commodities. A hypothesis test showed no significant difference in stock-out rates between CHWs and HFs. The most frequently cited reason for CHW stock-outs was a lack of financial resources, leading to inadequate national level stocks, affecting supply available at the last mile. Moreover, issues at HF and CHW levels in the following areas contributed to stock-outs: transportation, data and estimation of needs, human resources, and stock management and storage. These significant bottlenecks hinder the ability of CHWs to save lives.Conclusion: Stock-outs of health commodities impact almost half of CHWs, preventing effective service delivery. Many factors contribute to stock-outs, which occur at all levels of the health supply chain. A system strengthening approach is necessary to reduce CHW stock-outs. Sparse data, differing definitions of stock-outs, and inconsistent reporting metrics posed significant challenges to analyzing results from reviewed studies. Therefore, a set of standard metrics to measure the rate, period, and frequency of stock-outs in future studies is recommended.
Effects of Low Back Pain on Balance Performance in Older People: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Ge Le , Wang Chuhuai , Zhou Haohan , Yu Qiuhua , Li Xin
Published: August 2020

Background: Research suggests that individuals with low back pain (LBP) may have poorer motor control compared to their healthy counterparts; however, the sample population of almost 90% of related articles are young and middle-aged people. There is still a lack of a systematicreview about the balance performance of elderly people with low back pain. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to understand the effects of LBP on balance performance in elderly people.Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis included a comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases for full-text articles published before January 2020. Two independent reviewers screened the relevant articles, and disagreements were resolved by a third reviewer.Results: Thirteen case-control studies comparing balance performance parameters between LBP and healthy subjects and four randomised controlled studies on physical therapy to improve thebalance performance of elderly people with LBP were included. The experimental group (LBP group) was associated with significantly larger area of centre of pressure movement (P < 0.001), higher velocity of centre of pressure sway in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions(P= 0.01 and P = 0.02, respectively), longer path length in the anteroposterior direction (P < 0.001), slower walking speed (P = 0.05), and longer timed up and go test time (P = 0.004) than the control group.Conclusion: The results showed that balance performance was impaired in elderly people with LBP. We should pay more attention to the balance control of elderly people with LBP.
Theoretical study on water film area and dust removal efficiency of string grille
Authors: guo hua , Wang hai qiao , Chen shi qiang , Wu zhi rong
Published: August 2020

Breaking through the bottleneck of low resistance and high efficiency in mine exhaust dust control has been a hot issue in the industry. Aiming at the key problems of the relationship between water film area and the dust removal efficiency in wet string grille, based on the multiphase flow theory and capillary mechanics, the dimensionless bond number expression of the influence of string grille wire spacing on droplet spreading is derived. Furthermore, a liquid film formed by spreading droplets based on Kelvin correlation, young Laplace formula and Hagen Poiseuille theory, a formula for calculating the thickness and height of liquid film is established with temperature, relative humidity and molar volume of liquid phase as independent variables. According to the theory of string grille filtration and dust removal, the dust removal efficiency calculation model of string grille wire group is established between the liquid film thickness, height, wire diameter, water film area and vortex shedding frequency. Finally, the theoretical analysis of the influence of water film area on the efficiency of wet string grille dust removal is carried out based on the spray pressure and the ratio of string grille wire distance to wire diameter. It is found that the effect of spray pressure on water film area and dust removal efficiency is more significant than string grille wire distance diameter ratio. Moreover, the optimized combination of wet string grille wire distance diameter ratio 0.84,
wind speed 3m/s and spray pressure 0.8 MPa is found, which provides important reference for engineering application.
Functional Independence Measure score is associated with mortality in critically ill elderly patients admitted to an intermediate care unit.
Authors: D'Andrea Alexia , Peillet Damien Le , Fassier Thomas , Prendki Virginie , Trombert Veronique , Reny Jean-Luc , roux xavier
Published: August 2020

Background Age alone is not a robust predictor of mortality in critically ill elderly patients. Chronic health status and functional status before admission could be better predictors. This study aimed to determine whether functional status, assessed using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), could be an independent predictor of mortality in a geriatric population admitted to an intermediate care unit (IMCU).MethodsA monocentric, retrospective, observational study of all patients aged ≥ 75 years old admitted to Geneva University Hospitals’ geriatric IMCU between 01.01.2012 and 31.05.2016. The study’s primary outcome metrics were one-year mortality’s associations with a pre-admission FIM score and other relevant prospectively recorded prognostic variables.Results A total of 345 patients were included (56% female, mean age 85 +/- 6.5 years). Mean FIM score was 66 +/- 26. One-year mortality was 57%. Dichotomized low (≤ 63) and high FIM (> 63) scores were associated with one-year mortalities of 68% and 44%, respectively. Logistic regression calculations found an association between pre-admission FIM score and one-year mortality (p < 0.0001), including variables usually associated with mortality (e.g., age, sex, comorbidities, mini-mental health state score, renal function). Multivariate survival analysis showed a significant difference between groups, with a hazard ratio of 0.29 (95% CI: 0.13–0.65) for patients with high FIM scores.Conclusions In the present study, higher functional status, assessed using the FIM tool before admission to an IMCU, was significantly and independently associated with lower one-year mortality. This opens up perspectives on the potential value of FIM for establishing a finer prognosis and better triage of critically ill older patients.
NEMPD: A network embedding-based method for predicting miRNA-disease associations by preserving behavior and attribute information
Authors: Ji Bo-Ya , You Zhu-Hong , Chen Zhan-Heng , Wong Leon , Yi Hai-Cheng
Published: August 2020

Background: As an important non-coding RNA, microRNA (miRNA) plays a significant role in a series of life processes and is closely associated with a variety of Human diseases. Hence, identification of potential miRNA-disease associations can make great contributions to the research and treatment of Human diseases. However, to our knowledge, many existing computational methods only utilize the single type of known association information between miRNAs and diseases to predict their potential associations, without focusing on their interactions or associations with other types of molecules. Results: In this paper, we propose a network embedding-based method for predicting miRNA-disease associations by preserving behavior and attribute information. Firstly, a heterogeneous network is constructed by integrating known associations among miRNA, protein and disease, and the network representation method Learning Graph Representations with Global Structural Information (GraRep) is implemented to learn the behavior information of miRNAs and diseases in the network. Then, the behavior information of miRNAs and diseases is combined with the attribute information of them to represent miRNA-disease association pairs. Finally, the prediction model is established based on the Random Forest algorithm. Under the five-fold cross validation, the proposed NEMPD model obtained average 85.41% prediction accuracy with 80.96% sensitivity at the AUC of 91.58%. Furthermore, the performance of NEMPD is also validated by the case studies. Among the top 50 predicted disease-related miRNAs, 48 (breast neoplasms), 47 (colon neoplasms), 47 (lung neoplasms) were confirmed by two other databases.Conclusions: The proposed NEMPD model has a good performance in predicting the potential associations between miRNAs and diseases, and has great potency in the field of miRNA-disease association prediction in the future.
Impact of amount of straw on pig and pen hygiene in partly slatted flooring systems
Authors: Wallgren Torun , Lundeheim Nils , Gunnarsson Stefan
Published: August 2020

Background: Straw is a beneficial enrichment material for pigs, shown to improve welfare through reducing tail biting. Straw has previously been identified as one of the means of how to raise pigs without tail docking, through improving natural exploratory behaviour. Straw has however been linked to poor pen hygiene, making farmers reluctant to use straw and has largely not been implemented in commercial farming worldwide. Straw is a beneficial enrichment material for pigs, shown to improve welfare and reduce abnormal behaviour such as tail biting. Results: This study investigates the impact of straw on pig and pen hygiene in pens with partly slatted floor in three grower and four finishing pig batches on five commercial farms (2329 pigs, 211 pens) in Sweden which were providing straw daily. Each batch was divided into two treatments; Control: 50-600g straw/pen/day based on the farm normal straw ration; and Extra straw; (=doubled Control ration). The pens were scored based on cleanliness of the pigs, solid and slatted pen floor every second week. The pig and pen hygiene were mostly scored as clean in both treatments, overall around 1% of the observations were considered dirty/soiled.Conclusions: As very few pens or pigs were considered dirty, it was concluded that straw provision is possible without risking poor pig and pen hygiene. Few observations in this study were considered dirty regardless of amount of straw that was provided, and had likely to do with other factors in the production rather than straw ration. These results implies that straw could be used in partly slatted pens in order to improve pig environment but more research is needed to quantify the impact of other external factors related to climate (e.g. temperature, humidity, velocity).