bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Combining Wearable Devices and Mobile Surveys to Study Child and Youth Development in Malawi: Implementation Study of a Multimodal Approach
Authors: Leal Neto Onicio , Haenni Simon , Phuka John , Ozella Laura , Paolotti Daniela , Cattuto Ciro , Robles Daniel , Lichand Guilherme
Published: February 2021

Background

Multimodal approaches have been shown to be a promising way to collect data on child development at high frequency, combining different data inputs (from phone surveys to signals from noninvasive biomarkers) to understand children’s health and development outcomes more integrally from multiple perspectives.

Objective

The aim of this work was to describe an implementation study using a multimodal approach combining noninvasive biomarkers, social contact patterns, mobile surveying, and face-to-face interviews in order to validate technologies that help us better understand child development in poor countries at a high frequency.

Methods

We carried out a mixed study based on a transversal descriptive analysis and a longitudinal prospective analysis in Malawi. In each village, children were sampled to participate in weekly sessions in which data signals were collected through wearable devices (electrocardiography [ECG] hand pads and electroencephalography [EEG] headbands). Additionally, wearable proximity sensors to elicit the social network were deployed among children and their caregivers. Mobile surveys using interactive voice response calls were also used as an additional layer of data collection. An end-line face-to-face survey was conducted at the end of the study.

Results

During the implementation, 82 EEG/ECG data entry points were collected across four villages. The sampled children for EEG/ECG were 0 to 5 years old. EEG/ECG data were collected once a week. In every session, children wore the EEG headband for 5 minutes and the ECG hand pad for 3 minutes. In total, 3531 calls were sent over 5 weeks, with 2291 participants picking up the calls and 984 of those answering the consent question. In total, 585 people completed the surveys over the course of 5 weeks.

Conclusions

This study achieved its objective of demonstrating the feasibility of generating data through the unprecedented use of a multimodal approach for tracking child development in Malawi, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Above and beyond its multiple dimensions, the dynamics of child development are complex. It is the case not only that no data stream in isolation can accurately characterize it, but also that even if combined, infrequent data might miss critical inflection points and interactions between different conditions and behaviors. In turn, combining different modes at a sufficiently high frequency allows researchers to make progress by considering contact patterns, reported symptoms and behaviors, and critical biomarkers all at once. This application showcases that even in developing countries facing multiple constraints, complementary technologies can leverage and accelerate the digitalization of health, bringing benefits to populations that lack new tools for understanding child well-being and development.
Accuracy and Monitoring of Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) Scores Prior to Emergent Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Transfer: Retrospective Analysis
Authors: Kowalski Rebecca L , Lee Laura , Spaeder Michael C , Moorman J Randall , Keim-Malpass Jessica
Published: February 2021

Background

Current approaches to early detection of clinical deterioration in children have relied on intermittent track-and-trigger warning scores such as the Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) that rely on periodic assessment and vital sign entry. There are limited data on the utility of these scores prior to events of decompensation leading to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) transfer.

Objective

The purpose of our study was to determine the accuracy of recorded PEWS scores, assess clinical reasons for transfer, and describe the monitoring practices prior to PICU transfer involving acute decompensation.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients ≤21 years of age transferred emergently from the acute care pediatric floor to the PICU due to clinical deterioration over an 8-year period. Clinical charts were abstracted to (1) determine the clinical reason for transfer, (2) quantify the frequency of physiological monitoring prior to transfer, and (3) assess the timing and accuracy of the PEWS scores 24 hours prior to transfer.

Results

During the 8-year period, 72 children and adolescents had an emergent PICU transfer due to clinical deterioration, most often due to acute respiratory distress. Only 35% (25/72) of the sample was on continuous telemetry or pulse oximetry monitoring prior to the transfer event, and 47% (34/72) had at least one incorrectly documented PEWS score in the 24 hours prior to the event, with a score underreporting the actual severity of illness.

Conclusions

This analysis provides support for the routine assessment of clinical deterioration and advocates for more research focused on the use and utility of continuous cardiorespiratory monitoring for patients at risk for emergent transfer.
The Relationship Between Individual Coping and the Need to Have and Seek Health Information Among Older Adults: Exploratory Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)
Authors: Theis Sabine , Schäfer Katharina , Schäfer Dajana , Jochems Nicole , Nitsch Verena , Mertens Alexander
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

The need to have and seek information shapes the context of computing systems. When it comes to health, individual coping influences human behavior. Therefore, the relationship between individual coping and the need to have and seek health information plays a crucial role in the development of digital health systems.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to examine the relationship between individual coping and the need to have and seek health information among older adults.

METHODS

Questionnaires and semistructured interviews investigated the health information need (HIN) and health information–seeking behavior (HISB) in relation to the individual coping strategies of 26 older Germans.

RESULTS

The mean age of the interviewed group was 71 years (SD 7). Quantitatively, a trend was found for a negative correlation between the avoidance-oriented coping and HIN (rs=−0.37895; bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap 95% BCa CI −0.730 to 0.092; P=.05). The qualitative results supported this finding. For some participants, information and exchange was part of dealing with their health situation, whereas others wanted to learn as little as possible to avoid a decline in their health status. The older adults acquired, collected, and exchanged paper-based health data to augment clinical information sources and support information exchange with professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

Individual coping strategies are relevant for the design of digital health systems. They can support older adults in coping with their health situation, although it remains unclear how systems must be designed for people with an avoidance coping strategy to achieve the same acceptance.
Experiences of Young People and Their Caregivers of Using Technology to Manage Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Systematic Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis (Preprint)
Authors: Brew-Sam Nicola , Chhabra Madhur , Parkinson Anne , Hannan Kristal , Brown Ellen , Pedley Lachlan , Brown Karen , Wright Kristine , Pedley Elizabeth , Nolan Christopher J , Phillips Christine , Suominen Hanna , Tricoli Antonio , Desborough Jane
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

In the last decade, diabetes management has begun to transition to technology-based care, with young people being the focus of many technological advances. Yet, detailed insights into the experiences of young people and their caregivers of using technology to manage type 1 diabetes mellitus are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of our study was to describe the breadth of experiences and perspectives on diabetes technology use among children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their caregivers.

METHODS

This systematic literature review used integrated thematic analysis to guide a narrative synthesis of the included studies. We analyzed the perspectives and experiences of young people with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their caregivers reported in qualitative studies, quantitative descriptive studies, and studies with a mixed methods design.

RESULTS

Seventeen articles met the inclusion criteria, and they included studies on insulin pump, glucose sensors, and remote monitoring systems. The following eight themes were derived from the analysis: (1) expectations of the technology prior to use, (2) perceived impact on sleep and overnight experiences, (3) experiences with alarms, (4) impact on independence and relationships, (5) perceived usage impact on blood glucose control, (6) device design and features, (7) financial cost, and (8) user satisfaction. While many advantages of using diabetes technology were reported, several challenges for its use were also reported, such as cost, the size and visibility of devices, and the intrusiveness of alarms, which drew attention to the fact that the user had type 1 diabetes mellitus. Continued use of diabetes technology was underpinned by its benefits outweighing its challenges, especially among younger people.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetes technologies have improved the quality of life of many young people with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their caregivers. Future design needs to consider the impact of these technologies on relationships between young people and their caregivers, and the impact of device features and characteristics such as size, ease of use, and cost.
Privacy-Oriented Technique for COVID-19 Contact Tracing (PROTECT) Using Homomorphic Encryption: Design and Development Study (Preprint)
Authors: An Yongdae , Lee Seungmyung , Jung Seungwoo , Park Howard , Song Yongsoo , Ko Taehoon
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

Various techniques are used to support contact tracing, which has been shown to be highly effective against the COVID-19 pandemic. To apply the technology, either quarantine authorities should provide the location history of patients with COVID-19, or all users should provide their own location history. This inevitably exposes either the patient’s location history or the personal location history of other users. Thus, a privacy issue arises where the public good (via information release) comes in conflict with privacy exposure risks.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to develop an effective contact tracing system that does not expose the location information of the patient with COVID-19 to other users of the system, or the location information of the users to the quarantine authorities.

METHODS

We propose a new protocol called PRivacy Oriented Technique for Epidemic Contact Tracing (PROTECT) that securely shares location information of patients with users by using the Brakerski/Fan-Vercauteren homomorphic encryption scheme, along with a new, secure proximity computation method.

RESULTS

We developed a mobile app for the end-user and a web service for the quarantine authorities by applying the proposed method, and we verified their effectiveness. The proposed app and web service compute the existence of intersections between the encrypted location history of patients with COVID-19 released by the quarantine authorities and that of the user saved on the user’s local device. We also found that this contact tracing smartphone app can identify whether the user has been in contact with such patients within a reasonable time.

CONCLUSIONS

This newly developed method for contact tracing shares location information by using homomorphic encryption, without exposing the location information of patients with COVID-19 and other users. Homomorphic encryption is challenging to apply to practical issues despite its high security value. In this study, however, we have designed a system using the Brakerski/Fan-Vercauteren scheme that is applicable to a reasonable size and developed it to an operable format. The developed app and web service can help contact tracing for not only the COVID-19 pandemic but also other epidemics.

CLINICALTRIAL
Returning to a Normal Life via COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States: A Large-scale Agent-Based Simulation Study (Preprint)
Authors: Li Junjiang , Giabbanelli Philippe
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

In 2020, COVID-19 has claimed more than 300,000 deaths in the United States alone. Although nonpharmaceutical interventions were implemented by federal and state governments in the United States, these efforts have failed to contain the virus. Following the Food and Drug Administration's approval of two COVID-19 vaccines, however, the hope for the return to normalcy has been renewed. This hope rests on an unprecedented nationwide vaccine campaign, which faces many logistical challenges and is also contingent on several factors whose values are currently unknown.

OBJECTIVE

We study the effectiveness of a nationwide vaccine campaign in response to different vaccine efficacies, the willingness of the population to be vaccinated, and the daily vaccine capacity under two different federal plans. To characterize the possible outcomes most accurately, we also account for the interactions between nonpharmaceutical interventions and vaccines through 6 scenarios that capture a range of possible impacts from nonpharmaceutical interventions.

METHODS

We used large-scale, cloud-based, agent-based simulations by implementing the vaccination campaign using COVASIM, an open-source agent-based model for COVID-19 that has been used in several peer-reviewed studies and accounts for individual heterogeneity and a multiplicity of contact networks. Several modifications to the parameters and simulation logic were made to better align the model with current evidence. We chose 6 nonpharmaceutical intervention scenarios and applied the vaccination intervention following both the plan proposed by Operation Warp Speed (former Trump administration) and the plan of one million vaccines per day, proposed by the Biden administration. We accounted for unknowns in vaccine efficacies and levels of population compliance by varying both parameters. For each experiment, the cumulative infection growth was fitted to a logistic growth model, and the carrying capacities and the growth rates were recorded.

RESULTS

For both vaccination plans and all nonpharmaceutical intervention scenarios, the presence of the vaccine intervention considerably lowers the total number of infections when life returns to normal, even when the population compliance to vaccines is as low as 20%. We noted an unintended consequence; given the vaccine availability estimates under both federal plans and the focus on vaccinating individuals by age categories, a significant reduction in nonpharmaceutical interventions results in a counterintuitive situation in which higher vaccine compliance then leads to more total infections.

CONCLUSIONS

Although potent, vaccines alone cannot effectively end the pandemic given the current availability estimates and the adopted vaccination strategy. Nonpharmaceutical interventions need to continue and be enforced to ensure high compliance so that the rate of immunity established by vaccination outpaces that induced by infections.
Engaging Parents and Health Care Stakeholders to Inform Development of a Behavioral Intervention Technology to Promote Pediatric Behavioral Health: Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)
Authors: O'Dell Sean M , Fisher Heidi R , Schlieder Victoria , Klinger Tracey , Kininger Rachel L , Cosottile McKenna , Cummings Stacey , DeHart Kathy
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

Despite effective psychosocial interventions, gaps in access to care persist for youth and families in need. Behavioral intervention technologies (BITs) that apply psychosocial intervention strategies using technological features represent a modality for targeted prevention that is promising for the transformation of primary care behavioral health by empowering parents to take charge of the behavioral health care of their children. To realize the potential of BITs for parents, research is needed to understand the status quo of parental self-help and parent-provider collaboration to address behavioral health challenges and unmet parental needs that could be addressed by BITs.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to conduct foundational research with parents and health care stakeholders (HCS) to discover current practices and unmet needs related to common behavioral health challenges to inform the design, build, and testing of BITs to address these care gaps within a predominantly rural health system.

METHODS

We conducted a convergent mixed-parallel study within a large, predominantly rural health system in which the BITs will be developed and implemented. We analyzed data from parent surveys (N=385) on current practices and preferences related to behavioral health topics to be addressed in BITs along with focus group data of 48 HCS in 9 clinics regarding internal and external contextual factors contributing to unmet parental needs and current practices. By comparing and relating the findings, we formed interpretations that will inform subsequent BIT development activities.

RESULTS

Parents frequently endorsed several behavioral health topics, and several topics were relatively more or less frequently endorsed based on the child’s age. The HCS suggested that BITs may connect families with evidence-based guidance sooner and indicated that a web-based platform aligns with how parents already seek behavioral health guidance. Areas of divergence between parents and HCS were related to internalizing problems and cross-cutting issues such as parenting stress, which may be more difficult for health care HCS to detect or address because of the time constraints of routine medical visits.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide a rich understanding of the complexity involved in meeting parents’ needs for behavioral health guidance in a primary care setting using BITs. User testing studies for BIT prototypes are needed to successfully design, build, and test effective BITs to empower parents to take charge of promoting the behavioral health of their children.

CLINICALTRIAL
The Effectiveness of a Multidisciplinary Electronic Discharge Readiness Tool: Prospective, Single-Center, Pre-Post Study (Preprint)
Authors: Keniston Angela , McBeth Lauren , Pell Jonathan , Bowden Kasey , Metzger Anna , Nordhagen Jamie , Anthony Amanda , Rice John , Burden Marisha
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

In the face of hospital capacity strain, hospitals have developed multifaceted plans to try to improve patient flow. Many of these initiatives have focused on the timing of discharges and on lowering lengths of stay, and they have met with variable success. We deployed a novel tool in the electronic health record to enhance discharge communication.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a discharge communication tool.

METHODS

This was a prospective, single-center, pre-post study. Hospitalist physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) used the Discharge Today Tool to update patient discharge readiness every morning and at any time the patient status changed throughout the day. Primary outcomes were tool use, time of day the clinician entered the discharge order, time of day the patient left the hospital, and hospital length of stay. We used linear mixed modeling and generalized linear mixed modeling, with team and discharging provider included in all the models to account for patients cared for by the same team and the same provider.

RESULTS

During the pilot implementation period from March 5, 2019, to July 31, 2019, a total of 4707 patients were discharged (compared with 4558 patients discharged during the preimplementation period). A total of 352 clinical staff had used the tool, and 84.85% (3994/4707) of the patients during the pilot period had a discharge status assigned at least once. In a survey, most respondents reported that the tool was helpful (32/34, 94% of clinical staff) and either saved time or did not add additional time to their workflow (21/24, 88% of providers, and 34/34, 100% of clinical staff). Although improvements were not observed in either unadjusted or adjusted analyses, after including starting morning census per team as an effect modifier, there was a reduction in the time of day the discharge order was entered into the electronic health record by the discharging physician and in the time of day the patient left the hospital (decrease of 2.9 minutes per additional patient, P=.07, and 3 minutes per additional patient, P=.07, respectively). As an effect modifier, for teams that included an APP, there was a significant reduction in the time of day the patient left the hospital beyond the reduction seen for teams without an APP (decrease of 19.1 minutes per patient, P=.04). Finally, in the adjusted analysis, hospital length of stay decreased by an average of 3.7% (P=.06).

CONCLUSIONS

The Discharge Today tool allows for real time documentation and sharing of discharge status. Our results suggest an overall positive response by care team members and that the tool may be useful for improving discharge time and length of stay if a team is staffed with an APP or in higher-census situations.
Internet-Based Audiologist-Guided Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Tinnitus: Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)
Authors: W Beukes Eldré , Andersson Gerhard , Fagelson Marc , Manchaiah Vinaya
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

Tinnitus is a symptom that can be very distressing owing to hearing sounds not related to any external sound source. Managing tinnitus is notoriously difficult, and access to evidence-based care is limited. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a tinnitus management strategy with the most evidence of effectiveness but is rarely offered to those distressed by tinnitus. The provision of internet-based CBT for tinnitus overcomes accessibility barriers; however, it is not currently readily available in the United States.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of internet-based CBT compared with that of weekly monitoring for the management of tinnitus in reducing tinnitus distress; reducing tinnitus-related comorbidities, including tinnitus cognitions, insomnia, anxiety, and depression; and assessing the stability of the intervention effects 2 months after the intervention.

METHODS

A 2-arm randomized clinical trial comparing audiologist-guided internet-based CBT (n=79) to a weekly monitoring group (n=79) with a 2-month follow-up assessed the efficacy of internet-based CBT. Eligible participants included adults seeking help for tinnitus. Recruitment was conducted on the web using an open-access website. Participants were randomized via 1:1 allocation, but blinding was not possible. The study was undertaken by English or Spanish speakers on the web. The primary outcome was a change in tinnitus distress as measured using the Tinnitus Functional Index. Secondary outcome measures included anxiety, depression, insomnia, tinnitus cognition, hearing-related difficulties, and quality of life.

RESULTS

Internet-based CBT led to a greater reduction in tinnitus distress (mean 36.57, SD 22) compared with that in weekly monitoring (mean 46.31, SD 20.63; effect size: Cohen d=0.46, 95% CI 0.14-0.77) using an intention-to-treat analysis. For the secondary outcomes, there was a greater reduction in negative tinnitus cognition and insomnia. The results remained stable over the 2-month follow-up period. No important adverse events were observed. Further, 16% (10/158) of participants withdrew, with low overall compliance rates for questionnaire completion of 72.3% (107/148) at T1, 61% (91/148) at T2, and 42% (62/148) at T3.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first to evaluate and indicate the efficacy of audiologist-delivered internet-based CBT in reducing tinnitus distress in a US population. It was also the first study to offer internet-based CBT in Spanish to accommodate the large Hispanic population in the United States. The results have been encouraging, and further work is indicated in view of making such an intervention applicable to a wider population. Further work is required to improve compliance and attract more Spanish speakers.

CLINICALTRIAL

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04004260; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04004260
Pakistan’s Response to COVID-19: Fighting the Pandemic and Busting Myths and False Propagandas (Preprint)
Authors: Akhtar Hashaam , Afridi Maham , Ali Sabahat , Khalid Sundas , Akhtar Samar , Khader Yousef S. , Awan Sajid Mahmood , Jahangiri Shahzaib , Ikram Aamer
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

The coronavirus outbreak initiated as pneumonia caused by a novel virus in the city of Wuhan, China in late December 2019. The outbreak was declared as the sixth public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020 by the WHO and later termed as a pandemic.

OBJECTIVE

Pakistan was thought to be one of the hotspots for coronavirus spread due to it sharing borders with China, having a populace of 204.65 million, its broken healthcare infrastructure, and weak economy. we here intend to overview the measures taken by Pakistani authoraties.

METHODS

Online research methods (ORMs) were used to collect information/instructions generated date-wise by Pakistani authorities and were compared to the outcomes.

RESULTS

Even in the presence of all these problems the Pakistani government was able to tackle the problem with relatively mild repercussions

CONCLUSIONS

This short communication aims to aid in emphasizing the current situation in a nutshell and the measures taken by the Government of Pakistan along with support from general population to abate the risk of catastrophic spread of the virus.
Sharing Datasets of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Czech Republic (Preprint)
Authors: Komenda Martin , Jarkovský Jiří , Klimeš Daniel , Panoška Petr , Šanca Ondřej , Gregor Jakub , Mužík Jan , Karolyi Matěj , Májek Ondřej , Blaha Milan , Macková Barbora , Rážová Jarmila , Adámková Věra , Černý Vladimír , Blatný Jan , Dušek Ladislav
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of providing access to data plays a crucial role in providing the general public and media with up-to-date information. Open datasets also represent one of the means for evaluation of the pandemic on a global level.

OBJECTIVE

The primary aim of this paper is to describe the methodical and technical framework for publishing datasets describing basic and advanced epidemiological characteristics related to the COVID-19 epidemic in the Czech Republic, including the use of these datasets in practice.

METHODS

As a reaction to the epidemic situation, a new portal COVID‑19: Current Situation in the Czech Republic was developed and launched in March 2020 to provide a fully-fledged and trustworthy source of information for the public and media. The portal also contains a section for the publication of (i) public open datasets available for download in CSV and JSON formats and (ii) authorized-access-only section where the authorized persons can (through an online generated token) safely visualize or download regional datasets with aggregated data at the level of the individual municipalities and regions. The data are also provided to the local open data catalogue of the Ministry of Health and to the National Catalogue of Open Data.

RESULTS

The datasets have been published in various authentication regimes and widely used by general public, scientists, public authorities and decision-makers. The total number of API calls since its launch in March 2020 to 15th December 2020 exceeded 13 million. The datasets have been adopted as an official and guaranteed source for outputs of third parties, including public authorities, non-governmental organizations, scientists and online news portals.

CONCLUSIONS

Datasets currently published as open data meet the 3-star open data requirements, which makes them machine-readable and facilitates their further usage without restrictions. This is essential for making the data more easily understandable and usable for data consumers. In conjunction with the strategy of the MH in the field of data opening, additional datasets meeting the already implemented standards will be also released, both on COVID-19 related and unrelated topics.
Incidence, Trend, and Mortality of Human Exposure to Rabies in Yemen, 2011-2017: Observational Study (Preprint)
Authors: Abdulmoghni Rihana Taher , Al-Ward Ahmed Hasan , Al-Moayed Khaled Abdullah , AL-Amad Mohammed Abdullah , Khader Yousef S
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

Rabies remains a neglected and poorly controlled disease throughout the developing world, particularly in Africa and Asia, where most human rabies deaths occur.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of rabies exposures, its trend, and its geographical distribution in Yemen.

METHODS

Cumulative data from a rabies surveillance system for the period 2011-2017 were obtained from the National Rabies Control Program as paper-based annual reports. Data included the number of persons bitten by a suspected rabid animal, their gender and age, and the result of the animal’s laboratory test. Human cases were defined as those exposed to rabies virus bitten by a suspected rabid animal, exposed to a confirmed rabid animal and then received postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and deaths occurred after exposure to a confirmed rabid animal after having rabies symptoms during 2011-2017.

RESULTS

From 2011 to 2017, a total of 76,049 persons were bitten by a suspected rabid animal. Of these, 21,927 (28.83%) were exposed to positively confirmed rabid animals and then received PEP, and 295 (0.38%) rabies-related deaths occurred. Of all cases with rabies exposure, 50,882 (66.91%) were males. The most affected age group by animal bites (31,816/76,041, 41.84%), positive exposure (8945/21,927, 40.79%), and rabies deaths (143/295, 48.47%) was 5-14 years. Rabies vaccines and immunoglobulins quantities were least available in 2016 and 2017. The annual incidence rate of exposure to animal bites and rabies exposure was 50 and 14 per 100,000, respectively. The annual mortality rate was 2 per 1,000,000. The highest incidence rate of animal bites was in Dhamar (112 per 100,000) and Ibb (94 per 100,000), whereas the highest incidence of exposed cases was in Amanat Al Asimah (40 per 100,000) and Ibb (37 per 100,000). Mortality rate was the highest in Amanat Al Asimah (6 deaths per 1,000,000) followed by Ibb and Dhamar (4 deaths per 1,000,000 in both).

CONCLUSIONS

Rabies remains a worrying health problem in Yemen with higher percentage reported among children and males. Targeting school-age populations by education, communication, and information campaigns about preventive measures is strongly recommended. An electronic system should be introduced to improve reporting. It is important to have a sufficient supply of vaccines and immunoglobulins in control units, especially in the at-risk or impacted governorates. Future studies are suggested to determine incidences and risk factors of disease progression.
My Health Too: Investigating the feasibility and the acceptability of an internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy program developed for healthcare workers (Preprint)
Authors: Bureau Raven , Bemmouna Doha , Faria Clara Gitahy Falcão , Catteau Goethals Anne-Aline , Douhet Floriane , Mengin Amaury Camille , Fritsch Aurélie , Zinneti Bertschy Anna , Frey Isabelle , Weiner Luisa
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 crisis has had a considerable mental health impact on healthcare workers. High levels of psychological distress are expected to have a significant impact on healthcare systems, warranting the need for evidence-based psychological interventions targeting stress and fostering resilience in this population. Online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has proved to be effective in targeting stress and promoting resilience. However, online CBT programs targeting stress in healthcare workers are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an internet-based CBT intervention, the My Health Too program we developed during the first COVID-19 epidemic peak in France.

METHODS

We recruited 10 participants among Alsace region hospital staff during the pandemic first peak in France. They were given one week to test the website, and were then asked to answer an internet survey and a semi-structured phone interview.

RESULTS

We conducted a thematic analysis of the content from the phone interviews. Major themes were identified, discussed and coded: the technical aspects, the content of the website and its impact on participants’ emotions and everyday life. Overall, the participants reported finding the website easy to use and interactive. They described the resources as easy to understand, readily usable, and useful in inducing calm and in helping them practice self-compassion.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that the My Health Too online CBT program is highly feasible and acceptable to healthcare workers during the highly stressful times of the pandemic peak. The feedback provided helped to improve the program whose efficacy is to be tested.
Social Media Monitoring of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Influenza Epidemic With Adaptation for Informal Language in Arabic Twitter Data: Qualitative Study (Preprint)
Authors: Alsudias Lama , Rayson Paul
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

Twitter is a real-time messaging platform widely used by people and organizations to share information on many topics. Systematic monitoring of social media posts (infodemiology or infoveillance) could be useful to detect misinformation outbreaks as well as to reduce reporting lag time and to provide an independent complementary source of data compared with traditional surveillance approaches. However, such an analysis is currently not possible in the Arabic-speaking world owing to a lack of basic building blocks for research and dialectal variation.

OBJECTIVE

We collected around 4000 Arabic tweets related to COVID-19 and influenza. We cleaned and labeled the tweets relative to the Arabic Infectious Diseases Ontology, which includes nonstandard terminology, as well as 11 core concepts and 21 relations. The aim of this study was to analyze Arabic tweets to estimate their usefulness for health surveillance, understand the impact of the informal terms in the analysis, show the effect of deep learning methods in the classification process, and identify the locations where the infection is spreading.

METHODS

We applied the following multilabel classification techniques: binary relevance, classifier chains, label power set, adapted algorithm (multilabel adapted k-nearest neighbors [MLKNN]), support vector machine with naive Bayes features (NBSVM), bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT), and AraBERT (transformer-based model for Arabic language understanding) to identify tweets appearing to be from infected individuals. We also used named entity recognition to predict the place names mentioned in the tweets.

RESULTS

We achieved an F1 score of up to 88% in the influenza case study and 94% in the COVID-19 one. Adapting for nonstandard terminology and informal language helped to improve accuracy by as much as 15%, with an average improvement of 8%. Deep learning methods achieved an F1 score of up to 94% during the classifying process. Our geolocation detection algorithm had an average accuracy of 54% for predicting the location of users according to tweet content.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified two Arabic social media data sets for monitoring tweets related to influenza and COVID-19. It demonstrated the importance of including informal terms, which are regularly used by social media users, in the analysis. It also proved that BERT achieves good results when used with new terms in COVID-19 tweets. Finally, the tweet content may contain useful information to determine the location of disease spread.
The Use of Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Combined with Specific-Species Primer for Analysis of Dog Meat DNA in Meatball
Authors: Rohman Abdul , Rahayu Wiranti Sri , Sudjadi Sudjadi , Martono Sudibyo
Published: February 2021

The presence of dog meat is a crucial issue because dog meat is non-halal meat for Muslims. The objective of this study was to design and validate species-specific primer for the identification of dog meat DNA in meatball using real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR). The specific primer targeting mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) was validated. The specific primers used were designed using Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) software and subjected to NCBI BLAST procedure. The candidate primers were tested for specificity study using several DNAs from fresh meat of pork, chicken, beef, lamb, and rat. The method was also validated by determining several parameters of linearity, sensitivity, precision, and efficiency. The results showed that primer could amplify specifically DNA target at an optimized annealing temperature of 56.6 °C. The limit of detection (LoD) obtained was 5 ng DNA, corresponding to 2.5% of dog meat in a meatball. The repeatability evaluation, expressed with relative standard deviation (RSD), and efficiency value was in the acceptable range (RSD < 25% and efficiency (90–105%). This method was successfully used for the analysis of marketed samples. Real-time PCR can be used as a standard method in halal authentication analysis through DNA analysis.
Элементы китайской культуры в сказании о «Боди Мерген-хане»
Authors:   Central University for Nationalities, Chaogetu
Published: February 2021

The eighteen chapters of the epic legend “The Conqueror of the Western Lands BodiMergen-Khan” (a short title — “Bodi Mergen-Khan”) were recorded in the middle of the last century by the academicians B. Rinchen and Ts. Damdynsuren from the famous Chakhar story-teller and musician Olzein Lubsan-khuurchi (1949–2019) from Inner Mongolia. In 1960, the text of the legend was published by B. Rinchen in Germany. However, there are not many works on the content analysis of the legend. This article discusses the Chinese loan words, the influence of the Chinese oral and written traditions that were reflected in the text of the legend “Bodi Mergen-Khan”. Among other borrowings from Chinese cultural traditions, one should point out the Chinese regalia of the rulers of different levels, the Chinese traditional perception of the ruler as the successor of the Dragon line, the forefathers who ascended to heaven and became geniuses-guardians of the people, as well as the motifof “selling hair (braids)” traditional for Chinese folk literature.
Нэрт зохиолч Ч. Лодойдамбын уран бүтээлд орос хүмүүсийн дүрийг бүтээсэн нь (= Отображение образов русских людей в творчестве известного писателя Ч. Лодойдамбы)
Authors:   Khovd State University, Shunkhayin Tsoodol
Published: February 2021

The author of the article analyzes how the images of Russian people are reflected in the works of the famous Mongolian writer, public figure, laureate of state prizes Chadraabalyn Lodoydamba. The writer managed not only to show the results of Russian-Mongolian cooperation over the historical period of time, thereby capturing that historical period of time, he extremely vividly depicted the asceticism of ordinary Russian people who fought for Mongolia without sparing their lives and put all their strength and soul into the development of the country. Thus, the Mongolian author was assessed as a writer who gave the most artistic and most detailed images of the Russian people in modern Mongolian literature. Among his heroes is a Russian doctor in the story “Our School Staff”, an employee of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Geological Sciences, Professor Nikolai Vladimirovich Panov in the novel “In Altai”, revolutionary Peter, a Russian merchant Pavlov in the novel “Transparent Tamir”, etc.
Осмысление дороги в аспекте диспозиции «свой» и «чужой» (на материале калмыцкой политической баллады ХХ в.)
Authors:   Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS, Khaninova Rimma M.
Published: February 2021

The article discusses the concept of “road” in the aspect of the disposition of “your” and “alien” on the material of Kalmyk political ballad of the XX century —”Julian Grimau” (Rus. transl. “The Ballad about Communist”) by Yegor Budzhalov and “Ooshk torhn — Rosa kyukn” (Rus. transl. “Ballad about the girl Rosa”) by Moradzhi Narmaev. The political perspective of these ballads is determined by historical events (civil war, imprisonment of political figures, execution, loss of eyesight), historical characters (Julian Grimau, Henry Winston), the members of the Communist Party of their countries, the main place names (Spain, the United States of America, the Soviet Union). The dichotomy of “one’s own” and “another’s” in Budzhalov’s ballad demonstrates political (fascism and democracy), ideological (imperialism and the communist Party), social (protest of different countries against the verdict of Grimau) and personal (Franco and Grimau) vectors. This is the boundary between the life and death of the hero, his path to the grave, to non-existence, physical and spiritual immortality, it is the conclusion of his human fate. In the Narmaev’s ballad the “one’s own” and “another’s” disposition is represented in theintercrossing of different people’s lives — the American communist G. Winston, his opponents, his friends, Soviet people, including the author himself, Soviet Youth and Rosa girl in particular — when the “stranger” communist from the USA becomes “one’s own” like-minded person, when a stranger literally becomes a blood relative, when long distances do not become an obstacle to good deeds and thoughts, when someone else’s life is saved at the cost of self-sacrifice. These works of Kalmyk poets bear the imprint of their time in a pronounced socio-political and ideological perspective, without reducing the humanistic and moral-ethical vector of the author’s intention.
METAPHOR IN POLITICAL CONFLICT. POPULISM AND DISCOURSE
Authors: Vukasovic Dejana
Published: February 2021

Ruth Breeze, Carmen Llamas Saíz (eds.), Metaphor in political conflict. Populism and discourse, Ediciones Universidad de Navarra (EUNSA), Pamplona, 2020, 212 p.
Modification of HTPB (α,ω-dihydroxypolybutadiene) by esterification, silanization, epoxidation and hydrogenation
Authors: Chmielarek Michał , Maksimowski Paweł , Gołofit Tomasz , Cieślak Katarzyna , Pawłowski Wojciech , Tomaszewski Waldemar
Published: February 2021

Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) is a co-monomer used in the production of polyurethanes. Its unique properties make it resistant to frost and give it excellent mechanical properties, especially at low temperatures. Polyurethanes obtained using this method are used in the production of propellants for space and military rocket propulsion systems, frost-resistant adhesives and insulation materials. Current research on the choice of binder indicates use of highenergy polymers or the modification of previously used polymers aimed at improving their properties. In modern rocket propulsion materials, the polymer binder may be replaced with a suitable high-energy compound, i.e. a polymer including energy groups, e.g. azide or nitro group. The article presents the results of research on methods of modifying HTPB properties to widen its applicability.
FAMILY BASED SOCIAL CAPITAL IN HANDLING OF COVID-19 PREVENTION IN BLITAR DISTRICT
Authors: Khotimah Kusnul , Sarmini Sarmini , Imron Ali
Published: February 2021

Indonesia is currently entering a non-natural disaster emergency response phase in the coronavirus pandemic case (Covid-19). Handling during this crisis will determine whether the number of positive cases of Covid-19 will continue to increase or be controlled. Community solidarity can move the Indonesian people together against Covid-19. Finally, social capital is expected to be a social weapon to overcome the Covid-19 disaster. Based on the phenomena written in the background of the problems mentioned above, this study will examine comprehensively and integrated with encouraging the creation of a model of strengthening family-based social capital in dealing with the prevention of Covid-19. This study uses qualitative research methods, the presentation of data from this study uses a descriptive format. The results of this study are social capital in the form of cooperation and participation between citizens so far as a form of social interaction that is beneficial for the prevention of Covid-19 prevention. The village government develops village innovation by calling Endhong Indhit Village, which is to help one another, cooperation among citizens with the dominance of nuclear family and extended family. The purpose of Endhong Indhit Village is that no residents will be disturbed during this pandemic.
Analisis Kualitatif Penggunaan Telemedicine sebagai Solusi Pelayanan Kesehatan di Indonesia pada Masa Pandemik COVID-19
Authors: Lubis Zidni Imanurrohmah
Published: February 2021

Kasus penyakit virus corona (COVID-19) muncul pertama kali di Wuhan, Provinsi Hubei, Cina pada Desember 2019 dan telah menyebar ke seluruh dunia termasuk Indonesia. Di Indonesia kasus positif pertama terkonfirmasi pada 2 Maret 2020 dan terus meningkat hingga sekarang. Kebijakan untuk mencegah penyebaran COVID-19 terus dilakukan pemerintah salah satunya dengan menghimbau penggunaan telemedicine. Untuk mengetahui penggunaan telemedicine sebagai solusi pelayanan kesehatan di Indonesia pada masa pandemic COVID-19 dilakukan penelitian analisis kualitatif pada media daring nasional. Analisis data kualitatif dilakukan menggunakan Nvivo12 plus agar dapat memperoleh data konten, klasifikasi data, pemetaan tema, analisis keterkaitan konten, dan word cloud. Hasil analisis uji pearson menunjukkan telemedicine berkorelasi kuat dengan himbauan pemerintah (pearson coefficient correlation = 0.91) yang menjadikan telemedicine solusi pelayanan kesehatan di Indonesia pada masa pandemic COVID-19.
PENERAPAN METODE LANGSUNG DALAM MENINGKATKAN KETERAMPILAN BERBICARA BAHASA ARAB
Authors: Fajrin Ria Meri , Walfajri Walfajri , Khotijah Khotijah
Published: February 2021

Speaking skills are the main skills students must master in applying direct methods to learning Arabic. Learning Arabic Speaking Skills in class VII A MTsN 1 Lampung Timur in the 2019/2020 Academic Year, has not shown results that illustrate students' skills in actively speaking Arabic productive. The purpose of this research is to find out the improvement of students' Arabic speaking skills by applying the direct method. In this study the authors used (PTK) classroom action research with observation, documentary, and test data collection tools. The object of this study is students of class VII A. In this study researchers used the direct method. The results of the study stated that to improve their Arabic speaking skills students are equipped with basic skills in speaking that are very necessary when plunging into the field, such as the practice of applying dialogue patterns, vocabulary, rules, facial expressions, and so on.