bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Establishing the concept of AI literacy
Authors: Yi Yumi
Published: December 2021

This study aimed to examine the concept, competence, and educational goals of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy to explore the basic competencies required for life in the AI era. Modern society is foreshadowing a new world, unlike the previous framework. Beyond the ability to read and write, literacy now also implies the ability to network and contact wider circles with greater information. In education, the learner’s frame has gained greater importance than the teacher’s frame. AI is playing a central role in making these changes. Similar to writing, AI has entered the system of everyday life and become a target in basic literacy. This study explored the concept and characteristics of AI literacy. AI contributes to enhancing human abilities by expanding human relationships and the scope of acquiring information. However, these characteristics of AI require humans to independently choose what humans need to know and whom to connect with. Knowing what to know is metacognition. Therefore, this study considered metacognition as the competence of AI literacy. In addition, attempting to acquire more accurate knowledge through metacognition is an effort to anticipate an uncertain future. Thus, the purpose of AI literacy is to have anticipation capabilities.
Через штиль и шторм: история чтения в России XVIII столетия
Authors: Бугров Константин
Published: December 2021

Damiano Revecchini and Raffaella Vassena, eds. Reading Russia: A History of Reading in Modern Russia, vol. 1. Milan: Ledizioni, 2020, 295 p. ISBN 9788855261920.
Standardized Quantitative Evaluation of Clinical Effectiveness and Side Effect Profile of Subcutaneous and Sublingual Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy in Children: A 5-Year Single Center Experience
Authors: TÖKMECI Nazan , DEMIRHAN Ali , TURKEGUN SENGUL Merve , CAGLAR YUKSEK Burcu , KONT ÖZHAN Aylin , ARIKOĞLU Tuğba , KUYUCU Semanur
Published: December 2021

Objective: Allergen-specific immunotherapy (allergen-SIT) is a treatment method with variable efficacy in allergic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of allergen immunotherapy, frequency of LRs and SRs and variables affecting these parameters in patients who underwent allergen-SIT. Materials and Methods: In this study, the recorded data of 81 patients, who received subcutaneous (SCIT) or sublingual (SLIT) allergen immunotherapy for respiratory allergic diseases between 2014 and 2019, were analyzed. In asthma and/or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC) patients, the effectiveness of treatment was evaluated by analysing the change rates in disease symptom, medication and combined scores (symptom + medication) and visual analog score (VAS). Treatment success was defined by the degree of decrease in scores as; high response above 50%; low response between 20-50%; and failure <20%.Results: The mean age of allergen-SIT initiation was 11.4± 3.1 years. Diagnostic distributions of the patients were asthma (± ARC) in 64.2%, and ARC (without asthma) in 35.8%. The mode of allergen-SIT was SCIT in 77.8% (65% asthma and 35% ARC) and SLIT in 22.2% (61.1% asthma and 38.9% ARC). The main allergens used in allergen-SIT were mite (79%), grass-grain pollen (33.3%), alternaria (9.9%) and olea (8.6%). There was a significant decrease in symptoms, medication, combined and VAS scores in the asthma and ARC groups (p <0.0001), when end-SCIT values were compared to baseline. SLIT also resulted in significant decreases in these scores except asthma medication score. Among the asthma patients the rate of high-responders was 88.8% by SCIT and 50% by SLIT, according to combined asthma score. Among the ARC (without asthma) patients the rate of high-responders was 100% for both SCIT and SLIT. SCIT resulted in local (LR) and systemic side effects (SR) in 18% and 0.6% (all Grade I and Grade II) of the total injections performed. A high number of total injections was significantly associated with higher LR and SR rates. While LR was observed in 16.6% of the patients who underwent SLIT, no systemic reaction was found in any of the patients. Conclusion: SCIT was highly successful in the treatment of asthma and ARC in terms of the degree of therapeutic response. SLIT resulted in a high rate of good response in ARC patients, but a lower response degree in asthmatic patients. Systemic side effects were very low as a result of close risk monitoring and the dose adjustments performed. Keywords: Allergen-specific immunotherapy, SCIT, SLIT, efficacy, symptom score, medication score, visual analog score, side effects
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AMON SCHOOL TEACHERS IN RELATION TO JOB SATISFACTION
Authors: . Sheenam , Taneja Mamta
Published: December 2021

The present study is about the study of Professional Ethics Among Secondary School Teachers in Relation to Job Satisfaction. The sample consists of 300 school teachers selected randomly from Fazilka, Muktsar and Faridkot districts of Punjab. Professional ethics scale by Dr. Rajveer Kaur and Job satisfaction scale by Meera Dixit, (1993) were used. Mean, Median and SD are used to describe the data and correlation is used to find the relation between variables.This study revealed that there is significant relationship between professional ethics and job satisfaction of male andfemale secondary school teachers.The relation of professional ethics and job satisfaction in case of female secondary school teachers is lightly higher than the males.
ABILITY OF TEACHER TRAINEES TO USE TECHNOLOGY
Authors: Semwal Prerna , Maikhuri Rama
Published: December 2021

This paper aims to analyse the ability of Teacher Trainees to use the technology. The population of the research work comprised of all the teacher trainees of Hemwati Nandan Bhuguna Garhwal University, enrolled in 1st semester students for session 2021-2023. A sample of 85 teacher trainees studying in B. Ed 1st semester of Rath Mahavidyalay, Paithani, (affiliated to H.N.B. Garhwal University) was selected through the Purposive Sampling technique. The objective of the research was to study the ability of teacher trainees in using technology. The data obtained from 85 respondents was analyzed through percentage and Mann Whitney U-test. The findings revealed that 47% of the Teacher Trainees were beginners, 18.8% heard about it, 17.64% knew the basics, 11.7% were Proficient, and 4.7% were advanced in the usage of technology. The findings also revealed that the gender, stream, qualification, and medium of Teacher Trainees affect the ability to use the technology.
CHANGING AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND IT’S SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES
Authors: Trivedi Reena
Published: December 2021

Agricultural technology advancements are continuously taking place in India, as the progress of agricultural sector directly impacts a major proportion of population and its living condition. Farmers are interested to adopt new inventions and technologies in agriculture. Modern agricultural practices are significantly affecting human health and environment. The release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are adversely affecting biodiversity and increasing air, water and soil pollution. Agricultural residue management, use of pesticides and insecticides, inorganic manure, chemical fertilizers leads to harmful effect on human health and increasing environmental pollution. Recent agriculture trends emphasizes on enhancing agricultural production in terms of quantity in less time, overlooking its adverse affects. In this paper we have analyzed the negative effects of modern agricultural practices on human health and environment. It leads to decline in soil fertility, loss of biodiversity, climate change, air, water and soil pollution, environmental degradation etc. Our farmers are now adopting modern agricultural techniques, using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, expanding irrigation facilities, using high yielding varieties of seeds, modern machines, varying crop sequences etc. But these efforts of expanding food supply in less time is taking place at the cost of human health and environment degradation. Spray of harmful chemicals on crops not only pollutes underground water and air but also bad for human and animal health. Non harmonious, unwise and unsustainable agricultural practices have a considerable impact on environment and also harmful for living beings.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON ANXIETY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM RURAL AND URBAN AREAS
Authors: Mishra Sibananda , Muduli Bijayalaxmi
Published: December 2021

The objective of the present study was to compare the level of anxiety and difference between the rural and urban college students on the basis of dimensions of anxiety. A total number of 120 college students (Rural – 60 and Urban – 60) were selected from two Junior colleges in both rural and urban areas of Odisha State. In the present study, Sinha Anxiety Scale (1991) was used to collect the data. The obtained data was analysed by using ‘t’ test to find out the significant difference between rural and urban college students. Results revealed that in majority dimensions of anxiety, rural college students have more anxiety compared to urban college students
TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
Authors: Das Lokanath , Bhuyan Sanjukta
Published: December 2021

The revitalization and strengthening of the education system depends on teachers. They play crucial role for the developments of educational standards in the country. This demands teachers to be more effective in the classroom and be optimistic with high Emotional intelligence to influence the students. In the present study, the investigator analyzed the level of Teacher Effectiveness, and Emotional Intelligence of government secondary school teachers, and to find out the relationship among both the variables. The data were collected from 60 Secondary School Teachers of Balasore district using Teacher Effectiveness Scale by Pramod Kumar and D.N. Mutha (1974),Modified version of Emotional Intelligence Scale by Krishnappa V.K. (2008) and self made personal data sheet. The collected data were analyzed by using Mean, SD, t- test and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation and the findings revealed that (i) Government Secondary School Teachers of different academic stream do not differ both in Teacher Effectiveness and Emotional Intelligence. (ii) There is no significance of difference between Male and Female government Secondary School Teachers both in Teacher Effectiveness and Emotional Intelligence. (iii) There is no relationship between Teacher Effectiveness and Emotional Intelligence.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN AMITAV GHOSH'S SEA OF POPPIES (2008)
Authors: Trivedi Chetan , Shamjibhai Dudhatra Purnanshu
Published: December 2021

The primary aim of this research paper is to draw attention to the environmental issues raised by Amitav Gosh in his first novel of Ibis trilogy i.e. Sea of Poppies (2008). The word "ecocriticism" is gaining broad recognition in modern literature, as the destructionof environment is becoming a global issue. Ghosh is amongst the most renowned and brilliant authors in the genre of ecocriticism who writes with a profound environmental consciousness. The topics Ghosh addresses in Sea of Poppies include social, cultural, and natural supremacy throughout the novel. The current research paper examines Ghosh's Sea of Poppies with ecocritical viewpoint and draws attention to environmental problems and the consequences of imbalance as well. Additionally, it demonstrates the connection between humankind and environmentthrough flora, fauna, waterways, mountains, and wildlife.Ghosh emphasizes environmental destruction caused by uncontrolled exploitation of natural world as he describes the dishonest methods in which Britishers used to earn money via the unlawful export of opium to Chinese market.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAMMES ON THE WORKERS QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AND QUALITY OF LIFE
Authors: Kumbhar S. I. , Jagtap Chandrasen M.
Published: December 2021

Training and education of workers is the act of increasing the knowledge and work skills for performing a particular job. Training and education programmes help to create positive mindset among workers towards work, organization and society as a whole. Through the training workers learn new habits, refined skills and increase knowledge during the training programmes that helps them in improving their quality of life and quality of work life. Through the present study, an attempt has been made to highlight the factors that have positively impacted due to training and education programmes. The study also focused on the positive impacts of training and education programmes on their work performance. The study also highlighted the changes feelings of the workers towards their job after going through the training sessions, and various benefits that they have achieved due to attending training and education programmes.
CURRENT STATUS OF GOVERNMENT HOSTEL FACILITY PROVIDED TO ST, OBC, SC STUDENTS AND ITS UTILITY AND USAGES: WITH REFERENCE TO PUNE
Authors: Kumbhar S. I. , Sonawane Shivaraj R.
Published: December 2021

The population of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes forms the considerable percentage of the total population of the country. Providing educational supporting facilities through the hostel scheme to this population is one of the significant factor that positively influencing on the educational development of scheduled casts and scheduled tribes people. Through the present article, an attempt has been made on the current status of tribal hostels and its utility with reference to Pune city. This article has also focused on the strength of the government hostels during the last four years, and focused on its intake capacity, actual admissions of ST and OBC SC students in the hostels in Pune.
JOB SATISFACTION IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BANKING SECTOR EMPLOYEES
Authors: Singh Parul , Sharma Rahul
Published: December 2021

This study finds out the effect of Job satisfaction on Cadre of Employees and Length of Service and interaction between cadre of employees and length of service. 240 subjects were used as sample of the research, 120 subjects were of Public Sector Bank and 120 of Private Bank of Meerut Region. Each group of 120 individuals consisted of 60 Officers and 60 Clerical staff. Each group of 60 bank employee consisted of 30 employee of below 5 years and 30 employee of above 10 years. Effects of this independent variable cadre have two categories officer (A1) and Clerical (A2). Second variable length of service has two categories i.e., below 5 years (B1) and above 10 years (B2). Job Satisfaction Scale: This test was developed by Prof. S.K. Srivastava of Gurukul Kangri University; Haridwar. As the design of the study examine the effect of one dependent variable on job satisfaction and two independent variables were, Cadre (A), Length of Service (B). ANOVA was used as statistical technique to analyze the data followed by Mean.
LEARNING APPROACHES IN INFORMATION LITERACY INSTRUCTIONS
Authors: Gandhe Charudatta Achyut
Published: December 2021

This paper focuses on one of the instructional dimensions i.e. learning instructions. The research method adopted was literature review. Analysis revealed that various learning approaches are being used while implementing information literacy programs. Along with teaching information literacy, an equal emphasis is also given on learning of information literacy. Various learning theories, learning styles applied for information literacy learning General Approach, relational approach, backward design approach and constructivist approach.
SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVES IN BUDDHIST PRACTICES
Authors: Pham Phong Son
Published: December 2021

The studies in Buddhism and Science show an increased positive correlation in different aspects. This indicates a positive correlation between Buddhism and Science, i.e., physiological and functional mutual relationships. They can interact and promote each other to develop. Buddhism can be considered a bridge connecting moral ideas and scientific ideas by encouraging people to discover the hiddenly potential forces in mind towards the surrounding environment. Buddhism is always trendy; since then,Buddhism and Science have actively applied to create a more developed, civilized, and ethical society.
INDIAN ETHOS and VALUES AT VEDANTA LTD: A CASE APPROACH
Authors: Singh Pranjali
Published: December 2021

Vedanta Limited (also known as Sterlite Ltd) is India's solely Natural Resources Company. The company's main businesses concentrate on metallic element, lead, silver, Aluminum, copper, iron ore, oil and gas, and industrial power, whereas its operations span across India, Republic of South Africa, Namibia, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, and African country.
CONSTRUCTION AND STANDARDIZATION OF LIFE SATISFACTION SCALE FOR COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATORS
Authors: Shankarappa Santosh Kumar , Ksheerasagar Surekha F.
Published: December 2021

Conceptual and research based literature related to life satisfaction scale construction and educational psychology topics were studied thoroughly for developing life satisfaction scale n Educational Psychology. The preparation and standardization of the scale consisted of four major phases such as planning, construction, evaluation and validation. In present investigation fifty items/statements were prepared by the researcher which was reviewed by experts in the field and then first draft of the life satisfaction scale was ready for tryout. For pilot testing, the test was administered on representative sample of 50 college of teacher educators of different institutions keeping in mind that they should have knowledge of life satisfaction content and they must have gone through the content earlier. Achievement test having 50 items with three alternative choices each was given to participants and scoring was done with the help of scoring key. Difficulty Value and Discrimination Power of the test calculated. This test has a value 0.936 (Cronbach Alpha) for test consistency. Researcher also used different method to establish the reliability of the test.
CONSCIOUSNESS, THREATS AND PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS COVID-19 AMONG THE BUSINESS PERSONS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT MARKET, BIRTAMOD, JHAPA, NEPAL
Authors: Subedi Bhakti Prasad
Published: December 2021

Corona virus disease (COVID-19) has been the emerging as an unseen enemy transmitted by people-to-people. Not only as the first variant now second variant also terrifying people in all over the world. Most of the countries including Nepal are suffering by COVID-19 pandemic therefore proper consciousness, knowledge, and perception towards COVID-19 is crucial. This study aimed to explore the causes, transmission, knowledge and measures to control of COVID-19 using cross-sectional design by the basis of primary data collection. Convenience sample performed from 18 to 24 April, 2021 to collects 103 sample respondents in Market area of agricultural product, Birtamod. Majority of the respondents were conscious about information, knowledge, modes of transmission, symptoms and measures of prevention in basis of the responses of COVID-19 infection, airborne, touching contaminated objects/surfaces, contact with contaminated animals, fever, coughing/sneezing, shortness of breath, washing hand regularly by using alcohol or soap and water, avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever and cough etc. Respondents were worried about bad effects of COVID-19 mostly in economic, health, social and religious, and educational and psychological areas. All the background variables of the respondents like gender, age, marital status, education, ethnicity, family size and religion are closely related with knowledge and perception of COVID-19. Among them, marital status and religion of the respondents were statistically significant variables. It is advisable to create sound knowledge to cope COVID-19 crisis by providing proper information about bad effects of infection and preventing precautions and measures through local authorities and all concerned stake holders.
THE STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RIGHT TO EDUCATION (RTE) ACT
Authors: Tripathy Maruti Kumar , Bhuyan Sanjukta
Published: December 2021

In the 86th amendment 2002, education became a fundamental right under article 21A and Right to Education Act enacted on 4th Aug 2009 and came into force on 1 Apr 2010. The present study aimed to explore the status of implementation of Right to Education Act in one of the districts of Odisha.15 numbers of elementary and primary schools of Khordha district of Odisha were selected as sample schools from which 15 Headmasters and 15 Teachers selected as sample for data collection. For the purpose of collecting data two self made tools were used. First one was a Questionnaire for teachers and headmasters and the second one was a Checklist. Descriptive survey method was adopted for the study. Various dimensions of the RTE act were explored through this study. Major findings of the study showed that the majority of the Headmasters and Teachers have taken their training programme on RTE Act. Very few headmasters went through a long term training programme whereas most of the teachers and headmasters received short term training programmes. Working hours were maintained strictly by the teachers and headmasters. Each school has SMC or SMDC. Corporal punishment was abolished. The major problems of implementation of RTE Act were inadequate teaching staff, lack of infrastructural facilities, lack of proper educational planning and lack of financial resources etc.
GENDER DIFFERENCE IN DEPRESSION: WITH REFERENCE TO ELITE SPORTSPERSONS
Authors: Chaurasiya Vijay Kumar , Agashe C. D.
Published: December 2021

Present study comparatively assessed depression in elite male and female sportspersons. To conduct the study, 50 elite male sportspersons (Average age 24.77 years) and 50 elite female sportspersons (Average age 25.12 years) were selected as sample. The criterion for selection of sportspersons was participation in national event as well as securing one of the top three positions. JMPI prepared by Joshi and Malik (1981) was used to assess depression in selected sportsperson. Results reveal that depression shown by elite female sportsperson was significantly of greater magnitude as compared to elite male sportspersons. It was concluded that depression in elite sportspersons is influenced by gender.
INTEGRATING PLACEBO IN CONVENTIONAL HEARING AID PRESCRIPTION PRACTICES FOR BETTER ACCEPTANCE
Authors: Kandpal Bhowmick , Panigrahi Satyabrata , Singh Ritika , Sahoo Subhasmita , Dash Niharika
Published: December 2021

The placebo effect is the reduction of a symptom or a change in the psychological parameters when an inert treatment is administered to a subject who is told that it is an active therapy with specific properties. The use of placebo is not equivalent to the absence of treatment, for example, placebo could be used in addition to standard care. In all cases, its use should be associated with measures to minimize exposure and avoid irreversible harm. (Placebo in clinical trials U. Gupta and M. Verma , 2013)
INDIA–CHINA STANDOFF: CHALLENGES and OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIA
Authors: Rizwan Mohd , Gupta Dhiraj Kumar
Published: December 2021

Though recent May 2020 standoff that continued between India and China in Galwan valley was not taken by the Indian leadership as routine water testing by the Chinese. India took it seriously and very well managed to handle the aggression on its own and halted the China’s backdoor thinking of projecting themselves a superpower at least in Asia. Now it’s going to be a normal routine along the LAC as India is now determined to change the ground strategic infrastructure reality along the LAC. By tackling Chinese on its own, India has bolstered its position in the world’s strategic power pie chart. Further India need to work on many fronts to meet the challenges and convert these sour relations in a Diplomatic, Economic and Strategic opportunities for India. The aim of this paper is to analyze in detail the India’s stand against the PLA's incursion, internal assessment to meet this “going to be routine” challenge on LAC and further considering the India’s population, market size and china’s sour relations with neighbors, it’s time for India to encash the opportunities out of such attempts from China.
EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF E-RESOURCES
Authors: Nimbhorkar Sarla
Published: December 2021

The concept of 'library management' has been changing dramatically with the increase in the demand of academic inputs in education, policy planning, advocacy and day to day life. Shifting from 'print resource collection' to 'e-resource collection' no doubt makes the library more users friendly but on'the other hand it also emerges as a challenge before the library professionals to manage these resources due to its rapid adoption. E-resources management is one of the important components of library development. After automation and digitisation of library resources, there is a challenge for library professional to manage this tremendous increase ofc-resources. The voluminous e-resonrce can easily be managed through ERM system.
A LITERATURE REVIEW OF “EFFECT OF PARENTING STYLES STRATEGIES ON EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ADOLESCENTS”
Authors: Bhavani¹ P. , Amuthavally T. G.
Published: December 2021

The research for the review of literature is one of the first and foremost important steps in the research process. The search for related literature is a time consuming but fruitful phase of any research program. In this article, the researcher made an attempt to present findings from the collected related literature on effect of parenting styles strategies on emotional intelligence and academic achievement of adolescents. The main motto behind this article is to review related literature from 2000 to till date. The paper also summarizes the findings of the studies on effects of parenting styles strategies on emotional intelligence and academic achievement of adolescents giving a direction for future research.
Characterizing and Identifying the Prevalence of Web-Based Misinformation Relating to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder: Machine Learning Approach
Authors: ElSherief Mai , Sumner Steven A , Jones Christopher M , Law Royal K , Kacha-Ochana Akadia , Shieber Lyna , Cordier LeShaundra , Holton Kelly , De Choudhury Munmun
Published: December 2021

Background

Expanding access to and use of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is a key component of overdose prevention. An important barrier to the uptake of MOUD is exposure to inaccurate and potentially harmful health misinformation on social media or web-based forums where individuals commonly seek information. There is a significant need to devise computational techniques to describe the prevalence of web-based health misinformation related to MOUD to facilitate mitigation efforts.

Objective

By adopting a multidisciplinary, mixed methods strategy, this paper aims to present machine learning and natural language analysis approaches to identify the characteristics and prevalence of web-based misinformation related to MOUD to inform future prevention, treatment, and response efforts.

Methods

The team harnessed public social media posts and comments in the English language from Twitter (6,365,245 posts), YouTube (99,386 posts), Reddit (13,483,419 posts), and Drugs-Forum (5549 posts). Leveraging public health expert annotations on a sample of 2400 of these social media posts that were found to be semantically most similar to a variety of prevailing opioid use disorder–related myths based on representational learning, the team developed a supervised machine learning classifier. This classifier identified whether a post’s language promoted one of the leading myths challenging addiction treatment: that the use of agonist therapy for MOUD is simply replacing one drug with another. Platform-level prevalence was calculated thereafter by machine labeling all unannotated posts with the classifier and noting the proportion of myth-indicative posts over all posts.

Results

Our results demonstrate promise in identifying social media postings that center on treatment myths about opioid use disorder with an accuracy of 91% and an area under the curve of 0.9, including how these discussions vary across platforms in terms of prevalence and linguistic characteristics, with the lowest prevalence on web-based health communities such as Reddit and Drugs-Forum and the highest on Twitter. Specifically, the prevalence of the stated MOUD myth ranged from 0.4% on web-based health communities to 0.9% on Twitter.

Conclusions

This work provides one of the first large-scale assessments of a key MOUD-related myth across multiple social media platforms and highlights the feasibility and importance of ongoing assessment of health misinformation related to addiction treatment.
Development and Application of an Open Tool for Sharing and Analyzing Integrated Clinical and Environmental Exposures Data: Asthma Use Case
Authors: Fecho Karamarie , Ahalt Stanley C , Appold Stephen , Arunachalam Saravanan , Pfaff Emily , Stillwell Lisa , Valencia Alejandro , Xu Hao , Peden David B
Published: December 2021

Background

The Integrated Clinical and Environmental Exposures Service (ICEES) serves as an open-source, disease-agnostic, regulatory-compliant framework and approach for openly exposing and exploring clinical data that have been integrated at the patient level with a variety of environmental exposures data. ICEES is equipped with tools to support basic statistical exploration of the integrated data in a completely open manner.

Objective

This study aims to further develop and apply ICEES as a novel tool for openly exposing and exploring integrated clinical and environmental data. We focus on an asthma use case.

Methods

We queried the ICEES open application programming interface (OpenAPI) using a functionality that supports chi-square tests between feature variables and a primary outcome measure, with a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (α=.001). We focused on 2 primary outcomes that are indicative of asthma exacerbations: annual emergency department (ED) or inpatient visits for respiratory issues; and annual prescriptions for prednisone.

Results

Of the 157,410 patients within the asthma cohort, 26,332 (16.73%) had 1 or more annual ED or inpatient visits for respiratory issues, and 17,056 (10.84%) had 1 or more annual prescriptions for prednisone. We found that close proximity to a major roadway or highway, exposure to high levels of particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) or ozone, female sex, Caucasian race, low residential density, lack of health insurance, and low household income were significantly associated with asthma exacerbations (P<.001). Asthma exacerbations did not vary by rural versus urban residence. Moreover, the results were largely consistent across outcome measures.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that the open-source ICEES can be used to replicate and extend published findings on factors that influence asthma exacerbations. As a disease-agnostic, open-source approach for integrating, exposing, and exploring patient-level clinical and environmental exposures data, we believe that ICEES will have broad adoption by other institutions and application in environmental health and other biomedical fields.
Investigating the Implementation of SMS and Mobile Messaging in Population Screening (the SIPS Study): Protocol for a Delphi Study
Authors: Acharya Amish , Judah Gaby , Ashrafian Hutan , Sounderajah Viknesh , Johnstone-Waddell Nick , Stevenson Anne , Darzi Ara
Published: December 2021

Background

The use of mobile messaging, including SMS, and web-based messaging in health care has grown significantly. Using messaging to facilitate patient communication has been advocated in several circumstances, including population screening. These programs, however, pose unique challenges to mobile communication, as messaging is often sent from a central hub to a diverse population with differing needs. Despite this, there is a paucity of robust frameworks to guide implementation.

Objective

The aim of this protocol is to describe the methods that will be used to develop a guide for the principles of use of mobile messaging for population screening programs in England.

Methods

This modified Delphi study will be conducted in two parts: evidence synthesis and consensus generation. The former will include a review of literature published from January 1, 2000, to October 1, 2021. This will elicit key themes to inform an online scoping questionnaire posed to a group of experts from academia, clinical medicine, industry, and public health. Thematic analysis of free-text responses by two independent authors will elicit items to be used during consensus generation. Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement groups will be convened to ensure that a comprehensive item list is generated that represents the public’s perspective. Each item will then be anonymously voted on by experts as to its importance and feasibility of implementation in screening during three rounds of a Delphi process. Consensus will be defined a priori at 70%, with items considered important and feasible being eligible for inclusion in the final recommendation. A list of desirable items (ie, important but not currently feasible) will be developed to guide future work.

Results

The Institutional Review Board at Imperial College London has granted ethical approval for this study (reference 20IC6088). Results are expected to involve a list of recommendations to screening services, with findings being made available to screening services through Public Health England. This study will, thus, provide a formal guideline for the use of mobile messaging in screening services and will provide future directions in this field.

Conclusions

The use of mobile messaging has grown significantly across health care services, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic, but its implementation in screening programs remains challenging. This modified Delphi approach with leading experts will provide invaluable insights into facilitating the incorporation of messaging into these programs and will create awareness of future developments in this area.

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/32660
The Relation of Attitude Toward Technology and Mastery Experience After an App-Guided Physical Exercise Intervention: Randomized Crossover Trial (Preprint)
Authors: Sassenberg Kai , Roesel Inka , Sudeck Gorden , Bernecker Katharina , Durst Jennifer , Krauss Inga
Published: December 2021

BACKGROUND

Physical exercise has been found to assert a positive impact on many muscular conditions. Exercise under face-to-face supervision is the gold standard, but access to it is limited, for instance, for economic reasons. App-guided therapy is an intervention that is more affordable and easily accessible. However, attitude toward technology is a key predictor for media adoption and is therefore expected to shape user experience during app-guided therapy. This might be of particular importance for mastery experience, which is crucial for promoting exercise-related self-efficacy and perceived usefulness of the interaction. Both should empower patients to continuously exercise.

OBJECTIVE

This study sought to test whether attitudes toward technology predict mastery experience and perceived usefulness of the interaction after an app- versus a physiotherapist-guided treatment. We expect that attitudes toward technology positively predict both outcomes in case of the app-guided but not in case of the physiotherapist-guided treatment.

METHODS

Patients (n=54) with clinically diagnosed hip osteoarthritis participated in 2 training sessions with the same exercise intervention, once guided by an app on a tablet computer and once guided by a physiotherapist in a German university hospital. The order of the sessions was randomized. Attitude toward technology was assessed as predictor before the first session, while mastery experience and the global perceived usefulness of interaction as self-reported outcomes after each session.

RESULTS

In line with our hypotheses, attitude toward technology predicted mastery experience (b=0.16, standard error=0.07, P=.02) and usefulness of interaction (b=0.17, standard error=0.06, P=.01) after the app-based training but not after the training delivered by a physiotherapist (P>.3 in all cases). Mastery experience was lower for the app-based training but reached a very similar level as the physiotherapist-guided training for those holding a very positive attitude toward technology.

CONCLUSIONS

The attitude toward technology predicts the extent of mastery experience after app-guided exercise therapy. As mastery experience is highly important for self-efficacy and future exercise behavior, attitudes toward technology should be considered when delivering app-guided exercise treatments.

CLINICALTRIAL

German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00015759; https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00015759
Assessment as Learning in Medical Education: Feasibility and Perceived Impact of Student-Generated Formative Assessments (Preprint)
Authors: Lakhtakia Ritu , Otaki Farah , Alsuwaidi Laila , Zary Nabil
Published: December 2021

BACKGROUND

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is gaining widespread recognition as a vital competency that is desirable to sustain lifelong learning, especially relevant to health professions education. Contemporary educational practices emphasize this aspect of undergraduate medical education through innovative designs of teaching and learning, such as the flipped classroom and team-based learning. Assessment practices are less commonly deployed to build capacity for SRL. Assessment as learning (AaL) can be a unique way of inculcating SRL by enabling active learning habits. It charges students to create formative assessments, reinforcing student-centered in-depth learning and critical thinking.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore, from the learners’ perspectives, the feasibility and perceived learning impact of student-generated formative assessments.

METHODS

This study relied on a convergent mixed methods approach. An educational intervention was deployed on a cohort of 54 students in the second year of a 6-year undergraduate medical program as part of a single-course curriculum. The AaL intervention engaged students in generating assessments using peer collaboration, tutor facilitation, and feedback. The outcomes of the intervention were measured through quantitative and qualitative data on student perceptions, which were collected through an anonymized web-based survey and in-person focus groups, respectively. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using SPSS (IBM), and qualitative inputs underwent thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The students’ overall score of agreement with the AaL educational intervention was 84%, which was strongly correlated with scores for ease and impact on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis included prominent characteristics, immediate gains, and expected long-term benefits of engagement. The prominent characteristics included individuals’ engagement, effective interdependencies, novelty, and time requirements. The identified immediate gains highlighted increased motivation and acquisition of knowledge and skills. The expected long-term benefits included critical thinking, problem solving, and clinical reasoning.

CONCLUSIONS

As a form of AaL, student-generated assessments were perceived as viable, constructive, and stimulating educational exercises by the student authors. In the short term, the activity provided students with a fun and challenging opportunity to dive deeply into the content, be creative in designing questions, and improve exam-taking skills. In the long term, students expected an enhancement of critical thinking and the inculcation of student-centered attributes of self-regulated lifelong learning and peer collaboration, which are vital to the practice of medicine.
Роль герпетичної інфекції в прогресуванні коморбідної соматичної патології
Authors: Bychkova S.A. , Stepanenko R.L. , Bychkov O.A.
Published: December 2021

Мета роботи: визначити особливості клітинної та гуморальної ланок імунної системи у хворих на хронічне обструктивне захворювання легень (ХОЗЛ) груп В та С, GOLD 2–3, які мають ознаки метаболічного синдрому (МС), із наявністю ознак інфікування вірусами групи Herpesviridae. Матеріали та методи. Були обстежені 42 хворі на ХОЗЛ груп В та С, GOLD 2–3, поєднане із МС. 18 осіб мали поєд­нання ХОЗЛ та МС і були інфіковані вірусами Herpesviridae. Середній вік пацієнтів становив 51,3 ± 4,2 роки. У групу порівняння ввійшли 24 пацієнти з ХОЗЛ та МС без герпесвірусної інфекції. Усім хворим було проведене визначення антигенів вірусу простого герпесу (ВПГ) І типу та цитомегаловірусу (ЦМВ) у крові та слині, титру специфічних IgG- та IgM-антитіл до ВПГ І типу та ЦМВ, комплексне імунологічне обстеження з дослідженням показників клітинної та гуморальної ланок імунної системи, цитокінового статусу. Результати. При дослідженні активності вірусів родини герпесу в крові пацієнтів основної групи не було виявлено активної реплікації вірусів ВПГ 1-го типу та ЦМВ, а в слині в 15 хворих (83,3 %) була виявлена активна реплікація ВПГ 1-го типу, а у 12 осіб (66,7 %) — ЦМВ. У всіх пацієнтів основної групи відмічався тяжкий перебіг герпесвірусної інфекції з частотою загострень більше 6 разів на рік. В імунологічному статусі хворих основної групи спостерігалися імунодефіцит переважно Т-клітинної ланки імунної системи та NK-клітин, значне підвищення відносної кількості Т- та В-лімфоцитів із раннім та пізнім маркерами активації на тлі автоімунних проявів та запальних змін у периферичній крові. Висновки. Наявність хронічної персистуючої інфекції ВПГ 1-го типу та ЦМВ обумовлює тяжкий перебіг ХОЗЛ, поєднаного з МС, індукує розвиток інфекційних загострень ХОЗЛ та більш виражені прояви системного запалення при атеросклерозі як морфологічному субстраті МС.
Тези науково-практичної конференції з міжнародною участю «Актуальні інфекційні захворювання. Сучасні аспекти клініки, діагностики, лікування та профілактики» 25–26 листопада 2021 року
Authors: Authors No
Published: December 2021

No abstract
Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in Kidney Transplant Recipients after Standard COVID-19 Vaccination
Authors: Benning Louise , Morath Christian , Bartenschlager Marie , Nusshag Christian , Kälble Florian , Buylaert Mirabel , Schaier Matthias , Beimler Jörg , Klein Katrin , Grenz Julia , Reichel Paula , Hidmark Asa , Ponath Gerald , Töllner Maximilian , Reineke Marvin , Rieger Susanne , Tönshoff Burkhard , Schnitzler Paul , Zeier Martin , Süsal Caner , Bartenschlager Ralf , Speer Claudius
Published: December 2021

Background and objectives

Antibody response after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination is impaired in kidney transplant recipients. Emerging variants, such as B.1.617.2 (δ), are of particular concern because of their higher transmissibility and partial immune escape. Little is known about protection against these variants in immunocompromised patients.

Design, setting, participants, & measurements

In this prospective two-center study, antispike 1 IgG and surrogate neutralizing antibodies were measured in 173 kidney transplant recipients and 166 healthy controls with different vaccination schedules. In addition, different SARS-CoV-2 epitope antibodies from 135 vaccinated kidney transplant recipients were compared with antibodies in 25 matched healthy controls after second vaccination. In 36 kidney transplant recipients with seroconversion, neutralization against B.1.1.7 (α), B.1.351 (β), and B.1.617.2 (δ) was determined on VeroE6 cells and compared with neutralization in 25 healthy controls.

Results

Kidney transplant recipients had significantly lower seroconversion rates compared with healthy controls. After the second vaccination, antispike 1, antireceptor-binding domain, and surrogate neutralizing antibodies were detectable in 30%, 27%, and 24% of kidney transplant recipients, respectively. This compares with 100%, 96%, and 100% in healthy controls, respectively (P<0.001). Neutralization against B.1.1.7 was detectable in all kidney transplant recipients with seroconversion, with a median serum dilution that reduces infection of cells by 50% of 80 (interquartile range, 80–320). In contrast, only 23 of 36 (64%) and 24 of 36 (67%) kidney transplant recipients showed neutralization against B.1.351 and B.1.617.2, respectively, with median serum dilutions that reduce infection of cells by 50% of 20 (interquartile range, 0–40) and 20 (interquartile range, 0–40), respectively. Neutralization against different variants was significantly higher in healthy controls (P<0.001), with all patients showing neutralization against all tested variants.

Conclusions

Seroconverted kidney transplant recipients show impaired neutralization against emerging variants of concern after standard two-dose vaccination.

Clinical Trial registry name and registration number:

Observational study to assess the SARS-CoV-2 specific immune response in kidney transplant recipients (COVID-19 related immune response), DRKS00024668
A liderança na performance de projetos
Authors: Claus Melissa Lima , Calegari Rubens Perez
Published: December 2021

A importância da liderança no desempenho de projetos vem sendo tema de estudos nas últimas décadas. Parte desses estudos também expõe as dificuldades no processo de transformação de especialistas em gestores, que deve ocorrer a fim de que esses profissionais desenvolvam funções gerencias relacionadas ao desempenho da equipe nos projetos. Desse modo, torna-se essencial para o líder compreender quais competências ele deverá atender ou desenvolver a fim de conduzir o grupo para o sucesso do projeto, bem como em quais fases do projeto sua atuação é mais importante. Assim, o presente trabalhotem como objetivo esclarecer tais pontos, bem como confirmar a importância da liderança na performance dos projetos pelo ponto de vista de seus membros. A metodologia utilizada para a captação de respostas foi a aplicação de um questionário on-line. Os resultados obtidos indicam que a visão estratégica do líder é considerada a competência mais importante para o sucesso dos projetos e que, em geral, as competências gerenciais têm papel de destaque frente às demais, confirmando, portanto, a importância do desenvolvimento das funções de gestão para novos líderes. A participação da gestão foi considerada mais essencial na etapa de planejamento. E, finalmente, a importância do líder para o sucesso dos projetos foi confirmada pelo ponto de vista dos próprios membros do projeto, sendo 50% das notas atribuídas à essa questão superior ou igual a 09, em umaescala de 0 a 10.
Software Must be Recognised as an Important Output of Scholarly Research
Authors: Jay Caroline , Haines Robert , Katz Daniel S.
Published: December 2021

Software now lies at the heart of scholarly research. Here we argue that as well as being important from a methodological perspective, software should, in many instances, be recognised as an output of research, equivalent to an academic paper. The article discusses the different roles that software may play in research and highlights the relationship between software and research sustainability and reproducibility. It describes the challenges associated with the processes of citing and reviewing software, which differ from those used for papers. We conclude that whilst software outputs do not necessarily fit comfortably within the current publication model, there is a great deal of positive work underway that is likely to make an impact in addressing this.