bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RISK RELEVANCE OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME: EVIDENCE FROM NON-FINANCIAL INDONESIA COMPANIES
Authors: Firmansyah Amrie , Utami Wiwik , Umar Haryono , Dwi Mulyani Susi
Published: May 2020

Purpose of the study: This study aims to examine the effects of net income volatility, other comprehensive income volatility, and comprehensive income volatility on stock return volatility.

Methodology: This study employed a quantitative method with multiple linear regression. The sample is all non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2017. Data used in this study are panel data sourced from www.idx.co.id and www.finance.yahoo.com. The sample selection in this study used a purposive sampling method with a total sample of 246 observations.

Results: This study suggests that net income volatility is not associated with stock return volatility. However, other income volatility and comprehensive income volatility are positively associated with stock return volatility.

Implications: Future studies can employ data from other developing country companies and developed countries to be able to compare the results of this study. Based on the result findings, the existing and potential investors must improve their ability and understanding of IFRS-based financial accounting standards. The Accounting Standard Board, especially in Indonesia, is expected to be able to improve the rules of financial accounting standards as well as the access to the availability of financial accounting standards for financial statements users, primarily related to the disclosure policies.

Novelty: This study calculates risk-relevant, which is different from the previous studies, namely annual stock return volatility and annual comprehensive income components volatility. Annual stock return volatility is calculated based on the standard deviation of monthly stock return volatility, which is multiplied by √12. Besides, the annual comprehensive income components volatility is generated from the standard deviation of comprehensive income components generated every three months divided by the market value of equity at the beginning of the period, and multiplied by √4.
IDENTITY, STATE, AND TRADITION: A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Dutta Ankita
Published: May 2020

Purpose of the Study: This research endeavors to highlight the complex notion of ‘identity’ and the process of identity formation that involves complex socio-political dynamics that need to be located within the larger socio-cultural spectrum.

Methodology: The study is based upon a socio-political and socio-anthropological analysis of the questions of identity, state, tradition, and culture. It has been carried out using relevant theories and concepts borrowed chiefly from the available literature on political sociology and anthropology. It is based on a theorization of the concept of identity as a societal construct and its dynamic relationship with not only the state but also people’s traditional beliefs and practices.

Main Findings: Based upon secondary sources, the results of the study showed that ‘identity’ as a social construct is based on various conflicts and contestations centering around people’s diverse identities at one and the same time. Identity politics plays a crucial role in the context of the state machinery, which is not a static entity. It is very much affected by the changes taking place within society, which, in itself, is representative of diversity and heterogeneity. People’s traditional beliefs and practices also play a significant role in the formation of identities through institutions recognized as “traditional.” They play an important role in reflecting the changing power relations in society through the instrument of law.

Applications of this Study: Both formal state laws and community-backed laws are indispensable in our society because they function within a particular social context that is responsible for the gradual process of internalization of the law and legal processes among people. This, in turn, gets reflected in the formation of various social identities among different groups and communities of people.

Novelty/Originality of this study: This research builds a model to understand the different ways in which institutions recognized as “traditional” create new identities or reinforce the already existing ones vis-à-vis the different stages of political development in a society.
PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF DRUG ADDICTS IN PREDICTING TREATMENT OUTCOMES
Authors: Sabri Farhana , Jencius Marty
Published: May 2020

Purpose of the study: This study aims to investigate whether psychological well-being could predict treatment outcomes in drug addicts after they had received solution-based psychosocial intervention in a drug treatment setting. The psychological well-being of individuals is an important variable in discussing treatment outcomes after they were given psychosocial interventions.

Methodology: This study utilized a quasi-experimental research design using non-randomized pre-and post-test single group design. Fifty-seven participants were selected and they completed a pre- and post-assessment on psychological well-being changes and treatment outcomes questionnaire. Paired t-test and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the relationship between these two variables, while multiple linear regression was used to further explore whether participants' psychological well-being could predict their treatment outcomes.

Main Findings: Results indicated a significant relationship between these two variables and more than twenty percent in treatment outcomes were explained by psychological variance. Few contextual meanings of psychological symptoms should need to be emphasized in discussing the findings and future research direction.

Applications of this study: Having studied whether psychological well-being could predict treatment outcomes of drug addicts would benefit counselors and social workers who deal with addiction clients. The element of psychological well-being, such as mental health must be included in the treatment plan to increase the success of recovery amongst drug addict clients.

The novelty of this study: The conclusions from this study offer significant insight into the utilization of solution-focused intervention in non-Western populations and the relation between psychological well-being and treatment outcomes for drug addict clients. The findings expand the existing literature review on the psychological well-being of drug addicts in a way it takes into accounts the cultural context in discussing the outcomes.
BULUT OR BASAH? WHICH WET IS PRESERVED? AN INVESTIGATION OF DISAPPEARING ACEHNESE ADJECTIVES AMONG YOUNG SPEAKERS
Authors: Abdul Muthalib Kismullah , Maya Silviyanti Tengku , Fahlevi Reza
Published: May 2020

Purpose of the study: This study was aimed at finding out the potentially disappearing adjectives in Acehnese and the reasons that may contribute to the disappearance by looking at the backgrounds of participants and their language use.

Methodology: This is a sociolinguistic study employing questionnaires, wordlist interviews, and focus group interviews (FGI) as methods of data collection. Fifty Acehnese adjectives extracted from the Swadesh list were tested to 10 younger speakers (age 13-14), who were selected out of 113 respondents who returned the questionnaires. The selection criteria are considered to include age, origin, and parents’ origin. The respondents were all students of years 7 and 8 of a junior high school in a suburban area of Banda Aceh, considered the hot spot for the contact between Indonesian language speakers and Acehnese language speakers. Responses of the 10 participants interviewed were qualitatively analyzed to get the insights and circumstances of the use of the targeted adjectives.

Main Findings: The findings of this study show that 50% of the number of tested words was only known to 50% of the participants interviewed. While the other half of the participants show varied knowledge and understanding of the tested adjectives, the questionnaire response also indicates that these young speakers’ rather negative attitudes toward the Acehnese point to the decreasing domains of language use.

Applications of this study: The finding of this study is expected to contribute to the field of sociolinguistics in the way that it informs about the status and vitality of Acehnese Language from the specific segment of its speakers, which can be taken into consideration in the language policymaking.

Novelty/Originality of this study: This study looks at which vocabulary items (from Swadesh list) are still known to the younger speakers of Acehnese. Specifically, this study focused on the adjectives in Acehnese, which are still familiar to the speakers and which are not.
Investigation of the relationship between atherosclerosis and interleukin-6 -174G⁄C gene polymorphism
Authors: SANRI Umut Serhat
Published: May 2020

Objectives: Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease that causes various cardiovascular complications. The onset and progression of atherosclerosis depends primarily on genetic factors and life style, but the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In recent studies, circulating cytokines have been shown to play an important role in inflammatory events. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays an important role in the regulation of proinflammation. In this study, a single nucleotide polymorphism of IL-6 gene at position -174 was studied. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between IL-6 -174G/C polymorphism and atherosclerosis.Methods: In this prospective randomized study, 104 patients were included in both groups. We used Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Lenght Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method to amplify the polymorphism region.Results: Allele frequency distributions of IL-6 -174G/C polymorphism in the study and control groups were evaluated. There were no statistically significant diversity between A and B allele frequencies.Conclusions: The allele frequency and genotype distribution between the groups was not statistically different, which indicates another mechanisms on regulation of these cytokines. Single gene polymorphisms are generally not reproducible. Therefore, broad-based studies should be carried out considering suitable conditions and multi-factor features.
Preface to the CLEI 2018 Special Issue
Authors: Simao Adenilso , Farinazzo Martins Valéria , Cancela Héctor
Published: May 2020

We are proud to introduce the special issue with extended versions of selected papers presented in the 43rd Latin American Conference in Informatics (CLEI 2018).
Feature Selection for Clustering of Homicide Rates in the Brazilian State of Goias
Authors: Sousa Samuel Bruno da Silva , Del-Fiaco Ronaldo de Castro , Berton Lilian
Published: May 2020

Homicide is recognized as one of the most violent types of crime. In some countries, it is a hard problem to tackle because of its high occurrence and the lack of research on it. In Brazil, this problem is even harder, since this country is responsible for about 10% of the homicides in the world. Some Brazilian states suffer from the rise of homicide rates, like the state of Goi´as, in which its homicide rate increased from 24.5 per 100,000 in 2002 to 42.6 per 100,000 in 2014, becoming one of the five most violent states of Brazil, despite of having few population. This paper aims at applying clustering algorithms and feature selection models on criminal data concerning homicides and socio-economic variables in the state of Goi´as. We employed three clustering algorithms: K-means, Densitybased, and Hierarchical; as well as two feature selection models: Univariate Selection and Feature Importance. Our results indicate that homicide rates are more recurrent in large urban centers, although these cities have the best socio-economic indicators. Population and the educational level of the adult population were the variables which most influenced the results. K-means clustering brought the optimum outcomes, and Univariate Selection better selected attributes of the database.
Filtered-ARN: Asymmetric objective measures applied to filter Association Rules Networks
Authors: CALÇADA DARIO BRITO , Rezende Solange Oliveira
Published: May 2020

In this paper, the Filtered-Association Rules Network (Filtered-ARN) is presented to structure, prune, and analyze a set of association rules in order to construct candidate hypotheses. The Filtered-ARN algorithm selects association rules with the use of asymmetric objective measures, Added Value and Gain then builds a network allowing more exploration information. The Filtered-ARN was validated using three datasets: Lenses, Hayes-roth, and Soybean Large, available online. We carried out a concept proof experiment using a real dataset with data on organic fertilization (Green Manure) for text the proposed method. The results were validated by comparing the Filtered-ARN with the conventional ARN and also comparing the results with the decision tree. The approach presented promising results, showing its ability to explain a set of objective items and the aid to build more consolidated hypotheses by guaranteeing statistical dependence with the use of objective measures.
Classical Machine Learning Techniques in the Search of Extrasolar Planets
Authors: Mena Francisco Alejandro , Bugueño Margarita Constanza , Araya Mauricio
Published: May 2020

The field of astronomical data analysis has experienced an important paradigm shift in the recent years. The automation of certain analysis procedures is no longer a desirable feature for reducing the human effort, but a must have asset for coping with the extremely large datasets that new instrumentation technologies are producing. In particular, the detection of transit planets --- bodies that move across the face of another body --- is an ideal setup for intelligent automation. Knowing if the variation within a light curve is evidence of a planet, requires applying advanced pattern recognition methods to a very large number of candidate stars. Here we present a supervised learning approach to refine the results produced by a case-by-case analysis of light-curves, harnessing the generalization power of machine learning techniques to predict the currently unclassified light-curves. The method uses feature engineering to find a suitable representation for classification, and different performance criteria to evaluate them and decide. Our results show that this automatic technique can help to speed up the very time-consuming manual process that is currently done by expert scientists.
MoFQA: A TDD Process and Tool for Automatic Test Case Generation from MDD Models
Authors: Riquelme Linda , González Magalí , Aquino Nathalie , Cernuzzi Luca
Published: May 2020

Techniques for quality assurance have to deal with the complexity of software systems and the high probabilities of new errors appearing in any stage of the software life cycle. Software testing is a widely used approach but, due to the costs involved in this process, development teams often debate its applicability in their projects. In the endeavor to reduce the complexity of this process, this study presents an approach for software development based in Test-Driven Development (TDD) supported by Model-Based Testing (MBT) tools to allow automatic test-case generation. The approach, called MoFQA (Model-First Quality Assurance), consists of two main aspects: i) a method to drive software development based on testing techniques which defines steps and recom-mended practices; and, ii) a tool-set to allow clients and stakeholders to model system requirements, testers to create models that represent unit and abstract tests, and transformation tools used to generate executable tests. The tools that MoFQA provides are focusing on web applications. In order to validate the MoFQA tools, two validation experiences are presented.
A New Statistical and Verbal-Semantic Approach to Pattern Extraction in Text Mining Applications
Authors: Vasques Dildre Georgiana , Martins Paulo Sérgio , Rezende Solange Oliveira
Published: May 2020

The discovery of knowledge in textual databases is an approach that basically seeks for implicitrelationships between different concepts in different documents written in natural language, inorder to identify new useful knowledge. To assist in this process, this approach can count on thehelp of Text Mining techniques. Despite all the progress made, researchers in this area must stilldeal with the large number of false relationships generated by most of the available processes.A statistical and verbal semantic approach that supports the understanding of the logic betweenrelationships may bridge this gap. Thus, the objective of this work is to support the user with theidentification of implicit relationships between concepts present in different texts, consideringthe causal relationships between concepts in the texts. To this end, this work proposes a hybridapproach for the discovery of implicit knowledge present in a text corpus, using analysis based onassociation rules together with metrics from complex networks and verbal semantics. Througha case study, a set of texts from alternative medicine was selected and the different extractionsshowed that the proposed approach facilitates the identification of implicit knowledge by theuser
Medical Terminology Server for the Hospital of Clinics of Paraguay using Apache Lucene and the UMLS Metathesaurus
Authors: Aranda Acuna Evelyn Maria , Vazquez Jose Luis , Villalba Cynthia
Published: May 2020

The current process of medical terminology coding in health standards at the Hospital of Clinics of Paraguay is performed by physicians, normally interns or residents. They search the medical terminology code in impressed coding manuals or in internet by using their cell phones. This search process takes a lot time to be done during the medical consultation. This work proposes and evaluates a friendly medical terminology server thought web services, using Apache Lucene, as a search engine library, and the Metathesaurus of Unified System of Medical Language (UMLS), as an information source. The server is developed for Spanish speakers. Results show that physicians can find medical terminology code with the terminology server, using friendly or familiar terms, 18 times faster than with the current search process. The user satisfaction degree is ``Good” according to an adjective rating of the System Usability Scale (SUS). In addition, a comparison with a search engine of medical terminology called Metamorphosys shows that the implemented terminology server is quite competitive and it responses in similar average time
Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms for Power Distribution System Optimal Reconfiguration
Authors: Benitez Cattani Ivo
Published: May 2020

In this paper two reconfiguration methodologies for three-phase electric power distribution systems based on multi-objective optimization algorithms are developed in order to simultaneously optimize two objective functions, (1) power losses and (2) three-phase unbalanced voltage minimization. The proposed optimization involves only radial topology configurations which is the most common configuration in electric distribution systems. The formulation of the problem considers the radiality as a constraint, increasing the computational complexity. The Prim and Kruskal algorithms are tested to fix infeasible configurations. In distribution systems, the three-phase unbalanced voltage and power losses limit the power supply to the loads and may even cause overheating in distribution lines, transformers and other equipment. An alternative to solve this problem is through a reconfiguration process, by opening and/or closing switches altering the distribution system configuration under operation. Hence, in this work the three-phase unbalanced voltage and power losses in radial distribution systems are addressed as a multi-objective optimization problem, firstly, using a method based on weighted sum; and, secondly, implementing NSGA-II algorithm. An example of distribution system is presented to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method.
REAÇÕES ANAFILÁTICAS EM ANESTESIA
Authors: Silva Wallace Andrino , Macêdo Pinheiro Aline
Published: May 2020

A despeito da segurança dos procedimentos anestésicos ter aumentado nas últimas décadas, a anafilaxia tem sido reconhecida como uma das causas mais comuns de morte na prática médica. As manifestações clínicas apresentam com um vasto espectro, variando desde reações de hipersensibilidade leve a choque anafilático e morte. Qualquer substância utilizada durante uma anestesia pode desencadear reação anafilática, sendo os bloqueadores neuromusculares os mais frequentes (50 a 70 %), seguidos pelo látex (12-16,7%) e antibióticos (15%). No contexto intraoperatório, o diagnóstico torna-se mais difícil e tardio. O rápido reconhecimento ou a suspeita clínica de anafilaxia intraoperatória devem ser seguidas de conduta adequada a fim de interromper o contato com o agente causal e a perpetuação da resposta imunológica.
DYSPHAGIC COMPLAINT EVALUATION ON PATIENTS ON OTORRINOLARYNGOLOGY AMBULATORY AT ONOFRE LOPES UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Authors: Ferreira Lidiane Maria de Brito Macedo , Bezerra Daniel de Menezes Cortês , Fernandes Moreira Victor Bruno , Magalhães Júnior Hipólito Virgílio , Godoy Cynthia Meira de Almeida
Published: May 2020

Purpose: The present study aims to to evaluate, diagnose, treat and refer patients with swallowing disorders, in different age groups, referred to the otorhinolaryngology outpatient clinic of Onofre Lopes University Hospital. Methods: The consultations took place on a frequency of once a week for a period of 12 months. They consisted of speech therapy evaluation, nutritional risk and otorhinolaryngology evaluation, in addition to the Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing. Results: The average age of the patients seen was 62.5 years, and the main comorbidities presented were neurological. Most patients were classified as having mild dysphagia and indicated oral diet with multiple consistencies, but with the need for special preparation or compensation. Approximately 25% of patients with dysphagic complaints had a risk of malnutrition, a risk that was statistically more significant in those with severe dysphagia (37.5%) related to those with mild/moderate dysphagia. Among the parameters observed in the fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, the presence of salivary stasis, aspiration and penetration were those that showed a statistical association with nutritional risk. Conclusion: The work concludes that nutritional assessment should play a prominent role in the routine of outpatient clinics specialized in dysphagia, reducing the risk of adverse events and improving the general health and quality of life of patients with these complaints.
PATIENTS PROFILE AT THE SLEEP APNEA OUTPATIENT CLINIC AT A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Authors: Damasceno Inácio Natania Tuanny , Silva Juliane Patrícia Grigório da , Ferreira Lidiane Maria de Brito Macedo , Augusto Fernandes Alexandre
Published: May 2020

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by recurrent collapses of the pharyngeal region during sleep, resulting in a substantial reduction in airflow (apnea and hypopnea), despite respiratory efforts. Objective: To report the profile of patients referred to the Sleep Apnea Outpatient Clinic of Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes (HUOL), emphasizing on the main risk factors associated with OSAS. Methodology: It is retrospective study, cross-sectional, in which data obtained by reviewing medical records of patients seen at the sleep apnea outpatient clinic between 2017 and 2019 were used. Results: Medical records of 43 patients were evaluated, being (62, 8%) male and (37.2%) female. All patients underwent previous screening before polysomnography, being divided into three groups: Group I - with mild OSAS: 8 patients (18.6%); Group II - with moderate OSAS: 18 patients (41.8%); Group III - with severe OSAS: 17 patients (39.5%). Conclusion: Sleep apnea syndrome is commonly correlated with metabolic syndrome.
Effects of canopy management practices on grapevine bud fruitfulness
Authors: Collins Cassandra , Wang Xiaoyi , Lesefko Stephen , De Bei Roberta , Fuentes Sigfredo
Published: May 2020

Background and aims: Bud fruitfulness is a key component of grapevine reproductive performance as it determines crop production for the following growing season. While canopy microclimate can impact bud fruitfulness, the effects of canopy management practices on bud fruitfulness are not well known. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of common canopy management practices on bud fruitfulness and the relationships with shoot growth capacity, bud microclimate and bud carbohydrate level.Methods and results: Different canopy management practices, (shoot thinning, bunch thinning, leaf removal and lighter pruning) were applied to Semillon and Shiraz grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.). Light interception at the bud zone was measured after canopy management practices were applied. Bud fruitfulness at dormancy was assessed using bud dissection analysis. The number and size of inflorescence primordia, and the incidence of primary bud necrosis were recorded. The results were correlated with measurements of shoot growth capacity and carbohydrate content of buds and canes.Conclusions: Bud fruitfulness was mostly influenced by bud light interception, while the size of inflorescence primordia was positively correlated with shoot growth capacity and the carbohydrate level of buds. By altering canopy microclimate, canopy management practices can be used to manipulate bud fruitfulness and potentially bunch size.Significance and impact of the study: This study provides novel information on the impact of canopy management on grapevine bud fruitfulness and the size of inflorescence primordia. These findings can be used to make more informed vineyard management decisions for better yield control.
Software Development to Reduce Misconceptions Using Conceptual Change Text Strategy on Chemical Bonding Matter
Authors: Putri Sovranita Ramadhani Setiawan , Sukarmin Sukarmin
Published: May 2020

The aims of this research is to determine the feasibility of software to reduce misconception on students using conceptual change text strategy on chemical bonding matter. This research is using Research & Development (R&D) design with X IPA MAN Sidoarjo’s students as a subject. Instrument used are student responses, student activity observation, and pretest-posttest sheet. Software developed using PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) programming language. The result analyzed by a descriptive quantitative method that can be conclude as (1) The validity of software is valid showed by content validity average percentage is 88,57% with very valid  criteria and construct validity average percentage is 88,89% with very valid  criteria (2) the practicity of software got 87,41% with very practice criteria (3) Software effective in detect and reduce misconception that showed by percentage the average shift of conception from misconception to know concept is 83.53%.Keywords: software, misconception, conceptual change text, chemical bonding.
Process skills application and scientific attitudes of Biology students in colleges of education in southwestern Nigeria
Authors: KAREEM ADEYINKA
Published: May 2020

West African Examination Council results have continued to reveal Nigeria’s high school students’ poor performance in Science subjects, and especially, in practical science (WAEC 2014). The students’ demonstration of essential scientific attitudes is noted to be deficient. This is possibly caused by ineffective teaching and learning produced by the absence of necessary practical classes. This study, therefore, assessed the process skills application and scientific attitudes of Biology students in colleges of education in southwestern Nigeria as well as the relationship between the two variables. These groups of variables are central to students developing skills and knowledge in science and a determination of levels of competence in them would facilitate appropriate interventions to improve teaching and learning of science. The study adopted descriptive research survey design. The population for the study included all Biology students in colleges of education in southwestern Nigeria. From the four federal and seven state colleges of education in southwestern Nigeria, two federal colleges of education and three state colleges of education were randomly selected to ensure adequate representation of the two school categories. One hundred Biology students were randomly selected from each of the two school categories. Two instruments were used for the study. These were Biology Process Skill Application Rating Scale (BPSARS) and Biology Scientific Attitude Questionnaire (BSAQ). A reliability value of 0.72 for BPSARS and 0.76 for BSAQ was gotten using Cronbach alpha coefficient. The result revealed that there existed a moderate application of process skills and a moderate level of scientific attitude among the respondents as 67.3% and 84.8% having a moderate level of process skills application and scientific attitude respectively. It was shown that there was no significant relationship between the process skill application and scientific attitude (r=0.09, p>0.05) of respondents in the study area
Secondary School Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives on Cooperative Group Work Assessment Challenges in Ethiopia
Authors: Gedamu Abate Demissie , Shewangezaw Getu Lema
Published: May 2020

Cooperative Learning (CL) has been encouraged in Ethiopia’s secondary schools as an important strategy to facilitate effective student learning. However, the effectiveness of CL hinges, among other factors, on appropriate assessment of students’ group work. Challenges faced by teachers and students in implementing assessment of group work have remained an obstacle to the effective use of CL. The aim of this study was therefore to examine what Ethiopian secondary school teachers and students, respectively, consider to be problems and obstacles in the way of efficiently implementing student the cooperative group work assessment. Accordingly, 213 teachers and 212 students were randomly selected for a questionnaire survey. In addition, two teachers and five students were also interviewed and a focus group discussion (FGD) was carried out in each of the five schools selected for data gathering. The data acquired through the questionnaire was analyzed through one-sample t-test while the data obtained through interviews and FGD were analyzed through qualitative verbal descriptions. The findings indicate the main challenges from the point of view of the teachers to be their inadequate training on the assessment of group work process and individual contributions; uncertainty on what should be assessed, and heavy workloads. From the students’ perspective, the main challenges were inadequate teacher support and follow up and equal reward for unequal contribution by members to group work.
Hydrological and suspended sediment regime in the Kolubara River during the extreme year of 2014
Authors: DRAGIĆEVIĆ Slavoljub , ŽIVKOVIĆ Nenad , NOVKOVIĆ Ivan , PETROVIĆ Ana , TOŠIĆ Radislav , MILEVSKI Ivica
Published: May 2020

The previous methodology of sampling and determining the suspended sediment con­cen­tration (SSC) in the rivers of Serbia is characterized by a number of disadvantages, so that any re­search of this kind has a large water management impact. In the largest number of hydrological stations in Serbia, daily SSC were obtained based on only one sampling, which raises the question of the representativeness of such sample. Previous SSC – water discharge relationship and detailed analyses of errors in calculating the suspended sediment transport on the profile of Draževac were done for the year of 2004, when the annual difference was very high, which required a very detailed ana­lysis and methodological improvements. In order to define the sediment regime in the Kolubara River, precise monitoring of SSC has been implemented since 2013. The Kolubara River has an unfavourable water regime which is reflected in the excessiveness of water runoff, with floods that are sudden, expressive and short-term, and long-term low waters, so, that are why it is cha­rac­terized by a large discharge and SSC variability. Incidentally, monitoring also covered the year of 2014, when the area of western Serbia (in particular the Kolubara River Basin) was under the influence of extreme climate events that strongly reflected on the hydrological condition with the absolute highest daily discharge. A total of 220 water samples were collected on Draževac gauging station in 2014, in order to determine SSC and sediment discharge. The total number of days covered was 206, which means that there were even more samplings per day, when the discharge was changing fast. The minimal daily measured SSC was only 0.0016 g/l and the maxi­mal recorded value of SSC was 2.6122 g/l and was measured in May at the water discharge of 1 260 m3/s. Тhe total amount of sus­pended sediment discharge at the profile of Draževac in 2014 was 1 104 435 t (the spe­ci­fic suspended sediment yield – 308 t/sqkm/yr). The main objective of this study is to improve SSC – water discharge relationship in the Kolubara River based on the extreme hydrological conditions in 2014.
Speleomorphology of M3-R2 – The highest cave in the SE Carpathians
Authors: TÎRLĂ Laura , DRĂGUȘIN Virgil , MIREA Ionuț , COJOCARIU Teodor
Published: May 2020

High-alpine caves are currently in the spotlight of research as they are host to speleothems, key recorders of Quaternary environmental change. Based on modern survey and analytical techniques, we investigated the karst morphology of M3-R2 Cave, the highest alpine cave in the Romanian Carpathians. Spatial modeling in Compass has shown survey details and cave morphology. We recalculated the main cave parameters (development/extension/depth), obtaining 47 m/21 m/-18.15 m, respectively. Slope ranges between 25° and 45°, with short passage segments of 5° to 10°. The cave developed at the intersection of a SW-dipping schistosity plan with two fracture sets, occurred under compression conditions. It is a remnant of a once longer cave system, which was progressively eroded under glacial conditions. Speleothem diversity is uncommonly rich for a marble cave, with dominant moonmilk formations, stalagmites and draperies. Due to its location/elevation, evolution and speleothems, this cave has a great potential in providing important paleoclimatic information compared to other karst landforms in South Carpathians.
Paleodrainage network reconstruction on Miroč Mt. (Eastern Serbia)
Authors: PETROVIĆ Aleksandar S. , ĆALIĆ Jelena , GAJOVIĆ Vojkan
Published: May 2020

The paper represents a geomorphological study related to the transitional forms between fluvial and karstic process. Karst areas of eastern Serbia are distributed in a large number of relatively isolated segments, and therefore abound in contact karst features. In many cases, central parts of karst areas, away from the contacts, host a variety of relict and dry valleys. Morphological analysis of these valleys may reveal the remnants of paleodrainage networks and help to reconstruct the morphological evolution of the area. This is a case study of the karst of Miroč Mt. in north-eastern Serbia, where geomorphological analysis and relief visualization using the Geomorphological Information System enabled the detection of paleodrainage directions and patterns in the vicinity of the Danube Gorge. Three paleo-river systems were detected, the largest of which is that of the Suva Reka (51 km2).
Uma experiência de comunicação sindical na Rede Federal
Authors: Silva Michel Goulart da
Published: May 2020

O presente relato de experiência apresenta as principais atividades realizadas por uma seção sindical do Sinasefe a partir da implantação de sua política de comunicação, entre 2017 e 2020.
Metodologia de geolocalização para mapeamento intraurbano de COVID-19 em Santa Maria, RS
Authors: Rizzatti Maurício , Lampert Batista Natália , Cezar Spode Pedro Leonardo , Bouvier Erthal Douglas , Mauro de Faria Rivaldo , Volpato Sccoti Anderson Augusto , Petsch Carina , Turba Costa Iago , Trentin Romario
Published: May 2020

O presente ensaio metodológico apresenta como produto cartográfico o mapa do número de casos confirmados de COVID-19 por bairro na área urbana de Santa Maria, RS – 16/05/2020 (n = 100) – Casos acumulados, bem como uma breve explicação metodológica dos procedimentos técnicos adotados em sua confecção. Destacou-se a metodologia para geocodificação intraurbana no espaço urbano de Santa Maria, RS, e uma breve descrição do produto obtido para os casos acumulados até a 20ª Semana Epidemiológica (SE). O produto cartográfico e a metodologia demostram eficiência para a interpretação dos dados na cidade média citada e contribuem para a gestão em saúde local.
Incidência de COVID-19 (Sars-Cov-2) e fluxos de deslocamentos para serviços de saúde na Região AMAUC: Geotecnologias aplicadas aos estudos demográficos
Authors: Talaska Alcione , Talaska Camila
Published: May 2020

As transformações científicas e tecnológicas que configuram o momento atual da sociedade fazem com que o aperfeiçoamento de métodos que visam alcançar a excelência em termos de conhecimento e tratamento de dados espaciais estejam sempre na ordem do dia. Com este entendimento, a proposta foi elaborar mapas temáticos aplicados ao  monitoramento da difusão do COVID-19 (Sars-Cov-2) na região da Associação dos Municípios do Alto Uruguai Catarinense (AMAUC). Assim, descreve-se os procedimentos geotecnológicos aplicados na geração de produto cartográfico, que relaciona a incidência dos casos confirmados de Covid-19 (Sars-cov2) para grupos de 1.000 habitantes e os deslocamentos da população residente para o acesso aos serviços de saúde. O produto cartográfico final se mostra importante para análises, comunicação visual e interpretação de fenômenos espaciais que importam ao planejamento e gestão territorial.
Burn-out and mental health of minority medical students in Hungarian medical education.
Authors: Szél Zsuzsanna , Győrffy Zsuzsa
Published: May 2020

Background Previous researches suggested that minority students are more exposed to discrimination and mistreatment at university, therefore may have higher risk of mental and physical health problems. Methods An online questionnaire was conducted among medical students of the 4 Hungarian medical universities (N=530). The survey contained questions about general demographic data, health behavior, burnout, mental and physical health issues and discrimination. Results 29.6% of students self-identified as minority. High level burnout was indicated by 48.1% of respondents, while another 27.0% showed moderate level. High level burn-out was associated with minority status (84.6% vs. 71.0%; p<0.001), discrimination (83.0% vs. 68.5%, p< 0.001), lower level of social support (89.0% vs 69.0%, p<0.001) and higher levels of perceived stress (57.1% vs. 95.4%) in the chi-squared test. Higher scores on trait (B = 0.123; p<0.001) and state anxiety (B = 0.082; p<0.001) subscales of STAI and lower score of resilience (B= -0.168; p<0.001) were significantly associated with higher level of burnout in the univariate model. In our final analysis, perceived stress, resilience, minority identity and experienced discrimination remained significant. Conclusions Belonging to a minority community might need to be considered an essential factor leading to burnout in Hungarian medical students. Our research suggests that minority medical students have poorer mental health and higher risk for burnout.
The net present value of human lives lost due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Authors: Kirigia Joses M. , Muthuri Rose Nabi Deborah Karimi , Muthuri Newton Gitonga
Published: May 2020

Objective As of 11 April 2020, there were 68,192 confirmed cases, including 4,232 deaths. This study aimed to estimate the net present value of human lives lost due to COVID-19 in Iran as of 11 April 2020.Results The 4,232 human lives lost had a total net present value of Int$ 436,275,007. The average net present value per human life was Int$103,090. Re-estimation of the economic model with 5% and 10% discount rates resulted in a reduction in the expected total net present value by Int$ 64,881,144 (14.9%) and Int$ 168,066,782 (38.5%), respectively. Additional re-calculation of the economic model using the highest life expectancy in the world (i.e., that of the Japanese Females) increased the total net present value of human lives lost by 114%.
Test–retest reliability and convergent validity of the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-Fourth Edition in patients with schizophrenia.
Authors: Chen Kuan-Wei , Lee Ya-Chen , Yu Tzu-Ying , Cheng Li-Jung , Chao Chien-Yu , Hsieh Ching-Lin
Published: May 2020

Background Fluid intelligence deficits affect executive functioning and social behaviors in patients with schizophrenia. To help clinicians manage fluid intelligence deficits, a psychometric sound measure is needed. The purposes of this study were to examine the test–retest reliability and convergent validity of the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-Fourth Edition (TONI-4) assessing fluid intelligence in patients with schizophrenia.Methods A total of 103 patients with stable condition were assessed with the TONI-4 twice with a 4-week interval to examine the test–retest reliability. We further used the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Tablet-Based Symbol Digit Modalities Test (T-SDMT) to examine the convergent validity of the TONI-4.Results The intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.73 for the TONI-4. The percentages of standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change for the TONI-4 were 5.1% and 14.2%, respectively. The practice effect of the TONI-4 was small (Cohen’s d = -0.03). Convergent validity showed small to moderate significant correlations between the TONI-4 and the MoCA as well as the T-SDMT (r = 0.35, p = .011 with the T-SDMT and r = 0.61, p < .001 with the MoCA). The results demonstrated that the TONI-4 had good test–retest reliability, limited random measurement error, and a trivial practice effect. The convergent validity of the TONI-4 was good.Conclusions These findings indicate that the TONI-4 has potential to be a reliable and valid assessment of fluid intelligence in patient with schizophrenia.
Subtype classification and prognosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma based on variable importance analysis
Authors: Gao Qian , Zhang Huifang , Que Ximei , Xi Yanfeng , Wang Tong
Published: May 2020

Background Gene expression profiling (GEP) is considered as gold standard for cell-of-origin classification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The high dimensionality of GEP limits its application in clinical practice. Penalized regression was commonly used to determine the optimal gene subset for classification in high dimensional gene data. However, the results of penalized regression methods were affected by the tuning parameters.Results To solve the instability of penalized regression methods, we proposed a strategy to measure the importance of variables with an aggregated index. This strategy was applied to six penalized methods to identify a small gene subset for DLBCL classification. Using a training dataset of 350 DLBCL patients, we identified six genes (MYBL1, TNFRSF13B, MAML3, CYB5R2, BATF, and S1PR2) as the optimal gene subset for DLBCL classification. The AUC was 0.9986 (95%CI 0.9967–1) and discrimination slope (DS) was 0.9442 (95%CI 0.9203–0.9661) in the training dataset. The discriminative performances were further validated in the external dataset with an AUC of 0.9455 (95%CI 0.9298–0.9612) and DS of 0.6211 (95%CI 0.5824–0.6591). Additionally, the calibration and clinical usefulness were apt in both datasets. Subgroups of patients characterized by these six genes showed significantly different prognosis. Furthermore, model comparisons demonstrated that the six-gene model outperformed models constructed by typical penalized regression methods.Conclusions The six genes had considerable clinical usefulness in DLBCL classification and prognosis. Penalized variable importance analysis is an efficient strategy to identify an optimal gene subset with good predictive performance.
Early warning signs for severe patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 and its epidemical significance
Authors: Ji Hong , Dai Qigang , Jin Hui , Xu Ke , Ai Jing , Fang Xinyu , Shi Naiyang , Huang Haodi , Wu Ying , Peng Zhihang , Hu Jianli , Zhu Liguo , Wu Ming , Bao Changjun
Published: May 2020

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
HIV-1 Vpr activates host CRL4-DCAF1 E3 ligase to degrade histone deacetylase SIRT7
Authors: Zhou Xiaohong , Monnie Christina , Delucia maria , ahn jinwoo
Published: May 2020

Background: Vpr is a virion-associated protein that is encoded by lentiviruses and serves to counteract intrinsic immunity factors that restrict infection. HIV-1 Vpr mediates proteasome-dependent degradation of several DNA repair/modification proteins. Mechanistically, Vpr directly recruits cellular targets onto DCAF1, a substrate receptor of Cullin 4 RING E3 ubiquitin ligase (CRL4) for poly-ubiquitination. Further, Vpr can mediate poly-ubiquitination of DCAF1-interacting proteins by the CRL4. Because Vpr-mediated degradation of its known targets can not explain the primary cell-cycle arrest phenotype that Vpr expression induces, we surveyed the literature for DNA-repair-associated proteins that interact with the CRL4-DCAF1. One such protein is SIRT7, a deacetylase of histone 3 that belongs to the Sirtuin family and regulates a wide range of cellular processes. We wondered whether Vpr can mediate degradation of SIRT7 via the CRL4-DCAF1. Methods: HEK293T cells were transfected with cocktails of plasmids expressing DCAF1, DDB1, SIRT7 and Vpr. Ectopic and endogeneous levels of SIRT7 were monitered by immunoblotting and protein-protein interactions were assessed by immunoprecipitation. For in vitro reconstitution assays, recombinant CRL4-DCAF1-Vpr complexes and SIRT7 were prepared and poly-ubiqutination of SIRT7 was monitored with immunoblotting. Results: We demonstrate SIRT7 polyubiquitination and degradation upon Vpr expression. Specifically, SIRT7 is shown to interact with the CRL4-DCAF1 complex, and expression of Vpr in HEK293T cells results in SIRT7 degradation, which is partially rescued by CRL inhibitor MNL4924 and proteasome inhibitor MG132. Further, in vitro reconstitution assays show that Vpr induces poly-ubiquitination of SIRT7 by the CRL4-DCAF1. Importantly, we find that Vpr from several different HIV-1 strains, but not HIV-2 strains, mediates SIRT7 poly-ubiquitination in the reconstitution assay and degradation in cells. Finally, we show that SIRT7 degradation by Vpr is independent of the known, distinctive phenotype of Vpr-induced cell cycle arrest at the G2 phase, Conclusions: Targeting histone deacetylase SIRT7 for degradation is a conserved feature of HIV-1 Vpr. Altogether , our findings reveal that HIV-1 Vpr mediates down-regulation of SIRT7 by a mechanism that does not involve novel target recruitment to the CRL4-DCAF1 but instead involves regulation of the E3 ligase activity.