bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The construction of rare disease discourse on YouTube: highlighting a disparity between policy rhetoric and patient practices around public engagement
Authors: Hanchard Matthew
Published: April 2022

Background: Policy rhetoric around the 6,000-8,000 rare diseases affecting 300 million people worldwide often focuses on public engagement. Meanwhile, medical authorities tend either to treat patients with rare diseases as pre-categorised data sources, proffer to them notions of technological self-care as empowerment, or recruit them as advocacy allies. Conversely, people living with rare diseases often mobilise and engage with one another in self-organised communities via social media to share discussion, information, and resources. How rare disease discourse forms on specific social media platforms, the role of different actors (including medical authorities and algorithms), and its relation to public engagement policy are poorly understood.

Methods: This paper examines data on YouTube video watching/sharing (gathered from YouTube’s API via DMI’s ‘Data Tools for YouTube’) through social network analysis (read through a controversy analysis lens).

Results: The paper identifies eight patterns – each revolving around different levels of: focus on rare disease content; engagement between content and viewers, i.e. through likes, dislikes, and surrounding particular videos; permeability of videos between categories; and repetition in viewers watching the same video. Across six of the patterns, the paper finds a rare disease issue-network forming, where discourse is constructed through three distinct communication strategies, each garnering a different form of engagement.

Conclusions: Overall, the paper highlights a disconnect between how rare disease discourse is enacted on YouTube and policy promises of public engagement, with potential spaces for dialogue often closed off by medical authorities. To close, the paper provides recommendations for how policymakers might engage with and facilitate more inclusive forms of social media interaction between specific rare disease related communities and clinicians to develop more meaningful forms of knowledge exchange.
Personality and adherence to the COVID-19 vaccine: the role of agreeableness and openness traits
Authors: Gonçalves André , Franco Gabriel , Gomes Gabriel Vitor , Machado Gisele , Pianowski Giselle , de Francisco Carvalho Lucas
Published: April 2022

Aim of the study

This study aimed to verify the relationship between personality traits and commitment to vaccination against COVID-19.

Subject or material and methods

The sample consisted of 595 Brazilian adults aged 18-72 years, who answered the Big Five Inventory 2 Short (BFI-2-S) and a COVID-19 Vaccine Questionnaire.

Results

Higher scores in agreeableness and openness were associated with a higher probability of adhering to the vaccination program, and higher scores in extroversion and lower scores in agreeableness were associated with poor adherence to the vaccination, anti-vaccine movement, and conspiracy beliefs against the vaccine (p ≤ .01).

Discussion

These results show the agreeableness and openness traits seem to be crucial for adherence to the vaccination program.

Conclusions

The findings indicate the importance of acknowledging agreeableness and openness traits as relevant in the adherence to the public policies programs against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The utility of media-delivered information for Generation Z travelers from Poland in the Covid-19 pandemic
Authors: Balińska Agata , Jaska Ewa
Published: April 2022

Motivation: Information and knowledge are economic goods that sustain economic development, including the tourism industry, today. In the past, the tourism sector was affected by various crises, but none of them was as extensive and impacted tourism on a global scale as it has happened now — during the Covid-19 pandemic. Generation Z, which is a cohort of extremely active travelers, mostly rely on digitally-delivered information. New media like the Internet, including social media, enable tourism entities to reach not only local, but also global markets. However, in the studies published so far, social media and the Internet have usually been analyzed as one category, which in the era of changing technologies and the new emerging behaviors of young tourists seems insufficient. Therefore, there is a need to verify the current state of research and determine the new media utility on the tourism market.

Aim: The study aims to investigate the capability of new media to meet the information needs of potential Gen Z tourists during the pandemic and to identify the characteristics of useful media information

Results: The study involved a desk research and a diagnostic survey method, including the online survey technique. The collected material was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. 374 responses were received to the questionnaire. The study was conducted in October 2020. Additionally, an observation, carried out in thematic groups in social media, was used as a complementary technique. The conducted research made it possible to verify the utility of online sources of information used by Gen Z respondents during the pandemic. The study determined the relationships between Gen Z travel frequency, average daily time spent in front of the computer, the amount of tourism expenditure and the utility of new media. The main contribution of this study is the identification of the features of useful media-delivered information about tourism products and services as perceived by Gen Z representatives, which contributes to filling the existing research gap.
Social issue as an area of non-financial reporting in Poland on the example of selected companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
Authors: Czaja-Cieszyńska Hanna
Published: April 2022

Motivation: The dissemination of the concept of sustainable development has resulted in the social issue becoming an important area of non-financial reporting. However, the complexity and multidimensionality of this category mean that the indicators used for this are very diverse. The literature on this subject includes numerous publications, but there is lack of answer to the question: are the social category disclosures presented in non-financial reports comparable?

Aim: The aim of the paper is an assessment of the comparability of non-financial disclosures in the social area in reports of selected companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The ten largest companies listed in the WIG-20 index were selected for the study. The study covered non-financial reports for 2019. The study was divided into five categories: (I) Human Rights, (II) Local Communities and Community Engagement, (III) Supplier Social Assessment, (IV) Customer Privacy, and (V) Other, within each, based on GRI Standards, up to three non-financial indicators have been defined.

Results: The conducted empirical study confirmed that the analysed non-financial reports were not fully comparable in any of the five categories of disclosures. Moreover, in many reports verbal description dominated, with a relatively small share of information expressed in numbers and/or percentages, which in turn creates a field for narration. Non-financial reporting requires an appropriate balance between descriptive reporting and quantified information. This also applies to the disclosure of information on social issues. In this light, it seems necessary to lobby and then start legislative work aimed at increasing the comparability of non-financial reports.
The importance of external financing in management of innovative processes in the SME sector
Authors: Kokot-Stępień Patrycja
Published: April 2022

Motivation: A broad approach to the SME sector causes that small and medium-sized enterprises are active in all segments of the economy. Each segment is characterized by a certain way of doing a business and thus financing it. Therefore, an important issue for the small and medium-sized entities is to provide both liquidity and continuity of financing and access to such sources of financing that will allow the implementation of innovative projects since innovation affects the pace and direction of development of the specific economic entity as well as significantly indicates the forms and structure of business cooperation.

Aim: The aim of the article is to analyze the extent to which the various sources of financing are used by small and medium-sized enterprises in the implementation of innovative projects, and to show the relationship between external sources of financing and the level of expenditure on innovation of SMEs in Poland.

Results: The analysis was based on examining the dependence of the scale of innovative activity of enterprises in the SME sector in Poland on the possibility of using not only own funds, but also funds from external sources, the use of which by small and medium-sized enterprises is still too low and is often limited to EU funds.
Differentiated Pricing of Shared Mobility Systems Considering Network Effects
Authors: Soppert Matthias , Steinhardt Claudius , Müller Christian , Gönsch Jochen
Published: April 2022

Over the last decades, shared mobility systems have become an integral part of inner-city mobility. Modern systems allow one-way rentals, that is, customers can drop off the vehicle at a different location to where they began their trip. A prominent example is car sharing. Indeed, this work was motivated by the insight we gained in collaborating closely with Europe’s largest car sharing provider, Share Now. In car sharing, as well as in shared mobility systems in general, pricing optimization has turned out to be a promising means of increasing profit while challenged by limited vehicle supply and asymmetric demand across time and space. Thus, in practice, providers increasingly use minute pricing that is differentiated according to where a rental originates, that is, considering its location and the time of day. In research, however, such approaches have not been considered yet. In this paper, we therefore introduce the corresponding origin-based differentiated, profit-maximizing pricing problem for shared mobility systems. The problem is to determine spatially and temporally differentiated minute prices, taking network effects on the supply side and several practice relevant aspects into account. Based on a deterministic network flow model, we formulate the problem as a mixed-integer linear program and prove that it is NP-hard. For its solution, we propose a temporal decomposition approach based on approximate dynamic programming. The approach integrates a value function approximation to incorporate future profits and account for network effects. Extensive computational experiments demonstrate the benefits of capturing such effects in pricing generally, as well as showing our value function approximation’s ability to anticipate them precisely. Furthermore, in a case study based on Share Now data from Florence in Italy, we observe profit increases of around 9% compared with constant uniform minute prices, which are still the de facto industry standard.
Using COVID-19 Data on Vaccine Shipments and Wastage to Inform Modeling and Decision-Making
Authors: Hajibabai Leila , Hajbabaie Ali , Swann Julie , Vergano Dan
Published: April 2022

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions have been experienced in many supply chains, particularly in personal protective equipment, testing kits, and even essential household goods. Effective vaccines to protect against COVID-19 were approved for emergency use in the United States in late 2020, which led to one of the most extensive vaccination campaigns in history. We continuously collect data on vaccine allocation, shipment and distribution, administration, and inventory in the United States, covering the entire vaccination campaign. In this article, we describe some data sets that we collaborated to obtain. We are publishing the data and making them freely available to researchers, media organizations, and other stakeholders so that others may use the data to develop insights about the distribution and wastage of vaccines during the current pandemic or to provide an informed future pandemic response. This article gives an overview of vaccine distribution logistics in the United States, describes the data we obtain, outlines how they may be accessed and used by others, and describes some high-level analyses demonstrating some aspects of the data (for data collected during January 1, 2021–March 31, 2021). This article also provides directions for future research using the collected data. Our goal is two-fold: (i) We would like the data to be used in many creative ways to inform the current and future pandemic response. (ii) We also want to inspire other researchers to make their data publicly available in a timely manner.
Saving tax on renovations
Authors: Bernstein Adam
Published: April 2022

While improvements and renovations can be expensive, clinics that follow the rules set down by HM Revenue and Customs can make large savings on their expenditure, says Adam Bernstein
Seize the day!
Authors: Ratcliffe Jason
Published: April 2022

Being a successful business owner requires you to use your time as productively as possible. In this article, Jason Ratcliffe discusses a few ideas to help practitioners to refocus and ensure their time is used as effectively as possible
The past, present and future of advanced nursing practice
Authors: Swaby Kelly , Reynolds Julie , Mortimore Gerri
Published: April 2022

Kelly Swaby, Julie Reynolds and Gerri Mortimore explore the historical, professional and national developments that have influenced advanced nursing practice in England

This article considers the past, present and future development of advanced nursing practice. It traces the historical, professional and national developments that have impacted on advanced nursing practice in England. Current influence and future opportunities and challenges are explored, providing a comprehensive overview of advanced nursing practice in England.
A Systematic Literature Review of the Methodology Preference for Analyzing Eel (Anguilla spp.) Habitat
Authors:   Research Center For Limnology, National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia, Rahmadya Aldiano , Ridwansyah Iwan ,   Research Center For Limnology, National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia, Daruati Dini ,   Research Center For Limnology, National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia, Rahmat Ali ,   Research Center For Limnology, National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia, * Triyanto ,   Research Center For Limnology, National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia, Dewi Asih P ,   Research Center For Biology, National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia, Wildan Dudi M ,   Departement of Aquatic Resoureces Management, IPB Universty
Published: April 2022

Abstract Indonesia is rich in eel (Anguilla spp.) fishery resources, however, only sparse information is available regarding these resources, particularly the habitat preferences. These preferences have been studied severally using different methods, thus, there is currently no comprehensive description of the exact study methods. This study, therefore, aims to assay the development of research on eel habitat in the tropics, especially in Indonesia, and discover the most prevalent study method used between 2001 and 2020. This was carried out using a systematic literature review, defined as the process of identifying, assessing, and interpreting all available research evidence to provide answers to specific research questions. A total of 21 studies were selected for further analysis based on the specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. According to the results, current studies on eel habitat preferences focus on three topics: the ecology and behavior of eels during their lifecycle (52%), the relationship between eel morphology and habitat (19%), as well as the relationship between the time of metamorphosis and habitat (29%). Furthermore, 4 methods: Bio-morphology (29%), Otolith (57%), Ecological Studies (10%), and Gonadosomathic Index (5%), are commonly used. However, researchers suggest future research ought to be conducted more comprehensively. Therefore, more detailed ecological studies need to be carried out, together with otolith and bio-morphological studies. Keywords: Systematic Literature Review, eels, habitat, and methodology preference for eel habitat
Incidence of Death from Stroke and Brains of Stroke Victim Cadavers in Northern Thailand
Authors:   Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Thaweekhotr Pornnarez ,   Graduate School, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand,   School of Integrative Medicine, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, Thongsopha Chanida ,   Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Tanprawate Surut ,   Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Muang, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Sudwan Paiwan ,   Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Bumroongkit Kanokkan ,   Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Seeharach Kewalee ,   Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Jaiyen Chatchadaporn ,   Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Quiggins Ranida ,   Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Published: April 2022

Abstract Stroke is a leading cause of death in Thailand. However, there are varying numbers of regional stroke patients. This study aims to report the ranking of stroke as the cause of death in Northern Thai cadavers and to investigate the brains of stroke victim cadavers. A retrograde study was used to obtain data about cadavers and gross examinations were performed on the brains of the stroke victim cadavers housed in the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University in the years 2019-2020. The results showed that death from stroke among the cadavers in the Northern Thailand increased during 2016-2018. Stroke was ranked as the fourth and fifth leading cause of death. The stroke victims were primarily aged over 60 years. The incidence of stroke in males was significantly higher than that of females. Approximately 92.7% of total stroke brains were the intracerebral hemorrhagic type stroke. About 41.7% of the intracerebral hemorrhagic brains had occurred with intraventricular hemorrhage and 16.7% of those occurred with subarachnoid hemorrhage. The hemorrhagic sizes varied from 5.66 to 260.43 ml. The territories of the cortical branches of the middle cerebral artery were the most common hemorrhages, making up 22.9% of total vascular territories. In conclusion, stroke was the fourth and fifth leading cause of death in the self-donated population in the Northern Thailand. Intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke was the main cause the death. Additionally, the vascular territories of the stroke might be related to the likelihood of death. Keywords: Stroke, Cerebrovascular disease, Cadavers, Intracerebral hemorrhage, Northern Thailand
Comparison of Phytochemicals in Sesame and Perilla (Seeds and Oils) Grown at Mae Hong Son Thailand
Authors:   Faculty of Agro-Industry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand, Apichartsrangkoon Arunee , Tiampakdee Autchara ,   Faculty of Agro-Industry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand, Tameeya Warangkana ,   Faculty of Agro-Industry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand, Kreungngern Danchai ,   Faculty of Science and Technology, Kamphaeng Phet Rajabhat University, Kamphaeng Phet 62000, Thailand, Srisajjalertwaja Siriwan ,   Faculty of Science and, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand, Supraditareporn Wissanee ,   Faculty of Agricultural technology, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand
Published: April 2022

Abstract Sesame and perilla seeds were analyzed for fat, protein, moisture and ash. Their mineral contents, lignan, γ-tocopherol and fatty acid profiles were also determined. The results showed that sesame seeds had higher protein, lipid and mineral contents but lower fiber contents than perilla seeds, accounting for 17.38-20.76%, 42.70-46.18%, 3.07-6.47%, 18.00-21.88%, respectively. Major minerals in the seed were 0.26-0.95% calcium and 0.11-0.23% magnesium. Perilla oil showed lower pH than sesame oil giving it higher acid value. Most lignans were more concentrated in sesame than perilla. Sesamin was the predominant lignin, followed by sesamolin. The sesamin and sesamolin contents in sesame were ranged for 148.30-183.68 mg/100g and 33.96-43.54 mg/100g, respectively. Although black sesame oil had low content of sesamin and sesamolin, it performed high physiological functions due to its high contents of γ-tocopherol and unsaturated fatty acid. Gamma tocopherol of the oils was ranged from 35.81 to 51.64 mg/100g, and perilla oil showed the highest γ-tocopherol content. Fatty acid profiles revealed that the major fatty acids in sesame oils were 44.43-47.21% linoleic followed by 36.40-38.39% oleic, 7.07-9.64% palmitic and 5.09-7.72% stearic acids, giving them high polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), followed by monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and saturated fatty acids (SFA). White sesame oil had higher linoleic acid but lower oleic acid than other sesame oils. Perilla oil contained high amounts of 55.27% α-linolenic followed by 19.75% linoleic, 12.70% oleic and 7.38% plamitic acids, giving it high PUFA, but low SFA and MUFA. Keywords: Chemical composition, Minerals, Fatty acid profiles, Lignans, Gamma-tocopherol
Classification of Lumber Spine Disc Herniation using Machine Learning Methods
Authors: Hui Nicole Tan Xin , Nisar Humaira , Kar Wei Sim
Published: April 2022

In the medical field computer-aided diagnosis systems (CADs) are an active area of research as CADs serve to aid medical professionals in simplifying the diagnosis of a patients condition. In this paper we propose a machine learning based method for classifying lumbar disc herniation. The automation of herniated disc diagnosis decreases the enormous weight on radiologists who need to analyse several cases every day manually. Automation will also help to decrease inter and intra rater variability. Hence his work focuses on the classification of lumber disc herniation based on sagittal view Magnetic Resonance Images (MRIs). The dataset used in this work comprises of 32 images from 32 patients of which 10 patients are healthy while 22 of them have herniated discs. This data is processed through various image processing techniques to obtain three sets of features: the binary image; shape, height and width measurements of discs; and full attribute images. The proposed approach consists of four stages: region extraction, image segmentation, feature extraction and classification. The classification process is performed through support vector machines (SVMs) and K-nearest neighbor (KNNs) of which the KNN with k=5 produced the best results with 78.6% accuracy, F1 score of 66.7%, precision and recall rate of 60% and 75% respectively.
Evaluation of the robustness of cerebral oximetry to variations in skin pigmentation using a tissue-simulating phantom
Authors: Afshari Ali , Saager Rolf B. , Burgos David , Vogt William C. , Wang Jianting , Mendoza Gonzalo , Weininger Sandy , Sung Kung-Bin , Durkin Anthony J. , Pfefer T. Joshua
Published: April 2022

Clinical studies have demonstrated that epidermal pigmentation level can affect cerebral oximetry measurements. To evaluate the robustness of these devices, we have developed a phantom-based test method that includes an epidermis-simulating layer with several melanin concentrations and a 3D-printed cerebrovascular module. Measurements were performed with neonatal, pediatric and adult sensors from two commercial oximeters, where neonatal probes had shorter source-detector separation distances. Referenced blood oxygenation levels ranged from 30 to 90%. Cerebral oximeter outputs exhibited a consistent decrease in saturation level with simulated melanin content; this effect was greatest at low saturation levels, producing a change of up to 15%. Dependence on pigmentation was strongest in a neonatal sensor, possibly due to its high reflectivity. Overall, our findings indicate that a modular channel-array phantom approach can provide a practical tool for assessing the impact of skin pigmentation on cerebral oximeter performance and that modifications to algorithms and/or instrumentation may be needed to mitigate pigmentation bias.
Large-area long-wave infrared broadband all-dielectric metasurface absorber based on maskless laser direct writing lithography
Authors: Chen Cheng , Liu Yanhua , Jiang Zhou-ying , Shen Chong , Zhang Ye , Zhong Fan , Chen Linsen , Zhu Shining , Liu Hui
Published: April 2022

Scalable and low-cost manufacturing of broadband absorbers for use in the long-wave
infrared region are of enormous importance in various applications,
such as infrared thermal imaging, radiative cooling, thermal
photovoltaics and infrared sensor. In recent years, a plethora of
broadband absorption metasurfaces made of metal nano-resonators with
plasmon resonance have been synthesized. Still, their disadvantages in
terms of complex structure, production equipment, and fabrication
throughput, limit their future commercial applications. Here, we
propose and experimentally demonstrate a broadband large-area
all-dielectric metasurface absorber comprised of silicon (Si) arrays
of square resonators and a silicon nitride
(Si3N4) film in the long-wave infrared region.
The multiple Mie resonance modes generated in a single-size Si
resonator are utilized to enhance the absorption of the
Si3N4 film to achieve broadband absorption. At
the same time, the transversal optical (TO) phonon resonance of
Si3N4 and the Si resonator’s magnetic dipole
resonance are coupled to achieve a resonator size-insensitive
absorption peak. The metasurface absorber prepared by using maskless
laser direct writing technology displays an average absorption of
90.36% and a peak absorption of 97.55% in the infrared region of 8 to
14 µm, and still maintains an average absorption of 88.27% at an
incident angle of 40°. The experimentally prepared 2 cm × 3 cm
patterned metasurface absorber by maskless laser direct writing
lithography (MLDWL) exhibits spatially selective absorption and the
thermal imaging of the sample shows that the maximum temperature
difference of 17.3 °C can exist at the boundary.
Thermal tuning of mode crossing and the perfect soliton crystal in a Si3N4 microresonator
Authors: Li Jin , Wan Shuai , Peng Jin-Lan , Wang Zheng-Yu , Niu Rui , Zou Chang-Ling , Guo Guang-Can , Dong Chun-Hua
Published: April 2022

Dissipative Kerr solitons in high quality microresonators have attracted much attention in the past few years. They provide ideal platforms for a number of applications. Here, we fabricate the Si3N4 microring resonator with anomalous dispersion for the generation of single soliton and soliton crystal. Based on the strong thermal effect in the high-Q microresonator, the location and strength of the avoided mode crossing in the device can be changed by the intracavity power. Because the existence of the avoided mode crossing can induce the perfect soliton crystal with specific soliton number, we could choose the appropriate pumped resonance mode and appropriate pump power to obtain the perfect soliton crystals on demand.
Wavelet convolutional neural network for robust and fast temperature measurements in Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry
Authors: Chen Bei , Su Lianghao , Zhang Zhaoyang , Liu Xiaozhi , Dai Tingge , Song Muping , Yu Hui , Wang Yuehai , Yang Jianyi
Published: April 2022

In this paper, a wavelet convolutional neural network (WNN) consisting of a one-dimensional (1D) convolutional neural network and a self-adaptive wavelet neural network has been proposed and demonstrated experimentally for temperature measurement in a Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry (BOTDR) system. Based on the analysis of the system noise, it follows the Gaussian white noise distribution along the time-related sensing distance. The impact of the noise in time-domain on the measured Brillouin gain spectra (BGSs) could be neglected, so that the BGSs in the fiber can be regarded as a series of 1D input data of the proposed WNN. Different self-adaptive wavelet activation functions connected to each output of the full-connection network are adopted to realize the multi-scaled analysis and the scale translation, which can obtain more local characteristics in frequency-domain. The output extracted by the WNN is Brillouin frequency shift (BFS), which presents linearity correlation to the actual temperature. Considering the multi-parameters including different frequency ranges, signal-to-noise-ratios (SNRs), BFSs and spectral widths (SWs), a general model of the proposed WNN is trained to handle more extreme cases, in which it doesn’t require retraining for different single-mode (SM) optical fibers in BOTDR sensing system. The performances of the WNN are compared with other two techniques, the Lorentzian curve fitting based on Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm and the basic neural network (NN) containing input and output layers together with two hidden layers. Both the simulated and measured results show that the WNN has better robustness and flexibility than the LM and the NN. Besides, the computational accuracy of the WNN is improved and the fluctuation of that is slighter, especially when the SNR is less than 11 dB. Moreover, the WNN takes approximately 0.54 s to measure the temperature from the 18,000 collected BGSs transmitted through the 18 km SM optical fiber. The calculating time of the WNN is greatly reduced by three orders of magnitude in comparison with that of the LM, and is comparable to that of the NN. It proves that the proposed WNN may provide a feasible or even better scheme for the robust and fast temperature measurement in BOTDR system.
Saturated-excitation image scanning microscopy
Authors: Temma Kenta , Oketani Ryosuke , Lachmann René , Kubo Toshiki , Smith Nicholas I. , Heintzmann Rainer , Fujita Katsumasa
Published: April 2022

Image scanning microscopy (ISM) overcomes the trade-off between spatial resolution and signal volume in confocal microscopy by rearranging the signal distribution on a two-dimensional detector array to achieve a spatial resolution close to the theoretical limit achievable by infinitesimal pinhole detection without sacrificing the detected signal intensity. In this paper, we improved the spatial resolution of ISM in three dimensions by exploiting saturated excitation (SAX) of fluorescence. We theoretically investigated the imaging properties of ISM, when the fluorescence signals are nonlinearly induced by SAX, and show combined SAX-ISM fluorescence imaging to demonstrate the improvement of the spatial resolution in three dimensions. In addition, we confirmed that the SNR of SAX-ISM imaging of fluorescent beads and biological samples, which is one of the challenges in conventional SAX microscopy, was improved.
Packaging contests between viral RNA molecules and kinetic selectivity
Authors: Mizrahi Inbal , Bruinsma Robijn , Rudnick Joseph
Published: April 2022

The paper presents a statistical-mechanics model for the kinetic selection of viral RNA molecules by packaging signals during the nucleation stage of the assembly of small RNA viruses. The effects of the RNA secondary structure and folding geometry of the packaging signals on the assembly activation energy barrier are encoded by a pair of characteristics: the wrapping number and the maximum ladder distance. Kinetic selection is found to be optimal when assembly takes place under conditions of supersaturation and also when the concentration ratio of capsid protein and viral RNA concentrations equals the stoichiometric ratio of assembled viral particles. As a function of the height of the activation energy barrier, there is a form of order-disorder transition such that for sufficiently low activation energy barriers, kinetic selectivity is erased by entropic effects associated with the number of assembly pathways.
Non-linear archetypal analysis of single-cell RNA-seq data by deep autoencoders
Authors: Wang Yuge , Zhao Hongyu
Published: April 2022

Advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) have led to successes in discovering novel cell types and understanding cellular heterogeneity among complex cell populations through cluster analysis. However, cluster analysis is not able to reveal continuous spectrum of states and underlying gene expression programs (GEPs) shared across cell types. We introduce scAAnet, an autoencoder for single-cell non-linear archetypal analysis, to identify GEPs and infer the relative activity of each GEP across cells. We use a count distribution-based loss term to account for the sparsity and overdispersion of the raw count data and add an archetypal constraint to the loss function of scAAnet. We first show that scAAnet outperforms existing methods for archetypal analysis across different metrics through simulations. We then demonstrate the ability of scAAnet to extract biologically meaningful GEPs using publicly available scRNA-seq datasets including a pancreatic islet dataset, a lung idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis dataset and a prefrontal cortex dataset.
Simplified hypertension screening methods across 60 countries: An observational study
Authors: Carrillo-Larco Rodrigo M. , Guzman-Vilca Wilmer Cristobal , Neupane Dinesh
Published: April 2022

Background

Simplified blood pressure (BP) screening approaches have been proposed. However, evidence is limited to a few countries and has not documented the cardiovascular risk amongst missed hypertension cases, limiting the uptake of these simplified approaches. We quantified the proportion of missed, over-diagnosed, and consistently identified hypertension cases and the 10-year cardiovascular risk in these groups.

Methods and findings

We used 60 WHO STEPS surveys (cross-sectional and nationally representative; n = 145,174) conducted in 60 countries in 6 world regions between 2004 and 2019. Nine simplified approaches were compared against the standard (average of the last 2 of 3 BP measurements). The 10-year cardiovascular risk was computed with the 2019 World Health Organization Cardiovascular Risk Charts. We used t tests to compare the cardiovascular risk between the missed and over-diagnosed cases and the consistent hypertension cases. We used Poisson multilevel regressions to identify risk factors for missed cases (adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and 10-year cardiovascular risk). Across all countries, compared to the standard approach, the simplified approach that missed the fewest cases was using the second BP reading if the first BP reading was 130–145/80–95 mm Hg (5.62%); using only the second BP reading missed 5.82%. The simplified approach with the smallest over-diagnosis proportion was using the second BP reading if the first BP measurement was ≥140/90 mm Hg (3.03%). In many countries, cardiovascular risk was not significantly different between the missed and consistent hypertension groups, yet the mean was slightly lower amongst missed cases. Cardiovascular risk was positively associated with missed hypertension depending on the simplified approach. The main limitation of the work is the cross-sectional design.

Conclusions

Simplified BP screening approaches seem to have low misdiagnosis rates, and cardiovascular risk could be lower amongst missed cases than amongst consistent hypertension cases. Simplified BP screening approaches could be included in large screening programmes and busy clinics.
Group B Streptococcus colonization at delivery is associated with maternal peripartum infection
Authors: Brigtsen Anne Karin , Jacobsen Anne Flem , Dedi Lumnije , Melby Kjetil Klaveness , Espeland Cathrine Nygaard , Fugelseth Drude , Whitelaw Andrew
Published: April 2022

Background

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of serious neonatal infection but its role in maternal morbidity has received little investigation. The aim of this study was to determine whether GBS colonization at delivery is associated with increased risk of maternal peripartum infection.

Methods

In this prospective cohort study, 1746 unselected women had a vaginal-rectal culture taken at the onset of labor. Diagnosis of maternal peripartum infection was based on a combination of two or more signs or symptoms including fever, breast pain, severe wound or pelvic pain, purulent discharge and abnormal laboratory tests including C-reactive protein and white blood cell count occurring from labor until 2 weeks postpartum. The main outcome measure was the proportion of women with maternal peripartum infection according to GBS colonization status.

Results

A total of 25.9% (452/1746) women were colonized with GBS. The rate of peripartum infection was almost twice as high in colonized women (49/452 [10.8%]) vs. non-colonized women (81/1294 [6.3%]); OR 1.82 [1.26–2.64], p = 0.002). This association was confirmed in a multivariable model (OR 1.99 [1.35–2.95], p = 0.001). Women diagnosed with peripartum infection had a significantly longer hospital stay compared to women without peripartum infection (4 days (median) vs. 3 days, p < 0.001). Length of hospital stay did not differ between colonized and non-colonized women. Serotype IV GBS was more frequent in colonized women with peripartum infection than in women without peripartum infection (29.3% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.003).

Conclusions

GBS colonization at delivery is associated with increased risk of peripartum infection. Whether this increase is due directly to invasion by GBS or whether GBS colonization is associated with a more general vulnerability to infection remains to be determined.
A cost analysis of implementing mobile health facilitated tuberculosis contact investigation in a low-income setting
Authors: Turimumahoro Patricia , Tucker Austin , Gupta Amanda J. , Tampi Radhika P. , Babirye Diana , Ochom Emmanuel , Ggita Joseph M. , Ayakaka Irene , Sohn Hojoon , Katamba Achilles , Dowdy David , Davis J. Lucian
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Mobile health (mHealth) applications may improve timely access to health services and improve patient-provider communication, but the upfront costs of implementation may be prohibitive, especially in resource-limited settings.

Methods

We measured the costs of developing and implementing an mHealth-facilitated, home-based strategy for tuberculosis (TB) contact investigation in Kampala, Uganda, between February 2014 and July 2017. We compared routine implementation involving community health workers (CHWs) screening and referring household contacts to clinics for TB evaluation to home-based HIV testing and sputum collection and transport with test results delivered by automated short messaging services (SMS). We carried out key informant interviews with CHWs and asked them to complete time-and-motion surveys. We estimated program costs from the perspective of the Ugandan health system, using top-down and bottom-up (components-based) approaches. We estimated total costs per contact investigated and per TB-positive contact identified in 2018 US dollars, one and five years after program implementation.

Results

The total top-down cost was $472,327, including $358,504 (76%) for program development and $108,584 (24%) for program implementation. This corresponded to $320-$348 per household contact investigated and $8,873-$9,652 per contact diagnosed with active TB over a 5-year period. CHW time was spent primarily evaluating household contacts who returned to the clinic for evaluation (median 30 minutes per contact investigated, interquartile range [IQR]: 30–70), collecting sputum samples (median 29 minutes, IQR: 25–30) and offering HIV testing services (median 28 minutes, IQR: 17–43). Cost estimates were sensitive to infrastructural capacity needs, program reach, and the epidemiological yield of contact investigation.

Conclusion

Over 75% of all costs of the mHealth-facilitated TB contact investigation strategy were dedicated to establishing mHealth infrastructure and capacity. Implementing the mHealth strategy at scale and maintaining it over a longer time horizon could help decrease development costs as a proportion of total costs.
Formation of recombinant bifunctional fusion protein: A newer approach to combine the activities of two enzymes in a single protein
Authors: Nilpa Patel , Chintan Kapadia , Sayyed R. Z. , El Enshasy Hesham , El Adawi Hala , Alhazmi Alaa , Almalki Atiah H. , Haque Shafiul
Published: April 2022

The tissue of insects, pests, and fungi has a chitin layer followed by protein in the cell membrane. The complete biodegradation of chitin and protein-present in the waste requires the action of two enzymes, namely chitinase, and protease. Combining chitinase and protease in a single protein/enzyme will serve as a bifunctional enzyme that can efficiently degrade the chitin and protein-rich biomass. The present study was aimed to fuse these two enzymes to produce a single protein and study the kinetics of the recombinant fusion protein. A chitinase and alkaline protease genes were isolated, cloned, and expressed successfully as a fusion product in heterologous hostEscherichia coli. The two native genes were successfully fused inE.coliby using flexible glycine–serine (G4S)2linker (GGGGS, GS linker). The recombinant fusion protein inE.colishowed hydrolyzed chitin and protein on chitin and bovine serum albumin agar plates confirming the successful cloning and expression of chitinase and protease enzymes in a single fusion protein. The common pUC18-T7 mini vector with the ompA signal sequence helps the extracellular expression of fusion protein efficiently. The native gel electrophoresis revealed a molecular mass of purified protein as 92.0 kDa. The fusion protein’s maximal chitinase and protease activity occurred at pH 5.0 and 8.0 and 300C, respectively resembling the individual enzymes’. In the kinetic studies of the fusion protein, it was observed that the presence of metal ions such as Cu2+, Na2+, and Ca2+; significantly enhanced the enzyme activities while organic solvents oxidants and chemicals have drastically affected the activities of both the enzymes in the fusion protein. No such fusion protein has been produced in a heterologous host yet. The reports on fusion protein with biomass-degrading capacity are also scarce. This is probably the first report of a bifunctional chitinase/protease expressed inE.coli.
Measuring quality of life with the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 in people with cognitive impairment
Authors: Schönenberg Aline , Prell Tino
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Quality of life (QoL) is a key outcome in healthcare. However, whether cognitively impaired people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can reliably self-report QoL is unclear, and patients are often excluded from studies based on cognition test scores. The aim of this analysis was to assess the validity of the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) in PD patients with and without cognitive impairment.

Methods

In this study, 221 individuals with PD completed the PDQ-39, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), and Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The PDQ-39’s internal consistency, convergent validity with BDI-II, and floor and ceiling effects were analyzed for patients with and without cognitive impairment.

Results

Ninety-four patients showed cognitive impairment (MOCA <21), whereas 127 patients had mild/no impairment. Both MOCA groups differed significantly with regards to PD severity. The PDQ-39’s internal consistency was adequate for most subdomains in both MOCA groups, but floor effects were present for the subdomains Stigmatization, Social Support and Communication, regardless of impairment. For some subdomains, the PDQ-39’s convergent validity with the BDI receded in the low MOCA group but remained significant for most PDQ-39 domains, especially for the PDQ total score (r = .386, p < .001) and for the subdomain emotional well-being (r = .446, p < .001).

Conclusion

The PDQ-39 can be used to measure QoL in cognitively impaired PD patients, thus test scores indicating cognitive impairment alone should not lead to exclusion of PD patients from clinical studies. Although the correlation between BDI-II and PDQ-39 shrinks for some subdomains in cognitively impairment patients, this finding may be explained by the difference in PD severity, as factors influencing QoL may shift with increasing age and PD symptoms.
Validation of xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG assay in Nigeria
Authors: Iriemenam Nnaemeka C. , Ige Fehintola A. , Greby Stacie M. , Mpamugo Augustine , Abubakar Ado G. , Dawurung Ayuba B. , Esiekpe Mudiaga K. , Thomas Andrew N. , Okoli Mary U. , Awala Samuel S. , Ugboaja Blessing N. , Achugbu Chicago C. , Odoh Ifeanyichukwu , Nwatu Felicia D. , Olaleye Temitope , Akayi Loveth , Akinmulero Oluwaseun O. , Dattijo Joseph , Onokevbagbe Edewede , Okunoye Olumide , Mba Nwando , Agala Ndidi P. , Uwandu Mabel , Aniedobe Maureen , Stafford Kristen A. , Abimiku Alash’le , Hamada Yohhei , Swaminathan Mahesh , Okoye McPaul I. , Steinhardt Laura C. , Audu Rosemary
Published: April 2022

Objective

There is a need for reliable serological assays to determine accurate estimates of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence. Most single target antigen assays have shown some limitations in Africa. To assess the performance of a multi-antigen assay, we evaluated a commercially available SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG assay for human coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Nigeria.

Methods

Validation of the xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG assay was carried out using well-characterized SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reactive positive (97) and pre-COVID-19 pandemic (86) plasma panels. Cross-reactivity was assessed using pre-COVID-19 pandemic plasma specimens (213) from the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS).

Results

The overall sensitivity of the xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG assay was 75.3% [95% CI: 65.8%– 82.8%] and specificity was 99.0% [95% CI: 96.8%– 99.7%]. The sensitivity estimate increased to 83.3% [95% CI: 70.4%– 91.3%] for specimens >14 days post-confirmation of diagnosis. However, using the NAIIS pre-pandemic specimens, the false positivity rate was 1.4% (3/213).

Conclusions

Our results showed overall lower sensitivity and a comparable specificity with the manufacturer’s validation. There appears to be less cross-reactivity with NAIIS pre-pandemic COVID-19 specimens using the xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG assay. In-country SARS-CoV-2 serology assay validation can help guide the best choice of assays in Africa.