bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Atomic Force Microscope Study of Friction at the Submicron-Scale During Tribotests With Self-Mated Steel
Authors: Reichelt Manuel , Cappella Brunero
Published: April 2022

Friction at the microscale during reciprocal sliding tribotests was studied for the first time with self-mated steel (100Cr6/AISI 52100) taking advantage of an atomic force microscope (AFM). To this aim, microsized steel particles were glued to the AFM-cantilever and employed as colloidal tips to perform tribotests on a steel disc. The torsion of the cantilever, which correlates with the friction force, was measured during the tests. Due to the irregular shape of the test particles and their wear, it is not possible to calibrate the torsional response of the cantilever and absolute quantification of the friction force cannot be achieved. Nevertheless, the model system used in the presented measurements is more representative of the tribology of real mechanical tribo-elements than already studied systems, in which for example only one tribopartner is worn. Few tests with the same load did not yield any wear and show that the load and adhesion contributions to friction stay constant when the shape of the test particle does not change. Most of the presented tribotests engendered wear. For those tests, the increase of friction during the tribotests was detected and was attributed to the emerging plowing contribution. Furthermore, analysis of both torsion and local slope experienced by the cantilever during the tests gives information on the creation of wear particles and their influence on friction.
Reduction of inertial end correction of perforated plates due to secondary high amplitude stimuli
Authors: Burgmayer Ralf , Bake Friedrich , Enghardt Lars
Published: April 2022

The decrease in reactance of perforated plates at high sound pressure amplitudes is of interest for the design of Helmholtz resonator liners. It is associated with the loss of end correction due to flow separation at the orifices. In practical applications, complex acoustic signals impinge on perforations. The loss of end correction due to multiple stimuli of unrelated frequency and phase has not been considered yet. This study assesses and presents an empirical approximation for the reduction of end correction of perforated plates at primary frequencies when flow separation is induced by an additional secondary unrelated high amplitude stimulus.
REVIEWS OF ACOUSTICAL PATENTS
Authors: Fulop Sean A.
Published: April 2022

The purpose of these acoustical patent reviews is to provide enough information for a Journal reader to decide whether to seek more information from the patent itself. Any opinions expressed here are those of the reviewers as individuals and are not legal opinions. Patents are available via the internet at https://www.uspto.gov.
Noise helps cochlear implant listeners to categorize vowels
Authors: Morse Robert P. , Holmes Stephen D. , Irving Richard , McAlpine David
Published: April 2022

Theoretical studies demonstrate that controlled addition of noise can enhance the amount of information transmitted by a cochlear implant (CI). The present study is a proof-of-principle for whether stochastic facilitation can improve the ability of CI users to categorize speech sounds. Analogue vowels were presented to CI users through a single electrode with independent noise on multiple electrodes. Noise improved vowel categorization, particularly in terms of an increase in information conveyed by the first and second formant. Noise, however, did not significantly improve vowel recognition: the miscategorizations were just more consistent, giving the potential to improve with experience.
Validity of the Garmin Vivofit Jr. to Measure Physical Activity During a Youth After-School Program
Authors: Peyer Karissa L. , Hamilton Kara C.
Published: April 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the step count and Active Minutes features of the Garmin Vivofit Jr. 2 consumer activity monitor. Methods: Participants included 35 students (age 8–11) enrolled in an after-school physical activity (PA) and nutrition program. Participants wore an ActiGraph GT3x+ monitor on their waist and the Vivofit monitor on their wrist during the PA portion of the program. Data were collected across multiple sessions, resulting in 158 unique pairs of data. Pearson correlation, mean absolute percent error, and equivalence testing were performed to compare step count and minutes of activity (Vivofit Active Minutes vs ActiGraph moderate to vigorous PA) between the two monitors. Results: Moderate correlations were found between the monitors for steps (r = .65) and minutes (r = .43). Mean absolute percent error was 26% for steps and 43% for minutes, suggesting that there were high amounts of individual error. Equivalence testing showed significant agreement between the monitors for steps (p = .046), but not for minutes (p = .98). Conclusion: The Garmin Vivofit Jr. 2 shows acceptable validity for measurement of steps at a group level in a field-based setting, although the amount of individual variability must be considered. The Vivofit Jr. 2 was not valid for measurement of minutes of activity.
The Effects of Number and Separation of Support Lines on the Size, Velocity, and Smoothness of Handwriting
Authors: Duiser Ivonne H.F. , Ledebt Annick , van der Kamp John , Savelsbergh Geert J.P.
Published: April 2022

We examined the effects of number of and separation between support lines on handwriting characteristics of primary school students with satisfactory and unsatisfactory handwriting. Students (mean age 7.9 years) copied a text on paper with a baseline and with two or four support lines with a separation of 3 or 4 mm between the central lines. Handwriting size, velocity, and smoothness were determined for the four conditions relative to baseline. Children with unsatisfactory handwriting wrote larger and had more lifts during baseline condition. Writing between support lines, especially with small separation, immediately reduced the size of handwriting, but also adversely affected velocity and smoothness. Future research is needed to assess long-term effects.
The Importance of the Leaders’ and Coaches’ Motivating Style for Sports Club Members’ Motivation to Participate in Organized Sports: Study of Trickle-Down Effects
Authors: De Clerck Tom , Willem Annick , Morbée Sofie , Van Dyck Delfien , Haerens Leen
Published: April 2022

A considerable amount of research based on self-determination theory has provided evidence for the pivotal role of the coaches’ motivating style in predicting sports club members’ motivation to participate in organized sports. This study also investigated the importance of the sports club leaders’ motivating style for members’ motivation. Specifically, it focused on the relation between the leaders’ motivating style and members’ motivation via the coaches’ motivating style (i.e., trickle-down effect), hereby relying on the perceptions of sports club members (N = 210). Results pointed to the existence of a trickle-down effect, showing that the leaders’ motivating style was reflected in the coaches’ motivating style, which in turn related positively to members’ autonomous motivation and negatively to members’ amotivation. This study provides a proof of principle of the trickle-down effect in sports clubs, urging researchers to further explore this effect in the sports context.
Control of trion-to-exciton conversion in monolayer WS
2
by orbital angular momentum of light
Authors: Kesarwani Rahul , Simbulan Kristan Bryan , Huang Teng-De , Chiang Yu-Fan , Yeh Nai-Chang , Lan Yann-Wen , Lu Ting-Hua
Published: April 2022

Controlling the density of exciton and trion quasiparticles in monolayer two-dimensional (2D) materials at room temperature by nondestructive techniques is highly desired for the development of future optoelectronic devices. Here, the effects of different orbital angular momentum (OAM) lights on monolayer tungsten disulfide at both room temperature and low temperatures are investigated, which reveal simultaneously enhanced exciton intensity and suppressed trion intensity in the photoluminescence spectra with increasing topological charge of the OAM light. In addition, the trion-to-exciton conversion efficiency is found to increase rapidly with the OAM light at low laser power and decrease with increasing power. Moreover, the trion binding energy and the concentration of unbound electrons are estimated, which shed light on how these quantities depend on OAM. A phenomenological model is proposed to account for the experimental data. These findings pave a way toward manipulating the exciton emission in 2D materials with OAM light for optoelectronic applications.
Acoustofluidic black holes for multifunctional in-droplet particle manipulation
Authors: Liu Pengzhan , Tian Zhenhua , Yang Kaichun , Naquin Ty Downing , Hao Nanjing , Huang Huiyu , Chen Jinyan , Ma Qiuxia , Bachman Hunter , Zhang Peiran , Xu Xiahong , Hu Junhui , Huang Tony Jun
Published: April 2022

Acoustic black holes offer superior capabilities for slowing down and trapping acoustic waves for various applications such as metastructures, energy harvesting, and vibration and noise control. However, no studies have considered the linear and nonlinear effects of acoustic black holes on micro/nanoparticles in fluids. This study presents acoustofluidic black holes (AFBHs) that leverage controlled interactions between AFBH-trapped acoustic wave energy and particles in droplets to enable versatile particle manipulation functionalities, such as translation, concentration, and patterning of particles. We investigated the AFBH-enabled wave energy trapping and wavelength shrinking effects, as well as the trapped wave energy–induced acoustic radiation forces on particles and acoustic streaming in droplets. This study not only fills the gap between the emerging fields of acoustofluidics and acoustic black holes but also leads to a class of AFBH-based in-droplet particle manipulation toolsets with great potential for many applications, such as biosensing, point-of-care testing, and drug screening.
Mucus concentration–dependent biophysical abnormalities unify submucosal gland and superficial airway dysfunction in cystic fibrosis
Authors: Kato Takafumi , Radicioni Giorgia , Papanikolas Micah J. , Stoychev Georgi V. , Markovetz Matthew R. , Aoki Kazuhiro , Porterfield Melody , Okuda Kenichi , Barbosa Cardenas Selene M. , Gilmore Rodney C. , Morrison Cameron B. , Ehre Camille , Burns Kimberlie A. , White Kristen K. , Brennan Tara A. , Goodell Henry P. , Thacker Holly , Loznev Henry T. , Forsberg Lawrence J. , Nagase Takahide , Rubinstein Michael , Randell Scott H. , Tiemeyer Michael , Hill David B. , Kesimer Mehmet , O’Neal Wanda K. , Ballard Stephen T. , Freeman Ronit , Button Brian , Boucher Richard C.
Published: April 2022

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by abnormal transepithelial ion transport. However, a description of CF lung disease pathophysiology unifying superficial epithelial and submucosal gland (SMG) dysfunctions has remained elusive. We hypothesized that biophysical abnormalities associated with CF mucus hyperconcentration provide a unifying mechanism. Studies of the anion secretion–inhibited pig airway model of CF revealed elevated SMG mucus concentrations, osmotic pressures, and SMG mucus accumulation. Human airway studies revealed hyperconcentrated CF SMG mucus with raised osmotic pressures and cohesive forces predicted to limit SMG mucus secretion/release. Using proline-rich protein 4 (PRR4) as a biomarker of SMG secretion, CF sputum proteomics analyses revealed markedly lower PRR4 levels compared to healthy and bronchiectasis controls, consistent with a failure of CF SMGs to secrete mucus onto airway surfaces. Raised mucus osmotic/cohesive forces, reflecting mucus hyperconcentration, provide a unifying mechanism that describes disease-initiating mucus accumulation on airway surfaces and in SMGs of the CF lung.
Use of tocilizumab and sarilumab alone or in combination with corticosteroids for covid-19: systematic review and network meta-analysis
Authors: Zeraatkar Dena , Cusano Ellen , Martínez Juan Pablo Díaz , Qasim Anila , Mangala Sophia , Kum Elena , Bartoszko Jessica Julia , Devji Tahira , Agoritsas Thomas , Guyatt Gordon , Izcovich Ariel , Khamis Assem M , Lamontagne Francois , Rochwerg Bram , Vandvik Per , Brignardello-Petersen Romina , Siemieniuk Reed Alexander Cunningham
Published: April 2022

Objective

To compare the effects of interleukin 6 receptor blockers, tocilizumab and sarilumab, with or without corticosteroids, on mortality in patients with covid-19.

Design

Systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Data sources

World Health Organization covid-19 database, a comprehensive multilingual source of global covid-19 literature, and two prospective meta-analyses (up to 9 June 2021).

Review methods

Trials in which people with suspected, probable, or confirmed covid-19 were randomised to interleukin 6 receptor blockers (with or without corticosteroids), corticosteroids, placebo, or standard care. The analysis used a bayesian framework and assessed the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach. Results from the fixed effect meta-analysis were used for the primary analysis.

Results

Of 45 eligible trials (20 650 patients) identified, 36 (19 350 patients) could be included in the network meta-analysis. Of 36 trials, 27 were at high risk of bias, primarily due to lack of blinding. Tocilizumab, in combination with corticosteroids, suggested a reduction in the risk of death compared with corticosteroids alone (odds ratio 0.79, 95% credible interval 0.70 to 0.88; 35 fewer deaths per 1000 people, 95% credible interval 52 fewer to 18 fewer per 1000; moderate certainty of evidence), as did sarilumab in combination with corticosteroids, compared with corticosteroids alone (0.73, 0.58 to 0.92; 43 fewer per 1000, 73 fewer to 12 fewer; low certainty). Tocilizumab and sarilumab, each in combination with corticosteroids, appeared to have similar effects on mortality when compared with each other (1.07, 0.86 to 1.34; eight more per 1000, 20 fewer to 35 more; low certainty). The effects of tocilizumab (1.12, 0.91 to 1.38; 20 more per 1000, 16 fewer to 59 more; low certainty) and sarilumab (1.07, 0.81 to 1.40; 11 more per 1000, 38 fewer to 55 more; low certainty), when used alone, suggested an increase in the risk of death.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that in patients with severe or critical covid-19, tocilizumab, in combination with corticosteroids, probably reduces mortality, and that sarilumab, in combination with corticosteroids, might also reduce mortality. Tocilizumab and sarilumab, in combination with corticosteroids, could have similar effectiveness. Tocilizumab and sarilumab, when used alone, might not be beneficial.
AVOID; a phase III, randomised controlled trial using indocyanine green for the prevention of anastomotic leakage in colorectal surgery
Authors: Meijer Ruben P J , Faber Robin A , Bijlstra Okker D , Braak Jeffrey P B M , Meershoek-Klein Kranenbarg Elma , Putter Hein , Mieog J Sven D , Burggraaf Koos , Vahrmeijer Alexander L , Hilling Denise E
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Anastomotic leakage (AL) is one of the major complications after colorectal surgery. Compromised tissue perfusion at the anastomosis site increases the risk of AL. Several cohort studies have shown that indocyanine green (ICG) combined with fluorescent near-infrared imaging is a feasible and reproducible technique for real-time intraoperative imaging of tissue perfusion, leading to reduced leakage rates after colorectal resection. Unfortunately, these studies were not randomised. Therefore, we propose a randomised controlled trial to assess the value of ICG-guided surgery in reducing AL after colorectal surgery.

Methods and analysis

A multicentre, randomised controlled clinical trial will be conducted to assess the benefit of ICG-guided surgery in preventing AL. A total of 978 patients scheduled for colorectal surgery will be included. Patients will be randomised between the Fluorescence Guided Bowel Anastomosis group and the Conventional Bowel Anastomosis group. The primary endpoint is clinically relevant AL (defined as requiring active therapeutic intervention or reoperation) within 90 days after surgery. Among the secondary endpoints are 30-day clinically relevant AL, all-cause postoperative complications, all-cause and AL-related mortality, surgical and non-surgical reinterventions, total surgical time, length of hospital stay and all-cause and AL-related readmittance.

Ethics and dissemination

This protocol has been approved by the Medical Ethical Committee Leiden-Den Haag-Delft (METC-LDD) and is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov and trialregister.nl. The results of this study will be reported through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Trial registration number

NCT04712032; NL7502.
Quality of clinical practice guidelines for inadequate response to first-line treatment for depression according to AGREE II checklist and comparison of recommendations: a systematic review
Authors: Gabriel Franciele Cordeiro , Stein Airton Tetelbom , de Melo Daniela Oliveira , Henrique Fontes-Mota Géssica Caroline , dos Santos Itamires Benício , de Oliveira Aliandra Fantinell , Fráguas Renério , Ribeiro Eliane
Published: April 2022

Objective

To assess similarities and differences in the recommended sequence of strategies among the most relevant clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the treatment of depression in adults with inadequate response to first-line treatment.

Data sources

We performed a systematic review of the literature spanning January 2011 to August 2020 in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library and 12 databases recognised as CPGs repositories. CPGs quality was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II).

Study selection

The eligibility criteria were CPGs that described pharmacological recommendations for treating depression for individuals aged 18 years or older in outpatient care setting. We included CPGs considered of high-quality (≥80% in domain 3 of AGREE II) or recognised as clinically relevant.

Data extraction

Two independent researchers extracted recommendations for patients who did not respond to first-line pharmacological treatment from the selected CPGs.

Results

We included 46 CPGs and selected 8, of which 5 were considered high quality (≥80% in domain 3 of AGREE II) and 3 were recognised as clinically relevant. Three CPGs did not define inadequate response to treatment and 3 did not establish a clear sequence of strategies. The duration of treatment needed to determine that a patient had not responded was not explicit in 3 CPGs and was discordant in 5 CPGs. Most CPGs agree in reassessing the diagnosis, assessing the presence of comorbidities, adherence to treatment, and increase dosage as first steps. All CPGs recommend psychotherapy, switching antidepressants, and considering augmentation/combining antidepressants.

Conclusion

Relevant CPGs present shortcomings in recommendations for non-responders to first-line antidepressant treatment including absence and divergencies in definition of inadequate response and sequence of recommended strategies. Overall, most relevant CPGs recommend reassessing the diagnosis, evaluate comorbidities, adherence to treatment, increase dosage of antidepressants, and psychotherapy as first steps.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42016043364.
Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the adult population in western China and the association with socioeconomic and individual factors: four cross-sectional studies
Authors: Xu Xinyin , Zeng Jing , Yang Wei , Dong Ting , Zhang Xin , Cheng Shuwen , Zhou Xiaobo , Zhou Maigeng , Niu Ling , Yi Guanghui , Li You , Zhang Lishi , Deng Yin , Wu Xianping
Published: April 2022

Objectives

This study explored the prevalence of and individual influencing factors for metabolic syndrome (MS) as well as associated socioeconomic factors and regional aggregation.

Design

Four cross-sectional surveys were analysed for trends in MS and associations with socioeconomic and individual factors through multilevel logistic regression analyses. The risk associated with nutrient intake was also assessed through a dietary survey in 2015.

Setting

From 2010 to 2018, 8–15 counties/districts of West China were included.

Participants

A total of 28 274 adults were included in the prevalence analysis. A total of 23 708 adults were used to analyse the related factors.

Results

The overall prevalence of MS ranged from 21.4% to 27.8% over the 8 years, remaining basically stable within the 95% CI. Our study found that the urbanisation rate and hospital beds per 1000 people were positively associated with MS, and the number of doctors in healthcare institutions per 1000 persons was negatively associated with MS. The ORs for females, people with college education and higher and unmarried or single people were 1.49, 0.67 and 0.51, respectively (p<0.05). The ORs of people who smoked at least 20 cigarettes/day, ate more than 100 g of red meat/day, consumed fruit or vegetable juice and drank carbonated soft drinks less than weekly were 1.10, 1.16, 1.19–1.27 and 0.81–0.84, respectively. The ORs rose with increasing sedentary time and decreased with higher physical activity.

Conclusion

The high burden of MS, unreasonable proportions of energy and micronutrient intake and low percentage of high levels of physical activity were the major challenges to public health in western China. Improving the human resources component of medical services, such as the number of doctors, increasing the availability of public sports facilities and E-health tools and improving individual dietary quality and education might help prevent MS.
Pandemic experiences of family physicians infected with the COVID-19: a qualitative study
Authors: Efeoğlu İbrahim Efe , Kılınçarslan Ömür
Published: April 2022

Objectives

Family physicians are usually patients’ first point of contact with primary healthcare. This study aims to understand the experiences of family physicians who were infected with the COVID-19 and started working again.

Study design and setting

This qualitative study was conducted on 18 different family health centres in Adana. Data collection was performed through 18 interviews, each lasting an average of 46.6 min. The data were analysed using the qualitative content analysis method.

Participants

The study included 18 family physicians (9 women and 9 men), and there were no significant differences between them by gender or seniority.

Results

The results of the study have shown that family physicians who were infected with the COVID-19 and started working again have experienced high levels of anxiety at work. In addition, due to the fear of being reinfected, family physicians’ social relations with their colleagues have decreased. The results are discussed under two themes: anxieties and social relationships.

Conclusion

In primary healthcare services, family physicians play a vital role during the pandemic. Many family physicians either lost their lives or got infected with the virus, recovered and worked in difficult conditions for a long time. Understanding the experiences of family physicians during the pandemic when they underwent COVID-19 and after they recovered could help to protect their psychological health and improve their work conditions.
Minimising the biases in the observational study of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta: a research protocol for a prospective study analysed with propensity score matching with time-varying covariates
Authors: Matsumura Yosuke , Shiraishi Atsushi , Kushimoto Shigeki
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has been used as a bridge to definitive bleeding control of subdiaphragmatic injury. Since previous observational studies have poorly adjusted for confounding factors, it is necessary to incorporate REBOA-specific and time-varying covariates in the model. We hypothesised that REBOA improves the survival of haemodynamically unstable torso trauma patients after comparing the REBOA group with a matched control group (non-REBOA group).

Methods and analysis

The Japanese Association for the Surgery of Trauma-REBOA Study is a prospective, multicentre, matched cohort study organised by the Clinical Trial Committee of the Japanese Association for the Surgery of Trauma. To minimise observational study biases, this study will prospectively register traumatic shock patients who require bleeding control within 60 min upon arrival at the emergency department, with in-hospital mortality as the primary outcome. After the data set is fixed, the missing values for all variables will be imputed using the multiple imputation technique. In the primary analysis, propensity scores for the probability of REBOA decision (regardless of the actual REBOA deployment) will be calculated from the baseline information using a logistic regression generalised linear mixed-effects model, which will be performed for both the REBOA use and non-REBOA use groups.

Ethics and dissemination

This study was approved by the ethics committee of each participating hospital. The results will be disseminated to the participating hospitals, submitted to peer-reviewed journals for publication and presented at congresses.

Trial registration number

UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000035458).
Human factors applications in the design of decision support systems for population health: a scoping review
Authors: Vasquez Holland Marie , Pianarosa Emilie , Sirbu Renee , Diemert Lori M , Cunningham Heather V , Donmez Birsen , Rosella Laura C
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Public health professionals engage in complex cognitive tasks, often using evidence-based decision support tools to bolster their decision-making. Human factors methods take a user-centred approach to improve the design of systems, processes, and interfaces to better support planning and decision-making. While human factors methods have been applied to the design of clinical health tools, these methods are limited in the design of tools for population health. The objective of this scoping review is to develop a comprehensive understanding of how human factors techniques have been applied in the design of population health decision support tools.

Methods and analysis

The scoping review will follow the methodology and framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. We include English-language documents between January 1990 and August 2021 describing the development, validation or application of human factors principles to decision support tools in population health. The search will include Ovid MEDLINE: Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily and Ovid MEDLINE 1946–present; EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO, Compendex, IEEE Xplore and Inspec. The results will be integrated into Covidence. First, the abstract of all identified articles will be screened independently by two reviewers with disagreements being resolved by a third reviewer. Next, the full text for articles identified asincludeorinconclusivewill be reviewed by two independent reviewers, leading to a final decision regarding inclusion. Reference lists of included articles will be manually screened to identify additional studies. Data will be extracted by one reviewer, verified by a second, and presented according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approval is not required for this work as human participants are not involved. The completed review will be published in a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal.
Cancer in deceased adults with intellectual disabilities: English population-based study using linked data from three sources
Authors: Heslop Pauline , Cook Adam , Sullivan Brian , Calkin Rachel , Pollard Johanna , Byrne Victoria
Published: April 2022

Objective

To improve our understanding of cancer in adults with intellectual disabilities.

Design

Population-based study using linked data about deceased adults from the Learning (Intellectual) Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) programme, the national cancer registry and NHS Digital.

Setting

England.

Participants

1096 adults with intellectual disabilities identified by the LeDeR programme who died between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2019.

Outcome measure

Any form of cancer listed as a long-term health condition by a LeDeR reviewer or 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases codes C00–D49 included on Parts I or II of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.

Results

In decedents with intellectual disabilities and cancer, more than a third (35%; n=162) had cancer diagnosed via emergency presentations. Almost half (45%; n=228) of cancers were at stage IV when diagnosed. More than a third (36%; n=309) of underlying causes of deaths were of cancers of the digestive system; almost half of these (48%; n=147) were cancer of the colon, rectum or anus. Of those who died with colorectal cancer, 43% were below the age threshold for colorectal screening.

Conclusions

In decedents with intellectual disabilities, symptoms suggestive of cancer had tended to be identified most frequently as an emergency and at a late stage. There is a need for greater awareness of symptoms of cancer in this population, a lower threshold for referral by General Practitioners (GPs), accelerated access to diagnosis and treatment and consideration paid to lowering the age for colorectal screening.
Feasibility, accessibility and acceptability a pharmacist-led ear health intervention at rural community pharmacies (LISTEN UP): a mixed-methods study in Queensland, Australia
Authors: Taylor Selina , Cairns Alice , Glass Beverley Dawn
Published: April 2022

Objective

Ear disease in rural and remote communities is occurring at high rates, with limited access to health services and health providers contributing to the problem. Community pharmacists are well-placed to provide expanded services to improve ear health in rural communities. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility, accessibility and acceptability of a pharmacist-led intervention for ear disease in consumers presenting to community pharmacy.

Design

Prospective preintervention and postintervention mixed-methods study. An ethnographic lens of rural culture was applied to the descriptive qualitative component of the study.

Setting

Two rural community pharmacies in Queensland, Australia.

Participants

People aged 6 months or older, who present with an ear complaint to a participating community pharmacy.

Intervention

LISTEN UP (Locally Integrated Screening and Testing Ear aNd aUral Programme) is a community pharmacy-based intervention to improve the management of ear health. Trained pharmacists conducted ear examinations using otoscopy and tympanometry on consumers following a LISTEN UP protocol. They made recommendations including no treatment, pharmacy only products or general practitioner (GP) referral. Consumers were contacted 7 days later for follow-up.

Results

55 rural consumers participated in the study. The most commonly reported complaints were ‘blocked ear’ and ‘ear pain’. Pharmacists recommended over-the-counter products to two-thirds of the participants and referred one quarter to a GP. 90% (50/55) of the consumers were highly satisfied with the service and would recommend the service. All consumers described the service positively with particular reference to convenience, improved confidence and appreciation of the knowledge gained about their ear complaint. Pharmacists were motivated to upskill and manage workflow to incorporate the service and expected both consumers and GPs to be more accepting of future expanded services as a result of LISTEN UP. However, without funding to provide the service, during the study other remunerated pharmacy tasks took priority over providing LISTEN UP.

Conclusion

Rural community pharmacists can provide an acceptable and accessible ear health service; however, it is not feasible without a clear funding structure to provide resources including additional pharmacists, equipment and training.

Trial registration number

ACTRN12620001297910.
How midwives implemented teleconsultations during the COVID-19 health crisis: a mixed-methods study
Authors: Rousseau Anne , Gaucher Laurent , Gautier Sylvain , Mahrez Ines , Baumann Sophie
Published: April 2022

Objectives

Our primary and secondary objectives were to measure and understand the determinants of independent midwives' implementation of teleconsultations and their intention to continue these in the future.

Design

A two-phase mixed-methods approach: (1) quantitative data to measure factors determining the initiation and continuation of teleconsultation, collected by an online survey from 29 April to 15 May 2020, at the end of the first COVID-19 lockdown, followed by (2) qualitative data to understand these determinants, by interviewing some participants in May–July 2020 to explore the quantitative findings in more detail.

Setting

Mainland France

Participants

The target population comprised independent midwives currently practising in France.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary and secondary outcomes were binary variables: implementation of teleconsultations, and intention to continue them. The qualitative results provided the themes explaining these decisions.

Results

We obtained 1491 complete responses from independent midwives, that is, 28.3% of French independent midwives, and interviewed 22 volunteers among them. Among the 1491, 88.5% implemented teleconsultations and 65.8% intended to continue them. Both individual and organisational factors favoured implementation of teleconsultations: older age (adjusted OR (aOR): 0.40, 95% CI: 0.28 to 0.58), female gender (aOR: 6.88, 95% CI: 2.71 to 17.48), married or living with a partner (aOR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.10 to 2.52) and working in a group practice (midwives only—aOR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.47 to 3.72; multiprofessional group—aOR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.16 to 2.64). The qualitative analysis did not identify any new factors but helped us to understand the satisfaction better: midwives adopted telemedicine for their patients' access to and continuity of care, to maintain their professional activity and income, and to limit the risks of infection.

Conclusion

Personal and organisational factors motivated the implementation of teleconsultation during the pandemic, but maintaining it raises technical, regulatory, and ethical issues.
Comparison of the Near Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment (NETRA) and non-cycloplegic subjective refraction
Authors: Hasrod Nabeela , Rubin Alan
Published: April 2022

Objective

The NETRA (Near Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment) is a smartphone-based refractive tool that allows for self-evaluation of refractive error. This study investigates the validity of the NETRA with and without cycloplegia to non-cycloplegic subjective refractions (SR).

Methods and analysis

Participants underwent NETRA measurements without cycloplegia, and again after the administration of cycloplegia (cyclopentolate hydrochloride 1%). Non-cycloplegic SR were also performed. Variation of refractive measurements in symmetric dioptric power space were investigated using stereo-pair comets, hypothesis tests for variances and means. Bland-Altman plots were applied to better understand validity of the NETRA against non-cycloplegic SR. Coefficients of repeatability and intraclass correlation coefficients were also determined.

Results

The sample included 22 women (64.7%) and 12 men (35.3%); most were indigenous Africans (52.9%) with mean age and SD of 20.24±1.95 years. Variation of refractive measurements were mainly stigmatic (spherical), and variation of NETRA measurements decreased after cycloplegia. The pre-cycloplegia NETRA measurements (and their means) for the right and left eyes were more negative (myopic) in power than the post-cycloplegia NETRA measurements and means. On average, eyes were approximately 1.25 D more myopic with the NETRA without cycloplegia. With cycloplegia, NETRA results were in closer agreement with non-cycloplegic SR for the same eyes.

Conclusion

NETRA validity to SR, even in the absence of cycloplegia, suggests the instrument may be useful in geographical regions where self-refractions might be potentially helpful in addressing limitations in eye and vision care.
Linear optics of the eye and optical systems: a review of methods and applications
Authors: Evans Tanya , Rubin Alan
Published: April 2022

The purpose of this paper is to review the basic principles of linear optics. A paraxial optical system is represented by a symplectic matrix called the transference, with entries that represent the fundamental properties of a paraxial optical system. Such an optical system may have elements that are astigmatic and decentred or tilted. Nearly all the familiar optical properties of an optical system can be derived from the transference. The transference is readily obtainable, as shown, for Gaussian and astigmatic optical systems, including systems with elements that are decentred or tilted. Four special systems are described and used to obtain the commonly used optical properties including power, refractive compensation, vertex powers, neutralising powers, the generalised Prentice equation and change in vergence across an optical system. The use of linear optics in quantitative analysis and the consequences of symplecticity are discussed.

A systematic review produced 84 relevant papers for inclusion in this review on optical properties of linear systems. Topics reviewed include various magnifications (transverse, angular, spectacle, instrument, aniseikonia, retinal blur), cardinal points and axes of the eye, chromatic aberrations, positioning and design of intraocular lenses, flipped, reversed and catadioptric systems and gradient indices. The optical properties are discussed briefly, with emphasis placed on results and their implications. Many of these optical properties have applications for vision science and eye surgery and some examples of using linear optics for quantitative analyses are mentioned.
B-flavor tagging at Belle II
Authors: Abudinén F. , Akopov N. , Aloisio A. , Babu V. , Banerjee Sw. , Bauer M. , Bennett J. V. , Bernlochner F. U. , Bessner M. , Bettarini S. , Bilka T. , Bilokin S. , Biswas D. , Bodrov D. , Borah J. , Bračko M. , Branchini P. , Budano A. , Campajola M. , Casarosa G. , Cecchi C. , Cheaib R. , Chekelian V. , Chen C. , Chen Y. Q. , Cho H. -E. , Cunliffe S. , De Nardo G. , De Pietro G. , de Sangro R. , Dey S. , Canto A. Di , Capua F. Di , Dong T. V. , Dujany G. , Ecker P. , Eliachevitch M. , Ferber T. , Forti F. , Ganiev E. , Gaz A. , Gelb M. , Gemmler J. , Godang R. , Goldenzweig P. , Graziani E. , Hara K. , Hershenhorn A. , Higuchi T. , Hill E. C. , Hohmann M. , Humair T. , Inguglia G. , Junkerkalefeld H. , Karl R. , Kato Y. , Keck T. , Kiesling C. , Kim C. -H. , Kohani S. , Komarov I. , Kraetzschmar T. M. G. , Križan P. , Krohn J. F. , Kuhr T. , Kumar J. , Kumara K. , Kurz S. , Lacaprara S. , La Licata C. , Laurenza M. , Lautenbach K. , Lee S. C. , Lieret K. , Gioi L. Li , Liu Q. Y. , Longo S. , Maggiora M. , Manoni E. , Marinas C. , Martini A. , Meier F. , Merola M. , Metzner F. , Milesi M. , Miyabayashi K. , Mohanty G. B. , Mueller F. , Murphy C. , Oxford E. R. , Park S. -H. , Passeri A. , Pham F. , Piilonen L. E. , Pokharel S. , Prim M. T. , Pulvermacher C. , Rados P. , Ritter M. , Rostomyan A. , Sandilya S. , Santelj L. , Sato Y. , Schwartz A. J. , Sevior M. E. , Soffer A. , Spataro S. , Stroili R. , Sutcliffe W. , Tagnani D. , Takizawa M. , Tamponi U. , Tenchini F. , Torassa E. , Urquijo P. , Vitale L. , Yusa Y. , Zani L. , Zhou Q. D. , Žlebčík R. , Zupanc A.
Published: April 2022

We report on new flavor tagging algorithms developed to determine the quark-flavor content of bottom (
"Image missing") mesons at Belle II. The algorithms provide essential inputs for measurements of quark-flavor mixing and charge-parity violation. We validate and evaluate the performance of the algorithms using hadronic
"Image missing" decays with flavor-specific final states reconstructed in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 62.8 fb$$^{-1}$$

-
1

, collected at the "Equation missing" resonance with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB collider. We measure the total effective tagging efficiency to be $$\begin{aligned} \varepsilon _\mathrm{eff} = \big (30.0 \pm 1.2(\text {stat}) \pm 0.4(\text {syst})\big )\% \end{aligned}$$

ε
eff

=

(

30.0
±
1.2

(
stat
)

±
0.4

(
syst
)

)

%

for a category-based algorithm and $$\begin{aligned} \varepsilon _\mathrm{eff} = \big (28.8 \pm 1.2(\text {stat}) \pm 0.4(\text {syst})\big )\% \end{aligned}$$

ε
eff

=

(

28.8
±
1.2

(
stat
)

±
0.4

(
syst
)

)

%

for a deep-learning-based algorithm.
A note on HOMFLY polynomial of positive braid links
Authors: Ito Tetsuya
Published: April 2022

For a positive braid link, a link represented as a closed positive braid, we determine the first few coefficients of its HOMFLY polynomial in terms of geometric invariants such as, the maximum Euler characteristics, the number of split factors, and the number of prime factors. Our results give improvements of known results for the Conway and the Jones polynomial of positive braid links. In Appendix, we present a simpler proof of theorem of Cromwell, a positive braid diagram represents a composite link if and only if the diagram is composite.
SemMT: A Semantic-Based Testing Approach for Machine Translation Systems
Authors: Cao Jialun , Li Meiziniu , Li Yeting , Wen Ming , Cheung Shing-Chi , Chen Haiming
Published: April 2022

Machine translation has wide applications in daily life. In mission-critical applications such as translating official documents, incorrect translation can have unpleasant or sometimes catastrophic consequences. This motivates recent research on the testing methodologies for machine translation systems. Existing methodologies mostly rely on metamorphic relations designed at the textual level (e.g., Levenshtein distance) or syntactic level (e.g., distance between grammar structures) to determine the correctness of translation results. However, these metamorphic relations do not consider whether the original and the translated sentences have the same meaning (i.e., semantic similarity). To address this problem, in this article we propose SemMT, an automatic testing approach for machine translation systems based on semantic similarity checking. SemMT applies round-trip translation and measures the semantic similarity between the original and the translated sentences. Our insight is that the semantics concerning logical relations and quantifiers in sentences can be captured by regular expressions (or deterministic finite automata) where efficient semantic equivalence/similarity checking algorithms can be applied. Leveraging the insight, we propose three semantic similarity metrics and implement them in SemMT. We compared SemMT with related state-of-the-art testing techniques, demonstrating the effectiveness of mistranslation detection. The experiment results show that SemMT outperforms existing metrics, achieving an increase of 34.2% and 15.4% on accuracy and F-score, respectively. We also study the possibility of further enhancing the performance by combining various metrics. Finally, we discuss a solution to locate the suspicious trip in round-trip translation, which provides hints for bug diagnosis.
Secure IoMT Pattern Recognition and Exploitation for Multimedia Information Processing using Private Blockchain and Fuzzy Logic
Authors: Ghazal Taher M. , Hasan Mohammad Kamrul , Abdallah Siti Norul Huda , Abubakkar Khairul Azmi
Published: April 2022

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is a definite IoT connecting atmosphere that contracts with communication via intelligent medical equipment. Activity detection, motion tracking, information extraction, consumer retrieval, etc., have all been solved due to advances in the autonomous study of human behavior from multimedia information processing. Though the IoT connecting atmosphere enables and provisions our daily actions, it too has certain disadvantages. IoTgrieves from numerous safety and confidentiality challenges, such as reiteration, impersonation, man-in-the-middle, remote hijacking, privileged-insider attack, denial of service (DoS) attacks, password guessing, and malware bouts. Hence, in this paper, Private Blockchain and Fuzzy Logic based Attack Detection system (PBFL-ADS) has been proposed for secure IoMT disease prediction using Multimedia Information Processing techniques. The proposed method utilizes Bayesian inference-based trust administration to perceived malevolent nodes in Health Smartphone Structures (HSS) for PBFL-ADS. This paper focuses on the specific form of IoMT called HSS because smartphones have been widely used in the healthcare profession. Then, blockchains have been utilized to improve Bayesian trust management's efficacy in detecting hostile nodes in HSSs. The effectiveness of the suggested technique has been assessed, and test results show that blockchain technology helps identify fraudulent nodes with an acceptable workload. The proposed PBFL-ADS method increases the HS2 scenario 1.1, processor utilization at nodes 33.5%, pattern recognition ratio 92.1%.and server utilization 40.1%.
A Backend-agnostic, Quantum-classical Framework for Simulations of Chemistry in C
++
Authors: Claudino Daniel , McCaskey Alexander J. , Lyakh Dmitry I.
Published: April 2022

As quantum computing hardware systems continue to advance, the research and development of performant, scalable, and extensible software architectures, languages, models, and compilers is equally as important to bring this novel coprocessing capability to a diverse group of domain computational scientists. For the field of quantum chemistry, applications and frameworks exist for modeling and simulation tasks that scale on heterogeneous classical architectures, and we envision the need for similar frameworks on heterogeneous quantum-classical platforms. Here, we present the XACC system-level quantum computing framework as a platform for prototyping, developing, and deploying quantum-classical software that specifically targets chemistry applications. We review the fundamental design features in XACC, with special attention to its extensibility and modularity for key quantum programming workflow interfaces and provide an overview of the interfaces most relevant to simulations of chemistry. A series of examples demonstrating some of the state-of-the-art chemistry algorithms currently implemented in XACC are presented, while also illustrating the various APIs that would enable the community to extend, modify, and devise new algorithms and applications in the realm of chemistry.
Linguistic Taboos and Euphemisms in Nepali
Authors: Niraula Nobal B. , Dulal Saurab , Koirala Diwa
Published: April 2022

Languages across the world have words, phrases, and behaviors—the taboos—that are avoided in public communication considering them as obscene or disturbing to the social, religious, and ethical values of society. However, people deliberately use these linguistic taboos and other language constructs to make hurtful, derogatory, and obscene comments. It is nearly impossible to construct a universal set of offensive or taboo terms because offensiveness is determined entirely by different factors such as socio-physical setting, speaker-listener relationship, and word choices. In this article, we present a detailed corpus-based study of offensive language in Nepali. We identify and describe more than 18 different categories of linguistic offenses including politics, religion, race, and sex. We discuss 12 common euphemisms, such as synonym, metaphor, and circumlocution. In addition, we introduce a manually constructed dataset of more than 1,000 offensive and taboo terms popular among contemporary speakers. We describe the first experiments that provide baseline results in detecting offensive language in Nepali. This in-depth study of offensive language and resource will provide a foundation for several downstream tasks, such as offensive language detection and language learning.