bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Young Adults’ Qualitative Self-Reports of Their Outcomes of Online Sexual Activities
Authors: Courtice Erin Leigh , Shaughnessy Krystelle , Blom Kristin , Asrat Yodit , Daneback Kristian , Döring Nicola , Grov Christian , Byers E. Sandra
Published: March 2021

Online sexual activities (OSA) refer to Internet-based activities, behaviours, and materials that are sexual in nature. Many young adults engage in OSA, but report doing so infrequently. Most OSA outcome research has focused on negative effects of only some types of OSA (e.g., viewing pornography online). The goal of this study was to enhance knowledge on the range of OSA outcomes by qualitatively exploring young adults’ self-reported negative and positive outcomes from OSA experiences generally. University/College students from Canada (n = 246), Germany (n = 411), Sweden (n = 299), and the USA (n = 123) completed an online survey that included open-ended questions about “one of the most positive/negative effects that engaging in online sexual activities has had on your life”. More participants provided positive outcome responses than negative outcome responses. Qualitative analysis of the responses suggested a wide range of positive and negative outcome content that fit into seven bi-polar, higher-order themes: No Outcomes, Relationship Outcomes, Sexual Experience, Emotional Outcomes, Knowledge, Personal Outcomes, and Security. We found no variations in themes or their respective codes across the four countries. The findings suggests that researchers, educators, health care and psychology providers need to include multiple dimensions of positive and negative, personal and interpersonal, sexual and non-sexual OSA outcomes in their work
Academic Resilience and Engagement in High School Students: The Mediating Role of Perceived Teacher Emotional Support
Authors: Romano Luciano , Angelini Giacomo , Consiglio Piermarco , Fiorilli Caterina
Published: March 2021

Academic resilience is the ability to overcome setbacks and chronic difficulties in the academic context. Previous studies have found that resilient students tend to be more engaged in school than their counterparts. Nevertheless, it seems worth deepening the role of contextual factors, such as teacher emotional support and how students perceive it, as it could contribute to foster the abovementioned relationship. The present study aimed to examine the links between academic resilience, perceived teacher emotional support, and school engagement. Moreover, the mediating role of perceived teacher emotional support was investigated. A sample of 205 Italian high school students (58.5% female), aged 14–19 years (M = 16.15, SD = 1.59), completed self-report questionnaires on academic resilience, perceived teacher emotional support, and school engagement. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the mediation hypothesis. The results showed that academic resilience was associated with perceived teacher emotional support, and both of them were related to school engagement. Furthermore, perceived teacher emotional support partially mediated the relationship between academic resilience and school engagement. Findings were discussed by underlining the importance of fostering personal and contextual resources in the school context to promote students’ well-being.
A 30 μW Embedded Real-Time Cetacean Smart Detector
Authors: Marzetti Sebastián , Gies Valentin , Best Paul , Barchasz Valentin , Paris Sébastien , Barthélémy Hervé , Glotin Hervé
Published: March 2021

Cetacean monitoring is key to their protection. Understanding their behavior relies on multi-channel and high-sampling-rate underwater acoustic recordings for identifying and tracking them in a passive way. However, a lot of energy and data storage is required, requiring frequent human maintenance operations. To cope with these constraints, an ultra-low power mixed-signal always-on wake-up is proposed. Based on pulse-pattern analysis, it can be used for triggering a multi-channel high-performance recorder only when cetacean clicks are detected, thus increasing autonomy and saving storage space. This detector is implemented as a mixed architecture making the most of analog and digital primitives: this combination drastically improves power consumption by processing high-frequency data using analog features and lower-frequency ones in a digital way. Furthermore, a bioacoustic expert system is proposed for improving detection accuracy (in ultra-low-power) via state machines. Power consumption of the system is lower than 30 μW in always-on mode, allowing an autonomy of 2 years on a single CR2032 battery cell with a high detection accuracy. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve obtained has an area under curve of 85% using expert rules and 75% without it. This implementation provides an excellent trade-off between detection accuracy and power consumption. Focused on sperm whales, it can be tuned to detect other species emitting pulse trains. This approach facilitates biodiversity studies, reducing maintenance operations and allowing the use of lighter, more compact and portable recording equipment, as large batteries are no longer required. Additionally, recording only useful data helps to reduce the dataset labeling time.
TDJEE: A Document-Level Joint Model for Financial Event Extraction
Authors: Wang Peng , Deng Zhenkai , Cui Ruilong
Published: March 2021

Extracting financial events from numerous financial announcements is very important for investors to make right decisions. However, it is still challenging that event arguments always scatter in multiple sentences in a financial announcement, while most existing event extraction models only work in sentence-level scenarios. To address this problem, this paper proposes a relation-aware Transformer-based Document-level Joint Event Extraction model (TDJEE), which encodes relations between words into the context and leverages modified Transformer to capture document-level information to fill event arguments. Meanwhile, the absence of labeled data in financial domain could lead models be unstable in extraction results, which is known as the cold start problem. Furthermore, a Fonduer-based knowledge base combined with the distant supervision method is proposed to simplify the event labeling and provide high quality labeled training corpus for model training and evaluating. Experimental results on real-world Chinese financial announcement show that, compared with other models, TDJEE achieves competitive results and can effectively extract event arguments across multiple sentences.
Adaptive Robust Controller Design-Based RBF Neural Network for Aerial Robot Arm Model
Authors: Al-Darraji Izzat , Piromalis Dimitrios , Kakei Ayad , Khan Fazal , Stojmenovic Milos , Tsaramirsis Georgios , Papageorgas Panagiotis
Published: March 2021

Aerial Robot Arms (ARAs) enable aerial drones to interact and influence objects in various environments. Traditional ARA controllers need the availability of a high-precision model to avoid high control chattering. Furthermore, in practical applications of aerial object manipulation, the payloads that ARAs can handle vary, depending on the nature of the task. The high uncertainties due to modeling errors and an unknown payload are inversely proportional to the stability of ARAs. To address the issue of stability, a new adaptive robust controller, based on the Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network, is proposed. A three-tier approach is also followed. Firstly, a detailed new model for the ARA is derived using the Lagrange–d’Alembert principle. Secondly, an adaptive robust controller, based on a sliding mode, is designed to manipulate the problem of uncertainties, including modeling errors. Last, a higher stability controller, based on the RBF neural network, is implemented with the adaptive robust controller to stabilize the ARAs, avoiding modeling errors and unknown payload issues. The novelty of the proposed design is that it takes into account high nonlinearities, coupling control loops, high modeling errors, and disturbances due to payloads and environmental conditions. The model was evaluated by the simulation of a case study that includes the two proposed controllers and ARA trajectory tracking. The simulation results show the validation and notability of the presented control algorithm.
Error Analysis of the Normative Calculation Method of the Exhaust Emissions and Fuel Consumption in the Vehicles Fueled with Gaseous Fuels
Authors: Grzelak Paulina , Taubert Sławomir
Published: March 2021

The methodologies for calculating exhaust emissions and fuel consumption, which are given in the normative documents, do not take into account the fact that vehicles equipped with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) systems are fueled with petrol after a cold start. When calculating exhaust emissions and fuel consumption of LPG or CNG-powered vehicles, it is assumed that they result from the combustion of gaseous fuel only. This simplification leads to an incorrect determination of the emissions and fuel consumption values, as the formulas for calculating these values differ depending on the fuel type. This article presents the results of tests aimed at checking how that factor affects the value of emissions and fuel consumption calculated in the driving cycles used in the type-approval tests. In order to estimate the error resulting from this simplification, the tests of exhaust emissions and fuel consumption of a vehicle equipped with an LPG system were carried out. The tests were carried out on a chassis dynamometer in the worldwide harmonized light vehicles test cycle (WLTC) used in the type approval tests. In the tested vehicle, the CO, total hydrocarbons (THC), NOx and CO2 emissions calculated with the normative method were approx. 7% lower than the values calculated with the corrected method. For this reason, there is a need to develop a measurement method that allows for a separate analysis of the phase in which the vehicle is fueled with gasoline. This will allow the elimination of errors in the current normative method of calculating pollutant emissions from the exhaust system and fuel consumption of vehicles fueled with gaseous fuels.
Data-Driven Fault Diagnosis for Automotive PEMFC Systems Based on the Steady-State Identification
Authors: Tian Ying , Zou Qiang , Han Jin
Published: March 2021

Data-driven diagnosis methods for faults of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems can diagnose faults through the state variable data collected during the operation of the PEMFC system. However, the state variable data collected from the PEMFC system during the stack switching between different operating points can easily cause false alarms, such that the practical value of the diagnosis system is reduced. To overcome this problem, a fault diagnosis method for PEMFC systems based on steady-state identification is proposed in this paper. The support vector data description (SVDD) and relevance vector machine (RVM) optimized by the artificial bee colony (ABC) are used for the steady-state identification and fault diagnosis. The density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) and linear least squares fitting (LLSF) are used to identify the abnormal data in datasets and estimate change rates of the system state variables respectively. The proposed method can automatically identify the state variable data collected from the PEMFC system during the stack switching between different operating points, so that the diagnosis accuracy can be improved and false alarms can be reduced. The proposed method has a certain practical value and can provide a reference for further study.
Application of the Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Modeling to Forecast Energy Efficiency in Real Buildings Undergoing Thermal Improvement
Authors: Szul Tomasz , Nęcka Krzysztof , Lis Stanisław
Published: March 2021

Energy efficiency in the building industry is related to the amount of energy that can be saved through thermal improvement. Therefore, it is important to determine the energy saving potential of the buildings to be thermally upgraded in order to check whether the set targets for the amount of energy saved will be reached after the implementation of corrective measures. In real residential buildings, when starting to make energy calculations, one can often encounter the problem of incomplete architectural documentation and inaccurate data characterizing the object in terms of thermal (thermal resistance of partitions) and usable (number of inhabitants). Therefore, there is a need to search for methods that will be suitable for quick technical analysis of measures taken to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings. The aim of this work was to test the usefulness of the type Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy models of inference model for predicting the energy efficiency of actual residential buildings that have undergone thermal improvement. For the group of 109 buildings a specific set of important variables characterizing the examined objects was identified. The quality of the prediction models developed for various combinations of input variables has been evaluated using, among other things, statistical calibration standards developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The obtained results were compared with other prediction models (based on the same input data sets) using artificial neural networks and rough sets theory.
A New Method of Regulating the Cooling Capacity of a Cooling System with CO2
Authors: Bieniek Artur , Kuchmacz Jan , Sztekler Karol , Mika Lukasz , Radomska Ewelina
Published: March 2021

New guidelines set by international organizations for refrigeration companies cause that natural working fluids such as carbon dioxide are increasingly used in new refrigeration systems. Carbon dioxide (R-744) is used in freezing, cooling, or air conditioning installations, in which the cooling load fluctuates hourly. To adapt the cooling capacity of the evaporator to the current cooling load of the cooled space, a number of control elements are used. The paper proposes a new method of regulating the cooling capacity for a one-stage refrigeration cycle with the R-744 refrigerant and an internal heat exchanger (IHX). The proposed method involves using an additional evaporator and combines the possibility of regulating the cooling capacity with the possibility of energy efficiency ratio (EER) improvement. The energy analysis of the proposed method of regulating the cooling capacity was performed and the results were compared with the control method. The control method was using the compressor hot gas bypass valve which allows the flow of hot vapor refrigerant to the suction side. The energy analysis was carried out for both subcritical and supercritical cycles using the energy equations. For each of the considered methods, the characteristics of the change in the EER as a function of the reduction of the cooling capacity in both supercritical and subcritical cycles were determined. It was found that when the cooling capacity decreased by 50%, the hot gas bypass regulating method was around 30% less efficient compared to the proposed additional evaporator regulating method.
Quantitative Analysis and Evaluation of Coal Mine Geological Structures Based on Fractal Theory
Authors: Zhang Gaizhuo , Guo Junzhong , Xu Bin , Xu Lulu , Dai Zhenxue , Yin Shangxian , Soltanian Mohamad Reza
Published: March 2021

With the increasing depth of coal mining, the quantitative evaluation of the degree of geological structure development is becoming increasingly important for the control of mine water hazards in coal mining areas. Understanding the complexity of geological structure development can improve the safety and efficiency of coal production. At present, various evaluation indicators of the geological structure development cannot fully reflect the complexity of faults and folds, and the evaluation process is usually affected by subjective human factors. In this paper, the fractal dimension from fractal theory is used as the evaluation indicator to quantitatively analyze and evaluate the complexity of fault and fold structure in the mining area. To verify the evaluation results, the mathematical geology method is applied in an analysis of the trend surface of fault and fold networks. The results indicate that the fractal dimension can be applied for the quantitative analysis and evaluation of the complexity of fault and fold networks. In addition, the outcome of this work provides new insights into how to characterize the fault and fold structures of coal mining areas in northern China, and has some important implications to ensure the coal production safety.
Time Delay Approach to Renewable Energy in the Visegrad Group
Authors: Księżopolski Krzysztof , Maśloch Grzegorz
Published: March 2021

Climate changes necessitate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The European Union’s climate and energy policy places particular emphasis on the development of renewable energy, considered to be the primary mean in achieving the climate neutrality goal by 2050. Having in mind the aforementioned, the study was conducted to determine time delay in the development of renewable energy sources between the Visegrad Group (V4) countries and Germany, considered the most advanced country in developing renewable energy and having the greatest impact on shaping European Union climate and energy policy. The time delay econometric method was used in four of its variants. The research results show that, despite the existence of support mechanisms, the development of renewable energy sources (RES) in the V4 countries has a high mutual correlation. There is a hight correlation between RES penetration in energy mix and UE goals of the climate and energy policy until 2020. At the same time, the available data from the analysed period 2004–2019 indicate growing time delay between the reference facility—Germany and the surveyed group. The paper identifies the primary factors behind the identified time delay and proposes research areas that could direct the future research of those aspects.
A Critical Review on the Control Strategies Applied to PCM-Enhanced Buildings
Authors: Gholamibozanjani Gohar , Farid Mohammed
Published: March 2021

The incorporation of phase change materials (PCM) in buildings has the potential to enhance the thermal efficiency of buildings, reduce energy cost, shift peak load, and eventually reduce air pollution and mitigate global warming. However, the initial capital cost of PCM is still high, and thus the establishment of a control strategy has become essential to optimize its use in buildings in an effort to lower investment costs. In this paper, an extensive review has been made with regard to various control strategies applied to PCM-enhanced buildings, such as ON/OFF control, conventional control methods (classical control, optimal, adaptive, and predictive control) and intelligent controls. The advantages and disadvantages of each control strategy are evaluated. The paper further discusses the opportunities and challenges associated with the design of PCM-enhanced buildings in combination with control strategies.
Influence of the Selection of the Core Shape and Winding Arrangement on the Accuracy of Current Transformers with Through-Going Primary Cable
Authors: Lesniewska Elzbieta
Published: March 2021

The current transformers with split-core are used for installation in places where it is impossible to install classic current transformers. Moreover, this design allows for any measurement location change, and even switching one current transformer into several different shapes of bars or cables. Power network operators, striving for more accurate current measurements, require producers to provide current transformers with a special accuracy class 0.2S. Therefore, manufacturers and designers try to meet the market requirements and, similarly to non-demountable current transformers, i.e., with a toroidal core, design current transformers with split-core class 0.2S. To meet the high metrological requirements, 3D analyses of electromagnetic fields were performed, taking into account physical phenomena and not approximate analytical models. Two types of cores and four different arrangements of the secondary windings of the measuring current transformers were considered. The magnetic field distributions, current error, and phase displacement diagrams of all current transformer models were analyzed, and the model of the transformer structure with the best accuracy was selected. Computations were conducted based on the finite element numerical method, and the results were compared with the real model tests.
Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Environmental Protection in the Financial Decisions of Individual Consumers
Authors: Walczak Damian , Dziawgo Leszek , Dziawgo Danuta , Buszko Michał , Pawłowski Jarosław , Żołądkiewicz-Kuzioła Agnieszka , Krupa Dorota
Published: March 2021

Insufficient environment protection may have serious ecological consequences, resulting in a number of problems in the modern world, many of which are a direct result of human behavior. Therefore, one needs to limit negative ecological effects by consciously shaping environment-related behaviors. The present paper analyzes the declared attitudes of individuals when it comes to taking into consideration pro-environmental factors, including energy, consumption, and waste. We have also studied the social awareness of the socially responsible investment idea, as well as pro-ecological individual behaviors related to private finance. Our survey study, conducted on a representative sample of 1030 Polish respondents, shows that participants’ individual features have little impact on pro-ecological decisions, and that declared pro-ecological attitudes are not reflected in actual behaviors. Polish consumers are still not active enough in making decisions concerning pro-ecological actions, first of all, in terms of energy and waste. As a result of the conducted research, we suggest increasing all activities in the field of environmental policy that could increase the participation of society in facilitating sustainable development.
Conventional and Innovative Hygienization of Feedstock for Biogas Production: Resistance of Indicator Bacteria to Thermal Pasteurization, Pulsed Electric Field Treatment, and Anaerobic Digestion
Authors: Liu Xiaojun , Lendormi Thomas , Lanoisellé Jean-Louis
Published: March 2021

Animal by-products (ABP) can be valorized via anaerobic digestion (AD) for biogas energy generation. The digestate issued from AD process is usually used to fertilize farming land for agricultural activities, which may cause potential sanitary risk to the environment. The European Union (EU) requires that certain ABP be thermally pasteurized in order to minimize this sanitary risk. This process is called hygienization, which can be replaced by alternative nonthermal technologies like pulsed electric field (PEF). In the present study, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 19433 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 were used as indicator bacteria. Their resistance to thermal pasteurization and PEF treatment were characterized. Results show that Ent. faecalis and E. coli are reduced by 5 log10 in less than 1 min during thermal pasteurization at 70 °C. The critical electric field strength was estimated at 18 kV∙cm−1 for Ent. faecalis and 1 kV∙cm−1 for E. coli. “G+” bacteria Ent. faecalis are generally more resistant than “G−” bacteria E. coli. AD process also plays an important role in pathogens inactivation, whose performance depends on the microorganisms considered, digestion temperature, residence time, and type of feedstock. Thermophilic digestion is usually more efficient in pathogens removal than mesophilic digestion.
The Use of Deep Container and Heterogeneous Substrate as Potentially Effective Nursery Practice to Produce Good Quality Nodal Seedlings of Populus sibirica Tausch
Authors: Park Byung Bae , Han Si Ho , Hernandez Jonathan O. , An Ji Young , Nyam-Osor Batkhuu , Jung Mun Ho , Lee Peter Sang-Hoon , Lee Sang Ick
Published: March 2021

Nursery practices are considered major factors influencing seedling quality, which are likely to be maintained in the early establishment phase in the field. Here, we investigated the effects of container depth and substrate heterogeneity on the growth of Populus sibirica nodal seedlings to suggest an effective nursery practice for producing quality seedlings appropriate for forest establishment in a dry environment. We used two substrate heterogeneities (homogeneous and heterogeneous) and two container depth treatments (30 and 60 cm). Variations in root collar diameter (RCD) growth, height growth, stem and root biomass, root to stem ratio, and root mass in the first 15 cm depth from the soil surface across the treatments were computed. Results revealed that both substrate heterogeneity and container depth had no significant effects on the RCD and height growth of P. sibirica seedlings but significantly improved their root and stem biomass. Seedlings in the 60 cm containers generally accumulated higher root biomass than those in the 30 cm containers. There was an interaction effect of container depth and substrate heterogeneity treatments on root and total dry mass, such that seedlings grown in the 60 cm container using heterogeneous substrate resulted in the highest root and total biomass. Analyses of proportional root growth in the upper 15 cm of the containers compared to the total indicated that both the main effects of deeper containers (60 cm) and heterogeneous substrate have fewer roots at this depth, indicating a greater root density in the bottom of the deeper containers. Therefore, deeper containers and heterogeneous substrate may be used as an effective nursery practice to produce seedlings with root traits potentially suitable for harsh conditions, such as arid and semi-arid environments. However, further studies using other seedling morphological traits in conjunction with field-trial tests are needed for a definitive assessment of the effectiveness of deeper containers and heterogeneous substrate in producing good quality seedlings potentially suitable in a dry environment.
Transformation of Agro-Forest Management Policy under the Dynamic Circumstances of a Two-Decade Regional Autonomy in Indonesia
Authors: Nurrochmat Dodik Ridho , Pribadi Ristianto , Siregar Hermanto , Justianto Agus , Park Mi Sun
Published: March 2021

Agro-forest management policy is one of the most trending issues in Indonesia under the dynamics circumstances of regional autonomy. Regional autonomy has been recognized in the formal governance system of the Republic Indonesia through Regional Governance Law 5/1972 and Village Governance Law 5/1979. A strong political reform following deep economic crisis in 1998 has forced Indonesian President Suharto to step down, and the new government has to accommodate political reform agendas, included a broader regional autonomy, which has been implemented under a Regional Governance Law 22/1999, then replaced by Law 32/2004 and Law 23/2014. The existing Regional Governance Law has shifted almost all authorities in forest management from the regency to the province, and associated with the new established Law 11/2020 on job creation, a single license of multi-purpose forest utilization was introduced, including agroforestry, that will potentially reduce deforestation and improve the community welfare. This study evaluates key elements of local development goals, risks and barriers, as well as basic capitals for agro-forest management in Tebo Regency, Jambi Province, using an Interpretive Structural Modelling approach. Overall, this study concludes that weak coordination, low quality of human capital, inappropriate communication with stakeholders, and lack of financial resources are the greatest challenges to the implementation of agro-forest management, particularly agroforestry, as a part of social forestry schemes.
Short-Term Traffic Forecasting: An LSTM Network for Spatial-Temporal Speed Prediction
Authors: Abduljabbar Rusul , Dia Hussein , Tsai Pei-Wei , Liyanage Sohani
Published: March 2021

Traffic forecasting remains an active area of research in the transport and data science fields. Decision-makers rely on traffic forecasting models for both policy-making and operational management of transport facilities. The wealth of spatial and temporal real-time data increasingly available from traffic sensors on roads provides a valuable source of information for policymakers. This paper adopts the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network to predict speed by considering both the spatial and temporal characteristics of real-time sensor data. A total of 288,653 real-life traffic measurements were collected from detector stations on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne/Australia. A comparative performance analysis among different models such as the Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) that has an internal memory that is able to remember its inputs and Deep Learning Backpropagation (DLBP) neural network approaches are also reported. The LSTM results showed average accuracies in the outbound direction ranging between 88 and 99 percent over prediction horizons between 5 and 60 min, and average accuracies between 96 and 98 percent in the inbound direction. The models also showed resilience in accuracies as the prediction horizons increased spatially for distances up to 15 km, providing a remarkable performance compared to other models tested. These results demonstrate the superior performance of LSTM models in capturing the spatial and temporal traffic dynamics, providing decision-makers with robust models to plan and manage transport facilities more effectively.
High Chromosomal Stability and Immortalized Totipotency Characterize Long-Term Tissue Cultures of Chinese Ginseng (Panax ginseng)
Authors: Liu Sitong , Zhao Jing , Liu Yutong , Li Ning , Wang Zhenhui , Wang Xinfeng , Liu Xiaodong , Jiang Lili , Liu Bao , Fu Xueqi , Li Xiaomeng , Li Linfeng
Published: March 2021

Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) is a highly cherished traditional Chinese medicine, with several confirmed medical effects and many more asserted health-boosting functions. Somatic chromosomal instability (CIN) is a hallmark of many types of human cancers and also related to other pathogenic conditions such as miscarriages and intellectual disabilities, hence, the study of this phenomenon is of wide scientific and translational medical significance. CIN also ubiquitously occurs in cultured plant cells, and is implicated as a major cause of the rapid decline/loss of totipotency with culture duration, which represents a major hindrance to the application of transgenic technologies in crop improvement. Here, we report two salient features of long-term cultured callus cells of ginseng, i.e., high chromosomal stability and virtually immortalized totipotency. Specifically, we document that our callus of ginseng, which has been subcultured for 12 consecutive years, remained highly stable at the chromosomal level and showed little decline in totipotency. We show that these remarkable features of cultured ginseng cells are likely relevant to the robust homeostasis of the transcriptional expression of specific genes (i.e., genes related to tissue totipotency and chromosomal stability) implicated in the manifestation of these two complex phenotypes. To our knowledge, these two properties of ginseng have not been observed in any animals (with respect to somatic chromosomal stability) and other plants. We posit that further exploration of the molecular mechanisms underlying these unique properties of ginseng, especially somatic chromosomal stability in protracted culture duration, may provide novel clues to the mechanistic understanding of the occurrence of CIN in human disease.
Site Amplification Analysis of Dushanbe City Area, Tajikistan to Support Seismic Microzonation
Authors: Hakimov Farkhod , Domej Gisela , Ischuk Anatoly , Reicherter Klaus , Cauchie Lena , Havenith Hans-Balder
Published: March 2021

Being a country exposed to strong seismicity, the estimation of seismic hazard in Tajikistan is essential for urbanized areas, such as the rapidly growing capital city Dushanbe. To ensure people’s safety and adequate construction work, a detailed seismic microzonation is the key to proper hazard planning. Existing estimations of seismic hazard date back to 1978; they are based on engineering geological investigations and observed macroseismic data. Thereupon relies the Tajik Building Code, which considers seismic intensities according to the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik Scale, MSK-64. However, this code does not accurately account for soil types, which vary considerably in Dushanbe—not only by their nature, but also due to increasing anthropogenic influences. In this study, we performed a series of analyses based on microtremor array measurements, seismic refraction tomography, and instrumental data recording from permanent stations for standard spectral ration and from mobile seismic stations for the horizontal to vertical spectral ratio in order to provide a comprehensive full-cover microzonation of Dushanbe accounting for soil types. Our results identify several critical areas where major damage is likely to occur during strong earthquakes.
A Historical Perspective of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Infection: How a Menace Can Drive Technological and Clinical Improvement
Authors: Massaro Giulia , Diemberger Igor , Ziacchi Matteo , Angeletti Andrea , Statuto Giovanni , Galiè Nazzareno , Biffi Mauro
Published: March 2021

In recent decades there has been a relevant increase in the implantation rate of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), albeit with relevant geographical inhomogeneities. Despite the positive impact on clinical outcomes, the possibility of major complications is not negligible, particularly with respect to CIED infections. CIED infections significantly affect morbidity and mortality, especially in instances of delayed diagnosis and appropriate treatment. In the present review, we will start to depict the factors underlying the development of CIED infection as well as the difficulties related to its diagnosis and treatment. We will explain the reasons underlying the need to focus on prophylaxis rather than treatment, in view of the poor outcomes despite improvements in lead extraction procedures. This will lead to the consideration of management of this complication in a hub-spoke manner, and to our analysis of the several technological and procedural improvements developed to minimize this complication. These include prolongation of CIED longevity, the development of leadless devices, and integrated prophylactic approaches. We will conclude with a discussion regarding new devices and strategies under development. This complete excursus will provide the reader with a new perspective on how a major complication can drive technological improvements.
Perception and Willingness to Maintain Continuity of Care by Parents of Children with Asthma in Taiwan
Authors: Pu Christy , Tseng Yu-Chen , Tang Gau-Jun , Lin Yen-Hsiung , Lin Chien-Heng , Wang I-Jen
Published: March 2021

To investigate caregivers’ attitudes toward continuity of care (COC) and their willingness to maintain continuity for their children with asthma under a national health insurance (NHI) system without strict referral management. We sampled 825 individuals from six pediatric outpatient departments in different parts of Taiwan from 2017 to 2018. We used a contingent valuation with a payment card method. Post-stratification weighting adjustment and coarsened exact matching were utilized. Multiple logistic regression was used to compare the willingness to pay and spend extra time maintaining continuity by parents. More than 80% of caregivers in the asthma group believed having a primary pediatrician was important for children’s health. Only 27.5% and 15.8% of caregivers in the asthma and control groups, respectively, believed changing pediatricians would negatively affect therapeutic outcomes. Regression analysis showed that the predicted willingness to pay for the asthma and non-asthma groups were NT$508 (SD = 196) and NT$402 (SD = 172), respectively, and there was a significant positive dose–response relationship between household income and willingness to pay for maintaining health care provider continuity. Caregivers’ free choices among health care providers may reduce willingness to spend extra effort to maintain high COC. Caregivers should be educated on the importance of COC.
Validity and Reliability of the Caregiver Strain Index Scale in Women during the Puerperium in Spain
Authors: Feligreras-Alcalá David , Cazalilla-López María del Pilar , del-Pino-Casado Rafael , Frías-Osuna Antonio
Published: March 2021

Background: The objective of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of the Caregiver Strain Index (CSI) for women during the postpartum period. Methods: This is a validation study of a measurement instrument. This study includes 212 women over the age of 19 who gave birth from March to September 2019 in Maternal and Child Hospital of Jaén (Spain). The items of the CSI were adapted for newborn care. Content validity was measured by five experts, calculating the index of agreement (Aiken’s V). Criterion validity was assessed by correlations with scores of other tools that measure constructs related to burden (Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Questionnaire, SOC-13 and Duke-UNC-11). Construct validity was determined by the known-groups method. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach’s Alpha, and stability was analysed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Regarding content validity, an Aiken’s V of 1.00 (p = 0.032) was obtained. Regarding criterion validity, the correlation analyses showed statistically significant coefficients between the scores of the questionnaire and those of the sense of coherence (r = −0.447, p < 0.001), depressive symptoms (r = 0.429, p < 0.001), social support (rho = −0.379, p < 0.001) and anxiety symptoms (r = 0.532, p < 0.001). The known-groups method showed statistically significant differences in the mean of subjective burden between the groups (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, sense of coherence and social support). The total scale obtained a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.710. The ICC was 0.979. Conclusions: The adapted CSI is a valid and reliable screening tool for the subjective burden in women during the puerperium. The adapted CSI can play an important role as a guide to detect the subjective burden in women during the puerperium.
Eating Habits and Sleep Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Adult Population of Ecuador
Authors: Ramos-Padilla Patricio , Villavicencio-Barriga Verónica Dayana , Cárdenas-Quintana Haydeé , Abril-Merizalde Leonardo , Solís-Manzano Angélica , Carpio-Arias Tannia Valeria
Published: March 2021

Confinement due to COVID-19 has brought important changes in people’s lives as well as in their eating and resting habits. In this study we aimed at exploring the eating habits and sleep quality of the adult population of Ecuador during the mandatory confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a cross-sectional study, which used an online survey that included questions about eating habits and sleeping habits in adults (n = 9522) between 18–69 years old. The Pittsburg sleep quality questionnaire validated for the Hispanic population was used, and questions about dietary habits. The statistical test Chi-square statistical test was used to analyze the data. The results show that sleep quality differs according to sex, being worse in women, both in all components of sleep quality and in the total score (p < 0.001). Women had greater changes in the habitual consumption of food compared to men (24.24% vs. 22.53%), and people between 18 and 40 years of age decreased their food consumption in relation to people >40 years (24.06% vs. 17.73%). Our results indicate that mandatory confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador has generated changes in the eating habits and sleep quality in the adult population sampled, and these changes are more noticeable in women and young adults. These changes offer an important alert for the health system and further, advice for the implementation of future public health policies.
A Longitudinal Study Regarding the Health Profile of the 2017 South African Hajj Pilgrims
Authors: Mushi Abdulaziz , Yassin Yara , Khan Anas , Alotaibi Badriah , Parker Salim , Mahomed Ozayr , Yezli Saber
Published: March 2021

The Hajj mass gathering annually attracts over two million Muslim pilgrims worldwide to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). We aimed to establish demographics and health profiles for the South African pilgrims performing the 2017 Hajj. Methods: This is a longitudinal survey-based study conducted on 1138 adult South African pilgrims in two phases (during and post-Hajj). Data on demographics, vaccination status, underlying health conditions, pre-Hajj training, health promotion, travel history, and health issues during and post-Hajj were collected using pre-designed questionnaires. Results: Participants had a mean age of 49.2 years (SD = 13.3; range 18–81), with a male: female ratio of 1.2:1. The majority of pilgrims were married (88.2%), of Indian/Asian background (73%), and literate (>99%). Nearly all pilgrims were vaccinated against meningococcal disease and yellow fever, but only 23.7% were vaccinated against Influenza. Hypertension, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol levels were the most common underlying health conditions reported by 22.6%, 13.2%, and 11.5% of pilgrims, respectively. One month after return to South Africa, nearly 65% of pilgrims reported illness during Hajj, while 40% reported falling ill post event upon return to South Africa. Nevertheless, only a few were admitted to hospitals (12 during Hajj and 15 post-Hajj). Among ill pilgrims, respiratory symptoms were the most commonly experienced symptoms during (70.2%) and post-Hajj (82.2%). Other symptoms such as walking-related symptoms include symptoms directly related or mainly caused by walking (e.g., leg pain, sore feet, blisters on the feet), dehydration, and gastrointestinal tract symptoms reported during Hajj. Medication to treat respiratory symptoms and antibiotics were the most commonly used medications during and post-Hajj. Having an underlying health condition was an independent predictor of falling ill during or post Hajj. Conclusion: Our study indicates that a sizable proportion of South African pilgrims are elderly with underlying health conditions and most contract respiratory tract infections during and post Hajj. Our study highlights the need for systematic collection of prospective pilgrims’ demographics and health data and more attention to post-Hajj health follow-ups of pilgrims.
Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Related Variables: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Sample of Workers in a Spanish Tertiary Hospital
Authors: Leira-Sanmartín Mónica , Madoz-Gúrpide Agustín , Ochoa-Mangado Enriqueta , Ibáñez Ángela
Published: March 2021

Introduction: We intend to objectify the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the workers of a tertiary hospital. Methods: All the workers were invited to an online survey. In total, 657 workers were recruited, including 536 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 121 non-healthcare workers (nHCWs). General Health Questionnaire-12 items (GHQ-12) was used as a screening tool. Sociodemographic data, working environmental conditions, and health behaviors were also analyzed. Results: inadequate sleep, poor nutritional and social interaction habits, misuse of psychotropics, female gender, COVID-19 clinical diagnosis, and losing a relative by COVID-19 were variables associated with higher probability of GHQ-12 positive screening. Significant differences between “frontline workers” and the rest were not found, nor was higher the probability of psychological distress in healthcare workers compared to non-healthcare workers. After 3 months from the peak of the pandemic, 63.6% of participants screening positive in GHQ-12 reported remaining “the same or worse.” Limitations: Causal inferences cannot be established. Retrieval and selection biases must be considered as the survey was not conducted during the peak of the outbreak. Conclusions: psychological impact of COVID-19 has been broad, heavy, and persistent in our institution. Proper assessment and treatment must be offered to all hospital workers.
Patient and Parent Experiences with Group Telerehabilitation for Child Survivors of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Authors: Lambert Genevieve , Alos Nathalie , Bernier Pascal , Laverdière Caroline , Drummond Kenneth , Dahan-Oliel Noémi , Lemay Martin , Veilleux Louis-Nicolas , Kairy Dahlia
Published: March 2021

Background: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric cancer. ALL and its treatment cause altered bone-mineral homeostasis, which can contribute to musculoskeletal late adverse effects (LAEs). With the increasing number of childhood cancer survivors, LAEs are reported often, and are aggravated by inactive lifestyles. A telerehabilitation program is proposed to strengthen the muscle–bone complex and prevent future impairment. Objective: This study aimed to explore and better understand patient and parent experience of a telerehabilitation program after completion of ALL treatment. Methods: ALL survivors (n = 12), 75% girls, 7.9 to 14.7 years old, within six months to five years of treatment, were recruited to participate in the proposed study, along with a parent. The 16-week group program included 40 potential home-based physical activities, with monthly progression, supervised by a kinesiologist, through an online telerehabilitation platform. Patients could be included in the study if they joined during the first month of intervention of their group (minimum 12 weeks of intervention). A semi-structured post-intervention interview was conducted with the patients and their parent during the final assessment, along with a review of the kinesiologist’s clinical notes, to obtain a portrait of the participants’ experience with the telerehabilitation program. Overarching themes were identified by one author and confirmed by two senior authors before extracting the various aspects of each theme. Results: Of the 12 patients recruited, three were excluded from the analysis because they did not complete the minimum 12 weeks of intervention (one = relapse, one = failure to meet technical requirements, and one = abandoned due to parent’s disinterest). The nine patients who completed the program (six girls; 10.93 ± 2.83 years) had a mean adherence of 89%. The overarching themes identified were the program modalities (group approach with patient–parent paired training, supervised by a kinesiologist), the telerehabilitation system, the participants’ perception of the benefits, and recommendations and suggestions from the families. Both patients and parents expressed very high satisfaction with the program and perceived benefits. Conclusion: Participants appreciated the program and reported they would all recommend it to other families in similar situations. The telerehabilitation method of service delivery was perceived by some as decisive in choosing to participate, while the supervision and intra- and inter-family interactions were the motivating factors that were key to program adherence.