bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Collaborative Governance dalam Pengentasan Kemiskinan di Kabupaten Kulon Progo
Authors: Salsabila Lubna , Sadayi Delila Putri
Published: April 2022

Poverty is a complex issue in Indonesia. Both the central and regional governments are making various efforts to address the issue of poverty. According to Regional Autonomy Law No. 32 of 2004, the Central Government delegated authority to regional governments to control affairs in the regions in accordance with the conditions of their individual areas. This study focused on Kulon Progo Regency, which had the highest poverty rate in the Special Region of Yogyakarta when compared to other districts. Because Kulon Progo Regency has favorable geographical circumstances in the agricultural and plantation sectors, the majority of the population is employed in these industries. To address the issue of poverty, the Kulon Progo Regency Government employs an alternative development paradigm. The implementation of the alternative development paradigm program necessitates interactive engagement among the parties involved, necessitating the use of a collaborative governance approach. State actors as well as non-state actors are involved. The purpose of this research is to identify the concept of collaborative governance in poverty alleviation in Kulon Progo Regency. According to the findings of this study, the community as a subject and object/actor is critical in the concept of collaborative governance in poverty alleviation. In order to promote social resilience, the community is meant to be able to produce money on its own through community empowerment
TINJAUAN TERHADAP E-PROCUREMENT DI INDONESIA
Authors: Khairina Etika
Published: April 2022

The purpose of this study is to see/review how the implementation of the procurement of Public Goods Electronically (E-Procurement) considers E-procurement as an instrument that can prevent corruption in the budget for procurement of goods and services in terms of regulatory policies and leadership related to institutions. The type of research used in this research is narrative with a qualitative approach. The results of this study indicate that regulations still have weaknesses. Various regulations at the institutional and government levels often lead to different implementations. Actors who do not have different interests in the field have weak interpretations so that leadership tends to be intervened by several parties, thus triggering institutions.
Pengalaman Penerapan Layanan Administratif di Kecamatan Galang Kota Batam
Authors: Lodan Karol Teovani Lodan
Published: April 2022

This research aimed to examine the efforts made by the Galang District government in providing administrative services, especially for people living on the island. The geographical condition of the sub-district, which consists of four urban villages located on the island at varying distances, certainly has its own challenges. Type of research used in this article is descriptive qualitative approach. Data sources derived from primary and secondary sources. Data was collected through documentation and interviews. The results showed that to fulfill the community service on the surrounding islands, several efforts had been made, namely coordinating with the ward, collaborating with pompong drivers, providing official housing in the sub-district office complex, and socializing the available administrative services. The pattern of administrative services is made flexible with the principle of fulfilling the rights of the community in obtaining the best possible service. The experience of implementing administrative services for the community showed that the importance role of the sub-district as a regional apparatus. Districts, as regional apparatus, are required to be spearheading of services that need to carry out a series of strategies and improvements to serve the community. The sub-district apparatus was required to find ways to provide and distribute services to the community according to their needs, even with geographical challenges.
Jalur Merah Peredaran Narkoba di Kota Batam dan Strategi Penanggulangannya
Authors: Putra Andrean Utama , Salsabila Lubna
Published: April 2022

This article aims to identify the red lanes for drug trafficking in Batam City and strategies for dealing with them. This research takes a case study in Batam City because it is one of the drug trafficking routes in Indonesia. Drugs are one of the problems that harm both individuals and even threaten resilience and security. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods to identify drug trafficking routes in Batam City and strategies to overcome them. The data used in this study uses secondary data in the form of 25 national and international journal articles spanning 2017-2021. This study indicates that there are five factors in the opening of drug trafficking routes in Batam City; 1) The high number of drug users in Indonesia, including Batam City, Riau Islands. 2) Influence on the lifestyle of the Indonesian people as users, dealers, and drug dealers. 3) The strategic geographical location of Batam City supports it as a drug trafficking route. 4) The lack of supervision by law enforcement officers and detection technology not supported at the border. 5) Legal sanctions against drug cases do not have a deterrent effect. 6) There are legal loopholes and access to organized and transnational drug trafficking.
Kritik Terhadap Pelayanan Publik Pemerintah Daerah di Indonesia
Authors: Wardaniah Rani
Published: April 2022

This study aims to analyze the criticism of local government public services in Indonesia. Complex problems with public services that often occur in services at the local government level. This is because the local government is an extension of the central government to provide rights and obligations in meeting the needs of the community as citizens. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods to analyze in depth related to criticism of public services in local governments. The data obtained through 25 local and national online news and 25 national journal articles. The results of the analysis of this study indicate that the causes of criticism of public services are; 1) Undeveloped Performance Culture; 2) Incompetent human resources for apparatus, 3) Overlapping tasks, 4) Rule-based or bureaucratic mindset, 5) lack of understanding of standards. This study aims to analyze criticisms of local government public services in Indonesia. Complex problems with public services that often occur in services at the local government level. This is because the local government is an extension of the central government to provide rights and obligations in meeting the needs of the community as citizens. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods to analyze in depth related to criticism of public services in local governments. The data obtained through 25 local and national online news and 25 national journal articles. The results of the analysis of this study indicate that the causes of criticism of public services are; 1) Undeveloped Performance Culture; 2) incompetent human resources for apparatus, 3) overlapping tasks, 4) rule-based or bureaucratic mindset, 5) low understanding of public service standards.
PENERAPAN LEAN MANUFACTURING DALAM PENINGKATAN PRODUKTIVITAS ALUMUNIUM BAKING TRAY
Authors: Wibowo Sadiq Ardo
Published: April 2022

Along with the rapid growth of the manufacturing industry, companies are required to create advantages in order to survive and compete with competing companies. Competition between companies requires every manufacturer to make improvements for the better. One of the industry players who are expected to make improvements is TS. aluminum. Where the improvements made focus on the production process line related to the company's productivity. The production process often arises in the form of a series of wastes such as waiting time (waiting time), work in process (WIP) and transportation that is too long. A number of these wastes can result in disruption to performance and decreased productivity. Through this research, efforts were made to reduce waste by using lean manufacturing, VSM, and FMEA. The results showed that there was a decrease in the set up time to 2135 seconds, the waiting time between cutting and filing operations to 256.8 seconds, the turning waiting time to 262.31 and the loss of transportation distance by 22 m in the finishing polishing operation which resulted in the time required reduced to 123.94 seconds. In addition, the company experienced an increase in labor productivity of 5.18, capital productivity of 28.52, productivity of raw materials 4.3, productivity of other components by 33.65 and total productivity of the company by 2.04.
ELIMINASI POTENSI MUDA PADA KEGIATAN SUPPLY SMALL PART DI LOGISTIC SUPPLY PARTNER (LSP) MACHINING PT. ASTRA DAIHATSU MOTOR – ENGINE PLANT
Authors: Pratiwi Talsania , Suseno Agustian
Published: April 2022

Astra Daihatsu Motor Engine Plant is a manufacturing company that produces motor vehicle engines. In the production process, Logistic supply partner Machining is a Logistics Sub-division whose task is to carry out the distribution process of small parts. Supply is carried out by Man power to the available shelves on the production line, in the process this activity has some potential for waste or what is called Muda. If supply activities experience problems that cause delays in the supply process, then the worst possibility is that the production line can stop and make the company suffer losses. For this reason, it is necessary to make efforts to eliminate these Muda potentials which is the purpose of this research. Process small part is carried out using dolly. This can lead to the potential for Muda. Of the 8 types of Muda, there are potential for 3 types, namely muda waiting, muda transportation and muda motion. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the number of dolly, in order to avoid the potential of double handling. In addition to this dolly, the manufacturing process must follow the rules of anthropometry, which is a collection of numerical data related to the characteristics of the human body in the form of size, shape and strength, as well as the application of these data to handling design problems. In addition to anthropometric data, data are also needed that will affect the design of the dolly such as the size and shape of the box to be carried. By using the 50% percentile of anthropometric data and also box size data, the dolly design to be made is 156 cm long, dolly width 83 cm, dolly height 83 cm and dolly handle height is 96 cm.
Highly Sensitive Detection Method for HV69-70del in SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Omicron Variants Based on CRISPR/Cas13a
Authors: Niu Mengwei , Han Yao , Dong Xue , Yang Lan , Li Fan , Zhang Youcui , Hu Qiang , Xia Xueshan , Li Hao , Sun Yansong
Published: April 2022

As SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to evolve, identifying variants with adaptive diagnostic tool is critical to containing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Herein, we establish a highly sensitive and portable on-site detection method for the HV69-70del which exist in SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Omicron variants using a PCR-based CRISPR/Cas13a detection system (PCR-CRISPR). The specific crRNA (CRISPR RNA) targeting the HV69-70del is screened using the fluorescence-based CRISPR assay, and the sensitivity and specificity of this method are evaluated using diluted nucleic acids of SARS-CoV-2 variants and other pathogens. The results show that the PCR-CRISPR detection method can detect 1 copies/μL SARS-CoV-2 HV69-70del mutant RNA and identify 0.1% of mutant RNA in mixed samples, which is more sensitive than the RT-qPCR based commercial SARS-CoV-2 variants detection kits and sanger sequencing. And it has no cross reactivity with ten other pathogens nucleic acids. Additionally, by combined with our previously developed ERASE (Easy-Readout and Sensitive Enhanced) lateral flow strip suitable for CRISPR detection, we provide a novel diagnosis tool to identify SARS-CoV-2 variants in primary and resource-limited medical institutions without professional and expensive fluorescent detector.
An Up-To-Date Overview of Dental Tissue Regeneration Using Dental Origin Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Challenges and Road Ahead
Authors: Wang Lin-Hong , Gao Si-Zhe , Bai Xiao-Lei , Chen Zheng-Lin , Yang Fan
Published: April 2022

Stem cells (SCs) research has experienced exponential growth in recent years. SC-based treatments can enhance the lives of people suffering from cardiac ischemia, Alzheimer’s disease, and regenerative drug conditions, like bone or loss of teeth. Numerous kinds of progenitor/SCs have been hypothesized to depend on their potential to regain and/or heal wounded tissue and partly recover organ function. Growing data suggest that SCs (SCs) are concentrated in functions and that particular tissues have more SCs. Dental tissues, in particular, are considered a significant cause of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cells appropriate for tissue regeneration uses. Tissue regeneration and SCs biology have particular attention in dentistry because they may give a novel method for creating clinical material and/or tissue redevelopment. Dental pulp, dental papilla, periodontal ligament, and dental follicle contain mesenchymal SCs. Such SCs, which must be identified and cultivated in specific tissue culture environments, may be used in tissue engineering applications such as tooth tissue, nerve regeneration, and bone redevelopment. A new cause of SCs, induced pluripotent SCs, was successfully made from human somatic cells, enabling the generation of the patient and disease-specific SCs. The dental SC’s (DSCs) multipotency, rapid proliferation rate, and accessibility make it an ideal basis of MSC for tissue redevelopment. This article discusses current advances in tooth SC investigation and its possible application in tissue redevelopment.
Development of a Colloidal Gold Immunochromatographic Strip for Rapid Detection of Cyfra 21-1 in Lymph Node Metastasis of Thyroid Cancer
Authors: Xu Lijie , Wang Shuhao , Wu Zhechen , Xu Chengcheng , Hu Xinwei , Ding Haitian , Zhang Yanqiang , Shen Bing , Liu Yehai , Wu Kaile
Published: April 2022

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine tumor, and the rate of early lymph node metastasis may be as high as 60%. Currently, detection of lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer during surgery is limited and time-consuming. Elevated levels of Cyfra 21-1, the proteolytic portion of cytokeratin, are associated with the metastasis and progression of thyroid cancer and are an effective biomarker for the prognosis and diagnosis of thyroid cancer. In this study, an immunochromatographic strip test based on colloidal gold nanoparticles was developed to semi-quantitatively detect the levels of Cyfra 21-1 in lymph nodes within 15 min. The standard (calibration) curve equation was Y = 0.003708 × X + 0.1101, and the detection limit was 0.55–1.14 ng mL−1. The strip did not detect other protein markers of epithelial cells at a concentration of 500 ng mL−1, including cytokeratin 8, cytokeratin 18, epithelial membrane antigen, and epidermal surface antigen. The ability of the strip to differentiate positive from negative metastasis in 40 lymph node specimens was 100% concordant with that of immunohistochemical staining for Cyfra 21-1. In an assessment of 20 lymph node specimens that had been determined by postoperative histopathology to be positive for lymph node metastasis and 20 specimens that were negative, the sensitivity and specificity of the strip were 100% and 95%, respectively. The sensitivity of the strip remained stable when stored at room temperature for 6 months. Together, these results indicated that although further testing using a larger sample size will be required, this immunochromatographic strip test may be useful for rapid intraoperative detection of thyroid cancer metastasis to lymph nodes.
Implantable Bioresponsive Hydrogel Prevents Local Recurrence of Breast Cancer by Enhancing Radiosensitivity
Authors: Fu Zhiguang , Li Hongqi , Xue Peng , Yu Hanying , Yang Shuo , Tao Cheng , Li Wei , Wang Yingjie , Zhang Jianjun , Wang Yu
Published: April 2022

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. Patients are often concerned about regional recurrence after breast cancer surgery. Radiotherapy plays a vital role in reducing recurrence and prolonging the survival of patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery and high-risk mastectomy. However, 8–15% of patients still have disease progression due to radiation resistance. Therefore, new strategies for combination radiotherapy sensitization must be investigated. In this study, an implantable drug loading system, sunitinib nanoparticles @ matrix metalloproteinases -response hydrogel (NSMRH), uses enzyme-sensitive hydrogel as a carrier to load sunitinib nanoparticles, was identified. The releasing profile demonstrated that sunitinib nanoparticles may be continuously released from the hydrogels. Functional experiments revealed that, when paired with NSMRH, radiation may significantly inhibit tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Further animal experiments showed that NSMRH combined with radiotherapy could more effectively control the recurrence of subcutaneous xenograft tumors, prolong the survival time, and have no obvious toxicity in nude mice. Finally, by studying the molecular mechanism of NSMRH, it was hypothesized that in breast cancer cells, NSMRH cooperated with sensitized radiotherapy, mainly due to significantly blocking the G2/M phase, reducing the DNA repair efficiency, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, promoting apoptosis, and reversing the abnormal expression of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) after radiotherapy. These findings suggest that NSMRH’s radiation sensitization and anti-tumor activity may aid in the development of a novel method in future clinical applications.
A Study on the Relationship Between the Affordability of Private Residential Property and its Demand in Singapore
Authors: Rangaswamy Easwaramoorthy , Chong Yen , Nawaz Nishad
Published: April 2022

Over the years, private housing prices skyrocketed and the high demand to own private housing remained unmet. Prices influenced the perception of affordability and would also affect the demand for private housing. The urgency to understand the intertwined relationships between housing cost (prices), affordability, and demand especially in the COVID-19 pandemic situation is high. Hence, this research aimed to quantify the relationship or impact of rising prices on the private housing affordability and its demand. The results from this research could conclude that soaring prices lowered the affordability of buyers and delay the purchase of private property shortly. However, the demand to purchase a private property was higher with rising prices suggesting that higher prices indicate more wealth and potential to own a more valuable asset. Affordability is a temporary barrier to own private properties. This implied that the wealth effect from properties likely outweighed that of the consumption or income substitution effect. This understanding of the relative impacts between housing cost, affordability, and demand would contribute significantly to policymaking in providing signals and advice for policymakers to priorities social mobility or investment return from the property market.
The Putative Bromodomain Protein PfBDP7 of the Human Malaria Parasite Plasmodium Falciparum Cooperates With PfBDP1 in the Silencing of Variant Surface Antigen Expression
Authors: Quinn Jennifer E. , Jeninga Myriam D. , Limm Katharina , Pareek Kapil , Meißgeier Tina , Bachmann Anna , Duffy Michael F. , Petter Michaela
Published: April 2022

Epigenetic regulation is a critical mechanism in controlling virulence, differentiation, and survival of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium (P.) falciparum. Bromodomain proteins contribute to this process by binding to acetylated lysine residues of histones and thereby targeting the gene regulatory machinery to gene promoters. A protein complex containing the P. falciparum bromodomain proteins (PfBDP) 1 and PfBDP2 (BDP1/BDP2 core complex) was previously shown to play an essential role for the correct transcription of invasion related genes. Here, we performed a functional characterization of a third component of this complex, which we dubbed PfBDP7, because structural modelling predicted a typical bromodomain fold. We confirmed that PfBDP7 is a nuclear protein that interacts with PfBDP1 at invasion gene promoters in mature schizont stage parasites and contributes to their transcription. Although partial depletion of PfBDP7 showed no significant effect on parasite viability, conditional knock down of either PfBDP7 or PfBDP1 resulted in the de-repression of variant surface antigens (VSA), which are important pathogenicity factors. This de-repression was evident both on mRNA and protein level. To understand the underlying mechanism, we mapped the genome wide binding sites of PfBDP7 by ChIPseq and showed that in early schizonts, PfBDP7 and PfBDP1 are commonly enriched in heterochromatic regions across the gene body of all VSA families, including genes coding for PfEMP1, RIFIN, STEVOR, and PfMC-2TM. This suggests that PfBDP7 and PfBDP1 contribute to the silencing of VSAs by associating with heterochromatin. In conclusion, we identified PfBDP7 as a chromatin binding protein that is a constitutive part of the P. falciparum BDP1/BDP2 core complex and established PfBDP1 and PfBDP7 as novel players in the silencing of heterochromatin regulated virulence gene families of the malaria parasite P. falciparum.
Increased Serum Soluble Transferrin Receptor Levels Were Associated With High Prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases: Insights From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017–2018
Authors: Zhu Shiyu , Liu Chang , Zhao Chengchen , Chen Guanzhong , Meng Simin , Hong Ma , Xiang Meixiang , Xie Yao
Published: April 2022

Background: Iron deficiency is common in cardiovascular diseases (CVD), e.g., heart failure and coronary heart disease. Soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) is a promising marker representing unmet cellular iron demands. However, whether higher serum sTfR is associated with increased risk of CVDs needs further investigation.

Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, we analyzed data of 4,867 adult participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017–2018. Linear regression models were employed to identify possible correlations between sTfR and other characteristics. The association between sTfR and CVDs was assessed with univariable and multivariable logistics regression models.

Results: The prevalence of CVDs was 9.5% among participants, and higher sTfR levels were found in participants with CVDs (p < 0.001). Linear regression models revealed positive associations between sTfR and age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobulin A1c, and insulin resistance (all p < 0.001). In the multivariable logistics regression model, the adjusted odds ratio of sTfR for CVDs was 2.05 (per 1 log2 mg/L, 95% confidence interval: 1.03∼4.05, p = 0.046). Further subgroup analysis identified the associations of sTfR and CVDs were only significant in participants ≥60 years old, or with hypertension (all p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that increased serum sTfR levels were associated with a high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases.
Insights Into Drug Repurposing, as Well as Specificity and Compound Properties of Piperidine-Based SARS-CoV-2 PLpro Inhibitors
Authors: Calleja Dale J. , Kuchel Nathan , Lu Bernadine G. C. , Birkinshaw Richard W. , Klemm Theresa , Doerflinger Marcel , Cooney James P. , Mackiewicz Liana , Au Amanda E. , Yap Yu Q. , Blackmore Timothy R , Katneni Kasiram , Crighton Elly , Newman Janet , Jarman Kate E. , Call Melissa J. , Lechtenberg Bernhard C. , Czabotar Peter E. , Pellegrini Marc , Charman Susan A. , Lowes Kym N. , Mitchell Jeffrey P. , Nachbur Ueli , Lessene Guillaume , Komander David
Published: April 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated, emphasizing the need for additional antiviral treatment options to prevent hospitalization and death of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The papain-like protease (PLpro) domain is part of the SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein (nsp)-3, and represents an essential protease and validated drug target for preventing viral replication. PLpro moonlights as a deubiquitinating (DUB) and deISGylating enzyme, enabling adaptation of a DUB high throughput (HTS) screen to identify PLpro inhibitors. Drug repurposing has been a major focus through the COVID-19 pandemic as it may provide a fast and efficient route for identifying clinic-ready, safe-in-human antivirals. We here report our effort to identify PLpro inhibitors by screening the ReFRAME library of 11,804 compounds, showing that none inhibit PLpro with any reasonable activity or specificity to justify further progression towards the clinic. We also report our latest efforts to improve piperidine-scaffold inhibitors, 5c and 3k, originally developed for SARS-CoV PLpro. We report molecular details of binding and selectivity, as well as in vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) studies of this scaffold. A co-crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro bound to inhibitor 3k guides medicinal chemistry efforts to improve binding and ADME characteristics. We arrive at compounds with improved and favorable solubility and stability characteristics that are tested for inhibiting viral replication. Whilst still requiring significant improvement, our optimized small molecule inhibitors of PLpro display decent antiviral activity in an in vitro SARS-CoV-2 infection model, justifying further optimization.
Understanding the Structure and Energy Transfer Process of Undoped Ultrathin Emitting Nanolayers Within Interface Exciplexes
Authors: Xu Ting , Fu Jianhui , Wang Xinzhong , Lu Guanhua , Liu Baiquan
Published: April 2022

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have great potential for display, lighting, and near-infrared (NIR) applications due to their outstanding advantages such as high efficiency, low power consumption, and flexibility. Recently, it has been found that the ultrathin emitting nanolayer technology plays a key role in OLEDs with simplified structures through the undoped fabricated process, and exciplex-forming hosts can enhance the efficiency and stability of OLEDs. However, the elementary structure and mechanism of the energy transfer process of ultrathin emitting nanolayers within interface exciplexes are still unclear. Therefore, it is imminently needed to explore the origin of ultrathin emitting nanolayers and their energy process within exciplexes. Herein, the mechanism of films growing to set ultrathin emitting nanolayers (<1 nm) and their energy transfer process within interface exciplexes are reviewed and researched. The UEML phosphorescence dye plays a key role in determining the lifetime of excitons between exciplex and non-exciplex interfaces. The exciplex between TCTA and Bphen has longer lifetime decay than the non-exciplex between TCTA and TAPC, facilitating exciton harvesting. The findings will be beneficial not only to the further development of OLEDs but also to other related organic optoelectronic technologies.
Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Materials and Interfaces With Mixed Ionic-Electronic Transport Properties: Advances in Experimental and Theoretical Approaches
Authors: Romero Mariano , Mombrú Dominique , Pignanelli Fernando , Faccio Ricardo , Mombrú Alvaro W.
Published: April 2022

The main goal of this mini-review is to provide an updated state-of-the-art of the hybrid organic-inorganic materials focusing mainly on interface phenomena involving ionic and electronic transport properties. First, we review the most relevant preparation techniques and the structural features of hybrid organic-inorganic materials prepared by solution-phase reaction of inorganic/organic precursor into organic/inorganic hosts and vapor-phase infiltration of the inorganic precursor into organic hosts and molecular layer deposition of organic precursor onto the inorganic surface. Particular emphasis is given to the advances in joint experimental and theoretical studies discussing diverse types of computational simulations for hybrid-organic materials and interfaces. We make a specific revision on the separately ionic, and electronic transport properties of these hybrid organic-inorganic materials focusing mostly on interface phenomena. Finally, we deepen into mixed ionic-electronic transport properties and provide our concluding remarks and give some perspectives about this growing field of research.
A Comparison of XGBoost, Random Forest, and Nomograph for the Prediction of Disease Severity in Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia: Implications of Cytokine and Immune Cell Profile
Authors: Hong Wandong , Zhou Xiaoying , Jin Shengchun , Lu Yajing , Pan Jingyi , Lin Qingyi , Yang Shaopeng , Xu Tingting , Basharat Zarrin , Zippi Maddalena , Fiorino Sirio , Tsukanov Vladislav , Stock Simon , Grottesi Alfonso , Chen Qin , Pan Jingye
Published: April 2022

Background and Aims

The aim of this study was to apply machine learning models and a nomogram to differentiate critically ill from non-critically ill COVID-19 pneumonia patients.

Methods

Clinical symptoms and signs, laboratory parameters, cytokine profile, and immune cellular data of 63 COVID-19 pneumonia patients were retrospectively reviewed. Outcomes were followed up until Mar 12, 2020. A logistic regression function (LR model), Random Forest, and XGBoost models were developed. The performance of these models was measured by area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) analysis.

Results

Univariate analysis revealed that there was a difference between critically and non-critically ill patients with respect to levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-10, T cells, CD4+ T, and CD8+ T cells. Interleukin-10 with an AUC of 0.86 was most useful predictor of critically ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Ten variables (respiratory rate, neutrophil counts, aspartate transaminase, albumin, serum procalcitonin, D-dimer and B-type natriuretic peptide, CD4+ T cells, interleukin-6 and interleukin-10) were used as candidate predictors for LR model, Random Forest (RF) and XGBoost model application. The coefficients from LR model were utilized to build a nomogram. RF and XGBoost methods suggested that Interleukin-10 and interleukin-6 were the most important variables for severity of illness prediction. The mean AUC for LR, RF, and XGBoost model were 0.91, 0.89, and 0.93 respectively (in two-fold cross-validation). Individualized prediction by XGBoost model was explained by local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME) plot.

Conclusions

XGBoost exhibited the highest discriminatory performance for prediction of critically ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. It is inferred that the nomogram and visualized interpretation with LIME plot could be useful in the clinical setting. Additionally, interleukin-10 could serve as a useful predictor of critically ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.
Incorporating the Detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated With Invasive Aspergillosis Into the Clinic
Authors: White P. Lewis , Price Jessica S.
Published: April 2022

Exposure to fungi is inevitable, yet only a small number of patients with significant clinical risk develop invasive aspergillosis (IA). While timing of exposure in relation to immune status, environmental and occupational factors will influence the probability of developing IA, factors specific to the individual will likely play a role and variation in the host’s genetic code associated with the immunological response to fungi have been linked to increased risk of developing IA. Screening for SNPs in genes significantly associated with IA (e.g. Pentraxin-3, Toll-like receptor 4, Dectin-1, DC-SIGN) could form part of the clinical work-up on admission or post allogeneic stem cell transplantation, to complement fungal biomarker screening. Through the combination of clinical and genetic risk with mycological evidence, we are approaching a time when we should be able to accurately predict the risk of IA in the haematology patient, using predictive modelling to stratifying each individual’s management. Understanding the host and their immune responses to infection through genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics/proteomics is critical to achieving how we manage the individual’s risk of IA, underpinning personalized medicine. This review will investigate what is known about the genetic risk associated with developing IA, primarily in haematology patients and whether these strategies are ready to be incorporated into routine clinical practice, and if not what are the remaining hurdles to implementation.
Global Burden, Incidence and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years for Dermatitis: A Systematic Analysis Combined With Socioeconomic Development Status, 1990–2019
Authors: Xue Yi , Bao Wu , Zhou Jie , Zhao Qing-Liang , Hong Su-Zhuang , Ren Jun , Yang Bai-Cheng , Wang Peng , Yin Bin , Chu Cheng-Chao , Liu Gang , Jia Chi-Yu
Published: April 2022

Background

Dermatitis is an important global health problem that not only affects social interaction and physical and mental health but also causes economic burden. Health problems or distress caused by dermatitis may be easily overlooked, and relevant epidemiological data are limited. Therefore, a better understanding of the burden of dermatitis is necessary for developing global intervention strategies.

Methods

All data on dermatitis, including atopic dermatitis (AD), contact dermatitis (CD) and seborrhoeic dermatitis (SD), were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 (GBD2019) database. The extracted age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) rates (ASDR) data were analysed by stratification, including by sex, country or region, and sociodemographic index (SDI) indicators. Finally, we analysed the correlation between the global burden of dermatitis and socioeconomic development status.

Results

According to the GBD 2019 estimate, the ASIR and ASDR for the three major types of dermatitis in 2019 were 5244.3988 (95% CI 4551.7244–5979.3176) per 100,000 person-years and 131.6711 (95% CI 77.5876–206.8796) per 100,000 person-years. The ASIR and ASDR of atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis and seborrhoeic dermatitis are: Incidence (95%CI,per 100,000 person-years), 327.91 (312.76-343.67), 3066.04 (2405.38-3755.38), 1850.44 (1706.25- 1993.74); DALYs (95%CI, per 100,000 person-years), 99.69 (53.09-167.43), 28.06 (17.62-41.78), 3.93 (2.24-6.25). In addition, among the three dermatitis types, the greatest burden was associated with AD. According to the ASDR from 1990 to 2019, the burden of dermatitis has exhibited a slow downward trend in recent years. In 2019, the ASIR showed that the USA had the greatest burden, while the ASDR showed that Asian countries (such as Japan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan) and some European countries (France, Estonia) had the greatest burden. According to SDI stratification and the three major dermatitis types, high ASIR and ASDR corresponded to high SDI areas (especially for AD).

Conclusion

The burden of dermatitis is related to socioeconomic development status, especially for AD, which is positively correlated with the SDI. The results based on GBD2019 data are valuable for formulating policy, preventing and treating dermatitis and reducing the global burden of dermatitis.
Coming Closer to Citizens? Frustrated Dialogue on the Danish Health Authority's Facebook Page During COVID-19
Authors: Madvig Fie , Achiam Marianne , Adler-Nissen Rebecca , Johansen Nicklas , Whiteley Louise
Published: April 2022

As the COVID-19 pandemic began, health authorities rushed to use social media to communicate information and persuade citizens to follow guidelines. Yet a desire to “come closer to citizens” often came into conflict with the very consequences of doing so—many social media interactions were characterized by complaint, resistance, trolling or misinformation. This paper presents a case study of the Danish Health Authority's (DHA) Facebook page, focusing on the initial phase of the pandemic and on posts about face masks. Face masks were chosen as an exemplar of the many topics where scientific research was being communicated as it unfolded, and where relations between science, policy, and politics were also evolving in public. In other words, topics where what should be communicated and why was unclear and unstable. A qualitative thematic analysis of the DHA Facebook page, grounded in the practice-based knowledge of one of the authors and feedback meetings with DHA staff, unpicks what kinds of engagements between authority and citizens occurred, both explicitly and implicitly. The analysis particularly looks for dialogue—as a mode of communication implicitly promised by social media platforms, and as a well-established ingredient of trust in relationships between experts and citizens. Drawing on Grudin's definition of dialogue as “reciprocal and strange,” we argue that the DHA's Facebook policy limited such encounters, in part by practical necessity, and in part due to professional constraints on the ability to discuss entanglements between health guidelines and politics. But we also identify “strangeness” in the apparent disconnect between individual engagements and collective responses; and “reciprocity” in the sharing of affect and alternative forms of expertise. We also highlight the invisible majority of silent engagements with DHA information on the Facebook page, and ask whether the visibly frustrated dialogue that ran alongside was a price worth paying for this informational exchange. The paper also serves as an example of qualitative research situated within ongoing practice, and as such we argue for the virtue of these more local, processual forms of evidence-based science communication.
Characterizing Dysarthria Diversity for Automatic Speech Recognition: A Tutorial From the Clinical Perspective
Authors: Rowe Hannah P. , Gutz Sarah E. , Maffei Marc F. , Tomanek Katrin , Green Jordan R.
Published: April 2022

Despite significant advancements in automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology, even the best performing ASR systems are inadequate for speakers with impaired speech. This inadequacy may be, in part, due to the challenges associated with acquiring a sufficiently diverse training sample of disordered speech. Speakers with dysarthria, which refers to a group of divergent speech disorders secondary to neurologic injury, exhibit highly variable speech patterns both within and across individuals. This diversity is currently poorly characterized and, consequently, difficult to adequately represent in disordered speech ASR corpora. In this article, we consider the variable expressions of dysarthria within the context of established clinical taxonomies (e.g., Darley, Aronson, and Brown dysarthria subtypes). We also briefly consider past and recent efforts to capture this diversity quantitatively using speech analytics. Understanding dysarthria diversity from the clinical perspective and how this diversity may impact ASR performance could aid in (1) optimizing data collection strategies for minimizing bias; (2) ensuring representative ASR training sets; and (3) improving generalization of ASR for difficult-to-recognize speakers. Our overarching goal is to facilitate the development of robust ASR systems for dysarthric speech using clinical knowledge.
Impact of Right Ventricular Trabeculation on Right Ventricular Function in Patients With Left Ventricular Non-compaction Phenotype
Authors: Kiss Anna Réka , Gregor Zsófia , Popovics Adrián , Grebur Kinga , Szabó Liliána Erzsébet , Dohy Zsófia , Kovács Attila , Lakatos Bálint Károly , Merkely Béla , Vágó Hajnalka , Szũcs Andrea
Published: April 2022

Right ventricular (RV) involvement in left ventricular (LV) non-compaction (LVNC) remains unknown. We aimed to describe the RV volumetric, functional, and strain characteristics and clinical features of patients with LVNC phenotype and good LV ejection fraction (EF) using cardiac magnetic resonance to characterize RV trabeculation in LVNC and to study the relationships of RV and LV trabeculation with RV volume and function. This retrospective study included 100 Caucasian patients with LVNC phenotype and good LV-EF and 100 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Patients were further divided into two subgroups according to RV indexed trabecular mass [RV-TMi; patients with RV hypertrabeculation (RV-HT) vs. patients with normal RV trabeculation (RV-NT)]. We measured the LV and RV volumetric, functional, and TMi values using threshold-based postprocessing software and the RV and LV strain values using feature tracking and collected the patients' LVNC-related clinical features. Patients had higher RV volumes, lower RV-EF, and worse RV strain values than controls. A total of 22% of patients had RV-TMi values above the reference range; furthermore, RV-HT patients had higher RV and LV volumes, lower RV- and LV-EF, and worse RV strain values than RV-NT patients. We identified a strong positive correlation between RV- and LV-TMi and between RV-TMi and RV volumes and a significant inverse relationship of both RV- and LV-TMi with RV function. The prevalence of LVNC-related clinical features was similar in the RV-HT and RV-NT groups. These results suggest that some patients with LVNC phenotype might have RV non-compaction with subclinical RV dysfunction and without more severe clinical features.
Burden of Peripheral Artery Disease and Its Attributable Risk Factors in 204 Countries and Territories From 1990 to 2019
Authors: Lin Jinfeng , Chen Yangbo , Jiang Nan , Li Zuoshi , Xu Shangbo
Published: April 2022

Background

Data on burden of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and its attributable risk factors are valuable for policymaking. We aimed to estimate the burden and risk factors for PAD from 1990 to 2019.

Methods

We extracted the data on prevalence, incidence, death, years lived with disability (YLDs), and years of life lost (YLLs) from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 to measure PAD burden. Moreover, the attributable burden to PAD risk factors was also estimated.

Results

Globally, in 2019, 113,443,017 people lived with PAD and 10,504,092 new cases occurred, resulting in 74,063 deaths, 500,893 YLDs, and 1,035,487 YLLs. The absolute numbers of PAD prevalent and incident cases significantly increased between 1990 and 2019, contrasting with the decline trends in age-standardized prevalence and incidence rates. However, no statistically significant changes were detected in the global age-standardized death or YLL rates. The burden of PAD and its temporal trends varied significantly by location, gender, age group, and social-demographic status. Among all potentially modifiable risk factors, age-standardized PAD deaths worldwide were primarily attributable to high fasting plasma glucose, followed by high systolic blood pressure, tobacco, kidney dysfunction, diet high in sodium, and lead exposure.

Conclusion

PAD remained a serious public health problem worldwide. More strategies aimed at implementing cost-effective interventions and addressing modifiable risk factors should be carried out, especially in regions with high or increasing burden.
Engineering Application of Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Linear Engineering Optimization
Authors: Shi Jinchang
Published: April 2022

Regional landslide susceptibility mapping has an important role in guiding linear engineering optimization. Based on the geographic information system (GIS) platform and R language MaxEnt software, in this research, the China National Highway 109 New Line Expressway (Beijing Sixth Ring Road-City Boundary Section) was taken as an example. Using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model, with ten evaluation indicators, including the elevation, slope, aspect, relief, topographic wetness index (TWI), roughness, lithology, distance to road, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and land use type, a landslide susceptibility mapping was completed to support linear engineering optimization. The ROC value of the prediction model was 82.1%, and the %LRclass was 2.25, which strongly demonstrated the reliability of the landslide susceptibility mapping results. Then, the percentages of two roads with different landslide probability levels were calculated. It was found that only 10% of the new line was in a very high class, which was much lower than 26% of the existing line. This study proved that the regional landslide susceptibility mapping can be used to support optimization of the construction plan of the new line and provided a broader basis for decision-making for similar linear projects in future engineering projections.
Rhyolitic Ash Promoting Organic Matter Enrichment in a Shallow Carbonate Platform: A Case Study of the Maokou Formation in Eastern Sichuan Basin
Authors: Meng Qingqiang , Pang Qian , Hu Guang , Jin Zhijun , Zhu Donhya , Liu Jiayi , Zhang Chuanwen
Published: April 2022

Volcanic ash improves the amount of nutritive elements in the lake and ocean, but it is not fully understood how volcanic ash influences the total organic matter content (TOC) and bio-precursor, and the scope. A volcanic layer, measuring 5 cm in thickness, was examined using electron microscopy scanning, TOC/TS, rock pyrolytic, and inorganic geochemical analyses. The study shows that the TOC content in the overlying shales increases by 18 wt.% on average, and the vertical scope of influence on shales is twice as thick as the volcanic layer. Organic matter enrichment is attributed to the fact that the volcanic layer provides nutritive elements and meanwhile changes the oxidation-reduction condition. Large variations of hydrogen index (HI) and oxygen index (OI) in the lower and upper parts of the volcanic layer is related to terrestrial organic matter vanishing, due to volcanic eruption and subsequently more terrigenous organic matter migrating into the ocean. Little change of the bio-precursor in the overlying and underlying shales may be related to the fast restoration within the ocean and land ecosystems after a volcanic eruption. The decrease in terrigenous sediments indicated by Rb/Sr, Zr/Y, and ∑REE after a volcanic eruption indirectly reflects fast restoration of terrestrial vegetation boom. This study could decipher the influence of volcanic ash on the qualities of the source rock, which can provide a better understanding on discovering more economically petroleum reservoirs in igneous rocks.