bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Survey on some of the Global Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Priyadarshini Ishaani 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Ever since COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019, it has gained a lot of popularity. Within a span of two months, it managed to travel across the globe and affected more than a million people, resulting in several deaths. The World Health Organization recently declared COVID-19 as a pandemic over the number of cases registered by country. However, there is a lot more to just people being infected by the disease. Apparently COVID-19 has managed to disrupt businesses all over the world causing world panic. In this paper, some global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are identified and certain trends related to the same over the approximate time period of January 2020- March 2020 have been observed. The impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the travel and tourism industry and high tech product shipments have been analyzed. The study would assist the industries to prepare better for the global crisis and would assist them in contemplating specific scenarios in case of an epidemic or pandemic in the future.
Near Falls in the Singapore Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Feasibility Study
Authors: SOH SHAWN LENG-HSIEN , LANE JUDITH , SOON BENJAMIN , YEH TING-TING , TAN CHEE-WEE 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background A near fall is defined as a loss of balance that would result in a fall if sufficient balance recovery manoeuvres are not executed. Compared to falls, near falls and its associated balance recovery manoeuvres have been understudied. Older adults may not recognise a near fall or identify the use of their balance recovery manoeuvres to prevent a fall. The consensus on the methods to collect near fall data is lacking. The primary objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of recruitment and retention. Secondary objectives were to establish evidence that Singapore community-dwelling older adults can identify near falls and associated balance recovery manoeuvres. Texting and phoning methods were explored as reporting methods. Methods This study took place in Singapore (September to October 2019). Participants were healthy, community-dwelling adults aged 65 or older. Recruitment was done through poster advertisement, and all participants gave informed consent. Participants attended a briefing session and reported their near fall or fall incidence over 21 days using either daily texting or phoning. The primary outcome measures were the recruitment rate, retention rate, preferred modes for data reporting and ability to report near falls or falls. Secondary outcomes included the self-reported incidence of falls and near falls. Results Thirty older adults were recruited in five weeks. All participants completed the study. They understood near fall concepts and were able to report the occurrence and relevant balance recovery manoeuvres used to prevent a fall. 87% (26/30) chose to text while 13% (4/30) selected phoning as their reporting method. One actual fall (0.16%) out of 630 responses was reported. Thirty-six incidents (5.7%) of near falls were recorded. Sixteen participants (53.3%) experienced near falls and half of this group experienced two or more near falls. Use of reach-to-grasp strategy (36%), compensatory stepping (52.8%), and other body regions (11.2%) were used to prevent the fall. Conclusions The study provided evidence that studying near falls in Singapore community-dwelling older adults is feasible and can be applied to a large-scale study. Recruitment and retention rates were good. Older adults were able to identify near falls and balance recovery manoeuvres. Both texting and phoning were feasible reporting methods, but texting was preferred.
A methylation‐based mRNA signature predicts survival in patients with gastric cancer
Authors: Li Yang , Sun Rongrong , Zhang Youwei , Yuan Yuan , Miao Yufeng 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background Evidence suggests that altered DNA methylation plays a causative role in the occurrence, progression and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). Thus, methylated-differently expressed genes (MDEGs) could potentially serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in GC. Methods Four genomics profiling datasets were used to identify MDEGs. Gene Ontology enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis were used to explore the biological roles of MDEGs in GC. Univariate Cox and LASSO analysis were used to identify survival-related MDEGs and to construct a MDEGs-based signature. The prognostic performance was evaluated in two independent cohorts. Results We identified a total of 255 MDEGs, including 192 hypermethylation-low expression and 63 Hypomethylation-high expression genes . The univariate Cox regression analysis showed that 83 MDEGs were associated with overall survival. Further we constructed an eight-MDEGs signature that was independent predictive of prognosis in the training cohort. By applying the eight-MDEGs signature, patients in the training cohort could be categorized into high-risk or low-risk subgroup with significantly different overall survival (HR = 2.62, 95%CI= 1.71-4.02, P < 0.0001). The prognostic value of the eight-MDEGs signature was confirmed in another independent GEO cohort (HR=1.35, 95% CI= 1.03-1.78, P= 0.0302) and TCGA-GC cohort (HR=1.85, 95% CI= 1.16-2.94, P= 0.0084). Multivariate cox regression analysis proved the eight-MDEGs signature was an independent prognostic factor for GC. Conclusion We have thus established an innovative eight-MDEGs signature that is predictive of overall survival and could be a potentially useful guide for personalized treatment of GC patients.
Preoperative systemic immune-inflammation index predicts prognosis of patients with non-metastatic renal cancer carcinoma: a propensity score-matched analysis
Authors: Hu Xu , Shao Yan-Xiang , Yang Zhi-Qiang , Dou Wei-Chao , Xiong San-Chao , Li Xiang 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: A novel systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), based on the neutrophils, lymphocytes and platelet counts, is associated with the prognosis of several cancers. The present study evaluates the prognostic significance of SII in non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Method: The present study retrospectively reviewed the medical record of patients with non-metastatic RCC who underwent nephrectomy between 2010 and 2013. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to identify the optimal cut-off value. In addition, the propensity score matching (PSM) was performed with a matching ratio of 1:1. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify the prognostic factors. The results were reported by hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: A total of 646 patients were included in the final analysis. High SII group (>529) was significantly associated with older age (P=0.014), larger tumor (P<0.001), higher pathological T stage (P<0.001), higher tumor grade (P<0.001) and more tumor necrosis (P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the higher preoperative SII was significantly associated with worse OS (HR=2.26; 95%CI 1.44-3.54; P<0.001) and CSS (HR=2.17; 95%CI 1.33-3.55; P=0.002). After PSM, elevated preoperative SII was an independent predictor of poor OS (HR=1.78; 95%CI 1.1-2.87; P=0.018) and CSS (HR=1.8; 95%CI 1.07-3.03; P=0.027). Conclusion: In conclusion, preoperative SII is associated with adverse factors for RCC. Furthermore, higher preoperative SII is an independent predictor of poor OS and CSS in surgically treated patients with non-metastatic RCC. While more prospective and large scale studies are warranted to validate our findings.
Tensor Recovery from Noisy and Multi-Level Quantized Measurements
Authors: Wang Ren , Wang Meng , Xiong Jinjun 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Higher-order tensors can represent scores in a rating system, frames in a video, and images of the same subject. In practice, the measurements are often highly quantized due to the sampling strategies or the quality of devices. Existing works on tensor recovery have focused on data losses and random noises. Only a few works consider tensor recovery from quantized measurements but are restricted to binary measurements. This paper, for the first time, addresses the problem of tensor recovery from multi-level quantized measurements by leveraging the low CANDECOMP/PARAFAC (CP) rank property. We study the recovery of both general low-rank tensors and tensors that have tensor singular value decomposition (TSVD) by solving nonconvex optimization problems. We provide the theoretical upper bounds of the recovery error, which diminish to zero when the sizes of dimensions increase to infinity. We further characterize the fundamental limit of any recovery algorithm and show that our recovery error is nearly order-wise optimal. A tensor-based alternating proximal gradient descent algorithm with a convergence guarantee and a TSVD based projected gradient descent algorithm are proposed to solve the nonconvex problems. Our recovery methods can also handle data losses and do not necessarily need the information of the quantization rule. The methods are validated on synthetic data, image datasets, and music recommender datasets.
The unexplained increasing of Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate in a case recovered from COVID-19
Authors: Pu Shenglan , Zhang Xiangyan , Liu Daishun , Ye Baning , Li Jianquan 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background A novel coronavirus virus pneumonia (named COVID-19) broke out in Wuhan, China on December 2019, and spread around of the word [1, 2]. As of March 4th, 2020, 93090 confirmed cases and 2984 deaths have been reported in more than 80 countries and territories. It has triggered global public health security [2, 3]. However, the features and prognosis of COVID-19 are incompletely understood [2].Case presentation We here report that the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) increased in a confirmed COVID patient, the high level of ESR sustained for long time even patient recovered from COVID-19, while all results related to tumor, tuberculosis, rheumatic diseases, anemia, et al. cannot explain the abnormal ESR presented in this case.Conclusion Although the increased ESR cannot be explained by all existing evidences, which possibly links the abnormal pathologic change in some COVID-19 patients and negative prognosis, and provides the clue to dissect the mechanism of illness progressing in COVID-19 and its prognosis.
Efficacy and safety of nivolumab for advanced gastric cancer patients with poor performance statuses
Authors: Matsumoto Toshihiko , Yamamoto Yosuke , Kurioka Yusuke , Okazaki Ukyo , Kimura Shogo , Miura Kou , Tsuduki Takao , Watanabe Takanori , Matsumoto Yusuke , Takatani Masahiro 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: Nivolumab has changed the treatment of advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Nivolumab shows better outcomes compared to best supportive care among AGC patients who received at least two prior regimens. However, there are no reliable data regarding AGC patients with poor performance status (PS) who received nivolumab. We investigated the efficacy and safety of nivolumab among AGC patients with poor PS. Methods: We retrospectively collected clinicopathologic data from patients with AGC who underwent nivolumab monotherapy at our institution from October 2017 to June 2019. Results: Forty-nine AGC patients who received nivolumab were assessed. Twenty-seven patients had PS 0 or 1 (Good group) and 22 had PS 2 or 3 (Poor group). The median progression-free survival and overall survival durations were 61 and 180 days in the Good group, respectively, and 36 and 85 days in the Poor group, respectively. The overall survival was significantly shorter in the Poor group (180 vs 85 days, p =0.0255). The disease control rates were 23% and 9% in the Good and Poor groups, respectively. Thirty-three percent of patients experienced immune-related adverse events in the Good group, and 18% in the Poor group. Conclusion: Nivolumab has a modest effect and is feasible as third- or later-line treatment for AGC patients.
The psychological impact of COVID-19 outbreak on medical staff and the general public
Authors: Chen Biao , Li Qing-xian , Zhang Heng , Zhu Jia-yong , Wu Yu-hang , Xiong Jie , Li Fu , Wang Hua , Chen Zhi-tao 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Purpose: To assess the psychological effects of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on medical staff and the general public.Methods: During the outbreak of COVID-19, an internet-based questionnaire included The Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used to assess the impact of the epidemic situation on the mental health of medical staff and general population in Wuhan and its surrounding areas.Results: The results suggest that the outbreak of COVID-19 has affected individuals significantly, the degree of which is related to age, sex, occupation and mental illness. There was a significant difference in PSS-10 and IES-R scores between the medical staff and the general population. The medical staff showed higher PSS-10 scores (16.813 ± 4.87) and IES-R scores (22.40 ± 12.12) compared to members of the general population PSS-10 (14.80 ± 5.60) and IES-R scores (17.89 ± 13.08). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the SDS scores of medical staff (44.52 ± 12.36) and the general public (43.08 ± 11.42). In terms of the need for psychological assistance, 50.97% of interviewees responded that they needed psychological counseling, of which medical staff accounted for 65.87% and non-medical staff accounted for 45.10%.Conclusion: During the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, great attention should be paid to the mental health of the population, especially medical staff, and measures such as psychological intervention should be actively carried out for reducing the psychosocial effects.
Mutation patterns of human SARS-COV-2 and bat RaTG13 coronaviruses genomes are strongly biased towards C&gt;U indicating rapid evolution in their hosts
Authors: Matyasek Roman , Kovarik Ales 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: The world pandemy caused by SARS-CoV-2 spreading has raised considerable interest about its evolutionary origin and genome structure. Here we analysed mutation patterns in 13 human SARS-COV-2 isolates and a closely related RaTG13 isolated from Rhinolophus affinis bat. We also evaluated the CpG dinucleotide contents in SARS-COV-2 and other human and animal coronavirus genomes. Results: Out of 1107 single nucleotide differences (c. 4% divergence) between human SARS-COV-2 and bat RaTG13, 672 (61%) can be attributed to C>U and U>T substitutions significantly (P<0.001) exceeding other types of SNPs. A similar trend was observed among the 13 sequenced SARS-COV-2 genomes. Accumulation of C>U mutations was also observed in a highly variable subregion encoding the ACE2 receptor contact domain. Contrast to most other coronaviruses both SARS-COV-2 and RaTG13 exhibited CpG depletion in their genomes. Conclusion: The data support that the C-to-U conversion played a significant role in the evolution of pathogenic RNA coronaviruses including SARS-COV-2. These mutations apparently also influenced amino acid composition of the SARS-Cov-2 spike protein domain receptor implicated in virus pathogenicity. We propose that SARS-COV-2 was evolving relatively long in humans following the transfer from animals before spreading world-wide.
The Effect of Breastfeeding on Photorefractive Keratectomy Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Zarei-Ghanavati Siamak , Eslami Amir Reza Daneshmand , Eslampoor Alireza , Rad Saeed Shokouhi , Akhlagi Saeed , Abrishami Mojtaba 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Purpose To assess the refractive results, visual function, and safety of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in myopic breastfeeding women and compare them to healthy matched female controls. Methods Twelve mothers (23 eyes) who underwent PRK while they were still breastfeeding (B group) and continued it for at least three months participated in this retrospective matched cohort study. Twelve women (23 eyes) who were matched for age, refractive error, and operation data (NB group) were selected as the control group. Post-PRK results and complications were compared between the two groups. Results Twenty four breastfeeding mothers with a mean age of 29.70±1.8 (Standard Deviation) (range from 27 to 33years) were included. The average age in the study and the control group were 29.83 ± 1.80 and, 29.58 ± 1.98, prospectively, (P-value=0.749, T-test, poverty 0.1). The mean duration of breastfeeding was 47 weeks before surgery and 35 weeks after surgery. Conclusion Our study results did not indicate the adverse effects of breastfeeding on the results of PRK surgery. It seems that performing PRK is safe in the breastfeeding period.
iCTCF: an integrative resource of chest computed tomography images and clinical features of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia
Authors: Ning Wanshan , Lei Shijun , Yang Jingjing , Cao Yukun , Jiang Peiran , Yang Qianqian , Zhang Jiao , Wang Xiaobei , Chen Fenghua , Geng Zhi , Xiong Liang , Zhou Hongmei , Guo Yaping , Zeng Yulan , Shi Heshui , Wang Lin , Xue Yu , Wang Zheng 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was initially reported in Wuhan, China since December, 2019. Here, we reported a timely and comprehensive resource named iCTCF to archive 256,356 chest computed tomography (CT) images, 127 types of clinical features (CFs), and laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 clinical status from 1170 patients, reaching a data volume of 38.2 GB. To facilitate COVID-19 diagnosis, we integrated the heterogeneous CT and CF datasets, and developed a novel framework of Hybrid-learning for UnbiaSed predicTion of COVID-19 patients (HUST-19) to predict negative cases, mild/regular and severe/critically ill patients, respectively. Although both CT images and CFs are informative in predicting patients with or without COVID-19 pneumonia, the integration of CT and CF datasets achieved a striking accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.978, much higher than that when exclusively using either CT (0.919) or CF data (0.882). Together with HUST- 19, iCTCF can serve as a fundamental resource for improving the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 patients.Authors Wanshan Ning, Shijun Lei, Jingjing Yang, and Yukun Cao contributed equally to this work.
Fast and optimal decision for emergency control of sudden water pollution accidents in long distance water diversion projects
Authors: Qiao Yu , Lei Xiaohui , Long Yan , Li Jiahong , Yang Yilin , Tian Yu , Li Youming , Yao Ye , Chang Wenjuan 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Long distance water diversion projects transfer clean water to cities for industrial, agricultural and domestic use; there is a great risk of sudden water pollution accidents. Without a fast and optimal decision for emergency control in response to sudden water pollution accidents, dispatchers or decision-makers will not be prepared to respond to the accidents during the process of an emergency spill. To address this gap, a framework for fast and optimal decision support in emergency control is reported in this paper. The proposed fast and optimal decision system covers four stages. In this study, the analytical hierarchy process integrated with grey fixed weight clustering was used to determine the gate closing mode. The emergency control strategy in ice cover formation period is presented. A case study was examined in the demonstrative project conducted in the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China. The relative errors of the arrival time of the peak concentration and the peak concentration in monitoring points between the actual monitoring values and the formula calculation values are less than 18%.
Improving the Lifestyle of Adolescents Through Peer Education and Support in Vietnam: Protocol for a Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Tang Hong K , Nguyen Ngoc-Minh , Dibley Michael J , Nguyen Trang H H D , Alam Ashraful 
Published: April 2020

Background
In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, recent studies found a rapid increase in overweight and obesity in adolescents. There is a need for effective health promotion interventions to support healthy diets and encourage a physically active lifestyle. This study will help fill an evidence gap on effective interventions to prevent excess weight gain in adolescents and generate new insights about peer-led education to promote healthy lifestyles.

Objective
We aim to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a combined peer-led and peer support intervention among junior high school students in Ho Chi Minh City. Additionally, the efficacy of the intervention on adolescents’ dietary practices and time spent on physical activity will also be measured in this pilot study.

Methods
The Peer Education and Peer Support (PEPS) project is a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial with 2 intervention and 2 control schools. The intervention consists of 4 weekly education sessions of why and how to choose healthy food and drinks and how to be more physically active. Additionally, the intervention includes a school-based and online support system to help maintain student engagement during the intervention. We will use in-depth interviews with students, peer leaders, teachers, and parents; focus group discussions with peer educators; and direct observation of the school environment and peer leaders’ interactions with the students. Acceptability and feasibility of the intervention will be assessed. We will also quantitatively assess limited efficacy by measuring changes in student’ physical activity levels and dietary behaviors.

Results
We delivered the peer education intervention at the start of each school year over 3 months for all new grade 6 adolescents in the selected schools, followed by peer support and home engagement activities over 6 months until the end of the school year. There was a baseline assessment and 2 post-intervention assessments: the first immediately after the intervention to assess the short-term impact and the second at the end of the school year to assess the sustained impact on changes in adiposity, diet, and physical activity.

Conclusions
The findings of this study will be used to develop a larger-scale cluster randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of a multicomponent, school- and home-based health promotion intervention. The trial will use innovative peer education methods to reduce overweight and obesity and improve dietary choices and physical activity levels in Vietnamese adolescents.

Trial Registration
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12619000421134; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=376690&isReview=true

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)
DERR1-10.2196/15930
Building understanding: Sensitive issues and putting the researcher in the research
Authors: O'Brien Jennifer 
Published: April 2020

Stemming from ethnographic research in a chronically poor district of rural Uganda, this paper recounts a number of attempts to investigate young people’s understanding of HIV and its transmission. The failure of the initial, more traditional methodologies are used to critically evaluate the positionality or role the researcher played as she became embedded within the community to the extent she lost objectivity as a researcher. Inadvertently, a simple building block game was used as a methodology. This was successful in generating interesting ‘data’ and proved that even research groups deemed difficult to access can be reached with some methodological consideration. The tool was, however, almost over successful and generated dramatic ethical dilemmas which ethically questioned the potential of the research and had a significant impact on the researcher. This paper therefore stresses the necessity to give ethical consideration to the research and its participants but to not over look the researcher.