bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A content analysis of pre-college lesson plans on human evolution
Authors: Hite Rebecca L. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractOne of the most fundamental understandings within biology is evolution, yet often ascribed as one of the most misunderstood scientific concepts by the American public. Despite not being explicitly mentioned in most American science standards, human evolution is nevertheless taught as an engaging context for understanding complex evolutionary processes among pre-college science students. Therefore, pre-college science teachers seek out human evolution content experts (e.g., Smithsonian Institution, NOVA, ENSI) to procure curricula (lesson plans) to teach these concepts in their classrooms. For students to accurately understand human evolution, research recommends lesson plans employ a diversity of direct and indirect evolutionary evidence, infused with social science perspectives related to the nature of science (NOS) and/or socioscientific issues (SSI) to foster necessary conceptual change. Given such empirical affordances of using multiple sources of evidence and integrated social science perspectives to foster conceptual change in teaching human evolution, it is unknown to what extent these attributes are present in lesson plans created by these entities and targeted to pre-college science teachers. To ascertain to what extent pre-college lesson plans on human evolution employ these research-based best practices, this paper analyzed 86 lesson plans created by 18 entities with content expertise in human evolution concepts that had developed online pre-college lesson plans. Among the sampled lesson plans, less than one third (29%) presented a combination of direct and indirect evidence. Further, a mere 17% incorporated elements of NOS, where SSI (like historical (n = 3) and racial (n = 1)) perspectives were fewer. In sum, findings suggest available resources are deficient in fostering the conceptual change necessary for pre-college students to fully understand human evolution concepts. This study evidences a continued need to ensure best practices are incorporated into human evolution lesson plans created for pre-college teachers.
Burnout and work stress among medical oncologists: Egyptian multi-centric study
Authors: Soltan M. R. , Soliman S. S. , Al-Hassanin S. A. , ElSherief W. A. , Elnaggar M. S. , Gohar S. F. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundCancer-care health professionals are at great risk of workplace stress and high burnout levels. Only a few studies were studying the prevalence of workplace stress and burnout in medical oncologists in Egypt. The aim of the work is to study the prevalence of burnout levels and work stress among medical oncologists working at multi-centers in Egypt (Cairo, Menoufia, Fayoum, and Assiut university hospitals). A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 100 medical oncologists at four medical oncology centers in Egypt. Self-administered Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaire and Workplace Stress Scale (WSS) were used to assess the burnout and stress levels respectively among the participants.ResultsOut of 100 participants, 32% were overall burnout positive as they met the criteria for all the burnout subscales. The percentages of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal capacity were 30%, 30%, and 25%, respectively. About 60% were having job stress. The present study showed that younger age (≤ 40 years), female gender, being single, with no children, junior physicians (residents or physicians < 10 years in practice), with work time directed to both patient care and research, and those with more than 6 shifts per month were associated with higher burnout and workplace stress.ConclusionMedical oncologists experienced high burnout levels and workplace stress. More studies are needed to assess these problems in large scales to try to mitigate them.
Incidental whole-body MRI evidence of COVID-19 in an asymptomatic patient in a high prevalence region
Authors: Angelini Valentina , Villanacci Alberta , Belotti Angelo , Castagnoli Francesca , Frittoli Barbara , Corvino Antonio , Brunetti Arturo , Grazioli Luigi 
Published: September 2020

Abstract

Background
The purpose of this case report is to emphasize the importance of curing any clinical radiological elements in this historical period, especially in the area of endemic to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) such as Lombardy and to stress the importance of the management of the asymptomatic patient, their crucial role in the spread of contagion.

Case presentation
We reported the case of incidental diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia by first finding on whole-body MR (WB-MR) in the patient affected by multiple myeloma (MM), with a negative respiratory symptoms at the time and with previous (1 month before) negative chest X-ray. The patient was promptly subjected to chest CT, which confirmed the suspicion of interstitial COVID-19 pneumonia and, in hospitalization, performed nasopharyngeal swabs for real-time polymerase chain reaction (RNA-PCR), with a doubtful outcome. Once the bacterial nature of the alterations was serologically and radiologically excluded, the patient was definitively diagnosed with COVID-19 and appropriately treated in hospitalization.

Conclusion
The clinical choices must, therefore, to make use of all the diagnostic tools available and full knowledge of the limitation of each of them.
Lugano classification: response evaluation criteria for positron emission tomography/computed tomography in lymphoma follow-up
Authors: Ragheb Samar R. , Louka Amir L. , Sharara Sherine M. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
The purpose of this study is to assess the role of 18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18FDG PET-CT) in the follow-up of patients with lymphoma after finishing therapy.

Results
This study included 42 lymphomas (25 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and 17 Hodgkin’s lymphoma); patients ranging in age from 18 to 70 years were examined by 18FDG PET-CT after therapy and analyzed retrospectively. Confirmatory biopsy was mandatory in cases of suspected disease recurrence and follow-up in cases of complete metabolic response. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography in assessment of lymphoma treatment response reveals significant statistical significance (P < 0.05). It shows 100% sensitivity, 92.8% specificity, and 95.2% accuracy in the prediction of response.

Conclusion
Positron emission tomography/computed tomography plays an important role in detection of response to treatment of lymphoma after finishing therapy.
Firm culture and management accounting practices among manufacturing firms in Nigeria
Authors: Ogungbade Oluyinka Isaiah , Oyerogba Ezekiel Oluwagbemiga 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThis study sought to find out the effects of firm culture on management accounting practices (MAPs). The study used a structured questionnaire to collect data from 220 randomly selected manufacturing firms out of 514 firms and used logistic regression for analysis. This study examined seven dimensions of firm cultures, including innovation/risk orientation culture, people orientation culture, outcome orientation culture, aggressive culture, stability culture, team-based culture, and attention to details culture. The study established that team-based, attention to details, and stability cultures have a significant influence on the choice of management accounting practices. In contrast, the considerable influence of other cultural dimensions lacks statistical support. The study concludes that attention to details culture and team-based culture are barriers to modern management accounting practices, and cautions should be exercised by managers in using these cultures. Therefore, this study recommends that manufacturing firms in Nigeria should be cautious of their culture and its implication on MAPs. In a more specific term, they should practice cultures that will allow them to choose modern MAPs and take advantage of the benefits attached.
Correlation between COVID-19 case fatality rate and percentage of BCG vaccination: is it true the vaccine is protective?
Authors: Mohamed Hussein Aliae A. R. , Salem Marwa Rashad , Salman Samar , Abdulrahim A F , Al Massry Nasrallah A. , Saad Mahmoud , Dahman Nesrine Ben Hadj , Negida Ahmed 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
The observations of some recent epidemiological studies offer hope for a reduced impact of COVID-19 for countries which practice universal BCG vaccination policy.

Main body
This report provides a correlation between the case fatality rates of COVID-19 and the percentage of BCG vaccination coverage in 183 most affected countries. The main objective of this observational ecologic report is to evaluate possible effects of the previous BCG vaccination in different populations and the epidemic outcomes specially the rates of severe/critical cases and case fatalities. The analysis is preliminary since it is based on constantly rolling data while the COVID-19 pandemic is still unfolding.

Conclusion
Our findings seem to support the fact that an older BCG vaccine may have a protective role in avoiding severe/critical SARS-CoV2 pneumonia and relatively decrease its fatalities.
Bone Development in Transgender Adolescents Treated With GnRH Analogues and Subsequent Gender-Affirming Hormones
Authors: Schagen Sebastian E E , Wouters Femke M , Cohen-Kettenis Peggy T , Gooren Louis J , Hannema Sabine E 
Published: September 2020

Abstract

Context
Hormonal interventions in adolescents with gender dysphoria may have adverse effects, such as reduced bone mineral accrual.

Objective
To describe bone mass development in adolescents with gender dysphoria treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa), subsequently combined with gender-affirming hormones.

Design
Observational prospective study.

Subjects
51 transgirls and 70 transboys receiving GnRHa and 36 transgirls and 42 transboys receiving GnRHa and gender-affirming hormones, subdivided into early- and late-pubertal groups.

Main Outcome Measures
Bone mineral apparent density (BMAD), age- and sex-specific BMAD z-scores, and serum bone markers.

Results
At the start of GnRHa treatment, mean areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and BMAD values were within the normal range in all groups. In transgirls, the mean z-scores were well below the population mean. During 2 years of GnRHa treatment, BMAD stabilized or showed a small decrease, whereas z-scores decreased in all groups. During 3 years of combined administration of GnRHa and gender-affirming hormones, a significant increase of BMAD was found. Z-scores normalized in transboys but remained below zero in transgirls. In transgirls and early pubertal transboys, all bone markers decreased during GnRHa treatment.

Conclusions
BMAD z-scores decreased during GnRHa treatment and increased during gender-affirming hormone treatment. Transboys had normal z-scores at baseline and at the end of the study. However, transgirls had relatively low z-scores, both at baseline and after 3 years of estrogen treatment. It is currently unclear whether this results in adverse outcomes, such as increased fracture risk, in transgirls as they grow older.
Supervisedt-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding for Data Visualization and Classification
Authors: Cheng Yichen , Wang Xinlei , Xia Yusen 
Published: September 2020

We propose a novel supervised dimension-reduction method called supervised t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (St-SNE) that achieves dimension reduction by preserving the similarities of data points in both feature and outcome spaces. The proposed method can be used for both prediction and visualization tasks with the ability to handle high-dimensional data. We show through a variety of data sets that when compared with a comprehensive list of existing methods, St-SNE has superior prediction performance in the ultrahigh-dimensional setting in which the number of features p exceeds the sample size n and has competitive performance in the p ≤ n setting. We also show that St-SNE is a competitive visualization tool that is capable of capturing within-cluster variations. In addition, we propose a penalized Kullback–Leibler divergence criterion to automatically select the reduced-dimension size k for St-SNE.Summary of Contribution: With the fast development of data collection and data processing technologies, high-dimensional data have now become ubiquitous. Examples of such data include those collected from environmental sensors, personal mobile devices, and wearable electronics. High-dimensionality poses great challenges for data analytics routines, both methodologically and computationally. Many machine learning algorithms may fail to work for ultrahigh-dimensional data, where the number of the features p is (much) larger than the sample size n. We propose a novel method for dimension reduction that can (i) aid the understanding of high-dimensional data through visualization and (ii) create a small set of good predictors, which is especially useful for prediction using ultrahigh-dimensional data.
Comparison extraction methods for evaluating antioxidant and antibacterial properties of Vernonia amygdalina leaves extract
Authors: Muharni Muharni , Elfita Elfita , Yohandini Heni , Valenta Chika 
Published: September 2020

In this study, we were interested in comparing the influence of different extraction methods on antioxidant and antibacterial activities of <em>V.amygdalina</em> leaves extracts. The extracts were also analyzed for their total phenolic and flavonoid content. The extraction methods used maceration, soxhlet, and fractionation, the evaluation of antioxidant activity using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) method and antibacterial activity by agar diffusion method. The total phenolic and flavonoids are determined by the spectrophotometric method. Ethanol extract by fractionating on this method showed the highest antioxidant properties compared to other extracts with IC<sub>50 </sub>170 μg/mL in category potent antioxidant with total phenolic content 28.83 ± 2.62 mg GAE/g, and the total flavonoid content 18.78 ± 0.15 mg QE/g. Evaluation of antibacterial properties the extracts of <em>V. amyigdalina</em> showed moderate antibacterial activity against all bacteria tests with inhibition zone 6.1 ± 0.1 to 9.4 ± 0.9 mm at variation concentration 62.5 – 1000 μg/mL. The fractionation method using ethanol solvent is the best for the extraction of antioxidant compounds from <em>V. amygdalina</em>.
Numerical study of sum frequency ultrashort pulse compression in borate crystals
Authors: Duda Martin , Novák Ondřej , Smrž Martin , Lucianetti Antonio , Kubeček Václav , Mocek Tomáš 
Published: September 2020

Second harmonic generation (SHG) of picosecond pulses in type II phase-matched nonlinear optical crystals is not widely employed because of the lower efficiencies compared to the type I phase-matching scheme. The limited efficiencies come from the difference between group velocities (GV difference) of the ordinary and extraordinary polarized input pulses. However, if the input pulses are delayed before the nonlinear crystal, a short second harmonic pulse can be generated with a slowly widening temporal overlap. Furthermore, this GV difference can be controlled by the tilting of the pulse fronts, and optimal GV difference can be obtained to achieve powerful output pulses with durations an order of magnitude lower than those of the input pulses. In this work, we present numerical results of SHG pulse compression in a beta barium borate (BBO) nonlinear crystal, which is ideal for SHG of high-power 1030 nm thin-disk lasers. The pulse compression is controlled by predelay and tilting of the pulse fronts. We find optimal parameters to achieve five-fold increase in output power and 20-fold pulse compression of 1.7 ps input pulses. Finally, we consider the experimental aspects of the group velocity control.
Grating lobe suppression in optical phased arrays by loading near-wavelength grating
Authors: Zhou Guangzhu , Qu Shi-Wei , Wu Jieyun 
Published: September 2020

Optical phased arrays based on optical waveguides are compelling components enabling efficient and accurate beam steering. However, to avoid crosstalk between the waveguides, the element pitch is typically larger than one wavelength, which gives rise to grating lobes in real space. In this Letter, we report that near-wavelength gratings can be employed to suppress the grating lobes by utilizing the angular low-pass-filter characteristics. The properly designed near-wavelength grating acts as an angle-sensitive transmission structure. Nearly 100% transmissivity can be realized at small incident angles. However, it quickly declines to a low level when the incident angle is over the critical one. Then, a simple line current array is utilized to demonstrate the grating lobe suppression effect with the grating designed for TE-polarized incidence. Finally, we demonstrate that by loading the proposed grating designed for TM-polarized incidence upon a waveguide grating array with a 2.4 µm pitch, a grating lobe suppression of 10 dB can be achieved when scanning up to

±

14

∘

.
Genetic Analysis of Stem Diameter and Water Contents To Improve Sorghum Bioenergy Efficiency
Authors: Kong Wenqian , Jin Huizhe , Goff Valorie H , Auckland Susan A , Rainville Lisa K , Paterson Andrew H 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBiofuel made from agricultural products has the potential in contribute to a stable supply of fuel for growing energy demands. Some salient plant traits, such as stem diameter and water content, and their relationship to other important biomass-related traits are so far poorly understood. Here, we performed QTL mapping for three stem diameter and two water content traits in a S. bicolor BTx623 x IS3620c recombinant inbred line population of 399 genotypes, and validated the genomic regions identified using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in a diversity panel of 354 accessions. The discovery of both co-localized and non-overlapping loci affecting stem diameter traits suggests that stem widths at different heights share some common genetic control, but also have some distinct genetic influences. Co-localizations of stem diameter and water content traits with other biomass traits including plant height, flowering time and the ‘dry’ trait, suggest that their inheritance may be linked functionally (pleiotropy) or physically (linkage disequilibrium). Water content QTL in homeologous regions resulting from an ancient duplication event may have been retained and continue to have related functions for an estimated 96 million years. Integration of QTL and GWAS data advanced knowledge of the genetic basis of stem diameter and water content components in sorghum, which may lead to tools and strategies for either enhancing or suppressing these traits, supporting advances toward improved quality of plant-based biomass for biofuel production.
Gastrointestinal Manifestations in Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloidosis: a Single-Centre Experience
Authors: Luigetti Marco , Tortora Annalisa , Romano Angela , Di Paolantonio Andrea , Guglielmino Valeria , Bisogni Giulia , Gasbarrini Antonio , Calabresi Paolo , Sabatelli Mario 
Published: September 2020

Background and Aims: Hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv) amyloidosis represents a diagnostic challenge considering the great variability in clinical presentation and multiorgan involvement. In this study we report the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) involvement of patients with hereditary ATTRv amyloidosis from one single center of Italy, a non-endemic area.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 39 patients with hereditary ATTRv amyloidosis followed at the Neurology Unit of Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS in Rome, Italy. All patients had a documented mutation in the gene encoding the thansthyretin. Neurological, cardiological and gastrointestinal manifestations were systematically collected at every monitoring visit.
Results: 82% reported at least one GI symptom. Unintentional weight loss was the most frequently reported. Lower GI symptoms were more frequent than upper GI symptoms (66.7% vs. 35.9%, p=0.0122). The first GI symptom was always reported within 5 years since disease onset. Gastrointestinal symptoms were almost always present in patients with Val30Met mutation (93.8%, 15/16), and in more than half of the cases with Phe64Leu mutation (66.7%, 8/12). All cases with a non-Val30Met mutation disclosed almost all GI symptoms within 5 years since disease onset; conversely, patients with Val30Met mutation continued to develop further GI manifestations during the disease course.
Conclusions: Prevalence of GI symptoms in our cohort was 82%, resulting in a higher prevalence than reported in the THAOS registry. Gastroenterologists, therefore, play an important role for the management of the disease, and their expertise should be valued for an effective multidisciplinary approach to this condition.
Correlates of Seizure Control Among Patients with Epilepsy at Two Referral Hospitals in Zambia
Authors: Mwansa Nsofwa Jubedah , Daka Victor , Mulenga David , Mfune Ruth L. , Mukanga Bright , Nyirenda Christopher , Siziya Seter 
Published: September 2020

Background and Objective:
Epilepsy is a neurological condition that has proven to be a major public health challenge worldwide, including Zambia. Despite the availability of many treatment alternatives, people with epilepsy still experience seizures. There is paucity of information on the control of seizures and associated factors in Zambia. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with seizure control in people with epilepsy in two tertiary hospitals in Zambia.

Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among epileptic patients at Kitwe and Ndola Teaching Hospitals, two referral hospitals in Northern Zambia, from September 2 to September 23, 2019. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed using SPSS to identify independent predictors of seizure control. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and their 95% confidence intervals are reported.

Results:
A total of 220 epileptic patients were enrolled in the study. Of these, 23.6% had controlled seizures, while 76.4% had uncontrolled seizures. Occupation (p value=0.018), level of education (p value<0.001), clinic attendance (p value<0.001), drug adherence (p value<0.001), beliefs about drugs (p value=0.006), and having friends (p value=0.025), were significantly associated with seizure control. A higher level of education (AOR:0.243, CI:0.080-0.738), regular clinic attendance (AOR:8.578, CI:3.327-22.112) and age at first seizure of 3-6 years (AOR: 1.035, CI:0.240-4.454) were predictors of controlled seizures.

Conclusion and Implications for Translation:
It was shown that there was a low prevalence of controlled seizures among the study population. However, in this study, controlled seizure can be associated with a positive response to medication, regular clinic attendance, employment, having friends, having a higher level of education, and being 3-6 years old when a first seizure occurs. Risk factors should be taken into consideration such as alcohol consumption and drug compliance to better manage seizures.