bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Predictors of health-related quality of life in Chinese patients receiving treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: A Prospective Longitudinal study
Authors: Bian Wei , Wan Junli , Tan Mingqiong , Su Jun , Yuan Yi , Wang Zonghua , Li Shiying 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Objectives Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is currently the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment in developed countries and seriously affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients. However, the majority of the researches in this area employ cross-sectional design, and the longitudinal researches investigating changes in HRQoL and influence factors are limited. The aim of the study was to use longitudinal study design to investigate descriptive trends in HRQoL and predictive factors in Chinese AMD patients receiving treatment of vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors (anti-VEGF) at baseline and follow-ups.Methods A sample of 142 AMD patients from the outpatient clinic of the Southwest Eye Hospital, a tertiary major hospital in the southwest of China. Each patient completed a self-administered questionnaire assessing demographics,clinical features, HRQoL, depression, anxiety, coping style, social support and self-efficacy at baseline, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months’ follow-up.Results The total score of HRQoL was fluctuated with the highest score at 6 months follow-up and the lowest score at baseline. Multivariable linear regression showed the predictors of HRQoL are best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), income, depression andvisual acuity (VA) of the treated eye at baseline; BCVA, income and depression at 1 month follow-up; duration, area of residence, gender, VA of the treated eye, BCVA, income, anxiety, social support, self-efficacy, depression at 3 months follow-up; gender, BCVA, income, anxiety, social support, self-efficacy, depression, negative coping and positive coping at 6 months follow-up; BCVA, social support, self-efficacy and depression at 12 months follow-up.Conclusions The HRQoL and its predictive factors in Chinese AMD patients receiving treatment of anti-VEGF were fluctuated over time. It is suggested that the medical staff should get more information when planning precise care for improving HRQoL of the patients.
Nurses' Viewpoints on the Quality of Care: A Qualitative Study in Timor-Leste
Authors: Luan Bernadethe Marheni , Lopes Paulo , Soares Domingos 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background Research on quality of care revealed nurse-to-patient ratio and skill mix served as key elements in quality of care. However, those studies were done in countries where nursing workforce had reasonable proportion of professional nurses with bachelor degrees. Findings of these researches may overlook challenges in health system as well as the nature of nursing service in small island low-income countries that has a huge proportion of auxiliary nurses. Working in under-sourced places, nurses in Timor-Leste might have different viewpoints on what aspect contribute to quality of care. Methods Focus group discussions (FGDs) were done in 2017, in three districts that included staff nurses and senior nurses from three levels of health care facilities: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Data were analyzed using content analysis method. Results Two themes were emerged from the FGDs data: “patients as the center of the service” and “gaps in providing quality of care”. Aside from attributes of quality care such as equality, efficiency, and patient-centeredness in the delivery of care, the first theme also covered the importance of employing nurses’ value system in order to uphold quality of care. The second theme included quality care milieu amplifying distinctive factors facing health system in under-resources places. Problems related with facility infrastructure, equipment and supplies, financing, management, and staffing were narrated. While an inadequacy or a deficiency of these factors implies the country’s struggles to maintain a functioning health care facility, it incapacitated nurses to improve quality of care. Conclusions Compared to nurses in countries with better skill mix, nurses in under-resources places and small island low-income countries face different challenging situations that go beyond nursing realm, forcing nurses to describe quality care uniquely. Findings from this study provide evidence that it is urgent to develop policies of human resources for health (HRH) within the context of the health policies that contributes to professional management of the largest cadre, thus strengthens their ability to improve patient care service.
Impact of Q.Clear reconstruction algorithm on the interpretation of PET/CT images in patients with lymphoma
Authors: Wyrzykowski Michał , Siminiak Natalia , Kaźmierczak Maciej , Ruchała Marek , Czepczyński Rafał 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background Q.Clear is a new Bayesian penalised-likelihood PET reconstruction algorithm. It has been documented that Q.Clear increases SUVmax values of different malignant lesions. Purpose. As SUVmax values are crucial for interpretation of PET/CT images in patients with lymphoma, particularly when early and final response to treatment is evaluated, aim of the study was to systematically analyze the impact of the use of Q.Clear on interpretation of PET/CT in patients with lymphoma. Methods 280 18 F-FDG PET/CT scans in patients with lymphoma performed for staging (sPET), for early treatment response (iPET), after the end of treatment (ePET) and when a lymphoma relapse was suspected (rPET) were retrospectively analyzed. Scans separately reconstructed with two algorithms: Q.Clear and OSEM were compared. Results The lymphoma stage was concordantly diagnosed in 69/70 patients with both algorithms in sPET. Discordant assessment of Deauville score (p<0.001) was found in 11 cases (15.7%) of 70 iPET scans and in 11 cases of 70 ePET scans. An upgrade from negative to positive scan by Q.Clear resulted in case of 3 (4.3%) iPET scans and 7 (10.0%) ePET scans that resulted in alteration of management. Results of all 70 r-PET scans were concordant. SUVmax values of the target lymphoma lesions measured with Q.Clear were higher than with OSEM in 88.8% scans. Conclusion Although the Q.Clear algorithm may alter interpretation of PET/CT only in a small proportion of patients, we recommend to use standard OSEM reconstruction for assessment of treatment response.
Auditory feedback alters postural control and functional ability in patients with chronic stroke
Authors: Lim Hee Sung , Ryu Jiseon , Ryu Sihyun 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background: This study aimed to investigate the effect of white noise on dynamic balance in patients with stroke and the pre- and post-intervention changes in dynamic balance during walking by analyzing the anterior-posterior (A-P) and medial-lateral (M-L) center of pressure (CoP) range and velocity, center of mass (CoM), and A-P/M-L inclination angle using CoM-CoP and to establish the basis for using auditory feedback as an effective means of exercise intervention by bringing changes in dynamic balance abilities of patients with chronic stroke and retain the necessary abilities for maintaining independent and functional daily living.Methods: Nineteen patients with chronic stroke (age: 61.2±9.8 years, height: 164.4±7.4 cm, weight: 61.1±9.4 kg, paretic side (R/L): 11/8, duration: 11.6±4.9 years) were included as study participants. Auditory feedback used white noise, and all participants listened for 20 minutes mixing six types of natural sounds with random sounds. The dynamic balancing ability was evaluated during the walking, and the variables were the center of pressure (CoP), the center of mass (CoM), CoP-CoM inclined angle.Results: There is a significant increase in the A-P CoP range, A-P inclination angle, and gait speed on the paretic and non-paretic sides following white noise intervention (p<.05). In addition, the changes in CoP velocity on the paretic and non-paretic sides increased in both the A-P and M-L directions but not significantly.Conclusion: Our findings confirmed the positive effect of using white noise as auditory feedback through a more objective and quantitative assessment using CoP-CoM inclination angle as an evaluation indicator for assessing dynamic balance in patients with chronic stroke. The A-P and M-L inclination angle can be employed as a useful indicator for evaluating other exercise programs and intervention methods for functional enhancement of patients with chronic stroke in terms of their effects on dynamic balance and effectiveness.
Malaria patterns across altitudinal zones of Mount Elgon following intensified control and prevention programs in Uganda
Authors: Aggrey Siya , Anthony Egeru , John Kalule Bosco , Akim Lukwa Tafadzwa , Benard Ssentongo 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background Malaria remains a major tropical vector-borne disease of immense public health concern owing to its debilitating effects in sub-Saharan Africa. In the recent past, the high altitude areas in Eastern Africa have been reported to experience dramatic cases of malaria. However, its patterns following intensified control and prevention interventions remains and the changing climate remains widely unexplored in these regions. This study thus analyzed malaria patterns across altitudinal zones of Mount Elgon, Uganda. Methods Times-series data on malaria cases (2011 - 2017) from five level III local health centers occurring across three altitudinal zones; low, mid and high altitude was utilized. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation regression and Mann Kendall trend test were used to analyze malaria patterns. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model was used to project malaria patterns for a seven year period. Results On average, 66±69/1000 individuals suffered from malaria on a monthly basis. This was most pronounced in the months of May-August 89±88/1000 compared to the months of November-February (40±33/1000). Malaria patterns varied with season and altitude and declined over time across the three altitudinal zones. Observed cases, revealed an annual average of 587±750/1000; 345±321/1000 and 338±351/1000 cases in lower, mid and high altitudes respectively. Conclusions Despite observed decline in malaria cases across the three altitudinal zones, the high altitude zone became a malaria hotspot as cases variably occurred in the zone. The projections of malaria revealed declining patterns of malaria cases in all the altitudinal zones. Malaria control interventions thus ought to be strengthened and strategically designed to achieve no malaria cases across all the altitudinal zones. Integration of climate information within malaria interventions can also strengthen eradication strategies of malaria in such differentiated altitudinal zones.
Adaptive Multi-Scale Feature Fusion Based Residual U-net for Fracture Segmentation in Coal Rock Images
Authors: Lu Fengli , Fu Chengcai , Zhang Guoying , Shi Jie 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Accurate segmentation of fractures in coal rock CT images is important for safe production and the development of coalbed methane.However,to make segment coal rock fractures accurate,the challenges as the following:1)The coal rock CT images have the characteristics which are high background noise, sparse target, weak boundary information, uneven gray level, low contrast etc.; 2)There is no a public dataset of coal rock CT images;3)Limited coal rock CT images samples.In the paper,we proposed adaptive multi-scale feature fusion based residual U-uet(AMSFFRU-uet) for fracture segmentation in coal rock CT images to address the issues.In order to reduce the loss of tiny and weak fractures, dilated residual blocks (DResBlock) are embedded into the U-uet structure, which expand the receptive field and extract fracture information atdifferent scales.Furthermore, for reducing the loss of spatial information during the down-sampling process, feature maps of different sizes in the encoding branch are concatenated by adaptive multi-scale featurefusion module,which is as the input of the first up-sampling in the decoding branch.And we applieda set of comprehensive data augmentation operations to increase the diversity of training samples. Our network,U-net and ResU-net are tested on our dataset of coal rock CT images with 5 different textures.The experimental results show that compared with U-net and ResU-net, our proposed approach improve the average Dice coefficient by 5.1% and 2.9% and the average accuracy by 4.5% and 2%,respectively.Therefore,AMSFFRU-net can achieve better segmentation of coal rock fractures,and has stronger generalization ability and robustness.
Prevalence and factors associated with intestinal parasites among food handlers in Medebay Zana District, North West Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.
Authors: Regassa Kebrom , Tedla Kiros , Bugssa Gessessew , Gebrekirstos Gebretsadkan , Gebreyesus Hailay , Shfare Mebrahtu 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Introduction Several epidemiological studies suggest that the prevalence of intestinal parasites is high, especially in developing countries, and are amongst the major public healthchallenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites and its associated factors among food handlers in Woreda Medebay Zana, Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 401 food handler individuals selected by systematic random sampling.Binary and multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the possible association between the independent variable and outcome variables. Statistical significance was declared at p- value <0.05 with 95% confidence interval. Result The prevalence of intestinal parasites was 33.2% within this sample.The dominant parasite were Entamoeba coli 50(37.4%), followed by Entamoeba histolytica/dispar 24(18%), Entamoeba hartmanni 18(13.5), Giardia lamblia 17(12.8%), Schistosoma mansoni 8(6%), Hymenolepis nana 7(5.3%), Enterviousvermicularies 6(4.5%) and Taenia species 3(2.5%). Conclusion This study revealed a high prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers for a range of intestinal parasites. The significant predictors weresource of water, washing hands before food preparation, washing hands with soap and water after visiting toilet, shower installation, washing body regularly, and eating raw vegetables.
Simulation of Tennis Serve Behavior Based on Video Image Processing Technology
Authors: Li Xiao-zhong , Huang Ping-lin 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Video-based human motion analysis is an important research direction in the field of computer vision. It detects moving objects from video sequences, extracts key parts of the human body, and obtains useful information for human movements. Further analysis and identification. In this paper, the joints of the teeing arm are first color-coded. The tennis teeing video is collected by a high-speed camera. The coordinates of the tacking points in each frame are used instead of the knuckles to study the trajectory of the teeing arm. In the process of video processing, after constructing a dictionary for a series of noise maps, the sparse representation idea was used to reconstruct an interference-free service diagram, and a mixture of Gaussian background modeling was used to extract the foreground of the motion. After obtaining the motion foreground, the marker points are extracted through the color features, and binarization operations are performed on the marker points. Next, the outline of the marker points is searched, the outline is surrounded by the minimum circle, and the returned circle center coordinates are used as the joint point coordinates. Taking the trajectory of the shoulder marking point as a research object, a tennis serving model based on an improved support vector machine was established.
TV2++: A Novel Spatial-Temporal Total Variation for Super Resolution with Exponential-type Norm
Authors: Deng Lizhen , Zhou Zhetao , Xu Guoxia , Zhu Hu , Bao Bing-Kun 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Recently, many super-resolution algorithms have been proposed to recover high resolution images to improve visualization and help better analyze images. Among them, total variation regularization (TV) methods have been proven to have a good effect in retaining image edge information. However, these TV methods do not consider the temporal correlation between images. Our algorithm designs a new TV regularization (TV2++) to take advantage of the time dimension information of the images, further improving the utilization of useful information in the images. In addition, the union of global low rank regularization and TV regularization further enhances the image super resolution recovery. And we extend the exponential-type penalty (ETP) function on singular values of a matrix to enhance low-rank matrix recovery. A novel image super-resolution algorithm based on the ETP norm and TV2++ regularization is proposed. And the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is applied to solve the optimization problems effectively. Numerous experimental results prove that the proposed algorithm is superior to other algorithms.
Vaginal progesterone supplementation in the management of preterm labor: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Sirisangwon Ratanawadee , Phupong Vorapong 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
BackgroundPreterm labor is a common obstetric complication and can lead to preterm delivery. Preterm birth or preterm delivery is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality, especially when preterm birth occurs at a gestational age less than 34 weeks. The primary objective in this study was to evaluate the effects of vaginal progesterone supplementation for the prolongation of the latency period in preterm labor. The secondary objectives were to evaluate gestational age at delivery, rates of preterm birth less than 34 and 37 weeks, obstetric outcomes, maternal compliance with medication use, and side effects.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was performed. Ninety women with preterm labor occurring at 24 to 34 weeks were either randomized to a vaginal progesterone group (44 women) receiving tocolytic and antenatal corticosteroids treatment combined with vaginal micronized progesterone (400 mg everyday) or to the no-progesterone group (46 women) receiving tocolytic and antenatal corticosteroids treatment only.ResultsLatency periods were more prolonged in the vaginal progesterone group than in the no-progesterone group (32.8 ± 18.7 vs. 25.8 ± 22.7 days, p = 0.045). Gestational age at delivery in the vaginal progesterone group was also higher than in the no-progesterone group (36.5 ± 2.9 vs. 34.9 ± 3.7 weeks, p = 0.022). There were significant reduction rates of preterm birth less than 34 weeks (13.6% vs. 39.1%, p = 0.012), low birth weight (29.5% vs. 50%, p = 0.048), neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (13.6% vs. 37%, p=0.021), and neonatal intensive care unit admission (6.8% vs. 28.3%, p = 0.017).ConclusionCombined treatment with vaginal progesterone 400 mg could prolong the latency period in preterm labor when compared with no progesterone. Further, this approach could decrease the rates of preterm birth less than 34 weeks, low birth weight, and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.
Laboratory colonization by Dirofilaria immitis alters the microbiome of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
Authors: Adegoke Abdulsalam , Neff Erik , Geary Amie , Husser Montana Ciara , Wilson Kevin , Norris Shawn Michael , Dharmarajan Guha , Karim Shahid 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background The ability of blood feeding arthropods to successfully acquire and transmit pathogens of medical and veterinary importance has been shown to be interfered or enhanced by the arthropod’s native microbiome. Mosquitoes transmit bacteria, viruses, protozoan and filarial nematodes, majority of which contributes to the 17% of infectious disease cases worldwide. Dirofilaria immitis , a mosquito transmitted filarial nematodes of dogs and cats, is vectored by several mosquito species including Aedes aegypti . Methods In this study, we investigated the impact of D. immitis colonization on the microbiome of laboratory reared female A. aegypti . Metagenomic analysis of the V3-V4 variable region of the microbial 16SRNA was used for identification of the microbial differences down to species level. Results We generated a total of 1068 OTUs representing 16 phyla, 181 genera and 271 bacterial species. Overall, in order of abundance, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were the most represented phylum with D. immitis infected mosquitoes having more of Proteobacteria (71%) than uninfected mosquitoes (56.9%). An interesting finding in this study is the detection of Klebsiella oxytoca in relatively similar abundance in infected and uninfected mosquitoes. It has been previously shown to indirectly compete for nutrients with fungi on the domestic housefly eggs and larva. While not statistically significant, D. immitis infection alters bacterial diversity by reducing the bacterial species richness and abundance. Conclusions In conclusion, this is the first study to the best of our knowledge to understand the impact of a filarial infection on the microbiome of its mosquito vector. While the microbiome composition of A. aegypti mosquito have been previously reported, our study shows that in an effort to establish itself, a filarial nematode modifies and alters the overall microbial diversity within its mosquito host.
In silico and In vitro Investigation of a Likely Pathway for Anti-Cancerous Effect of Thrombocidin-1 as a Novel Anticancer Peptide
Authors: Tanhaian Abbas , Mohammadi Elyas , Vakili-Ghartavol Roghayyeh , Saberi Mohammad Reza , Mirzayi Mehdi , Jaafari Mahmoud Reza 
Published: February 2020

Background:Antimicrobial and antifungal activities of Thrombocidin-1 (TC-1) is shown previously, however, the anti-cancerous feature of this peptide is still uncovered.Objective:The objective is to evaluate anti-cancerous feature of recombinant TC-1.Methods:In this study, based on the significant similarity of rTC-1 and IL-8 in case of coding sequence, tertiary structure, and also docking and molecular dynamic simulation (MD) results with CXCR1, a receptor which has positive correlation with different cancers, a likely pathway for anticancerous effect of rTC-1 was proposed. In addition, the coding sequence of TC-1+6xhistidine (rTC-1) was inserted into the pET22b(+) vector and cloned and expressed by E. coli BL21 and finally purified through nickel affinity column. Afterward, the retrieved rTC-1 was used in MTT assay against mouse colon adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, chondrosarcoma, mouse melanoma, and breast adenocarcinoma cell lines to investigate its probable anticancer application.Results:Docking and MD simulation results showed that rTC-1 and IL-8 share almost the same residues in the interaction with CXCR1 receptor. Besides, the stability of the rTC-1_CXCR11-38 complex was shown during 100ns MD simulation. In addition, the successful expression and purification of rTC-1 depict an 8kD peptide. The IC50 results of MTT assay revealed that rTC-1 has cytotoxic effect on C26-A and SW1353 cancerous cell lines.Conclusion:Therefore, apart from probable anti-cancerous effect of rTC-1 on C26-A and SW1353 cell lines, this peptide may be able to mimic the anti-cancerous pathway of IL-8.