bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of A Group Tobacco Cessation Behavioural Intervention Among Patients with Mental Illness in Kenya:&nbsp;Results from a Controlled Clinical Trial
Authors: Olando Yvonne , Mathai Muthoni , Kuria Mary , Njiri Francis , Huffman Mark 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Individuals with mental disorders are more susceptible to initiating and sustaining tobacco use; unfortunately, most do not get support to quit. Group behavioural counselling, an effective low-cost strategy for cessation has been shown to be effective, yet has not been studied among this population in Kenya.Methods: Mentally ill tobacco users at Mathari Referral and Teaching Hospital’s Clinic for Substance Abuse Treatment in Nairobi, were recruited from September 2017-March 2019. Participants were allocated into intervention and control groups (1:1). Intervention group participants met in groups of 10 over 24-weeks to participate in group behavioural counselling sessions using a structured curriculum to promote cessation. Control group participants received usual care. The primary outcome was tobacco cessation at 24-weeks measured through salivary cotinine strips. Secondary outcomes included self-reported number of cigarettes/sticks used daily and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), using the WHOQoL Brief Questionnaire at 24-weeks. Between-group event rates were compared using Cox proportional hazards models, while differences in HRQoL scores were analysed using paired t-tests.Results: Participants’ mean age was 35 (SD=9) years, 87% were male, and 42% had completed secondary education. Over half (65%) had substance use disorders (diagnosed) and 15% had major depressive disorders. Most participants (94%) used cigarettes at baseline and participants smoked for a mean of 13 (SD=11) years with an average of 14 (SD=7) sticks daily. Intervention group participants reported a higher cessation rate (15.2% vs. 0% at week 12;P=0.02 and 9.1% vs. 0%;P=0.10) at 24-weeks, with a lower number of sticks smoked (97% vs. 58.6%;P<0.0001) compared with control group participants at 24-weeks follow-up. Intervention group participants reported higher change in HRQoL scores compared to control participants in physical (30.6% vs. 10.4%;OR=3.79 [95% CI,1.25-11.48]) and environmental domains (34.7% vs. 8.3%;OR=5.84 [95% CI,1.79-19.03]) at end of study.Conclusion: The group behavioural intervention among tobacco using Kenyans with mental illness led to improved tobacco cessation outcomes. Trial registration number: NCT04013724
The role of postmastectomy radiation in patients with ypN0 breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a meta-analysis
Authors: Wang Ke , Jing Xiaoyan Xiaoyan , Wang Weilan , Yu Xiuyan , Huang Jian 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: It has been demonstrated that postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) was beneficial for breast cancer patients who are axillary lymph node-positive. However, the effectiveness of radiotherapy in pathological negative nodes (ypN0) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains open to considerable debate. Here, we aim to evaluate whether PMRT improves loco-regional control and survival for such patients.Methods: The literature from January 2004 to June 2019 was searched. The effects of PMRT on local-regional recurrence (LRR) and survival was evaluated in a meta-analysis. Pooled relative risk (RR) values with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed using random and fixed-effects models. Subgroup and heterogeneity analyses were also conducted.Results: Ten studies that included 29,860 patients met the inclusion criteria. Pooled results showed that PMRT was associated with reduced LRR (RR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.19-0.77, P = 0.007), particularly in patients with stage III-IV breast cancer (RR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.07-0.37, P < 0.001). However, no significant difference in disease-free survival were observed with the addition of PMRT for ypN0 patients (RR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.21–2.27, P = 0.55). Also, there was no statistically significant association between radiotherapy with overall survival (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.64-1.04, P = 0.10).Conclusions: Our meta-analysis indicated that PMRT might reduce local-regional recurrence for ypN0 patients after NAC, but lake of benefit for survival outcomes. Prospective randomized clinical trial data will be needed to confirm our results.
Changes in the use of after-hour house-call medical services for fever or common cold symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tokyo, Japan: a descriptive study
Authors: Inokuchi Ryota , Morita Kojiro , Iwagami Masao , Watanabe Taeko , Ishikawa Masatoshi , Tamiya Nanako 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background The trend in the characteristics of patients using an after-hour house-call (AHHC) medical service changed the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but there has been no report on this issue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate patients’ tendencies to seek an AHHC medical service for fever or common cold symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods This cohort study compared the characteristics of patients with fever or symptoms of the common cold utilizing an AHHC medical service offered by a single large company between the control period (December 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019) and the COVID-19 pandemic exposure period (December 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020). It also assessed the proportion of these patients in relation to all patients calling for the service for any reason. Results During the control and COVID-19 pandemic exposure periods, 6,462 (median age: 8 [interquartile range {IQR}: 3, 11], males: 48.2%) and 10,003 (median age: 10 [IQR: 4, 33], males: 48.3%) patients, respectively, called for the AHHC medical service. Of these, 5,335 (82.6%) and 7,423 (74.2%) patients had fever or common cold symptoms, respectively. The disease severity was differently distributed between the groups: the proportions of people with severe, moderate, and mild illness were 0.3%, 28.7%, and 71.0% in the control period and 1.1%, 54.8%, and 44.1% in the COVID-19 pandemic exposure period (p < 0.001), respectively. The AHHC medical service identified six individuals with COVID-19.Conclusions During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of patients with fever or symptoms of the common cold was lower than that in the control period, but the illness severity was substantially higher.
Short-term outcomes of laparoscopic versus open liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma in elderly patients: A propensity score matching analysis
Authors: Monden Kazuteru , Sadamori Hiroshi , Hioki Masayoshi , Ohno Satoshi , Takakura Norihisa 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
The number of elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) requiring surgical treatment has been continuously increasing. This study aimed to examine the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) versus open liver resection (OLR) for HCC in elderly patients at our institution in Japan.Between 2010 and 2018, LLR and OLR were performed in 80 and 138 elderly patients (>70 years) who were diagnosed with HCC, respectively. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis with covariates of baseline characteristics was applied. Intra- and postoperative data were evaluated in both groups.After PSM, 56 patients who underwent LLR and OLR, respectively, were compared. No significant differences in demographic, clinical data, and operative times were observed. Blood loss (OLR: 327 mL; LLR: 50 mL; P< 0.001), length of postoperative hospital stay (OLR: 12 days; LLR: 7 days; P< 0.001), and time to start oral intake (OLR: 2 days; LLR: 1 day; P< 0.001) were significantly lower and shorter in the LLR group than in the OLR group. The incidence of complications over Clavien-Dindo class IIIa was similar between both groups.Our results suggest that advanced age alone is not a contraindication, and LLR can be a treatment option for elderly patients with HCC.
Circular RNA screening identifies circMYLK4 as a regulator of fast/slow myofibers in porcine skeletal muscles
Authors: Cao Haigang , Liu Jieming , Du Tianning , Liu Yihao , Zhang Xiaoyu , Guo Yuan , Wang Jie , Zhou Xiaomin , Li Xiao , Yang Gongshe , Shi Xine 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: The myofiber type is related to the quality of meat; specifically, slow-oxidized myofiber helps to increase the tenderness and juiciness of meat. An increasing number of studies have shown that circRNAs play a key role in skeletal muscle development. However, the key circRNAs that regulate myofiber types and their roles are still poorly understood.Results: A total of 40757 circRNAs were identified from the longissimus dorsi (LD) and the soleus (Sol) muscles, of which 10388 were co-expressed in the two muscles. Further analysis found 181 differentially expressed circRNAs in the LD compared with Sol. Functional enrichment analysis showed that target genes of differentially expressed circRNA-sponge miRNAs were enriched in the AMPK, FoxO and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. In addition, we focused on a novel circRNA—circMYLK4. CircMYLK4 significantly increased the mRNA and protein levels of slow muscle marker genes and caused the flesh to turn red.Conclusion: Our study laid an essential foundation for further research on circRNAs in myofiber type conversion and the achievement of higher meat quality.
Measurement of Empathy among Health Professionals During Syrian Crisis using the Syrian Empathy Scale
Authors: Dashash Mayssoon , Boubou Mounzer 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Health professionals should have certain degree of empathy to eliminate the pain and suffering of their patients. There is a need to design a scale, which can assess empathy among health professionals and is relevant to community and culture. Therefore, this study was undertaken to measure the empathy among Syrian health professionals and students of health professions using a newly designed Syrian Empathy Scale.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was undertaken. A total of 223 participants (121 males and 102 females) responded to the Syrian Empathy Scale SES from Medical (n=62), Dental (n=152) and Pharmacy faculties (n=9). They were 119 undergraduates, 64 postgraduates and 40 general practitioners. The SES was designed as a tool that includes 20 items in a 7-point Likert-type scale with overall score ranges from 20 to 140. Group comparisons of the empathy scores were conducted using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). A factor analysis was performed. Bartlett’s test of the sphericity and the KMO measure of sampling adequacy were also determined. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated.Results: A significant difference was found between males and females in the SES mean score. The ANOVA analysis showed that the SES empathy score of pharmacist was higher than medical doctors and dentists with no significant difference. The SES empathy score of undergraduates was significantly higher than postgraduates and practitioners. Findings of KMO indicated sampling adequacy (KMO= 0.827 > 0.7) and the value of Bartlett’s test of the sphericity (1288.76, df = 190, P-value<0.001) proved that the factor analysis is meaningful and acceptable. The results of varimax rotation proved that five main factors were retained.Conclusion: Findings of this study support the reliability of the newly designed Syrian Empathy Scale for measuring empathy in the field of health care. The SES can be suggested for assessing empathy in different health educational programs. However, future works are still essential to support the validity of the scale as well as to ascertain the role of empathy in improving health care.
Neonatal sepsis in southwest of Iran; prevalence of microbial pathogens, risk factors, clinical manifestations and laboratory findings
Authors: Salahi Marjan , Moghadam Abdolkarim Ghadimi , Mousavizadeh Ali , Marashifard Masoud , Taghavi Seyed Jabar , Rezanejad Mohamadtaher , Moradi Sedighe , Khoramrooz Seyed Sajjad 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Neonatal sepsis is a serious worldwide problem causing significant rates of mortality and morbidity in newborns, especially in cases with delayed infection diagnosis and management. The present study aimed to evaluate the bacteriological profiles, antibiotic susceptibility patterns, risk factors, clinical manifestations, and laboratory findings in neonatal sepsis in southwest of Iran. Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, 342 neonates with suspected sepsis admitted to the neonatal ward and NICU were included. Using standard protocols, blood samples were transported to the BACTEC blood culture system. Then, conventional biochemical tests were used for the identification of bacterial genera and species. The bacterial antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were determined usingagardisk diffusion method according to the CLSI guidelines. Demographic data, clinical findings, risk factors, mortality rates, and laboratory parameters were collected for each patient. Results: Forty-three (12.6%) cases were culture-positive, among whichCoNS, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter and Beta hemolytic streptococcus were the most prevalent. The prevalence of early-onset sepsis and late-onset sepsis were 53.5% and 46.5%, respectively. Significant differences between prematurity, very low birth weight, and invasive procedures were observedbetween neonates with and without sepsis. Teicoplanin and vancomycin were the most efficient antibiotics against Gram-positive bacteria, while amikacinwas more efficient against Gram-negative bacteria. Conclusion: Risk factors such as prematurity, abnormal birth weight, anemia, leukopenia, prolonged hospitalization, and invasive processes and cesarean section, can increase the incidence of neonatal sepsis.
System for Quantitative Diagnosis of COVID-19-Associated Pneumonia Based on Superpixels With Deep Learning and Chest CT
Authors: Tetila Everton , Bressem Keno , Astolfi Gilberto , Sant'Ana Diego André , Pache Marcio Carneiro , Pistori Hemerson 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
COVID-19 is a disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that can lead to complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute heart injury and secondary infections in a relatively high proportion of patients and, consequently, significant mortality. The definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 is performed by real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). However, as the result of RT-PCR, at least for now, has been made available within a longer period of time than the computed tomography (CT) report, this has taken on an important role in the detection of patients infected with COVID-19. A rough estimate of the extent of lung involvement by the disease is also important and considered an additional criterion for deciding on discharge or hospitalization. Recent research has adopted deep neural networks and other machine learning approaches to detect the presence of lung infection caused by COVID-19. However, the extent of lung involvement (volume) caused by the disease has been little investigated. In this work, we created an end-to-end computer vision system to automatically quantify the Percentage Of Infection (POI) in chest CT images of COVID-19 cases confirmed by the laboratory. Trying to obtain high accuracy, we evaluated the performance of three deep neural networks well known in the literature, trained with three different training strategies: (1) no transfer learning with randomly initialized weights; (2) transfer learning without fine-tuning with ImageNet weights; and (3) transfer learning with 100% fine-tuning. Data augmentation and dropout were used during networks training to reduce overfitting and increase the generalization capacity of the models. Our approach consists of segmenting a chest CT with the SLIC Superpixels method and classifying each segment (superpixel) into a specific class (COVID or non-COVID). We used the weights of the deep neural network best evaluated for accuracy in our computer vision system in order to classify the superpixels in the image and quantify the regions of COVID-19 infection, thus calculating the POI on chest CT. The results indicate that deep learning models can be successfully used to support radiologists in the quantitative diagnosis of lung infection caused by COVID-19, reaching an accuracy of up to 98.4% with Inception-Resnet-v2 architecture.
Clinical and laboratory data-based nomograms for neurosyphilis diagnosis in non-HIV syphilis patients: a cross-sectional study.
Authors: Ge Wenjing , Zhang Yang , Peng Chao , Li Dongdong , Gao Lijie , Bao Jiajia , Li Changling , Chen Ning , Zhou Dong , He Li 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: The diagnosis of neurosyphilis (NS) is challenging due to the requirement of lumbar puncture and time-consuming cerebrospinal fluid tests. Therefore, a convenient high-accuracy diagnostic nomogram for NS is warranted. Methods: This cross-sectional study (108 patients) aimed to construct diagnostic models for diagnosing NS with data gathered between September 2015 and January 2020 at Western China Hospital of Sichuan University. We constructed two types of diagnostic models using 108 training samples: 1) symptoms and toluidine red unheated serum test (TRUST) (basic model) and 2) the combined model of symptoms, serum TRUST, and findings of CSF routine tests including CSF protein concentration and CSF glucose concentration (combined model). The clinical usefulness of the diagnostic models was assessed through the comparison of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and decision curve analysis (DCA), which adopted bootstrap resampling 500 times. Results: A total of 108 patients were analysed (82% males, mean age: 46 years). Of those, 76 were diagnosed as having reactive neurosyphilis under the criteria of positive results in both CSF treponemal and non-treponemal tests. Psychiatric symptoms and serum TRUST were the strongest diagnostic indicators in serum. A diagnostic model was constructed to readily provide the probability of diagnosis at point of care and presented as two nomograms. The basic model reached 79% specificity, 74% sensitivity and 0.82 Area Under the Curves (AUC) (95% CI, 0.72-091), while the combined model showed 82% specificity, 90% sensitivity and 0.88 AUC (95% CI, 0.80-0.94). The integrated discrimination improvement(IDI) index was 0.05 in comparison of two models. Conclusions: A convenient model using serum TRUST titre and presence of psychiatric symptoms was developed to indicate diagnostic results in patients suspected of NS. Two simple nomograms can be offered to clinicians to facilitate their assessment of patient diagnosis, strengthen the diagnostic decision making, enhance patient stratification, and inform patients in the clinic. Trial registration: This research was retrospectively registered in Ethics committee on biomedical research, West China Hospital of Sichuan University.
Indicators of the molecular pathogenesis of virulent Newcastle Disease Virus in chickens revealed by transcriptomic profiling of spleen
Authors: Rabiei Mohammad , Low Wai Yee , McAllister Milton , Ren Yan , Cahyono Mohamad , Doan Phuong , Dharmayanti Indi , Grande Eleonora , Hemmatzadeh Farhid 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has caused significant outbreaks in South-East Asia, particularly in Indonesia in recent years. Recently emerged genotype VII NDVs (NDV-GVII) have shifted their tropism from gastrointestinal/respiratory tropism to a lymphotropic virus, invading lymphoid organs including spleen and bursa of Fabricius to cause profound lymphoid depletion. In this study, we aimed to identify candidate genes and biological pathways that contribute to the disease caused by this neurotropic velogenic NDV-GVII. A transcriptomic analysis based on RNA-Seq of spleen was performed in chickens challenged with NDV-GVII and a control group. In total, 6361 genes were differentially expressed that included 3506 up-regulated genes and 2855 down-regulated genes. Real-Time PCR of ten selected genes validated the RNA-Seq results as the correlation between them is 0.98. Functional and network analysis of DEGs showed altered regulation of ElF2 signalling, mTOR signalling, proliferation of lymphatic system cells, signalling by Rho family GTPases and synaptogenesis signalling in spleen. We have also identified modified expression of IFIT5, PI3K, AGT and PLP1 genes in NDV-GVII infected chickens. Our findings in activation of autophagy-mediated cell death, lymphotropic and synaptogenesis signalling pathways provide new insights into the molecular pathogenesis of this newly emerged NDV-GVII.
Vaccine preferences driving vaccine-decision making of different target groups: A systematic review of choice-based experiments
Authors: Diks Marilyn , Putten Ingeborg van der , Hiligsmann Mickael 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Choice-based experiments have been increasingly used to elicit preferences for vaccines and vaccination programs. This study aims to systematically identify and examine choice-based experiments assessing (differences in) vaccine preferences of vaccinees, representatives and health advisors.Methods: Five electronic databases were searched on choice-based conjoint analysis studies or discrete choice experiments capturing vaccine preferences of children, adolescents, parents, adults and healthcare professionals for attributes of vaccines or vaccine settings up to September 2020. Data was extracted using a standardized form covering all important aspects of choice experiments. A quality assessment was used to assess the validity of studies. Attributes were categorized into outcome, process, cost and other attributes. The importance of attributes was assessed by the frequency of reporting and statistical significance. Results were compared between high-quality studies and lower-quality studies.Results: A total of 42 studies were included, with the majority conducted in high-income countries after 2010 (resp. n=34 and n=37). Preferences of representatives were studied in nearly half of the studies (47.6%), followed by vaccinees (35.7%) and health advisors (9.5%). Sixteen high-quality studies passed the quality assessment. Outcome- and cost- related attributes such as vaccine effectiveness, vaccine risk, cost and protection duration were most often statistically significant across both target groups, with vaccine effectiveness being the most important. Risks associated with vaccination, such as side effects, were more often statistically significant in studies targeting vaccinees, while cost-related attributes were more often statistically significant in studies of representatives. Process-related attributes such as vaccine accessibility and time were least important across both target groups.Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review in which vaccine preferences of different target groups were assessed and compared. The same attributes were most important for vaccine decisions of vaccinees and representatives, with only minor differences in level of evidence for vaccine risk and cost. Future research on vaccine preferences of health advisors and/or among target groups in low-resource settings would give insight into the generalizability of current findings.