bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Tuberculosis treatment outcomes and associated factors in two states in Nigeria
Authors: Matthew Adebayo Ayodeji , Olaiya Adeniyi Bamidele , Oluwasanu Mojisola , Hassan Abiodun , Ada Ajuwon Grace , Chidinma Ogbuji Queen , Adewole David , John Osho Adewale , Olukolade Richard , Alabi Ladipo Oladapo , Johnson Ajuwon Ademola 
Published: July 2020

AbstractObjectiveTo determine the treatment success rate among TB patients and associated factors in Anambra and Oyo, the two states with the largest burden of tuberculosis in Nigeria.MethodsA health facility record review for 2016 was conducted in the two states (Anambra and Oyo). A checklist was used to extract relevant information from the records kept in each of the selected DOTS facilities to determine TB treatment success rates. Treatment success rate was defined as the proportion of new smear‐positive TB cases registered under DOTS in a given year that successfully completed treatment, whether with bacteriologic evidence of success (‘cured’) or without (‘treatment completed’). Treatment success rate was classified into good (≥85%) and poor (<85%) success rates using the 85% national target for TB treatment outcome. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi‐square at P < 0.05.ResultsThere were 1281 TB treatment enrollees in 2016 in Anambra and 3809 in Oyo (total = 4835). An overall treatment success rate of 75.8% was achieved (Anambra‐57.5%; Oyo‐82.0%). The percentage cure rates were 61.5% for Anambra and 85.2% for Oyo. Overall, only 28.6% of the facilities in both states (Anambra‐0.0%; Oyo‐60.0%) had a good treatment success rate. More facilities in Anambra (100.0%) than Oyo (40.0%) had a poor treatment success rate (p < 0.001), as did more private/FBO (100.0%) than public health facilities (60.0%) (p = 0.009). All tertiary facilities had a poor treatment success rate followed by 87.5% of secondary health facilities and 56.5% of primary healthcare facilities (P = 0.035).ConclusionTreatment success and cure rates in Anambra state were below the 85.0% of the recommended target set by the WHO. Geographical location, and level/tier and type of facility were factors associated with this. Interventions are recommended to address these problems.
A Skill‐Based Approach to Modeling the Attentional Blink
Authors: Hoekstra Corné , Martens Sander , Taatgen Niels A. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractPeople can often learn new tasks quickly. This is hard to explain with cognitive models because they either need extensive task‐specific knowledge or a long training session. In this article, we try to solve this by proposing that task knowledge can be decomposed into skills. A skill is a task‐independent set of knowledge that can be reused for different tasks. As a demonstration, we created an attentional blink model from the general skills that we extracted from models of visual attention and working memory. The results suggest that this is a feasible modeling method, which could lead to more generalizable models.
Hypersensitivity of Vps33B mutant flies to non‐pathogenic infections is dictated by aberrant activation of p38b MAP kinase
Authors: Zhang Jian , Tracy Charles , Pasare Chandrashekhar , Zeng Jinsheng , Krämer Helmut 
Published: July 2020

AbstractLoss of the arthrogryposis‐renal dysfunction‐cholestasis (ARC) syndrome‐linked Vps33B protein results in exaggerated inflammatory responses upon activation of receptors of the innate immune system in both vertebrates and flies. However, little is known about the signaling elements downstream of these receptors that are critical for the hypersensitivity of Vps33B mutants. Here, we show that p38b MAP kinase contributes to the enhanced inflammatory responses in flies lacking Vps33B. Loss of p38b mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) reduces enhanced inflammatory responses and prolongs the survival of infected Vps33B deficient flies. The function of p38 MAPK is not limited to its proinflammatory effects downstream of the PGRP‐LC receptor as p38 also modulates endosomal trafficking of PGRP‐LC and phagocytosis of bacteria. Expression of constitutively active p38b MAPK, but not dominant negative p38b MAPK enhances accumulation of endocytosed PGRP‐LC receptors or phagocytosed bacteria within cells. Moreover, p38 MAPK is required for induction of macropinocytosis, an alternate pathway for the downregulation of immune receptors. Together, our data indicate that p38 MAPK activates multiple pathways that can contribute to the dysregulation of innate immune signaling in ARC syndrome.
Emotional mechanisms and format effects of motivational questions for blood donation
Authors: France Christopher R. , France Janis L. , Himawan Lina K. , Jeitani Anthony , Williams Lisa A. 
Published: July 2020

BackgroundPrior studies suggest that responding to online motivational questions increases blood donation intention. The present studies were designed to extend these findings by (a) exploring the impact of methodologic variations in the content and order of administration of specific questions on donation intention and (b) examining anticipated positive and negative emotional reactions as potential mediators.Study Design and MethodsIn the first study, 4709 respondents (51.2% female; mean ± SD age, 38.4 ± 12.1 years) were randomly assigned to one of four motivational questions or a no‐question control. In the second study, 5291 respondents (52.7% female; mean ± SD age, 37.3 ± 11.9 years) were randomly assigned to one of six motivational questions or a no‐question control. In both studies, the motivational questions were followed by measures of donation intention, anticipated warm glow, and anticipated regret.ResultsIn Study 1, three of the four questions were associated with higher donation intentions, with anticipated warm glow being a potential partial mediator for two of the questions. In Study 2, five of the six questions were associated with higher donation intentions, with anticipated warm glow and anticipated regret being potential partial mediators for three of the questions. These effects were largely consistent among donors and nondonors.ConclusionThese studies expand our understanding of the association between particular motivational questions and donation intentions and provide preliminary support for the notion that specific questions may influence donation intention by increasing anticipated positive and negative emotional reactions to the thought of giving or not giving, respectively.
Investment decision model of wastewater treatment public–private partnership projects based on value for money
Authors: Yu Shunkun , Dai Tong , Yu Yang , Zhang Jinying 
Published: July 2020

AbstractMost existing studies analyse the early decision‐making processes of public–private partnership (PPP) projects from the perspective of the government or investors, as such decisions involve lengthy negotiations and are likely to lead to unfair results. Hence, there is a need for fair and reasonable investment decision‐making methods. This study investigates the investment return system of PPP wastewater treatment projects. The net present value of investment income is considered the investment decision indicator of social capital, while value for money (VFM) is the indicator of government decision‐making. Considering both yield and VFM, the system dynamics method and Vensim software are used to establish the investment decision model. A case study validates the proposed model and predicts a reasonable range of unit prices and concession periods for wastewater treatment through government–enterprise cooperation, to improve the transparency and initial decision fairness of PPP sewage treatment projects.
Changes in the UK baby food market surveyed in 2013 and 2019: the rise of baby snacks and sweet/savoury foods
Authors: Garcia Ada Lizbeth , Curtin Louise , Ronquillo José David , Parrett Alison , Wright Charlotte Margaret 
Published: July 2020

ObjectiveTo assess how the baby food market in the UK has changed between 2013 and 2019.SettingUnited Kingdom.DesignA cross-sectional survey of all infant food products available to buy in the UK online and in-store collected in 2019. Nutritional content and product descriptions were recorded and compared with an existing 2013 database.Main outcome measuresChange in the proportion of products marketed to infants aged 4 months, proportion classified as sweet versus savoury, spoonable versus dry (snacks) average sugar content.ResultsFewer products were described as suitable for infants aged 4 months in 2019 (201, 23%) compared with 2013 (178, 43%; p<0.001), while the proportion for children in the 6–7-month age range increased (2013: 135, 33%; 2019: 369, 43%; p=0.001). The proportion of sweet and savoury products was unchanged; sweet spoonable products showed a small but significant decrease in sugar content (6%) between 2013 and 2019, but savoury spoonable products showed a 16% increase. Sweet snacks remained very sweet (~20 g/100 g median sugar at both time points). In the 2019 dataset, concentrated juice was added to 29% (n=253) of products and 18% (n=80) ‘savoury’ products comprised more than 50% sweet vegetables or fruit. The number and proportion of snacks increased markedly in 2019 (185, 21%) compared with 2013 (42, 10%; p=0.001) while the proportion of wet spoonable foods decreased (2013: 326, 79%; 2019: 611, 71%; p=0.001).ConclusionsFewer foods are now marketed to infants aged 4 months, but there has been no overall reduction in the sweetness of products and the increase in snack foods and the sweetness of savoury foods is a concern.
Physical behaviors and chronotype in people with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Henson Joseph , Rowlands Alex V , Baldry Emma , Brady Emer M , Davies Melanie J , Edwardson Charlotte L , Yates Thomas , Hall Andrew P 
Published: July 2020

IntroductionPrevious investigations have suggested that evening chronotypes may be more susceptible to obesity-related metabolic alterations. However, whether device-measured physical behaviors differ by chronotype in those with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains unknown.Research design and methodsThis analysis reports data from the ongoing Chronotype of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Effect on Glycaemic Control (CODEC) observational study. Eligible participants were recruited from both primary and secondary care settings in the Midlands area, UK. Participants were asked to wear an accelerometer (GENEActiv, ActivInsights, Kimbolton, UK) on their non-dominant wrist for 7 days to quantify different physical behaviors (sleep, sedentary, light, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), intensity gradient, average acceleration and the acceleration above which the most active continuous 2, 10, 30 and 60 min are accumulated). Chronotype preference (morning, intermediate or evening) was assessed using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analyses assessed whether chronotype preference was associated with physical behaviors and their timing. Evening chronotypes were considered as the reference group.Results635 participants were included (age=63.8±8.4 years, 34.6% female, body mass index=30.9±5.1 kg/m2). 25% (n=159) of the cohort were morning chronotypes, 52% (n=330) intermediate and 23% (n=146) evening chronotypes. Evening chronotypes had higher sedentary time (28.7 min/day, 95% CI 8.6 to 48.3) and lower MVPA levels (–9.7 min/day, –14.9 to –4.6) compared to morning chronotypes. The intensity of the most active continuous 2-60 min of the day, average acceleration and intensity gradient were lower in evening chronotypes. The timing of physical behaviors also differed across chronotypes, with evening chronotypes displaying a later sleep onset and consistently later physical activity time.ConclusionsPeople with T2DM lead a lifestyle characterized by sedentary behaviors and insufficient MVPA. This may be exacerbated in those with a preference for ‘eveningness’ (ie, go to bed late and get up late).
Creatine kinase is associated with bleeding after myocardial infarction
Authors: Brewster Lizzy Maritza , Fernand Jim 
Published: July 2020

BackgroundThe ADP-scavenging enzyme creatine kinase (CK) is reported to reduce ADP-dependent platelet activation. Therefore, we studied whether highly elevated CK after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with bleeding.MethodsData of the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Study Group phase II trial on the efficacy of angioplasty, following intravenous recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA), are used to assess whether peak plasma CK (CKmax) is independently associated with adjudicated fatal or non-fatal bleeding (primary) and combined bleeding/all-cause mortality (secondary) in multivariable binomial logistic regression analysis, adjusting for baseline and treatment allocation covariates.ResultsThe included patients (n=3339, 82% men, 88% white, mean age 57 years, SE 0.2) had a history of angina pectoris (55%), hypertension (38%) and/or diabetes mellitus (13%). CKmax ranged from 16 to 55 890 IU/L (mean 2389 IU/L, SE 41), reached within 8 hours in 51% of the patients (93% within 24 hours). Adjudicated fatal/non-fatal bleeding occurred in 30% of the patients (respectively 26% in the low vs 34% in the high CK tertile), and bleeding/all-cause mortality in 35% (29% in the low vs 40% in the high CK tertile). In multivariable regression analysis, the adjusted OR for fatal/non-fatal bleeding (vs not bleeding and survival) was 2.6 (95% CI 1.8 to 3.7)/log CKmax increase, and 3.1 (2.2 to 4.4) for bleeding/all-cause mortality.ConclusionHighly elevated plasma CK after myocardial infarction might be an independent predictor of bleeding and haemorrhagic death. This biologically plausible association warrants further prospective study of the potential role of extracellular CK in ADP-dependent platelet activation and bleeding.
Helicopter and ground emergency medical services transportation to hospital after major trauma in England: a comparative cohort study
Authors: Beaumont Oliver , Lecky Fiona , Bouamra Omar , Surendra Kumar Dhushy , Coats Tim , Lockey David , Willett Keith 
Published: July 2020

BackgroundThe utilization of helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in modern trauma systems has been a source of debate for many years. This study set to establish the true impact of HEMS in England on survival for patients with major trauma.MethodsA comparative cohort design using prospectively recorded data from the UK Trauma Audit and Research Network registry. 279 107 patients were identified between January 2012 and March 2017. The primary outcome measure was risk adjusted in-hospital mortality within propensity score matched cohorts using logistic regression analysis. Subset analyses were performed for subjects with prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale <8, respiratory rate <10 or >29 and systolic blood pressure <90.ResultsThe analysis was based on 61 733 adult patients directly admitted to major trauma centers: 54 185 ground emergency medical services (GEMS) and 7548 HEMS. HEMS patients were more likely male, younger, more severely injured, more likely to be victims of road traffic collisions and intubated at scene. Crude mortality was higher for HEMS patients. Logistic regression demonstrated a 15% reduction in the risk adjusted odds of death (OR=0.846; 95% CI 0.684 to 1.046) in favor of HEMS. When analyzed for patients previously noted to benefit most from HEMS, the odds of death were reduced further but remained statistically consistent with no effect. Sensitivity analysis on 5685 patients attended by a doctor on scene but transported by GEMS demonstrated a protective effect on mortality versus the standard GEMS response (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.62 to 0.95).DiscussionThis prospective, level 3 cohort analysis demonstrates a non-significant survival advantage for patients transported by HEMS versus GEMS. Despite the large size of the cohort, the intrinsic mismatch in patient demographics limits the ability to statistically assess HEMS true benefit. It does, however, demonstrate an improved survival for patients attended by doctors on scene in addition to the GEMS response. Improvements in prehospital data and increased trauma unit reporting are required to accurately assess HEMS clinical and cost-effectiveness.
Effects of exercise modality on body composition and cardiovascular disease risk factors in adolescents with obesity: a randomized clinical trial
Authors: Lee SoJung , Libman Ingrid , Hughan Kara S. , Kuk Jennifer L. , Barinas-Mitchell Emma , Chung Hyeok , Arslanian Silva 
Published: July 2020

We compared the effects of aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and combined aerobic and resistance exercise on total, regional subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral AT (VAT), skeletal muscle (SM), and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease in adolescents. Adolescents with overweight/obesity (N = 118; body mass index ≥ 85th percentile; age, 12–17 years) were randomized to 1 of the following groups for 6 months (3 days/week, 180 min/week): aerobic exercise (n = 38), resistance exercise (n = 40), or combined aerobic and resistance exercise (n = 40). After accounting for age, sex, and baseline value, there was a greater (P < 0.05) reduction in body weight in the aerobic exercise group compared with the resistance exercise group and the combined groups. There were reductions (P < 0.05) in total and regional SAT within the aerobic exercise group only, and the reductions in lower-body SAT were greater (P = 0.02) than the combined group. All groups had reductions (P < 0.01) in VAT, with no group differences. There were significant increases in total and regional SM mass in the resistance exercise and combined group, and not in the aerobic exercise group. Although all exercise modalities are effective in reducing VAT, aerobic exercise is superior at reducing total and regional SAT, but inferior for increasing SM in adolescents with obesity. Despite reductions in VAT, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and carotid intima-media thickness did not improve with either exercise. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01938950. Novelty Regular exercise (180 min/week) is associated with reductions in visceral fat independent of exercise modality. Resistance exercise alone and combined resistance and aerobic exercise are similarly effective in increasing SM mass.
Simulating hard photon production with Whizard
Authors: Kalinowski J. , Kotlarski W. , Sopicki P. , Żarnecki A. F. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractOne of the important goals of the proposed future $$\hbox {e}^{+}\hbox {e}^{-}$$e+e- collider experiments is the search for dark matter particles using different experimental approaches. The most general search approach is based on the mono-photon signature, which is expected when production of the invisible final state is accompanied by a hard photon from initial state radiation. Analysis of the energy spectrum and angular distributions of those photons can shed light on the nature of dark matter and its interactions. Therefore, it is crucial to be able to simulate the signal and background samples in a uniform framework, to avoid possible systematic biases. The Whizard program is a flexible tool, which is widely used by $$\hbox {e}^{+}\hbox {e}^{-}$$e+e- collaborations for simulation of many different “new physics” scenarios. We propose the procedure of merging the matrix element calculations with the lepton ISR structure function implemented in Whizard. It allows us to reliably simulate the mono-photon events, including the two main Standard Model background processes: radiative neutrino pair production and radiative Bhabha scattering. We demonstrate that cross sections and kinematic distributions of mono-photon in neutrino pair-production events agree with corresponding predictions of the $$\mathcal{KK}$$KK MC, a Monte Carlo generator providing perturbative predictions for SM and QED processes, which has been widely used in the analysis of LEP data.
An Efficient Fixed-Point Multiplier Based on CORDIC Algorithm
Authors: Khurshid Burhan , Khan Javeed Jeelani 
Published: July 2020

Fixed-point multiplication is an important operation that is frequently used in many digital signal processing (DSP) applications. The operation is computationally intense and very often the performance of multiplier determines the overall performance of DSP system. Evidently, a wide range of approaches have been proposed for efficient implementation of fixed-point multipliers on different hardware platforms. In this paper, we use Coordinate Rotation DIgital Computer (CORDIC) algorithm to perform fixed-point multiplication operation. The motivation for our approach is based on the fact that CORDIC is a hardware-efficient algorithm, wherein accuracy can be traded-off for performance. Our implementation targets field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and focuses on exploiting the underlying general and specialized fabric to the fullest. Performance comparisons against various traditional and recent approaches show that a substantial improvement is achievable by using CORDIC-based multipliers. We have also implemented a recently proposed convolution architecture using CORDIC-based multipliers. The results show that a proper choice of CORDIC architecture can result in an improvement of performance parameters like resource utilization, throughput and dynamic power. This, however, is achieved in lieu of a small cost in accuracy. Our analysis of an 8-stage CORDIC multiplier reports a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 6.032 — a factor that reduces exponentially with increasing number of stages.
Relação da força muscular e limiar de tolerância de dor à pressão em pacientes com lombalgia crônica
Authors: Melo Bhianca Luize Silva , Silva Leiciane Lima da , Almeida Patrícia Figueiredo de , Silva Natália Cristina de Oliveira Vargas , Alfieri Fábio Marcon 
Published: July 2020

Relações de dor, incapacidade e força muscular podem estar assoicadas na lombalgia crônica. Objetivo: Avaliar a associação entre força muscular do músculo glúteo médio e força de preensão palmar, limiar de tolerância de dor à pressão (LTDP) e nível de incapacidade, em pacientes com lombalgia crônica. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal observacional do qual participaram 50 indivíduos de ambos os sexos. O nível de incapacidade foi avaliado pelo questionário Roland-Morris (QRM). O LTDP foi avaliado por algometria no músculo glúteo médio. A avaliação da força muscular foi feita através do teste de força manual (TFM) no glúteo médio. A força de preensão palmar foi avaliada por um dinamômetro portátil. As correlações foram estabelecidas por meio dos coeficientes de correlação de Pearson ou Spearman. Resultados: Houve associação moderada entre a força do glúteo médio e a preensão palmar (r=0,44), entre a força de preensão palmar e o LTDP do glúteo médio (r=0,45), e entre a força do glúteo médio e a incapacidade (r=-0,44). As demais correlações foram fracas ou muito fracas. Conclusão: Os dados do estudo mostram que em indivíduos com lombalgia crônica, quanto maior a força de preensão palmar, maior a força e o limiar de tolerância de dor à pressão do glúteo médio. Ainda, que quanto maior a força do glúteo médio, menor a incapacidade destes pacientes.