bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How Far Can Pesticides Spread? A Case Study on No-Tillage Farming Systems and Surrounding Forest Patches
Authors: Silva Karlo da , Nicola Vitoria , Dudas Rafaela , Demetrio Wilian , Maia Liliane , Cunha Luis , Bartz Marie , Brown George , Pasini Amarildo , Kille Peter , Ferreira Nuno , Oliveira Cíntia de 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
With the growing global concern on pesticide management, the relationship between its environmental recalcitrance, food security and human health has never been more relevant. Pesticides residues are known to cause significant environmental contamination. The present study focused on long-term no-tillage farming systems and subtropical forests in Brazil, where Glyphosate (GLY) has been applied for more than 35 years. GLY and the main breakdown product of glyphosate, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a fluorescence detector. In addition, the presence of carbamates, organochlorines, organophosphates and triazines were also detected. GLY and AMPA were omnipresent in soil samples, reaching values higher than those described for soils previously in the literature. GLY and AMPA were observed respectively at peak concentrations of 66.38 and 26.03 mg/kg soil. GLY was strongly associated with forest soil properties, while AMPA associated with no-tillage soil properties. The texture was a significant factor that contributed to the maximum discrimination of the results since clay and sand contents influence GLY and AMPA retention in soils. This was the first study to report DDT and metabolites in consolidated no-tillage soils in Brazil (a pesticide fully banned 2009). Based on human risk assessment and the potential risk of GLY to local soil communities, this study offers a baseline for future studies that will be crucial to understand the toxicity mechanisms on non-target soil biota.
Understanding the Mechanism through Which Unfavorable Social Norms Affect Contraceptive Use&nbsp;
Authors: Agha Sohail , Morgan Brooks , Archer Helena , Paul Shadae , Babigumira Joseph , Guthrie Brandon 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Few theories of health behavior explicitly take the effect of social norms on behavior into account. The ones that do assume that the effect of norms on behavior operates through motivation. We use a behavior model that is new to public health to test whether norms affect behavior through motivation or ability. Methods: This study uses data from a household survey of Nigerian women, ages 14-24. The survey collected data on socio-economic and demographic characteristics of women, whether they were sexually experienced, and whether they used contraception. The survey also collected data on descriptive and injunctive norms around premarital sex and contraceptive use. Multivariate logistic regression was used to test whether the effect of unfavorable social norms on modern contraceptive use operates through motivation or ability. Results: The data was used to construct variables measuring unfavorable social norms, motivation, ability, and modern contraceptive use. After adjusting for a range of socio-economic and demographic variables, we found that unfavorable social norms had a statistically significant negative effect on contraceptive use. The analysis suggests that the effect of unfavorable social norms on contraceptive use operates through ability.Conclusion: This study sheds light on the pathway through which social norms affect contraceptive use. The findings suggest that public health interventions may be able to counter the negative effects of unfavorable social norms on modern contraceptive use by increasing women’s ability to practice contraception. These findings have important implications for the design of interventions that aim to increase contraceptive use among young women in Nigeria. The study also demonstrates the utility of the FBM, a practitioner-friendly, behavior change model, in examining the relationship between norms and behavior.
Change of Gait after Unilateral Vestibular Neuritis: A Prospective Longitudinal Observation Study
Authors: Chae Sung-Won , Song Jae-Jun , Kim Woo-Sub 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Although symptoms of unilateral vestibular neuritis (uVN) resolve spontaneously, there is unclearness in the recovery of gait. Prospective longitudinal studies on gait parameters after uVN are lacking. In this study, twenty three participants with uVN and 20 controls were included. 3D gait analyses were conducted thrice after uVN onset. From the gait analysis data, spatio-temporal parameters, inclination angle (IA) representing the relationship between CoM and CoP in the frontal plane, and IA variability were obtained. Time effects on gait metrics were tested. Walking speed improved significantly between the 1st and 3rd tests, but they were within normal range, even in the 1st test. The step width of participants with uVN was significantly larger than that of control in the 1st test and improved to normal in the 2nd test. Variability of IA in affected side was significantly larger than that in controls in the 1st test and improved significantly in the 3rd test compared to the 1st test. Improvement of overall gait function and neural adaptation of mediolateral stability during gait continued during the recovery stage of uVN (after two months from onset). Rehabilitation intervention should be continued during the recovery stage of uVN to enhance appropriate adaptation in gait.
Predicting postoperative surgical site infection with administrative data: a Machine Learning algorithm
Authors: Petrosyan Yelena , Thavorn Kednapa , Smith Glenys , Maclure Malcolm , Preston Roanne , Walrevan Carl van , Forster Alan 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Since primary data collection can be time-consuming and expensive, surgical site infections (SSIs) could ideally be monitored using routinely collected administrative data. We derived and internally validated efficient algorithms to identify SSIs within 30 days after surgery with health administrative data, using Machine Learning algorithms. All patients enrolled in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program from the Ottawa Hospital were linked to administrative datasets in Ontario, Canada. Machine Learning approaches, including a Random Forests algorithm and the high-performance logistic regression, were used to derive parsimonious models to predict SSI status. Finally, a risk score methodology was used to transform the final models into the risk score system. The SSI risk models were validated in the validation datasets.Results: Of 14,351 patients, 795 (5.5%) had an SSI. First, separate predictive models were built for three distinct administrative datasets. The final model, including hospitalization diagnostic, physician diagnostic and procedure codes, demonstrated excellent discrimination (C statistics, 0.91, 95% CI, 0.90-0.92) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow χ2 statistics, 4.531, p=0.402). Conclusion: We demonstrated that health administrative data can be effectively used to identify SSIs. Machine learning algorithms have shown a high degree of accuracy in predicting postoperative SSIs and can integrate and utilize a large amount of administrative data. External validation of this model is required before it can be routinely used to identify SSIs.
Deep Robust Residual Network for Brain MRI Super-Resolution
Authors: Song Liyao , Wang Quan , Liu Ting , Li Haiwei , Fan Jiancun , Yang Jian , Hu Bingliang 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Spatial resolution is a key factor of quantitatively evaluating the quality of magnetic resonance imagery (MRI). Super-resolution (SR) approaches can improve its spatial resolution by reconstructing high-resolution (HR) images from low-resolution (LR) ones to meet clinical and scientific requirements. To increase the quality of brain MRI, we study a robust residual-learning SR network (RRLSRN) to generate a sharp HR brain image from an LR input. Given that the Charbonnier loss can handle outliers well, and Gradient Difference Loss (GDL) can sharpen an image, we combine the Charbonnier loss and GDL to improve the robustness of the model and enhance the texture information of SR results. Two MRI datasets of adult brain, Kirby 21 and NAMIC, were used to train and verify the effectiveness of our model. To further verify the generalizability and robustness of the proposed model, we collected eight clinical fetal brain MRI data for evaluation. The experimental results show that the proposed deep residual-learning network achieved superior performance and high efficiency over other compared methods.
An association between accessing lecture recordings, but not lecture attendance, and overall marks for optometry students in a pharmacology course
Authors: Doggrell Sheila 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Most studies, in the absence and presence of lecture recordings, have shown that there is an association between lecture attendance and academic performance for students of the biological sciences, but it is not known whether this occurs when lecture attendance is low. The effect of accessing lecture recordings on academic outcomes is not clear. The aims were (i) to determine any association between lecture attendance and academic outcomes for students who had access to lecture recordings, (ii) to describe how students use lecture recordings, and (iii) to determine any association between accessing lecture recordings and academic outcomes.Methods: During the lecture in week 1 and workshops in week 2, written consent was sought from the students to undertake the study. Lecture attendance and lecture recording access were measured. To determine whether there was an association between attending lectures or accessing lecture recordings and academic outcomes, Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated.Results: Consent was forthcoming from 48 students (75%). The main findings in this study of lecture attendance and lecture recording access in second year undergraduate optometry students in a pharmacology course were (i) lecture attendance was very low (mean, 15%), (ii) there was no association between lecture attendance and academic outcomes, (iii) early in semester, most of the accessing of lecture recordings was shortly after the lecture was presented, whereas later in the semester, most of the accessing was prior to the examination, and (iv) there was a significant weak association between accessing lecture recordings and academic outcomes.Conclusions: It is possible that as lecture attendance decreases and students become more reliant on lecture recordings, the positive association between lecture attendance and academic outcomes is lost, and a positive association between accessing lecture recordings and academic outcomes emerges.
Reno-protective effect of exogenous glutathione on experimentally-induced acute kidney injury in male rats.
Authors: Naguib Yahya , Elgizawy Eman 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) or Acute renal failure (ARF) refers to the sudden damage or failure of the kidney within few hours or days and resulting in acute deterioration of the renal functions. If not properly treated, AKI may lead to chronic renal failure and possibly renal transplantation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of exogenous glutathione (GSH) on ciprofloxacin (GFX)-induced AKI. We also studied the effect of glutathione administration on some genes of interest.Methods: Forty male Wistar albino rats were equally divided into 4 groups. The control group received intra-peritoneal injection of distilled water for 15 consequent days. The GSH treated group received concomitant intra-peritoneal injection of distilled water and glutathione (200 mg/kg/day) for 15 consequent days. The CFX treated group received concomitant intra-peritoneal injection of distilled water and ciprofloxacin (800 mg/kg/day) for 15 consequent days. The CFX+GSH treated group received concomitant intra-peritoneal injection of CFX and CSH for 15 consequent days. Serum levels of creatinine, urea, cystatin C and GGT were measured. Renal CYP4F1, GPx, GSR gene expression was evaluated.Results: Exogenous GSH had no significant effect on the kidney functions or the studied genes when compared to the control group. Treatment with CFX resulted in significant increase (P<0.05) in creatinine, urea, cystatin C and GGT serum levels when compared to the control group. CFX treatment also significantly (P<0.05) down-regulated renal GPx, GSR mRNA levels, while it up-regulated renal CYP4F1, when compared to the corresponding values in the control rats. Serum levels of urea, creatinine and cystatin C were significantly lower (P<0.05) in CFX+GSH group when compared to the CFX treated rats. There was significant up-regulation (P<0.05) of the renal, GPx, GSR and down-regulation of CYP4F1 mRNA levels in the CFX+GSH group when compared to the corresponding values in the CFX treated group.Conclusion: Our results suggest a potential prophylactic and possibly therapeutic roles of exogenous GSH administration in the treatment of drug-induced AKI. We also demonstrated that the underlying mechanism could be explained, at least in part, by the antioxidant and gene modifying properties of GSH.
An evaluation of preschool educators’ life skills health education capacity: Scale development and verification
Authors: Chen Hui-Ling , Liu Chieh-Hsing 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Background: Preschool educators who facilitate life skills health education have an important role. Limited research has explored the comprehensive content and strategies of courses related to health education in kindergarten. The aim of this study is to create a questionnaire scale suitable for assessing preschool educators' capacity for life skills health education in Taipei, Taiwan. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to explore and assess life skills health education as a teaching approach for preschool educators. The scale was developed in three steps. The first step was to create a draft questionnaire that passed a validation review by 9 experts. The second step was a pretest (N=128) with category analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to create the formal version of the scale. The dimension analysis of the scale to assess the life skills health education capacity of preschool educators in kindergartens included cognition, attitude and self-efficacy. The third step was official testing (N=503), in which the efficacy criterion correlation validity test showed good simultaneous validity and discrimination. Results: The first draft of the pretest analysis contained 45 initial questions; 38 questions remained after 7 questions were deleted based on the EFA. According to the theoretical framework and after deleting 8 items that did not conform to the standard, a total of 30 questions were included in the formal scale. The two factors in the cognitive subscale were "health-promoting kindergarten" and "life skills teaching" for a total of 9 questions, and the two factors in the attitude subscale were "perceived benefits" and "perceived barriers" for a total of 11 questions. The three factors of the self-efficacy subscale were "adaptability and self-management ability", "decision-making and critical thinking ability" and "communication and interpersonal communication ability" for a total of 10 questions. Cronbach's α coefficient for each subscale fell in the range of .813 to .936. Conclusions: This scale has satisfactory reliability and validity and can be administered to assess the outcomes of pedagogical training for life skills health education for preschool educators in health-promoting kindergartens.
High serum serotonin as a favorable prognostic factor for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Kawai Takaharu , Midorikawa Yutaka , Nonaka Aya , Tsuji Shingo , Seki Motoaki , Nagae Genta , Takayama Tadatoshi 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
BackgroundSerotonin contributes to liver cancer progression; however, it also plays a pivotal role in liver regeneration after partial resection. This study aims to elucidate whether high serum serotonin is a prognostic factor for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsWe measured the pre-operation serum serotonin level of patients with HCC. Based on the median value of serum serotonin, patients were divided into the high serotonin group and the low serotonin group. The survival rates after operation were compared between the two groups.ResultsThe median serum serotonin level for 176 patients was 90.5 ng/mL (range, 1.0 − 399.5); 88 patients with serum serotonin level ≥ 90.5 were allocated to the high serotonin group and 88 patients to the low serotonin group. Histological findings showed that tumor stage was not different between the two groups. After a median follow-up period of 3.2 years (range, 0.9 − 7.4), median overall survival was 6.6 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7–NA) and 5.7 years (95% CI, 3.5–NA) in the high and the low serotonin groups, respectively (P = 0.042). The median recurrence-free survival of patients in the high serotonin group (2.2 years [95% CI, 1.7–3.2]) tended to be longer than that of patients in the low serotonin group (2.0 years [1.0–2.2]) (P = 0.091). The independent variables for overall survival were the high serum serotonin level (P = 0.049) and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin level (P = 0.032).ConclusionsHigh serum serotonin could be a favorable prognostic factor for HCC patients undergoing liver resection.Trial registrationThe study was approved (protocol number: 131) by the institutional review boards of Nihon University on December 15 in 2011.
Perception and practice of household waste disposal: a participatory household survey in Calamba City, Philippines
Authors: Baltazar Dalton Erick , Seki Erika 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
This report describes the household survey of practices and perceptions about waste management in the Philippines. The survey employs a participatory approach involving community members. It was found that a household holds, on the average, 2.69 kg of various wastes at any day. The prominent wastes include plastics, recyclables, and food residues. Despite well-established legal and administrative structures, most people do not know the location of facilities, and the majority do not understand the collection schedule. Respondents support the idea of better waste management and state voluntary contributions well above the environmental fee proposed by the local government.
Tailor-made generation of insulin-producing cells from canine mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow and adipose tissue
Authors: Rodprasert Watchareewan , Nantavisai Sirirat , Pathanachai Koranis , Pavasant Prasit , Osathanon Thanaphum , Sawangmake Chenphop 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Trend of regenerative therapy for diabetes in human and veterinary practice has conceptually been proven according to Edmonton protocol and animal models. Establishing an alternative insulin-producing cell (IPC) resource is a challenge task for further clinical application. In this study, IPC generation from two practical canine mesenchymal stem cells(cMSCs), canine bone marrow-derived MSCs (cBM-MSCs) and canine adipose-derived MSCs(cAD-MSCs), was of interest. The results illustrated that cBM-MSCs and cAD-MSCs contained distinct pancreatic differentiation potential and required the tailor-made induction protocols. Effective generation of cBM-MSC-derived IPCs needed an integration of genetic and microenvironment manipulation using hanging-drop culture of PDX-1-transfected cBM-MSCs under three-step pancreatic induction protocol. However, this protocol was resource- and time-consumed. Another study on cAD-MSC-derived IPC generation found that IPC colonies could be obtained by low attachment culture under three-step induction protocol. Further Notch signaling inhibition during pancreatic endoderm/progenitor induction yielded IPC colonies with trend of glucose-responsive C-peptide secretion. Thus, this study showed that IPCs could be obtained from cBM-MSCs and cAD-MSCs by different induction techniques, and further signaling manipulation study should be conducted to maximize the protocol efficiency.
Biological Properties and Pathological Stages of Chondrocyte Colony-Like Clusters in Human Osteoarthritic Cartilage Tissue
Authors: WANG XIAOJIAN , WEI LEI , WEI XIAOCHUN , XUE YAN , ZHANG ZHIQIANG , ZHANG YANG , LU XIAO , LI RONGSHAN 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
During the development of knee osteoarthritis(OA), chondrocyte colony-like clusters occur in cartilage tissue. However, the significance of chondrocyte colony-like cluster formation in cartilage tissue remains unclear. In these studies,we investigated the timing and location of chondrocyte colony-like clusters in cartilage tissue during the development of human knee OA,and explored the biological properties of chondrocytes in colony-like clusters and their significance for degenerative cartilage tissue. The resulte showed that chondrocyte colony-like clusters mainly formed in the OARSI grades 3 and 4 cartilage tissue,which could divide into four stages according to the quantity and biological properties of the chondrocytes inside the cluster.The chondrocyte colony-like clusters in cartilage tissue could cause the cartilage tissue to become looser and more porous, with more severe cartilage degeneration. To understand this, we further clarified the development of this disease and provided a new direction for the treatment of knee OA.
Intermittent protein restriction improves glucose homeostasis and restores damaged islet beta cells in diabetic mice
Authors: Wei Siying , Li Chenchen , Luo Xuemei , Yang Lanzexin , Yu Long , Wang Qintao , Meng Zhuo-Xian , Wang Tao , Chen Yan 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Estimation of Clearance Rate of Iodine-131 From Thyroid Cancer Patients Based on Individual Patient’s Characteristic.
Authors: Myssayev Altay , Myssayev Ayan , Ideguchi Reiko , Nishi Kodai , Fukuda Naoko , Ito Ayako , Haraguchi Ai , Horie Ichiro , Kawakami Atsushi , Kudo Takashi 
Published: December 2020

Abstract
Differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTC) are the most frequent malignancies of the endocrine system in 2015 in Japan. The purpose of this study is to estimate clearance rate of Iodine-131 from thyroid cancer patients based on individual patient’s characteristics. Materials and methods: We conducted retrospective study including 87 cases with DTC who had received RAI from June 2016 till July 2018. Patients who had complete information on primary tumor size (PTS) as mentioned in their histopathology reports, TNM staging, serum TSH (uIU/ml), free-T3 (pg/mL), free-T4 (ng/dL), thyroglobulin level (Tg) (ng/ml) (one month before, on the day of the treatment, and one month after receiving RAI), anti-Tg antibodies (IU/mL), dose of Levothyroxine (before and after RAI), as well as renal function (creatinine, BUN, eGFR), exposure rate (µSv/h) and taken dose (mCi) were included in our study. Results: Univariate analysis showed significant associations of effective half-life with several factors (gender, body height, body weight, eGFR, size of tumor, dose of Levothyroxine, free-T3 one month after receiving RAI). Conclusion: Effective management of these factors could help the doctors to optimize the occupancy of isolated rooms with higher output, but also reduce the operational cost of the hospital and improving the comfort to patients.