bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Vaccination Behavior among Children with Developmental Delay and their siblings: A cross sectional study from Kerala
Authors: Basheer Salah , Uvais NA 
Published: May 2020

AbstractBackground and AimDespite multiple scientific evidence to the contrary, parental concerns with respect to association of vaccination and development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) persist. Mental health professionals work closely with families with developmental disabilities. Greater understanding regarding the vaccination status in siblings of children with developmental disabilities and its associated factors will help them to contribute to public health strategies in combating infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to study the vaccination uptake and its associated factors in sibling of children with developmental disabilities.Materials and MethodsThe study design was cross sectional in nature. The families of children with developmental disabilities were recruited into the study from three child developmental centres. The data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The recruitment of participants into the study was done from December 2017 to February 2018.Results189 families with children with developmental disabilities were recruited into the study. In total, these children had 114 typically developing elder siblings and 50 typically developing younger sibling. The proportion of overall complete vaccination among children with developmental disabilities group and the younger sibling group were significantly lower than their older sibling group (P<0.01). The proportion of MMR vaccination among children with developmental disabilities group and the younger sibling group were significantly lower than their older sibling group (P<0.001).ConclusionsFindings from this study suggest that the reduced vaccination uptake is a general trend in families of children with developmental delay. Such a significant fall in the vaccination rate in this group of children will make them vulnerable in case of outbreaks. This emphasise the need to have public health strategies targeted to improve the vaccination rate in families of children with developmental disabilities.
SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in industry workers in Split-Dalmatia and Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia
Authors: Jerković Ivan , Ljubić Toni , Bašić Željana , Kružić Ivana , Kunac Nenad , Bezić Joško , Vuko Arijana , Markotić Alemka , Anđelinović Šimun 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDAs a result of global spread, COVID-19 has also affected the Republic of Croatia in the last week of February. Although official data show that the number of newly infected is declining, it is still unknown what proportion of the population has been affected by the disease.AIMTo examine seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in industry workers population sample.METHODSFrom 23 to 28 April 2020, we conducted serological testing for antibodies (IgG and IgM) on 1494 factory employees living in the Split-Dalmatia and Šibenik-Knin County (Croatia). We analysed antibody seroprevalence on the level of the company, county, and separately for employees living at the factory premises with limited mobility during the lockdown measures.RESULTSIn a total sample of tested company employees, we detected antibodies in 1.27% of participants (95% CI 0.77-1.98%). In Split facility 13/1316 (0.99%, 95% CI 0.53-1.68%) of participants were tested positive, of which 13/1079 (1.20%, 95% CI 0.64-2.05%) of those living outside the facility and 0/237 (0%, 95% CI 0-1.26%) of those living inside the facility. In Knin facility, 6/178 (3.37%, 95% CI 1.25-7.19%) participants were tested positive for antibodies. The difference between Split (no mobility restrictions) and Knin, was not statistically significant (χ2 = 3.47, P = 0.062).CONCLUSIONSThe study showed relatively small SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in the DIV Group population sample. When the study findings are interpreted on the county levels, they could indicate that most of the counties’ population was not exposed to the virus.
The Effect of a Simple Phone Call Intervention on FIT-Positive Individuals: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Wong Gretel Jianlin , Lau Jerrald , Tan Ker-Kan 
Published: May 2020

AbstractPurposeColorectal cancer (CRC) screening has been shown to improve patient outcomes. A widely utilised preliminary screening tool is the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT). However, follow-up rates after a positive FIT result remain suboptimal.MethodsIn order to improve FIT-positive individuals’ compliance to follow-up consultation and to elucidate barriers to action, a simple 5- to 10-minute telephone intervention with a structured script based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) was conducted.ResultsNinety-two FIT-positive individuals who had previously rejected follow-up consultation in the National University Hospital, Singapore were interviewed by the study team. Individuals reported barriers to action such as the denial of a positive FIT result (41.8%) and a lack of knowledge (34.5%). More than 20% of the participants who had yet to schedule follow-up consultation changed their minds after the intervention.ConclusionThe results suggest that a simple, structured telephone call can potentially encourage more FIT-positive individuals to pursue follow-up investigation.
A novel COVID-19 epidemiological model with explicit susceptible and asymptomatic isolation compartments reveals unexpected consequences of timing social distancing
Authors: Gevertz Jana L. , Greene James M. , Sanchez-Tapia Cynthia , Sontag Eduardo D. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractMotivated by the current COVID-19 epidemic, this work introduces an epidemiological model in which separate compartments are used for susceptible and asymptomatic “socially distant” populations. Distancing directives are represented by rates of flow into these compartments, as well as by a reduction in contacts that lessens disease transmission. The dynamical behavior of this system is analyzed, under various different rate control strategies, and the sensitivity of the basic reproduction number to various parameters is studied. One of the striking features of this model is the existence of a critical implementation delay (“CID”) in issuing separation mandates: while a delay of about two weeks does not have an appreciable effect on the peak number of infections, issuing mandates even slightly after this critical time results in a far greater incidence of infection. Thus, there is a nontrivial but tight “window of opportunity” for commencing social distancing in order to meet the capacity of healthcare resources. However, if one wants to also delay the timing of peak infections –so as to take advantage of potential new therapies and vaccines– action must be taken much faster than the CID. Different relaxation strategies are also simulated, with surprising results. Periodic relaxation policies suggest a schedule which may significantly inhibit peak infective load, but that this schedule is very sensitive to parameter values and the schedule’s frequency. Furthermore, we considered the impact of steadily reducing social distancing measures over time. We find that a too-sudden reopening of society may negate the progress achieved under initial distancing guidelines, but the negative effects can be mitigated if the relaxation strategy is carefully designed.
Forecasting Covid-19 dynamics in Brazil: a data driven approach
Authors: Pereira Igor G. , Guerin Joris M. , Silva Júnior Andouglas G. , Distante Cosimo , Garcia Gabriel S. , Gonçalves Luiz M. G. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThis paper has a twofold contribution. The first is a data driven approach for predicting the Covid-19 pandemic dynamics, based on data from more advanced countries. The second is to report and discuss the results obtained with this approach for Brazilian states, as of May 4th, 2020. We start by presenting preliminary results obtained by training an LSTM-SAE network, which are somewhat disappointing. Then, our main approach consists in an initial clustering of the world regions for which data is available and where the pandemic is at an advanced stage, based on a set of manually engineered features representing a country’s response to the early spread of the pandemic. A Modified Auto-Encoder network is then trained from these clusters and learns to predict future data for Brazilian states. These predictions are used to estimate important statistics about the disease, such as peaks. Finally, curve fitting is carried out on the predictions in order to find the distribution that best fits the outputs of the MAE, and to refine the estimates of the peaks of the pandemic. Results indicate that the pandemic is still growing in Brazil, with most states peaks of infection estimated between the 25th of April and the 19th of May 2020. Predicted numbers reach a total of 240 thousand infected Brazilians, distributed among the different states, with São Paulo leading with almost 65 thousand estimated, confirmed cases. The estimated end of the pandemics (with 97% of cases reaching an outcome) starts as of May 28th for some states and rests through August 14th, 2020.
Distinct systems serology features in children, elderly and COVID patients
Authors: Selva Kevin J. , van de Sandt Carolien E. , Lemke Melissa M. , Lee Christina Y. , Shoffner Suzanne K. , Chua Brendon Y. , Nguyen Thi H.O. , Rowntree Louise C. , Hensen Luca , Koutsakos Marios , Wong Chinn Yi , Jackson David C. , Flanagan Katie L. , Crowe Jane , Cheng Allen C. , Doolan Denise L. , Amanat Fatima , Krammer Florian , Chappell Keith , Modhiran Naphak , Watterson Daniel , Young Paul , Wines Bruce , Hogarth P. Mark , Esterbauer Robyn , Kelly Hannah G. , Tan Hyon-Xhi , Juno Jennifer A. , Wheatley Adam K. , Kent Stephen J. , Arnold Kelly B. , Kedzierska Katherine , Chung Amy W. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractSARS-CoV-2, the pandemic coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has infected millions worldwide, causing unparalleled social and economic disruptions. COVID-19 results in higher pathogenicity and mortality in the elderly compared to children. Examining baseline SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive coronavirus immunological responses, induced by circulating human coronaviruses, is critical to understand such divergent clinical outcomes. The cross-reactivity of coronavirus antibody responses of healthy children (n=89), adults (n=98), elderly (n=57), and COVID-19 patients (n=19) were analysed by systems serology. While moderate levels of cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgM, and IgA were detected in healthy individuals, we identified serological signatures associated with SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific Fcγ receptor binding, which accurately distinguished COVID-19 patients from healthy individuals and suggested that SARS-CoV-2 induces qualitative changes to antibody Fc upon infection, enhancing Fcγ receptor engagement. Vastly different serological signatures were observed between healthy children and elderly, with markedly higher cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG observed in elderly, whereas children displayed elevated SARS-CoV-2 IgM, including receptor binding domain-specific IgM with higher avidity. These results suggest that less-experienced humoral immunity associated with higher IgM, as observed in children, may have the potential to induce more potent antibodies upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. These key insights will inform COVID-19 vaccination strategies, improved serological diagnostics and therapeutics.
When Second Best Might be the Best: Using Hospitalization Data to Monitor the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic
Authors: Mallow Peter J. , Jones Michael 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThe novel coronavirus’ high rate of asymptomatic transmission combined with a lack of testing kits call for a different approach to monitor its spread and severity. We proposed the use of hospitalizations and hospital utilization data to monitor the spread and severity. A proposed threshold of a declining 7-day moving average over a 14-day period, “7&14” was set to communicate when a wave of the novel coronavirus may have passed. The state of Ohio was chosen to illustrate this threshold. While not the ideal solution for monitoring the spread of the epidemic, the proposed approach is an easy to implement framework accounting for limitations of the data inherent in the current epidemic. Hospital administrators and policy makers may benefit from incorporating this approach into their decision making.
Robot dance: a city-wise automatic control of Covid-19 mitigation levels
Authors: Silva Paulo J. S. , Pereira Tiago , Nonato Luis Gustavo 
Published: May 2020

AbstractWe develop an automatic control system to help to design efficient mitigation measures for the Covid-19 epidemic in cities. Taking into account parameters associated to the population of each city and the mobility among them, the optimal control framework suggests the level and duration of protective measures that must be implemented to ensure that the number of infected individuals is within a range that avoids the collapse of the health care system. Compared against other mitigation measures that are implemented simultaneously and in equal strength across cities our method has three major particularities when:Accounts for city commute and health infrastructure: It takes into account the daily commute among cities to estimate the dynamics of infected people while keeping the number of infected people within a desired level at each city avoiding the collapse of its health care system.City-specific control: It allows for orchestrating the control measures among cities so as to prevent all cities to face the same level control. The model tends to induce alternation between periods of stricter controls and periods of a more normal life in each city and among the cities.Flexible scenarios: It is flexible enough to allow for simulating the impact of particular actions. For example, one can simulate the how the control all cities change when the number of care beds increases in specific places.Therefore, our method creates an automatic dance adjusting mitigation levels within cities and alternating among cities as suggested in [9]. This automatic dance may help the city economy and orchestration of resources.We provide case studies using the major cities of the state of São Paulo given by using estimates on the daily mobility among the cities their health care system capacity. We use official data in our case studies. However, sub-notification of infected people in Brazil is notoriously high. Hence the case study should not be considered as a real world policy suggestion. It high sub-notification is taken into account, the optimal control algorithm will suggest stricter mitigation measures, as also shown in the case studies. Surprisingly, the total duration of the protocol for the state is barely affected by the sub-notification, but the severity of such protocols is strengthened. This stresses a twofold implication, first, the protocol depends on high-quality data and, second, such optimal and orchestrated protocol is robust and can be adjusted to the demand.
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Sex-Specific COVID-19 Clinical Outcomes
Authors: Galbadage Thushara , Peterson Brent M. , Awada Joseph , Buck Alison S. , Ramirez Danny A. , Wilson Jason , Gunasekera Richard S. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractTo successfully mitigate the extraordinary devastation caused by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is crucial to identify important risk factors for this disease. One such neglected health determinant is the sex of the patient. This is an essential clinical characteristic, as it can factor into a patient’s clinical management and preventative measures. Some clinical studies have shown disparities in the proportion between males and females that have more severe clinical outcomes or, subsequently, die from this disease. However, this association has not been unequivocally established. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the association between male sex and COVID-19 severity. We systematically reviewed the literature, identified non-randomized studies that matched predetermined selection criteria, and performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the proportion of males among four disease severity categories. Appropriate assessment strategies were implemented to assess and minimize potential biases. The results of this meta-analysis indicated that males constituted a significantly higher proportion of those who had adverse clinical outcomes and died from COVID-19. As the coronavirus spread from the East to the West, male sex remained a consistent risk factor. Our results support the establishment of the male sex as an important risk factor for this disease. Early identification and appropriate medical care for males with lab-confirmed COVID-19 may substantially change the course of clinical prognosis, resulting in greater numbers of lives saved.
Empirical Model of Spring 2020 Decrease in Daily Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in King County, Washington
Authors: Roach Jared C. 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTProjections of the near future of daily case incidence of COVID-19 are valuable for informing public policy. Near-future estimates are also useful for outbreaks of other diseases. Short-term predictions are unlikely to be affected by changes in herd immunity. In the absence of major net changes in factors that affect reproduction number (R), the two-parameter exponential model should be a standard model – indeed, it has been standard for epidemiological analysis of pandemics for a century but in recent decades has lost popularity to more complex compartmental models. Exponential models should be routinely included in reports describing epidemiological models as a reference, or null hypothesis. Exponential models should be fitted separately for each epidemiologically distinct jurisdiction. They should also be fitted separately to time intervals that differ by any major changes in factors that affect R. Using an exponential model, incidence-count half-life (t1/2) is a better statistic than R. Here an example of the exponential model is applied to King County, Washington during Spring 2020. During the pandemic, the parameters and predictions of this model have remained stable for intervals of one to four months, and the accuracy of model predictions has outperformed models with more parameters. The COVID pandemic can be modeled as a series of exponential curves, each spanning an interval ranging from one to four months. The length of these intervals is hard to predict, other than to extrapolate that future intervals will last about as long as past intervals.
Clinical assessment and validation of a rapid and sensitive SARS-CoV-2 test using reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification
Authors: Anahtar Melis N. , McGrath Graham E.G. , Rabe Brian A. , Tanner Nathan A. , White Benjamin A. , Lennerz Jochen K.M. , Branda John A. , Cepko Constance L. , Rosenberg Eric S. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractAmid the enduring COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for expanded access to rapid and sensitive SARS-CoV-2 testing worldwide. Here we present a simple clinical workflow that uses a sensitive and highly specific colorimetric reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) to detect SARS-CoV-2 and takes forty minutes from sample collection to result. This test requires no specialized equipment and costs a few dollars per sample. Nasopharyngeal samples collected in saline were added either directly (unprocessed) to RT-LAMP reactions or first inactivated by a combined chemical and heat treatment step to inhibit RNases and lyse virions and human cells. The specimens were then amplified with two SARS-CoV-2-specific primer sets and an internal specimen control; the resulting color change was visually interpreted. While direct addition of unprocessed specimens to RT-LAMP reactions could reliably detect samples with abundant SARS-CoV-2, the assay sensitivity markedly increased after the addition of an inactivation step. In 62 clinical samples with a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid concentrations, the assay had 87.5% sensitivity and 100% specificity with a limit of detection at least 25 copies/μL, making it an ideal test to rule in infection. To increase sensitivity, samples that tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 by direct sample addition could be reflexed to a purification step, to increase the effective per-reaction sample input volume. In 40 purified samples, the assay yielded a 90% sensitivity and 100% specificity, with a limit of detection comparable to commercially available real-time PCR-based diagnostics that have received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. This test for SARS-CoV-2 can be performed in a range of settings for a fraction of the price of other available tests, with limited equipment, and without relying on over-burdened supply chains to increase overall testing capacity.
COVID-19 genomic susceptibility: Definition of ACE2 variants relevant to human infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the context of ACMG/AMP Guidance
Authors: Shovlin Claire L , Vizcaychipi Marcela P. 
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACTBackgroundMortality remains very high and unpredictable in CoViD-19, with intense public protection strategies tailored to preceived risk. Males are at greater risk of severe CoViD-19 complications. Genomic studies are in process to identify differences in host susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.MethodsGenomic structures were examined for the ACE2 gene that encodes angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, the obligate receptor for SARS-CoV-2. Variants in 213,158 exomes/genomes were integrated with ACE2 protein functional domains, and pathogenicity criteria from the American Society of Human Genetics and Genomics/Association for Molecular Pathology.Results483 variants were identified in the 19 exons of ACE2 on the X chromosome. All variants were rare, including nine loss-of-function (potentially SARS-CoV-2 protective) alleles present only in female heterozygotes. Unopposed variant alleles were more common in males (262/3596 [7.3%] nucleotides) than females (9/3596 [0.25%] nucleotides, p<0.0001). 37 missense variants substituted amino acids in SARS-CoV-2 interacting regions or critical domains for transmembrane ACE2 expression. Four upstream open reading frames with 31 associated variants were identified. Excepting loss-of-function alleles, variants would not meet minimum criteria for classification as ‘Likely Pathogenic/beneficial’ if differential frequencies emerged in patients with CoViD-19.ConclusionsMales are more exposed to consequences from a single variant ACE2 allele. Common risk/beneficial alleles are unlikely in regions subject to evolutionary constraint. ACE2 upstream open reading frames may have implications for aminoglycoside use in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. For this SARS-CoV-2-interacting protein with pre-identified functional domains, pre-emptive functional and computational studies are encouraged to accelerate interpretations of genomic variation for personalised and public health use.