bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and impact of comorbid obstructive sleep apnoea in diffuse parenchymal lung diseases
Authors: Li Diandian , Wang Bo , Liu Yi , Wang Haohua 
Published: February 2021

Objective
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are increasingly recognized as important features in diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (DPLDs) with differed prevalence and impact reported. The aim of this study is to systematically review the prevalence of comorbid OSA and characterize its impact on clinical and outcome measurements in adults with DPLDs.

Methods
Publications addressing the prevalence of OSA in DPLDs and its impacts on DPLDs were selected from electronic databases. A random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of OSA. Odds ratios (ORs) or mean differences (MDs) were used to assess the associations of OSA with clinical and outcome measurements. Heterogeneity was quantified by I2 with 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

Results
4 studies comprising 643 participants were included. Overall, the pooled prevalence of OSA among DPLDs was 72% (95% CI: 65–79%; I2 = 75.4%). Moderate-severe OSA was observed in 40% patients (95% CI: 28–52%; I2 = 90.8%). The prevalence was higher as 76% in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients than in connective tissue associated-ILD or sarcoidosis (60%). Although oxygen desaturation during sleep was greater in OSA group compared with non-OSA patients, there was no difference in lung function or systematic comorbidities between the two groups. The associations between OSA and the mortality or disease progression of DPLDs were also systematically reviewed.

Conclusion
In conclusion, OSA is a common comorbidity in DPLD patients, affecting approximately three in four patients, which may exacerbate the nocturnal desaturation and have negative influence on the outcomes. Larger studies with more homogeneous samples are warranted.
Comparisons of fatigue between dialysis modalities: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Maruyama Yukio , Nakayama Masaaki , Ueda Atsushi , Miyazaki Mariko , Yokoo Takashi 
Published: February 2021

Background
Fatigue is one of the most frequent complications in dialyzed patients and is associated with poorer patient outcomes. Multiple factors are reported to be associated with fatigue development. Of them, the impacts of dialysis modalities remain unknown.

Methods
A total of 194 dialysis patients (mean age, 61±11 years; 134 males; modalities included hemodialysis (HD) in 26, online hemodiafiltration (HDF) in 74, peritoneal dialysis (PD) in 68, and combined therapy with PD and HD in 26 cases) were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Fatigue was assessed using the Profile of Mood States (POMS), a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and our original scale of fatigue, and depression was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory-second edition (BDI-II). Our original scale of fatigue was administered both on dialysis and dialysis-free days to patients on HD and online HDF.

Results
The scores of the POMS, VAS, and our original scale were weakly but significantly inter-related (rho = 0.58, P<0.01; rho = 0.47, P<0.01, and rho = 0.42, P<0.01 between POMS and VAS, POMS and our original scale for fatigue, and VAS and our original scale for fatigue, respectively). The scores of these 3 tests showed no significant differences among the 4 modalities. On multivariate analysis, age, body mass index, creatinine, and employment status were associated with the presence or severity of fatigue, whereas dialysis modality was not. A similar result was obtained in 122 patients without depression. The prevalence of fatigue by our original scale was significantly lower on dialysis-free days than on dialysis days in patients on HD and online HDF.

Conclusions
The results suggest that there is no significant association between different dialysis modalities including HD, online HDF, PD and combined therapy with PD and HD and the prevalence or severity of fatigue.
Determinants of the number of heavy metal musicians per capita
Authors: Maguire Donald 
Published: February 2021

This study is a follow-up to the 2015 study titled ‘Determinants of the production of heavy metal music’. That study attempted to find an equation that would predict the number of heavy metal bands that each country had. That study was unable to arrive at a single equation, and double counting the output of musicians who were in more than one band was likely the reason.
This study re-tests the variables that were found to be significant in the original study, some alternatives to those variables, and reconsiders some variables that were not found to be significant in the original study. To overcome the problem that the original study had with double counting the output of musicians who were in more than one band, this study uses the number of metal musicians per 100,000 people as the dependent variable rather than the number of heavy metal bands per 100,000 people.
The independent variables considered in this study are as follows: the percentage of population with access to electricity, the number of unpaid parking tickets per UN diplomat during the period in which the City of New York was not enforcing parking violations on diplomats, the number of concert halls per million population, the Democracy Index, the percentage of the population who speak English, per capita electrical consumption, the average GDP per capita for the prior 3 years, the GINI index, latitude, life expectancy, Scandinavian Law, the average number of years of school that a citizen is expected to complete, the number of years the country was governed under constitutions that made reference to Marxism (with several variants capping the number of years at 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60), males between the ages of 15 and 24 as a percentage of the total population, males between the ages of 15 and 24 as a percentage of all males, the percentage of the population that identifies as Catholic and the percentage of the population that is not affiliated with a religion.
The study found that changing the dependent variable from the number of metal bands per 100,000 to the number of metal musicians per 100,000 people did address the problem of double counting the output of some musicians; the original study was unable to arrive at a single equation as a model, this study was able to do that. This study and the original study arrived at the same significant independent variables: the number of concert halls per million population, latitude, Scandinavian law, Years Marxist, males between the ages of 15 and 24 as a percentage of the total population, the percentage of the population that identifies as Catholic and the percentage of the population that is not affiliated with a religion.
Transcultural Psychiatry: Comparison of Eastern and Western Culture and their influence on mental health and its treatment
Authors: Tiong Shyun Ping , Rajkumari Starry , Rasidi NurFariesha Farhanna binti , Poplavskaya Olga Viktorovna 
Published: February 2021

Introduction

In a globalizing world the need for humans to understand one another is fundamental. Transcultural Psychiatry aims to bridge the differences due to culture, norms and values, especially in a controversial topic such as the paranormal between doctors and patients.

Objectives

To study the beliefs of Eastern and Western populations on the subject of religion, the paranormal and its relation to mental health.

Methods

The study was conducted targeting citizens of Eastern and Western countries (target sample size 200). A survey and 2 case studies were distributed, aimed to determine respondents level of belief in cultural superstitions and practices, views on mental disorders and opinions on treatment. A chi-square statistical test (significance set at 0.05) was performed to test validity.

Results

Results are tabulated in Table 1. In the case studies, P-value =4.68x10
-6 proves a strong relationship between East/West populations and their viewpoints on mental illness vs. possession. There is a strong relationship (p=3.37x10
-5) between respondents beliefs in spiritual healing and its effectiveness in treating mental illness.
Table 1
East
West
Total respondents (226)
58%
42%
Identified as religious
74%
26%
Strong belief in paranormal
85%
15%
Effectiveness of spiritual healing
55%
45%
Preferred methods of treatment
Mental health professionals
54%
46%
Religious healer/psychic
90%
10%

Conclusions

The study revealed that Eastern populations are far more superstitious and religious than their Western conterparts, and also have higher belief in the effectiveness of spiritual healing to treat mental disorders. This difference demonstrates the importance of integrating culture into diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, and further explore methods for more inclusive treatment plans.
Practical generation of common random strings for secure multiparty computations over the Internet
Authors: Vajda István 
Published: February 2021

It is known that most of the interesting multiparty cryptographic tasks cannot be implemented securely without trusted setup in a general concurrent network environment like the Internet. We need an appropriate trusted third party to solve this problem. An important trusted setup is a public random string shared by the parties. We present a practical n-bit coin toss protocol for provably secure implementation of such setup. Our idea is inviting external peers into the execution of the protocol to establish an honest majority among the parties. We guarantee security in the presence of an unconditional, static, malicious adversary. Additionally, we present an original practical idea of using live public radio broadcast channels for the generation of common physical random source.
Liquid antisolvent recrystallization and solid dispersion of flufenamic acid with polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30
Authors: Kumar Rahul , Kumar Sanjay , Chaudhari Pranava , Thakur Amit K. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
Flufenamic acid (FFA) is a Biopharmaceutical Classification System- II (BCS-II) class drug with poor bioavailability and a lower dissolution rate. Particle size reduction is one of the conventional approaches to increase the dissolution rate and subsequently the bioavailability. The use of the liquid antisolvent method for particle size reduction of FFA was studied in this work. Ethanol and water were used as solvent and antisolvent, respectively. Experimental parameters such as solution concentration (10–40 mg/ml), flow rate (120–480 ml/h), temperature (298–328 K) and stirring speed (200–800 rpm) were investigated. Furthermore, the solid dispersion of FFA was prepared with polyvinylpyrrolidone K-30 (PVP K-30) with different weight ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4) and samples were characterized using SEM, FTIR and XRD techniques. The experimental investigation revealed that higher values of concentration, injection rate, stirring speed, along with lower temperature favored the formation of fine particles. SEM analysis revealed that the morphology of raw FFA changed from rock-like to rectangular-like after liquid antisolvent recrystallization. FTIR analysis validated the presence of hydrogen bonding between FFA and PVP in solid dispersion. XRD analysis showed no significant change in the crystallinity of the processed FFA.
Outer Hair Cell Glutamate Signaling through Type II Spiral Ganglion Afferents Activates Neurons in the Cochlear Nucleus in Response to Nondamaging Sounds
Authors: Weisz Catherine J.C. , Williams Sean-Paul G. , Eckard Chad S. , Divito Christopher B. , Ferreira David W. , Fantetti Kristen N. , Dettwyler Shenin A. , Cai Hou-Ming , Rubio Maria E. , Kandler Karl , Seal Rebecca P. 
Published: February 2021

Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) are known to uniquely participate in auditory processing through their electromotility, and like inner hair cells, are also capable of releasing vesicular glutamate onto spiral ganglion (SG) neurons: in this case, onto the sparse Type II SG neurons. However, unlike glutamate signaling at the inner hair cell-Type I SG neuron synapse, which is robust across a wide spectrum of sound intensities, glutamate signaling at the OHC-Type II SG neuron synapse is weaker and has been hypothesized to occur only at intense, possibly damaging sound levels. Here, we tested the ability of the OHC-Type II SG pathway to signal to the brain in response to moderate, nondamaging sound (80 dB SPL) as well as to intense sound (115 dB SPL). First, we determined the VGluTs associated with OHC signaling and then confirmed the loss of glutamatergic synaptic transmission from OHCs to Type II SG neurons in KO mice using dendritic patch-clamp recordings. Next, we generated genetic mouse lines in which vesicular glutamate release occurs selectively from OHCs, and then assessed c-Fos expression in the cochlear nucleus in response to sound. From these analyses, we show, for the first time, that glutamatergic signaling at the OHC-Type II SG neuron synapse is capable of activating cochlear nucleus neurons, even at moderate sound levels.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTEvidence suggests that cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) release glutamate onto Type II spiral ganglion neurons only when exposed to loud sound, and that Type II neurons are activated by tissue damage. Knowing whether moderate level sound, without tissue damage, activates this pathway has functional implications for this fundamental auditory pathway. We first determined that OHCs rely largely on VGluT3 for synaptic glutamate release. We then used a genetically modified mouse line in which OHCs, but not inner hair cells, release vesicular glutamate to demonstrate that moderate sound exposure activates cochlear nucleus neurons via the OHC-Type II spiral ganglion pathway. Together, these data indicate that glutamate signaling at the OHC-Type II afferent synapse participates in auditory function at moderate sound levels.
Overview of the Trade Relations Between the European Community/Union and the United States at the Threshold of Globalization and Post -globalization Era
Authors: Ludwikowski Rett R. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The main goal of this article is to present to the European reader the implications of the unstable relationships between the United States and an integrated Europe. The article focuses on the trade relations between the US and Europe in the globalization era. It explains the meaning of some basic terms used by trade experts, such as globalization, regionalization, glocalization, and strategic trade. The author also tries to explore the reasons for the recent crisis of global trade. The main part of the paper reviews the major disputes between these two regions which resulted in postponing of the negotiations of the Trans -Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. As we have observed in the introduction of the article, the relationships between the European Union and the United States have always been complicated and the article presents the main reasons for these disagreements. In a time of renewed Trans -Atlantic negotiations, pro -American sentiments in Europe grew stronger, and European experts on trade and politics emphasized that the US significantly increased support for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI). Still, with comments repeated by President Trump many times that “Europe needs its own army”, the European media began warning the readers that the crisis in US -EU relations may soon return.
The Influence of Populistic and Protectionist Policy of the Trump Administration on the Treatment of Foreign Nationals Applying for Immigration Benefits
Authors: Ludwikowski Anna M. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The article focuses on the obstacles to legal immigration imposed by the Trump administration against those who are already in the US pursuant to their valid non -immigrant classification and those who are abroad and trying to reunite with family members in the US or seeking entry having a legitimate job offer from a US employer. Recent changes in US immigration policy have been achieved through restrictive interpretation and enforcement of existing law by the USCIS which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and by the State Department (DOS) rather than by substantive legislative changes done in Congress. The article provides an overview of the most recent governmental restrictions affecting so called “business immigration” and family -based immigrant processing, and also restrictions on suspension of entry to the US due to Covid-19, introduced through presidential proclamations. Although the federal courts blocked several of these administrative initiatives, the anti--immigrant atmosphere is having a big negative impact on many groups of foreign nationals. Nationalistic notions of “making America great again” that should be accomplished through “buy American and hire American” principle, and legal uncertainty causing ongoing federal lawsuits will undoubtedly lead to America’s further isolationism if President Trump wins the November 2020 election.
Behavioural switching during oscillations of intracellular Ca2+ concentration in free-swimming human sperm
Authors: Torrezan-Nitao Elis , Guidobaldi Héctor , Giojalas Laura , Barratt Christopher , Publicover Stephen 
Published: February 2021

Lay summary
A human sperm must swim to the egg to fertilise it. To do this the sperm uses different types of swimming (behaviours) as they are needed. When we watch sperm swimming we see that they regularly change behaviour, sometimes repeatedly switching between two different types. Calcium ions inside cells are crucial in controlling many cell functions and in sperm they play a key role in regulating their behaviour. Here we have measured the concentration of calcium ions inside swimming human sperm. We found that in 12/35 (34%) of the cells we assessed, the concentration of calcium changed repeatedly, averaging more than one cycle of rise and fall per minute. These changes in the concentration of calcium ions occurred as the sperm switched swimming stroke, suggesting that oscillation of calcium concentration is involved in controlling the switching of sperm behaviour. Impaired sperm motility is an important cause of subfertility in men. Understanding how sperm behaviour is controlled will allow the development of treatments that can rescue the fertility of sperm with impaired motility.
Del enemigo político al enemigo en la necropolítica
Authors: Álvarez Garro Laura 
Published: February 2021

Este artículo gira alrededor del concepto de enemigo, tomando como referente el trabajo de Carl Schmitt, en conjunción con aportes de Sigmund Freud y Jacques Lacan. El objetivo de este artículo es contrastar la propuesta de Schmitt con los aportes de Freud y Lacan, con la pretensión de solventar problemas de carácter teórico y práctico. Luego, se discute si la propuesta de Achille Mbembe sugiere una transformación en la idea de enemistad, o si es un agudizamiento de condiciones previas; analizando a profundidad si el enemigo en la necropolítica corresponde al planteamiento del enemigo absoluto en Schmitt. Finalmente, se examina cuáles son las condiciones políticas contemporáneas que han propiciado un aumento en los escenarios de necropoder.
Women Health Right and Empowerment during Childbirth
Authors: Alshehri Norah A. , Sabr Yasser , AlAlshaikh Alanoud , Alshehri Khalid , Alqahtani Shahad , Alzamil Yara , Ghabban Mouaiad 
Published: February 2021

Background: Women health right and empowerment during childbirth is an emerging important topic worldwide. Violation of women dignity, privacy, and confidentiality impact birth outcomes as consequence influencing both morbidity and mortality rate. This occurs as result to complex reasons that attributable to health services which include inadequate coverage of health care, lack of trained assistance, insufficient essential obstetric care and poor health referral system.

Objective: To explore women experience during childbirth in terms of health rights and the quality of care provided and to further study women attuited and experience with midwives and their future role in obstetric care.

Method: Based on informant report, a random snowballing sampling technique was carried out through using an anonymous online - based questionnaire. Participants in this study were (n=360) women. Ethical approval was obtained by the institutional review board at King Saud University (IRB No. E-18-32836).

Results: The majority of women reported their childbirth experience as unfavourable. According to our findings, women encounter various kinds of obstetric violence including denial of access to a health care, restriction of analgesia, violation of privacy and failure of obtaining an informed consent which found to be high as (91.0%), (53.0%) respectively.

Conclusion: Optimal maternity care can be assured through appropriate access to medical resources and health care expertise with a higher priority committed to supporting midwife-led care during childbirth.
Effect of nitrogen fertiliser on the rate of lipid peroxidation of different maize hybrids in a long-term multifactorial experiment
Authors: Illés Á. , Bojtor Cs. , Széles A. , Mousavi S.M.N. , Tóth B. , Nagy J. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe presented research aimed to confirm that the differences in the lipid peroxidation of three maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids with different genotypes and maturity are due to different nitrogen levels, which was observed based on the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) measured in the leaves at the main phenological stages of plants. The experiments were performed in a multi-factorial long term fertilisation field trial. In the study, phosphorus and potassium were constantly provided at the optimal level for the plants. The phosphorus and potassium fertilisation were applied in autumn. However, N levels varied from 0 to 300 kg ha−1. Sampling was done at different growth stages 5 times during the growing season (4 leaves, 6 leaves, 8 leaves, 14 leaves, silking). The 300 kg ha−1 N (dose 3) resulted in a significant increase in lipid peroxidation (MDA level), but not a statistically significant difference between the control (dose 1) and the 120 kg ha−1 (dose 2) N doses. The H1 hybrid had the lowest level of lipid peroxidation at the first sampling date. High volume nitrogen fertilisation (dose 3: 300 kg ha−1) increased lipid peroxidation in the hybrids. Averaging the values obtained for the same hybrid at the different sampling times, the medium (dose 2) 120 kg ha−1 N treatment had no significant effect on the lipid peroxidation of the hybrids compared to the values of the control plants. Based on the lipid peroxidation response of the hybrids to N treatment, the exact N dose inflection point can be determined to make the fertiliser utilisation of plants more efficient. Based on our results, we found that inadequate, low (120 kg ha−1) or high (300 kg ha−1) nitrogen fertilisation could affect the MDA levels of plants, thereby affecting the functioning of the lipid peroxidation mechanism.