bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Integrating health planning and primary care infrastructure for COVID‐19 and tuberculosis care in India: Challenges and opportunities
Authors: Yadav Prakrati , Vohra Chirag , Gopalakrishnan Maya , Garg Mahendra Kumar 
Published: November 2021

AbstractTuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent worldwide. The COVID‐19 pandemic has overburdened healthcare services around the world especially in resource constrained settings. It has shaken already unstable foundation of TB control programs in India and other high burden states. A 25% decline is expected in TB detection while estimates suggest 13% increase in TB deaths due to the impact of the pandemic. However, the significant intersections between the two diseases perhaps offer potential opportunities for consolidating the efforts to tackle both. The widespread implementation and acceptance of universal masking and social distancing in India has helped limit transmission of both diseases. Integrating the capacity building strategies for the two diseases, optimizing the existing the surveillance and monitoring systems which have been achieved over the years will result in a single vertically integrated national program addressing both, rather than multiple parallel program which utilize the already sparse primary care manpower and infrastructure. In this article, we explore the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on tuberculosis in India and offer suggestions on how effective health planning can efficiently integrate infrastructure and manpower at primary level to provide care for both COVID‐19 and tuberculosis.
People living with mental disorder in Nigeria amidst COVID‐19: Challenges, implications, and recommendations
Authors: Aborode Abdullahi Tunde , Corriero Anna Chiara , Mehmood Qasim , Nawaz Arisha , Aayush  , Upadhyay Prashant , Badri Rawa , Hasan Mohammad Mehedi 
Published: November 2021

AbstractCOVID‐19 has become a global public health obstacle. This disease has caused negligence on mental health institutions, decreased trust in the healthcare system and traditional and religious beliefs, and has created a widespread stigma on people living with mental health illness, specifically in Nigeria. The increase of COVID‐19 cases that have exhausted the healthcare system in Nigeria have brought further negligence to people living with mental disorder, thus increasing the burden of the disease on these patients. Overall, this article considerably highlighted the need for equal accessibility to healthcare resources, as well as the requirement of proper attention and care for mental health patients in Nigeria. This article discusses the challenges that surfaced because of the COVID‐19 pandemic on people living with mental illness and their implications, as well as suggesting necessary actions and recommendations.
A regional coupled approach to water cycle prediction during winter 2013/14 in the United Kingdom
Authors: Lewis Huw W. , Dadson Simon J. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractA regional coupled approach to water cycle prediction is demonstrated for the 4‐month period from November 2013 to February 2014. This provides the first multi‐component analysis of precipitation, soil moisture, river flow and coastal ocean simulations produced by an atmosphere‐land‐ocean coupled system focussed on the United Kingdom (UK), running with horizontal grid spacing of around 1.5 km across all components. The Unified Model atmosphere component, in which convection is explicitly simulated, reproduces the observed UK rainfall accumulation (r2 of 0.95 for water day accumulation), but there is a notable bias in its spatial distribution—too dry over western upland areas and too wet further east. The JULES land surface model soil moisture state is shown to be in broad agreement with a limited number of cosmic‐ray neutron probe observations. A comparison of observed and simulated river flow shows the coupled system is useful for predicting broad scale features, such as distinguishing high and low flow regions and times during the period of interest but are less accurate than optimized hydrological models. The impact of simulated river discharge on NEMO model simulations of coastal ocean state is explored in the coupled modelling framework, with comparisons provided relative to experiments using climatological river input and no river input around the UK coasts. Results show that the freshwater flux around the UK contributes of order 0.2 psu to the mean surface salinity, and comparisons to profile observations give evidence of an improved vertical structure when applying simulated flows. This study represents the first assessment of the coupled system performance from a hydrological perspective, with priorities for future model developments and challenges for evaluation of such systems discussed.
Automatic classification of severity of COVID‐19 patients using texture feature and random forest based on computed tomography images
Authors: Amini Nasrin , Shalbaf Ahmad 
Published: November 2021

AbstractSeverity assessment of the novel Coronavirus (COVID‐19) using chest computed tomography (CT) scan is crucial for the effective administration of the right therapeutic drugs and also for monitoring the progression of the disease. However, determining the severity of COVID‐19 needs a highly expert radiologist by visual assessment, which is time‐consuming, boring, and subjective. This article introduces an advanced machine learning tool to determine the severity of COVID‐19 to mild, moderate, and severe from the lung CT images. We have used a set of quantitative first‐ and second‐order statistical texture features from each image. The first‐order texture features extracted from the image histogram are variance, skewness, and kurtosis. The second‐order texture features extraction methods are gray‐level co‐occurrence matrix, gray‐level run length matrix, and gray‐level size zone matrix. Finally, using the extracted features, CT images of each person are classified using random forest (RF) as an ensemble method based on majority voting of the decision trees outputs to four classes. We have used a dataset of CT scans labeled as being normal (231), mild (563), moderate (120), and severe (42) determined by expert radiologists. The experimental results indicate the combination of all feature extraction methods, and RF achieves the highest result compared with the other strategies in detecting the four classes of severity of COVID‐19 from CT images with an accuracy of 90.95%. This proposed system can work well and can be used as an assistant diagnostic tool for quantification of lung involvement of COVID‐19 to monitor the progression of the disease.
Greater Carboxy-Methyl-Lysine Is Associated With Increased Fracture Risk in Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Dhaliwal Ruban , Ewing Susan K. , Vashishth Deepak , Semba Richard D. , Schwartz Ann V. 
Published: November 2021

ABSTRACT
Accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) in bone alters collagen structure and function. Fluorescent AGEs are associated with fractures but less is known regarding non-fluorescent AGEs. We examined associations of carboxy-methyl-lysine (CML), with incident clinical and prevalent vertebral fractures by type 2 diabetes (T2D) status, in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition cohort of older adults. Incident clinical fractures and baseline vertebral fractures were assessed. Cox regression was used to analyze the associations between serum CML and clinical fracture incidence, and logistic regression for vertebral fracture prevalence. At baseline, mean ± standard deviation (SD) age was 73.7 ± 2.8 and 73.6 ± 2.9 years in T2D (n = 712) and non-diabetes (n = 2332), respectively. Baseline CML levels were higher in T2D than non-diabetes (893 ± 332 versus 771 ± 270 ng/mL, p &lt; 0.0001). In multivariate models, greater CML was associated with higher risk of incident clinical fracture in T2D (hazard ratio [HR] 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24–1.79 per 1-SD increase in log CML) but not in non-diabetes (HR 1.03; 95% CI, 0.94–1.13; p for interaction = 0.001). This association was independent of bone mineral density (BMD), glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c), weight, weight loss, smoking, cystatin-C, and medication use. CML was not significantly associated with the odds of prevalent vertebral fractures in either group. In conclusion, higher CML levels are associated with increased risk of incident clinical fractures in T2D, independent of BMD. These results implicate CML in the pathogenesis of bone fragility in diabetes. © 2021 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
Assessing worry, racism, and belief in a just world
Authors: Litam Stacey Diane Arañez , Balkin Rick , Hendricks LaVelle 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between worry, Bayesian racism, and belief in a just world in a sample of 195 predominantly white, religious individuals. Regression analyses indicated a curvilinear, but statistically nonsignificant, relationship between worry and belief in a just world. Individuals with an extreme level of worry did not believe the world was a just and fair place. A strong, linear relationship was evidenced between Bayesian racism and belief in a just world, indicating predominantly white, religious individuals were more likely to espouse the fairness of endorsing racial stereotypes. Counselors must consider how race‐based stereotypes may be used as a cognitive strategy to maintain worldviews of fairness among predominantly white, religious clients. This study is among the first to explore the motivations associated with endorsing racist stereotypes with respect to perceptions of a just world.
Moderation of attachment on association between relationship status and depression
Authors: Litam Stacey Diane Arañez , Stephen Lenz A. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic has led to increasingly high rates of depression which may have deleterious effects on relationships. Given the mixed results regarding the protective nature of relationship status as married and secure adult attachment styles on depression, the current study examined the associations between relationship status and adult attachment styles on depression among US adults (N= 747) during the COVID‐19 shelter in place orders. The results of our simultaneous regression analysis yielded a statistically significant model wherein secure attachment was negatively associated with depression. Although the results of our analysis of covariance determined that relationship status as married was a protective factor, this effect became significantly reduced after controlling for attachment characteristics. Married participants in our study reported greater severity of depressive symptoms compared to those who were single and partnered, even after controlling for attachment styles. Implications for counseling professionals, limitations, and future areas of research are additionally provided.
Neutrophil percentage‐to‐albumin ratio and monocyte‐to‐lymphocyte ratio as predictors of free‐wall rupture in patients with acute myocardial infarction
Authors: Dai Kai , Li Zhibing , Luo Yafei , Xiong Qianhui , Xiong Yao , Song Zhifang , Xiong Wenjun 
Published: November 2021

AbstractBackgroundsFree‐wall rupture (FWR) has a high mortality rate. We aimed to find sensitive predictive indicators to identify high‐risk FWR patients by exploring the predictive values of neutrophil percentage‐to‐albumin ratio (NPAR) and monocyte‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (MLR) on patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Methods76 FWR patients with AMI were collected, and then 228 non‐CR patients with AMI were randomly selected (1:3 ratio) in this retrospective study. The independent influencing factors of FWR were evaluated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to evaluate the predictive value of NPAR and MLR for FWR.ResultsAccording to the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis, emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (OR = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.094–0.751, p = 0.012), angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)/angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) treatment (OR = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.044–0.659, p = 0.010), NPAR (OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.031–7.044, p = 0.043), and MLR (OR = 5.99, 95% CI: 2.09–17.168, p = 0.001) were the influencing factors of the FWR patients with AMI, independently. Additionally, the NPAR and MLR were the predictors of FWR patients, with AUC of 0.811 and 0.778, respectively (both p < 0.001).ConclusionsIn summary, the emergency PCI and ACEI/ARB treatment were independent protective factors for FWR patients with AMI, while the increase of MLR and NPAR were independent risk factors. What's more, NPAR and MLR are good indicators for predicting FWR.
Are all pain tolerance tasks the same? Convergent validity of four behavioral pain tolerance tasks, self‐reported capability for suicide, and lifetime self‐injurious behaviors
Authors: Rogers Megan L. , Gallyer Austin J. , Dougherty Sean P. , Gorday Julia Y. , Nelson Jessica A. , Teasdale Olivia D. , Joiner Thomas E. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractObjectivesDiscrepancies persist regarding the extent to which different pain measures provide similar information and relate to capability for suicide and self‐injurious behaviors. This study examined pain threshold, tolerance, and persistence across four modalities (cold, heat, pressure, shock) and assessed associations with self‐reported capability for suicide, non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI), and suicide attempts.MethodsA sample of 211 students who reported lifetime suicidal ideation completed four behavioral pain tasks and self‐reported on capability for suicide, NSSI, and self‐injurious behaviors.ResultsAll pain thresholds, tolerances, and persistences were positively correlated across the four tasks. Pain facets were related to self‐reported capability for suicide with small effect sizes but generally did not differ across suicide attempt or NSSI histories.ConclusionsPain thresholds, tolerances, and persistences demonstrated convergent validity across the four modalities, suggesting that these tasks provide similar information. Although the relation between pain and self‐injurious behaviors remains unclear, these tasks can generally be used interchangeably.
The Effects of Mannuronic Acid on IL‐1β, IL‐17A, STAT1, and STAT3 Gene Expressions and TLR2 and TLR4 Molecules in Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Najafi Soheil , Saadat Payam , Beladi Moghadam Nahid , Manoucherinia Ali , Aghazadeh Zahra , Vali Mohammadi Anita , Noorbakhsh Seyyedeh Masoomeh , Movahedi Monireh , Nikouei Moghaddam Mohammad Reza , Pashaiefar Hossein , Mirshafiey Abbas 
Published: November 2021

AbstractMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurologic disease defined by inflammation and demyelination of the central nervous system that comes with variable degrees of axonal and neuronal damage. The efficacy of β‐D‐mannuronic acid (M2000) as a novel drug with immunosuppressive properties (patented: PCT/EP2017/067920), has been shown in an experimental model of MS. In this study, the effects of M2000 on interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐17A, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1, and STAT3 gene expressions and Toll‐like receptor 2 (TLR2) and toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) molecules in patients with secondary progressive MS were evaluated. In this study, 14 patients with secondary progressive MS and 14 healthy subjects (as control group) were entered from the phase 2 clinical trial (Clinical Trial identifier, IRCT2016111313739N6). The gene expressions of IL‐1β, IL‐17A, STAT1, and STAT3 were assessed at the baseline and then measured after 6 months of therapy with M2000 by using the quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction method. Moreover, the expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 molecules on peripheral blood mononuclear cells were evaluated by the flow cytometry method. The gene expressions of IL‐17A, STAT1, and STAT3 in patients with MS decreased after 6 months of therapy with M2000 comparing before treatment. Also, the gene expression of IL‐1β decreased numerically after 6 months. Furthermore, the expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 on PBMCs of the patients declined when compared to baseline. The results of this investigation revealed that M2000 could downregulate IL‐17, STAT1, and STAT3 genes in patients with secondary progressive MS and also reduce the expressions of TLR2 and TLR4 on PBMCs. Moreover, M2000 declined numerically IL‐β gene expression.
Increased odds of having the metabolic syndrome with greater fat‐free mass: counterintuitive results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database
Authors: Lagacé Jean‐Christophe , Marcotte‐Chenard Alexis , Paquin Jasmine , Tremblay Dominic , Brochu Martin , Dionne Isabelle J. 
Published: November 2021

AbstractBackgroundIt is well established that body composition influences metabolic health, but emerging data are conflicting with the largely purported idea that a large fat‐free mass (FFM) has a protective effect on health. A potential explanation for these discrepancies is the way FFM is represented. The first objective is to determine the association between the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and FFM when the latter was represented in three different ways: 1—absolute FFM; 2—relative to squared height (FFMi); and 3—relative to body weight (FFM%). The second objective is to assess the impact of FFM on the relative risk of having the MetS after taking fat mass, physical activity, and sociodemographic variables into account.MethodsA total of 5274 individuals from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database were studied. Age‐specific and sex‐specific quartiles of the three representations of FFM were defined, and the prevalence of MetS was determined in each of them. Quartiles of FFMi (kg/m2) were used to calculate the odds ratios of having the MetS independently of FM, physical activity levels, and sociodemographic variables.ResultsThe prevalence of MetS decreased with increasing quartiles of whole‐body FFM% (Q1: 40%; Q4: 10%) but grew with increasing quartiles of absolute FFM (Q1: 13%; Q4: 40%) and FFMi (Q1: 10%; Q4: 44%). Similar results were observed for appendicular and truncal FFM. The odds ratios of having the MetS, independently of fat mass, physical activity, and sociodemographic variables, were significantly greater in the fourth quartile of FFMi when compared with the first quartiles of each specific subgroup [Q4 vs. Q1: younger men: 4.16 (1.99–8.68); younger women: 5.74 (2.46–13.39); older men: 1.98 (1.22–3.22); older women: 2.88 (1.69–4.90); all P ≤ 0.01].ConclusionsThese results support the notion that the representation of FFM significantly influences its association with MetS and that a larger FFM, whether absolute or relative to height, is associated with alterations in cardiometabolic health.
Fluid dynamics of a pilot‐scale OrbShake bioreactor under different operating conditions
Authors: Zhu Likuan , Zhao Chunyang , Shiue Angus , Jeng Jyh‐Cheng , Wurm Maria J , Raussin Guillaume , Bürki Cedric‐Alain , Wurm Florian M 
Published: November 2021

AbstractBACKGROUNDFor several years, orbitally shaken cylindrical bioreactors (OSRs) have become a new approach for propagation of mammalian cells cultivated under suspension. With new commercial cell culture media available today, allowing exceptionally high cell densities, the identification of suitable operating conditions presents a special challenge. Balancing hydrodynamic stress and other factors in reactors, this is particularly true for gas transfer rates providing sufficient oxygen (O2) to cultures that can attain ten‐fold greater biomasses than just a decade ago. This challenge is more profound the larger the working volume of the reactor becomes.RESULTFor 10‐L working volume cylindrical OSRs, we established a computational fluid dynamics model to evaluate the impacts of different operational conditions. Both fluid velocity distributions and O2 transfer coefficients (kLa) were calculated for different filling volumes and shaking speeds. Also, hydrodynamic stress parameters were investigated considering the most critical working conditions.CONCLUSIONThe fluid velocity decreased with larger working volumes and, as expected, was found to increase with higher shaking frequency. Gas transfer rates between 10 and 54 h−1 were found in working volumes from 2.5 to 10 L and under shaking frequencies from 100–160 rpm. Critically assessing the obtained data, with no liquid‐submerged gas supply, we conclude that an air flow into the head‐space of a disposable bag appears to be satisfactory under certain operating conditions to support the culture of the most sensitive mammalian or insect cell cultures towards high cell density, presently in fed‐batch cultures achieving ≤30 × 106 cells mL–1. Shear stress parameters were found to be exceptionally low. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).
A descriptive analysis of predoctoral surgical requirements in US dental schools in 2020
Authors: Bello Angel S. , Ray Nicholas , Shearer Thomas R. , Govind Akshay 
Published: November 2021

AbstractObjectivesThis study aims to describe surgical graduation requirements in US dental schools in 2020, including changes made due to the COVID‐19 pandemic.MethodsRepresentatives of Commission on Dental Accreditation‐approved predoctoral dental programs in the US (n = 66) received a 13‐item questionnaire about operative and observational surgical requirements. Responses were assigned values to tabulate a surgical score (zero‐ to eight‐point scale) as a proxy for required surgical experience, and statistical analyses were performed to explore for predictors.ResultsSurveys were returned by 97% (64/66) of programs with complete data from 62.5% of responding institutions. In periodontics, 6.8% of programs require students to perform periodontal surgery, 63.8% to assist, and none require a competency assessment in periodontal surgery. In oral and maxillofacial surgery, 23.3% of programs have numerical requirements in performance of surgical extractions, 35% require an operating room experience, and 51.9% have a competency assessment involving a surgical procedure. Modifications to surgical and nonsurgical graduation requirements due to COVID‐19 were reported by 51.6% and 52.5% of programs, respectively.The mean surgical score was 1.73 ± 1.2 (range = 0–4) of eight possible points. This was not predicted by class size or the presence of postgraduate surgical programs. The presence of postgraduate surgical programs roughly doubled the likelihood of requiring an observational experience in surgery.ConclusionsAs of 2020, US dental programs require a small fraction of surgical experiences available to students. Class size is not a predictor of required surgical experience. The presence of postgraduate surgical programs increased the likelihood of required observational experiences.