bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Satisfaction in Family Health Specialization Courses Offered by the Brazilian Public Health System: a National Assessment
Authors: de Moraes Sílvia Helena Mendonça , Gasque Kellen Cristina da Silva , Cunha Inara Pereira da , Nascimento Débora Dupas Gonçalves do , Lemos Alysson Feliciano , Campos Francisco Eduardo , Nascimento Edinalva Neves 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Background: This cross-sectional study investigated student satisfaction in specialization courses in family health produced and offered online by the Brazilian Unified Health System’s Open University, along with associated factors.Methods: Health professionals who were enrolled in these courses between 2013 and 2017 responded to online questionnaires collecting data on sociodemographic aspects, student status, and their perceptions about different facets of the courses measured by a Likert scale. Degree of satisfaction was considered as an outcome, and multiple regression analysis was applied.Results: Of the 3,109 respondents, most had successfully completed their course (98.4%), were female (72.5%), self-declared white (62.1%), Brazilians (69%), ≤40 years old (59.1%), nurses (42.1%), or physicians (42.4%). Most respondents viewed the courses positively (59.30%); lower satisfaction score was associated with age (p=<0.0001), education (p=0.0031), and failing the course (p=0.0064). Students reported difficulties with the pedagogical aspects of the courses, but gave positive scores to the materials, contribution to professional practice, and stirring interest in the area.Conclusions: The participants were seen to be satisfied with these courses, although some aspects can be improved.
Paternal melanisation defines wing spot area of male Drosophila nepalensis: supporting evidence through genetic crosses.
Authors: Ramniwas Seema , Singh Divya 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Males of Drosophila nepalensis show dimorphism in wing melanisation but how they evolve and coordinate during evolution is unknown. Heterogeneity in environment helps individuals to adapt accordingly either through genetic polymorphism or through phenotypic plasticity. In this study, we tried to untangle the genetic architecture underlying differences in wing melanisation in males because in nature the frequency of spotted and spotless males is different. We investigated the variation in wing spot formation in males of D. nepalensis via genetic cross. We found wing spot formation on wings in male is directly correlated to female body melanization. We report that the wing spot of D. nepalensis show very high plasticity and correlated with female body melanization instead of male body melanzation. Only at 21°C temperature we found darker and complete light females, dark female progeny always produced male with spotted wing whereas lighter female produced male without wing spot. The degree of wing melanisation in males of D. nepalensis was assessed to check plasticity patterns. We investigated that increased wing spot area (WSA) is negatively correlated with higher temperature. Finally, we find wing spot is highly correlated in reciprocal progeny due to linkage or pleiotropy which could help in evolution.
Utilization of processed kola nut husk meal in poultry production: Effects on the performance, carcass, biochemical indicators, and antioxidant enzymes of broiler chickens
Authors: Oloruntola Olugbenga David 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
This study looked at the effects of processed kola nut husks meal (PKHM) utilization as a feed ingredient on broiler chicken in a 42-day feeding trial. Kola nut pod husks were processed into a PKHM using ash treatment and rumen liquor fermentation. Three experimental diets were developed at both the starter and finisher phases, with PKHM included at 0, 4, and 8%, and dubbed diets 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In a fully randomised design, 240 Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly assigned to three treatments (10 birds per replicate). Except for the significantly improved (P<0.05) feed conversion ratio of broiler chickens fed diets 2 and 3 at the grower phase (22-42 days) and overall (0-42 days), the performance indices were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by PKHM dietary inclusion. Broiler chicken carcass characteristics and relative internal organ weights remained constant (P>0.05) through diets. The serum glutathione concentration in broiler chickens fed an 8 percent PKHM inclusive diet increased significantly (P<0.05) than those on the control diet and 4 percent PKHM inclusive diet. When broiler chickens fed an 8 percent PKHM inclusive diet were compared to those fed a control diet, the serum catalase concentration was significantly higher (P<0.05). The total serum protein, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transferase, and cholesterol levels remained constant (P>0.05) regardless of dietary treatment. Dietary PKHM inclusion of up to 8% enhanced improved feed efficiency and increased antioxidant enzyme concentration and did not affect the serum biochemical indices concentration.Statement of NoveltyKola nut husk is one of the agro-wastes that contributes to environmental deterioration due to its underutilization. The kola nut husk is underutilised in broiler production due to its chemical constitution, minimal nutritional value, and poor digestion. In this research, kola nut husk meal was ash treated and rumen liquor fermented before being integrated at varying levels in the experimental diets and the performance characteristics, antioxidant status, serum protein, enzymes and biochemical were evaluated. The findings of this study could aid in the development of an agro-waste-based, low-cost functional feed for broiler chicks that incorporates the underutilised kola nut husk and other abundant agrowastes as macro-ingredients.
Effect of Cross-section Geometry on Air-Demand Ratio in High-head Conduits With Sluice Gate
Authors: Aydin Alp Bugra , Baylar Ahmet , Ozkan Fahri , Tuna Muhammed Cihat , Ozturk Mualla 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
When the researches on the gated conduits were examined, it was determined that the air-demand ratio changed according to the hydraulic and geometric parameters. However, no study investigated the effect of the cross-section geometry of gated conduits on the air-demand ratio. In this study, the effect of conduit cross-section geometry on the air-demand ratio was examined. Results showed that conduit cross-section geometry was an important effect on the air-demand ratio especially at 10% and 15% gate opening rates. It was seen that the effect of the conduit geometry on the air-demand ratio decreased at 20%, and greater gate opening rates. In addition, a design formula related to the gate opening rate, Froude number, hydraulic radius, and conduit length was presented for estimating the air-demand ratio.
Unified landslide hazard assessment using hurdle models: a case study in the Island of Dominica
Authors: Bryce Erin , Lombardo Luigi , Westen Cees van , Tanyas Hakan , Castro-Camilo Daniela 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Climatically-induced natural hazards are a threat to communities. They can cause life losses and heavy damage to infrastructure, and due to climate change, they have become increasingly frequent. This is especially in tropical regions, where major hurricanes have consistently appeared in recent history. Such events induce damage due to the high wind speed they carry, and the high intensity/duration rainfall they discharge can further induce a chain of hydro-morphological hazards in the form of widespread debris slides/flows. The way the scientific community has developed preparatory steps to mitigate the potential damage of these hydro-morphological threats includes assessing where they are likely to manifest across a given landscape. This concept is referred to as susceptibility, and it is commonly achieved by implementing binary classifiers to estimate probabilities of landslide occurrences. However, predicting where landslides can occur may not be sufficient information, for it fails to convey how large landslides may be. This work proposes using a flexible Bernoulli-log-Gaussian hurdle model to simultaneously model landslide occurrence and size per areal unit. Covariate and spatial information are introduced using a generalised additive modelling framework. To cope with the high spatial resolution of the data, our model uses a Markovian representation of the Matérn covariance function based on the stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) approach. Assuming Gaussian priors, our model can be integrated into the class of latent Gaussian models, for which inference is conveniently performed based on the integrated nested Laplace approximation method. We use our modelling approach in Dominica, where Hurricane Maria (September 2017) induced thousands of shallow flow-like landslides passing over the island. Our results show that we can not only estimate where landslides may occur and how large they may be, but we can also combine this information in a unified landslide hazard model, which is the first of its kind.
Comparative Genomics and Pathogenicity Analysis of Two Bacterial Symbionts of Entomopathogenic Nematodes: The Role of The GroEL Protein in Virulence
Authors: Rivera-Ramírez Abraham , Salgado-Morales Rosalba , Jiménez-Pérez Alfredo , Pérez-Martínez Rebeca , García-Gómez Blanca Inés , Dantán-González Edgar 
Published: November 2021

Abstract

Bacteria of the genera Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus are symbionts of entomopathogenic nematodes. Despite their close phylogenetic relationship, they show differences in their pathogenicity and virulence mechanisms in target insects. These differences can be explored by the analysis of the pangenome, as it provides a framework for characterizing and defining the gene repertoire. Here, we report the genome of strain SC 0516. In addition, we performed the first pangenome analysis of 91 strains of Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus, obtaining a total of 23,603 gene clusters and a core genome of 348 genes. Phylogenetic analysis performed with the core genome showed that our strain belonged to the X. nematophila group. Biological tests showed that whole cells of X. nematophila SC 0516 were more virulent than those of P. luminescens HIM3 when both were injected into Galleria mellonella larvae. In addition, we cloned and expressed the GroEL proteins of both bacteria, as this protein has been previously indicated to show insecticidal activity in the genus Xenorhabdus. Cpn60-Xn was found to be the most toxic at all concentrations tested, with an LC50 value of 102.34 ng/larva. Sequence analysis suggested that the Cpn60-Xn toxin was homologous to Cpn60-Pl; however, Cpn60-Xn contained thirty-five differentially substituted amino acid residues that could be responsible for its insecticidal activity.
Reducing Interference via Link Adaptation in Delay-Critical Wireless Networks
Authors: Mandelli Silvio , Lieto Alessandro , Razenberg Mark , Weber Andreas , Wild Thorsten 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
One of the current 6G wireless networks research's trends is to investigate short distance and dense scenarios, where users are locally connected in sub-networks. Such use case is critical to support the advances of industrial internet of things or Industry 4.0, e.g. connecting an entire group of sensors and actuators of a robot. Therefore, schemes that can properly manage the interference must be deployed in practical systems to allow the promised performance advances of 6G . Targeting these high density scenarios, we describe the Power Optimization for Low Interference and Throughput Enhancement (POLITE) paradigm for link adaptation and power allocation, which leverages available radio resources to stabilize and reduce the interference. The baseline link adaptation schemes are compared with POLITE in their performance in a 3GPP -calibrated system level simulator for industrial scenarios. As services in industrial environments require high reliability under constrained delays, we propose different delay-aware formulations in the POLITE design. In this work we provide solutions both for relaxed delay requirements and for latency critical traffic, whose delay must be minimized. In particular, in the latter case, we propose also modifications of user selection and resource allocation procedures to further improve the reliability and latency. Simulation results prove the benefits of POLITE in terms of increased throughput, fulfillment of relaxed and delay-critical requirements, with an overall reduced transmit power compared to the current baseline link adaptation schemes.
Case report: Gitelman Syndrome With Type 2 Diabetes Caused by a New Homozygous Mutation of SLC12A3 (c.1567G&gt;A) and Family Follow-up
Authors: Zhou Dongqi , Liu Xiaoke , Leng Yulin , Yu Weiwei , Chen Qiu 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Dynamic forecasting of severe acute graft-versus-host disease after transplantation
Authors: LIU XUEOU , CAO YIGENG , GUO YE , GONG XIAOWEN , FENG YAHUI , WANG YAO , WANG MINGYANG , CUI MENGXUAN , GUO WENWEN , ZHANG LUYANG , ZHAO NINGNING , SONG XIAOQIANG , ZHENG XUETONG , CHEN XIA , SHEN QIUJIN , ZHANG SONG , SONG ZHEN , LI LINFENG , FENG SIZHOU , HAN MINGZHE , ZHU XIAOFAN , JIANG ERLIE , CHEN JUNREN 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
To anticipate critical events, clinicians intuitively rely on multidimensional time-series data. It is, however, difficult to model such decision process using machine learning (ML), since real-world medical records often have irregular missing and data sparsity in both feature and longitudinal dimensions. Here we propose a nonparametric approach that updates risk score in real time and can accommodate sampling heterogeneity, using forecasting of severe acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) as the study case. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) rose steadily after transplantation and peaked at >0.7 in both adult and pediatric cohorts. Various numerical experiments provided guidelines for future applications.
Expression of Penaeidins 3a in Transgenic Duckweed Confers Antibacterial Ability
Authors: Yang Lin , Sun Jinge , Ren Qiuting , Ma Xu , Wang Yaya , Wang Wenqiao , He Yuman , Sun Jinsheng 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Background

With the development of aquaculture, fish and shrimp diseases have been paid more and more attention in the world. How to improve the immunity of aquatic animals was an urgent problem to be solved. Duckweed (Lemnacecae), as a eukaryote, could be an ideal feedstock for the production of antimicrobial peptides.
Result

Penaeidins 3a (Pen 3a) from Litopenaeus vannamei was expressed under the control of CaMV-35S promoter in duckweed, Lemna turionifera 5511. Bacteriostatic test by Pen3a duckweed extract showed the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Transcriptome analysis of WT and Pen3a duckweed showed different results, and the protein metabolic process was the most up-regulated DEGs. In Pen 3a transgenic duckweed, the expression of sphingolipid metabolism and phagocytosis process-related genes have been significantly up-regulated. Quantitative proteomics suggested a remarkable difference in protein enrichment in metabolic pathways.
Conclusion

Our study provide a novel solution on aquaculture and water purification. The Pen 3a transgenic duckweed extraction inhibit the growth of gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, which could be applied to control the bacteria in lake. The results could lay the foundation for the subsequent production of antibiotics.
Production and Escalation of L-Lysine via Bacterial Fermentation Utilizing Streptococcus Sp
Authors: Saleem Shanzay , Sarfraz Mehreen , Ahmad Zohaib , Munawar Nuzhat , Rehman Zeeshan , Ahmad Saira 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Background and AimsThe importance of L-lysine as an essential amino acid in the nutrition of human beings has made it desirable supplement of the diet in recent years. It can be produced in different ways among them fermentation is the most economical and practical means of producing lysine. In this method low temperature, low pressure and low-cost carbon sources are used and a biological form of lysine (L-lysine) is produced. MethodsIn the present study, the production of L-lysine was achieved through fermentation developed from locally isolated bacterial strains. In total, twenty-nine (29) bacterial strains were isolated and tested using paper chromatographic technique. Six different parameters for optimization were scrutinized for improved bacterial growth and significant yield of lysine was obtained using selected strains.Key ResultsFor Streptococcus sp. molasses media with vitamins (w) formed 24.4 g/L, 40º C generated 24.4 g/L, addition of 1mM solution of metal ion (Mg) yielded 20.4 g/L, pH 6.5 delivered 6 g/L, fermentation period of 96 hours engendered 24.4 g/L, and 0.3 mL of inoculum results in 9.2 g/L of lysine. ConclusionsLaboratory scale production of L-lysine was carried out using 1 L Erlenmeyer flask. For Streptococcus sp. 23.4 g/L of lysine was produced after optimized conditions.
Quantitative Interocular Comparison of Total Corneal Surface Area and Corneal Diameter in Patients With Highly Asymmetric Keratoconus.
Authors: CRAHAY François-Xavier , DEBELLEMANIÈRE Guillaume , TOBALEM Stephan , GHAZAL Wassim , MORAN Sarah , GATINEL Damien 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Keratoconus is a progressive corneal disorder which is frequently asymmetric. The aetiology of keratoconus remains unclear, and the concept of keratoconus as an ectatic disorder has been challenged recently. We carried out a retrospective study in 160 eyes of 80 patients, to evaluate and compare interocular differences in corneal diameter and surface area in patients with unilateral/highly asymmetric keratoconus (UHAKC). Calculations were performed using raw topographic elevation data derived from topographic measurements using Orbscan II, and we extrapolated surface areas up to measured corneal diameter. We also evaluated inter-eye correlation, and correlation between corneal surface area, corneal diameter and keratoconus severity. Our results showed a statistically significant but not clinically important greater corneal diameter (12.14mm and 12.17 mm; p=0.04), and corneal surface area (paired t-test, p<0.0001; p=0.0009 respectively) in more affected eyes. Inter-eye comparison revealed corneal diameter, anterior chamber depth, and corneal surface area were strongly correlated between eyes. Corneal surface area remained strongly correlated, and Bland-Altman analysis also showed strong inter-ocular agreement. Our results show that in patients with UHAKC the interocular difference in corneal diameter and corneal surface area is clinically insignificant, and are consistent with a redistribution, rather than increase, of corneal surface area with keratoconus progression.
Influence of Socio-Economic Factors on Choice of Childbirth Place Among Women In Oyigbo L.G.A., Rivers State, Nigeria
Authors: Obika-Ndiri Ngozi Afulenu , Ndikom Chizoma Millicent , Obika Ogochukwu Immaculate 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Choices of childbirth places among women may influence the rate of maternal risks and some social and economic factors which encourage maternal mortality are still a major challenge especially in developing countries like Nigeria, one of the commonest of these childbirth place choices is home birth. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalent socio-economic factors that influence the choice of childbirth places among the women of child bearing age in Oyigbo Local Government area of Rivers State in Nigeria.METHODOLOGY: A self-structured questionnaire was used as instrument to collect data for the study through simple random sampling, and these data was analyzed using Frequency and percentage for descriptive statistics while chi-square was used for inferential statistics at 0.05 level of significance. RESULT: The result showed that mean age of the women is 35.27 and most of them had secondary education, also there was a high level of hospital/health facility adherence among the women in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State and there were no significant association between social factors and choices of childbirth places among the women, and also there was significant associations between income and choices of childbirth places among the women but there were no significant association between the educational qualifications and choices of childbirth places among the women.CONCLUSION: There is a slight influence of social factors on the choices women make on childbirth places, since maternal health and antenatal knowledge is now easily accessible to everyone even without formal education, however, the cost implication of delivery in health facility and economic empowerment of women should be considered, therefore this study has shown that the choice of childbirth place is majorly influenced by their level of income.
Screw Cutting Vertebrae After Short-Segment Fixation of Pedicle Screw Combined with Kyphoplasty for Kummell Disease ： A Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Han Xianfu , Xie Xingwen , Bai Dengyan , Chai Lijun , Ding Juxian 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Introduction: Kummell disease is also known as vertebral fracture nonunion, delayed vertebral collapse and vertebral ischemic necrosis. It often occurs in a delayed manner after spinal injury, and is a complex and rare spinal disease. This study, aimed to report a case of stage 3 Kummell disease, diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine.Methods: The subject underwent a short-segment fixation of the pedicle screw combined with kyphoplasty.Results: The patient was satisfied with the relief of back pain after the surgery, but the surgery was found to cause screw cutting vertebrae in the second lumbar vertebra (L2).Conclusion: Short-segment fixation of the pedicle screw combined with kyphoplasty can reconstruct spinal stability, maintain stability of bone cement mass in vertebrae, correct kyphosis deformity, and relieve pain. However, Kummell disease in elderly patients is always accompanied by severe osteoporosis. The common fixation of the pedicle screw is prone to cause screw cutting, loosening, and pulling out. Therefore, we advocate using cement-augmented pedicle screws.