bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Contralateral sensorineural deafness in the absence of temporal bone fractures: an ignored entity in traumatic brain injury
Authors: Stephen Marie Christy Sharafine , Venugopalan Anju , Thimmasettaiah Nagaraj Bangalore 
Published: May 2021

<p class="abstract">Traumatic brain injury (TBI) associated with temporal bone fractures causing ipsilateral hearing loss is not uncommon. But contralateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in the absence of temporal bone fractures is not frequently encountered or looked for in TBI patients. A simple bed side tuning fork test followed by a formal audiogram underscore the importance of pre-emptive assessment to prevent a permanent handicap. We report a case of a young man with no prior ear disease or comorbidities, who sustained traumatic brain injury with right parieto-temporal hemorrhagic contusion and cervical myelopathy following a two-wheeler fall. Although, there was no evidence of temporal bone fractures, he developed sudden profound deafness on the contralateral side of the brain injury. Evaluation and treatment for the same were initially delayed as the management solely focused on his neurological complaints and as the hearing loss was contralateral it was perceived to be unrelated to his brain injury. We want to highlight the importance of thorough evaluation and screening for bilateral hearing loss in patients with TBI irrespective of the presence or absence of temporal bone fractures to initiate appropriate management. We also want to add our patient to the very few such cases reported in the literature. We analyzed these cases and reviewed the possible pathophysiological mechanisms behind this entity.</p><p> </p>
The Change in Psychoactive Substance Consumption in Relation to Psychological Stress During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Uruguay
Authors: Ruiz Paul , Semblat Florencia , Pautassi Ricardo 
Published: May 2021

Objective: to analyze how the health crisis associated with the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected psychoactive substance consumption in Uruguay. Method: An online survey was answered by 1916 Uruguayan citizens between March 26th and April 5th, 2020. They were surveyed on psychoactive substance use before and after the instauration of a recommended quarantine, and on increases in frequency and volume of use (during the quarantine) of the psychoactive substance they reported as having consumed the most in the year prior to the quarantine, and psychological distress experienced during the last month. Results: The main substances consumed during the quarantine were alcohol, tobacco, marihuana, and psychopharmaceuticals. Approximately 29.0% increased the volume (and 17.7% the frequency) of use of the substance they had consumed the most the year before the instauration of the quarantine. Moreover, 5.6% initiated the consumption of a new psychoactive substance during the quarantine, mostly marihuana and psychopharmaceuticals. Psychological distress was significantly higher in women, in participants under 30 years old and in those that increased the volume of their preferred substance or increased the volume of the second preferred psychoactive substance. Membership into the group reporting an increase in the volume of use of the preferred psychoactive substance was associated with greater psychological distress. Conclusions: These results indicate an association between the instauration of the recommended quarantine in Uruguay and greater psychoactive substance use during the period, as well as an association between increased psychoactive substance use during this period and levels of psychological stress. These results are relevant in terms of public health and public policies.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, Uruguay, psychoactive substances
Using Bayesian Belief Networks to assess the influence of landscape connectivity on ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in urban landscapes in the UK
Authors: Karimi James , Harris Jim A. , Concorstanje Ron 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Context Landscape connectivity is assumed to influence ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs and synergies. However, empirical studies of the effect of landscape connectivity on ES trade-offs and synergies are limited, especially in urban areas where the interactions between patterns and processes are complex.Objectives The objectives of this study were to use a Bayesian Belief Network approach to (1) assess whether functional connectivity drives ES trade-offs and synergies in urban areas and (2) assess the influence of connectivity on the supply of ESs.Methods We used circuit theory to model urban bird flow of P. major and C. caeruleus at a 2 m spatial resolution in Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes, UK, and Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to assess the sensitivity of ES trade-offs and synergies model outputs to landscape and patch structural characteristics (patch area, connectivity and bird species abundance).Results We found that functional connectivity was the most influential variable in determining two of three ES trade-offs and synergies. Patch area and connectivity exerted a strong influence on ES trade-offs and synergies. Low patch area and low to moderately low connectivity were associated with high levels of ES trade-offs and synergies.Conclusions This study demonstrates that landscape connectivity is an influential determinant of ES trade-offs and synergies and supports the conviction that larger and better-connected habitat patches increase ES provision. A BBN approach is proposed as a feasible method of ES trade-off and synergy prediction in complex landscapes. Our findings can prove to be informative for urban ES management.
Establishment of Standard Human Blood Vessel Model Based on Image Registration and Fitting Technology
Authors: Luo Dinghao , Wu Junxiang , Wang Ning , Wang Lei , Xie Kai , Ai Songtao , Fu Lingjie , Hao Yongqiang , Wu Wen 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Purpose: The blood vessel gives key information for pathological changes in a variety of diseases. In view of the crucial role of blood vessel structure, the present study aims to establish a digital human blood vessel standard model for diagnosing blood vessel-related diseases. Methods: The present study recruited eight healthy volunteers, and reconstructed their bilateral upper extremity arteries according to CTA. The reconstructed vessels were segmented, registered, and merged into a bunch. After being cut by continuous cut planes, the dispersion of the blood vessel bunches on each cut plane were calculated. Results: The results demonstrated that the middle segment of the brachial artery, the proximal segment of the ulnar artery, and the middle and distal segments of the radial artery had a low degree of dispersion. A standard blood vessel model was finally established by the integral method using the low-dispersion segments above. The accuracy of the standard blood vessel model was also verified by an actual contralateral vessel, which revealed that the deviation between the model and the actual normal contralateral brachial artery was relatively small. Conclusion: The structure of the model was highly accordant with the real ones, which can be of great help in evaluating the blood vessel changes in blood vessel-related diseases, bone and soft-tissue tumors, and creating accurate surgical plans.
Factors affecting the health-promoting behavior of thyroid cancer survivors: Comparison by stage of cancer survivorship
Authors: Park Kyung Ah , Kim Sanghee , Oh Eui Geum , Kim Heejung , Chang Hang-Seok , Kim Soo Hyun 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify differences in factors affecting health-promoting behaviors according to the survival stage of thyroid cancer survivors.Methods: The factors affecting the health-promoting behavior of thyroid cancer survivors included general characteristics, social support, self-efficacy, fear of recurrence, and symptoms. There were 354 patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer and underwent a related surgery, who completed the questionnaire and were included in the data analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze factors affecting the health-promoting behavior according to survival stage.Results: Among the sub-areas of health-promoting behavior, thyroid cancer survivors had the highest score of 2.83/4.00 in the health responsibility area and the lowest score of 2.36/4.00 in the exercise area. The factors affecting the health-promoting behavior of thyroid cancer survivors differed by survival stage. In the acute stage, the factors of health-promoting behavior were self-efficacy (t = 4.76, p < .001) and social support (t = 3.54, p < .001). In the extended stage, symptoms (t=-3.65, p < .001), social support (t = 2.61, p = .011), fear of recurrence (t = 2.18, p = .032), and receipt of radioiodine treatment (t=-2.18, p = .032) were found to be significant variables that affected health-promoting behaviors. In the permanent stage, social support (t = 2.79, p = .007), receipt of radioiodine treatment (t=-3.21, p = .002), and age (t=-2.77, p = .007) were significant variables that affected health-promoting behaviors.Conclusion: The experience of thyroid cancer survivors varies as they progress through the survival stages, thus health-promotion interventions should be tailored to each survival stage.
Anti coronavirus optimization algorithm: A socio-inspired meta-heuristic for numerical and engineering optimization problems
Authors: Emami Hojjat 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
This paper introduces a new swarm intelligence strategy, anti coronavirus optimization ( ACVO ) algorithm. This algorithm is a multi -agent strategy, in which each agent is a person that tries to stay healthy and slow down the spread of COVID -19 by observing the containment protocols. The algorithm composed of three main steps: social distancing, quarantine, and isolation. In the social distancing phase, the algorithm attempts to maintain a safe physical distance between people and limit close contacts. In the quarantine phase, the algorithm quarantines the suspected people to prevent the spread of disease. Some people who have not followed the health protocols and infected by the virus should be taken care of to get a full recovery. In the isolation phase, the algorithm cared for the infected people to recover their health. The algorithm iteratively applies these operators on the population to find the fittest and healthiest person. The proposed algorithm is evaluated on standard multi -variable single-objective optimization problems and compared with several counterpart algorithms. The results show the superiority of ACVO on most test problems compared with its counterparts.
Comparison of Anchor- and Distribution-Based Methods for Estimating Thresholds of Meaningful Within-Patient Change Using Simulated PROMIS PF 20a Data Under Various Joint Distribution Characteristic Conditions
Authors: Qin Shanshan , Nelson Lauren , Williams Nicole , Williams Valerie , Bender Randall , McLeod Lori 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
PurposeTo compare the performance of anchor-based and distribution-based methods for estimating thresholds of meaningful within-patient change of clinical outcome assessments in conditions reflecting data characteristics of small- to medium-sized clinical trials.MethodsData sets were generated from the joint distributions of the PROMIS PF 20a T-score changes and a seven-point global change anchor measure. The 108 simulation conditions (1,000 replications per condition) included combinations of three marginal distributions of T-score changes, three improvement percentages in the anchor measure, four levels of responsiveness correlations, and three sample sizes. Threshold estimation methods included mean change, median change, ROC curve, predictive modeling, half SD, and SEM. Relative bias, precision, accuracy, and measurement significance of the estimates were evaluated based on comparison with true thresholds and IRT-based individual reliable changes of PROMIS scores. Quantile regression models were applied to select and interpret effects of simulation conditions on estimation bias.ResultsWhen PROMIS T-score changes were distributed normally, the predictive modeling method performed best with 50% or more responders identified by the anchor; the mean and median methods were preferred with 30% responders. For skewed distributions, the median method and ROC method gained more advantages. Among the evaluated study conditions, the improvement percentage condition had the most obvious effects on estimation bias.ConclusionTo establish accurate and precise thresholds, clinical researchers are recommended to prioritize study designs with at least 50% anchor-defined responders and strongly responsive target endpoints with highly reliable scoring calibration and to select optimal anchor-based methods given the data characteristics.
Acromial Fracture Associated with Coracoid Fracture Not Belong to Floating Shoulder : A Case Report
Authors: Liu Hua-Yu , Hua Xiang , Li Yang , Zhao Yu-Feng , Zhou Si-Ru 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Floating shoulder is no osseoligamentous connection between the humeral shoulder joint with the axial skeleton. The osseoligamentous of shoulder joint connection compose a ring, including clavicle,acromion, coracoid, glenoid fossa, surgical or anatomical scapula neck, acromioclavicular ligament and coracolclavicular ligament. This ring is known as superior shoulder suspensory complex (SSSC). The double disruptions of this ring are recognized to create a potentially unstable anatomical situation. Thus, floating shoulder is also characterized as double or more disruptions of SSSC. Surgical reduction and fixation for the displacement of those fractures at one or more sites is recommended in previous reports. We present 2 cases of patients with acromial and coracoid displaced fractures which belong to a type of the double disruptions of SSSC, there were still osseoligamentous connection between the humeral shoulder joint with the axial skeleton. The patient’s shoulder function after nonoperative management was satisfactory.
CUS-LightGBM-based financial distress prediction for small- and medium-sized enterprises with imbalanced data
Authors: Ruan Sumei , Zhang Jiayong , Li Wei 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
In this paper, by analyzing the financial data of small- and medium-sized enterprises, it is found that there is a general problem of imbalance data. Therefore, an effective financial distress prediction model based on clustering under-sampling and LightGBM model is constructed. Based on the idea of ensemble learning, this paper proposes the CUS-LightGBM (cluster-based under-sampling with LightGBM) model. First, the data are divided into minority and majority class samples. Then the K-means algorithm is used to cluster the majority class samples, and some data are selected from each cluster to form the balanced data. Finally, it is fused with the LightGBM algorithm based on decision tree to form an efficient prediction model. In addition, there are a large number of redundant features in the proposed model, which will reduce the prediction accuracy and efficiency of the model. Therefore, this paper adopts the feature selection based on ensemble strategy, and determines the main risk factors according to the principle of minority obeying majority. Finally, through the experimental analysis of real financial data, the results show that the CUS-LightGBM model can significantly improve the recognition ability of small- and medium-sized enterprises in financial distress, and the proposed model is more effective in processing financial ratio data than the benchmark model.
Solar Drying of Ivy Gourd: Influence of Various Dipping Solutions on Activation Energy and Moisture Diffusivity
Authors: Elangovan Elavarasan , Kumar Gulivindala Anil 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
The study is aimed to enhance the shelf life of ivy gourd through solar drying method in open, forced and natural convection mode. Ivy gourd is treated as primary agent to prepare medicines and the stems, leaves; flowers are used to cure the diseases related diabetics, ulcer, skin. The normal shelf life is 2-3 days and it can be increased up to 6 months with an effective drying process. The experiment is intended to find the best drying process among the open, natural and forced convection mode with an initial dipping method with ascorbic acid, lemon juice, sugar solution, honey solutions individually and a control sample (without dipping). A 3kg sample of ivy gourd is dipped in 10g/L of the each of the solution and it is used for the three drying process individually. The obtained results are indicating that forced convection method for ascorbic acid is best among the other drying method with highest moisture diffusivity is 7.88×10-8 m2/s and lowest activation energy 21.12 kJ/mol. It was observed that the drying kinetics of ivy gourd should be considered an indicator of efficiency for solar drying technique from environmental safety perspective. The influence of dipping solution and drying mechanisms on the functionalities of drying are discussed with suitable illustrations.
Traces of a neonicotinoid pesticide stimulates activity in honey bee colonies, but not productivity
Authors: Meikle William , Colin Théotime , Adamczyk John , Weiss Milagra , Barron Andrew 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
How neonicotinoid contamination effects honey bees remains controversial. Studies have yielded contradictory results, and few have examined effects on colony development. Here we report the results of a comprehensive five-year study of the effects of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid on honey bee colonies. Colonies fed 5 ng/g (ppb) imidacloprid showed increased brood production, lower temperature variability, higher CO2 production and had more foragers compared to control colonies. Even so, treatment did not affect adult bee numbers or average hive temperatures, and did not increase food stores, daily food acquisition or colony survivorship. Imidacloprid contamination increased colony metabolism without improving colony productivity, which is consistent with the pharmacological action of imidacloprid as a stimulant. Our findings explain why some studies have reported no, or even positive, effects of neonicotinoids. We provide an explanation for the diverse effects of pesticide contamination on honey bees, and a thorough understanding of how colonies are impacted.
Dynamic Blood Tests Reveal Predicted Week of Death And Tricky Week For Surveillance In Severely Ill COVID-19 Patients
Authors: Jia Liping , Altaie Alaa Muayad , Hao Quanshui , Luo Fang , Luo Ailin , Lu Jing , Yang Xian , Wang Changfeng , Wu Yaohua , Jin Zhaoxia , Zhang Hui , Zhou Fan , Zhang Yaqi , Li Shiyong , Alsaegh Mohammed Amjed , Sun Rao 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Background: Blood laboratory tests are the most reliable methods for the diagnosis and assessment of vital organs’ functions and the body’s response to infection. Herein, we compared the results of dynamic blood tests between the survivor and non-survivor group of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and aimed to determine the predicted and tricky week for death and surveillance.Methods: The survivor and non-survivor groups were compared using biochemical blood tests, routine blood tests, and coagulation blood tests over four weeks of investigation.Results: Blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total bile acid, neutrophil count, white blood cell count, D-dimer, fibrin and fibrinogen degradation product, and prothrombin time showed significantly higher levels in the non-survivor group than the survivor group. Only pre-albumin, eosinophil count, lymphocyte count, red blood cell count, platelet count, hemoglobin, and prothrombin activity tests were significantly higher in the survivor group than the non-survivor group. Generally, the third week of the non-survivor’s group could be regarded as the predicted week for death based on all tests except for creatinine, pre-albumin, total bile acid, monocyte count, white blood cell count, and prothrombin activity. The tricky week in the non-survivor group was the second week in all tests except for pre-albumin, basophil count, eosinophil count, lymphocyte count, platelet count, D-dimer, and fibrin and fibrinogen degradation product.Conclusions: Based on our study, specific attention should be given to some weeks with respect to their related tests as predicted or tricky for death or surveillance, respectively.
Farmers’ Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Practices: the Case of Lege-lafto Watershed, Dessie Zuria District, South Wollo, Ethiopia
Authors: Yifru Gizachew Shewaye , Miheretu Birhan Asmame 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
This study was conducted to assess farmers’ adoption decisions of soil and water conservation practices in Lege-Lafto Watershed, Dessie Zuria District, South Wollo, Ethiopia. Data were collected from 304 farmers using household survey, and through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observation. Binary Logistic regression model and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that about 64% of the farmers adopted soil and water conservation practices in their plot of land. The findings depict soil bund, stone bund, stone-faced soil bund, loose stone and brush-wood check dams, hillside terrace and bund stabilized with vegetation are the types of soil and water conservation technologies which are practiced in the study area. The analysis result revealed adoption of soil and water conservation practices in the study area is significantly and positively influenced by the perception of farmers on erosion problem and SWC practices, family labour, education level, and membership in local institutions. However, distance from residence to the nearest market and farmland, off-farm activities, and the ratio of cultivable land to family size influenced the adoption of SWC practices negatively. Therefore, improving farmers’ education status, strengthening local institutions, and empowering their members are vital for sustainable land management practices in the country.
Thermal Influence Analysis of Coatings and Contact Resistance in Turning Cutting Tool using Comsol
Authors: Ribeiro Carlos Adriano , Ferreira João Roberto , Silva Sandro Metrevelle Marcondes Lima e 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
In machining processes, cutting tools reach temperatures higher than 900ºC, thus deteriorating their mechanical properties. To reduce this problem, cutting tools are coated with materials possessing thermal insulation characteristics. Such coatings benefit machining, providing faster cutting speeds and tools life. However, the heating of the tools is still present. Therefore, this work simulates the transient heating phenomenon of a tool and its tool holder, considering the presence of the coating. The effects of convection, radiation, and contact resistance between the tool and the tool holder are also considered. The thermophysical properties of the tool elements depend on temperature. Experimental measurements of parameters related to contact resistance were carried out to make the thermal model closer to real situations. The COMSOL program was used to solve the heat diffusion equation using the Finite Element Method. Comparisons of calculated temperatures are presented for the uncoated (substrate only) and coated inserts with aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and titanium nitride (TiN), respectively. Finally, the results and the consequences of the assembly parameters in the fields of temperature and contact resistance are discussed.