bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Patient Satisfaction Among Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy
Authors: Samant R. , Cisa-Paré E. , Balchin K. , Renaud J. , Bunch L. , Wheatley-Price P. , McNeil A. , Murray S. , Meng J. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe patient-provider relationship is a key driver of patient satisfaction as it relates to overall healthcare experience. We surveyed patients undergoing radiation therapy to determine what they consider to be the most valued qualities in their interactions with the healthcare team. An ethics-approved 35-item patient satisfaction survey was developed in-house to gain insights on patients’ perception of their relationship with the healthcare team throughout their cancer journey. There were 199 completed survey, median age 68 years, 54% women and 45% men. Almost all (95%) “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that their physicians had been sensitive and compassionate. Over 90% felt that they received adequate explanations about their treatment, and had their questions answered. The vast majority (93%) felt included in the decision-making process. Patients reported the 5 most highly rated qualities among their healthcare providers (HCPs) as knowledge, kindness, honesty, good communication, and a cheerful attitude. Overall satisfaction was high but areas for improvement were identified including being offered future appointments for further discussion, more information about clinical trials, other treatments, and community resources. Patients noted their HCPs tended to focus on the physical and emotional needs of patients, but spiritual and cultural needs were rarely addressed. Patients receiving radiotherapy reported high rates of satisfaction across many aspects of their care. These findings also reinforce the different aspects of holistic care that can be improved, and serve as a reminder to clinicians that patients perceive their role as more than just that of a medical expert.
Advances in biotechnology of Emblica officinalis Gaertn. syn. Phyllanthus emblica L.: a nutraceuticals-rich fruit tree with multifaceted ethnomedicinal uses
Authors: Gantait Saikat , Mahanta Manisha , Bera Soumen , Verma Sandeep Kumar 
Published: January 2021

AbstractEmblica officinalis Gaertn. syn. Phyllanthus emblica L., universally known as ‘Amla’ or ‘Aonla’ or ‘Indian gooseberry’, is a popular fruit tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae and order Geraniales. It is said to be the very first tree that originated on earth, as claimed by age-old Indian mythology. Almost all parts of the tree i.e., root, bark, leaf, flower, fruit and seed are utilized in Ayurvedic and Unani medicinal formulations to improve the overall digestive process, decrease fever, act as a blood purifier, relieve asthma and cough, improve heart health, etc. This tree contains major secondary metabolites like emblicanin-A and emblicanin-B, and also is an affluent source of vitamin-C. Additionally, some other secondary metabolites like tannins, gallic acid, pyrogallol, and pectin are also present in significant amounts. Conventional propagation has been improved via suitable interventions of agrotechnology both in production and protection areas. However, the rate of propagation remains slower; therefore, attempts have been made for biotechnological advancements on E. officinalis. The present review makes an attempt to highlight the botanical description, geographical distribution, ethnopharmacological importance, conventional propagation and protection of this medicinal tree, describing the in vitro-based plant organ and tissue culture methods like direct and indirect organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis along with interventions of molecular marker-based biotechnology and nanotechnology. Further, the prospect of the yet-to-be-explored biotechnological methods for secondary metabolite enhancement like cell suspension, protoplast culture, genetic transformation, etc. and their potential for enhanced emblicanin production have also been discussed in this appraisal.
Low levels of frailty in HIV-positive older adults on antiretroviral therapy in northern Tanzania
Authors: Bristow Clare , George Grace , Hillsmith Grace , Rainey Emma , Urasa Sarah , Koipapi Sengua , Kisoli Aloyce , Boni Japhet , Saria Grace Anderson , Ranasinghe Sherika , Joseph Marcella , Gray William K. , Dekker Marieke , Walker Richard W. , Dotchin Catherine L. , Mukaetova-Ladinska Elizabeta , Howlett William , Makupa Philip , Paddick Stella-Maria 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
There are over 3 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) aged 50 and over living with HIV. HIV and combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) exposure may accelerate the ageing in this population, and thus increase the prevalence of premature frailty. There is a paucity of data on the prevalence of frailty in an older HIV + population in SSA and screening and diagnostic tools to identify frailty in SSA. Patients aged ≥ 50 were recruited from a free Government HIV clinic in Tanzania. Frailty assessments were completed, using 3 diagnostic and screening tools: the Fried frailty phenotype (FFP), Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and Brief Frailty Instrument for Tanzania (B-FIT 2). The 145 patients recruited had a mean CD4 + of 494.84 cells/µL, 99.3% were receiving cART and 72.6% were virally suppressed. The prevalence of frailty by FFP was 2.758%. FFP frailty was significantly associated with female gender (p = 0.006), marital status (p = 0.007) and age (p = 0.038). Weight loss was the most common FFP domain failure. The prevalence of frailty using the B-FIT 2 and the CFS was 0.68%. The B-FIT 2 correlated with BMI (r = − 0.467, p = 0.0001) and CD4 count in females (r = − 0.244, p = 0.02). There is an absence of frailty in this population, as compared to other clinical studies. This may be due to the high standard of HIV care at this Government clinic. Undernutrition may be an important contributor to frailty. It is unclear which tool is most accurate for detecting the prevalence of frailty in this setting as levels of correlation are low.
Traditional knowledge affects soil management ability of smallholder farmers in marginal areas
Authors: Occelli Martina , Mantino Alberto , Ragaglini Giorgio , Dell’Acqua Matteo , Fadda Carlo , Pè Mario Enrico , Nuvolari Alessandro 
Published: January 2021

AbstractSoil fertility is key to sustainable intensification of agriculture and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. However, when soil nutrients are not adequately managed, smallholder farming practices slowly erode soils to almost inert systems. This case study contributes to the understanding of such failures in marginal areas. We integrate agronomic and social sciences approaches to explore links between smallholder households’ farming knowledge and soil fertility in an ethnopedological perspective. We interview 280 smallholder households in two areas of the Ethiopian highlands, while collecting measures of 11 soil parameters at their main field. By analyzing soil compositions at tested households, we identify a novel measure of soil management ability, which provides an effective empirical characterization of the soil managing capacity of a household. Regression analysis is used to evaluate the effects of household knowledge on the soil management ability derived from laboratory analysis. Results highlight the complexity of knowledge transmission in low-input remote areas. We are able to disentangle ahome learningand asocial learningdimension of the household knowledge and appraise how they can result in virtuous and vicious cycles of soil management ability. We show that higher soil management ability is associated with farmers relying to a great extent on farming knowledge acquired within the household, as a result of practices slowly elaborated over the years. Conversely, lower soil management ability is linked to households valuing substantially farming knowledge acquired through neighbors and social gatherings. The present study is the first to formulate the concept of soil management ability and to investigate the effects of the presence and the types of farming knowledge on the soil management ability of smallholder farmers in remote areas. We show that farming knowledge has a primary role on soil fertility and we advise its consideration in agricultural development policies.
Cross corpus multi-lingual speech emotion recognition using ensemble learning
Authors: Zehra Wisha , Javed Abdul Rehman , Jalil Zunera , Khan Habib Ullah , Gadekallu Thippa Reddy 
Published: January 2021

AbstractReceiving an accurate emotional response from robots has been a challenging task for researchers for the past few years. With the advancements in technology, robots like service robots interact with users of different cultural and lingual backgrounds. The traditional approach towards speech emotion recognition cannot be utilized to enable the robot and give an efficient and emotional response. The conventional approach towards speech emotion recognition uses the same corpus for both training and testing of classifiers to detect accurate emotions, but this approach cannot be generalized for multi-lingual environments, which is a requirement for robots used by people all across the globe. In this paper, a series of experiments are conducted to highlight an ensemble learning effect using a majority voting technique for cross-corpus, multi-lingual speech emotion recognition system. A comparison of the performance of an ensemble learning approach against traditional machine learning algorithms is performed. This study tests a classifier’s performance trained on one corpus with data from another corpus to evaluate its efficiency for multi-lingual emotion detection. According to experimental analysis, different classifiers give the highest accuracy for different corpora. Using an ensemble learning approach gives the benefit of combining all classifiers’ effect instead of choosing one classifier and compromising certain language corpus’s accuracy. Experiments show an increased accuracy of 13% for Urdu corpus, 8% for German corpus, 11% for Italian corpus, and 5% for English corpus from with-in corpus testing. For cross-corpus experiments, an improvement of 2% when training on Urdu data and testing on German data and 15% when training on Urdu data and testing on Italian data is achieved. An increase of 7% in accuracy is obtained when testing on Urdu data and training on German data, 3% when testing on Urdu data and training on Italian data, and 5% when testing on Urdu data and training on English data. Experiments prove that the ensemble learning approach gives promising results against other state-of-the-art techniques.
Fugl-Meyer hand motor imagination recognition for brain–computer interfaces using only fNIRS
Authors: Li Chenguang , Yang Hongjun , Cheng Long 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAs a relatively new physiological signal of brain, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is being used more and more in brain–computer interface field, especially in the task of motor imagery. However, the classification accuracy based on this signal is relatively low. To improve the accuracy of classification, this paper proposes a new experimental paradigm and only uses fNIRS signals to complete the classification task of six subjects. Notably, the experiment is carried out in a non-laboratory environment, and movements of motion imagination are properly designed. And when the subjects are imagining the motions, they are also subvocalizing the movements to prevent distraction. Therefore, according to the motor area theory of the cerebral cortex, the positions of the fNIRS probes have been slightly adjusted compared with other methods. Next, the signals are classified by nine classification methods, and the different features and classification methods are compared. The results show that under this new experimental paradigm, the classification accuracy of 89.12% and 88.47% can be achieved using the support vector machine method and the random forest method, respectively, which shows that the paradigm is effective. Finally, by selecting five channels with the largest variance after empirical mode decomposition of the original signal, similar classification results can be achieved.
Isolation and characterization of Pseudomonas syringae isolates affecting stone fruits and almond in Montenegro
Authors: Popović Tamara , Menković Jelena , Prokić Anđelka , Zlatković Nevena , Obradović Aleksa 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn Montenegro, stone fruit species are grown on intensive and semi-intensive commercial plantations. However, almond production is mainly organized on family gardens and for household consumption. During two seasons (2017–2018), we surveyed apricot, peach, nectarine, sweet cherry, Japanese plum, and almond orchards for the presence of bacterial diseases at different geographical locations in Montenegro. From leaf, petiole and fruit lesions, branch or twig cankers, and necrotizing buds, a total of 29 isolates were obtained and subjected to identification based on their morphological, pathogenic, biochemical, and molecular characteristics. Pathogenicity of the isolates was confirmed by reproducing the symptoms on leaves, fruits, and twigs of the corresponding host plants. The biochemical tests indicated that the isolates belong to Pseudomonas syringae. However, isolates’ characterization showed variation in their phenotypic and molecular features. The presence of the syrB gene and ice nucleation activity grouped most of the isolates within pathovar syringae. The results of rep-PCR using the BOX primer revealed high genetic diversity of isolates. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), using four housekeeping genes, showed that 27 isolates belong to the genomic species 1, P. syringae sensu stricto, corresponding to P. syringae phylogroup 2. However, isolates from the same phylogroup 2 did not form a monophyletic group. One strain isolated from apricot was most distinct and similar to members of genomic species 2, phylogroup 3. All tested isolates showed significant levels of resistance to copper sulfate and high level of sensitivity to streptomycin sulfate in vitro.
Psychological and Sexual Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Egypt: Are Women Suffering More?
Authors: Omar Salma Samir , Dawood Waleed , Eid Noha , Eldeeb Dalia , Munir Amr , Arafat Waleed 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIntroductionPsychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic include pandemic triggered feelings of fear, uncertainty, and anxiety added to the effects of restricting the population's activities in lockdown.AimWe aimed to study the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on sexual satisfaction of females and males in Egypt and to evaluate possible predictive factors.MethodsMarried men and females in Egypt were invited to respond to an online questionnaire. The questionnaire addressed medical history, socioeconomic status, sexual performance satisfaction before and during the lockdown in addition to validated Arabic questionnaires for depression, sexual function in males and females, and sexual satisfaction (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Female Sexual Function Index, International Index of Erectile Function-5, Index of Sexual Satisfaction, respectively).Main outcome measureThe main outcome measures were frequency of depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, and sexual satisfaction in males and females during COVID-19 lockdown.ResultsA total of 479 females and 217 males completed the questionnaire. Sexual satisfaction was significantly higher before (91.2%, 73.5%) than during lockdown (70.5%, 56.2%) in both males and females, respectively. During lockdown, significantly more males (70.5%) reported being satisfied with their sexual performance than females (56.2%) (P &lt; .001). More than half of the male subjects (68.2%) had no erectile dysfunction while 97.3% females scored ≤26.5 on the Female Sexual Function Index scale suggestive of sexual difficulties. Sexual stress was significantly greater in females (70.8%) than males (63.1%). Educational level, occupation, anxiety, and erectile dysfunction were independently associated with sexual stress in males. Being a housewife or unemployed, husband's age &gt;35 years, marriage duration of 5-10 years, anxiety, and female sexual dysfunction were predictors of sexual relation stress in females.ConclusionCOVID-19 pandemic was associated with lower sexual satisfaction in both genders. Females however suffered more anxiety and depression and thereby greater risk of sexual function difficulties and sexual dissatisfaction. Intervention strategies in order to lessen the suffering of affected individuals particularly after the pandemic are recommended.
Correlation of Sexual Behavior Change, Family Function, and Male-Female Intimacy Among Adults Aged 18-44 Years During COVID-19 Epidemic
Authors: Feng Yi-Jin , Fan Yu-Jun , Su Zhen-Zhen , Li Bing-Bing , Li Bo , Liu Nan , Wang Pei-Xi 
Published: January 2021

Abstract

Introduction
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been declared a global pandemic. In this unprecedented situation, the intimate relationship, sexual behavior, and family functions of partners have also undergone unique changes. There are few reports on whether sexual behavior and family function affect intimate relationships between partners, especially among people aged 18 to 44 years.

Aim
To analyze the influence of sociodemographic characteristics, family function, and changes in sexual behavior on male-female intimacy, the independent contributions of the aforementioned factors in this population group are required to be further investigated.

Methods
In the present study, 284 Chinese citizens aged 18-44 years completed the online questionnaire. The univariate analysis and cluster multiple linear regression were used to analyze the associations between sociodemographic factors, sexual-behavior changes, family function, and male-female intimacy.

Main Outcome Measure
Family adaptation, partnership, growth, affection, resolve (APGAR) Scale and Relationship Assessment Scale were used to evaluate participants' family function and their intimacy. Details of the participants (sociodemographic and sexual factors) were obtained.

Results
The summary scores, with Relationship Assessment Scale and APGAR scales, were 27.19 ± 4.49 and 6.76 ± 2.28, respectively. About 43.3% of participants reported a decrease in sexual frequency. There were considerable differences among age, education level, sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, quality of sexual life, family function with male-female intimacy (P &lt; .05). The sexual satisfaction and intimacy demonstrated a significant positive correlation (P &lt; .05) by cluster multiple linear regression analysis. Compared with those who had a sexual life of mediocre quality, respondents who experienced a good quality sexual life had relatively higher scores in intimacy. The independent contributions of sociodemographic factors, sexual behavior factors, and family function in male-female intimacy were 13.0%, 38.2%, and 48.8%, respectively.

Conclusions
Sexual behavior factors and family function were important independent determinants of partner intimacy among people aged 18-44 years. It can provide supportive information for health care to develop intervention plans and services to promote the harmonious development of intimate relationship.
Screening strategy and time points for newborn hearing re‐screening with high risk factors
Authors: Zeng Qing‐Xiang , Luo Ren‐Zhong , Yan Sheng‐Bao , Tang Yi‐Quan , Wen Rui‐Jin , Liu Wen‐Long 
Published: January 2021

AbstractObjectiveTo compare and analyze the pass rate and screening strategy of hearing rescreening for newborns with high risk factors.MethodsRetrospective chart review of high‐risk newborns who failed their initial newborn hearing screen and subsequently underwent secondary hearing tests from June 2011 to June 2018 in Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center were performed.ResultsEight hundred and sixty‐eight newborns with high risk factors were included in the study. The 57‐70 days (83.5%) and 71‐84 days (83.4%) group had the highest pass rate compared with 42‐56 days (75.8%) and < 42 days (68.3%) group. As for different screening strategies, the pass rate of OAE(otoacoustic emissions), AABR (auto auditory brainstem response) and OAE + AABR was the highest in 57–70 days group and 71‐84 days group, respectively. The OAE + AABR had the lowest pass rate compared to the other two modalities. When the pass rate was compared as different risk factors, the 57–70 days and 71–84 days group also had the highest pass rate compared with 42–56 days and < 42 days group and the pass rate had no significant differences among various risk factors group.ConclusionOur results showed that all the pass rate of OAE, AABR and OAE + AABR was the highest in 57–70 days group and 71–84 days group with significant difference, suggesting that the delayed screening time (>57 days) may increase the re‐screening pass rate and reduce anxiety of parents, which is of great significance for clinical work.
Routine saliva testing for the identification of silent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in healthcare workers
Authors: Zhang Kevin , Shoukat Affan , Crystal William , Langley Joanne M. , Galvani Alison P. , Moghadas Seyed M. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractObjective:Current COVID-19 guidelines recommend symptom-based screening and regular nasopharyngeal (NP) testing for healthcare personnel in high-risk settings. We sought to estimate case detection percentages with various routine NP and saliva testing frequencies.Design:Simulation modeling study.Methods:We constructed a sensitivity function based on the average infectiousness profile of symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases to determine the probability of being identified at the time of testing. This function was fitted to reported data on the percent positivity of symptomatic COVID-19 patients using NP testing. We then simulated a routine testing program with different NP and saliva testing frequencies to determine case detection percentages during the infectious period, as well as the presymptomatic stage.Results:Routine biweekly NP testing, once every 2 weeks, identified an average of 90.7% (SD, 0.18) of cases during the infectious period and 19.7% (SD, 0.98) during the presymptomatic stage. With a weekly NP testing frequency, the corresponding case detection percentages were 95.9% (SD, 0.18) and 32.9% (SD, 1.23), respectively. A 5-day saliva testing schedule had a similar case detection percentage as weekly NP testing during the infectious period, but identified ~10% more cases (mean, 42.5%; SD, 1.10) during the presymptomatic stage.Conclusion:Our findings highlight the utility of routine noninvasive saliva testing for frontline healthcare workers to protect vulnerable patient populations. A 5-day saliva testing schedule should be considered to help identify silent infections and prevent outbreaks in nursing homes and healthcare facilities.
Successful multimodal measures preventing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks without universal frequent testing within long-term care units in the Midwestern Veterans’ Health Care Network
Authors: Goto Michihiko , Ueckert Nicole , Meiches Robert K. , Perencevich Eli N. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a serious threat for long-term care facilities, and frequent screening of employees and residents places a substantial burden on those facilities. We report our successful multimodal prevention measures without frequent testing, which resulted in no cases within 20 nursing home units over the first 6 months of the pandemic.