bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of Usability Evaluation Practices And Contexts of Use In Wearable Robotics
Authors: Meyer Jan Thomas , Gassert Roger , Lambercy Olivier 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background : User-centered design approaches have gained attention over the past decade, aiming to tackle the technology acceptance issues of wearable robotic devices to assist, support or augment human capabilities. While there is a consensus that usability is key to user-centered design, dedicated usability evaluation studies are scarce and clear evaluation guidelines are missing. However, the careful consideration and integration of user needs appears to be essential to successfully develop an effective, efficient, and satisfactory human-robot interaction. Methods : Through an online survey for developers of wearable robotics, we wanted to understand how the design and evaluation in actual daily practice compares to what is reported in literature. With a total of 31 questions, we analyzed the most common wearable robotic device applications and their technology maturity, and how these influence usability evaluation practices. Results : A total of 158 responses from a heterogeneous population were collected and analyzed. The dataset representing contexts of use for augmentation (16.5%), assistance (38.0%), therapy (39.8%), as well as few other specifc applications (5.7%), allowed for an insightful analysis of the influence of technology maturity on user involvement and usability evaluation. We identifed functionality, ease of use, and performance as the most evaluated usability attributes and could specify which measures are used to assess them. Also, we could underline the frequent use of qualitative measures alongside the expected high prevalence of performance-metrics. In conclusion of the analysis, we derived evaluation recommendations to foster user-centered design and usability evaluation. Conclusion : This analysis might serve as state-of-the-art comparison and recommendation for usability studies in wearable robotics. We believe that by motivating for more balanced, comparable and user-oriented evaluation practices, we may support the wearable robotics field in tackling the technology acceptance limitations.
The Benefits of Guilu Erxian Jiao for Patients With Osteoporosis: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Lai Yuan-Xin , Tseng Chu-Yao , Yang Huang-Yu , Yang Sien-Hung , Lee Pai-Wei , Yang Tsung-Hsien 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the Chinese herbal medicine formula Guilu Erxian Jiao can improve the T-score in osteoporosis patients and even decrease the fracture rate.Design: This is a retrospective study.Subjects and Setting: Osteoporosis participants were selected from the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) database from 2000 to 2019.Interventions: The patients were administered Guilu Erxian Jiao pills.Outcome measures: We analyzed the change of T-score and the associated cumulative incidence of fracture.Results: Eighty-five patients administered GEJ met the inclusion criteria. After propensity score matching (1:5), 425 patients who were not administered GEJ were included in the control group. There were no significant differences about the baseline characteristics between the study and control groups. In the study group, GEJ improved the osteoporosis of the lumbar vertebrate and osteopenia of the hip joint but did not improve osteoporosis of the femoral neck. The cumulative rate of fracture between these two groups was not significantly different. Patients who took at least 600 GEJ pills over the treatment period had a decreased risk for fracture at fracture-prone sites.Conclusion:The use of Guilu Erxian Jiao may improve osteoporosis of the lumbar vertebrate and osteopenia of the hip joint. In addition, it may help decrease fractures of the lumbar spine. Administering at least 600 GEJ pills over the treatment period might result in a decreased risk for fracture at fracture-prone sites.
Using Soil Erosion as an Indicator for Integrated Water Resources Management: A Case Study of Ruiru Drinking Water Reservoir, Kenya
Authors: Kamamia Ann W. , Vogel Cordula , Mwangi Hosea M. , Feger Karl-heinz , Sang Joseph , Julich Stefan 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Functions and services provided by soils play an important role for numerous Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) involving mainly food supply and environmental health. In many regions of the earth, water erosion is a major threat to soil functions and is mostly related to land use change or poor agricultural management. Selecting proper soil management practice, requires site-specific indicators such as water erosion, which follow a spatio-temporal variation. In this study, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation—RUSLE—complemented with the cubist-kriging interpolation method was applied to develop monthly soil erosion risk maps for the data-scarce catchment of the Ruiru drinking water reservoir located in Kenya. An erodibility map created with digital soil mapping methods (R2 = 0.63) revealed that 46% of the soils in the catchment have medium to high erodibility. The monthly erosion rates showed two distinct potential peaks of soil loss over the course of the year, which are consistent with the bimodal rainy season experienced in central Kenya. A higher soil loss of 2.24 t/ha was estimated for long rains (March- May) as compared to 1.68 t/ha for short rains (October- December). Bare land and cropland are the major contributors to soil loss. Furthermore, the spatial maps reveal that areas around the indigenous forest on the western and southern parts of the catchment have the highest erosion risk. In conclusion, erosion risk maps can be decisive for developing spatially explicit, efficient and timely soil management strategies thus allowing continued multi-functional use of land within the soil-water-food nexus.
Reference Site Influences Perceived Species Loss in Shade Coffee, But Assemblages in Fact Depend on Landscape Context
Authors: Bedoya Maria Juliana , Jones Harrison H , Malone Kristen , Branch Lyn C 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Context: Shade coffee plantations are purported to maintain forest biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Understanding their conservation importance is hindered, however, by the limited taxa studied and failure to account for the landscape context of plantations and quality of reference sites.Objectives/Research questions: (1) how occupancy of mammals and birds changed from continuous forest to fragmented forest and coffee plantations while statistically controlling for landscape context, and (2) whether mammal and bird communities responded differently to shade coffee with regard to richness and composition.Methods: We used camera traps to sample ground-dwelling birds and medium- and large-bodied mammals (31 and 29 species, respectively) in shade coffee plantations and two types of reference forest (fragmented and continuous) in Colombia’s Western Andes. We used a multi-species occupancy model to correct for detection and to estimate occupancy, richness, and community composition.Results Shade coffee lacked ~50% of the species found in continuous forest, primarily forest-specialist insectivorous birds and forest-specialist and large-bodied mammals, resulting in different species composition between coffee and forest assemblages. Coffee plantation birds were generally a unique subset of disturbance-adapted specialists, whereas mammals in coffee were mostly generalists encountered across land uses. Forest fragments had species richness more similar to shade coffee than to continuous forest. Species sensitive to shade coffee responded negatively to isolation and disturbance at the landscape scale.Conclusions: Studies comparing coffee with relictual forest fragments may overestimate the conservation value of shade coffee. Conservation of biodiversity in shade coffee landscapes will be ineffective unless these efforts are linked to larger landscape-level conservation initiatives.
Perceptions and Attitudes of Midwives on Respectful Maternity Care During Childbirth: A Qualitative Study in Three District Hospitals of Kigali City of Rwanda, 2019
Authors: Uwamahoro Valentine , Sengoma Jean Paul Semasaka , Ndagijimana Albert , Humuza James 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background: Respectful maternity care (RMC) is “a universal human right for every childbearing woman”. Mistreatment during childbirth is a violation of women’s fundamental rights and affects accessibility to women’s health services. In Rwanda, little is known about health care professionals’ perceptions and attitudes towards RMC during childbirth. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of midwives towards the provision of respectful maternity care during childbirth.Methods: This qualitative study used individual in-depth interviews in Kinyarwanda language. A purposive sampling method was used to reach out to 28 midwives from three district hospitals in Kigali city. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, translated into English and thematic content analysis was performed using Atlas ti, version 7. The study was ethically approved by the University of Rwanda College of Medicine and Health Sciences Institutional Review Board, before data collection.Results: Most of participants revealed that they have knowledge on RMC and perceive that they provide maternal health care based on women’s rights. Positive attitudes towards providing RMC were reported by midwives working in maternity. However, a considerable number of participants reported the existence of abusive practices among midwives. Most of the midwives reported facing many challenges which affect their ability to provide respectful maternal care.Conclusion: In general, midwives understand the seven rights of mothers and had a positive attitude towards providing RMC. However, some abusive practices still exist among midwives while providing RMC with considerable reported challenges, including overload and lack of labour monitoring materials. The adjustment of the ratio of midwives to clients and availability of essential materials in labour monitoring is suggested.
Modulation of Rac1/PAK1/connexin43-Mediated ATP Release from Astrocytes Contributes to Retinal Ganglion Cell Survival in Experimental Glaucoma
Authors: Zhao Guo-Li , Zhou Hong , Zhong Shu-Min , Zhou Han , Xu Lin-Jie , Li Fang , Lei Bo , Wang Zhongfeng , Miao Yanying 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background: Connexin43 (Cx43) is one of major gap junction proteins in glial cells. Mutation in the gap junction protein alpha 1 gene of Cx43 has been detected in human glaucomatous retinas, suggestive of involvement of Cx43 in pathogenesis of glaucoma. However, the role of Cx43 in glaucoma has not been clearly elucidated. Methods: A mouse model of chronic ocular hypertension (COH) was produced by injecting magnetic microbeads into the eye anterior chamber. To explore the role of Rac1 in regulating Cx43 function, Rac1 conditional knockout in astrocytes was generated by subretinal injection of AAV-GFAP-Cre in Rac1ﬂox/ﬂox mice. The hemichannel activity was assayed by ethidium bromide uptake. The level and source of ATP were assayed by a commercial ATP assay kit, ATP sensors and removing microglia. Results: In this study, we showed that Cx43 were mainly expressed in retinal astrocytes. Intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation induced astrocyte activation, as evidenced by increased expressions of c-Fos and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), which results in downregulation of Cx43 and changes of Cx43 phosphorylation at Ser373 and Ser368 sites. In the optic nerve head of COH mice, Cx43 expression in Gap43 (an activity-dependent plasticity protein) positive astrocytes was reduced. In COH retinas, Rac1, a member of the Rho family, was activated, which was consistent with the decrease of Cx43 expression in a time course. Pharmacological inhibition of Rac1 inhibited the activity of its downstream molecule PAK1, and reversed the reduction of Cx43 expression and astrocyte activation induced by IOP elevation. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments further demonstrated the interactions between Cx43 and active Rac1 or p-PAK1. Inhibition of Rac1 or conditional knockout of Rac1 in macroglial cells increased the ATP release through Cx43 hemichannels in astrocytes of COH retinas. Additionally, Rac1 deletion in astrocytes upregulated the expression of adenosine A3 receptor in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and promoted RGC survival, at least at early stage of IOP elevation through activating adenosine receptors.Conclusions: Our results showed that Rac1 in astrocytes regulated glaucomatous RGC survival through Cx43-mediated ATP release. These findings suggest that modulation of Rac1/PAK1/Cx43 pathway in astrocytes may be a potential strategy of neuroprotection in glaucoma.
Landslide Susceptibility Zonation Using Statistical and Machine Learning Approaches in Northern Lecco, Italy
Authors: Mehrabi Mohammad 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
This study deals with landslide susceptibility mapping in the northern part of Lecco Province, Lombardy Region, Italy. In so doing, a valid landslide inventory map and thirteen conditioning factors (including elevation, slope aspect, slope degree, plan curvature, profile curvature, distance to waterway, distance to road, distance to fault, soil type, land use, lithology, stream power index, and topographic wetness index) form the spatial database within geographic information system (GIS). The used evaluative models comprise a bivariate statistical approach called frequency ratio (FR) and two machine learning tools, namely multi-layer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). These models first use landslide and non-landslide records for comprehending the relationship between the landslide occurrence and conditioning factors. Then landslide susceptibility values are predicted for the whole area. The accuracy of the produced susceptibility maps is measured using area under the curve (AUC) index, according to which, the MLPNN (AUC = 0.916) presented the most accurate map, followed by the FR (AUC = 0. 898) and ANFIS (AUC = 0.889). Visual interpretation of the susceptibility maps, FR-based correlation analysis, as well as the importance assessment of conditioning factors, all indicated the significant contribution of the road networks to the crucial susceptibility of landslide. Lastly, an explicit predictive formula is extracted from the implemented MLPNN model for a convenient approximation of landslide susceptibility value.
A Method for Estimating the Risk of Fishery Ports Against Typhoon: A Case Study on Dongsha Fishery Port
Authors: Zhang Yachao , Zhang Xiaojie , qiu jufei , Tao Aifeng , Deng Yanfen , Zhao Jianli , Wang Jianfeng , Huang Wentao 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
After standard seawalls have been built successfully, fishery ports become the structures most easily damaged during a typhoon. Estimating the risk of fishery ports against typhoons would be useful for identifying weaknesses and implementing corrective measures to protect fishing boats from a typhoon. This study describes a versatile methodology for conducting this type of quantitative assessment at fishery ports. The Dongsha fishery port in Zhejiang Province was selected as a case study to test the results derived from a high-precision Hydrodynamic Flexible Mesh model coupled with the Spectral Wave model. First, typhoon characteristics were assessed based on historical typhoons in the study area, and then, the wind, tide, storm surge, and waves were modeled and tide-surge interactions were investigated. Through comparisons of the destructive parameters from the typhoon assessment with the design and structural parameters of the fishery port, the level of the Dongsha fishery port against typhoons was determined to be 12, and the main weaknesses of the port’s defenses were found to be located near feature points T2, T3, T8, and T15. The results obtained demonstrate that the proposed methodology can be used to acquire valuable information on the risk of fishery ports against typhoons.
Basal and Calcium-Stimulated Procalcitonin for the Diagnosis of Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Lights and Shadows
Authors: Censi Simona , Stefano Marta Di , Repaci Andrea , Benvenuti Teresa , Manso Jacopo , Pagotto Uberto , Iacobone Maurizio , Barollo Susi , Bertazza Loris , Galuppini Francesca , Benna Clara , Pennelli Gianmaria , Plebani Mario , Faggian Diego , Colombo Carla , Fugazzola Laura , Mian Caterina 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background: procalcitonin (proCt) was recently proposed as an alternative or in addition to calcitonin (Ct) in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) diagnostics. Methods: serum basal Ct (bCt) and proCt (bproCt) levels were measured before surgery from a consecutive series of patients with (n=43) and without (n=75) MTC, retrospectively collected in Padua. Serum bproCt, bCt and stimulated proCt and Ct (sproCt and sCt) were measured in another consecutive series of 33 patients seen at three tertiary-level institutions underwent a calcium stimulation test prior to surgery, 20 of them with a final diagnosis of MTC, and 13 with non-MTC nodular disease. Results: median bproCt levels were higher in MTC than in non-MTC. A positive correlation was found for bproCt with bCt (P<0.01, R2=0.75), and with tumor size (P<0.01, R2=0.39). The cut-off for bproCt differentiating between MTC and non-MTC patients was >0.07 ng/ml (sensitivity: 85.7%, specificity: 98.9%, positive predictive value [PPV]: 98.2%, negative predictive value [NPV]: 90.6%, P<0.01). While bproCt was >0.07 ng/ml in 38/39 (97.4%) patients with MTC >10 mm, it was only above said cut-off in 15/23 (65.2%) patients with tumors ≤10 mm. A sproCt >0.19 ng/ml was able to identify MTC (sensitivity: 90.0%, specificity:100.0%, PPV: 100.0%, NPV: 86.7% [P<0.01]). Conclusions: proCt cannot replace Ct as the standard of care in the MTC diagnosis, because it often fails to identify a small MTC. That said, it has a very high specificity and can be used in combination with Ct in MTC diagnostics, particularly in the case of mildly elevated basal Ct levels.
Mask Wearing Behavior and COVID-19: Synthetic Effects of Individualism and Collectivism in Korea
Authors: Chung Ji-Bum , Kim Byeong-Je , Kim Eun-Sung 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
The behavior of the general public has largely been critical to the effective COVID-19 response. Republic of Korea has shown a better response performance than many other countries around the world. Based on the theories of individualism-collectivism, this study analyzes how the Korean culture influences the mask-wearing behavior of people in Korea. Two online surveys were conducted after the first wave and in the middle of third wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. The results of regression analysis demonstrate that, when demographic variables are controlled, concerns around infecting others and respondents’ horizontal individualistic tendency have significant positive effects on mask wearing behavior. Meanwhile, horizontal collectivism also positively affects the respondents’ mask-wearing behavior as expected in collectivistic culture of Korean people. We conclude that the general collectivism of Korean people is mutually synergetic with the horizontal individualism in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea.
Network Security Situation Prediction Model Based on EMD and ELPSO Optimized BiGRU Neural Network
Authors: Zhang Biao , Ji Shaopei , Xu Jiazhong , Jia Mingqi , Deng Liwei 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
The traditional network security situation prediction method depends on the accuracy of historical situation values, and there are correlations and differences in importance among various network security factors. To solve the above problems, a combined forecasting model based on Empirical Mode Decomposition and improved Particle Swarm Optimization (ELPSO) to optimize BiGRU neural network (EMD-ELPSO-BiGRU) is proposed. Firstly, the model decomposes the network security situation data sequence into a series of intrinsic modal components by empirical mode decomposition; Then, the prediction model of the BiGRU neural network is established for each modal component, and an improved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (ELPSO) is proposed to optimize the super parameters of BiGRU neural network. Finally, the prediction results of each modal component are superimposed to obtain the final prediction value of the network security situation. In the experiment, on the one hand, ELPSO is compared with other particle swarm optimization algorithms, and the results show that ELPSO has better optimization performance; On the other hand, through simulation test and comparison between EMD-ELPSO-BiGRU and other traditional forecasting methods, the results show that the established combined forecasting model has higher forecasting accuracy.
Photoclick Reaction Programming Glutathione-Responsive System for Granuloma-Tracking and Anti-Tuberculosis
Authors: Zheng Judun , Long Xun , Chen Hao , Ji Zhisheng , Shu Bowen , Yue Rui , Liao Yechun , Qiao Kun , Liu Ying , Liao Yuhui 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Background:Tuberculosis (TB) is a virulent form of infectious disease that causes a global burden due to its high infectivity and fatality rate, especially the irrepressible threats of the latent infection. Constructing an efficient strategy for the prevention and control of TB is of great significance. Fortunately, we found that granulomas are endowed with higher reducibility levels possibly caused by internal inflammation and a relatively enclosed microenvironment. Results:Therefore, we developed the first targeted glutathione (GSH)-responsive theranostic system (RIF@Cy5.5-HA-NG) for tuberculosis with a rifampicin (RIF)-loaded near-infrared emission carrier, which was constructed by photoclick reaction-actuated hydrophobic-hydrophobic interaction, enabling the early diagnosis of tuberculosis through granulomas-tracking. Furthermore, the loaded rifampicin was released through the dissociation of disulfide bond by the localized GSH in granulomas, realizing the targeted tuberculosis therapy and providing an especially accurate treatment mapping for tuberculosis. Conclusions:Thus, this targeted theranostic strategy for tuberculosis exhibits the potential to realize both granulomas-tracking and anti-infection of tuberculosis.