bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of diagnostic reference levels awareness and knowledge amongst CT radiographers
Authors: Abdulkadir Muhammad K. , Piersson Albert D. , Musa Goni M. , Audu Sadiq A. , Abubakar Auwal , Muftaudeen Basirat , Umana Josiah E. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBackgroundReports indicated that numerous factors, including inadequate personnel knowledge, contributes to insufficient patient data for setting up diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in developing countries. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge of DRLs as an optimisation tool amongst computed tomography (CT) radiographers in northern Nigeria. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was devised and distributed on site to sixty-two CT radiographers in northern Nigeria. A total of fifteen questions were included in the questionnaire focusing on DRLs, dose optimisation and dose descriptors generating quantitative data concerning overall CT radiographers’ perceived knowledge and awareness about DRLs.ResultsA response rate of 77.4% (48/62) was achieved. About 83.3% of the participants declare DRLs awareness, and 37.5% carried out a local dose survey. The percentage correctly perceived knowledge of concepts; DRLs was 45.8%, dose optimisation (42%) and CT dose descriptor (39%). Radiographers with work experience ranging from 4-10 years had the highest score.ConclusionIn this survey, deficiencies were noted in radiographers’ knowledge about DRLs with precise knowledge gap in the implementation of local dose survey for DRLs and optimisation. There is a need for continuous radiographers’ training with greater emphasis on dose optimisation and institutional based dose evaluation.
Analysis of financial contagion in influential African stock markets
Authors: Aderajo Oluwatosin Mary , Olaniran Oladotun Daniel 
Published: February 2021

AbstractDrawing from the experience of the global financial crisis that sprang forth from the US stock market, an empirical assessment of the dynamic correlation analysis of financial contagion with evidence from (5) African countries (South African, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia) is presented. Monthly stock prices indices from 2004 to 2018 was analyzed using the dynamic conditional correlation multivariate GARCH model to ascertain the contagious effect of the US to the selected African markets. By analyzing the correlation coefficient series, three phases of the crisis periods were identified {pre-crisis (2004–2007); crisis (2007–2009) and post-crisis (2009–2018), respectively}. The study revealed that a significant relationship exists between the returns of the US market and the African markets. The inspection of the pre-crisis, crisis, post-crisis mean and variance estimation shows that the crisis period is characterized by substantial increases in volatility, establishing that the shock experienced in the US posed a threat to the African markets being examined. Further, evidence revealed that in the crisis period, an increase in correlation (contagion) existed, while a continued correlation (herding) existed in the post-crisis period.
Innovations in the psychopathology of schizophrenia: a primer for busy clinicians
Authors: Wilson Peter , Humpston Clara , Nathan Rajan 
Published: March 2021

SUMMARYSignificant developments in schizophrenia psychopathology are ready to be incorporated into clinical practice. These advances allow a way forward through the well-described challenges experienced with current diagnostic and psychopathological frameworks. This article discusses approaches that will enable clinicians to access a wider and richer spectrum of patient experience; describes process-based models of schizophrenia in the domains of both the brain and the mind; and considers how different levels of analysis might be linked via the predictive processing framework. Multiple levels of analysis provide different targets for varying modalities of treatment – dopamine blockade at the molecular level, psychological therapy at the level of the mind, and social interventions at the personal level. Psychiatry needs to align itself closer to neuroscientific research. It should move from a symptom-based understanding to a model based on process. That is – after having asked about a patient's symptoms and experience clinicians need to introduce steps involving a consideration of what might be the brain and mind processes underlying the experience.
Monica Jones
Authors: Gossett Che , Hayward Eva 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
The following is an interview with activist Monica Jones conducted by Che Gossett and Eva Hayward. In this interview, Jones talks about her activism against the criminalization of sex work, recounting how the program Project ROSE, which was a revealing collaboration between the university and the police, functioned through carceral logics to detain and then according to a carceral economy of innocence, criminally prosecute or “reeducate” sex workers or those profiled as sex workers. Jones shows how the university is part of the carceral continuum and is a site of Black trans and sex worker and prison abolitionist struggle, which has intensified in the current organizing against police on campuses and entanglement of university and the prison-industrial complex and the policing functions of administration and university governance. Jones also shows how this is an HIV/AIDS activist issue given that the criminalization of sex work is bound up with from gentrification, displacement, and how that is exacerbated with COVID-19.
Cecilia Gentili
Authors: Gossett Che , Hayward Eva 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
The following is an interview with performer, activist, and advocate Cecilia Gentili conducted by Che Gossett and Eva Hayward. Cecilia Gentili is a longtime trans activist in New York City. Gentili has been involved in queer, trans, AIDS sex worker, and antiviolence organizing for decades. In this interview Gentili discusses her recent performance The Knife Cuts Both Ways, the limits of trans narratives and representation, and how she pushes at the thresholds of those limits such that they seem to break, fold, and corrupt. Gentili refuses the liberal humanist narrative of proper citizenship, for her trans cannot be incorporated, it is an excess, a story that does not claim redemption or resolution. Instead, trans is antagonism.
Tracking and Changes in Daily Step Counts among Finnish Adults
Authors: YANG XIAOLIN , KULMALA JANNE , HAKONEN HARTO , HIRVENSALO MIRJA , ROVIO SUVI P. , PAHKALA KATJA , KUKKO TUOMAS , HUTRI-KÄHÖNEN NINA , RAITAKARI OLLI T. , TAMMELIN TUIJA H. 
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACT

Purpose
This study aimed to investigate the tracking and changes of steps per day in adults and their determinants over 13 yr.

Methods
A total of 2195 subjects (1236 women) 30–45 yr of age were randomly recruited from the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study in 2007 and were followed up in 2020. Steps per day, including both total and aerobic steps per day, were monitored for seven consecutive days with a pedometer in 2007–2008 and 2011–2012 and with an accelerometer in 2018–2020. Tracking was analyzed using Spearman’s correlation. Stability and changes of steps per day over time in both low-active and high-active groups (based on median values) were described by percentage agreements, kappa statistics, and logistic regression. Associations of sex, age, and body mass index with the initial number and changes in steps per day were analyzed using linear growth curve modeling.

Results
Tracking correlations of total steps per day at 4-, 9-, and 13-yr intervals were 0.45–0.66, 0.33–0.70, and 0.29–0.60, while corresponding correlations for aerobic steps per day were 0.28–0.55, 0.23–0.52, and 0.08–0.55, respectively. Percentage agreements were higher than 54%, and kappa statistics ranged from slight to fair over time. Compared with the low-active group, the high-active group at baseline had a higher probability of being active later in adulthood. Female sex and higher age were associated directly with the initial number of steps per day and inversely with changes in the number of steps per day. Body mass index was inversely associated with the initial number of steps per day and changes in the number of total steps per day.

Conclusion
The 13-yr tracking of steps per day in adulthood was found to be low to moderately high. Daily ambulatory activity is essential to maintaining an active lifestyle throughout adulthood. Changes in the amount of adult steps per day vary by sex, age, and BMI.
Exploring clinical research efficacy of teaching and practicing medical professionals in Pakistan
Authors: Akhtar Mubeen , Irfan Aiman 
Published: February 2021

Objective: The current study aimed to explore clinical research efficacy of teaching and practicing medical professionals in Pakistan. The role of socio-demographic factors in this context was also investigated.
Methods: This study using cross-sectional research design was carried out from August to December 2019. A sample of teaching and practicing medical professionals (N=96) was collected through purposive sampling from Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Clinical Research Appraisal Inventory (CRAI) was used along with the demographic datasheet. Research data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-21).
Results: The results of the study revealed that teaching and practicing medical professionals feel most competent in ‘collaborating with others’ while the research area in which they feel least competent is ‘securing funds for a study’. It was found that there are significant differences in the research efficacy of teaching and practicing medical professionals with reference to age (p< 0.00), gender (p< 0.01), designation (p< 0.00), number of articles published (p< 0.00), number of articles under review (p< 0.03), number of articles submitted (p< 0.03), and number of funded projects completed (p< 0.02). Satisfaction with salary and number of hours at work per week have no impact on their research efficacy.
Conclusions: Findings have implications for policy makers and medical institutions to promote research skills in teaching and practicing medical professionals.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.2395
How to cite this:Akhtar M, Irfan A. Exploring clinical research efficacy of teaching and practicing medical professionals in Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(3):851-857. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.2395
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Increase in public interest concerning alternative medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: a Google Trends study
Authors: Rokhmah Dewi , Ali Khaidar , Putri Serius Miliyani Dwi , Khoiron Khoiron 
Published: February 2021

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered individuals to increase their healthy behaviour in order to prevent transmission, including improving their immunity potentially through the use of alternative medicines. This study aimed to examine public interest on alternative medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic using Google Trends in Indonesia. Methods: Employing a quantitative study, the Spearman rank test was used to analyze the correlation between Google Relative Search Volume (RSV) of various search terms, within the categories of alternative medicine, herbal medicine and practical activity, with COVID-19 cases. In addition, time lag correlation was also investigated. Results: Public interest toward alternative medicine during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia is dramatically escalating. All search term categories (alternative medicine, medical herbal, and alternative medicine activities) were positively associated with COVID-19 cases (p<0.05). The terms ‘ginger’ (r=0.6376), ‘curcumin’ (r=0.6550) and ‘planting ginger’ (0.6713) had the strongest correlation. Furthermore, time lag correlation between COVID-19 and Google RSV was also positively significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Public interest concerning alternative medicine related terms dramatically increased after the first COVID-19 confirmed case was reported in Indonesia. Time lag correlation showed good performance using weekly data. The Indonesian Government will play an important role to provide and monitor information related to alternative medicine in order for the population to receive the maximum benefit.
Cloud Pricing: The Spot Market Strikes Back
Authors: Dierks Ludwig , Seuken Sven 
Published: February 2021

Cloud computing providers must constantly hold many idle compute instances available (e.g., for maintenance or for users with long-term contracts). A natural idea, which should intuitively increase the provider’s profit, is to sell these idle instances on a secondary market, for example, via a preemptible spot market. However, this ignores possible “market cannibalization” effects that may occur in equilibrium as well as the additional costs the provider experiences due to preemptions. To study the viability of offering a spot market, we model the provider’s profit optimization problem by combining queuing theory and game theory to analyze the equilibria of the resulting queuing system. Our main result is an easy-to-check condition under which a provider can simultaneously achieve a profit increase and create a Pareto improvement for the users by offering a spot market (using idle resources) alongside a fixed-price market. Finally, we illustrate our results numerically to demonstrate the effects that the provider’s costs and her strategy have on her profit. This paper was accepted by Gabriel Weintraub, revenue management and market analytics.
Developing a nursing protocol for the remote verification of an expected death
Authors: Ohashi Yuki , Ozaki Akiko , Kawamura Sawako , Nishida Yukinori , Hirabayashi Katsumasa 
Published: February 2021

Background: Homecare nurses play an important role in end-of-life care. A protocol is needed for the remote verification of expected deaths using information and communication technologies (ICT), that is consistent with Japanese guidelines. Aim: To clarify the processes that nurses use to verify deaths and to develop a tentative nursing protocol for verifying expected deaths, using home-based ICT. Methods: Using literature and semi-structured interviews, a tentative nursing protocol was developed for verifying expected deaths using home-based ICT. Findings: To protect the dignity of patients and their families, it is important that their understanding and consent is provided for the remote verification of expected deaths. Furthermore, the up-to-date legal and ethical responsibilities of nurses should be discussed regarding the verification of a patient's death to provide the best care for the patients and families when implementing the Death Certification Using Information and Communication Technology (DCUICT). Conclusion: This suggested protocol offers a framework for a new delivery of nursing care. It provides guidance for homecare nurses organising the care processes and nursing roles of DCUICT. Further revisions to this protocol must incorporate the specific requirement for the verification of nurses.
Tunable delay line based on high-performance three-dimensional switches
using graphene heaters
Authors: Song Qianqian , Hu Zhefeng , Chen Kaixin 
Published: February 2021

We propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, tunable delay line based on
high-performance three-dimensional (3-D) switches driven by graphene
heaters. The 3-D switches, which are constructed with a vertical
directional coupler (VDC), provide continuous tuning functionality of
the proposed delay line by tuning the coupling ratio of the VDC. The
use of the graphene electrode by placing it in direct contact with the
upper waveguide core, combined with the air slots formed on both sides
of the waveguides, causes the switch to have a quite low power
consumption of 3.6 mW. Our designed device, which has a footprint of

20

m
m

×

6.8

m
m

, is capable of providing a continuous
tunable delay from 0 to 150 ps with minimum operating bandwidth of

>

3.34

G
H
z

, from 0 to 100 ps with minimum
operating bandwidth of

>

5

G
H
z

, and from 0 to 50 ps with minimum
operating bandwidth of

>

10

G
H
z

. The cross talk for
different delay cases is less than

−

21.6

d
B

over the whole C-band and less than

−

45.2

d
B

at 1550 nm.
Modelling suggests limited change in the reproduction number from reopening Norwegian kindergartens and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Rypdal Martin , Rypdal Veronika , Jakobsen Per Kristen , Ytterstad Elinor , Løvsletten Ola , Klingenberg Claus , Rypdal Kristoffer 
Published: February 2021

Background
To suppress the COVID-19 outbreak, the Norwegian government closed all schools on March 13, 2020. The kindergartens reopened on April 20, and the schools on April 27 and May 11 of 2020. The effect of these measures is largely unknown since the role of children in the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is still unclear. There are only a few studies of school closures as a separate intervention to other social distancing measures, and little research exists on the effect of school opening during a pandemic.

Objective
This study aimed to model the effect of opening kindergartens and the schools in Norway in terms of a change in the reproduction number (R). A secondary objective was to assess if we can use the estimated R after school openings to infer the rates of transmission between children in schools.

Methods
We used an individual-based model (IBM) to assess the reopening of kindergartens and schools in two Norwegian cities, Oslo, the Norwegian capital, with a population of approximately 680 000, and Tromsø, which is the largest city in Northern Norway, with a population of approximately 75 000. The model uses demographic information and detailed data about the schools in both cities. We carried out an ensemble study to obtain robust results in spite of the considerable uncertainty that remains about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Results
We found that reopening of Norwegian kindergartens and schools are associated with a change in R of 0.10 (95%CI 0.04–0.16) and 0.14 (95%CI 0.01–0.25) in the two cities under investigation if the in-school transmission rates for the SARS-CoV-2 virus are equal to what has previously been estimated for influenza pandemics.

Conclusion
We found only a limited effect of reopening schools on the reproduction number, and we expect the same to hold true in other countries where nonpharmaceutical interventions have suppressed the pandemic. Consequently, current R-estimates are insufficiently accurate for determining the transmission rates in schools. For countries that have closed schools, planned interventions, such as the opening of selected schools, can be useful to infer general knowledge about children-to-children transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
Magnitude and predictors of poor glycemic control among patients with diabetes attending public hospitals of Western Ethiopia
Authors: Oluma Adugna , Abadiga Muktar , Mosisa Getu , Etafa Werku 
Published: February 2021

Background
Diabetes is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases globally, which rapidly is increasing in developing countries. Ethiopia is also facing growing morbidity and mortality related to diabetes complications. Thus, dealing with glycemic control is essential for controlling the development of devastating acute and chronic complications related to diabetes. Therefore, this study aims to assess the magnitude and predictors of poor glycemic control among diabetic patients in western Ethiopia.

Methods
The cross-sectional study design was employed on a sample of 423 diabetic patients. A systematic random sampling method was employed. An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used. The data entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences window version 24 for analysis. All variables significant at p-<0.25 in bivariate were entered into multivariate analysis. The multivariable logistic regressions were used to determine predictors’ poor glycemic control by considering the Adjusted Odds Ratio at CI 95% and the significance level was set at p <0.05.

Results
The magnitude of poor glycemic control was 64.1%. Being females (AOR = 1.684,95%CI = 1.066,2.662), duration of diabetes >8years (AOR = 2.552,95%CI = 1.397, 4.665), presence of diabetes complication (AOR = 2.806,95%CI = 1.594,4.941), negligence of blood glucose test at home (AOR = 1.720, 95%CI = 1.078, 2.743), poor self-care behavior (AOR = 1.787, 95%CI = 1.083,2.959) and poor self-efficacy (AOR = 1.934, 95%CI = 1.078,3.469) were significant predictors of poor glycemic control.

Conclusion
The proportion of poor glycemic control was high which was nearly comparable to that reported from many countries. This could be due to factors that were significantly associated with poor glycemic control like lack of home blood glucose test, increased duration of diabetes, presence of diabetes complications, poor self-efficacy, and poor self-care behaviors. Each were significant independent predictors of poor glycemic control. Thus, we recommend patients with diabetes and health care providers enhancing self-monitoring practices, and preventing potential complications should be a priority concern to improve blood glucose levels. Further studies are also recommended to explore important factors which were not identified by the current study.
Beobachterentwurf für lineare, zeitvariante Systeme mittels Spektraltheorie
Authors: Tranninger Markus , Seeber Richard , Steinberger Martin , Horn Martin 
Published: February 2021

Zusammenfassung
Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über neue Beobachter-Entwurfsmethoden für eine Klasse von linearen, zeitvarianten Systemen. Der Entwurf beruht auf der Idee, nur instabile bzw. langsam abklingende Moden des beobachteten Systems in der Schätzfehlerdynamik zu modifizieren. Die dafür notwendigen theoretischen Grundlagen des sogenannten Lyapunov- und Dichotomie-Spektrums werden erläutert und mit Hilfe von Beispielen untermauert. Wichtige Eigenschaften der resultierenden Beobachter werden in Theorie und Simulation gezeigt.
Interdiscursivity and Promotional Discourse: A Corpus-Assisted Genre Analysis of About Us Texts on Chinese University Websites
Authors: Xiong Tao , Li Qiuna 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
The debate on the marketization of discourse in higher education has sparked and sustained interest among researchers in discourse and education studies across a diversity of contexts. While most research in this line has focused on marketized discourses such as advertisements, little attention has been paid to promotional discourse in public institutions such as the About us texts on Chinese university websites. The goal of the present study is twofold: first, to describe the generic features of the university About us texts in China; and second, to analyze how promotional discourse is interdiscursively incorporated in the discourse by referring to the broader socio-political context. Findings have indicated five main moves: giving an overview, stressing historical status, displaying strengths, pledging political and ideological allegiance, and communicating goals and visions. Move 3, displaying strengths, has the greatest amount of information and can be further divided into six sub-moves which presents information on campus facilities, faculty team, talent cultivation, disciplinary fields construction, academic research, and international exchange. The main linguistic and rhetorical strategies used in these moves are analyzed and discussed.