bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Application of machine learning models in the capacity prediction of RCFST columns
Authors: Megahed Khaled , Mahmoud Nabil Said , Abd-Rabou Saad Elden Mostafa 
Published: November 2023

AbstractRectangular concrete-filled steel tubular (RCFST) columns are widely used in structural engineering due to their excellent load-carrying capacity and ductility. However, existing design equations often yield different design results for the same column properties, leading to uncertainty for engineering designers. Furthermore, basic regression analysis fails to precisely forecast the complicated relation between the column properties and its compressive strength. To overcome these challenges, this study suggests two machine learning (ML) models, including the Gaussian process (GPR) and the extreme gradient boosting model (XGBoost). These models employ a range of input variables, such as the geometric and material properties of RCFST columns, to estimate their strength. The models are trained and evaluated based on two datasets consisting of 958 axially loaded RCFST columns and 405 eccentrically loaded RCFST columns. In addition, a unitless output variable, termed the strength index, is introduced to enhance model performance. From evolution metrics, the GPR model emerged as the most accurate and reliable model, with nearly 99% of specimens with less than 20% error. In addition, the prediction results of ML models were compared with the predictions of two existing standard codes and different ML studies. The results indicated that the developed ML models achieved notable enhancement in prediction accuracy. In addition, the Shapley additive interpretation (SHAP) technique is employed for feature analysis. The feature analysis results reveal that the column length and load end-eccentricity parameters negatively impact compressive strength.
A single-center experience on long-term clinical performance of a rapid SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Detection Test, STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag Test
Authors: Kim Seo Wan , Park Yongjung , Kim Dokyun , Jeong Seok Hoon 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic in Korea has dynamically changed with the occurrence of more easily transmissible variants. A rapid and reliable diagnostic tool for detection of SARS-CoV-2 is needed. While RT-PCR is currently the gold standard for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the procedure is time-consuming and requires expert technicians. The rapid antigen detection test (RADT) was approved as a confirmatory test on 14 March 2022 due to rapid dissemination of the Omicron variant. The benefits of the RADT are speed, simplicity, and point-of-care feasibility. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical performance of RADT compared to RT-PCR in a single center over 15 months, fully covering the SARS-CoV-2 ‘Variants of Concern (VOC).’ A total of 14,194 cases was simultaneously tested by RT-PCR and RADT from January 2021 to March 2022 in Gangnam Severance Hospital and were retrospectively reviewed. PowerChek SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A&B Multiplex Real-time PCR Kit, and STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag Test were used. Positive rates, sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPV) were estimated for five periods (3 months/period). Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed, and Spearman’s rank test assessed the correlation between RT-PCR Ct values and semi-quantitative RADT results. The overall positive rate of RT-PCR was 4.64%. The overall sensitivity and specificity were 0.577 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.539–0.614] and 0.991 [95% CI 0.989–0.993], respectively. ROC analysis resulted in an area under the curve of 0.786 (P < 0.0001, Yuden’s index = 0.568). The PCR positive rates were estimated as 0.11%, 0.71%, 4.51%, 2.02%, and 13.72%, and PPV was estimated as 0.045, 0.421, 0.951, 0.720, and 0.798 in Periods 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. A significant and moderate negative correlation between PCR Ct values and semi-quantitative RADT results was observed (Spearman’s ρ = − 0.646, P < 0.0001). The RADT exhibited good performance in specimens with low Ct values (Ct ≤ 25.00) by RT-PCR. The PPV was significantly higher in Periods 3 and 5, which corresponds to rapid dissemination of the Delta and Omicron variants. The high PPV implies that individuals with a positive RADT result are very likely infected with SARS-CoV-2 and would require prompt quarantine rather than additional RT-PCR testing. The sensitivity of 0.577 indicates that RADT should not replace RT-PCR. Nonetheless, given the high PPV and the ability to track infected persons through rapid results, our findings suggest that RADT could play a significant role in control strategies for further SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Multilevel and subnational analysis of the predictors of maternity continuum of care completion in Nigeria: a cross-sectional survey
Authors: Oyedele Oyewole K. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractUnderstanding population discrepancy in maternity continuum of care (CoC) completion, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa is significant for interventional plan to achieve optimal pregnancy outcome and child survival. This study thus investigated the magnitudes, distribution, and drivers of maternity CoC completion in Nigeria. A secondary analysis of 19,474 reproductive age (15–49 years) women with at least a birth (level 1) in 1400 communities (level 2) across 37 states covered in the 2018 cross-sectional survey. Stepwise regression initially identified important variables at 10% cutoff point. Multilevel analysis was performed to determine the likelihood and significance of individual and community factors. Intra-cluster correlation assessed the degree of clustering and deviance statistics identified the optimal model. Only 6.5% of the women completed the CoC. Completion rate is significantly different between communities “4.3% in urban and 2.2% in rural” (χ2 = 392.42, p < 0.001) and was higher in southern subnational than the north. Education (AOR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.20–2.16), wealth (AOR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.35–2.46), media exposure (AOR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.06–1.40), women deciding own health (AOR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.13–1.66), taking iron drug (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.43–2.35) and at least 2 dose of tetanus-toxoid vaccine during pregnancy (AOR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.02–1.78) are associated individual factors. Rural residency (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.43–2.35), region (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.43–2.35) and rural population proportion (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.43–2.35) are community predictors of the CoC completion. About 63.2% of the total variation in CoC completion was explained by the community predictors. Magnitude of maternity CoC completion is generally low and below the recommended level in Nigeria. Completion rate in urban is twice rural and more likely in the southern than northern subnational. Women residence and region are harmful and beneficial community drivers respectively. Strengthening women health autonomy, sensitization, and education programs particularly in the rural north are essential to curtail the community disparity and optimize maternity CoC practice.
Modified model reference adaptive observer‐based control without assumptions on uncertain parameter bounds
Authors: Faramin Mostafa , Turner Matthew C. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThis paper proposes a Modified model reference adaptive controller and observer (MMRACO) for unknown linear time‐invariant (LTI) systems. The recent literature, and in particular the so‐called MRACO approach, has demonstrated how some deficiencies in standard model reference adaptive control can be overcome by using a combination of modified reference models and observers, but this is done at the expense of knowing bounds on certain unknown parameters. Here, a novel adaptive observer/controller combination is presented which removes the need to know the above bounds but preserves the other desirable features of the MRACO approach. A Lyapunov analysis of the closed‐loop system ensures asymptotic convergence of both tracking and observer errors, with uniform boundedness of parameter estimation errors. A key advantage of the scheme is that the design involves only solutions of two Lyapunov equations (or linear matrix inequalities) and does not require the selection of a “high gain” parameter. The effectiveness of the approach is illustrated in some numerical examples.
Point cloud semantic segmentation based on local feature fusion and multilayer attention network
Authors: Wen Junjie , Ma Jie , Zhao Yuehua , Nie Tong , Sun Mengxuan , Fan Ziming 
Published: November 2023

AbstractSemantic segmentation from a three‐dimensional point cloud is vital in autonomous driving, computer vision, and augmented reality. However, current semantic segmentation does not effectively use the point cloud's local geometric features and contextual information, essential for improving segmentation accuracy. A semantic segmentation network that uses local feature fusion and a multilayer attention mechanism is proposed to address these challenges. Specifically, the authors designed a local feature fusion module to encode the geometric and feature information separately, which fully leverages the point cloud's feature perception and geometric structure representation. Furthermore, the authors designed a multilayer attention pooling module consisting of local attention pooling and cascade attention pooling to extract contextual information. Local attention pooling is used to learn local neighbourhood information, and cascade attention pooling captures contextual information from deeper local neighbourhoods. Finally, an enhanced feature representation of important information is obtained by aggregating the features from the two deep attention pooling methods. Extensive experiments on large‐scale point‐cloud datasets Stanford 3D large‐scale indoor spaces and SemanticKITTI indicate that authors network shows excellent advantages over existing representative methods regarding local geometric feature description and global contextual relationships.
A comparative study on deep feature selection methods for skin lesion classification
Authors: Golnoori Farzad , Zamani Boroujeni Farsad , Monadjemi Seyed Amirhassan 
Published: November 2023

AbstractMelanoma, a widespread and hazardous form of cancer, has prompted researchers to prioritize dermoscopic image‐based algorithms for classifying skin lesions. Recently, there has been a growing trend in using pre‐trained convolutional neural networks for detecting skin lesions. However, the features extracted from these classifiers may include irrelevant elements, emphasizing the importance of implementing effective feature selection methods. Nevertheless, there has not been a comprehensive study on feature selection methods to enhance the performance of skin lesion detection to date. To identify the most efficient methods, a diverse set of feature selection techniques, including filter, wrapper, embedded, and dimensionality reduction, were applied to images from two well‐known datasets, namely ISIC 2017 and ISIC 2018. According to the results, models trained with features chosen by wrapper techniques outperformed those trained with features chosen by filter and embedded methods. Achieving an accuracy of 0.8333 and an F1‐Score of 0.8291 for the ISIC 2017 dataset, and an F1‐Score of 0.9324 and an accuracy of 0.9350 for the ISIC 2018 dataset, the classification using features obtained via the GWO feature selection technique performed the best.
Ein Rekord, den niemand will
Authors: Schwencke Silja 
Published: November 2023

ZusammenfassungDie diesjährigen Rekordwerte kranker Pflegender sind nicht überraschend. Dennoch haben wir uns gefragt: Warum genau sind so viele Pflegende krank? Und noch viel wichtiger: Was kann man dagegen tun? Lesen Sie hier einige Lösungsvorschläge.
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Neto Manoel Alvaro de Freitas Lins , Rolim João Otávio Moraes , Jatobá Diogo César Maurício de Oliveira , de Meira Júnia Elisa Carvalho , Filho Luís Henrique Salvador , Lins Lucas Correia , Peçanha Jorge Artur Coelho 
Published: November 2023

AbstractInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a problem that directly affects the quality of life of patients suffering from this condition. Monitoring the serum level of infliximab (IFX) (TDM) is an important tool for guiding therapeutic decisions in IBD patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the significance of quantitatively measuring the serum level of IFX (TDM) and antibody to IFX (ATI). Methods and materials: Prospective observational study involving 40 IBD patients on IFX therapy, including 14 Proactive (week 06 of the induction phase) and 26 Reactive (maintenance phase). Immediately prior to the infusion, blood samples were drawn and measured using a Bulhlmann rapid test instrument. Serum concentrations of IFX were categorized as supratherapeutic (>7.0 micrograms/ml), therapeutic (between 3.0 and 7.0 micrograms/ml), and subtherapeutic (3.0 micrograms/ml). When the serum concentration of IFX was 3 mcg/ml (subtherapeutic), the ATI was measured. 25 patients with CD and 15 patients with UC were evaluated. Only three of the twenty patients with subtherapeutic serum levels had a positive ATI, and both were reactive; two had CD and one had UC. There was a statistically significant difference between reactive and proactive patients with respect to levels of CRP (p = 0.042), with proactive DNS patients suffering greater alterations in CRP and albumin.
The effectiveness of visual instructions in the memorization of Chinese Semantic Radicals by Beginners
Authors: Tian Tian , Santos Lonsdale Maria dos , Cheung Vien 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The acquisition of Chinese Characters (CCs) is challenging for learners. Chinese Semantic Radicals (SRs) are semantic components of CCs. The memorization of SRs facilitates the acquisition of CCs when learning Chinese as a second language. This study investigates the effectiveness of Visual Instructions (VIs) in the memorization of SRs by beginners. A preliminary study and three other studies have been conducted. The results have shown that the use of color-coded illustrations helps learners remember the meanings, shapes, and positions of SRs. This could be seen in the significantly increased accuracy of the responses in memory tests. These findings are an important contribution to research on VIs and on the memorization of SRs by beginners.
Disalignment in the EU
Authors: Franceschi Valeria 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
European Union (EU) institutions are highly multilingual environments where international communication is very
goal-oriented, as they produce and define policies and regulations applied to all member states. This paper aims at exploring how
disagreements and conflicting opinions are conveyed in such contexts through the qualitative analysis of debates in recorded
meetings of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Two meetings from two different
parliamentary terms (2014–2019 and 2019–2024) will be analyzed. The study will adopt a pragma-rhetorical approach, drawing on
studies on politeness and conversation analysis techniques and focusing especially on the management of Face Threatening Acts in
English turns. Attention will also be paid to language choice, codeswitching, and to the international use of English. Results
show that conflict and overt disagreements in the data are very rare, with speakers displaying instead careful mitigation of the
language used, especially when English is employed.
85. Efficacy of Sulbactam-Durlobactam (SUL-DUR) Compared to Colistin (COL) against Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus Complex (ABC) Monomicrobial and Polymicrobial Infections in a Phase 3 Trial
Authors: Miller Alita , McLeod Sarah , Shapiro Adam B , Rana Khurram , Altarac David 
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Background
Recently, a global, active-controlled Phase 3 trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of SUL-DUR vs. COL for patients with Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex (ABC) infections, including multidrug resistant strains. Both arms were dosed on a background of imipenem/cilastatin (IMI) to treat co-infecting Gram-negative pathogens. 33% of infections in the primary efficacy population were polymicrobial.

Methods
The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of SUL-DUR, colistin and imipenem against baseline isolates were determined by broth microdilution using CLSI guidelines. The primary efficacy endpoint was 28-day all-cause mortality (ACM) in patients with carbapenem-resistant ABC at baseline (CRABC m-MITT). Clinical and microbiological outcomes were evaluated at Test of Cure (TOC).

Results
28D ACM, clinical and microbiological outcomes were similar for patients in the SUL-DUR arm with either monomicrobial or polymicrobial ABC infections while patients in the COL arm with monomicrobial ABC infections had higher mortality rates with worse clinical and microbiological outcomes compared to those with polymicrobial infections (Table 1). Of the 12 patients in the SUL-DUR arm who did not survive to 28 days, 4 (33.3%) were attributed to the index infection (2 of 6 [33.3%] for both monomicrobial and polymicrobial ABC infections). Of the 20 patients in the COL arm who did not survive to 28 days, 10 (50%) were attributed to the index infection (7 of 15 [46.7%] with monomicrobial ABC infections and 3 of 5 [60%] with polymicrobial ABC infections) (Table 2).

Conclusion
SUL-DUR was equally efficacious in patients with monomicrobial vs. polymicrobial ABC baseline infections and an equal percentage of deaths (33%) were attributable to the index infection in each sub-group. Although fewer patients in the COL arm died with polymicrobial ABC infections (5 of 20, 25%) than monomicrobial ABC infections (15 of 20, 75%), 60% of the former (3 of 5) were attributable to polymicrobial ABC infections while 46.7% of the latter (7 of 15) were attributable to monomicrobial ABC infections. These results suggest that, if approved, the use of SUL-DUR plus a carbapenem could be an effective approach to treat polymicrobial infections that include ABC.

Disclosures
Alita Miller, PhD, Entasis Therapeutics: employee|Entasis Therapeutics: Stocks/Bonds Sarah McLeod, PhD, Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Employee|Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Employee|Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Stocks/Bonds|Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Stocks/Bonds Adam B. Shapiro, Ph.D, Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Employee|Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Stocks/Bonds Khurram Rana, PharmD, Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Employee|Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics: Stocks/Bonds David Altarac, MD, MPA, Entasis Therapeutics: Full Time Employee
91. Implementation of a blood culture algorithm in emergency department patients as a diagnostic stewardship intervention
Authors: Seidelman Jessica , Theophanous Rebecca , Ramos John , Calland Alyssa R , Krcmar Rachel , Shah Priya , Tarabal da matta Lucas , Shaheen Stephen , Wrenn Rebekah 
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Background
Blood cultures (BCx) are commonly ordered for patients at low risk of bacteremia. Liberal ordering can increase false-positive results due to contamination, along with increasing length of stay, excess antibiotics, and unnecessary diagnostic procedures. We implemented an algorithm for appropriate blood culture obtainment (Figure 1) in an academic tertiary care emergency department (ED) and assessed the intervention’s impact on various operational, clinical, and safety metrics.Figure 1:ED Blood culture algorithm

Methods
We performed a prospective cohort study in the Duke University Hospital ED from 12/2022 to 3/2023 using historical controls from 12/2020-11/2022. The BCx algorithm was disseminated in-person, electronically, and accessible online. Weekly chart review of all eligible patients for algorithm adherence was completed by 7 ED clinicians with monthly feedback provided to all ED providers. We defined a BCx event as 1 or more BCx sets within 24 hours. We excluded patients &lt; 18 years, absolute neutrophil count &lt; 500 109/L, and heart and lung transplant recipients. We measured BCx order volume, indication, algorithm adherence, BCx positivity rate, antibiotic days of therapy (DOT), and 30-day hospital readmission.

Results
Average monthly BCx volume was 1387 pre-intervention compared to 1226 post-intervention (p= 0.046). An increase in culture positivity was see post-intervention with a rate of 13.9% compared to 11.23% in the pre-intervention group (Figure 2, p&lt; 0.001). The majority of the 2168 BCx adhered to the algorithm. (Figure 3). The most common reasons for non-adherence were isolated fever or leukocytosis (29%), non-severe community-acquired pneumonia or healthcare-associated pneumonia (6.9%) and non-severe cellulitis (4%). No change in DOT (786 vs. 783 days of therapy per 1000 patient days, p-value 0.85) (Figure 4) or monthly 30-day hospital readmission (21.1% vs 19.6%, p-value 0.30) was observed.Figure 2:Blood cultures drawn per month and % appropriate pre/post-intervention (N=2168)Figure 3:Algorithm Adherent vs. Algorithm Non-Adherent blood cultures per month (N=2168)Figure 4:Emergency Department anti-bacterial days of antibiotic therapy per 1000 patient days

Conclusion
Introduction of a BCx algorithm in an academic tertiary care ED, resulted in a decrease in BCx volume, increase in BCx positivity rate, and no increase in DOT or readmission was observed. (Table 1)Table 1:Blood culture volume, positivity rate, days of antibiotic therapy, and 30-day readmission

Disclosures
Jessica Seidelman, MD, MPH, Uptodate: content editor for pelvic osteomyelitis page