bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Practical Knowledge and Attitudes of Caregivers Faced With COVID-19 at Sikasso Hospital - Mali
Authors: Sidi Haidara Dadé Ben , M.KANTE  , CISSOUMA A. , TRAORE M. , TRAORE O. , Dolo A. , TRAORE A. K , DENOU M. 
Published: January 2023

Abstract

Background: Since the introduction of coronavirus in Mali in March 2020, Sikasso Hospital has beendesignated a management center. The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and practical attitudes of health care providers regarding COVID-19.
Method/Results: This was a qualitative cross-sectional study conducted from December 10 to 12, 2020. Our sample was nonrandomizedfor convenience, with 42 caregivers. Direct observationand questionnaire interview techniques were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and Excel 2017 software.
The average age was 42.3 ± 8.1 years; 85.7% of respondents were male versus 14.3% female. This population consisted of 31% physicians/pharmacists, 47.6% nurses and 21.4% support staff.
The majority (69%) had a level of education that allowed them to make appropriate judgments about a health problem. All agents were informed about COVID-19 through the media, the department, their families or friends. The screening rate was 2.56 ‰. The majority of patients were also health workers (16.5%). The change in the status of the hospital as a center for the management of the disease caused "fear, stress, panic" among the caregivers.
Conclusion: This study allowed us to determine the level of WTP of caregivers in the face of this disease at the hospital level.
A Case Matched Comparison between Endoscopic Intragastric Botulinum Toxin-A Injection and Conventional Weight Loss Program
Authors: Tayyem Raed , Qandeel Haitham , Al-Balas Hamzeh , Tayyem Rand , Zahran Rima 
Published: January 2023

Abstract

Introduction
Mild obesity can progress to more extreme forms of obesity if untreated, thus deserves early intervention. A new revolutionary treatment for mild obesity utilizes injecting the stomach with Botulinum Toxin-A. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic intragastric Botulinum Toxin-A injection for weight loss in patients with mild obesity compared to diet and exercise alone.
Methods
Patients with mild obesity were recruited into a prospective case-matched study. The therapeutic group received Botulinum Toxin-A gastric injections in addition to dietary advice and regular exercise. The control group only received dietary advice and regular exercise. The measured outcomes were weight loss, quality of life, early satiety, procedure cost, and procedure complications.
Results
A total of 250 patients (matched for age, sex, weight, and comorbidities) were equally divided. Patients were followed up for a mean of six months. Mean Weight loss was better in the BTA group compared to the control group (10.8 versus 4.3 kg, P<0.001). Both groups enjoyed a comparable improvement in quality of life. No significant complications were observed in the series. The average cost per procedure was $1037 US dollars.
Conclusions
Endoscopic intragastric Botulinum Toxin-A injection can be beneficial in treating mild obesity. It is minimally invasive, cost-effective, and without serious side effects.
Comparison Omicron in renal transplant recipients and general population: a case-control study
Authors: Baziboroun Mana , Shafiekhani Mojtaba , Asgharpour Masoumeh , Zare Zahra , Nikoupour Hamed , Roozbeh Jamshid , Chalmiani Elmira Mahmoudi , Oliaie Farshid , Akbari Roghayeh , Abolghasemi Sara 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBackground Omicron was introduced as one of the variants of concern covid-19. Due to their immunosuppressed condition, renal transplant recipients (RTRs) are a vulnerable group. Thus, the present study was conducted to compare RTRs and non-RTRs infected with Omicron, with a special focus on clinical symptoms, imaging characteristics, disease severity, and outcomes. Methods The case group included 62 RTRs infected with the Omicron strain and the control group included 60 patients non-RTRs infected with the Omicron strain were hospitalized from December 22, 2021, to March 20, 2022 at the peak of Omicron in Tehran, Shiraz and Babol, Iran. RTRs with Omicron were compared to healthy controls in terms of their clinical symptoms, laboratory results, patterns of lung involvement on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and unfavorable outcomes, including rates of ICU hospitalization, mechanical ventilation (MV) use, and mortality. Results Among the clinical symptoms, significantly more people in the case group experienced diarrhea (P = 0.045). The most common symptoms were the same in both groups, but the order in the case group was fever (58%), chills (54.8%), dry cough (46.7%), and dyspnea (43.5%) and in the control group was dry cough (58.3%), fever (45%), chills (40%), and dyspnea (40%). Overall, the prevalence of pulmonary involvement was greater in the control group. It was shown that RTRs had a reduced absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and platelet count. As a result, RTRs' creatinine levels rose more than those of non-RTRs. There was a statistically significant difference between the RTRs and control groups in terms of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation (MV), length of hospital stay, and mortality as unfavorable outcomes. Conclusion In conclusion, clinical symptoms were not significantly different except diarrhea. The severity based on CDC criteria and risk of adverse outcomes, such as MV, ICU admission, and mortality, were significantly different between RTRs under prolonged immunosuppression and the control group.
Real world clinical experience of Chronic Hepatitis B Treatment in SSA
Authors: Bane Abate , Sultan Amir , Tibebu Zebeaman , Ahmed Rabia 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Background
About three hundred fifty to four hundred million people are infected chronically with hepatitis B worldwide and about 780,000 people die annually of its complications. Ethiopia is located in the region of hepatitis B hyper-endemicity ranging from, 8–12%. However, up to 17% of HBV, infected patients present for care late with liver cirrhosis in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Fortunately, antiviral therapy of CHB has shown to be effective in preventing complications and improving survival even at stage of early cirrhosis. The goal of therapy is to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with CHB. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is among the oral antiviral approved for the treatment of CHB. TDF treatment has shown to be effective in a wider pool of the CHB populations. Literatures indicate long-term TDF treatment was associated with sustained virologic, biochemical, and serologic responses.
Objectives
To assess the outcome of TDF treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B patients at Adera Medical center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods
Hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study was employed. Hundred forty-four CHB patients on TDF treatment were enrolled. Sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory parameters were collected. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS (SPSS, Version 23).
Results
The mean age of the participants is 35.52 ± 10.34. Three fourth of the patients (76.4%) are male. Fifteen patients have progressed to decompensation at the end of the study period. 93.1% of the participants are HBeAg negative, while 5.6% have attained loss of HBsAg on TDF A significant association (p < 0.01) between APRI improvement, with the duration of treatment, and baseline viral load was found. Paired sample t-test showed an improvement in the mean APRI score of 0.2 (CI: 0.07–0.367; p < 0.01).
Conclusion
TDF is safe and effective in reducing viral load and complications among our patients. Not only did it show benefits in improving liver parameters and suppression of viral load, but also it has attained a functional cure in some patients.
Impaired B cell recall memory and reduced antibody avidity but robust T cell response in CVID patients after COVID-19 vaccination
Authors: Steiner Sophie , Schwarz Tatjana , Corman Victor M , Jeworowski Lara Maria , Bauer Sandra , Drosten Christian , Scheibenbogen Carmen , Hanitsch Leif Gunnar 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Purpose: Humoral and cellular immune responses were described after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with common variable immunodeficiency disorder (CVID). This study aimed to investigate SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody quality and memory function of B cell immunity as well as T cell responses after COVID-19 vaccination in seroresponding and non-responding CVID patients.
Methods: We evaluated antibody avidity and applied a memory B cell ELSPOT assay for functional B cell recall memory response to SARS-CoV-2 after COVID-19 vaccination in CVID seroresponders. We comparatively analyzed SARS-CoV-2 spike reactive polyfunctional T cell response and reactive peripheral follicular T helper cells (pTFH) by flow cytometry in seroresponding and non-seroresponding CVID patients. All CVID patients had previously failed to mount a humoral response to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.
Results: SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody avidity of seroresponding CVID patients was significantly lower than in healthy controls. Only 30% of seroresponding CVID patients showed a minimal memory B cell recall response in ELISPOT assay. 100% of CVID seroresponders and 83% of non-seroresponders had a detectable polyfunctional T cell response. Induction of antigen specific CD4+CD154+CD137+CXCR5+ pTFH cells by the COVID-19 vaccine was higher in CVID seroresponder than in non-seroresponder. Levels of pTFH did not correlate with antibody response or avidity.
Conclusion: Reduced avidity and significantly impaired recall memory formation after COVID-19 vaccination in seroresponding CVID patients stress the importance of a more differentiated analysis of humoral immune response in CVID patients. Our observations challenge the clinical implications that follow the binary categorization into seroresponder and non-seroresponder.
Basin-wide erosion and segmentation of the Plio-Pleistocene forearc basin in central Japan revealed by tephro- and biostratigraphy
Authors: Utsunomiya Masayuki , Tamura Itoko , Nozaki Atsushi , Nakajima Terumasa 
Published: January 2023

Abstract

The basement of the Tokyo metropolitan area consists of the Miocene–Pleistocene forearc basin fills that are well exposed around Tokyo Bay, especially on the Miura and Boso peninsulas. The forearc basin fills on these two peninsulas are called the Miura and Kazusa groups, and they were deposited during the late Miocene–Pliocene and Pliocene–middle Pleistocene, respectively. Because many biostratigraphic datum planes, paleomagnetic reversal events, and other chronostratigraphic tools are available for these deposits, they provide the “type stratigraphy” of other equivalent sedimentary sequences on the Japanese islands and in the northwest Pacific. However, the use of such stratigraphic markers has not been fully applied to understand the architecture of a basin-wide unconformity between the Miura and Kazusa groups called the Kurotaki unconformity. For our study, we made correlations among the Pliocene vitric tephra beds based on their stratigraphic levels, lithologic characteristics, the chemical compositions of glass shards, and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy. As a result, we were able to correlate tephra beds Ng-Ky25 just above the C3n.3n normal subchronozone (4.7 Ma), IkT16-An157.5 and IkT19-An158.5 near the top of the Mammoth reverse polarity subchronozone (3.21 Ma), and Ahn-Onr (2.6–2.7 Ma) across Tokyo Bay on the Miura and Boso peninsulas. We were able to recognize erosional surfaces and coeval mass-transport deposits immediately below the top of the Mammoth reverse polarity subchronozone, which suggests that submarine landslide(s) may have produced the lack of stratigraphic horizons (4.5–3.2 Ma) in the Miura and eastern Boso regions. Basal pebbly sandstone beds pervasively cover the erosional surfaces, and they show lateral variations into the thick (up to 60 m) mass-transport deposits and overlying turbidite sandstones. The lateral variations in sediment thickness of the post-failure deposits suggest that the basin-wide erosion was associated with the initial growth of a basin-bounding structural high that separates two distinct sub-basins in the forearc basin, which resulted in the subsequent onlapping deposition in the earliest stage of the Kazusa forearc basin. The basin-wide erosion marks the initiation of tectonic reconfigurations that led to segmentation of the forearc basin around the Tokyo Bay region.
Analysis of the Life Cycle Environmental Impact Reductions of Remanufactured Turbochargers
Authors: Lee Jong-Hyo , Kang Hong-Yoon , Kim Young-Woon , Hwang Yong Woo , Kwon Soon-Gil , Park Hee-Won , Choi Ji-Woo , Choi Hwan-Ho 
Published: January 2023

Abstract

Recently, remanufacturing approach/technology, which includes a series of the processes of disassembling, cleaning, inspecting, repairing/reconditioning, reassembling components for resale, is becoming more popular as companies look for a way to combat the current climate crisis, and as it allows companies to reduce environmental impacts and to save energy and resources. This study analyzed the reduction effect of six environmental impacts and the savings effect of energy and resources by turbocharger remanufacturing compared to its newly manufacturing using a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The results show that the most significant benefit of the turbocharger remanufacturing related to environmental impacts was the global warming potential (GWP), which could be reduced by 52.18%, followed by the abiotic depletion potential (ADP), terrestrial ecotoxicity potential (TETP), human toxicity potential (HTP), freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential (FAETP) and marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential (MAETP) which could be reduced by 51.93%, 44.76%, 44.23%, 42.59%, and 36.74%, respectively. Also, its resource saving could be obtained from 21.74–73.47% depending on the type of resources. Furthermore, turbocharger remanufacturing offered a significant energy saving of 83.93%. The results obtained from this study could be used for national policy-making to a net-zero carbon transition.
An experimental comparison of meter calibration used in a photovoltaic water pumping system installed in an arid environment
Authors: Bekraoui A. , Yaichi M. , Mammeri A. , Roummani K. , Hadidi A. 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Energy and water are crucial for humans in all their activities. In rural areas, irrigation is a surviving key where sustainable approaches like solar water pumping systems are required to meet this demand. One of the crucial challenges in the hydraulic field is the flow rate measurement with high accuracy. The exact estimation of the water flow rate pumped using a solar photovoltaic water pumping system is essential to evaluate the system's performance. This paper presents an analytical method to study a comparative analysis of the results of the system measurement errors. The experimental data are collected from our pumping system located in Adrar city (Algeria). The performance is analyzed using the measured water flow rate data using three different meters, one ultrasonic and two turbine meters, where a turbine meter is used as a standard meter. The test was done in May 2019. Keys words: PV pumping system, meter measurement, measurement accuracy, error calibration, ultrasonic flow meter, turbine flow meter.
Earlier hukou conversion on the current depression level of older adults: The mediating role of social status and social relationship
Authors: He Li , Yang Tianyi , Yang Wenjie , Zhang Zixian , Zhao Jinxu , Jiang Liu 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Background
With the development of urbanization in China and the liberalization of the hukou conversion policy, more and more people have converted from agricultural hukou to non-agricultural hukou. Based on this, the present study intends to examine whether there is an association between earlier hukou conversion and current depression level in the group of older adults, and the underlying mechanisms of this association.
Method
The present study used data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) to explore the relationship between earlier hukou conversion and current depression level in older adults, using 10,213 older adults who had a hukou conversion as the study population. This study used ordinary least squares (OLS) and ordered logit models for regression analysis to explore the association between earlier hukou conversion and current depression level. Meanwhile, we further analyzed whether social status and social relationships play a mediating role between earlier hukou conversion and depression level of the older adults.
Results
The study led to the following conclusions: (1) Older adults who had a hukou conversion had lower levels of depression compared to those who had an agricultural hukou. (2) Compared to older adults who had an agricultural hukou, they had lower level of depression for both active and passive hukou conversions. (3) Older adults who had received lower education and lived in the eastern region exhibited lower level of depression in both actively and passively changing hukou. (4) Changes in social status and social relationship are the mediating mechanisms between hukou conversion and depression level of older adults.
Conclusion
This study found that there was some association between earlier hukou conversion and current depression level of the group of older adults. There is a significant reduction in depression level of the older adults after they have achieved hukou conversion to obtain a non-agricultural hukou. The government can learn from the formation mechanism of lower depression level of the older adults who had achieved hukou conversion to promote the reform and the development of the hukou system.
Optically Triggered AlGaN/GaN Semiconductor Power Transistor with Bi-layer Anti-reflecting Structure
Authors: Pandey Suresh Kumar , Rajput Swati , Kaushik Vishal , Babu Prem , Mishra Rahul Dev , Kumar Mukesh 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
An optical controlled AlGaN/GaN semiconductor power transistor with low on-resistance normally-off high electron mobility 2DEG channel is numerically proposed. The device consists of p-GaN region sandwiched between undoped GaN over which n-AlGaN (Al 20%) is formed. Two-Dimensional Electron Gas (2-DEG) channel is formed at n-AlGaN/GaN heterojunction due to photogenerated electron jumps from valance band to conduction band, when a beam of light having (energy greater than the band gap (3.4 eV) of GaN) wavelength 350 nm falls on SiO2 and TiO2 Bi-layers antireflecting structure and light penetrates deeper into p-GaN region and generate e-h pairs. Device current can be optically controlled by varying the power intensity of incident beam of light, this device exhibits very low (less than 1 ohm) on-resistance which yields very low conduction loss. The switching characteristics of the device is also investigated, and device attain low rise and fall time.
How Do Firms View Climate Change Risks?
Authors: Dong Huijian , Dong Huijian , Guo Xiaomin , Patterson Gary , Gough-Major Aidan 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
We filter the risk disclosure statements that include climate change discussions from the recent 10 years of 10-K forms filed by all the public companies in the U.S. With this novel data, we conduct the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) analysis to identify the firms’ views of climate change at the industry and the economy level. We find that the clustered topics are material adverse financial condition, compliance costs of efficiency standards, physical effects of global climate, changing legislation regulations, cap and trade of greenhouse gasses, weather conditions and natural disasters, Clean Power Plan, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. Most firms do not cover climate change topics except those from the polluting industries, those subject to significant environmental regulation, and those vulnerable to climate change. Most of the firms regard the climate change risk as a set of sustainability risks, though 23% of disclosures view it as a set of regulatory risks.
POLE3 is a transcriptional repressor of unintegrated linear HIV-1 DNA required for efficient virus integration and escape from innate immune sensing.
Authors: Benkirane Monsef , Thenin-Houssier Suzie , Jahan Cyprien , Machida Shinichi Machida , Bonnet-Madin Lucie , Abbou Scarlette , Chen Heng-Chang , Tesfaye Robel , Cuvier Olivier 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Unintegrated retroviral DNA are transcriptionally silent by mechanisms involving host chromatin silencing factors1–3. Here, we applied the proteomics of isolated chromatin segments approach (PICh)4 to reveal the proteomic of the linear unintegrated HIV-1 DNA (uniHIV-1 DNA) with the aim of identifying viral and host factors involved in its chromatin-mediated silencing 1–3 . Gene invalidation using siRNAs targeting the 456 candidates selected for their specific binding to HIV-1 DNA identified 46 factors as potential repressors of uniHIV-1 DNA. Knockdown (KD) and Knockout (KO) experiments revealed POLE3, the non-essential subunit of the polymerase epsilon (POLE), as a transcriptional repressor of the linear uniHIV-1 DNA in different cell types including primary CD4 T cells. POLE3 functions by maintaining the uniHIV-1 DNA in chromatin repressed state, preventing RNAPII recruitment to the viral LTR. We found that POLE3 and the recently identified host factors silencing uniHIV-1 DNA (CAF1 and SMC5/SMC6/SLF2) show specificity towards different forms of uniHIV-1 DNA. Unexpectedly, loss of POLE3 impaired HIV-1 replication, suggesting that derepression of unintegrated linear HIV-1 DNA is detrimental to the virus. Loss of POLE3 reduces HIV-1 integration efficiency without affecting viral DNA synthesis. Remarkably, we found that POLE3, by maintaining a repressive chromatin structure of uniHIV-1 DNA, ensures HIV-1 escape from innate immune sensing in primary CD4 T cell.
Characterization of Non-Human Primate cortical development with prenatal insights.
Authors: Ramirez Julian , Hermosillo Robert , Thomas Elina , Zhu Jennifer , Sturgeon Darrick , Schifsky Emma , Galassi Anthony , Thompson Jacqueline , Bagley Jennifer , Carpenter Samuel , Milham Michael , Miranda-Dominguez Oscar , Papadakis Samantha , Bah Muhammed , Mitchell AJ , Xu Ting , Graham Alice , Feczko Eric , Sullivan Elinor , Fair Damien 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Characterizing the complexities of early cortical thickness development has been an ongoing undertaking. Longitudinal studies of Non-Human Primates (NHP) offer unique advantages to identifying cortical growth trajectories. Here, we used latent growth models to characterize the trajectories of typical cortical thickness development in Japanese macaques at each cortical surface vertex (i.e., grayordinate). Cortical thickness from 4-to-36 months showed regional-specific linear and non-linear trajectories and distinct maturation timing across the cortex. We revealed an “accumulation/ablation phenomenon” where the most profound development changes occur in zones surrounding focal points of local maxima in cortical thickness or thinness throughout the brain. We further examined maternal diet and inflammation in the context of typical brain trajectories and known network architecture. A well-controlled NHP model of a maternal “Western-style” diet was used alongside measures of inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 in the mothers during gestation. We observed that accumulation and ablation zones might be most susceptible to environmental effects. The maternal factors, diet, and inflammation during pregnancy were distinctively associated with different aspects of offspring cortical development reflected in regions related to distinctive functional networks. Our findings characterize the intricacies of typical cortical thickness development and highlight how the maternal environment plays a role in cortical development.