bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Working Environment and Satisfaction Among Health Care Workers In Sengerema District Mwanza, Tanzania
Authors: Chilipweli Peter , Basinda Namanya , Msilaga Evans V , Tuli Tusherahma , setebe Frank , Elias Emanuel , Konje Eveline , Kapesa Anthony , Nyanza Elias , Morona Dominica 
Published: May 2023

ABSTRACTBackgroundJob satisfaction is currently considered to be a measure that should be included in quality improvement programs thus it is very important to assess it among healthcare workers who are mostly exposed to work stress thus this research is going to have different consideration on health care workers working on hard-to-reach areas and low-level facilities since there is lack of enough evidence and limited studies done under this area.MethodsThis was a cross section study conducted among healthcare workers found in sengerema and it was conducted from 27/02/2023 to 10/03/2023 whereby it include 356 health care workers employed and working at sengerema district as participants found in the health facilities Statistical method used was descriptive analysis by assessing frequency of variables in terms percentages. The results were presented in form of tables and bar graphs.ResultsA total of 356 health care professionals were included in the study, female participants were more occupying 55.6% while the male were 44.4%. In the study more of the participants were married than those single with percentages of 68.5% and 31.5% respectively. Most of the health care workers were at the dispensary level were satisfied at their job (55%0 but among the health care workers working at the health center most of them were not satisfied (52%). But among married workers most of them were not satisfied with their job (50.5%) as compared to single workers who were most satisfied (56%).ConclusionBased on our research, the prevalence of job satisfaction among health care workers in Sengerema district is generally high by 53.9% which shows that most workers are satisfied with their jobs. Most health care workers have good relationship with each other and can depend on each other and they get their benefit as health care workers.
Aortic valve sclerosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a marker of increased risk of re-infarction
Authors: Myasoedova Veronika A. , Chiesa Mattia , Cosentino Nicola , Bonomi Alice , Ludergnani Monica , Bozzi Michele , Valerio Vincenza , Moschetta Donato , Massaiu Ilaria , Mantegazza Valentina , Marenzi Giancarlo , Poggio Paolo 
Published: May 2023

AbstractBackgroundPatients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are at increased risk of recurrent cardiovascular events. Aortic valve sclerosis (AVSc), which reflects a systemic damage, may serve as a marker of risk. The aim of the present study is to better stratify sub-groups of AMI patients with specific probabilities of recurrent AMI and to evaluate the importance of AVSc in this setting.MethodsWe analyzed 2120 AMI patients admitted at Centro Cardiologico Monzino (2010-2019) who underwent echocardiographic evaluation for AVSc assessment. Topological data analysis (TDA) was used to stratify sub-groups of patients experiencing recurrent AMI and a random forest procedure to evaluate the importance of baseline clinical characteristics. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate recurrent AMI incidence, for up to 10 years.ResultsTDA highlighted the presence of 8 clusters of patients with specific risks of recurrent AMI. The evaluation of time-to-event curves allowed us to combine these clusters into three super-clusters (i.e., low-, moderate-, and high-risk) and a random forest procedure showed AVSc as the most relevant variable to discriminate the three classes of risk. AVSc was detected in 1000 (47%) patients. After full adjustment, we found a significant association of AVSc with recurrent AMI (hazard ratio (HR) 1.42, 95%CI:1.03-1.97). Stratifying by age, this association was significant only for patients younger than 75 years after 5 years of follow-up (HR 1.59, 95%CI:1.03-2.46).ConclusionsAVSc has been identified to be the most relevant variable to recognize patients at high risk of recurrent AMI. AVSc is frequently detected in AMI patients and is strongly associated with recurrent AMI, especially in patients younger than 75 years old. The presence of AVSc should be taken into consideration to improve the risk stratification and clinical management of AMI patients.
Clinical analysis of myocardial injury in highlanders with pulmonary hypertension
Authors: Zhao Maolin , Wu Qianjin , Duanmu Wangsheng , Shen Junxian , Yuan Weixin , Sun Yingbin , Zhang Xu , Zhang Jinbao , He Siyi 
Published: May 2023

AbstractBackgroundHigh altitude environment can give rise to Myocardial injury (MI) mainly because of hypoxia, where MI with pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the severe pathologies. In the present study, we intend to explore clinical characteristics of MI in patients with PH at high altitude and diagnostic value of various myocardial markers.MethodsConsecutive patients at the altitude of 3650m were selected into this retrospective study. Clinical and biochemical data were collected. According to the results of Cardiac troponin I (cTnI), patients were divided into MI group and non-MI group.ResultsA total of 231 patients were enrolled in this study. MI occurred in 29 patients (12.6%). We found that body mass index (BMI,P=0.045), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD,P=0.005), and serum level of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB,P=0.001) in MI group were significantly higher than that in non-MI group. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that cTnI have a significant positive correlation with CK-MB (P=0.000) and LDH (P<0.001) instead of aspartate aminotransferase (AST). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to demonstrate that CK-MB could significantly predict the occurrence of MI with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.749 (P=0.000), and the level of 3.035 (sensitivity = 59.3%, specificity = 90.5%) was optimal cutoff value.ConclusionThe incidence of MI with PH is high in highlander. As a convenient and efficient marker, CK-MB is closely associated with cTnI and have a predict role in the occurrence of MI with PH under expose to high altitude hypoxia.
Soluble DNA Concentration in the Perfusate is a Predictor of Post-Transplant Renal Function in Hypothermic Perfused Kidney Allografts
Authors: Duarte Sergio , Carpenter Anne-Marie , Willman Matthew , Lewis Duncan , Warren Curtis , Angeli-Pahim Isabella , De Faria Werviston , Vrakas Georgios , El Hinnawi Ashraf , Beduschi Thiago , Battula Narendra , Zarrinpar Ali 
Published: May 2023

AbstractIntroductionHypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) has greatly facilitated kidney allograft preservation. However, tissue damage still occurs during HMP, deleteriously affecting post-transplant graft function. Therefore, improved methods to assess organ quality and to predict post-transplant graft function and survival are needed. We propose that soluble DNA (sDNA) measured in HMP perfusate can used as a non-invasive biomarker for this purpose.MethodsPerfusate samples of kidney grafts placed on HMP were collected after 5 minutes and at the conclusion of HMP. sDNA of nuclear origin within the perfusate was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction and correlated with HMP parameters and post-transplant clinical outcomes.ResultsKidney grafts from 52 donors placed on HMP were studied. Perfusate sDNA concentration was significantly elevated in transplanted kidneys with delayed graft function. Grafts with higher concentrations of perfusate sDNA at 5min and at HMP conclusion also had reduced graft function in the initial post-transplant period, as measured by post-operative day 2, 3, and 4 creatinine reduction ratios (CRR). Standard pump parameters such as renal vascular resistance and renal vascular flow were poor indicators of early post-transplant graft function.ConclusionsDNA concentration in HMP perfusate of kidney grafts can predict the quality of kidney graft preservation and indicate post-transplant renal function. This biomarker should be explored further to improve renal organ assessment and transplantation outcomes.
Health Technology Assessment (HTA) readiness in Uganda: Stakeholder’s perceptions on the potential application of HTA to support National Universal Health Coverage efforts
Authors: Mayora Chrispus , Kazibwe Joseph , Ssempala Richard , Nakimuli Brenda , Ssenyonjo Aloysius , Ekirapa Elizabeth , Byakika Sarah , Aliti Tom , Musila Timothy , Gad Mohamed , Vassall Anna , Ruiz Francis , Ssengooba Freddie 
Published: May 2023

AbstractIntroductionHealth technology assessment (HTA) is an area that remains less implemented in low- and lower middle-income countries. The aim of the study is to understand the perceptions of stakeholders in Uganda towards HTA and its role in decision making, in order to inform its potential implementation in the country.MethodsThe study takes a cross-sectional mixed methods approach, utilising an adapted version of an International Decision Support Initiative questionnaire with both semi-structured and open-ended questions. We interviewed thirty key informants from different stakeholder institutions in Uganda that have decision making roles in the health sector.ResultsAll participants perceived HTA as an important tool for decision making. Allocative efficiency was regarded as the most important use of HTA receiving the highest average score (8.8 out of 10), followed by quality of healthcare (7.8/10), transparency (7.6/10), budget control (7.5/10) and equity (6.5/10). There was concern that some of the uses of HTA may not be achieved in reality if there was political interference during the HTA process. The technology areas that interviewees highlighted as needing HTA type evaluations urgently were identified as medicines (60.0% of the participants), diagnostics (53.3%), vaccines (40.0%), and public health programs (26.7%). The study participants identified development partners as the most likely potential users of HTA (66.7% of participants), followed by Ministry of Health (43.3%).ConclusionInterviewed stakeholders in Uganda viewed the role of HTA positively, suggesting that there exists a promising environment for the establishment and operationalisation of HTA as a tool for decision making within the health sector. However, sustainable development and application of HTA in Uganda will require adequate capacity both to undertake HTAs and to support their use and uptake.
Impact of a nutrition-sensitive agroecology program in Andhra Pradesh, India, on dietary diversity, nutritional status, and child development
Authors: Durga Lakshmi , Bharath Yandrapu , Bliznashka Lilia , Kumar Vijay , Jonnala Veerendra , Chekka Vijayalakshmi , Yebushi Srileka , Roy Aditi , Venkateshmurthy Nikhil Srinivasapura , Prabhakaran Poornima , Jaacks Lindsay M. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractIntroductionTo date, most food-based nutrition interventions have not considered food production practices, particularly the use of synthetic chemicals. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a multi-component food-based nutrition intervention involving homestead food production, nutrition counselling, cooking demonstrations, and crop planning exercises, and employing agroecological production practices (herein ‘nutrition-sensitive agroecology program’), on dietary diversity, nutritional status, and child development in Andhra Pradesh, India.MethodsA cross-sectional assessment was conducted in 2021-2022 of 50 intervention villages where the nutrition-sensitive agroecology program had been implemented since 2018 and 79 control villages where only the agroecology program had been implemented. Data on self-reported dietary intake, caregiver-reported early child development, anthropometric measurements, and hemoglobin concentrations were collected using standardized procedures by trained Nutrition Farming Fellows, who were also responsible for implementing the program.ResultsA sample of 3,511 households (1,121 intervention and 2,390 control) participated in the survey. Dietary diversity scores (DDS) among women and men were mean (SD) 6.53 (±1.62) and 6.16 (±1.65), respectively, in intervention villages and 5.81 (±1.58) and 5.39 (±1.61), respectively, in control villages (p<0.01). DDS among children 6-24 months of age in intervention and control villages was 2.99 (±1.52) and 2.73 (±1.62), respectively (p<0.01). Children <2 years of age were less likely to be anemic in intervention versus control villages (59% versus 69%, p<0.01). Children 18-35 months age in intervention villages had higher child development scores than children in control villages (all p<0.05).ConclusionNutrition-sensitive agroecological programs may be effective in improving diets, nutrition, and child development in rural India.
Reasons for mosquito net non-use in malaria-endemic countries: A review of qualitative research published between 2011 and 2021
Authors: Ladu Hadiza Isa , Shuaibu Umar , Pulford Justin 
Published: May 2023

ABSTRACTMosquito nets, particularly insecticide-treated nets [ITNs], are the most recommended method of malaria control in endemic countries. However, many individuals do not use them as advised. The current paper expands on a previous review published in 2011 which highlighted a need for more qualitative research on the reasons for mosquito net non-use. We present a systematic review of qualitative research published in the past decade to assess the growth and quality of qualitative papers about net non-use and examine and update the current understanding.A comprehensive literature search was carried out in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Global Health, in addition to a citation search of the initial review. Relevant papers were screened and discussed. The critical appraisal assessment tool was used to ensure quality. Thematic synthesis was used to extract, synthesise, and analyse study findings.Compared to the initial review, the results showed a ten-fold increase in qualitative research on the reasons for mosquito net non-use between 2011 and 2021. In addition, the quality of the research has improved, with more than 90% of the papers receiving high scores, using the critical appraisal assessment tool. The reported reasons for non-use were categorised into four themes Human factors, Net factors, Environmental/Lifestyle factors, and Administrative/Economic factors. More than two-thirds of the studies were carried out in Africa, with lead African researchers in African institutions.Despite the distribution of free mosquito nets in malaria-endemic countries, new challenges to their use continue to emerge. The most common reasons for net non-use across all regions of Malaria endemic countries were discomfort and perceived ineffectiveness of nets. Technical challenges and improper net use dominated East and South African regions, signifying the need for dedicated and region-specific measures and strategies to ensure the continued usage of mosquito nets, particularly ITNs.
Intentions and Willingness to receive Covid-19 vaccine among teaching and non-teaching staff in selected higher institutions of learning in Kampala and Wakiso districts, Central - Uganda
Authors: Lulu Patrick Madrama , Atim Fiona , Ronald Kareodu , Wakula Fredrick Lugaro , Okiria John Charles 
Published: May 2023

AbstractBackgroundCOVID-19 was first discovered by WHO, 2019 in Wuhan, later spread to different parts of the world with thousands of deaths. COVID-19 vaccine was very important in reducing severity of the infection. Willingness to be vaccinated considerably varied according to regions. We assessed factors influencing intentions and willingness to receive covid-19 vaccines among teaching and non-teaching staff in higher institutions of learning.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study design was adopted employing quantitative data collection and analysis approaches. Data was collected electronically using different online sources including emails, social media, popular media platforms and websites. 363 sample determined using Kish & Leslie (1965) of simple random sampling for single proportions. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis done using SPP (23.0).Results130(35.8%) intentions and willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine. Influencing factors were; age between 30-39 (aOR=15491.54,95% CI=359-667551.9, P=0.000**, 40-49 (aOR=931, 95% CI=25.6-33816.4, p=0.000**), gender (aOR=4.66, 95% CI=2.06-1056, p=0.000*), staff category (aOR=7.71, 95% CI=4.34-14.71,p=0.000**), ownership (aOR=0.08, 95% CI=0.032-0.206, p=0.000**), being under health insurance (aOR=200.62, 95% CI=29.6-1359.18, p=0.000*, residency (aOR=19.88, 95% CI=4.63-85.26, p=0.000*), knowing where to get the vaccine (aOR=121.15, 95% CI=161.1-910.3, p=0.000**), COVID-19 vaccine important for prevention of the infection (aOR=19.73, 95% CI=2.27-171.52, p=0.007*), minor side effects of COVID-19 vaccines manageable (aOR=002, 95% CI= 0.00-0.15, p=0.000**), take painkillers if developed side effects (aOR=8.67, 95% CI=4.87-15.43, p=0.000*), responsibility to protect others by getting vaccinated (aOR=0.36, 95% CI=0.21-0.62, p=0.000**), concerned about getting infected with COVID-19 from the vaccine (aOR=0.002, 95% CI=0.00-0.03, p=0.000*).ConclusionIntentions and willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine was low. This was attributed to age, gender, staff category, ownership, knowledge, attitude, where to get the vaccine, trust, vaccine efficacy, concern about getting infected after receiving the vaccine. MoH/MoE&S and development partners should emphasize improving attitude and knowledge of teaching and non-teaching staff in higher institutions to increase willingness.
Spatial Pattern Analysis using Closest Events (SPACE) – A Nearest Neighbor Point Pattern Analysis Framework for Assessing Spatial Relationships from Image Data
Authors: Soltisz Andrew M. , Craigmile Peter F. , Veeraraghavan Rengasayee 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe quantitative description of biological structures is a valuable yet difficult task in the life sciences. This is commonly accomplished by imaging samples using fluorescence microscopy and analyzing resulting images using Pearson’s correlation or Manders’ co-occurrence intensity-based colocalization paradigms. Though conceptually and computationally simple, these approaches are critically flawed due to their reliance on signal overlap, sensitivity to cursory signal qualities, and inability to differentiate true and incidental colocalization. Point pattern analysis provides a framework for quantitative characterization of spatial relationships between spatial patterns using the distances between observations rather than their overlap, thus overcoming these issues. Here we introduce an image analysis tool calledSpatial Pattern Analysis using Closest Events(SPACE) that leverages nearest neighbor-based point pattern analysis to characterize the spatial relationship of fluorescence microscopy signals from image data. The utility of SPACE is demonstrated by assessing the spatial association between mRNA and cell nuclei from confocal images of cardiac myocytes. Additionally, we use synthetic and empirical images to characterize the sensitivity of SPACE to image segmentation parameters and cursory image qualities such as signal abundance and image resolution. Ultimately, SPACE delivers performance superior to traditional colocalization methods and offers a valuable addition to the microscopist’s toolbox.
Unsupervised single-cell clustering with Asymmetric Within-Sample Transformation and per cluster supervised features selection
Authors: Pagnotta Stefano Maria 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThis chapter shows applying the Asymmetric Within-Sample Transformation [14] to single-cell RNA-Seq data matched with a previous dropout imputation. The asymmetric transformation is a special winsorization that flattens low-expressed intensities and preserves highly expressed gene levels. Before a standard hierarchical clustering algorithm, an intermediate step removes non-informative genes according to a threshold applied to a per-gene entropy estimate.Following the clustering, a time-intensive algorithm is shown to uncover the molecular features associated with each cluster. This step implements a resampling algorithm to generate a random baseline to measure up/down-regulated significant genes. To this aim, we adopt a GLM model [10] as implemented in DESeq2 [9] package.We render the results in graphical mode. While the tools are standard heat maps, we introduce some data scaling so that the results’ reliability is crystal clear.
Growth sensitivity to water availability as potential indicator of drought-induced tree mortality in MediterraneanPinus sylvestrisforests
Authors: Herrero Asier , González-Gascueña Raquel , González-Díaz Patricia , Ruiz-Benito Paloma , Andivia Enrique 
Published: May 2023

AbstractDrought-associated tree mortality has worldwide increased in the last decades, impacting structure and functioning of forest ecosystems, with implications for energy, carbon and water fluxes. However, the understanding of the factors underlying this mortality are still limited, especially at stand scale. We aim to identify the factors that triggered the mortality of the widely distributedPinus sylvestrisin an extensive forest area in central Spain. We compared radial growth patterns in pairs of live and recently dead individuals that co-occur in close proximity and present similar age and size, thereby isolating the effects of size and environment from the mortality process. Temporal dynamics of growth, growth synchrony, and growth sensitivity to water availability (P-PET) were compared between live and recently dead trees. Over the last 50 years, we observed an increase in the growth synchrony and sensitivity to water availability as drought conditions intensified consistent to prior research. However, no differences were found in radial growth between live and dead individuals 15 years before mortality, and dead individuals showed lower growth synchrony and sensitivity to water availability than live ones for much of the period studied. This suggests a decoupling between tree’s growth responses and climatic conditions, which could increase vulnerability to hydraulic failure and/or carbon starvation. Overall, our results point to an important role of growth sensitivity to water availability in tree mortality forP. sylvestrisat its southern distribution limit.