bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Trend and burden of neural tube defects among cohort of pregnant women in Ethiopia: Where are we in the prevention and what is the way forward?
Authors: Berhane Anteneh , Belachew Tefera 
Published: February 2022

Introduction
Neural tube defect is one of the top five most serious birth defects in the world. In Ethiopia an accurate estimate of the trend and burden of neural tube defects is still unknown. There hasn’t been much research done on the prevalence and trend of neural tube defects in Eastern Ethiopia. To complement previous efforts of studies, the purpose of this study is to estimate the trend and burden of neural tube defects in Eastern Ethiopia as well as to investigate the epidemiological implications of the findings.

Methods
A facility-based retrospective cohort study was carried out from cohort pregnant women who delivered in selected hospitals. File records of all babies who were found to have neural tube defects could be reached between 2017 and 2019. A structured checklist was used to collect data. The incidence of each case was calculated by dividing the number of cases per year by the total number of live births in each hospital. To determine the linear trend of neural tube defects over time, linear trend of Extended Mantel-Haenszel chi-square was performed. Data were presented using frequencies and percentages. Data were analyzed using SPSS for windows version 25.

Results
A total of 48,750 deliveries were recorded during the three years of the study considered for analyses with 522 women having neural tube defect giving an incidence rate of 107.5 per 10,000 live births in the three years. The most common types of neural tube defects found in the area were anencephaly and spina bifida accounting for 48.1% and 22.6%, respectively. The distribution of neural tube defects varied across the study hospitals, with Adama Medical College Hospital having the highest proportion (46.6%). Over half of the mothers (56.7%) live in cities. Mothers in the age group 25–34 (46.9%) and multigravida mothers had higher proportions (64.4%).of neural tube defects. None of the mothers took folic acid before conception, and only 19% took iron folic acid supplementation during their pregnancy.

Conclusion and recommendation
The findings showed that an increasing trend and burden of neural tube defects and preconception folic acid supplementation is insignificant in the region which showed that where we are in the prevention of neural tube defects. The finding suggests that preconception folic acid supplementation in conjunction with health care services should be considered to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in the region. Aside from that, intensive prevention efforts for long-term folate intake through dietary diversification and appropriate public health interventions are required. Furthermore, data must be properly recorded in order to address disparities in neonatal death due to neural tube defects, and the determinants of neural tube defects should be investigated using large scale prospective studies with biomarkers.
Health-related quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at a tertiary care hospital in Ethiopia
Authors: Gebremariam Girma Tekle , Biratu Selam , Alemayehu Metasebia , Welie Abraham Gebregziabiher , Beyene Kebede , Sander Beate , Gebretekle Gebremedhin Beedemariam 
Published: February 2022

Background
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its treatment impact patients’ physical health as well as emotional and social wellbeing. This study aimed to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and associated factors among patients with T2DM at a tertiary care hospital in Ethiopia.

Methods
A face-to-face cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients with T2DM at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We collected data using a validated Amharic version of the 5-level EuroQoL-5 dimensions (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to present patient characteristics. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to explore differences in the median scores of EQ-5D-5L utility and visual analog scale (EQ-VAS). Multivariable Tobit regression models were used to identify predictors of HRQoL. Utility scores were calculated using disutility weights of the Ethiopian general population. Statistical significance was determined at p < 0.05.

Results
A total of 360 patients with T2DM participated. Mean (SD) age was 64.43(10.61) years. Reported health problems were mostly in the pain/discomfort (67.3%) dimension followed by mobility (60.5%), whereas the usual activities domain (34.1%) was the least health problem being reported. The median (IQR) EQ-5D-5L utility and EQ-VAS scores were 0.95 (0.88–0.96) and 80 (75.0–85.0), respectively. In multivariable Tobit regression models older age, having poor glycemic control, longer duration of diabetes, insulin usage, obesity, and having diabetes-related complications were significant negative predictors of HRQoL.

Conclusions
Overall, patients with T2DM had lower HRQoL than the general population, which was attributed to being older age, longer duration of diabetes, insulin use, obesity, inadequate glycemic control, and diabetes-related complications. The utility index we generated can be used in future economic evaluations to inform decisions about alternative interventions and resource allocation.
An optimized method for tissue glycogen quantification
Authors: Schaubroeck Kyle J. , Leitner Brooks P. , Perry Rachel J. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractMobilization of glycogen, the short‐term storage form of glucose, is the body's first defense against hypoglycemia and is critical for energy provision during high intensity exercise. Therefore, to advance metabolic research, it is critical to be able to accurately measure glycogen concentrations, including during a prolonged fast and other glycogen‐modulating interventions. Unfortunately, prior enzymatic methods of glycogen detection have been plagued by poor detection in the lower range, high sample mass requirements, and complicated and/or expensive protocols which introduce substantial technical variability into the measured glycogen concentrations. To address these limitations, here we report a streamlined and versatile glycogen extraction protocol coupled with an optimized phenol‐sulfuric acid quantification protocol. With this method, we demonstrate how glycogen can be extracted from only 20 mg of tissue with one centrifugation step and quantified with a highly precise (Intra‐assay %CV ranges from 5–10%) and sensitive (proportionality constant for glycogen = 0.07279 A.U./µg) assay. The cost of all materials equates to ~10 cents per sample. Therefore, this method represents an attractive means of assessing ex vivo tissue glycogen content including at the extremes of glycogen concentrations.
On the correction of errors in English grammar by deep learning
Authors: Zhong Yanghui , Yue Xiaorui 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Using computer programs to correct English grammar can improve the efficiency of English grammar correction, improve the effect of error correction, and reduce the workload of manual error correction. In order to deal with and solve the problem of loss evaluation mismatch in the current mainstream machine translation, this study proposes the application of the deep learning method to propose an algorithm model with high error correction performance. Therefore, the framework of confrontation learning network is introduced to continuously improve the optimization model parameters through the confrontation training of discriminator and generator. At the same time, convolutional neural network is introduced to improve the algorithm training effect, which can make the correction sentences generated by the model generator better in confrontation. In order to verify the performance of the algorithm model, P-value, R-value, F
0.5-value, and MRR-value were selected for the comprehensive evaluation of the model performance index. The simulation results of the CoNLL-2014 test set and Lang-8 test set show that the proposed algorithm model has significant performance improvement compared with the traditional transformer method and can correct the fluency of sentences. It has good application values.
Osteopathic approach to sacroiliac joint pain in pregnant patients
Authors: Morimoto Kaori , Harrington Alisha , Nelson Claudia , Loveless Brian 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the management of sacroiliac (SI) joint pain in pregnant patients. Although SI joint pain is highly prevalent among pregnant patients, the unique anatomy of the joint is rarely discussed in a clinical setting. This paper provides comprehensive review of the epidemiology, anatomy, alarm findings, standard treatment, osteopathic assessment, and osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) of the SI joint, and it provides a general and in-depth understanding of the SI joint pain in pregnant patients and its management.
Full-visible-spectrum perovskite quantum dots by anion exchange resin assisted synthesis
Authors: Wang Chenhui , Cai Junhu , Ye Yuanyuan , Hu Xinpei , Zhong Lijuan , Xie Hongxing , Chen Enguo , Ye Yun , Xu Sheng , Sun Jie , Yan Qun , Guo Tailiang 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Photoelectric properties of all-inorganic perovskite quantum dots (IPQDs) highly depend on their synthetic route. However, current synthetic processes of IPQDs are widely facing potential unsustainable issues of containing nonreusable and high-cost auxiliary materials. In this work, full-visible-spectrum IPQDs were successfully synthesized by an environmentally friendly ion-exchange approach with a renewable and low-cost anion exchange resin. Introducing anion exchange resin brings the improvement of both optical performance and surface morphology of the prepared IPQDs. The emission wavelength of IPQDs can be precisely controlled without changing their inherent crystal phase, and those IPQD’s single crystals with poor morphology and unstable structure are selectively removed. The photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and the fluorescence lifetime of the three-primary-color IPQDs can be dramatically improved to 93.69, 89.99, and 65.03% and 71.3 ns, 22.2 ns, and 13.2 ns, respectively. Notably, the red-emitting PQDs at 622 nm exhibit a record high PLQY. By using the prepared IPQDs for photoluminescent color conversion, the three-primary-color light-emitting diodes (LEDs) provided high brightness and wide color gamut simultaneously. This study provides new ideas for the environmentally friendly and sustainable synthesis route of IPQDs, and it is expected to show great ambitions in the display field.
On the approximation of the diffusion operator in the ionosphere model with conserving the direction of geomagnetic field
Authors: Ostanin Pavel A. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
New methods for constructing an approximation of the diffusion operator for the two-dimensional equation of the ambipolar diffusion process in the F layer of the Earth's ionosphere are presented. This equation is solved in the framework of modelling the global thermosphere and ionosphere dynamics (for the altitudes from 90 to 500 km). The proposed schemes have finite-difference versions of the integral identity, which is a property of differential diffusion equation and which represents the geometric properties of the process (diffusion proceeds along the magnetic field lines of the Earth). The stability of the proposed schemes is analyzed, as well as the accuracy estimates are obtained on the base of the model analytical solution and during the calculations with physically realistic data. A comparison is made with the second-order finite-difference scheme developed earlier for solving the same problem.
Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the pain anxiety symptom scale (PASS-20) in chronic non-specific neck pain patients
Authors: Tavahomi Mahnaz , Akhbari Behnam , Salavati Mahyar , Ebrahimi-Takamjani Ismail , Shanbehzadeh Sanaz , Jafari Hassan 
Published: February 2022

Abstract

Objectives
Pain-related anxiety has been linked to avoidance behaviour, maintenance of pain and disability. A valid and reliable tool is required to evaluate pain-related anxiety among Persian speaking adults with chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP). This study aimed to evaluate psychometric properties of the Persian pain anxiety symptom scale-20 (PASS-20) according to the consensus-based standards for the selection of health measurement instruments (COSMIN) checklist in Iranian adults with CNSNP.

Methods
198 individuals with CNSNP completed the PASS-20. The factorial structure (confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA)), test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC)), internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), and construct validity (convergent and known-group validity) were assessed. The correlation between PASS-20 with pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), neck disability index (NDI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), visual analog scale (VAS) (Spearman’s rank correlation) were examined. Known-group validity of PASS-20 was evaluated by comparing the difference between the PASS-20 scores of the known groups based on level of disability, pain intensity and gender using non-parametric tests.

Results
The CFA showed almost the best fit with the original version. The subscales and total score demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α: 0.70–0.92) and high test-retest reliability (ICC: 0.94–0.97). PASS-20 had significant moderate correlations with PCS, TSK, NDI, VAS and a significant low correlation with BDI. Regarding known-group validity, the total score of Persian PASS-20 was higher in CNSNP with higher levels of pain and disability and in the female gender.

Conclusions
The Persian PASS-20 has acceptable psychometric properties in adults with CNSNP. The results of the factor analysis supported the four-factor structure comparable to the original version.

Ethical committee number
921672004.
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and palliative-care clinician reported outcomes (ClinROs) mutually improve pain and other symptoms assessment of hospitalized cancer-patients
Authors: Sørensen Jonas , Sjøgren Per , Stine Clemmensen , Sørensen Tanja Vibeke , Heinecke Katja , Larsen Henrik , Eidemak Inge , Kurita Geana Paula 
Published: February 2022

Abstract

Objectives
Patients with malignant diseases are known to have a high symptom burden including pain, and insufficient treatment of pain in this population has been frequently documented. To promote the integration of specialized palliative care and hematology and oncology, this study investigated disease, treatment, and comorbidity related symptoms as well as functional capacity and health-related quality of life (HQoL) by patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and clinician-reported outcome measures (ClinROs) among inpatients in a comprehensive cancer center.

Methods
This cross-sectional study was carried out in a large comprehensive cancer centre of both oncological and hematological inpatients. It combined the use of PROMs and ClinROs.

Results
A high symptom burden was reported with fatigue and appetite loss as the most frequent symptoms, and role function being the most impaired function. Further, a low HQoL score was associated with a high number of symptoms/impairments. More than half of all patients reported pain in the last 24 h. Out of 95 patients with average pain >0 in the last 24 h, 71% were treated with opioids and 24% were treated with adjuvant analgesic (AA) defined as antiepileptics, antidepressants and prednisolone. Out of 57 patients with average pain >0 in the last 24 h and possible neuropathic pain, 33% were treated with AAs. A high odds ratio for moderate/severe pain in patients with possible neuropathic pain mechanisms was observed.

Conclusions and implications
This study did not only emphasize the need for systematic use of PROMs to identify symptoms and needs for inpatients, but also displayed why PROMs supported by ClinROs are a prerequisite to deliver truly individualized and high-quality patient-centered care. This study calls for continuous training of health care professionals to deliver high-quality treatment of pain. Further, it contributes to the growing recognition, that palliative care and standard care must be integrated to strengthen patient-centered care.
A self-similar solution for shock waves in conducting rotating non-ideal dusty gas medium with monochromatic radiation and magnetic field
Authors: Nath G. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
In this paper, the cylindrical shock wave propagation in a perfectly conducting rotating mixture of micro size dust particles and van der Waal gas with magnetic field either axial or azimuthal and monochromatic radiation is investigated. The effect of thermal radiation is included in the energy equation of the governing system. In our study, it is assumed that the flux of radiation moves in the mixture of particles and real gas with invariable intensity and the shock wave is moving appositive to the direction of radiation heat flux and the energy is engrossed behind the cylindrical shock only. In the present model, dusty gas is assumed to be a mixture of micro size dust particles and van der Waal gas in which solid particles are continuously distributed and the equilibrium flow conditions are assumed to hold in the entire flow-field region. The effects of the particles’ density to the initial gas density ratio, the real gas effect, rotational parameter, the concentration of mass of the micro size dust particles in the conducting mixture, Alfven-Mach number and the adiabatic exponent on shock and on the physical variables such as velocity, density etc. are discussed. It is found that due to the rotating medium consideration or by an increase in small particles density to the initial gas density ratio, the shock wave strength increases. Also, it is significant to memorize that the strength of the shock wave decreases by an increase in the strength of initial magnetic field or gas non-ideal parameter or the adiabatic index.
Effect of Different Loading Conditions on the Fatigue Response and Recovery of Neat and Modified Asphalt Binders
Authors: Hung Shawn , Elkashef Mohamed , Harvey John , Wu Rongzong , Jones David 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Thixotropic behavior is a reversible process that occurs in asphalt binders because of the breakage and restoration of the binder’s microstructure. Thixotropic effects are associated with load applications and are fully recoverable when the loading is discontinued. Fatigue loading results in a decrease in the asphalt binder’s modulus related to reversible phenomena such as thixotropy, healing, and self-heating, in addition to irreversible permanent fatigue damage. The study of thixotropy is important to better characterize damage because of fatigue. In this study, four different asphalt binders were tested to determine their thixotropic behavior, namely two neat PG64-16 binders from different refineries, a polymer modified PG64-28 binder, and a tire rubber modified PG64-28 binder. The binders were short-term aged using a rolling thin film oven and tested with a dynamic shear rheometer at temperatures that produced an initial modulus of 35 MPa at sinusoidal strain amplitudes of 1.2 and 1.4 %, and an initial modulus of 50 MPa at strain amplitudes of 1 and 1.2 %. The test temperatures corresponding to the initial moduli for each binder were determined using a temperature sweep at a test frequency of 10 Hz. The test temperature and strain amplitudes were applied for 500 or 1,000 s followed by rest periods to determine the effects of loading time on the rates of binder modulus recovery for the different conditions. The results indicated that the thixotropic recovery rate is dependent on the binder type, with the tire rubber modified binder showing the fastest recovery rate and the polymer modified binder showing the slowest recovery rate. The recovery rate was also shown to increase with increasing initial modulus and strain amplitude.
Adaptive Mossy Cell Circuit Plasticity after Status Epilepticus
Authors: Butler Corwin R. , Westbrook Gary L. , Schnell Eric 
Published: February 2022

Hilar mossy cells regulate network function in the hippocampus through both direct excitation and di-synaptic inhibition of dentate granule cells (DGCs). Substantial mossy cell loss accompanies hippocampal circuit changes in epilepsy. We examined the contribution of surviving mossy cells to network activity in the reorganized dentate gyrus after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE). To examine functional circuit changes, we optogenetically stimulated mossy cells in acute hippocampal slices from male mice. In control mice, activation of mossy cells produced monosynaptic excitatory and di-synaptic GABAergic currents in DGCs. In pilocarpine-treated mice, mossy cell density and excitation of DGCs were reduced in parallel, with only a minimal reduction in feedforward inhibition, enhancing the inhibition/excitation ratio. Surprisingly, mossy cell-driven excitation of parvalbumin-positive (PV+) basket cells, primary mediators of feed-forward inhibition, was maintained. Our results suggest that mossy cell outputs reorganize following seizures, increasing their net inhibitory effect in the hippocampus.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTHilar mossy cell loss in epilepsy is associated with hippocampal hyperexcitability, potentially as a result of disrupted dentate microcircuit function. We used transgenic mice, translational mouse modeling, viral vectors, and optogenetics to selectively examine functional changes to mossy cell outputs following status epilepticus (SE). Interestingly, the outputs of surviving mossy cells exhibited adaptive plasticity onto target parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons, resulting in a relative increase in their inhibitory control of dentate granule cells (DGCs). Our findings suggest that residual mossy cell outputs can reorganize in a homeostatic manner, which may provide clues for therapeutic targeting of this microcircuit.