bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quantitative and qualitative effects of live music medicine on anxiety and depression in cancer inpatients
Authors: Rosenheck Michael , Hirsh Robert 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundA growing body of literature suggests that music medicine may decrease anxiety and depression in cancer patients, but the mechanism by which this happens remains speculative. This study analyzes the underlying thematic perspectives by utilizing both quantitative and qualitative assessments. Therefore, the goal of this study is to determine the quantitative effects and underlying thematic perspectives of music medicine on anxiety and depression in cancer inpatients.Methods and findingsTwenty-four cancer inpatients participated in this prospective cohort study to measure the effects of a private, fifteen-minute, live guitar/singing performance on anxiety and depression. Questions modified from the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and a written free response section were used. Independent from age, gender, and relationship to music, music medicine significantly increased patients’ cheerfulness, ability to laugh, relaxation, and decreased worrying thoughts. There was also a trend towards decreased tension, restlessness, feeling slowed down, and increased excitement for the future that failed to reach statistical significance. The most frequently used words within the free response sections were made into a word cloud with the three most common words being music, listening, and made.ConclusionThis article not only illustrates that music medicine decreases several elements of anxiety and depression in cancer inpatients, but also highlights music’s physiological effects, aesthetic and potentially transcendent properties, intrinsic value, and memorability, through use of a word cloud. Music medicine is a safe and inexpensive mood augmenter that could be more widely used.
The Utility of Cognitive Testing to Predict Real World Commercial Driving Risk
Authors: Scott Daniel , Atkin Alice Elizabeth , Granley Aaron , Singhal Anthony 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundDriving is a complex task which requires numerous cognitive and sensorimotor skills to be performed safely. On-road driver evaluation can identify unsafe drivers but can also be expensive, risky, and time-consuming. Poor performance on off-road measures of cognition and sensorimotor control has been shown to predict on-road performance in privately-licensed light vehicle drivers, but commercial drivers have not yet been studied despite such vehicles generally being larger and heavier, thus increasing risks from unsafe driving.MethodCommercially-licensed truck, bus, and light vehicle drivers undertook the tablet-based Vitals cognitive screening tool, which measures reaction time, judgement, memory, and sensorimotor control, and also undertook an on-road driving evaluation using their vehicle. Accuracy and reliability of the Vitals tasks on predicting road test outcomes were investigated using a trichotomous classifier (pass, fail, borderline), and task performance was analyzed depending on vehicle type and road test outcome.ResultsPerformance on the Vitals tasks predicted on-road performance across all vehicle types. Participants who failed their on-road evaluation also demonstrated lower success on the Judgement task, fewer correctly replicated shapes on the Memory task, and less time on-target in the Control task compared to those who passed.ConclusionPerformance on cognitive and sensorimotor tasks is a good predictor of future driving performance and driver safety for commercially-licensed drivers. Regardless of vehicle type, stakeholders can use cognitive measures from the Vitals assessment to identify an increased driving risk. Use of the Vitals as a screening tool prior to on-road evaluation can benefit both drivers and evaluators.
Interpretable Deep Learning for Improving Cancer Patient Survival Based on Personal Transcriptomes
Authors: Sun Bo , Chen Liang 
Published: October 2022

AbstractPrecision medicine chooses the optimal drug for a patient by considering individual differences. With the tremendous amount of data accumulated for cancers, we develop an interpretable neural network to predict cancer patient survival based on drug prescriptions and personal transcriptomes (CancerIDP). The deep learning model achieves 96% classification accuracy in distinguishing short-lived from long-lived patients. The Pearson correlation between predicted and actual months-to-death values is as high as 0.937. About 27.4% of patients may survive longer with an alternative medicine chosen by our deep learning model. The median survival time of all patients can increase by 3.9 months. Our interpretable neural network model reveals the most discriminating pathways in the decision-making process, which will further facilitate mechanistic studies of drug development for cancers.
Prior exposure to antiretroviral therapy among adult patients presenting for HIV treatment initiation or re-initiation in sub- Saharan Africa: a systematic review
Authors: Benade Mariet , Maskew Mhairi , Juntunen Allison , Rosen Sydney 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundAs countries in sub-Saharan Africa have scaled up access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV, patient attrition rates of up to 30% per year have created a large pool of individuals who initiate treatment with prior ART experience (non-naïve re-initiators). Little is known about the proportion of non-naïve re-initiators within the population presenting for treatment initiation.MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive, rapid review of recent peer-reviewed reports that presented data on proportions of adult patients initiating ART who were treatment naïve and non-naive in sub-Saharan Africa. Searching PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and international conference abstracts, we sought studies published after 1 January 2018 with data collected after January 2016, when universal HIV treatment access became the norm. We included clinical trials and observational studies and accepted self-report, laboratory discernment of antiretroviral metabolites, or viral suppression at initiation or previously reported in the medical record as evidence of prior exposure. We report results of each eligible study and identify gaps in the literature.ResultsOf 1,782 articles returned in our initial search, we found nine, describing ten cohorts, that contained sufficient information for the review, of which half were from South Africa. The proportion of the study samples with evidence of prior ART use ranged from 5% (self-report only) to 53% (presence of ART metabolites in hair or blood sample among self-reported naïve patients). The vast majority of studies that were screened did not report proportions of initiators who were non-naïve, and among the few that did, the metrics used to determine and report non-naïve proportions were inconsistent and difficult to interpret.ConclusionThe proportion of patients initiating HIV treatment who are truly ART-naïve is not well documented in the literature. From the studies identified, it seems likely that 20% to 50%—and likely at least 30%—of ART patients who present for ART are re-initiators. Standard reporting metrics and diligence in reporting this characteristic of ART initiation cohorts are needed, as is research to understand the reluctance of patients to report prior ART exposure.
Relationships between the auditory nerve’s ability to recover from neural adaptation, cortical encoding of and perceptual sensitivity to within-channel temporal gaps in postlingually deafened adult cochlear implant users
Authors: He Shuman , Yuan Yi , Skidmore Jeffrey 
Published: October 2022

ABSTRACTObjectiveThis study assessed the relationships between the auditory nerve’s ability to recovery from neural adaptation, cortical encoding of and perceptual sensitivity to within-channel temporal gaps in postlingually deafened adult cochlear implant (CI) users.DesignStudy participants included 11 postlingually deafened adults with Cochlear™ Nucleus® devices, including three bilaterally implanted participants. In each participant, recovery from neural adaptation of the auditory nerve (AN) was measured using electrophysiological measures of the electrically evoked compound action potential (eCAP) at up to four electrode locations. The electrode pair with the largest difference in the speed of adaptation recovery was selected for assessing within-channel temporal gap detection threshold (GDT). GDTs were measured using both psychophysical and electrophysiological procedures. Psychophysical GDTs were evaluated using a three-alternative, forced-choice procedure, targeting 79.4% correct on the psychometric function. Electrophysiological GDTs were measured using the electrically evoked auditory change complex (eACC) evoked by electrical pulse trains that contained temporal gaps. Objective GDT was defined as the shortest temporal gap that could evoke an eACC. Related-samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank testwas used to compare psychophysical GDTs and objective GDTs measured at all electrode locations. It was also used to compare psychophysical GDTs and objective GDTs measured at the two electrode locations with different speeds or amounts of adaptation recovery of the AN. A Kendall Rank correlation test was used to assess the correlation between GDTs measured using psychophysical or electrophysiological procedures.ResultsObjective GDTs were significantly larger than those measured using psychophysical procedures. There was a significant correlation between objective and psychophysical GDTs. GDTs could not be predicted based on the amount or the speed of adaptation recovery of the AN.ConclusionsElectrophysiological measure of the eACC can potentially be used to assess within-channel GDT in CI users who cannot provide reliable behavioral responses. The difference in adaptation recovery of the AN is not the primary factor accounting for the across-electrode variation in GDT in individual CI users.
Development and evaluation of a live birth prediction model for evaluating human blastocysts: a retrospective study
Authors: Liu Hang , Zhang Zhuoran , Gu Yifan , Dai Changsheng , Shan Guanqiao , Song Haocong , Li Daniel , Chen Wenyuan , Lin Ge , Sun Yu 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundIn infertility treatment, blastocyst morphological grading is commonly used in clinical practice for blastocyst evaluation and selection, but has shown limited predictive power on live birth outcomes of blastocysts. To improve live birth prediction, a number of artificial intelligence (AI) models have been established. Most existing AI models for blastocyst evaluation only used images for live birth prediction, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) achieved by these models has plateaued at ∼0.65.MethodsThis study proposed a multi-modal blastocyst evaluation method using both blastocyst images and patient couple’s clinical features (e.g., maternal age, hormone profiles, endometrium thickness, and semen quality) to predict live birth outcomes of human blastocysts. To utilize the multi-modal data, we developed a new AI model consisting of a convolutional neural network (CNN) to process blastocyst images and a multi-layer perceptron to process patient couple’s clinical features. The dataset used in this study consists of 17,580 blastocysts with known live birth outcomes, blastocyst images, and patient couple’s clinical features.ResultsThis study achieved an AUC of 0.77 for live birth prediction, which significantly outperforms related works in the literature. Sixteen out of 103 clinical features were identified to be predictors of live birth outcomes and helped improve live birth prediction. Among these features, maternal age, the day of blastocyst transfer, antral follicle count, retrieved oocyte number, and endometrium thickness measured before transfer are the top five features contributing to live birth prediction. Heatmaps showed that the CNN in the AI model mainly focuses on image regions of inner cell mass and trophectoderm (TE) for live birth prediction, and the contribution of TE-related features was greater in the CNN trained with the inclusion of patient couple’s clinical features compared with the CNN trained with blastocyst images alone.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the inclusion of patient couple’s clinical features along with blastocyst images increases live birth prediction accuracy.FundingNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canada Research Chairs Program.
Incidence and predictors of relapse among children with nephrotic syndrome at Assosa zone hospitals, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022
Authors: Gashaw Yegoraw , Tekeba Berhan , Terefe Bewuketu , Tezera Nega , Wodajo Seid 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundRelapse is the major problem in children with nephrotic syndrome and leads to a substantial burden on the patient and family worldwide, particularly in resource-limited countries like Ethiopia. However, little is known about the incidence of relapse and its predictors among children with nephrotic syndrome in the study area.MethodsAn institution-based retrospective follow-up study was conducted among 354 randomly selected nephrotic syndrome patients admitted from April 2017 to March 2022. Data entry was carried out using Epi-data manager version 4.6.0.6 and Stata software version 14 for data cleaning and analysis. Cox-proportional hazard models were used to identify predictors of relapse. Any variable with a p-value < 0.25 in the bivariable was taken into the multivariable analysis, and then the association and statistical significance were declared at P≤ 0.05.ResultsMore than half, 55.8% (82/147), of relapses were recorded in the first six months of follow-up. The incidence of relapse was 82.3 per 1000 child-month-observations, with an overall risk of 1785.9 child-month-observations. In children with nephrotic syndrome, the presence of wasting malnutrition [AHR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.28–2.90], acute respiratory tract infections [AHR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.19–2.71], elevated triglyceride levels [AHR = 2.74, 95% CI 1.48–5.07], and low serum albumin levels [AHR = 4.34, 95% CI 22.18–8.64] were predictors of relapse.Conclusion and RecommendationsThe incidence of relapse among nephrotic syndrome patients was high. The independent predictors of relapse in children with nephrotic syndrome were the presence of acute respiratory tract infections, wasting malnutrition at admission, low serum albumin levels, and elevated serum triglyceride levels. Therefore, intervention to reduce and control earlier relapse should focus on preventing relapse-related complications.
Neonatal resuscitation: an observational study assessing the readiness of service providers in Nepal
Authors: Clark Robert B , Chalise Mala , Dhungana Ranjan P 
Published: October 2022

AbstractA significant proportion of neonatal mortality, a major public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries, can be attributed to intrapartum-related hypoxic events. This study seeks to assess the determinants of health care providers’ competence in providing newborn resuscitation. A cross-sectional survey of 154 health facilities in Nepal was done. This nested study evaluated the newborn resuscitation knowledge and skills of 462 health care providers by individually assessing a delivery using a 22-item clinical practice observation tool and administering the standard 18-item Helping Babies Breathe Knowledge CheckSignificant predictors of provider knowledge included: province (0.085 points higher in Bagmati province, p=0.018); mean availability of essential utilities and resuscitation aids (0.173 points, p<0.001 and 0.187, p= 0.02 respectively); participation in – Latter-day Saint Charities – Safa Sunaulo Nepal (LDSC/SSN) newborn resuscitation training, scale-up and skill retention program (0.676 units higher, p<0.001); and qualifications (0.136 points higher among health providers with Bachelor of Nursing degree, p<0.001, 0.072 points higher among providers with Masters in Nursing degree, p= 0.010 and 0.110 units higher among providers with Senior Auxiliary Nursing Midwife degree,, p=0.001).Significant factors associated with resuscitation skill included province (0.056 units higher in province 1, p= 0.015 and 0.037 units higher in Sudurpaschim province, p=0.034); delivery caseload (0.066 units higher mean skill score in health facilities with average monthly delivery of more than 120, p= 0.011); availability of newborn resuscitation practice aids (0.093 units higher score in health facilities with resuscitation practice aids, p= 0.008); and participation in LDSC/SSN newborn resuscitation training, scale-up and skill retention program (0.968 units, p< 0.001).Participation in the LDSC/SSN’ skill retention program was the best predictor of newborn resuscitation knowledge and skills. The LDSC/SSN model of newborn resuscitation training, scale up and skill retention could be one potential cost-effective model to address gaps in resuscitation knowledge and skills among service providers.
Parental Preferences and Reasons for COVID-19 Vaccination Among Their Children
Authors: Sehgal Neil K. R. , Rader Benjamin , Gertz Autumn , Astley Christina M. , Brownstein John S. 
Published: October 2022

AbstractBackgroundCOVID-19 vaccination rates among children have stalled, while new coronavirus strains continue to emerge. To improve child vaccination rates, policymakers must better understand parental preferences and reasons for COVID-19 vaccination among their children.Methods and FindingsCross-sectional surveys were administered online to 30,174 US parents with at least one child of COVID-19 vaccine eligible age (5-17 years) between January 1 and May 9, 2022. Participants self-reported willingness to vaccinate their child and reasons for hesitancy, and answered additional questions about demographics, pandemic related behavior, and vaccination status. Willingness to vaccinate a child for COVID-19 was strongly associated with parental vaccination status (multivariate odds ratio 97.9, 95% confidence interval 86.9-111.0). The majority of fully vaccinated (86%) and unvaccinated (84%) parents reported concordant vaccination preferences for their eligible child. Age and education had differing relationships by vaccination status, with higher age and education positively associated with willingness among vaccinated parents. Among all parents hesitant to vaccinate their children, the two most frequently reported reasons were possible side effects (47%) and that vaccines are too new (44%). Among hesitant parents, parental vaccination status was inversely associated with reported lack of trust in government (p<.001) and scientists (p<.001). Cluster analysis identified three groups of hesitant parents based on their reasons for hesitance to vaccinate, with distinct concerns that may be obscured when analyzed in aggregate.ConclusionFactors associated with willingness to vaccinate children and reasons for hesitancy may inform targeted approaches to increase vaccination.
The relationship between electrophysiological measures of the electrically evoked compound action potential and cochlear implant speech perception outcomes
Authors: Skidmore Jeffrey , Oleson Jacob J. , Yuan Yi , He Shuman 
Published: October 2022

ABSTRACTObjectiveThis study assessed the relationship between electrophysiological measures of the electrically evoked compound action potential (eCAP) and speech perception scores measured in quiet and in noise in post-lingually deafened adult cochlear implant (CI) users. It tested the hypothesis that how well the auditory nerve (AN) responds to electrical stimulation is important for speech perception with a CI in challenging listening conditions.DesignStudy participants included 24 post-lingually deafened adult CI users. All participants used Cochlear® Nucleus™ CIs in their test ears. In each participant, eCAPs were measured at multiple electrode locations in response to single-pulse, paired-pulse, and pulse-train stimuli. Independent variables included six parameters calculated from the eCAP recordings: the electrode-neuron interface (ENI) index, the neural adaptation (NA) ratio, NA speed, the adaptation recovery (AR) ratio, AR speed, and the amplitude modulation (AM) ratio. The ENI index quantified the effectiveness of the CI electrodes in stimulating the targeted AN fibers. The NA ratio indicated the amount of NA at the AN caused by a train of constant-amplitude pulses. NA speed was defined as the speed/rate of NA. The AR ratio estimated the amount of recovery from NA at a fixed time point after the cessation of pulse-train stimulation. AR speed referred to the speed of recovery from NA caused by previous pulse-train stimulation. The AM ratio provided a measure of AN sensitivity to AM cues. Participants’ speech perception scores were measured using Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) word lists and AzBio sentences presented in quiet, as well as in noise at signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of +10 and +5 dB. Predictive models were created for each speech measure to identify eCAP parameters with meaningful predictive power.ResultsThe ENI index and AR speed had significant bivariate relationships with speech perception scores measured in this study, while the NA ratio, NA speed, the AR ratio, and the AM ratio did not. The ENI index was identified as the only eCAP parameter that had unique predictive power for each of the speech test results. The amount of variance in speech perception scores (both CNC words and AzBio sentences) explained by the eCAP parameters increased with increased difficulty in the listening condition. Over half of the variance in speech perception scores measured in +5 dB SNR noise (both CNC words and AzBio sentences) was explained by a model with only three eCAP parameters: the ENI index, NA speed, and AR speed.ConclusionsThe ENI index is the most informative predictor for speech perception performance in CI users. The response characteristics of the AN to electrical stimulation is more important for speech perception with a CI in noise than it is in quiet.
Oxidative and cardiovascular stress among professional divers in Egypt
Authors: Salah Hanie , El-Gazzar Ragaa M. , Abd El-Wahab Ekram W. , Charl Fahmy 
Published: October 2022

AbstractObjectivesProfessional divers are exposed to unique multifactorial hazards in their working environment and cardiovascular effects are tremendous. Cardiovascular events are aggravated by diving-induced oxidative stress and account for one fourth of diving fatalities. The aim of this study was to assess the oxidative and cardiovascular stress in a group of professional divers in Alexandria, Egypt using a panel of biomarkers.MethodsA comparative cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2017 and May 2018 at the General Naval Hospital in Alexandria. We recruited 50 professional divers (n=50) and a comparison group of 50 marine seafarers sharing similar maritime environments. Participants were clinically evaluated by electrocardiography (ECG) and assessment of some trace metals (Fe+, Cu+and Zn+) and oxidative stress biomarkers (OSBMs; MDA, TAS, GST, GSH, GR, GPx, SOD and CAT).Results: Significant ECG abnormalities including short corrected QT interval, sinus bradycardia, left ventricular hypertrophy, early repolarization, 1stdegree heart block, intraventricular conduction defect were obvious among divers. The mean levels of FBG, LDH-C, Na+, Ca+, trace metals and OSBMs were significantly higher among professional divers compared to the marine seafarers (p< 0.5).ConclusionThe risk of CVD in professional divers is alarmingly high and possibly contributed by OS. Including cardiovascular risk assessment in divers’ periodic examinations is of utmost importance.