Initial Evaluation Stage Research Articles

Progress of The Ukrainian Biochemical Journal thanks to Collaboration with RECOOP HST Association

The article examines the impact of cooperation between The Ukrainian Biochemical Journal (UBJ) and the international association RECOOP HST on the journal’s development in 2019-2023. During this period, 324 articles were published in the journal. Most of them are written by Ukrainian authors (79.9%). Foreign authors (20.1%) are representatives of 15 countries. An online manuscript handling and reviewing system were implemented on the journal’s website, which increased the number of articles received by the editorial office and allowed for a more careful selection of manuscripts at the initial evaluation stage. As a result, the percentage of rejected manuscripts increased from 36.5 to 67.7%. RECOOP’s support has also played a key role in improving the quality of UBJ’s publications through the renewal of its editorial board and expanding its international reviewer base. In collaboration with RECOOP, eight special issues of UBJ were produced separately, including four themed issues. In total, 56 articles (110 citations) were published in these issues. The number of visitors to UBJ’s website almost tripled during the mentioned period. Currently, UBJ’s Scimago Scientific Journal Rank (SJR) for 2022/2023 is 0.169, the h-index is 20, and the Impact Score is 0.63. A conclusion is made that the cooperation with RECOOP contributed to the publication of better scientific articles, the involvement of highly qualified experts in the peer review process, and stricter adherence by the journal to the fundamental provisions and ethical standards, thereby leading to an elevation in UBJ’s rating and recognition in the global scientific arena. Keywords: COMET, increasing UBJ’s global visibility, project implementation, RECOOP, thematic issue, UBJ

BIMTEKS PENGEMBANGAN SOAL AKM NUMERASI BAGI GURU DI PONPES TAZAKKA KABUPATEN MURATARA

The results of the 2021 National Assessment state that 2 out of 3 students have not achieved minimum competencies and there is a competency gap between students in Java and outside Java. One of the efforts in solving problems that occur is through technical guidance activities for teachers to develop AKM questions. This service aims to provide assistance in the development of AKM questions for teachers in the North Tazakka Musi Rawas Islamic Boarding School. The scope of development activities regarding AKM in the numeracy aspect. The methods used include: 1) initial evaluation stage, 2) enrichment stage, 3) technical guidance stage, 4) mentoring stage, and 5) final evaluation stage. As a result of this service, participants have knowledge about cognitive levels, domain content and learning progression of AKM Numeracy as well as artifacts of activity participants in the form of AKM Numeracy questions.

Comparison of Photoresist Sensitivity between KrF, EB and EUV Exposure

It has been reported that the good correlation in sensitivity and resolution between EUV exposure and EB exposure because of the similar mechanism of the photochemical-reaction in photoresists during exposure. However, in the early stages of EUV resist development, there are problems on the points of the cost and time-consuming to evaluate all EUV resist materials by EB exposure. Therefore, we investigated the possibility of using KrF exposure as the initial screening of EUV resists. If the correlation between KrF exposure, EB exposure and EUV exposure can be found, it will be possible to evaluate photoresists in a step-by-step manner, such as screening with KrF exposure first, followed by EB exposure, and finally EUV exposure in the initial evaluation stage. In this paper, we report on our investigations in the case of novolac resists, PHS chemically amplified resists, acrylic chemically amplified resists, and EUV polymer resists.

Can ferritin/lymphocyte percentage ratio, a new indicator, predict the clinical course of COVID-19 cases?

COVID-19 maintains its seriousness as a global emergency with its rapid distribution worldwide. Ferritin / lymphocyte percentage ratio (FLPR) may appear as a prognostic value at the initial evaluation stage and thus can be used as a simple, effective, and reliable parameter in critical patient identification with COVID-19. In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated patients over 18 years old, who were hospitalized after being evaluated as COVID-19 and whose PCR results were positive. We calculated FLPRs from complete blood counts taken during emergency department admissions and classified disease severity due to emergency initial evaluation. The relationship between the severity of the thoracic tomography findings, hospitalization, and intensive care needs, and 28-day mortality with the FLPR were evaluated. The difference between the groups classified according to COVID-19 severity and the FLPR means was statistically significant (x2=148.284; SD=3; p=0.000). FLPR levels were found to be high in critical and serious groups. In the ROC analysis for the FLPR level, the area under the curve (AUC) value was found to be 0.909 (95% CI 0.857-0.961). When the cut off value of FLPR was 9.80, the sensitivity was found to be 97.6 %, and the specificity was 65.2 %, whereas, when the cut off value for FLPR was found to be 21.11, the sensitivity was 82.9 % and the specificity was 82.8 %. The FLPR, a new parameter, can be used as a significant marker to predict the 28-day mortality in patients (Tab. 5, Fig. 1, Ref. 25).

The Role of Source-Sink Dynamics in the Assessment of Risk to Nontarget Arthropods from the Use of Plant Protection Products.

The concept of source‐sink dynamics as a potentially important component of metapopulation dynamics was introduced in the 1980s. The objective of the present review was to review the considerable body of work that has been developed, to consider its theoretical implications as well as to understand how source‐sink dynamics may manifest under field conditions in the specific case of nontarget arthropods in the agricultural environment. Our review concludes that metapopulation dynamics based on field observations are often far more complex than existing theoretical source‐sink models would indicate, because they are dependent on numerous population processes and influencing factors. The difficulty in identifying and measuring these factors likely explains why empirical studies assessing source‐sink dynamics are scarce. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of considering the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes when assessing the population dynamics of nontarget arthropods in the context of the risk from the use of plant protection products. A need is identified to further develop and thoroughly validate predictive population models, which can incorporate all factors relevant to a specific system. Once reliable predictive models for a number of representative nontarget arthropod species are available, they could provide a meaningful tool for refined risk evaluations (higher tier level risk assessment), addressing specific concerns identified at the initial evaluation stages (lower tier level risk assessment). Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:2667–2679. © 2021 ERM, FMC, Syngenta, Bayer AG, BASF SE, Corteva agriscience. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Can ferritin/lymphocyte percentage ratio, a new indicator, predict the clinical course of COVID-19 cases?

COVID-19 maintains its seriousness as a global emergency with its rapid distribution worldwide. Ferritin/lymphocyte percentage ratio (FLPR) may appear as a prognostic value at the initial evaluation stage and thus can be used as a simple, effective and reliable parameter in identification of patients critically ill with COVID-19.In this retrospective cohort study we evaluated patients who were hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19 based on positive PCR results. We calculated FLPRs and classified disease severity due to initial emergency evaluation. The relationship between the severity of the need for hospitalization and intensive care, and 28-day mortality with FLPR were evaluated.The differences between the groups as for COVID-19 severity and FLPR means were statistically significant (x2=148.284; SD=3; p=0.000). FLPR levels were found to be high in groups with critically and seriously ill patients. In the ROC analysis for the FLPR level, the area under the curve (AUC) value was found to be 0.909 (95 % CI 0.857-0.961). When the cut‑off value of FLPR was 21.11, the sensitivity and specificity were 82.9 % and 82.8 %, respectively.FLPR, a new parameter, can be used as a significant marker to predict the 28-day mortality patients (Tab. 6, Fig. 1, Ref. 25). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: COVID-19, percentage of lymphocytes, ferritin, FLPR, disease severity, emergency department.

Performance-based assessment of the seismic pseudo-static coefficient used in slope stability analysis

Pseudo-static slope stability procedures are often employed to evaluate the seismic performance of slope systems, at least in the initial evaluation stages. To yield meaningful results, these methods should rely on parameters that are representative of the existing seismic demand and the properties of the slope system being evaluated. This study proposes a performance-based probabilistic procedure to estimate the seismic pseudo-static coefficient (SPC) in a rational and transparent manner. The procedure has its cornerstone on the evaluation of seismically-induced displacement (D) hazard curves, and it provides SPC estimates that are consistent with the allowable D level that a slope system can sustain, the properties of the sliding mass, the seismic demand at the slope site, and the hazard design level or return period. The proposed procedure can be applied to evaluate the seismic performance of a wide range of slope systems potentially affected by earthquakes from different tectonic settings (i.e. subduction and shallow crustal earthquakes), and has been implemented in a computational platform that facilitates its straightforward use in engineering practice. The implementations are fully automated for South America (i.e., Peru, Chile, Ecuador), Mexico, and the United States, but the proposed framework can be applied worldwide. Finally, an illustrative example for the application of the procedure in the seismic stability assessment of a slope system is provided.

The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Promotion Website of Pedado Village

Pedado Village has several SMEs that are not yet well known by the wider community. These SMEs produce various products such as flannel handicrafts, Palembang mattress, and oyster mushrooms. Even the marketing of this product is still done manually, that is, the buyer comes directly to the seller to buy the product. This study aimed to build a website that can promote Pedado Village in general and the products produced by SMEs in particular. The website could also be used for online buying and selling transactions. The method used in website development is the Spiral method. The research results were a website that could be used to display information in the form of Pedado Village profile, SMEs and activities in Pedado Village, products produced by these SMEs, and the purchase of these products online. The use of the Spiral method was limited to the initial evaluation stage, which was testing the system using the blackbox method, with the results of the website could be used according to its function.

Qualitative Analysis of Emotional Distress in Cardiac Patients From the Perspectives of Cognitive Behavioral and Metacognitive Theories: Why Might Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Have Limited Benefit, and Might Metacognitive Therapy Be More Effective?

Introduction: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) alleviates emotional distress in mental health settings, but has only modest effects in cardiac patients. Metacognitive therapy (MCT) also alleviates depression and anxiety in mental health settings and is in its initial stages of evaluation for cardiac patients.Aim: Our objective is to compare how CBT and MCT models conceptualize cardiac patients' distress, and to explore why CBT has had limited benefit for cardiac patients and whether MCT has the potential to be more efficacious.Method: Forty-nine cardiac rehabilitation patients, who screened positively for anxiety and/or depression, provided semi-structured interviews. We analyzed transcripts qualitatively to explore the “fit” of patients' accounts of their distress with the main elements of cognitive behavioral and metacognitive theories. Four illustrative cases, representative of the diverse presentations in the broader sample, were analyzed in detail and are presented here.Results: Conceptualizing patients' distress from the perspective of CBT involved applying many distinct categories to describe specific details of patients' talk, particularly the diversity of their concerns and the multiple types of cognitive distortion. It also required distinction between realistic and unrealistic thoughts, which was difficult when thoughts were associated with the risk or consequences of cardiac events. From the perspective of MCT a single category—perseverative negative thinking—was sufficient to understand all this talk, regardless of whether it indicated realistic or unrealistic thoughts, and could also be applied to some talk that did not seem relevant from a CBT perspective.Discussion: Conceptualizing distress from the perspective of CBT presents multiple, diverse therapeutic targets, not all of which a time-limited therapy would be able to address. Given the difficulty of identifying them as unrealistic or not, thoughts about disease, death or disability may not be amenable to classic CBT techniques such as reality testing. MCT proved more parsimonious and, because it did not distinguish between realistic and unrealistic thoughts, might prove a better fit to emotional distress in cardiac patients.

Methods of products reliability evaluation based on the results of tests and operation

The article proposes methods for determining the characteristics of reliability indicators of functional systems of aviation equipment, based on the use of the exponential distribution, the probability-physical model of failures. This evaluation of the method determines the confidence probability and the accuracy of the evaluation of the reliability index of functional systems. The assessment of the level of reliability and its analysis are presented based on the results of tests and diagnostics of aviation equipment. Also, the data processing reliability components of aircraft for a certain period of operation. The initial data processing, the initial stage of evaluation, was performed for the initial and subsequent period of operation. The processing of the next stage was carried out by adding to the data volume of the preliminary stage new data obtained at the stage estimated by adjusting the content of the previous period database and recalculating the new value.

Turkish health field periodical editors' Views on publication process and ethical problems.

We aimed in this study to investigate views and suggestions of health field editors about the publication process and ethical problems. The study involved 42 journal editors who accepted to participate in the study. The data were collected through 70-item "Editor Views Questionnaire" which was developed by the researchers in line with the related literature. The editors who participated in the study were asked about their views about the most common problems they encountered related to publication ethics; the top three problems indicated by the editors included unjustified authorship (40.5%), duplicate publication (33.3%), and falsification (26.2%). An analysis of the problems encountered in the initial evaluation stage revealed the top three issues as articles that did not follow the writing rules of the journal (33.3%), unqualified articles (30.1%), and negligence of the author(s) (14.3%). Views in relation to the problems about the referee evaluation stage included evaluations that were not completed within the time given (28.6%), insufficient importance attached to the evaluation (23.9%), and inability to find sufficient number of referees (16.7%). some editors were found to encounter violation of publication ethics, to experience problems in the revision stage, and not to feel fully independent in their contribution to article publication and thus the improvement of the journal quality. Identification of journal editors' views and problems is an important step for the solution to these problems; it could thus contribute to improving the quality of publication process and journal quality.

How effective are area-based regeneration initiatives in targeting socially excluded individuals?

Since their inception in the 1960s, Area-based Initiatives (ABIs) have been inadequately evaluated. It has been argued that there has been too much emphasis on 'outputs' of regeneration programmes, and not enough attention given to 'outcomes', in terms of their impact on the members of the communities they were intended to target. As a result, there is no clear evidence of the effectiveness of ABIs in reducing social exclusion. This paper argues that one of the initial stages of evaluation should involve an estimation of how accurately the regeneration intervention was targeted at the most socially excluded individuals within a given area. It reports an empirical study that uses survey data to investigate the extent to which respondents at various levels of social exclusion had been targeted by regeneration programmes operating within the boundaries of nine local authorities in the North-West of England.

Participating in a Collaborative Action Learning Set (CAL): beginning the journey

Action learning is being increasingly utilised as a strategy to underpin practitioner focused development and research projects in healthcare generally and nursing in particular. Whilst facilitators of and participants in action learning have a variety of resource materials to guide their practice and participation, there continue to be few systematic and/or evaluative accounts of the experience of participating in action learning for potential action learning participants to draw upon. This paper attempts to address this agenda. The paper presents an interpretive evaluation of the experience of nurses participating in action learning as the learning strategy underpinning a 3-year emancipatory practice development/practitioner research programme. In particular, the paper focuses on the experience of ‘joining a learning set’. This focus has been adopted as the theory of action learning emphasises the principle of ‘voluntariness’, but yet action learning is increasingly being pre-prescribed as a component of development and research programmes. Such was the case with the programme reported on in this paper. The paper describes an approach used to evaluate learning that was adopted in this programme and in particular the initial evaluation stage that focuses on participants' feelings about joining an action learning set. The data collection and analysis processes are described and the key themes arising from the analysis (‘self-preservation’ versus ‘development of self’) discussed. It is concluded that working with principles of enlightenment is essential to successful action learning and the transformation of workplace cultures.

Development and evaluation of a training module for the clinical introduction of the da Vinci robotic system in visceral and vascular surgery

With the increasing use of the surgical robotic system in the clinical arena, appropriate training programs and assessment systems need to be established for mastery of this new technology. The authors aimed to design and evaluate a clinic-like training program for the clinical introduction of the da Vinci robotic system in visceral and vascular surgery. Four trainees with different surgical levels of experience participated in this study using the da Vinci telemanipulator. Each participant started with an initial evaluation stage composed of standardized visceral and vascular operations (cholecystectomy, gastrotomy, anastomosis of the small intestine, and anastomosis of the aorta) in a porcine model. Then the participants went on to the training stage with the rat model, performing standardized visceral and vascular operations (gastrotomy, anastomosis of the large and small intestines, and anastomosis of the aorta) four times in four rats. The final evaluation stage was again identical to the initial stage. The operative times, the number of complications, and the performance quality of the participants were compared between the two evaluation stages to assess the impact of the training stage on the results. The operative times in the final evaluation stage were considerably shorter than in the initial evaluation stage and, except for cholecystectomies, all the differences reached statistical significance. Also, significantly fewer complications and improved quality for each operation in the final evaluation stage were documented, as compared with their counterparts in the initial evaluation stage. These improvements were recorded at each level of experience. The presented experimental small and large animal model is a standardized and reproducible training method for robotic surgery that allows evaluation of the surgical performance while shortening and optimizing the learning-curve.

Process Development and Analysis of Liver-Stage Antigen 1, a Preerythrocyte-Stage Protein-Based Vaccine forPlasmodium falciparum

Plasmodium falciparum liver-stage antigen 1 (LSA-1) is expressed solely in infected hepatocytes and is thought to have a role in liver schizogony and merozoite release. Specific humoral, cellular, and cytokine immune responses to LSA-1 are well documented, with epitopes identified that correlate with antibody production, proliferative T-cell responses, or cytokine induction. With the goal of developing a vaccine against this preerythrocyte-stage protein, we undertook the good manufacturing practices (GMP) manufacture of a recombinant LSA-1 construct, LSA-NRC, incorporating the N- and C-terminal regions of the protein and two of the centrally placed 17-amino-acid repeats. To improve the protein yield, a method of codon harmonization was employed to reengineer the gene sequence for expression in Escherichia coli. A 300-liter GMP fermentation produced 8 kg of bacterial cell paste, and a three-step column chromatographic method yielded 8 mg of purified antigen per g of paste. The final bulk protein was >98% pure, demonstrated long-term stability, and contained <0.005 endotoxin units per 50 microg of protein. To accomplish the initial stages of evaluation of this protein as a human-use vaccine against malaria, we immunized rabbits and mice with LSA-NRC in Montanide ISA 720. New Zealand White rabbits and A/J (H-2K) mice produced high-titer antibodies that recognized liver-stage parasites in infected cultured human hepatocytes. Gamma interferon-producing cells, which have been associated with LSA-1-mediated protection, were detected in splenocytes harvested from immunized mice. Finally, sera taken from people living in a region where malaria is holoendemic recognized LSA-NRC by Western blotting.

Evaluating the performance of detection algorithms in digital mammography.

The initial and relative evaluation of computer methodologies developed for assisting diagnosis in mammography is usually done by comparing the computer output to ground truth data provided by experts and/or biopsy. Reported studies, however, give little information on how the performance indices of computer assisted diagnosis (CAD) algorithms are determined in this initial stage of evaluation. Several strategies exist in the estimation of the true positive (TP) and false positive (FP) rates with respect to ground truth. Adopting one strategy over another yields different performance rates that can be over- or underestimates of the true performance. Furthermore, the estimation of pairs of TP and FP rates gives a partial picture of the performance of an algorithm. It is shown in this work that new performance indices are needed to fully describe the degree of detection (part or whole) and the type of detection (single calcification, cluster of calcifications, mass, or artifact). Several evaluation strategies were tested. The one that yielded the most realistic performances included the following criteria: The detected area should be at least 50% of the true area and no more than four times the true area in order to be considered TP. At least three true calcifications should be detected to within 1 cm2 with nearest neighbor distances of less than square root(2) cm for a cluster to be considered TP. Separate detection measures should be established and used for artifacts and naturally occurring structures to maximize the benefits of the evaluation. Finally, it is critical that CAD investigators provide information on the tested image set as well as the criteria used for the evaluation of the algorithms to allow comparisons and better understanding of their methodologies.

Controlling the hidden costs in microcomputer system design

This paper identifies the hidden cost elements encountered by designers attempting to utilize the economic and technological advantages offered by microprocessors. These are the critical cost sensitive areas not apparent at the initial evaluation stage, which can cause cost escalation later on in the product or system development cycle. The relative significance of these factors for different applications is established by relating to the intended production volumes. The paper attempts to define techniques and establish guide-lines to control and minimize these hidden cost elements across the different application segments.

Behavioral and EEG Criteria of Sleep in Humans

SLEEP disturbance is often a feature of psychiatric syndromes which lead the patient to hospitalization. Knowledge of the characteristics of these sleep disturbances may aid in diagnosis and in estimating the prognosis of disorders such as depression. Muncie¹devised and used a "sleep chart" to record whether the subject was awake or asleep based upon observations made at half-hourly intervals throughout the night. In many hospitals, such a chart is a routine part of the patient's record. It is used by the clinician to corroborate the patient's history of sleep complaint during the initial stages of evaluation and, later, as a factor in assessing clinical course. Several studies on the role of sleep disturbance in depression using observed behavioral data have been published.^2,3The usefulness of the sleep chart in clinical practice and research studies can, however, be no better than the accuracy of the ratings made