Dynamic use of agriculture incentives to promote conservation.

A common problem in resource management concerns the offer of incentives to individuals and organizations to encourage their participation in conservation practices. For underlying acceptance rates that are not known initially, a structured process of annually offering different incentives and recording responses can guide decisions about the number of incentives to offer through time. We examined a dynamic model that includes combinations of different incentives that are offered to farmers each year, with the objective of strengthening participation in agricultural conservation. We considered 3 approaches for identifying incentive acceptance rates that measure participation, including an arbitrary rate assignment independent of incentive data; iterative averaging based on annual offers and acceptances; and Bayesian updating of expected acceptance rates with beta distributed rates and a binomial data distribution. We performed a proof-of-concept simulation that evaluated different strategies that utilize the estimated rates to offer incentives through time. The strategies we evaluated included matching offers to prior year acceptance rate estimates, possibly weighted by their precision; offering only the incentive with the largest estimated acceptance rate each year; and equally allocating offers among the incentives. We evaluated scenarios for non-stationarity in the underlying acceptance rates and considered alternatives for using offer data to deal with non-stationarity. Results indicated that the trajectory of future offers is marginally affected by variance weighting, and there is a strong influence of non-stationarity. Truncating data with a negative rate change accentuates the decline in an offer trajectory, whereas truncation with a positive rate change dampens the trajectory increase. We found that the way one handles variation in estimating acceptance rates, in particular non-stationarity, can have a substantial effect on the management of incentives, especially in the short term. The results can be generalized to allow for multiple changes in underlying rates over a project time horizon. We highlight the strong similarities between our framing of the incentives problem and the more general context of sequential experimentation, with its opportunity to improve conservation through adaptive learning.

The Prevalence of Depression and Acceptance Rate of Referral to Psychiatrist Among Psoriatic Patients in Saudi Arabia.

Background Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily affects the skin and can significantly impact the quality of life. Previous studies have shown that psoriasis increases the risk of depression; however, there is a lack of information about the prevalence of depression and psoriatic patients' acceptance of referral to a psychiatric clinic in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of depression among psoriatic patients in Saudi Arabia, determine their referral acceptance rate to psychiatric clinics, and assess their knowledge regarding the impact of depressive symptoms on psoriasis. Methods This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study included patients with psoriasis who presented to dermatology clinics in Saudi Arabia. All patients were instructed to complete three sets of questionnaires encompassing sociodemographic information, the clinical characteristics of their illness, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Results Of 406 patients, 54.9% had symptoms of depression, and 46.3% were willing to go to a psychiatrist when symptoms of depression were present. Most of the patients (70%) thought that depression affects psoriasis. Conclusions More than half of the psoriatic patients in this study were depressed. The patients understood that depression can lead to a worsening of their symptoms, but the majority refused to see a psychiatrist. To remove barriers to seeing a psychiatrist, psoriasis patients should be provided with mental health assistance, taught to identify psychological stressors and effective strategies to cope with these stressors, and educated about available services, including telemedicine.

The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) Pass Rate Conundrum.

As first-time pass rates on the North American Pharmacy Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) continue to decrease, pharmacy educators are left questioning the dynamics causing the decline and how to respond. Institutional and student factors both influence first-time NAPLEX pass rates. Pharmacy schools established before 2000, those housed within an academic medical center, and public rather than private schools have been associated with tendencies toward higher first-time NAPLEX pass rates. However, these factors alone do not sufficiently explain the issues surrounding first-time pass rates. Changes to the NAPLEX blueprint may also have influenced first-time pass rates. The number of existing pharmacy schools combined with decreasing numbers of applicants and influences from the COVID-19 pandemic should also be considered as potential causes of decreased first-time pass rates. In this commentary, factors associated with first-time NAPLEX pass rates are discussed along with some possible responses for the Academy to consider.

Tumor segmentation via enhanced area growth algorithm for lung CT images.

BACKGROUND: Since lung tumors are in dynamic conditions, the study of tumor growth and its changes is of great importance in primary diagnosis. METHODS: Enhanced area growth (EAG) algorithm is introduced to segment the lung tumor in 2D and 3D modes on 60 patients CT images from four different databases by MATLAB software. The contrast augmentation, color intensity and maximum primary tumor radius determination, thresholding, start and neighbor points' designation in an array, and then modifying the points in the braid on average are the early steps of the proposed algorithm. To determine the new tumor boundaries, the maximum distance from the color-intensity center point of the primary tumor to the modified points is appointed via considering a larger target region and new threshold. The tumor center is divided into different subsections and then all previous stages are repeated from new designated points to define diverse boundaries for the tumor. An interpolation between these boundaries creates a new tumor boundary. The intersections with the tumor boundaries are firmed for edge correction phase, after drawing diverse lines from the tumor center at relevant angles. Each of the new regions is annexed to the core region to achieve a segmented tumor surface by meeting certain conditions. RESULTS: The multipoint-growth-starting-point grouping fashioned a desired consequence in the precise delineation of the tumor. The proposed algorithm enhanced tumor identification by more than 16% with a reasonable accuracy acceptance rate. At the same time, it largely assurances the independence of the last outcome from the starting point. By significance difference of p < 0.05, the dice coefficients were 0.80 ± 0.02 and 0.92 ± 0.03, respectively, for primary and enhanced algorithms. Lung area determination alongside automatic thresholding and also starting from several points along with edge improvement may reduce human errors in radiologists' interpretation of tumor areas and selection of the algorithm's starting point. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed algorithm enhanced tumor detection by more than 18% with a sufficient acceptance ratio of accuracy. Since the enhanced algorithm is independent of matrix size and image thickness, it is very likely that it can be easily applied to other contiguous tumor images. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PAZHOUHAN, PAZHOUHAN98000032. Registered 4 January 2021, http://pazhouhan.gerums.ac.ir/webreclist/view.action?webreclist_code=19300.

Exposure to psychotropic drugs before and during pregnancy: what has changed over the last two decades?

Trends in prescribing psychotropic drugs before and during pregnancy may have changed over the years, but actual information is lacking. We therefore compared and assessed the exposure and acceptance rates of classes of antipsychotic (+ lithium), anxiolytic, sedative/hypnotic, antidepressant, and psychostimulant before and during pregnancy in the past two decades. All singleton pregnancies with ≥1 prescription of psychotropic drug from six months before pregnancy until child's birthdate were identified in the pregnancy subset of the IADB.nl prescription database. The prescription patterns of psychotropics were distinguished as continuation rate (CR), initiation rate (IR), discontinuation rate (DR), total exposure rate (TER), and acceptance rate. Singleton pregnancies exposed to psychotropic drugs before and during pregnancy increased from 118.4 to 136.5 (per 1000 singleton pregnancies) between decades. Changing trends were observed in decade 2, including a high increase in the TER of antipsychotic class (3.3 to 6.8) and antidepressant class (23.0 to 40.6). A marked increase for individual drugs was seen for sertraline (TER: 0.6 to 6.6 and PAT: 35.3% to 82.5%), citalopram (TER: 2.3 to 10.0 and PAT: 51.1% to 74.6%), and quetiapine (TER: 0.4 to 3.1 and PAT: 57.1% to 66.0%). Although the total exposure rates of five classes of psychotropics in singleton pregnancies increased in decade 2, only antidepressant class had a higher acceptance rate during pregnancy. Certain SSRI antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics were more frequently prescribed in decade 2 than in decade 1, reflecting that treatment options were preferred for safer treatment choices.

Persisting Vaccine Hesitancy in Africa: The Whys, Global Public Health Consequences and Ways-Out-COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Rates as Case-in-Point.

Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is the seventh among the WHO's top 10 threats to global public health, which has continued to perpetuate the transmission of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) in Africa. Consequently, this paper systematically reviewed COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates (VARs)-including the vaccine uptake and vaccination intention-in Africa from 2020 to 2022, compared the rates within the five African regions and determined the context-specific causes of VH in Africa. Generally, COVID-19 VARs ranged from 21.0% to 97.9% and 8.2% to 92.0% with mean rates of 59.8 ± 3.8% and 58.0 ± 2.4% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Southern and eastern African regions had the top two VARs of 83.5 ± 6.3% and 68.9 ± 6.6% in 2021, and 64.2 ± 4.6% and 61.2 ± 5.1% in 2022, respectively. Based on population types, healthcare workers had a marginal increase in their mean COVID-19 VARs from 55.5 ± 5.6% in 2021 to 60.8 ± 5.3% in 2022. In other populations, the mean VARs decreased from 62.7 ± 5.2% in 2021 to 54.5 ± 4% in 2022. As of 25 October 2022, Africa lags behind the world with only 24% full COVID-19 vaccinations compared to 84%, 79% and 63% reported, respectively, in the Australian continent, upper-middle-income countries and globally. Apart from the problems of confidence, complacency, convenience, communications and context, the context-specific factors driving COVID-19 VH in Africa are global COVID-19 vaccine inequality, lack of vaccine production/maintenance facilities, insecurity, high illiteracy level, endemic corruption, mistrust in some political leaders, the spreading of unconfirmed anti-vaccination rumors and political instability. With an overall mean COVID-19 acceptance rate of 58%, VH still subsists in Africa. The low VARs in Africa have detrimental global public health implications, as it could facilitate the emergence of immune invading SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, which may spread globally. Consequently, there is a need to confront these challenges frontally and engage traditional and religious leaders in the fight against VH in Africa, to restore public trust in the safety and efficacy of vaccines generally. As the availability of COVID-19 vaccines improves, the vaccination of pets and zoo-animals from which reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have been reported is recommended, to limit the evolution and spread of new variants of concern and avert possible SARS-CoV-2 epizootic or panzootic diseases in susceptible animal species.

Global COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: Achieving high COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates is essential as soon as a vaccine is available to deal with and end this pandemic. Due to the different amounts of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates in different regions, the pooled estimation of this rate is essential. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate worldwide COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates. Subject and methods: International databases (including, Web of sciences, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched to identify related studies. The heterogeneity among studies was assessed using the I2 index, the Cochran Q test, and T2. A random-effects model was used to pool estimate vaccine acceptance rates. Results: The overall pooled estimate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate was 65.1 (95% CI 60.1-70.1; P < 0.001, I2 = 99.8). The vaccine acceptance rate in the general population was 68.5 (95% CI 62.5-74.5; P < 0.001, I2 = 99.8) and among healthcare workers (HCWs) was 55.9 (95% CI 47.8-64.1; P < 0.001, I2 = 99.6). The lowest COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate was in the Middle East (46.1% (35.1-57.0)), and the highest coverage rate was (85% (71-99.1)) in South America. Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate among HCWs is lower than the general population. More studies are recommended to identify related factors to the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate.

Effect of queen cell numbers on royal jelly production and quality.

Royal jelly (RJ) is a popular functional food with a wealth of health-promoting effects. Over 90% of the global RJ is produced in China mainly by a high RJ-producing honeybee (RJB) strain that can accept and feed a great number of queen larvae for RJ production. To elucidate RJ changes due to queen cell numbers (QCNs), we compared the yield, larval acceptance rate, metabolic and proteomic profiles, and antioxidant activities of RJ from 1 to 5 strips of queen cells (64 per strip) in RJB colonies. As QCNs increased, the larval acceptance rate was not found to vary (p = 0.269) whereas the RJ weight per cell began to significantly decline in the 5-strip colonies (p < 0.05). Increased QCNs had a profound impact on RJ metabolic profiles and mainly reduced fatty acid levels. Remarkably, the 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) content, a most important indicator of RJ quality, declined gradually from 2.01% in the 1-strip colonies to 1.52% in the 5-strip colonies (p < 0.001). RJ proteomic profiles were minimally altered and antioxidant activities were not significantly changed by QCNs. Collectively, the metabolomics and proteomics data and the antioxidant activity test represent a global evaluation of the quality of RJ produced with different QCNs. Our findings gain new insights into higher-quality RJ production using the high-yielding RJBs.

COVID-19 Vaccination and Mental Stress within Diverse Sociodemographic Groups.

In this study, we surveyed 635 participants to determine: (a) major causes of mental stress during the pandemic and its future impacts, and (b) diversity in public perception of the COVID-19 vaccination and its acceptance (specifically for children). Statistical results and intelligent clustering outcomes indicate significant associations between sociodemographic diversity, mental stress causes, and vaccination perception. For instance, statistical results indicate significant dependence between gender (we will use term 'sex' in the rest of the manuscript) and mental stress due to COVID-19 infection (p = 1.7 × 10-5). Over 25% of males indicated work-related stress compared to 35% in females, however, females indicated that they were more stressed (17%) due to relationships compared to males (12%). Around 30% of Asian/Arabic participants do not feel that the vaccination is safe as compared to 8% of white British and 22% of white Europeans, indicating significant dependence (p = 1.8 × 10-8) with ethnicity. More specifically, vaccination acceptance for children is significantly dependent with ethnicity (p = 3.7 × 10-5) where only 47% participants show willingness towards children's vaccination. The primary dataset in this study along with experimental outcomes identifying sociodemographic information diversity with respect to public perception and acceptance of vaccination in children and potential stress factors might be useful for the public and policymakers to help them be better prepared for future epidemics, as well as working globally to combat mental health issues.

The Coverage and Acceptance Spectrum of COVID-19 Vaccines among Healthcare Professionals in Western Tanzania: What Can We Learn from This Pandemic?

The vaccination rate against COVID-19 remains low in developing countries due to vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy is a public health threat in curbing COVID-19 pandemic globally. Healthcare professionals have been found to play a critical role in vaccine advocacy and promotion campaigns in the general population. A cross sectional study was conducted in the initial months of the COVID-19 vaccination roll out program in Tanzania to determine the acceptance rate, perceived barriers, and cues for actions. A total of 811 healthcare professionals participated from 26 health facilities in western Tanzania. The World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine acceptance questionnaire was adopted with minor modifications to capture the local contexts and used in data collection. Only (18.5%) healthcare professionals had received a COVID-19 vaccine and acceptance rate was 29%. The majority (62%) of participants were in the hesitancy stage due to issues related to lack of effective communication and reliable information regarding efficacy and safety. In this era of COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to engage and involve public health figures and opinion leaders through transparent dialogue to clarify vaccine-related safety, quality, and efficacy. These strategies will reduce misconception, mistrust, and improve uptake among healthcare professionals and eventually in the general population.

The acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine at early stage of development and approval: A global systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Vaccination seems to be the most effective way to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19, a disease that has adversely impacted the lives of over 7 billion people across the globe. Vaccine hesitancy represents an important threat to combat infectious diseases worldwide. This study aims to inspect the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate worldwide and the regional variation of the acceptance rates among the general population and healthcare workers across different territories of the world. In addition, it compares the vaccine acceptance rates between the pre- and post-vaccine approval periods. Method: A comprehensive systematic review was conducted using PRISMA statements. After quality evaluation, the data from eligible studies were analyzed using the random effect model. Q-test and I 2 statistics were used to search for heterogeneity. The publication bias was assessed by using Egger's test and funnel plot. Results: The combined COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate among the general population and healthcare workers (n = 1,581,562) was estimated at 62.79% (95% CI: 58.98-66.60). The acceptance rate substantially decreased from 66.29% (95% CI: 61.24-71.35) to 56.69% (95% CI: 48.68-64.71) among the general population from the pre-to post-vaccine approval periods but remained almost constant at 58.25% (95% CI: 46.52-69.97) among healthcare workers. The acceptance rates also varied in different regions of the world. The highest acceptance rate was found in the South-East Asia region at 70.18% (95% CI: 58.12-82.25) and the lowest was found in African Region at 39.51% (95% CI: 23.42-55.59). Conclusion: Low COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate might be a massive barrier to controlling the pandemic. More research is needed to address the responsible factors influencing the low global rate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Integrated global efforts are required to remove the barriers.

Public Perception towards the COVID-19 Vaccine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The vaccination campaign against COVID-19 is an essential public health strategy to reach herd immunity, eradicate diseases, and prevent a pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the acceptance rate of the COVID-19 vaccine among people in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Out of the 922 participants involved, 294 (31.9%) were male and 628 (68.1%) were female, with a mean age of 30-49 years. A bilingual, self-administered, computer-based questionnaire was designed and distributed through social media platforms. In total, 900 participants (97.6%) showed a high acceptance rate of the vaccine. The vaccine acceptance rate was higher among people aged 60 years and above than in other age groups (p = 0.008) and single individuals compared to other groups (p = 0.003). The results reveal a relatively high acceptance level of the COVID-19 vaccine among study participants. Importantly, regression analysis results show that female gender and elderly participants are more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine than their counterparts. Moreover, the main factor that influenced the participants' perception of the COVID-19 vaccine was the proper timely scientific recommendations.

Factors That Impact Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination in Different Community-Dwelling Populations in China.

(1) Background: It is important to improve vaccination strategies and immunization programs to achieve herd immunity to infectious diseases. (2) Methods: To assess the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination, we conducted face-to-face surveys and online surveys in Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Qinghai provinces. A fixed-effect model and a random effects model were used to analyze factors associated with the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. (3) Findings: We initially recruited 3173 participants, 3172 participants completed the full questionnaire (the response rate was nearly 100%), of which 2169 were valid questionnaires, with an effective rate of 87.3%. The results indicated that 82.6% of participants were willing to receive vaccination when it was available in the community, and 57.2% of deliverymen, 43.3% of medical workers, 78.2% of parents of primary and secondary school children, and 72.2% of parents of preschool children were willing to receive vaccination. The models showed that participants who were male (female vs. male: OR = 1.49, 95% CI (1.12, 1.98)), 60 to 69 years-old (60-69 vs. <30: OR = 0.52, 95% CI (0.29, 0.92)), had less education (medium vs. low: OR = 1.50, 95% CI (1.05, 2.23)), had good health status (good vs. low: OR = 0.36, 95% CI (0.15, 0.88)), and had positive attitudes and trust (OR = 0.14, 95% CI (0.10, 0.20)) in vaccines approved by the National Health Commission were more likely to accept vaccination. Participants also had an increased vaccination acceptance if it was recommended by government sources, doctors, relatives, or friends. Most participants learned about COVID-19 vaccination from television, radio, and newspapers, followed by community or hospital campaigns and the internet. (4) Conclusions: Government sources and doctors could increase the acceptance of vaccination by promoting the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccination by the use of mass media and emphasizing the necessity of vaccination for everyone.

Wait, can you remind me just why we need another journal focused on autophagy?

Well, because you ask that question, we are going to attempt to explain exactly why we do indeed need another journal focused on autophagy. If you are reading this far, you presumably know what "autophagy" means, so we do not have to impress upon you the importance of this topic, and how autophagic dysfunction is associated with numerous diseases in humans (okay, we felt compelled to slip that in anyway). Nor do we think that you need to be introduced to the journal Autophagy, which is just starting its eighteenth year and publishes papers on pretty much any topic; at least any topic that is connected to autophagy, which, after all, means pretty much any topic, if you get our drift. So, if Autophagy has done so well and serves such an important purpose, why do we need another journal? To find the answer, read on.

Hesitant or Not Hesitant? A Systematic Review on Global COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Different Populations.

Vaccination currently appears to be the only strategy to contain the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, vaccine hesitancy (VH) could limit its efficacy and has, therefore, attracted the attention of Public Health Systems. This systematic review aimed at assessing anti-COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates worldwide and at identifying populations more prone to vaccine hesitancy, for which specific interventions should be planned. PubMed database was searched using a purposely formulated string. One hundred out of the 9243 studies retrieved were considered pertinent and thus included in the analyses. VH rate was analyzed according to patient geographical origin, ethnicity, age, study setting, and method used for data collection; data from specific populations were separately analyzed. Overall, this study demonstrated significant differences in terms of VH in the general population and in the specific subgroups examined according to geographical, demographic factors, as well as associated comorbidities, underlining the need for purposely designed studies in specific populations from the different countries, to design targeted programs aimed at increasing awareness for confidence and complacency toward COVID-19 vaccines.

Prevalence and correlates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the general public in Iraqi Kurdistan: A cross-sectional study.

Low vaccine acceptance is a major barrier to vaccination coverage in every health system. This study aimed to explore the prevalence and associated factors of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in a sample of the general population in Iraqi Kurdistan. The general population with both genders with different educational levels and sociodemographic characteristics from the Duhok governorate was eligible to participate in this cross-sectional study in 2021. Therefore, an online Google form was sent to main pages and social groups through two main social media platforms. To obtain a representative sample of individuals with different educational levels, the author visited the main shopping center in Duhok city to collect the information from illiterate and low-level education individuals. The study found that 83.5% (n = 773) of the participants have not received and 51.4% (n = 476) did not intend to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. A small percentage has not decided to receive a COVID-19 vaccine yet (n = 17, 1.8%). The intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine was increased with increasing level of education; 25.9%, 26.7%, 39.8%, and 53.6% in illiterate, under high school, high school, and college and higher, respectively (p < 0.0001). Healthcare workers were more likely to intend to receive a COVID-19, 57.5% vs 40.1%, p < 0.0001. Individuals who had concerns about the side effects of a COVID-19 vaccine were more likely to not receive and not intend to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was high in this region and was correlated with lower education and concerns about side effects.

Impact of center donor acceptance patterns on utilization of extended-criteria donors and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the impact of transplanting center donor acceptance patterns on usage of extended-criteria donors (ECDs) and posttransplant outcomes following orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). METHODS: The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients was queried to identify heart donor offers and adult, isolated OHT recipients in the United States from January 1, 2013 to October 17, 2018. Centers were stratified into three equal-size terciles based on donor heart acceptance rates (<13.7%, 13.7%-20.2%, >20.2%). Overall survival was compared between recipients of ECDs (≥40 years, left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] <60%, distance ≥500 miles, hepatitis B virus [HBV], hepatitis C virus [HCV], or human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], or ≥50 refusals) and recipients of traditional-criteria donors, and among transplanting terciles. RESULTS: A total of 85,505 donor heart offers were made to 133 centers with 15,264 (17.9%) accepted for OHT. High-acceptance programs (>20.2%) more frequently accepted donors with LVEF <60%, HIV, HCV, and/or HBV, ≥50 offers, or distance >500 miles from the transplanting center (each p < .001). Posttransplant survival was comparable across all three terciles (p = .11). One- and five-year survival were also similar across terciles when examining recipients of all five ECD factors. Acceptance tier and increasing acceptance rate were not found to have any impact on mortality in multivariable modeling. Of ECD factors, only age ≥40 years was found to have increased hazards for mortality (hazard ratio, 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22-1.46; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Of recipients of ECD hearts, outcomes are similar across center-acceptance terciles. Educating less aggressive programs to increase donor acceptance and ECD utilization may yield higher national rates of OHT without major impact on outcomes.

An audit of the editorial process at the Indian Journal of Cancer: Lessons learned, and how to improve chances of acceptance of your paper.

BACKGROUND: The editors of the Indian Journal of Cancer (IJC) have not, so far, objectively analyzed the editorial processes involving author, referee, and editor data of the journal. Hence, we aimed at doing so in this audit. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed manuscripts submitted to the IJC from April 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020, for data related to the peer-review process. Microsoft Excel was used to enter the retrieved information and to carry out the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Three hundred and nineteen manuscripts were submitted during the study period. Of these, three were excluded from the study. Of the 316, 79 (25%) were articles on laboratory medicine; 182 (57.6%) were original articles. About half of the submitted manuscripts (166, 52.5%) were desk-rejected. Of the remaining 149 manuscripts, 105 did not follow the instructions to contributors (ITC) and required a median number of two revisions (range = 1-5) to satisfy the ITC. To review 107 manuscripts, 536 external referees were invited; of them 306 did not respond, 79 declined the invitation, and 151 accepted the invitation. Of these 151, 132 reverted with comments. Of the 200 Indians who were invited as referees, 118 (59%) accepted the invitation, whereas of the 336 non-Indian referees, only 33 (9.8%) did. Of the 107 Indian and 25 non-Indian referees who sent their comments, 86 (80.4%) and 19 (88%), respectively, offered useful comments. The median number of days to decision: for desk-rejection was 1 day (range = 0 - 42) days, for rejection after peer-review was 67 (range = 4 - 309) days, and for acceptance was 133.5 (range = 42 - 305) days. Decision has not yet been taken for 14 manuscripts. CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence that it is difficult to get referees. Also, a significant number of authors do not read or follow the ITC. We suggest that the time taken for a decision can be appreciably improved if these issues are addressed.

Physicians' acceptance of pharmacists' interventions in daily hospital practice.

Background The physicians' acceptance rate of pharmacists' interventions to improve pharmacotherapy can vary depending on the setting. The acceptance rate of interventions proposed by pharmacists located in the hospital pharmacy over the telephone and factors associated with acceptance are largely unknown. Objective To determine the physicians' acceptance rate of pharmacists' interventions proposed over the telephone in daily hospital practice and to identify factors associated with acceptance. Setting A retrospective case-control study was performed concerning adult patients admitted to a university hospital in the Netherlands. Method Pharmacists' interventions, based on alerts for drug-drug interactions and drug dosing in patients with renal impairment, recorded between January 2012 and June 2013 that were communicated over the telephone were included. Factors associated with physicians' acceptance were identified with the use of a mixed-effects logistic model. Main outcome measure The primary outcome was the proportion of accepted interventions. Results A total of 841 interventions were included. Physicians accepted 599 interventions, resulting in an acceptance rate of 71.2%. The mixed-effects logistic model showed that acceptance was significantly associated with the number of prescribed drugs (16 to ≤ 20 drugs ORadj 1.88; 95% CI 1.05-3.35, > 20 drugs ORadj 2.90; 95% CI 1.41-5.96, compared to ≤ 10 drugs) and the severity of the drug-related problem (problem without potential harm ORadj 6.36; 95% CI 1.89-21.38; problem with potential harm OR 6.78; 95% CI 2.09-21.99, compared to clinically irrelevant problems), and inversely associated with continuation of pre-admission treatment (ORadj 0.55; 95% CI 0.35-0.87). Conclusion Over the study period, the majority of pharmacists' interventions proposed over the telephone were accepted by physicians. The probability for acceptance increased for patients with an increasing number of medication orders, for clinically relevant problems and for problems related to treatment initiated during admission.

Adaptive algorithm utilizing acceptance rate for eliminating noisy epochs in block-design functional near-infrared spectroscopy data: application to study in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals are prone to problems caused by motion artifacts and physiological noises. These noises unfortunately reduce the fNIRS sensitivity in detecting the evoked brain activation while increasing the risk of statistical error. In fNIRS measurements, the repetitive resting-stimulus cycle (so-called block-design analysis) is commonly adapted to increase the sample number. However, these blocks are often affected by noises. Therefore, we developed an adaptive algorithm to identify, reject, and select the noise-free and/or least noisy blocks in accordance with the preset acceptance rate. The main features of this algorithm are personalized evaluation for individual data and controlled rejection to maintain the sample number. Three typical noise criteria (sudden amplitude change, shifted baseline, and minimum intertrial correlation) were adopted. Depending on the quality of the dataset used, the algorithm may require some or all noise criteria with distinct parameters. Aiming for real applications in a pediatric study, we applied this algorithm to fNIRS datasets obtained from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children as had been studied previously. These datasets were divided for training and validation purposes. A validation process was done to examine the feasibility of the algorithm regardless of the types of datasets, including those obtained under sample population (ADHD or typical developing children), intervention (nonmedication and drug/placebo administration), and measurement (task paradigm) conditions. The algorithm was optimized so as to enhance reproducibility of previous inferences. The optimum algorithm design involved all criteria ordered sequentially (0.047 mM mm of amplitude change, 0.029 mM mm / s of baseline slope, and 0.6 × interquartile range of outlier threshold for each criterion, respectively) and presented complete reproducibility in both training and validation datasets. Compared to the visual-based rejection as done in the previous studies, the algorithm achieved 71.8% rejection accuracy. This suggests that the algorithm has robustness and potential to substitute for visual artifact-detection.