bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Memory Rehabilitation in Healthy Aging
Authors: Anderson Nicole D.
Published: October 2018

Healthy aging is accompanied by decrements in episodic memory and working memory. Significant efforts have therefore been made to augment episodic and working memory in healthy older adults. Two principal approaches toward memory rehabilitation adults are restorative approaches and compensatory approaches. Restorative approaches aim to repair the affected memory processes by repeated, adaptive practice (i.e., the trained task becomes more difficult as participants improve), and have focused on recollection training, associative memory training, object-location memory training, and working memory training. The majority of these restorative approaches have been proved to be efficacious, that is, participants improve on the trained task, and there is considerable evidence for maintenance of training effects weeks or months after the intervention is discontinued. Transfer of restorative training approaches has been more elusive and appears limited to other tasks relying on the same domains or processes. Compensatory approaches to memory strive to bypass the impairment by teaching people mnemonic and lifestyle strategies to bolster memory performance. Specific mnemonic strategy training approaches as well as multimodal compensatory approaches that combine strategy training with counseling about other factors that affect memory (e.g., memory self-efficacy, relaxation, exercise, and cognitive and social engagement) have demonstrated that older adults can learn new mnemonics and implement them to the benefit of memory performance, and can adjust their views and expectations about their memory to better cope with the changes that occur during healthy aging. Future work should focus on identifying the personal characteristics that predict who will benefit from training and on developing objective measures of the impact of memory rehabilitation on older adults’ everyday functioning.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Anatomy, Physiology, and Neurochemistry
Authors: Silver Rae
Published: October 2018

We live in an approximately 24-hour world and circadian rhythms have evolved to adapt organisms to the opportunities presented by Earth’s 24-hour cycle of light and dark. A “master clock” located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain orchestrates daily rhythms in all manner of behavioral, endocrine, metabolic, autonomic, and homeostatic systems in our bodies. The SCN is comprised of about 20,000 neurons and about one third as many astroglia. How can so few neurons and astroglia guide so many rhythms? How do neurons time out an interval as long as a day? The answers are a case study in understanding how genes within cells, and cells within circuits, function together to perform complex activities and optimize bodily functions. While individual clock cells are found in virtually all bodily tissues, the unique connectome of the SCN, its specialized afferent inputs from the retinohypothalamic tract, and its neural and humoral outputs enable its “babel” of neuronal types to synchronize their activity and signal time to the rest of the body.

At the molecular-cellular level, circadian rhythms are regulated by a 24-hour transcriptional–translational feedback loop. At the SCN tissue level, individual SCN neurons coordinate their gene expression and electrical activity, working together in circuits that sustain coherent rhythms. The SCN has many distinct cell types based on their neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and afferent and efferent connections. There has been much progress in unraveling the dynamic network organization that underlies the SCN network’s communications. Though the precise anatomical connections underlying interneuronal communication in the SCN are not completely understood, key signaling mechanisms that sustain the SCN’s intrinsic rhythmicity have been tackled using intersectional genomic tools. Transgenic animals that permit the visualization of clock gene–protein expression have enabled analysis of SCN network activity over time. Availability of animals bearing mutations in clock genes or proteins enable the determination of changes within neurons, among neurons in networks, and their impact on behavior. The use of continuous readouts of circadian activity that track behavior, or clock gene expression, or electrical activity changes over time, within an SCN or a single neuron, leads the way to unraveling mechanisms sustaining the circadian timing system. Because the results of circadian studies generate huge amounts of data, the entry of mathematical modelers and statisticians into the field has begun to yield useful and testable predictions on how these multiplexed systems work to adapt to our 24-hour world.
Mu Dan’s Poetry as a History of Modern China
Authors: Zhang Huiwen Helen
Published: October 2018

An expeditionary force soldier. A jungle war survivor. A patriot who traded opportunities in the United States for a tedious journey home to the newly founded People’s Republic of China. A “counterrevolutionary.” A forced laborer who spent the last third of his life translating English and Russian literature.—A poet. Careful study of Mu Dan’s (1918–1977) poetry enables us to explore a string of moments in modern China’s transformation.

Twenty-two poems by Mu Dan have been selected as a history of China from the climax of the New Culture Movement (1919) through the end of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1976). Fusing linguistic audacity, philosophical acumen, and historical vision, they weave a thread of themes illuminating the tortured path of a nation and an individual. Further, they span a spectrum of sentiments ranging from those of ordinary people to those of extraordinary intellectuals.

To reveal the turning points in modern China’s history, the twenty-two poems have been contextualized along two axes. A vertical axis, the thread of themes, consists of eleven motifs developed and revisited by Mu Dan from 1940 through 1976; they are: Youth, War, Disillusion, Maturity, Sacrifice, Exposure, Enlightenment, Conversion, Awakening, Anguish, and Reflection. A horizontal axis, the spectrum of sentiments, exhibits Mu Dan’s contradictory attitudes toward modern China’s transformation by identifying him with his countrymen or distancing him from them as a free spirit and cultural critic.

This conceptual framework assists in examining the interaction between history and literature. It demonstrates how modern China’s history informs, provokes, and shapes a poet whose life span coincides with it and, at the same time, how poetry can be and is being read as history itself. This reading allows more than new access to the historical events that mold a poet and his poetry. Reading poetry as history uncovers lost sentiments, struggles, observations, and critiques that advance our understanding of modern China.
The Maldives as an Indian Ocean Crossroads
Authors: Knoll Eva-Maria
Published: October 2018

The Maldives form the central part of an underwater mountain range in the center of the Indian Ocean, creating a crossroads for seafaring, migration, trade, and warfare. Because of this remote yet strategic location, the Maldives became either a disastrous hurdle, a convenient stopover, or a promising stepping stone in the Indian Ocean—and a favorable residence for a small, self-contained, ocean-foraging and seafaring people. The Maldives are among the few central and western Indian Ocean islands that were already populated, long before the colonial period. The archipelago is presumed to have been settled some 2,500 years ago. Dravidian, Sinhalese Buddhist, and Arab Muslim influences formed the unique cultural identity of the preindustrial Dhivehin (Maldivians). Throughout the historic eras, the crossroads position of the Maldives becomes conspicuous at particular junctures. Three commodities exported by the Dhivehin were of particular significance in the global economy and positioned the islands at various historical crossroads: coco-de-mer, coir, and cowries.

Ptolemy’s Geography provides the earliest western reference to the archipelago. Ibn Battuta, who served as the royal judge, is a renowned representative of the Arab trade and Muslim religious networks that had a lasting effect on the shape of the island kingdom. The most comprehensive accounts of the colonial era are provided by the shipwrecked François Pyrard, from the early 17th century, and by H. C. P Bell, between 1879 and 1922.

The Maldives have ethnic and linguistic ties to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and were politically and economically closely connected to this neighbor. In 1887 the archipelago officially became a British protectorate, gaining its independence in 1965. The eradication of major diseases paved the way for the advent of the tourism industry in the 1970s. Since the late 1990s, the molecular approach to population movements in the Indian Ocean has provided new insights into the cultural admixtures that contribute to the genetic mosaic of the Dhivehin.
Travelers’ Accounts as Sources
Authors: Jones Adam
Published: October 2018

Accounts written by foreigners—especially Europeans—about what they saw in Africa constitute one of the major sources for African history between c. 1450 and c. 1900. Some were published, while others remained in manuscript form. Unlike the ethnographic monographs of the early 20th century, they were generally written in a spontaneous and unsystematic manner, usually with a narrative structure, although in some cases an implicit “questionnaire” seems to have lain behind what was recorded.

Historians of Africa must apply the rules of source criticism to such material. These include an obligation to examine the extent to which the material is really “primary” (rather than derived from sources that already existed and still exist today); what stereotypes and fixed ideas may have shaped the author’s perceptions and writing; how the expectations of the intended readership—including a desire for exoticism or sensationalism—may have influenced the content and style, in some cases even resulting in straightforward fabrication posing as authentic description; and whether the author’s personal background—for example, financial interests, ideology, or gender—could have led him or her to perceive and write about Africa in a certain way. Certain types of data contained in travel accounts, such as quantitative or linguistic information, require cautious analysis. Some travel accounts were accompanied by engravings or other iconographic material, and although it is tempting to use these simply as illustrations, they must be subjected to the same kinds of source criticism as are applied to the written accounts themselves.

Despite these caveats, travel accounts are an indispensable source, whose full potential still remains to be discovered.
The SOAS School of African History
Authors: Shankar Shobana
Published: October 2018

Founded in 1916, the School of African Studies at the University of London provided training in African, Asian, and Middle Eastern languages and history to colonial officers. Over more than a century, the transformation of African history at the SOAS from an imperial discipline to one centered on African experiences reveals challenges in the creation, use, and dissemination of ideas, or the politics of knowledge. The school, as the only institution of higher learning in Europe focused on Africa, Asia, and Middle East, has had to perform a balancing act between scholars’ motivation to challenge academic skeptics and racists who dismissed Africa and British governmental, political, and economic priorities that valued “practical education.”

In 1948, the University of London took steps to create an international standing by affiliating several institutions in Africa. Over several decades, many historians preferred to teach in Africa because the climate in Britain was far less open to African history. SOAS convened international conferences in 1953, 1957, and 1961 that established the reputation of African history at the SOAS. Research presented at these meetings were published in the first volume of the Journal of African History with a subsidy from the Rockefeller Foundation. The first volumes of the journal were focused on oral history, historical linguistics, archaeology, and political developments in precolonial Africa, topics covered extensively at SOAS.

SOAS grew considerably up until 1975, when area studies all over Britain underwent a period of contraction. Despite economic and personnel cuts, SOAS continued research and teaching especially on precolonial Africa, which has periodically been feared to be subsumed by modern history and not fitting into visions for “practical” courses. In the late 1980s, the school introduced an interdisciplinary bachelor of arts degree in African studies that requires African language study because so many students were specializing in Africa without it. This measure reveals the lasting commitment to engaging African voices. African history at the SOAS has also continued to be a humanistic enterprise, and in 2002, it was reorganized into the School of Religion, History, and Philosophies. It remains to be seen how Brexit might affect higher education. While cuts in education could hurt African studies more than other area studies as they often have, strained relations between Britain and continental Europe might make African countries more important to Britain in the coming years.
Environmental and Conservation Movements in Metropolitan America
Authors: Gioielli Robert R.
Published: October 2018

By the late 19th century, American cities like Chicago and New York were marvels of the industrializing world. The shock urbanization of the previous quarter century, however, brought on a host of environmental problems. Skies were acrid with coal smoke, and streams ran fetid with raw sewage. Disease outbreaks were as common as parks and green space was rare. In response to these hazards, particular groups of urban residents responded to them with a series of activist movements to reform public and private policies and practices, from the 1890s until the end of the 20th century. Those environmental burdens were never felt equally, with the working class, poor, immigrants, and minorities bearing an overwhelming share of the city’s toxic load. By the 1930s, many of the Progressive era reform efforts were finally bearing fruit. Air pollution was regulated, access to clean water improved, and even America’s smallest cities built robust networks of urban parks. But despite this invigoration of the public sphere, after World War II, for many the solution to the challenges of a dense modern city was a private choice: suburbanization. Rather than continue to work to reform and reimagine the city, they chose to leave it, retreating to the verdant (and pollution free) greenfields at the city’s edge. These moves, encouraged and subsidized by local and federal policies, provided healthier environments for the mostly white, middle-class suburbanites, but created a new set of environmental problems for the poor, working-class, and minority residents they left behind. Drained of resources and capital, cities struggled to maintain aging infrastructure and regulate remaining industry and then exacerbated problems with destructive urban renewal and highway construction projects. These remaining urban residents responded with a dynamic series of activist movements that emerged out of the social and community activism of the 1960s and presaged the contemporary environmental justice movement.
Porfirian Social Practices and Etiquette
Authors: Pulido Esteva Diego
Published: October 2018

Social life during the Porfiriato (1877–1911) was marked by constant tension between a strict moral code and practices that varied widely according to class. In recent years, research about this period has centered on the study of myriad social practices. Renewed with diverse methodologies and perspectives, this research has contributed to understanding what has been known as “the objective social conditions,” to further explore identities through class, race, and gender. Urban contexts have been the primary focus of this new approach to social history, particularly in regard to Mexico City.

From 1870 to 1911, the population of Mexico City doubled from 200,000 to 471,000 inhabitants, while the urban area expanded from 5.28 to 25.16 square miles (8.5 to 40.5 square kilometers). Social practices during Porfirian modernization reveal different experiences according to each social sector: elites, the middle class, the working class, and marginalized groups in the cities. The subject is rather broad, so urban social spaces need to be examined, since they constitute an important point of departure to analyze the changes experienced during this period by the different social classes; these included the transformation of gender norms, and even ethnic distinctions, emanating from racist attitudes from the elites’ perspective.

The elites imposed customs based on etiquette codes adopted from European models. The desire to abandon traditional, backward, and savage society to become a modern, progressive, and civilized one had led the ruling class to promote disciplinary institutions. In the urban environment, a complex mixture of moralist, hygienist, and scientific discourses pointed to a gap between ideal behavior models and actual social practices. The elites expected society to comply with strict norms that were bent or simply broken by social practices. In that sense, each social sector unfolded its own strategies and attitudes when faced with these codes, and study of them allows for a concise overview of the elite, middle class, working class, and marginalized people.
Child Labor in Brazil and Uruguay
Authors: Guedes Vieira Marcia
Published: October 2018

The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 12.5 million children and adolescents under the age of fifteen currently working in Latin America and the Caribbean. Of these, 9.6 million (77%) perform tasks that pose a risk to their physical and psychological health. This article presents a brief comparative analysis of child labor in Brazil and Uruguay in order to discuss the challenges of confronting this phenomenon in two very different countries that have embraced divergent strategies to deal with similar problems. To do this, the article presents an overview of the incidence of child labor in Brazil and Uruguay and seeks to demonstrate how far the category of labor is from a universal definition in the academic world, which is also repeated in the debate on the definition of child labor. It is possible to identify different moments of the debate in Latin America regarding the concept of child labor. Some approaches have been more contextualized than others, but all remain controversial and are sometimes considered incomplete. It will also consider the changes in the world of labor and how they interfere in this phenomenon. Despite advances in the fight against child labor overall, Brazil is starting to stagnate in its efforts to reduce the number of child and adolescent workers, and its challenge is to find new political solutions to address this problem. Uruguay still needs to place the issue more centrally on the nation’s political and social agenda in order to guarantee consistent research on the problem that can guide its policy responses.
Natural Hazards Governance in South Africa
Authors: van Niekerk Dewald , Wentink G.J. , Shoroma L.B.
Published: October 2018

Disaster and natural hazard governance has become a significant policy and legislative focus in South Africa since the early 1990s. Born out of necessity from a dysfunctional apartheid system, the new emphasis on disaster risk reduction in the democratic dispensation also ushered in a new era in the management of natural hazards and their associated risks and vulnerabilities. Widely cited as an international best practice in policy and law development, South Africa has led the way in natural hazard governance in sub-Sahara Africa as well as in much of the developing world. Various practices in natural hazard governance in South Africa are alluded to. Particular attention is given to the disaster risks of the country as well as to the various natural hazards that drive this risk profile. Statutory and legislative aspects are discussed through a multisectoral approach, and by citing a number of case studies, we show the application of natural hazard governance in South Africa. Certain remaining challenges are highlighted that are faced by the South Africa government such as a lack of political will at the local government level, deficits in risk governance, difficulties in resource allocation, a lack of intergovernmental relations, and a need for enhanced community participation, ownership, and decision making.
BatchI: Batch effect Identification in high-throughput screening data using a dynamic programming algorithm
Authors: Papiez Anna , Marczyk Michal , Polanska Joanna , Polanski Andrzej
Published: October 2018

Motivation

In contemporary biological experiments, bias, which interferes with the measurements, requires attentive processing. Important sources of bias in high-throughput biological experiments are batch effects and diverse methods towards removal of batch effects have been established. These include various normalization techniques, yet many require knowledge on the number of batches and assignment of samples to batches. Only few can deal with the problem of identification of batch effect of unknown structure. For this reason, an original batch identification algorithm through dynamical programming is introduced for omics data that may be sorted on a timescale.

Results

BatchI algorithm is based on partitioning a series of high-throughput experiment samples into sub-series corresponding to estimated batches. The dynamic programming method is used for splitting data with maximal dispersion between batches, while maintaining minimal within batch dispersion. The procedure has been tested on a number of available datasets with and without prior information about batch partitioning. Datasets with a priori identified batches have been split accordingly, measured with weighted average Dice Index. Batch effect correction is justified by higher intra-group correlation. In the blank datasets, identified batch divisions lead to improvement of parameters and quality of biological information, shown by literature study and Information Content. The outcome of the algorithm serves as a starting point for correction methods. It has been demonstrated that omitting the essential step of batch effect control may lead to waste of valuable potential discoveries.

Availability and implementation

The implementation is available within the BatchI R package at http://zaed.aei.polsl.pl/index.php/pl/111-software.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Pilot testing of an online training module about screening for acute HIV infection in adult patients seeking urgent healthcare
Authors: Rafferty Hannah , Chirro Oscar , Oduor Clifford , Wahome Elizabeth , Ngoi Caroline , van der Elst Elise , Berger René , Rowland-Jones Sarah , Graham Susan M , Sanders Eduard J
Published: October 2018

Background

Acute HIV infection (AHI) is the phase of HIV infection immediately after acquisition, during which many patients develop symptoms and often seek healthcare. However, clinicians in sub-Saharan Africa are not currently taught about AHI.

Methods

This study pilot-tested a self-directed AHI training module among clinical officers (COs) in coastal Kenya and assessed knowledge gained and challenges to instituting screening. The training module included four domains: AHI definition and importance of AHI recognition; symptoms and screening algorithms; diagnostic strategies; and management. AHI knowledge was assessed before and immediately after training. Participants’ ability to utilize an AHI screening algorithm was evaluated with a case-based exercise.

Results

Self-directed training was completed by 45 COs. Pre-test scores were low (median score 35% IQR 30–45%), but improved significantly after training (median post-test score 75%, IQR 70–85%, Wilcoxon signed-rank test p<0.0001). Participants had challenges in understanding the utility and application of a screening algorithm to identify patients for whom AHI testing would be indicated. Knowledge of AHI was poor at baseline, but improved with self-directed learning. Based on these findings, we revised and improved the AHI training module and pre- and post-assessments, which are now freely available online at www.marps-africa.org.

Conclusions

Guidelines on AHI screening and diagnosis are urgently needed in high HIV transmission areas.
A population approach using cholesterol imputation to identify adults with high cardiovascular risk: a report from AHRQ’s EvidenceNow initiative
Authors: Cykert Samuel , DeWalt Darren A , Weiner Bryan J , Pignone Michael , Fine Jason , Kim Jung In
Published: October 2018

Objective: Large practice networks have access to EHR data that can be used to drive important improvements in population health. However, missing data often limit improvement efforts. Our goal was to determine the proportion of patients in a cohort of small primary care practices who lacked cholesterol data to calculate ASCVD risk scores and then gauge the extent that imputation can accurately identify individuals already at high risk. 219 practices enrolled. Patients between the ages of 40 and 79 years qualified for risk calculation. For patients who lacked cholesterol data, we measured the effect of employing a conservative estimation strategy using a total cholesterol of 170 mg/dl and HDL-cholesterol of 50 mg/dl in the ASCVD risk equation to identify patients with ≥ 10%, 10-year ASCVD risk who were eligible for risk reduction interventions then compared this to a rigorous formal imputation methodology. 345 440 patients, average age 58 years, qualified for risk scores. 108 515 patients were missing cholesterol information. Using the “good value” estimation methodology, 40 565 had risk scores ≥ 10% compared to 43 205 using formal imputation. However, the latter strategy yielded a lower specificity and higher false positive rate. Estimates using either strategy achieved ASCVD risk stratification quickly and accurately identified high risk patients who could benefit from intervention.
Midturbinate Swabs Are Comparable to Nasopharyngeal Swabs for Quantitative Detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Infants
Authors: Blaschke Anne J , McKevitt Matt , Ampofo Krow , Lewis Tammi , Chai Hao , Guo Ying , Dorsch Julianna , Vanderhoof Erin , Rosen Priscilla , Freimann Volker , Korgenski E Kent , Toback Seth , Chien Jason W
Published: October 2018

Nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs are generally used to detect respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants. However, midturbinate (MT) swabs may provide comparable results. In this study, we enrolled hospitalized infants aged <24 months with RSV and collected NP and MT swabs. The resulting viral loads measured by real-time reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction were similar. Most parents preferred MT swabs over NP swabs.
The problem of microattribution
Authors: Rizvi Pervez
Published: October 2018

Microattribution is the name of a method which has recently started to be used in the attribution of parts of early modern plays. The method seeks to make authorship attributions by using samples of writing consisting of less than two hundred words. This article argues that the method should not be used, fundamentally because it flouts the well-founded scientific insistence on the sufficiency of sample sizes. The article considers two recent applications of the method, showing that huge amounts of evidence were overlooked which would have invalidated the conclusions drawn. Moreover, the article demonstrates that the method is biased in favour of authors with large surviving canons, such as Shakespeare, and it cannot therefore be relied upon.
How statistics and text mining can be applied to literary studies?
Authors: Mahmoudi Mohammad Reza , Abbasalizadeh Ali
Published: October 2018

Statistics and data mining techniques provide exciting approaches for extracting knowledge from data. Recently, using statistics and data mining has sought to be exploited in many research fields. In this study, it was demonstrated that how statistics can be applied to literary studies. First, all the lines in Khaghani’s divan are classified and coded into three categories (mystical, non-mystical, and borderline). Then a set of chi-square goodness-of-fit tests are used to investigate and compare the frequency of different line’s categories for all lines and all odes, separately. Finally, the chi-square independence test (crosstabs) is employed to investigate the existence of trend in the lines.
Dual Users Compared to Smokers: Demographics, Dependence, and Biomarkers
Authors: Piper Megan E , Baker Timothy B , Benowitz Neal L , Kobinsky Kate H , Jorenby Douglas E
Published: October 2018

Introduction

The availability of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has profoundly changed the tobacco product landscape. In the United States, almost 6 million adults use both combustible and e-cigarettes (ie, dual users). The goal of this study was to understand how smokers and dual users differ in terms of demographics, cigarette dependence, and exposure to carcinogens.

Methods

An observational cohort (smokers, n = 166, ≥5 cigarettes/day for 6 months and no e-cigarette use in 3 months; dual users, n = 256, smoked daily for 3 months and used e-cigarettes at least once/week for the past 3 months) completed baseline assessments of demographics, tobacco use, and dependence. They also provided breath samples for carbon monoxide (CO) assay and urine samples for cotinine, 3-hydroxycotinine, and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) assays.

Results

Compared to smokers, dual users (mean e-cigarette use = 5.5 days/week [SD = 1.9]) were significantly younger and more likely to be white, have more education, report a history of psychiatric co-morbidity, and smoke fewer cigarettes per day. There were no differences in CO, cotinine, or 3-hydroxycotinine levels; however, dual users had significantly lower levels of NNAL than did smokers. Most smokers and dual users had no plans to quit smoking within the next year; 91% of dual users planned to continue using e-cigarettes for at least the next year.

Conclusions

In this community sample, dual users are supplementing their smoking with e-cigarette use. Dual users, versus smokers, smoked fewer cigarettes per day and delayed their first cigarette of the day, but did not differ in quitting intentions.

Implications

This comparison of a community sample of established dual users and exclusive smokers addresses key questions of dependence and health risks of dual use in real-world settings. Dual users were more likely to be white, younger, have more than a high school education and have a psychiatric history. Dual users also smoked significantly fewer cigarettes and had lower levels of NNAL (a carcinogen), but they did not differ from exclusive smokers in CO or cotinine levels, suggesting that they supplemented their nicotine intake via e-cigarettes.
Policy Change Is Not Enough: Engaging Provider Champions on Immediate Postpartum Contraception
Authors: Okoroh Ekwutosi M. , Kane Debra J. , Gee Rebekah E. , Kieltyka Lyn , Frederiksen Brittni N. , Baca Katharyn M. , Rankin Kristin M. , Goodman David A. , Kroelinger Charlan D. , Barfield Wanda D.
Published: October 2018

(Abstracted from Am J Obstet Gynecol 2018;218(6):590.e1–590.e7)

Short-interval pregnancies (<18 months apart) contribute to poor maternal and infant outcomes in the United States. Unintended pregnancies are twice as likely to be short-interval pregnancies as intended pregnancies.
Age-Associated Dysregulation of Protein Metabolism in the Mammalian Oocyte
Authors: Duncan Francesca E. , Jasti Susmita , Paulson Ariel , Kelsh John M. , Fegley Barbara , Gerton Jennifer L.
Published: October 2018

(Abstracted from Aging Cell 2017;16:1381–1393)

The growing oocyte is one of the most translationally active cells in the body and must accumulate high-quality, maternally derived proteins to support subsequent embryo development. Women of advanced reproductive age are at increased risk of infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects because of a marked decline in oocyte quality.
Cost-effectiveness of Diagnostic Testing Strategies Including Cervical-Length Measurement and Fibronectin Testing in Women With Symptoms of Preterm Labor
Authors: van Baaren G.-J. , Vis J. Y. , Wilms F. F. , Oudijk M. A. , Kwee A. , Porath M. M. , Scheepers H. C. J. , Spaanderman M. E. A. , Bloemenkamp K. W. M. , Haak M. C. , Bax C. J. , Cornette J. M. J. , Duvekot J. J. , Nij Bijvanck B. W. A. , van Eyck J. , Franssen M. T. M. , Sollie K. M. , Vandenbussche F. P. H. A. , Woiski M. , Bolte A. C. , van der Post J. A. M. , Bossuyt P. M. M. , Opmeer B. C. , Mol B. W. J.
Published: October 2018

(Abstracted from Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2018;51:596–603)

In this study, the authors sought to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of combining cervical length (CL) measurement and fetal fibronectin (fFN) testing in women with symptoms of preterm labor between 24 and 34 weeks' gestation.
Prospective Cohort Study for Identification of Underlying Genetic Causes in Neonatal Encephalopathy Using Whole-Exome Sequencing
Authors: Bruun Theodora U. J. , DesRoches Caro-Lyne , Wilson Diane , Chau Vann , Nakagawa Tadashi , Yamasaki Masahiro , Hasegawa Shinya , Fukao Toshiyuki , Marshall Christian , Mercimek-Andrews Saadet
Published: October 2018

(Abstracted from Genet Med 2018;20(5):486–494)

This study sought to identify underlying genetic defects in newborns with neonatal encephalopathy by applying whole-exome sequencing (WES) in term newborns with neonatal encephalopathy as a prospective cohort study.
Advancing Prenatal Detection of Congenital Heart Disease: A Novel Screening Protocol Improves Early Diagnosis of Complex Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Letourneau Karen M. , Horne David , Soni Reeni N. , McDonald Keith R. , Karlicki Fern C. , Fransoo Randy R.
Published: October 2018

(Abstracted from J Ultrasound Med 2018;37:1073–1079)

In this study, the authors report on a project designed to improve the prenatal detection of complex congenital heart disease (CHD) with implementation of a specific routine prenatal screening protocol, finding that implementing this protocol can vastly improve detection rates of critical cardiac abnormalities.
Persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, and the risk of thyroid cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Han Mi Ah , Kim Jin Hwa , Song Han Soo
Published: October 2018

Previous epidemiological studies have reported persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and some nonpersistent pesticides and the risk of thyroid cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the association between exposure to POPs, pesticides, and thyroid cancer by carrying out a meta-analysis. Literature searches were performed using PubMed, Embase, and reference lists of relevant articles. Summary risk estimates for thyroid cancer were calculated using fixed-effects and random-effects models. In addition, several subgroup and sensitivity analyses were carried out. Fifteen studies were reviewed, and eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. Pesticide exposure showed positive, statistically significant associations with thyroid cancer [odds ratio (OR)=1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.15–1.91, I
2=48%, P
heterogenetiy=0.05]. After subgroup analysis, herbicide exposure (OR=3.00, 95% CI=1.38–6.54) and agricultural exposure to pesticides (OR=1.86, 95% CI=1.04–3.32) was associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer. A sensitivity analysis showed that the results were robust. Exposure to pesticides was associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer in this meta-analysis. Future studies should investigate exposure to POPs or pesticides with controls for potential confounders using biological samples.
Effect of Postablation Statin Treatment on Arrhythmia Recurrence in Patients With Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Giannopoulos Georgios , Vrachatis Dimitrios , Kossyvakis Charalampos , Angelidis Christos , Koutivas Athanasios , Tsitsinakis Georgios , Zacharoulis Achilleas , Kolokathis Fotios , Palaiologos Dimitrios , Vavuranakis Manolis , Deftereos Spyridon
Published: October 2018

Background:

Statins have been proposed as a means to prevent postablation atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrences, mainly on the basis of their pleiotropic effects. The objective of this subanalysis of a prospectively randomized controlled study population of patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation for paroxysmal AF was to test the hypothesis that statin treatment is associated with longer time to recurrence.

Methods and Results:

This is a subanalysis over an extended follow-up period of a prospective randomized study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01791699). Among 291 patients, 2 propensity score–matched subgroups of patients who received or did not receive statins after pulmonary vein isolation were created. In the unmatched cohort, there was no difference in the rate of recurrence between statin-treated and not treated patients, with a 1-year recurrence estimate of 19% and 23%, respectively (Gehan statistic 0.59, P = 0.443). In the propensity-matched cohort (N = 166, 83 per group), recurrence-free survival did not differ significantly between groups (839 days, 95% confidence interval 755–922 days, in the no statin group vs. 904 days, 95% confidence interval 826–983 in the statin group; P = 0.301). The 1-year recurrence rate estimate was 30% in the no statin group versus 27% in the statin group (Gehan statistic 0.56, P = 0.455).

Conclusion:

Statin treatment does not seem to affect AF recurrence in following radiofrequency ablation for paroxysmal AF, over a follow-up time of about 2.5 years.
Blink Restoration in Long-standing Facial Paralysis: Use of Free Neurovascular Platysma Transfer
Authors: Guelinckx Paul J.
Published: October 2018

Background:

Since 2004, microneurovascular platysma transfer has been used for dynamic eye closure in long-standing facial palsy. The idea was initially presented by Lee and Terzis in 1984 but abandoned owing to its transfer difficulty. This muscle transfer allows forceful closure and blink restoration.

Methods:

This study included 24 patients operated between 2004 and 2014 for long-standing facial palsy. In the first step of the procedure, a cross-facial nerve graft was employed to transfer the motor nerve fibers from the normal side to the paralyzed side responsible for eye closure. Simultaneously, a dynamic reanimation of the mouth was conducted. After 9 months, a 4 × 9-cm platysma was transferred on its neurovascular pedicle. Revascularization was performed on the temporal vessels. Nerve coaptation between the cross-facial nerve graft and motor nerve of the platysma was also performed.

Results:

Twenty-one (88%) newly reconstructed orbicularis oculis displayed a good to excellent function. In 62% of the patients, a natural appearance and closure of the previously paralyzed eye and a return of spontaneous blinking were observed.

Conclusions:

Compared with classical techniques (eg, gold weight implantation and temporalis transfer), platysma transfer is the only feasible method of restoring eye closure because of its special architecture and fiber-type distribution.
Enhancing Test Statistics by Utilizing Data Patterns in Sequential Measurement Strings in Radiation Detection
Authors: Brogan J. , Brandl A.
Published: October 2018

Operational health physics applications, such as radiological and nuclear monitoring and detection for homeland security or radiation protection purposes, generate time sequences of independent individual measurement data. Statistical algorithms have been developed that utilize the analysis of patterns in data strings to enhance the test statistic for the decision on the absence or presence of a radiological source. Theoretical expectations have been verified in laboratory measurements for various lengths of data strings. Null hypothesis test performance and source detection efficacy have been shown to improve compared to the traditional method of achieving a detection decision by the comparison of a measured value to a fixed decision threshold.
Bayesian Analysis of Plutonium Bioassay Data at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Authors: Poudel Deepesh , Miller Guthrie , Klumpp John A. , Bertelli Luiz , Waters Tom L.
Published: October 2018

The main concern of operational internal dosimetry is to detect intakes and estimate doses to the worker from a series of bioassay measurements. Although several methods are available, the inverse problem of internal dosimetry—i.e., determination of time, amount, and types of intake given a set of bioassay data—is well suited to a Bayesian approach. This paper summarizes the Bayesian methodology used at Los Alamos National Laboratory to detect intakes and estimate doses from plutonium bioassay measurements. Some advantages and disadvantages of the method are also discussed. The successful application of Bayesian methods for several years at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which monitors thousands of workers annually for plutonium, indicates that the methods can be extended to other facilities.
Impact of Corneal Higher-Order Aberrations on Visual Acuity After Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty in Treating Keratoconus
Authors: Suzuki Natsume , Yamaguchi Takefumi , Tomida Daisuke , Tsubota Kazuo , Shimazaki Jun
Published: October 2018

Purpose:

To evaluate the incidence of the Descemet membrane (DM) folds after deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) in treating keratoconus. We also evaluated the influence of DM folds and corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) on visual acuity after DALK.

Methods:

This retrospective study included 89 consecutive eyes of 87 patients who underwent DALK for the treatment of keratoconus at Tokyo Dental College Ichikawa General Hospital from April 2002 to June 2017. The presence or absence of DM folds was determined by slitlamp microscopy. Visual acuity after DALK was compared between the eyes with and without DM folds. Corneal HOAs of the anterior and posterior surfaces and the total cornea were measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography. Correlations among the presence of DM folds, corneal HOAs, and visual acuity were analyzed.

Results:

The Descemet membrane folds developed in 28.1% (25/89) eyes after DALK for the treatment of keratoconus. However, there were no significant differences in postoperative visual acuity between the eyes with and without DM folds at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months (P=0.739, P=0.106, P=0.223, and P=0.186, respectively). The visual acuity at 12 months was significantly correlated with corneal HOAs within a 4-mm diameter (anterior surface: R=0.546, P=0.003; total cornea: R=0.506, P=0.007).

Conclusions:

Larger corneal HOAs, but not the presence of DM folds, were associated with poor visual acuity after DALK. In treating advanced keratoconus with DALK, it is important to minimize postoperative corneal HOAs, although DALK improves visual acuity by reducing HOAs due to keratoconus.
Effect of Changes in Hospital Nursing Resources on Improvements in Patient Safety and Quality of Care
Authors: Sloane Douglas M. , Smith Herbert L. , McHugh Matthew D. , Aiken Linda H.
Published: October 2018

Background:

Evidence shows hospitals with better nursing resources have better outcomes but few studies have shown that outcomes change over time within hospitals as nursing resources change.

Objectives:

To determine whether changes in nursing resources over time within hospitals are related to changes in quality of care and patient safety.

Research Design:

Multilevel logistic response models, using data from a panel of 737 hospitals in which cross-sections of nurse informants surveyed in 2006 and 2016, were used to simultaneously estimate longitudinal and cross-sectional associations between nursing resources, quality of care, and patient safety.

Measures:

Nursing resources included hospital-level measures of work environments, nurse staffing, and nurse education. Care quality was measured by overall rating of care quality, confidence in patients managing care after discharge, confidence in management resolving patient care problems; patient safety was measured by patient safety grade, concern with mistakes, and freedom to question authority.

Results:

After taking into account cross-sectional differences between hospitals, differences among nurses within hospitals, and potential confounding variables, changes within hospitals in nursing resources were associated with significant changes in quality of care and patient safety. Improvements in work environment of 1 SD decrease odds of unfavorable quality care and patient safety by factors ranging from 0.82 to 0.97.

Conclusions:

Improvements within hospitals in work environments, nurse staffing, and educational composition of nurses coincide with improvements in quality of care and patient safety. Cross-sectional results closely approximate longitudinal panel results.
Use of Medicare Claims Data for the Identification of Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Colantonio Lisandro D. , Levitan Emily B. , Yun Huifeng , Kilgore Meredith L. , Rhodes James D. , Howard George , Safford Monika M. , Muntner Paul
Published: October 2018

Objectives:

Assess the validity of Medicare claims for identifying myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods:

We used data from 9951 Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and above in the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke study. Between 2003 and 2012, 669 participants had an MI identified and adjudicated through study procedures (ie, the gold standard), and 552 had an overnight inpatient claim with a code for MI (ICD-9 code 410.x0 or 410.x1) in any discharge diagnosis position.

Results:

Using Medicare claims with a discharge diagnosis code for MI in any position, the positive predictive value (PPV) was 84.3% [95% confidence interval (CI), 80.9%–87.3%] and the sensitivity was 49.0% (95% CI, 44.9%–53.1%). Sensitivity was lower for men (45.8%) versus women (55.1%), microsize MIs (13.7%) versus other MIs (64.7%), type 2 (30.9%), and 4–5 MIs (11.1%) versus type 1 MIs (76.6%), and MIs occurring in-hospital (28.8%) versus out-of-hospital (66.7%). Using Medicare claims with a code for MI in the primary discharge diagnosis position, the PPV was 89.7% (95% CI, 86.3%–92.5%) and sensitivity was 40.1% (95% CI, 36.1%–44.2%). The sensitivity of claims with a code for MI in the primary discharge diagnosis position was lower for microsize versus other MIs, type 2 and 4–5 MIs versus type 1 MIs and MIs occurring in-hospital versus out-of-hospital. Hazard ratios for MI associated with participant characteristics were similar using adjudicated MIs identified through study procedures or claims for MI without further adjudication.

Conclusions:

Medicare claims have a high PPV but low sensitivity for identifying MI and can be used to investigate individual-level characteristics associated with MI.