bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The menopause and epilepsy
Authors: Betts Tim , Clarke Harriet
Published: November 2023

A premature menopause may be slightly more common in women with epilepsy.

Epilepsy is likely to start in the menopause more commonly than expected by chance.

Women with epilepsy should consider the pros and cons of HRT carefully and should always take progesterone as well as oestrogen if they use HRT.

They should avoid having their ovaries removed if premenstrual unless essential.

Some anticonvulsants are better avoided during and after the menopause.
Australia
Authors: Carson Jon , Fullarton-Healey Jodi
Published: November 2023

In Australia, the term ‘receivable’ is generally understood to mean ‘debts currently owing to a company or individual; payments due from others’. The most common receivable over which security is taken in Australia is a book debt, but not all receivables are characterized as book debts. The definition of a book debt is important, as any security taken over book debts in Australia is subject to certain registration requirements. Halsbury’s Laws of Australia describes a book debt as a † debt due, or to become due, to the company at some future time on account of or in connection with a profession, trade or business carried on by the company, whether entered in a book or not and includes a future debt of the same nature although not incurred or owing when the charge was created or the debt was assigned. The definition excludes a debt owing on a marketable security or negotiable instrument or in respect of a mortgage, charge or lease of land. Moneys in a bank account are not a book debt.
Brazil
Authors: Prado Fernando Ruiz de Almeida , Falkenburger Fabio
Published: November 2023

The concept of receivables under Brazilian law could be interpreted as the right that an ordinary trading company or financial institution has to, upon due performance of its activities (ie either through the rendering of services, delivery of certain goods, or lending activities) under certain contracts entered into with third parties, receive an amount in cash in consideration for its due performance under those contracts. Therefore, receivables are credit rights, of a commercial or financial nature, that arise out of arrangements entered into by a party with certain counterparties in the ordinary course of its business. As a consequence, a receivable is characterized as an expectation by a company or financial institution (a creditor) to receive, at a future date, an amount in cash as payment for the performance of a commercial or lending activity.
Czech Republic
Authors: Schweigelová Dana
Published: November 2023

The term ‘receivable’ is not expressly defi ned in the Czech legal system, but an implied definition can be found in the provisions of the Civil Code, especially Article 488. A receivable is generally understood to be a right to demand the fulfilment of a performance against which there is an obligation to provide this performance. The Civil Code states that receivables may arise from contracts, liability for damage, unjust enrichment and, in certain specific cases, from the law itself. The accessory rights attached to a receivable solely cover interest, default interest, other default payments, and the costs connected with its enforcement.
Finland
Authors: Wist Tarja , Oker-Blom Moritz
Published: November 2023

Any right to a claim, whether monetary or convertible into money, constitutes a receivable under Finnish law. Contrary to physical objects, receivables are created by legal acts, such as, for example, contracts or actions causing damage. The core legal rules governing receivables are codifi ed in the Promissory Notes Act, which applies, despite its name, to all types of receivables irrespective of their origin and whether or not documented. Many fundamental rules of law are, however, uncodifi ed and based on legal principles developed and established by widely recognized doctrine and legal precedents.
France
Authors: Hubert Olivier
Published: November 2023

This chapter provides an outline of the main security interests available in order to secure credit facility payments under French law. A security interest over receivables is a strong incentive to the extension of credit facilities with lower spreads by banks and fi nancial institutions fi nancing such receivables. There is no precise equivalent of the term ‘receivables’ in the French language. French law generally refers to the general concept of claims (créances) without distinction as to whether such claim relates to contracts with customers or other types of economic transactions.
Hong Kong
Authors: Aitken* Lee
Published: November 2023

A receivable in Hong Kong usually refers to ‘such debts as would be entered in the books of a well conducted corporation’. It has been said that the accepted legal sense of such a ‘book debt’ is ‘that of debts owing to a business of the kind usually entered in the books of account of the business, and in fact so entered although in certain cases the context of the particular statute concerned may not require the debts actually entered in the books of the business’.
Netherlands
Authors: Rank Willem (Pim)
Published: November 2023

This chapter sets out the main rules under Netherlands law governing the granting of security over receivables. For this purpose, receivables are defi ned as the rights of a creditor to receive payments under any agreement or arising from any legal relationship with any debtor. Under the Netherlands Civil Code, receivables constitute rechten op naam and are described as ‘rights that can be exercised against one or more persons, other than bearer rights or rights to order’ (tegen één of meer personen uit te oefenen rechten die niet aan toonder of order luiden). Since the two most important types of receivables over which security is granted are trade receivables and bank accounts, these are the two main types of receivables discussed below.
United Arab Emirates
Authors: Afridi Haider Khan , Altshuler Liliya , Guru Jayanthasri
Published: November 2023

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates, all of which, with the exception of Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah, are part of a federal judicial system. The emirates of Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah have independent judicial systems. The UAE is a civil law system, statutes being the primary source of law. There is no doctrine of binding precedent, although judgments of the highest courts may be a useful guide as to how a court may react in cases with similar issues in dispute. Relatively recent federal legislation requires commercial disputes to be referred fi rst to a reconciliation committee, appointed by the Ministry of Justice. The reconciliation committee attempts to facilitate a settlement, failing which the parties may proceed with fi ling an action in the courts. This procedure is not applicable in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah.
Venezuela
Authors: Petzall Patrick
Published: November 2023

In this chapter, we will address the legal nature of receivables or credits, the concept of privileged credits, and the pledge as the quintessential security over receivables, give an assessment of the weaknesses of the pledge as security mechanism over receivables, and conclude by touching on alternate security mechanisms available to the creditor.
Writing about patients
Authors: Washer Peter
Published: November 2023

Like all professionals, doctors need to be able to communicate effectively in writing and to be able to give presentations. This chapter will explain how to write up a medical history, before examining some other forms of communication between doctors, patients, and other health professionals.
Talking about mistakes and dealing with complaints
Authors: Washer Peter
Published: November 2023

Everyone makes mistakes in their working life, and even with the best medical care in the world, there will still be occasions when things go wrong. Some medical errors will only lead to ‘near misses’, while others will result in medical accidents – injuries caused either as a result of misdiagnosis or by the medical treatment itself. When medical errors cause harm to patients, they are known as ‘adverse events’. The phrase originates in pharmacology, where any unexpected or dangerous reaction to a drug is known as an adverse event. More generally in medicine, an adverse event has been defined as an ‘injury resulting from a medical intervention (or omission), not the underlying condition of the patient’ (Kohn et al., 2000).
An Introduction To Tort
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

Mistakes in the preparation of a will give no cause of action to the intended beneficiary since the solicitor owes no duty to anyone other than his client, the testator̓.1 This observation from ̒Cordery on Solicitors̓ in 1968 reflects the old, and long standing, rejection of a draftsman’s liability for his will preparation. It describes an approach that to the current age of tortious liability is quite startling in the absence of any beneficiary’s remedy for negligent work. Had it remained a correct statement of the law today much of this book would not have been written. That this quotation should now look out of place today helps to illustrate the change within society and its current, and growing, expectation that perceived wrongs will always have a remedy.
The Duty of Care in Relation to Will Preparation
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

Ross v Caunters, somewhat surprisingly, came almost fifty years after Donoghue v Stevenson, and on the face of it this seems a long interval before negligence in will preparation was looked at as a tort. Other jurisdictions had already started to look at this issue in this light and had found that in some circumstances a duty was owed to the beneficiary. Within England during this period, although the
Instructions, Preparation, and Execution
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

The process of drafting a will runs the risk of being seriously flawed unless the client’s instructions are accurately ascertained and recorded. It is necessary for the draftsman to have asked the right questions (and clarified any answers where necessary) in order to arrive at clear and unambiguous instructions.
Other Issues
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

This is dealt with in more detail elsewhere1. However, it can generally be observed that it is not established that there is a duty to give advice on the potential for claims under this Act when taking will instructions from a client, although there could be an attempt to found a claim on there being such a duty. Furthermore, it is good client care to offer to give such advice if it is needed. Where the client does not require any advice, a restriction to this effect in the terms of the retainer is a sensible step to safeguard the will-preparer’s position against possible later claims. Alternatively, if the client requires the advice, then it can be given for the appropriate fee. In a sense, asking if the client requires the advice is a win/win question for the will-preparer—a refusal can reduce the potential for claim against the will-preparer (if properly recorded) while requiring the advice can produce additional work.
Risk
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

Warren Buffett is reported as having observed that ‘risk comes from not knowing what you are doing’ and he was without doubt correct. Being aware of risk considerations is essential to the process of assessing the risk of ‘what you are doing’. However, it needs to be kept in mind that not all risk is manageable and that any work or process involves the acceptance of some risk.
Introduction and New Business
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

In this part of the book there is a greater emphasis placed on avoidance of the risk of negligence claims and disputes generally regarding an estate or trust. The administration of estates and trusts both offer combinations of law, assets and personal circumstances that are so infinitely variable in their possibilities as to make it impossible to examine in detail the whole range of possible acts of negligence. But rather than testing the boundaries of negligence, better practice is to avoid those areas completely.
Processes
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

All of the processes used for information, management, control, and safe custody of assets, distributions, and receipts: must be constructed with a view to efficient operation;must also be sufficiently robust to deter fraud (both internal and external) during the administration; and in the case of estates help detect any pre-death fraud against the deceased.
Introduction and Procedure
Authors: Frost Martyn , Reed Penelope , Baxter Mark
Published: November 2023

The first part of this book concentrates on the practitioner avoiding a negligence claim. However, the fact of the matter is that negligence actions still abound and while the last few years have seen fewer cases in this area, particularly White v Jones cases, that is not because claims are not made, but because there have been fewer points of principle to fight over.
The European Court’s Political Power
Authors: Alter Karen J
Published: November 2023

Karen Alter's work on the European Court of Justice heralded a new level of sophistication in the political analysis of the controversial institution, through its combination of legal understanding and active engagement with theoretical questions. The European Court's Political Power assembles the most important of Alter's articles written over a fourteen year span, adding an original new introduction and conclusion taking an overview of the Court's development and current concerns. Together the articles provide insight into the historical and political contours of the ECJ's influence on European politics, explaining how and why the same institution can have such a varying impact across time and issue area. The book starts with the European Coal and Steel Community, where the ECJ was largely unable to facilitate greater member state respect for ECSC rules. Alter then shows how legal actors orchestrated an activist transformation of the European legal system-with the critical aid of jurist advocacy movements, and via the co-optation national courts. The transformation of the European legal system wrested from member states control over the meaning of European law, but the ECJ continues to have differential influence across issue area. Alter explains that different influence of the ECJ comes from the varied extent to which sub and supra-national actors turn to the ECJ to achieve political objectives. Looking beyond the European experience, the book includes four chapters that put the ECJ into a comparative perspective, examining the extent to which the ECJ experience is unique, or a harbinger of the future role international courts may play in international and comparative politics.
The European Court’s Political Power: The Emergence of an Authoritative International Court in the European Union (1996)
Authors: Alter Karen J
Published: November 2023

International law and international courts have always been weak. While many aspects of international law may be respected, when controversy emerges national governments often interpret international agreements as they see fit, prioritize national goals over international obligations, and violate international law. National practices within the European Union stand in sharp contrast here. Member states cannot ‘interpret’ their way out of compliance with European Community law, governments which do not comply with European law are brought in front of the European Court of Justice, and European Court decisions are usually respected. Even the threat of bringing a case to the European Court can be enough to influence national governments to back down on important national issues, and to give way to the authority of European law.
Judicial Politics in the European Community: European Integration and the Pathbreaking Cassis de Dijon Decision (1994)
Authors: Alter Karen J
Published: November 2023

Although it is indisputable that the ECJ has issued many far-reaching decisions, there is disagreement regarding the impact of these decisions on the policy-making process of the EC. Many legal scholars portray the Court as a hero who has greatly advanced the cause of integration by intervening when the political process is stalled and no political consensus can be reached (for examples, see Lenaerts 1988: 19; Louis 1990: 48). This intervention takes the form of judicial decisions that make law that transcends current policy. These judicial decisions are seen as setting the context of political integration by altering member state preferences through the creation of de facto policies, which themselves serve as constraints on the actions of member states (Weiler 1981, 1991).
Bargaining Between Retailers and Their Suppliers
Authors: Smith Howard , Thanassoulis* John
Published: November 2023

A branded good is supplied by a single firm. A private label good can be supplied by many. So competition is more extreme and conditions more uncertain for private label suppliers. This chapter investigates the economic consequences of these differences. We outline a bargaining theory framework which helps one to understand why profits accrue where they do in supply chains. We focus on the buyer power of large retailers and its impact on the investment incentives of suppliers. The analysis applies to the retail sector generally and to supermarkets in particular.
Misleading Packaging, Copycats, and Look-Alikes: An Unfair Commercial Practice?
Authors: Bernitz* Ulf
Published: November 2023

Private brands, i.e. retailers own-label products, play a particularly great role in the UK grocery trade and constitute a widespread practice in Western Europe. Private brands are sometimes strong brands in their own right having distinct and well-known features and not likely to cause confusion with other brands in the market, such as leading brands of the manufacturers. However, the realities are often different. It is the practice of many retailers, partially including major retail chains, to market private labels carrying trade symbols and packaging which bear strong resemblance to those used for well-known branded products, often leading brands. The private labels might be of inferior quality, although this does not have to be the case, and are normally sold at a lower price. The practice is by no means special for the UK but well known also in other EU countries and to a certain extent also in the US.
Advertising, Promotional Campaigns, and Private Labels
Authors: Ezrachi* Ariel , Reynolds** Jonathan
Published: November 2023

In recent decades retailers have become significant economic and social actors within the value chain in most developed economies. In conjunction with this development, advertising and promotion of retailers as brands, and of retailers’ private label brands, has taken on greater importance and sophistication. These campaigns now run alongside the promotional efforts of supplier firms. For example, the combined advertising expenditure by the top 50 UK retailers in the last three months of 2006 was £530 million, a 41 per cent rise since the same period in 2003.
new zealand
Authors: Hutton Fiona
Published: November 2023

This chapter aims to highlight a number of issues relating to alcohol, crime, and disorder in New Zealand. Alcohol consumption and the perceived rise in disorderly behaviour associated with ‘binge drinking’ are often linked to crime.
Banking and Insurance Law
Authors: Butler William E
Published: November 2023

In this chapter we address two distinct but not unrelated branches of commercial activity: banking and insurance. The growth of private banks in the late Soviet era and in the Russian Federation astounded observers who believed that such bastions of capitalism would be slow to emerge in the transition to a market economy. In fact it was easier for Soviet investors to create a bank than it was to create a joint enterprise with foreign investments. On 1 March 1994 there were 2,075 banks registered in the Russian Federation, of which 65 per cent were share banks in the form of a limited or additional responsibility society and 35 per cent were created in the form of a joint-stock society. During 1995 and 1996 the Central Bank encouraged share banks to transform themselves into joint-stock societies, and the great majority now enjoy that status.
Taxation
Authors: Butler William E
Published: November 2023

In the transition to a market economy taxation has come to assume a more central role in ordering Russian economic life, including Russian citizens and foreigners. There continues to be difficulty in applying Western concepts of taxation to the Russian system, for there continues to exist a mixed economy containing treasury enterprises in which the State is the owner of the instruments and means of production, State corporations in which the State plays a pre- eminent management role, open joint-stock societies in which the State is the sole or principal stockholder, and purely private enterprises in which there is no State involvement.
Labour Law
Authors: Butler William E
Published: November 2023

The demise of socialism in Russia has restored labour law to a normal stature within the legal system, although reforms in labour law have not been fully reflective of the requirements of a market economy. Early Soviet legislation dealt piecemeal with labour conditions and social insurance. An eight-hour work day was established and the following year an annual two-week holiday, pensions were increased, unemployment, disability, and sickness insurance introduced, and labour inspectorates reorganized. On or about 9 December 1918 the RSFSR Code of Laws on Labour was adopted.1 The Code superseded all antecedent legislation and contracts contrary to its provisions and extended to all persons who worked for remuneration and to enterprises in both the socialized and private sectors.
Commonwealth of Independent States
Authors: Butler William E
Published: November 2023

The Soviet Union was dissolved on or about 25 December 1991 when the original surviving founders formally denounced the Treaty of the Union of 30 December 1922 which had brought the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics into being.1 The remaining members of the USSR associated themselves with this decision later in the same month. Simultaneously with the dissolution of the Union, the twelve Independent States (excluding the Baltic States) with varying degrees of enthusiasm and reluctance brought into being the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as the principal vehicle to coordinate their future relations.2 In the eyes of some the CIS might become the means by which the former Soviet Union could be restored; others viewed the CIS as a means by which the Independent States may collaborate or consult when that is in their interests and pursue harmonized policies when they prefer to do so.
Resource Materials on Russian Law
Authors: Butler William E
Published: November 2023

This chapter contains a bibliography of the principal official publications of the Russian Federation and subjects of the Federation, together with references to secondary sources that develop observations or provide documentation relating to the main text in addition to items cited in the footnotes. The references to secondary sources are confinedchiefly to those in the English language and to those relating to the Russian Federation since independence in 1991. Unless otherwise indicated, the place of publication is Moscow. For the Soviet period, see Chapter 21 in W E Butler, Soviet Law (London: Butterworths, 2nd edn, 1988).1 My own publications, including the more than 2,500 translations of Soviet, Russian, and other legislation and treaties, are recorded in International and Comparative Law: A Bibliography with Annotations  and Notes of the Published Writings and Reports of William E. Butler (London: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2005).
Giving up smoking
Authors: Currie Graeme P
Published: November 2023

Cigarette smoking causes a range of chronic diseases and cancers. Smoking is by far the most important cause of COPD. Primary prevention of COPD involves preventing individuals from starting to smoke in the first place. Smoking cessation is vital in the successful management of COPD. Willpower and determination are required to stop smoking; you usually need to feel that the time is right for you to stop. Smoking cessation aids include counselling, nicotine replacement therapy, and some specific drugs (the most common ones being Zyban/bupropion and Champix/varenicline).
Introduction: Post-conflict Peacebuilding–Ambiguity and Identity
Authors: Chetail Vincent
Published: November 2023

Although the term ‘peacebuilding’ appeared as early as the 16th century, the theme of peacebuilding did not become a subject of study in its own right until the 1960s and 1970s within the framework of peace research. Its conceptual origins lie in the distinction between ‘positive peace’ and ‘negative peace’ developed by the Norwegian sociologist and researcher Johan Galtung. Whereas negative peace is defined as the ‘absence of direct and organised violence between human groups or nations’, the notion of positive peace is part of a longer term conception according to which establishing a sustainable peace is made possible through cooperation between these groups or nations and the eradication of the root causes of the conflict (Galtung, 1975: 29). To this end, Galtung’s ‘triangle of violence’ identifies three types of violence: direct violence, cultural violence, and structural violence.
Civil-military Interface
Authors: Tardy Thierry
Published: November 2023

In the context of post-conflict crisis management, the ‘civil-military interface’ describes the relationship between military and civilian actors who are involved in peace operations. Such relations are not new: the military has always interacted, in one way or another, with civilians. At the beginning of the 20th century, European armed forces fulfilled humanitarian or social functions in their colonies and were already confronted with certain issues related to the civil-military interface. In different contexts, the counter-insurgency strategies implemented in Indochina or in Vietnam were aimed at winning over the local populations to the cause of the occupying military forces.
Democratic Governance
Authors: Mani Rama , Krause Jana
Published: November 2023

The concept of democratic governance appears ubiquitous today but it first appeared in peacebuilding terminology only as far back as the 1990s. It represents the melding of one of the oldest concepts in politics-democracy-with the more recent concept of governance, which, although coined in the 16th century, entered international discourse only in the 1980s. Today, this combined concept of ‘democratic governance’ has become central to the practice of post-conflict peacebuilding, due to the particular context and exigencies of societies emerging from violent conflict, usually accompanied by dysfunctional or unrepresentative government and a history of political repression.
Security Sector Reform
Authors: Hanggi Heiner
Published: November 2023

Security sector reform (SSR)-or ‘security system reform’ as It 1s sometimes referred to by developmental actors-is a relatively new concept essentially aimed at the effective and efficient provision of state and human security within a framework of democratic governance. It is driven by the understanding that an ineffective, inefficient, and poorly governed security sector represents a decisive obstacle to sustainable development, democratization, conflict prevention, and post-conflict peacebuilding. The need for comprehensive reform of the security sector had been identified earlier, but it was speeches by the United Kingdom (UK) Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short, and policy statements by the newly created UK Department for International Development (DFID), in the late 1990s, that made SSR prominent as a term. Since then, the concept has received growing support among actors in such diverse fields as development assistance, democracy promotion, conflict prevention, and post-conflict peacebuilding.
Constructing Case Studies and Comparisons
Authors: Hancké Bob
Published: November 2023

Take a random sample of beginning graduate students in political science and ask them how they envision their research. With the exception of a few universities in the world that are famous for their emphasis on quantitative methods, chances are that many of them will say they are thinking of case studies or some form of a two, three, or four case comparison. Ask them why, and the answer is very often that they know at least one of the cases already, have worked on it for their master’s degree, and speak the language (the first and the last combined are usually thinly veiled code for ‘I come from there’). So the Greek students study Greece, the French study France, the Portuguese Portugal, and very often the United Kingdom or Ireland show up as comparative cases, since—indeed—they speak the language and therefore assume that it cannot be all that hard to acquire the necessary information to make the comparison work. These students find out reasonably quickly that shoehorning the cases into an argument or twisting the theory to make it Wt the cases is not all that easy. Speaking the language and having some superficial knowledge of a place may be necessary but certainly not sufficient conditions for doing research on that country or region. Despite the obvious mismatch between the question and the cases at hand, the fixed costs are too high to let go of that particular set-up—the work these researchers have invested in the cases is now working against them—and it often takes more than a year to turn the initial research into something more solid and (sometimes) interesting beyond a small circle of aficionados.
For the Road
Authors: Hancké Bob
Published: November 2023

Here we are, then. Like you, I am sure, I am happy to have reached the final chapter. You should now have a reasonably good idea of the philosophical foundations of the social sciences, developed a sophisticated understanding of research design, you can critically think about data and cases, and if all goes well, you even have a decent understanding of how to write it all up and tell others about it. I think of this last chapter in the same way as a father who sees his son or daughter off to college: sorry to see them go, but aware that they have to walk on their own now. I am not sure if this is still a tradition the world over, but those were usually the moments when Dad or Mum had a last conversation with the kid who still (just about) lived at home—which then often turned into the first conversation between two adults. This chapter aims to do the same. Rather than summarizing what came before, I want to tie it all together in one collection of points that, I hope, will help you close this book and get down to writing your own.
Grammar Overview
Authors: Dixon R M W
Published: November 2023

This chapter provides an outline of recurrent grammatical structures found in human languages. There are a number of fairly rare structural types which are not mentioned, in order to keep the chapter—and book—of manageable size. They are all special variations in the basic template presented here. About two—thirds of the topics briefly considered in this chapter are accorded more detailed description in Volumes 2 and 3.
Outcomes of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lip Treated With Mohs Micrographic Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Nadir Umer , Le Kim , Shi Kevin , Srivastava Divya , Nijhawan Rajiv I.
Published: November 2023

BACKGROUND

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCCs) of the lip have been reported to be at higher risk for poorer post-treatment outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

To examine outcomes of patients with SCC of the lip treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) and identify factors for recurrence.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective review of a single tertiary referral center's Mohs case logs from 2010 to 2019 identified cases of lip SCC. Clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes (local recurrence [LR], metastasis, and disease-specific death) were reviewed.

RESULTS

One hundred ninety cases of SCC of the lip were identified and demonstrated that MMS offered a disease-free survival of 96.8% over an average follow-up period of 42 months. Younger age (61 vs 74 years p = .006), increased MMS stages (p = .009), and higher American Joint Committee on Cancer and Brigham and Women's Hospital T stages were risk factors for LR. Immunosuppression, large tumor size, mucosal lip involvement, aggressive histology, and perineural invasion were not associated with LR.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study show that SCC of the lip behaved similarly to cSCC outside the lip area, and that both primary and recurrent lesions can be treated effectively with MMS.
Assessment of Pain, Healing Time, and Postoperative Complications in the Healing of Auricular Defects After Secondary Intent Healing Versus Split Thickness Skin Graft Placement
Authors: Bovenberg Maria Sarah , Williams Paige E. , Goldberg Leonard H.
Published: November 2023

BACKGROUND

Reconstruction of auricular defects after Mohs surgery is challenging given the prominence of the ear and its complex 3-dimensional architecture.

OBJECTIVE

Evaluation of postoperative pain, healing time, and postoperative complications of auricular defects after split-thickness skin graft (STSG) placement versus secondary intent healing (SIH).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

During this prospective, observational study, 30 patients recorded their daily maximum postoperative pain using the numeric pain rating scale from postoperative days 0 to 8. Surgical site healing was assessed at postoperative day 8 and 30. All postoperative complications were collected during the 30-day follow-up window.

RESULTS

Patients undergoing STSG experienced significantly more pain during the first 3 postoperative days than patients in the SIH group. Maximum pain was experienced on the night of surgery, with a mean pain score of 3.6 in the STSG groups versus 0.8 in the SIH group. Healing was significantly faster in the STSG group, with 87% of patients fully healed at 1 week versus 21% in the SIH group. No major complications were experienced in either group.

CONCLUSION

Split-thickness skin graft and SIH healing are well tolerated and provide excellent repair choices for auricular defects.
Evaluating Predictors of Patient Satisfaction With Facial Appearance After Mohs Micrographic Surgery Using the FACE-Q
Authors: Lau William C. , Moore Kevin , Waldman Abigail
Published: November 2023

BACKGROUND

Although patient satisfaction with reconstructive outcomes after facial skin cancer resection is an important consideration in Mohs surgery, there is limited information evaluating this concern using validated patient-reported outcome tools.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize predictors that may be associated with increased postoperative patient satisfaction with facial appearance after Mohs surgery using the FACE-Q/Skin Cancer survey, a patient-reported outcome tool that has been validated in various studies.

METHODS

A total of 202 patients who underwent Mohs surgery for facial skin cancer at the Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital between April 2017 and November 2021 were included after completing the postoperative Satisfaction with Facial Appearance scale (FACE-Q scale).

RESULTS

Male patients were significantly more likely to have higher satisfaction scores compared with female patients (aOR 2.4, 95% CI 1.1–5.1). Increased preoperative facial satisfaction scores was directly correlated with increased postoperative facial satisfaction scores (p < .01). Patients with tumors on the lower face/neck (aOR 3.88; 95% CI 1.4–10.7) had significantly greater satisfaction scores compared with those with tumors on their nose/nasolabial folds.

CONCLUSION

Potential interventions and counseling methods can be tailored toward specific patient populations with lower satisfaction scores to increase their overall satisfaction with reconstructive outcomes.
The chemokine CXCL14 is a novel early prognostic biomarker for poor outcome in acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure
Authors: Umbaugh David S. , Nguyen Nga T. , Curry Steven C. , Rule Jody A. , Lee William M. , Ramachandran Anup , Jaeschke Hartmut ,   Acute Liver Failure Study Group
Published: November 2023

Background and Aims:

Patients with acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure are more likely to die while on the liver transplant waiting list than those with other causes of acute liver failure. Therefore, there is an urgent need for prognostic biomarkers that can predict the need for liver transplantation early after an acetaminophen overdose.

Approach and Results:

We evaluated the prognostic potential of plasma chemokine C-X-C motif ligand 14 (CXCL14) concentrations in patients with acetaminophen (APAP) overdose (n=50) and found that CXCL14 is significantly higher in nonsurviving patients compared to survivors with acute liver failure (p< 0.001). Logistic regression and AUROC analyses revealed that CXCL14 outperformed the MELD score, better discriminating between nonsurvivors and survivors. We validated these data in a separate cohort of samples obtained from the Acute Liver Failure Study Group (n = 80), where MELD and CXCL14 had similar AUC (0.778), but CXCL14 demonstrated higher specificity (81.2 vs. 52.6) and positive predictive value (82.4 vs. 65.4) for death or need for liver transplantation. Next, combining the patient cohorts and using a machine learning training/testing scheme to mimic the clinical scenario, we found that CXCL14 outperformed MELD based on AUC (0.821 vs. 0.787); however, combining MELD and CXCL14 yielded the best AUC (0.860).

Conclusions:

We find in 2 independent cohorts of acetaminophen overdose patients that circulating CXCL14 concentration is a novel early prognostic biomarker for poor outcomes, which may aid in guiding decisions regarding patient management. Moreover, our findings reveal that CXCL14 performs best when measured soon after patient presentation to the clinic, highlighting its importance for early warning of poor prognosis.
High Plasma Presepsin Levels in Children With Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
Authors: Yoshinari Hiroki , Kawahara Yuta , Niijima Hitomi , Oh Yukiko , Morimoto Akira
Published: November 2023

Presepsin is reported as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for sepsis, and its optimal cutoff value is reported to be 600 to 650 pg/mL. Three children were diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). The cause of HLH was unknown in cases 1 and 2, while Epstein-Barr virus infection was the cause in case 3. The plasma presepsin levels at the diagnosis were 1020, 1080, and 3160 pg/mL in cases 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In case 1, the plasma level of presepsin decreased to 164 pg/mL on day 19 of her sickness, when symptoms improved. Follow-up plasma presepsin levels were missing for cases 2 and 3. No microbiological pathogens were detected in the blood cultures of any of the patients. Our cases suggest that plasma presepsin levels can be elevated in childhood HLH.
Tailoring parenting styles and family-based interventions cross-culturally as an effective prevention strategy for youth substance use: a scoping review
Authors: Williams Ozge C. , Prasad Sakshi , Khan Ahmed Ali , Ayisire Oghenetega Esther , Naseer Hafsa , Abdullah Muhammad , Nadeem Mahrukh , Ashraf Nauman , Zeeshan Muhammad
Published: November 2023

Background:

The challenge of substance use among youth continues to be a highly concerning public health issue across the globe. The notion that parenting lifestyles and family-based intervention can help in the prevention of adolescent substance use have received robust attention from policy makers, researchers’ clinicians and general public, nonetheless, there is scarcity of high quality evidence to support these concepts.

Objective:

To review available literature which assessed the effects of parenting styles and family-based interventions on the prevention of adolescent substance use.

Methods:

A scoping review of literature to identify studies published in English between 2012 and 2022 was conducted searching Scopus, MEDLINE, PsychInfo, and CINAHL databases focused on effects of parenting styles and family-based interventions in the prevention of adolescent substance use.

Keywords of family-based intervention strategies and possible outcomes of parenting styles on youth substance use were coded from the results, discussion, or conclusion. Strategies were inductively categorized into themes according to the focus of the strategy.

Results:

A total of 47 studies, published between 2012 and 2022 in English language included. Narrative synthesis illustrated that parental involvement, restriction of mature-rated content, parental monitoring, authoritative parenting styles, and parental support and knowledge can help in the prevention of adolescent substance use. On the contrary, poor parent-child bonding, overprotection, permissive parenting, parental frustrations, authoritarian and harsh parenting styles promoted adolescent substance use disorders. Proximal risk factors like peer influence, previous use of other substances, and risky behaviours had more effect than just parenting styles. Culturally tailored family-based intervention strategies such as “Preventive Parenting”, “Parent Training”, and “Parent Involvement”, with focus on “Technology Assisted Intervention”, particularly “SMART “(Substance Misuse among Adolescents in Residential Treatment) are found as effective family-based intervention strategies to mitigate substance use in youth.

Conclusion:

Culturally tailored family-based behavioural strategies psychosocial intervention strategies can be considered of the most effective strategies to prevent substance use disorders in youth.
Efficacy of sexual intercosurse in the spontaneous passage of distal or intramural ureteral stones: a randomsized controlled trial
Authors: Bhatti Kamran Hassan , Bapir Rawa , Bhatti Waseem Sarwar , Muhammad Huda Muhaddien , Abdullah Hiwa O. , Abdalla Berun Anwar , Channa Aftab Ahmed , Rahim Hawbash M. , Cheema Naeem Ahmed , Sohail Nadeem , Gomha Faaz S. , Fattah Fattah H. , Ahmed Nahidah Hamah Ameen , Aghaways Ismael , Kakamad Fahmi H.
Published: November 2023

Background:

The role of sexual intercourse as an alternative treatment approach for ureteral stones (UTSs) is a recent area of investigation with only small sample-sized studies. This study aims to evaluate the role of sexual intercourse in the spontaneous passage of distal or intramural UTSs via a larger sample size.

Materials and methods:

The study population included cases that had either a distal ureteric or an intramural radiopaque stone. The patients were divided into two groups; group A was instructed to engage in sexual intercourse two to three times per week while also receiving symptomatic treatment for 4 weeks. Group B received symptomatic treatment alone and was instructed to abstain from sexual intercourse or masturbation for the same period.

Results:

A total of 160 male patients were enrolled in this study. The ages of the patients ranged from 21 to 58 years. The rate of stone expulsion after 2 weeks was 68.18% in group A and 53% in group B (P=0.053). The expulsion rate after 4 weeks was 80% in group A and 68.4% in group B (P=0.072). The mean expulsion time was 13.9±5.4 days for the experimental group and 15.2±6.7 days for the control group (P=0.179). The experimental group required fewer analgesic injections in comparison to the control group (P<0.05).

Conclusion:

While the role of sexual intercourse in facilitating the passage of distal or intramural UTSs cannot be fully established, it may aid to some extent. However, it should not be relied upon as a standalone treatment modality.
Stroke and cognitive impairment: understanding the connection and managing symptoms
Authors: Elendu Chukwuka , Amaechi Dependable C. , Elendu Tochi C. , Ibhiedu Jennifer O. , Egbunu Emmanuel O. , Ndam Afuh R. , Ogala Faith , Ologunde Tunde , Peterson Jesse C. , Boluwatife Adeyemo I. , Okongko Anietienteabasi O. , Fatoye John O. , Akpovona Otite L. , Onyekweli Samuel O. , Temitope Afolabi Y. , Achimugu Abraham O. , Temilade Adekola V.
Published: November 2023

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide, and cognitive impairment is a common consequence of stroke. Understanding the connection between stroke and cognitive impairment is crucial for effectively managing symptoms and improving patients’ quality of life. This abstract provides an overview of the relationship between stroke and cognitive impairment and explores strategies for managing cognitive symptoms in stroke survivors. A comprehensive review of relevant literature was conducted to examine the association between stroke and cognitive impairment. Various factors contributing to cognitive impairment after stroke were explored, including the location and severity of the stroke, vascular risk factors, and underlying mechanisms. Evidence-based strategies for managing cognitive symptoms in stroke survivors were also analyzed, such as cognitive rehabilitation, pharmacological interventions, and lifestyle modifications. The review revealed a strong link between stroke and cognitive impairment. The location and severity of the stroke play a significant role in determining the specific cognitive deficits experienced by individuals. Vascular risk factors, including hypertension, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation, contribute to cognitive decline after stroke. Mechanisms such as cerebral hypoperfusion, white matter damage, and neuroinflammation also play a role. Cognitive rehabilitation programs have shown promising results in improving cognitive function, while certain medications may help manage specific cognitive symptoms. Lifestyle modifications like physical exercise and a healthy diet have been associated with better cognitive outcomes in stroke survivors.