bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of vitamin B12deficiency and B12screening trends for patients on metformin: a retrospective cohort case review
Authors: Martin Darby , Thaker Jeet , Shreve Maria , Lamerato Lois , Budzynska Kartazyna 
Published: January 2021

ObjectivesOur study investigated the use of vitamin B12testing in a large cohort of patients on metformin and assesses appropriateness and benefits of screening recommendations for vitamin B12deficiency.DesignThis retrospective cohort study included insured adult patients who had more than 1 year of metformin use between 1 January 2010 and 1 October 2016 and who filled at least two consecutive prescriptions of metformin to establish compliance. The comparison group was not exposed to metformin. Primary outcome was incidence of B12deficiency diagnosed in patients on metformin. Secondary outcome was occurrence of B12testing in the patient population on metformin. Records dated through 31 December 2018 were analysed.SettingLarge hospital system consisting of inpatient and outpatient data base.ParticipantsA diverse, adult, insured population of patients who had more than 1 year of metformin use between 1 January 2010 and 1 October 2016 and who filled at least two consecutive prescriptions of metformin.ResultsOf 13 489 patients on metformin, 6051 (44.9%) were tested for vitamin B12deficiency, of which 202 (3.3%) tested positive (vs 2.2% of comparisons). Average time to test was 990 days. Average time to test positive for deficiency was 1926 days. Factors associated with testing were linked to sex (female, 47.8%), older age (62.79% in patients over 80 years old), race (48.98% white) and causes of malabsorption (7.11%). Multivariable logistic regression showed older age as the only factor associated with vitamin B12deficiency, whereas African-American ethnicity approached significance as a protective factor.ConclusionsBased on our study’s findings of vitamin B12deficiency in patients on metformin who are greater than 65 years old and have been using it for over 5 years, we recommend that physicians consider screening in these populations.
Chest radiography for simplified evaluation of central venous catheter tip positioning for safe and accurate haemodynamic monitoring: a retrospective observational study
Authors: Kang Minwoo , Bae Jinkun , Moon Sujin , Chung Tae Nyoung 
Published: January 2021

ObjectivesThe tip-to-carina (TC) distance on a simple chest X-ray (CXR) has proven value in the determination of correct central venous catheter (CVC) positioning. However, previous studies have mostly focused on preventing the atrial insertion of the CVC tip, and not on appropriate positioning for accurate haemodynamic monitoring. We aimed to assess whether the TC distance could detect the passage of the CVC tip into the superior vena cava (SVC) and the right atrium (RA), and to accordingly suggest cut-off reference values for these two aspects.DesignRetrospective observational cohort study.SettingSingle urban tertiary level academic hospital.Participants479 patients who underwent CXR and chest CT scan after the insertion of a CVC with a 24-hour interval during the study period.InterventionThe TC distance was measured on CXR, and the position of the CVC tip was assessed on the chest CT images. The TC distance was described as a negative or positive number if the CVC tip was above or below the carina, respectively. Receiver-operating characteristics curve analyses were conducted to ascertain the TC distance to detect SVC entrance and RA insertion of CVC tip.ResultsThe TC distance could significantly detect both SVC entrance and RA insertion (p<0.001 for both; area under curve 0.987 and 0.965, respectively), with a reference range of −6.69 to 15.61 mm.ConclusionThe TC distance in CXR is a simple and precise method to confirm not only the safe placement of the CVC tip but also its optimal positioning for accurate haemodynamic monitoring.
Magnitude and associated factors of suicidal ideation and attempt among people with epilepsy attending outpatient treatment at primary public hospitals in northwest Ethiopia: a multicentre cross-sectional study
Authors: Nigussie Kabtamu , Tesfaye Bizuneh , Lemma Alemu , Kerebih Habtamu 
Published: January 2021

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess magnitude and associated factors of suicidal ideation and attempt among people with epilepsy attending outpatient treatment at primary public hospitals, northwest Ethiopia using suicide module of World Mental Health Survey initiative version of the WHO, composite international diagnostic interview.DesignMulticentre-based cross-sectional study was used.SettingData were collected using face to face interview from patients with epilepsy who attended outpatient treatment at primary public hospitals at northwest Ethiopia.ParticipantsAdult patients with epilepsy (n=563) who came to attend outpatient treatment during the study period were included in the study using systematic random sampling technique.Outcome measuresSuicidal ideation, suicidal attempt and factors associated with suicidal ideation and attempt.ResultsThe overall magnitude of suicidal ideation and attempt was 26.5% and 12.6%, respectively. Being woman adjusted OR ((AOR)=1.68, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.23), living alone (AOR=2.4, 95% CI 1.47 to 3.92), divorced/widowed/(AOR=2.2, 95% CI 1.09 to 7.8), family history of suicidal attempt (AOR=2.53, 95% CI 1.34 to 4.79), depression (AOR=3.18, 95% CI 1.85 to 5.45), anxiety (AOR=2.92, 95% CI 1.68 to 5.09), comorbid medical illness (AOR=2.60, 95% CI 1.17 to 5.82) and poor social support (AOR=2.35, 95% CI 1.26 to 4.40) were statistically associated with suicidal ideation. Depression (AOR=4.87, 95% CI 2.56 to 9.28) living alone (AOR=2.66, 95% CI 1.62 to 5.41), family history of committed suicide (AOR=2.80, 95% CI 1.24 to 6.39), taking medication for mental illness (AOR=2.17, 95% CI 1.06 to 4.46), hazardous alcohol use (AOR=2.10, 95% CI 1.05 to 4.23) were statistically associated with suicidal attempts at a p value <0.05.ConclusionThis study showed that the magnitude of suicidal ideation and attempt was high among people with epilepsy. Being woman, living alone, having depression and anxiety, single, divorced/widowed in marital status, family history of suicidal attempt and poor social support were statistically associated with suicidal ideation. Having depression, living alone, family history of suicide attempt, hazardous alcohol use and drug taking for mental illness were statistically associated with suicidal attempt. Based on the findings of this study early screening, detection and management of suicide were recommended in people with epilepsy.
Amblyopia screening effectiveness at 3–4 years old: a cohort study
Authors: Guimaraes Sandra , Soares Andreia , Freitas Cristina , Barros Pedro , Leite Ricardo Dourado , Costa Patrício Soares , Silva Eduardo D 
Published: January 2021

ObjectiveTo study the effectiveness of amblyopia screening at ages 3–4.Methods and AnalysisFrom a population with no previous screening, a cohort of 2300 children with 3–4 years old attending school (91% of children this age attend school in Portugal), were submitted to a complete ophthalmological evaluation. Amblyopia was diagnosed, treated and followed. Amblyopia prevalence, treatment effectiveness, absolute risk reduction (ARR), number needed to screen (NNS) and relative risk reduction (RRR) were estimated.ResultsPast/present history of amblyopia was higher than 3.1%–4.2%, depending on amblyopia definition normatives. Screening at age 3–4, had estimated ARR=2.09% (95% CI 1.50% to 2.68%) with a reduced risk of amblyopia in adulthood of 87% (RRR). NNS was 47.8 (95% CI 37.3 to 66.7). Treatment effectiveness of new diagnosis was 88% (83% if we include children already followed). 91% of new amblyopia diagnoses were refractive (of which 100% surpassed amblyopia Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Disease Study criteria after treatment), while most strabismic amblyopias were already treated or undertreatment. Only 30% of children with refractive amblyopia risk factors that were not followed by an ophthalmologist, ended up having amblyopia at age 3–4. Eye patch was needed equally in new-diagnosis versus treated-earlier refractive amblyopia.ConclusionsScreening amblyopia in a whole-population setting at age 3–4 is highly effective. For each 48 children screened at age 3–4, one amblyopia is estimated to be prevented in the future (NNS). Screening earlier may lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatments: Treating all new diagnosis before age 3–4 would have a maximal difference in ARR of 0.3%, with the possible burden of as much as 70% children being unnecessary treated before age 3–4.Involving primary care, with policies for timely referral of suspicious/high-risk preverbal children, plus whole screening at age 3–4 seems a rational/effective way of controlling amblyopia.
Inadequate completion of advance care directives by individuals with dementia: national audit of health and aged care facilities
Authors: Bryant Jamie , Sellars Marcus , Sinclair Craig , Detering Karen , Buck Kimberly , Waller Amy , White Ben , Nolte Linda 
Published: January 2021

Objectives(i) Describe the prevalence and type of advance care directives (ACDs) and other advance care planning (ACP) documentation completed by persons with dementia, healthcare providers and others on behalf of a person with dementia; (ii) identify the personal and ACP programme characteristics associated with having ACP documentation in the health record; (iii) identify the personal and ACP programme characteristics associated with having a self-completed ACD.MethodsA multicentre audit was undertaken in Australian hospitals, general practices and residential aged care facilities. Auditors extracted demographic and ACP data from the records of eligible patients. ACP programme characteristics were provided by a site representative. Logistic and multinomial regression were used respectively to examine the factors associated with completion of any ACP documentation, and self-completion of an ACD by persons with dementia.ResultsA total of 1388 people with dementia (33.2%) from 96 sites were included. Overall, 60.8% (n=844) had ACP documentation; 31.6% (n=438) had a self-completed ACD and 29.3% (n=406) had an ACP document completed by a health professional or someone else on their behalf. Older participants were more likely to have ACP documented. Multivariate analyses indicated the odds of having self-completed ACP documents, compared with no advance care plan or ACP completed by someone else, were significantly influenced by age, country of birth, setting and whether the site had ACP training, policies or guidelines.DiscussionWhile 60% of people with dementia had some form of ACP documentation, only half of the cases in which ACP was documented included an ACD completed by the person themselves.
In vitro transduction of antimicrobial resistance genes into Escherichia coli isolates from backyard poultry in Mexico
Authors: Talavera-González Juan Martín , Talavera-Rojas Martín , Soriano-Vargas Edgardo , Vázquez-Navarrete Jesús , Salgado-Miranda Celene 
Published: January 2021

The transmission of multidrug-resistant pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes is an emerging problem involving multiple factors (humans, domestic animals, wildlife). The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Escherichia coli isolates with different antimicrobial resistance genes from backyard poultry and to demonstrate the in vitro transduction phenomenon of these genes between phages from migratory wild birds and poultry E. coli isolates. We collected 197 E. coli isolates from chickens, turkeys, and ducks in backyard production units (northern region of the State of Mexico). Isolates were resistant to ampicillin (80.7%), tetracycline (64.4%), carbenicillin (56.3%), and nalidixic acid and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (both, 26.9%). Moreover, the genes blaTEM (56.3%), tetB (20.8%), tetA (19.2%), sulI (7.6%), sulII (10.1%), qnrA (9.6%), and qnrB (5.5%) were found. In vitro transduction using phages from migratory wild birds sampled in the wetland Chimaliapan (State of Mexico) was successfully achieved. It was possible to transduce qnrA, tetB, blaTEM, and sulII genes to E. coli isolates from poultry. This is the first report that describes the transduction of antimicrobial resistance genes from phages of migratory wild birds to poultry and suggests the possible transmission in backyard production units.
Welcome to AI matters 6(2)
Authors: Leite Iolanda , Karpatne Anuj 
Published: January 2021

Welcome to the second issue of the sixth volume of the AI Matters Newsletter.
We open with the annual report of SIGAI by our new leaership team. We then bring you a brief report on upcoming SIGAI Events and Conference Reports by Louise Dennis, our new conference coordination officer. In our regular Education column, Todd Neller presents a retrospective of an initiative for mentoring undergraduate research in AI that has been going on since 2014. In the Policy column, Larry Medsker covers ongoing discussions on AI policy issues, for example with respect to ethical implications on Facial Recognition software and surveillance technologies to track the coronavirus pandemic. We end the issue with our regular column on AI generated crosswords from Adi Botea.
Diamonds are not forever: liveness in reactive programming with guarded recursion
Authors: Bahr Patrick , Graulund Christian Uldal , Møgelberg Rasmus Ejlers 
Published: January 2021

When designing languages for functional reactive programming (FRP) the main challenge is to provide the user with a simple, flexible interface for writing programs on a high level of abstraction while ensuring that all programs can be implemented efficiently in a low-level language. To meet this challenge, a new family of modal FRP languages has been proposed, in which variants of Nakano's guarded fixed point operator are used for writing recursive programs guaranteeing properties such as causality and productivity. As an apparent extension to this it has also been suggested to use Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) as a language for reactive programming through the Curry-Howard isomorphism, allowing properties such as termination, liveness and fairness to be encoded in types. However, these two ideas are in conflict with each other, since the fixed point operator introduces non-termination into the inductive types that are supposed to provide termination guarantees.
In this paper we show that by regarding the modal time step operator of LTL a submodality of the one used for guarded recursion (rather than equating them), one can obtain a modal type system capable of expressing liveness properties while retaining the power of the guarded fixed point operator. We introduce the language Lively RaTT, a modal FRP language with a guarded fixed point operator and an `until' type constructor as in LTL, and show how to program with events and fair streams. Using a step-indexed Kripke logical relation we prove operational properties of Lively RaTT including productivity and causality as well as the termination and liveness properties expected of types from LTL. Finally, we prove that the type system of Lively RaTT guarantees the absence of implicit space leaks.
Deciding accuracy of differential privacy schemes
Authors: Barthe Gilles , Chadha Rohit , Krogmeier Paul , Sistla A. Prasad , Viswanathan Mahesh 
Published: January 2021

Differential privacy is a mathematical framework for developing statistical computations with provable guarantees of privacy and accuracy. In contrast to the privacy component of differential privacy, which has a clear mathematical and intuitive meaning, the accuracy component of differential privacy does not have a generally accepted definition; accuracy claims of differential privacy algorithms vary from algorithm to algorithm and are not instantiations of a general definition. We identify program discontinuity as a common theme in existing
ad hoc
definitions and introduce an alternative notion of accuracy parametrized by, what we call, — the of an input
x
w.r.t. a deterministic computation
f
and a distance
d
, is the minimal distance
d
(
x
,
y
) over all
y
such that
f
(
y
)≠
f
(
x
). We show that our notion of accuracy subsumes the definition used in theoretical computer science, and captures known accuracy claims for differential privacy algorithms. In fact, our general notion of accuracy helps us prove better claims in some cases. Next, we study the decidability of accuracy. We first show that accuracy is in general undecidable. Then, we define a non-trivial class of probabilistic computations for which accuracy is decidable (unconditionally, or assuming Schanuel’s conjecture). We implement our decision procedure and experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of our approach for generating proofs or counterexamples of accuracy for common algorithms from the literature.
egg: Fast and extensible equality saturation
Authors: Willsey Max , Nandi Chandrakana , Wang Yisu Remy , Flatt Oliver , Tatlock Zachary , Panchekha Pavel 
Published: January 2021

An e-graph efficiently represents a congruence relation over many expressions. Although they were originally developed in the late 1970s for use in automated theorem provers, a more recent technique known as equality saturation repurposes e-graphs to implement state-of-the-art, rewrite-driven compiler optimizations and program synthesizers. However, e-graphs remain unspecialized for this newer use case. Equality saturation workloads exhibit distinct characteristics and often require ad-hoc e-graph extensions to incorporate transformations beyond purely syntactic rewrites.
This work contributes two techniques that make e-graphs fast and extensible, specializing them to equality saturation. A new amortized invariant restoration technique called rebuilding takes advantage of equality saturation's distinct workload, providing asymptotic speedups over current techniques in practice. A general mechanism called e-class analyses integrates domain-specific analyses into the e-graph, reducing the need for ad hoc manipulation.
We implemented these techniques in a new open-source library called egg. Our case studies on three previously published applications of equality saturation highlight how egg's performance and flexibility enable state-of-the-art results across diverse domains.
Corpse reviver: sound and efficient gradual typing via contract verification
Authors: Moy Cameron , Nguyễn Phúc C. , Tobin-Hochstadt Sam , Van Horn David 
Published: January 2021

Gradually typed programming languages permit the incremental addition of static types to untyped programs. To remain sound, languages insert run-time checks at the boundaries between typed and untyped code. Unfortunately, performance studies have shown that the overhead of these checks can be disastrously high, calling into question the viability of sound gradual typing. In this paper, we show that by building on existing work on soft contract verification, we can reduce or eliminate this overhead.
Our key insight is that while untyped code cannot be trusted by a gradual type system, there is no need to consider only the worst case when optimizing a gradually typed program. Instead, we statically analyze the untyped portions of a gradually typed program to prove that almost all of the dynamic checks implied by gradual type boundaries cannot fail, and can be eliminated at compile time. Our analysis is modular, and can be applied to any portion of a program.
We evaluate this approach on a dozen existing gradually typed programs previously shown to have prohibitive performance overhead—with a median overhead of 2.5× and up to 80.6× in the worst case—and eliminate all overhead in most cases, suffering only 1.5× overhead in the worst case.
Evaluation of the Adsorption Efficiency of Glycine-, Iminodiacetic Acid -, and Amino Propyl-Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles for the Removal of Potentially Toxic Elements from Contaminated Water Solution
Authors: Alswieleh Abdullah M. , Albahar Hajar Y. , Alfawaz Amal M. , Alsilme Abdulilah S. , Beagan Abeer M. , Alsalme Ali M. , Almeataq Mohammed S. , Alshahrani Ahmed , Alotaibi Khalid M. 
Published: January 2021

In present work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were prepared with a surface area of 1048 m2g-1 and a large pore size of ca. 6 nm, using Stöber process in the presence of expanding reagent (

n

-hexane). The surface of MSNs was modified with three different functional groups (amine, iminodiacetic acid, and glycine) and characterized by a variety of physicochemical techniques. The adsorption studies were carried out at different pH values in two extraction systems. In batch method, the maximum adsorption efficiency of heavy metals was measured to be 95% for all fabricated MSNs at pH 9. At pH 3, the adsorption efficiency of Pb and Cu was observed to be affected by the carboxylic moiety involved in the functional group. As the number of carboxylic moieties increase, the removal efficiency of Pb and Cu ions increased by two folds. The results demonstrated the selectivity of IDA-MSNs for the removal of Pb and Cu ions, even though the multielements are present in an aqueous solution. On the other hand, the incorporation of MSNs into the polymeric membrane showed high water permeability (

9.96
±
3

L
/

m

2

.
h
.
bar

), and 98% rejection was achieved at pH 7 for Cu+2 and Pb+2 ions.
Lighting a Fire: Can We Harness Pyroptosis to Ignite Antitumor Immunity?
Authors: Zhang Zhibin , Zhang Ying , Lieberman Judy 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
The impressive success of current cancer immunotherapy in some patients but lack of effectiveness in most patients suggests that additional strategies to promote antitumor immunity are needed. How cancer cells die, whether spontaneously or in response to therapeutic intervention, has a profound effect on the type of immune response mobilized. Here, we review research that highlights a previously unappreciated role of gasdermin-mediated inflammatory death (pyroptosis) to promote antitumor immunity and identifies gasdermin E as a tumor suppressor. Immune elimination of tumor cells by natural killer cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which is the final key event in antitumor immunity, was previously thought to be noninflammatory. The research shows that gasdermin expression in tumor cells converts immune cell–mediated killing to inflammatory pyroptosis when cell death–inducing granzymes directly cleave and activate gasdermins. Granzyme B cleaves gasdermin E, and granzyme A cleaves gasdermin B. The data suggest the potential to harness pyroptosis in the tumor to ignite an effective immune response to immunologically cold tumors. Gasdermin expression also augments toxicity of cancer therapy—gasdermin E expression by B-cell leukemias and lymphomas is a root cause of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T–cell cytokine storm, and its expression in normal tissues promotes the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Even though our knowledge about the role of pyroptosis in cancer is growing, there is still a lot to learn—what activates it, how it is regulated, when it is beneficial, and how it can be harnessed therapeutically to improve cancer immunotherapy or reduce therapy-related toxicity.