bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Class II treatment in early mixed dentition with the eruption guidance appliance: effects and long-term stability
Authors: Keski-Nisula Katri , Keski-Nisula Leo , Varrela Juha 
Published: October 2019

Summary

Objectives
Our aim was to analyse dentoskeletal effects and long-term stability of Class II treatment carried out with an eruption guidance appliance (EGA) in early mixed dentition.

Materials and methods
Sixty-five Class II patients (38 females and 27 males), treated with an EGA in early mixed dentition, were compared with 58 children (26 females and 32 males) with untreated Class II malocclusion. The mean age in the treatment group at the start (T1) and end of treatment (T2) was 5.4 years (±0.4) and 8.5 years (±0.9), respectively, and at the final examination in the early permanent dentition (T3) 16.7 years (±0.4). In the control group, the mean age at T1 and T2 were 5.1 years (±0.5) and 8.4 years (±0.5), respectively. The independent and dependent sample t-tests, Chi-square test, and Fisher’s test were used in the statistical evaluation.

Results
In the treatment group, the frequency of Class II decreased from 100 to 14% during the treatment (T1–T2) and a significant correction took place in all occlusal variables. At T2, the treatment and control groups showed statistically significant differences (P &lt; 0.05) in all occlusal variables. In the treated children, mandibular length increased 5 mm more (P &lt; 0.001) from T1 to T2 compared to the control children, and the ANB angle became significantly smaller (P = 0.006). During the post-treatment period (T2–T3), the frequency of Class II in the treatment group decreased from 14 to 2% (P &lt; 0.05), overbite increased from 2.2 to 3.1 mm (P &lt; 0.05), and lower crowding increased from 2to 14% (P &lt; 0.05). Post-treatment changes in overjet and upper crowding were not statistically significant. At T3, the mean values of the SNA, SNB, and ANB angles were 83.0° (SD 3.9°), 81.3° (SD 3.8°), and 2.4° (SD 1.5°), respectively.

Conclusions
A clinically significant correction of the molar relationship, overjet, overbite, incisor alignment, and growth enhancement of the mandible were observed after treatment in early mixed dentition. The treatment results remained largely stable in the early permanent dentition. However, an increase was observed in overbite and lower crowding. None of the children treated in early mixed dentition needed a second treatment phase.
Geographical variation in palliative cancer care in a tax-based healthcare system: drug reimbursement in Denmark
Authors: Daugaard Cecilie , Neergaard Mette Asbjoern , Vestergaard Anne Høy Seemann , Nielsen Mette Kjærgaard , Goodman David C , Johnsen Søren P 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Background
In Denmark, a tax-based universal healthcare setting, drug reimbursement for terminal illness (DRTI) should be equally accessible for all terminally ill patients. Examining DRTI status by regions provides new knowledge on inequality in palliative care provision and associated factors. This study aims to investigate geographical variation in DRTI among terminally ill cancer patients.

Methods
We linked socioeconomic and medical data from 135 819 Danish cancer decedents in the period 2007–15 to regional healthcare characteristics. We analyzed associations between region of residence and DRTI. Prevalence ratios (PR) for DRTI were estimated using generalized linear models adjusted for patient factors (age, gender, comorbidity and socioeconomic profile) and multilevel models adjusted for both patient factors and regional healthcare capacity (patients per general practitioner, numbers of hospital and hospice beds).

Results
DRTI allocation differed substantially across Danish regions. Healthcare capacity was associated with DRTI with a higher probability of DRTI among patients living in regions with high compared with low hospice bed supply (PR 1.13, 95% CI 1.10–1.17). Also, the fully adjusted PR of DRTI was 0.94 (95% CI 0.91–0.96) when comparing high with low number of hospital beds. When controlled for both patient and regional healthcare characteristics, the PR for DRTI was 1.17 (95% CI 1.14–1.21) for patients living in the Central Denmark Region compared with the Capital Region.

Conclusion
DRTI status varied across regions in Denmark. The variation was associated with the distribution of healthcare resources. These findings highlight difficulties in ensuring equal access to palliative care even in a universal healthcare system.
Present and future of the critically endangered Araucaria angustifolia due to climate change and habitat loss
Authors: Marchioro Cesar A , Santos Karine L , Siminski Alexandre 
Published: October 2019

AbstractThe critically endangered Brazilian pine, also called araucaria, (Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze) is a key species of the Araucaria moist forest (AMF, Mixed Ombrophilous Forest). Illegal timber extraction, agricultural conversion and severe degradation have reduced the AMF to only 13 per cent of its original cover, with climate change imposing additional challenges for cold adapted species such as araucaria. Previous studies have assessed climate change impacts on A. angustifolia, but have been limited by analysis constraints. Here, we used a machine learning technique to understand how land use and climate change might affect the distribution of A. angustifolia, and to evaluate the effectiveness of existing protected areas (PAs) to conserve this species. Our results demonstrated that despite the recent efforts to conserve the Atlantic Forest, conversion of natural habitats into forest plantation still occurs within araucaria’s distribution range. Our model predicted a drastic reduction in environmentally suitable areas for this species of up to 77 per cent in the coming decades. Also, the existing PAs show low efficacy to protect suitable areas in the future. Combined, these results suggest that A. angustifolia will be under great threat within the next few decades and the development of conservation strategies to save this species is essential. Ideally, the conservation programs should integrate in situ and on farm approaches, including forest management strategies. Although in situ strategies play an important role as gene banks, on-farm strategies can be used to promote the restoration and expansion of A. angustifolia populations in the areas predicted as suitable.
Consulting Forester Timber Sale Practices in the US South
Authors: Grove Patrick M , Conrad Joseph L , Harris Thomas G , Dahlen Joseph 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
Private timber sale transactions are vital to the forest products industry in the US South. Consulting foresters often assist private landowners in administering timber sales, and their decisions and practices have a major impact on landowner compensation, satisfaction, and market efficiency. This study used a mixed-mode survey of consulting foresters in 11 southern states to examine contract terms, timber sale practices, and market conditions on private sales. Responses were received from 430 consultants, resulting in a 37 percent response rate. Final harvests are primarily offered to bidders, whereas thinnings are more likely to have timber prices negotiated. Pay-as-cut payment terms are typical for thinnings, but less common in the Mountains where lump sum is relatively more common. Well under 50 percent of firms from the Coastal Plain and Piedmont conduct presale inventories on thinnings, whereas nearly two-thirds of firms in the Mountains use inventories on these types of harvests. Fewer than 25 percent of responding foresters suggested that restrictive quotas reduced landowner revenue on pay-as-cut timber sales. Consulting firms reporting that sawtimber quotas were never a problem in their area reported at least two more sawtimber outlets than those concerned about restrictive mill quotas.
Older Adults’ Recalled Memorable Messages about Aging and Their Associations with Successful Aging
Authors: Bernhold Quinten S , Giles Howard 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
Using the Communicative Ecology Model of Successful Aging (CEMSA), this study examined how one’s own age-related communication and memorable message characteristics indirectly predict successful aging, via aging efficacy. Older adults with higher dispositional hope recalled memorable messages as (a) higher in positivity, (b) higher in efficacy, and (c) more likely to contain a theme of aging not being important or being a subjective state that can be overcome with the right mindset. Older adults were classified as engaged, bantering, or disengaged agers, based on their own age-related communication. Uniquely for CEMSA’s development and the blended role of hope theory within it, memorable message efficacy indirectly predicted greater successful aging, via heightened aging efficacy.
Point-actuated feedback control of multidimensional interfaces
Authors: Tomlin Ruben J , Gomes Susana N 
Published: October 2019

AbstractWe consider the application of feedback control strategies with point actuators to multidimensional evolving interfaces in order to stabilize desired states. We take a Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation as a test case; this equation arises in the study of thin liquid films, exhibiting a wide range of dynamics in different parameter regimes, including unbounded growth and full spatiotemporal chaos. The controls correspond physically to mass-flux actuators located in the substrate on which the liquid film lies. In the case of partial state observability, we utilize a proportional control strategy where forcing at a point depends only on the local observation. We find that point-actuated controls may inhibit unbounded growth of a solution, if the actuators are sufficient in number and in strength, and can exponentially stabilize the desired state. We investigate actuator arrangements, and find that the equidistant case is the most favourable for control performance, with a large drop in effectiveness for poorly arranged actuators. Proportional controls are also used to synchronize two chaotic solutions. When the interface is fully observable, we construct model-based controls using the linearization of the governing equation. These improve on proportional controls and are applied to stabilize non-trivial steady and travelling wave solutions.
Measuring and decomposing the effort regarding the equity of inpatient benefits based on the adjustment of the new cooperative medical scheme in western rural China
Authors: Xie Yongxin , Li Qin , Qiao Hui , Zhao Ting , Chen Ya’nan , Yang Biao 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Background
The ultimate objective of rural health reform and development is to establish a mature healthcare service system that adapts to the socialist market economy and the developmental level of the Chinese economy and meets the health demands of the people. Reform of the payment system is one of the key elements. This article explores the effect of the system and the causes of benefit inequity, provides an objective evaluation of policy implementation and offers data support for policy adjustment.

Methods
A two-stage stratified random sampling data collection method comprising a survey in 2009 (the sample size was 3832 families) and a follow-up survey in 2015 (the sample size was 3992 families) was used. Qualitative data are presented as rates or ratios and the χ2 test was used for descriptive statistics. Quantitative data were analysed using a t test. A generalized linear model (GLM) with gamma distribution of the log connection function was adopted to analyse the factors of the compensation benefit inequity. The degree of the compensation benefit inequity contribution was analysed using the concentration index (CI) decomposition method and the Oaxaca decomposition method.

Results
Reimbursement refers to the reimbursement expense received by inpatients from the New Cooperative Medical System (NCMS). In the GLM, there were some positive factors for reimbursement in the NCMS, including economic level, level of health facility and deductibles. The CI decomposition analysis results show that the main factors that increased the compensation benefit inequity were economic levels and deductibles over the past 2 y. However, inpatient days (2009) and the actual reimbursement ratio (2015) decreased the inequity. The Oaxaca decomposition analysis results suggest that changes in compensation benefit inequity between 2009 and 2015 were more attributable to changes in economic status and variables related to policy compensation than to demographic variables.
Conclusions: This study showed that inequity decreased from 2009 to 2015, which could be the result of adjustment of the compensation policy. However, we should remain vigilant lest the gap between the rich and the poor leads to an increase in inequity.
Prevalence and determinants of poor glycaemic control: a cross-sectional study among Moroccan type 2 diabetes patients
Authors: Chetoui Ahmed , Kaoutar Kamal , Elmoussaoui Soufiane , Boutahar Kaltoum , El Kardoudi Abdesslam , Chigr Fatiha , Najimi Mohamed 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Background
Diabetes remains poorly controlled in a high proportion of diabetes patients. This study examines the prevalence of poor glycaemic control and associated factors in type 2 diabetes patients in the Beni-Mellal Khenifra region in Morocco.

Methods
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017 among 1456 diabetes patients attending primary health centres. Demographic and clinical data were collected through face-to-face interviews using structured and pre-tested questionnaires. Anthropometric measurements, including body weight, height and waist circumference were taken using standardized techniques and calibrated equipment. Glycaemic control was assessed in terms of the glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level and poor glycaemic control was defined as HbA1c ≥7% and a level &lt;7% reflects good glycaemic control.

Results
Of the total participants, 66.3% had poor glycaemic control. Bivariate analysis showed that sex (p=0.010), education level (p=0.013), body mass index (p=0.048), duration of diabetes (p&lt;0.0001) and type of therapeutic regimen (p&lt;0.0001) were significantly associated with HbA1c level. However, multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that only a longer duration of diabetes (OR 1.525 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.183–1.967], p=0.001) and receiving insulin therapy alone (OR 1.589 [95% CI 1.157–2.183], p=0.004) or a combination of oral antidiabetics with insulin (OR 2.554 [95% CI 1.786–3.653], p&lt;0.001) were significantly associated with inadequate glycaemic control.

Conclusions
Despite the particularities of the region, the findings about glycaemic control and its cross-sectionally associated factors are in line with findings from other regions of Morocco. In this subgroup, the longer duration of diabetes and insulin treatment could constitute a cause leading to poor glycaemic control. However, inverse causality cannot be excluded.
Health inequality in the tropics and its costs: a Sustainable Development Goals alert
Authors: Callander Emily J , Topp Stephanie M 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Background
It is known that health impacts economic performance. This article aims to assess the current state of health inequality in the tropics, defined as the countries located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and estimate the impact of this inequality on gross domestic product (GDP).

Methods
We constructed a series of concentration indices showing between-country inequalities in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), taken from the Global Burden of Disease Study. We then utilized a non-linear least squares model to estimate the influence of health on GDP and counterfactual analysis to assess the GDP for each country had there been no between-country inequality.

Results
The poorest 25% of the tropical population had 68% of the all-cause DALYs burden in 2015; 82% of the communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional DALYs burden; 55% of the non-communicable disease DALYs burden and 61% of the injury DALYs burden. An increase in the all-cause DALYs rate of 1/1000 resulted in a 0.05% decrease in GDP. If there were no inequality between countries in all-cause DALY rates, most high-income countries would see a modest increase in GDP, with low- and middle-income countries estimated to see larger increases.

Conclusions
There are large and growing inequalities in health in the tropics and this has significant economic cost for lower-income countries.
Medical injection and access to sterile injection equipment in low- and middle-income countries: a meta-analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys (2010–2017)
Authors: Adewuyi Emmanuel O , Auta Asa 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Background
Unsafe injection practices contribute to increased risks of blood-borne infections, including human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of medical injections as well as assess the level of access to sterile injection equipment by demographic factors in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods
We carried out a meta-analysis of nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) conducted between 2010 and 2017 in 39 LMICs. Random effects meta-analysis was used in estimating pooled and disaggregated prevalence. All analyses were conducted using Stata version 14 and Microsoft Excel 2016.

Results
The pooled 12-month prevalence estimate of medical injection was 32.4% (95% confidence interval 29.3–35.6). Pakistan, Rwanda and Myanmar had the highest prevalence of medical injection: 59.1%, 56.4% and 53.0%, respectively. Regionally, the prevalence of medical injection ranged from 13.5% in west Asia to 42.7% in south and southeast Asia. The pooled prevalence of access to sterile injection equipment was 96.5%, with Pakistan, Comoros and Afghanistan having comparatively less prevalence: 86.0%, 90.3% and 90.9%, respectively.

Conclusions
Overuse of medical injection and potentially unsafe injection practices remain a considerable challenge in LMICs. To stem the tides of these challenges, national governments of LMICs need to initiate appropriate interventions, including education of stakeholders, and equity in access to quality healthcare services.
Do the Unemployed Pay Lower Prices? A Reassessment of the Value of Unemployment Insurance
Authors: Campos Rodolfo G , Reggio Iliana 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
It is well known that transitions from employment to unemployment reduce consumption expenditure, but is this fall mainly driven by quantities or by prices? Using panel data on expenditure and quantities from the Spanish consumption survey we find that the unemployed pay prices that are, on average, 1.5% lower, and that this difference in prices accounts for roughly one sixth of the gap in consumption expenditure between the employed and the unemployed. The reduction in prices estimated with panel data is considerably lower than the existing estimates for the United States, which rely on cross-sectional comparisons. Based on our estimates, and using economic theory, we reassess the value of providing unemployment insurance and show how the social value of providing unemployment insurance can be decomposed into a consumption-smoothing component and a component that depends on prices.
Optimal Contracting with Endogenous Project Mission
Authors: Cassar Lea , Armouti-Hansen Jesper 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
Empirical evidence suggests that workers care about the mission of their job, in addition to their wage. This paper studies how organizations can choose a mission to attract, incentivize, and screen their workers. We analyze a model in which a principal offers a contract to an agent for the development of a project and can influence the agent’s marginal return of effort through the choice of project mission. The principal’s and the agents’ mission preferences are misaligned and the agents vary in the intensity of their mission drive. Our main results highlight that how far the organization chooses to move from its preferred mission depends on the contractual environment in which it operates. Missions will be more agent-preferred in environments in which effort is noncontractible. In environments in which agents’ drive is unknown, missions will be less agent-preferred and the organization will find it optimal to offer contract menus that may be implemented via scoring auctions when there are competing agents. Our analysis applies to the design and allocation of aid contracts, research funding, and creative jobs.
Is the ischiofemoral space value of Japanese hip joints equal to that of Western populations?
Authors: Mimura Tomohiro , Mori Kanji , Okumura Noriaki , Kumagai Kosuke , Maeda Tsutomu , Yayama Takafumi , Imai Shinji 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
Ischiofemoral space (IFS) is a radiological parameter employed for diagnosing ischiofemoral impingement (IFI). The mean IFS value measured with the leg in natural resting position has been reported as 23.0 mm in males and 18.6 mm in females in a patients-based Western population. The normal value of IFS for an Asian population is unknown. This study therefore aimed to investigate whether the IFS value in Japanese hip joints equals that of the Western population. We retrospectively examined 89 consecutive Japanese individuals (178 hips) (46 male subjects with 92 hips, 43 female subjects with 86 hips; mean age 58.7 ± 15.7 years, range 17–84 years) who had undergone computed tomography (CT) for conditions unrelated to hip disorders and ordered by other departments at our institution. All CT scans were performed in a standardized fashion: patient in a flat spine position, hips and knees in extension, and the leg in its natural resting position. IFS was evaluated on axial images as the shortest distance between the ischium and the lesser trochanter. The mean IFSs of this Japanese patient-based population were 20.5 ± 7.3 mm [95% confidence interval (CI) 19.0–22.0] in the male cohort and 13.9 ± 6.5 mm (95% CI 12.6–15.3) in the female cohort. The IFS value was significantly smaller in female subjects than in male subjects. Taking the lower limit of 95% CI into consideration, the IFSs measured in natural leg-resting position in the Japanese male and female groups were significantly smaller than those of the Western populations.
Compressive cryotherapy is superior to cryotherapy alone in reducing pain after hip arthroscopy
Authors: Klaber Ianiv , Greeff Eugene , O’Donnell John 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
The early post-operative period after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement is characterized by pain and swelling. Minimization of pain is of critical importance to the patient, but pain might also reduce patients’ compliance to early physiotherapy, delay rehabilitation and hospital discharge. Avoiding early mobilization represents a risk factor for developing capsulolabral adhesions. Compressive cryotherapy (CC) has been shown to reduce pain after knee and hip replacement surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the inclusion of CC in the pain management and early discharge after hip arthroscopy. A prospective cohort of 20 patients who received CC and 20 retrospectively matched controls who received standard cryotherapy (SC) were compared. The CC was added to the standard post-operative analgesia and rehabilitation protocol. Using non-parametric tests, the percentage of patients discharged in post-operative day one, pain VAS scores and analgesia requirement were compared. The CC group reported significantly lower pain scores compared to SC; VAS 1 (0–3) and 2 (0–5) (P = 0.0028), respectively. A non-significant reduction in analgesic requirement 1.75 versus 2.8 doses per patient was found and 20/20 patients were discharged on post-operative day one versus 17/20 in the SC group (P = 0.23). Patients treated with CC after hip arthroscopy reported lower levels of pain during the early post-operative phase and were able to be discharged home sooner when compared with a matched control group receiving ice therapy alone. A trend towards lower opioid analgesia requirement was observed.