bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prediction of cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis using risk age calculations: evaluation of concordance across risk age models
Authors: Wibetoe Grunde , Sexton Joseph , Ikdahl Eirik , Rollefstad Silvia , Kitas George D. , van Riel Piet , Gabriel Sherine , Kvien Tore K. , Douglas Karen , Sandoo Aamer , Arts Elke E. , Wållberg-Jonsson Solveig , Dahlqvist Solbritt Rantapää , Karpouzas George , Dessein Patrick H. , Tsang Linda , El-Gabalawy Hani , Hitchon Carol A. , Pascual-Ramos Virginia , Contreas-Yañes Irazu , Sfikakis Petros P. , González-Gay Miguel A. , Colunga-Pedraz Iris J. , Galarza-Delgado Dionicio A. , Azpiri-Lopez Jose Ramon , Crowson Cynthia S. , Semb Anne Grete 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background
In younger individuals, low absolute risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) may conceal an increased risk age and relative risk of CVD. Calculation of risk age is proposed as an adjuvant to absolute CVD risk estimation in European guidelines. We aimed to compare the discriminative ability of available risk age models in prediction of CVD in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Secondly, we also evaluated the performance of risk age models in subgroups based on RA disease characteristics.

Methods
RA patients aged 30–70 years were included from an international consortium named A Trans-Atlantic Cardiovascular Consortium for Rheumatoid Arthritis (ATACC-RA). Prior CVD and diabetes mellitus were exclusion criteria. The discriminatory ability of specific risk age models was evaluated using c-statistics and their standard errors after calculating time until fatal or non-fatal CVD or last follow-up.

Results
A total of 1974 patients were included in the main analyses, and 144 events were observed during follow-up, the median follow-up being 5.0 years. The risk age models gave highly correlated results, demonstrating R2 values ranging from 0.87 to 0.97. However, risk age estimations differed > 5 years in 15–32% of patients. C-statistics ranged 0.68–0.72 with standard errors of approximately 0.03. Despite certain RA characteristics being associated with low c-indices, standard errors were high. Restricting analysis to European RA patients yielded similar results.

Conclusions
The cardiovascular risk age and vascular age models have comparable performance in predicting CVD in RA patients. The influence of RA disease characteristics on the predictive ability of these prediction models remains inconclusive.
Solving time fractional Burgers’ and Fisher’s equations using cubic B-spline approximation method
Authors: Majeed Abdul , Kamran Mohsin , Iqbal Muhammad Kashif , Baleanu Dumitru 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThis article presents a numerical algorithm for solving time fractional Burgers’ and Fisher’s equations using cubic B-spline finite element method. TheL1 formula with Caputo derivative is used to discretized the time fractional derivative, whereas the Crank–Nicolson scheme based on cubic B-spline functions is used to interpolate the solution curve along the spatial grid. The numerical scheme has been implemented on three test problems. The obtained results indicate that the proposed method is a good option for solving nonlinear fractional Burgers’ and Fisher’s equations. The error norms$L_{2}$L2and$L_{\infty }$L∞have been calculated to validate the efficiency and accuracy of the presented algorithm.
Ethiopia’s FDI inflow from India and China: analysis of trends and determinants
Authors: Ergano Degele , Rambabu K. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThis study analyzes the trends and determinants of FDI inflow to Ethiopia from India and China. It is based on panel data of 2 decades (1997–2016). It employs a gravity model approach and fixed effects estimation technique to identify factors governing the flow of FDI to Ethiopia. Factors affecting the flow of Indian FDI to Ethiopia include Ethiopia’s trade with India, India’s population size, GDP of Ethiopia, GDP PC of India, real interest rate, credit access and FDI openness in Ethiopia. Similarly, factors governing Chinese FDI flow to Ethiopia include Ethiopia’s GDP growth, Ethiopia’s trade with China, FDI openness and secondary school enrolment. Government expenditure in the host country reduces China’s and India’s FDI inflow. The traditional explanatory variable, a resource rent, is not found significant in explaining FDI in flow from China and India. The FDI inflow from India and China showed an increasing trend with an average rate of 82% and 202%, respectively, during the two-decade period. But the overall trend for both partner countries showed fluctuation across years. We can conclude that FDI from India is responsive to macroeconomic variables such as OER, real interest rate and liberalization measures such as trade openness in Ethiopia. FDI and trade flows from China are positively related to one another and cheap labour is an important attraction factor for Chinese FDI inflow. Policy makers in Ethiopia can focus on macroeconomic reform in case of the country’s relation with India whereas they focus on maintaining cheap labour cost, GDP growth and trade transactions with China.
Changes of the glutathione redox system during the weaning transition in piglets, in relation to small intestinal morphology and barrier function
Authors: Degroote Jeroen , Vergauwen Hans , Wang Wei , Van Ginneken Chris , De Smet Stefaan , Michiels Joris 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background
Weaning is known to result in barrier dysfunction and villus atrophy in the immediate post-weaning phase, and the magnitude of these responses is hypothesized to correlate with changes in the glutathione (GSH) redox system. Therefore, these parameters were simultaneously measured throughout the weaning phase, in piglets differing in birth weight category and weaning age, as these pre-weaning factors are important determinants for the weaning transition. Low birth weight (LBW) and normal birth weight (NBW) littermates were assigned to one of three weaning treatments; i.e. weaning at 3 weeks of age (3w), weaning at 4 weeks of age (4w) and removal from the sow at 3 d of age and fed a milk replacer until weaning at 3 weeks of age (3d3w). For each of these treatments, six LBW and six NBW piglets were euthanized at 0, 2, 5, 12 or 28 d post-weaning piglets, adding up 180 piglets.

Results
Weaning increased the glutathione peroxidase activity on d 5 post-weaning in plasma, and duodenal and jejunal mucosa. Small intestinal glutathione-S-transferase activity gradually increased until d 12 post-weaning, and this was combined with a progressive rise of mucosal GSH up till d 12 post-weaning. Oxidation of the GSH redox status (GSH/GSSG Eh) was only observed in the small intestinal mucosa of 3d3w weaned piglets at d 5 post-weaning. These piglets also demonstrated increased fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FD4) and horseradish peroxidase fluxes in the duodenum and distal jejunum during the experiment, and specifically demonstrated increased FD4 fluxes at d 2 to d 5 post-weaning. On the other hand, profound villus atrophy was observed during the weaning transition for all weaning treatments. Finally, LBW and NBW piglets did not demonstrate notable differences in GSH redox status, small intestinal barrier function and histo-morphology throughout the experiment.

Conclusion
Although moderate changes in the GSH redox system were observed upon weaning, the GSH redox status remained at a steady state level in 3w and 4w weaned piglets and was therefore not associated with weaning induced villus atrophy. Conversely, 3d3w weaned piglets demonstrated GSH redox imbalance in the small intestinal mucosa, and this co-occurred with a temporal malfunction of their intestinal barrier function.
Knowledge and confidence in managing obstructive sleep apnea patients in Canadian otolaryngology - head and neck surgery residents: A cross sectional survey
Authors: Ansari Saad , Hu Amanda 
Published: April 2020

Background Obstructive sleep apnea is an expected competency for Otolaryngology - Head and Neck surgery residents and tested on the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons examination. Our objective was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and confidence of Canadian Otolaryngology - Head and Neck surgery residents in managing Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) patients. Methods An anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey was distributed to all current Canadian Otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery residents according to the Dillman Tailored Design Method in English and French. The previously validated OSA Knowledge and Attitudes (OSAKA) questionnaire was administered, along with questions exploring resident confidence levels with performing OSA surgeries. Descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon Rank Sum and unpaired Student's t tests were calculated in Excel. Results Sixty-six (38.4%) out of 172 residents responded (60.6% male; 80.3% English-speaking). Median OSAKA knowledge score was 16/18 (88.9%; Interquartile range: 14–16). Although all respondents believed that OSA was an important clinical disorder, only 45.5% of residents felt confident in managing OSA patients, while only 15.2% were confident in managing continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP). Senior residents were more confident than junior residents in identifying OSA patients (96.7% vs 69.4%; p < 0.005) and managing the disease (60.0% vs. 33.3%; p = 0.03), including CPAP (26.7% vs. 5.6%; p = 0.01). Residents had lowest confidence levels in performing tongue base suspension (1.5%), transpalatal advancement pharyngoplasty (3.0%), and laser assisted uvulopalatoplasty (6.1%). Highest confidence levels were described in performing septoplasty (56.1%), adult tonsillectomy (75.8%), and tracheotomy (77.3%). Conclusions Otolaryngology - Head and Neck surgery residents’ knowledge of OSA was very good; however, confidence levels for managing OSA and performing OSA surgeries were varied. Several areas of perceived strengths and weaknesses in OSA training were identified by Canadian Otolaryngology - Head and Neck surgery residents.
Predictive analytics using big data for increased customer loyalty: Syriatel Telecom Company case study
Authors: Wassouf Wissam Nazeer , Alkhatib Ramez , Salloum Kamal , Balloul Shadi 
Published: April 2020

AbstractGiven the growing importance of customer behavior in the business market nowadays, telecom operators focus not only on customer profitability to increase market share but also on highly loyal customers as well as customers who are churn. The emergence of big data concepts introduced a new wave of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies. Big data analysis helps to describe customer’s behavior, understand their habits, develop appropriate marketing plans for organizations to identify sales transactions and build a long-term loyalty relationship. This paper provides a methodology for telecom companies to target different-value customers by appropriate offers and services. This methodology was implemented and tested using a dataset that contains about 127 million records for training and testing supplied by Syriatel corporation. Firstly, customers were segmented based on the new approach (Time-frequency- monetary) TFM (TFM where: Time (T): total of calls duration and Internet sessions in a certain period of time. Frequency (F): use services frequently within a certain period. Monetary (M): The money spent during a certain period.) and the level of loyalty was defined for each segment or group. Secondly, The loyalty level descriptors were taken as categories, choosing the best behavioral features for customers, their demographic information such as age, gender, and the services they share. Thirdly, Several classification algorithms were applied based on the descriptors and the chosen features to build different predictive models that were used to classify new users by loyalty. Finally, those models were evaluated based on several criteria and derive the rules of loyalty prediction. After that by analyzing these rules, the loyalty reasons at each level were discovered to target them the most appropriate offers and services.
Machine learning-selected variables associated with CD4 T cell recovery under antiretroviral therapy in very advanced HIV infection
Authors: Romero-Rodríguez Dámaris P. , Ramírez Carlos , Imaz-Rosshandler Iván , Ormsby Christopher E. , Peralta-Prado Amy , Olvera-García Gustavo , Cervantes Fernanda , Würsch-Molina Daniela , Romero-Rodríguez Jessica , Jiang Wei , Reyes-Terán Gustavo , Espinosa Enrique 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundA considerable portion of the HIV pandemic is composed of people under antiretroviral therapy, many of whom get a late diagnosis. Patients starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) at a very advanced stage of HIV disease attain a low recovery of CD4 T cells. Factors associated with poor recovery are incompletely described. This study aimed at finding variables associated with CD4 T cell recovery in late-presenting HIV patients.MethodsWe studied a cohort of HIV+patients initiating ART with very low basal CD4 T cell counts. We defined immune recovery as the net increase in circulating CD4 T cell counts after one year on ART. We analyzed diverse routine laboratory determinations at different times using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), adaptive LASSO and Conditional Inference Random Forest.ResultsCD4/CD8 ratio, % CD4 T cells and CD8 T cell counts at different times were the main recovery correlates, validated by all approaches. Unexpectedly, basal hematocrit was a consistent predictor. Additionally, week 24 creatinine had a high lasso coefficient, and alkaline phosphatase had a high conditional inference random forest coefficients, although neither was verified by other tests.ConclusionsCD4 T cell proportions are associated with CD4 T cell recovery, independently of cell counts. Inflammation-related variables could also affect reconstitution. These accessible variables may reflect underlying mechanisms and could improve the follow up of patients starting ART with an advanced HIV infection.
What are the optimal measures to identify anxiety and depression in people diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC): a systematic review
Authors: Shunmugasundaram Chindhu , Rutherford Claudia , Butow Phyllis N. , Sundaresan Puma , Dhillon Haryana M. 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background
A cancer diagnosis is potentially life-threatening, likely causing distress and uncertainty, which may be psychologically debilitating. Depression and anxiety are commonly underdiagnosed and undertreated in cancer patients. Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients face particular challenges that may contribute to distress. This review aims to: i) identify patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) designed to assess anxiety and depression in HNC; and ii) determine their suitability for use in research and clinical practice to screen patients.

Methods
We searched five electronic databases between July 2007 to July 2019 for studies assessing anxiety and depression in HNC patients. Searches were limited to this period to account for advances in cancer treatment. Records were screened for eligibility by one reviewer and 10% cross-checked by a second across all stages of the review. In addition to the electronic searches, PROM databases were searched for additional measures of anxiety and depression. All retrieved PROMs were mapped against Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 criteria for anxiety and depression to assess content coverage. Then, their psychometric properties appraised against the COSMIN checklist.

Results
Electronic searches identified 98 records, from which five anxiety and eight depression measures were retrieved. PROM database searches retrieved an additional four anxiety and four depression measures; a total of nine anxiety and 12 depression measures were appraised. Content coverage of anxiety measures ranged from 50% to 75% and depression measures from 42% to 100%. Demonstration of psychometric properties against COSMIN criteria ranged from 57% to 71% for anxiety measures (three PROMs > 70%) and from 29% to 86% for depression measures (nine PROMs > 70%). Three anxiety and seven depression measures had established clinical cut-offs in cancer populations.

Conclusions
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Zung Self-rating Depression and Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scales demonstrated good content coverage along with excellent psychometric properties, and thus were considered the most suitable PROMs to assess psychological distress in HNC populations. It is important to have PROMs assessing psychological distress that capture a comprehensive set of subjective symptoms. The identified PROMs will help researchers and health professionals in clinical-decision making, thereby potentially improving quality of life in HNC patients.
Detection of central veins using susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) for discrimination between lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS) and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD)
Authors: Anan Rania Adel , El-Adalany Mohamed Ali , Belal Tamer Mohamed Ibrahim , Elmogy Sabry Alam El-Dein 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background
Conventional brain MRI cannot always distinguish between different white matter lesions. Susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) can detect a sign called central vein sign which is suggested to discriminate between multiple sclerosis and other white matter lesions thus increasing the accuracy of MRI in MS diagnosis. This study aimed to evaluate the role of MR susceptibility weighted imaging in differentiating MS from CSVD lesions.

Results
The central vein sign (CVS) was found to have a premium diagnostic performance in diagnosis of MS with sensitivity 83.3%, specificity 70%, positive predictive value 80.6%, and negative predictive value 73.7%. When CVS positive lesions load was ≥ 44.24%, the specificity of CVS in diagnosing MS raised to 100%.

Conclusion
Detection of the CVS on SWI can reliably discriminate between MS and CSVD.
Prevalence of incidentally discovered findings on brain MRI in adult Egyptian population
Authors: Serag Dena , Ragab Eman 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background
Apparently, asymptomatic intracranial anomalies of potential clinical significance are becoming problematic, especially with the increase of use of brain MRI by clinicians and researchers. Performing MRI at higher resolution and stronger magnetic field and with more selective sequences has led to the detection of subtle brain anomalies that were not detected previously. Incidental findings are defined as previously undetected anomalies of potential clinical relevance that are unexpectedly detected and not related to the indication of the scan.
Knowing about their existence would help clinicians to inform their patients of the potential risks and plan for long-term follow-up when indicated.

Results
Seven hundred fifty-three neurologically healthy subjects (389 males and 364 females) who underwent MRI scanning of the brain were screened for the presence of incidental findings, and the prevalence of each finding was recorded. Incidental findings were recorded in 11.7% of the subjects with meningiomas being the most commonly encountered finding (2.5%) followed by vascular malformations (aneurysms, cavernomas) in about 2% of the subjects. Meningiomas, cavernomas, and aneurysms had significantly higher prevalence in females than in males. The prevalence of neoplastic incidental findings increased with age, while the detection of non-neoplastic findings seemed to decrease with age.

Conclusion
Incidental findings were relatively common in the adult Egyptian population. The most common findings were meningiomas, followed by vascular malformations and arachnoids cysts. Knowing about their existence will help directing patients towards the proper specialist and plan for appropriate follow-up to avoid potential clinical hazards. It also raises the awareness of the importance of screening the brain scans while scanning the patient for other purposes like scanning the paranasal sinuses, orbits, and petrous temporal bones.
PTSD diagnoses and treatments: closing the gap between ICD-11 and DSM-5
Authors: Lehrner Amy , Yehuda Rachel 
Published: April 2020

SUMMARYThe diagnostic status of ‘complex’ post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains controversial. The revisions to PTSD diagnostic criteria in ICD-11 and DSM-5 take opposing positions on how best to conceptualise post-traumatic presentations that include affect dysregulation, interpersonal difficulties and negative self-concept. ICD-11 carved out a separate category of complex PTSD (CPTSD) that is distinct from PTSD, whereas DSM-5 expanded PTSD to encompass such symptoms. Each approach carries problematic implications for clinical care. ICD-11 creates a dichotomy but the criteria themselves suggest a difference in severity rather than category. Furthermore, separating CPTSD perpetuates expectations that a ‘simple’ PTSD can be easily treated with brief trauma-focused therapy. DSM-5 complicates the PTSD diagnosis, but does not revise treatment recommendations. Both ICD and DSM need to recognise that most patients with PTSD do not reflect the clinical trial samples and do not fully recover with brief manualised therapies. Treatment guidelines should be developed that address the multiple needs and challenges of all patients with PTSD.
On the uses and abuses of narcissism as a public health issue
Authors: Freestone Mark , Osman Magda , Ibrahim Yasmin 
Published: April 2020

SummaryPsychiatry understands narcissism as a pathological condition associated with poor social outcomes and difficulty relating to others. Millennials have been depicted by psychological research as ‘narcissistic’, and the term has lost accurate meaning. We underline the intellectual laxity of conflating social changes with narcissism and suggest ways forward.