bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cancer suspicion, referral to cancer patient pathway and primary care interval: a survey and register study exploring 10 different types of abdominal cancer
Authors: Jessen Nanna H , Jensen Henry , Helsper Charles W , Falborg Alina Z , Glerup Henning , Gronbaek Henning , Vedsted Peter 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Background
Abdominal cancers represent 30% of all diagnosed cancers. Nevertheless, it is unknown if the general practitioner’s (GP’s) initial cancer suspicion varies for different abdominal cancer types and how this is associated with referrals to standardized cancer patient pathways (CPPs).

Objectives
To explore initial cancer suspicion in GPs and to investigate how this was associated with GP referrals to CPPs and the duration of the primary care interval (PCI) in 10 different abdominal cancer types.

Methods
We conducted a cohort study on 1104 incident abdominal cancer patients diagnosed in Denmark in 2016 using a combination of survey and register-based data. Poisson regression was used to estimate associations between GP cancer suspicion, CPP referral and PCI duration.

Results
The GPs initially suspected cancer or other serious disease in 46–78% of cases, lowest in kidney cancer, and referred 35–65% to a CPP, lowest in oesophageal cancer. The GP’s suspicion at the first presentation was strongly associated with referral to a CPP. The median (0–11 days) and 75th percentile (3–32 days) PCIs varied between the abdominal cancer types. The likelihood of a long PCI was more than 3-fold higher when the GP did not initially suspect cancer.

Conclusion
In up to half of abdominal cancer patients, there is no initial suspicion of cancer or serious disease. CPPs were used in only one-third to two-thirds of patients, depending on cancer type. For kidney cancer, as well as several abdominal cancers, we need better diagnostic strategies to support GPs to enable effective and efficient referral.
Evaluation and Comparison with Other High-Sensitivity Methods of Analytical Performance and Measured Values of a New Laboratory Test for Cardiac Troponin I Assay
Authors: Masotti Silvia , Musetti Veronica , Prontera Concetta , Storti Simona , Passino Claudio , Clerico Aldo 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Bakground
The aim of this study was to evaluate both analytical characteristics and clinical results of a new chemiluminescent method for the measurement of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), named VITROS ® High Sensitivity Troponin I Assay, using the VITROS® 3600 automated platform. The results found with this new method were compared to those observed with hs-cTnI ARCHITECT and ECLIA hs-cTnT ELECSYS methods.

Methods
For evaluation of analytical performance and comparison of clinical results, plasma samples (lithium-heparin), were collected from apparently healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Results
The hs-cTnI VITROS method showed values for limit of blank (LoB 0.33 ng/L), limit of detection (LoD, 0.91 ng/L), limit of quantifications at 20% (LoQ 20% CV, 1.82 ng/L), and 10% (LoQ 10% CV, 4,74 ng/L), which are comparable to those previously reported for other hs-cTnI methods. Moreover, the clinical results of the hs-cTnI VITROS method were found to be closely correlated to those of hs-cTnI ARCHITECT (R = 0,9883, N = 198) and ECLIA hs-cTnT Elecsys (R = 0,9704, N = 293) methods.

Conclusions
The hs-cTnI VITROS method shows analytical performance comparable to other cTnI and cTnT assay. The results of this study confirm that there are significant systematic differences among hs-cTnI methods. Further multicenter studies using larger reference populations are needed in order to obtain a better estimation, especially of the 99° percentile URL values categorized for sex and age of hs-cTnI and hs-cTnT methods.
Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on Solidago canadensis growth are independent of nitrogen form
Authors: Song Dan-Lei , Zhao Yu-Fei , Tang Fang-Ping , Zhang Yan-Hua , Zhou Shu-Qi , Dong Li-Jia 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Aims
Invasive plants may alter soil fungal communities in a way that improves their growth. Nitrogen (N) content of soil affects the symbiosis between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), further determining plant growth. Yet, it is unclear whether altered AMF communities change the dependence of invasive and native species on N-form, and whether N forms alter the invasive plant–AMF interaction (PSIM).

Methods
Two synthetic plant communities, including four Solidago canadensis individuals and four native plant species, were inoculated with AMF spores from S. canadensis-invaded soils and adjacent non-invaded soils, and were provided with nitrate, ammonia or glutamate. After their growth, the performance of the two plant communities in treatments of AMF origin and N forms, and the pathways of the N forms affecting S. canadensis growth and PSIM were evaluated.

Important Findings
Solidago canadensis had no obvious N-form dependence in any of the AMF inoculations. Native plant species showed weak N-form dependence, but invasive AMF could remove their N-form dependence. In the absence of N, AMF did not affect growth of S. canadensis and the native plants. In contrast, with N addition, invasive AMF significantly increased belowground and total biomass of the invasive plants but not those of the native plants. Positive PSIM of S. canadensis was also evidently greater than that of native plant species and was realized through directly or indirectly regulating phenotypic traits including plant height, leaf number and number of rhizomes. Our findings emphasize the importance of plant–AMF interactions and a unique N-acquisition strategy during plant invasions.
Changes in carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry in decaying logs with gap positions in a subalpine forest
Authors: Wang Qin , Yang Wanqin , Li Han , Wang Zhuang , Chang Chenhui , Cao Rui , Tan Bo 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Aims
The redistribution of forest gaps based on solar radiation and precipitation (mainly rainfall and snowfall) can create heterogenous microenvironments inside and outside the gaps. Here, we investigated the effects of forest gaps on carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry in decaying logs by altering the microenvironments.

Methods
Minjiang fir (Abies faxoniana) logs of decay classes I–V were incubated in situ on the floor under the gap center (GC), gap edge (GE) and closed canopy (CC) in a subalpine forest in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The C, N and P concentrations in decaying bark, sapwood and heartwood were measured in August from 2013 to 2016.

Important Findings
Our results showed that the N concentration in bark decreased from the CC to the GC, while the opposite trend was found in sapwood and heartwood. Additionally, the C/N ratio in sapwood and heartwood of decay classes IV and V decreased from the CC to the GC, and the N/P ratio in heartwood of decay class V increased from the CC to the GC, implying that forest gaps have strong effects on C/N/P stoichiometry in highly decayed logs. Briefly, highly decayed logs are more susceptible to the microenvironment, and the proportion of highly decayed logs under the CC or the GC should be appropriately adjusted if necessary.
Control of Inward Investment
Authors: Muchlinski Peter T 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
This chapter describes the major techniques of inward investment control used by host states. Such techniques were at the forefront of the policy response to multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the 1970s, when levels of foreign investment in host states were reasonably high but economic nationalism and self-determination were influential. However, as economic globalization evolved, the cost of economic nationalism became too great to sustain, given the resulting loss of access to investment capital and the most modern productive technology. Increasingly, both developed and developing countries have turned away from the strict regulation of foreign investment and are permitting it on less stringent terms. Given the widespread adoption of privatization programmes, the range of industrial sectors reserved for public ownership has decreased. While reservations and controls over levels of foreign investment in privatized companies are a common feature, in many countries, the very purpose of privatization was to increase the overall level of inward foreign investment in the economy. Ultimately, the main prohibitions on foreign investment are to be found in sectors of the national economy relevant to national security. In recent years the number of such prohibitions has risen.
Competition
Authors: Muchlinski Peter T 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
This chapter studies competition law (antitrust law in US terminology), which protects competition to maximize consumer welfare. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) may use their market power to distort competitive conditions. Unlike purely domestic firms, MNEs can do this in a transnational context. Therefore, regulating MNE competition involves not only substantive rules but also jurisdictional questions which have led to extraterritoriality conflicts. The chapter then examines the competition issues arising from the market power of MNEs operating global networks of production and distribution in often concentrated markets. It also assesses whether competition law should control MNE entry and establishment to preserve the national economy from harmful foreign competition, involving issues of industrial policy and national security. Moreover, MNE operations challenge the hitherto predominantly national approach to competition regulation. To date, there has been little progress towards global competition rules, but it remains a worthwhile question, especially in the context of sustainable development, which has been introduced into competition policy debates in recent years.
Historical Development and Legal Basis
Authors: Fleck Dieter 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
This chapter discusses the historical evolution and the existing legal foundations of international humanitarian law in the light of current practice. In this context, the ethical and political prerequisites for legal development are discussed in their global relevance, as the origins of the fundamental principles of humanitarian law are not exclusively based on a single region, culture, or religion. At a time which is characterized by rapid societal changes and diminishing distances, a good understanding of the multicultural basis for humanitarian rules is of the utmost importance. Although the subject of this handbook is the law applicable to the conduct of hostilities that applies once a party has entered into armed conflict (the jus in bello), that law cannot be properly understood without some examination of the separate body of rules which determines when resort to armed force is permissible (the jus ad bellum). The jus ad bellum has ancient origins but current law is founded on Article 2(4) and Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The chapter then considers the Geneva Conventions of 1949, as well as the Hague Conventions.
Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts
Authors: Fleck Dieter 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
This chapter describes the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict. Armed conflicts have had serious consequences on the environment which may last a long time after a conflict has ended. Starting in the 1970s, the matter of the protection of the environment during times of armed conflict became the object of political initiatives and controversy. In recent years, efforts to develop, or at least codify, international law concerning the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict were revived. In 2011, the International Law Commission (ILC) decided to include the topic ‘Protection of the Environment in relation to Armed Conflict’ to its work programme. The formulation of the subject means that the ILC is not only concerned with environmental damage caused during armed conflict, but also with measures that might be taken in peacetime and with environmental consequences of an armed conflict after the end of the conflict, for example toxic remnants of war.
Acute Symptoms of Mild to Moderate COVID-19 Are Highly Heterogeneous Across Individuals and Over Time
Authors: Rodebaugh Thomas L , Frumkin Madelyn R , Reiersen Angela M , Lenze Eric J , Avidan Michael S , Miller J Philip , Piccirillo Jay F , Zorumski Charles F , Mattar Caline 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Background
The symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) appear to be heterogenous, and the typical course of these symptoms is unknown. Our objectives were to characterize the common trajectories of COVID-19 symptoms and to assess how symptom course predicts other symptom changes as well as clinical deterioration.

Methods
One hundred sixty-two participants with acute COVID-19 responded to surveys up to 31 times for up to 17 days. Several statistical methods were used to characterize the temporal dynamics of these symptoms. Because 9 participants showed clinical deterioration, we explored whether these participants showed any differences in symptom profiles.

Results
Trajectories varied greatly between individuals, with many having persistently severe symptoms or developing new symptoms several days after being diagnosed. A typical trajectory was for a symptom to improve at a decremental rate, with most symptoms still persisting to some degree at the end of the reporting period. The pattern of symptoms over time suggested a fluctuating course for many patients. Participants who showed clinical deterioration were more likely to present with higher reports of severity of cough and diarrhea.

Conclusions
The course of symptoms during the initial weeks of COVID-19 is highly heterogeneous and is neither predictable nor easily characterized using typical survey methods. This has implications for clinical care and early-treatment clinical trials. Additional research is needed to determine whether the decelerating improvement pattern seen in our data is related to the phenomenon of patients reporting long-term symptoms and whether higher symptoms of diarrhea in early illness presages deterioration.
Reducing Stigma Among College Students Toward People With Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial Grounded on Intergroup Contact Theory
Authors: Gao Siyu , Ng Siu-Man 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Objective
Public stigma has been shown to have multidimensional negative impacts on people with schizophrenia (PWS). A new 1-day intervention grounded on the intergroup contact theory was developed and implemented in the current study to reduce college students’ stigma toward PWS. We hypothesized that intergroup contact could better alleviate the stigmatizing situation compared with absence of direct contact and different levels of contact may have different functions on stigma reduction.

Methods
To examine the effectiveness of the intervention, a randomized controlled trial was conducted in Hong Kong with 37 college students participating the intervention. Different levels of contact (zero, moderate, and intimate) with PWS were organized in the intervention group while no direct contact with PWS was introduced in the control group. Participants’ knowledge of schizophrenia, stigmatizing attitudes and social distance toward PWS were measured at pre-, post, 1-month and 3-month after the intervention.

Results
Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant changes in all outcome variables in the intervention group with moderate-to-high effect sizes. The results indicated that different levels of contact with PWS had different functions in stigma reduction. Knowledge session without direct contact contributed most to participants’ knowledge improvement, and moderate and intimate level of contact led to an obvious improvement in participants’ stigmatizing attitudes and social distance changes. Also, psychoeducation and direct contact should be combined to tackle with the 3 components of stigma.

Conclusions
The current study provided evidence supporting the efficacy of the new intervention based on intergroup contact theory and practical experience for future research design regarding stigma reduction.
Imaginaries of innovation: Turning technology development into a public issue
Authors: Pesch Udo 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
New technologies will have a big impact on our public life-world, suggesting that it is necessary to have a public debate on innovation. Such a debate is missing: instead of having a debate on the process of technology development, only expected effects of new technologies are discussed. This is undesirable as innovation processes recruit implicit normative assumptions that should be opened up for public scrutiny. This article aims to outline conditions and possibilities for organizing such public debates on innovation. It will do so by depicting innovations as wilful metamorphoses which materialize worldviews and expectations entertained by technology developers. Existing technology assessment organizations could instigate discussions on the desirability and credibility of these worldviews and expectations, so as to further democratize the process of technology development.
Characterization and clinical significance of the CADM1/HER2/STAT3 axis in serous ovarian tumors
Authors: Wu Dan , Lei Yuzhou , Liu Qin , Hu Hua , Li Huanhuan , Xie Lin , Zhou Jianbin 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
The subtypes of serous ovarian tumors (SOTs), including benign serous cystadenoma, serous borderline tumor (SBT), low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (LGSC), and high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC), remain poorly understood. Herein, we aimed to characterize the cell adhesion molecule 1 (CADM1)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) axis and identify its clinical significance in patients with serous cystadenoma, SBT, LGSC, and HGSC.
The immunohistochemical expression of CADM1, HER2, and STAT3 was assessed in 180 SOT specimens, and its association with clinical data was determined.
High levels of CADM1 expression were detected in 100% of serous cystadenomas and 83.33% of SBTs, while a loss of CADM1 expression was observed in 44% of LGSCs and 72.5% of HGSCs. Relative to the levels in benign cystadenomas and SBTs, higher levels of HER2 and STAT3 expression were observed in LGSCs and aggressive HGSCs. Furthermore, the expression profile of the CADM1/HER2/STAT3 axis was significantly associated with histologic type, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, and lymph node metastasis in patients with SOT.
Our study identified the changes in the CADM1/HER2/STAT3 axis that were closely associated with the clinical behavior of SOTs. These molecular data may provide new insights into SOT carcinogenesis and aid in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with SOT.
Combination therapy with afatinib and bevacizumab in an EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer patient with acquired ERBB2 amplification
Authors: Chen Sixian , Xiang Tianmin , Lu Wei , Hong Shuiqiang , Li Yuanyuan , Lu Yuan , Zhang Qiongyue , Chen Yongfeng , Zhou Suli , Wang Gehui , Zhang Zhenzhen , Cai Yongguang 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Introduction:
Acquired resistance to reversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors remains a significant obstacle, and acquired ERBB2 amplification is the most common “bypass” mechanism. For patients with sensitizing EGFR mutation who experience resistance via ERBB2 amplification, no targeted drug has been demonstrated to be effective.

Patient concerns:
A 56-year-old female nonsmoker suffered from left leg paralysis and low back pain. Imaging examination revealed a mass in the anterior segment of the right upper lobe lung and possible multiple metastases in the right hilar, mediastinal lymph nodes, bone metastases, and soft tissue invasion.

Diagnosis:
Transbronchial lung biopsy revealed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (cT4N2M1c, stage IV). An EGFR exon 19 deletion was identified using amplification refractory mutation system.

Interventions:
After the patient was treated with gefitinib initiation (250 mg/d) for 15 months, the tumor progressed with ERBB2 amplification revealed by next-generation sequencing test. Then, the patient was started on afatinib (40 mg/d) plus bevacizumab (7.5 mg/kg every 3 weeks).

Outcomes:
The combination therapy of afatinib and bevacizumab in this patient was effective with some slight side effects. Computed tomography scans showed the tumor shrinkage and the pleural effusion disappeared in the right lung. The overall survival was 23.5 months.

Conclusion:
To date, there is no targeted therapy approved and demonstrated to be effective for non-small cell lung cancer patients with EGFR sensitizing mutations, and ERBB2 amplification. The effectiveness of combination therapy with afatinib and bevacizumab may provide a new therapeutic option for these patients.
Efficacy and safety of polidocanol in the treatment of varicose veins of lower extremities
Authors: Li Nan , Li Junhai , Huang Mei , Zhang Xiujun 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

Background:
The varicose veins of the lower extremities showed earthworm-like dilatation and venous protrusion of the lower extremities. Polidocanol foam sclerotherapy, as a minimally invasive treatment with rapid recovery, less trauma and not easy to relapse, has achieved good results in clinical, but it is lack of evidence-based medicine. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of polidocanol in the treatment of varicose veins of the lower extremities by meta-analysis.

Method:
Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Scientifific Journals Database, China Biology Medicine disc, PubMed, EMBASE database, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library will be used as search sources to conduct for randomized controlled trials of polidocanol in the treatment of varicose veins of lower extremities. The search time is set from the establishment of the database in December 2020 in this study. Two researchers independently extract, delete files, extract data and evaluate the quality. Revman software version 5.3 will be used for statistical analysis of data.

Result:
In this study, the efficacy and safety of polidocanol in the treatment of varicose veins of the lower extremities will be evaluated in terms of total effective rate, incidence of complications and recurrence rate.

Conclusion:
This study will provide reliable evidence-based evidence for the clinical application of polidocanol in the treatment of varicose veins of lower extremities.

Ethics and dissemination:
Private information from individuals will not be published. This systematic review also does not involve endangering participant rights. Ethical approval will not be required. The results may be published in a peer-reviewed journal or disseminated at relevant conferences.

OSF Registration number:
DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/AUR4X.