bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy score and ambulation index are both predictors of orthotic need for patients with CMT
Authors: Prada Valeria , Zuccarino Riccardo , Schenone Cristina , Mennella Giulia , Grandis Marina , Shy Michael E. , Schenone Angelo 
Published: October 2021

Abstract Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common hereditary neuropathy with an estimated prevalence of 1 person affected on 2500. Frequent symptoms include distal weakness and muscle wasting, sensory loss, reduced deep tendon reflexes, and skeletal deformities, such as hammer toes and pes cavus. CMT is a progressive disease and patients’ needs change over their lifetime. In particular, ambulation aids are increasingly needed to maintain ambulation and reduce the risk of falls. We performed a retrospective analysis of medical records from 149 patients with confirmed CMT to evaluate patients ambulation needs related to the severity of their CMT as measured by the CMT Neuropathy Score (CMTNS) and Ambulation Index (AI). Most patients required some form of orthotics (86.6%). The CMTNS and AI scores both differed significantly between patients with no orthotics compared to those who wore insoles/inserts. The CMTNS and AI also differed significantly between patients wearing insoles and those with ankle foot orthotics (AFOs). CMTNS and the AI were valid predictors of the type and choice of the orthotics. Both the CMTNS and AI can be effective tools to aid in the correct choice of orthotics in patients affected by CMT.
Self vs. other, child vs. adult. An experimental comparison of valuation perspectives for valuation of EQ-5D-Y-3L health states
Authors: Lipman S. A. , Reckers-Droog V. T. , Karimi M. , Jakubczyk M. , Attema A. E. 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Objectives
EQ-5D-Y-3L health states are valued by adults taking the perspective of a 10-year-old child. Compared to valuation of adult EQ-5D instruments, this entails two changes to the perspective: (i) child health states are valued instead of adult health states and: (ii) health states are valued for someone else instead of for oneself. Although earlier work has shown that these combined changes yield different values for child and adult health states that are otherwise equal, it currently remains unclear why. Hence, we aimed to disentangle the effects of both changes.

Methods
A sample of 205 students (mean age: 19.48) was surveyed. Each respondent completed visual analogue scale (VAS) and time trade-off (TTO) tasks for five EQ-5D-Y-3L states, using four randomly ordered perspectives: (i) self-adult (themselves), (ii) other-adult (someone their age), (iii) self-child (themselves as a 10-year-old), (iv) other-child (a child of 10 years old). We compared how each perspective impacted outcomes, precision and quality of EQ-5D-Y-3L valuation.

Results
Overall, differences between perspectives were consistent, with their direction being dependent on the health states and respondents. For VAS, the effect on outcomes of valuation depended on severity, but variance was higher in valuation with child perspectives. For TTO, we observed that EQ-5D-Y-3L states valued on behalf of others (i.e., children or adults) received higher valuations, but lower variances.

Conclusion
The use of a different perspective appears to yield systematic differences in EQ-5D-Y-3L valuation, with considerable heterogeneity between health states and respondents. This may explain mixed findings in earlier work.
Significance of chemotherapy-free interval and tumor regression grade in patients with recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma receiving chemotherapy with fluorouracil and platinum after esophagectomy following preoperative chemotherapy
Authors: Okunaka Mashiro , Kotani Daisuke , Demachi Ken , Fujiwara Hisashi , Sakashita Shingo , Yoshino Takayuki , Fujita Takeo , Kojima Takashi 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Background
In Japan, standard treatment for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) includes preoperative chemotherapy with fluorouracil plus cisplatin followed by esophagectomy. However, its efficacy is unclear in patients with recurrent disease with < 6 months of chemotherapy-free interval (CFI) after preoperative chemotherapy followed by esophagectomy and in those with ≥ 6 months of CFI and poor pathological response to prior preoperative chemotherapy.

Method
We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of fluorouracil plus platinum in patients with recurrent ESCC who received preoperative chemotherapy followed by curative esophagectomy.

Results
Among 105 patients with recurrent ESCC after preoperative chemotherapy followed by esophagectomy, a total of 55 patients received fluorouracil plus platinum for recurrent disease. Patients with a CFI < 6 months (n = 20) had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) (median, 7.1 vs 14.5 months, P = 0.008) compared with those with a CFI ≥ 6 months (n = 35). Multivariate analysis showed that OS was worse in patients with a CFI < 6 months or a tumor regression grade (TRG) ≤ 1a. Furthermore, in patients with a CFI ≥ 6 months, TRG ≤ 1a was associated with significantly shorter OS (11.1 months vs. not reached, P = 0.001).

Conclusion
Fluorouracil plus platinum was ineffective for recurrent ESCC in patients with a CFI < 6 months and in those with a CFI ≥ 6 months and a TRG ≤ 1a. Alternate regimens including nivolumab or pembrolizumab might be considered for the treatment for recurrence in these patients.
Can agriculture and conservation be compatible in a coastal wetland? Balancing stakeholders’ narratives and interactions in the management of El Hondo Natural Park, Spain
Authors: Ricart Sandra , Rico-Amorós Antonio M. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractCoastal wetlands are among the most productive and valuable ecosystems worldwide, although one of the main factors affecting their survival is the coexistence between agriculture and conservation. This paper analyses the complex balance between agriculture and conservation coexistence in El Hondo Natural Park (Alicante, Spain) coastal wetland by examining stakeholders’ narratives, perceptions, and interactions. The aim is to highlight the concurrence between socio-economic progress and socio-environmental justice perspectives by identifying those driving factors motivating stakeholders’ conflicts while expanding stakeholders’ behaviour and interaction when discussing the current and future management of this socio-ecological system. Data were collected between April and June 2019 from semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to river basin authorities, regional governments, municipalities, irrigation communities, union farms, regional and local ecologist groups, and social movements; and scrutinized through qualitative data analysis and descriptive statistics. Stakeholders discussed the main driving factors identified through the local newspapers to motivating current conflicts and confronting perspectives in El Hondo Natural Park: (1) the origin and evolution of the coastal wetland, (2) the provision and value of ecosystem services, (3) the management of water scarcity and water quality standards, (4) the guarantee and management of public and private investment, and (5) consequences of a natural park declaration. Likewise, the triple-loop analysis of stakeholders’ representativeness, relevance and collaboration highlighted examples of stakeholders’ underrepresentation and power imbalance, a negative assessment of the stakeholders’ actions, and how agreements are based on both stakeholders’ predisposition to collaborate and affinity.
Relationships between empirical damage and direct/indirect costs for the assessment of seismic loss scenarios
Authors: Di Ludovico Marco , De Martino Giuseppina , Prota Andrea , Manfredi Gaetano , Dolce Mauro 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe definition of relationships between damage and losses is a crucial aspect for the prediction of seismic effects and the development of reliable models to define risk maps, loss scenarios and mitigation strategies. The paper focuses on the analysis of post-earthquake empirical data to define relationships between buildings’ damage expressed as usability rating or as global damage state and the associated costs for repair (i.e. direct costs) or for population assistance (i.e. a part of total indirect costs). The analysis refers to the data collected on residential buildings damaged by 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. For different usability rating or damage states, the paper presents the costs expressed in terms of percentage with respect to the reference unit cost of a new building (%Cr and %Ca for repair and population assistance costs, respectively). In particular, the costs analysis refers to undamaged, lightly or severely damaged buildings classified according to usability rating (i.e. A, B-C or E according to Italian classification) or to five different global Damage States (DSs). DSs comply with European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) and derive from literature available matrices properly defined to convert empirical damage to structural and non-structural components into building global damage. The %Cr probability density functions and relevant statistics derive from the analysis of actual data of post-earthquake reconstruction process, while, to determine those related to %Ca, a deep analysis of population assistance types, person/month assistance cost for each assistance form, and a methodology to associate such costs to each building are herein presented and discussed. Finally, the paper presents a relationship calibrated on empirical data to directly correlate repair costs on a building with assistance costs to their occupants. The relationships between empirical damage and direct and indirect costs herein presented are of paramount importance because they allow reliable loss scenarios to be defined by simply using literature fragility curves (defined according to empirical or mechanical approaches) aimed at evaluating the probability of exceeding different usability rating or damage states of existing buildings.
The alpine rural landscape as a cultural reserve: the case study of Teglio in Valtellina
Authors: de Pasquale Giorgia , Spinelli Eugenia 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThis research examines a portion of the Italian alpine landscape in order to find a comprehension mode and a strategic proposal to safeguard this rural heritage. The area is located in Valtellina, in the municipality of Teglio (Sondrio, Italy), between 700 and 1200 m a.s.l. Typical characteristic of the local landscape conformation is fragmentation, which determines a rapidly changing chequerboard depending on the rotation of seasons and cultivation. The landscape alternates wooded and cultivated areas. Cultivations mainly concern rye, buckwheat, corn, barley, alpine wheat, chestnuts and small orchards and have a wide agrobiodiversity and especially a historical and cultural value. The cultivation of buckwheat, for example nustran arrived in the valley in the XVII century and Teglio is the place where it persists more. The genotypes present are in part already classified, in part under study. The vernine crop alternated to buckwheat is mainly rye, arrived in the valley since the XV century. The local varieties formed over time are a resource of genotypes adapted to high altitude agricultural environments, they have important nutraceutical properties and they are closely associated with the local culture. The aim was to verify the persistence of traditional crops in the area, together with the cultural value of the traditional rural system, in order to analyse the feasibility of a strategy for the preservation of biocultural diversity. The research has shown how, despite the dynamics of depopulation and abandonment of agricultural fields, there is still in the area a sufficient permanence of cultural practices and social uses that can be a solid starting point for a sustainable development of the territory that focuses on agricultural and cultural biodiversity.
Heavy metal load and effects on biochemical properties in urban soils of a medium-sized city, Ancona, Italy
Authors: Serrani Dominique , Ajmone-Marsan Franco , Corti Giuseppe , Cocco Stefania , Cardelli Valeria , Adamo Paola 
Published: October 2021

AbstractUrban soils are often mixed with extraneous materials and show a high spatial variability that determine great differences from their agricultural or natural counterparts. The soils of 18 localities of a medium-sized city (Ancona, Italy) were analysed for their main physicochemical and biological properties, and for chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), and mercury (Hg) total content, distribution among particle-size fractions, and extractability. Because of the absence of thresholds defining a hot spot for heavy metal pollution in urban soils, we defined a “threshold of attention” (ToA) for each heavy metal aiming to bring out hot spot soils where it is more impellent to intervene to mitigate or avoid potential environmental concerns. In several city locations, the soil displayed sub-alkaline pH, large contents of clay-size particles, and higher TOC, totalN, and availablePwith respect to the surrounding rural areas, joined with high contents of total heavy metals, but low availability. The C biomass, basal respiration, qCO2, and enzyme activities were compared to that detected in the near rural soils, and results suggested that heavy metals content has not substantially compromised the soil ecological services. We conclude that ToA can be considered as a valuable tool to highlight soil hot spots especially for cities with a long material history and, for a proper risk assessment in urban soils, we suggest considering the content of available heavy metals (rather than the total content) and soil functions.
What the presence of regulated chemical elements in beached lacustrine plastics can tell us: the case of Swiss lakes
Authors: Filella Montserrat , Rodríguez-Murillo Juan-Carlos , Turner Andrew 
Published: October 2021

AbstractPlastics (n = 3880) have been sampled from 39 beaches of ten Swiss lakes of varying sizes, hydrodynamics, and catchments, with a selection (n = 598) analysed for potentially hazardous (and regulated) chemical elements (As, Ba, Br, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Sb, Se) by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Plastic objects and fragments with identifiable or unidentifiable origins were present on all beaches surveyed, and were often most abundant in proximity to major riverine inputs. Chemical elements were detected in between two (Hg) and 340 (Ba) samples with maximum concentrations exceeding 2% by weight for Ba, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Sb. Inter-element relationships and characteristics of the samples suggest that elements are largely present as various additives, including pigments (e.g., Cd2SSe, PbCrO4), stabilizers (in polyvinyl chloride), and flame retardants (Br). Observations are similar to, and complement, those previously reported in Switzerland’s largest lake (Lake Geneva). Comparison of concentrations of targeted chemical elements in beached plastic with currently used plastics illustrate the interest of these types of measurements in providing an insight into the persistence of plastics in standing stocks and in lakes. This information could help to introduce management schemes that consider whether plastic pollution is new or old and act accordingly.
Restoring nutrient circularity in a nutrient-saturated area in Germany requires systemic change
Authors: van der Wiel Bernou Zoë , Weijma Jan , van Middelaar Corina Everarda , Kleinke Matthias , Buisman Cees Jan Nico , Wichern Florian 
Published: October 2021

AbstractRegions with intensive agriculture often encounter environmental problems caused by nutrient excess of agro-food-waste systems that have become increasingly linear over previous decades. In this study, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and carbon (C) flows in the whole agro-food-waste system of district Cleves in Germany were quantified simultaneously using substance flow analysis. Moreover, nutrient use inefficiency hotspots were identified to establish options to improve nutrient self-sufficiency as a first step towards nutrient circularity. Data on mass flows and nutrient contents was acquired for the year 2016 from stakeholders, statistical databases, literature and modelling. Organic C was included for flows with potential as organic fertilizer. Results show that animal production drives the nutrient flows in the export-oriented district, with feed import, manure application and losses from housing and manure storage accounting for 40, 45 and 60% of all N, P and K flows, respectively. In particular agriculture is responsible for N losses, with 150 kg N lost ha−1 agricultural land. Crop production surplus and with that soil accumulation of P and K are 515 t and 4100 t respectively. Stoichiometry of N:P:K:C in the different organic materials does not allow direct application and meeting crop requirements without exceeding demand of especially P. Processing of biomass is therefore required. Based on mass, especially manure holds potential for processing into bio-based fertilizers. To improve nutrient cycling and soil C conservation, being an important element for a sustainable agricultural sector, local balances between crop and animal production need to be considered.
Impact of Nitellopsis obtusa (Desv.) J. Groves, a regionally alien and invasive charophyte, on macrophyte diversity in the species native range
Authors: Pełechaty Mariusz , Zhapparova Bazargul , Brzozowski Michał , Pukacz Andrzej 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThis study aimed to determine the relationships between the abundance of Nitellopsis obtusa, a controversial charophyte, locally red-listed in its native Eurasian range but invasive in North America, and the species diversity of macrophyte stands dominated by N. obtusa. Three lakes of different morphology, productivity and catchment were surveyed in the species native range. In each lake, the species composition and cover of three N. obtusa-dominated stands were determined monthly from spring to autumn and illustrated by the Shannon–Wiener diversity index. Water chemistry supplemented vegetation study. The species diversity turned out to be lake-specific and declined with the increasing share of N. obtusa, which developed mass occurrence in less mineralised and less fertile waters, leaving no space and limiting light and nutrient availability for large and branchy macrophytes. We postulate that this mechanism makes N. obtusa a superior competitor in less fertile waters and seems common to both native and invaded territories, as is the pool of macrophyte species most frequently co-occurring with N. obtusa.
Predicting diagnostic coding in hospitals: individual level effects of price incentives
Authors: Anthun Kjartan Sarheim 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to test if implicit price incentives influence the diagnostic coding of hospital discharges. We estimate if the probability of being coded as a complicated patient was related to a specific price incentive. This paper tests empirically if upcoding can be linked to shifts in patient composition through proxy measures such as age composition, length of stay, readmission rates, mortality- and morbidity of patients. Data about inpatient episodes in Norway in all specialized hospitals in the years 1999–2012 were collected, N = 11 065 330. We examined incentives present in part of the hospital funding system. First, we analyse trends in the proxy measures of diagnostic upcoding: can hospital behavioural changes be seen over time with regards to age composition, readmission rates, length of stay, comorbidity and mortality? Secondly, we examine specific patient groups to see if variations in the price incentive are related to probability of being coded as complicated. In the first years (1999–2003) there was an observed increase in the share of episodes coded as complicated, while the level has become more stable in the years 2004–2012. The analysis showed some indications of upcoding. However, we found no evidence of widespread upcoding fuelled by implicit price incentive, as other issues such as patient characteristics seem to be more important than the price differences. This study adds to previous research by testing individual level predictions. The added value of such analysis is to have better case mix control. We observe the presence of price effects even at individual level.
Elementary pre-service teachers’ conscious lack of knowledge about technical artefacts
Authors: Sanjosé Vicente , Otero José 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThis study aims at characterizing elementary pre-service teachers’ conscious lack of knowledge about familiar technical artefacts and its relation to their knowledge about these artefacts. The participants were asked to state what they knew and also what they did not know about a sample of familiartechnical artefacts such as a fan or a lock. The results showed a difference between the structure of the student teachers’ lack of knowledge of these artefacts and the structure of their actual knowledge. These differences were analyzed in relation to Kroes’ (Camb J Econ 34:51–62, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bep019) model of technical artefacts. Firstly, the student teachers’ conscious lack of knowledge was mainly focused on the artefacts’ behavior rather than on their components and materials. Secondly, the participants found the function features of the artefacts unproblematic. Thirdly, unknown features about the origin of the artefacts were more frequently cited than the corresponding knowledge features. Finally, non-perceptual properties of the artefacts and the causal relations in which they or their parts are involved were important components both of the students’ knowledge and of the students’ unknowns.
Performability of Actions
Authors: Czelakowski Janusz 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAction theory may be regarded as a theoretical foundation of AI, because it provides in a logically coherent way the principles of performing actions by agents. But, more importantly, action theory offers a formal ontology mainly based on set-theoretic constructs. This ontology isolates various types of actions as structured entities: atomic, sequential, compound, ordered, situational actions etc., and it is a solid and non-removable foundation of any rational activity. The paper is mainly concerned with a bunch of issues centered around the notion of performability of actions. It seems that the problem of performability of actions, though of basic importance for purely practical applications, has not been investigated in the literature in a systematic way thus far. This work, being a companion to the book as reported (Czelakowski in Freedom and enforcement in action. Elements of formal action theory, Springer 2015), elaborates the theory of performability of actions based on relational models and formal constructs borrowed from formal lingusistics. The discussion of performability of actions is encapsulated in the form of a strict logical system "Equation missing". This system is semantically defined in terms of its intended models in which the role of actions of various types (atomic, sequential and compound ones) is accentuated. Since due to the nature of compound actions the system "Equation missing" is not finitary, other semantic variants of "Equation missing" are defined. The focus in on the system "Equation missing" of performability of finite compound actions. An adequate axiom system for "Equation missing" is defined. The strong completeness theorem is the central result. The role of the canonical model in the proof of the completeness theorem is highlighted. The relationship between performability of actions and dynamic logic is also discussed.