bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Early antimicrobial prophylaxis in autologous stem cell transplant recipients: Conventional versus an absolute neutrophil count‐driven approach
Authors: Horowitz Justin G. , Gawrys Gerard W. , Lee Grace C. , Ramirez Brittney A. , Elledge Carole M. , Shaughnessy Paul J. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractBackgroundAutologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients are at increased risk of developing life‐threatening infections. There is discordance in published recommendations for timing of pre‐ and post‐transplant antimicrobial prophylaxis in this patient population, and these recommendations are unsubstantiated by any published comparative analyses.MethodsAn observational, pre‐ and post‐intervention study of consecutive autologous HSCT recipients was conducted over a 2‐year period. In the pre‐intervention cohort, antimicrobial prophylaxis was initiated on the day prior to transplant. In the post‐intervention cohort, antimicrobials were initiated once absolute neutrophil count (ANC) reached ≤500 cells/mm3. The primary outcome assessed was frequency of febrile occurrences. Secondary outcomes included total days of prophylaxis, positive blood cultures, all‐cause mortality, Clostridioides difficile infection rates, and length of stay.ResultsA total of 208 patients were included in the final analysis, with 105 and 103 patients in the pre‐ and post‐intervention cohorts, respectively. The majority of patients included were male. Lower rates of fever occurrences were observed in the post‐intervention cohort (83% pre‐ vs. 69% post‐intervention; p = 0.019). A significant reduction in the mean antibacterial days per patient was identified (9.7 vs. 4.6 days; p < 0.001). Other than lower rates of febrile neutropenia in the post‐intervention cohort, no differences were identified in secondary outcomes. In multivariable analyses, ANC‐driven prophylaxis was independently associated with decreased febrile events.ConclusionsDelaying prophylaxis until severe neutropenia was not associated with increased febrile events or other secondary clinical outcomes evaluated. This approach is associated with a significant reduction in antimicrobial exposure.
Low Reynolds Number Pulsatile Flow of a Viscoelastic Fluid Through a Channel: Effects of Fluid Rheology and Pulsation Parameters
Authors: Rath Subhasisa , Mahapatra Bimalendu 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
As the first endeavor, we have analyzed the pulsatile flow of Oldroyd-B viscoelastic fluid where the combined effects of fluid elasticity and pulsation parameters on the flow characteristics are numerically studied at a low Reynolds number. Computations are performed using a finite volume-based open-source solver OpenFOAM™ by appending the log-conformation tensor approach to stabilize the numerical solution at high Deborah number. Significant flow velocity enhancement is achieved by increasing the viscoelastic behavior of the fluid. High-velocity gradient zones and high polymeric stress regions are observed near the channel wall. The magnitude of axial velocity attenuates with increasing pulsation amplitude or pulsation frequency, and the extent of this attenuation is highly dependent on the Deborah number or the retardation ratio. This work finds application in the transport of polymeric solutions, extrusion, and injection molding of polymer melts in several process industries.
Drivers of antibiotic use in Vietnam: implications for designing community interventions
Authors: McKinn Shannon , Trinh Duy Hoang , Drabarek Dorothy , Trieu Thao Thu , Nguyen Phuong Thi Lan , Cao Thai Hung , Dang Anh Duc , Nguyen Thu Anh , Fox Greg J , Bernays Sarah 
Published: July 2021

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance is a global challenge that threatens our ability to prevent and treat common infectious diseases. Vietnam is affected by high rates of antimicrobial resistant infections, driven by the overuse of antibiotics and the Vietnamese government has recognised antimicrobial resistance as a health security priority. This study aimed to understand how people in Vietnam use antibiotics in community settings, and the factors that impact their practices and decision-making regarding antibiotics.MethodsWe conducted 43 qualitative in-depth interviews with 50 community members in two urban and two rural sites in Vietnam. We conducted iterative, inductive thematic analysis alongside data collection through a process of systematic debriefings based on detailed interview summaries. Through this process, we developed a coding framework that was then applied to transcribed interview data.ResultsFrequent and indiscriminate use of antibiotics was driven by the powerful appeal that antibiotics held for many Vietnamese consumers. Consumers were discerning in making decisions in their purchase and use of antibiotics. Consumers’ decisions were affected by perceptions of what constitutes high-quality medicine (effective, strong, accessible and affordable); privileging symptom control over diagnosis; social constructions of antibiotics as a trusted remedy with embodied evidence of prior efficacy, which is reinforced by advice from trusted sources in their community; and varied, generally incomplete, understanding of the concept of antibiotic resistance and its implications for individuals and for public health.ConclusionAntibiotic use at the community and primary care level in Vietnam is driven by community members’ social and economic response to what constitutes effective healthcare, rather than biomedical logic. Community-based interventions to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use need to engage with the entangled socio-structural factors that ‘resist’ current public health efforts to ration antibiotic use, alongside biomedical drivers. This study has informed the design of a community-based trial to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.
Preventing avoidable hospital admissions after emergency care in humanitarian settings: a cross-sectional review of Médecins Sans Frontières emergency departments
Authors: Naidoo Megan , Lee James , Trelles Miguel , Wallis Lee , Chu Kathryn M 
Published: July 2021

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to describe the types of emergency departments (EDs), and the acuity, types and disposition of conditions managed at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported EDs in humanitarian settings.Design, setting, participants and outcome measuresThis was a multicentre, cross-sectional review of visits to MSF-supported EDs from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2018. EDs were classified into advanced-level, general-level, paediatric and trauma. Variables analysed included: age group, condition, acuity and ED disposition. Frequencies and percentages stratified by ED type or region were reported.ResultsMSF supported 26 EDs in 12 countries, with a total of 1 388 698 visits between 2014 and 2018. Most patients were discharged home (n=1 097 456, 79%), with nearly 0% mortality (n=4692). The majority of visits at general-level and paediatric EDs were for medical conditions (n=600 088, 78% and n=45 276, 96%, respectively), while nearly half of advanced-level EDs visits were for surgical conditions (n=201 189, 48%). Almost all visits to trauma EDs were for surgical conditions (n=148 078, 98%). Overall, most surgical conditions were traumatic injuries (n=484 008, 94%), the majority unintentional (n=425 487, 82%). The top three most common classified medical conditions were respiratory infections, malaria and diarrhoea.ConclusionsEDs are critical in improving the agility and access to emergency care (EC) in humanitarian settings. This study demonstrated that EC provision resulted in the majority of patients being discharged from EDs, helping prevent avoidable hospital admissions. These results could help better understand the healthcare needs of vulnerable populations, improve responsiveness to emergency conditions and support programmatic planning in humanitarian settings.
Junior doctor-led quality improvement project to improve safety and visibility of an interspecialty referral system
Authors: Kwon Dowan , Moon Won Young , Akhunbay-Fudge Michelle , Pieters Brandon , Pillai Jeni , Wilson Charlie , Morrison Jo 
Published: July 2021

Interspecialty referrals for increasingly complex hospital inpatients are common and miscommunication often leads to delays in patient care. In a district general hospital, a web-based system generated an email referral, which lacked visibility and tracking/audit of the process, with no record generated automatically in paper inpatient notes or electronic patient records (EPR). We aimed to improve the visibility and safety of the interspecialty referral system.We canvassed stakeholders, informally and via an online satisfaction survey, collecting qualitative and quantitative data about attitudes to the existing system, generating ideas for change. We process mapped the system, identifying points of weakness. We adapted our EPR system, using a work-around solution, to develop a form that could be emailed from the EPR. This generated a permanent record within the EPR and an electronic record of the referral having been sent. We measured the visibility of referrals and responses within the EPR. We generated an online training ‘how-to’ video and reaudited stakeholder satisfaction.There was a significant increase in the proportion of junior doctors satisfied or very satisfied with the interspecialty referral system (27/31 postintervention; 87.1% vs 26/55 preintervention; 47%; p<0.0001) and more believed that the visibility was adequate or very adequate (24/31 postintervention; 77.4% vs 9/55 preintervention; 16.4%; p<0.0001). Visibility of referrals by project team members on the EPR increased from a baseline of 3.5% to 83.6% and the visibility of responses to these referrals on the EPR increased from 4.6% to 40.7%. Qualitative feedback was excellent, hospital executive approval was gained and our work-around system spread to non-team members.We developed a more visible and reliable interspecialty referral system, adapting existing EPR capabilities, which was popular with users and led to cultural change in interspecialty referral responders. A formal EPR redesign, informed by our project, is in development.
Adverse cardiac mechanics and incident coronary heart disease in the Cardiovascular Health Study
Authors: Massera Daniele , Hu Mo , Delaney Joseph A , Bartz Traci M , Bach Megan E , Dvorak Stephen J , DeFilippi Christopher R , Psaty Bruce M , Gottdiener John S , Kizer Jorge R , Shah Sanjiv J 
Published: July 2021

ObjectivesSpeckle-tracking echocardiography enables detection of abnormalities in cardiac mechanics with higher sensitivity than conventional measures of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and may provide insight into the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD). We investigated the relationship of LV longitudinal strain, LV early diastolic strain rate (SR) and left atrial (LA) reservoir strain with long-term CHD incidence in community-dwelling older adults.MethodsThe association of all three strain measures with incidence of non-fatal and fatal CHD (primary outcome of revascularisation, non-fatal and fatal myocardial infarction) was examined in the population-based Cardiovascular Health Study using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Follow-up was truncated at 10 years.ResultsWe included 3313 participants (mean (SD) age 72.6 (5.5) years). During a median follow-up of 10.0 (25th–75th percentile 7.7–10.0) years, 439 CHD events occurred. LV longitudinal strain (HR=1.25 per SD decrement, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.43) and LV early diastolic SR (HR=1.31 per SD decrement, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.50) were associated with a significantly greater risk of incident CHD after adjustment for potential confounders. By contrast, LA reservoir strain was not associated with incident CHD (HR=1.06 per SD decrement, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.19). Additional adjustment for biochemical and echocardiographic measures of myocardial stress, dysfunction and remodelling did not meaningfully alter these associations.ConclusionWe found an association between echocardiographic measures of subclinically altered LV mechanics and incident CHD. These findings inform the underlying biology of subclinical LV dysfunction and CHD. Early detection of asymptomatic myocardial dysfunction may offer an opportunity for prevention and early intervention.
High energy scattering in Einstein–Cartan gravity
Authors: Bondarenko S. , Pozdnyakov S. , Zubkov M. A. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractWe consider Riemann–Cartan gravity with minimal Palatini action, which is classically equivalent to Einstein gravity. Following the ideas of Lipatov (Nucl Phys B 365:614–632, 1991, Phys Part Nucl 44:391–413, 2013, Subnucl Ser 49:131, 2013, Subnucl Ser 50:213–225, 2014, Int J Mod Phys A 31(28/29):1645011, 2016, EPJ Web Conf 125:01010, 2016) and Bartels et al. (JHEP 07:056, 2014) we propose the effective action for this theory aimed at the description of the high-energy scattering of gravitating particles in the multi-Regge kinematics. We add to the Palatini action the new terms. These terms are responsible for the interaction of gravitational quanta with gravitational reggeons. The latter replace exchange by multiple gravitational excitations. We propose the heuristic explanation of its particular form based on an analogy to the reggeon field theory of QCD. We argue that Regge kinematics assumes the appearance of an effective two-dimensional model describing the high-energy scattering similar to that of QCD. Such a model may be formulated in a way leading to our final effective theory. It contains interaction between the ordinary quanta of spin connection and vielbein with the gravitational reggeons.
Tidal forces in Kottler spacetimes
Authors: Vandeev V. P. , Semenova A. N. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe article considers tidal forces in the vicinity of the Kottler black hole. We find a solution of the geodesic deviation equation for radially falling bodies, which is determined by elliptic integrals. And also the asymptotic behavior of all spatial geodesic deviation vector components were found. We demonstrate that the radial component of the tidal force changes sign outside the single event horizon for any negative values of the cosmological constant, in contrast to the Schwarzschild black hole, where all the components of the tidal force are sign-constant. We also find the similarity between the Kottler black hole and the Reissner–Nordström black hole, because we indicate the value of the cosmological constant, which ensures the existence of two horizons of the black hole, between which the angular components of the tidal force change sign. It was possible to detect non-analytical behavior of geodesic deviation vector components in anti-de Sitter spacetime and to describe it locally.
THE IMPACT OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND OWNERSHIP ON THE PERFORMANCE OF STATE ENTERPRISES AFTER EQUITIZATION: EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAM
Authors: SUU NGUYEN DUY , TIEN HO THUY , WONG WING-KEUNG 
Published: July 2021

The main objective of this paper is to study the impact of capital structure and capital ownership form of SOEs after equitization. We have considered all 137 state-owned companies after equitization for which data can be collected during the period from 2007 to 2017. These encompass companies in different industries listed on the HOSE (Ho Chi Minh City) and HNX (Hanoi) stock exchanges. To this end, we have applied REM and FEM models and corrected for variance with the GLS and FEM models. Our findings reveal that the variable leverage (LEV) has a negative impact on ROA, but, interestingly, has a positive impact on ROE and Tobin’s Q. Growth rate (GROWTH) have a positive effect on both ROA and Tobin’s Q. State ownership (SO) has only positive impact on ROA. Meanwhile, the company size variable (SIZE) has a positive impact on Tobin’s Q. In addition, in relation to our examination of how the domestic and foreign resources might impact on the profitability ratio, we have observed that the domestic equity ratio has a positive impact on both ROA and ROE whereas the foreign ownership ratio has a negative impact on both ROA and ROE.
Geomorphology in environmental management 1965–2000
Authors: Griffiths J. S. , Lee E. M. 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
The period 1965–2000 saw the concept of applying geomorphology to a range of environmental and engineering problems become a more mainstream activity. The refinement and development of new techniques in mapping, remote sensing, and hazard and risk assessment allied to the increased use of quantitative methods of measurement and analysis enabled geomorphologists to provide data that were directly relevant to all aspects of infrastructure and general land-use planning, as well as many facets of the construction industry. One application that emerged was the need to compile geomorphological data as part of a process of collecting all Earth science information to underpin national, regional and local land-use planning. Understanding fluvial and coastal processes and landforms was important for river and shoreline management, where to this day there remain many conflicting land-use requirements and ongoing discussions over the nature, extent and suitability of any proposed mitigation measures. The other main application was in civil engineering, where geomorphologists worked alongside engineering geologists and geotechnical engineers in the collection and interpretation of ground information data to assist in natural hazard identification and quantifying the risks associated with them, as well as supporting safe and economic design of civil engineering structures.
Submarine geomorphology
Authors: Micallef Aaron , Krastel Sebastian , Savini Alessandra 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Submarine geomorphology underwent significant development in the second half of the twentieth century, largely thanks to advances in technology by the military, navigation and hydrocarbon industry, which were later transferred to the academic and commercial sectors. In this chapter we summarize the development of the key methods used in submarine geomorphology between 1950 and 2000, which include sidescan sonar, multibeam echo sounder, reflection seismology, seafloor sampling and marine robotic systems. We then highlight the progress in our understanding of seafloor processes and landforms made using these methods, focusing on continental shelf landforms, slope instability, submarine canyons, submarine fans and channels, and current-controlled landforms.
k-Nearest Neighbour Classifiers - A Tutorial
Authors: Cunningham Pádraig , Delany Sarah Jane 
Published: July 2021

Perhaps the most straightforward classifier in the arsenal or Machine Learning techniques is the Nearest Neighbour Classifier—classification is achieved by identifying the nearest neighbours to a query example and using those neighbours to determine the class of the query. This approach to classification is of particular importance, because issues of poor runtime performance is not such a problem these days with the computational power that is available. This article presents an overview of techniques for Nearest Neighbour classification focusing on: mechanisms for assessing similarity (distance), computational issues in identifying nearest neighbours, and mechanisms for reducing the dimension of the data.This article is the second edition of a paper previously published as a technical report [16]. Sections on similarity measures for time-series, retrieval speedup, and intrinsic dimensionality have been added. An Appendix is included, providing access to Python code for the key methods.
Endovascular Revascularization Plus Supervised Exercise Versus Supervised Exercise Only for Intermittent Claudication: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
Authors: Fakhry Farzin , Rouwet Ellen V. , Spillenaar Bilgen Reinier , van der Laan Lijckle , Wever Jan J. , Teijink Joep A.W. , Hoffmann Wolter H. , van Petersen Andre , van Brussel Jerome P. , Stultiens Guido N.M. , Derom Alex , den Hoed P. Ted , Ho Gwan H. , van Dijk Lukas C. , Verhofstad Nicole , Orsini Mariella , Hulst Ingrid , van Sambeek Marc R.H.M. , Rizopoulos Dimitris , Moelker Adriaan , Hunink M.G. Myriam 
Published: July 2021

Background:
The ERASE (Endovascular Revascularization and Supervised Exercise) study showed that a combination therapy of endovascular revascularization followed by supervised exercise resulted in greater improvement in walking ability and quality of life as compared with supervised exercise only (standard care) in patients with intermittent claudication. The cost-effectiveness of the combination therapy as compared with supervised exercise is not well defined. In this report, the cost-effectiveness analysis of the ERASE study is presented.

Methods:
Two hundred twelve patients were randomly assigned to the combination therapy (n=106) or supervised exercise only (n=106) and were followed for 12 months. Cumulative costs per patient were collected using the in-hospital resource utilization data and cost-questionnaires. Quality-adjusted life years were estimated using the EuroQol-5D questionnaire. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated from both the health care and societal perspective. The associated uncertainty was determined using bootstrap techniques and acceptability curves.

Results:
As compared with supervised exercise only, the combination therapy cost an additional €1.462 (99% CI, 388 to 3862) from the health care perspective and €161 (99% CI, −2286 to 3106) from the societal perspective. Accumulated quality-adjusted life- years during 1 year follow-up were 0.042 (99% CI, −0.009 to 0.118) higher in the combination therapy group. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was €34.810 from the health care perspective and €3.833 from the societal perspective. Compared with supervised exercise, at a willingness-to-pay threshold of €80.000 per quality-adjusted life-year, the combination therapy had a probability of 87% and 95% of being cost-effective from the health care and societal perspective, respectively.

Conclusions:
Combination therapy of endovascular revascularization followed by supervised exercise is clinically and economically a more attractive approach than supervised exercise only for intermittent claudication up to 12-month follow-up. Yet, the long-term cost- and clinical effectiveness of both strategies for specific patient groups remains to be defined.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.trialregister.nl
; Unique identifier: NTR2249.