bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of Varenicline Versus Combination Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smoking Cessation: One-Year Outcomes in a Smoking Cessation Clinic in Taiwan
Authors: Hsueh Kuang-Chieh , Tang Pei-Ling , McRobbie Hayden 
Published: January 2021

Abstract

Introduction
Varenicline and combination nicotine replacement treatment (cNRT) have been recommended as the most effective pharmacotherapies, with equal abstinence rate for smoking cessation in a network meta-analysis of randomized trials, but data from real-world long-term follow-up studies are rare. This study aimed to compare the 12-month sustained abstinence rates of smokers using varenicline versus cNRT in their quit attempt.

Methods
A total of 3569 smokers were recruited via the Department of Family Medicine outpatient department at Kaohsiung Veteran General Hospital between June 2013 and March 2019. Participants received counseling from a physician and chose either varenicline (N = 2870) or cNRT (N = 699) for smoking cessation. Both varenicline and cNRT users could receive a free 8-week supply and eight clinic visits over 90 days. Participants were followed-up by telephone at 12, 24, and 52 weeks from first visit. The primary outcome measure of the study was self-reported sustained abstinence up to 52 weeks.

Results
Varenicline users had a significantly higher sustained abstinence rate at weeks 12–52, adjusted for baseline variables (15.2% vs 10.3%, p = .001; adjusted odds ratio = 1.47, 95% confidence interval: 1.05–2.05). Other significant predictors of 52 weeks sustained abstinence were being male, having a higher income, attending more clinical visits, and have lower nicotine dependence.

Conclusion
Varenicline appears to have higher sustained abstinence rates to 52 weeks compared with cNRT, in a smoking cessation clinic where smokers can choose their medication option.

Implications
Network meta-analysis of randomized trials suggests that varenicline and cNRT are similarly effective for smoking cessation. This study shows that 1-year sustained abstinence rates were significantly higher among smokers using varenicline, compared with smokers using cNRT, when used as part of a structured smoking cessation program. These findings are highly relevant to policy makers and service providers to help determine provision of smoking cessation treatment.
Guns for Votes: Wedge Politics in the Canadian Multiparty System
Authors: Dumouchel David , Ouellet Catherine , Giasson Thierry 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThis article contributes to the emerging literature on wedge issues and on electoral strategies in multiparty electoral systems by studying the implementation and effectiveness of a concerted electoral communication strategy deployed by the Conservative party of Canada around the elimination of the gun registry, in the late 2000s. First, using a quantitative content analysis of the Parliamentary debates from 2006 to 2011, it reveals how the Conservatives exploited the issue in order to create divisions amongst opposing opposition MPs and amongst targeted segments of partisan voters of other national parties. Secondly, using georeferenced pool data from Vote Compass, it finds empirical evidence that the Conservatives’ efforts won them new support in the 2011 federal elections, especially amongst cross-pressured voters and within the ridings that were targeted during the debates. In doing so, the article provides a rare empirical example of wedge politics carried in a multiparty system.
What Factors Influence Clinicians’ Use of Technology in Neurorehabilitation? A Multisite Qualitative Study
Authors: Bower Kelly J , Verdonck Michele , Hamilton Anita , Williams Gavin , Tan Dawn , Clark Ross A 
Published: January 2021

Abstract

Objective
Technology is being increasingly used for physical assessment and interventions in health care settings. However, clinical adoption is relatively slow, and the factors affecting use remain underexplored. This study aimed to investigate factors influencing technology use by clinicians working in neurorehabilitation.

Methods
In this qualitative study, 9 physical therapists and 9 occupational therapists (N = 18) were recruited from urban and regional locations in Australia and in Singapore. Three 60-minute focus groups were conducted via video conferencing. Each group comprised 3 physical therapists and 3 occupational therapists working across different neurorehabilitation settings. Participants were asked to discuss which technologies they used in their workplace for physical assessment and treatment and barriers, motivators, and future desires for technology use. Transcripts were analyzed independently using an inductive approach to generate codes and themes.

Results
Our results comprised 3 themes and 7 categories. These were encompassed by a single overarching theme, namely “Technology use is influenced by the benefits and challenges of the technology itself, users, and organizational context.” Themes showed that technology should promote effective interventions, is preferred if easy to use, and should be dependable. Furthermore, clinical reasoning is important, and users have varying levels of receptivity and confidence in technology use. Also, organizational resources are required, along with supportive cultures and processes, to facilitate technology use.

Conclusions
The themes identified multiple and interlinking factors influencing clinicians’ use of technology in neurorehabilitation settings. Clinicians often consider context-specific benefits and challenges when deciding whether to use technology. Although our study found that clinicians generally perceived technology as having a beneficial role in improving health outcomes, there were several challenges raised. Therefore, the characteristics of the technology itself, individual users, and organizational context should be considered.

Impact
These findings will guide successful technology implementation and future developments.
Time Window for Ischemic Stroke First Mobilization Effectiveness: Protocol for an Investigator-Initiated Prospective Multicenter Randomized 3-Arm Clinical Trial
Authors: Zheng Yu , Yan Chengjie , Shi Haibin , Niu Qi , Liu Qianghui , Lu Shanshan , Zhang Xintong , Cheng Yihui , Teng Meiling , Wang Lu , Zhang Xiu , Hu Xiaorong , Li Jian , Lu Xiao , Reinhardt Jan D ,   TIME Trial Collaboration Group
Published: January 2021

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to investigate the optimal time window for initiating mobilizing after acute ischemic stroke.MethodsThe TIME Trial is a pragmatic, investigator-initiated, multi-center, randomized, 3-arm parallel group, clinical trial. This trial will be conducted in 57 general hospitals in mainland China affiliated with the China Stroke Databank Center and will enroll 6033 eligible patients with acute ischemic stroke. Participants will be randomly allocated to either (1) the very early mobilization group in which mobilization is initiated within 24 hours from stroke onset, (2) the early mobilization group in which mobilization begins between 24 and 72 hours poststroke, or (3) the late mobilization group in which mobilization is started after 72 hours poststroke. The mobilization protocol is otherwise standardized and identical for each comparison group. Mobilization is titrated by baseline mobility level and progress of patients throughout the intervention period. The primary outcome is death or disability assessed with the modified Rankin scale at 3 months poststroke. Secondary outcomes include impairment score of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, dependence in activities of daily living as measured using the modified Barthel Index, cognitive ability assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination, incidence of adverse events, hospital length of stay, and total medical costs.ImpactThe TIME Trial is designed to answer the question “when is the best time to start mobilization after stroke?” The effect of timing is isolated from the effect of type and dose of mobilization by otherwise applying a standard mobilization protocol across groups. The TIME Trial may, therefore, contribute to increasing the knowledge base regarding the optimal time window for initiating mobilization after acute ischemic stroke.
The Maximum Entropy of a Metric Space
Authors: Leinster Tom , Roff Emily 
Published: January 2021

AbstractWe define a one-parameter family of entropies, each assigning a real number to any probability measure on a compact metric space (or, more generally, a compact Hausdorff space with a notion of similarity between points). These generalize the Shannon and Rényi entropies of information theory. We prove that on any space X, there is a single probability measure maximizing all these entropies simultaneously. Moreover, all the entropies have the same maximum value: the maximum entropy of X. As X is scaled up, the maximum entropy grows, and its asymptotics determine geometric information about X, including the volume and dimension. And the large-scale limit of the maximizing measure itself provides an answer to the question: what is the canonical measure on a metric space? Primarily, we work not with entropy itself but its exponential, which in its finite form is already in use as a measure of biodiversity. Our main theorem was first proved in the finite case by Leinster and Meckes.
Multivariate spatial feature selection in fMRI
Authors: Jolly E , Chang L J 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Multivariate neuroimaging analyses constitute a powerful class of techniques to identify psychological representations. However, not all psychological processes are represented at the same spatial scale throughout the brain. This heterogeneity is apparent when comparing hierarchically organized local representations of perceptual processes to flexible transmodal representations of more abstract cognitive processes such as social and affective operations. An open question is how the spatial scale of analytic approaches interacts with the spatial scale of the representations under investigation. In this article, we describe how multivariate analyses can be viewed as existing on a spatial spectrum, anchored by searchlights used to identify locally distributed patterns of information on one end, whole brain approach used to identify diffuse neural representations at the other and region-based approaches in between. We describe how these distinctions are an important and often overlooked analytic consideration and provide heuristics to compare these different techniques to choose based on the analyst’s inferential goals.
Simvastatin Augmentation for Patients With Early-Phase Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial
Authors: Sommer Iris E , Gangadin Shiral S , de Witte Lot D , Koops Sanne , van Baal C , Bahn Sabine , Drexhage Hemmo , van Haren N E M , Veling Wim , Bruggeman R , Martens Peter , Wiersma Sybren , Veerman Selene R T , Grootens Koen P , van Beveren Nico , Kahn Rene S , Begemann Marieke J H 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) are associated with increased inflammatory markers, both in brain and periphery. Augmentation with drugs that lower this pro-inflammatory status may improve clinical presentation. Simvastatin crosses the blood-brain barrier, has anti- inflammatory and neuroprotective effects and reduces metabolic syndrome. In this study, we investigated if 12 months of simvastatin augmentation can improve symptoms and cognition in patients with early SSD. This double-blind placebo-controlled trial included 127 SSD patients across the Netherlands, &lt;3 years after their diagnosis. From these, 119 were randomly assigned 1:1 to simvastatin 40 mg (n = 61) or placebo (n = 58), stratified for sex and study site. Primary outcomes were symptom severity and cognition after 12 months of treatment. Depression, symptom subscores, general functioning, metabolic syndrome, movement disorders, and safety were secondary outcomes. Intention to treat analyses were performed using linear mixed models and ANCOVA. No main effect of simvastatin treatment was found on total symptom severity after 12 months of treatment as compared to placebo (X2(1) = 0.01, P = .90). Group differences varied over time (treatment*time X2(4) = 11.2; P = .025), with significantly lower symptom severity in the simvastatin group after 6 months (mean difference = −4.8; P = .021; 95% CI: −8.8 to −0.7) and at 24 months follow-up (mean difference = −4.7; P = .040; 95% CI: −9.3 to −0.2). No main treatment effect was found for cognition (F(1,0.1) = 0.37, P = .55) or secondary outcomes. SAEs occurred more frequently with placebo (19%) than with simvastatin (6.6%). This negative finding corroborates other large scale studies on aspirin, minocycline, and celecoxib that could not replicate positive findings of smaller studies, and suggests that anti-inflammatory augmentation does not improve the clinical presentation of SSD.
Biomarker Profiles in Psychosis Risk Groups Within Unaffected Relatives Based on Familiality and Age
Authors: Türközer Halide Bilge , Ivleva Elena I , Palka Jayme , Clementz Brett A , Shafee Rebecca , Pearlson Godfrey D , Sweeney John A , Keshavan Matcheri S , Gershon Elliot S , Tamminga Carol A 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Investigating biomarkers in unaffected relatives (UR) of individuals with psychotic disorders has already proven productive in research on psychosis neurobiology. However, there is considerable heterogeneity among UR based on features linked to psychosis vulnerability. Here, using the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network for Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) dataset, we examined cognitive and neurophysiologic biomarkers in first-degree UR of psychosis probands, stratified by 2 widely used risk factors: familiality status of the respective proband (the presence or absence of a first- or second-degree relative with a history of psychotic disorder) and age (within or older than the common age range for developing psychosis). We investigated biomarkers that best differentiate the above specific risk subgroups. Additionally, we examined the relationship of biomarkers with Polygenic Risk Scores for Schizophrenia (PRSSCZ) in a subsample of Caucasian probands and healthy controls (HC). Our results demonstrate that the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) score, antisaccade error (ASE) factor, and stop-signal task (SST) factor best differentiate UR (n = 169) from HC (n = 137) (P = .013). Biomarker profiles of UR of familial (n = 82) and non-familial (n = 83) probands were not significantly different. Furthermore, ASE and SST factors best differentiated younger UR (age ≤ 30) (n = 59) from older UR (n = 110) and HC from both age groups (age ≤ 30 years, n=49; age &gt; 30 years, n = 88) (P &lt; .001). In addition, BACS (r = −0.175, P = .006) and ASE factor (r = 0.188, P = .006) showed associations with PRSSCZ. Taken together, our findings indicate that cognitive biomarkers—“top-down inhibition” impairments in particular—may be of critical importance as indicators of psychosis vulnerability.
Boundary speak in sustainability studies: Computational reading of a transversal field
Authors: Herberg Jeremias , Schmitz Seán , Stasiak Dorota , Schmieg Gregor 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThis article discusses the role of language in the collaboration between science, policy, and society. Combining computational methods of corpus linguistics (manifold learning) with sociological field theories, we analyze approximately 30,000 articles that were published in the field of transdisciplinary sustainability studies. We show that the field oscillates between deliberative and technocratic vocabularies and can therefore be characterized as a transversal field. We conclude that researchers who collaborate in science–society interstices are thrown into a semantic pluralism that cannot be boiled down to a common language. For transdisciplinary research practice and corresponding science policies, this involves trade-offs between generating a homogenous language and a collaborative appeal; between creating a stable creole and a situated semantic plurality. A corresponding theoretical viewpoint and science policy approach should be based on a pluralist view on the science–society–policy interplay.
Spare Rib, The British Women’s Health Movement and the Empowerment of Misery
Authors: Strimpel Zoe 
Published: January 2021

Summary
This article elucidates Spare Rib’s (1972–1993) value as a source for considering the UK women’s health movement of the 1970s and 1980s. It focusses on the magazine’s role in mediating and shaping its readers’ relationship to negative bodily experience, and outlines its distinctiveness within the broader feminist landscape of women’s health coverage. While aspects of the British women’s health movement have attracted scholarly attention, such as mental health activism and abortion campaigns, we still know relatively little about how non-activist British women interpreted their bodily experiences and health through the feminist lens offered from the early 1970s. The first part of the article focusses on Spare Rib’s contribution to the British women’s health movement. The second part of the article zooms in on a selection of letters that show how readers took up, and found empowerment, in modes of bodily disclosure fostered by the magazine.
Monoclonal Antibodies Receive EUA to Treat Mild to Moderate COVID-19
Authors: Aschenbrenner Diane S. 
Published: January 2021

A combination of two monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, has received emergency use authorization for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19.Casirivimab and imdevimab come in separate packages but must be combined into one IV infusion after dilution.
Lessons from Fukushima: Potassium Iodide After a Nuclear Disaster
Authors: Sase Eriko , Eddy Christopher , Polivka Barbara J. 
Published: January 2021

ABSTRACT
The release of radioactive iodine after a nuclear disaster, such as those that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan 10 years ago and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979, increases thyroid cancer risk among people who are exposed. Certain populations are especially vulnerable, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, children, and neonates. Potassium iodide (KI) can effectively block radioactive iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid gland if taken immediately after a radiation release. This article examines lessons learned from Fukushima to enhance disaster readiness and nursing actions. Nurses should be directly involved in vulnerability assessments, emergency planning, and in ensuring the availability, accessibility, and distribution of KI within U.S. nuclear power plant emergency planning zones before a crisis occurs.
Faculty Disclosure of Personal Mental Health History and Resident Physician Perceptions of Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness
Authors: Vaa Stelling Brianna E. , West Colin P. 
Published: January 2021

Problem
Distress, depression, and burnout are common during medical training. Stigma surrounding seeking help for mental illness during medical training may involve fear of negative peer perceptions, academic jeopardy, and adverse future career consequences. Faculty disclosure of personal mental health illness may reduce stigma surrounding mental health disorders and reassure and encourage trainees to seek help when needed.

Approach
The authors aimed to assess the impact of faculty disclosure of mental health issues on stigma toward help-seeking during training, self-reflection about mental health, and resident physician awareness of mental health resources. Three self-selected faculty members shared their personal experiences with depression and mental health during a confidential noon conference intended for internal medicine residents at Mayo Clinic Rochester as part of their core curriculum in December 2016. Institutional and community mental health resources were provided. After the conference, attendees completed an anonymous survey assessing self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding mental health during medical training.

Outcomes
One hundred percent of residents (39/39) agreed that they enjoyed the conference. Thirty-five of 39 (89.7%) respondents agreed that their knowledge of available mental health resources increased and 33/39 (84.6%) agreed they were more likely to pursue mental health resources after attending the conference. Thirty-eight of 39 (97.4%) residents agreed that faculty sharing their personal struggles destigmatizes mental health issues during training, and the same percentage reported engaging in postconference self-reflection regarding their own mental health and well-being.

Next Steps
Resident conference sessions during which faculty self-disclose personal mental health experiences may help decrease the stigma of mental health issues during medical training and increase the likelihood residents will seek assistance when needed. The authors encourage further study of longer-term outcomes and actual help-seeking behaviors across learner levels and training environments.
One Session of Spinal Manipulation Improves the Cardiac Autonomic Control in Patients with Musculoskeletal Pain
Authors: Rodrigues Pedro Teixeira Vidinha , Corrêa Leticia Amaral , Reis Felipe José Jandre , Meziat-Filho Ney Armando , Silva Bruno Moreira , Nogueira Leandro Alberto Calazans 
Published: January 2021

Study Design.
Three-arm, parallel, randomized, placebo-controlled, assessor-blinded trial.

Objective.
To compare the immediate effect of manual therapy at the upper thoracic spine on the cardiovascular autonomic control of patients with musculoskeletal pain.

Summary of Background Data.
Musculoskeletal pain increases the risk of cardiovascular events. Thus, manual therapy applied to the upper thoracic region is likely efficient to improve the cardiac autonomic control.

Methods.
The study included 59 patients with musculoskeletal pain enrolled at an outpatient clinic. Participants were randomly assigned to spinal manipulation (n = 19), myofascial manipulation (n = 20), or placebo (n = 20) administered to the upper thoracic region. Resting heart rate variability provided indexes of the cardiac autonomic control, and the blood pressure response to the cold pressor test as a proxy of the sympathetic responsiveness to a stressor stimulus.

Results.
Groups were similar for baseline variables except for blood pressure. Two-way repeated-measures one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that only spinal manipulation induced immediate increase of the square root of the mean squared differences of successive RR intervals (RMSSD), absolute (ms2), and normalized units (n.u.) of the high-frequency power (HF) as compared with pre-intervention evaluation, indicating an improvement in the parasympathetic activity to the heart. Normalized units of low-frequency power (LF) and the LF/HF ratio reduced after the spinal manipulation solely, suggesting a reduction of the sympathetic activity to the heart. There were no significant differences in the blood pressure responsiveness among the three treatments. There were no adverse events.

Conclusion.
In patients with musculoskeletal pain, spinal manipulation on the upper thoracic spine led to an immediate improvement in the resting cardiac autonomic control without an effect on the blood pressure responsiveness to a sympathoexcitatory stimulus. Myofascial manipulation or placebo did not change cardiovascular autonomic control.

Level of Evidence: 2