bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nonselective beta‐blockers are associated with a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma among cirrhotic patients in the United States
Authors: Wijarnpreecha Karn , Li Fang , Xiang Yang , Xu Xun , Zhu Cong , Maroufy Vahed , Wang Qing , Tao Wei , Dang Yifang , Pham Huy Anh , Zhou Yujia , Li Jianfu , Zhang Xinyuan , Xu Hua , Taner C. Burcin , Yang Liu , Tao Cui 
Published: July 2021

SummaryBackgroundPrevious studies have demonstrated an association between nonselective beta‐blockers (NSBBs) and lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhosis. However, there has been no population‐based study investigating the risk of HCC among cirrhotic patients treated using carvedilol.AimsTo determine the risk of HCC among cirrhotic patients with NSBBs including carvedilol.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study utilised the Cerner Health Facts database in the United States from 2000 to 2017. Kaplan‐Meier estimate, Cox proportional hazards regression, and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to test the HCC risk among the carvedilol, nadolol, and propranolol groups compared with no beta‐blocker group.ResultsThe final cohort comprised 107 428 eligible patients. The 100‐month cumulative HCC incidence of NSBBs was significantly lower than the no beta‐blocker group (carvedilol (11.24%) vs no beta‐blocker (15.69%), nadolol (27.55%) vs no beta‐blocker (32.11%), and propranolol (26.17%) vs no beta‐blocker (28.84%) (P values < 0.0001). NSBBs were associated with a significantly lower risk of HCC (Hazard ratio: carvedilol 0.61 (95% CI 0.51‐0.73), nadolol 0.74 (95% CI 0.63‐0.87), propranolol 0.75 (95% CI 0.66‐0.84) after PSM in the multivariate cox analysis. In subgroup analysis, NSBBs reduced the risk of HCC in cirrhosis with complications and non‐alcoholic cirrhosis.ConclusionsNSBBs, including carvedilol, were associated with a significantly decreased risk of HCC in patients with cirrhosis when compared with no beta‐blocker regardless of complications status. Future randomised‐controlled studies comparing the incidence of HCC among NSBBs should elucidate which NSBB would be the best option to prevent HCC in cirrhosis.
Organizational strategies to optimize women’s safety during labor and birth: A scoping review
Authors: McCormick Margaret , Pollock Wendy , Kapp Suzanne , Gerdtz Marie 
Published: July 2021

AbstractBackgroundSafety is a priority for organizations that provide maternity care, however, preventable harm and errors in maternity care remain. Maternity care is considered a high risk and high litigation area of health care. To mitigate risk and litigation, organizations have implemented strategies to optimize women's safety. Our objectives were to identify the strategies implemented by organizations to optimize women's safety during labor and birth, and to consider how the concept of safety is operationalized to measure and evaluate outcomes of these strategies.MethodThis scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute Scoping Review Methodology. Published peer‐reviewed literature indexed in CINAHL, Medline, and Embase, databases from 2010 to 2020, were reviewed for inclusion. Fifty studies were included. Data were extracted and thematically analyzed.ResultsThree categories of organizational strategies were identified to optimize women's safety during labor and birth: clinical governance, models of care, and staff education. Clinical governance programs (n = 30 studies), specifically implementing checklists and audits, models of care, such as midwifery led‐care (n = 11 studies), and staff training programs (n = 9 studies), were predominately for the management of obstetric emergencies. Outcome measures included morbidity and mortality for woman and newborns. Three studies discussed women's perceptions of safety during labor and birth as an outcome measure.ConclusionsOrganizations utilize a range of strategies to optimize women's safety during labor and birth. The main outcome measure used to evaluate strategies was focused on clinical outcomes for the mother and newborn.
Improving safety in paediatric thyroidectomy by PTH measurements
Authors: Freire Analía V. , Ropelato María G. , Papendieck Patricia , Vieites Ana , Elías Eugenia , Ballerini Maria G. , Rodriguez María E. , Bergadá Ignacio , Chiesa Ana 
Published: July 2021

AbstractObjetiveWe followed our previously reported algorithm based on intra and postoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels to predict postthyroidectomy hypoparathyroid hypocalcemia. The objective of the study was to assess if this strategy is useful and safe to reduce hypocalcemia, hospitalisation length and postsurgery calcium sampling.Design, Patients, MeassurementsWe classified our series of 66 patients according to their risk of hypoparathyroidism based on PTH determinations. We treated high‐risk patients with calcium and vitamin D1–25 supplementation and obtained routine daily calcium samples to control low‐risk patients until 48 h postsurgery. We compared the outcomes and overall results of this new approach with those of a historical control group of patients with equivalent PTH measurements who were treated only if they presented hypocalcemia.ResultsIn the high‐risk subgroup (n = 30), five patients had hypocalcemia within the first 24 h. Compared with the high‐risk control subgroup, the incidence of hypocalcemia fell from 100% to 17% (p < .001), and the median hospitalisation length from 6 to 3 days (p < .001). In the low‐risk subgroup (n = 36), 28 patients remained normocalcemic with significantly less calcium sampling (p < .001). Eight patients had hypocalcemia; seven of them required neck dissection, which was the only risk factor related to postsurgical hypoparathyroidism (RR: 2.1 [confidence interval 95%: 1.4–3.1]; p < .001). The overall incidence of hypocalcemia decreased by 58% in our patients compared to the control group.ConclusionsAssessing PTH levels to classify the risk of hypoparathyroidism and to initiate preventive therapy was an effective approach that improved the safety of our paediatric patients by reducing the incidence of hypocalcemia and the length of hospitalisation after thyroidectomy in paediatric patients.
Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome: A review and a critical appraisal of published genetic research to date
Authors: Scicluna Kirsty , Formosa Melissa M. , Farrugia Rosienne , Borg Isabella 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) are a collection of rare hereditary connective tissue disorders with heterogeneous phenotypes, usually diagnosed following clinical examination and confirmatory genetic testing. Diagnosis of the commonest subtype, hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), relies solely on a clinical diagnosis since its molecular aetiology remains unknown. We performed an up‐to‐date literature search and selected 11 out of 304 publications according to a set of established criteria. Studies reporting variants affecting collagen proteins were found to be hindered by cohort misclassification and subsequent lack of reproducibility of these genetic findings. The role of the described variants affecting Tenascin‐X and LZTS1 is yet to be demonstrated in the majority of hEDS cases, while the functional implication of associated signaling pathways and genes requires further elucidation. The available literature on the genetics of hEDS is scant, dispersed and conflicting due to out‐dated nosology terminology. Recent literature has suggested the role of several promising candidate mechanisms which may be linked to the underlying molecular aetiology. Knowledge of the molecular genetic basis of hEDS is expected to increase in the near future through the mainstream use of high‐throughput sequencing combined with the updated classification of EDS, and the upcoming Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos Genetic Evaluation (HEDGE) study.
Unsettling the American Dream: Mobility, Migration and Precarity among Translocal Himalayan Communities during COVID‐19
Authors: Gurung Tashi W. , Amburgey Emily , Craig Sienna R. 
Published: July 2021

ABSTRACTNew York City (NYC) garnered significant national and international attention when it emerged as the coronavirus epicentre in the USA, in spring 2020. As has been widely documented, this crisis has disproportionately impacted minority, immigrant and marginalized communities. Among those affected were people from Mustang, Nepal, a Himalayan region bordering Tibet. This community is often rendered invisible within larger Asian immigrant populations, but the presence of Mustangis in the US has transformed their translocal worlds, lived between Nepal and NYC. Seasonal mobility and life‐stage wage labour in cosmopolitan Asia have been common in Mustang for decades. More permanent moves to NYC began in the 1990s. These migrations were based on assumptions about attaining financial stability in the US in ways deemed unattainable in Nepal. An ethnographic focus on one translocal Mustangi family frames this discussion of how COVID‐19 has overturned previously held ideas around migration to NYC and uncovered new forms of precarity. The authors build on theories of transnationalism and translocality to position migration as a cyclical process whereby the well‐being of Mustangis in Nepal and NYC rests on the reliability of global migratory networks and translocal kinship relations — a basis for security and belonging that COVID‐19 has challenged and reconfigured.
Selection for age at reproduction changes pre‐mating period and mating frequency in Zeugodacus cucurbitae: impacts on insect quality control
Authors: Miyatake Takahisa 
Published: July 2021

AbstractIn the mass‐rearing of insects for sterile insect technique (SIT), it is important to maintain the quality of mass‐reared males so that they can compete with wild males in mating with wild females. Mass‐reared insects sometimes have shorter pre‐mating periods and higher mating frequencies than their wild conspecifics. Indeed, this was the case for mass‐reared individuals of the melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae), used in the SIT program to eradicate the melon fly on the Southwest Islands of Japan. Therefore, I hypothesized that divergent artificial selection for age at reproduction altered these traits in the melon fly as well. To examine the effects of eggs produced by younger parents on each generation, six artificially selected lines were established, for which eggs were collected from young (Y lines) and old (O lines) females. Then, the pre‐mating periods and mating frequencies in males and females of the selected lines were compared. The results show a decreased pre‐mating period and an increased mating frequency in younger lines compared to older lines, which was driven by males rather than females. These traits ensure efficient offspring production in mass‐rearing, and are likely advantageous to the success of SIT programs. The impact of artificially selecting for these traits, especially in males, on insect quality and the efficiency of SIT is discussed.
Adjustment of egg laying by both hosts and intraspecific brood parasites in a beetle
Authors: Richardson Jon , Dobson Sarah , Ford Lucy E. , Smiseth Per T. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractBrood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other females, thereby shifting the costs of offspring care onto others. Given that care is costly, potential hosts should evolve mechanisms to avoid brood parasitism. Meanwhile, brood parasites should evolve mechanisms to circumvent host defences. Here we investigate whether hosts or intraspecific brood parasites adjust their egg laying behaviour as a mechanism to reduce or increase the effectiveness of brood parasitism. We use the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides as our study system, in which hosts and brood parasites lay their eggs in the soil around a carcass controlled by the host. To test whether females adjust their egg laying behaviour when breeding as a host or brood parasite, we used an experimental design with three treatments: hosts, where focal females bred alongside a smaller female; brood parasites, where focal females bred alongside a larger female; and controls, where focal females bred alone. We used focal females from a narrowly defined size range to control for potential effects of body size. We found that hosts delayed the start of egg laying, which may allow them to recognise brood parasitic offspring that arrive too early. Meanwhile, brood parasites laid their eggs over an extended period, which may increase the chances that their egg laying overlapped with the host. Our results suggest that adjusting egg laying behaviour is a mechanism used by both hosts and brood parasites that may contribute to the differences in reproductive success shown in prior studies.
Landscape features and study design affect elements of metacommunity structure for stream fishes across the eastern U.S.A.
Authors: Stoczynski Lauren , Brown Bryan L. , Midway Stephen R. , Peoples Brandon K. 
Published: July 2021

Abstract

Metacommunity ecology includes connectivity in the investigation of local and regional processes to understand community assembly. The elements of metacommunity structure (EMS) framework classifies metacommunities into categorical archetypes based on patterns of three metrics indexing β diversity: coherence, turnover, and boundary clumping. Although the EMS framework is most commonly used to classify metacommunity types, an elements‐based approach of examining how factors affect each specific continuous EMS variable could provide a more mechanistic understanding of how metacommunities are structured at the landscape scale. Moreover, few studies have sought to quantify how methodological issues such as number and spacing of local communities affect observed outcomes of EMS‐based analyses.

Using a large dataset of stream fish occurrences in the eastern U.S.A., we used mixed effects models to investigate how (1) landscape‐scale variables and (2) methodological issues such as number and location of sampling sites affect coherence, turnover, and boundary clumping individually; as well as (3) how landscape‐scale variables influence overall metacommunity patterns derived from the EMS framework.

Coherence, turnover, and boundary clumping were related to temperature, density of dams, developed land use, and γ diversity. Interestingly, distance among sampled sites in metacommunities negatively affected turnover, and the number of sampling sites positively affected all three variables. Elevation affected overall observed metacommunity patterns, with metacommunities transitioning from Clementsian to clumped species loss patterns with increasing elevation.

Our results suggest that metacommunity structure is affected by both natural and anthropogenic landscape‐scale variables. Observed metacommunity properties are also influenced by sampling density and site location within the catchment. Accounting for important natural, anthropogenic, and methodological issues will be critical for improving the inferential power of metacommunity analyses to begin understanding which landscape‐scale variables should be the focus of conservation and management of fish communities at a catchment scale.
Gait speed and pain status as discriminatory factors for instrumental activities of daily living disability in older adults with knee osteoarthritis
Authors: Nanjo Keigo , Ikeda Takashi , Nagashio Naoko , Masuda Tadashi , Sakai Tomoko , Okawa Atsushi , Jinno Tetsuya 
Published: July 2021

AimFactors related to instrumental activities of daily living disability in older adults with knee osteoarthritis are unclear. This study aimed to examine the discriminatory accuracy for the presence of instrumental activities of daily living disability in older adults with knee osteoarthritis by combining two factors of gait ability and pain status.MethodsA cross‐sectional study was conducted on 114 patients with knee osteoarthritis aged 65 years. Participants were divided into instrumental activities of daily living disabled or non‐disabled groups. A logistic regression model was created with usual gait speed and knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score‐pain subscale as independent variables for discriminating the presence of instrumental activities of daily living disability. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was inspected to determine discriminatory accuracy of the logistic regression model, usual gait speed, knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score‐pain subscale.ResultsOf the 114 patients, 26 (22.8%) had instrumental activities of daily living disability. The area under the curves was 0.91 (95% confidence interval: 0.85–0.96) for the logistic regression model, 0.78 (95% confidence interval: 0.68–0.89) for usual gait speed, and 0.73 (95% confidence interval: 0.61–0.84) for knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score‐pain subscale.ConclusionsThis study showed that gait speed and pain status were independent discriminatory factors and combining these factors to discriminate more accurately the presence or absence of instrumental activities of daily living disability in older adults with knee osteoarthritis was important. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 683–688.
Morphological features of benign pigmented ear lesions: a cross‐sectional study
Authors: Rishpon Ayelet , Sprecher Eli , Dusza Stephen W. , Kleinman Elana , Haupt Sara , Rabinovitz Harold , Scope Alon 
Published: July 2021

AbstractBackgroundThe morphology of benign pigmented lesions on the ears has been scarcely studied.MethodsWe prospectively screened all patients presenting to a pigmented lesion clinic at a tertiary academic hospital, between November 2015 and August 2016, for the presence of benign pigmented ear lesions. Clinical and dermoscopic images were obtained for all lesions. Additionally, we performed a retrospective analysis of reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) of benign pigmented ear lesions and a retrospective analysis of clinical and dermoscopic findings of biopsy‐confirmed ear melanomas.ResultsIn total, 165 patients (median age 48, 53% female) contributed 708 benign pigmented ear lesions to the study. Participants with multiple body nevi and those with an atypical nevus phenotype (multiple body nevi and ≥ one atypical nevus) had a higher mean number of ear lesions than those without multiple body nevi (4.5 and 5.4 vs. 3.9, P < 0.05). The most common diagnoses were nevus (35%) and solar lentigo (34%), followed by pigmented lentiginous macules (PLM) (27%). Dermoscopically scattered pigmented small globules/dots were observed in 30% of nevi and 17% of PLMs. RCM analysis of 24 ear lesions showed a comparable frequency of RCM‐clods between nevi and PLMs. Analysis of 29 ear melanomas revealed larger lesions with more complex dermoscopic patterns.ConclusionMultiple body nevi, and particularly an atypical nevus phenotype, were associated with having more pigmented ear lesions. Based on RCM analysis, PLMs of the ear likely represent small nevi. Ear melanomas tend to be larger and dermoscopically complex compared to ear nevi.
The management and organization of philanthropy: New directions and contested undercurrents
Authors: Harrow Jenny , Donnelly‐Cox Gemma , Healy John , Wijkström Filip 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe case for theoretical scrutiny of philanthropy's achievements and problems, in the institutional settings in which it operates, has never been stronger. In this introduction to IJMR’s special issue on philanthropy, we examine the developing levels and directions of institutional philanthropy scholarship, together with the consensual and contradictory themes they exemplify and the theoretical leads to which they give rise. Modern philanthropic theory is still largely based on archetypes developed in the early 20th century that accord a central role to foundations in addressing social challenges, yet the complex health, education and social service fields within which philanthropy operates have changed dramatically. We argue for the elevation of, and deepening directions for, theoretical study of institutional philanthropy. At present, institutional philanthropy has a modest theoretical literature, at the same time as we can notice an extensive and growing grey literature in the philanthropic community, often grounded in traditional strategic management. We reflect on the grey literature's potential development into theoretical scholarship, drawing on and fusing with a broader range of academic disciplines and organizational theories, and the linked study of the field as a discourse community. Here, the challenges of visibility and transparency in relation to privacy are significant, whether for accountability or research access.
Amsp3 may act upstream of Amdnmt3 in female caste differentiation in the honeybee (Apis mellifera)
Authors: Pan L.‐X. , Li M. , Zhao F.‐Y. , Cheng F.‐P. , Wang Z.‐L. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractIn honey bees, the process of producing two female castes, including queens and workers, is nutritionally controlled by differential feeding royal jelly to newly emerged larvae. Although they have almost identical genetic blueprints, these castes show striking differences in their morphologies, longevities and reproductive capabilities. DNA methyltransferase 3 (Amdnmt3) gene is involved in the regulatory network for honeybee caste differentiation. Due to the role of two zinc fingers containing transcription factors, SP1 and SP3 in controlling mammalian Dnmts, this study aimed to determine a similar interaction of SPs with Amdnmt3 in the honeybee. We confirmed that the promoter region of Amdnmt3 contained multiple predicted SP1/SP3 binding sites and then investigated the role of AmSP3 in queen‐worker differentiation network. We observed that the expression level of Amsp3 was significantly higher in worker larvae than that in queen larvae at 48 h, 84 h and 120 h. Knockdown of Amsp3 expression by RNAi in worker larvae significantly reduced the expression level of Amdnmt3 and caused morphological changes in adult bees towards a queen‐like phenotype. However, the expression levels of Amsp3 and Amdnmt3 were repressed by juvenile hormone (JH). Our results suggest that AmSP3 is an important part of the queen‐worker differentiation network and supports the role of Amdnmt3 in determining the phenotypic outcome of developing larvae.
Virtual clinic for positive faecal occult blood tests enhances early access to bowel cancer screening and is well received by patients
Authors: Maher Salim , Rolls Sarah , Pavendranathan Gokulan , Westbury Sean , Akon Anna C. , Zekry Amany 
Published: July 2021

AbstractBackgroundColorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer‐related mortality in Australia. As such, timely access to colonoscopy following a positive faecal occult blood test (FOBT) is an important aspect of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program to reduce morbidity and mortality related to this condition. To reduce waiting times, a Sydney‐based referral centre introduced a nurse‐led virtual clinic (VC) in order to facilitate direct access colonoscopy for patients referred with a positive FOBT.AimsTo evaluate the efficacy of a nurse‐led VC model to reduce waiting time to colonoscopy and to determine the patient experience of the model.MethodsThe VC model, piloted for a 14‐month period, was compared with the standard outpatient clinic (SOC) model over the 14‐month period preceding the VC. Primary outcomes included time to colonoscopy and secondary outcomes included adverse events, bowel preparation and cancellation rates. Patient experience was evaluated through an emailed survey.ResultsCompared to the SOC model, the VC model reduced waiting time to colonoscopy from date of positive FOBT by 71 days (P = 0.0006) and from date of referral by 66 days (P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in secondary outcomes. All respondents to the survey (n = 30) reported a positive experience.ConclusionsNursing‐led VC, with direct access colonoscopy for patients at increased risk of colorectal cancer, reduce waiting times to colonoscopy without an increase in adverse events and is well received by patients.