bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Incisional correction of corneal astigmatism during ‎phacoemulsification – a randomized trial
Authors: Mohammad Najah K. , Elewa Tamer F. , Aldehaimy Enas B. , Almamoun Tareq A. 
Published: August 2021

Background: Phacoemulsification is regarded as a type of refractive surgery by which it is possible to ‎reduce pre-existing corneal stigmatism.‎ This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of on-axis corneal incision with or without opposite clear corneal incisions (OCCI) to correct preoperative corneal astigmatism during uncomplicated phacoemulsification ‎surgeries.‎ Methods: A randomized, prospective, parallel two-arm interventional study, which included a ‎total 40 eyes from 40 patients, was conducted.‎ Patients were divided into two groups: 20 patients as controls underwent phacoemulsification with on-axis incision (CCI group), and 20 patients underwent phacoemulsification with OCCI (OCCI group). Results: Mean astigmatic correction was significantly higher in the OCCI group (0.665 vs 0.265 diopters, p-value <0.001), compared to the CCI group. Most of the parameters (surgical induced astigmatism, magnitude of error, and correction index) were significantly higher in the OCCI group compared to the CCI group (p-value <0.01). There were no ‎incision-related complications. Conclusions: Both incisional methods are useful methods for correction of preoperative corneal ‎astigmatism but OCCIs correct a higher amount of astigmatism than the on-axis clear ‎corneal incision.‎ Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04418986 (05/06/2020).
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on opioid agonist treatment in Ireland: Protocol for an interrupted time series analysis
Authors: Cousins Gráinne , Durand Louise , Boland Fiona , Harnedy Norma , Delargy Íde , Scully Mike , Bourke Margaret , Ebbitt William , Otero Vázquez María , Keenan Eamon 
Published: August 2021

While opioid agonist treatment (OAT) is the most effective treatment for opioid dependence, it is heavily dependent on regular face-to-face healthcare delivery placing both clients and treatment providers at risk of COVID-19. Following the emergence of COVID-19, policies were rapidly changed in Ireland, with the introduction of national contingency guidelines by the HSE National Social Inclusion Office, beginning in March 2020 to ensure rapid and uninterrupted access to OAT while balancing efforts to mitigate COVID-19 risk. This study aims to assess the impact of the national contingency guidelines, on the quality of OAT care delivered in Ireland. An interrupted time series analysis will be conducted using anonymised aggregated level data obtained from the Central Treatment List (CTL), the national register of people receiving OAT, administered by the National Drug Treatment Centre Board on behalf of the HSE. Separate segmented regressions will be conducted to estimate the impact of the national contingency guidelines on the following outcomes: (1) number of patients in treatment; (2) number of patients starting OAT; (3) average waiting time for treatment; (4) number of people on waiting list; (5) number of patients dropping out of treatment. The study period will be divided into pre-(March 2019 to February 2020) and post- intervention (April 2020 to March 2021) segments. Immediate (change in level) and longer-term impacts (change in slope) of changes to provision of OAT in each of the outcomes will be investigated. Regression coefficients (β) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) will be reported.
A preliminary assessment of the impact of women’s susceptibility to Hashimoto's thyroiditis on the occurrence of anxiety and depressive disorders
Authors: Karakiewicz-Krawczyk Katarzyna , Knyszyńska Anna , Wieder-Huszla Sylwia , Zabielska Paulina , Włodarska Joanna , Jurczak Anna 
Published: August 2021

Aim of the studyThere huge differences in the incidence of autoimmune thyroid diseases between women and men, which is caused by sexual differentiation of the immune system. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is now one of the most prevalent autoimmune disorders. Its diagnosis is challenging, and its effects on mental health can often impose a greater burden on the patients than physical symptoms. The aim of this study was to make a preliminary assessment of anxiety levels and depressive symptoms in women with diagnosed Hashimoto’s disease.Subject or material and methodsThe study included 205 women with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The study consisted of two parts. Part one employed the diagnostic survey method with the use of standardised questionnaires and a proprietary interview questionnaire. Part two involved the analysis of biochemistry parameters in blood serum to determine thyroid status.ResultsThe analysis revealed moderate anxiety levels in women with Hashimoto’s disease. Women with moderate and severe depression were in the minority, while mild depression was observed in 40% of the participants. A statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between state anxiety and TSH level.DiscussionPatients with autoimmune thyroiditis are at risk for the development of depression, social phobia, anxiety disorders and sleep disorders.ConclusionsDepressive symptoms co-occur with anxiety disorders in the group of women with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The studied group of patients presented mild depressive symptoms and moderate anxiety disorders. A higher level of state anxiety in the group of women with Hashimoto’s disease is correlated with higher serum TSH. Lower serum FT4 co-occurs with more severe symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Overbooked and Overlooked: Machine Learning and Racial Bias in Medical Appointment Scheduling
Authors: Samorani Michele , Harris Shannon L. , Blount Linda Goler , Lu Haibing , Santoro Michael A. 
Published: August 2021

Problem definition: Machine learning is often employed in appointment scheduling to identify the patients with the greatest no-show risk, so as to schedule them into or right after overbooked slots. That scheduling decision maximizes the clinic performance, as measured by a weighted sum of all patients’ waiting time and the provider’s overtime and idle time. However, if a racial group is characterized by a higher no-show risk, then the patients belonging to that racial group will be scheduled into or right after overbooked slots disproportionately to the general population. Academic/Practical Relevance: That scheduling decision is problematic because patients scheduled in those slots tend to have a worse service experience than the other patients, as measured by the time they spend in the waiting room. Thus, the challenge becomes minimizing the schedule cost while avoiding racial disparities. Methodology: Motivated by the real-world case of a large specialty clinic whose black patients have a higher no-show probability than non-black patients, we analytically study racial disparity in this context. Then, we propose new objective functions that minimize both schedule cost and racial disparity and that can be readily adopted by researchers and practitioners. We develop a race-aware objective, which instead of minimizing the waiting times of all patients, minimizes the waiting times of the racial group expected to wait the longest. We also develop race-unaware methodologies that do not consider race explicitly. We validate our findings both on simulated and real-world data. Results: We demonstrate that state-of-the-art scheduling systems cause the black patients in our data set to wait about 30% longer than nonblack patients. Our race-aware methodology achieves both goals of eliminating racial disparity and obtaining a similar schedule cost as that obtained by the state-of-the-art scheduling method, whereas the race-unaware methodologies fail to obtain both efficiency and fairness. Managerial implications: Our work uncovers that the traditional objective of minimizing schedule cost may lead to unintended racial disparities. Both efficiency and fairness can be achieved by adopting a race-aware objective. History: This paper has been accepted for the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Special Section on Responsible Research in Operations Management. Funding: M. Samorani’s work was partly funded by the 2020 Leavey Research Grant. Supplemental Material: The online supplement is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2021.0999 .
Pengembangan Cookies Non Terigu dari Campuran Tepung Beras, Tepung Tapioka, dan Tepung Maizena
Authors: Rahmadewi Yunda Maymanah , Sabila Silmi 
Published: August 2021

Pemanfaatan tepung yang sering dijumpai di dapur seperti tepung beras, tepung tapioka, dan tepung maizena hanya sebatas pengolahan tunggal pada olahan sederhana. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah menentukan formulasi dan perbandingan tepung beras, tepung tapioka, dan tepung maizena sebagai bahan baku cookies. Selain itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa kandungan gizi dan nilai kalori cookies no terigu tersebut. Desain penelitian menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap 3 kali ulangan dengan faktor perbandingan tepung beras, tepung tapioka, tepung maizena. Cookies yang dihasilkan selanjutnya dianalisa sifat kimianya antara lain analisa kadar air, kadar protein, kadar lemak, kadar abu, kadar karbohidrat, dan kadar serat kasar. Data dianalisis secara statistik menggunakan annova. Apabila hasil yang diperoleh ada beda nyata, maka dilanjutkan dengan uji DMRT dengan tingkat signifikasi 5%. Cookies yang dihasilkan juga dihitung nilai kalori per sajiannya.Cookies berbahan baku campuran tepung beras, tepung tapioka, dan tepung maizena memiliki kadar abu, kadar lemak, dan nilai kalori yang sesuai dengan Standar Nasional Indonesia produk sejenis yaitu biskuit. Sedangkan kadar protein, kadar serat kasar, dan kadar karbohidrat belum sesuai dengan Standar Nasional Indonesia biskuit. Formulasi cookies yang dipilih berdasarkan kandungan kimia cookies yaitu campuran tepung beras, tepung tapioka, dan tepung maizena dengan perbandingan 65:30:5 karena memiliki kadar protein paling tinggi.
Photonic generation of flexible and adjustable microwave waveforms based on a dual-polarization Mach–Zehnder modulator
Authors: Chen Haoyu , Ma Jianxin 
Published: August 2021

We have proposed a photonic waveform generation scheme based on a dual-polarization Mach–Zehnder modulator (DPol-MZM). In this scheme, a dual-frequency optical signal generated by RF optical carrier suppression modulation via a Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM) is divided into two beams; one is further modulated by the RF signal via a DPol-MZM to generate

±
1

st and

±
3

rd-order sidebands, and the other is further modulated by the RF signal via a second MZM to generate

±
2

nd-order sidebands. After two modulated optical signals are detected by a balanced photodiode, the second, fourth, and sixth-order harmonics without cross-beating terms are generated in the differential photocurrent. Since the harmonic amplitudes can be controlled independently by the optical power of the two optical beams and the DC biases of the DPol-MZM, the waveforms can be tuned conveniently. Based on the simulation, frequency-doubled triangular, rectangular, and sawtooth waveforms with a full-duty cycle at a repetition rate of 20 GHz are successfully generated with their harmonic amplitude ratio in the electric spectrum close to the ideal amplitude ratio, and the symmetry of the triangular waveform from 20% to 80% is tuned.
Microfiber sensor probe integrated with a cascaded Fabry–Perot interferometer
Authors: Chen Qi , Gao Feng , Wang Zhaokun , Wang Hailong , Wang D. N. , Zhou Shenghua , Pan Guiming 
Published: August 2021

Developing micrometer-nanometer size optical fiber sensors has promising application prospects in microenvironments, such as biological cells, micro robots, and microfluids. We propose a new strategy to fabricate a microfiber sensor probe (MSP). A femtosecond laser was applied to integrate cascaded Fabry–Perot interferometers (FPIs) into a silica microfiber. And a MSP with diameter of

∼

8

µ

m

, extinction ratio of 15 dB, fitness of 24.6, and Q-factor of 2310 was demonstrated in the experiment. In addition, the MSP was applied for the refractive index and thermal measurement and the sensitivity was observed to be 10 pm/°C and 18.5 nm/RIU. The two-beam approximation model was applied to analyze the spectrum, and simulations were taken to research the refractive index sensitivity influenced by the fiber size.
Kritische Erfolgsfaktoren für die Auswahl eines IT-Serviceproviders am Beispiel der gesetzlichen Unfallversicherungen
Authors: Hohmeister Felix , Rückel David 
Published: August 2021

ZusammenfassungSeit der Einführung des E‑Government Gesetzes ist das Thema in deutschen Verwaltungen omnipräsent. Die durch das Onlinezugangsgesetz (OZG) verpflichtende Bereitstellung von Online-Services erhöht den Druck auf die Verwaltungen zusätzlich. Ganzheitliche Veränderungen der Organisation sind nötig, um sich an den Bedarf der veränderten Umwelt anzupassen. Die Bürger*innen erwarten von den Verwaltungen Komfort in der Kommunikation und digitale Verarbeitung aller Anliegen wie im privaten oder beruflichen Umfeld. Eine Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung der Anforderungen des OZG bzw. des E-Governments können IT-Serviceprovider darstellen. Diese sind in der Lage, zentralisierte, skalierbare Soft- und Hardwarelösungen bereitzustellen und Defizite im vorhandenen Know-How sowie Ressourcenengpässe im öffentlichen Sektor zu kompensieren. Entscheidend dafür ist die rechtskonforme und zukunftssichere Auswahl eines IT-Serviceproviders. Dieser Forschungsbeitrag identifiziert und analysiert die für die Auswahl eines IT-Serviceproviders maßgeblichen kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren im Umfeld der gesetzlichen Unfallversicherungen Deutschlands. Aus Sicht der Wissenschaft trägt dieser Artikel somit zu einer breiteren Diskussion im Bereich Strategien zu e‑Government bzw. E‑Governance sowie Umsetzung des OZG bei. Für die Praxis wird aufgezeigt, wie ein strategischer Mehrwert aus der Neuausrichtung der gesetzlichen Unfallversicherungen hin zu einer modernen Verwaltung entstehen kann, um zukünftigen Entscheidungsträger*innen weitsichtige Entscheidungen zu ermöglichen und den Bürger*innen optimierte Services anbieten zu können.
Increased chronic disease prevalence among the younger generation: Findings from a population-based data linkage study to inform chronic disease ascertainment among reproductive-aged Australian women
Authors: Harris Melissa L. , Egan Nicholas , Forder Peta M. , Loxton Deborah 
Published: August 2021

BackgroundChronic disease represents an ongoing public health challenge in Australia with women disproportionately affected and at younger ages compared to men. Accurate prevalence and ascertainment of chronic disease among women of reproductive age at the population level is essential for meeting the family planning and reproductive health challenges that chronic diseases pose. This study estimated the prevalence of chronic disease among younger Australian women of reproductive age, in order to ascertain key conditions that would benefit from targeted family planning support strategies.Methods and findingsPopulation-level survey data from the 1973–78 and 1989–95 cohorts of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health were linked to health service use, pharmaceutical, cancer and cause of death data to ascertain the prevalence and chronic disease trends for ten chronic health conditions associated with poor maternal and foetal outcomes. Individual chronic disease algorithms were developed for each chronic disease of interest using the available linked datasets. Lifetime prevalence of chronic disease varied substantially based on each individual data source for each of the conditions of interest. When all data sources were considered, all conditions with the exception of mental health conditions were higher among women in the 1973–78 cohort. However, when focused on point prevalence at similar ages (approximately 25–30 years), the chronic disease trend for women in the 1989–95 cohort was substantially higher, particularly for mental health conditions (70.4% vs 23.6%), diabetes (4.5% vs 1.3%) and multimorbidity (17.9% vs 9.1%).ConclusionsGiven the low concordance between individual data sources, the use of multiple data sources are recommended for chronic disease research focused on women of reproductive age. In order to reduce the increasing chronic disease and multimorbidity trend among women, strategic chronic disease interventions are required to be implemented in childhood and adolescence to ensure the long-term health of not only current but also future generations.
The evaluation of a web-based tool for measuring the uncorrected visual acuity and refractive error in keratoconus eyes: A method comparison study
Authors: Muijzer Marc B. , Claessens Janneau L. J. , Cassano Francesco , Godefrooij Daniel A. , Prevoo Yves F. D. M. , Wisse Robert P. L. 
Published: August 2021

Purpose
To evaluate the outcome of a web-based digital assessment of visual acuity and refractive error, compared to a conventional supervised assessment, in keratoconus patients with complex refractive errors.

Material and methods
Keratoconus patients, aged 18 to 40, with a refractive error between -6 and +4 diopters were considered eligible. An uncorrected visual acuity and an assessment of refractive error was taken web-based (index test) and by manifest refraction (reference test) by an optometrist. Corrected visual acuity was assessed with the prescription derived from both the web-based tool and the manifest refraction. Non-inferiority was defined as the 95% limits-of-agreement (95%LoA) of the differences in spherical equivalent between the index and reference test not exceeding +/- 0.5 diopters. Agreement was assessed by a Bland-Altman analyses.

Results
A total of 100 eyes of 50 patients were examined. The overall mean difference of the uncorrected visual acuity measured -0.01 LogMAR (95%LoA:-0.63–0.60). The variability of the differences decreased in the better uncorrected visual acuity subgroup (95%LoA:-0.25–0.55). The overall mean difference in spherical equivalent between the index and reference test exceeded the non-inferiority margin: -0.58D (95%LoA:-4.49–3.33, P = 0.008). The mean differences for myopic and hyperopic subjects were 0.09 diopters (P = 0.675) and -2.06 diopters (P<0.001), respectively. The corrected visual acuities attained with the web-based derived prescription underachieved significantly (0.22±0.32 logMAR vs. -0.01±0.13 LogMAR, P <0.001).

Conclusions
Regarding visual acuity, the web-based tool shows promising results for remotely assessing visual acuity in keratoconus patients, particularly for subjects within a better visual acuity range. This could provide physicians with a quantifiable outcome to enhance teleconsultations, especially relevant when access to health care is limited. Regarding the assessment of the refractive error, the web-based tool was found to be inferior to the manifest refraction in keratoconus patients. This study underlines the importance of validating digital tools and could serve to increase overall safety of the web-based assessments by better identification of outlier cases.
Who falls between the cracks? Identifying eligible PrEP users among people with Sub-Saharan African migration background living in Antwerp, Belgium
Authors: Buffel Veerle , Masquillier Caroline , Reyniers Thijs , Van Landeghem Ella , Wouters Edwin , Vuylsteke Bea , Nöstlinger Christiana 
Published: August 2021

Introduction
This study produces an estimate of the proportion of eligible PrEP users among people of Sub-Saharan African background based on the Belgian PrEP eligibility criteria and examines associations with socio-economic and demographic characteristics.

Methods
We performed logistic regression analysis on data of a representative community-based survey conducted among Sub-Saharan African communities (n = 685) living in Antwerp.

Results
Almost a third (30.3%) of the respondents were eligible to use PrEP. Those who were male, single, lower educated, undocumented, and had experienced forced sex were more likely to be eligible for PrEP use. The findings highlight the importance of taking intra-, interpersonal and structural HIV risk factors into account.

Conclusions
The study shows high unmet PrEP needs in this population, especially among those with high vulnerability for HIV acquisition. A better understanding of barriers to PrEP use in this population group is needed to allow for equitable access.
Depletion of skeletal muscle mass adversely affects long-term outcomes for men undergoing gastrectomy for gastric cancer
Authors: Sakurai Katsunobu , Kubo Naoshi , Tamamori Yutaka , Aomatsu Naoki , Nishii Takafumi , Tachimori Akiko , Nishiguchi Yukio , Maeda Kiyoshi 
Published: August 2021

Background
Although low skeletal muscle mass has an adverse impact on the treatment outcomes of cancer patients, whether the relationship between preoperative skeletal muscle mass and gastrectomy outcomes in gastric cancer (GC) differs between men and women is unclear. The study aimed to clarify this relationship based on gender.

Methods
Between January 2007 and December 2015, 1054 patients who underwent gastrectomy for GC at Osaka City General Hospital were enrolled in this study. We evaluated sarcopenia by the skeletal muscle index (SMI), which was measured by computed tomography (CT) using areas of muscle in the third lumbar vertebral body (L3). Male and female patients were each divided into two groups (low skeletal muscle and high skeletal muscle).

Results
The SMI emerged as an independent predictor of 5-year overall survival (OS) in male GC patients (Hazard ratio 2.51; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.73–3.63, p < 0.001) based on multivariate analysis. However, this index was not an independent predictive determinant of 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS). The SMI was not an independent predictor of either OS or CSS in female GC patients. The incidence of leakage and major complication (Clavien Dindo grade ≧ 3) did not differ significantly across groups.

Conclusions
Preoperative skeletal muscle mass is a valuable prognostic predictor of OS in male GC patients.