bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Current Use of Hearts From Hepatitis C Viremic Donors
Authors: Moayedi Yasbanoo , Fan Chun Po S. , Gulamhusein Aliya F. , Manlhiot Cedric , Ross Heather J. , Teuteberg Jeffrey J. , Khush Kiran K. 
Published: December 2018

Background:
Strategies to improve donor heart utilization are required in the setting of limited donor availability. One innovative strategy is to consider the use of hepatitis C viremic (HCV) nucleic acid amplification test positive donors in hepatitis C-negative recipients, given the availability of highly effective direct acting antiviral agents. We utilized United Network for Organ Sharing data to evaluate the geographic distribution, clinical characteristics, and post-transplant outcomes of HCV+ donor hearts.

Methods and Results:

The United Network for Organ Sharing registry was queried for all HCV+ recovered donors and those considered for heart donation classified by sex, age group, United Network for Organ Sharing region, and cause of death from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017. Propensity score matching (3:1) was applied to the recipients based on the index for mortality prediction after cardiac transplantation score and donor risk index. A total of 1306 HCV+ donors were recovered from 2014 to 2017 of whom 1078 (82.5%) were 18 to 49 and predominantly from the Appalachia region (United Network for Organ Sharing regions 2, 3, and 11). A total of 64 (5%) HCV+ donor hearts were transplanted in this interval. The match-adjusted risk difference in survival was estimated to be 0.87% (
P
=0.83) at 12 months.

Conclusions:
To meet the demands of heart transplantation, we must consider additional strategies to expand the donor pool. From 2014 to 2017, despite availability of highly effective direct acting antiviral therapy, only 5% of HCV+ donor hearts were accepted for transplantation. National efforts may be required to capitalize on this resource while we continue to carefully monitor the safety of this novel approach.
Association of Volumetric Epicardial Adipose Tissue Quantification and Cardiac Structure and Function
Authors: Nerlekar Nitesh , Muthalaly Rahul G. , Wong Nathan , Thakur Udit , Wong Dennis T. L. , Brown Adam J. , Marwick Thomas H. 
Published: December 2018

Background

Epicardial adipose tissue (
EAT
) is in immediate apposition to the underlying myocardium and, therefore, has the potential to influence myocardial systolic and diastolic function or myocardial geometry, through paracrine or compressive mechanical effects. We aimed to review the association between volumetric
EAT
and markers of myocardial function and geometry.

Methods and Results

PubMed, Medline, and Embase were searched from inception to May 2018. Studies were included only if complete
EAT
volume or mass was reported and related to a measure of myocardial function and/or geometry. Meta‐analysis and meta‐regression were used to evaluate the weighted mean difference of
EAT
in patients with and without diastolic dysfunction. Heterogeneity of data reporting precluded meta‐analysis for systolic and geometric associations. In the 22 studies included in the analysis, there was a significant correlation with increasing
EAT
and presence of diastolic dysfunction and mean e′ (average mitral annular tissue Doppler velocity) and E/e′ (early inflow / annular velocity ratio) but not E/A (ratio of peak early (E) and late (A) transmitral inflow velocities), independent of adiposity measures. There was a greater
EAT
in patients with diastolic dysfunction (weighted mean difference, 24.43 mL; 95% confidence interval, 18.5–30.4 mL;
P
<0.001), and meta‐regression confirmed the association of increasing
EAT
with diastolic dysfunction (
P
=0.001). Reported associations of increasing
EAT
with increasing left ventricular mass and the inverse correlation of
EAT
with left ventricular ejection fraction were inconsistent, and not independent from other adiposity measures.

Conclusions

EAT
is associated with diastolic function, independent of other influential variables.
EAT
is an effect modifier for chamber size but not systolic function.
Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Brain Health: Impact on Long‐Range Cortical Connections and Cognitive Performance
Authors: Marebwa Barbara K. , Adams Robert J. , Magwood Gayenell S. , Basilakos Alexandra , Mueller Martina , Rorden Chris , Fridriksson Julius , Bonilha Leonardo 
Published: December 2018

Background
Cardiovascular risk factor burden in the absence of clinical or radiological “events” is associated with mild cognitive impairment. Magnetic resonance imaging techniques exploring the integrity of neuronal fiber connectivity within white matter networks supporting cognitive processing could be used to measure the impact of cardiovascular disease on brain health and be used beyond bedside neuropsychological tests to detect subclinical changes and select or stratify participants for entry into clinical trials.

Methods and Results

We assessed the relationship between verbal
IQ
and brain network integrity and the effect of cardiovascular risk factors on network integrity by constructing whole‐brain structural connectomes from magnetic resonance imaging diffusion images (N=60) from people with various degrees of cardiovascular risk factor burden. We measured axonal integrity by calculating network density and determined the effect of fiber loss on network topology and efficiency, using graph theory. Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between cardiovascular risk factor burden, physical activity, age, education, white matter integrity, and verbal
IQ
. Reduced network density, resulting from a disproportionate loss of long‐range white matter fibers, was associated with white matter network fragmentation (
r
=−0.52,
P
<10
−4
), lower global efficiency (
r
=0.91,
P
<10
−20
), and decreased verbal
IQ
(adjusted
R
2
=0.23,
P
<10
−4
).

Conclusions
Cardiovascular risk factors may mediate negative effects on brain health via loss of energy‐dependent long‐range white matter fibers, which in turn leads to disruption of the topological organization of the white matter networks, lowered efficiency, and reduced cognitive function.
Storms Producing Large Accumulations of Small Hail
Authors: Kumjian Matthew R. , Lebo Zachary J. , Ward Aaron M. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractHail-bearing storms produce substantial socioeconomic impacts each year, yet challenges remain in forecasting the type of hail threat supported by a given environment and in using radar to estimate hail sizes more accurately. One class of hail threat is storms producing large accumulations of small hail (SPLASH). This paper presents an analysis of the environments and polarimetric radar characteristics of such storms. Thirteen SPLASH events were selected to encompass a broad range of geographic regions and times of year. Rapid Refresh model output was used to characterize the mesoscale environments associated with each case. This analysis reveals that a range of environments can support SPLASH cases; however, some commonalities included large precipitable water (exceeding that day’s climatological 90th-percentile values), CAPE < 2500 J kg−1, weak storm-relative wind speeds (<10 m s−1) in the lowest few kilometers of the troposphere, and a weak component of the storm-relative flow orthogonal to the 0–6-km shear vector. Most of the storms were weak supercells that featured distinctive S-band radar signatures, including compact (<200 km2) regions of reflectivity factor > 60 dBZ, significant differential attenuation evident as negative differential reflectivity extending downrange of the hail core, and anomalously large specific differential phaseKDP. TheKDPvalues often approached or exceeded the operational color scale’s upper limit (10.7° km−1); reprocessing the level-II data revealedKDP>17° km−1, the highest documented in precipitation at S band. Electromagnetic scattering calculations using the T-matrix method confirm that large quantities of small melting hail mixed with heavy rain can plausibly explain the observed radar signatures.
Subgrid Parameterizations of the Eddy–Eddy, Eddy–Mean Field, Eddy–Topographic, Mean Field–Mean Field, and Mean Field–Topographic Interactions in Atmospheric Models
Authors: Kitsios Vassili , Frederiksen Jorgen S. 
Published: December 2018

Abstract
Parameterizations are developed for each of the subgrid turbulence interaction classes in fully three-dimensional global atmospheric flows over topography, typical of January and July climate states. Stochastic and deterministic parameterizations are developed for the eddy–eddy interactions and deterministic parameterizations for eddy–mean field, eddy–topographic, mean field–mean field, and mean field–topographic interactions. All parameterizations are calculated from the statistics of higher-resolution reference direct numerical simulations (DNSs) truncated into resolved and subgrid scales and employed without tuning coefficients. This parameterization framework is validated by performing large-eddy simulations (LESs) that closely agree with the reference DNSs in terms of time-averaged kinetic energy spectra, zonal jet structure, and nonzonal streamfunction fields. Both the DNSs and LESs are formulated in such a way that the usual problem of a long artificial dissipation range does not occur. Successful LESs are produced with truncation wavenumbers 31 and 15, using, respectively, only 11.9% and 1.3% of the DNS computational effort at truncation wavenumber 63. The lower-resolution LESs show that the parameterizations are successful even when the energy injection due to baroclinic instability is not completely resolved. The contribution of each of the parameterized interaction classes to the quality of the LES is identified. The best agreement is achieved when all subgrid components are included. There is a very high level of agreement between the LESs and DNSs with typical streamfunction pattern correlations of r = 0.962 for the nonzonal components and r = 0.999 for the total fields when the complete sets of parameterizations are used.
Skill Evaluation of Extended-Range Forecasts of Rainfall and Temperature over the Meteorological Subdivisions of India
Authors: Joseph Susmitha , Sahai A. K. , Phani R. , Mandal R. , Dey A. , Chattopadhyay R. , Abhilash S. 
Published: December 2018

Abstract
Under the National Monsoon Mission Project initiated by the government of India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, an indigenous dynamical ensemble prediction system (EPS) has been developed at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology based on the state-of-the-art Climate Forecast System Model version 2 (CFSv2) coupled model, for extended-range (~15–20 days in advance) prediction. The forecasts are generated for the entire year covering the southwest monsoon, the northeast monsoon, and the summer and winter seasons. As the forecast of rainfall is important during the southwest and northeast monsoon seasons, along with that of the temperature during the summer and winter seasons, the present study documents the deterministic as well as probabilistic skill of the EPS in predicting the results in the respective seasons, over various meteorological subdivisions throughout India, on a pentad-lead time scale. The EPS is found to be skillful in predicting rainfall during the southwest and northeast monsoon seasons, as well as temperature during the summer and winter seasons, across different subdivisions of India. In addition, the EPS is noted to be skillful in predicting selected extremes in rainfall and temperature. This affirms the reliability and usefulness of the present EPS from an operational perspective.
Summative Usability Assessments of STAR-Vote: A Cryptographically Secure e2e Voting System That Has Been Empirically Proven to Be Easy to Use
Authors: Acemyan Claudia Ziegler , Kortum Philip , Byrne Michael D. , Wallach Dan S. 
Published: December 2018

Background: From the project’s inception, STAR-Vote was intended to be one of the first usable, end-to-end (e2e) voting systems with sophisticated security. To realize STAR-Vote, computer security experts, statistical auditors, human factors (HF)/human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers, and election officials collaborated throughout the project and relied upon a user-centered, iterative design and development process, which included human factors research and usability testing, to make certain the system would be both usable and secure. Objective: While best practices in HF/HCI methods for design were used and all apparent usability problems were identified and fixed, summative system usability assessments were conducted toward the end of the user-centered design process to determine whether STAR-Vote is in fact easy to use. Method and Results: After collecting efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction measurements per ISO 9241-11’s system usability criteria, an analysis of the data revealed that there is evidence for STAR-Vote being the most usable, cryptographically secure voting system to date when compared with the previously tested e2e systems: Helios, Prêt à Voter, and Scantegrity. Conclusion and Application: STAR-Vote being one of the first e2e voting systems that is both highly usable and secure is a significant accomplishment, because tamper-resistant voting systems can be used in U.S. elections to ensure the integrity of the electoral process, while still ensuring that voter intent is accurately reflected in the cast ballots. Moreover, this research empirically shows that a complex, secure system can still be usable—meaning that implemented security is not an excuse for poor usability.
Mental Health and Substance Use–Related Hospitalizations Among Women of Reproductive Age in Illinois and Wisconsin
Authors: Bennett Amanda C. , Gibson Crystal , Rohan Angela M. , Howland Julia F. , Rankin Kristin M. 
Published: December 2018

Introduction: Mental health and substance use are growing public health concerns, but established surveillance methods do not measure the burden of these conditions among women of reproductive age. We developed a standardized indicator from administrative data to identify inpatient hospitalizations related to mental health or substance use (MHSU) among women of reproductive age, as well as co-occurrence of mental health and substance use conditions among those hospitalizations. Materials and Methods: We used inpatient hospital discharge data from 2012-2014 for women aged 15-44 residing in Illinois and Wisconsin. We identified MHSU-related hospitalizations through the principal International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis and first-listed ICD-9-CM external cause of injury code (E code). We classified hospitalizations as related to 1 of 3 mutually exclusive categories: a mental disorder, a substance use disorder, or an acute MHSU-related event. We defined co-occurrence as the presence of both mental health and substance use codes in any available diagnosis or E-code field. Results: Of 1 173 758 hospitalizations of women of reproductive age, 150 318 (12.8%) were related to a mental disorder, a substance use disorder, or an acute MHSU-related event, for a rate of 135.6 hospitalizations per 10 000 women. Of MHSU-related hospitalizations, 115 163 (76.6%) were for a principal mental disorder, 22 466 (14.9%) were for a principal substance use disorder, and 12 709 (8.5%) were for an acute MHSU-related event; 42.4% had co-occurring mental health codes and substance use codes on the discharge record. Practice Implications: MHSU-related disorders and events are common causes of hospitalization for women of reproductive age, and nearly half of these hospitalizations involved co-occurring mental health and substance use diagnoses or events. This new indicator may improve public health surveillance by establishing a systematic and comprehensive method to measure the burden of MHSU-related hospitalizations among women of reproductive age.
Short-Term Incidence of Sequelae of HCV Infection Among Medicaid Beneficiaries in Oregon
Authors: Jindai Kazuaki , Crawford Courtney , Thomas Ann R. 
Published: December 2018

Objectives: Given the known high morbidity and mortality of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Oregon, we sought to develop a practical method of estimating the severe sequelae of HCV infection among Medicaid beneficiaries in Oregon. Methods: We assembled a retrospective cohort that identified all Oregon Medicaid beneficiaries with HCV infection enrolled for at least 1 year during 2009-2013. We linked this cohort to 3 data sets to identify HCV-related deaths, cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and first hospitalizations for advanced liver disease (ALD). We calculated incidence density rates and used multivariable Cox regression modeling to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) to evaluate the association between demographic characteristics (birth year, sex, race, ethnicity) and these 3 outcomes. Results: Of 11 790 Oregon Medicaid beneficiaries with HCV infection, 474 (4.0%) had an HCV-related death, 156 (1.3%) had HCC, and 596 (5.1%) had a first hospitalization for ALD. Adjusted hazard ratios for deaths were 2.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-2.8) among persons born in 1945 through 1965 (vs persons born after 1965), 2.1 (95% CI, 1.7-2.5) among males (vs females), and 1.9 (95% CI, 1.2-2.9) among Asian/Pacific Islanders and 2.2 (95% CI, 1.5-3.2) among American Indian/Alaska Natives (vs white persons). The same risk groups had significant aHRs for first hospitalizations for ALD. Persons born before 1945 (aHR = 17.0; 95% CI, 5.2-55.8) and in 1945 through 1965 (aHR = 12.8; 95% CI, 4.1-40.3) vs born after 1965, males (aHR = 3.3; 95% CI, 2.3-4.8) vs females, and Asian/Pacific Islanders (aHR = 3.9; 95% CI, 2.3-6.7) vs white persons had higher risks for HCC. Conclusions: Continued assessments using the methods piloted in this study will allow Oregon to monitor trends in severe sequelae of HCV infection over time.
Awareness of Breastfeeding Laws and Provisions of Students and Employees of Institutions of Higher Learning in Georgia
Authors: Anderson Alex Kojo , Johnson Evan , Motoyasu Nicole , Bignell Whitney E. 
Published: December 2018

Background: Over the past 2 decades, southern states in the United States have recorded the lowest breastfeeding rates. It is not known whether awareness of breastfeeding laws and provision of resources play any role in their breastfeeding practices. Research aims: The aims were (a) to describe awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions by students and employees of institutions of higher learning in the state of Georgia, (b) to describe awareness by race and ethnicity, and (c) to determine factors associated with awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions among students and employees within Georgia institutions of higher learning. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of students ( n = 1,923) and employees ( n = 1,311) associated with five institutions within the University System of Georgia ( N = 3,271) was completed. Convenience sampling was used. Data were collected through Qualtrics. Chi-square test was used to examine differences between groups, while logistic regression was used to examine associations. Results: Participants included 33.3% undergraduate, 26.2% graduate students, 24.6% staff, 14.2% faculty, and 1.7% administrators. Over two thirds were female and white. Almost one third reported having a child or children. Awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions was very low among respondents, with 26.6 and 9.6% aware of federal and state provisions, respectively. While less than 10% were familiar with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative program, 52.6% reported their institution provides a supportive environment for breastfeeding. Being a student and being a minority were negatively associated with awareness of laws and provisions that support breastfeeding. Conclusion: The need for focused efforts on increasing awareness of legislative and institutional provisions and support for breastfeeding exists.
Will material interest make social workers quit their job? A meta-analysis
Authors: Luo Meng Sha , Chui Ernest Wing Tak 
Published: December 2018

Summary The academia and the profession have long overlooked the importance of material interest in the profession of social work. In order to address this research gap, we first reviewed the historical role that material interest has played in differentiating professions from nonprofessions and analyzed its decreasing status along the development of professions due to the two competing discourses of professionalization and de-professionalization. We concluded with the fundamental question, “does material interest still matter for the professions under the current professional environments,” and answered this question by purposively selecting one of the most important organizational outcomes of the social work workplace—turnover intentions—as our dependent variable. We then conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between salary and turnover on 24 studies with a combined sample of 9343 social workers. Findings The results showed that salary was negatively related to social workers’ intentions to leave organizations (r = −.18, ρ = −.21). Specifically, both social workers’ actual salary and their satisfaction with pay and benefits were negatively associated with individual employees’ turnover intentions. Applications This research also supported Barth’s argument that despite social workers’ earnings are “unresponsive” to the labor market, they are not so different from other professions in the workforce market. Research implications both for the third model of the profession—institutionalist professionalism—in contemporary society and for salary raises were discussed.
Explaining the policy practice of community social workers
Authors: Weiss-Gal Idit , Gal John 
Published: December 2018

Summary Policy change is a core goal of community social workers. This study aims to identify the motivational and facilitating factors associated with community social workers’ engagement in policy practice, defined as policy involvement undertaken in the workplace context. The sample comprised of 106 community social workers employed by local government in Israel and the data were collected between June 2015 and February 2017. Findings The findings showed that community social workers are more likely to engage in policy when they enjoy higher professional status, possess more policy practice resources, have higher psychological involvement in politics, are more involved in political and professional networks, and sense that they enjoy greater organizational support for policy practice. Applications In seeking to enhance the engagement of community social workers in the policy process, social work education should provide future community social workers with policy practice skills and a sense of psychological engagement in politics. It should also encourage their participation in political networks and offer training that affords them opportunities to develop the organizational skills needed to further macro goals in a social service agency setting. In their workplace, community social workers seeking to engage in policy practice need to nurture an organizational culture that supports social workers’ policy involvement. Given that this study is on a single Israeli sample, future research on community social workers in additional work settings and in other countries is required in order to advance knowledge on this crucial, yet understudied, form of professional activity.