bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Conservative management of uterine adenosarcoma: lessons learned from 20 years of follow-up
Authors: L’Heveder Ariadne , Jones Benjamin P. , Saso Srdjan , Barcroft Jen , Richardson Robert , Kaur Baljeet , Ghaem-Maghami Sadaf , Yazbek Joseph , Smith J. Richard 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Purpose
Uterine adenosarcomas (UAs) account for 5–8% of cases of uterine sarcomas. Treatment includes total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO).
Fertility preservation is an emerging concept in gynaecology oncology and is particularly relevant in UA, where cases are diagnosed as young as 15-year-old. This manuscript demonstrates a case of UA which was treated conservatively, achieved successful livebirths and underwent completion hysterectomy after two decades of follow-up.

Method
This was a retrospective case note review.

Results
An 18-year-old nulliparous woman presented with abnormal vaginal bleeding. Ultrasound identified an endometrial polyp, which was histologically diagnosed as low-grade adenosarcoma. She was advised to undergo TAH and BSO, but instead decided to preserve her fertility and opted for conservative management. She was monitored with pelvic ultrasound, hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy bi-annually, with annual pelvic magnetic resonance imaging for 10 years which was uneventful. 11 years post-operatively she conceived following in-vitro fertilization (IVF) but suffered a miscarriage at 16 weeks likely due to cervical incompetence. She subsequently conceived with twins. She delivered spontaneously preterm at 28 weeks. Both children are alive and well. After 20 years of follow-up, she underwent a laparoscopic hysterectomy with no evidence of recurrence. She remains disease free.

Conclusion
Whilst radical completion surgery should be advised in UA, this case, in addition to all published conservatively managed cases of UA, demonstrates that conservative management is possible in appropriately selected women. Intensive monitoring post-operatively is essential owing to the risk of recurrence; however, this may pose deleterious side effects which require consideration.
The evaluation of canal wall up cholesteatoma surgery with the Glasgow Benefit Inventory
Authors: Westerberg Johanna , Mäki-Torkko Elina , Harder Henrik 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Purpose
The aim of the study was to investigate the change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after canal wall up cholesteatoma surgery, using the Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI).

Methods
Data from a consecutive group of 47 adults scheduled for primary cholesteatoma surgery using canal wall up (CWU) with obliteration, from January 2005 to December 2009, were analysed. Information was extracted from a medical database, and complementary data from patient files and audiograms were collected and recorded retrospectively. The GBI questionnaire was used for the assessment of HRQoL after surgery.

Results
There was no finding of residual or recurrent cholesteatomas in the study group. Hearing was improved at 1 and 3 years postoperatively. No patient suffered a total hearing loss. The overall GBI scores showed an improved HRQoL after surgery. Twenty-nine (85%) patients benefitted from surgery, 1 (3%) had no change, and 4 (12%) expressed deterioration.

Conclusions
Cholesteatoma surgery using CWU with obliteration gives an improved HRQoL for the majority of patients. The GBI questionnaire provides complementary information to hearing and healing results after cholesteatoma surgery.
An MRI study of solute transport in the intervertebral disc
Authors: Palfrey Rachel M. , Summers Ian R. , Winlove C. Peter 
Published: October 2019

AbstractObjectiveQuantitative magnetic resonance imaging was used to determine partition coefficients and characteristic time constants for diffusion of MRI contrast agents in disc tissue.Materials and methodsTwenty-two excised equine intervertebral discs were exposed to a range of contrast agents: six to manganese chloride, eight to Magnevist (gadopentetate dimeglumine) and eight to Gadovist (gadobutrol), and uptake into the disc was quantified inT1-weighted images.ResultsDiffusion for all contrast agents was approximately 25% faster in the nucleus than in the outer annulus; disc-average time constants ranged from (2.28 ± 0.23) × 104 s for Gadovist (uncharged, molecular mass 605 g/mol) to (5.07 ± 0.75) × 104 s for the manganese cation (charge + 2). Disc-average partition coefficients ranged from 0.77 ± 0.04 for the anion in Magnevist (charge − 2, molecular mass 548 g/mol) to 5.14 ± 0.43 for the manganese cation.ConclusionThe MRI technique provides high-quality quantitative data which correspond well to theoretical predictions, allowing values for partition coefficient and time constant to be readily determined. These measurements provide information to underpin similar studies in vivo and may be used as a model for the transport of nutrients and pharmaceutical agents in the disc.
Investigating Swedish Preschool Teachers’ Intentions Involved in Grouping Practices
Authors: Nasiopoulou Panagiota 
Published: October 2019

AbstractThis study aims to explore profiles of preschool teachers’ intentions when they divide the children into subgroups. Interactionist perspectives, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, and a pedagogical perspective on preschool quality provide the foundation for the study’s theoretical framework. By applying a person-centered analytical procedure, the study analyzes preschool teachers’ considerations of a set of intentional indicators involved in grouping practices related to conditions for supportive classroom environment, opportunities for children’s play and interactions, and preschool teachers’ direct involvement in children’s learning. The sample consists of 698 preschool teachers from preschools in 46 municipalities in Sweden. Two intentional profiles were identified: arelationalprofile and anorganizationalprofile. The patterns of play and learning opportunities, increasing communication and interaction, and opportunities for children to share their experiences and interests were the most distinctive patterns across the two profiles. Preschool teachers’ consideration of grouping practices as appropriate for working with a specific learning goal was equally emphasized in both profiles. These findings provide insight into preschool teachers’ pedagogical approaches and yield implications for the design of continuing professional development models for preschool teachers.
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis: a retrospective analysis from a centre of South Italy
Authors: Castagna I. , Roszkowska A. M. , Alessandrello F. , Oliverio G. W. , Tumminello G. , Gallizzi R. , Conti G. , Aragona P. 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Purpose
To investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of the children affected by juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who developed uveitis.

Methods
In this retrospective study, we have examined data of 109 patients aged from 3 to 16 years, affected by JIA and followed at Paediatrics Rheumatology Clinic and Ophthalmology Clinic of University Hospital of Messina in the period from 2007 to 2017. The main outcome measures were clinical and laboratory findings related to JIA and ocular involvement. The prevalence of ocular signs and symptoms was determined and correlated with age.

Results
Twenty-one (19.3%) subjects developed uveitis. Two different peaks of age with ocular involvement were registered. The first occurred between 4 and 6 years and the second between 10 and 12 years. All subjects in the first group resulted to be female, presented oligoarticular arthritis and chronic anterior uveitis. In the second group, the 84% of patients were male with different types of JIA and acute anterior uveitis. The prevalence of ocular complications was higher in the first group.

Conclusions
Two peaks of age emerged and were characterized by different clinical outcomes of arthritis and ocular involvement. The first occurred between 4 and 6 years and interested females affected by oligoarticular JIA who develop chronic anterior uveitis. The second appeared at 10–12 years and interested older males affected by different types of JIA with acute anterior uveitis. Early diagnosis and cooperation between paediatric rheumatologist and ophthalmologist are of great importance in the proper management of JIA children with uveitis.
Application of multiple quench parameters for confirmation of radionuclide identity in radioanalytical quality control
Authors: Gaca Pawel , Reading David , Warwick Phillip 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
Robust and reliable radiochemical analysis is the key factor in the appropriate disposal and management of radioactive wastes arising from the nuclear industry, decommissioning projects, medical, and scientific institutions. There is an ever increasing number of challenging projects that involve rapid analysis of large batches of samples and require rigorous quality control systems capable of positively identifying incorrect or questionable results which may lead to costly consequences at the latter stages of the waste disposal process. Combination of SQP(E) and SQPI LSC spectral parameters allows for quick and reliable checking of large datasets without the need for individual manual spectrum checks.
An objective and efficient method for estimating probabilistic coastal inundation hazards
Authors: Yang Kun , Paramygin Vladimir , Sheng Y. Peter 
Published: October 2019

AbstractThe joint probability method (JPM) is the traditional way to determine the base flood elevation due to storm surge, and it usually requires simulation of storm surge response from tens of thousands of synthetic storms. The simulated storm surge is combined with probabilistic storm rates to create flood maps with various return periods. However, the map production requires enormous computational cost if state-of-the-art hydrodynamic models with high-resolution numerical grids are used; hence, optimal sampling (JPM-OS) with a small number of (~ 100–200) optimal (representative) storms is preferred. This paper presents a significantly improved JPM-OS, where a small number of optimal storms are objectively selected, and simulated storm surge responses of tens of thousands of storms are accurately interpolated from those for the optimal storms using a highly efficient kriging surrogate model. This study focuses on Southwest Florida and considers ~ 150 optimal storms that are selected based on simulations using either the low fidelity (with low resolution and simple physics) SLOSH model or the high fidelity (with high resolution and comprehensive physics) CH3D model. Surge responses to the optimal storms are simulated using both SLOSH and CH3D, and the flood elevations are calculated using JPM-OS with highly efficient kriging interpolations. For verification, the probabilistic inundation maps are compared to those obtained by the traditional JPM and variations of JPM-OS that employ different interpolation schemes, and computed probabilistic water levels are compared to those calculated by historical storm methods. The inundation maps obtained with the JPM-OS differ less than 10% from those obtained with JPM for 20,625 storms, with only 4% of the computational time.
Local dimension reduction of summary statistics for likelihood-free inference
Authors: Sirén Jukka , Kaski Samuel 
Published: October 2019

AbstractApproximate Bayesian computation (ABC) and other likelihood-free inference methods have gained popularity in the last decade, as they allow rigorous statistical inference for complex models without analytically tractable likelihood functions. A key component for accurate inference with ABC is the choice of summary statistics, which summarize the information in the data, but at the same time should be low-dimensional for efficiency. Several dimension reduction techniques have been introduced to automatically construct informative and low-dimensional summaries from a possibly large pool of candidate summaries. Projection-based methods, which are based on learning simple functional relationships from the summaries to parameters, are widely used and usually perform well, but might fail when the assumptions behind the transformation are not satisfied. We introduce a localization strategy for any projection-based dimension reduction method, in which the transformation is estimated in the neighborhood of the observed data instead of the whole space. Localization strategies have been suggested before, but the performance of the transformed summaries outside the local neighborhood has not been guaranteed. In our localization approach the transformation is validated and optimized over validation datasets, ensuring reliable performance. We demonstrate the improvement in the estimation accuracy for localized versions of linear regression and partial least squares, for three different models of varying complexity.
Enhancing the efficacy of 131I therapy in non-toxic multinodular goitre with appropriate use of methimazole: an analysis of randomized controlled study
Authors: Szumowski Piotr , Abdelrazek Saeid , Sykała Monika , Mojsak Małgorzata , Żukowski Łukasz , Siewko Katarzyna , Maliszewska Katarzyna , Adamska Agnieszka , Popławska-Kita Anna , Krętowski Adam , Myśliwiec Janusz 
Published: October 2019

Abstract

Purpose
It is possible to raise the rate of the uptake of 131I in the thyroid gland (RAIU) by increasing the endogenous TSH level through appropriate use of methimazole (MMI) prior to 131I therapy. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of pre treatment with MMI on the efficacy of 131I therapy in non-toxic multinodular goitre (NMG).

Methods
Thirty-one patients with NMG received 131I treatment in order to reduce the volume of the thyroid (TVR). Those in group 1 (n = 16) were administered 10 mg of methimazole for 6 weeks. Four days after its discontinuation, they received 131I. Patients in group 2 (n = 15) were given a placebo instead of MMI. The therapeutic activity of 131I was constant (800 MBq) and was repeated every 6 months. Treatment was discontinued when TVR reached <40 ml.

Results
In group 1, RAIU increased approximately twofold. Ten patients from group 2 and four patients from group 1 received further doses of 131I. The median of time until TVR decreased below 40 ml was 9 months [6–12 months] and 18 months [14–22 months] in group 2. At 2 years after the 131I therapy, the occurrence of hypothyroidism did not differ significantly (36% in group 1 and 33% in group2, p = 0.074).

Conclusions
Radioiodine treatment of NMG preceded with appropriate application of MMI is efficient thanks to increased RAIU, shorter period of treatment, and lower frequency of 131I administration, without an increase in the incidence of post-treatment hypothyroidism.
The migration of pesticide residues in groundwater at a bank filtration site (Krajkowo well field, Poland)
Authors: Dragon Krzysztof , Drozdzynski Dariusz , Gorski Jozef , Kruc Roksana 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
River bank filtration systems are widely used for water supply purposes. Using these systems, the movement of water over short distances between the river bottom and extraction wells can decrease the concentrations of some contaminants. Such systems are especially important for the removal of specific micro-pollutants that seasonally appear in river water. In this article, pesticides migration at the Krajkowo well field is analysed based on different water extraction schemes. The water is extracted by two groups of wells (one located 60–80 m from the Warta River, and the second located more than 400 m from the river) and by a horizontal well with radial drains located 5 m below the river bottom. Based on this scheme, the rate of pesticide residues removal was analysed in wells located at different distances from the river channel. The results of the three sampling campaigns conducted in summer and autumn 2017 and winter 2018 indicate the presence of pesticide compounds in the Warta River (max. total concentration of 0.171 μg/l). The pesticides were also present in the horizontal well (max. total concentration of 0.137 μg/l). Much smaller concentrations (max. 0.064 μg/l) were observed in vertical wells located 60–80 m from the river. Additionally, in the well located 250 m from the river, only two pesticide constituents were detected (at concentrations just above the detection limit), and in a well located 680 m from the river, the concentrations of pesticide residues were below the detection limit (excluding isoproturon, which was slightly above the detection limit). This research illustrates the effectiveness of pesticides removal by river bank filtration.
On the design of equity-oriented pharmaceutical copayments
Authors: González Paula 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
In this paper, we propose a new approach to address the problem of designing pharmaceutical copayments. The rationale for positive copayments in our setting lies in the presence of budgetary constraints and, hence, in the need to raise funds in order to finance the costs of the treatments. We use results from the literature on axiomatic bargaining with claims to incorporate criteria of distributive justice into the design of copayments. We find that if the government constrains patient rights to what is medically feasible, equity-based copayments vary from a percentage of the cost of the treatment, to a flat rate per prescription. If the government also takes into account the burden of disease experienced by patients, then copayments based on equity lead to a relation between copayments and clinical status that diverges from those proposals based on efficiency arguments. In particular, we show that equity-based copayments might be increasing in the health gains that the treatments provide to the patients. The reason is that these copayments try to avoid a “double jeopardy” problem, by ensuring that those patients with a large burden of disease do not face also an important monetary cost.
Investigation of dopant centres dominating the conduction process in the bulk of un-doped GaSb
Authors: Shura Megersa Wodajo 
Published: October 2019

Abstract
In this paper, first, the theoretical description of the effects of the dopant densities and the activation energies on the ionization densities, the chemical potentials corresponding to each dopant levels, the majority carrier densities and the Fermi-energy levels in one-acceptor-level system, highly compensated system and two-acceptor-level system are described in detail. Upon fitting the theoretical to the experimental results obtained by the temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements for three samples of un-doped GaSb, the dopant densities and the activation energies for a system with different dopants are investigated. The obtained results revealed that the dopant activation energy has less (no) effect on the Fermi-energy level and the majority carrier density in the highest temperature regimes. The doping density has also less (no) effect on the Fermi-energy level in the lowest temperature regimes. Finally, fitting of the theoretical to the experimental Hall effect measurements results confirmed the presence of three acceptor and one donor levels dominating the majority carrier densities at different temperature regions in all the samples of un-doped GaSb semiconductor.
Making urinary extracellular vesicles a clinically tractable source of biomarkers for inherited tubulopathies using a small volume precipitation method: proof of concept
Authors: Williams Timothy Lee , Bastos Carlos , Faria Nuno , Karet Frankl Fiona Eve 
Published: October 2019

AbstractBiomarkers of inherited tubulopathies would be useful for clarifying diagnoses in patients where genetic screening is not readily available or where disease-attributable mutations are not found. Urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) obtained by ultracentrifugation can be used as a source of biomarkers for inherited tubulopathies such as Gitelman Syndrome (GS), however, ultracentrifugation requires costly equipment and is thus not usually accessible. In contrast, precipitation methods can extract uEVs using standard laboratory centrifuges, thus making uEVs extracted by this method clinically tractable as a source of biomarkers for GS and other inherited tubulopathies. Here we optimise a precipitation method for extracting urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) and provide proof of concept that these uEVs are a source of biomarkers using GS an exemplar tubulopathy. For method optimisation, uEVs were precipitated from fresh and frozen (for up to 6 years), small volume (1–2 mL) urine samples from healthy volunteers and GS patients. Nanoparticle tracking analysis was used to calculate the concentration of uEVs. Thiazide sensitive sodium-chloride cotransporter (NCC) content was determined by densitometry of Western blots. NCC content of uEVs was lower in GS patients (n = 11) than healthy volunteers (n = 12; P = 0.001). Three of four patients clinically suspected for GS, in whom only a singleSLC12A3mutation was identified, had lower uEV NCC content than all healthy volunteers tested. In the clinical setting, sufficient uEVs can be extracted from frozen, small volume urine samples using precipitation methods to distinguish patients with GS from healthy volunteers, and thus this source of uEVs could be utilised as an additional diagnostic test for GS and similar disorders.
Instabilities in non-ideal fluids
Authors: Robinet J.-C. , Gloerfelt X. 
Published: October 2019

The recent study of Ren et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 871, 2019, pp. 831–864) investigated the hydrodynamic linear stability of a compressible boundary layer over an insulated flat plate for a non-ideal gas (supercritical $\text{CO}_{2}$). In particular, the authors showed that in the transcritical regime (across the pseudo-critical line) the flow is strongly convectively unstable due to the co-existence of two unstable modes: Mode I, related to Tollmien–Schlichting instabilities and a new inviscid two-dimensional mode (Mode II) with a spatial growth rate one order of magnitude larger than Mode I for high Eckert numbers. In contrast to the transcritical regime, in the sub- and supercritical regimes, Mode II does not exist. Only Mode I drives the instabilities: viscous and two-dimensional for the subcritical regime and inflectional and three-dimensional for the supercritical regime.
The Chinese Unitary Multinational State: A Normative Reappraisal
Authors: El Kholi Hugo 
Published: October 2019

AbstractThis article provides a normative analysis of the rationale behind the creation of the Chinese unitary multinational state. Far from being irrelevant in the face of the well-known aversion of scientific socialism for normative thinking, such analysis illuminates the Chinese Communist Party’s long-standing commitment to the unitary multinational state as the best response to the national question. It shows that the Party’s leadership, in a conscious effort to adapt Stalin’s theory of nationality to Chinese revolutionary praxis, substantially revised the standard conception of national self-determination. Relying on its own materialist logic, it made participation in the struggle against alienation the normative basis to justify granting ethnic minorities special rights of regional autonomy under a common state. The creation of the Chinese unitary multinational state appears in this light as a normatively coherent attempt to guarantee that all ethnic groups that contributed to national liberation benefit equally from their imprescriptible right to collective self-determination.