bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Left Atrial Phasic Function by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking Is a Strong Predictor of Incident Cardiovascular Events
Authors: Chirinos Julio A. , Sardana Mayank , Ansari Bilal , Satija Vaibhav , Kuriakose Daniel , Edelstein Ilaina , Oldland Garrett , Miller Rachana , Gaddam Swetha , Lee Jonathan , Suri Arpita , Akers Scott R. 
Published: December 2018

Background:
The prognostic importance of left atrial (LA) dysfunction is increasingly recognized. Magnetic resonance imaging can provide excellent visualization of the LA wall. We aimed to study the association of LA dysfunction measured using feature-tracking magnetic resonance imaging with incident adverse cardiovascular events among subjects with or without heart failure (HF) at baseline.

Methods and Results:

We prospectively studied 640 adults without HF (n=419), HF with preserved ejection fraction (n=101), or HF with reduced ejection fraction (n=120). We measured phasic LA function by volumetric and feature-tracking methods to derive longitudinal strain. The composite outcome of incident HF hospitalization or death was adjudicated during a median follow-up of 37.1 months. Measures of LA phasic function were more prominently impaired in subjects with HF with reduced ejection fraction than among subjects with HF with preserved ejection fraction. In unadjusted Cox proportional hazards models, all measures of phasic LA function and volumes (maximum, minimum, and diastatic) were associated with the composite outcome. However, in analyses that adjusted for clinical risk factors, HF status, maximum LA volume, left ventricular mass, and left ventricular ejection fraction, measures of conduit and reservoir LA function, but not booster-pump function, were associated with the composite outcome. The strongest associations were observed for conduit longitudinal strain (standardized hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49–0.88;
P
=0.004), conduit strain rate (standardized hazard ratio, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.16–2.16;
P
=0.0035), and reservoir strain (standardized hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.52–0.89;
P
=0.0055).

Conclusions:
Phasic LA function measured using magnetic resonance imaging feature tracking is independently predictive of the risk of incident HF admission or death, even after adjusting for LA volume and left ventricular remodeling.
Association Between Carotid Artery Perivascular Fat Density and Cerebrovascular Ischemic Events
Authors: Baradaran Hediyeh , Myneni Pavan K. , Patel Praneil , Askin Gulce , Gialdini Gino , Al‐Dasuqi Khalid , Kamel Hooman , Gupta Ajay 
Published: December 2018

Background
Studies have shown that pericoronary artery inflammation can be accurately detected via increased attenuation on computed tomography. Our purpose was to evaluate the association between pericarotid inflammation, measured by density of carotid perivascular fat on computed tomography angiography, with stroke and transient ischemic attack.

Methods and Results

We screened computed tomography angiography examinations for patients with unilateral internal carotid artery (
ICA
) stenosis ≥50% to 99%. A blinded neuroradiologist placed regions‐of‐interest in the pericarotid fat on the slice showing maximal stenosis. Two‐sample
t
tests were performed to assess
between‐subject
differences in mean Hounsfield Units in carotid perivascular fat between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Paired
t
tests were used to assess
within‐subject
differences in mean Hounsfield Units between stenotic versus nonstenotic
ICA
s in a given patient. We included 94 patients, including 42 symptomatic and 52 asymptomatic patients. In the
between‐subject
analysis of stenotic
ICA
s, we found symptomatic patients had higher mean pericarotid fat density compared with asymptomatic patients (−66.2±19.2 versus −77.1±20.4,
P
=0.009). When comparing nonstenotic
ICA
s, there was no significant difference between pericarotid fat density in symptomatic compared with asymptomatic patients (−81.0±13.3 versus −85.3±18.0:
P
=0.198).
Within‐subject
comparison showed statistically significant increased density in stenotic
ICA
versus nonstenotic
ICA
with mean Hounsfield Units difference of 11.1 (
P
<0.0001).

Conclusions

We found increased density, a surrogate marker for perivascular inflammation, in the fat surrounding
ICA
s ipsilateral to stroke or transient ischemic attack compared with asymptomatic
ICA
s. Our findings suggest that inflammation associated with culprit carotid plaques extends beyond the vessel lumen and can be identified using simple methods on computed tomography angiography imaging.
Legislative Party Turnover and Electoral Volatility: What Explains the Difference?
Authors: Golosov Grigorii V. 
Published: December 2018

Abstract
This article explores the structural determinants of aggregate change in the party composition of legislative assemblies, i.e. legislative party turnover. To a large extent a product of electoral volatility, it has its own causal dynamics due to the differentiated impact exerted by electoral rules, party system properties, and institutional design upon the two phenomena. The empirical test on elections held in 111 electoral democracies of the world (1992-2014) demonstrates that the impact of institutional factors (including electoral rules, federalism, and presidentialism) and party system nationalization upon legislative party turnover tends to be mitigated in comparison with their effects upon electoral volatility, even though the direction of the impact is almost invariably the same.
Emerging Market Volatility Spillovers
Authors: Serletis Apostolos , Azad Nahiyan Faisal 
Published: December 2018

We address the importance of emerging market economies for the global economy by testing for volatility spillovers between the United States and a number of emerging market economies. We use the methodology recently introduced by Diebold and Yilmaz and daily data, over the period from December 8, 2011, to March 21, 2018, on exchange-traded funds (ETFs), retrieved from Yahoo! Finance, for seven emerging market countries—China, Colombia, Greece, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and South Korea. We find statistically significant volatility spillovers from emerging market economies to the United States, meaning that the growth prospects of emerging market economies are becoming extremely relevant for global economic growth.JEL classification: E32, F20, F42
Provider perceptions on the management of lupus during pregnancy: barriers to improved care
Authors: Clowse M E B , Eudy A M , Revels J , Neil L , Sanders G D 
Published: December 2018

Background More than half of pregnancies in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) result in adverse outcomes for the mother or the fetus. We sought to identify aspects of current rheumatologic care that could be improved to decrease the frequency of poor outcomes. Methods Focus groups with clinical rheumatologists, based on the PRECEDE/PROCEED framework, identified factors that influenced care. A group of women with lupus on their reproductive journey contributed to our understanding of the dilemmas and care provided. Results Medically ill-timed pregnancies and medication non-adherence during pregnancy were identified by rheumatologists as the two key dilemmas in care. We identified several communication gaps as key modifiable barriers to optimal management. The approach to physician–patient communication was often unsuitable to sensitive discussions about pregnancy planning. The communication of treatment plans was frequently hampered by gaps in knowledge and both physician and patient confidence in the data, encouraging non-adherence among nervous patients. Finally, local rheumatologists and obstetricians/gynecologists providers frequently did not communicate, leading to varying treatment plans and confusion for patients. Conclusions To decrease the frequency of ill-timed pregnancy and medication non-adherence it will be essential to empower rheumatologists, and women with lupus to have open and accurate conversations about pregnancy planning and management.
Reducing ethnic inequalities in bowel screening participation in New Zealand: A randomised controlled trial of telephone follow-up for non-respondents
Authors: Sandiford P , Buckley A , Holdsworth D , Tozer G , Scott N 
Published: December 2018

Objective To test whether a telephone follow-up service for high-needs ethnic groups increases bowel screening participation in non-responders to postal invitations. Methods Māori, Pacific, and Asian ethnicity individuals who failed to return a bowel screening test kit within four weeks of it being posted were randomly allocated (1:1) to a telephone active follow-up service or a control group. The active follow-up service made multiple attempts to contact the invitee and provide support. Participation rates at eight weeks’ post-randomisation were compared, and the effect of the intervention on overall participation rates was imputed. Results A total of 3828 eligible individuals were allocated to active follow-up and 3773 to the control group. The imputed potential overall increase in participation in the active follow-up group was 2.0% (95% CI = 0.6%–3.4%); however, the impact of follow-up varied significantly by ethnicity and deprivation. The imputed increase in participation was significant for Māori (5.2; CI = 1.8%–8.5%) and Pacific (3.6%; CI = 0.7%–6.4%), but not for Asian ethnicities (0.7%; CI=−1.1%–2.4%). In addition, the imputed increase was significant among high deprivation participants (3.9%; CI = 2.0%–5.9%), but not among low deprivation participants (0.3%; CI=−1.6%–2.2%). Conclusions Active follow-up led to higher bowel screening participation in Māori and Pacific but not in Asian ethnicities and was more effective in high deprivation subjects. Active follow-up significantly reduced but did not eliminate ethnic inequalities in bowel screening participation.
Economic Impact of Natural Disasters: An Empirical Re-examination
Authors: Panwar Vikrant , Sen Subir 
Published: December 2018

Natural disasters cause serious economic and human losses. Yet there remains ambiguity in the existing literature with regard to their impact on the economy at large. This study re-examines the relationship between natural disasters and economic growth. It aims to contribute to a fairly limited literature on the economy-wide and sector-specific consequences of natural disasters in the short-to-medium term (up to 5 years). Further, it examines whether the disaster impacts are dependent on a country’s level of development. Based on panel data consisting of 102 (29 developed and 73 developing) countries over the period 1981–2015, it looks at the growth effects of four types of natural disasters, namely, floods, droughts, storms and earthquakes that were explored using the system generalised method of moments (GMM) approach. The results indicate that natural disasters have diverse economic impacts across economic sectors depending on disaster types and their intensity. The study confirms the findings of previous studies that the economic impacts of natural disasters are statistically stronger in developing countries. These findings may stimulate the policymakers especially in developing countries to explore the efficacy of viable ex-ante disaster risk financing tools (such as insurance, micro-insurance and catastrophic bonds). This would not only safeguard population and physical assets but also ensure adherence to the sustainable development goals. JEL Classification: Q54, O10
Associations Between Unhealthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Metabolic Syndrome by Gender in Young Adults
Authors: Lin Kuei-Man , Chiou Jeng-Yuan , Kuo Hsen-Wen , Tan Jung-Ying , Ko Shu-Hua , Lee Meng-Chih 
Published: December 2018

Objective: Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, betel-quid chewing, insufficient exercise, and inadequate sleep are significantly correlated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). To further understand this relationship, this study examined the main effect of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and their interaction on MetS by gender in young adults. Method: A cross-sectional study involving 694 young adults from a national survey was performed in which demographic characteristics, unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, anthropometric measurements, and blood chemistry panels were collected during face-to-face interviews. Results: The prevalence of MetS among young adults was 17.4% and was greater in males than females (19.0% vs. 7.8%). The unhealthy lifestyle-behavior risk factors associated with MetS included smoking (odds ratio [ OR] = 4.53) and physical activity ( OR = 0.51) among males and betel-quid chewing ( OR = 8.90) and less sleep ( OR = 0.08) among females. Significant interaction effects were observed between the abovementioned behaviors and gender for the risk of developing MetS. Conclusion: These results can guide health-care providers in reducing MetS risk by encouraging young adult males to reduce or quit cigarette smoking and maintain optimum levels of physical activity and young adult females to quit chewing betel quid and obtain appropriate amounts of sleep.
Outcome of knee arthroplasty in patients aged 65 years or less: a prospective study of 232 patients with 2-year follow-up
Authors: Niemeläinen M. , Moilanen T. , Huhtala H. , Eskelinen A. 
Published: December 2018

Background and Aims: Previous studies have reported lower implant survival rates, residual pain, and higher patient dissatisfaction rates following knee arthroplasty in younger knee arthroplasty patients. We aimed to assess the real-world effectiveness of knee arthroplasty in a prospective non-selected cohort of patients aged 65 years or less with 2-year follow-up. Material and Methods: In total, 250 patients (272 knees) aged 65 years or less were enrolled into this prospective cohort study. Patient-reported outcome measures were used to assess the outcome. Results: The mean Oxford Knee Score and all Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score subscales increased significantly (p < 0.001) from preoperative situation to the 2-year follow-up. Significant increase (p < 0.001) in physical activity was detected in High-Activity Arthroplasty Score and RAND-36 Physical Component Score (PCS). Pain was also significantly (p < 0.001) relieved during the follow-up. Total disappearance of pain was rare at 2 years. Patients with milder (Kellgren–Lawrence grade 2) osteoarthritis were less satisfied and reported poorer patient-reported outcome measure than those with advanced osteoarthritis (Kellgren–Lawrence grade 3–4). There was no difference in the outcome (any patient-reported outcome measure) between patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty and those who received unicondylar knee arthroplasty. Conclusion: We found that measured with a wide set of patient-reported outcome measures, both total knee arthroplasty and unicondylar knee arthroplasty resulted in significant pain relief, as well as improvement in physical performance and quality of life in patients aged 65 years or less. Real-world effectiveness of these procedures seems to be excellent. 15% of patients still had residual symptoms and were dissatisfied with the outcome at 2 years after the operation.
Laparoscopy for blunt abdominal trauma: a challenging endeavor
Authors: Koto M. Z. , Matsevych O. Y. , Mosai F. , Patel S. , Aldous C. , Balabyeki M. 
Published: December 2018

Background and Aims: Laparoscopy in blunt abdominal trauma is challenging because of multiple associated injuries, higher trauma score values and higher morbidity and mortality, as compared with patients with penetrating abdominal trauma. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of laparoscopy in the management of blunt abdominal trauma patients and to highlight related challenges. Material and Methods: Over a 4-year period, patients managed laparoscopically for blunt abdominal trauma were retrospectively analyzed. Perioperative details, indications for laparoscopy and conversion, complications, and length of hospital stay were discussed. Results: A total of 35 stable patients underwent laparoscopy. The mean Injury Severity Score was 12 (4–38). Therapeutic laparoscopy was performed in 15 (56%) and diagnostic in 12 (44%) patients. Eight (23%) patients were converted to therapeutic laparotomy. Intraoperative bleeding, complex injuries, visualization problem, and equipment failure necessitated conversion. Three (30%) patients with negative computed tomography scan had therapeutic laparoscopy for mesenteric injuries. There were no missed injuries. The mean length of hospital stay was 11 days in both groups. Conclusion: Laparoscopy for stable patients is feasible and safe. Multiple injuries make laparoscopy more difficult, and advanced laparoscopic skills are required. The conversion rate is high; however, the non-therapeutic laparotomies were completely eliminated in this study.
Chimney parallel grafts and thoracic endovascular aortic repair for blunt traumatic thoracic aortic injuries: A systematic review
Authors: Carter Rebeca , Wee Ian Jun Yan , Petrie Kyle , Syn Nicholas , Choong Andrew MTL 
Published: December 2018

Background Whilst the management of blunt traumatic thoracic aortic injury has seen a paradigm shift to an ‘endovascular first’ approach, the limitations of thoracic endovascular aortic repair remain. An inadequate proximal landing zone limits the use of thoracic aortic stent grafts and in an emergent polytrauma setting, aortic arch debranching via open surgery may not be practical or feasible. A wholly endovascular approach to debranching utilising ‘off-the-shelf’ stents and parallel graft techniques may represent a possible solution. Hence, we sought to perform a systematic review investigating the use of chimney graft techniques alongside thoracic aortic stenting in blunt traumatic thoracic aortic injury. Methods We performed the systematic review in accordance to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Searches were performed on Medline (PubMed), Web of Science and Scopus to identify articles describing the use of chimney grafts in traumatic aortic transection (PROSPERO: CRD42017082549). Results The systematic search revealed 172 papers, of which 88 duplicates were removed resulting in 84 papers to screen. Based on title, abstract and full text review, six articles were included for final analysis. There were nine patients in total with an average age of 41 (three females, five males, one unspecified), all with significant polytrauma, secondary to the mechanism of injury. A variety of stents were used between centres, with techniques showing a predominance to stenting of the left subclavian artery (77%, n = 7). The technical success rate was 82%, with two (18%) cases of type 1 endoleaks, of which one resolved spontaneously. Conclusions Despite the encouraging results, this by no means provides for a firm conclusion given the small sample size. Patients should still be judiciously selected on a case-by-case basis when employing the chimney graft technique. Larger cohort studies are needed to establish these findings.
Variance prior specification for a basket trial design using Bayesian hierarchical modeling
Authors: Cunanan Kristen M , Iasonos Alexia , Shen Ronglai , Gönen Mithat 
Published: December 2018

Background: In the era of targeted therapies, clinical trials in oncology are rapidly evolving, wherein patients from multiple diseases are now enrolled and treated according to their genomic mutation(s). In such trials, known as basket trials, the different disease cohorts form the different baskets for inference. Several approaches have been proposed in the literature to efficiently use information from all baskets while simultaneously screening to find individual baskets where the drug works. Most proposed methods are developed in a Bayesian paradigm that requires specifying a prior distribution for a variance parameter, which controls the degree to which information is shared across baskets. Methods: A common approach used to capture the correlated binary endpoints across baskets is Bayesian hierarchical modeling. We evaluate a Bayesian adaptive design in the context of a non-randomized basket trial and investigate three popular prior specifications: an inverse-gamma prior on the basket-level variance, a uniform prior and half-t prior on the basket-level standard deviation. Results: From our simulation study, we can see that the inverse-gamma prior is highly sensitive to the input hyperparameters. When the prior mean value of the variance parameter is set to be near zero [Formula: see text], this can lead to unacceptably high false-positive rates [Formula: see text] in some scenarios. Thus, use of this prior requires a fully comprehensive sensitivity analysis before implementation. Alternatively, we see that a prior that places sufficient mass in the tail, such as the uniform or half-t prior, displays desirable and robust operating characteristics over a wide range of prior specifications, with the caveat that the upper bound of the uniform prior and the scale parameter of the half-t prior must be larger than 1. Conclusion: Based on the simulation results, we recommend that those involved in designing basket trials that implement hierarchical modeling avoid using a prior distribution that places a majority of the density mass near zero for the variance parameter. Priors with this property force the model to share information regardless of the true efficacy configuration of the baskets. Many commonly used inverse-gamma prior specifications have this undesirable property. We recommend to instead consider the more robust uniform prior or half-t prior on the standard deviation.
Hand hygiene practices among healthcare workers in a newborn unit of a tertiary referral hospital in Kenya
Authors: Ngugi Serah K , Murila Florence V , Musoke Rachel N 
Published: December 2018

Background: Health care-associated infection (HCAI) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalised patients, particularly neonates. Compliance with hand hygiene (HH) recommendations is the simplest and most effective measure in preventing this infection. Objectives: To determine the HH practices among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the newborn unit of a tertiary referral hospital in Kenya, their knowledge and perceptions regarding HCAI and importance of HH, and barriers to the recommended HH practices. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the HCWs’ compliance with the World Health Organization (WHO) ‘5 Moments for Hand Hygiene’ and a structured self-administered questionnaire adopted from the WHO knowledge and perception of HCW questionnaires was used to answer the secondary objectives. Results: The overall HH compliance rate was 15%. HCWs were twice more likely to take a HH action ‘after’ than ‘before’ a patient care procedure (odds ratio [OR] = 2.05; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02–4.19; P = 0.03). Nurses and nursing students had statistically significant lower compliance (OR 0.41; 95% CI = 0.18-0.91; p=0.016) and (OR 0.21; 95% CI = 0.06-0.70; p = 0.004) respectively, compared to the doctors. More than half (52%) of the HCWs were unaware of the five moments/indication for HH. Lack of supplies, forgetfulness and use of gloves were the commonly cited barriers to HH compliance. Discussion: HH compliance rate among HCWs in the newborn unit of the tertiary referral hospital was very low. The observed and reported barriers to optimal HH compliance demonstrate a necessity for the adoption of the WHO recommended multimodal HH improvement strategy in this unit.