bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Equal or not? Private versus public corrections services, programming, and climate
Authors: Wooldredge John , Cochran Joshua C. 
Published: May 2019

Research SummaryMore rigorous comparisons of private and public corrections are needed to improve our understanding of the effects of privatization. We develop a three‐step procedure for assessing equivalence and then performance measures. To illustrate these arguments, we provide an empirical descriptive analysis of two private prisons and five structurally equivalent state‐run prisons in Ohio and document heterogeneity in resources, staff climate, and inmate behaviors.Policy ImplicationsIn our discussion and analyses, we underscore how comparability across private and public corrections should not be assumed. Comparisons should be focused on organizations with similar infrastructures and then systematically used to assess client needs and programming, client behavior, staff climate, and a diverse set of outcomes that bear directly and indirectly on clients’ well‐being. In so doing, researchers can better set the bar that privatization is supposed to reach or exceed. They can also conduct more credible impact assessments. Cost‐savings, for example, do not necessarily occur when contracted services do not match those offered through public corrections or when clientele differ dramatically between a private and a public organization.
International perspectives on the privatization of corrections
Authors: Byrne James , Kras Kimberly R. , Marmolejo Lina Maria 
Published: May 2019

Research SummaryIn this article, we provide a global snapshot of the recent (2000–2018) expansion of the private sector's involvement in both institutional and community corrections systems. Variation in the use of private‐sector organizations to manage both institutional and community correction populations is examined within and across global regions, with a focus specifically on the utilization of privatization in the 50 countries with the highest prison populations. The key private‐sector organizations in each global region are also identified, and the “new technology” acquisitions by these companies—documenting the expansion of prison‐based organizations into community corrections—are considered. In addition, the available evaluation research on the comparative effectiveness of private‐ versus public‐sector management of both prisons and community corrections is reviewed. Based on this review, we offer our assessment of the available data on global developments in the privatization of corrections, as well as the available research on the comparative performance of public‐sector and private‐sector corrections.Policy ImplicationsPolicy makers considering the advantages and disadvantages of privatization in either their institutional‐ or their community‐based corrections system need to consider not only whether performance improves when the private sector gets involved but also whether private‐sector involvement directly or indirectly undermines or enhances the legitimacy of either system. By examining how and why private‐sector involvement varies both within and across global regions, policy makers will likely glean critical insights into the need for public–private corrections partnerships. Through our review of the available research in which the performance of public versus privately operated corrections programs is directly compared, we underscore the need for independent, high‐quality evaluations in countries currently using privatization to help manage prison, jail, and/or community corrections populations.
Privatized corrections
Authors: Eisen Lauren‐Brooke 
Published: May 2019

Research SummaryIn this article, I look at some of the statutory and case law that has shaped the evolving regulation of the private prison industry. I also examine some critical gaps in legal issues regarding private contractors that manage prisons, jails, and detention facilities. The privatization of justice encompasses all for‐profit firms that make money in the prison‐industrial complex. Critical unanswered legal questions run the gamut from whether it is legal for corporations to pay undocumented detainees to work inside detention centers to whether it is legal for a private probation company to extend a probationer's supervision.Policy ImplicationsThe United States has never fully wrestled with many of the questions that private prisons raise. As private firms stretch across state lines contracting with the government at the local, state, and federal levels, their authority and accountability is not always settled law. Additionally, moral considerations have infrequently made their way into America's jurisprudential history in grappling with issues around privatizing corrections, raising possibilities of future litigation focusing on ideological grounds.
Measuring (and narrowing) the gap: The experience with attendance of Indigenous cancer patients for Radiation Therapy in the Northern Territory
Authors: Carruthers Scott , Pennefather Mary , Ward Linda , Giam Kar , Penniment Michael 
Published: May 2019

AbstractIntroductionBarriers exist for both Indigenous and remote patients attending cancer care facilities. We sought to measure clinical attendance of all patients referred for consideration of radiation therapy (RT) at the single radiation therapy centre in the Northern Territory (NT), with particular attention to a comparison of Indigenous and non‐Indigenous patients, and to analyse methods introduced to address the attendance of patients.MethodsPatients referred for radiation therapy over a 5 year period from the commencement of the Alan Walker Cancer Care Centre (AWCCC), NT, were analysed for attendance, and for possible improvement over time.ResultsMultivariate analysis of non‐attendance prior to RT (pre‐RT) showed significance for Indigenous status (P < 0.001), and female gender (P < 0.001), and during RT showed significance for Indigenous status (P < 0.001) and curative intent RT (P = 0.012). Attendance during RT over the 5 years showed significant improvement over time for Indigenous patients from 70.6% to 81.6% (P = 0.038). There was no significant improvement with pre‐RT attendance for either the Indigenous or non‐Indigenous cohort.ConclusionIndigenous patients experienced a lower level of attendance during RT, but this has significantly improved over the first 5 years of operation at AWCCC, as recognition and management of contributing factors has improved.
Retrospective analysis of breast radiotherapy treatment plans: Curating the ‘non‐curated’
Authors: Kairn Tanya , Crowe Scott B 
Published: May 2019

AbstractIntroductionThis paper provides a demonstration of how non‐curated data can be retrospectively cleaned, so that existing repositories of radiotherapy treatment planning data can be used to complete bulk retrospective analyses of dosimetric trends and other plan characteristics.MethodsA non curated archive of 1137 radiotherapy treatment plans accumulated over a 12‐month period, from five radiotherapy centres operated by one institution, was used to investigate and demonstrate a process of clinical data cleansing, by: identifying and translating inconsistent structure names; correcting inconsistent lung contouring; excluding plans for treatments other than breast tangents and plans without identifiable PTV, lung and heart structures; and identifying but not excluding plans that deviated from the local planning protocol. PTV, heart and lung dose‐volume metrics were evaluated, in addition to a sample of personnel and linac load indicators.ResultsData cleansing reduced the number of treatment plans in the sample by 35.7%. Inconsistent structure names were successfully identified and translated (e.g. 35 different names for lung). Automatically separating whole lung structures into left and right lung structures allowed the effect of contralateral and ipsilateral lung dose to be evaluated, while introducing some small uncertainties, compared to manual contouring. PTV doses were indicative of prescription doses. Breast treatment work was unevenly distributed between oncologists and between metropolitan and regional centres.ConclusionThis paper exemplifies the data cleansing and data analysis steps that may be completed using existing treatment planning data, to provide individual radiation oncology departments with access to information on their own patient populations. Clearly, the well‐planned and systematic recording of new, high quality data is the preferred solution, but the retrospective curation of non‐curated data may be a useful interim solution, for radiation oncology departments where the systems for recording of new data have yet to be designed and agreed.
The Iron Gate
Authors: Farsiu Sara 
Published: May 2019

SummaryEvents such as the 1979 hostage crisis, 9/11, and the 2015 Paris attacks have led to a backlash against people from the Middle East, including Iranian migrants. This, in turn, has influenced how Iranians identify themselves and how they are identified by others, as well as their interactions with people in the communities in which they live and travel. In this personal narrative, I aim to offer readers an insight into an experience that many will never experience first hand. I offer my personal story of immigration and discrimination so that others may better know what it is like to be an Iranian, a Muslim, and a woman in the West. Mine is only one example of thousands of untold stories. We need to hear more firsthand narratives of the challenges faced by migrants.
Rural Emergency Laparotomy Audit
Authors: Watson Matthew M. , Maddern Guy J. , Mudalige V. Priyantha K. , Pradhan Chetan P. , Wichmann Matthias W. 
Published: May 2019

BackgroundEmergency laparoscopy/laparotomy is associated with high levels of mortality. The aim of this study was to determine whether outcomes following emergency laparoscopy/laparotomy in rural and regional South Australian hospitals were comparable to those reported in the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit and Perth Emergency Laparotomy Audit.MethodsA prospective multicentre audit of patients who undergo emergency laparoscopy/laparotomy. Participating hospitals included Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service, Whyalla Hospital and Riverland General Hospital. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were identical to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit. A modified dataset for patients was collected if patients were up‐transferred to another hospital prior to operative management. Data collected included patient demographics, operative management, adherence to processes of care and outcomes.ResultsData were collected for a total of 58 cases. Fifty‐one of these had emergency laparoscopy/laparotomy in a rural or regional hospital and seven were transferred in the preoperative period. The median Portsmouth‐Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and Morbidity predicted 30‐day post‐operative mortality was 3.5%. One hundred percent of patients (51 out of 51) had a consultant anaesthetist and surgeon present in the operating theatre. There were no deaths reported within the 30‐day post‐operative period.ConclusionOutcomes following emergency laparoscopy/laparotomy in rural and regional South Australian hospitals are comparable to those reported in the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit and Perth Emergency Laparotomy Audit.
Subcutaneous neostigmine appears safe and effective for acute colonic pseudo‐obstruction (Ogilvie's syndrome)
Authors: Frankel Adam , Gillespie Christopher , Lu Cu‐Tai , Hewett Peter , Wattchow David 
Published: May 2019

BackgroundIntravenous neostigmine is a well‐established treatment for acute colonic pseudo‐obstruction (ACPO). Its use is hampered by the perceived requirement for continuous cardiac monitoring, and patients are often transferred to high‐dependency units for close observation during treatment. Subcutaneous neostigmine has the potential to minimize adverse cardiovascular effects while maintaining efficacy. This study aims to assess the safety of subcutaneous neostigmine on ward inpatients with ACPO monitored with standard nursing care.MethodsThis is a retrospective case series of 30 patients with ACPO who were treated with subcutaneous neostigmine between August 2008 and October 2012. Data were collected prospectively. All patients were diagnosed using clinical examination and radiology and were assessed for contraindications to neostigmine. Patients were treated on regular wards and monitored with standard nursing observations. The main outcomes were time to flatus and bowels working and complications.ResultsNo serious complications such as clinically evident bradycardia were encountered. Ninety‐three percent of patients had clinically successful resolution of ACPO. Two patients (7%) developed caecal tenderness and proceeded to colonoscopic decompression, which was successful in both instances.ConclusionsSubcutaneous neostigmine appears to be safe for the treatment of ACPO. No clinically evident serious adverse events occurred, meaning continuous cardiac monitoring as a routine may not be necessary. In our cohort, we achieved similar success rates compared with reported rates using intravenous neostigmine.
Admixture analyses and phylogeographic relationships reveal complete genetic distinctiveness of Polish farm and wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and the North American origin of farm‐bred individuals
Authors: Zatoń‐Dobrowolska Magdalena , Mucha Anna , Morrice David , Wierzbicki Heliodor , Moska Magdalena , Dobrowolski Maciej 
Published: May 2019

AbstractA number of studies showed that many mtDNA haplotypes were shared among contemporary farm red foxes bred on different continents and the historical wild red foxes of North American origin. Therefore, in this study, the population genetic structure and phylogeographic relationships of Polish red foxes kept on fur farms and their wild conspecifics were investigated to assess the ancestry of the farm red foxes in Poland. A total of 330 tissue samples (200 from farm foxes and 130 from wild foxes) were used for the genetic analyses. Thirty microsatellite loci and two regions of mtDNA were used to assess the level of admixture between farm‐ and wild red foxes, to construct haplotype networks and create a phylogenetic tree. The genetic structure analysis clearly indicated two genetic clusters as being the most probable number of genetically distinct populations. The fixation index revealed a significant genetic distance between the farm‐ and wild red fox populations (FST = 0.27, p < 0.05). Haplotype networks based on frequencies showing relationships between concatenated haplotypes of Polish farm‐ and wild red foxes and the constructed phylogenetic tree clearly indicated two genetically distinct groups. The results of this study provide strong evidence confirming the North American origin of red foxes bred on Polish farms and the genetic distinctiveness of both studied populations.
The Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE‐BD) project: Understanding older‐age bipolar disorder by combining multiple datasets
Authors: Sajatovic Martha , Eyler Lisa T. , Rej Soham , Almeida Osvaldo P. , Blumberg Hilary P. , Forester Brent P. , Forlenza Orestes V. , Gildengers Ariel , Mulsant Benoit H. , Strejilevich Sergio , Tsai Shangying , Vieta Eduard , Young Robert C. , Dols Annemiek 
Published: May 2019

AbstractObjectiveThere is a dearth of research about the aging process among individuals with bipolar disorder (BD). One potential strategy to overcome the challenge of interpreting findings from existing limited older‐age bipolar disorder (OABD) research studies is to pool or integrate data, taking advantage of potential overlap or similarities in assessment methods and harmonizing or cross‐walking measurements where different measurement tools are used to evaluate overlapping construct domains. This report describes the methods and initial start‐up activities of a first‐ever initiative to create an integrated OABD‐focused database, the Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE‐BD) project.MethodsBuilding on preliminary work conducted by members of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders OABD taskforce, the GAGE‐BD project will be operationalized in four stages intended to ready the dataset for hypothesis‐driven analyses, establish a consortium of investigators to guide exploration, and set the stage for prospective investigation using a common dataset that will facilitate a high degree of generalizability.ResultsInitial efforts in GAGE‐BD have brought together 14 international investigators representing a broad geographic distribution and data on over 1,000 OABD. Start‐up efforts include communication and guidance on meeting regulatory requirements, establishing a Steering Committee to guide an incremental analysis strategy, and learning from existing multisite data collaborations and other support resources.DiscussionThe GAGE‐BD project aims to advance understanding of associations between age, BD symptoms, medical burden, cognition and functioning across the life span and set the stage for future prospective research that can advance the understanding of OABD.
Is smartphone‐based mood instability associated with stress, quality of life, and functioning in bipolar disorder?
Authors: Faurholt‐Jepsen Maria , Frost Mads , Busk Jonas , Christensen Ellen Margrethe , Bardram Jakob Eyvind , Vinberg Maj , Kessing Lars Vedel 
Published: May 2019

AbstractObjectiveMood instability in patients with bipolar disorder has been associated with impaired functioning and risk of relapse. The present study aimed to investigate whether increased mood instability is associated with increased perceived stress and impaired quality of life and functioning in patients with bipolar disorder.MethodsA total of 84 patients with bipolar disorder used a smartphone‐based self‐monitoring system on a daily basis for 9 months. Data on perceived stress, quality of life, and clinically rated functioning were collected at five fixed time points for each patient during follow‐up. A group of 37 healthy individuals served as a control comparison of perceived stress, quality of life, and psychosocial functioning.ResultsThe majority of patients presented in full or partial remission. As hypothesized, mood instability was significantly associated with increased perceived stress (B: 10.52, 95% CI: 5.25; 15.77, P < 0.0001) and decreased quality of life (B: −12.17, 95% CI. −19.54; −4.79, P < 0.0001) and functioning (B: −12.04, 95% CI: −19.08; −4.99, P < 0.0001) in patients with bipolar disorder. There were no differences in mood instability according to prescribed psychopharmacological treatment. Compared with healthy individuals, patients reported substantially increased perceived stress and experienced decreased quality of life and decreased functioning based on researcher‐blinded evaluation.ConclusionMood instability in bipolar disorder is associated with increased perceived stress and decreased quality of life and functioning even during full or partial remission. There is a need to monitor and identify subsyndromal inter‐episodic symptoms. Future studies investigating the effect of treatment on mood instability are highly warranted.
Effect of grassland degradation on aggregate‐associated soil organic carbon of alpine grassland ecosystems in the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Dong Shikui , Zhang Jing , Li Yuanyuan , Liu Shiliang , Dong Qugnaming , Zhou Huakun , Yeomans Jane , Li Yv , Li Shuai , Gao Xiaoxia 
Published: May 2019

AbstractOne of the important mechanisms for the stabilization of soil organic carbon (SOC) is its spatial inaccessibility for microbial biodegradation within soil aggregates. However, little has been documented regarding soil aggregate stability with grassland degradation in the alpine region of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (QTP). In this study, we used physical and density fractions to elucidate the mechanisms of differences in SOC in non‐degraded and degraded grasslands of two grassland biomes, alpine meadow and alpine steppe in the QTP. There were considerable differences between non‐degraded and degraded grasslands for the soil physical and chemical properties, aggregate distribution and aggregate‐SOC content. The non‐degraded alpine meadow (AMND) had the largest value among all the alpine grasslands for the SOC content of the microaggregate fraction, with values of 31.83 g kg−1. The degraded grasslands showed significantly larger SOC content of macroaggregates than non‐degraded grasslands. The degraded alpine steppe (ASD) had the largest SOC content, with the value of 25.51 g kg−1. The aggregate distribution of the macroaggregate, microaggregate and free silt+clay fractions was consistent with the variation in SOC content of these three aggregate fractions. The fine intra‐aggregate particulate organic matter (fiPOM) content was significantly less in degraded grasslands, indicating that grassland degradation might have disrupted the fiPOM‐C. The increase in CO2 emissions was related to the destruction of soil aggregates in the alpine grasslands of the QTP.Highlights

Effects of alpine grassland degradation on aggregate‐associated SOC were investigated.
Used soil aggregate fractions to evaluate the variation of aggregate‐associated SOC.
Grassland degradation promoted the destruction of soil aggregates in the alpine grasslands of the QTP.
Destruction of soil aggregates promoted CO2 emissions in the degraded alpine grasslands of the QTP.
Oxidative stress, inflammation and risk of neurodegeneration in a population sample
Authors: Cherbuin N. , Walsh E. , Baune B. T. , Anstey K. J. 
Published: May 2019

Background and purposeInflammation and oxidative stress (OS) have been clearly linked to neurodegeneration. However, studies investigating the associations between peripheral markers of inflammation and cognitive decline have produced mixed results. This is possibly due to the fact that markers are typically tested individually despite the fact that biologically they function interactively. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between a combination of OS/inflammation markers and outcomes including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) diagnosis, cognitive decline and hippocampal atrophy.MethodsOxidative stress/inflammation status was assessed in 380 older community‐living individuals. Thirteen blood markers were assayed. Principal component analysis (PCA) of all markers was conducted to identify the more salient inflammatory components. Associations between significant principal components, MCI diagnosis, previous change in Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and hippocampal atrophy were investigated through logistic and linear multiple regression.ResultsTwo factors (PC1 and PC2) reflecting predominantly broad pro‐inflammatory activity and two factors (PC3 and PC4) reflecting predominantly OS activity were identified by PCA analysis. PC3 and PC4 were predictive of MCI. PC3 was also predictive of prior MMSE change. PC1, PC2 and PC3 were significantly associated with hippocampal atrophy.ConclusionsCombined analysis of complex and interacting biomarkers revealed a protective association between antioxidant activity and MCI that is consistent with lifestyle factors shown to reduce risk of cognitive decline. OS and broad systemic inflammation were also found to be associated with hippocampal atrophy further highlighting the benefits of the PCA methodology applied in this study.