bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Home versus hospital immunoglobulin treatment for autoimmune neuropathies: A cost minimization analysis
Authors: Le Masson Gwendal , Solé Guilhem , Desnuelle Claude , Delmont Emilien , Gauthier‐Darnis Marc , Puget Sophie , Durand‐Zaleski Isabelle 
Published: February 2018

AbstractBackgroundPrior clinical trials have suggested that home‐based Ig treatment in multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and its variant Lewis–Sumner syndrome (LSS) is safe and effective and is less costly than hospital‐administered intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg).MethodsA French prospective, dual‐center, cost minimization analysis was carried out to evaluate IVIg administration (5% concentrated) at home versus in hospital with regard to costs, patients’ autonomy, and patients’ quality of life. The primary endpoint was the overall cost of treatment, and we adopted the perspective of the payer (French Social Health Insurance).ResultsTwenty‐four patients aged 52.3 (12.2) years were analyzed: nine patients with MMN, eight with CIDP, and seven with LSS. IVIg (g/kg) dosage was 1.51 ± 0.43 in hospital and 1.52 ± 0.4 at home. Nine‐month total costs per patient extrapolated to 1 year of treatment were €48,189 ± 26,105 versus €91,798 ± 51,125 in the home and hospital groups, respectively (p < .0001). The most frequently reported factors for choosing home treatment were the good tolerance and absence of side effects of IVIg administration, as well as a good understanding of the advantages and drawbacks of home treatment (75% of respondents). The mRankin scores before and after switch to home treatment were 1.61 ± 0.72 and 1.36 ± 0.76, respectively (p = .027).DiscussionThe switch from hospital‐based to home‐based IVIg treatment for patients with immune neuropathy represents potentially significant savings in the management of the disease.
Effect of continuing care for people with cocaine dependence on criminal justice sentences
Authors: Wimberly Alexandra S. , Hyatt Jordan M. , McKay James R. 
Published: February 2018

While continuing care for substance use treatment has been associated with reduced involvement in the criminal justice system, much of this research lacks random assignment to continuing care and so is limited by self‐selection bias. This study sought to determine the impact of adding telephone‐based continuing care to intensive outpatient programs on criminal justice outcomes for people with cocaine dependence. In three continuing care studies, spanning 1998–2008, participants were randomly assigned to an intensive outpatient program or an intensive outpatient program plus a telephone‐based continuing care intervention. Cocaine‐dependent participants from these three studies were included in the analyses, with outcomes derived from a dataset of jurisdiction‐wide criminal sentences from a state sentencing agency. Multiple logistic regression was employed to examine the odds of a criminal conviction occurring in the 4 years after enrollment in a continuing care study. The results showed that, controlling for a criminal sentence in the previous year, gender, age, and continuing care study, people with cocaine dependence randomized to an intensive outpatient program plus a telephone‐based continuing care intervention had 54% lower odds (p = 0.05, odds ratio = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.20–1.02) of a criminal sentence in the 4 years after enrollment in the continuing care study, compared with those randomized to an intensive outpatient program alone. We can conclude that adding telephone monitoring and counseling to intensive outpatient programs is associated with fewer criminal convictions over a 4‐year follow‐up period compared with intensive outpatient programs alone.
Coil embolization to successfully treat annular rupture during transcatheter aortic valve replacement
Authors: Azarrafiy Ryan , Albuquerque Felipe N. , Carrillo Roger G. , Cohen Mauricio G. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractAortic annular rupture is one of the most feared complications of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). This complication often presents as sudden cardiac tamponade with hypotension and requires urgent intervention. The traditional rescue strategy for such cases is emergency surgical intervention, yet the mortality remains high considering most patients who undergo TAVR are not candidates for open heart surgery. As such, there is a need for percutaneous alternatives to treat this critical complication. Here, we describe a case of annular rupture during TAVR that was successfully treated with coil embolization at the rupture site. This case illustrates the use of coil embolization as a treatment strategy in patients with acute aortic annular rupture who are at high‐risk for surgical intervention.
Towards High‐Performance Aqueous Sodium‐Ion Batteries: Stabilizing the Solid/Liquid Interface for NASICON‐Type Na2VTi(PO4)3 using Concentrated Electrolytes
Authors: Zhang Huang , Jeong Sangsik , Qin Bingsheng , Vieira Carvalho Diogo , Buchholz Daniel , Passerini Stefano 
Published: February 2018

AbstractAqueous Na‐ion batteries may offer a solution to the cost and safety issues of high‐energy batteries. However, substantial challenges remain in the development of electrode materials and electrolytes enabling high performance and long cycle life. Herein, we report the characterization of a symmetric Na‐ion battery with a NASICON‐type Na2VTi(PO4)3 electrode material in conventional aqueous and “water‐in‐salt” electrolytes. Extremely stable cycling performance for 1000 cycles at a high rate (20 C) is found with the highly concentrated aqueous electrolytes owing to the formation of a resistive but protective interphase between the electrode and electrolyte. These results provide important insight for the development of aqueous Na‐ion batteries with stable long‐term cycling performance for large‐scale energy storage.
Living in a high CO2 world: a global meta‐analysis shows multiple trait‐mediated fish responses to ocean acidification
Authors: Cattano Carlo , Claudet Joachim , Domenici Paolo , Milazzo Marco 
Published: February 2018

AbstractUnderstanding how marine organisms will be affected by global change is of primary importance to ensure ecosystem functioning and nature contributions to people. This study meets the call for addressing how life‐history traits mediate effects of ocean acidification on fish. We built a database of overall and trait‐mediated responses of teleost fish to future CO2 levels by searching the scientific literature. Using a meta‐analytical approach, we investigated the effects of projected CO2 levels by IPCC for 2050–2070 and 2100 on fish eco‐physiology and behavior from 320 contrasts on 42 species, stemming from polar to tropical regions. Moreover, since organisms may experience a mosaic of carbonate chemistry in coastal environments (e.g., in estuaries, upwelling zones and intertidal habitats), which may have higher pCO2 values than open ocean waters, we assessed responses from additional 103 contrasts on 21 fish species using pCO2 levels well above IPCC projections. Under mid‐century and end‐of‐century CO2 emission scenarios, we found multiple CO2‐dose‐dependent effects on calcification, resting metabolic rate, yolk, and behavioral performances, along with increased predation risk and decreased foraging, particularly for larvae. Importantly, many of the traits considered will not confer fish tolerance to elevated CO2 and far‐reaching ecological consequences on fish population replenishment and community structure will likely occur. Extreme CO2 levels well above IPCC projections showed effects on fish mortality and calcification, while growth, metabolism, and yolk were unaffected. CO2 exposures in short‐term experiments increased fish mortality, which in turn decreased in longer‐term exposures. Whatever the elevated CO2 levels considered, some key biological processes (e.g., reproduction, development, habitat choice) were critically understudied. Fish are an important resource for livelihoods in coastal communities and a key component for stability of marine ecosystems. Given the multiple trait‐mediated effects evidenced here, we stress the need to fill the knowledge gap on important eco‐physiological processes and to expand the number and duration of ocean acidification studies to multi‐generational, multiple stressor (e.g., warming, hypoxia, fishing), and species interactions experiments to better elucidate complex ecosystem‐level changes and how these changes might alter provisioning of ecosystem services.
Variability, tendencies, and climate controls of terrestrial evapotranspiration and gross primary productivity in the recent decade over China
Authors: Mo Xingguo , Liu Suxia , Chen Xuejuan , Hu Shi 
Published: February 2018

AbstractAccurately estimating regional water and vegetation carbon fixation and understanding their covariation mechanisms will benefit regional water resources and ecosystem management. The process‐based vegetation interface processes model was employed to simulate the spatiotemporal variations of evapotranspiration (ET) and vegetation gross primary production (GPP) over the land mass of China, by integrating the 8‐day Terra‐MODIS leaf area index dataset from 2000 to 2013. It is found that there are remarkable spatial variations in annual ET and GPP across the country, top values being around 1,200 mm for ET and 3,000 gC m−2 for GPP mostly occurred in the southern rainforests. Average annual ET and GPP are weakly increasing, in which about one third is significant. At annual scale, variability of ET follows precipitation variations, whereas variability of GPP follows variations of both precipitation and leaf area index. At monthly scale, variations of ET and GPP are more correlated with net radiation than precipitation. It is revealed that the climatic factors dominating water and carbon fluxes are different over the typical climate zones. The increasing GPP and water use efficiency are benefitting the regional vegetation recovery and carbon fixation, however, more water consumption may exaggerate the ecosystem vulnerability in water‐limited zones.
Oxidation of Fish Oil Oleogels Formed by Natural Waxes in Comparison With Bulk Oil
Authors: Hwang Hong‐Sik , Fhaner Matthew , Winkler‐Moser Jill K. , Liu Sean X. 
Published: February 2018

The aim of this study is to evaluate the oleogel (or organogel) technology as a new method to prevent oxidation of fish oil by immobilizing oil and to provide useful information on oxidation of oleogels for their application in actual food products. Four different natural waxes, rice bran wax, sunflower wax, candelilla wax, and beeswax are used to prepare fish oil oleogels. Peroxide value, conjugated diene value, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are measured after storing oleogels at 35 and 50 °C, respectively. All 3% wax‐fish oil oleogels shows slower oxidation than the bulk fish oil at 35 °C. Beeswax is not as effective as other waxes during storage at 50 °C due to its lower melting point. The color penetration measurement method is developed as a convenient method to predict the oxidation rate of oleogel. Cooling oleogel at a faster rate can significantly reduce the oxidation rate of the oleogel. A larger amount of wax is not recommended to increase the protective effect, which can give a negative effect due to the prooxidant activity of wax. The oleogel technology may be applied to reduce oxidation of food products and nutritional supplements containing omega‐3 oil.Practical Application: This study clearly shows that the oleogel technology can be used to prevent oil oxidation by immobilizing oil in food products. This technology can be used for commercial products such as fish oil supplements to prevent oil oxidation during production, transportation, and storage. The information presented in this study can also be used for new omega‐3 oil fortified food products such as margarine, spreads, shortening, cookies, and other related products. The oleogel technology can be easily applied as a drop‐in method. Natural waxes used as oleogelator are inexpensive and widely available, and most of them are already used in many food products.Peroxide value of 3% wax‐fish oil oleogels stored at 35 °C for 7 days.
On Nudging Health
Authors: Cohen Shlomo 
Published: February 2018

AbstractIdeas of nudging, choice architecture, and libertarian paternalism have sparked much controversy. Some find in them a long‐sought optimal harmonization of the commitments to beneficent, welfare‐increasing influence and to respecting persons, whereas people on the opposite end see in them an especially sinister form of control. One area in which these ideas are of greatest importance is health care, where improving people's decisions, under the constraint of respect for persons, is a vital concern. Nudging Health: Health Law and Behavioral Economics, edited by Glenn Cohen, Holly Fernandez Lynch, and Christopher Robertson, is the first book dedicated to this important topic. This anthology of twenty‐four chapters, with section introductions and a foreword by Cass Sunstein, presents a wide spectrum of perspectives on both the promise and the difficulties in applying choice architecture to health care. The short and readable chapters, written for the book, cover questions of public health law and policy, clinical practice, medical ethics, and political philosophy. They present a synopsis of the types of questions that nudging brings up in health care broadly construed, offer new analyses, and provide much fodder for thought.
A comparison of manual tracing and FreeSurfer for estimating hippocampal volume over the adult lifespan
Authors: Schmidt Mike F , Storrs Judd M , Freeman Kevin B , Jack Clifford R , Turner Stephen T , Griswold Michael E , Mosley Thomas H 
Published: February 2018

AbstractMRI has become an indispensable tool for brain volumetric studies, with the hippocampus an important region of interest. Automation of the MRI segmentation process has helped advance the field by facilitating the volumetric analysis of larger cohorts and more studies. FreeSurfer has emerged as the de facto standard tool for these analyses, but studies validating its output are all based on older versions. To characterize FreeSurfer's validity, we compare several versions of FreeSurfer software with traditional hand‐tracing. Using MRI images of 262 males and 402 females aged 38 to 84, we directly compare estimates of hippocampal volume from multiple versions of FreeSurfer, its hippocampal subfield routines, and our manual tracing protocol. We then use those estimates to assess asymmetry and atrophy, comparing performance of different estimators with each other and with brain atrophy measures. FreeSurfer consistently reports larger volumes than manual tracing. This difference is smaller in larger hippocampi or older people, with these biases weaker in version 6.0.0 than prior versions. All methods tested agree qualitatively on rightward asymmetry and increasing atrophy in older people. FreeSurfer saves time and money, and approximates the same atrophy measures as manual tracing, but it introduces biases that could require statistical adjustments in some studies.
Explaining the heterogeneity of functional connectivity findings in multiple sclerosis: An empirically informed modeling study
Authors: Tewarie Prejaas , Steenwijk Martijn D. , Brookes Matthew J. , Uitdehaag Bernard M. J. , Geurts Jeroen J. G. , Stam Cornelis J. , Schoonheim Menno M. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractTo understand the heterogeneity of functional connectivity results reported in the literature, we analyzed the separate effects of grey and white matter damage on functional connectivity and networks in multiple sclerosis. For this, we employed a biophysical thalamo‐cortical model consisting of interconnected cortical and thalamic neuronal populations, informed and amended by empirical diffusion MRI tractography data, to simulate functional data that mimic neurophysiological signals. Grey matter degeneration was simulated by decreasing within population connections and white matter degeneration by lowering between population connections, based on lesion predilection sites in multiple sclerosis. For all simulations, functional connectivity and functional network organization are quantified by phase synchronization and network integration, respectively. Modeling results showed that both cortical and thalamic grey matter damage induced a global increase in functional connectivity, whereas white matter damage induced an initially increased connectivity followed by a global decrease. Both white and especially grey matter damage, however, induced a decrease in network integration. These empirically informed simulations show that specific topology and timing of structural damage are nontrivial aspects in explaining functional abnormalities in MS. Insufficient attention to these aspects likely explains contradictory findings in multiple sclerosis functional imaging studies so far.
Armed conflict, health spending, and HIV
Authors: Kim Yiyeon 
Published: February 2018

SummaryAmong current studies, there is still question as to whether conflict increases, decreases, or has no effect on HIV prevalence. This lack of clarity can be attributed to the scarcity of quantitative analysis in this field. Thus, studies about conflict and HIV have failed to specify the ways conflict affects HIV prevalence, if indeed it does. In this paper, I argue that armed conflict increases HIV prevalence by reducing total per capita health spending. Using HIV prevalence data from 1990 to 2009, I find supporting evidence in the case of civil conflicts for these arguments. In addition, I find that as the severity of civil conflict increases, so do HIV rates. These findings have significant policy implications for individual governments, as well as for the international community.
FOOD NEGLECT AND INFANT DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Helton Jesse J. , Cross Theodore P. , Vaughn Michael G. , Gochez‐Kerr Tatiana 
Published: February 2018

ABSTRACTThe impact of food insecurity on child development in the general U.S. population is well‐established, yet little is known about the harm of food neglect relative to other types of maltreatment. Due to the harmful physiological impact of inadequate nutrients and the social impact of food‐related stress, it was hypothesized that food neglect would be more likely to impair infant cognitive and language development than physical abuse, sexual abuse, and other forms of neglect. Families of infants (N = 1,951) investigated by Child Protective Services were studied using the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐Being (NSCAW II; NSCAW Research Group, 2002). Results from multivariable logistic regression models that controlled for likely confounding variables showed that the odds of impairment in cognition and language were significantly greater when food neglect was the most serious form of maltreatment. Considering that both food insecurity and child neglect are associated with poverty and parental mental health problems, it will be important for child welfare and mental health professionals to work collaboratively to better the health of these vulnerable children.
NORTHEASTERN US WATER SUPPLY STUDY
Authors: Groves Richard H. 
Published: February 2018

The NEWS Study authorizes the Corps of Engrs., in cooperation with federal, state, and local agencies, to prepare plans for meeting the long‐range water‐supply needs of the northeastern states. The basic study‐strategy has been first to take a preliminary look at the total problem and then to select specific areas in which water‐supply problems appear most imminent. The next step was the initiation of feasibility studies, which have led to more detailed work in the fields of engineering, ecology, economics, and institutional analyses.This four‐part discussion, which was presented at the Annual Conference on Jun. 23, 1970, deals, respectively, with important aspects of the water‐supply picture in the Northeast: the changing problems and solutions now before us; the work of the NEWS Study and other studies; the important role of AWWA's Advisory Committee; and the dilemmas facing the New York City metropolitan area.
ACI Com. 344 Report: Design and Construction of Circular Prestressed‐Concrete Structures
Authors: Robinson Thomas B. 
Published: February 2018

It has been nearly a decade since the American Concrete Inst. organized Com. 344 to devise a standard for circular prestressed‐concrete structures. A few years ago, the committee made its final report, and for better or worse it has often served as a guideline for building concrete water tanks.The lead article of the four that follow briefly puts the controversy generated over applicability of the report to water tanks into perspective.The second article succinctly describes the aims of the committee and the trials and tribulations that it suffered before a report could be generated that would muster the approval of most of the committee members.The last two articles relate the criticisms of two men involved with prestressed‐concrete water‐tank construction, with regard to the value of the report of AWWA members.
Should Industry Purchase or Seek Its Own Supply of Water?
Authors: Hardman Robert L. 
Published: February 2018

There is an increasing trend by industrial plants to supply their own water rather than purchase from municipal water systems. This joint discussion, originally presented at the Annual Conference on Jun. 7, 1972, examines existing conditions and gives insight into future expectations.The first article discusses the legislative controls exerted over water supplies in New Jersey. The second article explains how the Chester Water Authority, Pa., attracts industrial water use. The third article argues that industry is not interested in supplying its own water. The fourth article reveals how a large industry treats its own water supply at a substantial savings over purchasing its supply. In the fifth article, the purchase of water by industry is compared with the method of self‐supply.
Variations in particulate matter, algae, and bacteria in an uncovered, finished‐drinking‐water reservoir
Authors: Silverman G.S. , Nagy L.A. , Olson B.H. 
Published: February 2018

Tetrachloroethylene has been detected in concentrations ranging from a few micrograms per litre to several milligrams per litre in dead ends of water distribution systems made of vinyl‐toluene‐lined asbestos–cement pipe. About 1600 km (1000 mi) of this lined pipe is being used, primarily in New England. Tetrachloroethylene concentrations can be lessened by flushing and installing continuous bleeders, two of the solutions being suggested to correct this organics problem, which resulted from steps to control corrosion of asbestos–cement pipe.Physicochemical and microbiological analyses were performed on influent and effluent samples taken from Garvey Reservoir (Los Angeles County, Calif.). Data collected on particle counts and size distributions, total plate count, coliform bacteria, algal counts, chlorophyll, turbidity, copper, and iron were analyzed with a computerized statistical package. The quality of the influent was degraded through biological activity in the reservoir to produce a lower‐quality effluent. Results indicated that algae were associated with increased turbidity and particulate levels and might enhance or support bacterial activity, including physical protection of bacteria against the effects of chlorination.