bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Debates over dam removal in Japan
Authors: Noda Keigo , Hamada Junya , Kimura Masaomi , Oki Kazuo 
Published: March 2018

AbstractJapan is facing a severe problem with the aging of its infrastructure, including dams. We studied eight controversial cases (the Ararse, Okusawa, Setoishi, Tamayodo, Minochi, Yasuoka, Tsuga and Nibutani Dam) involving dam removal in Japan and elucidated the triggers and suggested reasons for the debate. Renewal of water rights was a major trigger in three of the eight cases. Environmental reasons in five cases were not relevant to the demolition decision regarding dams conferring public benefit, even if restoration of the river environment was a recognized benefit. Compared with single‐purpose dams, the removal debate for a multi‐purpose dam, based on economic reasons regarding a single function, did not gain traction. Among the eight cases, there has been no case triggered by the renewal of water right by reason of economics, which should be highlighted options for stock management purposes.
Antifungal Prophylaxis with Posaconazole Delayed-Release Tablet and Oral Suspension in a Real-Life Setting: Plasma Levels, Efficacy, and Tolerability
Authors: Lenczuk David , Zinke-Cerwenka Wilma , Greinix Hildegard , Wölfler Albert , Prattes Jürgen , Zollner-Schwetz Ines , Valentin Thomas , Lin Timothy C. , Meinitzer Andreas , Hoenigl Martin , Krause Robert 
Published: March 2018

ABSTRACT

We continuously determined posaconazole plasma concentrations (PPCs) in 61 patients with hematological malignancies receiving posaconazole (PCZ) delayed-release tablets (DRT; 48 patients; median duration of intake, 92 days) and PCZ oral solution (OS; 13 patients; median duration of intake, 124 days). PCZ DRT and OS antifungal prophylaxis was efficient and well tolerated. Thirty-four of 48 patients (71%) receiving DRT always had PPCs of >0.7 mg/liter, while 14 of 48 patients (29%) had at least one PPC of ≤0.7 mg/liter. In patients receiving OS, 4 of 13 patients (31%) always had PPCs of >0.7 mg/liter, 6 of 13 patients (46%) had at least one PPC of ≤0.7 mg/liter, and 3 (23%) patients never reached a PPC of 0.7 mg/liter. In patients with at least one determined PPC, the mean proportion of all PPCs of >0.7 mg/liter was 91% for PCZ DRT, whereas it was 52% for PCZ OS (
P
= 0.001). In the per sample analysis, PPCs were significantly more likely to be >0.7 mg/liter in patients receiving DRT than in patients receiving OS (PPCs were >0.7 mg/liter in 91.4% [297/325] of patients receiving DRT versus 70.3% [85/121] of patients receiving OS;
P
< 0.001). Patients receiving PCZ DRT had higher proportions of PPCs of >0.7 mg/liter than patients receiving OS both in the per patient and in the per sample analyses. Two patients (3%) had side effects during PCZ prophylaxis, and one (2%) had fungal breakthrough infection. Therapeutic drug monitoring enables detection of extended periods of PPCs of ≤0.7 mg/liter (e.g., due to nonadherence or graft-versus-host disease), which may also be associated with the loss of protective intracellular PCZ concentrations, regardless of the PCZ formulation.
A Novel Glaesserella sp. Isolated from Pigs with Severe Respiratory Infections Has a Mosaic Genome with Virulence Factors Putatively Acquired by Horizontal Transfer
Authors: Watt Anne E. , Browning Glenn F. , Legione Alistair R. , Bushell Rhys N. , Stent Andrew , Cutler Ross S. , Young Neil D. , Marenda Marc S. 
Published: March 2018

ABSTRACT

An unknown member of the family
Pasteurellaceae
was repeatedly isolated from 20- to 24-week-old pigs with severe pulmonary lesions reared on the same farm in Victoria, Australia. The etiological diagnosis of the disease was inconclusive. The complete genome sequence analysis of one strain, 15-184, revealed some phylogenic proximity to
Glaesserella
(
Haemophilus
)
parasuis
, the cause of Glasser's disease. However, the sequences of the 16S rRNA and housekeeping genes, as well as the average nucleotide identity scores, differed from those of all other known species in the family
Pasteurellaceae
. The protein content of 15-184 was composite, with 60% of coding sequences matching known
G. parasuis
products, while more than 20% had a closer relative in the genera
Actinobacillus
,
Mannheimia
,
Pasteurella
, and
Bibersteinia
. Several putative virulence genes absent from
G. parasuis
but present in other
Pasteurellaceae
were also found, including the
apxIII
RTX toxin gene from
Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae
, ABC transporters from
Actinobacillus minor
, and iron transporters from various species. Three prophages and one integrative conjugative element were present in the isolate. Horizontal gene transfers might explain the mosaic genomic structure and atypical metabolic and virulence characteristics of 15-184. This organism has not been assigned a taxonomic position in the family, but this study underlines the need for a large-scale epidemiological and clinical characterization of this novel pathogen in swine populations, as a genomic analysis suggests it could have a severe impact on pig health.

IMPORTANCE
Several species of
Pasteurellaceae
cause a range of significant diseases in pigs. A novel member of this family was recently isolated from Australian pigs suffering from severe respiratory infections. Comparative whole-genome analyses suggest that this bacterium represents a new species, which possesses a number of virulence genes horizontally acquired from a diverse range of other
Pasteurellaceae
. While the possible contribution of other coinfecting noncultivable agents to the disease has not been ruled out in this study, the repertoire of virulence genes found in this organism may nevertheless explain some aspects of the associated pathology observed on the farm. The prevalence of this novel pathogen within pig populations is currently unknown. This finding is of particular importance for the pig industry, as this organism can have a serious impact on the health of these animals.
Caregiver experiences of racism and child healthcare utilisation: cross-sectional analysis from New Zealand
Authors: Paine Sarah-Jane , Harris Ricci , Stanley James , Cormack Donna 
Published: March 2018

ObjectivesChildren’s exposure to racism via caregiver experience (vicarious racism) is associated with poorer health and development. However, the relationship with child healthcare utilisation is unknown. We aimed to investigate (1) the prevalence of vicarious racism by child ethnicity; (2) the association between caregiver experiences of racism and child healthcare utilisation; and (3) the contribution of caregiver socioeconomic position and psychological distress to this association.DesignCross-sectional analysis of two instances of the New Zealand Health Survey (2006/2007: n=4535 child–primary caregiver dyads; 2011/2012: n=4420 dyads).Main outcome measuresChildren’s unmet need for healthcare, reporting no usual medical centre and caregiver-reported dissatisfaction with their child’s medical centre.ResultsThe prevalence of reporting ‘any’ experience of racism was higher among caregivers of indigenous Māori and Asian children (30.0% for both groups in 2006/2007) compared with European/Other children (14.4% in 2006/2007). Vicarious racism was independently associated with unmet need for child’s healthcare (OR=2.30, 95% CI 1.65 to 3.20) and dissatisfaction with their child’s medical centre (OR=2.00, 95% CI 1.26 to 3.16). Importantly, there was a dose–response relationship between the number of reported experiences of racism and child healthcare utilisation (eg, unmet need: 1 report of racism, OR=1.89, 95% CI 1.34 to 2.67; 2+ reports of racism, OR=3.06, 95% CI 1.27 to 7.37). Adjustment for caregiver psychological distress attenuated the association between caregiver experiences of racism and child healthcare utilisation.ConclusionsVicarious racism is a serious health problem in New Zealand disproportionately affecting Māori and Asian children and significantly impacting children’s healthcare utilisation. Tackling racism may be an important means of improving inequities in child healthcare utilisation.
Comparative analysis of methods for identifying multimorbidity patterns: a study of ‘real-world’ data
Authors: Roso-Llorach Albert , Violán Concepción , Foguet-Boreu Quintí , Rodriguez-Blanco Teresa , Pons-Vigués Mariona , Pujol-Ribera Enriqueta , Valderas Jose Maria 
Published: March 2018

ObjectiveThe aim was to compare multimorbidity patterns identified with the two most commonly used methods: hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in a large primary care database. Specific objectives were: (1) to determine whether choice of method affects the composition of these patterns and (2) to consider the potential application of each method in the clinical setting.DesignCross-sectional study. Diagnoses were based on the 263 corresponding blocks of the International Classification of Diseases version 10. Multimorbidity patterns were identified using HCA and EFA. Analysis was stratified by sex, and results compared for each method.Setting and participantsElectronic health records for 408 994 patients with multimorbidity aged 45–64 years in 274 primary health care teams from 2010 in Catalonia, Spain.ResultsHCA identified 53 clusters for women, with just 12 clusters including at least 2 diagnoses, and 15 clusters for men, all of them including at least two diagnoses. EFA showed 9 factors for women and 10 factors for men. We observed differences by sex and method of analysis, although some patterns were consistent. Three combinations of diseases were observed consistently across sex groups and across both methods: hypertension and obesity, spondylopathies and deforming dorsopathies, and dermatitis eczema and mycosis.ConclusionsThis study showed that multimorbidity patterns vary depending on the method of analysis used (HCA vs EFA) and provided new evidence about the known limitations of attempts to compare multimorbidity patterns in real-world data studies. We found that EFA was useful in describing comorbidity relationships and HCA could be useful for in-depth study of multimorbidity. Our results suggest possible applications for each of these methods in clinical and research settings, and add information about some aspects that must be considered in standardisation of future studies: spectrum of diseases, data usage and methods of analysis.
Frequency of reporting on patient and public involvement (PPI) in research studies published in a general medical journal: a descriptive study
Authors: Price Amy , Schroter Sara , Snow Rosamund , Hicks Melissa , Harmston Rebecca , Staniszewska Sophie , Parker Sam , Richards Tessa 
Published: March 2018

ObjectivesWhile documented plans for patient and public involvement (PPI) in research are required in many grant applications, little is known about how frequently PPI occurs in practice. Low levels of reported PPI may mask actual activity due to limited PPI reporting requirements. This research analysed the frequency and types of reported PPI in the presence and absence of a journal requirement to include this information.Design and settingA before and after comparison of PPI reported in research papers published inThe BMJbefore and 1 year after the introduction of a journal policy requiring authors to report if and how they involved patients and the public within their papers.ResultsBetween 1 June 2013 and 31 May 2014,The BMJpublished 189 research papers and 1 (0.5%) reported PPI activity. From 1 June 2015 to 31 May 2016, following the introduction of the policy,The BMJpublished 152 research papers of which 16 (11%) reported PPI activity. Patients contributed to grant applications in addition to designing studies through to coauthorship and participation in study dissemination. Patient contributors were often not fully acknowledged; 6 of 17 (35%) papers acknowledged their contributions and 2 (12%) included them as coauthors.ConclusionsInfrequent reporting of PPI activity does not appear to be purely due to a failure of documentation. Reporting of PPI activity increased after the introduction ofThe BMJ’s policy, but activity both before and after was low and reporting was inconsistent in quality. Journals, funders and research institutions should collaborate to move us from the current situation where PPI is an optional extra to one where PPI is fully embedded in practice throughout the research process.
Risks of all-cause mortality and major kidney events in patients with new-onset primary open-angle glaucoma: a nationwide long-term cohort study in Taiwan
Authors: Chou Chu-Lin , Hsieh Tsung-Cheng , Chen Jin-Shuen , Fang Te-Chao 
Published: March 2018

ObjectiveCardiovascular risk factors are associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in the general population. However, long-term mortality and major kidney events in patients with new-onset POAG remain unclear.MethodsUsing the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between 1997 and 2011, 15 185 patients with a new diagnosis of POAG were enrolled and propensity score matched (1:1) with 15 185 patients without ocular disorders (WODs). All-cause mortality and major kidney events were analysed by a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model and a competing risk regression model.ResultsThe risk of all-cause mortality was significantly higher in patients with new-onset POAG than in those WODs (adjusted HR (aHR) 2.11, 95% CI 1.76 to 2.54; p<0.001). Patients with POAG had higher risks of acute renal failure (ARF) (competing risk aHR 2.58, 95% CI 1.88 to 3.55; p<0.001) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (competing risk aHR 4.84, 95% CI 3.02 to 7.77; p<0.001) than those WODs.ConclusionsOur data demonstrate that POAG is a risk of all-cause mortality, ARF and ESRD, thus needing to notice mortality and major kidney events in patients with new-onset POAG.
Speak up-related climate and its association with healthcare workers’ speaking up and withholding voice behaviours: a cross-sectional survey in Switzerland
Authors: Schwappach David , Richard Aline 
Published: March 2018

ObjectivesTo determine frequencies of healthcare workers (HCWs) speak up-related behaviours and the association of speak up-related safety climate with speaking up and withholding voice.DesignCross-sectional survey of doctors and nurses. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression modelsSetting4 hospitals with a total of nine sites from the German, French and Italian speaking part of Switzerland.ParticipantsSurvey data were collected from 979 nurses and doctors.Main outcome measuresFrequencies of perceived patient safety concerns, of withholding voice and of speaking up behaviour. Speak up-related climate measures included psychological safety, encouraging environment and resignation.ResultsPerceived patient safety concerns were frequent among doctors and nurses (between 62% and 80% reported at least one safety concern during the last 4 weeks depending on the single items). Withholding voice was reported by 19%–39% of HCWs. Speaking up was reported by more than half of HCWs (55%–76%). The frequency of perceived concerns during the last 4 weeks was positively associated with both speaking up (OR=2.7, p<0.001) and withholding voice (OR=1.6, p<0.001). An encouraging environment was related to higher speaking up frequency (OR=1.3, p=0.005) and lower withholding voice frequency (OR=0.82, p=0.006). Resignation was associated with withholding voice (OR=1.5, p<0.001). The variance in both voicing behaviours attributable to the hospital-site level was marginal.ConclusionsOur results strengthen the importance of a speak up-supportive safety climate for staff safety-related communication behaviours, specifically withholding voice. This study indicates that a poor climate, in particular high levels of resignation among HCWs, is linked to frequent ‘silence’ of HCWs but not inversely associated with frequent speaking up. Interventions addressing safety-related voicing behaviours should discriminate between withholding voice and speaking up.
Advance care planning: the impact of Ceiling of Treatment plans in patients with Coordinate My Care
Authors: Broadhurst Helen Lucy , Droney Joanne , Callender Tom , Shaw Amanda , Riley Julia 
Published: March 2018

ObjectivesThe aim of this evaluation is to describe the components and results of urgent care planning in Coordinate My Care (CMC), a digital clinical service for patients with life-limiting illness, for use if a patient is unable to make or express choices. Ceiling of treatment (CoT) plans were created detailing where the patient would like to receive their care and how aggressive medical interventions should be.MethodsA retrospective service evaluation was completed of all CMC records created between December 2015 and September 2016 (n=6854). CMC records were divided into two cohorts: those with a CoT plan and those without. The factors associated with these cohorts were reviewed including age, diagnosis, resuscitation status and preferences for place of death (PPD). Analysis of the non-mandatory free text section was carried out.ResultsTwo-thirds of patients had recorded decisions about CoT. Regardless of which CoT option was chosen, for most patients, PPD was home or care home. Patients with a CoT plan were more likely to have a documented resuscitation status. Patients with a CoT were more likely to die in their PPD (82%vs71%, OR 1.79, p<0.0001). A higher proportion of patients with a CoT decision died outside hospital.ConclusionThis analysis demonstrates that a substantial proportion of patients are willing to engage in urgent care planning. Three facets of urgent care planning identified include PPD, CoT and resuscitation status.
Gender differences in the associations of body mass index, physical fitness and tobacco use with lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries among new US Army soldiers
Authors: Bedno Sheryl A , Nelson D Alan , Kurina Lianne M , Choi Y Sammy 
Published: March 2018

BackgroundMusculoskeletal (MSK) injuries are a leading cause of morbidity among US Army soldiers, especially among women and the newly enlisted. While extremes of body mass index (BMI), low physical fitness and tobacco use have been identified as risk factors, no prior studies have determined the combined effects of these risk factors or tested for gender differences in the associations.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study utilising the Stanford Military Data Repository to study all enlisted soldier accessions to the US Army between January 2011 and January 2014, with follow-up through December 2014 (n=238 772). We used discrete-time logistic regression to test for associations between demographic, socioeconomic and health behaviour-related predictors and incident lower extremity injuries. We included interaction terms to test for gender differences.ResultsAmong men, there were greater adjusted odds of injury among underweight (OR 1.27), overweight (OR 1.14) and obese soldiers (OR 1.54) (all p<0.001) relative to normal-weight soldiers. No statistically significant differences in the odds of injury on the basis of BMI were observed for female soldiers. Physical fitness was a significantly stronger predictor of injury for female as compared with male soldiers, while the association between tobacco use and injury was stronger for men (OR 1.47) than for women (OR 1.30) (p<0.001 for both).ConclusionThis is the largest known study to simultaneously assess important, modifiable musculoskeletal injury risk factors and to test for gender differences in these associations. These findings provide critical gender-related nuances for clinicians and leaders seeking to reduce the risk of these problems.
Understanding Reduced-Voltage Operation in Modern DRAM Devices
Authors: Chang Kevin K. , Yağlıkçı A. Giray , Ghose Saugata , Agrawal Aditya , Chatterjee Niladrish , Kashyap Abhijith , Lee Donghyuk , O'Connor Mike , Hassan Hasan , Mutlu Onur 
Published: March 2018

The energy consumption of DRAM is a critical concern in modern computing systems. Improvements in manufacturing process technology have allowed DRAM vendors to lower the DRAM supply voltage conservatively, which reduces some of the DRAM energy consumption. We would like to reduce the DRAM supply voltage more aggressively, to further reduce energy. Aggressive supply voltage reduction requires a thorough understanding of the effect voltage scaling has on DRAM access latency and DRAM reliability.
In this paper, we take a comprehensive approach to understanding and exploiting the latency and reliability characteristics of modern DRAM when the supply voltage is lowered below the nominal voltage level specified by DRAM standards. Using an FPGA-based testing platform, we perform an experimental study of 124 real DDR3L (low-voltage) DRAM chips manufactured recently by three major DRAM vendors. We find that reducing the supply voltage below a certain point introduces bit errors in the data, and we comprehensively characterize the behavior of these errors. We discover that these errors can be avoided by increasing the latency of three major DRAM operations (activation, restoration, and precharge). We perform detailed DRAM circuit simulations to validate and explain our experimental findings. We also characterize the various relationships between reduced supply voltage and error locations, stored data patterns, DRAM temperature, and data retention.
Based on our observations, we propose a new DRAM energy reduction mechanism, called Voltron. The key idea of Voltron is to use a performance model to determine by how much we can reduce the supply voltage without introducing errors and without exceeding a user-specified threshold for performance loss. Our evaluations show that Voltron reduces the average DRAM and system energy consumption by 10.5% and 7.3%, respectively, while limiting the average system performance loss to only 1.8%, for a variety of memory-intensive quad-core workloads. We also show that Voltron significantly outperforms prior dynamic voltage and frequency scaling mechanisms for DRAM.
Analysis of a Stochastic Model of Replication in Large Distributed Storage Systems
Authors: Sun Wen , Simon Veronique , Monnet Sebastien , Robert Philippe , Sens Pierre 
Published: March 2018

Distributed storage systems such as Hadoop File System or Google File System (GFS) ensure data availability and durability using replication. Persistence is achieved by replicating the same data block on several nodes, and ensuring that a minimum number of copies are available on the system at any time. Whenever the contents of a node are lost, for instance due to a hard disk crash, the system regenerates the data blocks stored before the failure by transferring them from the remaining replicas. This paper is focused on the analysis of the efficiency of replication mechanism that determines the location of the copies of a given file at some server. The variability of the loads of the nodes of the network is investigated for several policies. Three replication mechanisms are tested against simulations in the context of a real implementation of a such a system: Random, Least Loaded and Power of Choice.The simulations show that some of these policies may lead to quite unbalanced situations: if β is the average number of copies per node it turns out that, at equilibrium, the load of the nodes may exhibit a high variability. It is shown in this paper that a simple variant of a power of choice type algorithm has a striking effect on the loads of the nodes: at equilibrium, the distribution of the load of a node has a bounded support, most of nodes have a load less than 2β which is an interesting property for the design of the storage space of these systems. Stochastic models are introduced and investigated to explain this interesting phenomenon.