bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
National Trends in Vestibular Schwannoma Surgery: Influence of Patient Characteristics on Outcomes
Authors: Hatch Jonathan L. , Bauschard Michael J. , Nguyen Shaun A. , Lambert Paul R. , Meyer Ted A. , McRackan Theodore R. 
Published: March 2018

ObjectiveTo characterize current vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery outcomes with a nationwide database and identify factors associated with increased complications and prolonged hospital course.Study DesignRetrospective review utilizing the University HealthSystem Consortium national inpatient database.SettingUS academic health centers.Subjects and MethodsData from patients undergoing VS surgery were analyzed over a 3‐year time span (October 2012 to September 2015). Surgical outcomes, such as length of stay (LOS), complications, and mortality, were analyzed on the basis of race, sex, age, and comorbidities during the 30‐day postoperative period.ResultsA total of 3697 VS surgical cases were identified. The overall mortality rate was 0.38%, and the overall complication rate was 5.3%. Advanced age significantly affected intensive care unit LOS, mortality, and complications (P =. 04). Comorbidities, including hypertension, obesity, and depression, also significantly increased complication rates (P =. 02). Sixty‐eight patients (1.8%) had a history of irradiation, and they had a significantly increased LOS (P =. 03).ConclusionModern VS surgery has a low mortality rate and a relatively low rate of complications. Several factors contribute to high complication rates, including age and comorbidities. These data will help providers in counseling patients on which treatment course might be best suited for them.
Anterior versus posterior surgical approach for lumbosacral tuberculosis
Authors: Zheng Bolong , Hao Dingjun , Guo Hua , He Baorong 
Published: March 2018

Objective To compare two different approaches for the treatment of lumbosacral tuberculosis. Patients and Methods In total, 115 patients who were surgically treated in our department from July 2010 to July 2014 were included in this retrospective study. They were divided into the anterior and posterior approach groups. Intraoperative hemorrhage; the surgery time; the Cobb angle preoperatively, postoperatively, and at the follow-up visit (2 years postoperatively); visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores before and after surgery; and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores before and after surgery were compared between the two groups. Results The Cobb angle and VAS and ODI scores were significantly improved in both groups after surgery. Significant differences were found in the operation time, intraoperative hemorrhage, Cobb angle correction, and loss of correction at the last follow-up. No significant differences were found in the VAS and ODI scores between the groups. Conclusions The posterior approach is superior to the anterior approach with respect to the surgery time, intraoperative hemorrhage, and Cobb angle postoperatively and at the last follow-up. When both approaches can be carried out for a patient with lumbosacral tuberculosis, the posterior approach should be favored over the anterior approach.
Changes in the emotional intelligence of occupational therapy students during practice education: A longitudinal study
Authors: Gribble Nigel , Ladyshewsky Richard K , Parsons Richard 
Published: March 2018

Introduction Emotional intelligence competencies assist occupational therapists in responding in a manner that enables them to be effective healthcare practitioners. Method This longitudinal study tracked the emotional intelligence of occupational therapy and business students using the Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 at three time-points over the final 16 months of their university programme. Results Undergraduate occupational therapy students ( n = 139 at time-point 1; n = 52 at time-point 3) completed a mean of 117 days of practice education. Before occupational therapy students commenced placements, emotional intelligence scores were significantly lower than population norms in self-regard, self-expression, assertiveness, independence, problem-solving, stress management, stress tolerance and flexibility. By the end of their programme, students reported significant increases in the emotional intelligence realms of total emotional intelligence score, self-perception, decision-making, self-actualisation, emotional self-awareness, independence and reality testing. However, assertiveness, problem-solving and stress tolerance remained relatively low, and other emotional intelligence domains remained below the population norms. The business students who did zero practice placements showed no increase in any emotional intelligence domains over the same period. Conclusion Emotional intelligence skills are malleable and can improve during practice placements. Supervisors and employers should encourage students and new graduates to practice their emotional intelligence skills under supervision and then provide feedback, so they are better prepared for the emotional demands of healthcare workplaces.
‘Real-life’ experience with direct-acting antiviral agents for hepatitis C virus in end-stage renal disease
Authors: García-Agudo Rebeca , Aoufi-Rabih Sami , Salgueira-Lazo Mercedes , González-Corvillo Carmen , Fabrizi Fabrizio 
Published: March 2018

Background and Aims: The advent of direct-acting antiviral agents promises to change the management of hepatitis C in patients with end-stage renal disease, a patient group where the treatment of hepatitis C was historically challenging. We investigated the safety and efficacy of all-oral, interferon-free direct-acting antiviral agents for the treatment of hepatitis C in a ‘real-world’ group of patients with end-stage renal disease. Methods: We performed a single-arm, multi-centre study in a cohort (n=30) of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (mostly on dialysis) who underwent antiviral therapy with direct-acting antiviral agents. The primary end-point was sustained virologic response (serum hepatitis C virus RNA < 15 mIU/mL, 12 weeks after treatment ended). We collected data on on-treatment adverse events, serious adverse events and laboratory abnormalities. Results: In total, 23 (77%) and 7 (23%) patients underwent regular dialysis and had chronic kidney disease at pre-dialysis stage, respectively. Six regimens were adopted: elbasvir/grazoprevir ( n = 6), ledipasvir/sofosbuvir ± ribavirin ( n = 4), PrOD regimens ± ribavirin ( n = 10), simeprevir + daclatasvir ( n = 3), sofosbuvir + daclatasvir ± ribavirin ( n = 3), sofosbuvir + ribavirin ( n = 4). The SVR12 rate was 90% (95% confidence interval, 74%; 96%). A total of 27 (90%) patients achieved SVR12; there were three virologic failures – two were non-responders and one had a viral breakthrough while on therapy. Adverse events occurred in 53% (16/30) (95% confidence interval, 0.39; 0.73) of patients and were managed clinically without discontinuation of therapy or hospitalization. The most common adverse event was anaemia ( n = 12) that required blood transfusions in seven individuals; deterioration of kidney function occurred in one (14%). Conclusion: All-oral, interferon-free therapy with direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus in advanced chronic kidney disease was effective and well tolerated in a ‘real-life’ clinical setting. Careful monitoring of haemoglobin and serum creatinine during therapy with direct-acting antiviral agents is suggested. Studies are under way to address whether sustained viral response translates into better survival in this population.
The Determinants of Palliative Care Use in Patients With Colorectal Cancer: A National Study
Authors: Colibaseanu Dorin T. , Osagiede Osayande , Spaulding Aaron C. , Frank Ryan D. , Merchea Amit , Mathis Kellie L. , Parker Alexander S. , Ailawadhi Sikander 
Published: March 2018

Background: Palliative care is associated with improved survival and quality of life, but its use among patients with colorectal cancer varies nationwide and the determinants of those variations are not clear. Objective: To determine the factors associated with palliative care use among patients who died of colorectal cancer. Methods: Deceased patients treated for colorectal cancer (2004-2013) were identified within the National Cancer Database. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate patient and institutional characteristics associated with palliative care use. Patients were classified based on their length of survival (<6 months, 6-24 months, and 24+ months) to provide timing context. Results: A total of 287 923 patients were analyzed. Overall, 4.3% of the patients received palliative care. Patients who received palliative care were more likely to be younger, recently diagnosed, treated at academic hospitals, and have stage IV disease. Patients living in Mountain and Pacific regions had higher odds of palliative care receipt than those in the East Coast. Patients without insurance had higher odds of palliative care if they survived <24 months. Insurance coverage through Medicaid was associated with increased palliative care use among patients who survived 6 to 24 months. Patients who survived <6 months and lived >9 miles from the institution received more palliative care. Conclusion: Palliative care use among patients with colorectal cancer is associated with a younger age, a more recent year of diagnosis, insurance status, academic hospitals, and living in Mountain and Pacific regions.
Early Palliative Care for Patients With Brain Metastases Decreases Inpatient Admissions and Need for Imaging Studies
Authors: Habibi Akram , Wu S. Peter , Gorovets Daniel , Sansosti Alexandra , Kryger Marc , Beaudreault Cameron , Chung Wei-Yi , Shelton Gary , Silverman Joshua , Lowy Joseph , Kondziolka Douglas 
Published: March 2018

Background: Early encounters with palliative care (PC) can influence health-care utilization, clinical outcome, and cost. Aim: To study the effect of timing of PC encounters on brain metastasis patients at an academic medical center. Setting/Participants: All patients diagnosed with brain metastases from January 2013 to August 2015 at a single institution with inpatient and/or outpatient PC records available for review (N = 145). Design: Early PC was defined as having a PC encounter within 8 weeks of diagnosis with brain metastases; late PC was defined as having PC after 8 weeks of diagnosis. Propensity score matched cohorts of early (n = 46) and late (n = 46) PC patients were compared to control for differences in age, gender, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) at diagnosis. Details of the palliative encounter, patient outcomes, and health-care utilization were collected. Results: Early PC versus late PC patients had no differences in baseline KPS, age, or gender. Early PC patients had significantly fewer number of inpatient visits per patient (1.5 vs 2.9; P = .004), emergency department visits (1.2 vs 2.1; P = .006), positron emission tomography/computed tomography studies (1.2 vs 2.7, P = .005), magnetic resonance imaging scans (5.8 vs 8.1; P = .03), and radiosurgery procedures (0.6 vs 1.3; P < .001). There were no differences in overall survival (median 8.2 vs 11.2 months; P = .2). Following inpatient admissions, early PC patients were more likely to be discharged home (59% vs 35%; P = .04). Conclusions: Timely PC consultations are advisable in this patient population and can reduce health-care utilization.
Attitudes towards Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek in London’s Greek Cypriot community
Authors: Karatsareas Petros 
Published: March 2018

Aim: To investigate whether the positive attitudes towards Standard Modern Greek and the mixture of positive and negative attitudes towards Cypriot Greek that have been documented in Cyprus are also present in London’s Greek Cypriot community. Approach: Unlike previous quantitative works, the study reported in this article was qualitative and aimed at capturing the ways in which attitudes and attitude-driven practices are experienced by members of London’s diasporic community. Data and analysis: Data were collected by means of semi-structured, sociolinguistic interviews with 28 members of the community. All participants were second-generation heritage speakers, successive bilinguals in Cypriot Greek and English and successive bidialectal speakers in Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek. The data were analysed qualitatively (thematic analysis). Findings: Positive perceptions of Standard Modern Greek and mixed perceptions, both positive and negative, of Cypriot Greek are found in the context of London. As in Cyprus, Standard Modern Greek is perceived as a prestigious, proper and ‘correct’ variety of Greek. Cypriot Greek, in contrast, is described as a ‘villagey’, heavy and even broken variety. Greek complementary schools play a key role in engendering these attitudes. Unlike in Cyprus, in the London community, the use of Cypriot Greek is also discouraged in informal settings such as the home. Originality: Papapavlou and Pavlou contended that ‘there are no signs of negative attitudes towards Cypriot Greek [in the UK]’ (2001, The interplay of language use and language maintenance and the cultural identity of Greek Cypriots in the UK. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11, 104). This research shows their claim to be false. Significance/implications: Negative attitudes towards Cypriot Greek lead to a community-wide preference for the use of Standard Modern Greek in communication with other members of the Greek Cypriot community, which poses a great threat to the intergenerational transmission and maintenance of Cypriot Greek as a heritage language in London.
Heritage speakers’ use of prosodic strategies in focus marking in Spanish
Authors: Kim Ji-Young 
Published: March 2018

Aims and objectives: The present study investigates how focus is prosodically realized by Spanish heritage speakers, and whether they show different patterns from Spanish monolinguals and English second language (L2) learners of Spanish. Design: Prompt questions were auditorily presented to elicit participants’ production of sentences with different scopes and locations of focus. Data and analysis: Relative prosodic prominence between focused and non-focused constituents, as well as tonal alignment, were acoustically analyzed and compared across the groups. Additional strategies that participants used are also presented. Findings: The results revealed that all three groups used multiple strategies, both prosodic and non-prosodic, to express focus in Spanish. However, the specific cues that were used differed in each group. Monolinguals and L2 learners clearly differed from each other in that the former preferred non-prosodic strategies (e.g., cleft constructions, complementizer que ‘that’), while the latter used various prosodic strategies (e.g., relative prosodic prominence, early peak alignment, post-focal deaccenting). Heritage speakers, on the other hand, used a mix of strategies that were observed in both monolinguals’ and L2 learners’ speech. Originality: Prosody is an understudied area in heritage language research. This is one of few studies that examined Spanish heritage speakers’ use of prosodic cues in the realization of focus in Spanish and the first to extensively analyze various acoustic correlates of focus produced by Spanish heritage speakers. Implication: The findings suggest that heritage speakers are flexible in their use of linguistic strategies as they are able to extract resources from their two language systems.
Sensory–motor rehabilitation therapy for task-specific focal hand dystonia: A feasibility study
Authors: Butler Katherine , Sadnicka Anna , Freeman Jennifer , Meppelink Anne-Marthe , Pareés Isabel , Marsden Jon , Edwards Mark J 
Published: March 2018

Introduction Medical treatments have limited long-term effect in task-specific dystonia. Whilst evidence supports the use of rehabilitation, no randomised controlled trials have been undertaken. This small-scale study determined the feasibility of implementing and evaluating a mixed sensory–motor task-specific dystonia rehabilitative programme. Methods Participants with writer’s or musician’s dystonia were recruited from a movement disorder and hand therapy clinic. Feasibility measures were recruitment rate, retention, session attendance, adherence to exercises. Self-report measures at 0, 3 and 6 months included: Arm Dystonia Disability Scale (ADDS), Tubiana and Chamagne Scale (TCS), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Health Status (EQ-5D 5L), Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI). Task performance was video-recorded at baseline and 6 months. At 6 months, interviews explored participant experiences of the intervention. Results Fifteen patients were recruited over 6 months (rate 2.5/month, musician’s dystonia = 8, writer’s dystonia = 7). Complete data sets were collected for twelve people(80%). The programme comprised a maximum six sessions plus daily home exercises. Nine completed the home programme at ≥75%. No adverse events were reported. Effect sizes at 3 and 6 months, respectively, were ADDS 3-month = 0.28, 6-month = 0.23; TCS 3-month = 0.13, 6-month = 0.53; BIPQ 3-month = 0.38, 6-month = 0.71; EQ-5D-5L 3-month = 0.34, 6-month = 0.59; video analysis at 6 months = 0.78. Eleven (92%) improved on the CGI. Interviews supported acceptability of the intervention. Conclusions This intervention was feasible to deliver with high retention, adherence and acceptability. Improvements occurred across measures. This informs the development of future randomised controlled trials.
Fusion Assessment by MRI in Comparison With CT in Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A Prospective Study
Authors: Kitchen David , Rao Prashanth J. , Zotti Mario , Woodman Richard , Sampson Matthew J. , Allison Dale , Phan Kevin , Selby Michael 
Published: March 2018

Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Objectives: To evaluate the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluation of fusion status following anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) and compare agreement and confidence in assessing fusion or its absence on MRI to the current standard computed tomography (CT). Methods: A prospective follow up of patients undergoing surgery by 2 spine surgeons between 2012 and 2015 at a single institution. Fusion was assessed at different time points in these patients by 2 independent musculoskeletal radiologists. Fusion was analyzed in coronal and sagittal planes using both imaging modalities, with confidence being attributed on a scale of 0 to 3. Assessors were blinded to patient data. Results: Fourteen patients (25 levels) with mean follow-up of 10.2 months (range 2.4-20.3 years) and age of 41 years (range 20.7-61.5 years) were assessed. MRI within the interbody cage in coronal (κ = .58) and sagittal (κ = .50) planes had the highest interobserver agreement. CT anterior to the cage in coronal (κ = .48) and sagittal (κ = .44) planes, as well as within the cage in coronal (κ = .50) and sagittal planes (κ = .44) showed moderate agreement. Confidence anterior to the interbody cage using MRI scan was reduced when compared with remaining angles and imaging modalities. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that MRI may be a useful tool in the assessment of fusion following ALIF with results comparable to CT, and that it may have a useful role in select patients especially considering marked radiation exposure reduction.
A Holistic Theoretical Approach to Intellectual Disability: Going Beyond the Four Current Perspectives
Authors: Schalock Robert L. , Luckasson Ruth , Tassé Marc J. , Verdugo Miguel Angel 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThis article describes a holistic theoretical framework that can be used to explain intellectual disability (ID) and organize relevant information into a usable roadmap to guide understanding and application. Developing the framework involved analyzing the four current perspectives on ID and synthesizing this information into a holistic theoretical framework. Practices consistent with the framework are described, and examples are provided of how multiple stakeholders can apply the framework. The article concludes with a discussion of the advantages and implications of a holistic theoretical approach to ID.
An novel cluster based feature selection and document classification model on high dimension trec data
Authors: Kumari Lalitha , Satyanarayana Ch. 
Published: March 2018

TREC text documents are complex to analyze the features its relevant similar documents using the traditional document similarity measures. As the size of the TREC repository is increasing, finding relevant clustered documents from a large collection of unstructured documents is a challenging task. Traditional document similarity and classification models are implemented on homogeneous TREC data to find essential features for document entities that are similar to the TREC documents. Also, most of the traditional models are applicable to limited text document sets for text analysis. The main issues in the traditional text mining models in TREC repository include :1) Each document is represented in vector form with many sparsity values 2) Failed to find the document semantic similarity between the intra and inter clusters 3) High mean squared error rate. In this paper, novel feature selection based clustered and classification model is proposed on large number of different TREC repositories. Traditional latent Semantic Indexing and document clustering models are failed to find the topic relevance on large number of TREC clinical text document sets due to computational memory and time. Proposed document feature selection and clustered based classification model is applied on TREC clinical benchmark datasets. From the experimental results, it is proved that the proposed model is efficient than the existing models in terms of computational memory, accuracy and error rate are concerned.
Implementation of hybrid filter technique for noise removal from medical images
Authors: Choubey Shruti Bhargava , Subba Rao S.P.V. 
Published: March 2018

Image denoising is used to eliminate the noise while retaining as much as possible the important signal features. The function of image denoising is to calculate approximately the original image form the noisy data. Image denoising still remains the challenge for researchers because noise removal introduces artifacts and causes blurring of the images. Image denoising has become an essential exercise in medical imaging especially the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). MR images are typically corrupted with noise, which hinder the medical diagnosis based on these images. The presence of noise not only causes as undesirable visual quality as well as lowers the visibility of low contrast objects. in this paper noise removal approach has proposed using hybridization of three filter with DWT method.Results calculated in terms of PSNR,MSE & TIME.