bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Resilience, health perceptions, (QOL), stressors, and hospital admissions—Observations from the real world of clinical care of unstable health journeys in Monash Watch (MW), Victoria, Australia
Authors: Martin Carmel , Hinkley Narelle , Stockman Keith , Campbell Donald 
Published: September 2018

AbstractRationale, aims, and objectivesMonash Watch (MW) aims to reduce potentially preventable hospitalisations in a cohort above a risk “threshold” identified by Health Links Chronic Care (HLCC) algorithms using personal, diagnostic, and service data. MW conducted regular patient monitoring through outbound phone calls using the Patient Journey Record System (PaJR). PaJR alerts are intended to act as a self‐reported barometer of stressors, resilience, and health perceptions with more alerts per call indicating greater risk.Aims: To describe predictors of PaJR alerts (self‐reported from outbound phone calls) and predictors of acute admissions based upon a Theoretical Model for Static and Dynamic Indicators of Acute Admissions.MethodsParticipants: HLCC cohort with predicted 3+ admissions/year in MW service arm for >40 days; n = 244. Baseline measures—Clinical Frailty Index (CFI); Connor Davis Resilience (CD‐RISC): SF‐12v2 Health Survey scores Mental (MSC) and Physical (PSC) and ICECAP‐O. Dynamic measures: PaJR alerts/call in 10 869 MW records. Acute (non‐surgical) admissions from Victorian Admitted Episode database. Analysis: Logistic regression, correlations, and timeseries homogeneity metrics using XLSTAT.FindingsBaseline indicators were significantly correlated except SF‐12_MCS. SF12‐MSC, SF12‐PSC and ICECAP‐O best predicted PaJR alerts/call (ROC: 0.84). CFI best predicted acute admissions (ROC: 0.66), adding CD‐RISC, SF‐12_MCS, SF‐12_PCS and ICECAP‐O with two‐way interactions improved model (ROC: 0.70). PaJR alerts were higher ≤10 days preceding acute admissions and significantly correlated with admissions. Patterns in PaJR alerts in four case studies demonstrated dynamic variations signifying risk. Overall, all baseline indicators were explanatory supporting the theoretical model. Timing of PaJR alerts and acute admissions reflecting changing stressors, resilience, and health perceptions were not predicted from baseline indicators but provided a trigger for service interventions.ConclusionBoth static and dynamic indicators representing stressors, resilience, and health perceptions have the potential to inform threshold models of admission risk in ways that could be clinically useful.
Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 treated by poly‐L‐lysine‐coated bacteriophages liposomes in pork
Authors: Lin Lin , Zhu Yulin , Cui Haiying 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe efficacy of bacteriophages as antibacterial agents has fostered the approval and commercialization of several products intended to reduce the risk of food corruption by bacterium. This study investigated the antibacterial activity and mechanism of bacteriophages against Escherichia coli O157:H7. Around 3.75 log cfu/mL reductions in E. coli O157:H7 populations were observed after 109 PFU/mL bacteriophages treatment for 12 hr. Subsequently, bacteriophages were incorporated into a liposome system to improve its chemical stability. Then, poly‐L‐lysine (PLL) was used to further enhance the stability of bacteriophages liposomes. The optimal PLL‐coated bacteriophage liposomes encapsulated 0.2 × 1011 PFU/mL bacteriophages, with polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.268, zeta potential of 21.8 mV, and encapsulation efficiency of 57.59%. In addition, long‐term antibacterial activity illustrated bacteriophages encapsulated in PLL‐coated liposome could extend the treatment time, achieving 2.44 log cfu/mL reductions in E. coli O157:H7 population after 1 day incubation in pork suspension.Practical applicationsThe prepared poly‐L‐lysine‐coated bacteriophage liposomes exhibited a promising prospect for biocontrol of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in pork and their further products, without significant impacts on the quality of pork products. The results obtained in this study may provide theoretical basis for meats preservation and broaden the antimicrobial application of bacteriophage in food industries.
High Burden of Palliative Care Needs of Older Adults During Emergency Major Abdominal Surgery
Authors: Cooper Zara , Lilley Elizabeth J. , Bollens‐Lund Evan , Mitchell Susan L. , Ritchie Christine S. , Lipstiz Stuart R. , Kelley Amy S. 
Published: September 2018

ObjectivesTo quantify preoperative illness burden in older adults undergoing emergency major abdominal surgery (EMAS), to examine the association between illness burden and postoperative outcomes, and to describe end‐of‐life care in the year after discharge.DesignRetrospective study using data from Health and Retirement Study interviews linked to Medicare claims (2000–2012).SettingNational population‐based dataset.ParticipantsMedicare beneficiaries who underwent EMAS.MeasurementsHigh illness burden, defined as ≥2 of the following vulnerabilities: functional dependence, dementia, use of helpers, multimorbidity, poor prognosis, high healthcare utilization. In‐hospital outcomes were complications and mortality. Postdischarge outcomes included emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and 365‐day mortality. For individuals discharged alive who died within 365 days of surgery, outcomes included hospice use, hospitalization, ICU use, and ED use in the last 30 days of life. Multivariable regression was used to determine the association between illness burden and outcomes.ResultsOf 411 participants, 57% had high illness burden. More individuals with high illness burden had complications (45% vs 28% p=0.00) and in‐hospital death (20% vs 9%, p=0.00) than those without. After discharge (n=349), individuals with high illness burden experienced more ED visits (57% vs 46%, P=.04) and were more likely to die (35% vs 13%, p=0.00). Of those who died after discharge (n=86), 75% had high illness burden, median survival was 67 days (range 21–141 days), 48% enrolled in hospice, 32% died in the hospital, 23% were in the ICU in the last 30 days of life and 37% had an ED visit in the last 30 days of life.ConclusionMost older adults undergoing EMAS have preexisting high illness burden and experience high mortality and healthcare use in the year after surgery, particularly near the end of life. Concurrent surgical and palliative care may improve quality of life and end‐of‐life care in these people. J Am Geriatr Soc 66:2072–2078, 2018.
Brassinosteroids function in spikelet differentiation and degeneration in rice
Authors: Zhang Weiyang , Zhu Kuanyu , Wang Zhiqin , Zhang Hao , Gu Junfei , Liu Lijun , Yang Jianchang , Zhang Jianhua 
Published: September 2018

AbstractBrassinosteroids (BRs) play crucial roles in many aspects of plant development. However, their function in spikelet differentiation and degeneration in rice (Oryza sativa L.) remains unclear. Here, we investigated the roles of these phytohormones in spikelet development in field‐grown rice subjected to five different nitrogen (N) fertilization treatments during panicle differentiation. BR levels and expression of genes involved in BR biosynthesis and signal transduction were measured in spikelets. Pollen fertility and the number of differentiated spikelets were closely associated with 24‐epicastasterone (24‐epiCS) and 28‐homobrassinolide (28‐homoBL) levels in spikelets. Enhanced BR biosynthesis and signal transduction, in response to N treatment, enhanced spikelet differentiation, reduced spikelet degeneration, and increased grain yield. Increases in proton‐pumping ATPase activity, ATP concentration, energy charge, and antioxidant system (AOS) levels were consistent with 24‐epiCS and 28‐homoBL concentrations. Exogenous application of 24‐epiCS or 28‐homoBL on young panicles induced a marked increase in endogenous 24‐epiCS or 28‐homoBL levels, energy charge, AOS levels, spikelet differentiation, and panicle weight. The opposite effects were observed following treatment with a BR biosynthesis inhibitor. Our findings indicate that, in rice, BRs mediate the effects of N fertilization on spikelet development and play a role in promoting spikelet development through increasing AOS levels and energy charge during panicle development.
Together we stand, divided we fall? Smallholders' access to political power and their place in Poland's agricultural system
Authors: Fałkowski Jan 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIt has long been recognized that agrarian transformation can be seen as an outcome of struggles between politically influential interest groups. At the same time, numerous theoretical arguments suggest that small‐scale farmers are politically weak. Smallholders are commonly believed to comprise a particularly vulnerable group, which has only little influence on the pace and the direction of the ongoing restructuring. One may wonder, however, whether smallholders are able to affect the paths of agrarian development once they solve collective action problem and attain political office. In this paper, we try to improve our understanding in this respect by analysing smallholders in Poland. Our findings suggest that in municipalities in which smallholders had access to political offices, the rate of smallholders' exits from farming was significantly lower than elsewhere.
Introduction to symposium: Smallholders in communist and postcommunist societies
Authors: Wegren Stephen K. , O'Brien David J. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe primary contributions of smallholders during the communist and early postcommunist periods have been food production and labour for large farms. Those conditions are changing, however, as modern farms require less labour and food supply may be imported. For most smallholders in Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries, the postcommunist neoliberal environment has not brought significant improvement, and strong arguments can be made that land grabbing, social and economic exclusion, and rural poverty are worse than regime bias during the communist period. Cooperatives, which have empowered smallholders in other parts of the world, have not been as well developed in postcommunist nations.
Assessment of practice efficacy by retrospective analysis of long‐term patient outcomes: A proposed method
Authors: Boudreaux Lauren , Key Douglas J. 
Published: September 2018

SummaryBackgroundRegardless of changes in clinical techniques and approaches, practices may find value in self‐assessment.ObjectiveTo propose a retrospective method by which an aesthetic practice may use patient before and after photographs to assess practice efficacy among long standing patients.MethodsPatients who had been with the practice and undergone various aesthetic procedures (n = 73, 59 women, age range 25‐83 years) were selected, with associated photographs before treatment and after their last intervention, covering an average period of 10.71 ± 1.32 years. Photographs were examined by 11 non‐expert graders in random order (along with duplicate photographs of 50 untreated individuals) who guessed and recorded the perceived age of each patient. The difference between the actual and estimated age was compared with that of the after picture to derive numerical values, averaged from among the 11 graders for each patient photo set, followed by statistical testing for confidence interval (CI) to group patients as high, medium, or low responders.ResultsOf 73 patients, 26 were graded as responders, 23 as medium, and 24 as low, meaning that average perceived aging changed little as per the non‐expert graders.ConclusionStatistical analysis of before and after photographs over time may provide physicians with a window into their performance.
THE REGIONAL EFFECTS OF MONETARY POLICY: A SURVEY OF THE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE
Authors: Dominguez‐Torres Helena , Hierro Luis A. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThis survey provides an updated review of the empirical literature on the regional effects of monetary policy in economic activity by means of undertaking a threefold perspective. First, the main methodological dimensions of this literature are examined while pinpointing those modelling or methodological traits that constitute a source of diverging estimates and thereby produce inconclusive evidence. Secondly, the estimates yielded by the literature are summarized by carrying out a cross‐study analysis of the results for each monetary union. By drawing on empirical regularities that are robust across studies, the conclusiveness of the results is assessed, while those monetary unions for which conclusive evidence is still lacking are also identified. Lastly, the sources of regional heterogeneity identified by these studies are reviewed in order to shed some light on the linkage between monetary policy and territorial heterogeneity. As a result of this threefold perspective, this survey delivers overall structured conclusions and updated policy‐relevant lessons. Moreover, various research gaps and emerging topics in the literature are also identified.
The efficacy and safety of dydrogesterone for treatment of dysmenorrhea: An open‐label multicenter clinical study
Authors: Taniguchi Fuminori , Ota Ikuko , Iba Yumiko , Toda Toshiko , Tagashira Yukiko , Ohata Yorie , Kurioka Hiroko , Endo Yusuke , Sunada Hiroshi , Noma Hisashi , Azuma Yukihiro , Harada Tasuku 
Published: September 2018

AbstractAimsDydrogesterone is a retro‐progesterone preparation widely used for over a half century. We sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dydrogesterone in Japanese women with dysmenorrhea.MethodsThis study was conducted as an open‐label, single‐arm, multicenter study. One dydrogesterone 5‐mg tablet (Duphaston) was administered orally twice daily for 21 days from the 5th to 25th day of each menstrual cycle. A total of 44 (safety analysis) and 31 patients (efficacy analysis) were enrolled. Total dysmenorrhea score, dysmenorrhea subscale scores, dysmenorrhea visual analog scale, severity of menstruation‐related lower abdominal pain, low back pain, headache, and nausea/vomiting, basal body temperature, and serum estradiol and progesterone levels were evaluated.ResultsBaseline of the total dysmenorrhea score was 4.61, which went down over time following the administration of dydrogesterone, and the decrease was statistically significant at and after 2nd cycle of menstruation. Mean change from baseline at the final evaluation point was −1.84 (P < 0.001). Severity of menstruation‐related lower abdominal pain, low back pain, headache, and nausea/vomiting, in the evaluated menstruation cycles tended to decrease over time. Basal body temperature showed a biphasic pattern in 70% at baseline, 50% in 2nd menstruation cycle, and 61% in 5th menstruation cycle, and at least half of the patients may have had ovulation during the treatment. Incidence of adverse drug reactions was 31.8%, and the most common adverse event was metrorrhagia.ConclusionDydrogesterone is efficacious, safe, and clinically beneficial in patients with dysmenorrhea, thereby indicating that dydrogesterone can be considered as a treatment option for patients with dysmenorrhea.
Recent advances in fertility preservation
Authors: Dolmans Marie‐Madeleine , Manavella Diego D. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractBackgroundMost cancer treatments like chemotherapy, radiotherapy or a combination of both are highly toxic to the gonads, putting girls and young women at risk of premature ovarian insufficiency and subsequent infertility. Non‐oncological conditions may also require therapies that put women's reproductive potential at risk. Fertility preservation counseling should therefore be offered to all patients requiring gonadotoxic treatments, and to those who wish to postpone motherhood for social/personal reasons. Among the most effective fertility preservation options available today, oocyte and embryo cryopreservation, and ovarian tissue cryopreservation have emerged as the front‐runners.AimThis review focuses on the currently available and most widely accepted fertility preservation and restoration strategies, with a special focus on recent advances in ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation.ConclusionsTo manage cancer patients satisfactorily and offer proper counsel on the most appropriate option available to them, different parameters need to be taken into account, including pubertal status, partner status and urgency of treatment for the underlying pathology. When fertility preservation is carried out for non‐oncological indications or personal reasons, oocyte cryopreservation by vitrification is clearly the highest‐yield clinical strategy. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation followed by transplantation is rapidly gaining ground as a fertility preservation and restoration strategy, and will hopefully soon have its ‘experimental’ label removed to allow practitioners to move on to open clinical application. Techniques to improve grafted ovarian tissue life span and quality as well as to avoid transmission of malignant cells have been developed, showing promise as a way to expand this procedure.
Cohabitation Experience and Cohabitation's Association With Marital Dissolution
Authors: Rosenfeld Michael J. , Roesler Katharina 
Published: September 2018

BackgroundBefore data existed on premarital cohabitation and divorce, scholars assumed that the experience of premarital cohabitation would select compatible couples into marriage and lead to lower rates of divorce. The advent of data on premarital cohabitation and divorce overturned the early preconceptions, as premarital cohabitation was found to be associated with higher rates of divorce. Premarital cohabitation has risen dramatically in the United States. Scholars disagree about whether the divorce rates of premarital cohabiters and noncohabiters have converged.MethodA harmonized data set of 6 waves of the retrospective National Surveys of Family Growth (with 216,455 couple‐years) is analyzed with discrete time‐event history methods to predict marital dissolution. The data are nationally representative of women aged 44 years and younger in first marriages in the United States for 1970 to 2015. Different criteria for model selection are discussed.ResultsThe results show that in the first year of marriages, couples who cohabited before marriage have a lower marital dissolution rate than couples who did not cohabit before marriage, a difference that may be due to the practical experience of cohabitation, as couples who have cohabited learned to adapt to each other. We find that the association between marital dissolution and premarital cohabitation has not changed over time or across marriage cohorts. The benefits of cohabitation experience in the first year of marriage has misled scholars into thinking that the most recent marriage cohorts will not experience heightened marital dissolution due to premarital cohabitation.ConclusionPremarital cohabitation has short‐term benefits and longer term costs for marital stability.
Circumcision in the paediatric patient: A review of indications, technique and complications
Authors: Prabhakaran Swetha , Ljuhar Damir , Coleman Robert , Nataraja Ramesh M 
Published: September 2018

AbstractCircumcision is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the world. Despite this, the practice of paediatric circumcision remains highly controversial, and continues to generate ongoing debate. This debate has become more relevant recently with the provisional guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending a change of practice. In this review article, we provide an overview of the history and incidence of circumcision, normal preputial development, types of phimosis, the absolute and relative indications for circumcision as well as the evidence base for its use as a preventative measure. Our aim is to provide paediatricians with a greater understanding of this common surgical procedure and the conditions it treats, to guide their clinical practice and parent counselling.
Thrombocytosis and portal vein thrombosis after splenectomy for paediatric haemolytic disorders: How should they be managed?
Authors: Stringer Mark D , Lucas Nathanael 
Published: September 2018

AbstractSplenectomy is indicated in selected children with haemolytic anaemia. Postoperatively, thrombocytosis occurs in at least 80% and is one of the factors implicated in the development of acute portal venous thrombosis after splenectomy in adults. A literature review shows that children are also at risk of this complication, but the incidence is low. The risk is greatest in those with particularly large spleens. Laparoscopic splenectomy does not reduce the risk of this complication. Early detection and anticoagulation usually leads to successful resolution of the thrombosis and can mitigate the risk of developing cavernous transformation of the portal vein and chronic portal hypertension. Any child with severe or unexplained postoperative abdominal pain, fever and/or vomiting after splenectomy demands urgent abdominal imaging to exclude this complication. In asymptomatic individuals, a routine Doppler ultrasound scan 1 week postoperatively is advisable if they had a particularly large spleen, longer than usual duration of surgery and/or have a marked postoperative thrombocytosis. There is no evidence for routine administration of antiplatelet drugs and/or subcutaneous heparin prophylaxis in children after splenectomy, including those who develop postoperative thrombocytosis, but children with particularly large spleens may be a subset that benefit.
Naturalization and labor market performance of immigrants in Germany
Authors: Riphahn Regina T. , Saif Salwan 
Published: September 2018

AbstractNaturalization may be a relevant policy instrument affecting immigrant integration in host‐country labor markets. We study the effect of naturalization on labor market outcomes of immigrants in Germany. We apply recent survey data and exploit a reform of naturalization rules in an instrumental variable estimation. In our sample of recent immigrants, linear regression yields positive correlations between naturalization and beneficial labor market outcomes. Once we account for the endogeneity of naturalization, most coefficients decline in magnitude and lose statistical significance: male immigrants’ labor market outcomes do not benefit significantly from naturalization. Naturalization reduces the risks of unemployment and welfare dependence for female immigrants. For males and females, the propensity to hold a permanent contract increases as a consequence of naturalization. The results are robust to modifications of samples and the instrument.