bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Why people don’t use family planning: how different methods of enquiry elicit different responses
Authors: Bisits-Bullen Piroska , Phiri Precious , Chirwa Sam , Chauwa Lloyd 
Published: February 2016

BackgroundEngaging community, government and non-governmental organisation (NGO) stakeholders in the design of family planning (FP) programmes is best practice. Stakeholders can provide local insights on barriers to FP. However, it can be difficult to know whether there may be limited programme perceptions if only one method of enquiry is used.AimThis study aimed to validate the perceptions of stakeholders on barriers to FP in Malawi.MethodsThe study was conducted in a rural area in Lilongwe District, Malawi and employed a mixed-methods exploratory design. Five focus groups were run with community, government and NGO stakeholders to identify barriers to using modern FP. The results of the qualitative phase were then compared using a quantitative survey of 960 women who had at least one child aged under 5 years.ResultsThe qualitative phase identified a range of barriers to FP, including lack of awareness, lack of access, religious beliefs, myths, and opposition by husbands. However, the quantitative survey found that these issues are not a concern for the majority of women. The main reasons given by women for not using FP were that were not currently having sex or had a child recently, and so they felt they did not need to use it.ConclusionsPerceptions of stakeholders from a qualitative approach do not necessarily reflect the perspectives of the population as documented in a quantitative survey. When involving stakeholders it is important to recognise that different approaches may elicit different responses, particularly with regard to sensitive issues or issues that apply to particular subgroups. Consequently, a deeper understanding is likely to be obtained by using a multimethod approach.
Computational fluid dynamics analysis of flow reduction induced by flow-diverting stents in intracranial aneurysms: a patient-unspecific hemodynamics change perspective
Authors: Ouared Rafik , Larrabide Ignacio , Brina Olivier , Bouillot Pierre , Erceg Gorislav , Yilmaz Hasan , Lovblad Karl-Olof , Mendes Pereira Vitor 
Published: February 2016

Background and purposeFlow-diverter stents (FDSs) have been used effectively to treat large neck and complex saccular aneurysms on the anterior carotid circulation. Intra-aneurysmal flow reduction induces progressive aneurysm thrombosis in most patients. Understanding the degree of flow modification necessary to induce complete aneurysm occlusion among patients with considerable hemodynamics variability may be important for treatment planning.Materials and methodsPatients with incidental intracranial saccular aneurysms who underwent FDS endovascular procedures were included and studied for a 12 months’ follow-up period. We used computational fluid dynamics on patient-specific geometries from 3D rotational angiography without and with virtual stent placement and thus compared intra-aneurysmal hemodynamic problems. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to estimate the stent:no-stent minimum hemodynamic ratio thresholds that significantly (p≤0.05) determined the condition necessary for long-term (12 months) aneurysm occlusion.ResultsWe included 12 consecutive patients with sidewall aneurysms located in the internal carotid or vertebral artery. The measured porosity of the 12 deployed virtual FDSs was 83±3% (mean±SD). Nine aneurysms were occluded during the 12 months’ follow-up, whereas three were not. A significant (p=0.05) area under the curve (AUC) was found for spatiotemporal mean velocity reduction in the aneurysms: AUC=0.889±0.113 (mean±SD) corresponding to a minimum velocity reduction threshold of 0.353 for occlusion to occur. The 95% CI of the AUC was 0.66 to 1.00. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were ∼99% and ∼67%, respectively. For both wall shear stress and pressure reductions in aneurysms no thresholds could be determined: AUC=0.63±0.16 (p=0.518) and 0.67±0.165 (p=0.405), respectively.ConclusionsFor successful FDS treatment the post-stent average velocity in sidewall intracranial aneurysms must be reduced by at least one-third from the initial pre-stent conditions.
Cardiac function associated with previous, current and repeated depression and anxiety symptoms in a healthy population: the HUNT study
Authors: Gustad L T , Bjerkeset O , Strand L B , Janszky I , Salvesen Ø , Dalen H 
Published: February 2016

ObjectiveSymptoms of anxiety and depression often co-exist with cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet little is known about the association with left ventricular (LV) subclinical dysfunction. We aimed to study the cross-sectional associations of previous, current and repeated depression or anxiety symptoms, with sensitive indices of LV systolic and diastolic function, based on tissue Doppler (TD) and speckle tracking (ST) imaging methods.MethodsA random selection of 1296 individuals free from known CVD, hypertension and diabetes were examined with echocardiography at baseline of the third Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, (HUNT3, 2006–2008). The primary outcomes were LV diastolic function (e′) and LV systolic function (longitudinal global strain). The primary exposures were self-report on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Associations between outcomes and baseline exposures were available for 1034 (80%), and with previous and repeated exposures for 700 participants who also participated in HUNT2 (1995–1997).ResultsPrevious and repeated depression symptoms, but not current depression, were linearly associated with a reduction in e′. The average sum of two repeated HADS-D scores 10 years apart had the strongest effect on e′ (−8.3%; 95% CI −13.9% to −2.7%) per 5 units. We observed a sex difference between depression symptoms and longitudinal global strain (p for interaction 0.019), where women had a marginal negative effect. Anxiety symptoms, neither previous, current nor repeated were associated with subclinical LV dysfunction.ConclusionsIn a healthy sample, confirmed free of CVD, past and repeated depression symptoms were associated with subclinical LV dysfunction. Thus, depression symptoms might represent a modifiable risk factor for future CVD.
Automatic classification of lung tumour heterogeneity according to a visual-based score system in dynamic contrast enhanced CT sequences
Authors: Bevilacqua Alessandro , Baiocco Serena 
Published: February 2016

Computed tomography (CT) technologies have been considered for a long time as one of the most effective medical imaging tools for morphological analysis of body parts. Contrast Enhanced CT (CE-CT) also allows emphasising details of tissue structures whose heterogeneity, inspected through visual analysis, conveys crucial information regarding diagnosis and prognosis in several clinical pathologies. Recently, Dynamic CE-CT (DCE-CT) has emerged as a promising technique to perform also functional hemodynamic studies, with wide applications in the oncologic field. DCE-CT is based on repeated scans over time performed after intravenous administration of contrast agent, in order to study the temporal evolution of the tracer in 3D tumour tissue. DCE-CT pushes towards an intensive use of computers to provide automatically quantitative information to be used directly in clinical practice. This requires that visual analysis, representing the gold-standard for CT image interpretation, gains objectivity. This work presents the first automatic approach to quantify and classify the lung tumour heterogeneities based on DCE-CT image sequences, so as it is performed through visual analysis by experts. The approach developed relies on the spatio-temporal indices we devised, which also allow exploiting temporal data that enrich the knowledge of the tissue heterogeneity by providing information regarding the lesion status.
Prediction of phase transition, mechanical and electronic properties of inverse Heusler compound Y2RuPb, via FP-LMTO method
Authors: Labair M. , Rached H. , Rached D. , Benalia S. , Abidri B. , Khenata R. , Ahmed R. , Omran S. Bin , Bouhemadou A. , Syrotyuk S. V. 
Published: February 2016

Topological insulators (TI) are immensely investigated due to their promising characteristics for spintronics and quantum computing applications. In this regard, although bismuth, telluride, selenide and antimony containing compounds are typically considered as topological insulators, materials with Hg2CuTi-type structure have also shown their potential for TIs as well. Here, we present first principles study of the Y2RuPb compound, pertaining to its structural, mechanical, electrical and the optical properties. Calculations are executed at the level of the parameterized Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation (GGA), employing the full-potential (FP) linearized muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) approach, as designed within the density functional theory (DFT). The study is carried out on the Hg2CuTi-type and Cu2MnAl-type structures of the Y2RuPb compound. From our structural calculations, it is found that Y2RuPb is more stable in its Hg2CuTi-type structure; however, the analysis of the mechanical properties reveals its stability in both phases against any kind of elastic deformation. Similarly, Dirac cone shaped surface energy levels found in the predicted electronic band structure of the Y2RuPb compound, and good agreement of the obtained results with Zhang et al., demonstrates that it is a topological insulating material. Additionally, the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) and refractive index n ([Formula: see text]), for an energy range up to 14[Formula: see text]eV, are analyzed as well.
METALLURGICAL AND CORROSION CHARACTERIZATION OF POST WELD HEAT TREATED DUPLEX STAINLESS STEEL (UNS S31803) JOINTS BY FRICTION WELDING PROCESS
Authors: ASIF M. MOHAMMED , SHRIKRISHNA KULKARNI ANUP , SATHIYA P. 
Published: February 2016

The present study focuses on the metallurgical and corrosion characterization of post weld heat treated duplex stainless steel joints. After friction welding, it was confirmed that there is an increase in ferrite content at weld interface due to dynamic recrystallization. This caused the weldments prone to pitting corrosion attack. Hence the post weld heat treatments were performed at three temperatures 1080[Formula: see text]C, 1150[Formula: see text]C and 1200[Formula: see text]C with 15[Formula: see text]min of aging time. This was followed by water and oil quenching. The volume fraction of ferrite to austenite ratio was balanced and highest pit nucleation resistance were achieved after PWHT at 1080[Formula: see text]C followed by water quench and at 1150[Formula: see text]C followed by oil quench. This had happened exactly at parameter set containing heating pressure (HP):40 heating time (HT):4 upsetting pressure (UP):80 upsetting time (UP):2 (experiment no. 5). Dual phase presence and absence of precipitates were conformed through TEM which follow Kurdjumov–Sachs relationship. PREN of ferrite was decreasing with increase in temperature and that of austenite increased. The equilibrium temperature for water quenching was around 1100[Formula: see text]C and that for oil quenching was around 1140[Formula: see text]C. The pit depths were found to be in the range of 100[Formula: see text]nm and width of 1.5–2[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m.
Economic Impacts of Water Scarcity Under Diverse Water Salinities
Authors: Baum Zvi , Palatnik Ruslana Rachel , Kan Iddo , Rapaport-Rom Mickey 
Published: February 2016

Exploitation of alternative water sources is expected to grow in the decades to come in water-stressed countries with fast population growth, especially in regions where a further decline of natural freshwater availability is expected due to climate change. Increasing utilization of non-freshwater usually leads to salinity build-up in fields and water sources as well as accumulation of various pollutants — both having a considerable impact on the suitability of non-freshwater for irrigation due to constraints associated with crop salinity tolerance and food safety regulations. We developed a linked Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) — farm-level model of a water economy with representation for multiple water types characterized by different qualities. We employ the model to assess the impact of water shortage on the Israeli economy, where steadily growing water scarcity leads to an increasing utilization of alternative water sources. We simulate water shortage scenarios based on the Long Term National Master Plan for The Water Economy developed by the Israeli Water Authority (IWA). The linked CGE — farm-level model provides a mechanism for estimating the Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) rates between different irrigation water types used in agriculture. This mechanism accounts for the effects of salinity on yields and takes into consideration food safety regulations for irrigating crops with treated wastewater. We demonstrate that, in contrast to previous studies, CES rates between different water types are not identical. The CES rates obtained in our study have relatively low values, which can be attributed to the constraints associated with crop salinity tolerance and food safety regulations. Our results reveal that water shortage can lead to a significant decline of Israel’s GDP, where a considerable part of the decline is attributed to the decrease in agricultural outputs. The magnitude of the impact depends on the underlying assumptions regarding future desalination capacity. To further study the effect of desalination, we run simulations under various desalination levels and examine its impact on the GDP. We also examine the extent to which the impact of water shortage is sensitive to CES rates between different irrigation water types.
Congenital Anomalies of the Extremities Occurring in Siblings
Authors: Takagi Takehiko , Seki Atsuhito , Mochida Joji , Takayama Shinichiro 
Published: February 2016

Background: When examining children with congenital anomalies of the extremities, it is not uncommon for parents to ask about the possibility of similar anomalies occurring in their next child. However, the inheritance of the disease in many congenital anomalies of the extremities has never been elucidated. Methods: In the present study we reviewed cases of their occurrence in siblings that we encountered in our department, and we investigated their characteristics. Results: The results did not reveal any disease specificity, but a tendency for bilateral cases and male cases (cases in brothers) to be more common was observed. Conclusions: In recent years there have been reports of the discovery of causative genes in some congenital anomalies, but because cases of occurrence in siblings with no familial occurrence in the past are seen, there may be a variety of causative genes in many congenital anomalies. In the present study there were many male cases (cases in brothers) and many bilateral cases, and there appears to have been a strong possibility of familial occurrence in such cases, but there were also quite a few exceptions. It is necessary to bear the possibility of heredity in mind in every case and provide the parents with an explanation.
Mass Spectrometry–Based Metabolomics Identifies Longitudinal Urinary Metabolite Profiles Predictive of Radiation-Induced Cancer
Authors: Cook John A. , Chandramouli Gadisetti V.R. , Anver Miriam R. , Sowers Anastasia L. , Thetford Angela , Krausz Kristopher W. , Gonzalez Frank J. , Mitchell James B. , Patterson Andrew D. 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Nonlethal exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) is a public concern due to its known carcinogenic effects. Although latency periods for IR-induced neoplasms are relatively long, the ability to detect cancer as early as possible is highly advantageous for effective therapeutic intervention. Therefore, we hypothesized that metabolites in the urine from mice exposed to total body radiation (TBI) would predict for the presence of cancer before a palpable mass was detected. In this study, we exposed mice to 0 or 5.4 Gy TBI, collected urine samples periodically over 1 year, and assayed urine metabolites by using mass spectrometry. Longitudinal data analysis within the first year post-TBI revealed that cancers, including hematopoietic, solid, and benign neoplasms, could be distinguished by unique urinary signatures as early as 3 months post-TBI. Furthermore, a distinction among different types of malignancies could be clearly delineated as early as 3 months post-TBI for hematopoietic neoplasms, 6 months for solid neoplasms, and by 1 year for benign neoplasms. Moreover, the feature profile for radiation-exposed mice 6 months post-TBI was found to be similar to nonirradiated control mice at 18 months, suggesting that TBI accelerates aging. These results demonstrate that urine feature profiles following TBI can identify cancers in mice prior to macroscopic detection, with important implications for the early diagnosis and treatment. Cancer Res; 76(6); 1569–77. ©2016 AACR.
The effectiveness of pre-operative exercise physiotherapy rehabilitation on the outcomes of treatment following anterior cruciate ligament injury: a systematic review
Authors: Alshewaier Shady , Yeowell Gillian , Fatoye Francis 
Published: February 2016

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of pre-operative exercise physiotherapy rehabilitation on the outcomes of treatment following anterior cruciate ligament injury. Methods: The following databases were searched: PubMed, Ovid, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science. Studies published between the inception of the databases and December 2015 were sought using appropriate keywords in various combinations. This search was supplemented with a manual search of the references of selected studies. Studies were assessed for methodological quality using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale. Results: A total of 500 studies were identified, of which eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. The average Physiotherapy Evidence Database score for the studies included was 5.8, which reflects an overall moderate methodological quality. The eight studies investigated a total of 451 subjects of which 71% ( n=319) were males. The age of the participants in the eight studies ranged from 15 to 57 years. The duration of the intervention in the studies ranged from 3 to 24 weeks. This review found that pre-operative physiotherapy rehabilitation is effective for improving the outcomes of treatment following anterior cruciate ligament injury, including increasing knee-related function and improving muscle strength. However, whilst there was a significant improvement in quality of life from baseline following intervention, no significant difference in quality of life was found between the control and intervention groups. Conclusions: There is evidence to suggest that pre-operative physiotherapy rehabilitation is beneficial to patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Plate fixation versus intramedullary fixation for midshaft clavicle fractures: Meta-analysis of complications and functional outcomes
Authors: Xiao Hao , Gao Hengbo , Zheng Tuokang , Zhao Jianhui , Tian Yingping 
Published: February 2016

Objective This analysis critically compares publications discussing complications and functional outcomes of plate fixation (PF) versus intramedullary fixation (IF) for midshaft clavicle fractures. Methods Relevant studies published between January 1990 and October 2014, without language restrictions, were identified in database searches of PubMed®, Medline®, Embase and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Studies that compared postoperative complications and functional outcomes between PF and IF for midshaft clavicle fractures, and provided sufficient data for analysis, were included in this meta-analysis. Results After strict evaluation, 12 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Studies encompassed 462 participants in the PF group and 440 in the IF group. Study participants were followed up for ≥1 year. Outcomes were superior with IF compared with PF in terms of shoulder constant score at 6-month follow-up, fewer symptomatic hardware complications, lower rate of refracture after hardware removal and less hypertrophic scarring. In other aspects, such as functional recovery at 12-months and 24-months, Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire results at 12-month follow-up, shoulder motion range, rates of superficial infection, temporary brachial plexus lesion, nonunion, malunion, delayed union, implant failure and need for major revision, both techniques were similar. Conclusions Findings of this meta-analysis suggest that, in many respects, IF was superior to PF for the management of midshaft clavicle fractures. This finding could aid surgeons in making decisions on the optimum internal fixation pattern for midshaft clavicular fractures.
Psychological factors associated with failure of detoxification treatment in chronic headache associated with medication overuse
Authors: Bottiroli S , Viana M , Sances G , Ghiotto N , Guaschino E , Galli F , Vegni E , Pazzi S , Nappi G , Tassorelli C 
Published: February 2016

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychological factors associated with a negative outcome following detoxification in a 2-month follow-up in medication-overuse headache. Methods All consecutive patients entering the detoxification program were analysed in a prospective, non-randomised fashion. Psychiatric conditions and personality characteristics were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders (SCID-I) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-2. χ2 tests, one-way analyses of variance, and odds ratios (ORs) were used. Results A total of 248 patients completed the follow-up: 156 stopped overuse and their headaches reverted to an episodic pattern (Group A); 23 kept overusing without any benefit on headache frequency (Group B); and 51 stopped overuse without any benefit on headache frequency (Group C). The prognostic factors for the outcome of Group B were higher scores on the correction (OR 1.128; p = 0.036), depression (OR 1.071; p = 0.05), hysteria (OR 1.106; p = 0.023), and overcontrolled hostility (OR 1.182; p = 0.04) MMPI-2 scales, whereas those for Group C were psychiatric comorbidities (OR 1.502; p = 0.021) and higher scores on the hysteria scale (OR 1.125; p = 0.004). Conclusions The outcome of detoxification is influenced by psychological factors that should be considered when considering treatment strategies.