bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Validity of the days supply field in pharmacy administrative claims data for the identification of blister packaging of medications
Authors: Leong Christine , Sareen Jitender , Leslie William D. , Enns Murray W. , Bolton James , Alessi‐Severini Silvia , Katz Laurence Y. , Logsetty Sarvesh , Snider Carolyn , Berry Jason , Prior Heather J. , Chateau Dan 
Published: August 2017

AbstractPurposePharmacy claims data is often used in pharmacoepidemiology studies, but no studies to date have examined whether it was possible to identify the use of blister packs in these databases. We aimed to determine whether medications dispensed in days divisible by 7 are more likely to be blister packed than medications dispensed in other quantities.MethodsCommunity pharmacies in Manitoba were invited to participate in a mail‐out survey to identify the use of blister packaging for up to 25 patients who had a solid oral medication dispensed from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2014. Eligible medications were identified using the population‐based province‐wide retail pharmacy network. Algorithms for identifying the use of blister packaging were determined by comparing the proportion of fills that confirmed blister pack use between different days supply quantities.ResultsTwenty‐seven out of 32 pharmacies that agreed to participate completed the survey. The total number of prescriptions in the analysis was 2045 of which 131 (6.4%) were dispensed in blister packaging. Overall, prescriptions dispensed in days divisible by 7 yielded a 72.5% sensitivity, 86.6% specificity, 30.3% PPV, and 97.9% NPV compared with prescriptions dispensed in other quantities. A 28‐day to 30‐day comparison yielded an 87.9% sensitivity, 96.1% specificity, 64.6% PPV, and 99.0% NPV.ConclusionWhile the NPV was high, the PPV for identifying blister packaging using the days supply field in pharmacy claims data was modest given the low prevalence in blister pack use. The best predictor occurred when 28 days was compared with 30 days.KEY POINTS

Blister packs are arranged in 4 × 7 compartments and are often used to improve adherence, but no studies have examined whether it was possible to identify the use of blister packs using the days supply field in pharmacy claims data.
Findings show that a 28‐day supply yielded a high sensitivity and specificity for identifying the use of blister packaging compared with a 30‐day supply, but there is potential for misclassification.
Future studies directed at examining subgroups that are more likely to use blister packs and replication of findings using other data sources in other jurisdictions are encouraged.
Risks of newly onset hemorrhagic stroke in patients with neovascular age‐related macular degeneration
Authors: Lee Wan‐Ju Annabelle , Cheng Ching‐Lan , Lee Cheng‐Han , Kao Yang Yea‐Huei , Lin Swu‐Jane , Hsieh Cheng‐Yang 
Published: August 2017

AbstractPurposeAge‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease causing blindness in the elderly. It shares many common possible pathogenic mechanisms with cardiovascular diseases. Many studies have discussed the association between AMD and stroke, but the results were inconsistent. Our aim was to determine the associations between neovascular AMD and the risk of stroke in the Taiwanese population.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study. We used claims data from National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients aged more than 45 years without stroke, myocardial infarction, or any AMD were selected from 2001 to 2008 and followed until 2010. The index date was defined as the date of nAMD diagnosis (ICD‐9 code, 362.52). The comparison group was patients without an nAMD diagnosis with age‐ and sex‐matched to nAMD subjects at a ratio of up to 10 to 1. Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used. The incidence of stroke events (ICD‐9 codes, 430‐434) and their subtypes (hemorrhagic and ischemic) were primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes included acute myocardial infarction (AMI), composite AMI/stroke, and all‐cause mortality.ResultsPatients with nAMD had a higher risk of developing stroke, with an adjusted HR of 1.30 (95% CI, 1.01‐1.68). A higher risk for hemorrhagic stroke (HR, 1.70, 95% CI, 1.03‐2.83) was also found. No significant differences were observed in ischemic stroke, the composite of AMI/stroke, and all‐cause mortality.ConclusionsPatients with nAMD had a significantly higher risk of developing stroke, which was driven mainly by the increased risk of developing the hemorrhagic subtype.
Bisphosphonate use and the risk of breast cancer: a meta‐analysis of observational studies
Authors: Ou Ying‐Ju , Chiu Hui‐Fen , Wong Yun‐Hong , Yang Chun‐Chien , Yang Yi‐Hsin 
Published: August 2017

AbstractPurposeTo summarize current evidence of the association of bisphosphonate use with breast cancer risk, we used a systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies to explore this issue.MethodsA comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Pooled relative risk (RR) estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random effects model.ResultsBisphosphonate use was associated with a 16% lower breast cancer risk (pool RR0.84, 95%CI 0.77‐0.90, n = 8). A protective effect of bisphosphonate was found in cohort studies (RR 0.85, 95%CI 0.80‐0.90, n = 4) and case‐control studies (RR 0.78, 95%CI 0.64‐0.96, n = 4).We also found that the use of bisphosphonate resulted in a statistically significant reduction in all breast cancer risk (RR 0.87, 95%CI 0.81‐0.93) and greater reduction in invasive breast cancer risk (RR 0.78, 95%CI 0.68‐0.91) and contralateral breast cancer risk (RR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.20‐0.84).With respect to the type of bisphosphonate, we found that alendronate and etidronate resulted significant reduction in breast cancer risk. The short‐term use of bisphosphonate (<1 y) led to nonsignificant change (RR 0.93, 95%CI 0.86‐1.00), but a significant 26% reduction of breast cancer risk was noted with long‐term use (>1 y) (RR 0.74, 95%CI 0.66‐0.83).ConclusionsOur results supported bisphosphonate as being effective in preventing breast cancer, including invasive and contralateral breast cancer. Furthermore, the long‐term use (>1 y) of bisphosphonate was more significant in lowering breast cancer risk.
Relationship between physicians' perceived stigma toward depression and physician referral to psycho‐oncology services on an oncology/hematology ward
Authors: Kim Won‐Hyoung , Bae Jae‐Nam , Lim Joohan , Lee Moon‐Hee , Hahm Bong‐Jin , Yi Hyeon Gyu 
Published: August 2017

AbstractObjectiveThis study was performed to identify relationships between physicians' perceived stigma toward depression and psycho‐oncology service utilization on an oncology/hematology ward.MethodsThe study participants were 235 patients in an oncology/hematology ward and 14 physicians undergoing an internal medicine residency training program in Inha University Hospital (Incheon, South Korea). Patients completed the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9), and residents completed the Perceived Devaluation‐Discrimination scale that evaluates perceived stigma toward depression. A total PHQ‐9 score of ≥5 was defined as clinically significant depression. Physicians decided on referral on the basis of their opinions and those of their patients. The correlates of physicians' recommendation for referral to psycho‐oncology services and real referrals psycho‐oncology services were examined.ResultsOf the 235 patients, 143 had PHQ‐9 determined depression, and of these 143 patients, 61 received psycho‐oncology services. Physicians recommended that 87 patients consult psycho‐oncology services. Multivariate analyses showed that lower physicians' perceived stigma regarding depression was significantly associated with physicians' recommendation for referral, and that real referral to psycho‐oncology services was significantly associated with presence of a hematologic malignancy and lower physicians' perceived stigma toward depression.ConclusionPhysicians' perceived stigma toward depression was found to be associated with real referral to psycho‐oncology services and with physician recommendation for referral to psycho‐oncology services. Further investigations will be needed to examine how to reduce physicians' perceived stigma toward depression.
A versatile vector for mycobacterial protein production with a functional minimized acetamidase regulon
Authors: Magaña Vergara Christian , Kallenberg Christina Jana Louisa , Rogasch Miriam , Hübner Christian Gerhard , Song Young‐Hwa 
Published: August 2017

AbstractRecombinant protein expression is a prerequisite for diverse investigations of proteins at the molecular level. For targets from Mycobacterium tuberculosis it is favorable to use M. smegmatis as an expression host, a species from the same genus. In the respective shuttle vectors, target gene expression is controlled by the complex tetra‐cistronic acetamidase regulon. As a result, the size of those vectors is large, rendering them of limited use, especially when the target proteins are expressed from multi‐cistronic operons. Therefore, in the current work we present a versatile new expression vector in which the acetamidase regulon has been minimized by deleting the two genes amiD and amiS. We assessed the functional properties of the resulting vector pMyCA and compared it with those of the existing vector pMyNT that contains the full‐length acetamidase regulon. We analyzed the growth features and protein expression patterns of M. smegmatis cultures transformed with both vectors. In addition, we created mCherry expression constructs to spectroscopically monitor the expression properties of both vectors. Our experiments showed that the minimized vector exhibited several advantages over the pMyNT vector. First, the overall yield of expressed protein is higher due to the higher yield of bacterial mass. Second, the heterologous expression was regulated more tightly, offering an expression tool for diverse target proteins. Third, it is suitable for large multi‐protein complexes that are expressed from multi‐cistronic operons. Additionally, our results propose a new understanding of the regulation mechanism of the acetamidase regulon with the potential to construct more optimized vectors in the future.
Supplementation with a Polyphenol‐Rich Extract, TensLess®, Attenuates Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and Improves Muscle Recovery from Damages After Eccentric Exercise
Authors: Romain Cindy , Freitas Tomás T. , Martínez‐Noguera Francisco J. , Laurent Caroline , Gaillet Sylvie , Chung Linda H. , Alcaraz Pedro E. , Cases Julien 
Published: August 2017

High‐intensity exercises are known to provoke delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Delayed onset muscle soreness typically occurs within the first 24 h, peaks between 24 and 72 h, and can last as long as 5–7 days post‐exercise. Delayed onset muscle soreness is a multifactorial process involving both mechanical and biochemical components, associated with clinical features that may limit range of motion, and athletes seek for effective recovery strategies to optimize future training sessions. TensLess® is a food supplement developed to help manage post‐exercise recovery. The supplement has been investigated on 13 recreationally active athletes of both sex, during a randomized, double‐blind, and crossover clinical investigation, including a 3‐week washout period. The clinical investigation was based on the study of TensLess® effects for DOMS management and on the reduction of associated muscle damages following an eccentric exercise protocol. Supplementation with TensLess® induced significant decrease in DOMS perception (−33%; p = 0.008) as of the first 24 h; this was significantly correlated with a lowered release of muscle damage‐associated biomarkers, namely myoglobin, creatinine, and creatine kinase, for the whole length of the recovery period. Taken together, these positive results clearly indicate that post‐exercise supplementation with TensLess® may preserve myocytes and reduce soreness following eccentric exercise‐induced damages, and, accordingly, significantly shorten muscle recovery. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Are source groups always appropriate when sediment fingerprinting? The direct comparison of source and sediment samples as a methodological step
Authors: Pulley S. , Van Der Waal B. , Collins A.L. , Foster I.D.L. , Rowntree K. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe classification of sediment source groups is often the least thoroughly considered part of a sediment fingerprinting methodology; however, the use of inappropriate source groups can be the cause of significant uncertainty. In many catchments, source groups based on land use or geology are a poor fit for their geomorphological processes and the nature of the tracers used. Against this context, this study directly compared the average percentage difference in the standardised concentrations of all tracers between a sediment sample and each individual source sample, to map the similarity between the properties of sources and sediment in 3 study catchments. The environmental significance of individual tracers and their similarity between individual samples were also examined in order to identify functionally important source groups. In the River Nene, UK, the mean percentage differences between source and sediment tracer concentrations were primarily controlled by the presence of distinctive ironstone and urban sources, which had very dissimilar properties to the target sediment. However, a generally consistent trend of certain source samples having more similar properties to multiple target sediment samples than others was also found; a finding that could not be identified when using conventional source groups. In the Sywell reservoir catchment, UK, sediment originated from throughout its catchment, apart from in the case of damaged road verges, and there was little indication of any major change in sediment sources through recent time. In the Vuvu catchment, South Africa, there was a larger contribution from distal igneous sources during high‐flow events. The trialled method, however, provided little advantage over the standard fingerprinting approach in this case, due to the existing good fit between catchment geomorphology, the tracers used, and the geological source groups. The method trialled herein can provide distinct advantages over the conventional fingerprinting approach and, although it should not replace it, provides a useful supplement by permitting an assessment of whether potential source groupings make best environmental sense and providing increased resolution of sediment provenance.
An adaptive end‐to‐end RTO calculation framework for DTNs with scheduled connectivity
Authors: Diamantopoulos Sotiris , Bezirgiannidis Nikolaos , Papastergiou Giorgos , Tsaoussidis Vassilis 
Published: August 2017

SummaryIn this work, we propose an end‐to‐end retransmission framework for dynamically calculating efficient retransmission time‐out intervals in delay‐tolerant networks (DTNs) with scheduled connectivity. The proposed framework combines deterministic and statistical information about the network state to calculate worst‐case estimates about the expected round trip times. Such information includes connectivity schedules, convergence layer protocols specifics, communication link characteristics, and network statistics about the maximum expected packet error rates and storage congestion. We detail the implementation of the proposed framework within the end‐to‐end application data conditioning layer proposed for the DTN architecture, realized by the Delay‐Tolerant Payload Conditioning protocol, as part of the Interplanetary Overlay Network–DTN reference implementation, and evaluate its performance in a complex deep‐space emulation scenario in our DTN testbed. Our results show that our approach achieves great accuracy in round‐trip time estimations and, therefore, faster retransmissions of lost data, in comparison to the statically configured retransmission mechanism of the original Delay‐Tolerant Payload Conditioning protocol. As a result, in‐order data reception rate and storage requirements on the receiver side are significantly improved, at minimum or even zero extra cost in transmission overhead due to duplicate transmissions.
RLNC in satellite networks: A cooperative scenario for delivering M2M traffic
Authors: Bacco Manlio , Gotta Alberto 
Published: August 2017

SummaryThe fraction of machine‐to‐machine traffic carried by satellite networks is increasing, and an efficient delivery is required in order to enable a large set of applications that can benefit from the advantages provided by the use of satellites. This work analyses the use of random linear network coding techniques in land mobile satellite channels to reliably deliver machine‐to‐machine traffic to mobile nodes in urban areas. The considered scenario takes into account a cooperative coverage extension in land mobile satellite vehicular networks, where the use of random linear network coding techniques can remove the need for any fixed equipment on the ground at least in urban environments, where the density of mobile nodes is typically high.
Facile Construction of Metal‐Free g‐C3N4 Isotype Heterojunction with Highly Enhanced Visible‐light Photocatalytic Performance
Authors: Meng Qingguo , Yuan Mingzhe , Lv Haiqing , Chen Zhen , Zhou Guofu , Chen Zhihong , Wang Xin 
Published: August 2017

AbstractCarbon Nitride is considered as a promising photocatalyst material because of its unique properties such as environment‐friendly, suitable band gap and high stability. However, the photocatalytic activity of pristine g‐C3N4 was greatly hindered by the recombination of photo‐generated electron‐hole pairs. In this work, we provide an alternative method to address this problem by the construction of g‐C3N4 isotype heterojunction (CNH−T/CNH−U) structure, which was successfully synthesized by a facile protonation assisted hydrothermal method. Under the irradiation of visible light (λ > 420 nm), the CNH−T/CNH−U isotype heterojunction photocatalyst displays much higher photodegradation activity of organic dyes degradation and H2‐production activity than the pure CNH−T or CNH−U sample. This remarkably improved photocatalytic performance is attributed to the successful construction of CNH−T/CNH−U isotype heterojunction associated by protonation, which results in larger surface area and the more efficient separation of photo‐generated electron‐hole pairs, further investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance, photoluminescence, photocurrent measurement, and a series of active species trapping experiments.
Dicarboxylic Acids as Soft Templates for the Sol‐Gel Synthesis of Mesoporous Nano TiO2 with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity
Authors: Bakre Pratibha V. , Tilve Santosh G. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractIn this study we have synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles by sol‐gel method utilizing different dicarboxylic acid modifiers viz. oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, malic acid and tartaric acid and compared their properties. The synthesized particles were characterized by Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV‐DRS), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) and Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET) surface area measurement. The results indicate that the phase purity of the particles depend on the nature of precursor dicarboxylic acid. The synthesized samples were compared with Degussa P25 for photocatalytic activity by direct sunlight degradation of methylene blue. Samples prepared from malonic and glutaric acid precursors were found to show better photocatalytic activity than the P25 and were found to have maximum mesoporosity, smaller size and exclusive anatase phase.
Accurate Calculations of Rate Constants for the Forward and Reverse H2O + CO ↔ HCOOH Reactions
Authors: Vichietti Rafael Mario , Spada Rene Felipe Keidel , Silva Albérico Borges Ferreira da , Machado Francisco Bolivar Correto , Haiduke Roberto Luiz Andrade 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe forward and reverse H2O + CO ↔ HCOOH reactions were investigated using high‐level methodologies in order to provide accurate thermodynamic and kinetic data between 200 and 4000 K. Geometries of reactants, transition state (TS), and product were determined with the Coupled Cluster Theory including single and double excitations (CCSD) along with the cc‐pVTZ basis set, whereas associated vibrational frequencies, zero‐point energies, and thermal corrections were scaled to consider anharmonicity effects. Besides, the description of electronic energies was improved by means of core‐valence correlation and iterative triple‐excitation contributions together with a complete basis set extrapolation (ECBS,Δ) in order to achieve accurate values of enthalpies, Gibbs energies, and rate constants. Such rate constants were estimated at the high‐pressure limit by variational TS treatments combined with different quantum tunneling approaches. Finally, modified Arrhenius’ equations were fitted between 700 and 4000 K from our most reliable results.
Silver Nanoparticles/Gelatin Composite: A New Class of Antibacterial Material
Authors: Singh Ashwani Kumar , Tripathi Manish , Srivastava Onkar Nath , Verma Rajiv Kumar 
Published: August 2017

AbstractA simple and fast, one‐step, cost effective protocol for silver nanoparticle (AgNP) synthesis has been reported. AgNO3 is reduced using black cardamom (B.C.) extract to produce nanoparticles. Variable size nanoparticles were obtained by choosing the different composition of a reaction mixture comprised of AgNO3 solution and B.C. extract. Nanoparticle formation was monitored by the color change of reaction mixture as well as by UV‐Visible spectroscopy. AgNPs has been characterized thoroughly by XRD and TEM analysis for shape and size. A plausible mechanism for reduction of Ag+ has been proposed based on oxidation products of 1,8‐cineole, which is one of the major components of B.C. extract. A very important application of these AgNPs has also been shown by preparing AgNP‐gelatin composite to check its activity against different strains of bacteria. The results suggest excellent antibacterial activities of the above‐mentioned composite films, which can be further developed as antibacterial films for different purposes.
Effects of the Starch Indicator on the Buoyantly Unstable Iodate‐Arsenous Acid Reaction Front
Authors: Sebestikova Lenka , Simcik Mirek , Ruzicka Marek C. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractBuoyantly unstable chemical fronts, which propagated in the iodate arsenous acid reaction system, were studied experimentally in 3D space and numerically in vertical 2D space. The fronts invaded the reaction solution from the left top corner in horizontal and vertical directions. Before the starch effects were examined condition under which friction did not influence the front propagation were found both experimentally and numerically. The critical solution depth and the critical distance between lateral walls, above which the front speed is not influenced by friction, were determined. Moreover, the results also show that the 2D simulations correspond to a vertically oriented plane placed the 3D experiments in 1/2 of the walls distance and along the x axis of the reactor. Importantly, those results also show that friction caused by the presence of solid side walls exclude pseudo 2D experiments to be compared with 2D simulations, when flow is involved. The effects of starch on the IAA fronts were studied experimentally at conditions, at which the friction did not influence the front propagation. Although the starch is used in very low concentrations as an iodine indicator, the experimental results show that starch presence strongly affects the dynamics of the liquid IAA reaction system. The presence of starch decreases the front velocity independently on the direction of the front propagation. Starch also affects the pattern formation. A possible mechanism is discussed.