bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Is one-stop surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome safe? A retrospective long-term follow-up study in a neurosurgical unit in Copenhagen
Authors: Jørgensen Louise Møller , Piil Karin , Bashir Asma , Larsen Morten Bo , Poggenborg Pamela Santiago , Bjørck Sebastian , Fugleholm Kåre 
Published: September 2017

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate one-stop surgery (OSS) for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) regarding symptom relief and patient satisfaction. OSS in our setting means only one visit to the hospital for surgery and no hospital appointments for preassessment or follow-up. We hypothesised that relief of symptoms with OSS is comparable with that in non-OSS patients reported in the literature.DesignThis is a long-term retrospective follow-up study (56.5 months) of 1003 patients referred for CTS and discharged with or without surgery from an OSS clinic. Of the original cohort, 671 patients completed the long-term follow-up telephone interview.ResultsTwo-thirds of the patients were free of even minor symptoms following surgery. The symptom relief and patient satisfaction in this study were comparable with results in non-OSS patients reported in the literature.ConclusionThe implementation of a clinical pathway and OSS for the management of CTS was safe with good long-term symptom relief and high patient satisfaction.
Association between mothers’ screening uptake and daughters’ HPV vaccination: a quasi-experimental study on the effect of an active invitation campaign
Authors: Venturelli Francesco , Baldacchini Flavia , Campari Cinzia , Perilli Cinzia , Pascucci Maria Grazia , Finarelli Alba Carola , Moscara Luigi , Rossi Paolo Giorgi 
Published: September 2017

ObjectivesIn Emilia-Romagna, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign started in 2008 offering free vaccines for 1996 and 1997 cohorts. Systematic active invitation was implemented for the 1997 cohort. Our study aimed at measuring the impact of the active invitation campaign on HPV vaccine coverage and on coverage inequalities in 11-year-old girls. Second, we evaluated the effect of the HPV vaccination campaign on participation in cervical cancer screening by mothers of target girls.MethodsWe collected information on vaccination status for girls residing in Reggio Emilia in 2008 and mothers’ screening history, before and after the 2008 vaccination campaign. Log-binomial regression models were performed to estimate Relative Risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of being vaccinated as regarded citizenship, siblings, mothers’ education, marital status and screening history, stratified by birth cohort. We also calculated RR of receiving a Pap test after the vaccination campaign as regarded education, daughter’s cohort and mothers' decision to have their daughter vaccinated. Interaction between education and cohort in mothers overdue for Pap testing was calculated.ResultsVaccination coverage was 46.3% for the uninvited cohort (1046/2260) and 77.9% for the invited cohort (1798/2307). In the uninvited cohort, daughters’ vaccination showed association with mothers’ education (8 to 11 years of education vs. graduated mothers, RR 1.61 95% CI 1.14–2.28), citizenship (foreigners vs. Italians, RR 0.45 95% CI 0.37–0.56) and screening history (regular vs. non-participant; RR 1.72 95% CI 1.26–2.36). In the invited cohort, only a slight association with screening history persisted (regular vs. non-participant; RR 1.20 95% CI 1.04–1.40). Highly educated under-screened mothers of the invited cohort showed a higher probability of receiving a Pap test after the vaccination campaign period (RR 1.27 95% CI 1.04–1.56) compared with those not invited,ConclusionActive invitation could increase overall HPV immunisation coverage and reduce socio-demographic inequalities and the association with mothers' screening participation.
Is local anaesthesia a favourable approach for transcatheter aortic valve implantation? A systematic review and meta-analysis comparing local and general anaesthesia
Authors: Ehret Constanze , Rossaint Rolf , Foldenauer Ann Christina , Stoppe Christian , Stevanovic Ana , Dohms Katharina , Hein Marc , Schälte Gereon 
Published: September 2017

ObjectivesWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify the potential favourable effects of local anaesthesia plus sedation (LAS) compared with general anaesthesia (GA) in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).MethodsElectronic databases (PubMed/Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and the reference lists of eligible publications were screened for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies published between 1 January 2006 and 26 June 2016 that compare LAS to GA in an adult study population undergoing TAVI. We conducted study quality assessments using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and structured the review according to PRISMA. A meta-analysis calculating the pooled risk ratios (RRs) and mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) under the assumption of a random-effects model was performed. Statistical heterogeneity was evaluated using the I² statistic and Cochran’s Q-test.ResultsAfter database screening, one RCT and 19 observational studies were included in the review. We found no differences between LAS and GA in terms of 30-day mortality, in-hospital mortality and other endpoints that addressed safety and complication rates. LAS was associated with a shorter ICU and hospital stay and with lower rates of catecholamine administration and red blood cell transfusion. New pacemaker implantations occurred more frequently under LAS. The overall conversion rate from LAS to GA was 6.2%.ConclusionFor TAVI, both LAS and GA are feasible and safe. LAS may have some benefits such as increased haemodynamic stability and shorter hospital and ICU stays, but it does not impact 30-day mortality. Since there is a paucity of randomised trial data and the findings are mainly based on observational study data, this review should be considered as a hypothesis-generating article for subsequent RCTs that are required to confirm the potential favourable effects we detected for LAS.Registration numberCRD42016048398 (PROSPERO).
Cost-effectiveness of milk powder fortified with potassium to decrease blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular events among the adult population in China: a Markov model
Authors: Dainelli Livia , Xu Tingting , Li Min , Zimmermann Diane , Fang Hai , Wu Yangfeng , Detzel Patrick 
Published: September 2017

ObjectiveTo model the long-term cost-effectiveness of consuming milk powder fortified with potassium to decrease systolic blood pressure (SBP) and prevent cardiovascular events.DesignA best case scenario analysis using a Markov model was conducted.Participants8.67% of 50–79 year olds who regularly consume milk in China, including individuals with and without a prior diagnosis of hypertension.InterventionThe model simulated the potential impact of a daily intake of two servings of milk powder fortified with potassium (+700 mg/day) vs the consumption of a milk powder without potassium fortification, assuming a market price equal to 0.99 international dollars (intl$; the consumption of a milk powder without potassium fortification, assuming a market price equal to intl$0.99 for the latter and to intl$1.12 for the first (+13.13%). Both deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the results.Main outcome measuresEstimates of the incidence of cardiovascular events and subsequent mortality in China were derived from the literature as well as the effect of increasing potassium intake on blood pressure. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was used to determine the cost-effectiveness of a milk powder fortified with potassium taking into consideration the direct medical costs associated with the cardiovascular events, loss of working days and health utilities impact.ResultsWith an ICER equal to int$4711.56 per QALY (quality-adjusted life year) in the best case scenario and assuming 100% compliance, the daily consumption of a milk powder fortified with potassium shown to be a cost-effective approach to decrease SBP and reduce cardiovascular events in China. Healthcare savings due to prevention would amount to intl$8.41 billion. Sensitivity analyses showed the robustness of the results.ConclusionTogether with other preventive interventions, the consumption of a milk powder fortified with potassium could represent a cost-effective strategy to attenuate the rapid rise in cardiovascular burden among the 50–79 year olds who regularly consume milk in China.
Vitamin D status in tuberculosis patients with diabetes, prediabetes and normal blood glucose in China: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Zhao Xin , Yuan Yanli , Lin Yan , Zhang Tiejuan , Ma Jianjun , Kang Wanli , Bai Yunlong , Wang Yunlong , Shao Hongshan , Dlodlo Riitta A , Harries Anthony D 
Published: September 2017

ObjectiveThe association between tuberculosis (TB), diabetes mellitus (DM) and vitamin D status is poorly characterised. We therefore: (1) determined vitamin D status in patients with TB in relation to whether they had normal fasting blood glucose (FBG), pre-DM or DM and (2) assessed whether baseline characteristics in patients with TB, including their DM status, were associated with vitamin D deficiency.MethodsIn patients with TB consecutively attending six clinics or hospitals in China, we measured 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-(OH)D3) at the time of registration using electrochemiluminescence in a COBASE 601 Roche analyser by chemiluminescence immunoassay. Data analysis was performed using the χ2test, ORs and multivariate logistic regression.ResultsThere were 306 eligible patients with TB, including 96 with smear positive pulmonary TB, 187 with smear negative pulmonary TB and 23 with extrapulmonary TB. Of these, 95 (31%) had normal blood glucose, 83 (27%) had pre-DM and 128 (42%) had DM. Median serum vitamin D levels were 16.1 ng/mL in patients with TB with normal FBG, 12.6 ng/mL in patients with TB with pre-DM and 12.1 ng/mL in patients with TB with DM (p<0.001). The study highlighted certain baseline characteristics associated with vitamin D deficiency (25-(OH)D3<20 ng/mL). After adjusting for confounders, serum vitamin D deficiency was significantly more common in patients being registered in the cold season (November to April) (p=0.006) and in those with DM (p=0.003).ConclusionVitamin D levels are lower in patients with TB with pre-DM and DM and are also affected by certain baseline characteristics that include being registered in the cold season and having DM. TB programmes need to pay more attention to vitamin D status in their patients, especially if there is coexisting pre-DM or DM.
TheBrain Gamesstudy: protocol for a randomised controlled trial of computerised cognitive training for preventing mental illness in adolescents with high-risk personality styles
Authors: Mewton Louise , Hodge Antoinette , Gates Nicola , Visontay Rachel , Teesson Maree 
Published: September 2017

IntroductionA broad range of mental disorders are now understood as aberrations of normal adolescent brain development. In both adolescents and adults, executive dysfunction has been implicated across a range of mental illnesses, and enhancing executive functioning may prove to be a useful prevention strategy for adolescents at risk for a range of psychopathology.Methods and analysisThis study will consist of a double-blind, randomised controlled trial with a 12-month follow-up period. Participants will consist of 200 people aged 16–24 years who are at risk for a range of mental disorders based on personality risk factors, but have not experienced a lifetime mental illness as determined by a structured diagnostic interview. Participants will be randomly allocated to either an intervention group who complete an online cognitive training programme specifically targeting executive functioning ability or a control group who complete an online cognitive training programme that has limited executive functioning training potential. Superiority of the executive functioning training programme compared with the control training programme will be assessed at baseline, post-training and at 3-month, 6-month and 12-month follow-up. All assessments will be conducted online. The primary outcome of the study will be general psychopathology as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes will include executive functioning ability, day-to-day functioning and alcohol consumption. All analyses will be undertaken using mixed-model repeated measures analysis of variance with planned contrasts.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been obtained from the University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee (HC15094). Results of the trial immediately post-treatment and at 12 months follow-up will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberACTRN12616000127404; Pre-results.
Sizes of spaces of triangulations of 4-manifold and balanced presentations of the trivial group
Authors: Lishak Boris , Nabutovsky Alexander 
Published: September 2017

Let [Formula: see text] be any compact four-dimensional PL-manifold with or without boundary (e.g. the four-dimensional sphere or ball). Consider the space [Formula: see text] of all simplicial isomorphism classes of triangulations of [Formula: see text] endowed with the metric defined as follows: the distance between a pair of triangulations is the minimal number of bistellar transformations required to transform one of the triangulations into the other. Our main result is the existence of an absolute constant [Formula: see text] such that for every [Formula: see text] and all sufficiently large [Formula: see text] there exist more than [Formula: see text] triangulations of [Formula: see text] with at most [Formula: see text] simplices such that pairwise distances between them are greater than [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] times).This result follows from a similar result for the space of all balanced presentations of the trivial group. (“Balanced” means that the number of generators equals to the number of relations). This space is endowed with the metric defined as the minimal number of Tietze transformations between finite presentations. We prove a similar exponential lower bound for the number of balanced presentations of length [Formula: see text] with four generators that are pairwise [Formula: see text]-far from each other. If one does not fix the number of generators, then we establish a super-exponential lower bound [Formula: see text] for the number of balanced presentations of length [Formula: see text] that are [Formula: see text]-far from each other.
Cervical vertebrae of an enigmatic pterosaur from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Araripe Basin, NE Brazil)
Authors: Leal Maria E. C. , Pêgas Rodrigo V. , Bonde Niels , Kellner Alexander W. A. 
Published: September 2017

Abstract

The Brazilian Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) is well known for its rich pterosaur fauna. This paper deals with a new find represented by four articulated mid-cervical vertebrae. The vertebrae show a morphology consistent with that seen in the Chaoyangopteridae, especially the relative elongation, low neural spines, lack of pneumatic foramina on the lateral face of the centra and the presence of well-developed postexapophyses. Chaoyangopterids are, so far, represented with confidence only in Chinese deposits; the only record outside the Jehol Group is the Crato Formation form
Lacusovagus magnificens
, a partial skull whose assignment to the Chaoyangopteridae has been disputed. Given this controversy, we review the phylogenetic position of
Lacusovagus
, and discuss the nesting of our new specimen among theChaoyangopteridae, providing some comments concerning the composition of the group. We conclude that our new specimen provides further support for the presence of chaoyangopterids in the Early Cretaceous of Brazil.
Demystifying Soft-Error Mitigation by Control-Flow Checking -- A New Perspective on its Effectiveness
Authors: Schuster Simon , Ulbrich Peter , Stilkerich Isabella , Dietrich Christian , SchröDer-Preikschat Wolfgang 
Published: September 2017

Soft errors are a challenging and urging problem in the domain of safety-critical embedded systems. For decades, checking schemes have been investigated and improved to mitigate soft-error effects for the class of control-flow faults, with current industrial standards strongly recommending their use.
However, reality looks different: Taking a systems perspective, we implemented four representative Control-Flow Checking (CFC) schemes and put them through their paces in 396 fault-injection campaigns. In contrast to previous work, which typically relied on probability-based vulnerability metrics, we accounted for the influence of memory and time overheads on the fault-space dimensions and applied those in full-scan fault injections. This change in procedure alone severely degraded the perceived effectiveness of CFC.
In addition, we expanded the perspective to data-flow faults and their influence on the overall susceptibility, an aspect that so far has been largely ignored. Our results suggest that, without accompanying measures, any improvement regarding control-flow faults is dominated by the increase in data faults caused by the increased attack surface in terms of memory and runtime overhead. Moreover, CFC performance less depended on the detection capabilities than on general aspects of the concrete binary compilation and execution.
In conclusion, incorporating CFC is not as straightforward as often assumed and the vulnerability of systems with hardened control-flow may in many cases even be increased by the schemes themselves.
An Abstraction-Refinement Theory for the Analysis and Design of Real-Time Systems
Authors: Kurtin Philip S. , Bekooij Marco J. G. 
Published: September 2017

Component-based and model-based reasonings are key concepts to address the increasing complexity of real-time systems. Bounding abstraction theories allow to create efficiently analyzable models that can be used to give temporal or functional guarantees on non-deterministic and non-monotone implementations. Likewise, bounding refinement theories allow to create implementations that adhere to temporal or functional properties of specification models. For systems in which jitter plays a major role, both best-case and worst-case bounding models are needed.
In this paper we present a bounding abstraction-refinement theory for real-time systems. Compared to the state-of-the-art TETB refinement theory, our theory is less restrictive with respect to the automatic lifting of properties from component to graph level and does not only support temporal worst-case refinement, but evenhandedly temporal and functional, best-case and worst-case abstraction and refinement.
A Study of Dynamic Phase Adaptation Using a Dynamic Multicore Processor
Authors: Micolet Paul-Jules , Smith Aaron , Dubach Christophe 
Published: September 2017

Heterogeneous processors such as ARM’s big.LITTLE have become popular for embedded systems. They offer a choice between running workloads on a high performance core or a low-energy core leading to increased energy efficiency. However, the core configurations are fixed at design time which offers a limited amount of adaptation.
Dynamic Multicore Processors (DMPs) bridge the gap between homogeneous and fully reconfigurable systems. Cores can fuse dynamically to adapt the computational resources to the needs of different workloads. There exists multiple examples of DMPs in the literature, yet the focus has mainly been on static partitioning.
This paper conducts the first thorough study of the potential for dynamic reconfiguration of DMPs at runtime. We study how performance varies with static partitioning and what software optimizations are required to achieve high performance. We show that energy consumption is reduced considerably when adapting the number of cores to program phases, and introduce a simple online model which predicts the optimal number of cores to use to minimize energy consumption while maintaining high performance. Using the San Diego Vision Benchmark Suite as a use case, the dynamic scheme leads to ∼40% energy savings on average without decreasing performance.
The CURE
Authors: Naresh Vignyan Reddy Kothinti , Gope Dibakar , Lipasti Mikko H. 
Published: September 2017

VLIW processors typically deliver high performance on limited budget making them ideal for a variety of communication and signal processing solutions. These processors typically need large multi-ported register files that can have side effects of increased cycle time and high power consumption. The access delay and energy of these register files can also become prohibitive when increasing the register count or the access ports, thus limiting the overall performance of the processor. Most prior art circumvent this problem by using multiple clusters with private register files, to lower the access delay and reduce energy consumption. However, clustering artifacts, like increased inter--cluster communication operations and spill-recovery code, result in a performance penalty.
This paper proposes CURE — a novel technique to considerably reduce the negative effects of clustering. CURE augments the ISA to expose the communication registers to the compilers to increase availability of architectural register state to all functional units. The inter--cluster communication operations are integrated into regular ALU and memory operations to improve instruction encoding efficiency. We also propose a new code scheduling heuristic to handle the ISA changes, and to realize the improvements in processor’s performance and energy consumption. Our quantitative analysis estimates that CURE, when compared to the baseline 8--issue uni--cluster processor, boosts average performance by 61% while reducing the average register dynamic energy by 77%.
Minimising Access Conflicts on Shared Multi-Bank Memory
Authors: Tretter Andreas , Giannopoulou Georgia , Baer Matthias , Thiele Lothar 
Published: September 2017

A common multi-core pattern consists of processors communicating through shared, multi-banked on-chip memory. Two approaches exist: Interleaved address mapping, which spreads consecutive data over all banks, and contiguous address mapping, which stores consecutive data on a single bank.
In this work, we compare both approaches on the Kalray MPPA-256 platform. For contiguous mapping, we propose an algorithm, based on graph colouring techniques, to automatically perform the assignment of data blocks to memory banks with the goal of minimising access collisions and delays. Experiments with representative, parallel real-world benchmarks show that 69% of the tested configurations, when optimised for contiguous mapping by our algorithm, run up to 86% faster on average than with interleaved mapping.
Editor's introduction
Authors: Fu Hu 
Published: September 2017

Issue 16.1 of SIGecom Exchanges experiments with a couple of new forms of contribution, while keeping other by-now time-tested traditions.
Within the established tradition, we have a survey/position paper by Brendan Lucier on an economic view of prophet inequalities, two research letters, and the job candidate profiles this year which Vasilis Gkatzelis and Jason Hartline again volunteered to collect and edit. Besdies these, we have a a mini-survey by Shaddin Dughmi, Jason Hartline, Robert Kleinberg and Rad Niazadeh on black-box reductions in mechanism design, and a letter by Hayden Melton on the recent mechanism refinement on Thomson Reuters Matching (a major interbank electronic trading venue for spot foreign exchange).