bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of insurance precertification on neurosurgery practice and health care delivery
Authors: Menger Richard P. , Thakur Jai Deep , Jain Gary , Nanda Anil 
Published: September 2016

OBJECTIVEInsurance preauthorization is used as a third-party tool to reduce health care costs. Given the expansion of managed care, the impact of the insurance preauthorization process in delaying health care delivery warrants investigation through a diversified neurosurgery practice.METHODSData for 1985 patients were prospectively gathered over a 12-month period from July 1, 2014, until June 30, 2015. Information regarding attending, procedure, procedure type, insurance type, need for insurance approval, number of days for authorization, or insurance denial was obtained. Delay in authorization was defined as any wait period greater than 7 days. Some of the parameters were added retrospectively to enhance this study; hence, the total number of subjects may vary for different variables.RESULTSThe most common procedure was back surgery with instrumentation (28%). Most of the patients had commercial insurance (57%) while Medicaid was the least common (1%). Across all neurosurgery procedures, insurance authorization, on average, was delayed 9 days with commercial insurance, 10.7 days with Tricare insurance, 8.5 days with Medicare insurance, 11.5 days with Medicaid, and 14.4 days with workers' compensation. Two percent of all patients were denied insurance preauthorization without any statistical trend or association. Of the 1985 patients, 1045 (52.6%) patients had instrumentation procedures. Independent of insurance type, instrumentation procedures were more likely to have delays in authorization (p = 0.001). Independent of procedure type, patients with Tricare (military) insurance were more likely to have a delay in approval for surgery (p = 0.02). Predictably, Medicare insurance was protective against a delay in surgery (p = 0.001).CONCLUSIONSChoice of insurance provider and instrumentation procedures were independent risk factors for a delay in insurance preauthorization. Neurosurgeons, not just policy makers, must take ownership to analyze, investigate, and interpret these data to deliver the best and most efficient care to our patients.
Presurgical evaluation of pediatric epilepsy patients prior to hemispherotomy: the prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET
Authors: Traub-Weidinger Tatjana , Weidinger Philip , Gröppel Gundrun , Karanikas Georgios , Wadsak Wolfgang , Kasprian Gregor , Dorfer Christian , Dressler Anastasia , Muehlebner Angelika , Hacker Marcus , Czech Thomas , Feucht Martha 
Published: September 2016

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to investigate whether fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET (18F-FDG PET) can help to predict seizure outcome after hemispherotomy and therefore may be useful in decision making and patient selection.

METHODS
Children and adolescents less than 18 years of age who underwent 18F-FDG PET studies during presurgical evaluation prior to hemispherotomy and had follow-up data of at least 12 months after surgery were included. Seizure outcome was classified according to the recommendations of the International League Against Epilepsy. PET data were reevaluated by two specialists in nuclear medicine blinded to clinical data and to MRI. MRI studies were also reinterpreted visually by an experienced neuroradiologist blinded to clinical data and PET findings.

RESULTS
Thirty-five patients (17 girls) with a median age of 5 years (range 0.4–17.8 years) were evaluable. Of the 35 patients, 91.4% were seizure free after surgery, including 100% of those with unilateral 18F-FDG-PET hypometabolism compared with only 75% of those with bilateral hypometabolism. With respect to MRI, seizure freedom after surgery was observed in 96.4% of the patients with unilateral lesions compared with only 71.4% in those with bilateral MRI lesions. The best seizure outcomes were noted in patients with unilateral findings in both PET and MRI (100% seizure freedom) whereas only 50% of those with bilateral findings in both imaging techniques were seizure free. Furthermore, 100% of the patients with unilateral PET hypometabolism and bilateral MRI findings were also seizure free, but only 87.5% of those with bilateral PET hypometabolism and unilateral MRI findings.

CONCLUSIONS
According to these results, candidate selection for hemispherotomy can be optimized by the use of 18F-FDG PET as part of a multimodal presurgical evaluation program, especially in patients with inconsistent (bilateral) MRI findings.
Endoscope-assisted management of sagittal synostosis: wide vertex suturectomy and barrel stave osteotomies versus narrow vertex suturectomy
Authors: Dlouhy Brian J. , Nguyen Dennis C. , Patel Kamlesh B. , Hoben Gwendolyn M. , Skolnick Gary B. , Naidoo Sybill D. , Woo Albert S. , Smyth Matthew D. 
Published: September 2016

OBJECTIVE
Endoscope-assisted methods for treatment of craniosynostosis have reported benefits over open calvarial vault reconstruction. In this paper, the authors evaluated 2 methods for endoscope-assisted correction of sagittal synostosis: wide vertex suturectomy and barrel stave osteotomies (WVS+BSO) and narrow vertex suturectomy (NVS).

METHODS
The authors evaluated patients with nonsyndromic sagittal synostosis treated with either wide vertex suturectomy (4–6 cm) and barrel stave osteotomies (WVS+BSO) or narrow vertex suturectomy (NVS) (approximately 2 cm) between October 2006 and July 2013. Prospectively collected data included patient age, sex, operative time, estimated blood loss (EBL), postoperative hemoglobin level, number of transfusions, complications, and cephalic index. Fourteen patients in the NVS group were age matched to 14 patients in the WVS+BSO group. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and Student t-tests were used to compare prospectively obtained data from the WVS+BSO group with the NVS group in a series of univariate analyses.

RESULTS
The mean age at surgery was 3.9 months for WVS+BSO and 3.8 months for NVS. The mean operative time for patients undergoing NVS was 59.0 minutes, significantly less than the 83.4-minute operative time for patients undergoing WVS+BSO (p < 0.05). The differences in mean EBL (NVS: 25.4 ml; WVS+BSO: 27.5 ml), mean postoperative hemoglobin level (NVS: 8.6 g/dl; WVS+BSO: 8.0 g/dl), mean preoperative cephalic index (NVS: 69.9; WVS+BSO: 68.2), and mean cephalic index at 1 year of age (NVS: 78.1; WVS+BSO: 77.2) were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS
The NVS and WVS+BSO produced nearly identical clinical results, as cephalic index at 1 year of age was similar between the 2 approaches. However, the NVS required fewer procedural steps and significantly less operative time than the WVS+BSO. The NVS group obtained the final cephalic index in a similar amount of time postoperatively as the WVS+BSO group. Complications, transfusion rates, and EBL were not different between the 2 techniques.
Heritage Policies, Tourism and Pastoral Groups in the Sultanate of Oman
Authors: Chatty Dawn 
Published: September 2016

Abstract
Although heritage and its preservation has been at the forefront of Omani policy for several decades, tourism to the country has been restricted, until recently, to small elite tour groups either taking advantage of the sun and sand or, in Dhofar, the cool and humid post monsoon landscapes. Pastoralist communities in the desert interior have been largely excluded from heritage tourism and tourist ventures with the exception of Disneyfied 'Arabian nights' camps on the edges of the most northerly desert sands of the Wahiba. Authenticity, and possession of intangible cultural heritage, for the most part have not been a part of tourism or, for that matter, heritage policies. The growing popularity of desert tours, camel racing and sand dune 'bashing' programmes in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, is, however, changing perceptions and practices in Oman. The desert landscape and its intangible heritage are belatedly receiving some national and international attention. By focusing on notions of cosmopolitanism and tangible and intangible heritage, this paper will address the challenges that are emerging with regard to tourism, heritage and authenticity of the pastoral groups in the Sultanate of Oman. It endeavours to frame the heritage debates and national policies of exclusion of pastoral groups within the context of international demands for increased and accessible tangible and intangible heritage tourism.
A new metal artifact reduction algorithm based on a deteriorated CT image
Authors: Kano Toru , Koseki Michihiko 
Published: September 2016

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) is an established imaging technology primarily used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool that reconstructs axial images. However, significant problems with metal artifacts remain. A metal artifact is a strong radial noise in an image, which makes it difficult to diagnose patients and inspect products containing metal implants. Historically, studies related to metal artifact reduction used projection data, though the data is not typically saved after processing. OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a new metal artifact reduction algorithm that does not require projection data, for new applications and for accurate diagnostic techniques. METHODS: The algorithm utilizes reconstructed images and is based on iterative reconstruction. By reproducing an accurate forward projection on simulation and combining it with an iterative calculation, discrepancies causing metal artifacts are eliminated. RESULTS: Validation was completed with numerical phantom models. Our results indicate that the proposed algorithm effectively reduces metal artifacts, even if numerous complex-shaped metal pieces were embedded in the cross-section. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a novel reconstruction algorithm for metal artifact reduction in CT imaging that only requires reconstructed images and projection conditions. Any historical CT data containing metal artifacts could be improved with this method.
Objective performance assessment of five computed tomography iterative reconstruction algorithms
Authors: Omotayo Azeez , Elbakri Idris 
Published: September 2016

OBJECTIVE: Iterative algorithms are gaining clinical acceptance in CT. We performed objective phantom-based image quality evaluation of five commercial iterative reconstruction algorithms available on four different multi-detector CT (MDCT) scanners at different dose levels as well as the conventional filtered back-projection (FBP) reconstruction. METHODS: Using the Catphan500 phantom, we evaluated image noise, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), modulation transfer function (MTF) and noise-power spectrum (NPS). The algorithms were evaluated over a CTDIvol range of 0.75–18.7 mGy on four major MDCT scanners: GE DiscoveryCT750HD (algorithms: ASIR™ and VEO™); Siemens Somatom Definition AS+ (algorithm: SAFIRE™); Toshiba Aquilion64 (algorithm: AIDR3D™); and Philips Ingenuity iCT256 (algorithm: iDose4™). Images were reconstructed using FBP and the respective iterative algorithms on the four scanners. RESULTS: Use of iterative algorithms decreased image noise and increased CNR, relative to FBP. In the dose range of 1.3–1.5 mGy, noise reduction using iterative algorithms was in the range of 11%–51% on GE DiscoveryCT750HD, 10%–52% on Siemens Somatom Definition AS+, 49%–62% on Toshiba Aquilion64, and 13%–44% on Philips Ingenuity iCT256. The corresponding CNR increase was in the range 11%–105% on GE, 11%–106% on Siemens, 85%–145% on Toshiba and 13%–77% on Philips respectively. Most algorithms did not affect the MTF, except for VEO™ which produced an increase in the limiting resolution of up to 30%. A shift in the peak of the NPS curve towards lower frequencies and a decrease in NPS amplitude were obtained with all iterative algorithms. VEO™ required long reconstruction times, while all other algorithms produced reconstructions in real time. Compared to FBP, iterative algorithms reduced image noise and increased CNR. CONCLUSIONS: The iterative algorithms available on different scanners achieved different levels of noise reduction and CNR increase while spatial resolution improvements were obtained only with VEO™. This study is useful in that it provides performance assessment of the iterative algorithms available from several mainstream CT manufacturers.
Au fondement des politiques d’immigration et de l’asile en Europe
Authors: Duvivier Émilie 
Published: September 2016

Les discours sécuritaires sur les migrants, les tentatives toujours croissantes d’identification et de contrôle, s’inscrivent dans un long passé historique dont les traces demeurent visibles dès le XIX e siècle. Alors que les États européens se sont progressivement attachés à protéger leurs frontières, garantissant des droits particuliers aux membres de leur communauté, sont peu à peu apparues des lignes de clivage entre nationaux et étrangers. Interroger l’évolution de la gestion politique de l’immigration et de l’asile en Europe amène à réfléchir au processus de construction des frontières entre les in et les out , entre ceux qui font partie de la communauté et ceux qui en sont exclus ; et donc par voie de conséquence, au processus de nationalisation des sociétés européennes. Cet article s’intéressera donc à l’histoire européenne du tracé des frontières en interrogeant l’évolution du droit et des pratiques des gouvernements en matière d’immigration et d’asile. L’analyse sociologique et historique proposée s’attachera à réfléchir aux modalités d’encadrement et de gestion des migrations par les États, en replaçant cette question dans le temps long, pour observer l’évolution des tensions à l’œuvre, ses invariants et ses métamorphoses.
L’immigration en France : variations politiques et invariants représentationnels
Authors: Mathieu Sophie 
Published: September 2016

Le contexte migratoire en France aujourd’hui est relaté dans les médias et les discours politiques sous un angle peu objectif. On entend souvent parler d’une « crise des migrants » et du danger pour l’économie, les valeurs françaises et à plus forte raison la sécurité, que représenteraient les réfugiés syriens arrivant « en masse » vers l’Europe. Cette situation semble former un problème moderne sans précédent. Pourtant, elle est, dans une certaine mesure, l’actualisation de formes représentationnelles anciennes et jalonnant l’histoire de la France. Quelles sont les évolutions dans le rapport que la France entretient avec ses étrangers ? Et quelles sont au contraire les continuités logiques et intégrées qui déterminent en partie les politiques en matière d’immigration aujourd’hui ?
Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in Sudanese children with type 1 diabetes
Authors: Khalid Khalid Eltahir 
Published: September 2016

AbstractType 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a T cell mediated autoimmune disease. Vitamin D was found to suppress the incidence of diabetes when bind to its receptor (VDR), probably by suppressing T cell activations. Thus the VDR gene polymorphism may have an impact on pathophysiology of this disease. Since there was no consistent association between VDR polymorphisms and the risk of T1DM, this study aimed to investigate a VDR gene polymorphism in Sudanese children with T1DM. We examined the VDR gene Bsm1 (rs1544410), Apa1 (rs7975232), and Taq1 (rs731236) single nucleotide polymorphisms in 174 children with T1DM, and 56 children as control, and the association of these polymorphisms with the diabetic control. Among study patients, the majority (85.63%) of diabetic patients reported metabolically poor controlled (HbA1c > 8%). As compared with the control, patients with T1DM presented more commonly with Bsm1 B allele (p = 0.001; OR 0.283; 95% CI 0.131–0.609) and Taq1 T allele (p = 0.05; OR 2.429; 95% CI 1.073–5.496). Apa1 A allele was less common in patients with T1DM without statistical difference (p = 0.862; OR 1.085; 95% CI 0.546–2.156). Our study suggests that, Bsm1 and Taq1 polymorphisms of the VDR gene associated with the prevalence of T1DM.
Communication rehabilitation in sub-Saharan Africa: A workforce profile of speech and language therapists
Authors: Wylie Karen , McAllister Lindy , Davidson Bronwyn , Marshall Julie 
Published: September 2016

Background: There is an urgent global need to strengthen rehabilitation services for people with disabilities. In sub-Saharan Africa, rehabilitation services for people with communication disabilities continue to be underdeveloped. A first step in strengthening services for people with a communication disabilities is to understand the composition and conditions of the current workforce.Objectives: This research describes a sample of the speech and language therapists (SLTs) working in SSA (excluding South Africa). This study explores the characteristics of this workforce, including their demographics, education, experience and geographical stability.Method: A mixed-methods survey was used to collect data from SLTs within Anglophone countries of SSA. Completed surveys were received from 33 respondents working in 44 jobs across nine countries. Analysis included descriptive and non-parametric inferential statistics. This study reports on a subset of descriptive and quantitative data from the wider survey.Results: A background profile of SLTs across the region is presented. Results indicated that the workforce of SLTs comprised a mix of local and international SLTs, with university-level education. Local SLTs were educated both within and outside of Africa, with more recent graduates trained in Africa. These data reflected the local emergence of speech and language therapy training in SSA.Conclusion: This sample comprised a mix of African and international SLTs, with indications of growing localisation of the workforce. Workforce localisation offers potential advantages of linguistic diversity and stability. Challenges including workforce support and developing culturally and contextually relevant SLT practices are discussed.
Japanese internally headed relatives: Their distinctness from potentially homophonous constructions
Authors: Grosu Alexander , Hoshi Koji 
Published: September 2016

This paper pursues two closely inter-related goals. One goal is to clarify and systematize the ways in which each of four distinct Japanese constructions, in particular, internally headed relatives, adverbial clauses, complement clauses, and gapless externally light-headed relatives, can be distinguished from the others in cases of homophony. The other goal is to use the results obtained in the pursuit of the former goal for the purpose of refuting earlier challenges to the theses that Japanese internally headed relatives are island-sensitive, get invariably construed as definite descriptions, disallow definite referential internal heads, and exhibit a ‘change’ sub-variety that is not reducible to gapless externally light-headed relatives. The paper assumes the correctness of the analytical approach outlined in Grosu &amp; Landman (2012), and – crucially – that of the conceptual and technical refinements to the latter proposed in Landman (2016), some of which rely on the results of this paper.This article is part of the special collection: Internally-headed Relative Clauses
Wanneer het lekt bij de buurman: het contractueel afdichten van meldingsplichtige datalekken
Authors: van der Jagt F.C. 
Published: September 2016

Wanneer het lekt bij de buurman: het contractueel afdichten van meldingsplichtige datalekken
Sinds 1 januari 2016 zijn bedrijven verplicht om datalekken te melden bij de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens en in bepaalde gevallen ook bij de personen van wie gegevens ‘gelekt’ zijn. De verwerking van persoonsgegevens wordt vaak deels uitbesteed aan een derde partij, zoals een cloudserviceprovider. In dit artikel wordt uiteengezet op welke wijze contractuele afspraken kunnen helpen om op een doeltreffende wijze uitvoering te kunnen geven aan de meldplicht datalekken wanneer het eigenlijke datalek bij een derde partij plaatsvindt.
Ouderschap en ouderlijk gezag bij niet-erkende islamitische huwelijken
Authors: Rutten S.W.E. 
Published: September 2016

Parentage and parental authority in unregistered Islamic marriages
The identified trend of changing family relations and establishing a family without being traditionally married, probably does not apply to the entire Dutch population. Islamic law requires that people get married before children are born. Among Muslims, this standard is still followed on a large scale. Marriages which may be validly established according to Islamic law, however, will not always be recognized in the Netherlands. Examples include the unregistered marriages and polygamous marriages. This has implications for the way in which questions of parentage and custody of children that were born out of these marriages, are answered. In this article it will be argued that the law, where it concerns issues of parentage and custody, provides insufficient protection to the category of those unrecognized Islamic marriages.
Ocupaciones Prehispánicas En Isla Pedro González, Archipiélago De Las Perlas, Panamá: Aproximación A Una Cronología Con Comentarios Sobre Las Conexiones Externas
Authors: Martín Juan Guillermo , Cooke Richard G. , Bustamante Fernando , Holst Irene , Lara Alexandra , Redwood Stewart 
Published: September 2016

ResumenEntre los años 2007 y 2010 se desarrollaron reconocimientos pedestres acompañados de sondeos y pequeñas excavaciones en el Archipiélago de Las Perlas, Panamá. Las investigaciones más intensivas se realizaron en Isla Pedro González. Esta breve síntesis preliminar de la cronología de la ocupación prehispánica de esta isla se basa en dataciones radiocarbónicas. También incluye comparaciones tipológicas y cronométricas con dos regiones culturales: Gran Coclé hacia el Oeste, donde floreció una tradición de policromía particular entre 2500 y 450 cal a.P. y el área que se constituyó como la región cultural de Gran Darién a partir de 1200–800 cal a.P. El yacimiento más antiguo en Pedro González es precerámico (6200–5600 cal a.P.). Después de un largo hiato, esta isla fue colonizada por grupos alfareros para el 2350 cal a.P. Se plantea la existencia de cinco fases cerámicas basadas en los rangos a 2σde las dataciones radiocarbónicas, las que se traslapan entre sí. Entre 2350 y 1450 a.P. la alfarería isleña refleja la trayectoria diacrónica de la cerámica en Gran Coclé con características propias que se extienden a zonas de tierra firme hacia el Norte, así como a islas cercanas a la costa como Taboguilla. Sin embargo, entre 1450 y 1200 cal a.P., las similitudes tipológicas con la Península de Azuero, Coclé y Playa Venado (en la costa Sur del área canalera) son tan marcadas que se asume que este área comprendió brevemente una misma zona de interacción cuya homogeneidad cultural pudo estar vinculada al comercio marítimo estimulado por la importancia de las conchas de arrecife, comoSpondylus. La alfarería cambia abruptamente entre 1200 y 800 cal a.P., aludiendo a una nueva población o a un reajuste en las conexiones con tierra firme con un énfasis en el litoral Este de la Bahía de Panamá y el noroeste de Colombia.