bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Inpatient Mortality and Use of Postacute Care After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Authors: Jaja Blessing N.R. , Saposnik Gustavo , Nisenbaum Rosane , Schweizer Tom A. , Reddy Deven , Thorpe Kelvin E. , Macdonald R. Loch 
Published: July 2013

Background and Purpose—
Studies in the United States and Canada have demonstrated socioeconomic gradients in outcomes of acute life-threatening cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The extent to which these findings are applicable to subarachnoid hemorrhage is uncertain. This study investigated socioeconomic status-related differences in risk of inpatient mortality and use of institutional postacute care after subarachnoid hemorrhage in the United States and Canada.

Methods—
Subarachnoid hemorrhage patient records in the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample database (2005–2010) and the Canadian Discharge Abstract Database (2004–2010) were analyzed separately, and summative results were compared. Both databases are nationally representative and contain relevant sociodemographic, diagnostic, procedural, and administrative information. We determined socioeconomic status on the basis of estimated median household income of residents for patient’s ZIP or postal code. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted with adjustment for relevant confounding covariates.

Results—
The cohort consisted of 31 631 US patients and 16 531 Canadian patients. Mean age (58 years) and crude inpatient mortality rates (22%) were similar in both countries. A significant income–mortality association was observed among US patients (odds ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.65–0.93), which was absent among Canadian patients (odds ratio, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.85–1.12). Neighborhood income status was not significantly associated with use of postacute care in the 2 countries.

Conclusions—
Socioeconomic status is associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage inpatient mortality risk in the United States, but not in Canada, although it does not influence the pattern of use of institutional care among survivors in both countries.
The Dynamics of Ascent-Forced Orographic Convection in the Tropics: Results from Dominica*
Authors: Minder Justin R. , Smith Ronald B. , Nugent Alison D. 
Published: July 2013

Abstract
The mountainous Caribbean island of Dominica was chosen as a natural laboratory for studying orographic convection in the tropics. Here, the authors focus on a prototypical case study, taken from the Dominica Experiment (DOMEX) field campaign in the spring of 2011. Airborne measurements and high-resolution numerical experiments are used to examine the mesoscale dynamics of moist airflow over Dominica and its relationship to convection, turbulence, and rainfall.
Upwind of the island, there is minimal lateral deflection or lifting of the flow, largely because of latent heat release in the overisland convection. Over the terrain, forced ascent leads to rapid development of moist convection, buoyancy-generated turbulence, and rainfall. Although this convection produces sporadic bursts of heavy rainfall, it does not appear to enhance the time-mean rainfall. Over the lee slopes, a dry plunging flow produces anisotropic shear-generated turbulence and strong low-level winds while quickly dissipating convection and rainfall. In the wake, low-level air is decelerated, both by turbulence in the plunging flow and by frictional drag over the island. Low-level wake air is also dried and warmed, primarily by turbulent vertical mixing and regional descent, both associated with the downslope flow. Rainfall and latent heating play only a secondary role in warming and drying the wake.
The Effects of Imposed Stratospheric Cooling on the Maximum Intensity of Tropical Cyclones in Axisymmetric Radiative–Convective Equilibrium
Authors: Ramsay Hamish A. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractThe effects of stratospheric cooling and sea surface warming on tropical cyclone (TC) potential intensity (PI) are explored using an axisymmetric cloud-resolving model run to radiative–convective equilibrium (RCE). Almost all observationally constrained datasets show that the tropical lower stratosphere has cooled over the past few decades. Such cooling may affect PI by modifying the storm's outflow temperature, which together with the sea surface temperature (SST) determines the thermal efficiency in PI theory. Results show that cooling near and above the model tropopause (∼90 hPa), with fixed SST, increases the PI at a rate of 1 m s−1 per degree of cooling. Most of this trend comes from a large increase in the thermal efficiency component of PI as the stratosphere cools. Sea surface warming (with fixed stratospheric temperature) increases the PI by roughly twice as much per degree, at a rate of about 2 m s−1 K−1. Under increasing SST, most of the PI trend comes from large changes in the air–sea thermodynamic disequilibrium. The predicted outflow temperature shows no trend in response to SST increase; however, the outflow height increases substantially. Under stratospheric cooling, the outflow temperature decreases and at the same rate as the imposed cooling. These results have considerable implications for global PI trends in response to climate change. Tropical oceans have warmed by about 0.15 K decade−1 since the 1970s, but the stratosphere has cooled anywhere from 0.3 to over 1 K decade−1, depending on the dataset. Therefore, global PI trends in recent decades appear to have been driven more by stratospheric cooling than by surface warming.
The thoughts and feelings held by clinicians about the delivery of a placebo thumb splint in an osteoarthritis rehabilitation trial
Authors: Jones Lucy E , White Peter , Donovan-Hall Maggie , Hislop Kelly , Bouças Sofia B , Adams Jo 
Published: July 2013

Background The use of a placebo thumb base splint in an osteoarthritis trial is novel and may help identify specific and non-specific effects of hand splinting. This study aimed to explore the thoughts and feelings of trial clinicians who would be delivering a placebo splint to understand their perspective and to identify how these feelings may affect them personally, professionally and practically. Methods Three senior Occupational Therapists selected from a purposive sample of trial collaborators participated in a focus group interview. Structured questions were used to elicit debate and discussion and three designs of placebo splint developed for this trial were available for consideration. The 60-min audio recorded focus group was transcribed verbatim, validated and underwent thematic analysis. Results Four main themes were identified; justification of placebo thumb splint use in this research, anxiety about causing of harm, preconceptions about thumb splint activity, and the practicalities of convincing placebo thumb splint delivery. This last theme was broken down into three sub-themes: anxiety about ‘selling’ the splint, the therapeutic relationship in splint delivery, and training requirements for splint delivery. Conclusions Clinicians have anxieties and practical concerns regarding delivering placebo splints in a clinical effectiveness trial for rehabilitation for thumb base osteoarthritis. Tailored support and training throughout all stages of trial delivery is required to ensure their ability to deliver the intervention in a rigorous, unbiased manner.
What drives the ‘August effect’? A observational study of the effect of junior doctor changeover on out of hours work
Authors: Blakey John D , Fearn Andrew , Shaw Dominick E 
Published: July 2013

Objective To investigate whether measurements of junior doctor on-call workload and performance can clarify the mechanisms underlying the increase in morbidity and mortality seen after junior doctor changeover: the ‘August effect’. Design Quantitative retrospective observational study of routinely collected data on junior doctor workload. Setting Two large teaching hospitals in England. Participants Task level data from a wireless out of hours system ( n = 29,885 requests) used by medical staff, nurses, and allied health professionals. Main outcome measures Number and type of tasks requested by nurses, time to completion of tasks by junior doctors. Results There was no overall change in the number of tasks requested by nurses out of hours around the August changeover (median requests per hour 15 before and 14 after, p = 0.46). However, the number of tasks classified as urgent was greater ( p = 0.016) equating to five more urgent tasks per day. After changeover, doctors took less time to complete tasks overall due to a reduction in time taken for routine tasks (median 74 vs. 66 min; p = 3.9 × 10−9). Conclusion This study suggests that the ‘August effect’ is not due to new junior doctors completing tasks more slowly or having a greater workload. Further studies are required to investigate the causes of the increased number of urgent tasks seen, but likely factors are errors, omissions, and poor prioritization. Thus, improved training and quality control has the potential to address this increased duration of unresolved patient risk. The study also highlights the potential of newer technologies to facilitate quantitative study of clinical activity.
Characterization and identification of PARM-1 as a new potential oncogene
Authors: Charfi Cyndia , Levros Louis-Charles , Edouard Elsy , Rassart Eric 
Published: July 2013

Abstract

Background
The Graffi murine retrovirus is a powerful tool to find leukemia associated oncogenes. Using DNA microarrays, we recently identified several genes specifically deregulated in T- and B-leukemias induced by this virus.

Results
In the present study, probsets associated with T-CD8+ leukemias were analyzed and we validated the expression profile of the Parm-1 gene. PARM-1 is a member of the mucin family. We showed that human PARM-1 is an intact secreted protein accumulating predominantly, such as murine PARM-1, at the Golgi and in the early and late endosomes. PARM-1 colocalization with α-tubulin suggests that its trafficking within the cell involves the microtubule cytoskeleton. Also, the protein co-localizes with caveolin-1 which probably mediates its internalization. Transient transfection of both mouse and human Parm-1 cDNAs conferred anchorage- and serum-independent growth and enhanced cell proliferation. Moreover, deletion mutants of human PARM-1 without either extracellular or cytoplasmic portions seem to retain the ability to induce anchorage-independent growth of NIH/3T3 cells. In addition, PARM-1 increases ERK1/2, but more importantly AKT and STAT3 phosphorylation.

Conclusions
Our results strongly suggest the oncogenic potential of PARM-1.
On the phenomenon of large photoluminescence red shift in GaN nanoparticles
Authors: Slimane Ahmed Ben , Najar Adel , Elafandy Rami , San-Román-Alerigi Damián P , Anjum Dalaver , Ng Tien Khee , Ooi Boon S 
Published: July 2013

Abstract
We report on the observation of broad photoluminescence wavelength tunability from n-type gallium nitride nanoparticles (GaN NPs) fabricated using the ultraviolet metal-assisted electroless etching method. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy measurements performed on the nanoparticles revealed large size dispersion ranging from 10 to 100 nm. Nanoparticles with broad tunable emission wavelength from 362 to 440 nm have been achieved by exciting the samples using the excitation power-dependent method. We attribute this large wavelength tunability to the localized potential fluctuations present within the GaN matrix and to vacancy-related surface states. Our results show that GaN NPs fabricated using this technique are promising for tunable-color-temperature white light-emitting diode applications.
T-cell reconstitution during murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS) produces neuroinflammation and mortality in animals harboring opportunistic viral brain infection
Authors: Mutnal Manohar B , Schachtele Scott J , Hu Shuxian , Lokensgard James R 
Published: July 2013

AbstractBackgroundHighly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) restores inflammatory immune responses in AIDS patients which may unmask previous subclinical infections or paradoxically exacerbate symptoms of opportunistic infections. In resource-poor settings, 25% of patients receiving HAART may develop CNS-related immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS). Here we describe a reliable mouse model to study underlying immunopathological mechanisms of CNS-IRIS.MethodsUtilizing our HSV brain infection model and mice with MAIDS, we investigated the effect of immune reconstitution on MAIDS mice harboring opportunistic viral brain infection. Using multi-color flow cytometry, we quantitatively measured the cellular infiltrate and microglial activation.ResultsInfection with the LP-BM5 retroviral mixture was found to confer susceptibility to herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 brain infection to normally-resistant C57BL/6 mice. Increased susceptibility to brain infection was due to severe immunodeficiency at 8 wks p.i. and a marked increase in programmed death-1 (PD-1) expression on CD4+and CD8+T-cells. Both T-cell loss and opportunistic brain infection were associated with high level PD-1 expression because PD-1-knockout mice infected with LP-BM5 did not exhibit lymphopenia and retained resistance to HSV-1. In addition, HSV-infection of MAIDS mice stimulated peripheral immune cell infiltration into the brain and its ensuing microglial activation. Interestingly, while opportunistic herpes virus brain infection of C57BL/6 MAIDS mice was not itself lethal, when T-cell immunity was reconstituted through adoptive transfer of virus-specific CD3+T-cells, it resulted in significant mortality among recipients. This immune reconstitution-induced mortality was associated with exacerbated neuroinflammation, as determined by MHC class II expression on resident microglia and elevated levels of Th1 cytokines in the brain.ConclusionsTaken together, these results indicate development of an immune reconstitution disease within the central nervous system (CNS-IRD). Experimental immune reconstitution disease of the CNS using T-cell repopulation of lymphopenic murine hosts harboring opportunistic brain infections may help elucidate neuroimmunoregulatory networks that produce CNS-IRIS in patients initiating HAART.
A Weighting Analogue to Pair Matching in Propensity Score Analysis
Authors: Li Liang , Greene Tom 
Published: July 2013

AbstractPropensity score (PS) matching is widely used for studying treatment effects in observational studies. This article proposes the method of matching weights (MWs) as an analog to one-to-one pair matching without replacement on the PS with a caliper. Compared with pair matching, the proposed method offers more efficient estimation, more accurate variance calculation, better balance, and simpler asymptotic analysis. A statistical test for the misspecification of the PS model is proposed for balance checking purposes. An augmented version of the MW estimator is developed that has the double robust property, that is, the estimator is consistent, if either the outcome model or the PS model is correct. The proposed method is studied in simulations and illustrated through a real data example.
Self-Esteem, Coping Styles, and Quality of Life in Polish Adolescents and Young Adults with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate
Authors: Pisula Ewa , Lukowska Ewa , Fudalej Piotr S. 
Published: July 2013

Objectives To evaluate self-esteem, coping styles, and health-related quality of life and their relationships in Polish adolescents and young adults with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate and related sex differences. Design and Participants Self-report questionnaires measuring self-esteem (Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory), coping styles (Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations), and health-related quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) were completed by 48 participants with cleft lip and palate (age, 16 to 23 years; 31 males, 17 females) and 48 controls without cleft lip and palate (age, 16 to 23 years; 28 males, 20 females) matched for age, place of residence, and socioeconomic status. Results Regarding self-esteem, individuals with cleft lip and palate scored higher on body functioning ( P < .01) and defensive self-enhancement ( P < .05). Self-control showed an interaction effect: Females with cleft lip and palate scored higher than controls, but males did not differ between groups ( P < .05). Males with cleft lip and palate scored lower than controls in personal power but higher in body functioning ( P < .05); females showed no differences between groups. The groups did not differ with regard to coping styles or quality of life, but several correlations were found between self-esteem and coping styles, and quality of life ( P < .01). Conclusions Late adolescents and young adults with and without cleft lip and palate differed little in terms of psychological adjustment measures. The higher scores in defensive self-enhancement of individuals with cleft lip and palate suggest the need for instruments measuring social approval in psychosocial adjustment research involving this group.
Piezoelectric Technology for Pediatric Autologous Cranioplasty
Authors: Phillips Benjamin Z. , Taylor Helena O. , Klinge Petra M. , Sullivan Stephen R. 
Published: July 2013

Objective Pediatric patients with skull defects larger than available sources for splitting bicortical bone have limited options for autogenous cortical bone cranioplasty. Piezoelectric instruments allow donor bone to be chosen based on the best possible contour rather than the presence of bicortical bone. We present the use of piezoelectric technology to split thin unicortical calvarium for autogenous cranioplasty in a series of pediatric patients. Design Retrospective review of a series of pediatric patients requiring reconstruction for skull defects. Patients/Intervention Our series included a 2-year-old with a parietal skull tumor and resultant 3 × 3-cm defect after craniectomy, a 2-year-old with a 3 × 3-cm defect after excision of an occipital skull tumor, a 10-year-old with a 4 × 5-cm skull defect after excision of an occipital skull tumor, and a 13-year-old who suffered a gunshot to the forehead with a 12 × 7-cm frontal skull defect. We used a piezoelectric saw to precisely and safely split unicortical and bicortical cranium that ranged from 1 to 3 mm in thickness. The inner layer was used to reconstruct the donor site; whereas, the outer layer was used for the craniectomy defect. Conclusion The piezoelectric saw allows unicortical bone to be split and used for cortical bone cranioplasty. This technology allows choice of donor site based on the best contour rather than the presence of bicortical bone. This technique expands the possibilities of autogenous cranioplasty and enables primary repair of cranial defects that would otherwise require secondary cranioplasty with remote donor sites, foreign materials, or unstable particulate cranioplasty.
In-Situ Upgrading of Heavy Oil/Bitumen During Steam Injection by Use of Metal Nanoparticles: A Study on In-Situ Catalysis and Catalyst Transportation
Authors: Hamedi Shokrlu Y.. , Babadagli T.. 
Published: July 2013

Summary
Studies on the application of transition-metal catalysts for heavy-oil or bitumen in-situ upgrading were conducted in the absence of a porous medium, mainly measuring the characteristics of heavy oil in reaction with metal ions at static conditions with the help of a magnetic stirrer. Metal species in ionic form are not soluble in oil phase. Therefore, metal particles, as inhomogeneous catalysts, are considered in this paper. Furthermore, dynamic tests in porous media are needed to clarify the injection possibility of the metal particles and their effect on in-situ upgrading of heavy oil. Injection of metal particles may deteriorate the recovery process by damaging porous media because of attractive forces such as van der Waals and electrostatic forces between particles and porous rock. A better understanding of these forces and their importance in the retention of particles is required.
In this paper, the catalysis effect of pure nanometer-sized nickel during steam-injection application was compared with that of an industrial catalyst such as micron-sized Raney nickel. The changes in the viscosity, refractive index, and asphaltene content were measured after each test to analyze the catalysis effects. Nickel nanoparticles showed a better catalysis compared with Raney nickel. The approximate optimum concentration of the catalysts was determined. Then, the catalysis effect of nickel nanoparticles was studied in the presence of sandpack as a porous medium. The results showed accelerated catalysis in presence of the sands. Also, nickel nanoparticles improved the oil recovery factor.
The next phase of this paper studies the injectivity and transport of nickel particles. The injected suspension was stabilized by use of xanthan gum polymer and ultrasonication. The effect of solution pH, which controls the magnitude of the repulsive electrostatic forces, was clarified. Stabilization of the metal particles’ suspension was studied at different pH values through zeta-potential measurements. Also, the zeta potential of the recovered suspensions was studied to confirm the stability of the suspension during travel through the porous medium. Depending on the size, particles carry different charges and have different settling velocities. Therefore, the stabilization pH and dispersant concentration were different from one sample to another. The results of the injectivity tests confirmed the lower retention and better injectivity of nanoparticles in comparison with micron-sized particles.
Optimization of Injection/Extraction Rates for Surface-Dissolution Process
Authors: Tao Qing , Bryant Steven L. 
Published: July 2013

Summary
Implementing geological carbon sequestration at a large scale to mitigate anthropogenic emissions involves the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) into deep brine-filled structures. An alternative to injecting CO2 as a buoyant phase is to dissolve it into brine extracted from the storage formation, then inject the CO2-saturated brine into the storage formation. The CO2-concentration front shape, when it reaches the saturation-pressure contour, defines the maximal areal extent of CO2-saturated brine and thus the aquifer-utilization efficiency.
The heterogeneity of the aquifer reduces the utilization efficiency significantly. We illustrate by comparing the utilization efficiency in a homogeneous-permeability field with that in uncorrelated and correlated heterogeneous fields under the same well control. The example cases yield significant reductions of the utilization efficiency.
We develop an optimal-control strategy of the injection/extraction rates to maximize the utilization efficiency for heterogeneous aquifers. We propose two objective functions: One seeks to improve the areal sweep by minimizing the mismatch between the CO2-concentration front and the saturation-pressure contour; the other directly formulates the utilization efficiency while penalizing zones that contain gas-phase CO2. Both approaches have improved the aquifer-utilization efficiency by delaying the arrival of the dissolved CO2 front at the contour of saturation pressure.
Heterogeneity plays an important role in determining the location of the saturation-pressure contour within the storage formation. For a simple example domain, we propose a well-pattern orientation strategy by placing line-drive injectors in a high-permeability zone and extractors in a low-permeability zone, so that the saturation-pressure contour is closer to the extractors and thus increases the aquifer utilization efficiency. Illustration of this concept in the correlated heterogeneous field shows an improvement of the utilization efficiency. When combined with the optimal control of injection/extraction rates, the increase in the utilization efficiency almost compensates the reduction because of the heterogeneity.