bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Variation in pediatric outpatient adenotonsillectomy costs in a multihospital network
Authors: Meier Jeremy D. , Zhang Yingying , Greene Tom H. , Curtis Jonathan L. , Srivastava Rajendu 
Published: November 2014

Objectives/HypothesisIdentify hospital costs for same‐day pediatric adenotonsillectomy (T&A) surgery, and evaluate surgeon, hospital, and patient factors influencing variation in costs, and compare relationship of costs to complications for T&A.Study DesignObservational retrospective cohort study.MethodsA multihospital network's standardized activity‐based accounting system was used to determine hospital costs per T&A from 1998 to 2012. Children 1 to 18 years old who underwent same‐day T&A surgery were included. Subjects with additional procedures were excluded. Mixed effects analyses were performed to identify variation in mean costs due to surgeon, hospital, and patient factors. Surgeons' mean cost/case was related to subsequent complications, defined as any unplanned visit within 21 days in the healthcare system.ResultsThe study cohort included 26,626 T&As performed by 66 surgeons at 18 hospitals. Mean cost per T&A was $1,355 ± $505. Mixed effects analysis using patient factors as fixed effects and surgeon and hospital as a random effect identified significant variation in mean costs per surgeon, with 95% of surgeons having a mean cost/case between 67% and 150% of the overall mean (range, $874–$2,232/case). Similar variability was found among hospitals, with 95% of the facilities having mean costs between 64% to 156% of the mean (range, $1,029–$2,385/case). Severity of illness and several other patient factors exhibited small but statistically significant associations with cost. Surgeons' mean cost/case was moderately associated with an increased complication rate.ConclusionsSignificant variation in same‐day pediatric T&A surgery costs exists among different surgeons and hospitals within a multihospital network. Reducing variation in costs while maintaining outcomes may improve healthcare value and eliminate waste.Level of Evidence4. Laryngoscope, 125:1215–1220, 2015
The national cost burden of bronchial foreign body aspiration in children
Authors: Kim Irene A. , Shapiro Nina , Bhattacharyya Neil 
Published: November 2014

Objectives/HypothesisForeign body aspiration (FBA) continues to be a concerning pediatric problem, accounting for thousands of emergency room visits and more than 100 deaths each year in the United States. The costs incurred with hospitalizations and procedures following these events are the focus of this study.Study DesignRetrospective review.MethodsThe Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2009 to 2011 was analyzed, and all cases with pediatric bronchial foreign body aspirations (International Classification of Diseases‐9 codes: 934.0, 934.1, 934.8, and 934.9) were reviewed. Cases were analyzed to determine type of foreign body aspiration, procedural interventions performed, duration of inpatient stay, mortality rate, complications, and posthospitalization disposition. The median length of hospital stay and total costs associated with aspiration events were determined.ResultsAn estimated 1,908 ± 273 pediatric bronchial FBA patients were admitted annually over the 3‐year period (mean age, 3.6 ± 0.3 years; 61.3% ± 1.9% male). The ratio of foreign object aspiration to food aspiration was 5:3. Overall, 56%.0 ± 3.6% of the patients underwent a bronchoscopic procedure for foreign body removal; of those, 41.5% ± 2.5% had a foreign body removed at the time of the endoscopy. The hospital mortality rate associated with bronchial aspiration was 1.8% ± 0.4%; and 2.2% ± 0.5% of patients were diagnosed with anoxic brain injury. The median length of stay was 3 days (25th–75th interquartile range, 1–7 days).The median charges and actual costs per case were $20,820 ($10,800–$53,453) and $6,720 ($3,628–$16,723), respectively.ConclusionThe annual overall inpatient cost associated with pediatric bronchial foreign‐body aspiration is approximately $12.8 million. Combined, the rate of death or anoxic brain injury associated with pediatric foreign body is approximately 4%.Level of Evidence2C. Laryngoscope, 125:1221–1224, 2015
Management of intractable Ménière's disease after intratympanic injection of Gentamicin
Authors: Rah Yoon C. , Han Jae J. , Park Jaehong , Choi Byung Y. , Koo Ja‐Won 
Published: November 2014

Objectives/Hypothesis1) To evaluate the efficacy of, and problems with, intratympanic gentamicin injection (ITG) in medically intractable definite Ménière's disease (MD) and secondary endolymphatic hydrops (EH); and 2) to review the vestibular status and treatment options of intractable vertigo even after ITG.Study DesignRetrospective case review and survey.Methods780 patients with definite MD and secondary EH were enrolled. Long‐term outcomes and problems of applied treatment options including ITG and exploratory tympanotomy and gentamicin application (ETG) were analyzed.ResultsOf the 780 patients, 95 patients received ITG. Class A and B control of vertigo was achieved in 85 (89.5%) patients; two patients were class C and eight patients were class F (ETG: 6; labyrinthectomy: 1; vestibular neurectomy: 1). Among seven patients who received ETG including 1 patient who skipped ITG due to chronic otitis media, five patients improved to class A, showing a 71.4% success rate; and labyrinthectomies were performed subsequently in the two remaining patients. Vertigo was controlled (class A) in all the patients who received labyrinthectomies (n = 4) or vestibular neurectomy (n = 1). Eight patients (8.4%) experienced more than 10 dB worsening, and two patients (2.1%) progressed to bilateral Ménière's disease.ConclusionITG failed to control vertigo in 10.5% of cases. ETG may be a reasonable option to facilitate the delivery of gentamicin into the inner ear by direct application of gentamicin over the round window and the oval window. Labyrinthectomy and vestibular neurectomy still have roles in the era of ITG.Level of Evidence4. Laryngoscope, 125:972–978, 2015
Continuous observation of particle polymerization by means of light scattering extrapolation method
Authors: Kratochvíl P. , Munk P. , Sedláček B. 
Published: November 2014

AbstractA method for observation of molecular weight changes and the size of particles by means of the continuous measurement of the angular dependence of the intensity of scattered light is described. This method can be used for a considerable range of molecular weights, and no assumptions concerning the shape of particles need be made. The resulte are usable directly if the interaction constant B = 0; otherwise, these are to be corrected by means of experimentally determined dependence of B on the molecular weight. This method was verified by studying the course of the aggregation of heat‐denatured albumin.
An analysis approach to identify specific functional sites in orthologous proteins using sequence and structural information: Application to neuroserpin reveals regions that differentially regulate inhibitory activity
Authors: Lee Tet Woo , Yang Annie Shu‐Ping , Brittain Thomas , Birch Nigel P. 
Published: November 2014

ABSTRACTThe analysis of sequence conservation is commonly used to predict functionally important sites in proteins. We have developed an approach that first identifies highly conserved sites in a set of orthologous sequences using a weighted substitution‐matrix‐based conservation score and then filters these conserved sites based on the pattern of conservation present in a wider alignment of sequences from the same family and structural information to identify surface‐exposed sites. This allows us to detect specific functional sites in the target protein and exclude regions that are likely to be generally important for the structure or function of the wider protein family. We applied our method to two members of the serpin family of serine protease inhibitors. We first confirmed that our method successfully detected the known heparin binding site in antithrombin while excluding residues known to be generally important in the serpin family. We next applied our sequence analysis approach to neuroserpin and used our results to guide site‐directed polyalanine mutagenesis experiments. The majority of the mutant neuroserpin proteins were found to fold correctly and could still form inhibitory complexes with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Kinetic analysis of tPA inhibition, however, revealed altered inhibitory kinetics in several of the mutant proteins, with some mutants showing decreased association with tPA and others showing more rapid dissociation of the covalent complex. Altogether, these results confirm that our sequence analysis approach is a useful tool that can be used to guide mutagenesis experiments for the detection of specific functional sites in proteins. Proteins 2015; 83:135–152. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Turkish–German Transnational Social Space: Stitching Across Borders
Authors: Bilecen Başak , Çatır Gül , Orhon Aslı 
Published: November 2014

AbstractThis paper examines the social protection strategies of migrants living in Turkish–German transnational social space. Drawing on 20 interviews conducted with migrants in Germany and ten with their significant others in Turkey with a matched sample, we investigate ‘stitching’ strategy, that is, a process by which migrants in the host country continually attach themselves to the society back in their country of origin and, as a result, tap into protective resources in their interpersonal networks. We discuss the significance of high levels of transnationality displayed by our sample in protective resource flows and the ways in which inequalities are created and recreated from the respondents' perspectives. By examining transnationality as a marker of heterogeneity, our study contributes to the literature through an in‐depth analysis of a major strategy for social protection while analysing the meaning of reciprocal relationships. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the Assemblages of Informal and Formal Transnational Social Protection
Authors: Bilecen Başak , Barglowski Karolina 
Published: November 2014

AbstractSocial protection is an assemblage of informal and formal elements. These opposites – ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ – have been a feature of social policy discourse for a long time. Here, informal social protection is taken as that provided by interpersonal networks, whereas formal social protection is conceptualised as being provided by the state and organisations. This article draws on several bodies of literature on social protection to show how the informal and formal are entangled. We argue for tracing them as ‘assemblages’, going beyond a static understanding of social protection because social actors constantly negotiate the use of informal welfare schemes with formal ones. These negotiations have implications for social inequalities arising out of heterogeneities. Therefore, this article advocates an understanding that recognises that informal and formal protection are interconnected and approached as an assemblage that is important to life chances and, thus, to the production and reproduction of inequalities in transnational social spaces. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A critical review of global decarbonization scenarios: what do they tell us about feasibility?
Authors: Loftus Peter J. , Cohen Armond M. , Long Jane C. S. , Jenkins Jesse D. 
Published: November 2014

Dozens of scenarios are published each year outlining paths to a low carbon global energy system. To provide insight into the relative feasibility of these global decarbonization scenarios, we examine 17 scenarios constructed using a diverse range of techniques and introduce a set of empirical benchmarks that can be applied to compare and assess the pace of energy system transformation entailed by each scenario. In particular, we quantify the implied rate of change in energy and carbon intensity and low‐carbon technology deployment rates for each scenario and benchmark each against historical experience and industry projections, where available. In addition, we examine how each study addresses the key technical, economic, and societal factors that may constrain the pace of low‐carbon energy transformation. We find that all of the scenarios envision historically unprecedented improvements in energy intensity, while normalized low‐carbon capacity deployment rates are broadly consistent with historical experience. Three scenarios that constrain the available portfolio of low‐carbon options by excluding some technologies (nuclear and carbon capture and storage) a priori are outliers, requiring much faster low‐carbon capacity deployment and energy intensity improvements. Finally, all of the studies present comparatively little detail on strategies to decarbonize the industrial and transportation sectors, and most give superficial treatment to relevant constraints on energy system transformations. To be reliable guides for policymaking, scenarios such as these need to be supplemented by more detailed analyses realistically addressing the key constraints on energy system transformation. WIREs Clim Change 2015, 6:93–112. doi: 10.1002/wcc.324This article is categorized under:

Integrated Assessment of Climate Change > Integrated Scenario Development
The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Decarbonizing Energy and/or Reducing Demand
The impact of biofuel demand on agricultural commodity prices: a systematic review
Authors: Persson U. Martin 
Published: November 2014

By diverting agricultural land away from food, feed, and livestock production, increased production of biofuel feedstock crops tend to drive up prices for agricultural commodities. But by how much? This question has been heavily debated in recent years, following the food price crisis of 2007–2008. A systematic review of 121 studies that quantifies the impact of biofuel demand on agricultural commodity markets reveals that there is still considerable uncertainty around the exact magnitude of the price response. Increased demand for corn ethanol in the United States—the focus of the majority of studies—is estimated to have accounted for 14–43% of the rise in US corn prices in the period 2000–2008. The divergence in results between studies is mainly due to different assumptions regarding demand and supply elasticities for agricultural commodities, and there is very limited empirical evidence that can help reduce the uncertainty around the value of these parameters, especially outside the United States. Few studies analyze the impact of biofuel demand beyond current or near‐future levels and it is argued that estimated price effects can neither be extrapolated to large‐scale biofuel demand shocks, nor are most models able to capture accurately the impacts of such shocks due to weaknesses in how land markets and land transformation process are modeled. To better gauge current and future impacts of biofuel demand on agricultural commodity markets, we need better data on supply and demand responses, both in the short and long run, as well as improved modeling of land competition and land‐use change. WIREs Energy Environ 2015, 4:410–428. doi: 10.1002/wene.155This article is categorized under:

Bioenergy > Economics and Policy
Energy and Development > Economics and Policy
Remote control of signaling pathways using magnetic nanoparticles
Authors: Bonnemay Louise , Hoffmann Céline , Gueroui Zoher 
Published: November 2014

Our ability to quantitatively control the spatiotemporal properties of cellular information processing is key for understanding biological systems at both mechanistic and systemic level. In this context, magnetic field offers a relevant strategy of control over cellular processes that broaden the toolbox currently available in cell biology. Among the increasing number of methods, we will focus on recent advances based on magnetic nanoparticles conjugated to proteins to trigger specific signaling pathways and cellular processes. Extracellular or intracellular manipulations of nanoparticles permit magnetic control of ion channels and membrane receptor activation, protein positioning within cells and cytoskeleton spatial engineering. These approaches provide powerful strategies to examine the organization principles of living cells. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2015, 7:342–354. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1313This article is categorized under:

Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Cells at the Nanoscale
Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology
Immature dunlins Calidris alpina migrate towards wintering grounds later than adults in years of low breeding success
Authors: Meissner Włodzimierz 
Published: November 2014

AbstractDunlin (Calidris alpina) females migrate ahead of males towards their wintering grounds, but the factors influencing the timing of this migration is incompletely understood. In our long-term (1991–2000) study of the autumn migration phenology of male and female dunlins, as adult and immature birds separately, we noted that the difference in mean migration dates between sexes was the greatest in years of high breeding success, reaching 5 days in immature birds and 7 days in adult birds. In other, relatively less successful years, this difference could reach 2 days in immature birds and 3 days in adult birds. As Dunlin females are not fully involved in parental care, the timing of their migration appears to be determined mainly by the timing of the start of the breeding season. In males, the timing of the autumn migration appears to depend primarily on the time spent on breeding and parental care. Hence, in years of high breeding success, with a high number of offspring, the males stayed longer at the breeding grounds. In the years with a high and moderate production of offspring, immature birds departed ahead of adults, probably due to their very low breeding success. A novel finding of our study is that in the years of overall low breeding success the opposite was true: immature birds migrated later than adults and much later than in other years. The plausible explanation is that lack of experience may result in greater tendency of immature birds to renest after failure of the first clutch, especially when high breeding failures of earlier arriving adult Dunlins may lead to decreasing competition at the breeding ground. However, in years of low breeding success, there was no difference in mean migration date between immature males and females, indicating that although immature birds stayed longer at the breeding grounds, they had a very low breeding success.
A review of 33 years (1980–2013) of data indicating a rise in ectopic pregnancy in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Al‐Turki Haifa A. 
Published: November 2014

AbstractObjectiveTo assess the trend in ectopic pregnancy (EP) at a single center in Saudi Arabia and to compare the data with those from the rest of Saudi Arabia.MethodsIn a retrospective study, data were analyzed from patients admitted to King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, with a diagnosis of EP between January 2011 and December 2013. The prevalence of EP was calculated as a percentage of the number of live births during the study period. A 30‐year review of publications on EP in Saudi Arabia was done via search engines.ResultsDuring the study period, there were 58 EPs among 3818 deliveries, giving an overall incidence of 1.5% at the study center; the incidence of EP in the rest of the country during this period was 0.5%. Between 2002 and 2004, the country's incidence was 0.6% as compared with 1% at the study center.ConclusionThe incidence of EP in Saudi Arabia has increased in the past few decades.
The U–Pb age and Lu–Hf isotope composition of detrital zircon from metasedimentary rocks of the Onot greenstone belt (Sharyzhalgay uplift, southern Siberian craton)
Authors: Turkina O.M. , Sergeev S.A. , Kapitonov I.N. 
Published: November 2014

Abstract
We present data on the composition of metasedimentary rocks from the greenstone belt of the Onot terrane (Sharyzhalgay uplift) and results of U–Pb dating (SHRIMP II) and Lu–Hf isotope study of detrital zircon from garnet–staurolite schists. The metasedimentary rocks of the Onot greenstone belt are dominated by garnet- and staurolite-bearing schists alternating with amphibolites (metabasalts) in the upper part of the section. Compositionally the protoliths of garnet–staurolite schists correspond to sedimentary rocks, ranging from siltstone to pelitic mudstone. The trace-element characteristics of the garnet–staurolite schists indicate that the terrigenous material was derived from three different rock types, such as tonalite–trondhjemite plagiogneisses (elevated Gd/Yb ratios), mafic rocks (elevated Cr/Th ratios and reduced Th/Sc ratios), and felsic igneous rocks formed by crustal melting (the presence of a Eu minimum), which agrees with the set of potential source rocks from the Onot terrane. The age of predominant detrital zircon reflects the erosion of mainly Neoarchean igneous rocks; this fact, combined with the poor rounding of zircon and tectonically active sedimentation conditions accompanied by mafic volcanism, suggests that the probably depositional age is ca. 2.7 Ga. Older source rocks (2.80–3.35 Ga) contributed to the sediment deposition along with the Neoarchean ones. According to the Hf isotope composition of detrital zircon from the garnet–staurolite schists, the source provenances had different crustal prehistories. The source provenances include Paleoarchean and juvenile Neoarchean crust and rocks formed by the mixing of melts from ancient and juvenile crustal sources.
A Portrait of Judge P. H. Kooijmans – A Passionate Advocate of the Rule of Law in International Affairs
Authors: SCHRIJVER NICO 
Published: November 2014

AbstractIn 2013 the Netherlands lost its standard bearer in international law. After a short period of illness, Pieter Hendrik Kooijmans died at the age of 79 on 13 February 2013. Some time before his illness the author had an extensive and frank interview with Judge Kooijmans who reflected on his life and work, especially on his intellectual formation, his understanding of the essence and core functions of law, his experiences as UN special rapporteur on torture, his ideas on reform of the International Court of Justice, and the great changes that have taken place in international law. This portrait shows a fine man with a strong sense of justice who was fully dedicated to the substance of public international law without turning a blind eye to its shortcomings and relative influence in international and domestic affairs. The interview is preceded by an introduction and concludes with some observations on his long and productive life in the service of peace, justice, and respect for human rights through the law.