bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Advancing Colorectal Cancer Detection With Blood-Based Tests: Qualitative Study and Discrete Choice Experiment to Elicit Population Preferences
Authors: Ong Clarence , Cook Alex R , Tan Ker-Kan , Wang Yi 
Published: May 2024

Background
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most deadly form of cancer, inducing an estimated 1.9 million incidence cases and 0.9 million deaths worldwide in 2020. Despite the availability of screening tests, their uptake remains suboptimal. However, blood-based tests that look for signs of cancer-specific markers in the body are increasingly available as an alternative for more invasive tests for cancer. Compared with existing tests, the benefits of blood-based tests for CRC include not needing pretest preparation, stool handling, and dietary or medication restrictions.

Objective
This study aims to explore the population’s preferences for CRC screening tests, with a focus on blood-based tests, and investigate the factors influencing test uptake.

Methods
We used a mixed methods approach, combining semistructured interviews and a discrete choice experiment (DCE) survey. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify salient attributes for CRC screening tests. These attributes informed the design of the DCE survey. The DCE data were analyzed using mixed logit and mixed-mixed multinomial logit models.

Results
Qualitative findings from 30 participants revealed that participants preferred blood-based tests due to their perceived low risk, minimal pain, and ease of sample collection. However, concerns about the test’s lower accuracy were also expressed. The DCE survey was completed by 1189 participants. In the mixed logit model, participants demonstrated a stronger preference for blood-based tests over a 2-day stool-based test. The mixed-mixed multinomial logit model identified 2 classes, strong supporters and weak supporters, for CRC screening. Weak supporters, but not strong supporters, had a higher preference for blood-based tests. Women, ethnic Chinese, and people aged 40 to 60 years were more likely to be weak supporters. Both models highlighted the high influence of cost and test sensitivity on participants’ preferences. Transitioning from a 2-day stool-based test to a blood-based test, assuming a national screening program at a base price of Singapore $5 (US $3.75), was estimated to have the potential to increase the relative uptake by 5.9% (95% CI 3.6%-8.2%).

Conclusions
These findings contribute to our understanding of CRC screening preferences and provide insights into the factors driving test uptake. This study highlights the perceived advantages of blood-based tests and identifies areas of concern regarding their accuracy. Further research is needed to determine the actual increase in uptake rate when blood-based tests are made available.
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong: Registry-Based Study From 2017 to 2023
Authors: Xu Richard Huan , Sun Ruiqi , Fu Siu-Ngor 
Published: May 2024

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a significant toll on individual health and the efficacy of health care systems. However, the influence of COVID-19 on the frequency and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) within the Chinese population, both before and throughout the entire pandemic period, remains to be clarified.

Objective
This study aimed to fill the gaps by investigating the prevalence and outcomes of OHCA in Hong Kong (HK) both before and during the whole pandemic period.

Methods
This is a retrospective regional registry study. The researchers matched OHCA data with COVID-19–confirmed case records between December 2017 and May 2023. The data included information on response times, location of OHCA, witness presence, initial rhythm, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), use of public-access defibrillation, resuscitation in the accident and emergency department, and survival to admission. Descriptive analyses were conducted, and statistical tests such as analysis of variance and χ2 were used to examine differences between variables. The incidence of OHCA and survival rates were calculated, and logistic regression analysis was performed to assess associations. The prevalence of OHCA and COVID-19 during the peak of the pandemic was also described.

Results
A total of 43,882 cases of OHCA were reported in HK and included in our analysis. Around 13,946 cases were recorded during the prepandemic period (2017-2019), and the remaining 29,936 cases were reported during the pandemic period (2020-2023). During the pandemic period, the proportion of female patients increased to 44.1% (13,215/29,936), and the average age increased slightly to 76.5 (SD 18.5) years. The majority of OHCAs (n=18,143, 61.1% cases) occurred at home. A witness was present in 45.9% (n=10,723) of the cases, and bystander CPR was initiated in 44.6% (n=13,318) of the cases. There was a significant increase in OHCA incidence, with a corresponding decrease in survival rates compared to the prepandemic period. The location of OHCA shifted, with a decrease in incidents in public places and a potential increase in incidents at home. We found that CPR (odds ratio 1.48, 95% CI 1.17-1.86) and public-access defibrillation (odds ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.05-1.28) were significantly associated with a high survival to admission rate during the pandemic period. There was a correlation between the development of OHCA and the prevalence of COVID-19 in HK.

Conclusions
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on OHCA in HK, resulting in increased incidence and decreased survival rates. The findings highlight the importance of addressing the indirect effects of the pandemic, such as increased stress levels and strain on health care systems, on OHCA outcomes. Strategies should be developed to improve OHCA prevention, emergency response systems, and health care services during public health emergencies to mitigate the impact on population health.
THE GEOPHYSICAL COUPLING BEFORE EARTHQUAKES FROM MULTIPARAMETRIC STUDIES
Authors: Marchetti Dedalo , Yiqun Zhang , Kaiguang Zhu , Essam Ghamry , Guido Ventura , Alessandro Piscini , Rui Yan , Zhima Zeren , Xuhui Shen , Mehdi Akhoondzadeh , Ting Wang , Wenqi Chen , Yuqi Cheng , Mengxuan Fan , Donghua Zhang , Hanshuo Zhang , Conti Livio 
Published: May 2024

The scientific debate on the existence of possible precursors before
large earthquakes has been wide and brought to not univocal conclusions.
One observable alone is clearly insufficient to provide indications on
the criticality of the seismic fault status. In particular, it’s
fundamental to investigate how critical is the accumulation of stress on
a seismogenic fault and how we can predict an incoming earthquake.
Considering that the Earth is a complex system in which the geo-layers
(lithosphere, atmosphere and ionosphere) interact, it seems possible to
understand better the Earth’s system if we study it as a whole. This
requires an integration of observations and data from several sources
and instruments, from ground data to remote sensing satellites. Despite
the technical obstacles, several works have been done in this direction
in the last years, and they seem to confirm firstly that the geo-layers
show alterations (i.e., anomalies) before earthquake occurrence;
secondly, it seems that several mechanisms of coupling are possible.
This last point is the present research topic, as further clarifications
are required.
In the presentation, several examples of couplings before the
earthquakes will be shown; for example, the recent investigation of the
Lushan (China) 2013 earthquake, which shows three possible couplings by
different geophysical mechanisms at very different times before the
earthquake (130 days, 45 days, and 2 weeks).
For the more recent seismic event, it is possible to investigate the
ionosphere layer with the precious data from China Seismo
Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES-01), by its instruments such as Langmuir
probes and magnetometers. The integration of CSES and ESA Swarm data
allows us to define better the ionospheric disturbances possibly related
to earthquake occurrence. These cases include Mw = 7.5 Indonesia 2018,
Mw = 7.6 Papua New Guinea 2019, Mw = 7.7 Jamaica 2020 or Mw = 7.8 Turkey
2023 earthquakes.
Finally, we are still far from predicting earthquakes but several steps
toward a better understanding of the phenomena eventually associated
with seismic events seem to be not far.
Does discounting 'hot' climate models improve the predictive skill of climate model ensembles?
Authors: McDonnell Abigail , Bauer Adam Michael , Proistosescu Cristian 
Published: May 2024

It depends. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC)
Assessment Report Six (AR6) took an ambitious step towards ending
so-called ‘model democracy’ by discounting climate models that are too
warm over the historical period (i.e., models that “run hot”) when
making projections of global temperature change. However, the IPCC did
not address whether this procedure is reliable for other physical
quantities. Here we demonstrate the dangers of weighting climate models
according to their skill in reproducing historical global-mean surface
temperature using three other climate variables of interest: annual
average precipitation change, regional average temperature change, and
regional average precipitation change. We find that the IPCC’s weighting
scheme leads to an improved prediction of global average precipitation.
However, a different story emerges on regional scales, where we find a
heterogeneous pattern of error reduction in future regional
precipitation. This stands in sharp contrast with the broad regional
pattern of error reduction in future temperature projections, though we
do find some regions where error is not significantly reduced. Our
results demonstrate that practitioners using weighted climate model
ensembles for climate projections must take care, lest they produce
biased climate projections that result from an inappropriate weighting
procedure.
IRS Audit Detection Risk and Firm Tax Behavior: Can Tax Fraud Be Deterred by Increasing IRS Budgets?
Authors: Antinozzi Hannah Smith , Stanley Danielle O. 
Published: May 2024

ABSTRACT
This paper examines whether tax fraud and aggressive tax positions at firms are affected by changes in the IRS budget. Changes in a firm’s risk profile affect many users of financial information including the IRS, forensic accountants, and investors among others. We find that concurrent IRS resources are related to firms’ tax aggression and tax fraud likelihood and that they explain incrementally more of these tax decisions at a firm than historical information often used in prior literature. Taken together, our results suggest that firms increase their tax risk profile thus more tax aggression and higher likelihood of tax fraud when they believe IRS scrutiny will be lower.
Comparison of perioperative practices for placement of central venous access devices (CVAD) in children with haemophilia
Authors: Kwan Celia , Chan Anthony KC , Koh Pei Lin , Kadir Nur Insyirah Abdul , Decker Kay , Lim Chiew Ying , Lam Joyce Ching Mei 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Background
In children with haemophilia (CwH), central venous access devices (CVADs) are frequently placed to aid in the delivery of factor concentrates. In those who develop inhibitors, CVADs also allow for easy venous access and facilitation of immune tolerance therapy.

Aim
In this study, we compare perioperative practices for CVAD placement in children with haemophilia to assess similarities and differences in practices across centres in two countries (Singapore and Canada).

Methods
Retrospective chart review was conducted involving CwH (with and without inhibitors) who underwent CVAD placement from January 2007 to September 2017 at two centres in Singapore and at one centre in Hamilton, Canada. Data obtained included demographics, operative details, preoperative investigations, perioperative factor replacement, use of bypassing agents, antibiotic and antifibrinolytic use, length of stay, complications and need for CVAD revision.

Results
Twenty-one CwH were included in the data analysis. Amongst those without inhibitors, the mean preoperative factor dose was 50.0 IU/kg (SD=7.6) in Singapore, and 72.4 IU/kg (SD=12.5) in Hamilton (p=0.002); mean total factor use in the perioperative period was 425.0IU/kg (SD=114.9) in Singapore and 646.8IU/kg (SD=118.1) in Hamilton (p=0.004); mean duration of clotting factor replacement was 5.3 days (SD=0.9) in Singapore and 6.9 days (SD=0.7) in Hamilton (p=0.004). Amongst those with inhibitors, the mean preoperative dose of rFVIIa was 160.5 mcg/kg (SD=99.9) in Singapore and 88.2 mcg/kg (SD=3.8) in Hamilton (p=0.244); mean total rFVIIa used from surgery to discharge was 3,008.0 mcg/kg (SD=2305.9) in Singapore and 2,640.2 mcg/kg (SD=134.1) in Hamilton (p=0.842); mean duration of rFVIIa cover was 5.3 days (SD=1.7) in Singapore and 9.5 days (SD=2.1) in Hamilton (p=0.054). None of the CwH without inhibitors developed postoperative complications, compared to 57% in those with inhibitors (p=0.006).

Conclusion
Amongst CwH without inhibitors, significant variations were seen in perioperative factor replacement. Amongst those with inhibitors, there were also differences in perioperative practices across centres, although not statistically significant. Across centres, CwH with inhibitors were found to have more postoperative complications.
Ageing and women with bleeding disorders
Authors: Radhakrishnan Sheila , d’Oiron Roseline 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
As life expectancy increases, women with bleeding disorders can expect to live for decades after their menopause – potentially with a range of comorbidities including cardiovascular (CV) disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Menstrual bleeding around the menopause may be heavy and unpredictable for women with bleeding disorders (WBD). Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) remains the gold standard for those with debilitating menopausal symptoms and for osteoporosis prevention. Levels of endogenous von Willebrand factor (VWF) increase with age in the general population without bleeding disorders, with an associated rise in levels of Factor VIII (FVIII). Evidence also suggests age-related increases in VWF in people with von Willebrand disease (VWD), with limited but potentially associated evidence for increases in FVIII in those with mild or moderate haemophilia A. However, it appears that age-related changes in factor levels do not correlate completely with bleeding episodes, and more data are needed to fully understand the picture. New models of comprehensive care are needed that take account of age-related comorbidities in both women and men with bleeding disorders, including the impact of polypharmacy and its potential for causing adverse effects and impaired treatment adherence. Consideration will also be needed for bleeding cover during interventions such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy that become more likely with age. Protocols and care pathways need to be updated as the implications of ageing in women and men with bleeding disorders become better understood.
Advocacy worldwide for women with bleeding disorders
Authors: Grimberg Evelyn 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Raising awareness that bleeding disorders affect women – not just men – is a key part of advocacy initiatives around the world. The European Haemophilia Consortium (EHC) and national patient organisations have run successful campaigns, with a wealth of information for women and girls with bleeding disorders and non-specialist healthcare professionals, including bleeding assessment tools, patient stories, blogs and videos. Some hold conference sessions and webinars devoted to bleeding disorders in women. By drawing on ideas and resources already available, patient organisations and other groups for women with bleeding disorders can fast-forward their advocacy plans, improve awareness and accelerate change.
The journey of gene therapy in haemophilia – putting the patient at the centre of the hub and spoke model
Authors: Noone Declan , Astermark Jan , O'Mahony Brian , Peyvandi Flora , Khair Kate , Pembroke Luke , Jenner Kathryn 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
As gene therapy for haemophilia is now licensed in Europe, and the hub and spoke approach is widely promoted for its delivery and follow-up, it is essential that people with haemophilia (PwH) who are eligible and opt to have this treatment are enabled to obtain the maximum benefit. Ensuring the pathway that makes up the patient gene therapy journey is effective is key to achieving this. EAHAD and the EHC have recommended that gene therapy is delivered through a hub and spoke model of care to ensure that the right expertise is available throughout the various stages of the haemophilia gene therapy journey. Effective communication between hub and spoke centres is essential, and the processes that make up the journey must be understood clearly by both PwH and the multidisciplinary teams delivering their care. The starting point for this is to take each step of the gene therapy journey in turn – through initial engagement, eligibility, detailed patient education, informed decision-making, dosing, and follow up in year 1, year 2 and beyond – and to consider and identify the roles and responsibilities of the patient, the hub centre and the spoke centre. It is important that the expectations of both health care practitioners (HCPs) and patients are aligned with the key challenges and goals associated with each step. Understanding these from the patient point of view will help to ensure that the individual PwH treading this path receive the information, guidance and support they need from hub and spoke HCPs throughout their journey, and that they, as the patient, remain the focus of care. Visualising the journey may help to explain the gene therapy clinical pathway to PwH and could provide a useful tool for HCPs in spoke centres. Visualisation may also serve as a tool for facilitating discussion, not only in terms of initial engagement and education, but throughout the haemophilia gene therapy journey.
The impact of the Contaminated Blood Scandal on the next generation: the state of the evidence
Authors: Wherry Sally-Anne , Berragan Liz , Jennings Ros 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
The Contaminated (or Tainted) Blood Scandal was a worldwide event that infected many people, including people with haemophilia (PwH), with blood-borne diseases. This has had a significant psychological impact on the families involved, alongside the physical and financial toll. Although some studies have focused on those directly affected – PwH, their families, and the community – very little is known about the intergenerational impact. This narrative review explores the impact on the children of PwH affected by the contaminated blood, demonstrating a significant gap in the understanding of the families’ experiences.
Pain assessment and management in the Moroccan haemophilia population: a prospective descriptive study
Authors: Sraidi Sofia , Naim Sara , Lamchahab Mouna , Cherkaoui Siham , Qachouh Meryem , Rachid Mohamed , Madani Abdellah , Khoubila Nissrine 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Introduction
For people with haemophilia (PwH) who live in developing countries, haemophilia continues to be a condition with serious medical and social consequences. In Morocco, the efforts of patient associations and medical teams have led to the creation of a national programme for haemophilia care since the end of 2012, and the country is no longer solely reliant on World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) donations for access to factor products. There is growing recognition of the impact of the pain experienced by PwH. To continue to improve treatment for PwH in Morocco, it is important to ensure that they are also able to manage haemophilia-related pain.

Aims
This study aims to describe the prevalence, characteristics, and effects of pain experienced by PwH in Morocco for the first time, in order to increase understanding, and to support consideration of interventions and improvements in care.

Methods
We conducted a prospective, descriptive survey of the experience of pain in PwH attending the Department of Clinical Hematology and Pediatric Oncology in Casablanca, using the Multidimensional Hemophilia Pain Questionnaire (MHQP) approved by the WFH. All PwH with mild, moderate or severe haemophilia and over 18 years of age who presented to the department during the study period were included; consent was obtained. The data collection period lasted 6 months from October 2020 to April 2021.

Results
60 PwH completed the questionnaire (51 haemophilia A, 9 haemophilia B; 38 severe, 22 moderate). All respondents had experienced pain, 90% during the previous year and 75% during the last 3 months. 60% reported the occurrence of pain more than once a week. 65% reported that the right knee was the most painful site in the past year, followed by the right ankle (58%). The right knee was also the site of pain with the most negative impact in the past year. 58% responded that the evening was the time of most intense pain. The therapeutic strategies used against pain were pharmacological and non-pharmacological. 60% of respondents reported using analgesics and 50% reported using coagulation factor substitution for pain relief. Regarding non-pharmacological strategies, rest was reported by 40%, elevation of the painful site/change of position by 20%, and ice by 10%. The majority reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the current treatment of their pain by health professionals.

Conclusion
This study shows that pain is still very present in PwH treated at our haemophilia centre, with a significant impact on different areas of life. There is a need for action to standardise treatment approaches and develop protocols for pain management in PwH.
Management of a patient with factor X deficiency with FEIBA: a case report
Authors: Borboruah Luish , Dutta Anupam 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Hereditary factor X (FX) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that increases bleeding tendencies, ranging from epistaxis to intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), which can be life-threatening. Single factor concentrates are recommended for treating rare bleeding disorders; however, in India most people with FX deficiency are treated with fresh frozen plasma (FFP). We report a case of FX deficiency in a child with a history of intracranial bleeding who was found to have a novel mutation in the F10 gene. Although managed with weekly prophylactic FFP infusions, he continued to experience regular bleeding including two further instances of ICH. Other therapeutic options were unavailable or unaffordable. When the Indian Government added FEIBA to the essential drug list, a decision was made to try FEIBA prophylaxis to better manage his bleeding. In 2019, he was started on a weekly dose of FEIBA, 500 IU (20 IU/ kg and his prophylactic FFP transfusion regimen was stopped. His bleeding episodes started to reduce after two months of starting FEIBA prophylaxis. Over the last three years he has had only four minor bleeding episodes and has remained completely free of major bleeding. He is now able to receive home-based therapy and his prognosis can be considered to be improved. FEIBA may be a useful medicinal therapy for FX-deficient patients who suffer severe haemorrhagic episodes in countries where plasma-derived factor X (pdFX) is not available.