bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Use of hypothermically stored amniotic membrane on diabetic foot ulcers: a multicentre retrospective case series
Authors: Sanchez Anna , Hartstein Alan , Ashry Hisham , Raza Maryam 
Published: March 2024

Objective: The aim of this retrospective case series was to report on the outcomes of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) managed with hypothermically stored amniotic membrane (HSAM). Method: Deidentified case data of patients who received HSAM were obtained from wound care sites across the US. Data were collected, beginning at the first patient visit to the wound care site (first presentation), at the visit in which the first HSAM application occurred (baseline), and at each subsequent visit over 12 weeks of treatment (follow-up). All patients received standard of care (SoC) between first presentation and baseline. Results: Of the 50 patients in the study, 68% were male. Mean age of the entire cohort was 66.7 years. Of the DFUs, 88% were present for <6 months at first presentation. Mean wound area was 3.5cm2, and mean percentage area reduction was –68.3% from first presentation to baseline. The mean number of HSAM applications was 5.5, and mean number of days between applications was 7.5. A >60% area reduction was attained in 96.0% of DFUs, and 78% attained complete wound closure (CWC) by week 12. The median time to CWC was 55 days. Conclusion: The results of this retrospective case series suggest positive outcomes for DFUs managed with HSAM. A reduction in time to CWC may lead to lesser financial burden and improved quality of life for DFU patients. Declaration of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest.
A model for diabetic foot ulcer clinical trials on advanced therapies
Authors: Serena Thomas , Cole Windy , King Emily 
Published: March 2024

Randomised controlled clinical trials remain the gold standard in assessing the efficacy of a medical drug, device or intervention. Standardisation in clinical trial design reduces bias, ensures the validity of the trial data, and allows for generalisation of trial results to the larger real-world population which has the disease. Critics of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) trials point to the inconsistency in endpoints between studies, a lack of translation to the DFU population at large, failure to include the target population in advanced therapies, and a poorly defined standard of care (SoC). These issues of design and conduct were addressed by the Natrox Topical Oxygen Wound Treatment (NOWT) trial. In the past, DFU clinical trials prescribed dressings that were not SoC, such as wet-to-dry gauze, loosely controlled offloading and debridement. The trials failed to concentrate on DFUs that qualified for advanced wound care from a clinical and payer perspective. A four-week run in period to the NOWT trial matched the requirement for 30 days of SoC before instituting advanced therapy. Sharp excisional debridement was mandated and confirmed through digital photography. Total contact casting was used to offload plantar DFUs. This manuscript uses the NOWT trial as a guide for future DFU clinical trial design. Declaration of interest: TS is a consultant for Inotec AMD Ltd., UK. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.
Cultivating ‘communities of practice’ to tackle civic policy challenges: insights from local government-academic collaboration in Leeds
Authors: Carroll Nicola , Crawford Adam 
Published: March 2024

Background:
The academic impact agenda and evidence-informed policy movement have formed dynamic incentives for engagement between universities and local authorities. Yet, in the competitive higher education landscape, research-intensive universities frequently gravitate towards global rather than local impacts, while local government resources are diminished. In this context, how can universities and councils collaborate effectively to inform solutions to complex policy issues?

Aims and objectives:
This paper draws on data from a Review of Collaboration between researchers at the University of Leeds and officers at Leeds City Council, which explored factors that enable and constrain research–policy engagement. Where limitations of linear models of research–policy interaction are well documented, we consider how a ‘community of practice’ (CoP) approach might offer insights for accelerating civic knowledge exchange.

Methods:
A CoP lens was applied in analysing data from a mapping exercise, survey and semi-structured interviews involving academics and council officers.

Findings:
Examining research–policy engagement in terms of the ‘domain’, ‘community’ and ‘practice’ constituents of CoPs highlights the significance of interpersonal connections in forging ‘boundary-crossing’ collaborations that have spurred innovation in the city. Academics and officers commonly advocated enhanced inter-organisational processes whereby relationality is supported institutionally. Proposals are encapsulated in a model that conceptualises civic collaboration as a series of domain-specific CoPs supported by an inter-sectoral CoP performing vital ‘boundary bridging’ functions.

Discussion and conclusions:
Drawing on experiences from one English city, we advance a framework which offers promising insights into integration of organisational and relational facilitators of research–policy partnerships in responding to municipal policy challenges.
An implementation strategy postmortem method developed in the VA rural Transitions Nurse Program to inform spread and scale-up
Authors: Gilmartin Heather , Jones Christine , Nunnery Mary , Leonard Chelsea , Connelly Brigid , Wills Ashlea , Kelley Lynette , Rabin Borsika , Burke Robert E. 
Published: March 2024

Background
High-quality implementation evaluations report on intervention fidelity and adaptations made, but a practical process for evaluating implementation strategies is needed. A retrospective method for evaluating implementation strategies is also required as prospective methods can be resource intensive. This study aimed to establish an implementation strategy postmortem method to identify the implementation strategies used, when, and their perceived importance. We used the rural Transitions Nurse Program (TNP) as a case study, a national care coordination intervention implemented at 11 hospitals over three years.

Methods
The postmortem used a retrospective, mixed method, phased approach. Implementation team and front-line staff characterized the implementation strategies used, their timing, frequency, ease of use, and their importance to implementation success. The Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) compilation, the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative phases, and Proctor and colleagues’ guidance were used to operationalize the strategies. Survey data were analyzed descriptively, and qualitative data were analyzed using matrix content analysis.

Results
The postmortem method identified 45 of 73 ERIC strategies introduced, including 41 during pre-implementation, 37 during implementation, and 27 during sustainment. External facilitation, centralized technical assistance, and clinical supervision were ranked as the most important and frequently used strategies. Implementation strategies were more intensively applied in the beginning of the study and tapered over time.

Conclusions
The postmortem method identified that more strategies were used in TNP than planned and identified the most important strategies from the perspective of the implementation team and front-line staff. The findings can inform other implementation studies as well as dissemination of the TNP intervention.
OLYMPUS-POPGEN: A synthetic population generation model to represent urban populations for assessing exposure to air quality
Authors: Elessa Etuman Arthur , Benoussaïd Taos , Charreire Hélène , Coll Isabelle 
Published: March 2024

Scientific question
With the new individual- and activity-based approaches to simulating exposure to air pollutants, exposure models must now provide synthetic populations that realistically reflect the demographic profiles of individuals in an urban territory. Demographic profiles condition the behavior of individuals in urban space (activities, mobility) and determine the resulting risks of exposure and environmental inequalities. In this context, there is a strong need to determine the relevance of the population modeling methods to reproduce the combinations of socio-demographic parameters in a population from the existing databases. The difficulty of accessing complete, high-resolution databases indeed proves to be very limiting for the ambitions of the different approaches.

Objective
This work proposes to evaluate the potential of a statistical approach for the numerical modeling of synthetic populations, at the scale of dwellings and including the representation of coherent socio-demographic profiles. The approach is based on and validated against the existing open databases. The ambition is to be able to build upon such synthetic populations to produce a comprehensive assessment of the risk of environmental exposure that can be cross-referenced with lifestyles, indicators of social, professional or demographic category, and even health vulnerability data.

Method
The approach implemented here is based on the use of conditional probabilities to model the socio-demographic properties of individuals, via the deployment of a Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) simulation. Households are assigned to housing according to income and house price classes. The resulting population generation model was tested in the Paris region (Ile de France) for the year 2010, and applied to a population of almost 12 million individuals. The approach is based on the use of census and survey databases.

Results
Validation, carried out by comparison with regional census data, shows that the model accurately reproduces the demographic attributes of individuals (age, gender, professional category, income) as well as their combination, at both regional and sub-municipal levels. Notably, population distribution at the scale of the model buildings remains consistent with observed data patterns.

Conclusions and relevance
The outcomes of this work demonstrate the ability of our approach to create, from public data, a coherent synthetic population with broad socio-demographic profiles. They give confidence for the use of this approach in an activity-based air quality exposure study, and thus for exploring the interrelations between social determinants and environmental risks. The non-specific nature of this work allows us to consider its extension to broader demographic profiles, including health indicators, and to different study regions.
Clinical characteristics of the “Gap” between the prevalence and incidence of hearing loss using National Health Insurance Service data
Authors: Lee Junhun , Yoon Chul Young , Lee Juhyung , Kong Tae Hoon , Seo Young Joon 
Published: March 2024

Objectives
Hearing loss is the inability to hear speech or sounds well, owing to a number of causes. This study aimed to simultaneously determine the prevalence, incidence, and the Gap between them in hearing loss in South Korean patients at the same point in time as well as to identify patients who have not recovered from hearing loss.

Methods
We examined the prevalence and incidence of patients diagnosed with hearing loss in the National Health Insurance Service database over an 11-year period from 2010 to 2020. The difference between the prevalence and the incidence was defined in this study as the term "Gap". Gap is the number of patients converted into the number of patients per 100,000 people by subtracting the incidence from the prevalence. Clinical characteristics such as sex and age per 100,000 individuals were examined.

Results
As of 2020, the domestic prevalence obtained in this study was 1.84%, increasing annually, and the prevalence increased with age to 4.10% among those over 60. The domestic incidence was 1.57%, increasing annually, and the incidence increased with age to 3.36% for those over 60s. The Gap was 0.27%, showing a steady increase from 2011 to 2020 with a corresponding increase in insurance benefit expenses.

Conclusion
To fully understand the burden of hearing loss and develop effective prevention and treatment strategies, it is important to measure the Gap between its prevalence and incidence. This Gap means a lot because hearing loss is an irreversible disease. Gap represents patients who have already been diagnosed with hearing loss and are being diagnosed every year, indicating that the number of patients who do not recover is increasing. In other words, the increase in Gap meant that there were many patients who constantly visited the hospital for diagnosis of hearing loss.
Attending physicians’ annual service volume and use of virtual end-of-life care: A population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada
Authors: Rodin Rebecca , Stukel Thérèse A. , Chung Hannah , Bell Chaim M. , Detsky Allan S. , Isenberg Sarina , Quinn Kieran L. 
Published: March 2024

Importance
Physicians and their practice behaviors influence access to healthcare and may represent potentially modifiable targets for practice-changing interventions. Use of virtual care at the end-of-life significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its association with physician practice behaviors, (e.g., annual service volume) is unknown.

Objective
Measure the association of physicians’ annual service volume with their use of virtual end-of-life care (EOLC) and the magnitude of physician-attributable variation in its use, before and during the pandemic.

Design, setting and participants
Population-based cohort study using administrative data of all physicians in Ontario, Canada who cared for adults in the last 90 days of life between 01/25/2018-12/31/2021. Multivariable modified Poisson regression models measured the association between attending physicians’ use of virtual EOLC and their annual service volume. We calculated the variance partition coefficients for each regression and stratified by time period before and during the pandemic.

Exposure
Annual service volume of a person’s attending physician in the preceding year.

Main outcomes and measures
Delivery of ≥1 virtual EOLC visit by a person’s attending physician and the proportion of variation in its use attributable to physicians.

Results
Among the 35,825 unique attending physicians caring for 315,494 adults, use of virtual EOLC was associated with receiving care from a high compared to low service volume attending physician; the magnitude of this association diminished during the pandemic (adjusted RR 1.25 [95% CI 1.14, 1.37] pre-pandemic;1.10 (95% CI 1.08, 1.12) during the pandemic). Physicians accounted for 36% of the variation in virtual EOLC use pre-pandemic and 12% of this variation during the pandemic.

Conclusions and relevance
Physicians’ annual service volume was associated with use of virtual EOLC and physicians accounted for a substantial proportion of the variation in its use. Physicians may be appropriate and potentially modifiable targets for interventions to modulate use of EOLC delivery.
Sedentary behavior, physical activity, sleep duration and obesity risk: Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Chen Siqing , Yang Lili , Yang Yuting , Shi Wenmini , Stults-Kolehmainen Matthew , Yuan Qiao , Wang Chenchen , Ye Jing 
Published: March 2024

Background
Observational studies have suggested associations between sedentary behaviors (SB), physical activity (PA), sleep duration (SD), and obesity, but the causal relationships remain unclear.

Methods
We used Mendelian randomization (MR) with genetic variation as instrumental variables (IVs) to assess the causality between SB/PA/SD and obesity. Genetic variants associated with SB/PA/SD were obtained from Genome-wide association study (GWAS), and obesity data came from FinnGen. The primary MR analysis used the instrumental variable weighted (IVW) method, with sensitivity tests including Cochran Q, MR-Egger intercepts, and MR-Radial. Expression Quantitative Trait Loci (eQTL) analysis was applied to identify significant genetic associations and biological pathways in obesity-related tissues.

Results
The MR analysis revealed causal relationships between four SB-related lifestyle patterns and obesity. Specifically, increased genetic liability to television watching (IVW MR Odds ratio [OR] = 1.55, [95% CI]:[1.27, 1.90], p = 1.67×10−5), computer use ([OR] = 1.52, [95% CI]:[1.08, 2.13], p = 1.61×10−2), leisure screen time (LST) ([OR] = 1.62, [95% CI] = [1.43, 1.84], p = 6.49×10−14, and driving (MR [OR] = 2.79, [95% CI]:[1.25, 6.21], p = 1.23×10−2) was found to increase the risk of obesity. Our findings indicate that no causal relationships were observed between SB at work, sedentary commuting, PA, SD, and obesity. The eQTL analysis revealed strong associations between specific genes (RPS26, TTC12, CCDC92, NICN1) and SNPs (rs10876864, rs2734849, rs4765541, rs7615206) in both subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues, which are associated with these SBs. Enrichment analysis further revealed that these genes are involved in crucial biological pathways, including cortisol synthesis, thyroid hormone synthesis, and insulin secretion.

Conclusions
Our findings support a causal relationship between four specific SBs (LST, television watching, computer use, driving) and obesity. These results provide valuable insights into potential interventions to address obesity effectively, supported by genetic associations in the eQTL and enrichment analysis. Further research and public health initiatives focusing on reducing specific SBs may be warranted.
Discrimination ability of central visual field testing using stimulus size I, II, and III and relationship between VF findings and macular ganglion cell thickness in chiasmal compression
Authors: Rocha Arthur Andrade do Nascimento , Benassi Thais de Souza Andrade , Mello Luiz Guilherme Marchesi , Preti Rony Carlos , Zacharias Leandro C. , Cunha Leonardo P. , Monteiro Mário L. R. 
Published: March 2024

Purpose
To compare the relationship between macular ganglion cell layer (mGCL) thickness and 10–2 visual field (VF) sensitivity using different stimulus sizes in patients with temporal hemianopia from chiasmal compression.

Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 30 eyes from 25 patients with temporal VF loss on 24–2 SITA standard automated perimetry due to previous chiasmal compression and 30 healthy eyes (23 controls). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the macular area and 10–2 VF testing using Goldmann stimulus size I (GI), II (GII), and III (GIII) were performed in the Octopus 900 perimeter. For the sake of analysis, mGCL thickness and VF data were segregated into four quadrants (two temporal and two nasal) and two halves (temporal and nasal) centered on the fovea, in order to evaluate separately both the severely affected nasal hemi-retina corresponding to the temporal VF sectors and the subclinically affected temporal hemi-retina corresponding to the nasal VF sectors. Data from patients and controls were compared using generalized estimated equations. The discrimination ability of GI, GII, and GIII was evaluated, as was the correlation between mGCL and 10–2 VF sensitivity using GI, GII, and GIII.

Results
All mGCL parameters in the nasal and temporal halves of the retina were significantly reduced in patients compared to controls. 10–2 VF test sensitivity using GI, GII, and GIII was significantly lower in patients than in controls (p≤0.008) for all parameters, except the three nasal divisions when using GI (p = 0.41, 0.07 and 0.18) Significant correlations were found between temporal VF sectors (all stimulus sizes) and the corresponding nasal mGCL measurements, with similar discrimination ability. Significant correlations were also observed between all three nasal VF divisions and the corresponding temporal mGCL thickness when using stimulus sizes I and II, but not stimulus size III.

Conclusions
On 10–2 VF testing, GII outperformed GI and GIII with regard to discrimination ability and structure-function correlation with mGCL thickness in the subclinically affected nasal part of the VF in patients with chiasmal compression. Our findings suggest that the use of GII can enhance the diagnostic power of 10–2 VF testing in early cases of chiasmal compression, although further studies are necessary to support this conclusion.
A Rare Case of Cutaneous Gastric Adenocarcinoma With Signet Ring Cell Features
Authors: Garcia Alexander , Maqsudlu Arman , Dhawan Ishita , Chaaya Adib 
Published: March 2024

ABSTRACT
Cutaneous metastatic disease from primary gastric cancer is quite scarce, often going unrecognized. In this case, the patient presented with an expanding rash that was biopsied, with findings concerning for metastatic adenocarcinoma from a suspected luminal upper gastrointestinal origin. Subsequent biopsies during an esophagogastroduodenoscopy confirmed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with signet ring cell features, most likely from an upper gastrointestinal primary (gastric vs gastroesophageal junction). We review this case to help providers identify signet cell type cutaneous metastases of gastric cancer quickly to improve patient outcomes.
Effects of hindlimb unloading on the mevalonate and mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 signaling pathways in a fast‐twitch muscle in rats
Authors: Uda Munehiro , Yoshihara Toshinori , Ichinoseki‐Sekine Noriko , Baba Takeshi 
Published: March 2024

AbstractFast‐twitch muscles are less susceptible to disuse atrophy, activate the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling pathway, and increase protein synthesis under prolonged muscle disuse conditions. However, the mechanism underlying prolonged muscle disuse‐induced mTORC1 signaling activation remains unclear. The mevalonate pathway activates the mTORC1 signaling pathway via the prenylation and activation of Ras homolog enriched in brain (Rheb). Therefore, we investigated the effects of hindlimb unloading (HU) for 14 days on the mevalonate and mTORC1 signaling pathways in the plantaris muscle, a fast‐twitch muscle, in adult male rats. Rats were divided into HU and control groups. The plantaris muscles of both groups were harvested after the treatment period, and the expression and phosphorylation levels of metabolic and intracellular signaling proteins were analyzed using Western blotting. We found that HU increased the expression of 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl‐coenzyme A reductase, the rate‐limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway, and activated the mTORC1 signaling pathway without activating AKT, an upstream activator of mTORC1. Furthermore, HU increased prenylated Rheb. Collectively, these findings suggest that the activated mevalonate pathway may be involved in the activation of the Rheb/mTORC1 signaling pathway without AKT activation in fast‐twitch muscles under prolonged disuse conditions.
Annuloids and Δ-wings
Authors: Hoffman David , Martín Francisco , White Brian 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
We describe new annular examples of complete translating solitons for the mean curvature flow and how they are related to a family of translating graphs, the Δ-wings. In addition, we will prove several related results that answer questions that arise naturally in this investigation. These results apply to translators in general, not just to graphs or annuli.
The Trouble with Take-Up
Authors: Doorley Karina , Kakoulidou Theano 
Published: March 2024

Abstract
Take-up of social welfare is key to its success in alleviating poverty. For a variety of reasons, including stigma, transaction costs and information asymmetry, take-up of welfare benefits is imperfect. This research note discusses the issue of take-up of social welfare and its measurement. We explore the difficulties of estimating welfare take-up, using the example of the Irish Working Family Payment (WFP) and two microsimulation models. We show how estimates of take-up can vary depending on the dataset used for simulation. We then estimate take-up of the WFP, updating the most recent estimate from 2005. Lastly, we discuss policy lessons.