bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorders – The Impact of the Creation of a Multidisciplinary Team on Maternal Outcomes in Portugal
Authors: Teixeira Beatriz , Pinto Pedro Viana , Realista Rodrigo , Silva Manuela , Costa Antónia , Machado Ana Paula , Moucho Marina 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Objective To describe a cohort of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) cases from a tertiary care institution and compare the maternal outcomes before and after the creation of a multidisciplinary team (MDT).
Methods Retrospective study using hospital databases. Identification of PAS cases with pathological confirmation between 2010 and 2021. Division in two groups: standard care (SC) group – 2010–2014; and MDT group – 2015–2021. Descriptive analysis of their characteristics and maternal outcomes.
Results During the study period, there were 53 cases of PAS (24 - SC group; 29 - MDT group). Standard care group: 1 placenta increta and 3 percreta; 12.5% (3/24) had antenatal suspicion; 4 cases had a peripartum hysterectomy – one planned due to antenatal suspicion of PAS; 3 due to postpartum hemorrhage. Mean estimated blood loss (EBL) was 2,469 mL; transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBC) in 25% (6/24) - median 7.5 units. Multidisciplinary team group: 4 cases of placenta increta and 3 percreta. The rate of antenatal suspicion was 24.1% (7/29); 9 hysterectomies were performed, 7 planned due to antenatal suspicion of PAS, 1 after intrapartum diagnosis of PAS and 1 after uterine rupture following a second trimester termination of pregnancy. The mean EBL was 1,250 mL, with transfusion of PRBC in 37.9% (11/29) - median 2 units.
Conclusion After the creation of the MDT, there was a reduction in the mean EBL and in the median number of PRBC units transfused, despite the higher number of invasive PAS disorders.
Systemic Inflammatory Patterns in Ovarian Cancer Patients: Analysis of Cytokines, Chemokines, and Microparticles
Authors: Santiago Aline Evangelista , Paula Sálua Oliveira Calil de , Carvalho Andréa Teixeira de , Cândido Eduardo Batista , Furtado Rafaela de Souza , Silva Filho Agnaldo Lopes da 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Objective To compare the patterns of systemic inflammatory response in women with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) or no evidence of malignant disease, as well as to evaluate the profile of systemic inflammatory responses in type-1 and type-2 tumors. This is a non-invasive and indirect way to assess both tumor activity and the role of the inflammatory pattern during pro- and antitumor responses.
Materials and Methods We performed a prospective evaluation of 56 patients: 30 women without evidence of malignant disease and 26 women with EOC. The plasma quantification of cytokines, chemokines, and microparticles (MPs) was performed using flow cytometry.
Results Plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-12 (IL12), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and interleukin-10 (IL-10), and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9 (CXCL-9) and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL-10) were significantly higher in patients with EOC than in those in the control group. Plasma levels of cytokine interleukin-17A (IL-17A) and MPs derived from endothelial cells were lower in patients with EOC than in the control group. The frequency of leukocytes and MPs derived from endothelial cells was higher in type-2 tumors than in those without malignancy. We observed an expressive number of inflammatory/regulatory cytokines and chemokines in the cases of EOC, as well as negative and positive correlations involving them, which leads to a higher complexity of these networks.
Conclusion The present study showed that, through the development of networks consisting of cytokines, chemokines, and MPs, there is a greater systemic inflammatory response in patients with EOC and a more complex correlation of these biomarkers in type-2 tumors.
Mortality from Breast Cancer in Women under 50 Years of Age in Colombia
Authors: González Mariño Mario Arturo 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Objective To calculate and analyze the mortality rates from breast cancer in women under 50 years of age in Colombia and to compare them with those of other countries in the region.
Methods Based on data from the registry of deaths in 2018 and the results of the National Population and Housing Census of Colombia for the same year, specific mortality rates in women with breast cancer, specific mortality according to age group, standardized by age, proportional mortality, potential years of life lost, and years of life expectancy lost in women under 50 years of age who died from breast cancer were calculated. The mortality rate of regional countries was consulted on the Global Cancer Observatory webpage.
Results In the group from 20 to 49 years, the specific mortality rate was higher in the age range from 45 to 49 years, with a rate of 23.42 × 100,000, a value that was above the specific mortality rate due to breast cancer in women in Colombia, 15.17 × 100.000. In the age range of 45 to 49 years, the potential years of life lost were 42.16. Of the 0.275 years of life expectancy lost by the population due to this neoplasia, women under 50 years of age represented 0.091 (33%). Colombia is the fifth in the rank of mortality in Latin American countries in this age group.
Conclusion Breast cancer in patients from 30 to 59 years is the number one cause for the decrease in life expectancy of women in Colombia. Women under 50 years of age represent one third of this decrease. This neoplasm is also the leading cause of mortality in women younger than 50 years in South America.
Life expectancy among Native Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic: estimates, uncertainty, and obstacles
Authors: Goldman Noreen , Park Sung S , Beltrán-Sánchez Hiram 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Few reliable estimates have been available for assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality among Native Americans. Using deidentified publicly available data on deaths and populations by age, we estimated life expectancy for the years 2019-2022 for single-race non-Hispanic Native Americans. Life expectancy in 2022 was 67.8 years, 2.3 years higher than in 2021 but a huge 4-year loss from 2019. Although our life expectancy estimates for 2022 varied under different assumptions about racial/ethnic classification and age misreporting errors, all estimates were lower than the average for middle-income countries. Estimates of losses and gains in life expectancy were consistent across assumptions. Large reductions in COVID-19 death rates between 2021 and 2022 were largely offset by increases in rates of death from unintentional injuries (particularly drug overdoses), chronic liver disease, diabetes, and heart disease, underscoring the difficulties facing Native Americans in achieving reductions in mortality, let alone returning to levels of mortality prior to the pandemic. Serious data problems have persisted for many years, but the scarcity and inadequacy of estimates during the pandemic have underscored the urgent need for timely and accurate demographic data on the Native American population.
Enteral N-acetylcysteine to reduce serum cobalt concentrations secondary to prosthetic knee–associated metallosis: A case report
Authors: Floyd Connor A , Carr John R , Brock Logan , Orvin Dustin L 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

Purpose
Cobalt metallosis is a rare but dangerous complication of total joint arthroplasty resulting from deterioration of the joint leading to metal-on-metal friction and breakdown. Potential manifestations vary in severity and include dilated cardiomyopathy, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive disturbances, neuropathy, fatigue, and weakness. The therapeutic role of N-acetylcysteine in metallosis has been investigated due to its ability to chelate with heavy metal ions, such as cobalt and chromium.

Summary
Here we report the case of a 71-year-old female who presented with suspected metallosis diagnosed in the outpatient setting due to symptoms of significant weight loss and failure to thrive. This metallosis was secondary to the hardware breakdown of a left knee revision roughly 6 years previously. The patient was not a surgical candidate due to her poor nutrition status and was started on nasojejunal tube feeds along with N-acetylcysteine 600 mg by mouth twice daily for 45 days. The patient’s serum cobalt levels decreased from 61.7 µg/L on admission to 16.2 µg/L prior to her undergoing proper revision of the left knee roughly 2 months after admission to the hospital. The patient tolerated treatment well and was able to be discharged the day after surgery, with no further complaints or complications.

Conclusion
This case report contributes to the body of literature suggesting that administration of N-acetylcysteine can reduce serum cobalt concentrations, without notable adverse effects, in the context of prosthetic knee–associated metallosis.
The burden of an identity: Coping strategies for sexual and gender minority individuals in pharmacy practice
Authors: Villemure Samuel E , Wilby Kyle John 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

Purpose
Sexual or gender minority (SGM) individuals are known to experience stigma and discrimination in pharmacy settings. It is also known that SGM individuals may delay or avoid care in pharmacies due to the stress associated with these experiences. Aside from avoidance, however, little is known about how SGM individuals cope with stigma and discrimination and how their coping strategies may influence their healthcare behaviors. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize how SGM individuals cope with stigma and discrimination associated with their SGM identity in pharmacy settings.

Methods
This was a qualitative study conducted using semistructured interviews. A total of 31 SGM individuals were recruited across 2 Canadian provinces. Interviews followed a topic guide designed according to the minority stress model to elicit participants’ lived experiences in community pharmacies. Thematic analysis was used to identify and interpret themes.

Results
Five themes were identified that described coping strategies used by SGM individuals when encountering minority stress processes in pharmacy settings: avoidance (avoiding or withdrawing from care), seeking support (from people or settings), perseverance (when faced with no other option), concealment (of SGM identity), and lowering expectations (of pharmacist knowledge and competence).

Conclusion
Our findings support the notion that individuals cope in different ways and across a wide spectrum of behaviors. Those who avoid care, conceal their SGM identity, or are forced to persevere through interactions may be at increased risk for both physical and mental health disparities. Those who seek support or lower expectations may also be at risk for reduced access to quality care.
Personality affects female mate choice: frogs displaying more consistent bold behaviors are choosier
Authors: Feagles Olivia S , Höbel Gerlinde 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Mate choice is an important cause of natural and sexual selection and drives the evolution and elaboration of male ornaments. Yet mate choice decisions are often neither consistent nor uniform, and a range of factors have been identified to influence variation between and within individuals. A potential source of variation influencing preferences and/or choosiness is animal personality, that is, repeatable among-individual differences in behaviors. Not only may individuals differ in average personality phenotype but also vary in how consistently they display said personality. Distinguishing between personality and consistency is important because both aspects are potentially naturally selected traits that may yet influence how sexually selected ornaments are evaluated. Here, we use a predator evasion assay to test whether there is variation in boldness among female gray treefrogs (Hyla versicolor), and then examine whether personality traits (spectrum of shy to bold) are correlated with choosiness for longer duration calls. We document substantial and repeatable between-individual variation in boldness, suggesting the presence of animal personality. Results also reveal that the consistency with which females expressed boldness is independent from average personality phenotype and that it is correlated with choosiness: more consistently bold females were choosier.
Floral structure and development in Nandina domestica and implications for systematic affinities in Berberidaceae and perianth evolution in Ranunculales
Authors: Tunggawihardja Marcel , Bachelier Julien B 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
In Berberidaceae, the phylogenetic position and systematic affinities of the monotypic genus Nandina have long been debated and remain unclear. In addition, previous comparative studies have provided conflicting reports on the origin and development of its petals. Using scanning electron microscopy and microtome sections, we studied the structure and development of the flower and perianth in Nandina domestica to re-evaluate its affinities and homology of its petals. Our results confirm that N. domestica essentially shares the same Bauplan (organization) with other Berberidaceae and its petals are neither delayed in development nor much differentiated from sepals. However, we sometimes also observed the initiation of additional primordia that become confluent with the base of stamens of the outer whorl, but do not develop further and are no longer visible in later stages of development. Our study thus not only reconciles previous conflicting interpretations on the origin and development of petals in Nandina, but also confirms that it has a unique suite of vegetative and reproductive features supporting its position as a distinct member of the family. In addition, it suggests that the most recent common ancestors of both Berberidaceae and Ranunculales probably had two types of petaloid organs with distinct origin and development but still sharing a deep common genetic identity.
Whitehead’s fallacy of misplaced concreteness and the unfortunate uselessness of all monetary-macro theory micro-founded on Walrasian-Pareto general equilibrium theory
Authors: Rogers Colin 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Whitehead’s fallacy of misplaced concreteness (FMC) explains the ‘unfortunate uselessness’ into which all monetary-macro theory ‘micro-founded’ on Walrasian-Pareto general equilibrium (GE) theory has blundered. The FMC occurs because the misuse of the Walrasian-Pareto GE idealisation results in mistakes in reasoning when applied to monetary-macro theory. Consequently, theorists who employ the Walrasian GE idealisation as a foundation for monetary-macro theory are caught on the horns of a dilemma. Either money is appended when it is not required, violating the principles of monetary theory or money is abolished, (the ‘cashless limit’) and theorists are forced to change the meaning of words and economic concepts, in the process deceiving themselves and the reader. This paper provides a general explanation of the way all models based on the Walrasian-Pareto GE idealisation commit the FMC. There is no escape if the Walrasian GE idealisation is retained; models that employ it are unscientific and should be abandoned.
Criminal capitalism: a new socio-economic formation
Authors: Patalano Rosario 
Published: December 2023

AbstractCriminal capitalism, fuelled mainly by drug trafficking, creates social consensus and determines a social order that plays a not-always marginal role in the fragmented social reality of the contemporary capitalist mode of production. Drug trafficking not only feeds the sophisticated machine of corruption that reaches the highest institutional spheres, but, in some regions, also represents the only form of subsistence economy. The growing importance of criminal capitalism is in large part the consequence of financial liberalisation, which has facilitated the mechanisms for the laundering and illegal investment of accumulated wealth.
Laws of Timed State Machines
Authors: Cavalcanti Ana , Conserva Filho Madiel , Ribeiro Pedro , Sampaio Augusto 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
State machines are widely used in industry and academia to capture behavioural models of control. They are included in popular notations, such as UML and its variants, and used (sometimes informally) to describe computational artefacts. In this paper, we present laws for state machines that we prove sound with respect to a process algebraic semantics for refinement, and complete, in that they are sufficient to reduce an arbitrary model to a normal form that isolates basic (action and control) elements. We consider two variants of UML-like state machines, both enriched with facilities to deal with time budgets, timeouts and deadlines over triggers and actions. In the first variant, machines are self-contained components, declaring all the variables, events and operations that they require or define. In contrast, in the second variant, machines are open, like in UML for instance. Laws for open state machines do not depend on a specific context of variables, events and operations, and normalization uses a novel operator for open-machine (de)composition. Our laws can be used in behaviour-preservation transformation techniques. Their applications are automated by a model-transformation engine.
WiPoTS: An Application Layer Protocol With Network Protocol Stack Enhancements For Wireless Power Transfer Networks
Authors: Omer Farooq Muhammad 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Nowadays, a far-field wireless power transfer (WPT) system aims to deliver wireless power over a distance of a few meters. Communication among devices for the purpose of WPT in the far-field WPT system is unique as its purpose is to establish, maintain and monitor a WPT session among devices in the system. For proper functionality of a WPT system, a number of communication-, control- and management-related challenges need to be addressed. Hence, here an application layer protocol specifically designed for a WPT system is presented. The protocol provides essential control, management and communication functionalities to establish, maintain and monitor a WPT session. Some features of a WPT system require low-latency communication, hence enhancements for a networking protocol stack are also proposed. To validate the effectiveness of the presented application layer protocol along with the enhancements proposed for the networking protocol stack, a set of experiments was carried out over a real WPT system. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed protocol possesses the features essential for a WPT system, and the proposed enhancements for the networking protocol stack provide low-latency communication along with lower control overhead compared with an existing state-of-the-art network protocol stack.
Diagnosis and treatment of right ventricular failure secondary to acutely increased right ventricular afterload (acute cor pulmonale): a clinical consensus statement of the Association for Acute CardioVascular Care of the European Society of Cardiology
Authors: Arrigo Mattia , Price Susanna , Harjola Veli-Pekka , Huber Lars C , Schaubroeck Hannah A I , Vieillard-Baron Antoine , Mebazaa Alexandre , Masip Josep 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Acute right ventricular failure secondary to acutely increased right ventricular afterload (acute cor pulmonale) is a life-threatening condition that may arise in different clinical settings. Patients at risk of developing or with manifest acute cor pulmonale usually present with an acute pulmonary disease (e.g. pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome) and are managed initially in emergency departments and later in intensive care units. According to the clinical setting, other specialties are involved (cardiology, pneumology, internal medicine). As such, coordinated delivery of care is particularly challenging but, as shown during the COVID-19 pandemic, has a major impact on prognosis. A common framework for the management of acute cor pulmonale with inclusion of the perspectives of all involved disciplines is urgently needed.
Diffuse non-obstructive coronary artery disease: two clinical faces of the same disease—a case report
Authors: Klemenc Matjaž , Budihna Gregor , Kranjec Igor 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

Background
Coronary artery disease has a long preclinical phase before manifesting itself clinically due to diffuse non-obstructive disease, stenoses, or thrombosis.

Case summary
We present a case of a middle-aged male complaining of atypical chest pain, then severe retrosternal pain, and, eventually, effort angina. We performed non-invasive testing, coronary angiography, intravascular imaging, and flow reserve tests, each as appropriate. Cardiovascular risk control, optimization of drug therapy, and percutaneous coronary intervention were considered trying to comply with the best clinical practice.

Discussion
Diffuse non-obstructive coronary artery disease may present clinically in different ways. Exercise stress test might be sufficient to assess effort angina before a potential angiography. Flow reserve tests across the diseased vessel can distinguish between diffuse and focal pattern of the disease and assist in the adequate selection of therapy. Finally, intravascular imaging is invaluable for the assessment of the plaque risk features.
Primary cardiac lymphoma presenting with cardiac tamponade and complete heart block: case report
Authors: Kelleher Ruth , Bird Brian Healey , Hayes Tríona , O’Sullivan Crochan J 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

Background
Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) is rare and its presentation can be variable. Thorough workup of suspected PCL or other cardiac tumours typically incorporates a range of imaging techniques and laboratory investigations but ultimately diagnosis is confirmed by histological analysis of myocardial tissue.

Case Summary
An 80-year-old Caucasian female presented with complete heart block and symptomatic cardiac tamponade. A pericardiocentesis was performed and a dual-chamber permanent pacemaker was implanted for the management of her complete heart block. Subsequently, a right atrial mass was discovered on imaging and the patient underwent endomyocardial biopsy of the mass. Histological analysis of the sample confirmed a primary cardiac lymphoma. The patient opted to forgo treatment with chemotherapy and died from her disease 1 month later.

Discussion
Cardiac arrhythmias can occur in PCL due to infiltration of conduction pathways. Characterization of cardiac masses on various imaging modalities and laboratory tests guides diagnosis. Tissue diagnosis is required to confirm PCL. The location of a cardiac mass may present technical challenges when undertaking a biopsy, so the best approach to tissue sampling should be considered on an individual basis. Without treatment survival is less than one month but with modern chemoimmunotherapy five-year survival may exceed 50%.