bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of Beyond Fistula programming on economic, psychosocial and empowerment outcomes following female genital fistula repair: A retrospective study
Authors: El Ayadi Alison M. , Alway Jessica , Matityahu Debra , Kichwen Celine , Wilson Susan , Mabeya Hillary 
Published: September 2023

AbstractObjectiveTo retrospectively assess changes in economic status, psychosocial status and empowerment among women who participated in Beyond Fistula reintegration programming following fistula repair.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study among 100 Beyond Fistula program participants capturing sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric and fistula history, program participation, and our primary outcomes: economic status, psychosocial status, and empowerment via quantitative survey at two time points: before program participation and currently. Data were collected from November 2020 to July 2021 from 2013 to 2019 program participants. We compared outcomes across these two time points using paired t tests or McNemar's tests.ResultsThe proportion of individuals owning property (28.0% vs. 38.0%, P = 0.006), having a current source of income (19.0% vs. 56.0%, P < 0.001), and saving or investing income (11.0% vs. 37.0%, P < 0.001) increased significantly from pre‐ to post‐programming. We also identified statistically significant increases from pre‐ to post‐programming in self‐esteem (5.0 [IQR 4.0–5.0] vs. 5.0 [IQR 5.0–5.0], P < 0.001), reintegration (53.0 [IQR 43.0–69.0] vs. 65.0 [IQR 51.0–72.0], P < 0.001) and level of input into household economic decision making (2.0 [SD 1.0] vs. 2.3 [SD 1.0], P = 0.004).ConclusionBeyond Fistula programming likely improved economic status, psychosocial status, and empowerment of participants. Post‐surgical interventions incorporating a holistic approach can advance recovery through supporting psychosocial and economic wellbeing and should be offered to women undergoing genital fistula repair.
Urethral hemangioma: How to investigate as a cause of hematuria after male sexual activities
Authors: Ishikawa Kimiyasu , Sasaki Haruaki , Shimoyama Hideaki , Yamagishi Motoki , Sugishita Hiroo , Hashimoto Yu , Ichimura Yuki , Doguchi Ayana , Oshinomi Kazuhiko , Morita Jun 
Published: September 2023

IntroductionUrethral hemangioma is an extremely rare occurrence and is not typically considered a common cause of hematuria. Since 2000, only 22 male cases have been reported.Case presentationA 45‐year‐old man presented with recurrent painless gross hematuria and the passage of blood clots after ejaculation. The patient underwent a transurethral resection of a 6‐mm hemangioma. This isolated sessile lesion was situated between the distal end of the verumontanum and the external sphincter, following an induced erection. The patient remained asymptomatic during the 1‐month follow‐up visit.ConclusionThis study included the assessment of patient symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments and the literature review of 22 patients. We propose that relaxation of the external urethral sphincter muscle under general anesthesia and artificially inducing an erection can aid in the identification of urethral hemangiomas near the verumontanum during cystourethroscopy.
Towards Improved Identification of Vertebral Fractures in Routine Computed Tomography (CT) Scans: Development and External Validation of a Machine Learning Algorithm
Authors: Nicolaes Joeri , Skjødt Michael Kriegbaum , Raeymaeckers Steven , Smith Christopher Dyer , Abrahamsen Bo , Fuerst Thomas , Debois Marc , Vandermeulen Dirk , Libanati Cesar 
Published: September 2023

ABSTRACT
Vertebral fractures (VFs) are the hallmark of osteoporosis, being one of the most frequent types of fragility fracture and an early sign of the disease. They are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. VFs are incidentally found in one out of five imaging studies, however, more than half of the VFs are not identified nor reported in patient computed tomography (CT) scans. Our study aimed to develop a machine learning algorithm to identify VFs in abdominal/chest CT scans and evaluate its performance. We acquired two independent data sets of routine abdominal/chest CT scans of patients aged 50 years or older: a training set of 1011 scans from a non-interventional, prospective proof-of-concept study at the Universitair Ziekenhuis (UZ) Brussel and a validation set of 2000 subjects from an observational cohort study at the Hospital of Holbæk. Both data sets were externally reevaluated to identify reference standard VF readings using the Genant semiquantitative (SQ) grading. Four independent models have been trained in a cross-validation experiment using the training set and an ensemble of four models has been applied to the external validation set. The validation set contained 15.3% scans with one or more VF (SQ2-3), whereas 663 of 24,930 evaluable vertebrae (2.7%) were fractured (SQ2-3) as per reference standard readings. Comparison of the ensemble model with the reference standard readings in identifying subjects with one or more moderate or severe VF resulted in an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.88 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85–0.90), accuracy of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.91–0.93), kappa of 0.72 (95% CI, 0.67–0.76), sensitivity of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76–0.85), and specificity of 0.95 (95% CI, 0.93–0.96). We demonstrated that a machine learning algorithm trained for VF detection achieved strong performance on an external validation set. It has the potential to support healthcare professionals with the early identification of VFs and prevention of future fragility fractures. © 2023 UCB S.A. and The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
Abstract
Vertebral fractures are the landmark of osteoporosis and are associated with increased risk of further fractures. Yet they commonly go undiagnosed, and the underlying osteoporosis untreated. We developed a machine learning algorithm for automated vertebral fracture detection and demonstrated strong performance on an external validation set of 2000 CT scans. This method can improve the identification and reporting of vertebral fractures by opportunistically screening for them in routine CT scans.
Restructuring cost and its prediction analysis
Authors: Ren Yi , Xiao Dong 
Published: September 2023

AbstractGiven the ever‐increasing occurrence of corporate restructuring, the relevance of accounting information related to restructuring became more important in financial reporting. We first examine how restructuring cost affects stock returns and find firms with significant restructuring costs have worse stock performance compared with firms without significant restructuring costs. We then establish prediction model to predict the incurrence of future restructuring cost. The performance of the prediction model achieves an AUC (the area under curve) of .84 on the training data and an AUC of .77 when using out‐of‐sample validation.
Earnings management around reverse stock splits
Authors: Jategaonkar Shrikant P. , Shi Yuan , Song Xiaoxiao 
Published: September 2023

AbstractUtilizing a sample of 1258 reverse stock splits from 1988 to 2019, we contrast earnings management by firms that initiate reverse splits for diverse reasons. Literature suggests that the incentives for reverse splits vary based on firms' stock price ranges. As such, we use the pre‐split and target‐price ranges to separate the sample into three groups. We find a stark difference in discretionary accruals across these groups. While previous studies have treated earnings management and reverse splits as substitutes, we hypothesize that firms at risk of delisting may employ these two mechanisms as complements. Consistent with the hypothesis, we document a strong positive association between reverse splits and post‐split discretionary accruals for firms with pre‐split prices below $1. This relationship, however, is non‐existent among the remaining two groups. Our findings have two important implications for investors: (i) firms with different motives behind reverse splits exhibit different earnings management behavior and (ii) firms that are likely facing exchange delisting use discretionary accruals in complement with reverse stock splits.
Integrating extracellular vesicle and circulating cell‐free DNA analysis using a single plasma aliquot improves the detection of HER2 positivity in breast cancer patients
Authors: Mugoni Vera , Ciani Yari , Quaini Orsetta , Tomasini Simone , Notarangelo Michela , Vannuccini Federico , Marinelli Alessia , Leonardi Elena , Pontalti Stefano , Martinelli Angela , Rossetto Daniele , Pesce Isabella , Mansy Sheref S. , Barbareschi Mattia , Ferro Antonella , Caffo Orazio , Attard Gerhardt , Di Vizio Dolores , D'Agostino Vito Giuseppe , Nardella Caterina , Demichelis Francesca 
Published: September 2023

AbstractMulti‐analyte liquid biopsies represent an emerging opportunity for non‐invasive cancer assessment. We developed ONCE (One Aliquot for Circulating Elements), an approach for the isolation of extracellular vesicles (EV) and cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) from a single aliquot of blood. We assessed ONCE performance to classify HER2‐positive early‐stage breast cancer (BrCa) patients by combining EV‐associated RNA (EV‐RNA) and cfDNA signals on n = 64 healthy donors (HD) and non–metastatic BrCa patients. Specifically, we isolated EV‐enriched samples by a charge‐based (CB) method and investigated EV‐RNA and cfDNA by next‐generation sequencing (NGS) and by digital droplet PCR (ddPCR). Sequencing of cfDNA and EV‐RNA from HER2‐ and HER2+ patients demonstrated concordance with in situ molecular analyses of matched tissues. Combined analysis of the two circulating analytes by ddPCR showed increased sensitivity in ERBB2/HER2 detection compared to single nucleic acid components. Multi‐analyte liquid biopsy prediction performance was comparable to tissue‐based sequencing results from TCGA. Also, imaging flow cytometry analysis revealed HER2 protein on the surface of EV isolated from the HER2+ BrCa plasma, thus corroborating the potential relevance of studying EV as companion analyte to cfDNA. This data confirms the relevance of combining cfDNA and EV‐RNA for HER2 cancer assessment and supports ONCE as a valuable tool for multi‐analytes liquid biopsies’ clinical implementation.
Three decadal large‐scale ecological restoration projects across the Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Zhao Hui , Wei Da , Wang Xiaodan , Hong Jiangtao , Wu Jianbo , Xiong Donghong , Liang Yuling , Yuan Zhengrong , Qi Yahui , Huang Lin 
Published: September 2023

AbstractAveraged over 4000 m in elevation, Tibetan Plateau (TP) functions as an important ecological security barrier in China. Alpine ecosystems present a trend of overall improvement under the influence of climate change and human activities, yet there are localized deteriorations. To improve the ecological function of the TP, large‐scale ecological restoration projects (ERPs) have been carried out over the past 30 years, which could be classified into three stages, that is, Exploration (1989–2003), Rapid Growth (2004–2014), and Comprehensive Development Stage (2015−present). With a total area of 850,000 km2, the ERPs include forest protection and construction, grassland protection and construction, water and soil erosion control, and desertification land management. The positive effect at the local scale has been widely verified, but the responses of productivity and species diversity were inconsistent. The positive effect at the regional scale gradually emerges, yet the spatial heterogeneity is significant, and the quantification of driving forces is an important prerequisite. There is a significant increase of rare wild animals in natural reserves, though it failed to curb the loss of animal and plant diversity in artificially planted areas. The long‐term effects of various ERPs on biodiversity should be taken into account so as to optimize the ecological measures and build a sustainable management model after project restoration. By summarizing the above achievements and problems of ERPs, we proposed a stepwise ecological restoration and adaptive management scheme by different restoration goals and reference modes, that is, “Environmental treatment—Ecological restoration projects—Adaptive management.”
PLLA‐Based Block Copolymers via Raft Polymerization—Impact of the Synthetic Route and Activation Mechanism
Authors: Alsawaf Ahmad , Kanehira Yuya , Bapolisi Alain M. , Bald Ilko , Hartlieb Matthias 
Published: September 2023

AbstractDesigning supramolecular structures with well‐defined dimensions and diverse morphologies via the self‐assembly of block copolymers is renowned. Specifically, the design of 1D fiber nanostructures is extensively emphasized, due to their unique properties in many areas, such as microelectronics, photonics, and particularly in the biomedical field. Herein, amphiphilic diblock copolymers of P(l‐lactide)‐b‐P(N‐t‐butoxy‐carbonyl‐N´‐acryloyl‐1,2‐diaminoethane)‐co‐P(N‐isopropylacrylamide) PLLAn‐b‐P(BocAEAm)m‐co‐ P(NiPAAm)Ɩ are developed. Two synthetic strategies are investigated to equip PLLA with a chain transfer agent (CTA), either by Steglich esterification of PLLA‐OH or via the ring‐opening polymerization of l‐lactide using a CTA containing a hydroxyl functional group. The second strategy proves to be superior in terms of degree of functionalization. The corona‐forming blocks, with degrees of polymerization of 200 and above are achieved in good definition by photo‐iniferter RAFT polymerization (Đ ≤ 1.25), while a Đ of 1.75 is obtained by conventional RAFT polymerization. The self‐assembly of the developed system leads to the formation of nanofibers with a height of 11 nm and a length of ≈300 nm, which is determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). These fibers are the basis for new antimicrobial nanomaterials after deprotection, as the subject of upcoming work.
Detecting agricultural drought risks: A case study of the rice crop (Oryza sativa) and the TAMSAT‐ALERT system in Guyana
Authors: David Donessa L. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractDrought‐related risks pose a threat to the agricultural sector of Guyana despite the country's wealth of freshwater resources. As a result, the advancement of the understanding of soil moisture deficits as a means of forecasting agricultural drought is needed to aid farmers, extension officers, and other agricultural decision‐makers. Hence, this study has been motivated by the following research question: Can the Tropical Applications of Meteorology using SATellite data—AgriculturaL Early waRning sysTem (TAMSAT‐ALERT) be used to assess the meteorological risk to cultivation at key points in the growing season? Due to the absence of in situ soil moisture data for the area of study, the Joint UK Land and Environment Simulator (JULES) model was used to model the historical soil moisture, based on gauge precipitation data and NCEP reanalysis data. A case study approach during the 1997 growing seasons of the rice crop was taken to determine whether the TAMSAT‐ALERT can be used to detect drought‐related risks during the growing season of the crop. Additionally, the skill of the TAMSAT‐ALERT drought forecasting system was highly dependent on the land surface state at the initialization of the forecast period. Therefore, the meteorological conditions over the area of interest mainly precipitation in the months or weeks leading up to the initialization of the forecast will have a strong influence on the soil moisture at that period.
Single‐field identification of inclusions and cavities in an elastic medium
Authors: Rabinovich Daniel , Givoli Dan , Turkel Eli 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe inverse problem of identifying a small unknown inclusion or cavity in an elastic medium is considered. Important applications are structural damage identification, medical imaging and geophysical exploration; the latter is the focus of the present investigation. It is assumed that the (isotropic but possibly heterogeneous) material properties of the medium are known, except for the presence of a small inclusion of a different material or of a small cavity. The goal is to find the location, size and shape of the inclusion or cavity. Identification is performed using full waveform inversion (FWI) and the adjoint method for the efficient calculation of the gradient of the misfit function. The identification is accomplished by considering a single unknown material‐property field. The inclusion manifests itself in the inverse solution as a local region where the unknown material property becomes significantly different than the known background property. The limiting case of cavity identification requires special treatment in the minimization process to avoid failure, as Bürchner et al. showed empirically for the scalar wave equation. Their ‐scaling approach, whose success is explained mathematically here for the first time, is extended to elastodynamics. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated via numerical examples, involving two geophysical models: a homogeneous model and the heterogeneous Marmousi model, which is a standard testing model in geophysical research.
Visceral adipocyte size links obesity with dysmetabolism more than fibrosis, and both can be estimated by circulating miRNAs
Authors: Pincu Yair , Makarenkov Nataly , Tsitrina Alexandra A. , Rosengarten‐Levine Marina , Haim Yulia , Yoel Uri , Liberty Idit F. , Dukhno Oleg , Kukeev Ivan , Blüher Matthias , Veksler‐Lublinsky Isana , Rudich Assaf 
Published: September 2023

AbstractObjectiveIn obesity, adipocyte hypertrophy is detrimental to health, but its' interrelation with fibrosis in the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) depot remains unclear. Because VAT is less accessible via biopsy, biomarkers for VAT quality are needed. The authors hypothesized that VAT adipocyte size and fibrosis are interrelated and can be estimated by circulating microRNAs (circ‐miRNAs), contributing to subphenotyping obesity.MethodsAdipocyte size and AT fibrosis were estimated in n = 43 participants (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Circ‐miRNAs were sequenced (Next Generation Sequencing).ResultsParticipants with above‐ versus below‐median VAT adipocyte area exhibited metabolic dysfunction but lower total and pericellular fibrosis. VAT adipocyte size remained associated with metabolic dysfunction even when controlling for BMI or VAT fibrosis in the entire cohort, as in matched‐pairs subanalyses. Next Generation Sequencing uncovered 22 and 6 circ‐miRNAs associated with VAT adipocyte size and fibrosis, respectively, with miRNA‐130b‐3p common to both analyses. The combination of miRNA‐130b‐3p + miR‐150‐5p + high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol discriminated among those with large versus small VAT adipocytes (receiver operating characteristic‐area under the curve: 0.872 [95% CI: 0.747–0.996]), whereas miRNA‐130b‐3p + miRNA‐15a‐5p + high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol discriminated among those with low and high fibrosis (receiver operating characteristic‐area under the curve: 0.823 [95% CI: 0.676–0.97]).ConclusionsThese findings suggest that VAT adipocyte size and fibrosis are inversely correlated in obesity and can be estimated by distinct circ‐miRNAs, providing a potential tool to subphenotype obesity via a liquid biopsy‐like approach to assess VAT health in nonsurgical patients.
Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids, and Satisfaction With Health Care in the National Health Interview Survey
Authors: Anthony Teresa , Assi Sahar , Garcia Morales Emmanuel E. , Jiang Kening , AuD Danielle Powell , Martinez‐Amezcua Pablo , Oh Esther S. , Deal Jennifer A. , Reed Nicholas S. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractObjectiveHearing loss may negatively impact satisfaction with health care via patient‐provider communication barriers and may be amenable to hearing care treatment.Study DesignCross‐sectional.SettingNational Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative survey of noninstitutionalized US residents, 2013 to 2018 pooled cycles.MethodsParticipants described satisfaction with health care in the past year, categorized as optimal (very satisfied) versus suboptimal (satisfied, dissatisfied, very dissatisfied) satisfaction. Self‐report hearing without hearing aids (excellent, good, a little trouble, moderate trouble, a lot of trouble) and hearing aid use (yes, no) were collected. Weighted Poisson regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and health covariates were used to estimate prevalence rate ratios (PRRs) of satisfaction with care by hearing loss and hearing aid use.ResultsAmong 137,216 participants (mean age 50.9 years, 56% female, 12% black), representing 77.2 million Americans in the weighted model, 19% reported trouble hearing. Those with good (PRR = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18‐1.23), a little trouble (PRR = 1.27, 95% CI, 1.23‐1.31), moderate trouble (PRR = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.24‐1.35), and a lot of trouble hearing (PRR = 1.26, 95% CI, 1.18‐1.33) had a higher prevalence rate of suboptimal satisfaction with care relative to those with excellent hearing. Among all participants with trouble hearing, hearing aid users had a 17% decrease in the prevalence rate of suboptimal satisfaction with care (PRR = 0.83, 95% CI, 0.78‐0.88) compared to nonusers.ConclusionHearing loss decreases patient satisfaction with health care, which is tied to Medicare hospital reimbursement models. Hearing aid use may improve patient‐provider communication and patient satisfaction, although prospective studies are warranted to truly establish their protective effect.
A note on the predictive control of non‐holonomic systems and underactuated vehicles in the presence of drift
Authors: Ebel Henrik , Rosenfelder Mario , Eberhard Peter 
Published: September 2023

AbstractMotion planning and control of non‐holonomic systems is challenging. Only very recently, it has become clear how model predictive controllers for such systems can be generally furnished in the driftless case, where the key is to design a cost function conforming to the geometry arising from the non‐holonomic constraints. However, in some applications, one cannot neglect drift since the time needed to accelerate is non‐negligible, for example, when operating vehicles with high inertia or at high velocities. Therefore, this contribution extends our previous work on the class of driftless non‐holonomic systems to systems with simple kinds of actuator dynamics that allow to represent the boundedness of acceleration in the model. Moreover, we show in a prototypical example of a simple boat‐like vehicle model that a similar procedure can also work for systems that are not non‐holonomic but still under‐actuated. While the contribution is rather technical in nature, to the knowledge of the authors, it is the first time that MPC controllers with theoretical guarantees are proposed for these kinds of models. Moreover, we expect that the resulting controllers are directly of practical value since even the simpler driftless models are employed successfully in various approaches to motion planning.