bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Screening for atrial fibrillation to prevent stroke: a meta-analysis
Authors: McIntyre William F , Diederichsen Søren Z , Freedman Ben , Schnabel Renate B , Svennberg Emma , Healey Jeff S 
Published: July 2022

Abstract

Aims
We aimed to summarize existing evidence from published randomized trials that assessed atrial fibrillation (AF) screening for stroke prevention.

Methods and results
We searched MEDLINE for randomized trials that enrolled patients without known AF, screened for AF using electrocardiogram-based methods, and reported stroke outcomes. For this analysis, we excluded studies that focused on post-stroke populations. We combined data using a random-effects model and performed trial sequential meta-analysis using an O’Brien-Fleming alpha-spending function.
We identified four randomized clinical trials with a total of 35 836 participants. The populations, screening intervention, and definition of stroke varied markedly. As compared with no screening, AF screening was associated with a reduction in stroke (relative risk 0.91; 95% confidence interval: 0.84–0.99]. Trial sequential meta-analysis found that the cumulative z-score did not cross the stopping boundary.
After polling members of the AF-SCREEN and AFFECT-EU consortia, we identified a further 12 trials that are complete but have not yet reported stroke outcomes or are ongoing and expected to collect stroke outcomes. These consortia are planning an individual participant data meta-analysis which will permit the exploration of methodological heterogeneity.

Conclusions
If and how to screen for AF is an important public health concern. The body of evidence published to date suggests that AF could be effective to prevent strokes in some settings. The AF-SCREEN/AFFECT-EU individual patient data meta-analysis aims to comprehensively assess the benefits and risks of AF screening, and determine how population, screening method, and health-system factors influence stroke prevention.
Counting People in Early Modern England: Registers, Registrars, and Political Arithmetic
Authors: Slack Paul 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Although there was no complete census in England until 1801, there had been counts of people for various purposes in towns and villages since the sixteenth century, and by the end of the seventeenth century political arithmeticians were trying to calculate the total population and its demographic characteristics from a range of documents, old and new. There had even been projects to collect new data from parish registers which in some respects anticipated the civil registers of vital events finally established in 1837. The aim of this paper is to look again at the invention in the sixteenth century of the sources later used for demographic investigation, especially parish registers and bills of mortality; to demonstrate that their value for such purposes was appreciated by contemporaries earlier than has often been assumed; and to show why, when their utility declined in the eighteenth century, it proved impossible to reform them. Pressure from political arithmeticians and a growing sector of the medical profession to redesign the established machinery of registration had no effect because it had become a monopoly in the hands of an ecclesiastical establishment determined to defend it. In the 1530s England acquired a precocious system of national registration, potentially adaptable to multiple uses, but it scarcely changed at all for three hundred years because there was no agreement on how to adapt or replace it.
An overview of the intraoral features and craniofacial morphology of growing and adult Japanese cleidocranial dysplasia subjects
Authors: Shih-Wei Cheng Eric , Tsuji Michiko , Suzuki Shoichi , Moriyama Keiji 
Published: July 2022

SummaryBackgroundOrthodontic treatment for cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) requires an understanding of the nature of the retained deciduous teeth, supernumerary teeth, delayed eruption of the permanent teeth, and craniofacial morphology from childhood to adulthood. This study aimed to provide an overview of the intraoral and craniofacial characteristics of growing and adult Japanese CCD subjects.MethodsWe assessed cross-sectionally the intraoral features of 28 CCD subjects (males, 15.3 ± 7.0 years; females, 15.2 ± 5.1 years) using orthopantomograms and photographs. Mean facial diagrams (profilograms) of 3 age groups (5–10 years, 11–14 years, over 15 years: adult) were constructed, and linear and angular measurements of 2 age groups (under 15 years, adult) were performed by using cephalograms. The data were compared with Japanese standards.ResultsA mean of 11.7 and 8.4 retained deciduous teeth, 10.4 and 15.8 erupted permanent teeth were observed in the adult males and females, and a mean of 6.8 and 5.3 supernumerary teeth were observed in all males and females, respectively. A positive correlation was found between the number of supernumerary teeth and the age at initial visit. Cephalometric analysis showed an average to anteriorly positioned maxilla, a tendency for counter-clockwise rotation of the ramus, and a prognathic mandible in all groups.ConclusionsThe number of supernumerary teeth increased with age. The maxilla was average to anteriorly positioned, and the mandible was counter-clockwise rotated and prognathic for all groups. These characteristic craniofacial morphologies and changes of intraoral conditions at different ages in CCD patients should be considered when proposing rational orthodontic treatment plans.
South African men’s perceptions of breast cancer: impact of gender norms on health care accessibility
Authors: Burgess Raquel , Lekekela Brown , McBride Ruari-Santiago , Eyles John 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) often present to the health care system at advanced stages of breast cancer (BC), leading to poor outcomes. A lack of BC awareness and affordability issues are proposed as contributors to delayed presentation. In many areas of the world, however, women lack the autonomy to deal with their health needs due to restrictive gender norms. The role of gender norms has been relatively underexplored in the BC literature in LMICs and little is known about what men know about BC and how they are involved in women’s access to care. To better understand these factors, we conducted a qualitative descriptive study in South Africa. We interviewed 20 low-income Black men with current woman partners who had not experienced BC. Interviewees had limited knowledge and held specific misconceptions about BC symptoms and treatment. Cancer is not commonly discussed within their community and multiple barriers prevent them from reaching care. Interviewees described themselves as having a facilitative role in their partner’s access to health care, facets of which could inadvertently prevent their partners from autonomously seeking care. The findings point to the need to better consider the role of the male partner in BC awareness efforts in LMICs to facilitate prevention, earlier diagnosis and treatment.
Estimands in cluster-randomized trials: choosing analyses that answer the right question
Authors: Kahan Brennan C , Li Fan , Copas Andrew J , Harhay Michael O 
Published: July 2022

Abstract

Background
Cluster-randomized trials (CRTs) involve randomizing groups of individuals (e.g. hospitals, schools or villages) to different interventions. Various approaches exist for analysing CRTs but there has been little discussion around the treatment effects (estimands) targeted by each.

Methods
We describe the different estimands that can be addressed through CRTs and demonstrate how choices between different analytic approaches can impact the interpretation of results by fundamentally changing the question being asked, or, equivalently, the target estimand.

Results
CRTs can address either the participant-average treatment effect (the average treatment effect across participants) or the cluster-average treatment effect (the average treatment effect across clusters). These two estimands can differ when participant outcomes or the treatment effect depends on the cluster size (referred to as ‘informative cluster size’), which can occur for reasons such as differences in staffing levels or types of participants between small and large clusters. Furthermore, common estimators, such as mixed-effects models or generalized estimating equations with an exchangeable working correlation structure, can produce biased estimates for both the participant-average and cluster-average treatment effects when cluster size is informative. We describe alternative estimators (independence estimating equations and cluster-level analyses) that are unbiased for CRTs even when informative cluster size is present.

Conclusion
We conclude that careful specification of the estimand at the outset can ensure that the study question being addressed is clear and relevant, and, in turn, that the selected estimator provides an unbiased estimate of the desired quantity.
Failure of Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein D Antibodies to Elicit Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity: Implications for Future Vaccines
Authors: Mahant Aakash Mahant , Guerguis Sandra , Blevins Tamara P , Cheshenko Natalia , Gao Wei , Anastos Kathryn , Belshe Robert B , Herold Betsy C 
Published: July 2022

Abstract

Background
The glycoprotein D (gD)/AS04 vaccine failed to prevent herpes simplex virus (HSV) 2 in clinical trials. Failure was recapitulated in mice, in which the vaccine elicited neutralizing antibody but not antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses. Preclinical findings suggest that ADCC is important for protection, but the clinical data are limited. We hypothesized that gD/AS04 and acute HSV-2 infection elicit primarily neutralizing antibodies, whereas ADCC emerges over time.

Methods
HSV-specific immunoglobulin G, subclass, function (neutralization, C1q binding and ADCC), and antigenic targets were compared (paired t test or Mann-Whitney U test) at enrollment and after gD/AS04 vaccination, before and after HSV-2 acquisition in vaccine controls, and in an independent cohort with chronic HSV-2 infection.

Results
Vaccination elicited only a neutralizing antibody response, whereas acute infection elicited neutralizing and C1q-binding antibodies but not a significant ADCC response. Antibodies to gD were exclusively immunoglobulin G1 and only neutralizing. In contrast, women with chronic HSV-2 infection had significantly greater ADCC responses and targeted a broader range of viral antigens compared with acutely infected or gD/AS04 vaccine recipients (P &lt; .001).

Conclusions
Results from gD/AS04 vaccinated or acutely infected women recapitulate murine findings of limited functional antibody responses, supporting the speculation that vaccines that generate polyfunctional and specifically ADCC responses may be required to prevent HSV-2 acquisition and limit recurrences.
Geometric Morphometrics Reveal Shape Differences in the Toes of Urban Lizards
Authors: Howell Bailey K , Winchell Kristin M , Hagey Travis J 
Published: July 2022

Synopsis
Urbanization, despite its destructive effects on natural habitats, offers species an opportunity to colonize novel niches. Previous research found that urban Anolis lizards in Puerto Rico had increased adhesive toepad area and more ventral toepad scales, traits that are likely adaptive and genetically based. We further investigated these phenotypic changes using geometric morphometrics to measure differences in toe shape, toepad shape, and lamellar morphology. Our results indicate that the increased toepad area of urban Anolis cristatellus lizards in Puerto Rico is not simply an isometric increase in toe size. Toes of urban populations exhibit multiple disproportional changes compared to forest lizards, with a larger proportion of the toe length covered in adhesive toepad. In addition, the toepads of urban lizards increase more in length than width. Lastly, lizards in urban populations exhibit both increased number of lamellae as well as increased spacing between individual lamellae. We also observed regional variation, with urban specimens having significantly more disparity, suggesting similar processes of urban adaptation are likely happening in parallel across the island, yet with region-specific idiosyncrasies, possibly generating more variation in toepad morphology across urban specimens as compared to forest specimens. Considering the use of geometric morphometrics, we found that specimen preparation, specifically how flat and straight toes are during imaging, to be an important factor affecting our data, more so than specimen size or any other meaningful morphological variation. In addition, we found that landmark and semilandmark data can be used to directly estimate toepad area, offering the opportunity to streamline future studies. In conclusion, our results highlight the value of considering toepad morphology in more detail beyond adhesive pad area or number of lamellae. Geometric morphometrics tools may be employed to elucidate subtle differences in shape to better allow researchers to connect changes in morphology to ecology and adhesive performance.
Researchers experience of using the regulatory affairs information system (RAIS) in strengthening research compliance in a large research program: A case study of the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in Uganda
Authors: Nabukenya Sylvia , Okoboi Stephen , Nakate Vivian , Twimukye Adelline , Opio Bruce , Castelnuovo Barbara 
Published: July 2022

Abstract

Objective
The aim of this study was to explore researchers’ experience of using the regulatory affairs information system (RAIS) in strengthening research compliance to national ethics guidelines through tracking ethics and regulatory approvals for research projects at the Infectious Diseases Institute.

Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study using purposive sampling of 50 participants who were principal investigators (PI) and study coordinators (SC) of active projects between November 2019 and January 2020. Only 36 of them responded to the survey. We also conducted 12 key informant interviews among PI, SC, and research management at the Institute. We used STATA 13 to analyze responses to the survey. The interviews lasted between 20 and 30 min. We used NVivo 10 software to manage the transcripts and generation of themes.

Results
Majority 19 (52.8%) of those who participated in the survey were study coordinators, 19 (52.8%) had participated in more than 5 research studies, 28 (90.3%) had ever received a notification from the RAIS and 26 (92.9%) submitted requests for renewal of their studies approvals to Ethics committees and regulatory bodies 4 weeks prior to expiration dates. The study also examined participants’ general understanding of the regulatory requirements and all were aware that RECs and NDA grant approval for a period of 1 year, and 35 (97.2%) that UNCST grants approval for the duration of the study. Three prominent themes; researchers’ experiences, benefits, and shortcomings of RAIS were generated from the key informant interviews.

Discussion
Having experience in research coupled with a novel automated system provides a platform for a better understanding of research regulatory requirements, hence compliance to the national guidelines.

Conclusion
Our case study demonstrates that supporting researchers and research institutions in low resource settings with an automated system in tracking expiration dates for research approvals can facilitate compliance to national ethics guidelines.
Calibration method of azimuth electromagnetic boundary detection logging while drilling based on air–seawater double-layer dielectric as reflection interface
Authors: Li Xinghan , Zhang Wenxiu , Chen Peng , Chen Wenxuan , Wang Jun , Zheng Jian , You Jiaqi , Zhang Yali , Li Hong 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
An azimuth electromagnetic propagation logging while drilling tool provides the electrical parameters around a well in the intelligent drilling guidance system. It is a key link in intelligent guidance technology. As the stratum directivity parameter, the azimuth signal is associated with the compensation measurement of the resistivity instrument, which guides the drilling. However, it must be calibrated to have physical significance. The traditional method uses a water tank for calibration. However, this method is affected by the edge effect, which greatly weakens the azimuth signal. The model is complex and difficult to recover, which seriously suppresses the calibration results and causes errors in the azimuth signal. To eliminate the edge effect and simplify the model to improve the signal quality, an instrument calibration method based on sea level as the reflection interface is proposed in this paper. The air–seawater structure can simplify the calculation model, eliminate the edge effect and improve the signal strength. According to 1D air–seawater model simulation and 3D water tank model calculation, the feasibility of the simplified model is analyzed. According to the azimuth signal characteristics of the simplified model, an azimuth signal correction process that is more suitable for azimuth electromagnetic propagation logging while drilling is proposed. The measured data show that the air–seawater model improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the azimuth signal, verifies the detection ability of the azimuth antenna and provides technical support for oil and gas development in complex reservoirs.
Morphological and Molecular Identification ofCulicoides(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) Species of the Southern California Desert
Authors: Zhang Xinmi , Phillips Robert A , Gerry Alec C 
Published: July 2022

AbstractCulicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) biting midges are vectors of important animal pathogens including bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV). While some Culicoides species present in the southern California desert are implicated in the transmission of these viruses to ruminant animals, these species have not been extensively studied due in part to the challenge of identifying Culicoides to species and to the lack of published gene sequences for these species to support their molecular identification. In this study, Culicoides were captured using suction traps baited with either carbon dioxide or UV light from transitional habitat between the southern California peninsular mountain ranges and the Colorado desert of southeastern California. Captured midges were initially identified using traditional morphological methods, with species identification subsequently confirmed by sequence analysis of COI and 28S rDNA genes. Phylogenetic analyses support that some Culicoides subgenera are not monophyletic. Two recognized species (C. sitiens Wirth and Hubert and C. bakeri Vargas) shared the same COI and 28S sequences. An additional cryptic species may be present within C. sitiens. Two additional recognized species (C. cacticola Wirth and Hubert and C. torridus Wirth and Hubert) may be conspecific or cryptic to each other. In total, 19 Culicoides species (or species aggregate) were collected in this study, with genetic sequences published for the first time for 16 of them. Published genetic sequences will support future research on these species, including studies on the ecology and habits of their immature stages which are often tedious to identify using morphology.
‘This Crime is Not That Crime’—Classification and evaluation of four common crimes
Authors: Xu Ke , Liu Hangyu , Wang Fang , Wang Hansheng 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
As the basis of criminal penalty, criminal conviction, integral to the protection of fundamental rights and freedom of people constitutes the basis and the core issue of criminal trials. Based on the data published on China Judgments Online, we proposed two types of classification models to apply the data of four common crimes from China Judgments Online and expounded their applications in identifying ‘abnormal cases’, defined as wrongly sentenced cases in this article. The two types of classification models we proposed are a two-stage model and two deep learning models. To construct the two-stage model, we first used three keyword-extraction models to extract the keywords and vectorize all the keywords, then used five classification models to build the two-stage model. For the deep learning models, we applied two different deep neural network models in the data to build the classifier. We then applied these two types of classification models to discover ‘abnormal cases’ in two steps. In the first step, we applied the two-stage model to extract the ‘important words’ which will significantly improve the probability of the two-stage model to classify cases into crimes of intentional injury. In the second step, we constructed a validation data set of cases whose verdicts are changed in the second instance rulings to test the ‘important words’ extracted in first step and the ability of the two-stage model and the two deep learning models to discover ‘abnormal cases’. The results of this exercise show that: (1) ‘important words’ extracted in the first step are often associated with ‘abnormal cases’; (2) these two types of classification models can effectively discover ‘abnormal cases’, but compared with the two deep learning models, the two-stage model (aka. Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and Artificial Neural Network, the combination of a keyword extraction model and a classic machine-learning model) is more capable of discovering ‘abnormal cases’.
Weather forecast of the Milky Way: shear and stellar feedback determine the lives of Galactic-scale filaments
Authors: Li Guang-Xing , Zhou Ji-Xuan , Chen Bing-Qiu 
Published: July 2022

ABSTRACT
The interstellar medium (ISM) is an inseparable part of the Milky Way ecosystem whose evolutionary history remains a challenging question. We trace the evolution of the molecular ISM using a sample of young stellar objects (YSO) association–molecular cloud complex (YSO–MC complex). We derive their three-dimensional (3D) velocities by combining the Gaia astrometric measurements of the YSO associations and the CO observations of the associated molecular clouds. Based on the 3D velocities, we simulate the motions of the YSO–MC complexes in the Galactic potential and forecast the ISM evolution by tracing the motions of the individual complexes, and reveal the roles of shear and stellar feedback in determining ISM evolution: Galactic shear stretches Galactic-scale molecular cloud complexes, such as the G120 Complex, into Galactic-scale filaments, and it also contributes to the destruction of the filaments; while stellar feedback creates interconnected superbubbles whose expansion injects peculiar velocities into the ISM. The Galactic-scale molecular gas clumps are often precursors of the filaments and the Galactic-scale filaments are transient structures under a constant stretch by shear. This evolutionary sequence sets a foundation to interpret other gas structures.