bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and incidence of neuromuscular conditions in the UK between 2000 and 2019: A retrospective study using primary care data
Authors: Carey Iain M. , Banchoff Emma , Nirmalananthan Niranjanan , Harris Tess , DeWilde Stephen , Chaudhry Umar A. R. , Cook Derek G. 
Published: December 2021

Background
In the UK, large-scale electronic primary care datasets can provide up-to-date, accurate epidemiological information on rarer diseases, where specialist diagnoses from hospital discharges and clinic letters are generally well recorded and electronically searchable. Current estimates of the number of people living with neuromuscular disease (NMD) have largely been based on secondary care data sources and lacked direct denominators.

Objective
To estimate trends in the recording of neuromuscular disease in UK primary care between 2000–2019.

Methods
The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) database was searched electronically to estimate incidence and prevalence rates (per 100,000) for a range of NMDs in each year. To compare trends over time, rates were age standardised to the most recent CPRD population (2019).

Results
Approximately 13 million patients were actively registered in each year. By 2019, 28,230 active patients had ever received a NMD diagnosis (223.6), which was higher among males (239.0) than females (208.3). The most common classifications were Guillain-Barre syndrome (40.1), myasthenia gravis (33.7), muscular dystrophy (29.5), Charcot-Marie-Tooth (29.5) and inflammatory myopathies (25.0). Since 2000, overall prevalence grew by 63%, with the largest increases seen at older ages (≥65-years). However, overall incidence remained constant, though myasthenia gravis incidence has risen steadily since 2008, while new cases of muscular dystrophy fell over the same period.

Conclusions
Lifetime recording of many NMDs on primary care records exceed current estimates of people living with these conditions; these are important data for health service and care planning. Temporal trends suggest this number is steadily increasing, and while this may partially be due to better recording, it cannot be simply explained by new cases, as incidence remained constant. The increase in prevalence among older ages suggests increases in life expectancy among those living with NMDs may have occurred.
Exploring factors influencing patient mortality and loss to follow-up in two paediatric hospital wards in Zamfara, North-West Nigeria, 2016–2018
Authors: Maisa Anna , Lawal Abdulhakeem Mohammed , Islam Tarikul , Nwankwo Chijioke , Oluyide Bukola , Fotso Adolphe , Roggeveen Harriet , van der Kam Saskia , Ariti Cono , Bil Karla , Lenglet Annick 
Published: December 2021

Introduction
Child mortality has been linked to infectious diseases, malnutrition and lack of access to essential health services. We investigated possible predictors for death and patients lost to follow up (LTFU) for paediatric patients at the inpatient department (IPD) and inpatient therapeutic feeding centre (ITFC) of the Anka General Hospital (AGH), Zamfara State, Nigeria, to inform best practices at the hospital.

Methods
We conducted a retrospective cohort review study using routinely collected data of all patient admissions to the IPD and ITFC with known hospital exit status between 2016 and 2018. Unadjusted and adjusted rate ratios (aRR) and respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using Poisson regression to estimate the association between the exposure variables and mortality as well as LTFU.

Results
The mortality rate in IPD was 22% lower in 2018 compared to 2016 (aRR 0.78; 95% CI 0.66–0.93) and 70% lower for patients coming from lead-affected villages compared to patients from other villages (aRR 0.30; 95% CI 0.19–0.48). The mortality rate for ITFC patients was 41% higher during rainy season (aRR 1.41; 95% CI 1.2–1.6). LTFU rates in ITFC increased in 2017 and 2018 when compared to 2016 (aRR 1.6; 95% CI 1.2–2.0 and aRR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1–1.8) and patients in ITFC had 2.5 times higher LTFU rates when coming from a lead-affected village.

Conclusions
Our data contributes clearer understanding of the situation in the paediatric wards in AGH in Nigeria, but identifying specific predictors for the multifaceted nature of mortality and LTFU is challenging. Mortality in paediatric patients in IPD of AGH improved during the study period, which is likely linked to better awareness of the hospital, but still remains high. Access to healthcare due to seasonal restrictions contributes to mortalities due to late presentation. Increased awareness of and easier access to healthcare, such as for patients living in lead-affected villages, which are still benefiting from an MSF lead poisoning intervention, decreases mortalities, but increases LTFU. We recommend targeted case audits and qualitative studies to better understand the role of health-seeking behaviour, and social and traditional factors in the use of formal healthcare in this part of Nigeria and potentially similar settings in other countries.
Transcriptomic profiling of adjuvant colorectal cancer identifies three key prognostic biological processes and a disease specific role for granzyme B
Authors: Daemen Anneleen , Udyavar Akshata R. , Sandmann Thomas , Li Congfen , Bosch Linda J. W. , O’Gorman William , Li Yijin , Au-Yeung Amelia , Takahashi Chikara , Kabbarah Omar , Bourgon Richard , Hegde Priti , Bais Carlos , Das Thakur Meghna 
Published: December 2021

Background
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with a 5% 5-year survival rate for metastatic disease, yet with limited therapeutic advancements due to insufficient understanding of and inability to accurately capture high-risk CRC patients who are most likely to recur. We aimed to improve high-risk classification by identifying biological pathways associated with outcome in adjuvant stage II/III CRC.

Methods and findings
We included 1062 patients with stage III or high-risk stage II colon carcinoma from the prospective three-arm randomized phase 3 AVANT trial, and performed expression profiling to identify a prognostic signature. Data from validation cohort GSE39582, The Cancer Genome Atlas, and cell lines were used to further validate the prognostic biology. Our retrospective analysis of the adjuvant AVANT trial uncovered a prognostic signature capturing three biological functions—stromal, proliferative and immune—that outperformed the Consensus Molecular Subtypes (CMS) and recurrence prediction signatures like Oncotype Dx in an independent cohort. Importantly, within the immune component, high granzyme B (GZMB) expression had a significant prognostic impact while other individual T-effector genes were less or not prognostic. In addition, we found GZMB to be endogenously expressed in CMS2 tumor cells and to be prognostic in a T cell independent fashion. A limitation of our study is that these results, although robust and derived from a large dataset, still need to be clinically validated in a prospective study.

Conclusions
This work furthers our understanding of the underlying biology that propagates stage II/III CRC disease progression and provides scientific rationale for future high-risk stratification and targeted treatment evaluation in biomarker defined subpopulations of resectable high-risk CRC. Our results also shed light on an alternative GZMB source with context-specific implications on the disease’s unique biology.
CAN TROIDES HELENA AND PACHLIOPTA ADAMAS CO-EXIST? A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE BUTTERFLY BREEDING FACILITY, CIBINONG SCIENCE CENTER, INDONESIA
Authors: Peggie Djunijanti , Supadi Supadi , Guntoro Guntoro , Rasyidi Muhammad 
Published: December 2021

Troides helena and Pachliopta adamas utilize the same food plant species: Aristolochia acuminata. For the purpose of captive breeding and conservation, it is desirable to find out whether they can co-exist in captivity. Captive breeding research was conducted on the butterfly species within the period of October 2016 to September 2019. In total, 1,361 individuals were observed. Data on adult emergence of the species is presented to show population trends. Both species co-existed poorly at the facility when food plants were limited. It took 45.9 days for T. helena helena and 32.6 days for Pc. adamas adamas from egg to imago stage. Habitat enrichment can encourage the species to come and establish the population.
Correlation Between Settlement Environmental Quality and Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Disease of Gayamsari Sub-District, Semarang
Authors: Putra Ary Mandhara , Pigawati Bitta 
Published: December 2021

Settlement area with high population density and situated in unfeasible location cause the quality of settlement environment to be low. The low quality of settlement environment has the potential to cause Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI). This study aimed to explain the correlation of settlement environmental quality and incidence of ARI disease in Gayamsari Sub-District, Semarang. This research used a quantitative descriptive spatial approach by using remote sensing technique and Geographic Information System (GIS). The result showed that there is a high and significant correlation between settlement environmental quality and acute respiratory infection (ARI) Incidence, especially happened in Kaligawe and Tambakrejo village.
Temperature Acquisition System for Real Time Application of First Velocity Correction by EDM (Electronic Distance Measurement)
Authors: Carvajal Rodriguez Felipe Andrés , Koenig Veiga Luis Augusto , Alcântara Soares Wilson 
Published: December 2021

The first velocity correction is used to correct the measured distance affected by the velocity variation of the electromagnetic wave propagation in a medium. This correction depends on the refractive index of the propagation medium and reference refractive index. The influence of the temperature in the medium refractive index is critical; some estimates establish that variation 1°C causes 1ppm of error in distances. In the measuring processes with total stations, the temperature is usually collected at only one point, for example, in the position where the measuring instrument is setup. However, the wave propagates in a medium of non-constant temperature, where the extremes of the line can present variations and thus this measurement in only one point could be non-representative. In this context, it was developed a low-cost real-time temperature acquisition system. This system provides the temperature values in different locations allowing their monitoring through the time. Experiments realized during the geodetic monitoring of a dam, show variations up to 8°C among geodetic points on the dam and around it. An analysis was development to evaluate the influence of temperature variations on monitoring distances and geodetic coordinate of a 2d network with different approaches (temperature modeling). The results shows different values for distances (1.0 mm) and coordinates (0.5 mm) depending of the approach choose.
IDENTIFICATION OF MULTIPLE BUBBLES IN TURKISH FINANCIAL MARKETS: EVIDENCE FROM GSADF APPROACH
Authors: GÖK Remzi 
Published: December 2021

This study examines the explosive behavior in the five local market prices of stock indices (in USD and TRY),
bond, CDS, gold, and currency exchange rate of USDTRY at weekly observations over the sample period
between 2005 and 2021. We find strong evidence of bubble formations in bond, gold, and currency markets
during the crisis (financial and pandemic, such as ongoing COVID-19 outbreak) and non-crisis periods.
The findings show both unidirectional and bidirectional causal linkages under the homoscedasticity and
heteroscedasticity assumptions. Additionally, the causation is most pronounced under the homoscedastic
model between the currency market with the CDS, gold, and stock markets.
Subsidising Formal Childcare Versus Grandmothers' Time: Which Policy is More Effective?
Authors: Osuna Victoria 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
This article quantifies the relative effectiveness of childcare subsidies and subsidies on grandmothers’ time on married mothers’ employment and fertility rates, paying special attention to heterogeneous effects. A heterogeneous agent model, populated by married households who make decisions related to labour supply and fertility, and the Spanish economy are used as a benchmark for calibration. The results indicate that childcare subsidies conditional on employment are more effective than subsidies on grandmothers’ time to foster the participation of married mothers in the labour force. However, they induce women to work fewer hours, unless after-school hours are also subsidised. This overtime subsidy is also necessary for the fertility rate to increase, but it implies a significant adjustment in tax rates to maintain the same fiscal balance. If the aim is simply to raise the employment rate of mothers of children aged 2 years or younger, then subsidising childcare costs only is more effective because the fiscal effort is lower. Regarding the heterogeneous effects, in all the policies studied, the growth in female employment is mainly accounted for by the behaviour of women without tertiary education while that of fertility is accounted for by women with tertiary education. Considerations related to inequality and distributional effects of these policies would also seem to favour childcare subsidies versus subsidies on grandmothers’ time.
Investigating the roles of first language (L1) speakers in lingua franca communication in multicultural classrooms: a case study of Japanese as a Lingua Franca (JLF)
Authors: Yamada Etsuko 
Published: December 2021

AbstractIn the Expanding Circle (i.e. countries where English is traditionally learned as a “foreign language”), the conceptlingua francacannot be limited to English. Conducted in a Japanese university, this study reports on the perceptions of verbal behaviours by students in multicultural courses where international and Japanese students studied together. These behaviours were analysed and the findings from English medium instruction courses and those of Japanese-medium instruction (JMI) courses were compared. Then, further analysis centred on JMI courses to explore the roles of Japanese L1 speakers in the co-construction of Japanese as a lingua franca with a focus on cognitive and psychological, rather than linguistic, perspectives. Rapport building, accommodation strategies, often initiated by L1 Japanese speakers, and the spontaneous interactions of second language (L2) speakers in discussions, are assumed to have been the keys to more inclusive interactions in JMI courses. The findings emphasize the importance of students’ attitudes and imply that intercultural education in the context, including both L1 speakers and L2 speakers, will have potential to foster effective lingua franca users.
English as a lingua franca defined by pre-service teachers: insights from theory and practice
Authors: Kemaloglu-Er Elif , Bayyurt Yasemin 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Despite the sheer reality of English used as a lingua franca in and outside L2 English classrooms, many teachers are still unaware of the concept of English as a lingua franca (ELF), which makes integration of ELF awareness into teacher education essential. This study presents an “ELF-aware” education model for pre-service teachers and analyses the definitions of ELF made by the pre-service teachers exposed to this model before, during and after their training and documents the ways they changed, if any. The data were collected by an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews which were thematically analysed. According to our findings, ELF conceptualizations reveal increased awareness. Perceptions of ELF changed from a global concept to a communicative construct and ultimately to a humanistic pedagogical perspective accepting non-native users of English with their own variability. The data imply the evolving roles of the participants from (i) outsiders to ELF to (ii) ELF-aware users and owners of English and ultimately to (iii) potential ELF-aware practitioners and disseminators of ELF knowledge. With variability of definitions and implied roles changing at each phase of the training, the ELF-aware pre-service teacher education model has proved to be effective in making the participants increasingly aware of the ELF concept.
Language shift and language (re)vitalisation: the roles played by women and men in Northern Fenno-Scandia
Authors: Bull Tove , Huss Leena , Lindgren Anna-Riitta 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
The research question of the present paper is the following: to what degree (if any) is gender relevant as an explanatory factor in, firstly, the process of assimilation and later, the process of (re)vitalisation of indigenous and minority languages in northern Fenno-Scandia (the North Calotte)? The assimilation of the ethnic groups in question was a process initiated and lead by the authorities in the three different countries. Finland, Sweden and Norway. Nevertheless, members of the indigenous and minority groups also took part in practicing, though, not necessarily promoting, the official assimilation politics, for different reasons. (Re)vitalisation, on the other hand, was initially – and still is – mostly a process stemming from the minority groups themselves, though the authorities to a certain extent have embraced it. The paper thus addresses the question of whether gender played a role in the two different processes, assimilation and (re)vitalisation, and if that was the case, how and why.
Sintering Bi2O3–B2O3–ZnO ternary low temperature glass by hydration device to solidify iodine containing silver-coated silica gel
Authors: Han Wenhong , Wei Guilin , Liu Yi , Lu Xirui , Chen Shunzhang , Zhang Zhentao , Xie Yi , Shu Xiaoyan 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
A new glass solidification process aims at radioactive iodine waste was explored in order to reduce the possible harm to environment. Samples with different iodine content in silver-coated silica gel were pretreated by hydration device at 300 °C and then sintered at relatively low temperatures (500, 550 and 600 °C). XRD results show that AgI is mainly chemically fixed in the glass network with some AgI particles being physically wrapped by the glass. Moreover, as the sintering temperature reached to 550 °C, B element crystallized. SEM-EDS results show that Ag and I elements are enriched, while the other elements are evenly distributed. AFM results showed that the sample surface becomes rougher as the iodine content increases in the silver coated silica gel. The FT-IR results show that the structure of the sintered sample is mainly composed of [BiO3], [BiO6] and [BO3]. This study provides a new sintering method by hydration device for the treatment of radioactive iodine waste.
A review of microplastic pollution in commercial fish for human consumption
Authors: Makhdoumi Pouran , Hossini Hooshyar , Pirsaheb Meghdad 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Today microplastics (MPs) have received worldwide attention as an emerging environmental pollution which is one of the four major global environmental threat and health hazard to human as well. Unfortunately, MPs have been founded in the all environments and media include air, water resources, sediments, and soil. It should not be forgotten MPs have also been detected in food and processing products like tuna. MPs can be ingested by marine organisms such as zooplankton, fish and birds. Accumulation and distribution of MPs by commercially important aquatic organisms is expected to lead to greater exposure risk for human populations with possible adverse effects over time. The aim of this work was to review the published literature regarding the contamination of commercial fish muscle for human consumption. Furthermore, a short revision of the environmental contamination and human health effects by MPs are included. We also estimated human daily intake considering the worldwide contamination of commercial fish muscle ranged from 0.016 items/g muscle of fish to 6.06 items/g muscle of fish. MPs have been found in 56.5% of the commercial fish samples analysed here. As fish is used in human food table across the word, they constitute a long-term exposure route for all humans and raise the concern about the potential public health risk.
Section Discrepancy and Diagnostic Performance of Breast Lesions in Two-dimensional Ultrasound by Dynamic Videos versus Static Images
Authors: Yang Dinghong , Xiao Xiaoyun , Wang Haohu , Wu Huan , Qin Wei , Guan Xiaofeng , Jiang Qiongchao , Luo Baoming 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Background: Benign or malignant breast lesions with typical ultrasonic characteristics could be easily and correctly diagnosed with two-dimensional ultrasound (2D US). However, diagnosis of atypical lesions remains a challenge. Most atypical lesions have different ultrasonographic features with probe direction variation. Thus, the interpretation of ultrasonographic features based on static images empirically collected by sonographers might be inaccurate. We aimed to investigate the section discrepancy and diagnostic performance of breast lesions in 2D US by dynamic videos versus static images.

Methods: Static images and dynamic videos based on two perpendicular planes of 468 breast lesions were collected and evaluated. The Breast Imaging and Reporting Data System (BI-RADS®) US lexicon was used. Category 3 was used as the cut-off point, and section discrepancy was defined as two perpendicular planes showing different BI-RADS categories (3 versus 4A, 4B, 4C, and 5).

Results: This retrospective study included 315 benign and 153 malignant lesions. There were 53 and 50 lesions with section discrepancy during static and dynamic observations, respectively. The proportion of benign lesions with section discrepancy was significantly higher than that of malignant lesions (P < 0.05) either in dynamic or static observation, and the contingency coefficient was 0.2 between section discrepancy and histopathology. Duct changes were more clearly depicted in dynamic videos than in static images (P < 0.05) both in malignant and benign lesions. Calcification and architectural distortion were more sensitively detected by dynamic videos than with static images (P < 0.05) in malignant lesions. The interpretation of “margin” significantly differed in benign lesions between static images and dynamic videos (P < 0.05). The areas under the curve of static image-horizontal, static image-sagittal, dynamic video-horizontal, and dynamic video-sagittal were 0.807, 0.820, 0.837, and 0.846, respectively. The specificities of dynamic videos were higher than those of static images (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Breast lesions have section discrepancy in 2D US. Observations based on dynamic videos could more accurately reflect lesion features and increase the specificity of US in the differentiation of atypical breast lesions.