bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Scope of practice of optometrists working in the UK Hospital Eye Service: Second national survey
Authors: Gunn Patrick J G , Creer Rosalind C , Bowen Michael , Tromans Cindy , Jackson Andrew Jonathan , Tompkin Andrew P , Harper Robert A 
Published: February 2022

AbstractPurposeAs the landscape in ophthalmology and related commissioning continues to change, there is a pressing need to re‐evaluate the current scope of practice of hospital optometrists working within secondary care in the UK. We aim to establish if the skills or services delivered by optometrists have changed to meet varying demands, and to better understand what changes in practice may have arisen as a result of COVID‐19.MethodA survey developed from that used in 2015 was disseminated to 129 optometry Hospital Eye Service (HES) leads in September 2020, including questions on department workforce; core services; extended roles; procedures undertaken within extended roles; level of autonomy; arrangements for prescribing; training and accreditation, and service changes in response to COVID‐19.ResultsNinety responses were received (70% response rate) from within England (76%), Scotland (22%) and Northern Ireland (2%). Whole time equivalents within units ranged from 0.4–79.2 (median of 2.5). In comparison to the 2015 survey, there was an increase in the proportion of units delivering extended roles, with glaucoma (88%) remaining the most common extended role, and new areas of practice in uveitis (21%) and vitreoretinal (13%) services. There was increased use of independent prescribing (67%) in comparison to 18% in 2015 and there was an increase in optometrists delivering laser interventions. In response to COVID‐19, optometrists were increasingly delivering telephone consultations and there were new collaborations between primary and secondary care.ConclusionsOptometrists’ scope of practice continues to develop in the HES with an increased variety of roles and an apparent increase in the number of units employing optometrists, often working in roles historically performed by medical practitioners. Such changes appear necessary in recovery and transformation within ophthalmology, alongside wider optometry changes arising at the interface of primary and secondary care.
Very early versus early referral for ablation in young patients with newly diagnosed paroxysmal atrial fibrillation
Authors: D'Angelo Robert N. , Khanna Rahul , Wong Charlene , Yeh Robert W. , Goldstein Laura , Marcello Stephen , Tung Patricia , D'Avila Andre , Zimetbaum Peter J. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractBackgroundCatheter ablation (CA) has emerged as an effective therapy for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF); however it is unclear whether proceeding expeditiously to CA improves clinical outcomes in a real‐world population. This study compares outcomes of CA for new AF within 6 months of diagnosis (very early) 6 to 12 months after diagnosis (early) and 12 to 24 months after diagnosis (later).MethodsA large nationally‐representative sample of patients ages 18 to 64 who underwent CA from January 2011 to June 2019 was studied using the IBM MarketScan Database. The primary outcome was a composite of healthcare utilization over the following 24 months. Propensity score‐matching was used to match patients in each cohort. Risk difference in outcomes were compared between matched patients.ResultsTwo thousand six hundred thirty one patients were identified postmatching, with 1649 in the very early cohort and 982 in the early cohort. The very early referral group was less likely to experience the primary composite outcome postablation (Absolute risk difference [ARD]: −3.9%; 95% Confidence interval [CI]: −5.8%, −2.0%), with the difference driven by fewer cardioversions (ARD: −2.9%, 95% CI: −5.3%, −0.5%) and outpatient visits (ARD: −6.6%, 95% CI: −10.5%, −2.7%). There was no difference in outcomes between early and later referral groups, with only very early referral showing decreased healthcare utilization.ConclusionsPatients who underwent ablation within 6 months of diagnosis had lower healthcare utilization in the ensuing 24 months, driven by fewer outpatient visits and cardioversions, supporting expeditious referral for ablation for symptomatic AF.
The journey of adolescent paranoia: A qualitative study with patients attending child and adolescent mental health services
Authors: Bird Jessica C. , Freeman Daniel , Waite Felicity 
Published: February 2022

AbstractObjectivesParanoia is most likely to emerge in adolescence. In adolescents with mental health disorders, the disruptive effect of paranoia on social relationships could worsen outcomes. However, little is known about clinical presentations of paranoia at this age. We therefore explored the development, experience, and impact of paranoia in adolescent patients.DesignA qualitative interview design with interpretative phenomenological analysis was used.MethodTwelve adolescents (11–17 years) with paranoia attending child and adolescent mental health services were interviewed.ResultsAdolescents described a journey starting with their awareness of paranoia beginning to a paranoid experience of mistrust and fear of others, and, subsequently, their adjustment to paranoia in daily life. Paranoia onset was rooted in the discovery of interpersonal threat and personal vulnerability, shaped by challenging peer interactions, becoming aware of danger in the world, and personal adverse experiences. The paranoia experience included a struggle to trust friends, anticipating threat with intense fear, and using defensive strategies to keep safe. Adolescents described how the paranoia experience was confusing, negatively impacted self‐concept, held them back from teenage life, and caused disconnection from friends. Longer‐term responses to paranoia reflected a tension between reluctantly resigning to the experience and trying to resist the impact.ConclusionsThe journey of paranoia in adolescence involves navigating multiple tensions, with young people balancing independence with vulnerability, trust with mistrust, and the desire to socialise with a fear of danger and deception. Decisions about how to respond to paranoia are likely to determine the next stage of their journey.
In situ deletions reveal regulatory components for expression of an intracellular immune receptor gene and its co‐expressed genes in Arabidopsis
Authors: Yu Huiyun , Yang Leiyun , Li Zhan , Sun Feng , Li Bo , Guo Shengsong , Wang Yong‐Fei , Zhou Tong , Hua Jian 
Published: February 2022

AbstractIntracellular immune receptor nucleotide‐binding leucine‐rich repeats (NLRs) are highly regulated transcriptionally and post‐transcriptionally for balanced plant defense and growth. NLR genes often exist in gene clusters and are usually co‐expressed under various conditions. Despite intensive studies of the regulation of NLR proteins, cis‐acting elements for NLR gene induction, repression or co‐expression are largely unknown due to a larger than usual cis‐region for their expression regulation. Here we used the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology to generate a series of in situ deletions at the endogenous location of an NLR gene SNC1 residing in the RPP5 gene cluster. These deletions that made in the wild type and the SNC1 constitutive expressing autoimmune mutant bon1 revealed both positive and negative cis‐acting elements for SNC1 expression. Two transcription factors that could bind to these elements were found to have an impact on the expression of SNC1. In addition, co‐expression of two genes with SNC1 in the same cluster is found to be mostly dependent on the SNC1 function. Therefore, SNC1 expression is under complex local regulation involving multiple cis‐elements and SNC1 itself is a critical regulator of gene expression of other NLR genes in the same gene cluster.
Fight inventory shrinkage: Simultaneous learning of inventory level and shrinkage rate
Authors: Li Rong , Song Jing‐Sheng Jeannette , Sun Shuxiao , Zheng Xiaona 
Published: February 2022

In 2020, inventory shrinkage eroded $61.7 billion profit in the U.S. retail industry. Unfortunately, fighting inventory shrinkage to protect retailers' already slim profits is challenging due to unknown shrinkage rates and invisible inventory levels. While the latter has been studied in the literature, the former has not. To deal with this challenge, we introduce two new features to the Bayesian inventory models: (1) interleaving customer and theft arrival processes that contribute to actual sales and shrinkages, respectively, and (2) learning of both inventory level and shrinkage rate. We first derive the learning formulae using the triple‐censored sales data (invisible lost sales, shrinkages, and “lost shrinkages”) and then use them to construct a POMDP (partially observable Markov decision process) model for making inventory and loss prevention decisions. For a different level of information deficiency, we analyze the model property and design heuristic order policies to capture the benefit of learning. Through a numerical study, we show that our estimated shrinkage rate converges quickly and monotonically to the actual value. For products with high shrinkage rates (5–12%), our heuristic policy can help seize 82–94% of the ideal profit retailers could earn under full information. We note that feature (1) of our model is crucial. It not only reflects the actual arrival order but also allows us to learn the unknown shrinkage rate, which, in turn, can prevent serious underordering and vicious inventory cycles and can increase the profit by 108% in some cases. Our approach thus enables both effective inventory management and early identification of ineffective loss prevention strategies, reducing shrinkage, and increasing sales and profit.
Extreme sugar accumulation in late fig ripening is accompanied by global changes in sugar metabolism and transporter gene expression
Authors: Lama Kumar , Chai Li‐Juan , Peer Reut , Ma Huiqin , Yeselson Yelena , Schaffer Arthur A. , Flaishman Moshe A. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractFemale fig (Ficus carica L.) fruit are characterized by a major increase in volume and sugar content during the final week of development. A detailed developmental analysis of water and dry matter accumulation during these final days indicated a temporal separation between the increase in volume due to increasing water content and a subsequent sharp increase in sugar content during a few days. The results present fig as an extreme example of sugar import and accumulation, with calculated import rates that are one order of magnitude higher than those of other sugar‐accumulating sweet fruit species. To shed light on the metabolic changes occurring during this period, we followed the expression pattern of 80 genes encoding sugar metabolism enzymes and sugar transporter proteins identified in fig fruit. A parallel comparison with male fig fruits, which do not accumulate sugar during ripening, highlighted the genes specifically related to sugar accumulation. Tissue‐specific analysis indicated that the expression of genes involved in sugar metabolism and transport undergoes a global transition.
Validation of a new impedance cardiography analysis algorithm for clinical classification of stress states
Authors: Sheikh Shafa‐at Ali , Gurel Nil Z. , Gupta Shishir , Chukwu Ikenna V. , Levantsevych Oleksiy , Alkhalaf Mhmtjamil , Soudan Majd , Abdulbaki Rami , Haffar Ammer , Clifford Gari D. , Inan Omer T. , Shah Amit J. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractPre‐ejection period (PEP) is an index of sympathetic nervous system activity that can be computed from electrocardiogram (ECG) and impedance cardiogram (ICG) signals, but sensitive to speech/motion artifact. We sought to validate an ICG noise removal method, three‐stage ensemble‐average algorithm (TEA), in data acquired from a clinical trial comparing active versus sham non‐invasive vagal nerve stimulation (tcVNS) after standardized speech stress. We first compared TEA's performance versus the standard conventional ensemble‐average algorithm (CEA) approach to classify noisy ICG segments. We then analyzed ECG and ICG data to measure PEP and compared group‐level differences in stress states with each approach. We evaluated 45 individuals, of whom 23 had post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We found that the TEA approach identified artifact‐corrupted beats with intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.99 compared to expert adjudication. TEA also resulted in higher group‐level differences in PEP between stress states than CEA. PEP values were lower in the speech stress (vs. baseline rest) group using both techniques, but the differences were greater using TEA (12.1 ms) than CEA (8.0 ms). PEP differences in groups divided by PTSD status and tcVNS (active vs. sham) were also greater when using the TEA versus CEA method, although the magnitude of the differences was lower. In conclusion, TEA helps to accurately identify noisy ICG beats during speaking stress, and this increased accuracy improves sensitivity to group‐level differences in stress states compared to CEA, suggesting greater clinical utility.
Monitoring the effect of oxytocin on the neural sensitivity to emotional faces via frequency‐tagging EEG: A double‐blind, cross‐over study
Authors: Van der Donck Stephanie , Moerkerke Matthijs , Dlhosova Tereza , Vettori Sofie , Dzhelyova Milena , Alaerts Kaat , Boets Bart 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is suggested to exert an important role in human social behaviors by modulating the salience of social cues. To date, however, there is mixed evidence whether a single dose of OXT can improve the behavioral and neural sensitivity for emotional face processing. To overcome difficulties encountered with classic event‐related potential studies assessing stimulus‐saliency, we applied frequency‐tagging EEG to implicitly assess the effect of a single dose of OXT (24 IU) on the neural sensitivity for positive and negative facial emotions. Neutral faces with different identities were presented at 6 Hz, periodically interleaved with an expressive face (angry, fearful, and happy, in separate sequences) every fifth image (i.e., 1.2 Hz oddball frequency). These distinctive frequency tags for neutral and expressive stimuli allowed direct and objective quantification of the neural expression‐categorization responses. The study involved a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over trial with 31 healthy adult men. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find an effect of OXT on facial emotion processing, neither at the neural, nor at the behavioral level. A single dose of OXT did not evoke social enhancement in general, nor did it affect social approach‐avoidance tendencies. Possibly ceiling performances in facial emotion processing might have hampered further improvement.
The debt crisis, austerity measures, and suicide in Greece
Authors: Kubrin Charis E. , Bartos Bradley J. , McCleary Richard 
Published: February 2022

AbstractBackgroundHow are economic downturns and suicide related?ObjectiveThis study examines the link between economically driven austerity measures implemented during a recent economic downturn—the Greek debt crisis—and suicide for the population as a whole, as well as for men and women separately.MethodsUtilizing a 50‐nation panel containing annual suicide counts and population demographics for the years 1995–2015 from the World Health Organization's Mortality archive, the analysis employs a synthetic control design, a quasi‐experimental approach that allows us to causally model the relationship between Greece's International Monetary Fund‐imposed austerity measures and suicide, something that has hampered prior research efforts.ResultsFindings show austerity policies corresponded with increased suicide rates in Greece for the population as a whole and for men and women. Robustness tests confirm these results.ConclusionsWe discuss the implications of the findings for the current economic crisis associated with the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Protests in Russia's regions: The influence of regional governance
Authors: Clardie Justin 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThis study addresses the question of what accounts for variation in the number of protests across Russia's regions. The article argues that protests in Russia are best framed as acts of political communication, in which the protestors are making claims against local government entities as opposed to the national government. Viewed in this way, protest can be viewed as accountability mechanisms directed toward local and regional governments. Examining protests across 82 Russian regions from 2007 to 2010 finds that the quality of local governance is a significant factor in explaining the variation of the number of protests, whereas support for the national government is not significant.
Context and the Perceived Fairness of Price Increases Coming out of COVID‐19
Authors: Chavanne David , Danz Zak , Dribssa Jitu , Powell Rachel , Sambor Matthew 
Published: February 2022

AbstractObjectiveAs the U.S. economy responds to prolonged COVID‐19 disruptions, it is important to understand what factors affect the perceived fairness of pandemic‐driven price increases.MethodsParticipants read a vignette and rated how fair they found a pandemic‐driven price increase. Versions vary (1) the source (hardware‐store products or bus fare), (2) the magnitude of the price increase (6 percent or 18 percent), and (3) the tone of an initial description of COVID (positive or negative).ResultsThe price increase was perceived to be fairer when it involved the hardware store or when it was smaller. The relationship between fairness and magnitude was context‐specific, as fairness perceptions were insensitive to the magnitude of the price increase in the bus scenario or when the initial description of COVID had a positive tone.ConclusionRetailers and municipalities may face different fairness constraints as they consider pandemic‐driven price increases. The tone of COVID information may affect price fairness through its impact on sensitivity to magnitude.
Highly sensitised patients awaiting deceased donor renal transplants are disadvantaged by the presence of denatured HLA antibody detected in routine HLA antibody testing
Authors: Battle Richard K. , Rennie Trijntje J. W. , Phelan Paul J. , Abel Angela A. , McConnell Sylvia , Turner David M. 
Published: February 2022

Luminex single antigen bead (SAB) assays used to detect HLA antibodies may artificially increase sensitisation in highly sensitised patients (HSP). The presence of denatured HLA (dHLA) within the assay enables antibodies specific to cryptic HLA epitopes to bind, such antibodies are not clinically relevant. We sought to exclude dHLA reactivity in a cohort of very HSP, calculated reaction frequency (cRF) 95%–100% and determine the effect upon sensitisation. Such patients have limited access to suitable donors and small changes in their HLA antibody profile, particularly where their cRF is 100%, can increase their opportunity of a transplant. We determined the presence of dHLA by aligning antibody reactivity which did not correspond to known HLA class I epitope mismatches with the results of assays modified to detect class I dHLA. 130 class I dHLA reactions were identified within 11 HSP, all of whom had clear sensitising events. cRF was corrected for dHLA, mean cRF 98.2% (93–100) pre and 95.5% (87–100) post correction (p = 0.0156). An increase in the number of predicted compatible donors (p = 0.0078) after dHLA correction was demonstrated. Two manufacturers SAB assays were used. A reduction of patients with 100% cRF was observed for both manufactures. dHLA is contributing to sensitisation in HSP and is detrimental to their chances of receiving a compatible transplant. The observed dHLA reactivity varied according to kit manufacturers (p = 0.0001), this is potentially a useful finding for laboratories wishing to discriminate between nHLA and dHLA, but without the resources required to regularly perform dHLA assay and epitope analyses.
Fluid–Structure Interaction Model for Assessing Aneurysm Initiation at the Circle of Willis
Authors: SR Shine , Saha Shantanu , E Harshavardhan , BJ Sudhir 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Hemodynamics associated with the arteries of the circle of Willis (CoW) is analyzed to identify possible cerebral aneurysm initiation locations using computational methods. A numerical fluid–structure interaction model is developed using an idealized geometry with the linear elastic, isotropic arterial wall. Blood flow is assumed to be laminar, incompressible, and modeled using Navier–Stokes equations, non-Newtonian viscosity, and sinusoidal boundary conditions. Available analytical and experimental results are used for the validation of the model. The highest wall shear stress (WSS) and von Mises stress (VMS) are identified for understanding the most vulnerable sites. The WSS distribution in the entire CoW region shows that ACoA junction has the highest value and risk of aneurysm initiation. The flow patterns created due to the geometrical features of the CoW seem to be the significant factor in the distribution of WSS. It is noticed that a decrease in wall elasticity will reduce the magnitude of WSS, both the temporal and spatial averaged value. The wall weakening effects are more pronounced for the posterior communicating artery. The wall weakening creates changes in core velocity and WSS. Changes in Von Mises stress are also noticed due to wall weakening effects. Highly localized VMS is noticed at ACoA and could possess a higher risk for aneurysm initiation and rupture. Despite the simplifications involved in developing the fluid–structure interaction model, this work demonstrates the critical locations at the CoW region regarding aneurysm initiation.
Asymptotic Crack Size of a Prototype Sized Pipe Bend and Comparison With A16 Master Curve
Authors: R Suresh Kumar , Rao B. N. , Velusamy K. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractIn the design of a fast breeder reactor (FBR) piping system, asymptotic crack size (2Cs) is traditionally estimated using the leak-before-break (LBB) master curve given in RCC MRx A16. The current approach is seen not to be sufficiently efficient in the LBB demonstration of FBR piping systems. Numerical crack growth studies have received much attention in the past decade. Deployment of fracture mechanics based numerical crack growth studies on prototype-sized pipe geometries generates considerable interest in estimating asymptotic crack size. This paper outlines the advantages of numerical finite element based crack growth studies to estimate the Cs on a prototype-sized pipe bend. The numerical procedure has resulted in an accurate and more realistic estimate of Cs than the traditional LBB Master curve as per A16. Considering the economic advantages of a relatively lower value of Cs for LBB demonstration, it is recommended to adopt the numerical method to estimate Cs for the FBR piping system.