Unique Identification Number Research Articles

National benchmarks and practice level variation on eight cross cutting quality measures.

255 Background: While there is increased attention on the importance of quality measurement in oncology, especially with the rise of value-based payment, limited data exist on national averages and practice level variation for proposed quality measures to establish benchmarks and targets for quality improvement initiatives or value-based contracts. Methods: UnitedHealthcare (UHC) developed peer comparison reports for eight cross cutting quality measures for practices with an active contract for at least one of its commercial, Medicare or Medicaid health plans and ≥1 provider from the following specialties: gynecologic oncology, hematology/oncology, pediatric hematology/oncology, radiation oncology, or surgical oncology. Adherence to the quality measures below was calculated using a mix of claims data, clinical data from a prior authorization for cancer therapy, and CMS MIPS data. Patients were attributed through an algorithm that selected the most probable physician responsible for the patient’s care - responsible prior authorization provider, servicing provider or most recent visited provider prior to the treatment, varying by each measure. Dates of service differ by measure, ranging from 1/1/2019 through 12/31/2020. Results: We identified 5,828 unique tax identification numbers (TINs) with UHC members with cancer attributed to them during 2019-20. The number of practices included in the measurement cohort per measure varied significantly from 301 to 4,120 (tobacco screening and performance status, respectively). 2,422 TINs met the minimum patient count for at least one measure (≥10 patients or events). Overall performance ranged from 13.5% to 77.3% (hospice admission and PS documented) for measures where higher adherence reflects better quality of care. For measures where lower scores represent higher quality of care the range was 11.4% to 22.6% (hospice < 3 days and ED admission, respectively). Observed adherence was statistically better than expected for 0.5%-5.8% and statistically less than expected for 0.9%-5.6% of TINs in UHC’s network; however, more than half of the practices had insufficient sample size to make a determination. Conclusions: We observed substantial variation in quality across a national cohort of oncology practices. However, even for a large national payer, small sample sizes limited the assessment of a substantial number of practices.[Table: see text]

Joint effects of educational attainment, type 2 diabetes and coexisting morbidity on disability pension: results from a longitudinal, nationwide, register-based study.

High prevalence of coexisting morbidity in people with type 2 diabetes highlights the need to include interactions with education and comorbidity in the assessments of societal consequences of type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to estimate the joint effects of education, type 2 diabetes and six frequent comorbidities. Nationwide administrative register data on type 2 diabetes diagnosis, hospital admissions, education and disability pension were grouped at the individual level by means of a unique personal identification number. Included were all people (N = 2,281,599) in the age span of 40-59years living in Denmark in the period 2005 to 2017, covering a total of 17,754,788 person-years. We used both Cox proportional hazards and Aalen additive hazards models to estimate relative and absolute joint effects of type 2 diabetes, educational attainment and six common comorbidities (CVD, cancer and cerebrovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal and psychiatric diseases). We decomposed the joint effects of educational level, type 2 diabetes and comorbidities into main effects and the interaction effect, measured as extra cases of disability pension. Lower level of educational attainment, type 2 diabetes and comorbidities independently contributed to additional granted disability pensions. The joint number of cases of disability pension exceeded the sum of the three exposures, which is explained by a synergistic effect of lower educational level, type 2 diabetes and comorbidity. In this population study, the joint effects of type 2 diabetes, lower education and comorbidity were associated with larger than additive rates of disability pension. An integrated approach that takes into account socioeconomic barriers to type 2 diabetes rehabilitation may slow down disease progression and increase the working ability of socially disadvantaged people.

An LSTM‐based cell association scheme for proactive bandwidth management in 5G fog radio access networks

SummaryCellular networks are evolving into dynamic, dense, and heterogeneous networks to meet the unprecedented traffic demands which introduced new challenges for cell resource management. To address this, various cell association schemes have been proposed. However, the current schemes ignore users' mobility information, and as a result, their cell admission and bandwidth allocation policy are reactive. In order to enable proactive bandwidth management in emerging 5G fog access radio networks (FRANs), we proposed a novel mobility‐aware cell association scheme (MACA) that exploits user's mobility and downlink rate demand information to associate it with the maximum rate offering cell. In MACA, the mobility prediction model consists of long‐short‐term memory (LSTM)‐based neural network that considers joint information of unique cell identification numbers with the corresponding sojourn times and predicts the user's most probable next cell. Later, the underlying future cell assignment is formulated as a convex problem and solved using the Lagrangian dual decomposition method and compared the proposed framework performance with Semi‐Markov, deep neural network (DNN), and MaxRSRP‐based cell association approaches in terms of the next cell prediction accuracy, the impact of downlink rate allocation, and user satisfaction percentage. MACA scheme is trained using two publicly available pedestrian datasets. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme performs significantly better than the other schemes and yields the average next cell prediction accuracy of 93.42%, 1.63 times higher downlink rates, and 56.8%users satisfied with the allocated bandwidth.

Cancer diagnosis among women with recurrent pregnancy loss: a retrospective cohort study

Research questionWhat is relationship between unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and risk of cancer morbidity? DesignA retrospective observational cohort study was conducted, based on data from a tertiary medical centre. RPL cases (exposed) were defined as women presenting with three or more unexplained confirmed pregnancy losses at 5–24 weeks, whose first visit to the RPL clinic was between 1990 and 2010. The unexposed group included women giving birth who were not RPL patients; these were matched by age and year of giving birth/admission (1:5 ratio). Data from the RPL and the live birth registries were cross-linked to the Israeli national cancer registry according to the unique ID number and merged into one database. ResultsThe study group comprised 937 RPL patients who were matched by maternal age (P = 1.0) and admission date (P = 0.84) to 4685 women achieving a live birth. There was no difference in overall cancer incidence between groups (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55–1.03; P = 0.08). The secondary RPL group showed a trend towards decreased cancer morbidity incidence compared with primary RPL (adjusted OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.41–1.03; P = 0.07). Analysis by cancer type showed a similar risk for breast cancer among women with RPL compared with live birth, but a significantly lower risk for gynaecological cancers among women with RPL (adjusted OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.08–0.79; P = 0.018). ConclusionsUnexplained RPL may be related to a lower risk of gynaecological cancers, possibly explained by hyper-responsive immunological mechanisms involving uterine natural killer cells.

B-PO05-113 TIMING OF MORTALITY EVENTS AFTER PULMONARY VEIN ISOLATION: ANALYSIS OF A LARGE REGIONAL DATABASE

Ablation using pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) to treat atrial fibrillation is effective; however, there is limited information regarding mortality after discharge. Recent studies of the Nationwide Readmissions Database have found higher than expected mortality after ablation procedures. A database created by the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council (DFWHC) includes a collaboration of 90 member hospitals in North Texas reporting data on procedures, diagnoses, and discharges. All patients in this system can be followed longitudinally via unique identification number. The availability of this database offers additional opportunities to better quantify mortality rates after PVI. Measure the incidence and timing of mortality after PVI in a large regional database. We queried the DFWHC database for all PVI ablations occurring over the timeframe from January 2013 to December 2019. We then queried the resulting population for all subsequent hospital visits and discharge outcomes. A total of 11,880 unique PVI procedures were performed over this 7 year time span, with 1242 occurring in 2013, increasing to 3177 in 2019 (a 156% increase over these 7 years). Out of this group, at total of 130 deaths occurred (1.1%), with 4 (.32%) in 2013, and 32 (0.92%) in 2019; however, the majority of these were late events (beyond 120 days from the procedure). Mortality at 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after PVI was 7 (0.059%), 19 (0.16%), 21 (0.18%), and 24 (0.20%), respectively. In line with trends in recently reported data, mortality after PVI may be increasing slightly; however, overall mortality after PVI in this large regional database remains low, and early mortality is lower than that found in the Nationwide Readmissions Database.

Geo Location Dataset Analysis for Identifying Fertilizer Dealers in Vellore district Tamilnadu, India

The following data article is an insight to the data – Number of Dealers for Chemical Fertilizers in Vellore District as downloaded from the website of Mobile Fertilizer Management System [1] is maintained by Department of Fertilizers, Government of India. It can be downloaded in CSV format. The data gives us the knowledge about the dealer’s unique identification number, type of dealership, name of agency, address, license validity period, and other governmental proof ids. The file contains 579 records with certain missing values of which 472 records have address and dealership details specified. The data can be visualized as an aid to farmers so as to provide them fertilizers at a minimum cost by considering farmer’s location and the availability of type of dealers specified around them.

Design and Implementation of a Unified Identity Number System in Nigeria Using Object Oriented Programming Approach

This study covers the exploration of the integrity of the national identification system in Nigeria, and thus, helps to minimize the existence of multiple forms of identities with the aid of a unified resident’s identification number system that will provide a platform that links all existing identities of residents as well as providing each resident with a unique identity number. The system provides ease of access to all citizens identification registry. This system is an android based system developed and implemented with XML and java programming language. Firebase database was deployed as the database engine because of real time features. OOADM (object-oriented analysis and design methodology) was used as the choice of methodology because it is the best choice for web-based and android applications. Simple front-end validation was used to authenticate users’ entry (input of invalid characters). Google authenticator served as the third-party random number generator for the new unique identity number.

LEOBAT: Lightweight encryption and OTP based authentication technique for securing IoT networks

AbstractAuthentication is one of the foremost pillars in the Internet of Things (IoT) security that authenticates the identity of a device or a person with the help of a unique identification number. If authentication is compromised then an intruder can gain access and launch a variety of attacks on the network. The world of IoT devices is benefiting us in many ways, but the vulnerability of becoming a victim of cybercrime is also increasing at a rapid pace. This research paper proposes an authentication‐based solution for designing a secure communication network to ensure safe access to data and stop attackers from any unauthorized access to various IoT applications using cryptography and cloud computing. The proposed work is then compared with other popular cryptosystems such as Secure Internet of Things (SIT), Data Encryption Standard (DES) and Blowfish. LEOBAT is simulated using MATLAB and proves to be a fast and efficient authentication technique.

Exploring polypharmacy with artificial intelligence: data analysis protocol

BackgroundPolypharmacy is common among older adults and it represents a public health concern, due to the negative health impacts potentially associated with the use of several medications. However, the large number of medication combinations and sequences of use makes it complicated for traditional statistical methods to predict which therapy is genuinely associated with health outcomes. The project aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the quality of polypharmacy among older adults with chronic diseases in the province of Québec, Canada.MethodsWe will use data from the Quebec Integrated Chronic Disease Surveillance System (QICDSS). QICDSS contains information about prescribed medications in older adults in Quebec collected over 20 years. It also includes diagnostic codes and procedures, and sociodemographic data linked through a unique identification number for each individual. Our research will be structured around three interconnected research axes: AI, Health, and Law&Ethics. The AI research axis will develop algorithms for finding frequent patterns of medication use that correlate with health events, considering data locality and temporality (explainable AI or XAI). The Health research axis will translate these patterns into polypharmacy indicators relevant to public health surveillance and clinicians. The Law&Ethics axis will assess the social acceptability of the algorithms developed using AI tools and the indicators developed by the Heath axis and will ensure that the developed indicators neither discriminate against any population group nor increase the disparities already present in the use of medications.DiscussionThe multi-disciplinary research team consists of specialists in AI, health data, statistics, pharmacy, public health, law, and ethics, which will allow investigation of polypharmacy from different points of view and will contribute to a deeper understanding of the clinical, social, and ethical issues surrounding polypharmacy and its surveillance, as well as the use of AI for health record data. The project results will be disseminated to the scientific community, healthcare professionals, and public health decision-makers in peer-reviewed publications, scientific meetings, and reports. The diffusion of the results will ensure the confidentiality of individual data.

Evaluation of a digitally enhanced cardiac auscultation learning method: a controlled study

BackgroundCardiac auscultation remains an efficient and accessible diagnostic tool, especially in resource-limited countries where modern diagnostic devices like cardiac ultrasound are expensive and difficult to access. However, cardiac auscultation skills of medical students and physicians are declining, mainly because of an ineffective teaching method for this technique. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of a digitally enhanced cardiac auscultation learning method on participants’ theoretical knowledge and auscultation skills.MethodsThis will be a controlled study with two parallel arms (1:1). Participants (fourth-year medical students) will be divided into two groups: an intervention group (receiving additional lectures, clinical internship and audio listening sessions) and a control group (receiving additional lectures and clinical internship). At the beginning of the study, all participants will undergo a pre-test that consist of two parts: a knowledge assessment based on multiple-choice questions and a skills assessment based on recognition of cardiac sounds from audio files. Thereafter, three specific additional lectures on cardiac auscultation will be delivered and all participants will take part in their official clinical internship. During these clinical internships (eight weeks), participants of the intervention group will be invited to two listening sessions based on five digital recordings of heart sounds. At the end of the clinical internship, all participants will be invited to a post-test to evaluate their knowledge, skills and satisfaction according to their learning method. The main outcome will be the participants’ knowledge progression. The other outcomes will be the participants’ skills progression, participants’ total progression and satisfaction. Data will be collected and analyzed in per protocol.DiscussionThis study could contribute to the development of a learning method that takes into account the advantages of the conventional method and the contribution of digital technology. Positive results could lead to improved cardiac auscultation skills among health professionals, especially in developing countries.Trial registrationThe trial is registered on the Pan-African Clinical Trials Registry (http://www.pactr.org) under unique identification number: PACTR202001504666847, registered the 29 November 2019.

Disability pension and mortality in individuals with specific somatic and mental disorders: examining differences between refugees and Swedish-born individuals

BackgroundMore than half a million refugees have arrived to Sweden during the last decade. The aim was to investigate differences between refugees and Swedish-born individuals regarding different specific somatic and...

Modeling And Simulation for Digital Document Verification Scheme Using Blockchain in P2P Network

Blockchain is very emerging trend in recent years; it is basically decentralized approach which provides transparency to transactional data. Various researchers already introduces blockchain and its state of art, it is too much effective in a large data processing as well as global transactional systems. In this paper we introduce blockchain base E-certificate generation using cloud environment. Basically in real time environment it is hard to carry educational or other important documentaries. Some confidential information should be leak from various centralized systems when any resource has compromised with attackers. In this system we provide drastic supervision base blockchain technique to generate e certificate according to submitted documentary by respective student as well as user. The system illustrates into four different sections. First we defines user can upload his documentary or educational certificates, similarly the middleware authority known as Third Party Auditor (TPA) will verify such documents from authenticated organization. If the entire documents have authorized then it dynamically generate e-certificate with QR code and unique serial identification number. Once this process has done whole information has stored into various data nodes and it returns QR code as well as UID to student. Moreover when any organization wants to verification documentary of respect to student he can submit the QR code or are given Unique Identification number to respective organization. When such organizations will verify the student’s data the blockchain will provide consistent information after the secure authentication. In entire execution we have written open Smart contract, had generation approach using SHA family algorithm, mining algorithm to generator valid hash, in consensus algorithm to evaluate the proof of work.

Cumulative live birth rate according to the number of receiving governmental subsidies for assisted reproductive technology in Saitama Prefecture, Japan: A retrospective study using individual data for governmental subsidies.

PurposeWe investigated the cumulative live birth rate (CLBR) in women receiving governmental subsidies for assisted reproductive technology (ART) in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.MethodsWomen who applied for subsidies from Saitama Prefectural Government for the first time in 2016 were enrolled and followed up until the end of 2017. Treatment information, including live birth, was obtained from the Japanese ART registry by linking it with unique identification numbers for treatment. Patients’ factors associated with having a live birth were investigated.ResultsOf 1,072 women (2,513 applications), 495 (46.2%) had a live birth with 8 (1.6%) twin pregnancies. The CLBR over six subsidized cycles was 53.7% for women aged <40 years, and 17.2% over three subsidized cycles for women 40‐42 years; highest among women <35 years (58.4%), followed by those aged 35‐39 years (49.3%). Multivariate analysis revealed patient age as the only independent factor for having a live birth.ConclusionsThe CLBR of women receiving subsidies for ART was greatest in women aged <35 years. Effective policies for promoting ART among younger couples who seek infertility treatment are essential.

Cerebral palsy in ART children has declined substantially over time: a Nordic study from the CoNARTaS group.

Are the decreasing multiple birth rates after ART associated with a simultaneous drop in the incidence of cerebral palsy (CP) in ART children over time? The relative odds of CP in ART children have declined in the Nordic countries over the past two decades concurrently with declining multiple birth rates. In the Nordic countries, the rate of twin pregnancies after ART has decreased from 30% in the early 1990s to 4-13% in 2014, following the implementation of elective single embryo transfer (SET). Consequently, preterm birth rates have declined substantially in ART pregnancies. However, whether the risk of CP, a known consequence of preterm birth, has decreased correspondingly is still unknown. Retrospective register-based cohort study based on data on all singletons, twins, and higher-order multiples born in Denmark (birth year 1994-2010), Finland (1990-2010), and Sweden (1990-2014), corresponding to 111 844 ART children and 4 679 351 spontaneously conceived children. Data were obtained from a large Nordic cohort of children born after ART and spontaneous conception initiated by the Committee of Nordic ART and Safety-CoNARTaS. The CoNARTaS cohort was established by cross-linking national register data using the unique personal identification number, allocated to every citizen in the Nordic countries. Data from the National Medical Birth Registers, where information on maternal, obstetric, and perinatal outcomes is recorded, were cross-linked to data from the National ART- and Patients Registers to obtain information on fertility treatments and CP diagnoses. Relative risks of CP for ART compared to spontaneous conception were estimated as odds ratios from multivariate logistic regression analyses across all birth years, as well as for the following birth year categories: 1990-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2002, 2003-2006, 2007-2010, and 2011-2014. Analyses were made for all children and for singletons and twins, separately. The main outcome measure was the relative odds of CP in different time periods for ART versus spontaneously conceived children. CP was diagnosed in 661 ART children and 16 478 spontaneously conceived children born between 1990 and 2014. In 1990-1993, the relative odds of CP were substantially higher in all ART children (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.76 (95% CI 2.03-3.67)) compared with all spontaneously conceived children, while in 2011-2014, it was only moderately higher (aOR 1.39 (95% CI 1.01-1.87)). In singletons, the higher relative odds of CP in ART children diminished over time from 1990 to 1993 (aOR 2.02 (95% CI 1.22-3.14)) to 2003-2006 (aOR 1.18 (95% CI 0.91-1. 49)) and was not significantly increased for birth cohorts 2007-2010 and 2011-2014. For ART twins versus spontaneously conceived twins, the relative odds of CP was not statistically significantly increased throughout the study period. The main limitation of the study was a shorter follow-up time and younger age at first CP diagnosis for ART children compared with spontaneously conceived children. However, analyses ensuring a minimum of bias from differences in age at CP diagnosis and follow-up time confirmed the results, hence, we do not consider this to cause substantial bias. A SET policy in ART treatments has the potential to reduce the increased risk of cerebral palsy in the ART population due to lower rates of multiple deliveries. At a time with high survival rates of frozen/thawed embryos, this study provides a strong argument against the continued use of multiple embryo transfer in most ART settings. Larger cohort studies including also the number of gestational sacs in early pregnancy will be preferable to show an effect of vanishing twins on the risk of CP in the ART population. The study was financed by grants from NordForsk (grant number 71450), Elsass Foundation (19-3-0444), the ALF-agreement (ALFGBG 70940), and The Research Fund of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital. There are no conflicts of interest to declare. ISRCTN11780826.

MO459RENAL FUNCTION AMONG PATIENTS WITH NEW DIAGNOSIS OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION - RESULTS FROM THE NATIONWIDE FINACAF- STUDY

Abstract Background and Aims Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global public health problem with increasing number of patients due to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and aging. CKD is an independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF) and the incidence of AF in patients with CKD is two- to threefold higher compared to the general population. Relationship between CKD and AF is bidirectional, and the incidence of impaired renal function is higher in patients with AF. Both AF and CKD are associated with increased risk of stroke and systemic thromboembolism, and also bleeding. The Finnish AntiCoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation (FinACAF) is a nationwide study among AF patients conducted as a retrospective register-based linkage study combining data from several Finnish health care registers. We aimed to characterize demographics and comorbities of AF patients included in FinACAF according to stages of renal function. Method FinACAF- study collects data from 411 000 patients covering all Finnish AF patients from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2018. Using national unique personal identification number, individual patients’ data from ten nationwide population registries and six regional laboratory databases (∼282 000, 77% of the patients) are linked together. Inclusion criteria of this substudy were all patients who had new ICD-10 AF diagnosis (code I48) between January 2010 and December 2018 and measured estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) within the proximity of AF the diagnosis. Results Of the whole study cohort, 128 538 were included in this substudy. The mean age at the time of AF diagnosis was 73 years (range 18 to 107 years) and 48.9 % of the patients were female. The age of AF patients increased (Figure 1) and eGFR decreased (Figure 2) in various stages of glomerular filtration at the cohort entry during 2010-2018 are shown in Figures 1 and 2. Prevalence of various comorbidities and the mean age at the baseline are shown in the Table. Most of the comorbidities were more common in patients with lower eGFR levels. Conclusion During 2010-2018 the mean age of new AF patients increased in Finland, and simultaneously the renal function decreased. Also, patients with impaired glomerular filtration rate had more often comorbidities increasing the risk of thromboembolism and bleeding. The findings emphasize appropriate control of these risks in AF patients, especially with reduced renal function.

P090 Risk of Rectal Cancer after Colectomy in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease – A Nationwide Population-based Danish Cohort Study 1978–2018

Abstract Background The risk of surgery remains high both among patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) with a cumulative risk of subtotal colectomy with ileostomy and diverted rectum of 7.5% after 5 years in UC and a similar risk in CD. Ileostomy with diverted rectum after colectomy may be permanent, or the patient can undergo restorative surgery with ileo-rectal anastomosis (IRA) or ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). Risk of rectal cancer in this patient population remains uncertain. We performed a nationwide population-based Danish study of rectal cancer (RC) risk after subtotal colectomy. Methods Through the Danish Civil Registration System, a source population of all individuals 15 years or older living in Denmark between 1978 and 2018 was retrieved. By use of the unique personal identification number given to all citizens at birth, this source population was linked to the Danish National Patient Registry (NPR) in order to identify all patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Patients with a diverted rectum, IRA or IPPA after colectomy were also identified with NPR. Cases of RC were identified in the Danish Cancer Registry. Patients with IBD were followed from the date of surgery until cancer, emigration, death or end of the study. The risk of RC in patients with diverted rectum was assessed using Cox regression analyses, as compared to the background population as well as to subjects with IBD without subtotal colectomy. Results RC occurred in 42 (0.9%) of 4931 patients after subtotal colectomy with diverted rectum, compared to 209 (0.4%) of 49,251 in the matched IBD cohort with no colectomy and 941 (0.4%) of 246,550 in the matched background population. In the IBD and subtotal colectomy population 11 (26%) of the 42 cases were in patients diagnosed with CD and 31 (74%) were in patients with UC. The hazard ratio (HR) for RC in IBD patients with diverted rectum vs. matched IBD patients without colectomy (adjusted for IBD type and sex) was 0.80 (95% CI 0.29, 2.17) during the first 10 years of follow-up and 7.93 (95% CI 5.48, 11.48) 10 years or more after colectomy. Likewise, the HR for RC in IBD patients with diverted rectum compared to the matched background population was 0.85 (95% CI 0.32, 2.28) during the first 10 years of follow-up and 10.25 (95% CI 7.36, 14.28) 10 years or more after colectomy. Conclusion In our nationwide population-based cohort study covering years 1978–2018 we observed an 8 to 10-fold increased risk of RC of the diverted rectum 10 years after colectomy.These data suggest a need for developing a specific surveillance strategy for this group of IBD patients.

All you want to know about the arrhythmia: A comprehensive, nationwide registry study of atrial fibrillation in Finland

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public hospital(s). Main funding source(s): Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District Funding The Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research OnBehalf FinACAF Introduction The number of atrial fibrillation (AF) patients is increasing, and thus, the socio-medico-economic impact of AF is exploding. Up-to-date, multifaceted data about the characteristics of AF patients, their treatments, and outcomes are urgently needed. Purpose The aim of the Finnish AntiCoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation (FinACAF) study is to evaluate the incidence and prevalence of AF, risk of stroke, thromboembolic complications, myocardial infarction, major bleeding events, and mortality in AF patients using comprehensive nationwide registries regulated by law. Assessment of the socio-medico-economic aspects of AF and the effect of socio-economic factors on the AF treatment play a central role in this study. Methods The FinACAF study collects data from 411 000 patients covering all Finnish AF patients from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2018. Using national unique personal identification number, individual patient data from ten nationwide population registries and six regional laboratory databases (∼282000, 77 % of the patients) are linked together. All the register data were obtained during Q1-Q2/2020. The main results will be expected during Q1-2/2021. Results Since the introduction of the national primary care register in 2012, 9% of all AF patients were identified outside hospital care registers. The total number of AF patients on 31st December 2018 was 227 114, which translates to an AF prevalence of 4.1% in Finland (population of 5 517 900). The Table represents the registries used in the FinACAF study. Conclusions The FinACAF study records all patient contacts with the health care institutions and organizations, as well as incomes and places of domicile. Thus, the database allows a unique possibility to investigate the epidemiology and socio-medico-economic impact of AF as well as the cost effectiveness of different AF management strategies in a completely unselected, nationwide population. This data will markedly help "leading with data" when the increasing number of AF patients are treated. The registries used in the FinACAF study Register Registry Information obtained Finnish Care Register for Health Care: Primary, Hospital and Social care registries National Institute for Health and Welfare Diagnosis (ICD-10), procedure codes and date; non-hospital institutionalizations National Prescription Register, National Reimbursement Register The Social Insurance Institution of Finland Drug purchases (date, ATC codes, amount), Reimbursement decisions for chronic diseases (date, ICD-10) National Causes of Death Register, The Register of Completed Education and Degrees Statistics Finland Deaths and causes of deaths (ICD-10), Education and socio-economic status National Cancer Registry (1st Jan 1950 to 31st Dec 2018) Finnish Cancer Registry National registry of all cancer cases (e.g. date, ICD-O-3, TNM) Population Register, Tax register Population Register Center, Tax Administration Places of domicile, Income and taxes Laboratory databases (1st Jan 2010 to 31st Dec 2018) Six largest regional laboratory databases INR and other relevant laboratory measurements

Cancer trends and burden among Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families: Cancer registry data analysis from tertiary care hospital

BackgroundCancer incidence is rising across the globe. The incidence and patterns of various cancers among Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans is not known. We did the analysis of registry data maintained at our hospital. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed of all patients registered at our hospital cancer registry between 01st January 2017 and 31st December 2019. Patients were registered with unique identification number. Baseline demographics and cancer subtype data were retrieved. Patients with histopathologically proven diagnosis and age ≥18 years were studied. Armed Forces Personnel (AFP) were defined as those who are in active service, and Veterans as those who had retired from service at the time of registration. Patients with Acute and Chronic Leukemias were excluded. ResultsNew cases registered were 2023, 2856 and 3057 in year 2017, 2018, 2019 respectively. AFP, Veterans and dependents among them were 9.6%, 17.8%, and 72.6% respectively. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan represented 55% of all cases with male to female ratio 1.14:1 and median age was 59 years. The median age among AFP was 39 years. Among AFP as well as veterans, Head and Neck cancer was the most common malignancy. Cancer incidence was significantly higher in adults >40 years as compared to <40 years. ConclusionSeven percent rise per year of new cases in this cohort is alarming. Tobacco-related cancers were the most common. There is an unmet need to establish a prospective centralized Cancer Registry to better understand the risk factors, outcomes of treatment and strengthen the policy matters.

Role of Unique Identification Number and Barcode of Aadhaar in Forensic Odontology

Role of Unique Identification Number and Barcode of Aadhaar in Forensic Odontology

Nigeria Paper Currency Serial Number Pattern Recognition System for Crimes Control

Only secured and conducive environment void of robbery, kidnapping, fake currency and all forms of insurgencies will foster production and distribution of goods, investment and saving that enhance national economic growth and development. This is a mirage in a country generally believed and tagged the giant of African; Nigeria. Crime, in whatever name or nomenclature, has a significant negative impact on the welfare and economy prosperities of our society. The urge to get rich promotes Crime like armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom and production of counterfeit banknotes to mention but a few. Innocent people have suffered psychological distress, fear, anger, depression, physical harm, financial loss and in most cases untimely death during the operations by these hoodlums. Banks, Cash-In-Transit Vehicle, and ATM points are often robbed by gangs in search for paper currency. Kidnappers as well demand for paper currency as ransom while some other gangs are involved in the production of counterfeit banknotes so as to enrich themselves no minding the negative effect on the nation’s economy. The banknotes collected during the operations by the hoodlums are taken to banks. Yet, the banks will not detect or recognize any of these notes which attest to the fact that our system lacks check and balance. The system is very porous without a recourse to this era of technology when machine is trained to do virtually everything for our convenience. Currency as an entity has a unique identification number. The identification number is an alphanumeric currency issuance of about 10 digits comprises two (2) capital letters and eight (8) numbers usually positioned at a strategic location on either front or back of the 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes. It is a reliable and intelligent system developed to track banknotes unique identifiers numbers- serial numbers, in order to control financial related crimes. Keywords: Nigeria Paper Currency Serial Number, Pattern Recognition DOI: 10.7176/IKM/11-3-04 Publication date: April 30 th 2021