bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Qualitative assessment of chronic pain management in patients undergoing computed tomography-guided procedures
Authors: Jeffrey Ralph , Santosham Roy , Nagenthran Gayathri , Dev Bhawna , Mandava Rupesh , Vasanthraj Praveenkumar , Saravanan Siddharth 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background
To study the qualitative efficacy and safety of percutaneous pain management under CT guidance. The success rate of medical management for chronic pain in long term is very less. This study aids in evaluating the clinical success rate in each CT-guided pain management procedure we have done.

Results
Among the 60 patients, 39 (65%) were male patients and 21 (35%) were female patients. We did 40 celiac plexus neurolysis (66.7%), 13 radiofrequency ablations (21.6%), 4 stellate ganglion neurolysis (6.7%), and 3 trigeminal nerve neurolysis (5%). The average pre-procedural pain score in all the procedures was 7 which was significantly reduced to 1 in 24 h and 1 and 3 months.

Conclusion
Percutaneous pain management under CT guidance by virtue of its precise needle placement offers effective pain relief. It has a lower rate of complications, reduces the need for repeat procedures, and ultimately increases the quality of life.
A novel LC-MS method development and validation for the determination of phenyl vinyl sulfone in eletriptan hydrobromide
Authors: Mabbu Indhu Priya , Sumathi G. , Devanna N. 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background
The aim of the present method is to develop and validate a specific, sensitive, precise, and accurate liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method for the estimation of the phenyl vinyl sulfone in the eletriptan hydrobromide. The effective separation of the phenyl vinyl sulfone was achieved by the Symmetry C18 (50 × 4.6 mm, 3.5 μm) column and a mobile phase composition of 0.1%v/v ammonia buffer to methanol (5:95 v/v), using 0.45 ml/min flow rate and 20 μl of injection volume, with methanol used as diluent. The phenyl vinyl sulfone was monitored on atomic pressure chemical ionization mode mass spectrometer with positive polarity mode.

Results
The retention time of phenyl vinyl sulfone was found at 2.13 min. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were observed at 1.43 ppm and 4.77 ppm concentration respectively; the linear range was found in the concentration ranges from 4.77 to 27.00 ppm with regression coefficient of 0.9990 and accuracy in the range of 97.50–102.10%. The percentage relative standard deviation (% RSD) for six replicates said to be injections were less than 10%.

Conclusion
The proposed method was validated successfully as per ICH guidelines. Hence, this is employed for the determination of phenyl vinyl sulfone in the eletriptan hydrobromide.
Process for Delivering Timely Antibiotics to Febrile Bone Marrow Transplant Patients in the Emergency Department
Authors: Finefrock Douglas , Varughese Tony , Ding James , Sanders Angeline , Hewitt Kevin 
Published: January 2021

PURPOSE: Patients with a history of a bone marrow transplant (BMT) have a higher risk of infectious complications because of an immunocompromised state. It has been shown that giving timely antibiotics in 1 hour or less from presentation to the emergency department (ED) decreases morbidity and mortality in this patient population. We hypothesize that a quality improvement (QI) process, termed BMT Fever, will improve timely administration of antibiotics for this population presenting to the ED. METHODS: This is a QI process designed to improve the administration of antibiotics to BMT patients with a subjective or objective fever presenting to the ED. The percent of patients receiving antibiotics within 1 hour or less was compared pre- and post-intervention. RESULTS: Upon implementation of the BMT Fever QI process, the percentage of patients with febrile BMT receiving antibiotics within 1 hour or less per fiscal quarter significantly improved from six out of 28 patients (21%) to 147 out of 173 patients (85%), P value < .05. CONCLUSION: By implementing a QI process that addresses five structural obstacles, we were able to improve our timely administration of antibiotics to patients with febrile BMT presenting to the ED.
Transnational Feminist Practices against War
Authors: Bacchetta Paola , Campt Tina , Grewal Inderpal , Kaplan Caren , Moallem Minoo , Terry Jennifer 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
This piece was written collaboratively as a response to the bombing of sites in Afghanistan in September 2001 as the United States began to retaliate for Al-Queda attacks on U.S. targets. Anticipating the invasion and occupation of Iraq and a broader, globalized “War on Terror,” the authors wanted to offer an antiracist, antinationalist feminist analysis that insisted recognizing the importance of histories of colonialism and empire in the structuring of state and interstate violence.
“A Real Feminine Journey”
Authors: Mithlo Nancy Marie 
Published: January 2021

AbstractDespite the prevailing acceptance of homogenized global sensibilities in media productions, many American Indian and other indigenous artists continue to articulate a sovereign, bounded, and discrete identity based on land, family, and memory. Both material (embodied knowledge) and ideological (the interconnectedness of people, the earth, and culture) constructs enable communal paradigms rather than individualistic or gendered identities to rise to the fore. Given these parameters, how can the testimonies of native women’s lives as artists inform debates of indigenous feminisms? Drawing from Native women artists’ narratives, transnational feminist scholarship, and ethnographic and historical texts, the author demonstrates how indigenous communities become gendered communities as a result of colonialism.
“The Daughter of Fu Manchu”
Authors: Rajgopal Shoba Sharad 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Courses regarding race, gender, and representation are not easy to teach under any circumstances, but even more so in predominantly White classrooms in the post 9/11 United States, where the masses have been fed a diet of xenophobic, anti-Asian propaganda inculcating an “us” versus “them” mentality. This article analyzes the discourse of empire, a metaphor that has been used time after time to construct a mythical and menacing Other. In contrast, the portrait of Asian women in cinema and television news as traditional, veiled, and inhabiting a separate sphere adds to this representation of Asian cultures as premodern and irrevocably opposed to the West, much as portrayed in Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” theory. The author illustrates this transnational feminist critique with a documentary used in Women’s Studies classes, Deborah Gee’s landmark film Slaying the Dragon (1988).
Challenging Convictions
Authors: Palacios Lena 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
This essay, with accompanying lesson plan, explores how race-radical Black and Indigenous feminists theorize and resist the carceral state violence of White settler nations of Canada and the United States. It focuses on the theoretical interventions driven by Indigenous and Black race-radical feminists and how this has placed these activists at the forefront of anti-violence movement-building. Such an intervention specifically upholds the tensions within and refuses to collapse political approaches of Indigenous movements for sovereignty and Black race-radical traditions. Its transnational, comparative focus helps us to not only identify but to create multiple strategies that dismantle the carceral state and the racialized gendered violence that it mobilizes and sustains. Proceeding from the argument that both prison abolitionist praxis and race-radical feminist praxis are inherently and primarily pedagogical, the lesson plan explores the ways we learn, teach, and organize in a manner that teaches against the grain of carceral common sense.
A Theory of ICOs: Diversification, Agency, and Information Asymmetry
Authors: Chod Jiri , Lyandres Evgeny 
Published: January 2021

This paper develops a theory of financing of entrepreneurial ventures via crypto tokens, which is not limited to platform-based ventures. We compare token financing with traditional equity financing, focusing on agency problems and information asymmetry frictions associated with the two financing methods, as well as on risk sharing between entrepreneurs and investors. Token financing introduces an agency problem not present under equity financing (underproduction), while mitigating an agency problem often associated with equity financing (entrepreneurial effort underprovision). Our theory abstracts from all institutional and potentially transient differences between tokens and equity and is based on a single intrinsic characteristic of tokens: they represent claims to a venture’s output. We show that tokens are likely to dominate equity for ventures developing goods or services that involve low marginal production costs, those for which entrepreneurial effort is crucial, and/or those with relatively low payoff volatility. In addition, tokens can have an advantage over equity in signaling venture quality to outside investors. This paper was accepted by Kay Giesecke, finance.
The Impact of the first COVID-19 shelter-in-place announcement on social distancing, difficulty in daily activities, and levels of concern in the San Francisco Bay Area: A cross-sectional social media survey
Authors: Elser Holly , Kiang Mathew V. , John Esther M. , Simard Julia F. , Bondy Melissa , Nelson Lorene M. , Chen Wei-ting , Linos Eleni 
Published: January 2021

BackgroundThe U.S. has experienced an unprecedented number of orders to shelter in place throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to ascertain whether social distancing; difficulty with daily activities; and levels of concern regarding COVID-19 changed after the March 16, 2020 announcement of the nation’s first shelter-in-place orders (SIPO) among individuals living in the seven affected counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.MethodsWe conducted an online, cross-sectional social media survey from March 14 –April 1, 2020. We measured changes in social distancing behavior; experienced difficulties with daily activities (i.e., access to healthcare, childcare, obtaining essential food and medications); and level of concern regarding COVID-19 after the March 16 shelter-in-place announcement in the San Francisco Bay Area versus elsewhere in the U.S.ResultsIn this non-representative sample, the percentage of respondents social distancing all of the time increased following the shelter-in-place announcement in the Bay Area (9.2%, 95% CI: 6.6, 11.9) and elsewhere in the U.S. (3.4%, 95% CI: 2.0, 5.0). Respondents also reported increased difficulty obtaining hand sanitizer, medications, and in particular respondents reported increased difficulty obtaining food in the Bay Area (13.3%, 95% CI: 10.4, 16.3) and elsewhere (8.2%, 95% CI: 6.6, 9.7). We found limited evidence that level of concern regarding the COVID-19 crisis changed following the announcement.ConclusionThis study characterizes early changes in attitudes, behaviors, and difficulties. As states and localities implement, rollback, and reinstate shelter-in-place orders, ongoing efforts to more fully examine the social, economic, and health impacts of COVID-19, especially among vulnerable populations, are urgently needed.
Effect of aerobic exercise on amyloid accumulation in preclinical Alzheimer’s: A 1-year randomized controlled trial
Authors: Vidoni Eric D. , Morris Jill K. , Watts Amber , Perry Mark , Clutton Jon , Van Sciver Angela , Kamat Ashwini S. , Mahnken Jonathan , Hunt Suzanne L. , Townley Ryan , Honea Robyn , Shaw Ashley R. , Johnson David K. , Vacek James , Burns Jeffrey M. 
Published: January 2021

Background
Our goal was to investigate the role of physical exercise to protect brain health as we age, including the potential to mitigate Alzheimer’s-related pathology. We assessed the effect of 52 weeks of a supervised aerobic exercise program on amyloid accumulation, cognitive performance, and brain volume in cognitively normal older adults with elevated and sub-threshold levels of cerebral amyloid as measured by amyloid PET imaging.

Methods and findings
This 52-week randomized controlled trial compared the effects of 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise vs. education control intervention. A total of 117 underactive older adults (mean age 72.9 [7.7]) without evidence of cognitive impairment, with elevated (n = 79) or subthreshold (n = 38) levels of cerebral amyloid were randomized, and 110 participants completed the study. Exercise was conducted with supervision and monitoring by trained exercise specialists. We conducted 18F-AV45 PET imaging of cerebral amyloid and anatomical MRI for whole brain and hippocampal volume at baseline and Week 52 follow-up to index brain health. Neuropsychological tests were conducted at baseline, Week 26, and Week 52 to assess executive function, verbal memory, and visuospatial cognitive domains. Cardiorespiratory fitness testing was performed at baseline and Week 52 to assess response to exercise. The aerobic exercise group significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness (11% vs. 1% in the control group) but there were no differences in change measures of amyloid, brain volume, or cognitive performance compared to control.

Conclusions
Aerobic exercise was not associated with reduced amyloid accumulation in cognitively normal older adults with cerebral amyloid. In spite of strong systemic cardiorespiratory effects of the intervention, the observed lack of cognitive or brain structure benefits suggests brain benefits of exercise reported in other studies are likely to be related to non-amyloid effects.

Trial registration
NCT02000583; ClinicalTrials.gov.
Palliative and end-of-life care for people living with dementia in rural areas: A scoping review
Authors: Elliot Valerie , Morgan Debra , Kosteniuk Julie , Bayly Melanie , Froehlich Chow Amanda , Cammer Allison , O’Connell Megan E. 
Published: January 2021

Background and objectives
People living with dementia deserve to experience the benefits of receiving palliative care and end-of-life services and supports, yet they often do not receive this care compared to those with other terminal diseases. People living with dementia in rural areas often face additional challenges to accessing such care. The purpose of this scoping review was to systematically review and synthesize the literature on palliative and end-of-life care for people with dementia living in rural areas, and to identify and describe key findings and gaps in the literature.

Methods
A collaborative research team approach was used in an iterative process across all stages of this review. Systematic, comprehensive searches were conducted across ten databases and eight targeted websites for relevant peer-reviewed, original research and other less formal literature, published in English, which yielded a total of 4476 results. After duplicate removal, screening, and review, 24 items were included for synthesis.

Results
All items were described and illustrated by frequency distribution, findings were grouped thematically, and five key themes emerged, including: 1) Knowledge about dementia, 2) Availability, accessibility, and utilization of palliative and end-of-life care services and supports, 3) Decision-making about care, the value of a person-centered approach and collaborative support, 4) Perspectives on artificial nutrition, hydration, and comfort care, and 5) Quality of life and death. The main gap identified was literature pertaining to rural populations, especially from locations other than the United States. The influence of rurality on relevant findings was mixed across rural-urban comparison studies, as was the effect of sex and gender across the literature.

Conclusions
Several areas were highlighted including the importance of increasing knowledge about dementia, having early conversations about advanced care and treatment options, providing a person-centered approach, and the potential for using technology to address rural access issues. These findings can be used to inform future research and policy and the development of services, supports, and strategies for rural people living with dementia. Further research is recommended.
Impact of altitude on COVID-19 infection and death in the United States: A modeling and observational study
Authors: Stephens Kenton E. , Chernyavskiy Pavel , Bruns Danielle R. 
Published: January 2021

Background
COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, has caused a pandemic, sparing few regions. However, limited reports suggest differing infection and death rates across geographic areas including populations that reside at higher elevations (HE). We aimed to determine if COVID-19 infection, death, and case mortality rates differed in higher versus low elevation (LE) U.S. counties.

Methods
Using publicly available geographic and COVID-19 data, we calculated per capita infection and death rates and case mortality in population density matched HE and LE U.S. counties. We also performed population-scale regression analysis to investigate the association between county elevation and COVID-19 infection rates.

Findings
Population density matching of LA (< 914m, n = 58) and HE (>2133m, n = 58) counties yielded significantly lower COVID-19 cases at HE versus LE (615 versus 905, p = 0.034). HE per capita deaths were significantly lower than LE (9.4 versus 19.5, p = 0.017). However, case mortality did not differ between HE and LE (1.78% versus 1.46%, p = 0.27). Regression analysis, adjusted for relevant covariates, demonstrated decreased COVID-19 infection rates by 12.82%, 12.01%, and 11.72% per 495m of county centroid elevation, for cases recorded over the previous 30, 90, and 120 days, respectively.

Conclusions
This population-adjusted, controlled analysis suggests that higher elevation attenuates infection and death. Ongoing work from our group aims to identify the environmental, biological, and social factors of residence at HE that impact infection, transmission, and pathogenesis of COVID-19 in an effort to harness these mechanisms for future public health and/or treatment interventions.
A retrospective analysis of pathogen profile, antimicrobial resistance and mortality in neonatal hospital-acquired bloodstream infections from 2009–2018 at Tygerberg Hospital, South Africa
Authors: Reddy Kessendri , Bekker Adrie , Whitelaw Andrew C. , Esterhuizen Tonya M. , Dramowski Angela 
Published: January 2021

Background
Analysis of hospital-acquired bloodstream infection (HA-BSI) trends is important to monitor emerging antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threats and guide empiric antibiotic choices.

Methods
A retrospective 10-year review of neonatal HA-BSI was performed at Tygerberg Hospital’s neonatal unit in Cape Town, South Africa. Neonatal clinical and laboratory data from 2014 to 2018 (Period 2) was compared with published data from 2009 to 2013 (Period 1).

Results
The neonatal unit’s HA-BSI rate declined between periods from 3.9/1000 inpatient-days in Period 1 to 3.3/1000 inpatient-days in Period 2 (p = 0.002). Pathogen yield and blood culture contamination rate were unchanged (11.0% to 10.4%, p = 0.233; 5.1% to 5.3%, p = 0.636 respectively). Gram-negative pathogens predominated (1047/1636; 64.0%); Klebsiella species, Staphylococcus aureus, Serratia marcescens, Enterococcus species and Acinetobacter baumannii were the most frequent pathogens. Extended spectrum beta-lactamase production was observed in 319/432 (73.8%) of Klebsiella species, methicillin resistance in 171/246 (69.5%) of Staphylococcus aureus and extensive drug resistance in 115/137 (83.9%) of Acinetobacter species (2009–2018). The crude mortality rate of neonatal HA-BSI episodes increased from Period 1 to Period 2 from 139/717 (19.4%) to 179/718 (24.9%) (p = 0.014), but HA-BSI attributable mortality remained unchanged (97/139 [69.8%] vs 118/179 [65.9%], p = 0.542). The in-vitro activity of piperacillin-tazobactam and amikacin declined during Period 2 (74.6% to 61.4%; p<0.001).

Conclusion
Although HA-BSI rates declined in the neonatal unit, antimicrobial resistance rates in BSI pathogens remained high. Continuous BSI surveillance is a valuable tool to detect changes in pathogen and AMR profiles and inform empiric antibiotic recommendations for neonatal units in resource-limited settings.
Health and social concerns about living in three communities affected by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): A qualitative study in Australia
Authors: Banwell Cathy , Housen Tambri , Smurthwaite Kayla , Trevenar Susan , Walker Liz , Todd Katherine , Rosas May , Kirk Martyn 
Published: January 2021

Background
Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a public health issue globally. In Australia high concentrations of PFAS have been found in environments close to sites where Aqueous Film Forming Foams (AFFF) were historically used for firefighting activities. This has resulted in significant community concern about the potential long-term health effects of these chemicals.

Objective
We describe residents’ perceptions and experiences of PFAS in three regional Australian towns where exposure has occurred.

Methods
We conducted focus groups to generate free-flowing open discussion on PFAS in three affected communities, including some with significant numbers of First Nations Peoples. We recruited participants using a range of media outlets and postal services. Focus group transcripts were analysed thematically to identify major shared concerns using Atlas Ti.

Results
One hundred and eighty residents attended fifteen focus groups that were conducted in the three communities. They included 69 First Nations People living in three communities near the town of Katherine in the Northern Territory. Study participants were concerned about potential physical health effects of exposure to PFAS, such as cancer clusters, unexplained deaths, potential exacerbation of existing health conditions, and the future health of their children. They expressed feelings of stress and anxiety about living with uncertainty related to the possible health and the socio-economic impacts of PFAS contamination in their communities.

Conclusion
While research has concentrated on the physical health effects of PFAS, more attention needs to be given to the immediate psychosocial impacts of living in an affected community.