bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Suicide by poisoning in Pakistan: review of regional trends, toxicity and management of commonly used agents in the past three decades
Authors: Safdar Maria , Afzal Khalid Imran , Smith Zoe , Ali Filza , Zarif Pervaiz , Baig Zahid Farooq 
Published: June 2021

BackgroundSuicide is one of the leading mental health crises and takes one life every 40 seconds. Four out of every five suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. Despite religion being a protective factor against suicide, the estimated number of suicides is rapidly increasing in Pakistan.AimsOur review focuses on the trends of suicide and means of self-poisoning in the past three decades, and the management of commonly used poisons.MethodWe searched two electronic databases (PubMed and PakMediNet) for published English-language studies describing agents used for suicide in different regions of Pakistan. A total of 46 out of 85 papers (N= 54 747 cases) met our inclusion criteria.ResultsSuicidal behaviour was more common among individuals younger than 30 years. Females comprised 60% of those who attempted suicide in our study sample, although the ratio of completed suicides favoured males. There were regional trends in the choice of agent for overdose. Organophosphate poisoning was reported across the nation, with a predominance of cases from the agricultural belt of South Punjab and interior Sindh. Aluminium phosphide (‘wheat pills’) was a preferred agent in North Punjab, whereas paraphenylenediamine (‘kala pathar’) was implicated in deaths by suicide from South Punjab. Urban areas had other means for suicide, including household chemicals, benzodiazepines, kerosene oil and rat poison.ConclusionsUrgent steps are needed, including psychoeducational campaigns on mental health and suicide, staff training, medical resources for prompt treatment of self-poisoning and updated governmental policy to regulate pesticide sales.
Quantitative Computed Tomography Image Analysis to Predict Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Grade
Authors: Pulvirenti Alessandra , Yamashita Rikiya , Chakraborty Jayasree , Horvat Natally , Seier Kenneth , McIntyre Caitlin A. , Lawrence Sharon A. , Midya Abhishek , Koszalka Maura A. , Gonen Mithat , Klimstra David S. , Reidy Diane L. , Allen Peter J. , Do Richard K. G. , Simpson Amber L. 
Published: June 2021

PURPOSE The therapeutic management of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) is based on pathological tumor grade assessment. A noninvasive imaging method to grade tumors would facilitate treatment selection. This study evaluated the ability of quantitative image analysis derived from computed tomography (CT) images to predict PanNET grade. METHODS Institutional database was queried for resected PanNET (2000-2017) with a preoperative arterial phase CT scan. Radiomic features were extracted from the primary tumor on the CT scan using quantitative image analysis, and qualitative radiographic descriptors were assessed by two radiologists. Significant features were identified by univariable analysis and used to build multivariable models to predict PanNET grade. RESULTS Overall, 150 patients were included. The performance of models based on qualitative radiographic descriptors varied between the two radiologists (reader 1: sensitivity, 33%; specificity, 66%; negative predictive value [NPV], 63%; and positive predictive value [PPV], 37%; reader 2: sensitivity, 45%; specificity, 70%; NPV, 72%; and PPV, 47%). The model based on radiomics had a better performance predicting the tumor grade with a sensitivity of 54%, a specificity of 80%, an NPV of 81%, and a PPV of 54%. The inclusion of radiomics in the radiographic descriptor models improved both the radiologists' performance. CONCLUSION CT quantitative image analysis of PanNETs helps predict tumor grade from routinely acquired scans and should be investigated in future prospective studies.
Randomized, Single-Blind, Multicenter Phase II Study of Two Doses of Imetelstat in Relapsed or Refractory Myelofibrosis
Authors: Mascarenhas John , Komrokji Rami S. , Palandri Francesca , Martino Bruno , Niederwieser Dietger , Reiter Andreas , Scott Bart L. , Baer Maria R. , Hoffman Ronald , Odenike Olatoyosi , Vannucchi Alessandro M. , Bussolari Jacqueline , Zhu Eugene , Rose Esther , Sherman Laurie , Dougherty Souria , Sun Libo , Huang Fei , Wan Ying , Feller Faye M. , Rizo Aleksandra , Kiladjian Jean-Jacques 
Published: June 2021

PURPOSE Patients with myelofibrosis who are relapsed or refractory (R/R) to Janus-associated kinase inhibitors (JAKis) have poor clinical outcomes including dismal overall survival (OS) that ranges between 13 and 16 months. Imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor, was evaluated in patients with intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis R/R to JAKi in a phase II multicenter study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02426086 ). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients were randomly assigned to receive either imetelstat 9.4 mg/kg or 4.7 mg/kg intravenous once every 3 weeks. Spleen response (≥ 35% spleen volume reduction) and symptom response (≥ 50% reduction in total symptom score) rates at week 24 were coprimary end points. Secondary end points included OS and safety. RESULTS Study enrollment was closed early, and patients treated with 4.7 mg/kg were permitted to continue treatment with 9.4 mg/kg. At week 24, spleen and symptom response rates were 10.2% and 32.2% in the 9.4-mg/kg arm and 0% and 6.3% in the 4.7-mg/kg arm. Treatment with imetelstat 9.4 mg/kg led to a median OS of 29.9 months and bone marrow fibrosis improvement in 40.5% and variant allele frequency reduction of driver mutations in 42.1% of evaluable patients. Fibrosis improvement and variant allele frequency reduction correlated with OS. Target inhibition was demonstrated by reduction of telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase level and correlated with spleen response, symptom response, and OS. Most common adverse events on both arms were grade 3 or 4 reversible cytopenias. CONCLUSION In this phase II study of two imetelstat doses, 9.4 mg/kg once every 3 weeks demonstrated clinical benefits in symptom response rate, with an acceptable safety profile for this poor-risk JAKi R/R population. Biomarker and bone marrow fibrosis assessments suggested selective effects on the malignant clone. A confirmatory phase III study is currently underway.
Improving Outpatient Infusion Clinic Wait Times at a Comprehensive Cancer Center
Authors: Hashemi-Sadraei Neda , Sasankan Shenthol , Crozier Nick , Tawfik Bernard , Kittson Ronald , Abernathy Janet , Lauer Richard , Dayao Zoneddy 
Published: June 2021

PURPOSE: Many factors contribute to long wait times for patients on the day of their chemotherapy infusion appointments. Longer wait time leads to nonoptimal care, increased costs, and decreased patient satisfaction. We conducted a quality improvement project to reduce the infusion wait times at a Comprehensive Cancer Center. METHODS: A multidisciplinary working group of physicians, infusion center nurses, pharmacists, information technology analysts, the Chief Medical Officer, and patient advocates formed a working group. Wait times were analyzed, and the contributing factors to long wait time were identified. Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles were implemented and included labeling patients ready to treat earlier, loading premedications into the medication dispensing system, increasing the number of pharmacy staff, and improving communication using a secure messaging system. The outcome measure was time from patient appointment to initiation of first drug at the infusion center. The secondary outcome measure was patient wait time satisfaction on the basis of Press Ganey score. RESULTS: Postintervention, the mean time from appointment to initiation of first drug decreased 17.6 minutes ( P < .001; 95% CI, 16.3 to 18.9), from 58.1 minutes to 40.5 minutes (43.5% decrease). Patient wait time satisfaction score increased 8.9 points ( P < .001; 95% CI, 6.0 to 11.82), from 76.2 to 85.1 (11.7% increase). CONCLUSION: Exploring real-time data and using a classic quality improvement methodology allowed a Comprehensive Cancer Center to identify deficiencies and prevent delays in chemotherapy initiation. This significantly improved patient wait time and patient satisfaction.
The Rights of Nature, the Rights of Fiction: Mario Vargas Llosa and the Amazon
Authors: Saramago Victoria 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe Amazonian region occupies a singular place in the fiction and nonfiction of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa. Author of paradigmatic novels on the Peruvian Amazon, Vargas Llosa nevertheless has repeatedly defended extensive exploitation of Amazonian natural resources—at the expense of Indigenous rights and environmental conservation—in his essays and political activities. This article discusses this conflict between Vargas Llosa's fictional and nonfictional work on the Amazon through the lens of a theory of fiction that emerges from his essays across decades and that suggests that the fictional text is independent from the referential reality it represents. By revisiting his novels and writings about fiction, this article argues that Vargas Llosa's belief in the autonomy of fiction from its referential reality explains, to a certain extent, how the fascination with the Amazon present in the author's novels coexists with his defense of drastic changes in the region through environmental exploitation and the acculturation of Indigenous populations. While Vargas Llosa's work enjoyed a positive reception in the 1960s, the nontransitive notion of mimesis he proposed has gradually taken on reactionary undertones in the context of changing expectations since the 1980s and 1990s.
The Politics of Living Death in Nuruddin Farah's Sweet and Sour Milk
Authors: Leman Peter 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
This article examines Nuruddin Farah's 1979 novel Sweet and Sour Milk, asking how we read representations of postcolonial mourning and living death in the context of global authoritarianism. The first novel in Farah's influential dictatorship trilogy, Sweet and Sour Milk introduces us to “the General,” a fictionalized version of Siyad Barre, who ruled Somalia from 1969 to 1991. Like Barre's, the General's power exemplifies what Achille Mbembe calls “necropolitics,” or “the contemporary subjugation of life to the power of death.” The General's necropower manifests, peculiarly, as a politics of substitution—that is, when he takes a life, he leaves something in its place. Rebels do not simply disappear; they are killed and then given sycophantic zombie afterlives in the General's propaganda. In response to this politics of substitution, Farah explores a politics of mourning, which insists upon the irreplaceability of lost love objects and thereby broadly reveals what truly can and cannot be substituted. The General insists on the uniqueness of his power, for example, but Farah reveals it to be a cliché, easily substituted by that of other dictators throughout history. Cliché becomes revolutionary in this way, suggesting that dictators share a common fate: they will be deposed or, eventually, die of old age. However, like a horde of the living dead, others like them will return. The article concludes with analysis of the apparent pessimism of this point and the global implications of Farah's ideas about both necropolitics and the limits of the novel form in the face of authoritarian power.
Sex Differences in Cardiac Adaptation to Distinct Modalities of Exercise: A Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Study
Authors: MARSH CHANNA E. , THOMAS HANNAH J. , NAYLOR LOUISE H. , DEMBO LAWRENCE G. , GREEN DANIEL J. 
Published: June 2021

ABSTRACT

Purpose
No previous study has described sex differences in chronic cardiac adaptation in response to distinct modalities of exercise training in humans.

Methods
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (1.5 T) was used to assess left ventricular (LV) outcomes in 78 untrained subjects (46F, 26 M; 26.1 ± 5.4 yr). Subjects underwent 3 months of closely supervised and monitored resistance (RES) and endurance (END) training, separated by a 3-month washout period.

Results
LV mass (LVM) increased in response to END in both sexes (females △3.98 ± 7.98 g, P = 0.002; males △5.99 ± 10.67 g, P = 0.005), whereas LV end-diastolic volume (EDV) increased in males (△7.48 ± 11.91 mL, P = 0.002) but not females (△1.54 ± 10.49 mL, P = 0.373). In response to RES, LVM and EDV did not increase in either sex. The proportion of subjects exhibiting a positive response to training (i.e., a change >0) for LVM and EDV did not differ between sexes for either training modality.

Conclusion
Eccentric hypertrophy in response to END training was more apparent in males than females, whereas there were no notable cardiac changes between sexes for RES training. The proportion of low versus high responders to training was not sex specific for LVM or EDV in response to either commonly prescribed exercise training modality.
GeNePy3D: a quantitative geometry python toolbox for bioimaging
Authors: Phan Minh-Son , Chessel Anatole 
Published: June 2021

The advent of large-scale fluorescence and electronic microscopy techniques along with maturing image analysis is giving life sciences a deluge of geometrical objects in 2D/3D(+t) to deal with. These objects take the form of large scale, localised, precise, single cell, quantitative data such as cells’ positions, shapes, trajectories or lineages, axon traces in whole brains atlases or varied intracellular protein localisations, often in multiple experimental conditions. The data mining of those geometrical objects requires a variety of mathematical and computational tools of diverse accessibility and complexity. Here we present a new Python library for quantitative 3D geometry called GeNePy3D which helps handle and mine information and knowledge from geometric data, providing a unified application programming interface (API) to methods from several domains including computational geometry, scale space methods or spatial statistics. By framing this library as generically as possible, and by linking it to as many state-of-the-art reference algorithms and projects as needed, we help render those often specialist methods accessible to a larger community. We exemplify the usefulness of the GeNePy3D toolbox by re-analysing a recently published whole-brain zebrafish neuronal atlas, with other applications and examples available online. Along with an open source, documented and exemplified code, we release reusable containers to allow for convenient and wide usability and increased reproducibility.
A new modified Lehmann type – II G class of distributions: exponential distribution with theory, simulation, and applications to engineering sector
Authors: Balogun Oluwafemi Samson , Arshad Muhammad Zeshan , Iqbal Muhammad Zafar , Ghamkhar Madiha 
Published: June 2021

Background: Modeling against non-normal data a challenge for theoretical and applied scientists to choose a lifetime model and expect to perform optimally against experimental, reliability engineering, hydrology, ecology, and agriculture sciences, phenomena. Method: We have introduced a new G class that generates relatively more flexible models to its baseline and we refer to it as the new modified Lehmann Type – II (ML–II) G class of distributions. A list of new members of ML–II-G class is developed and as a sub-model the exponential distribution, known as the ML-II-Exp distribution is considered for further discussion. Several mathematical and reliability characters along with explicit expressions for moments, quantile function, and order statistics are derived and discussed in detail. Furthermore, plots of density and hazard rate functions are sketched out over the certain choices of the parametric values. For the estimation of the model parameters, we utilized the method of maximum likelihood estimation. Results: The applicability of the ML–II–G class is evaluated via ML–II–Exp distribution. ML–II–Exp distribution is modeled to four suitable lifetime datasets and the results are compared with the well-known competing models. Some well recognized goodness–of–fit including -Log-likelihood (-LL), Anderson-Darling (A*), Cramer-Von Mises (W*), and Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test statistics are considered for the selection of a better fit model. Conclusion: The minimum value of the goodness–of–fit is the criteria of a better fit model that the ML–II–Exp distribution perfectly satisfies. Hence, we affirm that the ML–II–Exp distribution is a better fit model than its competitors.
SOB O REINADO DA PESTE: UMA ANÁLISE DO CONTO O REI PESTE
Authors: Zanoni da Silva Ana Maria 
Published: June 2021

Medo é um dos sentimentos que achincalha a alma naqueles períodos em que as grandes epidemias assolam a humanidade. Não se trata apenas do medo perante ao que causa a doença, mas também o medo do outro, dos corpos contaminados, das dores, das angústias decorrentes do sentimento de impotência perante o mundo alheado, convertido em palco para um espetáculo horrível, do qual os protagonistas não retornam. Nesse sentido, este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar o conto O Rei Peste, publicado no Southern Literary Messenger, em setembro de 1835, com o título de King Pest the First. A Tale Containing an Allegory, a fim de demostrar como Edgar Allan Poe, ao valer-se da imagem do corpo grotesco, transfigura o tema peste em ficção e em que medida essa transfiguração, ao instaurar uma atmosfera de horror questiona a ordem imposta e mostra falhas e incongruências presentes nas formas de controle do contágio, apontando para as transformações que o surto de peste impõe a sociedade.
Pandemia e crise ambiental: a alternativa ecossocialista
Authors: Löwy Michael 
Published: June 2021

O artigo relaciona a pandemia da Covid-19 aos efeitos deletérios do modo de produção capitalista em escala global e propõe a alternativa do ecossocialismo. Afirma que tanto as epidemias, quanto a crise ecológica, são resultantes deste modo de produção que transforma todos os seres e recursos naturais em mercadoria. Traz o ecossocialismo como uma proposta estratégica que busca transformar não só as relações de produção, as relações de propriedade, mas a própria estrutura das forças produtivas. Busca também a transformação do estilo, do padrão de consumo, de todo o modo de vida em torno do consumo, que é o padrão do capitalismo. O ecossocialismo não se restringe à perspectiva de uma nova civilização, mas propõe uma civilização da solidariedade entre os humanos e com a natureza. Palavras-Chave: Pandemia; crise ambiental; ecossocialismo.
Classe trabalhadora, precarização e resistência no Brasil da pandemia
Authors: Santana Marco Aurélio 
Published: June 2021

O presente artigo analisa as relações entre trabalho e política no Brasil da pandemia. Isso é feito indicando os processos políticos e sociais que constituíram o mundo do trabalho atual no país, identificando as linhas mestras que o caracterizam, bem como apontando algumas formas de resistência que vêm sendo agenciadas pela classe trabalhadora e movimentos sociais para lhes fazer frente. Partimos da ideia de que o cenário de vida e trabalho no país mesmo antes da chegada da pandemia já tinha a marca da desproteção social, precarização, informalidade e desemprego. A emergência sanitária [do] [da] Covid-19 deixa isso escancarado e torna mais graves os seus impactos. É por isso que as demandas apresentadas pela classe trabalhadora nesse contexto, ao mesmo tempo em que trazem a lume as agruras que passam em sua atividade laboral presente, lançam luz sobre os processos sociais e de trabalho que foram destituídos e constituídos no Brasil dos últimos anos, bem como apontam para [questões futuras] [futuros desdobramentos]. Palavras-Chave: trabalho; classe trabalhadora; precarização; sindicatos; movimentos sociais.
Auxílio emergencial e trabalho do Serviço Social no contexto da Covid-19
Authors: Silva Maria Ozanira Da Silva e , Sousa Salviana De Maria Pastor Santos , Lima Valéria Ferreira Santos de Almada 
Published: June 2021

O artigo, referenciado em estudos e pesquisas desenvolvidas pelas autoras, aborda o contexto socioeconômico e político em tempos da Covid-19 no Brasil para tratar da transferência monetária como como medida privilegiada para reduzir o avanço da pobreza e das desigualdades sociais; considera o Benefício Emergencial como produto de pressões da sociedade, dos políticos e dos estudiosos da temática em prol da proteção social. Aborda ainda o trabalho do Serviço Social na atualidade da Política de Assistência Social junto ao Auxílio Emergencial. A principal conclusão destaca a prevalência dos programas de transferência de renda para proteção social no Brasil pós 1990 e a contribuição relevante da Política de Assistência Social na implementação do Benefício Emergencial. Palavras-Chave: Desigualdades; Covid-19; Programas de Transferência de Renda; Proteção Social; Serviço Social.
Osteointegration of hydroxyapatite-coated collars in cemented massive endoprostheses following revision surgery
Authors: Davies Benjamin , Kaila Rajiv , Andritsos Loukas , Gray Stephens Christian , Blunn Gordon W. , Gerrand Craig , Gikas Panagiotis , Johnston Andrew 
Published: June 2021

AimsHydroxyapatite (HA)-coated collars have been shown to reduce aseptic loosening of massive endoprostheses following primary surgery. Limited information exists about their effectiveness in revision surgery. The aim of this study was to radiologically assess osteointegration to HA-coated collars of cemented massive endoprostheses following revision surgery.MethodsRetrospective review of osseointegration frequency, pattern, and timing to a specific HA-coated collar on massive endoprostheses used in revision surgery at our tertiary referral centre between 2010 to 2017 was undertaken. Osseointegration was radiologically classified on cases with a minimum follow-up of six months.ResultsIn all, 39 patients underwent radiological review at mean 43.5 months; 22/39 (56.4%) showed no osseointegration to the collar. Revision endoprostheses for aseptic loosening were less likely to show osseointegration compared with other indications for revision. Oncological cases with previous or current infection were more likely to show osseointegration to ≥ 1 collar side than those without evidence of prior infection.ConclusionThis seven-year review identified osseointegration of HA-coated collars after revision surgery is less likely (43.6%, 17/39) than after primary surgery. Young patients who undergo revision surgery following initial oncological indication may benefit the most from this collar design. Use in revision oncological cases with a history of infection may be beneficial. HA-coated collars showed limited benefit for patients undergoing revision for failed arthroplasty with history of infection. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(6):371–379.