bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The estimated distribution of autochthonous leishmaniasis by Leishmania infantum in Europe in 2005–2020
Authors: Maia Carla , Conceição Cláudia , Pereira André , Rocha Rafael , Ortuño Maria , Muñoz Clara , Jumakanova Zarima , Pérez-Cutillas Pedro , Özbel Yusuf , Töz Seray , Baneth Gad , Monge-Maillo Begoña , Gasimov Elkhan , Van der Stede Yves , Torres Gregorio , Gossner Céline M. , Berriatua Eduardo 
Published: July 2023

Background
This study describes the spatial and temporal distribution between 2005 and 2020 of human and animal leishmaniasis by Leishmania infantum in European countries reporting autochthonous cases, and highlights potential activities to improve disease control.

Methodology/Principal findings
It was based on a review of the scientific literature and data reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Ministries of Health, including hospital discharges in some countries. Autochthonous infections were reported in the scientific literature from 22 countries, including 13 and 21 countries reporting human and animal infections, respectively. In contrast, only 17 countries reported autochthonous human leishmaniasis cases to the WHO and 8 countries animal infections to the WOAH. The number of WOAH reported cases were 4,203, comprising 4,183 canine cases and 20 cases in wildlife. Of 8,367 WHO reported human cases, 69% were visceral leishmaniasis cases—of which 94% were autochthonous—and 31% cutaneous leishmaniasis cases—of which 53% were imported and mostly in France. The resulting cumulative incidence per 100,000 population of visceral leishmaniasis between 2005–2020, was highest in Albania (2.15 cases), followed by Montenegro, Malta, Greece, Spain and North Macedonia (0.53–0.42), Italy (0.16), Portugal (0.09) and lower in other endemic countries (0.07–0.002). However, according to hospital discharges, the estimated human leishmaniasis incidence was 0.70 in Italy and visceral leishmaniasis incidences were 0.67 in Spain and 0.41 in Portugal.

Conclusions/Significance
Overall, there was no evidence of widespread increased incidence of autochthonous human leishmaniasis by L. infantum in European countries. Visceral leishmaniasis incidence followed a decreasing trend in Albania, Italy and Portugal, and peaked in Greece in 2013, 2014 and 2017, and in Spain in 2006–2007 and 2011–2013. Animal and human cutaneous leishmaniasis remain highly underreported. In humans, hospital discharge databases provide the most accurate information on visceral leishmaniasis and may be a valuable indirect source of information to identify hotspots of animal leishmaniasis. Integrated leishmaniasis surveillance and reporting following the One Health approach, needs to be enhanced in order to improve disease control.
Interindividual variability in the benefits of personal sound amplification products on speech perception in noise: A randomized cross-over clinical trial
Authors: Perron Maxime , Lau Brian , Alain Claude 
Published: July 2023

ObjectiveThe aging population is prone to hearing loss, which has several adverse effects on quality of life, including difficulty following conversations in noisy environments. Personal Sound Amplification Products (PSAPs) are a less expensive, over-the-counter alternative to traditional, more expensive hearing aids. Although some studies have shown that PSAPs can mitigate hearing loss, the literature generally only addresses group differences without considering interindividual variability. This study aimed to 1) determine how PSAPs affect listening effort and speech perception in noise and 2) measure interindividual variability and identify contributing demographic and health factors.DesignWe used a cross-over design in which all participants were assigned to each condition.ParticipantsTwenty-eight adults aged 60 to 87 years with normal hearing and mild hearing loss fulfilled the study requirements.InterventionIn one session, speech-in-noise perception tasks were performed without PSAPs, and in the other, the tasks were performed with bilateral PSAPs. The two sessions were separated by one week, and the order of the sessions was balanced across participants.Main outcome measuresIn both sessions, participants performed the Quick speech-in-noise test and a word discrimination task in noise, in which their self-reported listening effort was measured.ResultsPSAPs use improved speech perception in noise in both tasks and reduced listening effort. There was considerable variability between individuals, with approximately 60–70% of participants showing benefit. Age, hearing and cognitive status were significant predictors of the benefits.ConclusionNot all individuals may benefit from the effect of PSAPs to the same extent at their first use, and this depends on specific health and demographic factors, particularly age, hearing, and cognitive status. These results underscore the importance of demographic and health factors in assessing the benefits of hearing amplification in older adults.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov,NCT05076045.
What influences parental decisions about antibiotic use with their children: A qualitative study in rural Australia
Authors: Marsh Stephanie A. , Byrne Mitchell K. , Parsafar Sara 
Published: July 2023

Background
Inappropriate use of antibiotics can promote bacterial resistance, which is a growing public health concern. As children are amongst the highest recipients of antibiotics, understanding the drivers of parental decisions towards their children’s antibiotic use is imperative for the development of strategies to assist parents in making more informed decisions. This is particularly relevant to the decisions of parents living in resource-limited settings. This study explored the perspectives and practices of parents living in a rural setting about the use of antibiotics in their children.

Methods
Three focus group interviews were conducted with 10 parents of children under 12yrs, living in rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory, Australia. A focus group guide was developed to facilitate discussions, which was informed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Transcripts were analysed abductively using thematic analysis.

Findings
Four themes emerged explaining factors that contributed to parent decisions about their children’s antibiotic use: 1) Parental knowledge, attitudes and decision making; 2) Perceptions of antimicrobial resistance; 3) Healthcare challenges; 4) Behaviours with antibiotics. While parents demonstrated accurate knowledge of the indications for antibiotic use, their decisions about the need for antibiotics were often driven by fear of serious illness. This fear was exacerbated by resource limitations associated with living in a resource-limited setting. Additional drivers of parental decision making included what parents have read or heard from both medical and non-medical networks, underscoring the importance of Social Norms in predicting behavioural intentions.

Conclusion
Mothers living in remote areas experiencing reduced access to health services may make decisions about antibiotic use out of fear and based on the advice of their personal network when they perceive their child is vulnerable to a health threat. Findings from this study provide guidance for future research in the prediction of antibiotic use behaviours and for context-specific interventions.
Strategies to increase childhood tuberculosis case detection at the primary health care level: Lessons from an active case finding study in Zambia
Authors: Kagujje Mary , Nyangu Sarah , Maimbolwa Minyoi M. , Shuma Brian , Mutti Lilungwe , Somwe Paul , Sanjase Nsala , Chungu Chalilwe , Kerkhoff Andrew D. , Muyoyeta Monde 
Published: July 2023

Introduction
In high TB burden settings, it is estimated that 10–20% of total notifications should be children, however, currently only 6–8% of the total TB notifications in Zambia are children. We assessed whether the implementation of a multicomponent strategy, at primary healthcare facilities, that systematically targets barriers at each step of the childhood TB diagnostic cascade can increase childhood TB case detection.

Methods
We conducted a controlled, interrupted time series analysis to compare childhood TB case notifications before (January 2018—December 2019), and during implementation (January 2020—September 2021) in two intervention and two control Level 1 hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia. At each of the intervention facilities, we implemented a multicomponent strategy constituting: (1) capacity development on childhood TB and interpretation of chest x-ray, (2) TB awareness-raising and demand creation activities, (3) setting up fast track TB services, (4) strengthening of household contact tracing, and (5) improving access to digital chest X-ray for TB screening and Xpert MTB/Rif Ultra for TB diagnosis, through strengthening sample collection in children.

Findings
Among 5,150 children < 15 years screened at the two intervention facilities during the study period, 503 (9.8% yield) were diagnosed with TB. Of these, 433 (86.1%) were identified through facility-based activities (10.5% yield) and 70 (13.9%) were identified through household contact tracing (6.9% yield). Overall, 446 children (88.7%) children with TB were clinically diagnosed. Following implementation of the multicomponent strategy, the proportion children contributed to total TB notifications immediately changed by +1.5% (95%CI: -3.5, 6.6) and -4.4% (95%CI: -7.5, 1.4) at the intervention and control sites, respectively (difference 6.0% [95%CI: -0.7, 12.7]), p = 0.08); the proportion of childhood notifications increased 0.9% (95%CI: -0.7, 2.5%) each quarter at the intervention sites relative to pre-implementation trends, while declining 1.2% (-95%CI: -1.8, -0.6) at the control sites (difference 2.1% [95%CI: 0.1, 4.2] per quarter between, p = 0.046); this translated into 352 additional and 85 fewer childhood TB notifications at the intervention and control sites, respectively, compared to the pre-implementation period.

Conclusion
A standardized package of strategies to improve childhood TB detection at primary healthcare facilities was feasible to implement and was associated with a sustained improvement in childhood TB notifications.
Multivariate Analysis-Suitable T-Splines of Arbitrary Degree
Authors: Hiniborch Robin , Morgenstern Philipp 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
This paper defines analysis-suitable T-splines for arbitrary degree (including even and mixed degrees) and arbitrary dimension.
We generalize the concept of anchor elements known from the two-dimensional setting, extend existing concepts of analysis-suitability and show their sufficiency for linearly independent T-splines.
An integrated explicit and implicit offensive language taxonomy
Authors: Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk Barbara , Bączkowska Anna , Liebeskind Chaya , Valunaite Oleskeviciene Giedre , Žitnik Slavko 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The current study represents an integrated model of explicit and implicit offensive language taxonomy. First, it focuses on a definitional revision and enrichment of the explicit offensive language taxonomy by reviewing the collection of available corpora and comparing tagging schemas applied there. The study relies mainly on the categories originally proposed by Zampieri et al. (2019) in terms of offensive language categorization schemata. After the explanation of semantic differences between particular concepts used in the tagging systems and the analysis of theoretical frameworks, a finite set of classes is presented, which cover aspects of offensive language representation along with linguistically sound explanations (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk et al. 2021). In the analytic procedure, offensive from non-offensive discourse is first distinguished, with the question of offence Target and the following categorization levels and sublevels. Based on the relevant data generated from Sketch Engine (https://www.sketchengine.eu/ententen-english-corpus/), we propose the concept of offensive language as a superordinate category in our system with a number of hierarchically arranged 17 subcategories. The categories are taxonomically structured into 4 levels and verified with the use of neural-based (lexical) embeddings. Together with a taxonomy of implicit offensive language and its subcategorization levels which has received little scholarly attention until now, the categorization is exemplified in samples of offensive discourses in selected English social media materials, i.e., publicly available 25 web-based hate speech datasets (consult Appendix 1 for a complete list). The offensive category levels (types of offence, targets, etc.) and aspects (offensive language property clusters) as well as the categories of explicitness and implicitness are discussed in the study and the computationally verified integrated explicit and implicit offensive language taxonomy proposed in the study.
China y EE.UU.: De la potencia económica a las fricciones comerciales durante la Administración de Trump
Authors: Navarro Alpízar Ana Gabriela , Solano Aguilar Gerald , Hernández Pereira Rosmery , Irías Carvajal Lilliana 
Published: July 2023

Resumen
La economía mundial en la segunda década de siglo XXI, está enfrentando una situación crítica que nos lleva a replantearnos la dinámica de las relaciones económicas internacionales. Si revisamos la historia con especial atención, a los inicios de la década de los ochenta del siglo XX, comenzaban la construcción de los cimientos de lo que se denomina neoconservadurismo. Este permitió un gran impulso al proceso de globalización, a la desregulación de los mercados y la apertura de las economías y de la mano de los “ajustes estructurales” impuestos por los organismos financieros internacionales, características que dieron forma a la economía de finales del siglo pasado. Por ello, este artículo busca describir las relaciones entre China y Estados Unidos en el marco de lo que se ha denominado la guerra comercial durante la administración de Trump y su correlación con los cambios en la lucha de poder. Para ello se utilizó el método descriptivo y descriptivo-explicativo que permitiera establecer las relaciones y correlaciones entre las variables en estudio. Además, se realizó una revisión bibliográfica, de fuentes primarias y principalmente secundarias para comprender el juego por la lucha de poder y protagonismo entre las potencias. Se buscó dimensionar el impacto de la guerra comercial entre China y Estados Unidos en la (re)estructuración y dinámica del Sistema Internacional. El enfrentamiento entre China y los EE. UU. no es producto de la casualidad, sino una lucha por protagonismo que al tratarse de las dos economías más grandes del mundo genera un enfrentamiento comercial que se transforma en problema de dimensiones globales.
Experimental and numerical evaluation of the compressive and shear behavior of unstabilized rammed earth
Authors: Ávila Fernando , Fagone Mario , Gallego Rafael , Puertas Esther , Ranocchiai Giovanna 
Published: July 2023

AbstractRammed earth has a longstanding tradition as a construction method and has recently gained renewed interest as an eco-friendly building technique. To employ it effectively in contemporary constructions, proper characterization of its mechanical properties and the development of predictive models become essential. Rammed earth structures usually work under compression, but their low shear strength makes this a key parameter for failure. Considering this, in the present study a mechanical characterization of rammed earth under compression and shear is carried out via laboratory tests, and the results are used to develop a numerical model (finite elements method) that can simulate rammed earth behavior under compressive and shear loads. The results show a good performance of the numerical models, accurately replicating the material behavior observed in laboratory. These numerical models are essential to predict the behavior and ensure an efficient and safe design of rammed earth structures.
Patient and Surgical Risk Factors for Surgical Site Infection in Lower-Extremity Oncological Endoprosthetic Reconstruction
Authors: Slawaska-Eng David , Gazendam Aaron M. , Kendal Joseph , Schneider Patricia , Becker Ricardo G. , Freitas Joao Paulo , Bernthal Nicholas , Ghert Michelle ,   on behalf of the PARITY Investigators
Published: July 2023

Background:
The specific risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) in orthopaedic oncology patients undergoing endoprosthetic reconstruction have not previously been evaluated in a large prospective cohort. In the current study, we aimed to define patient- and procedure-specific risk factors for SSI in patients who underwent surgical excision and endoprosthetic reconstruction for lower-extremity bone or soft-tissue tumors using the prospectively collected data of the Prophylactic Antibiotic Regimens in Tumor Surgery (PARITY) trial.

Methods:
PARITY was a multicenter, blinded, randomized controlled trial with a parallel 2-arm design that aimed to determine the effect of a long duration (5 days) versus short duration (24 hours) of postoperative prophylactic antibiotics on the rate of SSI in patients undergoing surgical excision and endoprosthetic reconstruction of the femur or tibia. In this secondary analysis of the PARITY data, a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was constructed to explore predictors of SSI within 1 year postoperatively.

Results:
A total of 96 (15.9%) of the 604 patients experienced an SSI. Of the 23 variables analyzed in the univariate analysis, 4 variables achieved significance: preoperative diagnosis, operative time, volume of muscle excised, and hospital length of stay (LOS). However, only hospital LOS was found to be independently predictive of SSI in the multivariate regression analysis (hazard ratio per day = 1.03; 95% confidence interval = 1.01 to 1.05; p < 0.001). An omnibus test of model coefficients demonstrated that the model showed significant improvement over the null model (χ2 = 78.04; p < 0.001). No multicollinearity was found.

Conclusions:
This secondary analysis of the PARITY study data found that the only independent risk factor for SSI on multivariate analysis was hospital LOS. It may therefore be reasonable for clinicians to consider streamlined discharge plans for orthopaedic oncology patients to potentially reduce the risk of SSI.

Level of Evidence:
Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Central Adjudication Committee and Clinical Site Investigator Agreement on Outcomes in the PARITY Trial
Authors: Slawaska-Eng David , Giglio Victoria , Gazendam Aaron M. , Schneider Patricia , Bernthal Nicholas , Ghert Michelle ,   on behalf of the PARITY Investigators
Published: July 2023

Background:
The detection of a surgical site infection (SSI) in patients with metal implants requires a high degree of clinical acumen. The inherent subjectivity of SSI diagnosis poses a challenge in the design of surgical trials because this subjectivity raises concern for outcome assessment bias. Central Adjudication Committees (CACs) are often utilized to minimize the variability in outcome assessment. Little research has been done to determine the reliability of outcome assessment in trials utilizing a CAC. In the present study, we determined the agreement between the study CAC and the clinical site investigators for the primary and secondary outcome assessments.

Methods:
The Prophylactic Antibiotic Regimens in Tumor Surgery (PARITY) trial was a multicenter, blinded, parallel 2-arm, randomized controlled trial that aimed to determine the effect of a 5-day versus 1-day postoperative prophylactic antibiotic regimen on the rate of SSI in patients undergoing surgical excision of tumors in the femur or tibia. The blinded PARITY CAC adjudicated all primary and secondary outcomes identified during the 1-year study follow-up. In the present secondary analysis, the Cohen kappa statistic was utilized to determine the level of agreement.

Results:
The primary outcome of SSI diagnosis demonstrated a substantial level of agreement between the CAC and the site investigators (0.699; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.595 to 0.803]). Categorization of the SSI (i.e., superficial, deep, or organ space) showed moderate agreement (0.470; 95% CI, 0.382 to 0.558). Secondary outcomes such as the types of reoperations and the indication for reoperation typically showed substantial to almost perfect agreement, whereas antibiotic-related complications showed fair agreement (0.241; 95% CI, 0.000 to 0.474).

Conclusions:
Although there was a substantial level of agreement between the PARITY CAC and site investigators on the diagnosis of an SSI, as well as typically at least substantial agreement on the causes and types of reoperations, there was less agreement regarding the type of SSI and the occurrence of an antibiotic-related complication. Therefore, the CAC appears to have provided value when adjudicating the depth of infection and when determining the causality of medical complications associated with antibiotics.

Level of Evidence:
Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
MRI Parameters of 3D FLAIR T2 Imaging Technique for Visualization of the Brain Lymphatic Signals
Authors: Albayram Mehmet Sait , Albayram Onder 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Meningeal lymphatic vessels (MLVs) have been described in animal studies, but limited comparable data is available in human studies. Non-contrast 3D T2-Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) magnetic resonance imaging relies on protein-rich lymphatic fluid internal signals rather than contrast media. Here, we outline our non-contrast 3D FLAIR MR method permitting visualization of dorsal-along the venous sinuses and ventral lymphatic structures-flow around perineural/peridural spaces of cranial nerves, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) - interstitial fluid (ISF) drainage around nerves in the human brain in detail.