bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection and associated factors among blood donors attending at Metema district Blood Bank, Northwest Ethiopia: a cross- sectional study
Authors: Melkie Iyasu , Yimer Mulat , Alemu Getaneh , Tegegne Banchamlak 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
Background
Ethiopia is one of the top 10 countries in the world where 90% visceral leishmaniasis cases are reported. Metema-Humera lowlands are the most important foci in Ethiopia. Blood transfusion in visceral leishmaniasis endemic foci in Ethiopia does not consider screening of visceral leishmaniasis during blood donation. The aim of this study is therefore, was to assess asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection and associated factors among blood donors attending at Metema district Blood Bank, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods
A Health facility based cross-sectional study was conducted at Metema Blood Bank from February to March 2020. A total of 205 blood donors were eligible and participated in this study. Structured questionnaire were used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics and perceived risk factors associated with asymptomatic visceral leishmaniasis among blood donors. Blood donors were screened using both rK39 and direct agglutination tests based on the manufactures’ instructions. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Chi-square test was used to assess associations of Leishmania donovani infection with predisposing factors. Associations were considered statstically significant on P-value < 0.05 at 95% confidence level.

Results
Of the total 205 participants, 32(15.6%) were positive for asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection at least by one of the diagnostic tests used. Eight (3.9%) and 30(14.6%) of the participants` were positive by the rK39 and direct agglutination tests, respectively. Six (2.9%) donors were tested positive by both diagnostic tests. Family history of visceral leishmaniasis (X²=11.334, P = 0.003) and having neighbors with history of visceral leishmaniasis (X²=5.923, P = 0.015) were significantly associated with asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection among blood donors.

Conclusions
The prevalence of asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection was 15.6%. Asymptomatic visceral leishmaniasis was significantly associated with donors’ family and neighbors’ history of infection. Therefore, laboratory screening of blood donors for visceral leishmaniasis in endemic areas will be mandatory. Moreover, this study will give base line information for future study in the country.
Incremental costs of hospital-acquired infections in COVID-19 patients in an adult intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital from a low-resource setting
Authors: Despotović Aleksa , Milić Nataša , Cirković Anđa , Milošević Branko , Jovanović Snežana , Mioljević Vesna , Obradović Vesna , Kovačević Gordana , Stevanović Goran 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
Background
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a global public health problem and put patients at risk of complications, including death. HAIs increase treatment costs, but their financial impact on Serbia’s healthcare system is unknown. Our goal was to assess incremental costs of HAIs in a tertiary care adult intensive care unit (ICU) that managed COVID-19 patients.

Methods
A retrospective study from March 6th to December 31st, 2020 included patients with microbiologically confirmed COVID-19 (positive rapid antigen test or real-time polymerase chain reaction) treated in the ICU of the Teaching Hospital for Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University Clinical Centre of Serbia. Demographic and HAI-specific data acquired in our ICU were collected, including total and stratified medical costs (services, materials, laboratory testing, medicines, occupancy costs). Median total and stratified costs were compared in relation to HAI acquisition. Linear regression modelling was used to assess incremental costs of HAIs, adjusted for age, biological sex, prior hospitalisation, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) on admission. Outcome variables were length of stay (LOS) in days and mortality.

Results
During the study period, 299 patients were treated for COVID-19, of which 214 were included. HAIs were diagnosed in 56 (26.2%) patients. Acinetobacter spp. was the main pathogen in respiratory (38, 45.8%) and bloodstream infections (35, 42.2%), the two main HAI types. Median total costs were significantly greater in patients with HAIs (€1650.4 vs. €4203.2, p < 0.001). Longer LOS (10.0 vs. 18.5 days, p < 0.001) and higher ICU mortality (51.3% vs. 89.3%, p < 0.001) were seen if HAIs were acquired. Patients with ≥ 2 HAIs had the highest median total costs compared to those without HAIs or with a single HAI (€1650.4 vs. €3343.4 vs. €7336.9, p < 0.001). Incremental costs in patients with 1 and ≥ 2 HAIs were €1837.8 (95% CI 1257.8–2417.7, p < 0.001) and €5142.5 (95% CI 4262.3–6022.7, p < 0.001), respectively.

Conclusions
This is the first economic evaluation of HAIs in Serbia, showing significant additional costs to our healthcare system. HAIs prolong LOS and influence ICU mortality rates. Larger economic assessments are needed to enhance infection control practices.
A comparison of safety and efficacy between long-term DAPT and intensive statins combined with short-term DAPT for acute ischemic stroke
Authors: Deng Ting , Liu Xiaomeng , He Wei , Chen Jingmian , Yao Xiaohua , Liu Lushan , Zhang Tong , Lu Haitao 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
Objectives
The current study compared the safety and efficacy of long-term dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT, aspirin plus clopidogrel) and intensive rosuvastatin with short-term DAPT for acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

Methods
A total of 220 patients were enrolled 72 h after the onset of mild to moderate AIS, and divided into a control group treated with 21-day DAPT and a study group treated with intensive rosuvastatin with 7-day DAPT on a voluntary basis. The primary outcome was recurrent ischemic stroke and hemorrhage during a 90-day follow-up period in an intention-to-treat analysis. The secondary outcome was clinical efficacy with respect to alleviating existing focal nerve defect symptoms. A Cox proportional-hazards model was used to evaluate treatment differences.

Results
Clinical efficacy was evident in 87.3% of patients in the study group, compared with 84.3% in the control group (p = 0.042). Recurrent ischemic stroke occurred in 9 patients (7.6%) in the study group and in 9 (8.8%) in the control group (p = 0.767). Hemorrhage occurred in 6 patients (5.1%) in the study group and in 15 (14.7%) in the control group (p = 0.023). In comparisons of levels of ALT, AST, LDH, and CK in the two groups before and 2 weeks after therapy, only CK differed significantly (p < 0.001).

Conclusions
Compared to long-term DAPT, intensive rosuvastatin with short-term DAPT was equivalent in reducing the risk of recurrent ischemic stroke. It alleviated symptoms more rapidly, and significantly reduced the risk of bleeding, without causing an increase in transaminase or muscle enzymes.

Clinical trial registration

China Clinical Trial Registration Center (ChiCTR1800017809)
Bispecific antibodies as monotherapy or in combinations for non-hodgkin B-cell lymphoma: latest updates from the American society of hematology 2022 annual meeting
Authors: Lin Zhijuan , Liu Long , Li Zhifeng , Xu Bing 
Published: April 2023

AbstractRecent evidence suggests that bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) exhibit promising efficacy and low toxicity even in heavily treated non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma (B-NHL). However, the role of BsAbs in previously untreated NHL and the efficacy and safety of BsAbs used in combination remain uncertain. We summarized data published at the 64th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting on BsAb monotherapy or combination therapy for first-line or relapsed/refractory B-NHL. BsAb monotherapy in elderly/unfit newly diagnosed (ND) DLBCL patients achieved ORR and CR rates of 56% and 43%, respectively. In addition, BsAbs combined with chemotherapy or other novel agents raised the ORR higher than 50% without increasing the incidence of grade ≥ 3 CRS. We conclude that BsAb monotherapy or combination therapy for first-line or relapsed/refractory B-NHL has high efficacy and satisfactory safety.
Efficacy of the parasitic wasp, Dinarmus basalis Rondani (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), in reducing infestations by the cowpea beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (L.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae)
Authors: Akinbuluma Mobolade D. , Chinaka Onyekachi P. 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
Background
Cowpea seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (L.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), is the most important pest of stored cowpea in tropical regions. This study was designed to determine the presence of parasitoids associated with C. maculatus, investigate the efficacy of the parasitic wasp, Dinarmus basalis Rondani (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), in controlling C. maculatus as influenced by time and number of applications and ascertain the use of olfactory cues by D. basalis in host searching. Three markets in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria, namely: Bodija, Mapo and Ojoo, were purposively surveyed for parasitoids associated with C. maculatus. Two pairs of D. basalis were released at 3-day intervals into cowpea seeds previously infested with C. maculatus. Treatments included: four times of parasitoid applications (4-TPA), three applications (3-TPA), two applications (2-TPA), 1 application (1-TPA) and a control without parasitoid application (0-TPA). All treatments were replicated four times in a completely randomized design to determine F1 progeny of C. maculatus and seed damage. Olfactory bioassay was carried out with D. basalis adults placed in a Y-tube olfactometer; and their preference for infested or uninfested three cowpea varieties, namely: Ife Brown, Ife BPC (Branching Peduncle) and Oloyin, as well as infested cowpea grains or pure air was evaluated.

Results
Among the previously known parasitoids associated with C. maculatus, only D. basalis was found in the sampled markets. F1 progeny of adult C. maculatus reduced from 4.75 individuals (0-TPA) to 1.25 (2-TPA), 0.25 (3-TPA) and 0 (4-TPA). Concurrently, the number of exit holes on cowpea seeds significantly (p < 0.05) ranged from 5.25 (0-TPA) > 3.21 (1-TPA) > 2.20 (2-TPA) > 2.18 (4-RAP) > 1.39 (3-TPA). Adults D. basalis were more attracted to infested grains of Ife Brown (χ2 = 4, df = 1, p = 0.0455) and infested grains of Ife BPC (χ2 = 4, df = 1, p = 0.0455) than clean air. Similarly, adults D. basalis were more attracted to infested Ife Brown than the uninfested (χ2 = 5, df = 1, p = 0.0254). The results further showed that there were non-significant differences between the infested and uninfested grains of Ife BPC (χ2 = 0.2, df = 1, p = 0.6547) and Oloyin (χ2 = 3.2, df = 1, p = 0.0736) varieties.

Conclusions
Adult D. basalis reduced emergence of C maculatus and reduced damage in cowpea seeds. Olfactory cues played a necessary role in host-searching efforts of D. basalis.
Novel Approaches for Dynamic Visualization of Adverse Event Data in Oncology Clinical Trials: A Case Study Using Immunotherapy Trial S1400-I (SWOG)
Authors: Lee Shing M. , Fan Weijia , Wang Aijin , Vaidya Riha , Redman Mary W. , Gettinger Scott N. , Bazhenova Lyudmila , Herbst Roy S. , Hershman Dawn L. , Unger Joseph M. 
Published: April 2023

PURPOSE Clinical trial adverse event (AE) data are increasingly complex and high-dimensional, especially for trials evaluating novel targeted agents and immunotherapies. Standard approaches to summarize and analyze AEs remain generally tabular, failing to describe the nature of AEs. Novel dynamic and data visualization methods are needed to enable a more comprehensive assessment of the overall toxicity profile of treatments. METHODS We developed methods for visualizing the numerous categorizations and types of AEs along with a dynamic approach to better reflect its highly dimensional nature without sacrificing the reporting of rare events. Circular plots displaying the proportion of maximal-grade AEs by system organ classes (SOCs) and butterfly plots displaying the proportion of AEs by severity for each AE term were developed to enable comparisons of AE patterns by treatment arm. These approaches were applied to a randomized phase III trial (S1400I; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02785952 ) comparing nivolumab with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with stage IV squamous non–small-cell lung cancer. RESULTS Our visualizations revealed that patients randomly assigned to nivolumab and ipilimumab had higher rates of grade 3 or higher AEs compared with nivolumab alone for several SOCs, including musculoskeletal (5.6% v 0.8%), skin (5.6% v 0.8%), vascular (5.6% v 1.6%), and cardiac (4% v 1.6%) toxicities. They also suggested a pattern of higher prevalence of moderate GI and endocrine toxicities and showed that although the rates of cardiac and neurologic toxicities were similar, the types of events were discordant. CONCLUSION The graphical approaches we proposed enable a more comprehensive and intuitive evaluation of toxicity types by treatment groups, which is not apparent in tabular and descriptive reporting methods.
Combined GLP-1 Receptor Agonist and Amylin Analogue Pharmacotherapy to Treat Obesity Comorbid With Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Wong Gunther , Garner Erica M , Srivastava Gitanjali 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) with obesity is increasingly common, prompting effective clinical interventions to induce weight loss in this population. We present 3 patients with T1DM and obesity prescribed a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) and pramlintide. Case 1: A 32-year-old male with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who lost −20.9 kg (−16.1% of total body weight [TBW]) over 10 months on semaglutide and pramlintide. Case 2: A 68-year-old female with diabetic retinopathy, coronary artery disease, hypertension, hypothyroidism, and depression/anxiety initially treated with topiramate, losing −8.4 kg, but experiencing weight plateau. After adding dulaglutide and pramlintide, she lost an additional −12.8 kg (−14.0% TBW) over 7 months, with total weight loss of −21.2 kg (−23.1% TBW). Case 3: A 49-year-old female with hypertension, hypothyroidism, and depression who lost −14.6 kg (−17.9% TBW) over 6 months on semaglutide and pramlintide. No significant side effects were experienced. All patients reported decreased insulin requirements on pramlintide, and hemoglobin A1c levels remained constant or decreased throughout the treatment period. Pramlintide and GLP-1RA resulted in excellent weight loss in our patients with obesity and T1DM. This combination may have a synergistic effect on the gut-brain axis. More research is required to substantiate these findings.
Social (Im)mobility and Bureaucratic Failings: Family Background and theSŏngbunSystem in North Korea
Authors: Silberstein Benjamin Katzeff 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThis article argues that North Korea’s system for family background registration, sŏngbun, has historically been more complex than commonly believed. Using oral testimonies, it shows that the registration process, as seen from a grassroots perspective, involved and likely still involves a great deal of social turmoil. The essay focuses on the period before the famine of the 1990s, often not sufficiently investigated in scholarship on North Korean society. The sŏngbun registration process, by contrast, constitutes a chaotic, messy chapter in North Korean social history, calling the narrative of stability into question. The article also situates North Korea in the broader history of state-building, showing that attempts by states to classify the population and make it legible often involve a great deal of chaos, flaws, and dynamic change. Cataloging the population along the lines of political order was not merely a project of sheer repression but also one of scientific, rational, and forward-looking state-building. Although some citizens manipulated the process to their benefit, several interviewees attested to worse outcomes due to bureaucratic mistakes and reinvestigations of their sŏngbun by the state.
Freaks and B/Witches
Authors: Moore Jasmine A. 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
This annotated playlist follows Missy Elliott's musical cinema. Paying particular attention to the use of speculative tropes, it argues that Elliott's work draws on Black feminist aesthetics to paint paths through memory, nostalgia, sexual autonomy, and spiritual rebellion. This mélange of speculative and sonic aesthetics creates what I call reverberative memory: a polytemporal structure that uses music and performance to tap into intergenerational memory. Using the aesthetic markers of speculative genres, Missy Elliott's videos fuse hip-hop to the conjuring of the blues, providing a generative commentary on sexuality, Black femininity, gender nonconformity, and pleasure. This critical layering of the strange and uncanny provide a utopic space in which Black feminist life thrives. The methodological focus of this essay draws on an array of Black scholarship that maps historical formations of blues aesthetics in order to address Black women in the horror genre; constructions of gender, aesthetic, and sonic mapping that exists in the music video form; and the spiritual ontology of nostalgia. Chiefly, this playlist highlights the pioneering art of Missy Elliott across a body of work that centers the vibrancy and vitality of Black women.
Textures of Other Dimensions
Authors: torralba stef 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
In this interview essay, stef torralba talks with scholar-critic Alexander Ghedi Weheliye about the author's scholarly work, writing practice, and musical inclinations, as well as the current state and future directions of Critical Black Studies. Taking inspiration from Weheliye's interests in the textures of Black, BlackFem, and Black queer and gender-variant life and aesthetics as discussed in the interview, torralba offers texturality as an analytic that characterizes the scholar-critic's work. Together, the essay and interview highlight how Weheliye's oeuvre enables more nuanced and capacious, and thus textural and textured, imaginings of humanity, technology, political subjecthood, and modernity that center the experiences of Black, BlackFem, and Black queer and gender-variant subjects. Weheliye's attention to technologized Black and Black queer and feminist sonic aesthetics from the early twentieth century to the present as spaces to feel out the textures of other worlds renders his scholarship and thinking essential to this special issue's engagements with the disruptive and insurgent dimensions of Black queer musical aesthetics.
Transradial Carotid Artery Stenting Using Walrus Balloon Guide Catheter: Technical Aspects and Clinical Outcome
Authors: Moldovan Krisztina , Yaeger Kurt A. , Al-Kawaz Mais , Scaggiante Jacopo , Kellner Christopher P. , De Leacy Reade , Fifi Johanna T. , Mocco J , Majidi Shahram 
Published: April 2023

BACKGROUND:
Despite an overall surge in transradial access (TRA) for neurointerventional procedures, the feasibility and safety of TRA carotid artery angioplasty and stenting using balloon guide catheters (BGCs) through a short 8-Fr sheath have not been studied. In this study, we present our experience of using Walrus BGC through TRA for carotid artery stent placement.

OBJECTIVE:
To define the safety and efficacy of using a balloon guide catheter for carotid stenting by a transradial approach.

METHODS:
Our prospectively maintained retrospective database was reviewed, and consecutive patients were identified who underwent elective carotid artery stenting through TRA using Walrus BGC between January 2021 and June 2022. Demographics, procedural details including access site complications, the rate of radial to groin conversion, and procedure-related transient ischemic attack or stroke were reviewed.

RESULTS:
Twenty patients were identified who underwent carotid artery angioplasty and stenting through TRA Walrus BGC use; the mean age was 66 years (range 42-89), and 67% were male. A short 8-Fr sheath was used in all patients without any complications. Two of 20 patients required TRA conversion to transfemoral access, both secondary to severe spasm of the radial artery after initial access inhibiting further advancement of the Walrus BGC.

CONCLUSION:
Use of Walrus BGC by TRA through an 8-Fr sheath for carotid artery stenting is safe and feasible with a low rate of conversion to transfemoral access and no access site complications.
«Όταν έφυγαν τα αγάλματα» Εκπαιδευτικό Ντοκιμαντέρ
Authors: Ντούρου Αικατερίνη , Οικονομάκης Θρασύβουλος , Παπαγεωργίου Λιονέλα , Στραβαρίδου Αναστασία , Φουντέα Δέσποινα-Αικατερίνη , Χασταμουρατίδου Ευθυμία , Σοφός Αλιβίζος (Λοΐζος) 
Published: April 2023

Η εκπαιδευτική ταινία «Όταν έφυγαν τα αγάλματα», έχει λάβει ως έναυσμα το ομώνυμο βιβλίο της Αγγελικής Δαρλάση, το οποίο πραγματεύεται την αγωνία των ανθρώπων του αρχαιολογικού μουσείου να διαφυλάξουν τις αρχαιότητες από το σκοτάδι του ναζισμού. Το θέμα της εκπαιδευτικής μας ταινίας, λοιπόν, είναι οι προσπάθειες να διαφυλαχθεί ο ελληνικός πολιτισμός σε μια περίοδο πραγματικού κινδύνου τόσο για τις ανθρώπινες ζωές όσο και για το πνεύμα τους, καθώς και το πώς η διάσωση των αγαλμάτων αποτέλεσε η ίδια μία μορφή αντίστασης. Η ταινία διαρκεί συνολικά 5.10 λεπτά. Κατά τη διάρκεια της ταινίας παρουσιάζεται ένα μικρό αγόρι που έρχεται σε μια πρώτη επαφή με το θέμα της επιχείρησης διάσωσης των αγαλμάτων μέσα από την εμπλοκή του με το βιβλίο. Ακολουθούν στιγμιότυπα από το εσωτερικό του μουσείου και ηχητική αφήγηση από την Ηλέκτρα, η οποία έχει το ρόλο της αφηγήτριας. Έπειτα, ακολουθεί μέρος από τη συνέντευξη που πήραμε από την Αγγελική Δαρλάση και η οποία μιλά για τη διαδικασία της απόκρυψης αλλά κυρίως για την ιστορική αξία αυτής της πρωτοβουλίας. Συνοψίζοντας, οι μαθητές θα εξοικειωθούν με την περίοδο υπό εξέταση, με τους κινδύνους που υπήρχαν αλλά και με τη διάσταση της διάσωσης των αγαλμάτων ως μορφή αντίστασης κατά του ναζισμού.
Εκπαιδευτικό Ντοκιμαντέρ «Η τέχνη σε καραντίνα;»
Authors: Καπετανγιώργη Δέσποινα-Μελίνα , Καρδαμήλα Ευηλένα , Παπανικολάου Αλεξανδρος , Σοφός Αλιβίζος (Λοΐζος) 
Published: April 2023

«Η τέχνη σε καραντίνα;» αποτελεί ένα κοινωνικό-πολιτιστικό ντοκιμαντέρ που επιχειρεί μέσα από αυτό το ερώτημα να προβληματίσει και να παρουσιάσει τις επιπτώσεις της πανδημίας του Covid 19 στον πολιτισμό. Καθώς προβάλει το ρόλο της τέχνης στην πανδημία επικεντρώνεται, πιο συγκεκριμένα, στον τομέα του χορού, της μουσικής και του θεάτρου παρουσιάζοντας, μέσα από τις συνεντεύξεις τριών καλλιτεχνών, το πώς βίωσαν την πανδημία και τους τρόπους προσαρμογής τους στα νέα δεδομένα