bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does mass management of chronic hepatitis C protect the Egyptian population against fulminant coronavirus disease-2019? “Postulating a hypothesis”
Authors: Negm Essamedin M. 
Published: March 2022

AbstractCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by the pathogenic virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Egypt has launched a national treatment program to provide a cure for Egyptian patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). A common mechanism is shared between both the anticipated and unexpected aspects of COVID-19. The activity of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is intrinsically high in the lungs, which is a major source of ACE and hence a significant site of systemic synthesis of Ang II. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the cellular receptor for SARS-CoV-2, the etiological agent of the COVID-19 disease. ACE-2 and its angiotensin 1–7 (Ang 1–7) product, which acts on the Mas oncogene receptor, have been shown to play a protective role in fibrogenesis and inflammation of many organs, including the liver and lung. Antiviral treatment with interferon (IFN) in conjunction with ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C reduces serum ACE activity and indirectly affects liver parenchyma fibrogenesis. The antifibrotic activity of sofosbuvir plus daclatasvir (SOF/DAC) is independent of its antiviral action. Elimination of HCV infection by DAA therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C could improve natural killer (NK) activity by increasing the frequency of CD 16+ CD 56+ NK cells. COVID-19 individuals exhibit enhanced platelet activation and aggregation, as well as platelet-monocyte aggregation, which is linked to coagulative disorders. Lower systemic inflammation and enhanced hepatic synthesis of both pro- and anti-coagulant factors were noticed soon after antiviral therapy. In order to protect against the severity of COVID-19, treatment of chronic hepatitis C has been observed as a possible key as a prophylaxis beside the vaccine and should be tested for evidence or rejection of observation.
Sorafenib in Combination With Standard Chemotherapy for Children With High Allelic Ratio FLT3/ITD+ Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group Protocol AAML1031
Authors: Pollard Jessica A. , Alonzo Todd A. , Gerbing Robert , Brown Patrick , Fox Elizabeth , Choi John , Fisher Brian , Hirsch Betsy , Kahwash Samir , Getz Kelly , Levine John , Brodersen Lisa Eidenschink , Loken Michael R. , Raimondi Susana , Tarlock Katherine , Wood Andrew , Sung Lillian , Kolb E. Anders , Gamis Alan , Meshinchi Soheil , Aplenc Richard 
Published: March 2022

PURPOSE High allelic ratio (HAR) FLT3/ITD (AR > 0.4) mutations confer poor prognosis in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML). COG AAML1031 studied the feasibility and efficacy of adding sorafenib, a multikinase tyrosine kinase inhibitor to standard chemotherapy and as single-agent maintenance therapy in this population. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients were treated in three cohorts. The initial safety phase defined the maximum tolerated dose of sorafenib starting in induction 2. Cohorts 2 and 3 added sorafenib in induction and as single-agent maintenance. Clinical outcome analysis was limited to n = 72 patients in cohorts 2/3 and compared with n = 76 HAR FLT3/ITD+ AML patients who received identical chemotherapy without sorafenib. Sorafenib pharmacokinetics and plasma inhibitory activity were measured in a subset of patients. RESULTS The maximum tolerated dose of sorafenib was 200 mg/m2 once daily; dose-limiting toxicities included rash (n = 2; 1 grade 3 and 1 grade 2), grade 2 hand-foot syndrome, and grade 3 fever. Pharmacokinetics/plasma inhibitory activity data demonstrated that measured plasma concentrations were sufficient to inhibit phosphorylated FLT3. Although outcomes were superior with sorafenib in cohorts 2 and 3, patients treated with sorafenib also underwent hematopoietic stem-cell transplant more frequently than the comparator population. Multivariable analysis that accounted for both hematopoietic stem-cell transplant and favorable co-occurring mutations confirmed sorafenib's benefit. Specifically, risk of an event was approximately two-fold higher in HAR FLT3/ITD+ patients who did not receive sorafenib (event-free survival from study entry: hazard ratio [HR] 2.37, 95% CI, 1.45 to 3.88, P < .001, disease-free survival from complete remission: HR 2.28, 95% CI, 1.08 to 4.82, P = .032, relapse risk from complete remission: HR 3.03, 95% CI 1.31 to 7.04, P = .010). CONCLUSION Sorafenib can be safely added to conventional AML chemotherapy and may improve outcomes in pediatric HAR FLT3/ITD+ AML.
Early Warning of Ischemic Stroke Based on Atherosclerosis Index Combined With Serum Markers
Authors: Zhou Wenjie , Li Shanze , Sun Guijiang , Song Lili , Feng Wenjun , Li Rui , Liu Hui , Dong Yaqian , Chen Siyu , Yang Shenshen , Li Jing , Li Yubo 
Published: March 2022

AbstractContextIschemic stroke (IS) is a serious public health problem worldwide, threatening human life and health. Atherosclerosis is the cause of stroke. At present, there are few selective indexes that can be used to evaluate atherosclerosis in the clinic; providers rely mainly on the atherosclerotic index (AI). Disturbance of lipid metabolism is considered to be a key event leading to IS.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to discover potential biomarkers in the serum of atherosclerosis-induced IS, combined with the AI to provide early warning for the diagnosis of IS.MethodsIn this study, we used nontargeted metabolomics based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q/TOF-MS) to measure the changes in serum metabolites in a group of patients with IS. To verify the reproducibility of candidate biomarkers in the population, we expanded the sample size.ResultsFive metabolites were identified, including sphingomyelin (18:0/14:0), 1-Methylpyrrolinium, PC (18:0/18:0), LysoPC (18:0/0:0), and PC (18: 2/18:2). The combination of these 5 metabolic markers has good diagnostic and predictive ability, and the change level of these metabolites is significantly related to IS. Our results also indicate that changes in glycerophospholipid metabolism may indicate an early risk of IS development.ConclusionThese findings may contribute to the development of new diagnostic methods of potential biomarkers in serum combined with the AI, thereby providing early warning for the diagnosis of atherosclerosis-induced IS, and may provide a new insights for pathogenesis in IS.
Reports on Philippine Industrial Crops in World War II from Japan’s English Language Press
Authors: Danquah Francis K. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Japan’s occupation of Southeast Asia placed enormous stocks of the region’s industrial crops under Japanese control. English language Japanese newspaper reports from the Philippines suggest that the invaders grossly under-utilized this vast storehouse of agricultural wealth. Washington’s pre-war oil embargo severely crippled military and civilian transport services throughout the war, and Japan’s conversion of cane sugar into fuel alcohol and butane for aviation fuel failed to generate successful outcomes. Also, as the Pacific War eliminated cotton imports from the United States, India, and Egypt, placing numerous Japanese textile factories in jeopardy, Tokyo attempted to replace Philippine cane sugar plantings that previously served US markets with raising raw cotton for Japanese textile interests. In the Philippines, however, multifarious bottlenecks crippled all of Tokyo’s wartime farm projects. Though the Japanese occupation was short-lived, it demonstrated Tokyo’s intention to adjust the Philippine economy into a dependent relationship with Japanese industries.
Vanishing Earth: Soil Erosion in the Palouse, 1930-1945
Authors: Duffin Andrew P. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
This article examines the environment and agricultural activity in the Palouse, a fertile, hilly prairie in the inland Northwest, during the Great Depression and World War II. This area is home to some of the most productive wheatland in the nation, but because of constant farming activity on its steep slopes, soil erosion has been a problem since the turn of the twentieth century. Erosion threatened the long-term viability of farming in the Palouse and the economic health of greater eastern Washington. Local efforts at stemming the problem were nonexistent in the 1910s and 1920s, but after the depression began, New Deal erosion control programs attempted to improve the erosion situation in the Palouse and countless other areas in the United States. A great deal of time and money were devoted to the problem, including the construction of a USDA erosion experiment station in Pullman, Washington. However, federal erosion control efforts were only minimally successful, in part because programs to stop erosion were voluntary, not compulsory. Not enough farmers initiated or maintained soil conservation techniques, and Palouse farmers continued to endanger their most crucial natural resource.
The Agricultural Settlement of Refugees: A Source of Productive Work and Stability in Greece, 1923–1930
Authors: Kritikos Georgios 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
The case of the Greek Orthodox refugees transferred from Turkey to Greece after 1923 is unique as the first obligatory exchange of populations in world history. Overall, the Greek government succeeded in incorporating these refugees economically and politically into the extant population. This paper explores rural refugee settlement as a productive force on the domestic economy and examines its impact on the rural markets of Greece. It also investigates how a poor, war-weary country with a population barely over five million provided land and employment in a largely successful effort to integrate almost six hundred thousand refugees into its agricultural labor market. The author further evaluates how Greece preempted the potential radicalization of the refugee vote through reform, repression, and the involvement of refugees in the hierarchical Greek political system.
Dependent Harvests: Grain Production on the American and Canadian Plains and the Double Dependency with Mexico, 1880–1950
Authors: Evans Sterling 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
For nearly sixty years, roughly 1880 to 1950, before the affordability and wide-spread use of combines, grain production in the American and Canadian Great Plains was dependent on harvesting with binders. Binders cut the grain stalks and then tied them into bundles with twine that farmhands later would gather into shocks to await threshing. The majority of the twine used was made from fiber from agave plants (sisal and henequen) from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The dependency on this Mexican commodity is illustrated by the fact that for the first two decades of the twentieth century, the United States and Canada consumed an estimated 230,000 tons of the fiber a year for the production of binder twine. Thus, a double agricultural dependency developed between these regions that this essay seeks to explore. Along with this international dependency, corporate, social, and labor issues are integral aspects of the grain/twine story. International Harvester of Chicago came to dominate the twine industry in the United States, but faced stiff competition from American and Canadian penitentiaries that developed their own twine mills using low-wage inmate labor. And in Mexico, wealthy henequen estate owners enslaved Yaqui Indians from Sonora to work in their fields in the Yucatan. "Dependent Harvests" seeks to introduce these themes and to cast them into their proper transnational and agricultural history perspectives.
“Like Ribbons of Green and Gold”: Industrializing Lettuce and the Quest for Quality in the Salinas Valley, 1920–1965
Authors: Petrick Gabriella M. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
The development of large-scale lettuce production in California’s Salinas Valley illustrates the tensions between technology and nature and provides a starting point for understanding the complexities of supplying vast quantities of quality fresh produce to consumers in distant markets. The case of iceberg lettuce shows that the industrialization of agriculture was largely idiosyncratic, and the level of industrialization possible for any specific crop varied, depending equally on the nature of the commodity and the willingness of consumers to purchase it. The emergence of lettuce cultivation in the Salinas Valley during the inter-war period highlights how early growers harnessed organizational techniques, transportation infrastructures, and technological and scientific knowledge to transcend both the ephemeral nature of lettuce and consumer taste. Yet, these very same factors also limited the success of valley growers after World War II, despite the best efforts of growers and agricultural researchers to improve lettuce quality.
Fescue to the Rescue: Chewings Fescue, Paspalum, and the Application of Non-British Experience to Pastoral Practice in New Zealand, 1880–1920
Authors: Star Paul , Brooking Tom 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Under British settlement, New Zealand’s export income became increasingly dependent upon new and improved pasture for sheep and cattle. While the introduction of familiar pasture plants--such as ryegrass and cocksfoot--was preferred, from the 1880s farmers also experimented with different grass species to suit newly experienced environmental conditions. Both Chewings fescue (Festuca rubra var. commutata) and paspalum (Paspalum dilatatum) were experimented with and adopted for pasture up to the 1920s. While the discovery of ecological limits partly determined the chain of events, the story of these adoptions equally reflects the influence of human and social factors upon the pattern of agricultural change. Individuals and newspapers were more integral to the process of investigating the uses of Chewings fescue and paspalum than departments and government reports. This case study emphasizes Australian and American influences more than British ones, which necessitates the reassessment of all external knowledge in the light of New Zealand’s experience.
Rural America on the Silent Screen
Authors: Barron Hal S. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
This article analyzes American silent film depictions of rural life in order to understand their role in the creation of new conceptions of the countryside during the first third of the twentieth century. The rise of motion pictures during the 1910s and 1920s was a critical component of an emerging consumer culture in the United States that coincided with its broader transformation from a rural to an urban society. Because of this conjuncture, silent movies depicting agrarian life were instrumental in establishing new understandings of rural society for a modern, urban nation. They resonated with city audiences, particularly those who had been raised on the farm, as well as with rural and small-town moviegoers, and they helped to reconcile both groups to vexing social changes. Besides providing comfort in a time of transition, however, these films also facilitated the new order by subverting traditional understandings of agrarian life and distancing it from its previous position at the core of American culture.
"Not to Intrude": A Danish Perspective on Gender and Class in Nineteenth-Century Dairying
Authors: FINK DEBORAH 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
This study follows the thread of gender divisions in dairying in Denmark and the American Midwest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Gender organization of dairying shifted at this time in diverse European and North American contexts. As agriculture mechanized and production scale increased, access to advanced education and international markets became critical. Women, who had been in the forefront of the development of dairying, ceded their leadership to men as these changes occurred. While some scholars see this shift as a strategic loss for women, this study finds that variables of class, marital status, rural demographics, and alternative occupations mediated the rural women’s experience of change. Not all women experienced the change as a loss. The question of which women were invested in dairying is critical to understanding the course of change. Increasingly, middle-class farm women were turning away from the hard work of dairying and investing themselves in new ways in the upward mobility of their family farms. Rural life shaped distinct gender patterns in European and American history, and the rural experience shaped the larger trajectory of women’s economic and political evolution, even though few rural women were involved in the organized women’s movement.
104 Myelopathy and Increased Costs of Care After Hip Fracture
Authors: Zhang Hans , Buell Thomas , Baldwin Edward , Crutcher Clifford , Dalton Tara E. , Price Meghan , Karikari Isaac O. , Abd-El-Barr Muhammad M. , Goodwin C. Rory , Erickson Melissa 
Published: March 2022

INTRODUCTION:
Cervical myelopathy, as a common cause of disability and falls in the elderly, places patients at risk for hip fracture and increased complications after hip surgery. Myelopathy’s co-incidence with hip fractures, however, is not well understood.

METHODS:
Medicare hip fracture and cervical myelopathy patients between 2005 and 2012 were retrospectively identified using the PearlDiver Patient Records Database (PearlDiver Technologies, Inc., CO) with ICD-9 CPT codes. Myelopathic and non-myelopathic hip fracture patients were compared by age, comorbidities, average payments, and average lengths of stay (LOS). Myelopathic patients who were treated with cervical decompression prior to hip fracture were also compared with those without prior decompression. Statistical analysis with t-test and Chi-squared test was performed, with statistical significance set at p<0.05.

RESULTS:
A total of 2,309,972 patients with hip fractures were identified, with 22,884 (1.0%) also having cervical myelopathy. Hip fracture patients with myelopathy were significantly younger (p<0.001) but had significantly greater incidence of medical co-morbidities (hypertension, osteoporosis) (p<0.001). Patients with concomitant myelopathy also had significantly greater average payments ($16,549.21 v. $10,300.88, p<0.001) and longer average LOS (6.66 v. 6.38 days, p<0.001). Of the myelopathic patients, 461 (2.0%) underwent cervical decompression prior to hip fracture. When compared with non-operative myelopathic patients (98%), post-decompression myelopathic hip fracture patients were seen to have increased incidence of medical comorbidities (p<0.001) but also decreased average payments ($7,376.97v. $16,607.81 p<0.001) and LOS (6.04 v. 6.67 days, p=0.011).

CONCLUSION:
Hip fractures in myelopathic patients are significantly more complex than hip fractures in non-myelopathic counterparts and incur significantly greater costs and longer admissions. Cervical decompression prior to hip fracture appears to decrease costs and lengths of stay in this population, suggesting faster recovery from hip fracture despite medical complexity.
105 Patient Satisfaction Reviews for 967 Spine Neurosurgeons
Authors: Agarwal Nitin , Gupta Arjun , Gupta Radhika , White Michael D. , Reddy Vamsi , Chang Yue-Fang , Agarwal Prateek , Alan Nima 
Published: March 2022

INTRODUCTION:
Patients are increasingly relying on independent physician-rating websites (PRWs) to obtain information about healthcare providers. Healthgrades.com is a widely used PRW which allows patients to rate physicians on various metrics of performance and quality-of-care.

METHODS:
This study categorically investigated the correlations between demographics of spine neurosurgeons and online ratings on Healthgrades to better understand the factors driving patient satisfaction in spine surgery in the United States.

RESULTS:
A total of 967 spine neurosurgeons were included in the study cohort. Patient satisfaction did not correlate with gender, Ph.D. acquisition, academic status, or academic rank. Among those who were academic surgeons, completion of fellowship training was associated with higher ratings. Geographical location of practice did not influence patient satisfaction. Prolonged wait time was an independent predictor of decreased patient satisfaction and was a key confounding variable underlying trends seen with advanced career duration and age.

CONCLUSION:
Overall, patients rated spine neurosurgeons highly favorably on Healthgrades.com. Due to the emerging role of PRWs in locating and assessing providers, it is important for both patients and clinicians to understand the factors that impact patient experience.
106 Lack of Insurance Leads to Increased Mortality After Craniotomy
Authors: Cua Santino , Shah Varun , Dornbos David L. , Hoang Nguyen , Kreatsoulas Daniel C. , Eaton Ryan , Rodgers Brandon , Pezzutti Dante , Duenas Helen , Nimjee Shahid M. 
Published: March 2022

INTRODUCTION:
Socioeconomic status directly impacts outcomes in healthcare. Prior studies have demonstrated the impact of insurance type and status on postoperative outcomes in subspecialty populations, including peripheral tumor and spine. There is a paucity of literature addressing the impact of socioeconomic status on neurosurgical outcomes. This study seeks to investigate socioeconomic factors, namely insurance status, and their impact on adverse events and outcomes in patients undergoing a craniotomy.

METHODS:
A single center, retrospective cohort study was conducted on neurosurgical patients undergoing a craniotomy from 2013-2018. Preoperative demographics, comorbidities, surgical variables, postoperative adverse events, and mortality within 90-days of surgery were collected. Socioeconomic variables include insurance, employment, and disability statuses. Statistical analysis utilizing the Mann-Whitney U test, independent sample t-test and multivariate logistic regression analyses with an alpha of 0.05 were used to compare differences in demographic baseline, adverse event rates and outcomes between patients with and without insurance.

RESULTS:
2445 patients who underwent a craniotomy were included in the analysis with 5.4% being uninsured. Baseline demographic analysis found an increased prevalence of unemployment among uninsured patients (38.3% v 50.0%, p = 0.007). Uninsured patients were significantly younger (p < 0.001) and had higher prevalence of non-opioid substance use (p = 0.027). Adverse events were higher in uninsured patients, including higher rate of acute respiratory insufficiency (p=0.002), delirium (p=0.039) and non-surgical site related infections (p=0.001) compared to insured patients. After controlling for confounders (including age, sex, employment status, disability, substance use, tobacco use, hyperlipidemia, supratentorial patholoy, surgical time), uninsured patients had higher odds of 90-day mortality (OR 2.393, 95% CI 1.321 – 4.334, p = 0.004).

CONCLUSION:
Lower socioeconomic status negatively impact postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing craniotomy. Namely, uninsured patients experienced significantly increased 90-day mortality following craniotomy. It is imperative that insurance status be considered in developing comprehensive treatment plans for each patient in order to minimize the risk of disparate outcomes after undergoing a craniotomy.