bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A prospective study on tryptophan immunoadsorption in AQP4 antibody‐positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders
Authors: Liu Jing , Zhou Ran , Gong Yong , Ding Xia , Huang Qi , Zhang Yin , Feng Yiduo , Wang Dongxue , Zhou Heng , Ma Yuetao , Zhang Xinghu , Zhou Yilun
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) is a rare inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. NMOSD pathogenesis is mainly mediated by antibodies directed against aquaporin4 (AQP4 antibody). Immunoadsorption (IA) could specifically remove pathogenic antibody to alleviate the disease. Until now, prospective studies concerning the efficacy of IA on NMOSD are scarce. This study aims to prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of IA in the treatment of NMOSD.

Patients and Methods

We included patients with AQP4 antibody‐positive NMOSD who were hospitalized from September 2019 to September 2020, with no significant improvement in symptoms after 1 week of high‐dose intravenous steroid therapy. Tryptophan IA therapy was initiated with five sessions on alternate days. Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), visual acuity, and laboratory values were measured before and after IA, with a follow‐up of 6 months. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics were collected. Related side effects were recorded.

Results

Seven patients were enrolled in the present study. After five IA, the patients' EDSS decreased from 5.71 ± 2.04 to 4.64 ± 2.29, P = .006. The visual acuity of the three visually impaired patients was improved. AQP4‐IgG decreased significantly from 80.00 (interquartile range [IQR], 21.00‐80.00) (U/mL) to 9.72 (IQR, 5.21‐55.57) (U/mL) (P = .018). MRI of the spinal cord showed the scope of the myelopathy was narrowed and no significant enhancement was observed on postcontrast T1‐weighted image at 90 days after treatment. Only one patient had transient hypotension.

Conclusions

Tryptophan IA therapy effectively and safely improved neurological function and visual acuity, and reduced the AQP4 antibody concentration in patients with NMOSD.
Implication of food insecurity on the gut microbiota and its potential relevance to a multi‐ethnic population in Malaysia
Authors: Shafiee Nor H , Razalli Nurul H , Muhammad Nawawi Khairul N , Mohd Mokhtar Norfilza , Raja Ali Raja Affendi
Published: February 2022

Food insecurity (FI) has an impact on food intake, and it can make it difficult for people to eat enough nutritious food at all times to sustain an active and healthy lifestyle. The COVID‐19 outbreak has hampered people's capacity to obtain nutritious and affordable food. Although FI has been studied in Malaysia, the extent to which it is linked to gut microbiota has yet to be discovered. This review aimed to compile evidence of the relationship between FI and gut microbial changes and their potential relevance to a multi‐ethnic population in Malaysia. FI is typically associated with cheaper and calorie‐dense foods because of the high cost of quality food and financial constraints that hinder food‐insecure people from adopting healthier dietary choices. As a result, they have started eating low‐quality food such as simple carbohydrates, fats, and processed foods. These poor eating habits can reduce microbial diversity and influence changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiota. This review also explores the impact of ethnicity on the variation in composition of gut microbiota. In conclusion, the findings of this review may be utilized to develop and implement diet‐related intervention programs to ensure that Malaysians get enough nutritious food to maintain a healthy gut microbiota and improve overall health.
Covering 2‐colored complete digraphs by monochromatic d $d$‐dominating digraphs
Authors: DeBiasio Louis , Gyárfás András
Published: February 2022

A digraph is ‐dominating if every set of at most vertices has a common out‐neighbor. For all integers , let be the smallest integer such that the vertices of every 2‐edge‐colored (finite or infinite) complete digraph (including loops) can be covered by the vertices of at most monochromatic ‐dominating subgraphs. Note that the existence of is not obvious – indeed, the question which motivated this paper was simply to determine whether is bounded, even for . We answer this question affirmatively for all , proving and . We also give an example to show that there is no analogous bound for more than two colors. Our result provides a positive answer to a question regarding an infinite analogue of the Burr‐Erdős conjecture on the Ramsey numbers of ‐degenerate graphs. Moreover, a special case of our result is related to properties of ‐paradoxical tournaments.
Recommended Musculoskeletal and Sports Ultrasound Terminology: A Delphi‐Based Consensus Statement
Authors: Hall Mederic M. , Allen Georgina M. , Allison Sandra , Craig Joseph , DeAngelis Joseph P. , Delzell Patricia B. , Finnoff Jonathan T. , Frank Rachel M. , Gupta Atul , Hoffman Douglas F. , Jacobson Jon A. , Narouze Samer , Nazarian Levon N. , Onishi Kentaro , Ray Jeremiah W. , Sconfienza Luca M. , Smith Jay , Tagliafico Alberto
Published: February 2022

Objectives

The current lack of agreement regarding standardized terminology in musculoskeletal and sports ultrasound presents challenges in education, clinical practice, and research. This consensus was developed to provide a reference to improve clarity and consistency in communication.

Methods

A multidisciplinary expert panel was convened consisting of 18 members representing multiple specialty societies identified as key stakeholders in musculoskeletal and sports ultrasound. A Delphi process was used to reach consensus which was defined as group level agreement >80%.

Results

Content was organized into seven general topics including: 1) General Definitions, 2) Equipment and Transducer Manipulation, 3) Anatomic and Descriptive Terminology, 4) Pathology, 5) Procedural Terminology, 6) Image Labeling, and 7) Documentation. Terms and definitions which reached consensus agreement are presented herein.

Conclusions

The historic use of multiple similar terms in the absence of precise definitions has led to confusion when conveying information between colleagues, patients, and third‐party payers. This multidisciplinary expert consensus addresses multiple areas of variability in diagnostic ultrasound imaging and ultrasound‐guided procedures related to musculoskeletal and sports medicine.
Contrast‐Enhanced Ultrasound Features of Adult Xp11.2 Translocation Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Ma Wenliang , Zhang Fan , Huang Haifeng , Wang Wei , Zhu Yiqi , Lu Yanwen , Guo Hongqian , Gan Weidong
Published: February 2022

Objectives

To investigate the sonographic features in Xp11.2 translocation renal cell carcinoma (Xp11.2 tRCC) using both conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast‐enhanced US (CEUS) and evaluate the usefulness of sonographic imaging characteristics to differentiate between Xp11.2 tRCC and the three common RCC subtypes.

Methods

Thirty‐four adult Xp11.2 tRCC patients who preoperatively underwent both conventional US and CEUS and had solitary renal lesions and pathological confirmation after surgery were enrolled. Control matched patients included 131 with clear cell RCC (ccRCC), 48 with papillary RCC (pRCC), and 35 with chromophobe RCC (chRCC). Conventional US and CEUS data of all patients were retrospectively analyzed and compared.

Results

Xp11.2 tRCC was more common in young women. The echogenicity of Xp11.2 tRCC lesions was hypo‐ and isoechoic relative to the adjacent renal cortex. A higher frequency of calcification within tumors was detected in Xp11.2 tRCC, but the presence of color flow signal (26.5%, 9/34) was much lower. Regarding CEUS features relative to the adjacent renal cortex, synchronous wash‐in (61.8%, 21/34), iso‐enhancement at peak (55.9%, 19/34), and fast wash‐out (50.0%, 17/34) were more common in Xp11.2 tRCC. Moreover, an integrated variables model based on these features could differentiate Xp11.2 tRCC from ccRCC, pRCC, and chRCC (area under the curve, sensitivity, and specificity: 0.934, 92.0%, and 86.0%; 0.907, 88.0%, and 87.0%; and 0.808, 65.0%, and 99.0%, respectively).

Conclusions

Combining conventional US and CEUS lesion features with clinical information may provide a feasible and effective method to differentiate Xp11.2 tRCC from ccRCC, pRCC, and chRCC.
Factors affecting operative autonomy and performance during otolaryngology training: A multicenter trial
Authors: Chen Jenny X. , Miller Lauren E. , Filimonov Andrey , Shuman Elizabeth A. , Marchiano Emily , George Brian C. , Thorne Marc , Pletcher Steven D. , Platt Michael , Teng Marita , Kozin Elliott D. , Gray Stacey T.
Published: February 2022

Objective

Surgical education is changing in an era of new regulations and evolving training cultures. We sought to understand the factors that affect operative experiences during otolaryngology residency.

Methods

From December 2019 to December 2020, five otolaryngology training programs used the SIMPL OR smartphone application to evaluate residents after each operation. Residents and attendings rated the trainee's autonomy on a 4‐level Zwisch scale, performance on a 5‐level scale, and case complexity on a 3‐level scale. We examined associations between ratings of autonomy and performance with variables including postgraduate year (PGY), case complexity, gender, week of the academic year (AY), and whether multiple procedures were logged.

Results

78 attendings and 92 residents logged 2984 evaluations. PGY level and week of the AY were positively associated with attending ratings of autonomy and performance (PGY3 vs. PGY2: B = 0.63, p < .001 for autonomy and B = 1.05, p < .001 for performance; week of the AY: B = 0.013, p = .002 for autonomy; B = 0.025, p < .001 for performance). Multiple procedures logged and increasing case complexity were negatively associated with attending ratings (multiple procedures: B = −0.19, p = .04 for autonomy and B = −0.48, p < .001 for performance; hardest vs. easiest 1/3 of cases: B = −1.01, p < .001 for autonomy and B = −0.59, p < .001 for performance). Attending and trainee genders were not associated with attending ratings of autonomy or performance.

Conclusion

Resident autonomy and performance were positively associated with PGY level and week of the academic year, and negatively associated with case complexity and multiple procedures. These findings highlight the need to align training level with case complexity to promote quality operative experiences.

Level of Evidence

2.
Peak chlorophyll a concentrations in the lower Mississippi River from 1997 to 2018
Authors: Turner R. Eugene , Milan Charles S. , Swenson Erick M. , Lee James M.
Published: February 2022

Large and turbid rivers have varying temperatures, light conditions, nutrient availability, and nutrient ratios that may affect phytoplankton communities and occur within a changing world of point and nonpoint source nutrient loadings. We investigated how these physical and chemical factors affect Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations in the Mississippi River, the largest river in North America, by sampling 878 times from February 1997 to December 2018 near its terminus at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We hypothesized that nutrient concentrations and ratios were significant factors limiting phytoplankton biomass accumulations in this turbid river. The Chl a concentrations were in the “poor” water quality category when above 20 μg Chl a L−1 12% of the time. Two percent of the samples were > 40 μg Chl a L−1 and occurred on declining discharges. Results from graphical analysis and a principal component regression analysis showed that the highest Chl a values were constrained to when dissolved silicate: dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) molar ratios < 1 : 1 and dissolved DIN : phosphate molar ratios < 16 : 1, which is when the phytoplankton community likely consists of non‐siliceous phytoplankton. Increasing light conditions and reducing turbulence, which happens when river water is diverted into calmer and shallower waters, will create a phytoplankton bloom—perhaps becoming a harmful algal bloom—as has happened previously.
Spin‐Lasing in Bimodal Quantum Dot Micropillar Cavities
Authors: Heermeier Niels , Heuser Tobias , Große Jan , Jung Natalie , Kaganskiy Arsenty , Lindemann Markus , Gerhardt Nils C. , Hofmann Martin R. , Reitzenstein Stephan
Published: February 2022

Spin‐controlled lasers are highly interesting photonic devices and have been shown to provide ultrafast polarization dynamics in excess of 200 GHz. In contrast to conventional semiconductor lasers their temporal properties are not limited by the intensity dynamics, but are governed primarily by the interaction of the spin dynamics with the birefringent mode splitting that determines the polarization oscillation frequency. Another class of modern semiconductor lasers are high‐β emitters, which benefit from enhanced light–matter interaction due to strong mode confinement in low‐mode‐volume microcavities. In such structures, the emission properties can be tailored by the resonator geometry to realize for instance bimodal emission behavior in slightly elliptical micropillar cavities. This attractive feature is utilized to demonstrate and explore spin‐lasing effects in bimodal high‐β quantum dot micropillar lasers. The studied microlasers with a β‐factor of 4% show spin‐laser effects with experimental polarization oscillation frequencies up to 15 GHz and predicted frequencies up to about 100 GHz, which are controlled by the ellipticity of the resonator. These results reveal appealing prospects for very compact, ultrafast, and energy‐efficient spin‐lasers and can pave the way for future purely electrically injected spin‐lasers enabled by short injection path lengths.
The Role of Aldehyde‐Functionalized Crosslinkers on the Property of Chitosan Hydrogels
Authors: Yeh Ying‐Yu , Tsai Yu‐Ting , Wu Chun‐Yu , Tu Ling‐Hsien , Bai Meng‐Yi , Yeh Yi‐Cheun
Published: February 2022

Chitosan has been utilized as a popular biopolymer to fabricate hydrogels for biomedical applications. However, chitosan hydrogels are generally too brittle to mimic the deformability of the extracellular matrix in many tissues and organs. In particular, the role of the varied crosslinkers in determining the elasticity of chitosan hydrogels is lack of discussion. Here, three aldehyde‐functionalized crosslinkers (i.e., aldehyde‐modified poly(xylitol sebacate)‐co‐poly(ethylene glycol) (APP), glutaraldehyde (GA), and polydextran aldehyde (PDA)) are used to react with quaternized chitosan (QCS) through imine bonds to form hydrogels. The microstructures, mechanical performances, and cytocompatibility of the three hydrogels are systematically investigated. The APP/QCS hydrogels presented the best compressive and stretch properties among the three hydrogels. The mechanical property and antibacterial activity of APP/QCS hydrogels can be further modulated using varied QCS amounts, where more QCS contributed higher stiffness and stretchability as well as better bacterial inhibition to the APP/QCS hydrogels. Taken together, it is demonstrated that the inherent elastomeric characteristic of APP crosslinker provides the desirable elasticity and stretchability to QCS hydrogels compared to the other aldehyde‐functionalized crosslinkers of GA and PDA. This strategy of using multivalent elastomeric crosslinkers to fabricate deformable chitosan hydrogels can expand the use of chitosan hydrogels in tissue engineering applications.
Design of a polarization‐insensitive three dimensional microwave absorber for ultra‐wideband RCS reduction
Authors: Li Liang , Zhang Binchao , Jin Cheng , Lv Qihao , Yin Liyuan , Zhang Pengyu , Tian Buning
Published: February 2022

A polarization‐insensitive three‐dimensional (3‐D) microwave absorber is proposed in this letter for ultra‐wideband radar section cross (RCS) reduction. The lossy layer of the designed absorber is evolved from the bent metallic strip with a center‐embedded resistor, which performs the property of absorption‐reflection‐absorption due to its multimode resonances. A short stub with a center‐embedded resistor is connected to the long‐bent strip to abolish the reflection performance, for the sake of achieving wide absorption performance. The fundamental working principle of the designed structure is explained adequately using an intuitive equivalent circuit model. Additionally, the absorber is designed, fabricated, and measured for validation, whose fractional bandwidths is 151.5% with at least 10‐dB RCS reduction.
A two‐stage network with prior knowledge guidance for medullary thyroid carcinoma recognition in ultrasound images
Authors: Pan Lin , Cai Yanjing , Lin Ning , Yang Linxin , Zheng Shaohua , Huang Liqin
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Accurate recognition of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is of great importance in medical diagnosis, as MTC is rare but second‐most malignant thyroid cancers with a high case‐fatality ratio.1 But there is a lower recognition rate on distinguishing MTC from other thyroid nodules in ultrasound images, even by experienced experts. This paper introduces the computer‐aided method to tackle the challenge of recognizing MTC from ultrasound images, including limited MTC samples, and ambiguities among MTC, benign nodules, and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

Methods

The recognition of MTC based on large MTC samples of ultrasound images has never been explored, as only one existing work presented a relevant dataset with a limited 21 MTC samples. This study proposes a novel method for primarily differentiating MTC samples from benign nodules and PTC that is the most common thyroid cancer. Our method is a two‐stage schema with two important components including a cascaded coarse‐to‐fine segmentation network and a knowledge‐based classification network. The cascaded coarse‐to‐fine segmentation network incorporates two U‐Net++ networks for improving the segmentation results of thyroid nodules. Meanwhile, our knowledge‐based classification network extracts and fuses semantic features of solid tissues and calcification for better recognizing the segmented nodules from the ultrasound images. In our experiments, dice similarity coefficient (DSC), intersection over union (IoU), precision, recall, and Hausdorff distance (HD) are adopted for evaluating the segmentation results of thyroid nodules, and accuracy, precision, recall, and F1‐score are used for classification evaluation.

Results

We present a well‐annotated dataset including samples of 248 MTC, 240 benign nodules, and 239 PTC. For thyroid nodule segmentation, our designed cascaded segmentation network attains values of 0.776 DSC, 0.689 IoU, 0.778 precision, and 0.821 recall, respectively. By incorporating prior knowledge, our method achieves a mean accuracy of 82.1% in classifying thyroid nodules of MTC, PTC, and benign ones. Especially, our method gains the higher performance in recognizing MTC with an accuracy of 86.8%, compared to nearly 70% diagnosis accuracy of experienced doctors. The experimental results on our Fujian Provincial Hospital dataset further validate the efficiency of our proposed method.

Conclusions

Our proposed two‐stage method incorporates pipelines of thyroid nodules segmentation and classification of MTC, individually. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate that our proposed model achieves accurate segmentation of thyroid nodules. The results also validate that our learning‐based framework facilitates the recognition of MTC, which gains better classification accuracy than experienced doctors.
Kosmetikindustrie: Henna und Heteroaromatisches
Authors: Hartmann Horst , Pratt Dominic M.
Published: February 2022

Vor drei Jahren haben die japanische Firma Kao und ihre deutsche Tochter Goldwell neue Farbstoffe zum Haarefärben entwickelt. Welche Verbindungen das sind, welche Probleme zu überwinden waren und warum die Entwicklung so lange gedauert hat.
Am digitalen runden Tisch
Authors: Bräutigam Maximilian
Published: February 2022

Online‐Roundtable der GDCh‐Ortsverbandsvorsitzenden und des Präsidenten
In Harm's Way? The Effect of Disasters on the Magnitude and Location of Low‐Income Housing Tax Credit Allocations
Authors: Brennan Mark , Mehta Aditi , Steil Justin
Published: February 2022

This paper analyzes the effect of disasters on affordable housing construction. Exploiting the exogenous timing of disasters and 26 years of affordable housing data, we derive causal estimates of the effect of severe floods on county‐level Low‐Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocations nationwide. We find that states respond to severe floods by increasing the number of LIHTC units per capita allocated to a flood‐struck county by 57 percent in the year after the disaster, compared to other years. We argue that this increased allocation of LIHTC units is indicative of a process of institutional or policy conversion, in which states are repurposing the three‐decade‐old housing tax credit program to meet contemporary disaster assistance and recovery needs. Given that the LIHTC program was not designed with disasters in mind, do the new units ameliorate or exacerbate renters' exposure to disaster risk? We find that severe floods are associated with a significant increase in LIHTC units per capita allocated outside of the 500‐year floodplain in an affected county within the three years after a severe flood. These findings suggest that states and housing developers are using the LIHTC program to support disaster recovery by expanding subsidized rental options in disaster‐struck counties and ameliorating risk to low‐income renters by locating those units outside of floodplains.
Developing non‐halogen and non‐phosphorous flame retardant bismaleimide resin with high thermal resistance and high toughness through building crosslinked network with Schiff base structure
Authors: Xu Wenwen , Yuan Li , Liang Guozheng , Gu Aijuan
Published: February 2022

High flame retardancy has become a necessary property for heat‐resistant thermosetting resins (HRTRs) in many cutting‐edge fields. However, developing HRTRs with excellent flame retardancy through sustainable strategy (halogen‐free and phosphorus‐free) is still a great challenge. Herein, a novel halogen‐free and phosphorus‐free allyl compound with Schiff base structure (PDM) was efficiently synthesized from biobased protocatechualdehyde, and then four new flame retarding bismaleimide resins (BP1, BP2, BP3, BP4) were developed by building crosslinked network with PDM. The molar ratio of allyl to imide has a significant effect on performances of BP resins, BP2 resin (its molar ratio of allyl to imide is 0.86) shows the best integrated performances, it has not only high impact strength (14.37 ± 1.1 kJ/m2), but also the highest glass transition temperature (343.5°C) and limiting oxygen index (36.4%) among halogen‐free and phosphorus‐free flame retarding bismaleimide resins reported so far. The investigation on flame retardant mechanism of BP resins shows that the mechanism includes condensed‐phase and gas‐phase flame retarding effects.
An alternative method of solvent‐induced stresses in an elastic thin slab: Moutier theorem
Authors: Chiang Douyau , Ouyang Hao , Yang Fuqian , Lee Sanboh
Published: February 2022

Understanding the solvent‐induced stresses in polymeric materials is of profound importance for drug release and soft robotics. This work presents an alternative method to obtain an analytical solution of solvent‐induced stress in an elastic slab using the Moutier theorem under the framework of equilibrium thermodynamics and the elastic solution available in the literature. Using the analytical solution and the temporal evolution of the mass of organic solvents in polymeric slabs, we analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of the solvent‐induced stress in the polymeric slabs and reveal the effects of the solvent transport on the stress evolution. The approach presented in this work provides a simple method to solve the decoupling problem involving diffusion and solvent‐induced stresses.
pH‐sensitive polyion nanocomplexes for antimicrobial peptide delivery
Authors: Wang Shuting , Yu Yan , Li Heyang , Huang Yan , Wang Jing , Jin Qiao , Ji Jian
Published: February 2022

As an alternative to antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are attracting more and more attention for non‐antibiotic antibacterial therapy. However, there are still many issues of AMPs for clinical applications. For example, AMPs are generally positively charged and can be easily cleared during blood circulation. In addition, the cationic AMPs show strong cytotoxicity, which brings potential biosafety risks. In order to address these issues, pH‐sensitive polyion nanocomplex is designed for the delivery of AMPs by electrostatic self‐assembly of positively charged AMPs Magainin‐I and negatively charged 2,3‐dimethyl maleic anhydride (DA) modified ε‐polylysine (EPL) (EPL‐DA). The size and surface charge of the polyion nanocomplex is fully investigated by dynamic laser scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Magainin‐I loaded polyion nanocomplex is stable in physiological environment (pH 7.4), which can effectively reduce the cytotoxicity of AMPs. In the slightly acidic environment (pH 5.0–6.0) in bacteria infected tissue, the nanocomplex would be disintegrated to positively charged EPL and Magainin‐I, thereby restoring antibacterial properties. The excellent antibacterial activity of Magainin‐I loaded polyion nanocomplexes is confirmed by a series of in vitro antibacterial experiments. The fabrication of polyion nanocomplex provides an innovative way for the delivery of AMPs.
Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on cancer patients and psycho‐oncology providers: Perspectives, observations, and experiences of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society membership
Authors: McAndrew Natalie S. , Strong Yukino , Morris Keayra J. , Sannes Timothy S. , Pirl William F. , Cole Steve , Mohanraj Lathika , Knight Jennifer M.
Published: February 2022

Objective

To understand: (1) psycho‐oncology providers' perspectives on and observations of the psychological responses of their cancer patients during the pandemic, and (2) psycho‐oncology providers' own experiences delivering care.

Methods

In this concurrent mixed methods study, a survey was distributed to psychosocial providers who were members of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS). Survey respondents were invited to participate in a one‐on‐one audio‐recorded interview via phone or secure Zoom®.

Results

seventy‐six self‐identified psycho‐oncology providers responded to the survey and 11 participated in a one‐on‐one interview. Approximately half reported that patients responded in unique ways to COVID‐19 stress relative to other populations. Three themes emerged from qualitative analyses: (1) unique burden on patients, (2) cancer patients' pandemic response and its relationship to their cancer experience, and (3) unexpected positive changes. Providers emphasized that the cancer experience may have prepared patients for the existential distress of the pandemic and described patients' resiliency. Two themes emerged regarding delivery of care: (1) new professional and personal challenges and (2) provider resiliency.

Conclusions

Although providers observed that the pandemic placed new burdens on patients, they emphasized that the cancer experience may have prepared patients for the existential distress of the pandemic and described patients' resiliency. To overcome challenges, psycho‐oncology providers used innovative strategies to support patients and foster their own mental health.
Operation mode recognition of surface microdischarge based on the gray level histogram
Authors: Lu Chen , Xiong Zilan
Published: February 2022

A visible image of gas discharge contains rich information. This study investigates the visible light information of surface microdischarge (SMD) under different operation modes and develops a method to realize online monitoring of the operation modes based on a gray level histogram (GLH). Two SMD sources were used to verify the effectiveness of the method. The distribution curve in the GLH gradually shifted to a large gray level as the operation mode transferred from ozone mode to NOx mode. The mean, variance, energy, entropy, and uniformity threshold values used to distinguish the operation modes were found to be approximately the same in both sources. Finally, a simplified distribution map based only on entropy and uniformity is proposed for the fast operation mode recognition of SMD.
Decision rules for identifying combination therapies in open‐entry, randomized controlled platform trials
Authors: Meyer Elias Laurin , Mesenbrink Peter , Dunger‐Baldauf Cornelia , Glimm Ekkehard , Li Yuhan , König Franz ,   EU‐PEARL (EU Patient‐cEntric clinicAl tRial pLatforms) Consortium
Published: February 2022

Platform trials have become increasingly popular for drug development programs, attracting interest from statisticians, clinicians and regulatory agencies. Many statistical questions related to designing platform trials—such as the impact of decision rules, sharing of information across cohorts, and allocation ratios on operating characteristics and error rates—remain unanswered. In many platform trials, the definition of error rates is not straightforward as classical error rate concepts are not applicable. For an open‐entry, exploratory platform trial design comparing combination therapies to the respective monotherapies and standard‐of‐care, we define a set of error rates and operating characteristics and then use these to compare a set of design parameters under a range of simulation assumptions. When setting up the simulations, we aimed for realistic trial trajectories, such that for example, a priori we do not know the exact number of treatments that will be included over time in a specific simulation run as this follows a stochastic mechanism. Our results indicate that the method of data sharing, exact specification of decision rules and a priori assumptions regarding the treatment efficacy all strongly contribute to the operating characteristics of the platform trial. Furthermore, different operating characteristics might be of importance to different stakeholders. Together with the potential flexibility and complexity of a platform trial, which also impact the achieved operating characteristics via, for example, the degree of efficiency of data sharing this implies that utmost care needs to be given to evaluation of different assumptions and design parameters at the design stage.
ROS‐responsive thioether‐containing hyperbranched polymer micelles for light‐triggered drug release
Authors: Wang Guanchun , Huang Ping , Wang Lei , Chen Xinliang , Zhou Yongfeng , Huang Wei , Yan Deyue
Published: February 2022

As a kind of promising drug carriers, smart polymers have attracted much attention due to the effective and controlled drug release in target cells. Herein, a reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐responsive thioether‐containing amphiphilic hyperbranched polymer prepared from MTPA and TMPTGE (HBPMT) is synthesized from 3‐(methylthio)propylamine (MTPA) and trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether (TMPTGE) by the amine‐epoxy click reaction via A2 + B3 one‐pot approach. Benefiting from its inherent amphiphilic nature, HBPMT can self‐assemble into stable micelles in water. Triggered by H2O2, these micelles can be dissociated rapidly because hydrophobic thioether segments in their cores are oxidized into hydrophilic sulfoxide or sulfone groups. Additionally, the ROS produced by photosensitizer under light irradiation can also play the same role of H2O2. Such HBPMT micelles can be utilized to encapsulate anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) and photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6) simultaneously for drug delivery and control release. The methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay toward MCF‐7 tumor cells (a human breast adenocarcinoma cell line) indicates that these micelles encapsulated with PTX and Ce6 exhibit a significant combinational efficacy of cell proliferation inhibition, which means the promising potential for synergistic chemo‐photodynamic cancer therapy. Such a novel nanocarrier based on amphiphilic to hydrophilic transition would provide a candidate for controlled drug release and cancer combination therapy.
Systematic scalability analysis for microservices granularity adaptation design decisions
Authors: Hassan Sara , Bahsoon Rami , Buyya Rajkumar
Published: February 2022

Microservices have gained wide recognition and acceptance in software industries as an emerging architectural style for autonomous, scalable and more reliable computing. A critical problem related to microservices is reasoning about the suitable granularity level of a microservice (i.e., when and how to merge or decompose microservices). Although scalability is pronounced as one of the major factors for adoption of microservices, there is a general gap of approaches that systematically analyse the dimensions and metrics, which are important for scalability‐aware granularity adaptation decisions. To the best of our knowledge, the state‐of‐art in reasoning about microservice granularity adaptation is neither: (1) driven by microservice‐specific scalability dimensions and metrics nor (2) follow systematic scalability analysis to make scalability‐aware adaptation decisions. In this article, we address the aforementioned problems using a two‐fold contribution. Firstly, we contribute to a working catalogue of microservice‐specific scalability dimensions and metrics. Secondly, we describe a novel application of scalability goal‐obstacle analysis for the context of reasoning about microservice granularity adaptation. We analyse both contributions by comparing their usage on a hypothetical microservice architecture against ad‐hoc scalability assessment for the same architecture. This analysis shows how both contributions can aid making scalability‐aware granularity adaptation decisions.
Limited power of dopamine transporter mRNA mapping for predicting dopamine transporter availability
Authors: Pak Kyoungjune , Seo Seongho , Lee Myung Jun , Im Hyung‐Jun , Kim Keunyoung , Kim In Joo
Published: February 2022

Dopamine transporters (DAT) are transmembrane proteins that translocate dopamine from the extracellular space into presynaptic neurons. We aimed to investigate the predictive power of DAT mRNA for DAT protein expression, measured using positron emission tomography (PET). We performed 18F‐FP‐CIT PET scans in 35 healthy individuals. Binding potentials (BPND) from the ventral striatum, caudate nucleus, putamen, and middle frontal, orbitofrontal, cingulate, parietal, and temporal cortices were measured. DAT gene expression data were obtained from the freely available Allen Human Brain Atlas derived from six healthy donors. The auto‐correlation of PET‐derived BPNDs for DAT was intermediate (mean ρ2 = .66) with ρ2 ranging from .0811 to 1. However, the auto‐correlation of mRNA expression was weak across the probes with a mean ρ2 of .09–.23. Cross‐correlations between PET‐derived BPNDs and mRNA expression were weak with a mean ρ2 ranging from 0 to .22 across the probes. In conclusion, we observed weak associations between DAT mRNA expression and DAT availability in human brains. Therefore, DAT mRNA mapping may have only limited predictive power for DAT availability in humans. However, the difference in distribution of DAT mRNA and DAT protein may influence this limitation.
The association between the level of institutional support for dementia care in primary care practices and the quality of dementia primary care: A retrospective chart review
Authors: Henein Mary , Arsenault‐Lapierre Geneviève , Sourial Nadia , Godard‐Sebillotte Claire , Vedel Isabelle ,   for the Research on Organization of Healthcare Services for Alzheimer's (ROSA) Team
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Institutional support, encompassing financial and training support, as well as interdisciplinary teams, may be important for the quality of dementia primary care for persons living with dementia. The aim of this study was to measure the association between the level of institutional support provided to primary care practices and the quality of dementia care.

Methods

This was a cross‐sectional chart review in 33 Canadian primary care practices to measure the quality of dementia primary care using a quality of follow‐up score. The score was based on the assessment of 10 indicators. Practices were chosen using a purposeful sampling method with varying levels of institutional support for dementia primary care (e.g., financial support, training, interdisciplinary team). A linear mixed‐effect model was used to measure the association between the level of institutional support and the quality of dementia care.

Results

There was a significant association between the level of institutional support and the quality of dementia care (mean difference = 23.5, 95% confidence interval: 16.4, 30.6).

Discussion

Providing more institutional support for primary care practices could be a promising avenue to improve the care of persons living with dementia.
Reversing Alzheimer's disease dementia with clemastine, fingolimod, or rolipram, plus anti‐amyloid therapy
Authors: Fessel Jeffrey
Published: February 2022

A few anti‐amyloid trials offer a slight possibility of preventing progression of cognitive loss, but none has reversed the process. A possible reason is that amyloid may be necessary but insufficient in the pathogenesis of AD, and other causal factors may need addressing in addition to amyloid. It is argued here that drugs addressing myelination and synaptogenesis are the optimum partners for anti‐amyloid drugs, since there is much evidence that early in the process that leads to AD, both neural circuits and synaptic activity are dysfunctional. Evidence to support this argument is presented. Evidence is also presented that clemastine, fingolimod, and rolipram, benefit both myelination and synaptogenesis. It is suggested that a regimen that includes one of them plus an anti‐amyloid drug, could reverse AD.
The impact of pimavanserin on psychotic phenotypes and tau phosphorylation in the P301L/COMT– and rTg(P301L)4510 mouse models of Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Jimenez Heidy , Adrien Leslie , Wolin Adam , Eun John , Chang Eric H. , Burstein Ethan S. , Gomar Jesus , Davies Peter , Koppel Jeremy
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Psychosis in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with grave clinical consequences including a precipitous cognitive decline and a hastened demise. These outcomes are aggravated by use of existing antipsychotic medications, which are also associated with cognitive decline and increased mortality; preclinical models that would develop new therapeutic approaches are desperately needed. The current report evaluates the ability of the neoteric antipsychotic, pimavanserin, to normalize hyperkinesis and sensorimotor gating in the novel catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) deleted P301L/COMT– and rTg(P301L)4510 models of psychotic AD, and the impact of pimavanserin on tau pathology.

Methods

Female P301L/COMT– mice were behaviorally characterized for abnormalities of locomotion and sensorimotor gating, and biochemically characterized for patterns of tau phosphorylation relative to relevant controls utilizing high‐sensitivity tau enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Female P301L/COMT– and rTg(P301L)4510 mice were randomized to pimavanserin or vehicle treatment to study the ability of pimavanserin to normalize locomotion and rescue sensorimotor gating. Additionally, high‐sensitivity tau ELISA was used to investigate the impact of treatment on tau phosphorylation.

Results

P301L/COMT– mice evidenced a hyperlocomotive phenotype and deficits of sensorimotor gating relative to wild‐type mice on the same background, and increased tau phosphorylation relative to COMT‐competent P301L mice. Pimavanserin normalized the hyperkinetic phenotype in both the P301L/COMT– and rTg(P301L)4510 mice but had no impact on sensorimotor gating in either model. Pimavanserin treatment had little impact on tau phosphorylation patterns.

Discussion

These data suggest that pimavanserin ameliorates tau‐driven excessive locomotion. Given the morbidity associated with aberrant motor behaviors such as pacing in AD and lack of effective treatments, future studies of the impact of pimavanserin on actigraphy in patients with this syndrome may be warranted.
Error analysis of a fully discrete discontinuous Galerkin alternating direction implicit discretization of a class of linear wave-type problems
Authors: Hochbruck Marlis , Köhler Jonas
Published: February 2022

This paper is concerned with the rigorous error analysis of a fully discrete scheme obtained by using a central fluxes discontinuous Galerkin (dG) method in space and the Peaceman–Rachford splitting scheme in time. We apply the scheme to a general class of wave-type problems and show that the resulting approximations as well as discrete derivatives thereof satisfy error bounds of the order of the polynomial degree used in the dG discretization and order two in time. In particular, the class of problems considered includes, e.g., the advection equation, the acoustic wave equation, and the Maxwell equations for which a very efficient implementation is possible via an alternating direction implicit splitting.
Palliative Aspekte bei Demenz
Authors: Schmidt Reinhold
Published: February 2022

Die Frage, wie viel Palliativmedizin Demenzkranke brauchen und wann diese zum Einsatz kommen soll, sind die ersten beiden Fragen, die sich aufdrängen, wenn man sich diesem Thema bei dieser Erkrankung nähert. Die Frage „ob“ ist leicht und schnell mit ja beantwortet. Die Frage „wann“ ist deutlich komplexer. Studien zu diesem Thema sind spärlich und basieren eher auf Expertenmeinungen als auf Zahlen und Daten (Stichwort Delphi-Studien). Die daraus resultierenden Informationen sind jedoch nicht weniger wichtig, nicht weniger akkurat. Die Tatsache, dass Expertinnen und Experten von unterschiedlichen Ländern zur Meinungsgebung eingeladen sind, spiegelt in hohem Maße auch die kulturellen Unterschiede im Zugang speziell bei dieser Erkrankung wider. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt einen Überblick zu diesem Thema.
Quo Vadis, Bioeconomy? the Necessity of Normative Considerations in the Transition
Authors: Urmetzer Sophie , Schlaile Michael P. , Blok Vincent , Pyka Andreas
Published: February 2022

This collection of papers builds on the idea that the bioeconomy provides a framework for potentially effective solutions addressing the grand global challenges by a turn towards an increased use of biological resources, towards renewability and circularity. Consequently, it cannot be perceived as an end in itself. Thus, innovative endeavors within this bioeconomy framework require a serious examination of their normative premises and implications. From different perspectives, the five contributions to the collection demonstrate that for a bioeconomy that is to contribute to the transformation towards sustainability, inquiries into norms, values, and paradigms of innovators and other stakeholders are indispensable. Originating in the spirit of an interdisciplinary workshop on the “The Normative Dimension of Transformations towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy”, the collection at hand provides an attempt to facilitate an increased commitment of social sciences into bioeconomy discourses. We learn: the bioeconomy is on the rise as it is, but whether it will guide us the way towards an equitable, environmentally sound, and future-proof economy, heavily depends on the normative guardrails imposed by science, society, and business.
Automating Agroecology: How to Design a Farming Robot Without a Monocultural Mindset?
Authors: Ditzler Lenora , Driessen Clemens
Published: February 2022

Robots are widely expected—and pushed—to transform open-field agriculture, but these visions remain wedded to optimizing monocultural farming systems. Meanwhile there is little pull for automation from ecology-based, diversified farming realms. Noting this gap, we here explore the potential for robots to foster an agroecological approach to crop production. The research was situated in The Netherlands within the case of pixel cropping, a nascent farming method in which multiple food and service crops are planted together in diverse assemblages employing agroecological practices such as intercropping and biological pest control. Around this case we engaged with a variety of specialists in discussion groups, workshops, and design challenges to explore the potential of field robots to meet the multifaceted demands of highly diverse agroecological cropping systems. This generated a spectrum of imaginations for how automated tools might—or might not—be appropriately used, ranging from fully automated visions, to collaborative scenarios, to fully analogue prototypes. We found that automating agroecological cropping systems requires finding ways to imbue the ethos of agroecology into designed tools, thereby seeking to overcome tensions between production aims and other forms of social and ecological care. We conclude that a rethinking of automation is necessary for agroecological contexts: not as a blueprint for replacing humans, but making room for analogue and hybrid forms of agricultural work. These findings highlight a need for design processes which include a diversity of actors, involve iterative design cycles, and incorporate feedback between designers, practitioners, tools, and cropping systems.
Capturing of intracranial pressure treatment during neurointensive care in patients with acute brain injury using a novel tablet-based method
Authors: Galos Peter , Nyholm Lena , Howells Tim , Enblad Per
Published: February 2022

Critical care is complex and stressful. It is difficult to register in real time data not recorded by automatic systems. Time-specific knowledge of manual measures is important for understanding pathophysiology and for analyzing treatment and quality of care. Therefore, a novel iPad-based method for registration of manual measures was developed, which many can build themselves. Using a configuration for intracranial pressure (ICP) management, the methodology was validated, ICP treatment captured, and the quality of ICP management evaluated. Twenty-two patients with acute brain injuries were studied. The iPad-system was totally used for 2538 h. Thirteen-hundred-five manual measures were entered. Thirty-nine episodes of predefined ICP insults were identified. During 16/39 episodes, ICP treatments were registered. For 4/39 episodes treatments were registered within 90 s before or after the episode. For 3/39 episodes it was registered that treatment was intentionally refrained. In 15/16 episodes without registered treatment, the insult was mild or reasonable explanations were found when medical records and the Patient data management system were reviewed. In one situation without particular circumstances, morphine and clonidine were given to decrease ICP but not registered. No episodes of downtime or loss of data occurred. The developed methodology appears to be stable and robust as well as feasible and user-friendly. It was possible to capture the treatment of ICP insults with high temporal resolution, and to evaluate the quality of ICP management. An own developed novel tablet-based system like our system may be a promising potential tool useful in various future intensive care applications.