bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Energetic Control of Redox‐Active Polymers toward Safe Organic Bioelectronic Materials
Authors: Giovannitti Alexander , Rashid Reem B. , Thiburce Quentin , Paulsen Bryan D. , Cendra Camila , Thorley Karl , Moia Davide , Mefford J. Tyler , Hanifi David , Weiyuan Du , Moser Maximilian , Salleo Alberto , Nelson Jenny , McCulloch Iain , Rivnay Jonathan
Published: March 2020

Avoiding faradaic side reactions during the operation of electrochemical devices is important to enhance the device stability, to achieve low power consumption, and to prevent the formation of reactive side‐products. This is particularly important for bioelectronic devices, which are designed to operate in biological systems. While redox‐active materials based on conducting and semiconducting polymers represent an exciting class of materials for bioelectronic devices, they are susceptible to electrochemical side‐reactions with molecular oxygen during device operation. Here, electrochemical side reactions with molecular oxygen are shown to occur during organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) operation using high‐performance, state‐of‐the‐art OECT materials. Depending on the choice of the active material, such reactions yield hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a reactive side‐product, which may be harmful to the local biological environment and may also accelerate device degradation. A design strategy is reported for the development of redox‐active organic semiconductors based on donor–acceptor copolymers that prevents the formation of H2O2 during device operation. This study elucidates the previously overlooked side‐reactions between redox‐active conjugated polymers and molecular oxygen in electrochemical devices for bioelectronics, which is critical for the operation of electrolyte‐gated devices in application‐relevant environments.
Testing row spacing and planting rate for fall‐planted spring canola in the southern United States
Authors: Wynne Kacie , Neely C.B. , Adams Curtis , Kimura Emi , DeLaune P.B. , Hathcoat Daniel , Gerrish Brandon
Published: March 2020

Cultivar selection, planting rate, and row spacing are key considerations when planting canola (Brassica napus L.) and vary by region. Canola offers a possible solution for producers in Texas and the broader southern region looking for a winter rotational crop, but the lack of data on region‐specific agronomic practices is a roadblock to adoption. Our objective was to identify the optimum row spacing and planting rate to achieve maximum seed and oil yield in fall‐planted spring canola in the southern United States. Replicated studies were conducted at College Station and Perry, TX during the 2017–2018 winter growing season. Treatments included three row spacings (19, 38, and 76 cm), three planting rates (1.7, 3.4, and 5.1 kg ha−1), and two cultivars (HyCLASS 930 and HyCLASS 970). HyCLASS 970 outperformed HyCLASS 930 in all yield and seed parameters except seeds pod−1 and oil content at both locations. While row spacing had no effect on yield at College Station, a 15% reduction in seed and oil yield was observed at the widest row spacing at Perry. A cultivar × planting rate interaction at Perry showed yield declining for HyCLASS 930 as planting rate increased, while HyCLASS 970 showed no response. This suggests rates as low as 1.7 kg ha−1, which is substantially lower than the rate commonly recommended (5.6 kg ha−1), can be used for fall‐planted spring canola. High yield at Perry and lack of freeze damage suggest spring canola may be a good winter rotational crop for the southern United States.
Local anaesthetic toxicity during an awake tracheal intubation course
Authors: Pearson F. , Chiam P.
Published: March 2020

We report a case of local anaesthetic toxicity in an anaesthetic trainee participating as a subject for an awake tracheal intubation training course. The trainee experienced symptoms of toxicity despite the dose of lidocaine administered being less than the maximum safe dose recommended for airway topicalisation. We argue this highlights the variability in absorption of local anaesthetic and the importance of safety during awake tracheal intubation training courses. It is essential to use the minimum safe dose of local anaesthetic required during topicalisation for awake tracheal intubation. We have now made it our course policy that participants cannot undergo awake tracheal intubation less than 2 weeks following a period of coryzal illness. We recommend that operators remain vigilant for signs of local anaesthetic toxicity when undertaking this procedure and adhere to newly published Difficult Airway Society awake tracheal intubation guidelines.
Butterfly and chair clusters using N,O‐chelating ligands: A combined crystallographic and mass spectrometric study
Authors: Wang Ling‐Yun , Wang Xia , Ou Li‐Juan , Liu Ning , Yang Guo‐Ping
Published: March 2020

The organic ligand (1‐methyl‐1H‐benzo[d]imidazol‐2‐yl)methanol (HL1) was used to react with Cu(ClO4)2·6H2O and triethylamine at 80°C to afford the complex [Cu4(L1)6]·(ClO4)2·CH3CN (1). Every four‐coordinated Cu(II) ion is surrounded with NO3 coordinated environment, and every five‐coordinated Cu(II) ion is surrounded with N2O3 coordinated environment. Changing the metal salt to Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, and after adding CH3COONa, afforded the complex [Zn4(L1)4(NO3)2(CH3COO)2] (2), in which every five‐coordinated Zn(II) ion is surrounded with NO4 coordinated environment. High‐resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry results revealed that complex 1 broke into the most stable fragment [Cu2(L1)3]+, and it also can assemble high nuclear peaks in solution. For complex 2, it was found that the complex exhibited different component distribution in solution. Not only were there substitutions between coordinated anions, but the high nuclear peaks could also be detected.
Unbridged bidentate aluminum complexes supported by diaroylhydrazone ligands: Synthesis, structure and catalysis in polymerization of ε‐caprolactone and lactides
Authors: Nie Kun , Wang Changan , Cheng Xueli , Li Jikun , Han Yinfeng , Yao Yingming
Published: March 2020

A series of novel diaroylhydrazone aluminum complexes have been synthesized and well‐defined structurally, and their catalytic performance in the polymerization of ε‐caprolactone and lactides have also been evaluated. Complexes [(L1–4)2AlMe] (1–4) {[L1 = (3,5‐tBu2–2‐OMe‐C6H2)CH=NNCOC6H5], [L2 = (3,5‐tBu2–2‐OMe‐C6H2)CH=NNCO(C6H4–4‐OCH3)], [L3 = (3,5‐tBu2–2‐OMe‐C6H2)CH=NNCO(C6H4–4‐Br)] and [L4 = (2‐OMe‐C6H4)CH=NNCO(C6H4–4‐tBu)]} were prepared through treatment of AlMe3 with the corresponding proligands L1–4H in molar ratios of 1: 1 or 1: 2. Chemical structures of all the complexes were well‐defined by elemental analysis, NMR spectra as well as single‐crystal X‐ray study. Complexes [(L1–4)2AlMe] (1–4) in this work represent the first examples of aluminum complexes of aroylhydrazone ligands with crystallographic characterization. Specifically, they are all in monomeric form with a penta‐coordinated aluminum center, including two approximately co‐planar five‐membered metallacycles with aluminum. Introduced bulky tert‐butyl substituents in aroylhydrazone ligands could affect the geometry around the central metal which is a distorted square‐based pyramid in complexes 1–3 while being a trigonal bipyramidal in complex 4, thus affecting their catalytic behaviors. The complexes can successfully catalyze the ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone and L‐lactide under mild conditions without any activator. In addition, complexes 1–4 could also polymerize rac‐lactide, affording atactic polylactides with high conversions and good controllability in relatively short reaction time.
Fabrication of self‐healable, conductive, and ultra‐strong hydrogel from polyvinyl alcohol and grape seed–extracted polymer
Authors: Luo Chunhui , Wei Ning , Sun Xinxin , Luo Faliang
Published: March 2020

Developing hydrogels with excellent mechanical performances and multiple functions is challenging. Herein, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and grape seed extracted polymer (GSP) were used to achieve this goal. The hydrogel was firstly cross‐linked by crystalline regions of PVA upon freezing–thawing cycles, it was further immersed in ammonium sulfate (AS) solution to induce the hydrophilic to hydrophobic transition of GSP. The relationship between microstructures and mechanical properties of the obtained PVA–GSP hydrogel was revealed. The results showed that the PVA–GSP precursor hydrogels were weak due to the uneven network and lower cross‐link density. After soaking in ammonium sulfate solution, the network became more dense and uniform because of the hydrophilic to hydrophobic transition of GSP. Meanwhile, frictions between polymer chains increased. As a result, ultra‐strong (tensile stress = 20.5 MPa), antifatigue (>95%), self‐healable (healed stress = 10.0 MPa), and conductive hydrogels were obtained. The strength and toughness of our gel are among top values in literature to date. Furthermore, the swollen gel even after soaking in DI water for 36 hr still maintained tensile strength at the megapascal level, superior to most water‐rich hydrogels. This tough and functional gel might find potential applications in cartilage repair, artificial skin, and sensors.
Enabling automated herbarium sheet image post‐processing using neural network models for color reference chart detection
Authors: Ledesma Dakila A. , Powell Caleb A. , Shaw Joey , Qin Hong
Published: March 2020

Premise

Large‐scale efforts to digitize herbaria have resulted in more than 18 million publicly available Plantae images on sites such as iDigBio. The automation of image post‐processing will lead to time savings in the digitization of biological specimens, as well as improvements in data quality. Here, new and modified neural network methodologies were developed to automatically detect color reference charts (CRC), enabling the future automation of various post‐processing tasks.

Methods and Results

We used 1000 herbarium specimen images from 52 herbaria to test our novel neural network model, ColorNet, which was developed to identify CRCs smaller than 4 cm2, resulting in a 30% increase in accuracy over the performance of other state‐of‐the‐art models such as Faster R‐CNN. For larger CRCs, we propose modifications to Faster R‐CNN to increase inference speed.

Conclusions

Our proposed neural networks detect a range of CRCs, which may enable the automation of post‐processing tasks found in herbarium digitization workflows, such as image orientation or white balance correction.
Nonlinear disturbance observer based geometric control of quadrotors
Authors: Sharma Manmohan , Kar Indrani
Published: March 2020

This paper proposes a nonlinear disturbance observer based controller (NDOBC) for quadrotors utilizing the rotation matrices for attitude dynamics. The proposed observer does not make the assumption that the disturbance is constant or its upper bound is known. The only assumptions are that the disturbance and its derivatives are bounded and hence can handle constant disturbance as a special case. The proposed disturbance observer can handle large class of disturbances and the NDOBC is shown to be locally input to state stable with respect to the derivatives of the disturbances present in attitude dynamics as well as translational dynamics. The proposed controller as well as the nonlinear disturbance observer has been formulated on the nonlinear manifold SE(3) where the rotational dynamics evolve on SO(3) while the translational dynamics evolve on
. Simulation results as well as implementation on a hardware setup establish the effectiveness of the proposed NDOBC.
Waterborne Illness Sparks Major Water Reform in New Zealand
Authors: Graham Jim
Published: March 2020

Key Takeaways

Following a severe outbreak of campylobacteriosis, a government investigation uncovered numerous failures and shortcomings in the way New Zealand's water supplies were regulated and organized.

The current government of New Zealand has established a new national drinking water regulator in the interest of resolving longstanding problems that have put the safety of the country's water supplies at risk.

Political and special‐interest obstacles have stymied progress on broad changes; nevertheless, legislative work on ensuring safe drinking water is progressing.
Report Reflects Critical Role of Data and Planning in Water Infrastructure Resilience
Authors: Wallis‐Lage Cindy
Published: March 2020

Key Takeaways

As the water industry recognizes the importance of using data to address its most critical challenges, it is faced with a new challenge: how to harness and integrate the data.

A survey by Black & Veatch examined water utilities’ strategies in asset management, energy planning, risk and resilience, and aging infrastructure; all are affected by effective use of data.

Tapping into the Internet of Water can pave the way for utilities to realize a more holistic approach to how they do business.
Secrets of Longevity: How Membrane Properties Affect Long‐Term Performance
Authors: Liu Charles , Glovinsky David
Published: March 2020

Key Takeaways

Given their life cycle cost and ability to meet more stringent water quality requirements, low‐pressure membranes are increasingly replacing granular media filters.

Two important characteristics determine a membrane's service life: its physical strength and its permeability.

While there are many factors at play in membranes’ long‐term performance, the importance of their structural and morphological characteristics should be recognized.
Clinical research on behavioral activation as treatment for post‐traumatic stress disorder: A brief review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Flint Daniel D. , Ferrell Emily L. , Engelman Joel
Published: March 2020

Behavioral activation (BA), an effective treatment for depression, has recently been receiving attention as a possible intervention for PTSD. BA interventions could be particularly useful in treating underserved populations (i.e., individuals with lower socioeconomic status). A literature search was conducted, which identified seven outcome studies that examined the effectiveness of stand‐alone BA treatment for individuals with PTSD. All studies identified for this brief review demonstrated clinically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms using BA as an intervention. A meta‐analysis of these few studies revealed a nonsignificant effect (Cohen's d = 0.713, p = .512) despite reporting an average symptom reduction of 25.8%. Other studies utilizing BA treatment for PTSD do so in tandem with other interventions and were excluded from analysis. This brief review summarizes the literature on the use of BA as a stand‐alone treatment for PTSD and suggests that future research seek to confirm the usefulness of BA as a potential treatment modality for mental health‐care providers treating individuals with PTSD.
Teenagers and their Sexual Partners: What Age Difference Should Raise Concerns of Sexual Exploitation?
Authors: Cook Louise , Mott Alison
Published: March 2020

Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is often characterised by a power imbalance between the abuser and the child. Age difference is one of the power imbalances observed. However, there is no clear guidance on what age difference should raise concern. This article provides empirical evidence on age difference observed between: (a) teenagers (13–17‐year‐olds) who have attended a sexual health clinic and their partners; and (b) teenagers who are already known to children's services owing to significant concerns of sexual exploitation and their partners.

The findings provide recommendations on age cut‐offs that are more likely to be suggestive of the risk of CSE. The paper concludes that an age difference of four years or more for 13–16‐year‐olds and six years or more for 17‐year‐olds should alert professionals to the possibility of exploitation. Overall, about two per cent of teenagers seen in a general sexual health clinic population had partners meeting these age cut‐offs compared with 31.4 per cent of those for whom there were already significant CSE concerns. These age cut‐offs can support professionals, especially those with little or no experience or knowledge of CSE, to make an informed professional judgement.

‘Provide[s] recommendations on age cut‐offs that are more likely to be suggestive of the risk of CSE’

Key Practitioner Messages

A holistic approach to determining a young person's risk of sexual exploitation should include consideration of the age of the partner.

Age ‘cut‐offs’ can help professionals decide what age difference should trigger concern and support decision‐making.

We recommend age difference ‘cut‐offs’ of four years or more for 13–16‐year‐olds and six years or more for 17‐year‐olds.
Co‐Reactant and Annihilation Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence of [Ir(df‐ppy)2(ptb)]+ Derivatives
Authors: Soulsby Lachlan C. , Agugiaro Johnny , Wilson David J. D. , Hayne David J. , Doeven Egan H. , Chen Lifen , Pham Tien T. , Connell Timothy U. , Driscoll Aaron J. , Henderson Luke C. , Francis Paul S.
Published: March 2020

The [Ir(df‐ppy)2(ptb)]+ complex (where df‐ppy=2‐(2,4‐difluorophenyl)pyridine anion; ptb=1‐benzyl‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐ylpyridine) has previously been shown to be a promising blue luminophore for electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL). Herein, we examine the ECL of three [Ir(df‐ppy)2(ptb)]+ derivatives (containing df(CF3)‐ppy‐Me, df(CN)‐ppy, or df‐ppy‐CF3 ligands) in comparison with the parent complex. In the annihilation mode, all four complexes exhibited ECL, although the emission from [Ir(df(CN)‐ppy)2(ptb)]+ was weak and red‐shifted from its photoluminescence. The absence of this shift in the corresponding reductive‐oxidation co‐reactant ECL with benzoyl peroxide (BPO), and the very low ECL intensity in oxidative–reductive co‐reactant ECL with tri‐n‐propylamine (TPrA) enables this effect to be ascribed to oxidative degradation. The [Ir(df‐ppy‐CF3)2(ptb)]+ complex gave the greatest ECL intensities of the four [Ir
2(ptb)]+ complexes in the annihilation mode and through both co‐reactant pathways, and shows great potential as a blue electrochemiluminophore. In “mixed annihilation” ECL experiments involving the oxidation of Ir(ppy)3 and the reduction of the [Ir
2(ptb)]+ complexes, only [Ir(df‐ppy)2(ptb)]+ and [Ir(df(CF3)‐ppy‐Me)2(ptb)]+ elicited the green ECL from Ir(ppy)3*, as the electron‐withdrawing substituents on the other two complexes lower the SOMO energy of the reduced complexes below that required to attain the Ir(ppy)3* excited state upon reaction with [Ir(ppy)3]+.
Different strategies for the use of random forest in NMR spectra
Authors: Lovatti Betina P.O. , Nascimento Márcia H.C. , Rainha Karla P. , Oliveira Emanuele C.S. , Neto Álvaro C. , Castro Eustáquio V.R. , Filgueiras Paulo R.
Published: March 2020

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can provide a large amount of information about an analyzed sample; however, its spectra contain above 6000 variables, making it difficult for random forest (RF) applications. Reducing the size of the original dataset can minimize this problem. In this paper, we compared RF classification models obtained with full NMR spectral range and from the reduction of NMR variables, using principal component analysis (PCA) and the Fisher discriminant (FD). Then, the variables used in the construction of RF trees were analyzed and identified. Here, we used 1H and 13C NMR spectra obtained from 126 petroleum samples and values of their total acidy number (TAN), as measured by ASTM D664, ranging from 0.03 to 4.96 mg KOH· g−1, to distinguish the oil samples from the TAN values. Of two classes that resulted, the first contained 78 samples with TAN values less than, or equal to, 0.3 mg KOH· g−1, while the second contained 48 samples with TAN values higher than 0.3 mg KOH· g−1. The 1H NMR results showed that the combination of FD and RF techniques provided the best accuracy (88%). For 13C NMR data, the most accurate model was obtained by the association of PCA and RF (84%). The identification of variables used in RF allowed a better understanding of the important chemical data contained in the spectra and the relationship to TAN in petroleum.
Mixture robust L1 probabilistic principal component regression and soft sensor application
Authors: Zhu Pengbo , Yang Xianqiang , Zhang Hang
Published: March 2020

In this paper, the multivariate Laplace distribution (also called L1 distribution) is adopted to construct a robust probabilistic principal component regression model (MRPPCR‐L1) under multiple operating modes. In the practical industrial chemistry process, outliers exist due to incorrect recording, disturbances, and process noises and might result in modelling distortion. To address this problem, Laplace distribution, instead of the Gaussian distribution in traditional methods, is introduced to reduce the negative influence of outliers. Moreover, probabilistic principal component regression is employed for dealing with the mixture modelling problem owing to its probabilistic property to determine the operating modes. The formulation of this approach is derived with the expectation maximum algorithm and the soft sensing model is also developed for prediction. Compared to the conventional method, a numerical example and the Tennessee Eastman process are used to demonstrate the robust modelling performance of the proposed method.
Reassigning Hessian fly resistance genes H7 and H8 to chromosomes 6A and 2B of the wheat cultivar ‘Seneca’ using genotyping‐by‐sequencing
Authors: Liu Guoxia , Liu Xuming , Xu Yunfeng , Bernardo Amy , Chen Mingshun , Li Yaoguang , Niu Fuan , Zhao Lanfei , Bai Guihua
Published: March 2020

Hessian fly (HF, Mayetiola destructor Say), is a destructive insect pest in most wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growing areas worldwide. Growing resistant cultivars can effectively reduce HF damage. The wheat cultivar ‘Seneca’ was reported to carry resistance genes H7 on chromosome 5D and H8 with unknown location. To further validate the resistance gene locations in Seneca, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population from Bobwhite × Seneca was genotyped using 3,330 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated from genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) and phenotyped for HF resistance in the greenhouse experiments. Phenotypic analyses showed at least two genes conditioning HF resistance in Seneca, but none of them was mapped on chromosome 5D, as previously reported. Instead, one major gene, designated as H7, was mapped to chromosome 6A and explained 60.7–78.3% of the phenotypic variation. The other gene with a minor effect, designated as H8, was found on chromosome 2B and explained 3.2–4.7% of the phenotypic variation. Based on the physical locations of flanking markers for H7 in the Chinese Spring reference genome, H7 was physically located in a 6‐Mb interval on 6AL. This study reassigned the major gene H7 to chromosome 6A and the minor gene H8 to 2B in Seneca using a high‐density SNP map. Seventeen GBS SNPs mapped in the H7 region were converted into Kompetitive allele specific polymerase chain reaction (KASP) markers for selecting this gene in breeding.
Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals
Authors: Seifert Christin , Guenther Edeltraud
Published: March 2020

The voluntary implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) according to Eco‐Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a proactive and comprehensive management initiative aiming to improve corporate environmental performance. EMS implementation and connected communication activities are seen as a possibility to strengthen stakeholder relationships. However, EMS development and implementation consumes significant time and financial resources. Therefore, in this empirical study with hospital managers, it is questioned if and to what extent hospital managers perceive stakeholders valuing the implementation of an EMS according to EMAS. The results show that only internal stakeholder pressure from owners and the management board exists. Other stakeholders know little and care less about EMAS, suggesting that they have other priorities and do not see a necessity for hospitals to engage in environmental management efforts. This low stakeholder interest reduces the value of EMAS registration for hospitals and limits future environmental management efforts. This could hinder sustainable development within the healthcare sector.
Transmit power randomization for wireless ad hoc green networks
Authors: Tarhuni Naser
Published: March 2020

Future green technologies require the reduction of power consumptions, increasing energy efficiencies, and managing the electromagnetic interference footprints. In this paper, we investigate the use of randomized transmit power strategy in which the nodes transmit with random power in a single‐hop ad hoc wireless network. We assume Nakagami‐m channel with very slow feedback channel for power update commands. Hence, by using the characteristic function of the received power, we develop a new mathematical formulation for the outage probability. Further, we test the developed formulation on the known constant transmit power case and randomized uniform distribution with constant maximum case. We show that the performance in terms of outage probabilities and total power consumption of all nodes is generally poor. Therefore, we extend our results to the case of optimized constant power and propose the use of randomized uniform distribution with optimized maximum power. We show that the proposed power distribution outperforms the previous ones and reduces the overall power consumption by many orders of magnitude.
Paraganglioma‐like medullary thyroid carcinoma: A case report and literature review
Authors: Hou Yanjun , He Xin , Chute Deborah J.
Published: March 2020

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) accounts for 3%‐5% of all thyroid malignancies. Most MTC can be diagnosed by their typical cytologic and histologic morphology and immunohistochemical features. However, some rare variants of MTC may pose diagnostic difficulties on both cytology and histology. Paraganglioma‐like MTC (PLMTC) is a rare, but widely recognized variant of MTC. PLMTC is known to share morphological and architectural similarities with paraganglioma, hyalinizing trabecular tumor, and carcinomas of thyroid follicular cell origin, such as follicular carcinoma and follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma. The combination of clinicopathologic features and a battery of immunohistochemical markers is essential for making a correct diagnosis. Herein, we report one case of PLMTC with both cytologic and histologic features and review the clinicopathologic features of previously reported cases.
The Heart Failure Association Atlas: rationale, objectives, and methods
Authors: Seferović Petar M. , Jankowska Ewa , Coats Andrew J.S. , Maggioni Aldo P. , Lopatin Yuri , Milinković Ivan , Polovina Marija , Lainščak Mitja , Timmis Adam , Huculeci Radu , Vardas Panos ,   Task Force of the HFA Atlas, and the ESC Atlas of Cardiology leadership, developed in collaboration with the National Heart Failure Societies of the ESC member and ESC affiliated member countries
Published: March 2020

Heart failure (HF) constitutes the growing cardiovascular burden and the major public health issue, but comprehensive statistics on HF epidemiology and related management in Europe are missing. The Heart Failure Association (HFA) Atlas has been initiated in 2016 in order to close this gap, representing the continuity directly rooted in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Atlas of Cardiology. The major aim of the HFA Atlas is to establish a contemporary dataset on HF epidemiology, resources and reimbursement policies for HF management, organization of the National Heart Failure Societies (NHFS) and their major activities, including education and HF awareness. These data are gathered in collaboration with the network of NHFS of the ESC member and ESC affiliated countries. The dataset will be continuously improved and advanced based on the experience and enhanced understanding of data collection in the forthcoming years. This will enable revealing trends, disparities and gaps in knowledge on epidemiology and management of HF. Such data are highly needed by the clinicians of different specialties (aside from cardiologists and cardiac surgeons), researchers, healthcare policy makers, as well as HF patients and their caregivers. It will also allow to map the snapshot of realities in HF care, as well as to provide insights for evidence‐based health care policy in contemporary management of HF. Such data will support the ESC/HFA efforts to improve HF management ant outcomes through stronger recommendations and calls for action. This will likely influence the allocation of funds for the prevention, treatment, education and research in
HF.
Rapid and Stable Plasma Transformation of Polyester Fabrics for Highly Efficient Oil–Water Separation
Authors: Sun Ye , Ouyang Bo , Rawat Rajdeep Singh , Chen Zhong
Published: March 2020

Fabrics with special wettability have drawn growing attention in recent years in the area of oil–water separation due to their low cost, good flexibility, and ease of handling. However, an efficient and fast method to enable the required wetting state on fabrics still remains a challenge. In this work, a one‐step, rapid, and chemical‐free hydrogen plasma treatment is reported to prepare a superhydrophobic and oleophilic polyester fabric. The as‐prepared fabrics display a static water contact angle of 153.2° with excellent oil–water separation capability. The mechanism of surface transformation is discussed through chemical analyses, which indicate a significant removal of carboxyl group from the pristine hydrophilic surface. This developed method is envisaged to be used for on‐demand large‐scale production of materials for emergency oil cleanup through either separation or selective adsorption.
Forecasting CO2 emissions from energy consumption in Pakistan under different scenarios: The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor
Authors: Malik Aysha , Hussain Ejaz , Baig Sofia , Khokhar Muhammad Fahim
Published: March 2020

The forecast of CO2 emissions is very crucial, especially for Pakistan as it is one of the top victims of climate change. A univariate model, (ARIMA) autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), was used to forecast CO2 emissions for Pakistan. The CO2 emissions scenarios were developed for Pakistan till 2020, forecasting them further to 2030. The scenarios developed include China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) scenario, where CO2 emissions from high‐priority energy projects under the CPEC were considered. The scenarios attempt to estimate the impactful emission reduction percentage, which the country needs to adopt along with other necessary changes in the existing policies of the country. The forecast results clearly indicate that the emissions are bound to increase under business as usual and CPEC scenarios and the country would fail to meet the Nationally Determined Contributions pledged at COP21. In other scenarios, where we assumed the country has adopted mitigatory strategies to curb the emissions, the forecast shows decreased CO2 emissions for Pakistan. The mean absolute percentage error for all the forecasts was found to be less than 10%, making the forecast highly accurate. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The formation of paranodal spirals at the ends of CNS myelin sheaths requires the planar polarity protein Vangl2
Authors: Jarjour Andrew A. , Velichkova Atanaska N. , Boyd Amanda , Lord Kathryn M. , Torsney Carole , Henderson Deborah J. , ffrench‐Constant Charles
Published: March 2020

During axonal ensheathment, noncompact myelin channels formed at lateral edges of the myelinating process become arranged into tight paranodal spirals that resemble loops when cut in cross section. These adhere to the axon, concentrating voltage‐dependent sodium channels at nodes of Ranvier and patterning the surrounding axon into distinct molecular domains. The signals responsible for forming and maintaining the complex structure of paranodal myelin are poorly understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that the planar cell polarity determinant Vangl2 organizes paranodal myelin. We show that Vangl2 is concentrated at paranodes and that, following conditional knockout of Vangl2 in oligodendrocytes, the paranodal spiral loosens, accompanied by disruption to the microtubule cytoskeleton and mislocalization of autotypic adhesion molecules between loops within the spiral. Adhesion of the spiral to the axon is unaffected. This results in disruptions to axonal patterning at nodes of Ranvier, paranodal axon diameter and conduction velocity. When taken together with our previous work showing that loss of the apico‐basal polarity protein Scribble has the opposite phenotype—loss of axonal adhesion but no effect on loop–loop autotypic adhesion—our results identify a novel mechanism by which polarity proteins control the shape of nodes of Ranvier and regulate conduction in the CNS.
The effect of jet lag on the human brain: A neuroimaging study
Authors: Zhang Feifei , Li Weikai , Li Huiru , Gao Shaobing , Sweeney John A. , Jia Zhiyun , Gong Qiyong
Published: March 2020

Jet lag is commonly experienced when travelers cross multiple time zones, leaving the wake–sleep cycle and intrinsic biological “clocks” out of synchrony with the current environment. The effect of jet lag on intrinsic cortical function remains unclear. Twenty‐two healthy individuals experiencing west‐to‐east jet lag flight were recruited. Brain structural and functional magnetic resonance studies, as well as psychological and neurohormonal tests, were carried out when participants returned from travel over six time zones and 50 days later when their jet lag symptoms had resolved. During jet lag, the functional brain network exhibited a small‐world topology that was shifted toward regularity. Alterations during jet lag relative to recovery included decreased basal ganglia‐thalamocortical network connections and increased functional connectivity between the medial temporal lobe subsystem and medial visual cortex. The lower melatonin and higher thyroid hormone levels during jet lag showed the same trend as brain activity in the right lingual gyrus. Although there was no significant difference between cortisol measurements during and after jet lag, cortisol levels were associated with temporal lobe activity in the jet lag condition. Brain and neuroendocrine changes during jet lag were related to jet lag symptoms. Further prospective studies are needed to explore the time course over which jet lag acts on the human brain.
Early oral hydration protects against pharyngocutaneous fistula after total laryngectomy or total pharyngolaryngectomy
Authors: Le Flem Matthieu , Santini Laure , Boulze Carole , Alshukry Abdallah , Giovanni Antoine , Dessi Patrick , Fakhry Nicolas
Published: March 2020

Background

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of early oral hydration on the incidence of pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) after total laryngectomy (TL) or total pharyngolaryngectomy (TPL).

Methods

A prospective series of 25 patients operated on between October 2017 and March 2019 who received early oral hydration starting 2 days after surgery were compared to a retrospective cohort of 28 patients who did not receive any early oral hydration. These are two consecutive series including all operated patients.

Results

There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of risk factors for PCF. In univariate and multivariate analysis, early oral hydration was significantly associated with a decreased risk of PCF: 50% vs 20% (odds ratio [OR], 0.25; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.07‐0.85; P = .03, vs OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07‐0.85; P = .02).

Conclusion

Early oral hydration after TL or TPL reduces the risk of PCF.
Liver Transplantation Outcomes in a U.S. Multicenter Cohort of 789 Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Presenting Beyond Milan Criteria
Authors: Kardashian Ani , Florman Sander S. , Haydel Brandy , Ruiz Richard M. , Klintmalm Goran B. , Lee David D. , Taner C. Burcin , Aucejo Federico , Tevar Amit D. , Humar Abhinav , Verna Elizabeth C. , Halazun Karim J. , Chapman William C. , Vachharajani Neeta , Hoteit Maarouf , Levine Matthew H. , Nguyen Mindie H. , Melcher Marc L. , Langnas Alan N. , Carney Carol A. , Mobley Constance , Ghobrial Mark , Amundsen Beth , Markmann James F. , Sudan Debra L. , Jones Christopher M. , Berumen Jennifer , Hemming Alan W. , Hong Johnny C. , Kim Joohyun , Zimmerman Michael A. , Nydam Trevor L. , Rana Abbas , Kueht Michael L. , Fishbein Thomas M. , Markovic Daniela , Busuttil Ronald W. , Agopian Vatche G.
Published: March 2020

Background and Aims

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network recently approved liver transplant (LT) prioritization for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) beyond Milan Criteria (MC) who are down‐staged (DS) with locoregional therapy (LRT). We evaluated post‐LT outcomes, predictors of down‐staging, and the impact of LRT in patients with beyond‐MC HCC from the U.S. Multicenter HCC Transplant Consortium (20 centers, 2002‐2013).

Approach and Results

Clinicopathologic characteristics, overall survival (OS), recurrence‐free survival (RFS), and HCC recurrence (HCC‐R) were compared between patients within MC (n = 3,570) and beyond MC (n = 789) who were down‐staged (DS, n = 465), treated with LRT and not down‐staged (LRT‐NoDS, n = 242), or untreated (NoLRT‐NoDS, n = 82). Five‐year post‐LT OS and RFS was higher in MC (71.3% and 68.2%) compared with DS (64.3% and 59.5%) and was lowest in NoDS (n = 324; 60.2% and 53.8%; overall P < 0.001). DS patients had superior RFS (60% vs. 54%, P = 0.043) and lower 5‐year HCC‐R (18% vs. 32%, P < 0.001) compared with NoDS, with further stratification by maximum radiologic tumor diameter (5‐year HCC‐R of 15.5% in DS/<5 cm and 39.1% in NoDS/>5 cm, P < 0.001). Multivariate predictors of down‐staging included alpha‐fetoprotein response to LRT, pathologic tumor number and size, and wait time >12 months. LRT‐NoDS had greater HCC‐R compared with NoLRT‐NoDS (34.1% vs. 26.1%, P < 0.001), even after controlling for clinicopathologic variables (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.33, P < 0.001) and inverse probability of treatment‐weighted propensity matching (HR = 1.82, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

In LT recipients with HCC presenting beyond MC, successful down‐staging is predicted by wait time, alpha‐fetoprotein response to LRT, and tumor burden and results in excellent post‐LT outcomes, justifying expansion of LT criteria. In LRT‐NoDS patients, higher HCC‐R compared with NoLRT‐NoDS cannot be explained by clinicopathologic differences, suggesting a potentially aggravating role of LRT in patients with poor tumor biology that warrants further investigation.
University Student Health and Wellbeing Study: A test‐retest reliability study of a web‐based survey investigating undergraduate student health and wellbeing
Authors: Wold Catrina , Hallett Jonathan , Crawford Gemma , Chih Hui Jun , Burns Sharyn , Jancey Jonine M.
Published: March 2020

Issue addressed

Understanding the health behaviours of Australian university students and their impact on wellbeing and academic success is important; however, there are limited reliable, population level survey tools to measure student health across a range of domains. The purpose of the research was to determine the reliability of the web‐based University Student Health and Wellbeing Study (USHWS) survey via a test‐retest reliability study within a large Australian university student population.

Methods

A test‐retest of the measurement instrument was completed by a sample of university students (n = 195) over a two‐week period. The instrument assessed alcohol and tobacco use, mental health, sexual health, physical activity, nutrition and sun protective behaviours. Test‐retest reliability was analysed using two‐way random effects model of intraclass correlations (ICC) and AC1 coefficient for individual measurements with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results

Questions on demographics, general health, nutrition, sun protection, alcohol and tobacco use, mental health and sexual health had fair to high reliability (ICCs range from 0.32 to 1.00). Reliability of some physical activity items were poor with large variability (ICC = 0.15, 95% CI 0.01‐0.28 to 0.86, 95% CI 0.82‐0.89).

Conclusions

A majority of the USHWS survey items represented a moderate to high test‐retest reliability. Variability and poor reliability of physical activity questions may be due to survey implementation time and usual behaviour changes.

So what?

The USHWS survey is reliable instrument to assess Australian university student health at a population level with the aim of informing effective programming, policy and initiatives.

The University Student Health and Wellbeing Study (USHWS) survey is a foundational tool to understand university student’s health in Australia. The USHWS reported fair to high reliability with few physical activity items showing lower reliability. Greater variability may be due to usual day‐to‐day fluctuations in behaviour.
Changes in passively‐sensitized basophil activation to αS1‐casein after oral immunotherapy
Authors: Matsui Teruaki , Naito Michihiro , Tagami Kazunori , Tajima Iwao , Teshigawara Miyuki , Makino Atsushi , Kitamura Katsumasa , Takasato Yoshihiro , Sugiura Shiro , Yamada Chikako , Izumi Hidehiko , Tsuge Ikuya , Kondo Yasuto , Ito Komei
Published: March 2020

Introduction

Immune response to cow's milk allergen (CMA) has been analyzed mostly using crude milk antigen or a mixture of various caseins. This study aimed to assess the changes in the immunological response against αS1‐casein during oral immunotherapy (OIT) and to investigate the mechanism of tolerance.

Methods

We have performed rush OIT to 39 patients with CMA and obtained the serum samples up to 3 years after OIT. Immunoglobulin E (IgE) and IgG4 antibodies specific to highly purified αS1‐casein as well as passively‐sensitized basophil activation were evaluated using the serial samples. Furthermore, we examined whether basophil activation led by the pre‐OIT serum was suppressed by the post‐OIT serum, or by the tolerant serum obtained from naturally outgrown patients.

Results

Specific IgE to αS1‐casein was significantly reduced after OIT. Specific IgG4 (sIgG4) to αS1‐casein was also detected in most of the pre‐OIT sera, which was not significantly increased after OIT. Activation of passively‐sensitized basophils to αS1‐casein was significantly reduced after 2 years (14% ± 19%) and 3 years (19% ± 18%) post‐OIT compared with pre‐OIT (%CD63high basophils; 51% ± 27%). Furthermore, the addition of post‐OIT or tolerant serum to pre‐OIT serum significantly suppressed the basophil activation. This suppression was abrogated by washing the supernatant after passive sensitization, but not by depleting IgG antibodies from post‐OIT or tolerant sera, nor by blocking FcγRIIb using an anti‐FcγR antibody.

Conclusions

αS1‐casein‐sIgG4 plays a minor role in tolerance mechanisms in cases of CMA; humoral factors other than antigen‐sIgG4 may be involved.
Correlations between Direct and Calculated Low‐Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Measurements in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Alouffi Sultan , Khan Mohd Wajid Ali , Alotabi Nawaf , Alsuggyair Amal , Alhassan Ikram , Al Alwan Ibrahim , Al Banyan Esam , Al‐Twaijri Yasmin A. , Tamim Hani , Al‐Hussein Fahad , Aljasser Salih , Alfwaz Hanan , Tamimi Waleed
Published: March 2020

Background

Low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C), as a modifiable risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, should be assessed and monitored. This study compared directly measured and Friedewald‐estimated LDL‐C values in children and adolescents.

Methods

Blood samples were collected from 464 children and adolescents. Calculated LDL‐C (CLDL‐C) levels were estimated using the Friedewald formula for any triglyceride value below 4.6 mmol/L. Direct LDL‐C (DLDL‐C) levels were measured on an ARCHITECT c8000 Abbott Clinical Chemistry Analyzer. The differences in LDL‐C were then calculated.

Results

The correlation coefficients (R) between DLDL‐C and CLDL‐C were 0.978 (P = .148) and R = 0.970 (P = .052) for children and adolescents, respectively. Children with LDL‐C values above 4.92 mmol/L had a correlation value of 0.971 (P = .419). The correlation and agreement between DLDL‐C and CLDL‐C in adolescents were moderate for LDL‐C below 2.85 mmol/L (R = 0.806; 84.1%) and improved above 2.85 mmol/L (R = 0.978; 91.5%). In children, good correlations between DLDL‐C and CLDL‐C were observed for normal (<0.85 mmol/L), borderline (0.85‐1.12 mmol/L), and abnormal (≥1.13 mmol/L) triglyceride levels (R = 0.9782, 0.990, and 0.951, respectively). The rates of agreement were better for normal (80.5%) and borderline (82.9%) but not abnormal (68.2%) triglyceride levels.

Conclusion

We observed good agreement between DLDL‐C and CLDL‐C in both children and adolescents. The Friedewald formula provided an adequate estimate of LDL‐C for most fasting specimens. LDL‐C difference percentage can also be used as a quality indicator to check laboratory analyzer performance in healthy subjects.
Printer‐assisted array flexible surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy chip preparation for rapid and label‐free detection of bacteria
Authors: Yang Feng , Chen Li , Li Danyang , Xu Yi , Li Shunbo , Wang Li
Published: March 2020

A low‐cost array flexible surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) chip was proposed with the aim of rapid detection of bacteria. The substrate of the chip was Al foil, and the detection area arrays were printed using a laser toner. Colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were dropped onto the detection area, with the AgNPs droplets confined within the detection area by the hydrophobic properties of the toner film. The colloidal AgNPs were dried naturally to form a SERS active chip. An A4 paper‐based SERS chip was prepared using the same method for control experiments. The surface morphology of the chip was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy. In addition, comparison experiments were performed on the two SERS chips. The results showed that both SERS chips exhibited the best SERS enhancement when the AgNPs were added four times. The calculation of Rhodamine 6G at the 612 cm−1 peak showed that the EF of the A4 paper‐based chip and the Al foil‐based chip were 6.72 × 107 and 1.03 × 108, respectively. SERS mapping results showed that the Al foil‐based chip had much higher signal homogeneity than that of A4 paper‐based chip. Lastly, the Al foil‐based chip was used for bacterial detection. For Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the limit of detection was 1,000 and 100 cfu/ml, and the relative standard deviation of 36 randomly selected detection points were 12.5% and 11.7%, respectively. The entire detection process was completed in a few minutes. The SERS chip has the advantages of low cost, simple manufacturing process, and short detection time; is capable of high throughput and multi‐parameter detection; and is expected to provide a rapid and effective detection method for bacteria.