bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of medium entropy alloy powder-core wire on friction wear and corrosion resistance of arc cladding additive layer
Authors: Xue Bing , Lei Weining , Liu Xiao , Chen Shixin
Published: July 2020

Abstrast

Low carbon steel was suitable for industrial fields due to its low price, wide application range and excellent comprehensive performance. However, there were still shortcomings such as poor wear resistance and corrosion resistance in special occasions. In hence, this paper carried out a study on the strengthening process of low-carbon steel parts surface deposition. The TIG welding arc welding method was used to study the strengthening performance of the arc-enhanced medium entropy alloy additive layer. To analyze the elements and microstructure of the medium entropy alloy additive layer by x-ray diffractometer(XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and other modern analysis methods. The micro-hardness, friction and wear and electrochemical corrosion detection methods were used to study the friction and wear and corrosion resistance of the medium entropy alloy additive layer. The results show that the microstructure of the medium entropy alloy additive layer is a typical lamellar pearlite, which is wrapped with face-centered cubic solid solution (FCC) and unevenly distributed in the additive layer. The microhardness of the medium entropy alloy additive layer is significantly higher than that of the substrate. As the friction and wear load increases, the friction coefficient of the medium entropy alloy additive layer gradually decreases. The wear rate of the additive layer is much lower than that of the substrate and the wear resistance is doubled compared to the substrate. The form of wear is mainly abrasive wear and fatigue spalling wear. The medium entropy alloy additive layer has excellent corrosion resistance. Its corrosion rate is about one tenth of the substrate. The arc cladding medium entropy alloy powder core wire can meet the surface strengthening requirements of low-carbon steel parts and provide engineering basis for the low-carbon steel large-scale, multi-domain, high-level application.
Characterization of novel 3D printed plastic scintillation dosimeters
Authors: Lynch Nicholas , Monajemi Thalat , Robar James L
Published: July 2020

We propose a new methodology for the fabrication and evaluation of scintillating detector elements using a consumer grade fusion deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer. In this study we performed a comprehensive investigation into both the effects of the 3D printing process on the scintillation light output of 3D printed plastic scintillation dosimeters (PSDs) and their associated dosimetric properties. Fabrication properties including print variability, layer thickness, anisotropy and extrusion temperature were assessed for 1 cm3 printed samples. We then examined the stability, dose linearity, dose rate proportionality, energy dependence and reproducibility of the 3D printed PSDs compared to benchmarks set by commercially available products. Experimental results indicate that the shape of the emission spectrum of the 3D printed PSDs do not show significant spectral differences when compared to the emission spectrum of the commercial sample. However, the magnitude of scintillation light output was found to be strongly dependent on the parameters of the fabrication process. Dosimetric testing indicates that the 3D printed PSDs share many desirable properties with current commercially available PSDs such as dose linearity, dose rate independence, energy independence in the MV range, repeatability, and stability. These results demonstrate that not only does 3D printing offer a new avenue for the production and manufacturing of PSDs but also allows for further investigation into the application of 3D printing in dosimetry. Such investigations could include options for 3D printed, patient-specific scintillating dosimeters that may be used as standalone dosimeters or incorporated into existing 3D printed patient devices (e.g. bolus or immobilization) used during the delivery of radiation therapy.
Advancing energy poverty measurement for SDG7
Authors: Pachauri Shonali , Rao Narasimha D
Published: July 2020

Existing indicators used to track progress towards achieving target 7.1 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) narrowly interpret energy poverty as a lack of connections. Recently proposed measurement frameworks are multidimensional, but complex and conceptually muddled. We propose an alternative framework that simplifies and distinguishes two conceptually distinct aspects of energy access—energy supply conditions and the status of household energy poverty. This approach, with refinements through further applications to real data, can improve the design and targeting of policies to both service providers and vulnerable groups to accelerate affordable and reliable energy service provision.
Traffic flow splitting from crowdsourced digital route choice support
Authors: Storch David-Maximilian , Schröder Malte , Timme Marc
Published: July 2020

Digital technology is fundamentally transforming human mobility. Route choices in particular are greatly affected by the availability of traffic data, increased connectivity of data sources and cheap access to computational resources. Digital routing technologies promise more efficient route choices for the individual and a reduction of congestion for cities. Yet, it is unclear how widespread adoption of such technologies actually alters the collective traffic flow dynamics on complex street networks. Here, we answer this question for the dynamics of urban commuting under digital route choice support. Building on the class of congestion games we study the evolution of commuting behavior as a fraction of the population relies on, but also contributes to, crowdsourced traffic information. The remainder of the population makes their route choices based on personal experience. We show how digital route choice support may cause a separation of commuter flows into technology and non-technology users along different routes. This collective behavior may fuel systemic inefficiencies and lead to an increase of congestion as a consequence. These results highlight new research directions in the field of algorithmic design of route choice decision support protocols to help fight congestion, emissions and other systemic inefficiencies in the course of increasing urbanization and digitization.
Flower shaped ZnO—NPs; phytofabrication, photocatalytic, fluorescence quenching, and photoluminescence activities
Authors: Kuruppu K A S S , Perera K M K G , Chamara A M R , Thiripuranathar G
Published: July 2020

Phytofabrication of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO–NPs) through Nephelium lappaceum L. and Garcinia mangostana L. plants’ wastes were achieved as an environmentally friendly method of synthesizing nanoparticles. Biogenic ZnO–NPs were characterized by Ultra Violet Visible (UV–vis) spectrophotometry, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Energy Dispersive Energy (EDX ), and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). UV- Visible absorption of ZnO–NPs indicated a characteristic absorption band at 362–368 nm region. The synthesized nanoparticles were flower in shape, as shown by the SEM images, and they were further elucidated by the TEM images. ZnO-NP synthesized via Rambutan Peel Extract (RPE), Rambutan Seed Extract (RSE), Mangosteen Peel Extract (MPE) and Mangosteen Seed Extract (MSE) showed the average particle size of 29 nm–184 nm, 86 nm–260 nm, 92 nm–247 nm, and 233 nm–334 nm respectively. FTIR spectra demonstrated peaks at 3269–3500 cm−1, 2308–2361 cm−1, 2103–2110 cm−1 and 1630–1640 cm−1, 586–632 cm−1 for the plant extracts, whereas an additional peak appeared within the range of 458–499 cm−1 in ZnO–NPs spectra. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized ZnO–NPs was measured by the degradation of Methylene Blue under sunlight. The highest degradation of Methylene Blue dye was detected in ZnO—NPs synthesized using the seed extract of Nephelium lappaceum L., where a Half-life of 78 min and 97% degradation efficiency at 150 min time frame was observed. The ZnO–NPs were identified to possess fluorescence quenching ability of Rhodamine B. The highest quenching ability was recorded in ZnO–NPs synthesized via Garcinia mangostana L. seed. The Photoluminescence study showed that the intensity of spectral lines of biogenic ZnO–NPs were higher compared with the chemically synthesized ZnO–NPs.
The Bruhat order on abelian ideals of Borel subalgebras
Authors: Gandini Jacopo , Maffei Andrea , Möseneder Frajria Pierluigi , Papi Paolo
Published: July 2020

Let

G
G

be a quasi-simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field

k

\mathsf {k}

whose characteristic is not very bad for

G
G

, and let

B
B

be a Borel subgroup of

G
G

with Lie algebra

b

\mathfrak {b}

. Given a

B
B

-stable abelian subalgebra

a

\mathfrak {a}

of the nilradical of

b

\mathfrak {b}

, we parametrize the

B
B

-orbits in

a

\mathfrak {a}

and we describe their closure relations.
AnnotatorJ: an ImageJ plugin to ease hand annotation of cellular compartments
Authors: Hollandi Réka , Diósdi Ákos , Hollandi Gábor , Moshkov Nikita , Horváth Péter
Published: July 2020

To find objects on images automatically, first we must teach the computer how to recognize them by showing examples. The most robust of such methods use deep learning, needing a large annotated dataset to be efficient. We propose an ImageJ plugin, AnnotatorJ, a fast and easy-to-use annotation tool aiding manual hand-labeling with deep learning.
The Borealin dimerization domain interacts with Sgo1 to drive Aurora B–mediated spindle assembly
Authors: Bonner Mary Kate , Haase Julian , Saunders Hayden , Gupta Hindol , Li Biyun Iris , Kelly Alexander E.
Published: July 2020

This study provides the molecular mechanism for the interaction of Sgo1 with the chromosomal passenger complex and explores the specific role of Sgo1 in regulating Aurora B functions that ensure the equal segregation of chromosomes.
Premature Mortality Due to Hodgkin Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, and Leukemia in Canada: A Nationwide Analysis From 1980 to 2015
Authors: Pham Truong-Minh , Shen-Tu Grace , Nguyen Khanh Hoa , Lu Shuang , Dover Douglas C , Duggan Peter , Shack Lorraine , Cheung Winson Y
Published: July 2020

Recently, we introduced a novel measure of “average life span shortened” (ALSS) to improve comparability of premature mortality over time. In this study, we applied this novel measure to examine trends in premature mortality caused by hematological cancers in Canada from 1980 to 2015. Mortality data for Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. Years of life lost was calculated according to Canadian life tables. ALSS was defined as the ratio between years of life lost and expected life span. Over the study period, age-standardized rates of mortality decreased for all types of hematological cancers. Our new ALSS measure showed favorable trends in premature mortality for all types of hematological cancers among both sexes. For instance, men with non-Hodgkin lymphoma lost an average of 23.7% of their life span in 1980 versus 16.1% in 2015, while women with non-Hodgkin lymphoma lost an average of 21.7% of their life span in 1980 versus 15.5% in 2015. Results from this study showed that patients with hematological cancers experienced prolonged survival over a 35-year period although the magnitude of these life span gains varied by types of hematological cancers.
Blood Pressure Variability and Dementia: A State-of-the-Art Review
Authors: Ma Yuan , Tully Phillip J , Hofman Albert , Tzourio Christophe
Published: July 2020

Accumulating evidence demonstrates that blood pressure variability (BPV) may contribute to target organ damage, causing coronary heart disease, stroke, and renal disease independent of the level of blood pressure (BP). Several lines of evidence have also linked increased BPV to a higher risk of cognitive decline and incident dementia. The estimated number of dementia cases worldwide is nearly 50 million, and this number continues to grow with increasing life expectancy. Because there is no effective treatment to modify the course of dementia, targeting modifiable vascular factors continues as a top priority for dementia prevention. A clear understanding of the role of BPV in dementia may shed light on the etiology, early prevention, and novel therapeutic targets of dementia, and has therefore gained substantial attention from researchers and clinicians. This review summarizes state-of-art evidence on the relationship between BPV and dementia, with a specific focus on the epidemiological evidence, the underlying mechanisms, and potential intervention strategies. We also discuss challenges and opportunities for future research to facilitate optimal BP management and the clinical translation of BPV for the risk assessment and prevention of dementia.
Interpretation of deep learning in genomics and epigenomics
Authors: Talukder Amlan , Barham Clayton , Li Xiaoman , Hu Haiyan
Published: July 2020

Machine learning methods have been widely applied to big data analysis in genomics and epigenomics research. Although accuracy and efficiency are common goals in many modeling tasks, model interpretability is especially important to these studies towards understanding the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms. Deep neural networks (DNNs) have recently gained popularity in various types of genomic and epigenomic studies due to their capabilities in utilizing large-scale high-throughput bioinformatics data and achieving high accuracy in predictions and classifications. However, DNNs are often challenged by their potential to explain the predictions due to their black-box nature. In this review, we present current development in the model interpretation of DNNs, focusing on their applications in genomics and epigenomics. We first describe state-of-the-art DNN interpretation methods in representative machine learning fields. We then summarize the DNN interpretation methods in recent studies on genomics and epigenomics, focusing on current data- and computing-intensive topics such as sequence motif identification, genetic variations, gene expression, chromatin interactions and non-coding RNAs. We also present the biological discoveries that resulted from these interpretation methods. We finally discuss the advantages and limitations of current interpretation approaches in the context of genomic and epigenomic studies. Contact:xiaoman@mail.ucf.edu, haihu@cs.ucf.edu
Deep-belief network for predicting potential miRNA-disease associations
Authors: Chen Xing , Li Tian-Hao , Zhao Yan , Wang Chun-Chun , Zhu Chi-Chi
Published: July 2020

MicroRNA (miRNA) plays an important role in the occurrence, development, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. More and more researchers begin to pay attention to the relationship between miRNA and disease. Compared with traditional biological experiments, computational method of integrating heterogeneous biological data to predict potential associations can effectively save time and cost. Considering the limitations of the previous computational models, we developed the model of deep-belief network for miRNA-disease association prediction (DBNMDA). We constructed feature vectors to pre-train restricted Boltzmann machines for all miRNA-disease pairs and applied positive samples and the same number of selected negative samples to fine-tune DBN to obtain the final predicted scores. Compared with the previous supervised models that only use pairs with known label for training, DBNMDA innovatively utilizes the information of all miRNA-disease pairs during the pre-training process. This step could reduce the impact of too few known associations on prediction accuracy to some extent. DBNMDA achieves the AUC of 0.9104 based on global leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV), the AUC of 0.8232 based on local LOOCV and the average AUC of 0.9048 ± 0.0026 based on 5-fold cross validation. These AUCs are better than other previous models. In addition, three different types of case studies for three diseases were implemented to demonstrate the accuracy of DBNMDA. As a result, 84% (breast neoplasms), 100% (lung neoplasms) and 88% (esophageal neoplasms) of the top 50 predicted miRNAs were verified by recent literature. Therefore, we could conclude that DBNMDA is an effective method to predict potential miRNA-disease associations.
Large-scale entity representation learning for biomedical relationship extraction
Authors: Sänger Mario , Leser Ulf
Published: July 2020

Motivation

The automatic extraction of published relationships between molecular entities has important applications in many biomedical fields, ranging from Systems Biology to Personalized Medicine. Existing works focused on extracting relationships described in single articles or in single sentences. However, a single record is rarely sufficient to judge upon the biological correctness of a relation, as experimental evidence might be weak or only valid in a certain context. Furthermore, statements may be more speculative than confirmative, and different articles often contradict each other. Experts therefore always take the complete literature into account to take a reliable decision upon a relationship. It is an open research question how to do this effectively in an automatic manner.

Results

We propose two novel relation extraction approaches which use recent representation learning techniques to create comprehensive models of biomedical entities or entity-pairs, respectively. These representations are learned by considering all publications from PubMed mentioning an entity or a pair. They are used as input for a neural network for classifying relations globally, i.e. the derived predictions are corpus-based, not sentence- or article based as in prior art. Experiments on the extraction of mutation–disease, drug–disease and drug–drug relationships show that the learned embeddings indeed capture semantic information of the entities under study and outperform traditional methods by 4–29% regarding F1 score.

Availability and implementation

Source codes are available at: https://github.com/mariosaenger/bio-re-with-entity-embeddings.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
HATK: HLA analysis toolkit
Authors: Choi Wanson , Luo Yang , Raychaudhuri Soumya , Han Buhm
Published: July 2020

Fine-mapping human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes involved in disease susceptibility to individual alleles or amino acid residues has been challenging. Using information regarding HLA alleles obtained from HLA typing, HLA imputation or HLA inference, our software expands the alleles to amino acid sequences using the most recent IMGT/HLA database and prepares a dataset suitable for fine-mapping analysis. Our software also provides useful functionalities, such as various association tests, visualization tools and nomenclature conversion.

Availability and implementation

https://github.com/WansonChoi/HATK.
The microRNA-200 cluster on chromosome 23 is required for oocyte maturation and ovulation in zebrafish†
Authors: Xiong Shuting , Tian Jinsong , Ge Si , Li Zhi , Long Zhe , Guo Wenjie , Huang Peipei , He Yan , Xiao Tiaoyi , Gui Jian-Fang , Mei Jie
Published: July 2020

The reproductive process is usually controlled by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad axis in vertebrates, while Kiss/gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) system in the hypothalamus is required for mammalian reproduction but dispensable for fish reproduction. The regulation of follicle stimulating hormone/luteinizing hormone (LH) expression in fish species is still unknown. Here, we identified miR-200s on chromosome 23 (chr23-miR-200s) as important regulators for female zebrafish reproduction. Knockout of chr23-miR-200s (chr23-miR-200s-KO) resulted in dysregulated expression of luteinizing hormone beta lhb (luteinizing hormone beta) and some hormone genes in the pituitary as revealed by comparative transcriptome profiling, leading to failure of oocyte maturation and ovulation as well as defects in reproductive duct development. Chr23-miR-200s mainly expressed in the pituitary and regulated lhb expression by targeting the transcription repressor wt1a. Injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) could rescue the defects of oocyte maturation in chr23-miR-200s-KO zebrafish, whereas GnRH or LHRH-A2 could not, suggesting that Chr23-miR-200s regulated lhb expression in a GnRH-independent pathway. It was remarkable that either injection of carp pituitary extraction, or co-injection of hCG with synthetic oxytocin and vasotocin could greatly rescue the defects of both oocyte maturation and ovulation in chr23-miR-200s-KO zebrafish. Altogether, our findings highlight an important function of chr23-miR-200s in controlling oocyte maturation by regulation LH expression, and oxytocin and vasotocin are potentially responsible for the ovulation in fish species.
Statistical properties of sketching algorithms
Authors: Ahfock D C , Astle W J , Richardson S
Published: July 2020

Sketching is a probabilistic data compression technique that has been largely developed by the computer science community. Numerical operations on big datasets can be intolerably slow; sketching algorithms address this issue by generating a smaller surrogate dataset. Typically, inference proceeds on the compressed dataset. Sketching algorithms generally use random projections to compress the original dataset, and this stochastic generation process makes them amenable to statistical analysis. We argue that the sketched data can be modelled as a random sample, thus placing this family of data compression methods firmly within an inferential framework. In particular, we focus on the Gaussian, Hadamard and Clarkson–Woodruff sketches and their use in single-pass sketching algorithms for linear regression with huge samples. We explore the statistical properties of sketched regression algorithms and derive new distributional results for a large class of sketching estimators. A key result is a conditional central limit theorem for data-oblivious sketches. An important finding is that the best choice of sketching algorithm in terms of mean squared error is related to the signal-to-noise ratio in the source dataset. Finally, we demonstrate the theory and the limits of its applicability on two datasets.
Adaptive treatment strategies for chronic conditions: shared-parameter G-estimation with an application to rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Wang Shouao , Moodie Erica Em , Stephens David A , Nijjar Jagtar S
Published: July 2020

Most estimation algorithms for adaptive treatment strategies assume that treatment rules at each decision point are independent from one another in the sense that they do not possess any common parameters. This is often unrealistic, as the same decisions may be made repeatedly over time. Sharing treatment-decision parameters across decision points offers several advantages, including estimation of fewer parameters and the clinical ease of a single, time-invariant decision to implement. We propose a new computational approach to estimation of shared-parameter G-estimation, which is efficient and shares the double robustness of the “unshared” sequential G-estimation. We use this approach to analyze data from the Scottish Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (SERA) Inception Cohort.
Working memory training increases neural efficiency in Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Giehl Kathrin , Ophey Anja , Hammes Jochen , Rehberg Sarah , Lichtenstein Thorsten , Reker Paul , Eggers Carsten , Kalbe Elke , van Eimeren Thilo
Published: July 2020

Impairment of working memory and executive functions is already frequently observed in early stages of Parkinson’s disease. Improvements in working memory performance in this cohort could potentially be achieved via working memory training. However, the specific neural mechanisms underlying different working memory processes such as maintenance as opposed to manipulation are largely under-investigated in Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, the plasticity of these correlates as a function of working memory training is currently unknown in this population. Thus, the working memory subprocesses of maintenance and manipulation were assessed in 41 cognitively healthy patients with Parkinson’s disease using a newly developed working memory paradigm and functional MRI. Nineteen patients were randomized to a 5-week home-based digital working memory training intervention while the remaining patients entered a control, wait list condition. Working memory task-related activation patterns and context-dependent functional connectivity, as well as the change of these neural correlates as a function of training, were assessed. While both working memory processes activated an extended frontoparietal–cerebellar network, only the manipulation of items within working memory also recruited the anterior striatum. The intervention effect on the neural correlates was small, but decreased activation in areas relevant for working memory could be observed, with activation changes correlating with behavioural change. Moreover, training seemed to result in decreased functional connectivity when pure maintenance was required, and in a reorganization of functional connectivity when items had to be manipulated. In accordance with the neural efficacy hypothesis, training resulted in overall reduced activation and reorganized functional connectivity, with a differential effect on the different working memory processes under investigation. Now, larger trials including follow-up examinations are needed to further explore the long-term effects of such interventions on a neural level and to estimate the clinical relevance to potentially delay cognitive decline in cognitively healthy patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Platelet-rich plasma accelerates skin wound healing by promoting re-epithelialization
Authors: Xu Pengcheng , Wu Yaguang , Zhou Lina , Yang Zengjun , Zhang Xiaorong , Hu Xiaohong , Yang Jiacai , Wang Mingying , Wang Binjie , Luo Gaoxing , He Weifeng , Cheng Biao
Published: July 2020

Background

Autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been suggested to be effective for wound healing. However, evidence for its use in patients with acute and chronic wounds remains insufficient. The aims of this study were to comprehensively examine the effectiveness, synergy and possible mechanism of PRP-mediated improvement of acute skin wound repair.

Methods

Full-thickness wounds were made on the back of C57/BL6 mice. PRP or saline solution as a control was administered to the wound area. Wound healing rate, local inflammation, angiogenesis, re-epithelialization and collagen deposition were measured at days 3, 5, 7 and 14 after skin injury. The biological character of epidermal stem cells (ESCs), which reflect the potential for re-epithelialization, was further evaluated in vitro and in vivo.

Results

PRP strongly improved skin wound healing, which was associated with regulation of local inflammation, enhancement of angiogenesis and re-epithelialization. PRP treatment significantly reduced the production of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-17A and interleukin-1β. An increase in the local vessel intensity and enhancement of re-epithelialization were also observed in animals with PRP administration and were associated with enhanced secretion of growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1. Moreover, PRP treatment ameliorated the survival and activated the migration and proliferation of primary cultured ESCs, and these effects were accompanied by the differentiation of ESCs into adult cells following the changes of CD49f and keratin 10 and keratin 14.

Conclusion

PRP improved skin wound healing by modulating inflammation and increasing angiogenesis and re-epithelialization. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism needs to be investigated in the future. Our data provide a preliminary theoretical foundation for the clinical administration of PRP in wound healing and skin regeneration.
Breast Cancer Diagnosis Using Multi-Stage Weight Adjustment In The MLP Neural Network
Authors: Rezaeipanah Amin , Ahmadi Gholamreza
Published: July 2020

Breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer, which is the cause of death among the women worldwide. There is evidence that shows that the early detection and treatment can increase the survival rate of patients who suffered this disease. Therefore, this paper proposes an automatic breast cancer diagnosis technique using a genetic algorithm for simultaneous feature selection and parameter optimization of an Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network. The aim of this paper is to propose a hybrid classification algorithm based on Multi-stage Weights Adjustment in the MLP (MWAMLP) neural network in two parts to improve the breast cancer diagnosis. In the first part, the three classifiers are trained simultaneously on the learning dataset. The output of the first part classifier together with the learning dataset is placed in a new dataset. This dataset uses a hybrid classifier method to model the mapping between the outputs of each ordinary classifier of the first part with real output labels. The proposed algorithm is implemented with three different variations of the backpropagation (BP) technique, namely the Levenberg–Marquardt, resilient BP and gradient descent with momentum for fine tuning of the weight of MLP neural network and their performances are compared. Interestingly, one of the proposed algorithms titled MWAMLP-RP produces the best and on average, 99.35% and 98.74% correct classification, respectively, on the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Database dataset, which is comparable with the obtained results from the methods titled GP-DLNN, GAANN and CAFS and other works found in the literature.
Covariance and correlation measures on a graph in a generalized bag-of-paths formalism
Authors: Guex Guillaume , Courtain Sylvain , Saerens Marco
Published: July 2020

This work derives closed-form expressions computing the expectation of co-presence and of number of co-occurrences of nodes on paths sampled from a network according to general path weights (a bag of paths). The underlying idea is that two nodes are considered as similar when they often appear together on (preferably short) paths of the network. The different expressions are obtained for both regular and hitting paths and serve as a basis for computing new covariance and correlation measures between nodes, which are valid positive semi-definite kernels on a graph. Experiments on semi-supervised classification problems show that the introduced similarity measures provide competitive results compared to other state-of-the-art distance and similarity measures between nodes.
Habitat complexity influences selection of thermal environment in a common coral reef fish
Authors: Nay Tiffany J , Johansen Jacob L , Rummer Jodie L , Steffensen John F , Pratchett Morgan S , Hoey Andrew S
Published: July 2020

Coral reef species, like most tropical species, are sensitive to increasing environmental temperatures, with many species already living close to their thermal maxima. Ocean warming and the increasing frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves are challenging the persistence of reef-associated species through both direct physiological effects of elevated water temperatures and the degradation and loss of habitat structure following disturbance. Understanding the relative importance of habitat degradation and ocean warming in shaping species distributions is critical in predicting the likely biological effects of global warming. Using an automated shuttle box system, we investigated how habitat complexity influences the selection of thermal environments for a common coral reef damselfish, Chromis atripectoralis. In the absence of any habitat (i.e. control), C. atripectoralis avoided temperatures below 22.9 ± 0.8°C and above 31.9 ± 0.6°C, with a preferred temperature (Tpref) of 28.1 ± 0.9°C. When complex habitat was available, individual C. atripectoralis occupied temperatures down to 4.3°C lower (mean ± SE; threshold: 18.6 ± 0.7°C; Tpref: 18.9 ± 1.0°C) than control fish. Conversely, C. atripectoralis in complex habitats occupied similar upper temperatures as control fish (threshold: 31.7 ± 0.4°C; preference: 28.3 ± 0.7°C). Our results show that the availability of complex habitat can influence the selection of thermal environment by a coral reef fish, but only at temperatures below their thermal preference. The limited scope of C. atripectoralis to occupy warmer environments, even when associated with complex habitat, suggests that habitat restoration efforts in areas that continue to warm may not be effective in retaining populations of C. atripectoralis and similar species. This species may have to move to cooler (e.g. deeper or higher latitude) habitats under predicted future warming. The integration of habitat quality and thermal environment into conservation efforts will be essential to conserve of coral reef fish populations under future ocean warming scenarios.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: insights into diagnosis and pathophysiology
Authors: Nagueh Sherif F
Published: July 2020

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) accounts for at least half the cases of heart failure, currently diagnosed. There are several cardiac and non-cardiac manifestations of the syndrome. Structure and function abnormalities can include all four cardiac chambers. The left ventricle has abnormal systolic and diastolic functions which can be examined by invasive and non-invasive measurements. In addition, the left atrium enlarges with abnormal left atrial function, pulmonary hypertension occurs, and the right ventricle can develop hypertrophy, enlargement, and systolic dysfunction. There are a paucity of data on calcium handling in HFpEF patients. Growing literature supports the presence of abnormalities in titin and its phosphorylation, and increased interstitial fibrosis contributing to increased chamber stiffness. A systemic inflammatory state causing reduced myocardial cyclic guanosine monophosphate along with defects in the unfolded protein response have been recently reported. Diagnosis relies on signs and symptoms of heart failure, preserved ejection fraction, and detection of diastolic function abnormalities based on echocardiographic findings and abnormally elevated natriuretic peptide levels or invasive measurements of wedge pressure at rest or with exercise. There are currently two diagnostic algorithms: H2FPEF, and HFA-PEFF with limited data comparing their performance head to head in the same patient population. Despite the growing understanding of the syndrome’s pathophysiology, there have been little success in developing specific treatment for patients with HFpEF.
Sex differences in the association between myocardial function and prognosis in type 1 diabetes without known heart disease: the Thousand & 1 Study
Authors: Lassen Mats Christian Højbjerg , Biering-Sørensen Tor , Jørgensen Peter Godsk , Andersen Henrik Ullits , Rossing Peter , Jensen Magnus T.
Published: July 2020

Aims

In type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), recent findings suggest that women have a greater excess risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) compared to men. Impaired diastolic function is a common feature in T1DM. We investigated the association between myocardial function by echocardiography and outcomes in T1DM males and females without known heart disease.

Methods and results

A prospective cohort of individuals with T1DM without known heart disease from the outpatient clinic of Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen. Follow-up was performed through Danish national registers. Outcomes, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality, were investigated. A total of 1079 participants (mean age: 49.6 ± 14.5 years, 52.6% male, mean duration of diabetes 25.8 ± 14.6 years) were included in the study. During follow-up (median 6.3 years, interquartile range 5.7–6.9), 142 (13.2%) experienced MACE and 63 (5.8%) died. Gender modified the relationship between E/e′ and both MACE and all-cause mortality (P = 0.016 and 0.007, respectively). In females, after multivariable adjustment, both E/e′ and global longitudinal strain (GLS) were significantly associated with MACE [E/e′: hazard ratio (HR) 1.15 confidence interval (CI) 95%: 1.07–1.24, per 1unit increase; and GLS: HR 1.19 CI 95%: 1.04–1.35, per 1% decrease] and with all-cause mortality (E/e′: HR 1.26 CI 95%: 1.11–1.44; and GLS: HR 1.27 CI 95%: 1.03–1.56). In males, the association between E/e′ and GLS and outcomes did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion

In female individuals with T1DM both E/e′ and GLS provided independent prognostic information, whereas the associations were not significant in males. These results suggest that T1DM affects myocardial function differently in males and females, which may be related to the observed sex difference in CVD risk in T1DM.
Value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in the evaluation of pulmonary artery activity in patients with Takayasu’s arteritis
Authors: Gao Wei , Gong Juan-Ni , Guo Xiao-Juan , Wu Jiao-Yan , Xi Xiao-Ying , Ma Zhan-Hong , Yang Yuan-Hua , Yang Min-Fu
Published: July 2020

Aims

To explore the value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the detection of active pulmonary artery (PA) lesions in patients with Takayasu’s arteritis (TA).

Methods and results

Consecutive TA patients with PA involvement were prospectively recruited. Clinical activity was assessed according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria. CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) or magnetic resonance pulmonary angiography was performed for evaluation of vascular structural characteristics, and mural thickening was considered as radiologically active. A vascular segment with 18F-FDG uptake ≥ liver was considered as PET-active. A total of 38 18F-FDG PET/CT scans were performed in 29 patients. In terms of disease activity, the sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET/CT did not significantly differ from radiological imaging (71.4% vs. 92.9%, P = 0.250), but 18F-FDG PET/CT had higher specificity (91.7% vs. 37.5%, P = 0.001) and accuracy (84.2% vs. 57.9%, P = 0.022). Although the majority of PET-active PA segments (54.9%) showed mural thickening, 14 PA segments with normal structure were also PET-active. 18F-FDG activity did not significantly differ between the PA and aorta in clinically active patients. In addition, 18F-FDG activity of the PA was positively correlated with inflammatory markers. Changes in 18F-FDG activity in PA during follow-up reflected therapeutic effects.

Conclusion

18F-FDG PET/CT can effectively evaluate PA activity in TA patients, and its diagnostic performance is superior to radiological imaging. The 18F-FDG activity of PA shows a good correlation with clinical disease status and inflammatory markers and can be used to monitor therapeutic effects.
First experience in quadripolar active fixation coronary sinus lead extraction: a case report
Authors: Guella Elhosseyn , Brack Michael , Abozguia Khalid , Cassidy Christopher John
Published: July 2020

Background

The Attain Stability Quadripolar 4798 lead is a relatively new quadripolar active fixation coronary sinus (CS) lead. No cases of extraction of a chronically implanted 4798 lead have been published to date.

Case summary

A 52-year-old man with a history of previous cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker (CRT-P) insertion and atrioventricular node ablation presented to our institution with a pocket infection 69 weeks after implantation. Directed intravenous antibiotic therapy was commenced and an extraction was performed the following day. Extraction of the right atrial and right ventricular leads was simple and achieved with gentle manual traction. Extraction of the CS lead was more difficult. Significant traction was required due to the formation of adhesions inside the CS but extraction of the lead was eventually successful without complication. Specialized extraction equipment was not required. A new contralateral CRT-P device was implanted, and the patient was discharged home. He remains well at 3 months of follow-up.

Discussion

We present the first case of extraction of a chronically implanted active fixation Attain Stability Quadripolar lead. Our experience demonstrates that this has been performed successfully without specialist tools and with preservation of the CS branch. Significant adhesion was noted at the site of active fixation, however. Potential difficulty with this lead’s extraction should therefore be considered when contemplating its use.
Salvage pulmonary metastasectomy with auto-transplantation after nivolumab
Authors: Murakami Kotaro , Hamaji Masatsugu , Yoshizawa Akihiko , Date Hiroshi
Published: July 2020

A 64-year-old woman presented for potential salvage surgery with a residual and growing pulmonary metastasis from clear-cell renal cell carcinoma, originating in the left upper lobe, after immunotherapy with nivolumab. Preoperative computed tomography with contrast demonstrated that the lesion extended into the pulmonary artery branch of the anterior segment of the left lower lobe. Ex vivo dissection was performed, followed by auto-transplantation of the left lower lobe. Herein, we discuss the radiological, intraoperative and pathological findings.
Physiotherapy in addition to vacuum bell therapy in patients with pectus excavatum
Authors: Alaca Nuray , Alaca Ihsan , Yüksel Mustafa
Published: July 2020

OBJECTIVES

Vacuum bell and exercise therapy are non-invasive treatments for pectus excavatum (PE). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the physiotherapy programme applied in addition to vacuum bell treatment in patients with PE.

METHODS

The study included 26 male patients with PE aged 11–18 years. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: group 1 received only vacuum bell treatment; group 2 had vacuum bell therapy and physiotherapy. Patient demographic and disease-related characteristics, type of sternal depression, perception of their deformity, postural evaluations, treatment satisfaction and quality of life were evaluated before and 12 weeks after treatment.

RESULTS

From external chest circumference measurements related to PE, sternal depression and anthropometric index values showed improvement in both groups (P < 0.05), but better results were observed in group 2 than in group 1 (P < 0.05). Modified percent depth and scores from the T3 region (distance between the most prominent point of the sternum and the spinous process of the vertebra at the same level) showed improvement only in group 2 (P < 0.01), whereas severity of PE, the patient’s perception of his deformity and parental physiological quality-of-life scores improved in both groups (P < 0.05). Posture, satisfaction with treatment and the patients’ physiological quality-of-life scores were significantly better in group 2 (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Due to the additional improvements and greater satisfaction in the group receiving physiotherapy, we think that a proper rehabilitation programme should be applied simultaneously with the vacuum bell treatment in patients with PE.

Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov

NCT04167865.
Vancomycin prophylaxis in paediatric patients following cardiac surgery: a retrospective evaluation of trough levels and associated variables
Authors: Vallesi Leonardo , Fragasso Tiziana , Benegni Simona , Insom Giulia , Di Chiara Luca , Corsetti Tiziana , Ricci Zaccaria
Published: July 2020

OBJECTIVES

Therapeutic drug monitoring during vancomycin administration is recommended. However, little information is available in case of paediatric vancomycin prophylaxis. The aim of this study was to analyse vancomycin trough levels on postoperative day (POD) 2 and 3 after paediatric cardio-surgery to assess the clinical predictors and outcomes associated with vancomycin concentrations and to evaluate whether adjustments are effective to target optimal levels.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted in paediatric patients receiving vancomycin prophylaxis after elective cardio-surgery. Adjustments were made if levels between 20 and 30 (halving subsequent dose) or ˃30 mg/l (dose withheld) were found.

RESULTS

Vancomycin doses of the 100 examined children (3.7–6.4 years) were 12.8 (2.5), 9.4 (5.4) and 9.7 (4.5) mg/kg, on POD1, 2 and 3, respectively (P = 0.0001). The 200 vancomycin trough levels decreased from 16.9 (11.4) on POD2 to 14.6 (8.5) on POD3 (P = 0.003). Overall, 66 troughs were sub-target, 68 reached the optimal target and 66 were supra-target. On POD2 and 3, 32 and 27 dose adjustments were required, leading to a reduced number of patients with supra-target troughs. Neonates showed a higher number of supra-target levels with respect to non-neonatal patients on both POD2 (P = 0.003) and 3 (P = 0.0001). At multivariable regression analysis, vancomycin levels showed independent association with weight and creatinine levels on both POD2 and 3. Vancomycin levels correlated with ventilation days (P = 0.31, P = 0.039), but not with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus positivity (P = 0.69).

CONCLUSIONS

Vancomycin prophylaxis in paediatric cardio-surgery requires strict therapeutic drug monitoring and several dosage adjustments. Supra-target troughs are frequent and neonatal age, weight and creatinine levels significantly affect vancomycin concentrations.
Association Between Vaginal Bacterial Microbiota and Vaginal Yeast Colonization
Authors: Eastment McKenna C , Balkus Jennifer E , Richardson Barbra A , Srinivasan Sujatha , Kimani Joshua , Anzala Omu , Schwebke Jane , Fiedler Tina L , Fredricks David N , McClelland R Scott
Published: July 2020

Background

Vaginal yeast is frequently found with Lactobacillus-dominant microbiota. The relationship between vaginal yeast and other bacteria has not been well characterized.

Methods

These analyses utilized data from the Preventing Vaginal Infections trial. Relative abundance of vaginal bacteria from 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene amplicon sequencing and quantities of 10 vaginal bacteria using taxon-directed polymerase chain reaction assays were compared at visits with and without detection of yeast on microscopy, culture, or both.

Results

Higher relative abundances of Megasphaera species type 1 (risk ratio [RR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52–0.95), Megasphaera species type 2 (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67–0.98), and Mageeibacillus indolicus (RR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.25–0.83) were associated with lower risk of detecting yeast. In contrast, higher relative abundances of Bifidobacterium bifidum, Aerococcus christensenii, Lactobacillus mucosae, Streptococcus equinus/infantarius/lutentiensis, Prevotella bivia, Dialister propionicifaciens, and Lactobacillus crispatus/helveticus were associated with yeast detection. Taxon-directed assays confirmed that increasing quantities of both Megasphaera species and M indolicus were associated with lower risk of detecting yeast, whereas increasing quantities of L crispatus were associated with higher risk of detecting yeast.

Conclusions

Despite an analysis that examined associations between multiple vaginal bacteria and the presence of yeast, only a small number of vaginal bacteria were strongly and significantly associated with the presence or absence of yeast.