bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association between urinary symptom severity and white matter plaque distribution in women with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Smith Ariana L. , Weissbart Steven J. , Hartigan Siobhán M. , Bilello Michel , Newman Diane K. , Wein Alan J. , Malykhina Anna P. , Erus Guray , Fan Yong 
Published: November 2019

AbstractAimsMultiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by demyelinated white matter plaque throughout the central nervous system. Plaque involvement in regions that regulate micturition may be associated with urinary symptom severity in patients with MS. The aim of this prospective study is to investigate the relationship between cerebral plaque volume (PV), location, and urinary symptoms in women with MS.MethodsWe conducted a case‐control pilot study of women with MS undergoing routine yearly brain MRI. Women were administered the American Urologic Association‐Symptom Index (AUA‐SI) and divided into two groups: severe urinary symptoms (AUA‐SI ≥20) and mild symptoms (AUA‐SI ≤7). PV and location in the brain were determined using a validated automated white matter lesion segmentation algorithm.ResultsThis study of 36 women found that the median total PV did not differ between groups. Women with severe urinary symptoms had larger median PV in the left frontal lobe (LFL) and right limbic lobe (RLL) compared with women with mild urinary symptoms. Within the RLL, women with severe symptoms had a larger median PV in the right cingulate gyrus (RCG). There was a moderate correlation between LFL lesion volume and RLL lesion volume with the AUA emptying subscore; however, these regions did not correlate with the storage subscore.ConclusionsThis preliminary study found urinary symptom severity in women with MS is associated with PV in the RCG and LFL, and not total cerebral PV. These findings may explain why disease burden alone is not a predictor of severity or type of voiding dysfunction in patients with MS.
Botulinum toxin A for refractory OAB and idiopathic urinary retention: Can phenotyping improve outcome for patients: ICI‐RS 2019?
Authors: Malde Sachin , Apostolidis Apostolos , Selai Caroline , Rahnama'i Mohammad Sajjad , Marcelissen Tom , Cardozo Linda , Lovick Thelma 
Published: November 2019

AbstractAimsBotulinum toxin A (BTX‐A) is a well‐established treatment for refractory idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB). It has also been used with short‐term success in treating idiopathic urinary retention. However, efficacy and complication rates are variable and predicting those likely to benefit most from treatment would enable personalization of therapy and optimization of outcomes. At the International Consultation on Incontinence‐Research Society (ICI‐RS) meeting in 2019 a Think Tank addressed the question of how we can improve the way we phenotype patients undergoing BTX‐A treatment.MethodsThe Think Tank conducted a literature review and expert consensus meeting focussing on how advances in basic science research of the mechanism of action of BTX‐A, as well as assessment of psychological comorbidity, can be translated into clinical practice to improve patient selection for therapy.ResultsIdiopathic OAB and idiopathic urinary retention are heterogenous conditions encompassing several phenotypes with multiple potential pathophysiological mechanisms. Animal models have demonstrated a central nervous system mechanism of action of intravesically injected BTX‐A and this has been confirmed in human functional MRI studies, but whether this tool can be used to predict outcome from treatment remains to be determined. Phenotyping based on psychological comorbidity using validated screening tools should be studied as a way to potentially optimize patient selection for therapy.ConclusionsAdvances in basic science research into the mechanism of action of BTX‐A have improved our understanding of the pathophysiology of OAB and may lead to novel ways to phenotype patients. Psychological assessment is another way in which phenotyping may be improved. Areas for further research are proposed.
In the hands of nurses: A focus group study of how nurses perceive and promote inpatients' needs for physical activity
Authors: Ohlsson‐Nevo Emma , Andersson Gunnel , Nilsing Strid Emma 
Published: November 2019

AbstractAimsTo describe how nurses perceive and promote inpatients' needs for physical activity during their stay at the ward.DesignA qualitative descriptive design was employed providing an exploration of how nurses perceive and promote inpatients' need for physical activity.MethodsSeven semi‐structured focus group discussions were held between November 2016 and February 2017 with 29 nurses in three hospitals in Sweden. Both interaction analysis and content analysis of the data were conducted.ResultsPatients are dependent on nurses' prioritizations and promotions to be sufficiently physically active during their stay at the ward. The external environment and the integration of physical activity affected the promotion of physical activity. The nurses perceived that understanding the patient's expectations was important and that promotion of physical activity was a joint responsibility of patient, relatives and healthcare professionals. The interaction analysis revealed no clear hierarchical pattern as all members in each focus group took initiative to open the discussions. The Registered Nurses contributed with more new ideas.
Numerical analysis of the coupling of free fluid with a poroelastic material
Authors: Cesmelioglu Aycil , Chidyagwai Prince 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThis paper presents a numerical solution of the coupled system of the time‐dependent Stokes and fully dynamic Biot equations. The numerical scheme is based on standard inf‐sup stable finite elements in space and the Backward Euler scheme in time. We establish stability of the scheme and derive error estimates for the fully discrete coupled scheme. To handle realistic parameters which may cause nonphysical oscillations in the pore fluid pressure, a heuristic stabilization technique is considered. Numerical errors and convergence rates for smooth problems as well as tests on realistic material parameters are presented.
A secondary analysis to inform a clinical decision rule for predicting skull fracture and intracranial injury in children under age 2
Authors: Stone Elizabeth L. , Davis Leslie L. , McCoy Thomas P. , Travers Debbie , Van Horn Elizabeth , Krowchuk Heidi V. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with the risk of closed head injury (CHI) in children under age 2 years with suspected minor head injuries based on age‐appropriate, or near age‐appropriate, mental status on an exam. The study was a secondary data analysis of a public‐use dataset from the largest prospective, multicenter pediatric head injury study found in the current literature. An existing, validated clinical decision rule was examined using a sample of 3,329 children under age 2 to determine whether it, or the individual variables within it, could be utilized alone, or in conjunction with other variables to accurately predict the risk of underlying CHI in this sample. Results indicated that the keys to an accurate triage assessment for children under age 2 with suspected minor head injuries include the ability to identify the specific skull region injured, the ability to assess for the presence and size of any scalp hematoma, the ability to identify signs of altered mental status in this age group, and having access to accurate information regarding the child's age and the details of the injury mechanism. The findings from this study add to the body of knowledge regarding what factors are associated with CHI in children under age 2 with suspected minor head injuries and could be used to inform age‐specific recommendations for children under age 2 in triage, educational resources, and national trauma criteria.
Methods and Risks of Bias in Natural Experiments in Obesity: Opportunities for the Future Informed by a Systematic Review
Authors: Knapp Emily A. , Bennett Wendy L. , Wilson Renee F. , Zhang Allen , Tseng Eva , Cheskin Lawrence J. , Bass Eric B. , Kharrazi Hadi , Stuart Elizabeth A. 
Published: November 2019

ObjectiveThis paper promotes rigorous methods and designs currently underutilized in obesity research, informed by a recent systematic review of the methods and risks of bias in studies of policies, programs, and built environment changes for obesity prevention and control.MethodsTo determine the current state of the field, relevant databases from 2000 to 2017 were searched to identify studies that fit the inclusion criteria. Study design, analytic approach, and other details of study methods were abstracted. These findings inform recommendations for obesity researchers and the field as a whole.ResultsPreviously identified were 156 natural experiment studies. Most were cross‐sectional (35%), pre‐post single group comparison (31%), or difference‐in‐differences designs (29%). Few used rigorous causal designs such as interrupted time series with more than two time points, propensity score methods, or instrumental variables. The potential relevance for obesity research is discussed, and recommendations for obesity researchers are provided.ConclusionsTo strengthen natural experiment study designs and enhance the validity of results, researchers should carefully consider and control for confounding and selection of comparison groups and consider study designs that address these biases.
Experimental characterization of the performance of different photovoltaic technologies on water bodies
Authors: Kumar Manish , Kumar Arun 
Published: November 2019

AbstractLong term performance analysis of different PV technologies under the climatic condition of water bodies helps in the selection of appropriate PV technology for the large scale deployment on water bodies. The objective of the present research is to evaluate the suitability of different PV technologies on water bodies using performance and degradation analysis. Therefore, an experimental setup was designed to analyze the performance and degradation of HIT, Poly‐Si and CdTe PV technologies on the water surface and to compare their performance and degradation with the respective PV technologies deployed on the land surface. The data from experimental setup was measured for over one year duration. Furthermore, the evaporation reduction in PV panels covered water bodies has been experimentally measured. The performance of HIT and Poly‐Si PV panels on the water surface are found to be 0.4% and 2.7% lower than the corresponding land based panels, respectively; whereas the performance of CdTe panel on the water surface is found to be 3.1% higher than corresponding land based panel. The Poly‐Si panel has a degradation of 1.32% on the water surface which is significantly higher than the degradation rate of 0.93% of the corresponding land‐based panel whereas the HIT panels have almost similar degradation of approximately 0.50% in both climatic conditions. Thus, the study concludes that the HIT and CdTe technologies are suitable for water bodies applications. The experimental results show that the PV panel cover on the water bodies has reduced the evaporation loss by about 29% in one year.
Profiling Differentially Abundant Proteins by Overexpression of Three Putative Methyltransferases in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines
Authors: Park Hye‐Jee , Lee Jongchan , Kim Minyoung , Han Sang‐Wook 
Published: November 2019

AbstractMethyltransferases (MTases) are enzymes that modify specific substrates by adding a methyl group using S‐adenosyl‐l‐methionine. Functions of MTases have been extensively studied in eukaryotic organisms and animal pathogenic bacteria. Despite their importance, mechanisms underlying MTase function in plant pathogenic bacteria have not been studied in depth, as is the case of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines (Xag) that causes bacterial pustule disease in soybean crops worldwide. Here, the association between Xag proteome alterations and three MTase‐overexpressing strains, Xag(XgMT1), Xag(XgMT2), and Xag(XgMT3), compared to Xag carrying an empty vector, Xag(EV) is reported. Using label‐free shotgun comparative proteomic analysis, proteins are identified in all three biological replicates of the four strains and ranged from 1004 to 1082. In comparative analyses, 124, 135, and 134 proteins are differentially changed (over twofold) by overexpression of XgMT1, XgMT2, and XgMT3, respectively. These proteins are also categorized using cluster of orthologous group (COG) analyses, allowing postulation of biological mechanisms associated with three MTases in Xag. COGs reveal that the three MTases may play distinct roles, although some functions may overlap. These results are expected to allow new insight into understanding and predicting the biological functions of MTases in plant pathogenic bacteria. Data are available via ProteomeXchange (Identifier PXD012590).
Radial distribution of C4H8–H2–TMS plasma during plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition of Si‐doped glow discharge polymers
Authors: Ai Xing , He Xiao‐Shan , Chen Guo , Zhang Ling , Huang Jing‐Lin , Du Kai , He Zhi‐Bing 
Published: November 2019

AbstractA silicon‐doped glow discharge polymer (Si‐GDP) was prepared by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique of mixtures of trans‐2‐butene (C4H8), hydrogen (H2), and tetramethylsilane (TMS). The plasma parameters were characterized by mass spectrometry. The film properties of Si‐GDP were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. At a TMS flow of 0.15 cm3/min, the radial distribution of the relative intensities of CH fragment ions was uniform, which indicates balanced dissociation and polymerization. As the radial distance increases, the ion energy decreases, and the ratio of sp3/sp2 carbon and the atomic ratio of Si increases. The purpose of this work was to explore correlations between C4H8/H2/TMS plasma parameters and Si‐GDP film properties.
Nonlinear Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy for Predicting Sensitivity to Initiation in Granular High Explosives
Authors: Schulze Peter , Pittman Emily , Sjue Sky , Moore David S. , Feagin Trevor , Donahue Carly 
Published: November 2019

AbstractNonlinear Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (NRUS) is a technique that can measure bulk nonlinear coefficients of the nonlinear elastic modulus for a material. NRUS has been used to identify damage in a variety of granular materials including rocks and concrete. Some energetic materials, such as Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN), are commonly fielded as pressed granular compacts. It is well known that the sensitivity to initiation of these materials is heavily dependent on their microstructure, and that microstructure changes naturally (becomes damaged) over time. In this study, we examine the use of NRUS to identify changes in microstructure between pristine and thermally aged PETN pellets. In particular, we examine the relationship between the bulk hysteretic nonlinearity, α, of the pellets and time spent at temperature, powder specific surface area (SSA), and sensitivity to initiation. We find that, in general, α does not increase uniformly for all pellets within a single thermal aging condition. However, when the pellets are test fired to determine sensitivity to initiation, there is a strong correlation between α and firing voltage threshold. NRUS‐measured α has the added benefit that the measurements can be made in situ and on benchtop scales.
Line Bundle Cohomologies on CICYs with Picard Number Two
Authors: Larfors M. , Schneider R. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractWe analyse line bundle cohomologies on all favourable co‐dimension two Complete Intersection Calabi Yau (CICY) manifolds of Picard number two. Our results provide further evidence that the cohomology dimensions of such line bundles are given by analytic expressions, which change between regions in the line bundle charge space. This agrees with recent observations of CY line bundles presented in Refs. [1, 2]. In many cases, the expressions for bundle cohomology dimensions are polynomial functions of the line bundle charges (of degree at most 3), and the regions are cones. A more novel observation is that for some CICY manifolds, the cohomologies are more succinctly determined by recursive relationships. There can also be boundaries between regions where a polynomial fit fails, and we link these exceptional cases to irregular behaviour of the index of the line bundle. Finally, our observations provide evidence for similarities in the line bundle cohomologies for CICY manifolds that share rows in the configuration matrix. Among such related CICY manifolds, we find both that the line bundle charge space is partitioned in the same manner, and that the same, or closely related, analytical descriptions apply for the cohomology dimensions in these regions.
Molecular dynamics simulations to the bidirectional adhesion signaling pathway of integrin αVβ3
Authors: Kulke Martin , Langel Walter 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThe bidirectional force transmission process of integrin through the cell membrane is still not well understood. Several possible mechanisms have been discussed in literature on the basis of experimental data, and in this study, we investigate these mechanisms by free and steered molecular dynamics simulations. For the first time, constant velocity pulling on the complete integrin molecule inside a dipalmitoyl‐phosphatidylcholine membrane is conducted. From the results, the most likely mechanism for inside‐out and outside‐in signaling is the switchblade model with further separation of the transmembrane helices.
Algorithmic tuning of spread–skill relationship in ensemble forecasting systems
Authors: Ekblom Madeleine , Tuppi Lauri , Shemyakin Vladimir , Laine Marko , Ollinaho Pirkka , Haario Heikki , Järvinen Heikki 
Published: November 2019

AbstractIn ensemble weather prediction systems, ensemble spread is generated using uncertainty representations for initial and boundary values as well as for model formulation. The ensuing ensemble spread is thus regulated through what we call ensemble spread parameters. The task is to specify the parameter values such that the ensemble spread corresponds to the prediction skill of the ensemble mean – a prerequisite for a reliable prediction system. In this paper, we present an algorithmic approach suitable for this task consisting of a differential evolution algorithm with filter likelihood providing evidence. The approach is demonstrated using an idealized ensemble prediction system based on the Lorenz–Wilks system. Our results suggest that it might be possible to optimize the spread parameters without manual intervention.
Quantitative structure‐toxicity relationship: An “in silico study” using electrophilicity and hydrophobicity as descriptors
Authors: Jana Gourhari , Pal Ranita , Sural Shamik , Chattaraj Pratim Kumar 
Published: November 2019

AbstractTo investigate the importance and suitability of quantitative structure‐toxicity relationship approach in the field of aquatic toxicology, we have performed an extensive study introducing multiple linear regression (MLR) and multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP‐NN) techniques. In this study, toxicity (pIGC50) prediction of 169 aliphatic compounds toward Tetrahymena pyriformis (a freshwater protozoa) has been made by using all possible combinations of electrophilicity index (ω), square of electrophilicity index (ω2), cube of electrophilicity index (ω3), hydrophobicity (logP), and its square term {(logP)2} as predictors in the developed models. The MLR and MLP employed to construct the linear prediction models for the complete sets lead to a good correlation coefficient (R2) ranging from 0.703 to 0.779 in case of electronic factors (ω, ω2, ω3) and 0.790 to 0.983 in case of lipophilic factors {logP, (logP)2}, respectively, except for amino alcohols. Furthermore, to cross‐check the variable selection, a three‐set cross‐validation approach has been carried out. To demonstrate our overall result, the sum of ranking differences with ties has been evaluated considering the whole data set.
Conic sector analysis using integral quadratic constraints
Authors: Turner Matthew C. , Forbes James R. 
Published: November 2019

SummaryThis paper interprets the Conic Sector stability results of Zames, and the multivariable generalizations provided by Safonov and Athans, in an integral quadratic constraint context. The ideas are formulated for the case where one element of a feedback interconnection is linear and the other satisfies a conic sector condition. This scenario allows the main stability results to be formulated using integral quadratic constraints, with all finite‐sector cases being captured using this framework. The stability results are expressed using frequency domain inequalities or linear‐matrix inequalities. Some examples show how the main technical result can, in the multivariable case, be used to provide a reduction in conservatism over standard results.
Coverage trajectory planning for a bush trimming robot arm
Authors: Kaljaca Dejan , Vroegindeweij Bastiaan , van Henten Eldert 
Published: November 2019

AbstractA novel motion planning algorithm for robotic bush trimming is presented. The algorithm is based on an optimal route search over a graph. Differently from other works in robotic surface coverage, it entails both accuracy in the surface sweeping task and smoothness in the motion of the robot arm. The proposed method requires the selection of a custom objective function in the joint space for optimal node traversal scheduling, as well as a kinematically constrained time interpolation. The algorithm was tested in simulation using a model of the Jaco arm and three target bush shapes. Analysis of the simulated motions showed how, differently from classical coverage techniques, the proposed algorithm is able to ensure high tool positioning accuracy while avoiding excessive arm motion jerkiness. It was reported that forbidding manipulation posture changes during the cutting phase of the motion is a key element for task accuracy, leading to a decrease of the tool positioning error up to 90%. Furthermore, the algorithm was validated in a real‐world trimming scenario with boxwood bushes. A target of 20 mm accuracy was proposed for a trimming result to be considered successful. Results showed that on average 82% of the bush surface was affected by trimming, and 51% of the trimmed surface was cut within the desired level of accuracy. Despite the fact that the trimming accuracy turned out to be lower than the stated requirements, it was found out this was mainly a consequence of the inaccurate, early stage vision system employed to compute the target trimming surface. By contrast, the trimming motion planning algorithm generated trajectories that smoothly followed their input target and allowed effective branch cutting.