bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evidence for a possible extinction debt in Swiss wetland specialist plants
Authors: Jamin Anine , Peintinger Markus , Gimmi Urs , Holderegger Rolf , Bergamini Ariel 
Published: January 2020

Abstract

Habitat loss leading to smaller patch sizes and decreasing connectivity is a major threat to global biodiversity. While some species vanish immediately after a change in habitat conditions, others show delayed extinction, that is, an extinction debt. In case of an extinction debt, the current species richness is higher than expected under present habitat conditions.

We investigated wetlands of the canton of Zürich in the lowlands of Eastern Switzerland where a wetland loss of 90% over the last 150 years occurred. We related current species richness to current and past patch area and connectivity (in 1850, 1900, 1950, and 2000). We compared current with predicted species richness in wetlands with a substantial loss in patch area based on the species‐area relationship of wetlands without substantial loss in patch area and studied relationships between the richness of different species groups and current and historical area and connectivity of wetland patches.

We found evidence of a possible extinction debt for long‐lived wetland specialist vascular plants: in wetlands, which substantially lost patch area, current species richness of long‐lived specialist vascular plants was higher than would have been expected based on current patch area. Additionally and besides current wetland area, historical area also explained current species richness of these species in a substantial and significant way. No evidence for an extinction debt in bryophytes was found.

The possible unpaid extinction debt in the wetlands of the canton of Zürich is an appeal to nature conservation, which has the possibility to prevent likely future extinctions of species through specific conservation measures. In particular, a further reduction in wetlands must be prevented and restoration measures must be taken to increase the number of wetlands.
Safety and efficacy of baroreflex activation therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: a rapid systematic review
Authors: Schmidt Rodrigo , Rodrigues Clarissa Garcia , Schmidt Kelen Heinrich , Irigoyen Maria Claudia Costa 
Published: January 2020

AbstractTo retrieve and assess the available data in the literature about the safety and efficacy of baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients, through a rapid systematic review of clinical studies. Rapid systematic review of literature. Searched electronic databases included PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Web of Science using Mesh and free terms for heart failure and BAT. No language restriction was used for the searches. We included full peer reviewed publications of clinical studies (randomized or not), including patients with HFrEF undergoing BAT, with or without control group, assessing safety and efficacy outcomes. One reviewer conducted the analysis of the selected abstracts and the full‐text articles, performed data extraction, and evaluated the methodological quality of the selected articles. The methodological quality was assessed according to the Cochrane Collaboration instruments. A descriptive summary of the results is provided. Of the 441 citations screened, 10 publications were included (three were only conference abstracts), reporting data from three studies. Only one study was a randomized clinical trial. Two studies reported a 6 month following, and the other study analysed outcomes up to 41 months. The procedure seems to be safe when performed by a well‐trained multi‐professional team. An 86% rate of system and procedure‐related complication‐free was reported, with no cranial nerve injuries. Improvements in New York Heart Association class of heart failure, quality of life, 6 min walk test, and hospitalization rates, as well as in muscle sympathetic nerve activity. No meta‐analysis was conducted because of the lack of homogeneity across studies; the results from each study are reported individually. BAT procedure seems to be safe if appropriate training is provided. Improvements in clinical outcomes were described in all included studies. However, several limitations do not allow us to make conclusive statements on the efficacy of BAT for HFrEF. New well‐designed trials are still needed.
Serum retinol‐binding protein 4 as a predictor of cardiovascular events in elderly patients with chronic heart failure
Authors: Li Xiu‐Zhen , Zhang Kang‐Zhen , Yan Jian‐Jun , Wang Li , Wang Yue , Shen Xi‐Yu , Sun Hui‐Xian , Liu Li , Zhao Can , He Hui‐Wei , Wang Lian‐Sheng , Gao Wei , Lu Xiang 
Published: January 2020

AbstractAimsRBP4 is an adipokine with adverse effects on cardiovascular system. Increased circulating retinol‐binding protein 4 (RBP4) has been linked to chronic heart failure (CHF). However, whether elevated RBP4 is correlated with a poor prognosis in elderly patients with CHF remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of serum RBP4 in elderly patients with CHF.Methods and resultsWe enrolled 934 consecutive elderly patients (aged 60 years and older) with CHF and 138 age‐matched and sex‐matched control subjects in a prospective cohort study and explored the association of serum RBP4 levels with the clinical outcomes using multivariate Cox regression analyses. Serum RBP4 levels were elevated in CHF patients when compared with controls (46.66 ± 12.38 μg/mL vs. 40.71 ± 7.2 μg/mL, P < 0.001). Patients with the highest RBP4 concentrations had higher N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) levels but lower left ventricular eject fraction (LVEF) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (P < 0.001). Serum RBP4 levels were increased as the New York Heart Association functional class increased and LVEF decreased (P < 0.001) and were negatively correlated with LVEF (r = −0.154, P < 0.001) but positively correlated with NT‐proBNP levels (r = 0.074, P = 0.023). Multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that log RBP4 was an independent predictor for major adverse cardiac event(s) [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.19–5.70], together with age, male, LVEF, log NT‐proBNP, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Moreover, log RBP4 was also an independent predictor for cardiovascular mortality (HR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.35–5.39) and CHF rehospitalization (HR = 2.54, 95% CI = 1.09–5.60) even after adjustment for the established adverse prognostic factors for CHF. The Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that high concentration of RBP4 was a prognostic indicator of major adverse cardiac event(s) in patients with CHF.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate for the first time that elevated serum RBP4 is correlated with worse outcome in elderly patients with CHF.
A study of effects on economic indicators for different heat source temperature on thermal storage‐based solar organic Rankine cycle system
Authors: Baral Suresh 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system for power generation with thermal storage type may be one of the promising technologies for prolonging power generation. The thermal storage type of solar ORC system is feasible for investment due to higher power production. In addition, the heat source temperature of the ORC system plays an important role in the investment. The main aim of the study is to investigate the solar ORC with thermal storage systems from the thermoeconomic point of view. The paper provides recommendations for a suitable class of investment in which an ORC system can be economically feasible. Besides, the economics and thermoeconomic analysis is carried out in order to find the cost of electricity production from the solar ORC under various solar source temperatures. The cost of electricity generation is found to be in the range of $0.2/kWh to $0.6/kWh for 120°C and 90°C, respectively. For analysis, different financial scenarios are developed based on the total cost of the solar ORC units. The economic parameters, such as payback period, internal rate of return (IRR) and specific investment cost, are calculated. The payback period is found to be less than 6 years for the thermal storage type of solar ORC system with the IRR to be 15%. This shows that the investment is feasible for medium and large scale solar ORC with thermal storage systems.
Sparse support vector machine with pinball loss
Authors: Tanveer M. , Sharma S. , Rastogi R. , Anand P. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe standard support vector machine (SVM) with a hinge loss function suffers from feature noise sensitivity and instability. Employing a pinball loss function instead of a hinge loss function in SVMs provides noise insensitivity to the model as it maximizes the quantile distance. However, the pinball loss function simultaneously causes the model to lose sparsity by penalizing correctly classified samples. To overcome the aforementioned shortcomings, we propose a novel sparse SVM with pinball loss (Pin‐SSVM) for solving classification problems. The proposed Pin‐SSVM employs L1‐norm in the SVM classifier with the pinball loss (Pin‐SVM), which ensures the robustness, sparseness, and noise insensitivity of the model. The proposed Pin‐SSVM eradicates the need to solve the dual as we simply obtain its solution by solving a linear programming problem (LPP). The proposed Pin‐SSVM does not spend more computational time as that of Pin‐SVM. Hence, solving an LPP with two linear inequality constraints does not affect the computational complexity. The numerical experiments on several real‐world benchmark noise corrupted and imbalanced UCI datasets demonstrate that the proposed Pin‐SSVM is suitable for noisy and imbalanced data sets, and in most cases, outperforms the results of the baseline models.
Rapid detection of Atlantic salmon multi‐quality based on impedance properties
Authors: Sun Zongbao , Liang Liming , Li Junkui , Liu Xiaoyu , Sun Jian , Zou Xiaobo , Zuo Min , Guo Zhiming 
Published: January 2020

AbstractTo establish a rapid, convenient, and low‐cost method to assess the quality of Atlantic salmon, we analyzed the impedance between 10–1 and 105 Hz for Atlantic salmon/rainbow trout, chilled/frozen‐thawed salmon, and fresh/stale salmon. We combined chemometrics with impedance properties to create a multi‐quality index for Atlantic salmon. The accuracy of all three models established can reach 100% in distinguishing Atlantic salmon from rainbow trout and distinguishing chilled salmon from frozen‐thawed salmon. We applied a partial least squares method to create a quantitative prediction model of bioimpedance spectroscopy and the value of total volatile basic nitrogen. The correlation coefficients of the training and test sets were 0.9447 and 0.9387. Our results showed that the combination of impedance properties and chemometrics was a simple and effective application to evaluate Atlantic salmon quality.
Demand for self‐tests: Evidence from a Becker–DeGroot–Marschak mechanism field experiment
Authors: Aylward Patrick , Essendi Hildah , Little Kristen , Wilson Nicholas 
Published: January 2020

AbstractSelf‐tests offer one approach for reducing frictions underlying low demand for preventive health inputs, yet there is little evidence on demand for self‐tests. We used the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak mechanism—an incentive‐compatible approach—to elicit exact willingness to pay (WTP) for HIV self‐tests in a field experiment with 822 participants at 66 health clinics/pharmacies in Kenya. Our analysis reveals substantial demand at low prices and highly elastic demand at a wide range of prices above this range. We find few participants with nonpositive WTP. We examine correlates of WTP and discuss policy and research implications of our findings.
Evaluation of hydrologic impact of an irrigation curtailment program using Landsat satellite data
Authors: Velpuri Naga Manohar , Senay Gabriel B. , Schauer Matthew , Garcia C. Amanda , Singh Ramesh K. , Friedrichs MacKenzie , Kagone Stefanie , Haynes Jonathan , Conlon Terrence 
Published: January 2020

AbstractUpper Klamath Lake (UKL) is the source of the Klamath River that flows through southern Oregon and northern California. The UKL Basin provides water for 81,000+ ha (200,000+ acres) of irrigation on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project located downstream of the UKL Basin. Irrigated agriculture also occurs along the tributaries to UKL. During 2013–2016, water rights calls resulted in various levels of curtailment of irrigation diversions from the tributaries to UKL. However, information on the extent of curtailment, how much irrigation water was saved, and its impact on the UKL is unknown. In this study, we combined Landsat‐based actual evapotranspiration (ETa) data obtained from the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance model with gridded precipitation and U.S. Geological Survey station discharge data to evaluate the hydrologic impact of the curtailment program. Analysis was performed for 2004, 2006, 2008–2010 (base years), and 2013–2016 (target years) over irrigated areas above UKL. Our results indicate that the savings from the curtailment program over the June to September time period were highest during 2013 and declined in each of the following years. The total on‐field water savings was approximately 60 hm3 in 2013 and 2014, 44 hm3 in 2015, and 32 hm3 in 2016 (1 hm3 = 10,000 m3 or 810.7 ac‐ft). The instream water flow changes or extra water available were 92, 68, 45, and 26 hm3, respectively, for 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Highest water savings came from pasture and wetlands. Alfalfa showed the most decline in water use among grain crops. The resulting extra water available from the curtailment contributed to a maximum of 19% of the lake inflows and 50% of the lake volume. The Landsat‐based ETa and other remote sensing datasets used in this study can be used to monitor crop water use at the irrigation district scale and to quantify water savings as a result of land‐water management changes.
Technology‐related factors and their influence on turnover intentions: A case of government employees in South Africa
Authors: Mahlasela Samkelisiwe , Chinyamurindi Willie T. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to investigate the influence of technology‐related factors on the turnover intentions of a sample of government employees in South Africa. Technology‐related factors, as argued in the literature, consist of (a) technology‐based job autonomy, (b) technology‐based job overload and (c) technology‐based job monitoring. The backdrop of this study is twofold. First, technology is argued as a central feature to work especially amongst employees in the digital age. Second, the rate at which employees leave their jobs appears to be on the increase, especially within the South African public service. These two factors provide the impetus to our focus on studying turnover intentions. Using a sample of 186 government employees in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, a self‐administered questionnaire was deployed. The findings revealed that when employees experience technology‐based job autonomy this did not necessarily result in them having the intention to leave their work. Further, the findings also indicate and show support to the model being tested in that technology factors like: (a) technology‐based job overload and (b) technology‐based monitoring influence employee intentions to leave their work. Based on the findings of the research, recommendations and implications concerning theory and practice are made.
Electrospun poly(d,l‐lactide)/gelatin/glass‐ceramics tricomponent nanofibrous scaffold for bone tissue engineering
Authors: Bochicchio Brigida , Barbaro Katia , De Bonis Angela , Rau Julietta V. , Pepe Antonietta 
Published: January 2020

AbstractElectrospun scaffolds are emerging as extracellular matrix (ECM)mimicking structures for tissue engineering thanks to their nanofibrous architecture. For the development of suitable electrospun scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, the addition of inorganic components has been implemented with the aim to confer important bioactivity like osteoinduction, osteointegration, and cell adhesion to the scaffolds. In this context, we propose a tricomponent electrospun scaffold composed of poly(d,l‐lactide), gelatin and RKKP glass‐ceramics. The bioactive RKKP glass‐ceramic system has attracted interest, due to the presence of ions such as La3+ and Ta5+, which turned out to be valuable as growth supporting agents for bones. In this work, RKKP glass‐ceramics were embedded inside the microfibers of electrospun scaffolds and the structural and biological properties were investigated. Our results showed that the glass‐ceramic microparticles were uniformly distributed in the fibrous structure of the scaffold. Furthermore, the glass‐ceramics promoted biomineralization of the scaffolds and improved cell viability and osteogenic differentiation. The mineralized layer formed on RKKP‐containing scaffolds after incubation in simulated body fluid medium has been shown to be hydroxyapatite by Raman spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction. The results on differentiation studies of canine adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cells grown on the electrospun scaffolds suggest that on varying the content of RKKP in the scaffold, it is possible to drive the differentiation toward chondrogenic or osteogenic commitment. The presence of ions, like La3+ and Ta5+, in the RKKP embedded polymeric composite scaffolds could play a role in supporting cell growth and promoting differentiation.
Improved tissue integration of a new elastic intraperitoneal stoma mesh prosthesis
Authors: Eickhoff Roman , Heise Daniel , Kroh Andreas , Helmedag Marius , Klinge Uwe , Neumann Ulf P. , Klink Christian D. , Lambertz Andreas 
Published: January 2020

AbstractParastomal herniation is a frequent complication in colorectal surgery, occurring with a prevalence of 30–80%. The aim of the study was to create a new intraperitoneal colostoma mesh prosthesis (IPST) with enhanced elastic properties made with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) monofilaments. We performed open terminal sigmoid colostomies reinforced with either a 10 cm by 10 cm polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or a new TPU/PVDF composite mesh in a total of 10 minipigs. Colostoma was placed paramedian in the left lower abdomen and IPST meshes were fixed intraperitoneal. After 8 weeks, the animals were euthanized after laparoscopic exploration and specimen were explanted for histological investigations. Implantation of a new IPST‐mesh with enhanced elastic properties was feasible in a minipig model within an observation period of 8 weeks. Immunohistochemically, Collagen I/III ratio as a marker of tissue integration was significantly higher in TPU‐group versus PVDF group (9.4 ± 0.5 vs. 8.1 ± 0.5, p = 0.002) with a significantly lower inflammatory reaction measured by a smaller inner granuloma at mesh–colon interface (17.6 ± 3.3 μm vs. 23 ± 5 μm, p < 0.001). A new TPU/PVDF composite mesh with enhanced elastic properties as IPST was created. Stoma surgery and especially the evaluation of the new stoma mesh prosthesis are feasible with reproducible results in an animal model. Tissue integration expressed by Collagen I/III ratio seems to be improved in comparison to standard‐elastic PVDF‐IPST meshes.
Development of an automated micropipette coating method for drug‐coated balloons
Authors: Fuglsby Kirby , Anderson Jordan A. , Engebretson Daniel , Lamichhane Sujan 
Published: January 2020

AbstractDrug‐coated balloons (DCBs) are a recent technology developed to treat peripheral artery disease (PAD). Along with a suitable formulation of antiproliferative drug and excipient, coating method is an important aspect of a DCB as these factors affect coating characteristics and drug delivery to the treatment site. The multiple release tailored medical devices DCB (MR‐TMD‐DCB), designed to achieve multiple inflations to treat complex PAD, contains paclitaxel (PAT) as the antiproliferative drug and polyethylene oxide (PEO) as the excipient. In our previous studies, the MR‐TMD‐DCB was coated using a manual dip coating method. In this study, an automated micropipette coating method was developed using a modified spray coating instrument to coat the MR‐TMD‐DCB. First, the coating formulation and strategy was optimized. A drug formulation of 16 wt% PAT and 4% wt/vol PEO, a polymer formulation of 2.5% wt/vol PEO, and a total of two drug layers produced a mostly uniform and thin coating with no defects and acceptable drug load. The balloon also had optimal drug uptake in arterial tissue in an in vitro flow model. Next, the reproducibility of the coating strategy was improved by optimizing the instrument parameters. The optimized instrument parameters (translational speed = 0.150 in/s, revolution rate = 100 rpm, flow rate = 0.6 ml/min) resulted in improved reproducibility of the drug load and similar coating properties as the DCB. This study demonstrated the ability to automate the micropipette process to obtain a balloon with optimal coating properties and drug tissue uptake.
Fabrication, characterization, and in vitro evaluation of electrospun polyurethane‐gelatin‐carbon nanotube scaffolds for cardiovascular tissue engineering applications
Authors: Tondnevis Farbod , Keshvari Hamid , Mohandesi Jamshid Aghazadeh 
Published: January 2020

AbstractMyocardial infarction occurs because coronary arteries insufficiency is one of the major causes of mortality worldwide. Recent studies have shown that tissue engineering of myocardial tissue to regenerate infarcted tissue or engineering of the coronary artery may help overcome this problem. In the present research, gelatin and single‐walled carbon nanotube were firstly administrated to physico‐chemically and biologically modulate polyurethane nanofibers. Electrospinning, as versatile and effective technique for production of functional nanoscale fiber, was applied. Incorporation of both gelatin and SWNTs reduced mean diameter of nanofibrous scaffolds from 210 to 140 nm, which influenced on initial cell behavior. Possible interaction between gelatin and SWNTs with polyurethane chains was evaluated using FTIR and DSC techniques. Regarding the incorporation of both gelatin and SWNTs, it was found that hydrophilicity of nanofibrous scaffolds dramatically improved. Scaffold degradation profile was adjusted by incorporation of gelatin. Biomimetic mechanical properties of composite scaffolds like normal blood vessel were developed and SWNTs improved the Young modulus and ultimate strength of scaffolds up to 16.47 ± 0.5 and 23.73 ± 0.5 MPa, respectively. However, addition of gelatin increased elongation at break due to its softening effect. The incorporation of the SWNTs led to significant enhancement of electrical conductivity of the scaffolds. Biological evaluation using SEM and MTT assay demonstrated that nanofibrous surface was covered by confluent and dense layer of both myocardial myoblast and endothelial cells after 7 days of culture, which is crucial for cardiovascular tissue engineering. Results verified that the fabricated scaffolds could be effective for cardiovascular tissue engineering.