bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
African and Asian origin pearl millet populations: Genetic diversity pattern and its association with yield heterosis
Authors: Patil K. Sudarshan , Gupta Shashi Kumar , Marathi Balram , Danam Shashibhushan , Thatikunta Ramesh , Rathore Abhishek , Das Roma Rani , Dangi Kuldeep Singh , Yadav Om Parkash 
Published: June 2020

AbstractPearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum(L.) R. Br.] is a staple food crop of arid and semi‐arid regions of Asia and Africa. Forty‐five pearl millet populations of Asian and African origin were assessed for genetic diversity using 29 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The SSR‐based clustering and structure analyses showed that Asian origin–Asian bred (As‐As) and African origin–African bred (Af‐Af) populations were distributed across seven clusters, indicating no strong relationship among populations with their geographical origin. Most of the African origin–Asian bred (Af‐As) populations had a higher average number of alleles per locus than As‐As or Af‐Af populations, and the majority of them clustered separately from As‐As or Af‐Af populations, indicating that introgression of African origin breeding materials led to the development of new gene pools adapted to the Asian region. Fourteen populations representing seven clusters were crossed according to a diallel mating design to generate 91 population hybrids (seeds of direct and reciprocal crosses were mixed) and evaluated at three locations in 2016. All the 91 hybrids when partitioned into three groups based on genetic distance (GD) between parental combinations (low, moderate, and high), revealed no correlation between GD and panmictic midparent heterosis in any of the groups, indicating that grain yield heterosis cannot be predicted based on GD. Two population hybrids (GB 8735 × ICMP 87307 and Sudan I × Ugandi) exhibited high levels of yield heterosis over standard checks and can be further utilized using different breeding schemes to develop high‐yielding pearl millet cultivars.
A single gate oxide level shifter for denser digital domain integration in multiple‐supply‐voltage applications
Authors: Cuevas Nestor , Gomez Hector , Roa Elkim 
Published: June 2020

SummaryModern system‐on‐chip (SoC) applications usually employ multiple voltage domains to save power consumption according to the required circuit performance. Typical multivoltage approaches use level shifters (LSs) to establish communication among voltage domains. The use of commercial standard‐cell and multiple gate oxide MOS LSs implies a nonoptimal place‐and‐route process. Here, we introduce a single gate oxide level shifter (SGOLS) that enables full integration into low‐voltage domains. We tested the proposed idea using a commercial digital‐flow tool for a two‐domain SoC integration, achieving an enhancement in the total integration area occupied by LSs of 54% regarding the conventional LS approaches. The proposed SGOLS was implemented in both 65‐ and 180‐nm CMOS nodes, handling voltage differences between the nominal and I/O domain supplies by using just single gate oxide devices. We validated the circuit performance through process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations for wide frequency and supply voltage ranges, disclosing an energy‐per‐transition of 416 fJ@180 nm and 93 fJ@65 nm. The introduced LS extends the integration of multiple voltage domains into denser SoCs.
Interleukin (IL)‐33: an orchestrator of immunity from host defence to tissue homeostasis
Authors: Zhou Zekun , Yan Fei , Liu Ousheng 
Published: June 2020

AbstractInterleukin (IL)‐33, a member of the IL‐1 superfamily, functions as an alarm signal, which is released upon cell injury or tissue damage to alert the immune system. It has emerged as a chief orchestrator in immunity and has a broad pleiotropic action that influences differentiation, maintenance and function of various immune cell types via the ST2 receptor. Although it has been strongly associated with immunopathology, critically, IL‐33 is involved in host defence, tissue repair and homeostasis. In this review, we provide an overview of the signalling pathway of IL‐33 and highlight its regulatory functions in immune cells. Furthermore, we attempt a broader discussion of the emerging functions of IL‐33 in host defence, tissue repair, metabolism, inflammatory disease and cancer, suggesting potential avenues to manoeuvre IL‐33/ST2 signalling as treatment options.
A web service‐based internet of things framework for mobile resource augmentation
Authors: Anitha Subbarayan , Padma Theagarajan 
Published: June 2020

SummaryMobile devices are the primary communication tool in day to day life of the people. Nowadays, the enhancement of the mobile applications namely IoTApps and their exploitation in various domains like healthcare monitoring, home automation, smart farming, smart grid, and smart city are crucial. Though mobile devices are providing seamless user experience anywhere, anytime, and anyplace, their restricted resources such as limited battery capacity, constrained processor speed, inadequate storage, and memory are hindering the development of resource‐intensive mobile applications and internet of things (IoT)‐based mobile applications. To solve this resource constraint problem, a web service‐based IoT framework is proposed by exploiting fuzzy logic methodologies. This framework augments the resources of mobile devices by offloading the resource‐intensive subtasks from mobile devices to the service providing entities like Arduino, Raspberry PI controller, edge cloud, and distant cloud. Based on the recommended framework, an online Repository of Instructional Talk (RIoTalk) is successfully implemented to store and analyze the classroom lectures given by faculty in our study site. Simulation results show that there is a significant reduction in energy consumption, execution time, bandwidth utilization, and latency. The proposed research work significantly increases the resources of mobile devices by offloading the resource‐intensive subtasks from the mobile device to the service provider computing entities thereby providing Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) to mobile users.
Severe and enduring anorexia nervosa: Fertile ground for iatrogenic development
Authors: Olmsted Marion P. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractCare providers and individuals with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa (SE‐AN) are weathering a perfect storm in which the sickest patients receive the least evidence‐based treatment and iatrogenic factors play a significant role. Examining access to treatment from an ethical perspective is one strategy for developing more objective protocols related to the care of individuals with SE‐AN.
Effect of fading on the k‐coverage of wireless sensor networks
Authors: Imani Amir Hosein , Eslami Mohsen , Haghighat Javad , Noori Moslem 
Published: June 2020

AbstractIn a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), coverage performance of the network is affected by multiple factors such as source power, sensitivity of sensors, and the quality of the channel between the source and the sensors. In most existing works on WSNs, only path‐loss of the wireless channel is considered, that with further assumption of absence of obstacles in the sensing region of a sensor, results in circular‐type of coverage for each node. However, in some WSN applications, the channel is not line‐of‐sight and exhibits multipath fading. In this paper, effect of the multipath fading on k‐coverage of randomly deployed WSNs is analytically investigated via techniques from stochastic geometry. More specifically, the k‐coverage probability is analytically derived under Rayleigh, Rician, and Nakagami fading assumptions. Numerical results are also presented to compare the derived k‐coverage probability with the commonly used k‐coverage models that do not consider the fading effect. These results reveal the level of the k‐coverage degradation due to multipath fading compared to the case of no fading (fixed range), which in some cases is shown to be very significant.
Synthetic periprosthetic synovial fluid development for in vitro cell‐tribocorrosion testing using the Taguchi array approach
Authors: Wiegand Michael J. , Khullar Piyush , Mercuri Jeremy J. , Gilbert Jeremy L. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractSynovial fluid is dynamic in vivo with biological components changing in ratio and size depending on the health of the joint space, making it difficult to model in vitro. Previous efforts to develop synthetic synovial fluid have typically focused on single organic‐tribological interactions with implant surfaces, thus ignoring interplay between multiple solution components. Using a Taguchi orthogonal array, we were able to isolate the individual effects of five independent synovial fluid composition variables: ratios of (1) hyaluronic acid to phospholipids (HA:PL) and (2) albumin to globulin (A:G), and concentrations of (3) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), (4) cobalt (Co2+) and (5) chromium (Cr3+) ions on macrophage viability and reduced glutathione production, local solution pH and the comprehensive CoCrMo alloy electrochemical response. While no single synovial fluid variable significantly affected the collective response, HA:PL ratio resulted in the largest impact factor (Δ) on 12 of the 13 measured responses with significant effects (p < .05) on the average macrophage survival rate and electrochemical capacitive state of the CoCrMo surface. Cluster analysis separated significant responses from all trials into three groups, corresponding to healthy, mild, or severely inflamed fluids, respectively; with the healthy synovial fluid composition having mid‐range HA:PL ratios with no Co2+ ions, and the severely inflamed fluids consisting of low and high HA:PL ratios with H2O2 and Co2+ ions. By utilizing the Taguchi approach in combination with cluster analysis, we were able to advance our knowledge of complex multivariate synthetic synovial fluids influence on macrophage and electrochemical behavior at the cell‐solution‐metal interface.
Evolutionary transformation of the subcutaneous muscle in rodents of Ctenohystrica (Rodentia: Diatomyidae, Ctenodactylidae, and Hystricognathi)
Authors: Zherebtsova Olga , Platonov Vladimir 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe present study examined the subcutaneous muscle (m. cutaneus trunci) in a relict species Laonastes aenigmamus (Diatomyidae) and in two ctenodactylids (Ctenodactylidae: Ctenodactylus gundi and Pectinator spekei), which are closely related to Laonastes according to current phylogenetic hypotheses. The comparative morphological analysis also included four representatives of Hystricognathi: Echimys sp., Proechimys sp., Cercomys cunicularis, and Hystrix indica. Laonastes and ctenodactylids have a number of common ancestral traits in the morphology of m. cutaneus trunci. This suggests that they are probably related to the ancestral forms of Ctenohystrica. However, the structural similarity of the subcutaneous muscle in Diatomyidae and Ctenodactylidae is based not only on plesiomorphic (presence of the medial head of m. cutaneus trunci), but also on an apomorphic (the development of the thoracoabdominal portion) feature which is common to both branches of Ctenohystrica (Ctenodactiloidea and Hystricognathi). The results of the comparative analysis suggest a new scenario for the evolutionary transformations of m. cutaneus trunci within the clade Ctenohystrica. This scenario differs from earlier suggestions and proposes initial differentiation of the subcutaneous muscle and possibly its secondary simplification, but on a new basis. On this new basis a further secondary increase in complexity of subcutaneous muscle appears possible in response to various adaptations in hystricognaths.
Discrimination of common isomerides of methyl nucleosides by collision‐induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Li Yanru , Zhou Jiang , Yuan Gu 
Published: June 2020

AbstractThe methyl‐modified nucleosides (methyladenosine, methylguanosine, methylcytidine, and methyluridine) occur widely in nucleic acids and serve as biomarkers for a variety of types of diseases. Their isomers have the same parent ions in MS spectra and need further discrimination. Here, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) coupled with collision induced dissociation (CID) was used to distinguish the common isomerides of methyl‐nucleosides. The various fragmentation patterns had been discussed in comparison of the different methyl modified nucleosides and were studied as a function of normalized collision energy. Then, structurally relevant fragments were obtained to efficiently identify characterization of methyl‐nucleoside isomerides by collision induced dissociation. Therefore, this study provides a promising method using CID‐MS for the discrimination of the isomeric methyl nucleosides, which could be useful to quantitative study of methyl nucleosides and detect of unknown methyl nucleosides.
Tocilizumab in patients with severe COVID‐19: A single‐center observational analysis
Authors: Knorr John P , Colomy Veronika , Mauriello Christine M , Ha Seung 
Published: June 2020

AbstractPatients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) may develop severe respiratory distress, thought to be mediated by cytokine release. Elevated proinflammatory markers have been associated with disease severity. Tocilizumab, an interleukin‐6 receptor antagonist, may be beneficial for severe COVID‐19, when cytokine storm is suspected. This is a retrospective single‐center analysis of the records of patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 who received tocilizumab. Outcomes, including clinical improvement, mortality and changes in oxygen‐support at 24, 48, and 72 hours, and 7, 14, and 28 days post‐tocilizumab, are reported. Patients were evaluated by baseline pre‐tocilizumab oxygenation status and changes in proinflammatory markers within 7 days post‐tocilizumab are reported. Sixty‐six patients received tocilizumab at a mean dose of 724 mg (7.4 mg/kg), 3.7 days from admission. At baseline, 53% of patients were on ventilation support and all had elevated proinflammatory markers, including c‐reactive protein (CRP). Common comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (43%) and hypertension (74%). Most patients received concomitant glucocorticoids and hydroxychloroquine. Seven days after tocilizumab, ten patients (15.2%) had clinical improvement in their oxygenation status, and there was a 95% decrease in CRP. Within 14 days of treatment, 29% of patients had clinical improvement, 20% had minimal or no improvement, 17% worsened, 27% died, and 7% were transferred to an outside hospital. Ultimately, 42% of all patients that received tocilizumab expired and 49% were discharged. This study found limited clinical improvement in patients that received tocilizumab in the setting of severe COVID‐19. Clinical trials are ongoing to further evaluate tocilizumab's benefit in this patient population.
Hydroxychloroquine treatment in COVID‐19: A descriptive observational analysis of 30 cases from a single center in Wuhan, China
Authors: Xue Huiying , Liu Yi , Luo Pan , Liu Xiulan , Qiu Lin , Liu Dong , Li Juan 
Published: June 2020

AbstractHydroxychloroquine (HCQ) garnered scientific attention in early February following publication of reports showing in vitro activity of chloroquine (CQ) against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). While studies are mixed on this topic, the therapeutic effect of HCQ or CQ still need more valid clinical evidence. In this descriptive observational study, we aimed to discuss the treatment response of HCQ in COVID‐19 infected patients and 30 cases were included. The demographic, treatment, laboratory parameters of C‐reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) before and after HCQ therapy and clinical outcome in the 30 patients with COVID‐19 were assessed. To evaluate the effect of mediation time point, we also divided these cases into two groups, patients began administrated with HCQ within 7 days hospital (defined as early delivery group) and 7 days after hospital (defined as later delivery group). We found that, the elevated IL‐6, a risk factor in severe patients were reduced to normal level after HCQ treatment. More importantly, patients treated with HCQ at the time of early hospital recovered faster than those who treated later or taken as second line choose for their obvious shorter hospitalization time. In summary, early use of HCQ was better than later use and the effect of IL‐6 and CRP level cannot be ruled out.
Impact of Preoperative Short‐Term Parenteral Nutrition Support on the Clinical Outcome of Gastric Cancer Patients: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis
Authors: Xu Li‐Bin , Huang Ze‐Xin , Zhang Hui‐Hui , Chen Xiao‐Dong , Zhang Wei‐Teng , Shi Ming‐Ming , Ma Yu‐Ning , Shen Xin‐Chen , Lin Jiang‐Tao , Cai Yi‐Qi , Shen Xian 
Published: June 2020

AbstractObjectivesNutrition status is of great significance to the clinical outcome after major abdominal surgery. However, the effect of preoperative short‐term parenteral nutrition (PN) support among gastric cancer (GC) patients remains unknown and was evaluated in the current study.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 455 nutritionally at‐risk GC patients after radical resection from 2010 to 2016. We matched patients with 3–7 days of PN support to those without PN support. χ2 And Mann‐Whitney U tests were used to compare differences between the PN and control groups.ResultsThe propensity‐matched sample included 368 GC patients (PN group, n = 184; control group, n = 184). The PN and control groups did not differ regarding postoperative complications (P = .528). The incidence of anastomotic leakage in the PN group was lower than in the control group (P = .011), whereas other complications were not found to differ between the groups. The hospitalization cost of the PN group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < .001), whereas other outcome indicators were similar. Subgroup analysis showed that short‐term PN support may have an improved benefit for patients with serum albumin level <35 g/L, but not at the level of statistical significance (P = .17).ConclusionShort‐term PN support did not significantly improve the short‐term clinical outcomes of nutritionally at‐risk GC patients, with the exception of a lower incidence of anastomotic leakage. Considering that short‐term PN support increases economic burden, PN should not be the preferred method among these patients.
Clinical significance of subcentimeter pulmonary nodules in patients undergoing hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases
Authors: Kawakatsu Shoji , Mise Yoshihiro , Hiratsuka Makiko , Inoue Yosuke , Ito Hiromichi , Takahashi Yu , Mun Mingyon , Okumura Sakae , Matsueda Kiyoshi , Nagino Masato , Saiura Akio 
Published: June 2020

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThe clinical significance of lung metastases regarded as subcentimeter pulmonary nodules (SPN) before hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases (CLM) has not been assessed well.MethodsThe data from 569 patients undergoing hepatectomy for CLM from 2010 to 2016 were reviewed. The presence and final diagnosis of SPN were analyzed for their association with overall survival (OS).ResultsA total of 143 patients had SPN (25.1%). SPN were proved to be lung metastases in 43 patients (30.1%). Before hepatectomy, lung metastases were suspected in 25 patients (sensitivity: 58%; specificity: 100%). The 5‐year OS of patients with lung metastases (45.4%) was worse than that of those with no pulmonary nodules (60.9%, P = .003). There was no significant difference in the 5‐year OS between the patients with lung metastases diagnosed after hepatectomy (48.7%) and before hepatectomy (41.2%, P = .432). The 5‐year OS of patients who underwent surgery for lung metastases after hepatectomy (60.5%) was similar to that of those with no pulmonary nodules and benign pulmonary nodules (60.9%, P = .6310; 44.0%, P = .899).ConclusionAlthough diagnostic sensitivity for SPN before hepatectomy is low, timing of diagnosis does not affect OS. Conclusive lung resection offers OS similar to that of patients without lung metastases.
Retroperitoneal sarcoma perioperative risk stratification: A United States Sarcoma Collaborative evaluation of the ACS‐NSQIP risk calculator
Authors: Schwartz Patrick B. , Stahl Christopher C. , Ethun Cecilia , Marka Nicholas , Poultsides George A. , Roggin Kevin K. , Fields Ryan C. , Howard John H. , Clarke Callisia N. , Votanopoulos Konstantinos I. , Cardona Kenneth , Abbott Daniel E. 
Published: June 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe ACS‐NSQIP risk calculator predicts perioperative risk. This study tested the calculator's ability to predict risk for outcomes following retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) resection.MethodsThe United States Sarcoma Collaborative database was queried for adults who underwent RPS resection. Estimated risk for outcomes was calculated twice in the risk calculator, once using sarcoma‐specific CPT codes and once using codes indicative of most comorbid organ resection (eg nephrectomy). ROC curves were generated, with area under the curve (AUC) and Brier scores reported to assess discrimination and calibration. An AUC < 0.6 was considered ineffective discrimination. A negative ▲ Brier indicated improved performance relative to baseline outcome rates.ResultsIn total, 482 patients were identified with a 42.3% 90‐day complication rate. Discrimination was poor for all outcomes except “all complications” and “renal failure.” Baseline outcome rates were better predictors than calculator estimates except for “discharge to nursing or rehab facility” and “renal failure.” Replacing sarcoma‐specific CPT codes with resection‐specific codes did not improve performance.ConclusionThe ACS‐NSQIP risk calculator poorly predicted outcomes following RPS resection. Changing sarcoma‐specific CPT to resection‐specific codes did not improve performance. Comorbidities in the calculator may not effectively capture perioperative risk. Future work should evaluate a sarcoma‐specific calculator.
Volumetric Analysis of the Vocal Folds Using Computed Tomography: Effects of Age, Height, and Gender
Authors: Alexander Nicole L. , Wang Kevin Y. , Jiang Kevin Z. , Ongkasuwan Julina , Lincoln Christie M. 
Published: June 2020

ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to use computed tomography (CT) volumetric analysis to assess the effect of age, gender, height, body mass index (BMI), and ethnicity on vocal fold volume in patients with normal larynges.Study DesignRetrospective cross‐sectional study.MethodsVocal fold length, width, and height were measured in a total of 105 patients without a history of laryngeal or thyroid pathology on thin‐section soft‐tissue neck CTs. The product of the three dimensions was used to calculate vocal fold volume. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess for an association between vocal fold volume and age, gender, height, BMI, and ethnicity. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were estimated to evaluate the degree interobserver and intraobserver agreement.ResultsVocal fold volume was not associated with age, BMI, or ethnicity. Gender‐adjusted height (P = .002) and height‐adjusted gender (P = .016) were significantly associated with volume. Height remained significantly associated with volume after stratifying by gender (P < 0.001). There was moderate‐to‐good correlation in both interobserver (ICC = 0.690 to 0.761) and intraobserver (ICC = 0.733 to 0.873) agreement.ConclusionAge was not associated with vocal fold volume, which is in accordance with several prior negative studies. Age‐related vocal fold atrophy may not substantially contribute to presbyphonia symptoms, but other processes such as changes in the extracellular matrix may play a larger role. However, both gender and height were independently associated with vocal fold volume.Level of Evidence4 Laryngoscope, 131:E240–E247, 2021