bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Tranexamic acid in traumatic brain injury: an explanatory study nested within the CRASH-3 trial
Authors:   The CRASH-3 Intracranial Bleeding Mechanistic Study Collaborators
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Purpose
The CRASH-3 trial is a randomised trial of tranexamic acid (TXA) on death and disability in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is based on the hypothesis that early TXA treatment can prevent deaths from post-traumatic intracranial bleeding. The results showed that timely TXA treatment reduces head injury deaths in patients with reactive pupils and those with a mild to moderate GCS at baseline. We examined routinely collected CT scans in a sample of 1767 CRASH-3 trial patients to explore if, why, and how patients are affected by TXA.

Methods
The CRASH-3 IBMS is an explanatory study nested within the CRASH-3 trial. We measured the volume of intracranial bleeding on CT scans using established methods (e.g. ABC/2).

Results
Patients with any un-reactive pupil had a median intracranial bleeding volume of 60 ml (IQR 18–101 ml) and patients with reactive pupils had a median volume of 26 ml (IQR 1–55 ml). Patients with severe GCS had median intracranial bleeding volume of 37 ml (IQR 3–75 ml) and patients with moderate to mild GCS had a median volume of 26 ml (IQR 0.4–50 ml). For every hour increase from injury to the baseline scan, the risk of new bleeding on a further scan decreased by 12% (adjusted RR = 0.88 [95% CI 0.80–0.96], p = 0.0047).

Conclusion
Patients with reactive pupils and/or mild to moderate GCS may have benefited from TXA in the CRASH-3 trial because they had less intracranial bleeding at baseline. However, because bleeding occurs soon after injury, treatment delay reduces the benefit of TXA.
The Drivers of Child Mortality During the 2012–2016 Drought in La Guajira, Colombia
Authors: Contreras Diana , Voets Alex , Junghardt Jana , Bhamidipati Srirama , Contreras Sandra 
Published: February 2020

AbstractDuring the 2012–2016 drought in La Guajira, Colombia, child mortality rates rose to 23.4 out of 1000. Most of these children belonged to the Wayuu indigenous community, the largest and one of the most vulnerable in Colombia. At the municipal level, this study found a significant positive correlation between the average child mortality rate and households with a monthly income of less than USD 100, the number of people without access to health insurance, being part of the indigenous population, being illiterate, lacking sewage systems, living in rural areas, and large households with members younger than 5 years old and older than 65 years old. No correlation was found with households without access to a water source. The stepwise regression analysis showed that households with a monthly income of less than USD 100, no members older than 65 years old, but several children younger than 5 years old, account for 90.4% of the child mortality rate. This study concludes that, if inhabitants had had better incomes or assets, as well as an adequate infrastructure, they could have faced the drought without the observed increase in child mortality.
Preconditioning of Human Decidua Basalis Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells with Glucose Increased Their Engraftment and Anti-diabetic Properties
Authors: Basmaeil Yasser , Rashid Manar Al , Khatlani Tanvir , AlShabibi Manal , Bahattab Eman , Abdullah Meshan L. , Abumary Fawaz , Kalionis Bill , Massoudi Safia , AbuMaree Mohammad 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background:
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) from the decidua basalis (DBMSCs) of the human placenta have important functions that make them potential candidates for cellular therapy. Previously, we showed that DBMSC functions do not change significantly in a high oxidative stress environment, which was induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and immune cells. Here, we studied the consequences of glucose, another oxidative stress inducer, on the phenotypic and functional changes in DBMSCs.

Methods:
DBMSCs were exposed to a high level of glucose, and its effect on DBMSC phenotypic and functional properties was determined. DBMSC expression of oxidative stress and immune molecules after exposure to glucose were also identified.

Results:
Conditioning of DBMSCs with glucose improved their adhesion and invasion. Glucose also increased DBMSC expression of genes with survival, proliferation, migration, invasion, anti-inflammatory, anti-chemoattractant and antimicrobial properties. In addition, DBMSC expression of B7H4, an inhibitor of T cell proliferation was also enhanced by glucose. Interestingly, glucose modulated DBMSC expression of genes involved in insulin secretion and prevention of diabetes.

Conclusion:
These data show the potentially beneficial effects of glucose on DBMSC functions. Preconditioning of DBMSCs with glucose may therefore be a rational strategy for increasing their therapeutic potential by enhancing their engraftment efficiency. In addition, glucose may program DBMSCs into insulin producing cells with ability to counteract inflammation and infection associated with diabetes. However, future in vitro and in vivo studies are essential to investigate the findings of this study further.
MoS2 Nanosheets Sensitized with Quantum Dots for Room-Temperature Gas Sensors
Authors: Liu Jingyao , Hu Zhixiang , Zhang Yuzhu , Li Hua-Yao , Gao Naibo , Tian Zhilai , Zhou Licheng , Zhang Baohui , Tang Jiang , Zhang Jianbing , Yi Fei , Liu Huan 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe Internet of things for environment monitoring requires high performance with low power-consumption gas sensors which could be easily integrated into large-scale sensor network. While semiconductor gas sensors have many advantages such as excellent sensitivity and low cost, their application is limited by their high operating temperature. Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, typically molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets, are emerging as promising gas-sensing materials candidates owing to their abundant edge sites and high in-plane carrier mobility. This work aims to overcome the sluggish and weak response as well as incomplete recovery of MoS2 gas sensors at room temperature by sensitizing MoS2 nanosheets with PbS quantum dots (QDs). The huge amount of surface dangling bonds of QDs enables them to be ideal receptors for gas molecules. The sensitized MoS2 gas sensor exhibited fast and recoverable response when operated at room temperature, and the limit of NO2 detection was estimated to be 94 ppb. The strategy of sensitizing 2D nanosheets with sensitive QD receptors may enhance receptor and transducer functions as well as the utility factor that determine the sensor performance, offering a powerful new degree of freedom to the surface and interface engineering of semiconductor gas sensors.
Partial Ownership for Outer Space Resources
Authors: Beauvois Erwan , Thirion Guillaume 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe most widely adopted agreement on space law, the Outer Space Treaty (OST) (1967), actively promotes international partnerships and peaceful uses of outer space. It also forbids any claims of sovereignty or private property on celestial bodies; however, nothing is explicitly written about the use of resources that can be found there. Other texts, like the Moon Agreement (1979), attempted to extend provisions on this regard, but only 18 nations ratified this agreement, probably because it also contains obligations that remove all incentives for the private industry to participate in the exploitation of outer space resources, such as the obligation to disclose all discoveries and share the benefits between all state parties. Today, most missions are scientific, so there is no need to compete for using space resources. If tomorrow society wants to incentivize participation, and leverage the available funds, from the private sector to explore and exploit outer space, an allocation mechanism that allows to dispute the use of resources needs to be set up. On Earth, this is achieved by the private property system and commercial competition. However, private property is not allowed by the OST, because it has a right of exclusion, and everyone shall be free to use space resources if it does not interfere with activities of other nations. An exclusivity of use for the first nation to exploit a given resource is not desired either and is precisely why the OST was established in the first place. In full compliance with the OST, this paper introduces the concept of Partial Ownership of Outer Space Resources (POOSR). This system allows to compete for the use of resources, without granting monopoly, as it always keeps the competition for ownership open. It is based on the introduction of a Harberger tax and a Partial Ownership system, that allows to expose commonly-owned resources (such as outer space asteroids, or planetary surface areas) to the efficiency of allocation provided by market dynamics, while preserving the incentives for investment to the current owners and preventing resource locking. This paper shows how such system would foster investments from private entities, as well as how it would benefit to all the international entities or nations participating to it. The synergy between such system, international regulations, and national laws, to establish a regulation for space mining and other outer space activities is also discussed.
Dissecting .NET ransomware: key generation, encryption and operation
Authors: Bajpai Pranshu , Enbody Richard 
Published: February 2020

The threat of ransomware is ever growing. Not all ransomware types are created equal and the cryptosystems in some forms are more virulent than others. This article dissects eight real-world variants belonging to different families of .NET ransomware and provides insights into key generation, encryption and other aspects of the ransomware kill chain. We also summarise ransomware execution flow and dynamic library calls based on the collected evidence. While this analysis was carried out using .NET ransomware samples, the lessons learned from the empirical evidence apply to all modern forms of ransomware and can be used for building more effective ransomware solutions. The threat of ransomware is ever-growing, but not all ransomware types are created equal. The cryptosystems in some forms are more virulent than others. Pranshu Bajpai and Richard Enbody at Michigan State University dissect eight real-world variants belonging to different families of .NET ransomware and provide insights into key generation, encryption and other aspects of the ransomware kill chain. They also summarise ransomware execution flow and the use of dynamic library calls. The lessons learned apply to all forms of ransomware and can be used for building more effective ransomware solutions.
Keyloggers: silent cyber security weapons
Authors: Bhardwaj Akashdeep , Goundar Sam 
Published: February 2020

Cyber attackers are always seeking to design and push malicious software programs to unsuspecting users, to intentionally steal or cause damage and exploit data on end user systems. Malware types include spyware, keyloggers, rootkits and adware. In the past, script kiddies hacked computers to show off their skills and have fun. Today, hacking computers has become a huge cybercrime industry. Even as systems have improved in terms of both hardware and software, cyber attacks continue unabated. The privilege level at which keyloggers execute is higher than typical malware, which makes them almost impossible to detect and remove. Dr Akashdeep Bhardwaj of the University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, and Dr Sam Goundar of the University of South Pacific, demonstrate how a keylogger can gather keystrokes and screenshots along with online transactions without a scanner being able to detect it. They also suggest a form of virtual keyboard that could defeat this kind of malware.
Disappearing from Abolitionism's Heartland: The Legacy of Slavery and Emancipation in Boston
Authors: Hardesty Jared Ross 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThis article examines why Boston's slave and free black population consisted of more than 1,500 people in 1750, but by 1790 Boston was home to only 766 people of African descent. This disappearing act, where the town's black population declined by at least fifty per cent between 1763 and 1790, can only be explained by exploring slavery, abolition, and their legacies in Boston. Slaves were vital to the town's economy, filling skilled positions and providing labor for numerous industries. Using the skills acquired to challenge their enslavement, Afro-Bostonians found freedom during the American revolutionary era. Nevertheless, as New England's rural economy collapsed, young white men and women from all over the region flooded Boston looking for work, driving down wages, and competing with black people for menial employment. Forced out of the labor market, many former slaves and their descendants left the region entirely. Others joined the Continental or British armies and never returned home. Moreover, many slave owners, knowing that slavery was coming to an end in Massachusetts, sold their bondsmen and women to other colonies in the Americas where slavery was still legal and profitable. Thus, the long-term legacy of abolition for black Bostonians was that Boston's original enslaved population largely disappeared, while the city became a hub of abolitionism by the 1830s. Boston's abolitionist community – many the descendants of slaveholders – did not have to live with their forefathers’ sins. Instead, they crafted a narrative of a free Boston, making it an attractive destination for runaway slaves from across the Atlantic world.
Applying probability-weighted incubation period distributions to traditional wind rose methodology to improve public health investigations of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks
Authors: Bays D. , Bennett E. , Finnie T. 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
In the event of a Legionnaires' disease outbreak, rapid location and control of the source of bacteria are crucial for outbreak management and regulation. In this paper, we describe an enhancement of the traditional wind rose for epidemiological use; shifting the focus of measurement from relative frequency of the winds speeds and directions to the relative volume of air carried, whilst also incorporating probability distributions of disease incubation periods to refine identification of the important wind directions during a cases window of exposure, i.e. from which direction contaminated aerosols most likely originated. The probability-weighted wind rose offers a potential improvement over the traditional wind rose by weighting the importance of wind measurements through incorporation of probability of exposure given an individual's time of symptom onset (obtained through knowledge of the incubation period), and by instead focusing on the volume of carrying air which offers better insight into the most probable direction of the source. This then provides a probabilistic distribution of which direction the wind was blowing around the time of infection. We discuss how the probability-weighted wind rose can be implemented during a Legionnaires' disease outbreak, and how outbreak control teams might use it as supportive evidence to identify the most likely direction of the contaminated source from the presumed site of exposure. In addition, this paper discusses how minor adjustments can be made to the method allowing the probability-weighted wind rose to be applied to other non-communicable airborne diseases, providing the disease's probability distribution for the incubation period distribution is well known.
Serum Copeptin Levels Predict the Return of Spontaneous Circulation and the Short-Term Prognosis of Patients with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Control Study
Authors: Cakmak Sümeyye , Sogut Ozgur , Albayrak Levent , Yildiz Ayla 
Published: February 2020

AbstractIntroduction:Early and accurate prediction of survival to hospital discharge following resuscitation after cardiac arrest (CA) is a major challenge. Biomarkers can be used for early and accurate prediction of survival and prognosis following resuscitation after CA, but none of those identified so far are sufficient by themselves.Hypothesis/Problem:The goal of this study was to investigate the predictive power of the serum copeptin level for determining the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and prognosis of patients with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).Methods:A total of 76 consecutive consenting adult patients who were diagnosed as non-traumatic OHCA and 63 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups based on whether or not they had ROSC. The ROSC group was divided into two sub-groups according to whether death occurred within 24 hours or after 24 hours following ROSC. Serum copeptin, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnI), creatine kinase-muscle/brain (CK-MB), glucose, and blood gas values were compared between the groups.Results:Serum copeptin levels were significantly higher in the patient group than control group (P <.001). Receiving operator characteristic analysis revealed a cut-off copeptin level of 27.29pmol/L, with 98.7% sensitivity and 100.0% specificity, for distinguishing patients from controls. Serum copeptin levels were significantly lower in the ROSC group than non-ROSC group (P = .018). Additionally, the mean serum hs-cTnI level was significantly higher in the ROSC group than non-ROSC group (P = .032). However, there were no significant differences in the mean serum glucose level and CK-MB levels or arterial blood gas levels between the ROSC and non-ROSC groups (all P >.05).Ten (38.5%) of the patients died within the first 24 hours after ROSC, whereas 16 (61.5%) survived longer than 24 hours. Serum copeptin levels were significantly lower in patients who survived longer than 24 hours compared with those who died within the first 24 hours. Moreover, the mean CPR duration was significantly lower in patients surviving more than 24 hours compared with less than 24 hours.Conclusion:The serum copeptin level may serve as a guide in diagnostic decision making to predict ROSC in patients undergoing CPR and determining the short-term prognosis of patients with ROSC.
The Haiti Humanitarian Response Course: A Novel Approach to Local Responder Training in International Humanitarian Response
Authors: Bustamante Nirma D. , Rouhani Shada A. , Kivlehan Sean , Checkett Keegan A. , Israel Kerling , Toussaint Sterman , Kayden Stephanie 
Published: February 2020

AbstractIntroduction:Countries most affected by disasters are often those with limited local capacity to respond. When local capacity is overwhelmed, international humanitarian response often provides needs-based emergency response. Despite global progress in education and the development of international humanitarian response standards, access to training and integration of local actors in response mechanisms remains limited. In May 2017, the Haiti Humanitarian Response Course (HHRC) was implemented in Mirebalais, Haiti to increase local capacity and allow for effective future engagement with international humanitarian actors in a country prone to disasters.Report:In collaboration with the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais’ (HUM; Mirebalais, Haiti) Department of Medical Education and Emergency Medicine (EM) residency program, four physicians from the Division of Global Emergency Care and Humanitarian Studies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts USA) facilitated the course, which included 53 local physicians and staff. Following 15 hours of online pre-course preparation, through didactics and practical small-group exercises, the course focused on key components of international humanitarian response, minimum standards for effective response, and the roles of key response players. The course was free to participants and taught in English and French.Discussion:The HHRC reduced the barriers often faced by local actors who seek training in international humanitarian response by offering free training in their own community. It presents a novel approach to narrow critical gaps in training local populations in international humanitarian response, especially in environments prone to crises and disasters. This approach can help local responders better access international humanitarian response mechanisms when the local response capacity is exhausted or overwhelmed.Conclusion:The HHRC demonstrates a potential new model for humanitarian and disaster training and offers a model for similar programs in other disaster-prone countries. Ultimately, local capacity building could lead to more efficient resource utilization, improved knowledge sharing, and better disaster response.
THE -SCHUR ALGEBRAS AND -SCHUR DUALITIES OF FINITE TYPE
Authors: Luo Li , Wang Weiqiang 
Published: February 2020

AbstractWe formulate a $q$-Schur algebra associated with an arbitrary $W$-invariant finite set $X_{\text{f}}$ of integral weights for a complex simple Lie algebra with Weyl group $W$. We establish a $q$-Schur duality between the $q$-Schur algebra and Hecke algebra associated with $W$. We then realize geometrically the $q$-Schur algebra and duality and construct a canonical basis for the $q$-Schur algebra with positivity. With suitable choices of $X_{\text{f}}$ in classical types, we recover the $q$-Schur algebras in the literature. Our $q$-Schur algebras are closely related to the category ${\mathcal{O}}$, where the type $G_{2}$ is studied in detail.
Mechanisms linking exposure to preeclampsia in utero and the risk for cardiovascular disease
Authors: Andraweera Prabha H. , Gatford Kathryn L. , Care Alison S. , Bianco-Miotto Tina , Lassi Zohra S. , Dekker Gus A. , Arstall Margaret , Roberts Claire T. 
Published: February 2020

AbstractPreeclampsia (PE) is now recognised as a cardiovascular risk factor for women. Emerging evidence suggests that children exposed to PE in utero may also be at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in later life. Individuals exposed to PE in utero have higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure and higher body mass index (BMI) compared to those not exposed to PE in utero. The aim of this review is to discuss the potential mechanisms driving the relationship between PE and offspring CVD. Exposure to an adverse intrauterine environment as a consequence of the pathophysiological changes that occur during a pregnancy complicated by PE is proposed as one mechanism that programs the fetus for future CVD risk. Consistent with this hypothesis, animal models of PE where progeny have been studied demonstrate causality for programming of offspring cardiovascular health by the preeclamptic environment. Shared alleles between mother and offspring, and shared lifestyle factors between mother and offspring provide alternate pathways explaining associations between PE and offspring CVD risk. In addition, adverse lifestyle habits can also act as second hits for those programmed for increased CVD risk. PE and CVD are both multifactorial diseases and, hence, identifying the relative contribution of PE to offspring risk for CVD is a very complex task. However, considering the emerging strong association between PE and CVD, those exposed to PE in utero may benefit from targeted primary CVD preventive strategies.