bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Skin immunization for effective treatment of multifocal melanoma refractory to PD1 blockade and Braf inhibitors
Authors: Hao Xingxing , Falo III Louis D , Chen Guo , Zhang Jiying , Carey Cara D , Storkus Walter J , Falo Jr Louis D , You Zhaoyang 
Published: January 2021

BackgroundDespite the remarkable benefits associated with the interventional treatment of melanomas (and other solid cancers) with immune checkpoint and Braf inhibitors (Brafi), most patients ultimately progress on therapy. The presence of multifocal/disseminated disease in patients increases their mortality risk. Hence, the development of novel strategies to effectively treat patients with melanomas that are resistant to anti-PD1 mAb (αPD1) and/or Brafi, particularly those with multifocal/disseminated disease remains a major unmet clinical need.MethodsMice developing induced/spontaneous BrafV600E/Pten−/−melanomas were treated by cutaneous immunization with a DNA vaccine encoding the melanoma-associated antigen TRP2, with Brafi or αPD1 alone, or with a combination of these treatments. Tumor progression, tumor-infiltration by CD4+and CD8+T cells, and the development of TRP2-specific CD8+T cells were then monitored over time.ResultsVaccination led to durable antitumor immunity against PD1/Brafi-resistant melanomas in both single lesion and multifocal disease models, and it sensitized PD1-resistant melanomas to salvage therapy with αPD1. The therapeutic efficacy of the vaccine was associated with host skin-resident cells, the induction of a systemic, broadly reactive IFNγ+CD8+T cell repertoire, increased frequencies of CD8+TIL and reduced levels of PD1hi/intCD8+T cells. Extended survival was associated with improved TIL functionality, exemplified by the presence of enhanced levels of IFNγ+CD8+TIL and IL2+CD4+TIL.ConclusionsThese data support the use of a novel genetic vaccine for the effective treatment of localized or multifocal melanoma refractory to conventional αPD1-based and/or Brafi-based (immune)therapy.
Rationing, racism and justice: advancing the debate around ‘colourblind’ COVID-19 ventilator allocation
Authors: Schmidt Harald , Roberts Dorothy E , Eneanya Nwamaka D 
Published: January 2021

Withholding or withdrawing life-saving ventilators can become necessary when resources are insufficient. In the USA, such rationing has unique social justice dimensions. Structural elements of dominant allocation frameworks simultaneously advantage white communities, and disadvantage Black communities—who already experience a disproportionate burden of COVID-19-related job losses, hospitalisations and mortality. Using the example of New Jersey’s Crisis Standard of Care policy, we describe how dominant rationing guidance compounds for many Black patients prior unfair structural disadvantage, chiefly due to the way creatinine and life expectancy are typically considered.We outline six possible policy options towards a more just approach: improving diversity in decision processes, adjusting creatinine scores, replacing creatinine, dropping creatinine, finding alternative measures, adding equity weights and rejecting the dominant model altogether. We also contrast these options with making no changes, which is not a neutral default, but in separate need of justification, despite a prominent claim that it is simply based on ‘objective medical knowledge’. In the regrettable absence of fair federal guidance, hospital and state-level policymakers should reflect on which of these, or further options, seem feasible and justifiable.Irrespective of which approach is taken, all guidance should be supplemented with a monitoring and reporting requirement on possible disparate impacts. The hope that we will be able to continue to avoid rationing ventilators must not stand in the way of revising guidance in a way that better promotes health equity and racial justice, both to be prepared, and given the significant expressive value of ventilator guidance.
Current smoking and COVID-19 risk: results from a population symptom app in over 2.4 million people
Authors: Hopkinson Nicholas S , Rossi Niccolo , El-Sayed_Moustafa Julia , Laverty Anthony A , Quint Jennifer K , Freidin Maxim , Visconti Alessia , Murray Ben , Modat Marc , Ourselin Sebastien , Small Kerrin , Davies Richard , Wolf Jonathan , Spector Tim D , Steves Claire J , Falchi Mario 
Published: January 2021

Background
The association between current tobacco smoking, the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 and the severity of illness is an important information gap.

Methods
UK users of the Zoe COVID-19 Symptom Study app provided baseline data including demographics, anthropometrics, smoking status and medical conditions, and were asked to log their condition daily. Participants who reported that they did not feel physically normal were then asked by the app to complete a series of questions, including 14 potential COVID-19 symptoms and about hospital attendance. The main study outcome was the development of ‘classic’ symptoms of COVID-19 during the pandemic defined as fever, new persistent cough and breathlessness and their association with current smoking. The number of concurrent COVID-19 symptoms was used as a proxy for severity and the pattern of association between symptoms was also compared between smokers and non-smokers.

Results
Between 24 March 2020 and 23 April 2020, data were available on 2 401 982 participants, mean (SD) age 43.6 (15.1) years, 63.3% female, overall smoking prevalence 11.0%. 834 437 (35%) participants reported being unwell and entered one or more symptoms. Current smokers were more likely to report symptoms suggesting a diagnosis of COVID-19; classic symptoms adjusted OR (95% CI) 1.14 (1.10 to 1.18); >5 symptoms 1.29 (1.26 to 1.31); >10 symptoms 1.50 (1.42 to 1.58). The pattern of association between reported symptoms did not vary between smokers and non-smokers.

Interpretation
These data are consistent with people who smoke being at an increased risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19.
Bernoulli Factories and Black-box Reductions in Mechanism Design
Authors: Dughmi Shaddin , Hartline Jason , Kleinberg Robert D. , Niazadeh Rad 
Published: January 2021

We provide a polynomial time reduction from Bayesian incentive compatible mechanism design to Bayesian algorithm design for welfare maximization problems. Unlike prior results, our reduction achieves exact incentive compatibility for problems with multi-dimensional and continuous type spaces. The key technical barrier preventing exact incentive compatibility in prior black-box reductions is that repairing violations of incentive constraints requires understanding the distribution of the mechanism’s output, which is typically #P-hard to compute. Reductions that instead estimate the output distribution by sampling inevitably suffer from sampling error, which typically precludes exact incentive compatibility. We overcome this barrier by employing and generalizing the computational model in the literature on
Bernoulli Factories
. In a Bernoulli factory problem, one is given a function mapping the bias of an “input coin” to that of an “output coin,” and the challenge is to efficiently simulate the output coin given only sample access to the input coin. This is the key ingredient in designing an incentive compatible mechanism for bipartite matching, which can be used to make the approximately incentive compatible reduction of Hartline et al. [18] exactly incentive compatible.
Circulating 27-hydroxycholesterol and Risk of Colorectal Adenomas and Serrated Polyps
Authors: Passarelli Michael N. , Thompson Bonne M. , McDonald Jeffrey G. , Snover Dale C. , Palys Thomas J. , Rees Judy R. , Barry Elizabeth L. , Baron John A. 
Published: January 2021

Abstract

The oxysterol 27-hydroxycholesterol (27-OHC) is an endogenous selective estrogen receptor modulator implicated in breast cancer etiology. It is unknown whether circulating 27-OHC is associated with colorectal neoplasia risk. Circulating 27-OHC was measured using LC/MS in fasting plasma collected at baseline from participants of the Vitamin D/Calcium Polyp Prevention Study, a completed randomized clinical trial. Participants were between 45 and 75 years old, recently diagnosed with ≥1 colorectal adenoma, and followed for new colorectal polyps during colonoscopic surveillance. Adjusted risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of new colorectal polyps were estimated for quartiles of circulating 27-OHC using log-linear regression for repeated outcomes. Polyp phenotypes included any adenomas, advanced adenomas, hyperplastic polyps, and sessile serrated adenomas/polyps. Circulating 27-OHC was measured at baseline for 1,246 participants. Compared with participants with circulating 27-OHC below the first quartile (&lt;138 ng/mL), those with circulating 27-OHC at or above the fourth quartile (≥201 ng/mL) had 24% higher risk of adenomas (RR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.05–1.47) and 89% higher risk of advanced adenomas (RR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.17–3.06). Stronger associations were observed among participants with advanced adenomas at baseline. Circulating 27-OHC was not associated with risk of hyperplastic polyps (RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.66–1.22) or sessile serrated adenomas/polyps (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.50–2.07). Circulating 27-OHC may be a risk factor for colorectal adenomas but not serrated polyps.

Prevention Relevance:
This study found that plasma concentration of 27-hydroxycholesterol, a metabolite of cholesterol that regulates lipid metabolism and acts as a selective estrogen receptor modulator, is associated with the risk of developing precursor lesions for colorectal cancer.
Corpus-based technique for improving Arabic OCR system
Authors: Aliwy Ahmed Hussain , Al-Sadawi Basheer 
Published: January 2021

<p><span>An optical character recognition (OCR) refers to a process of converting the text document images into editable and searchable text. OCR process poses several challenges in particular in the Arabic language due to it has caused a high percentage of errors. In this paper, a method, to improve the outputs of the Arabic Optical character recognition (AOCR) Systems is suggested based on a statistical language model built from the available huge corpora. This method includes detecting and correcting non-word and real words error according to the context of the word in the sentence. The results show that the percentage of improvement in the results is up to (98%) as a new accuracy for AOCR output. </span></p>
Reversible image authentication scheme based on prediction error expansion
Authors: Nguyen Thai-Son , Vo Phuoc-Hung 
Published: January 2021

<span>Reversible image authentication scheme is a technique that detects tampered areas in images and allows them to be reconstructed to their original version without any distortion. In this article, a new, reversible, image authentication scheme based on prediction error expansion is proposed for digital images. The proposed scheme classifies the host image into smooth blocks and complex blocks. Then, an authentication code that is created randomly with a seed is embedded adaptively into each image block. Experimental results showed that our proposed scheme achieves the high accuracy of tamper detection and preserved high image quality. Moreover, the proposed scheme achieved the reversibility, which is needed for some special applications, such as fine artwork, military images, and medical images. </span>
Multiloop low bandwidth communication-based power sharing control for microgrids
Authors: Pathan Erum , Abu Bakar Afarulrazi , Hayat Khan Mubashir , Asad Muhammad , Arshad Haider 
Published: January 2021

<span>In parallel-connected inverter-based microgrids, the reactive power sharing accuracy can not have satisfactory results effortlessly. Mismatch in feeder impedances of the parallel-connected inverter-based microgrids is a significant cause of inaccurate reactive power-sharing. In voltage source inverters (VSI) based microgrids, especially for the islanded mode of operation, the conventional centralized or decentralized control techniques are not much helpful to control the voltage deviations due to impedance mismatch. Mismatch of the feeder impedance is compensated by the addition of fixed virtual impedance. Whereas, the change in the virtual impedance is compensated by adaptive virtual impedance-based control techniques which are helpful to mitigate power-sharing errors, but in most of the control schemes virtual impedance-based control mechanism needs pre-knowledge of feeder impedance which increases the computational burden. This paper presents a decentralized virtual impedance-based power sharing control. In the proposed control solution to mitigate reactive power sharing errors in distributed generation (DG) units, mismatch of the parallel-connected feeder impedance is equalized by regulating the addition of equivalent impedance to each DG inverter. Proposed control technique offers an independent implementation without any pre-knowledge of the feeder impedance. Hence, the implementation of the control scheme is a straightforward and computational burden is also reduced. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the control scheme. </span>
Comments on “Do Ultrafine Cloud Condensation Nuclei Invigorate Deep Convection?”
Authors: Fan Jiwen , Khain Alexander 
Published: January 2021

AbstractHere we elaborate on the deficiencies associated with the theoretical arguments and model simulations in a paper by Grabowski and Morrison (2020, hereafter GM20) that argued convective invigoration by aerosols does not exist. We show that the invigoration can be supported by both accurate theoretical analysis and explicit physics modeling with prognostic supersaturation and aerosols. Negligible invigoration by aerosols via drop freezing in GM20 was explained by a complete compensation between the heating effect from the freezing of extra liquid water and the extra loading effect during droplet ascending. But the reality is that droplet ascending then freezing occur at different locations and time scales, producing complex nonlinear responses that depend on the duration and location of the forcing. Also, this argument neglects the effect of off-loading of precipitating ice particles, increases in condensation during ascending, and riming and deposition accompanying droplet freezing. Regarding the warm-phase invigoration, the quasi-steady assumption for supersaturation as adopted in GM20 makes condensation independent of droplet number and size, therefore an incorrect interpretation of warm-phase invigoration. We illustrate that the quasi-steady assumption is invalid for updrafts of deep convective clouds in clean conditions because of the high acceleration of vertical velocity and the fast depletion of droplets by raindrop formation and accretion. Any assumption imposed on supersaturation, such as quasi-steady approximation and saturation adjustment, leads to errors in the evaluation of aerosol effects on diffusional growth and related buoyancy. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the piggybacking approach they used cannot prove or disprove the convective invigoration.
Reply to “Comments on ‘Do Ultrafine Cloud Condensation Nuclei Invigorate Deep Convection?’”
Authors: Grabowski Wojciech W. , Morrison Hugh 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThis is a rebuttal of Fan and Khain’s comments (hereafter FK21) on a 2020 paper by Grabowski and Morrison (hereafter GM20) that questions the impact of ultrafine cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) on deep convection. GM20 argues that “cold invigoration,” an increase of the updraft speed from lofting and freezing of additional cloud water in polluted environments, is unlikely because the latent heating from freezing of this cloud water approximately recovers the negative impact on the buoyancy from the weight of this water. FK21 suggest a variety of processes that could invalidate our claim. We maintain that our argument is valid and invite the authors to compare their microphysics scheme with ours in the same simplified modeling framework. However, pollution does affect the partitioning of latent heating within the column and likely leads to convection changes beyond a single diurnal cycle through larger-scale circulation changes. This argument explains impacts seen in our idealized mesoscale simulations and in convective–radiative equilibrium simulations by others. We agree with FK21 on the existence of a “warm invigoration” mechanism but question its interpretation. Consistent with the simulations in GM20, we argue that changes in the buoyancy can be explained by the response of the supersaturation to droplet microphysical changes induced by pollution. The buoyancy change is determined by supersaturation differences between pristine and polluted conditions, while condensation rate responds to these supersaturation changes. Finally, we agree with FK21 that the piggybacking modeling technique cannot prove or disprove invigoration; rather, it is a diagnostic technique that can be used to understand mechanisms driving simulation differences.
Impact of latent tuberculosis infection on health and wellbeing: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Wong Yen Jun , Noordin Noorliza Mohd , Keshavjee Salmaan , Lee Shaun Wen Huey 
Published: January 2021

The impact of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) on health and wellbeing is not well understood. This review aims to evaluate the health and wellbeing of individuals with LTBI.A systematic literature search was performed to assess studies reporting patient-reported outcomes in LTBI management including health-related quality of life (HRQoL), health utilities, disease burden and experience of individuals with LTBI. A pooled analysis was performed to estimate the effect of LTBI on HRQoL.A total of 4464 studies were screened, of which 13 eligible articles describing nine unique studies were included for review. The HRQoL of individuals with LTBI and without tuberculosis (TB) infection were comparable, and better than patients with active TB disease. However, individuals with LTBI reported poorer mental health compared with individuals without TB infection (mean difference −4.16, 95% CI −7.45– −0.87; p=0.01). Qualitative studies suggest the presence of fear, anxiety and stigma in individuals with LTBI.This review highlights potential psychosocial challenges in individuals with LTBI despite the absence of clinical symptoms. While their quality of life was marginally affected, this could be evidence to support LTBI management in preventing TB re-activation and the severe consequences of active TB disease that affect all domains of HRQoL.
Cardiac parameters affect prognosis in patients with non-large atherosclerotic infarction
Authors: Zeng Ya-Ying , Zhang Wen-Bo , Cheng Lin , Wang Li , Geng Dan-Dan , Tang Wen-Jie , He Jin-Cai , Deng Bin-Bin 
Published: January 2021

Abstract
Background
Although large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) is the most common type of cerebral infarction, non-LAA is not uncommon. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prognosis of patients with non-LAA and to establish a corresponding nomogram.

Patients and methods
Between June 2016 and June 2017, we had 1101 admissions for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Of these, 848 were LAA and 253 were non-LAA. Patients were followed up every 3 months with a minimum of 1 year of follow-up. After excluding patients who were lost follow-up and patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria, a total of 152 non-LAA patients were included in this cohort study. After single-factor analysis and multifactor logistic regression analysis, the risk factors associated with prognosis were derived and different nomograms were developed based on these risk factors. After comparison, the best model is derived.

Results
Logistics regression found that the patient’s National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, ejection fraction (EF), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), age, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and serum albumin were independently related to the patient’s prognosis. We thus developed three models: model 1: single NIHSS score, AUC = 0.8534; model 2, NIHSS + cardiac parameters (CK-MB, EF), AUC = 0.9325; model 3, NIHSS + CK−MB + EF + age + AST + NLR + albumin, AUC = 0.9598. We compare the three models: model 1 vs model 2, z = − 2.85, p = 0.004; model 2 vs model 3, z = − 1.58, p = 0.122. Therefore, model 2 is considered to be the accurate and convenient model.

Conclusions
Predicting the prognosis of patients with non-LAA is important, and our nomogram, built on the NIHSS and cardiac parameters, can predict the prognosis accurately and provide a powerful reference for clinical decision making.
Eccentric compression behavior of long poplar columns externally reinforced by BFRP
Authors: Zhou Ling , Liu Qing , Ma Shengqiang , Han Xia 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe column, which is the vertical main structural part of the building, bears the force transmitted from the upper beam and slab and is a crucial part of the structure. In this study, the columns with a rectangular section cut from poplar were reinforced by basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) strips with four different reinforced configurations. The mechanical behaviors of the specimens were also investigated under different eccentricities. Experimental results are presented as follows: for the wooden columns under axial compression, the wooden column BFRP with one layer spaced apart, two layers spaced apart, one layer fully filled, and two layers fully reinforced demonstrated increased bearing capacities of 3.13%, 30.00%, 40.63%, and 65.00%, respectively; the longitudinal strain increased by 7.54%, 19.65%, 22.06%, and 30.69%, and the lateral strain decreased by 26.53%, 29.80%, 41.30%, and 66.64%, respectively. Meanwhile, for the wooden column subjected to eccentric compression, the bearing capacities of the aforementioned wooden column BFRP configurations increased by 8.70%, 19.56%, 23.91%, and 30.43%; the longitudinal strain of the wooden column increased by 25.41%, 35.20%, 39.52%, and 41.85%; and the transverse strain increased by 130.77%, 166.77%, 192.57%, and 230.86%. In addition, the finite element model was used to simulate the eccentric compression behavior of the specimen. However, the ultimate bearing capacity and deflection of the analyzed column were higher than the test value. This finding was due to the completely ideal state of poplar in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) modeling without the influence of some initial defects, such as knots. These values can roughly be used as a reference for experimental results for the repair and reinforcement of poplar structures in Xinjiang.