bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Performance of TGSE BLADE DWI in the diagnosis of cholesteatoma compared with RESOLVE DWI
Authors: Sheng Yaru , Hong Rujian , Sha Yan , Zhang Zhongshuai , Zhou Kun , Fu Caixia 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Background: Based on the high resolution of soft tissue, MRI has gained increasing importance in the evaluation of cholesteatoma, especially diffusion-weighted imaging(DWI). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of 2D turbo gradient- and spin-echo (TGSE) diffusion-weighted (DW) pulse sequence with BLADE trajectory technique in the diagnosis of cholesteatoma at 3T and to qualitatively and quantitatively compare the image quality between the TGSE BLADE and RESOLVE methods.Method: A total of 42 patients (23 males, 19 females; age range, 7-65 years; mean, 40.1 years) with surgically confirmed cholesteatoma in the middle ear were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent DWI (both the prototype TGSE BLADE DWI sequence and RESOLVE DWI sequence) using a 3-T scanner with a 64-channel brain coil.Qualitative imaging parameters (imaging sharpness, geometric distortion, ghosting artifacts, and overall imaging quality) and quantitative imaging parameters (apparent diffusion coefficient [ADC], signal-to-noise ratio [SNR], contrast, and contrast-to-noise ratio [CNR] for the two diffusion acquisition techniques were assessed by two independent radiologists. Result: Comparison of the qualitative scores indicated that TGSE BLADE DWI produced less geometric distortion and ghosting artifacts (P<0.001) and higher image quality (P<0.001) than RESOLVE DWI. Comparison of the evaluated quantitative image parameters between TGSE and RESOLVE showed that TGSE BLADE DWI produced a significantly lower SNR (P<0.001) and higher parameter values (both contrast and CNR (P < 0.001)) than RESOLVE DWI.The ADC (P<0.001) measured by TGSE BLADE DWI (0.763×10-3 s/mm2) is significantly lower than that measured by RESOLVE DWI (0.928×10-3 s/mm2). Conclusion: Comparing with RESOLVE DWI, TGSE BLADE DWI can significantly improve the image quality of cholesteatoma by reducing magnetic sensitive artifacts, distortion, and blurring. TGSE BLADE DWI is more valuable for the diagnosis of small-sized (2mm) cholesteatoma lesions compare with RESOLVE DWI image. However, TGSE BLADE DWI also has some disadvantages: the whole image intensity is slightly low, so that the anatomical details of the air-bone interface are not well shown, which is the place to be improved in the future.
Discriminative Pattern of Reduced Cerebral Blood Flow in Parkinson's Disease and Parkinsonism-Plus Syndrome: an ASL-MRI study
Authors: Cheng Lina , Wu Xiaoyan , Guo Ruomi , Wang Yuzhou , Wang Wensheng , He Peng , Lin Hanbo , Shen Jun 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Background: Accurate identification of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Parkinsonism-Plus syndrome (PPS), especially in the early stage of the disease, is very important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the discriminative spatial pattern of cerebral blood flow (CBF) between patients with PD and PPS.Methods: Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion-weighted imaging was performed in 20 patients with PD (mean age 56.35±7.56 years), 16 patients with PPS (mean age 59.62±6.89 years), and 17 healthy controls (HCs, mean age 54.17±6.58 years). Voxel-wise comparison of the CBF was performed among PD, PPS and HC groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the performance of CBF in discriminating between PD and PPS.Results: PD group showed a significantly decreased CBF in the right cerebelum_crus2, the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), the triangle inferior frontal gyrus (IFG_Tri), the left frontal medial orbital gyrus (FG_Med_Orb) and the left caudate nucleus (CN) compared with the HC group (P < 0.05). Besides the above regions, the left supplementary motor area (SMA), the right thalamus had decreased CBF in the PPS group compared with the HC group (P < 0.05). PPS group had lower CBF value in the left MFG, the left IFG_Tri, the left CN, the left SMA, and the right thalamus compared with the PD group (P < 0.05). CBFs in left IFG_Tri, the left CN, the left SMA, and the right thalamus had moderate to high capacity in discriminating between PD and PPS patients (AUC 0.719-0.831).Conclusion: PD and PPS patients have certain discriminative patterns of reduced CBFs, which can be used as a surrogate marker for differential diagnosis.
Primary outcome reporting in adolescent depression clinical trials needs standardization
Authors: Monsour Andrea , Mew Emma J. , Patel Sagar , Chee-a-tow Alyssandra , Saeed Leena , Santos Lucia , Courtney Darren , Watson Priya N. , Monga Suneeta , Szatmari Peter , Offringa Martin , Butcher Nancy J. 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Background : Evidence-based health care is informed by results of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and their syntheses in meta-analyses. When the trial outcomes measured are not clearly described in trial publications, knowledge synthesis, translation, and decision-making may be impeded. While heterogeneity in outcomes measured in adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) RCTs has been described, the comprehensiveness of outcome reporting is unknown. This study aimed to assess the reporting of primary outcomes in RCTs evaluating treatments for adolescent MDD. Methods : RCTs evaluating treatment interventions in adolescents with a diagnosis of MDD published between 2008 and 2017 specifying a single primary outcome were eligible for outcome reporting assessment. Outcome reporting assessment was done independently in duplicate using a comprehensive checklist of 58 reporting items. Primary outcome information provided in each RCT publication was scored as “fully reported”, “partially reported”, or “not reported” for each checklist item, as applicable. Results : Eighteen RCTs were included. Most trials (72%) did not fully report on over half of the 58 checklist items. Items describing masking of outcome assessors, timing and frequency of outcome assessment, and outcome analyses were fully reported in over 70% of trials. Items less frequently reported included outcome measurement instrument properties (ranging from 6-17%), justification of timing and frequency of outcome assessment (6%), and justification of criteria used for clinically significant differences (17%). Conclusions : Heterogeneous reporting exists in published adolescent MDD RCTs, with frequent omissions of key details about their primary outcomes. These omissions may impair interpretability, replicability, and synthesis of RCTs that inform clinical guidelines and decision-making in this field. Consensus on the minimal criteria for outcome reporting in adolescent MDD RCTs is needed. Trial registration: Not applicable
Handling of spurious sequences affects the outcome of high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiling
Authors: Reitmeier Sandra , Hitch Thomas CA , Fikas Nikolaos , Hausmann Bela , Ramer-Tait Amanda E , Neuhaus Klaus , Berry David , Haller Dirk , Lagkouvardos Ilias , Clavel Thomas 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Background: 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing is a very popular approach for studying microbiomes. However, varying standards exist for sample and data processing and some basic concepts such as the occurrence of spurious sequences have not been investigated in a comprehensive manner, which was done in the present study. Methods: Using defined communities of bacteria in vitro and in vivo , we searched for sequences not matching the expected species ( i.e. , spurious taxa) and determine a threshold of occurrence relevant for adequate data analysis. The origin of spurious taxa was then investigated via large-scale amplicon queries. We also assessed the impact of varying sequence filtering stringency on diversity readouts in human fecal and peat soil communities. Results: 16S rRNA gene amplicon data processing based on Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) clustering and singleton removal, a commonly used approach that discards any taxa represented by only one sequence across all samples, delivered approx. 50% (mock communities) to 80% (gnotobiotic mice) spurious taxa on average. This spurious fraction of taxa was lower based on amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) analysis but varied depending on the gene region targeted and the barcoding system used. A relative abundance of 0.25% was identified as a threshold below which the analysis of spurious taxa can be prevented to a large extent. Most spurious taxa (approx. 70%) detected in simplified communities occurred in samples multiplexed in the same sequencing run and were present in only one of ten runs. Use of the 0.25% relative abundance threshold decreased the coefficient of variations calculated on richness in the same six human fecal samples across seven sequencing runs by 38% compared with singleton filtering. The output of beta -diversity analyses of human fecal communities was markedly affected by both the filtering strategy and the type of phylogenetic distances used for comparing samples. Importantly, major findings were confirmed by using data generated in a second sequencing facility. Conclusions: Handling of artifact sequences during bioinformatic processing of 16S rRNA gene amplicon data requires careful attention to avoid the generation of misleading findings. A threshold of relative abundance of 0.25% is more appropriate than singleton removal, although study-specific analysis strategies are mandatory. We propose the concept of effective richness, which will help comparing results across studies.
Precision of raw and bias-adjusted satellite precipitation estimations (TRMM, IMERG, CMORPH, and PERSIANN) over extreme flood events: case study in Langat river basin, Malaysia
Authors: Soo Eugene Zhen Xiang , Wan Jaafar Wan Zurina , Lai Sai Hin , Othman Faridah , Elshafie Ahmed , Islam Tanvir , Srivastava Prashant , Othman Hadi Hazlina Salehan 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Although satellite precipitation products (SPPs) increasingly provide an alternative means to ground-based observations, these estimations exhibit large systematic and random errors which may cause large uncertainties in hydrologic modeling. Three approaches of bias correction (BC), i.e. linear scaling (LS), local intensity scaling (LOCI), and power transformation (PT), were applied on four SPPs (TRMM, IMERG, CMORPH, and PERSIANN) during 2014/2015 extreme floods in Langat river basin, and the performance in terms of rainfall and streamflow were investigated. The results show that the original TRMM had a potential to predict the peak streamflow although CMORPH show the best performance in general. After performing BC, it is found that the LS-IMERG and LOCI-TRMM show the best performance at both rainfall and streamflow analysis. Generally, it is indicated that the current SPP estimations are still imperfect for any hydrological applications. Cross validation of different datasets is required to avoid the calibration effects of datasets.
Causes of Deterioration in XLPE MV Cables: A Review
Authors: Oluwafemi Ifetayo , Salau Ayodeji Olalekan , Laseinde Timothy 
Published: January 2020

Background:
Power failure and its related challenges is the cause of low economic development
in most developing countries. Power failure is sometimes caused by the constant technical
problems experienced by power network components which are being used for electric power
transmission and distribution.

:
Most distribution and transmission substations operate at medium voltages. Medium Voltage (MV)
cables provide an efficient means of power distribution to customers. In recent times, medium voltage
cables with cross-linked Polyethylene are most commonly used in modern power systems
compared to the classical or paper-insulated cables due to their high resistance to Partial Discharge
(PD), good electrical properties, and ability to operate at high temperature levels. However, during
the process of transmission the deterioration of a cable is inevitable. This reduces the reliability and
efficiency of the transmission and distribution process, which is of course a serious concern to
power engineers and consumers.

:
Owing to the challenges experienced from the degradation of MV XLPE cables, it has become
highly imperative to investigate the causes of failure in power network cables used for the transmission
and distribution of electric power.

Methods:
A comprehensive review was carried out to understand the fundamental causes of MV XLPE
degradation. This was pivotal in adopting the right monitoring technique for the MV XLPE cable.

Results:
The results show that the major causes of MV network cable faults are attributed to either
material related or external causes. It was also discovered that there are different fault rates for different
MV cable types. Further discoveries show that the XLPE cables failure rate is minimal compared
to the Nordic Oil-paper cables which are said to have an average faults occurrences detection
of about 4-5 times higher than that of the XLPE cables. Oil paper cables experience high failure
rates and in addition experience substantial defects in their cable joints.

Conclusion:
This paper presented a comprehensive review of the causes of MV XLPE cable degradation
and proffers solutions to the lingering challenges associated with MV XLPE cables.
Investigation of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Properties with Coprecipitation Methods Under Different Reaction Conditions
Authors: Salgın Sema , Salgın Uğur , Soyer Nagihan 
Published: January 2020

Objective:
In this study, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by cost effective
and an easy co-precipitation method.

Method:
The effects of reaction parameters such as the mole ratio of Fe2+/Fe3+ (1/1, 1/2 and 1/3)
and the base type (NaOH and NH4OH) on the average hydrodynamic diameter, zeta potential,
chemical and morphological structure and saturation magnetization values of magnetic iron oxide
nanoparticles were systematically investigated.

Result:
Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized at the mole ratio of 1/2 using NH4OH base
gave better results in terms of particle size and particle shape, magnetization value.

Conclusion:
In order to prevent the formation of different phases in the co-precipitation method,
an alternative approach was developed and the reaction was performed using inert supercritical
CO2 atmosphere.
Awareness of the Signs, Symptoms, and Risk Factors of Cancer and the Barriers to Seeking Help in the UK: Comparison of Survey Data Collected Online and Face-to-Face
Authors: Connor Katie , Hudson Briony , Power Emily 
Published: January 2020

Background
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, causing an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018. Low cancer symptom awareness has been associated with poor cancer survival for all cancers combined. The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) is a validated, face-to-face survey used since 2008 to measure the UK public’s awareness of the symptoms and risk factors of cancer as well as the barriers to seeking help.

Objective
The aim of this study is to explore whether online data collection can produce a representative sample of the UK population, compare awareness of cancer signs and risk factors and the barriers to seeking help between data collected online and face-to-face, and examine the relationships between awareness and demographic variables.

Methods
Differences in awareness of cancer signs, symptoms, and risk factors among samples were explored while adjusting for demographic differences (age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, marital status, and country of residence) to distinguish the effect of data collection method. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios for recall and recognition of signs and symptoms, risk factors, and barriers to seeking help.

Results
A total of 4075 participants completed the CAM, 20% (n=819) via face-to-face interviews and 80% online (n=3256; agency A: n=1190; agency B: n=2066). Comparisons of data collected using face-to-face interviews and online surveys revealed minor differences between samples. Both methods provided representative samples of the UK population with slight differences in awareness of signs, symptoms, and risk factors and frequency of help-seeking barriers reported.

Conclusions
These findings support a move to online data collection for the CAM. The flexibility afforded will enable the CAM to explore a wider range of issues related to the prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.
Annotation Guideline No. 6: SANTA 6 Collaborative Annotation as a Teaching Tool Between Theory and Practice
Authors: Bauer Matthias , Lahrsow Miriam 
Published: January 2020

These guidelines were developed in our seminar “Digital Methods in Literary Studies”, which was aimed at M.A. students and advanced B.A. students. At the beginning of the seminar, students were introduced to the aims and challenges of digital annotating in general as well as to different narratological theories (including Genette, Ryan, Nelles, and Füredy). Due to its narratologically challenging nature, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was chosen as a text against which we could test our guidelines and which triggered their modification. In Frankenstein many changes (e.g. of narrator and narratee) occur at the beginning of chapters. Even though such changes can, of course, also be found in the middle of chapters, annotators should pay special attention to the beginning of chapters, because they often coincide with a change in narrator, narratee, or narrated world.
Perbandingan Expanded Curb-65 Terhadap Curb-65 dan Psi Dalam Memprediksi Luaran Pasien Cap
Authors: Suyastri Suyastri , Medison Irvan , Herman Deddy , Russilawati Russilawati 
Published: January 2020

<p><em>Tingkat keparahan CAP adalah poin penting pengambilan keputusan perawatan pasien. Beberapa metode telah digunakan untuk menilai tingkat keparahan pneumonia seperti Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), CURB-65, SMART-COP dan Expanded CURB-65. Metode tersebut memiliki kelebihan dan kekurangan. Expanded CURB 65 diusulkan menjadi metode yang lebih akurat untuk mengevaluasi keparahan pneumonia dan memprediksi kematian pasien CAP. Tujuan penelitian ini memprediksi keakuratan Expanded CURB 65 dibandingkan CURB 65 dan PSI. Penelitian kohort prospektif pada pasien CAP yang dirawat di RSUP Dr. M.Djamil Padang dari April sampai Oktober 2019. Tingkat keparahan CAP pada pasien dinilai menggunakan PSI, CURB 65, Expanded CURB 65, kemudian hasilnya dievaluasi berdasarkan keparahan. Data dianalisis menggunakan regresi logistik dengan CI 95% dan nilai p &lt;0,05 dianggap signifikan. Hasil penelitian pada 90 pasien sebagian besar laki-laki usia 53 tahun dengan komorbiditas terbanyak keganasan. Uji Pearson Chi aquare menunjukkan tidak ada hubungan antara tingkat keparahan berdasarkan CURB 65 dan luaran pengobatan (CI 95%, nilai p = 0,104). Sementara, PSI dan Expanded CURB 65 memiliki hubungan yang signifikan antara tingkat keparahan dan luaran (CI 95%, p=0,081 dan CI 95%, p= 0,046, masing-masing). Analisis multivariat menemukan Expanded CURB 65 lebih akurat dalam memprediksi luaran pasien CAP rawat inap (kappa =0,108 dan AUC=0,422).</em></p><p><em><br /></em></p><p><em><em>Severity of CAP is very important for site care decision inpatients. Several methods have been used to assess the severity of pneumonia such as Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), CURB-65, SMART-COP and Expanded CURB-65. Those methods have advantages and disadvantages. Expanded CURB 65 is proposed to be more accurate method for evaluating pneumonia severity and predicting mortality in CAP. The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of Expanded CURB 65 compare to CURB 65 and PSI. Cohort prospective study was conducted for CAP patients who were hospitalized at RSUP Dr. M.Djamil Padang from April to October 2019. Patients was assesed for severity using PSI, CURB 65, Expanded CURB 65, then we evaluated it’s outcome. The data were analyzed by logistic regression with CI 95% and p value &lt;0,05 considered as statistically significant. We found 90 patients that predominantly males with an average age of 53 years, and the most common comorbidity is malignancy. There was no relationship between pneumonia severity by CURB 65 and outcome (CI 95%, p=0.104). PSI and Expanded CURB 65 had significant relationship between severity and outcome (CI 95%, p=0.081and CI 95%, p=0.046, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed the expanded CURB 65 was more accurate for predicting the outcome of CAP inpatients (kappa=0.108 and AUC= 0.422).</em></em></p>
In-Vitro Comparative Dissolution Study of Commercially Available Paracetamol Tablet
Authors: Kar Ayan Kumar , Kar Banhishikha 
Published: January 2020

Quality is the most important issue in the pharmaceutical field due to the presence of a drug which is considered as safe and therapeutically active agent. In-vitro evaluation ensures their quality, bioavailability as well as optimum therapeutic activity. Paracetamol (acetaminophen) which are the active metabolites of phenacetin is commonly used for the relief of headaches and pains, and is a major ingredient in numerous cold and flu remedies. Paracetamols are available in different brands in Indian market. The main objective of the present study was to conduct the comparative in-vitro dissolution studies of various brands collected from the local market to determine whether all the formulations used were equivalent or significantly different. The calibration curve was constructed covering the concentration range of 1 to 10 mcg/ml at 268 nm by UV spectrophotometer (UV 2203 Double beam spectrophotometer, Shimadzu). Five different brands of Paracetamol of 500 mg conventional tablets from different manufacturers were selected in the study and dissolution testing in Phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 was conducted from each brands for 90 mins by using dissolution testing apparatus USP type-II. The dissolution rate was subjected to various mathematical models like zero order, first order, Higuchi and Hixson-Crowell equations to elucidate the kinetic behavior of drug release from the test samples. Different release kinetics model of all the selected brands was assuring the quality standard of manufacturing.
Keywords: Paracetamol, Marketed Tablet, In-Vitro dissolution study, Release profile.
Targeted Based Drug Delivery System for Colon Cancer
Authors: Kaur Veerpal , Amandeep Singh Amandeep Singh , Kaur Kirandeep , Rath Goutam 
Published: January 2020

Regardless of so many advancements in the treatment, colon cancer still stands third in cancer-related deaths worldwide. Toxicity associated with conventional drugs is one of the major problems associated with chemotherapy. Targeted delivery works by concentrating the medication in the tissues of interest and reducing the concentration in remaining tissues. This delivery system helps the drug molecule to reach preferably to the desired site. The targeting will lower the requirement of a higher dose of the drug thus reducing the dosage frequency. The present review focuses on the various parameters of targeted drug delivery including the criteria for selection of drug and factors affecting the targeted drug delivery and also includes the brief discussion about different targeted drug deliveries for colon cancer therapies.
Keywords: colon cancer, targeted drug delivery, chemotherapies