bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Predictors of postendoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis, analysis of more than half a million procedures performed nationwide over the last 15 years
Authors: Abbas Ali , Sethi Sajiv , Vidyarthi Gitanjali , Taunk Pushpak 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackground and AimPost‐ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) is the most common complication following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). It is still controversial whether the presence of a trainee would increase the risk of PEP. Additionally, the effects of demographic factors and comorbidities on the risk and severity of PEP are not fully understood. Our aim was to evaluate these factors using national database.MethodsNationwide Inpatient Sample 2000–2014 was used to identify adult patients admitted with biliary obstruction without acute pancreatitis and had an inpatient ERCP. PEP was defined as having a subsequent diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. The presence of major organs failure marked moderate–severe PEP. Demographic information, hospital characteristics, and ERCP intervention types were collected.ResultsWe included 654 394 patients. Overall PEP rate was 5.4%. The PEP rate was lower in teaching (4.8%) compared with nonteaching (6.2%, P < 0.001) hospitals. The highest PEP rate was observed among patients undergoing Sphincter of Oddi Manometry (15.1%, odds ratio [OR] = 2.5, P < 0.001) as compared to diagnostic cholangiography (4.4%). Asians and Hispanics had higher rate of PEP (10% and 7.9%, respectively) compared with Caucasians and African Americans (4.9% and 5%, respectively, P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that after controlling for the ERCP intervention types, Asians and Hispanics continued to have higher odds of PEP (OR = 1.3, P < 0.001). Seventeen percent of patients were classified as moderate–severe PEP. Older patients (OR = 3.2, P < 0.001), males (OR = 1.4, P < 0.001), and high comorbidities (1.3, P < 0.001) were major predictors of moderate–severe PEP.ConclusionNo evidence of higher PEP rates in teaching hospitals. Asians and Hispanics had higher PEP rates. Although ERCP intervention type is the major PEP predictor, its severity is dependent on patient characteristics.
Intrauterine and post‐ovipositional embryonic development of Amerotyphlops brongersmianus (Vanzolini, 1976) (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) from northeastern Argentina
Authors: Sandoval María Teresa , Ruiz García José Augusto , Álvarez Blanca Beatriz 
Published: April 2020

AbstractThe reproductive biology and embryonic development of Typhlopidae have rarely been explored. This family of snakes includes mostly oviparous species with uterine egg retention, but the morphology and development of embryos remain unknown. This work aimed to describe the embryonic development of Amerotyphlops brongersmianus from the northeast of Argentina. For this purpose, embryos from intrauterine eggs of gravid females and eight post‐ovipositional eggs incubated in the laboratory were analyzed. Embryonic stages, corresponding to the early, mid and advanced development, and a hatchling were described. The main organs and systems form during the period of intrauterine embryonic retention. Comparing to other snakes, differences in the development of cranial structures such as encephalic vesicles and mandibular and maxillary processes were identified. After oviposition the development and differentiation of the tissues and organs completes, the body scales develop, the characteristic pattern of pigmentation establishes and the embryo grows and consumes the yolk. On average, the incubation period lasts 55 days. Differences in the stage of development at oviposition among females of different populations were observed. Embryonic retention could extend up to advanced stages of development.
MRI of the Pancreas
Authors: Harrington Kate A. , Shukla‐Dave Amita , Paudyal Ramesh , Do Richard K.G. 
Published: April 2020

MRI has played a critical role in the evaluation of patients with pancreatic pathologies, from screening of patients at high risk for pancreatic cancer to the evaluation of pancreatic cysts and indeterminate pancreatic lesions. The high mortality associated with pancreatic adenocarcinomas has spurred much interest in developing effective screening tools, with MRI using magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) playing a central role in the hopes of identifying cancers at earlier stages amenable to curative resection. Ongoing efforts to improve the resolution and robustness of imaging of the pancreas using MRI may thus one day reduce the mortality of this deadly disease. However, the increasing use of cross‐sectional imaging has also generated a concomitant clinical conundrum: How to manage incidental pancreatic cystic lesions that are found in over a quarter of patients who undergo MRCP. Efforts to improve the specificity of MRCP for patients with pancreatic cysts and with indeterminate pancreatic masses may be achieved with continued technical advances in MRI, including diffusion‐weighted and T1‐weighted dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI. However, developments in quantitative MRI of the pancreas remain challenging, due to the small size of the pancreas and its upper abdominal location, adjacent to bowel and below the diaphragm. Further research is needed to improve MRI of the pancreas as a clinical tool, to positively affect the lives of patients with pancreatic abnormalities. This review focuses on various MR techniques such as MRCP, quantitative imaging, and dynamic contrast‐enhanced imaging and their clinical applicability in the imaging of the pancreas, with an emphasis on pancreatic malignant and premalignant lesions.Level of Evidence 5Technical Efficacy Stage 3J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2021;53:347–359.
Soil phosphorus testing for intensive vegetable cropping
Authors: Vandermoere Stany , Van De Sande Tomas , Tavernier Greet , Lauwers Lore , Goovaerts Ellen , De Nies Joris , De Neve Stefaan 
Published: April 2020

AbstractEnvironmental concerns and rapidly decreasing phosphorus (P) resources caused a renewed interest in improving soil P tests for a more efficient P fertilization. This led to the development of better P fertilizer recommendation systems for major arable crops and grass. Nevertheless, these P fertilizer recommendation systems seem to fail for intensive vegetable crops, with often a very short growing season and limited rooting system. This leads to low P use efficiencies in the horticultural sector. In order to address this problem we set up a study to answer following questions: (1) which soil P test predicts the plant available P content for intensive vegetable crops the best and (2) can new insights, such as combining different soil P tests, improve P fertilizer recommendations for intensive vegetable crops? To this end, bulk samples of 41 soils with very different P status (based on ammonium lactate extractable P) were collected. The plant available P content of these soils was determined using six commonly used soil P tests (P‐CaCl2, P‐water, P‐Olsen, P‐acetate, P‐lactate, and P‐oxalate) and a P fertilizer pot experiment with endive (a very P sensitive vegetable crop) was conducted. Six pots of each soil were planted with endive. Three of these pots received no P fertilization (0P) and three pots received ammonium polyphosphate equivalent to 24 kg P ha−1 (24P). All other factors were kept constant. Relative crop yield of the 0P fertilized plants compared to the 24P fertilized plants was determined. Plotting these relative yields against the P status of the soil per soil P test allowed to fit a Mitscherlich curve through the data. Also the combination of two different soil P tests to predict the relative yield with a Mitscherlich equation was evaluated. The coefficients of variation of the soil P tests, the R2 values and the relative standard errors of the parameter estimates revealed that P‐acetate and P‐water predicted the relative yield of the 0P plants the best and that combining two different soil P tests gave no extra predictive power. This finding may form the basis for the development of a new P fertilizer recommendation system for intensive vegetable crops, leading to an improved P use efficiency in horticulture. In order to develop this new system more data relating soil P test values with RY of intensive vegetable crops should be collected.
A compact 4‐element MIMO antenna for terminal devices
Authors: Cheng Yong , Liu Hui , Sheng Bing Qing , Zhu Lei 
Published: April 2020

AbstractA compact 4‐element multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna for terminal devices is proposed. The proposed antenna consists of 3 identical dipole antennas and 1 slot antenna, with 39 mm × 30 mm in size, operating at a high‐frequency band of WIFI, 5.15 to 5.85 GHz. After a design procedure is executed, both simulated and measured results are obtained to demonstrate that the return loss of the presented MIMO antenna is more than 10 dB with isolation level better than 20 dB. The radiation efficiency is higher than 70%, and the gain is above 2.8 dBi.
Estimating pentose phosphate pathway activity from the analysis of hepatic glycogen 13C‐isotopomers derived from [U‐13C]fructose and [U‐13C]glucose
Authors: Belew Getachew D. , Di Nunzio Giada , Tavares Ludgero , Silva Joao G. , Torres Alejandra N. , Jones John G. 
Published: April 2020

PurposeThe pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is an important component of hepatic intermediary metabolism. Jin et al developed an elegant 13C‐NMR method for measuring hepatic PPP flux by quantifying the distribution of glucose 13C‐isotopomers formed from [U‐13C]glycerol. We demonstrate that this approach can be extended to exogenous [U‐13C]fructose and [U‐13C]glucose precursors by 13C‐NMR analysis of glycogen.MethodsTwelve male C57BL/6 mice fed standard chow were provided a 55/45 mixture of fructose and glucose at 30% w/v in the drinking water for 18 wk. On the evening before sacrifice, the fructose component was enriched with 20% [U‐13C]fructose for 6 mice, while the glucose component was enriched with 20% [U‐13C]glucose for the remaining 6 mice. Mice were allowed to feed and drink naturally overnight, and then, euthanized. Livers were freeze‐clamped and glycogen was extracted and derivatized for 13C NMR spectroscopy. Flux of each sugar into the PPP relative to its incorporation into glycogen was quantified from selected 13C glycogen isotopomer ratios.ResultsBoth [U‐13C]fructose and [U‐13C]glucose precursors yielded glycogen 13C‐isotopomer distributions that were characteristic of PPP activity. The fraction of [U‐13C]glucose utilized by the PPP relative to its conversion to glycogen via the direct pathway was 14 ± 1%, while that from [U‐13C]fructose relative to its conversion to glycogen via the indirect pathway was significantly lower (10 ± 1%, P = .00032).ConclusionsHepatic PPP fluxes from both [U‐13C]glucose and [U‐13C]fructose precursors were assessed by 13C NMR analysis of glycogen 13C‐isotopomers. Glucose‐6‐phosphate generated via glucokinase and the direct pathway is preferentially utilized by the PPP.
Nesterov acceleration of alternating least squares for canonical tensor decomposition: Momentum step size selection and restart mechanisms
Authors: Mitchell Drew , Ye Nan , De Sterck Hans 
Published: April 2020

SummaryWe present Nesterov‐type acceleration techniques for alternating least squares (ALS) methods applied to canonical tensor decomposition. While Nesterov acceleration turns gradient descent into an optimal first‐order method for convex problems by adding a momentum term with a specific weight sequence, a direct application of this method and weight sequence to ALS results in erratic convergence behavior. This is so because ALS is accelerated instead of gradient descent for our nonconvex problem. Instead, we consider various restart mechanisms and suitable choices of momentum weights that enable effective acceleration. Our extensive empirical results show that the Nesterov‐accelerated ALS methods with restart can be dramatically more efficient than the stand‐alone ALS or Nesterov's accelerated gradient methods, when problems are ill‐conditioned or accurate solutions are desired. The resulting methods perform competitively with or superior to existing acceleration methods for ALS, including ALS acceleration by nonlinear conjugate gradient, nonlinear generalized minimal residual method, or limited‐memory Broyden‐Fletcher‐Goldfarb‐Shanno, and additionally enjoy the benefit of being much easier to implement. We also compare with Nesterov‐type updates where the momentum weight is determined by a line search (LS), which are equivalent or closely related to existing LS methods for ALS. On a large and ill‐conditioned 71×1,000×900 tensor consisting of readings from chemical sensors to track hazardous gases, the restarted Nesterov‐ALS method shows desirable robustness properties and outperforms any of the existing methods we compare with by a large factor. There is clear potential for extending our Nesterov‐type acceleration approach to accelerating other optimization algorithms than ALS applied to other nonconvex problems, such as Tucker tensor decomposition.
Invisible population: Understanding recruitment barriers of a nurse‐led support programme for families with caregiving children in Austria
Authors: Nagl‐Cupal Martin , Hauprich Julia 
Published: April 2020

AbstractAimsTo evaluate why no families could be recruited for a nurse‐led and family‐centred support programme in Austria which aimed to prevent an age‐inappropriate caring role for young carers.DesignA qualitative study incorporating qualitative e‐interviews and telephone interviews.MethodTwenty‐one interviews were conducted with statistically significant project stakeholders (N = 17) and with adult family members of children with caring responsibilities (N = 4). Data collection and analysis were guided by the “Social Marketing Framework.” Relevant statements were assigned to the main categories: product; price; promotion; place; and working with partners.ResultsThe lack of awareness towards young carers, the unfamiliar, open outcome approach of the intervention, the inappropriate language used in promotional materials and the families' fear of stigma while seeking support were identified as central obstacles for successful recruitment of families and implementation of the support programme.
An application of the Toronto Childhood Cancer Stage Guidelines in three population‐based cancer registries: The case of central nervous tumors
Authors: Sacerdote Carlotta , Mosso Maria Luisa , Alessi Daniela , Merletti Franco , Tagliabue Giovanna , D'Agostino Anna , Fabiano Sabrina , Savoia Fabio , Piga Patrizia , Sessa Marcella , Vetrano Francesco , Gatta Gemma , Maule Milena 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundCancer stage is a determinant of survival of childhood central nervous system (CNS) cancers and could help the interpretation of survival variability among countries. Consensus guidelines to stage childhood malignancies in population cancer registries (“Toronto Childhood Cancer Stage Guidelines”) have been recently proposed with the goal of data comparability. Indeed, stage is not systematically recorded in all registries and, when it is, different classification systems are used.We applied the Toronto Childhood Cancer Stage Guidelines to CNS cancer cases of three population‐based cancer registries with the aim of evaluating the feasibility of staging this type of cancer and the critical points in the classification of CNS tumors.ProceduresThe Toronto Childhood Cancer Stage Guidelines were applied to 175 CNS patients, diagnosed from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2014 in three cancer registries in Italy, and the percentage of cases that could be staged was assessed.ResultsOne hundred eight of 126 (86%) medulloblastomas and other embryonal CNS cancers and 22 of 49 (45%) ependymomas were staged. Using these guidelines, survival of children with localized tumors could be discriminated from that of children with metastatic disease.ConclusionsThe use of the Toronto Childhood Cancer Stage Guidelines is feasible for staging medulloblastoma in Italian population‐based cancer registries, whereas it is more difficult for ependymomas. In Italy, cerebrospinal fluid examination, one of the decisive tests to stage CNS tumors, is not routinely performed as a first‐line diagnosis procedure in ependymoma pediatric patients.A similar exercise by a larger number of cancer registries in different countries could suggest improvements in the childhood cancer staging system.
Comparative risk of Parkinsonism associated with olanzapine, risperidone and quetiapine in older adults‐a propensity score matched cohort study
Authors: Chyou Te‐yuan , Nishtala Revathi , Nishtala Prasad S. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractPurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of Parkinsonism in new users of second‐generation antipsychotics (SGAs) in older adults (≥65 years). In the secondary analyses, we examined the risk of Parkinsonism by type and dose of SGA and conducted age‐sex interactions.MethodThis population‐based study included older adults who had a new‐onset diagnosis of Parkinsonism and who started taking olanzapine, risperidone or quetiapine between 1 January 2005, and 30 December 2016. The Cox proportional hazard (COXPH) model with inverse probability treatment weighted (IPTW) covariates was used to evaluate the risk of new‐onset Parkinsonism associated with SGAs, using quetiapine as the reference. We used the Generalized Propensity Score method to evaluate the dose‐response risk of Parkinsonism associated with SGAs.ResultsAfter IPTW adjustment for covariates, the COXPH model showed that compared to quetiapine, the use of olanzapine and risperidone were associated with an increased risk of Parkinsonism. The IPTW‐hazard ratios are 1.76 (95% confidence interval 1.57‐1.97) and 1.31 (95%CI 1.16‐1.49), respectively. The dose‐response risk of Parkinsonism was highest for olanzapine with a hazard ratio of 1.69 (95%CI 1.40‐2.05) and the least for quetiapine with a hazard ratio of 1.22 (95%CI 1.14‐1.31). The risk of Parkinsonism in the 65 to 74‐year age group was higher for both sexes with risperidone compared to olanzapine, but the risk increased with olanzapine for both sexes in the 85+ age group.ConclusionThe study found that the risk of new‐onset Parkinsonism in older adults is 31% and 76% higher with risperidone and olanzapine respectively compared to quetiapine.
Improved stability in P3HT:PCBM photovoltaics by incorporation of well‐designed polythiophene/graphene compositions
Authors: Yuan Qingshan , Zhang Zunju , Li Lei , Agbolaghi Samira , Mousavi Saina 
Published: April 2020

AbstractMorphological and photovoltaic stabilities of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT):phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) solar cells were investigated in pristine and modified states. To this end, four types of patterned/assembled nanostructures, namely reduced graphene oxide (rGO)‐g‐poly(3‐dodecylthiophene)/P3HT patched‐like pattern, rGO–polythiophene/P3HT/PC71BM nanofiber, rGO‐g‐P3HT/P3HT cake‐like pattern and supra(polyaniline (PANI)‐g‐rGO/P3HT), were designed on the basis of rGO and various conjugated polymers. Intermediately covered rGO nanosheets by P3HT crystals (supra(PANI‐g‐rGO/P3HT)) performed better than sparsely (patched‐like pattern) and fully (cake‐like pattern) covered ones in P3HT:PC71BM solar cell systems. Supra(PANI‐g‐rGO/P3HT) nanohybrids largely phase‐separated in active layers (root mean square = 0.88 nm) and also led to the highest performance (power conversion efficiency of 5.74%). The photovoltaic characteristics demonstrated decreasing trends during air aging for all devices, but with distinct slopes. The steepest decreasing plots were obtained for the unmodified P3HT:PC71BM devices (from 1.77% to 0.28%). The two supramolecules with the most ordered structures, that is, cake‐like pattern (10.12 mA cm−2, 51%, 0.58 V, 2.2 × 10−6 cm2 V−1 s−1, 4.3 × 10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1, 0.69 nm and 2.99%) and supra(PANI‐g‐rGO/P3HT) (12.51 mA cm−2, 57%, 0.63 V, 1.2 × 10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1, 3.4 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1, 0.82 nm and 4.49%), strongly retained morphological and photovoltaic stabilities in P3HT:PC71BM devices after 1 month of air aging. According to the morphological, optical, photovoltaic and electrochemical results, the supra(PANI‐g‐rGO/P3HT) nanohybrid was the best candidate for stabilizing P3HT:PC71BM solar cells. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
Prediction of leaf water potential and relative water content using terahertz radiation spectroscopy
Authors: Browne Marvin , Yardimci Nezih Tolga , Scoffoni Christine , Jarrahi Mona , Sack Lawren 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIncreases in the frequency and severity of droughts across many regions worldwide necessitate an improved capacity to determine the water status of plants at organ, whole plant, canopy, and regional scales. Noninvasive methods have most potential for simultaneously improving basic water relations research and ground‐, flight‐, and space‐based sensing of water status, with applications in sustainability, food security, and conservation. The most frequently used methods to measure the most salient proxies of plant water status, that is, water mass per leaf area (WMA), relative water content (RWC), and leaf water potential (Ψleaf), require the excision of tissues and laboratory analysis, and have thus been limited to relatively low throughput and small study scales. Applications using electromagnetic radiation in the visible, infrared, and terahertz ranges can resolve the water status of canopies, yet heretofore have typically focused on statistical approaches to estimating RWC for leaves before and after severe dehydration, and few have predicted Ψleaf. Terahertz radiation has great promise to estimate leaf water status across the range of leaf dehydration important for the control of gas exchange and leaf survival. We demonstrate a refined method and physical model to predict WMA, RWC, and Ψleaf from terahertz transmission across a wide range of levels of dehydration for given leaves of three species, as well as across leaves of given species and across multiple species. These findings highlight the powerful potential and the outstanding challenges in applying in vivo terahertz spectrometry as a remote sensor of water status for a range of applications.