bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Structural analysis of an endoprosthesis designed with graded density lattice structures
Authors: Sh. Sufiiarov Vadim , V. Borisov Evgeniy , V. Sokolova Viktoriya , O. Chukovenkova Mariya , V. Soklakov Alexanser , S. Mikhaluk Dmitry , A. Popovich Anatoliy 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe most common causes of conducting a hip revision surgery after total hip replacement are aseptic loosening (aseptic instability) of the endoprosthesis, bone destruction as a result of contact with the endoprosthesis, and a periprosthetic fracture. These are the effects of load transfer to the bone tissue in arthroplasty resulting due to the difference in stiffness of the endoprosthesis and the bone. Titanium alloy is widely used in endoprostheses manufacturing because of its high biocompatibility, good wear properties, and corrosion resistance, but such endoprostheses are stiffer than the femur. These problems have raised interest in searching for the best materials and topology for a femoral implant. Nowadays additive technology is of great interest as it enables to create materials with graded density. These materials consist of multiple lattice structures with variable parameters and topology. By varying the parameters of lattice structures one can adjust the mechanical properties of the material as required. These materials find their application in hip endoprostheses manufacturing, allowing to adjust the parameters of the lattice structures, and deliver a product with femur‐like mechanical properties. The porous structure also ensures bone tissue ingrowth into the prosthesis. The authors designed and simulated an endoprosthesis made of graded density lattice structures with femur‐like mechanical properties. Using a numerical simulation software Ansys Mechanical authors determined the effect of the topology on the structural behavior of the femur and defined the endoprosthesis‐femur combined performance under various load cases.
Markov chain Monte Carlowith Gaussian processes for fast parameter estimation and uncertainty quantification in a1Dfluid‐dynamics model of the pulmonary circulation
Authors: Paun L. Mihaela , Husmeier Dirk 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe past few decades have witnessed an explosive synergy between physics and the life sciences. In particular, physical modelling in medicine and physiology is a topical research area. The present work focuses on parameter inference and uncertainty quantification in a 1D fluid‐dynamics model for quantitative physiology: the pulmonary blood circulation. The practical challenge is the estimation of the patient‐specific biophysical model parameters, which cannot be measured directly. In principle this can be achieved based on a comparison between measured and predicted data. However, predicting data requires solving a system of partial differential equations (PDEs), which usually have no closed‐form solution, and repeated numerical integrations as part of an adaptive estimation procedure are computationally expensive. In the present article, we demonstrate how fast parameter estimation combined with sound uncertainty quantification can be achieved by a combination of statistical emulation and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. We compare a range of state‐of‐the‐art MCMC algorithms and emulation strategies, and assess their performance in terms of their accuracy and computational efficiency. The long‐term goal is to develop a method for reliable disease prognostication in real time, and our work is an important step towards an automatic clinical decision support system.
Simulation of a detoxifying organ function: Focus on hemodynamics modeling and convection‐reaction numerical simulation in microcirculatory networks
Authors: Boissier Noemie , Drasdo Dirk , Vignon‐Clementel Irene E. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractWhen modeling a detoxifying organ function, an important component is the impact of flow on the metabolism of a compound of interest carried by the blood. We here study the effects of red blood cells (such as the Fahraeus‐Lindqvist effect and plasma skimming) on blood flow in typical microcirculatory components such as tubes, bifurcations and entire networks, with particular emphasis on the liver as important representative of detoxifying organs. In one of the plasma skimming models, under certain conditions, oscillations between states are found and analyzed in a methodical study to identify their causes and influencing parameters. The flow solution obtained is then used to define the velocity at which a compound would be transported. A convection‐reaction equation is studied to simulate the transport of a compound in blood and its uptake by the surrounding cells. Different types of signal sharpness have to be handled depending on the application to address different temporal compound concentration profiles. To permit executing the studied models numerically stable and accurate, we here extend existing transport schemes to handle converging bifurcations, and more generally multi‐furcations. We study the accuracy of different numerical schemes as well as the effect of reactions and of the network itself on the bolus shape. Even though this study is guided by applications in liver micro‐architecture, the proposed methodology is general and can readily be applied to other capillary network geometries, hence to other organs or to bioengineered network designs.
Microbiota‐immune alterations in adolescents following early life adversity: A proof of concept study
Authors: Reid Brie M. , Horne Rachael , Donzella Bonny , Szamosi Jake C. , Coe Christopher L. , Foster Jane A. , Gunnar Megan R. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractEarly adverse care has long‐term impacts on physical and mental health. The influence of rearing conditions on the infant's gut microbiota and its relationship with developmental health has become more evident. The microbiome is essential for normal growth and metabolism, and the signaling from the gut to the brain may underlie individual differences in resilience later in life. Microbial diversity and composition were determined using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing in fecal samples from 17 adolescents adopted internationally from orphanages into the United States and 18 adolescents reared in birth families who had similar educational and income levels. Analyses focused on diversity of the microbial community structure and differences in the abundance of specific bacterial taxa. Blood samples were used to immunophenotype the numbers of several T‐cell subsets and cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositivity. Negative binomial regression analysis revealed several operational taxonomic units that were significantly different based on early rearing conditions and CMV seropositivity. There were significant associations between the relative abundance of certain taxa, the percentages of T‐cell subsets in circulation, and CMV seropositivity. These findings demonstrate a possible link between the gut microbiota and associations with immune alterations initiated by early life adversity.
Anode shape dependency of discharge characteristics and neutron yield of a linear type inertial electrostatic confinement fusion neutron source
Authors: Itagaki Tomonobu , Hotta Eiki , Hasegawa Jun , Takakura Kei , Tabata Shinnosuke , Matsueda Yasushi 
Published: November 2020

AbstractA linear inertial electrostatic confinement fusion neutron source equipped with a cooling system for high power operation was developed and its discharge characteristics and neutron production performance were tested under a wide range of discharge conditions. Four different types of discharge anodes were prepared and the dependencies of the device performance on the anode shape were precisely investigated. A maximum neutron production rate of 3.4×106 n/s was achieved when the device was operated with single‐cylinder‐type anodes under a discharge voltage of 94 kV, a current of 20 mA, and a deuterium gas pressure of 0.5 Pa. By comparing the discharge characteristics and neutron generation rates under different anode shapes, we found that the larger inner diameter of the anode leads to longer effective gap length and lower operating pressure, which may result in relatively high fusion reaction rate observed with the single‐cylinder‐type anodes.
Lessons from four decades of monitoring vegetation and fire: maintaining diversity and resilience in Florida’s uplands
Authors: Abrahamson Warren G. , Abrahamson Christy R. , Keller Matthew A. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractWorldwide, humans are altering the fire regimes (fire‐return intervals, severity, seasonality) of fire‐prone ecosystems, fragmenting natural landscapes, and altering climates. Efforts to restore fire regimes in natural areas are usually guided by fire management plans (FMP) that rely on prescribed burning. Despite the common use of FMPs, limited efforts have gone to assessing vegetative and faunal responses. While some insights into responses to fire from short‐term studies are available, there is less knowledge about FMP outcomes applied over multiple decades. Peninsular Florida hosts many fire‐prone communities including globally threatened Florida scrub. We repeatedly sampled species composition and abundance during a 38‐yr period (1977–2015) at 11 upland stands including wet prairies, flatwoods, and Florida scrub (i.e., oak scrub, rosemary scrub, hickory scrub). A total of 22 fires impacted the stands with individual stands experiencing as few as 2 and up to 11 fires. There was no invasion of non‐native plants following fires and stands showed remarkable ecological resilience with limited change in species composition and modest abundance shifts due to differential recovery rates. Importantly, ecological resilience was not eroded with repeated fire. Species richness, evenness, and diversity were significantly higher at the end vs. beginning of our study, suggesting that current fire regimes are within the range of those with which species evolved. While resprouting shrubs and trees persevered under a range of fire‐return intervals, an obligate‐seeding shrub was adversely impacted by fires more frequent than FMP‐recommended intervals. Several lessons are apparent from our findings. Best practice should: use the full range of fire‐return variation at evolutionarily appropriate intervals; utilize natural fire seasons to the extent possible; compare outcomes and modify prescriptions as necessary to meet FMP goals; give special consideration to burn units with embedded associations of widely differing fire regimes than principal associations in order to maintain diversity of both associations; and account for climate change in FMPs since fire behavior, frequency, and community responses to fire will likely change in the coming decades. Outcomes of FMPs must be carefully evaluated to ensure prescriptions are evolutionarily appropriate and to ameliorate the impacts of altered climates.
Baseline characteristics of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in the EMPEROR‐Preserved trial
Authors: Anker Stefan D. , Butler Javed , Filippatos Gerasimos , Shahzeb Khan Muhammad , Ferreira João Pedro , Bocchi Edimar , Böhm Michael , Brunner‐La Rocca Hans Pieter , Choi Dong‐Ju , Chopra Vijay , Chuquiure Eduardo , Giannetti Nadia , Gomez‐Mesa Juan Esteban , Janssens Stefan , Januzzi James L. , Gonzalez‐Juanatey Jose R. , Merkely Bela , Nicholls Stephen J. , Perrone Sergio V. , Piña Ileana L. , Ponikowski Piotr , Senni Michele , Seronde Marie‐France , Sim David , Spinar Jindrich , Squire Iain , Taddei Stefano , Tsutsui Hiroyuki , Verma Subodh , Vinereanu Dragos , Zhang Jian , Jamal Waheed , Schnaidt Sven , Schnee Janet M. , Brueckmann Martina , Pocock Stuart J. , Zannad Faiez , Packer Milton ,   EMPEROR‐Preserved Trial Committees and Investigators
Published: November 2020

ABSTRACTAimsEMPEROR‐Preserved is an ongoing trial evaluating the effect of empagliflozin in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This report describes the baseline characteristics of the EMPEROR‐Preserved cohort and compares them with patients enrolled in prior HFpEF trials.Methods and resultsEMPEROR‐Preserved is a phase III randomized, international, double‐blind, parallel‐group, placebo‐controlled trial in which 5988 symptomatic HFpEF patients [left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) >40%] with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have been enrolled. Patients were required to have elevated N‐terminal pro B‐typenatriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) concentrations (i.e. >300 pg/mL in patients without and >900 pg/mL in patients with atrial fibrillation) along with evidence of structural changes in the heart or documented history of heart failure hospitalization. Among patients enrolled from various regions (45% Europe, 11% Asia, 25% Latin America, 12% North America), the mean age was 72 ± 9 years, 45% were women. Almost all patients had New York Heart Association class II or III symptoms (99.6%), and 23% had prior heart failure hospitalization within 12 months. Thirty‐three percent of the patients had baseline LVEF of 41–50%. The mean LVEF (54 ± 9%) was slightly lower while the median NT‐proBNP [974 (499–1731) pg/mL] was higher compared with previous HFpEF trials. Presence of comorbidities such as diabetes (49%) and chronic kidney disease (50%) were common. The majority of the patients were on angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers/angiotensin receptor–neprilysin inhibitors (80%) and beta‐blockers (86%), and 37% of patients were on mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists.ConclusionWhen compared with prior trials in HFpEF, the EMPEROR‐Preserved cohort has a somewhat higher burden of comorbidities, lower LVEF, higher median NT‐proBNP and greater use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists at baseline. Results of the EMPEROR‐Preserved trial will be available in 2021.
Europe’s essential workers: Migration and pandemic politics in Central and Eastern Europe during COVID‐19
Authors: Paul Ruxandra 
Published: November 2020

AbstractHow do countries navigate the tradeoffs between public health and economic reopening? What explains variation in state responses to COVID‐19? Historically, governments have tackled pandemics as external, nonconventional security threats, restricting immigration to protect citizens from contagious outsiders. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries could not frame COVID‐19 this way because European integration and free‐movement migration blur the line between insiders and outsiders. This article examines the conditions and coalitions that shaped policy outcomes, and argues that migration systems played a double role in policy change: as structures for policy diffusion and as venues for migrants’ agency. Governments learned from one another's experiences, but diffusion occurred unevenly according to countries’ position within migratory systems.
Takotsubo stress cardiomyopathy following explantation of sEEG electrodes
Authors: Sarkar Pamela , Graby John , Walker Paul , Osman Leyla , Bradley Marcus , Likeman Marcus , Sandeman David R. , Sieradzan Kasia A. , Rice Claire M. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractObjectiveTakotsubo stress cardiomyopathy is characterized by dysfunction of the left ventricle of the heart including apical ballooning and focal wall‐motion abnormalities. Although reported in association with seizures and intracerebral hemorrhage, there are no studies reporting its occurrence in patients having stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG).MethodsA 38‐year‐old lady with no prior history of cardiac disease experienced sudden onset chest pain and acute left ventricular failure 4 hours following explantation of stereoelectroencephalogram electrodes.ResultsA small parenchymal hematoma related to the right posterior temporal electrode had been noted postelectrode insertion but was asymptomatic. Focal‐onset seizures from nondominant mesial temporal structures were recorded during sEEG. Following the presentation with LVF, new‐onset anterolateral T‐wave inversion with reciprocal changes in leads II, III, and aVF was noted on electrocardiogram (ECG) and the chest X‐ray findings were consistent with pulmonary edema. Echocardiography demonstrated hypokinesis of the cardiac apex and septum consistent with Takotsubo stress cardiomyopathy.SignificanceAwareness of the possible complication of Takotsubo stress cardiomyopathy is required in an epilepsy surgery program.
Probiotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii supernatant inhibits survivin gene expression and induces apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells
Authors: Pakbin Babak , Pishkhan Dibazar Shaghayegh , Allahyari Samaneh , Javadi Maryam , Farasat Alireza , Darzi Sina 
Published: November 2020

AbstractNatural anticancer drug and compounds with other great benefits are of interest recently due to lower side effects than chemotherapy for cancer treatment and prevention. Different natural and synthetic drugs have been suggested to be used for treatment of gastric cancers, the second deadly cancer worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate anticancer activity of SBS including inducing apoptosis and inhibition of survivin gene expression in gastric cancer cells. We evaluated cell viability, inducing apoptosis and change in survivin gene expression of EPG85‐257P (EPG) and EPG85‐257RDB (resistant to Daunorubicin, RDB) cell lines under exposure of SBS after 24, 48, and 72 hr. We found that SBS decreased cell viability, induced apoptosis, and reduced survivin gene expression in treated EPG and RDB cells (with the significant IC50 values of 387 and 575 µg/ml after 72 and 48 hr for EPG and RDB cells respectively). However, we observed SBS was more efficient to induce apoptosis in EPG than RDB cells. We strongly suggest SBS be considered as a prospective anticancer agent or in formulation of complementary medication to treat and prevent gastric cancers.
Accounting for the role of transport and storage infrastructure costs in carbon negative bioenergy deployment
Authors: Singh Udayan , Loudermilk Erica M. , Colosi Lisa M. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractDeployment of bioenergy with CO2 capture and storage (BECCS) is projected to be crucial in reducing the United States’ CO2 emissions intensity. In this paper, we utilize a spatially explicit costing model to evaluate how regional biophysical factors and geography affect BECCS viability. We find that the cost of biomass provision and CO2 transport and storage are an average of $20/t‐CO2 and $16/t‐CO2 for aquatic and terrestrial BECCS, respectively. Assuming rapid technological development in the CO2 capture domain, this corresponds to 40–72% of land area in the conterminous United States exhibiting systems integration costs compatible with 2030 carbon prices (median $90/t‐CO2). Results are strongly influenced by the cost of geologic sequestration, in particular storage quality (as driven by depth, permeability, etc.) and available capacity, rather than simply proximity to nearby CO2 sources. For this reason, the Southeast presents appealing BECCS readiness owing to high biomass productivity (several counties with yield >100 000 dry ton of biomass per year) interspersed with well‐explored sinks with large sequestration potential and optimal reservoir quality with permeability >500 mD. We also find that geologic storage capacity is unlikely to be a major biophysical constraint, as sink utilization in most states would likely remain below 10% at the projected rates of BECCS deployment to achieve the 2 °C target and as low as 1% in Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama. The analysis also reveals subtle secondary outcomes; for example, to what extent different regions may be well poised to adopt different, complementary negative emissions technologies based on specific confluences of circumstances. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Immunosuppressive Drug‐Resistant Armored T‐Cell Receptor T Cells for Immune Therapy of HCC in Liver Transplant Patients
Authors: Hafezi Morteza , Lin Meiyin , Chia Adeline , Chua Alicia , Ho Zi Zong , Fam Royce , Tan Damien , Aw Joey , Pavesi Andrea , Krishnamoorthy Thinesh Lee , Chow Wan Cheng , Chen Wenjie , Zhang Qi , Wai Lu‐En , Koh Sarene , Tan Anthony T. , Bertoletti Antonio 
Published: November 2020

Background and Aims
HBV‐specific T‐cell receptor (HBV‐TCR) engineered T cells have the potential for treating HCC relapses after liver transplantation, but their efficacy can be hampered by the concomitant immunosuppressive treatment required to prevent graft rejection. Our aim is to molecularly engineer TCR‐T cells that could retain their polyfunctionality in such patients while minimizing the associated risk of organ rejection.

Approach and Results
We first analyzed how immunosuppressive drugs can interfere with the in vivo function of TCR‐T cells in liver transplanted patients with HBV‐HCC recurrence receiving HBV‐TCR T cells and in vitro in the presence of clinically relevant concentrations of immunosuppressive tacrolimus (TAC) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). Immunosuppressive Drug Resistant Armored TCR‐T cells of desired specificity (HBV or Epstein‐Barr virus) were then engineered by concomitantly electroporating mRNA encoding specific TCRs and mutated variants of calcineurin B (CnB) and inosine‐5′‐monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), and their function was assessed through intracellular cytokine staining and cytotoxicity assays in the presence of TAC and MMF. Liver transplanted HBV‐HCC patients receiving different immunosuppressant drugs exhibited varying levels of activated (CD39+ Ki67+) peripheral blood mononuclear cells after HBV‐TCR T‐cell infusions that positively correlate with clinical efficacy. In vitro experiments with TAC and MMF showed a potent inhibition of TCR‐T cell polyfunctionality. This inhibition can be effectively negated by the transient overexpression of mutated variants of CnB and IMPDH. Importantly, the resistance only lasted for 3‐5 days, after which sensitivity was restored.

Conclusions
We engineered TCR‐T cells of desired specificities that transiently escape the immunosuppressive effects of TAC and MMF. This finding has important clinical applications for the treatment of HBV‐HCC relapses and other pathologies occurring in organ transplanted patients.