bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Full‐Inorganic Micro‐Fiber Probe for Real‐Time Radiation Monitoring
Authors: Lv Shichao , Tang Junzhou , Chen Junfeng , Liu Pei , Guo Junpeng , Ma Yan , Qiu Jianrong , Zhou Shifeng 
Published: November 2020

AbstractScintillators convert high‐energy radiation into visible luminescence and have been widely applied in various significant fields such as nuclear fusion monitoring, high‐energy particle physics, medical imaging, and geological exploration. The scalable fabrication of scintillating fiber with the desirable combination of uniform size, superior radiation blocking ability, and excellent thermal/radiation stability is a major challenge. Here, a template solidification strategy for fabrication of full‐inorganic and efficient scintillating fiber is presented. The strategy involves the direct solidification of high‐density scintillator melt in a softened silica tube, allowing for the continuous production of small and uniform scintillating fiber. The fabricated scintillating fiber can effectively attenuate radiation up to ≈118 times higher than what conventional silica fiber can. In addition, it exhibits good compatibility with commercial fiber. Using this scintillating fiber, a radiation fiber detector is constructed and its application for online radiation monitoring is demonstrated.
Overlarge Gauge Factor Yields a Large Measuring Error for Resistive‐Type Stretchable Strain Sensors
Authors: Li Shuang , Liu Guodong , Wang Liwu , Fang Guanhui , Su Yewang 
Published: November 2020

AbstractStretchable strain sensors have recently attracted great attention due to their extensive applications in advanced devices. Plenty of work has been devoted to enlarging the gauge factor (GF) (reaching as high as 107), since the conventional wisdom holds that a high GF indicates a low limit of detection and a high resolution of a sensor. Here, the effects of the GF on the measurement accuracy is investigated for resistive‐type strain sensors, via the basic approach based on Ohm's law and the commonly used method of Wheatstone bridge, respectively. It is found that a bigger GF is not always better for improvement of the measurement accuracy, which is contrary to conventional wisdom. Overlarge gauge factor yields a large measuring error for resistive‐type stretchable strain sensors (reaching the measuring error of 50% for GF = 5 × 104 under a typical measurement condition). This finding is of much significance for providing theoretical guidance for the sensor design and avoid more efforts on overlarge GF.
Robust Nanofiber Films Prepared by Electro‐Microfluidic Spinning for Flexible Highly Stable Quantum‐Dot Displays
Authors: Xie An‐Quan , Cui Tingting , Cheng Rui , Wu Xingjiang , Guo Jiazhuang , Lu Xuan , Zhu Liangliang , Chen Su 
Published: November 2020

AbstractQuantum dot (QD)‐based liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are emerging as a new generation of LCDs due to their good performance. However, the QD fluorescent materials in LCDs are vulnerable to water and high temperatures, severely limiting their practical and long‐term use. Here, flexible and ultrastable QD‐based color‐converting films for LCD backlights are fabricated using robust poly(styrene‐methyl‐methacrylate‐acrylic acid) (poly(St‐MMA‐AA)) nanoparticle/polyamide 66 nanofiber (NPs@PA66) film with unique fiber–particle–fiber microstructure as protective substrate. Through an emerging strategy called electro‐microfluidic spinning technology (EMST), the nanofiber film not only exhibits excellent flexibility but also remarkably improves the mechanical property via the in situ particle‐mediated enhancement mechanism. An LCD backlight using the NPs@PA66 nanofiber film as QD loading substrate shows a wide color gamut of 116% and long‐term fluorescence stability under high temperature of 200 °C. More importantly, the fluorescence lifetime of NPs@PA66/QDs backlight reaches up to ≈64500 h, ≈22 times higher than that using encapsulated sandwiched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) QD film. These findings offer a promising method toward high‐strength nanofiber manufacturing, high‐stability flexible electronics and optoelectronic display devices.
Estimating time to reinjury among Washington State injured workers by degree of permanent impairment: Using state wage data to adjust for time at risk
Authors: Sears Jeanne M. , Schulman Beryl A. , Fulton‐Kehoe Deborah , Hogg‐Johnson Sheilah 
Published: November 2020

AbstractBackgroundMany injured workers are reinjured, but reinjury risk is challenging to quantify. Because many injured workers face delayed return‐to‐work, or return to part‐time or intermittent jobs, a calendar timescale may overestimate actual work‐time at risk, yielding underestimated reinjury rates. Objectives included determining: (1) reinjury risk by degree of permanent impairment and other factors, and (2) how choice of timescale affects reinjury estimates.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included Washington State workers’ compensation (WC) claims for 43,114 injured workers, linked to state wage files (2003–2018). Three timescales were used to define at‐risk denominators: (1) calendar quarters; (2) quarters with any wages; and (3) full‐time equivalent (FTE) quarters, defined as cumulative work hours ÷ 520. Associations between reinjury outcomes and worker, injury, job, and WC vocational rehabilitation program participation characteristics were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression.ResultsOverall reinjury rates were 5.9 per 100 worker‐years using a calendar timescale (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.8–6.0), 10.0 using any‐wage quarters (95% CI: 9.9–10.2), and 12.5 using FTE quarters (95% CI: 12.3–12.7). Reinjury rates were highest in the first two quarters after initial injury, remaining elevated for about 4 years. Using FTE quarters, workers with ≥10% whole body impairment had a 34% higher risk of reinjury relative to workers with no permanent partial disability award (95% CI: 1.25–1.44); no difference was detected using calendar time.ConclusionsTimescale substantially affects reinjury estimates and comparisons between groups with differential return‐to‐work patterns. Linking wage data to WC claims facilitates measurement of long‐term employment, yielding more accurate reinjury estimates.
Task‐based functional connectivity in aging: How task and connectivity methodology affect discovery of age effects
Authors: Varangis Eleanna , Habeck Christian G. , Stern Yaakov 
Published: November 2020

AbstractIntroductionPast studies have found that healthy aging has a significant effect on the organization and function of networks in the human brain. Many of these studies have examined how functional connectivity during one task or at rest is affected by aging; however, few studies have systematically examined how the effect of age on functional connectivity may vary as a function of choice of in‐scanner task.MethodsThe present study included healthy adults between the ages of 20 and 80 and examined a variety of metrics of functional connectivity during performance of 11 in‐scanner tasks, falling into 4 cognitive domains: vocabulary, processing speed, fluid reasoning, and episodic memory. Functional connectivity was assessed at three levels: average correlations within and between 10 networks, system segregation (sensorimotor vs. association networks), and whole‐brain graph theory metrics (global efficiency and modularity).ResultsResults showed that the effect of age on these metrics differed as a function of task—for example, age had a more consistent effect on functional connectivity metrics computed during fluid reasoning tasks; however, there was less of an effect of age on functional connectivity metrics computed during tasks of episodic memory. Further, some of these measures showed relationships with behavioral performance on the in‐scanner task, with different networks playing a role in the different cognitive domains.ConclusionThese findings suggest that while aging may be generally associated with reductions in within‐ and between‐network connectivity, system segregation, global efficiency, and modularity, the magnitude and presence of these effects varies by in‐scanner task.
Metabolic health is a determining factor for incident colorectal cancer in the obese population: A nationwide population‐based cohort study
Authors: Cho Yun Kyung , Lee Jiwoo , Kim Hwi Seung , Park Joong‐Yeol , Lee Woo Je , Kim Ye‐Jee , Jung Chang Hee 
Published: November 2020

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe association of the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) with obesity or obesity‐induced metabolic disturbances remains controversial. We assessed the association of metabolic health status with incident CRC among subjects with obesity.MethodsThis study included 319,397 subjects from the Korean National Health Insurance Service‐National Health Screening Cohort. Transitions in metabolic health status and obesity were examined during 2009–2010 and 2011–2012. We categorized subjects with obesity into four separate groups according to their dynamic metabolic health status: metabolically healthy obesity (MHO), MHO to metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO), MUO to MHO, and stable MUO. Subjects were followed up from 2009 to 2015 for incident CRC.ResultsThe stable MHO group showed no increased risk of incident CRC (hazard ratio [HR], 0.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83–1.14). However, the MHO to MUO group had a higher risk of incident CRC than the stable metabolically healthy nonobese (MHNO) group (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.15–1.57). Among patients with MUO at baseline, those in the subgroup who transitioned to MHO group were not at increased risk of CRC (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.91–1.25), whereas those who remained in the stable MUO group had a higher risk of incident CRC than those in the stable MHNO group (HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.19–1.41).ConclusionsThe transition of metabolic health was a determining factor for CRC among subjects with obesity. Hence, maintenance or recovery of metabolic health should be addressed to prevent CRC in individuals with obesity.
A semiparametric regression model under biased sampling and random censoring: A local pseudo‐likelihood approach
Authors: Rabhi Yassir , Asgharian Masoud 
Published: November 2020

AbstractMethodologies developed for left‐truncated right‐censored failure time data can mostly be categorized according to the assumption imposed on the truncation distribution, i.e., being completely unknown or completely known. While the former approach enjoys robustness, the latter is more efficient when the assumed form of the truncation distribution can be supported by the data. Motivated by data from an HIV/AIDS study, we consider the middle ground and develop methodologies for estimation of a regression function in a semiparametric setting where the truncation distribution is parametrically specified while the failure time, censoring and covariate distribution are left completely unknown. We devise an estimator for the regression function based on a local pseudo‐likelihood approach that properly accounts for the bias induced on the response variable and covariate(s) by the sampling design. One important spin‐off from these results is that they yield the adjustment for length‐biased sampling and right‐censoring; the so‐called stationary case. We study the small and large sample behaviour of our estimators. The proposed method is then applied to analyze a set of HIV/AIDS data.
An automatic self‐initialized clustering method for brain tissue segmentation and pathology detection from magnetic resonance human head scans with graphics processing unit machine
Authors: Thiruvenkadam Kalaiselvi , Nagarajan Kalaichelvi , Padmanaban Sriramakrishnan 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThe proposed work introduces a fully automatic modified fuzzy c‐means (MFCM) algorithm for segmenting brain tissue into gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which identifies the pathological conditions of magnetic resonance human head scans. The present work implements histogram smoothing using Gaussian distribution for finding the number of clusters (K) and cluster centers (C) to initialize modified FCM algorithm (MFCM). The modification includes the local impact of each pixel based on the median of local neighborhoods. This needs more computational power to reduce the processing time and requires a parallel programming environment like the Graphics Processing Unit. The parallel MFCM is performed with the help of compute unified device architecture language and reduced the processing time up to 80 speedup folds than the serial implementation in Matlab and 20 speedup folds than C programming implementation. The method is examined with the Internet Brain Segmentation Repository (IBSR20) T1W dataset. The quantitative and qualitative results of the proposed method are compared with state‐of‐the‐art‐methods using the Dice coefficient (DC). Proposed method yields high DC 0.84 ± 0.03 for GM, 0.83 ± 0.04 for WM, and 0.41 ± 0.12 for CSF segmentation. In post‐processing, 3D volumes of segmented regions have been constructed and compared with the gold standard quantitatively and qualitatively.
Design and implementation of a hybrid DPWM under 50 ps resolution based on general‐purpose FPGA
Authors: Yu Limin , Xu Shen , Zhang Huaxin , Shi Longxing , Sun Weifeng 
Published: November 2020

SummaryHigh‐resolution pulse width modulators are used widely in different fields of electrical engineering, such as dimming of light‐emitting diode (LED) lighting, motor control, RF modulators, audio amplifiers, and switch‐mode power supplies. To realize a high‐resolution digital pulse‐width modulator (DPWM) in a limited inner system clock, a simple implementation of a hybrid DPWM with the resolution under 50 ps based on a general‐purpose field‐programmable gate array (FPGA) is described. The multiplexer device implementing the fast carry‐chain path and an AND gate controlling the selection input are used as a delay unit. The manual routing or placement is not required in the proposed approach, which just needs some conditional constraints. Some different conditional constraints influencing the monotonicity and resolution of DPWM are discussed. Finally, a 1 MHz switching frequency DPWM with 40 ps resolution is experimentally demonstrated, with high monotonicity and linearity. Further, a synchronous buck with and without this high‐resolution DPWM is experimentally compared to illustrate the regulation resolution.
Barbiturate derivatives for managing multifaceted oncogenic pathways: A mini review
Authors: Prasher Parteek , Sharma Mousmee , Singh Samarth P. , Rawat Devendra S. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractDevelopment and progression of metastasis comprises synchronized erroneous expressions of several composite pathways, which are difficult to manage simultaneously with the representative anticancer molecules. The emergence of the drug resistance and the complex interplay between these pathways further potentiates cancer related complexities. Barbiturates and their derivatives present a commendable anticancer profile by attenuating the cancer manifesting metabolic and enzymatic pathways including, but not limited to matrix metalloproteinases, xanthine oxidase, amino peptidases, histone deacetylases, and Ras/mitogen‐activated protein kinase. The derivatization and conjugation of barbiturates with pharmacophores delivers a suitable hybrid profile in containing the anomalous expression of these pathways. The present report presents a succinct collation of the barbiturates and their derivatives in managing the various cancer causing pathways.
Fine‐scale variation within urban landscapes affects marking patterns and gastrointestinal parasite diversity in red foxes
Authors: Gecchele Lisa V. , Pedersen Amy B. , Bell Matthew 
Published: November 2020

AbstractUrban areas are often considered to be a hostile environment for wildlife as they are highly fragmented and frequently disturbed. However, these same habitats can contain abundant resources, while lacking many common competitors and predators. The urban environment can have a direct impact on the species living there but can also have indirect effects on their parasites and pathogens. To date, relatively few studies have measured how fine‐scale spatial heterogeneity within urban landscapes can affect parasite transmission and persistence.Here, we surveyed 237 greenspaces across the urban environment of Edinburgh (UK) to investigate how fine‐scale variation in socio‐economic and ecological variables can affect red fox (Vulpes vulpes) marking behavior, gastrointestinal (GI) parasite prevalence, and parasite community diversity.We found that the presence and abundance of red fox fecal markings were nonuniformly distributed across greenspaces and instead were dependent on the ecological characteristics of a site. Specifically, common foraging areas were left largely unmarked, which indicates that suitable resting and denning sites may be limiting factor in urban environments. In addition, the amount of greenspace around each site was positively correlated with overall GI parasite prevalence, species richness, and diversity, highlighting the importance of greenspace (a commonly used measure of landscape connectivity) in determining the composition of the parasite community in urban areas.Our results suggest that fine‐scale variation within urban environments can be important for understanding the ecology of infectious diseases in urban wildlife and could have wider implication for the management of urban carnivores.
Avian community response to experimental forest management
Authors: Hollie David R. , George Andrew D. , Porneluzi Paul A. , Haslerig Janet M. , Faaborg John 
Published: November 2020

AbstractIn recent decades, concern for migratory birds has stimulated research assessing the relationships between forest management and bird populations. The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is a long‐term, landscape‐scale experiment designed to examine the effects of even‐aged (i.e., clearcutting), uneven‐aged (i.e., selection cutting), and no‐harvest forest management on ecosystem‐level processes. The management systems were randomly assigned to three sites each (mean area = 400 ha) with harvest occurring on a different portion of trees every 15 yr over a 100‐yr rotation. We used non‐metric multidimensional scaling and linear mixed models to investigate the effects of silvicultural treatment and year‐since‐harvest on bird communities over a 24‐yr period, before and after two harvests (1996 and 2011). Bird community compositions diverged among treatments immediately post‐harvest, but the differences in community composition and structure began to diminish by 8 yr post‐harvest. Species richness was higher in treated stands than no‐harvest controls and lowest approximately 10 yr post‐harvest regardless of treatment. Species diversity showed a linear decrease with year‐since‐harvest. Our findings demonstrate that even‐aged and uneven‐aged forest management can affect bird community composition and structure within the early post‐harvest period, but differences may diminish relatively quickly as harvested stands regenerate. We recommend using a variety of silvicultural methods to provide the diversity of habitats needed for the conservation of diverse forest bird communities.
Responding to COVID‐19: The Case of Spain
Authors: Royo Sebastián 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThis paper examines the governance of the COVID‐19 crisis in Spain. The main thesis is that the central reason for the pandemic's devastating outcomes was the relatively poor governance of the crisis as manifested by the country's lack of preparedness and its slow and delayed response. If we measure the three dimensions of governance (Mimicopoulos 2006), Spain came way short in efficiency: The lack of predictability in the institutional and policy environment hurt the response to the pandemic; in transparency: The lack of available and reliable data and the absence of information provided to the general public deeply undermined confidence and trust in the government as well adequate rand timely responses to the pandemic; and finally, in participation: The government rarely encouraged public input into decision making and failed to engage the opposition in a timely and constructive way.
Reorganization of functional brain network architecture in chronic osteoarthritis pain
Authors: Barroso Joana , Wakaizumi Kenta , Reis Ana Mafalda , Baliki Marwan , Schnitzer Thomas J. , Galhardo Vasco , Apkarian Apkar Vania 
Published: November 2020

AbstractOsteoarthritis (OA) manifests with chronic pain, motor impairment, and proprioceptive changes. However, the role of the brain in the disease is largely unknown. Here, we studied brain networks using the mathematical properties of graphs in a large sample of knee and hip OA (KOA, n = 91; HOA, n = 23) patients. We used a robust validation strategy by subdividing the KOA data into discovery and testing groups and tested the generalizability of our findings in HOA. Despite brain global topological properties being conserved in OA, we show there is a network wide pattern of reorganization that can be captured at the subject‐level by a single measure, the hub disruption index. We localized reorganization patterns and uncovered a shift in the hierarchy of network hubs in OA: primary sensory and motor regions and parahippocampal gyrus behave as hubs and insular cortex loses its central placement. At an intermediate level of network structure, frontoparietal and cingulo‐opercular modules showed preferential reorganization. We examined the association between network properties and clinical correlates: global disruption indices and isolated degree properties did not reflect clinical parameters; however, by modeling whole brain nodal degree properties, we identified a distributed set of regions that reliably predicted pain intensity in KOA and generalized to hip OA. Together, our findings reveal that while conserving global topological properties, brain network architecture reorganizes in OA, at both global and local scale. Network connectivity related to OA pain intensity is dissociated from the major hub disruptions, challenging the extent of dependence of OA pain on nociceptive signaling.
Governance and financial development: Evidence from a global sample of 120 countries
Authors: Atanga Ondoa Henri , Seabrook Arthur M. 
Published: November 2020

AbstractThis study empirically investigates the impact of governance quality on financial development. The study employs a Dynamic Common Correlated Mean group technique using data from a global sample of 120 countries, among which 32 high‐ and 88 low‐income countries, for the period 2002–2017 to examine this linkage. Political stability and absence of violence, rule of law, control of corruption, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability are used as proxies for governance quality, whereas financial institutions depth and credit to private sector are proxies of financial development. The following findings have been established. Regulatory quality and political stability and absence of violence are positively associated with financial development, whereas voice and accountability, and government effectiveness are negatively associated with it. Moreover, the degree of the impact of these governance indicators on financial development is relatively greater in high‐income countries as compared to low‐income countries. On the basis of these results, governments in high‐ and low‐income countries must implement the following policies in order to improve the development of their financial systems: Firstly, they should promote a better regulation quality by implementing sound policies and regulations that permit and improve private sector development. Secondly, they should maintain a stable political environment by allowing people to enjoy, but not excessively, their rights and freedoms under the constitution. Policy makers should lastly moderate their commitment towards certain public policies, such as imposition of high tax rate to the private sector.