bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Deep‐Learning Detection of Cancer Metastases to the Brain on MRI
Authors: Zhang Min , Young Geoffrey S. , Chen Huai , Li Jing , Qin Lei , McFaline‐Figueroa J. Ricardo , Reardon David A. , Cao Xinhua , Wu Xian , Xu Xiaoyin 
Published: March 2020

BackgroundApproximately one‐fourth of all cancer metastases are found in the brain. MRI is the primary technique for detection of brain metastasis, planning of radiotherapy, and the monitoring of treatment response. Progress in tumor treatment now requires detection of new or growing metastases at the small subcentimeter size, when these therapies are most effective.PurposeTo develop a deep‐learning‐based approach for finding brain metastasis on MRI.Study TypeRetrospective.SequenceAxial postcontrast 3D T1‐weighted imaging.Field Strength1.5T and 3T.PopulationA total of 361 scans of 121 patients were used to train and test the Faster region‐based convolutional neural network (Faster R‐CNN): 1565 lesions in 270 scans of 73 patients for training; 488 lesions in 91 scans of 48 patients for testing. From the 48 outputs of Faster R‐CNN, 212 lesions in 46 scans of 18 patients were used for training the RUSBoost algorithm (MatLab) and 276 lesions in 45 scans of 30 patients for testing.AssessmentTwo radiologists diagnosed and supervised annotation of metastases on brain MRI as ground truth. This data were used to produce a 2‐step pipeline consisting of a Faster R‐CNN for detecting abnormal hyperintensity that may represent brain metastasis and a RUSBoost classifier to reduce the number of false‐positive foci detected.Statistical TestsThe performance of the algorithm was evaluated by using sensitivity, false‐positive rate, and receiver's operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The detection performance was assessed both per‐metastases and per‐slice.ResultsTesting on held‐out brain MRI data demonstrated 96% sensitivity and 20 false‐positive metastases per scan. The results showed an 87.1% sensitivity and 0.24 false‐positive metastases per slice. The area under the ROC curve was 0.79.ConclusionOur results showed that deep‐learning‐based computer‐aided detection (CAD) had the potential of detecting brain metastases with high sensitivity and reasonable specificity.Level of Evidence3Technical Efficacy Stage2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:1227–1236.
The potential chemical structure of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase
Authors: Lung Jrhau , Lin Yu‐Shih , Yang Yao‐Hsu , Chou Yu‐Lun , Shu Li‐Hsin , Cheng Yu‐Ching , Liu Hung Te , Wu Ching‐Yuan 
Published: March 2020

AbstractAn outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) occurred in Wuhan and it has rapidly spread to almost all parts of the world. For coronaviruses, RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is an important polymerase that catalyzes the replication of RNA from RNA template and is an attractive therapeutic target. In this study, we screened these chemical structures from traditional Chinese medicinal compounds proven to show antiviral activity in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS‐CoV) and the similar chemical structures through a molecular docking study to target RdRp of SARS‐CoV‐2, SARS‐CoV, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV). We found that theaflavin has a lower idock score in the catalytic pocket of RdRp in SARS‐CoV‐2 (−9.11 kcal/mol), SARS‐CoV (−8.03 kcal/mol), and MERS‐CoV (−8.26 kcal/mol) from idock. To confirm the result, we discovered that theaflavin has lower binding energy of −8.8 kcal/mol when it docks in the catalytic pocket of SARS‐CoV‐2 RdRp by using the Blind Docking server. Regarding contact modes, hydrophobic interactions contribute significantly in binding and additional hydrogen bonds were found between theaflavin and RdRp. Moreover, one π‐cation interaction was formed between theaflavin and Arg553 from the Blind Docking server. Our results suggest that theaflavin could be a potential SARS‐CoV‐2 RdRp inhibitor for further study.
Single‐cell RNA sequencing study of retinal immune regulators identified CD47 and CD59a expression in photoreceptors—Implications in subretinal immune regulation
Authors: Liu Jian , Tang Miao , Harkin Kevin , Du Xuan , Luo Chang , Chen Mei , Xu Heping 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe neuroretina is protected by its own defense system, that is microglia and the complement system. Under normal physiological conditions, microglial activation is tightly regulated by the neurons although the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Using published single‐cell RNA sequencing data sets, we found that immune regulatory molecules including CD200, CD47, CX3CL1, TGFβ, and complement inhibitor CD59a are expressed by various retinal neurons. Importantly, we found that photoreceptors express higher levels of CD47 and CD59a, which was further confirmed in cultured 661W cells, WERI‐Rb1 cells, and microdissected photoreceptors from human eyes. The expression of CD59a mRNA in 661W cells was upregulated by TNFα and hypoxia, whereas LPS, hypoxia, and IL‐4 upregulated CD47 mRNA expression in 661W cells. Immunofluorescence staining detected strong CD59a immunoreactivity in the outer nuclear layer, inner/outer segments, and discrete staining in ganglion cell layer (GCL), inner plexiform layer (IPL), and outer plexiform layer. The expression of CD59a in photoreceptors was increased in the detached retina, but decreased in retinas from experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) mice. In EAU retina, CD59a was highly expressed by active immune cells. CD47 was detected in GCL, IPL, and inner nuclear layer and some photoreceptors. The expression of CD47 in photoreceptors was also increased in the detached retina but decreased in EAU retina. In a coculture system, 661W enhanced arginase‐1 and reduced IL‐6 mRNA expression in BV2 microglial cells. Our results suggest that photoreceptors express immune regulatory molecules and may have the potential to regulate immune activation in the outer retina/subretinal space under pathophysiological conditions.
Disinfection of contaminated metal implants with an Er:YAG laser
Authors: Kriechbaumer Lukas K. , Happak Wolfgang , Distelmaier Klaus , Thalhammer Gerhild , Kaiser Georg , Kugler Sylvia , Tan Yulong , Leonhard Matthias , Zatorska Beata , Presterl Elisabeth , Nürnberger Sylvia 
Published: March 2020

AbstractInfections related to orthopedic procedures are considered particularly severe when implantation materials are used, because effective treatments for biofilm removal are lacking. In this study, the relatively new approach for infection control by using an erbium:yttrium‐aluminum‐garnet (Er:YAG) laser was tested. This laser vaporizes all water containing cells in a very effective, precise, and predictable manner and results in only minimal thermal damage. For preliminary testing, 42 steel plates and 42 pins were seeded with mixed cultures. First, the minimally necessary laser energy for biofilm removal was determined. Subsequently, the effectiveness of biofilm removal with the Er:YAG laser and the cleansing of the metal implants with octenidine‐soaked gauze was compared. Then, we compared the effectiveness of biofilm removal on 207 steel pins from 41 patients directly after explantation. Sonication and scanning electron microscopy were used for analysis. Laser fluences exceeding 2.8  J/cm2 caused a complete extinction of all living cells by a single‐laser impulse. Cleansing with octenidine‐soaked gauze and irradiation with the Er:YAG laser are both thoroughly effective when applied to seeded pins. In contrast, when explanted pins with fully developed biofilms were analyzed, we found a significant advantage of the laser procedure. The Er:YAG laser offers a secure, complete, and nontoxic eradication of all kinds of pathogens from metal implants without damaging the implant and without the possible development of resistance. The precise noncontact removal of adjacent tissue is a decisive advantage over conventional disinfectants. Therefore, laser irradiation could become a valuable method in every debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention procedure.
Regional and local scale variations in soil organic carbon stocks in West Greenland
Authors: Gries Philipp , Schmidt Karsten , Scholten Thomas , Kühn Peter 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe soil organic carbon (SOC) pool of the Northern Hemisphere contains about half of the global SOC stored in soils. As the Arctic is exceptionally sensitive to global warming, temperature rise and prolonged summer lead to deeper thawing of permafrost‐affected soils and might contribute to increasing greenhouse gas emissions progressively. To assess the overall feedback of soil organic carbon stocks (SOCS) to global warming in permafrost‐affected regions the spatial variation in SOCS at different environmental scales is of great interest. However, sparse and unequally distributed soil data sets at various scales in such regions result in highly uncertain estimations of SOCS of the Northern Hemisphere and here particularly in Greenland. The objectives of this study are to compare and evaluate three controlling factors for SOCS distribution (vegetation, landscape, aspect) at two different scales (local, regional). The regional scale reflects the different environmental conditions between the two study areas at the coast and the ice margin. On the local scale, characteristics of each controlling factor in form of defined units (vegetation units, landscape units, aspect units) are used to describe the variation in the SOCS over short distances within each study area, where the variation in SOCS is high. On a regional scale, we investigate the variation in SOCS by comparing the same units between the study areas. The results show for both study areas that SOCS are with 8 kg m−2 in the uppermost 25 cm and 16 kg m−2 in the first 100 cm of the soil, i.e., 3 to 6 kg m−2 (37.5%) higher than existing large scale estimations of SOCS in West Greenland. Our approach allows to rank the scale‐dependent importance of the controlling factors within and between the study areas. However, vegetation and aspect better explain variations in SOCS than landscape units. Therefore, we recommend vegetation and aspect for determining the variation in SOCS in West Greenland on both scales.
Fermented barley β‐glucan regulates fat deposition in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Xiao Xiang , Tan Cui , Sun Xinjuan , Zhao Yansheng , Zhang Jiayan , Zhu Ying , Bai Juan , Dong Ying , Zhou Xinghua 
Published: March 2020

AbstractBACKGROUNDBarley contains a relatively high concentration of the mixed‐linkage (1 → 3) (1 → 4) β‐glucan, which has been reported to be a functional food with prebiotic potential. In the current study we compared the properties of two neutral barley β‐glucans, obtained from raw barley: raw barley β‐glucan (RBG) and Lactobacillus plantarum dy‐1‐fermented barley (FBG).RESULTSMolecular characteristics revealed that the molecular weight of barley β‐glucan decreased from 1.13 × 105 D to 6.35 × 104 D after fermentation. Fermentation also improved the water / oil holding capacity, solubility, and swelling capacity of barley β‐glucan. Both RBG and FBG significantly improved the locomotive behavior of nematodes, thereby increasing their energy consumption and reducing fat deposition – the effect was more significant with FBG. These effects could potentially depend on nhr‐49, TGF‐daf‐7 mediated pathways and so on, in which nhr‐49 factor is particularly required.CONCLUSIONThese results suggested that fermentation may enhance in vitro physiological activities of barley β‐glucan, thereby altering the effects on the lipid metabolism in vivo. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
DNA stable‐isotope probing reveals potential key players for microbial decomposition and degradation of diatom‐derived marine particulate matter
Authors: Liu Ying , Fang Jiasong , Jia Zhongjun , Chen Songze , Zhang Li , Gao Wei 
Published: March 2020

AbstractMicrobially mediated decomposition of particulate organic carbon (POC) is a central component of the oceanic carbon cycle, controlling the flux of organic carbon from the surface ocean to the deep ocean. Yet, the specific microbial taxa responsible for POC decomposition and degradation in the deep ocean are still unknown. To target the active microbial lineages involved in these processes, 13C‐labeled particulate organic matter (POM) was used as a substrate to incubate particle‐attached (PAM) and free‐living microbial (FLM) assemblages from the epi‐ and bathypelagic zones of the New Britain Trench (NBT). By combining DNA stable‐isotope probing and Illumina Miseq high‐throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene, we identified 14 active bacterial taxonomic groups that implicated in the decomposition of 13C‐labeled POM at low and high pressures under the temperature of 15°C. Our results show that both PAM and FLM were able to decompose POC and assimilate the released DOC. However, similar bacterial taxa in both the PAM and FLM assemblages were involved in POC decomposition and DOC degradation, suggesting the decoupling between microbial lifestyles and ecological functions. Microbial decomposition of POC and degradation of DOC were accomplished primarily by particle‐attached bacteria at atmospheric pressure and by free‐living bacteria at high pressures. Overall, the POC degradation rates were higher at atmospheric pressure (0.1 MPa) than at high pressures (20 and 40 MPa) under 15°C. Our results provide direct evidence linking the specific particle‐attached and free‐living bacterial lineages to decomposition and degradation of diatomic detritus at low and high pressures and identified the potential mediators of POC fluxes in the epi‐ and bathypelagic zones.
Development of durable microelectrodes for the detection of hydrogen peroxide and pH
Authors: Clark Caelen M. , Ruszala Brandon M. , Ehrensberger Mark T. 
Published: March 2020

AbstractCathodic electrical stimulation has been investigated as a way to treat implant‐associated infection of orthopaedic devices. One of the proposed mechanisms of these effects is the changes in chemical gradients adjacent to the implant generated by the cathodic reaction products. Of these reaction products, both alkaline pH and hydrogen peroxide have been implicated as antimicrobial agents. However, direct measurement of these chemical effects has yet to be fully characterized for orthopaedic biomaterials. Microelectrodes are powerful tools that can be used to measure localized chemical conditions. Most commercially available sensors are fabricated from pulled glass pipettes, which make them quite fragile. In order to more easily make measurements of the effects of electrical stimulation, more durable sensors are desired. Solid‐state electrodes were fabricated from platinum and iridium micro‐wires to make H2O2 and pH‐sensitive electrodes, respectively. Additionally, a similar method was used to fabricate electrodes that were housed within a stainless steel needle, which could be used to penetrate and measure in solid samples without damaging the sensor. The H2O2 microelectrode was found to have a sensitivity of 34.1 pA/µM and a R2 value of .996. The pH microelectrode was found to have a linear calibration from 2 to 12 with a sensitivity of 76.7 mV/pH and a R2 of .996. The needle‐based electrodes were found to be able to detect changes in both H2O2 and pH when tested in an agar gel model.
Appointment scheduling at a multidisciplinary outpatient clinic using stochastic programming
Authors: Hur Youngbum , Bard Jonathan F. , Morrice Douglas J. 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of constructing an appointment template for scheduling patients at a specific type of multidisciplinary outpatient clinic called an integrated practice unit (IPU). The focus is on developing and solving a stochastic optimization model for a back pain IPU in the face of random arrivals, an uncertain patient mix, and variable service times. The deterministic version of the problem is modeled as a mixed integer program with the objective of minimizing a weighted combination of clinic closing time (duration) and total patient waiting time (length of stay). A two‐stage stochastic program is then derived to account for the randomness and the sequential nature of the decisions. Although it was not possible to solve the two‐stage problem for even a limited number of scenarios, the wait‐and‐see (WS) problem was sufficiently tractable to provide a lower bound on the stochastic solution. The introduction of valid inequalities, limiting indices, and the use of special ordered sets helped to speed up the computations. A greedy heuristic was also developed to obtain solutions much more quickly. Out of practical considerations, it was necessary to develop appointment templates with time slots at fixed intervals, which are not available from the WS solution. The first to be derived was the expected value (EV) template that is used to find the expected value of the EV solution (EEV). This solution provides an upper bound on the objective function value of the two‐stage stochastic program. The average gap between the EEV and WS solutions was 18%. Results from extensive computational testing are presented for the EV template and for our adaptation of three other templates found in the literature. Depending on the relative importance of the two objective function metrics, the results demonstrate the trade‐off that exists between them. For the templates investigated, the “closing time” ranged from an average of 235 to 275 minutes for a 300‐minute session, while the corresponding “total patient time in clinic” ranged from 80 to 71 minutes.
Prolonged Parenteral Nutrition Is One of the Most Significant Risk Factors for Nosocomial Infections in Adult Patients With Intestinal Failure
Authors: Yang Jianbo , Sun Haifeng , Wan Songlin , Mamtawla Gulsudum , Gao Xuejin , Zhang Li , Wang Xinying 
Published: March 2020

AbstractBackgroundIntestinal failure (IF) and its management are associated with an increased likelihood of infectious complications. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and potential risk factors for nosocomial infections (NIs) in hospitalized adult patients with IF.MethodsIn total, 259 eligible patients with IF admitted to a single clinical nutrition center in a tertiary referral hospital from January 1, 2012, to January 1, 2019, were retrospectively identified. NIs were defined according to the 2008 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent risk factors for NIs.ResultsThe mean age of the study population was 47.0 ± 17.7 years, and 158 (61.0%) were men. The mean body mass index was 16.2 ± 2.9 kg/m2, and 219 (84.6%) were diagnosed with malnutrition. The prevalence of NIs was 25.5% (113 NIs in 66 patients). The most common NIs were pneumonia (14.3%), bacteremia of unknown origin (13.5%), catheter‐related bloodstream infection (5.0%), lower respiratory tract infection (5.0%), surgical site infection (3.9%), and urinary tract infection (1.9%). Multivariate analysis revealed that decreased serum albumin level (odds ratio [OR], 0.884; 95% CI, 0.883–0.978, P < .05), presence of gallbladder stones or cholestasis (OR, 3.144; 95% CI, 1.044–9.464; P < .05), and prolonged parenteral nutrition (PN) use (OR, 1.072; 95% CI, 1.039–1.105; P < .001) were independent predictors for NIs.ConclusionsNIs remain prevalent in hospitalized adult patients with IF. Prolonged PN use was one of the most significant predictors for NIs.
Zinc Therapy Is a Reasonable Choice for Patients With Pressure Injuries: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Song Yi‐Ping , Wang Lei , Yu Hai‐Rong , Yuan Bao‐Fang , Shen Hong‐Wu , Du Lin , Cai Ji‐Yu , Chen Hong‐Lin 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence on the efficacy of zinc supplementation in patients with pressure injuries (PIs).Electronic data bases (Embase, MEDLINE, and Web of Science) were searched from inception to 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non‐RCTs addressing the efficacy of zinc supplementation compared with a control nutrition invention on PI outcomes. The primary study outcome was the healing rate of PIs during treatment; the secondary outcomes were the improvement of PI area and pressure ulcer scale for healing (PUSH) score.A total of 7 studies were included in this systematic review and meta‐analysis. The intervention group significantly had improved healing vs that of the control group (relative risk, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.01−2.06; P = 0.043, I2 = 19.3%). There was no obvious asymmetry in the funnel plot and no strong evidence of publication bias. Sensitivity analysis showed that meta‐analysis has good stability. Studies showed a greater mean reduction in PI area. All the studies we included had a significant improvement in the PUSH score of PIs.Our systematic review and meta‐analysis from clinical research confirmed that zinc therapy can promote wound healing and suggest that medical staff should consider providing patients with zinc during PI treatment.
A unitary joint diagonalization algorithm for nonsymmetric higher‐order tensors based on Givens‐like rotations
Authors: Miao Jifei , Cheng Guanghui , Li Wenrui , Moreau Eric 
Published: March 2020

SummaryBased on Givens‐like rotations, we present a unitary joint diagonalization algorithm for a set of nonsymmetric higher‐order tensors. Each unitary rotation matrix only depends on one unknown parameter which can be analytically obtained in an independent way following a reasonable assumption and a complex derivative technique. It can serve for the canonical polyadic decomposition of a higher‐order tensor with orthogonal factors. Furthermore, based on cross‐high‐order cumulants of observed signals, we show that the proposed algorithm can be applied to solve the joint blind source separation problem. The simulation results reveal that the proposed algorithm has a competitive performance compared with those of several existing related methods.
Properties comparison of coextruded and un‐coextruded wood plastic composites under high temperature accelerated water uptake
Authors: Zhao Zhonghua , Zhang Qingfeng , Wang Jikui 
Published: March 2020

AbstractWood plastic composite (WPC) has been widely used in many fields in recent years. However, the entry of water can destroy the interfacial adhesion between wood fibers and plastic matrix, eventually decreasing the properties of WPC. In order to solve a series of problems caused by absorbing water, we manufactured coextruded WPC which includes a shell layer and a core layer by coextrusion technology. Then many coextruded and un‐coextruded WPCs samples of the same size were conducted in 60°C water to accelerate the process of water absorption (WA), which were taken out at regular intervals for testing. WA, dimension stability, and flexural properties of two types of WPC were measured, respectively. The results showed that the WA of coextruded WPC (1.99%) was significantly lower than that of un‐coextruded WPC (6.02%) in 60°C water after 192 hours. It also indicated much better dimension stability of coextruded composites because of the restriction of the shell layer. The retention values of flexural properties of coextruded WPC after soaking 192 hours (flexural strength: 25.22 MPa; flexural modulus: 4.00 GPa) are much higher than those of un‐coextruded WPC (flexural strength: 21.43 MPa; flexural modulus: 2.90 GPa). Therefore, coextruded WPC has more prominent properties advantages compared with un‐coextruded WPC in a high temperature and high humidity environment.