bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The prognostic value of preoperative serum CA724 for CEA-normal colorectal cancer patients
Authors: Kuang Jiaan , Gong Yizhen , Xie Hailun , Yan Ling , Huang Shizhen , Gao Feng , Tang Shuangyi , Gan Jialiang 
Published: April 2020

Background and PurposeThere had been no recognized serum tumor marker to predict the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with normal preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels. The purpose of this study was to determine whether preoperative serum carbohydrate antigen 724 (CA724) was of predictive function for the prognosis of CRC patients with normal CEA levels.MethodsThe medical records of 295 CRC patients with normal CEA levels who underwent surgery at the Department of Colorectal Anal Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University (Guangxi, China) between September 2012 and September 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. The Chi-square test was used to test the correlation between preoperative serum CA724 levels and clinical features. Kaplan–Meier curves were conducted to calculate the overall survival (OS) rate and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients. Cox regression analysis was applied to conduct univariate and multivariate analysis of the following four preoperative serum tumor makers namely CA724, carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199), carcinoembryonic antigen 125 (CA125), carcinoembryonic antigen 242 (CA242) and clinical features. Nomograms for prognostic parameter of OS and DFS were developed using R v3.2.5.ResultsIn the Chi-square test, only pathological node stage (pN stage) (X2= 14.514,P= 0.001) and differentiation (X2= 10.712,P= 0.001) were associated with serum CA724 levels. In the Kaplan–Meier analysis, the results revealed that the OS and DFS in patients with high CA724 was poorer than those with normal. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis of OS and DFS, only pT stage, pN stage, metastasis and serum CA724 were independent prognostic risk factors for CRC patients with normal CEA levels.ConclusionPreoperative serum CA724 might serve as a potential prognostic factor for CRC patients with normal serum CEA levels.
Influence of Scale of Operation and Farmers’ Risk Aversion on Sugarcane Productivity in Nandi County, Kenya
Authors: Cheruiyot Joseph Kipkorir , Sang Nelly 
Published: April 2020

Aims: Sugarcane ranks among top ten commercial crops grown in Kenya, but its productivity has been on the decline. This study investigated influence of scale of farm operation and farmers’ risk aversion on productivity. Risk aversion was based on farmers’ perceived risks associated with new high yielding, early maturing varieties.
Study Design: The survey study adopted an ex post facto research design.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Nandi County, Western parts of Kenya along a sugarcane growing belt. Data was collected between April and September, 2019.
Methodology: An enumerator-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 198 respondents. Purposive and stratified random sampling techniques were used to select participants. Data was analyzed with the aid of SPSS Version 20. Chi square test and its related measure of strength of association; Cramer’s V, were utilized to estimate relationships between variables. Welch’s ANOVA (W-test) was run to test for yield differences between groups. Significant differences were subjected to post hoc tests using Games-Howell test to separate the means.
Results: There was a significant association between farmers scale of operation and productivity;
Characterization of Viscoelastic Behavior of Ripe Deseeded Tamarind Subjected to Uniaxial Compressive Loading
Authors: Satankar M. , Patil A. K. , Verma D. K. , Singh M. 
Published: April 2020

The creep behavior a rheological property of tamarind (Tamarandus indica L.) was studied to characterize the effect of compressive stress and time on volumetric reduction in ripe deseeded tamarind and creep curve developed using Kelvin model. Five different compressive stresses 222.95, 445.90, 668.86, 891.81 and 1114.77 N/m2 were used and deformation was observed at different time intervals 0+, 5, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 300 and 360 minutes. Creep curve were plotted to demonstrate the volumetric strain variance for various time intervals. The slope of curve is sharp at the beginning and then with the increase in duration of loading the slope of curve flattened down which shows that the rate of change of volumetric strain for a given sample at a given stress is large at the beginning and with increase in the time, the rate of change becomes less and less. The volumetric strain with respect to variation of loading is maximum in case of maximum stress that was 1114.77 N/m2.
Electrostatic Induction Spray-charging System (Embedded Electrode) for Knapsack Mist-blower
Authors: Khatawkar Dipak S. , Dhalin D. , James P. Shaji , Subhagan Seena R. 
Published: April 2020

The introduction of electrically charged sprays in agricultural application has become inevitable for better control on droplet transference with reduced drift with less spray chemical requirements. The study was under taken to develop an electrostatic induction spray charging system as attachment to knapsack mist-blower. A high voltage generator was fabricated on the basis of Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier principle with input of 6 V DC battery. A self-atomizing hydraulic nozzle was developed to deliver the droplet spectrum required for effective electrostatic charge induction. The prototype was evaluated for charge to mass ratio (mC. kg-1) at five electrode potentials (1 kV, 2 kV, 3 kV, 4 kV and 5 kV) at four electrode placement positions from atomization zone (0, 5, 10 and 15 mm). The charge mass ratio (CMR) value of spray cloud was measured using Faradays Cage at five positions from nozle tip (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 cm). The electrode voltage potential at 5 kV at its position 5 mm from the atomization zone shown the maximum CMR value of 1.088 mC.kg-1. In contrast with commercial system (ESS-MBP90) it was observed that except at 50 cm distance, the developed charging system, at 4 kV and 5 kV, surpassed commercial system in CMR from 100 cm to 250 cm distances. The droplet spectrum of the developed system was analysed and observed that the size of droplets were 100 to 200 µm. The developed system found to be cost effective and significantly consistent over the commercial one.
Synthesis, Anti-microbial, Flameretardance and Anti-corrosive Activity of Some New Heterocycles Incorporating Coumarin moiety
Authors: Mohamed S. M. , Dawoud Nadia T. A. , El-Khalik N. Abd , Mazen Wafaa. M. , Bailey Z. I. El 
Published: April 2020

In the present study a series of novel heterocyclic compounds (2-16) incorporating coumarin moiety was synthesized. The newly synthesized compounds were elucidated on the basis of elemental analysis, spectral data, were tested for in-vitro antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive bacteria), Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacteria) and Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus (fungi).
Coumarin derivatives (1,6,16) were chosen to evaluate the anti-corrosion, flame retardant properties. The results clearly showed that, the incorporation of coumarin derivatives into epoxy coating have led to improve the flame residency, corrosion resistance, and mechanical properties of investigated coating and confirmed that these new developed varnishes have an excellent properties as flame resistance and anticorrosive for mild steel.
LC‐MS assay targeting the mycobacterial indirect aminoacylation pathway uncovers glutaminase activities of the nondiscriminating aspartyl‐synthetase
Authors: Chew Bing Liang Alvin , Tanoto Frederick Reinhart , Luo Dahai 
Published: April 2020

The synthesis of asparagine (Asn)‐tRNAAsn in most prokaryotes uses an indirect aminoacylation pathway involving a nondiscriminating aspartyl synthetase (ND‐AspRS) and a glutamine amidotransferase (GatCAB). This was recently implicated as an adaptive mistranslation mechanism for antimicrobial resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but it remains poorly understood. We report an accessible liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method with unparalleled chemical specificity, sensitivity, and quantification over the current assays to enable the direct analysis and drug screening campaigns of this pathway. Through this method, we show that the mycobacterial ND‐AspRS stimulates the glutaminase activity of GatCAB. We further uncover novel glutaminase activity of the synthetase. These biological insights help better understand the indirect aminoacylation biology and allude to new roles beyond protein translation.
Exploring the Panel Exercises in the Modulor as presented by Le Corbusier
Authors: Watanabe Shun 
Published: April 2020

AbstractIn this study, the possibility of using the Modulor in the digital era is explored by employing computational methods to solve "The Panel Exercises" that Le Corbusier presented in his well‐known book "Modulor" and confirming the explosions of their combinations. First, the mathematical characteristics of the Modulor are reconfirmed. Thereafter, we present the gradual bisection method to generate combinations of the first panel exercise and a program of the depth‐first search to enumerate all the possible solutions of the second panel exercise. It is also demonstrated that the other panel exercises that evolved from the previous two exercises can be solved with these methods.
Narrative coherence in multiple forensic interviews with child witnesses alleging physical and sexual abuse
Authors: Szojka Zsofia A. , Nicol Annabelle , La Rooy David 
Published: April 2020

SummaryThis study investigated the narrative coherence of children's accounts elicited in multiple forensic interviews. Transcriptions of 56 police interviews with 28 children aged 3–14 years alleging physical and sexual abuse were coded for markers of completeness, consistency and connectedness. We found that multiple interviews increased the completeness of children's testimony, containing on average almost twice as much new information as single interviews, including crucial location, time and abuse‐related details. When both contradictions within the same interview and across interviews were considered, contradictions were not more frequent in multiple interviews. The frequency of linguistic markers of connectedness remained stable across interviews. Multiple interviews increase the narrative coherence of children's testimony through increasing their completeness without necessarily introducing contradictions or decreasing causal‐temporal connections between details. However, as ‘ground truth’ is not known in field studies, further investigation of the relationship between the narrative coherence and accuracy of testimonies is required.
Managing soils and crops for sustainable agricultural intensification in coastal saline zones
Authors: Zhang Jishi , Miao Qi , Xue Yanfang , Li Zongxin , Cui Zhenling 
Published: April 2020

AbstractSustainable agricultural intensification to ensure global food security requires increases in both crop yields and nitrogen (N) productivity. Together, these requirements represent a considerable challenge, especially in saline regions where the high soil sodium (Na+) content limits crop growth. An integrated soil and crop management system (ISCM) may be more successful than procedures aimed at improving only soil quality (ISM) or crop management (ICM), or current local farmers’ practice for achieving sustainable intensification in coastal saline zones. In this study, we tested different management alternatives for their ability to improve soil quality, agronomic feasibility, and affordability over four harvests in a 2‐yr wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–maize (Zea mays L.) rotation system in China. The ISM treatment with added cow manure and flue gas desulfurization gypsum reduced both Na+ content and pH in the subsoil, thereby improving grain yields and N productivity. The ICM treatment (i.e., optimized plant density and N fertilizer management) also increased crop yields and N productivity. The ISCM treatment integrated procedures of the ICM and ISM treatments to achieve the best agronomic benefit by increasing yields of wheat and maize by 25.3 and 30.8%, respectively, and N productivity by 109 and 97.6%, respectively, while simultaneously improving soil quality by increasing both calcium ion (Ca2+) and soil organic carbon content, and decreasing Na+ and pH in the subsoil. All three management alternatives increased economic benefits, and the ICM treatment was most valuable over the short term.
Double‐external‐field enables bulk controlled radical polymerization with narrow molecular weight distribution at high conversion
Authors: Bian Chao , Zhou Yin‐Ning , Luo Zheng‐Hong 
Published: April 2020

AbstractTo control over molecular weight and its distribution in bulk controlled radical polymerization (CRP) at high conversion remains a challenge. Currently, there are few reports about bulk CRP regulated by external field. In this work, a new strategy combining external fields of light and ultrasound, namely double‐external‐field, is reported to overcome the challenge. Light irradiation directly reduces the deactivator CuIIBr2/L in the presence of free amine ligand, while ultrasonic agitation improves the homogeneity of the system and moderates the diffusional limitations on activation‐deactivation and termination processes. Bulk polymerizations of methyl acrylate (MA) were conducted in a controlled manner at conversion over 90%, producing PMA with low dispersities (Đ = 1.05–1.07) and good retention of chain‐end functionality (77%). In addition, good control over the polymerizations for methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene was obtained, although the chain‐end functionality of PMMA‐Br requires further improvement. It is believed that this as‐developed double‐external‐field regulation strategy is also applicable to other light induced bulk RDRP systems to improve the controllability.
Nasal nitric oxide as a long‐term monitoring and prognostic biomarker of mucosal health in chronic rhinosinusitis
Authors: Lee Daniel J. , Yip Jonathan , Lee John M. 
Published: April 2020

BackgroundNasal nitric oxide (nNO) is a potential biomarker of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and correlates well with endoscopic and radiologic severity of disease. However, the long‐term profile of nNO as a biomarker is not established in the literature. The objectives of our study were to examine whether nNO can maintain this correlation in a 5‐year follow‐up after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) and to investigate whether nNO value can be used to prognosticate revision rates in patients with CRS.MethodsWe enrolled CRS patients 5 years after initial ESS at our institution. Patients underwent initial ESS at our institution between January 2013 and January 2015. Patients prospectively had the following measurements at baseline, 1 month, 6 months, and 5 years post‐ESS: nNO levels, Lund‐Kennedy Endoscopy Score (LKES), and 22‐item Sino‐Nasal Outcome Test‐22 (SNOT‐22) score. We also compared the nNO levels between patients who underwent revision ESS and those who did not.ResultsThere were 32 patients included in the study with 8 patients undergoing revision ESS during the 5‐year follow‐up. nNO levels were elevated at 1 month, 6 months, and 5 years post‐ESS compared to baseline. A significant negative correlation between nNO and LKES was found at 5 years post‐ESS. nNO levels were significantly reduced at baseline and 6 months post‐ESS in the revision cohort compared to the nonrevision cohort despite having comparable radiologic severity.ConclusionnNO may serve as a noninvasive long‐term biomarker to monitor sinus disease severity and to prognosticate results in patients with CRS. This has implications for potential integration into clinical practice.
Hippocampal Interictal Spikes during Sleep Impact Long‐Term Memory Consolidation
Authors: Lambert Isabelle , Tramoni‐Negre Eve , Lagarde Stanislas , Roehri Nicolas , Giusiano Bernard , Trebuchon‐Da Fonseca Agnès , Carron Romain , Benar Christian‐Georges , Felician Olivier , Bartolomei Fabrice 
Published: April 2020

ObjectiveNon‐rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is supposed to play a key role in long‐term memory consolidation transferring information from hippocampus to neocortex. However, sleep also activates epileptic activities in medial temporal regions. This study investigated whether interictal hippocampal spikes during sleep would impair long‐term memory consolidation.MethodWe prospectively measured visual and verbal memory performance in 20 patients with epilepsy investigated with stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) at immediate, 30‐minute, and 1‐week delays, and studied the correlations between interictal hippocampal spike frequency during waking and the first cycle of NREM sleep and memory performance, taking into account the number of seizures occurring during the consolidation period and other possible confounding factors, such as age and epilepsy duration.ResultsRetention of verbal memory over 1 week was negatively correlated with hippocampal spike frequency during sleep, whereas no significant correlation was found with hippocampal interictal spikes during waking. No significant result was found for visual memory. Regression tree analysis showed that the number of seizures was the first factor that impaired the verbal memory retention between 30 minutes and 1 week. When the number of seizures was below 5, spike frequency during sleep higher than 13 minutes was associated with impaired memory retention over 1 week.InterpretationOur results show that activation of interictal spikes in the hippocampus during sleep and seizures specifically impair long‐term memory consolidation. We hypothesize that hippocampal interictal spikes during sleep interrupt hippocampal‐neocortical transfer of information. ANN NEUROL 2020;87:976–987
A Chemistry for Incorporation of Selenium into DNA‐Encoded Libraries
Authors: Xu Hongtao , Gu Yuang , Zhang Shuning , Xiong Huan , Ma Fei , Lu Fengping , Ji Qun , Liu Lili , Ma Peixiang , Hou Wei , Yang Guang , Lerner Richard A. 
Published: April 2020

AbstractConventional direct C−H selenylation suffers from simple selenation with limited atom economy and complicated reaction system. In this work, we designed benzoselenazolone as a novel bifunctional selenide reagent for both off‐ and on‐DNA C−H selenylation under rhodium(III) catalysis. We show that using benzoselenazolone allowed production of a series of selenylation products containing an adjacent aminoacyl group in a fast and efficient way, with high atom economy. The synthetic application of this method was demonstrated by taking advantage of the amide functionality as a nucleophile, directing group, and amide coupling partner. This work shows great potential in facilitating rapid construction of selenium‐containing DNA‐encoded chemical libraries (SeDELs), and lays the foundation for the development of selenium‐containing drugs.
CncC/Maf‐mediated xenobiotic response pathway in insects
Authors: Palli Subba Reddy 
Published: April 2020

AbstractInsects have evolved resistance to almost all insecticides developed for their control. Multiple mechanisms of resistance, including enhanced metabolism and excretion of insecticides, target‐site insensitivity, reduced penetration of insecticides, and avoidance behavior, have been reported. The genes coding for proteins involved in resistance have been identified in numerous insects. The enzymes and transporters required for all three phases of insecticide metabolism and excretion including cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, glutathione S‐transferases, UDP‐glucuronosyltransferases, carboxylesterases, and ATP‐binding cassette transmembrane transporters have been identified. Recent research in multiple insect species identified CNC‐bZIP transcription factor superfamily members as regulators of genes coding for enzymes and transporters involved in insecticide metabolic resistance. The information on the pathway including reactive oxygen species, cap “n” collar isoform‐C, and its heterodimer partner, muscle aponeurosis fibromatosis transcription factors involved in overexpression of enzymes and transporters involved insecticide resistance will be summarized.
Association of chromosome 7 aneuploidy measured by fluorescence in situ hybridization assay with muscular invasion in bladder cancer
Authors: Diao Xiayao , Cai Jinhua , Zheng Junjiong , Kong Jianqiu , Wu Shaoxu , Yu Hao , Huang Hao , Xie Weibin , Chen Xiong , Huang Chengran , Huang Lifang , Qin Haide , Huang Jian , Lin Tianxin 
Published: April 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe preoperative prediction of muscular invasion status is important for adequately treating bladder cancer (BC) but nevertheless, there are some existing dilemmas in the current preoperative diagnostic accuracy of BC with muscular invasion. Here, we investigated the potential association between the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay and muscular invasion among patients with BC. A cytogenetic‐clinical nomogram for the individualized preoperative differentiation of muscle‐invasive BC (MIBC) from non‐muscle‐invasive BC (NMIBC) is also proposed.MethodsAll eligible BC patients were preoperatively tested using a FISH assay, which included 4 sites (chromosome‐specific centromeric probe [CSP] 3, 7, and 17, and gene locus‐specific probe [GLP]‐p16 locus). The correlation between the FISH assay and BC muscular invasion was evaluated using the Chi‐square tests. In the training set, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to develop a cytogenetic‐clinical nomogram for preoperative muscular invasion prediction. Then, we assessed the performance of the nomogram in the training set with respect to its discriminatory accuracy and calibration for predicting muscular invasion, and clinical usefulness, which were then validated in the validation set. Moreover, model comparison was set to evaluate the discrimination and clinical usefulness between the nomogram and the individual variables incorporated in the nomogram.ResultsMuscular invasion was more prevalent in BC patients with positive CSP3, CSP7 and CSP17 status (OR [95% CI], 2.724 [1.555 to 4.774], P < 0.001; 3.406 [1.912 to 6.068], P < 0.001 and 2.483 [1.436 to 4.292], P = 0.001, respectively). Radiology‐determined tumor size, radiology‐determined clinical tumor stage and CSP7 status were identified as independent risk factors of BC muscular invasion by the multivariate regression analysis in the training set. Then, a cytogenetic‐clinical nomogram incorporating these three independent risk factors was constructed and was observed to have satisfactory discrimination in the training (AUC 0.784; 95% CI: 0.715 to 0.853) and validation (AUC 0.743; 95% CI: 0.635 to 0.850) set. The decision curve analysis (DCA) indicated the clinical usefulness of our nomogram. In models comparison, using the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses, the nomogram showed higher discriminatory accuracy than any variables incorporated in the nomogram alone and the DCAs also identified the nomogram as possessing the highest net benefits at wide range of threshold probabilities.ConclusionCSP7 status was identified as an independent factor for predicting muscular invasion in BC patients and was successfully incorporated in a clinical nomogram combining the results of the FISH assay with clinical risk factors.