bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Apatinib for Maintenance Treatment in Patients with Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Liu Guohui , Wang Chunbo , E Mingyan 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: To investigate the clinical efficacy,safety and prognostic factors of the therapy that apatinib is used for maintenance treatment in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: We select 46 patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy in our hospital from January 2017 to February 2019, all of them were treatment with apatinib. Analysis the clinical efficacy, adverse reactions and prognostic factors. Meanwhile, the expression of patients’VEGFR-2、NF-kB was detected by immunohistochemical SABC method,and the microvessel density and microlymphatic tube density were counted.Analysis of the relationship between indicators and MVD, MLVD counts and the efficacy of apatinib.Results: We found that oral treatment of apatinib in VEGFR-2、NF-kB positive group was better than that in negative group. The partial remission rate of patients was 26.09%; the disease control rate was 67.39%.The main adverse reactions were hypertension (60.87%); hand and foot syndrome (34.77%); proteinuria (36.96%). The degree of adverse reactions was mainly grade 1~2. The median progression-free survival was 3.7 months and the median overall survival was 7.2 months. Log-Rank univariate analysis showed that the degree of adverse reactions and ECOG score were related to OS in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that the degree of adverse reactions and ECOG score were independent factors affecting OS in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Conclusion: Positive expression of VEGFR-2 and NF-kB can be used as a biological reference target for targeted treatment of oral apatinib. Apatinib has a certain clinical effect in the maintenance treatment of advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients after treatment, with mild adverse reactions and high safety.
Human-mimetic Estimation of Food Volume from a Single-View RGB Image using an AI System
Authors: yang zhengeng , Yu Hongshan , Cao Shunxin , Jia Wenyan , Xu Qi , Yuan Ding , Zhang Hong , Mao Zhi-Hong , Sun Mingui 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: It is well-known that many chronic diseases are associated with unhealthy diet. Although improving diet is critical, adopting a healthy diet is difficult despite its benefits being well understood. Technology is needed that allows assessment of dietary intake accurately and easily in real-world settings so that effective intervention to manage overweight, obesity and related chronic diseases can be developed. In recent years, new wearable imaging and computational technologies have emerged. These technologies are capable of objective and passive dietary assessment with much simplified procedure than traditional questionnaires. However, a critical task is required to estimate the portion size (in this case, the food volume) from a digital image. Currently, this task is very challenging because the volumetric information in the two-dimensional images is incomplete, and the estimation involves a great deal of imagination, beyond the capacity of the traditional image processing algorithms.Method : A novel Artificial Intelligent (AI) system is proposed to mimic the thinking of dietitians who use a set of common objects as gauges (e.g., a teaspoon, a golf ball, a cup, and so on) to estimate the portion size. Specifically, our human-mimetic system "mentally" gauges the volume of food using a set of internal reference volumes that have been learned previously. At the output, our system produces a vector of probabilities of the food with respect to the internal reference volumes. The estimation is then completed by an "intelligent guess", implemented by an inner product between the probability vector and the reference volume vector.Dataset: The datasets utilized for model validation include: 1) two virtual food datasets produced by computer simulation, and 2) two real-world food datasets collected by us.Results: The average relative volumetric errors of our AI method were less than 9% on both virtual datasets, and 11.7% and 20.1% , respectively, on the two real-world food datasets.Discussion: We discuss: 1) the use of AI to estimate the "relative volume" of food in a plate, 2) the case of multiple foods in a plate, and 3) the potential of AI in advancing nutrition science.Conclusion: Our AI system is able to use the same food volume estimation strategy as the human uses.
Prevalence of some virulence genes and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from different clinical specimens
Authors: Chand Yamuna , Khanal Santosh , Panta Om Prakash , Shrestha Dipendra , Khadka Dhruba Kumar , Poudel Pramod 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen and are reported to cause acute and chronic infectious diseases. Due to its high ability to acquire resistance to many antibiotics, it has become a global public health threat. It consists of some virulence genes that may lead to its pathogenicity. The main objective of this cross-sectional study was to detect the virulence genes and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of P. aeruginosa isolated from clinical specimens collected from governmental hospital of Nepal.Methods: A total of 7898 clinical specimens were analyzed for the period of six months from November 2018 to April 2019. The specimens were cultured on Nutrient agar, Blood agar, MacConkey agar, Chocolate agar, Cysteine-Lactose, Electrolyte Deficient agar plates and were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. All the isolates were identified by standard biochemical tests and further confirmed by growth on Cetrimide agar plate. The antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method following CLSI guideline. Multiplex-PCR was done to detect the virulence genes oprL and toxA. Statistical analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistic ver. 25 and the p-value was calculated at significance level (0.05%) by using Chi square.Results: Out of these specimens investigated, 87 isolates were tentatively identified to be P. aeruginosa in which 20 (22.98 %) were found to be multidrug resistant. Comparatively, most of the P. aeruginosa were isolated from outpatients 63 (72.41 %) than inpatients 24 (27.58 %), from male 56 (64.36 %) than female 31 (35.63 %) and in age group 60-79 years (41.37 %). AST result showed the highest resistance of 100% with cefixime whereas susceptibilities of 83.9% and 81.6% with polymixin B and tobramycin were noticed respectively. The PCR results showed that all P. aeruginosa isolates carried oprL 87 (100%) and 83 (95.4 %) isolates showed toxA genes. Conclusion: The studies revealed that almost all P. aeruginosa harbors both oprL and toxA genes.
Brain function changes induced by intermittent sequential pneumatic compression in patients with stroke as assessed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy
Authors: Xie Hui , Xu Gongcheng , Huo Congcong , Li Wenhao , Zhao Haihong , Lv Zeping , Li Zengyong 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background. Intermittent sequential pneumatic compression (ISPC) can effectively promote blood flow and improve microcirculation. The increase in pressure gradient and blood flow velocity by ISPC has been suggested to be a possible mechanism to improve the microcirculation of patients. However, the effects of ISPC on cerebral oscillations are still unclear.Methods. The tissue concentration of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin oscillations were measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy under resting and ISPC conditions in 27 right-handed adult patients with stroke. Five characteristic frequency signals (I, 0.6–2 Hz; II, 0.145–0.6 Hz; III, 0.052–0.145 Hz; IV, 0.021–0.052 Hz; and V, 0.0095–0.021 Hz) were identified using the wavelet method. The wavelet amplitude (WA) and laterality index (LI) were calculated to describe the frequency-specific cortical activities.Results. The WA values of the ipsilesional motor cortex (MC) in the frequency intervals III (F = 4.378, p = 0.041), IV (F = 4.281, p = 0.044), and V (F = 5.33, p = 0.025) and those of the contralesional MC in III (F = 10.122, p = 0.002), IV (F = 9.275, p = 0.004), and V (F = 8.373, p = 0.006) were significantly higher when the patients were under the ISPC state than when they were under the resting state. Also, the LI value of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and MC of the patients decreased more obviously in the ISPC state compared with the resting state despite there was no significant difference.Conclusions. ISPC could induce the activation of bilateral MCs in myogenic and neurogenic innervations and endothelial cell metabolic activities. The decreased LI values in the PFC and MC indicated that the ISPC had a positive effect on these regions’ functional rehabilitation. The ISPC of 0.03 Hz is not suitable for all patients with stroke, and personalized treatment options should be considered in subsequent ISPC intervention. This study provides a method for assessing the effects of ISPC on cerebral oscillations, and the results benefit the optimization of ISPC parameters in the personalized treatment for the functional recovery of patients with stroke.
Identification and characterization of Anopheles larval aquatic habitats at three sites of varying malaria transmission intensities in Uganda.
Authors: Musiime Alex K. , Smith David L. , Kilama Maxwell , Otto Geoffrey , Kyagamba Patrick , Rek John , Conrad Melissa D. , Nankabirwa Joaniter I. , Arinaitwe Emmanuel , Akol Anne M. , Kamya Moses R. , Dorsey Grant , Staedke Sarah G. , Drakeley Chris , Lindsay Steve W. 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: Over the last two decades, there has been remarkable progress in malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa, due mainly to the massive deployment of long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying. Despite these gains, it is clear that in many situations, additional interventions are needed to further reduce malaria transmission. Larval source management (LSM) is a potential supplementary measure that could be used to control malaria. However, prior to its roll-out, knowledge on ecology of larval aquatic habitats is required.Methods: Aquatic habitats colonized by Anopheles vectors were characterised at three sites of low, medium and high malaria transmission in Uganda from October 2011 to June 2016. Larval surveys were conducted along transects in each site and aquatic habitats described according to type and size. Anopheles mosquito larvae and pupae from the described habitats were sampled using standard dipping methods to determine larval densities. Larvae were identified as anopheline or culicine and counted. Pupae were not identified further. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the presence of Anopheles larvae in each site.Results: A total of 1,205 larval aquatic habitats were surveyed and yielded a total of 17,028 anopheline larvae, 26,958 culicine larvae and 1,189 pupae. Peaks in larval abundance occurred in all sites in March-May and August-October coinciding with the rainy seasons. Anopheles larvae were found in 52.4 % (n = 251) of aquatic habitats in Tororo, a site of high transmission, 41.9 % (n = 536) of habitats in Kanungu, a site with moderate malaria transmission, and 15.8 % (n=418) in Jinja, a site with low malaria transmission. The odds of finding Anopheles larvae was highest in rice fields compared to pools in both Tororo (odds ratio, OR = 4.21, 95% CI 1.22-14.56, p = 0.02) and Kanungu (OR= 2.14, 95% CI 1.12-4.07, p =0.02). In Kanungu, Anopheles larvae were less likely to be found in open drains compared to pools (OR = 0.15, 95% CI 0.03-0.72, p = 0.02) and river fringe (OR = 0.19, 95% CI 0.07-0.52, p = 0.001). Conclusions: These findings show that Anopheles larvae were common in areas of high and moderate transmission but were rare in areas of low transmission. Although Anopheles larvae were found in all types of water bodies, they were most common in rice fields and less common in open drains and on river fringes. Methods are needed to reduce the aquatic stages of anopheline mosquitoes in human-made habitats, particularly rice fields.
Inside the lungs of COVID-19 disease
Authors: Aguiar Diego , Lobrinus Johannes Alexander , Schibler Manuel , Fracasso Tony , Lardi Christelle 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
In the setting of COVID-19 pandemic, only few data regarding lung pathology induced by SARS-CoV-2 is available, especially without medical intervention interacting with the natural evolution of the disease. We present here the first case of forensic autopsy of a COVID-19 fatality occurring in confinement and in a young female. Diagnosis was made at necropsy and lung histology revealed diffuse alveolar damage, edema and interstitial pneumonia with a geographically heterogeneous pattern, affecting mostly central part of the lungs. This death related to COVID-19 pathology highlights the heterogeneity and severity of central lung lesions when the disease naturally evolves.
Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 and assessment of risks of infection by SARS-CoV-2 among the Bangladeshi population: An online cross sectional survey
Authors: Haque Tasnima , Hossain Khondoker Moazzem , Bhuiyan Md. Monzur Rahman , Ananna Sadia Afreen , Chowdhury Shafquat Haider , Islam Mohammad Rafiqul , Ahmed Asif , Rahman Mohammad Mahmudur 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
The COVID19 pandemic has been transmitted worldwide rapidly. The best ways of preventing this virus are to know about and act accordingly. An online cross sectional survey was conducted to know the knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID19 and to assess the risks of infections among Bangladeshi population. Among 2045 respondents, 54·87% respondents kept good knowledge. Knowledge was significantly diverged across age, gender, education levels, residences, income groups, and marital status. Despite the knowledge, the attitude and practices of Bangladeshi people are not impressive. Among population, 32·08%, and 44·30% people were in high, and in medium risk of infection respectively. Everybody is in risk. Reasons for the mediocre attitude and practices could be the poor knowledge, nonscientific and orthodox religious believe. Government and policy makers must consider these knowledge levels, attitude & practices and the risk of infection assessment to implement productive interventions for preventing the COVID19.
Time-Space Flowering and Podding Characterization in Erect-growing Summer Mung Bean（Vigna radiate L.）
Authors: Wang Na , Zhang Jun , Huang Meng-Di , Wu Hui-Qing , Feng Yv , Zhao Ying-Nan , Yang Pu , Gao Jin-Feng , Gao xiaoli 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
The flowering and podding sequences and patterns in different Mung bean varieties were studied by examining the flowering and podding of Xilv 1 and Anlv 7, in order to provide a basis for Mung bean hybridization and high efficiency production. It was shown that the flower period of Mung bean could be divided into initial, full bloom, final stages, and secondary full bloom and final stages. Flowers mainly distributed at nodes 6-8 at the initial flowering stage; distributed at all plant nodes, especially at the nodes on lower branches at the full bloom stage; and sporadically distributed at the final flowering stage. The flowering sequence of Mung bean was that they began to flower on the first inflorescences developed from axillary buds and then flowered first at proximal nodes on lower branches, then at nodes on relatively upper branches, and finally at nodes on top branches. There were the highest numbers of open flowers and fructifying pods on lower branches, followed first by those on relatively upper branches and finally by those on top branches.
Transcriptomic analysis of flower opening response to relatively low temperatures in Osmanthus fragrans
Authors: Fu Jianxin , Zhang Chao , Liu Yucheng , Pang Tianhong , Dong Bin , Gao Xiaoyue , Zhu Yimin , Zhao Hongbo 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: Osmanthus fragrans Lour. is one of the top ten traditional ornamental flower in China. The flower time of once-flowering cultivars in O. fragrans is greatly affected by the relatively low temperature, but there is few reports on its molecular mechanism to date. Results: In this study, the cell size of adaxial and abaxial petal epidermal cells and ultrastructural morphology of petal cells at different developmental stages were observed. The cell size of adaxial and abaxial petal epidermal cells increased gradually with the process of flower opening. Then the transcriptomic sequencing was employed to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under different days’ treatments with relatively low temperatures (19°C) or 23°C. Analysis of DEGs in GO analysis showed that “metabolic process”, “cellular process”, “binding”, “catalytic activity”, “cell”, “cell part”, “membrane”, “membrane part”, “single-organism process”, and “organelle” were highly enriched. In KEGG analysis, “metabolic pathways”, “biosynthesis of secondary metabolites”, “plant-pathogen interaction”, “starch and sucrose metabolism”, and “plant hormone signal transduction” were the top five pathways containing the greatest number of DEGs. DEGs involved in cell wall metabolism, phytohormone signal transduction pathways, and eight kinds of transcription factors were analyzed in depth. Conclusions: Several unigenes involved in cell wall metabolism, phytohormone signal transduction pathway, and TFs with highly variable expression levels between different temperature treatments may be involved in petal cell expansion during flower opening process in response to the relatively low temperature. These results could improve our understanding of the molecular mechanism of relatively low temperature regulating flower opening of O. fragrans and provide theoretical reference for the prediction and regulation of flowering time and genetic modification in O. fragrans.
3D characterization of walnut morphological traits using X-ray computed tomography
Authors: Bernard Anthony , Hamdy Sherif , Corre Laurence Le , Dirlewanger Elisabeth , Lheureux Fabrice 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background:
Walnuts are grown worldwide in temperate areas and producers are facing an increasing demand. In a climate change context, the industry also needs cultivars that provide fruits of quality. This quality includes satisfactory filling ratio, thicker shell, ease of cracking, smooth shell and round-shaped walnut, and larger nut size. These desirable traits have been analysed so far using calipers or micrometers, but it takes a lot of time and requires the destruction of the sample. A challenge to take up is to develop an accurate, fast and non-destructive method for quality-related and morphometric trait measurements of walnuts, that are used to characterize new cultivars or collections in any germplasm management process.
Results:
In this study, we develop a method to measure different morphological traits on several walnuts simultaneously such as morphometric traits (nut length, nut face and profile diameters), traits that previously required opening the nut (shell thickness, kernel volume and filling kernel/nut ratio) and traits that previously were difficult to quantify (shell rugosity, nut sphericity, nut surface area and nut shape). These measurements were obtained from reconstructed 3D images acquired by X-ray computed tomography (CT). A workflow was created including several steps: noise elimination, walnut individualization, properties extraction and quantification of the different parts of the fruit. This method was applied to characterize 50 walnuts of a part of the INRAE walnut germplasm collection made of 161 unique accessions, obtained from the 2018 harvest. Our results indicate that 50 walnuts are sufficient to phenotype the fruit quality of one accession using X-ray CT and to find correlations between the morphometric traits. Our imaging workflow is suitable for any walnut size or shape and provides new and more accurate measurements.
Conclusions:
The fast and accurate measurement of quantitative traits is of utmost importance to conduct quantitative genetic analyses or cultivar characterization. Our imaging workflow is well adapted for accurate phenotypic characterization of a various range of traits and could be easily applied to other important nut crops.
Ecosytem Services Assessment of Urban Forests of Adama City, Ethiopia
Authors: Koricho Hingabu Hordofa , Seboka Ararsa Derese , Song Shaoxian 
Published: April 2020

Abstract
Background: The recent urban challenges due to climate change and urban environment deterioration requires proper planning and inventories of urban forests. In this paper, trees and shrub information were used to estimate leaf area/biomass, carbon storage, carbon sequestration, pollution removal, and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, hydrological and functional values of Adama city urban forest. This study was conducted to assess and quantify the ecosystem services of urban forests of Adama city, Central Ethiopia.Results: The result of i-tree Eco model has indicated that the tree species such as Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus globulus, Carica papaya and Delonix regia sequester high percentage of carbon which is approximately 14.7%, 7.4%, 7.3% and 6.2% of all annually sequestered carbon respectively. Besides, urban forests of the city was estimated to store 116,000 tons of carbon; the most carbons were stored by the species such as Eucalyptus globulus, Azadirachta indica, Carica papaya and Delonix regia that stores approximately 22.1%, 12.3%, 9.5% and 4.2% of all stored carbon respectively. Trees in Adama urban forests were estimated to produce 19.93 thousand tons of oxygen per year. It was estimated that trees and shrubs remove 188.3 thousand tons of air pollution due to O3, CO, NO2, PM2.5 and SO2 per year. In the city, 35 percent of the urban forest's VOC emissions were from Eucalyptus cinerea and Eucalyptus globulus. Besides, the monetary value of Adama urban forest in terms of carbon storage, carbon sequestration, and pollution removal was estimated to 16,588,470 ETB/yr, 118,283 ETB /yr and 12,162,701,080. 9 ETB /yr respectively.Conclusion: Urban forest of Adama city has significant contribution in terms of enhancing woody species diversity and the regulation of urban environment of the study area. From the management and conservation perspectives, urban forests of the study area needs consolidated interventions in terms of tree planting in bare areas and management works. Hence, reliable commitment should be demanded form the key stakeholders such as government, urban foresters and city dwellers.