bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A novel 169Yb‐based dynamic‐shield intensity modulated brachytherapy delivery system for prostate cancer
Authors: Famulari Gabriel , Duclos Marie , Enger Shirin A. 
Published: December 2019

PurposeIntensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) is a novel high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR BT) technique which incorporates static or dynamic shielding to increase tumor coverage and/or spare healthy tissues. The purpose of this study is to present a novel delivery system (AIM‐Brachy) design that can enable dynamic‐shield IMBT for prostate cancer.MethodsThe AIM‐Brachy system dynamically controls the rotation of platinum shields, placed within interstitial catheters, which partially collimate the radiation emitted from an 169Yb source. Conventional HDR BT (10 Ci 192Ir) and IMBT (18 Ci 169Yb) plans were generated for 12 patients using an in‐house column generation‐based optimizer, coupled to a Geant4‐based dose calculation engine, RapidBrachyMC. Treatment plans were normalized to match the same PTV D90 coverage as the clinical plan. Intershield attenuation effects were taken into account. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the dosimetric impact of systematic longitudinal source positioning errors (1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm) and rotational errors (5, 10 and 15) on clinically relevant parameters (PTV D90 and urethra D10).ResultsThe platinum shield reduced the dose rate on the shielded side at 1 cm to 18.1% of the dose rate on the unshielded side. For equal PTV D90 coverage, the urethral D10 was reduced by 13.3% 4.7%, without change to other plan quality indices (PTV V100, V150, V200, bladder V75, rectum V75, HI, COIN). Delivery times for HDR BT and IMBT were 9.2 ± 1.6 min and 18.6 ± 4.0 min, respectively. In general, the PTV D90 was more sensitive to source positioning errors than rotational errors, while the urethral D10 was more sensitive to rotational errors than source positioning errors. For a typical range of positioning errors (1 mm, 5), the overall tolerance was <2%.ConclusionsThe AIM‐Brachy system was proposed to deliver dynamic‐shield IMBT for prostate cancer with the potential to create a low dose tunnel within the urethra. The urethra‐sparing properties are desirable to minimize the occurrence and severity of urethral strictures or, alternatively, to provide a method for dose escalation.
Influence of contrast agent dispersion on bolus‐based MRI myocardial perfusion measurements: A computational fluid dynamics study
Authors: Martens Johannes , Panzer Sabine , van den Wijngaard Jeroen , Siebes Maria , Schreiber Laura M. 
Published: December 2019

PurposeBolus‐based dynamic contrast agent (CA) perfusion measurements of the heart are subject to systematic errors due to CA bolus dispersion in the coronary arteries. To better understand these effects on quantification of myocardial blood flow and myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR), an in‐silico model of the coronary arteries down to the pre‐arteriolar vessels has been developed.MethodsIn this work, a computational fluid dynamics analysis is performed to investigate these errors on the basis of realistic 3D models of the left and right porcine coronary artery trees, including vessels at the pre‐arteriolar level. Using advanced boundary conditions, simulations of blood flow and CA transport are conducted at rest and under stress. These are evaluated with regard to dispersion (assessed by the width of CA concentration time curves and associated vascular transport functions) and errors of myocardial blood flow and myocardial perfusion reserve quantification.ResultsContrast agent dispersion increases with traveled distance as well as vessel diameter, and decreases with higher flow velocities. Overall, the average myocardial blood flow errors are −28% ± 16% and −8.5% ± 3.3% at rest and stress, respectively, and the average myocardial perfusion reserve error is 26% ± 22%. The calculated values are different in the left and right coronary tree.ConclusionContrast agent dispersion is dependent on a complex interplay of several different factors characterizing the cardiovascular bed, including vessel size and integrated vascular length. Quantification errors evoked by the observed CA dispersion show nonnegligible distortion in dynamic CA bolus‐based perfusion measurements. We expect future improvements of quantitative perfusion measurements to make the systematic errors described here more apparent.
Influence of particulate surface treatment on physical, mechanical, thermal, and dielectric behavior of epoxy/hexagonal boron nitride composites
Authors: Agrawal Alok , Chandrakar Saurabh 
Published: December 2019

AbstractPhysical, mechanical, thermal, and dielectric behavior of surface modified hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in epoxy matrix was investigated in this paper. Effective treatment of microsize boron nitride involved silane coupling agent, (γ‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane such that the coating resulted from the treatment amounted to 2% of the weight of silane coupling agent of the treated BN. The present work revealed that the chemical treatment of BN surface could effectively enhance the adhesion between matrix and filler material. The dispersion and wettability of the BN powder in epoxy matrix after surface treatment were improved. These imparted improved physical and excellent mechanical and thermal properties to the developed material. The experimental study on thermal properties of fabricated composites indicated that incorporation of modified particles exhibits improved glass transition temperature. As filler loading increases, coefficient of thermal expansion of composite decreases which further decreases when treated filler were used. Further, appreciable improvement in thermal conductivity is obtained when treated hBN is used in place of untreated one. The dielectric properties are investigated for wide frequency range and filler content and found to be increased with hBN content and decrease with frequency enhancement. Furthermore, mechanical properties of such composites were also largely enhanced when treated fillers were used. With modified properties, the presently developed material is suitable for microelectronic applications.
Resonant Acoustic® Mixing: Processing and Safety
Authors: Andrews Matthew R. , Collet Christelle , Wolff Aurihona , Hollands Chris 
Published: December 2019

AbstractNew processing technologies are allowing researchers, industry and academia to probe new materials space not previously achievable. These technologies include additive manufacturing and Resonant Acoustic® Mixing (RAM) which are being demonstrated to reduce processing times, environmental impact and of course cost. With the introduction of any new technology it is imperative that users, managers and national bodies provide the resources and time to determine, understand and provide guidance associated with the safe operating envelope. Combining the RAM with energetic materials requires numerous steps and iterations to generate the required knowledge. This paper is divided into three parts; the first provides a comparison of existing process technologies for energetic materials and how the community has approached using RAM for each of the energetic material sectors. The second part of the paper provides a summary of a review on how RAM users had provided safety assurance in using the technology with energetic materials. The third part covers how the community is using fundamental and applied research to continue in understanding the technology and where the benefits may lie. It is noted that this field is young therefore information contained herein will change in the future.
Systemic stereoselectivity study of bromothalonil: stereoselective bioactivity, toxicity, and degradation in vegetables and soil
Authors: Liang Xiaoyu , Xu Jiabin , Huang Xize , Zheng Zhao , Zhang Chenghui , Yang Ye , Wang Meng , Zhang Yu 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe chiral pesticide bromothalonil is widely used to control anthracnose disease on fruits and vegetables in China. The pesticidal activity, ecotoxicological effects and environmental behavior of bromothalonil and its enantiomers are still unclear.RESULTSBromothalonil presented effective biocidal activities against the tested fungi, its enantiomers showed distinct inhibitory activities against different fungal species. The bioactivities of (+)‐bromothalonil was 1.29–10.77 times higher than (−)‐bromothalonil toward Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, Curvularia lunata, Corynespora cassiicola, Colletotrichum siamense, and Colletotrichum musae, while the effect pattern was opposite for Colletotrichum cliviicola. Based on the acute toxicity test, bromothalonil was very toxic to Eisenia foetida (E. foetida). Bromothalonil also damaged the lysosomal membrane and exhibited potential genotoxicity toward E. foetida. Moreover, (+)‐bromothalonil presented lower toxicity than (−)‐bromothalonil. Stereoselective degradation was investigated in tomato, cucumber, chieh‐qua, and soil. The half‐life values of bromothalonil degradation ranged from 7.14 to 24.75 days, indicating that bromothalonil was easily degraded. Additionally, (+)‐bromothalonil degraded 1.2–1.75 times faster than (−)‐bromothalonil in the four matrices.CONCLUSIONThis is the first systemic assessment of the stereoselectivity of bromothalonil. Based on the obtained half‐life, EC50 and LC50 values, bromothalonil is an easily degraded, broad‐spectrum biocidal but very toxic pesticide. (+)‐Bromothalonil was more degradable in vegetables and soil and showed clearly higher bioactivity toward target organisms and lower toxicity to E. foetida than (−)‐bromothalonil. Therefore, the stereoselectivity of bromothalonil enantiomers should be fully considered in comprehensive environmental and ecological risk assessments in future work. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
TITE‐BOIN‐ET: Time‐to‐event Bayesian optimal interval design to accelerate dose‐finding based on both efficacy and toxicity outcomes
Authors: Takeda Kentaro , Morita Satoshi , Taguri Masataka 
Published: December 2019

SummaryOne of the primary purposes of an oncology dose‐finding trial is to identify an optimal dose (OD) that is both tolerable and has an indication of therapeutic benefit for subjects in subsequent clinical trials. In addition, it is quite important to accelerate early stage trials to shorten the entire period of drug development. However, it is often challenging to make adaptive decisions of dose escalation and de‐escalation in a timely manner because of the fast accrual rate, the difference of outcome evaluation periods for efficacy and toxicity and the late‐onset outcomes. To solve these issues, we propose the time‐to‐event Bayesian optimal interval design to accelerate dose‐finding based on cumulative and pending data of both efficacy and toxicity. The new design, named “TITE‐BOIN‐ET” design, is nonparametric and a model‐assisted design. Thus, it is robust, much simpler, and easier to implement in actual oncology dose‐finding trials compared with the model‐based approaches. These characteristics are quite useful from a practical point of view. A simulation study shows that the TITE‐BOIN‐ET design has advantages compared with the model‐based approaches in both the percentage of correct OD selection and the average number of patients allocated to the ODs across a variety of realistic settings. In addition, the TITE‐BOIN‐ET design significantly shortens the trial duration compared with the designs without sequential enrollment and therefore has the potential to accelerate early stage dose‐finding trials.
Improving expert forecasts in reliability: Application and evidence for structured elicitation protocols
Authors: Hemming Victoria , Armstrong Nicholas , Burgman Mark A. , Hanea Anca M. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractQuantitative expert judgements are used in reliability assessments to inform critically important decisions. Structured elicitation protocols have been advocated to improve expert judgements, yet their application in reliability is challenged by a lack of examples or evidence that they improve judgements.This paper aims to overcome these barriers. We present a case study where two world‐leading protocols, the IDEA protocol and the Classical Model, were combined and applied by the Australian Department of Defence for a reliability assessment. We assess the practicality of the methods and the extent to which they improve judgements.The average expert was extremely overconfident, with 90% credible intervals containing the true realisation 36% of the time. However, steps contained in the protocols substantially improved judgements. In particular, an equal weighted aggregation of individual judgements and the inclusion of a discussion phase and revised estimate helped to improve calibration, statistical accuracy, and the Classical Model score. Further improvements in precision and information were made via performance weighted aggregation.This paper provides useful insights into the application of structured elicitation protocols for reliability and the extent to which judgements are improved. The findings raise concerns about existing practices for utilising experts in reliability assessments and suggest greater adoption of structured protocols is warranted. We encourage the reliability community to further develop examples and insights.
Manipulation of a master manipulator with a combined‐grip‐handle of pinch and power grips
Authors: Jeong Solmon , Tadano Kotaro 
Published: December 2019

AbstractConventional robotic surgery employs pinch and power grips for manipulating a master manipulator. As such, the manipulating methods exhibit limitations that are strongly related to the advantages and disadvantages of the gripping type. The context of this paper is focused on the introduction of a combined grip to compensate for such restraints. In particular, this paper proposed the combined‐grip‐handle scheme on a master manipulator, which employs both the pinch and power grips. A pointing experiment applying the master‐slave scheme was conducted with the master manipulator under several manipulating conditions of the combined grip and the conventional gripping types. Results of using the combined grip demonstrated that the positioning operation performed with fewer failures and required shorter time and trajectory. Compared with the conventional gripping types, the proposed combined grip showed better performance on the positioning operation and provided a possibility to perform precise work at lower scale factors.
Design and Synthesis of Piperazine‐Linked Imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine Derivatives as Potent Anticancer Agents
Authors: Reddy Gangireddy Madhusudhana , Mantipally Manohar , Gundla Rambabu , Nayak Badavath Vishnu , Paidikondala Kalyani , Yamala Anilkumar 
Published: December 2019

AbstractDesigned, synthesized a series of novel imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine derivatives and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity. Fluorine containing compounds, (2‐fluorophenyl)(4‐(2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridin‐6‐yl)piperazin‐1‐yl)methanone (7 e),(4‐(2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridin‐6‐yl)piperazin‐1‐yl)(2‐(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)methanone (7 h) and (3‐fluorophenyl)(4‐(2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridin‐6‐yl)piperazin‐1‐yl)methanone (7 i) were found to have an effective cytotoxic profile against HepG2, HeLa and MDA‐MB‐231. Compounds 7 h (IC50= 5.8 μM) and 7 i (IC50= 3.5 μM) were found potent when compared with control Paclitaxel (IC50= 2.8 μM), against HeLa. Compound 7 h also found to be potent against HepG2 (IC50= 2.0 μM) and MDAMB‐231(IC50= 6.9 μM) respectively, when compared with Paclitaxel (HepG2, IC50= 0.56 μM; MDAMB‐231, IC50= 1.9 μM). Compound 7 e also found to be potent against HepG2 (IC50= 9.8 μM) cell lines. Synthesized piperazine linked imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine derivatives (7 i, IC50=3.5 μM) and (7 h, IC50=5.8 μM) showed 1.74 fold, 1.12 fold increase in antiproliferative activity than reported homopiperazine linked imidazo[1,2‐a]pyrimidine derivatives (4‐Fluorophenyl)(4‐(2‐(4‐fluorophenyl)imidazo[1,2‐a]pyrimidin‐7‐yl)‐1,4‐diazepan‐1‐yl)methanone(10 f, IC50=6.12 μM) and (4‐(2‐(4‐Fluorophenyl)imidazo[1,2‐a]pyrimidin‐7‐yl)‐1,4‐diazepan‐1‐yl)(3‐methoxyphenyl)methanone (12, IC50=6.54 μM) against Hela cell lines. Molecular docking studies showed that designed compounds occupy at the active site of both colchicine and human estrogen receptor which demonstrated that the designed compounds were able to bind with multiple targets, the biological activity of these compounds hold promise to find application in considering for treatment protocol.
Synthesis, Characterization and Application of V2O5/S‐Doped Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanocomposite for Removing of Organic Pollutants
Authors: Chegeni Mahdieh , Goudarzi Fahimeh , Soleymani Mousa 
Published: December 2019

AbstractIn the present work, the V2O5/S‐doped graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite was constructed using the in‐situ growth method. The properties of this interesting material were improved by S‐doping as well as addition of V2O5. The nanocomposite was characterized using FT‐IR, XRD, SEM, EDX, BET, TEM, PL, XPS and UV‐DRS techniques. In continuation, the constructed nanocomposite was applied for adsorption and degradation of methylene blue and phenol as organic pollutants. The effect of certain factors such as pH, doses of adsorbent and adsorbate (methylene blue and phenol), time, and temperature was evaluated through performing of adsorption under different conditions. Then, degradation of the pollutants was performed under various conditions such as sunlight, light‐emitting diode, and ultraviolet irradiations and also in dark. The results showed a significant increase in the adsorption and photocatalytic activities of V2O5/S‐doped graphitic carbon nitride in comparison with pristine graphitic carbon nitride. The performance of V2O5/S‐doped graphitic carbon nitride remained after treatment for five times.
Dancing with the Cells: Acoustic Microflows Generated by Oscillating Cells
Authors: Salari Alinaghi , Appak‐Baskoy Sila , Ezzo Maya , Hinz Boris , Kolios Michael C. , Tsai Scott S. H. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThe interaction of a sound or ultrasound wave with an elastic object, such as a microbubble, can give rise to a steady‐state microstreaming flow in its surrounding liquid. Many microfluidic strategies for cell and particle manipulation, and analyte mixing, are based on this type of flow. In addition, there are reports that acoustic streaming can be generated in biological systems, for instance, in a mammalian inner ear. Here, new observations are reported that individual cells are able to induce microstreaming flow, when they are excited by controlled acoustic waves in vitro. Single adherent cells are exposed to an acoustic field inside a microfluidic device. The cell‐induced microstreaming is then investigated by monitoring flow tracers around the cell, while the structure and extracellular environment of the cell are altered using different chemicals. The observations suggest that the maximum streaming flow induced by an MDA‐MB‐231 breast cancer cell can reach velocities on the order of mm s−1, and this maximum velocity is primarily governed by the overall cell stiffness. Therefore, such cell‐induced microstreaming measurements, including flow pattern and velocity magnitude, may be used as label‐free proxies of cellular mechanical properties, such as stiffness.
Extracellular vesicles and their roles in stem cell biology
Authors: Hur Yun Ha , Cerione Richard A. , Antonyak Marc A. 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Stem cells use a variety of mechanisms to help maintain their pluripotency and promote self-renewal, as well as, at the appropriate time, to differentiate into specialized cells. One such mechanism that is attracting significant attention from the stem cell, development, and regenerative medicine research communities involves a form of intercellular communication, specifically, the ability of cells to form and release nontraditional membrane-enclosed structures, referred to as extracellular vesicles (EVs). There are two major classes of EVs, microvesicles (MVs), which are generated through the outward budding and fission of the plasma membrane, and exosomes, which are formed as multivesicular bodies (MVBs) in the endo-lysosomal pathway that fuse with the cell surface to release their contents. Although they differ in how they are formed, both MVs and exosomes have been shown to contain a diverse array of bioactive cargo, such as proteins, RNA transcripts, microRNAs, and even DNA, which can be transferred to other cells and promote phenotypic changes. Here, we will describe what is currently known regarding EVs and the roles they play in stem cell biology and different aspects of early development. We will also highlight how the EVs produced by stem cells are being aggressively pursued for clinical applications, including their potential use as therapeutic delivery systems and for their regenerative capabilities.
A heterogeneous single changepoint software reliability growth model framework
Authors: Nagaraju Vidhyashree , Fiondella Lance , Wandji Thierry 
Published: December 2019

SummaryMany non‐homogeneous Poisson process software reliability growth models (SRGM) are characterized by a single continuous curve. However, failures are driven by factors such as the testing strategy and environment, integration testing and resource allocation, which can introduce one or more changepoint into the fault detection process. Some researchers have proposed non‐homogeneous Poisson process SRGM, but only consider a common failure distribution before and after changepoints. This paper proposes a heterogeneous single changepoint framework for SRGM, which can exhibit different failure distributions before and after the changepoint. Combinations of two simple and distinct curves including an exponential and S‐shaped curve are employed to illustrate the concept. Ten data sets are used to compare these heterogeneous models against their homogeneous counterparts. Experimental results indicate that heterogeneous changepoint models achieve better goodness‐of‐fit measures on 60% and 80% of the data sets with respect to the Akaike information criterion and predictive sum of squares measures.
Autonomous driving systems hardware and software architecture exploration: optimizing latency and cost under safety constraints
Authors: Collin Anne , Siddiqi Afreen , Imanishi Yuto , Rebentisch Eric , Tanimichi Taisetsu , de Weck Olivier L. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractWith the recent progress of techniques in computer vision and processor design, vehicles are able to perform a greater number of functions, and are reaching higher levels of autonomy. As the list of autonomous tasks that the car is supposed to perform grows, two design questions arise: how to group these tasks into modules and which processors and data buses should instantiate these modules and their links in the physical architecture. Both questions are linked, as the processing capacity of the processors influences how centralized the architecture can be, and the modularization influences the overall system latency as well. Furthermore, our interest lies in designing architectures that perform the tasks rapidly, while minimizing cost. This multiobjective problem is intractable without architecture exploration and an analysis tool. This paper presents a linear optimization formulation to capture these tradeoffs, and to systematically find relevant architectures with optimal latency and cost. The results show that enforcing all safety constraints on the architecture leads to a worst case increase of 17% in latency and 18% component cost per vehicle. The increase in latency is significant at the scale of human driver reaction times.