bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Imaging in gynecological disease (23): clinical and ultrasound characteristics of ovarian carcinosarcoma
Authors: Ciccarone F. , Biscione A. , Moro F. , Fischerova D. , Savelli L. , Munaretto M. , Jokubkiene L. , Sladkevicius P. , Chiappa V. , Fruscio R. , Franchi D. , Epstein E. , Timmerman D. , Froyman W. , Valentin L. , Scambia G. , Testa A. C. 
Published: July 2021

ABSTRACTObjectiveTo describe the clinical and ultrasound characteristics of ovarian carcinosarcoma.MethodsThis was a retrospective multicenter study. Patients with a histological diagnosis of ovarian carcinosarcoma, who had undergone preoperative ultrasound examination between 2010 and 2019, were identified from the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) database. Additional patients who were examined outside of the IOTA study were identified from the databases of the participating centers. The masses were described using the terms and definitions of the IOTA group. Additionally, two experienced ultrasound examiners reviewed all available images to identify typical ultrasound features using pattern recognition.ResultsNinety‐one patients with ovarian carcinosarcoma who had undergone ultrasound examination were identified, of whom 24 were examined within the IOTA studies and 67 were examined outside of the IOTA studies. Median age at diagnosis was 66 (range, 33–91) years and 84/91 (92.3%) patients were postmenopausal. Most patients (67/91, 73.6%) were symptomatic, with the most common complaint being pain (51/91, 56.0%). Most tumors (67/91, 73.6%) were International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Stage III or IV. Bilateral lesions were observed on ultrasound in 46/91 (50.5%) patients. Ascites was present in 38/91 (41.8%) patients. The median largest tumor diameter was 100 (range, 18–260) mm. All ovarian carcinosarcomas contained solid components, and most were described as solid (66/91, 72.5%) or multilocular‐solid (22/91, 24.2%). The median diameter of the largest solid component was 77.5 (range, 11–238) mm. Moderate or rich vascularization was found in 78/91 (85.7%) cases. Retrospective analysis of ultrasound images and videoclips using pattern recognition in 73 cases revealed that all tumors had irregular margins and inhomogeneous echogenicity of the solid components. Forty‐seven of 73 (64.4%) masses appeared as a solid tumor with cystic areas. Cooked appearance of the solid tissue was identified in 28/73 (38.4%) tumors. No pathognomonic ultrasound sign of ovarian carcinosarcoma was found.ConclusionsOvarian carcinosarcomas are usually diagnosed in postmenopausal women and at an advanced stage. The most common ultrasound appearance is a large solid tumor with irregular margins, inhomogeneous echogenicity of the solid tissue and cystic areas. The second most common pattern is a large multilocular‐solid mass with inhomogeneous echogenicity of the solid tissue. © 2021 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Removing the effects of temperature on electrical resistivity tomography data collected in partially frozen ground: Limitations and considerations for field applications
Authors: Herring Teddi , Pidlisecky Adam , Cey Edwin 
Published: July 2021

AbstractTime‐lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be used to image a wide variety of subsurface processes. It is often necessary to remove the effects of seasonal near‐surface temperature variability in order to interpret the signal of interest. Here, we use a synthetic modeling approach to explore the challenges related to removing temperature effects from ERT data in seasonally frozen ground. Electrical resistivity tomography data collection and processing methods that are often used to improve resolution in frozen ground do not appreciably improve the accuracy of temperature corrected data. A sensitivity analysis showed that errors in the temperature corrected data are primarily caused by error in the inverted resistivity models, and that this sensitivity to model error is much higher in partially frozen ground than in unfrozen ground.
LéXPLORE: A floating laboratory on Lake Geneva offering unique lake research opportunities
Authors: Wüest Alfred , Bouffard Damien , Guillard Jean , Ibelings Bastiaan W. , Lavanchy Sébastien , Perga Marie‐Elodie , Pasche Natacha 
Published: July 2021

AbstractEnvironmental sciences depend heavily on observational data. Successful studies of ecological processes in lakes require in‐situ data that cover the relevant temporal scales from milliseconds to entire seasons. Temporal and spatial coverage requirements represent a non‐trivial challenge in lake sciences, which have traditionally used sampling campaigns conducted from research vessels or anchored moorings. These come with various logistical tasks and impose constraints on data coverage. An open water platform can overcome many of these limitations by providing continuous access and a wide range of analytical capabilities in direct contact with the lake environment. A consortium of five partner institutions constructed a 10 × 10 m, open‐water, multipurpose platform on Lake Geneva (Switzerland/France) for a broad range of limnological research. The LéXPLORE platform, anchored since February 2019 at a position reaching 110 m depth off the lake's north‐shore, provides workspace for a large number of instruments and up to 16 staff working in parallel on individual or integrated multidisciplinary projects. The safe, dry and protected floating laboratory offers direct access to the lake environment for high‐sensitivity, high‐throughput analyses including those which might advance sensor technology. The platform provides flexible workspace for both high‐resolution measurements and investigations of larger‐scale external forcing. It thus supports multidisciplinary empirical research in limnology, atmospheric sciences, and remote sensing. This article describes the platform and how it will advance aquatic sciences. The large number of projects that have already requested access to the platform demonstrate the efficacy and necessity of the LéXPLORE concept.This article is categorized under:
Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness
Water and Life > Methods
Bioacoustics as a tool to monitor the estrus cycle in a female slow loris (Nycticebus sp.)
Authors: Schneiderová Irena , Vodička Roman 
Published: July 2021

AbstractEvidence‐based husbandry leading to increased reproductive success and strengthening of ex situ populations of slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.) living in zoos is highly important. Better fulfillment of their social needs is one of the main priorities in achieving these objectives. We performed 21‐month long acoustic monitoring of a zoo‐kept female slow loris (Nycticebus sp.) housed either singly or with one of two males to examine whether her estrus cycle potentially could be detected based on her vocal activity. We found a regular cycle of remarkably increased whistle production that lasted approximately 31.2 days in a nocturnal exhibit and approximately 39 days in an off‐show room. The regular cycle of increased vocal activity corresponded to a previously described estrus cycle of slow lorises and was observable in the presence of both males as well as when the female was housed singly. Additionally, vaginal smears collected from the female close to the peak period of her vocal activity showed signs of proestrus and estrus. The acoustic properties of the whistles, specifically that they did not overlap with or were loud enough to exceed background noise commonly occurring in zoos, made them perfect candidates for analyses involving automatic processing of a large number of recordings. We conclude that bioacoustics represents a promising, completely noninvasive and relatively easily applicable tool that allows detection and anticipation of the estrus cycle in some females, thus improving the social management of slow lorises living in zoos.
Towards Autonomous Robot Evolution
Authors: Eiben Agoston E. , Hart Emma , Timmis Jon , Tyrrell Andy M. , Winfield Alan F. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractWe outline a perspective on the future of evolutionary robotics and discuss a long-term vision regarding robots that evolve in the real world. We argue that such systems offer significant potential for advancing both science and engineering. For science, evolving robots can be used to investigate fundamental issues about evolution and the emergence of embodied intelligence. For engineering, artificial evolution can be used as a tool that produces good designs in difficult applications in complex unstructured environments with (partially) unknown and possibly changing conditions. This implies a new paradigm, second-order software engineering, where instead of directly developing a system for a given application, we develop an evolutionary system that will develop the target system for us. Importantly, this also holds for the hardware; with a complete evolutionary robot system, both the software and the hardware are evolved. In this chapter, we discuss the long-term vision, elaborate on the main challenges, and present the initial results of an ongoing research project concerned with the first tangible implementation of such a robot system.
Composition, Separation of Roles and Model-Driven Approaches as Enabler of a Robotics Software Ecosystem
Authors: Schlegel Christian , Lotz Alex , Lutz Matthias , Stampfer Dennis 
Published: July 2021

AbstractSuccessful engineering principles for building software systems rely on the separation of concerns for mastering complexity. However, just working on different concerns of a system in a collaborative way is not good enough for economically feasible tailored solutions. A successful approach for this is the composition of complex systems out of commodity building blocks. These come as is and can be represented as blocks with ports via data sheets. Data sheets are models and allow a proper selection and configuration as well as the prediction of the behavior of a building block in a specific context. This chapter explains how model-driven approaches can be used to support separation of roles and composition for robotics software systems. The models, open-source tools, open-source robotics software components and fully deployable robotics software systems shape a robotics software ecosystem.
NLO fragmentation functions for a quark into a spin-singlet quarkonium: same flavor case
Authors: Zheng Xu-Chang , Wu Xing-Gang , Huang Xu-Dong 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
In the paper, we calculate the fragmentation functions for c → ηc and b → ηb up to next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD accuracy. The ultraviolet divergences in the real corrections are removed through operator renormalization under the modified min- imal subtraction scheme. We then obtain the fragmentation functions $$ {D}_{c\to {\eta}_c} $$

D

c
→

η
c

(z, μF) and $$ {D}_{b\to {\eta}_b} $$

D

b
→

η
b

(z, μF) up to NLO QCD accuracy, which are presented as figures and fitting functions. The numerical results show that the NLO corrections are significant. The sensitives of the fragmentation functions to the renormalization scale and the factorization scale are analyzed explicitly.
Photogrammetric evaluation of shear modulus of glulam timber using torsion test method and dual stereo vision system
Authors: Mohamed Ahmed , Deng Yu , Zhang Hexin , Wong Simon H. F. , Uheida Kal , Zhang Y. X. , Zhu Mei-Chun , Lehmann Martin , Quan Yanfang 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe shear modulus of timber and timber-based composite materials is a fundamental mechanical property, which is used in the design of timber and engineered wood products. The problem of experimentally determining appropriate values of shear modulus for timber-based composite is not as simple and straightforward as in isotropic materials. Although the torsion test is a recommended standard approach to determine the shear modulus of structural-size timber and glulam beams, it is difficult to measure the rotational deformations of the timber beams. Therefore, in this paper, a stereo camera system combined with a photogrammetric approach is proposed to evaluate the values and variations of the shear modulus of glulam beams under the torsion test. The photogrammetric approach is a non-contact method, which provides an efficient and alternative approach for measuring the deformations of the torsion specimens in three dimensions. A series of experiments was conducted on glulam timber beams under the torsion test to investigate the applicability of the optical approach to evaluate the values and variations of shear modulus as well as to investigate the effect of applying torques in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction on the shear modulus of the beams. This optical system not only allows the performance and reliability of the traditional sensors to be assessed, but also allows the rotational deformation of the torsion samples to be monitored at various locations. This enables the values of shear modulus at different cross-sections of the torsion specimens to be evaluated without the need to use more devices. The test results showed that applying torques to the glulam timber specimens during loading and unloading in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction does not influence or cause a significant change in the shear modulus of the beams. By comparing shear modulus values of glulam beams measured based on different shear spans, it was found that the larger the shear span the smaller the shear modulus value. This might indicate that the variations of shear modulus values at these different gauge lengths need to be considered.
Discrete systems in thermal physics and engineering: a glance from non-equilibrium thermodynamics
Authors: Muschik W. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractNon-equilibrium processes in Schottky systems generate by projection onto the equilibrium subspace reversible accompanying processes for which the non-equilibrium variables are functions of the equilibrium ones. The embedding theorem which guarantees the compatibility of the accompanying processes with the non-equilibrium entropy is proved. The non-equilibrium entropy is defined as a state function on the non-equilibrium state space containing the contact temperature as a non-equilibrium variable. If the entropy production does not depend on the internal energy, the contact temperature changes into the thermostatic temperature also in non-equilibrium, a fact which allows to use temperature as a primitive concept in non-equilibrium. The dissipation inequality is revisited, and an efficiency of generalized cyclic processes beyond the Carnot process is achieved.
Information acquisition and provision in school choice: a theoretical investigation
Authors: Chen Yan , He YingHua 
Published: July 2021

AbstractWhen participating in school choice, students may incur information acquisition costs to learn about school quality. This paper investigates how two popular school choice mechanisms, the (Boston) Immediate Acceptance and the Deferred Acceptance, incentivize students’ information acquisition. Specifically, we show that only the Immediate Acceptance mechanism incentivizes students to learn their own cardinal and others’ preferences. We demonstrate that information acquisition costs affect the efficiency of each mechanism and the welfare ranking between the two. In the case where everyone has the same ordinal preferences, we evaluate the welfare effects of various information provision policies by education authorities.
High fibroblast-activation-protein expression in castration-resistant prostate cancer supports the use of FAPI-molecular theranostics
Authors: Kesch Claudia , Yirga Leubet , Dendl Katharina , Handke Analena , Darr Christopher , Krafft Ulrich , Radtke Jan Philipp , Tschirdewahn Stephan , Szarvas Tibor , Fazli Ladan , Gleave Martin , Giesel Frederik L. , Haberkorn Uwe , Hadaschik Boris 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate fibroblast-activation-protein (FAP) expression in different clinical stages of prostate cancer (PC) with regards to utility of [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT imaging in patients with castration-resistant PC (CRPC).

Methods
Tissue microarrays (TMAs) were constructed from prostatic tissue from 94 patients at different stages of PC (primary PC, patients undergoing neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy, CRPC, and neuroendocrine PC (NEPC)) and were stained with anti-FAP monoclonal antibody. A positive pixel count algorithm (H-Index) was used to compare FAP expression between the groups. Additionally, three men with advanced CRPC or NEPC underwent [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT, and PET positivity was analyzed.

Results
The mean H-index for benign tissue, primary PC, neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy before radical prostatectomy, CRPC, and NEPC was 0.018, 0.031, 0.042, 0.076, and 0.051, respectively, indicating a significant rise in FAP expression with advancement of disease. Corroborating these findings [68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT was highly positive in men with advanced CRPC.

Conclusion
Increased FAP tissue expression supports the use of FAP inhibitor (FAPI)-molecular theranostics in CRPC.
Postoperative radiological assessment of the mastoid facial canal in cochlear implant patients in correlation with facial nerve stimulation
Authors: Burck Iris , Helal Rania A. , Naguib Nagy N. N. , Nour-Eldin Nour-Eldin A. , Scholtz Jan-Erik , Martin Simon , Leinung Martin , Helbig Silke , Stöver Timo , Lehn Annette , Vogl Thomas J. 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Objectives
To correlate the radiological assessment of the mastoid facial canal in postoperative cochlear implant (CI) cone-beam CT (CBCT) and other possible contributing clinical or implant-related factors with postoperative facial nerve stimulation (FNS) occurrence.

Methods
Two experienced radiologists evaluated retrospectively 215 postoperative post-CI CBCT examinations. The mastoid facial canal diameter, wall thickness, distance between the electrode cable and mastoid facial canal, and facial-chorda tympani angle were assessed. Additionally, the intracochlear position and the insertion angle and depth of electrodes were evaluated. Clinical data were analyzed for postoperative FNS within 1.5-year follow-up, CI type, onset, and causes for hearing loss such as otosclerosis, meningitis, and history of previous ear surgeries. Postoperative FNS was correlated with the measurements and clinical data using logistic regression.

Results
Within the study population (mean age: 56 ± 18 years), ten patients presented with FNS. The correlations between FNS and facial canal diameter (p = 0.09), wall thickness (p = 0.27), distance to CI cable (p = 0.44), and angle with chorda tympani (p = 0.75) were statistically non-significant. There were statistical significances for previous history of meningitis/encephalitis (p = 0.001), extracochlear-electrode-contacts (p = 0.002), scala-vestibuli position (p = 0.02), younger patients’ age (p = 0.03), lateral-wall-electrode type (p = 0.04), and early/childhood onset hearing loss (p = 0.04). Histories of meningitis/encephalitis and extracochlear-electrode-contacts were included in the first two steps of the multivariate logistic regression.

Conclusion
The mastoid-facial canal radiological assessment and the positional relationship with the CI electrode provide no predictor of postoperative FNS. Histories of meningitis/encephalitis and extracochlear-electrode-contacts are important risk factors.

Key Points
• Post-operative radiological assessment of the mastoid facial canal and the positional relationship with the CI electrode provide no predictor of post-cochlear implant facial nerve stimulation.
• Radiological detection of extracochlear electrode contacts and the previous clinical history of meningitis/encephalitis are two important risk factors for postoperative facial nerve stimulation in cochlear implant patients.
• The presence of scala vestibuli electrode insertion as well as the lateral wall electrode type, the younger patient’s age, and early onset of SNHL can play important role in the prediction of post-cochlear implant facial nerve stimulation.
Short-term outcome of Ivor Lewis esophagectomy following neoadjuvant chemoradiation versus perioperative chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction: a propensity score-matched analysis
Authors: Plum Patrick Sven , Damanakis Alexander , Buschmann Lisa , Ernst Angela , Datta Rabi Raj , Schiffmann Lars Mortimer , Zander Thomas , Fuchs Hans , Chon Seung-Hun , Alakus Hakan , Schröder Wolfgang , Hölscher Arnulf Heinrich , Bruns Christiane Josephine , Bludau Marc 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Background
Patients with locally advanced esophageal or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma benefit from multimodal therapy concepts including neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT), respectively, perioperative chemotherapy (pCT). However, it remains unclear which treatment is superior concerning postoperative morbidity.

Methods
In this study, we compared the postsurgical survival (30-day/90-day/1-year mortality) (primary endpoint), treatment response, and surgical complications (secondary endpoints) of patients who either received nCRT (CROSS protocol) or pCT (FLOT protocol) due to esophageal/gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. Between January 2013 and December 2017, 873 patients underwent Ivor Lewis esophagectomy in our high-volume center. 339 patients received nCRT and 97 underwent pCT. After 1:1 propensity score matching (matching criteria: sex, age, BMI, ASA score, and Charlson score), 97 patients per subgroup were included for analysis.

Results
After matching, tumor response (ypT/ypN) did not differ significantly between nCRT and pCT (p = 0.118, respectively, p = 0.174). Residual nodal metastasis occurred more often after pCT (p = 0.001). Postsurgical mortality was comparable within both groups. No patient died within 30 or 90 days after surgery while the 1-year survival rate was 72.2% for nCRT and 68.0% for pCT (p = 0.47). Only grade 3a complications according to Clavien–Dindo were increased after pCT (p = 0.04). There was a trend towards a higher rate of pylorospasm within the pCT group (nCRT: 23.7% versus pCT: 37.1%) (p = 0.061). Multivariate analysis identified pCT, younger age, and Charlson score as independent variables for pylorospasm.

Conclusion
Both nCRT and pCT are safe and efficient within the multimodal treatment of esophageal/gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. We did not observe differences in postoperative morbidity. However, functional aspects such as gastric emptying might be more frequent after pCT.