bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A New Requirement for Publication: Access to Effective Drugs for Ethical Reasons, The Example of Heart Failure
Authors: Roubille François , Lamblin Nicolas 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe past decade has witnessed the publication of many trials in the field of heart failure, several of which have demonstrated that new drugs could potentially reduce major cardiac events and sometimes even decrease total mortality. Most medical practitioners have experimented with withdrawal of the drug under investigation, having no knowledge of what the patient had received, consistent with a blinded design. In some such cases, the patient's clinical status may be rapidly compromised after withdrawal, suggesting (i) that the patient had been receiving the active drug and (ii) that the drug under investigation might exert beneficial effects. The patients should receive early benefit from the drug, but they are left most often without this beneficial treatment not only until the trial results are complete but also until after the guidelines are updated and after the reimbursement (months to years after the results). Here, we propose that the study sponsor should plan from study conception that all participating patients (regardless of whether they are in the placebo or active drug group) will have access to the drug upon trial completion—once safety is verified and until the results are known. Nowadays, it is not conceivable to submit the results of a large trial for publication without approval from a suitable ethical committee. Similarly, the access to the effective drug should be considered as a requirement for clinical research, not only for ethics committee approval, and for the registration of the trial in an international database until publication.
Contributions of cardiac dysfunction and volume status to central haemodynamics in chronic heart failure
Authors: Miller Wayne L. , Sorimachi Hidemi , Grill Diane E. , Fischer Karen , Borlaug Barry A. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAimsElevated cardiac filling pressures producing clinical congestion in heart failure (HF) patients may be secondary to intravascular volume expansion or abnormalities in cardiac diastolic properties. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which measures of myocardial function and intravascular volume correlate with haemodynamic abnormalities in chronic HF.Methods and resultsSubjects underwent invasive haemodynamic assessment, measurement of total blood volume (TBV) using radiolabel indicator‐dilution methodology, and echocardiography to evaluate cardiac structure and function. Patients were divided into those with hypervolaemia (defined as TBV > +8% above referenced normal volume) and normal volume (‘euvolaemia’) (TBV ≤ + 8%). Of 66 patients, 39 (59%) were hypervolaemic and 27 (41%) normal TBV. Central venous pressure (CVP, P = 0.01) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP, P < 0.001) were higher in hypervolaemic compared with euvolaemic patients; however, 15% of hypervolaemic patients displayed normal pressures. Of euvolaemic patients, 70% displayed elevated CVP and 63% elevated PCWP. PCWP was moderately correlated with TBV (r = 0.42), left ventricular diastolic function (e′ velocity, r = −0.44), and left atrial strain (r = −0.47). In multivariable regression TBV, left ventricular e′, and left atrial strain were independently associated with PCWP (all P < 0.05).ConclusionsWhile hypervolaemic patients displayed elevations in filling pressures, a substantial proportion (15%) had normal pressures, and of all subjects with elevated filling pressures nearly one third had normal TBVs. Importantly, of patients with normal volumes, a majority (>60%) display elevated filling pressures. Combined analysis of volume, pressure, and cardiac function may be helpful to guide comprehensive assessments of HF status.
A prospective STudy using invAsive haemodynamic measurements foLLowing catheter ablation for AF and early HFpEF: STALL AF‐HFpEF
Authors: Sugumar Hariharan , Nanayakkara Shane , Vizi Donna , Wright Leah , Chieng David , Leet Angeline , Mariani Justin A. , Voskoboinik Aleksandr , Prabhu Sandeep , Taylor Andrew J. , Kalman Jonathan M. , Kistler Peter M. , Kaye David M. , Ling Liang‐Han 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAimsThe impact of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation in early heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is unknown. Our aim was to determine the impact of AF ablation on symptoms and exercise haemodynamic parameters of early HFpEF.Methods and resultsSymptomatic AF patients referred for index AF ablation with ejection fraction ≥50% underwent baseline quality of life questionnaires, echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, exercise right heart catheterisation (exRHC), and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) testing. HFpEF was defined by resting pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) ≥15 mmHg or peak exercise PCWP ≥25 mmHg. Patients with HFpEF were offered AF ablation and follow‐up exRHC ≥6 months post‐ablation. Of 54 patients undergoing baseline evaluation, 35 (65%) had HFpEF identified by exRHC. HFpEF patients were older (64 ± 10 vs. 54 ± 13 years, P < 0.01), and more frequently female (54% vs. 16%, P < 0.01), hypertensive (63% vs. 16%, P < 0.001), and suffering persistent AF (66% vs. 11%, P < 0.001), compared to those without HFpEF. Twenty HFpEF patients underwent AF ablation and follow‐up exRHC 12 ± 6 months post‐ablation. Nine (45%) patients no longer fulfilled exRHC criteria for HFpEF at follow‐up. Patients remaining arrhythmia free (n = 9, 45%) showed significant improvements in peak exercise PCWP (29 ± 4 to 23 ± 2 mmHg, P < 0.01) and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure (MLHF) score (55 ± 30 to 22 ± 30, P < 0.01) while the remainder did not (PCWP 31 ± 5 to 30.0 ± 4 mmHg, P = NS; MLHF score 55 ± 23 to 25 ± 20, P = NS).ConclusionHeart failure with preserved ejection fraction frequently coexists in patients with symptomatic AF and preserved ejection fraction. Restoration and maintenance of sinus rhythm in patients with comorbid AF and HFpEF improves haemodynamic parameters, BNP and symptoms associated with HFpEF.
Multiomics uncovers developing immunological lineages in human
Authors: Stephenson Emily , Webb Simone , Haniffa Muzlifah 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe development of the human immune system during embryonic and fetal life has historically been difficult to research due to limited access to human tissue. Experimental animal models have been widely used to study development but cellular and molecular programmes may not be conserved across species. The advent of multiomic single‐cell technologies and an increase in human developmental tissue biobank resources have facilitated single‐cell multiomic studies focused on human immune development. A critical question in the near future is "How do we best reconcile scientific findings across multiple omic modalities, developmental time, and organismic space?" In this review, we discuss the application of single‐cell multiomic technologies to unravel the major cellular lineages in the prenatal human immune system. We also identify key areas where the combined power of multiomics technologies can be leveraged to address specific immunological gaps in our current knowledge and explore new research horizons in human development.
Oxidative Rearrangement of 2‐(2‐Aminobenzyl)furans: Synthesis of Functionalized Indoles and Carbazoles
Authors: Merkushev Anton A. , Makarov Anton S. , Shpuntov Pavel M. , Abaev Vladimir T. , Trushkov Igor V. , Uchuskin Maxim G. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract2‐(2‐Acylvinyl)indoles obtained by oxidative rearrangement of substituted 2‐(2‐aminobenzyl)furans could be used to construct structural analogues of antifungal alkaloids caulindoles A−D as well as other indole‐derived molecules and substituted carbazoles by introducing new reaction centers into the structure of starting materials or by synthetic manipulation with functional groups of the obtained compounds.
Excited‐State 2,3‐Dichloro‐5,6‐dicyano‐1,4‐benzoquinone (DDQ*) Initiated Organic Synthetic Transformations under Visible‐Light Irradiation
Authors: Natarajan Palani , König Burkhard 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe one‐electron oxidizing capacity of 2,3‐dichloro‐5,6‐dicyano‐1,4‐benzoquinone (DDQ) improves significantly by visible‐light excitation. The exited‐state DDQ (DDQ*) even converts benzene, fluoroarenes, heteroarenes, benzyls, and olefins into their corresponding radical cations as well as chloride and other anions into their radicals. These reactive intermediates have been utilized for the generation of C−C and C−X (N, O, or Cl) bonds in the synthesis of valuable organic compounds and natural products. This mini review provides an overview of such DDQ*‐initiated organic transformations with their scope and limitations and discusses the proposed reactions mechanisms.
Reduction in sample injection bias using pressure gradients generated on chip
Authors: Liu Yukari , Xia Ling , Dutta Debashis 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSample injection in microchip‐based capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) frequently rely on the use of electric fields which can introduce differences in the injected volume for the various analytes depending on their electrophoretic mobilities and molecular diffusivities. While such injection biases may be minimized by employing hydrodynamic flows during the injection process, this approach typically requires excellent dynamic control over the pressure gradients applied within a microfluidic network. The current article describes a microchip device that offers this needed control by generating pressure gradients on‐chip via electrokinetic means to minimize the dead volume in the system. In order to realize the desired pressure‐generation capability, an electric field was applied across two channel segments of different depths to produce a mismatch in the electroosmotic flow rate at their junction. The resulting pressure‐driven flow was then utilized to introduce sample zones into a CZE channel with minimal injection bias. The reported injection strategy allowed the introduction of narrow sample plugs with spatial standard deviations down to about 45 μm. This injection technique was later integrated to a capillary zone electrophoresis process for analyzing amino acid samples yielding separation resolutions of about 4–6 for the analyte peaks in a 3 cm long analysis channel.
Detection of cell‐free fetal DNA in maternal plasma using two types of compound markers
Authors: Tan Yu , Zhang Lin , Bai Peng , Li Zhilong , Zhang RanRan , Yang Fan , Wang Li , Liang Weibo 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWith the discovery of circulating cell‐free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma, noninvasive prenatal testing became possible. However, analysis of low‐level cffDNA against high background maternal DNA remains complicated and challenging. To circumvent this limitation, selective amplification of cffDNA was used in this study. Two kinds of compound markers (namely DIP‐STR and SNP‐STR), both based on selective amplification, were used here for targeting fetal DNA. By designing two allele‐specific forward primers for DIP‐STR and SNP‐STR, DNA fragments with different DIP/SNP alleles can be selectively amplified. When analyzing maternal plasma DNA, these markers can selectively target paternally inherited fetal alleles whose DIP/SNP allele was not shared with the mother. In this study, 21 families were studied with six DIP‐STRs and 11 SNP‐STRs. Fetal DNA was successfully detected across plasma samples for at least one marker. Detection rate varied between DIP‐STR and SNP‐STR markers, and DIP‐STR outperforms SNP‐STR. Fetal alleles obtained from maternal plasma were double confirmed by genotyping paternal genomic DNA and fetal genomic DNA from amniocentesis. This study demonstrated that selective amplification strategy can be used to target cffDNA in maternal plasma, which will be a promising method for noninvasive prenatal paternity testing.
Detection of nucleotides in hydrated ssDNA via 2D h‐BN nanopore with ionic‐liquid/salt–water interface
Authors: Lee Jung Soo , Oviedo Juan Pablo , Bandara Yapa Mudiyanselage Nuwan Dhananjaya Yapa , Peng Xin , Xia Longsheng , Wang Qingxiao , Garcia Kevin , Wang Jinguo , Kim Min Jun , Kim Moon Jae 
Published: February 2021

AbstractAccomplishing slow translocation speed with high sensitivity has been the most critical mission for solid‐state nanopore (SSN) device to electrically detect nucleobases in ssDNA. In this study, a method to detect nucleobases of ssDNA using a 2D SSN is introduced by considerably reducing the translocation speed and effectively increasing its sensitivity. The ultra‐thin titanium dioxide coated hexagonal boron nitride nanopore was fabricated, along with an ionic‐liquid 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate/2.0 M KCl aqueous (cis/trans) interface, for increasing both the spatial and the temporal resolutions. As the ssDNA molecules entered the nanopore, a brief surge of electrical conductivity occurred, which was followed by multiple resistive pulses from nucleobases during the translocation of ssDNA and another brief current surge flagging the exit of the molecule. The continuous detection of nucleobases using a 2D SSN device is a novel achievement: the water molecules bound to ssDNA increased the molecular conductivity and amplified electrical signals during the translocation. Along with the experiment, computational simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics are presented to explain the pivotal role of water molecules bound to ssDNA to detect nucleobases using a 2D SSN.
An investigation of the effects of chaotic maps on the performance of metaheuristics
Authors: Gagnon Iannick , April Alain , Abran Alain 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThis article presents an empirical investigation of the effects of chaotic maps on the performance of metaheuristics. Particle Swarm Optimization and Simulated Annealing are modified to use chaotic maps instead of the traditional pseudorandom number generators and then compared on five common benchmark functions using nonparametric null hypothesis statistical testing. Contrary to what has often been assumed, results show that chaotic maps do not generally appear to increase the performance of swarm metaheuristics in a statistically significant way, except possibly for noisy functions. No performance differences were observed with the single‐state Simulated Annealing algorithm. Finally, it is shown that sequence effects may be responsible for the observed performance increase. These findings reveal new research directions in using chaotic maps for metaheuristics research. The MATLAB code used in this article is available in a GitHub repository for suggestions and/or corrections.
Analysis and optimization of concentrated solar power plant for application in arid climate
Authors: Elbeh Mutaz B. , Sleiti Ahmad K. 
Published: February 2021

Abstract
In this research study, the concentrated solar power (CSP) technology is reviewed for designing and optimizing a CSP tower plant for arid climate regions such as Qatar. A database for all CSP projects around the world is created, and a spreadsheet model for calculating the available solar irradiance is developed. Two software packages are used for analyzing and optimizing the entire solar thermal plant and its cost, SolarPILOT, and System Advisor Model (SAM). Both packages are validated using data from a recent power tower project. A thorough iterative optimization process was developed and applied to optimize the solar field parameters of a suggested CSP plant including tower optical height; heliostat structure width and height; number of heliostats; horizontal and vertical panels; receiver height and diameter; water consumption; cleaning schedule; maintenance; and total cost. The results confirmed the feasibility of a CSP plant on 0.45 km2 of a solar field area with 2736 heliostats that produce 8 MWe with 10 hours of thermal storage and hybrid steam condensing system. It has been found that the highest production of the plant is in July, which is 3 621 950 kWh and the highest excess of electrical energy is in March, which is 2 946 965 kWh.
Back contacts materials used in thin film CdTe solar cells—A review
Authors: Hall Ralph Stephen , Lamb Dan , Irvine Stuart James Curzon 
Published: February 2021

AbstractCdTe is the leading commercial thin film photovoltaic technology with current record laboratory efficiency (22.1%). However, there is much potential for progress toward the Shockley‐Queisser limit (32%). The best CdTe devices have short‐circuit current close to the limit but open‐circuit voltage has much room for improvement. Back contact optimization is likely to play a key role in any improvement. Back contact material choice is also influenced by their applicability in more complex architectures such as bifacial and tandem solar cells, where high visible and/or near‐infrared transparency is required in conjunction with their electrical properties. The CdTe research community has employed many back contact materials and processes to realize them. Excellent reviews of back contacts were published by McCandless and Sites (2011) and Kumar and Rao (2014). There have been numerous publications on CdTe back contacts since 2014. This review includes both recent and older literature to give a comprehensive picture. It includes a categorization of back contact interface materials into groups such as oxides, chalcogenides, pnictides, halides, and organics. The authors attempt to identify the more promising material groups. Attention is drawn to parallels with back contact materials used on other thin film photovoltaics such as perovskites and kesterites.
Variationally derived closure models for large eddy simulation of incompressible turbulent flows
Authors: Masud Arif , Zhu Lixing 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWe present a variationally consistent method for deriving residual‐based closure models for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The method is based on the fine‐scale variational structure facilitated by the variational multiscale framework where fine scales are driven by the residuals of the Euler–Lagrange equations of the resolved scales in the balance of momentum and conservation of mass equations. A bubble‐functions based approach is applied directly to the fine‐scale variational equation to derive analytical expressions for the closure model. Variational consistency of the model lends itself to rigorous linearization that results in quadratic rate of convergence of the method in the iterative solution strategy for the nonlinear equations. The method is shown to work for a family of linear and quadratic hexahedral and tetrahedral elements as well as composite discretizations that are comprised of hexahedral and tetrahedral elements in the same computational domain. Numerical tests with the proposed model are presented for various classes of turbulent flow problems to show its generality and range of applicability. The test cases investigated include Taylor–Green vortex stretching, statistically stationary wall‐bounded channel flows, and modeling the effects of the geometry of the leading edge of the plate on the instability of the boundary layer that leads to flow separation and flow reversal over flat plates of finite thickness.
Corporate social responsibility and supply chain: A study for evaluating corporate hypocrisy with special focus on stakeholders
Authors: Tiwari Mohit , Tiwari Tripti , Sam Santhose Samuel , Mishra Lokanath , MR Rejeesh , Sundararaj Vinu 
Published: February 2021

AbstractSupply chains are intended to become the essential part of this global competitive world as organizations are seeking to formulate strategized advantages. To put it differently, most of the companies are aiming to adopt new businesses and raise the competition in the global market. For this, most of the companies or organizations are choosing strategies such as corporate social responsibility and supply chain management that allow the companies to ensure financial strengthening. Moreover, stakeholders and customers have raised their concerns towards corporate social responsibility with respect to global supply chain and ensured to act in a socially responsible way. It is believed that majority of the organizations are placing high importance on implementing corporate social responsibility or CSR activities in order to enhance the whole business. The active participation of companies in CSR activities will always benefit them in terms of profit, virtues and other moral standards. Usually, corporate firms exhibit their virtues ignoring the moral standard, which eventually reveals the nature of hypocrisy. Corporate hypocrisy is a context when companies or organizations assure the public to do something in corporate social responsibility context and end up doing entirely different. Keeping this in mind, the current study aims to reveal the hidden nature of corporate hypocrisy and its effect on inner stakeholders explicitly focusing on the employees' observations on corporate hypocrisy; examine the hypocritical behaviour of the reputed firms towards the consumers, which in turn affects the supply chain globally. For this, data analysis will be carried out with consumer firms across countries. Results show that firms are completely held responsible for their behaviour eventually defaming reputation.
Controlling shareholders' influence on acquisition decisions and value creation: An empirical study from China
Authors: Opoku‐Mensah Evans , Yin Yuming 
Published: February 2021

AbstractControlling shareholders are capable of influencing major decisions in firms, and their existence may give rise to principal‐to‐principal conflict as minority shareholders may feel sidelined during decision‐making. This study employs a proxy (the highest control right), which takes into consideration both direct and indirect controls to investigate the excess cash usage preference of controlling shareholders. Again, the study investigates how the background characteristics of different controlling shareholders influence their underlying firms' acquisition decisions. With observations from 13,293 Chinese firms and the random effect probit model, we find that controlling shareholders are more likely to influence the use of excess cash into acquisition activities other than to retain such cash in the firm possibly for the payment of a dividend. Furthermore, we observe that the traditional way of classifying firms into either private or state is misleading, and the use of excess cash is influenced by the unique characteristics of the true owner. We recommend that on‐going reforms in China should consider encouraging more institutional investors to acquire shares as this will reduce the powers of controlling owners.
Optimal fiscal management in an economy with resource revenue‐financed government‐linked companies
Authors: Lim King Yoong , Zhang Shuonan 
Published: February 2021

AbstractWe present a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model in which a resource‐rich government allocates its excess resource rents between a resource stabilization fund and the facilitation of costly domestic fund‐raising activities of sovereign wealth funds (SWF), which holds a portfolio of government‐linked companies (GLCs). Despite being less productive efficient, GLCs' operation benefits from scale economies tied to the resource sector: its profitability is procyclical to commodity shocks. The model is estimated to Malaysia using the Bayesian approach, with the results suggesting a business cycle heavily influenced by resource shocks. Based on this, we solve numerically for a socially optimal combination of excess resource savings allocation. We find the present allocation to be sub‐optimal, regardless of the structural shocks. This suggests that the Malaysian economy might have hit its absorptive capacity constraint (i.e., a domestic economy saturated by GLCs).