bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Involvement of cortico-efferent tracts in flail arm syndrome: a tract-of-interest-based DTI study
Authors: Rosenbohm Angela , Del Tredici Kelly , Braak Heiko , Huppertz Hans-Jürgen , Ludolph Albert C. , Müller Hans-Peter , Kassubek Jan 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Background
Flail arm syndrome is a restricted phenotype of motor neuron disease that is characterized by progressive, predominantly proximal weakness and atrophy of the upper limbs.

Objective
The study was designed to investigate specific white matter alterations in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data from flail arm syndrome patients using a hypothesis-guided tract-of-interest-based approach to identify in vivo microstructural changes according to a neuropathologically defined amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-related pathology of the cortico-efferent tracts.

Methods
DTI-based white matter mapping was performed both by an unbiased voxel-wise statistical comparison and by a hypothesis-guided tract-wise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) maps according to the neuropathological ALS-propagation pattern for 43 flail arm syndrome patients vs 43 ‘classical’ ALS patients vs 40 matched controls.

Results
The analysis of white matter integrity demonstrated regional FA reductions for the flail arm syndrome group predominantly along the CST. In the tract-specific analysis according to the proposed sequential cerebral pathology pattern of ALS, the flail arm syndrome patients showed significant alterations of the specific tract systems that were identical to ‘classical’ ALS if compared to controls.

Conclusions
The DTI study including the tract-of-interest-based analysis showed a microstructural involvement pattern in the brains of flail arm syndrome patients, supporting the hypothesis that flail arm syndrome is a phenotypical variant of ALS.
Correlation between the optic nerve pial diameter and radial peripapillary vascular changes in primary open-angle glaucoma
Authors: Montorio Daniela , Cennamo Gilda , Breve Maria Angelica , Menna Feliciana , Reibaldi Michele , Cennamo Giovanni , Morra Vincenzo Brescia 
Published: October 2021

AbstractPurposeTo assess the optic nerve pial diameter (ONPD) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) using standardized A-scan ultrasound and to evaluate the correlation between the ONPD and structural, vascular optic nerve head features and visual field parameters in glaucomatous eyes.MethodsIn this prospective study, we enrolled 126 eyes of 63 POAG patients and 124 eyes of 62 healthy controls. In all subjects, the ONPD was evaluated by means of A-scan ultrasound. Spectral domain (SD)-OCT was used to assess ganglion cell complex (GCC), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), thicknesses, and the optic nerve head (ONH) morphology. OCTA measured the vessel density (VD) of radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) plexus.ResultsThe ONPD showed a statistically significant reduction in POAG group with respect to controls (p < 0.001). SD-OCT and OCTA parameters showed a significant impairment in patient group with respect to controls (p < 0.001). The ONH analysis revealed significantly lower values in rim area (p = 0.009) and an increased cup-to-disc area ratio (p = 0.013) and cup volume (p < 0.001) in patients with respect to controls. Significant correlations were shown in POAG group between ONPD and RPC plexus (p = 0.006). Moreover, significant correlation was also found between ONPD and structural SD-OCT parameters (p = 0.001) and between ONPD and visual field parameters (p = 0.001).ConclusionsThe standardized A-scan ultrasound measurements of the ONPD showed a significant correlation with structural and vascular glaucomatous changes measured by means of SD-OCT and OCTA. These results confirm the diagnostic reliability of the ultrasound evaluation in glaucoma optic neuropathy.
Combination of treosulfan, fludarabine and cytarabine as conditioning in patients with acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and myeloproliferative neoplasms
Authors: O‘Hagan Henderson Samantha , Frietsch Jochen J. , Hilgendorf Inken , Hochhaus Andreas , Köhne Claus-Henning , Casper Jochen 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Purpose
Treosulfan and fludarabine (Treo/Flu) were successfully introduced into toxicity-reduced conditioning for SCT. However, the risk of post-SCT relapse remains a matter of concern. We report the results of a novel individual treatment approach with Treo/Flu and cytarabine (Treo/Flu/AraC) conditioning prior to allogeneic SCT in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN).

Methods
Seventy-seven patients (median age 54 years) at high risk of disease relapse due to unfavorable cytogenetics or failure to achieve complete remission prior to SCT were included. Median follow-up was 3.2 years.

Results
The 1-, 2- and 3-year RFS rates were 49.4%, 41.7%, and 37.6% and OS rates were 59.3%, 49.3%, and 45.4%, respectively. Cumulative incidence of NRM was 10% at 100 days, 18.8% at 1 year and 20.1% at 2 years. The cumulative incidence of relapse increased from 31% at 1 year to 38.5% after 3 years. The cumulative incidences of engraftment, chimerism, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and toxicities were acceptable and comparable with similar patients conditioned with Treo/Flu or FLAMSA-RIC.

Conclusion
In conclusion, Treo/Flu/AraC provides tolerable, feasible, and effective conditioning for patients with AML, MDS or MPN, even in advanced disease states. The incidence of NRM and relapse is acceptable in this heavily pre-treated population with high-risk disease. Future research will aim to confirm these initial findings and include a larger number of participants in a prospective trial.
Representing Polar Questions
Authors: Tian Ye , van Tiel Bob , Clin Élise , Breheny Richard 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAlthough the linguistic properties of polar questions have been extensively studied, comparatively little is known about how polar questions are processed in real time. In this paper, we report on three eye-tracking experiments on the processing of positive and negative polar questions in English and French. Our results show that in the early stages, participants pay attention to both positive and negative states of affairs for both positive and negative questions. In the late stages, positive and certain negative polar questions were associated with a bias for the positive state, and this bias appears to be pragmatic in nature. We suggest that different biases in mental representations reflect the hearer’s reasoning about the speaker’s purposes of enquiry.
Simultaneous monitoring of the values of CD, Crosstalk and OSNR phenomena in the physical layer of the optical network using CNN
Authors: Mrozek Tomasz , Perlicki Krzysztof 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe aim of the research was to explore the possibilities of using the Asynchronous Delay Tap Sampling (ADTS) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) methods to monitor the simultaneously occurring phenomena in the physical layer of the optical network. The ADTS method was used to create a data sets showing the combination of Chromatic Dispersion (CD), Crosstalk and Optical to Signal Noise Ratio (OSNR) as optical disturbances in graphic form. Data were generated for 10 GB/s, Non-return-to-zero On–off keying (NRZ-OOK) and Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) modulation and bit delays: 1 bit, 0.5 bit and 0.25 bit. A total of 6 data sets of 62,000 images each were obtained. The learning process was carried out for the number of epochs 50 and 1000. From the obtained learning results of the network, models with the best $$R^{2}$$

R
2

matching factor were selected. The learned models were further used to study the recognition of three phenomena simultaneously. The tests were carried out on sets of 2500 images in a combination of interference in the following ranges: 400–1600 ps/nm for CD and 10–30 dB for Crosstalk and OSNR. Very good results were obtained for recognizing simultaneously occurring phenomena using models learned up to 1000 epoch. Accuracy of over 99% was obtained for CD and Crosstalk for both modulations. In the case of the OSNR phenomenon, slightly weaker results were obtained above 96% in most cases. For models taught up to 50 epoch, very good results were obtained for the CD phenomenon (over 99%). For Crosstalk weaker results for OOK modulation were obtained. Poor results were obtained for the OSNR phenomenon, where recognition accuracy ranged from 50 to 80%, depending on the type of modulation and bit delay. Based on the conducted research, it was established that the use of ADTS and CNN methods enables monitoring of simultaneously occurring CD, Crosstalk and OSNR interference in the physical layer of the optical network, while maintaining the requirements for Optical Performance Monitoring systems. These requirements are met for network models learned up to 1000 epoch.
Competency of groundwater recharge of irrigated cotton field subjacent to sowing methods, plastic mulch, water productivity, and yield under climate change
Authors: Saeed Muhammad , Maqbool Ahsan , Ashraf Muhammad Adnan , Arshad Muhammad , Mehmood Kashif , Usman Muhammad , Farid Muhammad Arslan 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Irrigated agriculture is a foremost consumer of water resources to fulfill the demand for food and fiber with an increasing population under climate changes; cotton is no exception. Depleting groundwater recharge and water productivity is critical for the sustainable cotton crop yield peculiarly in the semiarid region. This study investigated the water productivity and cotton yield under six different treatments: three sowing methods, i.e., flat, ridge, and bed planting with and without plastic mulch. Cotton bed planting without mulch showed maximum water productivity (0.24 kg.m−3) and the highest cotton yield (1946 kg.ha−1). Plastic mulching may reduce water productivity and cotton yield. HYDRUS-1D unsaturated flow model was used to access the groundwater recharge for 150 days under six treatments after model performance evaluation. Maximum cumulative recharge was observed 71 cm for the flat sowing method without plastic mulch. CanESM2 was used to predict climate scenarios for RCP 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5 for the 2050s and 2080s by statistical downscale modeling (SDSM) using historical data from 1975 to 2005 to access future groundwater recharge flux. Average cumulative recharge flux declined 36.53% in 2050 and 22.91% in 2080 compared to 2017 without plastic mulch. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that a maximum 23.78% reduction in groundwater recharge could influence future climate change. Further study may require to understand the remaining influencing factor of depleting groundwater recharge. Findings highlight the significance of climate change and the cotton sowing method while accessing future groundwater resources in irrigated agriculture.
The gold complex auranofin: new perspectives for cancer therapy
Authors: Abdalbari Farah H. , Telleria Carlos M. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractAdvanced stages of cancer are highly associated with short overall survival in patients due to the lack of long-term treatment options following the standard form of care. New options for cancer therapy are needed to improve the survival of cancer patients without disease recurrence. Auranofin is a clinically approved agent against rheumatoid arthritis that is currently enrolled in clinical trials for potential repurposing against cancer. Auranofin mainly targets the anti-oxidative system catalyzed by thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), which protects the cell from oxidative stress and death in the cytoplasm and the mitochondria. TrxR is over-expressed in many cancers as an adaptive mechanism for cancer cell proliferation, rendering it an attractive target for cancer therapy, and auranofin as a potential therapeutic agent for cancer. Inhibiting TrxR dysregulates the intracellular redox state causing increased intracellular reactive oxygen species levels, and stimulates cellular demise. An alternate mechanism of action of auranofin is to mimic proteasomal inhibition by blocking the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS), which is critically important in cancer cells to prevent cell death when compared to non-cancer cells, because of its role on cell cycle regulation, protein degradation, gene expression, and DNA repair. This article provides new perspectives on the potential mechanisms used by auranofin alone, in combination with diverse other compounds, or in combination with platinating agents and/or immune checkpoint inhibitors to combat cancer cells, while assessing the feasibility for its repurposing in the clinical setting.
Preliminary evaluation of a natural surfactant extracted from Myrtus communis plant for enhancing oil recovery from carbonate oil reservoirs
Authors: Nowrouzi Iman , Mohammadi Amir H. , Manshad Abbas Khaksar 
Published: October 2021

AbstractSurfactants are among the materials used to improve water properties for injection into oil reservoirs, and reduce injection phase and crude oil interfacial tension (IFT). Recently, the interest in the use of natural surfactants has increased and is constantly on the rise to solve some challenges of using chemical surfactants such as incompatibility with the environment and the high cost. In this study, we have used aqueous extract ofpowdered leaf of Myrtus communisas an available source of natural surfactant. The extracted surfactant was characterized by TGA,1H NMR and FTIR techniques. The surfactant efficiency was demonstrated by performing some experiments including IFT and injection of chemical slug and surfactant into carbonate plugs. The surfactant adsorption on carbonate rock was also studied. It was observed that this natural surfactant can reduce IFT to 0.861 mN/m at surfactant critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 5000 ppm. This minimum IFT was further reduced at optimum salinity and alkali. Finally, an increase of 14.3% oil recovery by surfactant flooding and 16.4% oil recovery by ASP slug injection containing NaOH alkali and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) polymer with 0.5 PV volume from carbonate plugs was achieved.
Refining the in vitro release test method for a dapivirine-releasing vaginal ring to match in vivo performance
Authors: Murphy Diarmaid J. , Lim Deanna , Armstrong Ryan , McCoy Clare F. , Bashi Yahya H. Dallal , Boyd Peter , Derrick Tiffany , Spence Patrick , Devlin Bríd , Malcolm R. Karl 
Published: October 2021

AbstractPreviously reported in vitro release test methods for drug-releasing vaginal rings containing poorly water-soluble drugs have described use of water-alcohol systems or surfactant solutions in efforts to maintain sink conditions. Here, as part of efforts to more closely match in vitro and in vivo release for the 25 mg dapivirine matrix-type silicone elastomer vaginal ring for HIV prevention, we have investigated alternatives to the 1:1 v/v water/isopropanol medium described previously. Specifically, we evaluated dapivirine release from rings into (i) monophasic water/isopropanol mixtures of varying compositions and (ii) biphasic buffer/octanol systems using pH 4.2 and pH 7.0 buffers. The rate and mechanism of dapivirine release were dependent upon the isopropanol concentration in the release medium, in accordance with the observed trend in drug solubility. At 0 and 10% v/v isopropanol concentrations, dapivirine release followed a partition-controlled mechansim. For media containing ≥ 20% v/v isopropanol, in vitro release of dapivirine was significantly increased and obeyed permeation-controlled kinetics. Cumulative release of ~3.5 mg dapivirine over 28 days was obtained using a water isopropanol mixture containing 20% v/v isopropanol, similar to the ~4 mg dapivirine released in vivo. Dapivirine release into the biphasic buffer/octanol system (intended to mimic the fluid/tissue environment in vivo) was constrained by the limited solubility of dapivirine in the buffer component in which the ring resided, such that cumulative dapivirine release was consistently lower than that observed with the 20% v/v isopropanol in water medium. Release into the biphasic system was also pH dependent, in line with dapivirine’s pKaand with potential implications for in vivo release and absorption in women with elevated vaginal pH.Graphical abstract
Light-off Investigation of Oxymethylene Ether (OME) Considering the Presence of the Exhaust Components Heptane, Carbon, and Nitrogen Monoxide
Authors: Rümmele Florian , Susdorf Alexander , Haider Syed Muhammad Salman , Szolak Robert 
Published: October 2021

AbstractSynthetic fuels and fuel blends like OMEs can contribute to tank-to-wheel CO2 emission savings. At the same time, it is known that these fuels have a lower exhaust temperature compared to conventional diesel. This effect has major impact on the exhaust after-treatment system, particularly in cold start conditions. This paper investigates the light-off behavior of exhaust gases containing OMEs by temperature-programmed oxidation experiments using a state-of-the-art oxidation catalyst. The main side product of catalytic oxidation of OMEs between 100 °C and the oxidation temperature T50, which was around 160 °C, was shown to be formaldehyde. While alkane oxidation, in this case heptane, was little influenced by OME oxidation, the oxidation temperature T50 of CO increases by more than 10 °C by OME addition. Nitrogen monoxide impeded the oxidation of OME in a similar way to the other components investigated. Due to the amount of FA produced and its toxicity, it could be concluded that it is necessary to heat up exhaust after-treatment systems of OME diesel engines even faster than conventional diesel exhaust after-treatment systems. The relatively high reactivity of OME on oxidation catalyst can be used by active thermal management approaches.
Leaching of Cu, Zn, and Pb from Sulfidic Tailings Under the Use of Sulfuric Acid and Chloride Solutions
Authors: Schueler Tamara A. , de Aguiar Paula F. , Vera Ysrael M. , Goldmann Daniel 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe imbalance between raw materials of high economic importance and their supply has increased the search for new approaches to obtain valuable elements from mining tailings. In this study, the extraction of copper, zinc, and lead from sulfidic tailing in sulfate–chloride media was investigated. A 33 Box–Behnken design was applied to evaluate three variables over a 4-h testing period: sulfuric acid concentration (0.01–1.0 mol/L H2SO4), sodium chloride (10–60 g/L NaCl), and temperature (20–70 °C). The design showed two optimum working regions: a combination of a high NaCl level, low H2SO4 level, and medium temperature level for lead leaching, while for copper and zinc, a combination of a medium–high H2SO4 level and a high temperature level. The concentration of NaCl had only a slight impact on their leaching. Based on these results, two-stage leaching was performed. The first stage was carried out under an experimental condition that favored the leaching of lead (60 g/L NaCl, 0.01 mol/L H2SO4, 45 °C, 1 h, 10:1 liquid-to-solid ratio), whereas the second stage maximized the leaching of copper and zinc (60 g/L NaCl, 0.5 mol/L H2SO4, 70 °C, 24 h, 10:1 liquid-to-solid ratio). The global leaching rate was 66.8 ± 3.0% copper, 84.1 ± 5.2% zinc, and 93.9 ± 3.2% lead. The iron and arsenic content were also leached by about 20 and 50% at the end of the second stage. The study demonstrated that the use of sulfate–chloride media in a two-stage leaching considerably improved the extraction of the desired metals and was, therefore, suitable for their recovery.
Graphical Abstract
Implementation and evaluation of the DAOM framework and support tool for designing blockchain decentralized applications
Authors: Udokwu Chibuzor , Brandtner Patrick , Norta Alex , Kormiltsyn Alexandr , Matulevičius Raimundas 
Published: October 2021

AbstractInter-organizational collaboration is an important aspect of organizational operations. Traditional systems that support organizations in executing these collaborations are inefficient, not inter-operable and insecure. Novel functions provided by blockchain technology yields the potential for addressing problems that affect organizational collaborations by enabling tamper-proof, transparent, and secure systems for the exchange of information between organizations. Still, a proper approach for building blockchain-decentralized applications (DApps) that support inter-organizational collaborations is missing. The DAOM framework addresses this gap by providing a model-driven design approach for building DApps. This paper shows the development of the semantics of the DAOM framework, implementation of the support tool, and the evaluation of the DAOM framework and support tool. We conducted an evaluation to understand the usefulness of the DAOM framework in developing blockchain DApps and the effectiveness of the support tool in producing DAOM diagram models. The evaluation result shows that the framework is useful and applicable for developing DApps for inter-organizational collaborations. Furthermore, evaluation of the tool support shows that DApps can be modelled efficiently and correctly with the implemented enterprise-modelling software.
COVID-19 and mental health in children and adolescents: a diagnostic panel to map psycho-social consequences in the pandemic context
Authors: Baumann Menno 
Published: October 2021

AbstractSince the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, much research has been done on the psycho-social consequences, especially for children, adolescents and families. In the long run, there is a large set of quantitative data available. However, these still seem to be not well understood. Theoretical classifications of the evidence also diagnostic tools still seem to be open. This paper elaborates a possible systematisation based on theoretical models of systemic self-organisation theories. This leads to a model for a comprehensive psycho-social child-in-environment diagnostic to map potential problem areas. Such a theoretical framing should enable both: a deeper understanding of the impact of pandemics on young people and hypotheses for intervention strategies in the context of pandemic management as well as in the context of diagnostic-systemic interventions in psycho-social working settings. In the coming months and years, it will be essential to be able to understand and describe psychosocial disabilities that have developed in the context of the pandemic in a differentiated way in order to establish targeted interventions.