bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Zinc deficiency and its association with treatment‐related toxicity in children with cancer
Authors: Chung Jong H. , Phalke Neelam , Hastings Caroline , Killilea David W. , Feusner James H. , Fung Ellen B. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBackgroundNutritional deficiencies in children with cancer at time of diagnosis and during treatment may negatively affect disease outcome and increase treatment‐related toxicity. Yet zinc, an essential nutrient important for supporting immune function and known for reducing diarrheal episodes, is rarely assessed in these children.ProceduresFifty children (1 month to 18 years) with recently diagnosed cancer were enrolled in this study. An age and gender matched control group (n = 50) was also recruited. Plasma and urinary zinc, plasma copper, and C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured at baseline, 3, and 6 months following diagnosis. A retrospective review of the toxicity profile was performed in the cohort of children with cancer for the first 4 years after initial diagnosis.ResultsCRP and plasma copper (both acute‐phase reactants) were elevated in patients with cancer compared to controls at baseline, bothp < .03. Plasma zinc levels were not significantly different from controls at baseline, but decreased by 11% in the cancer group over 6 months of treatment, 83.2 ± 15.6 to 74.3 ± 14.8 μg/dl,p = .01. Plasma zinc dropped to deficient levels in 35% of cases over the initial 6 months. Zinc deficiency at 6 months was related to an increased incidence of severe diarrhea during 4 years of follow‐up,p < .001.ConclusionsZinc deficiency is an underrecognized problem among patients undergoing treatment for cancer and is associated with severe diarrhea. Further studies are needed to evaluate causes for zinc deficiency, related effects, and a possible role for zinc supplementation.
The intersectionality of gender and poverty on symptom suffering among adolescents with cancer
Authors: Lyon Maureen E. , Cheng Yao I. , Needle Jennifer , Friebert Sarah , Baker Justin N. , Jiang Jiji , Wang Jichuan 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBackgroundTo determine if the intersectionality of gender and poverty is associated with health disparities among adolescents with cancer. We hypothesized unobserved latent classes of patients exist with respect to cancer‐related symptoms; and class classification varies by gender–poverty combinations.ProcedureCross‐sectional data were collected among adolescents with cancer and families (N = 126 dyads) at four tertiary pediatric hospitals. Adolescents were aged 14–21 years, English speaking, cancer diagnosis, not developmentally delayed, psychotic, homicidal, suicidal, or severely depressed. Latent class analysis and multinomial logit models were used for analysis. Patient‐Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatric symptom measures, Short forms, evaluated anxiety, depressive symptoms, pain interference, and fatigue. Family‐reported household income used 2016 Federal Poverty Level (FPL) guidelines.ResultsThree distinct groups of patients were identified using PROMIS symptom patterns: High Distress‐25%; High Physical/Low Psychological Distress‐14%; and Low Distress‐62%. Female adolescents living in households with incomes at or below the 2016 FPL had 30 times the odds of being classified in the High Distress class (higher probabilities of experiencing anxiety, depressive symptoms, pain interference, and fatigue) compared to those in the High Physical/Low Psychological Distress class (female and poverty: AOR = 30.27, 95% CI 1.23, 735.10), and this was statistically significant (β = 3.41, 95% CI 0.21, 6.60; p = .04) but not compared to those in Low Distress.ConclusionAdolescent females with cancer with households in poverty had significantly greater odds of experiencing high symptom distress, compared to those with high physical but low psychological distress. More comprehensive screening and intervention, as needed, may decrease disparities.
Influence of fiber surface treatment on the tribological properties of Calotropis gigantea plant fiber reinforced polymer composites
Authors: Ramesh Manickam , Deepa Chinnaiyan , Rajeshkumar Lakshminarasimhan , Tamil Selvan Manickam , Balaji Devarajan 
Published: June 2021

AbstractRecent era witnessed a tremendous growth in utilization of plant fibers to make composite materials, and their industrial applications have multiplied many folds. All these utilizations were kindled by the advantageous features of the plant fibers and their potential to substitute the currently used synthetic fibers in almost all the applications. Current work falls in line with the abovementioned statements, and Calotropis gigantea fibers (CGFs) are reinforced with epoxy matrix to fabricate composite materials. The fiber surfaces were modified with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium permanganate (KMnO4) solutions. The CGFs reinforced composites with epoxy matrix were fabricated with the aid of compression molding technique and the samples were subjected to wear tests. The effect of fiber surface modification over the tribological characteristics of these composites such as frictional force, coefficient of friction, and rate of wear was evaluated by varying the time of wear from 40 to 1040 s at an interval of 40 s. From the results, it is found that the weight loss varies between 0.0013 and 0.0018g. Scanning electron microscopy studies are also carried out to observe the surfaces of the samples before and after wear tests. Experimental results portrayed that NaOH treated CGF composites rendered better tribological behavior when compared with untreated and KMnO4 treated CGF composites.
Effects of crosslinking density and Lewis acidic sites on conductivity and viscoelasticity of dynamic network electrolytes
Authors: Jing Brian B. , Mata Patricia , Zhao Qiujie , Evans Christopher M. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractPolymers are promising materials for replacing organic liquids as electrolytes, and network architectures allow for the modulus to be tuned pseudo‐independently of conductivity. When the crosslinks are dynamic bonds, they offer the additional benefits of recyclability and self‐healing in response to damage. Dynamic network electrolytes (DNEs) comprised of precise linker lengths of 2, 3, or 4 repeat units of ethylene oxide and boronic ester junctions were prepared to investigate the roles of dense networks and bond exchange on conductivity and rheological properties. A range of salt concentrations were probed, and longer linker lengths led to consistently higher conductivities even after accounting for difference in the glass transition. In contrast, non‐monotonic trends are observed in the salt dependence of viscosity as a function of linker length. The interaction of anions from the salt with boron leads to a drop in the viscosity, and at a critical salt content the networks no longer form a percolated network. From the bulk viscosity, a Walden Plot shows a transition from superionic to subionic behavior with added salt. These structure–property relationships offer key valuable insights for designing sustainable electrolytes.
Pediatric Pulmonology 2020 year in review: Asthma
Authors: Barber Andrew T. , Loughlin Ceila E. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractPediatric asthma is a heterogeneous and common chronic condition with significant morbidity and burden on the healthcare system. Despite advances in the field, the disease has proven to be increasingly complex to diagnose and management strategies are constantly evolving. Studies from 2020 have advanced the field even further, particularly with regard to new methods of diagnosis and monitoring, treatment of severe asthma, modifiable risk factors like exercise and obesity, aerosol delivery, and viral respiratory infections contributing to the development of asthma. Continued studies are needed to improve our care for children with asthma and we look forward to future advances. This article is part of our 2020 “Year in Review” series, in which we summarize publications in major topic areas, in the context of selected literature from other journals relevant to our discipline.
Interobserver agreement in interpretation of chest radiographs for pediatric community acquired pneumonia: Findings of the pedCAPNETZ‐cohort
Authors: Voigt Gesche M. , Thiele Dominik , Wetzke Martin , Weidemann Jürgen , Parpatt Patricia‐Maria , Welte Tobias , Seidenberg Jürgen , Vogelberg Christian , Koster Holger , Rohde Gernot G. U. , Härtel Christoph , Hansen Gesine , Kopp Matthias V. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractAlthough chest radiograph (CXR) is commonly used in diagnosing pediatric community acquired pneumonia (pCAP), limited data on interobserver agreement among radiologists exist. PedCAPNETZ is a prospective, observational, and multicenter study on pCAP. N = 233 CXR from patients with clinical diagnosis of pCAP were retrieved and n = 12 CXR without pathological findings were added. All CXR were interpreted by a radiologist at the site of recruitment and by two external, blinded pediatric radiologists. To evaluate interobserver agreement, the reporting of presence or absence of pCAP in CXR was analyzed, and prevalence and bias‐adjusted kappa (PABAK) statistical testing was applied. Overall, n = 190 (82%) of CXR were confirmed as pCAP by two external pediatric radiologists. Compared with patients with pCAP negative CXR, patients with CXR‐confirmed pCAP displayed higher C‐reactive protein levels and a longer duration of symptoms before enrollment (p < .007). Further parameters, that is, age, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation showed no significant difference. The interobserver agreement between the onsite radiologists and each of the two independent pediatric radiologists for the presence of pCAP was poor to fair (69%; PABAK = 0.39% and 76%; PABAK = 0.53, respectively). The concordance between the external radiologists was fair (81%; PABAK = 0.62). With regard to typical CXR findings for pCAP, chance corrected interrater agreement was highest for pleural effusions, infiltrates, and consolidations and lowest for interstitial patterns and peribronchial thickening. Our data show a poor interobserver agreement in the CXR‐based diagnosis of pCAP and emphasized the need for harmonized interpretation standards.
Rheostat functional outcomes occur when substitutions are introduced at nonconserved positions that diverge with speciation
Authors: Swint‐Kruse Liskin , Martin Tyler A. , Page Braelyn M. , Wu Tiffany , Gerhart Paige M. , Dougherty Larissa L. , Tang Qingling , Parente Daniel J. , Mosier Brian R. , Bantis Leonidas E. , Fenton Aron W. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractWhen amino acids vary during evolution, the outcome can be functionally neutral or biologically‐important. We previously found that substituting a subset of nonconserved positions, “rheostat” positions, can have surprising effects on protein function. Since changes at rheostat positions can facilitate functional evolution or cause disease, more examples are needed to understand their unique biophysical characteristics. Here, we explored whether “phylogenetic” patterns of change in multiple sequence alignments (such as positions with subfamily specific conservation) predict the locations of functional rheostat positions. To that end, we experimentally tested eight phylogenetic positions in human liver pyruvate kinase (hLPYK), using 10–15 substitutions per position and biochemical assays that yielded five functional parameters. Five positions were strongly rheostatic and three were non‐neutral. To test the corollary that positions with low phylogenetic scores were not rheostat positions, we combined these phylogenetic positions with previously‐identified hLPYK rheostat, “toggle” (most substitution abolished function), and “neutral” (all substitutions were like wild‐type) positions. Despite representing 428 variants, this set of 33 positions was poorly statistically powered. Thus, we turned to the in vivo phenotypic dataset for E. coli lactose repressor protein (LacI), which comprised 12–13 substitutions at 329 positions and could be used to identify rheostat, toggle, and neutral positions. Combined hLPYK and LacI results show that positions with strong phylogenetic patterns of change are more likely to exhibit rheostat substitution outcomes than neutral or toggle outcomes. Furthermore, phylogenetic patterns were more successful at identifying rheostat positions than were co‐evolutionary or eigenvector centrality measures of evolutionary change.
Mitigation of the convergence issues associated with semi‐replicated bioequivalence data
Authors: Fuglsang Anders 
Published: June 2021

AbstractSemi‐replicated designs for investigation of bioequivalence constitute a challenge when mixed models are applied. With the commonly available packages and regardless of choice of covariance structure the software may force variance components into the covariance matrix that render it over‐specified. This may give rise to arbitrary estimates of certain variance components, lack of convergence or warnings. Classically the covariance matrix is decomposed as V = ZGZt + R, with G containing the between‐subject variance components, Z being the design matrix for the random effects and R containing the within‐subject variance components. By abandoning the definitions of G and R, and instead working directly in V, it is possible to specify a correct model with only the variance components of interest. Proof‐of‐concept for this idea is delivered with a script in the statistical language R. The script is available as supplementary material (Data S1).
Moving average control charts for the rayleigh and inverse rayleigh distributions under time truncated life test
Authors: Adeoti Olatunde Adebayo , Gadde Srinivasa Rao 
Published: June 2021

AbstractIn this paper, the moving average control chart is developed under time truncated test to monitor the number of failures when the lifetime of an item follows the Rayleigh and inverse Rayleigh distributions. The number of failures is detected when a planned number of items has been placed on a time truncated testing experiment. The average run lengths (ARL) for various parameter settings are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed control chart. Also, the control chart parameters such as test time multiplier () and chart coefficient (k) are obtained by contemplating the in‐control ARL for various sample sizes. The study revealed that the proposed control chart outperform the existing time truncated attribute control chart in the quick detection of shifts in process parameters. The application of the proposed chart methodology is also demonstrated using simulated data.
Objective evaluation of technical dexterity in robotic hepaticojejunostomy: Assessment of hepatopancreatobiliary fellows using cumulative sum analytics
Authors: Robinson Jordan , Watson Michael , Baimas‐George Maria , Iannitti David , Martinie John , Vrochides Dionisios 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBackgroundThe development of technical dexterity is a critical for surgeons in training. This study describes and assesses the feasibility of an objective method for the evaluation of procedure‐specific technical dexterity in hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery using cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis.MethodsDry‐lab HPB procedures were divided into procedural steps with binary outcomes (success or failure). Two HPB fellows completed 20 dry lab hepaticojejunostomy (HJ) procedures. Participant progress was tracked over time with CUSUM analytics to establish a learning curve for procedural proficiency.ResultsThe CUSUM charts for 20 consecutive dry‐lab HJ procedures were analysed. A learning curve was created and used to identify areas of weakness to facilitate improvement in technical proficiency.ConclusionsCUSUM is effective tool for objective evaluation of technical dexterity offering both simplicity and adaptability. We demonstrate its use and feasibility for surgical education and plan to expand its’ application to assess residents performing general surgery procedures.
Optimal allocation in stratified cluster‐based outcome‐dependent sampling designs
Authors: Sauer Sara , Hedt‐Gauthier Bethany , Haneuse Sebastien 
Published: June 2021

AbstractIn public health research, finite resources often require that decisions be made at the study design stage regarding which individuals to sample for detailed data collection. At the same time, when study units are naturally clustered, as patients are in clinics, it may be preferable to sample clusters rather than the study units, especially when the costs associated with travel between clusters are high. In this setting, aggregated data on the outcome and select covariates are sometimes routinely available through, for example, a country's Health Management Information System. If used wisely, this information can be used to guide decisions regarding which clusters to sample, and potentially obtain gains in efficiency over simple random sampling. In this article, we derive a series of formulas for optimal allocation of resources when a single‐stage stratified cluster‐based outcome‐dependent sampling design is to be used and a marginal mean model is specified to answer the question of interest. Specifically, we consider two settings: (i) when a particular parameter in the mean model is of primary interest; and, (ii) when multiple parameters are of interest. We investigate the finite population performance of the optimal allocation framework through a comprehensive simulation study. Our results show that there are trade‐offs that must be considered at the design stage: optimizing for one parameter yields efficiency gains over balanced and simple random sampling, while resulting in losses for the other parameters in the model. Optimizing for all parameters simultaneously yields smaller gains in efficiency, but mitigates the losses for the other parameters in the model.
Bayesian sensitivity analyses for longitudinal data with dropouts that are potentially missing not at random: A high dimensional pattern‐mixture model
Authors: Kaciroti Niko A. , Little Roderick J.A. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractRandomized clinical trials with outcome measured longitudinally are frequently analyzed using either random effect models or generalized estimating equations. Both approaches assume that the dropout mechanism is missing at random (MAR) or missing completely at random (MCAR). We propose a Bayesian pattern‐mixture model to incorporate missingness mechanisms that might be missing not at random (MNAR), where the distribution of the outcome measure at the follow‐up time , conditional on the prior history, differs across the patterns of missing data. We then perform sensitivity analysis on estimates of the parameters of interest. The sensitivity parameters relate the distribution of the outcome of interest between subjects from a missing‐data pattern at time with that of the observed subjects at time . The large number of the sensitivity parameters is reduced by treating them as random with a prior distribution having some pre‐specified mean and variance, which are varied to explore the sensitivity of inferences. The missing at random (MAR) mechanism is a special case of the proposed model, allowing a sensitivity analysis of deviations from MAR. The proposed approach is applied to data from the Trial of Preventing Hypertension.
Halogenation of the Side Chains in Donor‐Acceptor Based Small Molecules for Photovoltaic Applications: Energetics and Charge‐Transfer Properties from DFT/TDDFT Studies
Authors: Shavez Mohd , Ray Anuj Kumar , Panda Aditya N. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractIncorporation of halogen atoms in conjugated polymer and small molecule (SM) based donors has been a practical approach to improve the efficiency of devices. In this report, we present a comprehensive study on the effects of halogenation of the side chains of three SM donors on the structural, optoelectronic, and charge‐transfer properties of donors and donor/PC61BM blends. Starting with experimentally prepared three novel SM donors with three different lateral side chains, we have computationally designed three halogenated donor SMs for each of those three SMs. Properties such as HOMO/LUMO energies, open‐circuit voltages, and charge transfer/recombination rates are calculated. Halogenated systems have deeper HOMO values than parent systems, and as a result, larger open‐circuit voltages are obtained for these new systems. In the halogenated systems, rates of charge‐transfer and charge‐recombination are larger and smaller, respectively, than in the parent systems. All these indicate better photovoltaic performances of these halogenated SM‐based devices.
Advanced Nanocarbons for Enhanced Performance and Durability of Platinum Catalysts in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
Authors: Qiao Zhi , Wang Chenyu , Zeng Yachao , Spendelow Jacob S. , Wu Gang 
Published: June 2021

AbstractInsufficient stability of current carbon supported Pt and Pt alloy catalysts is a significant barrier for proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). As a primary degradation cause to trigger Pt nanoparticle migration, dissolution, and aggregation, carbon corrosion remains a significant challenge. Compared with enhancing Pt and PtM alloy particle stability, improving support stability is rather challenging due to carbon's thermodynamic instability under fuel cell operation. In recent years, significant efforts have been made to develop highly durable carbon‐based supports concerning innovative nanostructure design and synthesis along with mechanistic understanding. This review critically discusses recent progress in developing carbon‐based materials for Pt catalysts and provides synthesis–structure–performance correlations to elucidate underlying stability enhancement mechanisms. The mechanisms and impacts of carbon support degradation on Pt catalyst performance are first discussed. The general strategies are summarized to tailor the carbon structures and strengthen the metal–support interactions, followed by discussions on how these designs lead to enhanced support stability. Based on current experimental and theoretical studies, the critical features of carbon supports are analyzed concerning their impacts on the performance and durability of Pt catalysts in fuel cells. Finally, the perspectives are shared on future directions to develop advanced carbon materials with favorable morphologies and nanostructures to increase Pt utilization, strengthen metal‐support interactions, facilitate mass/charge transfer, and enhance corrosion resistance.
Advances in organic thermoelectric materials and devices for smart applications
Authors: Zhao Yue , Liu Liyao , Zhang Fengjiao , Di Chong‐an , Zhu Daoben 
Published: June 2021

AbstractOrganic thermoelectric (OTE) materials have been considered to be promising candidates for large area and low‐cost wearable devices owing to their tailorable molecular structure, intrinsic flexibility, and prominent solution processability. More importantly, OTE materials offer direct energy conversion from the human body, solid‐state cooling at low electric consumption, and diversified functions. Herein, we summarize recent developments of OTE materials and devices for smart applications. We first review the fundamentals of OTE materials from the viewpoint of thermoelectric performance, mechanical properties and bionic functions. Second, we describe OTE devices in flexible generators, photothermoelectric detectors, self‐powered sensors, and ultra‐thin cooling elements. Finally, we present the challenges and perspectives on OTE materials as well as devices in wearable electronics and fascinating applications in the Internet of Things.