bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What does engagement mean to participants in longitudinal cohort studies? A qualitative study
Authors: Ochieng Cynthia A. , Minion Joel T. , Turner Andrew , Blell Mwenza , Murtagh Madeleine 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Background

Engagement is important within cohort studies for a number of reasons. It is argued that engaging participants within the studies their involved in may promote their recruitment and retention within the studies. It is also thought that participant input can improve study designs, make them more acceptable for uptake by participants and aid in contextualising research communication to participants. Ultimately it is also argued that engagement needs to provide an avenue for participants to feedback to the cohort study and that this is an ethical imperative. This study sought to explore the participants’ experiences and thoughts of their engagement with their birth cohort study.
Methods

Participants were recruited from the Children of the 90s (CO90s) study. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 participants. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and uploaded onto Nvivo software. They were then analysed via thematic analysis with a constant comparison technique.
Results

Participants’ experiences of their engagement with CO90s were broadly based on three aspects: communication they received from CO90s, experiences of ethical conduct from CO90s and receiving rewards from CO90s. The communication received from CO90s, ranged from newsletters explaining study findings and future studies, to more personal forms like annual greeting cards posted to each participant. Ethical conduct from CO90s mainly involved participants understanding that CO90s would keep their information confidential, that it was only involved in ‘good’ ethical research and their expectation that CO90s would always prioritise participant welfare. Some of the gifts participants said they received at CO90s included toys, shopping vouchers, results from clinical tests, and time off from school to attend data collection (Focus) days. Participants also described a temporality in their engagement with CO90s and the subsequent trust they had developed for the cohort study.
Conclusions

The experiences of engagement described by participants were theorized as being based on reciprocity which was sometimes overt -in receiving gifts from CO90s and other times more nuanced- for example through CO90s ethical conduct. This perceived reciprocity aligns well with Maussian conception of gifting and in this case espoused participants’ trust in the cohort resulting in a unique participant-cohort study relationship.
Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Followed by Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Patients with Colorectal Peritoneal Metastasis: A Retrospective Study of its Safety and Efficacy
Authors: Zhou Sicheng , Jiang Yujuan , Liang Jianwei , Pei Wei , Zhou Zhixiang 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Background Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) are effective routine treatments for colorectal peritoneal metastases (PMs). However, the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) before CRS+HIPEC are poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the perioperative safety and long-term efficacy for patients with synchronous colorectal PM who received NAC prior to CRS+HIPEC.Method Patients with synchronous colorectal PM who received NAC prior to CRS+HIPEC were systematically reviewed at the China National Cancer Center and Huanxing Cancer Hospital from June 2017 to June 2019. Clinicopathologic characteristics, perioperative parameters, and survival were compared between patients who underwent CRS+HIPEC with NAC (NAC group) and those who underwent CRS+HIPEC without NAC (non-NAC group).Results The study enrolled 52 patients, with 20 patients in the NAC group and 32 in the non-NAC group. In the NAC group, the proportion of patients with a peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI) score < 12 was significantly higher than that in the non-NAC group (80.0% vs 50.0%, P=0.031), and more patients received complete cyoreduction (80.0% vs 46.9%, P=0.018). The two groups had comparable grade III/IV complications and similar reoperation and mortality rates (P>0.05). However, patients who received NAC prior to CRS+HIPEC experienced lower platelet counts (151.9 vs 197.7 ×109/L, P=0.036) and neutrophil counts (4.7 vs 7.2×109/L, P=0.030) on postoperative day 1. Compared with the non-NAC group, more patients in the NAC group survived for two years (67.4% vs. 32.2%, respectively, P = 0.044). However, the CC score (HR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.14-7.84; P=0.026), rather than NAC, was independently associated with OS in the multivariable analysis after controlling for confounding factors.Conclusion NAC administration before CRS+HIPEC can be regarded as a safe and feasible treatment for patients with colorectal PM with comparably low mortality and acceptable morbidity. Nevertheless, the administration of NAC before CRS+HIPEC conferred a greater survival benefit to patients, even though NAC was not identified as an independent factor for OS after controlling for confounding factors.
Digital Media Technology Application Research Based on 5g Internet of Things Virtual Reality Technology as the Carrier
Authors: Zhang Xingchen , pu zaiyi , Jiang Xinbo 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
With the development of the 5G era, digital media technology has been widely used in many fields and industries. Virtual reality is the product of the application of digital media technology in the development process. At the level of the continuous development and progress of social science and technology, virtual reality technology as a high-tech and high-tech tool has gradually entered people's vision, penetrated into all aspects of people's lives, and exerted good results. This article mainly studies the application of digital media technology based on 5G Internet of Things virtual reality technology as the carrier. This article introduces virtual reality technology, Quick Time VR technology that can be used in digital media, Tilt Brush VR technology, Oculus Quill technology, and digital media technology. It builds a virtual reality-based 3D model and digital media Internet of Things architecture, and implements 5G Comparison of technology and traditional technology, the proportion of applications of 5G Internet of Things virtual reality technology and digital media technology in education, construction, industry and medical fields. The analysis results show that the 5G Internet of Things has higher visual immersion, the original bandwidth can reach 5Tbit/s, and the calculation time of a single hologram is less than 3ms; 5G technology and virtual reality technology are both used in the medical field the most, with applications accounting for up to 40%; Digital media technology is the most widely used in the construction field, reaching 60%. It can be seen from the research in this article that the application of digital media technology based on the virtual reality technology of 5G Internet of Things as the carrier has high practical value in reality.
Analog/RF Performance Analysis of Heterojunction Tunnel FET with Temperatute
Authors: Pindoo Irfan , Sinha Sanjeet Kumar , Chander Sweta 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
In this paper, the analog/RF analysis of SiGe source-based heterojunction Tunnel FET is reported. The parameters like transconductance (gm), device efficiency (gm/ID), gate-source capacitance (CGS), gate-drain capacitance (CGD), cut-off frequency (fT) and gain-bandwidth product (GBP) are studied. DC, as well as AC simulations, have been performed on the proposed device. We have achieved an ON current of 0.537 µA/µm and OFF current of 13 fA/µm, thus achieving ION/IOFF ratio as 3.72×1010. We have also performed temperature analysis of the analog/RF parameters. We have also investigated the device for the temperature analysis concerning the drain current and the capacitance calculations. We have observed that the OFF currents are strongly dependent on the temperature. All the simulations have been performed on Visual TCAD (licensed version 1.9.2-3).
High performance InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode integrated with metal-insulator-metal microcavity
Authors: Han Hao , Zhu Yicheng , Guo Zilu , Li Zhifeng , Qu Huidan , Gao Wantian , Wang Ding , Wang Wenjuan 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Reducing the dark current of InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes (APDs) is an important way to improve its performance. Decreasing the active size can reduce the dark current but sacrifice the quantum efficiency. In this paper, the Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) microcavity is integrated with an APD, which can converge light from tens of microns to several microns, to compensate for the loss of detection efficiency caused by the reduction of the size of the APD. Through photoelectric joint simulation, the optical response of the device can be obtained, and the coupling effect between the MIM structure and the APD can be analyzed directly. The simulation results show that the signal to noise ratio of the APD integrated with the MIM microcavity is twice of the MIM free traditional APD, and the 3dB bandwidth reaches 5.8 GHz. When the MIM microcavity is applied to an APD array, the optical crosstalk between pixels is found to be negligible.
Identification and Validation of Four Novel Biomarkers Involved in Docetaxel Resistant Prostate Cancer
Authors: Liu Ruiji , Li Shuying , Liu Liquan , Xu Bin , Chen Ming 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignancies affecting men’s health. Docetaxel chemotherapy has been utilized in castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, docetaxel resistance further reduces the survival of PCa patients. Thus, it is necessary to explore effective biomarkers for docetaxel chemotherapy resistant PCa (DCRPC).Methods: A comprehensive bioinformatic analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between DCRPC and docetaxel chemotherapy sensitive PCa (DCSPC) cell. DEGs were selected between GSE33455 and GSE36135 obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were applied for functional enrichment and pathway analysis. The STRING database were used to construct protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Diseases free survival (DFS) was used for prognostic analysis via GEPIA.Results: A total of 89 DEGs from GSE33455 and GSE36135 were screened. GO functional analysis showed that these DEGs are mainly enriched in the extracellular exosome, cell adhesion molecule binding, ATP binding and cellular response to tumor necrosis factor. KEGG pathway analysis showed that these DEGs are mainly involved in the TNF signaling pathway, chemokine pathway, and nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism. 30 closely related DEGs were used for PPI network construction. Finally, four prognostic relative genes (RHOF, ADCY7, DOCK2, LMO7) were identified. Conclusion: The present study identified prognostic hub genes and related signaling pathways, which may help improve understanding of the molecular mechanisms of DCRPC. These hub genes can potentially serve as therapeutic and prognostic biomarkers for DCRPC.
Promoter Methylation of the MGRN1 Gene Response to Chemotherapy of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Patients
Authors: Li Xiaofei , Sun Haiyan , Tian Hua , Zhang Haibo , Tian Yunjie , Li Yan , Kang Shan 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Objective: Aberrant DNA methylation is considered to play a critical role in the chemoresistance of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). In this study, we explored the relationship between hypermethylation of the Mahogunin Ring Finger 1 (MGRN1) gene promoter and primary chemoresistance in EOC patients.Methods: Hypermethylation of the MGRN1 promoter region in the cancer tissues of platinum-resistant EOC patients was observed by genome-wide methylation level analysis. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry was used to analyze the methylation level of the MGRN1 promoter region. MGRN1 mRNA and protein expression were examined using RT-qPCR and IHC assays, respectively. The effect of MGRN1 methylation on the cellular response to cisplatin was detected by knockdown assays in SKOV3 cells. Additionally, we performed transcriptome analysis using RNA-seq and explored the possible mechanism by which MGRN1 expression affects the resistance of ovarian cancer cells to platinum. Results: The RRBS assay showed that the upstream region of MGRN1 from -1148 to -1064 was significantly hypermethylated in chemoresistant EOC patients (P=1.78×10−7). The MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry assays revealed a strong association between hypermethylation of the MGRN1 upstream region and platinum resistance in patients with EOC. Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed a significantly negative connection between the methylation level of MGRN1 and its expression in EOC. In vitro analysis demonstrated that knockdown of MGRN1 reduced the sensitivity of cells to cisplatin and that expression of EGR1 was significantly decreased in SKOV3 cells with low levels of MGRN1 expression. Similarly, EGR1 mRNA expression was lower in platinum-resistant EOC patients and was positively correlated with MGRN1 mRNA expression. Conclusion: The hypermethylation of the MGRN1 promoter region and low expression of MGRN1 were associated with platinum resistance in EOC patients.
Great Barrier Reef Degradation, Sea Surface Temperatures, and Atmospheric CO2 Levels Collectively Exhibit a Stochastic Process with Memory
Authors: Elnar Allan , Cena Christianlly , Bernido Christopher Casenas , Carpio-Bernido M. Victoria 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Quantifying ecological memory could be done at several levels from the rate of physiological changes in an ecosystem all the way down to responses at the genetic level. One way of unlocking the information encoded in a collective environmental memory is to examine the recorded time-series data generated by different components of an ecosystem. In this paper, we probe into the case of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) which is threatened by elevated sea surface temperatures (SST) and ocean acidification attributed to rising atmospheric CO 2 levels. Specifically, we investigate the interrelated dynamics between the degradation of the GBR, SST, and rising atmospheric CO 2 levels, by considering three datasets: (a) the mean percentage hard coral cover of the GBR from the archives of the Australian Institute of Marine Science; (b) SST close to the GBR from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and (c) the Keeling curve for atmospheric CO 2 levels measured by the Mauna Loa Observatory. We show that fluctuating observables in these datasets have the same memory behavior described by a non-Markovian stochastic process. All three datasets show a good match between empirical and analytical mean square deviation. An explicit analytical form for the corresponding probability density function is obtained which obeys a modified diffusion equation with a time dependent diffusion coefficient. This study provides a new perspective on the similarities of and interaction between the GBR’s declining hard coral cover, SST, and rising atmospheric CO2 levels by putting all three systems into one unified framework indexed by a memory parameter μ and a characteristic frequency ν . The short-time dynamics of CO2 levels and SST fall in the superdiffusive regime, while the GBR exhibits hyperballistic fluctuation in percent coral cover with the highest values for μ and ν .
Adrenergic receptors in osteoarthritic and rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts: Identification of β3 as novel player to modulate IL-6 and p38 activation
Authors: Liang Ding , Lowin Torsten , Cheng Xinkun , Classen Tim , Pongratz Georg 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is influenced by the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). In animal models of RA, the SNS promotes severity of the disease and its manipulation modulates experimental arthritis depending on timing of the intervention. Synovial fibroblasts (SF) are major contributors to RA pathology but their modulation by the SNS has been rarely investigated. In this study we assessed the expression and function of adrenergic receptors in RA and osteoarthritis (OA) synovial fibroblasts and investigated their downstream signaling. Methods: We used western blot and quantitative PCR (qPCR) to determine protein and mRNA of adrenergic receptors in OASF/RASF. Furthermore we determined α1a and β2 protein in synovial tissue by immunofluorescence. ELISA was employed to determine IL-6 production. p38 kinase activation and translocation was analyzed by cell-based ELISA and immunofluorescence.Results: We detected α1a, α2b, β1, β2 and β3 protein in OASF/RASF and α1a and β2 protein in synovial tissue of OA and RA patients. The pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ and TNF downregulated β3 adrenergic receptor. Activation of α1a, α2b, β2 and β3 increased production of TNF-induced IL-6 which was inhibited by specific antagonists. Furthermore, β3 agonism enhanced p38 phosphorylation and translocation to the nucleus.Conclusion: Among a comprehensive characterization of the adrenergic system of OASF/ RASF, we report for the first time β3 expression and demonstrated that this adrenergic receptor participates in the inflammatory response of synovial fibroblasts. Therefore, modulation of β3 might pose a new therapeutic opportunity to modulate synovial fibroblast function in patients with RA.
Feasible QoS Routing for Ubiquitous Network
Authors: Chavan Chandrashekhar Pomu , Venkataram Pallapa 
Published: March 2021

Abstract

This article describes the design and development of an efficient event-based link-state QoS routing protocol using an Event Condition Action (ECA) scheme by incorporating novel agent technology. The event-based link-state QoS routing protocol includes two types of agents like Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) protocol acts as a static agent and Multi-Point Relays (MPR) acts as a mobile agent. The OLSR agent creates and dispatches MPR agents across the network. MPR agents migrate and visit every mobile node in the network hosted by an OLSR agent to accumulate and supply mobile node and network status information to the OLSR agent. The OLSR agent collates information about neighboring nodes and network status information from MPR agents and provides it to the ECA scheme to establish a QoS route to transmit reliable data from the originator to the intended target node. Based on the information provided by the OLSR agent, the ECA scheme selects an efficient QoS route based on metrics such as minimal bandwidth, less error rate, better throughput, minimal latency, and low mobility rate required for the applications (for instance, audio, video, image, etc.) during transmission. The proposed scheme is tested by considering different types of OLSR routing events. Eventually, we evaluated the performance and compared ECA-QoS-OLSR with conventional OLSR routing protocols and the simulation results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed ECA scheme.
Association of Triglycerides With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus-associated Kidney Injury
Authors: Yu Haitao , Li Danyang , Li Jiajia , Han Hengtong , Jiang Lili 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Background: Kidney injury of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) contributes to major mortality of SLE. To explore biomarkers is necessary for diagnosing and supervising SLE-associated kidney injury. However, few effective biomarkers can be used for it.Methods: Apriori algorithm of association rules was employed to identify laboratory biomarkers related to SLE-associated kidney injury. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify its risk factors, and spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between biomarkers and disease activity of SLE-associated kidney injury.Results: Ten biomarkers were mined by association rule mining. Among them, triglycerides, lactate dehydrogenase and α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase were significantly higher, and haemoglobin and haematocrit were significantly lower in patients with SLE-associated kidney injury than in those without kidney injury. Furthermore, triglycerides were an independent risk factor for SLE-associated kidney injury. There were more patients with SLE-associated kidney injury, SLE disease activity index 2000, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, proteinuria and urine pathology cast (P-CAST) in the high-triglyceride group. Triglycerides were positively correlated with proteinuria and P-CAST, and they were negatively correlated with albumin and immunoglobulin G. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for triglycerides was 0.72,and the optimal cut-off level was 1.84 mmol/l, which provided 64.4% sensitivity and 75.9% specificity in predicting SLE-associated kidney dysfunction. 50% SLE-associated kidney injuries patients with negative proteinuria could be identified by high triglyceride levels. In addition, higher levels of triglycerides were found at the time of onset of kidney injury. With the change in SLE-associated kidney injury, the variation in triglyceride levels is opposite to the evaluated glomerular filtration rate.Conclusion: triglycerides are associated with SLE-associated kidney injury and may be a potential biomarker for auxiliary diagnosis of SLE-associated kidney injury.
Computational Structural, Electronic and Optical Properties of the Palmitic Acid in its C Form
Authors: Santos J. G. S. , MACEDO-FILHO A. , Silva A. M. , Sousa F. F. de , Caetano E. W. S. , Silva M. B. da , Freire V. N. 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
In this work, we report a theoretical study of the structural, electronic, and optical properties of palmitic acid crystal in its C form under DFT calculations level. Palmitic acid is a fatty acid that constitutes the large majority of vegetable oils with recognized potential applications in medicine, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics technology, foods, and fuel. As a main result, we have found that the electronic bandstructure reveals indirect gap $3.713eV$ ($E \longrightarrow B \,\, \textrm{and} \,\,E \longrightarrow \Gamma$), as a main bandgap, while the secondary bandgaps found were $4.175eV$ ($\gamma_{1} \longrightarrow \Gamma$) and $4.172eV$ ($\gamma_{2} \longrightarrow B$). It behaves like a wide bandgap semiconductor, which points to potential applications in optoelectronic devices.
Comparing the Effect of Dexmedetomidine and Etomidate Administration with Acute Height Stress on Spatial Memory in Male Mice
Authors: Tarbiat Masoud , Rezaei Mahmoud , Emam Amir Hossein , Sarihi Abdolrahman 
Published: March 2021

Abstract
Background: Nowadays, anesthetic drugs are widely used in anesthesia and surgical procedures and their effects on memory have been the focus of attention for a very long time. The effects of these common drugs include Dexmedetomidine (DEX) and Etomidate (ETO), on memory are controversial. In this study, the effects of these two drugs, co-administrated with heights stress, were evaluated on short-term and long-term spatial memory. 48 male mice were divided into 6 experimental groups consisting of Control, Control+heightstress (H.S), ETO, ETO+H.S, DEX+H.S. Drugs were administered Intra-peritoneal with doses of 0.3-0.4 mg/kg and 11 mg/kg for DEX and ETO respectively, and spatial memory was assessed using the Barnes Model.Results: DEX improved acquisition and retention of spatial reference memory, whereas ETO showed no such effects. In addition, DEX and ETO showed excitatory effects on short-term spatial memory, however DEX was more effective than ETO.Conclusion: the results suggested the neuoprotective, synaptic plasticity and memory improving effects of DEX on spatial reference and working memory. However, the precise neuronal and molecular mechanisms of these effects and their relation to the anti-stress system is still unknown and requires further research.