bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Gender-specific differences in feasibility of pre-lacrimal window approach
Authors: Andrianakis A. , Moser U. , Wolf A. , Kiss P. , Holzmeister C. , Andrianakis D. , Tomazic P. V. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe feasibility and surgical effort of a pre-lacrimal window approach (PLWA) depends on the width of the bony window anterior to the nasolacrimal duct. This study aimed to investigate gender-specific differences in feasibility of PLWA. A consecutive series of paranasal computed tomography scans from 50 females (n = 100) and 50 males (n = 100) were retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome measure was the antero-posterior length of the bony pre-lacrimal window (BPLWA). The secondary outcome measure was the distribution of Simmen’s PLWA feasibility types (major, moderate and minor surgical effort). On average, males had a 1.5 mm (95% CI 0.8–2.2) significantly higher BPLW length in comparison to females [t(198) = 4.4,p < 0.0001]. The requirement of major surgical effort occurred 29% more frequently in females [χ2(1) = 17.7,p < 0.0001], whereas the necessity of moderate surgical effort was 21% more prevalent in males [χ2(1) = 8.8,p = 0.003]. The need of only minor surgical effort was twice as high in males compared to females [χ2(1) = 3,p = 0.081]. Our data indicates that females require more significant surgical effort during a PLWA to gain access to the maxillary sinus. These results are highly informative as a high amount of bone removal and nasolacrimal duct dislocation are associated with a higher likelihood of complications.
Increasing prevalence of resistance to second-line drugs among multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Kuwait
Authors: Al-Mutairi Noura M. , Ahmad Suhail , Mokaddas Eiman 
Published: April 2021

AbstractMolecular methods detect genetic mutations associated with drug resistance. This study detected resistance-conferring mutations ingyrA/gyrBfor fluoroquinolones andrrs/eisgenes for second-line injectable drugs (SLIDs) among multidrug-resistantMycobacterium tuberculosis(MDR-TB) isolates in Kuwait. Fifty pansusceptibleM. tuberculosisand 102 MDR-TB strains were tested. Phenotypic susceptibility testing was performed by MGIT 960 system using SIRE drug kit. GenoType MTBDRslversion 1 (gMTBDRslv1) and GenoType MTBDRslversion 2 (gMTBDRslv2) tests were used for mutation detection. Results were validated by PCR-sequencing of respective genes. Fingerprinting was performed by spoligotyping. No mutations were detected in pansusceptible isolates. gMTBDRslv1 detectedgyrAmutations in 12 andrrsmutations in 8 MDR-TB isolates. gMTBDRsl2 additionally detectedgyrBmutations in 2 andeismutation in 1 isolate. Mutations in bothgyrA/gyrBandrrs/eiswere not detected. gMTBDRslv1 also detected ethambutol resistance-conferringembBmutations in 59 isolates. Although XDR-TB was not detected, frequency of resistance-conferring mutations for fluoroquinolones or SLIDs was significantly higher among isolates collected during 2013–2019 versus 2006–2012. Application of both tests is warranted for proper management of MDR-TB patients in Kuwait as gMTBDRslv2 detected resistance to fluoroquinolones and/or SLIDs in 3 additional isolates while gMTBDRslv1 additionally detected resistance to ethambutol in 58% of MDR-TB isolates.
Development of a multivariable prediction model for severe COVID-19 disease: a population-based study from Hong Kong
Authors: Zhou Jiandong , Lee Sharen , Wang Xiansong , Li Yi , Wu William Ka Kei , Liu Tong , Cao Zhidong , Zeng Daniel Dajun , Leung Keith Sai Kit , Wai Abraham Ka Chung , Wong Ian Chi Kei , Cheung Bernard Man Yung , Zhang Qingpeng , Tse Gary 
Published: April 2021

AbstractRecent studies have reported numerous predictors for adverse outcomes in COVID-19 disease. However, there have been few simple clinical risk scores available for prompt risk stratification. The objective is to develop a simple risk score for predicting severe COVID-19 disease using territory-wide data based on simple clinical and laboratory variables. Consecutive patients admitted to Hong Kong’s public hospitals between 1 January and 22 August 2020 and diagnosed with COVID-19, as confirmed by RT-PCR, were included. The primary outcome was composite intensive care unit admission, need for intubation or death with follow-up until 8 September 2020. An external independent cohort from Wuhan was used for model validation. COVID-19 testing was performed in 237,493 patients and 4442 patients (median age 44.8 years old, 95% confidence interval (CI): [28.9, 60.8]); 50% males) were tested positive. Of these, 209 patients (4.8%) met the primary outcome. A risk score including the following components was derived from Cox regression: gender, age, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, stroke, dementia, liver diseases, gastrointestinal bleeding, cancer, increases in neutrophil count, potassium, urea, creatinine, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, bilirubin, D-dimer, high sensitive troponin-I, lactate dehydrogenase, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and C-reactive protein, as well as decreases in lymphocyte count, platelet, hematocrit, albumin, sodium, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, cholesterol, glucose, and base excess. The model based on test results taken on the day of admission demonstrated an excellent predictive value. Incorporation of test results on successive time points did not further improve risk prediction. The derived score system was evaluated with out-of-sample five-cross-validation (AUC: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.82–0.91) and external validation (N = 202, AUC: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.85–0.93). A simple clinical score accurately predicted severe COVID-19 disease, even without including symptoms, blood pressure or oxygen status on presentation, or chest radiograph results.
Spin-singlet to triplet Cooper pair converter interface
Authors: Rogers Matthew , Walton Alistair , Flokstra Machiel G. , Al Ma’Mari Fatma , Stewart Rhea , Lee Stephen L. , Prokscha Thomas , Caruana Andrew J. , Kinane Christian J. , Langridge Sean , Bradshaw Harry , Moorsom Timothy , Ali Mannan , Burnell Gavin , Hickey Bryan J. , Cespedes Oscar 
Published: April 2021

AbstractCombining magnetic and superconducting functionalities enables lower energy spin transfer and magnetic switching in quantum computing and information storage, owing to the dissipationless nature of quasi-particle mediated supercurrents. Here, we put forward a system where emergent spin-ordering and diffusion of Cooper pairs are achieved at a non-intrinsically magnetic nor superconducting metallo-molecular interface. Electron transport, magnetometry and low-energy muon spin rotation are used to probe time-reversal symmetry breaking in these structures. By comparing the Meissner expulsion in a system including a Cu/C60 spin-converter interface to one without, we observe a paramagnetic contribution that can be explained due to the conversion of spin-singlet Cooper pair states into odd-frequency triplet states. These results demonstrate the potential of metallo-molecular interfaces to achieve singlet to triplet Cooper pair conversion, a capability not present in either metal or molecule separately that could be used in the generation and controlled diffusion of spin polarised dissipationless currents.
Global mantle convection models produce transform offsets along divergent plate boundaries
Authors: Langemeyer Sean M. , Lowman Julian P. , Tackley Paul J. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe presence of offsets, appearing at intervals ranging from 10s to 100s of kilometres, is a distinct characteristic of constructive tectonic plate margins. By comparison, boundaries associated with subduction exhibit uninterrupted continuity. Here, we present global mantle convection calculations that result in a mobile lithosphere featuring dynamically derived plate boundaries exhibiting a contrasting superficial structure which distinguishes convergence and divergence. Implementing a yield-stress that governs the viscosity in the lithosphere, spreading boundaries at the top of a vigorously convecting mantle form as divergent linear segments regularly offset by similar length zones that correlate with a large degree of shear but comparatively minimal divergence. Analogous offset segments do not emerge in the boundaries associated with surface convergence. Comparing the similarity in the morphologies of the model plate margins to the Earth’s plate boundaries demonstrates that transform-like offsets are a result of stress induced weakness in the lithosphere owing to passive rupturing.
Comparing Emotion Recognition and Word Recognition in Background Noise
Authors: Morgan Shae D. 
Published: April 2021

PurposeWord recognition in quiet and in background noise has been thoroughly investigated in previous research to establish segmental speech recognition performance as a function of stimulus characteristics (e.g., audibility). Similar methods to investigate recognition performance for suprasegmental information (e.g., acoustic cues used to make judgments of talker age, sex, or emotional state) have not been performed. In this work, we directly compared emotion and word recognition performance in different levels of background noise to identify psychoacoustic properties of emotion recognition (globally and for specific emotion categories) relative to word recognition.MethodTwenty young adult listeners with normal hearing listened to sentences and either reported a target word in each sentence or selected the emotion of the talker from a list of options (angry, calm, happy, and sad) at four signal-to-noise ratios in a background of white noise. Psychometric functions were fit to the recognition data and used to estimate thresholds (midway points on the function) and slopes for word and emotion recognition.ResultsThresholds for emotion recognition were approximately 10 dB better than word recognition thresholds, and slopes for emotion recognition were half of those measured for word recognition. Low-arousal emotions had poorer thresholds and shallower slopes than high-arousal emotions, suggesting greater confusion when distinguishing low-arousal emotional speech content.ConclusionsCommunication of a talker's emotional state continues to be perceptible to listeners in competitive listening environments, even after words are rendered inaudible. The arousal of emotional speech affects listeners' ability to discriminate between emotion categories.
An improved picture‐based prediction method of PM2.5 concentration
Authors: Chen Qili , Chen Wenbai , Pan Guangyuan 
Published: April 2021

AbstractPM2.5 can bring serious harm to people's health and life because it easily causes cardiovascular disease and increases the risk of cancer. Hence, monitoring PM2.5 real‐timely becomes a key problem in environmental protection. Towards this end, this paper proposes an improved picture‐based prediction method of PM2.5 concentration using artificial neural network (ANN). Firstly, the weather image is transformed into Hue, Saturation, Value (HSV) color space to extract its saturation map, then the corresponding spatial and transform‐based entropy features of image space are extracted. Secondly, the PM2.5 concentration model is built based on the two extracted features from the weather image using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) theory. Thirdly, an ANN model is trained using the pre‐processed data. The training parameters and conditions are also explored through multiple experiments to achieve the best model accuracy. Experimental results show that the model has the best prediction effect when comparing to other state‐of‐the‐art models.
Compressed dual‐channel neural network with application to image‐based smoke detection
Authors: Zhang Jiedong , Xie Wenhui , Liu Hongyan , Dang Wenyi , Yu Anfeng , Liu Di 
Published: April 2021

AbstractEffective detection of smoke from visual scenes can play a vital role not only in industrial safety as an early warning system but also in forest fire prevention. However, it is difficult to detect smoke based on texture and color. Therefore, many researches have been conducted on this issue and derived detection methods based on convolutional neural networks (such as DNCNN and DCNN etc.). However, in the process of convolution, with the superposition of convolutions times, the parameters of the network increase gradually and thus cause a large computational burden, which brings about the problem of unsatisfactory operating efficiency. Thus, this paper mainly introduces the depthwise separable convolution into the state‐of‐the‐art DCNN developed specifically for smoke detection, dubbed as the improved DCNN (IDCNN). Compared with standard convolution, by introducing the depthwise separable convolution, the convolution parameters and the corresponding calculation amount in the process of convolution can be greatly reduced, so that the network can deal with more data in a shorter time which improves operating efficiency. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of IDCNN as compared with the state‐of‐the‐art deep networks for smoke detection based on standard convolution in terms of parameter quantity and running speed.
Electrical discharge resistance of polymeric nanocomposites
Authors: Banerjee Srijib , Saini Shelly , Prasad D Shakthi 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe trend of choosing insulating materials has changed in the past few decades, and a considerable shift has occurred from conventional ceramic to non‐ceramic insulating materials. The addition of inorganic fillers has greatly improved the thermal conductivity, discharge resistance, hydrophobicity recovery, and vandalism‐resistance properties of polymeric insulating materials. Since the beginning of the present century, the field of nanomaterial research has gained much attention. Several studies have been conducted to investigate and analyze polymer nanocomposites by adding nanoparticles of varying size and concentration as fillers. The aim is to improve the characteristics and reformation of thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of existing polymeric insulation materials. However, certain inconsistencies are prevalent with results obtained for polymer nanocomposites. A comprehensive review is presented based on available literature focussing on the advancement from polymeric insulating materials to polymeric nanocomposites and its impact on partial discharge resistance, surface charging, and tracking and erosion resistance. It is observed that the weight percent and dispersion of nano‐ or micro‐sized particles into the base polymer matrix governs the performance of polymer composites. At higher filler loading, resistance to partial discharge and tracking and erosion decreases as a result of the agglomeration of fillers, whereas resistance to surface charge accumulation increases at higher filler loading because the formation of shallow traps increases the charge decay rate. It is suggested that when both micro‐ and nanofillers are mixed in proper proportion, micro–nano hybrid composites provide better performance than composites filled with only nano‐ or microfillers.
Optimisation, benchmark testing and comparison of droop control variants in microgrids
Authors: Eberlein Simon , Rudion Krzysztof 
Published: April 2021

AbstractGrid‐forming inverter control is recently discussed for bulk power systems and is already in use for islanded microgrids. A common control type is the droop control. Numerous variants of the basic droop control have been proposed. However, there is lack of performance comparison of the droop variants in literature. Their superiority has only been demonstrated for some specific microgrid scenarios. This work composes benchmark scenarios to assess and compare the applicability of droop control variants and also their combination with virtual impedances under practical conditions. A number of microgrid topologies and the interaction with synchronous machines are considered to benchmark the performance. Static criteria, such as the steady‐state power sharing, as well as dynamic stability criteria, are taken into account for modal analysis. To guarantee a meaningful comparison, a genetic algorithm tailored to the problem is used to optimise controller parameters for each controller type. Results indicate that the combination with virtual impedance has a more decisive effect on stability than the droop variant. The outcome is relevant for microgrid stability analysis in numerous contexts, such as optimal placement of inverters or topology optimisation, where the choice of the most suitable controller type with optimised parameter sets is key.
Distributed control strategy for DC microgrids based on average consensus and fractional‐order local controllers
Authors: Doostinia Mehdi , Beheshti Mohammad T. H. , Alavi Seyed A. , Guerrero Josep M. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractA novel distributed secondary layer control strategy based on average consensus and fractional‐order proportional‐integral (FOPI) local controllers is proposed for the regulation of the bus voltages and energy level balancing of the energy storage systems (ESSs) in DC microgrids. The distributed consensus protocol works based on an undirected sparse communication network. Fractional‐order local controllers increase the degree of freedom in the tuning of closed‐loop controllers, which is required for DC microgrids with high order dynamics. Therefore, here, FOPI local controllers are proposed for enhanced energy balancing of ESSs and improved regulation of the bus voltages across the microgrid. The proposed control strategy operates in both islanded and grid‐connected modes of a DC microgrid. In both modes, the average voltage of the microgrid converges to the microgrid desired reference voltage. The charging/discharging of ESSs is controlled independent of the microgrid operating mode to maintain a balanced energy level. The performance of the proposed distributed control strategy is validated in a 38‐ V DC microgrid case study, simulated by Simulink real‐time desktop, consisting of 10 buses and a photovoltaic renewable energy source.
Perspektiven in Diagnostik und Therapie des oligometastasierten Lungenkarzinoms
Authors: Pfannschmidt Joachim , Taber Samantha 
Published: April 2021

ZusammenfassungDas Stadium der Oligometastasierung ist definiert als eine klinisch und radiologisch an Anzahl und Tumorvolumen limitierte und im Verlauf stabile Metastasierung. Ist das Metastasierungsausmaß auf 1 oder 2 Organsysteme und die Anzahl der Metastasen auf maximal 5 Metastasen begrenzt, so können unterschiedliche lokal ablative Verfahren, wie die chirurgische Resektion und stereotaktische Strahlentherapie, ihre Berechtigung haben. Die biologischen Grundlagen der Oligometastasierung als eines intermediären Tumorstadiums sind heute noch weitestgehend unverstanden. Da aussagekräftige prädiktive Biomarker fehlen, beruht die Patientenauswahl weiterhin auf etablierten klinischen Prognosefaktoren. Hierzu zählen der thorakale Lymphknotenstatus des primären Lungenkarzinoms und das zeitliche Auftreten der Metastasierung als synchron oder metachron. Vor jeder Operation oder lokal ablativen Strahlentherapie mit kurativem Ansatz muss stets eine weitergehende Polymetastasierung mittels FDG-PET/CT und MRT des Schädels ausgeschlossen werden. Neben publizierten retrospektiven Fallserien finden sich aktuell 3 prospektiv randomisierte Studien, die einen signifikanten Behandlungsvorteil hinsichtlich des progressionsfreien Überlebens der Patienten mit lokal ablativer Therapie gegenüber der Vergleichskohorte belegen. Ein günstiger Effekt auf das Langzeitüberleben nach lokal ablativer Therapie ist ebenso wahrscheinlich. Zur zukünftigen Festlegung des Stellenwertes lokal ablativer Verfahren innerhalb moderner onkologischer Therapiekonzepte unter Einschluss der Immuntherapie und molekular stratifizierter Behandlungen sind weitere Phase III-Studien in Entwicklung.
Risikostratifizierung in der Rheumatologie:
Analgetika-Therapie
Authors: Eidner Thorsten , Wolf Gunter , Oelzner Peter 
Published: April 2021

ZusammenfassungAuch im Biologika-Zeitalter ist Schmerz ein häufiges Symptom bei
Patienten mit rheumatischen Erkrankungen. NSAR sind dabei
unverändert meist Mittel der ersten Wahl. Insbesondere aufgrund
ihres gastrointestinalen, kardiovaskulären und renalen
Nebenwirkungspotenzials erfordert ihr Einsatz eine individuelle
Risikostratifizierung beim Patienten in Abhänggigkeit von der
zugrundeliegenden Erkrankung, den Komorbiditäten und der
Komedikation.Bei NSAR-Versagen oder -Unverträglichkeit stehen nur wenige
Nichtopioid-Analgetika als Alternative zur Verfügung. Paracetamol
ist häufig nicht ausreichend effektiv und bedarf eines hepatischen
Monitorings. Beim Einsatz von Metamizol ist bei meist guter Wirksamkeit und
allgemein guter Verträglichkeit über die sehr seltene
Möglichkeit einer Agranulozytose und deren Symptome
aufzuklären. Sofern auch hiermit keine zufriedenstellende
Schmerzkontrolle möglich ist, können Opioide zum Einsatz
kommen. Die Risikostratifizierung erfordert hier ein leitliniengerechtes
Abwägen des zu erwartenden Nutzens in Abhängigkeit von der
Grunderkrankung einerseits und den Risiken andererseits, wobei v. a.
psychische Effekte einschl. Missbrauchs- und Abhängigkeitspotenzial,
Übelkeit, Obstipation und erhöhtes Sturzrisiko im Fokus
stehen.Für die nahe Zukunft sind keine wesentlichen Neuentwicklungen bei den
Analgetika zu erwarten, sodass die individuelle Risikostratifizierung
für die derzeit verfügbaren Präparate langfristig
entscheidend für eine optimale Therapie des einzelnen Patienten
bleiben wird.
Angst vor dem Coronavirus, Absicht zum Befolgen der AHA-Regeln und
Risikowahrnehmung bezüglich Arztbesuchen: Querschnittsstudie mit
psychisch vorerkrankten Menschen
Authors: Dahmen Alina , Keller Franziska , Kötting Lukas , Derksen Christina , Lippke Sonia 
Published: April 2021

Zusammenfassung
Ziel der Studie Die COVID-19-Pandemie erfordert zur Eindämmung
Maßnahmen wie Kontaktbeschränkungen und Hygieneregeln und
verursacht neben psychischen Problemen auch die Angst vor einer Ansteckung
oder einem schweren Verlauf von COVID-19. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht
den Zusammenhang zwischen der Angst vor einer Ansteckung und dem Einhalten
von Hygieneregeln und der Inanspruchnahme medizinischer Versorgung.
Methodik Es wurden 1005 Patienten (20–79 Jahre,
626=62,4% weiblich) vor Antritt einer psychosomatischen
Rehabilitationsmaßnahme mittels Online-Fragebogen befragt. Die
Auswertung erfolgte deskriptiv, korrelativ und über
Varianzanalysen.
Ergebnisse 68,6% hatten selten/manchmal und
17,9% hatten immer Angst vor einer Ansteckung mit dem Coronavirus
oder vor einem schweren Verlauf der Krankheit. Wer oft/immer Angst
hatte, beabsichtigte sich die Hände häufiger zu waschen
(97,2%), als diejenigen, die nie Angst hatten. Unabhängig
von einer Veränderung des körperlichen und psychischen
Gesundheitszustandes waren die Patienten bereit, Hygienemaßnahmen
einzuhalten. Jedoch hing mehr Angst vor Ansteckung mit mehr
Risikowahrnehmung zusammen, medizinische Versorgung in Anspruch zu nehmen.
Bedenken waren bei den Patienten am stäksten ausgeprägt, die
einen verschlechterten Gesundheitszustand berichteten.
Schlussfolgerung Die Absicht des Befolgens der Hygieneregeln ist bei
psychisch vorerkrankten Menschen abhängig von einer vorbestehenden
Angst, sich selber oder andere mit dem Coronavirus anzustecken bzw. an einer
schweren Verlaufsform zu erkranken. Insbesondere psychisch bzw.
psychosomatisch vorerkrankte Menschen müssen adäquat
über das Coronavirus und die notwendigen individuellen
Schutzmaßnahmen informiert werden, um Ängste zu reduzieren
und um die Bereitschaft zu steigern, medizinische Hilfe in Anspruch zu
nehmen.
Synthesis of Diporphyrins by Oxidative Coupling with Pd(TFA)2-Cu(OTf)2 under Ball-Milling Conditions
Authors: Lu Xiuqiang , Li Fei , Chen Guofen 
Published: April 2021

AbstractA sustainable synthetic method for the synthesis of diporphyrins under ball-milling conditions is reported. The meso-meso linked diporphyrins are efficiently accessed by direct oxidative homo-coupling of porphyrins with Pd(TFA)2 as the catalyst and Cu(OTf)2 as the oxidant.