bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prognostic value of blood-based fibrosis biomarkers in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving chemotherapy and bevacizumab
Authors: Nissen Neel I. , Kehlet Stephanie , Boisen Mogens K. , Liljefors Maria , Jensen Christina , Johansen Astrid Z. , Johansen Julia S. , Erler Janine T. , Karsdal Morten , Mortensen Joachim H. , Høye Anette , Willumsen Nicholas 
Published: January 2021

AbstractA desmoplastic colorectal cancer stroma, characterized by excess turnover of the cancer-associated fibroblast derived collagens type III and VI, can lead to reduced drug-uptake and poor treatment response. We investigated the association between biomarkers of collagen type III and VI and overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Serum samples were collected from 252 patients with mCRC prior to treatment with bevacizumab and chemotherapy. Serum concentrations of biomarkers reflecting formation of collagen type III (PRO-C3) and VI (PRO-C6) and degradation of collagen type VI (C6M and C6Mα3) were determined by ELISA. The biomarkers were evaluated for associations with OS, individually, combined, and after adjusting for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and performance status (PS). High baseline levels (> median) of each collagen biomarker were significantly associated with shorter OS (PRO-C3: HR = 2.0, 95%CI = 1.54–2.63; PRO-C6: HR = 1.6, 95%CI = 1.24–2.11; C6M: HR = 1.4, 95%CI = 1.05–1.78; C6Mα3: HR = 1.6, 95%CI = 1.16–2.07). PRO-C3 and PRO-C6 remained significant after adjustment for CEA, LDH and PS. Weak correlations were seen between the collagen biomarkers (r = 0.03–0.59) and combining all improved prognostic capacity (HR = 3.6, 95%CI = 2.30–5.76). Collagen biomarkers were predictive of shorter OS in patients with mCRC. This supports that collagen- and CAF biology is important in CRC.
Image reconstruction through a multimode fiber with a simple neural network architecture
Authors: Zhu Changyan , Chan Eng Aik , Wang You , Peng Weina , Guo Ruixiang , Zhang Baile , Soci Cesare , Chong Yidong 
Published: January 2021

AbstractMultimode fibers (MMFs) have the potential to carry complex images for endoscopy and related applications, but decoding the complex speckle patterns produced by mode-mixing and modal dispersion in MMFs is a serious challenge. Several groups have recently shown that convolutional neural networks (CNNs) can be trained to perform high-fidelity MMF image reconstruction. We find that a considerably simpler neural network architecture, the single hidden layer dense neural network, performs at least as well as previously-used CNNs in terms of image reconstruction fidelity, and is superior in terms of training time and computing resources required. The trained networks can accurately reconstruct MMF images collected over a week after the cessation of the training set, with the dense network performing as well as the CNN over the entire period.
High expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α related with acquired resistant to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in NSCLC
Authors: Jin Qian , Huang Feihua , Xu Xianrong , He Haidong , Zhang Yingqing 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe acquired resistance of the first generation epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) is a main factor leading to poor prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), so we researched whether the high expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in EGFR-TKIs sensitive NSCLC tissue tends to induce the acquired resistance. We detected the HIF-1α in normal lung tissue, EGFR-TKIs sensitive NSCLC tissue, the first generation EGFR-TKIs acquired resistant NSCLC tissue and acquired EGFR T790M mutation NSCLC tissue with the method of immunohistochemistry. Then, we compared the expression of HIF-1α in these tissues, and evaluate the effect of HIF-1α expression to the occurrence of acquired resistance. The expression of HIF-1α was much higher in the EGFR-TKIs sensitive NSCLC tissue than that in normal lung tissue. HIF-1α level became higher after the occurrence acquired resistance. There was negative correlation between HIF-1α level before receiving treatment and the time of acquired resistance occurring as well as the acquired EGFR T790M mutation occurring. As the treatment going on, EGFR-TKIs sensitivity rate of low HIF-1α level group was much higher than that of high level group. The high expression of HIF-1α related with the acquired resistance of the first generation EGFR-TKIs, and HIF-1α can be a biomarker to predict the early occurrence of acquired resistance.
Nematode epibionts on skin of the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris
Authors: Gonzalez Rafael , Kanzaki Natsumi , Beck Cathy , Kern William H. , Giblin-Davis Robin M. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractA survey for the presence of nematodes on the skin of the native Florida manatee,Trichechus manatus latirostrisfrom Crystal River, Florida was conducted during annual manatee health assessments. A putative isolate ofCutidiplogaster manati(Diplogastridae) and two other nematodes belonging to the same family were recovered from mid-dorsal tail skin-scrapings from all sampled winter-collected healthy wild adult manatees during two successive years (2018–2019). Qualitative abundance estimates of these three species of diplogastrid nematodes suggest that an average wild Florida manatee adult might possess between 30,000 and 120,000 nematodes on its tail dorsum and that the entire body dorsum including the tail might possess 160,000–640,000 nematodes in roughly equal ratios. Attempts to culture these nematodes on a variety of different culture media were unsuccessful but examination of the mouth (stomatal) morphology suggests specialized feeding on microbes such as diatoms or predation on other nematodes. No skin lesions were observed during the 2018–2019 samplings suggesting that under normal conditions these nematodes are highly specialized free-living epibionts of the skin that are tightly bound to this niche and horizontally transferred between individual manatees in an analogous fashion to human skin mites (Demodex folliculorumandD. brevis). Molecular phylogenetic inferences using sequences of near full length SSU and D2–D3 expansion segments of LSU rRNA genes revealed a putative new morphospecies inCutidiplogastersister toC. manatithat was monophyletic with several namedMononchoidesspecies, and another putative new morphospecies that formed a clade with several undescribed species similar in appearance toMononchoidesas well asTylopharyx,Eudiplogasterium,ParoigolaimellaandSachsia.
Simultaneous lesion and brain segmentation in multiple sclerosis using deep neural networks
Authors: McKinley Richard , Wepfer Rik , Aschwanden Fabian , Grunder Lorenz , Muri Raphaela , Rummel Christian , Verma Rajeev , Weisstanner Christian , Reyes Mauricio , Salmen Anke , Chan Andrew , Wagner Franca , Wiest Roland 
Published: January 2021

AbstractSegmentation of white matter lesions and deep grey matter structures is an important task in the quantification of magnetic resonance imaging in multiple sclerosis. In this paper we explore segmentation solutions based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for providing fast, reliable segmentations of lesions and grey-matter structures in multi-modal MR imaging, and the performance of these methods when applied to out-of-centre data. We trained two state-of-the-art fully convolutional CNN architectures on the 2016 MSSEG training dataset, which was annotated by seven independent human raters: a reference implementation of a 3D Unet, and a more recently proposed 3D-to-2D architecture (DeepSCAN). We then retrained those methods on a larger dataset from a single centre, with and without labels for other brain structures. We quantified changes in performance owing to dataset shift, and changes in performance by adding the additional brain-structure labels. We also compared performance with freely available reference methods. Both fully-convolutional CNN methods substantially outperform other approaches in the literature when trained and evaluated in cross-validation on the MSSEG dataset, showing agreement with human raters in the range of human inter-rater variability. Both architectures showed drops in performance when trained on single-centre data and tested on the MSSEG dataset. When trained with the addition of weak anatomical labels derived from Freesurfer, the performance of the 3D Unet degraded, while the performance of the DeepSCAN net improved. Overall, the DeepSCAN network predicting both lesion and anatomical labels was the best-performing network examined.
Evaluation of the TRMM product for monitoring drought over Paraíba State, northeastern Brazil: a trend analysis
Authors: Brasil Neto Reginaldo Moura , Santos Celso Augusto Guimarães , Silva Jorge Flávio Casé Braga da Costa , da Silva Richarde Marques , dos Santos Carlos Antonio Costa , Mishra Manoranjan 
Published: January 2021

AbstractDroughts are complex natural phenomena that influence society's development in different aspects; therefore, monitoring their behavior and future trends is a useful task to assist the management of natural resources. In addition, the use of satellite-estimated rainfall data emerges as a promising tool to monitor these phenomena in large spatial domains. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) products have been validated in several studies and stand out among the available products. Therefore, this work seeks to evaluate TRMM-estimated rainfall data's performance for monitoring the behavior and spatiotemporal trends of meteorological droughts over Paraíba State, based on the standardized precipitation index (SPI) from 1998 to 2017. Then, 78 rain gauge-measured and 187 TRMM-estimated rainfall time series were used, and trends of drought behavior, duration, and severity at eight time scales were evaluated using the Mann–Kendall and Sen tests. The results show that the TRMM-estimated rainfall data accurately captured the pattern of recent extreme rainfall events that occurred over Paraíba State. Drought events tend to be drier, longer-lasting, and more severe in most of the state. The greatest inconsistencies between the results obtained from rain gauge-measured and TRMM-estimated rainfall data are concentrated in the area closest to the coast. Furthermore, long-term drought trends are more pronounced than short-term drought, and the TRMM-estimated rainfall data correctly identified this pattern. Thus, TRMM-estimated rainfall data are a valuable source of data for identifying drought behavior and trends over much of the region.
Difluoroboron β-diketonate polylactic acid oxygen nanosensors for intracellular neuronal imaging
Authors: Zhuang Meng , Joshi Suchitra , Sun Huayu , Batabyal Tamal , Fraser Cassandra L. , Kapur Jaideep 
Published: January 2021

AbstractCritical for metabolism, oxygen plays an essential role in maintaining the structure and function of neurons. Oxygen sensing is important in common neurological disorders such as strokes, seizures, or neonatal hypoxic–ischemic injuries, which result from an imbalance between metabolic demand and oxygen supply. Phosphorescence quenching by oxygen provides a non-invasive optical method to measure oxygen levels within cells and tissues. Difluoroboron β-diketonates are a family of luminophores with high quantum yields and tunable fluorescence and phosphorescence when embedded in certain rigid matrices such as poly (lactic acid) (PLA). Boron nanoparticles (BNPs) can be fabricated from dye-PLA materials for oxygen mapping in a variety of biological milieu. These dual-emissive nanoparticles have oxygen-insensitive fluorescence, oxygen-sensitive phosphorescence, and rigid matrix all in one, enabling real-time ratiometric oxygen sensing at micron-level spatial and millisecond-level temporal resolution. In this study, BNPs are applied in mouse brain slices to investigate oxygen distributions and neuronal activity. The optical properties and physical stability of BNPs in a biologically relevant buffer were stable. Primary neuronal cultures were labeled by BNPs and the mitochondria membrane probe MitoTracker Red FM. BNPs were taken up by neuronal cell bodies, at dendrites, and at synapses, and the localization of BNPs was consistent with that of MitoTracker Red FM. The brain slices were stained with the BNPs, and the BNPs did not significantly affect the electrophysiological properties of neurons. Oxygen maps were generated in living brain slices where oxygen is found to be mostly consumed by mitochondria near synapses. Finally, the BNPs exhibited excellent response when the conditions varied from normoxic to hypoxic and when the neuronal activity was increased by increasing K+ concentration. This work demonstrates the capability of BNPs as a non-invasive tool in oxygen sensing and could provide fundamental insight into neuronal mechanisms and excitability research.
Most deaths in low-risk cardiac surgery could be avoidable
Authors: Mejia Omar Asdrúbal Vilca , Borgomoni Gabrielle Barbosa , Lima Eduardo Gomes , Guerreiro Gustavo Pampolha , Dallan Luís Roberto , de Barros e Silva Pedro , Nakazone Marcelo Arruda , Junior Orlando Petrucci , Gomes Walter José , de Oliveira Marco Antonio Praça , Sousa Alexandre , Campagnucci Valquíria Pelisser , Tiveron Marcos Gradim , Rodrigues Alfredo José , Tineli Rafael Ângelo , Rocha e Silva Roberto , Lisboa Luiz Augusto Ferreira , Jatene Fabio Biscegli 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIt is observed that death rates in cardiac surgery has decreased, however, root causes that behave like triggers of potentially avoidable deaths (AD), especially in low-risk patients (less bias) are often unknown and underexplored, Phase of Care Mortality Analysis (POCMA) can be a valuable tool to identify seminal events (SE), providing valuable information where it is possible to make improvements in the quality and safety of future procedures. Our results show that in São Paul State, only one third of AD in low-risk cardiac surgery was related to specific surgical problems. After a revisited analysis, 75% of deaths could have been avoided, which in the pre-operative phase, the SE was related judgment, patient evaluation and preparation. In the intra-operative phase, most occurrences could have been avoided if other surgical technique had been used. Sepsis was responsible for 75% of AD in the intensive care unit. In the ward phase, the recognition/management of clinical decompensations and sepsis were the contributing factors. Logistic regression model identified age, previous coronary stent implantation, coronary artery bypass grafting + heart valve surgery, ≥ 2 combined heart valve surgery and hospital-acquired infection as independent predictors of AD.
Assessment of implementation of antibiotic stewardship program in surgical prophylaxis at a secondary care hospital in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Authors: Alshehhi Hessa Saleh , Ali Areeg Anwer , Jawhar Duaa Salem , Aly Essam Mahran , Swamy Srinivas , Fattah Manal Abdel , Drweesh Khawla Abdullah , Alsaadi Azzan 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAntibiotic overuse is a major factor for causing antibiotic resistance globally. However, only few studies reported the implementation and evaluation of antimicrobial stewardship programs in Gulf Cooperation Council. This study was conducted within 8-months periods to evaluate the effect of the newly implemented antibiotic stewardship program on improving the prescribing practice of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in a secondary care hospital in the United Arab Emirates by releasing local hospital guidelines. The data of 493 in patients were documented in the predesigned patient profile form and the prescribing practice of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis for clean and clean-contaminant surgical procedures was compared and analyzed two months’ prior (period A) and post (period B) the implementation of antibiotic stewardship program. The 347 patient’s data (PD) were analyzed during period A and 146 PD during period B. The prescription of piperacillin/tazobactam was decreased from 2.4% from all surgical prophylaxis antibiotic orders in period A to 0% in period B. The appropriateness of the antibiotic therapy was found to differ non significantly for the selection of prophylactic antibiotic (p = 0.552) and for the timing of first dose administration (p = 0.061) between A and B periods. The total compliance was decreased non significantly (P = 0.08) from 45.3 to 40.2%. Overall, the guidelines have improved the prescribing practice of antibiotics prior to surgery. However, further improvement can be achieved by initiating educational intervention via cyclic auditing strategy.
Power controllable gain switched fiber laser at ~ 3 μm and ~ 2.1 μm
Authors: Shi Yiwen , Li Jianfeng , Lai Chendong , Peng Hanlin , Zhu Chen , Liu Yong 
Published: January 2021

AbstractBased on a hybrid pumping method consisting of a 1150 nm continuous-wave pump source and a 1950 nm pulsed pump source, we demonstrate a power controllable gain-switched fiber laser in dual wavebands at ~ 3 μm and ~ 2.1 μm. Different pumping schemes for pumping a Ho3+-doped ZBLAN fiber are studied. Using only the 1950 nm pulsed pump source, ~ 2.1 μm gain-switched pulses with single and double pulses are obtained separately at different pump powers. This phenomenon indicates that the 1950 nm pulsed pump source acts as a modulator to trigger different states of the ~ 2.1 μm pulses. Moreover, by fixing the 1150 nm pump power at 3.259 W and adjusting the 1950 nm pump power, the output power of the ~ 2.1 μm gain-switched pulsed laser is flexibly controlled while the ~ 3 μm laser power is almost unchanged, inducing the maximum output powers of 167.96 mW and 260.27 mW at 2910.16 nm and 2061.65 nm, respectively. These results suggest that the comparatively low power of the ~ 2.1 μm gain-switched pulsed laser in dual-waveband laser can be efficiently overcome by reasonably controlling the 1950 nm pump power.
Computational fluid dynamic models as tools to predict aerosol distribution in tracheobronchial airways
Authors: Atzeni Claudia , Lesma Gianluca , Dubini Gabriele , Masi Maurizio , Rossi Filippo , Bianchi Elena 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAerosol and pollutants, in form of particulates 5–8 μm in main size face every day our respiratory system as natural suspension in air or forced to be inhaled as a coadjutant in a medical therapy for respiratory diseases. This inhalation happens in children to elderly, women and men, healthy or sick and disable people. In this paper we analyzed the inhalation of aerosol in conditions assimilable to the thermal therapy. We use a computational fluid dynamic 3D model to compute and visualize the trajectories of aerosol (3–7–10–25 µm) down to the sixth generation of bronchi, in a steady and dynamic condition (7 µm) set as breath cycle at rest. Results, compared to a set of milestone experimental studies published in literature, allow the comprehension of particles behavior during the inhalation from mouth to bronchi sixth generation, the visualization of jet at larynx constriction and vortices, in an averaged characteristic rigorous geometrical model including tracheal rings. Results on trajectories and deposition show the importance of the including transient physiological breath cycle on aerosol deposition analyses. Numerical and graphical results, may enable the design of medical devices and protocols to make the inhalations more effective in all the users’ population.
A pilot study for intraocular pressure measurements based on vibroacoustic parameters
Authors: Kim Deukha , Chung Youngbeen , Yeon Yeji , Cho Hyunsoo , Lim Han Woong , Park Junhong , Lee Won June 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe present study aimed to identify vibroacoustic properties associated with intraocular pressure (IOP) changes and to suggest a new way to measure the IOP based on these properties. Ten ex vivo porcine eyeballs were used in this study. Each eyeball was fixated in a central hole of a Styrofoam block, and vibration applied to the Styrofoam block was transmitted to the eyeball. An accelerometer directly attached to the eyeball measured the vibration response. Excitations and measurements were performed for 1 s, and the excitation magnitude was varied for the same signal in repeat measurements. A 30-gauge needle was inserted into the anterior chamber of the eyeball to inject a balanced salt solution, and the height of the bottle was adjusted to adjust the IOP. A tonometer was used under identical conditions to measure the IOP five times, and the mean value was determined for further analyses. The measurements showed that the parameters resonance frequency and change in the magnitude of the vibration response (CMVR) increased with rising IOP values. The CMVR was highly correlated with the IOP (p-value < 0.0001). A linear mixed effects model (LMM) was used as a statistical analysis method. We confirmed that vibroacoustic properties of the eyeball are correlated with IOP changes. It is expected that the CMVR will serve as a new parameter for IOP measurements. Thus, in the future, continuous IOP measurements would be easily performed using the CMVR.
Biomechanical insights into the dentition of megatooth sharks (Lamniformes: Otodontidae)
Authors: Ballell Antonio , Ferrón Humberto G. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe evolution of gigantism in extinct otodontid sharks was paralleled by a series of drastic modifications in their dentition including widening of the crowns, loss of lateral cusplets, and acquisition of serrated cutting edges. These traits have generally been interpreted as key functional features that enabled the transition from piscivory to more energetic diets based on marine mammals, ultimately leading to the evolution of titanic body sizes in the most recent forms (including the emblematicOtodus megalodon). To investigate this hypothesis, we evaluate the biomechanics of the anterior, lateral, and posterior teeth of five otodontid species under different loading conditions by using two-dimensional finite element analysis. Stress distribution patterns are remarkably similar among all models under puncture and draw (i.e., when subjected to vertical and lateral forces, respectively). Contrary to expectation, higher average stress values are detected under both loading scenarios in more recent species. Altogether, this suggests little correlation between tooth morphology and key aspects of biomechanical behaviour in otodontids, making it difficult to frame the morphological trend of their dentitions within an adaptive scenario. We propose that this pattern most likely emerged as a non-functional by-product of heterochronic processes driven by selection towards larger body sizes.