bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Calculation of maximum crack width for practical design of reinforced concrete
Authors: Schlicke Dirk , Dorfmann Eva Maria , Fehling Ekkehard , Tue Nguyen Viet 
Published: April 2021

AbstractCracks are an essential characteristic of reinforced concrete (RC) construction. Serviceability and durability, however, require a reasonable limitation of the maximum crack width. The prediction of the maximum crack width of RC, however, is not trivial and has been much debated over the past decades. This article starts with a fundamental comparison of basic procedures for determining the crack width, namely using a mechanical or calibrated model. Following, the behavior of reinforced concrete during crack formation is thoroughly discussed with a focus on the bond stress‐slip relation at the reinforcement‐concrete interface and with regard to the particular crack stage. Based on these fundamentals, a mechanical calculation model is then proposed for practical calculation of maximum crack width in RC members. The suitability of the proposed model is demonstrated by the comparison of predicted and experimentally obtained maximum crack widths for a database including 460 crack width measurements. It is shown that the current state of knowledge enables a mechanically plausible calculation of the maximum crack width. Although the formulation based on the bond law is not trivial, the calculation model can be prepared with appropriate simplifications in a practical way.
Enzyme‐free Electrochemical Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide Based on the Three‐Dimensional Flower‐like Cu‐based Metal Organic Frameworks and MXene Nanosheets†
Authors: Cheng Dan , Li Peipei , Zhu Xiaohua , Liu Meiling , Zhang Youyu , Liu Yang 
Published: April 2021

Main observation and conclusionCu‐based metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are regarded as promising sensing materials, which have abundant metal sites, large surface area and simple synthesis processes. In this work, a novel three‐dimensional flower‐like Cu‐MOF was synthesized, which was combined with ultra‐thin MXene nanosheets to construct a novel electrochemical sensor for H2O2. During the electrocatalytic reduction of H2O2, the catalytic activity of Cu‐MOF/MXene/GCE results in the ultra‐sensitive detection of H2O2 owing to the structure properties of MOFs, the nature of Cu‐contained nanomaterials as well as the high electrical conductivity of MXene. The Cu‐MOF/MXene/GCE showed a wide linear range from 1 μmol/L to 6.12 mmol/L using chronoamperometry at the detection potential of –0.35 V, and the detection limit is estimated to be 0.35 μmol/L. The sensor also shows good anti‐interference due to the lower detection potential, specific catalysis of Cu‐MOF to H2O2, which promises the sensor good selectivity in complexed samples. Meanwhile, the electrochemical sensor is capable to detect H2O2 in milk and serum samples with satisfactory recoveries. The ultra‐sensitivity, rapid detection, and easy operation of the proposed sensor present significant prospect for real‐time analysis and monitoring of H2O2 in foods and biological samples.
Bifunctional Fluoroalcohol Catalysts Enabled Sustainable Synthesis of Poly(amino acid)s†
Authors: He Wenjing , Tao Youhua 
Published: April 2021

Main observation and conclusionA series of novel bifunctional single‐molecule hydrogen‐bonding organocatalysts based on fluorinated tertiary alcohol were synthesized to mediate the metal‐free polymerization of α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydride (NCA) monomer. Through the screening of catalysts, the polymerization catalyzed by the preferred bifunctional fluoroalcohol catalyst proceeded in a fast and controlled manner, affording high molecular weight polypeptide up to 35.2 × 104 Da with relatively narrow molecular weight distribution (Đ < 1.20). A phenomenon of self‐accelerating effect of polymerization induced by α‐helical structure of polypeptides was observed, and a possible polymerization pathway has been discussed.
Nested Case‐Control Study Utilizing MID‐NET® on Thrombocytopenia Associated With Pegfilgrastim in Patients Treated With Antineoplastic Agents
Authors: Kajiyama Kazuhiro , Ishiguro Chieko , Ando Takashi , Kubota Yuki , Kinoshita Natsumi , Oniyama Yukio , Iguchi Toyotaka , Uyama Yoshiaki 
Published: April 2021

Although several spontaneous case reports on the occurrence of thrombocytopenia in patients treated with human granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) preparations have been accumulated, its actual causality is still unclear. To investigate the association between G‐CSF preparations (filgrastim, nartograstim, lenograstim, and pegfilgrastim) available in Japan and thrombocytopenia in patients treated with antineoplastic agents, a nested case‐control study was conducted using the Medical Information Database NETwork (MID‐NET®) with the cohort of the Japanese population taking antineoplastic agents between 2009 and 2018. A case of thrombocytopenia was defined as a patient who had decreased platelet counts (< 50,000/mm3). We identified a maximum of 10 controls for each case matched on the index date. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of thrombocytopenia for the use of G‐CSF preparations compared with nonuse were estimated using conditional logistic regression. From the cohort in which 33,124 patients were included, 733 cases and 5,592 controls were identified. Compared with the nonuse of G‐CSF preparations, the use of any G‐CSF preparations increased the risk of thrombocytopenia (aOR: 5.7, 95% CI: 4.3‐7.5). More detailed analysis showed that a distinctive increased risk was observed when pegfilgrastim was prescribed at 2–7 days before the index date (aOR: 7.4 95% CI: 2.0–28.1). Associations of the other G‐CSF preparations with thrombocytopenia were unclear due to the inconsistent results among different analyses. A significantly increased risk of thrombocytopenia associated with pegfilgrastim was identified, leading to a revision of precautions in the package inserts of pegfilgrastim as a regulatory safety action.
Artificial Intelligence for Unstructured Healthcare Data: Application to Coding of Patient Reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions
Authors: Létinier Louis , Jouganous Julien , Benkebil Mehdi , Bel‐Létoile Alicia , Goehrs Clément , Singier Allison , Rouby Franck , Lacroix Clémence , Miremont Ghada , Micallef Joëlle , Salvo Francesco , Pariente Antoine 
Published: April 2021

Adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting is a major component of drug safety monitoring; its input will, however, only be optimized if systems can manage to deal with its tremendous flow of information, based primarily on unstructured text fields. The aim of this study was to develop an automated system allowing to code ADRs from patient reports. Our system was based on a knowledge base about drugs, enriched by supervised machine learning (ML) models trained on patients reporting data. To train our models, we selected all cases of ADRs reported by patients to a French Pharmacovigilance Centre through a national web‐portal between March 2017 and March 2019 (n = 2,058 reports). We tested both conventional ML models and deep‐learning models. We performed an external validation using a dataset constituted of a random sample of ADRs reported to the Marseille Pharmacovigilance Centre over the same period (n = 187). Here, we show that regarding area under the curve (AUC) and F‐measure, the best model to identify ADRs was gradient boosting trees (LGBM), with an AUC of 0.93 (0.92–0.94) and F‐measure of 0.72 (0.68–0.75). This model was run for external validation showing an AUC of 0.91 and a F‐measure of 0.58. We evaluated an artificial intelligence pipeline that was found able to learn how to identify correctly ADRs from unstructured data. This result allowed us to start a new study using more data to further improve our performance and offer a tool that is useful in practice to efficiently manage drug safety information.
Improved cell signaling analysis by biofunctionalized nanospheres and imaging flow cytometry
Authors: Koenig Alice , Charmetant Xavier , Barba Thomas , Sicard Antoine , Espi Maxime , Dussurgey Sébastien , Thaunat Olivier 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe analysis of immune cell signaling is critical for the understanding of the biology and pathology of the immune system, and thus a mandatory step for the development of efficient biomarkers and targeted therapies. Phosflow, which has progressively replaced the traditional western blot approach, relies on flow cytometry to analyze various signaling pathways at a single‐cell level. This technique however suffers a lack of sensitivity largely due to the low signal/noise ratio that characterizes cell signaling analysis. In this study, we describe a new technique, which combines the use of biofunctionalized nanospheres (i.e., synthetic particulate antigens, SPAg) to stimulate the immune cells in suspension and imaging flow cytometry to identify homogenously‐stimulated cells and quantify the activity of the chosen signaling pathway in selected subcellular regions of interest. Using BCR signaling as model, we demonstrate that SIBERIAN (SPAg‐assIsted suB‐cEllulaR sIgnaling ANalysis) allows assessing immune cell signaling with unprecedented sensitivity and specificity.
Ocular elongation and retraction in foveated reptiles
Authors: Rasys Ashley M. , Pau Shana H. , Irwin Katherine E. , Luo Sherry , Kim Hannah Q. , Wahle Margaret Austin , Trainor Paul A. , Menke Douglas B. , Lauderdale James D. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundPronounced asymmetric changes in ocular globe size during eye development have been observed in a number of species ranging from humans to lizards. In contrast, largely symmetric changes in globe size have been described for other species like rodents. We propose that asymmetric changes in the three‐dimensional structure of the developing eye correlate with the types of retinal remodeling needed to produce areas of high photoreceptor density. To test this idea, we systematically examined three‐dimensional aspects of globe size as a function of eye development in the bifoveated brown anole, Anolis sagrei.ResultsDuring embryonic development, the anole eye undergoes dynamic changes in ocular shape. Initially spherical, the eye elongates in the presumptive foveal regions of the retina and then proceeds through a period of retraction that returns the eye to its spherical shape. During this period of retraction, pit formation and photoreceptor cell packing are observed. We found a similar pattern of elongation and retraction associated with the single fovea of the veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus.ConclusionsThese results, together with those reported for other foveated species, support the idea that areas of high photoreceptor packing occur in regions where the ocular globe asymmetrically elongates and retracts during development.
A Cartesian grid method with improvement of resolving the boundary layer structure for two‐dimensional incompressible flows
Authors: Tong Xin , Wang Lipo , Chen Jinqiang , Ouyang Hua 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe Cartesian gird has its unique advantages in computational fluid dynamics, especially for complicated boundary cases. However, the boundary layer structures can not be resolved efficiently and effectively using the Cartesian mesh. To overcome such a problem, a new boundary layer structure resolving (BLSR) algorithm is proposed on the basis of the boundary layer physics and force balance analysis. For the present two‐dimensional test cases, numerical results justify that the surface friction and drag force can be more accurately calculated without refining the near‐wall resolution. In principle this BLSR algorithm is easy to implement with negligible increase of the computational cost.
Determinants of postnatal care coverage among mothers and new‐borns in India: Evidence from a nationally representative survey
Authors: Krishnamoorthy Yuvaraj , Majella Marie Gilbert 
Published: April 2021

AbstractDespite efforts taken by the Government of India, still mothers and new‐borns are excluded from the postnatal care services, especially during the critical first 24 h after delivery. Hence, we have done this study to find the determinants of postnatal care for mothers and new‐borns in India. We have analysed the NFHS‐4 data gathered from Demographic Health Survey programme. Stratification and clustering in the sample design was accounted using svyset command. Point estimates were reported as proportions with 95% Confidence Interval (CI). In total, 190,797 women who had at least one live birth were included. About 25.2% and 27.1% of the new‐born received post‐natal care within 24 and 48 h of delivery. The proportion of women who received post‐natal care within 24 and 48 h after delivery was 63.4% and 65.2% respectively. Higher socioeconomic status, women living in Southern region, utilization of proper antenatal and intranatal care, and Caesarian mode of delivery had significantly higher postnatal care coverage among mothers and new‐borns. This finding informs the policy makers regarding the status of postnatal care coverage, that can be incorporated to identify target populations for further strengthening of service delivery.
Effects of changes in canopy interception on stream runoff response and recovery following clear‐cutting of a Japanese coniferous forest in Fukuroyamasawa Experimental Watershed in Japan
Authors: Oda Tomoki , Egusa Tomohiro , Ohte Nobuhito , Hotta Norifumi , Tanaka Nobuaki , Green Mark B. , Suzuki Masakazu 
Published: April 2021

AbstractUnderstanding changes in evapotranspiration during forest regrowth is essential to predict changes of stream runoff and recovery after forest cutting. Canopy interception (Ic) is an important component of evapotranspiration, however Ic changes and the impact on stream runoff during regrowth after cutting remains unclear due to limited observations. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of Ic changes on long‐term stream runoff in a regrowth Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress forest following clear‐cutting. This study was conducted in two 1‐ha paired headwater catchments at Fukuroyamasawa Experimental Watershed in Japan. The catchments were 100% covered by Japanese coniferous plantation forest, one of which was 100% clear‐cut in 1999 when the forest was 70 years old. In the treated catchment, annual runoff increased by 301 mm/year (14% of precipitation) the year following clear‐cutting, and remained 185 mm/year (7.9% of precipitation) higher in the young regrowth forest for 12–14 years compared to the estimated runoff assuming no clear‐cutting. The Ic change was −358 mm/year (17% of precipitation) after cutting and was −168 mm/year (6.7% of precipitation) in the 12–14 years old regrowth forest compared to the observed Ic during the pre‐cutting period. Stream runoff increased in all seasons, and the Ic change was the main fraction of evapotranspiration change in all seasons throughout the observation period. These results suggest that the change in Ic accounted for most of the runoff response following forest cutting and the subsequent runoff recovery in this coniferous forest.
The use of regional and alluvial groundwater by riparian trees in the wet‐dry tropics of northern Australia
Authors: Canham Caroline A. , Duvert Clément , Beesley Leah S. , Douglas Michael M. , Setterfield Samantha A. , Freestone Fiona L. , Clohessy Steven , Loomes Robyn C. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractRiparian trees play a critical role in the ecological function of rivers, yet are threatened by anthropogenic change to the hydrological cycle. Identifying the sources of water used by riparian trees can inform sustainable water policy. We used isotopic analysis complemented by measurements of plant water relations to assess water sources for riparian trees at two sites with contrasting hydrogeological processes; one with an alluvial aquifer overlaying an aquitard, and one where fault‐induced preferential pathways in the aquitard allowed the flow of deeper, older groundwater from a regional aquifer to the alluvium. At both sites, plant water potential, stomatal conductance, and plant water isotope composition in the xylem sap of riparian trees were collected from two landscape positions, the riverbank and floodplain. We used a Bayesian mixing model (MixSIAR) to assess differences in the proportion of water sources for sites and landscape positions. We found that xylem water isotope values differed between the two sites in line with their hydrogeological characteristics, with trees at the regional aquifer site using water sourced from the regional groundwater and trees at the site with only an alluvial aquifer present using a mixture of water sources, with no dominant source identified. Higher plant predawn water potential values at the regional site indicated greater water availability and support the inference that plants were using more groundwater at the regional site compared to the alluvial site. Trees closer to the river had higher isotope values, indicative of surficial water sources i.e. shallow soil water and river water. Our findings show that the water sources used by riparian trees reflect local hydrogeology and resource availability. Water managers should identify and protect plant water sources to ensure maintenance of riparian trees.
A snapshot of the prevalence of endocrine disorders in pregnancies complicated by coronavirus disease 2019: A narrative review with meta‐analysis
Authors: Reichelt Angela J. , Hirakata Vânia N. , Genro Vanessa K. , Oppermann Maria Lúcia R. 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundSome maternal characteristics indicate worse prognosis in pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19).ObjectiveTo describe the prevalence of endocrine disorders in pregnancies involving COVID‐19, and its impact on maternal outcomes.Search strategySearch terms were “pregnancy” and “COVID‐19”.SelectionPubMed, Embase, medRxiv, and Cochrane worksheet from February to July 2020 were searched.Data collection and analysisArticles describing endocrine disorders in pregnancies with and without COVID‐19 involvement were considered. We performed meta‐analyses of prevalence using random‐effect models and estimated relative risk and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of maternal outcomes relative to presence of endocrine disorders.Main resultsArticles included (n = 141) were divided into three data sets: individual (119 articles, 356 women), case series (17 articles, 1064 women), and national registries (7 articles, 10 178 women). Prevalence of obesity ranged from 16% to 46% and hyperglycemia in pregnancy (HIP) ranged from 8% to 12%. In data set 1, HIP and obesity were risk factors for severe disease in crude and age‐adjusted models, although not for intensive care unit admission. In data from two national registries, risk of dying was 5.62 (95% CI 0.30–105.95) in women with diabetes and 2.26 (95% CI 1.03–4.96) in those with obesity.ConclusionObesity and HIP were prevalent in pregnant women with severe COVID‐19.
Injectable open‐porous PLGA microspheres as cell carriers for cartilage regeneration
Authors: Qu Moyuan , Liao Xiaoling , Jiang Nan , Sun Wujin , Xiao Wenqian , Zhou Xingwu , Khademhosseini Ali , Li Bo , Zhu Songsong 
Published: April 2021

AbstractMinimally invasive treatment via injectable delivery of cells has drawn extensive attention for tissue regeneration because it reduces the need for substantial open surgery and fits tissue defects with complex shapes, making it a suitable option for repairing articular cartilage defects. This work presents an alkaline treatment method to fabricate open‐porous poly (lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) microspheres (OPMs) as bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) carriers for cartilage regeneration. OPMs have better biodegradation property and the extended pores can provide easier access for cells to the internal space. The BMSCs cultured with OPMs can display enhanced cell proliferation, up‐regulated expression of cartilage‐related mRNAs and proteins, and improved cartilage regeneration in vitro and in vivo. These results highlight the advantage and potential of using OPMs fabricated via simple alkaline treatment as injectable stem cell carriers for cartilage regeneration through minimally invasive procedures.
Characterization and optimization of de‐esterified Tragacanth‐chitosan nanocomposite as a potential carrier for oral delivery of insulin: In vitro and ex vivo studies
Authors: Shirzadian Touraj , Nourbakhsh Mohammad Sadegh , Fattahi Ali , Bahrami Gholamreza , Mohammadi Ghobad 
Published: April 2021

AbstractOral administration of insulin is one of the most challenging topics within this area, because insulin is degraded in stomach before it enters the bloodstream. In this study, for the first time, a nano‐carrier for controlled and targeted oral delivery of insulin was developed using de‐esterified Tragacanth and chitosan. The fabricated nanoparticles were synthesized using coacervation technique and their properties were optimized using response surface methodology. The effect of experimental variables on the particle size and loading efficiency was examined. In addition, the interactions between components were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared. The thermal stability of nanoparticles was studied by thermal gravimetric analysis. The insulin loading efficiency was measured and in vitro release profile and ex vivo insulin permeability was determined. Optimized nanoparticles showed spherical shape with a size less than 200 nm and zeta potential of +17 mV. Owing to their nanoscale dimensions and mucoadhesiveness, nanoparticles were synthesized using medium molecular weight of Chitosan. The insulin loading efficacy for the system was 6.4%, released under simulated gastrointestinal conditions in a pH‐dependent manner. Based on all of the obtained results, it can be concluded that these nanoparticles can potentially be utilized as a carrier for the oral insulin delivery.
Development and optimization of multicolumn chromatography for mAb perfusion processes
Authors: Gillette Keith , Bisschops Marc , Schofield Mark 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe maturation of the bioprocessing industry is driving the desire to reduce manufacturing costs through process intensification. Here we discuss the motivation for more productive upstream perfusion processes and the implications for downstream purification. The focus of the article is how to optimize the downstream process chromatography steps based on perfusion upstream. A range of different chromatography solutions are explored and their possible impact on the purification process discussed. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry