bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mortality in a cohort of Egyptian systemic lupus erythematosus patients: retrospective two-center study
Authors: Moghazy Abdelkawy , Ibrahim Amira M. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBackgroundSystemic lupus erythematosus is a debilitating autoimmune disease with major contribution to the worldwide morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to investigate the causes of mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and the relation between clinical activity, disease-associated end-organ damage, laboratory markers and mortality.ResultsAmong the 771 patients who were successfully followed up, 34 patients (4.4%) died. The leading causes of death were infectious causes (35.29%), cardiopulmonary causes (26.48%), renal causes (14.7%), unknown causes (14.7%), neuropsychiatric causes (5.88%), and lastly gastrointestinal causes (2.94%). Subjects who died had lower complement 3 level, more anemia, lymphopenia, neutropenia, leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, decreased glomerular filtration rate, higher incidence of infection, end-stage renal disease, and cardiopulmonary complications. Higher glucocorticoid dosage with more immunosuppressant (mofetil and cyclophosphamide) treatment was observed in patients who died. SLE disease Activity Index and Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics damage index were both significantly higher in deceased persons. Multivariable hazards regression analysis revealed that lymphopenia (p= 0.017), decreased glomerular filtration rate < 50% (p= 0.002) with end-stage renal disease (p= 0.001), and high steroid daily use of > 40 mg (p= 0.016) were independent risk factors for the mortality of SLE patients.ConclusionInfections and cardiopulmonary complications are the leading causes of death in two centers caring for Egyptian SLE patients. Lymphopenia, end-stage renal failure, and high steroid daily use were associated with poor outcomes.
Understanding Treatment Strategies and Preferences in Nonmetastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer From the Japanese Physician Perspective
Authors: Suzuki Kazuhiro , Grillo Vince , Chen Yirong , Singh Shikha , Ledesma Dianne Athene 
Published: February 2021

PURPOSE Sixteen percent (16%) of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) show no bone metastasis at diagnosis. However, 33% will become metastatic within 2 years. The goal of treatment in patients with nonmetastatic CRPC (nmCRPC), therefore, is to delay symptomatic metastases without undue toxicity. With novel antiandrogen treatments of different strengths and limitations available, physician preferences for nmCRPC treatment in Japan should be understood. METHODS A discrete choice experiment was conducted. Physicians chose between two hypothetical treatments in nmCRPC defined by six attributes: risk of fatigue, falls or fracture, cognitive impairment, hypertension, rashes as side effects of treatment, and extension of time until cancer-related pain occurs. Relative preference weights and relative importance were estimated by hierarchical Bayesian logistic regression. Physicians were also asked to make treatment decisions based on four hypothetical patient profiles to understand the most important factors driving decision making. RESULTS A total of 151 physicians completed the survey. Extension of time until cancer-related pain occurs was the most important attribute (relative importance, 32.3%; CI, 31.3% to 33.3%). Based on summed preference weights across all attributes, preferences for hypothetical treatment profiles I, II, and III were compared. A hypothetical treatment profile with better safety though shorter extension time was preferred (I: mean [standard deviation] = 1.7 [1.6 to 2.1]) over treatment profiles with lower safety but longer extension time (II: −2.7 [−2.8 to −2.6] and III: −0.2 [−0.3 to −0.1]). Treatment characteristics were more important factors for physicians' decision making than patient characteristics in prescribing treatment. CONCLUSION Physicians preferred a treatment with better safety profile, and treatment characteristics were the most important factors for decision making. This might have implications in physicians' decision making for nmCRPC treatment in the future in Japan.
Masticatory system integration in a commensal canid: interrelationships between bones, muscles and bite force in the red fox
Authors: Brassard Colline , Merlin Marilaine , Monchâtre-Leroy Elodie , Guintard Claude , Barrat Jacques , Garès Hélène , Larralle Arnaud , Triquet Raymond , Houssin Céline , Callou Cécile , Cornette Raphaël , Herrel Anthony 
Published: February 2021

ABSTRACT
The jaw system in canids is essential for defence and prey acquisition. However, how it varies in wild species in comparison with domestic species remains poorly understood, yet is of interest in terms of understanding the impact of artificial selection. Here, we explored the variability and interrelationships between the upper and lower jaws, muscle architecture and bite force in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). We performed dissections and used 3D geometric morphometric approaches to quantify jaw shape in 68 foxes. We used a static lever model and bite force estimates were compared with in vivo measurements of 10 silver foxes. Our results show strong relationships exist between cranial and mandible shape, and between cranial or mandible shape on the one hand and muscles or estimated bite force on the other hand, confirming the strong integration of the bony and muscular components of the jaw system. These strong relationships are strongly driven by size. The functional links between shape and estimated bite force are stronger for the mandible, which probably reflects its greater specialisation towards biting. We then compared our results with data previously obtained for dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) to investigate the effect of domestication. Foxes and dogs differ in skull shape and muscle physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA). They show a similar amount of morphological variation in muscle PCSA, but foxes show lower variation in cranial and mandible shape. Interestingly, the patterns of covariation are not stronger in foxes than in dogs, suggesting that domestication did not lead to a disruption of the functional links of the jaw system.
Fiber reinforced composite supported restoration of congenitally missing tooth by minimally invasive approach: Two years follow-up
Authors: Javed Muhammad Qasim 
Published: February 2021

Maxillary lateral incisor is the most frequent congenitally missing anterior tooth of the permanent dentition. The absence of the anterior tooth can adversely affect the production/transmission of speech sounds, mental health, and facial aesthetics of an individual. Considering this, prosthetic rehabilitation of missing front tooth is important. The treatment alternatives include implant supported single crown, conventional fixed partial dentures (FPDs), and resin bonded FPDs that are unilaterally or bilaterally supported by metallic wings. However, with the development in adhesive dentistry fiber reinforced composite (FRC) supported FPDs have provided a workable substitute for traditional techniques because of their improved esthetics, minimal invasiveness, less cost, enhanced bond strength, and revocable nature. The current case, reports the two years follow up of twenty-four years old female patient, for whom the congenitally absent maxillary right lateral incisor was restored with FRC supported FPD.
doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.3873
How to cite this:Javed MQ. Fiber reinforced composite supported restoration of congenitally missing tooth by minimally invasive approach: Two years follow-up. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(3):919-921. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.3873
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Lewisian Naturalness and a new Sceptical Challenge
Authors: Drobňák Matej 
Published: February 2021

The criterion of naturalness represents David Lewis’s attempt to answer some of the sceptical arguments in (meta-) semantics by comparing the naturalness of meaning candidates. Recently, the criterion has been challenged by a new sceptical argument. Williams argues that the criterion cannot rule out the candidates which are not permuted versions of an intended interpretation. He presents such a candidate – the arithmetical interpretation (a specific instantiation of The criterion of naturalness represents David Lewis’s attempt to answer some of the sceptical arguments in (meta-) semantics by comparing the naturalness of meaning candidates. Recently, the criterion has been challenged by a new sceptical argument. Williams argues that the criterion cannot rule out the candidates which are not permuted versions of an intended interpretation. He presents such a candidate – the arithmetical interpretation (a specific instantiation of Henkin’s model), and he argues that it opens up the possibility of Pythagorean worlds, i.e. the worlds similar to ours in which the arithmetical interpretation is the best candidate for a semantic theory. The aim of this paper is a) to reconsider the general conditions for the applicability of Lewis’s criterion of naturalness and b) to show that Williams’s new sceptical challenge is based on a problematic assumption that the arithmetical interpretation is independent of fundamental properties and relations. As I show, if the criterion of naturalness is applied properly, it can respond even to the new sceptical challenge.
Reduction of Torsional Vibration in Resonance Phenomena for Tractor Power Take-Off Drivelines Using Torsional Damper
Authors: Ahn Da-Vin , Shin In-Kyung , Oh Jooseon , Chung Woo-Jin , Han Hyun-Woo , Kim Ji-Tae , Park Young-Jun 
Published: February 2021

HighlightsRattling of tractor power take-off drivelines can be detrimental to operators.A novel driveline model, which includes a torsional damper, was constructed.The behavior of the model was validated against that of an actual tractor driveline.The validated model was used to determine the optimal torsional damper parameters.These optimal parameters were validated by laboratory tests.Abstract. Rattle noise and high levels of vibration in agricultural tractors lower the productivity of the operators and may cause serious health issues in them. This study examined a method for preventing resonance and reducing the torsional vibration that causes rattling in tractor power take-off (PTO) drivelines in the idle state using a two-stage torsional damper. The PTO driveline was simplified to a 6-DOF model based on the principle of equivalent mass moment of inertia using commercial simulation software. The variations in the angular velocity of the PTO drive shaft in an actual tractor were measured and compared to the simulation results using a single-stage torsional damper to validate the model. Using this validated PTO driveline model, the pre spring of a two-stage torsional damper was investigated to determine its optimal torsional stiffness to minimize torsional vibration. The simulation results showed that the variations in the angular velocity of the PTO drive shaft decreased as the torsional stiffness of the pre spring decreased; accordingly, an appropriate torsional stiffness reduced the variation in the angular velocity delivered to the PTO drive shaft. The optimal torsional stiffness of the pre spring was determined by considering the manufacturing limitations of the torsional damper and the magnitude of the input engine torque. A pre spring with this optimal torsional stiffness was installed on an actual PTO driveline to measure the angular velocity transmissibility, which was the ratio of the variation in the angular velocity of the engine flywheel to the variation in the angular velocity of the PTO drive shaft, and the results were compared with those of the simulation. When the angular velocity of the engine was 850 rpm, the angular velocity transmissibility of the PTO drive shaft was 0.4 in the actual test, similar to the value of 0.29 obtained using the simulation. Thus, the simulation-optimized pre spring was able to avoid the resonance domain, while considerably reducing the torsional vibration that leads to rattling. The results of this study support the safe operation of agricultural tractors and guide the evaluation of torsional damper configurations of different vehicles. Keywords: PTO driveline, Resonance, Simulation model, Torsional damper, Torsional vibration, Tractor rattle.
Effects of Blending Dairy Manure Compost and Canola Meal on Pellet Quality and Nutrient Concentrations
Authors: Alege Femi P. , Miito Gilbert J. , DeVetter Lisa W. , Tao Haiying , Ndegwa Pius M. 
Published: February 2021

HighlightsNutrient contents and unit density were positively correlated with canola meal blending ratio.Pellet durability, bulk density, and length were inversely correlated with canola meal blending ratio.Pellets produced from compost and 20% canola meal blend were 67% denser than the compost.Pelleting dairy manure and canola meal blends improved nutrient transport and storage.Abstract. The potential for adverse environmental impacts from excess manure nutrients generated in regions with large concentrations of animal production is enormous and real. The goal of this research was to investigate ways of alleviating such threats via pelleting and blending of excess dairy manure nutrients to enhance their value, utilization, transport, and storage. In this study, composted dairy manure was blended with canola meal in ratios ranging from 0% to 40% canola meal prior to pelleting. The pre-pelleting moisture content was set at 21% (wet basis) and an 8 mm diameter die was selected for pelleting, based on previous studies. The effect of canola blending ratio was evaluated against moisture content, unit and bulk densities, recovery, durability, and nutrient concentrations (total nitrogen and phosphate) of the resulting pellets. Results indicated positive correlations between the blending ratio and pellet recovery (r = 0.83), moisture content (r = 0.75), unit density (r = 0.74), total nitrogen (r = 0.99), and phosphate (r = 0.87). In contrast, inverse correlations were observed between the blending ratio and pellet durability (r = -0.93), bulk density (r = -0.99), and length (r = -0.76). No significant differences were observed between the blending ratio and all these parameters for blending ratios of 0% to 15%. However, data indicated significant differences between pellet durability and recovery at blending ratios above 20%. Overall, this study showed that blending dairy manure with up to 15% canola meal significantly (p &lt; 001) improved the nutrient value, storage, and transport. Keywords: Blending, Dairy manure, Durability, Environmental pollution, Pelleting.
Annual survival rate of tropical stingless bee colonies (Meliponini): variation among habitats at the landscape scale in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest
Authors: Silva Marília Dantas e , Ramalho Mauro , Rosa Jaqueline Figuerêdo 
Published: February 2021

Stingless social bees live in perennial colonies whose longevity is influenced by various ecological factors. This study analyzed the influence of habitat anthropization and native forest regeneration stage on the longevity of natural colonies at the landscape scale. Random sampling of 25x25m plots, totaling 30ha per habitat type, located and monitored 118 nests of 14 species in the forest and 105 nests of six species in the anthropic habitat. Significant differences in colony longevity were observed between young and long-lived forests and between long-lived forests and anthropized habitat. Shorter longevities have generally been associated with a set of smaller-bodied species residing in anthropized habitats. The greatest longevities were associated with the three abundant and exclusive forest species, and was similar in the two forest regeneration stages: Melipona scutellaris, Scaptotrigona xanthotricha and Scaptotrigona bipunctata had high annual survival rates ranging from 87% to 93%. Another abundant species in the landscape was Tetragonisca angustula, a small habitat-generalist with short longevity (63%) that varied among habitats. Euclidean distance analysis based on this generalist placed young forest closest to anthropic habitat, and grouped the replicates of long-lived forest. Considering spatial variation in the life history traits, we infer that, among prospective landscape habitats, the Atlantic Forest favors stingless bees with high colonial longevity. On the other hand, generalists, such as T. angustula, with shorter colonial longevity and high reproduction rates are being favored by the expansion of anthropized habitats in place of deforested areas.
Low-loss edge-coupling thin-film lithium niobate modulator with an efficient phase shifter
Authors: Ying Pan , Tan Heyun , Zhang Junwei , He Mingbo , Xu Mengyue , Liu Xiaoyue , Ge Renyou , Zhu Yuntao , Liu Chuan , Cai Xinlun 
Published: February 2021

Thin-film lithium-niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) is a very attractive
platform for optical interconnect and nonlinear optics. It is
essential to enable lithium niobate photonic integrated circuits with
low power consumption. Here we present an edge-coupling Mach–Zehnder
modulator on the platform with low fiber-chip coupling loss of
0.5 dB/facet, half-wave voltage

V

π

of 2.36 V, electro-optic (EO)
bandwidth of 60 GHz and an efficient thermal-optic phase shifter with
half-wave power of 6.24 mW. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate
single-lane 200 Gbit/s data transmission utilizing a discrete
multi-tone signal. The LNOI modulator demonstrated here shows great
potential in energy-efficient large-capacity optical
interconnects.
Supercontinuum generation of 314.7  W ranging from 390 to 2400  nm by tapered photonic crystal fiber
Authors: Zhang Haoyu , Li Fengyun , Liao Ruoyu , Dong Kegong , Li Yue , Lin Honghuan , Wang Jianjun , Jing Feng 
Published: February 2021

To consider both high-power handling and blue-extended supercontinuum (SC) generation, a long-tapered photonic crystal fiber is pumped by a high-power laser source. An SC ranging from 390 to 2400 nm with 314.7 W output power is obtained. A spectral component below 960 nm accounts for 36.1% of the total output power, exceeding 113.5 W, with a spectral flatness within 16 dB. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time an SC coverage of all visible wavelengths with more than 300 W output power has been achieved. This result increases the output power of the SC covering the visible range by a factor of three.
Optical Vernier sampling using a dual-comb-swept laser to solve distance aliasing
Authors: Bak Seongjin , Kim Gyeong Hun , Jang Hansol , Kim Chang-Seok 
Published: February 2021

Optical interferometry using comb-swept lasers has the advantage of efficiently reducing the acquisition bandwidth for high-speed and long-range detection. However, in general, the use of a comb-swept laser involves a critical limitation in that the absolute distance cannot be measured, and, thus, multiple layers cannot be distinguished when measuring each position. This is because of the distance ambiguity induced by optical aliasing, in which there is periodic repetition of the frequency of an interferometric signal owing to discrete spectral sweeping, which does not occur in conventional optical interferometry that uses a continuous swept laser. In this paper, we introduce an optical Vernier sampling method using a dual-comb-swept laser to measure the absolute distances in a multi-layer target. For this, we designed a new type of dual-comb-swept laser to include two different free spectral ranges (FSRs) in separated wavelength bands to provide a stable lasing condition. Using a principle similar to that of a Vernier caliper for length measurement, the two different FSRs can be used to recover a higher frequency of an optical interferometric signal to measure longer distances from different layers in a target. Using the dual-comb-swept laser in optical interferometry, we solved the optical aliasing issue and measured the absolute distances of three layers separated over 83 mm using a point-scanning imaging setup and the simultaneous absolute distance of the top surfaces separated over 45 mm using a full-field imaging setup at 14 and 8 times lower acquisition bandwidth than a conventional continuous swept laser that is based on optical interferometry.
Human uniqueness? Life history diversity among small-scale societies and chimpanzees
Authors: Davison Raziel J. , Gurven Michael D. 
Published: February 2021

Background
Humans life histories have been described as “slow”, patterned by slow growth, delayed maturity, and long life span. While it is known that human life history diverged from that of a recent common chimpanzee-human ancestor some ~4–8 mya, it is unclear how selection pressures led to these distinct traits. To provide insight, we compare wild chimpanzees and human subsistence societies in order to identify the age-specific vital rates that best explain fitness variation, selection pressures and species divergence.

Methods
We employ Life Table Response Experiments to quantify vital rate contributions to population growth rate differences. Although widespread in ecology, these methods have not been applied to human populations or to inform differences between humans and chimpanzees. We also estimate correlations between vital rate elasticities and life history traits to investigate differences in selection pressures and test several predictions based on life history theory.

Results
Chimpanzees’ earlier maturity and higher adult mortality drive species differences in population growth, whereas infant mortality and fertility variation explain differences between human populations. Human fitness is decoupled from longevity by postreproductive survival, while chimpanzees forfeit higher potential lifetime fertility due to adult mortality attrition. Infant survival is often lower among humans, but lost fitness is recouped via short birth spacing and high peak fertility, thereby reducing selection on infant survival. Lastly, longevity and delayed maturity reduce selection on child survival, but among humans, recruitment selection is unexpectedly highest in longer-lived populations, which are also faster-growing due to high fertility.

Conclusion
Humans differ from chimpanzees more because of delayed maturity and lower adult mortality than from differences in juvenile mortality or fertility. In both species, high child mortality reflects bet-hedging costs of quality/quantity tradeoffs borne by offspring, with high and variable child mortality likely regulating human population growth over evolutionary history. Positive correlations between survival and fertility among human subsistence populations leads to selection pressures in human subsistence societies that differ from those in modern populations undergoing demographic transition.