bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Technical Note: Assessing the performance of monthly CBCT image quality QA
Authors: Manger Ryan P. , Pawlicki Todd , Hoisak Jeremy , Kim Gwe‐Ya 
Published: April 2019

PurposeTo assess the performance of routine cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) quality assurance (QA) at predicting and diagnosing clinically recognizable linac CBCT image quality issues.MethodsMonthly automated linac CBCT image quality QA data were acquired on eight Varian linacs (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) using the CATPHAN 500 series phantom (The Phantom Laboratory, Inc., Greenwich, NY) and Total QA software (Image Owl, Inc., Greenwich, NY) over 34 months between July 2014 and May 2017. For each linac, the following image quality metrics were acquired: geometric distortion, spatial resolution, Hounsfield Unit (HU) constancy, uniformity, and noise. Quality control (QC) limits were determined by American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) expert consensus documents Task Group (TG‐142 and TG‐179) and the manufacturer acceptance testing procedure. Clinically recognizable CBCT issues were extracted from the in‐house incident learning system (ILS) and service reports. The sensitivity and specificity of CATPHAN QA at predicting clinically recognizable image quality issues was investigated. Sensitivity was defined as the percentage of clinically recognizable CBCT image quality issues that followed a failing CATPHAN QA. Quality assurance results are categorized as failing if one or more image quality metrics are outside the QC limits. The specificity of CATPHAN QA was defined as one minus the fraction of failing CATPHAN QA results that did not have a clinically recognizable CBCT image quality issue in the subsequent month. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated for each image quality metric by plotting the true positive rate (TPR) against the false‐positive rate (FPR).ResultsOver the study period, 18 image quality issues were discovered by clinicians while using CBCT to set up the patient and five were reported prior to x‐ray tube repair. The incidents ranged from ring artifacts to uniformity problems. The sensitivity of the TG‐142/179 limits was 17% (four of the prior monthly QC tests detected a clinically recognizable image quality issue). The area under the curve (AUC) calculated for each image quality metric ROC curve was: 0.85 for uniformity, 0.66 for spatial resolution, 0.51 for geometric distortion, 0.56 for noise, 0.73 for HU constancy, and 0.59 for contrast resolution.ConclusionAutomated monthly QA is not a good predictor of CBCT image quality issues. Of the available metrics, uniformity has the best predictive performance, but still has a high FPR and low sensitivity. The poor performance of CATPHAN QA as a predictor of image quality problems is partially due to its reliance on region‐of‐interest (ROI) based algorithms and a lack of a global algorithm such as correlation. The manner in which image quality issues occur (trending toward failure or random) is still not known and should be studied further. CBCT image quality QA should be adapted based on how CBCT is used clinically.
Full convolutional network based multiple side‐output fusion architecture for the segmentation of rectal tumors in magnetic resonance images: A multi‐vendor study
Authors: Wang Mengmeng , Xie Peiyi , Ran Zhao , Jian Junming , Zhang Rui , Xia Wei , Yu Tao , Ni Caifeng , Gu Jinhui , Gao Xin , Meng Xiaochun 
Published: April 2019

PurposeAccurate segmentation of rectal tumors is a basic and crucial task for diagnosis and treatment of rectal cancer. To avoid tedious manual delineation, an automatic rectal tumor segmentation model is proposed.MethodsA pretrained Resnet50 model was introduced for feature extraction. To reduce the complexity of the model, all layers after the 13th residual block of ResNet50 were removed, and three side‐output modules were added to the hidden layer of ResNet50 to guide multiscale feature learning. The final boundaries of tumors were determined by fusion of the predictions from side‐output modules. The proposed model was compared with two other models, and the effects of different region of interest (ROI) sizes, loss functions, and side‐output fusion strategy were also evaluated.ResultsThe models were trained and evaluated on data from four clinical centers; T2‐weighted magnetic resonance images (T2W‐MRIs) from 461 patients in the first clinical center were used for training, while T2W‐MRIs from 51 patients in the same clinical center and 56 patients in three other clinical centers were used for performance evaluation. The proposed model was superior to the two other models and achieved an average Dice similarity coefficient of 82.39%, sensitivity of 86.32%, specificity of 92.25%, and Hausdorff distance of 12.10 px. In addition, when the ROI contained rectal tumors, the smaller the ROI size, the higher the segmentation accuracy. For a certain ROI size, there were no considerable differences in segmentation results among the loss functions. Compared to the models with single side‐output module, the proposed model performed better.ConclusionsThe results show that the proposed model has potential clinical applications in rectal cancer treatment, particularly with regard to therapeutic response evaluation and preoperative planning.
Characteristic model–based generalized predictive control and its application to the parafoil and payload system
Authors: Tan Panlong , Sun Qinglin , Chen Zengqiang , Jiang Yuxin 
Published: April 2019

SummaryGeneralized predictive control (GPC) has been applied in systems to improve the control performance during the last decades. The designing of predictive model is the essential and vital problem in GPC application. Using characteristic model (CM) as predictive model in GPC can simplify the modeling procedure and improve computing efficiency of GPC. The CM is a kind of simple and easy‐to‐use dynamic model that is equivalent with precise model. Moreover, the creation of CM requires less system information than the practical models. The GPC with CM as predictive model named characteristic model–based generalized predictive control (CMGPC) is proposed in this paper, and it is used in the trajectory tracking control for parafoil and payload system. Simulations and analysis prove that CMGPC is equivalent to traditional GPC and CMGPC is a more efficient way for trajectory tracking of parafoil and payload system compared with conventional proportional integral derivative (PID) method.
Polyglycolic acid copolymers from one‐step cationic polymerization of formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and epoxides derived from PEG
Authors: Reyhanoglu Yusuf , Gokturk Ersen 
Published: April 2019

Biodegradable polyglycolic acid (PGA) is conventionally produced via the ring‐opening polymerization of glycolide, the cyclic dimer form of glycolic acid, in the presence of mostly tin‐based catalyst initiators which are rather known to be cytotoxic materials. Our previous studies revealed an alternative method for the synthesis of PGA from the perfectly alternating copolymerization of formaldehyde (from trioxane) and carbon monoxide (CO) under BrØnsted acidic conditions. The poor physical properties of PGA (insolubility in many organic solvents, brown color, etc.) limit its use in other marketing applications in the industry. To improve on the physical properties of PGA, such as solubility and appearance, copolymerization of trioxane, CO, and a minor amount of epoxides derived from polyethylene glycol (PEG) were performed under the same reaction conditions for PGA synthesis (in DCM, at 800 psi CO pressure, with triflic acid catalyst, reaction duration of 72 hours). The results have shown that the addition of minor quantities of epoxide comonomers vastly improves the appearance of the obtained PGA copolymers and allows for the control of the polymeric properties, such as solubility and melting temperature.
Properties of fire agent integrated with molecular sieve and tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid in thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer
Authors: Jiao Chuanmei , Jiang Huazhen , Chen Xilei 
Published: April 2019

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomer has a widely application because of its perfect physical and chemical properties. However, it was limited by its low reliability in fire safety. In this paper, a new fire agent integrated with molecular sieve and tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid ([EOOEMIm][BF4]) was used to improve fire safety of TPU. The fire safety of TPU composites was investigated by cone calorimeter test, smoke density test, and thermogravimetric/infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The results showed that modified molecular sieve (MMS) can improve fire safety of TPU effectively. The luminous flux increased to 10.10%, total smoke release decreased by 58%, and heat release rate declined of 65% than pure TPU when the addition of MMS was 0.5 wt%. In addition, MMS can improve thermal stability of TPU even in nitrogen according to thermogravimetric/infrared spectroscopy test. These proved that MMS has a satisfactory application prospect in fire safe polymer materials.
Does ginger supplementation lower blood pressure? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of clinical trials
Authors: Hasani Hossein , Arab Arman , Hadi Amir , Pourmasoumi Makan , Ghavami Abed , Miraghajani Maryam 
Published: April 2019

The aim of the present systematic review and meta‐analysis was to determine the efficacy of ginger supplementation on blood pressure (BP). PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were comprehensively searched until September 2018. Human clinical trials, which reported the effect of ginger supplementation on aortic and/or brachial BP, were included. Mean differences were pooled using a random effects model. Standard methods were used for assessment of heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias. Total of six randomized clinical trials (345 participants) were included in the meta‐analysis. Pooled analysis suggested that ginger supplementation can reduced systolic BP (MD: −6.36 mmHg, 95% confidence interval [−11.27, −1.46]; I2 = 89.8%; P = .011) and diastolic BP (MD: −2.12 mmHg, 95% confidence interval [−3.92, −0.31]; I2 = 73.4%; P = .002). When studies were categorized based on participants' mean age, ginger dosage and duration of intervention, systolic BP and diastolic BP were significantly decreased only in the subset of studies with mean age ≤ 50 years, follow‐up duration of ≤8 weeks and ginger doses ≥3 g/d. Our findings revealed that ginger supplementation has favorable effects on BP. Nonetheless, further studies are warranted before definitive conclusions may be reached.
Follicular factors determining the developmental competence of porcine oocyte
Authors: Shibahara Hidenori , Ishiguro Ai , Shirasuna Koumei , Kuwayama Takehito , Iwata Hisataka 
Published: April 2019

AbstractPurposeThis study aimed to examine the relationship between granulosa cells (GCs), number of follicles, and the ability of follicular fluid to support in vitro growth of oocytes.MethodsThe culture medium was supplemented with follicular fluid (FF) collected from GC‐rich ovaries and GC‐poor ovaries, and its effect on in vitro growth and quality of oocytes derived from early antral follicles (EAFs) was assessed.ResultsGC‐rich FF treatment enhanced oocyte growth and augmented changes in the chromatin configuration and lipid content of oocytes when compared to oocytes treated with GC‐poor FF. Moreover, oocytes treated with GC‐rich FF had a higher ability to progress to the blastocyst stage, than oocytes derived from large antral follicles (3‐5 mm in diameter). In addition, supplementation of the culture medium with either GC‐rich or GC‐poor FF enhanced histone acetylation in oocytes grown in vitro.ConclusionGC‐rich FF contains key factors that support in vitro oocyte growth; hence, oocytes grown in GC‐rich FF medium had high developmental competence, which was comparative to the oocytes grown in vivo.
Development of Dip‐Pen Nanolithography (DPN) and Its Derivatives
Authors: Liu Guoqiang , Hirtz Michael , Fuchs Harald , Zheng Zijian 
Published: April 2019

AbstractDip‐pen nanolithography (DPN) is a unique nanofabrication tool that can directly write a variety of molecular patterns on a surface with high resolution and excellent registration. Over the past 20 years, DPN has experienced a tremendous evolution in terms of applicable inks, a remarkable improvement in fabrication throughput, and the development of various derivative technologies. Among these developments, polymer pen lithography (PPL) is the most prominent one that provides a large‐scale, high‐throughput, low‐cost tool for nanofabrication, which significantly extends DPN and beyond. These developments not only expand the scope of the wide field of scanning probe lithography, but also enable DPN and PPL as general approaches for the fabrication or study of nanostructures and nanomaterials. In this review, a focused summary and historical perspective of the technological development of DPN and its derivatives, with a focus on PPL, in one timeline, are provided and future opportunities for technological exploration in this field are proposed.
A note on Ludwig von Bertalanffy and the form problem of life
Authors: Baecker Dirk 
Published: April 2019

AbstractThe paper looks at two early books written and edited, respectively, by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, both published in 1928. They share an interest in the individuality of individual things and living beings and thus are both skeptical of a general substance able to explain existence and life. The first book is Bertalanffy's Critical Theory of Form Formation; the second, a small collection of texts written by Nicholas von Cusa and preceded by an introduction by Bertalanffy, which is as admiring of the Cardinal and Bishops diplomatic life as it is impressed by his philosophy containing many ideas which only later, and differently, became prominent by writers like Leibniz, Pascal, or Luther. Von Bertalanffy calls von Cusa the first philosopher with a notion of infinity, which proves to be pertinent both theologically and mathematically. The paper discusses the problem of the individuality of individual living beings within the context of the so‐called philosophy of organism, in which Plato is fascinated by the question of how organisms manage to distinguish themselves from a surrounding they at the same time depend on. The paper introduces Fritz Heider's notion of medium and George Spencer‐Brown's notion of form to show how a possible calculus of indications doubling as operations of reflexive negation relate to a medium of life which consists, among other things, of decaying forms of life.
Neue Entwicklungen für die Bemessung von Schweißverbindungen höherfester Stähle
Authors: Kuhlmann Ulrike , Spiegler Jennifer , Schmidt‐Rasche Christina 
Published: April 2019

AbstractHerrn Univ.‐Prof. Dr.‐Ing. habil. Frank Werner zur Vollendung seines 70. Lebensjahres gewidmetFür die Bemessung von Schweißverbindungen höherfester Stähle konnte im Zuge verschiedener Forschungsvorhaben ein an höherfeste Stähle angepasstes Bemessungsmodell für Kehlnähte gleicher Grundwerkstoffe entwickelt werden [1]. Für Mischverbindungen, wenn also höherfeste Stähle wie S690 an normalfeste Stähle z. B. S355 angeschlossen werden, konnte anhand eines weiteren Forschungsvorhabens [2] die Anwendbarkeit dieses Bemessungsmodells für Kehlnähte zwischen normal‐ und höherfesten Baustählen bestätigt werden. Die Ergebnisse wurden bereits zur Verbesserung der normativen Tragfähigkeit von Kehlnahtverbindungen höherfester Stähle als Normenvorschlag aufbereitet und in den neuen europäischen Normentwurf prEN 1993‐1‐8 [3] aufgenommen. Ziel ist es, für Stumpfnähte ebenfalls ein verbessertes, realitätsnahes Bemessungsmodell speziell für höherfeste Stähle zu entwickeln. Bisher ist der rechnerische Nachweis im angeschlossenen Bauteil zu führen. Für Verbindungen höherfester Stähle wurde jedoch auch ein Versagen im Bereich der Wärmeeinflusszone selbst bei Overmatching‐Verbindungen beobachtet.
Albert Kahn, Stahlbau im Kontext der Moderne
Authors: Reichardt Jürgen 
Published: April 2019

Abstract2019 ist das Jahr gleich zweier bedeutsamer Jubiläen: 100 Jahre seit Gründung des Bauhauses in Weimar, aber auch der 150. Geburtstag von Albert Kahn, dem wohl bedeutendsten Industriearchitekten der Moderne. 1869 in Rhaunen, Hunsrück geboren, 1880 mit seiner jüdischen Familie in die Neue Welt Amerika ausgewandert, schuf seine 1905 in Detroit gegründete Firma Kahn Associates bis zu seinem Tode 1943 weit über 2 000 Bauwerke, größtenteils industrielle Kathedralen in Stahl und Glas [1]. Im folgenden Beitrag sollen nach einem kurzen Rückblick auf markante Beispiele des europäischen industriellen Stahlbaus Mitte bis Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts einige dieser amerikanischen Stahlhallen, auch in ihrem Kontext zur Bauhaus‐Moderne, vorgestellt werden. Ohne Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit orientiert sich diese Auswahl an der Anschauung des Hallenentwurfs als eine „Leistungsform”, die Aspekte wie Nutzung, Spannweite, Flexibilität, Bauzeit, Belichtung, Fördertechnik, Energie, Klima sowie die gerade im Industriebau gebotene Wirtschaftlichkeit innovativ zu einer ganzheitlichen Antwort integriert.
Dynamic performance evaluation of Shanghai Tower under winds based on full‐scale data
Authors: Wu Jie , Xu Hongjun , Zhang Qilin 
Published: April 2019

SummaryShanghai Tower is the tallest building in China with a height of 632 m. This study aims to investigate the wind characteristics and its impact on Shanghai Tower so as to provide useful information for the wind‐resistant design of 600 m+ super‐tall buildings. By analyzing the data of wind speed during the occurrence of DeHong in June 2017, the relationship between turbulence intensity and mean wind speed is verified, and the correlation between gust factor and turbulence intensity is confirmed. Apart from that, it is also found that the von Karman spectrum fits well with the measured fluctuating wind speed spectrum. In addition, the 83rd and 117th acceleration data are analyzed to obtain the natural frequency by peak‐picking, frequency domain decomposition, stochastic subspace identification, and fast Bayesian fast Fourier transform methods. The amplitude‐dependence dynamic parameters of Shanghai Tower on the basis of the field measurements are studied as well. Finally, the wind‐induced vibration is investigated based on the acceleration data and wind speed data, which verifies that the responses along two main axes having a similar amplitude under wind effects. The occurrence of DeHong demonstrates that a gale equivalent to a typhoon may occur in urban areas without any urban warning.
Placental DNA methylation changes in detection of tetralogy of Fallot
Authors: Bahado‐Singh R. , Vishweswaraiah S. , Mishra N. K. , Guda C. , Radhakrishna U. 
Published: April 2019

ABSTRACTObjectivesTo determine whether the methylation level of cytosine nucleotides in placental DNA can be used to predict tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and provide insights into the developmental mechanism of this condition.MethodsTissue sections were obtained from formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded specimens of placental tissue obtained at birth from eight cases with non‐chromosomal, non‐syndromic TOF and 10 unaffected newborns. The Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip assay was used to measure cytosine (‘CpG’ or ‘cg’) methylation levels at loci throughout the placental genome. Differential methylation was assessed by comparing the β‐values (a measure of the extent of cytosine methylation) for individual CpG loci in fetuses with TOFvsin controls. The most discriminating CpG sites were determined based on a preset cut‐off of ≥ 2.0‐fold change in the methylation level. The predictive accuracy of CpG loci with significant methylation changes for TOF was determined by the area under the receiver‐operating‐characteristics curve (AUC). A false‐discovery‐rate (FDR)P‐value < 0.05 was used to define a statistically significant difference in the methylation level. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) (Qiagen) was used to identify gene pathways that were significantly overexpressed, and thus altered, in TOF cases compared with controls.ResultsWe found a total of 165 significantly differentially methylated CpG loci in TOF cases compared with controls, in 165 separate genes. These biomarkers demonstrated from fair to excellent individual predictive accuracy for TOF detection, with AUCs ≥ 0.75 (FDRP‐value < 0.001 for all). The following CpG loci (gene) had the highest predictive accuracy: cg05273049 (ARHGAP22; AUC = 1.00; 95% CI, 1.00–1.00), cg02540011 (CDK5; AUC = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.87–1.00), cg08404201 (TRIM27; AUC = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.84–1.00) and cg00687252 (IER3; AUC = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.84–1.00). IPA revealed over‐representation (dysregulation) of 14 gene pathways involved in normal cardiac development, including cardiomyocyte differentiation via bone morphogenetic protein receptors, cardiac hypertrophy signaling and role of nuclear factor of activated T cells in cardiac hypertrophy. Cardiac hypertrophy is an important feature of TOF.ConclusionsAnalysis of placental DNA cytosine methylation changes yielded accurate markers for TOF detection and provided mechanistic information on TOF development. Our work appears to confirm the central role of epigenetic changes and of the placenta in the development of TOF. Copyright © 2019 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Differential effects of neurodegeneration biomarkers on subclinical cognitive decline
Authors: Merluzzi Andrew P. , Vogt Nicholas M. , Norton Derek , Jonaitis Erin , Clark Lindsay R. , Carlsson Cynthia M. , Johnson Sterling C. , Asthana Sanjay , Blennow Kaj , Zetterberg Henrik , Bendlin Barbara B. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractIntroductionNeurodegeneration appears to be the biological mechanism most proximate to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. We test whether t‐tau and alternative biomarkers of neurodegeneration—neurogranin and neurofilament light protein (NFL)—add value in predicting subclinical cognitive decline.MethodsOne hundred fifty cognitively unimpaired participants received a lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid and at least two neuropsychological examinations (mean age at first visit = 59.3 ± 6.3 years; 67% female). Linear mixed effects models were used with cognitive composite scores as outcomes. Neurodegeneration interactions terms were the primary predictors of interest: age × NFL or age × neurogranin or age × t‐tau. Models were compared using likelihood ratio tests.ResultsAge × NFL accounted for a significant amount of variation in longitudinal change on preclinical Alzheimer's cognitive composite scores, memory composite scores, and learning scores, whereas age × neurogranin and age × t‐tau did not.DiscussionThese data suggest that NFL may be more sensitive to subclinical cognitive decline compared to other proposed biomarkers for neurodegeneration.
Repercussions of negatively selective migration for the behavior of non-migrants when preferences are social
Authors: Stark Oded , Budzinski Wiktor 
Published: April 2019

AbstractWe study how the work effort and output of non-migrants in a village economy are affected when a member of the village population migrates. Given that individuals dislike low relative income, and that migration modifies the social space of the non-migrants, we show why and how the non-migrants adjust their work effort and output in response to the migration-generated change in their social space. When migration is negatively selective such that the least productive individual departs, the output of the non-migrants increases. While as a consequence of this migration statically calculated average productivity rises, we identify a dynamic repercussion that compounds the static one.