bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Red cell supernatant effects on endothelial cell function and innate immune activation is influenced by donor age and sex
Authors: Kipkeu Betty J. , Almizraq Ruqayyah , Branch Donald R. , Acker Jason P. , Holovati Jelena L. 
Published: November 2018

Background and objectivesBlood donor characteristics significantly affect the pre‐storage and post‐storage quality of red cell concentrates (RCCs). This study investigated the impact of donor age and sex on RCC characteristics and the effect of RCC supernatants on the vascular endothelium and monocytes.Materials and methodsRCC units selected from four donor groups based on donor age and sex (male ≤ 30‐years old (yo), male ≥ 60‐yo, female ≤ 30‐yo and female ≥ 60‐yo) were stored at 1–6°C and tested on day 7, 21 and 42. RCC supernatants were analysed for the number, concentration and size of extracellular vesicles (EVs). Human vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) monolayers were incubated with RCC supernatants and assessed for expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule‐1 (VCAM‐1) and E‐selectin by flow cytometry as well as endothelial permeability using a trans‐epithelial‐electrical‐resistance assay. Monocytes and HUVECs were incubated with RCC supernatants and supernatants assayed for cytokines/chemokines.ResultsRCCs from female donors were found to have lower unit volume, haemoglobin content and haematocrit compared to RCCs from male donors (P < 0·05). RCC supernatants from female ≥ 60‐yo had a higher concentration of large EVs (≥200 nm) compared to both male ≤ 30‐yo (P = 0·039) and male ≥ 60‐yo supernatants (P = 0·019). Treatment with RCC supernatants from male ≤ 30‐yo donors induced lower expression of VCAM‐1, lower cytokine/chemokine release and showed the least effect on endothelial permeability.ConclusionDonor characteristics affect RCC quality parameters and influence the endothelial and immune modulation potential of RCC supernatants in vitro.
Evaluation of the effects of seasonal changes in sediment characteristics on macroinvertebrate assemblage in a tropical reservoir
Authors: Babatunde Amusan , Gbenga Omoniyi , Sylvester Ogbogu 
Published: November 2018

AbstractOsinmo Reservoir is an important water body in south‐western Nigeria. Despite being critically important, there is a lack of detailed biological studies on this reservoir. This study investigated the effect of seasonal variations on the characteristics of the sediment and the community structure of the macroinvertebrates in the reservoir between May 2012 and March 2014. The sediment was generally slightly acidic and was dominated by silty sand and sandy mud with low organic matter. Twenty‐four taxa of macroinvertebrates with a total abundance of 55,065 individuals (ind.) belonging to three phyla were recorded. Overall, the composition and the abundance of the macroinvertebrates were not significantly different (P > 0.05) in the wet and dry seasons. Seasonal variations in the sediment quality did not have a significant impact on the community metrics such as species diversity, species richness and species evenness. The dominance of sensitive species indicated a moderately clean status of the reservoir.
Design and Calibration of Resistive Stress Sensors on 4H Silicon Carbide
Authors: Jaeger Richard C. , Chen Jun , Suhling Jeffrey C. , Fursin Leonid 
Published: November 2018

Stress sensors have shown potential to provide “health monitoring” of a wide range of issues related to packaging of integrated circuits, and silicon carbide offers the advantage of much higher temperature sensor operation with application in packaged high-voltage, high-power SiC devices as well as both automotive and aerospace systems, geothermal plants, and deep well drilling, to name a few.
This paper discusses the theory and uniaxial calibration of resistive stress sensors on 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC) and provides new theoretical descriptions for four-element resistor rosettes and van der Pauw (VDP) stress sensors. The results delineate the similarities and differences relative to those on (100) silicon: resistors on the silicon face of 4H-SiC respond to only four of the six components of the stress state; a four-element rosette design exists for measuring the in-plane stress components; two stress quantities can be measured in a temperature compensated manner. In contrast to silicon, only one combined coefficient is required for temperature compensated stress measurements. Calibration results from a single VDP device can be used to calculate the basic lateral and transverse piezoresistance coefficients for 4H-SiC material.
Experimental results are presented for lateral and transverse piezoresistive coefficients for van der Pauw structures and p- and n-type resistors. The VDP devices exhibit the expected 3.16 times higher stress sensitivity than standard resistor rosettes.
Improved Approaches for FEA Analyses of PBGA Packages Subjected to Thermal Cycling
Authors: Chen Chienchih , Suhling Jeffrey C. , Lall Pradeep 
Published: November 2018

The study of solder joint reliability is one of the priority issues in electronic packaging. Solder alloys experience a highly nonlinear material behavior when subject to thermal cycling. It is a time consuming and difficult task to study the behavior of solder joints using experimental approaches. Finite element analysis provides a more efficient way to better understand the behavior of solder joints when accurate material models are available. With the developments of FEA algorithms and computer resources, the analysis approaches used for electronic packaging assemblies have evolved from 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional analyses, with far fewer assumptions needed in the fully 3D case. In this paper, we compare different FEA approaches covering various 2D and 3D modeling techniques to understand their advantages and drawbacks, especially as related to simulation accuracy and efficiency. Several models for a typical BGA assembly were prepared and analyzed including traditional mesh continuity models (2D slice model, 3D slice model, and 3D quarter model), as well as advanced models that employ Multi-Point Constraints (MPCs) and submodeling (global/local models). The Anand viscoplastic model was used for the solder joint material behavior in all of the FEA approaches.
For the 3D mesh continuity models, an optimal analysis approach has been proposed to achieve the best balance between the accuracy of the simulation result and numerical efficiency of the simulation. Mesh transitions were used to maintain mesh continuity between regions of different mesh densities. A best choice of load step size was also found to reduce overall simulation time. For the analysis using MPCs to to bond different meshes, two improved modeling strategies have been proposed including a suggested ratio of contacting elements and the use of multiple-MPC contact pairs to reduce overall mesh density of the FE model. An improved simulation simulation strategy using submodeling has also been developed to obtain the best compromise in the global and local models between the mesh quality and load step size. An improved geometric simplification of the solder joint for use with energy based fatigue criteria was developed. Finally, comparisons and suggestions were made for the best analysis approach when using FEA techniques to predict the behavior of solder joints in PBGA packages.
Hospice patients’ participation in choice experiments to value supportive care outcomes
Authors: Bailey Cara , Kinghorn Philip , Hewison Alistair , Radcliffe Christina , Flynn Terry Nicholas , Huynh Elizabeth , Coast Joanna 
Published: November 2018

BackgroundValues used in economic evaluation are typically obtained from the general public, which is problematic when measures are to be used with people experiencing a life-course stage such as the end of life.ObjectiveTo assess the feasibility of obtaining values for the ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure (SCM) from patients receiving advanced supportive care through a hospice.MethodsParticipants completed eight best-worst scaling questions in a think-aloud interview to explain choices in different hypothetical end-of-life scenarios. Three independent raters identified errors in completion of the best-worst scaling task, and thematic analysis of associated qualitative data was undertaken to explore task difficulty and choices.ResultsTwelve hospice patients were recruited. Most were able to complete the task and prioritise aspects of supportive care with either no difficulty (n=50%) or difficulty in just one of the eight scenarios (n=25%). Two patients (n=17%) were unable to comprehend the hypothetical nature of the task. The qualitative data confirmed there was good engagement with the task and identified the importance the respondents attached to maintaining dignity.ConclusionThe findings suggest that people at the end of life will be able to complete a short, interviewer-administered, best-worst scaling task. To maximise engagement, it is recommended that the task is short and initiated with an example. Scenarios are best presented on show-cards in large print. A full evaluation of the ICECAP-SCM with those at the end of life is feasible.
Contemporaneous management of valvular heart disease and aortopathy in aircrew
Authors: D’Arcy Joanna L , Syburra Thomas , Guettler Norbert , Davenport Eddie D , Manen Olivier , Gray Gary , Rienks Rienk , Bron Dennis , Nicol Edward D 
Published: November 2018

Valvular heart disease (VHD) is highly relevant in the aircrew population as it may limit appropriate augmentation of cardiac output in high-performance flying and predispose to arrhythmia. Aircrew with VHD require careful long-term follow-up to ensure that they can fly if it is safe and appropriate for them to do so. Anything greater than mild stenotic valve disease and/or moderate or greater regurgitation is usually associated with flight restrictions. Associated features of arrhythmia, systolic dysfunction, thromboembolism and chamber dilatation indicate additional risk and will usually require more stringent restrictions. The use of appropriate cardiac imaging, along with routine ambulatory cardiac monitoring, is mandatory in aircrew with VHD.Aortopathy in aircrew may be found in isolation or, more commonly, associated with bicuspid aortic valve disease. Progression rates are unpredictable, but as the diameter of the vessel increases, the associated risk of dissection also increases. Restrictions on aircrew duties, particularly in the context of high-performance or solo flying, are usually required in those with progressive dilation of the aorta.
Impact of infarct location on functional outcome following endovascular therapy for stroke
Authors: Rosso Charlotte , Blanc Raphael , Ly Julien , Samson Yves , Lehéricy Stéphane , Gory Benjamin , Marnat Gautier , Mazighi Mikael , Consoli Arturo , Labreuche Julien , Saleme Suzana , Costalat Vincent , Bracard Serge , Desal Hubert , Piotin Michel , Lapergue Bertrand 
Published: November 2018

ObjectivesThe relationship between stroke topography (ie, the regions damaged by the infarct) and functional outcome can aid clinicians in their decision-making at the acute and later stages. However, the side (left or right) of the stroke may also influence the identification of clinically relevant regions. We sought to determine which brain regions are associated with good functional outcome at 3 months in patients with left-sided and right-sided stroke treated by endovascular treatment using the diffusion-weighted imaging-Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (DWI-ASPECTS).MethodsPatients with ischaemic stroke (n = 405) were included from the ASTER trial and Pitié-Salpêtrière registry. Blinded readers rated ASPECTS on day 1 DWI. Stepwise logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the regions related to 3-month outcome in left (n = 190) and right (n = 215) sided strokes with the modified Rankin scale (0–2) as a binary independent variable and with the 10 regions-of-interest of the DWI-ASPECTS as independent variables.ResultsMedian National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at baseline was 17 (IQR: 12–20), median age was 70 years (IQR: 58–80) and median day-one NIHSS 9 (IQR: 4–18). Not all brain regions have the same weight in predicting good outcome at 3 months; moreover, these regions depend on the affected hemisphere. In left-sided strokes, the multivariate analysis revealed that preservation of the caudate nucleus, the internal capsule and the cortical M5 region were independent predictors of good outcome. In right-sided strokes, the cortical M3 and M6 regions were found to be clinically relevant.ConclusionCortical non-motors areas related to outcome differed between left-sided and right-sided strokes. This difference might reflect the specialisation of the dominant and non-dominant hemispheres for language and attention, respectively. These results may influence decision-making at the acute and later stages.Trial registration numberNCT02523261.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors in the management of malignancies in transplant recipients
Authors: Regalla Dileep Kumar Reddy , Williams Grant R , Paluri Ravi kumar 
Published: November 2018

AbstractCancer immunotherapy, an area of active research, has thus far yielded several exciting breakthroughs in cancer treatment strategies. So far, immune checkpoint inhibitors have been the most promising method of cancer immunotherapy. CTLA-4, PD-1 and PD-L1 are the immune checkpoint molecules against which monoclonal antibodies act against and revolutionised the treatment of several malignancies. However, it is still unclear whether using these monoclonal antibodies in patients with malignancy and a history of transplant is as beneficial as in patients without a history of transplantation. The reason being, with the therapeutic benefit, also comes the inherent disadvantage of transplant rejection because of the activation of T-cells against donor antigens. So, transplant-related complications limit the usage of the checkpoint blockade therapy to treat malignancies. Here, we review the data published in this context and suggest optimal approaches to using the currently available repertoire of immunotherapies.
Teleparallel energy–momentum distribution of various black hole and wormhole metrics
Authors: Aygün S. , Baysal H. , Aktaş C. , Yılmaz İ. , Sahoo P. K. , Tarhan İ. 
Published: November 2018

Using the Einstein, Bergmann–Thomson (BT) and Landau–Lifshitz (LL) energy and momentum formulations in teleparallel gravity (TG), we obtain the total energy and momentum distributions for phantom black hole metric. We get different energy distributions similar to the earlier study and the momentum distributions vanish for phantom black hole metric in TG. These momentum solutions agree with the study of Sahoo et al. in general relativity. However, using Einstein, Bergmann–Thomson and Landau–Lifshitz energy and momentum complexes, we investigate regular black hole, asymptotically flat wormhole, anti-de Sitter wormhole and Ellis wormhole solutions in TG. We obtain (i) same BT and LL energy density solutions for regular black hole metric, (ii) same and zero energy distribution for asymptotically flat wormhole, (iii) proportion with Einstein and BT energy density solutions for anti-de Sitter wormhole, (iv) same and negative Einstein and BT energy density solutions for Ellis wormhole in TG.
Transfer-Learning Methods in Programming Course Outcome Prediction
Authors: Lagus Jarkko , Longi Krista , Klami Arto , Hellas Arto 
Published: November 2018

The computing education research literature contains a wide variety of methods that can be used to identify students who are either at risk of failing their studies or who could benefit from additional challenges. Many of these are based on machine-learning models that learn to make predictions based on previously observed data. However, in educational contexts, differences between courses set huge challenges for the generalizability of these methods. For example, traditional machine-learning methods assume identical distribution in all data—in our terms, traditional machine-learning methods assume that all teaching contexts are alike. In practice, data collected from different courses can be very different as a variety of factors may change, including grading, materials, teaching approach, and the students.
Transfer-learning methodologies have been created to address this challenge. They relax the strict assumption of identical distribution for training and test data. Some similarity between the contexts is still needed for efficient learning. In this work, we review the concept of transfer learning especially for the purpose of predicting the outcome of an introductory programming course and contrast the results with those from traditional machine-learning methods. The methods are evaluated using data collected in situ from two separate introductory programming courses.
We empirically show that transfer-learning methods are able to improve the predictions, especially in cases with limited amount of training data, for example, when making early predictions for a new context. The difference in predictive power is, however, rather subtle, and traditional machine-learning models can be sufficiently accurate assuming the contexts are closely related and the features describing the student activity are carefully chosen to be insensitive to the fine differences.
Response Selection and Automatic Message-Response Expansion in Retrieval-Based QA Systems using Semantic Dependency Pair Model
Authors: Su Ming-Hsiang , Wu Chung-Hsien , Huang Kun-Yi , Lin Wu-Hsuan 
Published: November 2018

This article presents an approach to response selection and message-response (MR) database expansion from the unstructured data on the psychological consultation websites for a retrieval-based question answering (QA) system in a constrained domain for emotional support and comforting. First, we manually construct an initial MR database based on the articles collected from the psychological consultation websites. The Chinese Knowledge and Information Processing probabilistic context-free grammar is adopted to obtain the semantic dependency graphs (SDGs) of all the messages and responses in the initial MR database. For each sentence in the MR database, all the semantic dependencies, each composed of two words and their semantic relation, are extracted from the SDG of the sentence to form a semantic dependency set. Finally, a matrix with the element representing the correlation between the semantic dependencies of the messages and their corresponding responses is constructed as a semantic dependency pair model (SDPM) for response selection. Moreover, as the number of MR pairs in the psychological consultation websites is increasing day by day, the MR database in the QA system should be expanded to meet the needs of the users. For MR database expansion, the unstructured data from the message board are automatically collected. For the collected data, the supervised latent Dirichlet allocation is adopted for event detection and then the event-based delta Bayesian Information Criterion is used for message and response article segmentation. Each extracted message segment is then fed to the constructed retrieval-based QA system to find the best matched response segment and the matching score is also estimated to verify if the new MR pair is suitable to be included in the expanded MR database. Fivefold cross validation was employed to evaluate the performance of the proposed retrieval-based QA system over the expanded MR database based on SDPM. Compared to the vector space model-based method, the Okapi BM25 model, and the deep learning-based sequence-to-sequence with attention model, the proposed approach achieved a more favorable performance according to a statistical significance test. The retrieval accuracy based on MR expansion was also evaluated and a satisfactory result was obtained confirming the effectiveness of the expanded MR database. In addition, the user's satisfaction score of the proposed system was evaluated using the Cronbach's alpha value and the satisfaction score of the proposed SDPM was higher than those of the methods for comparison.
Phase I Study of AMG 337, a Highly Selective Small-molecule MET Inhibitor, in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors
Authors: Hong David S. , LoRusso Patricia , Hamid Omid , Janku Filip , Kittaneh Muaiad , Catenacci Daniel V.T. , Chan Emily , Bekaii-Saab Tanios , Gadgeel Shirish M. , Loberg Robert D. , Amore Benny M. , Hwang Yuying C. , Tang Rui , Ngarmchamnanrith Gataree , Kwak Eunice L. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractPurpose:This first-in-human, open-label phase I study evaluated AMG 337, an oral, highly selective small-molecule inhibitor of MET in advanced solid tumors.Patients and Methods: Patients enrolled into dose-escalation cohorts received AMG 337 up to 400 mg once daily or up to 250 mg twice daily, following a modified 3+3+3 design. Dose expansion was conducted in MET-amplified patients at the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Primary endpoints included assessment of adverse events (AEs), establishment of the MTD, and pharmacokinetics; clinical response was a secondary endpoint.Results:The safety analysis set included 111 patients who received ≥1 dose of AMG 337. Thirteen patients had ≥1 AE qualifying as dose-limiting toxicity. The MTD was determined to be 300 mg once daily; the MTD for twice-daily dosing was not reached. Most frequent treatment-related AEs were headache (63%) and nausea (31%). Grade ≥3 treatment-related AEs occurred in 23 patients (21%), most commonly headache (n = 6) and fatigue (n = 5). Maximum plasma concentration occurred at 3.0 hours following 300-mg once-daily dosing, indicating AMG 337 absorption soon after treatment. Objective response rate was 9.9% (11/111; 95% CI, 5.1%–17.0%) in all patients and 29.6% (8/27; 95% CI, 13.8%–50.2%) in MET-amplified patients; median (range) duration of response was 202 (51–1,430+) days in all patients and 197 (64–1,430+) days in MET-amplified patients.Conclusions:Oral AMG 337 was tolerated with manageable toxicities, with an MTD and recommended phase II dose of 300 mg once daily. The promising response rate observed in patients with heavily pretreated MET-amplified tumors warrants further investigation.See related commentary by Ma, p. 2375