bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Racial disparity in oncologic and quality‐of‐life outcomes in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas enrolled in a randomized phase 2 trial
Authors: Guerriero Margaret K. , Redman Mary W. , Baker Kelsey K. , Martins Renato G. , Eaton Keith , Chow Laura Q. , Santana‐Davila Rafael , Baik Christina , Goulart Bernardo H. , Lee Sylvia , Rodriguez Cristina P. 
Published: April 2018

BACKGROUNDTo better understand patient‐reported quality of life (PRQOL) for patients with head and neck cancer, PRQOL scores were collected in a clinical trial.METHODSPatients were randomized to arm A (70 Gy of radiation with cisplatin) or arm B (70 Gy of radiation with cisplatin plus erlotinib at 150 mg daily). PRQOL scores were measured on days –7 (arm B only), 0, 30, and 180 with the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire. Associations with clinical factors and outcomes were explored with linear mixed, logistic, and Cox regression models.RESULTSOne hundred eighty‐nine patients (97 in arm A and 92 in arm B) consented to PRQOL collection. Patients were balanced apart from more females in arm A (20 [21%] vs 8 [9%]; P = .02). There were 17 black patients (18%) in arm A and 12 (13%) in arm B (P = .39). There was no change in the mean scores in arm B from day –7 to day 0 (P = .36). Scores were lower in both arms at day 30 (P for both < .0001), with no difference by arm (P = .10). Scores on day 180 remained lower for arm A (–6.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], –12.6 to –1.0; P = .02). In arm B, this difference was not significant, and this suggested that the scores had returned to the baseline by day 180 (P = .73). After adjustments for potential confounders, black race was an independent predictor for inferior scores (–11.4; 95% CI, –16.84 to –5.94; P < .0001), complete response rates (odds ratio, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.12‐0.91; P = .03), and overall survival (hazard ratio, 3.71; 95% CI, 1.63‐8.47; P < .01).CONCLUSIONSPRQOL scores predictably worsened during and improved after chemoradiation. Black patients had inferior PRQOL and overall survival. Cancer 2018;124:2841‐2849. © 2018 American Cancer Society
Analysis of histologic follow‐up and risk of malignancy for salivary gland neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential proposed by the Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology
Authors: Liu Haiyan , Ljungren Clarissa , Lin Fan , Zarka Matthew A. , Chen Longwen 
Published: April 2018

BACKGROUNDThe Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology is a tiered classification scheme that includes 6 diagnostic categories. Neoplasm, which is 1 of the 6 proposed categories, consists of benign neoplasm and neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential (NUMP). NUMP is reserved for a salivary gland neoplasm without clear distinction between benign and malignant. The objective of this study was to assess the risk of malignancy (ROM) of NUMP.METHODSA retrospective analysis was conducted on 656 salivary gland fine‐needle aspiration specimens from 2010 to 2016. Cases that qualified as NUMP and had follow‐up surgical resections were reviewed and reclassified into basaloid neoplasm (BN) and salivary gland neoplasm with predominant oncocytic cell (SGNOC) groups. The ROM for each group was calculated. Fifty‐four salivary gland fine‐needle aspirations of NUMP that had surgical follow‐up were identified, which included 29 BNs and 25 SGNOCs.RESULTSHistologic follow‐up for the BN group identified 14 cellular pleomorphic adenomas, 5 basal cell adenomas, 2 benign cystadenomas, 3 adenoid cystic carcinomas, 3 epithelial and myoepithelial carcinomas, 1 basal cell adenocarcinoma, and 1 myoepithelial carcinoma. Histologic follow‐up for the SGNOC group revealed 7 nodular oncocytoses, 6 Warthin tumors, 5 oncocytomas, 1 sebaceous adenoma, 1 mucinous cystadenoma, 2 acinic cell carcinomas, 2 mucoepidermoid carcinomas, and 1 mammary analog secretory carcinoma. The ROM was calculated at 24.1% for the NUMP category overall (27.6% for BNs and 20.0% for SGNOCs).CONCLUSIONSThe ROM of the SGNOC group is similar to that of the BN group but lower than the ROM (35%) proposed by the Milan system. Cancer Cytopathol 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society.
Predicting responses to mechanical ventilation for preterm infants with acute respiratory illness using artificial neural networks
Authors: Brigham Katharine , Gupta Samir , Brigham John C. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractInfants born prematurely are particularly susceptible to respiratory illness due to underdeveloped lungs, which can often result in fatality. Preterm infants in acute stages of respiratory illness typically require mechanical ventilation assistance, and the efficacy of the type of mechanical ventilation and its delivery has been the subject of a number clinical studies. With recent advances in machine learning approaches, particularly deep learning, it may be possible to estimate future responses to mechanical ventilation in real time, based on ventilation monitoring up to the point of analysis. In this work, recurrent neural networks are proposed for predicting future ventilation parameters due to the highly nonlinear behavior of the ventilation measures of interest and the ability of recurrent neural networks to model complex nonlinear functions. The resulting application of this particular class of neural networks shows promise in its ability to predict future responses for different ventilation modes. Towards improving care and treatment of preterm newborns, further development of this prediction process for ventilation could potentially aid in important clinical decisions or studies to improve preterm infant health.
Capturing Volatile Organic Compounds Employing Superalkali Species
Authors: Park Heejune , Meloni Giovanni 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIn this study, the interactions between the superalkali species Li3F2 and four volatile organic compounds (VOCs), methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde, are assessed using the CBS‐QB3 composite model. Adiabatic ionization energy (AIE), adiabatic electron affinity (AEA), binding energy (BE), charge transfer (▵q), and highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO‐LUMO) gaps have been computed. Stronger interactions are observed between Li3F2 and the aldehydes than alcohols. The smaller aldehydes show a larger BE with Li3F2 than the bigger aldehydes. However, alcohol clusters do not show this trend due to their weak interactions (low BEs). Both alcohol clusters increase their binding energies as they become cations. This unexpected behavior is explained based on molecular orbital arguments.
Influence of the Medium on the Photochemical and Photophysical Properties of [Ru(phen)2(pPDIp)]2+
Authors: de Campos Isabele Ap. S. , dos Santos Edjane R. , Sellani Tarciso Almeida , Herbozo Carolina C. A. , Rodrigues Elaine G. , Roveda Antonio C. , Pazin Wallance M. , Ito Amando S. , Santana Vinicius T. , Nascimento Otaciro R. , Carlos Rose M. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThis study reports the influence of the medium on the aggregation processes of the complex [Ru(phen)2(pPDIp)]2+(phen=1,10‐phenanthroline; pPDIp=a bis‐phenanthroline‐substituted perylene diimide)and its consequences for the photochemical and photophysical properties of the system. Photolysis leads, initially, to emission of both chromophores: Triplet metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer (3*MLCT; Ru, dπ→phen, π*) and singlet intraligand charge transfer (1*ILCT; pPDIp, π→ π*). However, the medium induces increased π–π intermolecular interactions that lead to the generation of a pPDIp.−moietyin DMSO, pPDIp.−(518 nm) and pPDIp.−and pPDIp2−(420 nm) in the cell culture medium RPMI, and3*pPDIp in buffer (pH 7.4) and starch films. The complex activates singlet oxygen in buffer solution without oxygen bubbling and under green light irradiation (dose=0.41J/cm2; [1O2]=0.03–0.47 μmol L−1for [Ru(phen)2(pPDIp)]2+=10–150 μmol L−1). No cytotoxic effects on B16F10‐Nex2 murine melanoma cell viability were observed up to a concentration of 10 μmol L−1of complex. However, under green LED illumination (dose=0.41 J/cm2) the complex exhibits a strong photocytotoxic effect, displaying IC50=1.2 μmol L−1.
Effect of Electromagnetic Fields on Calcium Carbonate Solution Crystallization and Magnetic Memory Effect
Authors: Wang Jianguo , Luo Zhihong , Liang Yandong , Li Zhiwei , Wang Lejun 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThe absorbance values of specific configuration solutions under different magnetic treatment conditions are studied using the UV method based on the circulating dynamic simulation experiment platform for the anti‐scaling of electromagnetics. Additionally, the relationship between the absorbance value and solution concentration is determined. Moreover, the nucleation rate of CaCO3 is calculated using the absorbance value. The influence of the specific magnetic field on nucleating rate is analyzed. Subsequently, the magnetic memory effect and time of CO3−2 and water are studied. Results show that the magnetic treatment changes the nucleation rate of CaCO3 and the critical oversaturation of the solution by acting on CO3−2. This treatment also can promote the dissolution of CaCO3 in water by changing the properties of water. These two aspects all exert memory effects; however, their respective memory times are different. Moreover, the results show that the magnetic treatment can reduce the critical oversaturation of the CaCO3 solution and accelerate the nucleation rate. Furthermore, the memory time of the magnetic field acting on CO3−2 and the properties of water are 45 min and 78 h, respectively.
Coating Roughness Effects on the Defect Structure of mc‐Si and its Comparison to High‐Performance mc‐Si
Authors: Kießling Frank M. , Ervik Torunn K. , Søiland Anne‐Karin , Henriksen Bjørn Rune 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIn this work, four G1‐sized ingots are investigated in terms of process parameters, grain size, grain orientation and their development. Two mc‐Si ingots are grown under identical process conditions but with different Si3N4 crucible coating roughness. These two ingots show differences in grain size and grain orientation distribution, and especially near the nucleation layer, a higher number of grains is detected for the ingot grown with a rough crucible coating. Towards the top, the {111} grains are increasing in size for both ingots. The third ingot is grown with a seeding layer to induce a small and uniform grain size. For this high‐performance mc‐Si ingot, there is a dominance of grains with orientations close to {112}, which also results in the largest area fraction covered by this orientation. Solar cells are made from these ingots and evaluated. No differences in the maximum cell efficiency values could be found.
Improving CSR performance by hard and soft means: The role of organizational citizenship behaviours and the internalization of CSR standards
Authors: Testa Francesco , Boiral Olivier , Heras‐Saizarbitoria Iñaki 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThis study analyzes ‘hard’ (i.e. formal structures) and ‘soft’ (i.e. values) determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, such as the effectiveness of management systems for CSR and the role of managers' organizational citizenship behaviours. Based on a sample of 130 Italian organizations that adopted management systems according to an international standard, this study shows that CSR performance depends on employees' commitment and the internalization of formalized CSR practices. The study also underlines the role of managers' organizational citizenship behaviours and the importance of leading by example in the substantial implementation of CSR practices. The integrative model proposed in the paper provides an overall picture of both the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ factors that can explain the effectiveness of CSR management standards. The paper also contributes to the literature on the internalization and key success factors of certifiable management standards. Managerial implications of the main findings and avenues for future research are discussed.
Activating employee's pro‐environmental behaviors: The role of CSR, organizational identification, and environmentally specific servant leadership
Authors: Afsar Bilal , Cheema Sadia , Javed Farheen 
Published: April 2018

AbstractEnvironmental sustainability at the organization level is largely shaped by and dependent on individual‐level pro‐environmental behavior. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been proposed as a useful tool for effective organizational, social and environmental functioning. Not surprisingly, various empirical studies have advocated its importance in generating positive outcomes at a macro level. This research seeks to investigate the effect of CSR on employees' pro‐environmental behaviors. Moreover, we incorporated the mediating effect of organizational identification and the moderating role of environmentally specific servant leadership. The study draws on a survey sample of 298 employees from diverse industry sectors. Key findings show that perceived CSR has both a direct and an indirect influence, through organizational identification, on pro‐environmental behavior. The results also lent support for the interactive effect of environmentally specific servant leadership with CSR in predicting employee pro‐environmental behaviors.
CEOs' regulatory focus, slack resources and firms' environmental innovation
Authors: Liao Zhongju , Long Siying 
Published: April 2018

AbstractTo synthesize the literature on upper echelons theory, regulatory focus theory and the resource‐based view, this study examined the relationship of CEOs' regulatory focus, slack resources and firms' environmental innovation. Through the investigation of 191 manufacturing firms in China, we found that a CEO's promotion focus had a positive influence both on the firm's environmental processes and on product innovation, while a CEO's prevention focus had a negative influence. In addition, slack resources moderated the influence of the CEO's promotion focus on a firm's environmental process innovation in a positive way, while also positively moderating the influence of a CEO's prevention focus on a firm's environmental product innovation. Our results indicated that firms could deploy resources based on the CEOs' regulatory focus to facilitate firms' environmental innovation.
Do socially responsible firms provide more readable disclosures in annual reports?
Authors: Ben‐Amar Walid , Belgacem Ines 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and the syntactic complexity of the management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) section of the annual report. Based on stakeholder and agency perspectives, we offer an empirical test of two competing hypotheses. First, we may expect socially responsible firms to provide transparent disclosures because this reflects a firm's commitment to high ethical standards. In contrast, the agency perspective predicts that managers engage in CSR for self‐interest purposes and that CSR‐oriented firms will be more likely to attempt to mislead stakeholders about the firm's actual performance through complex narrative disclosures.Based on a sample of large firms listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, our results show a positive association between corporate social performance and the MD&A's textual complexity. Consistent with the agency perspective, our findings suggest that managers may engage in CSR opportunistically and use complex narrative disclosures in an impression management strategy.
An intelligent and knowledge‐based overlapping clustering protocol for wireless sensor networks
Authors: Khanmohammadi Sohrab , Gharajeh Mohammad Samadi 
Published: April 2018

SummaryOverlapping is one of the topics in wireless sensor networks that is considered by researchers in the last decades. An appropriate overlapping management system can prolong network lifetime and decrease network recovery time. This paper proposes an intelligent and knowledge‐based overlapping clustering protocol for wireless sensor networks, called IKOCP. This protocol uses some of the intelligent and knowledge‐based systems to construct a robust overlapping strategy for sensor networks. The overall network is partitioned to several regions by a proposed multicriteria decision‐making controller to monitor both small‐scale and large‐scale areas. Each region is managed by a sink, where the whole network is managed by a base station. The sensor nodes are categorized by various clusters using the low‐energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH)‐improved protocol in a way that the value of p is defined by a proposed support vector machine–based mechanism. A proposed fuzzy system determines that noncluster heads associate with several clusters in order to manage overlapping conditions over the network. Cluster heads are changed into clusters in a period by a suggested utility function. Since network lifetime should be prolonged and network traffic should be alleviated, a data aggregation mechanism is proposed to transmit only crucial data packets from cluster heads to sinks. Cluster heads apply a weighted criteria matrix to perform an inner‐cluster routing for transmitting data packets to sinks. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol surpasses the existing methods in terms of the number of alive nodes, network lifetime, average time to recover, dead time of first node, and dead time of last node.
Characterisation of aqueous waste produced during the clandestine production of amphetamine following the Leuckart route utilising solid‐phase extraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection
Authors: Hauser Frank M. , Hulshof Janneke W. , Rößler Thorsten , Zimmermann Ralf , Pütz Michael 
Published: April 2018

AbstractChemical waste from the clandestine production of amphetamine is of forensic and environmental importance due to its illegal nature which often leads to dumping into the environment. In this study, 27 aqueous amphetamine waste samples from controlled Leuckart reactions performed in Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland were characterised to increase knowledge about the chemical composition and physicochemical characteristics of such waste. Aqueous waste samples from different reaction steps were analysed to determine characteristic patterns which could be used for classification. Conductivity, pH, density, ionic load, and organic compounds were determined using different analytical methods. Conductivity values ranged from 1 to over 200 mS/cm, pH values from 0 to 14, and densities from 1.0 to 1.3 g/cm3. A capillary electrophoresis method with contactless conductivity detection (CE–C4D) was developed and validated to quantify chloride, sulphate, formate, ammonium, and sodium ions which were the most abundant ions in the investigated waste samples. A solid‐phase extraction sample preparation was used prior to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis to determine the organic compounds. Using the characterisation data of the known samples, it was possible to assign 16 seized clandestine waste samples from an amphetamine production to the corresponding synthesis step. The data also allowed us to draw conclusions about the synthesis procedure and used chemicals. The presented data and methods could support forensic investigations by showing the probative value of synthesis waste when investigating the illegal production of amphetamine. It can also act as starting point to develop new approaches to tackle the problem of clandestine waste dumping.
A new fast real‐time PCR method for the identification of three sibling Apodemus species (A. sylvaticus, A. flavicollis, and A. alpicola) in Italy
Authors: Sozio Giulia , Curini Valentina , Pascucci Ilaria , Cammà Cesare , Di Domenico Marco 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThe identification of field mice Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus sylvaticus, and Apodemus alpicola represents a challenge for field scientists due to their highly overlapping morphological traits and habitats. Here, we propose a new fast real‐time PCR method to discriminate the three species by species‐specific TaqMan assays. Primers and probes were designed based on the alignment of 54 cyt‐b partial sequences from 25 different European countries retrieved from GenBank. TaqMan assays were then tested on 133 samples from three different areas of Italy. Real‐time PCR analysis showed 92 samples classified as A. flavicollis, 13 as A. sylvaticus, and 28 as A. alpicola. We did not observe any double amplification and DNA sequencing confirmed species assignment obtained by the TaqMan assays. The method is implementable on different matrices (ear tissues, tail, and blood). It can be used on dead specimens or on alive animals with minimally invasive sampling, and given the high sensitivity, the assay may be also suitable for degraded or low‐DNA samples. The method proved to work well to discriminate between the species analyzed. Furthermore, it gives clear results (amplified or not) and it does not require any postamplification handling of PCR product, reducing the time needed for the analyses and the risk of carryover contamination. It therefore represents a valuable tool for field ecologists, conservationists, and epidemiologists.
Parallel Multipopulation Differential Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization for Voltage and Reactive Power Control
Authors: YOSHIDA HOTAKA , FUKUYAMA YOSHIKAZU 
Published: April 2018

SUMMARYThis paper presents parallel multipopulation differential evolutionary particle swarm optimization (DEEPSO) for voltage and reactive power control (VQC). The problem can be formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear optimization problem and various evolutionary computation techniques have been applied to the problem including PSO, differential evolution (DE), and DEEPSO. Since VQC is one of the online controls, speed‐up of computation is required. Moreover, there is still room for improvement in solution quality. This paper applies parallel multipopulation DEEPSO in order to speed up the calculation and improve solution quality. The proposed method is applied to IEEE 30, 57, and 118 bus systems. The results indicate that the proposed method can realize fast computation and minimize more active power losses than the conventional evolutionary computation techniques.
Early identification of acute heart failure at the time of presentation: do natriuretic peptides make the difference?
Authors: Möckel Martin , von Haehling Stephan , Vollert Jörn O. , Wiemer Jan C. , Anker Stefan D. , Maisel Alan ,   on behalf of the BACH study group
Published: April 2018

AbstractBackgroundThe early identification of patients with acute heart failure (AHF) is challenging as many other diseases lead to a clinical presentation with dyspnea.AimThe aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of natriuretic peptides at common HF study cut‐offs on the diagnosis of patients with dyspnea at admission.Methods and resultsFor this post hoc analysis, we analysed n = 726 European Union (EU) patients from the prospective BACH (Biomarkers in Acute Heart Failure) study. Cut‐offs were 350 ng/L (BNP), 300 pmol/L [pro‐atrial natriuretic peptide (proANP)], and 1800 ng/L (NT‐proBNP). These cut‐offs had equivalent 90 days' mortality in the EU cohort of BACH. We analysed the effect of selection using these cut‐offs on the prevalence of the gold standard diagnoses made in the BACH study and the respective mortality. The prevalence of AHF is increased from 47.5 to 75.6% (NT‐proBNP criteria) up to 79.7% (BNP criteria). With the use of the proANP criteria, 90 days' mortality of patients with AHF rose from 14 to 17% (P = 0.029). In the group with no‐AHF diagnoses, mortality rose from 10 to 25% (P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe prevalence of patients with the gold standard diagnoses of AHF among those presenting with dyspnea to the emergency department is significantly increased by the use of natriuretic peptides with common cut‐offs used in prospective HF studies. Nevertheless, in the selected groups, patients with no AHF diagnosis have the highest mortality, and therefore, the addition of a natriuretic peptide alone is insufficient to start specific therapies.