bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Performance of point‐of‐care glucose testing for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes in South Africa
Authors: Khambule L. , Chikomba C. , Adam Y. , Khan L. , Haldane C. , Vetter B. , George J. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractObjectiveLack of accessibility to oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) in South Africa means many pregnant women go without testing for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study evaluated point‐of‐care (POC) glucometers against the laboratory‐based glucose method in pregnant women.MethodsThis was a cross‐sectional study on pregnant women attending the prenatal clinic in Johannesburg who were recommended for the OGTT. OGTTs were conducted as per International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) guidelines. Women who consented to the study donated both venous and capillary blood for laboratory‐based and POC glucose measurements using seven POC glucometers: I‐STAT, Xpress, LDX, VivaChek‐Ino, Accu‐Chek Active, StatStrip, and Codefree. By assessing sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and comparing Bland–Altman plots, the diagnostic accuracy of each glucose meter was compared with the reference method, the laboratory‐based glucose method.ResultsData were analyzed for 1076 pregnant women. Based on OGTT testing, 83 women had GDM (7.7%). Overall, the POC glucometers performed poorly, with sensitivity ranging from 17.6% to 87.18% and specificity ranging between 62.7% and 99.8%. The AUC ranged from 0.59 to 0.79. All POC glucometers showed moderate to poor reliability. Laboratory‐based fasting plasma glucose (FPG) surpassed the POC glucometers in sensitivity, specificity, and AUC, with values of 94.0%, 100%, and 0.98, respectively.ConclusionWe demonstrated that laboratory‐based FPG has the potential to be used as a diagnostic test for GDM and that the POC glucometers cannot replace OGTT laboratory‐based measurements.
Actively changing the narrative: An exploration of culturally grounded parenting and social skills
Authors: Suma Katharine , Morton LaRen , Allen KeLa , Caughy Margaret O. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractRecognizing culturally salient aspects of socialization practices and understanding how these practices support culturally valued aspects of development is an integral component in conducting anti‐racist research and validating the lived experiences of minoritized families. With this aim, we explored how Active Direction, an observational rating of an African American approach to parenting measured during mother–child interactions at age 2.5 (n = 172), supported social skills and emotion regulation for children living in a Southwestern metropolitan area of the United States concurrently, in kindergarten (n = 109), and in 1st grade (n = 108). Descriptive findings indicated few significant associations between Active Direction and socials skills or emotion regulation. Exploratory analyses, which included traditional parenting behavior measures of Sensitivity and Intrusiveness, also indicated limited significant relations between any measure of parenting and child skills. However, moderation analyses indicated that high levels of Active Direction attenuated the effects of sensitivity on aspects of child social skills. The lack of significant findings across the current study highlight how extant measures—of child social skills and parentings behaviors—are not performing as expected within these African American families.
Analgesic effects of co‐administration of mirogabalin and diclofenac sodium on neuropathic pain in rats
Authors: Chikubu Hiroto , Inage Kazuhide , Orita Sumihisa , Shiga Yasuhiro , Inoue Masahiro , Shimizu Keisuke , Suzuki‐Narita Miyako , Tajiri Ikuko , Mukai Michiaki , Nozaki‐Taguchi Natsuko , Ohtori Seiji 
Published: September 2024

AbstractCo‐administration of mirogabalin besylate and nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs is effective for neuropathic pain; however, mechanism of its action remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate the mechanism of this synergistic effect of the concomitant administration for neuropathic pain using chronic constriction injury model rats. Fifty male Wister rats of 7‐week‐old were used. Right sciatic nerve ligation was performed in 40 rats and they were sub‐divided into four groups: vehicle, mirogabalin, diclofenac sodium and co‐administration of them. Ten rats underwent sham surgery. Fluorogold was attached to sciatic nerve during surgery. Von Frey filament and weight bearing tests were performed on postoperative Day 6 as behavioral assessments and drug was administrated intraperitoneally. Half rats in each group underwent behavioral assessment and perfusion fixation using 4% paraformaldehyde on postoperative Day 7 and remaining on postoperative Day 14. Subsequently, dorsal root ganglion at L4 to L6 was collected and examined immunohistochemistry for calcitonin gene‐related peptide, and their immunoreactivity in fluorogold‐labeled neurons was measured. Spinal cord at lumbar swelling was resected, immunostained for ionized‐calcium‐binding adapter molecule‐1 and glial fibrillary acidic protein, and immunoreactive neurons in dorsal horn of spinal cords were calculated as the occupancy of them. Mirogabalin suppresses the neuropeptide‐release from presynaptic afferent neuron directly and it resulted in suppressing glia cells activation. Diclofenac sodium inhibits cyclooxygenase‐2 and prostaglandin production, related to allodynia. These effects of mirogabalin and diclofenac sodium, respectively, inhibited glia cells strongly, which is presumed to be one of the mechanisms for the effectiveness of their co‐administration for neuropathic pain.
Association between longitudinal changes in phase angle and mortality rate in adults critically ill with COVID‐19: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: García‐Grimaldo Alan , Trujillo‐Mercado Ander Samuel , Rodríguez‐Moguel Nadia Carolina , Rios‐Ayala Martin Armando , Hernandez‐Cardenas Carmen Margarita , Osuna‐Padilla Ivan Armando 
Published: September 2024

AbstractBackgroundPhase angle (PhA) obtained by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) works as a predictor of clinical outcomes. Specific cutoff values for longitudinal changes and their relationship with clinical outcomes are still undetermined for patients with critical illness. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the association between longitudinal changes in PhA during intensive care unit (ICU) stay and all‐cause 90‐day mortality in patients critically ill with COVID‐19.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of adults critically ill with COVID‐19 undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation with a length of stay >14 days. BIA was performed at ICU admission and at days 7 and 14 of ICU stay; PhA and hydration parameters were collected. Differences between survivors and nonsurvivors were assessed. Longitudinal changes were evaluated using repeated‐measures analysis of variance. A receiver operating characteristics curve for PhA declined (%) during the first 14 days, and all‐cause 90‐day mortality was performed. Survival probability was reported using hazard ratios (HR).ResultsOne‐hundred nine patients were included. The change in the value of PhA was close to 17.1%. Nonsurvivors had a higher prevalence of individuals with a decrease in PhA >22.2% (area under the curve = 0.65) in the first 14 days in comparison with survivors (70% vs 34.8%, P < 0.01). PhA decrease >22.2% at 14 days was a significant predictor of all‐cause 90‐day mortality (HR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.71–3.6, P = 0.04).ConclusionChanges in PhA are associated with all‐cause 90‐day mortality. Future studies should be directed to interventions to prevent changes in this nutrition marker.
Attention‐enhanced multiscale feature fusion network for pancreas and tumor segmentation
Authors: Dong Kaiqi , Hu Peijun , Zhu Yan , Tian Yu , Li Xiang , Zhou Tianshu , Bai Xueli , Liang Tingbo , Li Jingsong 
Published: September 2024

AbstractBackgroundAccurate pancreas and pancreatic tumor segmentation from abdominal scans is crucial for diagnosing and treating pancreatic diseases. Automated and reliable segmentation algorithms are highly desirable in both clinical practice and research.PurposeSegmenting the pancreas and tumors is challenging due to their low contrast, irregular morphologies, and variable anatomical locations. Additionally, the substantial difference in size between the pancreas and small tumors makes this task difficult. This paper proposes an attention‐enhanced multiscale feature fusion network (AMFF‐Net) to address these issues via 3D attention and multiscale context fusion methods.MethodsFirst, to prevent missed segmentation of tumors, we design the residual depthwise attention modules (RDAMs) to extract global features by expanding receptive fields of shallow layers in the encoder. Second, hybrid transformer modules (HTMs) are proposed to model deep semantic features and suppress irrelevant regions while highlighting critical anatomical characteristics. Additionally, the multiscale feature fusion module (MFFM) fuses adjacent top and bottom scale semantic features to address the size imbalance issue.ResultsThe proposed AMFF‐Net was evaluated on the public MSD dataset, achieving 82.12% DSC for pancreas and 57.00% for tumors. It also demonstrated effective segmentation performance on the NIH and private datasets, outperforming previous State‐Of‐The‐Art (SOTA) methods. Ablation studies verify the effectiveness of RDAMs, HTMs, and MFFM.ConclusionsWe propose an effective deep learning network for pancreas and tumor segmentation from abdominal CT scans. The proposed modules can better leverage global dependencies and semantic information and achieve significantly higher accuracy than the previous SOTA methods.
Experimental validation of a FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation for carbon‐ion radiotherapy monitoring via secondary ion tracking
Authors: Ochoa‐Parra Pamela , Schweins Luisa , Abbani Nelly , Ghesquière‐Diérickx Laura , Gehrke Tim , Jakubek Jan , Marek Lukas , Granja Carlos , Dinkel Fabian , Echner Gernot , Winter Marcus , Mairani Andrea , Harrabi Semi , Jäkel Oliver , Debus Jürgen , Martišíková Mária , Kelleter Laurent 
Published: September 2024

AbstractBackgroundIn‐vivo monitoring methods of carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) includes explorations of nuclear reaction products generated by carbon‐ion beams interacting with patient tissues. Our research group focuses on in‐vivo monitoring of CIRT using silicon pixel detectors. Currently, we are conducting a prospective clinical trial as part of the In‐Vivo Monitoring project (InViMo) at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) in Germany. We are using an innovative, in‐house developed, non‐contact fragment tracking system with seven mini‐trackers based on the Timepix3 technology developed at CERN.PurposeThis article focuses on the implementation of the mini‐tracker in Monte Carlo (MC) based on FLUKA simulations to monitor secondary charged nuclear fragments in CIRT. The main objective is to systematically evaluate the simulation accuracy for the InViMo project.MethodsThe implementation involved integrating the mini‐tracker geometry and the scoring mechanism into the FLUKA MC simulation, utilizing the finely tuned HIT beam line. The systematic investigation included varying mini‐tracker angles (from to in steps) during the irradiation of a head‐sized phantom with therapeutic carbon‐ion pencil beams. To evaluate our implemented FLUKA framework, a comparison was made between the experimental data and data obtained from MC simulations. To ensure the fidelity of our comparison, experiments were performed at the HIT using the parameters and setup established in the simulations.ResultsOur research demonstrates high accuracy in reproducing characteristic behaviors and dependencies of the monitoring method in terms of fragment distributions in the mini‐tracker, track angles, emission profiles, and fragment numbers. Discrepancies in the number of detected fragments between the experimental data and the data obtained from MC simulations are less than 4% for the angles of interest in the InViMo detection system.ConclusionsOur study confirms the potential of our simulation framework to investigate the performance of monitoring inter‐fractional anatomical changes in patients undergoing CIRT using secondary nuclear charged fragments escaping from the irradiated patient.
Design of bionic water jet thruster with double‐chamber driven by electromagnetic force
Authors: Cao Chong , Zhang Yasong , Zhang Chengchun , Shen Chun , Cheng Wen , Wei Zhenjiang , Wu Zhengyang , Ren Luquan 
Published: September 2024

AbstractIn response to the limitations of the single‐chamber water jet thruster used in underwater vehicles mimicked by natural cephalopods, a novel approach involving a double‐chamber water jet thruster has been proposed. This thruster utilizes electromagnetic force to manipulate the diaphragm, thereby altering the volume of the upper and lower chambers to achieve water jet propulsion. Experimental investigations were conducted to determine the tensile length‐force characteristics of the diaphragm made of Agileus30. Subsequently, key parameters of essential propulsion components, such as solenoid coils, electromagnets, and currents, were established based on the tensile length‐force curve, and the propulsion capabilities of the system were evaluated through theoretical analysis. Theoretical assessments indicate that the system does not produce reverse thrust regardless of whether the coil moves up or down. Further experimental results demonstrate that the maximum peak propulsion force generated by the dual‐chamber water jet thruster within a 3‐s cycle is 0.253 N.
Poor nutrition status associated with low patient satisfaction six months into treatment for head and neck/esophageal cancer treatment: A prospective multicenter cohort study
Authors: Widaman Adrianne M. , Day Andrew G. , Kuhn Maggie A. , Dhaliwal Rupinder , Baracos Vickie , Findlay Merran , Bauer Judith D. , de van der Schueren Marian , Laviano Alessandro , Martin Lisa , Gramlich Leah 
Published: September 2024

AbstractBackgroundPatient‐reported outcome measures have been associated with survival in oncology patients. Altered intake and malnutrition are common symptoms for patients treated for head and neck cancer and esophageal cancer (HNC/EC). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between patient‐reported satisfaction with medical care and nutrition status.MethodsThis prospective cohort study collected data from 11 international cancer care sites.ResultsOne hundred and sixtythree adult patients (n = 115 HNC; n = 48 EC) completed a patient satisfaction questionnaire (the Canadian Health Care Evaluation Project Lite) and were included. HNC/EC patient global satisfaction with medical care was 88.3/100 ± 15.3 at baseline and remained high at 86.6/100 ± 16.8 by 6 months (100 max satisfaction score). Poor nutrition status, as defined by the Patient‐Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form, was associated with lower patient satisfaction with overall medical care, relationship with doctors, illness management, communication, and decision‐making 6 months into treatment (P < 0.01). There was no difference in global satisfaction between patients who did and did not report swallowing difficulty (P = 0.99) and patients with and without feeding tube placement (P = 0.36). Patients who were seen by a dietitian for at least one nutrition assessment had global satisfaction with care that was 16.7 percentage points higher than those with no nutrition assessment (89.3 ± 13.8 vs 72.6 ± 23.6; P = 0.005)ConclusionIn HNC/EC patient‐centered oncology care, decreasing malnutrition risk and providing access to dietitian‐led nutrition assessments should be prioritized and supported to improve patient satisfaction and standard of care. Feeding tube placement did not decrease patient satisfaction with medical care.
Achieving a high‐performance anti‐corrosive polyvinyl ester based on bisphenol a coating by addition of polyaniline‐Cu‐based metal organic framework composite
Authors: Bolghari Amir Jafari , Mostafapour Amir , Hosseini Mir Ghasem , Sefidi Pariya Yardani 
Published: September 2024

AbstractCorrosion of steel is one of the challenging issues that researchers has focused on it. Among corrosion control methods, organic coatings with suitable lifetime and efficiency are a great of interest. In the present research, polyaniline‐ copper‐based metal organic framework (PANI‐Cu‐MOF) is synthesized using in‐situ oxidation polymerization method and successfully characterized with different techniques. Then, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt. % of PANI‐Cu‐MOF composite are added to vinyl ester (VE) resin based on bisphenol A and coated on ST37 steel. The performance of the as‐prepared coatings on ST37 is evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for 360 h. The EIS results showed that loading of PANI‐Cu‐MOF (0.5 wt. %) in VE led to the highest protective properties against aggressive species with |Z|0.01 Hz = 6.76 × 107 Ωcm2 after 360 h. The uniform distribution of PANI‐Cu‐MOF composite in VE and its hydrophobic property causes a delay in the penetration of the corrosive species into the coating, thus increasing the corrosion resistance.Highlights
PANI‐Cu‐MOF composite is embedded to VE resin as novel anti‐corrosive pigment.
The highest Rcoat are achieved for VE‐PANI‐Cu‐MOF 0.5 wt. %.
In the presence of PANI‐Cu‐MOF, the corrosive species penetrations decreased.
Investigating the effect of GO‐ZnO nano‐hybrid on the mechanical, rheological, and degradation performance of poly (butylene succinate)
Authors: Khaleghi Razieh , Dadashi Parsa , Babaei Amir 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThis paper reports on preparing two types of graphene oxide‐zinc oxide (GO‐ZnO) nano‐hybrids and their effect on the performance of polybutylene succinate (PBS) matrix. This view synthesized GO, ZnO, and GO‐ZnO nano‐hybrids at 1:1 and 1:2 weight ratios. Subsequently, various spectroscopy and microscopy analyses (FTIR, UV, Raman, AFM, and TEM) were employed to characterize the structure of synthesized nanomaterials. The obtained results revealed that the hybridization was successfully occurred and microstructure of two types of prepared nano‐hybrids are basically different depending on the preparation procedure. Following this, PBS nanocomposites with 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt% of GO‐ZnO nano‐hybrids (NPs) were produced via the solvent‐blending method. The mechanical, microstructural, rheological, biodegradability and UV‐shielding properties of the fabricated films were then investigated. Mechanical properties showed that addition of 0.5 wt% ZnO‐GO nanohybrids improved elongation at break from 21.6% to 28.7% and increased tensile strength by 20%. However, rheological assessments showed a one‐order‐of‐magnitude decrease in viscosity with the addition of only 0.5 wt%. In degradation analysis, 100 percent of mass loss was observed during 5 weeks for PBS with 1.5 wt% of GO‐ZnO. PBS/GO‐ZnO nanocomposites indicated tailored mechanical properties, biodegradability, suggesting a promising potential in packaging applications.Highlights
GO‐ZnO nanohybrids were successfully synthesized.
Incorporating GO‐ZnO into PBS improved its hydrolytic degradation
The thermal decomposition of PBS was accelerated by the addition of GO‐ZnO.
Adding GO‐ZnO nanohybrids to PBS resulted in a drop in viscosity.
Nanohybrids with higher ZnO content exhibited greater hydrolytic and thermal degradation.
Synergistic impact of hybrid carbon nanotube and graphene on crystallinity and thermo‐mechanical behavior of polymer blends
Authors: Rajabifar Nariman , Ghanemi Somaye , Rostami Amir , Bahrami Mostafa 
Published: September 2024

AbstractPolymer nanocomposites boast complex microstructures with instant control of final performance, including mechanical strength, thermal stability, and crystallinity. Although tremendous studies have been devoted to understanding the structure–property relation of polymer nanocomposites, the effect of simultaneous nanomaterial contents on binary polymers remains unclear. Here, we report how the microstructure and rheological characteristics are subject to change upon adding a hybrid multi‐walled carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene nanoplatelet (GNP). We choose a refined binary system based on polypropylene (PP) as a commodity polymer with proven long‐standing applications, alongside ethylene‐butylene copolymer (EBC) with a random ethylene and butylene monomers orientation for better impact strength acquisition. Rheology and microscopy imaging support an adequate dispersion of both materials across the PP/EBC blend, similar to when a single‐particle nanocomposite is examined. Beyond investigating the heterogeneous nucleation role of CNT and GNP, the crystallinity rate and the half‐time parameter for completing the ordered transformation are calculated using the Avrami equations. The thermal stability as well as the mechanical properties of all nanocomposites reveal improved resilience under heat and external stress, leading to a rising trend in decomposition temperature, tensile strength, and modulus.Highlights
Synergistic effect of hybrid CNT and GNP on the thermal stability of PP/EBC.
The impact of hybrid CNT and GNP on crystallization kinetics.
Improvement of the mechanical performance with CNT/GNP loading.
Role of PP‐g‐MA on the dispersion and distribution of CNT and GNP.
Development of stab resistant armor for different energy levels using shear thickening fluid reinforced multi‐layered p‐aramid fabrics
Authors: Das Jyotirmoy , Butola Bhupendra Singh , Majumdar Abhijit 
Published: September 2024

AbstractStab‐resistant armors are important protective gear for the law enforcement officers and security forces. This research attempts to develop stab‐resistant armors for different impact energy levels using multi‐layer neat and shear thickening fluid (STF)‐ treated Kevlar® fabrics. The developed panels were tested using National Institute of Justice's (NIJ) P1 knife at wide range of stabbing energy from 6 to 36 J. The panel containing 16 layers of STF‐treated Kevlar® fabric met the requirements at normal and over‐test conditions showing penetration depth lower than 7 and 20 mm, respectively. For stabbing at high energy level (≥ 24 J), the effect of number of Kevlar® fabric layers was found to be highly beneficial in case of STF‐treated condition and not so for the neat one. STF treatment reduced the stab penetration depth by 40%–68% at 24–36 J energy level without any increase in effective weight of the panel. The fabric‐knife interaction was also studied using a novel sharpness tester and optical microscopy. It was found that the tip of knife deformes and sharpness declines at a faster rate in case of STF‐treated fabric. The study opens up possibilities to explore other materials that would damage the tip of knife during stabbing ensuring better protection.Highlights
Stab resistant armor has been developed for different energy levels.
Effect of number of neat fabric layers is less pronounced at higher energy levels.
STF can reduce the penetration depth significantly at high energy levels.
Silica particles damage the knife tip during stabbing.
STF‐treated panels are lighter and efficacious than their neat counterparts.