bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prognostic and therapeutic factors influencing the clinical outcome of hepatoblastoma after liver transplantation: A single‐institute experience
Authors: Umeda Katsutsugu , Okajima Hideaki , Kawaguchi Koji , Nodomi Seishiro , Saida Satoshi , Kato Itaru , Hiramatsu Hidefumi , Ogawa Eri , Yoshizawa Atsushi , Okamoto Shinya , Uemoto Shinji , Watanabe Kenichiro , Adachi Souichi 
Published: January 2018

AbstractLT has contributed to an elevation in cure rates for patients with unresectable HB; however, patients with recurrent HB after LT have poor prognosis. To analyze the prognostic and therapeutic factors that influence the clinical outcome of patients with HB receiving LT, we retrospectively analyzed 24 patients with HB who underwent LT between 1997 and 2015. The 5‐year OS rate of all patients was 69.6±9.7%. The 5‐year OS rate of 11 patients receiving salvage LT for recurrent tumor after a primary resection was comparable to that of 13 patients receiving primary LT. Among 12 evaluable patients receiving primary LT, six of 10 patients with a decline of serum AFP >95% at LT are currently alive and in remission, whereas two patients with a decline of AFP ≤95% experienced post‐LT relapse. Among 9 evaluable patients receiving salvage LT, all three patients with any decline of AFP at LT are currently alive in remission, and three of six patients with no response to pre‐LT salvage chemotherapy are also alive and in remission. Response to chemotherapy may be a reliable marker for prediction of post‐LT relapse, even for patients receiving salvage LT.
Renal transplantation in children under 3 years of age: Experience from a single‐center study
Authors: Loiseau Yann , Bacchetta Justine , Klich Amna , Ranchin Bruno , Demede Delphine , Laurent Audrey , Baudin Florent , Garaix Florentine , Roy Pascal , Cochat Pierre 
Published: January 2018

AbstractRTx remains challenging in children under 3 years of age. This single‐center study reviewed the medical records of children <3 years transplanted since 1987 (N = 32, Group 1). They were matched for donor type and RTx period with children aged 3‐13 years (N = 32, Group 2) and 13‐18 years (N = 32, Group 3). There were no between‐group significant differences regarding distributions of gender, primary renal disease, proportion of dialysis before RTx, and growth (SDS). Compared to Groups 2 and 3, Group 1 had more peritoneal dialyses (P < .001), more EBV mismatches (P = .04), and longer warm ischemia times (P < .001). The risk of graft loss was not significantly different among age groups (hazard ratio, 2.4 in Group 2 and 2.0 in Group 3 vs Group 1; P = .2). Death occurred in four patients (3 in Group 1 and 1 in Group 2) and graft loss occurred in 28 patients, mainly due to chronic allograft nephropathy. In recipients <3 years of age, the outcomes of RTx are close to those obtained in older pediatric age groups. Thus, young patients may be transplanted in experienced multidisciplinary teams without additional risks provided that particular attention is paid to donor selection and prevention/early diagnosis of comorbidities and complications.
Venous anastomosis by piggyback technique to avoid twisting of the pediatric en bloc kidney grafts
Authors: Li Jun , Schild Raphael , Herrmann Jochen , Oh Jun , Fischer Lutz , Koch Martina 
Published: January 2018

AbstractThis is the first report of using piggyback technique for the venous anastomosis in two pediatric recipients of small en bloc kidneys, which was found to be effective to avoid twisting of the grafts and vessels. The donors were aged 2 and 3 years with a body weight of 17 and 20 kg. The recipient age was 14 and 16 years with a body weight of 42 and 54 kg. The implantation was done extraperitoneally in the right iliac fossa. The donor's inferior vena cava was anastomosed to the recipient's distal caval vein side‐to‐side using 6‐0 polydioxanone running suture as the piggyback technique, initially dealing with the short vena cava graft in the first case. At the end of the operation, the kidneys were positioned allowing the lateral aspect of each renal unit to face anteriorly as “closing the book.” The cold ischemia time was 895 and 820 minutes, respectively. No vascular complication was observed postoperatively. The patients were discharged on POD 16 and POD 21 with an eGFR of 94 and 102 mL/min/1.73 m², respectively. The graft function is stable during the 5‐ and 7‐month follow‐up.
A Design-Based Approach to Small Area Estimation Using a Semiparametric Generalized Linear Mixed Model
Authors: Yu Hongjian , Wang Yueyan , Opsomer Jean , Wang Pan , Ponce Ninez A. 
Published: January 2018

SummaryIn small area estimation, non-parametric models with penalized spline regression have been demonstrated to be a useful tool in creating granular area estimates to provide supplemental information where samples are few or non-existent. This study further examines the ability of a semiparametric generalized linear mixed model to produce conforming estimates for multiple area levels. A mosaic analogy is used to describe this process. A design-based jackknife method is employed for variance calculation.
ADCN: An anisotropic density‐based clustering algorithm for discovering spatial point patterns with noise
Authors: Mai Gengchen , Janowicz Krzysztof , Hu Yingjie , Gao Song 
Published: January 2018

AbstractDensity‐based clustering algorithms such as DBSCAN have been widely used for spatial knowledge discovery as they offer several key advantages compared with other clustering algorithms. They can discover clusters with arbitrary shapes, are robust to noise, and do not require prior knowledge (or estimation) of the number of clusters. The idea of using a scan circle centered at each point with a search radius Eps to find at least MinPts points as a criterion for deriving local density is easily understandable and sufficient for exploring isotropic spatial point patterns. However, there are many cases that cannot be adequately captured this way, particularly if they involve linear features or shapes with a continuously changing density, such as a spiral. In such cases, DBSCAN tends to either create an increasing number of small clusters or add noise points into large clusters. Therefore, in this article, we propose a novel anisotropic density‐based clustering algorithm (ADCN). To motivate our work, we introduce synthetic and real‐world cases that cannot be handled sufficiently by DBSCAN (or OPTICS). We then present our clustering algorithm and test it with a wide range of cases. We demonstrate that our algorithm can perform equally as well as DBSCAN in cases that do not benefit explicitly from an anisotropic perspective, and that it outperforms DBSCAN in cases that do. Finally, we show that our approach has the same time complexity as DBSCAN and OPTICS, namely O(n log n) when using a spatial index and O(n2) otherwise. We provide an implementation and test the runtime over multiple cases.
Optimizing the Cost-Effectiveness of an Industrial Natural Gas Cogeneration Facility in a Regulated Electric Utility Environment
Authors: Bedley Mike 
Published: January 2018

Since Congress enacted the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) in 1978, the electric utility industry has experienced many significant changes — legal, structural and technical. For purposes of this discussion, one of the more important changes that resulted was the installation of substantial electric generating capacity via “cogeneration” at industrial facilities nationwide. PURPA defined, and created by law, entities known as “qualifying facilities” or “QFs”, and established a framework in which they were allowed to compete with utilities in both the wholesale electric market (by sales for resale) and retail electric markets (by self-generation). The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct92) took PURPA one step further, allow additional entities — such as Exempt Wholesale Generators (EWG), marketers and brokers — to participate in the wholesale electric markets, forever changing the once monopolistic structure of the electric industry. Importantly, from a legal, structural and technical standpoint, QFs continue to enjoy advantages over other generators - both utility and non-utility. The legal and structural framework continue to favor QFs and technically, the equipment available for cogeneration facilities is significantly more efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly than in the past. Cogeneration can be a very cost-effective option for large energy users, providing in many instances the only alternative to purchasing electricity from the monopoly utility.
Paper published with permission.
Tank Cleaning With Impact
Authors: Hansen Jan H. 
Published: January 2018

Different types of tank cleaning device technologies are used for inside cleaning of tanks today. Many devices with different capacity, design, quality, function and price from a variety of manufacturers are seen on the market and the selection has become difficult. The increasing focus on product quality, low operating costs, low consumption of water and chemicals, rapid tank turn around time, cleaning validation, regulation fulfillment, and environment protection policies have led to an awareness of the benefits by optimizing the cleaning process. The importance for an effective, reliable device has become an important factor, and many of the latest tank cleaning devices on the market today have been developed with these keywords in mind. The selection has become a key factor in achieving the optimum cleaning process.
Paper published with permission.
Improved Agitators Applied to High Viscosity Fluids in Concentrated Juices
Authors: Souza E. , Leal A. C. , Torsani F. L. , Hory I. R. 
Published: January 2018

The main objective of this work was to investigate a new agitation system, which would improve the standard process for concentrated juice after evaporation. The commonly used agitators for this kind of application were analyzed, including anchor agitators with tangential flow and pitched-blade agitators with axial flow. A pilot unit was installed “in company.” The results of the pilot test were scaled-up to an industrial size agitator with pitched-blade impellers. Three impellers, each with four blades at a 45° angle, were mounted on an off-center shaft. Better results were obtained in all the aspects analyzed. Process time was reduced by a factor often, power consumption was reduced by a factor of five, without air incorporation into the product. The new system had less internal surface area to be cleaned than the old system with an anchor impeller. Additionally, the new equipment was only one-fourth the cost of a similar installation with an anchor impeller. This innovative solution demonstrates the practical substitution of pitched-blade impellers for an anchor impeller in viscous fluids.
Paper published with permission.
New Processing Technology for Water as an Ingredient
Authors: Moore Steven 
Published: January 2018

There are several things in life that we take for granted. Water is very often one of them. Each of us uses this vital liquid, the most common substance on earth, everyday. And we rarely think twice about it.
Governments and international legislative bodies worldwide are redefining what is “safe to drink.” The United States has led the way by passing into law an amended Safe Drinking Water Act.
The European community is considering these standards and the World Health Organization (WHO) provides the impetus for issuing a minimum common standard for the European countries.
American consumers are becoming more aware of water quality and consistency. The popularity and increased demand for bottled water continues to grow as people desire better quality and consistency, and are willing to pay for the product.
This paper will address the issues of water safety and consistency for a citrus processing plant using water as an ingredient, in food contact, or is contemplating off-season bottled water production.
Paper published with permission.
Bin Automation and Management
Authors: Swofford Rodney W. 
Published: January 2018

Existing fruit receiving and processing operations rely on both automated and manual data collection systems to generate and store fruit information. This information can be used to select fruit to use for a particular juice product or to optimize extraction systems. At the present time, the selection of fruit is mainly a manual process due to disconnected, dissimilar data systems and missing information.
This paper describes the development of an integrated bin management system. This system uses existing customer data collection systems with new machinery and instrumentation to improve the accuracy of fruit selection and blending to optimize the extraction process.
The following areas will be examined:
• A review of a conventional, manual bin system
• The need for an integrated data collection and selection system
• An overview of the intelligent bin system
• How the intelligent bin system collects and manages data
• An overview of the bin selection system
• Some future developments
Paper published with permission.
Advanced System Controls and Energy Savings for Industrial Boilers
Authors: Willems Daniel 
Published: January 2018

The price of natural gas exceeded $15/MM Btu in December 2005 compared to $6/MM Btu just one year ago! It was also just $2/MM Btu in the 1990’s. Crude oil prices exceeded $70/barrel in 2005 compared to $45/barrel just one year ago!
To put this into perspective, a 600 HP boiler operating at a 50% average load for 12 hours per day, 365 days per year would have consumed $321,800 in natural gas one year ago but will consume $804,490 in natural per year at today’s cost!
The increased cost of fuel has affected operational costs for all boilers regardless of size, age, or manufacturer. The US dependence on foreign oil and natural gas, as well as the escalating energy demands of China, India, and other countries will likely drive energy prices higher in the future.
This increase in the cost of fuel has driven responsible boiler manufacturers to develop new products or modify existing ones in order to reduce energy consumption. Major developments have been made in the past few years which improve boiler efficiency, offer innovative heat recovery systems, and integrate high tech controls into boiler systems.
This paper will address the developments in boiler design, control systems, and heat recovery systems which all contribute to energy savings.
Paper published with permission.
Non-Thermal Preservation of Fruit Juices
Authors: Balasubramaniam V. M. (Bala) 
Published: January 2018

Consumers demand healthier fresh tasting foods without chemical preservatives. To address the need, food industry is exploring alternative preservation methods such as high pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field processing. During HPP, the food material is subjected to elevated pressures (up to 900 MPa) with or without the addition of heat to achieve microbial inactivation with minimal damage to the food. One of the unique advantages of the technology is the ability to increase the temperature of the food samples instantaneously; this is attributed to the heat of compression, resulting from the rapid pressurization of the sample. Pulsed electric field (PEF) processing uses short bursts of electricity for microbial inactivation and causes minimal or no detrimental effect on food quality attributes. The process involves treating foods placed between electrodes by high voltage pulses in the order of 20–80 kV (usually for a couple of microseconds). PEF processing offers high quality fresh-like liquid foods with excellent flavor, nutritional value, and shelf life. Pressure in combination with other antimicrobial agents, including CO2, has been investigated for juice processing. Both HPP and PEF are quite effective in inactivating harmful pathogens and vegetative bacteria at ambient temperatures.
Both HPP and PEF do not present any unique issues for food processors concerning regulatory matters or labeling. The requirements are similar to traditional thermal pasteurization such as development of a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for juices and beverages.
Examples of high pressure, pasteurized, value added products commercially available in the United States include smoothies, fruit juices, guacamole, ready meal components, oysters, ham, poultry products, and salsa. PEF technology is not yet widely utilized for commercial processing of food products in the United States. The presentation will provide a brief overview of HPP and PEF technology fundamentals, equipment choices for food processors, process economics, and commercialization status in the food industry, with emphasis on juice processing.
Paper published with permission.
Converting Citrus Waste to Ethanol and Other Co-Products
Authors: Widmer Wilbur , Zhou Weiyang , Grohmann Karel 
Published: January 2018

Conversion of citrus processing waste (CPW) generated during juice production into value added co-products is an important aspect of the juice industry as it offers a solution to waste disposal issues. Currently the practice of drying citrus waste to produce citrus pulp pellets (CPP) for use as cattle feed is profitable. However, until the recent rise in value, CPP value was marginal and often did not meet production costs. Another concern has been volatile organic emissions during CPP production. Only one third of the residual peel oil present in citrus waste is recovered during CPP production with most being vented to the atmosphere during drying and is a growing environmental concern. Improvements in limonene recovery and development of alternative value added co-products obtained from CPW could add substantial value to the citrus crop.
For current CPP production, the energy required to dry CPW is the major cost involved and approximately 25 lb of limonene are obtained per ton of CPP produced. Since limonene is recovered during evaporation/concentration of pressed peel juice using a waste heat evaporator, little additional cost is associated with limonene recovery. The concentrated citrus molasses produced may be added back to the press cake or fermented to make ethanol, but only contains a third of the sugars in CPW that are fermentable by conventional yeast.
While utilizing the entire CPW stream for ethanol using hydrolysis and fermentation is more involved, three times the amount of ethanol can be obtained compared to using press liquor alone. Most of the limonene must be removed as it inhibits fermentation. In the process developed 85–95% of the limonene contained in CPW can be removed and recovered by steam stripping. This greatly reduces concerns associated with the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during processing of CPW and the limonene recovered has a value equal or greater than stripping costs. Using a mixture of enzymes and yeast, the CPW is then hydrolyzed and fermented simultaneously to produce ethanol followed by distillation to remove and recover the ethanol. Enzyme costs to hydrolyze and liquefy CPW have been reduced to less than a dollar per gallon of ethanol produced, and the economics for distillation are still being optimized. The distillation residues contain half the solids of raw citrus waste that can still be utilized as a CPP product. Other uses for the residues such as incorporation of the pectic materials into building product and paper additives, and ion exchange materials for wastewater remediation are also in development.
Paper published with permission.
Current Challenges of Mechanical Harvesting Technology for Citrus
Authors: Ehsani Reza , Lee Won Suk , Northeimer Elizabeth 
Published: January 2018

In recent years, the use of citrus mechanical harvesting machines has significantly increased in Florida. In 2007, the total acreage of citrus orchards harvested by mechanical means was 14,420 ha (35,633 acres) which is about 7% of the total citrus production area in Florida up from only 1% in 2004. In addition, the Florida Department of Citrus initiated a program to register abscission compounds for citrus. Abscission compounds reduce the amount of force required to detach the fruit from the stem, making it easier to harvest. According to the plan, the abscission compounds will become available by 2011. It is expected that the trend in adoption of mechanical harvesting machines will accelerate if abscission compounds become commercially available. In addition to fruit, mechanical harvesting machines cause removal of leaves and branches, some percentage of which end up to the harvested load. Currently, the amount of trash, i.e. leaves and branches, in the mechanically harvested citrus load is considerably higher than when harvested by hand and is a major concern for juice processors. While these machines reduce the cost of harvesting and allow citrus growers to be more competitive in the global market, the large amount of fruit they can harvest in a short time can cause issues with load allocations. The implications resulting from these technologies are discussed in this paper, as well as initial results from a computer vision technique to quantify the trash in the load.
Paper published with permission.
Florida Citrus Processing Facility Takes Leadership Role in Conducting a Facility Wide Insulation Energy Assessment
Authors: King Ronald (Ron) , Crall G. Christopher P. 
Published: January 2018

After attending a National Insulation Association (NIA) presentation on Insulation, The Forgotten Technology at ASME’s 2007 Citrus Engineering Conference, a major citrus processing facility in central Florida decided to examine the condition of their insulation systems and determine the potential energy savings that could be achieved by replacing or repairing their existing insulation.
Facility management had previously examined abbreviated energy assessments for above and below ambient systems but had not commissioned an extensive below ambient assessment. Due to the age, complexity, and recent weather history of the facility (i.e. hurricanes), management wanted to examine the condition of the thermal insulation systems and any effect its condition may have on the refrigerant piping and overall system operating costs. The assessment process was more complex than originally anticipated and yielded a wealth of meaningful information.
The facility covers about 50 acres and consists of a variety of production, warehousing, and shipping/receiving facilities. It is estimated that the facility processes roughly one billion pounds of oranges and grapefruits each year into juice and juice products. Refrigeration for the site is provided by a large and complex ammonia refrigeration system. A total of eight “engine rooms” house electric driven compressors and associated vessels and equipment. Installed capacity is roughly 3,000 tons of refrigeration with an estimated energy cost on the order of $2 million per year. The ammonia refrigerant is distributed throughout the site via a complex and interconnected refrigerant piping system. The total refrigerant charge in the system is roughly 300,000 lbs of ammonia.
Paper published with permission.