bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multiparametric contrast-enhanced ultrasound in early prediction of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and recurrence-free survival in breast cancer
Authors: wan caifeng , Zhou Liheng , Li Hongli , Wang Lin , Li Fenghua , Yin Wenjin , Wang Yaohui , Jiang Lixin , lu jinsong 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Background
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a promising tool and can facilitate dynamic observation and quantification of tumor perfusion without exposing the patients to any risk of radiation. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the value of CEUS in early predicting pCR and RFS in locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).
Methods
In this retrospective interpretation of prospective data study, consecutive women with LABC who underwent CEUS examination pre-NAC and after one or two cycles of NAC from March 2014 to October 2018 were included. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. CEUS qualitative parameters before NAC and quantitative parameters (peak intensity, PEAK; time to peak, TTP; regional blood volume, RBV; regional blood flow, RBF, and mean transit time, MTT) during NAC and their changes were assessed. The relative changes in CEUS parameters and tumor diameter after one and two cycles of NAC were describe as ΔA1 and ΔA2, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent variables associated with pCR. Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to investigate the independent variables of CEUS and clinical-pathologic factors with RFS.
Results
Among 122 patients (mean age, 51years), 44 (36.1%) underwent PCR. Logistic regression analysis showed that molecular subtype, PEAK1 and △diameter1 were the best predictors of pCR after one cycle of NAC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC], 0.81; 95%CI: 0.73, 0.88); Molecular subtype, PEAK2 and △TTP2 were independently associated with pCR after two cycles of NAC (AUC, 0.85, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.91). After 63 months of median follow-up, there were 17 recurrences. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that a higher clinical T (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.75; 95% CI: 1.75, 12.87; P = 0.002) and N stages (HR = 3.39; 95% CI: 1.25, 9.19; P = 0.02), and a longer TTP (HR = 1.06; 95% CI: 1.01,1.11; P = 0.02) at pre-NAC CEUS were independently associated with poorer RFS.
Conclusions
CEUS can be used as a noninvasively functional technique to early predict pCR as well as RFS in breast cancer patients treated with NAC.
Quantum-coherence-free precision metrology by means of difference-signal amplifification
Authors: Li Jialin , Niu Yazhi , Wang Xinyi , Qin Lupei , Li Xin-Qi 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
The novel weak-value-amplifification (WVA) scheme of precision metrology is deeply rooted in the quantum nature of destructive interference between the pre- and post-selection states. And, an alternative version, termed as joint WVA (JWVA), which employs the difference-signal from the post-selection accepted and rejected results, has been found possible to achieve even better sensitivity (two orders of magnitude higher) under some technical limitations (e.g. misalignment errors). In this work, after erasing the quantum coherence, we analyze the difference-signal amplifification (DSA) technique, which serves as a classical counterpart of the JWVA, and show that similar amplifification effect can be achieved. We obtain a simple expression for the amplifified signal, carry out characterization of precision, and point out the optimal working regime. We also discuss how to implement the post-selection of a classical mixed state. The proposed classical DSA technique holds similar technical advantages of the JWVA and may find interesting applications in practice.
A preliminary assessment of microplastic occurrence and their potential risk as pollutant transport vectors: A case study in Phu Ly, Ha Nam, Vietnam
Authors: Thanh Thao Le , Thuy Tram Nguyen , Thu Ha Hoang Thi , Leermakers Martine , Ngo Huong Thi Thuy 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Nowadays, microplastics are a global concern due to their potential environmental risks. However, there is currently a scarcity of data on the presence and health risks of microplastics in Southeast Asia, especially in Vietnam. This study investigated the levels of microplastics (MPs) in surface waters and sediments in Phu Ly, Ha Nam, Vietnam. MP concentrations range from 0.17 to 6.2 µg L− 1 in surface water and 3.74 to 31.23 mg kg− 1 wet-weight of sediment, respectively. Nine trace metals (TMs), including Cd, Pb, Co, Ni, Mn, Cr, As, Cu, and Zn, were detected to associate with MPs in surface water in a concentration range of 0.0004–42.75 mg/g. We hypothesized that the TMs adsorbed on the surface of MPs were strongly correlated with environmental pollution levels and hydrodynamic conditions. MPs can be viewed as transport vehicles for TMs in the aquatic environment. The link between AMR bacteria/ genes and MPs is weak, but the role of MPs in the transportation of those risks cannot be dismissed. Although the HQs of TMs associated with MPs in this study were less than 1, indicating low health risks from the pollutants, regular monitoring of MPs and other environmental concerns such as TMs and AMR are needed due to the high mobility of MPs in the ecological system.
Clinical impact of the Accelerate PhenoTest® BC system on patients with Gram-negative bacteremia and high risk of antimicrobial resistance: A prospective before-after implementation study
Authors: Tal Brosh-Nissimov , Anka Tzur , Daniel Grupel , Amos Cahan , Nir Ma'aravi , Maya Heled-Akiva , Hassan Joamis , Hanna Leskes , Barenboim Erez , Nadav Sorek 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Background: The Accelerate PhenoTest® BC system (AXDX) is a novel assay for rapid bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility (AST). We report an evaluation of its impact on treatment of patients with Gram-negative bacteremia (GNB) with a high risk of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Methods: A prospective single-center evaluation before and after implementation of AXDX in addition to standard-of-care (SOC) microbiology and antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). Patients with GNB reported during laboratory working hours and prespecified risk factors for AMR were included. The primary outcome was an ASP-oriented beneficial antimicrobial change, defined as either an escalation of an inappropriate empiric treatment or de-escalation of a broad-spectrum treatment of a susceptible organism. Main secondary outcomes were time to an appropriate treatment, antimicrobial treatment duration, length of stay (LOS) and mortality.
Results: Included were 46 and 57 patients in the pre- and post-intervention periods, respectively. The median time to an AST-oriented beneficial change was 29.2 hours vs. 49.6 hours, respectively (p<0.0001). There were no significant differences in the time to appropriate treatment, LOS or mortality. Antimicrobial treatment duration was longer during the intervention period (10 vs. 8 days, p=0.007). AXDX failed to correctly identify pathogens in all 6 cases of polymicrobial bacteremia. In two cases patient care was potentially compromised due to inappropriate de-escalation.
Conclusions: AXDX implementation resulted in a 20.4-hour shorter time to an ASP-oriented beneficial antimicrobial change. This should be weighed against the higher costs, the lack of other proven clinical benefits and the potential harm from mis-identification of polymicrobial bacteremias.
Low frequency electrical waves in ensembles of proteinoid microspheres
Authors: Mougkogiannis Panagiotis , Adamatzky Andrew 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Proteinoids (thermal proteins) are produced by heating amino acids to their melting point and initiation of polymerisation to produce polymeric chains. Amino acid-like molecules, or proteinoids, can condense at high temperatures to create aggregation structures called proteinoid microspheres, which have been reported to exhibit strong electrical oscillations. When the amino acids L-Glutamic acid (L-Glu) and L-Aspartic acid (L-Asp) were combined with electric fields of varying frequencies and intensities, electrical activity resulted. We recorded electrical activity of the proteinoid microspheres’ ensembles via a pair of differential electrodes. This is analogous to extracellular recording in physiology or EEG in neuroscience but at micro-level. We discovered that the ensembles produce spikes of electrical potential, an average duration of each spike is 26 min and average amplitude is 1 mV. The spikes are typically grouped in trains of two spikes. The electrical activity of the ensembles can be tuned by external stimulation because ensembles of proteinoid microspheres can generate and propagate electrical activity when exposed to electric fields.
Immunotoxicity of methanol extract of Entomopathogenic fungi, Aspergillus niger (OM514698) against House fly (Musca domestica) larva
Authors: MANICKKAM JAYAKUMAR , MOSES JEMIMAH PERSIS 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
The entomopathogenic fungus obtained from insect cadaver was identified using preliminary morphological identification and species confirmation using DNA extraction by CTAB method. The entomopathogenic fungus strain was identified as Aspergillus niger (OM514698). Methanolic extract of fungal pathogen A. niger (OM514698) was tested against larval populations of House fly, Musca domestica at five different concentrations. At higher concentration (2%), 62% mortality was observed. The LC50 and LC90 values were 1.56% and 3.18% respectively. The interaction between the toxic metabolites and the housefly larva were studied based on their immune response. The immune response includes Total Haemocyte Count (THC), Differential Haemocyte Count (DHC), Phenoloxidase activity. The Total Haemocyte Count (943.7cells/mm3) decreased in comparison with control (1774.6 cells/mm3). Five different types of cells such as Prohaemocytes, Plasmatocytes, Granulocytes, Spherulocytes and Oenocytoids were observed. In the current study, the number of prohaemocytes, granulocytes, spherulocytes and oenocytoids were increased in treated than control. Phenoloxidase activity increased than control when treated with methanol extracts of A. niger (OM514698). GC-MS analysis of methanol extracts of A. niger have shown two major compounds such as 3-Deoxy-d-mannitol (37.34%) and d-Mannose (30.77%). The results specify that methanol extract from A. niger (OM514698) could be used as immunosuppressant in the management of House fly larval population.
Seismic event classification based on a two-step convolutional neural network
Authors: Yue Long , Qu Junhao , Zhou Shaohui , Qu Bao’an , Zhang Yanwei , Xu Qingfeng 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
The identification of unnatural earthquake events is one of the tasks of earthquake rapid report. The identification accuracy is of great significance for improving the quality of earthquake catalogue and seismological research. In this work, a seven-layer convolution neural network model was constructed to identify unnatural earthquakes. First, the three-component seismic waveform was used as input to obtain the waveform image classifier, and then the time-frequency spectrum of explosion and collapse was used as input to obtain the time-frequency spectrum classifier. The two classifiers were used to identify earthquake, explosion and collapse. The model was trained and tested using 3386 seismic events of Shandong seismic network from 2017 to 2022. The events identified as explosion events by the waveform image classifier were reidentified by the time-frequency spectrum classifier. Finally, the identification accuracy of natural earthquake, explosion and collapse is 97.50%, 95.87% and 86.84% respectively, with an average identification accuracy of 96.13%. The experimental results show that the two-step convolution neural network can extract the characteristics of seismic signals from different angles, and get a good result in seismic event classification.
Azotobacter chroococcum encapsulated Chitosan/PVA composite nanofiber coated seeds for enhancing germination, seedling vigor and growth of green gram (Vigna radiata)
Authors: S KUMUTHAN M , A Lakshmanan , KG Sabarinathan , KS Subramanian , M Latha , K Raja , M Gomathi 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Seed treatment with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is an idyllic tool for improving germination, growth and productivity of crop. However, the maintenance of viable microorganisms in biofertilizers is a major issue during the seed and soil application. In this work, a superlative methodology was made for encapsulation of Azotobacter chroococcum in Chitosan/Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite nanofiber by electrospin technique and evaluated its effect in improving green gram seed quality. The morphology and functional group of microbes loaded in Chitosan/PVA nanofibers were characterized and confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscope and FT-IR. The results of microbial plating technique showed that nanofiber has maintained the viability of microbes for prolonged time. In addition, Exopolysaccharide and IAA production by Azotobacter chroococcum loaded in nanofiber was estimated and found with constructive outcomes. The bio-efficacy studies exposed that the seeds coated with Azotobacter chroococcum loaded nanofiber, improved the germination percentage, seedling vigor, plant height, plant root length, plant biomass, nodule count and nodules fresh weight. This study concluded that immobilizing PGPR bacteria in nanofiber could improve prolonged shelf-life of microbes and as a potential seed invigoration technique for smart delivery of microbes, and efficient colonization at rhizosphere for better emergence and growth.
Non-destructive Detection of Total Acid of Red Globe Grapes Based on Map Fusion Technique
Authors: GAO SHENG , XU Jianhua 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Total acid is an important indicator of the internal quality of red globe grapes. This paper proposed a non-destructive method for the determination of total acid of red globe grapes based on hyperspectral fusion technique. A non-linear LSSVM prediction model based on spectral information, image information and the fusion of the two was built respectively for total acid. The results showed that the MSC-CARS-SPA-LSSVM model of samples about total acid built by fusing the spectra after feature wavelength extraction using the MSC-CARS-SPA algorithm and the image information after dimensionality reduction by the PCA algorithm using the graph fusion technique worked best. The correlation coefficients of the prediction sets of the optimal LSSVM model was 0.9907, which improved the accuracy over the unilateral models based on spectral or image information. A new method for nondestructive detection of total acid of red globe grapes by map fusion technique was discovered.
Early Desaturation is a Predictor of Mortality in COPD
Authors: García-Talavera Ignacio , Figueira Juan Marco , Golpe Rafael , Esteban Cristobal , Amado Carlos , Aramburu Amaia , Perez Lina , Conde-Martel Alicia 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Background Oxygen desaturation during exercise is mainly observed in severe cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is associated with a worse prognosis, but little is known about the type of desaturation that causes the greatest risk of mortality.
Purpose of the research Does early desaturation produce higher mortality than other type of desaturation.?
Basic procedures We studied all of the 6-minute walk tests performed periodically at a tertiary hospital over a period of 12 years in patients with moderate or severe COPD. We classified patients as non-desaturators if they did not suffer a drop in oxygen saturation (SpO2 <88%) during the test, early desaturators if the time until desaturation was <1 minute, and late desaturators if it was longer than 1 minute. The average length of follow-up per patient was 5.6 years.
Main Findings Of the 319 patients analyzed, 126 non-desaturators, 91 non-early desaturators and 102 early desaturators were identified. The mortality analysis showed that early desaturators had a mortality of 73%, while it was 38% for non-early desaturators and 28% for non-desaturators, with a survival of 5.9 years compared to 7.5 years and 9.6 years, respectively (hazard ratio of 3.50; CI 95% 2.3-5.3; p <0.0001).
Principal Conclusions The early desaturation seen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is associated with greater mortality and is likely responsible for the poor prognosis shown globally in patients who desaturate. Patients with early desaturation have an almost 4-year shorter survival with respect to non-desaturators, and they thus require closer observation.
Adaptive Holt Winter Autoregressive Model for IoT Forecasting
Authors: Sawalha Samer , Al-Naymat Ghazi 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
In business and industry, forecasting the future values of a time series is an age-old and widely utilized data analysis strategy. IoT temporal data, used in various applications, is one of the most well-known examples of such a time series. The main problem is to forecast a future window of the data using the provided IoT temporal data. Many forecasting models that deal with such data were proposed, such as Rolling Window, SVR-RBF, ARIMA, etc. However, in the training process, these models use all available data or a previous direct window of data. As a result, the training data may contain irrelevant data patterns to the current situation, lowering the total forecasting accuracy. This paper proposes a new adaptive forecasting model called AHW-SWA by creating two models based on the Exponential Smoothing method. The first model is trained using the previous direct window of data. The second model uses an extracted data window from the far historical data with a pattern most similar to the current situation. Then an adaptive process is used to balance the predicted values from both models to achieve higher accuracy. AHW-SWA model reduces the overall forecasting error by comparing the extracted and the latest data patterns. Our model outperforms well-known models, including Rolling Window, SVR-RBF, and ARIMA.
Owner attitudes and landscape parameters drive stand structure and valuable habitats in small-scale private forests of Lower Saxony (Germany)
Authors: Hansen Peter , Tiebel Malin , Plieninger Tobias , Mölder Andreas 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Small-scale private forests cover large areas in Europe and often contain structures and habitats of high nature conservation value that are increasingly put under pressure due to a rising interest in fuelwood and wood products. We investigate the distribution of variables like living wood and deadwood volumes, management intensity, diversity and density of tree-related microhabitats recorded in 81 small-scale private forest parcels in the Lower Saxon Hills (northwest Germany). We provide an assessment of the influence of predictors like the individual forest owners’ goals and activities, as stated by them in a quantitative survey, as well as topographical parameters like parcel size, slope, landscape fragmentation and forest continuity. Our results indicate that there are two types of valuable structures in small-scale private forests: (a) slowly evolving structures like large-diameter living wood and tree-related microhabitats which mostly depend on topographical parameters that act on longer time scales, and (b) fast evolving structures like deadwood that are influenced by both owner attitudes and topographical parameters. The resulting implications for integrative forest and conservation management are discussed.
Myocardial rotational mechanics assessed by echocardiography and myocardial fibrosis are related to the formation of apical aneurysms in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Authors: Dai Silu , Wu Lina , Shi Wenqiang , Qin Junchang , Zhang Tao , Hou Suyun , Gao Ke , Han Zhengyang , Zhang Ruifang , Duan Huican 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Objectives：Apical aneurysm is a high-risk subgroup in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We aimed to explore the change of left ventricular (LV) function and myocardial fibrosis and the relationship between them and the formation of apical aneurysms in patients with HCM.
Methods and results: The study enrolled 25 HCM patients without apical aneurysms and 20 HCM patients with apical aneurysms. The presence of an apical aneurysm was determined by echocardiography or CMR. LV function was assessed by speckle-tracking echocardiography and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was assessed by CMR. Patients with HCM in two groups had similar left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), global radial strain (GRS), and global area strain (GAS). However, HCM patients with apical aneurysms had worse twist (7.49 ± 4.52° vs. 11.82 ± 5.55°, P=0.007), torsion (1.32 ± 0.81°/cm vs. 2.34 ± 0.98°/cm, P=0.001), and higher LGE than HCM patients without apical aneurysms. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that torsion (OR: 21.23; 95% CI: 1.27 to 354.26; P=0.03) and LGE (OR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.36; P=0.03) were independent parameters of apical aneurysm events in patients with HCM. When applying a cutoff value of 1.25° for torsion and LGE into a baseline model with clinical and conventional echocardiographic parameters, the new model showed a significant incremental value of torsion and LGE (P<0.001) in identifying apical aneurysm events in HCM patients. The C-statistic for this model increased from 0.65 to 0.90 when adding torsion and LGE.
Conclusion: HCM patients with apical aneurysms have impaired rotational mechanics and more pronounced fibrosis. Torsion and LGE are independent markers of apical aneurysm events in patients with HCM and could provide incremental value to baseline models in identifying apical aneurysms.
Trends in BMI-metabolic phenotypes in the United States from 1999-2018 using three definitions for metabolic health
Authors: Choi Daesung , Gujral Unjali , Narayan KM Venkat , Patel Shivani 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Objective: While a rise in bodyweight obesity has been clearly documented in US adults, changes in metabolically unhealthy obesity have not been well-studied. We report national trends in composite metabolic bodyweight phenotypes in the United States using three different criteria to define metabolic unhealthy status.
Methods: Individuals ages 30-79 assessed in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2018 were analyzed. Adults were categorized into six groups based on body mass index (BMI) and metabolic morbidity using three definitions: Adult Treatment Panel criteria-III (ATP-III), a strict definition, and insulin resistance. We estimated the age-standardized prevalence of six metabolic-BMI phenotypes and proportion of metabolically unhealthy status within each BMI classification between over time.
Results: We found considerable heterogeneity by the definition of metabolic morbidity. The prevalence of metabolic morbidity based on ATP-III and the strict definitions were stable from 1999-2018. However, the prevalence of metabolically unhealthy individuals considerably increased over the study period in all sample and weight categories when insulin resistance was used.
Conclusions: Despite the overall increase in metabolically unhealthy obesity over time, the pattern varied considerably among the three definitions for unhealthy metabolic health.
Exposure of a lead smelter in East Java, Indonesia: Characteristic, spatial distribution and potential ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in soils
Authors: Lestiani Diah Dwiana , Syahfitri Woro Yatu Niken , Adventini Natalia , Kurniawati Syukria , Damastuti Endah , Santoso Muhayatun , Biswas Biplab , Mukhtar Rita 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.