bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of Chemotherapy Treatment on the Functionality and Quality of Life of Cancer Patients
Authors: Zancanaro Isabela , Ceron Leandra , Zanini Sara Broll , Bottega Marcela Paula Pegoraro , Araújo Bruno , Spanholi Monique Manfron , de Andrades Paloma Kohl , Baptistella Antuani Rafael 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTBackground and PurposeCancer is one of the most prevalent diseases in the general population, and is one of the main causes of changes in the population's illness profile. In this study, we assessed changes in the functional status and quality of life of patients in the first months of chemotherapy treatment.MethodA prospective cohort study was carried out, collecting data from cancer patients seen at an outpatient clinic in the Midwest of Santa Catarina who had breast, lung, colon and rectum, prostate and head and neck cancer. Patients were assessed at four different times, the first at diagnosis and the following at 1‐month intervals after the previous assessment. The assessment included the sociodemographic profile, weight, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Timed Up & Go test (TUG test), Karnofsky Performance Status Scale and the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire. Statistical analyses were carried out using the IBM SPSS program, considering statistical significance p < 0.05.ResultsIn a sample of 145 patients, there was no statistically significant reduction in the functional independence and weight of the patients followed up despite the treatment instituted; moreover, they did not show significant changes in their mobility capacity. The Karnofsky Scale was directly impacted by tumor staging.DiscussionThese results showed that patients with different tumors and staging at diagnosis, despite different degrees of disability, did not suffer significant changes in quality of life and self‐sufficiency in the first 4 months of treatment.
The European honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) as an ally for the control of the invasive yellow‐legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax)
Authors: Martín‐Ávila Jorge Ángel , Díaz‐Aranda Luisa María , Fernández‐Pereira José Manuel , Rebollo Salvador 
Published: January 2025

AbstractBACKGROUNDBiological control in integrated pest management (IPM) often overlooked avian predators until the emergence of the ecosystem services approach. Birds are now recognized as key regulators of pest populations in agroforestry landscapes due to their high mobility. The invasive yellow‐legged hornet, introduced into Europe in 2004, threatens agriculture, beekeeping and native pollinators. We aimed to determine whether European honey buzzard attacks on yellow‐legged hornet nests reduce the densities of individuals (workers) in summer and full‐grown colonies in November around the raptor's nests in southwestern Europe.RESULTSWe analyzed honey‐buzzard foraging patterns of 11 individuals during breeding using trail cameras and GPS emitters to locate attacked hornet nests. The average mode distance from raptor nests to the attacked hornet nests was 1234.7 m, with 89.3% of attacked nests destroyed. We assessed the change in the abundance of hornet workers and in the density of full‐grown nests over distance in the vicinity of 17 honey‐buzzard nests and 10 control points, finding a significant decline of −0.000116 workers h−1 m−1 within 1000 m of a raptor nest. This impact intensified as the breeding season progressed. However, no significant effect on the density of full‐grown hornet nests was observed.CONCLUSIONThese results are of interest for the management of the exotic hornet, at least on the abundance of workers and at a small scale in the proximity of honey‐buzzard nests. These raptors should be considered allies in the fight against hornet populations and included in IPM programmes as a native controller of the pest. © 2025 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
Quality and Reliability Assessment of Electrical Units in Accelerated Life Testing via Bayesian Statistical Approach
Authors: Mansour Mahmoud M. M. , Mohamed Nagwa M. 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTThis study discusses predicting the survival times of some electrical units over future time subjected to an accelerated life test (ALT), namely the step stress ALT. Due to the longevity of the tested units, a censoring scheme is applied, namely the type I censoring scheme, to limit the time of the applied test. The main theme of this paper is to assess the quality of the tested items, based on Bayesian estimation, to guarantee that these units are more reliable and can compete in the world markets.
Multiclass Steroid Profiling in Short‐Finned Pilot Whale Blubber Using Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS)
Authors: Wisse Jillian H. , Nowacek Douglas P. , Boggs Ashley S. P. 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTRationaleWildlife scientists are quantifying steroid hormones in a growing number of tissues and employing novel methods that must undergo validation before application. This study tested the accuracy and precision of liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) methods for use on blubber samples from short‐finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). We expanded upon a method for corticosteroid quantification by adding analytes and optimizing internal standard (IS) application.MethodsWe optimized a method for the quantification of seven steroid hormones using LC‐MS/MS with a C18 column. We assessed the accuracy and precision of this updated C18 method and an existing biphenyl method for use with pilot whale blubber by conducting a spike recovery experiment and calculating percent recovery and relative standard deviation (RSD) for each analyte. To explore the potential for running this method with fewer matched ISs, we compared the performance of multiple ISs for each analyte.ResultsAll 11 adrenal and gonadal analytes showed good accuracy and precision in the spike recovery experiment, with recoveries between 82% and 110% and recovery RSDs below 10%. The C18 method detected all analytes at endogenous concentrations, except aldosterone. Although endogenous DHEA was detected, variability was high. IS comparisons showed 10 of 11 analytes could be calculated with comparable accuracy and precision using an IS substitute, but some substitutions significantly altered the analyte concentrations calculated.DiscussionThe C18 method was not sensitive enough for endogenous aldosterone detection. DHEA, which has not been previously quantified in blubber, was detected in all samples, but with high variability at lower concentrations. The methods in this study provide reliable detection and quantification of the other nine hormones tested and can be used for assessments of adrenal and gonadal steroid hormones from whales. Laboratories can reduce costs through IS substitution but should consider how these substitutions affect results.
Metabolomic Analysis of Patients With Patent Foramen Ovale and Migraine Using Liquid Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry Technology
Authors: Tuerxun Paerhati , Gong Peng‐fei , Nizhamuding Dilimulati , Yang Yan , Ye Hai‐tao , Xie Yang , Li Xiu‐fen 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTObjectiveThis study aims to examine the changes in metabolic profiles in patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO) and migraine, as well as in patients with isolated migraine, before and after surgical intervention using metabolomics.MethodsPatients were categorized into four groups: the simple migraine (SM) group, the PFO with migraine preoperative group (PRE), the PFO with migraine postoperative Day 3 group (POST_3d), and the PFO with migraine postoperative Day 30 group (POST_30d). Untargeted metabolomics using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) were employed to identify differential metabolites across these groups. Differential metabolites were identified, their clinical diagnostic value was assessed, and a correlation analysis was conducted to examine changes in metabolic pathways before and after surgery.ResultsThe expression levels of metabolites such as linoleic acid, quinolinic acid, homophenylalanine, and amphetamine showed significant changes in patients with PFO and migraine following surgery. Notably, linoleic acid demonstrated strong diagnostic potential for this patient population. Trend analysis revealed that the levels of 3‐phenylpropionic acid and caffeine decreased on postoperative Day 3 and subsequently increased by postoperative Day 30, whereas gallic acid continuously declined. Compared to the PRE group, differential metabolites in the SM group were primarily associated with α‐linolenic acid metabolism, niacin and nicotinamide metabolism, sphingolipid signaling, and tyrosine metabolism. In contrast, differential metabolites in the POST_3d group were predominantly enriched in phenylalanine metabolism, niacin and nicotinamide metabolism, protein digestion and absorption, and caffeine metabolism.ConclusionLinoleic acid may serve as a potential biomarker, and the activation of inflammation and oxidative stress‐related pathways could contribute significantly to the development of complicated migraine in patients with PFO.
Home literacy interventions and children's emergent literacy and oral language skills: A systematic review and discussion of underlying mechanisms
Authors: Silva‐Chelles Emanuelle , Viana Natalia , Mata Fernanda , Lopes‐Silva Julia 
Published: January 2025

AbstractFamily literacy interventions, encompassing both meaning‐ and code‐based activities, have generally demonstrated positive outcomes in fostering children's literacy and oral language skills. Despite the overall positive impact, the effectiveness of these interventions varies, and the distinction between the specific mechanisms underlying each approach to home literacy activities remains unclear. This article systematically reviews existing evidence on home literacy interventions, aiming to provide a clearer understanding of meaning‐ and code‐based activities' roles in promoting children's literacy and oral language development. Our findings suggest that code‐based activities are more effective in enhancing literacy skills, while meaning‐based activities, particularly shared and dialogic reading, most effectively support oral language development. However, a strict separation between the two was not supported, as many studies implemented multiple intervention types concurrently. The most successful interventions included active conversational turns and clear strategies for parental involvement. Further research is needed to disentangle the specific contributions of code‐ and meaning‐based activities in home literacy interventions.
Event‐Based Prescribed‐Time Containment Control for Multiple Euler–Lagrange Systems via Super‐Twisting Sliding Mode
Authors: Wu Yuyang , Ren Hongru , Yao Deyin , Li Hongyi 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTThis article designs a distributed dynamic event‐triggered prescribed‐time sliding mode controller to tackle the containment control problem of multiple Euler–Lagrange systems (MELSs) with external disturbances and strict requirements on response speed. Unlike previous super‐twisting methods that achieve finite‐time control, this paper replaces the constant term in the time scaling function with a variable term and incorporates it into the design of the controller and dynamic event‐triggered mechanism (DETM), achieving prescribed‐time control (PTC), enhancing system robustness and reducing controller updates. Based on the sliding mode variable structure theory and PTC theory, a non‐linear sliding manifold is devised for the purpose of ensuring the convergence of containment error to zero within a prescribed time. The prescribed‐time super‐twisting sliding mode control (PTSTC) protocol is designed to ensure the prescribed‐time reachability of the sliding manifold, while attenuating chattering during the control process. The prescribed time can be set arbitrarily. To minimize the frequency of controller updates and the losses of the actuator, a DETM is deployed in the controller‐to‐actuator channel. Moreover, the absence of the Zeno phenomenon within a prescribed time is derived. Error signals are proven to converge to zero within a prescribed time using the Lyapunov stability theory and prescribed‐time stability criteria. Ultimately, a simulation of a manipulator system indicates that the designed controller effectively drives the containment error to converge to zero. Meanwhile, the number of triggers is reduced by more than 50% when the controller framework involves DETM compared to static event‐triggered mechanisms.
Enhancing Autonomous Vehicle Navigation in Complex Environment With Semantic Proto‐Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Kumar G. Anand , Mohiddin Md. Khaja , Mishra Shashi Kant , Verma Abhishek , Sharma Mousam , Naresh A. 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTDespite great progress in autonomous vehicle (AV) navigation, the technical challenges within this space are still considerable when it comes to successful integration of AVs into complex real‐world environments. To tackle these challenges, this paper presents a new semantic proto‐reinforcement learning (SP‐RL) method for dynamic path planning and real‐time obstacle avoidance of an autonomous car that can be adapted to various weather conditions in localization‐deficient environments, while predicting the human intentions of different shapes on road. This approach seeks to improve navigation capability of AV in dynamic and unstructured environments, as well as to address real‐time detection and avoidance response for obstacles more promptly while being able to adapt its decision‐making system based on weather condition by using the semantic graph network (SGN) within segmentation process therefore enhanced version configured with prototype‐based reinforcement learning (PRL). This innovation is new competitive edge compared previous existing approaches. Dynamic SGN is used to segment challenging 3D and free space environments, so that the AV can comprehend highly unintuitive areas like parking lots, construction site conditionals, or off‐road scenarios. At the same time, PRL is used to help real‐time decision‐making so the AV can quickly and precisely respond unexpected obstacles or changing environments. This approach is confirmed to be effective by extensive testing in the CARLA simulation environment, showing substantial improvement of AV navigation capability. This work demonstrates an exciting step towards solving the most fundamental problems faced by autonomous vehicles and could help to ensure that future AV systems are safer, more robust, and adaptable than current ones. It is appliable for urban areas which represent high volumes of pedestrians and vehicles, industrial sites with changing conditions that may be unpredictable at times or the challenging off‐road areas in rural geographies where typical terrains are rough, uneven, rugged yet not well‐structured. The model is robust to diverse weather conditions that make AV operations more reliable and safer. The model was tested on root mean square error (RMSE), computational time, no crash, obstacles avoidance, and success rate obtaining overall 98%.
A Smart Camera With Integrated Deep Learning Processing for Disease Detection in Open Field Crops of Grape, Apple, and Carrot
Authors: Polder Gerrit , Blok Pieter M. , van Daalen Tim , Peller Joseph , Mylonas Nikos 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTDowny mildew (Plasmopara), apple scab (Venturia inaequalis), and Alternaria leaf blight are endemic diseases that affect crops worldwide. The diseases can cause severe losses in grapes, apples and carrots when not detected and treated in an early stage. The European Union Horizon 2020 OPTIMA project aimed to improve disease detection in the open field with an automated detection system as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) system. In this research, we investigated the automated detection of downy mildew in grape, apple scab in apple and Alternaria leaf blight in carrot, using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) on RGB color images. Detections from the CNN served as input to a Decision Support System (DSS), to precisely locate and quantify the disease, so that appropriate and timely application of plant protection products could be recommended. The focus of our study was on a smart camera implementation with integrated deep‐learning processing in real‐field conditions. The question was whether the deep learning model, when trained on images of disease symptoms recorded in conditioned circumstances, can also perform on images of disease symptoms recorded in field conditions. This type of evaluation is called open‐set evaluation, and so far it has received little attention in plant disease detection research. Therefore, the goal of our research was to evaluate the performance of a deep learning model in an open‐set evaluation scenario in commercial vineyards, orchards, and open fields. The model's performance in the open‐set scenario was compared to its performance in the closed‐set scenario, which involved evaluating the trained model on images similar to those used for model training. Our results showed that the model's performance in the closed‐set scenario with F1 scores of 66.3% (downy mildew), 45.1% (apple scab), and 42.1% (Alternaria) was notably better than in the open‐set scenario, with F1 scores of 34.8% (downy mildew), 5.5% (apple scab) and 4.2% (Alternaria). Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) analysis proved the significant difference between the open‐set and closed‐set data sets. Our result should encourage other researchers to carry out similar open‐set evaluations to get realistic impressions of their model's performance under field conditions. A subset of our image data set has been made publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6778647.
Hypoxia‐Responsive Covalent Organic Framework Nanoplatform for Breast‐Cancer‐Targeted Cocktail Immunotherapy via Triple Therapeutic Switch Mechanisms
Authors: Huang Guoqin , Zhang Lianying , Feng Jiahao , Wu Dan , Wu Libo , Pan Weilun , Jiang Yu , Chen Ming , Chen Jinxiang , Shui Pixian 
Published: January 2025

AbstractCovalent organic frameworks (COFs), known for their exceptional in situ encapsulation and precise release capabilities, are emerging as pioneering drug delivery systems. This study introduces a hypoxia‐responsive COF designed to encapsulate the chemotherapy drug gambogic acid (GA) in situ. Bimetallic gold‐palladium islands were grown on UiO‐66‐NH2 (UiO) to form UiO@Au‐Pdislands (UAPi), which were encapsulated with GA through COF membrane formation, resulting in a core‐shell structure (UAPiGC). Further modification with hyaluronic acid (HA) created UiO@Au‐Pdislands@GA‐COF@HA (UAPiGCH) for enhanced tumor targeting. In the hypoxic tumor microenvironment, the COF collapses, releasing GA and UAPi, initiating a triple therapeutic response: nanozyme‐catalyzed therapy, near‐infrared II (NIR‐II) mild photothermal therapy (mild‐PTT), and chemotherapy. UAPi exhibits catalase (CAT)‐like and peroxidase (POD)‐like activities, generating oxygen to alleviate hypoxia and reactive oxygen species (ROS) for tumor destruction. GA acts as a chemotherapeutic agent and inhibits heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), enhancing photothermal sensitivity. In vitro and in vivo studies confirm UAPiGCH’s ability to induce pyroptosis, stimulate dendritic cell maturation, and boost T cell infiltration, demonstrating its potential as a precise therapeutic nanoplatform. This strategy integrates multiple therapies into a hypoxia‐responsive system, offering promising applications in cancer treatment.
Spindle‐Shaped Ni‐Fe‐Layered Double Hydroxide: Effect of Etching Time on Flexible Energy Storage
Authors: Nair Keerthi M. , Ajith Sindhya , Paul Febin , Pallilavalappil Sreedhanya , Thomas Nishanth , Hinder Steven J. , Manjakkal Libu , Pillai Suresh C. 
Published: January 2025

AbstractThe rising demand for efficient energy storage in flexible electronics is driving the search for materials that are well‐suited for the fabrication of these devices. Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs) stand out as a remarkable material with a layered structure that embodies exceptional electrochemical properties. In this study, both double‐shelled and single‐shelled NiFe‐Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) particles are prepared using spindle‐shaped MIL‐101(Fe) as the template. These NiFe‐LDH particles are then utilized to develop a flexible energy storage device. Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) analysis revealed that the as‐synthesized NiFe‐LDH particles transformed into hollow single‐shells from a double‐shelled structure as the aging time increased, which significantly influenced the electrochemical performances. Despite the decreasing specific capacitance and energy density with longer etching times, the sample etched for 2 h (NiFe‐LDH 2h) demonstrated the highest capacitance of 9.24 mF·cm⁻2 and an energy density of 0.46 µW·h·cm⁻2, highlighting its promising performance for energy storage applications. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed the highest Ni2+: Ni3+ ratio, and Fe: Ni ratio for NiFe‐ LDH 2h samples, which further influences the energy storage properties. The ability to maintain the high performance of these materials across different bending angles further emphasizes its versatility and relevance in emerging flexible electronics markets.
The Dual‐Purpose of Deeper Life Interactions: An Opportunity to Influence Hearts and Minds and the Bottom Line
Authors: Erck Ryan W. , Strehlow Sean 
Published: January 2025

ABSTRACTDeeper life interactions with students—which include conversations and relationships that occur around meaning, value, and purpose—have been shown to positively influence student success. The promotion of these interactions offers a dual‐purpose: help retain students and impact the student experience beyond retention. In doing so, these interactions have a utilitarian purpose as well as a humanizing one. This chapter emphasizes the value of these interactions and explores opportunities for faculty to weave deeper life practices into their pedagogy in curricular and cocurricular spaces. Through deeper life interactions, faculty can more fully participate in rehumanizing the educational experience while helping their institutions flourish.