bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic performance of additional imaging tests for staging purposes in a bicentric German series of low-risk early breast cancer patients
Authors: Jung Lisa , Huwer Sarah Isabelle , Taran Florin-Andrei , Unger Clara , Müller Carolin , Solomayer Erich-Franz , Juhasz-Böss Ingolf , Neubauer Jakob 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Purpose
Low-risk early breast cancer rarely leads to the development of metastatic disease and in these patients, additional imaging test are controversial. The aim of our study was to evaluate conventional staging procedures in a bicentric German series of low-risk breast carcinoma patients.
Methods
Retrospective evaluation of all patients diagnosed with early, low-risk breast cancer at Saarland University Hospital and Freiburg University Hospital in 2017 was performed. Clinical patient characteristics, the number and type of additional imaging examinations, follow-up examinations and results were evaluated. The detection rate of metastases and the rate of false positive findings were analyzed.
Results
A total of 203 patients were included, with all patients received at least one additional imaging test. Initially, a total of 562 additional imaging examinations were performed: 166 chest x-rays, 169 upper abdominal ultrasounds, 199 bone scans, 27 computer tomographies (CT) chest and abdomen, 1 CT abdomen. 6.8% of patients had abnormal findings reported, requiring 38 additional imaging examinations. One patient (0.5%) was found to have bone metastases. The rate of false-positive findings in the performed additional imaging procedures was 6.6%.
Conclusion
Metastatic disease was detected in one of 203 patients with low-risk early breast cancer. A total of 562 examinations and additional 38 follow-up examinations were performed without detection of metastasis (this corresponds to approximately 3 examinations/patient). The rate of false-positive findings was 6.6%. The performance of additional imaging procedures for detection of distant metastases should be critically reconsidered in patients with low-risk early breast cancer.
Schedule risk model of water intake tunnel construction considering mood factors and its application
Authors: Li Xin , Sun Wei , Huang Jian , Bu Qingsheng , Zhang Zhiguang , Fu Honggang , Ma Yong , Zang Dongnian , Hu Jingjing , Shen Yanan 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
This study analyzes the influence of external risks associated with uncertain factors that affect water intake tunnel construction and proposes a method for predicting the expected construction period. The mood index r was used to describe the attitude of the evaluators regarding the progress of the project, which formed the basis of a construction period prediction model. The degrees of pessimism α and optimism β were introduced, and an analysis model was established using α and β to predict the construction period and completion probability. An engineering application showed that the expected construction period increased, and the completion probability decreased considerably with increasing pessimism, and the opposite trend occurred with increasing optimism. When the expected construction period was expressed as a linear function of α and β, the fitting degree reached 0.98. When the completion probability was expressed by a quadratic function of α and β, the fitting degree reached 0.97. Thus, the prediction model can be used to conduct a detailed quantitative analysis of the expected construction period and completion probability to provide accurate reference information for the evaluation of risk.
Investigation on Uniaxial Compression and Fracture Damage Mode of Prefabricated Parallel Double-Jointed Red Sandstone
Authors: Liu Zhanxin , Xie Xiaojuan , Ding Kun , Xiao Yajun , Zhang Zhengqi 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

In order to study the strength characteristics and damage characteristics of parallel double jointed red sandstone, physical uniaxial compression tests were carried out on parallel double jointed red sandstone filled with cement mortar under different geometric parameters. A method for calculating stress intensity factor of parallel double-jointed fractures was proposed. The results show that the larger the connectivity rate of collinear joints, the smaller the peak stress and strain. When the length of rock bridge decreases, the peak stress changes greatly. When the collinear joint is close to connectivity, the axial peak strain changes greatly, and the increase of connectivity rate will affect the change rate of transverse strain in the center of rock bridge. When the length and dip angle of the rock bridge remain unchanged, the closer the dip angle of the joint is, the lower the peak stress is and the shorter the failure time is. The failure mode of joint tip penetration affects the lateral displacement of the center of the rock bridge, and the displacement is always close to the first failure part. The closer the joint tip is to the load, the easier the end-face penetrating cracks occur.
Effect of tumor-associated macrophage on survival prognosis of prostate cancer
Authors: Ou Yitian , Xia Chengxing , Liu Mingming , Jiang Haiyang , Zhu Yong , Yang Delin 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Background. Prostate cancer (PCa) has become the highest incidence of malignant tumor among men in the world. Tumor microenvironment (TME) is necessary for tumor growth. This research aimed at the role of M2 macrophages polarization in PCa.
Methods. Datasets were selected from GEO and TCGA. Cluster analysis, pathway analysis were carried out. Differential-expressed-genes(DEGs) were screened and CIBERSORTx was used to calculate immune infiltration. WGCNA was used to screen the gene modules and related-genes. Cox regression analysis was carried out and redundant factors were removed. We constructed the nomogram by selecting age, T stage and M2 risk score. We further screened the DEGs between M2 high/low risk groups and analyzed the pathways, immune infiltration and most differentially expressed checkpoints between the groups.
Results. M2 macrophages promote the occurrence, development and metastases of PCa. 9 prognostic M2 related genes were screened. In M2 risk scoring model, the prognosis of high risk group was worse than low risk group. M2 risk score was an independent predictor of PCa prognosis. We further screened 34 checkpoints related to M2 risk scores.
Conclusions. M2 macrophages promote progression of prostate cancer. Based on M2 risk groups, ournomogram was proved to be effective for predicting PCa prognosis. 34 related immune checkpoints screened based on M2 risk score can be used as potential targets for follow-up study of immunotherapy.
Endoscopic Combined Intrarenal Surgery and Transcatheter Electrocoagulation Hemostasis in One-stage Tubeless Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy for Staghorn Stones
Authors: Liao Sucai , Yuan Yuan , Xu Xiang , Wei Genggeng , Lu Zhengquan , Xiong Lin 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Background
Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is the primary approach employed for managing staghorn kidney stones due to their complex anatomical characteristics and extensive branching. Given the intricate nature of these stones, treatment typically necessitates multi-tract, multi-stage PCNL. This procedure carries a substantial risk of bleeding, frequently necessitating postoperative nephrostomy tubes. Consequently, patients experience increased postoperative pain and prolonged hospital stays, further contributing to discomfort.
Objective
The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of combining percutaneous nephrolithotomy with antegrade percutaneous flexible ureteroscopic lithotomy(F-URS), along with percutaneous renal access hemostasis electrocoagulation, for the one-stage tubeless PCNL management of staghorn kidney stones.
Methods
Five patients with staghorn kidney stones underwent PCNL in the split-leg prone position. Subsequently, the percutaneous renal channel was utilized for flexible ureteroscope to assess and extract stones from each renal calyx. After successful stone removal, the percutaneous renal tract was hemostatically coagulated using a microchannel hemostatic electrocoagulation device. Nephrostomy tubes were not retained postoperatively. On the second day after surgery, a follow-up CT scan was conducted and the Foley catheter was removed. One month later, a repeat CT scan was performed, and the double-J stent was subsequently removed.
Results
All patients underwent successful tubeless PCNL, with one case involving three-channel and four cases involving single-channel PCNL. Median operative time was 100 min (range: 73 min-167 min). None of the patients experienced bleeding, fever, back pain, or other symptoms. Postoperative CT scans revealed no residual stones or perirenal leakage. All patients were discharged two days after the surgery. One month later, a follow-up CT scan was conducted, demonstrating no perirenal effusion.
Conclusion
The combination of PCNL with antegrade percutaneous F-URS, along with percutaneous renal access hemostasis electrocoagulation, offers a one-stage tubeless PCNL treatment approach for staghorn kidney stones. This approach has shown potential in enhancing the success rate of tubeless PCNL, decreasing the need for multiple percutaneous renal tracts, effectively reducing both hospital stays and postoperative pain, and improving the stone-free rate. Overall, it represents a safe and effective method. Nevertheless, due to the limited number of cases, further research is required to investigate its clinical efficacy.
Numerical Investigation of Asymmetric Strain Controlled Fatigue Behaviour Using Kinetic Theory of Fracture and Peridynamics
Authors: Vaitkunas Tomas , Griskevicius Paulius , Dundulis Gintautas , Courtin Stephan 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

Numerical fatigue process modelling is complex and still open task. Discontinuity caused by the fatigue crack requires special finite element techniques based on additional parameters, which selection has a strong effect on simulation results. Moreover, fatigue life calculation according to empirical material coefficients (e. g., Paris law) does not explain the process and coefficients should be set from experimental testing, which is not always possible. New non-local continuum mechanics formulation without spatial derivatives of coordinates – peridynamics (PD), created 20 years ago, brings new opportunities modelling discontinuities, such as fatigue crack. The fatigue process can be better described by using the atomistic approach based kinetic theory of fracture (KTF), which includes the process temperature, maximum and minimum stress, and the loading frequency in its differential fatigue damage equation. Standard 316L stainless steel specimens are tested, and then the KTF-PD fatigue simulation is run in this study. The in-house MATLAB code, calibrated from the material S-N curve, is used for the KTF-PD simulation. A novel KTF equation based on the cycle stress-strain hysteresis loop is proposed and applied to predict the fatigue life. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results, and good agreement is observed for both symmetric and asymmetric cyclic loading.
Apple tree disease detection using VGG16 &amp; Inceptionv3
Authors: Jeurkar Shardul , Devare Tanmay , Borkar Karan 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
In recent years, the term 'Precision agriculture' has gained tremendous attention due to its ability to improve crop yield while reducing its cost. This can be achieved by applying modern Machine learning and Computer vision techniques. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive study of the following deep learning models VGG16 and InceptionV3. Our approach involves training these models individually on a data-set of apple-tree leaf images, which include healthy and diseased trees,and evaluating their performance on a validation set. We also conduct experiments to compare the performance of the two models and find a distinguishable difference between their Validation accuracy. Our results show that both VGG16 and InceptionV3 achieve high accuracy in detecting apple tree diseases, with InceptionV3 outperforming VGG16 slightly. We believe that our method can be applied in real-world scenarios to help farmers detect and manage diseases in their apple trees, leading to higher crop yield and reduced costs.
Effective Rank and Dimensionality Reduction: From Complex Disaggregation Back to a Simple World
Authors: Tsoulfidis Lefteris 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
In recent years, we are witnessing renewed interest in the capital theory controversies, in which the empirically found near-linearities of the price-rate of profit and wage-rate of profit curves take centre stage. This article argues that these near-linearities are resulting from the low effective rank property characterizing the economy’s system matrices of technological coefficients. The implication is that it takes only a few eigenvalues and respective eigenvectors for an adequate representation of the movement of prices consequent upon changes in income distribution. Furthermore, a low-dimensional system may compress some of the characteristic features of the economy.
JEL Classifications: B24, B51, C67, D46, D57, E11, E32
The costs and benefits of clean cooking policies in low- and middle-income countries under real-world conditions
Authors: Jeuland Marc , Das Ipsita , Galeos Selena , Xue Yutong , Zong Jiahui , Lewis Jessica , Fujita-Conrads Ryanne , Williams Kendra , Troncoso Karin , Adair-Rohani Heather 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Clean cooking technologies have the potential to deliver tremendous health, environmental, climate, and gender equity benefits. We use the BAR-HAP model to analyze the regional and global costs and benefits of policies to support household-level transitions to cleaner technologies. The analysis provides realistic, evidence-based estimates of the impacts of policy interventions, while remaining conservative about factors such as stove usage rates, subsidy leakage rates, and exposure levels. These conservative assumptions notwithstanding, policies supporting a clean cooking transition would still deliver net benefits of 1.4 trillion USD from 2020–2050 across 120 LMICs; those including some promotion of improved stoves have lower net social benefits. Most monetized benefits are from health – especially mortality – improvements, followed by averted CO2e. Although substantial investment will be needed to realize these benefits, the economic case for scaling up policy action is strong. Identifying effective policies to achieve more exclusive clean fuel use would only increase benefits.
Electrochemical Determination of Eugenol Using a Poly-γ-Aminobutyric Acid Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode
Authors: Yin Mingjing , Liu Shanshan , Ma Xinying , Meng Xiangyan , Chao Mingyong 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Eugenol, an active substance widely used in the medical, food, and cosmetic industries, has garnered increasing attention due to its potential adverse effects on human health resulting from excessive use. In this study, a sensitive sensor for the determination of eugenol was developed by electropolumerizing γ-aminobutyric acid (gABA) onto the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Experiments showed that the poly γ-aminobutyric acid (pgABA) membrane exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of eugenol, and its oxidation peak current was greatly increased. Under optimized conditions, the oxidation peak current of eugenol was linearly proportional to its concentration in a range of 0.6 to 100 µmol/L, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9985 and a detection limit of 0.2 µmol/L. The sensor’s ability to detect eugenol in various authentic samples, with recovery rates ranging from 98.0–101.3%, attests to its great potential for practical application.
Self-consistent state-to-state kinetic modeling of CO2 cold plasmas: insights on the role of electronically excited states
Authors: Pietanza L. D. , Colonna G. , Capitelli M. 
Published: July 2023

Abstract

This study focus on the role of electronically excited states in the kinetics of CO2 cold non-equilibrium plasma discharges by means of a state-to-state OD kinetic model based on the simultaneous and self-consistent solution of the electron Boltzmann equation and the master equations describing the vibrationally and electronically excited state kinetics and the plasma composition. A new CO2 dissociation model based on the use of the Biagi electron impact excitation cross sections, considered as fully dissociative, of several CO2 electronic excited states, in the energy range from 6.5 eV and 25 eV, is tested and compared with the results obtained by using the Phelps database in typical glow discharge and microwave discharge conditions. Moreover, a refinement of the kinetics of the \(\text{C}\text{O}\left({\text{a}}^{3}{\Pi }\right)\) excited state is proposed by including new production and loss terms and the effect of the change of its time evolution density on the eedf, the electron temperature, the CO2 and CO vibrational distribution functions, electron impact and vibrational induced dissociation rates is investigated. Finally, the contribution of the \(\text{C}\text{O}\left({\text{a}}^{3}{\Pi }\right)\) state to CO2 dissociation is examined in terms of production and recombination (or back-reaction) processes both in microwave and glow discharge conditions.
Study of Medical Image Classification with Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning: Chest X‐ray Images Classification As an Example
Authors: Yang Pan , Su Bo , Liu Minxian , Zhang Wei , Hu Yiling 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Due to the widespread adoption of medical image classification based on machine learning techniques in research in the medical field, safeguarding data privacy has emerged as a significant concern. In order to protect the privacy of medical image data and ensure the accuracy of classification methods, our approach integrates federated learning with blockchain technology. Federated learning facilitates model training without exposing the raw data, while blockchain technology guarantees data integrity and security. Simultaneously, we incorporate homomorphic encryption into the training process of the model for enhanced privacy protection in federated learning. Furthermore, we propose a blockchain partition storage strategy to lower storage consumption in the blockchain network. Experimental results demonstrate that this method not only effectively ensures the privacy of medical image data without substantially compromising model accuracy, but also enhances model robustness.
Impact of HER2-low Breast Cancer on Survival in Denmark: A Nationwide Investigation (2007-2019)
Authors: Sode Michael , Nielsen Kåre , Jensen Maj-Britt , Berg Tobias , Knoop Ann , Ejlersen Bent , Laenkholm Anne-Vibeke 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Background. With the development of new antibody-drug conjugates targeting the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), breast cancer (BC) with low levels of HER2 expression (HER2-low) is emerging as a potential distinct entity. Studies of HER2-low populations have found varying impacts on survival compared with HER2 0 BC. We, therefore, investigated the prognosis of breast cancer (BC) with low levels of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression (HER2-low) in the national Danish Breast Cancer Group (DBCG) database.
Methods. A retrospective non-interventional investigation was carried out to examine the prognosis of female patients with BC treated with curative intent in Denmark from 2007 to 2019. Patients were grouped as either HER2 0 or HER2-low (immunohistochemical HER2 score 1+ or 2+ without HER2 gene amplification). The primary endpoint was time to recurrence (TR), and the secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and distant recurrence (DR).
Results. 41,610 patients were included (12,981 with HER2 0 BC and 28,829 with HER2-low BC). HER2-low BC was associated with higher levels of estrogen receptor (ER) expression, lower histological grade, and more frequent lymph node involvement compared to HER2 0 BC. HER2-low BC was associated with a lower TR from year 0 to 2.5 (hazard ratio (HR) 0.86, 0.77;0.97), but not beyond 2.5+ years. Regarding secondary endpoints, HER2-low disease was only linked to improved OS within the initial 0-2.5 years (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.94), while no statistically significant effect was detected otherwise.
Conclusions. HER2-low BC was a statistically significant factor for the primary outcome TR, but the effect was relatively small compared to the large number of patients. Further prospective studies are needed to conclusively determine if HER2-low BC is a separate subtype, but this study suggests that the effect of HER2-low is not very significant compared with HER2-0 BC.
A Comparative Study of Gender Bias Mitigation Techniques and the Role of Implicit Stereotypes
Authors: Sobhani Nasim , Delany Sarah Jane 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Natural language models and systems have been shown to reflect gender bias existing in training data.
This bias can impact on the downstream task that machine learning models, built on this training data, are to accomplish. A variety of techniques have been proposed to mitigate gender bias in training data.

In this paper we compare different gender bias mitigation approaches on a classification task.
We consider mitigation techniques that manipulate the training data itself, including data scrubbing, gender-swapping, and counterfactual data augmentation approaches. We consider how gender neutralization , which replaces gender-specific terms with their gender-neutral equivalents, performs as a bias mitigation technique. We evaluate the effectiveness of the different approaches at reducing gender bias in the training data and consider the impact on task performance. We also look at the impact that de-biased word embeddings in the representation of the training data have on gender bias mitigation.
Our results show that the performance of the classification task is not affected adversely by many of them but we show a significant variation in the effectiveness of the different gender bias mitigation techniques.

These gender bias mitigation approaches typically focus on lexical or explicit gender in text and while these approaches reduce gender bias in training data, they do not remove it completely.
We investigate the source of gender bias in the training data through the use of stereotypical masculine and feminine words that can signal gender implicitly due to gender roles or behaviour. We show how certain words which have an associated implicit gender may contribute to gender bias, even after attempts to neutralize gender in language.
Robust Adaptive Sidelobe and Interference Suppression for Uniform Circular Array Antenna Based on Back-propagation Neural Network
Authors: khamis Mossalam , Zhang Sheng 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
In the last decades, the uniform circular array antenna has been used extensively in wireless and satellite communications, especially in 5G. However, it suffers from high side-lobe interference. This paper proposes Back-propagation neural network (BPNN) algorithm to reduce the side-lobe levels. Via the gradient descent algorithm to adjust the weight of each neural network neuron. The result achieved excellent side-lobe suppression. The Back-propagation compares with other adaptive side-lobe suppression techniques (LMS) algorithms and (MVDR) to validate the algorithm’s efficiency. The method has a good learning impact and forms a deep narrow notch at main lobe interference.