bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Informed consent in cancer drug clinical trials in China: a narrative literature review of the past 20 years
Authors: wang xiaomin , Liu Xing , Lu Xiaoran , Zhou Wei , Hahne Jessica , Khoshnood Kaveh , Shi Xiaoting 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
BackgroundAlthough the number of cancer drug clinical trials is increasing rapidly in China, issues concerning informed consent in this research context are currently understudied. By performing a narrative literature review, we aim to describe the current situation and identify the most salient challenges affecting informed consent in cancer drug clinical trials among adult patients in China since 2000.MethodsWe searched Web of Science (WOS), PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library databases, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature Database on Disc (CBMdisc), Chinese Scientific Journals Fulltext Database (CQVIP) and WANFANG to identify relevant publications since 2000. Data were extracted by three reviewers on 6 items pertaining to study type, theme and challenges.ResultsWe identified 37 unique manuscripts, from which 19 full texts were obtained and six were included in the review. A review of references cited by the six eligible studies did not result in identifying additional eligible studies. All six studies were published in Chinese journals, and the publication years of the majority (five out of six) of the studies were 2015 or later. The authors of the six studies were all from clinical departments or ethical review committees at five hospitals in China. All of the included publications were descriptive studies. Publications reported challenges related to the following aspects of informed consent: information disclosure, patient understanding, quality of information disclosure, voluntariness, authorization, and procedural steps.ConclusionBased on our analysis of publications over the past two decades, there are currently frequent challenges related to various aspects of informed consent in cancer drug clinical trials in China. Furthermore, only a limited number of high-quality research studies on informed consent in cancer drug clinical trials in China are available to-date. Efforts toward improvement of informed consent practice, in the form of guidelines or further regulations in China, should draw on both experience from other countries and high-quality local evidence.
Deep learning based one-dimensional inversion of magnetotelluric data, and an application in the southwestern Athabasca Basin, Canada
Authors: Liu Xiaojun , Craven James A , Tschirhart Victoria 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
The magnetotelluric (MT) method uses the earth’s natural electromagnetic signals to image the resistivity distribution of the subsurface. Its application is widespread in studies to improve our understanding of the lithospheric architecture, earthquake zones, and for the exploration of natural resources, such as critical minerals and geothermal energy. Inversion of MT data is a fundamental step in the data analysis routine to retrieve a subsurface geo-electrical model that can be used to inform geological interpretations. In order to reduce the effect of non-uniqueness and the local minimum trapping problems of conventional deterministic inversion, a data-driven mathematical method with a deep neural network can be used to estimate the subsurface properties in many geophysical inversion techniques. In this study, we investigate a deep learning (DL) inversion method composed of a multi-head convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture for 1-D MT data analysis. We created synthetic datasets consisting of 100,000 random samples of resistivity layers to train the CNN model parameters. The trained model was validated with independent synthetic datasets, and the predicted resistivity distribution displayed an acceptable resolution and reliability, which demonstrate the potential application of DL inversion for MT data. The trained CNN model was used to analyze real MT data collected in the southwestern Athabasca Basin, Canada. Predicted results from the DL method displayed a similar subsurface resistivity distribution with traditional iterative inversion. Because this approach can predict a resistivity model without multiple forward modelling operations after the trained CNN model is created, this framework is suitable to speed up multidimensional MT inversion for predicting subsurface resistivity.
Persistent lymphopenia after chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy predicted unfavorable outcome in breast cancer patients - a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Dong Minjun , Zhuo Wenying , Luo Liang , Luo Lixi , Shen Jianguo , Yu Haitao , Lu Yi , Chen Danzhi , Chen Wenjun , Zhao Wenhe , Wang Linbo , Wu Zhongyu 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background: Lymphopenia was often observed during follow-up for cancer patients, this study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of prolonged lymphopenia for breast cancer patients. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis of 296 patients with clinical stage I-III operable breast cancer, who had received chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Absolute lymphocyte count lower than 1.1×10^3/ul was defined as lymphopenia. Lymphopenia around the 6th month after chemo-radiotherapy was defined as cohort L, while normal Absolute lymphocyte count was defined as cohort N. Predictors of lymphopenia were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between the two cohorts. Results: The baseline characteristics analysis: comparing to cohort N, cohort L had more Stage III(47.4% vs. 25.5%) and less Stage I cancer(12.3% vs. 20.1%)(p=0.005), more patients experienced combined chemotherapy regimen(86.0% vs. 69.5%, p=0.012), more patients experienced radiotherapy(78.9% vs. 64.9%, p=0.041), and less patients experienced endocrine therapy(54.4% vs. 68.2%, p=0.049). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed two negative independent factors associated with DFS: pTNM staging (stage II vs. I: HR=5.346, 95% CI: 2.286-12.504, p<0.001; stage III vs. II: HR=3.089, 95% CI:1.739-5.487, p<0.001), and ALC status 6 months after chemo- and/or radiotherapy (HR=2.445, 95% CI: 1.577-3.788, p<0.001). Cohort L had significantly shorter DFS (log rank: p< 0.001), as well as significantly shorter OS (log rank: p< 0.001).Conclusion: Persistent lymphopenia after chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy was an independent predictor for breast cancer relapse and unfavorable survival.
Motivation and retention of primary healthcare workers in rural health facilities: An exploratory qualitative study of Chipata and Chadiza Districts, Zambia.
Authors: Manda Kenneth , Silumbwe Adam , Kombe Maureen Mupeta , Hangoma Peter 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
BackgroundRural areas have the most pressing health needs in most low-and-middle-income countries and yet they face the largest shortage of human resources for health. This reality cripples the already fragile local healthcare systems as they struggle with how best to motivate and retain health workers in rural areas. This study sought explore the factors that shape motivation and retention of primary health workers in rural facilities of Chipata and Chadiza Districts, Zambia.MethodsThe study adopted a qualitative research study design using a phenomenological and exploratory approach. The data consisted of 28 in-depth interviews and observations with health workers at selected rural health facilities in Chipata and Chadiza Districts of the Eastern province of Zambia. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis approach with the use of NVivo software. ResultsThree thematic categories were identified by the participants as factors that influence the motivation and retention of primary health workers in rural facilities. Firstly, opportunities for career advancement through study leave and attendance of workshops accounted for motivation and retention. The second factor was related to the work environment which comes with stimulating tasks, promotion opportunities as well as co-worker recognition and relationships. Thirdly, the rural community dynamics of reduced cost of living, recognition, community and local support, and access to land for farming were found to contribute to the motivation and retention of rural health workers. ConclusionWhile motivational factors vary, opportunities for career advancement, stimulating and challenging tasks, opportunities for promotion, and co-worker recognition are core factors that can engender retention of rural health workers. Interventions are required to enhance rural health worker motivation and retention, including strengthening the supervision system, developing career progression pathways, and ensuring clear and transparent incentives. Strategies around retention need to be addressed as these would better enable rural primary health workers to cope with the challenging conditions they work in rural areas.
Shape of dental arches after self-ligating appliance in adolescents: A 30-week prospective study.
Authors: Lewy Stephanie , Albert Adelin , Bruwier Annick 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Objective
To analyze the variability of dental arches shape before and after alignment with a passive bimaxillar Damon® self-ligating fixed appliance in adolescents.
Material and methods
55 patients aged 13 years, with definitive denture, were enrolled. The dental arch was assessed before (T1) and after a 30-week dental alignment period (T2). The archwire was changed every 6 weeks at each orthodontic appointment, following the Damon® protocol. In addition to the linear measurement, the Superimposition Penin Analysis (SPA) based on Procrustes method was used to superimpose and discriminate dental arches shape.
Results
Transverse and sagittal dental arch distances taken on casts significantly increased from T1 to T2. The dental arches superimpositions revealed a significant decrease of the shape variability from T1 to T2. There was a great variability of dental arch shapes at T1, probably dependent from the morphologic type and then the muscular environment or an eventual osteopathic disease. This study highlighted that the mean dental arch shape at the end of treatment was close to a parabola: rounded at the front, narrow at the back with an expansion of the premolar area.
Conclusion
Contrary to the theoretical concept of the self-ligating fixed appliances, dental arches evidenced uniformity at T2. The results did not indicate any individual development of the dental arch shape.
Vertical tearing of subducting slabs controlled by geometry and rheology of oceanic plates
Authors: Chen Yaguang , Chen Hanlin , Liu Mingqi , Gerya Taras 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Vertical tearing (VT) of subducting slabs is documented in the majority of subduction systems worldwide as the primary process to adjust slab lateral deformation along subduction zones. However, the rheological mechanisms, physical controls, and dynamics of this process remain controversial. Here, we employed 3D thermo-mechanical numerical modelling to systematically investigate the evolution and possible controlling factors of VT in a homogenous subducting oceanic plate with an initially offset trench geometry corresponding to the transform boundary. Numerical results suggest that this geometry can cause self-sustained mode-III (out-of-plane shear) VT that operates during the entire subduction process. The long-term stability of the VT can be attributed to dynamical trench instability that causes a preference for segmented trenches compared to gently curved trenches and oblique subduction. An intense strain weakening greatly facilitates strain localization and favors the brittle-plastic mechanism of VT. Without strain weakening, a pronounced slab flexure develops in front of propagating VT driven by ductile deformation. Comparison of numerical modeling results to observations suggests that dynamical trench instability producing mode-III VT is broadly developed in modern subduction and collision zones.
Analysis of risk factors for gastrointestinal fistula after duodenal perforation repair
Authors: Liu Jianping , Xue Xiaojun , Zhou Song , Wang Shaoyi 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background: Duodenal ulcer perforation repair is a conventional procedure, but clinically, approximately 4% of patients develop gastrointestinal fistula after perforation repair, increasing the risk of death. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 168 patients at our hospital to explore risk factors for gastrointestinal fistula after perforation repair and provided some suggestions.Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted by collecting clinical data of 168 patients who underwent duodenal ulcer perforation repair at the General Surgery Department, Affiliated Dongnan Hospital of Xiamen University from January 2012 to January 2022. Patients' general data, relevant preoperative and intraoperative indices, and association with postoperative duodenal fistula were analyzed. The χ2 test or Fisher's exact test was employed for count data, the t-test for measurement data, variables with P < 0.05 in univariate analysis were included in the logistic regression model in multivariate analysis and developed a nomogram to predict the probability of gastrointestinal fistula after perforation repair.The variables with independent risk factors were analyzed with ROC curves.In the internal validation of performance of nomogram ,the C-index and AUC of the model was 0.896（95％CI 0.81-0.98）which demonstrated the nomogram model was well calibrated.Result: In this study, 156 patients (92.9%) did not develop fistulas after duodenal perforation repair and 12 patients (12.1%) developed fistulas. In univariate analysis, there were significant differences between the two groups in age, shock, NSAIDs, albumin, and perforation size (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that albumin and perforation diameter were independent risk factors for gastrointestinal fistula after duodenal perforation repair. The area under the ROC curve for perforation diameter was 0.737, p-value was 0.006, the optimal cutoff point was 11.5, sensitivity was 58.3%, and specificity was 93.6%.Conclusion: Low albumin and perforation diameter are independent risk factors for gastrointestinal fistula after duodenal perforation repair. ROC analysis showed that a perforation diameter of 11.5 mm or greater should be considered for the development of gastrointestinal fistula. If a postoperative gastrointestinal fistula develops, a drainage tube or jejunal feeding tube should be placed to reduce the burden of suturing and nutritional support.
Favoring the hierarchical constraint in penalized survival models for randomized trials in precision medicine
Authors: Belhechmi Shaima , Teuff Gwénaël Le , De Bin Riccardo , Rotolo Federico , Michiels Stefan 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Background: The research of biomarker-treatment interactions is commonly investigated in randomized clinical trials (RCT) for improving medicine precision. The hierarchical interaction constraint states that an interaction should only be in a model if its main effects are also in the model. However, this constraint is not guaranteed in the different penalized statistical approaches used for high-dimensional data selection. Results: To favor the property of the hierarchical interaction constraint, we proposed to create groups composed of the biomarker main effect and its interaction with treatment and to perform the bi-level selection on these groups. We proposed two weighting approaches (Single Wald (SW) and likelihood ratio test (LRT)) for the adaptive lasso method. The selection performance of these two approaches is compared to alternative lasso extensions (adaptive lasso with ridge-based weights, composite Minimax Concave Penalty, group exponential lasso and Sparse Group Lasso) through a simulation study. A RCT (NSABP B-31) randomizing 1574 patients (431 events) with early breast cancer aiming to evaluate the effect of adjuvant trastuzumab on distant-recurrence free survival with expression data from 462 genes measured in the tumour will serve for illustration. The simulation study illustrates that the adaptive lasso LRT and SW favored the hierarchical interaction constraint (with a ratio between the number of selected main effects and selected interactions greater than 50%). Overall, in the alternative scenarios, they had the best balance of false discovery and false negative rates for the main effects of the selected interactions. For NSABP B-31, 12 genes for which interaction with treatment was selected more than 20% were identified by the different methods. Among them, the adaptive lasso (SW) approach offered the best trade-off between a high number of selected gene-treatment interactions and a high proportion of selection of both the gene-treatment interaction and its main effect.Conclusions: Adaptive lasso with Single Wald and likelihood ratio test weighting approaches outperformed their competitors in favoring the hierarchical constraint of the biomarker-treatment interaction. However, the performance of the methods tends to decrease in the presence of prognostic biomarkers.
Both central and peripheral arterial stiffness determines brachial artery resting retrograde flow in patients with ischemic heart disease and healthy human subjects
Authors: Badhwar Smriti , Chandran Dinu , Jaryal Ashok , Narang Rajiv , Patel Chetan , Deepak Kishore 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
Retrograde flow in endothelial cell cultures has been shown to induce a pro-atherogenic phenotype. Despite its potential role as a pathophysiological link between cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerotic disease, resting retrograde flows between patients with cardiovascular disease and healthy subjects have not been compared. Further, the vascular characteristics and mechanisms governing retrograde flow in human arteries have not been systematically investigated. Central and peripheral vascular characteristics and association of brachial pressure-gradient with a retrograde flow profile, was investigated in 32 healthy subjects and 47 patients with ischemic heart disease. Endothelial dysfunction was assessed by brachial ultrasound-based calculation of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and sub-clinical atherosclerosis was estimated from carotid-intima media thickness (CIMT). Retrograde blood flow velocity (RBFV) and shear rate were comparable between the two groups (RBFV 1.82(0.97–3.32) vs 1.78(1.24–2.65) cm/s p = 0.79). Augmentation index was a significant determinant of retrograde flow in both patients and healthy subjects. Carotid artery incremental elastic modulus was an independent determinant of retrograde flow patterns in healthy subjects while ejection fraction, cf/cr PWV ratio and forearm vascular conductance emerged as independent determinants in patients. Retrograde flow patterns were also associated with FMD (RBFV r = -0.43, p = 0.004) and CIMT (r = 0.30, p = 0.041) in patients. The results of the study suggest a difference in the determinants of retrograde flow in patients and healthy subjects, with central arterial stiffness being a major contributor in healthy subjects while interaction between central, peripheral, and cardio-arterial factors influence retrograde flow in patients with ischemic heart disease.
Response of Doru luteipes (Dermaptera: Forficulidae) to insecticides used in maize crop as a function of its life stage and exposure route
Authors: Moreira Luciano Bastos , Lima Lucas Lorenzon Resende , Farias Elizeu de Sá , Carvalho Geraldo Andrade 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate insecticide toxicity to Doru luteipes (Scudder), a major predator of corn pests. Lethal (reduction in survival) and sublethal effects (prey consumption, adult tibia length and walking distance) of compounds were assessed on earwig nymphs and adults. Insects were exposed to the compounds through contact (exposure to insecticide residue on corn leaves) and ingestion (consumption of insecticide-treated prey) routes. Tested insecticides included a biopesticide (Spodoptera frugiperda multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus - SfMNPV), and modern (flubendiamide and metaflumizone) and older neurotoxins (imidacloprid + β-cyfluthrin). The imidacloprid/β-cyfluthrin mix was highly toxic (100% mortality) to the predator, regardless of the exposure route and predator stage. Metaflumizone caused mortality superior to 95% and 45% of nymphs and adults, respectively. Flubendiamide and SfMNPV were the least toxic compounds, not differing from the untreated control in any of the assessed endpoints. Adult tibial length did not differ among treatments. Overall, the insecticides caused a more pronounced effect on D. luteipes nymphs than on adults and were more toxic by the contact route. From these findings, flubendiamide and SfMNPV are safer for D. luteipes and should head insecticide choice in integrated pest management programs in corn.
Does Low-Carbon City Pilot Affect the Enterprise Competitiveness in China? Based on a Staggered Difference-in-Difference Model
Authors: Duan Mengran , Xu Ruiyao 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
To control their greenhouse gas emissions, China has recently been instituting the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy in target areas. Studies examining those environmental regulations have not focused on how they affect enterprise competitiveness, especially emphasizing the LCCP’s dynamic effect. Here, we use the quasi-experimental opportunities of the LCCP policy along with a staggered difference-in-difference model to evaluate and explain the influences and transmission mechanisms of the LCCP policy on enterprise competitiveness. The empirical results show that (1) the construction of low-carbon cities significantly reduces, by 3.56%, the average enterprise competitiveness. Also, capital-intensive firms and small firms are more susceptible to adverse effects from the LCCP policy, but those effects weaken with time. (2) The LCCP policy affects enterprise competitiveness by increasing operating costs and reducing R&D. (3) However, those adverse effects can be suppressed when a region’s degree of marketization is high and industry competition is fierce. Although, our results show that the LCCP policy indeed brings greater economic costs, through market-based reforms and improved market competition, those economic distortions can weaken.
Theoretical Error Performance Analysis for Variational Quantum Circuit Based Functional Regression
Authors: Qi Jun , Yang Chao-Han , Chen Pin-Yu , Hsieh Min-Hsiu 
Published: July 2022

Abstract
The noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices enable the implementation of the variational quantum circuit (VQC) for quantum neural networks (QNN). Although the VQC-based QNN has succeeded in many machine learning tasks, the representation and generalization powers of VQC still require further investigation, particularly when the dimensionality reduction of classical inputs is concerned. In this work, we first put forth an end-to-end quantum neural network, namely, TTN-VQC, which consists of a quantum tensor network based on a tensor-train network (TTN) for dimensionality reduction and a VQC for functional regression. Then, we aim at the error performance analysis for the TTN-VQC in terms of representation and generalization powers. We also characterize the optimization properties of TTN-VQC by leveraging the Polyak-Lojasiewicz (PL) condition. Moreover, we conduct the experiments of functional regression on a handwritten digit classification dataset to justify our theoretical analysis.