bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prediction of long-term dependence on vitamin D analogues following total thyroidectomy for Graves’ disease
Authors: Patel N , Mahoney R , Scott-Coombes D , Stechman M 
Published: April 2022

Introduction This study aimed to identify patients at risk of long-term hypocalcaemia following total thyroidectomy for Graves’ disease, and to determine the thresholds of postoperative day 1 serum calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) at which long-term activated vitamin D treatment can be safely excluded. Methods This study was a retrospective analysis of 115 consecutive patients undergoing total thyroidectomy for Graves’ disease at a university referral centre between 2010 and 2018. Outcome measures were the day 1 postoperative adjusted calcium and PTH results, and vitamin D analogue need at 6 months postoperatively. Logistic receiver operating curves were used to identify optimal cut-off values for adjusted serum calcium and serum PTH, and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated. Results Temporary hypocalcaemia was observed in 20.9% of patients (mean day 1 serum adjusted calcium 2.2±0.14mmol/l and PTH 4.15±2.42pmol/l). Long-term (>6 months) activated vitamin D analogue therapy was required in five patients (4.3%), four of whom had normal serum PTH and one with undetectable PTH at 6 weeks post surgery. No patient with a day 1 postoperative calcium >2.05mmol/l and detectable PTH required vitamin D supplementation at 6 months post surgery (100% sensitivity, PPV 50%, NPV 100%). Conclusions The biochemical postoperative day 1 thresholds identified in this paper have a 100% NPV in the identification of patients who are likely to require either no or only temporary activated vitamin D supplementation. We were able to identify all patients requiring activated vitamin D supplementation 6 months postoperatively from the day 1 postoperative serum calcium and PTH values, while excluding those that may only need temporary calcium supplementation. These threshold levels could be used for targeted follow-up and management of this subset of patients most at risk of long-term hypocalcaemia.
Geometric metasurface for polarization synthesis and multidimensional multiplexing of terahertz converged vortices
Authors: Zhu Yang , Lu Binbin , Fan Zhiyuan , Yue Fuyong , Zang Xiaofei , Balakin Alexei V. , Shkurinov Alexander P. , Zhu Yiming , Zhuang Songlin 
Published: April 2022

The investigation of converged twisted beams with a helical phase structure has a remarkable impact on both fundamental physics and practical applications. Geometric metasurfaces consisting of individually orientated metal/dielectric meta-atoms provide an ultracompact platform for generating converged vortices. However, it is still challenging to simultaneously focus left-handed and right-handed circularly polarized incident beams with pure geometric phase modulation, which hinders the independent operation on topological charges between these two helical components. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate an approach to design terahertz geometric metasurfaces that can generate helicity-independent converged vortices with homogeneous polarization states by the superposition of two orthogonal helical vortices with identical topological charges. Furthermore, the multiplexing of polarization-rotatable multiple vortices in multiple dimensions, i.e., in both longitudinal and transverse directions, and a vortex with an extended focal depth is confirmed by embedding polarization modulation into the geometric metasurfaces. The demonstrated approach provides a new way to simultaneously manipulate orthogonal helical components and expand the design dimension, enabling new applications of geometric metasurface devices in polarization optics, twisted-beam related image and edge detection, high capacity optical communication, and quantum information processing, to name a few.
Molecular typing and epidemiology profiles of human adenovirus infection among hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory infection in Huzhou, China
Authors: Xu Deshun , Chen Liping , Wu Xiaofang , Ji Lei 
Published: April 2022

Background
Severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) threaten human health and cause a large number of hospitalizations every year. However, as one of the most common pathogen that cause acute respiratory tract infection, the molecular epidemiological information relating to human adenoviruses (HAdVs) among patients with SARI is limited. Here, we evaluate the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of HAdV infections among hospitalized patients with SARI from January 2017 to December 2019 in Huzhou, China.

Methods
From January 2017 to December 2019, a total of 657 nasopharyngeal swabs collected from inpatients with SARI were screened for HAdV and other common respiratory viruses by multiplex real-time PCR. All samples that tested positive for HAdV were further typed by sequencing partial sequences of hexon gene. Genotypes of HAdV were confirmed by phylogenetic analysis. Epidemiological data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and service solutions (SPSS) 21.0 software.

Results
251 (38.20%) samples were positive for at least one respiratory virus. HAdV was the second common viral pathogen detected, with a detection rate of 7.08%. Infection with HAdV was found in all age groups tested (0<2, 2<5, 5<15, 15<50, 50<65, ≥65). Children under 15 years old accounted for 84.62% (44/52) of the infections. Higher activity of HAdV infection could be seen in spring-early autumn season. Seven different types of HAdV belonging to 4 species (HAdV-A, B, C, E) were identified in hospitalized SARI cases, with HAdV-B3 as the most prevalent HAdV types, followed by HAdV-B7 and HAdV-E4. HAdV-B3 was the most frequently detected genotype in 2017 and 2019, accounting for 75.00% (9/12) and 63.64% (7/11) of typed HAdV infections in 2017 and 2019, respectively. No predominant strain was responsible for HAdV infections in 2018, although HAdV-B7 (28.57%, 2/7) and HAdV-C1 (28.57%, 2/7) were the major causative genotypes.

Conclusions
This study revealed the prevalence and the molecular epidemiological characteristics of HAdV infections among hospitalized patients with SARI in Huzhou from January 2017 to December 2019. The HAdV prevalence is related to age and season. As the most prevalent HAdV types, HAdV-B3 was co-circulating with other types and presented an alternate prevalence pattern.
SUVfdg: A standard-uptake-value (SUV) body habitus normalizer specific to fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in humans
Authors: Beattie Bradley J. , Akhurst Tim J. , Augensen Finn , Humm John L. 
Published: April 2022

Purpose
To devise a new body-habitus normalizer to be used in the calculation of an SUV that is specific to the PET tracer 18F-FDG.

Methods
A cohort of 481-patients was selected for analysis of 18F-FDG uptake into tissues unaffected by their disease. Among these, 65-patients had only brain concentrations measured and the remaining 416 were randomly divided into an 86-patient test set and a 330-patient training set. Within the test set, normal liver, spleen and blood measures were made. In the training set, only normal liver concentrations were measured. Using data from the training set, a simple polynomial function of height and weight was selected and optimized in a fitting procedure to predict each patient’s mean liver %ID/ml. This function, when used as a normalizer, defines a new SUV metric (SUVfdg) which we compared to SUV metrics normalized by body weight (SUVbw), lean-body mass (SUVlbm) and body surface-area (SUVbsa) in a five-fold cross-validation. SUVfdg was also evaluated in the independent brain-only and whole-body test sets.

Results
For patients of all sizes including pediatric patients, the normal range of liver 18F-FDG uptake at 60 minutes post injection in units of SUVfdg is 1.0 ± 0.16. Liver, blood, and spleen SUVfdg in all comparisons had lower coefficients of variation compared to SUVbw SUVlbm and SUVbsa. Blood had a mean SUVfdg of 0.8 ± 0.11 and showed no correlation with age, height, or weight. Brain SUVfdg measures were significantly higher (P<0.01) in pediatric patients (4.7 ± 0.9) compared to adults (3.1 ± 0.6).

Conclusion
A new SUV metric, SUVfdg, is proposed. It is hoped that SUVfdg will prove to be better at classifying tumor lesions compared to SUV metrics in current use. Other tracers may benefit from similarly tracer-specific body habitus normalizers.
Does hepatectomy improve outcomes of breast cancer with liver metastasis? A nationwide analysis of real-world data in Taiwan
Authors: Chen Pin-Chun , Lee Yuan-Chi , Su Yu-Chieh , Lee Cheng-Hung , Chen Jian-Han , Chen Chung-Yen 
Published: April 2022

Background
Liver metastases from breast cancer are associated with poor prognosis, and treatment options are usually restricted to palliative systemic therapy. The impact of liver resection on metastasis remains controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate whether liver resection can offer better survival outcomes in cases of isolated liver metastases from breast cancer.

Methods
We conducted a nationwide cohort study using a claims dataset from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). We identified all patients with breast cancer (diagnostic code ICD-9: 174.x) from the Registry for Catastrophic Illness Patient Database (RCIPD) of the NHIRD who underwent mastectomy between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2008. Patients with other malignancies (history, initially, or during follow-up), those with a history of metastasis prior to or at initial admission for mastectomy, and those without liver metastases were excluded. Patients with other metastases between mastectomy and liver metastasis and those who died at first admission for liver resection were also excluded. All patients were followed up until December 31, 2013, or withdraw from the database because of death.

Results
Data were analyzed for 1,116 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria (resection group: 89; non-resection group: 1,027). There were no differences in age, Charlson Comorbidity Index, or major coexisting diseases except renal disease between two groups. Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that the liver resection group had significantly better overall survival (OS) than the non-resection group. (1-year: 96.6% vs. 52.3%, 2-year: 86.8% vs. 35.4%, 3-year: 72.3% vs. 25.2%, 5-year: 51.6% vs. 16.9%, respectively, p<0.001). Cox analysis revealed that the liver resection group exhibited a significant improvement in patient survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.321, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.234–0.440, p<0.001).

Conclusion
These findings indicate that liver resection may offer better survival benefit in patients with breast cancer who develop new liver metastases post mastectomy.
Pattern of vitreo-retinal diseases at University of Gondar tertiary eye care and training center, North-West Ethiopia
Authors: Abebe Dagmawi , Tsegaw Asamere 
Published: April 2022

Objective
Vitreoretinal diseases are common causes of ocular morbidities and blindness. Data on the spectrum of vitreoretinal diseases needs to be studied and known in order to establish appropriate vitreoretinal care setups. The aim of this study was to determine the patterns of vitreoretinal diseases among patients who visited the vitreoretina clinic of University of Gondar Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, NW Ethiopia (UoG-TECTC).

Methodology
A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted from October/2017-September/2018. All patients who visited the vitreoretinal clinic for the first time during the study period were studied. Data were collected with standardized data extraction format entered into SPSS statistical package Version 20 and analyzed.

Result
A total of 739 new patients who visited the vitreoretinal clinic were included in the study. The mean age was 50.26 +/- 19 years. The age group between 21–60 years accounted for 59.7% of study patients. Male’s accounted for 63.1% and 58.7% of the participants were from urban areas. Bilateral disease was diagnosed in 504 (68.2%) of patients and 220 (29.7%) were bilaterally blind at presentation. Three hundred eighty nine (52.6%) of them had duration of illness six months and above.
Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Rhegmatoginous Retinal Detachment (RRD) were the top three retinal diseases accounting for 21.3%(196), 17.3% (128) and 12.4% (92) of diagnoses respectively. Systemic comorbidities were found in 44% (325) of the patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia being the commonest, occurring in 27.8%, 6.3% and 2.8% of study patients respectively. Cataract was the commonest ocular comorbidity seen in 33.5% of study participants.

Conclusion
Vitreoretinal diseases affected a significant number of patients presented to our center and most of the study patients presented late with significant vision loss and blindness. Males were affected more than females and the age group between 21–60 years accounted nearly two-third of study patients. This is the working age group suffering from vision loss from vitreoretinal diseases. DR, AMD and RRD were the commonest retinal pathologies accounting for nearly half of the vitreoretinal diseases and these conditions are treatable either surgically or medically. However, available facilities for the management of these diseases are not adequate at the center. Strengthening the vitreoretinal services of UoG-TECTC with relevant equipment is recommended.
Fabrication and characterization of lysine hydrochloride Cu(ii) complexes and their potential for bombing bacterial resistance
Authors: Wu Ziqian , Fu Zhihuan , Tian Yunbo , Hasan Murtaza , Huang Liting , Yang Yuanting , Li Cuijing , Zafar Ayesha , Shu Xugang 
Published: April 2022

Abstract
The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria and the lack of effective antimicrobial agents have posed a threat to public safety, so a new efficient strategy is needed to deal with the increasing severity of bacteria. Herein, a substitute antibacterial agent with high stability and biocompatibility was synthesized by incorporating lysine hydrochloride and copper sulfate pentahydrate following the liquid-phase synthesis method. The composition and structure of the Cu(ii) complex (Lys–Cu) were characterized by performing ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry, and single-crystal XRD. The crystal structure of Lys–Cu belongs to a monoclinic system, space group P21, with cell parameters of a = 5.14350(10), b = 16.8308(2), c = 11.4915(2) Å, Z = 2, and D = 1.548 g·cm−3. Bacteriostatic tests were carried out on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of Lys–Cu against S. aureus were 0.3125 and 0.9250 mg·mL−1, respectively. The MIC and MBC values of Lys–Cu against bacterial strain E. coli were 0.4685 and 0.9250 mg·mL−1, respectively.
Association of obesity in T2DM with differential polymorphism of ghrelin, growth hormone secretagogue receptor-1 and telomeres maintenance genes
Authors: Giha Hayder A. , Joatar Faris E. , AlDehaini Dhuha M. B. , Malalla Zainab H. A. , Ali Muhalab E. , Al Qarni Ali A. 
Published: April 2022

Abstract

Background
Although obesity and T2DM comorbidity is too frequent, the molecular basis of diabetic obesity is largely unexplained and barely investigated.

Materials
Cross-sectional studies were conducted in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 2013 and Kuwait in 2019. Fasting blood samples were obtained from a total of 216 T2DM patients (104 from KSA) and 193 nondiabetic subjects (93 from KSA) after their consents. Eight SNPs in 5 genes known to be associated with both obesity and T2DM, ghrelin (GHRL) and growth hormone secretagogue receptor -GHSR (KSA) and telomeres maintenance genes (Kuwait) were genotyped by rtPCR. Both patients and controls were grouped into obese and non-obese and sub-grouped into 4-BMI- grades: normal, overweight (OW), obese (OBS) and severely obese (SOBS).

Results
Showed that the only SNP which was distinguished between all groups/subgroups in all study subjects was the ACYP2 rs6713088G/C, where the common CC genotype was under-expressed in the obese compared to non-obese diabetics (17.8% vs. 40.4%, p 0.01) and between the 4-BMI-grade (p 0.025). Interestingly the same genotype was over-expressed in obese compared to non-obese non-diabetics (50% vs. 27.6%, p 0.04). Furthermore, the GHRL (rs27647C/T), GHSR (rs509030G/C) and TERC (rs12696304G/C) MAFs were significantly low in normal BMI patients; p=0.034, 0.008 and 0.011, respectively.

Conclusions
This is the first report about the molecular distinction between the obese and non-obese diabetics, it showed the association of rs6713088G/C mutant allele with diabetic obesity, while the GHRL, GHSR and TERC SNPs were differentially expressed based on the BMI-grades.
Electrostatic graphene oxide-based biosensor for rapid direct detection ofE. coli
Authors: Nair Sneha , Kumar Varun , Kumar Ramesh , Jain Vinod K. , Nagpal Suman 
Published: April 2022

AbstractDetection of pathogenic bacteria requires fast, reliable, and robust devices while testing food and water samples owing to the potentially lethal effect they have on humans. There has been an exponential rise in the demand for nanotechnology-based sensing platforms which can detect pathogens with utmost specificity. This paper reports the fabrication of a rapid, sensitive graphene oxide-based biosensor employing a direct method for electrochemical detection ofEscherichia coli(E. coli, MTCC 443) bacteria in aqueous samples. Graphene oxide (GO) is considered as one of the most promising materials for future biosensors due to its well-known electrical, physical, and optical performance. In addition, it acts as a sensing element due to its biocompatibility againstE. colileading to a change in conductance which can be measured using cyclic voltammetry and amperometry. The results showed that the sensor gives an optimum response at 37 °C with apHof 7.5 and linearity ranging from 10−1to 10−5cfu mL−1with a detection limit of 100 cfu mL−1. The results were compared with the known conventional methods of bacterial measurements such as plating onto agar medium and UV–visible spectroscopy and gave a correlation coefficient of 0.92. The sensor would not require any tedious pretreatment and is suitable for screening as well as for detection purposes as a result of its ease of use, fast response time, sensitivity, and selectivity.
Computation of edge- and vertex-degree-based topological indices for tetrahedral sheets of clay minerals
Authors: Ahmad Al-Nashri Al-Hossain , Ahmad Ali , Azeem Muhammad 
Published: April 2022

AbstractIn terms of soil conditions, clay minerals infrequently occur as homogenous mixtures of single constituents, gatherings, stages, or types of minerals. Rather, they contain intricate arrays of essential minerals and rippling intermediates of numerous basic and synergistic mixtures. There is also the possibility that a discrete mineral grain is composed of more than one clay type or has sections that are intermediate amongst two chosen minerals. Such minerals are alluded to as inter-stratified or mixed-layer minerals. The structures of clay minerals are the most researched compound in contemporary materials science. Tetrahedral sheets of clay minerals (TSCM) are one of the most well-known structures concentrated in materials science. QSPR/QSAR of the TSCM compounds requires articulations for the topological characteristic of these substances. Topological descriptors are indispensable gadgets for exploring chemical substances to understand the basic geography or physical properties of such chemical structures. In this article, we determine the edge-vertex-degree and vertex-edge-degree topological indices for TSCM.
Oxidation process concept to produce lignin dispersants at a kraft pulp mill
Authors: Kalliola Anna , Kangas Petteri , Winberg Iris , Vehmas Tapio , Kyllönen Hanna , Heikkinen Juha , Poukka Outi , Kemppainen Katariina , Sjögård Pauliina , Pehu-Lehtonen Lauri , Liitiä Tiina 
Published: April 2022

Abstract
This paper presents the concept of an alkali-O2 oxidation process for producing lignin dispersants in a feasible manner at a kraft pulp mill. The oxidation process uses O2 gas to increase the anionic charge of lignin and the final oxidised lignin can serve as a concrete plasticiser or versatile dispersant. The integrated process provides several benefits for lignin recovery, the following lignin oxidation, and recycling of chemicals. Firstly, CO2 precipitated kraft lignin can be used without a sulphuric acid washing step. This simplifies the lignin recovery and no excess sulphur is introduced into mill cycle. As the unwashed lignin is alkaline in nature, the need for fresh alkali in the lignin oxidation is reduced. Moreover, oxidised white liquor, readily available in the mill, can be applied as a partial source of alkali. Finally, membrane filtration of the oxidised lignin solution enables the recirculation of sodium and sulphur back to the chemical cycle and provides a concentrated lignin product. Based on a simulation study, this novel concept significantly decreased the need for purging fly ash at the mill when compared to conventional lignin recovery. It was also demonstrated that the novel lignin dispersants can compete with the tested commercial oil-based plasticisers.
Lightweight and hydrophobic Ni/GO/PVA composite aerogels for ultrahigh performance electromagnetic interference shielding
Authors: Li Dian-sen , Wang Shi-jun , Zhou Yue , Jiang Lei 
Published: April 2022

Abstract
Lightweight and high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials are urgently required to solve increasingly serious radiation pollution. However, traditional lightweight EMI shielding materials usually show low EMI shielding performance, poor mechanical properties, and environmental stability, which greatly limit their practical applications. Herein Ni foam/graphene oxide/polyvinyl alcohol (Ni/GO/PVA) composite aerogels were successfully prepared by a freeze-drying method. The Ni/GO/PVA composite aerogels possessed low density (189 mg cm−3) and high compression strength (172.2 kPa) and modulus (5.5 MPa). The Ni/GO/PVA composite aerogel was hydrophobic, and their contact angle can reach 145.2°. The hydrophobic modification improved the environmental stability of the composite aerogels. Moreover, the Ni/GO/PVA composite aerogels exhibited excellent EMI shielding performance. Their maximum EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) can reach 87 dB at the thickness of 2.0 mm. When the thickness is only 1.0 mm, the EMI SE can still reach 60 dB. The electromagnetic energy absorption and attenuation mechanisms of Ni/GO/PVA composite aerogels include multiple reflection and scattering, dielectric loss, and magnetic loss. This work provides a promising approach for the design and preparation of the lightweight EMI shielding materials with superior EMI SE, which may be applied in various fields such as aircrafts, spacecrafts, drones, and robotics.