bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modelling the performance of bunds and ditch dams in the hydrological restoration of tropical peatlands
Authors: Putra Santosa Sandy , Baird Andy J. , Holden Joseph 
Published: January 2022

AbstractMany tropical peatlands are subjected to artificial drainage that leads to degradation. Hence, hydrological restoration has recently been prioritized. Nevertheless, as field monitoring data are limited, little is known about how restoration measures, such as ditch dams and bunds, can regulate tropical peatland water tables. We used a hydrodynamic model —DigiBog_Hydro— to simulate the effectiveness of ditch dams and bunds across three El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) scenarios, which are El Niño, La Niña and Neutral, in three typical sites. The sites were moderately degraded (Mod‐Dgr) and severely degraded (Sev‐Dgr) peatland plots (each 0.2 km2), representing typical peatland conditions in Sebangau National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Our fine‐scale (1 m × 1 m spatial resolution) modelling revealed that in the dry season of any ENSO scenario, the significant effects of ditch‐dams alone on peatland water‐level were limited to lateral distances of 26 m (in Mod‐Dgr) and 12 m (in Sev‐Dgr) from the ditch. In the dry season of an El Niño year, the combination of ditch dams and bunds helped maintain water levels up to 72 cm (in Mod‐Dgr) and 69 cm (in Sev‐Dgr) higher than in the no‐restoration condition. During the extreme‐dry period of an El Niño year, the bunds reduced the number of days when the water table was deeper than 40 cm in Mod‐Dgr and in Sev‐Dgr by 50% and 73%, respectively. We suggest that bunds used in combination with ditch dams are a practical restoration measure for tropical peatlands, providing critical extra water storage and helping maintain water tables near the peatland surface in dry periods. We also demonstrate how fine‐scale hydrodynamic modelling is beneficial for planning and assessment of restoration measures in tropical peatlands.
Should infant psychology rely on the violation‐of‐expectation method? Not anymore
Authors: Paulus Markus 
Published: January 2022

AbstractInfant psychology has heavily drawn on the Violation‐of‐Expectation (VoE) method. In this piece, I analyse the assumptions that go into the VoE method by comparing it with other looking time measures. Reviewing key arguments in the literature, I argue that this method relies on too many questionable assumptions, that its conceptual foundations are thin, and that its findings are empirically not conclusive. Theoretical inferences based on VoE findings are thus too speculative to allow for solid progress in developmental psychology. Overall, while I appreciate that the VoE method has helped to make infant psychology a prominent field of research, I argue that it is time for infant psychology to move forward and to leave the VoE method behind.
Composite dietary antioxidant index and the risk of colorectal cancer: Findings from the Singapore Chinese Health Study
Authors: Yu Yi‐Chuan , Paragomi Pedram , Wang Renwei , Jin Aizhen , Schoen Robert E. , Sheng Li‐Ting , Pan An , Koh Woon‐Puay , Yuan Jian‐Min , Luu Hung N. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractColorectal cancer (CRC) is a major contributor to cancer death globally. Several studies showed some protections by certain individual dietary antioxidants against CRC development. Epidemiologic data on the composite dietary antioxidant index (CDAI) in relation to CRC risk are sparse. Using the Singapore Chinese Health Study, an ongoing prospective cohort consisting of 61 321 cancer‐free participants aged 45 to 74 years at baseline, a food‐based CDAI was calculated according to a previously established and validated method that included six food‐sourced antioxidants including vitamins A, C and E, manganese, selenium and zinc. Cox proportional hazard regression method was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CRC associated with various levels of CDAI with adjustment for multiple potential confounders. After an average of 17.5 years of follow‐up, 2140 participants developed CRC. HRs (95% CIs) of CRC for quartiles 2, 3 and 4 of CDAI were 0.94 (0.83‐1.07), 0.86 (0.75‐1.00) and 0.80 (0.66‐0.98), respectively, compared to the lowest quartile (Ptrend = .02). This inverse association between CDAI and CRC risk was more apparent in women or those without a history of diabetes, without family history of CRC, never smokers or overweight/obese individuals. However, none of the heterogeneity tests for the CDAI‐CRC risk association reached statistical significance. Our findings suggest that food‐based antioxidants may be beneficial for reducing the risk of CRC in the general population.
Skin lesion segmentation using an improved framework of encoder‐decoder based convolutional neural network
Authors: Kaur Ranpreet , GholamHosseini Hamid , Sinha Roopak 
Published: January 2022

AbstractAutomatic lesion segmentation is a key phase of skin lesion analysis that significantly increases the performance of subsequent classification steps. Segmentation is a highly complex task due to the varying nature of lesions, such as unique shapes, different colors, and structures. In this study, a two‐step system is proposed comprising preprocessing algorithm and lesion segmentation network. The hairlines removal algorithm is designed using morphological operators to eliminate noise artifacts. The resulting output images are fed to the convolutional neural network (CNN) to perform lesion segmentation. The proposed CNN network is a new framework designed from scratch based on encoder‐decoder architecture. The layers are stacked in a unique sequence to perform downsampling and upsampling, generating a high‐resolution segmentation map. Additionally, a Tversky loss function is implemented to reduce the error rate between predicted and target output. In this study, we focus on the challenges related to the extraction of accurate lesion regions and the presence of hairlines in lesion images that can occlude important information resulting in poor segmentation. The proposed model is evaluated on four publicly available datasets, namely ISIC 2016–2018. The mean intersection over union (IoU) obtained for ISIC 2016–2018 and is 87.1%, 77.8%, 85.2%, and 88.8%, respectively. The proposed model demonstrated higher performance as compared to other state‐of‐the‐art methods. The hair removal step aids in the improvement of the overall performance.
Solar‐powered chemistry: Engineering low‐dimensional carbon nitride‐based nanostructures for selective CO2 conversion to C1C2 products
Authors: Ng Sue‐Faye , Foo Joel Jie , Ong Wee‐Jun 
Published: January 2022

AbstractCO2 capture and conversion has been prospected as an auspicious technology to simultaneously tackle the rise in global CO2 emission and produce value‐added fuels with the goal of accomplishing carbon neutrality. A sustainable route to achieve this is via the utilization of solar energy, thereby harnessing the abundant and nonexhaustive resource to shift our reliance away from rapidly depleting fossil fuels. Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) and its allotrope have earned its rank as a fascinating metal‐free photocatalyst due to its superior stability, high surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio, and tunable surface engineering. By leveraging these properties, robust carbon nitride‐based nanostructures are engineered for photocatalytic CO2 conversion to energy‐rich C1C2 product, which is indispensable in the chemical industry. Thus, this review presents the latest panorama of experimental and computational research on tuning the local electronic, surface chemical coordination environment, charge dynamics and optical properties of low‐dimensional carbon nitride and its allotropes toward highly selective and efficient CO2 photoconversion. To name a few, structural engineering, point‐defect engineering, heterojunction construction, and cocatalyst loading. To advance this frontier, critical insights are elucidated to establish the structure‐performance relationship and unravel primary factors dictating the selectivity of C1C2 molecules from CO2 reduction. External‐field assisted photocatalysis such as with electric (photoelectro‐) and heat (photothermal) is discussed to uncover the synergistic contributions that drive the development in photochemistry. Last, future challenges and prospects are outlined for the potential application of solar‐driven CO2 conversion, along with the scale‐up strategy from the economic viewpoint toward the rational development of high‐efficiency carbon nitride catalysts.
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Well‐balanced quadruple systems
Authors: Liu Ruijing , Zhou Junling 
Published: January 2022

AbstractA set system with uniform block size is ‐balanced if any ‐subset of is contained in or blocks of for some nonnegative integer . is well‐balanced if it is ‐balanced for any positive integer . In this paper, we establish the necessary conditions for the existence of a ‐balanced set system, which is closely related with packing numbers and covering numbers . Then we concentrate on well‐balanced quadruple systems (with block size ). For , define the well‐balanced packing number to be the maximum number of blocks in any well‐balanced ‐ packing. Similarly, the well‐balanced covering number denotes the minimum number of blocks in any well‐balanced ‐ covering. The exact values of and are completely determined in this paper and the determinations of and are reduced to where .
Clinical application of low erythrocyte sedimentation rate/high C‐reactive protein to antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody‐associated vasculitis
Authors: Park Pil Gyu , Song Jason Jungsik , Park Yong‐Beom , Lee Sang‐Won 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBackgroundThis study investigated whether the discordance between erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C‐reactive protein at diagnosis could estimate the simultaneous clinical and laboratory variables and predict the poor outcomes during follow‐up in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)‐associated vasculitis (AAV).MethodsThe medical records of 254 AAV patients were reviewed. Clinical and laboratory and AAV‐specific indices at diagnosis and all‐cause mortality, relapse and end‐stage renal disease during follow‐up were obtained. ESR and CRP levels were categorised as high and low based on the median values. Accordingly, the patients were divided into the following four groups: high ESR/low CRP; low ESR/high CRP; low ESR/low CRP; and high ESR/high CRP.ResultsOf the 254 AAV patients, 51 patients exhibited discordance between ESR and CRP. Among the 51 AAV patients, the median age was 59.0 years, and 20 patients were men (29 MPA, 13 GPA and 9 EGPA). Cardiovascular and nervous systemic manifestations were observed more frequently in AAV patients with low ESR/high CRP than in those with high ESR/low CRP. Six patients from the low ESR/high CRP group died. AAV patients with low ESR/high CRP exhibited significantly lower cumulative patients' survival rates than both those with high ESR/low CRP and those with low ESR/low CRP. Also, AAV patients with low ESR/high CRP exhibited significantly higher simultaneous BVAS than those with low ESR/low CRP.ConclusionsLow ESR/high CRP at diagnosis could not only estimate the simultaneous high BVAS but also predict all‐cause mortality during follow‐up in AAV patients.
Assessment of frictional resistance and surface roughness in orthodontic wires coated with two different nanoparticles
Authors: da Silveira Ramiro Estacia , Elias Carlos Nelson , do Amaral Flávia Lucisano Botelho 
Published: January 2022

AbstractSeveral mechanical and biological factors may change the orthodontic wire frictional resistance (FR). Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silica dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticle (NP) coatings may be used to improve the characteristics of materials, reducing FR between archwire and bracket. This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the FR of orthodontic wires with and without coating in both dry and wet environments and measure the surface roughness (SR). One hundred and eighty segments of rectangular Cr–Ni orthodontic wires (Morelli Co, Brazil) were divided into three groups according to the NP coating applied: TiO2 group; SiO2 group; and control group. The SR parameters were measured in an optical profilometer, the surface morphology was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and FR was performed in a universal testing machine in dry and wet environments (n = 30). The statistical analysis was performed using the Generalized Estimated Equations model with a Bonferroni post‐test (α = 0.05). It was observed that SiO2 NP coating decreased FR significantly when compared to the TiO2 and control groups, in both environments (p < .001). The SiO2 and TiO2 groups presented statistically lower SR than the control group and were similar to each other (p < .001). The SiO2 group presented the lower depth of Valley parameter than the TiO2 group (p < .001). The SEM showed that the TiO2 coating had the most heterogeneous surface morphology than the SiO2 and control groups. The orthodontic wires with NP coating modified the FR and morphology. The SiO2 coating reduced FR in both dry and wet environments and decreased SR.
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silica dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles coatings may be used to reduce frictional resistance (FR) between archwire and bracket as well as to improve surface morphology.
The SiO2 coating reduced FR in both dry and wet environments and decreased the SR of Cr–Ni orthodontic wire.
The TiO2 coating promoted the most heterogeneous surface morphology of Cr–Ni orthodontic wire.
Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity Evaluated by 4D Flow MRI Across the Adult Lifespan
Authors: Jarvis Kelly , Scott Michael B. , Soulat Gilles , Elbaz Mohammed S. M. , Barker Alex J. , Carr James C. , Markl Michael , Ragin Ann 
Published: January 2022

BackgroundEvaluation of aortic stiffness by pulse wave velocity (PWV) across the adult lifespan is needed to better understand normal aging in women and men.PurposeTo characterize PWV in the thoracic aorta using 4D flow MRI in an age‐ and sex‐stratified cohort of healthy adults.Study TypeRetrospective.PopulationNinety nine healthy participants (age: 46 ± 15 [19–79] years, 50% female), divided into young adults (<45 years) (N = 48), midlife (45–65 years) (N = 37), and later life (>65 years) (N = 14) groups.Field Strength/Sequence1.5 T or 3 T, 2D cine bSSFP, 4D flow MRI.AssessmentCardiac functional parameters of end‐diastolic volume (EDV), end‐systolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV) and myocardial mass were assessed by 2D cine bSSFP. PWV and aortic blood flow velocity were assessed by 4D flow MRI. Reproducibility of PWV was evaluated in a subset of nine participants.Statistical TestsAnalysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), linear regression, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsPWV increased significantly with age (young adults: 5.4 ± 0.9 m/sec, midlife: 7.2 ± 1.1 m/sec, and later life: 9.4 ± 1.8 m/sec) (r = 0.79, slope = 0.09 m/sec/year). PWV did not differ in women and men in entire sample (P = 0.40) or within age groups (young adults: P = 0.83, midlife: P = 0.17, and later life: P = 0.96). PWV was significantly correlated with EDV (r = −0.29), ESV (r = −0.23), SV (r = −0.28), myocardial mass (r = 0.21), and mean aortic blood flow velocity (r = −0.62). In the test–retest subgroup (N = 9), PWV was 6.7 ± 1.5 [4.4–9.3] m/sec and ICC = 0.75.Data Conclusion4D flow MRI quantified higher aortic PWV with age, by approximately 1 m/sec per decade, and significant differences between young adults, midlife and later life. Reproducibility analysis showed good test–retest agreement. Increased PWV was associated with decline in cardiac function and reduced aortic blood flow velocity. This study demonstrates the utility of 4D flow MRI‐derived aortic PWV for studying aging.Evidence Level2Technical EfficacyStage 2
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Radiomics‐Based Nomogram From Primary Tumor for Pretreatment Prediction of Peripancreatic Lymph Node Metastasis in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Multicenter Study
Authors: Shi Zhenshan , Ma Chengle , Huang Xinming , Cao Dairong 
Published: January 2022

BackgroundDetermining the absence or presence of peripancreatic lymph nodal metastasis (PLNM) is important to the pathologic staging, prognostication, and guidance of treatment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Computed tomography and MRI had a poor sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of PLNM.PurposesTo develop and validate a 3 T MRI primary tumor radiomics‐based nomogram from multicenter datasets for pretreatment prediction of the PLNM in PDAC patients.Study TypeRetrospective.SubjectsA total of 251 patients (156 men and 95 women; mean age, 60.85 ± 8.23 years) with histologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from three hospitals.Field Strength and SequencesA 3.0 T and fat‐suppressed T1‐weighted imaging.AssessmentQuantitative imaging features were extracted from fat‐suppressed T1‐weighted (FS T1WI) images at the arterial phase.Statistical TestsNormally distributed data were compared by using t‐tests, while the Mann–Whitney U test was used to evaluate non‐normally distributed data. The diagnostic performances of the preoperative and postoperative nomograms were assessed in the external validation cohort with the area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). AUCs were compared with the De Long test. A p value below 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.ResultsThe AUCs of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Rad‐score were 0.868 (95% confidence level [CI]: 0.613–0.852) and 0.772 (95% CI: 0.659–0.879) in the training and internal validation cohort, respectively. The preoperative and postoperative nomograms could accurately predict PLNM in the training cohort (AUC = 0.909 and 0.851) and were validated in both the internal and external cohorts (AUC = 0.835 and 0.805, 0.808 and 0.733, respectively). DCA indicated that the two novel nomograms are of similar clinical usefulness.Data ConclusionPre−/postoperative nomograms and the constructed radiomics signature from primary tumor based on FS T1WI of arterial phase could serve as a potential tool to predict PLNM in patients with PDAC.Evidence Level3Technical EfficacyStage 2
Comparison of COVID‐19 laboratory diagnosis by commercial kits: Effectivity of RT‐PCR to the RT‐LAMP
Authors: Artik Yakup , Coşğun Alp B. , Cesur Nevra P. , Hızel Nedret , Uyar Yavuz , Sur Haydar , Ayan Alp 
Published: January 2022

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 or COVID‐19 caused by novel coronavirus/severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2 or 2019‐nCoV) is an ongoing pandemic that has emerging global effects and requires rapid and reliable diagnostic testing. Quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (q‐RT‐PCR) is the gold standard method for SARS‐CoV‐2 detections. On the other hand, new approaches remedy the diagnosis difficulties gradually. Reverse transcription loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (RT‐LAMP) as one of these novel approaches may also contribute to faster and cheaper field‐based testing. The present study was designed to evaluate this rapid screening diagnostic test that can give results in 30–45 min and to compare the effectiveness of LAMP to the q‐RT‐PCR. The 30 randomly chosen patient samples were generated by nasopharyngeal swabs with a portion of the SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleic sequence. The sample of quantification cycle (Cq) values was tested using RT‐LAMP as well as by conventional q‐RT‐PCR. The patient samples were tested with four different kits (SENSObiz COVID‐19 [SARS‐CoV‐2] LAMP Assay, the QIAseq DIRECT SARS‐CoV‐2 kit, Biospeedy SARS‐CoV‐2 Variant Plus kit, and CoVirion‐CV19‐2 SARS‐CoV‐2 OneStep RT‐PCR kit) and two different PCR devices (GDS Rotor‐Gene Q Thermocycler and Inovia Technologies GenX series). Based on 30 patient samples, the positive/negative ratio (P/N) was 30/0 as Biospeedy and Covirion (positivity 100%), 28/2 as Qiagen kit (positivity 93.3%) for the samples studied on the Inovia device while the same samples on the Rotor‐Gene device were 30/0 as Biospeedy and Covirion (positivity 100%), 29/1 as Qiagen kit at the first day (96.7%). On the fifth day, the samples were studied in the Inovia device and the respective results were obtained: 27/3 as Biospeedy (positivity 90%), 16/14 as Qiagen (positivity 53.3%), 28/2 as Covirion kit (positivity 93.3%). When these samples were studied in the Rotor‐Gene device, it was 29/1 in Biospeedy and Covirion (positivity 96.7%), 19/11 in the Qiagen kit (positivity 63.3%). When these samples were compared with the LAMP method it was found to be 19/11 (positivity 63.3%) on the first day and 18/12 (positivity 60%) on the fifth day. SARS‐CoV‐2 test studies will contribute to a proactive approach to the development of rapid diagnosis systems. The LAMP approach presents promising results to monitor exposed individuals and also improves screening efforts in potential ports of entry.
Distinct mutations and lineages of SARS‐CoV‐2 virus in the early phase of COVID‐19 pandemic and subsequent 1‐year global expansion
Authors: Chen Yan , Li Shiyong , Wu Wei , Geng Shuaipeng , Mao Mao 
Published: January 2022

AbstractA novel coronavirus, SARS‐CoV‐2, has caused over 274 million cases and over 5.3 million deaths worldwide since it occurred in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Here we conceptualized the temporospatial evolutionary and expansion dynamics of SARS‐CoV‐2 by taking a series of the cross‐sectional view of viral genomes from early outbreak in January 2020 in Wuhan to the early phase of global ignition in early April, and finally to the subsequent global expansion by late December 2020. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of the early patients in Wuhan, Wuhan/WH04/2020 is supposed to be a more appropriate reference genome of SARS‐CoV‐2, instead of the first sequenced genome Wuhan‐Hu‐1. By scrutinizing the cases from the very early outbreak, we found a viral genotype from the Seafood Market in Wuhan featured with two concurrent mutations (i.e., M type) had become the overwhelmingly dominant genotype (95.3%) of the pandemic 1 year later. By analyzing 4013 SARS‐CoV‐2 genomes from different continents by early April, we were able to interrogate the viral genomic composition dynamics of the initial phase of global ignition over a time span of 14 weeks. Eleven major viral genotypes with unique geographic distributions were also identified. WE1 type, a descendant of M and predominantly witnessed in western Europe, consisted of half of all the cases (50.2%) at the time. The mutations of major genotypes at the same hierarchical level were mutually exclusive, which implies that various genotypes bearing the specific mutations were propagated during human‐to‐human transmission, not by accumulating hot‐spot mutations during the replication of individual viral genomes. As the pandemic was unfolding, we also used the same approach to analyze 261 323 SARS‐CoV‐2 genomes from the world since the outbreak in Wuhan (i.e., including all the publicly available viral genomes) to recapitulate our findings over 1‐year time span. By December 25, 2020, 95.3% of global cases were M type and 93.0% of M‐type cases were WE1. In fact, at present all the five variants of concern (VOC) are the descendants of WE1 type. This study demonstrates that viral genotypes can be utilized as molecular barcodes in combination with epidemiologic data to monitor the spreading routes of the pandemic and evaluate the effectiveness of control measures. Moreover, the dynamics of viral mutational spectrum in the study may help the early identification of new strains in patients to reduce further spread of infection, guide the development of molecular diagnosis and vaccines against COVID‐19, and help assess their accuracy and efficacy in real world at real time.