bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dynamic characteristics of the rack and pinion lift mechanism of the combined command cabin
Authors: Chen Zhiqun , Wang Chao , Li Dong , Zhu Feng , Liu Yu
Published: August 2023

This paper presents a novel approach to accurately simulate the dynamic characteristics of a rack and pinion lifting mechanism while accounting for the coupling effect of meshing tooth pair stiffness and grease characteristics in real-world environments. A structure-grease coupling meshing stiffness model is established based on the deformation coordination conditions of the tooth pair meshing. The model incorporates the effect of the grease stiffness term on the time-varying meshing stiffness of the rack and pinion. By analyzing the dynamic characteristics of the combined command cabin lifting mechanism using this model, we find that the total meshing stiffness of the gear teeth is lower when the transient thermoelastic flow effect of the grease is considered. Furthermore, the total stiffness value decreases as the normal meshing force at the meshing point decreases. This research reveals that the worst lubrication conditions are typically found on the gear wheel teeth near the base circle, where the grease film temperature rise is highest, the grease film pressure is highest, and the grease film thickness is thinnest.
Microstructure evolution of magnesium alloy grid panel during press bending based on cellular automata theory
Authors: Wang Zhongtang , Liang Haicheng , Liu Yongzhe
Published: August 2023

Magnesium alloy integral panel parts is an important application prospect in the aerospace field. The cellular automata theory was used researching microstructural change law of Mg alloy panel during bending forming. The numerical simulation geometric model is established. The material properties and press bending forming parameters of Mg alloy panel are determined. Microstructure evolution of Mg alloy grid panel during bending forming is studied by numerical simulation method. The research results indicate that the microstructure of Mg alloy grid panel is effectively improved, and grains are significantly refined, with which the maximum refining degree is reaching 48.5%. With the increase in press height, the dynamic recrystallization degree is obviously enhanced, and grain size of grid panel part decreases accordingly. With the rise in bending forming temperature, grain size of grid panel increases slowly. In different positions of panel structure, the change of microstructure is different. Grain size is the smallest at intersection in grid panel ribs, and the grain size is the largest at the centre of the grid. The simulation results of grain size of Mg alloy grid panel using cellular automata theory are near to experimental results, and relative errors are less than 6.35%.
Mechanical Excitation of Large-scale Sprinkler Based on PWM Technology
Authors: Pan Shengquan , Huang Xiaolin , Chen Kai , Xie Yinshan , Mo Jinqiu
Published: August 2023

In order to improve the life of a variable displacement sprinkler irrigation machine, this paper establishes a finite element analysis model to analyze its mechanical excitation law. First of all, in the process of model selection, this paper selects the first span of variable sprinkler as the mechanical excitation analysis model based on the actual operation. Then, in the analysis and setting, the terrain difference is ignored, and the pressure values on the main water transmission pipeline of the first span are equal. Finally, the simulation experiment shows that the amplitude of mechanical excitation is positively correlated with the frequency and amplitude of pressure pulsation, and it is mainly when the valve is closed that caused by the pressure pulsation. It provides research support and direction reference for further weakening mechanical excitation.
An Improved Flower Pollination Algorithm based Modelling Method of Photovoltaic Modules
Authors: Li Xiaofeng
Published: August 2023

In recent years, with the acceleration of the global carbon emission reduction process, the sustainable development of clean energy has become the leading role, and the photovoltaic (PV) market has ushered in a hotter market. For accurately estimating the power generation of PV modules under different weather conditions, the modeling of solar cells or PV modules is very important. However, the conventional optimization algorithms cannot satisfy the accuracy of identification of the five parameters in the single diode model. In this paper, an improved FPA is proposed to estimate the five model parameters of the PV modules. In the proposed algorithm, the FPA is improved by considering different updating methods of solution for each pollen, with or without Levy flight. Experimental results validate that the proposed improved FPA can accurately identify the five model parameters and satisfy the modeling demands of PV arrays in engineering applications.
Impact Load Identification with Uniform Noise Based on Forward-backward Splitting Algorithm
Authors: Gao Wei , Zhang Bochen
Published: August 2023

In this paper, the forward-backward splitting method is introduced for the first time to solve the impact load identification problem under the condition of uniform noise in the field of structural dynamics. In the process of using this method to solve the problem of impact load identification, firstly, the load identification model is established. Then, the model is transformed into an optimization problem with infinite norm constraints by the maximum posterior estimation, and then the forward-backward splitting method is used to solve the optimization problem. The rationality and effectiveness of the forward and backward splitting method for load identification under uniform noise conditions in the field of structural dynamics are illustrated by numerical simulation examples.
Lightweight Design and Optimization of the Road Wrecker’s Loading Platform
Authors: Xu Shuaishuai , Zhong Shaohua , Huang Tao , Zheng Shihai
Published: August 2023

Aiming to realize the lightweight design of the road wrecker’s loading platform, an efficacious method combining material substitution and size optimization is proposed in this paper. The finite element model is established at first. According to the wrecker’s working process, two typical working conditions are determined. Following the proposed stiffness and strength judgment bases, the FEA of the loading platform is carried out under typical working conditions. Finally, on the premise of meeting the basic performance of the materials, the part thickness is reduced by replacing Q235 steel with Q460 high-strength steel. The optimal size is obtained after size optimization based on OptiStruct software. The improved results show that the total mass of the new loading platform decreased by 30.8% compared with the previous structure. The promoted structural performance meets the requirements, which verifies the practicability of the lightweight design method.
Stress Relieving Heat Treatment Technology of Oil and Gas Pipeline Based on Stress Detection
Authors: Xu Yan , Guo Lei , Liu Yinglai , Yang Fengping , Feng Zhenjun , Bai Qiang , Chang Yonggang , Nie Xianghui , Li Liang
Published: August 2023

Through heat treatment tests and the measurement of residual stress in oil and gas pipelines, the relationship between stress distribution and heat treatment is discovered in this study. The distribution rules of the tensile strength of the pipes under various heat treatment temperatures and heating temperatures were discovered by examining the tensile strength of the samples after heat treatment and the tensile characteristics of the pipes at high temperatures. Finally, it is suggested that the stress removal heat treatment temperature of the pipeline should be 350 °C and the holding time should be 3 hours. Through the research on the stress-relieving heat treatment process of pipelines based on stress detection and control, the service performance of the pipeline is not affected, but the residual stress caused by various reasons can be effectively reduced and the safe operation quality of the pipeline can be improved.
A Novel Method for Creating a Glass Insulation Layer on the Copper Antenna Surface
Authors: Wu Liangliang , Qian Yuzhong , Lv Xun , Liang Lizhen , Meng Xiancai , Wang Jichao , Hu Chundong
Published: August 2023

A method of generating glass insulation on copper antenna surfaces under low-temperature conditions was developed and validated. The method is not only capable of firing insulation layers on copper surfaces at temperatures below 1000 °C but is also suitable for both curved copper wires and flat copper sheets. In this method, a silicon dioxide (SiO2) based powder is mixed with water at a certain specific gravity to prepare a low-temperature glaze. The oxygen-free copper is polished, annealed, and pickled before being impregnated and glazed. After the glaze on the surface of the oxygen-free copper has dried, the sintering is carried out in an argon atmosphere. The resulting glass insulation layer has a high bond strength to the copper surface and few impurities. The present results are expected to provide useful attempts and examples of solving the problem of inter-turn insulation and sputtering on copper antenna surfaces, and they show the broad application prospects of this method.
Composite Graphite Bipolar Plates Under Different Working Conditions
Authors: Yue Luo , Zhang Gaoqun , Liu Xiaotong , Deng Zhanfeng , Xu Guizhi , Chang Liang , Huang Yao , Hu Xiao , Song Jie
Published: August 2023

This study uses the molding method to prepare composite graphite bipolar plates to improve the corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity of fuel cell bipolar plates, improve the conversion efficiency and service life, and test their environmental adaptability under different working conditions. In this experiment, the fuel cell test system (850e) is used to test the voltage change curve and power density change curve of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Under 200 KPa, the voltage of the fuel cell at a current density of 1000 mA/cm2 is 0.719 V. The power density reaches the maximum at 1540 mA/cm2 current density, which is 911 mW/cm 2. The radii of the three curves from 0.1 A/cm2 to 0.5 A/cm2 decrease with the increase of current density. This indicates that at the beginning, the greater the current density is, the smaller the mass transfer resistance inside the fuel cell is, and the smaller the electron transfer resistance during the electrochemical reaction is. However, when the current density increases to 1 A/cm2, the power density of the fuel cell increases slowly. In the 12-hour constant current density test, it is found that the fuel cell voltage dropped from 0.641 V to 0.611 V, and the rate of decline was 2.5 mV/h, proving that the overall performance of the fuel cell is relatively stable. The graphite bipolar plate prepared by the molding method has good adaptability under different working conditions, and the comprehensive performance is stable under long-term testing.
Preparation and Performance Study of Low Surface Energy Anti-Icing Coating for Transmission Lines
Authors: Zuo Yue , Cai Yuan , Li Xiangyu
Published: August 2023

A low surface energy transmission line coating material is prepared and analyzed in this paper. Firstly, the super hydrophobic coating was developed and lubricated to obtain the super slip surface coating. Then, the resulting anti-ice coating was subjected to anti-ice performance tests and ice adhesion strength tests, respectively. Finally, the obtained results were analyzed. The results show that the developed anti-ice coating can greatly reduce the amount of ice covering, reduce the ice side force, and solve the problem of icing on transmission lines at low temperatures.
The Viscosity of Na2O-B2O3-CaO-SiO2-Al2O3 Slags
Authors: Guo Junli , Hu Qiang , Zou Jin , Lu Deping
Published: August 2023

The molding powder is an important supplement material in the continuous casting process, which plays a decisive role in the condition of continuous casting and the surface quality of the slab. The viscosity of the Na2O-B2O3-CaO-SiO2-Al2O3 slag system was studied by using the internal cylinder rotation method, and the viscosity data within the range of experimental slag composition were analyzed. The result shows that the viscosity of slag decreases gradually with the increase of borax (Na2O·2B2O3) content, where the content of O2- in the slag increases and the polymerization degree of the network structure decreases in the slag. When the Al2O3 contents increase, the amount of free oxygen decreases in the slag, which increases the degree of polymerization of the slag structure and results in the viscosity increasing. The calculation result of the prediction equation for viscosity has a small deviation.
Effect of starch pore formers with different particle sizes on cordierite porous ceramics
Authors: Nie Da , Wang Hao , Wang Jianju , Peng Yiyuan , Luo Jun , Zhang Haibo , Chen Qinghua
Published: August 2023

Particulate matter (PM) from vehicle exhaust can be effectively removed by cordierite particulate filters. The pore size and distribution of the cordierite particulate filter are very important to PM trapping efficiency. The main factors affecting the pore formation of porous cordierite ceramics are the grain size of the feedstock, the size of pore-forming agent particles, the sintering process, etc. Talc, kaolin, silicon oxide, alumina, and boehmite were used as the raw materials, and the effects of starch pore formers of different particle sizes on the CTE, XRD, microstructure, pore size distribution, and mechanical strength of honeycomb cordierite were investigated.
Natural vibration of elastic metamaterial beam under arbitrary elastic boundary conditions
Authors: Shu Haisheng , Wu Zhiguang
Published: August 2023

Elastic metamaterial (EM) is a kind of new composite material/structure that provides a new feasible way of vibration control in many scenarios. Although some analytical means for solving the vibration behavior of EM components with simple shapes and classic boundary conditions (BCs) have been presented, the analyses of those with complex shapes or BCs that are common in reality remain to be studied further. In this paper, the natural vibration problem of a typical EM beam under arbitrary elastic boundary conditions (EBC) is investigated by using the effective medium theory (EMT) and the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The inherent correlations between the EM beam and corresponding modified matrix beam together with the modified static equivalent beam are disclosed for their modal behaviors. The extraordinary natural vibration properties of the EM beam under arbitrary EBC are revealed and some common features are concluded. This work may provide a useful reference for further investigations of many other similar EM structures.
Unmanned aerial vehicle passive positioning technology based on cross-location and target splitting
Authors: Wu Huiyuan , Wang Luning , Yang Huibing , Chen Jinghan , Wang Boxuan , Zhang Xinyu
Published: August 2023

In order to ensure that the UAV fleet can maintain maximum electromagnetic silence and minimise the emission of UAV electromagnetic signals during formation flight, a theoretical method of pure azimuth passive positioning can be used to optimise their relative positions. This paper analyses different formation situations of UAVs and presents the best solution for pure azimuth passive positioning of UAVs in formation flight and the corresponding positions. The paper first establishes polar coordinates based on known orientation information. It uses the sine theorem for triangles in the plane and the joint cubic equations to obtain the final result. It then uses triangulation to verify the accuracy of the specific location of the UAV by solving a least squares problem. Using the idea of cross-location, two intersecting trajectories are constructed and their intersection is used to improve the specific position of the UAV. Due to the bias in the position of the location of the signal sent by the UAV, this paper uses of the idea of target segmentation to split the target into multiple sub-targets and implement them separately. This is done in order to avoid the need for more UAVs to send their signal while adjusting the UAV position, making the Drones evenly spaced around a circumference.
Research on Safety Operation and Maintenance Management and Health Status Assessment for Lithium Battery Energy Storage System
Authors: Mao Zhibin , Cai Jian , Zhou Kai , Wang Weili , Luo Dan , Tang Guizhong
Published: August 2023

The safe operation and maintenance of lithium batteries not only needs to monitor the working status of lithium batteries timely and accurately, but also needs to evaluate its health status and automatically switch the backup battery when safety hazards are found. However, research on the safe operation and maintenance of lithium batteries is still lacking. In light of this, this paper constructs a safe operation and maintenance mechanism by monitoring the voltage and surface temperature of the lithium battery. In addition, a novel online health assessment model based on GRU-CNN is proposed to find out the potential safety hazards of lithium batteries timely. The working voltage, current and ambient temperature are used as the input features of the model to predict the degradation of lithium batteries in advance. In addition, a security operation and maintenance controller is designed to quickly switch the backup battery pack when a lithium battery pack appears to have performance degradation or security risks. The system realizes the real-time monitoring of the safe operation of lithium batteries and the rapid assessment of health status, providing technical guarantees for the reliable, stable, and safe operation of the lithium battery system. The experimental comparison verified that the proposed assessment model of the status of health (SOH for short) has less prediction error.
Optimization and Design of Circuit Parameters of Aircraft Engine Speed Acquisition System
Authors: Wang Guang , Li Xiangdong , Hu Mingliang
Published: August 2023

Rotating speed is an important parameter to reflect the running condition of the engine, and its real-time measurement and accuracy are directly related to the control accuracy of the engine. In this paper, according to the actual demand for the measurement of engine speed, a system architecture and a hardware design scheme of frequency acquisition circuits are proposed. The overall simulation is carried out by Saber. According to technical requirements, the transfer function of the band-pass filter network and the hysteresis threshold are analyzed and calculated theoretically. By adjusting the RC value of the low-pass filter and introducing the reference voltage to reduce the hysteresis threshold, the acquisition failure caused by the low output excitation when the engine is running at low speed is solved. The high-precision acquisition in the full speed range is realized, with ideal simulation.
Design of Airborne Radar Servo Control System
Authors: Wang Hong
Published: August 2023

The brushless DC motor is driven by a square wave. Compared with the sinusoidal synchronous motor, the control is simple. The airborne radar servo control system described in this paper uses a brushless DC motor drive, PWM control, and angular position. The speed detection feedback loop is composed of a brushless resolver and a resolver for digital converters. The control system adopts the current, speed, and position closed-loop design. The design simulation is carried out by using MATLAB/Simulink to guide the control system design. The system design uses PID incremental control and an integral separation control algorithm. Through the rational design of software and hardware, the airborne radar servo system has achieved high dynamic and static performance, which meets the performance requirements of the airborne radar system.
Machine learning prediction models for AFM virtual imaging system
Authors: Yang Jinxin , Xu Hongmei , Liu Xuwei , Yuan Lixin
Published: August 2023

Nowadays, virtual laboratories are widely used in education and training in universities. Such virtual labs do gain some effect in teaching, assisting students to be familiar with the experimental steps. However, these systems tend to be relatively simple. There is room for improvement in helping students understand the experimental principles. This is particularly evident in the teaching of atomic force microscopy. In order to overcome these shortcomings of the AFM virtual laboratory, we present a virtual AFM imaging system with a lower-resolution contact mode. We restore the core principle of the beam deflection method in AFM using the unity3D development platform. Several machine learning techniques are employed to build an imaging prediction model. Since no public dataset is available for the task of prediction of topographical maps, we create the first dataset of grating samples for prediction. The result indicates that the proposed topographical map prediction model with the best performance is CatBoost. We prove the feasibility of building a virtual AFM imaging system with the ability to visualize internal structures and predict sample topographical maps. This work has important applications related to the 3D dynamic display of the AFM scanning and imaging process and user experience training. At the same time, it can help users get a preliminary understanding of the imaging effect of different types of experimental samples under AFM, providing a new idea for the construction of AFM virtual laboratories.
Adaptive back-stepping Control of Electro-hydraulic Servo system of Steam Turbine
Authors: Wang Shunjiang , Ling Zhaowei , Xu Ruichao , Zhou Guiping , Jin Yifang
Published: August 2023

The parameters such as oil density and bulk elastic modulus of hydraulic oil in steam turbine electro-hydraulic servo system vary with ambient temperature, pressure, and other factors, and there are unmodeled dynamics in the system, so obtaining a satisfactory following effect is a challenging task for the electro-hydraulic servo(EHS) system. According to the principle of force balance and flow continuity, the mathematical model of a bilateral oil intake motor is established in this paper. On this basis, a back-stepping controller is designed, and an adaptive method is used to estimate uncertain parameters and disturbances. The designed control system is simulated and verified, and compared with the RBF control system after parameter optimization. The results show that the controller designed in this paper has good tracking performance and adaptability to uncertain parameters and external load disturbances.
Design and application of copper chain removal device for TOBSPIN tobacco cutter
Authors: Xu Li , Fang Yubin , Xu Min , Sun Kelei , Lin Bin , Zhu Jun , Wu Yujie
Published: August 2023

In order to solve the difficulty in disassembling the copper chain of the TOBSPIN tobacco cutter, an automatic disassembly device was developed based on Solidworks mechanical simulation design software. Firstly, construct the overall structural model of the device by Solidworks. Then determining the feasibility of the equipment operation by the force analysis of the system. Lastly, the device can be automatically started and stopped by controlling PLC program. The results show that it takes 41.24 hours for manual disassembly per machine, and 11.18 hours to apply the automatic device, which reduces the working time by 72.9%. The device can provide technical support for improving the disassembly efficiency of the equipment and reducing operating intensity.
Resonance and sensing characteristics of quartz tuning fork for force sensor
Authors: Ding Yitian , Wang Jiahui
Published: August 2023

Quartz tuning fork (QTF) is often utilised for the design and manufacture of high-performance sensors, such as the force sensor for atomic force microscopy (AFM). In this study, the mechanical resonance and sensing characteristics of QTF with an additional mass on its prongs are studied by theoretical analysis and experiments. The results show that the position and size of additional mass on the QTF prong have an obvious influence on its resonance frequency and quality factor (Q-factor). The greater the mass of the additional component or the closer to the free end of the QTF prong is, the lower its resonance frequency and quality factor will become. Reducing the additional effective mass can significantly improve its quality factor, thus improving the sensing performance of the QTF sensor. This study can provide a quantitative reference for the design and optimisation of the QTF force sensor for AFM.
The Arrangement and Cross-sectional Shape of Cooling Fins on Train Brake Discs
Authors: Yu Hao , Tian Chun , Wang Guozhuang
Published: August 2023

Taking into account physical factors such as the wind effect of the brake disc pump, heat dissipation power, and temperature rise, the optimal cross-sectional shape and layout of the brake disc cooling fins are studied. The flow field distribution and pump-wind heat dissipation power ratio of four different cross-sectional shapes, namely circular, elliptical, square, and rhombic, are compared and analyzed. The flow characteristics, wind effect, and heat dissipation power of the cooling fins under two different layouts, namely crosswise and parallel layouts, are also analyzed. The research results show that the circular cooling fins have the optimal pump-wind loss and heat dissipation power, and the crosswise layout of cooling fins shows the best comprehensive performance. The performance analysis method of cooling fins obtained in this paper provides a reference for the optimization design of brake disc structures.
Electrochemical corrosion behaviour of rolled dual phase Mg-8Li-graphene composite
Authors: Kavimani V , Vignesh P , Kumar Navneet , Kumaran S
Published: August 2023

In this research, the effect of interrupted rolling on electrochemical corrosion behaviour of Mg-8Li-xGr composite is investigated. Graphene reinforced composite was developed by using stir casting route and rolled with different reductions in thickness of 50, 75 and 90%. Investigation on potentiodynamic polarization of rolled composite depicts that increase in reduction percentage increases the corrosion rate of the developed composite. Electrochemical impedance studies reveal that composite reduced at 50% thickness exhibits higher charge transfer resistance of 80 Ωcm2. Nyquist plot depicts occurrence of inductance loop that reveals occurrence of oxide layer breakage. Addition of graphene up to 0.4 wt% increase the corrosion resistance and further addition exhibits adverse effect in corrosion behaviour due to the galvanic effects. The occurrence of pitting corrosion is evidenced from corrosion surface morphology.
Hydrothermal synthesis of Zn-doped brookite TiO2 for enhanced visible-light-responsive photocatalytic performance
Authors: Zou Yunling , Yu Tao , Huang Xianshou , Li Yan , Guo Lingjue , Yan Huifeng , Zhou Juan , Wang Yu
Published: August 2023

Brookite TiO2 is considered as one of the excellent candidates in photo- or photo-/electro- chemical applications due to its unique crystalline structure and electronic properties. To achieve an enhanced visible-light-responsive brookite TiO2 photocatalyst, Zn-doped brookite TiO2 (ZBT) was in situ synthesized under hydrothermal conditions at 180 °C for 2 h in this research. X-ray diffraction (XRD) verified that the undoped sample was single-phase brookite TiO2, while the ZBT samples are mixtures of brookite and anatase because the incorporation of Zn caused brookite to anatase phase transformation. The average particle size of the ZBT samples was smaller than pure brookite TiO2 and decreased with the increase of Zn amount, indicating that Zn doping inhibited the growth of crystallite. ZBT samples exhibited better photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) than pure brookite TiO2 under visible light irradiation due to the effective separation of electrons and holes by Zn doping. Among the ZBT samples, the 5% ZBT sample exhibited the best photodegradation rate of MB (92.6%) under visible-light irradiation for 2 h, which was attributable to its small particle size (19.78 nm) and the large surface area (67.08 m−2 g−1).
Integration of Ag-CBRAM crossbars and Mott ReLU neurons for efficient implementation of deep neural networks in hardware
Authors: Shi Yuhan , Oh Sangheon , Park Jaeseoung , Valle Javier del , Salev Pavel , Schuller Ivan K , Kuzum Duygu
Published: August 2023

In-memory computing with emerging non-volatile memory devices (eNVMs) has shown promising results in accelerating matrix-vector multiplications. However, activation function calculations are still being implemented with general processors or large and complex neuron peripheral circuits. Here, we present the integration of Ag-based conductive bridge random access memory (Ag-CBRAM) crossbar arrays with Mott rectified linear unit (ReLU) activation neurons for scalable, energy and area-efficient hardware (HW) implementation of deep neural networks. We develop Ag-CBRAM devices that can achieve a high ON/OFF ratio and multi-level programmability. Compact and energy-efficient Mott ReLU neuron devices implementing ReLU activation function are directly connected to the columns of Ag-CBRAM crossbars to compute the output from the weighted sum current. We implement convolution filters and activations for VGG-16 using our integrated HW and demonstrate the successful generation of feature maps for CIFAR-10 images in HW. Our approach paves a new way toward building a highly compact and energy-efficient eNVMs-based in-memory computing system.
Smooth approximations for fully nonlinear nonlocal elliptic equations
Authors: Fernández-Real Xavier
Published: August 2023

We show that any viscosity solution to a general fully nonlinear nonlocal elliptic equation can be approximated by smooth (C∞C^\infty) solutions.
Theorising the Uncanny Adaptation through Hamlet
Authors: Bergan Mckenzie
Published: August 2023

Adaptations possess an uncanny quality, especially when those adaptations are built on tragic narratives. When audiences see the same characters relive the same plots in different contexts, what was once familiar becomes unfamiliar, and a kind of haunting is produced. Adaptations that move across mediums from stage to film to video games carry an especially prominent potential for uncanniness. Using adaptations of Hamlet and specifically the video game, Elsinore, to track this evolution reveals that the temporal ambiguity that the uncanny adaptation produces within a tragic narrative carries the potential to enact ethical aims, while also suggesting a way forward in thinking about that narrative’s future. By first defining the uncanny adaptation and examining Elsinore as a case study, this article explores the ethical potential that is made possible through the uncanny elements of tragic adaptation.
A bicentric cohort study comparing umbilical cord and neonatal blood samples for chemistry tests at birth
Authors: Calafatti Matteo , Gizzi Camilla , Simonelli Ilaria , Papa Fabrizio , Consigli Chiara , Sorrentino Elena , Haas Cristina , Massenzi Luca
Published: August 2023

Objectives

To compare umbilical cord and neonatal blood for chemistry tests upon admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Methods

We designed a prospective, bicentric cohort study enrolling newborns (n = 71) with a planned admission to the NICU. Paired samples of umbilical cord and infant’s blood were collected, analyzed, and compared. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated for a repeatability analysis, and a Bland-Altman analysis was performed to assess the agreement between the 2 methods of sampling. The multivariable coefficient of determination (R2) was reported to quantify the degree of correlation between the methods of measurement.

Results

The degree of agreement between the 2 sampling methods for chemistry tests was fair to good for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (ICC = 0.79 [95% CI, 0.67-0.87]), phosphorus (ICC = 0.83 [95% CI, 0.73-0.90]), and albumin (ICC = 0.76 [95% CI, 0.60-0.86]), while it was good to excellent for γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (ICC = 0.95 [95% CI, 0.88-0.98]) and procalcitonin (ICC = 0.90 [95% CI, 0.76-0.96]).

Conclusions

Umbilical cord blood is a reliable replacement source for multiple chemistry tests at birth. This sampling method has the potential to minimize the risk of transfusion-requiring anemia in newborns and its associated complications. Further studies are warranted to assess the efficacy of this strategy in improving neonatal outcomes.
Neuroanatomical predictors of problematic alcohol consumption in adolescents: a systematic review of longitudinal studies
Authors: Honarvar Faraz , Arfaie Saman , Edalati Hanie , Ghasroddashti Arashk , Solgi Arad , Mashayekhi Mohammad Sadegh , Mofatteh Mohammad , Ren Lily Yuxi , Kwan Angela T H , Keramatian Kamyar
Published: August 2023

Aims

This study aimed to systematically review the literature on neuroanatomical predictors of future problematic drinking in adolescents.

Methods

Using PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted to evaluate neuroanatomical predictors of problematic alcohol consumption in adolescents. EMBASE, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO databases were searched from inception to 6 January 2023. Studies were included if they were original, had a prospective design, had a sample size of at least 12, had a follow-up period of at least 1 year, had at least one structural neuroimaging scan before 18 with no prior alcohol use, and had alcohol use as the primary outcome. Studies were excluded if they had animals only and were not in English. Risk of bias was conducted using the CASP tool.

Results

Out of 1412 studies identified, 19 studies met the criteria, consisting of 11 gray matter (n = 4040), 5 white matter (n = 319), and 3 assessing both (n = 3608). Neuroanatomical predictors of future problematic drinking in adolescents were reported to be distributed across various brain regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex and paralimbic regions. However, the findings were largely heterogeneous.

Conclusions

This is the first systematic review to map out the existing literature on neuroanatomical predictors of problematic drinking in adolescents. Future research should focus on the aforementioned regions to determine their role in predicting future problematic drinking with more certainty.
BMP9 functions as a negative regulator in the myogenic differentiation of primary mouse myoblasts
Authors: Lu Xiya , Li Liang , Wu Nanhui , Chen Wenjuan , Hong Sheng , Xu Mingyuan , Ding Yangfeng , Gao Yunlu
Published: August 2023

BMP9, a member of the TGF-β superfamily, reveals the great translational promise for it has been shown to have the strong effect of osteogenic activity in vitro and in vivo. However, the implantation of certain BMPs (bone morphogenetic proteins) into muscular tissues induces ectopic bone formation. BMPs induce osteoblastic differentiation in skeletal muscle, suggesting that myogenic stem cells, such as myoblasts, are the potential progenitors of osteoblasts during heterotopic bone differentiation. Here, we investigate the role of BMP9 during primary mouse myoblasts differentiation. We found BMP9 enhanced cell proliferation and reduced myogenic differentiation of primary mouse myoblasts. In addition, adenovirus-mediated overexpression of BMP9 delayed muscle regeneration after BaCl2-induced injury. ALK1 knockdown reversed the inhibition of myoblast differentiation induced by BMP9. Our data indicate that BMP9 inhibits myogenic differentiation in primary mouse myoblasts and delays skeletal muscle regeneration after injury.
Ab initio gene prediction for protein-coding regions
Authors: Baker Lonnie , David Charles , Jacobs Donald J
Published: August 2023

Motivation

Ab initio gene prediction in nonmodel organisms is a difficult task. While many ab initio methods have been developed, their average accuracy over long segments of a genome, and especially when assessed over a wide range of species, generally yields results with sensitivity and specificity levels in the low 60% range. A common weakness of most methods is the tendency to learn patterns that are species-specific to varying degrees. The need exists for methods to extract genetic features that can distinguish coding and noncoding regions that are not sensitive to specific organism characteristics.

Results

A new method based on a neural network (NN) that uses a collection of sensors to create input features is presented. It is shown that accurate predictions are achieved even when trained on organisms that are significantly different phylogenetically than test organisms. A consensus prediction algorithm for a CoDing Sequence (CDS) is subsequently applied to the first nucleotide level of NN predictions that boosts accuracy through a data-driven procedure that optimizes a CDS/non-CDS threshold. An aggregate accuracy benchmark at the nucleotide level shows that this new approach performs better than existing ab initio methods, while requiring significantly less training data.

Availability and implementation

https://github.com/BioMolecularPhysicsGroup-UNCC/MachineLearning.
Misclassification of Loss to Care Among Persons With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Improved Capture of Silent Transfers Through Surveillance Linkage Using Statewide Mandatorily Reported Laboratory Measures
Authors: Sack Daniel E , Brantley Meredith , Ratliff Melanie , Mathieson Samantha , Turner Megan , Pettit April C , Sterling Timothy R , Rebeiro Peter F
Published: August 2023

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive individuals lost to follow-up from particular clinics may not be lost to care (LTC). After linking Vanderbilt's Comprehensive Care Clinic cohort to Tennessee's statewide HIV surveillance database, LTC decreased from 48.4% to 35.0% at 10 years. Routine surveillance linkage by domestic HIV clinics would improve LTC and retention measure accuracy.
Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Arrival Surveillance Screening by Nucleic Acid Amplification Versus Rapid Antigen Detection on Subsequent COVID-19 Infections in Military Trainees
Authors: Cybulski Daniel J , Matthews Zachary , Kieffer John W , Casey Theresa M , Osuna Angela B , Kasper Korey , Frankel Dianne N , Aden James , Yun Heather C , Marcus Joseph E
Published: August 2023

Background

For persons entering congregate settings, optimal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) arrival surveillance screening method, nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) versus rapid antigen detection test (RADT), is debated. To aid this, we sought to determine the risk of secondary symptomatic coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) among military trainees with negative arrival NAAT or RADT screening.

Methods

Individuals who arrived for US Air Force basic military training from 1 January–31 August 2021 were placed into training groups and screened for SARS-CoV-2 via NAAT or RADT. Secondary symptomatic COVID-19 cases within 2 weeks of training were then measured. A case cluster was defined as ≥5 individual symptomatic COVID-19 cases.

Results

406 (1.6%) of 24 601 trainees screened positive upon arrival. The rate of positive screen was greater for those tested with NAAT versus RADT (2.5% vs 0.4%; RR: 5.4; 95% CI: 4.0–7.3; P < .001). The proportion of training groups with ≥1 positive individual screen was greater in groups screened via NAAT (57.5% vs 10.8%; RR: 5.31; 95% CI: 3.65–7.72; P < .001). However, NAAT versus RADT screening was not associated with a difference in number of training groups to develop a secondary symptomatic case (20.3% vs 22.5%; RR: .9; 95% CI: .66–1.23; P = .53) or case cluster of COVID-19 (4% vs 6.6%; RR: .61; 95% CI: .3–1.22; P = .16).

Conclusions

NAAT versus RADT arrival surveillance screening method impacted individual transmission of COVID-19 but had no effect on number of training groups developing a secondary symptomatic case or case cluster. This study provides consideration for RADT arrival screening in congregate settings.
Metabolic regulation of γδ intraepithelial lymphocytes
Authors: Alonso Sara , Edelblum Karen L
Published: August 2023

Elucidating the relationship between cellular metabolism and T cell function has substantially advanced our understanding of how T cells are regulated in response to activation. The metabolic profiles of circulating or peripheral T cells have been well-described, yet less is known regarding how complex local microenvironments shape or modulate the bioenergetic profile of tissue-resident T lymphocytes. Intraepithelial lymphocytes expressing the γδ T cell receptor (γδ IELs) provide immunosurveillance of the intestinal epithelium to limit tissue injury and microbial invasion; however, their activation and effector responses occur independently of antigen recognition. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge regarding γδ T cell and IEL metabolic profiles and how this informs our understanding of γδ IEL metabolism. We will also discuss the role of the gut microbiota in shaping the metabolic profile of these sentinel lymphocytes, and in turn, how these bioenergetics contribute to regulation of γδ IEL surveillance behavior and effector function. Improved understanding of the metabolic processes involved in γδ IEL homeostasis and function may yield novel strategies to amplify the protective functions of these cells in the context of intestinal health and disease.
LptD depletion disrupts morphological homeostasis and upregulates carbohydrate metabolism in Escherichia coli
Authors: Frisinger Frida Svanberg , Jana Bimal , Ortiz-Marquez Juan C , van Opijnen Tim , Donadio Stefano , Guardabassi Luca
Published: August 2023

In a previous in silico study, we identified an essential outer membrane protein (LptD) as an attractive target for development of novel antibiotics. Here, we characterized the effects of LptD depletion on Escherichia coli physiology and morphology. An E. coli CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) strain was constructed to allow control of lptD expression. Induction of the CRISPRi system led to ∼440-fold reduction of gene expression. Dose-dependent growth inhibition was observed, where strong knockdown effectively inhibited initial growth but partial knockdown exhibited maximum overall killing after 24 h. LptD depletion led to morphological changes where cells exhibited long, filamentous cell shapes and cytoplasmic accumulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Transcriptional profiling by RNA-Seq showed that LptD knockdown led to upregulation of carbohydrate metabolism, especially in the colanic acid biosynthesis pathway. This pathway was further overexpressed in the presence of sublethal concentrations of colistin, an antibiotic targeting LPS, indicating a specific transcriptional response to this synergistic envelope damage. Additionally, exposure to colistin during LptD depletion resulted in downregulation of pathways related to motility and chemotaxis, two important virulence traits. Altogether, these results show that LptD depletion (i) affects E. coli survival, (ii) upregulates carbohydrate metabolism, and (iii) synergizes with the antimicrobial activity of colistin.
An antimicrobial thiopeptide producing novel actinomycetes Streptomyces terrae sp. nov., isolated from subsurface soil of arable land
Authors: Choksket Stanzin , Kaur Mahaldeep , Pinnaka Anil Kumar , Korpole Suresh
Published: August 2023

An antimicrobial producing Gram-positive, aerobic, nonmotile, and filamentous actinobacterial strain SKN60T was isolated from soil The isolate exhibited 99.3% and 99.0% identity with Streptomyces laurentii ATCC 31255T and S. roseicoloratus TRM 44457T, respectively, in 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. However, the genome sequence displayed maximum ANI (88.45%) and AAI (85.61%) with S. roseicoloratus TRM 44457T. Similarly, the dDDH showed 33.7% identity with S. roseicoloratus TRM 44457T. It formed a cluster with S. roseicoloratus TRM 44457T and S. laurentii ATCC 31255T in phylogenomic tree. Cell wall analysis revealed the presence of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylcholine as major polar lipids and diaminopimelic acid as diagnostic diamino acid. Major fatty acids were iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, and iso-C16:0. The G+C content was found to be 72.3 mol%. Genome sequence analysis using antiSMASH database showed occurrence of a thiopeptide biosynthesis gene cluster with 94% similarity to berninamycin from S. bernensis UC5144. The mass of 1146 Da is identical with berninamycin. But subtle differences observed in leader peptide sequence of thiopeptide and berninamycin. Notably, S. bernensis is not validly reported and thus SKN60T is the only strain containing berninamycin BGC as no other phylogenetic relative had it. Additionally, strain SKN60T differed in phenotypic and genetic characteristics with all phylogenetic relatives of the genus Streptomyces. Therefore, it is proposed as a novel species with the name Streptomyces terrae sp. nov. strain SKN60T (=MTCC 13163T; = JCM 35768T).
Prioritizing population oral health through public policy in Australia: the Victorian experience
Authors: Nguyen Tan Minh , Lin Clare , Raichur Anil , Patterson Amy , Hall Martin , Aldrich Rosemary , Robinson Suzanne
Published: August 2023

Dental caries, a non-communicable disease, is one of the most prevalent diseases globally and share common modifiable risk factors with obesity such as excess sugar intake. However, prioritization by governments to improve population oral health has been limited and is typically excluded from the discourse of public health policy development. Therefore, interventions that target dental caries can have other co-benefits including obesity prevention. In Victoria, Australia, local government authorities have a regulatory requirement to develop their Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plans. The aim of this paper is to identify whether prioritization for oral health by local government authorities in Victoria has changed through the subsequent renewal of the Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plans 2011–2015 and 2019–2023. Three desktop audits for all publicly available Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plans by local government authorities in Victoria were conducted between 2014 and 2022. Key terms related to oral health was searched within these policy documents and categorized into six indicators: (i) included oral health as a priority, (ii) linked healthy eating and oral health, (iii) supported the Achievement Program, (iv) included the Smiles 4 Miles program, (v) advocated for fluoridated drinking water, and (vi) included other strategies related to oral health. Overall, there was statistically significant reduction in five of the six indicators, with the exception for prioritization of other strategies related to oral health such as targeting excess sugar intake and smoking. A multi-sectoral approach, that includes oral health would be advantageous to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.