bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Continuous glucose monitoring during pregnancy in healthy mice
Authors: Wuyts Caroline , Simoens Caroline , Pinto Silvia , Philippaert Koenraad , Vennekens Rudi
Published: February 2021

During pregnancy, metabolic adaptations occur to maintain the balance between maternal and foetal growth, including increased insulin secretion and decreased insulin sensitivity. When the body fails to adjust, gestational diabetes mellitus develops. To gain insight in the pregnancy-induced adaptations, we applied continuous glucose monitoring via telemetric transmitters. We show that continuous glucose monitoring in conscious, non-stressed, freely moving mice throughout the full pregnancy is feasible, accurate and safe. We show that healthy mice during a full pregnancy develop adaptations in glucose homeostasis reminiscent of those in pregnant women. Furthermore, continuous glucose monitoring allows the complete analysis of all aspects of glucose excursions associated with spontaneous feeding episodes, and the thorough analysis of glycaemic variability. In conclusion, continuous glucose monitoring allows a detailed description of the glycaemic status during pregnancy, which will help to unravel specific mechanisms for gestational diabetes mellitus.
Behavioral effects of continuous theta-burst stimulation in macaque parietal cortex
Authors: Merken Lara , Davare Marco , Janssen Peter , Romero Maria C.
Published: February 2021

The neural mechanisms underlying the effects of continuous Theta-Burst Stimulation (cTBS) in humans are poorly understood. Animal studies can clarify the effects of cTBS on individual neurons, but behavioral evidence is necessary to demonstrate the validity of the animal model. We investigated the behavioral effect of cTBS applied over parietal cortex in rhesus monkeys performing a visually-guided grasping task with two differently sized objects, which required either a power grip or a pad-to-side grip. We used Fitts’ law, predicting shorter grasping times (GT) for large compared to small objects, to investigate cTBS effects on two different grip types. cTBS induced long-lasting object-specific and dose-dependent changes in GT that remained present for up to two hours. High-intensity cTBS increased GTs for a power grip, but shortened GTs for a pad-to-side grip. Thus, high-intensity stimulation strongly reduced the natural GT difference between objects (i.e. the Fitts’ law effect). In contrast, low-intensity cTBS induced the opposite effects on GT. Modifying the coil orientation from the standard 45-degree to a 30-degree angle induced opposite cTBS effects on GT. These findings represent behavioral evidence for the validity of the nonhuman primate model to study the neural underpinnings of non-invasive brain stimulation.
Pathologically phosphorylated tau at S396/404 (PHF-1) is accumulated inside of hippocampal synaptic mitochondria of aged Wild-type mice
Authors: Torres Angie K. , Jara Claudia , Olesen Margrethe A. , Tapia-Rojas Cheril
Published: February 2021

Brain aging is a natural process characterized by cognitive decline and memory loss. This impairment is related to mitochondrial dysfunction and has recently been linked to the accumulation of abnormal proteins in the hippocampus. Age-related mitochondrial dysfunction could be induced by modified forms of tau. Here, we demonstrated that phosphorylated tau at Ser 396/404 sites, epitope known as PHF-1, is increased in the hippocampus of aged mice at the same time that oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction are observed. Most importantly, we showed that tau PHF-1 is located in hippocampal mitochondria and accumulates in the mitochondria of old mice. Finally, since two mitochondrial populations were found in neurons, we evaluated tau PHF-1 levels in both non-synaptic and synaptic mitochondria. Interestingly, our results revealed that tau PHF-1 accumulates primarily in synaptic mitochondria during aging, and immunogold electron microscopy and Proteinase K protection assays demonstrated that tau PHF-1 is located inside mitochondria. These results demonstrated the presence of phosphorylated tau at PHF-1 commonly related to tauopathy, inside the mitochondria from the hippocampus of healthy aged mice for the first time. Thus, this study strongly suggests that synaptic mitochondria could be damaged by tau PHF-1 accumulation inside this organelle, which in turn could result in synaptic mitochondrial dysfunction, contributing to synaptic failure and memory loss at an advanced age.
Interaction between cognitive reserve and age moderates effect of lesion load on stroke outcome
Authors: Umarova Roza M. , Schumacher Lena V. , Schmidt Charlotte S. M. , Martin Markus , Egger Karl , Urbach Horst , Hennig Jürgen , Klöppel Stefan , Kaller Christoph P.
Published: February 2021

The concepts of brain reserve and cognitive reserve were recently suggested as valuable predictors of stroke outcome. To test this hypothesis, we used age, years of education and lesion size as clinically feasible coarse proxies of brain reserve, cognitive reserve, and the extent of stroke pathology correspondingly. Linear and logistic regression models were used to predict cognitive outcome (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) and stroke-induced impairment and disability (NIH Stroke Scale; modified Rankin Score) in a sample of 104 chronic stroke patients carefully controlled for potential confounds. Results revealed 46% of explained variance for cognitive outcome (p < 0.001) and yielded a significant three-way interaction: Larger lesions did not lead to cognitive impairment in younger patients with higher education, but did so in younger patients with lower education. Conversely, even small lesions led to poor cognitive outcome in older patients with lower education, but didn’t in older patients with higher education. We observed comparable three-way interactions for clinical scores of stroke-induced impairment and disability both in the acute and chronic stroke phase. In line with the hypothesis, years of education conjointly with age moderated effects of lesion on stroke outcome. This non-additive effect of cognitive reserve suggests its post-stroke protective impact on stroke outcome.
Line scan-based rapid magnetic resonance imaging of repetitive motion
Authors: Lee Hankyeol , Lee Jeongtaek , Park Jang-Yeon , Lee Seung-Kyun
Published: February 2021

Two-dimensional (2D) line scan-based dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is examined as a means to capture the interior of objects under repetitive motion with high spatiotemporal resolutions. The method was demonstrated in a 9.4-T animal MRI scanner where line-by-line segmented k-space acquisition enabled recording movements of an agarose phantom and quail eggs in different conditions—raw and cooked. A custom MR-compatible actuator which utilized the Lorentz force on its wire loops in the scanner’s main magnetic field effectively induced the required periodic movements of the objects inside the magnet. The line-by-line k-space segmentation was achieved by acquiring a single k-space line for every frame in a motion period before acquisition of another line with a different phase-encode gradient in the succeeding motion period. The reconstructed time-course images accurately represented the objects’ displacements with temporal resolutions up to 5.5 ms. The proposed method can drastically increase the temporal resolution of MRI for imaging rapid periodic motion of objects while preserving adequate spatial resolution for internal details when their movements are driven by a reliable motion-inducing mechanism.
Distinct chemical blends produced by different reproductive castes in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes
Authors: Eyer Pierre-André , Salin Jared , Helms Anjel M. , Vargo Edward L.
Published: February 2021

The production of royal pheromones by reproductives (queens and kings) enables social insect colonies to allocate individuals into reproductive and non-reproductive roles. In many termite species, nestmates can develop into neotenics when the primary king or queen dies, which then inhibit the production of additional reproductives. This suggests that primary reproductives and neotenics produce royal pheromones. The cuticular hydrocarbon heneicosane was identified as a royal pheromone inReticulitermes flavipesneotenics. Here, we investigated the presence of this and other cuticular hydrocarbons in primary reproductives and neotenics of this species, and the ontogeny of their production in primary reproductives. Our results revealed that heneicosane was produced by most neotenics, raising the question of whether reproductive status may trigger its production. Neotenics produced six additional cuticular hydrocarbons absent from workers and nymphs. Remarkably, heneicosane and four of these compounds were absent in primary reproductives, and the other two compounds were present in lower quantities. Neotenics therefore have a distinct ‘royal’ blend from primary reproductives, and potentially over-signal their reproductive status. Our results suggest that primary reproductives and neotenics may face different social pressures. Future studies of these pressures should provide a more complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying social regulation in termites.
Long lifetime of bialkali photocathodes operating in high gradient superconducting radio frequency gun
Authors: Wang E. , Litvinenko V. N. , Pinayev I. , Gaowei M. , Skaritka J. , Belomestnykh S. , Ben-Zvi I. , Brutus J. C. , Jing Y. , Biswas J. , Ma J. , Narayan G. , Petrushina I. , Rahman O. , Xin T. , Rao T. , Severino F. , Shih K. , Smith K. , Wang G. , Wu Y.
Published: February 2021

High brightness, high charge electron beams are critical for a number of advanced accelerator applications. The initial emittance of the electron beam, which is determined by the mean transverse energy (MTE) and laser spot size, is one of the most important parameters determining the beam quality. The bialkali photocathodes illuminated by a visible laser have the advantages of high quantum efficiency (QE) and low MTE. Furthermore, Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) guns can operate in the continuous wave (CW) mode at high accelerating gradients, e.g. with significant reduction of the laser spot size at the photocathode. Combining the bialkali photocathode with the SRF gun enables generation of high charge, high brightness, and possibly high average current electron beams. However, integrating the high QE semiconductor photocathode into the SRF guns has been challenging. In this article, we report on the development of bialkali photocathodes for successful operation in the SRF gun with months-long lifetime while delivering CW beams with nano-coulomb charge per bunch. This achievement opens a new era for high charge, high brightness CW electron beams.
Combined unsupervised-supervised machine learning for phenotyping complex diseases with its application to obstructive sleep apnea
Authors: Ma Eun-Yeol , Kim Jeong-Whun , Lee Youngmin , Cho Sung-Woo , Kim Heeyoung , Kim Jae Kyoung
Published: February 2021

Unsupervised clustering models have been widely used for multimetric phenotyping of complex and heterogeneous diseases such as diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to more precisely characterize the disease beyond simplistic conventional diagnosis standards. However, the number of clusters and key phenotypic features have been subjectively selected, reducing the reliability of the phenotyping results. Here, to minimize such subjective decisions for highly confident phenotyping, we develop a multimetric phenotyping framework by combining supervised and unsupervised machine learning. This clusters 2277 OSA patients to six phenotypes based on their multidimensional polysomnography (PSG) data. Importantly, these new phenotypes show statistically different comorbidity development for OSA-related cardio-neuro-metabolic diseases, unlike the conventional single-metric apnea–hypopnea index-based phenotypes. Furthermore, the key features of highly comorbid phenotypes were identified through supervised learning rather than subjective choice. These results can also be used to automatically phenotype new patients and predict their comorbidity risks solely based on their PSG data. The phenotyping framework based on the combination of unsupervised and supervised machine learning methods can also be applied to other complex, heterogeneous diseases for phenotyping patients and identifying important features for high-risk phenotypes.
Notch signaling drives development of Barrett’s metaplasia from Dclk1-positive epithelial tuft cells in the murine gastric mucosa
Authors: Kunze Bettina , Middelhoff Moritz , Maurer H. Carlo , Agibalova Tatiana , Anand Akanksha , Bührer Anne-Marie , Fang Hsin-Yu , Baumeister Theresa , Steiger Katja , Strangmann Julia , Schmid Roland M. , Wang Timothy C. , Quante Michael
Published: February 2021

Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is a precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), but its cellular origin and mechanism of neoplastic progression remain unresolved. Notch signaling, which plays a key role in regulating intestinal stem cell maintenance, has been implicated in a number of cancers. The kinase Dclk1 labels epithelial post-mitotic tuft cells at the squamo-columnar junction (SCJ), and has also been proposed to contribute to epithelial tumor growth. Here, we find that genetic activation of intracellular Notch signaling in epithelial Dclk1-positive tuft cells resulted in the accelerated development of metaplasia and dysplasia in a mouse model of BE (pL2.Dclk1.N2IC mice). In contrast, genetic ablation of Notch receptor 2 in Dclk1-positive cells delayed BE progression (pL2.Dclk1.N2fl mice), and led to increased secretory cell differentiation. The accelerated BE progression in pL2.Dclk1.N2IC mice correlated with changes to the transcriptomic landscape, most notably for the activation of oncogenic, proliferative pathways in BE tissues, in contrast to upregulated Wnt signalling in pL2.Dclk1.N2fl mice. Collectively, our data show that Notch activation in Dclk1-positive tuft cells in the gastric cardia can contribute to BE development.
Evaluation of the QUANTUM BLUE sCAL rapid test as a point of care tool to identify patients with peritonsillar abscess
Authors: Stahl Lea-Sophie , Roth Johannes , Rudack Claudia , McNally Annika , Weber Jakob , Vogl Thomas , Spiekermann Christoph
Published: February 2021

S100A8/A9 (Calprotectin) serves as a biomarker for various inflammatory diseases, such as for peritonsillar abscess (PTA). Recently, the PTA score was developed for reliable PTA identification. It uses a combination of characteristic clinical symptoms and elevated calprotectin levels in serum and saliva to determine this score. Although well-established point-of-care tests (POCT) to determine serum or faecal calprotectin levels exist, a reliable and rapid tool to analyse salivary calprotectin has not yet been described. In this study, we analysed the potential of the QUANTUM BLUE sCAL Test (QBT, BÜHLMANN Laboratories AG, Switzerland) to determine S100A8/A9 levels during outpatient management. These QBT measurements are combined with other clinical factors to determine the PTA score. Significantly higher calprotectin levels were determined by QBT in patients with PTA compared to healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the QBT revealed cut-off values of 2940 ng/ml (sensitivity = 0.88, specificity = 0.78) in serum and 5310 ng/ml (sensitivity = 0.80, specificity = 0.50) in saliva. By adding the QBT results to determine PTA values, a ROC analysis provided a statistical cut-off score of 2.5 points to identify the existence of a PTA with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 89.3%. The QUANTUM BLUE sCAL Test (QBT) is an appropriate POCT to determine serum and salivary calprotectin levels. Thus, PTA scores can be determined within a short time frame by applying the QBT during outpatient management.
Congener-specific partition properties of chlorinated paraffins evaluated with COSMOtherm and gas chromatographic retention indices
Authors: Hammer Jort , Matsukami Hidenori , Endo Satoshi
Published: February 2021

Chlorinated Paraffins (CPs) are high volume production chemicals and have been found in various organisms including humans and in environmental samples from remote regions. It is thus of great importance to understand the physical–chemical properties of CPs. In this study, gas chromatographic (GC) retention indexes (RIs) of 25 CP congeners were measured on various polar and nonpolar columns to investigate the relationships between the molecular structure and the partition properties. Retention measurements show that analytical standards of individual CPs often contain several stereoisomers. RI values show that chlorination pattern have a large influence on the polarity of CPs. Single Cl substitutions (–CHCl–, –CH2Cl) generally increase polarity of CPs. However, many consecutive –CHCl– units (e.g., 1,2,3,4,5,6-C11Cl6) increase polarity less than expected from the total number of –CHCl– units. Polyparameter linear free energy relationship descriptors show that polarity difference between CP congeners can be explained by the H-bond donating properties of CPs. RI values of CP congeners were predicted using the quantum chemically based prediction tool COSMOthermX. Predicted RI values correlate well with the experimental data (R2, 0.975–0.995), indicating that COSMOthermX can be used to accurately predict the retention of CP congeners on GC columns.
Equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral loads by PCR between nasopharyngeal swab and saliva in symptomatic patients
Authors: Yokota Isao , Hattori Takeshi , Shane Peter Y. , Konno Satoshi , Nagasaka Atsushi , Takeyabu Kimihiro , Fujisawa Shinichi , Nishida Mutsumi , Teshima Takanori
Published: February 2021

Emerging evidences have shown the utility of saliva for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by PCR as alternative to nasopharyngeal swab (NPS). However, conflicting results have been reported regarding viral loads between NPS and saliva. We conducted a study to compare the viral loads between NPS and saliva in 42 COVID-19 patients. Viral loads were estimated by the cycle threshold (Ct) values. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 34 (81%) using NPS with median Ct value of 27.4, and 38 (90%) using saliva with median Ct value of 28.9 (P = 0.79). Kendall’s W was 0.82, showing a high degree of agreement, indicating equivalent viral loads in NPS and saliva. After symptom onset, the Ct values of both NPS and saliva continued to increase over time, with no substantial difference. Self-collected saliva has a detection sensitivity comparable to that of NPS and is a useful diagnostic tool with mitigating uncomfortable process and the risk of aerosol transmission to healthcare workers.
Formulation of a reactive oxygen producing calcium sulphate cement as an anti-bacterial hard tissue scaffold
Authors: Hall Thomas J. , Hughes Erik A. B. , Sajjad Hamzah , Kuehne Sarah A. , Grant Melissa M. , Grover Liam M. , Cox Sophie C.
Published: February 2021

Prophylactic antibiotic bone cements are extensively used in orthopaedics. However, the development of antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics, demonstrates a need to find alternative treatments. Herein, an antimicrobial honey (SurgihoneyRO-SHRO) has been successfully incorporated into a calcium sulphate (CS) based cement to produce a hard tissue scaffold with the ability to inhibit bacterial growth. Antimicrobial properties elicited from SHRO are predominantly owed to the water-initiated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). As an alternative to initially loading CS cement with SHRO, in order to prevent premature activation, SHRO was added into the already developing cement matrix, locking available water into the CS crystal structure before SHRO addition. Promisingly, this methodology produced > 2.5 times (715.0 ± 147.3 μM/mL/g) more ROS over 24 h and exhibited a compressive strength (32.2 ± 5.8 MPa) comparable to trabecular bone after 3 weeks of immersion. In-vitro the SHRO loaded CS scaffolds were shown to inhibit growth of clinically relevant organisms, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with comparable potency to equivalent doses of gentamicin. Encouragingly, formulations did not inhibit wound healing or induce an inflammatory response from osteoblasts. Overall this study highlights the prophylactic potential of CS-SHRO cements as an alternative to traditional antibiotics.
Identification of microalgae cultured in Bold’s Basal medium from freshwater samples, from a high-rise city
Authors: Lloyd Charmaine , Tan Kai Heng , Lim Kar Leong , Valu Vimala Gana , Fun Sarah Mei Ying , Chye Teng Rong , Mak Hui Min , Sim Wei Xiong , Musa Sarah  Liyana , Ng Joscelyn Jun Quan , Bte Nordin Nazurah Syazana , Bte Md Aidzil Nurhazlyn , Eng Zephyr Yu Wen , Manickavasagam Punithavathy , New Jen Yan
Published: February 2021

This study aimed at exploring microalgal heterogeneity from fresh water samples collected from inland water bodies in the heavily built city of Singapore. Culturable pure isolates (n = 94) were subject to an in-house microalgal DNA extraction method and LSU rDNA sequencing. Isolates were analysed for their predominance and distribution. A total of 17 different algal genera were identified (H = 2.8, EH = 0.6), of which Scenedesmus spp. and Chlorella spp. constituted 27.5% and 21.3% of isolates respectively, followed by Micractinium spp. (18.8%) and Chlamydomonas spp. (12.5%). We also report 16 new microalgal strains from this region. The data is important from an ecological and biotechnological perspective.
Intraoperative ureter identification with a novel fluorescent catheter
Authors: Barberio Manuel , Al-Taher Mahdi , Felli Eric , Ashoka Anila Hoskere , Marescaux Jacques , Klymchenko Andrey , Diana Michele
Published: February 2021

Iatrogenic ureteral injuries (IUI) occur in 0.5–1.3% of cases during abdominal surgery. If not recognized intraoperatively, IUI increase morbidity/mortality. A universally accepted method to prevent IUI is lacking. Near-infrared fluorescent imaging (NIRF), penetrating deeper than normal light within the tissue, might be useful, therefore ureter visualization combining NIRF with special dyes (i.e. IRDye 800BK) is promising. Aim of this work is to evaluate the detection of ureters using stents coated with a novel biocompatible fluorescent material (NICE: near-infrared coating of equipment), during laparoscopy. female pigs underwent placement of NICE-coated stents (NS). NIRF was performed, and fluorescence intensity (FI) was computed. Successively, 0.15 mg/kg of IRDye 800BK was administered intravenously, and FI was computed at different timepoints. Ureter visualization using NS only was further assessed in a human cadaver. Both methods allowed in vivo ureter visualization, with equal FI. However, NS were constantly visible whereas IRDye 800BK allowed visualization exclusively during the ureteral peristaltic phases. In the human cadaver, NS provided excellent ureter visualization in its natural anatomical position. NS provided continuous ureteral visualization with similar FI as the IRDye 800BK, which exclusively allowed intermittent visualization, dependent on ureteral peristalsis. NS might prove useful to visualize ureters intraoperatively, potentially preventing IUI.
Universal probabilistic programming offers a powerful approach to statistical phylogenetics
Authors: Ronquist Fredrik , Kudlicka Jan , Senderov Viktor , Borgström Johannes , Lartillot Nicolas , Lundén Daniel , Murray Lawrence , Schön Thomas B. , Broman David
Published: February 2021

Statistical phylogenetic analysis currently relies on complex, dedicated software packages, making it difficult for evolutionary biologists to explore new models and inference strategies. Recent years have seen more generic solutions based on probabilistic graphical models, but this formalism can only partly express phylogenetic problems. Here, we show that universal probabilistic programming languages (PPLs) solve the expressivity problem, while still supporting automated generation of efficient inference algorithms. To prove the latter point, we develop automated generation of sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms for PPL descriptions of arbitrary biological diversification (birth-death) models. SMC is a new inference strategy for these problems, supporting both parameter inference and efficient estimation of Bayes factors that are used in model testing. We take advantage of this in automatically generating SMC algorithms for several recent diversification models that have been difficult or impossible to tackle previously. Finally, applying these algorithms to 40 bird phylogenies, we show that models with slowing diversification, constant turnover and many small shifts generally explain the data best. Our work opens up several related problem domains to PPL approaches, and shows that few hurdles remain before these techniques can be effectively applied to the full range of phylogenetic models.
Limited window for donation of convalescent plasma with high live-virus neutralizing antibody titers for COVID-19 immunotherapy
Authors: Gontu Abhinay , Srinivasan Sreenidhi , Salazar Eric , Nair Meera Surendran , Nissly Ruth H. , Greenawalt Denver , Bird Ian M. , Herzog Catherine M. , Ferrari Matthew J. , Poojary Indira , Katani Robab , Lindner Scott E. , Minns Allen M. , Rossi Randall , Christensen Paul A. , Castillo Brian , Chen Jian , Eagar Todd N. , Yi Xin , Zhao Picheng , Leveque Christopher , Olsen Randall J. , Bernard David W. , Gollihar Jimmy , Kuchipudi Suresh V. , Musser James M. , Kapur Vivek
Published: February 2021

Millions of individuals who have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection may be eligible to participate in convalescent plasma donor programs, yet the optimal window for donating high neutralizing titer convalescent plasma for COVID-19 immunotherapy remains unknown. Here we studied the response trajectories of antibodies directed to the SARS-CoV-2 surface spike glycoprotein and in vitro SARS-CoV-2 live virus neutralizing titers (VN) in 175 convalescent donors longitudinally sampled for up to 142 days post onset of symptoms (DPO). We observed robust IgM, IgG, and viral neutralization responses to SARS-CoV-2 that persist, in the aggregate, for at least 100 DPO. However, there is a notable decline in VN titers ≥160 for convalescent plasma therapy, starting 60 DPO. The results also show that individuals 30 years of age or younger have significantly lower VN, IgG and IgM antibody titers than those in the older age groups; and individuals with greater disease severity also have significantly higher IgM and IgG antibody titers. Taken together, these findings define the optimal window for donating convalescent plasma useful for immunotherapy of COVID-19 patients and reveal important predictors of an ideal plasma donor.
Layer-dependent photocatalysts of GaN/SiC-based multilayer van der Waals heterojunctions for hydrogen evolution
Authors: Peng Bojun , Xu Liang , Zeng Jian , Qi Xiaopeng , Yang Youwen , Ma Zongle , Huang Xin , Wang Ling-Ling , Shuai Cijun
Published: February 2021

The interlayer interaction has a great influence on the formation of type-II heterojunctions, which can efficiently decompose water.
Structure-controlled growth of vertically-aligned carbon nanotube forests using iron–nickel bimetallic catalysts
Authors: Ürk Deniz , Cebeci Fevzi Çakmak , Öveçoğlu Mustafa Lütfi , Cebeci Hülya
Published: February 2021

A Fe–Ni catalyst prepared via mechanical alloying using a CCVD system for VACNT growth and its advanced characterization are presented.
Facile assembly and improved photocatalytic activity of a special cuprous oxide/copper fluoride heterojunction induced by graphene oxide
Authors: Xi Mengya , Zhang Wanru , Liu Zhiyuan , Qin Lixia , Kang Shi-Zhao , Li Xiangqing
Published: February 2021

A low cost and stable Cu2O/CuF2heterojunction was fabricatedin situinduced by graphene oxide. Importantly, it showed a stable and greatly increased photocatalytic hydrogen generation compared with the other comparisons.
Highly efficient catalytic properties of Sc and Fe single atoms stabilized on a honeycomb borophene/Al(111) heterostructure via a dual charge transfer effect
Authors: Ren Mengru , Zhang Lili , Zhu Yandi , Shi Jinlei , Zhao Xingju , Ren Xiaoyan , Li Shunfang
Published: February 2021

Theoretical design and experimental fabrication of highly efficient single-atom catalysts (SACs) containing isolated metal atoms monodispersed on appropriate substrates have surged to the forefront of heterogeneous catalysis in recent years.
Boosting the performance of printed thermoelectric materials by inducing morphological anisotropy
Authors: Tian Yuan , Molina-Lopez Francisco
Published: February 2021

Printing holds potential for low-cost and large-area patterning of thermoelectric materials. The process can be also engineered to induce morphological anisotropy in (in)organic materials, which boost the performance along a preferential direction.
Semiflexible polymer scaffolds: an overview of conjugation strategies
Authors: Gerrits Lotte , Hammink Roel , Kouwer Paul H. J.
Published: February 2021

Semiflexible polymers are excellent scaffolds for the presentation of a wide variety of (bio)molecules. This manuscript reviews advantages and challenges of the most common conjugation strategies for the major classes of semiflexible polymers.
Continuous selective deoxygenation of palm oil for renewable diesel production over Ni catalysts supported on Al2O3and La2O3–Al2O3
Authors: Papageridis Kyriakos N. , Charisiou Nikolaos D. , Douvartzides Savvas , Sebastian Victor , Hinder Steven J. , Baker Mark A. , AlKhoori Ayesha A. , AlKhoori Sara I. , Polychronopoulou Kyriaki , Goula Maria A.
Published: February 2021

Highly selective and stable Ni supported on La2O3–Al2O3catalyst on the deCO/deCO2reaction paths for the production of renewable diesel.
Structure of the amorphous titania precursor phase of N-doped photocatalysts
Authors: Grey I. E. , Bordet P. , Wilson N. C.
Published: February 2021

Amorphous titania samples prepared by ammonia solution neutralization of titanyl sulphate have been characterized by chemical and thermal analyses, and with reciprocal-space and real-space fitting of wide-angle synchrotron X-ray scattering data.
Research on the photoluminescence properties of Cu2+-doped perovskite CsPbCl3 quantum dots
Authors: Wu Ronghua , Bai Zhongchen , Jiang Jinguo , Yao Heng , Qin Shuijie
Published: February 2021

Schematic of the synthesis of Cu:CsPbCl3 QDs and PL spectra.
A fast-responsive fluorescent turn-on probe for nitroreductase imaging in living cells
Authors: Jia Chengli , Zhang Yong , Wang Yuesong , Ji Min
Published: February 2021

Probe NTR-NO2 was effectively reduced in the presence of NTR generating a highly fluorescent product.
Exploring the optical limiting, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of the BiFeO3–NaNbO3 nanocomposite system
Authors: Ummer Rehana P. , Perumbilavil Sreekanth , Jose Jiya , Thomas Sabu , Gopinath Pramod , Kalarikkal Nandakumar
Published: February 2021

Thin films of BiFeO3–NaNbO3 composites were fabricated in a PMMA matrix.
Evaluation of the formation and antifouling properties of a novel adsorptive homogeneous mixed matrix membrane with in situ generated Zr-based nanoparticles
Authors: Zhang Mei , Ni Fan , He Jinsong , Liu Yan
Published: February 2021

A homogeneous in situ generated Zr-based NPs/PES mixed matrix membrane with enhanced adsorptive and antifouling performance was developed.
Fluorescence imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy using polydopamine and graphene quantum dot-capped Prussian blue nanocubes
Authors: Wang Meng , Li Baolong , Du Yu , Bu Huimin , Tang Yanyan , Huang Qingli
Published: February 2021

Polydopamine and graphene quantum dot-capped Prussian blue nanocubes with fluorescence and enhanced photothermal conversion properties were prepared, and have been successfully used for the fluorescence imaging-guided photothermal therapy of tumors.
Blue organic light-emitting diodes with hybridized local and charge-transfer excited state realizing high external quantum efficiency
Authors: Jayabharathi Jayaraman , Thilagavathy Shanmugam , Thanikachalam Venugopal
Published: February 2021

Donor–spacer–acceptor (D–π–A) materials CAPI and CCAPI, with hybridized local and charge transfer (HLCT) emissive states, have been synthesized.
A chemically consistent graph architecture for massive reaction networks applied to solid-electrolyte interphase formation
Authors: Blau Samuel M. , Patel Hetal D. , Spotte-Smith Evan Walter Clark , Xie Xiaowei , Dwaraknath Shyam , Persson Kristin A.
Published: February 2021

A chemically consistent graph architecture enables autonomous identification of novel solid-electrolyte interphase formation pathways from a massive reaction network.
Merocyanine-paclitaxel conjugates for photothermal induced chemotherapy
Authors: Liu Yingjie , Zheng Xiaohua , Zhou Junli , Xie Zhigang
Published: February 2021

Merocyanine-paclitaxel conjugates could form stable nanoparticles, which indicate the enhanced chemotherapy upon irradiation because of the photothermal effect.
A simple synthesis of [RuCl2(NHC)(p-cymene)] complexes and their use in olefin oxidation catalysis
Authors: Ma Xinyuan , Guillet Sébastien G. , Peng Min , Van Hecke Kristof , Nolan Steven P.
Published: February 2021

An operationally simple synthetic route is designed to access the [RuCl2(NHC)(p-cymene)] family of complexes.
Optimizing plasmon enhanced luminescence in silicon nanocrystals by gold nanorods
Authors: Pavelka Ondřej , Dyakov Sergey , Veselý Jozef , Fučíková Anna , Sugimoto Hiroshi , Fujii Minoru , Valenta Jan
Published: February 2021

An optimized synthetic protocol allows determination of optimal spacer thickness for plasmon enhanced photoluminescence of silicon nanocrystals on gold nanorods.
Atomically resolved interfacial water structures on crystalline hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces
Authors: Uhlig Manuel R. , Benaglia Simone , Thakkar Ravindra , Comer Jeffrey , Garcia Ricardo
Published: February 2021

Hydration layers are formed on hydrophilic crystalline surfaces immersed in water.
Investigating eosin Y as a photocatalyst for the radical-dependent activity-based probing of deubiquitinating enzymes
Authors: Taylor Neil C. , McGouran Joanna F.
Published: February 2021

Assessment of the eosin Y initiated protein–protein thiol–ene reaction in a metal-free, oxygen-tolerant, visible-light mediated system.
Facile UV-induced covalent modification and crosslinking of styrene–isoprene–styrene copolymer via Paterno–Büchi [2 + 2] photocycloaddition
Authors: Arslan Mehmet , Ceylan Ozgur , Arslan Rabia , Tasdelen Mehmet Atilla
Published: February 2021

Paterno–Büchi reaction is reported as a convenient chemical reaction tool to modify unsaturated copolymer elastomers.
Effects of the addition of CeO2 on the steam reforming of ethanol using novel carbon-Al2O3 and carbon-ZrO2 composite-supported Co catalysts
Authors: Ishihara Atsushi , Tsujino Hiroshi , Hashimoto Tadanori
Published: February 2021

For the ideal reaction routes in steam reforming of ethanol catalyzed by Co/CeO2–ZrO2, as Al2O3 was used instead of ZrO2, the effect of CeO2 did not appear, suggesting that the configuration of CeO2 and cobalt species on ZrO2 would be important.
The effect of strain on water dissociation on reduced rutile TiO2(110) surface
Authors: Wang Zhi-Wen , Chen Wei-Guang , Teng Da , Zhang Jie , Li An-Ming , Li Zhao-Han , Tang Ya-Nan
Published: February 2021

The tensile strain along [11̄0] on the reduced TiO2(110) surface can greatly promote the dissociation of water, the compressive strain along [001] and [11̄0] can change the dissociation mechanisms.
Structural, elastic, and electronic properties of chemically functionalized boron phosphide monolayer
Authors: Vu Tuan V. , Kartamyshev A. I. , Hieu Nguyen V. , Dang Tran D. H. , Nguyen Sy-Ngoc , Poklonski N. A. , Nguyen Chuong V. , Phuc Huynh V. , Hieu Nguyen N.
Published: February 2021

Surface functionalization is one of the useful techniques for modulating the mechanical and electronic properties of two-dimensional systems.
Biphasic nucleophilic aromatic substitution using a microreactor under droplet formation conditions
Authors: Mori Hajime , Nishiyama Yasuhiro , Fujii Akira , Saito Akane , Torikai Hitoshi , Hanasaka Toshiaki , Koishi Hideyuki
Published: February 2021

Biphasic nucleophilic aromatic substitution of 4-fluoronitrobenzene proceeded efficiently using a packed bed reactor.
Dual Ag/Co cocatalyst synergism for the highly effective photocatalytic conversion of CO2 by H2O over Al-SrTiO3
Authors: Wang Shuying , Teramura Kentaro , Hisatomi Takashi , Domen Kazunari , Asakura Hiroyuki , Hosokawa Saburo , Tanaka Tsunehiro
Published: February 2021

Deposition Ag and Co dual cocatalysts onto Al-SrTiO3 significantly improves its activity for photoreduction of CO2 by H2O, with extremely high selectivity to CO evolution (99.8%), in which Ag and Co enable CO2 reduction and H2O oxidation, respectively.
The SARS-CoV-2 induced targeted amino acid profiling in patients at hospitalized and convalescent stage
Authors: Wu Junfang , Zhao Mingming , Li Chenze , Zhang Yuxuan , Wang Dao Wen
Published: February 2021

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has induced an ongoing global health crisis. Here we utilized a combination of targeted amino acids (AAs) and clinical biochemical profiling to analyze the plasma of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) subjects at the hospitalization stage and 1-month post-infection convalescent stage, respectively, to investigate the systematic injury during COVID-19 disease progress. We found the virus-induced inflammatory status and reduced liver synthesis capacity in hospitalized patients, which manifested with increased branched-chain AAs (BCAAs), aromatic AAs (AAAs), one-carbon related metabolites, and decreased methionine. Most of these disturbances during infection recover except for the increased levels of medium-chain acylcarnitines (ACs) in the convalescent subjects, implying the existence of incomplete fatty acids oxidation during recovery periods. Our results suggested that the imbalance of the AA profiling in COVID-19 patients. The majority of disturbed AAs recovered in 1 month. The incomplete fatty acid oxidation products suggested it might take longer time for convalescent patients to get complete recovery.
Event‐triggered control of singularly perturbed linear system with DoS attacks
Authors: Ren Xiang , Hao Fei
Published: February 2021

This paper presents the event‐triggered control problem of linear singularly perturbed systems in the presence of denial‐of‐service attacks. To save the communication and computing resources, event‐triggered mechanisms in two transmission channels are used to guarantee the ultimately bounded stability of the closed‐loop system. Absolute event‐triggering conditions are proposed in the sensor and the controller nodes, where the controller node utilises only the state of the slow model of the singularly perturbed system. Positive lower bounds of inter‐event times are given to eliminate Zeno behaviour in the presence and absence of DoS attacks. Finally, two examples are provided to illustrate the efficiency and feasibility of the obtained results.
Analysis of Ill‐conditioning of hybrid state estimators in the presence of PMU measurements
Authors: Mallik Sanjeeb Kumar , Chakrabarti Saikat , Singh Sri Niwas
Published: February 2021

It has been observed by the practicing engineers that the inclusion of measurements from phasor measurement units (PMUs), current measurements in particular, into the conventional state estimators (SEs), may deteriorate the numerical performance of the SEs in terms of convergence and accuracy. This paper analyzes the reason for such possible ill‐conditioning of the hybrid SEs that use both conventional and PMU measurements. It presents simplified analytical approaches to identify what causes such ill‐conditioning when PMU measurements are used. The condition number of SE gain matrix may vary depending on the number of the PMUs and its placement in the network. It has been identified that the large difference in weights that are allocated to the traditional measurements and PMU measurements is the main reason of the ill‐conditioning of the hybrid SEs.
Receding‐horizon based optimal dispatch of virtual power plant considering stochastic dynamic of photovoltaic generation
Authors: Xu Yan , Liu Zuoyu , Wen Fushuan , Palu Ivo
Published: February 2021

The merits of a virtual power plant in integrating photovoltaic generation and flexible loads, such as a chilled water thermal storage air conditioning system and an electric vehicle, are well recognized. However, the optimal operation of a virtual power plant is challenged by the complexities of solar irradiance and the large size of a chilled water thermal storage air conditioning system and an electric vehicle. This paper proposes a new approach to the optimal dispatch problem of a virtual power plant. The stochastic dynamic of solar irradiance is modelled by a stochastic differential equation set. The binary decision for a chilled water thermal storage air conditioning system and an electric vehicle are characterized by a mixed logical dynamical model. The resulting optimal dispatch problem is solved by the receding horizon approach. The appeal of the proposed approach is in its capability to consider the stochastically dynamical impact of solar irradiance. Besides, the proposed approach can solve the optimization problem over a relatively small period of time, and thus has the potential for online applications. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by numerical simulations.
Residual‐wider convolutional neural network for image recognition
Authors: Li Guoqiang , Chen Wenhua , Mu Chao
Published: February 2021

Recent works show that the performance of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) could be improved by making the network wider and introducing residual connections. For example, the Inception architecture is one of the classical models. However, the structure of the series of Inception is complex, and there are more convolution layers and existing redundant image feature information. In order to further improve the performance and observability of CNNs, a novel type of network structure based on two modules, wider module and residual module, is proposed to make full advantage of the information of the image and learn more abundant features in this study, which is called residual‐wider network (R‐WN). The structure of R‐WN is easy to understand and adopts modular design method. Experiential results demonstrate that the proposed R‐WN with optimal structure and much fewer convolution layers could achieve much better image recognition results on four classical open data sets (MNIST, CIFAR10, SVHN, and Oxford Flowers 17).
Hyperspectral remote sensing image classification using combinatorial optimisation based un‐supervised band selection and CNN
Authors: Vaddi Radhesyam , Manoharan Prabukumar
Published: February 2021

Hyperspectral image (HSI) consists of hundreds of contiguous spectral bands, which can be used in the classification of different objects on the earth. The inclusion of both spectral as well as spatial features stands essential in order that high classification accuracy is achieved. However, incorporation of the spectral and spatial information without preserving the intrinsic structure of the data leads on to downscaling the classification accuracy. To address the issue aforementioned, the proposed method which involves using unsupervised spectral band selection based on three major constrains: (i) low reconstruction error with neighbourhood bands, (ii) low noise, (iii) high information entropy, is put forward. In addition, the structure‐preserving recursive filter is used to extract spatial features. Finally, the classification is performed using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with different sets of convolutional, pooling, and fully connected layers. To test the performance of the proposed method, experiments have been carried out with three benchmark HSI datasets Indian pines, University of Pavia, and Salinas. These experiments reveal that the proposed method offers better classification accuracy over the purportedly state‐of‐the‐art methods in terms of standard metrics like overall accuracy, average accuracy, and kappa coefficient (K). The proposed method has attained OAs of 99.9, 98.9, and 99.93% for the three datasets, respectively.
Data‐enhanced machine recognition model of DC serial arc in electric vehicle power system
Authors: Xia Kun , Zhang Zihan , Liu Bangzheng , Guo Haotian , Yu Wei , Xu Jingjun , Dong Hui
Published: February 2021

Electric vehicle (EV) power system is the key to the development of EVs. If direct current (DC) arc occurs in the power system, it is difficult to extinguish at zero point. The arc fault will release a huge amount of energy and continuous sparking, which may cause spontaneous combustion or even explosion. In this study, an arc detection algorithm based on the classification of windowed Fourier transform and support vector machine (SVM) model is proposed for DC serial arc detection of EV power system. In order to optimise the arc detection algorithm, the authors use the pre‐detection algorithm, which can effectively reduce the false detection rate of DC arc fault and ensure the reliability of detection algorithm. In addition, they propose an arc fault data enhancement model, which can generate arc fault current data. Finally, the experimental results show that the arc detection algorithm has a high accuracy and a false detection rate of 0%. After data enhancement, it has generalisation of the SVM classification model under the condition of high power experiment.
Super resolution passive radars based on 802.11ax Wi‐Fi signals for human movement detection
Authors: Yildirim Hasan Can , Determe Jean‐François , Storrer Laurent , Rottenberg François , De Doncker Philippe , Louveaux Jérôme , Horlin François
Published: February 2021

Passive Radars based on Wi‐Fi signals provide an excellent opportunity for human sensing without violating the privacy of individuals. Due to the limited integration time of Wi‐Fi bursts and relatively low bandwidths, Fourier Transform‐based methods do not provide the required accuracy. Herein, a Wi‐Fi‐based passive radar algorithm is proposed for indoor human movement detection with super resolution which relies on the ESPRIT algorithm to estimate range/speed parameters from limited number of measurements. To determine the number of targets in the environment, a new Model Order Selection (MOS) method is proposed which exploits the orthogonality between the basis vectors of signal and noise subspaces obtained from the sample covariance matrix of the measurements. The new MOS method along with the proposed algorithm are numerically analysed and compared with other existing methods. Finally, the performance of the algorithm is experimentally validated in indoor conditions.
Anatomie des Wissens
Authors: Hilfiker Roger
Published: February 2021

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Der Kristeller-Handgriff heute – eine Standortbestimmung
Authors: Krause Michael , Harder Ulrike
Published: February 2021

Der Kristeller-Handgriff ist in der Geburtshilfe ein noch häufig angewandtes Manöver. Nutzen, Risiken und angewandte Technik des Fundusdrucks werden dabei in der Praxis selten reflektiert. Das Autorenteam hat Studienergebnisse und Praxiswissen zusammengefasst und hinterfragt kritisch, ob die Anwendung heute obsolet ist.