bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical presentation, management, and research progress of adrenal schwannoma
Authors: Xu Shenghan , Yu Ying , Zhang Yajuan , Wen Yong , Li Wei , Huang Tao , Che Bangwei , Zhang Wenjun , Zhang Jinjuan , Tang Kaifa
Published: July 2022

Objective

This study shares our experience in managing adrenal schwannoma (AS).

Methods

The clinical data of eight patients with AS in our hospital from April 2007 to April 2022 were analyzed retrospectively.

Results

A total of 1309 patients with adrenal lesions were treated in the affiliated hospital of Guizhou Medical University for 15 years, of which only 8 cases were diagnosed as AS, accounting for 0.61%. Among the eight patients with AS, there were five females and three males, with an average age of 48.63 ± 12.05 years, and the average maximum diameter of the tumor was 6.96 ± 1.83 cm. All patients underwent adrenalectomy and were pathologically diagnosed as AS after the operation. The average follow-up time of eight patients with AS was 60.13 ± 22.33 months, and there was no recurrence or metastasis.

Conclusion

The retroperitoneum is an uncommon site for schwannoma tumors, and among adrenal incidentalomas, the schwannoma is rare. The disease lacks specific clinical and imaging features, but correct diagnosis before the pathological examination is very important for clinical management and surgical decision. When imaging examination indicates a slow-growing retroperitoneal mass, schwannoma should be considered. Surgical resection is the main treatment. Pathology is the gold standard for diagnosis. Most of the tumors are benign and have a good prognosis. There is a risk of recurrence after the operation, and it should be monitored actively.
A review of argasid ticks and associated pathogens of China
Authors: Chen Ze , Liu Jingze
Published: July 2022

It has been recorded 221 species of soft ticks in the world. However, the classification system of Argasidae is still unclear with nearly two-third controversial species in genus level. Therefore, comprehensive research is still necessary. In 2016, Wen and Chen overviewed the valid species of soft ticks in China for the first time. Up to now, the soft tick fauna of China remains poorly known. Although several studies have been undertaken, the information regarding soft ticks and associated diseases are fragmentary. To facilitate the future study of this group, the scattered information on soft ticks of China is herein synthesized. Toward the end of 2021, 15 valid species of argasid ticks have been reported, of these, 9 species (60%) including Argas beijingensis, A. japonicus, A. persicus, A. sinensis, A. vespertilionis, A. vulgaris, Ornithodoros lahorensis, O. tartakovskyi, and O. papillipes have been recorded biting humans. Argas persicus is the most common species, and its borne pathogens are widely investigated, while most other argasid ticks are not sufficiently studied in China. Here, we summarize detailed information regarding hosts, geographical distribution, molecular data, and vector roles of argasid ticks in China.
Genome-Wide Association Study and Selective Sweep Analysis Reveal the Genetic Architecture of Body Weights in a Chicken F2 Resource Population
Authors: Wang Shouzhi , Wang Yuxiang , Li Yudong , Xiao Fan , Guo Huaishun , Gao Haihe , Wang Ning , Zhang Hui , Li Hui
Published: July 2022

Rapid growth is one of the most important economic traits in broiler breeding programs. Identifying markers and genes for growth traits may not only benefit marker-assisted selection (MAS)/genomic selection (GS) but also provide important information for understanding the genetic architecture of growth traits in broilers. In the present study, an F2 resource population derived from a cross between the broiler and Baier yellow chicken (a Chinese local breed) was used and body weights from 1 to 12 weeks of age [body weight (BW) 1–BW12)] were measured. A total of 519 F2 birds were genome re-sequenced, and a combination of genome-wide association study (GWAS) and selective sweep analysis was carried out to characterize the genetic architecture affecting chicken body weight comprehensively. As a result, 1,539 SNPs with significant effects on body weights at different weeks of age were identified using a genome-wide efficient mixed-model association (GEMMA) package. These SNPs were distributed on chromosomes 1 and 4. Besides, windows under selection identified for BW1–BW12 varied from 1,581 to 2,265. A total of 42 genes were also identified with significant effects on BW1–BW12 based on both GWAS and selective sweep analysis. Among these genes, diacylglycerol kinase eta (DGKH), deleted in lymphocytic leukemia (DLEU7), forkhead box O17 (FOXO1), karyopherin subunit alpha 3 (KPNA3), calcium binding protein 39 like (CAB39L), potassium voltage-gated channel interacting protein 4 (KCNIP4), and slit guidance ligand 2 (SLIT2) were considered as important genes for broiler growth based on their basic functions. The results of this study may supply important information for understanding the genetic architecture of growth traits in broilers.
Transcriptome-wide study revealed m6A and miRNA regulation of embryonic breast muscle development in Wenchang chickens
Authors: Gu Lihong , Jiang Qicheng , Chen Youyi , Zheng Xinli , Zhou Hailong , Xu Tieshan
Published: July 2022

N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) modification has been shown to play important role in skeletal muscle development. Wenchang chickens are commonly used as a high-quality animal model in researching meat quality. However, there have been no previous reports regarding the profile of m6A and its function in the embryonic breast muscle development of Wenchang chickens. In this paper, we identified different developmental stages of breast muscle in Wenchang chickens and performed m6A sequencing and miRNA sequencing in the breast muscle of embryos. Embryo breast muscles were weighed and stained with hematoxylin–eosin after hatching. We found that myofibers grew fast on the 10th day after hatching (E10) and seldom proliferated beyond the 19th day after hatching (E19). A total of 6,774 differentially methylated genes (DMGs) were identified between E10 and E19. For RNA-seq data, we found 5,586 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). After overlapping DEGs and DMGs, we recorded 651 shared genes (DEMGs). Subsequently, we performed miRNA-seq analysis and obtained 495 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs). Then, we overlapped DEMGs and the target genes of DEMs and obtained 72 overlapped genes (called miRNA-m6A-genes in this study). GO and KEGG results showed DEMGs enriched in many muscle development-related pathways. Furthermore, we chose WNT7B, a key regulator of skeletal muscle development, to perform IGV visualization analysis and found that the m6A levels on the WNT7B gene between E10 and E19 were significantly different. In conclusion, we found that miRNAs, in conjunction with m6A modification, played a key role in the embryonic breast muscle development of Wenchang chickens. The results of this paper offer a theoretical basis for the study of m6A function in muscle development and fat deposition of Wenchang chickens.
Immunopathological comparison of in ovo and post-hatch vaccination techniques for infectious bursal disease vaccine in layer chicks
Authors: Zaheer Iqra , Chen Wei , Khan Ahrar , Elokil Abdelmotaleb , Saleemi Muhammad Kashif , Zaheer Tean , Khan Muhammad Zargham
Published: July 2022

This study was designed to compare immunopathological effects of in ovo vaccination with post-hatch vaccination against IBD in White Leghorn chicks. A total of 189 embryonated eggs were divided into six groups. At day 18 of incubation, groups A–C were administered in ovo with 228E, Winterfield 2512:10/3 and 2512/90:10/2.7, respectively, group D (post-hatch vaccination) and group E as shamed control (for quality evaluation of in ovo vaccination technique), and group F as control. The results showed that antibody titers against IBD detected by ELISA on days 2, 17, and 28 were significantly higher in all in ovo groups as compared to control groups E and F. On day 17, all vaccinated groups (in ovo and post-hatch vaccinated) showed no significant differences in antibody titers among themselves; however, at day 28, only the post-hatch group showed significantly higher antibody titers followed by in ovo vaccinated groups. The cell-mediated immunity determined by PHA-P assay was significantly higher in all vaccinated groups than the non-vaccinated groups. No clinical signs of IBD infection were observed in any of the vaccinated groups. There was only increase in bursa size of groups vaccinated with intermediate plus strains (groups A, C, and D) at day 28. The histopathology showed that all the treatment groups had mild lesions induced by IBD virus in bursa. This study concluded that in ovo vaccination with live IBD vaccines provides protective immunity to the chickens even in the presence of IBD-specific MDA; therefore, the onset of immunity was much earlier than the post-hatch vaccination and in ovo groups also maintained protective immunity against IBD for longer time.
A Flexible Surgical Instrument for Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery
Authors: Lu Xiuquan , Wang Chao , Jin Xingze , Li Jinhui
Published: July 2022

In a narrow surgical space, flexible surgical instruments offer advantages over rigid counterparts in terms of operational dexterity. To this end, a flexible surgical instrument was designed in this study to realize dexterous motion using multiple segments in a series under wire-driven operation, satisfying the motion requirements of minimally invasive surgical operations. The forward and inverse kinematics of the instrument were solved using the geometrical method and the Newton–Raphson method, and the kinematics models were verified using a prototype. Experiments were conducted to verify the performance of the prototype device; the results showed that the time required for a kinematic solution was less than 0.1 ms. In addition, the device could flexibly reach the designated position in a narrow and long operating space and had excellent motion accuracy. Finally, it was verified that the prototype device had a certain load capacity.
Research on Mechanical Properties of V-Type Folded Core Sandwich Structures
Authors: Cui Zehao , Wang Zhijin , Cao Feng
Published: July 2022

A folded core is a three-dimensional configuration formed by folding a flat sheet of paper. Similar to foam and honeycomb, folded cores are widely used in aerospace as the cores for sandwich structures due to their excellent mechanical properties and light structural weight. In general, the core’s configuration is heterogeneous and anisotropic, while from a macroscopic point of view it is considered homogeneous. Analytical solutions of equivalent mechanical properties are generally obtained by equivalent methods and modified by numerical simulations due to the complexity of the configuration. We can find the best combination of a core’s parameters by using analytical solutions. The faceted regular folded configuration (RFC), consisting of repetitive identical cells, can be expanded to a plane. According to the principle of equivalent load-deformation, this article investigates the equivalent mechanical properties of the V-type folded core (VFC). The analytical solutions of Ez—equivalent elastic modulus in Direction z, equivalent shear modulus in Plane xz—Gxz, and equivalent shear modulus in Plane yz—Gyz have been obtained and verified by numerical simulations. In addition, the reliability of the equivalent mechanical properties is further demonstrated by the case study. By applying the analytical solutions, the optimization process of VFC can be simplified and sped up, which is of great engineering significance to the aircraft design process.
Fault Detection and Diagnosis for Liquid Rocket Engines Based on Long Short-Term Memory and Generative Adversarial Networks
Authors: Deng Lingzhi , Cheng Yuqiang , Shi Yehui
Published: July 2022

The development of health monitoring technology for liquid rocket engines (LREs) can effectively improve the safety and reliability of launch vehicles, which has important theoretical and engineering significance. Therefore, we propose a fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) method for a large LOX/kerosene rocket engine based on long short-term memory (LSTM) and generative adversarial networks (GANs). Specifically, we first modeled a large LOX/kerosene rocket engine using MATLAB/Simulink and simulated the engine’s normal and fault operation states involving various startup and steady-state stages utilizing fault injection. Second, we created an LSTM-GAN model trained with normal operating data using LSTM as the generator and a multilayer perceptron (MLP) as the discriminator. Third, the test data were input into the discriminator to obtain the discrimination results and realize fault detection. Finally, the test data were input into the generator to obtain the predicted samples and calculate the absolute error between the predicted and the real value of each parameter. Then the fault diagnosis index, standardized absolute error (SAE), was constructed. SAE was analyzed to realize fault diagnosis. The simulated results highlight that the proposed method effectively detects faults in the startup and steady-state processes, and diagnoses the faults in the steady-state process without missing an alarm or being affected by false alarms. Compared with the conventional redline cut-off system (RCS), adaptive threshold algorithm (ATA), and support vector machine (SVM), the fault detection process of LSTM-GAN is more concise and more timely.
Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Fish Larvae and Juveniles in the Waters around Taiwan from 2007 to 2019
Authors: Yen Kuo-Wei , Pan Chia-I , Chen Chia-Hsiang , Lien Wei-Hsiang
Published: July 2022

Taiwan is located at the intersection of tropical and subtropical islands in the western Pacific Ocean. This area is an important spawning and breeding ground for many economic and noneconomic species; however, little is known about the long-term dynamics of fish larvae and juveniles in these waters. In this study, we conducted an in-depth exploration of their spatial characteristics using 2007–2019 field survey samples. Our results demonstrated the seasonality and spatiality of the larvae and juveniles of different fish species. We also found that the continental shelf and offshore distance were key factors affecting fish larvae and juveniles. Changes in community structure were temporally correlated with the extreme rainfall of Typhoon Morakot (the worst typhoon ever recorded in Taiwan). These data can be used as a management reference for fisheries’ policymaking and provide key insights into nearby marine ecosystems and the early life history of fish.
Effect Biomarkers of the Widespread Antimicrobial Triclosan in a Marine Model Diatom
Authors: Duarte Bernardo , Feijão Eduardo , Cruz de Carvalho Ricardo , Matos Ana Rita , Cabrita Maria Teresa , Novais Sara C. , Moutinho Ariana , Lemos Marco F. L. , Marques João Carlos , Caçador Isabel , Reis-Santos Patrick , Fonseca Vanessa F.
Published: July 2022

The present-day COVID-19 pandemic has led to the increasing daily use of antimicrobials worldwide. Triclosan is a manmade disinfectant chemical used in several consumer healthcare products, and thus frequently detected in surface waters. In the present work, we aimed to evaluate the effect of triclosan on diatom cell photophysiology, fatty acid profiles, and oxidative stress biomarkers, using the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum as a model organism. Several photochemical effects were observed, such as the lower ability of the photosystems to efficiently trap light energy. A severe depletion of fucoxanthin under triclosan application was also evident, pointing to potential use of carotenoid as reactive oxygen species scavengers. It was also observed an evident favouring of the peroxidase activity to detriment of the SOD activity, indicating that superoxide anion is not efficiently metabolized. High triclosan exposure induced high cellular energy allocation, directly linked with an increase in the energy assigned to vital functions, enabling cells to maintain the growth rates upon triclosan exposure. Oxidative stress traits were found to be the most efficient biomarkers as promising tools for triclosan ecotoxicological assessments. Overall, the increasing use of triclosan will lead to significant effects on the diatom photochemical and oxidative stress levels, compromising key roles of diatoms in the marine system.
Metabolic Analyses and Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity in Purple Kohlrabi Sprouts after Exposed to UVB Radiation
Authors: Yeo Hyeon Ji , Lim Soo-Yeon , Park Chang Ha , Kim Cha Young , Sathasivam Ramaraj , Kim Jae Kwang , Park Sang Un
Published: July 2022

Various metabolites act as plant defense molecules due to their antioxidant abilities. This study aimed to investigate the influence of UVB irradiation on the accumulation of metabolites, including primary metabolites (sugar, sugar alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, and an amine) and secondary metabolites (anthocyanins, fatty acids, and phenolic acids), and its synergistic antioxidant ability, in purple kohlrabi sprouts. Metabolite analyses revealed a total of 92 metabolites in the sprouts. Specifically, the levels of most amino acids increased after 24 h of UVB treatment, and then slightly decreased in the kohlrabi sprouts. The levels of most sugars and sugar alcohols increased after 24 h of UVB treatment and then decreased. The levels of TCA cycle intermediates and phenolic acids gradually increased during the UVB treatment. Furthermore, the levels of some fatty acids gradually increased during the UVB treatment, and the levels of the other fatty acids increased after 6 h of UVB treatment and then decreased. In particular, the levels of most anthocyanins, known to be strong antioxidants, gradually increased after 24 h of UVB treatment. In the in vitro ABTS scavenging assay, UVB-treated purple kohlrabi sprouts showed increased scavenging ability. This may be attributed to the increased accumulation of metabolites acting as antioxidants, in response to UVB treatment. This study confirmed that UVB irradiation induced the alteration of primary and secondary metabolism in the kohlrabi sprouts.
Low Temperature Crack Resistance of Stone Mastic Asphalt Affected by Its Nominal Maximum Size and Asphalt Binders
Authors: Gu Yongming , Ding Can , Shen Junan , Wang Wei
Published: July 2022

To study the effect of nominal maximum particle size (NMS) of stone mastic asphalt (SMA) gradation and a mixed modified asphalt binder on the low temperature crack resistance of SMA, SMA asphalt mixtures with three different NMS, two styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) and crumb rubber modifier (CRM) hybrid-modified asphalt binders were designed.Thermal strength restrained specimen test (TSRST) and bending beam test (BBT) were performed on the mixtures. The freezing-fracture temperature and strength from TSRST, bending tensile strain and stiffness from BBT at low temperature were evaluated. Finally, an intrinsic relationship was established between these properties obtained from the two tests. The results showed that the following: (1) the SMA-5, the best of all the three NMS, has a freezing-fracture temperature of −31.5 °C, which is 18.9% and 48.6% lower than those of SMA-10 and SMA-13, respectively, while its freezing fracture strength is 6.15 MPa, which is 95.2% and 243.6% higher than those of SMA-10 and SMA-13, respectively; (2) the bending failure strain of SMA-5 is 4649 με, which is higher than those of SMA-10 and SMA-13 by 11.3% and 21.9%, respectively; (3) increased CRM dose in the SBS-modified SMA improves the crack resistance at low temperature; (4) the bending failure strain of the SMA has the best correlation with the freezing-fracture temperature, with a correlation coefficient of about 0.8.
Data Management and Processing in Seismology: An Application of Big Data Analysis for the Doublet Earthquake of 2021, 03 March, Elassona, Central Greece
Authors: Moshou Alexandra , Konstantaras Antonios , Argyrakis Panagiotis , Petrakis Nikolaos S. , Kapetanakis Theodoros N. , Vardiambasis Ioannis O.
Published: July 2022

On 3 March 2021 (10:16, UTC), a strong earthquake, Mw 6.3, occurred in Elassona, Central Greece. The epicenter was reported 10 km west of Tyrnavos. Another major earthquake followed this event on the same day at Mw 5.8 (3 March 2021, 11:45, UTC). The next day, 4 March 2021 (18:38, UTC), there was a second event with a similar magnitude as the first, Mw 6.2. Both events were 8.5 km apart. The following analysis shows that the previous events and the most significant aftershocks were superficial. However, historical and modern seismicity has been sparse in this area. Spatially, the region represents a transitional zone between different tectonic domains; the right-lateral slip along the western end of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in the north Aegean Sea plate-boundary structure ends, and crustal extension prevails in mainland Greece. These earthquakes were followed by rich seismic activity recorded by peripheral seismographs and accelerometers. The installation of a dense, portable network from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki team also helped this effort, installed three days after the seismic excitation, as seismological stations did not azimuthally enclose the area. In the present work, a detailed analysis was performed using seismological data. A seismological catalogue of 3.787 events was used, which was processed with modern methods to calculate 34 focal mechanisms (Mw > 4.0) and to recalculate the parameters of the largest earthquakes that occurred in the first two days.
Numerical Investigation on the Spudcan Penetration into Sand Overlying Clay Considering the Strain Effects
Authors: Gao Pan , Yuan Shuai , Chen Jinghao , Li Mingjie
Published: July 2022

A numerical model with a Coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) approach is proposed for spudcan penetration into sand overlying clay. Both stress-dependence and strain-softening effects are incorporated into the M–C model to describe the sand, whereas the Tresca model with softening effect is used to describe the clay. Effects of the critical state strain threshold in the strain-softening model of sand and the clay sensitivity in the strain-softening model for clay are investigated. The model is verified against different soil conditions: uniform sand, loose sand overlying clay, and dense sand overlying clay. It is found that the stress-dependence effect dominates shallow penetration, whereas the strain-softening effect dominates deep penetration. The assumption of a constant peak friction angle for the accumulated deviatoric plastic strain less than the threshold of peak friction angle leads to an overestimation of the resistance in loose sand. Furthermore, the fit parameter obtained from triaxial tests tends to underestimate the peak resistance in dense sand. The proposed model should provide a valuable tool for geotechnical engineering analysis in sand.
Data Completion, Model Correction and Enrichment Based on Sparse Identification and Data Assimilation
Authors: Di Lorenzo Daniele , Champaney Victor , Germoso Claudia , Cueto Elias , Chinesta Francisco
Published: July 2022

Many models assumed to be able to predict the response of structural systems fail to efficiently accomplish that purpose because of two main reasons. First, some structures in operation undergo localized damage that degrades their mechanical performances. To reflect this local loss of performance, the stiffness matrix associated with the structure should be locally corrected. Second, the nominal model is sometimes too coarse grained for reflecting all structural details, and consequently, the predictions are expected to deviate from the measurements. In that case, there is no small region of the model that needs to be repaired, but the entire domain needs to be repaired; therefore, the entire structure-stiffness matrix should be corrected. In the present work, we propose a methodology for locally correcting or globally enriching the models from collected data, which is, upon its turn, completed beyond the sensor’s location. The proposed techniques consist in the first case of an L1-minimization procedure that, with the support of data, aims at the same time period to detect the damaged zone in the structure and to predict the correct solution. For the global enrichment, instead, the methodology consists of an L2-minimization procedure with the support of measurements. The results obtained showed, for the local problem, a correction up to 90% with respect to the initially incorrectly predicted displacement of the structure, and for the global one, a correction up to 60% was observed (this results concern the problems considered in the present study, but they depend on different factors, such as the number of data used, the geometry or the intensity of the damage). The benefits and potential of such techniques are illustrated on four different problems, showing the large generality and adaptability of the methodology.
Leveling and Minimizing the Load of the Universal Earthmoving Machinery Actuators by Improving the Kinematics of Their Movement When Digging the Soil
Authors: Musiiko Volodymyr , Gerlici Juraj , Honchar Mykhailo , Koval Andrii , Korpach Anatolii , Čajkovič Lukáš , Pavelčík Vladimír , Kravchenko Kateryna
Published: July 2022

This article considers external loads experienced on the rotor actuator of the universal continuous earthmoving machinery when digging wide excavations (ditches) in the soil and the ways to improve its productivity. Under the condition of translational and rotational supply of the soil-developing actuator to the face, the possibility of minimizing and leveling external loads on the actuator by improving the kinematics of its cyclic movement in the face has been experimentally proved. The actuator should move according to the required trajectory, which corresponds to the curve of the lemniscate of Bernoulli. The load of the UEM soil-developing actuator, operating in the mode of digging the soil, and the effectiveness of the suggested method for leveling the external loads have been experimentally assessed on the current physical model of the operating equipment. Leveling and reducing the absolute values of loads on the UEM operating equipment is achieved by improving the actuator trajectory optimization when digging the soil. It implies the additional rotation of the actuator intermediate frame at the end of each half cycle of the operating process. The required duration of the additional rotation of the intermediate frame is functionally dependent on the actual speed of machinery movement. The additional rotation of the intermediate frame, the duration of which is 1.1 s in the mode of maximum productivity, reduces the maximum load of the operating equipment, namely: torque on the rotor axis Mt-by 19% (up to 60 kN m), the components of the main force vector: vertical force-by 9% (up to 40 kN), and lateral force Pl.m-by 32% (up to 58 kN). The obtained results enable to comprehensively assess the maximum load of the UEM operating equipment under the conditions of changing values of the factors on which it depends and to objectively assess the directional stability of the machinery. Aligning the thickness of the shavings cut by the buckets of the rotor actuator in a half-cycle enables to improve the productivity of the universal earthmoving machinery almost twice.
Pseudo-Phoneme Label Loss for Text-Independent Speaker Verification
Authors: Niu Mengqi , He Liang , Fang Zhihua , Zhao Baowei , Wang Kai
Published: July 2022

Compared with text-independent speaker verification (TI-SV) systems, text-dependent speaker verification (TD-SV) counterparts often have better performance for their efficient utilization of speech content information. On this account, some TI-SV methods tried to boost performance by incorporating an extra automatic speech recognition (ASR) component to explore content information, such as c-vector. However, the introduced ASR component requires a large amount of annotated data and consumes high computation resources. In this paper, we propose a pseudo-phoneme label (PPL) loss for the TI-SR task by integrating content cluster loss at the frame level and speaker recognition loss at the segment level in a unified network by multitask learning, without additional data requirement and exhausting computation. By referring to HuBERT, we generate pseudo-phoneme labels to adjust a frame level feature distribution by deep cluster to ensure each cluster corresponds to an implicit pronunciation unit in the feature space. We compare the proposed loss with the softmax loss, center loss, triplet loss, log-likelihood-ratio cost loss, additive margin softmax loss and additive angular margin loss on the VoxCeleb database. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
Problem-Oriented Modelling for Biomedical Engineering Systems
Authors: Kernytskyy Ivan , Hlinenko Larysa , Yakovenko Yevheniia , Horbay Orest , Koda Eugeniusz , Rusakov Konstantin , Yankiv Volodymyr , Humenuyk Ruslan , Polyansky Pavlo , Berezovetskyi Serhii , Kalenik Marek , Szlachetka Olga
Published: July 2022

Technical system (TS) models are widely used for setting and solving problems for the improvement of biomedical engineering systems beyond simple parameter optimisation. They mostly focus on system elements, the change or replacement of which can provide significant technical and economic benefits. The natures of TS models and their methods of construction vary, but they all share several common features: a functional approach, a focus on the conflicting demands put on the particular elements of a system or their interactions, and the construction of models that assume the significance of those conflicts. Thus, modelling aims to visualise conflicts in a way that facilitates the setting and solving of tasks that lead to their elimination. Such modelling can be termed problem-oriented. Results of the analysis of problem-oriented models proposed by different authors have shown that they model the structure of problem functions or the structure of the TS fragments responsible for such functions. A graphic representation of these models allows for the comparison and identification of opportunities for further development and aggregation. In this paper, the joint application of several known and proposed models is suggested for efficient forecasting of biomedical engineering systems and their modernisation.
Biomechanical Assessment of Cannulated Nails for the Treatment of Proximal Femur Fractures
Authors: Frydrýšek Karel , Halo Tomáš , Čepica Daniel , Machalla Vojtěch , Šimečková Kateřina , Skoupý Ondřej , Madeja Roman , Havlíček Miroslav , Dostálová Kamila , Trefil Antonín , Pleva Leopold , Murčinkova Zuzana , Krpec Pavel , Hlinka Josef
Published: July 2022

This article focuses on a type of surgical implant used in orthopaedics and traumatology—cannulated femoral nails. Femoral nails are used in medical treatment for purposes of osteosynthesis, i.e., when treating various types of complicated fractures, in this case fractures of the femur. The article investigates cases in which a nail has been implanted in the proximal part of the femur for a short time (with the fracture still not healed), compared with cases in which the bone has already healed. According to AO classification, examined fractures are described as AO 31B3 AO 32A3. The main focus is on strength-deformation analysis using the finite element method (FEM), which makes it possible to determine the behaviour of the femur-implant system. FEM analysis was used to compare 1.4441 steel nails made by two manufacturers, Medin (Czech Republic) and Tantum (Germany). Boundary conditions including external loading, prescribed supports and elastic foundation are defined. There were solved FEM analyses for five cases of healed femur and five cases of broken femur both including implants with prescribed collo-diaphyseal angles. The results of the analysis were used to assess stress-deformation states from the perspective of appropriateness for clinical treatment, biomechanical reliability and safety. All examined femoral nails are compared, safe and suitable for patient treatment.
Extracellular Vesicles for Regenerative Medicine Applications
Authors: Crum Raphael J. , Capella-Monsonís Héctor , Badylak Stephen F. , Hussey George S.
Published: July 2022

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) may be defined as a translational discipline focused on the development of novel techniques, devices, and materials to replace or repair injured or diseased tissue and organs. The main approaches typically use cells, scaffolds, and signaling molecules, either alone or in combination, to promote repair and regeneration. Although cells are required to create new functional tissue, the source of cells, either from an exogenous allogeneic or autologous source or through the recruitment of endogenous (autologous) cells, is technically challenging and risks the host rejection of new tissue. Regardless of the cell source, these approaches also require appropriate instruction for proliferation, differentiation, and in vivo spatial organization to create new functional tissue. Such instruction is supplied through the microenvironment where cells reside, environments which largely consist of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The specific components of the ECM, and broadly the extracellular space, responsible for promoting tissue regeneration and repair, are not fully understood, however extracellular vesicles (EVs) found in body fluids and solid phases of ECM have emerged as key mediators of tissue regeneration and repair. Additionally, these EVs might serve as potential cell-free tools in TERM to promote tissue repair and regeneration with minimal risk for host rejection and adverse sequelae. The past two decades have shown a substantial interest in understanding the therapeutic role of EVs and their applications in the context of TERM. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to highlight the fundamental characteristics of EVs, the current pre-clinical and clinical applications of EVs in TERM, and the future of EV-based strategies in TERM.
An Investigation of the Resonant and Non-Resonant Angular Time Delay of e-C60 Elastic Scattering
Authors: R. Aiswarya , Jose Jobin
Published: July 2022

Time delay in electron scattering depends on both the scattering angle θ and scattered electron energy E. A study on the angular time delay of e-C60 elastic scattering was carried out in the present work. We employed the annular square well (ASW) potential to simulate the C60 environment. The contribution from different partial waves to the total angular time delay profile was examined in detail. The investigation was performed for both resonant and non-resonant energies, and salient characteristics in the time delay profile for each case were studied.
A New Family of Lifetime Models: Theoretical Developments with Applications in Biomedical and Environmental Data
Authors: Elbatal Ibrahim , Khan Sadaf , Hussain Tassaddaq , Elgarhy Mohammed , Alotaibi Naif , Semary Hatem E. , Abdelwahab Mahmoud M.
Published: July 2022

With the aim of identifying a probability model that not only correctly describes the stochastic behavior of extreme environmental factors such as excess rain, acid rain pH level, and concentrations of ozone, but also measures concentrations of NO2 and leads deliberations, etc., for a specific site or multiple site forms as well as for life testing experiments, we introduced a novel class of distributions known as the Sine Burr X−G family. Some exceptional prototypes of this class are proposed. Statistical assets of the presented class, such as density function, complete and incomplete moments, average deviation, and Lorenz and Bonferroni graphs, are proposed. Parameter estimation is made via the likelihood method. Moreover, the application is explained by using four real data sets. We have also illustrated the significance and elasticity of the proposed class in the above-mentioned stochastic phenomenon.
How Does AR Technology Adoption and Involvement Behavior Affect Overseas Residents’ Life Satisfaction?
Authors: Dewan Nargis , Hossain Md Billal , Kim Gwi-Gon , Dunay Anna , Bálint Illés Csaba
Published: July 2022

This study aims to better understand foreign residents’ life satisfaction by exploring residents’ AR technology adoption behavior (a combination of transportation applications’ usefulness and ease of use) and travel involvement. Data were collected from 400 respondents randomly through a questionnaire-based survey. SPSS and AMOS were used to analyze and gather results. This study suggests overall life satisfaction as an operationalized dependent variable to measure a traveler’s sense of satisfaction, a traveler’s involvement, and AR adoption of necessary transportation apps is constructed as an independent variable. The model was proposed to explore the impacts of travel satisfaction on overall life satisfaction. The model focused on the role of traveling involvement when it is considered a first variable to explore the impact of travel satisfaction on the overall quality of life. Furthermore, AR technology adoption behavior is where people use traveling apps before and during traveling to fulfill travel needs, obtain details about locations, and make proper arrangements, as well as other facilities. Two significant roles of transportation apps and travelers’ involvement in travel-satisfaction development and overall life satisfaction were found; variables had a positive effect on travel satisfaction and life satisfaction. The results also revealed that AR mobile travel applications with traveler involvement could help improve individual overseas residents’ travel satisfaction; travel satisfaction provides more feelings of satisfaction with life in South Korea.
Improved Time Resolved KPI and Strain Characterization of Multiple Hosts in Shake Flasks Using Advanced Online Analytics and Data Science
Authors: Maschke Rüdiger , Pretzner Barbara , John Gernot , Herwig Christoph , Eibl Dieter
Published: July 2022

Shake flasks remain one of the most widely used cultivation systems in biotechnology, especially for process development (cell line and parameter screening). This can be justified by their ease of use as well as their low investment and running costs. A disadvantage, however, is that cultivations in shake flasks are black box processes with reduced possibilities for recording online data, resulting in a lack of control and time-consuming, manual data analysis. Although different measurement methods have been developed for shake flasks, they lack comparability, especially when changing production organisms. In this study, the use of online backscattered light, dissolved oxygen, and pH data for characterization of animal, plant, and microbial cell culture processes in shake flasks are evaluated and compared. The application of these different online measurement techniques allows key performance indicators (KPIs) to be determined based on online data. This paper evaluates a novel data science workflow to automatically determine KPIs using online data from early development stages without human bias. This enables standardized and cost-effective process-oriented cell line characterization of shake flask cultivations to be performed in accordance with the process analytical technology (PAT) initiative. The comparison showed very good agreement between KPIs determined using offline data, manual techniques, and automatic calculations based on multiple signals of varying strengths with respect to the selected measurement signal.
How Metabolic Rate Relates to Cell Size
Authors: Glazier Douglas S.
Published: July 2022

Metabolic rate and its covariation with body mass vary substantially within and among species in little understood ways. Here, I critically review explanations (and supporting data) concerning how cell size and number and their establishment by cell expansion and multiplication may affect metabolic rate and its scaling with body mass. Cell size and growth may affect size-specific metabolic rate, as well as the vertical elevation (metabolic level) and slope (exponent) of metabolic scaling relationships. Mechanistic causes of negative correlations between cell size and metabolic rate may involve reduced resource supply and/or demand in larger cells, related to decreased surface area per volume, larger intracellular resource-transport distances, lower metabolic costs of ionic regulation, slower cell multiplication and somatic growth, and larger intracellular deposits of metabolically inert materials in some tissues. A cell-size perspective helps to explain some (but not all) variation in metabolic rate and its body-mass scaling and thus should be included in any multi-mechanistic theory attempting to explain the full diversity of metabolic scaling. A cell-size approach may also help conceptually integrate studies of the biological regulation of cellular growth and metabolism with those concerning major transitions in ontogenetic development and associated shifts in metabolic scaling.
Black Ginseng Ameliorates Cellular Senescence via p53-p21/p16 Pathway in Aged Mice
Authors: Lee Su-Jeong , Lee Da-Yeon , O’Connell Jennifer F. , Egan Josephine M. , Kim Yoo
Published: July 2022

Cellular senescence, one of the hallmarks of aging, refers to permanent cell cycle arrest and is accelerated during the aging process. Black ginseng (BG), prepared by a repeated steaming and drying process nine times from fresh ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer), is garnering attention for herbal medicine due to its physiological benefits against reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammation, and oncogenesis, which are common cues to induce aging. However, which key nodules in the cellular senescence process are regulated by BG supplementation has not been elucidated yet. In this study, we investigated the effects of BG on cellular senescence using in vitro and aged mouse models. BG-treated primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) in which senescence was triggered by ionizing radiation (IR) expressed less senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal)-positive stained cells. In our aged mice (18 months old) study, BG supplementation (300 mg/kg) for 4 weeks altered hepatic genes involved in the aging process. Furthermore, we found BG supplementation downregulated age-related inflammatory genes, especially in the complement system. Based on this observation, we demonstrated that BG supplementation led to less activation of the canonical senescence pathway, p53-dependent p21 and p16, in multiple metabolic organs such as liver, skeletal muscle and white adipose tissue. Thus, we suggest that BG is a potential senolytic candidate that retards cellular senescence.
Targeting the Ubiquinol-Reduction (Qi) Site of the Mitochondrial Cytochrome bc1 Complex for the Development of Next Generation Quinolone Antimalarials
Authors: Amporndanai Kangsa , Pinthong Nattapon , O’Neill Paul M. , Hong W. David , Amewu Richard K. , Pidathala Chandrakala , Berry Neil G. , Leung Suet C. , Ward Stephen A. , Biagini Giancarlo A. , Hasnain S. Samar , Antonyuk Svetlana V.
Published: July 2022

Antimalarials targeting the ubiquinol-oxidation (Qo) site of the Plasmodium falciparum bc1 complex, such as atovaquone, have become less effective due to the rapid emergence of resistance linked to point mutations in the Qo site. Recent findings showed a series of 2-aryl quinolones mediate inhibitions of this complex by binding to the ubiquinone-reduction (Qi) site, which offers a potential advantage in circumventing drug resistance. Since it is essential to understand how 2-aryl quinolone lead compounds bind within the Qi site, here we describe the co-crystallization and structure elucidation of the bovine cytochrome bc1 complex with three different antimalarial 4(1H)-quinolone sub-types, including two 2-aryl quinolone derivatives and a 3-aryl quinolone analogue for comparison. Currently, no structural information is available for Plasmodial cytochrome bc1. Our crystallographic studies have enabled comparison of an in-silico homology docking model of P. falciparum with the mammalian’s equivalent, enabling an examination of how binding compares for the 2- versus 3-aryl analogues. Based on crystallographic and computational modeling, key differences in human and P. falciparum Qi sites have been mapped that provide new insights that can be exploited for the development of next-generation antimalarials with greater selective inhibitory activity against the parasite bc1 with improved antimalarial properties.
Resveratrol and Its Analogue 4,4′-Dihydroxy-trans-stilbene Inhibit Lewis Lung Carcinoma Growth In Vivo through Apoptosis, Autophagy and Modulation of the Tumour Microenvironment in a Murine Model
Authors: Savio Monica , Ferraresi Alessandra , Corpina Chiara , Vandenberghe Sara , Scarlata Chiara , Sottile Virginie , Morini Luca , Garavaglia Beatrice , Isidoro Ciro , Stivala Lucia Anna
Published: July 2022

Lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer worldwide. Despite advances in surgery and immune-chemotherapy, the therapeutic outcome remains poor. In recent years, the anticancer properties of natural compounds, along with their low toxic side effects, have attracted the interest of researchers. Resveratrol (RSV) and many of its derivatives received particular attention for their beneficial bioactivity. Here we studied the activity of RSV and of its analogue 4,4′-dihydroxystilbene (DHS) in C57BL/6J mice bearing cancers resulting from Lung Lewis Carcinoma (LLC) cell implantation, considering tumour mass weight, angiogenesis, cell proliferation and death, autophagy, as well as characterization of their immune microenvironment, including infiltrating cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). C57BL/6J mice started treatment with RSV or DHS, solubilised in drinking water, one week before LLC implantation, and continued for 21 days, at the end of which they were sacrificed, and the tumour masses collected. Histology was performed according to standard procedures; angiogenesis, cell proliferation and death, autophagy, infiltrating-immune cells, macrophages and fibroblasts were assessed by immunodetection assays. Both stilbenic compounds were able to contrast the tumour growth by increasing apoptosis and autophagy in LLC tumour masses. Additionally, they contrasted the tumour-permissive microenvironment by limiting the infiltration of tumour-associated immune-cells and, more importantly, by counteracting CAF maturation. Therefore, both stilbenes could be employed to synergise with conventional oncotherapies to limit the contribution of stromal cells in tumour growth.