bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Respiratory modulation of sympathetic transduction to blood pressure in health and type 2 diabetes
Authors: Plunkett Michael J. , Holwerda Seth , Young Benjamin E. , Fadel Paul J. , Fisher James P.
Published: July 2024

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is often accompanied by hypertension, exaggerated blood pressure (BP) responses to sympatho‐excitatory stressors, and raised cardiovascular disease risk. Appropriate respiratory–sympathetic coupling and sympathetic transduction to BP are important for short‐ and longer‐term BP control. We tested the hypotheses that respiratory modulation of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and its transduction to BP would be impaired in T2D and associated with higher BP and respiratory‐coupled BP variability. Resting MSNA, respiration and beat‐to‐beat BP were recorded in 20 T2D (49.1 ± 7.4 years; mean ± SD) and 13 healthy control (46.3 ± 9.4 years) participants. MSNA and the transduction of sympathetic bursts (signal‐averaging) to mean arterial pressure (MAP) were compared at low and high lung volume phases. The peak MAP response following a sympathetic burst was lower during the high lung volume than low lung volume phase in controls (P = 0.005), whereas it was unchanged with phase in T2D participants (P = 0.522). Respiratory modulation of MSNA was impaired in T2D participants, who had an attenuated reduction in burst incidence from low to the high lung volume phase, versus controls (27.8 ± 38.4% vs. 49.4 ± 24.6%, respectively; P = 0.043). The T2D participants were grouped into unimpaired respiratory modulators (burst incidence modulation median or above) or impaired respiratory modulators (below median). Impaired modulators had higher systolic BP (133 ± 14 vs. 121 ± 11 mmHg, P = 0.046), greater Traube–Hering wave amplitudes (6.3 ± 2.4 vs. 4.6 ± 1.1 mmHg; P = 0.028) and higher BP variability (MAP average real variability, 2.0 ± 0.7 vs. 1.4 ± 0.3, P = 0.033). Respiratory modulation of MSNA and sympathetic transduction to BP are altered in T2D patients and may contribute to their increased hypertension and cardiovascular risk.

image

Key points

Respiratory–sympathetic coupling and sympathetic transduction to blood pressure (BP) contribute to short‐ and longer‐term BP control. Our understanding of these processes in health and type 2 diabetes (T2D), a condition with high prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular risk, is incomplete.

We found that respiration and sympathetic transduction to BP are coupled in healthy individuals. The mean arterial pressure response to a sympathetic burst was reduced during the high lung volume compared to the low lung volume phase. This coupling was absent in T2D.

Respiratory modulation of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is impaired in T2D, with a blunted reduction of MSNA observed during the high lung volume phase.

T2D patients with impaired respiratory MSNA modulation had augmented systolic BP, respiratory‐related BP excursions (Traube–Hering waves) and BP variability.

Abnormal respiratory modulation of MSNA and sympathetic transduction to BP in T2D may contribute to altered blood pressure control and cardiovascular risk in this population.
Ultrasound and clinical features for differential diagnosis of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm and acute suppurative appendicitis
Authors: Xiao Yanyan , Jian Guoliang , Zhong Yuan , Chen Jiongyuan , Ye Jieyi , Chen Yingyu , Chen Yinting , Qiu Yide , Wu Jipeng , Huang Weijun
Published: July 2024

Aim: To investigate the application of ultrasound along with clinical features for the differential diagnosis of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN) and acute suppurative appendicitis (ASA).Material and methods: The ultrasound and clinical data of 76 patients with histopathologically confirmed LAMN (31 patients) and ASA (45 patients) were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate analysis and binary logistic regression analysis of the influencing factors were conducted to identify LAMN and ASA. The AUROC was calculated to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of these independent factors. A four-grid table was established to determine the diagnostic efficacy of the ultrasound marks for diagnosing LAMN.Results: Patient age and appendix short diameter in the LAMN group were found to be significantly higher than those in the ASA group. The neutrophil ratio and thickness of the appendix wall in the LAMN group were significantly lower than they were in the ASA group. Patient age (OR=1.112, p=0.015) and appendix short diameter (OR=1.476, p=0.008) were independent risk factors for LAMN. The AUROCs for age and short diameter were 0.898 [95% CI: 0.807, 0.956] and 0.953 [95% CI: 0.879, 0.988], respectively. The LAMN group tumors were characterized by the appearance of an “onion skin” sign or a purely cystic mark on sonograms, with specificities of 100% for both. Neutrophil ratio (OR<0.001, p=0.064) and thickness of the appendix wall (OR=0.776, p=0.414) were not independent risk factors for ASA.Conclusion: Employing ultrasonography with clinical features is useful for distinguishing LAMN from ASA. Patient age, short diameter of the appendix, and sonographic appearance of “onion skin” or purely cystic mark could be key factors in diagnosing LAMN.
An [illustrative] update on pediatric emergency medicine ultrasound: part 2 – abdominal and urogenital applications
Authors: Dong Yi , Hoffmann Beatrice , Schwarz Simone , Nourkami-Tutdibi Nasenien , Huang Yun-Lin , Chen Sheng , Cekuolis Andrius , Augustiniene Rasa , Snelling Peter J , Schreiber-Dietrich Dagmar , Grevelding Lara , Dietrich Christoph F
Published: July 2024

Emergency ultrasound, or point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), has been established into daily patient care over the last decades. The use of abdominal and pelvic ultrasound in clinical practice has the potential to improve the efficiency and safety of pediatric emergency care. This article will provide a review of current applications of pediatric emergency abdominal and urogenital ultrasound, forming the second part of the series.
First principles reaction processes of Co(CO)3NO as an atomic layer deposition precursor on SiO2 and Co surfaces
Authors: Ashburn Nickolas M. , Lang Xiuyao , Jo Youhwan , Lee Yeonghun , Yao Xiaolong , Cho Kyeongjae
Published: July 2024

As devices continue to scale down in size, new patterning and deposition techniques are growing in interest. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has shown to have promising results in selective and low-temperature deposition processes with high conformality and atomic layer control. These properties have led to the increased dependence on ALD process for device fabrication. To further achieve low-temperature deposition, electron enhanced ALD (EE-ALD) has been introduced. EE-ALD is shown to be a viable option for depositing films at room temperature as a way to supplement the thermal energy otherwise needed to overcome activation energies in the deposition process. Furthermore, metals such as Co and Ru are shown to have promising results in replacing Cu lines while using smaller barriers and liners, thus increasing the effective cross section of the conducting interconnect. The reduction in the barrier and liner needed to inhibit dielectric diffusion is responsible for an improved conductivity in Co and Ru lines when compared to Cu with total cross sections below 250 nm2. This work focuses on first principles and atomistic modeling studies on the reaction processes which occur in the deposition of Co films using the precursor Co(CO)3NO and how EE-ALD is used to reduce the deposition temperature. The roles of electron enhancement are investigated for possible electronic excitations of precursor molecules and local surface heating mechanisms.
Design of plasma strip chamber for uniform gas supply with fluid flow simulation
Authors: Jang Ji Won , Jo Se Yun , Hong Sang Jeen
Published: July 2024

Within the domain of semiconductor fabrication, which entails progressively complex patterning steps, the significance of plasma stripping processes, particularly to achieve the effective stripping of photoresist (PR) without damaging the underlying substrates via uniform gas distribution across 300 mm wafers, cannot be overstated. The efficacy of plasma stripping is influenced by the design of the components of the process chamber, which is critical for advancing semiconductor manufacturing technologies. In this study, we elucidated the influence of the design of a process chamber, particularly the showerhead nozzle angles, on the plasma chemical reactions of radicals emanating from conventional PR equipment using computational fluid dynamics simulations. We assessed the impact of the showerhead design, which incorporated divergent or angled gas supply nozzles, on the distribution of the supply gas across the wafer within the process chamber. Five distinct angles of showerhead nozzles were investigated, and the uniformity of the oxygen mass fractions was optimized for nozzle angles of 45° and 60°. Additionally, the factors contributing to the low uniformity in a showerhead design were identified and design components were modified, resulting in a 16% improvement in uniformity. This study delineated the relationship between the nozzle position, mass fraction, and flow streamlines, thereby establishing the critical role of equipment design for enhancing the plasma stripping process. Furthermore, this principle transcends the realm of stripping equipment design; it is anticipated that incorporating flow dynamics simulations for designing process components will enhance the overall process performance.
The Effectiveness of Content Knowledge Instruction in Tennis and Badminton in Physical Education Teacher Education
Authors: Chey Won Seok , Ward Phillip , Dillon Leslie , Watanabe Rio , Meyerhoff Sam , Arroyo-Rojas Fabián
Published: July 2024

Purpose: Our research examined the effects of a content course in a physical education teacher education program. Methods: Ten participants were recruited from a physical education teacher education content course to examine participants’ common content knowledge (CCK) and specialized content knowledge (SCK) in tennis and badminton. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to investigate (a) participants’ pre–post gains in CCK and SCK, (b) the relationship between participants’ playing and teaching experience with CCK and SCK, and (c) the relationship among the dependent variables in both pretest and posttest. Results: Participants’ content knowledge variables increased significantly. Furthermore, the study revealed inconsistent relationships between participants’ self-reported playing, teaching, and coaching experiences with their CCK and SCK scores at the pretest. We found inconsistent relationships between CCK and SCK among pre- and posttests. Discussion/Conclusion: The primary finding is that preservice teachers can improve substantively their content knowledge through well-designed content courses, but in some domains, there is more work to do.
How a Collaborative Parent–Adapted Physical Education Teacher Relationship Developed: A Retrospective Case Study
Authors: Forbes Adam S. , Block Martin E.
Published: July 2024

Purpose: To explore the relationship between a mother and adapted physical education (APE) teacher. Method: A retrospective, qualitative case study approach was utilized. Semistructured interviews with the mother, child with Down syndrome, and APE teacher were conducted. Results: Four themes were extracted from the data: (a) “[APE] is perfectly normal”—value of APE, (b) “Education is power and key”—the importance of understanding, (c) “Whatever it takes to be a part of Sam’s day”—involvement in APE and PA, and (d) “Know your tribe and love them hard”—building strong relationships. Discussion: Findings suggest that parents and APE teachers have influence and contribute to the development of a collaborative relationship. From parents, parental value and importance toward APE were seen as facilitators. And from APE teachers, their communication by sharing visualizations of what occurs at school and their predispositions toward parents, such as competence and respect, were regarded as facilitators.
Quorum sensing positively regulates CPS-dependent
Autographiviridae
phage infection in
Vibrio alginolyticus
Authors: Li Xixi , Zhang Chen , Li Shenao , Liang Sixuan , Xu Xuefei , Zhao Zhe
Published: July 2024

Quorum sensing (QS) orchestrates many bacterial behaviors, including virulence and biofilm formation, across bacterial populations. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism by which QS regulates capsular polysaccharide (CPS)-dependent phage-bacterium interactions remains unclear. In this study, we report that QS upregulates the expression of CPS-dependent phage receptors, thus increasing phage adsorption and infection rates in
Vibrio alginolyticus
. We found that QS upregulated the expression of the
ugd
gene, leading to increased synthesis of
Autographiviridae
phage receptor CPS synthesis in
V. alginolyticus
. The signal molecule autoinducer-2 released by
Vibrio
from different sources can potentially enhance CPS-dependent phage infections. Therefore, our data suggest that inhibiting QS may reduce, rather than improve, the therapeutic efficacy of CPS-specific phages.

IMPORTANCE

Phage resistance is a direct threat to phage therapy, and understanding phage-host interactions, especially how bacteria block phage infection, is essential for developing successful phage therapy. In the present study, we demonstrate for the first time that
Vibrio alginolyticus
uses quorum sensing (QS) to promote capsular polysaccharide (CPS)-specific phage infection by upregulating
ugd
expression, which is necessary for the synthesis of
Autographiviridae
phage receptor CPS. Although increased CPS-specific phage susceptibility is a novel trade-off mediated by QS, it results in the upregulation of virulence factors, promoting biofilm development and enhanced capsular polysaccharide production in
V. alginolyticus
. This suggests that inhibiting QS may improve the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment, but it may also reduce the efficacy of phage therapy.
Gut microbiota influences onset of foraging-related behavior but not physiological hallmarks of division of labor in honeybees
Authors: Liberti Joanito , Frank Erik T. , Kay Tomas , Kesner Lucie , Monié--Ibanes Maverick , Quinn Andrew , Schmitt Thomas , Keller Laurent , Engel Philipp
Published: July 2024

Gut microbes can impact cognition and behavior, but whether they regulate the division of labor in animal societies is unknown. We addressed this question using honeybees since they exhibit division of labor between nurses and foragers and because their gut microbiota can be manipulated. Using automated behavioral tracking and controlling for co-housing effects, we show that gut microbes influence the age at which bees start expressing foraging-like behaviors in the laboratory but have no effects on the time spent in a foraging arena and number of foraging trips. Moreover, the gut microbiota did not influence hallmarks of behavioral maturation such as body weight, cuticular hydrocarbon profile, hypopharyngeal gland size, gene expression, and the proportion of bees maturing into foragers. Overall, this study shows that the honeybee gut microbiota plays a role in controlling the onset of foraging-related behavior without permanent consequences on colony-level division of labor and several physiological hallmarks of behavioral maturation.

IMPORTANCE

The honeybee is emerging as a model system for studying gut microbiota-host interactions. Previous studies reported gut microbiota effects on multiple worker bee phenotypes, all of which change during behavioral maturation—the transition from nursing to foraging. We tested whether the documented effects may stem from an effect of the microbiota on behavioral maturation. The gut microbiota only subtly affected maturation: it accelerated the onset of foraging without affecting the overall proportion of foragers or their average output. We also found no effect of the microbiota on host weight, cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile, hypopharyngeal gland size, and the expression of behavioral maturation-related genes. These results are inconsistent with previous studies reporting effects of the gut microbiota on bee weight and CHC profile. Our experiments revealed that co-housed bees tend to converge in behavior and physiology, suggesting that spurious associations may emerge when rearing environments are not replicated sufficiently or accounted for analytically.
Supplemental Material: Onset and tempo of ignimbrite flare-up volcanism in the eastern and central Mogollon-Datil volcanic field, southern New Mexico, USA
Authors: Vermillion Karissa B. , et al.
Published: July 2024

Tables S1–S5 contain all whole-rock geochemistry used in this study, all feldspar analyses, all geochronological data, and calculated volumes and recurrence intervals.
Messy but worth it: human-centred design as applied within a successful vaccine-promotive campaign
Authors: Reñosa Mark Donald C , Bärnighausen Kate , Wachinger Jonas , Endoma Vivienne , Landicho Jeniffer , Aligato Mila F , Landicho-Guevarra Jhoys , Bravo Thea Andrea , Scott Kerry , Bärnighausen Till , McMahon Shannon A
Published: July 2024

Human-centred design (HCD) is an approach to problem-solving that prioritises understanding and meeting the needs of the end-users. Researchers and designers practice empathic listening as users share their perspectives, thereby enabling a variety of stakeholders to cocreate effective solutions. While a valuable and, in theory, straightforward process, HCD in practice can be chaotic: Practitioners often struggle to navigate an excess of (often conflicting) ideas and to strike a balance between problem-understanding and problem-solving. In this practice paper, we outline our own experiences with HCD, which ultimately resulted in the development of a successful video-based intervention to bolster vaccine confidence in the Philippines. We highlight the use of ‘radical circles’ to overcome roadblocks and navigate tensions. Radical circles entail groups of individuals with divergent opinions and identities engaging in critical analysis of a given idea, actively challenging standard ways of thinking, and ultimately, generating solutions. Employing radical circles enabled us to innovate and adapt to new perspectives that emerged along the non-linear HCD pathway. Our incorporation of radical circles into HCD methodology demonstrates its potential as a powerful complementary step in the meaning-making process. In our view, radical circles could enrich HCD processes and provide a solution to design overcrowding, leading to meaningful, transformative and successful interventions.
Painfully ignorant? Impact of gender and aim of training on injuries in climbing
Authors: Grønhaug Gudmund , Saeterbakken Atle , Casucci Tallie
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Climbing has evolved from an obscure outdoor sport to a predominantly indoor sport with the rise of mainstream climbing on artificial walls. Reported climbing-related injuries were predominantly chronic and may be avoided with proper planning of training. All climbers, regardless of age and gender, are training on the same routes and perform similar movements; however, few studies have investigated gender-specific injuries in climbing.

Objectives

Assess the distribution of chronic climbing injuries in an international population with gender-specific analyses and assess the impact of the person’s training focus or aim of training on those injuries.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey using a web-based item-driven questionnaire was created and promoted using social media and several climbing media stakeholders. All climbers engaged in either sport climbing, bouldering or traditional climbing were included.

Results

The survey received 1513 responses (877 men, 427 women and 9 not reporting gender), of which 50.3% (n=665; 51.4% men and 48.0% women) had experienced an injury in the past 12 months. There were significant differences in injuries in feet/ankle (p=0.014), neck (p=0.03), head (p=0.0001), shoulder (p=0.001), elbow (p=0.021) and fingers (p=0.003).

Conclusion

Over 50% of the climbers experienced an injury in the past 12 months. The most common injuries were to the shoulders (women) and fingers (men). There were significant differences between the genders regarding injury site and prevalence. The gender differences may be affected by the aim for training and the style of climbing.
Self-reported reproductive health of retired elite women’s footballers: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Carmody Sean , den Hollander Steve , Elliott-Sale Kirsty , Mountjoy Margo Lynn , Thornton Jane S , Massey Andrew , Kerkhoffs Gino , Gouttebarge Vincent
Published: July 2024

Objectives

The primary objective of this study was to describe the self-reported reproductive health of retired elite women’s footballers with specific reference to menstrual function, pregnancy and motherhood, contraceptive use and pelvic floor function.

Methods

An electronic survey was disseminated to women’s footballers (18 years or older) who had retired from elite football within 10 years of completing the survey.

Results

69 respondents completed the survey (mean age 35.8 years, mean age at retirement 30.3 years). One-third of participants self-reported experiencing at least one episode of amenorrhoea (>3 months without menstruation) for reasons other than hormonal contraceptive use or pregnancy. Three participants (mean age of 41 years, range 30–54) reported having reached menopause at the time of the study. 54 (78.3%) participants were not using any form of contraception. 17 (24.6%) of the participants are mothers (range 1–3 children). 51 of the participants (73.9%) had never been pregnant, and the majority of those who had been pregnant (86.7%) became pregnant in less than 2 years following the onset of desire for pregnancy. Four of the retired players gave birth during their playing career, and the mean time to return to competitive matches following delivery was 22 weeks. The mean Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 score for participants was 72.

Conclusion

These insights can be used to inform future efforts to promote positive reproductive health outcomes for current, former and future women’s footballers. Research efforts should focus on improving the understanding of how to effectively support women’s footballers in the perinatal period. Best practice guidelines on the use of menstrual cycle monitoring and pelvic health support would improve standards of care for women’s footballers. Stakeholders should consider gender-specific postretirement care for women’s footballers.
Exploring markers of immunoresponsiveness in papillary thyroid carcinoma and future treatment strategies
Authors: Mohanty Atish , Afkhami Michelle , Reyes Amanda , Pharaon Rebecca , Yin Holly , Li Haiqing , Do Dana , Bell Diana , Nam Arin , Chang Sue , Gernon Thomas , Kang Robert , Amini Arya , Sampath Sagus , Kulkarni Prakash , Pillai Raju , Villaflor Vicky , Salgia Ravi , Maghami Ellie , Massarelli Erminia
Published: July 2024

Background

The study summarizes the potential use of immunotherapy forBRAF-mutated papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) by analyzing the immune profile of City of Hope PTC patient samples and comparing them to the thyroid dataset available in the TCGA database.

Materials and methods

PTC cases with available formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archived tumor tissue were identified. RNA was extracted from the tumor tissue and analyzed by NanoString to evaluate their immune gene expression profile. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of immune suppressive genes and lymphocytic infiltration into the tumor tissue. Thyroid cancer cell lines (MDA-T32, MDA-T68, MDA-T85, and MDA-T120) were used to determine the correlation between the BRAF inhibition and CD274 expression.

Results

The study found that PTC cases withBRAFmutations had higher expression of immune checkpoint markers CD274 and CTLA4, as well as higher tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, particularly CD4+T cells. Additionally, the study identified immunosuppressive markers expressed by tumor cells like CD73, CD276, and CD200 that could be targeted for immunotherapy. Further experiments using PTC cell lines lead to the conclusion that CD274 expression correlates withBRAFactivity and that inhibitors ofBRAFcould potentially be used in combination with immunotherapy to treat PTC.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that PTC cases withBRAFmutations or high expression may be correlated with an immune hot signature and could benefit from immunotherapeutic strategies.
In many voices: exploring end-of-life care through patient, caregiver and physician narratives
Authors: Moniz Tracy , Melro Carolyn , Watling Chris
Published: July 2024

As the focus on end-of-life care intensifies, so too does the need to better understand the experiences of patients, caregivers and physicians. Delivering empathetic care requires a shared understanding of illness and its meaning and impact. The narratives of patients, caregivers and physicians each offer a distinct perspective on clinical experiences, yet comparative research is uncommon. This study compares written narratives about end-of-life illness and care by these groups.

We created an archive of 332 first-person written narratives about end of life (patient=65, caregiver=156, physician=111) published between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2019 through searching public domains (eg, national newspapers), personal blogs, and academic and literary journals in Canada. A comparative narrative analysis was conducted for patterns of content (eg, theme) and strategy (eg, characterisation).

All three groups wrote about feeling gratitude. Patients also emphasised coping with change and carrying on. Caregivers further focused on grieving loss, and physicians most often wrote about valuing humanism. Physicians were most likely to ascribe agency to someone (ie, patients) or something (ie, death) other than themselves and to decentre themselves in the story. Patients and physicians most often made the patient the main character of their stories, while caregivers were as likely to centre the story on themselves as on the patient. Physicians were most likely to describe death as a source of tension, while patients and caregivers described the illness experience, often comparing it to battle. Physicians and caregivers tended to write testimonies, while patients wrote quests.

Narrative research can illuminate unique aspects of end-of-life care. While death is a shared experience, each group approaches it differently. The disconnects have potential consequences for how end of life is experienced—whether patients’ values are honoured, whether caregivers receive support, and whether physicians experience burn-out. We need to foster learning experiences that integrate these unique perspectives into medical education and practice, including leveraging the affordances of studying written narratives towards this end.
Behavior of suspended natural rubber balls in water at small Reynolds numbers
Authors: Madhukar K. , Jayaprakash M. C. , Santoshi Kumari M. , Shrivalli H. Y. , Nagaraja K. V. , Kumar Raman , Naveen Kumar R.
Published: July 2024

This study explores the experimentally verifiable rheological parameters of sparsely spaced suspensions of periodically forced rubber spheres in water at low Reynolds numbers. The experimentally verifiable rheological parameters are first normal stress difference, second normal stress difference, intrinsic pressure, and relative viscosity. These parameters are observed to be dependent on the amplitude of the periodic force, particle Reynolds numbers and the volume fraction. The main aim of this study is to determine how well the neutrally buoyant rubber balls (isoprene) flow with the solutions at low Reynolds numbers when forced periodically. The motivation of the problem consideration is to study the collective behavior of the balls when suspended in a dilute limit. An interesting and novel feature of these balls is their non-Newtonian behavior in the Newtonian frame of reference. The model obtained was an integro-differential-equation, which was solved using the Runge–Kutta fourth-order method. Results reveal that the relation between the intrinsic pressure and relative viscosity depicts a nonlinear relation with Reynolds number and proportional to volume fraction. When Rubber balls are forced periodically, they exhibit the non-Newtonian behavior. The relation between the intrinsic pressure and relative viscosity depicts a nonlinear relation with Reynolds number and proportional to volume fraction.
Thermal examination of chemically reactive Casson ternary hybrid nanofluid flow on bi-directional stretching sheet subject to Cattaneo–Christov mass/heat flux phenomena, variable porosity and exponential heat source
Authors: Lone Showkat Ahmad , Al-Essa Laila A. , Al-Bossly Afrah , Alduais Fuad S. , Khan Arshad , Saeed Anwar
Published: July 2024

This work investigates the Casson ternary hybrid nanofluid flow on a dual-directional elongating surface with variable porosity. The flow is affected by chemical reactivity, exponential heat source and thermally radiative effects. To control the thermal feature of flow, the impacts of Brownian motion and thermophoresis are also incorporated in the flow model along with Cattaneo–Christov mass/heat flux phenomena. Appropriate variables have been employed to convert the leading equations to dimension-free form and then solved by using the bvp4c approach. It has been noticed as an outcome of this work that, with the upsurge in magnetic and variable porous factors, both the primary and secondary velocities have been diminished. Augmentation in thermal profiles is caused by the escalation in radiation, thermophoresis, Brownian motion factors and thermal Biot number while it has reduced with the upsurge in thermal relaxation factor. Concentration distribution has increased by the growth in thermophoresis, activation energy factors and concentration Biot number, whereas it has diminished with escalation in Brownian motion, chemical reactivity and mass relaxation factors. Moreover, concentration distribution also declined with a higher Schmidt number. To ensure the validation of the current model, its results have been compared with previously established datasets available in the literature. A closed agreement between our results and the dataset published previously has been noticed, which ensures the authenticity of the current work.
A Uniform Error Bound for Stochastic Kriging: Properties and Implications on Simulation Experimental Design
Authors: Chen Xi , Zhang Yutong , Xie Guangrui , Zhang Jingtao
Published: July 2024

In this work, we propose a method to construct a uniform error bound for the SK predictor. In investigating the asymptotic properties of the proposed uniform error bound, we examine the convergence rate of SK’s predictive variance under the supremum norm in both fixed and random design settings. Our analyses reveal that the large-sample properties of SK prediction depend on the design-point sampling scheme and the budget allocation scheme adopted. Appropriately controlling the order of noise variances through budget allocation is crucial for achieving a desirable convergence rate of SK’s approximation error, as quantified by the uniform error bound, and for maintaining SK’s numerical stability. Moreover, we investigate the impact of noise variance estimation on the uniform error bound’s performance theoretically and numerically. We demonstrate the superiority of the proposed uniform bound to the Bonferroni correction-based simultaneous confidence interval under various experimental settings through numerical evaluations.
Toward Ubiquitous Interaction-Attentive and Extreme-Aware Crowd Activity Level Prediction
Authors: Huang Huiqun , Yang Xi , He Suining , Tabatabaie Mahan
Published: July 2024

Accurate prediction of citywide crowd activity levels (CALs), i.e., the numbers of participants of citywide crowd activities under different venue categories at certain time and locations, is essential for the city management, the personal service applications, and the entrepreneurs in commercial strategic planning. Existing studies have not thoroughly taken into account the complex spatial and temporal interactions among different categories of CALs and their extreme occurrences, leading to lowered adaptivity and accuracy of their models. To address above concerns, we have proposed
IE-CALP
, a novel spatio-temporal
I
nteractive attention-based and
E
xtreme-aware model for
C
rowd
A
ctivity
L
evel
P
rediction. The tasks of
IE-CALP
consist of (a) forecasting the spatial distributions of various CALs at different city regions (spatial CALs), and (b) predicting the number of participants per category of the CALs (categorical CALs). To realize above, we have designed a novel spatial CAL-POI interaction-attentive learning component in
IE-CALP
to model the spatial interactions across different CAL categories, as well as those among the spatial urban regions and CALs. In addition,
IE-CALP
incorporate the multi-level trends (e.g., daily and weekly levels of temporal granularity) of CALs through a multi-level temporal feature learning component. Furthermore, to enhance the model adaptivity to extreme CALs (e.g., during extreme urban events or weather conditions), we further take into account the
extreme value theory
and model the impacts of historical CALs upon the occurrences of extreme CALs. Extensive experiments upon a total of 738,715 CAL records and 246,660 POIs in New York City (NYC), Los Angeles (LA), and Tokyo have further validated the accuracy, adaptivity, and effectiveness of
IE-CALP
’s interaction-attentive and extreme-aware CAL predictions.
Intermediary-Generated Bridge Network for RGB-D Cross-Modal Re-Identification
Authors: Wu Jingjing , Hong Richang , Tang Shengeng
Published: July 2024

RGB-D cross-modal person re-identification (re-id) targets at retrieving the person of interest across RGB and depth image modalities. To cope with the modal discrepancy, some existing methods generate an auxiliary mode with either inherent properties of input modes or extra deep networks. However, such useful intermediary role included in generated mode is often overlooked in these approaches, leading to insufficient exploitation of crucial bridge knowledge. By contrast, in this article, we propose a novel approach that constructs an intermediary mode through the constraints of self-supervised intermediary learning, which is freedom from modal prior knowledge and additional module parameters. We then design a bridge network to fully mine the intermediary role of generated modality through carrying out multi-modal integration and decomposition. For one thing, this network leverages a multi-modal transformer to integrate the information of three modes via fully exploiting their heterogeneous relations with the intermediary mode as the bridge. It conducts the identification consistency constraint to promote cross-modal associations. For another, it employs circle contrastive learning to decompose the cross-modal constraint process into several subprocedures, which provides the intermediate relay during pulling two original modalities closer. Experiments on two public datasets demonstrate that the proposed method exceeds the state-of-the-arts. The effectiveness of each component in this method is verified through numerous ablation studies. Additionally, we have demonstrated the generalization ability of the proposed method through experiments.
Enabling Social Robots to Perceive and Join Socially Interacting Groups Using F-formation: A Comprehensive Overview
Authors: Barua Hrishav Bakul , Mg Theint Haythi , Pramanick Pradip , Sarkar Chayan
Published: July 2024

Social robots in our daily surroundings, like personal guides, waiter robots, home helpers, assistive robots, and telepresence/teleoperation robots, are increasing day by day. Their usability and acceptability largely depend on their explicit and implicit interaction capability with fellow human beings. As a result, social behavior is one of the most sought-after qualities that a robot can possess. However, there is no specific aspect and/or feature that defines socially acceptable behavior, and it largely depends on the situation, application, and society. In this article, we investigate one such social behavior for collocated robots. Imagine a group of people is interacting with each other, and we want to join the group. We as human beings do it in a socially acceptable manner, i.e., within the group, we do position ourselves in such a way that we can participate in the group activity without disturbing/obstructing anybody. To possess such a quality, first, a robot needs to determine the formation of the group and then determine a position for itself, which we humans do implicitly. There are many theories which study group formations and proxemics; one such theory is f-formation which could be utilized for this purpose. As the types of formations can be very diverse, detecting the social groups is not a trivial task. In this article, we provide a comprehensive survey of the existing work on social interaction and group detection using f-formation for robotics and other applications. We also put forward a novel holistic survey framework combining some of the possibly more important concerns and modules relevant to this problem. We define taxonomies based on methods, camera views, datasets, detection capabilities and scale, evaluation approaches, and application areas. We discuss certain open challenges and limitations in the current literature along with possible future research directions based on this framework. In particular, we discuss the existing methods/techniques and their relative merits and demerits, applications, and provide a set of unsolved but relevant problems in this domain. The official website for this work is available at:
https://github.com/HrishavBakulBarua/Social-Robots-F-formation
Multimodal Pre-training for Sequential Recommendation via Contrastive Learning
Authors: Zhang Lingzi , Zhou Xin , Zeng Zhiwei , Shen Zhiqi
Published: July 2024

Sequential recommendation systems often suffer from data sparsity, leading to suboptimal performance. While multimodal content, such as images and text, has been utilized to mitigate this issue, its integration within sequential recommendation frameworks remains challenging. Current multimodal sequential recommendation models are often unable to effectively explore and capture correlations among behavior sequences of users and items across different modalities, either neglecting correlations among sequence representations or inadequately capturing associations between multimodal data and sequence data in their representations. To address this problem, we explore multimodal pre-training in the context of sequential recommendation, with the aim of enhancing fusion and utilization of multimodal information.

We propose a novel Multimodal Pre-training for Sequential Recommendation (MP4SR) framework, which utilizes contrastive losses to capture the correlation among different modality sequences of users, as well as the correlation among different modality sequences of users and items. MP4SR consists of three key components: (1) multimodal feature extraction; (2) a backbone network, Multimodal Mixup Sequence Encoder (M
2
SE); and (3) pre-training tasks. After utilizing pre-trained encoders to generate initial multimodal features of items, M
2
SE adopts a complementary sequence mixup strategy to fuse different modality sequences, and leverages contrastive learning to capture modality interactions at the sequence-to-sequence and sequence-to-item levels. Extensive experiments on four real-world datasets demonstrate that MP4SR outperforms state-of-the-art approaches in both normal and cold-start settings. We further highlight the efficacy of incorporating multimodal pre-training in sequential recommendation representation learning, serving as an effective regularizer and optimizing the parameter space for the recommendation task.
Encrypted Data Reduction: Removing Redundancy from Encrypted Data in Outsourced Storage
Authors: Zhao Jia , Yang Zuoru , Li Jingwei , Lee Patrick P. C.
Published: July 2024

Storage savings and data confidentiality are two primary goals for outsourced storage. However, encryption by design destroys the content redundancy within plaintext data, so there exist design tensions when combining encryption with data reduction techniques (i.e., deduplication, delta compression, and local compression). We present EDRStore, an outsourced storage system that realizes encrypted data reduction to achieve both storage savings and data confidentiality. EDRStore’s core idea is a careful design of the encryption and data reduction workflows. It proposes new key generation and encryption schemes to preserve the content similarity of encrypted data for deduplication and delta compression. It further proposes selective local compression based on content similarity, so as to achieve storage savings of encrypted data from both delta compression and local compression. Evaluation on real-world datasets shows that EDRStore achieves higher storage savings than existing encrypted storage approaches and incurs moderate performance overhead compared with plaintext storage.
Atmospheric Influences on Li6PS5Cl Separators and the Resulting Ionic Conductivity for All-Solid-State Batteries
Authors: Scharmann Timon , Özcelikman Canel , Nguyen Do Minh , Heck Carina Amata , Wacker Christian , Michalowski Peter , Kwade Arno , Dröder Klaus
Published: July 2024

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), defined through a solid electrolyte, are emerging as a promising solution to address current challenges in energy and power density demands for electromobility. Within the various possible types of solid electrolytes, sulfide-based materials exhibit advantageous high ionic conductivities. However, due to the strong reactivity of sulfides, atmospheric exposure can lead to the formation of toxic hydrogen sulfide and additionally negatively impact the resulting battery performance. Both factors present key challenges for ASSB production, as they necessitate the development of a material-adapted, economically viable and safe process atmosphere. In the present study, the influence of different production atmospheres on sulfide-based solid electrolytes is experimentally investigated. For this purpose, sulfide sheets are exposed to defined atmospheres with dynamic air fluctuations at dew points ranging from −60 °C to 0 °C. The resulting ionic conductivities indicate a dependency on the prevailing dew point and exposure time with a discernible impact on performance even at dew points of −60 °C within atmospheres with constant air circulation. With the acquired results, a detailed and knowledge-based selection and design of dry room production atmospheres for ASSB cell assembly is possible, which is a necessary step for further industrialization.
Effect of Structures with Structured Surface Pad on Material Removal Rate in Chemical Mechanical Polishing
Authors: Park Youngwook , Jung Hokyoung , Kim Doyeon , Lee Taekyung , Jeong Haedo , Kim Hyoungjae
Published: July 2024

We investigated the impact of the designed contact area (DCA) and designed contact length (DCL) on material removal rates (MRR) when using a pad with a structured surface in chemical mechanical polishing. The structure of the structured surface pad (SSP) was precisely defined, and an examination was conducted to assess the influence of variations in the shape, size, and spacing of the unit figure (UF) on the MRR. The results revealed that maintaining the DCA constant while altering the UF shape to extend the DCL led to a 203% increase in the MRR. Furthermore, modifications in the UF size enhanced the MRR by approximately 630%. The relationship between the DCL and MRR was dependent on the DCA. The characteristics of the SSP, particularly the concentrated pressure and involvement of slurry particles at the edges of the contact area, indicated that an increase in the DCL could augment the active slurry particles. This study offers valuable insights into the pad figure structure, simultaneously advancing our understanding of the pad surface topography and its influence on material removal. By focusing on both structural engineering and practical applications, this study paves the way for future research and enables further exploration in this field.
Structural and Magnetic Properties of Y0.85La0.15Fe1−(4/3)xTixO3 (where (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.075) Nanomaterials Derived from Sol-Gel Route
Authors: Kalakonda Sajini , Dachuru Rama Sekhara Reddy , Gudela Krishnaveni
Published: July 2024

Y0.85La0.15Fe1−(4/3)xTixO3 (where (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.075) nanomaterials were prepared using tartare acid assisted sol-gel method. Various analytical characterization techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis absorption, Vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) and dielectric spectroscopy were employed to characterize the synthesized nanomaterials. Downward shifted of (121) and (002) planes were observed with an increasing of Ti concentration at Fe site through XRD study. The ability of the prepared nano-powders to absorb visible light was demonstrated by the investigation of diffuse reflectance spectra, which showed a decline in bandgap from 2.13 eV to 2.06 eV. XPS studies revealed that Y and La atoms are existed in +3 oxidation state, Fe atom is existed in mixed (+2 and +3) oxidation state and Ti atom is existed in mixed (+3 and +4) oxidation state. The highest magnetization value was observed for x = 0.05 sample through VSM study. High dielectric constant, low dielectric loss and low conductivity values were also observed for Y0.85La0.15Fe1−(4/3)xTixO3 (where (x = 0.05)).
The utility—and limitations—of the rodent synergist ablation model in examining mechanisms of skeletal muscle hypertrophy
Authors: Roberts Michael D. , Hornberger Troy A. , Phillips Stuart M.
Published: July 2024

In this issue, Burke et al. discuss the utility of the rodent synergist ablation (SA) model for examining mechanisms associated with skeletal muscle hypertrophy. In this invited perspective, we aim to complement their original perspective by discussing limitations to the model along with alternative mechanical overload models that have strengths and limitations.
Design, Development, and Testing of Microplanar Coil‐Based Hydrokinetic Electromagnetic‐Type Energy Harvester for IoT Sensors
Authors: Ahmad Iftikhar , Abbas Maryam , Iqbal Muhammad , Abdelrhman Ahmed M. , Chithambaram Subramanian , Imam Syed Asad , Hammad Mahmood , Anjum Muneeb Ullah
Published: July 2024

Wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) are widely used in implementation of the new concepts such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart homes and societies. These WSNs use batteries as the sole power source which has numerous problems such as limited shelf life, require charging points, deep discharge, and sensitivity to temperature, and require periodic replacement and recharging. Harvesting ambient energies such as hydrokinetic, vibration, and thermal from the surrounding of WSNs provide a promising solution to the power‐related problems. This research illustrates the design, development, and testing of a microplanar coil (MPC)‐based hydrokinetic‐based electromagnetic‐type energy harvester for WSNs applications. The developed MPC‐based hydrokinetic energy harvester (H‐EH) utilizes the flow of water in domestic pipelines such as in the kitchen and converts it into useful electrical energy. An indigenous setup was developed to test the prototype in‐lab. The H‐EH produces 548 μW at a flow rate of 7 L/min at an optimum load resistance of 9 Ω. This work opens up new possibilities for developing MPC‐based H‐EH that can enhance the efficiency of WSNs. The research will also help to achieve self‐sustained long‐term operation of WSNs in advanced technologies such as IoTs, smart homes, and smart cities.