bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Research on Thermal Comfort of Human Body Under Localized Automotive Air Conditioning
Authors: Wang Jingyu , Xie Xinran , Hu Xingjun , Wang Binbin , Guo Peng , Yu Tianming
Published: September 2024

In this study, we design localized automotive air conditioning to balance the contradiction between the thermal comfort of the driver in the cockpit and the energy-saving and environmental protection of an automobile's air conditioner. The simplified model of a certain car cockpit is selected as the research object. Three types of air outlet structures of localized automotive air conditioning are designed, and numerical simulation is performed to study flow field distribution and human thermal comfort in the cockpit under different air outlet combinations of localized automotive air conditioning. The final evaluation result indicates that the thermal comfort of the driver is good under localized automotive air conditioning. Moreover, the energy-saving effect of localized automotive air conditioning is remarkable and its cooling rate is faster. Localized automotive air conditioning achieves about 41.4% more energy saving than ordinary automotive air conditioning.
Parallel Force Feedback Device Design With Constant Jacobian Matrix and Net Weight Fully Balanced
Authors: Jin Zhaopeng , Zhao Yanzhi , Liu Yajun , Shan Yu , Sun Yue
Published: September 2024

Force feedback devices offer realistic and intuitive feedback to operators, and achieving higher accuracy and transparency has been a prominent research focus in this field. However, errors in real-time force or position calculations are inevitable, which can have adverse effects on the accuracy of the equipment. This article presents the design of a parallel mechanism that incorporates a constant force and velocity mapping relationship based on the type synthesis of the constant Jacobian matrix. Specifically, the mechanism maintains a fixed direction of force applied to the operating platform by the drive pair, which is mounted on the fixed platform in each limb, irrespective of position changes. This unique feature enables the mechanism to achieve a complete net weight balance. The implementation method is detailed in this article, which involves adding appropriate counterweights to achieve a balance between the weight of the connecting rod and the overall gravity of the operating platform. Furthermore, the optimization of structural parameters helps to improve the performance of the developed prototype. The proposed design scheme not only addresses the fundamental reduction of errors caused by real-time force and position mapping solving but also enhances operational transparency. Finally, simulation and experimental tests are conducted to validate the proposed theory.
Exploration of medical students’ approach to progress test preparation
Authors: Chieng Michael , Krishna Sanjeev , Gauznabi Shomel , Shand George , Ryckman Nathan , Wearn Andy
Published: September 2024

Introduction: Medical students are expected to develop competencies in applying clinical knowledge. Progress testing is an assessment for learning and is intended to assist in knowledge acquisition and to promote ongoing recall. This study explored student preparation for progress tests (PTs), relationships between approach and performance, and patterns that could assist with targeting learning support.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey exploring study approach and learning context, comprising multi-choice and open-ended responses, was administered to students during their clinical years (n = 297). Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and comparative analysis, and qualitative data was categorised.
Results: One hundred twenty-nine students responded (43.4%), with most demonstrating a stable PT performance over time. Twenty-two students had dynamic changes in their aggregate grades. Poor early PT performance was associated with developing an improvement strategy (χ2 6.954, p = 0.008). Students never falling below satisfactory were less likely to have a strategy (χ2 10.084, p = 0.001). All poorly performing students were using practice question banks, but this was not true for students who scored satisfactorily. The need for pastoral care was associated with poorer performance (χ2 4.701, p = 0.030).
Conclusions: Student approaches to PT preparation are diverse, however there are correlations between preparation factors and performance outcomes. Students with poor early performance demonstrated improved results over time that may be attributed to targeted support and preparation strategies. Widespread use of practice questions may not be sufficient to impact results without additional strategies. External impacts to performance were common, and barriers to accessing pastoral care were evident. The feedback dashboard was underutilised, suggesting a need to improve feedback literacy and ensure this is fit for purpose.
Review of fossil heterostigmatic mites (Acari: Heterostigmata) from late Eocene Rovno Amber. II. Family Resinacaridae, with redescription of Resinacarus resinatus (Vitzthum), four new species and a new genus
Authors: Khaustov Alexander , Lindquist Evert , Perkovsky Evgeny , Vasilenko Dmitry , Vorontsov Dmitry
Published: September 2024

The fossil representatives of the family Resinacaridae (Acari: Heterostigmata) from the Late Eocene Rovno amber are reviewed. Three new species are described in the genus Resinacarus Vitzthum, namely, R. longipilis sp. nov., R. vitzthumi sp. nov., and R. striatus sp. nov. A new genus and species, Pararesinacarus krczali gen. and sp. nov. are also described. The extant species Pararesinacarus aradii (Krczal) comb. nov. was moved from Resinacarus. All active stages of the extant type species of the genus Resinacarus, R. resinatus Vitzthum, are redescribed based on type material. A key to genera and species of Resinacaridae is also provided.
A very versatile molecular machine
Authors: Manson Michael D.
Published: September 2024

In this issue (J Bacteriol. 206: e0014024,
https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00140-24
), Ridone and Baker describe hybrids between two 5:2 heteroheptameric ion-powered motors. Chimeras were constructed between stator units of a bacterial flagellum and ExbBD of the Ton outer-membrane transport system. Only one of the 14 hybrids supported swimming in
Escherichia coli
. Three additional residue changes at sites distant from the hybrid region enhanced motility. This work suggests that flagellar stator units and ExbBD share an ancestor that diverged during evolution to perform different tasks.
Development of inducible promoter and CRISPRi plasmids functional in
Rickettsia rickettsii
Authors: Nock Adam M. , Clark Tina R. , Hackstadt Ted
Published: September 2024

Rickettsia rickettsii
is an obligate intracellular, tick-borne bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The demanding nature of cultivating these bacteria within host cells and the labor involved in obtaining clonal isolates have severely limited progress regarding the development of compatible genetic tools to study this pathogen. Conditional expression of genes that might be toxic or have an otherwise undesirable effect is the next logical goal to expand upon the constitutive expression plasmids generated thus far. We describe the construction of an inducible promoter system based on the tet-On system, leveraging design elements from the anhydrotetracycline-inducible promoter system used for
Borrelia burgdorferi
and one of the few characterized rickettsial promoters for the outer membrane gene,
rompB
(
sca5
). The functionality of this promoter is demonstrated via fluorescence of induced mScarlet production and was then used to construct a generalized inducible expression vector for
R. rickettsii
. The development of a functional inducible promoter was then applied to the construction of a CRISPR interference plasmid as a means to reduce or essentially silence the transcription of targeted genes. We demonstrate the viability of a simplified, single vector CRISPRi system to disrupt gene expression in
R. rickettsii
targeting the type IV secreted effector
rarP2
and autotransporter peptidase
rapL
as examples.

IMPORTANCE

This work expands upon the genetic toolbox available for
R. rickettsii
. We describe both an inducible promoter and CRISPRi system compatible with
Rickettsia
, which may provide key instruments for the development of further tools. The development of an inducible promoter system allows for the overexpression of genes, which might be toxic when expressed constitutively. The CRISPRi system enables the ability to knock down genes with specificity, and critically, genes that may be essential and could not otherwise be knocked out. These developments may provide the foundation for unlocking genetic tools for other pathogens of the order Rickettsiales, such as the
Anaplasma
,
Orientia
, and
Ehrlichia
for which there are currently no inducible promoters or CRISPRi platforms.
Supplemental Material: Timing and evolution of structures within the southeastern Greater Caucasus and Kura Fold-Thrust Belt from multiproxy sediment provenance records
Authors: Forte Adam M. , al. et
Published: September 2024

Includes additional analyses and methods, figures, and tables.
Anaerobic Oxidation of Oil by Microbial Communities of Bottom Sediments of a Natural Oil Seepage Site (Bolshaya Zelenovskaya, Middle Baikal)
Authors: Pavlova O. N. , Bukin S. V. , Izosimova O. N. , Chernitsina S. M. , Ivanov V. G. , Khabuev A. V. , Pogodaeva T. V. , Elovskaya I. S. , Gorshkov A. G. , Zemskaya T. I.
Published: September 2024

The microbial communities of bottom sediments of the Bolshaya Zelenovskaya oil seepage site (Lake Baikal) were investigated to assess their diversity and potential functional activity in the anaerobic degradation of oil. Microorganisms of the subsurface and deep sediment layers were grown in enrichment cultures supplemented with oil and various electron acceptors for 1 year at 10°C, and it was found that the concentrations of n-alkanes and polyaromatic hydrocarbons decreased by 1.2–2 and 2.2–2.8 times, respectively. Hydrocarbon conversion was accompanied by generation of hydrocarbon gases (methane and ethane). The microbial community of subsurface sediments had a higher bacterial diversity than the community of deep horizons and was composed of microorganisms specialized in degradation of a broad range of substrates, including oil hydrocarbons. The community of the deep sediment layer was dominated by Atribacterota, Caldisericota, and Bathyarchaeia (Thermoproteota), as well as members of the “rare biosphere”: Elusimicrobiota and Candidatus Hadarchaeota. Apparently, oil degradation in the bottom sediments of Lake Baikal is primarily mediated by members of the phyla Bacillota, Pseudomonadota, Chloroflexota, Actinomycetota, Desulfobacterota, Atribacterota, Halobacteriota, and Bathyarchaeia (Thermoproteota).
Comparative Genomics of Carbohydrate Utilization in Bacteria of the Family Sphaerochaetaceae: Evolutionary Origin of the Genes Encoding Galacturonidase and Unsaturated Rhamnogalacturonyl Hydrolase
Authors: Troshina O. Yu. , Naumoff D. G. , Rechkina V. I. , Shcherbakova V. A.
Published: September 2024

A comparative analysis of carbohydrate degradation proteins encoded in the currently available genomic sequences of bacteria of the family Sphaerochaetaceae, namely Sphaerochaeta associata GLS2T, S. globosa BuddyT, S. pleomorpha GrapesT, S. halotolerans 4-11T, S. halotolerans 585, Sphaerochaeta sp. S2, Sphaerochaeta sp. PS, and Parasphaerochaetacoccoides SPN1T was carried out. The genomes of Sphaerochaeta spp. encode a medium-sized and diverse set of proteins potentially involved in the degradation of different classes of carbohydrates, mainly oligosaccharides. All studied genomes encode glycoside hydrolases of the GH1, GH2, GH3, GH4, GH13, GH20, GH28, GH36, GH43, GH57, GH63, GH77 and GH105 families, as well as carbohydrate esterases of the CE8 and CE9 families. All studied bacteria, with the exception of P. coccoides SPN1T, have many genes of the GH31 family proteins. The studied members of Sphaerochaetaceae do not have genes coding for endo-β-acetylmuramidase (lysozyme) of the GH23 family, which participates in peptidoglycan turnover. However, the genomes of S. associata, S. globosa, Sphaerochaeta sp. PS, and S. pleomorpha contain exo-β-acetylmuramidase genes (GH171 family). A significant part of the genes encoding carbohydrate degradation enzymes have the closest homologues among representatives of the phyla Bacillota, Bacteroidota, and Pseudomonadota. The genomes of the studied bacteria encode proteins that could potentially be involved in the degradation of pectin. The ability of the Sphaerochaetaceae members to use pectin for growth, as well as the evolutionary origin of the genes encoding potential α-galacturonidase (GH4 family) and unsaturated glucuronyl/rhamnogalacturonyl hydrolase (GH105 family), which participate in the degradation of pectin components, were studied.
Speciation and formation constants of aqueous lanthanum (III) chloride complexes from 5 to 80 °C by Raman spectroscopy
Authors: Persaud Avinaash A. , Sasidharanpillai Swaroop , Cox Jenny S. , Tremaine Peter R.
Published: September 2024

Lanthanum chloride solutions were studied both computationally and by polarized Raman spectroscopy to determine the aqueous species present and their equilibrium constants. Four species were predicted from Gaussian 16 computations using density functional theory: La(H2O)9 3+, LaCl(H2O)8 2+, LaCl2(H2O)6 2+, and LaCl3(H2O)4 0. Both LaCl(H2O)8 2+ and LaCl2(H2O)6 + were identified in the reduced isotropic solvent-subtracted Raman spectra from their La–Cl vibrational bands at 234 and 221 cm−1, respectively. The spectra did not change significantly with temperature from 5 to 80 °C, and the Raman bands for each species could not be fitted with sufficient accuracy to determine the scattering coefficients directly from the experimental data. Instead, the computed scattering coefficients from Gaussian 16 (B3LYP with the Los Alamos National Laboratory 2-double-zeta effective core potential and 6-311+G(d,p) basis set) were to be used to obtain the equilibrium concentrations of LaCl(H2O)8 2+ and LaCl2(H2O)6 +, from which the concentration of La(H2O)9 3+ was determined. The concentration dependent formation quotients were fitted with the specific ion interaction (SIT) activity coefficient model to determine the stepwise formation constants K0, 1 and K1, 2, from 5 to 80 °C. Both K0, 1 and K1, 2 showed minor increases with temperature.
Circular orbits of accretion flow around charged black hole coupled with a nonlinear electrodynamics field
Authors: Rehman H. , Abbas G. , Zhu Tao , Wu Qiang , Mustafa G.
Published: September 2024

This study investigates the particle’s geodesic motion and accretion around the spherically symmetric Reissner–Nordström black hole coupled with a nonlinear electrodynamics field. The formation of the disc-like structure in the accretion process arises from the geodesic motion exhibited by particles near the black hole. In the equatorial plane, we analyze the circular orbits of particles and their stability in detail. The analysis of the fluid’s critical flow, maximum accretion rate, radiant flux energy, radioactive efficiency, and radiant temperature are also examined near the central object. We analyze the perturbations experienced by particles throughout, employing restoring forces and the oscillatory behavior of the particles around the black hole. Our results show that the NED parameter $$\zeta $$
ζ
affects the circular geodesics of particles and the maximum accretion rate of the Reissner–Nordström black hole coupled with nonlinear electrodynamics.
Comparison of short-term breathing rate asymmetry of preeclamptic and normotensive women in labor
Authors: Gonzalez-Reyes Ximena , Mendieta-Zerón Hugo , Abarca-Castro Eric Alonso , Talavera-Peña Ana Karen , Santiago-Fuentes Laura Mercedes , Reyes-Lagos José Javier
Published: September 2024

Breathing rate asymmetry (BRA) refers to the observed disparities in the acceleration and deceleration phases of human respiration. The techniques employed to assess BRA could also be utilized in exploring hypertensive disorders like pre-eclampsia, which is known to cause autonomic cardiorespiratory changes. This study explores features of complexity, including the asymmetry (time irreversibility) of short-term breath-to-breath breathing rate variability among women with severe and moderate pre-eclampsia features compared to those with normal blood pressure. In our study, we retrospectively analyzed continuous respirogram recordings from women in labor, including those diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia (SP = 22), moderate pre-eclampsia (P = 19), and normotensive control group (C = 35). Using these data, we calculated 5 min of breath-to-breath (BB) time series to measure Porta's index (P%), Guzik's index (G%), and Ehlers' index (E), alongside measures of asymmetrical entropy, including the entropy of acceleration runs (HAR), the entropy of deceleration runs (HDR), and total entropy (H). In addition, Fuzzy Entropy (FuzzEn) and Multiscale Fuzzy Entropy (MFE) over timescales 1–20 were calculated from the BB time series. The nonlinearity was assessed by surrogate analysis. The study's results revealed significant differences in short-term BRA; specifically, mean values of G% and E were the lowest in SP compared to C and P. Conversely, mean values of the HDR were higher in the SP group than the C. Higher mean values of MFE and a greater percentage of nonlinearity were observed in the SP group as compared to the C group. Our results suggest that women with severe pre-eclampsia may exhibit a higher short-term BRA characterized by a lower contribution of breathing rate decelerations to short-term variability, higher irregularity and nonlinearity of BB time series, and particularly more irregular behavior of decelerations compared to normotensive women. This may indicate a potential modification in the autonomic control of breathing rate and breathing instability.
Cosmological bouncing solutions in f(𝒬,𝒯) theory
Authors: Sharif M. , Zeeshan Gul M. , Shabbir Shamraiza
Published: September 2024

This paper examines the behavior of the universe around the bouncing point in the background of [Formula: see text] theory, where [Formula: see text] is the non-metricity and [Formula: see text] is the trace of the energy–momentum tensor. We derive the field equations that describe gravitational phenomena in the existence of non-metricity and matter source terms. By applying the reconstruction method for the Hubble parameter, a phenomenon of the bouncing universe for homogeneous spacetime filled with perfect fluid is studied. We consider specific models of this modified theory to evaluate the behavior of various cosmic parameters such as the Hubble, deceleration, equation of state and fluid parameters. When the null energy condition is violated, it follows a bouncing behavior. It is found that spacetime is composed of isotropic fluid, where a big bounce can occur and the universe turns into extremely unstable. We conclude that [Formula: see text] gravity successfully explains the early and late time cosmic expansion and evolution.
Analytical solutions of higher-dimensional coupled system of nonlinear time-fractional diffusion-convection-wave equations
Authors: Priyendhu K. S. , Prakash P. , Lakshmanan M.
Published: September 2024

This paper discusses how to generalize the invariant subspace method for deriving the analytical solutions of the multi-component [Formula: see text]-dimensional coupled nonlinear time-fractional PDEs (NTFPDEs) in the sense of Caputo fractional-order derivative for the first time. Specifically, we describe how to systematically find different invariant product linear spaces with various dimensions for the considered system. Also, we observe that the obtained invariant product linear spaces help to reduce the multi-component [Formula: see text]-dimensional coupled NTFPDEs into a system of fractional-order ODEs, which can then be solved using the well-known analytical methods. More precisely, we illustrate the effectiveness and importance of this developed method for obtaining a long list of invariant product linear spaces for the multi-component [Formula: see text]-dimensional coupled nonlinear time-fractional diffusion-convection-wave equations. In addition, we have shown how to find different kinds of generalized separable analytical solutions for a multi-component [Formula: see text]-dimensional coupled nonlinear time-fractional diffusion-convection-wave equations along with the initial and boundary conditions using invariant product linear spaces obtained. Finally, we provide appropriate graphical representations of some of the derived generalized separable analytical solutions with various fractional-order values.
Shifted convolution sums of fourier coefficients with k-full kernel functions
Authors: Wang Dan
Published: September 2024

We study the behavior of the shifted convolution sum involving fourth power of the Fourier coefficients of holomorphic cusp forms with a weight function to be the [Formula: see text]-full kernel function for any fixed integer [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we will generalize the problem of Lü and Wang [Shifted convolution sums of Fourier coefficients with square-full kernel functions, Lithuanian Math. J. 60 (2020) 51–63], and improve the results of Venkatasubbareddy and Sankaranarayanan [On certain kernel functions and shifted convolution sums of Fourier coefficients, J. Number Theory 258 (2024) 414–450], the error term from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text].
Dynamic Fairness-aware Recommendation Through Multi-agent Social Choice
Authors: Aird Amanda , Farastu Paresha , Sun Joshua , Stefancová Elena , All Cassidy , Voida Amy , Mattei Nicholas , Burke Robin
Published: September 2024

Algorithmic fairness in the context of personalized recommendation presents significantly different challenges to those commonly encountered in classification tasks. Researchers studying classification have generally considered fairness to be a matter of achieving equality of outcomes (or some other metric) between a protected and unprotected group and built algorithmic interventions on this basis. We argue that fairness in real-world application settings in general, and especially in the context of personalized recommendation, is much more complex and multi-faceted, requiring a more general approach. To address the fundamental problem of fairness in the presence of multiple stakeholders, with different definitions of fairness, we propose the Social Choice for Recommendation Under Fairness–Dynamic architecture, which formalizes multistakeholder fairness in recommender systems as a two-stage social choice problem. In particular, we express recommendation fairness as a combination of an allocation and an aggregation problem, which integrate both fairness concerns and personalized recommendation provisions, and derive new recommendation techniques based on this formulation. We demonstrate the ability of our framework to dynamically incorporate multiple fairness concerns using both real-world and synthetic datasets.
SHAREDD: Sharing of Test Data and Design-for-Testability Logic for Transition Fault Tests under Standard Scan
Authors: Pomeranz Irith
Published: September 2024

High reliability requirements in certain systems are combined with constraints on test overheads, including test data volume, test application time and design-for-testability (
DFT
) logic. The overheads can be reduced if they are shared among different types of tests and optimized together. Several observations are combined in this article to allow sharing of overheads when the goal is to produce a compact transition fault test set with a high fault coverage and low storage requirements supported by
DFT
logic under standard scan. Based on these observations, the iterative procedure described in this article optimizes four parameters together: (1) the transition fault coverage, (2) the number of stored tests, (3) the number of applied tests, and (4) the size of the
DFT
logic. Experimental results for benchmark circuits in an academic environment demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure.
An Agile Pathway Towards Carbon-Aware Clouds
Authors: Patel Pratyush , Gregersen Theo , Anderson Thomas
Published: September 2024

Climate change is a pressing threat to planetary well-being that can be addressed only by rapid near-term actions across all sectors. Yet, the cloud computing sector, with its increasingly large carbon footprint, has initiated only modest efforts to reduce emissions to date; its main approach today relies on cloud providers sourcing renewable energy from a limited global pool of options. We investigate how to accelerate cloud computing's efforts. Our approach tackles carbon reduction from a software standpoint by gradually integrating carbon awareness into the cloud abstraction. Specifically, we identify key bottlenecks to software-driven cloud carbon reduction, including (1) the lack of visibility and disaggregated control between cloud providers and users over infrastructure and applications, (2) the immense overhead presently incurred by application developers to implement carbon-aware application optimizations, and (3) the increasing complexity of carbon-aware resource management due to renewable energy variability and growing hardware heterogeneity. To overcome these barriers, we propose an agile approach that federates the responsibility and tools to achieve carbon awareness across different cloud stakeholders. As a key first step, we advocate leveraging the role of application operators in managing large-scale cloud deployments and integrating carbon efficiency metrics into their cloud usage workflow. We discuss various techniques to help operators reduce carbon emissions, such as carbon budgets, service-level visibility into emissions, and configurable-yet-centralized resource management optimizations.
carbond: An Operating-System Daemon for Carbon Awareness
Authors: Schmidt Andreas , Stock Gregory , Ohs Robin , Gerhorst Luis , Herzog Benedict , Hönig Timo
Published: September 2024

To reduce the carbon footprint of software, it is imperative that systems first become aware of their footprint. Despite various proposals to make software carbon aware via application-level development kits, we believe awareness of and adjustment to carbon-emission information is an operating-system duty---similar to how it manages time information today. In this paper, we motivate and envision carbond, a Linux-based service to mediate carbon information between hardware (including power supply) and application-level software. Following the recently established
Software Carbon Intensity
(SCI) standard, carbond deals with operational as well as embodied emissions and has different
units of work
(low level as CPU cycle up to high-level as user request) in mind. In addition to the service itself, we showcase how it can be used by application SDKs (libraries) as well as command-line utilities.
Towards Carbon Footprint Management in Hybrid Multicloud
Authors: Arora Rohan , Devi Umamaheswari , Eilam Tamar , Goyal Aanchal , Narayanaswami Chandra , Parida Pritish
Published: September 2024

Enterprises today aspire to optimize the operating costs and carbon footprint (CFP) of their IT operations jointly without compromising their business imperatives. This has given rise to a hybrid approach in which enterprises retain the dynamic choice to leverage private data centers and one or more public clouds in conjunction. While cloud service providers (CSPs) have long provided APIs for estimating, reconciling, and optimizing operating costs, they have only recently started exposing APIs related to CFP.

Indeed, this is a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, our analyses of these APIs reveals many gaps that need to be addressed to facilitate sizing and placement decisions that can factor in carbon. First, there is a lack of standardized, transparent methodology for CFP quantification across different CSPs. Second, the coarse granularity of the CFP data provided today can help with post-facto reporting but is not suitable for proactive fine-grained optimization. Last, enterprises themselves are unable to independently compute the current CFP or estimate potential CFP savings since CSPs do not share the required power usage data.

To address these gaps, enterprises have started developing their own carbon assessment methodologies and tools to estimate the CFP of workloads running on public clouds using the available user-facing APIs. These systems hold the promise for
an independent and unbiased evaluation
and
estimation of relative savings
between different deployment options by cloud users. We describe and analyze the details of CSP-native carbon-reporting tools and their quantification methodology, and the "outside-of-the-cloud" estimation approaches. Finally, we present opportunities for future research in the direction of trustworthy, fine-grained, public cloud workload CFP estimation, which is a prerequisite for meaningful realization of carbon optimization.
The War of the Efficiencies: Understanding the Tension between Carbon and Energy Optimization
Authors: Hanafy Walid A. , Bostandoost Roozbeh , Bashir Noman , Irwin David , Hajiesmaili Mohammad , Shenoy Prashant
Published: September 2024

Major innovations in computing have been driven by scaling up computing infrastructure, while aggressively optimizing operating costs. The result is a network of worldwide datacenters that consume a large amount of energy, mostly in an energy-efficient manner. Since the electric grid powering these datacenters provided a simple and opaque abstraction of an unlimited and reliable power supply, the computing industry remained largely oblivious to the carbon intensity of the electricity it uses. Much like the rest of the society, it generally treated the carbon intensity of the electricity as constant, which was mostly true for a fossil fuel-driven grid. As a result, the cost-driven objective of increasing energy-efficiency --- by doing more work per unit of energy --- has generally been viewed as the most carbon-efficient approach. However, as the electric grid is increasingly powered by clean energy and is exposing its time-varying carbon intensity, the most energy-efficient operation is no longer necessarily the most carbon-efficient operation. However, the recent focus on exploiting the flexibility of computing's workloads---along temporal, spatial, and resource dimensions---to reduce carbon emissions, comes at the cost of either performance or energy efficiency. In this paper, we quantify the trade-offs between energy efficiency and carbon efficiency in exploiting computing's flexibility and show that blindly optimizing for energy efficiency is not always the right approach.
1
Genetically Enriched Clinical Trials for Precision Development of Noncancer Therapeutics: A Scoping Review
Authors: Delabays Benoît , De Paoli Chiara , Miller-Nesbitt Andrea , Mooser Vincent
Published: September 2024

Genetically driven clinical trial enrichment has been proposed to accelerate and reduce the cost of developing new therapeutics. Usage of this approach has not been comprehensively reviewed. We searched Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, and WHO ICTRP for articles published between 2010 and 2023. Excluding absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination pharmacogenetic studies and anti-infectives, we found 95 completed, 4 terminated, and 22 ongoing prospective genetically enriched trials on 110 drugs for 48 nononcology, nonrare syndromic indications. Trial sizes ranged from 4 to 6,147 participants (median 72) and covered numerous disease areas, particularly neurology , metabolism (), and psychiatry (). Fifty-six completed studies (60%) met their primary end point. Overall, this scoping review demonstrates that genetically enriched trials are feasible and scalable across disease areas and provide critical information for further development, or attrition, of investigational drugs. Large, appropriately designed disease-, hospital-, or population-based biobanks will undoubtedly facilitate this type of precision drug development approach.
Three decades of rat genomics: approaching the finish(ed) line
Authors: Kalbfleisch Theodore S. , Smith Melissa L. , Ciosek Julia L. , Li Kai , Doris Peter A.
Published: September 2024

The rat, Rattus norvegicus, has provided an important model for investigation of a range of characteristics of biomedical importance. Here we survey the origins of this species, its introduction into laboratory research, and the emergence of genetic and genomic methods that utilize this model organism. Genomic studies have yielded important progress and provided new insight into several biologically important traits. However, some studies have been impeded by the lack of a complete and accurate reference genome for this species. New sequencing and genome assembly methods applied to the rat have resulted in a new reference genome assembly, GRCr8, which is a near telomere-to-telomere assembly of high base-level accuracy that incorporates several elements not captured in prior assemblies. As genome assembly methods continue to advance and production costs become a less significant obstacle, genome assemblies for multiple inbred rat strains are emerging. These assemblies will allow a rat pangenome assembly to be constructed that captures all the genetic variations in strains selected for their utility in research and will overcome reference bias, a limitation associated with reliance on a single reference assembly. By this means, the full utility of this model organism to genomic studies will begin to be revealed.
Bidirectional Active Equalization Control of Lithium Battery Pack Based on Energy Transfer
Authors: Ma Minghui , Liu Zhoufeng , Xi Jiangtao , Wang Jiyue , Yu Tao
Published: September 2024

Aiming at the energy inconsistency of each battery during the use of lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs), a bidirectional active equalization topology of lithium battery packs based on energy transfer was constructed, and a bivariate equalization control strategy of adjacent SOC difference and voltage is proposed according to the corresponding relationship between open circuit voltage (OCV) and state of charge (SOC). The energy transfer between the inductor and the lithium battery is realized through the combination of the main circuit and the secondary circuit. Based on the Buck–Boost equalization circuit, the pulse width modulation (PWM) drive signal duty ratio is adjusted to improve the equalization speed and efficiency. The SOC is estimated by the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) algorithm, and the SOC of each single battery is estimated and sorted. The results of charge and discharge and static simulation and test of lithium battery show that the SOC difference between each cell is controlled within the threshold value of 3%, the voltage range is controlled within the range of 0.01 V, and the equalization speed is increased by 51% compared with the traditional unidirectional transfer of inductive energy balancing method. The change trend of the test results and the simulation results show a good consistency, avoiding the overcharge and overdischarge of the battery pack, and reducing the inconsistency. This method can complete the energy balance management of the battery well, the efficiency is relatively high, and the service life of the battery is improved.
Assessment of Step Tracker Mobile Applications for the Promotion of Physical Activity by Adolescents Based on Their Weight Status
Authors: Ponce-Ramírez Cristina M. , Mateo-Orcajada Adrián , Abenza-Cano Lucía , Vaquero-Cristóbal Raquel
Published: September 2024

The objectives of the present study were to analyze the adherence of normal weight and overweight/obese adolescents to intervention with mobile applications; to establish the differences in the evaluation of the mobile application and in the problematic use of the mobile phone between normal weight and overweight/obese adolescents; and to determine the relationship between the distance travelled, the evaluation of the mobile applications, and the conflictive use of the mobile phone. A quasi‐experimental design was carried out with the participation of 70 adolescents between 12 and 16 years old (mean age: 14.25 ± 1.23 years old; 38 normal weight and 32 overweight/obese). The adolescents completed a 10‐week intervention in which they used step tracker mobile applications for the promotion of physical activity, a minimum of three times per week. Problematic mobile phone use and adolescent ratings of the application used were measured. The results showed no significant differences in adolescents’ adherence to the intervention according to the mobile application used (p = 0.191) or weight status (p = 0.202). In addition, significant differences were not found in the assessment of mobile applications within the group of overweight and obese adolescents: engagement (p = 0.471), functionality (p = 0.319), aesthetics (p = 0.378), information (p = 0.184), usability (p = 0.154), or perceived impact (p = 0.139), although differences were found in the assessment made by normal‐weight adolescents in information (p = 0.029), usability (p = 0.029), and perceived impact (p = 0.044), where Pacer had better scores than Pokémon Go in the first two dimensions. No greater problematic mobile phone use was found after the intervention according to weight status (p = 0.311) nor the mobile application used (p = 0.985). It can be concluded that there is similar adherence among normal weight and overweight/obese adolescents to interventions with mobile applications to promote physical activity. It is noteworthy that adolescents, regardless of weight status, showed a positive perception towards the use of these mobile applications.
Evaluación de la tasa de egreso hospitalario de personas que viven con demencia en Chile, previo y durante la pandemia de COVID-19
Authors: Bitar Cedeño Itaf , Estrada Cortés Kevin , Ceballos Tapia Ignacio , Díaz Foronda Augusto , Espinoza Amador Hilda
Published: September 2024

Las demencias representan un desafío creciente para la salud pública. Su prevalencia, tanto a nivel mundial como nacional, ha aumentado durante las últimas décadas. La atención hospitalaria de estos pacientes es compleja debido a la diversidad de causas de ingreso, y el egreso depende de variados factores consensuados entre los profesionales de la salud y el entorno familiar, siendo este último un indicador crítico de la atención sanitaria. Este estudio observacional y descriptivo analizó la tasa de egreso hospitalario de personas con demencia en Chile, comparando los periodos previos y durante la pandemia de COVID-19, entre los años 2016 y 2023. Los resultados indican una disminución en las tasas de egreso hospitalario durante la pandemia, lo que podría reflejar los efectos de las medidas sanitarias, la redistribución de recursos hacia el manejo de la crisis por COVID-19 y el impacto del temor al contagio entre los pacientes y sus familias. Además, se evidenciaron diferencias significativas según el género y el grupo etario, especialmente en las mujeres mayores de 80 años, quienes presentaron una disminución significativa en sus tasas de egreso hospitalario durante la pandemia. Este estudio subraya la importancia de un enfoque integral y equitativo en la atención de personas con demencia, considerando las particularidades de género y edad, así como la necesidad de fortalecer las políticas de salud pública para garantizar un acceso adecuado a los servicios de salud en contextos de crisis sanitaria.
Efectividad del tratamiento periodontal no quirúrgico en personas viviendo con VIH: protocolo de una revisión sistemática
Authors: San Juan Raffo María de los Ángeles , Quintana Vega Maximiliano , Veloso Casado Valentina , Ramos Rojas José
Published: September 2024

La infección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) constituye un desafío significativo para la salud global, con un impacto profundo en la calidad de vida de millones de personas. Entre las complicaciones asociadas, las enfermedades periodontales destacan por su alta prevalencia y su impacto en la salud bucal y sistémica de las personas viviendo con VIH (PVVIH). Esta revisión sistemática tiene como objetivo analizar el impacto del tratamiento periodontal no quirúrgico en PVVIH en desenlaces relacionados con la calidad de vida, estado inmunológico y salud oral. Se realizará una búsqueda exhaustiva en múltiples bases de datos, complementada con una revisión manual de referencias. Se incluirán estudios primarios comparativos que evalúen el efecto de la terapia periodontal no quirúrgica en PVVIH. La síntesis de datos se realizará mediante una síntesis narrativa junto con tablas descriptivas para abordar la heterogeneidad esperada en los resultados. La evaluación de la certeza de la evidencia se realizará utilizando el enfoque GRADE. Esta revisión proporcionará información crucial para orientar decisiones clínicas y de políticas, así como identificar áreas para futuras investigaciones en este campo.
Figure S2 from Zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein Secreted by Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Promotes Peritumoral Fibrosis
Authors: Verma Surbhi , Giagnocavo Stephanie D. , Curtin Meghan C. , Arumugam Menusha , Osburn-Staker Sandra M. , Wang Guoying , Atkinson Aaron , Nix David A. , Lum David H. , Cox James E. , Hilgendorf Keren I.
Published: September 2024

Supplemental Figure and Figure Legend 2
Supplementary data 2 from Long-Lasting Response to Lorlatinib in Patients with ALK-Driven Relapsed or Refractory Neuroblastoma Monitored with Circulating Tumor DNA Analysis
Authors: Ek Torben , Ibrahim Raghda R. , Vogt Hartmut , Georgantzi Kleopatra , Träger Catarina , Gaarder Jennie , Djos Anna , Rahmqvist Ida , Mellström Elisabeth , Pujol-Calderón Fani , Vannas Christoffer , Hansson Lina , Fagman Henrik , Treis Diana , Fransson Susanne , Österlund Tobias , Chuang Tzu-Po , Verhoeven Bronte Manouk , Ståhlberg Anders , Palmer Ruth H. , Hallberg Bengt , Martinsson Tommy , Kogner Per , Dalin Martin
Published: September 2024

Sequencing results, all data
Physical Activity, Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Part 1
Authors: Franklin Barry A. , Jae Sae Young
Published: September 2024

Background: The cardioprotective benefits and prognostic significance of regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (PA), increased cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), or both are often underappreciated by the medical community and the patients they serve. Individuals with low CRF are two to three times more likely to die prematurely from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), than their fitter counterparts when matched for risk factor profile or coronary artery calcium (CAC) score. Accordingly, part 1 of this 2-part review examines these relations and the potential underlying mechanisms of benefit (e.g., exercise preconditioning) on atherosclerotic CVD, with specific reference to gait speed and mortality, CRF and PA as separate risk factors, and the relation between CRF and/or PA on attenuating the adverse impact of an elevated CAC score, as well as potentially favorably modifying CAC morphology, and on incident atrial fibrillation, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and on sudden cardiac death (SCD). Summary: We explore the underappreciated cardioprotective effects of regular PA and CRF. Part 1 examines how CRF and PA reduce the risk of premature death from atherosclerotic CVD by investigating their roles as separate risk factors, the potential underlying mechanisms of benefit, and their impact on gait speed, mortality, and atrial fibrillation. The review also addresses how CRF and PA may mitigate the adverse impact of an elevated CAC score, potentially modifying CAC morphology, and reduce the risk of SCD. Key Messages: Regular PA and high CRF are essential for reducing the risk of premature death from CVD and mitigating the negative impact of elevated CAC scores. Additionally, they provide significant protection against SCD and atrial fibrillation, emphasizing their broad cardioprotective effects.
Damage Control Orthopaedics Induced Less Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy than Early Total Care in a Porcine Polytrauma Model
Authors: Mert Ümit , Groven Rald Victor Maria , Greven Johannes , He Zhizhen , Mahmoud Mohamad Agha , van Griensven Martijn , Huber-Lang Markus , Mollnes Tom Eirik , Rosado Balmayor Elizabeth , Horst Klemens , Hildebrand Frank
Published: September 2024

Introduction: Coagulopathic disorders (CDs) complicate treatment in polytraumatised patients. Against this background, operative strategies for fracture management are controversial in this cohort. This study therefore investigated the effects of two established operative concepts, early total care (ETC) and damage control orthopaedics (DCO), on CD in a large-animal polytrauma (PT) model. Methods: Twenty-two animals (Sus scrofa domesticus) sustained PT involving blunt-chest trauma, liver laceration, bilateral femur fracture, and pressure-controlled haemorrhagic shock. After resuscitation, animals were allocated to ETC (n = 8), DCO (n = 8), or served as a non-traumatised control group (CG, n = 6). Animals were ventilated and monitored under ICU standards for 72 h. Blood samples were collected at baseline and post-trauma after 1.5, 2.5, 24, 48, and 72 h. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complex concentrations were determined by ELISA. Results: Compared to the CG, ETC and DCO subjects had significantly increased plasma concentrations of PAI-1 after 2.5 h (CG vs. ETC: p = 0.0050, CG vs. DCO: p = 0.0016). Furthermore, the ETC group showed significantly increased plasma PAI-1 concentrations after 24 h compared to the CG and DCO groups (CG vs. ETC: p = 0.0002, DCO vs. ETC: p = 0.0004). During the later clinical course, concentrations of TAT were significantly increased in the ETC group compared to the CG and DCO group after 72 h (CG vs. ETC: p = 0.0290, DCO vs. ETC: p = 0.0322). Conclusion: PT is strongly associated with CD in the early post-traumatic course. In comparison to DCO, ETC appeared to be negatively associated with CD. Future studies must investigate this impact, especially in those patients admitted with trauma-induced coagulopathy, to improve outcomes.
Cross-Linguistic Nasalance Comparisons: A Review of Speech Sample Sets and Preliminary Consideration of Effect of Lexical Tone
Authors: She Joanna Hoi-Man , Ching Emily See-Man , Yu Wilson Shing , Lee Kathy Yuet-Sheung , Tong Michael Chi-Fai , Pereira Valerie J.
Published: September 2024

Introduction: Nasalance is an acoustic representation of perceived nasality with proven clinical and research utility. Its validity is contingent on appropriate speech sample sets and distinct normative databases based on known impact factors such as language and phonetic environment, but little is known about the potential effects of lexical tone on nasalance. Its use in international cross-linguistic studies necessitates definition and added considerations of speech sampling protocol. Methods: Part I: a methodological review was undertaken using PRISMA (2020), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Methodology Checklist for evaluating the risk of bias, and calculation of effect sizes and/or visual displays using tables showing the grouping of similar data for the synthesis of findings. Part II: a pilot study explored the effect of lexical tone on nasalance in Cantonese, a lexical tone language. Results: Part I: a total of 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. In addressing possible confounders and minimizing the risk of bias, 13 studies were assigned an overall quality rating of acceptable (+) and the remaining 4, a high rating (++). For the 9-word string, there was a (non-clinical) difference of 3–5% between Swedish and Brazilian-Portuguese, and a moderate effect size for age (d = 0.49); for the consonant-vowel syllables set, clinical differences across languages were identified for adults and between 5 and 10% for children and adolescents. Part II: the pilot study showed a significant effect of lexical tone on nasalance, where nasalance for the high-level tone 1 was significantly higher than that for high-rising tone 2, low-rising tone 5, and low-falling tone 4. Discussion: There is a need for further evidence from other languages, including tonal languages, to better define the evidence and speech methodology of international cross-linguistic nasalance studies.