bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Direct numerical simulations of rapidly rotating Rayleigh–Bénard convection with Rayleigh number up to
Authors: Song Jiaxing , Shishkina Olga , Zhu Xiaojue
Published: July 2024

Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of rotating Rayleigh–Bénard convection in the planar geometry with no-slip top and bottom and periodic lateral boundary conditions are performed for a broad parameter range with the Rayleigh number spanning in

$5\times 10^{6}\leq Ra \leq 5\times 10^{13}$

, Ekman number within

$5\times 10^{-9}\leq Ek \leq 5\times 10^{-5}$

and Prandtl number

$Pr=1$

. The thermal and Ekman boundary layer (BL) statistics, temperature drop within the thermal BL, interior temperature gradient and scaling behaviours of the heat and momentum transports (reflected in the Nusselt

$Nu$

and Reynolds numbers

$Re$

) as well as the convective length scale are investigated across various flow regimes. The global and local momentum transports are examined via the

$Re$

scaling derived from the classical theoretical balances of viscous–Archimedean–Coriolis (VAC) and Coriolis–inertial–Archimedean (CIA) forces. The VAC-based

$Re$

scaling is shown to agree well with the data in the cellular and columnar regimes, where the characteristic convective length scales as the onset length scale

${\sim } Ek^{1/3}$

, while the CIA-based

$Re$

scaling and the inertia length scale

$\sim (ReEk)^{1/2}$

work well in the geostrophic turbulence regime for

$Ek\leq 1.5\times 10^{-8}$

. The examinations of

$Nu$

, global and local

$Re$

, and convective length scale as well as the temperature drop within the thermal BL and its thickness scaling behaviours, indicate that for extreme parameters of

$Ek\leq 1.5\times 10^{-8}$

and

$80\lesssim RaEk^{4/3}\lesssim 200$

, we have reached the diffusion-free geostrophic turbulence regime.
Coherent structures in stably stratified wall-bounded turbulent flows
Authors: Greene Brian R. , Salesky S.T.
Published: July 2024

To date, a growing body of literature has documented the existence and impacts of coherent structures known as large- and very-large-scale motions within wall-bounded turbulent flows under neutral and unstable thermal stratification. These coherent structures can account for a considerable fraction of the overall turbulent transport and have been found to modulate small-scale turbulent fluctuations near the wall. In the context of stably stratified flows, however, the examination of such coherent structures has garnered relatively little attention. Stable stratification limits vertical transport and turbulent mixing within flows, which makes it unclear the extent to which previous findings on coherent structures under unstable and neutral stratification are applicable to stably stratified flows. In this study, we investigate the existence and characteristics of coherent structures under stable stratification with a wide range of statistical and spectral analyses. Outer peaks in premultiplied spectrograms under weak stability indicate the presence of large-scale motions, but these peaks become weaker and eventually vanish with increasing stability. Quadrant analysis of turbulent transport efficiencies (the ratio of net fluxes to their respective downgradient components) demonstrates dependencies on both stability and height above ground, which is evidence of morphological differences in the coherent structures under increasing stability. Amplitude modulation by large-scale streamwise velocity was found to decrease with increasing gradient Richardson number, whereas modulation by large-scale vertical velocity was approximately zero across all stability ranges. For sufficiently stable stratification, large eddies are suppressed enough to limit any inner–outer scale interactions.
Screen Acting and Moral Understanding
Authors: Taylor Aaron
Published: July 2024

Abstract: How does screen acting contribute to moral understanding? The most influential narratological theories of characters have been predominantly formalist in nature, focusing almost exclusively on attributed personality traits, behavior, dialogue, and/or visual appearance as the primary means of determining screened beings’ expressivity. Consequently, such theories fail to account for the aesthetics of the embodied performer, relegating acting to the subsidiary function of dramatic enaction rather than a necessary component of narration. A more complete account of film or television narration must consider the poetics of performance – the means by which actors’ expressive choices enable viewer comprehension and moral engagement. Indeed, concentrating primarily on character appearance, action, behavior, and dialogue gives us an incomplete picture of a work’s moral significance. Attending to such manifest content of character representation overlooks both its enacted form and certain aspects of its latent content. Therefore it is necessary to codify some of the means by which screen acting’s material elements can lead to moral appraisal. Drawing on certain key tenets of embodied cognition, we can schematize a conceptual vocabulary that enables us to attend to an actor’s expressive body and apprehend how this physicality draws us toward (or away from) the characters they represent. Of particular interest are the moral facets of actors’ appearances, expressions, gestures and postures, movements, and voices. These dimensions fundamentally inform how we might describe an ethically laden experience, evaluate characters as moral agents, and develop an embodied responsiveness to a work’s moral solicitations.
Estimating Daily Snow Density Through a Spatiotemporal Random Forest Model
Authors: Sun Liyang , Zhang Xueliang , Wang Huadong , Xiao Pengfeng , Wang Yunhan
Published: July 2024

Snow density is of paramount importance in water resource management, snow avalanche warning, and climate change research. However, the lack of competent methods for long‐term and vast‐scale snow density mapping persists due to the intricate spatiotemporal dependencies inherent in snow density, resulting in scarce and inaccurate snow density products. To address this challenge, a spatiotemporal random forest (STRF) model is constructed by leveraging in‐situ measurements, multisource remote sensing, and reanalysis data. It tackles the spatiotemporal dependencies in snow density arising from its inherent heterogeneity and the relations involving snow density and nonlinearly connected meteorological, terrain, vegetation, and snow‐related factors. The effectiveness of the model is substantiated through rigorous validation methods, including random, temporal, and spatial block cross‐validations as well as independent validation, apparently surpassing ERA5‐Land snow density. The estimated snow density is also demonstrated to be able to improve existing snow water equivalent data set using fixed snow density. Utilizing the proposed model, a data set of daily 25‐km snow density from 1980 to 2018 is constructed for stable snow cover areas in China, which holds significant potential for research and applications in the realm of snow hydrology.
The Frictional‐Viscous Transition in Experimentally Deformed Granitoid Fault Gouge
Authors: Zhan W. , Niemeijer A. R. , Berger A. , Nevskaya N. , Spiers C. J. , Herwegh M.
Published: July 2024

In crustal faults dominated by granitoid gouges, the frictional‐viscous transition marks a significant change in strength constraining the lower depth limit of the seismogenic zone. Dissolution‐precipitation creep (DPC) may play an important role in initiating this transition, especially within polymineralic materials. Yet, it remains unclear to what extent DPC contributes to the weakening of granitoid gouge materials at the transition. Here we conducted sliding experiments on wet granitoid gouges to large displacement (15 mm), at an effective normal stress and pore fluid pressure of 100 MPa, at temperatures of 20–650°C, and at sliding velocities of 0.1–100 μm/s, which are relevant for earthquake nucleation. Gouge shear strengths were generally ∼75 MPa even at temperatures up to 650°C and at velocities >1 μm/s. At velocities ≤1 μm/s, strengths decreased at temperatures ≥450°C, reaching a minimum of 37 MPa at the highest temperature and lowest velocity condition. Microstructural observations showed that, as the gouges weakened, the strain localized into thin, dense, and ultrafine‐grained (≤1 μm) principal slip zones, where nanopores were located along grain contacts and contained minute biotite‐quartz‐feldspar precipitates. The stress sensitivity exponent n decreased from a large number at 20°C to ∼2.2 at 650°C at the lowest velocities. These findings suggest that high temperature, slow velocity and small grain sizes promote DPC‐accommodated granular flow over cataclastic frictional granular flow, leading to the observed weakening and strain localization. Field observations together with extrapolation suggest that DPC‐induced weakening occurs at depths of 7–20 km depending on geothermal gradient.
Localization of Deformation on Faults Driven by Fluids During the L’Aquila 2009 Earthquake
Authors: Fonzetti Rossella , Valoroso Luisa , De Gori Pasquale , Chiarabba Claudio
Published: July 2024

Coseismic rupture and aftershock development on a fault plane are complex and heterogeneous processes. The Mw 6.1 L’Aquila 2009 normal faulting earthquake is a perfect case to explore how fault geometry and rheology influence the rupture process and aftershocks distribution. In this study, we use for the first time a dense set of earthquake data to obtain enhanced images of the causative normal fault structure to the kilometer scale. The hypocenter of the emergent onset of the mainshock took place within a low Vp/Vs volume, while the large coseismic slip occurred a few kilometers above, as the rupture propagated through a high Vp and high Vp/Vs fluid‐filled rock volume. The increase of Vp/Vs in the fault hanging wall during the sequence suggests a strong dehydration in the earthquake asperity, with an upward fluid pressure migration along the fault toward the host rock volume. We propose that the localization of deformation on the fault plane is favored by high fluid pressure, while the spreading of aftershocks on a wide volume around the fault is driven by the depletion of fluids from the slipped portion of the fault plane and migration to small segments within the fault host rocks.
CHIP-mediated ubiquitin degradation of BCAT1 regulates glioma cell proliferation and temozolomide sensitivity
Authors: Lu Zhuo , Wang Xiao-Yu , He Kai-Yi , Han Xin-Hao , Wang Xing , Zhang Zhen , Qu Xin-Hui , Chen Zhi-Ping , Han Xiao-Jian , Wang Tao
Published: July 2024

Glioma, a malignant and infiltrative neoplasm of the central nervous system, poses a significant threat due to its high mortality rates. Branched-chain amino acid transaminase 1 (BCAT1), a key enzyme in branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism, exhibits elevated expression in gliomas and correlates strongly with poor prognosis. Nonetheless, the regulatory mechanisms underlying this increased BCAT1 expression remains incompletely understood. In this study, we reveal that ubiquitination at Lys360 facilitates BCAT1 degradation, with low ubiquitination levels contributing to high BCAT1 expression in glioma cells. The Carboxyl terminus of Hsc70-interacting protein (CHIP), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, interacts with BCAT1 via its coiled-coil (CC) domain, promoting its K48-linkage ubiquitin degradation through proteasomal pathway. Moreover, CHIP-mediated BCAT1 degradation induces metabolic reprogramming, and impedes glioma cell proliferation and tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, a positive correlation is observed between low CHIP expression, elevated BCAT1 levels, and unfavorable prognosis among glioma patients. Additionally, we show that the CHIP/BCAT1 axis enhances glioma sensitivity to temozolomide by reducing glutathione (GSH) synthesis and increasing oxidative stress. These findings underscore the critical role of CHIP/BCAT1 axis in glioma cell proliferation and temozolomide sensitivity, highlighting its potential as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target in glioma treatment.
Modifiable lifestyle factors and the risk of post-COVID-19 multisystem sequelae, hospitalization, and death
Authors: Wang Yunhe , Su Binbin , Alcalde-Herraiz Marta , Barclay Nicola L. , Tian Yaohua , Li Chunxiao , Wareham Nicholas J. , Paredes Roger , Xie Junqing , Prieto-Alhambra Daniel
Published: July 2024

Effective prevention strategies for post-COVID complications are crucial for patients, clinicians, and policy makers to mitigate their cumulative burden. This study evaluated the association of modifiable lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol intake, BMI, physical activity, sedentary time, sleep duration, and dietary habits) with COVID-19 multisystem sequelae, death, and hospitalization in the UK Biobank cohort (n = 68,896). A favorable lifestyle (6-10 healthy factors; 46.4%) was associated with a 36% lower risk of multisystem sequelae (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.58-0.69; ARR at 210 days, 7.08%; 95% CI, 5.98-8.09) compared to an unfavorable lifestyle (0-4 factors; 12.3%). Risk reductions spanned all 10 organ systems, including cardiovascular, coagulation, metabolic, gastrointestinal, kidney, mental health, musculoskeletal, respiratory disorders, and fatigue. This beneficial effect was largely attributable to direct lifestyle impacts independent of corresponding pre-infection comorbidities (71% for any sequelae). A favorable lifestyle was also related to the risk of post-COVID death (HR 0.59, 0.52-0.66) and hospitalization (HR 0.78, 0.73-0.84). These associations persisted across acute and post-acute infection phases, irrespective of hospitalization status, vaccination, or SARS-CoV-2 variant. These findings underscore the clinical and public health importance of adhering to a healthy lifestyle in mitigating long-term COVID-19 adverse impacts and enhancing future pandemic preparedness.
Altered ribosomal profile in acquired resistance and reversal associates with pathological response to chemotherapy in inflammatory breast cancer
Authors: Devi Gayathri R. , Pai Pritha , Lee Seayoung , Foster Matthew W. , Sannareddy Dorababu S. , Bertucci Francois , Ueno Naoto , Van Laere Steven
Published: July 2024

Therapeutic resistance presents a significant hurdle in combating inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), adding to the complexity of its management. To investigate these mechanisms, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using transcriptomic and proteomic profiling in a preclinical model alone with correlates of treatment response in IBC patients. This included SUM149 cell lines derived from treatment-naïve patients, along with acquired drug resistance (rSUM149) and others in a state of resistance reversal (rrSUM149), aiming to uncover drug resistance networks. We identified specific ribosomal proteins associated with acquiring resistance. These correlated with elevated levels of molecular markers such as pERK, CDK1, XIAP, and SOD2. While resistance reversal in rrSUM149 cells largely normalized the expression profile, VIPER analysis revealed persistent alterations in ribosomal process-related proteins (AGO2, Exportin 1, RPL5), suggesting their continued involvement in drug resistance. Moreover, genes linked to ribosomal processes were significantly enriched (P < 0.001) among overexpressed genes in IBC patients (n = 87) who exhibited a pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Given the common hyperactivation of MAPK in IBC tumors, including rSUM149, we evaluated Merestinib, a multikinase inhibitor in clinical trials. It effectively targeted pERK and peIF4E pathways, suppressed downstream targets, induced cell death in drug-resistant rSUM149 cells, and showed synergistic effects with another tyrosine kinase inhibitor (Lapatinib) in parental cells. This underscores its significant impact on protein synthesis signaling, crucial for combating translational dependence in cancer cells. In summary, our study elucidates adaptive changes in IBC cells in response to therapy and treatment pauses, guiding precision medicine approaches for this challenging cancer type.
A robust synthetic data generation framework for machine learning in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM)
Authors: Rangel DaCosta Luis , Sytwu Katherine , Groschner C. K. , Scott M. C.
Published: July 2024

Machine learning techniques are attractive options for developing highly-accurate analysis tools for nanomaterials characterization, including high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). However, successfully implementing such machine learning tools can be difficult due to the challenges in procuring sufficiently large, high-quality training datasets from experiments. In this work, we introduce Construction Zone, a Python package for rapid generation of complex nanoscale atomic structures which enables fast, systematic sampling of realistic nanomaterial structures and can be used as a random structure generator for large, diverse synthetic datasets. Using Construction Zone, we develop an end-to-end machine learning workflow for training neural network models to analyze experimental atomic resolution HRTEM images on the task of nanoparticle image segmentation purely with simulated databases. Further, we study the data curation process to understand how various aspects of the curated simulated data—including simulation fidelity, the distribution of atomic structures, and the distribution of imaging conditions—affect model performance across three benchmark experimental HRTEM image datasets. Using our workflow, we are able to achieve state-of-the-art segmentation performance on these experimental benchmarks and, further, we discuss robust strategies for consistently achieving high performance with machine learning in experimental settings using purely synthetic data. Construction Zone and its documentation are available at https://github.com/lerandc/construction_zone.
Mechanistic investigation on the influence of coating weights on the corrosion behaviour of hot-dip-galvanised Zn-Mg-Al coatings
Authors: Malla A. D. , Sullivan J. H. , Penney D. J. , Goldsworthy M. , Britton D. , Williams G. , Goodwin F. , Cardoso A. P.
Published: July 2024

Time-lapse Microscopy, scanning vibrating electrode technique and potentiodynamic methods were used to study the influence of increasing coating weight (80–310 gm–2) on microstructure, cut-edge and surface corrosion of Zn-Mg-Al coatings in 0.17 M NaCl. Cut-edge corrosion was similar for all coatings due to the oxygen reduction reaction becoming diffusion-limited. A 64% reduction in surface corrosion was observed for high coating weights through increases in eutectic volume fraction. Spatial and temporal corrosion mechanisms were controlled by microstructural morphological differences as coating weight varied. 80 g.m–2 coatings demonstrated lateral anodic spreading potentially reducing coating penetration rates despite their higher surface corrosion rate.
Spectroscopic confirmation of two luminous galaxies at a redshift of 14
Authors: Carniani Stefano , Hainline Kevin , D’Eugenio Francesco , Eisenstein Daniel J. , Jakobsen Peter , Witstok Joris , Johnson Benjamin D. , Chevallard Jacopo , Maiolino Roberto , Helton Jakob M. , Willott Chris , Robertson Brant , Alberts Stacey , Arribas Santiago , Baker William M. , Bhatawdekar Rachana , Boyett Kristan , Bunker Andrew J. , Cameron Alex J. , Cargile Phillip A. , Charlot Stéphane , Curti Mirko , Curtis-Lake Emma , Egami Eiichi , Giardino Giovanna , Isaak Kate , Ji Zhiyuan , Jones Gareth C. , Kumari Nimisha , Maseda Michael V. , Parlanti Eleonora , Pérez-González Pablo G. , Rawle Tim , Rieke George , Rieke Marcia , Del Pino Bruno Rodríguez , Saxena Aayush , Scholtz Jan , Smit Renske , Sun Fengwu , Tacchella Sandro , Übler Hannah , Venturi Giacomo , Williams Christina C. , Willmer Christopher N. A.
Published: July 2024

The first observations of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revolutionized our understanding of the Universe by identifying galaxies at redshiftz ≈ 13 (refs.1–3). In addition, the discovery of many luminous galaxies at Cosmic Dawn (z > 10) has suggested that galaxies developed rapidly, in apparent tension with many standard models4–8. However, most of these galaxies lack spectroscopic confirmation, so their distances and properties are uncertain. Here we present JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey–Near-Infrared Spectrograph spectroscopic confirmation of two luminous galaxies at$$z={14.32}_{-0.20}^{+0.08}$$z=14.32−0.20+0.08andz = 13.90 ± 0.17. The spectra reveal ultraviolet continua with prominent Lyman-α breaks but no detected emission lines. This discovery proves that luminous galaxies were already in place 300 million years after the Big Bang and are more common than what was expected before JWST. The most distant of the two galaxies is unexpectedly luminous and is spatially resolved with a radius of 260 parsecs. Considering also the very steep ultraviolet slope of the second galaxy, we conclude that both are dominated by stellar continuum emission, showing that the excess of luminous galaxies in the early Universe cannot be entirely explained by accretion onto black holes. Galaxy formation models will need to address the existence of such large and luminous galaxies so early in cosmic history.
Genetic factors associated with reasons for clinical trial stoppage
Authors: Razuvayevskaya Olesya , Lopez Irene , Dunham Ian , Ochoa David
Published: July 2024

Many drug discovery projects are started but few progress fully through clinical trials to approval. Previous work has shown that human genetics support for the therapeutic hypothesis increases the chance of trial progression. Here, we applied natural language processing to classify the free-text reasons for 28,561 clinical trials that stopped before their endpoints were met. We then evaluated these classes in light of the underlying evidence for the therapeutic hypothesis and target properties. We found that trials are more likely to stop because of a lack of efficacy in the absence of strong genetic evidence from human populations or genetically modified animal models. Furthermore, certain trials are more likely to stop for safety reasons if the drug target gene is highly constrained in human populations and if the gene is broadly expressed across tissues. These results support the growing use of human genetics to evaluate targets for drug discovery programs.
Population-level coding of avoidance learning in medial prefrontal cortex
Authors: Ehret Benjamin , Boehringer Roman , Amadei Elizabeth A. , Cervera Maria R. , Henning Christian , Galgali Aniruddh R. , Mante Valerio , Grewe Benjamin F.
Published: July 2024

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been proposed to link sensory inputs and behavioral outputs to mediate the execution of learned behaviors. However, how such a link is implemented has remained unclear. To measure prefrontal neural correlates of sensory stimuli and learned behaviors, we performed population calcium imaging during a new tone-signaled active avoidance paradigm in mice. We developed an analysis approach based on dimensionality reduction and decoding that allowed us to identify interpretable task-related population activity patterns. While a large fraction of tone-evoked activity was not informative about behavior execution, we identified an activity pattern that was predictive of tone-induced avoidance actions and did not occur for spontaneous actions with similar motion kinematics. Moreover, this avoidance-specific activity differed between distinct avoidance actions learned in two consecutive tasks. Overall, our results are consistent with a model in which mPFC contributes to the selection of goal-directed actions by transforming sensory inputs into specific behavioral outputs through distributed population-level computations.
Seasonal variability in the feeding ecology of an oceanic predator
Authors: Lovell Mitchell S. , Polito Michael J. , Schuster Josef A. , Shallow Emily E. , Janosik Alexis M. , Falterman Brett J. , Dance Michael A.
Published: July 2024

Complementary approaches (stomach contents, DNA barcoding, and stable isotopes) were used to examine seasonal shifts in the feeding ecology of an oceanic predator, yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares, n = 577), in the northern Gulf of Mexico. DNA barcoding greatly enhanced dietary resolution and seasonally distinct prey assemblages were observed for both sub-adults and adults. In general, diet was characterized by ommastrephid squids and exocoetids in spring, juvenile fishes (i.e., carangids and scombrids) in summer, migratory coastal fishes during fall, and an increased consumption of planktonic prey (e.g., amphipods) in winter. Seasonal variability in bulk stable isotope values (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) was also observed, with low δ15N values and high δ34S values during late summer/early fall and high δ15N values (low δ34S) during late winter/early spring. Bayesian stable isotope mixing models corroborated seasonal diet shifts, highlighting the importance of oceanic nekton in spring/summer, coastal nekton during fall, and oceanic plankton during winter. Seasonal shifts in diet appeared to be influenced by prey reproductive cycles, habitat associations, and environmental conditions. Findings highlight the complex food web dynamics supporting an opportunistic oceanic predator and the importance of seasonal cycles in prey availability to predator resource utilization in open-ocean ecosystems.
Lower diastolic tension may be indicative of higher proarrhythmic propensity in failing human cardiomyocytes
Authors: Zhou Xin , Levesque Paul , Chaudhary Khuram , Davis Myrtle , Rodriguez Blanca
Published: July 2024

Chronic heart failure is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization. Current risk stratification is based on ejection fraction, whereas many arrhythmic events occur in patients with relatively preserved ejection fraction. We aim to investigate the mechanistic link between proarrhythmic abnormalities, reduced contractility and diastolic dysfunction in heart failure, using electromechanical modelling and simulations of human failing cardiomyocytes. We constructed, calibrated and validated populations of human electromechanical models of failing cardiomyocytes, that were able to reproduce the prolonged action potential, reduced contractility and diastolic dysfunction as observed in human data, as well as increased propensity to proarrhythmic incidents such as early afterdepolarization and beat-to-beat alternans. Our simulation data reveal that proarrhythmic incidents tend to occur in failing myocytes with lower diastolic tension, rather than with lower contractility, due to the relative preserved SERCA and sodium calcium exchanger current. These results support the inclusion of end-diastolic volume to be potentially beneficial in the risk stratifications of heart failure patients.
Efficacy of various amendments for immobilization of potentially toxic elements in wastewater contaminated soils
Authors: Manzoor Muhammad Zeeshan , Sarwar Ghulam , Alamery Salman , Ibrahim Muhammad , Sami Amtul , Ahmed Bilal , Ahsan Fariha , Gul Salma , Attia Kotb A. , Fiaz Sajid , Ullah Ikram
Published: July 2024

Farmers are using municipal wastewater either treated or untreated for irrigation because of limited fresh water resources. Wastewater extensively used for irrigation purposes is enriched with many nutrients. The reuse of wastewater is imposing a negative impact on human health and the ecosystem. It is a need of the day to identify and assess issues of the reuse of wastewater. In the current experiment, impact of organic/inorganic amendments was studied to mitigate the toxic effects of pollutants present in wastewater. Soil was brought from the site having consistent use of wastewater and different treatments were applied as per plan. The experiment has 28 treatments with 04 replications. Nine different amendments were used at 3 varying levels. Incubation time of 30 days was given after the addition of all treatments. The results of the study showed the application of FYM @ 5.0% w/w soil reduced soil pH (7.44), EC (2.16 dS m−1), SAR (8.14), lead (8.48 mg kg−1), cadmium (1.14 mg kg−1), nickel (10.55 mg kg−1) and arsenic (2.03 mg kg−1) when compared with control and other treatments. Usage of compost and horse waste followed FYM. On the basis of this study, it is recommended that wastewater can be used for irrigation purpose after treating with FYM preferably and compost in general.
Harnessing the frontal aslant tract’s structure to assess its involvement in cognitive functions: new insights from 7-T diffusion imaging
Authors: Serrano-Sponton Lucas , Lange Felipa , Dauth Alice , Krenzlin Harald , Perez Ana , Januschek Elke , Schumann Sven , Jussen Daniel , Czabanka Marcus , Ringel Florian , Keric Naureen , Gonzalez-Escamilla Gabriel
Published: July 2024

The first therapeutical goal followed by neurooncological surgeons dealing with prefrontal gliomas is attempting supramarginal tumor resection preserving relevant neurological function. Therefore, advanced knowledge of the frontal aslant tract (FAT) functional neuroanatomy in high-order cognitive domains beyond language and speech processing would help refine neurosurgeries, predicting possible relevant cognitive adverse events and maximizing the surgical efficacy. To this aim we performed the recently developed correlational tractography analyses to evaluate the possible relationship between FAT’s microstructural properties and cognitive functions in 27 healthy subjects having ultra-high-field (7-Tesla) diffusion MRI. We independently assessed FAT segments innervating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (dlPFC-FAT) and the supplementary motor area (SMA-FAT). FAT microstructural robustness, measured by the tract’s quantitative anisotropy (QA), was associated with a better performance in episodic memory, visuospatial orientation, cognitive processing speed and fluid intelligence but not sustained selective attention tests. Overall, the percentual tract volume showing an association between QA-index and improved cognitive scores (pQACV) was higher in the SMA-FAT compared to the dlPFC-FAT segment. This effect was right-lateralized for verbal episodic memory and fluid intelligence and bilateralized for visuospatial orientation and cognitive processing speed. Our results provide novel evidence for a functional specialization of the FAT beyond the known in language and speech processing, particularly its involvement in several higher-order cognitive domains. In light of these findings, further research should be encouraged to focus on neurocognitive deficits and their impact on patient outcomes after FAT damage, especially in the context of glioma surgery.
A machine learning approach to predict in vivo skin growth
Authors: Nagle Matt , Conroy Broderick Hannah , Buganza Tepole Adrian , Fop Michael , Ní Annaidh Aisling
Published: July 2024

Since their invention, tissue expanders, which are designed to trigger additional skin growth, have revolutionised many reconstructive surgeries. Currently, however, the sole quantitative method to assess skin growth requires skin excision. Thus, in the context of patient outcomes, a machine learning method which uses non-invasive measurements to predict in vivo skin growth and other skin properties, holds significant value. In this study, the finite element method was used to simulate a typical skin expansion protocol and to perform various simulated wave propagation experiments during the first few days of expansion on 1,000 individual virtual subjects. An artificial neural network trained on this dataset was shown to be capable of predicting the future skin growth at 7 days (avg. $$R^2 = 0.9353$$

R
2

=
0.9353

) as well as the subject-specific shear modulus ($$R^2 = 0.9801$$

R
2

=
0.9801

), growth rate ($$R^2 = 0.8649$$

R
2

=
0.8649

), and natural pre-stretch ($$R^2 = 0.9783$$

R
2

=
0.9783

) with a very high degree of accuracy. The method presented here has implications for the real-time prediction of patient-specific skin expansion outcomes and could facilitate the development of patient-specific protocols.
Origami single-end capacitive sensing for continuous shape estimation of morphing structures
Authors: Ray Lala , Geißler Daniel , Zhou Bo , Lukowicz Paul , Greinke Berit
Published: July 2024

In this work, we propose a novel single-end morphing capacitive sensing method for shape tracking, FxC, by combining Folding origami structures and Capacitive sensing to detect the morphing structural motions using state-of-the-art sensing circuits and deep learning. It was observed through embedding areas of origami structures with conductive materials as single-end capacitive sensing patches, that the sensor signals change coherently with the motion of the structure. Different from other origami capacitors where the origami structures are used in adjusting the thickness of the dielectric layer of double-plate capacitors, FxC uses only a single conductive plate per channel, and the origami structure directly changes the geometry of the conductive plate. We examined the operation principle of morphing single-end capacitors through 3D geometry simulation combined with physics theoretical deduction, which deduced similar behavior as observed in experimentation. Then a software pipeline was developed to use the sensor signals to reconstruct the dynamic structural geometry through data-driven deep neural network regression of geometric primitives extracted from vision tracking. We created multiple folding patterns to validate our approach, based on folding patterns including Accordion, Chevron, Sunray and V-Fold patterns with different layouts of capacitive sensors using paper-based and textile-based materials. Experimentation results show that the geometry primitives predicted from the capacitive signals have a strong correlation with the visual ground truth with R-squared value of up to 95% and tracking error of 6.5 mm for patches. The simulation and machine learning constitute two-way information exchange between the sensing signals and structural geometry. By embedding part of the origami surface with morphing single-end capacitive sensors, FxC presents a unique solution that leverages both the mechanical properties of origami and sensing properties of capacitive sensing.
Epigenetic aging studies of pair bonding in prairie voles
Authors: Sailer Lindsay L. , Haghani Amin , Zoller Joseph A. , Li Caesar Z. , Ophir Alexander G. , Horvath Steve
Published: July 2024

The quality of romantic relationships can predict health consequences related to aging. DNA methylation-based biomarkers of aging accurately estimate chronological age. We developed several highly accurate epigenetic aging clocks, based on highly conserved mammalian CpGs, for the socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). In addition, our dual-species human-vole clock accurately measured relative age and illustrates high species conservation of epigenetic aging effects. Next, we assessed how pair bonding impacts epigenetic aging. We did not find evidence that pair-bonded voles exhibit accelerated or decelerated epigenetic aging effects in blood, ear, liver, or brain tissue. Our epigenome wide association study identified CpGs in five genes strongly associated with pair bonding: Foxp4, Phf2, Mms22l, Foxb1, and Eif1ad. Overall, we present accurate DNA methylation-based estimators of age for a species of great interest to researchers studying monogamy in animals. We did not find any evidence that sex-naive animals age differently from pair-bonded animals.
Early-stage recovery of lithium from spent batteries via CO2-assisted leaching optimized by response surface methodology
Authors: Milicevic Neumann Ksenija , Ans Muhammad , Friedrich Bernd
Published: July 2024

Recycling lithium (Li) from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the depletion of natural resources and potential toxicity is becoming a progressively favourable measure to realize green sustainability. Presently, the prevalent recycling technique relying on pyrometallurgy lacks the capability to extract lithium. Meanwhile, conventional hydrometallurgical processes frequently employ robust acidic solutions like sulfuric acid and precipitation agents such as sodium carbonate. Unfortunately, this approach tends to result in the extraction of lithium at the end of a lengthy process chain, leading to associated losses and creating challenges in managing complex waste. This study addresses a cost-effective and environmentally friendly early-stage lithium recovery from the thermally conditioned black mass. In this sense, a thermally conditioned black mass is subjected to the carbonization process in a water solution to transform the water-insoluble Li phase into soluble lithium bicarbonate (LiHCO3) and carbonate (Li2CO3) facilitating its selective separation from other elements. Response surface methodology (RSM)—a statistical tool integrated with central composite design (CCD) is employed to optimize the parameters for Li recovery. Temperature, solid–liquid (S/L) ratio, leaching time and CO2 flow rate are considered as variable factors in modelling the optimum recycling process. A quadratic regression model is developed for Li recovery and based on ANOVA analysis, (S/L) ratio, temperature and time are identified as statistically significant factors. Experimental results demonstrate a maximum leaching efficiency of lithium with optimized parameter set, achieving a recovery rate of 97.18% with a fit response of 93.54%.
An attention-based deep learning for acute lymphoblastic leukemia classification
Authors: Jawahar Malathy , Anbarasi L. Jani , Narayanan Sathiya , Gandomi Amir H.
Published: July 2024

The bone marrow overproduces immature cells in the malignancy known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). In the United States, about 6500 occurrences of ALL are diagnosed each year in both children and adults, comprising nearly 25% of pediatric cancer cases. Recently, many computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) systems have been proposed to aid hematologists in reducing workload, providing correct results, and managing enormous volumes of data. Traditional CAD systems rely on hematologists’ expertise, specialized features, and subject knowledge. Utilizing early detection of ALL can aid radiologists and doctors in making medical decisions. In this study, Deep Dilated Residual Convolutional Neural Network (DDRNet) is presented for the classification of blood cell images, focusing on eosinophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophils. To tackle challenges like vanishing gradients and enhance feature extraction, the model incorporates Deep Residual Dilated Blocks (DRDB) for faster convergence. Conventional residual blocks are strategically placed between layers to preserve original information and extract general feature maps. Global and Local Feature Enhancement Blocks (GLFEB) balance weak contributions from shallow layers for improved feature normalization. The global feature from the initial convolution layer, when combined with GLFEB-processed features, reinforces classification representations. The Tanh function introduces non-linearity. A Channel and Spatial Attention Block (CSAB) is integrated into the neural network to emphasize or minimize specific feature channels, while fully connected layers transform the data. The use of a sigmoid activation function concentrates on relevant features for multiclass lymphoblastic leukemia classification The model was analyzed with Kaggle dataset (16,249 images) categorized into four classes, with a training and testing ratio of 80:20. Experimental results showed that DRDB, GLFEB and CSAB blocks’ feature discrimination ability boosted the DDRNet model F1 score to 0.96 with minimal computational complexity and optimum classification accuracy of 99.86% and 91.98% for training and testing data. The DDRNet model stands out from existing methods due to its high testing accuracy of 91.98%, F1 score of 0.96, minimal computational complexity, and enhanced feature discrimination ability. The strategic combination of these blocks (DRDB, GLFEB, and CSAB) are designed to address specific challenges in the classification process, leading to improved discrimination of features crucial for accurate multi-class blood cell image identification. Their effective integration within the model contributes to the superior performance of DDRNet.
On-site sensing for aflatoxicosis poisoning via ultraviolet excitable aptasensor based on fluorinated ethylene propylene strip: a promising forensic tool
Authors: Mazlan Nur-Fadhilah , Sage Edison Eukun , Mohamad Nur Syamimi , Mackeen Mukram Mohamed , Tan Ling Ling
Published: July 2024

The environmental contamination by extremophile Aspergillus species, i.e., Aflatoxin B1, is hardly controllable in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, which lack handling resources and controlled storage facilities. Acute aflatoxicosis poisoning from aflatoxin-prone dietary staples could cause acute hepatic necrosis, acute liver failure, and death. Here, as the cheaper, more straightforward, and facile on-site diagnostic kit is needed, we report an ultraviolet-excitable optical aptasensor based on a fluorinated ethylene propylene film strip. Molecular dynamics on the aptamer.AFB1 complex revealed that the AFB1 to the aptamer increases the overall structural stability, suggesting that the aptamer design is suitable for the intended application. Under various influencing factors, the proposed label-free strategy offers a fast 20-min on-site fabrication simplicity and 19-day shelf-life. The one-pot incubation provides an alternative to catalytic detection and exhibited 4 times reusability. The recovery of crude brown sugar, processed peanuts, and long-grain rice were 102.74 ± 0.41 (n = 3), 86.90 ± 3.38 (n = 3), and 98.50 ± 0.42 (n = 3), comparable to High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Photodiode Array Detector results. This study is novel owing to the peculiar UV-active spectrum fingerprint and the convenient use of hydrophobic film strips that could promote breakthrough innovations and new frontiers for on-site/forensic detection of environmental pollutants.
Diffusion of nanoparticles in heterogeneous hydrogels as vitreous humour in vitro substitutes
Authors: Lorenzo Lopez Moira , Kearns Victoria R. , Curran Judith M. , Patterson Eann A.
Published: July 2024

Nanomedicine has the potential to increase the biostability of drugs to treat retinal diseases, improving their performance and decreasing the required number of intravitreal injections. However, accurate pharmacokinetic studies of these nanoparticle-drug conjugates, nanoparticle motion across the vitreous humour and interaction with the retinal cell layers still need to be investigated. Existing nanoparticle tracking techniques require fluorescent labels, which can impact cytotoxicity, nanoparticles’ motion, protein interactions, and cell internalization. In this study, a real-time label-free tracking technology, for single nanoparticles in an optical microscope based on the optical phenomena of caustics, was used to characterise the diffusion of nanoparticles in agar-hyaluronic acid hydrogels, previously validated as vitreous humour substitutes for in vitro models. The results demonstrated that the diffusion of nanoparticles through these hydrogels was heterogeneous, and that nanoparticle size had an important role in nanoparticle distribution across and within in vitro vitreous substitutes. These findings suggest that nanoparticle diameter is a critical parameter for designing novel therapeutics for retinal diseases. Moreover, nanoparticle charge did not affect nanoparticle diffusion or distribution in these synthetic hydrogels. The use of caustics in optical microscopy has been demonstrated to be a reproducible, inexpensive technique for screening novel therapeutics in eye in vitro models.
Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup CA125 response has a high negative predictive value for CHK1 inhibitor RECIST response in recurrent ovarian cancer
Authors: Ibanez Kristen R. , Donohue Duncan , Malys Tyler , Lee Jung-Min
Published: July 2024

We investigated the association of CA125 response with prognosis and RECIST response/progressive disease (PD) criteria in recurrent high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) patients treated with a cell cycle checkpoint kinase 1 inhibitor (CHK1i), prexasertib. 81 patients had measurable disease per RECISTv1.1, of which 72 and 70 were measurable by Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup (GCIG) CA125 response and PD criteria, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that GCIG CA125 response (n = 32) is associated with improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to no GCIG CA125 response (n = 40) (median PFS 8.0 vs. 3.5 months [HR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.18–0.51,p < 0.0001]; median OS 19.8 vs. 10.0 months [HR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.23–0.64,p < 0.001]) independent of BRCA mutation status, platinum-sensitivity, previous PARP inhibitor therapy, ECOG performance status, and FIGO stage. Notably, GCIG CA125 response had a high negative predictive value (NPV: 93%, 95% CI: 80–98), but poor positive predictive value (PPV: 53%, 95% CI: 35–71) in predicting RECIST response. CA125 PD criteria also showed poor concordance with RECIST PD (PPV 56%, 95% CI: 40–71; NPV 33%, 95% CI: 17–54). Therefore, serum CA125 may be useful as a highly accessible prognostic and predictive biomarker to CHK1i therapy in recurrent HGSOC.
A network-based trans-omics approach for predicting synergistic drug combinations
Authors: Iida Midori , Kuniki Yurika , Yagi Kenta , Goda Mitsuhiro , Namba Satoko , Takeshita Jun-ichi , Sawada Ryusuke , Iwata Michio , Zamami Yoshito , Ishizawa Keisuke , Yamanishi Yoshihiro
Published: July 2024

Background

Combination therapy can offer greater efficacy on medical treatments. However, the discovery of synergistic drug combinations is challenging. We propose a novel computational method, SyndrumNET, to predict synergistic drug combinations by network propagation with trans-omics analyses.

Methods

The prediction is based on the topological relationship, network-based proximity, and transcriptional correlation between diseases and drugs. SyndrumNET was applied to analyzing six diseases including asthma, diabetes, hypertension, colorectal cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Results

Here we show that SyndrumNET outperforms the previous methods in terms of high accuracy. We perform in vitro cell survival assays to validate our prediction for CML. Of the top 17 predicted drug pairs, 14 drug pairs successfully exhibits synergistic anticancer effects. Our mode-of-action analysis also reveals that the drug synergy of the top predicted combination of capsaicin and mitoxantrone is due to the complementary regulation of 12 pathways, including the Rap1 signaling pathway.

Conclusions

The proposed method is expected to be useful for discovering synergistic drug combinations for various complex diseases.
Critically examining research funding patterns for climate change and human health
Authors: Sovacool Benjamin K. , Clifford Heather , Pearl-Martinez Rebecca , Gause Emma , Braun Danielle , Kamareddine Leila , Nori-Sarma Amruta , Wellenius Gregory A.
Published: July 2024

Many actors have recently launched significant new initiatives in the domain of climate change and health. Given this important nexus, we undertook a review of funding patterns from 1985 – 2022, using the NIH RePORTER database for the United States and the Dimensions database globally. This includes an assessment of more than 9 million publicly funded projects across both databases with a collective budget of more than $3 trillion. We estimate that between 1985 and 2022 only 0.26% of research funding awarded by the NIH related to climate change, and only 0.70% of funded projects in the Dimensions database related to climate change and human health. Moreover, we thematically map funding patterns according to four thematic areas: changes in climate, the effects of climate change, health impacts, and interventions and strategies. More funding is needed to better anticipate and prepare for the projected health impacts of climate change.