bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Single-atom–doped piezocatalyst induces copper-free cuproptosis in tumor therapy
Authors: Zhang Meixiang , Song Xinran , Qin Yu , Peng Yuanyuan , Zhang Shanshan , Feng Wei , Huang Hui , Chen Yu , Zhou Jianqiao
Published: February 2025

Cuproptosis, a distinct cell death pathway, has been integrated into nanomedicine for disease theranostics. However, current nanosystems inducing cuproptosis rely on exogenous toxic copper ions, limiting the scope of biomaterials. Developing nanoplatforms that induce cuproptosis without exogenous copper holds substantial promise. Here, we engineered a two-dimensional iron (Fe) single-atom–doped molybdenum disulfide (MoS
2
) piezocatalyst (Fe-MoS
2
) for tumor therapy. Incorporating single Fe atoms enhances MoS
2
piezoelectric polarization via charge redistribution and modulates Fe and Mo oxidation states, enabling multifaceted enzymatic activities, including peroxidase-, glutathione oxidase–, oxidase-, and catalase-like activities. Upon ultrasound stimulation, the Fe-MoS
2
nanocatalyst generates reactive oxygen species and depletes glutathione via synergistic piezocatalytic and enzyocatalytic effects, disrupting copper ion homeostasis and inducing cuproptosis, concurrently triggering ferroptosis and ferritinophagy, which collectively enhances tumor suppression. This study represents the first paradigm to introduce a copper-free piezocatalyst for initiating cuproptosis, substantially advancing the applications of cuproptosis in tumor therapy.
Fluoxetine promotes IL-10–dependent metabolic defenses to protect from sepsis-induced lethality
Authors: Gallant Robert M. , Sanchez Karina K. , Joulia Emeline , Snyder Jessica M. , Metallo Christian M. , Ayres Janelle S.
Published: February 2025

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are some of the most prescribed drugs in the world. While they are used for their ability to increase serotonergic signaling in the brain, SSRIs are also known to have a broad range of effects beyond the brain, including immune and metabolic effects. Recent studies have demonstrated that SSRIs are protective in animal models and humans against several infections, including sepsis and COVID-19; however, the mechanisms underlying this protection are largely unknown. Here, we mechanistically link two previously described effects of the SSRI fluoxetine in mediating protection against sepsis. We show that fluoxetine-mediated protection is independent of peripheral serotonin and instead increases levels of circulating interleukin-10 (IL-10). IL-10 is necessary for protection from sepsis-induced hypertriglyceridemia, preventing cardiac effects including impairment of glucose oxidation, ectopic lipid accumulation, ventricular stretch and possibly cardiac failure. Our work reveals a beneficial “off-target” effect of fluoxetine, and reveals a protective immunometabolic defense mechanism with therapeutic potential.
Decoupling of precipitation and temperature in North China across the Pliocene−Pleistocene transition
Authors: Zhang FirZest , Wang Zhixiang , Kemp David B. , Ogg James G.
Published: February 2025

The intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon and associated rainfall changes in East Asia during the transition to cooler average global temperatures across the Pliocene−Pleistocene interval are widely debated. Here, we reconstruct monsoon evolution for the period of 3.85−2.20 million years ago using geochemistry, bulk sediment grain size, and organic matter content (OMC) from a lacustrine succession in the Sanmenxia Basin of North China. Chemical index of alteration (CIA) and OMC, both of which serve as indirect proxies for temperature, suggest that this region experienced two cooling events at ca. 2.9 Ma and ca. 2.7 Ma. Indirect precipitation proxies based on titanium (Ti), vanadium/chromium (V/Cr), vanadium/(vanadium + nickel) [V/(V + Ni)], V enrichment factor (VEF), and grain size all suggest an increase in rainfall at ca. 2.8 Ma. Therefore, taken together, our results reveal a decoupling of precipitation from temperature trends in North China during the Pliocene−Pleistocene transition. This finding provides novel insights into the opposing responses of continental precipitation and temperature during the global cooling of the late Pliocene period.
Bayesian solution to the inverse problem and its relation to Backus–Gilbert methods
Authors: Del Debbio Luigi , Lupo Alessandro , Panero Marco , Tantalo Nazario
Published: February 2025

The problem of obtaining spectral densities from lattice data has been receiving great attention due to its importance in our understanding of scattering processes in Quantum Field Theory, with applications both in the Standard Model and beyond. The problem is notoriously difficult as it amounts to performing an inverse Laplace transform, starting from a finite set of noisy data. Several strategies are now available to tackle this inverse problem. In this work, we discuss how Backus–Gilbert methods, in particular the variation introduced by some of the authors, relate to the solution based on Gaussian Processes. Both methods allow computing spectral densities smearing with a kernel whose features depend on the detail of the algorithm. We will discuss such kernel, and show how Backus–Gilbert methods can be understood in a Bayesian fashion. As a consequence of this correspondence, we are able to interpret the algorithmic parameters of Backus–Gilbert methods as hyperparameters in the Bayesian language, which can be chosen by maximising a likelihood function. By performing a comparative study on lattice data, we show that, when both frameworks are set to compute the same quantity, the results are generally in agreement. Finally, we adopt a strategy to systematically validate both methodologies against pseudo-data, using covariance matrices measured from lattice simulations. In our setup, we find that the determination of the algorithmic parameters based on a stability analysis provides results that are, on average, more conservative than those based on the maximisation of a likelihood function.
ELF: Educational LLM Framework of Improving and Evaluating AI Generated Content for Classroom Teaching
Authors: Tan Kehui , Yao Jiayang , pang tianqi , Fan Chenyou , Song Yu
Published: February 2025

Recent studies [48, 7] have demonstrated that Large Language Models (LLMs), like ChatGPT [3, 46] and LLAMA [59], can assist with routine teaching tasks and have the potential to revolutionize traditional education. However, other studies [35] highlight that LLMs often contain inaccuracies and demonstrate limited effectiveness in educational contexts. To address this issue, we propose a unified Education LLM Framework (
ELF
) that integrates LLM into classroom teaching practice to enrich high-quality dialogical content and teacher-student interactions. Unlike complex data-driven models that require vast amounts of data, our framework can quickly enhance educational engagement and teaching strategies by utilizing a few carefully selected teaching examples from master teachers with our prompting techniques. We focus on two typical classroom teaching scenarios that require AI-generated content: Dialogue Completion and Expertise Transfer Learning. The former scenario requires generating contextually appropriate dialogues, while the latter scenario requires migrating the instructional styles and organization to new teaching topics. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our data quality-centered approach in generating semantically clear and factually accurate content as organized instructions for teaching materials. We comprehensively evaluate these materials by utilizing Perplexity-based Statistical Evaluation, Human Evaluation with Questionnaires (HEQ), BertScore, Rouge, and BLEU. Experiments on two self-collected datasets show that our method significantly improves various metrics in Dialogue Completion and Expertise Transfer Learning tasks, enhancing the overall utility of AI for educational purposes.
An Empirical Study of Retrieval-Augmented Code Generation: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Yang Zezhou , Chen Sirong , Gao Cuiyun , Li Zhenhao , Hu Xing , Liu Kui , Xia Xin
Published: February 2025

Code generation aims to automatically generate code snippets of specific programming language according to natural language descriptions. The continuous advancements in deep learning, particularly pre-trained models, have empowered the code generation task to achieve remarkable performance. One main challenge of pre-trained models for code generation is the semantic gap between developers’ natural language requirements and source code. To address the issue, prior studies typically adopt a retrieval-augmented framework for the task, where the similar code snippets collected by a retrieval process can be leveraged to help understand the requirements and provide guidance for the generation process. In a retrieval-augmented framework, similar data can be retrieved from the database using a retrieval algorithm, and original input data can be fused with retrieved data by different fusion strategies. However, there is a lack of systematic study on the application of this framework for code generation, including the impact of the final generated results and the specific usage of the framework. In this paper, we choose three popular pre-trained code models, namely CodeGen, UniXcoder, and CodeT5, to assess the impact of the quality and utilization of retrieved code on the retrieval-augmented framework. Our analysis shows that the retrieval-augmented framework is beneficial for improving the performance of the existing pre-trained models. We also provide suggestions on the utilization of the retrieval-augmented code generation framework: BM25 and Sequential Integration Fusion are recommended due to their convenience and superior performance. Sketch Filling Fusion, which extracts a sketch of relevant code, could help the model improve its performance further. Additionally, we conduct experiments to investigate the influence of the retrieval-augmented framework on large language models for code generation, showing the effectiveness of the framework, and we discuss the trade-off between performance improvement and computational costs in each phase within the framework.
SCOPE
: Performance Testing for Serverless Computing
Authors: Wen Jinfeng , Chen Zhenpeng , Zhao Jianshu , Sarro Federica , Ping Haodi , Zhang Ying , Wang Shangguang , Liu Xuanzhe
Published: February 2025

Serverless computing is a popular cloud computing paradigm that has found widespread adoption across various online workloads. It allows software engineers to develop cloud applications as a set of functions (called
serverless functions
). However, accurately measuring the performance (i.e., end-to-end response latency) of serverless functions is challenging due to the highly dynamic nature of the environment in which they run. To tackle this problem, a potential solution is to apply checks of performance testing techniques to determine how many repetitions of a given serverless function across a range of inputs are needed to cater to the performance fluctuation. However, the available literature lacks performance testing approaches designed explicitly for serverless computing. In this paper, we propose
SCOPE
, the first
s
erverless
c
omputing-
o
riented
p
erformance t
e
sting approach.
SCOPE
takes into account the unique performance characteristics of serverless functions, such as their short execution durations and on-demand triggering. As such,
SCOPE
is designed as a fine-grained analysis approach.
SCOPE
incorporates the accuracy check and the consistency check to obtain the accurate and reliable performance of serverless functions. The evaluation shows that
SCOPE
provides testing results with 97.25% accuracy, 33.83 percentage points higher than the best currently available technique. Moreover, the superiority of
SCOPE
over the state-of-the-art holds on all functions that we study.
Exploring Semantic Attributes for Image Caption Synthesis in Low-Resource Assamese Language
Authors: Choudhury Pankaj , Guha Prithwijit , Nandi Sukumar
Published: February 2025

Research on image caption generation has predominantly focused on resource-rich languages like English, leaving resource-poor languages (like Assamese and several others) largely understudied. In this context, this paper leverages both visual and semantic attribute based features for generating captions in Assamese language. Semantic attributes refer to the significant words that represent higher-level knowledge about the image content. This work contributes through the effective use of features derived from semantic words in low resource Assamese language. The second contribution is the proposal of a Visual-Semantic Self-Attention (VSSA) module for the combination of features derived from images and semantic attributes. The VSSA module enables the image captioning model to dynamically attend to relevant regions of the image as well as the important semantic attributes, thereby leading to more contextually relevant and linguistically accurate Assamese captions. Moreover, the VSSA module is incorporated into a Transformer model to leverage the stacked attention for performance improvement. The model is trained by using both cross-entropy loss optimization and reinforcement learning approach. The effectiveness of the proposed model is evaluated through both qualitative and quantitative analyses (using BLEU-n and CIDEr metrics). The proposed model shows significant performance improvement in Assamese caption synthesis compared to previous methods, achieving 93.7% CIDEr score on the COCO-Assamese Caption (COCO-AC) dataset.
Clinical and Imaging Predictors of False-Positive and False-Negative Results in Prostate Multiparametric MRI Using PI-RADS Version 2
Authors: Salka Bassel , Troost Jonathan P. , Gaur Sonia , Shankar Prasad R. , Diab Abdel Rahman , Hakim Cindy , Mervak Benjamin M. , Khalatbari Shokoufeh , Davenport Matthew S.
Published: February 2025

Prostate-specific antigen density and patient age were independent predictors of false-positive and false-negative results for detection of prostate cancer at multiparametric MRI, using the Prostate Imaging and Reporting Data System version 2.
Suppressing Irreversible Capacity Loss and Improving Stability during High Voltage Cycling of Li-Ion Battery Cathodes via a Carefully Designed “Formation Cycle” Protocol
Authors: Sharma Ankur , Das Arpita , Jangid Manoj K. , Saha Dipannita , Gandharapu Pranay , Mukhopadhyay Amartya
Published: February 2025

High irreversible capacity loss, low first cycle Coulombic efficiency, and inferior cyclic stability are the major challenges associated with high Ni-containing “layered” Li-transition metal (TM)-oxide cathodes. These problems get exacerbated with high upper cut-off potential and Ni-content, and are caused due to excessive Li-loss for the formation of unstable/thick/resistive cathode electrolyte interface layer (CEI) and kinetic hindrance towards Li-insertion during discharge owing to structural changes (including, “cation mixing”). To address these, a “formation cycle” protocol has been designed here, which involves two times charging to 3.8 V (vs Li/Li+), followed by holding at 3.8 V until an optimized current drop and then discharging to 2.6 V, prior to actual electrochemical cycling. The “formation cycle” protocol helps decompose surface residual species slowly/uniformly, facilitating the formation of thinner, less resistive, CEI. Furthermore, the 3.8 V hold facilitates preferential removal of Li-ions from TM-layer and concomitantly drives Ni-ions present in the Li-layer to the TM-layer vacancies created; thus, reducing “cation-mixing” and hindrance towards Li-insertion. Hence, the formation cycles reduce, and then suppress increments in impedance and “cation-mixing” during charge/discharge cycles; leading to improved first cycle Coulombic efficiency of ~85% (from ~60%, sans “formation cycle”) and ~88% higher reversible capacity after 100 cycles for Li-NMC811 based cathode, despite being subjected to deep-delithiation.
Medial Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty Combined With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Yields Similar Outcomes Compared to Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty Alone
Authors: Legnani Claudio , Massaro Emanuele , Peretti Giuseppe M. , Macchi Vittorio , Borgo Enrico , Ventura Alberto
Published: February 2025

Background: The treatment of unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis (OA) in young, active individuals with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) insufficiency is a debatable topic. The objective, radiological, and functional results of medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) combined to ACL reconstruction and those of isolated UKA are compared in the present study.

Methods: Twelve patients with medial OA and ACL incompetence were suitable for combined UKA and ACL reconstruction (Group A). A control group consisted of 24 patients who underwent isolated UKA within the same time frame and were matched for age, body mass index, and male/female ratio (Group B). The Oxford Knee Score (OKS), the Knee OA Outcome Score (KOOS), the WOMAC index of OA, and standard X‐rays were used for clinical and radiologic evaluation.

Results: The mean KOOS score, OKS, and WOMAC index improved 10 years after surgery, demonstrating a statistically significant change (p < 0.001). At follow‐up, there was no significant between‐groups difference concerning KOOS, OKS, or WOMAC scores (p = n.s.). One female patient in Group A underwent revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA) 3 years after the first surgery because OA in the lateral compartment had developed and the patient’s discomfort persisted. There were no signs of pathologic radiolucent lines or radiographic signs of implant loosening at the most recent follow‐up, which occurred at an average of 7.9 years for Group A and 9.1 years for Group B.

Conclusion: Ten years after surgery, UKA combined to ACL reconstruction provides clinical and radiographic results similar to UKA without increasing the incidence of complications.
Antitumor CD4+ T helper 1 cells target and control the outgrowth of disseminated cancer cells
Authors: Ramamoorthi Ganesan , Lee Marie Catherine. , Farrell Carly M. , Snyder Colin , Garg Saurabh K. , Aldrich Amy L. , Lok Vincent , Dominguez-Viqueira William , Olson-Mcpeek Sy K. , Rosa Marilin , Gautam Namrata , Pilon-Thomas Shari , Cen Ling , Kodumudi Krithika N. , Wiener Doris , Oskarsson Thordur , Gomes Ana P. , Gatenby Robert A. , Czerniecki Brian J.
Published: February 2025

Detection of disseminated cancer cells (DCCs) in the bone marrow (BM) of patients with breast cancer (BC) is a critical predictor of late recurrence and distant metastasis. Conventional therapies often fail to completely eradicate DCCs in patients. Herein, we demonstrate that intratumoral priming of antitumor CD4+ T helper 1 (Th1) cells was able to eliminate DCC burden in distant organs and prevent overt metastasis, independent of CD8+ T cells. Intratumoral priming of tumor antigen–specific CD4+ Th1 cells enhanced their migration to the BM and distant metastatic site to selectively target DCC burden. The majority of these intratumorally activated CD4+ T cells were CD4+PD1– T cells, supporting their non-exhaustion stage. Phenotypic characterization revealed enhanced infiltration of memory CD4+ T cells and effector CD4+ T cells in the primary tumor, tumor-draining lymph node, and DCC-driven metastasis site. A robust migration of CD4+CCR7+CXCR3+ Th1 cells and CD4+CCR7–CXCR3+ Th1 cells into distant organs further revealed their potential role in eradicating DCC-driven metastasis. The intratumoral priming of antitumor CD4+ Th1 cells failed to eradicate DCC-driven metastasis in CD4- or IFNγ-knockout mice. Moreover, antitumor CD4+ Th1 cells, by increasing IFN-γ production, inhibited various molecular aspects and increased classical and non-classical MHC molecule expression in DCCs. This reduced stemness and self-renewal while increasing immune recognition in DCCs of BC patients. These results unveil an immune basis for antitumor CD4+ Th1 cells that modulate DCC tumorigenesis to prevent recurrence and metastasis in patients.
НАУКОВЕ ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ ТА ПРАКТИЧНЕ ВПРОВАДЖЕННЯ В УКРАЇНІ СИСТЕМИ ТЕЛЕРЕАБІЛІТАЦІЇ ПАЦІЄНТОК ІЗ РАКОМ МОЛОЧНОЇ ЗАЛОЗИ
Authors: Семікопна Т. В. , Сивак О. В. , Владимирова Н. І. , Sayko O. Y. , Соловйова В.С. , Каширіна О.В. , Владимиров О.А.
Published: February 2025

У статті аргументовано доведено доцільність впровадження методів телереабілітації онкологічних пацієнтів із раком молочної залози на підставі Міжнародної класифікації функціонування, обмеження життєдіяльності та здоров’я. Проаналізовано міжнародний досвід використання методів та засобів телереабілітації онкологічних пацієнтів із раком молочної залози. На основі виконаного аналізу міжнародного досвіду, сформовано напрями практичного застосування сучасних інформаційно-технологічних засобів телереабілітації в сфері охорони здоров’я України.
Age‐Related Outcomes of Valve‐in‐Valve Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement for Structural Valve Deterioration
Authors: Nagasaka Takashi , Patel Vivek , Suruga Kazuki , Shechter Alon , Koren Ofir , Chakravarty Tarun , Cheng Wen , Ishii Hideki , Jilaihawi Hasan , Nakamura Mamoo , Makkar Raj R.
Published: February 2025

Background

Valve‐in‐valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a recognized alternative for treating the structural valve deterioration of bioprosthetic valves. Recent guidelines and trials have expanded the indications for TAVR to include younger patients with structural valve deterioration. In this study, we aimed to examine the outcomes of valve‐in‐valve TAVR across different age groups to understand the age‐related clinical outcomes of treating structural valve deterioration following surgical aortic valve replacement and TAVR.

Methods and Results

In this retrospective study, we included patients who underwent valve‐in‐valve TAVR at our center. We compared procedural complications and clinical outcomes among patients <75 years of age (n=99), those 75 to 84 years of age (n=103), and those ≥85 years of age (n=71). Echocardiography and computed tomography were used for follow‐up evaluations. This study included 273 patients and revealed a low in‐hospital complication rate across all age groups. Although the 3‐year risk of all‐cause mortality was higher in patients >85 years of age, no significant differences in the incidence of stroke/transient ischemic attack were observed among age groups. All groups exhibited significant improvements in valve hemodynamics that persisted for 3 years. Although leaflet thrombosis assessed using computed tomography imaging 30 days post‐TAVR was more prevalent in the older group, age was not an independent predictor of this outcome.

Conclusions

Valve‐in‐valve TAVR was associated with an increased 3‐year mortality risk among older patients despite consistent hemodynamic benefits across all age groups. Age‐related differences in leaflet thrombosis did not predict hypoattenuated leaflet thickening, indicating that further studies are necessary to elucidate its implications.
The analysis of cyclic impact loads on basic titanium-composite laminate using a parameterization approach of their physical response
Authors: Jakubczak Patryk
Published: February 2025

The study investigates the cyclic impact loads on metal-composite hybrids, focusing on basic titanium-composite laminate. The research highlights the complex mechanical phenomena occurring during cyclic impact, aiming to understand the mechanical response and damage progress of this FML. Based on a comprehensive parameterization approach, a result of cyclic dynamic low-velocity impact loading on laminates, the stabilization in the initiation and propagation of damage was proved, in such meaning that each subsequent load no longer leads to a significant reduction in its strength. The equilibrium state in the laminate’s response to cyclic impacts indicates that degradation processes become less significant, with stresses being increasingly transferred through the membrane effect.
Teachers Burnout Affective and Motivational Profiles: Their Impact on Teachers’ Stress, Anxiety and Depression Levels
Authors: Kamtsios Spiridon , Kakouris Vasilis
Published: February 2025

The study aims at investigating teachers’ burnout, motivational and affective profiles. Moreover, the study explores differences in stress, anxiety and depression levels among teachers’ profiles. The sample comprised of 816 participants who completed the following scales: (a) “Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey”, (b) Passion Scale”, (c) “Positive and Negative Affect scale” and (d) DASS-21. A clustering approach through latent profile analysis revealed four teachers’ profiles: 1. Workaholics (18.25%), 2. Moderate Burnout (28.67%), 3. Normal Workers (42.15%) and 4. Extreme Burnout (10.90%). The study also revealed differences between the profiles in terms of teachers’ stress, anxiety and depression levels. The third profile (Normal Workers) showed the lowest levels in all three variables, followed by the first profile (Workaholics). The second profile (Moderate Burnout) showed relatively high levels and the fourth profile (Extreme Burnout) the highest stress, anxiety and depression levels. Through multinomial logistic regression, discriminant analysis and the decision tree, depression and stress emerged as predictive/differentiating factors for the inclusion of participants in the profiles, with an accuracy around 55%. The distinction between teachers profiles’ will facilitate the recognition of teachers already experiencing burnout or at high risk (Extreme and Moderate Burnout profiles), so that they receive first-line therapeutic interventions while teachers belonging to the more adaptive profiles (Workaholics and Normal Workers) could benefit more from prevention-oriented programs. These programs can be utilized by school psychologists and policy makers in school contexts aiming at reducing dysphoric burnout emotions on a therapeutic level and raising awareness informing and psychoeducating on a preventive level.
Incorporation of active phases of iron and bone char in clay ceramic monolith for arsenic removal from aqueous solutions
Authors: García-Carvajal Celene , Villarroel-Rocha Jhonny , Mendoza-Castillo Didilia Ileana , Bonilla-Petriciolet Adrián , Sapag Karim
Published: February 2025

Clay-based monoliths with incorporation of active phases derived from the waste of the metallurgical and livestock industries (powdered iron and bone meal) and composite with both raw materials were synthesized by the extrusion process and used as adsorbents in the As(V) removal from aqueous solutions. These monoliths exhibited excellent mechanical properties compared to commercial ceramic-based monoliths, with potential for their use in continuous systems due to ease of handling and extraction of the adsorption medium (i.e., packed bed) and having defined meso and macroporosity. Specifically, the clay-based monoliths were obtained along with (i) active iron phases (hematite and magnetite), (ii) bone char and (iii) a combination of both materials. They showed As(V) adsorption capacities of up to 0.56, 3.4 and 8.0 mg g−1 at neutral pH and room temperature conditions. The proposed adsorption mechanism was associated with ligand exchange between the As(V) species and the hydroxyl functional groups, in addition to the presence of inner-sphere bidentate unprotonated arsenate surface complexes that was reflected in the formation of new absorption bands in Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy spectra related to the Metal-O interaction and changes in the bands associated with the -OH groups. The SIPS isotherm model fitted the experimental data obtained at equilibrium and was related to strong adsorbent/adsorbate interactions and high surface heterogeneity. Finally, the composite ceramic monolith synthesized in the present study exhibits capabilities comparable to those reported in the literature, highlighting the low cost of raw materials, as well as its excellent mechanical properties and well-defined porosity.
Investigation on the output characteristics of a bidirectional pulse width modulation rotary valve variable mechanism for hydraulic motor
Authors: Zhang Liu , Ren Yan , Tang Hesheng , Ruan Jian
Published: February 2025

Pump control system is widely used for flow control in hydraulic system. However, variable mechanism structure in variable displacement pump system is very complicated, and the dynamic response speed of variable speed pump system is low under frequent regulation. Therefore, a new bidirectional variable mechanism based on the principle of fluid pulse width modulation is proposed. Through the design of two shoulders, the oil flow direction is changed. The nonlinear system mathematical model of bidirectional variable mechanism is established, and the dynamic and static characteristics are simulated and analyzed. Research shows that the bidirectional variable mechanism can generate fluid pulse width modulation waveform. The bidirectional adjustment of the hydraulic motor speed can be realized by the axial displacement of the valve core. Within 0.15 s, the motor speed can output stably and reach 28.6 rad/s. The experimental platform of bidirectional variable mechanism is built. The output waveform of the valve port pressure produced by the bidirectional variable mechanism conforms to the pulse width modulation law. At a frequency of 200 Hz, the opening and closing time of the valve port is only 1.5 ms, showing good dynamic response characteristics. The flow output of both load ports can reach 25 l/min. The average flow curve has good linearity between 10% and 90% duty cycle. It provides a new flow control method for the quantitative pump to meet the requirements of frequent positive and negative rotation and variable speed.
Small angle neutron scattering in McStas: Optimization for high-throughput virtual experiments
Authors: Robledo José Ignacio , Lieutenant Klaus , Willendrup Peter
Published: February 2025

In this work, we present the development of small-angle scattering components in McStas that describe the neutron interaction with 70 different form and structure factors. We describe the considerations taken into account for the generation of these components, such as the incorporation of polydispersity and orientational distribution effects in the Monte Carlo simulation. These models can be parallelized by means of multi-core simulations and graphical processing units. The acceleration schemes for the aforementioned models are benchmarked, and the resulting performance is presented. This allows the estimation of computation times in high-throughput virtual experiments. The presented work enables the generation of large datasets of virtual experiments that can be explored and used by machine learning algorithms.
On the topology optimization of variable-thickness fiber-reinforced plates
Authors: Lurie Sergey , Solyaev Yury , Tambovtseva Ekaterina
Published: February 2025

Two-field topology optimization algorithm is suggested for the optimal design of rib-stiffened fiber-reinforced plates. Additional nodal variables related to the local thickness of plate and local angle of fiber orientation are incorporated in a standard topology optimization approach. Minimal compliance design problems are solved for several examples with rectangular Reissner–Mindlin plates subjected to the transverse concentrated and distributed loads. Possibility for simultaneous assessments on the optimal geometry of curvilinear ribs and fibers trajectories is shown. Efficiency of algorithm is evaluated and compared to the conventional variable-thickness topology optimization results for isotropic plates.
Comparison of oncological outcomes of T1-3 N1 rectal cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant radiotherapy versus no radiotherapy: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Marjasuo Suvi , Koskenvuo Laura , Lepistö Anna
Published: February 2025

Background and aims:

Neoadjuvant short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) prior to surgery has been used to reduce local recurrences in moderately advanced rectal cancer (RC). Total mesorectal excision (TME) surgery by itself can reduce the local recurrence rate in these patients. The objective was to assess whether discontinuing neoadjuvant SCRT had a negative impact on survival and local recurrence rates of moderately advanced RC.

Methods:

This retrospective study examined 137 consecutive patients (67 neoadjuvant SCRT, 70 TME without neoadjuvant therapy) treated for rT1-3N1M0 RC without extramural venous invasion (EMVI) or a threatened surgical margin between January 2016 and March 2020 in a tertiary rectal surgery referral center. The primary objective was the impact of neoadjuvant therapy on overall, cancer-specific, and disease-free survival, and local recurrence rate. Secondary outcomes were risk factors affecting survival. The analyses were conducted on the total study cohort as well as a propensity score matched cohort of the same patient group, with the matching predicated upon age, gender, and histological T score.

Results:

The oncological outcomes were similar between the two different treatment groups. The 5-year cumulative overall survival rate, calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method, was 89.6% in the neoadjuvant SCRT group and 83.5% in the surgery-only group ( p = 0.570), with the corresponding cancer-specific survival rates at 97.0% and 98.4% ( p = 0.219) and disease-free survival rates at 97.0% and 91.9% ( p = 0.438). No local recurrencies were detected in either group during the 5-year follow-up period.

Conclusion:

The omission of neoadjuvant SCRT in rT1-3N1M0 RC with no EMVI and no threatened resection margin caused no adverse effects on the survival of the patients. Based on this series, it appears that avoiding SCRT does not compromise the oncological outcome in these patients.
Laser line patterning for improving bond joining strength of Al-Mg alloy
Authors: Prakash Shashi
Published: February 2025

Aluminium-Magnesium alloy has an excellent corrosion resistant property and is used in several aeronautical and maritime applications. Adhesive bonded joints made with adhesives have been evolved as a reliable and environment friendly solution for joining different materials including metals, composites and polymers. There has been tremendous improvement in the quality and bond strength of adhesive based joints due to improvement in adhesive properties. Adhesive joining are specially useful in intricate places were traditional joining methods can’t be applied. Surface preparation prior to adhesive application is an important step to have a reliable joint strength. In this research work, nanosecond fiber laser was utilized for pre-treatment of surfaces which will then be adhesively bonded. Simple line patterning type of design was created on Al-Mg alloy (AA5754) surfaces. Texturing was done in three types of processing environment which is open air processing, underwater processing, and under flowing water conditions. Experiments were designed to evaluate the impact of working environment on adhesive joint strength. Also, the effect of texture density and depth were investigated by changing scanning speed and line distances of the fabricated design. Contact angle of surface textures were determined to find surface wettability. Tensile strength of adhesive bonded surfaces were assessed by performing shear strength test. Flowing water condition produced texture depths up to 390 µm and surface roughness up to 84 µm. Surfaces patterned with flowing water environment were observed to have 2.36 times higher adhesive bonding strength compared to untextured plain samples. Similarly, open air texturing resulted in 201.3% and static water texturing in 193.5% higher adhesive strength compared to plain untextured samples.
Articulating researcher self-care, reflection and reflexivity: A note and practical guide for qualitative researchers to body map their research experience
Authors: Smith Louisa
Published: February 2025

While qualitative researchers on sensitive topics spend significant and important time assessing and mitigating risks for their research participants, there is much less focus on risks to researchers doing this work. Sensitive qualitative research requires researchers to empathise with participants talking about some of life's most challenging moments, and exposure to this can be deeply emotional and even traumatic for researchers. Researchers need a range of strategies to care for themselves throughout the research process. Currently, verbal and written strategies in line with researcher critical reflection and reflexivity are often advocated as key ways of mitigating the emotional impact of research. There is increasing evidence that arts-based approaches facilitate different kinds of reflections on emotional and embodied experiences. This paper describes how the arts-based method, body mapping, can be used by researchers to support researcher reflection on qualitative research. The process of creating, describing and reflecting on the embodied experience of doing the research through body mapping facilitated not only an engagement with the emotions elicited during the project but also illuminated absences and future actions. The paper provides clear guidelines for other researchers wishing to try the approach and also points to the need for institutional and structural responsibility for researcher health.
Decolonizing play: Rediscovering and revitalizing traditional play practices in post-colonial context
Authors: Kurniati Euis , Mwariko Sadick Akida
Published: February 2025

This study examines the decolonization of play through the rediscovery and revitalization of traditional play practices in the post-colonial era. Through a comprehensive literature review, the research examines the historical suppression of indigenous play forms and their contemporary resurgence. The research highlights the cultural significance of these traditional practices, emphasizing their role in identity formation and social cohesion. Findings suggest that traditional play practices are integral to cultural heritage and offer substantial benefits when integrated into modern education, particularly in early childhood education frameworks. This study advocates for a paradigm shift towards a culturally responsive pedagogy that respects and incorporates indigenous knowledge. To achieve effective decolonization, educators, policymakers, and communities must collaborate in developing educational frameworks that honor and integrate diverse cultural traditions. This approach will not only preserve cultural heritage but also enhance educational equity and inclusivity. The revitalization of traditional play practices represents a significant step towards a more culturally aware and equitable educational environment, contributing to a richer and more inclusive early childhood education experience.
Comparison of Telephone and In-Person Interview Modalities: Duration, Richness, and Costs in the Context of Exploring Determinants of Equitable Access to Community Health Services in Meru, Kenya
Authors: Allen Luke N. , Karanja Sarah , Tlhajoane Malebogo , Tlhakenelo John , Macleod David , Bastawrous Andrew
Published: February 2025

Background

Our research team conducted phenomenological interviews in Kenya with people who were not able to access community eye health services, aiming to explore the barriers and ideas for potential service modifications. We conducted an embedded study that compared in-person and telephone interview modalities in terms of time requirements, costs, and data richness.

Methods

A team of six interviewers conducted 31 in-person interviews and 31 telephone interviews using the same recruitment strategy, topic guide, and analytic matrix for each interview. We compared the mean duration; mean number of themes reported by each participant; total number of themes reported; interviewer rating of perceived richness; interviewer rating of perceived ease of building rapport; number of days taken by the team to complete all interviews; and all costs associated with conducting the interviews in each modality.

Results

In-person interviews were 44% more expensive and took 60% longer to complete than our telephone interviews (requiring 5 days and 3 days respectively). The average in-person interview lasted 110 seconds longer than the average telephone interview ( p = .05) and generated more words and themes. However, the full set of interviews from both approaches identified similar numbers of barriers ( p = .14) and the same number of solutions ( p = .03). Interviewers universally felt that the in-person approach was associated with better rapport and higher quality data ( p = .01). Triangulation of themes revealed good agreement, with 88% of all solutions occurring in both sets of interviews, and no areas of thematic dissonance.

Conclusions

The in-person approach required more time and financial resources, but generated more words and themes per person, and was perceived to afford richer data by interviewers. However, this additional richness did not translate into a greater number of themes that our team can act upon to improve services.
Risk factors of blood transfusion following primary total hip replacement
Authors: Askar Mohamed , Zedan Yasmine , Davies Owain , John Alun
Published: February 2025

Background:

Total hip replacement is a quality of life–enhancing procedure. Postoperative blood transfusion is a risk factor compromising the outcome of total hip replacement and increasing the risk of deep infection. The aim of this study is to determine the risk factors for postoperative blood transfusion after total hip replacement.

Methods:

In this retrospective study, 3901 patients underwent primary total hip replacement, in the period between January 2015 and December 2023. The mean age of the participants was 67.3 (SD: 12.6) years, and 61% of them were females. Participants were divided into ‘transfusion’ and ‘non-transfusion’ groups.

Results:

Forty-two patients (1.1%) received blood transfusion after total hip replacement. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, preoperative haemoglobin was the only independent risk factor that reduced the odds of postoperative transfusion by 0.3 (95% confidence interval: 0.23–0.39) for every 1 g/dL increase.

Conclusion:

Postoperative blood transfusion is a rare, yet potentially serious, occurrence after total hip replacement. In this study, preoperative haemoglobin level was the only independent risk factor associated with postoperative transfusion. We recommend aiming to achieve minimum preoperative haemoglobin level of 13 g/dL to minimise the risk of postoperative transfusion.
Factors Influencing Nursing Students’ Willingness to Participate in Patient Safety: The Role of Patient Safety Confidence and Campaign Participation
Authors: Baek On-Jeon , Shin Sun-Hwa
Published: February 2025

Introduction

Patient safety is a critical competency for nursing students, highlighting the need to equip them with the knowledge and skills required to foster a culture of safety in healthcare systems.

Aim

This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of patient safety confidence, moderated by campaign participation, on the relationship between nursing students’ patient safety attitude and their willingness to participate in patient safety.

Methods

This study utilized a secondary data analysis approach, analyzing data from a patient safety study conducted in South Korea. The participants included 245 fourth-year undergraduate nursing students recruited using nonprobability convenience sampling. Data were collected in April 2023 through an online survey distributed to members of nursing student-focused online communities. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS PROCESS Macro (models 4 and 14) and bootstrapping method.

Results

The findings underscore the critical role of patient safety confidence as a mediating factor and highlight the positive impact of campaign participation in strengthening nursing students’ engagement in patient safety activities. These insights emphasize the interplay between nursing students’ patient safety attitudes, confidence, and experiential learning opportunities.

Conclusion

To enhance nursing students’ willingness to actively participate in patient safety, fostering positive attitudes and confidence through a well-structured educational strategy is essential. Integrating patient safety topics into the nursing curriculum and providing experiential learning opportunities can prepare students to advocate for safety and contribute to a culture of safety in healthcare.
Prevalence of post-pandemic SARS-CoV-2 in patients with respiratory syndrome in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
Authors: Demboux Lyelet Jordy Exaucé , Mayengue Pembe Issamou , Koukouikila-Koussounda Félix , Doniama Essialaba Ahmed Jordy , Vembe Mahounga Christ Marty Stéphane , Mandiangou Aldi Fred , Fila-Fila Grâce Petula Urielle , Lenguiya Léadisaelle Hosanna , Bobouaka Bonguili Novy Charel , Elguero Eric , Leroy Eric M. , Becquart Pierre , Niama Fabien Roch
Published: February 2025

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was detected in the Republic of the Congo in March 2020. Several control measures were implemented during the pandemic period. As a result, the number of reported cases decreased significantly, leading to the gradual lifting of barrier measures and the declaration of the end of the outbreak on 14 October 2022. The present study aimed to determine the post-pandemic prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the referral hospitals of Talangaï (HRT) and Makélékélé (HRM) in Brazzaville between October 2022 and April 2023. Nasopharyngeal samples collected from patients with respiratory syndrome were analyzed via qRT‒PCR to detect SARS-CoV-2. An overall prevalence of 5% of SARS-CoV-2 infection was found, with monthly fluctuations in cases during the study period, likely reflecting the endemic nature of the infection. The monthly proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infection cases did not correlate with the number of patients with respiratory syndrome-related symptoms. Although the post-pandemic prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 has remained low, laboratory confirmation of COVID-19, which accounts for both clinical suspicion and detection of SARS-CoV-2, using at least one rapid diagnostic test (RDT) is needed to improve case-by-case management in health centers.