bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The skin circadian clock gene F3 as a potential marker for psoriasis severity and its bidirectional relationship with IL-17 signaling in keratinocytes
Authors: Yuan Xiuqing , Ou Caixin , Li Xinhui , Zhuang Zhe , Chen Yongfeng
Published: January 2024

Background
Psoriasis is an immune-mediated skin disease where the IL-17 signaling pathway plays a crucial role in its development. Chronic circadian rhythm disorder in psoriasis pathogenesis is gaining more attention. The relationship between IL-17 signaling pathway and skin clock genes remains poorly understood.
Methods
GSE121212 with psoriatic lesion and healthy controls was used as exploration cohort for searching analysis. Datasets GSE117239, GSE51440, GSE137218 that contained effective biologics treating psoriasis overtime were applied to validation analysis. Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) dataset GSE173706 were used to explore the F3 expression and related pathway activities in single cell levels. Through intersecting with high expression DEGs, F3 was selected as the signature skin circadian gene in psoriasis for further investigation. Functional analyses, including correlation analyses, prediction of transcription factors, protein-protein interaction, single gene GSEA to explore the potential roles of F3. ssGSEA algorithm was performed to uncover the immune related characteristics of psoriasis. We further explored F3 expression in specific cell population in scRNA-seq dataset, besides this, AUCell analysis was performed to explore the pathway activities and the results were further compared between specific cell cluster. Immunohistochemistry experiment, RT-qPCR was used to validate the location and expression of F3, small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection experiment in HaCaT and transcriptome sequencing analysis were applied to explore the potential function of F3.
Results
F3 was significantly down-regulated in psoriasis and interacted with IL-17 signaling pathway. Low expression of F3 could upregulate the receptor of JAK-STAT signaling, thereby promoting keratinocytes inflammation.
Conclusion
Our research revealed a bidirectional link between the skin circadian gene F3 and the IL-17 signaling pathway in psoriasis, suggesting that F3 may interact with the IL-17 pathway by activating JAK-STAT within keratinocytes and inducing abnormal intracellular inflammation.
Measuring the Impact of Predictive Models on the Software Project: A Cost, Service Time, and Risk Evaluation of a Metric-based Defect Severity Prediction Model
Authors: Bhutamapuram Umamaheswara Sharma , Sadam Ravichandra
Published: January 2024

In a critical software system, the testers have to spend an enormous amount of time and effort maintaining the software due to the continuous occurrence of defects. To reduce the time and effort of a tester, prior works in the literature are limited to using documented defect reports to automatically predict the severity of the defective software modules. In contrast, in this work, we propose a metric-based software defect severity prediction (SDSP) model that is built using a decision-tree incorporated self-training semi-supervised learning approach to classify the severity of the defective software modules. Empirical analysis of the proposed model on the AEEEM datasets suggests using the proposed approach as it successfully assigns suitable severity class labels to the unlabelled modules.
On the other hand, numerous research studies have addressed the methodological aspects of SDSP models, but the gap in estimating the performance of a developed prediction using suitable measures remains unattempt. For this, we propose the risk factor, percent of the saved budget, loss in the saved budget, percent of remaining edits, percent of remaining edits, remaining service time, and gratuitous service time, to interpret the predictions in terms of project objectives. Empirical analysis of the proposed approach shows the benefit of using the proposed measures in addition to the traditional measures.
A novel (2+1)-dimensional Sawada-Kotera type system: multisoliton solution and variable separation solution
Authors: wang jianyong , Yang Yunqing , Tang Xiaoyan , Chen Yong
Published: January 2024

A novel (2+1)-dimensional Sawada-Kotera type system is considered. The existence of three-soliton and four-soliton solutions with constraints on wave numbers is confirmed. Other intriguing solutions, such as the long-range interaction between a line soliton and a y-periodic soliton, are also presented based on the Hirota formalism. By extending the multilinear variable separation approach to the fifth-order nonlinear evolution equation, various localized excitations are introduced, including solitoff, dromion, and an instanton excited by three resonant dromions. In addition to these localized excitations, the general fusion or fission type N-solitary wave solution is obtained, and the resonant Y-shaped soliton and the resonant T-type soliton interaction in shallow water are explored graphically.
Design of the offline test electronics for the nozzle system of proton therapy
Authors: Huang Peng , Yin Zhiguo , Bian Tianjian , Hou Shigang , Guan Fengping , An Shizhong , Wang Yang , Zhang Tianjue , Ji Luyu , Wen Lipeng , Mu Xueer
Published: January 2024

A set of nozzle equipment for proton therapy is now being developed at China Institute of Atomic Energy. To facilitate the off-line commissioning of the whole equipment, a set of ionization chamber signal generation system, the test electronics, is designed. The system uses ZYNQ SoC as the main control unit and outputs the beam dose analog signal through DAC8532. The dual SPDT analog switch, DG636, is used to simulate the beam position signals according to Gaussian distribution. The results show that the system can simulate the beam position, dose, and other related analog signals generated by the proton beam when passing through the ionization chamber. Moreover, the accuracy of the simulated beam position is within ± 0.33mm, and the accuracy of the simulated dose signal is within ± 1%. At the same time, it can output analog signals representing environmental parameters. The test electronics meets the design requirements, which can be used to commission the nozzle system as well as the treatment control system without the proton beam.
Annexin-A1 tripeptide alleviates lung ischemia-reperfusion injury by promoting lung autophagy in rats
Authors: Luo Junli , He Yunzi , Li Jian , Wu Hanhua , Zhang Hong , dou xuejiao
Published: January 2024

Research on the mechanism and protective measures of lung injury caused by CPB has attracted extensive attention. But the exact mechanism is still being explored. This study explored the role of autophagy in CPB lung injury by establishing the left lung ischemia-reperfusion injury model of rats and observing the relationship between CPB lung injury and autophagy. The effects of exogenous membrane tripeptide (AnxA1sp) on lung injury and autophagy in rats were investigated. Compared with the control group, the expressions of autophagy bodies and autophagy-related proteins in the lung tissue of rats after CPB were increased in the model group. With the aggravation of lung injury, autophagy was significantly increased and the degradation of autophagy was blocked. Autophagy was involved in the occurrence and development of CPB lung injury. In the rat model group of AnxA1-/-, lack of AnxA1 can cause insufficient autophagy and aggravated lung injury in CPB rats. The addition of exogenous AnxA1sp can reduce lung I/R injury in CPB rats, activate lung autophagy, promote autophagy flow, reduce the release of lung inflammatory factors, reduce lung pathological injury, and improve lung function. In conclusion, regulating the autophagy of lung tissue can produce a lung protection effect.
Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Trauma- exposed Children and Adolescents on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Associations with Prosocial Behavior and Resilience
Authors: Xiao Fei , Eli Buzohre , Chen Yaru , Gong Pu , Huang Yijin , Lv Meixuan , Liu Zhengkui
Published: January 2024

High altitude has always been associated with a higher risk of trauma exposure. However, little is known about the stress-related symptoms and associated factors among trauma-exposed children and adolescents in high plateau areas. This study aimed to investigate the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and the associated factors, namely prosocial behavior and resilience, among trauma-exposed children and adolescents in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 14,428 primary and middle school students and 2,297 trauma-exposed children and adolescents aged 10–19 were included in the final analysis. The PTSS, prosocial behavior, and resilience were measured via three self-reported questionnaires: the Child Post-Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale (CPSS), the Prosocial Behavior Subscale of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the short version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), respectively. A structural equation model was constructed for data analysis. Approximately 70% of trauma-exposed children and adolescents had experienced PTSS, suggesting a probable presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Higher levels of prosocial behavior were significantly associated with fewer PTSS. Furthermore, resilience significantly mediated the relationship between prosocial behavior and PTSS with an indirect effect of − 0.28. The results highlight the severity of PTSS among trauma-exposed youth in high plateau areas. The findings also indicate that prosocial behavior in children and adolescents is a protective factor against the negative outcome of trauma exposure, suggesting that improving prosociality could be an intervention to promote mental health.
Integrative Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes in Time-Course Multi-Omics Data withMINT-DE
Authors: Xue Hao , Delbare Sofie , Wells Martin , Basu Sumanta , Clark Andrew
Published: January 2024

Background: Time-course multi-omics experiments have been highly informative for obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic relationships between molecules in a biological process, especially if the different profiles are obtained from the same samples. A fundamental step in analyzing time-course multi-omics data involves selecting a short list of genes or gene regions (''sites'') that warrant further study. Two important criteria for site selection are the magnitude of change and the temporal dynamic consistency. However, existing methods only consider one of these criteria, while neglecting the other.
Results: In our study, we propose a framework called MINT-DE (Multi-omics INtegration of Time-course for Diffierential Expression analysis) to address this limitation. MINT-DE is capable of selecting sites based on summarized measures of both aforementioned aspects. We calculate evidence measures assessing the extent of differential expression for each assay and for the dynamical similarity across assays. Then based on the summary of the evidence assessment measures, sites are ranked. %To evaluate the performance of MINT-DE, we apply it to analyze a time-course multi-omics dataset of \textit{Drosophila} development. We compare the selection obtained from MINT-DE with those obtained from other existing methods. The analysis reveal that MINT-DE is able to identify differentially expressed time-course pairs with the highest correlations. Their corresponding genes are significantly enriched for known biological functions, as measured by gene-gene interaction networks and the Gene Ontology enrichment.
Conclusions: These findings suggest the effectiveness of MINT-DE in selecting sites that are both differentially expressed within at least one assay and temporally related across assays. This highlights the potential of MINT-DE to identify biologically important sites for downstream analysis and provide a complementarity of sites that is neglected by existing methods.
Domestic Violence among Female Psychiatric Patients in Ain Shams University Hospitals. An Egyptian Study
Authors: Abdel-Samei Afaf Mohammad Abdel-Samei , Hashem Reem El-Sayed Mohamed Hashem , Mohammad Doaa Ibrahim Eid Mohammad , Serag Rehab Serag
Published: January 2024

Background: One of the most prevalent types of interpersonal violence worldwide is domestic violence. It is defined as "any incident of threatening behavior, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been an intimate partner or family member, regardless of gender or sexuality.
Objective: To assess the rate of domestic violence in a sample of female psychiatric patients. To evaluate the correlation between clinical diagnosis and sociodemographic factors and domestic violence.
Patients and Methods: 200 married female patients attending outpatient clinic at Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University hospitals. We collected the socio-demographic and clinical data for the study participants, SCID I was used to confirm the DSM IV diagnosis, and CAS was used to assess exposure to abuse and frequency over the past year.
Results: The study showed an alarmingly high rate of 86.5% of sample patients being exposed to domestic violence. The majority of patients were exposed to emotional abuse (85.5%), then physical abuse (67%), followed by exposure to severe combined abuse (65.5%) and the least exposure was to harassment (45.5%). Schizophrenia and substance use disorder showed the highest correlation with abuse, while OCD had the lowest.
Conclusion: The study exposes an alarming prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among psychiatric patients. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to address IPV in vulnerable psychiatric populations.
Genetic lineage traces the differentiation fate of epicardial cells during heart development
Authors: Lu FR , Yang xiaojie
Published: January 2024

Objective The genetic lineage tracing method was used to examine the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process and the contribution of epicardial cells to mesenchymal cells at various stages of fetal heart development.
Methods In Wt1-CreER;R26-tdTomato transgenic mice, tamoxifen was utilized to promote the tagging of epicardial cells with tdTomato fluorescence at E10. At E11.5, E12.5, and E16.5, embryonic hearts were harvested and photographed using confocal fluorescence microscopy and stereomicroscopy.
Results According to the findings, the tdTomato+ cells at E11.5 were still in the epicardium and had not yet moved into the myocardium. Epicardial cells began to separate from the epicardium and give rise to epicardial-derived cells at embryonic day 12.5 (E12.5). On the valve primordium, fibroblasts generated from epicardium have been found.By E16.5, many epicardial cells had moved into the myocardium and formed fibroblasts, mesenchymal cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, as well as migrated into the ventricular septum and valves, contributing to their growth and creation.
Conclusions The contribution of epicardial cells to mesenchymal cells during development is shown by genetic lineage tracing, opening up possibilities and offering references for creating relevant treatment approaches based on epicardial cells.
LDCT image denoising algorithm based on two-dimensional variational mode decomposition and dictionary learning
Authors: HAN YU , Zhang Nan , Ju Mingchi , Wang Yingzhi , Ding YAN
Published: January 2024

Low-dose CT images result in lower image reconstruction quality due to reduced radiation dose, producing noise and artifacts that affect the accuracy of clinical medical diagnosis. To address this problem, we combined 2D variational modal decomposition and dictionary learning. We proposed a low-dose CT (LDCT) image denoising algorithm based on an improved K-SVD algorithm with image decomposition. The traditional K-SVD algorithm lacks consideration for the differences in structural information between images. To address this problem, we employ the two-dimensional variational mode decomposition (2D-VMD) method to decompose the image into distinct modal components. Through the adaptive learning of dictionaries based on the characteristics of each modal component, independent denoising processing is applied to each component, avoiding the loss of structural and detailed information in the image. In addition, we introduce the regularized orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm (ROMP) and dictionary atom optimization method to improve the sparse representation ability of the dictionary and reduce the impact of noise atoms on denoising performance. The experiments show that the proposed method outperforms other denoising methods regarding peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity. The proposed method maintains the denoised image details and structural information while removing LDCT image noise and artifacts. The image quality after denoising is significantly improved and facilitates more accurate detection and analysis of lesion areas.
NO-Classifier: Prediction of Anti- Neuroinflammatory Agents Using Text Mining of 3D Molecular Fingerprints
Authors: Lee Si Eun , Ahn Sangjin , Kumar Surendra , Kim Mi-hyun
Published: January 2024

CNS Drug discovery has been challenging due to the lack of clarity on CNS diseases' basic biological and pathological mechanisms. Despite the difficulty, some CNS drugs have been developed based on phenotypic effects. Herein, we propose a phenotype-structure relationship model, which predicts an anti-neuroinflammatory potency based on 3D molecular structures of the phenotype-active or inactive compounds without specifying targets. For this chemo-centric study, a predictive model of the nitric oxide (NO) inhibitory potency in hyper-activated microglia is built from the 548 agents, which were collected from 95 research articles (28 substructures consisting of natural products and synthetic scaffolds) and doubly externally validated by the agents of 9 research articles as third set. 3D Structures (multi-conformer ensemble) of every agent were encoded into the E3FP molecular fingerprint of the Keiser group as a 3D molecular representation. The location information of the molecular fingerprints could be learned and validated to classify the inhibitory potency of compounds (IC50 cut-off between bi-classes: 37.1 μM): (1) multi-layer perceptron (MLP) (accuracy: 0.962, AUC: 0.994), (2) recurrent neural network (RNN) (accuracy: 0.966, AUC: 0.994), and (3) convolutional neural network (CNN) (accuracy: 0.969, AUC: 0.996). The high performance of these models was compared with that of four classical machine classification models (Logistic, Ridge, Lasso, and Naïve Bayes). We named the bi-class models NO-Classifier. Out-of-set validation and decision region analysis of the out-of-set doubly demonstrated NO-Classifier effectively discerned the anti-inflammatory potency of testing compounds in inflammatory cell phenotype with the webserver in https://no-classifier.onrender.com.
Learning Agility and Adaptive Legged Locomotion via Curricular Hindsight Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Li Sicen , Pang Yiming , Bai Panju , Liu Zhaojin , Wang Gang , Hu Shihao , Wang Liquan , Li Jiawei
Published: January 2024

Agile and adaptive maneuvers such as fall recovery, high-speed turning, and sprinting in the wild are challenging for legged systems. We propose a Curricular Hindsight Reinforcement Learning (CHRL) that learns an end-to-end tracking controller that achieves powerful agility and adaptation for the legged robot. The two key components are (i) a novel automatic curriculum strategy on task difficulty and (ii) a Hindsight Experience Replay strategy adapted to legged locomotion tasks. We demonstrated successful agile and adaptive locomotion on a real quadruped robot that performed fall recovery autonomously, coherent trotting, sustained outdoor running speeds up to 3.45 m/s, and tuning speeds up to 3.2 rad/s. This system produces adaptive behaviors responding to changing situations and unexpected disturbances on natural terrains like grass and dirt.
Nrn1 Epistasis With Bdnf and Cacna1c: Mediation Effects on Symptom Severity Through Neuroanatomical Changes in Schizophrenia
Authors: Almodóvar-Payá Carmen , Guardiola-Ripoll Maria , Giralt-López Maria , Oscoz-Irurozqui Maitane , Canales-Rodríguez Erick Jorge , Madre Mercè , Soler-Vidal Joan , Ramiro Núria , Callado Luis Felipe , Arias Bárbara , Gallego Carme , Pomarol-Clotet Edith , Fatjó-Vilas Mar
Published: January 2024

The expression of Neuritin-1 (NRN1), a neurotrophic factor crucial for neurodevelopment and synaptic plasticity, is enhanced by the Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Although the receptor of NRN1 remains unclear, it is suggested that NRN1's activation of the insulin receptor (IR) pathway promotes the transcription of the calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1 C (CACNA1C). These three genes have been independently associated with schizophrenia risk, symptomatology, and brain differences. However, research on how they synergistically modulate these phenotypes is scarce. We aimed to study whether the genetic epistasis between these genes affects the risk and clinical presentation of the disorder via its effect on brain structure. First, we tested the epistatic effect of NRN1 and BDNF or CACNA1C on i) the risk for SZ, ii) clinical symptoms severity and functionality (onset, PANSS, CGI and GAF), and iii) brain cortical structure (thickness, surface area and volume measures estimated using FreeSurfer) in a sample of 86 SZ patients and 89 healthy subjects. Second, we explored whether those brain clusters influenced by epistatic effects mediate the clinical profiles. Although we did not find a direct epistatic impact on the risk, our data unveiled significant effects on the disorder's clinical presentation. Specifically, the NRN1-rs10484320 x BDNF-rs6265 interplay influenced PANSS general psychopathology, and the NRN1-rs4960155 × CACNA1C-rs1006737 interaction affected GAF scores. Moreover, several interactions between NRN1 SNPs and BDNF-rs6265 significantly influenced the surface area and cortical volume of the frontal, parietal, and temporal brain regions within patients. The NRN1-rs10484320 × BDNF-rs6265 epistasis in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex fully mediated the effect on PANSS general psychopathology. Our study not only adds clinical significance to the well-described molecular relationship between NRN1 and BDNF but also underscores the utility of deconstructing SZ into biologically validated brain-imaging markers to explore their meditation role in the path from genetics to complex clinical manifestation.
Effect of carboxylic acids in promoting the radical decomposition of H 2 O 2 in Fenton processes for the treatment of agrochemicals
Authors: Zin Lisandra Eda Fusinato , Mulinari Jéssica , Oro Carolina Elisa Demaman , Luccio Marco Di , Dallago Rogério Marcos
Published: January 2024

Agrochemicals have become essential to meet the increasing demand for food and other commodities, but they can contaminate the environment, especially water resources, if not properly managed. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP), such as Fenton’s process, are a quick alternative to remove these toxic compounds from water and wastewater. Previous studies suggest that carboxylic acids can promote the Fenton reaction by accelerating the degradation rate of H2O2 and the formation of hydroxyl radicals. In this study, formic and acetic acids were applied in a heterogeneous Fenton system to degrade imidacloprid (C9H10N5ClO2), a model agrochemical molecule. Activated limonite and steel wool were used as low-cost heterogeneous iron precursors. The activated limonite was produced by reducing limonite’s iron under H2 flow at 200 and 300°C. The Fenton process with 300°C-activated limonite showed a reaction rate approximately 8-fold higher than the test using natural limonite and 2-fold higher than the one with limonite activated at 200°C. Adding acetic acid to the Fenton process using the 300°C-activated limonite increased the reaction rate by more than 2-fold. When steel wool was used as the iron precursor, the addition of acetic acid resulted in the complete degradation of imidacloprid within one minute of reaction. Acetic acid exhibited a higher promoting activity than formic acid, and the degradation rate increased with increasing concentrations of both carboxylic acids. This study indicates that carboxylic acids can serve as Fenton promoters to increase the degradation rate of agrochemicals, such as imidacloprid, present in water and wastewater.
Frequency Independent Circular Polarized Featured Multiband Rectenna for RF Ambient Energy Harvesting System
Authors: Roy Sunanda , Tiang Jun-Jiat , Roslee Mardeni Bin , Murshed Abu Hena , Sah Pallav Kumar
Published: January 2024

This research presents a proposed quad-band antenna design aimed at fulfilling the requirements of antenna rectifiers operatingwithin the operating range of 0.5 - 3 GHz. In order to enhance the functionality of Internet of Things (IoT) nodes in real-worldambient settings, a hybrid methodology is used that integrates power from both radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC)sources. This strategy utilizes certain frequency bands, including GSM 900, GSM 1800, Wi-Fi 2.4 and LTE 2600 GHz bands, toprovide the desired power supply. A circularly polarized bowtie-log periodic antenna with a ring-like central framework andasymmetric slots facilitates more accurate matching in the top four frequency bands and multiband consequence, whereascircular shapes loaded within an open rectangular antenna are used in the lower frequency bands. The proposed approachfor achieving consistent rectenna output under numerous levels of input power and resistances to loads involves the use of amodified π- network with microstrip matching elements. The dc rectification efficiency is highest at 73.30% (at 0.9, 1.8, 2.1, and2.44 GHz for - 17.5 dBm input power level), and 61.8% (at 0.9, and 1.84 GHz for - 14 dBm input power level), individually for thevalue of load resistance at 6.1 kΩ. The DC output voltage that is generated in the system is 464.5 mV to 492.2 mV for indoorand ambient environments, respectively. The encouraging outcomes in both indoor and outdoor environments are great forpowering IoT devices that consume low-power.
Research on Front-Vehicle taillight recognition based on image processing and matching
Authors: Zhang Huayue , Zhang Junyou , Wang Shufeng
Published: January 2024

Taillight recognition is the key to predicting the intention of the vehicle ahead, but the current detection algorithms still have problems in small target and taillight matching. In order to solve the above problems, this paper analyzes the characteristics of automobile taillight signal, combines the image processing algorithm with the object detection technology, and puts forward a taillight signal recognition model based on image processing. Firstly, the characteristics of automobile taillight signal are analyzed, and the taillight is extracted by using HSV color space and corrosion expansion algorithm, and then the taillight is matched by artificial preset experience value to solve the problem of matching headlight. Secondly, P2 small target detection model is added to the YOLOv8s model to improve the recognition ability of small targets, and CA(coordinate attention) is inserted to reduce the interference of other light sources. Finally, EIOU Loss was added to solve the problem of sample imbalance caused by a small number of motorcycles. In this paper, the actual scene video is used for ablation experiments to verify the effectiveness of the improved algorithm. The experimental results show that the mAP value of the model is 9.3% higher than that of the YOLOv8s model.
Evaluating the effects of Curcumin Nano-chitosan on miR-221 and miR-222 expression and Wnt/β-catenin pathways in MCF- 7, MDA-MB-231 and SKBR3 cell lines
Authors: Eslaminejad Touba , Nematollahi-Mahani Seyed Noureddin , Sargazi Marzieh Lotfian , Ansari Mehdi , Mirzaie Vida
Published: January 2024

Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases worldwide. miR-221 and miR-222 are two microRNAs with pivotal roles in many cellular processes which regulate the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Curcumin (CUR), a yellow polyphenolic compound, targets numerous pathways relevant to cancer therapy. The main aim of this study was to compare the ability of chitosan curcumin nanoparticle (CC-CUR) with the curcumin in modulatingmiR-221andmiR-222expression through Wnt/β-catenin pathway in MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells. Chitosan-cyclodextrin-tripolyphosphate containing curcumin nanoparticles (CC-CUR) were prepared. Experimental groups including CC-CUR, CUR and negative control were designed. The expression ofmiR-221andmiR-222and Wnt/β-catenin pathway genes was measured. The level ofmiR-221andmiR-222andβ-cateningenes decreased in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells andWIF1gene increased in all cells in CC-CUR group. However, in SK-BR-3 cells miRs andWIF1gene expressions were increased following CC-CUR administration andβ-catenindecreased by administration of CUR. Significant decreasing ofβ-cateninand increasing ofWIF1gene in almost all three cell lines, indicates that this formulation exerts its effect mainly through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. These preliminary findings may pave the way for the use of curcumin nanoparticles in the treatment of some known cancers.
Study on the spatial accessibility and influencing factors of traditional villages in the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration of China
Authors: Zhang Yunxing , Li Ziyang , Zhao Cunwei , Li Zhigang , Zhai Feifei , Li Haidong
Published: January 2024

Traditional villages, as important carriers of rural tangible and intangible cultural heritage, have immeasurable economic and cultural value. However, complex geographical characteristics cause the spatial connection between traditional villages and the outside world to be inconvenient, and rapid urbanization ignores their development. Thus, the activation and utilization of traditional villages was difficult. Studying the spatial accessibility of traditional villages is important for development and utilization because of its theoretical and practical significance. A total of 696 traditional villages in the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration (CPUA) of China were taken as the research object, and kernel density estimation and the nearest neighbor index based on ArcGIS were used to analyze their spatial distribution characteristics. Then, the spatial accessibility time costs were calculated via the Amap API. Finally, the influence of each influencing factor was analyzed quantitatively via PCCs, OLS regression and GWR. The results showed that (1) the spatial distribution of traditional villages was clustered, and there was a high-value core-cluster area in the north and two subhigh-value areas in the central and southern parts. (2) The spatial accessibility level of traditional villages exhibited a “core-edge” pattern, decreasing from the core area to the edge area. (3) Factors that exhibited spatial heterogeneity. Influence from the largest to the smallest: slope, density of river, density of road, GDP, density of population, elevation. In addition, the elevation and density of rivers had the greatest impact intensity in the northeast, the slope had the greatest impact in the north, and the density of roads, GDP, and population had the greatest impact at the edge far from the core area.
Endophytic bacteria discovered in oil body organelle of liverworts (Marchantiophyta)
Authors: Young Blair , Thiers Barbara , White James , Struwe Lena
Published: January 2024

Oil bodies are unique organelles with unknown physiological function only present in liverworts (Marchantiophyta). We show that oil bodies host masses of endophytic bacteria derived through cell division in apical meristems, leading to oil body formation in maturing cells. The early divergence of liverworts in land plant evolution indicates that this is one of the oldest symbioses in terrestrial plants with implications for early land plant evolution.
Keystrokes: A practical exploration of semantic drift in timed word association tasks
Authors: MacNiven Sean , MacNiven Maxime , Tench Ralph
Published: January 2024

This study investigates the phenomena of semantic drift through the lenses of language and situated simulation (LASS) and the word frequency effect (WFE) within a timed word association task. Our primary objectives were to determine whether semantic drift can be identified over the short time (25 seconds) of a free word association task (a predicted corollary of LASS), and whether more frequent terms are generated earlier in the process (as expected due to the WFE). We hypothesized that terms generated later in the task (fourth time quartile) would be semantically more distant (cosine similarity) from the cue word than those generated earlier (first quartile), indicating semantic drift. Additionally, we explored the WFE by hypothesizing that earlier generated words would be more frequent and less diverse.
Utilizing a dataset matched with GloVe 300B word embeddings, we analysed semantic distances among 1569 unique term pairs for five cues words (tree, dog, quality, plastic and love) across different time quartiles. Our results supported the presence of semantic drift, with significant evidence of within-participant, semantic drift from the first to fourth quartile. Slightly greater sparsity was also found in later stages, suggesting further evidence of semantic drift, though the effects for sparsity were small. In terms of the WFE, we observed a notable decrease in the diversity of terms generated earlier in the task, while more unique terms (greater diversity and relative uniqueness) were generated in the 4th time quartile, aligning with our hypothesis that more frequently used words dominate early stages of a word association task. We also found the most frequent terms were semantically closer on average than the least frequent terms generated.
Theoretically, our study contributes to the understanding of LASS and the WFE. It suggests that semantic drift might serve as a scalable indicator of the invocation of language versus simulation systems in LASS and might also be used to explore cognition within word association tasks more generally. The findings also add a temporal and relational dimension to the WFE.
Practically, our research highlights the utility of word association tasks in understanding semantic drift and the diffusion of word usage over a sub-minute task, arguably the shortest practically feasible timeframe, offering a scalable method to explore group and individual changes in semantic relationships, whether via the targeted diffusion of influence in a marketing campaign, or seeking to understand differences in cognition more generally. Possible practical uses and opportunities for future research are discussed.
Association of metabolic syndrome, its components, and obesity with bone mineral density in the female population: evidence from NHANES
Authors: Xiong Rui , Zhang Ning , Han Min
Published: January 2024

Objective
We investigated the association of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity with low bone mineral density (LBMD) in women and different menopausal status groups.
Methods
Based on the five NHANES 2-year cycles data, 1662 female participants aged 40 to 79 with BMD data of the lumbar spine and femoral neck were enrolled. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between MetS, its components, and obesity with the risk of LBMD in overall participants and premenopausal and postmenopausal subgroups.
Results
MetS was negatively associated with the risk of LBMD in the femoral neck but with no significant association in the lumbar spine. Among the components of MetS, waist circumference, and blood glucose showed negative associations with the LBMD risk. Overweight and obese were negatively associated with the LBMD risk in both femoral necks and lumbar spine. In contrast to the premenopausal participants, MetS was negatively associated with the femoral neck LBMD risk in the postmenopausal population.
Conclusion
Our study found no association or negative association between MetS and the risk of LBMD in the female population. Overweight/obese were negatively associated with the risk of LBMD. These associations may be more pronounced in the postmenopausal population than in the premenopausal population.
An investigation into the economic adjustments in metal markets throughout the transition to renewable energy
Authors: Cooper Mason , Reynolds Samantha , Bennett Noah , Hayes Isabella
Published: January 2024

The primary emphasis of this research is on the effect that renewable energy sources have on the profitability of the metal sector. By conducting semi-structured interviews with important persons in the metal industry, the purpose of the research was to get an understanding of the changes, problems, and possibilities that metal firms were experiencing during this transformation. This study's research methodology consisted of conducting in-depth interviews that were semi-structured. We were able to get a comprehensive understanding of the metal business from a variety of perspectives and get a sense of the individuals who work in the sector via these in-depth interviews. After arranging the interviews in accordance with the recurring topics, we gained a great deal of knowledge on the ways in which businesses are adjusting to the requirements of renewable energy. According to the conclusions of the research, the industry is paying greater attention to lithium and rare earth elements, both of which are crucial for applications that include renewable energy. In order to be able to swiftly adapt to changing needs, it is necessary to make significant expenditures in reorganising production lines and investigating alternate ways of material extraction. Significantly, the difficulties of building a reliable supply chain became obvious in a number of important areas. There are risks associated with the sector as a result of the unstable political climates and the ever-changing market circumstances. It is thus necessary for us to research alternate supply sources and stock kinds in order to make the supply chain more resilient and resistant to having problems. Because the research was conducted using a qualitative technique, it is difficult to make more general statistical findings. This is one of the limitations of the study. Furthermore, it is important to note that the scope of the research is restricted to a certain period of time during which changes occur. To put it another way, the study provides all of the participants with essential information that assists in the process of making strategic decisions, improving supply chain operations, and expanding market share. The transition towards green energy in the industry has the potential to promote sustainability and minimise environmental consequences, both of which would have good effects on society. The findings of this study contribute to our comprehension of the ways in which the switch to renewable energy has impacted the bottom line of the metal fabrication business. The article offers a detailed picture of the response of the industry as well as the possible repercussions. It is necessary to maintain a close watch on the firm over a period of time in order to identify patterns, and the qualitative approach may make it more challenging to draw broad generalisations.
Scrutinising Driving Forces: Principal Leadership and Academic Emphasis for Teacher Leadership in Schools
Authors:   Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road Pathumwan Bangkok 10330 Thailand, Mohamed Ahmed
Published: January 2024

Teacher leadership requires empirical evidence to reinforce several antecedent influences identified in recent reviews. This study attempts to examine the relationship between principal leadership and teacher leadership with academic emphasis in schools as a mediator. The study utilised a cross-sectional survey design. To ver¬ify the hypothesised research model, survey data was collected from a sample of 370 teachers working the schools of Maldives. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used for data analysis in this study. Findings revealed that principal leadership has a positive direct effect on teacher leadership and academic emphasis. Findings also demonstrated that academic emphasis is directly related to teacher leadership. The findings affirmed the role of academic emphasis as a significant mediator between principal leadership and teacher leadership. Besides contributing to knowledge in the area of teacher leadership, importance of both principal leadership and academic emphasis in cultivating teacher leadership were highlighted. Principals are recommended to enhance academic emphasis for teacher leadership to thrive.
Integration of ethnomathematics in teaching geometry: a systematic review and bibliometric report
Authors: Kyeremeh Patrick , Kwadwo Awuah Francis , Dorwu Esenam
Published: January 2024

Due to the growing interest in the integration of ethnomathematics in mathematics education, we undertook a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of research on incorporation of ethnomathematics in geometry teaching from 2011 to 2021. Specifically, we addressed the trends on the study topic, such as the distribution of the publication over the past 10 years, journals, countries, and the main topics/themes receiving the most attention as well as its main findings. The search for 37 relevant research articles were done on Google Scholar, Scopus and also, by handsearch of some key journals. Data retrieved were analysed descriptively by using Excel and NVivo. The findings show that literature on the use of ethnomathematics in teaching geometry is mostly produced and consumed in Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Israel. Also, the findings showed that the research topics/themes addressed by literature on ethnomathematics integration in teaching geometry can be grouped into 5 themes: views, practices, effects, challenges, and development of competence. Most of the studies conducted in this area employed ethnography. From the study, it was observed that the number of research article publications relevant to the study has increased exponentially especially from 2018 to 2021. Therefore, it is our believe that this review will aid in the creation of systematic review procedures and reviews that are specifically concerned with the incorporation of ethnomathematics into geometry instruction.
Effect of Nanoadditives on Biodiesel Performance and Emission Parameters: A Review
Authors: Srivastava Divyanshi , Saini Prashant , Upadhyay Supriya
Published: January 2024

The renewable energy source biodiesel has significant advantages over fossil fuels and diesel oil, making it a viable replacement. Many researchers are inventing new methods and ideas for preparing Biodiesel products and have also found that nanoadditive is one of the best alternatives that upgrade fuel properties. Thus, nanoadditive use is in recent demand because of its significant impact on emission reduction. Researchers have used many nanoadditives like TiO2, SiO2, CNT, GO, CeO2, CuO etc.; some show very few changes, but some show magnificent changes. In this paper, a comparative study of nanoadditives is being done to determine the parameters that change by doping nano additive in biodiesel blends and found that mixing nanoadditives change the properties of biodiesel. Thus, many papers will be reviewed on how properties change and the changes in combustion, performance and emission characteristics. Further, we can compare nano additives that show the best result and fewer changes; thus, this will help researchers select the best nano additive for their experiments. In combustion characteristics increase in Cylinder Pressure, Heat Release Rate (HRR) and a decrease in Ignition Delay were founded. In Performance Characteristics doping nanoadditive increases BTE but reduces BSFC & EGT. The significant changes in emission characteristics include an increase in NOX and a decrease in CO, HC, CO2, and smoke. Also, it was found that different nanoadditives showed different results and concluded that CNT and TiO2 showed the best result, and thus they can be used in further experiments.
Thermal Performance of Evacuated Tube Solar Collector using Water and CuO/Water Nanofluid
Authors: Gupta Mangesh , Prasad Ram Bilas , Singh Abhishek
Published: January 2024

This paper describes an experimental study of a heat pipe evacuated tube collector (ETC) with water and CuO/Water nanofluid (CWNF) for water heating application. In this study, the work is divided into three parts: fabrication of thermal system, preparation of CuO/water based nanofluids and performance analysis of thermal system. In the same parameter, a comparison of two systems was performed. Water was left in the evacuated tubes of the first system, and the second system integrated with CuO/water. The experiment was carried out with two distinct water flow rates (0.012 kg/s and 0.018 kg/s) in order to examine the thermal performance of the developed systems. For water flow rates of 0.012 kg/s and 0.018 kg/s, thermal energy efficiency of evacuated tube collector integrated with CWNF was 35.04% and 33.20%, respectively, compared to ETC with water. By improving the performance of ETC, the size of the thermal system might be reduced by 25.95%.
Free Vibration Analysis of Skew Sandwich Plate using Radial Basis Collocation Method
Authors: Singh Jigyasa , Prasad Ram Bilas
Published: January 2024

n this study, the free vibration analysis of a skew sandwich plate is conducted utilizing the Radial Basis Collocation Method (RBCM). Using HSDT, the free vibration response of a skew sandwich plate has been determined. Hamilton's approach is used to get the GDEs, which are then discretized using the RBF. The accuracy and efficiency of the RBCM in predicting the vibration and mode shapes of the skew sandwich plate are demonstrated through a comparison with results obtained from existing analytical and numerical methods. The impact of various parameters on the dynamic response of the plate is analyzed, providing valuable insights into the design and optimization of skew sandwich structures. Findings from the open literature are used to validate the current findings. Examined are the effects of the skew angle, core-to-face thickness ratio, and span-to-thickness ratio on the frequency.
Cationic Chitosan in Wastewater Treatment
Authors: Saiyad Mamta , Shah Nimish , Joshipura Milind , Dwivedi Ankur , Pillai Shibu
Published: January 2024

Treatment of chemical industry wastewater is a challenge for the world to save the environment. There are many processes developed for the treatment of industrial wastewater. Very simple to highly complex methods are invented by different researchers. These methods can be compared on various aspects such as their performance on wastewater, ease of operation, cost, etc. Coagulation and flocculation is one of the most widely used technique for the treatment of wastewater. A wide variety of chemicals are used as coagulants and flocculants and used in different combinations. Very few natural chemicals are used for this role. Natural chemicals are biodegradable, environment-friendly and not harmful to the environment compared to synthetic chemicals/ polymers. Chitosan is one such natural polymer, reported its usefulness in treatment as flocculent. In this paper, The COD is studied, and reported the performance of modified chitosan as a flocculent along with different conventional coagulants. Chitosan has been modified, to improve its performance. A variety of combinations of coagulants and flocculants is used for the treatment of wastewater.