bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrating qualitative and quantitative data in sport injury research: An interdisciplinary procedure
Authors: Hausken-Sutter Solveig Elisabeth , af Gennäs Klara Boije , Schubring Astrid , Grau Stefan , Jungmalm Jonatan , Barker-Ruchti Natalie
Published: November 2022

Background To understand and prevent sport injuries, scholars have employed different scientific approaches and methods. Traditionally, this research has been monodisciplinary, focusing on one subdiscipline of sport science and applying qualitative or quantitative methods. Recently, scholars have argued that traditional approaches fail to address the complexity of sport injuries, and, as a way forward, have called for pluralistic approaches involving the application of both qualitative and quantitative methods. At present, pluralist sport injury research is at the theoretical level and best practice examples are rare. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to (1) outline the Interdisciplinary Case Analysis Procedure (ICAP); and (2) provide implications for future interdisciplinary sport injury analysis. Method We adopt an established definition and operationalisation of interdisciplinary research and a case study approach to develop and pilot the ICAP for qualitative and quantitative sport injury datasets. The development and piloting of ICAP was possible with the use of injury datasets from the interdisciplinary research project “Injury-free children and adolescents: Towards better practice in Swedish football” (the FIT project). All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines. Result The ICAP consists of three stages and works as a guide for interdisciplinarity, where the team first creates a common ground and a more comprehensive understanding of sport injuries; second, collates analysed qualitative and quantitative sport injury data into a multilevel data catalogue; and third, conducts an integrated discussion of data. Conclusion The integrated discussion is key to create new insights into sport injury aetiology and requires researchers to be creative, flexible, and acknowledge other scientific perspectives throughout the procedure. The ICAP strengthens the integrated analysis of qualitative and quantitative data and may be applied to address other complex phenomena.
Timeliness and completeness of weekly surveillance data reporting on epidemic prone diseases in Uganda, 2020–2021
Authors: Nansikombi Hildah Tendo , Kwesiga Benon , Aceng Freda L. , Ario Alex R. , Bulage Lilian , Arinaitwe Emma S.
Published: November 2022

Introduction: Disease surveillance provides vital data for disease prevention and control programs. Incomplete and untimely data are common challenges in planning, monitoring, and evaluation of health sector performance, and health service delivery. Weekly surveillance data are sent from health facilities using mobile tracking (mTRAC) program, and synchronized into the District Health Information Software version 2 (DHIS2). The data are then merged into district, regional, and national level datasets. We described the completeness and timeliness of weekly surveillance data reporting on epidemic prone diseases in Uganda, 2020–2021. Methods We abstracted data on completeness and timeliness of weekly reporting of epidemic-prone diseases from 146 districts of Uganda from the DHIS2.Timeliness is the proportion of all expected weekly reports that were submitted to DHIS2 by 12:00pm Monday of the following week. Completeness is the proportion of all expected weekly reports that were completely filled and submitted to DHIS2 by 12:00pm Wednesday of the following week. We determined the proportions and trends of completeness and timeliness of reporting at national level by year, health region, district, health facility level, and facility ownership. Results National average reporting timeliness and completeness was 44% and 70% in 2020, and 49% and 75% in 2021. Eight of the 15 health regions achieved the target for completeness of ≥ 80%; Lango attained the highest (93%) in 2020, and Karamoja attained 96% in 2021. None of the regions achieved the timeliness target of ≥ 80% in either 2020 or 2021. Kampala District had the lowest completeness (38% and 32% in 2020 and 2021, respectively) and the lowest timeliness (19% in both 2020 and 2021). Referral hospitals and private owned health facilities did not attain any of the targets, and had the poorest reporting rates throughout 2020 and 2021. Conclusion Weekly surveillance reporting on epidemic prone diseases improved modestly over time, but timeliness of reporting was poor. Further investigations to identify barriers to reporting timeliness for surveillance data are needed to address the variations in reporting.
Sensitivity of acidified tamponed antigens in quality control test validation methodologies
Authors: Dias Anderson Silva , Galvão Mayra de Freitas , de Faria Guilherme Canhestro , Caldeira George Afonso Vitor
Published: November 2022

Brucellosis is responsible for great economic losses and because it is a zoonotic, chronic, infectious, contagious disease, there is a great interest in its eradication in the cattle rearing in Brazil. One of the most effective measures to combat it is the vaccination of the animals and the diagnosis of positive animals, which contributes to the sanitation of the rearing. For this, it is necessary to use a practical, accessible, rapid and sensitive diagnostic methodology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the uncertainty of the test of relative activity (sensitivity) for acidified tamponed antigen (ATA). This antigen is used for the diagnosis of Brucellosis caused by smooth strains of Brucella ssp. Thus, we verified the efficacy of some parameters such as selectivity, precision (limit of detection and intermediate accuracy) and reproducibility. In the analyzes performed in the tests, the performances of standard antigens were considered. It was verified that the acidified tamponed antigen quality control method showed adequate selectivity, limit of detection, intermediate accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility in the verification of sensitivity tests for brucellosis antigens in the LFDA-MG. No difference was verified in the results of the various replicates. The ATA test, using a stable and sensitive antigen that shows high agreement with the confirmatory test, has a high potential to contribute to the identification of positive animals and sanitation of the herd, as well as to reduce the frequency of brucellosis and its subsequent eradication of the bovine herd.
Longitudinal evolution of 68 Ga-Pentixafor uptake in the remote myocardium early after acute myocardial infarction and its association with left ventricular remodelling
Authors: Wu Ping , Xu Li , Wang Qi , Ma Xiaofang , Wang Xinzhu , Wang Hongliang , He Sheng , Ru Huibin , Zhao Yuting , Xiao Yuxin , Zhang Jingying , Wang Xinchao , An Shaohui , Hacker Marcus , Li Xiang , Zhang Xiaoli , Wang Yuetao , Yang Minfu , Wu Zhifang , Li Sijin
Published: November 2022

Purpose

Previous studies have initially reported accompanying elevated 18F-FDG inflammatory signal in the remote area and its prognostic value after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Non-invasive characterization of the accompanying inflammation in the remote myocardium may be of potency in guiding future targeted theranostics. In this study, we sought to focus on the longitudinal evolution of 68Ga-Pentixafor signals in the remote myocardium following AMI.
Methods Twelve AMI rats and six Sham rats serially underwent 68Ga-Pentixafor imaging at pre-operation, and 5, 7, 14 days post-operation. Maximum and mean standard uptake value (SUV) and target(myocardium)-to-background ratio (TBR) were assessed to indicate the uptake intensity. Gated 18F-FDG imaging and immunofluorescent staining were performed to obtain cardiac function and responses of pro-inflammatory and reparative macrophages, respectively.
Results The uptake of 68Ga-Pentixafor in the infarcted myocardium peaked on day 5 (P < 0.001), retained at day 7 (P < 0.01), and recovered at day 14 after AMI (P > 0.05), paralleling with the rise-fall pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages (P < 0.05). Correlated with the peak signal in the infarct territory, 68Ga-Pentixafor uptake in the remote myocardium on day 5 early after AMI significantly increased (AMI vs. Sham: SUVmean, SUVmax, and TBRmean: all P < 0.05), and strongly correlated with contemporaneous EDV and/or ESV (SUVmean and TBRmean: both P < 0.05). The transitory remote signal recovered as of day 7 post-AMI (AMI vs. Sham: P > 0.05).
Conclusions Corresponding with the peaked 68Ga-Pentixafor signal in the infarct area, the signal in the remote region also elevated accordingly and led to left ventricular remodelling early after AMI, which was attributed to the early surge of pro-inflammatory response. Further studies are warranted in the remote myocardium to clarify the post-inflammation mechanism and the prognostic value.
Optimum Processing Conditions for the Maximum Crystallization Rate of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate)
Authors: Janchai Khunanya , Kida Takumistu , Yamaguchi Masayuki , Sunagawa Takenobu , Okura Tetsuo
Published: November 2022

The effect of thermal and shear histories on the crystallization rate of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) was studied. As with other crystalline polymers, the shear history greatly affected the crystallization rate when the shear rate was beyond a critical value, i.e., the inverse of the Rouse relaxation time. Even after the formation of extended chain crystals, spherulite texture was clearly discernable. It grew from certain points on the extended chain crystals. Consequently, a row of spherulites appeared along the flow direction. The resin temperature in the molten state was also significant. When the sample was heated to 170°C, which is beyond the main melting peak in the differential scanning calorimetry curve, unmolten crystals did not affect the linear viscoelastic properties. They acted as effective nucleating agents for the rest of the polymer during cooling. Therefore, the shear history hardly affected the crystallization rate and the number of spherulites.
Energy transfer mechanisms in binary tree-structured oscillator with nonlinear energy sinks
Authors: Bak Bendegúz Dezső , Rochlitz Róbert , Kalmár-Nagy Tamás
Published: November 2022

We study a binary tree-structured multi-degree-of-freedom nonlinear oscillator with impulsive and continuous excitations. The response of this model is studied for excitations that are applied to the largest masses. It is shown how choosing the mass of the smallest blocks influence the response of the system regarding the dissipation and how efficient targeted energy transfer is realized in the system. The simplified frequency energy plot is introduced as a means of analyzing the response of multi-degree-of-freedom systems for impulsive excitations. For continuous excitations it is shown that the smallest masses (nonlinear energy sinks) are active only inside specific nonlinear frequency bands when the excitation amplitude is sufficiently high.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2020) 34 · 70 · 76
Cell-attribute aware community detection improves differential abundance testing from single-cell RNA-Seq data
Authors: Maity Alok , Teschendorff Andrew
Published: November 2022

Variations of cell-type proportions within tissues could be informative of biological aging and disease risk. Single-cell RNA-sequencing offers the opportunity to detect such differential abundance patterns, yet this task can be statistically challenging due to the noise in single-cell data, inter-sample variability and because differential abundance (DA) patterns are often characterized by small effect sizes. Here we present a novel DA-testing paradigm called ELVAR, which, unlike the popular Louvain clustering method, takes cell attribute information into account when inferring cell-states within the high-dimensional single-cell manifold. We validate ELVAR using both simulated and real single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-Seq data, demonstrating improved inference over the popular Louvain algorithm and competing DA-testing methods. In lung tissue, ELVAR detects a decrease in the naïve Cd4 + T-cell proportion with age, as well as a shift of alveolar macrophages towards an M2 polarization program. In colon tissue, ELVAR predicts increased stem-cell and T-regulatory fractions in polyps preceding adenoma. In summary, leveraging cell attribute information when inferring cell communities can denoise single-cell data and help retrieve more robust cell states for subsequent DA-testing. ELVAR is available as an open-source R-package.
Single-Cell RNA-Seq Reveals Changes in Cell Subsets in The Cortical Microenvironment During Acute Phase of Ischemic Stroke Rats
Authors: Zhao Yijin , Xiao Chongwu , Chen Hui , Zhu Rui , Zhang Meimei , Liu Haining , Zhang Xiaofeng , Zeng Qing , Huang Guozhi
Published: November 2022

Ischemic stroke, the most common type, has threatened human life and health. The treatment options for ischemic stroke are limited due to the complexity of the pathological process and cellular information. Therefore, acute ischemic stroke rats were established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and the cell populations in the cortex of MCAO rats were identified utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). We identified 21 brain clusters with cell-type specific gene expression patterns and cell subpopulations, as well as 42 marker genes representing different cell subpopulations. The number of cells in clusters 0–3 increased significantly in the MCAO group compared to the sham group, and nine cell subpopulations exhibited remarkable differences in the number of genes. Subsequently, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed on the top 40 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the six cell subpopulations with significant differences. The results indicated that the biological processes and signaling pathways are involved in different cell subpopulations. In conclusion, scRNA-seq revealed the diversity of cell differentiation and the unique information of cell subpopulations in the cortex of rats with acute ischemic stroke, providing a novel insight for exploring the pathological process and drug discovery in the stroke.
Glycolytic metabolism and differentiation remodeling of hematopoietic stem cells in lung cancer
Authors: Guo Ziqi , Pu Shiming , Yang Liu , Liu Yaping , Li Xin , Zhao Hongxia , Zhou Zuping , Yang Cheng
Published: November 2022

Objective
Lung cancer may be accompanied by the abnormal activity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which rapidly proliferate and are biased toward myeloid differentiation, leading to abnormal immune cell development and consequently tumor immune disorders. However, the mechanism underlying the altered behavioral function of HSCs in the tumor state remains unclear.
Methods
Meanwhile, glucose metabolism, which plays an important role in the self-renewal and differentiation of HSCs, is remodeled in lung carcinogenesis. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between glucose metabolism and the abnormal activity of HSCs in a tumor environment. A LLC mouse model of lung cancer was established. Metabolomics assays were used to analyze the differences of metabolites and the metabolic pathways between HSCs of normal (N-HSCs) and tumor-bearing mice (T-HSCs).
Results
Pyruvate metabolic changes were observed the most. T-HSCs exhibited up-regulated oxidative phosphorylation, elevated mitochondrial number and activity, ATP and ROS levels. Injection of the gluconeogenesis inhibitor 2-DG into tumor-bearing mice resulted in altered proliferation and apoptosis of HSCs, reduced differentiation of myeloid cells, and decreased the myeloid-derived suppressor cells.
Conclusions
The present results suggest that glucose metabolic state in HSCs is altered during tumorigenesis. Glucose metabolism remodeling in tumor HSCs could change their differentiation preferences.
Moderating effects of uric acid and sex on non-motor symptoms in asymmetric Parkinson's disease
Authors: Constantin Ioana Medeleine , Voruz Philippe , Péron Julie Anne
Published: November 2022

Background.
Non-motor symptoms (NMS) are an important early feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), encompassing a variety of cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms, that seem to manifest differently depending on the asymmetry of motor symptoms. Different factors, such as uric acid (UA) and sex, also seem to influence NMS expression in PD. However, the interactions between UA, sex, and motor symptom asymmetry remains to be better understood in PD.
Methods.
Participants taking part in the Parkinson’s Progression Marker Initiative were studied based on the side of motor-symptom asymmetry and sex. Three-way interaction modeling was used to examine the moderating effects of sex and UA in time on NMS.
Results.
Significant three-way interactions were highlighted at one year follow-up between motor symptom asymmetry, UA and sex, for immediate memory, delayed memory, processing speed and sleepiness for female patients only. Also, female patients exhibiting predominantly right-sided motor symptoms demonstrated the most preserved NMS in the presence of lower serum UA levels.
Conclusion.
These findings suggest that in the earliest stages of the disease, serum UA and sex moderate NMS expression differently depending on motor asymmetry. This holds important clinical implications for symptom management in early-stage PD patients.
Semantic Attention guided multi-dimension information complementary network for medical image classification
Authors: Huang Yixiang , Zhang Lifu , Song Ruoxi
Published: November 2022

Biomedical image analysis, such as tissue and disease classification by using small-scale data, is a challenging and meaningful problem for clinical diagnosis. In previous works, most classical methods are using 2D convolution to extract feature from a single direction without making information of z-axis into consideration and haven’t considered that information representations are different in every view direction. In this letter, an attention mechanism-based model is proposed to extract and utilize feature more efficiently under the consideration of various information representation from direction to direction. To reach this goal, the work mainly consists of three parts of characteristics. The first characteristic is a plug-and-play structure design with parallel feature extractor in the different axial directions of which is dedicated to solving the problem of losing spatial structure feature by traditional 2D convolution. The second characteristic is intensive skip connection blocks employed to optimize the phenomenon of insufficient transit of information flow which cause the deep layer to fail in learning biomedical attribute. The last step is a designed spatial attention module, which’s applied to capture the long-range dependencies , suppress irrelated information and enhance significant spatial feature globally. The evaluation on various dataset shows that proposed model can achieve a competitive performance with comparison to other existed methods and reach the best 85.18 accuracy on average.
Comparison of the Total and Hidden Blood Loss in Patients Undergoing Single-Level Open and Unilateral Biportal Endoscopic Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A retrospective case control study
Authors: Peng Yu-Jian , Fan Zhi-Ying , Wang Qian-Liang , Dai Jun , Zhang Qian-Zhong-Yi , Cao Jun-Yin , Liu Xiao-Feng , Yan Jun
Published: November 2022

Purpose
This study aimed to compare total blood loss (TBL) and hidden blood loss (HBL) in patients undergoing single-level open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (O-TLIF) and unilateral biportal endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (ULIF).
Methods
A total of 53 patients who underwent ULIF and 53 patients who underwent O-TLIF from March 2020 to July 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. The Nadler’s formula was employed to estimate the patient’s blood volume (PBV), Gross’s formula to estimate TBL, and Sehat’s formula to estimate HBL. The obtained data were then analyzed with independent t test、chi-squared test, and analysis of covariance.
Results
TBL and measured blood loss (MBL) in ULIF group (326.86 ± 223.45 ml, 99.00 ± 72.81ml) was significantly lower than O-TLIF group (427.97 ± 280.52ml, 270.66 ± 102.34ml). Nevertheless, the HBL in ULIF group was higher than that in O-TLIF group (227.86 ± 221.75 ml vs 157.31 ± 268.08 ml), however this was not statistically significant (p = 0.143). The HBL was 69.71 ± 23.72% of TBL in ULIF group and 36.76 ± 18.79% of TBL in O-TLIF group. Patients in ULIF group had lower TBL and MBL, shorter duration of drainage, lower postoperative anemia, and shorter postoperative hospital stay compared to those in O-TLIF group.
Conclusions
Perioperative HBL should not be neglected in patients undergoing ULIF or O-TILF, as it accounts for a large percentage of TBL in both groups. ULIF is associated with lower TBL and MBL, postoperative anemia, shorter postoperative hospital stays compared with O-TLIF.
Characterization and utility of novel monoclonal antibodies to cholera toxin B subunit
Authors: Garcia Noel Verjan , Santisteban Ian , Dent Matthew , Matoba Nobuyuki
Published: November 2022

Cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) is a potent immunomodulator exploitable in mucosal vaccine and immunotherapeutic development. To aid in the characterization of pleiotropic biological functions of CTB and its variants, we generated a panel of anti-CTB monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). By ELISA and surface plasmon resonance, two mAbs, 7A12B3 and 9F9C7, were analyzed for their binding affinities to cholera holotoxin (CTX), CTB, and EPICERTIN: a recombinant CTB variant possessing mucosal healing activity. Both 7A12B3 and 9F9C7 bound efficiently to CTX, CTB, and EPICERTIN with equilibrium dissociation constants at low to sub-nanomolar concentrations but bound weakly, if at all, to Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit. In a cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) assay using Caco2 human colon epithelial cells, the 7A12B3 mAb was found to be a potent inhibitor of CTX, whereas 9F9C7 had relatively weak inhibitory activity. Meanwhile, the 9F9C7 mAb effectively detected CTB and EPICERTIN bound to the surface of Caco2 cells and mouse spleen leukocytes by flow cytometry. Using 9F9C7 in immunohistochemistry, we confirmed the preferential localization of EPICERTIN in colon crypts following oral administration of the protein in mice. Collectively, these mAbs provide valuable tools to investigate the biological functions and preclinical development of CTB variants.
Screening of Q-markers for the wine-steamed Schisandra chinensis decoction pieces in improving allergic asthma
Authors: Qu Zhongyuan , Bing Yifan , Zhang Tianlei , Zheng Yan , Wu Shuang , Ji Chenfeng , Li Wenlan , Zou Xiang
Published: November 2022

Background

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) posits that Chinese medicinal materials can only be used for clinical use after being processed and prepared into decoction pieces. Schisandra Chinensis Fructus (derived from the dried and mature fruits of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.) has been traditionally used as an antiasthmatic, kidney strengthening, and hepatoprotective agent for 2000 years. TCM clinic believes that the decoction pieces of wine-steamed Schisandra chinensis (WSC) is advantageous over the raw decoction pieces of Schisandra chinensis (RSC) for cough and asthma. Studies have shown that steaming with wine can promote the dissolution of ingredients. However, the relationship between the changes of components in the decoction pieces of WSC and the therapeutic effect remains unclear.

Methods

The efficacy of the decoction of RSC and WSC were compared based on allergic asthma rats. The potential bioactive components in the serum of the WSC treatment group and the changes of chemical composition in the decoction pieces before and after wine steaming were determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) analysis to speculate quality markers (Q-markers) related to the efficacy of WSC, which was further verified based on the zebrafish model of inflammation.
Results: The results indicated the effect of RSC decoction pieces in improving allergic asthma was increased after being steamed with wine. Moreover, 12 components were detected in the serum of the WSC treatment group, which were conjectured to be the potential effective components. Among them, 5 components, such as Schisandrin, Schisandrol B, Schisandrin A, Schisandrin B, and Gomisin D, have higher dissolution rates than RSC after steaming with wine. The validation test based on the inflammatory zebrafish model showed that these 5 ingredients exerted their effects in a dose-dependent manner, demonstrating that they were Q-markers for WSC in the treatment of allergic asthma.
Conclusion: This study clarified the changes of components of the decoction pieces of RSC and WSC and the Q-markers related to the WSC efficacy, which provide precious value for expanding the application of WVS and establishing its exclusive quality standard.
Feasibility of school music trips with safe cohorts during high SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates: a longitudinal observation study
Authors: Pudasaini Samipa , Boldt Kira Louisa , Hitzek Jennifer , Möckel Linus , Slagman Anna , Theuring Stefanie , Mockenhaupt Frank , Möckel Martin
Published: November 2022

Background
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, school-related leisure activities were either completely prohibited or only feasible to a limited extent. Especially group musical activities carry a high risk of transmission. Up until now, the question of whether they can be safely re-implemented, has hardly been systematically examined. Therefore, we aimed at investigating the feasibility of school music trips with a hygiene and testing concept in times of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates and the Omicron wave.
Methods
We accompanied a one-week school music trip (January 2022). 81 students and 14 teachers of three big bands, mainly from two schools in Berlin, took part. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) pool tests and a questionnaire before departure as well as a follow-up survey after return were performed. During the trip, a hygiene concept (including daily antigen tests) was applied. Primary endpoint was the occurrence of positive SARS-CoV-2 tests during the study period. The health status before and afterwards as well as the individually perceived fear and risk of a getting a SARS-CoV-2 infection were defined as secondary endpoints. An evaluation of the music trip experience was likewise done.
Results
95 PCR pool tests and 95 survey responses were evaluated from outward journey. 79 follow-up questionnaires were sent in. One positive SARS-CoV-2 pool was detected, containing one positive participant who was excluded from the journey. One student turned positive in antigen-testing (day four), was isolated and sent home after PCR confirmation testing. In both cases, the Omicron variant was detected. After return, a reduction of physical symptoms was visible among students, especially regarding cold signs (p = 0.002, McNemar test). The perceived risk of infection increased in the children’s group afterwards (p = 0.019, Wilcoxon rank test). All participants indicated that they want to attend such a music trip again.
Conclusion
School music trips under pandemic conditions are feasible with a hygiene concept and a safe cohort, regardless of the high incidence rates during the Omicron wave. Although we found an increase in perceived risk of infection among students, this did not negatively affect the perception of the trip experience.
The Face Mask-Associated Dry Eye Symptoms in Workers Who Collecting Novel Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Sample During the Covid-19 Outbreak
Authors: Yu Jie , Lu Chunguang , Zhang Liang , Ren Jintao , Liu Dongning
Published: November 2022

Objectives
To evaluate the impact of face mask wearing on dry eye symptoms in health care professionals who collecting novel coronavirus nucleic acid sample during Omicron outbreak.
Methods
This cross-sectional online survey enrolled a total of 1135 health workers and social workers who were dispatched to the front line to participate in the fight against the epidemic. The ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire was also administered to quantify Mask-Associated Dry Eye (MADE) symptoms. The difference between wearing the face shield and safety-goggle was also investigated.
Results
In this study, the average score was 13.39 (3.39–23.39) and the prevalence of MADE symptoms including mild (23.62%), moderate (12.8%) and severe (4.09%) in Face Shield Group and mild (22.00%), moderate (11.67%) and severe (2.67%) in Safety-Goggles Group. The prevalence of MADE symptoms was higher in female (41.80%) and 50–65 age (64.65%).
Conclusions
A proportion of health and social workers suffer from dry eye symptoms related with wearing mask during the COVID-19 outbreak. MADE interventions should be implemented among health workers during the COVID-19 outbreak to reduce MADE symptoms effects and prevent long-term adverse outcomes.
Recycling solar-grade silicon from end-of-life photovoltaic modules by Al-Si solvent refining
Authors: Li Yanlei , Tuo Yiheng , Zhang Debao , Lu Xiaoman , Liu Lindong
Published: November 2022

The development of the solar market is fast in the past decades, and the number of solar module installations is huge. The solar modules have a lifetime of about 25 years and should be recycled after that. The Al-BSF module is the first kind of large-scale installed module and will come to its end of life in the next few years. The recycling of silicon in the Al-BSF module is investigated in this work. The components of the module are separated, and the silicon in the module is collected and then purified to remove boron and phosphorus by Al-Si solvent refining. It is found that impurity boron and phosphorus in this work have little influence on the solidification behavior of the hyper-eutectic Al-Si melt. The Al-Si solvent refining removed impurity elements boron and phosphorus in the silicon. Kinetics has a great effect on boron and phosphorus removal, and boron and phosphorus contents in purified silicon decrease with decreasing cooling rate. The boron and phosphorus contents in silicon are lowered to 0.28 and 0.03 ppmw respectively after two times of Al-Si solvent refining with the cooling rate of 5.55*10− 4 K/s, and it meets the requirement of solar-grade silicon.
CNTools: A computational toolbox for cellular neighborhood analysis from multiplexed images
Authors: Tao Yicheng , Feng Fan , Luo Xin , Reihsmann Conrad , Hopkirk Alexander , Saunders Diane , Brissova Marcela , Parker Stephen , Liu Jie
Published: November 2022

Recent studies show that cellular neighborhoods play an important role in evolving biological events such as cancer and diabetes. Therefore, it is critical to accurately and efficiently identify cellular neighborhoods from spatially-resolved single-cell transcriptomic data or single-cell resolution tissue imaging data. In this work, we develop CNTools, a computational toolbox for end-to-end cellular neighborhood analysis on annotated cell images, comprising both the identification and analysis steps. It includes state-of-the-art cellular neighborhood identification methods and post-identification smoothing techniques, with our newly proposed Cellular Neighbor Embedding (CNE) method and Naive Smoothing technique, as well as several established downstream analysis approaches. We applied CNTools on three real-world CODEX datasets and evaluated identification methods with smoothing techniques quantitatively and qualitatively. It shows that CNE with Naive Smoothing overall outperformed other methods and revealed more convincing biological insights. Suggestions on how to choose identification methods and smoothing techniques according to input data are provided at last.
Growth rate and projected age at sexual maturity for immature hawksbill turtles and green turtles foraging in the remote marine protected area of Aldabra Atoll
Authors: Sanchez Cheryl , Bunbury Nancy , Mortimer Jeanne A , A'Bear Luke , Betts Michael , von Brandis Rainer , Burt April J , Cooke Lorraine , de Crommenacker Janske van , Currie Jock C , Doak Naomi , Fleischer-Dogley Frauke , Mederic Emma , Mels Bruno , Pistorius Pierre , Richards Heather , Casale Paolo
Published: November 2022

Changes in marine ecosystems from human stressors, and concerns over how species will respond to these changes have emphasized the importance of understanding and monitoring crucial demographic parameters for population models. Long-lived, migratory, marine vertebrates such as sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to changes. Life-history parameters like growth in body size can be largely influenced by environmental processes which can impact population growth. We analyzed a 40-year (1981–2021) capture-mark-recapture dataset from the protected UNESCO World Heritage Site, Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles, to estimate key population parameters, including body growth, for immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). Curved carapace length (CCL) ranged from 34.3–110.9 cm (mean ± SD: 51.0 ± 11.4 cm, n = 1191) for green turtles and 28.7–89.4 cm (47.7 ± 14.4 cm, n = 538) for hawksbill turtles. Recapture events, with an 11-month minimum period, revealed a mean annual growth rate of 3.2 ± 1.5 cm year-1 for green turtles (n = 75) and 2.8 ± 1.4 cm year-1 for hawksbill turtles (n = 110). Hawksbill turtles exhibited a non-monotonic growth rate while no significant growth-size relationship was detected for green turtles. Green turtle mean annual growth per 10-cm size class was highest in the larger size classes. Hawksbill turtle growth rate was highest in the larger size classes (50‒69.9 cm) then declined in the largest size class (80‒79.9 cm). Per the growth functions, green turtles and hawksbill turtles may spend > 8 and 18 years, respectively, using Aldabra as a foraging ground.
An efficient method for high-density multimodal salt-and-pepper noise removal of MRI images
Authors: Ebrahimnejad Javad , Naghsh Alireza
Published: November 2022

Medical image noise reduction is a significant and challenging area in image processing. A new adaptive window-based solution for the removal of high-density multimodal salt-and-pepper noise of the brain MRI images is proposed in this paper. In this efficient method, for each pixel of the noisy input image, an adaptive n x n window is considered in the neighborhood of that pixel, where n depends on the noise value. The higher the noise density, the larger the window size in which healthy pixels are found. If they are not noisy, the pixels of this window are weighted according to their distance from the desired pixel. The greater the distance, the less weight they gain. Then, the weighted sum of the neighboring pixels is averaged, and the noisy pixel replaces with the resulting value. To evaluate the proposed method against multimodal salt-and-pepper noise, which simultaneously appears in an image from 1–98%, 208 images from seven MRI databases are applied. The results show the excellent performance of the proposed method. The mean Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) of whole databases is 29.3465. As a preprocessing step, the efficient proposed method shows highly accurate results on the brain MRI images. After applying the noise removal method, the quality and the Structural Similarity (SSIM) increased. In this study, in addition to removing multimodal noise in an image, noise with a specific density (single mode) in each image is also removed with similar or better results.
Activation of NFAT by HGF and IGF-1 via ARF6 and its effector ASAP1 promotes uveal melanoma metastasis
Authors: Yoo Jae Hyuk , Richards Jackson , Shin Donghan , Pryor Rob , Sorensen Lise , Sun Zhonglou , So Wonmi , Park Garam , Wolff Roger , Truong Amanda , McMahon Martin , Grossmann Allie , Harbour William , Zhu Weiquan , Odelberg Shannon
Published: November 2022

Preventing or effectively treating metastatic uveal melanoma (UM) is critical because it occurs in about half of patients and confers a very poor prognosis. There is emerging evidence that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) promote metastasis and contribute to the striking metastatic hepatotropism observed in UM metastasis. However, the molecular mechanisms by which HGF and IGF-1 promote UM liver metastasis have not been elucidated. ASAP1, which acts as an effector for the small GTPase ARF6, is highly expressed in the subset of uveal melanomas most likely to metastasize. Here, we found that HGF and IGF-1 hyperactivate ARF6, leading to its interaction with ASAP1, which then acts as an effector to induce nuclear localization and transcriptional activity of NFAT1. Inhibition of any component of this pathway impairs cellular invasiveness. Additionally, knocking down ASAP1 or inhibiting NFAT signaling reduces metastasis in a xenograft mouse model of UM. The discovery of this signaling pathway represents not only an advancement in our understanding of the biology of uveal melanoma metastasis but also identifies a novel pathway that could be targeted to treat or prevent metastatic uveal melanoma.
Study on Effect of O 2 /H 2 O on CH 4 and NO x Removal with NTP
Authors: Li Hongyu , Cai Yunkai , Lü Lin
Published: November 2022

In this paper, the influence mechanism of O2/H2O/CO2 on the removal of CH4 and NOx by non-thermal plasma (NTP) combined with selective catalytic reduction of NOx by CH4 (NTP-CH4-SCR) were investigated. The results show that the increase of NTP energy density (0 J/L-491 J/L) promoted the CH4 removal but inhibited the NOx removal in NTP-CH4-SCR. In CH4-SCR, H2O could significantly reduce catalyst activity, adding 0.5% H2O decreased the removal efficiency of CH4 and NOx from 30–2.9% and 58.4–1.8% respectively. In NTP-CH4-SCR, the increase of H2O content (0.5%-10.4%) contributed to formation of oxidizing free radicals such as OH and HO2, thus the CH4 removal efficiency increased from 24.1–37.4%. The increase of O2 content (0%-10%) promoted the adsorption of NO and the reaction of adsorption products with CH4 oxidation products, causing the CH4 removal efficiency increased from 1.3–32.3% and NOx removal efficiency increased from 1.5–61.6% in CH4-SCR. Increasing O2 (0–10%) produced more O and HO2 radicals in NTP-CH4-SCR, resulting in the increase of CH4 removal efficiency from 18.6–44.9%. However, these O and HO2 radicals would react with N radicals to form NO2, NO3 et al., thus decreasing NOx removal efficiency from 68–40.8%. The change of CO2 concentration has little effect on CH4 and NOx removal efficiency.
A Matlab code of topology optimization by imposing the implicit floating projection constraint
Authors: Huang Xiaodong
Published: November 2022

This paper presents a Matlab code to implement the three-field floating projection topology optimization (FPTO) method using the linear material interpolation scheme. The material penalization scheme in the traditional element-based topology optimization approaches makes an optimal solution being close to 0/1 to avoid handling a large number of 0/1 constraints of the design variables. Instead, the implicit floating projection constraint in the FPTO method numerically simulates 0/1 constraints of the design variables so that even a linear material interpolation scheme can be employed. By gradually tightening 0/1 constraints, more and more design variables are pushed to 0/1 until an optimized element-based design with a clear topology is accurately represented by a smooth design. The implicit floating projection constraint provides a numerical engine for topology optimization, which is fundamentally different from the physical engine by material penalization. The Matlab code in this paper will focus on the numerical implementation of such an implicit constraint integrated with the common-used optimizer, e.g., optimality criteria (OC) or the method of moving asymptotes (MMA), as well as the extraction and evaluation of the smooth design. The Matlab code of the three-field FPTO method is also extended to other topology optimization problems. The provided Matlab code enables the readers to understand the FPTO method better and test this newly-developed topology optimization method for their own topology optimization problems.
GREB1L overexpression associates with good clinical outcomes in breast cancer
Authors: Dong Ke , Geng Chenchen , Zhan Xiaohong , Sun Zhi , Pu Qian , Li Peng , Song Haiyun , Zhao Guanghui , Gao Haidong
Published: November 2022

Background
Breast cancer is a malignant tumor with the highest incidence among women in the world. GREB1L is a protein coding gene. Previous studies have shown that GREB1L played an important role in lung adenocarcinoma and gastric adenocarcinoma. Currently, there is no relevant report about its role in breast cancer.
Methods
The Cancer Genome Atlas database was used to compare the expression level of GREB1L; TISIDB website was used for prognosis analysis; LinkedOmics database was used to predict the potential biological mechanism of GREB1L in breast cancer; Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the GREB1L expression level in breast tissue; Western blot was used to detect the GREB1L expression level in cell lines; Transwell assays, CCK8 cell proliferation assays and clone formation assays were used to detect the migration, invasion and proliferation and clone formation abilities of cells.
Results
GREB1L was highly expressed in breast cancer tissues and breast cancer cells; KEGG enrichment analysis suggested that GREB1L might participate in the regulation of Hedgehog signaling pathway; GREB1L affected the migration and invasion abilities of MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, but not affected their proliferation and clone formation abilities. The overexpression of GREB1L in breast cancer predicted a favorable prognosis.
Conclusion
These results showed that GREB1L was involved in the development of breast cancer, and it may be a potential molecular marker to predict the prognosis of breast cancer.
Application of 4D Two-Colour LIF to Explore the Temperature Field of Laterally Confined Turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
Authors: Kashanj Sina , Nobes David S.
Published: November 2022

Recent studies show the significant effect of the third dimension and flow unsteadiness of laterally confined Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RBC). However, there are limited studies investigating 4D flow properties. The application of 4D two-colour laser-induced fluorescence to explore a laterally confined RBC at high Rayleigh number of Ra = 9.9 × 107 and Prandtl number of Pr = 6.1 is investigated using a scanning laser system. A two-colour, two dyes approach was employed to resolve the laser sheet intensity variations due to refractive index variations caused mainly by the generation of thermal plumes. Two temperature-sensitive fluorescent dyes with opposite sensitivities were used to enhance the overall temperature sensitivity to 7.3 % /℃. Details of the experimental procedure and optical system employed to reach such a high sensitivity is demonstrated. From the whole field temperature distribution, the dimensionless heat transfer coefficient, the Nusselt number, and its evolution was calculated for both hot and cold boundaries. Temperature field and Nusselt number obtained from 3D and 2D fields are reported to compare the results for these two scenarios. Thermal plumes were found to have a conical shape in the laterally confined RBC compared to the conventional mushroom shape. From visualization of the time-resolved 3D temperature field and 2D distribution of the Nusselt number, it was also found that only by volumetric measurement, temporal and spatial variations of the temperature and heat transfer can be evaluated. This shows that to evaluate the classic and ultimate theories, volumetric measurement is required for a coherent understanding of the physics.
Point-of-care Diagnosis and Monitoring of Hypofibrinolysis in the Critically Ill: Results from a Feasibility Study.
Authors: Coupland Lucy A. , Rabbolini David J. , Schoenecker Jonathan G. , Crispin Philip J. , Miller Jennene J. , Ghent Tony , Medcalf Robert L. , Aneman E. Anders
Published: November 2022

Background
In critical conditions such as sepsis, severe trauma, COVID-19 and non-COVID acute respiratory failure, hypofibrinolysis is associated with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome and death. The mechanisms underpinning hypofibrinolysis may include reduced tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and/or plasmin effect due to elevated inhibitor levels, reduced expression and/or exhaustion. This study in critically ill patients with hypofibrinolysis aimed to evaluate the ability of t-PA and plasminogen supplementation to restore fibrinolysis assessed by bedside viscoelastic testing (VET).
Methods
Prospective observational and interventional studies were undertaken in 28 critically ill patients identified as hypercoagulant and hypofibrinolytic using standard ClotPro VET. Hypercoagulation was defined as above normal values for clot amplitude on the EX-test (tissue factor (TF) activated coagulation) or FIB-test (TF activated coagulation with platelet inhibition). Hypofibrinolysis was defined as a clot lysis time > 300 seconds on the TPA-test (TF activated coagulation with t-PA accelerated fibrinolysis). In experimental VET, repeat TPA-tests were spiked with additional t-PA and/or plasminogen and the effect on lysis time determined. In a hypofibrinolytic patient, alteplase was administered intravenously over a 24-hr period with standard ClotPro VET repeated frequently throughout to monitor the effect on coagulation and fibrinolysis.
Results
In the ex-vivo studies, distinct response groups emerged with increased fibrinolysis observed following (i) additional t-PA supplementation only, or (ii) combined plasminogen and t-PA supplementation. A baseline TPA-test lysis time of > 1000 sec associated with the latter group. In the interventional study, alteplase administered as a 2-hr bolus (25 mg) followed by a 22-hr infusion (1 mg/hr) resulted in a gradual reduction in serial TPA-test lysis times.
Conclusions
ClotPro viscoelastic testing, the associated TPA-test and the novel spiked ex-vivo assays may be utilised to (i) investigate the potential mechanisms of hypofibrinolysis, (ii) guide corrective treatment, and (iii) monitor in real-time the treatment effect. Such a precision-medicine and personalised treatment approach to the management of hypofibrinolysis has the potential to increase treatment benefit, whilst minimising adverse events in hypofibrinolytic critically ill patients.
Trial Registration:
VETtiPAT ARF, a clinical trial evaluating the use of ClotPro-guided tissue plasminogen activator (alteplase) administration in hypofibrinolytic patients with acute respiratory failure is ongoing (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05540834, registered 15 September 2022, retrospectively registered).
Effect of trabeculectomy on corneal clarity in primary open-angle glaucoma patients
Authors: IRGAT Saadet GÜLTEKİN , ÖZCURA Fatih , ALTUNEL Orhan
Published: November 2022

Purpose
To examine possible changes in Scheimpflug corneal densitometry 12 months after trabeculectomy and compare these measurements with healthy controls.
Methods
In the patient group, corneal densitometry with Scheimpflug Pentacam HR corneal topography was evaluated in three different corneal regions (0–2, 2–6, 6–10 mm) and four quadrants (upper, lower, temporal, nasal) before trabeculectomy and 12 months after surgery. It was compared with the control group. The number and duration of use of IOP-lowering agents, daily applications, and benzalkonium chloride (BAC) content were recorded before surgery.
Results
Mean IOP from 25.8 ± 4.7 to 14.5 ± 3.0 mm Hg (p < 0.001) and amount of pressure reducing agents from 3.5 ± 0.5 to 0.4 ± 0.5 ( P < 0.001) there was a statistically significant decrease. 85% of the topical agents contained benzalkonium chloride.Total corneal densitometry values at the 12th month before and after surgery in the POAG patient group were significantly decreased in all zones and quadrants except the nasal quadrant in the 2–6 mm zone and the temporal quadrant in the 6–10 mm zone. There was no statistically significant difference in all zones and quadrants when compared with the control group after surgery (p > 0.05).
Conclusion
Glaucoma surgeries not only reduce eye pressure but also protect corneal health.