bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring the impact of media use on wellbeing following a natural disaster
Authors: Raney Arthur A. , Ai Amy L. , Oliver Mary Beth
Published: September 2022

Media use can be beneficial in many ways, but little is known about how it might improve wellbeing outcomes following a traumatic natural disaster. Survivors (n= 491) of deadly Hurricane Michael, which struck the Florida (USA) coastline in 2018, completed an online survey, reporting indicators of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and stress (PTSS). A serial mediation model explored how hurricane-related stressors were related to both outcomes, as mediated by approach, avoidant, and support-seeking coping strategies and post-hurricane hedonic, eudaimonic, and self-transcendent media use as coping tools. Factors contributing to each type of post-hurricane media use were also explored. Results indicate that hurricane-related stressors were associated with PTG, serially mediated through approach coping strategies and self-transcendent media use, thus providing some of the first empirical evidence of the longer-term, beneficial wellbeing effects of media use on survivors of trauma. Additionally, hurricane-related stressors were associated with avoidant coping strategies, which were associated with increased eudaimonic media use. However, hedonic and eudaimonic media use were not associated with PTSS or PTG. Finally, factors known to be associated with media use were not predictive of post-hurricane media use, perhaps suggesting that media play a different role in survivors' lives in the months following a traumatic event.
The optimal timing for non-culprit percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease: A pairwise and network meta-analysis of randomized trials
Authors: Feng Yujia , Li Shu , Hu Sihan , Wan Jing , Shao Hua
Published: September 2022

Background and aims

Recently, several randomized trials have shown that patients with multivessel disease (MVD) often pursue complete revascularization during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to improve their prognosis. However, the optimal time for the non-culprit artery has been controversial. This study aimed to determine the optimal strategy for revascularization in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing three revascularization strategies [i.e., complete revascularization at the index procedure (CR), complete revascularization as a staged procedure (SR), or culprit-only revascularization (COR)] in STEMI patients with multivessel coronary artery disease were included. We performed both pairwise and network meta-analyses. Network meta-analysis was performed using mixed treatment comparison models.

Results

17 trials with 8568 patients were included. In the network meta-analysis, the most interesting finding was that staged revascularization increased the risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) compared with complete revascularization at the index procedure [odds ratio (OR): 1.93; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07–3.49]. In the pairwise meta-analysis, complete revascularization reduced the incidence of MACE [risk ratio (RR): 0.62, 95% CI: 0.48–0.79, p < 0.001], mainly because it reduced the probability of unplanned repeat revascularization (RR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.33–0.75, p = 0.001). There were no significant differences in all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, or nonfatal re-myocardial infarction (MI).

Conclusion

Our analysis suggests that complete revascularization should be performed in STEMI patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, and complete revascularization at the index procedure is superior to staged revascularization in reducing the risk of MACE events.
Fully automatic cardiac four chamber and great vessel segmentation on CT pulmonary angiography using deep learning
Authors: Sharkey Michael J. , Taylor Jonathan C. , Alabed Samer , Dwivedi Krit , Karunasaagarar Kavitasagary , Johns Christopher S. , Rajaram Smitha , Garg Pankaj , Alkhanfar Dheyaa , Metherall Peter , O'Regan Declan P. , van der Geest Rob J. , Condliffe Robin , Kiely David G. , Mamalakis Michail , Swift Andrew J.
Published: September 2022

Introduction

Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is an essential test in the work-up of suspected pulmonary vascular disease including pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary embolism. Cardiac and great vessel assessments on CTPA are based on visual assessment and manual measurements which are known to have poor reproducibility. The primary aim of this study was to develop an automated whole heart segmentation (four chamber and great vessels) model for CTPA.

Methods

A nine structure semantic segmentation model of the heart and great vessels was developed using 200 patients (80/20/100 training/validation/internal testing) with testing in 20 external patients. Ground truth segmentations were performed by consultant cardiothoracic radiologists. Failure analysis was conducted in 1,333 patients with mixed pulmonary vascular disease. Segmentation was achieved using deep learning via a convolutional neural network. Volumetric imaging biomarkers were correlated with invasive haemodynamics in the test cohort.

Results

Dice similarity coefficients (DSC) for segmented structures were in the range 0.58–0.93 for both the internal and external test cohorts. The left and right ventricle myocardium segmentations had lower DSC of 0.83 and 0.58 respectively while all other structures had DSC >0.89 in the internal test cohort and >0.87 in the external test cohort. Interobserver comparison found that the left and right ventricle myocardium segmentations showed the most variation between observers: mean DSC (range) of 0.795 (0.785–0.801) and 0.520 (0.482–0.542) respectively. Right ventricle myocardial volume had strong correlation with mean pulmonary artery pressure (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.7). The volume of segmented cardiac structures by deep learning had higher or equivalent correlation with invasive haemodynamics than by manual segmentations. The model demonstrated good generalisability to different vendors and hospitals with similar performance in the external test cohort. The failure rates in mixed pulmonary vascular disease were low (<3.9%) indicating good generalisability of the model to different diseases.

Conclusion

Fully automated segmentation of the four cardiac chambers and great vessels has been achieved in CTPA with high accuracy and low rates of failure. DL volumetric biomarkers can potentially improve CTPA cardiac assessment and invasive haemodynamic prediction.
The “two-step” yielding process of the natural mud under steady and oscillatory shear stress
Authors: Wang Shaohua , He Zhiguo , Gu Hengye , Xia Yuezhang
Published: September 2022

The rheological properties of natural mud are closely related to nautical depth estimation, wave propagation, and morphology evolution of muddy coast. In this study, the rheological properties of the natural mud collected from Luxi Island and Zhoushan Island in China were investigated. Shear stresses in steady state or oscillatory state were imposed on mud samples directly to obtain the yielding process under tidal currents or waves. The results showed that both apparent viscosity and complex viscosity experienced two sharp declines with increasing shear stress, indicating a two-step yielding nature of natural mud. Two yield stresses, namely, static yield stress and fluidic yield stress correspond to the yielding processes of elasticity and viscosity breakdown, respectively. The static yield stress in the oscillatory shear stress tests was lower than that in the steady shear stress tests, and the fluidic yield stress of natural mud in oscillatory shear stress tests was higher than that in the steady shear stress tests. The above phenomenon was explained by the viscoelastic-oscillation theory. Furthermore, the experimental results indicated that the initial storage modulus had a closer connection to both yield stresses in comparison with mud density. This study not only provided a guideline for having a better understanding of the two-step yielding process of natural mud, but will also provide scientific support for the assessment of fluid-mud formation, sediment transport and morphology evolution, the interaction between waves or tidal currents and muddy seabed, and protection of seafloor infrastructures.
Adaptive pathway of summer maize under drought stress: Transformation of root morphology and water absorption law
Authors: Yan Siying , Weng Baisha , Jing Lanshu , Bi Wuxia , Yan Denghua
Published: September 2022

The adaptability of crops reflects the ability to continue to grow in the changing environment. Its adaptability in adversity plays an important role in its own growth and development. The root system is the main organ for crops to absorb water and nutrients, it can adjust its own morphology, physiological, biochemical to improve its water absorption and thus adapt to drought stress. Previous studies mostly focused on the above ground part of crops, but less on the underground part of crops due to the complexity of root observation. In order to study the adaptability of summer maize under different drought conditions, taking “Denghai 618” as the experimental material, with prototype observation and micro root window as technical support, under the ventilation shed, two treatment groups of light drought (LD) and moderate drought (MD) and the same rehydration after drought are set, as well as the normal water supply for control inside the shed (CS) and Control outside the shed (COS). The changes of root morphology and the law of root water absorption under drought and Rehydration after different drought were analyzed. The results showed that: 1) Under drought stress, the root system of maize adapts to drought by thinning and increasing fine roots to improve root water absorption. Under the MD, the root adaptation to drought is more obvious: promoting root growth. Root biomass was no significant difference between the drought treatment group and the CS. The root biomass of the drought treatment group was significantly lower than that of the COS due to the thinner root system. 2) The total amount of root water absorption in the CS and COS increased steadily with the increase of days. In the drought treatment group, the root water absorption decreased with the increase of drought degree, that is, COS > CS > LD > MD. This study provides a reference for revealing the self-adaptive regulation mechanism of summer maize roots under drought conditions.
A study on the effect of site response on California seismic hazard map assessment
Authors: Gallahue Molly M. , Salditch Leah , Lucas Madeleine C. , Neely James , Stein Seth , Abrahamson Norman , Williams Tessa , Hough Susan E.
Published: September 2022

Prior studies have repeatedly shown that probabilistic seismic hazard maps from several different countries predict higher shaking than that observed. Previous map assessments have not, however, considered the influence of site response on hazard. Seismologists have long acknowledged the influence of near-surface geology, in particular low-impedance sediment layers, on earthquake ground-motion at frequencies of engineering concern. Although the overall effects of site response are complex, modern ground-motion models (GMMs) account for site effects using terms based on VS30, the time-averaged shear-wave velocity in the upper 30 m of the Earth’s surface. In this study, we consider general implications of incorporating site terms from modern GMMs using site-specific VS30 as a proxy in probabilistic seismic hazard maps for California. At the long periods (1–5 s) that affect tall buildings, site terms amplify the mapped hazard by factors of 1–3 at many sites relative to maps calculated for the standard reference soft-rock site condition, VS30 = 760 m/s. However, at the short periods of ground-motion that are the main contributors to peak ground acceleration (PGA) and thus affect smaller structures, only negligible effects occur due to nonlinear deamplification of strong ground-motion at high frequencies. Nonlinear deamplification increases as the shaking level increases. For very strong shaking, deamplification can overcome the linear amplification, yielding net deamplification. We explore the implications of these results for the evaluation of hazard maps. Because site effects do not change the maps appreciably at short periods, we can exclude site response as an explanation for why the maps overpredict historically observed shaking as captured by the California Historical Intensity Mapping Project (CHIMP) dataset. The results are expected to be generalizable to regions that are comparable to California in terms of structure and seismicity rates. In low-to-moderate-seismicity regions where the hazard reflects weaker shaking, nonlinear site response is expected to be less important for the hazard.
Mathematical and computational awareness before and after the pandemic
Authors: Bubnó Katalin , Takács Viktor László
Published: September 2022

Mathematical thinking and computational thinking go hand in hand. Both of them are based on awareness of problem-solving. However, consciousness does not exist without a proper mental and psychological state. Formerly we examined some mathematical psychological aspects that could have an impact on both mathematical and computational problem-solving. We taught novice computational programming by solving mathematical word problems. Our first experiments were performed years before the pandemic. In this study, we present the results of a new experiment on the same topic, but this was performed during the pandemic homeschool interval. The programming environment and the teaching material were the same as before. We present our results based on our homeschool experience. We expect that the results of homeschool study groups are not worse than the results of before-pandemic study groups in reaching the aforementioned aim. The experiment proved our previous hypothesis that we can successfully teach solving mathematical word problems in a computational environment, and at the same time with the help of word problems, we can successfully teach the basic elements of computer programming.
Daily requirement of softgel thyroxine is independent from gastric juice pH
Authors: Virili Camilla , Capriello Silvia , Stramazzo Ilaria , Brusca Nunzia , Santaguida Maria Giulia , Gargano Lucilla , Bagaglini Maria Flavia , Bruno Giovanni , Severi Carola , Centanni Marco
Published: September 2022

Background

Softgel levothyroxine (LT4) preparation showed a better in vitro dissolution profile at increasing pH as compared to tablet LT4 preparation. Clinical studies suggested a better performance of softgel LT4 preparation in patients with gastric disorders but whether this finding is related to gastric juice pH variation in vivo is not known.

Methods

Twenty-eight hypothyroid patients (24F/4M; median age=50 treated with tablet LT4 (median dose= 1.65 µg/kg/day) and with stable thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) values on target (<0.8-2.5> mU/l) have been shifted to softgel LT4 preparation. The dose of softgel LT4 has been titrated to obtain a similar individual serum TSH value. All subjects followed a specific treatment schedule, taking LT4 in fasting condition and then abstaining from eating or drinking for at least 1 hour. Owing to the presence of long-lasting dyspepsia or of already known gastric disorders, all patients underwent endoscopy, upon informed consent. Gastric juice has been collected during endoscopy to measure gastric pH. Then we plotted the dose of LT4 with the gastric pH obtained in vivo, before and after the switch tablet/softgel preparation in all patients.

Results

Upon the switch tablet/softgel preparation, the therapeutic LT4 dose was very slightly reduced (-6%) in the whole sample. However, the individual variations revealed the existence of two populations, one without any dose reduction (A) and the other showing a dose reduction >20% (B). Upon matching with the actual gastric pH, patients with normal pH (A: n=17; 14F/3M, median 1.52) no showed a lower softgel LT4 requirement. Instead, among patients with reduced gastric acid production (B: n=11; 10F/1M, median pH 5.02) the vast majority (10/11; 91%, p<0.0001) benefited from a lower dose of softgel LT4 (median = -23%, p<0.0001). Interestingly, the dose of LT4 in tablet correlated with pH value (Spearman’s ρ =0.6409; p = 0.0002) while softgel dose was independent from gastric juice pH (Spearman’s ρ =1.952; p = 0.3194).

Conclusions

These findings provide evidence that softgel LT4 preparation is independent from the actual gastric pH in humans and may represent a significant therapeutic option in patients with increased LT4 requirement, owed to disorders impairing the gastric acidic output.
An improved method for fault diagnosis of rolling bearings of power generation equipment in a smart microgrid
Authors: Cao Yu , Cheng Xu , Zhang Qiong
Published: September 2022

In the construction of smart microgrids for petrochemical enterprises, the generating unit is an important part, and the rolling bearings are one of the key components of the generator. The condition of the rolling bearing directly affects the safe operation of the entire generating unit and an accurate fault diagnosis of the bearing not only can improve the stability of the smart microgrid, but also can reduce the risk of loss of the factory. This study proposes an improved fault diagnosis method based on variational modal decomposition (VMD) and a convolutional neural network (CNN). The VMD algorithm was used to remove random noise in the original signal and a CNN was used to extract useful data from the vibration signal processed by VMD. Since the modal number and penalty parameter of the VMD are difficult to choose and they have a profound impact on the decomposition results, differential evolution (DE) was used as the optimization method and envelope entropy was used as the fitness function to optimize the VMD parameters. Since it is difficult to ensure the best fit of the hyper-parameters of CNN, this study proposes a method for using the DE algorithm to obtain suitable hyper-parameters for the CNN, and then used the CNN to diagnose a fault. The test results using the vibration data of Case Western Reserve University show that the combination of VMD and CNN can improve the convergence speed more than 10% and the accuracy to over 99.6%.
Optimize Well Placement Based on Genetic Algorithm and Productivity Potential Maps
Authors: He Yifan , Chang Pengxu , Liu Yingxian , Chen Jianbo , Li Chao
Published: September 2022

Determining the optimal well location is a challenging task because the effects of geological and engineering variables on reservoir performance are often highly nonlinear and multimodal. The computational requirements for this problem based on automatic optimization are extensive, as many functional evaluations are required, each of which requires a complete reservoir simulation. Therefore, reducing the optimization time and improving the optimization effect is the key to promote the wide application of automatic optimization technology. In this study, we present a technique that combines the genetic algorithm (GA) with the helper method, productivity potential maps (PPMs) (GA + PPMs), to improve the effect of well placement optimization. The PPMs are generated by three typical methods: analysis method, numerical simulation method, and fuzzy system method. Numerical tests are carried out on three well placement methods in the PUNQ-S3 oilfield, namely, the original well placement and well placement proposed by GA and GA + PPMs plans. The result shows that generating the PPMs by an analytical method is the best choice. The cumulative oil production (COP) generated by GA + PPMs increased by 20.95% and 8.09%, respectively, compared with the original well scheme and GA well scheme, which demonstrates that the initial well location determined by reservoir engineers based on the PPMs has a significant impact on GA performance. Overall, the combination of GA and productivity potential maps is promising for this challenging task.
Performance analysis of a metal-supported intermediate-temperature solid oxide electrolysis cell
Authors: Zhang Mengru , Wang Enhua , Mao Jingwen , Wang Hewu , Ouyang Minggao , Hu Haoran
Published: September 2022

Hydrogen as an energy carrier is critical for building a zero-carbon emission society. Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) is a feasible technology for hydrogen production with a high efficiency. Currently, the durability of SOEC systems still needs to be improved and technical issues need to be overcome. Reducing the working temperature is helpful for the lifetime. A good cell design to avoid delamination is also very important. In this study, the performance of a metal-supported intermediate-temperature SOEC is estimated using gadolinium doped ceria Gd0.1Ce0.9O2-δ (GDC) as the main electrolyte. First, a mathematical model is setup for the metal-supported SOEC. The effects of the porosity and tortuosity of the electrodes are analyzed. Subsequently, the influences of the working temperature, pressure, and steam concentration are estimated. Finally, the partial oxygen pressure inside the multi-layer electrolyte is determined and the risk of delamination is discussed. The results indicate that increasing the operation temperature can decrease the activation, concentration, and ohmic overpotentials simultaneously while increasing the pressure also can enhance the performance. Compared with the conventional design of Ceres Power, the new design using 10Sc1CeSZ as the barrier layer can increase the partial oxygen pressure of the GDC layer close to the cathode such that decomposition of GDC is avoided. Meanwhile, the partial oxygen pressure inside the multi-layer electrolyte close to the anode declines and the risk of delamination is reduced. Hence, the new design of the SOEC is beneficial for the durability of metal-supported SOEC.
Numerical simulation of natural convection and heat transfer in a molten pool with embedded cooling tubes
Authors: Zhang Li , Guo Pengya , Yuan Yidan , Liang Yangyang , Guo Yong , Li Wei , Guo Qiang , Ma Weimin
Published: September 2022

This study described the natural circulation and heat transfer of a molten pool in a specifically designed core catcher conceived for a pressurized water reactor. In addition to external cooling, the core catcher features internal cooling tubes embedded in the molten pool. To investigate the coolability in such a configuration, first, a full-scale core catcher simulation is conducted to give a preliminary study under a real SA situation. Results illustrated that cooling efficiency can be remarkably enhanced due to the inner tubes. Then a test facility of the 2D slice with the geometrical scaled factor of 1:4 has been developed, and molten salt (NaNO3–KNO3) experiments will be implemented in the near future. This study also performed a pre-test simulation using molten NaNO3–KNO3 as a stimulant to study the heat transfer and flow characteristics of the salt pool. The melt convection in the test section was represented by a two-dimensional mesh with a WMLES turbulence model using the FLUENT code. The simulation captured the heat transfer enhancement by the cooling tubes as expected, and the results would help decide the proper test matrix and improvement of instrumentation required to obtain the necessary data for code validation.
A new simplified sensorless direct stator field-oriented control of induction motor drives
Authors: Youssef Omar E. M. , Hussien Mohamed G. , Hassan Abd El-Wahab
Published: September 2022

A field-orientation scheme is a typical control technique of induction motors to obtain sophisticated performance. The stator field-oriented control is less sensitive to parameter variations than the rotor field-oriented control. In addition, the estimation of the stator flux is more accurate than that of the rotor flux. Therefore, the stator flux system is considered a good choice for variable speed drives. However, the traditional configuration of the system includes four PI controllers which need effort in tuning. In this article, simple calculations are proposed such that the configuration and performance of the stator field-oriented control systems are improved by including only two PI controllers. In addition, with the aid of the machine phase axes, a simple procedure for the speed estimation target is suggested to effectively estimate the rotor speed of the machine with a direct estimation without any need for a PI controller or additional observers in the speed observer procedure. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Experimental investigation of the film cooling performance by triangular-shaped thin plates on inclined cylindrical holes
Authors: Choi Jaemun , Choi Jaehun , Kwon Hwabhin , Jang Hoyong , Park Heesung
Published: September 2022

Experimental investigations have been conducted to improve the cooling effectiveness of film-cooling technology. A multiple row of cylindrical holes at the flat surface was considered by inclining the holes at 35° along the streamwise direction. A low-speed wind tunnel with the main flow speed of 10 m/s was devised to create a cross flow at a Reynolds number of 196,167 and five blowing ratios of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1, and 2. The proposed triangular-shaped thin plate and flop at the cylindrical film cooling hole were investigated using flow visualization and thermographic techniques. The resulting cooling performances were also experimentally evaluated and compared with respect to the different film-cooling hole configurations. The typical film cooling hole configuration of cylindrical hole shape shows the cooling effectiveness of 0.1 at blowing ration of 1.0. It should be denoted that this cooling effectiveness is exemplary value of wide range of gas turbine applications. We also experimentally evaluates the cooling effectiveness in order to valid our experimental method. Meanwhile, with triangular-shaped thin plate-flop, the flow detachment is successfully prevented with requiring 8% increase of discharge coefficient. In addition, the film flow is stable even at the distant downstream, resulting in enhanced cooling performance compared to the cylindrical and triangular-shaped thin plate. Consequently, a 242.7% improvement in film cooling effectiveness can be achieved with a triangular-shaped thin plate-flop than with a cylindrical hole owing to its enhanced film coverage.
A review of energy internet research considering interactive energy: The blockchain perspective
Authors: Wang Guofeng , Liu Yuchen , Zhang Cheng , Zhang Youbing
Published: September 2022

With the proposal of carbon peak and neutrality goals in China, new technologies such as multi-energy synergy technology, cyber physical systems, and multi-market integration technology have ushered in unprecedented opportunities and challenges. Energy Internet (EI) technology considering interactive energy has come into being. Interactive energy is a mechanism to achieve system balance by integrating economic means and power grid control technology, using “value” as a coordination method. It can promote the development and utilization of distributed renewable energy in the energy internet technology, so as to promote the clean, low-carbon, and intelligent development of energy. Blockchain can provide effective support for the development and application of EI because of its decentralized, open, autonomous, and information-immutable characteristics. In order to better cope with the challenges existing in EI, this article designs an analysis framework for EI from the blockchain perspective, which contains five dimensions, including engineering dimension, technical dimension, economic dimension, environmental dimension, and social dimension. It further refines the five dimensions aiming to comprehensively summarize the research status of the EI, which can promote its application in the development of all industries in society.
A game engine based application for visualising and analysing environmental spatiotemporal mobile sensor data in an urban context
Authors: Helbig Carolin , Becker Anna Maria , Masson Torsten , Mohamdeen Abdelrhman , Sen Özgür Ozan , Schlink Uwe
Published: September 2022

Climate change and the high proportion of private motorised transport leads to a high exposure of the urban population to environmental stressors such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, noise, and heat. The few fixed measuring stations for these stressors do not provide information on how they are distributed throughout the urban area and what influence the local urban structure has on hot and cold spots of pollution. In the measurement campaign “UmweltTracker” with 95 participants (cyclists, pedestrians), data on the stressors were collected via mobile sensors. The aim was to design and implement an application to analyse the heterogeneous data sets. In this paper we present a prototype of a visualisation and analysis application based on the Unity Game Engine, which allowed us to explore and analyse the collected data sets and to present them on a PC as well as in a VR environment. With the application we were able to show the influence of local urban structures as well as the impact of the time of day on the measured values. With the help of the application, outliers could be identified and the underlying causes could be investigated. The application was used in analysis sessions as well as a workshop with stakeholders.
Use of stable isotopes for assessing urbanization impacts on freshwater fishes
Authors: Burbank Jacob , Drake D. Andrew R. , Power Michael
Published: September 2022

Continued urban development is inevitable with ongoing human population growth. Urbanization has profound negative impacts on aquatic environments and the organisms that occupy those environments. Urbanization results in habitat stressors including sedimentation, alterations to flow, increases in water temperature, changes in riparian habitat, and changes in the food supply of freshwater systems. In the face of continuing urbanization there is an urgent need to employ effective and practical tools to evaluate the impacts on freshwater fish populations and to better understand the implications of urban development for lotic aquatic ecosystems. Stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O δ34S and δ2H) are useful and cost-effective tools that can help highlight and evaluate urbanization impacts on fish populations. Here we review recent developments in stable isotope-based methods for studying urbanization impacts on freshwater fish populations. We identified and review published studies that have implemented stable isotopes to evaluate urban impacts, discuss promising stable isotope-based approaches that have not been commonly applied to the assessment of urban impacts, and highlight the advantages and limitations of the various approaches. In particular, we show how stable isotope analyses can help address both the ecological and physiological impacts of urban development on freshwater fishes in hopes of inspiring more frequent use of the approaches in urbanization studies. We elucidate how stable isotopes can be used to understand the impacts of urbanization on the feeding ecology, habitat and thermal occupancy, and field metabolic rates of freshwater fishes. It was found that stable isotope-based approaches are underutilized to examine the impacts of urbanization on freshwater fishes. We suggest such approaches can be applied more frequently in freshwater environments globally to help assess and actively mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization on freshwater fishes.
Spatio-temporal dynamics of fish assemblage in the Datong and Xiaotong rivers, karst tributaries in the upper Yangtze River drainage: Implications for ecological adaptation and conservation of fish in rivers
Authors: Xiang Peng , Wang Xiaodong , Liu Kan , Wu Bo , Liang Cong , Song Zhaobin
Published: September 2022

The Datong and Xiaotong rivers are karst tributaries in the upper Yangtze River drainage and represent considerable habitat diversity that contributes to high fish diversity and rich fishery resources in the two rivers. During the few decades, fish resources have abruptly declined due to overfishing, water pollution and habitat degradation. In order to further strengthen conservation and restoration of fish resources and provide scientific support for fishery management in these rivers, the temporal and spatial dynamics of fish assemblage in the Datong and Xiaotong rivers were investigated in the present study. A total of 45 species were captured at 30 sample sites during four surveys conducted from March 2016 to January 2017. Species diversity and richness both increased from upstream to downstream in the two rivers. The fish assemblages significantly differed between river reaches, while did not differ in significantly between 4 months. The spatial variations in the abundance of Rhynchocypris oxycephalus, Zacco platypus, Triplophysa bleekeri, Sinogastromyzon szechuanensis, Platysmacheilus nudiventris, Sinibrama taeniatus, Saurogobio gymnocheilus, Pseudorasbora parva, Pseudobagrus truncates and Opsariichthys bidens were considered to contribute most to the spatial pattern of fish assemblages. The lack of a temporal pattern of the fish assemblage in the rivers might be attributed to ecological habits of short-distance migration and diversified mesohabitats with riffles and pools for fish spawning, feeding or overwintering within a very short river range. Our results suggest the spatio-temporal dynamics of fish assemblages is highly adapted to the habitat characteristics in the two karst rivers. We recommend that fish conservation of these tributaries be focused on the mesohabitats, particularly the many pools and riffles.
Breathing can be dangerous: Opportunistic fungal pathogens and the diverse community of the small mammal lung mycobiome
Authors: Salazar-Hamm Paris S. , Montoya Kyana N. , Montoya Liliam , Cook Kel , Liphardt Schuyler , Taylor John W. , Cook Joseph A. , Natvig Donald O.
Published: September 2022

Human lung mycobiome studies typically sample bronchoalveolar lavage or sputum, potentially overlooking fungi embedded in tissues. Employing ultra-frozen lung tissues from biorepositories, we obtained fungal ribosomal RNA ITS2 sequences from 199 small mammals across 39 species. We documented diverse fungi, including common environmental fungi such as Penicillium and Aspergillus, associates of the human mycobiome such as Malassezia and Candida, and others specifically adapted for lungs (Coccidioides, Blastomyces, and Pneumocystis). Pneumocystis sequences were detected in 83% of the samples and generally exhibited phylogenetic congruence with hosts. Among sequences from diverse opportunistic pathogens in the Onygenales, species of Coccidioides occurred in 12% of samples and species of Blastomyces in 85% of samples. Coccidioides sequences occurred in 14 mammalian species. The presence of neither Coccidioides nor Aspergillus fumigatus correlated with substantial shifts in the overall mycobiome, although there was some indication that fungal communities might be influenced by high levels of A. fumigatus. Although members of the Onygenales were common in lung samples (92%), they are not common in environmental surveys. Our results indicate that Pneumocystis and certain Onygenales are common commensal members of the lung mycobiome. These results provide new insights into the biology of lung-inhabiting fungi and flag small mammals as potential reservoirs for emerging fungal pathogens.
Case Report: How whole-genome sequencing-based cell-free DNA prenatal testing can help identify a marker mhromosome
Authors: Kleinfinger Pascale , Brechard Marie , Luscan Armelle , Trost Detlef , Boughalem Aicha , Mylene Valduga  , Serero DR Stéphane , Costa Jean-Marc , Lohmann Laurence
Published: September 2022

A supernumerary marker chromosome (SMC) is a structurally abnormal chromosome that cannot be characterized by conventional banding cytogenetics. Marker chromosomes are present in 0.075% of prenatal cases. They are associated with variable phenotypes, ranging from normal to severely abnormal, and the prognosis is largely dependent on the results of further cytogenomic analysis. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a marker chromosome following prenatal screening in a 39-year-old pregnant patient. The patient had a normal first trimester ultrasound but was high-risk for fetal chromosome anomalies based on the results of maternal serum parameters. Chorionic villus sampling was performed, and analysis of chorionic villi revealed the presence of two identical marker chromosomes. In the interest of a rapid identification of the markers, we performed noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) together with chorionic villus sampling. A pericentromeric 29 Mb duplication of chromosome 20: dup (20) (p13q11.21) was identified and thereafter confirmed by targeted metaphasic FISH. Whole-genome sequencing-based NIPT was instrumental in rapid characterization of the SMCs and allowed us to obviate the need for multiple expensive and time-consuming FISH analyses.
SARS-CoV-2 coinfections with variant genomic lineages identified by multiplex fragment analysis
Authors: Lueking Richard , Clark Andrew E. , Narasimhan Madhusudhanan , Mahimainathan Lenin , Muthukumar Alagarraju , Larsen Christian P. , SoRelle Jeffrey A.
Published: September 2022

Immunocompromised patients can experience prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infections in the setting of a lack of protectivity immunity despite vaccination. As circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains become more heterogeneous, concomitant infection with multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants has become an increasing concern. Immunocompromised patient populations represent potential reservoirs for the emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants through mutagenic change or coinfection followed by recombinatory events. Identification of SARS-CoV-2 coinfections is challenging using traditional next generation sequencing pipelines; however, targeted genotyping approaches can facilitate detection. Here we describe five COVID-19 cases caused by coinfection with different SARS-CoV-2 variants (Delta/Omicron BA.1 and Omicron BA.1/BA.2) as identified by multiplex fragment analysis.
Differential expression of circRNAs of testes with high and low sperm motility in Yili geese
Authors: Wu Yingping , Li Haiying , Zhao Xiaoyu , Baki Gulnar , Ma Chen , Yao Yingying , Li Jiahui , Yao Yang , Wang Lin
Published: September 2022

The aim of this study was to explore the potential biological function of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the sperm motility traits of Xinjiang Yili geese, and to provide a reference for analyzing the mechanism of regulation of Yili geese sperm motility. The 10 selected Xinjiang Yili Geese with high or low sperm motility (five for each group) were 3 years old, in good health, and were kept in the same feeding conditions. Yili geese were slaughtered for the collection of testicular tissue and high-throughput sequencing technology was used to screen differentially expressed circRNAs for bioinformatics analysis. Combined with the previously screened miRNAs related to the sperm motility of Yili geese, the circRNAs miRNAs regulatory network was constructed. The results showed that a total of 26,311 circRNAs were obtained from testicular tissues with high and low sperm motility, and 173 DECs were screened between the two groups (p < 0.05, |log2Foldchange|>0), of which 82 were up-regulated and 91 were down-regulated. Functional analysis of the source genes of these DECs showed that the source genes were mainly involved in biological processes. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the source genes of DECs were mainly enriched in autophagy-animal, ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and other pathways. Furthermore, the visual regulatory network of differential circRNA-miRNA-mRNA was constructed, including 20 circRNAs, 18 miRNAs and 177 mRNAs, and nine core regulatory circRNAs were screened, including novell_circ_0045314, novel_circ_0019994 and novel_circ_0020422, etc., targeting ppy-mir-16, hsa-mir-221–3p, gga-mir-499–5p, etc. The results suggest that circRNAs may interact with miRNAs to further regulate mRNA to regulate sperm motility in Yili geese, so as to provide a reference for analyzing the molecular mechanism of sperm motility regulation.
Comprehensive analysis of somatic mutator-derived and immune infiltrates related lncRNA signatures of genome instability reveals potential prognostic biomarkers involved in non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Yang Cai-Zhi , Yang Ting , Liu Xue-Ting , He Can-Feng , Guo Wei , Liu Shan , Yao Xiao-Hui , Xiao Xi , Zeng Wei-Ran , Lin Li-Zhu , Huang Zhong-Yu
Published: September 2022

Background: The function and features of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are already attracting attention and extensive research on their role as biomarkers of prediction in lung cancer. However, the signatures that are both related to genomic instability (GI) and tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) have not yet been fully explored in previous studies of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Method: The clinical characteristics, RNA expression profiles, and somatic mutation information of patients in this study came from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to construct genomic instability-related lncRNA signature (GIrLncSig). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed to predict the potential functions of lncRNAs. CIBERSORT was used to calculate the proportion of immune cells in NSCLC.

Result: Eleven genomic instability-related lncRNAs in NSCLC were identified, then we established a prognostic model with the GIrLncSig ground on the 11 lncRNAs. Through the computed GIrLncSig risk score, patients were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups. By plotting ROC curves, we found that patients in the low-risk group in the test set and TCGA set had longer overall survival than those in the high-risk group, thus validating the survival predictive power of GIrLncSig. By stratified analysis, there was still a significant difference in overall survival between high and low risk groups of patients after adjusting for other clinical characteristics, suggesting the prognostic significance of GIrLncSig is independent. In addition, combining GIrLncSig with TP53 could better predict clinical outcomes. Besides, the immune microenvironment differed significantly between the high-risk and the low-risk groups, patients with low risk scores tend to have upregulation of immune checkpoints and chemokines. Finally, we found that high-risk scores were associated with increased sensitivity to chemotherapy.

Conclusion: we provided a new perspective on lncRNAs related to GI and TIME and revealed the worth of them in immune infiltration and immunotherapeutic response. Besides, we found that the expression of AC027288.1 is associated with PD-1 expression, which may be a potential prognostic marker in immune checkpoint inhibitor response to improve the prediction of clinical survival in NSCLC patients.
Immunogenic cell death related risk model to delineate ferroptosis pathway and predict immunotherapy response of patients with GBM
Authors: Feng Songshan , Liang Xisong , Li Jing , Wang Zeyu , Zhang Hao , Dai Ziyu , Luo Peng , Liu Zaoqu , Zhang Jian , Xiao Xiaoxiong , Cheng Quan
Published: September 2022

Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a type of cell death that leads to the regulation and activation of the immune response, which is marked by the exposure and delivery of damage‐associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in the tumor microenvironment. Accumulating evidence has revealed the significance of ICD-related genes in tumor progression and therapeutic response. In this study, we obtained two ICD-related clusters for glioblastoma (GBM) by applying consensus clustering, and further constructed a risk signature on account of the prognostic ICD genes. Based on the risk signature, we found that higher risk scores were associated with worse patient prognosis. Besides, the results illustrated that ferroptosis regulators/markers were highly enriched the high-risk group, and ferroptosis were correlated with cytokine signaling pathway and other immune-related pathways. We also discovered that high-risk scores were correlated to specific immune infiltration patterns and good response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) treatment. In conclusion, our study highlights the significance of ICD-related genes as prognostic biomarkers and immune response indicators in GBM. And the risk signature integrating prognostic genes possessed significant potential value to predict the prognosis of patients and the efficacy of ICB treatment.
Biogeographic role of the Indonesian Seaway implicated by colonization history of purpleback flying squid, Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (Lesson, 1830), in the Indo-Pacific Ocean
Authors: He Lijun , Xu Shasha , Weese David A. , Zhang Jie , Ren Huimin , Tang Fenghua , Sha Zhongli , Zhang Jing
Published: September 2022

As a bio]diversity hotspot, the East Indies (Coral) Triangle possesses the highest biodiversity on the earth. However, evolutionary hypotheses around this area remain controversial; e.g., center of origin, center of accumulation, and center of overlap have been supported by different species. This study aims to answer the evolutionary influence of the Indonesian Seaway on the biodiversity of the Coral Triangle by recovering the evolutionary origins of a wide-ranging ommastrephid squid (Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) based on integrated molecular and oceanographic clues from the Indo-Pacific. Three new clades were revealed; viz., clade I from the South China Sea, clade II from the northern East Indian Ocean, and clade III from the southern East Indian Ocean. These two Indian Ocean clades formed a monophyly closely related to clade IV from the Central-Southeast Pacific. Clade VI from the central Equatorial Pacific and clade V from the northern Eastern Pacific sit in basal positions of phylogenetic trees. Ancestral Sthenoteuthis was inferred to have originated from the Atlantic Ocean and sequentially dispersed to the northern East Pacific, central Equatorial Pacific, and West Pacific through the open Panama Seaway and being transported by westward North Equatorial Current. The East Indian Ocean was likely colonized by an ancestral population of clade IV from the Southeast Pacific. Westward South Equatorial Circulation could have promoted transoceanic migration of S. oualaniensis through the wide paleo-Indonesian Seaway. Sea level regression since the Miocene and the closure of the Indonesian Seaway at 4–3 Ma were responsible for the population genetic differentiation of S. oualaniensis in the Indo-Pacific. Therefore, the Indonesian Gateway played an important role in influencing marine organisms’ migration and population differentiation through controlling and reorganizing circulations in the Indo-Pacific.