bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictive utility of a novel observational assessment of child coping
Authors: Stanger Sarah B. , Abaied Jamie L.
Published: October 2021

Objectives

This study examined the preliminary reliability and predictive and incremental validity of a novel system of coding observational assessments of children's coping behavior during a laboratory stress task using the Responses to Stress theoretical framework. Specifically, this study tested whether observations of child coping predicted child adjustment (i.e., internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and coping efficacy) overtime in middle childhood.

Methods

Child coping was observed in a community, pilot sample of children (N = 65, M age = 9.06) during a difficult star‐tracing task. At baseline and six‐month follow‐up, children reported on their responses to stress and coping efficacy and parents reported on children's internalizing and externalizing problems.

Results

The Coping Coding System was highly reliable and predicted unique variance in child adjustment over time. Longer duration of engagement coping predicted greater coping efficacy and internalizing problems over time. The direction of association between disengagement coping and internalizing and externalizing problems depended on whether the disengaged behavior involved verbalizations.

Conclusions

Coping observations in the context of a challenge task contributed to individual differences in children's psychological adjustment, above and beyond child self‐report of coping.
A latent class examination of affinity for aloneness in late adolescence and emerging adulthood
Authors: Borg Meghan E. , Willoughby Teena
Published: October 2021

Affinity for aloneness (i.e., an enjoyment of solitude) has been associated with negative adjustment, but it may depend on whether solitude is motivated by social anxiety. Thus, the current study investigated differences in affinity for aloneness in late adolescents and emerging adults while controlling for social anxiety. In a sample of late adolescents (N = 739, Mage = 16 years) and a sample of emerging adults (N = 600, Mage = 25 years), four groups were identified (an Affinity for Aloneness group that was not socially anxious, a Low group that scored low on affinity for aloneness and social anxiety, and two socially anxious groups). The prevalence of the Affinity for Aloneness group was high, and negative adjustment only predicted the likelihood of being in the socially anxious groups. Thus, negative adjustment appears to be linked to social anxiety rather than affinity for aloneness, providing evidence that it is necessary to account for social anxiety when studying affinity for aloneness to avoid over‐pathologizing solitude.
Cryopreservation alters the immune characteristics of platelets
Authors: Wood Ben , Padula Matthew P. , Marks Denese C. , Johnson Lacey
Published: October 2021

Background

Cryopreserved platelets are under clinical evaluation as they offer improvements in shelf‐life and potentially hemostatic effectiveness. However, the effect of cryopreservation on characteristics related to the immune function of platelets has not been examined.

Study Design and Methods

Buffy coat derived platelets were cryopreserved at −80°C using 5%–6% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO, n = 8). Paired testing was conducted pre‐freeze (PF), post‐thaw (PT0), and after 24 h of post‐thaw storage at room temperature (PT24). The concentration of biological response modifiers (BRMs) in the supernatant was measured using commercial ELISAs and surface receptor abundance was assessed by flow cytometry.

Results

Cryopreservation resulted in increased RANTES, PF4, and C3a but decreased IL‐1β, OX40L, IL‐13, IL‐27, CD40L, and C5a concentrations in the supernatant, compared to PF samples. C4a, endocan, and HMGB1 concentrations were similar between the PF and PT0 groups. The abundance of surface‐expressed P‐selectin, siglec‐7, TLR3, TLR7, and TLR9 was increased PT0; while CD40, CLEC2, ICAM‐2, and MHC‐I were decreased, compared to PF. The surface abundance of CD40L, B7‐2, DC‐SIGN, HCAM, TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 was unchanged by cryopreservation. Following 24 h of post‐thaw storage, all immune associated receptors and TLRs increased to levels higher than observed on PF and PT0 platelets.

Conclusion

Cryopreservation alters the immune phenotype of platelets. Understanding the clinical implications of the observed changes in BRM release and receptor abundance are essential, as they may influence the likelihood of adverse events.
Clinical presentation, treatment and outcome of canine malignant mesothelioma: A retrospective study of 34 cases
Authors: Moberg Hanne Larsen , Gramer Irina , Schofield Imogen , Blackwood Laura , Killick David , Priestnall Simon L. , Guillén Alexandra
Published: October 2021

Canine malignant mesothelioma (CMM) is a rare and aggressive tumour associated with a poor prognosis. Limited information is available regarding effective treatment options and prognostic factors. The purpose of this retrospective case series was to describe the clinical presentation, treatment and survival in a cohort of dogs with this disease and to investigate possible prognostic factors. Thirty‐four dogs were included. Tachypnoea and dyspnoea due to pleural effusion were the most common presenting clinical signs. Twenty‐two dogs had a subcutaneous access port placed and 25 dogs were treated with intracavitary and/or intravenous chemotherapy. The main protocols used were single‐agent 5‐FU (n = 14) and carboplatin single‐agent or alternated with mitoxantrone (n = 10). The overall response rate (defined as more than 25% reduction in effusion volume) to chemotherapy treatment was 37% after 3‐weeks and 24% after 15‐weeks. The median survival time (MST) for all dogs was 195 days (95% CI 53–324). MST was 234 days for dogs receiving chemotherapy and 29 days for dogs not receiving chemotherapy. The 1‐year survival rate was 22% for all dogs. Treatment with chemotherapy was the only significant prognostic factor associated with survival (p = .001). Further studies are needed to determine the optimal treatment approach for malignant mesothelioma in dogs. Nevertheless, effusion recurrence should be expected and the prognosis for these patients in the long‐term is poor.
Needle rinse cell blocks as an ancillary technique: Diagnostic and clinical utility in gastrointestinal neoplasia
Authors: Marrinhas Carla , Oliveira Luísa F. , Sampaio Filipe , Moreira Raquel , Canadas‐Sousa Ana , Pereira André , Santos Marta , Marcos Ricardo
Published: October 2021

Background

Fine‐needle aspirate (FNA) cytology is often the first‐choice method for diagnosing gastrointestinal nodular lesions. The FNA material can be converted to histopathology specimens by a needle rinse cell block (NRCB) technique, allowing ancillary studies to refine the cytologic diagnosis. Despite use in human pathology, NRCB has never been applied to canine or feline gastrointestinal neoplasia.

Objective

This study described NRCB methodology and its diagnostic utility in specific cases of neoplastic gastrointestinal lesions.

Methods

Needle rinses with saline were performed after ultrasound‐guided FNAs of two intestinal lymphomas (canine and feline) and a canine gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). The NRCB was prepared using the cell tube block technique and processed for paraffin embedding. Routine immunohistochemistry protocols (using CD3, PAX‐5, and Ki‐67 for lymphoma cases and vimentin, desmin, S‐100, and KIT markers for GIST) were applied to NRCB sections, and the results were compared with matched tissue biopsies.

Results

NRCBs with adequate cell numbers, preservation, and good separation of blood were obtained. The diagnosis and immunophenotyping were confirmed in both cases of lymphoma in NRCBs. In the GIST, the immunolabeling of the neoplastic cells in NRCB was completely concordant with the tissue biopsy.

Conclusions

The described methodology is suitable for veterinary settings, having few technical requirements and low invasiveness. The presented cases of gastrointestinal neoplasia highlight the utility of NRCBs as a platform to conduct ancillary studies and refine the cytologic diagnosis.
Striga gesnerioides (Willd.) Vatke infestation and distribution as affected by soil properties and varieties at the plot and landscape scales in cowpea‐based cropping systems
Authors: Sadda Abou‐Soufianou , Malam Issa Oumarou , Jangorzo Nouhou Salifou , Saïdou Abdoul‐Aziz , Issoufou Hassane Bil‐Assanou , Diouf Abdoulaye
Published: October 2021

Striga is among the most noxious parasitic plant genera causing yield losses to staple crops in the semiarid and subhumid areas of Africa and Asia. Understanding the factors that affect the current distribution of Striga infestation is critical for developing integrated control strategies. This study attempts to elucidate the soil properties that are related to and that affect the plot‐level infestation and land‐scape level distribution of Striga gesnerioides (Willd.) Vatke in Niger. At the plot scale, 27 cowpea varieties were sown in randomised blocks of 30 plots in 14 fields, and their soils were sampled and analysed. S. gesnerioides infestations were recorded in the fields over 2 years. These records were obtained with georeferenced data, and soil properties were extracted from global databases. At the plot scale, the variance in S. gesnerioides infestations were affected by available phosphorus (29.17%), organic carbon (16.61%), pH (15.15%), nitrogen (13.13%), and sand contents (10.12%) and varied among the cowpea varieties. This led to the identification of cowpea varieties with consistent high levels of resistance (varieties: CS030 and CS095). At the landscape scale, soil moisture is the key factor explaining 48.6% of S. gesnerioides distribution, followed by silt content (28.1%), sand content (13.7%), and bulk density (6.2%). These results showed a clear dichotomy in the interactions between the occurrence of S. gesnerioides and soil properties from the plot to landscape scales. These results are valuable for understanding the ecology of S. gesnerioides and can support the development of integrated control strategies.
Effects of Supply Determinants on Supply Performance of Slaughter Animal for Meat Export Abattoirs in Ethiopia
Authors: Gudisa Lelisa
Published: October 2021

This study was attempted to look at effects of supply determinants on supply performance of slaughter animal for meat export abattoirs in Ethiopia. Explanatory type of research design was used to explore the relation between dependent and independent variables. The research was supported by primary and secondary data. The primary data obtained through structured questionnaire prepared for export abattoirs and slaughter animal suppliers, whereas the secondary data obtained from published and unpublished documents. Sixty (60) respondents from ten (10) meat export abattoirs which are at managerial positions and sixty (60) managers of slaughters animal suppliers and the total number of respondents were one hundred twenty (120). The study used brokers’ involvement in supply, transportation facility, price of slaughter animal, illegal live animal export, and quality of slaughter animal, sustainability of slaughter animal supply and traditional livestock production system as independent and supply performance as dependent variable. Correlation analysis was accustomed to analyze relation between independent and dependent variables whereas multiple regressions were applied to analyze and identifies impact level of every independent on dependent variable. The study found that sustainability of slaughter animal supply, traditional livestock production system; transportation facility and quality of slaughter animal have strong effect on supply performance in positive direction respectively. Brokers involvement in supply, price of slaughter animal and illegal live animal export also have strong effect on supply performance in the negative direction.
Accelerated discovery of 3D printing materials using data-driven multiobjective optimization
Authors: Erps Timothy , Foshey Michael , Luković Mina Konaković , Shou Wan , Goetzke Hanns Hagen , Dietsch Herve , Stoll Klaus , von Vacano Bernhard , Matusik Wojciech
Published: October 2021

Machine learning can aid the discovery of useful 3D printing material formulations.
Twin boundary migration mechanisms in quasi-statically compressed and plate-impacted Mg single crystals
Authors: Xie Kelvin Y. , Hazeli Kavan , Dixit Neha , Ma Luoning , Ramesh K. T. , Hemker Kevin J.
Published: October 2021

Twin boundary migration transitions from atomic shear to atomic shuffle at high stresses and strain rates.
Cooling photon-pressure circuits into the quantum regime
Authors: Rodrigues Ines Corveira , Bothner Daniel , Steele Gary Alexander
Published: October 2021

We demonstrate sideband cooling to the ground state and quantum coherent photon-pressure coupling with a hot electronic circuit.
Lithium isotope evidence for enhanced weathering and erosion during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Authors: Pogge von Strandmann Philip A. E. , Jones Morgan T. , West A. Joshua , Murphy Melissa J. , Stokke Ella W. , Tarbuck Gary , Wilson David J. , Pearce Christopher R. , Schmidt Daniela N.
Published: October 2021

Silicate weathering and physical erosion markedly increased during the rapid warming of the PETM, allowing climatic recovery.
When makes you unique: Temporality of the human brain fingerprint
Authors: Van De Ville Dimitri , Farouj Younes , Preti Maria Giulia , Liégeois Raphaël , Amico Enrico
Published: October 2021

Patterns of human brain activity emerge from temporally limited fMRI observations, allowing identification of individuals.
Binder-free printed PEDOT wearable sensors on everyday fabrics using oxidative chemical vapor deposition
Authors: Clevenger Michael , Kim Hyeonghun , Song Han Wook , No Kwangsoo , Lee Sunghwan
Published: October 2021

Health-monitoring sensors directly fabricated on disposable wears using oxidative chemical vapor deposition.
SMARCAD1 is an ATP-dependent histone octamer exchange factor with de novo nucleosome assembly activity
Authors: Markert Jonathan , Zhou Keda , Luger Karolin
Published: October 2021

An ATP-dependent remodeler engages nucleosomes in a unique manner.
mRNA's next challenge: Will it work as a drug?
Authors: Servick Kelly
Published: October 2021

A winner in the vaccine race, messenger RNA faces obstacles in therapeutics.
Five years in, Paris pact still a work in progress
Authors: Cornwall Warren
Published: October 2021

Countries mark anniversary by increasing commitments, but 2°C goal elusive.
Reconstitution of an intact clock reveals mechanisms of circadian timekeeping
Authors: Chavan Archana G. , Swan Jeffrey A. , Heisler Joel , Sancar Cigdem , Ernst Dustin C. , Fang Mingxu , Palacios Joseph G. , Spangler Rebecca K. , Bagshaw Clive R. , Tripathi Sarvind , Crosby Priya , Golden Susan S. , Partch Carrie L. , LiWang Andy
Published: October 2021

A biological clock in a test tube

The biological clock of cyanobacteria, which remarkably requires just three proteins, has been reconstituted in vitro in a system that allows detailed study of its inputs and outputs, bringing new understanding of how environmental signals can influence a biological oscillator and how the clock controls cellular events such as gene transcription. Chavan
et al
. extended the known in vitro function of the core clock components to include output signals to transcriptional regulation and allow monitoring through fluorescence measurements in real time. The authors combined crystallography, mutagenesis, and quantitative modeling to further explore the clock mechanism, which may enable future synthetic biology applications. —LBR
A new spin on special relativity
Authors: Daniels Matthew W. , Stiles Mark D.
Published: October 2021

Magnetic domain walls have their own speed limit
Wildfire smoke, a potential infectious agent
Authors: Kobziar Leda N. , Thompson George R.
Published: October 2021

Bacteria and fungi are transported in wildland fire smoke emissions
Science detractors and their discontents
Science Under Fire
Andrew Jewett
Harvard University Press, 2020. 368 pp.
Authors: Phillips Christopher J.
Published: October 2021

A nuanced history interrogates critiques leveraged against science in the United States
A breakthrough for us all
Authors: Thorp H. Holden
Published: October 2021

The buildup to announcing the Breakthrough of the Year is generally a suspenseful time at
Science
. Long meetings are held, spreadsheets are made, and much coffee is consumed. This year, we knew that the breakthrough would involve COVID-19, but it was only in the past few weeks that the highly effective new vaccines would take the crown. For a while, it seemed too much to hope for, but vaccinations are underway at last.
Solvation sheath reorganization enables divalent metal batteries with fast interfacial charge transfer kinetics
Authors: Hou Singyuk , Ji Xiao , Gaskell Karen , Wang Peng-fei , Wang Luning , Xu Jijian , Sun Ruimin , Borodin Oleg , Wang Chunsheng
Published: October 2021

Efficient, rechargeable Mg and Ca batteries

Divalent rechargeable metal batteries such as those based on magnesium and calcium are of interest because of the abundance of these elements and their lower tendency to form dendrites, but practical demonstrations are lacking. Hou
et al
. used methoxyethyl amine chelants in which the ligands attach to the metal atom in more than one place, modulating the solvation structure of the metal ions to enable a facile charge-transfer reaction (see the Perspective by Zuo and Yin). In full battery cells, these components lead to high efficiency and energy density. Theoretical calculations were used to understand the solvation structures. —MSL
Fracture, fatigue, and friction of polymers in which entanglements greatly outnumber cross-links
Authors: Kim Junsoo , Zhang Guogao , Shi Meixuanzi , Suo Zhigang
Published: October 2021

Longer and stronger; stiff but not brittle

Hydrogels are highly water-swollen, cross-linked polymers. Although they can be highly deformed, they tend to be weak, and methods to strengthen or toughen them tend to reduce stretchability. Two papers now report strategies to create tough but deformable hydrogels (see the Perspective by Bosnjak and Silberstein). Wang
et al
. introduced a toughening mechanism by storing releasable extra chain length in the stiff part of a double-network hydrogel. A high applied force triggered the opening of cycling strands that were only activated at high chain extension. Kim
et al
. synthesized acrylamide gels in which dense entanglements could be achieved by using unusually low amounts of water, cross-linker, and initiator during the synthesis. This approach improves the mechanical strength in solid form while also improving the wear resistance once swollen as a hydrogel. —MSL
Evasion of tipping in complex systems through spatial pattern formation
Authors: Rietkerk Max , Bastiaansen Robbin , Banerjee Swarnendu , van de Koppel Johan , Baudena Mara , Doelman Arjen
Published: October 2021

Resilience to tipping points in ecosystems

Spatial pattern formation has been proposed as an early warning signal for dangerous tipping points and imminent critical transitions in complex systems, including ecosystems. Rietkerk
et al
. review how ecosystems and Earth system components can actually evade catastrophic tipping through various pathways of spatial pattern formation. With mathematical and real-world examples, they argue that evading tipping and enhancing resilience could be relevant for many ecosystems and Earth system components that until now were known as tipping prone. Many of these complex systems may be more resilient than currently thought because of overlooked spatial dynamics and multiple stable states, and may thus not undergo critical or catastrophic transitions with global change. —AMS
Topological phonon-polariton funneling in midinfrared metasurfaces
Authors: Guddala S. , Komissarenko F. , Kiriushechkina S. , Vakulenko A. , Li M. , Menon V. M. , Alù A. , Khanikaev A. B.
Published: October 2021

Coupling light and heat

Understanding of the topological features of bandgaps has provided a route for engineering optical structures that exhibit directional propagation of light and are robust to defects. Guddala
et al
. combined a silicon-based topological photonic crystal with an atomic monolayer of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). The topological features of the photonic crystal are coupled to the lattice vibrations of the hBN through the formation of phonon-polaritons. Funneling of helical infrared phonons along arbitrary pathways and across sharp bends provides the possibility of realizing directional heat dissipation along topologically resilient heat sinks. —ISO
Conformer-specific photochemistry imaged in real space and time
Authors: Champenois E. G. , Sanchez D. M. , Yang J. , Figueira Nunes J. P. , Attar A. , Centurion M. , Forbes R. , Gühr M. , Hegazy K. , Ji F. , Saha S. K. , Liu Y. , Lin M.-F. , Luo D. , Moore B. , Shen X. , Ware M. R. , Wang X. J. , Martínez T. J. , Wolf T. J. A.
Published: October 2021

Conformer-specific dynamics

Conformation-dependent dynamics play an important role in organic chemistry syntheses such as electrocyclic reactions, as well as in biological processes such as protein folding. However, current time-resolved experimental methods struggle to distinguish conformers from each other, and conformational isomerism is usually analyzed through reactant and product distributions. Using a combination of mega–electron volt ultrafast electron diffraction and quantum wave packet simulations, Champenois
et al
. directly followed the photochemical electrocyclic ring opening of the molecule α-phellandrene with femtosecond time resolution and confirmed that the transformation of a specific molecular conformer follows the famous Woodward-Hoffmann rules. The proposed method is potentially a powerful tool to follow conformer specificity in various organic and biological systems in real time. —YS
Filling in the GAPs in understanding RAS
Authors: Cox Adrienne D. , Der Channing J.
Published: October 2021

A newly identified regulator increases the efficacy of a new class of targeted anti-RAS drugs
Gut bacteria enable prostate cancer growth
Authors: McCulloch John A. , Trinchieri Giorgio
Published: October 2021

Testosterone-synthetizing gut bacteria drive resistance to therapy
Megastudy yields brain cell inventory
Authors: Servick Kelly
Published: October 2021

Census of motor cortex aims to standardize definitions of cell types
Lymph node–resident dendritic cells drive T
H
2 cell development involving MARCH1
Authors: Castellanos Carlos A. , Ren Xin , Gonzalez Steven Lomeli , Li Hong Kun , Schroeder Andrew W. , Liang Hong-Erh , Laidlaw Brian J. , Hu Donglei , Mak Angel C.Y. , Eng Celeste , Rodríguez-Santana José R. , LeNoir Michael , Yan Qi , Celedón Juan C. , Burchard Esteban G. , Zamvil Scott S. , Ishido Satoshi , Locksley Richard M. , Cyster Jason G. , Huang Xiaozhu , Shin Jeoung-Sook
Published: October 2021

Type 2 immune development depends on MARCH1-mediated turnover of MHCII and CD86 by lymph node–resident dendritic cells.
Filling a gap in safety metrics: development of a patient-centred framework to identify and categorise patient-reported breakdowns related to the diagnostic process in ambulatory care
Authors: Bell Sigall K , Bourgeois Fabienne , DesRoches Catherine M , Dong Joe , Harcourt Kendall , Liu Stephen K , Lowe Elizabeth , McGaffigan Patricia , Ngo Long H , Novack Sandy A , Ralston James D , Salmi Liz , Schrandt Suz , Sheridan Sue , Sokol-Hessner Lauge , Thomas Glenda , Thomas Eric J
Published: October 2021

Background

Patients and families are important contributors to the diagnostic team, but their perspectives are not reflected in current diagnostic measures. Patients/families can identify some breakdowns in the diagnostic process beyond the clinician’s view. We aimed to develop a framework with patients/families to help organisations identify and categorise patient-reported diagnostic process-related breakdowns (PRDBs) to inform organisational learning.

Method

A multi-stakeholder advisory group including patients, families, clinicians, and experts in diagnostic error, patient engagement and safety, and user-centred design, co-developed a framework for PRDBs in ambulatory care. We tested the framework using standard qualitative analysis methods with two physicians and one patient coder, analysing 2165 patient-reported ambulatory errors in two large surveys representing 25 425 US respondents. We tested intercoder reliability of breakdown categorisation using the Gwet’s AC1 and Cohen’s kappa statistic. We considered agreement coefficients 0.61–0.8=good agreement and 0.81–1.00=excellent agreement.

Results

The framework describes 7 patient-reported breakdown categories (with 40 subcategories), 19 patient-identified contributing factors and 11 potential patient-reported impacts. Patients identified breakdowns in each step of the diagnostic process, including missing or inaccurate main concerns and symptoms; missing/outdated test results; and communication breakdowns such as not feeling heard or misalignment between patient and provider about symptoms, events, or their significance. The frequency of PRDBs was 6.4% in one dataset and 6.9% in the other. Intercoder reliability showed good-to-excellent reliability in each dataset: AC1 0.89 (95% CI 0.89 to 0.90) to 0.96 (95% CI 0.95 to 0.97); kappa 0.64 (95% CI 0.62, to 0.66) to 0.85 (95% CI 0.83 to 0.88).

Conclusions

The PRDB framework, developed in partnership with patients/families, can help organisations identify and reliably categorise PRDBs, including some that are invisible to clinicians; guide interventions to engage patients and families as diagnostic partners; and inform whole organisational learning.
Human COQ4 deficiency: delineating the clinical, metabolic and neuroimaging phenotypes
Authors: Laugwitz Lucia , Seibt Annette , Herebian Diran , Peralta Susana , Kienzle Imke , Buchert Rebecca , Falb Ruth , Gauck Darja , Müller Amelie , Grimmel Mona , Beck-Woedel Stefanie , Kern Jan , Daliri Karim , Katibeh Pegah , Danhauser Katharina , Leiz Steffen , Alesi Viola , Baertling Fabian , Vasco Gessica , Steinfeld Robert , Wagner Matias , Caglayan Ahmet Okay , Gumus Hakan , Burmeister Margit , Mayatepek Ertan , Martinelli Diego , Tamhankar Parag Mohan , Tamhankar Vasundhara , Joset Pascal , Steindl Katharina , Rauch Anita , Bonnen Penelope E , Froukh Tawfiq , Groeschel Samuel , Krägeloh-Mann Ingeborg , Haack Tobias B , Distelmaier Felix
Published: October 2021

Background

Human coenzyme Q4 (COQ4) is essential for coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) biosynthesis. Pathogenic variants in COQ4 cause childhood-onset neurodegeneration. We aimed to delineate the clinical spectrum and the cellular consequences of COQ4 deficiency.

Methods

Clinical course and neuroradiological findings in a large cohort of paediatric patients with COQ4 deficiency were analysed. Functional studies in patient-derived cell lines were performed.

Results

We characterised 44 individuals from 36 families with COQ4 deficiency (16 newly described). A total of 23 different variants were identified, including four novel variants in COQ4. Correlation analyses of clinical and neuroimaging findings revealed three disease patterns: type 1: early-onset phenotype with neonatal brain anomalies and epileptic encephalopathy; type 2: intermediate phenotype with distinct stroke-like lesions; and type 3: moderate phenotype with non-specific brain pathology and a stable disease course. The functional relevance of COQ4 variants was supported by in vitro studies using patient-derived fibroblast lines. Experiments revealed significantly decreased COQ4 protein levels, reduced levels of cellular CoQ10 and elevated levels of the metabolic intermediate 6-demethoxyubiquinone.

Conclusion

Our study describes the heterogeneous clinical presentation of COQ4 deficiency and identifies phenotypic subtypes. Cell-based studies support the pathogenic characteristics of COQ4 variants. Due to the insufficient clinical response to oral CoQ10 supplementation, alternative treatment strategies are warranted.
Cardiovascular protective effects of GLP-1: a focus on the MAPK signaling pathway
Authors: Zhao Yu-Yan , Chen Lin-Hui , Huang Liang , Li Yong-Zhen , Yang Chen , Zhu Ying , Qu Shun-Lin , Zhang Chi
Published: October 2021

Cardiovascular and related metabolic diseases are significant global health challenges. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a brain-gut peptide secreted by the ileal endocrine system and is now an established drug target in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). GLP-1 targeting agents have been shown not only to treat T2DM, but also to exert cardiovascular protective effects by regulating multiple signaling pathways. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, a common signal transduction pathway for transmitting extracellular signals to downstream effector molecules, is involved in regulating diverse cellular physiological processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, stress, inflammation, functional synchronization, transformation, and apoptosis. The purpose of this review is to highlight the relationship between GLP-1 and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and discuss how GLP-1 exerts cardiovascular protective effects through the MAPK signaling pathway. This review also discusses the future challenges in fully characterizing and evaluating the CVD protective effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) at the cellular and molecular levels. A better understanding of the MAPK signaling pathway that is dysregulated in CVD may aid in the design and development of promising GLP-1RA.
A MPM framework for large-deformation seismic response analysis
Authors: Kohler Marc , Stoecklin Andreas , Puzrin Alexander M.
Published: October 2021

Landslides are often triggered by earthquakes and can cause immense damage due to large mass movements. To model such large-deformation events, the material point method (MPM) has become increasingly popular in recent years. A limitation of existing MPM implementations is the lack of appropriate boundary conditions to perform seismic response analysis of slopes. In this article, an extension to the basic MPM framework is proposed for simulating the seismic triggering and subsequent collapse of slopes within a single analysis step. Original implementations of a compliant base boundary and free-field boundary conditions in the MPM framework are presented, enabling the application of input ground motions while accounting for the absorption of outgoing waves and the free-ground movement at the lateral boundaries. An example slope is analysed to illustrate the proposed procedure and to benchmark it against the results obtained using an independent simulation technique, based on a three-step finite element (FE) analysis. The comparison generally shows a good agreement of the results obtained from the two independent procedures and highlights advantages of the presented “all-in-one” MPM approach, in particular for long duration strong motions.
Physics beyond the standard model with BlackHawk v2.0
Authors: Arbey Alexandre , Auffinger Jérémy
Published: October 2021

We present the new version of the public code designed to compute the Hawking radiation of black holes, with both primary and hadronized spectra. This new version aims at opening an avenue toward physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) in Hawking radiation. Several major additions have been made since version : dark matter/dark radiation emission, spin 3/2 greybody factors, scripts for cosmological studies, BSM black hole metrics with their associated greybody factors and a careful treatment of the low energy showering of secondary particles; as well as bug corrections. We present, in each case, examples of the new capabilities of .
Nickel-Based Inks for Flexible Electronics — A Review on Recent Trends
Authors: Murthy Hari , Thakur Neha , Shankhwar Nisha
Published: October 2021

Inkjet printing (IJP) is an efficient, simple, scalable and low-cost additive manufacturing technique for the deposition of functional materials on substrates used in flexible electronic devices, sensors, and light-emitting diodes to name a few. Nanoparticle ink, metal oxide decomposition (particle-free ink), polymer ink, and semiconductor ink are classifications of the inks used in IJP. Effective printing of the material is possible when the ink parameters (viscosity, particle size, surface tension) and its derived dimensionless quantities (Weber number, Reynolds’ number, and Ohnesorge number) fall within a desirable range. The formation of the coffee-ring effect during the post-printing process is one of the major concerns, which affects the morphology and electrical conductivity of the printed pattern. In this review, a summary of recent developments of Ni-based inks in terms of formulation, sintering and properties is presented, along with the effect of combining Ni with other materials such as NiO, Ag, Cu, Zn, Fe, carbon, and rare earth metals on the film properties. The precursors and solvents used for the Ni ink preparation, along with the additives and surfactants, have been presented to understand their impact on the film’s properties and develop a design to choose the ideal precursor–solvent pair. Finally, the challenges in formulating inks and the necessity to develop a model to optimize the choice of solvent/ precursor are presented. The model would improve the selection of additives and precursors and reduce material wastage and enhance performance with fewer defects.
IP Geolocation through Reverse DNS
Authors: Dan Ovidiu , Parikh Vaibhav , Davison Brian D.
Published: October 2021

IP Geolocation databases are widely used in online services to map end-user IP addresses to their geographical location. However, they use proprietary geolocation methods, and in some cases they have poor accuracy. We propose a systematic approach to use reverse DNS hostnames for geolocating IP addresses, with a focus on end-user IP addresses as opposed to router IPs. Our method is designed to be combined with other geolocation data sources. We cast the task as a machine learning problem where, for a given hostname, we first generate a list of potential location candidates, and then we classify each hostname and candidate pair using a binary classifier to determine which location candidates are plausible. Finally, we rank the remaining candidates by confidence (class probability) and break ties by population count. We evaluate our approach against three state-of-the-art academic baselines and two state-of-the-art commercial IP geolocation databases. We show that our work significantly outperforms the academic baselines and is complementary and competitive with commercial databases. To aid reproducibility, we open source our entire approach and make it available to the academic community.
Apache Nemo: A Framework for Optimizing Distributed Data Processing
Authors: Song Won Wook , Yang Youngseok , Eo Jeongyoon , Seo Jangho , Kim Joo Yeon , Lee Sanha , Lee Gyewon , Um Taegeon , Cho Haeyoon , Chun Byung-Gon
Published: October 2021

Optimizing scheduling and communication of distributed data processing for resource and data characteristics is crucial for achieving high performance. Existing approaches to such optimizations largely fall into two categories. First, distributed runtimes provide low-level policy interfaces to apply the optimizations, but do not ensure the maintenance of correct application semantics and thus often require significant effort to use. Second, policy interfaces that extend a high-level application programming model ensure correctness, but do not provide sufficient fine control.

We describe Apache Nemo, an optimization framework for distributed dataflow processing that provides fine control for high performance and also ensures correctness for ease of use. We combine several techniques to achieve this, including an intermediate representation of dataflow, compiler optimization passes, and runtime extensions. Our evaluation results show that Nemo enables composable and reusable optimizations that bring performance improvements on par with existing specialized runtimes tailored for a specific deployment scenario. Apache Nemo is open-sourced at
https://nemo.apache.org
as an Apache incubator project.
Iterative Design of Sonification Techniques to Support People with Visual Impairments in Obstacle Avoidance
Authors: Presti Giorgio , Ahmetovic Dragan , Ducci Mattia , Bernareggi Cristian , Ludovico Luca A. , Baratè Adriano , Avanzini Federico , Mascetti Sergio
Published: October 2021

Obstacle avoidance is a major challenge during independent mobility for blind or visually impaired (BVI) people. Typically, BVI people can only perceive obstacles at a short distance (about 1 m, in case they are using the white cane), and some obstacles are hard to detect (e.g
.
, those elevated from the ground), or should not be hit by the white cane (e.g
.
, a standing person). A solution to these problems can be found in recent computer-vision techniques that can run on mobile and wearable devices to detect obstacles at a distance. However, in addition to detecting obstacles, it is also necessary to convey information about them in real time.

This contribution presents
WatchOut
, a sonification technique for conveying real-time information about the main properties of an obstacle to a BVI person, who can then use this additional feedback to safely navigate in the environment.
WatchOut
was designed with a user-centered approach, involving four iterations of online listening tests with BVI participants in order to define, improve and evaluate the sonification technique, eventually obtaining an almost perfect recognition accuracy.
WatchOut
was also implemented and tested as a module of a mobile app that detects obstacles using state-of-the-art computer vision technology. Results show that the system is considered usable and can guide the users to avoid more than 85% of the obstacles.
Factors Affecting the Accessibility of Voice Telephony for People with Hearing Loss: Audio Encoding, Network Impairments, Video and Environmental Noise
Authors: Kozma-Spytek Linda , Vogler Christian
Published: October 2021

This paper describes four studies with a total of 114 individuals with hearing loss and 12 hearing controls that investigate the impact of audio quality parameters on voice telecommunications. These studies were first informed by a survey of 439 individuals with hearing loss on their voice telecommunications experiences. While voice telephony was very important, with high usage of wireless mobile phones, respondents reported relatively low satisfaction with their hearing devices’ performance for telephone listening, noting that improved telephone audio quality was a significant need. The studies cover three categories of audio quality parameters: (1)
narrowband (NB)
versus
wideband (WB)
audio; (2) encoding audio at varying bit rates, from typical rates used in today's mobile networks to the highest quality supported by these audio codecs; and (3) absence of packet loss to worst-case packet loss in both mobile and VoIP networks. Additionally, NB versus WB audio was tested in auditory-only and audiovisual presentation modes and in quiet and noisy environments. With WB audio in a quiet environment, individuals with hearing loss exhibited better speech recognition, expended less perceived mental effort, and rated speech quality higher than with NB audio. WB audio provided a greater benefit when listening alone than when the visual channel also was available. The noisy environment significantly degraded performance for both presentation modes, but particularly for listening alone. Bit rate affected speech recognition for NB audio, and speech quality ratings for both NB and WB audio. Packet loss affected all of speech recognition, mental effort, and speech quality ratings. WB versus NB audio also affected hearing individuals, especially under packet loss. These results are discussed in terms of the practical steps they suggest for the implementation of telecommunications systems and related technical standards and policy considerations to improve the accessibility of voice telephony for people with hearing loss.
Synthesizing Brain-network-inspired Interconnections for Large-scale Network-on-chips
Authors: Ge Mengke , Ni Xiaobing , Qi Xu , Chen Song , Huang Jinglei , Kang Yi , Wu Feng
Published: October 2021

Brain network is a large-scale complex network with scale-free, small-world, and modularity properties, which largely supports this high-efficiency massive system. In this article, we propose to synthesize brain-network-inspired interconnections for large-scale network-on-chips. First, we propose a method to generate brain-network-inspired topologies with limited scale-free and power-law small-world properties, which have a low total link length and extremely low average hop count approximately proportional to the logarithm of the network size. In addition, given the large-scale applications, considering the modularity of the brain-network-inspired topologies, we present an application mapping method, including task mapping and deterministic deadlock-free routing, to minimize the power consumption and hop count. Finally, a cycle-accurate simulator

BookSim2

is used to validate the architecture performance with different synthetic traffic patterns and large-scale test cases, including real-world communication networks for the graph processing application. Experiments show that, compared with other topologies and methods, the brain-network-inspired network-on-chips (NoCs) generated by the proposed method present significantly lower average hop count and lower average latency. Especially in graph processing applications with a power-law and tightly coupled inter-core communication, the brain-network-inspired NoC has up to 70% lower average hop count and 75% lower average latency than mesh-based NoCs.
Fault Injection Attack Emulation Framework for Early Evaluation of IC Designs
Authors: Liu Qiang , Tang Honghui , Zhang Peiran
Published: October 2021

Fault injection attack (FIA) has become a serious threat to the confidentiality and fault tolerance of integrated circuits (ICs). Circuit designers need an effective method to evaluate the countermeasures of the IC designs against the FIAs at the design stage. To address the need, this article, based on FPGA emulation, proposes an in-circuit early evaluation framework, in which FIAs are emulated with parameterized fault models. To mimic FIAs, an efficient scan approach is proposed to inject faults at any time at any circuit nodes, while both the time and area overhead of fault injection are reduced. After the circuit design under test (CUT) is submitted to the framework, the scan chains insertion, fault generation, and fault injection are executed automatically, and the evaluation result of the CUT is generated, making the evaluation a transparent process to the designers. Based on the framework, the confidentiality and fault-tolerance evaluations are demonstrated with an information-based evaluation approach. Experiment results on a set of ISCAS89 benchmark circuits show that on average, our approach reduces the area overhead by 41.08% compared with the full scan approach and by over 20.00% compared with existing approaches. The confidentiality evaluation experiments on AES-128 and DES-56 and the fault-tolerance evaluation experiments on two CNN circuits, a RISC-V core, a Cordic core, and the float point arithmetic units show the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
CheerBrush: A Novel Interactive Augmented Reality Coaching System for Toothbrushing Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Zheng Z. Kevin , Sarkar Nandan , Swanson Amy , Weitlauf Amy , Warren Zachary , Sarkar Nilanjan
Published: October 2021

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts one in every 54 children in the United States. Some children with ASD have learning and fine motor skill challenges that contribute to difficulties completing daily living tasks such as toothbrushing. Lack of toothbrushing skills may cause increased need for dental care and negative social feedback from peers. Technology based intelligent support systems offer the advantages of being accessible, engaging, and cost-effective. In this work, we present a novel interactive augmented reality coaching system, CheerBrush, to improve the toothbrushing skills of children with ASD. CheerBrush allows children to manipulate virtual objects like a toothbrush and toothpaste with their actual hand motions to practice the steps of toothbrushing. The virtual tasks of CheerBrush demonstrate these steps using audio and visual cues, while also showing the brushing process through a virtual avatar. CheerBrush also assesses toothbrushing skills with a custom designed mechatronic toothbrush to evaluate the system's coaching effectiveness. A feasibility study with 12 children (six children with ASD and six typically developing children) was conducted to evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of CheerBrush. The data showed improvements in the toothbrushing motions and reduced stress for the children in the post-test. CheerBrush detects real-time movement of children and interacts with them by augmented reality, feedback and multimodal hints. We believe that CheerBrush has the potential to provide a low-cost, engaging and, beneficial intelligent support system to improve the toothbrushing skills of children with ASD.
Development Research on Integrating CNC Machine Tool with Plasma for Online Surface Heat Treatment
Authors: Chen Shao-Hsien , Wang Bo-Ting
Published: October 2021

In this study, the plasma was integrated with a lathe, and the online heat treatment was performed to achieve mechanical strength and hardness, to reduce the machining process and handling. However, for online heat treatment of cast iron FC25, it is important to study the parameters of the lathe and plasma, and the research method is used eventually to optimize the process and reduce the machining cost and machining error. The variable factors in the surface online real‐time heat treatment are spindle speed, feed rate, and current, and the objective function is the hardness of mechanical properties. In the screening experiment, the interaction of factors was discussed using a full factorial experiment. The Central Composite Design was combined with the Lack‐of‐Fit test for the optimization experiment, and the R2 coefficient was used to determine whether the regression model is appropriate. The optimum parameters were derived from the contour diagram and response surface diagram. The experimental results show that the significant factors include spindle speed, feed rate, and current and the optimum parameters include spindle speed of 168 rpm, feed rate of 0.068 mm/rev, and current of 86 A. The experimental results of optimum parameters show that the surface hardness is increased from 306 HLD to 806 HLD and the surface hardening effect is enhanced by 163%, so the online real‐time heat treatment equipment has the best hardening effect.
An Improved EDAS Method Based on Bipolar Neutrosophic Set and Its Application in Group Decision-Making
Authors: Irvanizam Irvanizam , Syahrini Intan , Zi Nawar Nabila , Azzahra Natasya , Iqbal Muhd , Marzuki Marzuki , Subianto Muhammad
Published: October 2021

The bipolar neutrosophic set is a suitable instrument to tackle the information with vagueness, complexity, and uncertainty. In this study, we improved the original EDAS (the evaluation based on distance from average solution) with bipolar neutrosophic numbers (BNNs) for a multiple-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) problem. We calculated the average solution under all the criteria by two existing aggregation operators of BNNs. Then, we computed the positive distance and the negative distance from each alternative to the average ideal solution and determined the appraisal score of alternatives. Based on these scores, we obtained the ranking result. Finally, we demonstrated the practicability, stability, and capability of the improved EDAS method by analyzing the influence parameters and comparing results with an extended VIKOR method.