bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prediction Models for Dysphagia in Intensive Care Unit after Mechanical Ventilation: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis
Authors: Chen Juan , Lu Guangyu , Wang Zhiyao , Zhang Jingyue , Ding Jiali , Zeng Qingping , Chai Liying , Zhao Li , Yu Hailong , Li Yuping
Published: August 2023

Objective

Dysphagia is a common condition that can independently lead to death in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), particularly those who require mechanical ventilation. Despite extensive research on the predictors of dysphagia development, consistency across these studies is lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to identify predictors and summarize existing prediction models for dysphagia in ICU patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation.

Methods

We searched five databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Studies that developed a post‐extubation dysphagia risk prediction model in ICU were included. A meta‐analysis of individual predictor variables was performed with mixed‐effects models. The risk of bias was assessed using the prediction model risk of bias assessment tool (PROBAST).

Results

After screening 1,923 references, we ultimately included nine studies in our analysis. The most commonly identified risk predictors included in the final risk prediction model were the length of indwelling endotracheal tube ≥72 h, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score ≥15, age ≥65 years, and duration of gastric tube ≥72 h. However, PROBAST analysis revealed a high risk of bias in the performance of these prediction models, mainly because of the lack of external validation, inadequate pre‐screening of variables, and improper treatment of continuous and categorical predictors.

Conclusions

These models are particularly susceptible to bias because of numerous limitations in their development and inadequate external validation. Future research should focus on externally validating the existing model in ICU patients with varying characteristics. Moreover, assessing the acceptance and effectiveness of the model in clinical practice is needed.

Level of Evidence

NA Laryngoscope, 134:517–525, 2024
Quantifying Facial Distortion in Modern Digital Photography
Authors: Derakhshan Adeeb , Gadkaree Shekhar K. , Barbarite Eric R. , Lindeborg Michael M. , Bhama Prabhat K. , Shaye David A.
Published: August 2023

Background

Advancements in digital cameras and the advent of smartphones have magnified the importance of clinical photography in facial plastic surgery. Here, we aim to examine the effect of different camera types, focal lengths, and distances from subjects on facial distortion.

Methods

Twelve subjects underwent a series of frontal photographs using a smartphone camera and a full‐frame digital single‐lens reflex camera. Photos were captured at six distances from the subject. Seven focal lengths were used at each distance for the full‐frame camera. Measurements of facial landmarks were made for each photo, with those made at 60 inches using the full‐frame camera considered the gold standard and used for comparison.

Results

Distortion of facial features using the full‐frame camera occurred when photos were captured 8 inches away using short focal lengths. A 12%–19% increase in vertical stretching of the midface occurred when using focal lengths of 24, 35, and 50 mm (p < 0.05 for all). The same features were distorted when a smartphone camera was used at 8 inches (18% increase, p < 0.01) and 12 inches (12% increase, p < 0.03).

Conclusions

Distortion of midfacial features using both smartphones and full‐frame cameras occurs with short, ‘selfie’ distances between the camera and subject.

Level of Evidence

2 Laryngoscope, 134:1234–1238, 2024
Post‐Mortem Studies of Neurturin Gene Therapy for Parkinson's Disease: Two Subjects with 10 Years CERE120 Delivery
Authors: Chu Yaping , Kordower Jeffrey H.
Published: August 2023

Background

Neurturin is a member of the glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor family of neurotrophic factors and has the potential to protectdegenerating dopaminergic neurons.

Objective

Here, we performed post‐mortem studies on two patients with advanced Parkinson's disease that survived 10 years following AAV‐neurturin gene (Cere120) delivery to verify long‐term effects of trophic factor neurturin.

Methods

Cere120 was delivered to the putamen bilaterally in one case and to the putamen plus substantia nigra bilaterally in the second. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine neurturin, Rearranged during transfection(RET), phosphor‐S6, and tyrosine hydroxylase expressions, inflammatory reactions, and α‐synuclein accumulation.

Results

In both patients there was persistent, albeit limited, neurturin expression in the putamen covering 1.31% to 5.92% of the putamen. Dense staining of tyrosine hydroxylase‐positive fibers was observed in areas that contained detectable neurturin expression. In substantia nigra, neurturin expression was detected in 11% of remaining melanin‐containing neurons in the patient with combined putamenal and nigral gene delivery, but not in the patient with putamenal gene delivery alone. Tyrosine hydroxylase positive neurons were 66% to 84% of remaining neuromelanin neurons in substantia nigra with Cere120 delivery and 23% to 24% in substantia nigra without gene delivery. More RET and phosphor‐S6 positive neurons were observed in substantia nigra following nigral Cere120. Inflammatory and Lewy pathologies were similar in substantia nigra with or without Cere120 delivery.

Conclusions

This study provides evidence of long‐term persistent transgene expression and bioactivity following gene delivery to the nigrostriatal system. Therefore, future efforts using gene therapy for neurodegenerative diseases should consider means to enhance remaining dopamine neuron function and stop pathological propagation. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
Quantitative analysis of blood glucose by FT‐Raman spectroscopy and multivariate statistical analysis
Authors: Sun Wenyi , Song Shuai , Qian Bairen , Wen Da , Jiang Daying , Fu Yongqing , Wang Qiaoyun
Published: August 2023

Diabetes is one of the common chronic diseases in worldwide and increasing among young children. Testing glycated hemoglobin levels as well as blood glucose levels is a method for detecting diabetes. In this article, with multivariate statistical analysis was used to monitor the blood glucose levels by the Fourier Transform Raman spectroscopy. Principal component regression with direct orthogonal signal correction is developed and applied to analyze the glucose concentration with the blood Raman spectroscopy. The root means square error of calibration is 3.0824 mg/dL (0.1712 mmol/L), the root means square error of prediction is 3.2688 mg/dL (0.1816 mmol/L), the correlation coefficients (R2) is .9946 and ratio of performance to deviation is 6.4789 and, respectively. The results show that this method can be used as a strong potential diagnostic tool for diabetes mellitus.
PSMA‐Hornet: Fully‐automated, multi‐target segmentation of healthy organs in PSMA PET/CT images
Authors: Klyuzhin Ivan S. , Chaussé Guillaume , Bloise Ingrid , Harsini Sara , Ferres Juan Lavista , Uribe Carlos , Rahmim Arman
Published: August 2023

Background

Prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET imaging represents a valuable source of information reflecting disease stage, response rate, and treatment optimization options, particularly with PSMA radioligand therapy. Quantification of radiopharmaceutical uptake in healthy organs from PSMA images has the potential to minimize toxicity by extrapolation of the radiation dose delivery towards personalization of therapy. However, segmentation and quantification of uptake in organs requires labor‐intensive organ delineations that are often not feasible in the clinic nor scalable for large clinical trials.

Purpose

In this work we develop and test the PSMA Healthy organ segmentation network (PSMA‐Hornet), a fully‐automated deep neural net for simultaneous segmentation of 14 healthy organs representing the normal biodistribution of [18F]DCFPyL on PET/CT images. We also propose a modified U‐net architecture, a self‐supervised pre‐training method for PET/CT images, a multi‐target Dice loss, and multi‐target batch balancing to effectively train PSMA‐Hornet and similar networks.

Methods

The study used manually‐segmented [18F]DCFPyL PET/CT images from 100 subjects, and 526 similar images without segmentations. The unsegmented images were used for self‐supervised model pretraining. For supervised training, Monte‐Carlo cross‐validation was used to evaluate the network performance, with 85 subjects in each trial reserved for model training, 5 for validation, and 10 for testing. Image segmentation and quantification metrics were evaluated on the test folds with respect to manual segmentations by a nuclear medicine physician, and compared to inter‐rater agreement. The model's segmentation performance was also evaluated on a separate set of 19 images with high tumor load.

Results

With our best model, the lowest mean Dice coefficient on the test set was 0.826 for the sublingual gland, and the highest was 0.964 for liver. The highest mean error in tracer uptake quantification was 13.9% in the sublingual gland. Self‐supervised pretraining improved training convergence, train‐to‐test generalization, and segmentation quality. In addition, we found that a multi‐target network produced significantly higher segmentation accuracy than single‐organ networks.

Conclusions

The developed network can be used to automatically obtain high‐quality organ segmentations for PSMA image analysis tasks. It can be used to reproducibly extract imaging data, and holds promise for clinical applications such as personalized radiation dosimetry and improved radioligand therapy.
A semi‐supervised learning‐based quality evaluation system for digital chest radiographs
Authors: Wei Shuoyang , Qiu Rui , Pu Yanheng , Hu Ankang , Niu Yantao , Wu Zhen , Zhang Hui , Li Junli
Published: August 2023

Background

Digital radiography is the most commonly utilized medical imaging technique worldwide, and the quality of radiographs plays a crucial role in accurate disease diagnosis. Therefore, evaluating the quality of radiographs is an essential step in medical examinations. However, manual evaluation can be time‐consuming, labor‐intensive, and prone to interobserver differences, making it less reliable.

Purpose

To alleviate the workload of radiographic technologists and enhance the efficiency of radiograph quality evaluation, it is crucial to develop rapid and reliable quality evaluation methods and establish a set of quantitative evaluation standards. To address this, we have proposed a quality evaluation system for digital radiographs that utilizes deep learning techniques to achieve fast and precise evaluation.

Methods

The evaluation of frontal chest radiograph quality involves assessing patient positioning through semantic segmentation and foreign body detection. For lung, scapula, and clavicle segmentation in digital chest radiographs, a residual connection‐based convolutional neural network π‐ResUNet, was proposed. Criteria for patient positioning evaluation were established based on the segmentation and manual evaluation results. A convolutional neural network, FasterRCNN, was utilized to detect and localize foreign bodies in digital chest radiographs. To enhance the performance of both neural networks, a semi‐supervised learning (SSL) strategy was implemented by incorporating a consistency loss that leverages a large number of unlabeled digital radiographs. We also trained the network using the fully supervised learning (FSL) strategy and compared their performance on the test set. The ChestXRay‐14 and object‐CXR datasets were used throughout the process.

Results

By comparing with the manual annotation, the proposed network, trained using the SSL method, achieved a high Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.96, 0.88, and 0.88 for lung, scapula, and clavicle segmentation, respectively, outperforming the network trained with the FSL method. In addition, for foreign body detection, the proposed SSL method was superior to the FSL method, achieving an AUC (Area under receiver operating characteristic curve, Area under ROC curve) of 0.90 and an FROC (Free‐response ROC) of 0.77 on the test dataset.

Conclusions

The experimental results show that our proposed system is well‐suited for radiograph quality evaluation, with the semi‐supervised learning method further improving the network's performance. The proposed method can evaluate the quality of a chest radiograph from two aspects—patient positioning and foreign body detection—within 1 s, offering a promising tool in radiograph quality evaluation.
Categorisation of cats: Managing boundary felids in Aotearoa New Zealand and Britain
Authors: Palmer Alexandra , Thomas Virginia
Published: August 2023

Management of domestic and wild animals is an integral part of conservation and is often based on how an animal is categorised. For example, feral cats are often killed, while valued companion cats and native wildcats are protected.

Drawing on qualitative research and using the concept of boundary‐work, this paper examines the complex categorisation and management of cats within conservation in Britain and Aotearoa, New Zealand (NZ). We examine how, both in theory and in practice, valued companion and wildcats are distinguished from unprotected feral cats, and in‐between categories of stray and hybrid cats.

We demonstrate that stakeholders draw boundaries between cat categories differently. These differences in boundary‐drawing reflect the inherent blurriness of category boundaries, practical challenges and, importantly, differences in values, in particular whether priority is placed on the life of the cat or the cat's potential victim, particularly native or game birds. This can mean that laws outlining protections for specific categories of animals have limited effect if, in practice, those encountering cats draw boundaries differently.

This paper also reports on important differences between the two case studies. In NZ, even cat advocates support the humane killing of unambiguously feral cats while this is less true in Britain. Furthermore, due to the nature of the contexts, conservationists in NZ are more inclined to assume that ambiguous cats are feral whereas conservationists in Britain are more inclined to assume that they are wildcats.

This paper demonstrates that values not only shape people's perceptions and treatment of animals but also how they draw boundaries between them. This finding may have important implications for understanding other controversies in conservation and animal management.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Club‐like cells in proliferative inflammatory atrophy of the prostate
Authors: Huang Franklin W , Song Hanbing , Weinstein Hannah NW , Xie Jamie , Cooperberg Matthew R , Hicks Jessica , Mummert Luke , De Marzo Angelo M , Sfanos Karen S
Published: August 2023

Club cells are a type of bronchiolar epithelial cell that serve a protective role in the lung and regenerate damaged lung epithelium. Single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) of young adult human prostate and urethra identified cell populations in the prostatic urethra and collecting ducts similar in morphology and transcriptomic profile to lung club cells. We further identified club cell‐like epithelial cells by scRNA‐seq of prostate peripheral zone tissues. Here, we aimed to identify and spatially localize club cells in situ in the prostate, including in the peripheral zone. We performed chromogenic RNA in situ hybridization for five club cell markers (CP, LTF, MMP7, PIGR, SCGB1A1) in a series of (1) nondiseased organ donor prostate and (2) radical prostatectomy specimens from individuals with prostate cancer. We report that expression of club cell genes in the peripheral zone is associated with inflammation and limited to luminal epithelial cells classified as intermediate cells in proliferative inflammatory atrophy (PIA). Club‐like cells were enriched in radical prostatectomy specimens compared to nondiseased prostates and associated with high‐grade prostate cancer. We previously reported that luminal epithelial cells in PIA can rarely harbor oncogenic TMPRSS2:ERG (ERG+) gene fusions, and we now demonstrate that club cells are present in association with ERG+ PIA that is transitioning to early adenocarcinoma. Finally, prostate epithelial organoids derived from prostatectomy specimens demonstrate that club‐like epithelial cells can be established in organoids and are sensitive to anti‐androgen‐directed treatment in vitro in terms of decreased androgen signaling gene expression signatures compared to basal or hillock cells. Overall, our study identifies a population of club‐like cells in PIA and proposes that these cells play an analogous role to that of club cells in bronchiolar epithelium. Our results further suggest that inflammation drives lineage plasticity in the human prostate and that club cells in PIA may be prone to oncogenic transformation. © 2023 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Morbidity and healthcare use among mothers of children with cancer: A population‐based study
Authors: Desai Aditi , Sutradhar Rinku , Lau Cindy , Widger Kim , Lee Douglas S. , Nathan Paul C. , Gupta Sumit
Published: August 2023

Background

The impact of a child's cancer diagnosis on subsequent maternal physical health is unclear.

Methods

We identified all Ontario children diagnosed less than 18 years with cancer between 1992 and 2017. Linkage to administrative databases identified mothers who were matched to population controls. We identified physical health conditions, acute healthcare use, and preventive healthcare use through validated algorithms using healthcare data, and compared them between exposed (child with cancer) and unexposed mothers. Predictors of health outcomes were assessed among exposed mothers.

Results

We identified 5311 exposed mothers and 19,516 matched unexposed mothers. For exposed mothers, median age at last follow‐up was 48 years, (interquartile range: 42–53). Exposed mothers had an increased risk of cancer (hazard ratio [HR] 1.2, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.0–1.5, p = .03), but not of any other adverse physical outcomes or of increased acute healthcare use. Exposed mothers were more likely to receive influenza vaccinations (odds ratio 1.4, 95% CI: 1.3–1.5, p < .0001), and underwent cancer screening at the same rate as unexposed mothers. Among exposed mothers, bereavement was associated with a subsequent increased risk of cancer (HR 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2–2.5, p = .004) and death (HR 2.2, 95% CI: 1.2–4.1, p = .01).

Conclusion

Mothers of children with cancer are at increased risk of developing cancer, but not of other adverse physical health outcomes, and were equally or more likely to be adherent to preventive healthcare practices. Bereaved mothers were at increased risk of subsequent cancer and death. Interventions targeting specific subpopulations of mothers of children with cancer or focused on screening for specific cancers may be warranted.
Mechanical properties, thermal stability, and mechanism of main‐chain polybenzoxazine composites fabricated based on multi‐scale effects and surface functionalization of graphene oxide nanosheets
Authors: Li Xin Kang , Jiang Bing , Wei Cong , Lin Hai Lan , Zhao Wei , Ni Ke Yang , Mu Yan Xiao , Bian Jun , Chen Dai Qiang
Published: August 2023

Polybenzoxazine (PBZ) has been recognized as a potential substitute for traditional phenolic resin. However, poor flexibility and low heat resistance limited obviously the application of PBZ. Herein, graphene oxide (GO) nanosheet and its amino‐rich derivatives (fGO‐g‐SiO2) with multi‐scale surfaces were designed, synthesized and incorporated into main‐chain PBZ through in‐situ polymerization to fabricate PBZ composites. The morphology, mechanical properties, and thermal stability of the composites were systematically investigated using x‐ray diffraction (XRD), contact angle tests, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), tensile and impact tests, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). FTIR and XRD analyses confirmed the multi‐scale surfaces of GO derivatives and ordered structures, respectively. The size of the in‐situ grown SiO2and the thickness of GO coated on PBZ were estimated as 6.5 and 19.07 nm, respectively. The contact angle test revealed thatfGO‐g‐SiO2and BZ had the closest solid surface energy of 32.002 and 43.519 mN/m, respectively, among the components of the composites. The impact and tensile evaluation revealed the highest impact, tensile strength and Young's modulus of 16.75 kJ/m2, 107.24 MPa and 3.17 GPa, respectively for 1.2%fGO‐g‐SiO2/PBZ composite. The modified Halpin‐Tsai equation was also utilized to develop a predictive function for the tensile strength. FESEM offGO‐g‐SiO2/PBZ composites indicated that the multi‐scale effect and amination effectively improved the restriction of GO derivatives on crack propagation in PBZ composites and played a more significant role in crack deflection and bridging. In addition, the highest thermal decomposition activation energy of 166.94 kJ/mol was achieved for 1.2%fGO‐g‐SiO2/PBZ composite.

Highlights

Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets were incorporated into main‐chain polybenzoxazine (PBZ) to improve its mechanical properties and heat resistance.

GO with multi‐scale structure and amino‐rich interface were designed, synthesized to improve the interface interactions with PBZ matrix.

The GO with multi‐scale structure and amino‐rich interface showed excellent similarity in the term of solid surface energy with benzoxazine oligomers.

The morphology, mechanical and thermal stability of resulting PBZ composites was systematically investigated by using experimental and mathematical model to elucidate the relationships between the structure and properties.

The composites exhibited excellent mechanical and thermal properties, and it is expected to be used as advanced engineering material in demanding environments.
Structural design of conjugated polymers for fluorescence bioimaging in the second near‐infrared window
Authors: Terayama Kosuke , Habuchi Satoshi , Michinobu Tsuyoshi
Published: August 2023

Fluorescence imaging in the second near‐infrared (NIR‐II) region has become one of the most powerful tools in clinical diagnosis and therapy assessment because of its high spatial resolution, rapid feedback, radiation safety, and low cost. Conjugated polymer nanoparticles (Pdots) based on donor‐acceptor (D‐A) polymers are some of the most promising fluorescent probes which have many superior characteristics, such as a high fluorescence brightness, good photostability, facile functionalization, and low cytotoxicity. While there has been tremendous progress in developing fluorescent polymers for use in the NIR‐II wavelength range, the types of monomer structures used as building blocks for NIR‐II fluorophores are still limited compared to those for organic solar cells and organic transistors. This review summarizes the NIR‐II fluorescent polymers reported in the past few decades. The donor/acceptor unit structures of the polymers are systematically classified and discussed, which will provide new insights into the logical molecular design of donor/acceptor units for the development of high‐brightness NIR‐II Pdots.
Ge2Sb2Te5 Thin Film as a Promising Heat‐Mode Resist for High‐Resolution Direct Laser Writing Lithography
Authors: Chen Xingwang , Chen Lei , Sun Lihao , Wei Tao , Ling Yun , Hu Jing , Cheng Miao , Liu Qianqian , Wang Ruirui , Li Wanfei , Liu Bo
Published: August 2023

Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film is investigated as a positive heat‐mode resist and environmentally friendly FeCl3 solution is as means an efficient developer. The corrosion selectivity of exposed to as‐deposited thin film reaches 2.3 and the etching selectivity of Si to Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film is as high as 15.75. Moreover, high‐resolution nanostructures with minimum linewidth of 180 nm and period of 400 nm are obtained along with high resolution of 130 nm. In addition, the mechanism of corrosion selectivity between as‐deposited and exposed thin film is further elucidated based on microstructural analysis. Hence, Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film is a promising positive resist for high‐resolution direct laser writing lithography.
Reliability analysis of standby provision multi‐unit machining systems with varied failures, degradations, imperfections, and delays
Authors: Shekhar Chandra , Devanda Mahendra , Kaswan Suman
Published: August 2023

This prospective study focuses on analyzing the reliability characteristics of multi‐unit systems with standby provisioning, accounting for failures, degradation, random delays, and probabilistic imperfections. The investigation sheds light on how these unreliable attributes hinder the performance and availability of machining systems. Given the frequent occurrence of these negative attributes within machining systems, their impact on production flow, performance, and resource utilization is significant. Moreover, these unfavorable attributes hinder the adoption of advanced technologies that rely on the continuous availability of machining systems. Thorough research on operational traits serves as a foundation for developing solutions to enhance machining system efficiency and elucidates the underlying causes of machining system failures throughout their performance lifecycle. The reliability analysis employs a state‐of‐the‐art queue‐theoretic approach. In order to model the stochastic behavior of the investigated machine repair problem in a systematic manner, we consider various statistically independent failure modes, including active/standby unit failure, degraded failure, switching failure, and common‐cause failure. The unreliable characteristics of machining systems are further compounded by factors such as imperfect fault coverage, reboot delay, and imperfect repair, necessitating a comprehensive examination to strategically implement preventive, corrective, and predictive measures. The seamless operation of multi‐unit machining systems is essential for the successful integration of advanced technologies such as cloud computing, industry 4.0, and IoT. Failures, delays, degradation, and imperfections within machining systems have detrimental effects on their efficiency and availability, demanding in‐depth investigation. To facilitate numerical experimentation and sensitivity analysis of the reliability aspects of the proposed machining system, we develop performance indices such as system reliability, mean‐time‐to‐failure, and failure frequency. These metrics provide valuable insights for decision‐makers seeking to implement measures that ensure uninterrupted availability of the machining system.
The impact of Japanese knotweed on river discharge at the watershed scale in New Jersey, USA
Authors: Galster Joshua C. , Vanderklein Dirk
Published: August 2023

Recently, New Jersey has experienced several droughts and declared several critical water shortage areas, spurring interest in reducing freshwater resource depletion. Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica Houtt.) is an invasive plant species that may have a significant effect on stream water loss. In order to assess the impact of this species on river‐level water flow, we estimated total knotweed distribution along two tributaries of the Passaic River in New Jersey, USA using a combination of field measurements and GIS to calculate total daily water loss to the atmosphere from three stands of knotweed along these rivers. We measured total leaf area of each stand and transpiration rates across each stand from sun‐up to sun‐down. The average water loss was 8.5 L wate/day/m2 of ground area covered in knotweed. Knowing the total distribution of knotweed along each river, the amount of river length covered by knotweed stands and the total water lost to the atmosphere per amount of knotweed along each river we were able to estimate the total amount of water transpired to the atmosphere by knotweed per river on a daily basis during its growing season. These results were compared to summer low flow rates to assess the impact on river flow during the growing season for Japanese knotweed. Our results suggest that knotweed along these rivers is reducing total flow by an average of 8% (approximately 800,000–1,400,000 L/day) during the summer months. This is important as the impact of invasive species on water resources in temperate areas is currently under‐studied in ecohydrology.
Stabilizing highly active atomically dispersed NiN4Cl sites by Cl‐doping for CO2 electroreduction
Authors: Li Zhao , Qi Xueqiang , Wang Junjie , Zhu Zhaozhao , Jiang Jinxia , Niu Xiaobin , Cabot Andreu , Chen Jun Song , Wu Rui
Published: August 2023

Nickel‐nitrogen‐carbon single‐atom catalysts have attracted widespread interest for CO2 electroreduction but they suffer from poor stability. Herein, we report on the preparation of Cl‐ and N‐doped porous carbon nanosheets with atomically dispersed NiN4Cl active sites (NiN4Cl‐ClNC) through a molten‐salt‐assisted pyrolysis strategy. The optimized NiN4Cl‐ClNC catalyst delivers exceptional CO2 conversion activity with outstanding stability for over 220 h at −0.7 V versus RHE and a high CO Faradaic efficiency of 98.7% at a CO partial current density of 12.4 mA cm‒2. Moreover, NiN4Cl‐ClNC displays a remarkable CO partial current density of approximately 349.4 mA cm−2 in flow‐cell, meeting the requirements of industrial applications. Operando attenuated total reflectance surface‐enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations are used to understand the outstanding activity and stability. Results reveal that the introduced axial Ni‐Cl bond on the Ni center and Cl─C bond on the carbon support synergetically induce electronic delocalization, which not only stabilizes Ni against leaching but also facilitates the formation of the COOH* intermediate that is found to be the rate‐determining step.
David S. Saunders: man of insects and photoperiodism (1935–2023)
Authors: Helfrich-Förster Charlotte
Published: August 2023

David S. Saunders was an outstanding scientist, who devoted his life to his family and to insects. He has made many fundamental contributions to our understanding of how insects reproduce and adapt their reproduction and development to the seasonal changes on our planet. Most importantly, he was a pioneer in demonstrating the role of the circadian clock in insect photoperiodic time measurement, first in the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis, and later in varies species of flies. His books on biological rhythms and insect clocks are important undergraduate, graduate and research reference literature. David was also a brilliant teacher and mentor and played a major role in establishing and teaching a series of successful Erasmus-funded Chronobiology Summer Schools in Europe. He leaves behind a legacy, both professionally and personally.
Association between nutrient intake related to the one-carbon metabolism and colorectal cancer risk: a case–control study in the Basque Country
Authors: Martín-Fernández-de-Labastida Silvia , Alegria-Lertxundi Iker , de Pancorbo Marian M. , Arroyo-Izaga Marta
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Epidemiologic evidence for the association between methyl-donor nutrient intake and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk remains inconclusive. We aimed to examine the relationship between intake of vitamins of the B group, methionine, total choline and betaine and CRC risk, in a population from the CRC screening programme in the Basque Country.

Design

This observational study included 308 patients with CRC and 308 age- and sex-matched subjects as controls. During recruitment, dietary, anthropometric, lifestyle, socioeconomic, demographic, and health status information was collected. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) for CRC risk.

Results

The adjusted ORs for CRC risk decreased with higher intakes of choline and betaine (p < 0.05). After further adjustment for folate, high intake of choline and betaine remained associated with a reduced CRC risk (adjusted model for choline, OR third tertile vs first tertile = 0.45, 95% CI 0.26–0.80, p = 0.006; for betaine, OR third tertile vs first tertile = 0.27, 95% CI 0.16–0.47, p < 0.001). Regarding the other nutrients, our findings indicated a non-significant decrease in CRC risk with the high level of intake.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that choline and betaine intake influence CRC risk in the studied population.
A modelling approach to disentangle the factors limiting muscle oxygenation in smokers
Authors: Degens Hans , Venckunas Tomas , Wüst Rob Cl
Published: August 2023

Cigarette smoking is associated with a lower exercise capacity and lower muscle fatigue resistance. This is at least partly attributable to carboxyhaemoglobin (HbCO) in the blood that via reduction in the oxygen-carrying capacity, and the left-shift of the Hb-dissociation curve would reduce tissue oxygenation. On the other hand, a reduced oxygen uptake due to mitochondrial dysfunction would result in improved oxygenation. We used previously collected capillarisation, myoglobin and estimated cellular maximal muscle oxygen consumption data derived from succinate dehydrogenase-stained sections from the vastus lateralis muscle from six smokers and five non-smokers. These data were fed into an expanded Krogh tissue oxygenation model to assess whether an impaired muscle fatigue resistance in smokers is primarily due to HbCO or impaired mitochondrial respiration. The model showed that in smokers with 6% and 20% HbCO (causing a left-shift of the Hb-dissociation curve) average muscle oxygenation was reduced by 1.9% and 7.2%, respectively. Muscle oxygenation was increased by 13.3% when maximal mitochondrial respiration was reduced by 29%. A combination of a 29% reduction in maximal mitochondrial respiration and 20% HbCO led to no significant difference in muscle oxygenation from that in non-smokers. This indicates that while HbCO may explain the reduced exercise capacity after just one smoking session, in chronic smokers impaired mitochondrial respiration appears more important in reducing oxygen extraction and exercise capacity with only a small contribution of the left-shift of the Hb-dissociation curve.
Using high-resolution LiDAR-derived canopy structure and topography to characterise hibernaculum locations of the hazel dormouse
Authors: Gubert Leonardo , Mathews Fiona , McDonald Robbie , Wilson Robert J. , Foppen Ruud P. B. , Lemmers Pim , La Haye Maurice , Bennie Jonathan
Published: August 2023

The hazel dormouse is predominantly an arboreal species that moves down to the ground to hibernate in the autumn in temperate parts of its distributional ranges at locations not yet well understood. The main objective of this study is to test whether environmental characteristics surrounding hazel dormouse hibernacula can be identified using high-resolution remote sensing and data collected in situ. To achieve this, remotely sensed variables, including canopy height and cover, topographic slope, sky view, solar radiation and cold air drainage, were modelled around 83 dormouse hibernacula in England (n = 62) and the Netherlands (n = 21), and environmental characteristics that may be favoured by pre-hibernating dormice were identified. Data on leaf litter depth, temperature, canopy cover and distance to the nearest tree were collected in situ and analysed at hibernaculum locations in England. The findings indicated that remotely sensed data were effective in identifying attributes surrounding the locations of dormouse hibernacula and when compared to in situ information, provided more conclusive results. This study suggests that remotely sensed topographic slope, canopy height and sky view have an influence on hazel dormice choosing suitable locations to hibernate; whilst in situ data suggested that average daily mean temperature at the hibernaculum may also have an effect. Remote sensing proved capable of identifying localised environmental characteristics in the wider landscape that may be important for hibernating dormice. This study proposes that this method can provide a novel progression from habitat modelling to conservation management for the hazel dormouse, as well as other species using habitats where topography and vegetation structure influence fine-resolution favourability.
Improving unified named entity recognition by incorporating mention relevance
Authors: Ji Lijun , Yan Danfeng , Cheng Zhuoran , Song Yan
Published: August 2023

Named entity recognition (NER) is a fundamental task for natural language processing, which aims to detect mentions of real-world entities from text and classifying them into predefined types. Recently, research on overlapped and discontinuous named entity recognition has received increasing attention. However, we note that few studies have considered both overlapped and discontinuous entities. In this paper, we proposed a novel sequence-to-sequence model that is capable of recognizing both overlapped and discontinuous entities based on machine reading comprehension. The model utilizes machine reading comprehension formulation to encode significant inferior information about the entity category. Then input sequence passes through a question-answering model to predict the mention relevance of the given source sentences to the query. Finally, we incorporate the mention relevance into the BART-based generation model. We conducted experiments on three type of NER datasets to show the generality of our model. The experimental results demonstrate that our model beats almost all the current top-performing baselines achieves a vast amount of performance boost over current SOTA models on overlapped and discontinuous NER datasets.
Degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis: review of current classifications and proposal of a novel classification system
Authors: Rangwalla Khuzaima , Filley Anna , El Naga Ashraf , Gendelberg David , Baldwin Avionna , Maziad Ali , Arora Ayush , Wague Aboubacar , O’Donnell Jennifer , Chryssikos Timothy , Kasir Rafid , Shah Jay , Theologis Alekos , Tan Lee , Mummaneni Praveen , Alamin Todd , Berven Sigurd H.
Published: August 2023

Purpose

To review existing classification systems for degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS), propose a novel classification designed to better address clinically relevant radiographic and clinical features of disease, and determine the inter- and intraobserver reliability of this new system for classifying DS.

Methods

The proposed classification system includes four components: 1) segmental dynamic instability, 2) location of spinal stenosis, 3) sagittal alignment, and 4) primary clinical presentation. To establish the reliability of this system, 12 observers graded 10 premarked test cases twice each. Kappa values were calculated to assess the inter- and intraobserver reliability for each of the four components separately.

Results

Interobserver reliability for dynamic instability, location of stenosis, sagittal alignment, and clinical presentation was 0.94, 0.80, 0.87, and 1.00, respectively. Intraobserver reliability for dynamic instability, location of stenosis, sagittal alignment, and clinical presentation were 0.91, 0.88, 0.87, and 0.97, respectively.

Conclusion

The UCSF DS classification system provides a novel framework for assessing DS based on radiographic and clinical parameters with established implications for surgical treatment. The almost perfect interobserver and intraobserver reliability observed for all components of this system demonstrates that it is simple and easy to use. In clinical practice, this classification may allow subclassification of similar patients into groups that may benefit from distinct treatment strategies, leading to the development of algorithms to help guide selection of an optimal surgical approach. Future work will focus on the clinical validation of this system, with the goal of providing for more evidence-based, standardized approaches to treatment and improved outcomes for patients with DS.
The association between sleep duration and muscle sympathetic nerve activity
Authors: Tai Bryan W. S. , Dawood Tye , Macefield Vaughan G. , Yiallourou Stephanie R.
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Sleep duration is associated with risk of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. It is thought that shorter sleep increases sympathetic activity. However, most studies are based on acute experimental sleep deprivation that have produced conflicting results. Furthermore, there are limited data available on habitual sleep duration and gold-standard measures of sympathetic activation. Hence, this study aimed to assess the association between habitual sleep duration and muscle sympathetic nerve activity.

Methods

Twenty-four participants aged ≥ 18 years were included in the study. Sleep was assessed using at-home 7-day/night actigraphy (ActiGraph™ GT3X-BT) and sleep questionnaires (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale). Microelectrode recordings of muscle sympathetic nerve activity were obtained from the common peroneal nerve. Participants were categorised into shorter or longer sleep duration groups using a median split of self-report and actigraphy sleep measures.

Results

Compared to longer sleepers, shorter sleepers averaged 99 ± 40 min and 82 ± 40 min less sleep per night as assessed by self-report and objective measures, respectively. There were no differences in age (38 ± 18 vs 39 ± 21 years), sex (5 male, 7 female vs 6 male, 6 female), or body mass index (23 ± 3 vs 22 ± 3 kg/m2) between shorter and longer sleepers. Expressed as burst frequency, muscle sympathetic nerve activity was higher in shorter versus longer sleepers for both self-report (39.4 ± 12.9 vs 28.4 ± 8.5 bursts/min, p = 0.019) and objective (37.9 ± 12.4 vs 28.1 ± 8.8 bursts/min, p = 0.036) sleep duration.

Conclusions

Shorter sleep duration assessed in a home setting was associated with higher muscle sympathetic nerve activity. Sympathetic overactivity may underlie the association between short sleep and hypertension.
Recycling food and agriculture by-products to mitigate climate change: a review
Authors: Rashwan Ahmed K. , Bai Haotian , Osman Ahmed I. , Eltohamy Kamel M. , Chen Zhonghao , Younis Hala A. , Al-Fatesh Ahmed , Rooney David W. , Yap Pow-Seng
Published: August 2023

Food loss and waste is a major issue affecting food security, environmental pollution, producer profitability, consumer prices, and climate change. About 1.3 billion tons of food products are yearly lost globally, with China producing approximately 20 million tons of soybean dregs annually. Here, we review food and agricultural byproducts with emphasis on the strategies to convert this waste into valuable materials. Byproducts can be used for animal and plant nutrition, biogas production, food, extraction of oils and bioactive substances, and production of vinegar, wine, edible coatings and organic fertilizers. For instance, bioactive compounds represent approximately 8–20% of apple pomace, 5–17% of orange peel, 10–25% of grape seeds, 3–15% of pomegranate peel, and 2–13% of date palm seeds. Similarly, the pharmaceutical industry uses approximately 6.5% of the total output of gelatin derived from fish bones and animal skin. Animals fed with pomegranate peel and olive pomace improved the concentration of deoxyribonucleic acid and protein, the litter size, the milk yield, and nest characteristics. Biogas production amounts to 57.1% using soybean residue, 53.7% using papaya peel, and 49.1% using sugarcane bagasse.
No interaction of fluctuating or constant temperature and virulence of entomopathogenic fungi in two noctuid species
Authors: Meissle Michael , Grabenweger Giselher , Romeis Jörg
Published: August 2023

The potential interaction of fluctuating temperature and the virulence of entomopathogens has implications for biological control. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of entomopathogenic fungi (Metarhizium brunneum, Beauveria bassiana) on noctuid pest caterpillars (Spodoptera littoralis, Heliothis virescens) under constant and fluctuating temperature regimes. The results revealed similar virulence of entomopathogenic fungi under fluctuating temperature (20–30 °C or 15–35 °C) compared with constant temperature (25 °C). Experiments with cotton leaves as food confirmed that S. littoralis was less susceptible to entomopathogenic fungi (M. brunneum) than H. virescens. Results of additional experiments with H. virescens larvae, B. bassiana, and artificial diet were comparable to experiments with M. brunneum and cotton leaves, despite that susceptibility to B. bassiana was three orders of magnitude lower than to M. brunneum. The fact that both fungus species showed reduced growth on medium under fluctuating temperatures when compared to constant temperatures did not translate to an interaction of temperature regime and the virulence against noctuid larvae. Our study implies that virulence studies with noctuid larvae under constant temperatures using plant material or artificial diet might be fair models also for environments with fluctuating temperatures.
Steady Bi-dimensional Crossflow Plasma Jets in Turbulent Channel Flows
Authors: Serpieri Jacopo , Hehner Marc T. , Kriegseis Jochen
Published: August 2023

In this study, the possibility of reducing the friction drag exerted by turbulent flows by means of wall-mounted plasma actuators is experimentally investigated. Two large plasma actuators (PAs) arrays were operated in a channel-flow facility. They were conceived to replicate, the flow control approach investigated by Mahfoze and Laizet (Int J Heat Fluid Flow 66:83–94, 2017) by means of numerical simulations. Namely, steady and relatively largely spaced (378 wall units) actuators were lain down such to induce stationary crossflow-directed fluid motions. Different actuation parameters (actuators’ configurations and supplied voltages) and flow Reynolds numbers were tested. Flow static pressure measurements were performed along with the actuators mechanical and electrical characterization. The resulting values of drag manipulation and actuation efficiency are reported. The tested flow actuation led to overall higher values of flow friction drag, whereas values overcoming the value of 30% of drag reduction were measured at the more downstream actuation positions. The discrepancy with the above reference is deemed to be mainly due to the finite flow actuation hereby considered. Nevertheless, a slightly different Reynolds number was here considered while the actuators effect was measured to be considerably weaker.
RUN-AS: a novel approach to annotate news reliability for disinformation detection
Authors: Bonet-Jover Alba , Sepúlveda-Torres Robiert , Saquete Estela , Martínez-Barco Patricio , Nieto-Pérez Mario
Published: August 2023

The development of the internet and digital technologies has inadvertently facilitated the huge disinformation problem that faces society nowadays. This phenomenon impacts ideologies, politics and public health. The 2016 US presidential elections, the Brexit referendum, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have been ideal scenarios for the spreading of fake news and hoaxes, due to the massive dissemination of information. Assuming that fake news mixes reliable and unreliable information, we propose RUN-AS (Reliable and Unreliable Annotation Scheme), a fine-grained annotation scheme that enables the labelling of the structural parts and essential content elements of a news item and their classification into Reliable and Unreliable. This annotation proposal aims to detect disinformation patterns in text and to classify the global reliability of news. To this end, a dataset in Spanish was built and manually annotated with RUN-AS and several experiments using this dataset were conducted to validate the annotation scheme by using Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) algorithms. The experiments evidence the validity of the annotation scheme proposed, obtaining the best $$\textbf F_\textbf 1\textbf m$$

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, 0.948, with the Decision Tree algorithm.