bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of Bacteria–Mitochondria Communication in the Activation of Neuronal Innate Immunity: Implications to Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Magalhães João D. , Esteves Ana Raquel , Candeias Emanuel , Silva Diana F. , Empadinhas Nuno , Cardoso Sandra Morais
Published: February 2023

Mitochondria play a key role in regulating host metabolism, immunity and cellular homeostasis. Remarkably, these organelles are proposed to have evolved from an endosymbiotic association between an alphaproteobacterium and a primitive eukaryotic host cell or an archaeon. This crucial event determined that human cell mitochondria share some features with bacteria, namely cardiolipin, N-formyl peptides, mtDNA and transcription factor A, that can act as mitochondrial-derived damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). The impact of extracellular bacteria on the host act largely through the modulation of mitochondrial activities, and often mitochondria are themselves immunogenic organelles that can trigger protective mechanisms through DAMPs mobilization. In this work, we demonstrate that mesencephalic neurons exposed to an environmental alphaproteobacterium activate innate immunity through toll-like receptor 4 and Nod-like receptor 3. Moreover, we show that mesencephalic neurons increase the expression and aggregation of alpha-synuclein that interacts with mitochondria, leading to their dysfunction. Mitochondrial dynamic alterations also affect mitophagy which favors a positive feedback loop on innate immunity signaling. Our results help to elucidate how bacteria and neuronal mitochondria interact and trigger neuronal damage and neuroinflammation and allow us to discuss the role of bacterial-derived pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) in Parkinson’s disease etiology.
Single-Cell RNA Transcriptome Profiling of Liver Cells of Short-Term Alcoholic Liver Injury in Mice
Authors: Cao Ligang , Wu Di , Qin Lin , Tan Daopeng , Fan Qingjie , Jia Xiaohuan , Yang Mengting , Zhou Tingting , Feng Chengcheng , Lu Yanliu , He Yuqi
Published: February 2023

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is currently considered a global healthcare problem with limited pharmacological treatment options. There are abundant cell types in the liver, such as hepatocytes, endothelial cells, Kupffer cells and so on, but little is known about which kind of liver cells play the most important role in the process of ALD. To obtain a cellular resolution of alcoholic liver injury pathogenesis, 51,619 liver single-cell transcriptomes (scRNA-seq) with different alcohol consumption durations were investigated, 12 liver cell types were identified, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the alcoholic liver injury were revealed. We found that more aberrantly differential expressed genes (DEGs) were present in hepatocytes, endothelial cells, and Kupffer cells than in other cell types in alcoholic treatment mice. Alcohol promoted the pathological processes of liver injury; the specific mechanisms involved: lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, hypoxia, complementation and anticoagulation, and hepatocyte energy metabolism on hepatocytes; NO production, immune regulation, epithelial and cell migration on endothelial cells; antigen presentation and energy metabolism on Kupffer cells, based on the GO analysis. In addition, our results showed that some transcription factors (TFs) are activated in alcohol-treated mice. In conclusion, our study improves the understanding of liver cell heterogeneity in alcohol-fed mice at the single-cell level. It has potential value for understanding key molecular mechanisms and improving current prevention and treatment strategies for short-term alcoholic liver injury.
Label-Free Multiplexed Microfluidic Analysis of Protein Interactions Based on Photonic Crystal Surface Mode Imaging
Authors: Nifontova Galina , Petrova Irina , Gerasimovich Evgeniia , Konopsky Valery , Ayadi Nizar , Charlier Cathy , Fleury Fabrice , Karaulov Alexander , Sukhanova Alyona , Nabiev Igor
Published: February 2023

High-throughput protein assays are crucial for modern diagnostics, drug discovery, proteomics, and other fields of biology and medicine. It allows simultaneous detection of hundreds of analytes and miniaturization of both fabrication and analytical procedures. Photonic crystal surface mode (PC SM) imaging is an effective alternative to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging used in conventional gold-coated, label-free biosensors. PC SM imaging is advantageous as a quick, label-free, and reproducible technique for multiplexed analysis of biomolecular interactions. PC SM sensors are characterized by a longer signal propagation at the cost of a lower spatial resolution, which makes them more sensitive than classical SPR imaging sensors. We describe an approach for designing label-free protein biosensing assays employing PC SM imaging in the microfluidic mode. Label-free, real-time detection of PC SM imaging biosensors using two-dimensional imaging of binding events has been designed to study arrays of model proteins (antibodies, immunoglobulin G-binding proteins, serum proteins, and DNA repair proteins) at 96 points prepared by automated spotting. The data prove feasibility of simultaneous PC SM imaging of multiple protein interactions. The results pave the way to further develop PC SM imaging as an advanced label-free microfluidic assay for the multiplexed detection of protein interactions.
Small Cellular Particles from European Spruce Needle Homogenate
Authors: Jeran Marko , Romolo Anna , Spasovski Vesna , Hočevar Matej , Novak Urban , Štukelj Roman , Šuštar Vid , Kisovec Matic , Bedina Zavec Apolonija , Kogej Ksenija , Iglič Aleš , Trebše Polonca , Kralj-Iglič Veronika
Published: February 2023

Small cellular particles (SCPs) are being considered for their role in cell-to-cell communication. We harvested and characterized SCPs from spruce needle homogenate. SCPs were isolated by differential ultracentrifugation. They were imaged by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and cryogenic transmission electron microscope (cryo TEM), assessed for their number density and hydrodynamic diameter by interferometric light microscopy (ILM) and flow cytometry (FCM), total phenolic content (TPC) by UV-vis spectroscopy, and terpene content by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The supernatant after ultracentrifugation at 50,000× g contained bilayer-enclosed vesicles whereas in the isolate we observed small particles of other types and only a few vesicles. The number density of cell-sized particles (CSPs) (larger than 2 μm) and meso-sized particles (MSPs) (cca 400 nm–2 µm) was about four orders of magnitude lower than the number density of SCPs (sized below 500 nm). The average hydrodynamic diameter of SCPs measured in 10,029 SCPs was 161 ± 133 nm. TCP decreased considerably due to 5-day aging. Volatile terpenoid content was found in the pellet after 300× g. The above results indicate that spruce needle homogenate is a source of vesicles to be explored for potential delivery use.
Bubble Formation in ITER-Grade Tungsten after Exposure to Stationary D/He Plasma and ELM-like Thermal Shocks
Authors: Gago Mauricio , Kreter Arkadi , Unterberg Bernhard , Wirtz Marius
Published: February 2023

Plasma-facing materials (PFMs) in the ITER divertor will be exposed to severe conditions, including exposure to transient heat loads from edge-localized modes (ELMs) and to plasma particles and neutrons. Tungsten is the material chosen as PFM for the ITER divertor. In previous tests, bubble formation in ITER-grade tungsten was detected when exposed to fusion relevant conditions. For this study, ITER-grade tungsten was exposed to simultaneous ELM-like transient heat loads and D/He (6%) plasma in the linear plasma device PSI-2. Bubble formation was then investigated via SEM micrographs and FIB cuts. It was found that for exposure to 100.000 laser pulses of 0.6 GWm−2 absorbed power density (Pabs), only small bubbles in the nanometer range were formed close to the surface. After increasing Pabs to 0.8 and 1.0 GWm−2, the size of the bubbles went up to about 1 µm in size and were deeper below the surface. Increasing the plasma fluence had an even larger effect, more than doubling bubble density and increasing bubble size to up to 2 µm in diameter. When using deuterium-only plasma, the samples showed no bubble formation and reduced cracking, showing such bubble formation is caused by exposure to helium plasma.
Creep Deformation and Its Effect on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Magnesium Phosphate Cement Concrete
Authors: Gao Yuxin , Qin Jihui , Li Zhen , Jia Xingwen , Qian Jueshi
Published: February 2023

Creep deformation is an important aspect of magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) used as a structural material. In this study, the shrinkage and creep deformation behaviors of three different MPC concretes were observed for 550 days. The mechanical properties, phase composition, pore structure, and microstructure of MPC concretes after shrinkage and creep tests were investigated. The results showed that the shrinkage and creep strains of MPC concretes stabilized in the ranges of −140 to −170 με and −200 to −240 με, respectively. The low water-to-binder ratio and the formation of crystalline struvite were responsible for such low deformation. The creep strain had almost no effect on the phase composition; however, it increased the crystal size of struvite and reduced the porosity, especially the volume of pores with diameters <20 nm and >200 nm. The modification of struvite and densification of microstructure led to an improvement in both compressive strength and splitting tensile strength.
Exploring High-Precision Non-Assembly Mechanisms: Design of a Vitrectome Mechanism for Eye Surgery
Authors: Lussenburg Kirsten , Scali Marta , Stolk Maarten , Robijns Daisy , Sakes Aimée , Breedveld Paul
Published: February 2023

A vitrectome is a commonly used instrument in eye surgery, which is used to cut and aspirate the vitreous body out of the eye. The mechanism of the vitrectome consists of miniature components that need to be assembled by hand due to their size. Non-assembly 3D printing, in which fully functional mechanisms can be produced in a single production step, can help create a more streamlined production process. We propose a vitrectome design based on a dual-diaphragm mechanism, which can be produced with minimal assembly steps using PolyJet printing. Two different diaphragm designs were tested to fulfill the requirements of the mechanism: a homogenous design based on ‘digital’ materials and a design using an ortho-planar spring. Both designs were able to fulfill the required displacement for the mechanism of 0.8 mm, as well as cutting forces of at least 8 N. The requirements for the cutting speed of the mechanism of 8000 RPM were not fulfilled by both designs, since the viscoelastic nature of the PolyJet materials resulted in a slow response time. The proposed mechanism does show promise to be used in vitrectomy; however, we suggest that more research into different design directions is required.
Shortwave Ultraviolet Persistent Luminescence of Sr2MgSi2O7: Pr3+
Authors: Antuzevics Andris , Doke Guna , Krieke Guna , Rodionovs Pavels , Nilova Dace , Cirulis Jekabs , Fedotovs Andris , Rogulis Uldis
Published: February 2023

Currently, extensive research activities are devoted to developing persistent phosphors which extend beyond the visible range. In some emerging applications, long-lasting emission of high-energy photons is required; however, suitable materials for the shortwave ultraviolet (UV–C) band are extremely limited. This study reports a novel Sr2MgSi2O7 phosphor doped with Pr3+ ions, which exhibits UV–C persistent luminescence with maximum intensity at 243 nm. The solubility of Pr3+ in the matrix is analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optimal activator concentration is determined. Optical and structural properties are characterised by photoluminescence (PL), thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy techniques. The obtained results expand the class of UV–C persistent phosphors and provide novel insights into the mechanisms of persistent luminescence.
Research on the Durability and Reliability of Industrial Layered Coatings on Metal Substrate Due to Abrasive Wear
Authors: Przystupa Krzysztof
Published: February 2023

This paper discusses the issue of evaluating the durability and reliability of organic coatings applied on the outer surfaces of roofing sheets. Two sheets, i.e., ZA200 and S220GD, were selected as research objects. Metal surfaces of these sheets are protected with multilayer organic coatings to protect them against weather conditions, assembly, and operational damages. The durability of these coatings was tested by evaluating their resistance to tribological wear using the ball-on-disc method. The testing was conducted in reversible gear according to a sinuous trajectory at a 3 Hz frequency. The test load was 5 N. When the coating was scratched, the metallic counter sample touched the metallic surface of the roofing sheet, which indicated a significant drop in electrical resistance. It is assumed that the number of performed cycles specifies the durability of the coating. Weibull analysis was applied to examine the findings. The reliability of the tested coatings was evaluated. The tests have confirmed that the structure of the coating is essential for the durability and reliability of products. The research and analysis included in this paper present important findings.
In Situ Synchrotron XRD Characterization of Piezoelectric Al1−xScxN Thin Films for MEMS Applications
Authors: Jiang Wenzheng , Zhu Lei , Chen Lingli , Yang Yumeng , Yu Xi , Li Xiaolong , Mu Zhiqiang , Yu Wenjie
Published: February 2023

Aluminum scandium nitride (Al1−xScxN) film has drawn considerable attention owing to its enhanced piezoelectric response for micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) applications. Understanding the fundamentals of piezoelectricity would require a precise characterization of the piezoelectric coefficient, which is also crucial for MEMS device design. In this study, we proposed an in situ method based on a synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) system to characterize the longitudinal piezoelectric constant d33 of Al1−xScxN film. The measurement results quantitatively demonstrated the piezoelectric effect of Al1−xScxN films by lattice spacing variation upon applied external voltage. The as-extracted d33 had a reasonable accuracy compared with the conventional high over-tone bulk acoustic resonators (HBAR) devices and Berlincourt methods. It was also found that the substrate clamping effect, leading to underestimation of d33 from in situ synchrotron XRD measurement while overestimation using Berlincourt method, should be thoroughly corrected in the data extraction process. The d33 of AlN and Al0.9Sc0.1N obtained by synchronous XRD method were 4.76 pC/N and 7.79 pC/N, respectively, matching well with traditional HBAR and Berlincourt methods. Our findings prove the in situ synchrotron XRD measurement as an effective method for precise piezoelectric coefficient d33 characterization.
Sr-Doping All-Inorganic CsPbBr3 Perovskite Thick Film for Self-Powered X-ray Detectors
Authors: Liu Chuanqi , Zhang Wen , Yang Dingyu , Tian Haibo , Zhu Jun
Published: February 2023

The all-inorganic perovskite cesium lead bromine (CsPbBr3) has attracted much attention in the field of X-ray detectors because of its high X-ray absorption coefficient, high carrier collection efficiency, and easy solution preparation. The low-cost anti-solvent method is the main method to prepare CsPbBr3; during this process, solvent volatilization will bring a large number of holes to the film, leading to the increase of defects. Based on the heteroatomic doping strategy, we propose that Pb2+ should be partially replaced by Sr2+ to prepare leadless all-inorganic perovskite. The introduction of Sr2+ promoted the ordered growth of CsPbBr3 in the vertical direction, increased the density and uniformity of the thick film, and achieved the goal of CsPbBr3 thick film repairing. In addition, the prepared CsPbBr3 and CsPbBr3:Sr X-ray detectors were self-powered without external bias, maintaining a stable response during on and off states at different X-ray dose rates. Furthermore, the detector base on 160 µm CsPbBr3:Sr had a sensitivity of 517.02 µC Gyair−1 cm−3 at zero bias under the dose rate of 0.955 µGy ms−1 and it obtained a fast response speed of 0.053–0.148 s. Our work provides a new opportunity to produce cost-effective and highly efficient self-powered perovskite X-ray detectors in a sustainable way.
Facile Approach for the Potential Large-Scale Production of Polylactide Nanofiber Membranes with Enhanced Hydrophilic Properties
Authors: Jiang Changmei , Tian Yuan , Wang Luolan , Zhao Shiyou , Hua Ming , Yao Lirong , Xu Sijun , Ge Jianlong , Pan Gangwei
Published: February 2023

Polylactide (PLA) nanofiber membranes with enhanced hydrophilic properties were prepared through electrospinning. As a result of their poor hydrophilic properties, common PLA nanofibers have poor hygroscopicity and separation efficiency when used as oil–water separation materials. In this research, cellulose diacetate (CDA) was used to improve the hydrophilic properties of PLA. The PLA/CDA blends were successfully electrospun to obtain nanofiber membranes with excellent hydrophilic properties and biodegradability. The effects of the additional amount of CDA on the surface morphology, crystalline structure, and hydrophilic properties of the PLA nanofiber membranes were investigated. The water flux of the PLA nanofiber membranes modified with different CDA amounts was also analyzed. The addition of CDA improved the hygroscopicity of the blended PLA membranes; the water contact angle of the PLA/CDA (6/4) fiber membrane was 97.8°, whereas that of the pure PLA fiber membrane was 134.9°. The addition of CDA enhanced hydrophilicity because it tended to decrease the diameter of PLA fibers and thus increased the specific surface area of the membranes. Blending PLA with CDA had no significant effect on the crystalline structure of the PLA fiber membranes. However, the tensile properties of the PLA/CDA nanofiber membranes worsened due to the poor compatibility between PLA and CDA. Interestingly, CDA endowed the nanofiber membranes with improved water flux. The water flux of the PLA/CDA (8/2) nanofiber membrane was 28,540.81 L/m2·h, which was considerably higher than that of the pure PLA fiber membrane (387.47 L/m2·h). The PLA/CDA nanofiber membranes can be feasibly applied as an environmentally friendly oil–water separation material because of their improved hydrophilic properties and excellent biodegradability.
An Overview of Thermal Exposure on Microstructural Degradation and Mechanical Properties in Ni-Based Single Crystal Superalloys
Authors: Zhang Jian , Lu Fan , Li Longfei
Published: February 2023

Microstructural stability at elevated temperatures is one of the main concerns for the service reliability of aero-engine turbine blades. Thermal exposure, as an important approach to examine the microstructural degradation, has been widely studied in Ni-based single crystal (SX) superalloys for decades. This paper presents a review on the microstructural degradation induced by high-temperature thermal exposure and the associated damage in mechanical properties in some typical Ni-based SX superalloys. The main factors affecting the microstructural evolution during thermal exposure and the influencing factors in the degradation of mechanical properties are also summarized. Insights into the quantitative estimation of the thermal exposure-affected microstructural evolution and the mechanical properties will be beneficial for the understanding and improvement of reliable service in Ni-based SX superalloys.
Processing, Mechanical and Morphological Properties of GTR Modified by SBS Copolymers
Authors: Susik Agnieszka , Rodak Agata , Cañavate Javier , Colom Xavier , Wang Shifeng , Formela Krzysztof
Published: February 2023

In this work, ground tire rubber (GTR) was thermo-mechanically treated in the presence of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymers. During preliminary investigation, the effects of different SBS copolymer grades, the variable content of SBS copolymer on the Mooney viscosity, and the thermal and mechanical properties of modified GTR were determined. Subsequently, GTR modified by SBS copolymer and cross-linking agents (sulfur-based system and dicumyl peroxide) was characterized by assessment of rheological, physico-mechanical, and morphological properties. Rheological investigations showed that linear SBS copolymer, with the highest melt flow rate among studied SBS grades, was the most promising modifier of GTR, considering processing behavior. It was also observed that an SBS improves the thermal stability of the modified GTR. However, it was found that higher content of SBS copolymer (above 30 wt%) does not bring any effective changes and, for economic reasons, is inefficient. The results showed that samples based on GTR modified by SBS and dicumyl peroxide have better processability and slightly higher mechanical properties compared to samples cross-linked by a sulfur-based system. This is due to the affinity of dicumyl peroxide to the co-cross-linking of GTR and SBS phases.
Uncertainty Quantification in Constitutive Models of Highway Bridge Components: Seismic Bars and Elastomeric Bearings
Authors: Pinto Francisco J. , Toledo José , Birrell Matías , Bazáez Ramiro , Hernández Francisco , Astroza Rodrigo
Published: February 2023

Bridges are essential structures in the logistic chain of countries, making it critical to design them to be as resilient as possible. One way to achieve this is through performance-based seismic design (PBSD), which involves using nonlinear Finite Element (FE) models to predict the response and potential damage of different structural components under earthquake excitations. Nonlinear FE models need accurate constitutive models of material and components. Among them, seismic bars and laminated elastomeric bearings play an important role in a bridge’s response to earthquakes; therefore, properly validated and calibrated models should be proposed. Only default parameter values from the early development of the constitutive models widely used by researchers and practitioners for these components tend to be used, and low identifiability of its governing parameters and the high cost of generating reliable experimental data have prevented a thorough probabilistic characterization of their model parameters. To address this issue, this study implements a Bayesian probabilistic framework using Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) for updating the parameters of constitutive models of seismic bars and elastomeric bearings and proposes joint probability density functions (PDF) for the most influential parameters. The framework is based on actual data from comprehensive experimental campaigns. The PDFs are obtained from independent tests conducted on different seismic bars and elastomeric bearings, to then consolidate all the information in a single PDF for each modeling parameter by means of the conflation methodology, where the mean, coefficient of variation, and correlation between calibrated parameters are obtained for each bridge component. Finally, findings show that the incorporation of model parameter uncertainty through a probabilistic framework will allow for a more accurate prediction of the response of bridges under strong earthquakes.
Exploration of the Compressive Strength and Microscopic Properties of Portland Cement Taking Attapulgite and Montmorillonite Clay as an Additive
Authors: Yan Jiahao , Zhou Mengya , Fan Jinyuan , Duan Ping , Zhang Zuhua
Published: February 2023

The effects of attapulgite and montmorillonite calcinated at 750 °C for 2 h as supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) on the working properties, mechanical strength, phase composition, morphology, hydration and heat release of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) were studied. The results show that pozzolanic activity increased with time after calcination, and with the increase in content of calcined attapulgite and calcined montmorillonite, the fluidity of cement paste exhibited a downward trend. Meanwhile, the calcined attapulgite had a greater effect on the decrease in the fluidity of cement paste than calcined montmorillonite, and the maximum reduction was 63.3%. Within 28 days, the compressive strength of cement paste with calcined attapulgite and montmorillonite was higher than that of the blank group in the later stage, and the optimum dosages of calcined attapulgite and montmorillonite were 6% and 8%, respectively. In addition, the compressive strength of these samples reached 85 MPa 28 days later. The introduction of calcined attapulgite and montmorillonite increased the polymerization degree of silico-oxygen tetrahedra in C-S-H gels during cement hydration, thereby contributing to accelerating the early hydration process. In addition, the hydration peak of the samples mixed with calcined attapulgite and montmorillonite was advanced, and the peak value was lower than that of the control group.
Current Downhole Corrosion Control Solutions and Trends in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Review
Authors: Solovyeva Vera A. , Almuhammadi Khaled H. , Badeghaish Wael O.
Published: February 2023

In the oil and gas industry, the presence of aggressive fluids and gases can cause serious corrosion problems. Multiple solutions have been introduced to the industry to minimize corrosion occurrence probability in recent years. They include cathodic protection, utilization of advanced metallic grades, injection of corrosion inhibitors, replacement of the metal parts with composite solutions, and deposition of protective coatings. This paper will review the advances and developments in the design of corrosion protection solutions. The publication highlights crucial challenges in the oil and gas industry to be solved upon the development of corrosion protection methods. According to the stated challenges, existing protective systems are summarized with emphasis on the features that are essential for oil and gas production. Qualification of corrosion protection performance based on international industrial standards will be depicted in detail for each type of corrosion protection system. Forthcoming challenges for the engineering of next-generation materials for corrosion mitigation are discussed to highlight the trends and forecasts of emerging technology development. We will also discuss the advances in nanomaterial and smart material development, enhanced ecological regulations, and applications of complex multifunctional solutions for corrosion mitigation which have become of great importance in recent decades.
Generative Transformer with Knowledge-Guided Decoding for Academic Knowledge Graph Completion
Authors: Liu Xiangwen , Mao Shengyu , Wang Xiaohan , Bu Jiajun
Published: February 2023

Academic knowledge graphs are essential resources and can be beneficial in widespread real-world applications. Most of the existing academic knowledge graphs are far from completion; thus, knowledge graph completion—the task of extending a knowledge graph with missing entities and relations—attracts many researchers. Most existing methods utilize low-dimensional embeddings to represent entities and relations and follow the discrimination paradigm for link prediction. However, discrimination approaches may suffer from the scaling issue during inference with large-scale academic knowledge graphs. In this paper, we propose a novel approach of a generative transformer with knowledge-guided decoding for academic knowledge graph completion. Specifically, we introduce generative academic knowledge graph pre-training with a transformer. Then, we propose knowledge-guided decoding, which leverages relevant knowledge in the training corpus as guidance for help. We conducted experiments on benchmark datasets for knowledge graph completion. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can achieve performance gains of 30 units of the MRR score over the baselines on the academic knowledge graph AIDA.
New Phenylspirodrimanes from the Sponge-Associated Fungus Stachybotrys chartarum MUT 3308
Authors: Dayras Marie , Sfecci Estelle , Bovio Elena , Rastoin Olivia , Dufies Maeva , Fontaine-Vive Fabien , Taffin-de-Givenchy Elisabeth , Lacour Thierry , Pages Gilles , Varese Giovanna Cristina , Mehiri Mohamed
Published: February 2023

Two phenylspirodrimanes, never isolated before, stachybotrin J (1) and new stachybocin G (epi-stachybocin A) (2), along with the already reported stachybotrin I (3), stachybotrin H (4), stachybotrylactam (5), stachybotrylactam acetate (6), 2α-acetoxystachybotrylactam acetate (7), stachybotramide (8), chartarlactam B (9), and F1839-J (10) were isolated from the sponge-associated fungus Stachybotrys chartarum MUT 3308. Their structures were established based on extensive spectrometric (HRMS) and spectroscopic (1D and 2D NMR) analyses. Absolute configurations of the stereogenic centers of stachybotrin J (1), stachybocin G (2), and stachybotrin I (3), were determined by comparison of their experimental circular dichroism (CD) spectra with their time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. The putative structures of seventeen additional phenylspirodrimanes were proposed by analysis of their respective MS/MS spectra through a Feature-Based Molecular Networking approach. All the isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against five aggressive cancer cell lines (MP41, 786, 786R, CAL33, and CAL33RR), notably including two resistant human cancer cell lines (786R, CAL33RR), and compounds 5, 6, and 7 exhibited cytotoxicity with IC50 values in the range of 0.3−2.2 µM.
Celiac Disease and the Gluten Free Diet during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Children and Parents
Authors: Kreutz Johanna M. , Heynen Laura , Arayess Lisanne , Vreugdenhil Anita C. E.
Published: February 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic perturbed the everyday life of children and those with chronic illnesses, along with the lives of their families. Patients with celiac disease (CD) follow a strict gluten-free diet (GFD), and gluten ingestion is associated with negative health outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of children with CD and their families concerning their GFD, symptoms and CD management during the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed including 37 Dutch pediatric patients with CD, along with their parents. The majority reported good compliance to the GFD and stated that the diet was easier to follow during the pandemic, mainly due to eating more meals in the home. Some discovered a greater variety of GF products by utilizing online shopping, potentially increasing the financial burden of the GFD. Concerning general dietary habits, 21.6% reported a healthier eating pattern, in contrast to 37.8% and 10.8% who consumed more unhealthy snacks and fewer fruits and vegetables, respectively, than normal during the pandemic. The natural experiment of the COVID-19 pandemic provides valuable information regarding the management of pediatric CD. Education on healthy dietary patterns is important, especially for children with restrictive diets, and the findings of this study show that there is room for improvement in this respect, regardless of the current pandemic.
Studies on the Enrichment Feasibility of Rare Earth-Bearing Minerals in Mine Tailings
Authors: Corchado-Albelo Jose L. , Alagha Lana
Published: February 2023

This study aimed to investigate the potential of enrichment of rare-earth-bearing minerals in historic mine tailing using the froth flotation process. Characterization studies indicated that tailings contained 11,000 ppm of rare earth elements (REEs). The major mineral in the tailings was apatite at ~84%, which was associated with iron oxides (~16%). TESCAN’s integrated mineral analysis (TIMA) showed that monazite was the main REE mineral, and 69% of monazite was locked in apatite grains. Characterization studies suggested that the separation of REEs-bearing apatite from iron oxides is possible using froth flotation, wherein apatite was floated and iron oxides were depressed. Zeta potential experiments were conducted to understand the behavior of the main minerals in the feed when selected depressants of iron oxides were added. Depressants included corn starch, sodium metasilicates, polyacrylamide (PAM), hybrid polyacrylamide (HyPAM), and chitosan. Zeta potential results suggested that chitosan and polyacrylamide-based polymers had the strongest adsorption on magnetite at pH 7 and pH 9, respectively, as indicated by the large shift in the zeta potential of magnetite suspensions. Flotation results were consistent with zeta potential findings and showed that Hy-PAM and chitosan had the best depression efficiency of iron oxides at pH 9 and pH 7, respectively.
Proteomics Analysis of Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines from Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Whitham Danielle , Belenkiy Eugene , Darie Costel C. , Radu Aurelian
Published: February 2023

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) consists of the progressive degeneration of motor neurons, caused by poorly understood mechanisms for which there is no cure. Some of the cellular perturbations associated with ALS can be detected in peripheral cells, including lymphocytes from blood. A related cell system that is very suitable for research consists of human lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), which are immortalized lymphocytes. LCLs that can be easily expanded in culture and can be maintained for long periods as stable cultures. We investigated, on a small set of LCLs, if a proteomics analysis using liquid chromatography followed by tandem mass spectrometry reveals proteins that are differentially present in ALS versus healthy controls. We found that individual proteins, the cellular and molecular pathways in which these proteins participate, are detected as differentially present in the ALS samples. Some of these proteins and pathways are already known to be perturbed in ALS, while others are new and present interest for further investigations. These observations suggest that a more detailed proteomics analysis of LCLs, using a larger number of samples, represents a promising approach for investigating ALS mechanisms and to search for therapeutic agents. Proteomics data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD040240.
Biocompatibility and Biological Effects of Surface-Modified Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles
Authors: Guo Wanni , Chen Mingjian , Yang Yuxin , Ge Guili , Tang Le , He Shuyi , Zeng Zhaoyang , Li Xiaoling , Li Guiyuan , Xiong Wei , Wu Steven
Published: February 2023

Semiconductiong polymer nanoparticles (Pdots) have a wide range of applications in biomedical fields including biomolecular probes, tumor imaging, and therapy. However, there are few systematic studies on the biological effects and biocompatibility of Pdots in vitro and in vivo. The physicochemical properties of Pdots, such as surface modification, are very important in biomedical applications. Focusing on the central issue of the biological effects of Pdots, we systematically investigated the biological effects and biocompatibility of Pdots with different surface modifications and revealed the interactions between Pdots and organisms at the cellular and animal levels. The surfaces of Pdots were modified with different functional groups, including thiol, carboxyl, and amino groups, named Pdots@SH, Pdots@COOH, and Pdots@NH2, respectively. Extracellular studies showed that the modification of sulfhydryl, carboxyl, and amino groups had no significant effect on the physicochemical properties of Pdots, except that the amino modification affected the stability of Pdots to a certain extent. At the cellular level, Pdots@NH2 reduced cellular uptake capacity and increased cytotoxicity due to their instability in solution. At the in vivo level, the body circulation and metabolic clearance of Pdots@SH and Pdots@COOH were superior to those of Pdots@NH2. The four kinds of Pdots had no obvious effect on the blood indexes of mice and histopathological lesions in the main tissues and organs. This study provides important data for the biological effects and safety assessment of Pdots with different surface modifications, which pave the way for their potential biomedical applications.
Hematite: A Good Catalyst for the Thermal Decomposition of Energetic Materials and the Application in Nano-Thermite
Authors: Li Yu , Dang Jia , Ma Yuqiang , Ma Haixia
Published: February 2023

Metal oxides (MOs) are of great importance in catalysts, sensor, capacitor and water treatment. Nano-sized MOs have attracted much more attention because of the unique properties, such as surface effect, small size effect and quantum size effect, etc. Hematite, an especially important additive as combustion catalysts, can greatly speed up the thermal decomposition process of energetic materials (EMs) and enhance the combustion performance of propellants. This review concludes the catalytic effect of hematite with different morphology on some EMs such as ammonium perchlorate (AP), cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), cyclotetramethylenete-tranitramine (HMX), etc. The method for enhancing the catalytic effect on EMs using hematite-based materials such as perovskite and spinel ferrite materials, making composites with different carbon materials and assembling super-thermite is concluded and their catalytic effects on EMs is also discussed. Therefore, the provided information is helpful for the design, preparation and application of catalysts for EMs.
Thia-Michael Reaction under Heterogeneous Catalysis
Authors: Bosica Giovanna , Abdilla Roderick , Petrellini Alessio
Published: February 2023

Thia-Michael reactions between aliphatic and aromatic thiols and various Michael acceptors were performed under environmentally-friendly solvent-free conditions using Amberlyst® A21 as a recyclable heterogeneous catalyst to efficiently obtain the corresponding adducts in high yields. Ethyl acrylate was the main acceptor used, although others such as acrylamide, linear, and cyclic enones were also utilized successfully. Bifunctional Michael donor, 3-mercaptopropanoic acid, positively furnished the product, albeit in a lower yield and after leaving the reaction to take place for a longer time. The catalyst was easy and safe to handle and successfully recycled for five consecutive cycles.
Can Heaven Justify Horrendous Moral Evils? A Postmortem Autopsy
Authors: Lancaster-Thomas Asha
Published: February 2023

James Sterba has recently constructed a new and compelling logical problem of evil that rejects Plantinga’s free-will defense and employs the concept of significant freedom and the Pauline Principle to demonstrate an incompatibility between the existence of horrendous evil and the God of classical monotheism. In response, Jerry L. Walls, among others, has claimed that the doctrine of heaven can explain why God is justified in permitting horrendous evils in the world—an argument known as the afterlife theodicy. In this article, I explore this line of defense against Sterba’s logical problem of evil. I suggest that if the afterlife theodicy is to be effective, it must accept non-speciesist, strong universalism; deny or explicate divinely informed prior consent; reject an elective model of forgiveness; discard postmortem libertarian free will; and explain why God values libertarian free will in earthly life but not in the afterlife.
Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Traffic Flow Management of Autonomous Vehicles
Authors: Mushtaq Anum , Haq Irfan Ul , Sarwar Muhammad Azeem , Khan Asifullah , Khalil Wajeeha , Mughal Muhammad Abid
Published: February 2023

Intelligent traffic management systems have become one of the main applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). There is a growing interest in Reinforcement Learning (RL) based control methods in ITS applications such as autonomous driving and traffic management solutions. Deep learning helps in approximating substantially complex nonlinear functions from complicated data sets and tackling complex control issues. In this paper, we propose an approach based on Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) and smart routing to improve the flow of autonomous vehicles on road networks. We evaluate Multi-Agent Advantage Actor-Critic (MA2C) and Independent Advantage Actor-Critical (IA2C), recently suggested Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning techniques with smart routing for traffic signal optimization to determine its potential. We investigate the framework offered by non-Markov decision processes, enabling a more in-depth understanding of the algorithms. We conduct a critical analysis to observe the robustness and effectiveness of the method. The method’s efficacy and reliability are demonstrated by simulations using SUMO, a software modeling tool for traffic simulations. We used a road network that contains seven intersections. Our findings show that MA2C, when trained on pseudo-random vehicle flows, is a viable methodology that outperforms competing techniques.
Robust Multi-Sensor Consensus Plant Disease Detection Using the Choquet Integral
Authors: Marco-Detchart Cedric , Carrascosa Carlos , Julian Vicente , Rincon Jaime
Published: February 2023

Over the last few years, several studies have appeared that employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to improve sustainable development in the agricultural sector. Specifically, these intelligent techniques provide mechanisms and procedures to facilitate decision-making in the agri-food industry. One of the application areas has been the automatic detection of plant diseases. These techniques, mainly based on deep learning models, allow for analysing and classifying plants to determine possible diseases facilitating early detection and thus preventing the propagation of the disease. In this way, this paper proposes an Edge-AI device that incorporates the necessary hardware and software components for automatically detecting plant diseases from a set of images of a plant leaf. In this way, the main goal of this work is to design an autonomous device that allows the detection of possible diseases that can detect potential diseases in plants. This will be achieved by capturing multiple images of the leaves and implementing data fusion techniques to enhance the classification process and improve its robustness. Several tests have been carried out to determine that the use of this device significantly increases the robustness of the classification responses to possible plant diseases.
Source-Space Brain Functional Connectivity Features in Electroencephalogram-Based Driver Fatigue Classification
Authors: Nguyen Khanh Ha , Ebbatson Matthew , Tran Yvonne , Craig Ashley , Nguyen Hung , Chai Rifai
Published: February 2023

This study examined the brain source space functional connectivity from the electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of 48 participants during a driving simulation experiment where they drove until fatigue developed. Source-space functional connectivity (FC) analysis is a state-of-the-art method for understanding connections between brain regions that may indicate psychological differences. Multi-band FC in the brain source space was constructed using the phased lag index (PLI) method and used as features to train an SVM classification model to classify driver fatigue and alert conditions. With a subset of critical connections in the beta band, a classification accuracy of 93% was achieved. Additionally, the source-space FC feature extractor demonstrated superiority over other methods, such as PSD and sensor-space FC, in classifying fatigue. The results suggested that source-space FC is a discriminative biomarker for detecting driving fatigue.
Vision Transformers in Image Restoration: A Survey
Authors: Ali Anas M. , Benjdira Bilel , Koubaa Anis , El-Shafai Walid , Khan Zahid , Boulila Wadii
Published: February 2023

The Vision Transformer (ViT) architecture has been remarkably successful in image restoration. For a while, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) predominated in most computer vision tasks. Now, both CNN and ViT are efficient approaches that demonstrate powerful capabilities to restore a better version of an image given in a low-quality format. In this study, the efficiency of ViT in image restoration is studied extensively. The ViT architectures are classified for every task of image restoration. Seven image restoration tasks are considered: Image Super-Resolution, Image Denoising, General Image Enhancement, JPEG Compression Artifact Reduction, Image Deblurring, Removing Adverse Weather Conditions, and Image Dehazing. The outcomes, the advantages, the limitations, and the possible areas for future research are detailed. Overall, it is noted that incorporating ViT in the new architectures for image restoration is becoming a rule. This is due to some advantages compared to CNN, such as better efficiency, especially when more data are fed to the network, robustness in feature extraction, and a better feature learning approach that sees better the variances and characteristics of the input. Nevertheless, some drawbacks exist, such as the need for more data to show the benefits of ViT over CNN, the increased computational cost due to the complexity of the self-attention block, a more challenging training process, and the lack of interpretability. These drawbacks represent the future research direction that should be targeted to increase the efficiency of ViT in the image restoration domain.
Online Learning for Wearable EEG-Based Emotion Classification
Authors: Moontaha Sidratul , Schumann Franziska Elisabeth Friederike , Arnrich Bert
Published: February 2023

Giving emotional intelligence to machines can facilitate the early detection and prediction of mental diseases and symptoms. Electroencephalography (EEG)-based emotion recognition is widely applied because it measures electrical correlates directly from the brain rather than indirect measurement of other physiological responses initiated by the brain. Therefore, we used non-invasive and portable EEG sensors to develop a real-time emotion classification pipeline. The pipeline trains different binary classifiers for Valence and Arousal dimensions from an incoming EEG data stream achieving a 23.9% (Arousal) and 25.8% (Valence) higher F1-Score on the state-of-art AMIGOS dataset than previous work. Afterward, the pipeline was applied to the curated dataset from 15 participants using two consumer-grade EEG devices while watching 16 short emotional videos in a controlled environment. Mean F1-Scores of 87% (Arousal) and 82% (Valence) were achieved for an immediate label setting. Additionally, the pipeline proved to be fast enough to achieve predictions in real-time in a live scenario with delayed labels while continuously being updated. The significant discrepancy from the readily available labels on the classification scores leads to future work to include more data. Thereafter, the pipeline is ready to be used for real-time applications of emotion classification.
Discrete Geodesic Distribution-Based Graph Kernel for 3D Point Clouds
Authors: Balcı Mehmet Ali , Akgüller Ömer , Batrancea Larissa M. , Gaban Lucian
Published: February 2023

In the structural analysis of discrete geometric data, graph kernels have a great track record of performance. Using graph kernel functions provides two significant advantages. First, a graph kernel is capable of preserving the graph’s topological structures by describing graph properties in a high-dimensional space. Second, graph kernels allow the application of machine learning methods to vector data that are rapidly evolving into graphs. In this paper, the unique kernel function for similarity determination procedures of point cloud data structures, which are crucial for several applications, is formulated. This function is determined by the proximity of the geodesic route distributions in graphs reflecting the discrete geometry underlying the point cloud. This research demonstrates the efficiency of this unique kernel for similarity measures and the categorization of point clouds.