bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An AI-based approach for modeling the synergy between radiotherapy and immunotherapy
Authors: Peng Hao , Moore Casey , Zhang Yuanyuan , Saha Debabrata , Jiang Steve , Timmerman Robert
Published: August 2023

PULSAR (personalized, ultra-fractionated stereotactic adaptive radiotherapy) is the adaptation of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy towards personalized cancer management, which involves delivering radiation pulses in the ablative range, with intervals separated by weeks or months. The rationale behind this treatment paradigm is that longer intervals between pulses allow for changes in tumors to be utilized in adapting the treatment plan and potentially enhance immune-modulating effects. In our study, we aimed to investigate the interactions between combined PULSAR and PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy based on preclinical studies in syngeneic murine cancer models. Using an LSTM-RNN AI model, we successfully demonstrated that: 1) The LSTM-RNN model can effectively simulate the process of tumor growth and growth delay in a preclinical model, taking into account the combined PULSAR and immunotherapy; 2) The AI model seamlessly integrated various parameters, including pulse interval, radiation dose for each pulse, drug dose, and timing, to predict more effective combinations. Our model excelled in identifying the potential “causal relationship” between tumor growth and the timing of combined treatment, offering two notable advantages: end-to-end learning and prediction. The results of our study showcase significant potential in assisting the implementation of PULSAR and the design of dynamic trials, by harnessing immune-stimulatory effects and ultimately achieving more personalized cancer treatment.
Taylor Political Optimizer based Cluster Head selection in IoT assisted WSN networks
Authors: Chouhan Nitesh , Kumar Awanit , Kumar Naresh
Published: August 2023

IoT-assisted WSN contains various nodes, which are placed in huge scale that increases complications. Thus, challenges and issues of these networks fluctuate as compared to WSN. Hence, sensor nodes are imperative unit that runs on less energy resources. Hence, devising a robust and energy-effective protocol for increasing network lifetime is complex task. This paper devises a novel hybrid optimization driven approach for selecting cluster head (CH) in IoT-assisted WSN. Initially, simulation of IoT nodes is done by configuration. Thereafter, the Cluster Head selection is done using newly devised optimization technique, namely Taylor-Political optimizer (Taylor-PO). Thus, the fitness is newly developed by adapting certain attribute like energy, delay, inter and intra cluster distance, Link Lifetime (LLT), predicted energy and delay. Here, the multipath routing is accomplished using Tunicate Swarm grey wolf optimization (TSGWO). Thus, the proposed Taylor-PO is offered for effective Cluster Head selection along with multipath routing using TSGWO. The proposed Taylor-PO offered improved performance with smallest delay of 0.006sec, highest energy of 2.368J, highest throughput of 494.043kbps.
Predicting High-Risk Individuals in Disease Outbreaks Using Fuzzy Logic-Based Contact Tracing Model.
Authors: Aklah Zeyad T. , Al-Safi Amean , Abdali Maraw H.
Published: August 2023

Contact tracing plays a crucial role in identifying exposed individuals at high risk of infection during disease outbreaks. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy logic-based contact tracing model for predicting high-risk exposed individuals in disease outbreaks. The model utilizes various input parameters, including distance, overlap time, visiting time lag, incubation time, and facility size, to assess the risk of infection. Through the application of fuzzy logic, the model enables the modeling of complex relationships and uncertainties associated with these input parameters. We evaluated the model using simulated data, demonstrating its effectiveness in identifying individuals at different levels of risk. The evaluation includes partial input evaluation, and comprehensive inputs assessment to assess the impact of each parameter on the risk of infection. The results highlight the importance of considering multiple factors in contact tracing and provide insights into the key parameters that significantly influence the risk assessment. The proposed model has the potential to assist public health authorities in making informed decisions and implementing targeted interventions to mitigate the spread of diseases in outbreak situations. Moreover, it helps to alleviate unnecessary fear among individuals who are less likely to have been infected.
Gemcitabine as chemotherapy of head and neck cancer in Fanconi anemia patients
Authors: Brakenhoff Ruud , Harten Anne van , Shah Ronak , de Boer D. Vicky , Buijze Marijke , Kreft Maaike , Zurcher Lisa M. , Song Ji-Ying , Jacobs Heinz
Published: August 2023

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare hereditary disease characterized by an inactivating mutation in the FA/BRCA pathway, critical for the effective repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs). The disease is characterized by progressing bone marrow failure, congenital abnormalities and an increased risk to develop malignancies early in life, in particular head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). While ICL-inducing cisplatin combined with radiotherapy are a mainstay of HNSCC treatment, cisplatin is contraindicated for FA-HNSCC patients. This dilemma necessitates the identification of novel treatment modalities tolerated by FA-HNSCC patients. To identify druggable targets, an siRNA-based genetic screen was performed previously in HNSCC-derived cell lines from FA and non-FA tumor origin. Here we report that the Ribonucleotide Reductase (RNR) complex, consisting of the RRM1 and RRM2 subunits, was identified as a therapeutic target for both, FA and non-FA-HNSCC. While non-FA-HNSCC cells responded differentially to RNR depletion, FA-HNSCC cells were consistently found hypersensitive. This insight was confirmed pharmacologically using 2', 2'-difluoro 2'deoxycytidine (dFdC), also known as gemcitabine, a clinically used nucleotide analogue that is a potent inhibitor of the RNR complex. Importantly, while cisplatin exposure displayed a severe, long-lasting toxicity on the hematopoietic stem and progenitor compartments in Fancg-/- mice, gemcitabine was well tolerated and had only a mild, transient impact. Taken together, our data implicate that gemcitabine-based chemoradiotherapy could serve as an alternative HNSCC treatment in Fanconi patients, and deserves clinical testing.
Laparoscopic Management of Iatrogenic Colon Perforation
Authors: Loberman Boaz , Kuhnreich Eviatar , Matter Ibrahim , Sr Gideon
Published: August 2023

Background: Iatrogenic colon perforation (ICP) due to colonoscopy, is a severe complication and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The global estimated incidence of ICP is 0.03% and up to 3% for diagnostic and therapeutic colonoscopies, respectively. Treatment options include endoscopic repair, conservative therapy, and surgery. Treatment decision is based on the time and the setting of the diagnosis, the type and location of the perforation, the presence of related pathologies, the clinical status and characteristic of the patient, and surgeon's skills. We present our experience in the treatment of ICPs.
Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken of all patients suffering from ICP at Bnai-Zion medical center between 1/1/2010 and 1/3/2021. Clinical presentation, therapeutic approach and short-term outcomes were analyzed.
Results: There were 51 cases of ICPs. 14(27%) were diagnosed by the gastroenterologist during the procedure, 2 of whom were treated with endoscopic clips. The rest of the patients (72.5%) were diagnosed in the ER after a CT scan. Forty-three patients (84%) went on to operative management: 5 (11%) operations started with laparotomy – All were conducted in the early study period (until 2013). All other operations (88%) started with a diagnostic laparoscopy, 4 of whom (10%) were converted to laparotomy. Out of the 38 laparoscopic cases 29(80%) were treated with primary suturing. 7 patients went on to colon resection (5 of whom with primary anastomosis). 6 patients required ICU admission – with 1/38(2%) from the laparoscopic cases, and 5/9(55%) from the laparotomy cases. 48/51(94%) patients recovered and were discharged after 5±2 for conservative and laparoscopic cases, and 12±9 for open cases.
Conclusion: Laparoscopic treatment of ICP is safe and feasible in most cases. Our data supports a laparoscopic attempt at any such scenario.
The artificial intelligence to analyze and characterize cell lines based on the processes of visible spectrum image data.
Authors: Gramatiuk Svetlana , Kryvoruchko Igor , Ivanova Yulia , Sargsyan Karine
Published: August 2023

In particular, as part of the extensive Stem Line project Mito-Cell-UAB073 «Stem cell lines - Quality control», we have taken a specific interest in a new and complementary CQ approach to cell line and stem cell line intelligence in Biobank. We have combined computer vision image processing methods and deep learning techniques to create the non-invasive Life Cell AI UAB model for robust prediction of cell line viability, using single static images obtained from standard optical light microscope systems.
The Life Cell AI UAB model showed a sensitivity of 82.1% for viable cell lines while maintaining a specificity of 67.5% for non-viable cell lines across three independent blind test sets from different biotechnology laboratories. The weighted overall accuracy in each blind test set was >63%, with a combined accuracy of 64.3% across both viable and non-viable cell lines, demonstrating model robustness and generalizability beyond the result expected from chance. Distributions of predictions showed clear separation of correctly and incorrectly classified cell lines. Binary comparison of viable/non-viable embryo classification demonstrated an improvement of 21.9% over cell lines accuracy (P = 0.042, n = 2, Student's t-test), and SOP procedure of QC comparison demonstrated an improvement of 42.0% over embryologists (P = 0.026, n = 2, Student's t-test).
The superior accuracy of the Life Cell AI UAB model could lead to improved quality control assessments of samples in Biobank. It could also assist in standardizing QC methods of cell lines and stem cells across multiple environments while eliminating the need for complex time-lapse imaging equipment.
Tendon stem cells seeded on dynamic chondroitin sulfate and chitosan hydrogel scaffold with BMP2 enhance tendon-to-bone healing
Authors: Zhang Qingsong , Wen Huawei , Liao Guangyang , Cai Xianhua
Published: August 2023

Rotator cuff injury has always been a clinical challenge. Repairing rotator cuff injury with tissue engineering technique has become a commonly used research strategy. The purpose of this study is to construct a dynamic chondroitin sulfate and chitosan hydrogel scaffold (CHS) with bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), then seed tendon stem cells (TSCs) on BMP2-CHS for the rotator cuff reconstruction of tendon-to-bone interface. In this dynamic hydrogel system, the scaffold could not only have good biocompatibility and degradability but also significantly promote the proliferation and differentiation of TSCs. The ability of BMP2-CHS combined with TSCs to promote the regeneration of tendon-to-bone interface was further verified in the rabbit rotator cuff tear model. The results showed that BMP2-CHS combined with TSCs could induce considerable collagen, fibrocartilage, and bone arrangement and growth at the tendon-to-bone interface, and promote the biomechanical properties. Overall, TSCs seeded on CHS with BMP2 can enhance tendon-to-bone healing and provide a new possibility for improving the poor prognosis of rotator cuff surgery.
Dissecting the genetic bases of resistance to Soil-Borne Cereal Mosaic Virus in durum wheat by biparental mapping and GWAS
Authors: Bruschi Martina , Bozzoli Matteo , Ratti Claudio , Sciara Giuseppe , Goudemand Ellen , Devaux Pierre , Ormanbekova Danara , Forestan Cristian , Corneti Simona , Stefanelli Sandra , Castelletti Sara , Frascaroli Elisabetta , Rubies-Autonell Concepcion , Perovic Dragan , Gadaleta Agata , Salvi Silvio , Maccaferri Marco , Sanguineti Maria Corinna , Roberto Tuberosa
Published: August 2023

Soil-borne cereal mosaic virus (SBCMV), the causative agent of wheat common mosaic, is a furovirus challenging wheat production all over Europe. Differently from bread wheat, durum wheat germplasm evolved in semi-arid areas and shows greater susceptibility and strong yield penalties, particularly in view of the Global Change effects. Tetraploid wheat germplasm harbors a major QTL providing medium to high resistance to SBCMV, namely QSbm.ubo-2B, mapped to a chromosome region coincident with Sbm2, previously mapped in hexaploid wheat. QSbm.ubo-2B = Sbm2 is considered a pillar for growing durum in SBCMV-affected areas like Northern and Central Italy and France. Moreover, it is also of interest for bread wheat improvement. Herein, we report the fine mapping of QSbm.ubo-2B = Sbm2 based on a combination of Genome Wide Association and bi-parental mapping up to a linkage block of 3.95 Mb comprised between IWB11421 and IWB23330 and, based on bi-parental meiosis, to a 2.66 Mb interval between IWB11421 = KUBO-27 and IWB28973 = KUBO-1. In total, 19 co-dominant KASP® and one Allele Specific Oligonucleotide (ASO)/High Resolution Melting (HRM) assay were developed, nine of which tagged closely the Sbm2 resistant haplotype and were validated in the durum cultivated germplasm, providing valuable diagnostic tools for molecular selection. Additionally, the durum wheat genome of the resistant parent Svevo has been inspected for the presence of candidate genes, including NBS-LRR. The developed Sbm2-tagging KASP® markers provide a valuable case-study for improving the efficacy and accuracy of European variety testing system and, ultimately, decision making.
Identification of MYB Gene Family in medicinal tea tree Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden & Betche) Cheel and Analysis of Members Regulating Terpene Biosynthesis
Authors: Zhang Xiaoning , Xu Zhanwu , Liu Buming , Xiao Yufei , Chai Ling , Zhong Lianxiang , Huo Heqiang , Liu Li , Yang Hong , Liu Hailong
Published: August 2023

Background
The tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) is renowned for its production of tea tree oil (TTO), an essential oil primarily composed of terpenes extracted from its shoot. MYB transcription factors, which are one of the largest TF families, play a crucial role in regulating primary and secondary metabolite synthesis. However, knowledge of the MYB gene family in M. alternifolia is limited.
Methods and results
Here, we conducted a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of MYB genes in M. alternifolia, referred to as MaMYBs, including phylogenetic relationships, structures, promoter regions, and GO annotations. Our findings classified 219 MaMYBs into four subfamilies: one 5R-MYB, four 3R-MYBs, sixty-one MYB-related, and the remaining 153 are all 2R-MYBs. Seven genes (MYB189, MYB146, MYB44, MYB29, MYB175, MYB162, and MYB160) were linked to terpenoid synthesis based on GO annotation. Phylogenetic analysis with Arabidopsis homologous MYB genes suggested that MYB193 and MYB163 may also be involved in terpenoid synthesis. Additionally, through correlation analysis of gene expression and metabolite content, we identified 42 MYB genes associated with metabolite content.
Conclusion
The results provide valuable insights into the importance of MYB transcription factors in essential oil production in M. alternifolia. These findings lay the groundwork for a better understanding of the MYB regulatory network and the development of novel strategies to enhance essential oil synthesis in M. alternifolia.
Tauberian theorems via generalized de la Vall\'{e}e-Poussin mean for sequences in 2-Normed spaces
Authors: Braha Naim , Loku Valdete , Mursaleen M.
Published: August 2023

In this paper, we obtain Tauberian conditions under which ordinaryconvergence of the sequence $(x_n)$ in $2-$ normed space $X$ follows from $%D_{n}^{r}-$ summability method, for every integer $r\geq 2.$ In fact we givenecessary and sufficient Tauberian condition for this method of summability.Also, we prove that Tauberian Theorems under these summability methods arevalid under oscillating slow of Schmidt-type and under Hardy-type conditions.
Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization analysis of the genetic association between primary lung cancer and colorectal cancer
Authors: Xiao Zhihan , Wang Zichen , Zhang Tongyu , Liu Yi , Si Mingxuan
Published: August 2023

Background
With the development and popularization of low-dose chest CT technology, the diagnosis and survival rates of patients with early lung cancer (LC) have significantly improved. The occurrence of colorectal cancer (CRC) as the second primary cancer (SPC) in primary lung cancer (PLC) survivors has become an essential factor affecting the prognosis of early LC. This study explored the potential association between PLC and CRC genetically, laying a foundation for developing SPC-CRC prevention strategies after primary early LC.
Methods
Based on a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) design, this study systematically screened genetic instrumental variables (IVs) based on the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of PLC and CRC, applied inverse variance weighted (IVW) as the main method to assess the incidence association between the two cancers, and used a variety of other MR methods for supplementary analysis. Finally, the Genetic Risk Scores (GRS) method was used for secondary analysis to verify the results robustness further.
Results
From LC to CRC forward MR analysis, 20 genetic IVs of overall LC, 15 genetic IVs of squamous cell lung carcinoma (LUSC), and 10 genetic IVs of adenocarcinoma of the lung (LUAD) were screened. In the reverse MR analysis from CRC to LC, 47 genetic IVs for overall CRC, 37 for colon cancer, and 25 for rectal cancer were screened. The IVW method and a variety of MR methods all found that overall LC and CRC were significantly associated at the genetic level. Subgroup analysis also showed that LUSC was associated with CRC. And the results of the GRS method were consistent with those of the main analysis, confirming the robustness of the study.
Summary
Our MR study found an association between LC and CRC, with an increased risk of SPC-CRC following PLC, especially LUSC. Our study provides an essential basis for the precise prevention of SPC-CRC after PLC, suggesting that we should pay more attention to the population with a history of PLC in clinical work, and pay close attention to the incidence of SPC-CRC, and carry out intervention and treatment as soon as possible.
ITGAV overexpression predicts poor prognosis in gastric cancer
Authors: Xu Yuan , Jia Lihua , Yu Weiming
Published: August 2023

To explore Integrin alpha V (ITGAV) expression and its potential impact on gastric cancer (GC). The TCGA database was used to acquire the clinical information of GC patients. GEPIA and Ualcan were employed to investigate the ITGAV expression in GC. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR)validated the expression level of ITGAV. A nomogram was established to evaluate the predictive function of ITGAV in GC. The concordance index (C-index) together with calibration plot assisted in assessing the model predictive performance. The decision curve analysis (DCA) served for the clinical value evaluation. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were performed to investigate the biological functions and signaling pathways. Bioinformatic data indicated ITGAV was significantly upregulated in GC (P < 0.05). IHC and qRT-PCR validated the result. ITGAV upregulation is closely associated with poor survival in GC (P < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed ITGAV was a risk factor for GC. Nomogram was developed and validated for GC patients, which revealed a good application prospect. ITGAV might serve as a predictive biomarker for GC and assist clinicians in decision-making.
Assessment of Ground Water Potentiality by using GIS and AHP based Multi-criteria Decision Making: Case Study in Noamundi area, Jharkhand
Authors: Panda Surajit , Banerjee Krishnendu , Jain Manish Kr.
Published: August 2023

In the present era, due to immense demand and excessive exploitation, ground water is thriving depletion and stress. Sustainable groundwater management and development is essential for the green revolution and industrialization through scientific and modern quantitative techniques. The integrated geographical information system (GIS) based analytical hierarchy process (AHP) of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) technique is adopted to establish the importance of ground water influencing factors. In the present study eight groundwater influencing parameters viz. geology/lithology, geomorphology, lineament density, drainage density, slope, soil permeability, land use/land cover and rainfall have been used to assess ground water potential zone (GWPZ).An appropriate weight was assigned for each factor/parameter based on 9 point scale of Saaty and the weights were normalized by AHP and eigenvector method with standard value (0.000000085) of continuity ratio (CR). The Noamundi area of Jharkhand has been selected as a projected area for the study. In accordance with MCDA's GIS based AHP model, five GWPZs have been categorized in the projected area comprising very good (2.07%), good (15.15%), moderate (41.18%), poor (39.37%) and very poor (2.24%) GWPZ. Finally, the results have been validated with randomly scattered existing groundwater table and yield data (open dug well, Bore well, rig well and tube well).
Understanding the Temperature Range for Foliar Development of Neotropical Forest Species during the Seedling Stage: Implications for Biology and Ecology
Authors: Araújo Lais Mello , Martins Fabrina Bolzan , Lyra Gustavo Bastos , Junior José Carlos Arthur , Araújo Emanuel José Gomes , de Abreu Rodolfo Cesar Real , Abreu Marcel Carvalho
Published: August 2023

This study aimed to estimate the cardinal temperatures for the foliar development of seedlings from four forest species native to Brazilian biomes: Handroanthus heptaphyllus, Tabebuia roseoalba, Ceiba speciosa, and Schinus terebinthifolia. An experiment was conducted with ten sowing times between December 2019 and April 2021. Seven methods were employed to estimate the inferior cardinal temperature, the phyllochron concept for the optimal temperature, and mathematical models for the superior temperature. The results indicated significant variations in the inferior cardinal temperatures among the four species, ranging from 9.8°C to 11.5°C, as well as distinct optimal temperatures ranging from 22.7°C to 25.7°C. Furthermore, disparities were observed between species and sowing times concerning the determination of the phyllochron, with Ceiba speciosa exhibiting an average phyllochron ranging from 75.6 to 246.2 ºday-1. These findings offer valuable insights into the biological and ecological aspects of native forest species and enhance our understanding of key parameters for modeling vegetal growth. However, the limited availability of species-specific information in the Brazilian biome raises concerns regarding the applicability of these models. In conclusion, this study successfully estimates the cardinal temperatures (inferior, optimal, and superior) for foliar development of four important forest species native to Brazilian biomes, thereby contributing to the knowledge base of forestry research.
Process evaluation of a tailored nudge intervention to promote appropriate care and treatment of older patients at the end-of-life
Authors: Bracci Ella L. , Barnett Adrian G. , Brown Christine , Callaway Leonie , Cardona Magnolia , Carter Hannah E. , Graves Nicholas , Hillman Kenneth , Lee Xing J. , McPhail Steven M. , White Ben P. , Willmott Lindy , Harvey Gillian
Published: August 2023

Background Non-beneficial treatment affects a considerable proportion of older people in hospital, and some will choose to decline invasive treatments when they are approaching the end of their life. The Intervention for Appropriate Care and Treatment (InterACT) study was a 12-month stepped wedge randomised controlled trial with an embedded process evaluation in three hospitals in Brisbane, Australia. The aim was to increase appropriate care and treatment decisions for older people at the end-of-life, through implementing a nudge intervention in the form of a prospective feedback loop. However, the trial results indicated that the expected practice change did not occur. The process evaluation aimed to assess implementation using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, identify barriers and enablers to implementation and provide insights into the lack of effect of the InterACT intervention.Methods Qualitative data collection involved 38 semi-structured interviews with participating clinicians, members of the executive advisory groups overseeing the study at site level, clinical auditors, and project leads. Online interviews were conducted at two times: implementation onset and completion. Data were coded to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and deductively analysed.Results Overall, clinicians felt the premise and clinical reasoning behind InterACT were strong and could improve patient management. However, several prominent barriers affected implementation. These related to the potency of the nudge intervention and its integration into routine clinical practice, clinician beliefs and perceived self-efficacy, and wider contextual factors at the health system level.Conclusions An intervention designed to change clinical practice for patients at or near to end-of-life did not have the intended effect. Future interventions targeting this area of care should consider using multi-component strategies that address the identified barriers to implementation and clinician change of practice.Trial Registration Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR), ACTRN12619000675123p (approved 6 May 2019).
Selective recovery of calcium from estuarine sediments of Raša Bay
Authors: Chakladar Saswati , Banerjee Riya , Ivošević Tatjana , Chakravarty Sanchita , Fiket Željka , Medunić Gordana
Published: August 2023

The historic mining of Raša coal on the Istrian Peninsula, Croatia for about quadricentennial, has left significant impacts on the soil chemistry in the surrounding areas. Geochemical examination of such soils commonly demonstrated notable leaching of hazardous trace metals into the soil, thus rendering them inappropriate for utilization. Interestingly, the abundance of calcium in the karstic soil of Croatia and its known versatile commercial application is noteworthy. Here, a thorough investigation was performed to delineate the occurrence and association of Ca in soils from Istrian peninsula along with its selective precipitation. Comprehensive mineralogical analysis using X-ray fluorescence and ICP-OES revealed the presence of Ca in noticeable quantity (~ 15 wt%) along with clay minerals (Si, Al, Fe) and alkaline metals (Na and K). Evaluation of the soil trace elements demonstrated the presence of both elements of environmental concern (Sr, Cr Zn and V) as well as of economic importance (Sc, Ga and Ge). The high concentration of Sr and Cr (~ 300 ppm) was considered to be an implication of intrusion of coal waste into the selected area. The presence of NaCl corroborated the intrusion of sea water into the soil sediment. The results obtained from the five step sequential leaching demonstrated Ca to be primarily present as dolomite mineral (CaMg(CO3)2). Optimization of the leaching parameters (temperature, acid concentration and duration of leaching) of Ca using HCl was performed, followed by its selective precipitation and calcination which resulted in isolation of CaO with 98.7% purity and 85% cumulative yield. Statistical correlations further confirmed the linear association of CaO and MgO (r = 0.8–0.9) as well as strong association of Sc with clay minerals (r > 0.8) and not Fe. To summarize, the present investigation demonstrated that extraction and selective precipitation of calcium from karst soils is feasible and can be potentially explored to utilize such which are otherwise considered waste.
Hs27 Fibroblast Response to Contact Guidance Cues
Authors: Kim Chunghwan , Robitaille Michael , Christodoulides Joseph A , Ng Yisha , Raphael Marc , Kang Wonmo
Published: August 2023

Contact guidance is the phenomena of how cells respond to the topography of their external environment. The morphological and dynamic cell responses are strongly influenced by topographic features such as lateral and vertical dimensions, namely, ridge and groove widths and groove depth (\({\text{R}}_{\text{w}}, {\text{G}}_{\text{w}}, \text{a}\text{n}\text{d} {\text{G}}_{\text{D}}\), respectively). However, experimental studies that independently quantify the effect of the individual dimensions as well as their coupling on cellular function are still limited. In this work, we perform extensive parametric studies in the dimensional space–well beyond the previously studied range in the literature–to explore topographical effects on morphology and migration of Hs27 fibroblasts via static and dynamic analyses of live cell images. Our static analysis reveals that the \({\text{G}}_{\text{D}}\) is most significant, followed by the \({\text{R}}_{\text{w}}\). The fibroblasts appear to be more elongated and aligned in the groove direction as the \({\text{G}}_{\text{D}}\) increases, but their trend changes after 725 nm. Interestingly, the cell shape and alignment show a very strong correlation regardless of \({\text{G}}_{\text{D}}\). Our dynamic analysis confirms that directional cell migration is also strongly influenced by the \({\text{G}}_{\text{D}}\), while the effect of the \({\text{R}}_{\text{w}}\) and \({\text{G}}_{\text{w}}\) is statistically insignificant. Directional cell migration, as observed in the static cell behavior, shows the statistically significant transition when the \({\text{G}}_{\text{D}}\) is 725 nm, showing the intimate links between cell morphology and migration. We propose possible scenarios to offer mechanistic explanations of the observed cell behavior.
A tool wear prediction and monitoring method based on machining power signals
Authors: Wang Qi , Chen Xi , An Qinglong , Chen Ming , Guo Hun , He Yafeng
Published: August 2023

In the actual mechanical processing of difficult-to-process materials, normal or abnormal tool wear can lead to processing pauses or terminations, which seriously affects the processing accuracy and efficiency of workpieces, leading to workpiece scrapping. Therefore, predicting and monitoring tool wear during the actual machining process plays a crucial role in controlling tool costs and avoiding workpiece losses caused by tool wear. This paper proposed a tool wear prediction model based on power signals, which predicts tool wear by establishing a mapping between power signals and tool wear. Through drilling experiments for model calibration and validation, verifying that the proposed model can effectively predict tool wear under different parameters. In addition, a tool wear monitoring method using power signals is proposed and implemented for real-time monitoring of tool wear during machining.
Combined Social Frailty and Life-Space Activities Associated with Risk of Disability: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Doi Takehiko , Tsutsumimoto Kota , Makino Keitaro , Nakakubo Sho , Sakimoto Fumio , Matsuda Soichiro , Shimada Hiroyuki
Published: August 2023

Objectives: To examine the association between social frailty and life-space activities and determine whether higher life-space activities decreased risk of disability among older adults with social frailty.
Design: A prospective cohort study.
Setting and Participants: Participants were 8,301 older adults (mean age 72.9 ± 5.6 years, women [53.3%]) from a community setting.
Methods: Life-space activities were evaluated using Active Mobility Index (AMI) to assess activities in each life-space (distance from the respondent’s home: up to 1 km, 1–10 km, or greater than 10 km) during the past 1 month. Activities were also assessed according to physical or social activity. Social frailty and characteristics were measured at baseline. Incident disability was assessed according to Long Term Care Insurance.
Results: Lower AMI scores (total score, physical score, social score) were associated with social frailty. During the follow-up (mean 23.5 months), 330 participants had incident disability. Incident disability was associated with social frailty. Combined status of social frailty and low AMI increased the risk of disability, which referred to non-frailty and higher AMI. Further, AMI impacted risk of disability in social frailty.
Conclusions and Implications: Social frailty or reduced activity in life-space assessment were identified as risk factors for incident disability. Increased activity was observed to modulate the risk of disability among older adults with social frailty. To decrease risk of disability, the development of an intervention program to enhance activities is required.
Multi pattern features based spoofing detection mechanism using one class learning
Authors: Ustubioglu Beste , Ulutas Guzin , Kilic Muhammed , Ustubioglu Arda , Tahaoglu Gul , Amerini Irene
Published: August 2023

Automatic Speaker Verification systems are prone to various voice spoofing attacks such as replays, voice conversion (VC), speech synthesis, etc. Malicious users can perform specific tasks such as controlling the bank account of someone, taking the control of a smart home, and similar activities by using advanced audio manipulation techniques. This study presents a Multi-Pattern Features Based Spoofing detection mechanism using the modified ResNet architecture and OC-Softmax layer to detect various LA and PA spoofing attacks. We proposed a novel Pattern Features-based audio spoof detection scheme. The scheme contains three branches to evaluate different patterns on a Mel spectrogram of the audio file. This is the first work for the audio spoofing detection task using three different pattern representations of Mel spectrogram with modified ResNet architecture and OC-Softmax layer. Through the proposed network, we can extract pattern images from the Mel spectrogram and gives each of them into modified ResNet architecture. At the last step of each network, we use OC-Softmax to obtain a score for the current pattern image and then the method fuses three scores to label the input audio. Experimental results on the ASVspoof 2019 corpus show that the proposed method achieves better results in the challenges of ASVspoof 2019 than state-of-the-art methods. For example, in the logical access scenario, our model improves the tandem decision cost function and equal error rate scores by 0.06% and 2.14%, respectively, compared with state-of-the-art methods. Additionally, experiments illustrate that the proposed fused decision improved the performance of the system.
Synergistic Enhancement in Mechanical Properties and Wear Behavior of Graphene / MWCNT Reinforced Polyaryletherketone – Carbon Fiber Multiscale Composites: Experimental Studies and Finite Element Analysis
Authors: Painkal Sarath Kumar , Balachandran Meera , Karingamanna Jayanarayanan , Srid Nagaarjun , Kumar Sanjeev
Published: August 2023

This investigation focuses on the synergistic performance improvement in graphene/MWCNT reinforced polyaryletherketone (PAEK) - carbon fabric (CF) multiscale composites. FTIR revealed the chemical interactions while HRTEM, XRD and 3D X-ray microscopy gave insight into nanofiller dispersion and microstructural features. The functional groups on nanofillers along with structural features integrated various components of the multiscale composites by formation of graphene/MWCNT/CF complex network that provided larger interfacial area, bridging effect and physico-chemical interaction with PAEK while restricting its segmental mobility. Multiscale composites displayed significantly improved strength, fracture toughness, interlaminar shear strength, glass transition temperature and tribological performance. Under dynamic load, graphene/MWCNT reinforcement of matrix and CF synergistically increases the storage modulus and energy absorption characteristics. Wear and fracture surface morphology of nano and multiscale composites showed ductile failure confirming interfacial adhesion. The failure behavior in experimental studies was supported by Abaqus/Explicit-based FEM models of fracture toughness response. This work provides a promising avenue to develop next generation high performance thermoplastic composites for structural applications.
Genetic control of root morphological plasticity in response to nitrogen across rapeseed diversity
Authors: Haelterman Loïc Lionel , Louvieaux Julien , Chiodi Claudia , Bouchet Anne-Sophie , Kupcsik László , Stahl Andreas , Snowdon Rod , Laperche Anne , Rousseau-Gueutin Mathieu , Nesi Nathalie , Hermans Christian
Published: August 2023

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is an oleaginous crop of great economic value but with considerable nitrogen requirement. Breeding for root systems efficiently taking up nitrogen from soil could be a lever to ensure genetic gains for producing rapeseed more sustainably. This study aims at identifying genomic regions regulating root morphology in response to nitrate availability. The natural variability offered by a set of 300 inbred lines was screened. Seedlings grew hydroponically with low or elevated nitrate levels. On average for the diversity panel, low nitrate level increased the root-to-shoot biomass ratio and stimulated the lateral root outgrowth. A large phenotypic variation was observed, along with important heritability values and genotypic effects, but poor genotype-by-nitrogen interactions. Genome-wide association study and bulk segregant analysis were employed to identify loci regulating traits of biomass production and root morphology. The first approach identified 1,305 SNPs, associated with 15 phenotypic traits. These SNPs clustered into 26 QTLs, with seven of them distributed on chromosome A07. Some 14 QTLs were stable across nitrate levels. The second approach was selecting segregant individuals from the tails of the phenotypic distribution of an experimental F2 population, deriving from two accessions with a contrasting lateral root development. Six genomic regions showed allele frequency differences between the two bulks above 0.15, including one significant QTL detected on A06. Some genes involved in root organogenesis coincided with QTL regions. This study provides selection targets for potentially redesigning root morphology in rapeseed.
Divergent Transition Pathways for Artificial Intelligence: A Longitudinal and Multi-Level Perspective Using Structural Topic Modeling
Authors: Dahlke Johannes , Ebersberger Bernd
Published: August 2023

The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to constitute a general-purpose technology with diverse algorithmic specifications makes it challenging to assess its overall impact on existing socio-economic regimes. Leveraging the multi-level perspective, we seek to depict the trajectory of micro-, meso-, and macro-level forces and their interactions to characterize AI transition pathways in industry. We treat business and information systems literature as a proxy capturing business practices that relate to factors influencing AI transitions on all three different levels. Based on 10,036 publications over 25 years, we map the topic landscape of AI-related research, longitudinal patterns of topics, and structural changes of topic networks. The results indicate a strong and myopic focus on technological capabilities and efficiency rationales. Topic network structures indicate that transition pathways may diverge between a symbiotic and stabilizing transformation process and a more radical pathway of regime substitution. Based on these findings, we argue that sociotechnical transition pathways may not only occur in sequence, but simultaneously and ambiguously. This highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of convergent and divergent transition pathways for emerging digital general-purpose technology that do not tend to settle on one dominant design. We propose to leverage paradox theory to reconcile these tensions.JEL: M000, O310, O320, 033
Peanut LEAFY COTYLEDON1-type genes participate in regulating the embryo development and accumulation of the storage lipids
Authors: Tang Guiying , Xu Pingli , Jiang Chunyu , Li Guowei , Shan Lei , Wan Shubo
Published: August 2023

LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1) belongs to a member of nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) transcription factors, which has been identified as a key regulator of embryo development. In present study, two LEC1-type genes from Arachis hypogeae were identified and designated as AhNF-YB1 and AhNF-YB10 which belong to subgenome A and subgenome B, respectively. The functions of AhNF-YB1 and AhNF-YB10 were investigated by complementary analysis of their defective phenotypes in Arabidopsis lec1-2 mutant and their ectopic expressions in wild-type Arabidopsis. The results indicated that both AhNF-YB1 and AhNF-YB10 take part in regulating embryogenesis, embryo development, and reserves deposition in cotyledon, and they have partial function redundancy. A bit differently, AhNF-YB10 could complement almost all defective phenotypes of lec1-2, in the embryonic morphology and the length of hypocotyl, while AhNF-YB1 only in part. And 30%-40% seeds of the AhNF-YB1 transformants showed the decreasing germination ratio and longevity. Therefore, the appropriate spatio-tempoeal expression of these genes is necessary for embryo morphogenesis at early development stage and is responsible for seeds maturation at mid-late development stage. On the other hand, overexpression of AhNF-YB1 or AhNF-YB10 at the middle to late stages of seed development in Arabidopsis could improve the weight, the oil content, and fatty acid component of transgenic seeds. In the meanwhile, the expression levels of some genes associated with fatty acid synthesis and embryogenesis in developing AhNF-YB10-overexpression seeds were significantly enhanced. This study will provide the theoratic basis for oilseed crops breeding of high yields and high oil content.
Coherently excited nonlocal quantum features using polarization-frequency correlation between quantum erasers
Authors: Ham Byoung
Published: August 2023

Photon indistinguishability is an essential concept to understanding “mysterious” quantum features from the viewpoint of the wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics. The physics of indistinguishability lies in the manipulation of quantum superposition between orthonormal bases of a single photon such as in a quantum eraser. Here, a pure coherence approach is applied for the nonlocal correlation based on the polarization-frequency correlation of Poisson-distributed coherent photon pairs to investigate the role of quantum measurements. For this, a gated heterodyne-detection technique is adopted for coincidence measurements between space-like separated delayed-choice quantum erasers, resulting in an inseparable basis product between them. Thus, the mysterious quantum correlation is coherently understood via a tensor-product modification for the second-order quantum superposition. Finally, the Bell inequality violation is numerically confirmed for the derived coherence solutions of the nonlocal correlation.
High tumor copy number variations burden was associated with poor prognosis in patients with endocrine-resistant breast cancer
Authors: Lu Qianyi , Jiang Kuikui , Wang Na , Li Jiaping , Zhang Ping , Hong Ruoxi , Hong Xiaoyu , Shao Yang , Zhang Jingmin , Wang Shusen , Xu Fei
Published: August 2023

Background
Several studies have showed alterations in genes were associated with endocrine resistance in breast cancer. Nevertheless, genomic characteristics in primary endocrine-resistant breast cancer has not been thoroughly reported. Whether the genomic landscape of primary endocrine-resistant breast cancer is different from that of secondary endocrine-resistant breast cancer is unknown.
Methods
We analyzed the genomic landscape of primary tumor of consecutive patients with hormonal-receptor positive breast cancer that were genetically profiled by next generation sequencing using a 425 cancer-related genes panel in real-world clinical practice in our center between September, 2019 to December, 2020. According to the duration of endocrine treatment, we classified them into primary endocrine resistance group and secondary endocrine resistance group. Frequency of altered genes was compared between groups.
Results
A total of 41 tumor samples of which 25 cases in primary endocrine resistance and 16 cases in secondary endocrine resistance with same testing gene panel were included for analysis. TP53 (65.9%, 27/41), PIK3CA (46.3%, 19/41), MYC (36.6%, 15/41), MCL1 (31.7%, 13/41), CCND1 (31.7%, 13/41) were the most frequently altered genes in all 41 BCs. Copy number amplification of MYC was common in primary endocrine resistant group (48.0%), while with lower frequency in secondary endocrine resistant group (18.8%, P = 0.058). Copy number variation (CNV) of CCND1, MCL1, FGF19, ZNF217, ZNF703 and FGFR1 were commonly observed in primary endocrine resistance group. Percentage of CNVs in all variation types was significantly higher in primary endocrine resistance group than that in secondary resistance group (33.0% vs. 21.0%, P = 0.030). We further analyzed and found patients with more than 5 CNV events in the primary tumor, which we defined as high tumor CNVs burden, was associated with the poorer prognosis.
Conclusion
Copy number alterations were more commonly seen in primary endocrine-resistant breast cancer and high CNVs burden was associated with poor prognosis in patients with ER + breast cancer. This finding urged to further investigate the prognostic value of CNVs burden in patients with ER + breast cancer who receive endocrine therapy.
Wave interactions and fracture evolution in a thin glass plate under impact: a combined experimental and peridynamic analysis
Authors: Wang Yenan , Yen Chian-Fong , Yu Jian , Wright Jared , Bobaru Florin
Published: August 2023

We perform experiments and peridynamic simulations to understand the evolution of cracks in a thin glass plate, backed by a polycarbonate plate, impacted by a small projectile at 150m/s. We use the peridynamic model to investigate how various types of crack systems are generated by the impact event and how they evolve in time. Detail investigations of wave interactions and the different cracks and failure types they generate are performed using the peridynamic model. Post-mortem analysis of glass fragments allows comparisons with the computational results in terms of kind and location of crack systems. Fractography results provide information about the growth direction for some of the edge-cracks and the peridynamic results are used to explain the particular wave interactions leading to the observed behavior. The model captures, in an average sense, some wispy/very fine cracks (surface roughness) experimentally observed on fragments coming from the ends of the Hertzian-cone crack. This is the first attempt at using a computational model to predict the fine details and complex mechanisms of the origin and time-evolution of fracture and fragmentation in a glass plate from impact.