bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Localization of Subcentimeter Pulmonary Nodules Using An Indocyanine Green Near-Infrared Imaging System During Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery
Authors: Wu Zhuo , Zhang Lei , Zhao Xi-tong , Zhou Di , Yang Xue-ying
Published: May 2021

Background: To investigate the feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) use in localizing subcentimeter pulmonary nodules during uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of 32 patients who underwent surgery due to pulmonary nodules using ICG localization from September 2019 to March 2020 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. Laser positioning and large-aperture spiral CT simulation were performed preoperatively. ICG was injected into the lung (2.5mg/ml). The clinical characteristics and postoperative indicators were recorded. Results: A total of 33 subcentimeter pulmonary nodules were successfully localized in 32 patients. Twenty-three patients underwent lobectomy, with an average surgical time of 45.3 minutes and an average tube retention time of 2 days. Non-small cell lung cancer was confirmed intraoperatively in 9 patients, among whom the longest surgical time was 120 minutes, and the shortest hospital stay was 7 days. No patient was converted to thoracotomy or developed serious complications. Conclusions: ICG imaging is a safe and effective technique for localization of pulmonary nodules. Due to the widespread application of near-infrared devices, fluorescent localization and imaging technology will be more widely used in thoracic surgery.
Modernising Physician Resource Planning: A National Interactive Web Platform for Canadian Medical Trainees
Authors: D Bourcier , BW Collins , SM Tanya , M Basu , AP Sayal , S Moolla , A Dong , M Balas , H Molcak , G Punchhi
Published: May 2021

Background: Healthcare systems rely heavily upon human resources to ensure high-quality access to care for the general population. With significant health worker shortages predicted worldwide in the coming decades, maximizing the current workforce by means of a physician resource planning (PRP) strategy that ensures the right number, mix, and distribution of physicians to meet population needs is warranted. In Canada, there is an insufficient number of primary care providers, and disproportionately low numbers of specialist physicians in rural compared to urban regions. Currently, Canadian medical students are not effectively included in PRP strategy and lack the required information for career orientation to help rebalance the population’s workforce needs. This paper aims to present the Health Human Resource (HHR) Platform, a comprehensive web tool that includes relevant workforce data to empower medical students in choosing a discipline based on both personal interests and social accountability.Results: Physician workforce data, comments from Canadian residency program directors, and career planning resources were collected by the Canadian Federation of Medical Student’s (CFMS) HHR Task Force. This information was consolidated to create a national interactive platform that uses a map, comparison table, and trends graph to illustrate over 500,000 unique data points from 37 datasets, including specific information and resources spanning 62 medical specialties from 2015 onwards. There was a 24.6% response rate for program director comments. During the first four months of the HHR Platform launch, there were 2463 different users, of which 998 were returning, with an average of 20.2 users per day spending on average 3 minutes and 4 seconds on the platform.Conclusions: The HHR Platform constitutes a bottom-up national approach to PRP informing medical students on the mix and distribution of physicians needed for a better alignment with residency positions, and ultimately meet the future healthcare demands of the Canadian population.
The Design of An Evaluation Framework for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support Programs Delivered Nationally
Authors: Olson Jenny Louise , White Becky , Mitchell Helen , Halliday Jennifer , Skinner Timothy , Schofield Deborah , Sweeting Jennifer , Watson Natasha
Published: May 2021

Background: The aim of this work was to develop a National Evaluation Framework to facilitate the standardization of delivery, quality, reporting, and evaluation of diabetes education and support programs delivered throughout Australia through the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS). The NDSS is funded by the Australian Government, and provides access to diabetes information, education, support, and subsidized product across diverse settings in each state and territory of Australia through seven independent service-providers. This article reports the approach undertaken to develop the Framework. Methods: A participatory approach was undertaken, focused on adopting nationally consistent outcomes and indicators, nominating objectives and measurement tools, specifying evaluation processes, and developing quality standards. Existing programs were classified based on related, overarching indicators enabling the adoption of a tiered system of evaluation. Results: Two outcomes (i.e., improved clinical, reduced cost) and four indicators (i.e., improved knowledge and understanding, self-management, self-determination, psychosocial adjustment) were adopted from the Eigenmann and Colagiuri national consensus position statement for diabetes education. This allowed for the identification of objectives (i.e., improved empowerment, reduced distress, autonomy supportive program delivery, consumer satisfaction) and related measurement instruments. Programs were categorized as comprehensive, topic-specific, or basic education, with comprehensive programs allocated to receive the highest-level of evaluation. Twelve quality standards were developed, with existing programs tested against those standards. Based on the results of testing, two comprehensive (OzDAFNE for people with type 1 diabetes, DESMOND for people with type 2 diabetes), and eight topic-specific (CarbSmart, ShopSmart, MonitorSmart, FootSmart, MedSmart, Living with Insulin, Insulin Pump Workshop, Ready Set Go – Let’s Move) structured diabetes self-management education and support programs were nominated for national delivery. Conclusions: The National Evaluation Framework has facilitated consistency of program quality, delivery, and evaluation of programs delivered by multiple service providers across diverse contexts. The Framework could be applied by other service providers who facilitate multiple diabetes education and support programs and could be adapted for use in other chronic disease populations where education and support are indicated.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Are Suitable For Assessing The Success of Restocking Efforts of The European Lobster (Homarus Gammarus, L.)
Authors: De Wit Pierre , Svanberg Linda , Casties Isabel , Eriksson Susanne P , Sundell Kristina , André Carl
Published: May 2021

The European lobster (Homarus gammarus) forms the base of an important fishery along the coasts of Europe. However, stocks have been in decline for many years, prompting new regulations in the fishery and also restocking efforts. An important feature of any restocking effort is the assessment of success in the number of released juveniles that stay and become adult over time. Here, we tested the power of a SNP DNA marker panel developed for population assignment to correctly infer parentage on the maternal side of lobster larvae, in the absence of known fathers, using lobsters included in a current restocking effort on the Swedish west coast. We also examined the power to reconstruct the unknown paternal genotypes, and examined the number of fathers for each larval clutch. We found that the 96-SNP panel, despite only containing 78 informative markers, allowed us to assign all larvae to the correct mother. Furthermore, with 10 genotyped larvae or more, confident paternal genotypes could be reconstructed. We also found that 15 out of 17 clutches were full siblings, whereas two clutches had two fathers. To our knowledge, this is the first time a SNP panel of this size has been used to assess parentage in a crustacean restocking effort. Our conclusion is that the panel works well, and that it could be an important tool for the assessment of restocking success of H. gammarus in the future.
City Biodiversity Index and the Cities-Biodiversity Relationship: a Case Study for Sorocaba, SP, Brazil
Authors: de Camargo Julia Fernanda , Silva Fábio Leandro da , Smith Welber Senteio
Published: May 2021

In order to adopt a strategic model which aims to mitigate the environmental pressures exerted by the process of unbridled urbanization, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international agreement that permeates its conservation, the sustainable use of its resources and the equitable sharing of its resources, approved in 2010 the creation of the City Biodiversity Index (CBI), a political-legal instrument that aims to assess its management and progress. Later in 2016, the “Sorocaba: the city of biodiversity” program was launched by Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability (SEMA), consisting of six specific objectives and among them, the establishment of criteria for the evaluation of conservation measures through indicators adapted from CBI, in order to propagate the urban ecology and ecosystems importance. Given the above, this study aimed to prove the compatibility between urban centers and biodiversity and to evaluate the environmental management of the city of Sorocaba, located in the interior of the State of São Paulo, through the application of 23 CBI indicators. The sum of the indicators resulted in a value of 57 points out of a total of 92 (61.9%), showing that, although Sorocaba has a relevant biodiversity, the low score of many indicators implies a need for greater mobilization of government spheres and the successive application of the CBI, in order to expand the conservation and environmental management of the city agenda over the years.
Global Fixed-Time Stabilization for Chained Nonholonomic Systems via Output Feedback Control
Authors: Chen Xiandong , Zhang Xianfu
Published: May 2021

This paper studies the fixed-time output feedback stabilization control problem for chained nonholonomic systems. By means of switching control and $bi$-limit homogeneous techniques, it is firstly constructed two fixed-time state feedback stabilizing controllers for the considered systems. Then, a new state observer with a formalized switching law is proposed to fixed-time estimate system states, where high-order terms are applied to get uniform convergence regardless of initial conditions and low-order terms are aimed to the exact convergence in finite time. Finally, based on $bi$-limit homogeneous technique and Lyapunov stability theorem, fixed-time output feedback stabilizing controllers, one of which is discontinuous with a specific switching control law and the other is continuous, are constructed and the fixed-time output feedback stabilization of the considered systems is thus guaranteed. An example is presented to show the feasibility of the proposed fixed-time output feedback stabilization control strategy.
Signatures Based On Tumor Microenvironment Genes Can Reliably Predict The Prognosis of Laryngeal Cancer Patients
Authors: Ren Haitang , Luo Zheng , Wang Min , Chen Lei , Zhang Bo
Published: May 2021

Purpose: To develop a tumor microenvironment (TME) related genes based prognostic model for laryngeal cancer patients risk prediction. Methods: A innovative prognosic model was generated based on TME related genes (760 genes). Based on the model, laryngeal cancer patients were categoried into high and low-risk group. The immune status including immune cell infiltration ratio as well as checkpoints have been exploreds.Results: It can be shown here 15 genes demonstrate significant differences, which can better predict laryngeal cancer patient prognosis. The accuracy of the model prediction is evaluated and approved by the AUC value. From the immune cell infiltration ratio analysis, there is a significant difference in the infiltration degree of several types of immune cells and 6 immune checkpoints between high and low-risk laryngeal cancer patients. At the same time, the close related genes as well as TME pathways have been also investigated.Conclusion: This study has explored a potential prognostic biomarker and developed a novel TME-associated prognostic model for laryngeal cancer, which provides a valuable reference for future clinical research.
Proteomic and Functional Analyses Reveal That Kallikrein 6 Enhances Communicating Hydrocephalus by Injuring Neuronal Synapses
Authors: Yuan Lei , Zou Dongdong , Yang Xia , Chen Xin , Lu Youming , Zhang Aijun , Zhang Pengqi , Wei Fance
Published: May 2021

Communicating hydrocephalus (CH) is a common neurological disorder caused by a blockage of cerebrospinal fluid. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential molecular mechanism underlying CH development. Quantitative proteomic analysis was performed to screen the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between patients with and without CH. A CH rat model was verified by Hoechst staining, and the co-localization of the target protein and neuron was detected using immunofluorescence staining. Loss-of-function experiments were performed to examine the effect of KLK6 on the synapse structure. A total of 11 DEPs were identified, and kallikrein 6 (KLK6) expression was found to be significantly upregulated in patients with CH compared with that in patients without CH. The CH rat model was successfully constructed, and KLK6 was found to be co-localized with neuronal nuclei in brain tissue. The expression level of KLK6 in the CH group was higher than that in the control group. After interference of KLK6 expression, the expression levels of synapsin-1 and PSD95 in neuronal cells were increased, and the length, number, and structure of synapses were significantly improved. The transcriptome profile (PRJNA719985) after interference of KLK6 expression was obtained, and 5,681 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. The upregulated DEGs of Appl2, Nav2, and Nrn1 may be involved in the recovery of synaptic structures after interference of KLK6 expression. Collectively, KLK6 participates in the development of CH and might provide a new target for CH treatment.
Investigating the Nexus among Sulfur Dioxide Emission, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan
Authors: Bakhsh Khuda , Akmal Tanzila , Ahmad Tauqeer , Abbas Qasir
Published: May 2021

Developing countries like Pakistan majorly depends on fossil fuels for achieving higher economic growth but have sloppy environmental rules and regulations in order to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). As a result, energy consumption is considered as the primary cause of environmental degradation. Besides CO2 emission, environmental degradation is also associated with emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among SO2 emissions, energy consumption, economic growth and FDI in Pakistan. By applying the 3SLS method study has estimated the scale effect, composition effect and technique effect. The scale effect and technique effect findings indicated that capital stock, FDI, and SO2 emissions all had a significant impact on GDP. When the capital accumulation effects of FDI were considered, the relationship between FDI and stock of capital was found to be positive. According to the technique effect results, FDI, population density, and energy consumption were all significantly related to SO2 emissions. The study came to a conclusion with significant policy implications.
2-Arachidonoylglycerol Attenuates Fibrosis in Diabetic Mice via the TGF-β1/Smad Pathway
Authors: Chen Zhengjie , Zheng Liangyu , Chen Gang
Published: May 2021

Purpose: Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DM) is the cause of late cardiac dysfunction in diabetic patients. Myocardial fibrosis is the main pathological mechanism, which is associated with transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1) expression up-regulation. 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) is an endogenous cannabinoid that can effectively improve myocardial cell energy metabolism and cardiac function. Here, we evaluated the protective effect of 2-AG on diabetic cardiomyopathy.Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice were injected with 2-AG intraperitoneally for 4 weeks (1μg/kg/day) after 12 weeks of diabetic modeling. After 4 weeks, heart function was evaluated by echocardiography. Heart structure was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Cardiac fibrosis was analyzed using immunohistochemistry, Sirius red stain and Western blot.Results: After modeling in diabetic mice, cardiac ultrasonography showed decreased cardiac function, and pathological findings showed that myocardial fibrosis. 2-AG could effectively inhibit the up-regulation of TGF-β1 and Smad2/3, improve myocardial fibrosis and ultimately improve cardiac function in diabetic mice.Conclusion: 2-AG reduces cardiac fibrosis via the TGF-β1/Smad2/3 pathway and is a potential pathway for the treatment of cardiac dysfunction in diabetic mice.
Does Environment Management Practice Play a Mediating Role between Green Intellectual Capital and Green Human Resource Management?
Authors: Alam Mohammad Nurul , Turi Jamshid Ali , Khastoori Sudhaishna , Alias Rosima Bte , Rahman Md Adnan , Hossin Md Suliman
Published: May 2021

The study aimed to examine the mediating role of environment management practices between green intellectual capital and green human resource management. A positivism philosophy, explanatory research design and quantitative research methodology was employed for collecting data from 125 ready-made garment manufacturing firms in Bangladesh. Smart-PLS 3.2.9 was used to observe the proposed relationship. The results indicated that environment management practice has a significant influence in the relationship between green human capital and green human resource management, and green relational capital and green human resource management. Surprisingly, environment management practice does not play any significant mediating role in between green structural capital and green human resource management. In addition, green human capital and green relational capital has a significant direct influence on green human resource management. However, green structural capital does not have any significant direct impact on green human resource management.
Minimizing Impact of the Urbanization on the Physical Habitat Suitability of Downstream River by a Multi-objective Optimization
Authors: Sedighkia Mahdi , Abdoli Asghar
Published: May 2021

Urbanization might considerably change outflow of catchment that might affect physical habitat suitability at downstream river ecosystem. Present study proposes and evaluates an applicable method to minimize impact of urbanization on the suitability of physical habitats in which habitat loss and area of the urban region are optimized. coupled particle swarm optimization- adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system is used to simulate runoff in the structure of a multi-objective metaheuristic optimization. Fuzzy physical habitat simulation was applied to simulate suitability of physical habitats. Different measurement indices including the Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient, root means square error and vulnerability index were utilized to measure performance of the simulation-optimization system. Based on the results in the case study, the proposed system is able to mitigate physical habitat impacts by optimizing area of the urban region. Regional government had planned to urbanize 90% of the catchment area. However, it damages physical habitats considerably. The optimal plan reduced the urban area to 56% and minimized physical habitat loss. This method is able to reduce negotiations between regional governments and environmental advocators for development of the new urban areas in terms of minimizing physical habitat loss in river ecosystems.
Interpretable Machine Learning for Genomics
Authors: Watson David
Published: May 2021

High-throughput technologies such as next generation sequencing allow biologists to observe cell function with unprecedented resolution, but the resulting datasets are too large and complicated for humans to understand without the aid of advanced statistical methods. Machine learning (ML) algorithms, which are designed to automatically find patterns in data, are well suited to this task. Yet these models are often so complex as to be opaque, leaving researchers with few clues about underlying mechanisms. Interpretable machine learning (iML) is a burgeoning subdiscipline of computational statistics devoted to making the predictions of ML models more intelligible to end users. This article is a gentle and critical introduction to iML, with an emphasis on genomic applications. I define relevant concepts, motivate leading methodologies, and provide a simple typology of existing approaches. I survey recent examples of iML in genomics, demonstrating how such techniques are increasingly integrated into research workflows. I argue that iML solutions are required to realize the promise of precision medicine. However, several open challenges remain. I examine the limitations of current state of the art tools and propose a number of directions for future research. While the horizon for iML in genomics is wide and bright, continued progress requires close collaboration across disciplines.
Income Inequality and Environmental Degradation in Egypt: Evidence from Dynamic ARDL Approach
Authors: Ali Ibrahim
Published: May 2021

This study aims to explore the effect of income inequality on CO2 emissions in Egypt during the period 1975–2017. " The analysis investigates the validity of the political economy approach compared to the Keynesian approach regarding the inequality-environment nexus. The study applies the novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lags approach (DARDL) to overcome the complications associated with the structure of the ARDL model. The findings showed that the relationship between inequality and CO2 emissions is not a trade-off relationship. Rather, inequality leads to environmental deterioration in the long term, which supports the political economy approach in explaining the inequality-environment nexus. Hence, the economic development policies adopted in Egypt during the past four decades have led to a negative impact on the environment.
Effect of Face Length in Initial Mining Stage of Fully Mechanized Top-coal Caving Face With Large Mining Height
Authors: Wang Jianhang , Lu Yao , WANG CHANGXIANG , Xu Guangwei , Zhang Chengran
Published: May 2021

Based on the field measurement of the end resistance of the support during the initial weighting of the basic roof and the macroscopic mine pressure behavior during the weighting period of 101,22211,103 and 301 fully mechanized caving face in Changchun Xing Coal Mine, the mine pressure law of the working face is summarized and compared, and the relationship between the working face length and the working resistance of the support ( the weighting strength ) and the macroscopic mine pressure behavior is obtained. In the range of face length 126-230 m, with the increase of face length, the end-of-cycle resistance of the support gradually increases and the dynamic load coefficient of the support gradually increases when the coefficient of the support gradually increases, and the strata behavior of the working face changes from strong to very strong. When the face length is short ( 126-140.5m ), the hanging top area is too large to cause hurricanes when the working face is pressed, which threatens and damages the personal safety and equipment of the working face staff. Based on the above research, the problem of optimizing the surface length is proposed, and the surface length is determined to be within the range of 140-230 m according to the measured results.
A New Threshold Reveals The Uncertainty About The Effect of School Opening On Diffusion of Covid-19.
Authors: Gandolfi Alberto , Aspri Andrea , Beretta Elena , Jamshad Khola , Jiang Muyan
Published: May 2021

We aim at clarifying the controversy about the effects of school openings or closures on the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.The mathematical analysis of compartmental models with subpopulations shows that the in-school contact rates affects the overall course of the pandemic only above a certain threshold that separates an influence phase from a non-influence one. The threshold, that we calculate via linear approximation in several cases, seems to appear in all contexts, including outbreaks or new strains upsurge, lockdowns, and vaccination campaigns excluding children, albeit with different values. Our theoretical findings are then confirmed by several data driven studies that have previously identified the phase transition in specific cases.Specific outcomes of this study are:• opposite conclusions reached by studies of the same or similar situations might depend on, possibly small, differences in modeling or in parameter estimation from the very noisy Covid-19 data, that result in identifying different phases;• it is possible to keep schools open at any stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, but suitably strict rules must be applied at all times or else this becomes highly detrimental to virus containment efforts;• as the threshold during vaccination turns out to correspond to the internal transmission rate that would lead to virus extinction if the school population was isolated, the needed strict control can be sustained only for very brief periods; as a result, either schools will have to face a prolonged closure or children need to be vaccinated as well.
Enhance The Properties of Cellulose Fracturing Fluids By Cellulose Nanocrystals
Authors: Wang Shibin , Hu Peng , Li Shuaishuai , Yi Huiyong , Shi Peng , Wang Zhi
Published: May 2021

With inspiration from the enhancement of the viscoelasticity of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) on hydrogels, we paid attention to cellulose fracturing fluids prepared from the CNCs skeleton reinforced covalently cross-linked cellulose networks. In this paper, we hybridized CNCs with sodium CMC-Na to form nano cellulose fracturing fluids, characterized the performance of nano hybrid fracturing fluids and analyzed the nano-crystals enhancing fracturing fluid performance mechanism. It showed that the apparent viscosity, temperature tolerance, elastic modulus, and tensile strength of cellulose fracturing fluids were improved by CNCs. Compared with the blank cellulose fracturing fluids, the viscosity value of nano-cellulose fracturing fluids at 120 ℃ reached 195mPa·s, with an increase of 200 %, and the elastic modulus was 30Pa, with an increase of about 253 %. Furthermore, the microscopic analysis revealed that CNCs can play the role of nucleus and skeleton in the network structure of cellulose fracturing fluids and obviously enhanced the strength of the network structure. It is obvious to improve the performance of the fracturing fluids by adding CNCs into the cellulose fracturing fluids. This method provides a new idea for the development of fracturing fluids suitable for unconventional reservoirs.
Effect of Carbon Emission and Shelf-Life on Random Emission and Random Price Dependent Demand of a Perishable Product in Interval Environment
Authors: Bhattacharjee Nabajyoti , Sen Nabendu
Published: May 2021

An inventory of suppliers dealing with supply of raw materials from the natural resources like sugarcane, beetroot, vegetable scraps etc. need to choose the product for supply to the production industries with a great consciousness due to their finite shelf-life and carbon emission property. A product with small shelf-life and carrying the burden of carbon tax need to be sold quickly so that overall profit earn can be maximize in such a situation. Further the situation deteriorates when the selling price of a product is affected by the carbon emission and its absolute value reduces with time. There we need a formal mathematical design that can include all these issues of price and carbon tax so that the supplier can select the best product for sale. In this paper we develop and inventory model to investigate the earnings made by the supplier, selling the product with price- and stock- dependent demand and study the effect of carbon emission and shelf-life. Further we obtain the optimal preservation cost and green investment to reduce the deterioration and carbon emission. We study the model under different cases; deterministic demand, probabilistic demand with random emission and probabilistic demand with random price. We perform the sensitivity analysis.
Biophysical Considerations in the Rational Design and Cellular Targeting of Flexible Polymeric Nanoparticles
Authors: Farokhirad Samaneh , Kandy Sreeja Kutti , Tsourkas Andrew , Ayyaswamy Portonovo , Eckmann David , Radhakrishnan Ravi
Published: May 2021

Physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticles (NPs) can be engineered for tuning their biological function in cellular delivery. How NP mechanical properties impact multivalent ligand-receptor mediated binding to cell surfaces, the avidity of NP adhesion to cells, propensity for internalization, and effects due to crowding remain unknown or unquantified. We report computational analyses of binding mechanisms of three distinct NPs that differ in type and rigidity (core-corona flexible NP, rigid NP, and rigid-tethered NP) but are otherwise similar in size and ligand surface density; moreover, for the case of flexible NP, we tune NP stiffness by varying the internal crosslinking density. We employ biophysical modeling of NP binding to membranes together with thermodynamic analysis powered by free energy calculations and show that efficient cellular targeting and uptake of NP functionalized with targeting ligand molecules can be shaped by factors including NP flexibility and crowding, receptor-ligand binding avidity, state of the membrane cytoskeleton, and curvature inducing proteins. Owing to this multitude of factors, we demonstrate that the binding avidity of a flexible NP depends on engineered changes in NP flexibility governed by significant enthalpy entropy compensations arising from multiple competing terms associated with NP, receptor density, and membrane. Analyses of the individual enthalpic and entropic contributions associated with NP, membrane, and receptor-ligand binding and receptor diffusion collectively illuminate this complex dependence of avidity on crosslinking. These findings provide strong evidence that NP flexibility is an important design parameter for rationally engineering NP targeting and uptake in a crowded cellular adhesion microenvironment.
The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Authors: removed Author list
Published: May 2021

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
A Quantitative Determination of Minimum Film Thickness in Elastohydrodynamic Circular Contacts
Authors: Habchi Wassim , Vergne Philippe
Published: May 2021

The current work presents a quantitative approach for the prediction of minimum film thickness in elastohydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) circular contacts. In contrast to central film thickness, minimum film thickness can be hard to accurately measure, and it is usually poorly estimated by classical analytical film thickness formulae. For this, an advanced finite-element-based numerical model is used to quantify variations of the central-to-minimum film thickness ratio with operating conditions, under isothermal Newtonian pure-rolling conditions. An ensuing analytical expression is then derived and compared to classical film thickness formulae and to more recent similar expressions. The comparisons confirmed the inability of the former to predict the minimum film thickness, and the limitations of the latter, which tend to overestimate the ratio of central-to-minimum film thickness. The proposed approach is validated against numerical results as well as experimental data from the literature, revealing an excellent agreement with both. This framework can be used to predict minimum film thickness in circular elastohydrodynamic contacts from knowledge of central film thickness, which can be either accurately measured or rather well estimated using classical film thickness formulae.
KMT2A-ARHGEF12, a Therapy Related Fusion with Dismal Prognosis.
Authors: Assaf Nada , Liévin Raphael , Merabet Fatiha , Raggueneau Victoria , Osman Jenifer , Spentchian Marc , Kim Rathana , Renosi Florian , Garnache Francine , Eclache Virginie , Luquet Isabelle , Abascal Lilia Corral , D’Angiò Mariella , Larghero Patrizia , Meyer Claus , Marschalek Rolf , Rousselot Philippe , Terré Christine
Published: May 2021

Background: The detection of KMT2A gene rearrangements have an important impact on the prognosis and management of acute leukemias. These alterations most commonly involve reciprocal translocations at specific breakpoint regions within KMT2A. To date, more than 100 translocation partner genes of KMT2A have been identified, with different effects on risk stratification. Methods and Results: We report the case of a mature plasmacytoid dendritic cells proliferation associated with B lymphoblasts harboring a KMT2A-ARHGEF12 fusion. This rare rearrangement, resulting from a cryptic deletion on the long arm of chromosome 11, is located outside the known major and minor breakpoint regions of KMT2A, not reported to date. The review of the few cases of KMT2A-ARHGEF12 reveals the tendency of this deletion to occur in therapy related hematologic neoplasm and confer unfavorable prognosis. Conclusion: This review sheds light into the rare KMT2A-ARHGEF12 fusion in leukemia. Reporting rare chimeras is essential to improve knowledge about the biological mechanism and associated clinical consequences.
Ecological Footprint Prediction based on Global Macro Indicators in G-20 Countries using Machine Learning Approaches
Authors: Roumiani Ahmad , Mofidi Abbas
Published: May 2021

Paying attention to human activities in terms of land grazing infrastructure, crops, forest products and carbon impact, the so-called ecological impact (EF) is one of the most important economic issues in the world. In the present study, data from global databases were used. The ability of the penalized regression approach (PR including Ridge, Lasso and Elastic Net) and artificial neural network (ANN) to predict EF indices in the G-20 over the past two decades (1999–2018) was depicted and compared. For this purpose, 10-fold cross-validation was used to assess predictive performance and to specify a penalty parameter for PR models. Based on the results, a slight improvement in prediction performance was observed over linear regression. Using the Elastic Net model, more global macro indices were selected than Lasso. Although Lasso included only some indicators, it still had better predictive performance among PR models. Although the findings using PR methods were only slightly better than linear regression, their interest in selecting a subset of controllable indicators by shrinking the coefficients and creating a parsimonious model was apparent. As a result, penalized regression methods would be preferred, using feature selectivity and interpretive considerations rather than predictive performance alone. On the other hand, neural network-based models with higher values of coefficients of determination (R2) and values lower of RMSE than PR and OLS had significant performance and showed that they are more accurate in predicting EF. The results showed that the ANN network could provide considerable and appropriate predictions for EF indicators in the G-20 countries. predictions
Screening and Joint Analysis of Key lncRNAs for Milk Fat Metabolism in Dairy Cows
Authors: Mu Tong , Hu Honghong , Feng Xiaofang , Ma Yanfen , Wang Ying , Liu Jiamin , Yu Baojun , Wen Wan , Zhang Juan , Gu Yaling
Published: May 2021

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important regulatory role in various biological processes as a key regulatory factor. However, there are largely unknown for the function and expression profile of lncRNAs in milk fat synthesis of dairy cows. Results: In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to research the whole genome expression of lncRNAs and mRNA transcripts in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) of dairy cows with high and low milk fat percentage (MFP), and joint analysis was carried out. We identified a total of 47 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 38 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs, Padj < 0.05), 11 candidate DEGs that may regulate milk fat metabolism were screened by enrichment analysis. Downregulated differential gene ENPP2 and upregulated differential gene BCAT1 are more likely to participate in the milk fat metabolism, and its function needs further experiments verification. The enrichment analysis of target genes predicted by DELs identified 7 cis (co-localization) and 10 trans (co-expression) candidate target genes related to milk lipid metabolism, corresponding to a total of 18 DELs. Among them, the targeting relationship between long intervening/intergenic noncoding RNA (lincRNA) TCONS_00082721 and FABP4 gene that predicts milk fat metabolism by co-localization and co-expression is worthy of attention. Based on the expression information of DELs, differential microRNAs (miRNAs), and lipid metabolism-related target genes, 156 competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) interaction regulation networks related to milk fat metabolism were constructed. The regulatory network centered on miR-145 will be the focus of subsequent experimental research. The ceRNAs regulatory network related to TCONS_00082721 and TCONS_00172817 are more likely to be involved in milk fat synthesis. Conclusions: These results will provide new ways to understand the complex biology of dairy cow milk fat synthesis and provide valuable information for the breed improvement of Chinese Holstein cattle.
Efficacy of Internet Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for People in the Depressed Phase of Bipolar Disorder
Authors: Nielssen Olav , Staples Lauren , Karin Eyal , kayrouz rony , Dear Blake , titov Nicholai
Published: May 2021

BackgroundThere is little research reporting the outcome of internet delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (iCBT) for the depressed phase of bipolar disorder as part of routine care. MethodsDemographic information, baseline scores and treatment outcomes were examined for patients of MindSpot Clinic, a national iCBT service who reported taking Lithium and their clinic records confirming the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Outcomes were completion rates, patient satisfaction and changes in measures of psychological distress, depression and anxiety measured by the Kessler-10 item (K-10), Patient Health Questionnaire 9 Item (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7 Item (GAD-7), compared to clinic benchmarks. ResultsOut of 21,745 people completed a MindSpot assessment and enrolled in a MindSpot treatment course in a 7 year period, 83 reported taking Lithium and had a confirmed a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Reductions in symptoms were large on all measures (effect sizes > 1.0 on all measures, percentage change between 32.4% and 40%), and lesson completion and satisfaction with the course were also high. ConclusionsMindSpot treatments were effective in treating anxiety and depression in people diagnosed with bipolar, and suggest that the routine provision of iCBT can help overcome the under-use of evidence based psychological treatments of people with bipolar depression.
Fuzzy Based Priority Ad Hoc on Demand Multipath Distance Vector Stable Routing protocol (FPAOMDV)
Authors: Atri Swati , Tyagi Sanjay
Published: May 2021

Mobile ad-hoc networks are the most uncertain type of networks. Uncertainty occurs due to the mobile nature of the nodes, continuous consumption of energy and bandwidth results in unpredictable state of nodes. In this situation making an efficient, reliable and stable route selection is a challenging task and an open research problem aiming to provide continuous data transfer between source and destination node. Multipath routing protocol ensures reliable communication by providing multiple paths between source and destination nodes. To choose the best one among different alternative paths is the problem addressed by this paper. For this purpose fuzzy logic (multi valued logic) has been used. Fuzzy logic is a soft computing technique which is able to make precise and accurate decision in multi variable, uncertain and imprecise situation. Here, firstly Multipath Priority Based Route Discovery Mechanism (MPRDM) has been used to generate multiple paths between the two nodes participating in the communication. MPRDM calculates individual priority value for every RREP packet and assigns it to the different obtained routes. Further, in this paper fuzzy logic has been used for designing fuzzy route selection controller for Fuzzy Logic Based Stable Route Selection mechanism (FLSRSM) which calculates stability value of different routes based on priority value, average mobility and residual energy along the paths FLSRSM is able to make selection of best stable path based on the highest value of stability metric. This mechanism has been used to propose fuzzy based priority ad-hoc on demand multipath distance vector stable routing protocol (FPAOMDV) that provide stability, reliability and selects the route that has sufficient amount of energy to hold continuous data transfer. In Simulation results on NS2, the proposed protocol outperforms other compared routing protocols in terms of delay, throughput, PDR and overhead.
Systemic Inflammasome Activation and Pyroptosis Associate with the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: rui wenjuan , Xiao Hong , Fan Yi , Ma Zhongxuan , Xiao Ming , Li Sheng , Shi Jingping
Published: May 2021

Background: Growing evidence indicates that inflammasome-mediated inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Likewise, gasdermin D (GSDMD) as executive molecule in inflammasome-induced pyroptosis is also involved in many neurological disorders. However, it is not clear whether inflammasome and pyroptosis is activated in the periphery of AD patients and influences central inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between systemic inflammasome-induced pyroptosis and clinical features in the progression of AD.Methods: A total of 86 participants, including 33 patients with AD, 33 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and 20 controls, were included in this study. The cognitive level of each participant was evaluated, including Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were assigned. We collected blood samples from each participant. Gene transcriptomes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were determined by RNA-seq. The expression levels of inflammasome-related genes/proteins in PBMCs were determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected from all AD patients. The levels of IL-1β, Aβ1-42, p-tau, and t-tau in CSF, as well as the plasma IL-1β level, were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Lastly, a low dose of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) was performed to investigate the effects of systemic pyroptosis in AD mice model.Results: Several genes involved in the inflammatory response pathway were enriched in PBMCs of AD patients. The mRNA and protein levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, GSDMD, and IL-1β were all increased in PBMCs from AD and aMCI patients. The IL-1β levels in plasma and CSF in AD and aMCI patients were significantly higher than those in controls and have a negative correlation with levels of Aβ1-42 in CSF, MMSE and MOCA scores. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the IL-1β level in plasma and CSF of AD or aMCI patients. In addition, animal experiments also showed that systemic pyroptosis aggravates neuroinflammation in 5×FAD mice.Conclusions: All these findings showed that the canonical inflammasome pathway and GSDMD-induced pyroptosis is activated in PBMCs from AD and aMCI patients. Proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β in periphery is highly associated with the pathological process of AD. Targeting peripheral inflammasomes and pyroptosis may be a strategy to inhibit neuroinflammation in AD.
Comparison of Awareness and Attitudes Toward Advance Care Planning Between Chinese Medical and Non-medical University Students
Authors: Liu Min , Meng Fanqi , Sun Wenmin , Li Dandan , Sun Jing
Published: May 2021

Background: To date, there is a paucity of information on the discrepancies of awareness and attitudes towards ACP among university students in mainland China. The purposes of this study are to investigate the discrepancies in the awareness and attitudes toward advance care planning (ACP) between Chinese medical and non-medical university students and to identify the association between the awareness and attitudes toward ACP and medical education. A total of 718 university students included 290 medical students and 428 non-medical students from 12 universities in 4 provinces in mainland China were surveyed by using the Advance Care Planning Questionnaire (ACPQ). Results: More than half of the university students (59.89%) had never heard of ACP before; there were significant differences in the awareness regarding ACP between medical students and their non-medical peers (P<0.05); 82.45% of participants were more likely to consider discussing ACP in the future; there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the previous experience last 5 years between the two groups except the item of “have been involved in the decision making of your treatment” (P=0.005); univariate analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis showed that medical education was the factor influencing the awareness of end-of-life (P=0.000) and proxy decision-maker (P=0.028) among university students. Conclusion: The awareness toward ACP of university students in mainland China remained limited, but their attitudes were positive. Medical students had a higher level of awareness regarding ACP than non-medical students, and medical education was the factor that promoted students to understand end-of-life care and proxy decision-maker. Establishing educational initiatives, developing models for peer-led ACP, and perfecting governmental policies should be emphasized.
Neutral All Metal Aromatic Half-Sandwich Complexes Between Alkaline Earth and Transition Metals: An Ab-initio Exploration
Authors: Kalita Amlan Jyoti , Sahu Prem Prakash , Borah Ritam Raj , Rohman Shahnaz Sultana , Kashyap Chayanika , Ullah Sabnam Swabaka , Baruah Indrani , Mazumder Lakhya Jyoti , Konwar Dimpul , Guha Ankur Kanti
Published: May 2021

Sandwich complexes find their interests among the chemists after the breakthrough discovery of ferrocene. Since then, a number of sandwich and half sandwich complexes were predicted and synthesized. Herein, we have theoretically proposed a series of half-sandwich complexes involving a neutral Be3 ring and transition metal. Quantum chemical calculations have shown that the proposed complexes are quite stable involving high bond dissociation energies. The thermodynamics of their formation is also favorable. The Be3 ring in all cases posses dual aromaticity which has been ascertained based on magnetic as well as topological feature of electron density.