bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterizing temporal trends in populations exposed to aircraft noise around U.S. airports: 1995–2015
Authors: Nguyen Daniel D. , Levy Jonathan I. , Kim Chanmin , Lane Kevin J. , Simon Matthew C. , Hart Jaime E. , Whitsel Eric A. , VoPham Trang , Malwitz Andrew , Peters Junenette L.
Published: September 2023

Background

Aircraft noise is a key concern for communities surrounding airports, with increasing evidence for health effects and inequitable distributions of exposure. However, there have been limited national-scale assessments of aircraft noise exposure over time and across noise metrics, limiting evaluation of population exposure patterns.

Objective

We evaluated national-scale temporal trends in aviation noise exposure by airport characteristics and across racial/ethnic populations in the U.S.

Methods

Noise contours were modeled for 90 U.S. airports in 5-year intervals between 1995 and 2015 using the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aviation Environmental Design Tool. We utilized linear fixed effects models to estimate changes in noise exposure areas for day-night average sound levels (DNL) of 45, 65, and a nighttime equivalent sound level (Lnight) of 45 A-weighted decibels (dB[A]). We used group-based trajectory modeling to identify distinct groups of airports sharing underlying characteristics. We overlaid noise contours and Census tract data from the U.S. Census Bureau and American Community Surveys for 2000 to 2015 to estimate exposure changes overall and by race/ethnicity.

Results

National-scale analyses showed non-monotonic trends in mean exposed areas that peaked in 2000, followed by a 37% decrease from 2005 to 2010 and a subsequent increase in 2015. We identified four distinct trajectory groups of airports sharing latent characteristics related to size and activity patterns. Those populations identifying as minority (e.g., Hispanic/Latino, Black/African American, Asian) experienced higher proportions of exposure relative to their subgroup populations compared to non-Hispanic or White populations across all years, indicating ethnic and racial disparities in airport noise exposure that persist over time.

Significance

Overall, these data identified differential exposure trends across airports and subpopulations, helping to identify vulnerable communities for aviation noise in the U.S.

Impact statement

We conducted a descriptive analysis of temporal trends in aviation noise exposure in the U.S. at a national level. Using data from 90 U.S. airports over a span of two decades, we characterized the noise exposure trends overall and by airport characteristics, while estimating the numbers of exposed by population demographics to help identify the impact on vulnerable communities who may bear the burden of aircraft noise exposure.
Dynamic single-cell mapping unveils Epstein‒Barr virus-imprinted T-cell exhaustion and on-treatment response
Authors: Qiu Miao-Zhen , Wang Chaoye , Wu Zhiying , Zhao Qi , Zhao Zhibin , Huang Chun-Yu , Wu Wenwei , Yang Li-Qiong , Zhou Zhi-Wei , Zheng Yu , Pan Hong-Ming , Liu Zexian , Zeng Zhao-Lei , Luo Hui-Yan , Wang Feng , Wang Feng-Hua , Yang Si-Yu , Huang Meng-Xing , Lian Zhexiong , Zhang Haiyan , Xu Rui-Hua
Published: September 2023

Epstein‒Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric cancer (GC) manifests an intriguing immunotherapy response. However, the cellular basis for EBV-imprinted tumour immunity and on-treatment response remains undefined. This study aimed to finely characterize the dynamic tumour immune contexture of human EBV (+) GC treated with immunochemotherapy by longitudinal scRNA-seq and paired scTCR/BCR-seq. EBV (+) GC exhibits an inflamed-immune phenotype with increased T-cell and B-cell infiltration. Immunochemotherapy triggers clonal revival and reinvigoration of effector T cells which step to determine treatment response. Typically, an antigen-specific ISG-15+CD8+ T-cell population is highly enriched in EBV (+) GC patients, which represents a transitory exhaustion state. Importantly, baseline intratumoural ISG-15+CD8+ T cells predict immunotherapy responsiveness among GC patients. Re-emerged clonotypes of pre-existing ISG-15+CD8+ T cells could be found after treatment, which gives rise to a CXCL13-expressing effector population in responsive EBV (+) tumours. However, LAG-3 retention may render the ISG-15+CD8+ T cells into a terminal exhaustion state in non-responsive EBV (+) tumours. In accordance, anti-LAG-3 therapy could effectively reduce tumour burden in refractory EBV (+) GC patients. Our results delineate a distinct implication of EBV-imprinted on-treatment T-cell immunity in GC, which could be leveraged to optimize the rational design of precision immunotherapy.
Regulation of cellular cholesterol distribution via non-vesicular lipid transport at ER-Golgi contact sites
Authors: Naito Tomoki , Yang Haoning , Koh Dylan Hong Zheng , Mahajan Divyanshu , Lu Lei , Saheki Yasunori
Published: September 2023

Abnormal distribution of cellular cholesterol is associated with numerous diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Regulated transport of cholesterol is critical for maintaining its proper distribution in the cell, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that lipid transfer proteins, namely ORP9, OSBP, and GRAMD1s/Asters (GRAMD1a/GRAMD1b/GRAMD1c), control non-vesicular cholesterol transport at points of contact between the ER and the trans-Golgi network (TGN), thereby maintaining cellular cholesterol distribution. ORP9 localizes to the TGN via interaction between its tandem α-helices and ORP10/ORP11. ORP9 extracts PI4P from the TGN to prevent its overaccumulation and suppresses OSBP-mediated PI4P-driven cholesterol transport to the Golgi. By contrast, GRAMD1s transport excess cholesterol from the Golgi to the ER, thereby preventing its build-up. Cells lacking ORP9 exhibit accumulation of cholesterol at the Golgi, which is further enhanced by additional depletion of GRAMD1s with major accumulation in the plasma membrane. This is accompanied by chronic activation of the SREBP-2 signalling pathway. Our findings reveal the importance of regulated lipid transport at ER-Golgi contacts for maintaining cellular cholesterol distribution and homeostasis.
Engineering the temporal dynamics of all-optical switching with fast and slow materials
Authors: Saha Soham , Diroll Benjamin T. , Ozlu Mustafa Goksu , Chowdhury Sarah N. , Peana Samuel , Kudyshev Zhaxylyk , Schaller Richard D. , Jacob Zubin , Shalaev Vladimir M. , Kildishev Alexander V. , Boltasseva Alexandra
Published: September 2023

All-optical switches control the amplitude, phase, and polarization of light using optical control pulses. They can operate at ultrafast timescales – essential for technology-driven applications like optical computing, and fundamental studies like time-reflection. Conventional all-optical switches have a fixed switching time, but this work demonstrates that the response-time can be controlled by selectively controlling the light-matter-interaction in so-called fast and slow materials. The bi-material switch has a nanosecond response when the probe interacts strongly with titanium nitride near its epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) wavelength. The response-time speeds up over two orders of magnitude with increasing probe-wavelength, as light’s interaction with the faster Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) increases, eventually reaching the picosecond-scale near AZO’s ENZ-regime. This scheme provides several additional degrees of freedom for switching time control, such as probe-polarization and incident angle, and the pump-wavelength. This approach could lead to new functionalities within key applications in multiband transmission, optical computing, and nonlinear optics.
Ultrasound trapping and navigation of microrobots in the mouse brain vasculature
Authors: Del Campo Fonseca Alexia , Glück Chaim , Droux Jeanne , Ferry Yann , Frei Carole , Wegener Susanne , Weber Bruno , El Amki Mohamad , Ahmed Daniel
Published: September 2023

The intricate and delicate anatomy of the brain poses significant challenges for the treatment of cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, precise local drug delivery in hard-to-reach brain regions remains an urgent medical need. Microrobots offer potential solutions; however, their functionality in the brain remains restricted by limited imaging capabilities and complications within blood vessels, such as high blood flows, osmotic pressures, and cellular responses. Here, we introduce ultrasound-activated microrobots for in vivo navigation in brain vasculature. Our microrobots consist of lipid-shelled microbubbles that autonomously aggregate and propel under ultrasound irradiation. We investigate their capacities in vitro within microfluidic-based vasculatures and in vivo within vessels of a living mouse brain. These microrobots self-assemble and execute upstream motion in brain vasculature, achieving velocities up to 1.5 µm/s and moving against blood flows of ~10 mm/s. This work represents a substantial advance towards the therapeutic application of microrobots within the complex brain vasculature.
Endothelial Sp1/Sp3 are essential to the effect of captopril on blood pressure in male mice
Authors: Lu Hanlin , Jiang Xiuxin , He Lifan , Ji Xuyang , Li Xinyun , Liu Shaozhuang , Sun Yuanyuan , Qin Xiaoteng , Xiong Xiwen , Philipsen Sjaak , Xi Bo , Zhang Meng , Yang Jianmin , Zhang Cheng , Zhang Yun , Zhang Wencheng
Published: September 2023

Endothelial dysfunction represents a major cardiovascular risk factor for hypertension. Sp1 and Sp3 belong to the specificity protein and Krüppel-like transcription factor families. They are ubiquitously expressed and closely associated with cardiovascular development. We investigate the role of Sp1 and Sp3 in endothelial cells in vivo and evaluate whether captopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), targets Sp1/Sp3 to exert its effects. Inducible endothelial-specific Sp1/Sp3 knockout mice are generated to elucidate their role in endothelial cells. Tamoxifen-induced deletion of endothelial Sp1 and Sp3 in male mice decreases the serum nitrite/nitrate level, impairs endothelium-dependent vasodilation, and causes hypertension and cardiac remodeling. The beneficial actions of captopril are abolished by endothelial-specific deletion of Sp1/Sp3, indicating that they may be targets for ACEIs. Captopril increases Sp1/Sp3 protein levels by recruiting histone deacetylase 1, which elevates deacetylation and suppressed degradation of Sp1/Sp3. Sp1/Sp3 represents innovative therapeutic target for captopril to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Thermodynamic forces from protein and water govern condensate formation of an intrinsically disordered protein domain
Authors: Mukherjee Saumyak , Schäfer Lars V.
Published: September 2023

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) can drive a multitude of cellular processes by compartmentalizing biological cells via the formation of dense liquid biomolecular condensates, which can function as membraneless organelles. Despite its importance, the molecular-level understanding of the underlying thermodynamics of this process remains incomplete. In this study, we use atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the low complexity domain (LCD) of human fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein to investigate the contributions of water and protein molecules to the free energy changes that govern LLPS. Both protein and water components are found to have comparably sizeable thermodynamic contributions to the formation of FUS condensates. Moreover, we quantify the counteracting effects of water molecules that are released into the bulk upon condensate formation and the waters retained within the protein droplets. Among the various factors considered, solvation entropy and protein interaction enthalpy are identified as the most important contributions, while solvation enthalpy and protein entropy changes are smaller. These results provide detailed molecular insights on the intricate thermodynamic interplay between protein- and solvation-related forces underlying the formation of biomolecular condensates.
Unit-cell-thick zeolitic imidazolate framework films for membrane application
Authors: Liu Qi , Miao Yurun , Villalobos Luis Francisco , Li Shaoxian , Chi Heng-Yu , Chen Cailing , Vahdat Mohammad Tohidi , Song Shuqing , Babu Deepu J. , Hao Jian , Han Yu , Tsapatsis Michael , Agrawal Kumar Varoon
Published: September 2023

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are a subset of metal–organic frameworks with more than 200 characterized crystalline and amorphous networks made of divalent transition metal centres (for example, Zn2+ and Co2+) linked by imidazolate linkers. ZIF thin films have been intensively pursued, motivated by the desire to prepare membranes for selective gas and liquid separations. To achieve membranes with high throughput, as in ångström-scale biological channels with nanometre-scale path lengths, ZIF films with the minimum possible thickness—down to just one unit cell—are highly desired. However, the state-of-the-art methods yield membranes where ZIF films have thickness exceeding 50 nm. Here we report a crystallization method from ultradilute precursor mixtures, which exploits registry with the underlying crystalline substrate, yielding (within minutes) crystalline ZIF films with thickness down to that of a single structural building unit (2 nm). The film crystallized on graphene has a rigid aperture made of a six-membered zinc imidazolate coordination ring, enabling high-permselective H2 separation performance. The method reported here will probably accelerate the development of two-dimensional metal–organic framework films for efficient membrane separation.
The efferent connections of the orbitofrontal, posterior parietal, and insular cortex of the rat brain
Authors: Reiten Ingrid , Olsen Grethe M. , Bjaalie Jan G. , Witter Menno P. , Leergaard Trygve B.
Published: September 2023

The orbitofrontal, posterior parietal, and insular cortices are sites of higher-order cognitive processing implicated in a wide range of behaviours, including working memory, attention guiding, decision making, and spatial navigation. To better understand how these regions contribute to such functions, we need detailed knowledge about the underlying structural connectivity. Several tract-tracing studies have investigated specific aspects of orbitofrontal, posterior parietal and insular connectivity, but a digital resource for studying the cortical and subcortical projections from these areas in detail is not available. We here present a comprehensive collection of brightfield and fluorescence microscopic images of serial coronal sections from 49 rat brain tract-tracing experiments, in which discrete injections of the anterograde tracers biotinylated dextran amine and/or Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin were placed in the orbitofrontal, parietal, or insular cortex. The images are spatially registered to the Waxholm Space Rat brain atlas. The image collection, with corresponding reference atlas maps, is suitable as a reference framework for investigating the brain-wide efferent connectivity of these cortical association areas.
A Real-World Benchmark for Sentinel-2 Multi-Image Super-Resolution
Authors: Kowaleczko Pawel , Tarasiewicz Tomasz , Ziaja Maciej , Kostrzewa Daniel , Nalepa Jakub , Rokita Przemyslaw , Kawulok Michal
Published: September 2023

Insufficient image spatial resolution is a serious limitation in many practical scenarios, especially when acquiring images at a finer scale is infeasible or brings higher costs. This is inherent to remote sensing, including Sentinel-2 satellite images that are available free of charge at a high revisit frequency, but whose spatial resolution is limited to 10m ground sampling distance. The resolution can be increased with super-resolution algorithms, in particular when performed from multiple images captured at subsequent revisits of a satellite, taking advantage of information fusion that leads to enhanced reconstruction accuracy. One of the obstacles in multi-image super-resolution consists in the scarcity of real-world benchmarks—commonly, simulated data are exploited which do not fully reflect the operating conditions. In this paper, we introduce a new benchmark (named MuS2) for super-resolving multiple Sentinel-2 images, with WorldView-2 imagery used as the high-resolution reference. Within MuS2, we publish the first end-to-end evaluation procedure for this problem which we expect to help the researchers in advancing the state of the art in multi-image super-resolution.
Dietary food patterns as determinants of the gut microbiome–endocannabinoidome axis in humans
Authors: Castonguay-Paradis Sophie , Perron Julie , Flamand Nicolas , Lamarche Benoît , Raymond Frédéric , Di Marzo Vincenzo , Veilleux Alain
Published: September 2023

The gut microbiota and the endocannabinoidome (eCBome) play important roles in regulating energy homeostasis, and both are closely linked to dietary habits. However, the complex and compositional nature of these variables has limited our understanding of their interrelationship. This study aims to decipher the interrelation between dietary intake and the gut microbiome–eCBome axis using two different approaches for measuring dietary intake: one based on whole food and the other on macronutrient intakes. We reveal that food patterns, rather than macronutrient intakes, were associated with the gut microbiome–eCBome axis in a sample of healthy men and women (n = 195).N-acyl-ethanolamines (NAEs) and gut microbial families were correlated with intakes of vegetables, refined grains, olive oil and meats independently of adiposity and energy intakes. Specifically, higher intakes in vegetables and olive oil were associated with increased relative abundance ofClostridiaceae, VeillonellaceaeandPeptostreptococaceae, decreased relative abundance ofAcidominococaceae, higher circulating levels of NAEs, and higher HDL and LDL cholesterol levels. Our findings highlight the relative importance of food patterns in determining the gut microbiome–eCBome axis. They emphasize the importance of recognizing the contribution of dietary habits in these systems to develop personalized dietary interventions for preventing and treating metabolic disorders through this axis.
Non-MHC immunity genes do not affect parasite load in European invasive populations of common raccoon
Authors: Biedrzycka Aleksandra , Konopiński Maciej K. , Popiołek Marcin , Zawiślak Marlena , Bartoszewicz Magdalena , Kloch Agnieszka
Published: September 2023

Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms behind invasion success enables predicting which alien species and populations are the most predisposed to become invasive. Parasites may mediate the success of biological invasions through their effect on host fitness. The evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis assumes that escape from parasites during the invasion process allows introduced species to decrease investment in immunity and allocate resources to dispersal and reproduction. Consequently, the selective pressure of parasites on host species in the invasive range should be relaxed. We used the case of the raccoon Procyon lotor invasion in Europe to investigate the effect of gastrointestinal pathogen pressure on non-MHC immune genetic diversity of newly established invasive populations. Despite distinct differences in parasite prevalence between analysed populations, we detected only marginal associations between two analysed SNPs and infection intensity. We argue that the differences in parasite prevalence are better explained by detected earlier associations with specific MHC-DRB alleles. While the escape from native parasites seems to allow decreased investment in overall immunity, which relaxes selective pressure imposed on immune genes, a wide range of MHC variants maintained in the invasive range may protect from newly encountered parasites.
Sickle-shaped high gain and low profile based four port MIMO antenna for 5G and aeronautical mobile communication
Authors: Armghan Ammar , Lavadiya Sunil , Udayaraju Pamula , Alsharari Meshari , Aliqab Khaled , Patel Shobhit K.
Published: September 2023

The construction of the four-port MIMO antenna in the form of a sickle is provided in the article. Initially, the single port element is designed and optimized. Next, a structure with two ports is created, and lastly, a design with four ports is completed. This process is repeated until the design is optimized. Three types of parametric analysis are considered, including variations in length, widths of sickle-shaped patches, and varying sizes of DGS. The frequency range of 2–8 GHz is used for structural investigation. The − 18.77 dB of return loss was observed at 3.825 GHz for a single-element structure. The optimized one-port structure provides a return loss of − 19.79 dB at 3.825 GHz. The port design offers a bandwidth of 0.71 GHz (3.515–4.225). The four-port design represents two bands that are observed at 3 GHz and 5.43 GHz. Both bands provide the return loss at respectively − 19.79 dB and − 20.53 dB with bandwidths of 1.375 GHz (2.14–3.515) and 0.25 GHz (5.335–5.585). The healthy isolation among both transmittance and reflectance response is achieved. The low-profile material was used to create the design that was presented. The article includes a comparison of the findings that were measured and those that were simulated. The four-port design that has been shown offers a total gain of 15.93 dB, a peak co-polar value of 5.46 dB, a minimum return loss of − 20.53 dB, a peak field distribution of 46.43 A/m and a maximum bandwidth of 1.375 GHz. The values for all diversity parameters like ECC are near zero, the Negative value of TARC, Near to zero MEG, DG is almost 10 dB, and a zero value of CCL is achieved. All diversity parameter performance is within the allowable range. The design is well suited for 5G and aeronautical mobile communication applications.
Larvicidal activity of Stemona collinsiae root extract against Musca domestica and Chrysomya megacephala
Authors: Sakulpanich Aurapa , Attrapadung Siriluck , Gritsanapan Wandee
Published: September 2023

Musca domestica and Chrysomya megacephala, considered synanthropic insects, are medically important flies, as they transmit vector-borne diseases to humans and animals. In Thailand, Stemona (Stemonaceae) plants have been traditionally used as insecticides. This study was designed to determine the larvicidal activity of S. collinsiae root extract against M. domestica and C. megacephala larvae. A 70% ethanol crude extract from S. collinsiae roots was tested against the third-instar larvae of both species using direct and indirect contact methods. The development and mortality rates of the insects were observed, and the LC values were calculated. The extract caused irregular development in both species, shown as segmental puparia that could not emerge as adult flies. The LC50 values of the extract against M. domestica tested by direct and indirect contact methods were 0.0064 ± 0.0005 mg/larva and 0.0165 ± 0.0002 mg/cm2/larva, respectively. In the case of C. megacephala, the LC50 value determined by the indirect contact method was 1.0500 ± 0.0001 mg/cm2/larva. The ethanolic root extract of S. collinsiae was able to kill the larvae of both species after dermal administration. It is of interest to develop S. collinsiae root extract as a natural fly control biopesticide.
Propolis-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers halt breast cancer progression through miRNA-223 related pathways: an in-vitro/in-vivo experiment
Authors: Shaker Sara A. , Alshufta Shadi M. , Gowayed Mennatallah A. , El-Salamouni Noha S. , Bassam Samar M. , Megahed Magda A. , El-Tahan Rasha A.
Published: September 2023

The most frequent malignant tumor in women is breast cancer, and its incidence has been rising every year. Propolis has been used for its antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. The present study aimed to examine the effect of the Egyptian Propolis Extract (ProE) and its improved targeting using nanostructured lipid carriers (ProE-NLC) in Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC) bearing mice, the common animal model for mammary tumors. EAC mice were treated either with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), ProE, ProE-NLC, or a combination of ProE-NLC and 5-FU. Their effect on different inflammatory, angiogenic, proliferation and apoptotic markers, as well as miR-223, was examined. ProE and ProE-NLC have shown potential anti-breast cancer activity through multiple interrelated mechanisms including, the elevation of antioxidant levels, suppression of angiogenesis, inflammatory and mTOR pathways, and induction of the apoptotic pathway. All of which is a function of increased miRNA-223 expression. The efficiency of propolis was enhanced when loaded in nanostructured lipid carriers, increasing the effectiveness of the chemotherapeutic agent 5-FU. In conclusion, this study is the first to develop propolis-loaded NLC for breast cancer targeting and to recommend propolis as an antitumor agent against breast cancer or as an adjuvant treatment with chemotherapeutic agents to enhance their antitumor activity and decrease their side effects. Tumor targeting by ProE-NLC should be considered as a future therapeutic perspective in breast cancer.
Performance and pacing of professional IRONMAN triathletes: the fastest IRONMAN World Championship ever—IRONMAN Hawaii 2022
Authors: Knechtle Beat , Cuk Ivan , Villiger Elias , Forte Pedro , Thuany Mabliny , Andrade Marilia Santos , Nikolaidis Pantelis T. , Weiss Katja
Published: September 2023

Pacing during cycling and running in an IRONMAN triathlon has been investigated in only one study with elite IRONMAN triathletes. We have, however, no knowledge of how professional triathletes pace during an IRONMAN World Championship. To investigate the split-by-split speed, pacing strategies and pacing variability in professional female and male IRONMAN World Championship participants in the fastest IRONMAN World Championship ever in IRONMAN Hawaii 2022. For both cycling and running, 25 specific split times were recorded in each discipline. The best 30 men and 30 women overall were chosen from the official IRONMAN website database for further analysis. They were divided into three performance groups: Top 10, 11–20th place, and 21st–30th place. Mean speed, individual linear regressions with the corresponding correlation coefficients, and coefficient of variation were calculated to assess split-by-split speed, pacing strategies, and pacing variability, respectively. In both men’s and women’s cycling and running segments, the top ten participants exhibited faster split times compared to the slower performance groups. Notably, no discernible differences existed between the 11–20th and 21st–30th place in men’s cycling and women’s running times. Conversely, in men’s running and women’s cycling segments, those in the 11–20th place displayed quicker times than those in the 21st–30th place. In the cycling segment across all groups, men demonstrated a more negative pacing pattern (indicating an increase in speed), whereas women exhibited more consistent pacing. In the running segment, the top 10 men and all women’s groups showcased relatively similar slightly positive pacing profiles. However, men ranking 11–20th and 21st–30th displayed more pronounced positive pacing strategies, implying a more significant decline in speed over time. In terms of cycling, the variability in pacing remained relatively consistent across the three performance groups. Conversely, during the running segment, the top ten male triathletes and those in the 11–20th place displayed lower pacing variability than their counterparts in the 21st–30th position place and all women’s groups. In summary, performance and pacing were examined in professional male and female IRONMAN World Championship participants during IRONMAN Hawaii 2022. Top performers showed faster cycling and running split times, with differences in pacing strategies between sexes. The pacing was more consistent in cycling, while running pacing varied more, particularly among male triathletes in different performance groups.
Validation of the diagnostic efficacy of O-RADS in adnexal masses
Authors: Su Na , Yang Ya , Liu Zhenzhen , Gao Luying , Dai Qing , Li Jianchu , Wang Hongyan , Jiang Yuxin
Published: September 2023

The aim of this study was to validate the performance of the Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data Systems (O-RADS) series models proposed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) in the preoperative diagnosis of adnexal masses (AMs). Two experienced sonologists examined 218 patients with AMs and gave the assessment results after the examination. Pathological findings were used as a reference standard. Of the 218 lesions, 166 were benign and 52 were malignant. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, we defined a malignant lesion as O-RADS > 3 (i.e., lesions in O-RADS categories 4 and 5 were malignant). The area under the curve (AUC) of O-RADS (v2022) was 0.970 (95% CI 0.938–0.988), which wasn’t statistically significantly different from the O-RADS (v1) combined Simple Rules Risk (SRR) assessment model with the largest AUC of 0.976 (95% CI 0.946–0.992) (p = 0.1534), but was significantly higher than the O-RADS (v1) (AUC = 0.959, p = 0.0133) and subjective assessment (AUC = 0.918, p = 0.0255). The O-RADS series models have good diagnostic performance for AMs. Where, O-RADS (v2022) has higher accuracy and specificity than O-RADS (v1). The accuracy and specificity of O-RADS (v1), however, can be further improved when combined with SRR assessment.
Heteropolyacid supported on ionic liquid decorated hierarchical faujasite zeolite as an efficient catalyst for glycerol acetalization to solketal
Authors: Sadjadi Samahe , Tarighi Sara , Delangiz Motahareh , Heravi Majid
Published: September 2023

To handle huge amount of glycerol produced in biodiesel industry, glycerol is transformed to value-added products. In this regard, glycerol acetalization to solketal is industrially attractive. As in this process various by-products can be formed, designing highly selective catalysts is of great importance. In this line, we wish to report a novel catalyst that benefits from strong acidity, high specific surface area and thermal stability, which can selectively form solketal in glycerol acetalization. To prepare the catalyst, hierarchical zeolite was prepared via a novel method, in which partially dealuminated NaY was treated with PluronicF-127 and then reacted with NH4NO3 to furnish the H-form zeolite. Hierarchical faujasite was then achieved through calcination and template removal. Subsequently, it was functionalized with ionic liquid and used for the immobilization of heteropolyacid. The results indicated the importance of the mesoprosity of zeolite and the presense of ionic liquid functionality for achiveing high solketal yield. Moreover, among three investigated heteropolyacids, phosphomolybdic acid exhibited the highest catalytic activity. In fact, using 10 wt% catalyst at 55 °C and glycerol to acetone molar ratio of 1:20, solketal with yield of 98% was furnished under solvent-less condition. Besides, the catalyst was recyclable with low leaching of heteropolyacid.
Removal of direct dyes from wastewater using chitosan and polyacrylamide blends
Authors: Elzahar Medhat M. H. , Bassyouni M.
Published: September 2023

This study investigated the feasibility of employing neat chitosan powder, polyacrylamide, and chitosan micro-beads as adsorbents for the rapid and efficient removal of Direct Blue 78 dye from textile industrial wastewater. A series of batch experiments were conducted to examine the impact of adsorbent dose, contact time, and pH on the adsorption process. The physicochemical analysis, including FTIR, zeta potential analysis, and SEM were performed to identify the adsorption mechanism of chitosan powder and micro-beads. It was found that increasing the powder chitosan dose to 4.5 g/L and contact time up to 40 min resulted in achieving a significant increase in dye removal efficiency up to 94%. The highest removal efficiency of 94.2% was achieved at an initial dye concentration of 50 mg/L, a chitosan dosage of 4.5 g/L, and an optimized contact time of 60 min. Utilizing a polyacrylamide gel dose of 45 mL/L reduced the sedimentation time of chitosan from 8 h to 5 min. Equilibrium studies showed an initial L-shaped equilibrium curve, indicating that the adsorption process primarily arises from electrostatic interactions between dye molecules and adsorbent particles (physical forces). The Langmuir isothermal model demonstrated the best fit to the equilibrium data. Combining chitosan powder with polyacrylamide gel emerges as an economically viable choice for dye removal in industrial wastewater effluents, offering a cost-effective alternative to pricey commercial adsorbents. The results of the study revealed that the presence of polyacrylamide dye enhanced the removal efficiency and settling time of DB78 dye using chitosan.
Component analysis of fat, oil and grease in wastewater: challenges and opportunities
Authors: Mohana Anika Amir , Roddick Felicity , Maniam Subashani , Gao Li , Pramanik Biplob Kumar
Published: September 2023

The presence of fat, oil and grease can lead to blockages in sewer lines, pumps, and treatment plant operations, thereby creating health risks and environmental hazards.
Ratiometric colorimetric detection of nitrite using CoMnO3 nanofibers as an oxidase-like enzyme to induce diazotization reaction
Authors: Peng Zoujun , Liao Ziwen , Liu Sipei , Lian Tao , Xu Peng , Qiu Ping
Published: September 2023

Schematic diagram of the fabrication of CoMnO3 nanofibers and nitrite detection.
Selective conversion of carbon dioxide into heavy olefins over Ga modified delafossite-CuFeO2
Authors: Chen Chide , Wu Xiaoting , Zhang Shuxian , Qing Ming , La Mengying , Li Jifan , Liu Chun-Ling , Dong Wen-Sheng
Published: September 2023

Ga-modified CuFeO2 used as an efficient catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to heavy olefins (C=5+) can achieve a high heavy olefin selectivity of 53.5%, which lies at a high level among reported catalysts, at a single pass CO2 conversion of 41.5%.
Mechanistic insight into cobalt-mediated [2 + 2 + 2]-cycloaddition reactions with γ-alkylidenebutenolide and γ-alkylidenebuterolactam as 2π partners
Authors: Chaussy Léo , Delorme Marion , Punter Alexander , Carissan Yannick , Parrain Jean-Luc , Amatore Muriel , Nava Paola , Commeiras Laurent
Published: September 2023

A computationally revised mechanism discloses the role of the 2π partner in Co-mediated cycloaddition reactions for lactone and lactam substrate derivatives. This leads to the successful synthesis of spiro-lactone and spiro-lactam complexes.
Narrow-band dazzling red-emitting (LiCaLa(MoO4)3:Eu3+) phosphor with scheelite structure for hybrid white LEDs and LiCaLa(MoO4)3:Sm3+,Eu3+-based deep-red LEDs for plant growth applications
Authors: Sharma Priyansha , Madda Jaya Prakash , Vaidyanathan Sivakumar
Published: September 2023

A series of red-emitting phosphors with a scheelite structure was synthesized and found to exhibit zero concentration-quenching behaviors. The best red phosphor was conjugated with yellow dye, and a white LED was fabricated.
Synergistic transition metal ion co-doping and multiple functional additive passivation for realizing 25.30% efficiency perovskite solar cells
Authors: Chen Yuting , Wang Qi , Yao Yuqi , Yang Jiewei , Tang Weijian , Qiu Wuke , Wu Yihui , Peng Qiang
Published: September 2023

Metal ion co-doping and additive-mediation strategies were used to boost the carrier extraction and transportation in a SnO2/perovskite stack, resulting in 25.30% efficiency for perovskite solar cells along with outstanding device stability.
Engineering a deficient-coordinated single-atom indium electrocatalyst for fast redox conversion in practical 500 W h kg−1-level pouch lithium–sulfur batteries
Authors: Guo Yang , Jin Zhaoqing , Lu Jianhao , Wei Lei , Wang Weikun , Huang Yaqin , Wang Anbang
Published: September 2023

SAIn@CNT with defect coordination enhances the interaction with LiPSs and weakens the bond energy in LiPSs, which resulted in the reduction of the conversion activation energy. Thus, the battery is endowed with remarkable electrochemical performance.
Decoding silent speech commands from articulatory movements through soft magnetic skin and machine learning
Authors: Dong Penghao , Li Yizong , Chen Si , Grafstein Justin T. , Khan Irfaan , Yao Shanshan
Published: September 2023

This article introduces a wireless, unobtrusive, and robust silent speech interface based on soft magnetic skin and machine learning. The magnetic skin precisely decodes articulatory movements at the temporomandibular joint for speech recognition.
Isotype heterojunction: tuning the heptazine/triazine phase of crystalline nitrogen-rich C3N5 towards multifunctional photocatalytic applications
Authors: Ng Sue-Faye , Foo Joel Jie , Ong Wee-Jun
Published: September 2023

This work presents a one-step molten salt synthesis approach to achieve a tunable isotype heterojunction in N-rich crystalline C3N5. The crystalline C3N5 successfully improved solar-driven hydrogen, benzaldehyde and H2O2 production.
Intrinsic-designed polyimide dielectric materials with large energy storage density and discharge efficiency at harsh ultra-high temperatures
Authors: Tian Yaya , Zheng Ming-Sheng , Li Yuchao , Xu Chuqi , Zhang Yiyi , Liu Wei , Dang Zhi-Min , Zha Jun-Wei
Published: September 2023

Polymer dielectric materials with excellent temperature stability are urgently needed for the ever-increasing energy storage requirements under harsh high-temperature conditions.
Coverage-modulated halogen bond geometry transformation in supramolecular assemblies
Authors: Jiménez-Martín Alejandro , Gallardo Aurelio , de la Torre Bruno
Published: September 2023

Halogen bonding (HB) has emerged as a promising route for designing supramolecular assemblies due to its directional nature and versatility in modifying interactions through the choice of halogens and molecular entities.
Rhodium(ii)-catalyzed transannulation approach to N-fluoroalkylated indoles
Authors: Bakhanovich Olga , Klepetářová Blanka , Beier Petr
Published: September 2023

N-(Per)fluoroalkyl indoles are accessed by rhodium(ii)-catalyzed transannulation of 4-cyclohexenyl 1,2,3-triazoles, followed by oxidation of the intermediate indolines.
Synthesis of functionalized alkenes via Cu(i)-catalysed allylation of acetanilides using Morita–Baylis–Hillman bromides
Authors: Vishwakarma Ramesh Kumar , Singh Krishna Nand
Published: September 2023

An easy access to functionalized alkenes has been developed by the C–H functionalization of anilides with Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) bromides in the presence of copper chloride, TBHP and acetic acid.
Current progress in metal–organic frameworks and their derivatives for electrocatalytic water splitting
Authors: Chen Yujung , Liao Peisen , Jin Kehan , Zheng Yun , Shao Huaiyu , Li Guangqin
Published: September 2023

For electrocatalytic water splitting, MOFs can be optimized through structural modification, plane design and synergetic composite systems, and the annealing process further expands the types of MOF-based electrocatalytic materials.
Palladium-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective allylic alkylation of 5-vinyloxazolidine-2,4-diones with azlactones: synthesis of chiral (Z)-trisubstituted allylic amino acid derivatives
Authors: Li Kuan , Wang Lan , Zhen Shuo , Zhu Lihan , Yu Songcheng , Wu Yongjun , Guo Hongchao
Published: September 2023

Palladium-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective allylic alkylation of 5-vinyloxazolidine-2,4-diones with azlactones worked well to give the Z configuration of various trisubstituted allylic amino acid derivatives.
Impact of Mn–Ni spinal ferrite nanoparticles on the structural, morphological, surface roughness, and optical parameters of polyvinyl alcohol for optoelectronic applications
Authors: Soliman T. S. , Vshivkov S. A. , Hessien M. M. , Elkalashy Sh. I.
Published: September 2023

SEM images and EDX for Mn0.4Ni0.6Fe2O4 and PVA-4% Mn0.4Ni0.6Fe2O4 film.
Shop floor dispatching with variable urgent operations based on Workload Control: An assessment by simulation
Authors: Yuan Mingze , Ma Lin , Qu Ting , Thürer Matthias
Published: September 2023

Meeting customer time requirements poses a major challenge in the context of high‐variety make‐to‐order companies. Companies need to reduce the lead time and process urgent jobs in time, while realising high delivery reliability. The key decision stages within Workload Control (WLC) are order release and shop floor dispatching. To the best of our knowledge, recent research has mainly focused on order release stage and inadvertently ignored shop floor dispatching stage. Meanwhile, urgency of job is not only related to its due date, but also affected by the dynamics of shop floor. Specifically, urgency of jobs may decrease at downstream operations in the job's routing, since priority dispatching for urgent jobs accelerates production speed at the upstream operations. And occupying production resources increases the waiting time of non‐urgent jobs at workstation. This phenomenon leads to the change of urgency of jobs. Misjudgement of urgent jobs therefore may result in actual urgent jobs not being processed in time. In response, the authors focus on shop floor dispatching stage and consider the transient status of urgent operations in the context of WLC. The urgency of jobs is rejudged at the input buffer of each workstation, which is firstly defined as urgent operations and non‐urgent operations. Using simulation, the results show that considering the transient status of urgent operations contributes to speeding up production for actual urgent jobs and meeting delivery performance both in General Flow Shop and Pure Job Shop. In addition, percentage tardy performance is greatly affected by norm levels, especially at the severe urgent level. These have important implications on how urgent operations should be designed and how norm level should be set at shop floor dispatching stage.
Feature attention gated context aggregation network for single image dehazing and its application on unmanned aerial vehicle images
Authors: Wu Yongquan , Zhao Xuan , Zhang Xinsheng , Long Tao , Luo Ping
Published: September 2023

Single‐image dehazing is a highly challenging ill‐posed task in the field of computer vision. To address this, a new image dehazing model with feature attention, named feature attention gated context aggregation network (FAGCA‐Net), is proposed to tackle the issues of incomplete or over‐dehazing caused by the original model's inability to handle non‐uniform haze density distributions. A feature attention module that combines channel attention and spatial attention is introduced. Additionally, the authors propose a new extended attention convolutional block, which not only addresses the grid artefacts caused by the extended convolution but also provides added flexibility in handling different types of feature information. At the same time, in addition to the input image itself, incorporating the dark channel and edge channel of the image as the final input of the model is helpful for the model learning process. To demonstrate the robustness of the new model, it is applied to two completely different dehazing datasets, and it achieves significant dehazing performance improvement over the original model. Finally, to verify the effectiveness of the model in practical production processes, the authors apply it as an image preprocessing step to a set of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) images of foreign objects. The result shows that the UAV images after being processed by FAGCA‐Net for haze removal have a better impact on subsequent usage.
Capturing mobile underwater pseudonoise synchronous signal using multi‐strategy in waveform domain
Authors: Hu Yaohui , Han Shuping , Zhao Heng , Han Yubo
Published: September 2023

Capturing pseudonoise (PN) synchronous signals is an important issue in spreading spectrum underwater acoustic communication. In this letter, local waveform domain information is combined with multi‐strategy to enhance the Doppler tolerance of conventional Partial Matched Filtering‐Fast Fourier Transform (PMF‐FFT) acquisition algorithm under low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). First, an optimized algorithm based on partial reconstruction in waveform domain was proposed, such that the Doppler tolerance increased by 38.9% when the SNR = −15 dB. Second, a local baseband multi‐waveform compression algorithm was proposed to further enhance the Doppler parallel search ability multiply. At last, frequency offset estimation was completed after searching the multi‐waveform serially. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was verified through the experiment at sea.
A novel circuit breaker fault diagnosis method based on dense residual and attention mechanism
Authors: Ye Xinyu , Yan Jing , Wang Yanxin , Yuan Shiyi , Wang Jianhua , Geng Yingsan
Published: September 2023

In recent years, deep learning‐based fault diagnosis technology for high‐voltage circuit breakers (HVCB) has advanced significantly, but the working environment of HVCBs is complex, resulting in unsatisfactory fault diagnosis results of HVCBs in noisy environment and existing deep learning methods are difficult to solve this problem. This paper proposes a multi‐channel convolutional neural network combines dense residual structure and attention mechanism to achieve high‐precision and high‐robust diagnosis of HVCBs in noisy backgrounds. A dense residual network is introduced into the convolutional neural network to prevent feature loss during network propagation to preserve the difference information between the network layers as much as possible, Simultaneously, a channel attention mechanism is introduced to adaptively adjust the weights of different convolution channels. The model can extract multi‐scale features from the original signal and fully exploit the intrinsic relationship between the vibration signal and the HVCB's operating state. The experimental results show that the diagnostic method can still meet the requirements of fault diagnosis in the presence of noise, with an average diagnostic accuracy rate of 85.92% when the signal‐to‐noise ratio is −4. The model outperforms the traditional single‐channel model in terms of diagnostic accuracy and stability.
Adaptive Gaussian mixture model for identifying outliers in historical route travel times
Authors: Yuan Shaoxin , Zhao Ke , Xu Zhigang
Published: September 2023

The historical route travel time data contain a few outliers composed of subpopulations signifying unusual traffic conditions. These outliers compose the right tail of the distribution against the central part occupied by most normal travel times dominating usual traffic conditions likely to be composed of subpopulations. The diverse subpopulations of two types of travel times result in the structural random changes of distribution shapes. This creates the problem for fixing the boundary between the two types of travel times. To address the problem, an adaptive Gaussian mixture model was formulated with two types of components, and an algorithm was put forward to determine the critical number of components in an iterative manner by adapting two types of components to provide an adequate fit to the two parts of the distribution respectively. The determined two types of components can not only fix the boundary to identify outliers reasonably, but also quantify the latent subpopulations of two types of route travel times. Thus, the route‐level travel time variability can be measured under usual/unusual traffic conditions. Two kinds of data were used to illustrate the good effects on the identification of outliers and to demonstrate the vital role of outliers in the measure of variation of route travel time.