bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Elimination of E. faecalis with NaOCl versus chlorhexidine gluconate from primary molar root canal systems: an ex vivo model study
Authors: Aviv Shmueli , Alin Yaya , Neta Lam , Yael Haim , Lada Zamsky , Avia Fux Noy , Diana Ram , Moti Moskovitz , David Polak
Published: April 2024

Objectives

This ex vivo human study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of NaOCl and chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) irrigations in eliminating Enterococcus faecalis from the RCS of primary molars.

Materials and methods

Disinfected extracted primary molars were inoculated with E. faecalis for 24 h. Then, the RCS samples were then irrigated with either 2.5% NaOCl, 0.2% and 2% CHG, or sham saline. The samples were collected immediately after irrigation; and 24 h later, the bacterial viability and counts were measured using blood agar and qRT-PCR, respectively. Histological sections were used to measure E. faecalis penetration and viability in dentin tubules using fluorescence microscopy.

Results

The recovery of viable E. faecalis after the irrigation of the primary molars showed more significant bactericidal effects of NaOCl and 0.2% and 2% CHG than of saline. Immediately after the irrigation, the NaOCl group showed the greatest reduction in E. faecalis; and 24 h later, all the groups had lower viable E. faecalis than the saline control. The bacterial penetration was also lowest in the NaOCl group, although there was no difference in bacterial viability in the tubules between the groups.

Conclusion

In primary teeth, NaOCl and CHG showed similar degrees of bacterial elimination efficacy in terms of E.faecalis.

Clinical relevance

Within the limitations of this study, NaOCl and CHG have the similar ability to perform endodontic irrigation of primary ex vivo teeth regarding the elimination of E.faecalis, but NaOCl penetrates dentin tubules better.
Prevalence and implications of bilateral and solely contralateral lymph node metastases in oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Struckmeier Ann-Kristin , Buchbender Mayte , Agaimy Abbas , Kesting Marco
Published: April 2024

Objectives

Effective management of neck in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is pivotal for oncological outcomes. Although consensus exists for ipsilateral neck dissection (ND), the necessity for contralateral ND remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and implications of bilateral/solely contralateral (B/SC) lymph node metastases (LNMs) to determine the need for contralateral elective ND. Additionally, it examined the prevalence and implications of occult B/SC metastases.

Materials and methods

In a retrospective cohort study, 420 OSCC patients underwent primary surgical treatment following German guidelines at a tertiary center. Preoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography was conducted, and ND adhered to a standardized approach.

Results

Solely contralateral metastases occurred in 0.95% of patients, with bilateral metastases observed in 7.13%. Occult B/SC metastases occurred in 3.81% of the cases. Correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant association between B/SC metastases and higher tumor stages, tumor localization at the upper jaw or floor of the mouth, proximity to the midline, ipsilateral LNMs, and lymphatic invasion (all p < 0.05). Patients with B/SC metastases showed poorer disease-free survival, with statistical significance reached in the bilateral LNMs group (p = 0.010). Similarly, a significant difference was noted in overall survival between patients with bilateral and solely ipsilateral metastases (p = 0.044).

Conclusions

B/SC LNMs are rare in patients with OSCC, especially in those who present with clinico-radiologically negative ipsilateral necks. Higher rates of B/SC metastases occur in case of advanced tumors and those localized at the upper jaw or floor of the mouth. Ipsilateral LNMs significantly elevate the risk of contralateral LNMs, tripling the associated risk.

Clinical relevance

These findings provide valuable insights for surgeons considering contralateral ND or extended adjuvant treatment for OSCC patients. However, the absence of high-level evidence from randomized controlled trials impedes the establishment of a definitive standard of care.
Oral mucosa - an examination map for confocal laser endomicroscopy within the oral cavity: an experimental clinical study
Authors: Oetter Nicolai , Pröll Jonas , Sievert Matti , Goncalves Miguel , Rohde Maximilian , Nobis Christopher-Philipp , Knipfer Christian , Aubreville Marc , Pan Zhaoya , Breininger Katharina , Maier Andreas , Kesting Marco , Stelzle Florian
Published: April 2024

Objectives

Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is an optical method that enables microscopic visualization of oral mucosa. Previous studies have shown that it is possible to differentiate between physiological and malignant oral mucosa. However, differences in mucosal architecture were not taken into account. The objective was to map the different oral mucosal morphologies and to establish a “CLE map” of physiological mucosa as baseline for further application of this powerful technology.

Materials and methods

The CLE database consisted of 27 patients. The following spots were examined: (1) upper lip (intraoral) (2) alveolar ridge (3) lateral tongue (4) floor of the mouth (5) hard palate (6) intercalary line. All sequences were examined by two CLE experts for morphological differences and video quality.

Results

Analysis revealed clear differences in image quality and possibility of depicting tissue morphologies between the various localizations of oral mucosa: imaging of the alveolar ridge and hard palate showed visually most discriminative tissue morphology. Labial mucosa was also visualized well using CLE. Here, typical morphological features such as uniform cells with regular intercellular gaps and vessels could be clearly depicted. Image generation and evaluation was particularly difficult in the area of the buccal mucosa, the lateral tongue and the floor of the mouth.

Conclusion

A physiological “CLE map” for the entire oral cavity could be created for the first time.

Clinical relevance

This will make it possible to take into account the existing physiological morphological features when differentiating between normal mucosa and oral squamous cell carcinoma in future work.
Emergency department imaging utilization post-transcatheter aortic valve replacement: single institution 7-year experience
Authors: Chau Eva , Mew Andy , Bera Kaustav , Jiang Sirui , Ramaiya Nikhil , Gilkeson Robert
Published: April 2024

Purpose

This study aims to highlight presentations, acute findings and imaging phenotypes of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) within 30 days of a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Methods

A retrospective review of patients diagnosed with aortic valve disease who underwent a TAVR between Jan 2015 and Nov 2021 at a large academic medical center was completed. From an initial 1271 patients, 146 were included based on their presentation to the ED within 30 days post-TAVR procedure. Patient data, including ED presentation details and imaging results, were recorded and de-identified.

Results

Of the 146 post-TAVR patients, there were 168 ED visits within 30 days. The median time to ED after TAVR was 12 days. Respiratory symptoms were the most common complaint (27%). Neurological (23%) and cardiovascular symptoms (18%) followed. Cross-sectional imaging was conducted 250 times across visits, with an average of 1.7 scans per patient. CTs were most frequently used, followed by ultrasounds, especially echocardiograms and duplex extremity vasculature ultrasounds. 30.1% of patients had acute findings from imaging. Specific findings included heart failure (5.5%), access site complications (5.5%), pneumonia (5.5%), intracranial pathologies (3.4% for strokes and 0.7% for hematoma), and pleural effusion (3.4%). Echocardiograms and CTA chest were most associated with significant acute findings.

Conclusion

Our study highlights the vital role of early and accurate imaging in post-TAVR patients within 30 days post-procedure. As transcatheter approaches rise in popularity, emergency radiologists become instrumental in diagnosing common post-procedural presentations. Continued research is essential to devise post-discharge strategies to curtail readmissions and related costs. Proper imaging ensures prompt, effective care, enhancing overall patient outcomes.
Trends in severe functional limitations among working and non-working adults in Germany: Towards an (un)-healthy working life?
Authors: Beller Johannes , Sperlich Stefanie , Epping Jelena , Tetzlaff Juliane
Published: April 2024

We examined trends in severe functional limitations among working and non-working adults in Germany (ages 40–65). Four population-based samples of 11,615 participants were used, spanning the time periods 2002–2021. The overall prevalence of severe limitations was found to be 12.8% in the sample, but also varied from 10 to 20% according to occupational group. Over time, severe limitations were found to have increased, from 10.6% in 2002 to 13.2% in 2021. Logistic regression analysis showed that severe limitations increased significantly in certain subgroups, including working women with a low skilled white collar occupational group, working men with a low skilled blue collar occupational group and, particularly, among the whole non-working population, whereas limitations remained largely the same in the other groups, including most of the working population. In terms of expectancies, overall working life expectancy increased. Along with this increase, healthy (non-severely limited) working life expectancy increased, but this trend was accompanied by a clear increase in unhealthy working life expectancy (severely limited). Thus, although severe limitations have increased in some groups in the working-age adults, people today can expect to work more years free from severe limitations than before. In the future, potentials to increase working life expectancy may come to an end, as severe limitations increased strongly in the non-working population, which could limit the prospects for a further increase in the proportion of the population in employment. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential impact of the increasing prevalence of severe limitations on the population’s ability to work.
SEEIIST – a new research facility for tumor treatment and biomedical investigations with proton and ion beams
Authors: Litov Leandar
Published: April 2024

Purpose

A project for the establishment of an international intergovernmental scientific organization in the region of South East Europe (South East European Institute for Sustainable Technologies - SEEIIST) is currently in progress. SEEIIST is an intergovernmental effort supported by nine countries from the region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo (This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, while Switzerland is an observer). The main goals of the project are to establish a unique research infrastructure and to form a research nucleus in the region of South-East Europe, to boost the technology transfer from European laboratories like CERN and others, to promote collaboration between science, technology, and industry, to mitigate tensions between countries in the region, and to provide platforms for the development of education.

Methods

The research infrastructure will include a powerful next-generation accelerator that will provide proton and ion beams for tumor treatment and biomedical research. The center will comprise of three rooms for patient treatment and two large experimental halls.

Results

A wide pre-clinical and clinical research program in the fields of radiobiology, medical physics, medical imaging, biophysical modeling and planning of patient treatment, design and investigation of new materials, production of isotopes for diagnosis, and treatment of patients are envisaged.

Conclusions

This infrastructure is unique for Europe and will attract researchers from all European countries to perform their investigations.
Convex bodies associated to linear series of adelic divisors on quasi-projective varieties
Authors: Biswas Debam
Published: April 2024

In this article we define and study convex bodies associated to linear series of adelic divisors over quasi-projective varieties that have been introduced recently by Yuan and Zhang. Restricting our attention to big adelic divisors, we deduce properties of volumes obtained by Yuan and Zhang using different convex geometric arguments. We go on to define augmented base loci and restricted volumes of adelic divisors following the works of Michael Nakamaye and develop a similar study using convex bodies to obtain analogous properties for restricted volumes. We closely follow methods developed originally by Lazarsfeld and Mustaţă
Fresh, Setting, and Hardened Properties of Fly Ash Concrete with Nano-Silica
Authors: Baran Servan , Baran Ahmet , Bicakci Sidar Nihat , Turkmenoglu Hasan Nuri , Atahan Hakan Nuri
Published: April 2024

Nano-silica (NS) may counteract the drawbacks of fly ash (FA), such as delayed setting and low early strength, by accelerating hydration and providing higher early strength in concrete. In this study, concrete mixtures having 4 different FA replacement ratios (0%, 20%, 35%, and 50% by vol.) and 3 different NS dosages (0%, 1.7%, and 3.4% by vol.) were prepared. Effect of NS on the rheology, setting times and temperature evolution during the setting period, microstructure, compressive strength, and modulus of elasticity (MOE) of concrete at constant slump (20 ± 1 cm) were investigated. Plasticizers influenced the rheological and setting properties of concrete designed at constant consistency. In terms of these properties, although there have been cases where the use of NS has shown controversy results compared to the common knowledge in literature, this situation has been associated with the demand for the plasticizers consumed to obtain constant slump. In general, NS accelerated the setting times of concrete, however, it could not completely tolerate the delay caused by FA. According to 7-day mechanical test results, using 3.4% NS almost fully recovered the 20% strength loss caused by 20% FA replacement. Even if compressive strength close to NS-free REF mixture could not be achieved with high volume FA replacement (50%), at 7 days, MOE results, comparable to NS-free REF concrete, could be achieved using 3.4% NS. At later ages, although the compressive strength varied over a wide range, i.e., from 30 to 75 MPa, MOE of FA concrete have become almost independent of the strength.
Commentary on: physical activity and exercise for mild cognitive impairment and dementia: a collaborative international guideline
Authors: Veronese Nicola , Soysal Pinar , Barbagallo Mario , Shenkin Susan D. , Quinn Terence J
Published: April 2024

Physical inactivity is an important, but potentially reversible risk factor for dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). There is literature about physical activity and exercise for the prevention and management of dementia and MCI, but this had not been previously synthesized into specific guidelines about this topic. A recent guideline on physical activity and exercise in MCI and dementia was published, authored by several international societies, including lay representatives. In this commentary, we discuss the implications of this guidance for healthcare professionals, caregivers, and lay representatives involved in the care of people with MCI and dementia.The guidelines highlight the importance of physical activity and exercise in cognitively healthy persons and for dementia and MCI, at different stages of these conditions. For primary prevention of dementia, physical activity may be suggested in cognitively healthy persons. In people with MCI, mind-body interventions, such as yoga, have the greatest evidence, whilst the role of physical activity and exercise requires more evidence from high-quality randomized controlled trials. In people living with moderately severe dementia, exercise may be useful for maintaining physical and cognitive function. There are benefits of physical activity and exercise separate from their impact on cognitive outcomes. The guidelines also proposed some questions for future research. In conclusion, there is limited evidence on the beneficial role of physical activity and exercise in preserving cognitive functions in subjects with normal cognition, MCI or dementia. The guidelines support the promotion of physical activity based on the beneficial effects on almost all facets of health.
Persistent homology based Bottleneck distance in hypergraph products
Authors: Babu Archana , John Sunil Jacob
Published: April 2024

In this paper, we extended the technique of measuring similarity between topological spaces using bottle neck distance between persistence diagrams to hypergraph networks. Finding a relationship between the bottleneck distance of the Cartesian product of topological spaces and the bottleneck distance of individual spaces, we are trying to ease the comparative study of the Cartesian product of topological spaces. The Cartesian product and the strong product of weighted hypergraphs are defined, and the relationship between the bottleneck distance between hypergraph products and the bottleneck distance between individual hypergraphs is determined. For this, clique complex filtration and the Vietoris–Rips filtration in unweighted and weighted hypergraphs are defined and used.
Hierarchical Bayesian adaptive lasso methods on exponential random graph models
Authors: Han Dan , Modisette Vicki , Forthofer Melinda , Paul Rajib
Published: April 2024

The analysis of network data has become an increasingly prominent and demanding field across multiple research fields including data science, health, and social sciences, requiring the development of robust models and efficient computational methods. One well-established and widely employed modeling approach for network data is the Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM). Despite its popularity, there is a recognized necessity for further advancements to enhance its flexibility and variable selection capabilities. To address this need, we propose a novel hierarchical Bayesian adaptive lasso model (BALERGM), which builds upon the foundations of the ERGM. The BALERGM leverages the strengths of the ERGM and incorporates the flexible adaptive lasso technique, thereby facilitating effective variable selection and tackling the inherent challenges posed by high-dimensional network data. The model improvements have been assessed through the analysis of simulated data, as well as two authentic datasets. These datasets encompassed friendship networks and a respondent-driven sampling dataset on active and healthy lifestyle awareness programs.
Unlocking the Potential: A Systematic Review of Master Protocol in Pediatrics
Authors: Li Yimei , Nelson Robert , Izem Rima , Broglio Kristine , Mundayat Rajiv , Gamalo Margaret , Wen Yansong , Pan Haitao , Sun Hengrui , Ye Jingjing
Published: April 2024

The use of master protocols allows for innovative approaches to clinical trial designs, potentially enabling new approaches to operations and analytics and creating value for patients and drug developers. Pediatric research has been conducted for many decades, but the use of novel designs such as master protocols in pediatric research is not well understood. This study aims to provide a systematic review on the utilization of master protocols in pediatric drug development. A search was performed in September 2022 using two data sources (PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov) and included studies conducted in the past10 years. General study information was extracted such as study type, study status, therapeutic area, and clinical trial phase. Study characteristics that are specific to pediatric studies (such as age of the participants and pediatric drug dosing) and important study design elements (such as number of test drug arms and whether randomization and/or concurrent control was used) were also collected. Our results suggest that master protocol studies are being used in pediatrics, with platform and basket trials more common than umbrella trials. Most of this experience is in oncology and early phase studies. There is a rise in the use starting in 2020, largely in oncology and COVID-19 trials. However, adoption of master protocols in pediatric clinical research is still on a small scale and could be substantially expanded. Work is required to further understand the barriers in implementing pediatric master protocols, from setting up infrastructure to interpreting study findings.
A retrospective chart review assessing antibiotic treatment of hospitalized patients with discordant Clostridioides difficile assays in an urban hospitalized setting
Authors: Stoddart Clare , Kuo Irene , Spence Matthew A. , Palmore Tara N.
Published: April 2024

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) threatens vulnerable populations in health care. Two-step testing improves specificity, avoiding over-treatment. This study analyzed inpatient records to estimate diagnostic outcomes and identify characteristics associated with treatment after discordant testing. Among discordant patients, those aged 65+ years were significantly more likely to be prescribed antibiotics (67% vs 39%).
Arbitrary-order sensitivities of the incompressible base flow and its eigenproblem
Authors: Knechtel S.J. , Kaiser T.L. , Orchini A. , Oberleithner K.
Published: April 2024

First-order sensitivities and adjoint analysis are used widely to control the linear stability of unstable flows. Second-order sensitivities have recently helped to increase accuracy. In this paper, a method is presented to calculate arbitrary high-order sensitivities based on Taylor expansions of the incompressible base flow and its eigenproblem around a scalar parameter. For the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, general expressions for the sensitivities are derived, into which parameter-specific information can be inserted. The computational costs are low since, for all orders, a linear equation system has to be solved, of which the left-hand-side matrix stays constant and thus its preconditioning can be exploited. Two flow scenarios are examined. First, the cylinder flow equations are expanded around the inverse of the Reynolds number, enabling the prediction of the two-dimensional cylinder base flow and its leading eigenvalue as a function of the Reynolds number. This approach computes accurately the base flow and eigenvalue even in the unstable regime, providing, when executed subsequently, a mean to calculate unstable base flows. This case gives a clear introduction into the method and allows us to discuss its constraints regarding convergence behaviour. Second, a small control cylinder is introduced into the domain of the cylinder flow for stabilization. Higher-order sensitivity maps are calculated by modelling the small cylinder with a steady forcing. These maps help to identify stabilizing areas of the flow field for Reynolds numbers within the laminar vortex shedding regime, with the required number of orders increasing as the Reynolds number rises. The results obtained through the proposed method align well with numerically calculated eigenvalues that incorporate the cylinder directly into the grid.
Subordination and the Wrong of Discrimination
Authors: Viehoff Daniel
Published: April 2024

Sophia Moreau, in her important book, offers an insightful account of (one strand of) the wrong of discrimination based on the evil of subordination. My symposium contribution seeks to clarify the structure of Moreau's account of subordination and its normative and axiological status. On one plausible view, subordination is fundamentally bad or wrong. On another view, subordination is a distinctive social phenomenon, which is bad or wrong only derivatively. I will outline each view, and consider the implications each has for certain issues central to Moreau's book.
Multiple Consciousness and Philosophical Method
Authors: Eisen Jessica
Published: April 2024

Sophia Moreau's Faces of Inequality adopts a provocative philosophical methodology: centring the experiences of victims of discrimination, and the basic contours of anti-discrimination law, in developing an account of wrongful discrimination. If, however, we take seriously sceptical accounts of law developed within feminist and critical race scholarship, we begin to see a tension within Moreau's methodological dyad: if victims of discrimination often experience discrimination law as hostile and disbelieving, how can both be treated as authoritative? This contribution will explore this tension as it emerges in Faces of Inequality, in light of Mari Matsuda's theory of “multiple consciousness.”
An inequality for log-concave functions and its use in the study of failure rates
Authors: Alimohammadi Mahdi , Balakrishnan N. , Simon T.
Published: April 2024

We establish here an integral inequality for real log-concave functions, which can be viewed as an average monotone likelihood property. This inequality is then applied to examine the monotonicity of failure rates.
On the Periodic Variation of the Ion Density in the Martian Dayside Ionosphere During the Regional Dust Storm in September 2016
Authors: Hara Takuya , Masunaga Kei , Terada Naoki , Sakai Shotaro , Osanai Taiga , Seki Kanako , Fowler Christopher M. , Hanley Kathleen Gwen , McFadden James P. , Curry Shannon M.
Published: April 2024

Dust storms and the atmospheric waves can play a significant role in the dynamics in the upper neutral atmosphere of Mars. Recent observations found that a periodic variation of neutral H and O exists in the upper atmosphere, which is likely associated with atmospheric waves that occurred during the regional dust storm on 4 September 2016. However, such periodic variations accompanying the dust storm are far from understood in terms of the Martian ionized particles (i.e., ionosphere). Here we investigated the periodic variation of the ion density in the Martian ionosphere during the regional dust storm in September 2016 based on the MAVEN/STATIC observations. Assuming a simple Chapman layer model, we implemented numerical fitting for the ion density altitude profile to retrieve the peak ion densities in the Martian ionosphere. We then applied periodogram analysis to these peak ion densities in order to identify the peak periodicities together with their confidence levels. We identified several distinct peak periodicities with a scale from ∼1 day up to ∼20 days. The peak periodicities around 6–9 days are comparable to those seen in the Martian neutral atmosphere. In addition, the other peak periodicities likely correspond to the periodic crossings of the local crustal fields and periodic variation of the upstream solar wind, indicating a strong regional coupling between the lower atmosphere and the upstream solar wind.
The Role of Cloud Radiative Effects in the Propagating Southern Annular Mode
Authors: Lu Jian , Harrop Bryce E. , Lubis Sandro W. , Smith Samuel , Chen Gang , Leung L. Ruby
Published: April 2024

The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the most dominant natural mode of variability in the mid‐latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere (SH). However, both the sign and magnitude of the feedbacks from the diabatic processes, especially those associated with clouds, onto the SAM remain elusive. By applying the cloud locking technique to the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) atmosphere model, this study isolates the positive feedback from the cloud radiative effect (CRE) to the SAM. Feedback analysis based on a wave activity‐zonal momentum interaction framework corroborates this weak but positive feedback. While the magnitude of the CRE feedback appears to be secondary compared to the feedbacks from the dry and other diabatic processes, the indirect CRE effects through the interaction with other dynamical and thermodynamical processes appear to play as important a role as the direct CRE in the life cycle of the SAM. The cross‐EOF analysis further reveals the obstructive effect of the interactive CRE on the propagation mode of the SH zonal wind directly through the CRE wave source and/or indirectly through modulating other diabatic processes. As a result, the propagation mode becomes more persistent and the SAM it represents becomes more predictable when the interactive CRE is disabled by cloud locking. Future efforts on inter‐model comparisons of CRE‐denial experiments are important to build consensus on the dynamical feedback of CRE.
Circumtropical distribution and cryptic species of the meiofaunal enteropneust Meioglossus (Harrimaniidae, Hemichordata)
Authors: Defourneaux Éloïse , Herranz Maria , Armenteros Maickel , Sørensen Martin V. , Norenburg Jon L. , Park Taeseo , Worsaae Katrine
Published: April 2024

Hemichordata has always played a central role in evolutionary studies of Chordata due to their close phylogenetic affinity and shared morphological characteristics. Hemichordates had no meiofaunal representatives until the surprising discovery of a microscopic, paedomorphic enteropneust Meioglossus psammophilus (Harrimaniidae, Hemichordata) from the Caribbean in 2012. No additional species have been described since, questioning the broader distribution and significance of this genus. However, being less than a millimeter long and superficially resembling an early juvenile acorn worm, Meioglossus may easily be overlooked in both macrofauna and meiofauna surveys. We here present the discovery of 11 additional populations of Meioglossus from shallow subtropical and tropical coralline sands of the Caribbean Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and East China Sea. These geographically separated populations show identical morphology but differ genetically. Our phylogenetic reconstructions include four gene markers and support the monophyly of Meioglossus. Species delineation analyses revealed eight new cryptic species, which we herein describe using DNA taxonomy. This study reveals a broad circumtropical distribution, supporting the validity and ecological importance of this enigmatic meiobenthic genus. The high cryptic diversity and apparent morphological stasis of Meioglossus may exemplify a potentially common evolutionary ‘dead-end’ scenario, where groups with highly miniaturized and simplified body plan lose their ability to diversify morphologically.
Multiple objective energy optimization of a trade center building based on genetic algorithm using ecological materials
Authors: Kabiri Elham , Maftouni Negin
Published: April 2024

It is crucial to optimize energy consumption in buildings while considering thermal comfort. The first step here involved an EnergyPlus simulation on a trade center building located in Tehran, Bandar Abbas, and Tabriz, Iran. A multi-objective optimization was then performed based on non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) in jEPlus + EA to establish the building in the selected city where would benefit the most from implementing the radiant ceiling cooling system. Efforts were undertaken to choose environmentally-friendly materials. The final solution by Pareto charts resulted in a 52% reduction in energy consumption, a 37.3% decrease in cooling load, and a 17.4% improvement in comfort hours compared to the original design. Annual emission of greenhouse gas reduced as 167.67 tone of CO2 equivalent emission, 25.77 ton of CH4, and 0.2 ton of NO2. The mentioned algorithm was conducted for the first time on a trade center, including a DOAS system and radiant ceiling cooling system. Simultaneously, the environmental-friendly materials were dealt with. The procedure holds significant relevance for the design and optimization of buildings in Iran, especially wherever the climate is hot and humid. This approach offers advantages to the environment by reducing the impact on energy resources and utilizing environmentally-friendly materials.
Biological feasibility of discharge a local WTTP sludge to sewer network and centralized WWTP; a case study: Tehran, Iran
Authors: Karami Samira , Farzadkia Mahdi , Kermani Majid , Kalantary Roshanak Rezaei , Pasalari Hasan
Published: April 2024

Over the recent years, ever-increasing population growth and higher wastewater production has been a challenge for decentralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In addition, sludge treatment due to high cost for equipment and place make authorities to find a sustainable approach in both of economical and technical perspectives. One of the proposed solutions is transferring the sludge produced from decentralized WWTP to centralized WWTP. However, the appropriate proportional ratio of raw sludge to raw sewage is a challenge, otherwise, it make anaerobic conditions and sewage rotting along the sewer network based on permissible limit of dihydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas (5 ppm). In the present study, seven reactors with different ratios of sludge to raw sewage (0, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100) were used to stimulate the feasibility of transferring Shahrake Gharb WWTP sludge along the wastewater transfer pipe to the centralized sewage treatment south Tehran WWTP plant in Tehran, Iran. The septic situation and H2S emission of different reactors within 7 h (Time to reach the compound in the south treatment plant) was analyzed by gas meter. The results indicated that the optimum ratio of sludge to raw sewage was 15% without H2S production during 7 h. In addition, due to the high volume of sludge produced by the Shahrake Gharb WWTP, the optimal ratio of lime to total solids (TS) in sludge (gr/gr) (0.6) increased the sludge loading rate from 15 to 30% without any H2S emission during the stimulation study period. Therefore, the lime stabilization and transfer of sludge from a decentralized WWTP to a centralized WWTP is a feasible way to manage the sludge and enhance the treatment capacity in local WWTP.
Neutron instrument concepts for a high intensity moderator at the European spallation source
Authors: Samothrakitis Stavros , Bertelsen Mads , Willendrup Peter K. , Knudsen Erik B. , Larsen Camilla B. , Rizzi Nicola , Zanini Luca , Santoro Valentina , Strobl Markus
Published: April 2024

In the course of the Horizon 2020 project HighNESS, a second moderator concept has been developed for the European Spallation Source, which complements the currently built moderator and is optimized for high intensity with a large viewable surface area. In this work we introduce conceptual designs for neutron instruments for condensed matter research designed to make optimal use of the capabilities of this moderator. The focus is on two concepts for small-angle neutron scattering and one neutron imaging instrument, which are intended to complement corresponding instruments that are already under construction at the European Spallation Source. One small-angle neutron scattering instrument concept resembles a conventional pinhole collimator geometry and aims to profit from the proposed second moderator by enabling to illuminate larger samples and providing particularly high resolution, drawing on a 30 m collimation and corresponding detector distance. A second small-angle neutron scattering instrument concept adopts nested mirror optics that enable to efficiently exploit the large moderator size and provide high resolution by focusing on the detector. The neutron imaging instrument concept is a typical pinhole instrument that can be found at continuous sources and draws on the corresponding strengths of high flux and large homogeneous fields-of-view, while still providing moderate wavelength resolution for advanced imaging methods.
Practice variation in surgical treatment for lumbar degenerative disc disease: exploring regional and hospital factors influencing surgical rates
Authors: van Munster Juliëtte J. C. M. , Halperin Ilan J. Y. , Ardesch Frank H. , van den Hout Wilbert B. , van Benthem Peter Paul G. , Moojen Wouter , Peul Wilco C.
Published: April 2024

The presence of significant, unwarranted variation in treatment suggests that clinical decision making also depends on where patients live instead of what they need and prefer. Historically, high practice variation in surgical treatment for lumbar degenerative disc disease (LDDD) has been documented. This study aimed to investigate current regional variation in surgical treatment for sciatica resulting from LDDD. We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of all Dutch adults (>18 years) between 2016 and 2019. Demographic data from Statistics Netherlands were merged with a nationwide claims database, covering over 99% of the population. Inclusion criteria comprised LDDD diagnosis codes and relevant surgical codes. Practice variation was assessed at the level of postal code areas and hospital service areas (HSAs). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to identify variables associated with surgical treatment. Among the 119,148 hospital visitors with LDDD, 14,840 underwent surgical treatment. Practice variation for laminectomies and discectomies showed less than two-fold variation in both postal code and HSAs. However, instrumented fusion surgery demonstrated a five-fold variation in postal code areas and three-fold variation in HSAs. Predictors of receiving surgical treatment included opioid prescription and patient referral status. Gender differences were observed, with males more likely to undergo laminectomy or discectomy, and females more likely to receive instrumented fusion surgery. Our study revealed low variation rates for discectomies and laminectomies, while indicating a high variation rate for instrumented fusion surgery in LDDD patients. High-quality research is needed on the extent of guideline implementation and its influence on practice variation.
Two-view topogram-based anatomy-guided CT reconstruction for prospective risk minimization
Authors: Liu Chang , Klein Laura , Huang Yixing , Baader Edith , Lell Michael , Kachelrieß Marc , Maier Andreas
Published: April 2024

To facilitate a prospective estimation of the effective dose of an CT scan prior to the actual scanning in order to use sophisticated patient risk minimizing methods, a prospective spatial dose estimation and the known anatomical structures are required. To this end, a CT reconstruction method is required to reconstruct CT volumes from as few projections as possible, i.e. by using the topograms, with anatomical structures as correct as possible. In this work, an optimized CT reconstruction model based on a generative adversarial network (GAN) is proposed. The GAN is trained to reconstruct 3D volumes from an anterior-posterior and a lateral CT projection. To enhance anatomical structures, a pre-trained organ segmentation network and the 3D perceptual loss are applied during the training phase, so that the model can then generate both organ-enhanced CT volume and organ segmentation masks. The proposed method can reconstruct CT volumes with PSNR of 26.49, RMSE of 196.17, and SSIM of 0.64, compared to 26.21, 201.55 and 0.63 using the baseline method. In terms of the anatomical structure, the proposed method effectively enhances the organ shapes and boundaries and allows for a straight-forward identification of the relevant anatomical structures. We note that conventional reconstruction metrics fail to indicate the enhancement of anatomical structures. In addition to such metrics, the evaluation is expanded with assessing the organ segmentation performance. The average organ dice of the proposed method is 0.71 compared with 0.63 for the baseline model, indicating the enhancement of anatomical structures.
Probing corporeal awareness in women through virtual reality induction of embreathment illusion
Authors: Cantoni Chiara , Salaris Andrea , Monti Alessandro , Porciello Giuseppina , Aglioti Salvatore Maria
Published: April 2024

We capitalized on the respiratory bodily illusion that we discovered in a previous study and called ‘Embreathment’ where we showed that breathing modulates corporeal awareness in men. Despite the relevance of the issue, no such studies are available in women. To bridge this gap, we tested whether the synchronization of avatar-participant respiration patterns influenced females’ bodily awareness. We collected cardiac and respiratory interoceptive measures, administered body (dis)satisfaction questionnaires, and tracked participants’ menstrual cycles via a mobile app. Our approach allowed us to characterize the ‘Embreathment’ illusion in women, and explore the relationships between menstrual cycle, interoception and body image. We found that breathing was as crucial as visual appearance in eliciting feelings of ownership and held greater significance than any other cue with respect to body agency in both women and men. Moreover, a positive correlation between menstrual cycle days and body image concerns, and a negative correlation between interoceptive sensibility and body dissatisfaction were found, confirming that women’s body dissatisfaction arises during the last days of menstrual cycle and is associated with interoception. These findings have potential implications for corporeal awareness alterations in clinical conditions like eating disorders and schizophrenia.
Identifying the causal relationship between immune factors and osteonecrosis: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Wang Chao , Zhu Yong , Pan Ding
Published: April 2024

A wealth of evidence intimates a profound connection between the immune system and osteonecrosis, albeit the specific immune factors underlying this connection remain largely veiled. A bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study was conducted based on genome-wide association study summary data to identify causal links between 731 immune factors and osteonecrosis including drug-induced osteonecrosis. Preliminary MR analysis was accomplished utilizing the inverse-variance weighted method under a multiplicative random effects model, and heterogeneity and potential horizontal pleiotropy were evaluated through Cochrane's Q-test, MR-Egger intercept test, MR-PRESSO global test, and leave-one-out analysis. Upon false discovery rate correction, the gene-predicted level of one immune factor (CD62L − monocyte %monocyte) exhibited a significant positive correlation with osteonecrosis, while eight immune traits associated with monocytes, dendritic cells, and NK cells demonstrated significant causal effects with drug-induced osteonecrosis. Reverse MR revealed no significant correlations. This MR research provides genetic evidence for the causal associations between a broad spectrum of immune factors and osteonecrosis. Such a study aids in unraveling the intricate interaction patterns between the immune and skeletal systems, elucidating the pathogenesis of osteonecrosis, and identifying potential novel therapeutic approaches.
SM-CycleGAN: crop image data enhancement method based on self-attention mechanism CycleGAN
Authors: Liu Dian , Cao Yang , Yang Jing , Wei Jianyu , Zhang Jili , Rao Chenglin , Wu Banghong , Zhang Dabin
Published: April 2024

Crop disease detection and crop baking stage judgement require large image data to improve accuracy. However, the existing crop disease image datasets have high asymmetry, and the poor baking environment leads to image acquisition difficulties and colour distortion. Therefore, we explore the potential of the self-attention mechanism on crop image datasets and propose an innovative crop image data-enhancement method for recurrent generative adversarial networks (GANs) fused with the self-attention mechanism to significantly enhance the perception and information capture capabilities of recurrent GANs. By introducing the self-attention mechanism module, the cycle-consistent GAN (CycleGAN) is more adept at capturing the internal correlations and dependencies of image data, thus more effectively capturing the critical information among image data. Furthermore, we propose a new enhanced loss function for crop image data to optimise the model performance and meet specific task requirements. We further investigate crop image data enhancement in different contexts to validate the performance and stability of the model. The experimental results show that, the peak signal-to-noise ratio of the SM-CycleGAN for tobacco images and tea leaf disease images are improved by 2.13% and 3.55%, and the structural similarity index measure is improved by 1.16% and 2.48% compared to CycleGAN, respectively.
Bacterial diversity dominates variable macrophage responses of tuberculosis patients in Tanzania
Authors: Hiza Hellen , Zwyer Michaela , Hella Jerry , Arbués Ainhoa , Sasamalo Mohamed , Borrell Sonia , Xu Zhi Ming , Ross Amanda , Brites Daniela , Fellay Jacques , Reither Klaus , Gagneux Sébastien , Portevin Damien
Published: April 2024

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) comprises nine human-adapted lineages that differ in their geographical distribution. Local adaptation of specific MTBC genotypes to the respective human host population has been invoked in this context. We aimed to assess if bacterial genetics governs MTBC pathogenesis or if local co-adaptation translates into differential susceptibility of human macrophages to infection by different MTBC genotypes. We generated macrophages from cryopreserved blood mononuclear cells of Tanzanian tuberculosis patients, from which the infecting MTBC strains had previously been phylogenetically characterized. We infected these macrophages ex vivo with a phylogenetically similar MTBC strain (“matched infection”) or with strains representative of other MTBC lineages (“mismatched infection”). We found that L1 infections resulted in a significantly lower bacterial burden and that the intra-cellular replication rate of L2 strains was significantly higher compared the other MTBC lineages, irrespective of the MTBC lineage originally infecting the patients. Moreover, L4-infected macrophages released significantly greater amounts of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, MIP-1β, and IL-1β compared to macrophages infected by all other strains. While our results revealed no measurable effect of local adaptation, they further highlight the strong impact of MTBC phylogenetic diversity on the variable outcome of the host–pathogen interaction in human tuberculosis.
Colored cotton crop wastes valorization through pyrolysis: a study of energetic characterization and analytical Py-GC/MS
Authors: Silva Janduir E. , Deus Junior Joemil O. , Calixto Guilherme Q. , Melo Dulce M. A. , Melo Marcus A. F. , Júnior Vital C. B. , Chagas Bruna M. E. , Medeiros Everaldo P. , Braga Renata M.
Published: April 2024

The present work aimed to study different parts of colored cotton waste through energetic characterization and analytical flash pyrolysis. Stalks and bolls of BRS cotton cultivars from Sementes do Brasil (Green, Ruby, Topaz and Jade) were studied, using white cotton (BRS 286) as a comparison. The energetic potential of biomass was evaluated by bulk density, High Heating Value (HHV), proximate and ultimate analysis, compositional and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Pyrolysis was performed in a micro-pyrolyzer and the products were identified by gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (Py-GC/MS). The results indicated a significant energetic potential, suggesting that can be used as an alternative energy source for thermochemical processes. The results of conventional pyrolysis indicated the presence of oxygenated compounds of different organic groups: aldehydes, ketones, phenols, furans and ethers, characteristic of the decomposition of lignocellulosic materials. Light organic acids in the C1-C4 range stood out the most, followed by phenols that appeared in a considerable proportion. Finally, it is concluded that the energy potential and pyrolysis products of the different parts (stalks and bolls) of colored cotton waste can be used to generate bioenergy and various chemical compounds of plant origin from green chemistry.