bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Physical Activity Among Young Children With Disabilities: A Systematic Review
Authors: Taylor Leah G. , Vanderloo Leigh M. , Yates Julia , Bassett-Gunter Rebecca L. , Stanley Meagan , Tucker Patricia
Published: June 2023

Physical activity (PA) in the early years is foundational for growth and development and associated with numerous health benefits. However, the prevalence of PA participation among the pediatric population with disabilities is less clear. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the existing literature on PA levels of young children (0–5.99 years) with disabilities. Empirical quantitative studies were collected from seven databases and reference hand searching; 21 studies were included in the review. PA levels varied widely based on disability type and measurement strategies, but overall, PA levels were low. Future research should address the underrepresentation of measurement and reporting of the PA levels of young children with disabilities.
Consumer Engagement on Weibo in a Professional Sport Context: The Case of the Chinese Super League
Authors: Cao Yuanyuan , Xu Ziyuan , Matsuoka Hirotaka
Published: June 2023

Online fan communities on social media are an effective avenue for sport organizations to engage sport fans. Sport fans who identify with online fan communities express positive and negative consumer engagement behavior (CEB) on social media. Most researchers focus on the positive valence of CEB. This study explores the mediating effect of both positive and negative valences of CEB between online fan community identification and behavioral intention simultaneously. Additionally, the moderating effect of satisfaction with teams’ performance is examined. This study contributes to the conceptualization of the negative valence of CEB on social media and extends the literature on the dual valence of CEB in the sport context. It also provides insights to sport managers on relationship marketing on social media.
Structure snapshots reveal the mechanism of a bacterial membrane lipoprotein
N
-acyltransferase
Authors: Smithers Luke , Degtjarik Oksana , Weichert Dietmar , Huang Chia-Ying , Boland Coilín , Bowen Katherine , Oluwole Abraham , Lutomski Corinne , Robinson Carol V. , Scanlan Eoin M. , Wang Meitian , Olieric Vincent , Shalev-Benami Moran , Caffrey Martin
Published: June 2023

Bacterial lipoproteins (BLPs) decorate the surface of membranes in the cell envelope. They function in membrane assembly and stability, as enzymes, and in transport. The final enzyme in the BLP synthesis pathway is the apolipoprotein
N
-acyltransferase, Lnt, which is proposed to act by a ping-pong mechanism. Here, we use x-ray crystallography and cryo–electron microscopy to chart the structural changes undergone during the progress of the enzyme through the reaction. We identify a single active site that has evolved to bind, individually and sequentially, substrates that satisfy structural and chemical criteria to position reactive parts next to the catalytic triad for reaction. This study validates the ping-pong mechanism, explains the molecular bases for Lnt’s substrate promiscuity, and should facilitate the design of antibiotics with minimal off-target effects.
Atoh1
drives the heterogeneity of the pontine nuclei neurons and promotes their differentiation
Authors: Wu Sih-Rong , Butts Jessica C. , Caudill Matthew S. , Revelli Jean-Pierre , Dhindsa Ryan S. , Durham Mark A. , Zoghbi Huda Y.
Published: June 2023

Pontine nuclei (PN) neurons mediate the communication between the cerebral cortex andthe cerebellum to refine skilled motor functions. Prior studies showed that PN neurons fall into two subtypes based on their anatomic location and region-specific connectivity, but the extent of their heterogeneity and its molecular drivers remain unknown.
Atoh1
encodes a transcription factor that is expressed in the PN precursors. We previously showed that partial loss of
Atoh1
function in mice results in delayed PN development and impaired motor learning. In this study, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing to elucidate the cell state–specific functions of
Atoh1
during PN development and found that
Atoh1
regulates cell cycle exit, differentiation, migration, and survival of PN neurons. Our data revealed six previously not known PN subtypes that are molecularly and spatially distinct. We found that the PN subtypes exhibit differential vulnerability to partial loss of
Atoh1
function, providing insights into the prominence of PN phenotypes in patients with
ATOH1
missense mutations.
Magnetic Quincke rollers with tunable single-particle dynamics and collective states
Authors: Reyes Garza Ricardo , Kyriakopoulos Nikos , Cenev Zoran M. , Rigoni Carlo , Timonen Jaakko V. I.
Published: June 2023

Electrohydrodynamically driven active particles based on Quincke rotation have quickly become an important model system for emergent collective behavior in nonequilibrium colloidal systems. Like most active particles, Quincke rollers are intrinsically nonmagnetic, preventing the use of magnetic fields to control their complex dynamics on the fly. Here, we report on magnetic Quincke rollers based on silica particles doped with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. We show that their magnetic nature enables the application of both externally controllable forces and torques at high spatial and temporal precision, leading to several versatile control mechanisms for their single-particle dynamics and collective states. These include tunable interparticle interactions, potential energy landscapes, and advanced programmable and teleoperated behaviors, allowing us to discover and probe active chaining, anisotropic active sedimentation-diffusion equilibria, and collective states in various geometries and dimensionalities.
Effect of various types of extracellular DNA on
V. hyugaensis
biofilm formation
Authors: Gu Liu Carmen , Maresso Anthony W.
Published: June 2023

Marine bacteria face a constant influx of new extracellular DNA (exDNA) due to the massive viral lysis that occurs in the ocean on a daily basis. Generally, biofilms have shown to be induced by self-secreted exDNA. However, the effect of various types of exDNA with varying lengths, self vs non-self, as well as guanine-cytosine content (GC) content on biofilm formation has not been explored, despite being a critical component of the extracellular polymeric substance. To test the effect of such exDNA on biofilms, a marine bioluminescent bacterium (
Vibrio hyugaensis
) was isolated from the Sippewissett Salt Marsh, USA, and treated with various types of exDNA. We observed rapid pellicle formation with distinct morphologies only in cultures treated with herring sperm gDNA, another
Vibrio
spp. gDNA, and an oligomer of 61–80% GC content. With pH measurements before and after the treatment, we observed a positive correlation between biofilm formation and the change to a more neutral pH. Our study highlights the importance of studying DNA-biofilm interaction by carefully examining the physical properties of the DNA and by varying its content, length, and source. Our observation may serve as the basis for future studies that seek to interrogate the molecular explanation for the various types of exDNA and their effects on biofilm formation.

IMPORTANCE

Bacteria mostly exist as biofilm, a protective niche that promotes protection from the environment and nutrient uptake. By forming these structures, bacteria have caused recalcitrant antibiotic-resistant infections, contamination of dairy and seafood, and fouling equipment in the industry. A critical component that makes up the extracellular polymeric substances, the structural component of a biofilm, is the extracellular DNA secreted by the bacteria found in the biofilm. However, previous studies on DNA and biofilm formation have neglected the unique properties of nucleic acid and its high diversity. Our study aims at disentangling these DNA properties by monitoring their effect at inducing biofilm formation. By varying length, self vs non-self, and GC percentage, we used various microscopy techniques to visualize the structural composition of a
Vibrio hyugaensis
biofilm. We observed DNA-dependent biofilm stimulation in this organism, a novel function of DNA in biofilm biology.
Physicochemical evolution and mechanism of a skarn system: Insights from the world-class Mazraeh Cu deposit, NW Iran
Authors: Rajabpour Shahrokh , Hassanpour Shohreh , Jiang Shao-Yong
Published: June 2023

The Mazraeh Cu skarn deposit, NW Iran, is situated at the lithological contact between an Oligo−Miocene granodiorite and Cretaceous limestones. The causative granodiorite has I-type medium- to high-K calc-alkaline composition that formed in a subduction arc setting. Metasomatism generated exoskarn and endoskarn characterized by a temporal and spatial mineral-chemistry zonation with massive garnet and garnet-pyroxene proximal and epidote-amphibole skarn at the distal zones of the exoskarn. Our data reveal a multi-stage evolution of the hydrothermal system. Accordingly, the prograde stage was formed by barren, oxidized, high-temperature and hypersaline magmatic fluids, which suggests that the parental magma was emplaced at low lithostatic pressure conditions (∼1.5 km depth). By contrast, during the retrograde stage the regime changed from lithostatic to hydrostatic conditions, resulting in a significant decrease in pressure and oxygen fugacity, boiling, cooling, and mixing, respectively. Dilution by meteoric fluids led to additional cooling and lower salinity of the ore fluids. Sulfur isotope compositions (δ34S = −2.8‰−1.3‰) of sulfides indicate a unique magmatic source of the sulfur. The δ18Ofluid and δDfluid values of the prograde stage fluid also indicate a magmatic origin, while their gradual depletions from the prograde to retrograde stage imply increased mixing with meteoric water. We propose that the fluid mixing scenario continued over the entire life cycle of the mineral system in an open hydrostatic regime as reflected in the oxygen isotope values. It is suggested that boiling and fluid mixing played a significant role in the formation of this giant Cu skarn deposit.
Leveraging immune resistance archetypes in solid cancer to inform next-generation anticancer therapies
Authors: Anderson Kristin G , Braun David A , Buqué Aitziber , Gitto Sarah B , Guerriero Jennifer L , Horton Brendan , Keenan Bridget P , Kim Teresa S , Overacre-Delgoffe Abigail , Ruella Marco , Triplett Todd A , Veeranki Omkara , Verma Vivek , Zhang Fan
Published: June 2023

Anticancer immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor T cells, have improved outcomes for patients with a variety of malignancies. However, most patients either do not initially respond or do not exhibit durable responses due to primary or adaptive/acquired immune resistance mechanisms of the tumor microenvironment. These suppressive programs are myriad, different between patients with ostensibly the same cancer type, and can harness multiple cell types to reinforce their stability. Consequently, the overall benefit of monotherapies remains limited. Cutting-edge technologies now allow for extensive tumor profiling, which can be used to define tumor cell intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of primary and/or acquired immune resistance, herein referred to as features or feature sets of immune resistance to current therapies. We propose that cancers can be characterized by immune resistance archetypes, comprised of five feature sets encompassing known immune resistance mechanisms. Archetypes of resistance may inform new therapeutic strategies that concurrently address multiple cell axes and/or suppressive mechanisms, and clinicians may consequently be able to prioritize targeted therapy combinations for individual patients to improve overall efficacy and outcomes.
Limited efficacy of APRIL CAR in patients with multiple myeloma indicate challenges in the use of natural ligands for CAR T-cell therapy
Authors: Lee Lydia , Lim Wen Chean , Galas-Filipowicz Daria , Fung Kent , Taylor Julia , Patel Dominic , Akbar Zulaikha , Alvarez Mediavilla Elena , Wawrzyniecka Patrycja , Shome Debarati , Reijmers Rogier M , Gregg Trillian , Wood Leigh , Day William , Cerec Virginie , Ferrari Mathieu , Thomas Simon , Cordoba Shaun , Onuoha Shimobi , Khokhar Nushmia , Peddareddigari Vijay , Al-Hajj Muhammad , Cavet Jim , Zweegman Sonja , Rodriguez-Justo Manuel , Yong Kwee , Pule Martin , Popat Rakesh
Published: June 2023

Background

We used a proliferating ligand (APRIL) to construct a ligand-based third generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) able to target two myeloma antigens, B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and transmembrane activator and CAML interactor.

Methods

The APRIL CAR was evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT03287804, AUTO2) in patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma. Eleven patients received 13 doses, the first 15×106CARs, and subsequent patients received 75,225,600 and 900×106CARs in a 3+3 escalation design.

Results

The APRIL CAR was well tolerated. Five (45.5%) patients developed Grade 1 cytokine release syndrome and there was no neurotoxicity. However, responses were only observed in 45.5% patients (1×very good partial response, 3×partial response, 1×minimal response). Exploring the mechanistic basis for poor responses, we then compared the APRIL CAR to two other BCMA CARs in a series of in vitro assays, observing reduced interleukin-2 secretion and lack of sustained tumor control by APRIL CAR regardless of transduction method or co-stimulatory domain. There was also impaired interferon signaling of APRIL CAR and no evidence of autoactivation. Thus focusing on APRIL itself, we confirmed similar affinity to BCMA and protein stability in comparison to BCMA CAR binders but reduced binding by cell-expressed APRIL to soluble BCMA and reduced avidity to tumor cells. This indicated either suboptimal folding or stability of membrane-bound APRIL attenuating CAR activation.

Conclusions

The APRIL CAR was well tolerated, but the clinical responses observed in AUTO2 were disappointing. Subsequently, when comparing the APRIL CAR to other BCMA CARs, we observed in vitro functional deficiencies due to reduced target binding by cell-expressed ligand.
Synthesis, characterization, and anticancer properties of iminopyridine platinum(II) complexes containing long aliphatic chains
Authors: Barrett Khandra N. , Dupuis Matthew P. , Crossman Anna S. , Park SunMin , George Tanner , Vogels Christopher M. , Rourke Jillian L. , Masuda Jason D. , Westcott Stephen A.
Published: June 2023

A series of iminopyridine ligands were prepared from the condensation reaction of 6-methylpyridine-2-carboxaldehyde and long-chain aliphatic primary amines. Square planar platinum(II) complexes were synthesized from the reaction of [PtCl2(η2-coe)]2 (coe = cis-cyclooctene) with two equivalents of ligand. The synthesis of the platinum compounds appears to go through a five-coordinate trigonal pyramidal species where coe remains coordinated initially but eventually dissociates to afford the four-coordinate complexes. Ligands and platinum complexes were characterized using multi-nuclear NMR and FT-IR spectroscopies as well as an X-ray diffraction study for the platinum complex derived from n-hexylamine. The cytotoxic properties of the platinum complexes against the ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide colorimetric method were examined. Relative cytotoxicities of the platinum complexes follow a trend of greater potency with increasing chain length against the SKOV-3 cell line, with the longest aliphatic hydrocarbon chain (C16) exhibiting anticancer effects comparable to that of cisplatin.
Model-assisted domain estimation of postfire tree regeneration in the western US using nearest neighbor techniques
Authors: Affleck David L. R. , Gaines George C.
Published: June 2023

Many nations administer national forest inventory programs for unbiased estimation of forest attributes over broad spatial and temporal extents. However, management and conservation decisions often demand reliable estimates for finer spatiotemporal domains. In the western US, wildfire activity is expanding and postfire regeneration must contend with a warmer, drier climate. We evaluate the potential of K nearest neighbor (KNN) strategies for estimation of stocking across postfire measurements of Forest Inventory & Analysis plots in 11 western US states, and subsequently for model-assisted (MA) estimation of stocking over domains defined by aggregations of burned areas within individual states and 4-year periods. In particular, we develop and evaluate a form of constrained KNN that allows for unbiased MA domain estimation under simple random sampling by drawing only on measurements external to a domain of interest. KNN strategies based on geographically, radiometrically, and climatically proximate measurements are found to provide more accurate estimates of stocking at the plot level than domain means. Applying the selected external KNN strategy also reduced standard errors of MA domain estimates by 16% over direct domain estimators, but bias correction introduces substantial variability over synthetic estimates. Further applications of the external constraint imposed on KNN are discussed.
Big Rip in Swiss-cheese brane-worlds with cosmic transit
Authors: Ahmed Nasr , Fekry M. , Kamel Tarek M.
Published: June 2023

We study the Big Rip scenario in Swiss-cheese brane-worlds. The results obtained have been found to be independent of the value of the cosmological constant Λ whether it is positive, negative, or zero. Negative tension branes are not allowed in the current model. There is a sign flipping in cosmic pressure corresponding to the sign flipping in the deceleration parameter from positive to negative. The evolution of the equation of state parameter shows the presence of three phases: the matter-dominant decelerating era, the accelerated-Quitessence phase, and the phantom phase. The evolution of the potential and kinetic term also shows a change of sign. The energy conditions and cosmographic parameters have also been investigated.
Exact solution of Dirac–Rosen–Morse problem in curved space–time
Authors: de Oliveira M.D.
Published: June 2023

In this work, we extend the analysis of the relativistic Dirac–Rosen–Morse problem in curved space–time. For that, we consider the Dirac equation in curved space–time with line element d s2 = (1 + α2 U( r))2(d t2 − d r2) −  r2dθ2 −  r2sin 2θdϕ2, where α is fine structural constant, U( r) is a scalar potential, and in the presence of the electromagnetic field Aμ = ( V( r), cA( r), 0, 0). Because of the spherical symmetry, the angular spinor is given in terms of the spherical harmonics. For the radial spinor, we apply a unitary transformation and define the vector component of the electromagnetic field A( r) written as a function of V( r) and U( r) so as to solve the radial spinor for Dirac–Rosen–Morse problem. Graphical analyses were performed comparing the eigenenergies and the probability densities in curved and flat space–time to visualize the influence of curvature in space–time on the two-component radial spinor, with the upper and lower components representing the particle and antiparticle, respectively.
Marriage and Roommate
Authors: Iwama Kazuo , Miyazaki Shuichi
Published: June 2023

This paper has two objectives. One is to give a linear time algorithm that solves the stable roommates problem (i.e., obtains one stable matching) using the stable marriage problem. The idea is that a stable matching of a roommate instance [Formula: see text] is a stable matching (that however must satisfy a certain condition) of some marriage instance [Formula: see text]. [Formula: see text] is obtained just by making two copies of [Formula: see text], one for the men’s table and the other for the women’s table. The second objective is to investigate the possibility of reducing the roommate problem to the marriage problem (with one-to-one correspondence between their stable matchings) in polynomial time. For a given [Formula: see text], we construct the rotation POSET [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] and then we “halve” it to obtain [Formula: see text], by which we can forget the above condition and can use all the closed subsets of [Formula: see text] for all the stable matchings of [Formula: see text]. Unfortunately this approach works (runs in polynomial time) only for restricted instances.
Can the Higgs still account for the g−2 anomaly?
Authors: Abu-Ajamieh Fayez , Vempati Sudhir K.
Published: June 2023

In this paper, we use an Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach to evaluate the viability of the Higgs to account for the [Formula: see text] anomaly. Although the SM contribution of the Higgs to the muon’s magnetic dipole moment is negligible, using a bottom-up EFT, we show that given the current level of experimental limits on the Higgs sector, the Higgs can still yield a viable solution to the [Formula: see text] anomaly if its couplings to the rest of the SM particles are allowed to deviate from their SM predictions. Such a solution would only require an [Formula: see text] fine-tuning. Further, applying unitarity arguments, we show that such a solution would indicate a scale of New Physics (NP) of [Formula: see text]5–8[Formula: see text]TeV, which could be lowered to [Formula: see text]3.4–4 TeV if the Higgs couplings to the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are assumed to conform to their SM predictions. We show that such a scenario could yield significant enhancement to the di-Higgs production in muon colliders, thus providing further motivation for its consideration. A key takeaway of this study is to highlight the importance of measuring the [Formula: see text] coupling in future experiments.
Modeling and numerical handling of viscous dissipation in second order viscoelastic fluid flow in a nonparallel channel
Authors: Kamran Abid , Azhar Ehtsham , Akmal Naveed , Mehmood Zaffar
Published: June 2023

This work gives an insight into the viscous effects of a viscoelastic fluid on the flow and heat transfer when it is put to flow between two nonparallel plates via some source/sink. Modeling of the problem is presented in detail with focus on the viscous dissipation effect. Afterwards, the problem is solved numerically by Keller Box method and bvp4c routine using MATLAB. The comparative analysis of the two techniques has been drawn on the basis of numerical values of Nusselt number. Alongside this, a comprehensive detail of the impact of pertinent parameters on the flow and temperature profiles have been given. The numerical results give an insight about the fluid characteristics like velocity, temperature, heat transfer and skin friction with variations in pertinent physical parameters.
Enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation of a BiVO4/tetra(amino)phthalocyanine composite photoanode
Authors: Sudi M. Shire , Zhao Long , Dou Yuqin , Yang Xin , Wang Qi , Wang Aijian , Zhu Weihua
Published: June 2023

We present a method for synthesizing a BiVO4composite photoanode using electrodeposition on FTO glass and show how the incorporation of tetra(amino)phthalocyanine (TAPC) improves its photoelectrochemical water oxidation properties. The conducted photocatalytic tests show that the incorporation of TAPC improved photocurrent generation, electron-hole generation, and separation as well as the stability of the BiVO4/TAPC composite material. The current densities of the pristine BiVO4and BiVO4/TAPC for photoelectrochemical water oxidation under operational conditions at 1.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl were found to be 1.7 and 3.1 mA cm[Formula: see text], respectively, which were estimated to be almost twice that of pristine BiVO4. The improved photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance of the BiVO4/TAPC composite may also be attributed to the enhanced surface area and surface redox reaction. These results demonstrate the potential of TAPC as a promising candidate for improving the performance of BiVO4photoanodes in various applications.
Interaction of Lamb Waves with a Notch in a Bent Plate
Authors: Tembhare Girish U. , Mitra Aurovinda Kumar , Joglekar D. M.
Published: June 2023

The application of guided waves for the non-destructive evaluation of thin plates has been explored extensively for the last two decades. However, many industrial applications utilize thin plates containing one or more bends in them. Investigation of Lamb wave scattering from such bent plates, specifically in the presence of defects such as notches, cracks, etc., is still an open problem. In this regard, the analysis of interactions of fundamental Lamb waves with a V-shaped notch located inside a bent portion of a metallic plate is presented. The investigation is carried out by employing an efficient hybrid numerical framework comprising semi-analytical finite elements (SAFEs) together with high conventional finite elements. While SAFEs are used to model wave propagation through defect-free plates on either side of the plate bend, finite elements are used to model the bent portion containing the notch. The effect of depth and location of the notch on the scattering behavior is analyzed over a span of frequency of interrogation signal and for incidence of both fundamental modes. The sensitivity of scattered waves with the notch parameters is observed to change substantially with the change in notch location and interrogation signal parameters. The inferences presented can prove instrumental in devising a strategy for detecting and characterizing a notch located inside a plate bend.
Minimal codewords: An application of relative four-weight codes
Authors: Rega B. , Babu A. Ramesh
Published: June 2023

Secret-sharing is a vital topic of cryptography and has widely used in information protection. One technique to the development of secret-sharing schemes is primarily based on error-correcting codes. In this paper, we determine the minimal codewords of relative four-weight codes and have the utility in the secret sharing schemes.
Public Benefits of Private Technology Adoption: Spatial Externalities of Water Conservation in India
Authors: Bhargava Anil K. , Lybbert Travis J. , Spielman David
Published: June 2023

With growing pressure on groundwater resources in developing countries, water-conserving technologies (WCTs) seem to be an especially promising method of both poverty alleviation and agricultural adaptation to risks associated with climate change. While the private benefits of technology adoption are increasingly understood by both farmers and policymakers, the public benefits — or positive spillovers that additionally affect non-adopters and adopters alike — are often overlooked, thus understating the case for investment in their development and promotion. This paper explores the physical and socioeconomic conditions that shape the distribution of these benefits locally and across landscapes, pointing to the importance of integrating spatial relationships and underlying economic conditions into their estimation. We focus on India — the world’s largest user of groundwater — and build a spatially-sensitive hydroeconomic model to capture the dynamics of public water availability and extraction costs due to WCT adoption. We calibrate our model using household-plot level survey data and randomized control trial impact estimates from a rollout of WCTs in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Geo-referenced borewell locations and a novel farmer pumping survey allow us to scale results to the landscape level. Results show that public benefits from WCT adoption initially occur primarily via reduced well interference and that clustering of WCTs in dense, low-income farming areas can generate the highest mix of private and public benefits. With most farmers in this study boring wells and pumping water without local spatial consideration, policymakers with the dual objectives of climate change adaptation and poverty alleviation may consider these dual environmental and economic water-conserving agricultural technology benefit spillovers.
FastSpeechStyle: Fast, Emotion Controllable, and High-Quality Speech Synthesis
Authors: Nguyen Van-Thinh , Do Tri-Nhan , Pham Hung-Cuong , Ho Tuan-Vu , Ngoc Minh-Khanh Nguyen , Mac Dang-Khoa
Published: June 2023

Non-autoregressive text-to-speech models such as Fastspeech2 can fast synthesize high-quality speech. This model also allows explicit control of the speech signal’s pitch, energy, and speed. However, controlling emotion while maintaining natural human-like speech is still a problem. In this work, we propose an expressive speech synthesis model that can synthesize high-quality speech with desired emotion. The proposed model includes two main components (1) Mel Emotion Encoder extracts emotion embedding from the Mel-spectrogram of audio, (2) the FastSpeechStyle, a non-autoregressive model, which is modified from vanilla Fastspeech2. The FastSpeechStyle used an Improved Conformer block, which replaces normal LayerNorm with Style Adaptive LayerNorm to “shift” and “scale” hidden features according to emotion embedding, instead of vanilla FFTBlock [Y. Ren, Y. Ruan, X. Tan, T. Qin, S. Zhao, Z. Zhao and T.-Y. Liu, Fastspeech: Fast, robust and controllable text to speech, Adv. Neural Inf. Process. Syst. 32 (2019)] to better model the local and global dependency in the acoustic model. We also propose a specific inference strategy to control the desired emotion of speech. The experimental results show that (1) The proposed model with improved Conformer achieved higher scores than the baseline model in all naturalness and emotion similarity scores; (2) The proposed model still maintains fast inference speed like the baseline model.
Analyzing the Capabilities of a Hybrid Response Generation Model for an Empathetic Conversational Agent
Authors: Beredo Jackylyn L. , Ong Ethel C.
Published: June 2023

Research on the use of conversational agents or chatbots to provide alternative and accessible mental health interventions has gained much interest in recent years. Designed to engage human users through natural and empathetic conversations, these chatbots have shown their potential applications in pre-emptive healthcare that emphasizes the importance of helping individuals maintain their optimal mental health and well-being. The ability of chatbots to process user input and produce pertinent and sympathetic responses to dynamically adjust to the context of a discussion is, however, constrained by the usage of retrieval-based models. Neural-based generative models, currently applied in open-domain dialogue and text generation systems, may be able to address the limitations of retrieval-based models. In this paper, we present Virtual Hope (VHope), a conversational agent that combines retrieval-based and generative models to perform its role as a therapist capable of generating empathetic responses to enrich the conversation. The best performing generative model, derived from training DialoGPT with the EmpatheticDialogues dataset and a local mental well-being dataset, yielded a perplexity score of 9.977. Two variations for embedding retrieval and generative models in the chatbot’s conversation flow yielded insignificant differences based on users’ evaluation of VHope’s performance. Results from experts’ analysis of the conversation logs showed that the responses generated by VHope were 67% relevant, 78% human-like, and 79% empathic. Future improvements may include the use of a larger, human-based empathetic dataset for enhanced retrieval model’s conversation design and generative model’s fine-tuning.
A User Perspective on Sustainability
Authors: Shenoy Prashant
Published: June 2023

As our society undertakes an energy transition to low carbon future, many sectors ranging from the energy grid to transportation are in the midst of a transformation to newer and cleaner technologies such as electric vehicles, electric heat pumps, and distributed renewables. These technologies will have a direct impact on an end-users in terms of behavior, comfort, and lifestyle. In this column, we examine the user's perspective of an energy transition.
Environmental Regulation and Labor Demand: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?
Authors: Gray Wayne B. , Shadbegian Ron , Wolverton Ann
Published: June 2023

Understanding the potential effect of environmental regulation on employment is of broad interest to key stakeholders. Concerns encompass both short- and longer-term effects on workers within the regulated sector, affected communities that already suffer from a lack of employment opportunities, and net employment in the overall economy. We begin our review by presenting a neoclassical microeconomic framework demonstrating how environmental regulations might affect labor demand. We then summarize the main empirical findings from the literature, including sector-specific partial equilibrium estimates and general equilibrium approaches to identifying the employment impacts of regulations. We also briefly describe the literature on how environmental regulations affect labor supply. Finally, we discuss remaining research gaps.
Ventricular-arterial coupling and cardiovascular risk among young adults: The African-PREDICT study
Authors: Holm Hannes , Kruger Ruan , Jujic Amra , Lamiral Zohra , Uys Aletta Sophia , Girerd Nicolas , Magnusson Martin
Published: June 2023

Assessing VAC is especially useful in heart failure and valvular heart disease, but less is known about VAC in the pathophysiology of CV disease risk in younger individuals. In young individuals without overt CV disease, we showed descriptive data regarding VAC, determined by PWV/GLS ratio, and explored the associations of VAC with clinical CV disease risk factors. Worse VAC, reflected by higher values of PWV/GLS, associated with high blood pressure and smoking in young adults.
Endothelial dysfunction at the cellular level in three dimensions: severity, acuteness, and distribution
Authors: Segers Vincent F. M. , Bringmans Tijs , De Keulenaer Gilles W.
Published: June 2023

Dysfunction or failure of the endothelial organ is a heterogenous and often ill-described feature of both cardiovascular and noncardiovascular disorders. Although seldom recognized as a separate clinical condition, endothelial cell dysfunction (ECD) is an established catalyst of disease. However, even in recent pathophysiological studies, ECD is frequently oversimplified as a binary state without gradation, based on the assessment of a single function (e.g., synthesis or activity of nitric oxide) and without considering spatiotemporal dimensions (local vs. generalized, acute vs. chronic). In this article, we suggest a simple scale to grade the severity of ECD and a definition of ECD in three dimensions: space, time, and severity. We also adopt a broader perspective on ECD by integrating and comparing gene expression data of endothelial cells from different organs and diseases and propose a concept that links common pathophysiological mechanisms. We hope that this will enhance the understanding of the pathophysiology of ECD and stimulate discussion in this field.
Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Group Format in Spain: Results of a Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trial at 15 Months after Treatment Onset
Authors: Peris-Baquero O. , Osma J.
Published: June 2023

Evidence-based psychological treatments (EBPT) are an effective and efficient solution for the treatment of emotional disorders (EDs). However, their implementation and dissemination are not yet widespread. The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of EDs (UP), applied in a group format, could be an effective option to be implemented in specialized public mental health services in Spain. The sample consisted of 533 users of public specialized mental health centers (77.3% women), with a mean age of 42.0 years (

SD
=
12.62

), who were randomized to the UP in group format condition (

n
=
277

) or treatment as usual (specific cognitive behavioral therapy for each disorder in individual format,

n
=
256

). Assessments were performed at preintervention (T1) and at 3, 6, 9 and 15 months after treatment onset (T2, T3, T4, and T5, respectively). The results showed a main effect of time in both conditions for all primary outcomes (

p
<
0.05

) and no statistically significant Time

∗

Condition interaction. Similarly, the noninferiority tests showed that UP results were statistically noninferior compared to TAU. Effect sizes for psychological variables were higher in the UP condition at T5, even though the differences were not statistically significant. Statistically significant differences (

p
<
0.05

) in the evolution of the diagnostic criteria and comorbidity were found, with the highest percentage of patients no longer meeting main and secondary diagnosis criteria in the UP condition at all assessment moments (except for secondary diagnosis at T3). The results showed statistically significant differences in treatment retention between conditions at T5, being the UP condition the one with less dropouts. Finally, participants in the group UP condition showed high satisfaction with the treatment. The UP is an EBPT that has been shown to be effective when applied in groups and may represent an efficient option for its implementation in public mental health services in Spain. This trial is registered with NCT03064477.
Research on 5G Network Slicing Strategy for Urban Complex Environment
Authors: Gao Zihang
Published: June 2023

Focusing on the layout of the 5G mobile communication base station in the city center, we design a 5G city network slicing strategy for the three typical application scenarios with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultrareliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (mMTC). The strategy considers multiple important network performance indicators, including user guaranteed bandwidth, maximum bandwidth limit, QoS (quality of service), link delay tolerance, and slicing throughput. The slicing strategy can greatly increase the connections of base station clients and the utilization of network resources, and effectively reduce block radio and handover radio. The simulation experiments adopt the 5G base station dataset of a coastal city layout in Zhejiang province. Our tests show that the 5G network slicing strategy has certain advantages in network transmission performance in urban complex environment. The research can provide an effective reference for 5G infrastructure construction in other cities.
Reforming Methane with CO2 over Hierarchical Porous Silica-Supported Nickel Catalysts Modified with Lanthanum Oxide
Authors: Li Bin , Yuan Xiaoqing , Li Lvyin , Li Baitao , Wang Xiujun
Published: June 2023

Hierarchical porous silica-supported nickel catalysts modified with different amounts of lanthanum (La) were synthesized via “one-pot” method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as template, urea as precipitant, and tetraethyl orthosilicate as silica source. Their catalytic performances were evaluated in dry reforming with methane under different conditions (La loading, reaction temperature, and time on stream). The synthesized and spent catalysts were extensively characterized by ICP, physisorption, chemisorption, XRD, TPR, XPS, HAADF-TEM, TPH, Raman’s spectroscopy, and TG analysis. The impact of lanthanum amount on the catalytic performance, sintering, and carbon deposition was discussed. Compared to unmodified catalyst, La promoter induced the nickel nanoparticles with larger crystallite sizes and weakened the metal-support interaction as well as the formation of 1 : 1 nickel-phyllosilicate, leading to the metal sintering increasing in the order Ni1.5La/SiO2 < Ni3.0La/SiO2 < Ni4.5La/SiO2. The modified catalysts exhibited better carbon resistance, which was significantly enhanced with increasing La content. Despite this, the stability increased following the sequence of Ni3.0La/SiO2 < Ni4.5La/SiO2 < Ni1.5La/SiO2. Ni1.5La/SiO2 displayed the best stability at 750°C within 10 h stability test, with CH4 conversion dropping from 61.3 to 58.0%. The deactivation reason for Ni1.5La/SiO2 was mainly the carbon deposition, while that for Ni3.0La/SiO2 and Ni4.5La/SiO2 was the metal sintering. These results emphasized that the activity and stability in the NiLa/SiO2 catalysts for the dry reforming of methane depended on two important factors, the metal-support interaction and the particles size of nickel, providing the necessity and sufficiency to balance two attributes.
Exogenous Ascorbate Administration Elevates Testicular Oxidative Damage and Histological Injuries in Rats after Busulfan Treatment
Authors: Ezim Ogechukwu O. , Abarikwu Sunny O.
Published: June 2023

Several anticancer drugs are coadministered with ascorbate (ASCB) to complement their cytotoxic effects. However, it is not known if the treatment regimen prevents collateral oxidative damage to non-target sites. The current study evaluated the effect of ASCB cotreatment on the testes of young adult rats treated with an anticancer drug, busulfan (BUS). About 40 Wistar rats were arbitrarily assigned into four groups (N = 10), namely, control (<0.2% dimethyl sulfoxide vehicle), BUS (4 mg/kg b.w.; intraperitoneally for 4 days), BUS + ASCB (4 mg BUS/kg b.w. for 4 days + 100 mg ASCB/kg b.w.; intraperitoneally for 14 days and 7 days prior to start of BUS injection), and ASCB (100 mg/kg b.w.; intraperitoneally for 21 days). At the end of study, ASCB + BUS cotreatment reduced spermatogenesis score index, superoxide dismutase activity, total ASCB and decreased hydrogen peroxide level, and elevated catalase activity and nitrite concentration much more than treatment with BUS alone (

P
<
0.05

). Other observations included elevated malondialdehyde level, DNA damage, and diminished glutathione concentration in the testes of BUS + ASCB animals. Interestingly, ASCB administration raised testicular ASCB concentration beyond the control values (

P
<
0.05

) and the antioxidant status of the testes. Histological aberrations included many single layers of germ cells, shrinked tubules, and vacuolated structures in the epithelium of BUS + ASCB, similar to those of BUS-treated animals. In conclusion, BUS treatment deregulated the redox status of the testes and caused a dramatic consumption of ASCB which were enhanced by exogenous ASCB resulting to testicular damage.
Optimization of Integrated Solid Refuse Fuel and Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell System for Hydrogen Production
Authors: Oh Mireu Sunhee , Park Seong-Ryong , Kang Yong Tae
Published: June 2023

In this study, a performance predictive model for hydrogen production was developed for the commercialization of the integrated solid refuse fuel (SRF) and solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) system. A SRF system was developed, and reliability was verified in the steam conditions for the SOEC application. Systems optimization according to parametric analysis was conducted in the predictive model based on the experiments. When the steam temperature varies between 973 and 1,373 K, hydrogen production increases by 14% to 64 tons per year at 1,373 K; meanwhile, when the steam pressure varies between 0.1 and 0.7 MPa, the performance deteriorates significantly. Under optimal conditions (temperature: 1,373 K; pressure: 0.3 MPa; mass flow rate 200 kg/h), the amount of steam that can be produced by the integrated SRF–SOEC system is 1,752 tons per year, which can yield 87.6 tons of hydrogen per year. When SRF was used as a heat source, compared with the use of LNG, a total annual cost saving of approximately 2.6% was realized. The break-even point can be reduced by approximately 5 months, which reflects economic efficiency.
A Privacy-Preserving and Edge-Collaborating Architecture for Personalized Mobility
Authors: Jian Weitao , He Junshu , Chen Jiatao , Cai Ming
Published: June 2023

Driven by technologies and demands, the modern transportation system has developed from intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to autonomous transportation systems (ATS) to resolve intertwined demands and supplies with few human interventions. In ATS, personal mobility service (PMS) is the service that can sense real-time traffic conditions comprehensively, learn travelers’ preferences accurately, recommend multimodal travel options appropriately, and provide service responses timely to elevate the level of personalization and intelligence in smart mobility services. Since current PMS widely employs centralized approaches (CPMS) to process massive sensitive data from individuals and support diverse edge devices, resulting in high pressure in privacy protection and performance balancing, this paper presents a federated PMS (FPMS) and its design architecture in logical and physical views by adopting federated learning to provide multimodal, dynamic, and personalized travel options with system-saving safety and efficiency guaranteed. Moreover, through an extensive evaluation, the performances of CPMS and FPMS are compared to reveal the merits of FPMS in reducing costs and latency.
Autocuidado y bienestar en residencias de psiquiatría: encuesta de opinión a los docentes
Authors: Pacheco Pacheco Bernardo , Fritzsche Villarroel Martín , Bedregal García Paula , Castañeda Caro Felipe
Published: June 2023

Introducción: los residentes de especialidad médica están expuestos a un alto nivel de burnout o agotamiento, lo que impacta negativamente en el profesionalismo. Esto ha llevado a la creación de programas destinados a promover el bienestar y autocuidado, que, sin embargo, no han llegado a instalarse de forma transversal en la educación médica. El presente estudio busca identificar la presencia de actividades de autocuidado/bienestar en residencias de psiquiatría de Chile, junto con el interés docente por implementarlas. Materiales y métodos: se invitó vía correo electrónico a 80 docentes de 3 Departamentos de Psiquiatría a contestar un cuestionario sobre el tema de bienestar y autocuidado de sus residentes en sus programas de formación. Se realizó un análisis cuantitativo de los datos obtenidos. Resultados: un 69.4% de los encuestados señaló que su residencia no cuenta con contenidos formales o un programa de autocuidado/bienestar para sus residentes. Las actividades de autocuidado/bienestar más incluidas en las residencias encuestadas son supervisión; resolución de conflictos y habilidades de comunicación; y apoyo o trabajo grupal guiado. Discusión: el bienestar de los residentes ha ganado relevancia en los últimos años, tanto así que el Consejo de Acreditación de Educación Médica para Graduados (ACGME) lo promueve activamente. En Chile la situación pareciera ser un poco distinta ya que hay poca presencia sistemática de actividades estandarizadas dirigidas al autocuidado y bienestar del residente. Incluir este tipo de programas o actividades curriculares es un desafío importante considerando la relevancia de prevenir el burnout en el personal de salud especialmente en el contexto de pandemia COVID-19.
Supplementary Figure 4 from Targeting BCL2 Overcomes Resistance and Augments Response to Aurora Kinase B Inhibition by AZD2811 in Small Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Ramkumar Kavya , Tanimoto Azusa , Della Corte Carminia M. , Stewart C. Allison , Wang Qi , Shen Li , Cardnell Robert J. , Wang Jing , Polanska Urszula M. , Andersen Courtney , Saeh Jamal , Pease J. Elizabeth , Travers Jon , Fabbri Giulia , Gay Carl M. , Urosevic Jelena , Byers Lauren A.
Published: June 2023

Supplementary Figure 4 shows the combination of AZD2811NP with venetoclax is well tolerated in mice and less efficacious in SCLC models with low BCL2 expression.
Supplementary Table S1 from Thyroid Cancers Exhibit Oncogene-Enhanced Macropinocytosis that Is Restrained by IGF1R and Promote Albumin–Drug Conjugate Response
Authors: Hu Huiyu , Ng Thomas S.C. , Kang Mikyung , Scott Ella , Li Ran , Quintana Jeremy M. , Matvey Dylan , Vantaku Venkata R. , Weissleder Ralph , Parangi Sareh , Miller Miles A.
Published: June 2023

Biological and chemical reagents and their sources
Supplementary Table 1 from The DRD2 Antagonist Haloperidol Mediates Autophagy-Induced Ferroptosis to Increase Temozolomide Sensitivity by Promoting Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Glioblastoma
Authors: Shi Linyong , Chen Hanning , Chen Kunxiang , Zhong Chengzong , Song Chong , Huang Yifeng , Wang Tong , Chen Lei , Li Chiyang , Huang Annie , Qi Songtao , Li Hong , Lu Yuntao
Published: June 2023

Supplementary Table 1