bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oviposition strategies of amphibians in ephemeral streams: a multi-species perspective
Authors: Oh Dogeun , Kang Jaehun , Song Uhram , Ahn JeongYoon , Kang Changku
Published: April 2024

Many amphibians are selective about where to lay eggs, as this greatly affects their offpsring’s survival. Theoretically, species sharing the same habitat are expected to experience similar selective pressures, leading to the prediction that they might share similar oviposition preferences. However, this hypothesis has not yet been tested. In this study, through an extensive field survey, we examined the oviposition site selection of four amphibian species (Rana uenoi, Hynobius quelpaertensis, Bombina orientalis, and Dryophytes japonicus) that reproduce in the same natural ephemeral stream. Our focus was on understanding how various abiotic and biotic factors influence their reproductive choices. We primarily found that drought avoidance is a universal selective pressure affecting all species, with a tendency to avoid laying eggs in smaller pools prone to drought. Species-specific responses to leaf litter and canopy coverage were observed, but none of the species' oviposition choices correlated with the quantity of stones in pools. The study also explored biotic influences, revealing species-specific trends in the selection of pools with conspecific and heterospecific juveniles, predators, and mosquito larvae, indicating a complex ecological interplay. These findings highlight the complexity of amphibian reproductive strategies, where decisions are not driven solely by a single factor such as the avoidance of predators or competitors but also by intricate assessments of multiple factors. The study highlights that amphibian oviposition in ephemeral streams is influenced by a diverse interplay of biotic and abiotic factors, essential for understanding their reproductive strategies in dynamic environments.
Nonnative fish in the Pearl River Delta: A comprehensive study on their salinity adaptability and potential distribution area in brackish water
Authors: Luo Du , Yang Dingtian , Li Yuefei , Li Jie
Published: April 2024

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) has undergone significant environmental changes resulting from anthropogenic activities, with bio-invasion emerging as one of the most consequential byproducts. Despite these apparent transformations, our understanding of nonnative fish species and their adaptability to the environment remains incomplete, compounded by the complexity of the river network. To address this, we conducted a literature survey to screen the nonnative fish species. Subsequently, we analyzed the fish's salinity adaptation capability, spatial variations in alpha diversity, and trophic level. Thirdly, we simulated the distribution of salinity under conditions of salinity intrusion. Our findings identified 25 nonnative fish species, phylogenetically belonging to nine orders, with three being translocated species within China and the remaining 22 being exotic introductions. Although most of the nonnative fish are freshwater species and exhibit species-specific differences in salinity tolerance, they generally can adapt to brackish water, with an average salinity tolerance of 23.74 ppt. The diversity of nonnative fish declined as the relative distance decreased from the upstream of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) to its mouth in the sea (p < 0.01). Spatial analysis unveiled pronounced heterogeneity in salinity distribution, particularly in the east PRE of the LingDing Bay. Notably, under salinity intrusion circumstances, a gap region between salinity levels of 5.0 ppt and 15.0 ppt, spanning 3111.2 km2, emerged as a potential adaptation zone for nonnative fish. By emphasizing salinity as a key factor, our study may contribute to elucidating invasion mechanisms and enhancing the assessment of invasion risks in estuarine environments.
A Systematic Effectiveness Evaluation Method for Air Defense Operations Based on Deep Confidence Networks
Authors: ZHANG Peng , FENG Ke , GONG Jiancheng , YANG Xiaoqiang , SHEN Jinxing
Published: April 2024

As the key basis for evaluating the success or failure of air defense operations, it has become an urgent task to evaluate the operational effectiveness of systematic air defense weapons. To address the issues of high dimensionality, strong complexity, and subjective evaluation methods in the combat effectiveness indicators of air defense systems, a combat effectiveness indicator system for air defense systems based on the effectiveness environment is constructed through in-depth analysis of the observing, locating, deciding, and acting (OODA)environment combat theory. By fully utilizing the massive data generated during air defense operations, and extracting information features from them, a combat effectiveness evaluation method based on machine learning deep belief network (DBN) is proposed, and multiple methods such as Back Propagation ༈BP༉neural network, Particle Swarm Optimization - Back Propagation ༈PSO-BP༉neural network, Support Vector Regression ༈SVR༉algorithm, Deep neural networks ༈DNN༉network are applied for comparative simulation verification. The simulation results show that the predicted evaluation results of the DBN network model are closer to the actual values, fully proving the effectiveness of the machine learning model in the systematic evaluation of air defense combat effectiveness, achieving accurate evaluation of air defense system combat effectiveness, and providing strong support for commander combat decision-making.
Resolving multiple conformations of a sub-80 kDa Chagas vaccine candidate by cryo-EM led integrative approach
Authors: Campeotto Ivan , Batra Sagar , Ragan Timothy , Frank Asger , Kaplan Merve , Lancey Claudia , Assadipapari Mahya , Ying Cuifeng , Struwe Weston , Hesketh Emma , Barfod Lea
Published: April 2024

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, remains a significant global public health concern. Despite its profound health impact in both endemic and non-endemic areas, no vaccine is available, and the existing therapies are outdated, producing severe side effects. The 80kDa prolyl oligopeptidase of Trypanosoma cruzi (TcPOP) has been recently identified as a leading candidate for Chagas vaccine development. We report the first three-dimensional structure of TcPOP in open and closed conformation, at a resolution of 3.0 and 2.5 Angstroms respectively, determined using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. Multiple conformations were observed and were further characterized, using plasmonic optical tweezers. To assess the immunogenic potential of TcPOP, we immunized mice and evaluated both polyclonal and monoclonal responses against the TcPOP antigen and its homologues. The results revealed unexpected cross-reactivity across prolyl POPs from other closely related parasites, but intriguingly, not towards the human homologue. Altogether, our findings provide critical structural insights necessary to understand the immunogenicity of TcPOP for future Chagas vaccine development and diagnostic applications.
Multi-Step-Ahead Rainfall-Runoff Modeling: Decision Tree-Based Clustering for Hybrid Wavelet Neural- Networks Modeling
Authors: Molajou Amir , Nourani Vahid , Tajbakhsh Ali Davanlou , Variani Hossein Akbari , Khosravi Mina
Published: April 2024

This paper introduces a novel hybrid approach for predicting the rainfall-runoff (r-r) phenomenon across different data division scenarios (50%-50%, 60%-40%, and 75%-25%) within two distinct watersheds, encompassing both monthly and daily scales. Additionally, the effectiveness of this newly proposed hybrid method is evaluated in multi-step ahead prediction (MSAP) scenarios. The proposed method comprises three primary steps. Initially, to address the non-stationarity of the runoff and rainfall time series, these series are decomposed into multiple sub-time series using the wavelet (WT) decomposition method. Subsequently, in the second step, the decomposed sub-series are utilized as input data for the M5 model tree, a decision tree-based model. The M5 model tree classifies the samples of decomposed runoff and rainfall time series into distinct classes. Finally, each class is modeled using an artificial neural network (ANN). The results demonstrate the superior efficiency of the proposed WT-M5-ANN method compared to other available hybrid methods. Specifically, the calculated R2 was 0.93 for the proposed WT-M5-ANN method, whereas it was 0.89 and 0.81 for the WT-ANN and WT-M5 methods, respectively, for the Lobbs Hole Creek watershed at the daily scale.
Electrical control of valley polarized charged biexcitons in monolayer WS2
Authors: Das Sarthak , Huang Ding , Verzhbitskiy Ivan , En Ooi Zi , Siong Aaron LAU Chit , Lee Rainer , Yu Calvin Wong Pei , GOH Kuan Eng Johnson
Published: April 2024

Excitons are key to the optoelectronic applications of van der Waals semiconductors with the potential for versatile on-demand tuning of properties. Yet, their electrical manipulation is complicated by their inherent charge neutrality and the additional loss channels induced by electrical doping. We demonstrate the dynamic control of valley polarization in charged biexciton (quinton) states of monolayer tungsten disulfide, achieving up to a sixfold increase in the degree of circular polarization under off-resonant excitation. In contrast to the weak direct tuning of excitons typically observed using electrical gating, the quinton photoluminescence remains stable, even with increased scattering from electron doping. By exciting at the exciton resonances, we observed the reproducible non-monotonic switching of the charged state population as the electron doping is varied under gate bias, indicating a coherent interplay between neutral and charged exciton states.
Animal wastes-derived capped and bactericidal silver nanoparticles induce immuno-physiological responses in fish for multiple stress resilience in the One-Health Approach
Authors: Lamare Sowa o , Krishnani K K , Kumar Neeraj , Pathak Madhuri , Upadhyay Ajay , Sarkar Biplab , Verma AK , Chakraborty Puja , Chadha NK
Published: April 2024

The present study elucidates the extracellular synthesis of capped silver nanoparticles using processing waste of sheep and swine by dispensing with addition of any capping agent and advantage of avoiding agglomeration and loss of nanosized characteristics of AgNPs. The synthesis of Ag-NPs was ascertained by UV-VIS spectrophotometry of yellowish-brown suspension at 400–410 nm. The Ag-NPs were further characterized using a HR-TEM, which confirmed that the Ag-NPs were primarily spherical and had a size range of 5-100 nm with a maximum frequency fall between 5–20 nm, 21–30 nm, 31–50 nm and a few falls within 51–100 nm. Ag-NPs synthesized using sheep and pig wastes are characterized by DLS, which confirmed the high stability of Ag-NPs with a zeta potential of -27 and − 32 mV respectively. Biomolecules and biological extracts of animal wastes act as biogenic reducing and capping agents. Based on the zone of inhibition, Ag-NPs biosynthesized using sheep waste showed high bactericidal properties against Aeromonas hydrophila, Edwardsiella tarda, and Micrococcus luteus as compared to swine waste-derived AgNPs. The chronic toxicity analysis of biosynthesized Ag-NPs on Pangasianodon hypophthalmus was carried out using stress biomarkers such as an antioxidant enzyme, AChE, and metabolic enzyme activity. Chronic toxicity of synthesized Ag-NPs was found to increase with increased sub-lethal ammonia concentration and temperature. The findings of this study revealed that biosynthesis of capped and non-agglomerated Ag-NPs can be undertaken by using animal wastes for their potential application in aquaculture based on the properties observed in characterization, bactericidal activity, and physiological responses of the fish.
A viral FLIP protein, E8, exogenously-expressed in the mesenchymal lineage of mice leads to bone malformations, lipoatrophy, and muscular atrophy
Authors: Sakamaki Kazuhiro , Yajima Nobuyuki , Okazaki Yasumasa , Toriumi Taku , Honda Masaki , Toyokuni Shinya , Arai Yoshinori
Published: April 2024

The equine herpesvirus 2 E8 protein is a member of the viral FLIP family, and as such, it is a potent inhibitor of death receptor-induced apoptosis in cultured cells. To extend our study of the effects of E8 to animals, we generated a mouse model in which the progeny of a cross between two transgenic mice conditionally express E8 under the control of the collagen type I α2 chain (Col1α2) promoter, allowing us to monitor and characterize the effects of E8 expression in the mesenchymal cell lineage. We observed growth defects associated with irregular bone formation during development. In addition, adult animals exhibited both lipoatrophy-like and muscular atrophy-like symptoms. These abnormal phenotypes likely arise from incomplete differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. To examine this hypothesis in more detail, we expressed E8 in the mouse mesenchymal stem line C3H10T1/2 and performed a microarray analysis. Factors such as Nov/CCN3, STEAP4, and Ankrd1/CARP, which are involved in differentiation from mesenchymal stem cells to osteoblasts, adipocytes and myoblasts were affected. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the constitutive expression of herpesvirus gene products in the mesenchymal progenitors affects differentiation into multiple cell lineages.
Treatment of severe adenovirus infection with HAdV-B21 in a young obese male with normal immunity
Authors: Zhang Xun , Shao Shifeng , Xiao Hong , Wang Zhen , Zhong Shili
Published: April 2024

Background: Adenovirus infections typically present mild to moderate symptoms in immunocompetent individuals. However, the emergence of severe adenovirus pneumonia, particularly with rare serotypes like Human Adenovirus B21 (HAdV-B21), in patients without underlying immunodeficiency challenges existing clinical paradigms and calls for novel treatment strategies.
Case Presentation: We report a case of severe adenovirus infection with HAdV-B21 in a 32-year-old severely obese yellow Asian race male with normal immunity. The patient was admitted with severe respiratory distress, including fever, cough, sputum production, and dyspnea, requiring invasive mechanical ventilation. The oxygenation index was critically low at approximately 62mmHg. Traditional therapeutic interventions, including prone ventilation, hormonal anti-inflammatory therapy, and ribavirin antiviral therapy, were employed, leading to a successful outcome without needing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Intervention and Outcome: The combined use of hormonal anti-inflammatory therapy and ribavirin antiviral treatment was pivotal in the patient's recovery. This approach facilitated the improvement of the patient's oxygenation index and eventual weaning from mechanical ventilation. The patient fully recovered, with adenovirus nucleic acid turning negative on the 13th day of treatment.
Conclusion: This case underscores the potential for severe adenovirus pneumonia in immunocompetent adults, especially with rare serotypes like HAdV-B21. The successful recovery of our patient highlights the efficacy of a combined hormonal and antiviral treatment strategy in managing severe adenovirus infections, offering valuable insights for future clinical management.
Transcriptomic study of acute nitrite stress on ovary development stages of river shrimp (Macrobrachium nipponense)
Authors: Li Zhao , Li Huadong , Zhao Han , Zhao Zhongmeng , Zhang Lu , Mou Chengyan , Duan Yuanliang , Zhou Jian , Huang Zhipeng , Li Qiang
Published: April 2024

River shrimp (Macrobranchium nipponense) is a species of shrimp that is widely farmed in China. As the scale of farming expands, the demand for juvenile shrimp will also increase. Their ovarian development time is short, and they are easily affected by environmental factors. Nitrite is a common water pollutant. Excessive exogenous nitrite concentration can affect the gonad development of some animals. However, the effect of nitrite on ovarian development in crustaceans remains to be studied. This experiment conducted a transcriptomic study of ovaries in stage III of development by exposing M. nipponense (3.42 ± 0.12g) to nitrite in LC5048h (10.2 mg/L) for 48 hours. The results showed that the 11,592 differential genes (DEGs) included 3,243 up-regulated genes and 8,349 down-regulated genes. These DEGs are mainly enriched in pathways such as lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, lysosomal pathway and vitellogenesis. In order to resist nitrite stress, energy supply needs to be enhanced, and the expression levels of carbohydrate metabolism pathways and triglyceride synthesis and metabolism pathways increase. in the lysosomal pathway. The expression levels of Cathepsin L (CTSL) and Lysosomal aspartic protease were down-regulated. The expression levels of genes related to vitellogenin formation, juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase (JHAMT), vitellogenin receptor (VgR), and vitellogenin 2 (Vg2) were down-regulated. This shows that nitrite stress inhibits the ovarian development of M. nipponense, and there may be a mechanism similar to that of fish in regulating ovarian development by nitrite.
Coexistence of ferroelectricity and antiferroelectricity in 2D van der Waals multiferroic
Authors: Peng Bo , Wu Yangliu , Lu Haipeng , Han Xiaocang , Yang Chendi , Liu Nanshu , Zhao Xiaoxu , Qiao Liang , Ji Wei , Che Renchao , Deng Longjiang
Published: April 2024

Multiferroic materials with a coexistence of ferroelectric and magnetic order have been intensively pursued to achieve the mutual control of electric and magnetic properties toward energy-efficient memory and logic devices. The breakthrough progress of 2D van der Waals magnet and ferroelectric encourages the exploration of low dimensional multiferroics, which holds the promise to understand inscrutable magnetoelectric coupling and invent advanced spintronic devices. However, confirming ferroelectricity with optical techniques is challenging on 2D materials, particularly in conjunction with antiferromagnetic orders in a single-layer multiferroic. The prerequisite of ferroelectric is the electrically switchable spontaneous electric polarizations, which must be proven through reliable and direct electrical measurements. Here we report the discovery of 2D vdW multiferroic with out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization in trilayer NiI2 device, as revealed by scanning reflective magnetic circular dichroism microscopy and ferroelectric hysteresis loop. The evolutions of between ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phase have been unambiguously observed. Moreover, the magnetoelectric interaction is directly probed by external electromagnetic field control of the multiferroic domains switching. This work opens up opportunities for exploring new multiferroic orders and multiferroic physics at the limit of single or few atomic layers, and for creating advanced magnetoelectronic devices.
Bone Mineral Density in a Shanghai Population Aged 40–60 Years
Authors: 陈 倩 , Liu Dan , Li Xuefei , Li Fangfang , Guo Suxia , Wang Shiyun , Yuan Weina , Chen Pinghua , Li Pan , Li Fangyu , Zhao Changwei , Min Wen , Hu Zhijun
Published: April 2024

Purpose
To assess bone mineral density in middle-aged individuals in Shanghai, in order to improve awareness and screening and therefore delay bone loss and reduce osteoporotic fracture incidence.
Methods
The clinical data of 1107 permanent residents of Shanghai aged 40–60 years were collected using the cluster random sampling method. The sex, age, and body mass index of the population at different stages of bone mass loss were compared.
Results
The detection rate of low bone mass (osteopenia and osteoporosis) was 71.45%, and bone mineral density was correlated with sex, age, and body mass index (P < 0.05).
Conclusion
The incidence of low bone mass is high in the assessed population; therefore, active screening and treatment of early osteoporosis should be conducted to minimize bone fractures.
m6A-modified PADI2 facilitates proliferation and Cisplatin-resistance of epithelial ovarian cancer
Authors: Yin Xinming , Zhou Jiamin , Zhao Shijie , Lu Minjun , Li Wenxin , Shang Junyu , Zhang Mengxue , Xing Jie , Lin Li , Lu Jingjing , Shi Xuyan , Zhu Xiaolan
Published: April 2024

Objective: Chemotherapy resistance remains a barrier to improving the prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), and among several novel approaches to overcome chemotherapy resistance, modulating N6- methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification was found to be an important strategy. However, the mechanism of m6A regulator genes in EOC chemotherapy resistance has not been fully elucidated.
Methods: We found out the target genes through bioinformatics and verified them through cell biology experiments, animal experiments, etc.
Results: Here, we found that Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase 2 (PADI2) was upregulated and highly m6A methylated in EOC samples and correlated with poor outcome. PADI2 downregulation suppressed colony formation, cell proliferation and cisplatin (cDDP) resistance in EOC cells. Furthermore, we identified METTL3 as the m6A writer of PADI2 mRNA, YTHDF2 recognizes and binds m6A-methylated PADI2 mRNA, which augments the translation of PADI2, thus activating the JAK2/STAT3 pathway and facilitating cDDP resistance in EOC cells in vitro and vivo. In addition, METTL3 or YTHDF2 knockdown decreased the expression of PADI2 mRNA and suppressed tumor growth and cDDP resistance.
Conclusion: Collectively, we identified a novel mechanism underlying the induction of cDDP resistance and EOC progression by m6A-modified PADI2, which can serve as a target to develop therapeutics for EOC treatment.
The effectiveness of machine learning methods in the nonlinear coupled data assimilation
Authors: Xuan Ziying , Zheng Fei , Zhu Jiang
Published: April 2024

Implementing the strongly coupled data assimilation (SCDA) in coupled earth system models remains big challenging, primarily due to accurately estimating the coupled cross background-error covariance. In this work, through simplified two-variable one-dimensional assimilation experiments focusing on the air-sea interactions over the tropical pacific, we aim to clarify that SCDA based on the variance-covariance correlation, such as the ensemble-based SCDA, is limited in handling the inherent nonlinear relations between cross-sphere variables and provides a background matrix containing linear information only. These limitations also lead to the analysis distributions deviating from the truth and miscalculating the strength of rare extreme events. However, free from linear or Gaussian assumptions, the application of the data-driven machine learning (ML) method, such as Multilayer Perceptron, on SCDA circumvents the expensive matrix operations by avoiding the explicit calculation of background matrix. This strategy presents comprehensively superior performance than the conventional ensemble-based assimilation strategy, particularly in representing the strongly-nonlinear relationships between cross-sphere variables and reproducing long-tailed distributions, which help capture the occurrence of small probability events. It is also demonstrated to be cost-effective and has great potential to generate a more accurate initial condition for coupled models, especially in facilitating prediction tasks of the extreme events.
Parallel Acceleration Algorithm for Wavelet Denoising of UAVAGS Data Based on CUDA
Authors: Xiong Chao , Wang Xin , Qiao Xin , Wang Xinjie , Qiu Xiaojian , Fu Zhen , Wu Hexi
Published: April 2024

The computational efficiency is low when the vast volume of unmanned aerial vehicle airborne gamma-ray spectrum (UAVAGS) data is handled by wavelet denoising in CPU. So, a CUDA-based GPU parallel solution is recommended to resolve this issue in this paper. This proposed solution aims to significantly enhance the efficiency of parallel acceleration for wavelet denoising of UAVAGS data. In the preliminary stage, experiments were conducted with varying block sizes to investigate the influence of different block sizes on processing time. The objective was to identify the most suitable block size for efficiently processing UAVAGS data. Subsequently, a performance evaluation was conducted by comparing the acceleration ratios of GPU and CPU for different data volumes, as well as varying wavelet basis functions under the same data volume conditions. Finally, by intentionally introducing noise, calculations were performed to determine the optimal wavelet basis function concerning signal-to-noise ratio after denoising. The research findings indicate that the optimal two-dimensional block size falls within the range of 64×64 to 128×128. The majority of wavelet basis functions achieved acceleration ratios exceeding 100-fold in total processing time, with the coif5 wavelet basis function reaching an acceleration ratio of 185-fold. Comparative analysis of various denoising functions revealed that, under low signal-to-noise ratios, these functions exhibited insufficient denoising effects, while at high signal-to-noise ratios, there was a risk of excessive denoising. However, significant denoising effects were observed when employing hard thresholding with coif5, soft thresholding, and an improved thresholding method with db3.
Low visibility underwater biological target detection based on YOLOV5s
Authors: Lin Huixian , Deng Haidong , Du Hong , Liu Yaohong
Published: April 2024

Underwater robots play an important role in aquatic organisms’ fishing , but the low visibility may lead to poor recognition of marine organisms’ fishing. To improve this issue, we propose an improved YOLOv5s model. Given the problem of excessive invalid information in underwater images, this method integrates a Coordinate Attention (CA) mechanism into the feature extraction network, enhances the feature extraction capability of the network, reduces feature redundancy , and helps the model locate underwater organism targets more quickly and accurately. At the same time, the Bi-directional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN) is used to replace the Path Aggregation Network (PAN) structure, and the features of different scales are fused quickly. Finally, the Structured Intersection over Union (SIoU) loss function is introduced to replace the Complete IoU (CIoU) loss function as a new boundary frame loss function, which improves the convergence speed and accuracy of the model. The experimental results show that compared with other algorithms, the improved YOLOv5s algorithm has more advantages in accuracy and detection speed.
Epidemiological shift in hepatitis A causing diagnostic and treatment challenges in Ethiopia: A need for guideline and vaccine
Authors: Shewaye Abate Bane , Berhane Kaleb Assefa , Daniel Amsalework
Published: April 2024

Background
Hepatitis A is an acute viral infection of the liver caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV) that is acquired through the feco-oral route. It is ranked first in terms of incidence rate among the four major acute forms of viral hepatitis (A, B, C, and E) and usually occurs in early childhood. However, the prevalence acute hepatitis A has recently increased among teenagers and young adults, and it is usually misdiagnosed. This study emphasizes the significance of awareness among healthcare workers about the increasing incidence of acute hepatitis A among this group to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.
Methods
A hospital-based retrospective cross-sectional study was employed. Fifty-eight confirmed acute HAV patients who visited Adera Medical and Surgical Center (AMSC) between August 2023 and January 2024 were enrolled. Sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory parameters and documented management data, including hospitalization and any trial of antibiotic treatment before considering HAV or in the course of the illness, were collected. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS (SPSS, Version 26.0).
Results
The sex ratio was similar, with a slight male predominance (M/F = 1.07). The mean age [± SD] of the patients was 19.3[± 8.8] years. Thirty-nine (67.2%) of the patients were students, and all of the patients were from Addis Ababa. Vomiting (82.8%), anorexia (70.7%) and yellowish discoloration of the eyes (62.1%) were the most common presenting symptoms, while icteric sclera 44 (75.9%) and epigastric tenderness 17 (29.3%) were the most common physical findings. More than half of the patients (55.2%) were initially misdiagnosed with typhoid fever (TF) (46.8%), peptic ulcer disease (PUD) (31.2%) or urinary tract infection (UTI) (15.6%). All patients recovered fully, and liver function tests (LFTs) normalized with supportive care within 2–4 weeks.
Conclusion
This study revealed a high incidence of HAV among adolescents and young adults (mean [± SD] age 19.31 [± 8.8] years), with more than half of the patients (55.2%) initially being misdiagnosed with TF, PUD or UTI, causing diagnostic and treatment challenges. This necessitates heightened awareness among healthcare workers and the public. Early HAV diagnosis through targeted laboratory investigations and avoiding unnecessary antibiotics are crucial for effective management and prevention via hygienic and immunization strategies.
Microbial transfer through fecal strings on eggs affect leaf beetle microbiome dynamics
Authors: An Yueqing , Garcia Sarahi L. , Hambäck Peter A.
Published: April 2024

Background
Gut microbiomes of holometabolous insects can be strongly affected by the metamorphosis. Previous studies suggest that microbiome colonization and community development often rely on specialized transmission routes between host life stages, but there is a lack of comparative studies of microbial community dynamics due to different transmission mechanisms.
Results
We compared the gut microbial community dynamics across life stages for five Galerucella species that differ in a potential microbial transfer mechanism by sequencing amplicons of the 16S rRNA gene. Females of three of the studied species place a fecal string on top of the egg, which may improve the transfer of gut microbes, whereas females of the two other species do not place such a fecal string. We found that the α-diversity was more stable between life stages in fecal string placer-species compared with the non-fecal string placer-species. Moreover, there were also consistent differences in the microbiome between species, where we identified multiple taxa in each species that consistently appeared in all life stages.
Conclusions
Fecal strings placed on eggs seem to play an important role in the diversity and dynamic of gut bacteria in Galerucella species, and the vertical transfer of gut bacteria between host insect generations. Alternative, but less efficient, transmission routes seem to occur in non-fecal string placer-species.
A transferable molecular model for accurate thermodynamic studies of water in large-scale systems
Authors: Franzese Giancarlo , Coronas Luis , Vilanova Oriol
Published: April 2024

Due to its anomalies, water, essential in biological systems and various applications, poses a unique computational challenge.
While diverse models have been proposed to simulate water efficiently, accurately reproducing its behavior across a broad range of temperatures and pressures for large-scale systems still remains elusive. To fill this gap, we develop a molecular model that balances accuracy, analytical tractability, and computational efficiency. By detailing hydrogen bond networks and many-body interactions while coarse-graining atomic coordinates via a density field, we establish a model calibrated against experiments at ambient conditions. It matches water's equation of state and response functions over a temperature range of approximately 60 degrees at atmospheric pressure and about 40 degrees up to 50 MPa. Our findings advance water property understanding, enabling precise thermodynamic calculations, including free energy, in systems with tens of millions of molecules, paving the way for exploration in various scientific disciplines.
RFTN1: an potential inhibitor of the immunity system in TME of breast cancer improving the tumor immune escape
Authors: Xin Hongbin , Zhang Mingzhu , Miu Linrui , Zhou Lin , Li Zhenghang , Tang Lingfeng
Published: April 2024

Background
Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been extensively utilized in treating breast cancer patients, leading to improved prognoses. For patients with negative checkpoint responses, there is a pressing need to identify alternative therapies to improve outcomes.
Method
We used WGCNA in muti-place metastasis samples to find the lymph node metastasis related gene RFTN1. Consensus cluster show the different subtype with significant pathway changes and immune cells differences. We used CellChat estimated the different interactions of cells in single cell data. We used hdWGCNA and irGSEA to identify the changes between different RFTN1expression groups.
Results
Our research began by analyzing RNA sequences from breast cancer tumors with metastasis using WGCNA. We identified a gene, RFTN1, that is closely associated with lymph node metastasis, a critical early step in breast cancer spread. Subsequent analysis of RFTN1's potential functions, using data from TCGA-BRCA project, suggested that RFTN1might be involved in regulating the immune system. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that samples with higher RFTN1expression had increased proportions of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, albeit the overall proportions were lower. These samples also showed different interactions between T cells and other cells, indicating a greater reception of chemotactic factors (CFs) in samples with higher RFTN1 expression. Previous studies have confirmed RFTN1's role in macrophages, aligning with the pathways enriched by the differential gene expression associated with varying levels of RFTN1. It appears that RFTN1 may facilitate T cell receptor binding to CFs, thereby enhancing T cell activation in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Additionally, pathways related to apoptosis were upregulated in samples with higher RFTN1expression, correlating with a reduced proportion of malignant cells.
Conclusion
This study proposes a novel approach to modulating T cells in the TME and offers an alternative to traditional immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies for treating BC. RFTN1 is related to the CFs receptor transportation in CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells, which may activate the anti-tumor immunity system in TME.
Anxiety Disorder Amongst Clinical Medical Students at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, ENUGU CAMPUS: a Comparative Study
Authors: ANASIUDU EBUBE PRECIOUS , ANAKWUE CHINEDU RAPHEAL , ANASONYE CHUKWUEBUKA JOHNBOSCO , ANANWUNA NNAGOZIE PAUL , EKWUEME CHRISTIAN OSAELOKA
Published: April 2024

Anxiety disorders are combinations of emotional disorders that have profound effects on the mental status of individuals. One of the most common presentations is a panic attack, in which students experience attacks that are especially close to tests and examinations due to the cumbersome academic workload.
This paper reviews the effect of anxiety disorders among medical students at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus. An online questionnaire was distributed to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th MBBS classes in an attempt to determine the prevalence and knowledge of anxiety in these classes, and any known coping mechanisms and to perform a comparative study on socio-demographic, academic, and personal factors.
The results revealed a preponderance in females and fear of failure and a high dependence on receiving emotional support from family, praying and meditating as coping mechanisms.
Hopefully, this study will inform academic authorities on the need to adjust syllables due to increased workload as a contributing factor of anxiety disorder and school authorities on the need for a closed student-lecturer interaction.
Building Energy Optimization using BIM: A Study on Institutional Building
Authors: S. Yuvaraj M. , Shaik Nurulla , V. Purushotham D. , A. Yashwanth Krishna , V. Krishna Sai , B. Lokesh Babu , P. Azaruddin
Published: April 2024

In many facets of the construction industry, including energy management to encourage the development of green buildings, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the contemporary data information platforms and management technologies that is widely employed. The goal of this study was to optimize an institutional building's energy consumption by analyzing and evaluating its energy performance using BIM-provided capabilities. The Civil Engineering block of Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College in Tirupati, was taken into consideration for the investigation. The 2D blueprint was obtained from the engineering department and BIM technologies were used to create the necessary building model. The Green Building Studio (GBS) tool and Autodesk Insight 360 were utilized to conduct an energy analysis and derive the energy usage figures. The structural elements that are contributing to the high energy demand, such as the area between windows and walls, the width of the chajja relative to the height of the window, etc., were identified, and the BIM model underwent the required alterations to optimize the energy consumption. Comparing the data obtained in the two aspects, it was found that there was a 30% reduction in energy costs and a roughly 29.76% drop in energy use.
Exploration of the antiviral efficacy of thiophene derivatives targeting human papillomavirus (HPV) and prevention of cancer: A comprehensive computational approach
Authors: Odey Michael O. , Gulack Alpha O. , Ogar Rose O. , Oduma Stanley J. , Odey Diana O. , Iyen Sandra I.
Published: April 2024

Owing to the public health concern of human papillomavirus infection, which is capable of progressing into cancer among the population today, desperation to mitigate the cause of this infection is needed; hence, in this research, we unveiled the antiviral effects of four thiophene derivatives, 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E, against human papillomavirus (HPV) via computational DFT and molecular docking approaches along with ADMET prediction. Interestingly, the compounds showed great stability according to conformational assessment, spectroscopic studies (FT-IR and UV‒Vis), NBO studies, and quantum descriptor analysis. These compounds mostly exhibit LP→ LP, σ*→ σ*, and σ*→ σ transitions, as 2B shows a dominant π*→ π* orbital transition. Their reactivity was observed in different studies; for example, the HOMO-LUMO and DOS results highlighted 2B as the most reactive, among others. The energy gaps were 3.758 eV, 3.750 eV, 3.743 eV, and 3.724 eV for 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2E, respectively. During the docking process, the compounds displayed a high binding affinity and number of amino acids after interacting with the 1R8H and 4GIZ proteins of HPV, especially when they interacted with the 4GIZ protein, as the 2E-4GIZ complex displayed a robust affinity of -6.4 kcal/mol. Hence, these compounds show great antiviral potential against HPV and are promising candidates for novel HPV infection therapies.
Exploring Key Challenges for Healthcare Providers and Stakeholders in delivering adolescent sexual and Reproductive Health Services and information during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Munakampe Margarate Nzala , Matenga Tulani Francis Lufungulo , Chewe Mwimba , Gold-Watts Anise , Lahidji Reza
Published: April 2024

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the direct and indirect influences of COVID-19-related restrictions on adolescents and young people's SRHR in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with a focus on teenage pregnancy and access to and utilization of HIV testing and counselling services.
Methods: A qualitative case study in a larger mixed-methods study design was used. Thirty-four interviews and four group discussions were conducted with relevant stakeholders in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Zambia, adolescents and young people were included and asked to describe their experience/perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on their SRHR. Content and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data,
Results: Priority shifts resulted in the focus of service provision to the COVID-19 response, shortages of already insufficient human resources due to infection and/or isolation, supply chain disruptions leading to shortages of important SRH-related commodities and supplies, compromised quality of services such as counselling for HIV and overall limited AYP’s access to SRH information. Suggestions for interventions to improve SRH services include the need for a disaster preparedness strategy, increased funding for ASRHR, the use of community health workers and community-based ASRHR strategies, and the use of technology and social media platforms such as mhealth.
Conclusion:Disruption of SRH services for AYP due to pandemic related-restrictions, and diversion of resources/funding has had a ripple effect that may have long-term consequences for AYP throughout the East and Southern African region. This calls for further investment in AYP’s access to SRHR services as progress made may have been deterred.
Enhancing Supply Chain Management in Small-Medium Enterprises through Business Intelligence: A Conceptual Model Approach
Authors: Sadeghi mohammad Taghi , hasan Ibaa Al
Published: April 2024

In the contemporary business milieu, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) encounter distinct challenges in navigating the complexities of supply chain management (SCM) owing to resource constraints and operational limitations. This study proposes a conceptual model to bolster SCM efficiency within SMEs through the strategic application of business intelligence (BI). Adopting a qualitative and exploratory approach, the research delves into the experiences and insights of experts, managers, and information technology specialists entrenched in the SME landscape. Utilizing judgmental sampling, data saturation was achieved through semi-structured interviews, which were subsequently analyzed via thematic analysis. The findings unveil a comprehensive framework comprising 98 initial themes distilled into 55 basic themes, 15 organizing themes, and 4 global themes encompassing supply network analytics, business performance analytics, optimal path management, and retention and loyalty analytics. By embracing BI and integrating the proposed conceptual model, SMEs are poised to unlock novel growth trajectories and fortify their competitive standing in the contemporary business ecosystem.
Bioinformatics Analysis and Experimental Validation of m3C RNA Methylation Regulators in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Fan Aqiang , Lin Junchao , Wang Yizhuo , Yang Bin , Wang Xiangjie , Wang Shiqi , Liu Hong , Zhou Wei
Published: April 2024

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive system; however, its etiology remains unclear. Clarifying its pathogenesis is essential to improve the prognosis of patients with HCC. Studies have shown that the 3-methylcytidine (m3C) methylation regulator is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors and has an excellent potential prognostic value. In the present study, 486 patients with HCC were collected from TCGA and GEO databases, and 16 patients with HCC and adjacent tissues in our hospital were collected. The expression level, mutation of six m3C regulators, and their relationship with the prognosis of patients were comprehensively analyzed, and an m3C scoring system was simultaneously constructed for quantifying m3C modifications. The expression of m3C regulators in HCC was generally different, and most were related to patient prognosis. We further determined two different m3C modification modes in HCC samples. We found differences in clinical characteristics and total survival times between different modification classifications, which further proved that patients with higher m3C scores had longer survival times and better clinical characteristics. This study explored the genetic variation and prognostic value of m3C methylation regulators in HCC and designed a scoring system to predict the prognosis of HCC, providing help for the treatment and prognosis of HCC patients.
Exploring the Influence of B4Cp Concentration and Strain Rate on the Compressive Loading Behavior of Closed Cell Al2024-B4Cp Composite Foams for Enhanced Energy Absorption Applications
Authors: Singh Rajvir , Sharma Jagmohan Datt , Kumar Amit , Thakur Rakesh Kumar , Dinesh Pal , Arora Rama
Published: April 2024

Aluminum foams find extensive applications in the automotive, marine, and defence industries, owing to their exceptional properties like high specific strength and the ability to absorb energy effectively under constant stress. In the current study, the aluminum composite foams (ACFs) reinforced with different wt% (n=2,4,6,8 and 10) of B4Cp (21-30µm) have been developed by stir casting method and their compressive properties at quasi-static (0.001s-1), intermediate (1s-1) and dynamic loading (680s-1) have been investigated. The study shows that adding B4Cp up to 8wt% initially increases foam expansion and cell size, followed by a decrease, while relative density and cell wall thickness exhibit the opposite trend. At all tested strain rates, the compressive properties such as peak stress, average plateau stress, and energy absorption capacity show a consistent increase with the rise in B4Cp wt%. The density normalized average plateau stress confirmed the strengthening effect due to B4Cp addition in the foam. The developed aluminum foams exhibit strain rate sensitivity in their average plateau stress.
Spontaneous brain fluctuation abnormalities in retired football players
Authors: Danielli Ethan , Sharma Bhanu , Nowikow Cameron , Noseworthy Michael D
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND
New measures of the spontaneity of signal amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) present in resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) may provide useful objective information when applied to concussion. These metrics provide a spatial map of where signal spontaneity departs from normal values to indicate areas of impairment or over-compensation. Former professional American-style football players would show diffusely decreased ALFF and fALFF.
METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of 18 retired Canadian Football League (rCFL) players (male, aged 58.78 ± 6.10) recruited and 62 healthy age and sex-matched controls (male, aged 58.81 ± 5.69) downloaded from OASIS-3. High resolution 3D T1-weighted and rsfMRI data was collected on a 3T GE MRI. CONN was used to preprocess the rsfMRI data and compute ALFF/fALFF metrics, while voxel-wise and brain region-of-interest (ROI) Z-scoring analyses were computed in MATLAB. The rCFL participants also completed self-reporting clinical behavioural tests. Significant ALFF and fALFF differences were calculated as clusters (Threshold Free Cluster Enhancement, FWE-corrected p < 0.05) and ROI Z-scoring (Abnormal ROI, +3≤Z-score≤-3). Correlations and multiple linear regression analyses between participant demographics, clinical test data, and total number of abnormal brain ROIs were also computed.
RESULTS: Two large clusters of decreased signal spontaneity and one large cluster of increased signal spontaneity were found in retired athletes compared to controls. The Z-scoring analysis found consistently abnormal ROIs from ALFF and fALFF data from the right amygdala, right thalamus, bilateral occipital pole, and bilateral cerebellum crus II. The total number of positive fALFF Z-score outliers correlated with a longer career length.
CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses showed that cerebellar and central sub-cortical brain regions were most frequently and seriously abnormal. Spontaneous brain activity, a measure of brain health, was compromised in retired athletes years after competitive sport.