bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quality Improvement in Pediatrics: Survey Needs Assessment for Ambulatory Pediatric Specialties (SNAAPS)
Authors: Rice Katlyn , Alpert-Gillis Linda , Cohen Andrew , Scharf Michael
Published: July 2022

Objective:

This article describes a pediatric quality improvement (QI) initiative designed to improve access to behavioral health (BH) care across pediatric specialty clinics. Mental health concerns and chronic health conditions are undertreated in American youth. By implementing a robust biopsychosocial model of care, behavioral health integration (BHI) across pediatric specialty clinics provides opportunities to address mental health concerns, reduce access barriers to mental health care, decrease mental health stigma, improve care continuity, and increase effectiveness of medical care provided.

Method:

The Survey Needs Assessment in Ambulatory Pediatric Specialties (SNAAPS) was developed and implemented within the pediatric QI initiative following the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle. The SNAAPS was used to assess medical provider identification of challenging mental health concerns and perceived need for BHI.

Results:

Results were shared with department stakeholders to inform new integration efforts. Providers reported highest demand for BHI to address issues of depression, anxiety, distress regarding medical diagnosis and treatment, and treatment adherence. Providers reported several BH concerns created barriers to effective medical care and providers only sometimes felt successful in overcoming these barriers to conducting medical care.

Conclusions:

Demand for BHI was clear across many specialties. Using the SNAAPS as part of the PDSA cycle was a useful process to inform new BHI efforts and therefore facilitate improved effectiveness and quality of health care.

Implications for Impact Statement

This study provides an organizational model and needs assessment survey that can be used to improve access to behavioral health care across pediatric specialty clinics. Results demonstrated that pediatric specialty providers identified several behavioral health concerns that created barriers to their patients’ medical care, which could be addressed by integrating behavioral health services directly into pediatric specialty clinics. Further, using the SNAAPS within the quality improvement context (following the PDSA cycle) was a useful strategy to increase access to behavioral health care in an evidence-based, resource-sensitive way.
Suicidality in Bereaved Parents Within Pediatric Institutions: Recommendations for Managing Ethical Challenges
Authors: Patten Joanna T. , Hoag Jennifer A. , Galtieri Liana R. , Canavera Kristin , Thompson Amanda L.
Published: July 2022

Objective: Illness remains among the leading causes of death for children in the United States. Bereaved parents are at risk for poor psychosocial outcomes, including suicidal ideation and death by suicide. Although professional ethics and national standards recommend psychosocial care for parents of children with chronic or life-limiting illnesses, there are ethical challenges associated with managing parent suicidality within a pediatric institution. Method: We present two cases illustrating the ethical challenges of responding to suicide risk in parents experiencing bereavement within pediatric institutions. Lack of systematic psychosocial support or standard operating procedures (SOP) in both cases resulted in several ethical concerns and suboptimal clinical care. Results: We reference the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct ( American Psychological Association [APA], 2017 ) and apply an ethical framework ( Andrews, 2021 ) for delivering psychological services to parents in pediatric institutions in these two cases. We describe the ethical challenges of: Conflicting interests of parent and child, multiple relationships, documentation and billing, informed consent, provider competence, and systemic racism within health care and law enforcement when managing suicide risk of grieving parents. Conclusions: We discuss practices for the ethical management of suicide risk in parents experiencing bereavement within a pediatric institution. We provide recommendations for clinical practice and organizational policy, as well as strategies to improve assessment and management of parental suicidality and suggestions for future research.

Implications for Impact Statement

Clinical management of suicide risk in bereaved parents within pediatric institutions is complicated by a range of ethical concerns, which often underlie organizational barriers and practical challenges of caring for these parents. This article includes illustrative case examples, provides clinical and practical recommendations, and prepares pediatric psychologists and health care settings to develop standardized operating procedures to care for this vulnerable population.
On-chip beam rotators, adiabatic mode converters, and waveplates through low-loss waveguides with variable cross-sections
Authors: Sun Bangshan , Morozko Fyodor , Salter Patrick S. , Moser Simon , Pong Zhikai , Patel Raj B. , Walmsley Ian A. , Wang Mohan , Hazan Adir , Barré Nicolas , Jesacher Alexander , Fells Julian , He Chao , Katiyi Aviad , Tian Zhen-Nan , Karabchevsky Alina , Booth Martin J.
Published: July 2022

Photonics integrated circuitry would benefit considerably from the ability to arbitrarily control waveguide cross-sections with high precision and low loss, in order to provide more degrees of freedom in manipulating propagating light. Here, we report a new method for femtosecond laser writing of optical-fiber-compatible glass waveguides, namely spherical phase-induced multicore waveguide (SPIM-WG), which addresses this challenging task with three-dimensional on-chip light control. Fabricating in the heating regime with high scanning speed, precise deformation of cross-sections is still achievable along the waveguide, with shapes and sizes finely controllable of high resolution in both horizontal and vertical transversal directions. We observed that these waveguides have high refractive index contrast of 0.017, low propagation loss of 0.14 dB/cm, and very low coupling loss of 0.19 dB coupled from a single-mode fiber. SPIM-WG devices were easily fabricated that were able to perform on-chip beam rotation through varying angles, or manipulate the polarization state of propagating light for target wavelengths. We also demonstrated SPIM-WG mode converters that provide arbitrary adiabatic mode conversion with high efficiency between symmetric and asymmetric nonuniform modes; examples include circular, elliptical modes, and asymmetric modes from ppKTP (periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate) waveguides which are generally applied in frequency conversion and quantum light sources. Created inside optical glass, these waveguides and devices have the capability to operate across ultra-broad bands from visible to infrared wavelengths. The compatibility with optical fiber also paves the way toward packaged photonic integrated circuitry, which usually needs input and output fiber connections.
Next-day manufacture of a novel anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia: first-in-human clinical study
Authors: Yang Junfang , He Jiaping , Zhang Xian , Li Jingjing , Wang Zhenguang , Zhang Yongliang , Qiu Liyuan , Wu Qionglu , Sun Zhe , Ye Xun , Yin Wenjie , Cao Wei , Shen Lianjun , Sersch Martina , Lu Peihua
Published: July 2022

To improve clinical outcomes and shorten the vein-to-vein time of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells, we developed the FasT CAR-T (F-CAR-T) next-day manufacturing platform. We report the preclinical and first-in-human clinical studies evaluating the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of CD19 F-CAR-T in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). CD19 F-CAR-T cells demonstrated excellent proliferation with a younger cellular phenotype, less exhaustion, and more effective tumor elimination compared to conventional CAR-T cells in the preclinical study. In our phase I study (NCT03825718), F-CAR-T cells were successfully manufactured and infused in all of the 25 enrolled pediatric and adult patients with B-ALL. CD19 F-CAR-T safety profile was manageable with 24% grade 3 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and 28% grade 3/4 neurotoxicity occurring predominantly in pediatric patients. On day 14, 23/25 patients achieved minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative complete remission (CR), and 20 subsequently underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) within 3 months post F-CAR-T therapy. Fifteen of 20 patients were disease-free with a median remission duration of 734 days. One patient relapsed and 4/20 died from transplant-related mortality. Of the three patients who did not undergo allo-HSCT, two remained in CR until 10 months post-F-CAR-T. Our data indicate that anti-CD19 FasT CAR-T shows promising early efficacy for B-ALL. Further evaluations in larger clinical studies are needed.
HOTAIR/miR-1277-5p/ZEB1 axis mediates hypoxia-induced oxaliplatin resistance via regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer
Authors: Weng Xingyue , Liu Hao , Ruan Jian , Du Miaoyan , Wang Lingjie , Mao Jiayan , Cai Ying , Lu Xuemei , Chen Wei , Huang Yaqing , Zhi Xiao , Shan Jianzhen
Published: July 2022

The hypoxic microenvironment contributes to the chemoresistance of many malignant tumors including colorectal cancer (CRC). Accumulating studies have indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in chemotherapy resistance. In this study, we aimed to determine the effect of lncRNAs in hypoxia-mediated resistance in CRC and its potential mechanism. Here, we discovered that hypoxia-induced oxaliplatin resistance and HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) expression was increased in hypoxia-treated CRC cell lines and CRC tumors. Knockdown of HOTAIR by siRNA reduced the viability and proliferation of CRC cells treated with oxaliplatin and reversed hypoxia-induced resistance. Mechanically, we found that HOTAIR modulates zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) expression by negative regulations of miR-1277-5p. When miR-1277-5p was silenced, knockdown of HOTAIR was unable to reduce the oxaliplatin resistance in CRC cells. In mouse models of CRC, HOTAIR knockdown markedly inhibited the tumor growth when treated with oxaliplatin. Thus, HOTAIR/miR-1277-5p/ZEB1 axis appears a promising therapeutic target for improving the oxaliplatin efficacy in CRC.
A previously uncharacterized gene, PA2146, contributes to biofilm formation and drug tolerance across the ɣ-Proteobacteria
Authors: Kaleta Matthew F. , Petrova Olga E. , Zampaloni Claudia , Garcia-Alcalde Fernando , Parker Matthew , Sauer Karin
Published: July 2022

Transcriptomic studies have revealed a large number of uncharacterized genes that are differentially expressed in biofilms, which may be important in regulating biofilm phenotypes such as resistance to antimicrobial agents. To identify biofilm genes of unknown function in P. aeruginosa, we made use of RNA-seq and selected 27 uncharacterized genes that were induced upon biofilm growth. Biofilms by respective mutants were subsequently analyzed for two biofilm characteristics, the biofilm architecture and drug susceptibility. The screen revealed 12 out of 27 genes to contribute to biofilm formation and 13 drug susceptibility, with 8 genes affecting both biofilm phenotypes. Amongst the genes affecting both biofilm phenotypes was PA2146, encoding a small hypothetical protein that exhibited some of the most substantial increases in transcript abundance during biofilm growth by P. aeruginosa PAO1 and clinical isolates. PA2146 is highly conserved in ɣ-proteobacteria. Inactivation of PA2146 affected both biofilm phenotypes in P. aeruginosa PAO1, with inactivation of homologs in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli having similar effects. Heterologous expression of PA2146 homologs complemented the P. aeruginosa ∆PA2146, suggesting that PA2146 homologs substitute for and play a similar role as PA2146 in P. aeruginosa.
Photoinduced small electron polarons generation and recombination in hematite
Authors: Cheng Cheng , Zhu Yonghao , Zhou Zhaohui , Long Run , Fang Wei-Hai
Published: July 2022

Polarons generally affect adversely the photochemical and photophysical properties of transition metal oxides. However, the excited-state dynamics of polarons are not fully established to date and thus require an atomistic understanding. We focus on α-Fe2O3 with photoexcitation, electron injection, and heterovalent doping as the small polaron models, and conduct simulations of ab initio adiabatic molecular dynamics (AIMD) and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics (NA-MD). The elaborately designed AIMD simulations show that localization of electron at a single Fe site is an adiabatic and ultrafast process within sub-15 fs. Fe2O3 doping with an electron or a Si and Ti dopant forms a localized electron polaron while photoexcitation forms localized electron and hole polarons simultaneously, leading to diverse electron–hole recombination dynamics. NA-MD simulations demonstrate that recombination of an electron polaron created by doping with a delocalized hole at the valence band maximum of α-Fe2O3 takes place around 5 ps, while recombination between a pair of small electron and hole polarons in photoexcited Fe2O3 delays to about 110 ps owing to weak NA coupling and fast decoherence process. The ultrafast formation of small electron polarons in α-Fe2O3 impedes the accumulation of delocalized holes in the valence band that directly participate in water oxidation at photoanodes. The detrimental effect can be partially circumvented in photoexcited Fe2O3 for slowing electron–hole recombination despite polarons may retain low charge mobility. These findings provide a fundamental understanding of the excited-state dynamics of small electron polaron in α-Fe2O3 and may help design efficient transition metal oxides photoanodes.
Approaching Heisenberg-scalable thermometry with built-in robustness against noise
Authors: Zhang Da-Jian , Tong D. M.
Published: July 2022

It is a major goal in quantum thermometry to reach a 1/N scaling of thermometric precision known as Heisenberg scaling but is still in its infancy to date. The main obstacle is that the resources typically required are highly entangled states, which are very difficult to produce and extremely vulnerable to noises. Here, we propose an entanglement-free scheme of thermometry to approach Heisenberg scaling for a wide range of N, which has built-in robustness irrespective of the type of noise in question. Our scheme is amenable to a variety of experimental setups. Moreover, it can be used as a basic building block for promoting previous proposals of thermometry to reach Heisenberg scaling, and its applications are not limited to thermometry but can be straightforwardly extended to other metrological tasks.
Scalable two-terminal all-perovskite tandem solar modules with a 19.1% efficiency
Authors: Abdollahi Nejand Bahram , Ritzer David B. , Hu Hang , Schackmar Fabian , Moghadamzadeh Somayeh , Feeney Thomas , Singh Roja , Laufer Felix , Schmager Raphael , Azmi Raheleh , Kaiser Milian , Abzieher Tobias , Gharibzadeh Saba , Ahlswede Erik , Lemmer Uli , Richards Bryce S. , Paetzold Ulrich W.
Published: July 2022

Monolithic all-perovskite tandem photovoltaics promise to combine low-cost and high-efficiency solar energy harvesting with the advantages of all-thin-film technologies. To date, laboratory-scale all-perovskite tandem solar cells have only been fabricated using non-scalable fabrication techniques. In response, this work reports on laser-scribed all-perovskite tandem modules processed exclusively with scalable fabrication methods (blade coating and vacuum deposition), demonstrating power conversion efficiencies up to 19.1% (aperture area, 12.25 cm2; geometric fill factor, 94.7%) and stable power output. Compared to the performance of our spin-coated reference tandem solar cells (efficiency, 23.5%; area, 0.1 cm2), our prototypes demonstrate substantial advances in the technological readiness of all-perovskite tandem photovoltaics. By means of electroluminescence imaging and laser-beam-induced current mapping, we demonstrate the homogeneous current collection in both subcells over the entire module area, which explains low losses (<5%rel) in open-circuit voltage and fill factor for our scalable modules.
The evolutionary origin of host association in the Rickettsiales
Authors: Schön Max E. , Martijn Joran , Vosseberg Julian , Köstlbacher Stephan , Ettema Thijs J. G.
Published: July 2022

The evolution of obligate host-association of bacterial symbionts and pathogens remains poorly understood. The Rickettsiales are an alphaproteobacterial order of obligate endosymbionts and parasites that infect a wide variety of eukaryotic hosts, including humans, livestock, insects and protists. Induced by their host-associated lifestyle, Rickettsiales genomes have undergone reductive evolution, leading to small, AT-rich genomes with limited metabolic capacities. Here we uncover eleven deep-branching alphaproteobacterial metagenome assembled genomes from aquatic environments, including data from the Tara Oceans initiative and other publicly available datasets, distributed over three previously undescribed Rickettsiales-related clades. Phylogenomic analyses reveal that two of these clades, Mitibacteraceae and Athabascaceae, branch sister to all previously sampled Rickettsiales. The third clade, Gamibacteraceae, branch sister to the recently identified ectosymbiotic ‘Candidatus Deianiraea vastatrix’. Comparative analyses indicate that the gene complement of Mitibacteraceae and Athabascaceae is reminiscent of that of free-living and biofilm-associated bacteria. Ancestral genome content reconstruction across the Rickettsiales species tree further suggests that the evolution of host association in Rickettsiales was a gradual process that may have involved the repurposing of a type IV secretion system.
Investigating the mechanisms of peritoneal metastasis in gastric adenocarcinoma using a novel ex vivo peritoneal explant model
Authors: Ng Deanna , Ali Aiman , Lee Kiera , Eymael Denise , Abe Kento , Luu Shelly , Kazazian Karineh , Lu Yi Qing , Brar Savtaj , Conner James , Magalhaes Marco , Swallow Carol J.
Published: July 2022

Gastric adenocarcinoma, commonly known as stomach cancer, has a predilection for metastasis to the peritoneum, which portends limited survival. The peritoneal metastatic cascade remains poorly understood, and existing models fail to recapitulate key elements of the interaction between cancer cells and the peritoneal layer. To explore the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of peritoneal metastasis, we developed an ex vivo human peritoneal explant model. Fresh peritoneal tissue samples were suspended, mesothelial layer down but without direct contact, above a monolayer of red-fluorescent dye stained AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells for 24 h, then washed thoroughly. Implantation of AGS cells within the explanted peritoneum and invasion beyond the mesothelial layer were examined serially using real-time confocal fluorescence microscopy. Histoarchitecture of the explanted peritoneum was preserved over 5 days ex vivo. Both implantation and invasion were suppressed by restoration of functional E-cadherin through stable transfection of AGS cells, demonstrating sensitivity of the model to molecular manipulation. Thus, our ex vivo human peritoneal explant model permits meaningful investigation of the pathways and mechanism that contribute to peritoneal metastasis. The model will facilitate screening of new therapies that target peritoneal dissemination of gastric, ovarian and colorectal cancer.
Identification of early biomarkers in saliva in genetically engineered mouse model C(3)1-TAg of breast cancer
Authors: Gilson Sena Isadora Fernandes , Fernandes Larissa Lessi , Lorandi Leonardo Lima , Santana Thais Viggiani , Cintra Luciana , Lima Ismael Feitosa , Iwai Leo Kei , Kramer Jill M. , Birbrair Alexander , Heller Débora
Published: July 2022

Breast cancer is one of leading causes of death worldwide in the female population. Deaths from breast cancer could be reduced significantly through earlier and more efficient detection of the disease. Saliva, an oral fluid that contains an abundance of protein biomarkers, has been recognized as a promising diagnostic biofluid that is easy to isolate through non-invasive techniques. Assays on saliva can be performed rapidly and are cost-effective. Therefore, our work aimed to identify salivary biomarkers present in the initial stages of breast cancer, where cell alterations are not yet detectable by histopathological analysis. Using state-of-the-art techniques, we employed a transgenic mouse model of mammary cancer to identify molecular changes in precancerous stage breast cancer through protein analysis in saliva. Through corroborative molecular approaches, we established that proteins related to metabolic changes, inflammatory process and cell matrix degradation are detected in saliva at the onset of tumor development. Our work demonstrated that salivary protein profiles can be used to identify cellular changes associated with precancerous stage breast cancer through non-invasive means even prior to biopsy-evident disease.
A deep learning based approach for automated plant disease classification using vision transformer
Authors: Borhani Yasamin , Khoramdel Javad , Najafi Esmaeil
Published: July 2022

Plant disease can diminish a considerable portion of the agricultural products on each farm. The main goal of this work is to provide visual information for the farmers to enable them to take the necessary preventive measures. A lightweight deep learning approach is proposed based on the Vision Transformer (ViT) for real-time automated plant disease classification. In addition to the ViT, the classical convolutional neural network (CNN) methods and the combination of CNN and ViT have been implemented for the plant disease classification. The models have been trained and evaluated on multiple datasets. Based on the comparison between the obtained results, it is concluded that although attention blocks increase the accuracy, they decelerate the prediction. Combining attention blocks with CNN blocks can compensate for the speed.
Salt and surfactant coated filters with antiviral properties and low pressure drop for prospective SARS-CoV2 applications
Authors: Ebadi Milad , McCague Claire , Vallee Ophelia , Taylor Patrick K. , Lee Amy H. Y. , Bahrami Majid
Published: July 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic motivated research on antiviral filtration used in personal protective equipment and HVAC systems. In this research, three coating compositions of NaCl, Tween 20 surfactant, and NaCl-Tween 20 were examined on polypropylene spun-bond filters. The pressure drop, coverage, and crystal size of the coating methods and compositions were measured. Also, in vitro plaque assays of the Phi6 Bacteriophage on Pseudomonas syringae as a simulation of an enveloped respiratory virus was performed to investigate the antiviral properties of the coating. NaCl and NaCl-Tween 20 increased the pressure drop in the range of 40–50 Pa for a loading of 5 mg/cm2. Tween 20 has shown an impact on the pressure drop as low as 10 Pa and made the filter surface more hydrophilic which kept the virus droplets on the surface. The NaCl-Tween 20 coated samples could inactivate 108 plaque forming units (PFU) of virus in two hours of incubation. Tween 20 coated filters with loading as low as 0.2 mg/cm2 reduced the activity of 108 PFU of virus from 109 to 102 PFU/mL after 2 h of incubation. NaCl-coated samples with a salt loading of 15 mg/cm2 could not have antiviral properties higher than reducing the viral activity from 109 to 105 PFU/mL in 4 h of incubation.
Synthetic MRI for stroke: a qualitative and quantitative pilot study
Authors: André Joachim , Barrit Sami , Jissendi Patrice
Published: July 2022

Synthetic MR provides qualitative and quantitative multi-parametric data about tissue properties in a single acquisition. Its use in stroke imaging is not yet established. We compared synthetic and conventional image quality and studied synthetic relaxometry of acute and chronic ischemic lesions to investigate its interest for stroke imaging. We prospectively acquired synthetic and conventional brain MR of 43 consecutive adult patients with suspected stroke. We studied a total of 136 lesions, of which 46 DWI-positive with restricted ADC (DWI + /rADC), 90 white matter T2/FLAIR hyperintensities (WMH) showing no diffusion restriction, and 430 normal brain regions (NBR). We assessed image quality for lesion definition according to a 3-level score by two readers of different experiences. We compared relaxometry of lesions and regions of interest. Synthetic images were superior to their paired conventional images for lesion definition except for sFLAIR (sT1 or sPSIR vs. cT1 and sT2 vs. cT2 for DWI + /rADC and WMH definition; p values < .001) with substantial to almost perfect inter-rater reliability (κ ranging from 0.711 to 0.932, p values < .001). We found significant differences in relaxometry between lesions and NBR and between acute and chronic lesions (T1, T2, and PD of DWI + /rADC or WMH vs. mirror NBR; p values < .001; T1 and PD of DWI + /rADC vs. WMH; p values of 0.034 and 0.008). Synthetic MR may contribute to stroke imaging by fast generating accessible weighted images for visual inspection derived from rapidly acquired relaxometry data. Moreover, this synthetic relaxometry could differentiate acute and chronic ischemic lesions.
Injection-induced fault slip assessment in Montney Formation in Western Canada
Authors: Yaghoubi A. , Dusseault M. B. , Leonenko Y.
Published: July 2022

Hydraulic stimulation to enhance energy extraction from geothermal and unconventional resources is typically accompanied by seismicity because injection changes pore pressures and temperatures, facilitating slippage of fractures and faults. Induced seismicity carries potential risk if events are large enough to damage infrastructure. The uncertainty invariably associated with the state of stress measurements and subsurface geomechanics parameters affects the analysis of fault slip and seismicity induced resulting from hydraulic fracturing. In this study, a probabilistic approach is used to assess the slip tendency of known faults crossing the compartmentalized Montney Formation of western Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. We first divide the formation into four different stress areas based on pore pressure deviations from hydrostatic. In each stress area, geomechanics parameters are expressed as probability distributions using multivariable datasets from borehole petrophysical data to injection-induced focal mechanisms. Monte Carlo simulations are applied to assess the potential slip tendency of local faults. We display the cumulative distribution function of critical pore pressure to cause slip on each fault by using analyses of the parameters of the Mohr–Coulomb shear failure criterion and local tectonic stress state. The results provide useful input for seismic hazard assessment and risk mitigation for local faults affected by high-rate fluid injection.
The impact of spontaneous cough on pleural pressure changes during therapeutic thoracentesis
Authors: Stecka Anna M. , Grabczak Elżbieta M. , Michnikowski Marcin , Zielińska-Krawczyk Monika , Krenke Rafał , Gólczewski Tomasz
Published: July 2022

Cough during therapeutic thoracentesis (TT) is considered an adverse effect. The study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between cough during TT and pleural pressure (Ppl) changes (∆P). Instantaneous Ppl was measured after withdrawal of predetermined volumes of pleural fluid. Fluid withdrawal (FW) and Ppl measurement (PplM) periods were analyzed separately using the two sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and the nonparametric skew to assess differences between ∆P distributions in periods with and without cough. The study involved 59 patients, median age 66 years, median withdrawn fluid volume 1800 mL (1330 ÷ 2400 mL). In total, 1265 cough episodes were recorded in 52 patients, in 24% of FW and 19% of PplM periods, respectively. Cough was associated with significant changes in ∆P distribution (p < 0.001), decreasing the left tail of ∆P distribution for FW periods (the skew =  − 0.033 vs. − 0.182) and increasing the right tail for PplM periods (the skew = 0.182 vs. 0.088). Although cough was more frequent in 46 patients with normal pleural elastance (p < 0.0001), it was associated with significantly higher ∆P in patients with elevated elastance (median Ppl increase 2.9 vs. 0.2 cmH2O, respectively). Cough during TT is associated with small but beneficial trend in Ppl changes, particularly in patients with elevated pleural elastance, and should not be considered solely as an adverse event.
Bus queue time estimation model for a curbside bus stop considering the blocking effect
Authors: Luo Tian , Liu Xiaobin , Jin Hui
Published: July 2022

Bus queue time estimation of a curbside bus stop is essential to evaluate the operation, reliability and performance of a bus system. Arriving buses and served buses on upstream berths form an overflow queue considering the no overtaking principle and limited overtaking principle. The bus dwelling time at the downstream berth may directly influence the capacity at bus stop. This study aims to estimate the queue time attributed to downstream berth blocking effect. The queue delay is modeled as a function of dwell time which is fitting by normal and lognormal distributions. Hence, the queue time should be evaluated by bus dwell time and joint probability density to quantify the negative influence on queue delay. The result indicate that probability distribution versus the queue time in the blocking effect. An illustrative example is presented to reflect the effectiveness of the estimation method. The fitting results further support our theoretical analyses.
Using the Kriging Correlation for unsupervised feature selection problems
Authors: Chua Cheng-Han , Guo Meihui , Huang Shih-Feng
Published: July 2022

This paper proposes a KC Score to measure feature importance in clustering analysis of high-dimensional data. The KC Score evaluates the contribution of features based on the correlation between the original features and the reconstructed features in the low dimensional latent space. A KC Score-based feature selection strategy is further developed for clustering analysis. We investigate the performance of the proposed strategy by conducting a study of four single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) datasets. The results show that our strategy effectively selects important features for clustering. In particular, in three datasets, our proposed strategy selected less than 5% of the features and achieved the same or better clustering performance than when using all of the features.
Spatial variation and risk factors of malaria and anaemia among children aged 0 to 59 months: a cross-sectional study of 2010 and 2015 datasets
Authors: Ibeji Jecinta U. , Mwambi Henry , Iddrisu Abdul-Karim
Published: July 2022

Malaria and anaemia are common diseases that affect children, particularly in Africa. Studies on the risk associated with these diseases and their synergy are scanty. This work aims to study the spatial pattern of malaria and anaemia in Nigeria and adjust for their risk factors using separate models for malaria and anaemia. This study used Bayesian spatial models within the Integrated Nested Laplace Approach (INLA) to establish the relationship between malaria and anaemia. We also adjust for risk factors of malaria and anaemia and map the estimated relative risks of these diseases to identify regions with a relatively high risk of the diseases under consideration. We used data obtained from the Nigeria malaria indicator survey (NMIS) of 2010 and 2015. The spatial variability distribution of both diseases was investigated using the convolution model, Conditional Auto-Regressive (CAR) model, generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) and generalized linear model (GLM) for each year. The convolution and generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) showed the least Deviance Information Criteria (DIC) in 2010 for malaria and anaemia, respectively. The Conditional Auto-Regressive (CAR) and convolution models had the least DIC in 2015 for malaria and anaemia, respectively. This study revealed that children in rural areas had strong and significant odds of malaria and anaemia infection [2010; malaria: AOR = 1.348, 95% CI = (1.117, 1.627), anaemia: AOR = 1.455, 95% CI = (1.201, 1.7623). 2015; malaria: AOR = 1.889, 95% CI = (1.568, 2.277), anaemia: AOR = 1.440, 95% CI = (1.205, 1.719)]. Controlling the prevalence of malaria and anaemia in Nigeria requires the identification of a child’s location and proper confrontation of some socio-economic factors which may lead to the reduction of childhood malaria and anaemia infection.
Assessment of the TGFB1 gene expression and methylation status of the promoter region in patients with colorectal cancer
Authors: Wodziński Damian , Wosiak Agnieszka , Pietrzak Jacek , Świechowski Rafał , Kordek Radzisław , Balcerczak Ewa
Published: July 2022

The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of the TGFB1 gene encoding the TGF-β1 cytokine in 64 patients, and then to compare it with clinico-pathological features. The study also investigated whether the regulation of the gene expression is caused by methylation of the promoter region between − 235 and + 22 nucleotide from the start of transcription. The dependence of the relative level of the TGFB1 gene expression on the clinical advancement according to the TNM classifications was shown. Additionally, the individual grades of the T and M features of the TNM classification differed in the relative transcript levels of the TGFB1 gene. Moreover, the higher relative expression level of the studied gene was associated with a lack of vascular invasion by cancer cells and presence of lymphocytes in the neoplastic tissue. The obtained results may indicate a possible impact of the gene on the process of carcinogenesis in colorectal cancer and reduction of its expression level may be one of the factors contributing to progression of the disease.
The shortest innovative process for enhancing the S-allylcysteine content and antioxidant activity of black and golden garlic
Authors: Pakakaew Peeraporn , Phimolsiripol Yuthana , Taesuwan Siraphat , Kumphune Sarawut , Klangpetch Wannaporn , Utama-ang Niramon
Published: July 2022

Black garlic is a type of heat-treated garlic for which the traditional process is extremely simple yet time-consuming, taking more than one month. The purpose of this research was to reduce the processing time of black garlic while maintaining a high level of S-allylcysteine (SAC), a black garlic quality indicator. The fresh garlic was pre-treated with CaCl2 and frozen before being further incubated at two different temperatures (60 and 80 °C) with a relative humidity of 65% and 80% RH. Results showed that sequential pre-treatment and incubation at 80 °C and 80% RH for 1 week yielded 874.26 mg of SAC/100 g dry weight with an antioxidant activity of 5390 and 25,421 mg Trolox/100 g for DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. This process shortened the processing time of black garlic by about 4-times. The batch processed at 60 °C and 65% RH for 1 week provided the highest SAC content of about 1772 mg/100 g dry weight, which was 2-times higher than in incubation at 80 °C and 80% RH for 1 week. The colour of this garlic was golden, so we call this new processed garlic product “golden garlic”.
Comparison study of reconstruction algorithms for volumetric necrosis maps from 2D multi-slice GRE thermometry images
Authors: Alpers Julian , Hensen Bennet , Rötzer Maximilian , Reimert Daniel L. , Gerlach Thomas , Vick Ralf , Gutberlet Marcel , Wacker Frank , Hansen Christian
Published: July 2022

Cancer is a disease which requires a significant amount of careful medical attention. For minimally-invasive thermal ablation procedures, the monitoring of heat distribution is one of the biggest challenges. In this work, three approaches for volumetric heat map reconstruction (Delauney triangulation, minimum volume enclosing ellipsoids (MVEE) and splines) are presented based on uniformly distributed 2D MRI phase images rotated around the applicator’s main axis. We compare them with our previous temperature interpolation method with respect to accuracy, robustness and adaptability. All approaches are evaluated during MWA treatment on the same data sets consisting of 13 ex vivo bio protein phantoms, including six phantoms with simulated heat sink effects. Regarding accuracy, the DSC similarity results show a strong trend towards the MVEE ($$0.80\pm 0.03$$

0.80
±
0.03

) and the splines ($$0.77\pm 0.04$$

0.77
±
0.04

) method compared to the Delauney triangulation ($$0.75\pm 0.02$$

0.75
±
0.02

) or the temperature interpolation ($$0.73\pm 0.07$$

0.73
±
0.07

). Robustness is increased for all three approaches and the adaptability shows a significant trend towards the initial interpolation method and the splines. To overcome local inhomogeneities in the acquired data, the use of adaptive simulations should be considered in the future. In addition, the transfer to in vivo animal experiments should be considered to test for clinical applicability.
Quantitative determination of environmental factors governing the snow melting: a geodetector case study in the central Tienshan Mountains
Authors: Li Haixing , Liu Jinrong , Lei Xuelei , Ju Yumeng , Bu Xiangxu , Li Hongxing
Published: July 2022

Because of the distinctive vertical climate and topography gradients in the alpine region, the snow cover of the Tienshan Mountains possesses complex spatiotemporal heterogeneity, particularly during the melting process. Quantifying the environmental factors is therefore crucial to understanding the melting process and for predicting and managing snowmelt runoff. Herein, the snow cover area, grain size, and contamination extent were determined to characterize the detailed melting status based on surface reflectance data of MOD09A1 in the central Tienshan Mountains from 2013 to 2017. The environmental factors collected include relief (elevation, slope, and aspect); meteorology (surface air temperature, land surface temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed); and land surface vegetation. Analysis of the geodetector results indicated the following. (1) Patterns of changes in the overall dominant environmental variables were consistent for the pre-, mid-, and post-melting periods defined according to the decline of snow cover area over five years. (2) The overall major environmental factors were wind speed and radiation (pre-period), land surface temperature and elevation (mid-period), and elevation and land surface types (post-period), respectively. (3) Regional distinctions were detected of the dominant environmental factors. In the pre-melting period, the effects of solar radiation and wind speed were noticeable in the north and south regions, respectively. The effects of elevation, land surface temperature, and land cover types became more prominent in all regions during the mid- and post-melting periods. (4) Interaction between the major environmental factors was significantly enhanced on both the overall and regional scales, thus affecting the snow-melting process. Finally, the energy distribution mismatch resulted in the snowmelt. Multiple environmental factors substantially affect heat redistribution at different spatiotemporal scales, resulting in the snowmelt as a complex manifestation of the factors and their interactions. The findings highlight regional differences in various environmental factors of the melting process and offer a theoretical foundation for the melting process at various scales over multiple years.
Rayleigh–Taylor instability in strongly coupled plasma
Authors: Wani Rauoof , Mir Ajaz , Batool Farida , Tiwari Sanat
Published: July 2022

Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) is the prominent energy mixing mechanism when heavy fluid lies on top of light fluid under the gravity. In this work, the RTI is studied in strongly coupled plasmas using two-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations. The motivation is to understand the evolution of the instability with the increasing correlation (Coulomb coupling) that happens when the average Coulombic potential energy becomes comparable to the average thermal energy. We report the suppression of the RTI due to a decrease in growth rate with increasing coupling strength. The caging effect is expected a physical mechanism for the growth suppression observed in both the exponential and the quadratic growth regimes. We also report that the increase in shielding due to background charges increases the growth rate of the instability. Moreover, the increase in the Atwood number, an entity to quantify the density gradient, shows the enhancement of the growth of the instability. The dispersion relation obtained from the molecular dynamics simulation of strongly coupled plasma shows a slight growth enhancement compared to the hydrodynamic viscous fluid. The RTI and its eventual impact on turbulent mixing can be significant in energy dumping mechanisms in inertial confinement fusion where, during the compressed phases, the coupling strength approaches unity.
Developmental changes in gaze patterns in response to radial optic flow in toddlerhood and childhood
Authors: Shirai Nobu , Imura Tomoko
Published: July 2022

A large field visual motion pattern (optic flow) with a radial pattern provides a compelling perception of self-motion; a radially expanding/contracting optic flow generates the perception of forward/backward locomotion. Moreover, the focus of a radial optic flow, particularly an expansive flow, is an important visual cue to perceive and control the heading direction during human locomotion. Previous research has shown that human gaze patterns have an “expansion bias”: a tendency to be more attracted to the focus of expansive flow than to the focus of contractive flow. We investigated the development of the expansion bias in children (N = 240, 1–12 years) and adults (N = 20). Most children aged ≥ 5 years and adults showed a significant tendency to shift their gaze to the focus of an expansive flow, whereas the youngest group (1-year-old children) showed a significant but opposing tendency; their gaze was more attracted to the focus of contractive flow than to the focus of expansive flow. The relationship between the developmental change from the “contraction bias” in early toddlerhood to the expansion bias in the later developmental stages and possible factors (e.g., global visual motion processing abilities and locomotor experiences) are discussed.
A continuous time meta-analysis of the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and individual preventive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Stasielowicz Lukasz
Published: July 2022

In several longitudinal studies, reduced willingness to show COVID-19-related preventive behavior (e.g., wearing masks, social distancing) has been partially attributed to misinformation and conspiracy beliefs. However, there is considerable uncertainty with respect to the strength of the relationship and whether the negative relationship exists in both directions (reciprocal effects). One explanation of the heterogeneity pertains to the fact that the time interval between consecutive measurement occasions varies (e.g., 1 month, 3 months) both between and within studies. Therefore, a continuous time meta-analysis based on longitudinal studies was conducted. This approach enables one to examine how the strength of the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 preventive behavior depends on the time interval. In total, 1035 correlations were coded for 17 samples (N = 16,350). The results for both the full set of studies and a subset consisting of 13 studies corroborated the existence of reciprocal effects. Furthermore, there was some evidence of publication bias. The largest cross-lagged effects were observed between 3 and 6 months, which can inform decision-makers and researchers when carrying out interventions or designing studies examining the consequences of new conspiracy theories.
Adaptive response of Dongzhaigang mangrove in China to future sea level rise
Authors: Cai Rongshuo , Ding Ruyi , Yan Xiuhua , Li Cuihua , Sun Jiang , Tan Hongjian , Men Wu , Guo Haixia , Wang Cui
Published: July 2022

Mangrove forests are valuable intertidal ecosystems that provide coastline protection, biodiversity maintenance, and carbon sequestration. However, their survival is under severe threat from rapidly rising sea levels. In this study, we aimed to investigate the changes in the area of the Dongzhaigang mangrove in China since the 1950s and causes of these changes using literature and remote sensing data. The impact of historical and future sea level rise (SLR) on the mangroves was analyzed using remote sensing data and climate model data under the low, intermediate, and very high greenhouse gas emission scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5). The area of the mangrove forests decreased from 3416 to 1711 hm2 during 1956–1988 and remained constant at 1711 hm2 after the 1990s, owing to anthropogenic disturbances such as reclamation and aquaculture before the 1980s and the protection of nature reserve establishment after the 1990s, respectively. Under RCPs 4.5 and 8.5, SLR is expected to cause > 26% of the mangroves to disappear by 2100, whereas under RCP 2.6, only 17% of the mangroves will likely be lost. Biological measures such as reestablishment of ponds as mangrove forests, afforestation, and biological embankment for sediment trapping in coastal wetlands are recommended to enhance the resilience of mangroves to SLR.
Peptidome profiling for the immunological stratification in sepsis: a proof of concept study
Authors: Ledesma Martín , Todero María Florencia , Maceira Lautaro , Prieto Mónica , Vay Carlos , Galas Marcelo , López Beatriz , Yokobori Noemí , Rearte Bárbara
Published: July 2022

Sepsis has been called the graveyard of pharmaceutical companies due to the numerous failed clinical trials. The lack of tools to monitor the immunological status in sepsis constrains the development of therapies. Here, we evaluated a test based on whole plasma peptidome acquired by MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometer and machine-learning algorithms to discriminate two lipopolysaccharide-(LPS) induced murine models emulating the pro- and anti-inflammatory/immunosuppression environments that can be found during sepsis. The LPS group was inoculated with a single high dose of LPS and the IS group was subjected to increasing doses of LPS, to induce proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory/immunosuppression profiles respectively. The LPS group showed leukopenia and higher levels of cytokines and tissue damage markers, and the IS group showed neutrophilia, lymphopenia and decreased humoral response. Principal component analysis of the plasma peptidomes formed discrete clusters that mostly coincided with the experimental groups. In addition, machine-learning algorithms discriminated the different experimental groups with a sensitivity of 95.7% and specificity of 90.9%. Data reveal the potential of plasma fingerprints analysis by MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry as a simple, speedy and readily transferrable method for sepsis patient stratification that would contribute to therapeutic decision-making based on their immunological status.