bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Numerical Analysis of the Main Wave Propagation Characteristics in a Steel-CFRP Laminate Including Model Order Reduction
Authors: Mikhaylenko Andrey , Rauter Natalie , Bellam Muralidhar Nanda Kishore , Barth Tilmann , Lorenz Dirk A. , Lammering Rolf
Published: June 2022

Guided ultrasonic waves are suitable for use in the context of structural health monitoring of thin-walled, plate-like structures. Hence, observing the wave propagation in the plates can provide an indication of whether damage has occurred in the structure. In this work, the wave propagation in fiber metal laminate consisting of thin steel foils and layers of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer is studied, focusing on the main propagation characteristics like dispersion diagrams and displacement fields. For this purpose, the dispersion diagrams derived from the analytical framework and numerical simulations are first determined and compared to each other. Next, the displacement fields are computed using the global matrix method for two excitation frequencies. The results derived from the analytical framework is used to validate numerically determined displacement fields based on a 2D and a 3D modeling approach. For both investigations the results of the analytical treatment and the numerical simulation show good agreement. Furthermore, the displacement field reveals the typical and well-known characteristics of the propagation of guided waves in thin-walled structures. Since the use of full 3D models involves a very high computational cost, this work also successfully investigates the possibility for model order reduction to decrease the computational time and costs of the simulation without the loss of accuracy.
Designing Reinforcement Learning Algorithms for Digital Interventions: Pre-implementation Guidelines
Authors: Trella Anna L. , Zhang Kelly W. , Nahum-Shani Inbal , Shetty Vivek , Doshi-Velez Finale , Murphy Susan A.
Published: June 2022

Online reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms are increasingly used to personalize digital interventions in the fields of mobile health and online education. Common challenges in designing and testing an RL algorithm in these settings include ensuring the RL algorithm can learn and run stably under real-time constraints, and accounting for the complexity of the environment, e.g., a lack of accurate mechanistic models for the user dynamics. To guide how one can tackle these challenges, we extend the PCS (Predictability, Computability, Stability) framework, a data science framework that incorporates best practices from machine learning and statistics in supervised learning (Yu and Kumbier, 2020), to the design of RL algorithms for the digital interventions setting. Further, we provide guidelines on how to design simulation environments, a crucial tool for evaluating RL candidate algorithms using the PCS framework. We illustrate the use of the PCS framework for designing an RL algorithm for Oralytics, a mobile health study aiming to improve users' tooth-brushing behaviors through the personalized delivery of intervention messages. Oralytics will go into the field in late 2022.
Association of Hepatic and Renal Injury in a Retrospective Cohort of Hospitalized Adolescents with Anorexia
Authors: Mejean Coline , Berbis Julie , Fabre Cyprien , Reynaud Rachel , Castets Sarah , Simonin Gilbert , Tsimaratos Michel , FABRE Alexandre
Published: June 2022

Background: Only few pediatric reports exist regarding the prevalence, cause and evolution of liver and renal injury in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence and the risk factors of hepatic and renal failure at admission and during hospitalization, especially during refeeding in a cohort of hospitalized adolescents with AN.Methods: In a retrospective cohort study of adolescents with AN in a single hospital of Marseille from 2013 to 2019, we compared four groups on admission: elevated aminotransferases (AT)/normal AT and renal injury/no renal injury to analyze the differences between them (demographic factors, anthropometric factors, disease duration, initial prescribed calories, speed of refeeding, aminotransferase level, glomerular filtration rate). We observed the evolution of AT and renal injury for these four groups during refeeding (by the increase of kilocalories). Results: A total of 29 subjects with AN met eligibility criteria (age: 14.2 years, female (86.2%), BMI at admission (Z-score= -2.8 standard deviation (SD)) with elevated AT (20.7 %) and renal injury (13.8 %) on admission. Lower Z-score BMI (-4.05 vs -2 SD, p = 0.013), lower expected weight for height (69% vs 76%, p = 0.034) and longer disease duration (2.1 vs 0.9 years, p =0,032) were significantly associated with elevated liver enzymes at admission. Lower Z-score BMI (-3.35 vs -2.5 SD, p = 0.002), lower expected weight for height at admission (69% vs 74,5%, p = 0.002) and loss of weight before admission (0.66 vs à 0.20 kg per day, p = 0.002) were associated with renal injury at admission. Time nadir BMI (13.5 vs 6.5 days, p = 0.034) and duration of hospitalization (55 vs 41 days, p = 0.036) were longer in elevated enzymes on admission group. During refeeding, liver enzymes (95% confidence interval (CI), odds ratio (OR) aspartate aminotransferase: -0.07 [-0.11; -0.03] and OR alanine aminotransferase: -0.16 [-0.27; -0.06]) and renal injury (95% CI, OR creatinine: -0.013 [-0.017; -0.008]) have normalized with the increase of calories, with significant association.Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that degree of malnutrition is associated with liver and renal injury on admission. Theses failures disappeared with refeeding. In the future, prospective multicentric studies could examine evolution of renal and hepatic failure undergoing refeeding in large pediatric cohort of AN.
New Insights into the Boron Essentiality on Humans and Animals
Authors: Bita Andrei , Scorei Ion Romulus , Balseanu Tudor Adrian , Ciocilteu Maria Viorica , Radu Antonia , Mogosanu George Dan , Benner Steven A.
Published: June 2022

Boron (B) is considered a prebiotic chemical element with a role in both the origin and evolution of life, as well as an essential micronutrient for plants, some bacteria, fungi, and algae. B has beneficial effects on the biological functions of humans and animals, such as reproduction, growth, calcium metabolism, bone formation, energy metabolism, immunity, brain function, and steroid hormones. In the future, naturally organic B (NOB) species may become promising novel prebiotic candidates. We included the most relevant works about NOB species, starting from our 30-year research experience. NOB-containing compounds have been shown essential for the symbiosis between different kingdoms. New insights into the essentiality of NOB species for healthy symbiosis between the human/animal host and the microbiota will determine the use of natural B-based nutraceuticals to target the colon (colonic foods). The mechanism of action (MoA) of NOB species is related to both the B signaling molecule [autoinducer-2–borate (AI-2B)], as well as the fortification of the colonic mucous gel layer with NOB species from the specific prebiotic boron-rich diet. Therefore, both microbiota and the mucous gel layer of the colon become the NOB species’ target. This paper reviews the evidence supporting the essentiality of the NOB species on the symbiosis between the microbiota and the human/animal host with the stated aim of highlighting the MoA and target of these species.
Functional summation of series.
Authors: Varin Victor Petrovich
Published: June 2022

We consider a summation technique which reduces summation of a series to the solution of some linear functional equations. Partial sums of a series satisfy an obvious difference equation. This equation is transformed to the functional equation on the interval [0,1] for the continuous argument. Then this equation is either solved explicitly (to within an arbitrary constant) or an asymptotic expansion of the solution is computed at the origin. The sum of the original series is determined uniquely as a constant needed for the matching of the asymptotic series with partial sums of the original series. The notion of a limit is not involved in this computational technique, which allows summation of divergent series as well.
Neuropharmacological analysis of the anti-addictive and therapeutic effects of psilocybin
Authors: Principe Anthony
Published: June 2022

This review presents a general background of psilocybin pharmacology and discusses its uses in treating various mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. A summary of preliminary clinical trials utilizing psilocybin in each disorder is presented, along with an analysis of the neurobiological mechanisms that could explain the results. The purpose of this review is to collect and analyze neuropharmacological data and form an understanding of the possible mechanisms underlying psilocybin’s long-term positive effects in those suffering from various mental health disorders. Psilocybin may be a crucial tool in altering the neurofunctional anatomy that is the pathological core of various mental health disorders. A ‘reset’ of these neurological connections could be the basis of psilocybin treatment and may perhaps inspire a novel foundation of neurological medical intervention in mental health disorders.
Encoder Hurwitz Integers: The Hurwitz integers that have the ”division with small remainder” property
Authors: Duran Ramazan , Güzeltepe Murat
Published: June 2022

The modulo function is used to construct signal constellations over high-dimensional vector spaces such as Gaussian integers, Einstein-Jacobi integers, and quaternion integers. There is a one-to-one relationship between the Euclid division and the modulo function. If the Euclid division works for any quaternion integers, then it has the ”division with small remainder” property. The Hurwitz integers form a subring of ring of quaternions. Hurwitz constellations are constructed by using modulo with primitive Hurwitz integers whose norm is a prime integer. If the norm of Hurwitz integers is not a prime integer, then we can not set up an isomorphism between the residual class ring of ordinary integers and the left (right) equivalence class of Hurwitz integers since the size of sets is to be different. In this study, to solve this problem, we define a new set, named encoder Hurwitz integers, consisting of primitive Hurwitz integers that have the ”division with small remainder” property as an alternative instead of the set of primitive Hurwitz integers. Also, we investigate their performance over additive Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel by means of constellation figure of merit (CFM), average energy, minimum square Euclidean distance, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
The effect of early stellate ganglion BLOCK in Cerebral VasoSpasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (BLOCK-CVS): study protocol for a randomized, blinded-endpoint assessment clinical trial
Authors: Jing Longnian , Wu Youxuan , Liang Fa , Jian Minyu , Bai Yang , Wang Yunzhen , Liu Haiyang , Wang Anxin , Chen Xiaolin , Han Ruquan
Published: June 2022

Introduction Stellate ganglion block has been reported to expand cerebral vessels and alleviate vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. However, the causal relationship between early stellate ganglion block and cerebral vasospasm prevention has not yet been established. Methods/design This is a single-center, prospective, randomized, controlled, blinded-endpoint assessment trial to explore the effectiveness and safety of early stellate ganglion block as a preventive treatment for cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia. A total of 228 patients will be randomized within 48 h of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage onset in a 1:1 ratio to two groups with an additional e-SGB or only a camouflaging action before craniotomy aneurysm clipping. The primary efficacy outcome is the incidence of symptomatic vasospasm within 14 days after aSAH. Further safety and efficacy parameters include the incidence of radiographic vasospasm, new cerebral infarction, postoperative delirium, and complications up to 90 days, postoperative cerebral hemodynamics, mini-mental state examination, the modified Rankin scale and all-cause mortality up to 90 days.Discussion This is the first randomized controlled trial to explore the effectiveness and safety of early stellate ganglion block as a preventive treatment to reduce cerebral vasospasm in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. If the result is positive, it may provide a new direction for the prevention and treatment of cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia.Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04691271
Membrane Distillation (MD) as a desalination component in hybrid desalination process combinations for small Island Applications
Authors: Thomas Sanju , Kandaswamy Ravi Kumar , Natarajan Sendhil Kumar , Thomas Sheffy , Sahoo Sudhansu , Kumar Ajith
Published: June 2022

The brine volume and environmental damage are key factors to consider desalination as a water source for small islands. Membrane distillation (MD) is still evolving to be used as a single source for desalination with constraints in pre-treatment and pore wetting. However reverse osmosis (RO) is optimised and thermal desalination is heat intensive. A combination of various desalination technologies with MD for seawater and brackish water at 35000ppm and 15000ppm is evaluated with low thermal renewable energy source. It is identified that while RO-MD combination for brackish and seawater desalination may have the least capital and operation cost, there isn’t much difference in levelised production cost considering increased recovery with combinations of RO-MD with Forward Osmosis (FO), Pressure Assisted Forward Osmosis (PAFO), Multi Effective Distillation (MED) and Counter Flow Reverse Osmosis (CFRO). The brine reduction rates are found to be halved with an increase in capital and operational cost of 50% and more. The unit cost of production for RO-MD is found to be INR 0.06 for brackish and INR 0.23 for seawater desalination. The addition of components will reduce the brine production, while increased capital and operational expanses stabilise unit cost of production.
How do environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation affect synergistically the financial performance of heavy polluting enterprises: evidence from China
Authors: Tang Yongjun , Yue Saifan , Ma Wenchao , Zhang Lulu
Published: June 2022

Enterprise environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation may bring about positive or negative effects on enterprise financial performance. Based on relevant theories, this study builds a theoretical model to demonstrate how enterprise environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation can improve the financial performance of heavy polluting enterprises. Empirical tests are carried out using 293 heavy polluting enterprises in China as the sample. The results show that: (1) Enterprise environmental protection expenditure has significant negative effects on current enterprise financial performance, while green technology innovation can significantly promote enterprise financial performance. (2) When the lag period is two periods, the enterprise environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation have positive effects on enterprise financial performance respectively, and the effects are the most significant. (3) Enterprise environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation synergistically promote enterprise financial performance in the current period, and the impact has a lag effect. (4) Compared with non-state-owned enterprises, the synergetic effect of environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation on the financial performance of state-owned enterprises is more significant. (5) In enterprises with higher corporate governance level, the synergetic promotion effect of environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation on enterprise financial performance is more significant. This study enriches the current knowledge on environmental protection expenditure and green technology innovation’s role in enterprise financial performance and has practical implications for improving the financial performance of heavy polluting enterprises.
RETRACTED: The association between serum folate and osteoporosis in adults: based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Authors: Li Senjie , Lv Dongqing , Yang Hong , Yan Shaoyi , Wu Lei , Jia Yongping
Published: June 2022

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
Association of diversity in microsatellite genotypes with layer traits in Rhode Island Red chicken
Authors: SAHU AMIYA RANJAN , Kumar Sanjeev , Jain Sonu Kumar , R. Chethan Raj
Published: June 2022

Development of vast varieties of high yielding commercial poultry germplasm could possibly be due to rapid selection and controlled breeding. However, their maximum genetic production potential has not been achieved so far. Present study was conducted to analyse polymorphisms in egg- production associated microsatellite markers in sampled population of the selected strain of Rhode Island Red (RIR) chicken and to determine the association between various genotypes of polymorphic markers and layer production traits. One hundred and eleven pullets belonging to five hatches, maintained at institute’s farm, were used and data on body weight at 20 weeks of age (BW20) and layer economic traits (Age at sexual maturity (ASM), egg weight at 28 and 40 weeks of age (EW28, EW40) and egg production up to 40 weeks of age (EP40)) were analysed by least squares analysis of variance taking sire as random and hatch as fixed effects. Average ASM and EP40 were 135.19±1.15 days and 124.55±1.94 eggs, respectively. The BW20 revealed low, but positive genetic as well as phenotypic correlations with EP40 thereby suggesting its usefulness as selection criterion for genetic improvement of egg production. All egg production-associated microsatellite loci revealed polymorphism and exhibited prevalence of heterozygosity. The studied population demonstrated Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium. Genotypes at two microsatellite loci ADL0023 and ADL0273 demonstrated significant effects on layer economic traits suggesting usefulness of microsatellite markers polymorphism in marker-assisted selection for genetic improvement of egg-production associated gene in chicken.
Stochastic Analysis of Potential Tsunami Risks with the Contribution of Sea Level Rise in the Sea of Japan through Japanese Coastline
Authors: Yavuz Cuneyt , Itoi Tatsuya
Published: June 2022

Japan encountered one of the most devastating tsunami hazards, resulting in a nuclear accident in 2011. Located in an active seismic zone, Japan's coastline lying through the Sea of Japan are also highly prone to probable inundations in the future. We conducted a probabilistic tsunami risk assessment that emerged with the contribution of sea-level rise on tsunami waves. We present economic and social risk aspects for the selected residential areas, commercial facilities, and industrial zones by considering aleatory variability of tsunami waves and epistemic uncertainty of sea level rises. Economic risk evaluations show that extreme monetary losses are very likely to observe with the positive contribution of projected economic growth rates. However, social risks are comparatively low due to the expected population de-crease in Japan in the following years.
Identification of stromal microenvironment characteristics and key molecular mining in pancreatic cancer
Authors: Ji Hongchen , Zhang Qiong , Wang Xiangxu , Li Junjie , Wang Xiaowen , Pan Wei , Zhang Zhuochao , Ma Ben , Zhang Hong-Mei
Published: June 2022

Purpose
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. The extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironment affects the drug sensitivity and prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients. This study constructed an 8-genes pancreatic ECM scoring (PECMS) model, to classify the ECM features of pancreatic cancer, analyze the impact of ECM features on survival and drug sensitivity, and mine key molecules that influence ECM features in pancreatic cancer.
Methods
GSVA score calculation and clustering were performed in TCGA-PAAD patients. Lasso regression was used to construct the PECMS model. The association between PECMS and patient survival was analyzed and validated in the CPTAC-3 dataset of TCGA and our single-center retrospective cohort. The relationships between PECMS and features of the matrix microenvironment were analyzed. Finally, PECMS feature genes were screened and verified in pancreatic cancer specimens to select key genes associated with the ECM microenvironment.
Result
The survival of the PECMS-high group was significantly worse. The PECMS-high group showed higher oxidative stress levels, lower levels of antigen presentation- and MHC-I molecule-related pathways, and less immune effector cell infiltration. Data from IMvigor-210 cohort suggested that PECMS-low group patients were more sensitive to immune checkpoint blockers. The PECMS score was negatively correlated with chemotherapy drug sensitivity. The negative association of PECMS with survival and drug sensitivity was validated in our retrospective cohort. KLHL32 expression predicted lower oxidative stress level and more immune cells infiltrate in pancreatic cancer.
Conclusion
PECMS is an effective predictor of prognosis and drug sensitivity in pancreatic cancer patients. KLHL32 may play an important role in the construction of ECM, and the mechanism is worth further study.
Cloud and Snow Detection of Remote Sensing Images Based on Improved Unet3+
Authors: Yin Meijie , Wang Peng , Ni Cui , Hao WeiLong
Published: June 2022

Cloud detection is an important step in remote sensing image processing and a prerequisite for subsequent analysis and interpretation of remote sensing images. Compared with traditional cloud detection methods, the cloud detection method based on deep learning can effectively improve the accuracy of cloud detection by automatically acquiring the features of remote sensing images. However, it is still difficult to distinguish accurately between clouds and snow, which are very similar in color, texture and other characteristics. In this paper, the features of cloud and snow in remote sensing images are deeply extracted, and an accurate cloud and snow detection method is proposed based on the advantages of Unet3 + network in feature fusion. Firstly, color space conversion is performed on remote sensing images, RGB images and HIS images are used as input of Unet3 + network, and feature information of images in different color spaces is extracted respectively to enhance the difference between cloud and snow in remote sensing images in color and texture. Resnet50 is used to replace the Unet3 + feature extraction network to extract remote sensing image features at a deeper level, and add the Convolutional Block Attention Module in Resnet50 to improve the network's attention to cloud and snow. Finally, the weighted cross entropy loss is constructed to solve the problem of unbalanced sample number caused by high proportion of background area in the image. By constructing the cloud and snow detection dataset of remote sensing images, the proposed method is trained and tested. The results show that the proposed method has strong adaptability and moderate computation, and can effectively eliminate all kinds of interference information in remote sensing images of different landforms, and accurately detect cloud and snow in images.
Study on the calculation method of water inflow velocity of loose rock landslide
Authors: Wang Meili , Tian Ye , Yang Shengfa , Wang Pingyi
Published: June 2022

Based on rock structure mechanics and water sediment dynamics, considering the additional resistance caused by the interference of loose landslide particles on the flow structure, this paper deduces the resistance calculation formula of loose rock landslide particles when entering the water. It modifies the landslide velocity formula (ASCE) recommended by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The acceleration calculation formula and velocity calculation formula of bulk rock landslide entering water are obtained, and the determination method of main parameters in the formula is given. Based on the physical model test data of a three-dimensional loose rock landslide and the example data of the Xintan Landslide in the Yangtze River, the rationality of the calculation results of this formula and the ASCE formula is compared and analyzed. It shows that the ASCE formula calculates the average velocity of landslide movement on land, and there will be a noticeable deviation from the actual situation when it is used to calculate the water entry velocity of a loose rock landslide. The formula given in this paper is more practical and can be used to calculate the velocity of loose rock landslide entering the water.
New insights into the toxicity of landfill leachate to zebrafish and mung beans
Authors: Wang Yue , Li Lin , Ning Xia , Sang Nan , Li Guangke
Published: June 2022

Landfill leachate have become a major public health concern because of their adverse effects on health. Due to its complex composition, the toxicological effects have yet to be evaluated. In this study, we use two model organisms: zebrafish and mung beans, to assess the toxic effects of landfill leachate. The results showed that low concentrations of waste leachate promoted the growth of mung beans, while high concentrations severely affected the growth and development of seedlings. Furthermore, landfill leachate caused a decrease in chlorophyll levels and malondialdehyde levels increased, significantly increased the rate of root tip micronuclei. In addition, zebrafish embryos exposed with 0.5%, 1%, 1.2%, 1.5% (v/v) landfill leachate, which was shown significantly reduced levels of embryonic incubation rate and heart rate, while the rates of mortality and malformation were increased. 1.0% of the landfill leachate in the experiment can result in a decrease in spontaneous movement frequency of embryos and the light stimulation reaction. The number of black and white area explore and mirror attacks were reduced. In general, these results help to understand the environmental toxicity of the landfill leachate, providing additional reference data for the risk assessment and management of landfill leachate.
Geotechnical characterization of natural clays for the prediction of clogging risk for TBM
Authors: Sebastiani Diego , Spagnoli Giovanni , Amici Marco , Mangifesta Sara
Published: June 2022

During mechanical tunnel driving it is known that the excavated soils can stick to the metallic part of the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Despite the fact that several test methodologies have been developed during the last 15 years to provide an assessment or quantification of the clogging risk, no standardized method is available yet. This study evaluated three natural clay samples with different grain size distribution and mineralogical content considering two widespread test set ups for the evaluation of the clogging tendency: the Hobart mixing and the plate pull-out test. After a comprehensive geotechnical characterization of the three clay samples, adherence and pull-out force have been measured at different water content/consistency index. Results show that adherence and pull-out force in terms of water content \(w\) and Consistency index \({I}_{C}\) follow normal distribution curves which, as the percentage of clay, the content of clay minerals and the plasticity increases, have higher amplitudes and higher peak values. in general, the existence of a correlation between geotechnical characteristic parameters and the behavior in terms of clogging potential risk for natural clays makes it possible to predict these risks in the design phase of the tunnel excavation and to plan appropriate mitigation actions.
Analysis of biofilm growth rate on agar substrates with different stiffness under limited nutrition
Authors: Wu Jin , Li Xianyong , Kong Rui , Wang Jiankun , Wang Xiaoling
Published: June 2022

In this study, we explore the growth of Bacillus subtilis biofilm on substrates with different agar concentrations, and obtain the area, thickness and morphology information of biofilm by using optical imaging technologies. We find that growth rate variations of biofilms growing on substrates with high and low agar concentration (1.5wt%, 2.0wt%) are not in the same phase, which is because that the interaction between the biofilm and agar substrate on 1.5wt% agar concentration is larger than that of biofilm on 2.0wt% agar concentration, making the growth rate decreases more sharply in the 1.5wt% agar concentration case before wrinkle pattern IV comes up. In the later growth stage after wrinkle pattern IV appears, the biofilm has larger growth rate growing on 2.0wt% agar concentration, that is because the above biofilm has larger wavelength in wrinkle pattern IV reducing energy consumption. Our study shows that the stiff substrate does not always inhibit the biofilm growth, although it does in the earlier stage, after that, mature biofilms acquire larger growth rate by adjusting the growth mode through the wrinkle evolution even in nutrient extremely depletion.
Preparation of chitosan/β-Cyclodextrin composite membrane and its adsorption mechanism for protein
Authors: Zhao Jun , Dou Xin , Tang Qilong , Qiu Peng , Li Junbo , Gou Dongxia , Liu Tong
Published: June 2022

Food wastewater contains a large amount of protein, which will cause water pollution. In order to solve the problem of poor adsorption protein performance and easy disintegration by a pure chitosan membrane, the chitosan/modified β-cyclodextrin (CS/β-CDP) composite membranes were prepared for the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in this work. The effect of preparation conditions (the mass ratio of CS and β-CDP, preparation temperature and glutaraldehyde addition) and adsorption conditions (temperature and pH) on BSA the prepared CS/β-CDP composite membrane was investigated in detail. The physical and chemical properties of pure CS membrane and CS/β-CDP composite membrane was investigated. The results showed that CS/β-CDP composite membrane has higher tensile strength, elongation at break, Young's modulus, contact angle properties, and lower swelling degree. The physicochemical and morphological attributes of composite membrane before and after adsorption of BSA were characterised by SEM, FT-IR and XRD. The results showed that the CS/β-CDP composite membrane adsorbed BSA by both physical and chemical mechanisms, and the adsorption isotherm, kinetics and thermodynamic experiments further confirmed its adsorption mechanism. As a result, the CS/β-CDP composite membrane of absorbing BSA was successfully fabricated, demonstrating the potential application prospect in environmental protection.
Considering soil profile improved barley-pea mixed cropping evaluation in hilly landscape - central Italy
Authors: Tavoletti Stefano , Cocco Stefania , Corti Giuseppe
Published: June 2022

Purpose
Hilly soils of central Italy are characterized by high variability of physicochemical properties that influence standard agronomic practices. Moreover, cereal-grain legume mixed cropping is a strategy to improve agricultural sustainability. This study aimed to i) evaluate if soil variability could affect grain yield in barley-pea mixed cropping, and ii) improve the overall performance of barley-pea by modifying the relative cereal-legume crop densities.
Methods
Two field trials were performed to evaluate differential N fertilization effects on grain yield of barley-pea replacement design combinations. High and Low N inputs were designed by adjusting N levels based on barley density. Moreover, the 2017 trial let us to suppose the occurrence of an interaction between soil physical properties and N fertilization. Therefore, in 2018, based on a pedological survey subsequently evaluated by principal component analysis, the soil effect was included in ANOVA models applied to evaluate crop performance parameters.
Results
Nitrogen fertilization positively affected barley performance only in the soil unit located downslope, and a significantly lower presence of weeds was observed in mixed crops rather than in pea pure crops. Increasing the pea density from 50–80%, reducing the barley density (from 50–20%), and tailoring N fertilization were effective approaches to obtain a more balanced mixed grain harvest for animal feeding.
Conclusion
The combination of crop performance evaluation and assessments of soil conditions suggested that more sustainable agricultural systems based on within-crop biodiversity and a significant reduction of N fertilizers and herbicides can be achieved with barley-pea mixed cropping.
Comparison of Good Clinical Practice Inspection Processes for Marketing Applications between the United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency
Authors: Ayalew Kassa , Ning Yang-Min , Foringer Michelle J. , Leibenhaut Susan , Sellers Jenn , Yu Bei , Kronstein Phillip D. , Higgerson Agata , Mihaescu Camelia , Rodriguez Miguel , Williams LaKisha , Khin Ni A.
Published: June 2022

Background

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) began collaboration on Good Clinical Practice (GCP) inspections for marketing applications since 2009. The main characteristics of the GCP inspection processes between FDA and EMA were never evaluated. This is the first analysis comparing the GCP inspection processes between the two agencies.

Methods

We examined and analyzed the key characteristics of the GCP inspection processes, including the geographical distribution, inspection types and timelines from application submission to final inspection reporting for marketing applications from September 2009 through December 2015.

Results

Fifty-five shared applications were included for analysis. For these applications, a total of 433 GCP inspections were conducted in 47 countries. Most CI inspections were conducted in regions outside of each agency’s own regulatory jurisdiction, while most sponsor/contract research organizations (CRO) inspections were conducted in the U.S. by both agencies. Twenty-eight shared applications included common sites inspected by both agencies. There were 15 joint inspections conducted for seven of these applications and the remaining applications had common sites inspected by both agencies at separate times. Of the joint inspections, 73% were conducted in the U.S and 20% in the E.U. The median time from submission of an application to generation of final inspection reports was 232 days for FDA and 204 days for EMA, with no significant differences noted among applications with and without common sites.

Conclusion

The inspection processes and timelines between the two agencies were similar, providing support for continued FDA-EMA GCP collaboration.
Consecutive Transcutaneous and Epidural Spinal Cord Neuromodulation to Restore Complete Paralysis
Authors: Mukhametova Elvira , Militskova Alena , Biktimirov Artur , Kharin Nikita , Semenova Elena , Sachenkov Oskar , Baltina Tatiana , Lavrov Igor
Published: June 2022

In this study the effect of transcutaneous (tSCS) and epidural electrical spinal cord stimulation (EES) to facilitate volitional movements, balance, and non-motor functions was consecutively tested in two subjects with motor complete spinal cord injury (SCI). We hypothesized that tSCS and EES have different but complimentary effects on restoration after SCI. In both subjects tSCS demonstrated minimal improvement in volitional movements critical to initiate tSCS-enabled rehabilitation. Compared to tSCS, following EES demonstrated immediate restoration of volitional movements, while tSCS was more effective in improving balance. Continuous improvement in non-motor functions was found during tSCS-enabled and then EES-enabled rehabilitation. These results show significant difference in effect of tSCS and EES on recovery of neurologic functions and demonstrate advantages of consecutive tSCS and EES therapy of SCI. Proposed approach will help to select responsive to neuromodulation subjects and early initiate therapy, particularly for motor complete SCI with minimal effect from conventional rehabilitation.
Multiple Sclerosis and health outcomes: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Authors: Shen Lianli , Zhong Lixian , Chen Sisi , Li Lichen , Tang shaohui
Published: June 2022

Purpose The previous analysis of systematic reviews and meta-analyses have illustrated that multiple sclerosis (MS) is correlated with multiple health outcomes. We designed an umbrella review to evaluate the breadth, validity and presence of biases of the associations of MS with diverse health outcomes. Methods We searched three databases (PubMed, We of Science and Embase) to recalculate the summary effect sizes, 95%CI, heterogeneity and small-study effects in the included meta-analyses. For each meta-analysis, we assessed the quality with AMSTAR2 and graded the epidemiologic evidence. Results A total of 28 articles comprising 84 unique meta-analyses were included in this study. Among the 84 unique outcomes, 52 unique outcomes had significant associations (p < 0.05). Only 6 outcomes (inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), ulcerative colitis (UC), crohn’s disease (CD), atrial fibrillation, herpes simplex virus type 2-IgG, hypothyroidism) showed high quality of epidemiological evidence. The remaining 46 outcomes were assessed to moderate or weak quality of evidence. Conclusion In our umbrella review, MS seems to increase the risk of IBD, UC, CD, herpes simplex virus type 2-IgG and hypothyroidism while decrease the risk of atrial fibrillation, with high epidemiological evidence. In order to verify our results, more prospective observational studies are needed.
A Supervised Learning Approach for Classification of Medical Image Retrieval
Authors: Battur Ranjana , N Jagadisha
Published: June 2022

The advancement in biomedical engineering have been significant to the medical or healthcare industry. However, it faces issues like how it can be applied to the medicine and biology for healthcare aspects. Recently, quick advances of programming and equipment innovation have made simple, the issue of keeping up beneficial images accumulations. Visual elements like shading, and shape and composition are actualized for image retrieval. Conventional strategies for image indexing have been demonstrated neither reasonable nor effective regarding space and time so it set off the advancement of the new approach. A new concept called Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is beneficial for the different sort of medical images having dissimilar imaging modalities, anatomic areas with diverse directions and biological schemes is projected. Classification of the medical image retrieval is the major concern for group of medical image. Hence, support vector machine (SVM) classifier can be favorable for grouping forecast of query and database images based on similarity matching. It is very difficult to detect the features of the compared images effectively for all the different types of queries. Hence, the proposed SVM-MIR aims to classify and retrieval of biomedical images using SVM classifier method. The SVM-MIR based classification considers numerous groups of medical images for analysis. The outcomes of the proposed SVM-MIR approach achieve better performance compared to the existing approach.
Hypoxia-reprogramed megamitochondrion contacts and engulfs lysosome to mediate mitoselfphagy
Authors: Hao Tianshu , Yu Jianglong , Wu Zhida , Jiang Jie , Gong Long , Wang Bing-Jun , Zhao Huabin , Lu Bin , Engelender Simone , He He , Song Zhiyin
Published: June 2022

Mitochondria are the key organelles for sensing oxygen, which is consumed by oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP to power the cell. Lysosomes contain hydrolytic enzymes that degrade misfolded proteins and damaged organelles, including mitochondria, to maintain cellular homeostasis. Mitochondria physically and functionally interact with lysosomes to regulate cellular metabolism. However, the mode and biological functions of mitochondria-lysosome communication remain largely unknown. Here, we show that hypoxia reshapes normal tubular mitochondria to megamitochondria by inducing wide inter-mitochondria contacts and subsequent fusion. Importantly, under hypoxia, mitochondria-lysosome contacts are promoted, and certain lysosomes are engulfed by megamitochondria, in a process we termed “megamitochondria engulfing lysosome (MMEL)”. Both megamitochondria and mature lysosome are required for MMEL. Moreover, we identified that the STX17-SNAP29-VAMP7 complex contributes to mitochondria-lysosome contacts and MMEL under hypoxia. Intriguingly, MMEL and mitochondrial proteases, which are activated by hypoxia, mediate a new mode of mitochondrial degradation, which we named “mitoselfphagy”. Unlike mitophagy, mitoselfphagy degrades mitochondrial proteins unevenly in a manner independent of the autophagosome. Additionally, mitoselfphagy increases mitochondrial ROS production. Our findings reveal a novel mode of crosstalk between mitochondria and lysosomes and uncover a new pathway of mitochondrial quality control.
Protective Effect of Thyme Leaf on Metabolic Changes Induced by Monosodium Glutamate
Authors: Dusak Zeynep Bozkoyun , Atasoy Nurhayat , Kömüroğlu Ahmet Ufuk
Published: June 2022

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is widely used as a food additive, and there is a growing concern that excitotoxins such as MSG play an important role in the development of metabolic disorders. Therefore, studies on MSG are increasing day by day. In this study, the protective effect of thyme on the metabolic syndrome caused by MSG was investigated. Thirty-two Wistar albino rats were divided into 4 groups, 8 in each group, as a control group, thyme group (250 mg/kg), MSG group (2g/kg), and MSG + thyme group. At the end of the 28-day trial, the rats were sacrificed and their blood was taken. The blood was centrifuged and the serum was separated. AST, ALT, LDH, ALP, glucose, insulin, urea, creatinine, total protein, albumin levels of serums, and 8-OHdG levels were measured in the Van YYU Faculty of Medicine Biochemistry laboratory using Abbott brand commercial kits. In addition, liver and kidney tissues were examined with only hispatological tests. Compared to the control group, the serum glucose level increased significantly in the MSG group. The serum glucose level of the MSG + thyme group decreased significantly from the MSG group. There was a slight increase in serum AST and ALT levels in the MSG group. As a result, it was concluded that the administration of MSG may have disrupted the carbohydrate metabolism by increasing the serum glucose level significantly. It was observed in the study that the thyme plant could cause this effect to decrease.
Simulated digestion of the pigmented legumes’ (black chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and brown lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus)) phenolics to estimate their bioavailability
Authors: Kose Bengi Ece , Tacer-Caba Zeynep , Nilufer-Erdil Dilara
Published: June 2022

This study simulated the gastrointestinal digestions of black chickpea (BC) and brown lentil (BL). BC phenolics were better retained (an increase of 35.1%) than the BL phenolics (a loss of 7.4%) after cooking. In contrast, the remaining flavonoids after cooking were higher in BL (about 47%). TAA (Total antioxidant activity) of free fractions increased in BC and BL samples by cooking. After in vitro GID, moderate levels of flavonoids were detected in colon (OUT) fractions. TAA levels correlated well with total flavonoids. TAA by the CUPRAC assay was higher in cooked and in vitro GID BC and BL samples. Catechin was the most abundant compound detected in BC samples, while gallic acid was for BL. BC and BL, have unique and superior benefits for health when compared with the conventional legumes. The possible interactions between their remaining phenolics and other bioactives in the colon are promising for their widespread consumption.
Deep Learning Driven Adaptive Optics for Single Molecule Localization Microscopy
Authors: Huang Fang , Zhang Peiyi , Ma Donghan , Cheng Xi , Tsai Andy , Tang Yu , Gao Hao-Cheng , Fang Li , Bi Cheng , Landreth Gary , Chubykin Alexander
Published: June 2022

The inhomogeneous refractive indices of biological tissues blur and distort single molecule emission patterns generating image artifacts and decreasing the achievable resolution of single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM). To compensate tissue induced aberrations, conventional sensorless adaptive optics methods rely on iterative mirror-changes and image-quality metrics. However, these metrics result in inconsistent, and sometimes opposite, metric responses and thus fundamentally limit the efficacy of these approaches for aberration correction in tissues. Bypassing the previous iterative trial-then-evaluate processes, we developed deep learning driven adaptive optics for SMLM to allow direct inference of wavefront distortion and near real-time compensation. Our trained deep neural network monitors the individual emission patterns from single molecule experiments, infers their shared wavefront distortion, feeds the estimates through a dynamic filter, and drives a deformable mirror to compensate sample induced aberrations. We demonstrated that our method simultaneously estimates and compensates 28 types of wavefront deformation shapes, restores single molecule emission patterns approaching the conditions untouched by the specimen, and improves the resolution and fidelity of 3D SMLM through >130 µm thick tissue specimens, with as few as 3-20 mirror changes.
Measurement of Adherence and Health-related Quality of Life during Anticoagulation Therapy in Cancer Associated-Venous Thromboembolism (VTE): A Multicenter Quantitative Study
Authors: Font Carme , Gomez-Mesa Juan Esteban , López-Núñez Juan Jose , Calderón Caterina , Galindo-Coral Stephania , Wu Carol C. , Ma Junsheng , Kroll Michael H. , Rojas-Hernandez Cristhiam Mauricio
Published: June 2022

Purpose
Therapy for cancer associated-venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes long term anticoagulation, which may have substantial impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients. We assessed patient-reported outcomes to characterize the HRQL associated with VTE treatment and to begin to examine those HRQL elements impacting anticoagulation adherence (AA).
Methods
Participants were adult cancer patients with confirmed symptomatic acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis. Patients were excluded if there was an indication for anticoagulation other than VTE, ECOG performance status > 3 or life expectancy < 3 months. Participants were assessed with a self-reported adherence tool. HRQL was measured with a 6-domain questionnaire using a seven-point Likert scale. Evaluations were performed at 30 days and 3 months after enrollment. For the primary objective, an overall adherence rate was calculated at each time point of evaluation. For the HRQL domains, non-parametric testing was used to compare results between subgroups.
Results
74 patients were enrolled. AA and HRQL at 30 days and 3 months were assessed in 50 and 36 participants, respectively. At 30 days the AA rate was 90% and at 3 months it was 83%. In regard to HRQL, patients suffered frequent and moderate-severe distress in the domains of emotional and physical symptoms, sleep disturbance and limitations to physical activity. An association between emotional or physical distress and AA was observed.
Conclusion
Patients with VTE suffer a substantial impairment of their HRQL. Increased distress correlated with better AA. These results can be used to inform additional research aimed at developing novel strategies to improve AA.