bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Linking Land Use and Precipitation Changes to Water Quality changes in Lake Victoria Using Remote Sensing
Authors: Nakkazi Maria Theresa , Nkwasa Albert , Martinez Analy Baltodano , Griensven Ann van
Published: February 2024

Due to the continued increase in land use changes and changing climatic patterns in the Lake Victoria basin, understanding the impacts of these changes on the water quality of Lake Victoria is imperative for safeguarding the integrity of the freshwater ecosystem. Thus, we analyzed spatial and temporal patterns of land cover, precipitation, and water quality changes in the Lake Victoria basin from 2000 to 2022 using processed remote sensing (RS) data. Focusing on chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and turbidity (TUR) in Lake Victoria, we used statistical metrics (correlation coefficient, trend analysis, change budget, and intensity analysis) to understand the relationship between land use and precipitation changes in the basin with changes in Chl-a and TUR at two major pollution hotspots on the lake i.e. Winam Gulf and Inner Murchison Bay (IMB). Results show that the Chl-a and TUR concentrations in the Winam gulf increase with increases in precipitation. Through increases in precipitation, the erosion risks are increased and transport of nutrients from land to the lake system, promoting algal growth and turbidity. In the IMB, Chl-a and TUR concentrations decrease with increase in precipitation, possibly due to dilution, but peak during moderate rainfall. Interestingly, LULC changes showed no substantial correlation with water quality changes at selected hotspot areas even though LULC change analysis showed a notable 300% increase in built-up areas across the Lake Victoria basin. These findings underscore the dominant influence of precipitation changes over LULC changes on the water quality of Lake Victoria for the selected hotspot areas.
Interfering PTBP1 expression inducing M2 macrophage polarization via miR-124/MAPK pathway
Authors: Wu Tongtong , Lei Shuangyin , Yu Qi , Wang Miaomiao , Li Meiying , Chi Guangfan
Published: February 2024

Background
Modulating the polarization phenotype of macrophages from M1 to M2 type appears to offer significant potential for treating CNS diseases, such as spinal cord injury and stroke. Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 (PTBP1) is an indispensable RNA-binding protein that participates in nearly all stages of RNA maturation, with particular importance in pre-mRNA splicing. However, the role of PTBP1 in macrophage polarization remains much less explored. In this study, we investigated the impact of PTBP1 on macrophage polarization and unveiled its potential molecular mechanism.
Methods
Firstly, we employed immunostaining techniques to evaluate the expression of PTBP1 in macrophages infiltrating the spinal cord injury area and cerebral ischemic zone. RAW264.7 cells were induced to M1 macrophages by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Immunofluorescence staining and western blotting were used to detect the expression and localization of PTBP1 before and after induction. Additionally, PTBP1siRNA was utilized in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells to specifically knock down PTBP1 expression. We subsequently examined the impact of PTBP1 inhibition on the phenotypic and metabolic alterations in macrophage polarization. Furthermore, RNA-seq analysis was employed to screen differentially expressed genes in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells before and after PTBP1 inhibition, enabling us to identify significant signaling pathways related to PTBP1. Finally, qRT-PCR and western blot were conducted to validate the molecular mechanism by which PTBP1 regulates the polarization of M1/M2 macrophages.
Results
PTBP1 was highly expressed in M1 macrophages infiltrating the spinal cord injury area and cerebral ischemic zone. In LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells, PTBP1 tended to be located in the nucleus. Inhibiting PTBP1 resulted in downregulation of M1-like genes (inducible nitric oxide synthase [iNOS, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α, and interleukin [IL]-6) and upregulation of M2-like genes (Arginase [ARG]-1, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor [TGF]-β1). In addition, there was a shift in macrophage metabolism from M1-type glycolysis to M2-type aerobic oxidation. PTBP1 inhibition enhanced the expression of mature miR-124, thereby suppressing the activation of the downstream MAPK pathway.
Conclusion
PTBP1 shifts the polarization phenotype of macrophages via regulating microRNA-124 (miR-124)/mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway and glucose metabolism. PTBP1 may be a novel therapeutic target for macrophages polarization related-CNS injuries.
Oncolytic adenovirus encoding LHPP exerts potent antitumor effect in lung cancer
Authors: Wang Yigang , Zhao Yaru , Wang Xiaoyan , Jia xiaoyuan , Liu Huihui , Zhan Qi , Jin Hao , Wang Yiqiang , Wang Hui , Huang Biao , Huang Fang
Published: February 2024

LHPP has been shown to be a new tumor suppressor, and has a tendency to be under-expressed in a variety of cancers. Oncolytic virotheray is a promising therapeutics for lung cancer in recent decade years. Here we successfully constructed a new recombinant oncolytic adenovirus GD55-LHPP and investigated the effect of GD55-LHPP on the growth of lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that LHPP had lower expression in either lung cancer cells or clinical lung cancer tissues compared with normal cells or tissues, and GD55-LHPP effectively mediated LHPP expression in lung cancer cells. GD55-LHPP could effectively inhibit the proliferation of lung cancer cell lines and rarely affected normal cell growth. Mechanically, the oncolytic adenovirus GD55-LHPP was able to induce stronger apoptosis of lung cancer cells compared with GD55 through the activation of caspase signal pathway. Notably, GD55-LHPP also activated autophagy-related signal pathway. Further, GD55-LHPP efficiently inhibited tumor growth in lung cancer xenograft in mice and prolonged animal survival rate compared with the control GD55 or PBS. In conclusion, the novel construct GD55-LHPP provides a valuable strategy for lung cancer-targeted therapy and develop the role of tumor suppress gene LHPP in lung cancer gene therapy.
Current status of plastic surgery department interaction from interhospital transfer in a regional trauma center
Authors: Kim Min Ji , Cho Hun Gil , Lim Hyoseob , Lee Il Jae
Published: February 2024

Background
The incidence of multiple trauma has been on a rise recently, and there is a consensus on the importance of initial treatment to prevent death. Notably, the government has initiated a well-organized trauma system in South Korea. Thus, depending on the treatment purpose, there exists an active interhospital transfer. In the present study, we analyzed the clinical outcome of patients who transferred to a regional trauma center and the plastic surgeon’s interaction in their treatment.
Methods
We performed a retrospective chart review of major trauma patients transferred to Ajou regional trauma center from January 2020 to February 2022. We evaluated injury severity score (ISS), initial resuscitation, post-transfer treatment, and plastic surgery-related procedure.
Results
In total, 92 patients were evaluated; of these, 41.1% were from certified tertiary hospitals, 16.30% were pre-transfer resuscitation cases, 18.47% were in the intensive care unit, and 17.39% were admitted for an emergency operation. At transfer, 63.04% (58 patients) had an initial open wound and 34.78% were referred to a plastic surgery department. In addition, 20.65% of patients with initially detected wounds underwent plastic surgery operation and required an average 1.76 ± 0.46 of debridement and 12.75 ± 3.45 of aseptic dressing.
Conclusion
Increasing the current status of interhospital transfers to regional trauma centers required an active interaction with the plastic surgery department. Most major trauma patients have multiple wounds that needs specialized reconstruction. Therefore, a dynamic consultation system is one of the essential facilities in a trauma center.
Risk Prediction and Risk Factor Analysis in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Complicated with Heart Failure under Lightweight Deep Learning Model and Echocardiography
Authors: Liu Yongquan , Yin Luchang , Zhang Zenghua , Zhang Xiaoxia
Published: February 2024

This work was developed to explore the risk prediction and risk factor analysis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with heart failure (HF) based on a lightweight deep learning (LWDL) model and echocardiography. A total of 127 patients with COPD in Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University were recruited. According to whether they were complicated with HF, they were assigned to the group with HF (n = 35) and the group without HF (n = 92). A dual-channel lightweight model with multifeature fusion was constructed for ultrasound imaging. The blood index, arterial blood gas index, and pulmonary function index of the two groups were analyzed to explore the risk factors for COPD complicated with HF. The results showed that the recognition rate of different methods was above 85%, which indicated that the network had good performance. PaCO2 and PaO2 in the HF group were drastically superior to those in the non-HF group (P<0.05). The proportion of GOLD1 and GOLD2 in the HF group was markedly inferior to that in the non-HF group, and the proportion of GOLD3 and GOLD4 in the HF group was higher than that in the non-HF group (P<0.05). The vital capacity (VC), forced VC (FVC), and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) in the HF group were lower than those in the non-HF group (P<0.05). The AO, left atrial dimension (LA), left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPW), and interventricular septal thickness (IVS) showed no great differences, but the pulmonary artery (PA) and right ventricular end-diastolic diameter (RVEDD) were dramatically superior to those in the non-HF group (P<0.05), and PaP was notably higher in the HF group than in the non-HF group (P<0.05). Moreover, hypercapnia was associated with COPD combined with HF. In summary, the LWDL model can clearly present ultrasound images. Hypercapnia had a great impact on COPD combined with HF, which should be controlled as early as possible in clinical practice to prevent disease deterioration.
Tropical and mid-latitude causal drivers of the eastern Mediterranean Etesians during boreal summer
Authors: Capua Giorgia Di , Tyrlis Evangelos , Matei Daniela , Donner Reik V.
Published: February 2024

During boreal summer, large scale subsidence and a persistent northerly flow, known as the Etesians, characterize the tropospheric circulation over the eastern Mediterranean. The Etesians bring clear skies and alleviate the impact of heat waves over the region. The intraseasonal variability of the Etesians and subsidence over the eastern Mediterranean has been thought to be influenced by the South Asian Monsoon and atmospheric processes over the North Atlantic. Here, we employ causal effect networks and causal maps, obtained by applying the Peter and Clark Momentary Conditional Independence (PCMCI) causal discovery algorithm, to identify causal precursors of Etesians. We find that both wave train activity over the North Atlantic/North American region and convective activity over South Asia associated with the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) are causally related to the Etesians at 3-day time scale. Thus, intraseasonal ISM variability affects the eastern Mediterranean circulation, though its influence is conveyed via a Middle East ridge. On longer weekly time scale, the mid-latitude influence weakens, while the influence of the tropical convective activity via the Middle East ridge remains stable. Moreover, the heat low over the Arabian Peninsula, a feature strongly responsible for the development of the Etesians, is caused by a stronger Middle East ridge and not by North Atlantic wave activity. Finally, we discuss potential implication for circulation changes in the eastern Mediterranean due to anthropogenic global warming.
Heterozygous Men1+/T knockout mice do not develop bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine hyperplasia or neoplasia but bronchial adenocarcinoma
Authors: Albers Max B. , Fink Ludger , Manoharan Jerena , Lopez Caroline L. , Bollmann Carmen , Mintziras Ioannis , Fazio Pietro , Bartsch Detlef K.
Published: February 2024

Introduction: Bronchopulmonary Neuroendocrine Neoplasia (NEN) occur in 2-7% of patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Precursor lesions could be recognized for MEN1 related pancreatic, duodenal, and gastric NEN. Aim of the current study of a Men1 mouse model was to define precursor lesions of bronchopulmonary NEN and potential prophylactic antitumor effects of somatostatin analogues in a transgenic Men1 mouse model.
Methods: 15 mice, germline heterozygous for Men1 (+/T), were treated with subcutaneous injections of lanreotide autogel (Somatuline Autogel®, IPSEN Pharma) and 15 mice were treated with subcutaneous injections of physiologic sodium chloride as control group. Five mice each were euthanized after 12, 15, and 18 months, respectively. The complete lungs were resected and morphologically evaluated after HE staining and immunohistochemistry for synaptophysin and chromogranin A.
Results: In the lungs of the 30 evaluated mice, treated or placebo treated, no bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia nor neuroendocrine neoplasia could be detected by histopathology. However, 2 (13%) of 15 untreated mice and one (7%) of 15 lanreotide treated mice developed pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
Conclusion: Heterozygous Men1 (+/T) knockout mice do not develop bronchopulmonary NEN or precursor lesions, but pulmonary adenocarcinoma. This surprising result needs to be investigated in more detail.
Level of Institutional Delivery Service Utilization and Associated Factors Among Women Who Gave Birth in The Past 12 Months, ACommunity-Based Cross-Sectional Study, Ga’an Libah District, Marodijeh Region - Somaliland
Authors: Mohamed Mustakim , Abdeeq Barkhad Aden , Mohamed Ahmed Ismail , Jama Hassan Abdi , Tafese Fikru , Getachew Muluneh
Published: February 2024

Background.
Institutional delivery has been considered one of the important strategies to improve maternal and child health and significantly reduce birth-related complications. However, it is still low in developing countries though there are some improvements. even among the community who has access to the health institutions weather health center and hospital including Somaliland. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the level of institutional delivery service utilization and associated factors among mothers/women who gave birth in the last 12 months in Ga’an libah district, Marodijeh region, Somaliland.
Methods
The community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers who gave birth in the last 12 months from September to December 2022. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select study participants from a total of sample respondents. Data was collected using semi-structural administered questionnaire through interviewing women/caregivers. Data was collected with mobile data survey. SPSS version 25.0 was used for data management, entering and analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were fit to determine the presence of a statistically significant association between independent variables and the outcome variable at P value < 0.05 and OR with 95% CI.
Result.
Level of Institutional delivery services utilization in Ga’an libah district was 53.9% [95% Cl 48.2–59.6] gave birth at health institutions. Mothers who can read and write local were (AOR 2.18, 95% CI 1.08–4.56, p < 0.01), Mothers with their husband can be capable to read and write are [(AOR = 6.95, 95% Cl 2.82–21.58, p < 0.002]). Additionally, ability to cost transportation for referral [AOR 5.21, 95% Cl 2.44–11.13, p < 0.001]. not good services available [AOR 0.07, 95%Cl 0.01–0.10, p < 0.02]. lack of maternal health and child knowledge [AOR 0.034, 95% Cl 0.02–0.57, p < 0.01]. were observed associated with level of institutional deliver services utilization.
Conclusion.
The institutional delivery service utilization was relatively high compared to national demographic health services in the study area. A large proportion of mothers gave both at home without a skilled attendant. Therefore, this finding has important policy implications since changes in the cost of the health service and perceived quality would mean changes in client satisfaction as well as their choice, as well emphasize to expectant mothers can receive medical advice and ambulance for referrals.
SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro Main Protease Drives Cytoskeletal Reorganization and Tunnelling Nanotube Formation for Stealth Intercellular Infection
Authors: Overall Christopher , Butler Georgina , Vlok Marli , de Jesus Hugo , Baid Kaushal , Machado Yoan , Pablos Isabel , Solis Nestor , Kappelhoff Reinhild , Bell Peter , Nore Leo , Grin Peter , Nguyen Jenny , Cao Quynh , Lamer Tess , Vuong Wayne , Webster Sam , Vederas John , Hirota Jeremy , Lindskog Cecilia , Banerjee Arinjay , Jan Eric
Published: February 2024

To identify and characterize roles for SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro main protease in promoting viral infection and dissemination, we employed Inactive Catalytic Domain Capture and proteomics to identify host cell interactors and substrates in the interactome of 3CLpro. Of 259 3CLpro interactors, 145 were associated with the cytoskeleton and its organisation. We determined enzyme kinetic specificity constants for 139 3CLpro cut-sites in 43 interactors using a multiplex assay, identifying 29 efficiently-cleaved substrates and validating 13 as substrates in vitro, in SARS-CoV-2-infected human lung cells, and in COVID-19 post-mortem lungs. 3CLpro cleavage of adherens junction proteins initiated cytoskeletal rearrangement, activated zonular signalling, removed subcellular localization motifs to trigger translocation of nuclear TRIM28 and NUMA1 to adherens junctions, and YAP1 in the hippo pathway, to the nucleus. These cytoskeletal remodelling events rapidly generated tunnelling nanotubes connecting lung epithelial cells and containing virus colocalized with 3CLpro substrates for stealth trafficking of SARS-CoV-2 to distant cells.
Alloy-Tunable Single-Layer 2D Heterophase Photocatalysts for Efficient Solar Fuel Production
Authors: Jia Guohua , Chen Jiayi , Uddin Md Nasir , Liu Xiaozhi , Mao Rundong , Liu Kaili , Hsu Hsien-Yi , Su Dong , Li Yunguo , Hadar Ido , Buntine Mark , Yang Xuyong , Yin Zongyou
Published: February 2024

Earth-abundant two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalogenate (TMD) nanosheets manifesting both polymorphic 1T’ metallic and 2H semiconducting characteristics have been demonstrated as efficient photocatalysts. Despite considerable efforts have been devoted to synthesizing such material, it is still a stunning challenge to precisely tailor the ratio of metallic and semiconducting phases within an individual single-layer 2D TMD nanosheet to maximize their potential in photocatalysis. Herein, we developed a chemical alloying strategy through incorporating W and/or Se elements into MoS2, which enables precise tuning the ratio of 1T’ and 2H phases in single-layer TMD nanosheets. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of the 1T’/2H heterophase in individual single-layer MoxW1-xS2 nanosheets. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations reveal that the tunability of 1T’ and 2H heterophase enabled through W element alloying optimize the balance of charge separation and absorption. This consequently boosts significantly the photocatalytic hydrogen production reaction from a liquid carrier of methanol, yielding a record high hydrogen generation rate of 1,426 mmole·g-1·h-1 in single-layer Mo0.21W0.79S2 nanosheets.
Effect of crystalloid co-loading infusion rate on the dose requirements of prophylactic phenylephrine for preventing hypotension following spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery
Authors: Zhang Xiao-Min , Qian Jing , Liu Lin , Shen Yue-Ping , Xiao Fei
Published: February 2024

Background
Intravenous fluid administration and prophylactic vasopressor infusion are main methods for prevention spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension (SAIH) in cesarean delivery. The evidence regarding the impact of different volumes of crystalloid solution on the phenylephrine infusion dosage for preventing spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension remains inconclusive. In this study, we aimed to compare the median effective dose (ED50) of phenylephrine for preventing SAIH, while 10 or 20 mL/kg/h of crystalloid solution was coloaded.
Methods
Eighty healthy partrients undergoing elective cesarean delivery under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia were enrolled in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 10 mL/kg/h (group 10) or 20 mL/kg/h (group 20) of lactated Ringer's solution. The first patient in each group received 0.5 µg/kg/min of phenylephrine infusion immediately after intrathecal injection. The dose of phenylephrine for the next patient varied with increments or decrements of 0.05 µg/kg/min based on the response of the previous patient. The ED50 of phenylephrine infusion to prevent spinal-induced hypotension for cesarean delivery were estimated using modified up-down sequential analysis with probit analysis applied as a backup sensitive analysis.
Results
The ED50 values for preventing SAIH were 0.30 µg/kg/min (95% CI, 0.29–0.32 µg/kg/min) for group 10, and 0.19 µg/kg/min (95% CI, 0.16–0.22µg/kg/min) for group 20, respectively. The estimated relative potency for phenylephrine in group 10 compared to group 20 was determined to be 1.52 (95%CI, 1.24–1.97), showing that there was a significant difference in the ED50 values between the two groups.
Conclusion
A negative correlation was found between the volume of liquid cohydration and the dose of preventive vasopressor in preventing spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension during cesarean delivery under the condition of this study. The combination of intravenous fluid administration and prophylactic vasopressor may be more suitable for the prevention of hypotension following spinal anesthesia.
Eco-anxiety: an additional burden for university students?
Authors: Tavolacci Marie-Pierre , Ladner Joel
Published: February 2024

Introduction: To assess eco-anxiety in students and investigate a relationship with health behaviour, mental health, and environmental opinion.
Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among voluntary university students in the Rouen University in Normandy, France. Volunteer healthcare students aged 18 years and older were included. Eco-anxiety was assessed with the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS-13). Socio-demographics, health behavior, mental health and healthcare data were collected.
Results: A total of 1,887 students were included with 74.3% of women and a mean age of 21.1 years (SD = 6.8). The HEAS-13 mean was 13.2 (SD = 2.6): affective symptoms 4.1 (SD = 2.7), eco-rumination 3.7 (SD = 2.4), behaviour 1.0 (SD = 1.5), and anxiety about one’s personal impact on the planet 4.4 (SD = 2 .5). Respectively, 59.6% and 31.4% of students are moderately and very much involved in pro environmental-behaviour. 84.6% of students will consider environmental issues in their career choices. Eco-anxiety was associated with being a woman, being in curricula other than health, accommodation with roommates or in couple, use of cannabis, eating disorders, insomnia, emotional exhaustion, cynicism, depression, quality of life, and visiting a general practitioner for stress.
Discussion: An high eco-anxiety was associated with impaired mental health and could be an additional burden for university students. Intervention options for those that do experience eco-anxiety and suffering can be as prescribing environmental action, mental health skills, and climate change resolution without imposing the burden of change solely on young people.
Neurotransmitters’ white matter mapping unveils the neurochemical fingerprints of stroke
Authors: Alves Pedro , Nozais Victor , Hansen Justine , Corbetta Maurizio , Nachev Parashkev , Martins Isabel , de Schotten Michel Thiebaut
Published: February 2024

Distinctive patterns of brain neurotransmission frame determinant circuits for behavior. Understanding the relationship between their damage and the cognitive impairment provoked by brain lesions could provide important insights into the pathophysiology and therapeutics of highly disabling disorders, like stroke. Yet, the challenges of neurotransmitter circuits mapping in vivo have hampered this investigation. Here, we developed a novel MRI white matter atlas of neurotransmitter circuits and created a method to chart how stroke damages neurotransmitter systems, which innovatively distinguishes pre and postsynaptic disruption. We trained and tested our model in two large stroke patient samples and showed the existence of eight clusters with different neurochemical patterns. The associations with patients’ cognitive profiles were scarce, reinforcing that a cognitive network might be affected at different neurochemical levels. These findings unravel the relationship between neurotransmitters and behavior, depict the patterns of stroke neurochemical diaschisis, and open a new window for tailored neurotransmitter modulation.
Comprehensive Glycosylation Characterization of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin by Electron-Activated Dissociation Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Li Xiang , Wang Wentao , Luo Ji , Guo Lihai , Zhou Yong , Chen Hong-Xu
Published: February 2024

Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) is a glycoprotein that acts as the main hormone involved in regulating red blood cell production to treat anemia caused by chronic kidney disease or chemotherapy, which has three N-glycosylation sites and one O-glycosylation site. It contains a variety of different glycosylation modifications, such as sialyation, O-acetylation on sialic acids, etc, which causes a big challenge for the glycosylation analysis of rhEPO. In this study, a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method combined with electron-activated dissociation (EAD) technology was used in qualitative and quantitative characterization of rhEPO N-glycosylation and O-glycosylation in just one injection. The usage of EAD not only generated abundant MS/MS fragment ions of glycopeptides and improved the MS/MS sequence coverage, but also preserved the glycans structures in the MS/MS fragment ions and the integrity of the glycosidic bond between the glycans and peptides. Three N-glycosylation sites (N24, N38 and N83) and one O-glycosylation site (S126) of rhEPO samples were successfully identified. Among them, the glycosylation ratios of N24, N38 and N83 sites were 82.7%, 100% and 100% respectively, and 15, 10 and 12 different N-glycans could be identified at the glycopeptide level. The total average number of sialic acids, N-hydroxyacetylneuraminoic acid and O-acetylation on sialic acid were 7.28, 4.21 and 0.66 at the Intact protein level, respectively. For O-glycosylation site S126, O-glycosylation ratios analyzed at the intact protein level and the glycopeptide level were 80.2% and 80.3%, respectively, and two O-glycans were identified, including Core1_S1 and Core1_S2. This study also compared the difference between the glycans and their relative contents in batch-to-batch rhEPO samples. The results proved that the workflow using EAD fragmentation in LC-MS method could be effectively applied for characterizing the glycosylation analysis of rhEPO samples and batch-to-batch consistency analysis, which would help to reasonably guide the optimization of rhEPO production process.
Mechanoactivated Amorphization and Photopolymerization of Styryldipyryliums
Authors: Han Grace , Usuba Junichi , Sun Zhenhuan , Nguyen Han , Raju Cijil , Schmidt-Rohr Klaus
Published: February 2024

We report the mechanoactivation of photostable styryldipyrylium-based monomers, which results in their amorphization-enabled solid-state photopolymerization and produces soluble and processable amorphous polymers. A combination of solid-state NMR, X-ray diffraction, and absorption/fluorescence spectroscopy reveals the crucial role of a mechanically-disordered monomer phase in yielding polymers via photo-induced [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. Our amorphization-assisted photopolymerization technique complements the conventional topochemical photopolymerization reactions that occur exclusively in precisely-engineered photoactive crystalline states. Hence, the mechanoactivation and amorphization can expand the scope of topochemical polymerization conditions to open up opportunities in generating polymers that are otherwise difficult to synthesize and analyze.
Antireflection microstructures on ZnSe for mid- and far- IR fabricated by femtosecond laser ablation assisted with wet chemical etching
Authors: Teslenko Andrei , Konstantinova Tatiana , Bushunov Andrey , Ibragimov Artem , Rodionov Ilya , Tarabrin Mikhail
Published: February 2024

Most infrared materials used in high-power systems, such as optical parametric generators, have high values of refractive indices, which result in high Fresnel losses. The performance of conventional antireflection coatings is limited when used in high-power and ultra-broadband systems. An alternative approach is to fabricate antireflection microstructures (ARMs) that allow for a broadband increase in transmittance without reducing the damage threshold of the material. In this work, ARMs were fabricated on the surface of ZnSe crystals using the femtosecond laser ablation assisted with wet chemical etching method. This allowed to produce high aspect ratio microstructures that increase the transmittance up to 98\% in the mid- and far- infrared regions.
Living With “Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder": A Qualitative Phenomenological Thematic Inductive Analysis on Individuals’ Phenomena Through the Lens of Online Blogging.
Authors: Suratwala T
Published: February 2024

Purpose: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a relatively newly classified Eating Disorder (ED) with limited research which was mostly conducted on children and adolescents. There is a paucity of research involving adults, so there is little evidence to illustrate the impact of ARFID adulthood Lived Experiences (LEs).
Methodology:This study employed a ‘Qualitative Phenomenological Thematic Inductive Analysis’ to explore the phenomena of ARFID LEs, through the use of a virtual digital space. The study examined 10 blogs describing Adult LEs of ARFID, 8 females and 2 males, who self-reported their story narratives on ED blogging platforms.
Results: Six salient themes were pertinent to this phenomenological ARFID Lived Experience (LE) study, such as: (1) Sharing Online Personal Narratives, (2) Feelings Towards Food and Eating, (3) Awareness and Understanding of ARFID, (4) Sensory Sensitivities Towards Food, (5) Social Avoidance Whilst Eating, (6) ARFID Self-Management and Treatment. Key issues were revealed in the context of societal ignorance of ARFID e.g., social avoidance, sensory issues, and feelings towards food, but also temperature, flavour, visual impact, and odour.
Conclusions/Implications:The lack of familiarity with ARFID in society adversely affected the bloggers. The narratives also revealed a notable difference between sensory Eating Disorders (EDs) (ARFID) and those of a more psychological origin (Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa). Although this study strengthened the voices of sharing LEs of ARFID, any future intervention must address the impact of ARFID, the LE emotions and the ED itself to gain greater awareness of living with this disorder.
Machine Learning and Bayesian Network Analyses Identifies Psychiatric Disorders and Symptom Associations with Insomnia in a national sample of 31,285 Treatment-Seeking College Students
Authors: Calderon Adam , Baik Seung Yeon , Ng Matthew H. S. , Fitzsimmons-Craft Ellen E. , Eisenberg Daniel , Wilfley Denise E. , Taylor C. Barr , Newman Michelle G.
Published: February 2024

Background: A better understanding of the structure of relations among insomnia and anxiety, mood, eating, and alcohol-use disorders is needed, given its prevalence among young adults. Supervised machine learning provides the ability to evaluate the discriminative accuracy of psychiatric disorders associated with insomnia. Combined with Bayesian network analysis, the directionality between symptoms and their associations may be illuminated.
Methods: The current exploratory analyses utilized a national sample of college students across 26 U.S. colleges and universities collected during population-level screening before entering a randomized controlled trial. Firstly, an elastic net regularization model was trained to predict,
via repeated 10-fold cross-validation, which psychiatric disorders were associated with insomnia severity. Seven disorders were included: major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anorexia nervosa, and alcohol use disorder. Secondly, using a Bayesian network approach, completed partially directed acyclic graphs (CPDAG) built on training and holdout samples were computed via a Bayesian hill-climbing algorithm to determine symptom-level interactions of disorders most associated with insomnia [based on SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) values)] and were evaluated for stability across networks.
Results: Of 31,285 participants, 20,597 were women (65.8%); mean (standard deviation) age was 22.96 (4.52) years. The elastic net model demonstrated clinical significance in predicting insomnia severity in the training sample [R2 = .449 (.016); RMSE = 5.00 [.081]), with comparable performance in accounting for variance explained in the holdout sample [R2 = .33; RMSE = 5.47). SHAP indicated the presence of any psychiatric disorder was associated with higher insomnia severity, with major depressive disorder demonstrated to be the most associated disorder. CPDAGs showed excellent fit in the holdout sample and suggested that depressed mood, fatigue, and self-esteem were the most important depression symptoms that presupposed insomnia.
Conclusion: These findings offer insights into associations between psychiatric disorders and insomnia among college students and encourage future investigation into the potential direction of causality between insomnia and major depressive disorder.
Trial registration: Trial may be found on the National Institute of Health RePORTER website: Project Number: R01MH115128-05.
Contribution to the Study of the Antimicrobial Properties of Eucalyptus pauciflora Essential Oil and Evaluation of its Acaricidal Effect on Varroa destructor ofBees
Authors: Merabet Ghania Atmani , Hazmoune Hichem , Belkhiri Abdelmalik
Published: February 2024

The antibacterial, antifungal, and acaricidal properties ofEucalyptus pauciflora(Ep) essential oil (EO) from the Constantine region of northeastern Algeria are investigated in this study. The plant’s dry leaves yielded 0.73%. The GC/MS analysis identified 39 compounds, with 1,8-cineole (54.45%) being the most abundant. TheE.pauciflora’s antibacterial activity was tested using the Muller Hinton agar diffusion method onEscherichia coli (E.coli),Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumonia)andPseudomonas aeruginosa (P.aeruginosa) at various oil concentrations with DMSO. The diameters of the inhibition zones ranged from 6 mm to 20 mm. The plant’s antifungal power was tested against the tomato fungusFusarium oxysporum (F.oxysporum)by incorporating the product into the Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) agar medium. The action of EpEO at different concentrations on mycelial growth was compared to determine inhibition rates. The rates of inhibition ranged from 39.27–84.48%. The oil’s acaricidal activity was tested on beehives infested withVarroa destructor. The biological “swaddling” or “cover crop” method was used. The oil has a statistically significant effect (p < 0.05). TheE.paucifloraEO recorded antimicrobial and acaricidal results, indicating that this plant could be used in integrated pest management against the bacteria and fungus tested and theVarroa destructormite.
Association between dietary factors and health-related quality of life in adolescents longitudinally over three years from age 11-16 years
Authors: Stewart-Knox Barbara , Bunting Brendan , Davison Jenny
Published: February 2024

Background: Cross-sectional studies have linked adolescent food choices to health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This research aimed to determine the degree to which adolescent food choices are linked to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) longitudinally.
Methods: HRQoL was assessed using the Kidscreen10 and food intake using a 17-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Data were collected in the UK as part of the Wellbeing in Schools (WiSe) survey. Adolescents (N=2241) (49% female, n=1112) were surveyed at age 11-12 (2014); 13-14 (2016); 15-16 years (2018).
Results: FFQ responses were reduced to five factors (junk food; fruit and vegetables; bread and dairy; meat; protein).Boys reported higher HRQoL than girls at age 13-14 and 15-16 years. Boys consumed ‘protein’ and ‘meat intake’ more frequently at all time-points. Girls reported more frequent ‘fruit and vegetable’ consumption at all time points, with intakes in boys becoming progressively less frequent at age 13-14 and 15-16 years.Cross-lagged panel modelling indicated that more frequent intake of ‘fruit and vegetables’, and ‘protein’ was associated with lower Kidscreen10 scores at baseline (age 11-12 years) and that this association strengthened through ages 13-14 and 15-16 years. Lower Kidscreen10 scores at baseline were associated with more frequent ‘bread and dairy’ intake at age 13-14 years but not at 15-16 years. No associations were observed over time between HRQoL and ‘junk food’ or ‘meat intake’.
Conclusions: These findings imply the importance of earlier diet to quality of life later in adolescence. Further research is required to understand why certain dietary factors were associated with lower HRQOL over the course of adolescence. Meanwhile, intervention to enhance HRQoL should target girls while efforts to enhance ‘fruit and vegetable’ intake should target boys.
Adaptive Composite Bandwidth and Automatic Gain Control Receiver for 6G Wireless Optical Communication
Authors: Das Bhagwan , Agbinya Johnson Ihyeh , Abdullah Mohammad Faiz Liew , Mahdi Osama A. , Ali Nawfal , Ghaffar Abdul , Gyasi-Agyei Amoakoh
Published: February 2024

The advent of 6G communication promises a transformative leap in wireless connectivity, ushering in an era of unprecedented data rates, ultra-low latency, and pervasive connectivity. To harness the full potential of 6G networks, it is imperative to address the unique challenges posed by evolving communication environments. In this context, we present a novel framework that integrates Adaptive Composite Bandwidth and Automatic Gain Control (AGC) techniques into the 6G communication paradigm. Optical wireless receivers experience large input current difference due to the large transmitted power, noise from ambient light and the varying efficiencies of different photodiode receivers. With its large dynamic range of µA to mA, transimpedance amplifiers are suitable to handle large variable photodiode efficiencies. The receiver design proposed in this article incorporates two characteristic parameter adjustments, namely bandwidth and automatic gain. By adjusting the bandwidth the signal-to-noise ratio of the incoming signal is automatically controlled. By controlling the bandwidth, the unwanted noise is reduced and amplifier output is liable to low noise and enhances the dynamic range without extra filtering. The automatic gain control adapts its gain based on slight change in the input signal at the receiver front-end. This optimization technique ensures low photo-detection and amplification noise to achieve better quality of service. The results indicate that bootstrap transimpedance amplifier gain is around 53.3 dB and frequency cut-off at 109.7 MHz. Thus, when gain control capacitance is varied between 50 pF to 1 nF, the bandwidth adjustment falls in the range 7.5-104.1 MHz, and the amplifier’s second stage gain becomes 10.4 dB. The overall gain of the proposed configuration with automatic gain control integrated into the transimpedance amplifier increases up to 31.1 dB, while the bandwidth adjusted from 9.4 MHz to 60.7 MHz. In results, gain bandwidth product is optimized from 10.4 dB to 31.1 dB. The main contribution to work is optimizing the product by selecting a capacitance value within the given range that maximizes the GBP. This value will provide the least gain-bandwidth product for effective noise reduction.
Deep Learning Approach Based on a Patch Residual for Pediatric Supracondylar Subtle Fracture Detection
Authors: Hou Jue , Wang Zhilu , Lou Yi , Yan Ling , Liu Weiguang , Liu Zheng , Li Jiayu
Published: February 2024

Background
Labeled fracture radiographs are usually difficult to acquire, especially for the small sample sizes of the supracondylar fractures for children. Convolutional neural network-based methods, which rely heavily on a large amount of labeled data, cannot yield satisfactory performance. Compared to the fracture data, normal radiographs without the need for annotation are much easier to capture and include many images.
Methods
In this study, we propose a subtle supracondylar fracture detection framework, called the multiscale patch residual (MPR), which can learn the bone characteristics from normal data to repair fracture areas and forms residual features with the original image for fracture location. Our proposed MPR framework is a repair-based method that can learn the distribution of normal data by removing occlusions. A multiscale generation adversarial model is proposed for learning the bone consistency features from normal data. For the repaired image to be more similar to the real data, edges and textures are added as auxiliary information. Furthermore, weighted-binary cross-entropy (W-BCE) is used in our detection model to further enhance the fracture detection accuracy by adjusting the difference between the fracture area and the nonfracture area and forcing the model to learn the feature changes before and after repair. Additional experiments are conducted on the cross time independent test set, and a comparative experiment was conducted with an emergency specialist and a pediatric radiologist. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of our approach.
Results
The final accuracy of independent test set was 93.5%, the sensitivity was 89%, the specificity was 98%, and the F1 value was 0.932. The accuracy of emergency physicians was 81%, the sensitivity was 62%, the specificity was 42%, and the F1 value was 0.62. The accuracy of children's radiologists was 93%, the sensitivity was 92%, the specificity was 94.2%, and the F1 value was 0.929.
Conclusions
Our method has achieved a good diagnostic rate, far exceeding that of emergency doctors and reaching the same level as pediatric radiologists.
Experimental Characterization of Grewia Ferruginea Fiber Reinforced Polyester Matrix Composite Materials
Authors: Seyoum Dejen , Gnanadurai Robinson , Asratie Aychew , Gzate Yewondwosen
Published: February 2024

Researchers from all around the world have been paying close attention to natural fiber because of its economical and environmentally favorable benefits. The botanical name Grewia ferruginea, sometimes known locally as Lenquata, is one source of natural fiber among other plant fibers. But so far, the Grewia ferruginea plant has not been used as a reinforcing material for composites. The goal of this research project is to create polyester matrix composites reinforced with short Grewia ferruginea plant fiber that measures 10 mm, 20 mm, and 30 mm. The ratio of fiber to polyester will be 15/85%, 25/75%, and 35/65% for each of the prepared short natural fiber lengths or sizes. To ascertain the ideal fiber weight ratio, fiber length, and the associated maximum tensile and flexural qualities through experimentation. The fiber from the ferruginea plant was extracted using the traditional water retting method. The Grewia ferruginea plant submerged in water was then meticulously cleaned, and the fiber bundle was gradually split into a single strand by hand (with metal teeth). Following extraction, the fiber was subjected to a chemical treatment at a 5% concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which improved the bond and interfacial strength between the Grewia ferruginea fiber and matrix. The composite is made using hand lay-up techniques with varying fiber/matrix ratios and fiber lengths (sizes). Additionally, the specimen's tensile and flexural qualities were experimentally examined in line with ASTM 638 and ASTM 790 standards, respectively. The findings indicated that the average tensile strength of a single fiber from Grewia ferruginea plants is 214 MPa, with a density of 1.11 g/cm3. Furthermore, the Grewia ferruginea fiber-reinforced polyester composite, which was created with a 10 mm fiber length, a 25% fiber weight ratio, and a 75% polyester matrix composite, exhibits superior performance. That is stronger than any combination that was used to create the composite in this investigation, with 18.3 MPa tensile and 35.2 MPa flexural strength.
The durability of some outdoor pavement products against the triple- combined effects: freeze-thaw, de-icing salt and abrasion
Authors: Kotan Türkay , Ardahanlı Metehan
Published: February 2024

In this study, it was aimed to investigate some physical and mechanical properties and resistance to triple-combined effect (abrasion, freeze-thaw and de-icing salt) of andesite stone pavement (ASP), diorite stone pavement (DSP), concrete pavement plaque (CPP) and visually impaired concrete plaque (VICP) pavement products used as exterior coating materials for various purposes. Bohme abrasion test were applied at the end of every 5 cycles freezing-thawing cycles (60 cycles) under the influence of deicing salt (NaCl solution) in addition to various physical and mechanical property tests, on the products obtained from various manufacturers. As results; While all of the examined natural stone pavement products were completed the 60-cycle triple-combined effect program without disintegration, only the VICP-R group from concrete pavement products was completed the 60-cycle triple-combined effect program without disintegrating. On the other hand, the VICP-Y pavement product was the group that disintegrated in the shortest time under the triple-combined effect. It was determined that the basalt aggregate used on the upper surface of the concrete pavement products increased the resistance of these products against the triple-combined effect, but the yellow color pigment used in their compositions decreased their resistance against the triple-combined effect.
RETRACTED: Modeling Cloud-Oriented Cryptographic Techniques inCloudSim for Comparative Analysis
Authors: Sanger Amit Kumar Singh Sanger , Johari Rahul Johari
Published: February 2024

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.