bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Linear and nonlinear dimensionality reduction from fluid mechanics to machine learning
Authors: Mendez Miguel A
Published: January 2023

Dimensionality reduction is the essence of many data processing problems, including filtering, data compression, reduced-order modeling and pattern analysis. While traditionally tackled using linear tools in the fluid dynamics community, nonlinear tools from machine learning are becoming increasingly popular. This article, halfway between a review and a tutorial, introduces a general framework for linear and nonlinear dimensionality reduction techniques. Differences and links between autoencoders and manifold learning methods are highlighted, and popular nonlinear techniques such as kernel principal component analysis, isometric feature learning and locally linear embedding are placed in this framework. These algorithms are benchmarked in three classic problems: (a) filtering, (b) identification of oscillatory patterns, and (c) data compression. Their performances are compared against the traditional proper orthogonal decomposition to provide a perspective on their diffusion in fluid dynamics.
Acoustic emission source localisation for structural health monitoring of rail sections based on a deep learning approach
Authors: Mahajan Harsh , Banerjee Sauvik
Published: January 2023

An acoustic emission (AE) approach for non-destructive evaluation of structures has been developed over the last two decades. In complex structures, one of the limitations of AE testing is to find the location of the AE source. Time of flight and wave velocity are typically employed to localise AE sources. However, complex rail structures generate multiple wave modes travelling at varying speeds, making localisation difficult. In this paper, the challenge of localisation has been split into two parts: (a) identification of the AE source zone, i.e. head, web or foot, and (b) identification of location along the length of the rail. AE events are simulated using a pencil lead break (PLB) as the source. Three models including an artificial neural network and 1D and 2D convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are trained and tested using AE signals generated by PLB sources. The accuracy of zone identification is reported as 94.79% when using the 2DCNN algorithm. For location classification it is also found that 2DCNN performed best with 73.12%, 79.37% and 67.50% accuracy of localising the AE source along the length in the head, web and foot, respectively. For AE signal generation from actual damage in a rail, a bending test on an inverted damaged rail section was then performed with loads of 100 kN, 150 kN and 200 kN. For all loads, the 2DCNN model resulted in accurate prediction of the zone of the AE source, and it accurately predicted the AE source location along the length for the loads of higher intensity (150 kN, 200 kN). It is envisaged that the deep learning approach presented in this research work will be helpful in developing a real-time monitoring system for rail inspection based on AE.
A multitask cascading convolutional neural network for high-accuracy pointer meter automatic recognition in outdoor environments
Authors: Liu Fang , Pan Lei , Gao Rui , Zhang Liyang , Pang Yi , Ning Xucheng , Zhang Hao , Liu Kunlei
Published: January 2023

Pointer meter automatic recognition (PMAR) in outdoor environments is a challenging task. Due to variable weather and uneven lighting factors, hand-crafted features or shallow learning techniques have low accuracy in meter recognition. In this paper, a multitask cascading convolutional neural network (MC-CNN) is proposed to improve the accuracy of meter recognition in outdoor environments. The proposed MC-CNN uses cascaded CNN, including three stages of meter detection, meter cropping and meter reading. Firstly, the YOLOV4 Network is used for meter detection to quickly determine the meter location from captured images. In order to accurately cluster pointer meter prior boxes in the YOLOV4 Network, an improved K-means algorithm is presented to further enhance the detection accuracy. Then, the detected meter images are cropped out of the captured images to remove redundant backgrounds. Finally, a meter-reading network based on an adaptive attention residual module (AARM) is proposed for reading meters from cropped images. The proposed AARM not only contains an attention mechanism to focus on essential information and efficiently diminish useless information, but also extracts information features from meter images adaptively. The experimental results show that the proposed MC-CNN can effectively achieve outdoor meter recognition, with high recognition accuracy and low relative error. The recognition accuracy can reach 92.6%. The average relative error is 2.5655%, which is about 3% less than the error in other methods. What is more, the proposed approach can obtain rich information about the type, limits, units and readings of the pointer meter and can be used when multiple pointer meters exist in one captured image simultaneously. Additionally, the proposed approach can significantly improve the accuracy of the recognized readings, and is also robust to natural environments.
CCPNet136: automated detection of schizophrenia using carbon chain pattern and iterative TQWT technique with EEG signals
Authors: Baygin Mehmet , Barua Prabal Datta , Chakraborty Subrata , Tuncer Ilknur , Dogan Sengul , Palmer Elizabeth , Tuncer Turker , Kamath Aditya P , Ciaccio Edward J , Acharya U Rajendra
Published: January 2023

Objective. Schizophrenia (SZ) is a severe, chronic psychiatric-cognitive disorder. The primary objective of this work is to present a handcrafted model using state-of-the-art technique to detect SZ accurately with EEG signals. Approach. In our proposed work, the features are generated using a histogram-based generator and an iterative decomposition model. The graph-based molecular structure of the carbon chain is employed to generate low-level features. Hence, the developed feature generation model is called the carbon chain pattern (CCP). An iterative tunable q-factor wavelet transform (ITQWT) technique is implemented in the feature extraction phase to generate various sub-bands of the EEG signal. The CCP was applied to the generated sub-bands to obtain several feature vectors. The clinically significant features were selected using iterative neighborhood component analysis (INCA). The selected features were then classified using the k nearest neighbor (kNN) with a 10-fold cross-validation strategy. Finally, the iterative weighted majority method was used to obtain the results in multiple channels. Main results. The presented CCP-ITQWT and INCA-based automated model achieved an accuracy of 95.84% and 99.20% using a single channel and majority voting method, respectively with kNN classifier. Significance. Our results highlight the success of the proposed CCP-ITQWT and INCA-based model in the automated detection of SZ using EEG signals.
Localized absorption of laser energy in X-mode configuration of magnetized plasma
Authors: Vashistha Ayushi , Mandal Devshree , Maity Srimanta , Das Amita
Published: January 2023

The heating of ions via lower hybrid (LH) waves has been observed in several astrophysical as well as laboratory plasmas. We have conducted particle-in-cell simulations to demonstrate absorption of the incident laser pulse at a chosen localized point in the plasma target by manipulating its density profile. We show that a part of the incident laser propagates inside the plasma target when its frequency lies below the LH resonance frequency. Thereafter, as it experiences a negative density gradient, it approaches the resonance point where its group velocity approaches zero. This is where the electromagnetic (EM) energy prominently gets converted into the electrostatic and eventually the kinetic energy of ions. Thus, by tailoring the plasma density profile one can have the absorption of incident EM wave energy at a designated location inside the plasma. This may be important in various applications where energy deposition/heating of plasma in a localized region is desirable.
Influence of oxygen on the ro-vibrational kinetics of a non-equilibrium discharge in CO2–O2 mixtures
Authors: Vervloedt S C L , Budde M , Engeln R
Published: January 2023

Storing excess renewable energy in hydrocarbons produced from CO2 potentially solves the intermittency issue of renewable energy sources in a green manner. The required reduction of CO2 to CO can be efficiently accomplished with non-equilibrium plasma conversion. On an industrial scale, effects of impurities on the reduction must be taken into account. During this study, the effects of oxygen are considered, as the impurity O2 is both a product of the reduction reaction and abundant in air. In this paper, the influence of O2 addition on the ro-vibrational kinetics of a pulsed DC CO2 glow discharge at 2.5–6.0 Torr—serving as a model non-equilibrium system—is studied in situ with quantum cascade laser infrared absorption spectroscopy. The temporal evolution of the ro-vibrational temperatures is measured, as well as the conversion of CO2 to CO. Trends in the temperature evolutions when increasing the flow rate from 7.4 to 30.0 sccm, varying the pressure, and increasing the O2 admixture up to 90% in increments of 10% are utilised to determine the underlying kinetic processes. Our results show that any decrease in the conversion of CO2 to CO caused by increasing O2 addition cannot be attributed to an induced change in the vibrational kinetics, since the asymmetric stretch mode of CO2—which is associated with dissociation via vibrational excitation—is not quenched. Measured changes in the temporal temperature trends are explained by species-dependent intra- and intermolecular collisional energy transfer processes.
An exact one-particle theory of bosonic excitations: from a generalized Hohenberg–Kohn theorem to convexified N-representability
Authors: Liebert Julia , Schilling Christian
Published: January 2023

Motivated by the Penrose–Onsager criterion for Bose–Einstein condensation we propose a functional theory for targeting low-lying excitation energies of bosonic quantum systems through the one-particle picture. For this, we employ an extension of the Rayleigh–Ritz variational principle to ensemble states with spectrum
w
and prove a corresponding generalization of the Hohenberg–Kohn theorem: the underlying one-particle reduced density matrix determines all properties of systems of N identical particles in their
w
-ensemble states. Then, to circumvent the v-representability problem common to functional theories, and to deal with energetic degeneracies, we resort to the Levy–Lieb constrained search formalism in combination with an exact convex relaxation. The corresponding bosonic one-body
w
-ensemble N-representability problem is solved comprehensively. Remarkably, this reveals a complete hierarchy of bosonic exclusion principle constraints in conceptual analogy to Pauli’s exclusion principle for fermions and recently discovered generalizations thereof.
Teleportation of unknown states of a qubit and a single-mode field in strong coupling regime without Bell-state measurement
Authors: Jahanbakhsh F , Tavassoly M K
Published: January 2023

In this paper, we develop the teleportation scheme in [Zheng in Phys Rev A 69, 064302, 2004], in the sense that, we work in the strong atom-field coupling regime wherein the rotating wave approximation (RWA) is no longer valid. To achieve the purpose, a scheme consisting of a qubit interacting with a single-mode quantized field is described via the Rabi model (counter rotation terms are taken into account). Our first aim is to teleport an unknown atomic state of a qubit (which interacts with the quantized field in a cavity) to a second qubit (exists in another distant cavity field), beyond the RWA and without the Bell-state measurement method. In the continuation, in a similar way, we teleport an unknown state of a single-mode field too. In fact, it is shown that, in this regime, after applying some particular conditions, containing the interaction time of atom-field in the cavities, adjusting the involved frequencies, as well as the atom-field coupling in the model, if a proper measurement is performed on the state of the first qubit (the related field in the cavity), the unknown states of the qubit (field) can be teleported from the first qubit (cavity field) to the second qubit (cavity field), appropriately. We show that in both considered cases, the teleportation protocol is successfully performed with the maximum possible fidelity, 1, and the acceptable success probability, 0.25.
Bilayer scaffold from PLGA/fibrin electrospun membrane and fibrin hydrogel layer supports wound healing in vivo
Authors: Bastidas Juliana Girón , Maurmann Natasha , Oliveira Luiza , Alcantara Bruno , Pinheiro Camila Vieira , Leipnitz Guilhian , Meyer Fabíola , Oliveira Maikel , Rigon Paula , Pranke Patricia
Published: January 2023

Hybrid scaffolds from natural and synthetic polymers have been widely used due to the complementary nature of their physical and biological properties. The aim of the present study, therefore, has been to analyze in vivo a bilayer scaffold of poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/fibrin electrospun membrane and fibrin hydrogel layer on a rat skin model. Fibroblasts were cultivated in the fibrin hydrogel layer and keratinocytes on the electrospun membrane to generate a skin substitute. The scaffolds without and with cells were tested in a full-thickness wound model in Wistar Kyoto rats. The histological results demonstrated that the scaffolds induced granulation tissue growth, collagen deposition and epithelial tissue remodeling. The wound-healing markers showed no difference in scaffolds when compared with the positive control. Activities of antioxidant enzymes were decreased concerning the positive and negative control. The findings suggest that the scaffolds contributed to the granulation tissue formation and the early collagen deposition, maintaining an anti-inflammatory microenvironment.
The gauge coupled two-body problem in a ring
Authors: Priestley Joel , Valentí-Rojas Gerard , Wright Ewan M , Öhberg Patrik
Published: January 2023

We study the properties of two quantum particles which are confined in a ring. The particles interact via a long-range gauge potential proportional to the distance between the particles. It is found that the two-body ground state corresponds to a state with non-zero angular momentum provided that the interaction between the particles is strong enough. In addition, the particles are correlated in the sense that depending on the interaction strength there is a propensity to be found close together or separated in the ring. We discuss the effect of measuring the position of one of the particles and thereby removing the particle from the ring, where we show that the remaining particle can be prepared in a non-dispersive state with non-zero angular momentum.
A divide and conquer approach for machined surface topography reconstruction in peripheral milling inconel 718
Authors: Lyu Wenjun , Liu Zhanqiang , Cai Yukui , Wang Bing , Song Qinghua
Published: January 2023

This paper proposes a reconstruction procedure to characterize the texture of milled surfaces following the principle of a divide and conquer algorithm. It is a combination of a numerical simulation of the systematic component of the surface topography with the stochastic features of surface roughness. Firstly, the milled surface topographies are decomposed into kinematic and random components, both of them are calculated separately. Then, the kinematic components are numerically simulated based on relative motion between milling tool and workpiece. The random components are numerically simulated by fast Fourier transform (FFT) and the Johnson transform system. The measured and kinematic topographies are aligned fitting orientation and position by point clouds registration. Finally, the milled surface topographies are reconstructed by superposition of kinematic and random components based on the alignment datum. The proposed approach is applied to surface topography simulation and surface roughness prediction in peripheral milling Inconel 718. The milled surface topographies can be simulated by using the milling parameters as input parameters of the proposed model. The validation tests were carried out in Inconel 718 peripheral milling. The results show that the proposed approach has high accuracy in topography simulation and roughness prediction. The relative errors of predicted S

a
values are less than 7.55% in all the case studies of this paper. The effect of cutting parameters on roughness S

a
is sorted as follows, radial cutting depth > cutting speed > feed rate. In addition, the feed rate greater than 0.01 mm tooth−1 should be selected as far as possible in milling Inconel 718.
Construction of polynomial preserving cochain extensions by blending
Authors: Falk Richard , Winther Ragnar
Published: January 2023

A classical technique to construct polynomial preserving extensions of scalar functions defined on the boundary of an

n
n

simplex to the interior is to use so-called rational blending functions. The purpose of this paper is to generalize the construction by blending to the de Rham complex. More precisely, we define polynomial preserving extensions which map traces of

k
k

-forms defined on the boundary of the simplex to

k
k

-forms defined in the interior. Furthermore, the extensions are cochain maps, i.e., they commute with the exterior derivative.
Spherical random sampling of localized functions on 𝕊ⁿ⁻¹
Authors: Patel Dhiraj , Sivananthan S.
Published: January 2023

In this paper, we show that the set of random points uniformly distributed over

S

n
−
1

\mathbb {S}^{n-1}

is a stable set of sampling for a class of localized functions in

L
2

(

S

n
−
1

)

L^2(\mathbb {S}^{n-1})

with overwhelming probability. The probability bound of the random sampling inequality for the localized function is obtained from the matrix Bernstein inequality on the independent random matrices.
Schnyder woods, SLE₁₆, and Liouville quantum gravity
Authors: Li Yiting , Sun Xin , Watson Samuel
Published: January 2023

In 1990, Schnyder used a 3-spanning-tree decomposition of a simple triangulation, now known as the Schnyder wood, to give a fundamental grid-embedding algorithm for planar maps. In the framework of mating of trees, a uniformly sampled Schnyder-wood-decorated triangulation can produce a triple of random walks. We show that these three walks converge in the scaling limit to three Brownian motions produced in the mating-of-trees framework by Liouville quantum gravity (LQG) with parameter

1
1

, decorated with a triple of SLE

16

_{16}

’s curves. These three SLE

16

_{16}

’s curves are coupled such that the angle difference between them is

2
π

/

3

2\pi /3

in imaginary geometry. Our convergence result provides a description of the continuum limit of Schnyder’s embedding algorithm via LQG and SLE.
Differentiation-dependent changes in lamin B1 dynamics and lamin B receptor localization
Authors: Wesley Chase C. , Levy Daniel L.
Published: January 2023

We show that nuclear lamin B1 dynamics increase during cellular differentiation concomitantly with redistribution of lamin B receptor from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, changes that may influence differentiation-dependent chromatin reorganization and gene expression.
Distribution of human papilloma virus genotypes and treatment outcomes in definitive radiotherapy for cervical cancer
Authors: Kinoshita Rumiko , Mitamura Takashi , Kato Fumi , Hattori Takahiro , Higaki Hajime , Takahashi Shuhei , Fujita Yoshihiro , Otsuka Manami , Koizumi Fuki , Uchinami Yusuke , Mori Takashi , Nishioka Kentaro , Hashimoto Takayuki , Ito Yoichi M , Watari Hidemichi , Aoyama Hidefumi
Published: January 2023

Most oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) genotypes stratify into two species, α-7 HPV and α-9 HPV. There are several studies that evaluate the relationship between HPV species and treatment outcomes and reports that HPV species is prognostic. The HPV genotyping was conducted using biopsy specimens which had been stored in these studies. We conducted the study using the HPV test performed by cytology specimens which is less invasive and more useful in clinical settings. This study enrolled 46 patients who received HPV genotyping before the definitive radiotherapy. The results of the HPV genotyping were classified into HPVα-7, HPVα-9 and negatives. Of the 46 patients, 10 were positive for HPVα-7, 21 positive for HPVα-9 and 15 were negative. The median follow-up period was 38 months (range 4–142). The HPVα-7, HPVα-9 and negative groups showed the 3-year overall survival (OS; 59.3%, 80.4% and 72.2% [P = 0.25]); local control (LC; 67.5%, 81% and 80% [P = 0.78]); pelvic control (PC) (50%, 81% and 72.7% [P = 0.032]); pelvic lymph node (PLN) control (78.7%, 95% and 92.3% [P = 0.012]); distant metastasis free (DMF) survival (50%, 75.4% and 42.8% [P = 0.098]); and progression free survival (PFS) rate of patients (30%, 66.7% and 38.9% [P = 0.085]), respectively. Patients with HPVα-7 showed statistically significant poorer PC than the HPVα-9 group, in multivariate analysis. This result is consistent with previous studies for HPV positive patients. The HPV negativity rate was higher in this study than in other studies and further work on this may be needed for clinical use.
Improving ergonomics for the bedside assistant in robotic colorectal surgery
Authors: Wong Shing Wai , Ang Zhen Hao , Crowe Philip
Published: January 2023

The aim of the study was to document when significant bedside assistant (BA) and robotic arm collisions occurred during robotic colorectal surgery (RCS). An observational study of 10 consecutive RCS cases, from May 2022 to September 2022, was performed. Situations when there was significant collision between BA arm and robotic arm (to cause inadvertent movement of the assistant instrument) were documented. The assistant port was randomly placed to the right or the left side of the camera port. Situations which led to detrimental BA ergonomics include dissection at the most peripheral working field, proximity of the target (mesenteric vessels), small bowel retraction, placement of the assistant port in the medial position (on the left side of the camera port), during intra-corporeal suturing and robotic stapler use. The robotic console surgeon can predictably identify and avoid situations when injury to the BA may occur.
Gallbladder Beyond Gallstones
Authors: Manshad Sara , Arif-Tiwari Hina , Thompson William
Published: January 2023

We describe imaging findings of the multiple entities that can cause gallbladder wall thickening. An algorithm for evaluation of gallbladder wall thickening also is presented.
Exploring Factors That Contribute to Nursing Students’ Willingness to Report Peer Academic Integrity Violations
Authors: Stevenson Shannon Morris , Flannigan Kathryn , Willey Amanda , Kaur Tresa
Published: January 2023

AIM

The aim of the study was to examine and describe student perceptions of severity of violations, faculty support, and support for program improvement strategies related to willingness to report peer violations.

BACKGROUND

Peer reporting is important when students witness dishonest behaviors. To foster academic integrity, exploration of the willingness to report is needed.

METHOD

Using McCabe’s Academic Integrity Survey-Modified for Nursing Students, 442 baccalaureate students were surveyed.

RESULTS

The more students felt faculty supported related policies, the more willing students were to report (rs
= .298, α = .05). The more students understood what was considered a violation, the more willing they were to report (rs
= .485, α = .05). The more students believed program-wide strategies could prevent violations, the more willing they were to report (rs
= .231, α = .05).

CONCLUSION

Education that helps define academic integrity can contribute to nursing students’ willingness to report peer violations. Faculty support of policies and program-wide strategies contribute.
Pilot Implementation of a Health Equity Checklist to Improve the Identification of Equity-Related Adverse Events
Authors: Fan Linda L. , Sheth Sangini S. , Pettker Christian M.
Published: January 2023

(Abstracted from Obstet Gynecol 2022;140:667–673)

In assessing the occurrence of an unexpected medical adverse event following pharmaceutical, medical, or surgical treatment, the causal or contributory roles played by bias, systemic racism, and social determinants of health should be investigated. Up to 80% of clinical outcomes are estimated to be driven by social determinants including the environments in which patients live, work, learn, worship, and play.
Clinical Consensus Statement: Vaginal Energy-Based Devices
Authors: Alshiek Jonia , Garcia Bobby , Minassian Vatche , Iglesia Cheryl B. , Clark Amanda , Sokol Eric R. , Murphy Miles , Malik Shazia A. , Kimble Alexis , Shobeiri S. Abbas
Published: January 2023

(Abstracted from Urogynecology 2022;28:633–648)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a July 2018 public warning for using energy-based devices (EBDs) for performing vaginal cosmetic procedures or vaginal rejuvenation, based on both the imprecision of the term “vaginal rejuvenation” and the lack of FDA approval of the use of any devices such as lasers for any specific gynecologic indication. Some health care providers subspecializing in female reconstructive surgery and pelvic medicine deliver patient services via the EBDs discussed in the FDA Safety Communication.
Perfect Flanger forceps: standardizing flange creation for intrascleral intraocular lens fixation
Authors: Amado Sebastian F.
Published: January 2023

The author introduced a new forceps for attaining a standardized flange for intrascleral intraocular lens fixation. Having a reference cylinder eliminates the need for rulers or calipers, simplifying intraoperative measurements. In addition, the presence of a grooved grasping end allows for a gentle holding of haptics or sutures without the risk of kinking them. It was tested in poly(methylmethacrylate) haptics, polyvinyl fluoride haptics, and 6-0 polypropylene sutures demonstrating a safe, efficient, and reproducible method for creating a flange.
Compound heterozygosity for novel von Willebrand factor genetic variants associated with von Willebrand disease in two Chinese patients
Authors: Wang Yaqin , Wang Xiong , Lu Yanjun , Zhang Ai , Yu Wen , Hu Qun , Liu Aiguo , Huang Jin-feng
Published: January 2023

Background

Von Willebrand factor (VWF) encodes a secreted glycoprotein involved in primary hemostasis. Genetic mutations in this gene leading to either quantitation or qualitative defects of VWF, result in von Willebrand disease (VWD), an inherited bleeding disorder.

Methods

In this study, two families with VWD were recruited and submitted to a series of clinical and genetic examinations. prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, factor VIII coagulant activity (FVIII:C), VWF antigen (VWF:Ag), VWF ristocetin cofactor (VWF:RCo) tests were measured in peripheral blood. F8, F9, and VWF genes were sequenced using next-generation sequencing, and Sanger sequencing was used as a validation method.

Results

Both families had a child suffered spontaneous bleeding. Patient 1 showed normal VWF:Ag, severely decreased FVIII:C and VWF:RCo. Patient 2 showed severely decreased FVIII:C, VWF:Ag, and VWF:RCo. Compound heterozygous mutations of VWF gene were identified in both patients. Patient 1 had a novel deletion variant c.1910_1932del (p.Gly637AlafsTer5) and a missense variant c.605G>A (p.Arg202Gln). Patient 2 had a novel missense variant c.4817T>A (p.Met1606Lys) and a novel missense variant c.5983C>T (p.Pro1995Ser).

Conclusions

We described clinical and molecular features of VWD caused by compound heterozygous mutations in two Chinese patients. Our results expand the variation spectrum of the VWF gene and deepen the understanding of the relationship between the genotype and clinical characteristics of VWD.
The Use of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate and Tenofovir Alafenamide for Preventing Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis B
Authors: Zhu Lin , Park Jaimie , Deng You , Pan Calvin Q.
Published: January 2023

Background:

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus may occur in highly viremic mothers despite the infants receiving appropriate immunoprophylaxis. We aimed to review tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) data for preventing MTCT.

Methods and Data Selection:

We performed a systematic review between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2021 on PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane, CNKI, and Wanfang databases. Data was extracted from randomized controlled trials or cohort studies in English or Chinese. The outcomes of interest included the efficacy and safety of TDF versus TAF or TDF/TAF versus placebo for preventing MTCT (PROSPERO registration: CRD42021256656).

Results:

Data from forty-three studies (13 randomized controlled trials, 30 nonrandomized studies) were included in the review. All infants in the studies received appropriate immunoprophylaxis. Among 3656 highly viremic mothers treated with TDF, hepatitis B virus DNA suppression to the levels <200,000 IU/mL at delivery was achieved in 34% to 100% of mothers. MTCT rates were 0 to 5% and 2 to 83% in mothers treated with TDF and in those who received no treatment, respectively. Congenital malformation rates were 0 to 2.1% in the TDF groups, which did not differ from the nontreated groups. Similar findings were reported in 4 studies that enrolled 326 mothers for maternal TAF therapy, resulting in 0% of MTCT and 0% infant malformation. All studies observed that TDF or TAF maternal therapy reduced MTCT rates significantly without safety concerns when compared with untreated groups, except for 1 RCT that failed the therapeutic endpoint.

Conclusions:

TDF is well established for preventing MTCT in highly viremic mothers, whereas TAF may become an option as data emerges.
A Systematic Literature Review of Hispanic Adults’ Experiences With the Emergency Medical Services System in the United States Between 2000 and 2021
Authors: Melgoza Esmeralda , Cardenas Valeria , Enguídanos Susan , Vargas Bustamante Arturo , Beltrán-Sánchez Hiram
Published: January 2023

Objective:

This systematic literature review presents an overview of studies that assess the experiences of Hispanic adults with (1) activation of emergency medical services (EMS); (2) on-scene care provided by EMS personnel; (3) mode of transport (EMS vs. non-EMS) to an emergency department (ED); and (4) experiences with EMS before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

A bibliographic database search was conducted to identify relevant studies on Ovid MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, EMBASE, and CINAHL. Quantitative, mixed methods, and qualitative studies published in English or Spanish were included if they discussed Hispanic adults’ experiences with EMS in the US between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2021. The Hawker and colleagues quality assessment instrument was used to evaluate the quality of studies.

Results:

Of the 43 included studies, 13 examined EMS activation, 13 assessed on-scene care, 22 discussed the mode of transport to an ED, and 4 described Hispanic adults’ experiences with EMS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hispanics were less likely to activate EMS (N=7), less likely to receive certain types of on-scene care (N=6), and less likely to use EMS as the mode of transport to an ED (N=13), compared with non-Hispanic Whites. During the early COVID-19 pandemic period (March to May 2020), EMS use decreased by 26.5% compared with the same months during the previous 4 years.

Conclusions:

The contribution of this study is its attention to Hispanic adults’ experiences with the different phases of the US EMS system.
Correlations between glucose metabolism of bone marrow on 18F-fluoro-D-glucose PET/computed tomography and hematopoietic cell populations in autoimmune diseases
Authors: Zhang Tong , Zhang Jifeng , Wang Hongjia , Li Ping
Published: January 2023

Purpose

This study aims to investigate which hematopoieticcell populations, clinical factors, and laboratory values are associated with FDG uptake in bone marrow (BM) on FDG PET/CT in patients with autoimmune diseases.

Methods

Forty-six patients with autoimmune disease who underwent FDG PET/CT and BM aspiration (BMA) between 2017 and 2022 were enrolled. The max and mean standard uptake values (SUVmax and SUVmean, SUVs) of FDG in BM, liver, and spleen were measured, and the bone marrow-to-liver SUVs ratios (BLRmax and BLRmean, BLRs) and spleen-to-liver SUVs ratios (SLRmax and SLRmean, SLRs) were calculated. BMA and clinical and laboratory parameters were collected and evaluated for association with BLRs and SLRs.

Results

The patients were divided into the Grade II group (20; 43.5%) and Grade III groups (26; 56.5%) according to hemopoietic activity. The BLRmax (P = 0.021), proportion of granulocytes (P = 0.011), metamyelocytes (P = 0.009), myelocytes (P = 0.024), and monocytes (P = 0.037) in BM were significantly higher in the Grade II group. Multivariate (stepwise) linear regression analyses showed that the proportion of granulocytes in BM was the strongest and only independent factor (P < 0.0001) associated with BLRmax with an adjusted R
2 of 0.431 in model 1. In model 2, ferritin (P = 0.018), CRP (P = 0.025), and the proportion of metamyelocytes (P = 0.043) in BM were correlated with BLRmax with an adjusted R
2 of 0.414.

Conclusion

The FDG uptake in BM is associated with hemopoietic activity and is regulated by hyperplastic granulocytes, particularly immature metamyelocytes, in patients with autoimmune diseases. Glucose metabolism in the BM correlates with the severity of systemic inflammation.
Borderline Personality Disorder
Authors: Restek-Petrovic Branka , Grah Majda , Ivezic Ena , Handl Hrvoje , Milovac Zeljko , Bahun Ivana , Mayer Nina , Vrbek Petra
Published: January 2023

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two treatment modalities for patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). A total of 100 psychiatric patients diagnosed with BPD participated in this study. Among them, 50 patients were outpatients who attended the Reason and Emotion (RIO) program, and the remaining 50 were inpatients who were treated on psychotherapeutic ward at the same hospital. All the participants filled out the following battery of tests when entering the program/psychotherapy ward and 3 months later: Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (2nd ed), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, The COPE Inventory, and the WHOQOL-BREF scale. The results showed significant positive effects of both treatment modalities on patients' self-esteem, different domains of self-concept, impulsivity, and different domains of subjective quality of life. No significant changes were observed in terms of coping strategies. Thus, the results speak in favor of the outpatient RIO program, which is more cost-effective than the inpatient ward treatment.
Use of the Endometrial Receptivity Array to Guide Personalized Embryo Transfer After a Failed Transfer Attempt Was Associated With a Lower Cumulative and Per Transfer Live Birth Rate During Donor and Autologous Cycles
Authors: Cozzolino Mauro , Diáz-Gimeno Patricia , Pellicer Antonio , Garrido Nicolas
Published: January 2023

(Abstracted from Fertil Steril 2022;118(4):724–736)

Although preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy increases the likelihood of live birth per embryo transfer in in vitro fertilization, a euploid embryo does not guarantee success. Endometrial factors including timing transfer during the “implantation window” contribute to the likelihood of achieving pregnancy.
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Lacosamide: Is 10 to 20 mg/L a Suitable Reference Range for Patients With Epilepsy?
Authors: Otero Torres Sara , Juvany Roig Roser , Falip Centellas Mercè , Casellas Gibert Miriam , Estopiñá Antolí Mónica , Rigo Bonnin Raül , Sala-Padro Jacint Xavier , Jódar Massanés Ramón
Published: January 2023

Objectives

The reference range for lacosamide (LCM) has been updated from 1 to 10 mg/L to 10 to 20 mg/L. Historically, LCM range was defined from trough-level measurements, but the newer ranges were obtained from peak-level measurements. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship between LCM plasma levels higher than 10 mg/L and the incidence of adverse effects.

Methods

This was a single-center, retrospective, observational study of adult outpatients with epilepsy who were prescribed LCM and had LCM serum concentrations (LCM-SCs) >10 mg/L on drug-fasting samples, measured from June 2017 to December 2020.

Results

A total of 55 LCM-SC samples corresponding to 44 patients (25 women [57%]) were analyzed. The median age was 47 (39–61) years. The median LCM-SC was 13.4 (11.2–17.8) mg/L. Adverse effects were reported in 18 patients (41%). Forty-eight percent (21 of 44) of patients required an LCM dose reduction, with a mean LCM-SC of 16.0 (13.2–18.1) mg/L, whereas, in the remaining patients (23 of 44), LCM dose was not modified, with a mean LCM-SC of 12.2 (10.7–14.2) mg/L (P = 0.0244). Forty-one percent (18 of 44) of patients reported adverse effects related to LCM, with a mean LCM-SC of 15.6 (12.7–18.4) mg/L, whereas, in the remaining patients (26 of 44), adverse effects did not occur, with a mean LCM-SC of 12.6 (10.7–16.5) mg/L (P = 0.0495).

Conclusions

The 10 to 20 mg/L reference range clearly increases toxicity in patients treated with LCM. Adjusting the reference range upper limit to 12 mg/L with a routine therapeutic drug monitoring program is suggested, to achieve a reasonable probability of efficacy and decrease toxicity.
Irrigated urban trees exhibit greater functional trait plasticity compared to natural stands
Authors: Ibsen Peter C. , Santiago Louis S. , Shiflett Sheri A. , Chandler Mark , Jenerette G. Darrel
Published: January 2023

Urbanization creates novel ecosystems comprised of species assemblages and environments with no natural analogue. Moreover, irrigation can alter plant function compared to non-irrigated systems. However, the capacity of irrigation to alter functional trait patterns across multiple species is unknown but may be important for the dynamics of urban ecosystems. We evaluated the hypothesis that urban irrigation influences plasticity in functional traits by measuring carbon-gain and water-use traits of 30 tree species planted in Southern California, USA spanning a coastal-to-desert gradient. Tree species respond to irrigation through increasing the carbon-gain trait relationship of leaf nitrogen per specific leaf area compared to their native habitat. Moreover, most species shift to a water-use strategy of greater water loss through stomata when planted in irrigated desert-like environments compared to coastal environments, implying that irrigated species capitalize on increased water availability to cool their leaves in extreme heat and high evaporative demand conditions. Therefore, irrigated urban environments increase the plasticity of trait responses compared to native ecosystems, allowing for novel response to climatic variation. Our results indicate that trees grown in water-resource-rich urban ecosystems can alter their functional traits plasticity beyond those measured in native ecosystems, which can lead to plant trait dynamics with no natural analogue.
Discovery of novel papillomaviruses in the critically endangered Malayan and Chinese pangolins
Authors: Nino Barreat Jose Gabriel , Kamada Anselmo Jiro , Reuben de Souza Charles , Katzourakis Aris
Published: January 2023

Pangolins are scaly and toothless mammals which are distributed across Africa and Asia. Currently, the Malayan, Chinese and Philippine pangolins are designated as critically endangered species. Although few pangolin viruses have been described, their viromes have received more attention following the discovery that they harbour sarbecoviruses related to SARS-CoV-2. Using large-scale genome mining, we discovered novel lineages of papillomaviruses infecting the Malayan and Chinese pangolins. We were able to assemble three complete circular papillomavirus genomes with an intact coding capacity and five additional L1 genes encoding the major capsid protein. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that seven out of eight L1 sequences formed a monophyletic group which is the sister lineage to the Tupaia belangeri papillomavirus 1, isolated from Yunnan province in China. Additionally, a single L1 sequence assembled from a Chinese pangolin was placed in a clade closer to
Alphapapillomavirus
and
Omegapapillomavirus
. Examination of the SRA data from 95 re-sequenced genomes revealed that 49.3% of Malayan pangolins and 50% of Chinese pangolins were positive for papillomavirus reads. Our results indicate that pangolins in South-East Asia are the hosts of diverse and highly prevalent papillomaviruses, and highlight the value of
in silico
mining of host sequencing data for the discovery of novel viruses.
Spatial evolution of human cultures inferred through Bayesian phylogenetic analysis
Authors: Takahashi Takuya , Ihara Yasuo
Published: January 2023

Spatial distribution of human culture reflects both descent from the common ancestor and horizontal transmission among neighbouring populations. To analyse empirically documented geographical variations in cultural repertoire, we will describe a framework for Bayesian statistics in a spatially explicit model. To consider both horizontal transmission and mutation of the cultural trait in question, our method employs a network model in which populations are represented by nodes. Using algorithms borrowed from Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, we will perform a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to compute the posterior distributions of parameters, such as the rate of horizontal transmission and the mutation rates among trait variants, as well as the identity of trait variants in unobserved populations. Besides the inference of model parameters, our method enables the reconstruction of the genealogical tree of the focal trait, provided that the mutation rate is sufficiently small. We will also describe a heuristic algorithm to reduce the dimension of the parameter space explored in the MCMC method, where we simulate the coalescent process in the network of populations. Numerical examples show that our algorithms compute the posterior distribution of model parameters within a practical computation time, although the posterior distribution tends to be broad if we use uninformative priors.
Protein–protein complexes can undermine ultrasensitivity-dependent biological adaptation
Authors: Jeynes-Smith C. , Araujo R. P.
Published: January 2023

Robust perfect adaptation (RPA) is a ubiquitously observed signalling response across all scales of biological organization. A major class of network architectures that drive RPA in complex networks is the Opposer module—a feedback-regulated network into which specialized integral-computing ‘opposer node(s)’ are embedded. Although ultrasensitivity-generating chemical reactions have long been considered a possible mechanism for such adaptation-conferring opposer nodes, this hypothesis has relied on simplified Michaelian models, which neglect the presence of protein–protein complexes. Here we developcomplex-completemodels of interlinked covalent-modification cycles with embedded ultrasensitivity, explicitly capturing all molecular interactions and protein complexes. Strikingly, we demonstrate that the presence of protein–protein complexes thwarts the network’s capacity for RPA in any ‘free’ active protein form, conferring RPA capacity instead on the concentration of a larger protein pool consisting of two distinct forms of a single protein. We further show that the presence of enzyme–substrate complexes, even at comparatively low concentrations, play a crucial and previously unrecognized role in controlling the RPA response—significantly reducing the range of network inputs for which RPA can obtain, and imposing greater parametric requirements on the RPA response. These surprising results raise fundamental new questions as to the biochemical requirements for adaptation-conferring Opposer modules within complex cellular networks.
Inferring the interaction rules of complex systems with graph neural networks and approximate Bayesian computation
Authors: Gaskell Jennifer , Campioni Nazareno , Morales Juan M. , Husmeier Dirk , Torney Colin J.
Published: January 2023

Inferring the underlying processes that drive collective behaviour in biological and social systems is a significant statistical and computational challenge. While simulation models have been successful in qualitatively capturing many of the phenomena observed in these systems in a variety of domains, formally fitting these models to data remains intractable. Recently, approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) has been shown to be an effective approach to inference if the likelihood function for a model is unavailable. However, a key difficulty in successfully implementing ABC lies with the design, selection and weighting of appropriate summary statistics, a challenge that is especially acute when modelling high dimensional complex systems. In this work, we combine a Gaussian process accelerated ABC method with the automatic learning of summary statistics via graph neural networks. Our approach bypasses the need to design a model-specific set of summary statistics for inference. Instead, we encode relational inductive biases into a neural network using a graph embedding and then extract summary statistics automatically from simulation data. To evaluate our framework, we use a model of collective animal movement as a test bed and compare our method to a standard summary statistics approach and a linear regression-based algorithm.
Homogenization modelling of antibiotic diffusion and adsorption in viral liquid crystals
Authors: van Rossem M. T. , Wilks S. , Secor P. R. , Kaczmarek M. , D’Alessandro G.
Published: January 2023

Systems of rod-shaped viruses have long been important to the science of living liquid crystals, as their monodispersity and uniform charge make them convenient model systems. Recently, it was shown that, upon the addition of polymers, suspensions of rod-shaped viruses form liquid crystals that are linked with increased tolerance of bacteria against antibiotics. We use homogenization to obtain effective equations describing antibiotic diffusion through these liquid crystals. The analytical results of homogenization are compared with numerical results from an exact microscopic model, showing good agreement and thus allowing us to identify the key parameters behind the process. Our modelling shows that the adsorption plays a key role in increasing antibiotic diffusion time and therefore the presence of nematic rod-shaped viruses may increase antibiotic tolerance through physical mechanisms alone. These results demonstrate the applicability of homogenization as an analytical tool to systems of liquid crystalline viruses, with relatively straightforward extension to more complex problems such as liquid crystalline biofilms, other biological liquid crystals and biological systems with different types of local structural order.