bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exposure interval to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) collected in Southwest China induced pulmonary damage through the Janus tyrosine protein kinase‐2/signal transducer and activator of transcription‐3 signaling pathway both in vivo and in vitro
Authors: Yue Wuyang , Chen Xuxi , He Sifu , Li Na , Zhang Lishi , Chen Jinyao
Published: June 2021

PM2.5 is a well‐known air pollutant threatening public health. Studies confirmed that exposure to the particles could impair pulmonary function, cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and increase the incidence of lung cancer. The characteristic of PM2.5 varies across regions. The toxic function of PM2.5 in southwest China remains to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate lung injury and its mechanisms induced by PM2.5 collected in Chengdu. Rats were administered with PM2.5 by intratracheal instillation for 4 weeks. Biochemical, cell count, and inflammation‐related parameters were measured. Lung tissues were obtained for hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome staining. The expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Janus tyrosine protein kinase‐2 (JAK‐2), and signal transducer and activator of transcription‐3 (STAT‐3) were detected by immunohistochemistry assays. Meanwhile, A549 cells were treated with the PM2.5. The cell cycle, and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry. mRNA and protein expressions of JAK‐2, STAT‐3, p‐STAT‐3, and VEGFA were detected using qPCR and Western blot analysis respectively. Results of in vivo study showed that PM2.5 induced lung pathological injury, aggravated the accumulation of inflammatory cells, and increased the serum levels of inflammatory factors. In vitro experiments showed that PM2.5 disrupted the cell growth cycle and increased cell apoptosis through the activation of the JAK‐2/STAT‐3 signaling pathway. Taken together, this study provided convincing experimental evidence that PM2.5 collected in southwest China could induce pulmonary injury as manifested by inflammatory response and lung fibrosis, possibly through the modulation of the JAK‐2/STAT‐3 signaling pathway.
Ultrasonographic predictors in chronic kidney disease: A hospital based case control study
Authors: Gupta Preeti , Chatterjee Samar , Debnath Jyotindu , Nayan Neelabh , Gupta Shiv D.
Published: June 2021

Background

Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is increasing globally with the concomitant upsurge in diabetes mellitus and hypertension. We explored the research question whether Ultrasonographic (US) renal parameters are potential predictors of CKD?

Materials and methods

A case control study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital that included 50 confirmed cases of CKD and 100 nondiseased controls. Renal length, renal parenchymal thickness, and renal cortical thickness were measured in both cases and controls by ultrasound examination. Corticomedullary differentiation and renal cortical echogenicity were also assessed.

Results

US parameters of renal length, renal parenchymal thickness, and renal cortical thickness were found to be significantly and strongly associated with the presence of CKD. The strongest association was observed with renal cortical echogenicity (OR 27.33, 95% CI 8.82–84.63). The association of reduced renal cortical thickness (OR 6.14, 95% CI 1.59–23.62), and renal length (OR 2.72, 95% CI 1.13–8.26) were independent and significant predictors of presence of CKD.

Conclusions

Specific US parameters of renal cortical echogenicity, cortical thickness, and length of kidney have a strong potential for independently establishing the diagnosis and evaluation of progression of CKD.
Benzimidazole tethered thioureas as a new entry to elastase inhibition and free radical scavenging: Synthesis, molecular docking, and enzyme inhibitory kinetics
Authors: Ujan Rabail , Channar Pervaiz Ali , Saeed Aamer , Abbas Qamar , Rafique Hummera , Ashraf Saba , Rind Mahboob Ali , Hassan Abbas , Ul‐Hamid Anwar , Hassan Mubashar , Raza Hussain , Seo Sung‐Yum
Published: June 2021

The porcine pancreatic elastase inhibition and free‐radical scavenging play a crucial role in age progression. All the series of 10 newly synthesized benzimidazole thioureas (4a‐j) were assessed for elastase inhibition and radical scavenging activity to identify the suitable anti‐aging ingredient for cosmetics products. The compounds 4e, 4f, 4g, and 4h showed inhibition better than the standard, while compound 4f showed the most significant elastase inhibition with the IC50 value of 1.318 ± 0.025 μM compared with oleanic acid IC50 13.451 ± 0.014 used ±1.989 and 41.563 ± 0.824, respectively, as standard. Molecular docking studies were performed and the compound 4f showed binding energy of 7.2 kcal/mol. Kinetics studies revealed inhibition of the pancreatic elastase in a competitive manner. The relative binding energy and structure activity relationship (SAR) identified compound 4f as an effective inhibitor of porcine pancreatic elastase. Compounds 4e and 4i showed remarkable free‐radical scavenging activity with SC50 values of 26.421.
Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease is More Severe in Obese Patients: A Prospective Multicenter Study
Authors: Lechien Jerome R. , Bobin François , Muls Vinciane , Saussez Sven , Hans Stéphane
Published: June 2021

Objectives/Hypothesis

To investigate whether there is an impact of obesity and overweight on the clinical findings and therapeutic responses of patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).

Study Design

Prospective uncontrolled.

Methods

Patients with LPR‐related symptoms and positive LPR diagnosis at the hypopharyngeal‐esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance pH‐monitoring (HEMII‐pH) were recruited from December 2017 to December 2020. Patients were treated with a combination of diet, proton pump inhibitors, and alginate for 3 to 6 months. The following outcomes were studied according to the weight of patients: HEMII‐pH, gastrointestinal endoscopy features, symptoms, findings, and therapeutic response.

Results

A total of 262 patients completed the study, accounting for 134, 85, and 43 patients with normal weight (body mass index [BMI] <25), overweight (BMI = 25–29.99), and obesity (BMI >30). Obese patients reported significant higher prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), acid LPR, and a more severe LPR disease regarding the number of pharyngeal reflux events, reflux symptom score (RSS), and reflux sign assessment (RSA). RSS and RSA scores significantly improved from baseline to 3‐month posttreatment irrespective of the patient weight group. Symptoms and signs continued to improve from 3 to 6‐month posttreatment only in patients with a normal weight.

Conclusion

Obesity is associated with a more severe LPR disease and a higher proportion of GERD and acid LPR. Obese LPR patients may require more frequently PPI‐therapy regarding the higher prevalence of GERD.

Level of Evidence

3 Laryngoscope, 131:E2742–E2748, 2021
Computationally efficient processing of in situ underwater digital holograms
Authors: Cotter Emma , Fischell Erin , Lavery Andone
Published: June 2021

Underwater digital in‐line holography can provide high‐resolution, in situ imagery of marine particles and offers many advantages over alternative measurement approaches. However, processing of holograms requires computationally expensive reconstruction and processing, and computational cost increases with the size of the imaging volume. In this work, a processing pipeline is developed to extract targets from holograms where target distribution is relatively sparse without reconstruction of the full hologram. This is motivated by the desire to efficiently extract quantitative estimates of plankton abundance from a data set (>300,000 holograms) collected in the Northwest Atlantic using a large‐volume holographic camera. First, holograms with detectable targets are selected using a transfer learning approach. This was critical as a subset of the holograms were impacted by optical turbulence, which obscured target detection. Then, target diffraction patterns are detected in the hologram. Finally, targets are reconstructed and focused using only a small region of the hologram around the detected diffraction pattern. A search algorithm is employed to select distances for reconstruction, reducing the number of reconstructions required for 1 mm focus precision from 1000 to 31. When compared with full reconstruction techniques, this method detects 99% of particles larger than 0.1 mm2, a size class which includes most copepods and larger particles of marine snow, and 85% of those targets are sufficiently focused for classification. This approach requires 1% of the processing time required to compute full reconstructions, making processing of long time‐series, large imaging volume holographic data sets feasible.
Photonic Bound States in the Continuum in Si Structures with the Self‐Assembled Ge Nanoislands
Authors: Dyakov Sergey A. , Stepikhova Margarita V. , Bogdanov Andrey A. , Novikov Alexey V. , Yurasov Dmitry V. , Shaleev Mikhail V. , Krasilnik Zakhary F. , Tikhodeev Sergei G. , Gippius Nikolay A.
Published: June 2021

Germanium self‐assembled nanoislands and quantum dots are very prospective for CMOS‐compatible optoelectronic integrated circuits but their photoluminescence (PL) intensity is still insufficient for many practical applications. Here, it is demonstrated experimentally that the PL of Ge nanoislands in silicon photonic crystal slabs (PCS) with hexagonal lattice can be dramatically enhanced due to the involvement in the emission process of the bounds states in the continuum. These high‐Q photonic resonances allow to achieve PL resonant peaks with the quality factor as high as 2200 and with the peak PL enhancement factor of more than two orders of magnitude. The corresponding integrated PL enhancement is demonstrated to be more than one order of magnitude. This effect is studied theoretically by the Fourier modal method in the scattering matrix form. The symmetry of the quasi‐normal guided modes in the PCS is described in terms of group theory. This work paves the way toward a new class of optoelectronic components compatible with silicon technology.
Development of a Strong, Recyclable Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Elastomer with Autonomic Self‐Healing Capabilities and Fluorescence Response Properties at Room Temperature
Authors: Liang Shuai , Huang Yawen , Yuan Yuan , Wang Yalan , Yang Bin , Zhao Xiuli , Liu Lili
Published: June 2021

With the recent emphasis on environmental protection measures, there are increasingly strong demands for environment‐friendly multifunctional materials, so research regarding high‐performance, recyclable, functional materials with self‐healing abilities is of great interest. However, the comprehensive mechanical properties of most available self‐healing materials are insufficient; to date, most developed materials are either tough but brittle or flexible but weak. This report describes the application of a crosslinking strategy based on multiple dynamic bonds for the development of an autonomically self‐healing, multifunctional, boroxine‐containing poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomer (PDMS‐BN). This approach takes advantage of well‐designed intermolecular and intramolecular nitrogen‐coordinated boroxines by using a synergetic dynamic mechanism. The elastomers exhibit enhanced comprehensive mechanical properties (with maximum strength up to 1.72 MPa, elongation at break up to 307%, Young's modulus up to 11.18 ± 0.52 MPa, and toughness up to 4.92 MJ m−3) and highly autonomic self‐healing capabilities, with ≈96% efficiency at room temperature for 48 h. Moreover, the PDMS‐BN elastomer can be recycled multiple times via crushing/molding or disassembling/casting processes, without losing their original mechanical robustness. The as‐prepared elastomers also demonstrate good adhesive properties and a unique fluorescence‐quenching response in the presence of Fe3+ ions.
Imidazole‐Mediated Dual Location Disassembly of Acid‐Degradable Intracellular Drug Delivery Block Copolymer Nanoassemblies
Authors: Jazani Arman Moini , Shetty Chaitra , Movasat Hourieh , Bawa Kamaljeet Kaur , Oh Jung Kwon
Published: June 2021

Acid‐degradable (or acid‐cleavable) polymeric nanoassemblies have witnessed significant progress in anti‐cancer drug delivery. However, conventional nanoassemblies designed with acid‐cleavable linkages at a single location have several challenges, such as, sluggish degradation, undesired aggregation of degraded products, and difficulty in controlled and on‐demand drug release. Herein, a strategy that enables the synthesis of acid‐cleavable nanoassemblies labeled with acetaldehyde acetal groups in both hydrophobic cores and at core/corona interfaces, exhibiting synergistic response to acidic pH at dual locations and thus inducing rapid drug release is reported. The systematic analyses suggest that the acid‐catalyzed degradation and disassembly are further enhanced by decreasing copolymer concentration (i.e., increasing proton/acetal mole ratio). Moreover, incorporation of acid‐ionizable imidazole pendants in the hydrophobic cores improve the encapsulation of doxorubicin, the anticancer drug, through π‐π interactions and enhance the acid‐catalyzed hydrolysis of acetal linkages situated in the dual locations. Furthermore, the presence of the imidazole pendants induce the occurrence of core‐crosslinking that compensates the kinetics of acetal hydrolysis and drug release. These results, combined with in vitro cell toxicity and cellular uptake, suggest the versatility of the dual location acid‐degradation strategy in the design and development of effective intracellular drug delivery nanocarriers.
On the classification of framed rectifying curves in Euclidean space
Authors: Yazıcı Bahar Doğan , Karakuş Sıddıka Özkaldı , Tosun Murat
Published: June 2021

There are many studies on regular rectifying curves in classical differential geometry, and important results have been obtained. However, these studies are limited for a smooth curve with singular points. To examine such curves and surfaces, the concept of framed curve, which is the general form of regular and Legendre curves, is used. Framed curves are defined as curves that have a moving frame with singular points in Euclidean space. We investigate framed rectifying curves via the dilation of framed curves on S2 in
. Moreover, the result of dilation of framed curves is the framed rectifying curve or not. We give some classifications for the dilation of framed curves. Finally, we give some related examples with their figures.
Topic allocation method on edge servers for latency‐sensitive notification service
Authors: Tanaka Tomoya , Kamada Tomio , Ohta Chikara
Published: June 2021

The importance of real‐time notification has been growing for social services and Intelligent Transporting System (ITS). As an advanced version of Pub/Sub systems, publish‐process‐subscribe systems, where published messages are spooled and processed on edge servers, have been proposed to achieve data‐driven intelligent notifications. In this paper, we present a system that allows a topic to be managed on multiple edge servers so that messages are processed near the publishers, even when publishers spread over a wide area. Duplicating messages on geographically distributed servers could enable immediate notification to neighboring subscribers. However, the duplicated message spool may cause exhaustion of resources. We prepare a formal model of our publish‐process‐subscribe system and formulate the topic allocation as an optimization problem under the resource constraints of edge servers. As the optimization problem is NP‐hard, we propose heuristics leveraging the locality and the pub/sub relationships observed between clients to use the edge server resources efficiently. Our performance evaluation shows that our method reduces the delay to deliver notifications and the effectiveness of the strategy exploiting the relationships between clients.
Relationship between free fatty acids, body mass index and depressive symptoms in patients with chronic heart failure
Authors: Yang Hua , Li Yan , Su Xing , Li Chao
Published: June 2021

Aim

To explore the prevalence of depressive symptoms among patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and analyse the relationship between free fatty acids (FFAs), body mass index (BMI) and depressive symptoms among patients with CHF.

Design

A cross‐sectional study.

Methods

Questionnaires were distributed to 200 patients with CHF in the department of Cardiology at a tertiary first‐class hospital in Shandong province. A total of 195 hospitalized patients completed the survey. Data collected from February 2017–November 2017 were analysed by using Pearson's correlation and multiple linear regression. The depressive status of the patients was assessed by the Zung Self‐rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the relationships between FFA, BMI and depressive symptoms were analysed using SPSS 20.0.

Results

The results showed that 71.28% CHF patients have depressive symptoms. The serum FFA level was significantly higher in CHF patients with depressive symptoms than those without depressive symptoms (p = .003), and FFA level was significantly positively correlated with the SDS score (r = .242, p = .001). The differences in SDS scores were statistically significant between two different BMI groups (p < .01), and BMI was negatively correlated with the SDS score (r = −.139, p = .040). Regression analysis showed that high FFAs (β = 0.184, p = .009) and low BMI (β = −0.116, p = .049) were risk factors for depressive symptoms in CHF patients. Gender, age, FFA and BMI were associated with depressive symptoms, accounting for 7.1% of the variance in depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

The prevalence of depressive symptoms in CHF patients is very high, and high FFAs and low BMI are risk factors for depressive symptoms. Targeted interventions to strengthen nutritional support in CHF patients may be benefit to improve depression‐related outcomes.
Reduced‐intensity conditioning–based hematopoietic cell transplantation for dyskeratosis congenita: Single‐center experience and literature review
Authors: Bhoopalan Senthil Velan , Wlodarski Marcin , Reiss Ulrike , Triplett Brandon , Sharma Akshay
Published: June 2021

Background

Bone marrow failure in dyskeratosis congenita (DKC) is progressive, and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only curative treatment. However, outcomes after HCT are suboptimal because of mucosal, vascular, pulmonary, and hepatic fragility, which can be exacerbated by chemotherapy conditioning and graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD). These toxicities can be mitigated by reducing the intensity of the conditioning regimen.

Procedures

We performed a retrospective analysis on pediatric patients with DKC who underwent HCT at our institution between 2008 and 2019.

Results

We identified nine patients (median age, 5.7 years) who underwent HCT with a fludarabine‐based reduced‐intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of tacrolimus plus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) (n  =  8), tacrolimus/pentostatin (n  =  1), or cyclosporine/MMF (n  =  1). The median time to neutrophil engraftment was 19 days (range, 13‐26 days), and the median time to platelet engraftment was 18 days (range, 17‐43 days). Lung function, as measured by spirometry in six patients, remained stable during post‐HCT observation. Six patients (67%) remain alive, with a median follow‐up of 73.5 months.

Conclusion

Because of toxicity after myeloablative conditioning, RIC is becoming standard for HCT in DKC. These results suggest that RIC regimen is feasible and safe for patients with DKC and does not accelerate pulmonary damage in the short‐to‐medium term after HCT.
Differential dynamic microscopy for the characterization of polymer systems
Authors: Cerbino Roberto , Giavazzi Fabio , Helgeson Matthew E.
Published: June 2021

This review summarizes recent progress in investigating polymer systems by using Differential dynamic microscopy (DDM), a rapidly emerging approach that transforms a commercial microscope by combining real‐space information with the powerful capabilities of conventional light scattering analysis. DDM analysis of a single microscope movie gives access to the sample dynamics in a wide range of scattering wave‐vectors, enabling contemporary polymer science experiments that would be difficult or impossible with standard light scattering techniques. Examples of application include the characterization of polymer solutions and networks, of polymer based colloidal systems, of biopolymers, and of cellular motility in polymeric fluids. Further applications of DDM to a variety of polymer systems are suggested to be just behind the corner and it is thus likely that DDM will become a tool of choice of the modern experimental polymer scientists.
Enteral lorlatinib after alectinib as a treatment option in anaplastic lymphoma kinase‐positive non‐small cell lung cancer with triple problems: carcinomatous meningitis, poor performance status, and dysphagia—a case report
Authors: Sasaki Kota , Yokota Yusuke , Isojima Toshihito , Fujii Mayumi , Hasui Kengo , Chen Yu , Saito Kensuke , Takahata Takenori , Kindaichi Seiko , Sato Atsushi
Published: June 2021

Alectinib treatment is effective in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement‐positive non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; hereafter ALK‐positive NSCLC) who exhibit central nervous system (CNS) relapse and poor performance status (PS). Lorlatinib treatment is effective upon failure of other ALK inhibitor‐based treatments. However, much remains unknown about the efficacy of lorlatinib in patients with ALK‐positive NSCLC, who have triple problems, carcinomatous meningitis, poor PS, and dysphagia, after alectinib treatment. Here, we report the remarkable response of a 73‐year‐old patient with ALK‐positive NSCLC showing carcinomatous meningitis due to CNS metastases, poor PS, and dysphagia to lorlatinib. Lorlatinib administration through a nasogastric tube alleviated complications related to consciousness within three days, and the patient survived for 16 months after CNS relapse. Lorlatinib could be a treatment option for patients with ALK‐positive NSCLC showing carcinomatous meningitis, poor PS, and dysphagia upon failure of other ALK inhibitor‐based treatments.
Trajectory planning and tracking control for 6‐DOF Stanford manipulator based on adaptive sliding mode multi‐stage switching control
Authors: Hu Qingxi , Zhang Dianfeng , Wu Zhaojing
Published: June 2021

This article intends to investigate the trajectory planning and tracking control for six‐degrees‐of‐freedom (6‐DOF) Stanford manipulator consisting of 3‐DOF mechanical arm and 3‐DOF spherical wrist. By using Denavit–Hartenberg (DH) method, the Euler–Lagrange equations of motion of mechanical arm subsystem and spherical wrist subsystem are established, respectively. A new version of backstepping‐based adaptive sliding mode controller is proposed for trajectory tracking of each subsystem. In order to grasp an object from one point to another, a special smooth continuous trajectory is planned by inverse kinematics analysis which transforms the position of the end‐effector in the task space to the joint position in the joint space. After that, a multi‐stage switching control strategy is proposed to achieve trajectory tracking control. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed control strategy.
Coordination and Redox Dual‐Responsive Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles Amplify Immunogenic Cell Death for Cancer Chemoimmunotherapy
Authors: Zhang Fan , Chen Fangman , Yang Chao , Wang Lei , Hu Hanze , Li Xuezhao , Zheng Xiao , Wang Zheng , Chang Zhimin , Li Tianyu , Li Li , Ge Mingfeng , Du Jinzhi , Sun Wen , Dong Wen‐fei , Shao Dan
Published: June 2021

Amplifying the chemotherapy‐driven immunogenic cell death (ICD) for efficient and safe cancer chemoimmunotherapy remains a challenge. Here, a potential ICD nanoamplifier containing diselenide‐bridged mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (MONs) and chemotherapeutic ruthenium compound (KP1339) to achieve cancer chemoimmunotherapy is tailored. KP1339‐loaded MONs show controlled drug release profiles via glutathione (GSH)‐responsive competitive coordination and matrix degradation. High concentration of MONs selectively evoked reactive oxygen species production, GSH depletion, and endoplasmic reticulum stress in cancer cells, thus amplifying the ICD of KP1339 and boosting robust antitumor immunological responses. After the combination of PD‐L1 checkpoint blockade, cancer cell membrane‐cloaked KP1339‐loaded MONs not only regress primary tumor growth with low systemic toxicity, but also inhibit distant tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis of breast cancer. The results have shown the potential of coordination and redox dual‐responsive MONs boosting amplified ICD for cancer chemoimmunotherapy.
Investigations of water/oxide interfaces by molecular dynamics simulations
Authors: Wang Ruiyu , Klein Michael L. , Carnevale Vincenzo , Borguet Eric
Published: June 2021

Water/oxide interfaces are ubiquitous on earth and show significant influence on many chemical processes. For example, understanding water and solute adsorption as well as catalytic water splitting can help build better fuel cells and solar cells to overcome our looming energy crisis; the interaction between biomolecules and water/oxide interfaces is one hypothesis to explain the origin of life. However, knowledge in this area is still limited due to the difficulty of studying water/solid interfaces. As a result, research using increasingly sophisticated experimental techniques and computational simulations has been carried out in recent years. Although it is difficult for experimental techniques to provide detailed microscopic structural information, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have satisfactory performance. In this review, we discuss classical and ab initio MD simulations of water/oxide interfaces. Generally, we are interested in the following questions: How do solid surfaces perturb interfacial water structure? How do interfacial water molecules and adsorbed solutes affect solid surfaces and how do interfacial environments affect solvent and solute behavior? Finally, we discuss progress in the application of neural network potential based MD simulations, which offer a promising future because this approach has already enabled ab initio level accuracy for very large systems and long trajectories.

This article is categorized under:

Theoretical and Physical Chemistry > Spectroscopy

Molecular and Statistical Mechanics > Molecular Interactions

Structure and Mechanism > Molecular Structures
Infrared renormalons in kinematic distributions for hadron collider processes
Authors: Ravasio Silvia Ferrario , Limatola Giovanni , Nason Paolo
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Infrared renormalons in Quantum Chromodynamics are associated with non-perturbative corrections to short distance observables. Linear renormalons, i.e. such that the associated non-perturbative corrections scale like one inverse power of the hard scale, can affect at a non-negligible level even the very high-energy phenomena studied at the Large Hadron Collider. Using an Abelian model, we study the presence of linear renormalons in the transverse momentum distribution of a neutral vector boson Z produced in hadronic collisions. We consider a process where the Z transverse momentum is balanced by a sizable recoil against a coloured final state particle. One may worry that such a colour configuration, not being azimuthally symmetric, could generate unbalanced soft radiation, associated in turn with linear infrared renormalons affecting the transverse momentum distribution of the vector boson. We performed a numerical calculation of the renormalon effects for this process in the so-called large b0 limit. We found no evidence of linear renormalons in the transverse momentum distribution of the Z in the large transverse-momentum region, irrespective of rapidity cuts.
Employing nucleon decay as a fingerprint of SUSY GUT models using SusyTCProton
Authors: Antusch Stefan , Hohl Christian , Susič Vasja
Published: June 2021

Abstract

While the observation of nucleon decay would be a smoking gun of Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) in general, the ratios between the decay rates of the various channels carry rich information about the specific GUT model realization. To investigate this fingerprint of GUT models in the context of supersymmetric (SUSY) GUTs, we present the software tool SusyTCProton, which is an extension of the module SusyTC to be used with the REAP package. It allows to calculate nucleon decay rates from the relevant dimension five GUT operators specified at the GUT scale, including the full loop-dressing at the SUSY scale. As an application, we investigate the fingerprints of two example GUT toy models with different flavor structures, performing an MCMC analysis to include the experimental uncertainties for the charged fermion masses and CKM mixing parameters. While both toy models provide equally good fits to the low energy data, we show how they could be distinguished via their predictions of ratios for nucleon decay rates. Together with SusyTCProton we also make the additional module ProtonDecay public. It can be used independently from REAP and allows to calculate nucleon decay rates from given D = 5 and D = 6 operator coefficients (accepting the required SUSY input for the D = 5 case in SLHA format). The D = 6 functionality can also be used to calculate nucleon decay in non-SUSY GUTs.
4-d Chern-Simons theory: higher gauge symmetry and holographic aspects
Authors: Zucchini Roberto
Published: June 2021

Abstract

We present and study a 4-d Chern-Simons (CS) model whose gauge symmetry is encoded in a balanced Lie group crossed module. Using the derived formal set-up recently found, the model can be formulated in a way that in many respects closely parallels that of the familiar 3-d CS one. In spite of these formal resemblance, the gauge invariance properties of the 4-d CS model differ considerably. The 4-d CS action is fully gauge invariant if the underlying base 4-fold has no boundary. When it does, the action is gauge variant, the gauge variation being a boundary term. If certain boundary conditions are imposed on the gauge fields and gauge transformations, level quantization can then occur. In the canonical formulation of the theory, it is found that, depending again on boundary conditions, the 4-d CS model is characterized by surface charges obeying a non trivial Poisson bracket algebra. This is a higher counterpart of the familiar WZNW current algebra arising in the 3-d model. 4-d CS theory thus exhibits rich holographic properties. The covariant Schroedinger quantization of the 4-d CS model is performed. A preliminary analysis of 4-d CS edge field theory is also provided. The toric and Abelian projected models are described in some detail.
Extraction of neutrino Yukawa parameters from displaced vertices of sneutrinos
Authors: Chakraborty Amit , Moretti Stefano , Shepherd-Themistocleous Claire H. , Waltari Harri
Published: June 2021

Abstract

We study displaced signatures of sneutrino pairs potentially emerging at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in a Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model supplemented with right-handed neutrinos triggering a Type-I seesaw mechanism. We show how such signatures can be established through a heavy Higgs portal, the sneutrinos then decaying to charged leptons and charginos giving rise to further leptons or hadrons. We finally illustrate how the Yukawa parameters of neutrinos can be extracted by measuring the lifetime of the sneutrino from the displaced vertices, thereby characterising the dynamics of the underlying mechanism of neutrino mass generation. We show our numerical results for the case of both the current and High-Luminosity LHC.
Fifty years of a public cassava breeding program: evolution of breeding objectives, methods, and decision-making processes
Authors: Ceballos Hernán , Hershey Clair , Iglesias Carlos , Zhang Xiaofei
Published: June 2021

This paper reviews and analyzes key features from cassava breeding at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) over 50 years and draws lessons for public breeding efforts broadly. The breeding team, jointly with national program partners and the private processing sector, defined breeding objectives and guiding business plans. These have evolved through the decades and currently focus on four global product profiles. The recurrent selection method also evolved and included innovations such as estimation of phenotypic breeding values, increasing the number of locations in the first stage of agronomic evaluations, gradual reduction of the duration of breeding cycles (including rapid cycling for high-heritability traits), the development of protocols for the induction of flowering, and the introduction of genome-wide predictions. The impact of cassava breeding depends significantly on the type of target markets. When roots are used for large processing facilities for starch, animal feeding or ethanol production (such as in SE Asia), the adoption of improved varieties is nearly universal and productivity at the regional scale increases significantly. When markets and relevant infrastructure are weak or considerable proportion of the production goes for local artisanal processing and on-farm consumption, the impact has been lower. The potential of novel breeding tools needs to be properly assessed for the most effective allocation of resources. Finally, a brief summary of challenges and opportunities for the future of cassava breeding is presented. The paper describes multiple ways that public and private sector breeding programs can learn from each other to optimize success.
Osteotomies around the knee lead to corresponding frontal realignment of the ankle
Authors: Konrads Christian , Eis Alexander , Ahmad Sufian S. , Stöckle Ulrich , Döbele Stefan
Published: June 2021

Introduction

Despite the fact that osteotomies around the knee represent well-established treatment options for the redistribution of loads and forces within and around the knee joint, unforeseen effects of these osteotomies on the ankle are still to be better understood. It was therefore the aim of this study to determine the influence of osteotomies around the knee on the coronal alignment of the ankle. We hypothesize that osteotomies around the knee for correction of genu varum or valgum lead to a change of the ankle orientation in the frontal plane by valgisation or varisation.

Materials and methods

Long-leg standing radiographs of 154 consecutive patients undergoing valgisation or varisation osteotomy around the knee in 2017 were obtained and utilized for the purpose of this study. Postoperative radiographs were obtained after union at the osteotomy site. The hip knee ankle angle (HKA), the mechanical lateral distal femur angle (mLDFA), the mechanical medial proximal tibia angle (mMPTA) and five angles around the ankle were measured. Comparison between means was performed using the Wilcoxon-Mann–Whitney test.

Results

One hundred fifty-four patients (96 males, 58 females) underwent osteotomies around the knee for coronal realignment. The mean age was 51 ± 11 years. Correction osteotomies consisted of 73 HTO, 54 DFOs, and 27 double level osteotomies. Of all osteotomies, 118 were for valgisation and 36 for varisation. For valgisation osteotomies, the mean HKA changed from 5.8° ± 2.9° preoperatively to − 0.9° ± 2.5° postoperatively, whereas the mMPTA changed from 85.9° ± 2.7° to 90.7° ± 3.1° and the malleolar-horizontal-orientation-angle (MHA) changed from 16.4° ± 4.2° to 10.9° ± 4.2°. For varisation osteotomies, the mean HKA changed from − 4.3° ± 3.7° to 1.1° ± 2.2° postoperatively, whereas the mLDFA changed from 85.7° ± 2.2° to 89.3° ± 2.3° and the MHA changed from 8.8° ± 5.1° to 11.2° ± 3.2°.

Conclusion

Osteotomies around the knee for correction of coronal limb alignment not only lead to lateralization or medialization of the weight-bearing line at the knee but also lead to a coronal reorientation of the ankle. This can be measured at the ankle using the MHA. When planning an osteotomy around the knee for correction of genu varum or valgum, the ankle should also be appreciated—especially in patients with preexisting deformities, ligament instabilities, or joint degeneration around the ankle.
Visual Influences on Auditory Behavioral, Neural, and Perceptual Processes: A Review
Authors: Opoku-Baah Collins , Schoenhaut Adriana M. , Vassall Sarah G. , Tovar David A. , Ramachandran Ramnarayan , Wallace Mark T.
Published: June 2021

In a naturalistic environment, auditory cues are often accompanied by information from other senses, which can be redundant with or complementary to the auditory information. Although the multisensory interactions derived from this combination of information and that shape auditory function are seen across all sensory modalities, our greatest body of knowledge to date centers on how vision influences audition. In this review, we attempt to capture the state of our understanding at this point in time regarding this topic. Following a general introduction, the review is divided into 5 sections. In the first section, we review the psychophysical evidence in humans regarding vision’s influence in audition, making the distinction between vision’s ability to enhance versus alter auditory performance and perception. Three examples are then described that serve to highlight vision’s ability to modulate auditory processes: spatial ventriloquism, cross-modal dynamic capture, and the McGurk effect. The final part of this section discusses models that have been built based on available psychophysical data and that seek to provide greater mechanistic insights into how vision can impact audition. The second section reviews the extant neuroimaging and far-field imaging work on this topic, with a strong emphasis on the roles of feedforward and feedback processes, on imaging insights into the causal nature of audiovisual interactions, and on the limitations of current imaging-based approaches. These limitations point to a greater need for machine-learning-based decoding approaches toward understanding how auditory representations are shaped by vision. The third section reviews the wealth of neuroanatomical and neurophysiological data from animal models that highlights audiovisual interactions at the neuronal and circuit level in both subcortical and cortical structures. It also speaks to the functional significance of audiovisual interactions for two critically important facets of auditory perception—scene analysis and communication. The fourth section presents current evidence for alterations in audiovisual processes in three clinical conditions: autism, schizophrenia, and sensorineural hearing loss. These changes in audiovisual interactions are postulated to have cascading effects on higher-order domains of dysfunction in these conditions. The final section highlights ongoing work seeking to leverage our knowledge of audiovisual interactions to develop better remediation approaches to these sensory-based disorders, founded in concepts of perceptual plasticity in which vision has been shown to have the capacity to facilitate auditory learning.
A review and experimental analysis of active learning over crowdsourced data
Authors: Sayin Burcu , Krivosheev Evgeny , Yang Jie , Passerini Andrea , Casati Fabio
Published: June 2021

Training data creation is increasingly a key bottleneck for developing machine learning, especially for deep learning systems. Active learning provides a cost-effective means for creating training data by selecting the most informative instances for labeling. Labels in real applications are often collected from crowdsourcing, which engages online crowds for data labeling at scale. Despite the importance of using crowdsourced data in the active learning process, an analysis of how the existing active learning approaches behave over crowdsourced data is currently missing. This paper aims to fill this gap by reviewing the existing active learning approaches and then testing a set of benchmarking ones on crowdsourced datasets. We provide a comprehensive and systematic survey of the recent research on active learning in the hybrid human–machine classification setting, where crowd workers contribute labels (often noisy) to either directly classify data instances or to train machine learning models. We identify three categories of state of the art active learning methods according to whether and how predefined queries employed for data sampling, namely fixed-strategy approaches, dynamic-strategy approaches, and strategy-free approaches. We then conduct an empirical study on their cost-effectiveness, showing that the performance of the existing active learning approaches is affected by many factors in hybrid classification contexts, such as the noise level of data, label fusion technique used, and the specific characteristics of the task. Finally, we discuss challenges and identify potential directions to design active learning strategies for hybrid classification problems.
Security assurance cases—state of the art of an emerging approach
Authors: Mohamad Mazen , Steghöfer Jan-Philipp , Scandariato Riccardo
Published: June 2021

Security Assurance Cases (SAC) are a form of structured argumentation used to reason about the security properties of a system. After the successful adoption of assurance cases for safety, SAC are getting significant traction in recent years, especially in safety-critical industries (e.g., automotive), where there is an increasing pressure to be compliant with several security standards and regulations. Accordingly, research in the field of SAC has flourished in the past decade, with different approaches being investigated. In an effort to systematize this active field of research, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of the existing academic studies on SAC. Our review resulted in an in-depth analysis and comparison of 51 papers. Our results indicate that, while there are numerous papers discussing the importance of SAC and their usage scenarios, the literature is still immature with respect to concrete support for practitioners on how to build and maintain a SAC. More importantly, even though some methodologies are available, their validation and tool support is still lacking.
The Torsional Quartz-Crystal Viscometer
Authors: Wakeham William A. , Richardson Stephen M.
Published: June 2021

A complete theoretical analysis of the fluid and solid dynamics of the torsional quartz crystal viscometer is presented which for the first time, establishes a firm theoretical basis for two working equations whereby the viscosity of a fluid may be determined from measurements of the resonant frequency of the crystal and the width of the resonance when immersed in the fluid. Modern instrumentation means that it is possible to achieve higher resolution in the measurement of these two quantities than hitherto and the new theory opens the way to securing a concomitant accuracy in the determination of viscosity.
Reflecting on Responsible Conduct of Research: A Self Study of a Research-Oriented University Community
Authors: Hite Rebecca L , Shin Sungwon , Lesley Mellinee
Published: June 2021

Research-oriented universities are known for prolific research activity that is often supported by students in faculty-guided research. To maintain ethical standards, universities require on-going training of both faculty and students to ensure Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). However, previous research has indicated RCR-based training is insufficient to address the ethical dilemmas that are prevalent within academic settings: navigating issues of authorship, modeling relationships between faculty and students, minimization of risk, and adequate informed consent. U.S. universities must explore ways to identify and improve RCR concerns for current (faculty) and future researchers (students). This article reports the findings of a self-study (N = 50) of research stakeholders (students and faculty) at a top tier research institution. First, we report on their perceived importance of applying RCR principles. Second, we explore relationships between stakeholder backgrounds (e.g., prior training, field, and position) and how they ranked the degree of ethical concerns in fictitious vignettes that presented different unethical issues university students could encounter when conducting research. Vignette rankings suggested concerns of inappropriate relationships, predatory authorship and IRB violations which were judged as most unethical, which was dissimilar to what sampled researchers reported in practice as the most important RCR elements to understand and adhere to for successful research. Regression models indicated there was no significant relationship between individuals’ vignette ethics scores and backgrounds, affirming previous literature suggesting that training can be ineffectual in shifting researcher judgments of ethical dilemmas. Recommendations for training are discussed.
Time-Inhomogeneous Feller-type Diffusion Process with Absorbing Boundary Condition
Authors: Giorno Virginia , Nobile Amelia G.
Published: June 2021

A time-inhomogeneous Feller-type diffusion process with linear infinitesimal drift$$\alpha (t)x+\beta (t)$$α(t)x+β(t)and linear infinitesimal variance 2r(t)xis considered. For this process, the transition density in the presence of an absorbing boundary in the zero-state and the first-passage time density through the zero-state are obtained. Special attention is dedicated to the proportional case, in which the immigration intensity function$$\beta (t)$$β(t)and the noise intensity functionr(t) are connected via the relation$$\beta (t)=\xi \,r(t)$$β(t)=ξr(t), with$$0\le \xi <1$$0≤ξ<1. Various numerical computations are performed to illustrate the effect of the parameters on the first-passage time density, by assuming that$$\alpha (t)$$α(t),$$\beta (t)$$β(t)or both of these functions exhibit some kind of periodicity.
Run-and-Tumble Motion: The Role of Reversibility
Authors: van Ginkel Bart , van Gisbergen Bart , Redig Frank
Published: June 2021

We study a model of active particles that perform a simple random walk and on top of that have a preferred direction determined by an internal state which is modelled by a stationary Markov process. First we calculate the limiting diffusion coefficient. Then we show that the ‘active part’ of the diffusion coefficient is in some sense maximal for reversible state processes. Further, we obtain a large deviations principle for the active particle in terms of the large deviations rate function of the empirical process corresponding to the state process. Again we show that the rate function and free energy function are (pointwise) optimal for reversible state processes. Finally, we show that in the case with two states, the Fourier–Laplace transform of the distribution, the moment generating function and the free energy function can be computed explicitly. Along the way we provide several examples.