bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oral combined contraceptives induce liver mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and whole‐body metabolic adaptations in female mice
Authors: Fuller Kelly N. Z. , McCoin Colin S. , Stierwalt Harrison , Allen Julie , Gandhi Shivam , Perry Christopher G. R. , Jambal Purevsuren , Shankar Kartik , Thyfault John P.
Published: November 2022

Compared to age‐matched men, pre‐menopausal women show greater resilience against cardiovascular disease (CVD), hepatic steatosis, diabetes and obesity – findings that are widely attributed to oestrogen. However, meta‐analysis data suggest that current use of oral combined contraceptives (OC) is a risk factor for myocardial infarction, and OC use further compounds with metabolic disease risk factors to increase CVD susceptibility. While mitochondrial function in tissues such as the liver and skeletal muscle is an emerging mechanism by which oestrogen may confer its protection, effects of OC use on mitochondria and metabolism in the context of disease risk remain unexplored. To answer this question, female C57Bl/6J mice were fed a high fat diet and treated with vehicle or OCs for 3, 12 or 20 weeks (n = 6 to 12 per group) at a dose and ratio that mimic the human condition of cycle cessation in the low oestrogen, high progesterone stage. Liver and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function (respiratory capacity, H2O2, coupling) was measured along with clinical outcomes of cardiometabolic disease such as obesity, glucose tolerance, hepatic steatosis and aortic atherosclerosis. The main findings indicate that regardless of treatment duration, OCs robustly increase hepatic mitochondrial H2O2 levels, likely due to diminished antioxidant capacity, but have no impact on muscle mitochondrial H2O2. Furthermore, OC‐treated mice had lower adiposity and hepatic triglyceride content compared to control mice despite reduced wheel running, spontaneous physical activity and total energy expenditure. Together, these studies describe tissue‐specific effects of OC use on mitochondria as well as variable impacts on markers of metabolic disease susceptibility.

image

Key points

Oestrogen loss in women increases risk for cardiometabolic diseases, a link that has been partially attributed to negative impacts on mitochondria and energy metabolism.

To study the effect of oral combined contraceptives (OCs) on hepatic and skeletal muscle mitochondria and whole‐body energy metabolism, we used an animal model of OCs which mimics the human condition of cessation of hormonal cycling in the low oestrogen, high progesterone state.

OC‐treated mice have increased hepatic mitochondrial oxidative stress and decreased physical activity and energy expenditure, despite displaying lower adiposity and liver fat at this time point.

These pre‐clinical data reveal tissue‐specific effects of OCs that likely underlie the clinical findings of increased cardiometabolic disease in women who use OCs compared to non‐users, when matched for obesity.
Uncertainty Quantification of Computational Flutter Estimates of a Compressor Cascade
Authors: Rauseo Marco , Zhao Fanzhou , Vahdati Mehdi , Rendu Quentin
Published: November 2022

Aeroelastic instabilities such as flutter can greatly limit the operating range and safety of modern aircraft engines. Current computational methods have a central role in the evaluation of turbomachinery blades stability, but can be affected by errors if the investigated flow conditions break model assumptions or are particularly sensitive to small changes in flow variables. In this paper, a machine learning based method is proposed to quantify the uncertainty of computational aerodynamic damping predictions. The test case employed for this study is a two dimensional compressor cascade, which resembles most of the relevant aeroelastic features of modern fan and compressor blades. A random forest based model is trained and tested to construct a mapping between input features and aerodynamic damping, both obtained from linearised CFD computations. The input features concern simple, physically relevant quantities that are available early on in design stage. The results show that the machine learnt model can produce predictions, by interpolating within the range of input features, with a coefficient of determination R2 ≈ 0.94. Moreover, the predictions are enhanced with a measure of uncertainty in terms of confidence intervals. The results show that the confidence intervals can accurately portray the sensitivity of aerodynamic damping with respect to the flow variables. Finally, to underline the relevance of such an approach during design, the model is applied to obtain a conservative flutter boundary on a compressor map, providing a safer operating margin.
Simulation of the HiPowAR Gas-Steam Power Generation System Using Ammonia as Fuel
Authors: Cammarata Alberto , Colbertaldo Paolo , Campanari Stefano
Published: November 2022

This work presents a simulation activity on an innovative power generation cycle, developed within the EU Horizon 2020 project HiPowAR, using ammonia as fuel for an oxy-combustion process in a membrane reactor. The key advantages of the system are the low compression requirement, typical of steam cycles, and the large expander inlet temperature, typical of gas turbine cycles. The analysis explores the options of cooled or uncooled expander, either adopting a steam-cooled turbine made of conventional Ni-based alloys or using high temperature-resistant ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials. The simulations show that, with a reactor outlet temperature of 1350°C, a cooled system could reach up to 48.2% efficiency, with limited additional advantages when further increasing the temperature. At the same temperature level, the uncooled system could instead achieve 52.5% efficiency, allowing also a substantial system simplification. However, since the expanded mixture contains nearly 90%mol steam, the use of CMC materials is made difficult by degradation issues and would require the development of suitable barrier coatings.
A MATLAB Based Set of Functions for Finding Thermodynamic Properties and Solving Gas Turbine and Other Thermodynamics Problems
Authors: Volino Ralph J.
Published: November 2022

A new set of MATLAB based functions have been written for providing fluid property data and solving thermodynamics problems. One function utilizes NIST property tables for pure real fluids (e.g. water, various refrigerants, propane, etc.), and provides desired properties when provided with any two other independent properties. Properties can be obtained for liquids, vapors, and two-phase mixtures. Another function provides properties for a range of pure ideal gases using NASA functions for specific heats. Enthalpies are referenced to include the heat of formation, so the function is useful for solving combustion problems. A third function utilizes the ideal gas function to provide ideal gas properties for dry air, assuming a mixture of 78% N2, 21% O2, and 1% Ar by volume. A fourth function uses the air and real fluid functions to provide properties for moist air. Additional functions are available to generate property plots. All functions can be used with the SI or the U.S. Customary unit systems. The functions are described, and examples are provided in which they are used to solve thermodynamics problems. When used in conjunction with built-in MATLAB commands, the new functions are useful for parametric and optimization studies. The full package, including function codes and data files, requires 2.5 MB of disk space and is available at no cost.
Liquid Salt Combined Cycle
Authors: Conlon William M. , Venetos Milton J. , Hume Scott
Published: November 2022

The Liquid Salt Combined Cycle™ (LSCC) is introduced as a hybrid energy storage system that integrates electrically heated thermal energy storage with gas turbine exhaust heat. The objective is to provide low-cost, large-scale storage of increasingly curtailed renewable energy, and to use the stored energy to reduce the fuel heat rate of the combined cycle and the time required from startup to full power. The performance, capital, and operating characteristics of a hybrid storage system using two energy sources are contrasted with thermal generation using a fuel source and with energy storage using an electric source. These characteristics are mapped onto LSCC technology, which is depicted with a diagram showing the flow of electricity into storage during charging, the flow of stored thermal energy during discharge. Stored energy provides latent heating of steam and fuel energy drives a gas turbine whose exhaust gas provides sensible heating of feedwater and superheated steam. A description of the major LSCC equipment is provided: turbomachinery, two-tank molten salt storage, charge heaters, steam generator, exhaust heat recovery, and condensate heating. Material selection and thermal design of LSCC are summarized and performance is compared to simple and combined cycle. The Cost of Energy and Avoided Cost of Energy are assessed for a hypothetical LSCC unit within the ERCOT region.
Study on Blade Vibration Alleviation in a Nozzleless Radial Turbine via Casing Treatment
Authors: Pan Lei , Yang Mingyang , Murae Shota , Sato Wataru , Shimohara Naoto , Yamagata Akihiro
Published: November 2022

High cycle fatigue (HCF) is the most common form of blade failure in nozzleless radial turbines. Current studies related to blade vibration alleviation focus on redesign of blade and volute geometries. These methods have the drawbacks of long period, performance sacrifice and poor universality. This paper investigates a novel flow control method for blade vibration alleviation based on casing treatment. Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) numerical method validated by experiments is employed. Inspired by the generalized force method, the aerodynamic excitation force caused by volute can be offset by introducing additional excitation force artificially. Axial grooves are designed on the casing in the vicinity of blade trailing edge to achieve this target. Firstly, the influence of relative position of volute tongue and grooves on blade excitation is investigated. It’s found that the vibration amplitude is evidently reduced by maximizing the distance between the tongue and the adjacent groove. Generalized force analysis and flow field analysis reveal that the excitation effects caused by volute and casing treatment cancel each other out in this relative location. Next, the influence of configuration parameters of grooves on blade excitation is investigated. Two of the parameters only influence the length of generalized force caused by grooves rather than the phase, which greatly facilitates the design of casing treatment to achieve minimum vibration response. Finally, the effect of optimum design of casing treatment under various working conditions is investigated. The optimum design has good effect at high pressure ratio, which is going to be further optimized to improve its adaptability.
The Effect of Pad Materials on the Limits of Operation for Tilting Pad Thrust Bearings
Authors: Cangioli Filippo , Cristea Alex-Florian , Livermore-Hardy Richard , Tao Yujiao
Published: November 2022

The scope of this paper is to define the effect of pad materials on the limits of operation of tilting pad thrust bearings.

In this paper, the Authors extend the work done by Martin on the limits of operation for steel/whitemetal bearings to other pad backing and lining materials widely used and accepted in the turbomachinery industry, such us, AlSn and PEEK for the lining and CuCr for the backing of the pad. This work has been achieved following a comprehensive experimental characterization of several different tilting pad thrust bearing sizes, with multiple pad backing/lining material options, over a wide range of speeds and loads. The Authors developed and validated a state-of-the-art thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic numerical model to predict the performance of tilting pad thrust bearings and define the limiting envelope. The numerical model couples the generalized Reynolds equation with a 3D heat transfer and structural-mechanics model of the pad, which allows to consider the effect of the pad material properties on the bearing performance.

Experimental data along with numerical results reveal the effect that materials have on the limits of operation for a tilting pad thrust bearings for safe operating load and speed in hydrodynamic lubrication.
Gas Turbine Monitoring Solutions Assessment and Roadmaps
Authors: Emerson Benjamin , Wu David , Angello Leonard , Noble David R.
Published: November 2022

Over the past decade, monitoring capabilities have been growing and expanding to meet the ever-demanding reliability and performance needs within the power generation industry. Even with these increases, many failure events are not adequately captured with existing monitoring and sensor packages, especially for gas turbine engines. In general, gas turbines utilize pressure, temperature, and vibration sensors with several calculated points due in range from costly sensors to impractical to nearly physically impossible.

This paper will serve as an interim update for this investigation of current monitoring strategies to determine limitations and outline steps to better capture asset health. The gas turbine will be divided into three (3) sections for the purpose of categorizing sensor capabilities: compressor, combustor, turbine/rotor. Each section of the gas turbine will include an outline for current, typical measurements. Information will also be shared on new and/or in-development sensors that could be utilized to enhance gas turbine monitoring. Lastly, key monitoring needs will be identified for focus of on-going work to determine possible solutions for gaps in monitoring capabilities and/or methodologies to better capture gas turbine health status.

Based on this information, monitoring solution roadmaps are presented, which identify key instrumentation and developments required to characterize the issue, and enhanced modeling methods for solutions.
Techno-Economic Analysis of a Cryogenic Flux Capacitor for Grid Storage
Authors: Schmitt Joshua , Collado Noemi , Swanger Adam , Otto Marcel , Kapat Jayanta
Published: November 2022

The Cryogenic Flux Capacitor (CFC) is a cold, dense fluid storage core with integrated design features that afford the designer flexibility and provide new possibilities for the storage and discharge of energy. The stored energy, in this case, is represented by hydrogen physically bonded within the nanoscale pores within the aerogel composite blanket material, and the process of bonding or debonding is governed by principles of physical adsorption (physisorption) and thermodynamics. The large surface area afforded by the nanoporous aerogel (∼1,000 m2/g) allows for storage densities close to, or in some cases exceeding, that of normal boiling point liquids. Its performance easily exceeds what can be achieved via ambient temperature, high-pressure gas storage for an equivalent volume. CFC storage is predicted to be easily scalable, is constructed from readily available commercial materials, lends itself to a range of pressure applications, and is geometry insensitive.

The high energy density of CFC-stored hydrogen allows long durations of storage, such as daily to monthly cycling, which corresponds to approximately 10 to 100 hours of duration, respectively. The techno-economic analysis examines different types of hydrogen storage for commercial viability. The assessment includes the use of hydrogen blended with natural gas in a combined cycle gas turbine. The study provides results for a range of blends from 100% natural gas to 100% hydrogen. The required fuel usages are estimated for the intended application in a grid scenario that features large amounts of renewable penetration, 10 hours, and as a baseload, 100 hours.

The study presents preliminary estimates of the capital cost of storage and operating cost of storage. In addition, the cost of firing natural gas and capturing the carbon dioxide (CO2) in a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) system is assessed. Based on the study, it is shown that CFC can competitively meet performance and cost needs for grid-based energy storage.
The Design of a Small-Scale Pumped Heat Energy Storage System for the Demonstration of Controls and Operability
Authors: Smith Natalie R. , Tom Brittany , Rimpel Aaron , Just Joshua , Marshall Michael , Khawly George , Revak Thomas , Hoopes Kevin
Published: November 2022

Long-duration, grid-scale energy storage technologies provide a potential pathway to enable the full penetration of renewables into the electricity grid while still maintaining grid reliability and security. Among these technologies, pumped heat energy storage (PHES) stores energy thermally using a heat pump and discharges that stored thermal energy with a heat engine when needed. With high potential system performance, implementation versatility, and no geological and geographical constraints, PHES is a promising technology. While PHES leverages many existing component technologies, no air-based PHES system has been built and demonstrated and the path to commercialization requires intermediate demonstration. This paper summarizes the design of a PHES system with the purpose of demonstrating operation and verifying control strategies of a closed air Brayton PHES at lab scale. With lower temperatures and smaller machinery, this facility will provide better understanding of operational limitations, discover first implementation challenges, and reduce risk for the full-scale system. This paper presents the challenges associated with cycle design using off-the-shelf hardware, and how that lead to the development of custom machinery including the turbine aerodynamic flowpath and nearly all mechanical design of the turbocompressors. Finally, cycle analysis updates with as-built hardware and transient modelling are presented. The subject design effort resulted in a simple recuperated lab-scale PHES with three heat exchangers shared between charge and discharge mode and two turbocompressor drivetrains, one for each operation mode. At design point, the system is predicted to have 10% round trip efficiency, generate 5 kW with 1 hr of storage.
Dual-polarity voltage imaging of the concurrent dynamics of multiple neuron types
Authors: Kannan Madhuvanthi , Vasan Ganesh , Haziza Simon , Huang Cheng , Chrapkiewicz Radosław , Luo Junjie , Cardin Jessica A. , Schnitzer Mark J. , Pieribone Vincent A.
Published: November 2022

Genetically encoded fluorescent voltage indicators are ideally suited to reveal the millisecond-scale interactions among and between targeted cell populations. However, current indicators lack the requisite sensitivity for in vivo multipopulation imaging. We describe next-generation green and red voltage sensors, Ace-mNeon2 and VARNAM2, and their reverse response-polarity variants pAce and pAceR. Our indicators enable 0.4- to 1-kilohertz voltage recordings from >50 spiking neurons per field of view in awake mice and ~30-minute continuous imaging in flies. Using dual-polarity multiplexed imaging, we uncovered brain state–dependent antagonism between neocortical somatostatin-expressing (SST
+
) and vasoactive intestinal peptide–expressing (VIP
+
) interneurons and contributions to hippocampal field potentials from cell ensembles with distinct axonal projections. By combining three mutually compatible indicators, we performed simultaneous triple-population imaging. These approaches will empower investigations of the dynamic interplay between neuronal subclasses at single-spike resolution.
Unprecedented fire activity above the Arctic Circle linked to rising temperatures
Authors: Descals Adrià , Gaveau David L. A. , Verger Aleixandre , Sheil Douglas , Naito Daisuke , Peñuelas Josep
Published: November 2022

Arctic fires can release large amounts of carbon from permafrost peatlands. Satellite observations reveal that fires burned ~4.7 million hectares in 2019 and 2020, accounting for 44% of the total burned area in the Siberian Arctic for the entire 1982–2020 period. The summer of 2020 was the warmest in four decades, with fires burning an unprecedentedly large area of carbon-rich soils. We show that factors of fire associated with temperature have increased in recent decades and identified a near-exponential relationship between these factors and annual burned area. Large fires in the Arctic are likely to recur with climatic warming before mid-century, because the temperature trend is reaching a threshold in which small increases in temperature are associated with exponential increases in the area burned.
Robust multi-qubit quantum network node with integrated error detection
Authors: Stas P.-J. , Huan Y. Q. , Machielse B. , Knall E. N. , Suleymanzade A. , Pingault B. , Sutula M. , Ding S. W. , Knaut C. M. , Assumpcao D. R. , Wei Y.-C. , Bhaskar M. K. , Riedinger R. , Sukachev D. D. , Park H. , Lončar M. , Levonian D. S. , Lukin M. D.
Published: November 2022

Long-distance quantum communication and networking require quantum memory nodes with efficient optical interfaces and long memory times. We report the realization of an integrated two-qubit network node based on silicon-vacancy centers (SiVs) in diamond nanophotonic cavities. Our qubit register consists of the SiV electron spin acting as a communication qubit and the strongly coupled silicon-29 nuclear spin acting as a memory qubit with a quantum memory time exceeding 2 seconds. By using a highly strained SiV, we realize electron-photon entangling gates at temperatures up to 1.5 kelvin and nucleus-photon entangling gates up to 4.3 kelvin. We also demonstrate efficient error detection in nuclear spin–photon gates by using the electron spin as a flag qubit, making this platform a promising candidate for scalable quantum repeaters.
Arctic wildfires at a warming threshold
Authors: Post Eric , Mack Michelle C.
Published: November 2022

Bigger wildfires in the Siberian Arctic signal release of more carbon to the atmosphere
Substitution of S179P in the Lyssavirus Phosphoprotein Impairs Its Interferon Antagonistic Function
Authors: Wang Zongmei , Yuan Yueming , Zhang Yuan , Zhang Chengguang , Sui Baokun , Zhao Jianqing , Zhou Ming , Chen Huanchun , Fu Zhen F. , Zhao Ling
Published: November 2022

Interferon (IFN) and the IFN-induced cellular antiviral response constitute the first line of defense against viral invasion. Evading host innate immunity, especially IFN signaling, is the key step required for lyssaviruses to establish infection.
Cryo-EM Structure of the Type IV Pilus Extension ATPase from Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
Authors: Nayak Ashok R. , Singh Pradip K. , Zhao Jinlei , Samsó Montserrat , Donnenberg Michael S.
Published: November 2022

Type 4 pili are hairlike surface appendages on many bacteria and archaea that can be extended and retracted with tremendous force. They play a critical role in disease caused by several deadly human pathogens.
ToxoplasmaShelph, a Phosphatase Located in the Parasite Endoplasmic Reticulum, Is Required for Parasite Virulence
Authors: Najm Rania , Hamie Maguy , Berry-Sterkers Laurence , Lebrun Maryse , El Hajj Hiba , Lamarque Mauld H.
Published: November 2022

Toxoplasma gondiibelongs to theApicomplexaphylum, which comprises more than 5,000 species, among which isPlasmodium falciparum, the notorious agent of human malaria. Intriguingly, theApicomplexagenomes encode at least one phosphatase closely related to the bacterialSchewanellaphosphatase, or Shelph.
Bru
SIC: a novel selective medium for the primary isolation of
Brucella
in veterinary samples
Authors: Mena-Bueno Sara , Poveda-Urkixo Irati , Asensio Daniel , Echarte Iñaki , Zabalza-Baranguá Ana , Grilló María Jesús
Published: November 2022

Farrell’s medium (FM) and CITA medium (CM), recommended for
Brucella
isolation in animal samples, are inhibitory for certain strains. A reformulated
Brucella
selective medium (BSM), containing half the CM vancomycin and colistin concentrations, improved the isolation of
B. melitensis
, but not
Brucella abortus
bv1.
Stair-related falls in the USA: traumatic brain injury and the role of alcohol intoxication
Authors: Hammig Bart , Haldeman Sydney
Published: November 2022

Introduction

Falls are a leading cause of head injury in the USA. Stair-related fall injuries are common and often more serious than same level falls. Alcohol is a known contributor to unintentional injuries, and often associated with fall-related injuries, specifically falls occurring on stairs. The objective was to examine the association between alcohol use and head injuries (traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) or craniomaxillofacial (CMF) injuries) among persons aged 15–64 presenting to an emergency department (ED) with an injury resulting from a fall on stairs.

Methods

Using the 2019 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, US ED records were examined. Injuries due to falling on stairs were retrieved, with the role of alcohol in the outcome of TBI and CMF injuries examined. Prevalence ratios (PR), adjusted for covariates (blood alcohol level screening, patient demographics, drug use, disposition) were obtained from average marginal predictions derived from logistic regression models.

Results

An estimated 687 902 patient visits related to falls on stairs occurred during the study period. Patients who presented with alcohol intoxication had a higher prevalence of TBI (PR 2.7 95% CI 2.3 to 3.1) and CMF injuries (PR 2.5; 95% CI 2.3 to 2.8). PRs were more pronounced among patients with blood alcohol concentration ≥0.1, as was hospital admission.

Conclusions

Stair-related falls represent a common cause of ED visits for falls in the USA. Alcohol intoxication had a detrimental effect on the prevalence of TBI and CMF. A multimodal treatment approach may be beneficial given the complex interrelationship between the injury type and alcohol.
In-depth characterisation of a cohort of individuals with missense and loss-of-function variants disruptingFOXP2
Authors: Morison Lottie D , Meffert Elisabeth , Stampfer Miriam , Steiner-Wilke Irene , Vollmer Brigitte , Schulze Katrin , Briggs Tracy , Braden Ruth , Vogel Adam , Thompson-Lake Daisy , Patel Chirag , Blair Edward , Goel Himanshu , Turner Samantha , Moog Ute , Riess Angelika , Liegeois Frederique , Koolen David A , Amor David J , Kleefstra Tjitske , Fisher Simon E , Zweier Christiane , Morgan Angela T
Published: November 2022

Background

Heterozygous disruptions ofFOXP2were the first identified molecular cause for severe speech disorder: childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), and yet few cases have been reported, limiting knowledge of the condition.

Methods

Here we phenotyped 28 individuals from 17 families with pathogenicFOXP2-only variants (12 loss-of-function, five missense variants; 14 males; aged 2 to 62 years). Health and development (cognitive, motor, social domains) were examined, including speech and language outcomes with the first cross-linguistic analysis of English and German.

Results

Speech disorders were prevalent (23/25, 92%) and CAS was most common (22/25, 88%), with similar speech presentations across English and German. Speech was still impaired in adulthood, and some speech sounds (eg, ‘th’, ‘r’, ‘ch’, ‘j’) were never acquired. Language impairments (21/25, 84%) ranged from mild to severe. Comorbidities included feeding difficulties in infancy (10/26, 38%), fine (13/26, 50%) and gross (13/26, 50%) motor impairment, anxiety (5/27, 19%), depression (6/27, 22%) and sleep disturbance (10/24, 42%). Physical features were common (22/27, 81%) but with no consistent pattern. Cognition ranged from average to mildly impaired and was incongruent with language ability; for example, seven participants with severe language disorder had average non-verbal cognition.

Conclusions

Although we identify an increased prevalence of conditions like anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance, we confirm that the consequences ofFOXP2dysfunction remain relatively specific to speech disorder, as compared with other recently identified monogenic conditions associated with CAS. Thus, our findings reinforce thatFOXP2provides a valuable entry point for examining the neurobiological bases of speech disorder.
Effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab in patients with systemic sclerosis: a propensity score matched controlled observational study of the EUSTAR cohort
Authors: Kuster Simon , Jordan Suzana , Elhai Muriel , Held Ulrike , Steigmiller Klaus , Bruni Cosimo , Cacciapaglia Fabio , Vettori Serena , Siegert Elise , Rednic Simona , Codullo Veronica , Airo Paolo , Braun-Moscovici Yolanda , Hunzelmann Nicolas , Joao Salvador Maria , Riccieri Valeria , Gheorghiu Ana-Maria , Alegre Sancho Juan José , Romanowska-Prochnicka Katarzyna , Castellví Ivan , Kötter Ina , Truchetet Marie-Elise , López-Longo FJ , Novikov Pavel I , Giollo Alessandro , Shirai Yuichiro , Belloli Laura , Zanatta Elisabetta , Hachulla Eric , Smith Vanessa , Denton Chris , Ionescu Ruxandra M , Schmeiser Tim , Distler Joerg H W , Gabrielli Armando , Hoffmann-Vold Anna-Maria , Kuwana Masataka , Allanore Yannick , Distler Oliver
Published: November 2022

Objectives

Tocilizumab showed trends for improving skin fibrosis and prevented progression of lung fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) in randomised controlled clinical trials. We aimed to assess safety and effectiveness of tocilizumab in a real-life setting using the European Scleroderma Trial and Research (EUSTAR) database.

Methods

Patients with SSc fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/EULAR 2013 classification criteria, with baseline and follow-up visits at 12±3 months, receiving tocilizumab or standard of care as the control group, were selected. Propensity score matching was applied. Primary endpoints were the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) and FVC at 12±3 months compared between the groups. Secondary endpoints were the percentage of progressive/regressive patients for skin and lung at 12±3 months.

Results

Ninety-three patients with SSc treated with tocilizumab and 3180 patients with SSc with standard of care fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Comparison between groups did not show significant differences, but favoured tocilizumab across all predefined primary and secondary endpoints: mRSS was lower in the tocilizumab group (difference −1.0, 95% CI −3.7 to 1.8, p=0.48). Similarly, FVC % predicted was higher in the tocilizumab group (difference 1.5 (−6.1 to 9.1), p=0.70). The percentage of progressive/regressive patients favoured tocilizumab over controls. These results were robust regarding the sensitivity analyses. Safety analysis confirmed previously reported adverse event profiles.

Conclusion

Although this large, observational, controlled, real-life EUSTAR study did not show significant effectiveness of tocilizumab on skin and lung fibrosis, the consistency of direction of all predefined endpoints generates hypothesis for potential effectiveness in a broader SSc population.
Tobacco promotion restriction policies on social media
Authors: Kong Grace , Laestadius Linnea , Vassey Julia , Majmundar Anuja , Stroup Andrea M , Meissner Helen I , Ben Taleb Ziyad , Cruz Tess Boley , Emery Sherry L , Romer Dan
Published: November 2022

Tobacco promotion is prolific on social media, with each platform setting their own restrictions on tobacco promotion and sales. We evaluated the policies related to tobacco product promotion and sales on 11 sites that are popular with youth in May 2021: Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr, Twitch, Twitter and YouTube. Nine of the 11 sites prohibitedpaid advertisingfor tobacco products. However, only three of them clearly prohibitedsponsored content(ie, social influencers) that promotes tobacco. Six platforms restricted content thatsells tobacco productsand three tried toprohibit underage accessto content that promotes or sells tobacco products. Although most platform policies prohibited paid tobacco advertising, few addressed more novel strategies, such as sponsored/influencer content and few had age-gating to prevent youth access. There is a pressing need to regulate tobacco promotion on social media platforms.
Allelopathy by the invasive garden lupine inhibits the germination of native herbs
Authors: Kalske Aino , Mäkinen Emilia , Ramula Satu
Published: November 2022

Allelopathy is the stimulatory or inhibitory effect of one plant on another plant by release of phytochemicals. It can affect the competitive interactions between plants, but the strength of the effect may depend on the tissue of the donor plant and the phylogenetic relatedness of the interacting species. Here, we examined the allelopathic effects of the invasive garden lupine Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. (Fabaceae) on six native herbs from three families (Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae, Fabaceae). We exposed the test species to aqueous leachates prepared from root or shoot tissue of L. polyphyllus and measured germination rate and germination time. Both leachates inhibited germination in all species (13%–84%), but shoot leachate was more allelopathic than root leachate in case of Fabaceae and Caryophyllaceae. Plants from closely related Fabaceae were least affected by L. polyphyllus leachates in terms of germination rate, but leachates delayed their germination. These results demonstrate that the invasive L. polyphyllus can inhibit the germination of co-occurring native species and suggest that allelopathy likely contributes to its invasion success. Our results have implications for management of invasive L. polyphyllus populations, emphasising the importance of the removal of mown plant material to diminish inhibitory allelopathic effects on local plants.
Queues with Delayed Information: Analyzing the Impact of the Choice Model Function
Authors: Doldo Philip , Pender Jamol
Published: November 2022

In this paper, we study queueing systems with delayed information that use a generalization of the multinomial logit choice model as its arrival process. Previous literature assumes that the functional form of the multinomial logit model is exponential. However, in this work we generalize this to different functional forms. In particular, we compute the critical delay and analyze how it depends on the choice of the functional form. We highlight how the functional form of the model can be interpreted as an exponential model where the exponential rate parameter is uncertain. Furthermore, the rate parameter distribution is given by the inverse Laplace–Stieltjes transform of the functional form when it exists. We perform numerous numerical experiments to confirm our theoretical insights.
Fast Violence Recognition in Video Surveillance by Integrating Object Detection and Conv-LSTM
Authors: Jain Nikita , Gupta Vedika , Tariq Usman , Hemanth D. Jude
Published: November 2022

Video surveillance involves petabytes of data storage requiring expensive hardware, which might also be time-inefficient. The aim of this article is, therefore, to develop an intelligent system capable of analyzing long sequences of videos captured from CCTV, helping to mitigate catastrophe and mitigate the violent threats faced by citizens every day, economically and efficiently. Existing models have achieved high accuracy on available datasets, the primary focus is to improve speed (time-efficient) of violence detection and use very little storage (economical) such that the system can be used in real-time. The paper presents an end-to-end hybrid solution for detecting violence in real-time video frames incorporating both human and weapon detection algorithms applied in a synchronized way. The focus of this article is to propose a generic HWVd (Human Weapon Violence detection) model to detect all kinds of public violence. HWVd is a three-tier ensemble model to detect violence in videos. The first tier is human detection, which uses a LightTrack framework. In the second tier, a Fast Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (F-RCNN) to detect any weapon in videos is used. The third tier uses a pre-trained VGG 19 (a pre-trained model of CNN) for spatial feature extraction and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) to detect violent activity. Lastly, the output of this framework is sent to the Support Vector Machine to classify the activity as (i) violence not involving weapon, (ii) violence involving weapon and (iii) non-violent. The accuracy obtained using the proposed model is 98%.
Breaking stereotypes
Authors: Rabaan Hawra , Dombrowski Lynn
Published: November 2022

The
Interaction
s website (interactions.acm.org) hosts a stable of bloggers who share insights and observations on HCI, often challenging current practices. Each issue we'll publish selected posts from some of the leading and emerging voices in the field.
Twitter, Facebook, and Google all have a trust problem
Authors: Amrute Sareeta
Published: November 2022

Being watched means much more than being seen. This forum investigates information flows of sensing culled from sources as diverse as temperature check and iris scans to sound and movement sensors across terrains. After Veillance discusses how these systems distribute risk unevenly and shape the lives of populations across the globe.
--- Sareeta Amrute, Editor
Hybrid Clouds Arising from Software as a Service Adoption: Challenges, Solutions, and Future Research Directions
Authors: Seifert Michael , Kuehnel Stephan , Sackmann Stefan
Published: November 2022

Information technology (IT) departments are increasingly challenged to replace legacy applications with novel public cloud software as a service (SaaS) to innovate the organization's business processes. The resulting hybrid cloud is formed by integrating the added SaaS with existing IT services. The decision to adopt SaaS in such a hybrid cloud service composition requires appropriate consideration of the respective service level agreements (SLA) to ensure the proper execution of the supported business process. Previous studies focused strongly on cloud service selection or SLA negotiation rather than functionally desired SaaS adoption from the perspective of the hybrid cloud provider as integrator. This research paper identifies economic and technical issues in hybrid cloud arising from SaaS adoption and discusses challenges and existing solutions. A structured literature survey revealed that 52 issues in 36 identified publications are transferable to our context. These issues were classified in six different challenges. We were able to explore the relations between solution artifacts of various challenges and provide guidance for future research concerning hybrid clouds. The relations between the challenges are also found to vary in their research maturity and offer promising fields for further research.
SpiroMask: Measuring Lung Function Using Consumer-Grade Masks
Authors: Adhikary Rishiraj , Lodhavia Dhruvi , Francis Chris , Patil Rohit , Srivastava Tanmay , Khanna Prerna , Batra Nipun , Breda Joseph , Peplinski Jacob , Patel Shwetak
Published: November 2022

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 235 million people suffer from respiratory illnesses which causes four million deaths annually. Regular lung health monitoring can lead to prognoses about deteriorating lung health conditions. This article presents our system
SpiroMask
that retrofits a microphone in consumer-grade masks (N95 and cloth masks) for continuous lung health monitoring. We evaluate our approach on 48 participants (including 14 with lung health issues) and find that we can estimate parameters such as lung volume and respiration rate within the approved error range by the American Thoracic Society (ATS). Further, we show that our approach is robust to sensor placement inside the mask.
Outcomes of the UAMS summer undergraduate research program to increase diversity in research and health professions
Authors: Prince Latrina Y. , Williams Tremaine B. , Allen Antiño R. , McGehee Robert E. , Thomas Billy R.
Published: November 2022

Mentor-mentee relationships were extremely beneficial as many of the former participants maintained contact with their summer mentor after the program ended. This assessment also revealed that exposing underrepresented and minority students to research has a long-lasting effect on career and educational goals.
Risk Factors of Arteriovenous Fistula Stenosis of Patients with Maintenance Hemodialysis
Authors: Gao Meiling , Wang Jing
Published: November 2022

Objective. To investigate the risk factors of arteriovenous fistula stenosis in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Methods. A total of 80 patients with maintenance hemodialysis in our hospital from January 2017 to January 2022 were included. According to the stenosis degree of the arteriovenous fistula, patients were divided into a stenosis group (n = 35) and an unobstructed group (n = 45). Laboratory examination data, such as the demographic characteristics of patients, past medical history, the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the TCM for improving blood circulation to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and cellular immune function, were collected. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors. Results. There was no significant difference in the age, sexuality, body mass index, proportion of patients with coronary heart disease, cephalic vein diameter, radial artery diameter, albumin, fibrinogen, and blood calcium levels between the two groups (

P
>
0.05

). Compared with the unobstructed group, the stenosis group had higher rates of diabetes and hypertension as well as significantly higher levels of platelets, parathyroid hormone, and D-dimer (

P
<
0.05

). The proportion of TCM application in the stenosis group was 28.6% (10/35), which was significantly lower than that in the unobstructed group 57.8% (26/45). The difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 6.785,

P
=
0.009

). The levels of CD3+ (37.5 ± 5.1% vs. 42.0 ± 4.8%), CD4+ (35.7 ± 3.2% vs. 39.6 ± 3.1%) and CD4+/CD8+ (1.4 ± 0.3 vs. 2.4 ± 1.0) in the stenosis group were significantly lower, while CD8+ level was significantly higher (26.8 ± 5.1% vs. 18.5 ± 6.2%) than that in the unobstructed group (

P
<
0.001

). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the usage of TCM was an independent risk factor for arteriovenous fistula stenosis after adjustment for other factors (odds ratio [OR] 0.302; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.100–0.896;

P
=
0.039

). Conclusions. Less use of traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis and poor cellular immune function are important factors affecting the function of the arteriovenous fistula in patients with maintenance hemodialysis, which is worthy of clinical attention.
Development of an Independent Prognostic Signature Based on Three Hypoxia-Related Genes for Breast Cancer
Authors: Wang Hui , Guo Yu , Zhang Peipei , Lin Zhijun , Yang Di , Chen Jiaohong , Li Zhanzhan , Zhang Chi , Yang Haoyu , Yan Binghui , Han Zhimin , Tian Chuntao
Published: November 2022

Background. Hypoxia was considered to be a prognostic indicator in a variety of solid tumors. This study aims at identifying the hypoxia-related genes (HRGs) in breast cancer (BC) and the feasibility of HRGs as a prognostic indicator. Methods. We downloaded the mRNA expression data of BC patients from TCGA and GEO databases. The LASSO Cox regression analysis was applied to screen the hub HRGs to establish a prognostic Risk Score. The independence of Risk Score was assessed by multivariate Cox regression analysis. And the immune checkpoint analysis was also performed. In addition, we also detected the expression level of hub HRGs in MCF-10A cells, MCF-7 cells, and SK-BR-3 cells by RT-qPCR. Results. Three HRGs were identified as hub genes with prognostic value in BC, including CA9, PGK1, and SDC1. The Risk Score constructed by these three genes could efficiently distinguish the prognosis of different BC patients and has been shown to be an independent prognostic indicator. In the high-risk group, patients had lower overall survival and poorer prognosis. In addition, the expression levels of five immune checkpoints (PD1, CTLA4, TIGIT, LAG3, and TIM3) in the high-risk group were significantly higher than those in the low-risk group. Moreover, the expression levels of PGK1 and SDC1 in BC cells were significantly increased. Conclusion. In this study, we established an efficiently model based on three optimal HRGs (CA9, PGK1, and SDC1) could clearly distinguish the prognosis of different BC patients.
Fourteen-Day Evolution of COVID-19 Symptoms during the Third Wave in Nonvaccinated Subjects and Effects of Hesperidin Therapy: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Study
Authors: Dupuis Jocelyn , Laurin Pierre , Tardif Jean-Claude , Hausermann Leslie , Rosa Camille , Guertin Marie-Claude , Thibaudeau Karen , Gagnon Lyne , Cesari Frank , Robitaille Martin , Moran John E.
Published: November 2022

COVID-19 symptoms can cause substantial disability, yet no therapy can currently reduce their frequency or duration. We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of hesperidin 1000 mg once daily for 14 days in 216 symptomatic nonvaccinated COVID-19 subjects. Thirteen symptoms were recorded after 3, 7, 10, and 14 days. The primary endpoint was the proportion of subjects with any of four cardinal (group A) symptoms: fever, cough, shortness of breath, or anosmia. At the baseline, symptoms in decreasing frequency were as follows: cough (53.2%), weakness (44.9%), headache (42.6%), pain (35.2%), sore throat (28.7%), runny nose (26.9%), chills (22.7%), shortness of breath (22.2%), anosmia (18.5%), fever (16.2%), diarrhea (6.9%), nausea/vomiting (6.5%), and irritability/confusion (3.2%). Group A symptoms in the placebo vs. hesperidin group were 88.8% vs. 88.5% (day 1) and reduced to 58.5 vs. 49.4% at day 14 (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.38–1.27,

p
=
0.23

). At day 14, 15 subjects in the placebo group and 28 in the hesperidin group failed to report their symptoms. In an attrition bias analysis imputing “no symptoms” to missing values, the hesperidin group showed reduction of 14.5% of group A symptoms from 50.9% to 36.4% (OR: 0.55, 0.32–0.96,

p
=
0.03

). Anosmia, the most frequent persisting symptom (29.3%), was lowered by 7.3% to 25.3% in the hesperidin group vs. 32.6% in the placebo group (

p
=
0.29

). The mean number of symptoms in the placebo and hesperidin groups was 5.10 (SD 2.26) vs. 5.48 (SD 2.35) (day 1) and 1.40 (SD 1.65) vs. 1.38 (SD 1.76) (day 14) (

p
=
0.92

). In conclusion, most nonvaccinated COVID-19 infected subjects remain symptomatic after 14 days with anosmia being the most frequently persisting symptom. Hesperidin 1 g daily may help reduce group A symptoms. Earlier treatment of longer duration and/or higher dosage should be tested.
Woody Species Diversity and Biomass Carbon Sequestration in Private Residential Green Infrastructure of Dilla Town, Southern Ethiopia
Authors: Asfaw Zebene , Zergaw Yohannes
Published: November 2022

Urban forests have an important role in biodiversity conservation, environmental improvement, and ecosystem services including climate change mitigation enhancement. The objectives of the current study were to: assess plant types and management strategies of the owners; woody species’ composition, structure, and diversity; and estimate aboveground biomass of trees and associated carbon stock in private residential green infrastructure (PRGI) at Dilla town. This study was conducted at three kebeles, the lowest administrative unit in Ethiopia. Ninety-four households were randomly selected from a proportional sample size for each kebele. A complete inventory of woody species was done after measuring the area occupied by plants at each household. At plot level, the aboveground biomass of sampled trees was calculated by using an allometric biomass equation developed for agroforestry species. Diversity was described by using different indices The free software EstimateS 9.1.0 was used to generate data for the construction of sample-based rarefaction curves and SPSS version 20 for descriptive statistics. Based on plant types and arrangement, the households manage their PRGI in 15 categories on area size, ranging from 10 m2 to 1229 m2, with an average holding size of 207.5 m2. A total of 66 plant species belonging to 45 families were identified. Overall, a total of 1220 stem ha−1 contributed to an aboveground carbon stock of 64.35 ton ha−1 of which 50.4% is from fruit trees and the rest from timber trees. The results suggest that PRGIs can serve as reservoirs of non-native and native plant species, including five native tree species currently facing conservation concerns.