bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
User-Centered Evaluation and Design Recommendations for an Internal Medicine Resident Competency Assessment Dashboard
Authors: Vennemeyer Scott , Kinnear Benjamin , Gao Andy , Zhu Siyi , Nattam Anunita , Knopp Michelle I. , Warm Eric , Wu Danny T.Y.
Published: December 2023

Objectives Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) members employ varied approaches to the review process. This makes the design of a competency assessment dashboard that fits the needs of all members difficult. This work details a user-centered evaluation of a dashboard currently utilized by the Internal Medicine Clinical Competency Committee (IM CCC) at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and generated design recommendations.

Methods Eleven members of the IM CCC participated in semistructured interviews with the research team. These interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis. The three design research methods used in this study included process mapping (workflow diagrams), affinity diagramming, and a ranking experiment.

Results Through affinity diagramming, the research team identified and organized opportunities for improvement about the current system expressed by study participants. These areas include a time-consuming preprocessing step, lack of integration of data from multiple sources, and different workflows for each step in the review process. Finally, the research team categorized nine dashboard components based on rankings provided by the participants.

Conclusion We successfully conducted user-centered evaluation of an IM CCC dashboard and generated four recommendations. Programs should integrate quantitative and qualitative feedback, create multiple views to display these data based on user roles, work with designers to create a usable, interpretable dashboard, and develop a strong informatics pipeline to manage the system. To our knowledge, this type of user-centered evaluation has rarely been attempted in the medical education domain. Therefore, this study provides best practices for other residency programs to evaluate current competency assessment tools and to develop new ones.
Motion of bacteria and CaOx particles via urine flow modulated by the electro-osmosis
Authors: Ram Daya , Bhandari D. S. , Tripathi Dharmendra , Sharma Kushal
Published: December 2023

Kidney stones and Escherichia coli bacterial particles are mineral aggregates found inside the kidney and bladder that cause urinary tract infections and complications during urination. Therefore, it is essential to understand that how such stones create the obstruction in the urine flow and what are the possible solutions to remove them from the urinary system? In view of the complications in the urinary system due to bacteria and CaOx, the major objectives of this study are to investigate (a) how electro-osmosis modulates the urine flow and helps in the removal of CaOx particles and bacteria via urine flow and (b) how diameter and density of the particles will affect the motion of the particles via urine flow? An electrolyte solution with Newtonian model for the urine and a moving wavy channel with time and axial displacement for urinary track are considered. Basset–Boussinesq–Oseen equation is employed to analyze the motion of CaOx and bacteria. Poisson–Boltzmann equation is considered to examine the distribution of the electric potential in urine. Analytical solutions are derived under the suitable assumptions and suitable boundary conditions for the present biophysical model. The results showed that (a) backward motion of bacterial particles was observed via urine flow and (b) the large size of CaOx particle covers fewer trajectories with slower velocity through urine flow, which may be the reasons of obstructions/infections in the urine flow. It is further concluded that the axial electric field increases the trajectory and velocity of the CaOx particle and bacterial particles, which will help in proper functioning of the urine flow and in the removal of such particles.
Uniform spike trains in optically injected quantum cascade oscillators
Authors: Peng Yibo , Liu Siting , Kovanis Vassilios , Wang Cheng
Published: December 2023

It has been experimentally and theoretically analyzed that noise-induced excitability in quantum well and quantum dot semiconductor laser systems usually produces sharp spike patterns of non-uniform amplitude. In this paper, we experimentally record that a quantum cascade oscillator injected externally with a monochromatic laser beam exhibits a series of highly uniform spike trains, which occur in the proximity of the saddle-node bifurcation. Theoretical analysis based on a properly designed single-mode rate equation model endowed with quantum noise reveals that this high uniformity has its primary origin in the ultrashort carrier lifetime of the quantum cascade laser gain medium that is typically close to 1 ps.
How to quantitatively investigate the effect of fracture roughness on gas flow: A new fully coupled interdisciplinary model
Authors: Ye Dunwei , Lin Xiang , Yang Xinjie , Li Xiang , Zhao Runer , Ma Hanxu
Published: December 2023

In recent years, due to the increasing demand for cleaner energy sources, coal bed methane (CBM) has garnered substantial attention for its potential as an efficient energy resource. Extensive research has been conducted to explore various factors integral to the CBM extraction process. However, the roughness of the coal bed fracture system, a crucial conduit for gas transportation, significantly influences its efficacy. Additionally, the roughness of fracture surfaces has been inadequately addressed in the comprehensive analysis of multi-process coupling in CBM mining. Currently, the lack of progress in exploring this topic is that existing studies have neglected the influence of fracture surface roughness and the two distinct timescales in the fracture and coal matrix. In this paper, we propose a new multi-field coupling model that utilizes the finite element method. This model can account for the impact of fracture surface roughness, coupled multi-field effects, gas flow in fractures, and gas diffusion in the coal matrix. This study aims to quantify the relationship between fracture surface roughness, porous media, production parameters, and diffusion times. Existing models lack the capability to quantitatively analyze the extent of fracture roughness. To achieve this, we will apply a quantitative approach that considers the aforementioned factors. The model results demonstrate that the proposed model in this paper performs better than the current classical model in exploring gas flow, fracture surface roughness, and fracture–matrix interactions in porous media. Furthermore, the permeability of the fracture is greatly influenced by the roughness of its surface. A smoother fracture surface results in higher permeability. The interdisciplinary model introduced in this study is versatile, making it applicable to CBM mining projects under diverse geological conditions. Interested practitioners and readers can easily modify the initial values of boundary conditions in the finite element simulation. This adjustment facilitates a comprehensive analysis of both fracture roughness and the gas production rate of the project.
Research on the flow-induced vibration characteristics based on heat–fluid–structure coupling in natural gas loop
Authors: Qiu Yilong , Ren Jia , Zhang Xi , Chen Siyu
Published: December 2023

To research the flow-induced vibration characteristics of the natural gas loop, unsteady numerical simulation is carried out on the loop calculation model under different ambient temperatures and different flow rates, and the influence of different flow rates on the dynamic characteristics of the flow field and its induced vibration characteristics is obtained. The results show that the inherent frequency of the natural gas loop increases slightly under the action of heat–fluid–solid coupling. The maximum equivalent stress of the loop increases with the increase in ambient temperature under low flow conditions, but it is almost constant under high flow conditions. The smaller the cross-sectional area of the loop pipeline inlet, the greater the pressure, and the more significant the pressure gradient along the flow direction. The pressure pulsation of monitoring points in the pipeline under different flow rates presents different rules, and the pulsation amplitude of pipes with different diameters is different, among which the amplitude of the pipe with a diameter of 250 mm is the largest and that of the pipe with a diameter of 150 mm is the smallest. The pressure pulsation signals are concentrated in the low-frequency band of 0–10 Hz, and the range of the band decreases with the increase in the flow rate. The vibration frequency of the loop structure is close to the fluid pressure pulsation frequency and the inherent frequency under the action of heat–fluid–solid coupling, which causes a resonance of about 2 Hz.
The influence of a coupled casing on the performance of a multistage compressor under inlet distortion conditions
Authors: Xie Hong , Zhu Guoming , Li Huanjun , Wang Chunrong
Published: December 2023

In order to increase the stalling margin of a compressor under different inlet conditions, especially under inlet distortion conditions, a new coupled casing processing structure is proposed in this paper. The new structure combines the characteristics of traditional circumferential slot and axial slot casing treatments. First, based on numerical simulation results of the simplified calculation model, a control variable method is used to design the coupled casing treatment and an effective casing treatment scheme (CCTF) is obtained. Then, experiments and multistage full-channel numerical simulations are used to study the effect of CCTF on the compressor performance under uniform and distorted inlet conditions. The stability expansion effect and the mechanism of the structure under inlet distortion conditions are analyzed in detail. The results show that the jet in CCTF obstructs the main flow and causes additional mixing loss, but inhibits the expansion and crushing of the leakage vortex, thus increasing the stall margin of the compressor. Under near-stall conditions, the tail-circumferential groove provides about 64.8% of the flow rate, which improves the stability expansion capability of the casing treatment. When there is distortion at the inlet, CCTF can still effectively improve the stability.
Healthcare costs attributable to e-cigarette use and subsequent uptake of cigarette smoking by Australians who have never smoked
Authors: Gordon Louisa G. , Preston Paige
Published: December 2023

Objective New legislation to curb the rapid increase in e-cigarette use among youth is underway. We estimated the future healthcare costs for chronic diseases from e-cigarette use among never smokers who transition to tobacco smoking. Methods Using population-attributable fractions, we estimated the health expenditure attributable to e-cigarettes based on the prevalence of e-cigarette use, uptake of tobacco smoking, and risk of smoking on developing chronic disease. Data for men and women were derived from published reports on e-cigarette use prevalence, risk of smoking-related disease and addiction, and health expenditure for 25 diseases. Sensitivity analyses were undertaken to address data input variation. Results Future healthcare costs attributed to new e-cigarette-initiated smokers were conservatively estimated to be (in Australian dollars) $179.6 million annually. Collectively, the estimated costs were highest for respiratory diseases ($102.2 million; 57% of total costs), malignant cancers ($49.6 million; 28%), and cardiovascular disease ($27.7 million; 15%). The uptake rate of e-cigarettes was more important in driving healthcare costs than the proportion moving from e-cigarettes to cigarette smoking. Conclusion High avoidable health system costs are predicted for the treatment of chronic conditions created by e-cigarette-initiated smoking. These costs exclude the immediate and direct healthcare harms of e-cigarette-related poisoning, lung injury, and respiratory problems, and costs associated with the unknown health harms of e-cigarette use alone. The proposed regulations to curb recreational e-cigarette use in Australia are set to prevent expensive health care arising sometime in the future from new cigarette smokers.
Lysophosphatidic acid triggers inflammation in the liver and white adipose tissue in rat models of 1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 2 deficiency and overnutrition
Authors: Sakuma Ikki , Gaspar Rafael C. , Luukkonen Panu K. , Kahn Mario , Zhang Dongyan , Zhang Xuchen , Murray Sue , Golla Jaya Prakash , Vatner Daniel F. , Samuel Varman T. , Petersen Kitt Falk , Shulman Gerald I.
Published: December 2023

AGPAT2 (1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate-acyltransferase-2) converts lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) into phosphatidic acid (PA), and mutations of the
AGPAT2
gene cause the most common form of congenital generalized lipodystrophy which leads to steatohepatitis. The underlying mechanism by which AGPAT2 deficiency leads to lipodystrophy and steatohepatitis has not been elucidated. We addressed this question using an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) to knockdown expression of
Agpat2
in the liver and white adipose tissue (WAT) of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats.
Agpat2
ASO treatment induced lipodystrophy and inflammation in WAT and the liver, which was associated with increased LPA content in both tissues, whereas PA content was unchanged. We found that a controlled-release mitochondrial protonophore (CRMP) prevented LPA accumulation and inflammation in WAT whereas an ASO against
glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, mitochondrial
(
Gpam
) prevented LPA content and inflammation in the liver in
Agpat2
ASO-treated rats. In addition, we show that overnutrition, due to high sucrose feeding, resulted in increased hepatic LPA content and increased activated macrophage content which were both abrogated with
Gpam
ASO treatment. Taken together, these data identify LPA as a key mediator of liver and WAT inflammation and lipodystrophy due to AGPAT2 deficiency as well as liver inflammation due to overnutrition and identify LPA as a potential therapeutic target to ameliorate these conditions.
Sulfion oxidation assisting self-powered hydrogen production system based on efficient catalysts from spent lithium-ion batteries
Authors: Wang Boran , Xiao Xiao , Li Junfeng , Zhang Mengtian , Jiao Miaolun , Zheng Zhiyang , Li Tongtong , Zhang Qi , Zhang Xuan , Zhou Guangmin
Published: December 2023

Converting spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and industrial wastewater into high-value-added substances by advanced electrocatalytic technology is important for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Here, we propose a self-powered system using a home-made sulfide fuel cell (SFC) to power a two-electrode electrocatalytic sulfion oxidation reaction (SOR)–assisted hydrogen (H
2
) production electrolyzer (ESHPE), in which the sulfion-containing wastewater is used as the liquid fuel to produce clean water, sulfur, and hydrogen. The catalysts for the self-powered system are mainly prepared from spent LIBs to reduce the cost, such as the bifunctional Co
9
S
8
catalyst was prepared from spent LiCoO
2
for SOR and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The Fe–N–P codoped coral-like carbon nanotube arrays encapsulated Fe
2
P (C-ZIF/sLFP) catalyst was prepared from spent LiFePO
4
for oxygen reduction reaction. The Co
9
S
8
catalyst shows excellent catalytic activities in both SOR and HER, evidenced by the low cell voltage of 0.426 V at 20 mA cm
−2
in ESHPE. The SFC with Co
9
S
8
as anode and C-ZIF/sLFP as cathode exhibits an open-circuit voltage of 0.69 V and long discharge stability for 300 h at 20 mA cm
−2
. By integrating the SFC and ESHPE, the self-powered system delivers an impressive hydrogen production rate of 0.44 mL cm
−2
min
−1
. This work constructs a self-powered system with high-performance catalysts prepared from spent LIBs to transform sulfion-containing wastewater into purified water and prepare hydrogen, which is promising to achieve high economic efficiency, environmental remediation, and sustainable development.
“You look like my 14-year-old daughter”
Authors: Wang Wanwen , Ngai Jonathan
Published: December 2023

The main purpose of this corpus-based study is to examine the different types of sexist language women are
subjected to in their daily interactions with men, together with their hidden ideologies. To this end, we analysed a total of
1,118 English tweets posted on the hashtag #everydaysexism on Twitter over a year. Results indicate that women experience both
overt and indirect verbal aggression in different domains of life, expressed through a range of sexist linguistic markers, and
that such aggression often reflect the users’ beliefs and values about men and women. By using a category-based model to examine a
feminist narrative hashtag where women’s experiences of sexism are shared, our study offers a robust and principled approach to
conducting a corpus-based, cross-domain discourse analysis of sexism in daily communication.
Exploring Sulfur Chemistry in TMC-1 with NSRT
Authors: Iqbal Wasim , Li Xiaohu , Tuo Juan , Szczerba Ryszard , Feng Yanan , Miao Zhenzhen , Yang Jiangchao , Ge Jixing , Fedoseev Gleb , Quan Donghui , Chang Qiang , Yang Chuan-Lu , Yang Tao , Hou Gao-Lei , Zhang Yong , Fang Xuan , Zhang Xia , Li Fangfang , Ma Rong , Song Xiaomin , Kou Zhiping , Sun Yuxuan
Published: December 2023

There have been several studies on sulfur depletion in dense cores like TMC-1 (Taurus Molecular Cloud 1), employing updated reaction networks for sulfur species to explain the missing sulfur in the gas within dense clouds. Most of these studies used a C/O ratio of 0.7 or lower. We present NSRT (NanShan 26m Radio Telescope) observations of TMC-1 alongside results from time-dependent chemical simulations using an updated chemical network. Our findings highlight the impact of the C/O ratio on the gas-phase evolution of C2S and C3S. The simulation results show that the C/O ratio is an important parameter, playing a fundamental role in determining the gas-phase abundances of sulfur species in dense cores.
Theoretical design of uncooled mid-infrared PbSe P+pBn+ barrier detectors
Authors: Su Leisheng , Liu Yun , Zhang Heqiu , Yang Yiming , Qiu Jijun
Published: December 2023

A novel uncooled mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) P+pBn+ barrier detector based on epitaxial PbSe absorber layer on Ge substrate is theoretically investigated by finite element analysis in order to achieve optimal detection performance. The simulated results show that the P+pBn+ barrier architecture can further effectively reduce the room-temperature dark current to 4.45 mA cm−2 under −0.1 V bias, which is 12 times lower than a PbSe pBn+ unipolar barrier device in a previous study. Moreover, the P+pBn+ barrier architecture exhibits excellent responsivity and detectivity of 1.83 A W −1 and 3.23 × 1010 cm Hz1/2 W−1 at 3.8 μm, respectively. These results suggest that this P+pBn+ barrier detector based on natural MBE epitaxy technology could have potential in the emerging high-sensitivity and high-detectivity uncooled MWIR applications.
Research on satellite laser ranging observation task scheduling method
Authors: Zequn Lv , Ning An , Cunbo Fan , Chengzhi Liu , Zhenwei Li , Jian Gao , Guanyu Wen , Xue Dong
Published: December 2023

Satellite laser ranging (SLR) is a technology with the highest precision of single measurement of satellite radial distance, which is developing rapidly in the direction of long-distance, high-precision and automation. SLR autonomous observation task scheduling is an important step in realizing station automation, which needs to satisfy the principles of satellite tracking priority and maximization of observation revenue at the same time. In order to improve the automation and intelligence level of SLR system, based on the framework of ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm, this paper combines the dynamic optimization characteristics of ACO algorithm and the local optimization characteristics of greedy algorithm, introduces the maximum-minimum ant mechanism, and puts forward a scheduling scheme for SLR observation task based on greedy ant colony algorithm (GACA). The results show that compared with the current scheduling method applied in practice, the number of observation satellites obtained from the GACA algorithm-based observation task planning for the SLR system has been improved by 37.4%, the total arc segment of satellite observation with higher priority has been extended by 36.47%, and the total observation gain has been increased by 42.39% in the same period of time. It effectively solves the problems of low efficiency, easy to miss satellites (being equipped with corner-cubes) and less satellites (being equipped with corner-cubes) stars in the observation process in manual scheduling, and provides a simple, practical, efficient and convenient observation task planning scheme for the establishment of an unmanned SLR system.
Universal embedding of autonomous dynamical systems into a Lotka-Volterra-like format
Authors: Frezzato Diego
Published: December 2023

We show that the ordinary differential equations (ODEs) of any deterministic autonomous dynamical system with continuous and bounded rate-field components can be embedded into a quadratic Lotka-Volterra-like form by turning to an augmented set of state variables. The key step consists in expressing the rate equations by employing the Universal Approximation procedure (borrowed from the machine learning context) with logistic sigmoid ‘activation function’. Then, by applying already established methods, the resulting ODEs are first converted into a multivariate polynomial form (also known as generalized Lotka-Volterra), and finally into the quadratic structure. Although the final system of ODEs has a dimension virtually infinite, the feasibility of such a universal embedding opens to speculations and calls for an interpretation at the physical level.
On the magnetic field in Earth’s interior
Authors: Provatidis Christopher G
Published: December 2023

This paper discusses the possible distribution of Earth’s magnetic field in its three main layers. As a first step, using the IGRF-13 model, it was found that the magnetic field energy exterior to the liquid outer core (i.e., inside the mantle and the surrounding Earth’s atmosphere) is about

6
.
7
×

10

18

J (for epoch 2010) while the field strength exactly at the Core-Mantle-Boundary (CMB) is about 0.42 mT (RMS value). These findings can be further considered as reliable reference values among the large dispersion of published data for the total magnetic field in Earth’s interior. Therefore, utilizing the layer breakdown reported in a pioneering paper (Glatzmaier and Roberts [8]) according to which the inner core includes about 10% of the total energy content, it was made possible to validate a previously reported figure (year 1949: 9×1020 J) regarding the total magnetic field energy of the Earth. But due to substantial deviation of the latter from a later reported figure (year 1980: 7×1021 J), this paper continues the investigation for the purpose of clarifying the issue. In this context, two inverse-cubic dipole models and the bar magnet (tiny and cylindrical) model, as well as the IGRF-13 standard were applied and compared in the Earth’s interior. Overall, under certain conditions these findings are successfully compared with literature reports, and eventually (after many assumptions) reached an acceptable compromise regarding the spatial distribution of the magnetic field, while a stimulus for further reflection to other researchers was provided. At the end, a question is posed and somewhat answered whether the available magnetic field energy is abundant to feed the motion of futuristic lightweight electromagnetic vehicles revived in recent literature.
Rayleigh wave through half space semiconductor solid with temperature dependent properties
Authors: Saeed Tareq , Ali Khan Maaz , Alzahrani Ali Rashash R , Jahangir Adnan
Published: December 2023

The article focuses on Rayleigh wave propagation in a homogeneous isotropic semi-conductor thermoelastic medium rotating with fixed angular frequency with temperature-dependent properties. The elastic constants depend upon the temperature function. The effects of temperature dependency parameter, time derivative, and fractional order are illustrated. By the theory of thermo-elasticity, waves result in the generation of thermal signals that propagate through the medium. A heat conduction model of three-phase lag (3PL) along with fractional order time derivative is used to analyze the thermal signals. The secular equations of Rayleigh waves are derived mathematically at the stress-free, carrier density and thermally insulated boundaries. Some specific properties like velocity, attenuation coefficient, specific heat loss and penetration depth for Rayleigh waves have been evaluated and presented graphically. The secular equations are computed numerically and depicted graphically using Matlab.
Building Machine Learning Models to Improve Hypertension Diagnosis
Authors: Haynatzki Roman , Windle Thomas , Windle John
Published: December 2023

Hypertension (HT) is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. A diagnosis of HT is based on two or more blood pressure (BP) readings taken on two or more visits, and such diagnosis may vary depending on the threshold BP values utilized by specific guidelines. Our hypertension identification approach has been recently proposed and validated for HT diagnosis and could be used as ground truth in modeling of latent HT diagnosis. Our approach to modeling of latent HT diagnosis with high precision will leverage analytics to “Big Data”, such as electronic health records (EHRs). In this work, we will review the time complexity underlying the classical ML methods XGBoost (XGB) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). In particular, we compare the XGB and ANN to leverage their strengths. The performance of all algorithms for diagnosing HT will be characterized using the area under the curve (AUC) approach on a big EHR longitudinal dataset. Predictor variable importance and model interpretability will be assessed using the Shapley values approach.
Temporal-causal modeling of air pollution in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria: a case study
Authors: Ivanov A V , Gocheva-Ilieva S G , Stoimenova-Minova M P
Published: December 2023

High levels of air pollution are dangerous to human health, which is a current problem for densely populated cities worldwide. Studying this problem can help detect pollutants’ time dependencies on basic meteorological measurements and other factors for future prediction and elaborate corresponding alarms when official upper pollution limits are exceeded. In this work, time-causal models based on previous daily time observations and meteorological measurements in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, are applied. Vector-type temporal-causal models are constructed and analyzed for carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and fine dust particles below size 10, 2.5, and 1 micron (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1), respectively. Pollution levels are predicted seven days ahead.
Christov expansion method for nonlocal nonlinear evolution equations
Authors: Christou M A , Christov I C
Published: December 2023

Christov functions are a complete orthonormal set of functions on L
2(-∞,∞) that allow us to expand derivatives, nonlinear products, and nonlocal (integro-differential) terms back into the same basis. These properties are beneficial when solving nonlinear evolution equations using Galerkin spectral methods. In this work, we demonstrate such a “Christov expansion method” for the Benjamin–Ono (BO) equation. In the BO equation, the dispersion term is nonlocal, given by the Hilbert transform of the second spatial derivative of the unknown function. The Hilbert transform of the Christov functions can be computed using complex integration and Cauchy’s residue theorem to obtain simple relations. Then, a Galerkin spectral expansion can be used to the solve the BO equation. Time integration is performed using a Crank–Nicolson-type scheme. Importantly, the Christov expansion method yields a banded matrix for the spatial discretization, even though the spatial terms are nonlocal. To demonstrate the approach and its implementation, we perform numerical experiments showing the steady propagation of single and the overtaking interaction of multiple BO solitary waves.
Oscillating flow of rarefied viscous gas between cylinders of finite length. Numerical study
Authors: Gospodinov P N , Dankov D Y , Mironova M K
Published: December 2023

The rarefied viscous gas flow between a stationary inner and an oscillating outer cylinder is studied in this paper. It is a continuation of our previous publications where we study the flow between the infinite length cylinders while here is considered the case of finite length cylinders bounded by two planes with periodic boundary conditions in the cross sections at the ends of the cylinders. So, on the one hand, this changes the flow character creating conditions for periodic self-organization along the axis of symmetry and on the other hand, the current model is reduced to a flow in a limited volume. A continuum model based on Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations for compressible fluid with first order slip boundary conditions on the cylinders wall and statistical model Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method are used to model the flow. The presented numerical results were obtained after reaching sustained oscillations. Considering the model with cylinders of finite length allows to extend its capabilities and obtain a better fit to real conditions.
Convergence of the L1 Two-Term Equation Scheme
Authors: Dimitrov Y. , Georgiev S. , Miryanov R. , Todorov V.
Published: December 2023

Fractional derivatives have found application in modeling various processes in different fields of science. Finite difference schemes are a main approach for numerical solution of models using fractional differential equations. In this paper we investigate the convergence and order of the numerical solution of two-term ordinary fractional differential equation which uses the L1 approximation of the fractional derivative. Inequalities for the weights of L1 approximation are derived and used to prove the convergence of the L1 scheme for the two-term equation. Conditions for the parameter of the two-term equation and error estimates of L1 scheme are obtained. Experimental results for the order and error of the L1 scheme are presented in the paper.
A structure-activity relationship modelling of opioid compounds by using machine learning
Authors: Sapundzhi Fatima , Lazarova Meglena , Dzimbova Tatyana , Georgiev Slavi , Ivanova Antonina
Published: December 2023

Opiates are among the oldest drugs that are used to treat many medical problems. They are analgesic and sedative drugs that contain opium. The morphine is its most active ingredient and it is a widely used pain reliever despite its side effects. The main objective of this study is to construct a model which gives the structure-activity relationship among a series of mu-opioid ligands and molecular docking results. For this purpose, a model of mu-opioid receptors using machine learning is introduced. By obtaining a relationship between the docking results and the in vivo test, we could predict the biological effect of the newly synthesized ligands.
Correcting the gravitational dipole direction for a partial sky survey
Authors: Avila F , Bernui A , de Carvalho E , Novaes C P
Published: December 2023

Abstract. The gravitational dipole approach is suitable for measuring β, the velocity parameter scale and, consequently, fσ
8, the product of the cosmic growth rate, f, and the matter density fluctuation on scales of 8 Mpc/h, σ
8. In cosmology, measurements of fσ
8 are important because they are a powerful tool for constraining alternative gravity models. However, in gravitational dipole analyses, if one uses a survey with incomplete sky coverage, this will certainly bias the measurement of the direction and magnitude of the dipole, which must be corrected accordingly. In this work we follow a new approach developed in ref. [1] to correct gravitational dipole measurements for partial sky data. Specifically, we study the gravitational dipole direction, important information to obtain an unbiased value of β. Our results show that, when comparing the velocity of the Local Group with the gravitational dipole, the correction procedure can actually recover the dipole direction with great precision, ensuring a robust result for β.
Synthesis by hand milling and structural, porous and superficial characterization of the zeolitic imidazolate framework-67
Authors: Díaz M , Lazo A N , Sedano R , Yparraguirre J A , Blas F , Loro H
Published: December 2023

This paper describes the process of synthesis of the polycrystalline zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67), in which it was performed by hand milling, followed by centrifugation under an ethanol solution and free of irradiation. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the ZIF-67 has a cubic crystalline structure with lattice parameter of 17.01 Å frame type generating hollow cavities at the unit cell level. Nitrogen adsorption analysis shows that the ZIF-67 has a microporous characteristic with a specific surface area of 1966.37 m2/g and effective pore size of 1.6 nm.
κ-Exponential Inflation
Authors: Ribeiro B W , Cabral F C
Published: December 2023

We investigate a possible inflationary scenario where the expansion of the universe is driven by a slow evolution of a homogeneous single scalar field, whose potential V (φ) is given by an unusual κ-generalized power law. Within the slow-roll approximation we obtain several of the main predictions of the model, as the scalar spectral index, the tensor-to-scalar ratio, the number of e-folds, and the local non-Gaussianity. We also show that this model admits a much wider set of solutions than the usual exponential approach, and that their theoretical predictions are contemplated by the observational data.
Real-time inspection and fault detection for large photovoltaic arrays based on drones and deep learning algorithms
Authors: Yu Runze , Cui Yuxin , Wang Haoming , Edin Hans , Salinas Ener
Published: December 2023

In recent years, the installation of renewable energy generation systems based on photovoltaic (PV) panels has experienced massive increments and PV parks with thousands of panels are now becoming commonplace. Yet, there are some challenges, like inspection and fault detection. Lately, these operations have been approached using drones. This project adds the use of deep learning, more specifically proposes the convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm, the YOLOv5 model and Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) protocol to achieve real-time detection of PV panels failures. The YOLOv5 model was trained by sets sorted into 9 different categories including fault and abnormal objects’ coverage. This multi-class classification system was investigated by a variety of evaluation indexes to show effectiveness and accuracy. The system was also examined with its different fault classes. The performance results demonstrate that the mean average precision could reach up to 98% with a good training set, confirming the feasibility of proposed approaches.
Physics beyond the Standard Model with NA62
Authors: Tinti G. ,   the NA62 collaboration
Published: December 2023

The NA62 experiment at CERN took data in 2016–2018 with the main goal of measuring the K
+ → νν̅ decay. The NA62 dataset is also exploited to search for light feebly interacting particles produced in kaon decays. Searches for K
+ → e
+
N and K
+ → μ
+
N decays, where N is a massive invisible particle, are performed. The N particle is assumed to be a heavy neutral lepton, and the results are expressed as upper limits of 𝒪(10-8) the neutrino mixing parameter |U14|2, where l = e,μ. Dedicated trigger lines were employed to collect di-lepton final states, which allowed stringent upper limits to be established for the rates lepton flavor and lepton number violating kaon decays. Upper limits on the rates of several K
+ decays violating lepton flavour and lepton number conservation, obtained by analysing this dataset, are presented here.
Study of fractography of ferritic ductile iron at different temperatures and loading conditions
Authors: Wang Wenjie , Wang Zekun , Sun Zhiren , Zhou Zhou , Zhang Kai , Ma Li , Wang Yuwei , Yang Sen , Huang Zherong , Wang Kaikun
Published: December 2023

This study characterizes the fractography of ferritic ductile iron under various loads, including tensile, fatigue and bending, and impact conditions. The results indicate that ductile fracture is the primary mechanism observed during tensile testing at room temperature. The fractography resulting from fatigue testing exhibits characteristics similar to cleavage fracture, and explains the formation of fatigue striations caused by the joint effects of dislocation slip and oxidation under crack tip stress. Under impact testing, the main fracture mechanism transitions from ductile to brittle with decreasing temperature. At high temperatures, fractography is mainly characterized by elliptical dimples with graphite nodules at the center that deform along the stress direction. In the ductile-brittle transition temperature range, a mixed fracture mechanism involving both dimples and cleavage patterns is observed. At low temperatures, the fracture mechanism is cleavage fracture, cleavage fracture is mainly caused by the deformation twin, inducing crack nucleation. These findings further validate D.O.Frenandino’s quantitative analysis method for determining the main crack propagation direction of ductile fracture and brittle fracture. By employing larger statistical datasets, it is shown that this method yields high accuracy in determining the main crack propagation direction of ferritic ductile iron, thereby promoting its application as a general method for impact fractography analysis.
New Horizons in artificial intelligence in the healthcare of older people
Authors: Shiwani Taha , Relton Samuel , Evans Ruth , Kale Aditya , Heaven Anne , Clegg Andrew ,   Ageing Data Research Collaborative (Geridata) AI group, Abuzour Aseel , Alderman Joseph , Anand Atul , Bhanu Cini , Bunn Jonathan , Collins Jemima , Cutillo Luisa , Hall Marlous , Keevil Victoria , Mitchell Lara , Ogliari Giulia , Penfold Rose , van Oppen James , Vardy Emma , Walesby Katherine , Wilkinson Chris , Zucker Kieran , Todd Oliver
Published: December 2023

Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare describes algorithm-based computational techniques which manage and analyse large datasets to make inferences and predictions. There are many potential applications of AI in the care of older people, from clinical decision support systems that can support identification of delirium from clinical records to wearable devices that can predict the risk of a fall. We held four meetings of older people, clinicians and AI researchers. Three priority areas were identified for AI application in the care of older people. These included: monitoring and early diagnosis of disease, stratified care and care coordination between healthcare providers. However, the meetings also highlighted concerns that AI may exacerbate health inequity for older people through bias within AI models, lack of external validation amongst older people, infringements on privacy and autonomy, insufficient transparency of AI models and lack of safeguarding for errors. Creating effective interventions for older people requires a person-centred approach to account for the needs of older people, as well as sufficient clinical and technological governance to meet standards of generalisability, transparency and effectiveness. Education of clinicians and patients is also needed to ensure appropriate use of AI technologies, with investment in technological infrastructure required to ensure equity of access.
How to construct a frailty index from an existing dataset in 10 steps
Authors: Theou Olga , Haviva Clove , Wallace Lindsay , Searle Samuel D , Rockwood Kenneth
Published: December 2023

Background

The frailty index is commonly used in research and clinical practice to quantify health. Using a health deficit accumulation model, a frailty index can be calculated retrospectively from data collected via survey, interview, performance test, laboratory report, clinical or administrative medical record, or any combination of these. Here, we offer a detailed 10-step approach to frailty index creation, with a worked example.

Methods

We identified 10 steps to guide the creation of a valid and reliable frailty index. We then used data from waves 5 to 12 of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to illustrate the steps.

Results

The 10 steps are as follows: (1) select every variable that measures a health problem; (2) exclude variables with more than 5% missing values; (3) recode the responses to 0 (no deficit) through 1 (deficit); (4) exclude variables when coded deficits are too rare (< 1%) or too common (> 80%); (5) screen the variables for association with age; (6) screen the variables for correlation with each other; (7) count the variables retained; (8) calculate the frailty index scores; (9) test the characteristics of the frailty index; (10) use the frailty index in analyses. In our worked example, we created a 61-item frailty index following these 10 steps.

Conclusions

This 10-step procedure can be used as a template to create one continuous health variable. The resulting high-information variable is suitable for use as an exposure, predictor or control variable, or an outcome measure of overall health and ageing.
Molecular and morphological evidence of hybridization between two dimorphic sympatric species of Fuchsia (Onagraceae)
Authors: Indira Cervantes-Díaz Cinthya , Patiño-Conde Violeta , González-Rodríguez Antonio , Quesada Mauricio , Cuevas Eduardo
Published: December 2023

Hybridization is commonly reported in angiosperms, generally based on morphology, and in few cases confirmed by molecular markers. Fuchsia has a long tradition of ornamental cultivars with different hybrids produced by artificial crosses, so natural hybridization between sympatric Fuchsia species could be common. Natural hybridization between F. microphylla and F. thymifolia was tested using six newly developed microsatellites for F. microphylla in addition to other molecular markers with codominant and maternal inheritance. Geometric morphometrics of leaves and floral structures were also used to identify putative hybrids. Hybrids showed a different degree of genetic admixture between both parental species. Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequences indicated that hybridization occurs in both directions, in fact, some of the hybrids showed new haplotypes for cpDNA and ITS (internal transcriber spacer of nuclear ribosomal RNA genes) sequences. The morphology of hybrid individuals varied between the two parental species, but they could be better identified by their leaves and floral tubes. Our study is the first to confirm the hybridization in natural populations of Fuchsia species and suggests that hybridization has probably occurred repeatedly throughout the entire distribution of the species. Phylogeographic analysis of both species will be essential to understanding the impact of hybridization throughout their complete distribution.
Metabolic characteristics of granulosa cell tumor: role of PPARγ signaling
Authors: Yu Seok-Yeong , Luan Yi , Xu Pauline C , Zhang Yaqi , Dong Rosemary , Abazarikia Amirhossein , Kim So-Youn
Published: December 2023

Granulosa cell tumors are relatively rare, posing challenges for comprehension and therapeutic development due to limited cases and preclinical models. Metabolic reprogramming, a hallmark of cancer, manifests in granulosa cell tumors with notable lipid accumulation and increased expression of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), a key lipid metabolism regulator. The roles of these features, however, remain unclear. In our previous work, we established a granulosa cell tumor model in mice by introducing a constitutively active Pik3ca mutant in oocytes, enabling the study of predictable tumor patterns from postnatal day 50. In this study, we characterized metabolic alterations during tumorigenesis (postnatal day 8 to day 50) and tumor growth (day 50 to day 65) in this model and explored the impact of PPARγ antagonism on human granulosa cell tumor proliferation. The tumor exhibited significant lipid accumulation, with PPARγ and the proliferation marker Ki67 co-localizing at postnatal day 65. Transcriptome analysis demonstrates that pathways for lipid metabolism and mitochondrial oxidation are promoted during tumorigenesis and tumor growth, respectively. Overlappingly upregulated genes during tumorigenesis and tumor growth are associated with lipid metabolism pathways. Correspondingly, mouse granulosa cell tumor shows overexpression of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor gamma and DGAT2 proteins at postnatal day 65. Furthermore, GW9662 reduces the proliferation of KGN human granulosa cell tumor cells and decreases the phosphorylation of AKT and SMAD3. Our findings identify metabolic abnormalities in ooPIK3CA* granulosa cell tumor model and suggest peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor gamma as a potential driver for primary granulosa cell tumor growth.
Spleen function is reduced in individuals with NR5A1 variants with or without a difference of sex development: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Cools Martine , Grijp Celien , Neirinck Jana , Tavernier Simon J , Schelstraete Petra , Van De Velde Julie , Morbée Lieve , De Baere Elfride , Bonroy Carolien , van Bever Yolande , Bruggenwirth Hennie , Vermont Clementien , Hannema Sabine E , De Rijke Yolanda , Abdulhadi-Atwan Maha , Zangen David , Verdin Hannah , Haerynck Filomeen
Published: December 2023

Objective

NR5A1 is a key regulator of sex differentiation and has been implicated in spleen development through transcription activation of TLX1. Concerns exist about hypo- or asplenism in individuals who have a difference of sex development (DSD) due to an NR5A1 disease-causing variant. We aimed to assess spleen anatomy and function in a clinical cohort of such individuals and in their asymptomatic family member carriers.

Design

Cross-sectional assessment in 22 patients with a DSD or primary ovarian insufficiency and 5 asymptomatic carriers from 18 families, harboring 14 different NR5A1 variants.

Methods

Spleen anatomy was assessed by ultrasound, spleen function by peripheral blood cell count, white blood cell differentiation, percentage of nonswitched memory B cells, specific pneumococcal antibody response, % pitted red blood cells, and Howell–Jolly bodies.

Results

Patients and asymptomatic heterozygous individuals had significantly decreased nonswitched memory B cells compared to healthy controls, but higher than asplenic patients. Thrombocytosis and spleen hypoplasia were present in 50% of heterozygous individuals. Four out of 5 individuals homozygous for the previously described p.(Arg103Gln) variant had asplenia.

Conclusions

Individuals harboring a heterozygous NR5A1 variant that may cause DSD have a considerable risk for functional hyposplenism, irrespective of their gonadal phenotype. Splenic function should be assessed in these individuals, and if affected or unknown, prophylaxis is recommended to prevent invasive encapsulated bacterial infections. The splenic phenotype associated with NR5A1 variants is more severe in homozygous individuals and is, at least for the p.(Arg103Gln) variant, associated with asplenism.